History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 64

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 64

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

"The great and continued emigration to the town and coun- try has kept all kinds of grain and provisions scarce and dear, and often difficult to procure at any price. The very great demand for laborers and mechanics on the buildings and improvements of the town has maintained a very high rate of wages for workmen. The influx of this class of emigrants has been great, too; but the apparent facilities offered them of securing valuable portions of public land by settling on it-and which were confirmed to settlers and claimants at the recent land sales here-have encouraged me- chanics and laborers on arriving, or soon after, to abandon their appropriate trades or occupations for a bright hope of soon making their fortunes under the pre-emptinn laws. Some of my best workmen, and who had been on the works since their commence- ment, have, since the sales at this place, refused to continue at a rate of wages from Sign to $2 per day. They have gone to Milwaukee and elsewhere to make locations on public lands. The constant changes of workmen thus made has been embarrassing and expensive to the work."

Captain Allen's map, drawn in October, 1837, indi- cates that, at this time, the south pier had been finished from a point opposite Fort Dearborn, across the old channel of the river, and so on out into the lake, a total

* See report of Lieutenant Allen to Brigadier-General C. Gratiut, chief en- gineer, dated September 30, 1335,

235

CHICAGO HARBOR.

distance of one thousand eight hundred and fifty feet. Some five hundred feet of the lake end with the bulk- head was unfinished or only projected. The shore end of the north pier for seven hundred feet had not been finished, but it had been pushed out into the lake for twelve hundred feet, with four hundred feet of pier and bulkhead projected, in order to shut out the outer sand- bar, which now extended beyond the end of this, the weather pier. Of the old sandbar, between the river and the lake, only a small tongue remained, about one hundred and seventy-five by one hundred and twelve feet. Although the eastern bank of the original chan- nel was mostly washed away, its western boundary (the swamp east of the fort) was visible then. In 1838 $30,000 was appropriated, but it became now evident that the improvement was progressing under a wrong plan. The prevailing currents of the lake had been rapidly depositing sediment in the shape of sandbars, which were backing up against the north pier, their general trend being a little more to the north than the old sandbar. Within the outer sandbar, which in 1837 extended beyond the finished portion of the north pier, had been formed two bars. By the continued process of deposit these were lifted further and further into view, and the intervening space filled with sand, until the second bar of 1837 virtually became the shore line of 1838. Since the commencement of improvements in 1833, the shore line had extended seven hun- dred feet out into the lake along the north pier, and was rapidly pushing farther in that direction. It was only a question of short time before the third sand- bar, which had already been formed beyond the pier, would become a new shore line ; and it would seem, un- less the direction of the work was changed, that the task of protecting the harbor entrance would be an indefinite contest between the governmental purse and the natural forces of wind, wave and current. As the sandbars and the shore line extended out into the lake, the pier, in order to be of any benefit, would have to keep pace with its progress. It was therefore decided to change the direction of the pier 2512° more to the north* but the appropriation of 1838 having been expended in extend- ing the under-work four hundred and five feet in the new direction and dredging the bar already formed, it was found that this plan was no better than the old. The bar continued to form not only because of the cur- rents of the lake, but the wind blowing from the north across the pier carried the sand from the beach into the harbor itself. Vessels now made the entrance with great difficulty in fair weather, and were entirely excluded from shelter during storms. At the commencement of operations in 1839 it was found that the bar had ex- tended across the entrance to the channel, and four hun- dred and fifty yards beyond. In the latter part of March, 1839, Lieutenant (now General) A. A. Hum- phreys, who had succeeded Captain Allen, was relieved, at his own request, by Captain T. J. Cram. Under him Captain J. H. Leavenworth acted as agent in charge of the harbor works, the only thing attempted up to 1842 being to preserve the protections already built. Under him the superstructure of the pier was extended in the new direction, and then further appropriations were cut off. In April the board of engineers decided that all expenditures upon the harbor would be for only such work as might be necessary to protect what had been completed up to that date. A few days later, lake cap- tains were notified of the formation of the bar across the harbor's entrance. Under date of September 1, 1839, when work was entirely suspended, Captain Cram

