History of Iroquois County, together with Historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 41

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > History of Iroquois County, together with Historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 41

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Only a little while now elapsed till a disagreement arose, Judge Chamberlain says, "Between Col. Morgan and the county court, as to the policy of issuing county bonds as fast as, and to the extent that he desired ; and also as to the policy of giving to him the swamp lands with no very good prospect of realizing anything for them, but with the strong probability of losing them entirely." Charges and denunciations were freely indulged at the expense of the court. Distrust of its capacity and integrity grew apace, until it had deteri- orated so much in public favor that this became the chief argument in support of township organization. Writing in his own defense in 1857, Judge Chamberlain used the following language in regard to Col. Morgan, which is an authoritative explanation of the reasons for resisting his importunities : "His extravagance and folly, and utter incapacity to take care of any financial business was such that there was not, as I believe, 25 per cent worth of work done, with the avails of the bonds, on the road. The bonds were literally squandered, and lost both to him and the county. But where should we have been now if Col. Morgan had gotten the swamp lands ? Judging by the estimates of work he obtained and presented for the bonds, he could have received any amount of certificates and presented for the lands. It was not the business of the court, but of the railroad company, to look after the estimates. Had he received the lands, it is fair to presume, such was his recklessness.in other matters, that he would have sold them for a slight consideration."

At the general election in November, 1855, the township system of local government was adopted. Robert Nilson, Dr. William Fowler and Foreman Moore were commissioners to district the county into political townships. The original number was eleven, as follows : Ash Grove, Beaver, Belmont, Concord, Chebanse, Crab 24

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

. Apple, Loda, Milford, Middleport, Onarga and Wygant. Let us turn again to the Peoria & Oquawka Eastern Extension railroad. The grading of the Middleport division, under contract to Morgan, was done without any of the usual energy displayed on such improve- ments, and several times labor was wholly remitted. Work on the west end of the Middleport division was continued until the track was laid to Gilman. That portion of the line was opened for busi- ness, and the first train ran over it September 21, 1857. At the close of the year 1853 a sub-contract was taken by Sherman & Patterson, and Chamberlain & Thomas, of Middleport, who graded one mile of the route west from that place. This lay several years serving no other purpose than to keep in memory what was expressively termed, after the bonds had all been issued without a better prospect of seeing the work completed, the "dead horse" railroad. These men re- ceived three of the county bonds, which were paid by the county before the intervention of the Tallman arrangement.

Conflicting interests concerning the location of the route at Mid- dleport retarded, in some degree, the construction of the line. It was surveyed to the Old Town, but disagreements occurring in regard to depot grounds, and a proposition on that point being entertained from Micajah Stanley, it was laid out and finally built on the present route. These cross-purposes furnished a pretext for the private sub- scribers to the capital stock to refuse to make payment. Fearing that they would be a total loss, the county court refused to issue the bonds. As has been elsewhere remarked, Judge Chamberlain was from the first strenuously opposed to the county's taking stock in the road, and exerted all his influence, by making speeches and otherwise, to prevent it. In May, 1856, $19,000 of bonds were out- standing. Some of the first had been taken in and renewed for reasons not ascertained, nor even conjectured, unless because of the new arrangement made by which Morgan was to receive the bonds from the county. These bonds were executed with great reluctance by the county court, but the pressure of public opinion was irresist- ible. The measure was warmly advocated by such leading and in- fluential men as Micajahi Stanley, William Pierce and Joseph Thomas. At the second session of the board of supervisors, May 30 and 31, a special meeting convened to appoint a person to repre- sent the interests of the county in the election of the board of directors of the Peoria & Oquawka railroad for the ensuing year, Joseph Thomas was appointed agent ; and the county treasurer was directed to deliver to Col. Morgan on the presentation of certified full paid stock, bonds sufficient to cancel the same, in pursuance of

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

the contract existing between him and the county. The bonds were at this time executed and held by the treasurer. On June 3 follow- ing, the contract with Tallman, which will be noticed at length hereafter, was made, and at this time there were outstanding, as shown by this contract, thirty-one bonds, an increase of the bonded indebtedness in two weeks by $12,000.

