History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 35

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time > Part 35

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" The east window of my bed-room looked out upon Lake Michigan in the distance, Fort Dearborn lying near the margin of the lake ; and, at this time, there was nothing, or very little, to obstruct the view between the inn and the lake, the fort and the buildings connected with it being the principal objects ; and those buildings were very low structures ; and I could, from my window, follow the course of the river, the water of which was as pure as that of the lake, from the point of junction to its entrance into the lake.

" A treaty was to be held in September, at Chicago, with cer- tain tribes of Indians of the Northwest, by Governor Porter, of Michigan, as commissioner on behalf of the Government, for the extinguishment of the Indian title to that region of country now forming that part of Illinois north of Chicago, and the adjacent territory now included in the State of Wisconsin. Preparatory to this, the Indians were gathered in large numbers at Chicago, and it was a curious spectacle to see these natives in groups in their wig- wams scattered about on the prairie, in and around the town. chiefly near the junction of the branches of the river, some on the west side and some on the east side of the North Branch. This treaty was held in September, and by it the Indian title to all that region of country was extinguished, and the lands were subject to survey, and were afterwards (in May, 1835,) brought into market. The line of Indian territory, to which their title had been previously extinguished, extended about twelve miles north of Chicago. But these. lands, including Chicago, had not yet been brought into market by the Government, and were not, therefore, subject to purchase by emigrants. They could only acquire a pre-emptive right by actual settlement, and it was in this way that the title to what is now called Kinzie's addition, was acquired. At this time, the patent for it had not been obtained, and the land lay in a wild state.

" It was on this visit to Chicago with Mr. Bronson, that we spent some time, and made the acquaintance of the principal men of the place. Among these, as I now remember, were Mr. Richard J. Hamilton, the Kinzies (John H. and his brother Robert A.) and James Kinzie (the latter a half-brother to the former), Mr. John Wright, Dr. Temple, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Colonel Owen, and George W. Dole.

" The preseot condition and prospects of Chicago, and its future, and that of the country around it, was, of course, the subject of constant and exciting discussion. At this time, that vast country lying between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River (which then seemed to be the natural boundary of the West,) and the country lying northwest of it, which now includes Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, and lowa, lay in one great unoccupied expanse of beautiful land, covered with the most luxuriant vegetation-a vast flower garden-beautiful to look at in its virgin state, and ready for the plow of the farmer. One could not fail to be greatly impressed with this scene, so new and extraordinary, and to see there the germ of that future, when these vast plains would be occupied and cultivated, yielding their abundant products of human food, and sustaining millions of population. Lake Michigan lay there, four hundred and twenty miles in length north and south, and it was clear to my mind that the productions of that vast country lying west and northwest of it on their way to the Eastern market-the great Atlantic seaboard-would necessarily be tributary to Chicago, in the site of which, even at this early day, the experienced ob- server saw the germ of a city, destined from its peculiar position near the head of the lake and its remarkable harbor formed by the river, to become the largest inland commercial emporium in the United States.

"Michigan was then a territory with a population of about twenty thousand people, occupying the eastern portion of the State. Its western half was a comparatively unoccupied wil- derness.

" Northern Indiana was in the same condition, and northern Illinois, including the country between Chicago and the Mississippi River, contained only a sparse population, confined to smail set- tlements on the western water-courses.

" With this feeling of inspiration with regard to the future of Chicago, which pervaded in common the leading spirits of the place, we entered into plans to promote its future development, and among these the most important which was at that time dis- cussed was a project for the construction of a canal or railway to connect Lake Michigan at Chicago with the Illinois River at

Ottawa or Peru, a distance of about eighty or one hundred miles. A grant had been made by Congress to the Territory or State of Illinois, at an early day, of each alternate section of land in aid of the construction of a canal between Lake Michigan at Chicago and the Illinois River, but no steps had been taken to avail of this grant.

