History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 70

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 70

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" The land offices in 1851 were Chicago, Dixon, Danville, Vandalia and Kaskaskia.

"Chicago was estimated to contain about 40,000 inhabitants in 1851.

"In June, 1852, the contract was let for grading the road from La Salle to Bloomington. But owing to the high elevation in crossing the Illinois River and the expensive grading on each side of the river for several miles, a temporary track was laid from tbe main line a few miles south of l.a Salle to the top of the bluff immediately opposite to La Salle, and an inclined plane was constructed from the top of the bluff down to the Illinois River, so that iron and other material for the construction of the road could be loaded on cars at the foot of the plane and drawn up by stationary power at the head of the plane and then distrib- uted with an engine and cars that had previously been taken up the plane. This road was completed to Bloomington in the early part of 1853, and on the completion of the Rock Island road to LaSalle a temporary bridge was constructed over the Illinois River and a track laid from the foot of the plane to connect with the Rock Island Railroad, making a continuous railroad track from Chi- cago to Bloomington.

"During 1352 the entire line was put under contract and was completed on the 27th of September, 1856, but owing to the few settlements it was very difficult to get men and teams and supplies for them. Agents were sent to New York and New Orleans to get men, and in some cases their fare was paid, with the promise of refunding it out of their work. But these promises were frequent- ly entirely disregarded. Some men would not even gu on to the work a few miles only from the steamboat landing ; others would come on perhaps at evening and get their supper, lodging and breakfast and start off the next morning for other quarters, but notwithstanding these drawbacks many men were procured in this way. In the early construction of the road, large supplies for men and teams came from St. Louis for the main line south of Decatur, and from Indiana for the Chicago Branch. In many cases four and other supplies were hauled nearly or quite one hundred miles. The iron for the road from Lasalle to Bloomington was sent from New York by Hudson River, Erie Canal and the lakes to Chi- cago and by Illinois & Michigan Canal to LaSalle. On the 5th of March, 1853, I was advised that from twelve to fifteen thousand tons of railroad iron would soon arrive in New Orleans, subject to my order. This iron was distributed to all points where the line of the road could be reached by water, for instance to Cairo; to

the mouth of the Cash River, a few miles north of Cairo; to the mouth of the Big Muddy River, from whence it was taken by flat boats up to the line of the road, to Galena and Dunlieth, and track laying was commenced at all of these points as soon as the grading was completed, and on the completion of the Ohio & Mis- sissippi Railroad from St. Louis to the maul line, rails were sent to St. Louis and over that road, and track laying was commenced both north and south from that point; and when in 1853 the Great Western Railroad was completed from Springfield to Decatur, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy from Chicago to Mendota, and the Galena Railroad from Chicago to Freeport, iron was sent over those roads to each one of those connecting points, enabling us to lay track each way from each point. Track laying was continued south from Bloomington with iron sent from LaSalle, and south of Chicago as fast as the grading was ready. On the completion of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy to Mendota the track was laid on the Illinois Central south to the top of the bluff north of La- Salle, and thence a temporary track into LaSalle making a continu- ous railroad track from Chicago to LaSalle, which was operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad for a year or more.

"Several engines were sent from the East to Buffalo, thence by the Lake to Detroit and by Michigan Central Railroad to Chi- cago. And for the southern portion of the line an engine was sent to Cincinnati and taken down the Ohio River on a flat-boat to the mouth of Cash River, and thence up that to the line of the road. Some cars were sent from the East, but the greater part were built here in Illinois. The road was completed in detached pieces, that part of it from Freeport to Dunlieth being operated for some time by the Galena Railroad.

