History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 95

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time > Part 95

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The area over which the fire spread is as follows: In the West Division one hundred and ninety-four acres; in the South Division, four hundred and sixty acres, and in the North Division, one thousand, four hundred and seventy acres, making a total of two thousand, one hundred and twenty-four acres traversed. The number of people rendered homeless and the num- ber of houses destroyed, are thus given by the relialle statistician Elias Colbert: Houses destroyed. North Di- vision, 13.300; South Division, 3,650 ; West Division, 500. l'ersons made homeless, North Division, 74.450; South Division, 27,800; West Division, 2,250.

The following proclamation * was the first official action of the municipal authorities after the fire :

PROCLAMATION. Whereas, In the providence of God, to whose will we humhly sulimit, a terrible calamity bas befallen our city, which demands of us our best efforts for the preservation of order and the relief of suffering :

Be it known, That the faith and credit of the city of Chicago are hereby pledged for the necessary expenses for the relief of the suffering. Public order will he preserved. The police and special pol ce now being appointed will he responsible for the maintenance

· Original in ponsesug ul the Chicago Historical Society.

381

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

of the peace and the protection of property, All officers and men of the Fire Department and Health Department will act as special pol.ermen without further nobee. The Mayor and Comptroller will give vouchers for all supplies furnished by the different relief commillees. The headquarters of the City Government will be at the Congregational church, corner of West Washington and Ann streets. All persons are warned against any aet lending to en- danger property. Persons caught in any depredation will be im- mediately arrested. With the help of God. order and peace and private property will be preserved. The City Government and the committee of citizens pledge themselves to the community to pro- teel them, and prepare the way for a restoration of public and pri- vate welfare. It is believed the fire has spent its force, and all will soon be well.

R. B. MASON, Mayor, GEORGE TAYLOR. Comptroller. (By R. B. MASON.)

CHARLES C. P. HOLDEN, President Common Couneil. T. B. BROWN, President Board of Police.

October 9. 1871, 2 F M.

On October 11, 1871, the city was declared to be under martial law ; and a company of the Fifth Infan- try, from Fort Leavenworth, was divided into squads and placed on guard over the principal buildlings. Spe- cial volunteer companies were organized and placed on duty, and special policemen and patrolmen were on duty day and night. In their excess of caution many made smokers extinguish their cigars and pipes in the un- burned districts. The admirable manner in which law and order was observed amid the chaotic confusion and conflagratio-phobia of the citizens, and despite the pres- ence of scoundrels who came to prey upon the prostrate city, is deserving of the highest eulogium. The man- ner in which the magnificent charity of the world was manifested toward ( hicago, makes any citizen who was here at that epoch speak of it in a quiet, low tone of voice-the remembrance is so dear to him and was so touchingly and earnestly displayed. One instance will evidence how the need of Chicago was felt elsewhere. A distributing depot for the supplies received was at Tobey's packing-house, near Sixteenth-street bridge, and was under charge of General Hardee, United States Army. At that depot, amid tons of edibles and cloth- ing, were received a pair of little woolen baby-shoes accompanied by a letter in a little child's writing, stat- ing that she was poor and being able to send nothing more valuable, had knitted and sent those shoes for some little burned-out baby. The shoes and note stood in General Hardee's office for a long time and spoke most eloquently to every one that saw them.

A statistical statement of the amount and value of property destroyed is as follows :

BUILDINGS,*

Eighty business blocks .. 8.515 000

Railway depuis, warehouses and Board of Trade ... 2.700 000

Hotels.

3.100 000

Theatres, elc.

865 000

Daily newspapers (offices and buildings) ..

8$3,000

One hundred other business buildings.

1.008.420

Other taxable buildings.

28.880,000

Churches and contents.

2,989.000

Public schools and contenis 249.780

Other public buildings, not taxed. 2,121 800

Other public property (streets, ele.) ..

1,763.000

Total

$ 53,000 000

PRODUCE, ETC.

Flour, 15,000 barrels.

$ 97.500

Grain ..

1,245 000

Provisions (4.400,000 lbs.). 340,000

Lumber.

1,040.000

Coal ...

600.000

Other produce

1.940,000

Total produce. $ 5.262,500

.For these statistics the compiler is indebted to Elise Colbert, published in the " History of Chicago and the Great Conflagration ;" by Elias Colbert and Everett Chamberlain,

BUSINESS-WHOLESALE AND RETAIL.

