Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 27

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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DOUGHERTY, John, lawyer and Lieutenant- Governor, was born at Marietta, Ohio, May 6, 1806; brought by his parents, in 1808, to Cape Girardeau, Mo., where they remained until after the disastrous earthquakes' in that region in 1811-12, when, his father having died, his mother removed to Jonesboro, Ill. Here he finally read law with Col. A. P. Field, afterwards Secretary of State, being admitted to the bar in 1831 and early attaining prominence as a successful criminal lawyer. He soon became a recognized political leader, was elected as a member of the House to the Eighth General Assembly (1832) and re-elected in 1834, '36 and '40, and again in 1856, and to the Senate in 1842, serving in the latter body until the adoption of the Constitution of 1848. Originally a Democrat, he was, in 1858, the Administration (Buchanan) candidate for State Treasurer, as opposed to the Douglas wing of the party, but, in 1861, became a strong sup- porter of Abraham Lincoln. He served as Presi- dential Elector on the Republican ticket in 1864 and in 1872 (the former year for the State- at- large), in 1868 was elected Lieutenant-Governor and, in 1877, to a seat on the criminal bench, serving until June, 1879. Died, at Jonesboro, Sept. 7, 1879.

DOUGLAS, John M., lawyer and Railway President, was born at Plattsburg, Clinton County, N. Y., August 22, 1819; read law three years in his native city, then came west and settled at Galena, Ill., where he was admitted to the bar in 1841 and began practice. In 1856 he removed to Chicago, and, the following year, became one of the solicitors of the Illinois Central Railroad, with which he had been associated as an attorney at Galena. Between 1861 and 1876 he was a Director of the Company over twelve years; from 1865 to 1871 its President, and again for eighteen months in 1875-76, when he retired permanently. Mr. Douglas' contemporaries speak of him as a lawyer of great ability, as well as a capable executive officer. Died, in Chicago, March 25, 1891.

DOUGLAS, Stephen Arnold, statesman, was born at Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813. In conse- quence of the death of his father in infancy, his early educational advantages were limited. When fifteen he applied himself to the cabinet- maker's trade, and, in 1830, accompanied his mother and step-father to Ontario County, N. Y. In 1832 he began the study of law, but started for the West in 1833. He taught school at Win- chester, Ill., reading law at night and practicing before a Justice of the Peace on Saturdays. He was soon admitted to the bar and took a deep interest in politics. In 1835 he was elected Prose- cuting Attorney for Morgan County, but a few months later resigned this office to enter the lower house of the Legislature, to which he was elected in 1836. In 1838 he was a candidate for Congress, but was defeated by John T. Stuart, his Whig opponent; was appointed Secretary of State in December, 1840, and, in February, 1841, elected Judge of the Supreme Court. He was elected to Congress in 1842, '44 and '46, and, in the latter year, was chosen United States Sena- tor, taking his seat March 4, 1847, and being re-elected in 1853 and '59. His last canvass was rendered memorable through his joint debate, in 1858, before the people of the State with Abraham Lincoln, whom he defeated before the Legisla- ture.' He was a candidate for the presidential nomination before the Democratic National Conventions of 1852 and '56. In 1860, after having failed of a nomination for the Presidency at Charleston, S. C., through the operation of the "two thirds rule," he received the nomination " from the adjourned convention held at Baltimore six weeks later-though not until the delegates from nearly all the Southern States had with- drawn, the seceding delegates afterwards nomi-

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nating John C. Breckenridge. Although defeated for the Presidency by Lincoln, his old-time antagonist, Douglas yielded a cordial support to the incoming administration in its attitude toward the seceded States, occupying a place of honor beside Mr. Lincoln on the portico of the capitol during the inauguration ceremonies. As politician, orator and statesman, Douglas had few superiors. Quick in perception, facile in expedients, ready in resources, earnest and fearless in utterance, he was a born "leader of men." His shortness of stature, considered in relation to his extraordinary mental acumen, gained for him the sobriquet of the "Little Giant." He died in Chicago, June 3, 1861.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, lying a little east of the center of the State, embracing an area of 410 square miles and having a population (1890) of 17,669. The earliest land entry was made by Harrison Gill, of Kentucky, whose patent was signed by Andrew Jackson. Another early settler was John A. Richman, a West Virginian, who erected one of the first frame houses in the county in 1829. The Embarras and Kas- kaskia Rivers flow through the county, which is also crossed by the Wabash and Illinois Central Railways. Douglas County was organized in 1857 (being set off from Coles) and named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas, then United States Senator from Illinois. After a sharp struggle Tus- cola was made the county-seat. It has been visited by several disastrous conflagrations, but is a thriving town, credited, in 1890, with a population of 1,897. Other important towns are Arcola (population, 1,733), and Camargo, which was originally known as New Salem.