The grading between Middleport and Gilman was well advanced, and the bridges on the principal streams were raised. Fresh efforts were made by Morgan to obtain private aid for the road, but beyond getting hold of the county bonds he accomplished nothing. The diverse interests which were operating to locate the line, one at. Middleport and the other where it now is, brought matters to a crisis- between Morgan and the company. He decided to run the track to Middleport, when some who were interested in the New Town, among them Mr. Stanley, the proprietor, who donated 10 acres for a station, appealed to the company, and his purpose was reversed and contract terminated. This resulted in litigation in which Morgan recovered judgment against the company for $50,000. The following spring, 1857, this division being extended to the state line where connection was to be made with the Toledo, Logansport & Burlington railroad, and its construction in new hands-T. C. Field, of New York, and other contractors-witnessed a renewal of interest in the enterprise, and private subscriptions secured by mortgage on real estate, amount- ing to $47,000, payable on completion of the road to the state line, but void if not so completed by January 1, 1859, were obtained by George B. Joiner, agent for the company. But the hope raised and confidence inspired by the new energy apparently infused into the project underwent again, as grading was not resumed for two years, a mortifying transition. Both the company and the people continu- ally realized defeats and disappointments. In the "Iroquois Republican," August 26, 1858, Dr. Blades thus alludes to this matter : "For years the company have struggled with counter rail- road interests and schemes, and have thus far defeated them ; have struggled with enemies within its own organization, and have exposed and rid themselves of such enemies ; have struggled beneath pecu- niary depressions that would have completely crushed most other enterprises, yet through it all, in spite of all, they have built 180 miles of the road. * * Our people have waited, and wished, and hoped, and wondered, and have at last settled down into a kind of apathetic feeling somewhere between indifference and despair." The stock subscriptions taken by Mr. Joiner two years before were forfeited.

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

In the spring of 1859 the company caused it to be made known that unless the people should aid the road with at least $25,000 its completion would have to be abandoned, perhaps for years ; and with this announcement was coupled the intimation that in such an event the route might be diverted from Gilman to some new point on the Wabash; but if such aid should be forthcoming they would finish the line during the year. Asa B. Roff, as agent, made a strong effort to raise the amount asked. On May 5, 1859, he had secured $17,975. With only this amount subscribed the company resumed work to encourage the people and strengthen their faith in its ulti- mate completion, at the same time giving assurance that it would be necessary for them to raise an additional seven or eight thousand. A contractor named Doyle laid the track on this section and made connection at the state line with the road just put down from Monti- cello, on the Wabash, and the first train of cars ran through from Peoria to Logansport but a day or two before the ushering in of the new year, 1860. This result was mainly achieved by the indomitable will and energy of Charles A. Secor, president, and W. H. Cruger, superintendent of the road.

We have given an account of the swamp land question so far as it was involved with the railroad. We now recur finally to that subject. At the December term of the county court in 1852 the surveying and selecting of the swamp lands was let to John Wilson, George B. Joiner, Benjamin F. Masters, Robert Nilson, Belva T. Clark and Amos O. Whiteman. Legislation providing for this was loose and indefinite, and the lands were not selected with nice dis- crimination ; some of the work was done in the spring of the year, a season when it was not difficult to find swamp lands, and without any excuse at all some of the finest pieces were thus condemned, and so the result was that much was designated as swamp land which was not of that description. Representations being made to the commissioner of the land department of the unfairness of counties in making selections, he rendered and published a decision requiring certain proofs to be made by the counties that the lands entered at the district land office and selected as swamp lands were of that character, within the meaning of the act of congress of 1850, which decision opened the way to contests and endless litigation. To enable contestants to enter the lands, they were required only to make proper applications, with proof that the tracts applied for were not swamp lands, within the meaning of the law.