"To give you some idea of the pleasure of traveling in Illi- nois at that early day, I will describe a trip made with David A. Neal, Jr., vice-president of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in the fall of 1852. Leaving Chicago November to, 1852, we went by packet-boat on the Illinois & Michigan Canal to LaSalle, thence by steamer on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to Cairo, arriving at St. Louis on the 14th and Cairo on the 17th of Novem- ber, a very comfortable journey. But our plan was to return by private conveyance near the line of the railroad to Chicago. Leav- ing Cairo on the ISth, we reached Vandalia on the 23d, and Decatur the 25th with our team nearly exhausted, and unable to go any further. . The roads were so bad it was thought nearly impossible to get through and it was determined to go to Springfield and then by railroad, which had just been completed to Alton, and then by the Illinois River and Illinois & Michigan Canal to Chicago. We found it difficult to get a team to take us to Springfield, but an offer of $15 induced a livery-man to agree to take us through to Springfield, about forty miles, in a day. Leaving Decatur Friday morning, November 26, we toiled through the mud, water and ice to a small town within twelve miles of Springfield. arriving there about dark with our team tired out and entirely unable to go any further. The train left Springfield Saturday morning at eight o'clock and an offer of $15 more induced a man who had a good team to agree to take us there in time for the train, or else forfeit the $15. We agreeing to goat once or let him fix the time of starting; he named two o'clock in the morning as the time to start. So getting a little rest we were under way at two o'clock. It was then very cold, and ice of considerable thickness formed on the water cutting the horses legs quite badly to go through it. And in some cases the driver would go through on foot and break the ice before driv- ing through it. We arrived at Springfield about twenty minutes before the train left. He earned his St5 and we had a comfortable journey from there to St. Louis, where we staid over Sunday and took a steamer Monday morning for LaSalle, thence by packet- boad to Chicago, where we arrived December 4, 1852.

"It was some considerable time after the work was commenced before a local treasurer was appointed to be stationed at Chicago. And in the mean time all the funds for the payment of the engin- eers and contractors passed through my hands, so that I carried large amounts of money to all parts of the road in my carpet-bag. In going into the extreme southern part of the State I went to St. Louis with my funds or sometimes procured them there hy drafts on New York and then secured a reliable police officer to go with me until I had disbursed them. But after a time I was very much re- lieved by having John 11. Calhoun sent out to Chicago as local treasurer. lle was a competent, faithful, reliable man, and I am not aware that one dollar was ever lost or misappropriated during the construction of the road.

" There were important reasons for completing the main line of the road by January 1, 1856, and some months previous to that I was authorized to use every possible effort to complete it by that time, regardless of expense. On consultation with the grading contractors a time was fixed for the completion of their.work, re- serving only time enough to lay the track, and a bonus was offered them for every day it was completed before the time. The work was completed within the time, but the contractors did not secure a

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255

THE RAILROAD SYSTEM.

very large bonus. Extra track layers were engaged and teams employed to cart iron a few miles in advance of the regular party. When the extra party would commence and when the regular party reached that point they would go on a few miles in advance of the extra party and commence again. So by this and various other methods the track was completed on the 28th of December, IS55, and a telegram was sent to New York announcing the completion of the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad on that day.

Engine No. 42, with four cars, was the first to run over the bigh bridge at LaSalle on the 21st of August, 1854, at 5:30 P. M.

Engine No. 5 was the first to run into Cairo on the 26th of August, 1854. Yours Truly,

Masconel B. lesau

The successive steps by which the Illinois Central has obtained a property foothold in Chicago commenced with the payment of $45,000 to the General Govern- ment, in October, 1850, in consideration for which the company obtained possession of the unoccupied portion of the Fort Dearborn reservation. The railroad com- pany paid the sum under protest, claiming that this tract was included in the Congressional grant. Suit was brought in the Court of Claims for the recovery of the money, but the decision went against the company. In 1852 the Legislature empowered the company to build a branch from the terminus at Twelfth Street to the south pier of the inner harbor, and the City Council supplemented the action of the Legislature in June of the same year by an ordinance admitting the company to lay tracks parallel with the lake shore, the condition being that the road should enter the city at or near the intersection of the southern limits and the lake, and pursue a course along the shore to the southern limit of Lake Park, in front of Canal Section No. 15, and con- tinue due north to the proposed site within the Fort Dearborn addition to Chicago, between the line of Ran- dolph Street and the main river. This actually handed over to the company the right to use a strip of shore three hundred feet wide, east of a line drawn parallel with Michigan Avenue, four hundred distant from the west line of that thoroughfare.

