Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 88

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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unjust discrimination, and (if necessary) enforce prosecutions therefor; to secure the safe condi- tion of railway road-beds, bridges and trestles; to hear and decide all manner of complaints relative to intersections and to protect grade-crossings; to insure the adoption of a safe interlocking sys- tem, to be approved by the Commission; to enforce proper rules for the inspection and regis- tration of grain throughout the State. The prin- cipal offices of the Commission are at the State capital, where monthly sessions are held. For the purpose of properly conducting the grain inspection department, monthly meetings are also held at Chicago, where the offices of a Grain Inspector, appointed by the Board, are located. Here all business relating to this department is discussed and necessary special meetings are held. The inspection department has no revenue outside of fees, but the latter are ample for its maintenance. Fees for inspection on arrival ("inspection in") are twenty-five cents per car- load, ten cents per wagon-load, and forty cents per 1,000 bushels from canal-boat or vessels. For inspection from store ("inspected out") the fees are fifty cents per 1,000 bushels to vessels; thirty-five cents per car-load, and ten cents per wagon-load to teams. While there are never wanting some cases of friction between the trans- portation companies and warehousemen on the one hand, and the Commission on the other, there can be no question that the formation of the latter has been of great value to the receiv- ers, shippers, forwarders and tax-payers of the State generally. Similar regulations in regard to the inspection of grain in warehouses, at East St. Louis and Peoria, are also in force. The first Board, created under the act of 1871, consisted of Gustavus Koerner, Richard P. Morgan and David S. Hammond, holding office until 1873. Other Boards have been as follows: 1873-77-Henry D. Cook (deceased 1873, and succeeded by James Steele), David A. Brown and John M. Pearson; 1877-83-William M. Smith, George M. Bogue and

John H. Oberly (retired 1881 and succeeded by William H. Robinson); 1883-85-Wm. N. Brain- ard, E. C. Lewis and Charles T. Stratton; 1885-89 -John I. Rinaker, Benjamin F. Marsh and Wm. T. Johnson (retired in 1887 and succeeded by Jason Rogers) ; 1889-93-John R. Wheeler, Isaac N. Phillips and W. S. Crim (succeeded, 1891, by John R. Tanner) ; 1893-97-W. S. Cantrell, Thomas F. Gahan and Charles F. Lape (succeeded, 1895, by George W. Fithian); 1897-99-Cicero J. Lindley, Charles S. Rannells and James E. Bidwell. (See also Grain Inspection.)

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF ILLINOIS SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOME, QUINCY.

SOLDIERS' WIDOWS' HOME, WILMINGTON.

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

RAILROADS (IN GENERAL). The existing railroad system of Illinois had its inception in the mania for internal improvement which swept over the country in 1836-37, the basis of the plan adopted in Illinois (as in the Eastern States) being that the State should construct, maintain, own and operate an elaborate system. Lines were to be constructed from Cairo to Galena, from Alton to Mount Carmel, from Peoria to Warsaw, from Alton to the Central Railroad, from Belleville to Mount Carmel, from Bloomington to Mack- inaw Town, and from Meredosia to Springfield. The experiment proved extremely unfortunate to the financial interests of the State, and laid the foundation of an immense debt under which it staggered for many years. The Northern Cross Railroad, extending from Meredosia to Spring- field. was the only one so far completed as to be in operation. It was sold, in 1847, to Nicholas H. Ridgely, of Springfield for $21,100, he being the highest bidder. This line formed a nucleus of the existing Wabash system. The first road to be operated by private parties (outside of a prim- itive tramway in St. Clair County, designed for the transportation of coal to St. Louis) was the Galena & Chicago Union, chartered in 1836. This was the second line completed in the State, and the first to run from Chicago. The subsequent development of the railway system of Illinois was at first gradual, then steady and finally rapid. A succinct description of the various lines now in operation in the State may be found under appropriate headings. At present Illinois leads all the States of the Union in the extent of railways in operation, the total mileage (1897) of main track being 10,785.43-or 19 miles for each 100 square miles of territory and 25 miles for each 10,000 inhabitants-estimating the population (1898) at four and a quarter millions. Every one of the 102 counties of the State is traversed by at least one railroad except three-Calhoun, Hardin and Pope. The entire capitalization of the 111 companies doing business in the State in 1896, (including capital stock, funded debt and current liabilities), was $2.669,164,142-equal to $67,556 per mile. In 1894, fifteen owned and ten leased lines paid dividends of from four to eight per cent on common, and from four to ten per cent on preferred, stock-the total amount thus paid aggregating $25,321,752. The total earnings and income, in Illinois, of all lines operated in the State, aggregated $77,508,537, while the total expenditure within the State was $71,463,367. Of the 58,263,860 tons of freight carried, 11,611,- 798 were of agricultural products and 17,179,366

