USA > Illinois > Knox County > History of Knox county, Illinois > Part 19
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When the eastern end of the P. & O. road was completed to Elm- wood and the western end to Monmouth, work ceased. George C. Bestor, of Peoria, was president, Henry Nollte secretary, and J. P. Hotchkiss treasurer. For some time the officers failed to report to the public, and dissatisfaction among the people was thereby engen- dered; and when in July, 1854, they called for the balance of the
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stock, the subscribers were suspicious that all was not right. William S. Maus, of Peoria, James Knox, of Knoxville, and A. C. Harding, of Monmouth, contracted to finish the road between the above-men- tioned points, but, being unable to fulfil their contract, they soon sold out to the C. M. T. company, the latter agreeing to complete, equip and operate the road.
The road from Burlington to Peoria was not completed until some time in 1856; and about this time the Chicago & Aurora, the Nortli- eru Cross, the Central Military Tract, and the Peoria & Oquawka Cos. were all consolidated under the "Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- road Company," and this name, finally adopted by the company, was derived from the names of the terminal points of the road at the time of the consolidation of the three lines that have been mentioned. J. W. Brooks was elected president of the road. Since the organization of this corporation the Galesburg division, which is the most im- portant of the road, has been under the immediate supervision of Henry Hitchcock, who by his efficient labors has kept his division second to none.
In all this railroad construction the county of Knox has never been called upon in its corporate capacity to render aid, nor indeed any city or township therein.
A few years ago the C., B. & Q. Company bought the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis railroad under foreclosure of mortgage, for $1,600,000. It is said that that road cost $11,000,000, and bondhold- ers in Germany are the losers of about six-sevenths of their invest- ment. The road has a few miles of track in the northwestern portion of the county, and the Peoria & Rock Island railroad lias two miles of track across the northeastern corner of the county.
The expenditures in the shop department, on the depot grounds, etc., for the year ending April 30, 1866, amounted to $347,543.31; 1878, about $375,000.
Besides this, from $30,000 to $50,000 a year is paid out in Gales- burg for miscellaneous jobs. About $50,000 a month is now paid out in Galesburg alone on the railroad account.
The C., B. & Q. R. R. now has in this State 136 conductors, 44 engineers, 244 brakemen, 175 flagmen, 158 station agents,-4,969 in all; 186 locomotives, 116 passenger cars, 4,271 box cars, 1,786 other cars,-6,173 in all; and 824 miles of track; which is more than any other road lias in this State. Assessed valuation of property, $9,432,- 489; gross receipts in 1877; $11,524,562; ordinary expenses, $6,567,- 866; net earnings, $4,956,696. Accidents in 1877: passengers killed, 1; employes killed, 15; others killed, 20; damages paid for stock $17,-
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654; damages paid for property destroyed by fire, $13,250. Number of passengers carried, 2,065,143; number of passengers carried one inile, 93,306,293; average distance traveled by each passenger, 45 miles; number of tons of freight carried, 2,660,023.
As one successful enterprise begets others, the success of the C., B. & Q. R. R. has incited other railroad enterprises having Galesburg for a point. As early as 1857 charters were obtained for the Gales- burg & Rock Island and the Galesburg & Muscatine railroads. To the former of these the city of Galesburg pledged $30,000. In 1870 the Court Creek R. R. Co. was chartered and preliminary surveys were inade, and the city, by an almost unanimous vote, offered for its construction $100,000. In the winter of 1875-6 the Keokuk, Gales- burg & Chicago Narrow-Gauge Railway Company was organized; a preliminary survey was made, and pledges to the amount of about $75,000 given in Galesburg for its construction, the money to be re- paid in transportation when the road was built.
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company has always kept a better road than perhaps any other company west. The road- bed is about perfect, the track smooth and firm, and the rolling stock of the first class. The passenger coaches have always been elegantly furnished, and the trains run closely to time. A double track now extends from Chicago nearly to Princeton, and probably will soon be completed through to Galesburg. One from Galesburg to Center Point is already built. The company has control also of the Burlington & Missouri River R. R. as far west as Kearney Junction, Nebraska.
In the personnel of road service the company has also kept ahead of other roads,-agents and conductors obliging, engineers faithful, and brakemen prompt. The superintendents have also been scrupulous and exact, training the men under them to such habits as commend them to good situations here or elsewhere.