DOWNER'S GROVE, a village of Du Page County, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 21 miles west-southwest from Chicago, It has a bank and a newspaper. Population (1880), 586; (1890), 960.

DOWNING, Finis Ewing, ex-Congressman and lawyer, was born at Virginia, Ill., August 24, 1846; reared on a farm and educated in the public and private schools of his native town; from 1865 was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1880, when he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cass County, serving three successive terms; read law and was admitted to the bar in Decem- ber, 1887. In August, 1891, he became interested in "The Virginia Enquirer" (a Democratic paper), which he has since conducted; was elected Secretary of the State Senate in 1893, and, in 1894, was returned as elected to the Fifty- fourth Congress from the Sixteenth District by a

plurality of forty votes over Gen. John I. Rinaker, the Republican nominee. A contest and recount of the ballots resulted, however, in awarding the seat to General Rinaker. In 1896 Mr. Downing was the nominee of his party for Secretary of State, but was defeated with the rest of his ticket.

DRAKE, Francis Marion, soldier and Governor, was born at Rushville, Schuyler County, Ill., Dec. 30, 1830; early taken to Drakesville, Iowa, which his father founded; entered mercantile life at 16 years of age; crossed the plains to Cali- fornia in 1852, had experience in Indian warfare and, in 1859, established himself in business at Unionville, Iowa; served through the Civil War, becoming Lieutenant-Colonel and retiring in 1865 with the rank of Brigadier-General by brevet. He re-entered mercantile life after the war, was admitted to the bar in 1866, subsequently engaged in railroad building and, in 1881, contrib- buted the bulk of the funds for founding Drake University; was elected Governor of Iowa in 1895, serving until January, 1898.

DRAPER, Andrew Sloan, LL.D., lawyer and educator, was born in Otsego County, N. Y., June 21, 1848-being a descendant, in the eighth generation, from the "Puritan," James Draper, who settled in Boston in 1647. In 1855 Mr. Draper's parents settled in Albany, N. Y., where he attended school, winning a scholarship in the Albany Academy in 1863, and graduating from that institution in 1866. During the next four years he was employed in teaching, part of the time as an instructor at his alma mater; but, in 1871, graduated from the Union College Law Department, when he began practice. The rank he attained in the profession was indicated by his appointment by President Arthur, in 1884, one of the Judges of the Alabama Claims Com- mission, upon which he served until the conclu- sion of its labors in 1886. He had previously served in the New York State Senate (1880) and, in 1884, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, also serving as Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee the same year. After his return from Europe in 1886, he served as State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion of New York until 1892, and, in 1889, and again in 1890, was President of the National Association of School Superintendents. Soon after retiring from the State Superintendency in New York, he was chosen Superintendent of Public Schools for the city of Cleveland, Ohio, remaining in that position until 1894, when he was elected President of the University of Illinois at Champaign, where he now is. His adminis-

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tration has been characterized by enterprise and sagacity, and has tended to promote the popular- ity and prosperity of the institution.

DRESSER, Charles, clergyman, was born at Pomfret, Conn., Feb. 24, 1800; graduated from Brown University in 1823, went to Virginia, where he studied theology and was ordained a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1838 he removed to Springfield, and became rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church there, retiring in 1858. On Nov. 4, 1842, Mr. Dresser performed the ceremony uniting Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd in marriage. He died, March 25, 1865.

DRUMMOND, Thomas, jurist, was born at Bristol Mills, Lincoln County, Maine, Oct. 16, 1809. After graduating from Bowdoin College, in 1830, he studied law at Philadelphia, where he was admitted to the bar in 1833. He settled at Galena, Ill., in 1835, and was a member of the General Assembly in 1840-41. In 1850 he was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Illinois as successor to Judge Nathaniel Pope, and four years later removed to Chicago. Upon the division of the State into two judicial districts, in 1855, he was assigned to the North- ern. In 1869 he was elevated to the bench of the United States Circuit Court, and presided over the Seventh Circuit, which at that time included the States of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. In 1884-at the age of 75-he resigned, living in retirement until his death, which occurred at Wheaton, Ill., May 15, 1890.