mineral products. The number of passengers (earning revenue) carried during the year, was 83,281,655. The total number of railroad em- ployés (of all classes) was 61,200. The entire amount of taxes paid by railroad companies for the year was $3,846,379. From 1836, when the first special charter was granted for the con- struction of a railroad in Illinois, until 1869- after which all corporations of this character came under the general incorporation laws of the State in accordance with the Constitution of 1870 -293 special charters for the construction of railroads were granted by the Legislature, besides numerous amendments of charters already in existence. (For the history of important indi- vidual lines see each road under its corporate name.)

RALSTON, Virgil Young, editor and soldier, was born, July 16, 1828, at Vanceburg, Ky .; was a student in Illinois College one year (1846-47), after which he studied law in Quincy and prac- ticed for a time; also resided some time in Cali- fornia; 1855-57 was one of the editors of "The Quincy Whig," and represented that paper in the Editorial Convention at Decatur, Feb. 22, 1856. (See Anti-Nebraska Editorial Convention.) In 1861, he was commissioned a Captain in the Six- teenth Illinois Volunteers, but soon resigned on account of ill-health; later, enlisted in an Iowa regiment, but died in hospital at St. Louis, from wounds and exposure, April 19, 1864.

RAMSAY, Rufus N., State Treasurer, was born on a farm in Clinton County, III., May 20, 1838; received a collegiate education at Illinois and McKendree Colleges, and at Indiana State Uni- versity ; studied law with ex-Gov. A. C. French, and was admitted to the bar in 1865, but soon abandoned the law for banking, in which he was engaged both at Lebanon and Carlyle, limiting his business to the latter place about 1890. He served one term (from 1865) as County Clerk, and two terms (1889 and '91) as Representative in the General Assembly, and, in 1892, was nominated as a Democrat and elected State Treasurer. Died in office, at Carlyle. Nov. 11, 1894.

RAMSEY, a village of Fayette County, at the intersection of the Illinois Central Railroad by the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, 12 miles north of Vandalia; the district is agricultural; has one newspaper. Population (1890), 598.

RANDOLPH COUNTY, lies in the southwest section of the State, and borders on the Missis- sippi River; area 560 square miles; named for Beverly Randolph. It was set off from St. Clair County in 1795, being the second county organ-

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ized in the territory which now constitutes the State of Illinois. From the earliest period of Illi- nois history, Randolph County has been a pivotal point. In the autumn of 1700 a French and Indian settlement was established at Kaskaskia, which subsequently hecame the center of French influence in the Mississippi Valley. In 1722 Prairie du Rocher was founded by the French. It was in Randolph County that Fort Chartres was built, in 1720, and it was here that Col. George Rogers Clark's expedition for the seizure of the "Illinois Country" met with success in the capture of Kaskaskia. American immigration began with the close of the Revolutionary War. Among the early settlers were the Cranes (Icha- bod and George), Gen. John Edgar, the Dodge family, the Morrisons, and John Rice Jones. Toward the close of the century came Shadrach Bond (afterwards the first Governor of the State) with his uncle of the same name, and the Menards (Pierre and Hippolyte), the first of whom subsequently became Lieutenant - Gov- ernor. (See Bond, Shadrach; Menard, Pierre.) In outline, Randolph County is triangular, while its surface is diversified. Timber and building stone are abundant, and coal underlies a consid- erable area. Chester, the county-seat, a city of 3,000 inhabitants, is a place of considerable trade and the seat of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary. The county is crossed by several railroad lines, and transportation facilities are excellent. Pop- ulation (1880), 23,090; (1890), 25,049.