" New Orleans at this time was regarded as a market for the valley of the Mississippi, as it could be reached by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, so the construction of such a canal be- . tween Lake Michigan and the Illinois River would secure to Chicago the beneht of this western outlet to market by a continu- ous water communication, and this was regarded as an object of great importance for the future development of the country. The Icading men of Chicago were anxious that we should interest our- selves in the prosecution of this work; and so enthusiastic bad we become in our views of the future of this region of country and of Chicago as its commercial center, that we entered into their views, and it was agreed that an application should be made to the Legis- lature to incorporate a company for the construction of a canal or a railroad between Chicago and the Illinois River, to which com- pany the State should convey its land grant, coupled with condi- tions for the construction of either a canal or a railway within a certain time, and upon such conditions as might be imposed by the Legislature; and that certain persons who were then present at Chicago, of whom Lucius Lyon (afterwards the hrst Senator in Congress from the State of Michigan), Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Kinzie, and Dr. Temple, I think, as a committee, were to take charge of this memorial and submit it at the next session of the Legislature of the State of Illinois. A memorial to the Legislature and a letter of instructions to the committee were carefully prepared by Mr. Bronson and myself, embodying our views and suggesting the terms and conditions upon which the company should be incorporated.

" The committee were to proceed to Jacksonville with the memorial at the next session of the Legislature. Whether this proposition was ever formally submitted to that body or not I am not able to state, but it is certain that the discussion caused by it had the effect to stimulate the Legislature at the session of 1834-35 to avail of the liberal and yet dormant grant made by Congress for the purpose, and a bill was passed at that session authorizing a loan for the construction of the canal as a State work; and the work was soon after commenced and, though retarded by embar- rassments which overtook the State and for a time prostrated its credit, it was finally completed and remains to this day a monu- ment not only of the enterprise of the State, but of- its integrity in the fulfillment of its pecuniary obligations to its creditors.

" It may not be amiss to say in this connection that, when the State of Illinois, in common with several of the Western States, failed to meet the obligations it had incurred in its efforts to carry out prematurely, having respect to its population and ability, a vast system of internal improvement-that the question, What can be done to arrest the ruin and retrieve the credit of the State? be- came one of vital importance not only to its citizens but to all who had any interest in the State. Of course Mr. Bronson and myself were deeply interested, and gave to it a good deal of time and thought - the result of which was the suggestion that the only feasible plan would be for the State to ask of its bondholders, who were chiefly in Europe, to make a further advance of money suffi- cient for the completion of the canal, for the payment of which the canal, its lands and revenues should be pledged, backed by the faith and credit of the State: and upon this basis the arrangement was finally made by the State which insured the completion of the canal.

" I am happy to avail myself of this occasion to record this brief tribute to the memory of my friend, Arthur Bronson, to re- mind the citizens of Chicago of one who was a friend of their State and city at that most eventful period in their history. No one but he who then lived, and fully understood the situation. can rightly appreciate the value of such aid and influence as Mr. Bronson rendered, affecting the honor and prosperity of a State.

" While at Chicago our attention was directed to the property which Robert A. Kinzie had offered us, viz .: his quarter interest a> one of the heirs-at-law of his father, in the north fractional half of Section 10. This purchase was declined after a careful reconnois- sance of the land by me in person, accompanied by a surveyor. mainly because the remaining three-quarters, being owned by other persons, their co-operation in the disposition of the property would De essential to a satisfactory management. It was ascertained that Major-General Hunter, then and now in the United States Army. had become the owner of one-half interest in the same property and that he also owned eighty acres in the adjoining Section No. 9. that is to say, the cast half of the northeast quarter of Section 9. now known as Wolcott's addition: and as the result of our con-id- eration on the subiect we concluded to open a negotiation with himn for the purchase of his entire interest in Chicago. This negotiation