DUBOIS, Jesse Kilgore, State Auditor, was born, Jan. 14, 1811, in Lawrence County, Ill., near Vincennes, Ind., where his father, Capt. Toussaint Dubois, had settled about 1780. The latter was a native of Canada, of French descent, and, after settling in the Northwest Territory, had been a personal friend of General Harrison, under whom he served in the Indian wars, including the battle of Tippecanoe. The son received a partial collegiate education at Bloom- ington, Ind., but, at 24 years of age (1834), was elected to the General Assembly, serving in the same House with Abraham Lincoln, and being re-elected in 1836, '38, and '42. In 1841 he was appointed by President Harrison Register of the Land Office at Palestine, Ill., but soon resigned, giving his attention to mercantile pursuits until 1849, when he was appointed Receiver of Public Moneys at Palestine, but was removed by Pierce in 1853. He was a Delegate to the first Repub- lican State Convention, at Bloomington, in 1856, and, on the recommendation of Mr. Lincoln, was nominated for Auditor of Public Accounts,

renominated in 1860, and elected both times. In 1864 he was a candidate for the nomination of his party for Governor, but was defeated by General Oglesby, serving, however, on the National Executive Committee of that year, and as a delegate to the National Convention of 1868. Died, at his home near Springfield, Nov. 22, 1876. -Fred T. (Dubois), son of the preceding, was born in Crawford County, Ill., May 29, 1851; received a common-school and classical educa- tion, graduating from Yale College in 1872; was Secretary of the Illinois Railway and Warehouse Commission in 1875-76; went to Idaho Territory and engaged in business in 1880, was appointed United States Marshal there in 1882, serving until 1886; elected as a Republican Delegate to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses, and, on the admission of Idaho as a State (1890), became one of the first United States Senators, his term extending to 1897. He was Chairman of the Idaho delegation in the National Republican Convention at Minneapolis in 1892, and was a member of the National Republican Convention at St. Louis in 1896, but seceded from that body with Senator Teller of Colorado, and has since cooperated with the Populists and Free Silver Democrats.

DUCAT, Arthur Charles, soldier and civil engineer, was born in Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 24, 1830, received a liberal education and became a civil engineer. He settled in Chicago in 1851, and six years later was made Secretary and Chief Surveyor of the Board of Underwriters of that city. While acting in this capacity, he virtually revised the schedule system of rating fire-risks. In 1861 he raised a company of 300 engineers, sappers and miners, but neither the State nor Federal authorities would accept it. Thereupon he enlisted as a private in the Twelfth Illinois Volunteers, but his ability earned him rapid promotion. He rose through the grades of Cap- tain, Major and Lieutenant-Colonel, to that of Colonel, and was brevetted Brigadier-General in February, 1864. Compelled by sickness to leave the army, General Ducat returned to Chicago, re-entering the insurance field and finally, after holding various responsible positions, engaging in general business in that line. In 1875 he was entrusted with the task of reorganizing the State militia, which he performed with signal success. Died, at Downer's Grove, Ill., Jan. 29, 1896.

DUELS AND ANTI-DUELING LAWS. Al- though a majority of the population of Illinois. in Territorial days, came from Southern States where the duel was widely regarded as the proper

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mode for settling "difficulties" of a personal character, it isa curious fact that so few "affairs of honor" (so-called) should have occurred on Illinois soil. The first "affair" of this sort of which either history or tradition has handed down any account, is said to have occurred between an English and a French officer at the time of the surrender of Fort Chartres to the British in 1765, and in connection with that event. The officers are said to have fought with small swords one Sunday morning near the Fort, when one of them was killed, but the name of neither the victor nor the vanquished has come down to the present time. Gov. John Reynolds, who is the authority for the story in his "Pioneer History of Illinois," claimed to have received it in his hoyhood from an aged Frenchman who represented that he had seen the combat.