RANSOM, (Gen.) Thomas Edward Greenfield, soldier, was born at Norwich, Vt., Nov. 29, 1834; educated at Norwich University, an institution under charge of his father, who was later an officer of the Mexican War and killed at Chapul- tepec. Having learned civil engineering, he entered on his profession at Peru, Ill., in 1851; in 1855 became a member of the real-estate firm of A. J. Galloway & Co., Chicago, soon after removing to Fayette County, where he acted as agent of the Illinois Central Railroad. Under the first call for volunteers, in April, 1861, he organized a company, which having been incor- porated in the Eleventh Illinois, he was elected Major, and, on the reorganization of the regiment for the three-years' service, was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel, in this capacity having com- mand of his regiment at Fort Donelson, where he was severely wounded and won deserved pro- motion to a colonelcy, as successor to Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, afterwards killed at Shiloh. Here Colonel Ransom again distinguished himself by his bravery, and though again wounded while

leading his regiment, remained in command through the day. His service was recognized by promotion as Brigadier - General. He bore a prominent part in the siege of Vicksburg and in the Red River campaign, and, later, commanded the Seventh Army Corps in the operations about Atlanta, but finally fell a victim to disease and his numerous wounds, dying in Chicago, Oct. 29, 1864, having previously received the brevet rank of Major-General. General Ransom was con- fessedly one of the most brilliant officers contrib- uted by Illinois to the War for the Union, and was pronounced, by both Grant and Sherman, one of the ablest volunteer generals in their com- mands.

RANTOUL, a city in Champaign County, at the junction of the main line of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, with its West Lebanon and Leroy branch, 14 miles north-northeast of Champaign and 114 miles south by west of Chicago. It has a bank, five churches, a graded school, two weekly papers, machine shops, flouring and flax mills, tile factories, and many handsome resi- dences. Population (1880), 850; (1890), 1,074.

RASLE, Sebastian, a Jesuit missionary, born in France, in 1658; at his own request was attached to the French missions in Canada in 1689, and, about 1691 or '92, was sent to the Illi- nois Country, where he labored for two years, traveling much and making a careful study of the Indian dialects. He left many manuscripts descriptive of his journeyings and of the mode of life and character of the aborigines. From Illi- nois he was transferred to Norridgewock, Maine, where he prepared a dictionary of the Abenaki language in three volumes, which is now pre- served in the library of Harvard College. His influence over his Indian parishioners was great, and his use of it, during the French and Indian War, so incensed the English colonists in Massa- chusetts that the Governor set a price upon his head. On August 12, 1724, he was slain, with seven Indian chiefs who were seeking to aid his escape, during a night attack upon Norridge- wock by a force of English soldiers from Fort Richmond, his mutilated body being interred the next day by the Indians. In 1833, the citizens of Norridgewock erected a monument to his mem- ory on the spot where he fell.

RASTER, Herman, journalist, was born in Ger- many in 1828; entered journalism and came to America in 1851, being employed on German papers in Buffalo and New York City; in 1867 accepted the position of editor-in-chief of "The Chicago Staats Zeitung," which he continued to

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fill until June, 1890, when he went to Europe for the benefit of his health, dying at Dresden, July 24, 1891. While employed on papers in this country during the Civil War, he acted as the American correspondent of papers at Berlin, Bremen, Vienna, and other cities of Central Europe. He served as delegate to both State and National Conventions of the Republican party, and, in 1869, received from President Grant the appointment of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Chicago District, but, during the later years of his life, cooperated with the Democratic party.

RAUCH, John Henry, physician and sanitary expert, born in Lebanon, Pa., Sept. 4, 1828, and graduated in medicine at the University of Penn- sylvania, in 1849. The following year he removed to Iowa, settling at Burlington. IIe was an active member of the Iowa State Medical Society, and, in 1851, prepared and published a "Report on the Medical and Economic Botany of Iowa," and, later, made a collection of ichthyologie remains of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri for Professor Agassiz. From 1857 to 1860 he filled the chair of Materia Medica and Medical Botany at Rush Medical College, Chicago, occupying the same position in 1859 in the Chicago College of Pharmacy, of which he was one of the organ- izers. During the Civil War he served, until 1864, as Assistant Medical Director, first in the Army of the Potomac, and later in Louisiana, being brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel at the close of the struggle. Returning to Chicago, he aided in reorganizing the city's health service, and, in 1867, was appointed a member of the new Board of Health and Sanitary Inspector, serving until 1876. The latter year he was chosen President of the American Public Health Association, and, in 1877, a member of the newly created State Board of Health of Illinois, and elected its first President. Later, he became Secretary, and con- tinued in that office during his connection with the Board. In 1878-79 he devoted much attention to the yellow-fever epidemic, and was instru- mental in the formation of the Sanitary Council of the Mississippi, and in securing the adoption of a system of river inspection by the National Board of Health. He was a member of many scientific bodies, and the author of numerous monographs and printed addresses, chiefly in the domain of sanitary science and preventive med- icine. Among them may be noticed "Intra- mural Interments and Their Influence on Health and Epidemics," "Sanitary Problems of Chi- cago," "Prevention of Asiatic Cholera in North