Dry goods. $ 13.500,000

Drugs .. 1,000,000

Boots, shoes, leather, ete .. 5.175,000

Hardware, iron and other metals 4,150,000

Groceries and leas ... 4.120,000

Wholesale clothing

3.650,000

Jewelry, ete ..

1,300,000

Musical instruments, ete

900 000

Books on sale.

1,145,000

Milllinery ...

1,610,000

Hats, eaps and furs.

1,060,000

Wholesale paper stock

700,000

Shipping and dredges.

800,000

Manufactures (stock, machinery and prod- uct) .. 13.255,000

Other stock and business furniture.

25,975 000

Total business. $ 78,700,000

PERSONAL EFFECTS,

Household property. $ 41.000,000

Manuscript wnrk (records, ete.) .. 10,000 000

Libraries-publie and privale. 2,010,000

Money lost (Custom House, $2,130,000) .. 5.700,000

Total personal effects $ 58 710,000

GENERAL SUMMARY.

Improvements (buildings, ele.). $ 53,000,000

Produce, elc ..

5.262,000

Manufaeluies.

13.255,000

Other business property

65.455.000

Personal effects.

58,710,000

Miscellaneous.

375,000

Grand total $196 000.000

OF THIS THE LOSS TO THE CITY WAS!

On City Hall and furniture $ 470,000 00

On water works ..

248,910 00

On sewerage and works. 42,000 00

On bridges and viaducts.

204.310 00

On pavements, sidewalks, Tunnels. etc 195.460 90

*On records, maps, etc ...

50,000 00

Total $ 2,213.680 90

The county's loss was in the court-house and the records ; the former is estimated at $1,000,000; an esti- mate of the value of the latter cannot be given. The three abstract firms offered their indices and letter-press copies to the county for $1,250,000, and it is thought that the county would have economized for the people by purchasing them. The loss of the original records has never been remedied by the shifts of officials in purchasing partial copies of records.

Again reference is made to Elias Colbert, in the fol- lowing syllabus of losses and approximation of actual and consequential damages.

The distribution of losses can be stated as :

On buildings. $ 52,000,000

On business property (besisles buildings). 65,000,000

On personal effects. 59.000.000

Total -$196,000,000

There was a salvage upon this loss of some four million dollars in foundations and in bricks that were available for re-building, thus reducing the actual loss to $192,000,000. 'T'he assessed value of the land in the city, determined just before the fire, was $176,931.900, which was about six-tenths of its actual cash value, and the real value would therefore be $294,836,000. On this there was, says Mr. Colbert, an average depreciation of thirty per cent since the fire, and this gives a presump- tive loss of $88,000,000 on the selling value of the real estate. But the total loss is not yet complete, as the

* Although this table Is compiled from official sources the last item is utterly inadequate in its estimated value of the records, etc., destroyed]

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382

HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

interruption to business and manufacturing must be computed. This can be estimated, in round numbers, at an average of six weeks, and the receipts of the city were diminished during the period of recuperation some $50,000,000 worth of goods, which interrupted business to the amount of $: 25,000,000 worth of trading at whole- sale and retail, and the moderate estimate of eight per cent profit would make an additional loss of $10,000,000, which makes the following as the exhibit of loss to the city of Chicago by the fire:

On property burned up ..

$.92.000,000

On depreciation of real estate.

88,000,000

On interruption to business.

10,000,000

Grand lolal. $290.000,000

The property, real and personal, in Chicago the day before the fire, can be estimated at 8620,000,000, and, taking the above table as a fair estimate of the loss, it will readily be seen that nearly forty-seven per cent of the whole property of the city was destroyed by the fire of 1871.

The loss of human life is approximated at one hun- dred and fifty persons.

RELIEF FOR THE Crrv .- To describe the measures taken by the citizens of Chicago to help those less fort- unate than themselves transcends the scope of this article, and allusion can only be statistically made to the bountiful generosity of the world. The following table will show the receipts in gross:

Amount received by the Chicago Relief & Aid So ciely

$5.500,000 00 Amount received by other societies,

614.704 50

Miscellaneous sum. contributed by individuals, and for specific objects, and values of food, clothing, etc ......

Amount contributed and disbursed by Cincinnati,

500,000 00

Milwaukee, Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis,

elc.

Total

$7,119.256 50

NEW CHICAGO.

