Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 53

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

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

MEXICAN WAR .- A still more tragic chapter opened during the last year of Ford's administra- tion, in the beginning of the war with Mexico. Three regiments of twelve months' volunteers, called for by the General Government from the State of Illinois, were furnished with alacrity, and many more men offered their services than could be accepted. The names of their respective commanders-Cols. John J. Hardin, William H. Bissell and Ferris Forman-have been accorded a high place in the annals of the State and the Nation. Hardin was of an honorable Kentucky family ; he had achieved distinction at the bar and served in the State Legislature and in Con- gress, and his death on the battlefield of Buena Vista was universally deplored. (See Hardin, John J.) Bissell afterward served with distinc- tion in Congress and was the first Republican Governor of Illinois, elected in 1856. Edward D. Baker, then a Whig member of Congress, re- ceived authority to raise an additional regiment, and laid the foundation of a reputation as broad as the Nation. Two other regiments were raised in the State "for the war" during the next year, led respectively by Col. Edward W. B. Newby and James Collins, beside four independent companies of mounted volunteers. The whole number of volunteers furnished by Illinois in this conflict was 6,123, of whom 86 were killed, and 183 wounded, 12 dying of their wounds. Their loss in killed was greater than that of any other State, and the number of wounded only exceeded by those from South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Among other Illinoisans who participated in this struggle, were Thomas L. Harris, William A. Richardson, J. L. D. Morrison, Murray F. Tuley and Charles C. P. Holden, while still others, either in the ranks or in subordinate positions, received the "baptism of fire" which prepared them to win distinction as commanders of corps, divisions, brigades and regiments during the War of the Rebellion, including such names as John A. Logan, Richard J. Oglesby, Benjamin M. Prentiss. James D. Morgan, W. H. L. Wallace (who fell at Pittsburg Landing), Stephen G. Hicks, Michael K. Lawler, Leonard F. Ross, Isham N. Haynie, Theophilus Lyle Dickey, Dudley Wickersham, Isaac C. Pugh, Thomas H. Flynn, J. P. Post, Nathaniel Niles, W. R. Morri- son, and others. (See Mexican War.)

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

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

NEW CONVENTION MOVEMENT. - Governor French was a native of New Hampshire, born August 2, 1808; he had practiced his profession as a lawyer in Crawford County, had been a member of the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies and Receiver of the Land Office at Palestine. The State had now begun to recover from the depression caused by the reverses of 1837 and subsequent years, and for some time its growth in population had been satisfactory. The old Constitution, however, had been felt to be a hampering influence, especially in dealing with the State debt, and, as early as 1842, the question of a State Convention to frame a new Constitu- tion had been submitted to popular vote, but was defeated by the narrow margin of 1,039 votes. The Legislature of 1844-45 adopted a resolution for resubmission, and at the election of 1846 it was approved by the people by a majority of 35,326 in a total vote of 81,352. The State then contained ninety-nine counties, with an aggregate population of 662,150. The assessed valuation of property one year later was $92,206,493, while the State debt was 816,661,795-or more than eighteen per cent of the entire assessed value of the property of the State.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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State Capitol in his defense. This was replied to by Abraham Lincoln, then a private citizen, to whom Douglas made a rejoinder. Speeches were also made in criticism of Douglas' position by Judges Breese and Trumbull (both of whom had been prominent Democrats), and other Demo- cratic leaders were understood to be ready to assail the champion of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, though they afterwards reversed their position under partisan pressure and became supporters of the measure. The first State Convention of the opponents of the Nebraska Bill was held at the same time, but the attendance was small and the attempt to effect a permanent organization was not successful. At the session of the Nineteenth General Assembly, which met in January, fol- lowing, Lyman Trumbull was chosen the first Republican United States Senator from Illinois, in place of General Shields, whose term was about to expire. Trumbull was elected on the tenth ballot, receiving fifty-one votes to forty-seven for Governor Matteson, though Lincoln had led on the Republican side at every previous ballot, and on the first had come within six votes of an election. Although he was then the choice of a large majority of the opposition to the Demo- cratic candidate, when Lincoln saw that the original supporters of Trumbull would not cast their votes for himself, he generously insisted that his friends should support his rival, thus determining the result. (See Matteson, Joel A .; Trumbull, Lyman. and Lincoln, Abraham.)