reported as still unfinished several hundred feet on the west end and four hundred and five feet on the east end of the north pier ; also two hundred and fifty feet on the west, and three hundred and eighty feet on the east end of the south pier. Repeated but unsuccessful ef- forts were made by Chicago citizens to obtain appropria- tions in 1839 and IS40 ; the apathy of Congress and the evident attempt of that body to ignore the claims of Chicago creating much dissatisfaction, and suggesting the memorial of 1841. This document was signed by Mayor Sherman, the Board of Aldermen and City Clerk Hoyne. It exhibited the commercial importance of Chicago, showing that her average import trade for the past six years had reached $1,500,000, her export trade $348,362. The progress of work upon the harbor was reviewed and the deplorable condition of affairs at that time noticed. Piles and timbers from the upper end of the north pier were being carried away, and the dredg- ing machines and sand scows were going to pieces. Not less than $4,000 would repair the damage already done. The appropriation had run out and a permanent sand- bar was rapidly forming. If assistance should not be granted soon, "commerce would be without shelter and human life and property endangered to a lamentable extent." The memorialists not only prayed for "im- mediate temporary," but for "immediate permanent " relief. . Chicago's claims continued to be pressed upon Congress, and the result was that in 1843 an "item " of $25,000 was obtained, to be expended upon the harbor. With this sum a series of repairs and some new work was effected, under the superintendence of Captain George B. McClellan. Another appropriation (§30,000) was obtained in 1844, and during that year and the next the height of the north pier was increased from one to two feet. The appropriation was soon exhausted and Congress was again begged for assistance. Citizens of Chicago poured in upon that body facts and figures, showing her importance as a lake port and the supreni- acy of the commerce of the Great Lakes in which this city led the way.

Including the appropriation of 1844 over $247,000 had been expended upon the harbor, with what results the reader is informed. Two years followed, during which the engineers made estimates, and the citizens presented memorials. Even Congressman Wentworth's speech in favor of the river and harbor bill, in Febru- ary, 1846, did not break the monotony of the " No- appropriation " period. President Jackson, the friend of internal improvement, was dead, and President Polk was his antipode. The estimate of 1846 to provide for the completion of the north pier and for necessary repairs was $24,297. It is well known that in August of that year the river and harbor bill received the pres- idential veto, which included $12,000 to be expended on Chicago harbor and $15,000 for a steam dredge boat to be used on Lake Michigan. The bill had, through the endeavors of Mr. Wentworth, received the powerful support of Daniel Webster, who addressed an able letter to the convention which met in 1847. This statesman had visited Chicago in 1837, had a fair knowledge of the lake region, and was thoroughly able to lay before the Senate his reasons for supporting the appropriation. He pictured a terrific storm on Lake Michigan, the despair of the crew, the wreck of the vessel and remarked : " What but a merciful Providence saved me from such a catastrophe when I passed over Lake Michigan in 1837?" Notwithstanding the able support which the bill received, and the decisive major- ity which it obtained, President Polk vetoed it and the whole Northwest arose against him. The summary

· Memorial to Congress of 1841.

236

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

action of the Chief Executive attracted the attention of the people, and, within a year, the great River and Har- bor Convention was an accomplished fact .* William M. Hall, agent of the Lake Steamboat Association, with headquarters in St. Louis, is the acknowledged father of this gathering, wherein was assembled much of the political and commercial ability of the country, protest- ing against the narrow views and action of the Presi- dent of the United States.