The Chamber of Commerce that stood at the south- east corner of Washington and La Salle streets, and costing $490,000, was destroyed by the fire as if it were chaff; in just one year from the date of its destruction, the new Chamber of Commerce was opened with appro-

priate ceremonies. The new building cost, exclusive of the ground, $325,000,

This example is typical of the procedure of Chicago merchants and inhabitants. They wasted no time in useless repinings, but rolled up their actual shirt-sleeves and their business credits and started in afresh; and the places that knew them prior to the fire hardly knew them again, because they were in so much handsomer quar- ters. The confidence of her people in the future of Chicago was exhibited in the elegant and costly blocks and buildings that were erected, and so thoroughly have the facts justified their aspirations that buildings re- cently erected have dwarfed the most aspiring of those built within a year or two after the fire; and the Cham- ber of Commerce now [February, 1884), in course of construction is estimated to cost about $1,500,000. Theatres, halls, churches, edifices of every description were rebuilt with an access of beauty, size and costli- ness, and so general was the architectural rehabilitation of Chicago that the closing words of the address of Mayor Joseph Medill at the opening of the Chamber of Commerce on October, 9, 1872, have been completely justified; they were: " It was a fearful punishment, but, in time, will prove a public good. The city will grow faster in population and commerce, and become more safe, solid and beautiful than ever was imagined before that event. It has drawn the world closer to us in friendship and acquaintance, and has brought into bold relief the nobler traits of humanity. The magni- tude of the affliction shocked all nations, but the sud- denness of the recovery and the swiftness of the resur- rection of the consumed city have filled them with ad. miration and praise of the indomitable, lion-hearted people of Chicago."

The following figures will manifest the growth of Chicago from 1870 to 1880:

Chicago manufactures in 1870 ..

Chicago manufactures in 1872, per S. S. Schoff: *

$ 76,648,120

Total capital invested 50.017.500

Tolal wages per annum 27.700,525

Total yearly product. 122 481,000 Chicago manufactures in 1880:+

Total capital invested. 68,836,855

Total wages per annum 34.653,462

Total value of material used 179.209.610 Total yearly product .... 249.023,945

. ** The Industrial Interests of Chicago:" by S. S. Schoff.

+ U. S. Census Report ; article, Manufactures.

Dignizedby Google

504.552 00

383

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

THE FLOOD OF 1849.

CHICAGO IN 1845, FROM THE WEST.

ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

MAY 2, 1837, TO JANUARY 1, 1855.

The history of Chicago since the time of its incor- poration as a city (1837 has, as appears in the subse- quent pages of this volume, been more elaborately treated under topical heads than before. It seems, nevertheless, appropriate, in the face of some possible repetitions, to continue, as supplemental in the contin- nous history which precedes, a semi-historic account, up to the close of the period treated in this volume, which shall mention the leading events in chronological order, as well as such minor occurrences, as, being irrelevant to the topics treated, might otherwise have escaped history altogether. It is believed that the few repeti- tions involved may be more than counterbalanced in the mind of the reader by the aid it may render in generalizing what follows.

1837. May 2, Chicago became a city, and hekl its first municipal election .* Hard times was at the time the general topic of conversation and the burden of the newspaper editorials, and the city was obliged to start on its infantile career by the iliscouraging step of run- ning in debt. June 1 the Council ordered the issue of $5.000 in city scrip, in denominations of $1, 82 and 83. The city, thus carly driven by necessity, did what most governments have, under stress of circumstances, done before and since-made its first issue of paper money, which bore interest at the rate of one per cent per month, and was receivable fur taxes.

An account of a justifiable homicide in Chicago, which it quoted from its exchange, the Chicago Demo- crat, appeared in the Milwaukee Sentinel, August 1, 1837. It read as follows :

"On the night of the 7th of June, considerable damage was done to the working utensils and property about the canal, in consequence of a reduction of wages from 826 to $22. From appearances, about dark, on the contract of Mr. Dodson, a repetition of injuries of the night before was feared. Consequently. the over- seers made preparation for the protection of the prop- erty. About the time of Mr. Dodson's retiring for the night, frequent whistling was heard. Soon after- some say about io o'clock-a heavy pounding was heard upon the pumps with a heavy sledge for the pur- pose of destroying them, as it afterward appeared. A young brother of Mr. Doilson's, with commendable fortitude, went to the works and demanded of an Irish- man, ' Why he was there ?' His reply was, '1 will let you know,' and sprang at young Dodson with the sledge he was using. Instantly a whistle was given by another who lay secreted near by, which was returned by a vast number. Mr. Dodson immediately took his one recourse, and with a misket ball shot dead the assailant. The loss of this man has, we understand, restored quiet along the whole line." "At the last term of the Municipal Court, the grand jury refused to find any indictment against Mr. Dodson. We have delayed speaking of this event until after Mr. Dudson had his trial."