Henry Hitchcock has been Superintendent of the Galesburg divis- ion and a resident of the city of Galesburg for about 20 years. He is a man of few words, and commands the respect and esteem of all the employees on liis division. He stands high as a citizen, and his long service for such a corporation as the C., B. & Q. is a sufficient testi- monial to his competency and integrity.
J. T. Clarke, formerly Road-master, and S. T. Shankland, Assist- ant Road-master, are now division superintendents on the Union Pacific R. R. A. N. Towne worked his way up on the C., B. & Q. road from brakeman to Assistant Superintendent and he is now Gen- eral Superintendent of the Central Pacific. These men are proofs of the good training given by the C., B. & Q. Company.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
CHAPTER X.
CRIMINAL RECORD.
FIRST MURDER.
The first murder committed among the white settlers of Knox county was under the following circumstances :
In the winter of 1837 Dr. Valentine T. Dalton, of Knoxville, while he was the family physician of Mr. Rude, of the same place, took a daughter of Mr. Rude's, Hester Ann, out riding with him in a cutter one evening. His conversation became rather insolent, and while he was tying his horse she escaped to a cabin near by and concealed her- self. The doctor was subsequently arrested and he gave security for. his appearance at court the ensuing spring; but before the session of the court, one beautiful spring day about 12 o'clock, while Hester Ann and her brother Silas were alone at their home, and Dr. Dalton was standing in the street with his back toward the house, talking with Sheriff Osborn, he was shot by a gun from a window, and ex- pired in about 20 minutes. Silas and Hester Ann were arrested and committed to jail. Judge R. L. Hannaman, then master in chancery, sent Hester Ann, under a writ of habeas corpus, to the nearest circuit judge, who was at Springfield, and she was released. But Silas, be- fore he was tried, was let out of jail one night, some one outside using a crow-bar for the purpose of breaking through. He went to Kentucky, married there, and after a number of years returned to Knox county; but in a short time he removed to Southern Iowa, where, as is reported, he became a dissipated ruffian of the most des- perate character. At length, without any legal provocation, he shot one of his neighbors, and the citizens immediately collected together and pursued him, overtaking him in an unfinished barn, where, armed with a revolver and probably other weapons, he at first declared that they would never take him alive. They assured him, however, that they would take him alive; and after remonstrating with him a little while, he agreed to surrender if they would permit him first to have a talk with his wife. They granted him leave; and after he had talked with her about an hour and a half, they concluded that that was sufficient time, and took him out a little way from his house and shot him.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Hester Ann, on the very evening of the day she was released at Springfield, married a Mr. Saunders, and after residing in Missouri for some time, returned to this county, and then moved to Monmouth, Ill., where a daughter of hers married Mr. Madden, a young law- yer of that place. She, however, recently obtained a divorce from Mr. Madden, and now resides in Missouri. Hester Ann, after experi- encing many of the most dramatic scenes of life and losing her hus- band, removed to Peoria, where at last accounts she was still living.
John Root.
John Root, a Swede of Henry county, was sentenced September 18, 1852, for two years, for manslaughter. He was educated as an Ameri- can, but married a woman more recently from Sweden, who was a member of the Bishop Hill colony. Eric Jansen was autocrat of this colony and would not let Mrs. Root leave it to live with her husband among the Americans. Mr. Root brought suit against Jansen at Cam- bridge, and while the case was pending, he shot and killed him in the court-house, at mid-day, while the people were mostly at din- ner. Root was indicted for murder, and the case was brought to Knoxville, where he was tried and sentenced. At the end of a year he was pardoned.
Ephraim J. Young.
This man was indicted for murder at the October terin of 1857, and two years from that time he was sentenced for six months for the crime of manslaughter.
Andrew J. McBride
was indicted for murder October, 1857, convicted of manslaughter and sentenced for three years.
Franklin H. Williamson,
or Williams, was indicted October, 1858, and sentenced one year for manslaughter.
Adelbert Culver,
indicted February, 1866, in the following June was transferred to Hen- derson county.
Henry Hill,
indicted November, 1867, pleaded guilty of manslaughter, and in the following February sentenced for two years.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
James O' Brien,
indicted October, 1870, for the murder of Mrs. Ellett, whose corpse was found in a decomposed condition near Henderson. The case was changed to Henry county, where the prisoner died in jail.
Andrew B. Swansen.
Ankrew B. Swansen, a Swede of Galesburg, killed his wife by poison in July, 1872, and was indicted for murder at the October term of that year, and his case taken to Warren county, where he was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and sentenced for 15 years ; but before he was taken to the State prison he committed suicide, cutting his throat with a razor. He was buried in Galesburg on the very day that Os- borne's trial commenced.