At the close of the season of 1846 Mr. Hall gave an editorial dinner in the city of St. Louis, at which the proceedings of the River and Harbor Convention, lately held in Memphis, came up for informal discussion. The conference concluded by Colonel A. B. Chambers, of the Missouri Republican, turning to Mr. Hall, and suggesting that the latter was the man of all others best fitted to move in the matter of calling a river and harbor conven- tion, irrespective of party, to urge. upon Congress the necessity of improving the water-ways of the West. Mr. Hall thereupon visited Chicago, where he met R. L. Wilson, Dr. W. B. Egan, S. Lisle Smith, and others, . who- approved of the plan, and pledged themselves to support the enterprise. . Captain E. B. Ward and Oliver Newberry, of Detroit, Millard Fillmore and E.G. Spauld- ing of Buffalo-in fact most of the influential commer- cial and broad-minded men of the lake cities, of Springfield, of Boston and of New York, were as a unit in recognizing the grandeur and the beneficial effects of the movement. Finally, at New York, Mr. Hall met William Duane Wilson. Robert Fergus and a few other Western gentlemen, and made arrangements to hold a meeting, in furtherance of his project, at Rathbun's Hotel. The meeting was quite largely at- tended, and the committee recommended that a con- vention be held in Chicago, June 17. The time was subsequently changed to July 5. The committees on arrangements appointed were as follows : Chicago, William B. Ogden, S. Lisle Smith, George W. Dole ; Milwaukee, Byron Kilbourne, W. D. Wilson ; Detroit, Augustus J. Porter ; Cleveland, J. W. Allen ; Buffalo, James L. Barton ; St. Louis, David Chambers. The Chicago committee called a meeting in this city on No- vember 13. It was largely attended, and resulted in the preparation of an address, which so fairly presents the prevailing sentiment and the aims of the July con- vention that it is given entire :

"The high prices of freight, taken io connection with the loss of life and property upon the Western waters last season, caused sev- eral public meetings to be held in various sections of the country, for the purpose of devising the best means of remedying those and otber evils of which the great mass of the people interested in com- merce were complaining. At all these .meetings the propriety of holding a convention at some convenient point was discussed and universally concurred in. In consequence of Chicago having been generally named as the proper point, its citizens called a meeting, named the 5th of July as the appropriate time, and chose the under- signed a committee to draft an address, setting forth the objects of the convention. The movers in this matter have been, from the first, like the undersigned, of entirely different politics, and, so far from there being, even in the remotest degree, any political design in the contemplated convention, one of the chief objects of it is to call together for a common object the men of all parties, and to con- vince the people everywhere that the improvements desired are not now, never have been, and never should be, connected with 'party politics,' in the ordinary use of that term. Such a connection would. in the minds of ill interested, have a very deleterions tenden- cy. It can not be denied that there is a predisposition among att politicians to support the measure of a chief magistrate of their own pirty, and hence we have seen Western representatives, originally supporting harbor and river improvements, and elected upon ex- press pledges to do so, finally vote to support a vele of bills provid- ing for that purpose, and assigning as a reason therefor that it was their duty to sustain an executive of their own selection. even

· For full, reliable and interesting account of River and Harbor Convention of 1847. see Fergus's Historical Series,

though it be in express opposition to the wishes and interests of their constituents. Repeated instances of this kind must eventually give this question somewhat of a political cast, which the under signed and all who cooperate with them would seriously regret.

The construction of harbors upon our northern lakes, as well as upon the Atlantic, with the improvement of our great rivers. where commerce is of a national character, necessarily involves no questions of party difference. They are matters that must interest all parties, as they do all classes, alike, and harbor and river bills have been supported by the ablest men of both the great politicai parties which divide this country. This subject has never entered into any presidential canvass, since each party has always taken it for granted that the candidate of the other was above suspicion upon a matter of such preëminent importance. The first congress that ever assembled under the present constitution, many of whose members helped to frame it, passed a law defraying all expenses which should accrue after the 15th of August, 1739. in the necessary support, maintenance, and repairs of all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers, erected, placed, or sunk, before the pass- age of this act, at the entrance of, or within any bay, inlet, harbor, or ports of the United States, for rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe. General Washington signed this bill. and bills for the continuance of such work were also successively signed by presidents the elder Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. The first lake harbor bill was signed by Mr. Monroe. He never raised the constitutional question, nor do the congressional debates of those days show that any members of either branch of Congress made any distinction between salt and fresh water improvements, or be- tween foreign and domestic commerce. All at that time were acknowledged alike descrving the fostering care of the General Government, as they also were during the administrations of the younger Adams, General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren. Though remarkably scrupulous as to the extent of which the power to con- struct works of internal improvements should be exercised, General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren signed bills for the improvement of rivers and construction of harbors to the amount of $7.So0,000, and the two bills signed by General Jackson in 1836 contained no less than eighty-nine items, and the bill of 1837 no less than fifty- nine. After the General Government has expended upward of seventeen millions of dollars for works of internal improvement, and mostly in the old States, by the consent and support of the very framers of the constitution and their cotemporaries, and by men, too, of all political parties, there can now be but little consideration due the cry that 'it is unconstitutional,' or the plan of a single political party to extend the advantages of such works to the new States, and to such portions of the old States as have thus far been neglected.