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CHICAGO IN 1833-37-

was begun by correspondence with him. His engagement in the service of the country at remote military stations rendered com- munication with him difficult and slow, and the negotiation with him, though cominenced in the fall of 1833, was not consummated until late in the summer of 1834, when a proposition was received from him offering the property, viz .: the half of Kinzie's addition and the whole of Wolcott's addition (and Mock No. I in the town of Chicago, lying on the north side of the river) for the price of $20,000, at which sum it was purchased by my . friend Mr. Arthur Bronson and his associates in the fall of IS34, and the title to it was taken in the name of his brother, Mr. Frederic Bron- son. For private reasons I took no interest in the purchase, al- though the negotiations up to the final offer of Major Hunter had been conducted in accordance with the original suggestion, for our joint account and interest. In the month of May following . I purchased of Mr. Bronson the same property for the con- sideration of $100,000. While the title was in Mr. Bronson, arrangements had · been made for an auction sale of the property in the month of June, following simultaneously with the Government sale of lands, which had been advertised to take place at Chicago in May, 1835-the first of the kind in that portion of the United States, the surveys for which had been completed and the Indian title to which had been ex- tinguished. It was expected that this would attract a very large con- course of people to Chicago, as it did, for it brought into notice and offered for sale lands in the most attractive and fertile portion of the United States. The sale of the lots in the property, which I had acquired by purchase from Mr. Bronson, was to follow after the sale of public lands; all the preliminary steps to effect it had been taken, and Frederic Bronson was then on his way to Chicago to superintend the sale. Of course all these proceedings were now subject to my control, and the disposition to be made by me in regard to it was under consideration. In making the pur- chase I had contemplated this condition, and had in view my brother- in-law, William B. Ogden, as the best person to take charge of the whole business. Ile was then a member of the Legislature of this State, from the county of Delaware, during the memorable session of 1835. I wrote to him requesting that he would terminate his labor there at the earliest possible moment, and go to Chicago to take charge of this property. This he. consented to do, and in May, 1835, he went to Chicago and there met Frederic Bronson, who turned the property over to him as my agent. This was Mr. Ogden's introduction to Chicago, and his first visit to the country

. ....

..... west of Niagara. He had been born at Walton on the Delaware River, in Delaware County, and had lived there up to this period of his life. His father, who had been a successful business man engaged in manufacturing industry and in the lumber trade, had been stricken down by paralysis and disabled from active business, when William, his eldest son, was about seventeen years of age; and in consequence. the responsibilities of the family and the con- duct of business had devolved mainly on him.

" It was in May, 1835, that Mr. Ogden went to Chicago for the purpose above stated. The spring had been one of unusual wetness, and on his arrival at Chicago to take charge of the prop- erty committed to his care, his first impressions were not at all favorable. The property lay there on the north side of the river an unbroken field, covered with a course growth of oak and under- brush, wet and marshy, and muddy from the recent heavy rains. Nothing could be more unattractive, not to say repulsive in its sur- face appearance. It had neither form nor comeliness, and he could not at first sight in looking at the property, in its then primitive condi- tion, see it as possessing any value or offering any advantages to justify the extraordinary price for which it had been bought. He could not but feel that ! had been guilty of an act of great folly in making the purchase, and it was a cause of sad disappointment and of great depression. To him it was a new experience ; it was novel and different from anything that he had ever been engaged in. But Mr. Ogden had gone there for a purpose and to execute an important trust. A great deal of work had to be done to prepare this wilderness field for the coming auction. It had to be laid out and opened up by streets and avenues into blocks and lots, the boundaries of which must be carefully defined, maps and plans must be made, surveys perfected and land marks established. Mr. Ogden addressed himself to this work with energy and brought to it his extraordinary ability in the handling of all material interests. The work that he accomplished on this property in a short time, under circumstances discouraging and depressing, was wonderfully effective. Ile conceived what would be required in order to attract the attention of purchasers, sn that by the time the auction sale approached he could exhibit it in business form. It will be remem- bered that the tract covered 131 acres, exclusive of the half belong- ing to the Kinzies, which lay in mass with it, say fifty-one acres, which, added to my purchase represented by Mr. Ogden, made a tract of 182 acres. The Government sale of lands had brought together a large collection of people from all parts of the country,

particularly from the East and Southeast, and these were there when Mr. Ogden offered the property on the North Side. The result of the auction was a surprise to him, for the sales amounted to more than one hundred thousand dollars and included about one-third of the property. This result, although it was astonish- ing to him, seemed yet to fail of making the impression on his mind of the future of the town which was to become the scene of his after life, and in the development and growth of which he bim- self was to become an active and most important factor.