John Marion Osborne. 1
The only person who has suffered capital punishment in Knox county was John Marion Osborne, executed at Knoxville, March 14, 1873, for murdering Mrs. Adelia M. Matthews, one and one-fourth miles west of Yates City, August 5, 1872. He was born in Clay county, Illinois, January 16, 1846. From 5 to 22 years of age he resided in Delaware county, Iowa, except what time he was in the army; he then joined a band of " Western Bandits," whose operations (according to Osborne's confession) extended from Fort Scott, Kan- sas, to St. Paul, Minnesota. He took the, usual brigand's oath, and never betrayed his fellows; was sent to Iowa State prison for two and a half years for larceny; served out the term of the sentence, less the time gained by good behavior; then worked for a man in McDonough connty, under the name of Frank Clark; then was at Galesburg for a time, and finally, in 1871, went to live with his aunt near Yates City; inarried his cousin there, and worked awhile for Mr. Matthews, the husband of the murdered woman. He claimed that he was hired by a man-name not given-to kill Mrs. Matthews for the sum of $5,000; but it was proved in court that he attempted rape upon her person, and killed her to keep her from informing upon him. On the day aforesaid he went to her house, found none at home but her, and as she went down cellar to get some butter, in order to prepare din- ner for him, he followed her; and as she stooped down to get the but- ter he struck her on the back of the head, first with a brickbat, then with a board, and finally cut her throat with a knife. He did not run away from the neighborhood, but turned out with others to hunt the murderer. Circumstances pointing to him as the guilty man, he was 14
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
arrested, indicted in October, 1872, and' at the February term, 1873, tried in Galesburg, at the opera-house, which for eight days was crowded with an excited throng. Mobs had endeavored to lynch the prisoner, and all the people were in a fever of excitement. February 15, 1873, he was found guilty, and on the 20thi he was sentenced. He resisted all attempts to obtain a confession from him until the day he was executed. He was hanged in the jail-yard at Knoxville. Thousands of people were in the vicinity trying to obtain a view of the terrible scene by climbing upon houses, sheds, trees, etc., break- ing some of them down, and even creating little riots. In the drop the neck of the criminal was not dislocated, and he died by strangu- lation, his heart ceasing to beat in about ten minutes. His body was buried in Hope Cemetery, at Galesburg, Elder J. W. Griffith, of the Baptist Church, who was his spiritual adviser, officiating.
In the prosecution of the case, State's Attorney J. J. Tunniclift was assisted by A. M. Craig, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the court appointed Messrs. George W. Kretzinger and Adrian L. Humphrey to act as counsel for the defendant. After the verdict was rendered, the defense appealed to the Supreme Court for a supersedeas. Judges Lawrence and Walker, acting, denied the mo- tion, and complimented Mr. Tunnicliff in the highest terms for the fidelity with which he had prosecuted the case, and the care which had been taken in the court to preserve the record from error.
John Marion Chesney.
The very next murder in this county was also a John Marion, whose surname was Chesney. He killed a negro in Abingdon in 1873; was indicted in the fall, and a change of venue was taken to. Fulton county, where he was subsequently acquitted.
John Burgeson.
In the spring of 1876 John Burgeson, alias John Boline, of Oneida, came home one evening drunken and dangerous. Through fright his wife fled to a neighbor's and remained all night, leaving in her haste her little child of five years of age at the house with the drunken man, who was step-father of the child. Next morning the child was found dead in the house. Burgeson was indicted at the June term; February 8, 1877, pleaded guilty of manslaughter, and on the 24th was sentenced to the penitentiary for twelve years.
J. W. Mageors.
In June, 1876, an indictment for murder was also found against J. W. Mageors, alias Bob Mageors, and Electa Ritchey; but as to the
2.9. Junielff STATES ATTORNEY.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
latter a nolle prosequi was soon entered for want of evidence. Mageors is charged with killing a man at Abingdon named Joseph Ritchey, but while the indictment against him is still pending, he is serving out a sentence in the penitentiary for the larceny of cattle. The case is a complicated and mysterious one, and unless further evidence is discovered the murderer will probably escape.
William H. Vawters.
William H. Vawters shot a man at Yates City, and in the autumn of 1876 he was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced for six years; but before the expiration of one year he was pardoned.
Richard B. Heather.