"Thus disposing of the constitutional and political question, the friends of harbor and river improvements arrive at the only one which can rightfully be raised, and that is merely the question of necessity. Is IT NECESSARY to protect our domestic as well as our foreign commerce? Shall we protect the lesser and neglect the greater ? For the past thec years, petitions have been presented to Congress in vain: Senators and Representatives in Congress have spoken in vain. The present Secretary of War, in his official reports, has recommended in vain; and the whole topographical corps has estimated in vain; our bills have invariably been vetoed, and we have been unable to secure two-thirds of the popular branch. Con- fident that there is wanting a knowledge of the necessity of these improvements among the people or their representatives, since all efforts at success have failed, it has been thought that a general con- vention, and consultation, with personal observation, might do much for us. There is not a State in the confederacy but that touches the lakes, the ocean, or the great rivers of the West. The lakes line almost our entire northern frontier, and separate us from a foreign country; and the rivers, like arteries run through the whole country, constituting an extent of navigation sufficient to reach round the globe.

"These great waters, for whose safe navigation this Convention is called, are soon to be united by the completion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. The commerce of Boston, of Philadelphia, of Baltimore, of New York, of New Orleans, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and, indeed, of the whole country, thence beconies in a great measure connected. It has a common interest, and no injury could, and the greatest advantages might rise from a common con- sultation. It is a notorious fact that statements, during the pen- dency of harbor and river bills before Congress, are made on the highest personal authority, which never would be made if the #11- thors had any personal observation of the great inland waters of this country, or could realize the necessity of the millions whose lives and property are jeopardized by them. Delegates in attendance will not only have the advantages of their own observation to take back with them, but they can profit others meeting them here by .. consultation as to the best means of redressing existing wrong- Having done this, they can impart the proper feelings to their neighbors, and thus aid in arousing the people to take this must: - into their own hands, and see that their chief interests are no longer

237

CHICAGO HARBOR.

neglected. It is confidently hoped that a more intimate acquaint- ance with the claims of these great waters, formed by men con- gregated for this special purpose from all parts of the Union, will result in sufficiently convicting and awakening the public mind to secure the constitutional majority, should a harbor bill ever again be vetoed. This Convention is designed to be one of free discus- sion, and it is hoped that the opponents as well as the friends of lake and river improvements will attend, and more especially since it is generally believed that they have only to see for themselves in order to be convinced that these demands, coming from all our great waters, are founded in justice.

"Although the construction of harbors and the improvement of rivers will be the prominent subject before the Convention, yet, whatever matters appertain to the prosperity of the West, and to the development of its resources, will come properly before it, and all plans and suggestions will be freely entertained. The commit- tee invite a general attendance from all sections of the Union, and tender, in behalf of their fellow-citizens, the hospitalities of the city of Chicago to such. as impelled by a common interest, see fit to honor them by their presence on this occasion.

" JOIN WENTWORTH, "GEORGE MANIERRE, " J. YOUNG SCAMMON, " ISAAC N. ARNOLD, " GRANT GOODRICH."

As the date for holding the convention approached, it was obvious that the aim of its originators to avoid making it of any political significance had been realized. Previous to its opening, letters were re-

George Manier

ceived from Daniel Webster and Thomas H. Benton, one the leading statesmen of the East, and the other a leading statesman of the West, warmly endorsing the , objects of the convention and recognizing its national character.