America," and a series of reports as Secretary of the State Board of Health. Died, at Lebanon, Pa., March 24, 1894.

RAUM, (Gen.) Green Berry, soldier and author, was born at Golconda, Pope County, III., Dec. 3, 1829, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1853, but, three years later, removed with his family to Kansas. His Free-State proclivities rendering him obnoxious to the pro-slavery party there, he returned to Illinois in 1857, settling at Harrisburg, Saline County. Early in the Civil War he was commissioned a Major in the Fifty- sixth Illinois Volunteers, was subsequently pro- moted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and, later, advanced to a Brigadier-Generalship, resigning his commission at the close of the war (May 6, 1865). He was with Rosecrans in the Mississippi campaign of 1862, took a conspicuous part in the battle of Corinth, participated in the siege of Vicksburg and was wounded at Missionary Ridge. He also rendered valuable service during the Atlanta campaign, keeping lines of communi- cation open, re-enforcing Resaca and repulsing an attack by General Hood. He was with Sherman in the "March to the Sea," and with Hancock, in the Shenandoah Valley, when the war closed. In 1866 General Raum became President of the pro- jected Cairo & Vincennes Railroad, an enterprise of which he had been an active promoter. He was elected to Congress in 1866 from the South- ern Illinois District (then the Thirteenth), serv- ing one term, and the same year presided over the Republican State Convention, as he did again in 1876 and in 1880-was also a delegate to the National Conventions at Cincinnati and Chicago the last two years just mentioned. From August 2, 1876, to May 31, 1883, General Raum served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue at Washing- ton, in that time having superintended the col- lection of $800,000,000 of revenue, and the disbursement of $30,000,000. After retiring from the Commissionership, he resumed the practice of law in Washington. In 1889 he was appointed Commissioner of Pensions, remaining to the close of President Harrison's administration, when he removed to Chicago and again engaged in practice. During the various political cam- paigns of the past thirty years, his services have been in frequent request as a campaign speaker, and he has canvassed a number of States in the interest of the Republican party. Besides his official reports, he is author of "The Existing Conflict Between Republican Government and Southern Oligarchy" (Washington, 1884), and a number of magazine articles.

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RAUM, John, pioneer and early legislator, was born in Hummelstown, Pa., July 14, 1793, and died at Golconda, Ill., March 14, 1869. Having received a liberal education in his native State, the subject of this sketch settled at Shawneetown, Ill., in 1823, but removed to Golconda, Pope County, in 1826. He had previously served three years in the War of 1812, as First Lieutenant of the Sixteenth Infantry, and, while a resident of Illinois, served in the Black Hawk War of 1832 as Brigade Major. He was also elected Senator from the District composed of Pope and Johnson Counties in the Eighth General Assembly (1833). as successor to Samuel Alexander, who had resigned. The following year he was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pope County, and was also elected Clerk of the County Court the same year, holding both offices for many years, and retaining the County Clerkship up to his death, a period of thirty-five years. He was married March 22, 1827, to Juliet C. Field, and was father of Brig .- Gen. Green B. Raum, and Maj. John M. Raum, both of whom served in the volunteer army from Illinois during the Civil War.

RAWLINS, John Aaron, soldier, Secretary of War, was born at East Galena, Feb. 13, 1831, the son of a small farmer, who was also a charcoal- burner. The son, after irregular attendance on the district schools and a year passed at Mount Morris Academy, began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar at Galena in 1854, and at once began practice. In 1857 he was elected City Attorney of Galena, and nominated on the Doug- las electoral ticket in 1860. At the outbreak of the Civil War he favored, and publicly advocated, coercive measures, and it is said that it was partly through his influence that General Grant early tendered his services to the Government. He served on the staff of the latter from the time General Grant was given command of a brigade until the close of the war, most of the time being its chief, and rising in rank, step by step, until, in 1863, he became a Brigadier-General, and, in 1865, a Major-General. His long service on the staff of General Grant indicates the estimation in which he was held by his chief. Promptly on the assumption of the Presidency by General Grant, in March, 1869, he was appointed Secre- tary of War, but consumption had already obtained a hold upon his constitution, and he sur- vived only six months, dying in office, Sept. 6, 1869.