In September, 1852, the Illinois Central commenced work on the lake-shore protection, or breakwater, which was completed in two years, under the superintendency of Colonel R. B. Mason, chief engineer. Mr. Bross, in speaking of the great work, says :

"This great work commences at the south pier, four hundred feet inside of its extreme east end and extends south one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven feet into the lake ; thence west six hundred and seventy-five feet on the north line of Randolph Street ; thence southwest one hundred and fifty feet ; thence to a point opposite the American Car Factory, making fourteen thousand three hundred and seventy-seven-in all sixteen thousand four hundred and fifty-nine feet. From the pier to the engine-house the breakwater is twelve feet wide : thence down to the car com- pany's works half that width. The upper portion of the crib work is built of square timber twelve by twelve, locked together every ten feet, and the intermediate space filled by stone, piles being driven on the outside to keep it in place. The first piece of crib work sunk, in building the breakwater, has a very stout plank bottom. The water line of the erib work, south of Randolph Street, is six hundred feet east of the east side of Michigan Avenue, and the outer line of the crib work, between Randolph Street and the river, is one thousand three hundred and seventy-five feet. The arca thus inciosed, and rescued from the dominion of the lake is about thirty-three acres."

In 1855 the Common Council gave the company per- mission to use a triangular piece of land, which lay north of Randolph and a short distance west of the land granted in 1852. In 1856 the city granted a right to use the space between the breakwater, from a point seven hundred feet south of the north line of Randolph

Street, branching out and running thence to the south- east corner of the company's breakwater as then estab- lished, and thence to the river. In February of this year, passenger trains over the Illinois Central, the Mich- igan Central and the Chicago & St. Louis roads, com- menced to run into the new depot of the first named com- pany. After that year the company continued to improve and possess submerged and other lands east of the east line of the two hundred feet granted in the original or- dinance.

This company was the first to take action in the matter of suburban trains. A time table was issued June 1, 1856, and three trains placed on the line between the city and Hyde Park.

The gross earnings of the Illinois Central Railroad from March 24 to October 31, 1855, were $595,633.86 ; the amount of State tax paid into the State treasury, $29,751.59, the rate levied being five per cent. For the six months ending April 30, 1856, the gross earnings were S630,580.02 and the tax $31,529. The earnings for the half year ending October 31, 1856, aggregated $922,053.30 and the taxes paid $46,102.66. For the six months ending April 30, 1857, the total earnings were $935,386.69 ; the rate of tax varied from five to seven per cent, yielding to the State a revenue of $59, 196.82. During the half year ending October 31, 1857, the gross earnings amounted to $1,234,986, and the tax, levied at the rate of seven per cent, to $86,449.02.

LAND SALES .- C. C. P. Holden furnishes the follow- ing interesting facts in regard to the early sales of Illinois Central Railroad lands, and their marked effect upon the prosperity of the State :

"The foundation upon which rested the corner stone of the Illinois Central Railroad was the grant of lands from the General Government to the State of Illinois-under the act of Congress of September 20, IS50, and from the State of Illinois to the company, by act approved February IO, 1851. This grant consisted of 2,595,000 acres of land selected from the public domain and lying on each side of their road, within fifteen miles thereof. The grant of this large body of land gave the company a credit which other- wise it might not have been able to obtain. With these lands as a foundation upon which to guarantee the payment of their bonds at maturity and the interest on the same as it became due, their credit took immediate shape and they readily placed their bonds, of which there were ten thousand of $1,000 each, and fourteen thousand of $500, each, in all for $17,000,000. The payment of these bonds was secured by a mortgage pledging 2,000,000 acres of the com- pany's lands therefor. The residue of 595,000 acres of said lands were at the disposal of John Moore, S. D. Lockwood, and Morris Ketchum, trustees named in the bill, the proceeds to be used in pay- ing the interest on the above bonds, and to ' meet such demands as the exigencies of the company may demand.' With this advantage secured, the company took immediate shape and went forward to carry out the object of the grant, under the act of Congress and of our own State Legislature.