The first day of the convention was marked by the re- ception of delegates by Mayor Curtiss. The procession took up the line of march, through the principal streets of the city. to the court-house square. Its order was as follows: Marshal Maxwell; band; Cleveland Light Ar-

A Maxwell

tillery; Montgomery Guards, under Captain W. B. Snowhook; cavalry under R. K. Swift: Ship-Conven- tion; Engineers' Department, under Stephen F. Gale; Fire Department; band; Committee of Reception; Illi- nois delegation, six hundred strong; other delegations;

societies and orders of Chicago, etc. In the words of the editor of the Evening Journal, July 6, 1847:

" Never was the birthday of our National Independence more hefittingly celebrated than on this day-to give freedom and tone to the pulse of commerce-to cheer the mariner on his airy shrouds-to brighten the homes and the hopes of thousands. Is there, can there, be a nobler cause under which freemen can raily in behalf of the State? That vessel with sails all set, and signals flying to the breeze, drawn by eight horses and manned through- out by sailors, bore a banner eloquent of the object of this Con- vention. It was a sea roughened hy storms that lifted the waves to the very heaven in a distance, but hard by was a flarimer where ' the winds and the waves lay together asleep,' and a light-house lifting its star of joy and hope upon the rocky chffs. Over ali was inscribed the significant words, 'What we want.' Ah! that ship

'Convention ' had a speech and an argument that appealed to the eve and reached even to the heart; and we are sure that it will not be the fault of the body of delegates now assembled, if many a gallant eraft does not plough these inland seas and nobly breast the storm, in the good hope of a light to guide it, and a safe harbor at last."

When the delegates had taken their places in the pavilion, William B. Ogden, of the Committee of Nine,

R. K. Swift

appointed at New York, September 28, moved that James L. Barton, of Buffalo, be temporary chairman ; Colonel A. B. Chambers, of St. Louis, and Hans Crocker, of Milwaukee, secretaries. This motion was carried, rules were adopted for governing the proceed- ings of the convention, and the committee on permanent officers presented a ticket to the convention, headed by Edward Bates, of Missouri. A motion made to substi- tute Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, in place of Mr. Bates, was thwarted by Mr. Corwin himself, who peremptorily declined serving, under the circumstances. Mr. Bates, . although he had withdrawn from public life many years previously, had been a resident of the West since early manhood and having resided in St. Louis, was especially interested in all matters connected with the improve- ment and protection of navigation. While acting as the sole congressional representative of Missouri, in the days of the elder Adams, Mr. Bates had felt it his duty to cast the vote of his State for that gentleman. To use a phrase much in vogue among the politicians, Mr. Bates was therefore " retired " from public life, and had since resided in St. Louis, a respected and dis- tinguished member of the Bar. When called to the chair few members of the convention were aware of his eminent fitness to guide the deliberations of so distin- guished an assemblage. It is not within the province of this article to go into details with regard to the pro- ceedings of this convention. Suffice it to say, that never before had there been a grander gathering of men, so free from political aims ; nor has there been one since where the statesman so predominated over the party politician. The convention was held in an immense tent pitched in the public square. It is esti- mated that the attendance was fully twenty thousand, of whom one-half were members of the convention. Represented in that assemblage were leading men from Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky, Indiana, Mis- souri, Rhode Island, Iowa, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsyl- vania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Maine, Illinois, New Jersey and New Hampshire. It was a direct and national protest against the attitude of Presi- dent Polk toward the improvements of the rivers and harbors of the West, and indicated how weakly he was supported. The sensations of the convention. how- ever, were the wonderfully eloquent speech delivered by Hon. Edward Bates, chairman of the meeting, and the short, not to say curt, letter of regret, received from Hon. Lewis Cass. of Michigan. Governor Cass evidently forgot the resources of the times, failing to re- member that an internal improvement convention of IS4; was not to be conducted upon the basis of 1837, when the wild fever swept over the State of Michigan as well as Illinois. The session lasted three days, and an ex- entive committee, consisting of two members of the convention from each of the eighteen States represented,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 64

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