The country swarmed with sharpers, - a class who never wait for a second hint, and rarely, if ever, need the first. Citizens of the

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

county as well as others did not neglect to take advantage of this state of affairs. It has been said that a flood of applications poured in upon the department from this county ; but as some of the mate- rial, which we are obliged to draw upon, was the stock of political campaigns, the narrow line which divides fact from tumid campaign rhetoric is not always clear. No figures are at command by which to determine this question ; the defenders of the county court, but more especially of its principal member, Judge Chamberlain, repre- sent the number extravagantly large. But these were partisan utter- ances on the eve of election - a case was to be made out. One campaign circular, signed by nearly a dozen prominent citizens who were giving a loose rein to assertion for the ticket which had to find reasons for the sale, and some of whom were agents or attorneys for Tallman, estimates the amount at "nearly, or quite, one-half." After the partisan ardor of the hour had cooled, the same persons would likely have discounted their own statement, "nearly, or quite, one-half." Another, a candidate, touching off a last gun of the campaign, thinks "all the lands that were valuable, to say the least, were under contest." Still another, soaring high in imagina- tion, says that " application upon application piled in upon every piece worth contending for." Regarding the efforts made to perfect the title to these lands, Judge Chamberlain wrote: "The county court of our county had exhausted their efforts in trying to get a title to the lands. Messrs. Thomas and Joiner had been to Wash- ington at the expense of the county ; Mr. Norton, too, our repre- sentative in congress, had exerted himself strongly throughout in our behalf, keeping us well posted in all that transpired there calcu- lated to affect us ; the governor, Mr. Matteson, had visited Wash- ington in person concerning these lands on the part of the state, and had two agents through one session of congress there, to wit : Judge Scates, of the supreme court of the state, and Mr. Gilbert, in the hope of changing the mind of the commissioner, and having the order granting contests revoked, or of getting congress to pass an act confirming the titles. But all was of no avail."

The county had $47,000 of bonded indebtedness, on which there was an annual liability of $3,290 for interest, and it owed the state $2,500 for the surveying of the swamp lands. The contests and the debt served the useful purpose of specters to make it appear all the more probable that the lands would be lost, by showing through the magnifying lens of alarm the appalling extent of the evil in such a case. June 3, 1856, an agreement was entered into by the county court, and George C. Tallman, of Utica, New York, by which the

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

court agreed to sell, or issue certificates of sale, to Tallman for 10,000 to 20,000 acres of the swamp lands, for which the latter was to pay at the rate of $1 per acre on an average, upon the following terms : $1,000 when the certificates of sale should be issued to him, and the balance according to the quantity of land taken (which was to be selected for Tallman by Joseph Thomas within thirty days) on or before the first day of September, 1857, in cash, at seven per cent interest, or in county bonds at par, as he should decide, the interest to be payable from the first day of September, 1856. He agreed to drain the lands at his own expense, which was to be over and above the price at $1 per acre. His selections were to embrace, first, all the vacant swamp lands on the west side of the Central railroad ; he was to take none adjoining improved farms on the east side of that road, and also none under contest at the time of making the con- tract, of which the court had received written notice. He cove- nanted, besides, to procure at his option a valid title to one-half of the lands which he should select by the first day of September, 1857, or to defray at his own expense, when called upon, one-half of the cost of defending the contests, which might be made of any of the lands purchased by him. In case of failure on his part to perform one or the other of these stipulations, he was to forfeit $1,000 advanced on the certificates, and the county court was to have power to determine the contract. The certificates to be issued to Tallman were to be unassignable, and the lands not subject to sale by him until the county had obtained, or the court was satisfied it would obtain, a title to them. On receiving title, the lands having first · been drained, or the court being satisfied that they would be drained, a deed was to be executed to Tallman for the same. In case of fail- ure of the county to get title to the lands, or to any part of them, a corresponding deduction was to be made from the amount mentioned to be paid for them, or others might be selected by him, as he should choose. In the event of his making payment in county bonds, he was limited to those outstanding at the date of the con- tract, the highest number being thirty-one. When made, it was left to the discretion of Judge Chamberlain whether this contract should ever take effect. One of the conditions was that if he should decide to accept it, it was to be entered upon, and become a part of, the swamp land record. Accordingly, on the 17th, the court ordered that it be ratified by placing it upon the record to date from that day, whereupon, agreeably to the contract, Tallman decided to take 20,000 acres.