"The writer hereof having been for a long period of years connected with the sale and management of these lands, it may not be amiss to briefly review some of the results accruing to the rail- road company, to the State of Illinois, and finally to the great Northwest through the sale and settlement of the lands of this corporation. The State of Illinois at the time the grant was made had a population of $51,470 ; and the counties through which the road was located-to-wit, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Ogle, I.ce, La- Salle, Marshall, Woodford, McLean, Dewitt, Macon, Christian, Shelby, Fayette, Marion, Washington, Perry, Jackson, I'nion. Alexander, Pulaski, Clav, Effingham, Cumberland, Coles, Chan- paign. Vermillion, Iroquois, Will and Cook-had a population of 255,284. The State debt at that time was $15,000,000. In the early spring of 1951, the company fully organized, when its officers and board of directors took immediate steps for the construction of the road and the branches thereof, a task that would have ap- palled the most of men ; but the directors were fully equal to the occasion, and one of their first acts was to select Colonel Roswell B. Mason, to locate and build the road.

"In 1852, 1853 and 1854 the company's lands were selected and platted, under the supervision of John C. Dodge, of Chicago. with local agencies at Freeport, Dixon, LaSalle, Bloomington. Clinton. Richview, Jonesboro, Urbana and Kankakee. 'I hose

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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

who were living upon the lands prior to September 20, 1850, had the right to prove up their claim, pay $2.50 per acre and take deeds therefor. The agents at the above points were John A. Clark, Freeport ; Silas Noble, Dixon ; S. B. Carter, LaSalle ; A. Gridley, Bloomington ; C. 11. Moore, Clinton ; B. G. Roots, Richview; D. L. Phillips, Jonesboro ; John Campbell, Urbana, and A. Chester, Kankakee. They also made sales of other lands belonging to the company in their respective districts.

"Early in 1855, under the administration of J. N. A. Gris- wold, president of the road, the Land Department was thoroughly organized under the immediate supervision of Charles M. Dupuy. The lands of the entire grant were divided into districts where engineering parties examined each and every tract, reporting the result of their labors to the Chicago office. These examinations were made for the purpose of ascertaining the quality of the soil, whether timber or prairie, its nearness to any settlement, proximity to water, with any other information bearing upon the value of the same. When these examinations had been completed and copied in books furnished for that purpose at the Chicago office, prices were attached to each tract, and then the land was thrown into market. Mr. Dupuy thoroughly systematized the work, and by a judicious system of advertising both at home and abroad, the de- mands for the lands of this company soon commenced to increase. People came from all parts of the country-from the North and from the South, from the East and from Europe-seeking homes for themselves and their families along the line of the Illinois Central.

" By the first of May, 1855, emigration began to pour into the State, especially seeking the lands of this company. It was about the 5th of that month that the writer hereof was detailed to locate for Adam Smith thirty-two tracts of three hundred and twenty acres each, between Ashkum Station, on the north, and Rantoul on the south. The lands were to be located in the following manner: Each tract to be three miles from the railroad, three miles from timber, and three miles from any improvement whatever; that is, we have a distance of forty miles north and south in which to make the selections. We started out and succeeded in making nearly all of the locations. There were a few tracts, however, which had to come inside the three-mile limits, and we had the order so changed as to allow this to be done. When the land grant was made, from a few miles south of Chicago to the south lioe of Coles County, be- low Mattoon, the country was one bleak wilderness, save small set- tlements along the timber belts, which were off from the line of railroad; from the Boubornais settlement to the timber southwest of Paxton, inside the fifteen-mile limits on the west side of the railroad, there were but two families living at the time. The same condition of things existed on the main line, especially so between LaSalle and Pana. Along the timber belts and water-ways there were meagre settlements, while, in the great open prairie, settle- ments had not begun. This was the condition of the country along the line of the Illinois Central in the beginning of 1855. It was a common occurrence in those days for the writer to have a train stop in the great open prairie to allow himself and a party of land hunters to get off. and start out over the prairie from section to section, making sales if it was possible to do so. Then striking the road at some other point, with a red handkerchief as a flag, the first train that came along would be stopped, and the party taken aboard. In nearly every instance of this kind, sales of the company's lands were effected before returning to Chicago, . when the purchasers received their contracts or deeds. When Colonel Mason located the line of road not a single railroad crossed the right-of-way of this company from Chicago to Cairo, and from Centralia to Dunleith; but the face of the country was bound to change. The settlers were continually pouring into the State and seeking the lands of this company. Many bought large tracts, be- ing encouraged so to do by the low rate of interest charged, which was only two per cent per annum. Two years, interest paid at the time of purchase was all that was required down, but the great ma- jority bought from eighty to one hundred and sixty acres each. Dur- ing the years 1855-56 the number of seekers for these lands was very great, and as many as twenty and thirty frequently took the train from Chicago, generally in charge of a land salesman to select homes for themselves and their families. By the close of 1856 more than 1,000,000 acres had been sold. Early in 1856, W. H. Osborn had succeeded J. N. A. Griswold as president of the road, and the Hoz. John Wilson from the General Land Office at Washington had succeeded Charles M. Dupuy as commissioner in charge of the land department of the company. Mr. Wilson, like his prede- cessor, put forth every effort known in the way of advertising, to attract the attention of the general Lastern, Southern and European public to the lands of the Illinois Central Railroad. The very large sums of money expended in this way had their effect ten-fold, not only in attracting the people of the country to the lands of this company but to the great undeveloped Northwest wbere not a railroad then existed, Many of the travelers and ex-