DECATUR EDITORIAL CONVENTION .- On Feb. 22, 1856, occurred the convention of Anti-Neb- raska (Republican) editors at Decatur, which proved the first effective step in consolidating the opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill into a compact political organization. The main husi- ness of this convention consisted in the adoption of a series of resolutions defining the position of their authors on National questions-especially with reference to the institution of slavery-and appointing a State Convention to be held at Bloomington, May 29, following. A State Cen- tral Committee to represent the new party was also appointed at this convention. With two or three exceptions the Committeemen accepted and joined in the call for the State Convention, which was held at the time designated, when the first Republican State ticket was put in the field. Among the distinguished men who participated in this Convention were Abraham Lincoln, O. H. Browning, Richard Yates, Owen Lovejoy, John MI. Palmer, Isaac N. Arnold and John Went worth. Palmer presided, while Abraham Lin-

coln, who was one of the chief speakers, was one of the delegates appointed to the National Con- vention, held at Philadelphia on the 17th of June. The candidates put in nomination for State offices were: William H. Bissell for Governor; Francis A. Hoffman for Lieutenant-Governor (afterward replaced by John Wood on account of Hoffman's ineligibility); Ozias M. Hatch for Secretary of State; Jesse K. Dubois for Auditor; James H. Miller for State Treasurer, and William H. Powell for Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Democratic ticket was composed of William A. Richardson for Governor; R. J. Hamilton, Lieu- tenant-Governor; W. H. Snyder, Secretary of State; S. K. Casey, Auditor; John Moore, Treas- urer, and J. H. St. Matthew, Superintendent of Public Instruction. The American organization also nominated a ticket headed by Buckner S. Morris for Governor. Although the Democrats carried the State for Buchanan, their candidate for President, by a plurality of 9,159, the entire Republican State ticket was elected by pluralities ranging from 3,031 to 20,213-the latter being the majority for Miller, candidate for State Treas- urer, whose name was on both the Republican and American tickets. (See Anti-Nebraska Editoriat Convention, and Bloomington Convention of 1856.)

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BISSELL. - With the inauguration of Governor Bissell, the Republican party entered upon the control of the State Government, which was maintained with- out interruption until the close of the administra- tion of Governor Fifer, in January, 1893-a period of thirty-six years. On account of physical disa- bility Bissell's inauguration took place in the executive mansion, Jan. 12, 1857. He was immediately made the object of virulent personal abuse in the House, being charged with perjury in taking the oath of office in face of the fact that, while a member of Congress, he had accepted a challenge to fight a duel with Jefferson Davis. To this, the reply was made that the offense charged took place outside of the State and be- yond the legal jurisdiction of the Constitution of Illinois. (See Bissell, William H.)

While the State continued to prosper under Bissell's administration, the most important events of this period related rather to general than to State policy. One of these was the deliv- ery by Abraham Lincoln, in the Hall of Repre- sentatives, on the evening of June 17, 1858, of the celebrated speech in which he announced the doctrine that "a house divided against itself can- not stand." This was followed during the next

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few months by the series of memorable debates between those two great champions of their respective parties-Lincoln and Douglas-which attracted the attention of the whole land. The result was the re-election of Douglas to the United States Senate for a third term, but it also made Abraham Lincoln President of the United States. (See Lincoln and Douglas Debates.)

About the middle of Bissell's term (February, 1859), came the discovery of what has since been known as the celebrated "Canal Scrip Fraud." This consisted in the fraudulent funding in State bonds of a large amount of State scrip which had been issued for temporary purposes during the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, but which had been subsequently redeemed. A legislative investigation proved the amount ille- gally funded to have been $223,182, and that tlie bulk of the bonds issued therefor-so far as they could be traced-had been delivered to ex-Gov. Joel A. Matteson. For this amount, with ac- crued interest, he gave to the State an indemnity bond, secured by real-estate mortgages, from which the State eventually realized $238,000 out of $255,000 then due. Further investigation proved additional frauds of like character, aggre- gating $165,346, which the State never recovered. An attempt was made to prosecute Matteson criminally in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. but the grand jury failed, by a close vote, to find an indictment against him. (See Canal Scrip Fraud.)

An attempt was made during Bissell's adminis- tration to secure the refunding (at par and in violation of an existing law) of one hundred and fourteen $1,000 bonds hypothecated with Macalis- ter & Stebbins of New York in 1841, and for which the State had received an insignificant consideration. The error was discovered when new bonds for the principal had been issued, but the process was immediately stopped and the new bonds surrendered-the claimants being limited by law to 28.64 cents on the dollar. This subject is treated at length elsewhere in this vol- ume. (See Macalister & Stebbins Bonds. ) Governor Bissell's administration was otherwise unevent- ful, although the State continued to prosper under it as it had not done since the "internal improvement craze" of 1837 had resulted in im- posing such a burden of debt upon it. At the time of his election Governor Bissell was an invalid in consequence of an injury to his spine, from which he never recovered. He died in office, March 18, 1860, a little over two months

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 53

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