In 1876 Richard B. Heather killed S. Peter Johnson at Abingdon, October 25. His bail was fixed at $15,000, and he took a change of venue to Fulton county, where the next April he was convicted of manslaughter. In May he was sentenced for six years, but the fol- lowing November he was pardoned.
Carl Carlson.
Carl Carlson, of Galesburg, got partially drunk November 10, 1877; set a house on fire, which was burned down. The next morning a charred corpse was found, and evidences indicated that Carlson had robbed the deceased. He was sentenced for a long term in the peni- tentiary for burglary.
William P. Brown
was indicted for assault with attempt to kill his wife. He was tried found guilty, and sentenced to one year in the State prison at Joliet
William H. Beasley.
William H. Beasley, one of the proprietors of Brown's Hotel, Galesburg, caused the death of a Miss Mattie Naslund, a Swede employe in the hotel, by producing abortion. He was indicted for murder at the June term of 1877, and at the fall term he was con- victed of manslaughter and sentenced for four years.
GILSON MURDER.
Sunday afternoon, August 5, 1877, the quiet little village of Gilson was thrown into considerable excitement by the announcement that the residence of one of its citizens had been burglariously entered during the absence of the family, who were at church. It was the house of
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Woodford Pierce that had been entered, who on returning home im- mediately discovered indications of his house having been pillaged. A coat, duster, scissors and $75 in money had been taken. Alarm was instantly given, and suspicion directed to a tramp who had been seen lurking in the vicinity. Tracks were discovered and pursuit made. In the pursuit through the woods the burglar was seen armed with a shot gun and revolver, and carrying a satchel. He fired several shots and wounded little Willie Helter in the ankle. He was soon chased into a corn field, where he shot and killed the horse which Charles Maston and Charles Cramer were both riding in the pursuit. Shortly after, he shot and wounded James Pickrel in the knee, and also wounded his horse in the shoulder. At this time Charles Belden came upon the burglar, and called upon him to halt, when he turned upon Bel- den, saying, "Halt, you s-n of a b-h," and fired, the ball passing through Belden's heart. Belden exclaimed, "I'm killed," and died instantly. The burglar fled again through the corn. Charles Mc- Kown, the post-master of Gilson, followed him on horseback, revolver in hand. Suddenly he came upon the burglar, who whirled, and both shot simultaneously, Mckown receiving a very serious, and at the time supposed fatal, wound, through the left lung; but he has since recovered. Care of the dead and wounded necessitated a temporary cessation of pursuit. About 6 o'clock, however, aid from Knoxville, Maquon and elsewhere having been summoned, pursuit in an organ- ized body of several hundred men was resumed, but without avail, and the burglar and murderer made his escape in the darkness. Just before his death, Belden found a vest which the burglar had thrown away in the pursuit in the cornfield. In this vest, on examination afterwards, was found an express receipt dated at Elmwood, August 3, and given to "Frank Rande." This was the first clue as to who the murderer and burglar was, and was the cause of his being arrested in St. Louis.
The excitement over the murder of Belden, or the "Gilson mur- der," as it subsequently was universally termed, was intense. The entire country for miles around for days was alive with armed persons in pursuit of the escaped murderer, who, going to the timber, shunned the excited populace, to enact another and similar crime within a few days. As an inducement for his capture Governor Cullom offered a reward of $200. In addition Sheriff Berggren, on behalf of the county, offered $600, and Haw Creek township $200. Nothing more was heard of this daring desperado until Friday, November 16, when Sheriff Berggren received the following telegram:
1
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 16, 1877.
A.W. Berggren, Sheriff of Knox Co .:- I have the murderer who killed Belden. He is in hospital, shot by my officers. Bring parties to identify him.
JAMES MCDONOUGH, Chief of Police.
C
Promptly Sheriff Berggren started for St. Louis, leaving Galesburg Friday night. He was accompanied by Charles Mckown for the pur- pose of identifying the murderer. On arriving at St. Louis they met Sheriff Hitchcock, of Peoria county, Chief of Police Kimsey, of Pe- oria, and M. C. Lilley, gunsmith, of Elmwood. Sheriff Hitchcock, from the express receipt found in the cornfield, had worked up the case, and tracked Rande to various places until finally he was discov- ered in St. Louis and arrested in Wright's pawn shop. The $1,000 reward was paid to Sheriff Hitchcock.