" As he expresssed himself to me in giving an account of the transaction, he could not see where the value lay nor what it was that justified the payment of such prices. He thought the people were crazy and visionary. Having completed the sales, he left Chi- cago in the summer and did not return there until the summer follow- ing ( IS36). But he was not long, after this experience, in grasp- ing the idea of the future of that portion of the United States. and of the natural advantages which Chicago offered as the site of a commercial town, which in the future growth of the country would become so important. As the result of this agency and the care of this large property interest, regarding it as an occupation, he gave his mind to the consideration of the whole subject, and it determined him in the end to make his home in the West and iden- tify himself with the fortunes of Chicago. It was a field suited to his taste and to his habits, and for which his previous life and ex- perience in his native country had trained him, although that life and experience had up to this time been narrow as was the boundary the Delaware River on which he had been teared. Now, his mind and his energies were directed to the development of the vast and boundless prairies of the West. He had been reared in a country of dense forests, and surrounded on every side by mountain scenery. and now he was in a field where there were no forests and no mountains.

" It was not long before Mr. Ogden became imbued with an enthusiastic appreciation of the capabilities and attractions of this new country. His descriptions of it were poetic and inimitable.

"And from this time onward up to the close of his life he gave to Chicago the full benefit of his rare talents and ability; and he has left in the city of his adoption the distinctive marks of his life work, as well as through the West and Northwest, where the great railways which he projected and promoted to comple- tion will remain ever as monuments of his genius and his enterprise. No man exercised a more magical influence in stimulating all around him to aets of usefulness and improvement in the interest of intellectual. social and material progress, and the development of the country ; and few men were capable of accomplishing so much useful work in so short a time. He was comprehensive and broad in his views as the country in which he lived. The later years of his life were devoted largely to the extension of lines of railways to the Pacific coast, and especially the Northern Pacific, which is now approaching completion. Mr. Ogden had always regarded this route as one of the most important, and the country which it trav- ersed-and which by its completion would be opened to settlement -as one of the most attractive and richest in its soil productions of any of the projected lines connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific coast.

"During al! this period, from IS35 to 1865, my house was Mr. Ogden's home when in New York. As memory sweeps back nver these most active years of his life-associated as they are indis- solubly with Chicago and the West-and reproduces the picture mellowed by time, of what he was as a man, and of what he was doing and what he did do ; the charm of his influence is still felt, fragrant with sympathy for his fellow-men in all conditions of life- nne on whose tombstone might be appropriately inscribed, 'Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.

" And the citizens of Chicago do but honor themselves by placing in their Historical hall the portrait of him whose name should ever be cherished as one of their foremost and most notable citizens."

John Bates, a settler of 1832, in an interview October 15, 1883, said:

"In IS33 the settlement of the new town, so far as buildings showed, was mostly on what is now Water Street. There was noth- ing on Lake Street, except perhaps the Catholic church hegun on the northwest corner of Lake and State. Up and down Water Street, between what is now State and Wells streets, now Fifth Avenue, all the business houses and stores were built. Also nearly all the cabins for dwellings. You could, from every store and dwelling, look north across the river, as there were nn buildings on what is now the north side of that street. At that time a slough emptied into the river, at what is now the foot of State Street, and was a sort of bayon of dead water through which scows could be run up as far as Randolph Street, near the corner of Dearborn, and there was a dry creek up as far as where the Sherman House now stands. There was a foot-bridge of four logs run lengthwise across

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HISTORY OF EARLY CHICAGO.

the creek near the mouth of the creek. At that time there was no bridge across the main river, and never had been. There was a sort of bridge built the year before by Anson Taylor across the South Branch near Randolph Street-a log-bridge, quite near the water, over which teams could pass. Hall & Miller had, in 1833, a large tannery on Wolf Point. There was no foot-bridge across North Branch, that I remember, at that early day. At the Wolf Point Hotel there was a sign-post up; perhaps there was at one lime a sign of a wolf on it, but if so, it was a temporary charcoal or chalk sign put up by the boys. I don't remember it.