An affair of less doubtful authenticity has come down to us in the history of the Territorial period, and, although it was at first bloodless, it finally ended in a tragedy. This was the Jones- Bond affair, which originated at Kaskaskia in 1808. Rice Jones was the sou of John Rice Jones, the first English-speaking lawyer in the "Illinois Country." The younger Jones is described as an exceptionally brilliant young man who, having studied law, located at Kaskaskia in 1806. · Two years later he became a candidate for Represent- ative from Randolph County in the Legislature of Indiana Territory, of which Illinois was a part. In the course of the canvass which resulted in Jones' election, he became involved in a quarrel with Shadrach Bond, who was then a member of the Territorial Council from the same county, and afterwards became Delegate in Congress from Illinois and the first Governor of the State. Bond challenged Jones and the meeting took place on an island in the Mississippi between Kaskaskia and St. Genevieve. Bond's second was a Dr. James Dunlap of Kaskaskia, who appears also to have been a bitter enemy of Jones. The discharge of a pistol in the hand of Jones after the combatants had taken their places preliminary to the order to "fire," raised the question whether it was accidental or to be regarded as Jones' fire. Dunlap maintained the latter, but Bond accepted the explanation of his adversary that the discharge was accidental, and the generosity which he displayed led to expla- nations that averted a final exchange of shots. The feud thus started between Jones and Dunlap grew until it involved a large part of the com- munity. On Dec. 7, 1808, Dunlap shot down Jones in cold blood and without warning in

the streets of Kaskaskia, killing him instantly. The murderer fled to Texas and was never heard of about Kaskaskia afterwards. This incident furnishes the basis of the most graphic chapter in Mrs. Catherwood's story of "Old Kaskaskia." Prompted by this tragical affair, no doubt, the Governor and Territorial Judges, in 1810, framed a stringent law for the suppression of dueling, in which, in case of a fatal result, all parties con- nected with the affair, as principals or seconds, were held to be guilty of murder.

Governor Reynolds furnishes the record of a duel between Thomas Rector, the member of a noted family of that name at Kaskaskia, and one Joshua Barton, supposed to have occurred some- time during the War of 1812, though no exact dates are given. This affair took place on the favorite dueling ground known as "Bloody Island," opposite St. Louis, so often resorted to at a later day, by devotees of "the code" in Mis- souri. Reynolds says that "Barton fell in the conflict."

The next affair of which history makes men- tion grew out of a drunken carousel at Belleville, in February, 1819, which ended in a duel between two men named Alonzo Stuart and William Bennett, and the killing of Stuart by Bennett. The managers of the affair for the principals are said to have agreed that the guns should be loaded with blank cartridges, and Stuart was let into the secret but Bennett was not. When the order to fire came, Bennett's gun proved to have heen loaded with ball .. Stuart fell mortally wounded, expiring almost immediately. One report says that the duel was intended as a sham, and was so understood by Bennett, who was horrified by the result. He and his two seconds were arrested for murder, but Bennett broke jail and fled to Arkansas. The seconds were tried, Daniel P. Cook conducting the prosecution and Thomas H. Benton defending, the trial resulting in their acquittal. Two years later, Bennett was appre- hended by some sort of artifice, put on his trial, convicted and executed-Judge John Reynolds (afterwards Governor) presiding and pronouncing sentence.

In a footnote to "The Edwards Papers," edited by the late E. B. Washburne, and printed under the auspices of the Chicago Historical Society, a few years ago, Mr. Washburne relates an incident occurring in Galena about 1838, while "The Northwestern Gazette and Galena Adver- tiser" was under the charge of Sylvester M. Bartlett, who was afterwards one of the founders of "The Quincy Whig." The story, as told by

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Mr. Washburne, is as follows: "David G. Bates (a Galena business man and captain of a packet plying between St. Louis and Galena) wrote a short communication for the paper reflecting on the character of John Turney, a prominent law- yer who had been a member of the House of Representatives in 1828-30, from the District composed of Pike, Adams, Fulton, Schuyler, Peoria and Jo Daviess Counties. Turney de- manded the name of the author and Bartlett gave up the name of Bates. Turney refused to take any notice of Bates and then challenged Bartlett to a duel, which was promptly accepted by Bart- lett. The second of Turney was the Hon. Joseph P. Hoge, afterward a member of Congress from the Galena District. Bartlett's second was William A. Warren, now of Bellevue, Iowa." (Warren was a prominent Union officer during the Civil War.) "The parties went out to the ground selected for the duel, in what was then Wisconsin Territory, seven miles north of Galena, and, after one ineffectual fire, the matter was compromised. Subsequently, Bartlett removed to Quincy, and was for a long time connected with the publication of 'The Quincy Whig."'