The suspected man, after conversation with Mr. Mckown, Lilley and otliers, was positively identified as the perpetrator of the Gilson murder. He was also identified by others as the party who commit- ted three murders in precisely a similar manner at St. Elmo, Fayette county, not long after the commission of the Gilson murder.
The desperado was recognized in a pawn shop in St. Louis. Two police officers being summoned, a bloody struggle ensued between him and the officers, Heffernan and White; Rande drew a navy revol- ver, and in the struggle between him and the officers succeeded in killing Officer White, and was himself wounded by a shot from Pawn- broker Wright, who assisted the officers. In Rande's possession were found two large revolvers, a knife, a billy and a pair of brass knuckles. He gave his name as Frank Rande, and by that- name was subsequently known. For the killing of White, Rande could not have been hung by the laws of Missouri, and that being the end desired by the masses, he was delivered up on the requisition of the Governor of Illinois and taken to the scene of liis earlier crimes.
Arriving in Galesburg, Wednesday, November 28th, a large crowd had gathered at the depot in anticipation of his arrival, great excite- ment prevailing. Rande was handcuffed to Chief of Police Kimsey, of Peoria, on one side, and guarded by Officer Hennessey, of St. Louis, on the other, with Sheriff Berggren and Deputy Sheriff Blood ahead, and Sheriff Hitchcock and Deputy Sheriff Gill, of Peoria county, behind, and was immediately marched to the county jail, where during his incarceration a constant, persistent throng of visi- tors sought and obtained admission, and were afforded through the courtesy of Sheriff Berggren the coveted opportunity of seeing the fiend in human form. At one time, however, the throng was so great that the sheriff found it necessary to interdict admission for a while.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
It was the determination of the sheriff and State's attorney, the conser- vators of the public peace and safety, not to parley with a common thief and triple murderer. An outraged and suffering community looked to them for the punishment of the offender and protection from similar crimes; and that they labored faithfully, energetically and wisely to have the law fully and vigorously enforced, was the an- nounced opinion of press and public.
By appointment of Judge Smitli, upon the request of State's At- torney Tunnicliff, at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, Rande was arraigned in the Circuit Court to enable him to plead to the indict- ment for murder found against him by the special grand jury. As was expected, in reply to the State's attorney as he read the indict- ment he pleaded "not guilty." Not having counsel, the Court ap- pointed Hon. O. F. Price, E. H. Leach and R. C. Hunt to conduct his case. Subsequently counsel was secured by his friends, although he had but few such in Knox county or elsewhere. Hon. D. P. Stubbs, of Fairfield, Iowa, C. G. Bradshaw, of Bloomington, and Hon. O. F. Price of Galesburg, three able, shrewd and energetic lawyers, were re- tained. After being arraigned, he was conducted to W. H. Hunt's art gallery, East Main street, where pictures were taken of him in various positions, each exhibiting two large pistols,-his "pets," as he was wont to call such weapons. Thinking himself 'eminently popular, he conceived the idea of selling his pictures, to assist in de- fraying the expenses of his defense, and accordingly had about 800 struck off, upon the back of which he had the following heinous in- scription:
Frank Rande, "The American Brigand," The Knox County Desperado, the brilliant and daring Young Bandit of the Wabash. Real name, Charles C. Scott; born in Claysville, Washington Co., Pa., Sept. 23, 1839. 38 years of age in 1877.
But before printing the above on the back of the photographs, he sent for W. B. Richards, patent solicitor, of Galesburg, and stated to him his desire to secure the copyright to his photographs, which he claimed were unwarrantably issued by photographers in St. Louis. Mr. Richards informed Rande that any copyright is- sued under an assumed name would be wholly valueless. Therefore Rande briefly considered the matter, and then asked for a paper and pencil. When they were handed him, he wrote, in a neat style of chirography, his true name, "Charles C. Scott, Fairfield, Iowa."
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
This, then, was the first time his name was known. His parents, although hearing of the case, had no knowledge or even an idea of the inurderer being their son.
Wednesday, December 5, after the true name of Rande was divulged, Postmaster Clark E. Carr received from Postmaster W. T. Bergen, of Fairfield, Iowa, the following communication: "I think there is no doubt of Frank Rande being Charles C. Scott of this place. Some years ago he broke jail at Ottumwa, and was arrested and bronght here, but escaped from the sheriff, and has never been heard of since. His parents reside here and are respectable people. His father is an industrious, honorable man. The life of Rande is charac- teristic of Scott. He seemed to be utterly abandoned and lost to advice."
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