June 29 or 30, Daniel Webster visited Chicago. It was a season of great rejoicing and excitement " See Corporate History

among the Whigs. He was escorted through and about the city by an immense cavalcade of citizens. Old set. tlers still tell of his triumphant entry, and of his speech of masterly eloquence and power, delivered from the Waubansia stone, within the garrison yard, and of a ball given in his honor at the Lake House. George T. Curtis, in his life of Webster, Vol. I. p. 564, gives July 1 as the date of Webster's leaving the town. Chicago was the western terminus of his tour. From thence he returned, via Michigan City, to Toledo.

September 10, Lake Michigan was nearly two feet higher than its ordinary level at that period of the year.

December, very late in the month, the post-office at Chicago was made a distributing office. 'The an- nouncement appeared in the Milwaukee Sentinel, Janu- ary 2, 1838 .*

1838. The year opened gloomily enough, and there was throughout but little to brighten the pruspect except in the eyes of the most sanguine and hopeful, of which class Chicago happily had at that time, as she has always had, more than her full quota, Hard times still held its unrelenting grip upon the country, and especially upon this far-off western town, where the reaction of the speculative craze which had centered there was as extreme as had been the prevailing excite- ment of former times. Solomon Wills, in a manuscript

Coolomon Uviles

letter now on file in the collections of the Chicago Historical Society, wrote, under date of May 13, 1838 : " The times here are rather growing worse instead of better. There is little money in circulation, and that which is good is scarce enough. Of course there is no property selling, unless by the Sheriff, and then it goes for little." Drought and a serious epidemic in the fall added to the disheartening annals of the year.

During the summer months, from June to Septem- ber, the work on the canal, the most considerable source of revenue to the paralyzed town, was nearly suspended for a time by a most mysterious disease which broke ont among the laborers.t It was in its symptoms suffi- ciently like the Asiatic cholera to give to the community an added dread of it. It seized its victims suddenly, and carried them off. if it did not abate, in a few hours. Many of the dead were brought from where they died to the vicinity of Chicago, and dead bodies lay along the road near Bridgeport, unburied, for days, so fearful were the inhalutants that the infection might be conveyed to the city.

A drought set in. in July, and from the 19th of that month until November, no rain fell. The streams dried up, the springs gave only brackish and impure water, and from the low lands and partially dried up marshes and bogs a fever-breeding miasma floated unseen to

· No copies of Chicago newspapers of the date are accessible Few fin of that date, most of which were owned by private citizens, rica thi ra - ages of the great fre of 187s.

+ See Medical History,

184

385

ANNALS OF CHICAGO-1837-1857.

pollute the air. A malarious fever broke out, which, in its ravages, brought the great grief of death's bereavement to many a sorrowing household in Chicago.

In seasons of irremediable and continuous suffering, when hope grows weaker day by day, waiting for the longed-for rest that does not come, the only great recu- perative and antidotal remedy for besetting sorrows vouchsafed to man, asserts itself in his innate and irrepressible desire for recreation. So it has always happened that the healthy mind or the healthy-minded community, though traveling hand in hand with sorrow, has longingly looked askance to discover some diver- sion by the wayside. To all men, and in all times, pious or sacrilegious, Christian or heathen, wise or foolish, this desire has come as a specific for the ills they were forced to bear-the pious to their mosques, cathedrals, or silent altars of prayer ; the foolish to their cups; and the wise to whatever gives most harm- lessly surcease from present sorrow.