The population numbered not far from two hundred and fifty at the close of the year. It comprised six lawyers-Russel E. Heacock, who had come in 1827 ; Richard J. Hamilton, 1831 ; and Giles Spring, John Dean Caton, Edward W. Casey and Alexander N. Ful- lerton, who had put out their signs in 1833. There were also eight physicians : Elijah D. Harmon came May, 1830 ; Valentine A. Boyer, May 12, 1832 ; Ed- mund S. Kimberly, 1832 ; Phillip Maxwell, February, 1833 ; John T. Temple, spring of 1833 ; William Brad- shaw Egan, fall of 1833 ; Henry B. Clark, 1833 ; and George F. Turner, Assistant-Surgeon U. S. A., at the garrison.

There were at that time four religious organizations holding stated services at places, and with pastors as follows :

St. Mary's Catholic Church, near the southwest cor- ner of Lake and State streets, Rev. J. M. L. St. Cyr.

The Presbyterian, in the Temple Building, at the southeast corner of Franklin and South Water streets ; Rev. Jeremiah Porter, pastor.

Baptist, in the same building; Rev. Allen B. Freeman, pastor.

Methodist, in the same building ; Rev. Jesse Walker, pastor.

The Temple Building, where most of the Protestant religious services of the town were held, was built through the agency and efforts of Dr. John T. Temple, who had arrived early in July, 1833, with his family, consisting of a wife and four children. He was a pious and earnest Baptist Christian, and came to Chicago from Washington, D. C., armed with a contract to carry the mails from Chicago to Fort Howard, Green Bay. His contract gave him a surety of a living, so that his surplus energy could well be used in the services of the Lord, as he understood it. Through his efforts, he, heading the subscription paper with $100, found funds to build a two-story building at the corner of Franklin and South Water streets, which was the earliest struct- ure dedicated especially to religion and education erected in Chicago. The lower story was a hall for religious services, the upper floor was a school-room, where Granville Temple Sproat kept one of the first public schools. Miss Chappel (Mrs. Jeremiah Porter), Miss Sarah Warren (Mrs. Abel E. Carpenter), and S. L. Carpenter were at different times teachers in schools held in this building .*

The Temple Building did not derive its name from its dedication to sacred uses, but from the fact that Dr. Temple built it and rented it to such societies, religious or otherwise, as could pay the rent. The name of the builder gave to the building itself a double sanctity that its subsequent career could not sustain.

There were four hotels : The ol.l Wolf Point Tavern. formerly kept by Caldwell & Wentworth, then by Chester Ingersoll, who had re-christened it " The Trav- elers' Home ;" the Sauganash, on the south side of what is now Lake Street, near the forks of the river, still kept by the original proprietor, Mark Beaubien ; the Green Tree Tavern, just built by James Kinzie,

and leased to David Clock, who was the landlord; the Mansion House, where are now numbers 84 and 86 Lake Street. It was at that time an unpretentious log tavern kept by Dexter Graves, and according to some authorities had no name, being on the site of the build- ing which was afterwards known by the above-mentioned name. Besides this there were several boarding-houses where transients were fed and lodged, if there was room, which depended upon how particular the regular board- ers might be as to the number or character of the said transients who had to be stowed away in their rooms, either as bed-fellows, or on the floor. Mrs. Rufus Brown kept one of the first-class boarding houses.

In addition to the ministers, lawyers, doctors, land- lords and others before named, a fair assortment of druggists, merchants, butchers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and other artisans were settled in the town. There was also a score of adventurers, comprising moneyed specu- lators and prospectors, as yet undecided whether to stay at Chicago or go on.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 35

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340