plorers, after looking over the country tributary to the Illinois Cen- tra! followed the water-courses to the far West and Northwest. and saw the endless plains and the beautiful countries now embraced within the boundaries of Minnesota, Nebraska, Dakota, and even the far-off country beyond."

Church & P. Holden.

GALENA & CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD COMPANY .- The year 1850 is the commencement of an era in the railroad history of Chicago and Illinois. Then the ob- taining of the land grant by the Illinois Central made the building of that road an assurance, and the con- struction of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad to Elgin, forty miles west, placed that line on a paying basis from the start. The hearts of the stockholders were gladdened, even in 1850, by their pocket-books re- ceiving a dividend of ten per centum. It already was assuming so independent an air that when, in Decem- ber, 1850, the Michigan Southern made a proposition to build a road to the Indiana State-line, using the grant of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad in its construction, that corporation flatly refused the offer, saying that it could build the road itself.

During the year ending June 3, 1851, the company purchased Block 1, original town of Chicago, one-half mile east of the then depot. A drawbridge over the North Branch was constructed in 1851, and the tracks laid through new North Water Street. On that day William B. Ogden resigned the presidency of the road, and John B. Turner, among its earliest and most faith- ful friends, was elected to the position. In November a fine passenger depot, fifty by two hundred and thirty feet in size, was constructed on North Water Street, west of Clark.

The road was finally completed to Belvidere, when the management was called upon to encounter greater vexa- tions than any it had been able to dispose of up to that time. At this point an effort was made to divert the road from its original route to Savannah, which would leave Stephenson County without the benefits her peo- ple had so industriously labored for and liberally con- tributed to obtaining. Those who had urged the taking of stock were discouraged at the apparent failure of the scheme, while those who had subscribed were bitter in their expressions of disappointment. Finally, a com- mittee of gentlemen from Freeport, composed of J. H. Addams, D. A. Knowlton, O. H. Wright and John A. Clark, visited Rockford to endeavor to procure the exe- cution of the original contract, and secured the indorse- ment of the people that so far as they could influence a decision it should be done. The trip was continued to Chicago, and after labors that were effectual as were the laborers deserving of the public thanks, the project of diverting the road was abandoned. Labor was con- tinued on the route, and in August, 1853, the iron horse entered Freeport amid the rejoicings that such an occa- sion would bring forth.

In 1848 a charter was procured by the officers of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad to extend their road between Beloit and Madison-subsequently known as the Rock River Valley Railroad. In 1851 the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad Company was incorporated, and, with the Rock River Valley, was consolidated with the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac, in 1855. This system was in turn consolidated with the Wisconsin & Superior.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 70

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