RAY, Charles H., journalist, was born at Nor- wich, Chenango County, N. Y., March 12, 1821;

came west in 1843, studied medicine and began practice at Muscatine, Iowa, afterwards locating in Tazewell County, Ill., also being associated, for a time, with the publication of a temperance paper at Springfield. In 1847 he removed to Galena, soon after becoming editor of "The Galena Jeffersonian," a Democratic paper, with which he remained until 1854. He took strong ground against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and, at the session of the Legislature of 1855, served as Secretary of the Senate, also acting as corre- spondent of "The New York Tribune"; a few months later became associated with Joseph Medill and John C. Vaughan in the purchase and management of "The Chicago Tribune, " Dr. Ray assuming the position of editor-in-chief. Dr. Ray was one of the most trenchant and powerful writers ever connected with the Illinois press, and his articles exerted a wide influence during the period of the organization of the Republican party, in which he was an influential factor. He was a member of the Convention of Anti-Neb- raska editors held at Decatur, Feb. 22, 1856, and served as Chairman of the Committee on Reso- lutions. (See Anti-Nebraska Editorial Conven- tion.) At the State Republican Convention held at Bloomington, in May following, he was appointed a member of the State Central Com- mittee for that year; was also Canal Trustee by appointment of Governor Bissell, serving from 1857 to 1861. In November, 1863, he severed his connection with "The Tribune" and engaged in oil speculations in Canada which proved finan- cially disastrous. In 1865 he returned to the paper as an editorial writer, remaining only for a short time. In 1868 he assumed the management of "The Chicago Evening Post." with which he remained identified until his death, Sept. 23, 1870.

RAY, Lyman Beecher, ex-Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, was born in Crittenden County, Vt., August 17, 1831; removed to Illinois in 1852, and has since been engaged in mercantile business in this State. After filling several local offices he was elected to represent Grundy County in the lower honse of the Twenty-eighth General Assembly (1872), and, ten years later, was chosen State Senator, serving from 1883 to 1887, and being one of the recognized party leaders on the floor. In 1888, he was elected Lieutenant-Gov- ernor on the Republican ticket, his term expiring in 1893. His home is at Morris, Grundy County.

RAY, William H., Congressman, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., Dec. 14, 1812; grew to manhood in his native State, receiving a limited

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education ; in 1834 removed to Rushville, Ill., engaging in business as a merchant and, later, as a banker; was a member of the first State Board of Equalization (1867-69), and, in 1872, was elected to Congress as a Republican, representing his District from 1873 to 1875. Died, Jan. 25, 1881.

RAYMOND, a village of Montgomery County, on the St. Louis Division of the Wabash Railway, 5 miles southwest of Decatur ; has some manufac- tures and a weekly paper. Considerable coal is mined here and grain and fruit grown in the sur- rounding country. Population (1880), 543; (1890). 841.

RAYMOND, (Rev.) Miner, D.D., clergyman and educator, was born in New York City, August 29, 1811, being descended from a family of Huguenots (known by the name of "Rai- monde"), who were expelled from France on account of their religion. In his youth he learned the trade of a shoemaker with his father, at Rensselaerville, N. Y. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at the age of 17, later taking a course in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., where he afterwards became a teacher. In 1838 he joined the New England Conference and, three years later, began pastoral work at Worcester, subsequently occu- pying pulpits in Boston and Westfield. In 1848, on the resignation of Dr. Robert Allyn (after- wards President of Mckendree College and of the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbon- dale), Dr. Raymond succeeded to the principalship of the Academy at Wilbraham, remaining there until 1864. when he was elected to the chair of systematic theology in the Garrett Biblical Insti- tute at Evanston, Ill., his connection with the latter institution continuing until 1895, when he resigned. For some three years of this period he served as pastor of the First Methodist Church at Evanston. His death occurred, Nov. 25, 1897.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 88

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