During the session of the Twelfth General Assembly (1841), A. R. Dodge, a Democratic Representative from Peoria County, feeling him- self aggrieved by some reflections indulged by Gen. John J. Hardin (then a Whig Representative from Morgan County) upon the Democratic party in connection with the partisan reorganization of the Supreme Court, threatened to "call out" Hardin. The affair was referred to W. L. D. Ewing and W. A. Richardson for Dodge, and J. J. Brown and E. B. Webb for Hardin, with the result that it was amicably adjusted "honor- ably to both parties."

It was during the same session that John A. McClernand, then a young. and fiery member from Gallatin County - who had, two years before, been appointed Secretary of State by Governor Carlin, but had been debarred from taking the office by an adverse decision of the Supreme Court - indulged in a violent attack upon the Whig members of the Court based upon allegations afterwards shown to have been fur- nished by Theophilus W. Smith, a Democratic member of the same court. Smith having joined his associates in a card denying the truth of the charges, McClernand responded with the publi- cation of the cards of persons tracing the allega- tions directly to Smith himself. This brought a note from Smith which McClernand construed into a challenge and answered with a prompt accept-

ance. Attorney-General Lamborn, having got wind of the affair, lodged a complaint with a Springfield Justice of the Peace, which resulted in placing the pugnacious jurist under bonds to keep the peace, when he took his departure for Chicago, and the "affair" ended.

An incident of greater historical interest than all the others yet mentioned, was the affair in which James Shields and Abraham Lincoln-the former the State Auditor and the latter at that time a young attorney at Springfield-were con- cerned. A communication in doggerel verse had appeared in "The Springfield Journal" ridiculing the Auditor. Shields made demand upon the editor (Mr. Simeon Francis) for the name of the author, and, in accordance with previous under- standing, the name of Lincoln was given. (Evi- dence, later coming to light, showed that the real authors were Miss Mary Todd-who, a few months later, became Mrs. Lincoln-and Miss Julia Jayne, afterwards the wife of Senator Trumbull.) Shields, through John D. Whiteside, a former State Treasurer, demanded a retraction of the offensive matter-the demand being presented to Lincoln at Tremont, in Tazewell County, where Lincoln was attending court. Without attempt- ing to follow the affair through all its complicated details-Shields having assumed that Lincoln was the author without further investigation, and Lincoln refusing to make any explanation unless the first demand was withdrawn-Lincoln named Dr. E. H. Merriman as his second and accepted Shield's challenge, naming cavalry broadswords as the weapons and the Missouri shore, within three miles of the city of Alton, as the place. The principals, with their "friends," met at the appointed time and place (Sept. 22, 1842, opposite the city of Alton); but, in the meantime, mutual friends, having been apprised of what was going on, also appeared on the ground and brought about explanations which averted an actual con- flict. Those especially instrumental in bringing about this result were Gen. John J. Hardin of Jacksonville, and Dr. R. W. English of Greene County, while John D. Whiteside, W. L. D. Ewing and Dr. T. M. Hope acted as represent- atives of Shields, and Dr. E. H. Merriman, Dr. A. T. Bledsoe and William Butler for Lincoln.

Out of this affair, within the next few days, followed challenges from Shields to Butler and Whiteside to Merriman; but, although these were accepted, yet owing to some objection on the part of the challenging party to the conditions named by the party challenged, thereby resulting in de- lay, no meeting actually took place.

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Another affair which bore important results without ending in a tragedy, occurred during the session of the Constitutional Convention in 1847. The parties to it were O. C. Pratt and Thompson Campbell --- both Delegates from Jo Daviess County, and both Democrats. Some sparring between them over the question of suffrage for naturalized foreigners resulted in an invitation from Pratt to Campbell to meet him at the Planters' House in St. Louis, with an intimation that this was for the purpose of arranging the preliminaries of a duel. Both parties were on hand before the appointed time, but their arrest by the St. Louis authorities and putting them under heavy bonds to keep the peace, gave them an excuse for returning to their convention duties without coming to actual hostilities-if they had such intention. This was promptly followed by the adoption in Convention of the provision of the Constitution of 1848, disqualify- ing any person engaged in a dueling affair, either as principal or second, from holding any office of honor or profit in the State.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 27

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