So it happened that Chicago successfully established her first permanent theater during this trying, sickly and generally unprosperous year. Messrs. Isherwood & Mckenzie, who had had a successful opening season in 1837, at a hall in the old Sauganash Hotel, deter- mined to establish a permanent theater in the town. Accordingly, during the spring months they fitted up as a theater the upper story of the wooden building on the west side of Dearborn Street, between Lake and South Water streets, which had been built in 1834 by John Bates, and during the intervening years occupied by him and other auctioneers as a place of business. As a resort (the most noted in Chicago), it was christened " the Rialto," by Dr. Egan, and became a theater in May. The first season, despite the gloomy times, was fairly successful. October 18, the citizens gave to Mr. Alex- ander Mckenzie a most substantial benefit, which showed not only the high appreciation in which he was held as a citizen, but proved a financial success as well. It was the most notable society event of the year .*

During 1839 the business depression continued, and was increased by the general collapse of the Michigan banks,t which at that time had a large circulation in the city. In March, all Michigan money became uncurrent. The Chicago Democrat, as quoted in the Milwaukee Sentinel, March 12, said :

" All Michigan money is uncurrent, and the rumor that the Michigan State Bank has suspended payment has been confirmed. The Detroit Post represents the Michigan State Bank as perfectly solvent, but com- pelled by a constant demand for specie to take advan- tage of that clause in its charter which allows suspen- sions for thirty days. For the good of this community, which holds a large portion of its bills, we hope that the Post is correct."

April 11, it was announced in the Daily American that the canal commissioners had decided to issue from $150,000 to $200,000 in scrip; on the gtli of May, the same paper announced that the scrip (termed in the article " canal money ") was in general circula- tion.

The first daily issue of the American was published April 9, it being the first daily paper issued in the city.t

April 5, a religious revival, which continued to increase in interest during the spring months, was first noticed in the newspapers. At that date twenty-nine

. See History of Early Amusements in this volume.

t See l'anking.

¿ See History of the Press.

persons, some of whom had not before been noted for their piety, joined the Presbyterian Church. The fruits of the revival brought large accessions to the other Protestant churches of the city. Rev. Isaac Taylor Hinton publicly baptized by immersion many converts. The work of the revival was general .*

During the spring the conflict between the vessel interests and the citizens, as to the obstructions to navigation caused by the bridges culminated.t In the Daily American of April 18, the editor sought to pour oil on the troubled waters as follows :

" We hope that our captains and sailors who have occasion to sail their vessels above the ferry crossing will be as careful as circumstances will allow, to avoid cutting or breaking the ropes. The rope of the State Street ferry was cut the other day by an axe. Our vessel owners demanded the taking down of the bridge, and it has been done. The citizens have been com- pelled to resort to a ferry for the absolute wants of the city, and with as much reference as possible to the accommodation of vessels. Let there be mutual for- bearance on this vexed subject, and all will go smooth enough and fast enough on this highway of the country."

June zo, James H. Collins having, at the public sale, bid off a part of the homestead of J. B. Beaubien, t the friends of the Colonel held an indignation meeting at the Saloon Building, at which resolutions were passed denouncing Collins and requesting Judge Burchard, the Government agent in charge of the sale, to cancel the sale and again offer the lots, thereby giving Beaubien's friends an opportunity to bid against Collins, in his behalf. The request was not granted.

October 23, the State Bank of Illinois, with its numerous branches, suspended specie payments.§

October 27, the most disastrous fire occurred that had ever visited Chicago. It commenced on Lake Street, near Dearborn. The Tremont House and seventeen other buildings were burned, and one blown up to arrest the progress of the conflagration. The total loss was estimated at from $60,000 to $75,000. Many of the leading merchants were burned out. The statement of individual losses and insurance, which appeared in the Daily American, throws some light on the magnitude of the stocks carried by the " merchant princes " of Chicago in those carly days. It was as follows :

"S. W. Goss, dry goods and groceries, carried an insurance of $5,000 on his stock ; Eddy & Co., hard- ware, no insurance, loss between $2,000 and $3,000 ; Ayers & Iliff, dry goods and groceries, no insurance, loss $6,000 ; David Hatch, hardware, stock valued at $8,000 to $9,000, insured for $8,000 ; O. H. Thompson, principally dry goods, insurance, $800. The Messrs. Couch lost on the contents of the Tremont House $3,000 to $4,000. The highest insurance on any build- ing destroyed was $2,800 ; the lowest, $850."

November 28, T'hansgiving Day was observed for the first time in Chicago. So stated the Daily American of the 29th.

November 30, occurred the first incipient duel. In a recent issue of the Democrat had appeared the follow- ing editorial : " It is an indisputable fact that every one of these persons who have been filching money unjustly in the shape of Indian claims are opposed to the admin- istration, and use such illgotten gains to injure it in every possible manner. It is due to the people that' all

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 95

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875