On the 16th he was engaged by the county court, and authorized

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

to employ, at his own expense, such assistance as he should think best to obtain such a reversal or modification of the opinion of the commissioners of the general land office, as would enable the county to receive the proceeds of the lands entered and selected as swamp lands, and approved as such by the surveyor-general. On condition of his success, and as a result, if Iroquois county should come into possession of the avails, without further trouble or expense, he was to receive, as compensation, $1,000 in money or swamp lands at their appraised value, according to the choice of the county. On the following day an order was entered to pay Tallman the money, "Upon the condition that he should procure from the commissioner of the land office at Washington, within six months, a good and valid title to the swamp lands of the county by having the same patented to the state, excepting that the said George C. Tallman is not by this order required to obtain title to any lauds already gone into con- test where evidence has been taken in said contest by the parties therein, or where the right to contest has been granted to contest- ants and notice of said contest served upon the county judge."

A question existed in the minds of most people as to which of the two bodies, the county court or the board of supervisors, had jurisdiction of the swamp lands. The administration of this interest by the county court had engendered a dissatisfaction so general that refuge had been sought from the evils, real or fancied, which the people imagined afflicted them, in a different form of county govern- ment; and the adoption of township organization was, to a certain extent, an arraignment of the court and a disavowal of confidence in it, however much they lacked of being well grounded. As the peo- ple would reorganize the board once a year, it was believed they would secure to themselves direct and perfect control of the lands. A law was passed, in 1854, giving the management of the swamp lands to the board of supervisors, in counties under township organ- ization, to harmonize with the growth of the republican idea in the northern half of the state, because the original act invested county courts with that responsibility. As before stated, Judge Chamber- lain and Col. Morgan obtained from the state, at the regular session of the legislature in 1855, a special act granting to the county court of Iroquois county entire control of the swamp lands in the county, for particular purposes. Foreseeing that a conflict of views concern- ing the proper tribunal to dispose of them would arise, now that township organization had been adopted, in January, 1856, the county court procured from the Hon. Uri Osgood, of Joliet, a lawyer of reputation, an opinion relative to the question. He held that the

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

board of supervisors would have no supervision over the swamp lands, or the sale of them, or over the proceeds of the lands when sold. In a controversy upon this subject, between John W. White, of Pike Creek, and Judge Chamberlain, in the spring of 1857, this point was urged with much pertinacity and no little seeming cogency by Mr. White, he taking the ground, without doubt erroneously, that the board of supervisors and not the county court was the law- ful custodian of this immense interest.

Judge Chamberlain determined upon the sale of the swamp lands to Tallman. At just what time is not known, nor is it material ; but his sentiments in regard to the matter cannot be better and more fairly represented than in his own language when a candidate for reelection in 1857: "The issuing of the bonds by the county has created a large debt against it ; to pay off that debt with the swamp lands and their proceeds has been the uniform and expressed intention of the county court." Pertinent in this connection is the fact that seems to have been understood in that period of sharp discussions, that John Wilson at one time proposed on behalf of Elijah Huntley and James Culbertson, both responsible capitalists, to pay the bonded indebtedness of the county for one-half of the swamp lands, $20,000 to be paid down. This was charged to Judge Chamberlain's account in the campaign of 1861, when the contest for his place was between Samuel Williams and Charles Rumley, and which, we believe, was never publicly denied ; though he had been careful enough on a former occasion to contradict the truth of a similar charge, embody- ing a kindred proposition. It is said that he promised to accept Wilson's proposal, or at least to take it under advisement, but always declined definite action. What reasons the judge could have brought forward to excuse his course in pretermitting so handsome a sale we have no means of knowing, and can only express our surprise. John Wilson and Charles Rumley are authority for this statement. That it was his uniform purpose to extinguish the county debt with the lands is a fact resting upon his own assertion. It appears that he had decided to sell to Tallman in preference to anybody else. They were friends; he well understood Tallman's character and financial ability, and knew that his word was at all times as good as his bond, though Judge Chamberlain was not the man to omit any man's bond for his unsupported oral obligation. The contract jointly consummated between the county court and board of super- visors on the one part and Tallman on the other, bearing date Octo- ber 16, 1856, was a sacrifice of the county's interests which public sentiment has never been charitable enough to excuse. Tallman

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

anticipating that some dispute might arise as to the authority of the county court to make a valid sale, preferred to have the two bodies cooperate in making the contract. The substance of this was that by virtue of the grants of congress and of the state the county sold and agreed to convey "all the lands now remaining not sold in the county, obtained under said grants, amounting to 40,000 acres or thereabonts, subject to drainage," for which Tallman agreed to pay $30,000 in the bonds of Iroquois county, with interest from Septein- ber 1, 1856, $20,000 of which bonds were to be delivered in three months, the remaining $10,000 whenever Tallman should see fit, by his providing for the interest on the same from the date mentioned ; his performance of this stipulation to be secured by bond witlı two good securities, upon delivery of which to the county court, the clerk thereof was to issue certificates of sale. As fast as ascertained that any of the lands had been sold by the government, Talhnan was to be entitled to a conveyance of them. The consideration for his pay- ment of the $30,000 of bonds was increased by "all the money, being the proceeds of the lands sold by the county up to this time, with the interest thereon," the county reserving the right to withhold the money until it should be ascertained what amount might have to be repaid to purchasers of lands already sold, which might be con- tested away ; also to deduct the amount required to meet incidental expenses and to defend contestants [contests], besides other legal fees. The consideration was further increased by granting to Tall- man "all the remaining interest of the county which they have to the land or the proceeds of the same, which have been sold by the general government at the land office at Danville, which were embraced in the selections of this county as swamp lands, inside of six miles as outside of the six miles on each side of the Illinois Cen- tral railroad," and he was empowered to receive the avails. He was still further entitled to receive "the benefit and the proceeds or otherwise that might be obtained by any new act of congress touch- ing said lands, and all and every benefit that might be derived from the same, either in warrants or money, under the present law ; and in every way, directly or indirectly, the same shall become the prop- erty" of Tallman, upon condition that he should deliver to the county court ten bonds of the county at any time before they should become due, and should provide for the interest on the same from September 1, 1856. He was allowed nine months to decide whether he would accept this last provision. The consideration was even further enlarged by the agreement that the $50,000 of stock owned by the county in the Peoria & Oquawka Eastern Extension railroad

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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

should be sold and transferred to him, provided he should pay seven remaining and outstanding bonds in like manner and time as the $10,000 of bonds last above referred to, with the interest thereon from the same date. Tallman was given nine months "in which to make up his mind to accept of the same," and if accepted the county clerk was authorized to issue to him certificates of sold stock under a resolu- tion of the board of supervisors passed October 15, 1856. The stock was to be delivered to Tallman, who was to leave it in the hands of the county court, to be by them delivered to him if they saw fit, when he should execute a bond, with approved security, guarantee- ing that the seven bonds should eventually be redeemed and restored to the county. The contract of June 3d was canceled, and the $1,000 paid upon it by the county was made the consideration for Tallman's performance of this, which sum was to be repaid when any of the county bonds should first be delivered to the county court. The county was " to pay out of other funds than those arising from the sale of the swamp lands the interest due on all or any of the bonds of the county up to September 1, 1856; and also all sums of money due the state for surveying and selecting said swamp lands." It was also " to procure, if possible, a repeal or modification of the law requiring said lands to be drained within eight months from the sale of the same." It was understood and so expressed in the con- tract that the bonds in question were only those at that time out- standing and issued for railroad stock. The instrument was signed by John Chamberlain, county judge .; Samuel M. Ayres and Thomas M. Pangborn, associate judges ; R. W. Andrews, Samuel William's and Thomas Maggee, on behalf of the board of supervisors, and George C. Tallman.

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History of Iroquois County, together with Historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 41

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1180