USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 11
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tinies of all. His prosperity means universal prosperity ; his failure univer- sal distress.
Soil and Agriculture .- This county is situated in the heart of the best corn-producing region in the state, and its prairie lands, which constitute by far the largest part of its area, are unsurpassed among the uplands in the state in fertility, and produce annually large crops of Indian corn, as well as the small grains and grass, without the aid of fertilizers or artificial stimu- lants of any kind. With a judicious system of rotation of crops, these lands may be thus cultivated for an indefinite period without any serious deteriora- tion in their productive qualities.
The soil on the level prairie is of a black, peaty character, becoming of a chocolate-brown color on the more rolling surfaces, and degenerating into a light-ash-gray color on the oak ridges, which are the poorest lands in the county. But these poorer soils upon the broken lands that border the streams are excellent fruit lands, and also produce good crops of wheat and clover, if properly cultivated.
The bottom lands in this county are restricted to a narrow belt along the lower course of the Macoupin, and some portion of this has been cleared of the heavy growth of timber and brought under cultivation, and is equal to the best prairie soils, especially in the growth of corn.
Natural Mounds .- There are some natural mounds in the eastern portion of the county, among the most conspicuous of which is Coop's Mound, eight miles north-east of Carlinville. This mound covers an area of several acres, and is about sixty feet in height above the level of the adjacent prai- rie. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of oak and hickory, and from its summit a beautiful view of the surrounding country may be seen.
Timber .- The native kinds of timber are fully set forth in the chapter on the Flora of the county, and hence demand but brief mention here. The largest bodies of timber are found along the Macoupin, Otter, Solomon's, Hodge's, Coop's and Cahokia creeks and their tributaries, and the head waters of Wood river. The largest timber districts are in Brushy Mound, Polk, Chesterfield, Western Mound and Barr townships. Artificial groves and belts, consisting chiefly of hard and soft maple, elm, and fruit trees have been planted on the prairies for shade and shelter from winter winds for stock.
Fine belts of timber skirt the banks of all the streams in the county, fur- nishing an adequate supply for fencing and for fuel to those who prefer wood to coal. The principal growth upon the uplands is two or three varieties of oak and hickory on the ridges adjacent to the streams, while on the more level lands skirting the prairies there are fine groves which, in addition to these varieties, contain elm, linden, wild cherry, honey locust, black walnut and hackberry, and indicate a soil of excellent quality. On the creek bot- toms the cottonwood, sycamore, white and sugar maple, ash, redbud, dog- wood, sassafras, persimmon, paw-paw and white walnut are common. Since the introduction of Osage orange for hedges, which are a common fence in this county, and the introduction of coal for fuel, it may be safely estimated that the annual growth of timber is fully equal to the yearly consumption in this county.
MANUFACTURING INTERESTS FROM CENSUS OF 1870.
It has been stated that the chief industry of the people of this county is agriculture, with its kindred pursuit, stock-raising. It must not be under- stood from this that the manufacturing interests are insignificant, only in a comparative sense. The following statistics are worthy of attention.
CENSUS OF 1870.
Establish-
ments.
Hands em-
ployed.
Capital.
Wages.
Materials.
| Products.
Agricultural Implements,
6
39 $ 25,800
$ 14,783
$ 12,148
$ 37,955
Brick,
5
27
8,000
6,560
3,902
14,354
Carriages and Wagons,
17
64
30,700
19,777
23,814
71,000
Cooperage,
7
41
15,690
18,640
29,727
67,646
Flouring Mill Products, .
14 105
316,000
52,350
873,170
1,024,131
Masonry, Brick and Stone, . . Saddlery and Harness, ..
10
24
17,800
5,806
11,826
27,605
Sash, Doors and Blinds, .
1
9
4,000
2.400
8,000
12,500
Woolen Goods, .
1
20
35,000
5,200
21,500
43,500
-
Digitized by
Google-
7
525
1,450
7,800
11,400
33
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
'RAILROAD SYSTEM.
Transportation Facilities.
* Chicago and Alton Railroad enters Macoupin county on section 4, town- ship 12, range 6, and traverses the county in a south-western direction, leav- ing it at Brighton on section 19, township 7, range 9. The most important stations are Carlinville, Virden, Girard, Nilwood, Shipman and Brighton.
ter of the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago Railroad Company. The lease of this valuable property covers a period of nine hundred and ninety years, and the rental paid is 40 per cent. of gross earnings, with the under- standing that such 40 per cent. shall in no case amount to a less sum an- nually than $240,000.
Subsequently in 1870-71, arrangements were made with the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago Railroad Company for building a branch road from Roodhouse to Louisiana, on the Mississippi river, a distance of 38 miles, under an agreement, whereby the Chicago and Alton Railroad Com- pany guaranteed the annual interest on bonds issued for construction of such branch. At the same time control was obtained of the charter and franchises of the Louisiana and Missouri River Railroad Company, which had been incorporated by the legislature of the state of Missouri, to build a railroad from Louisiana to Kansas City, an estimated distance of 216 miles, together with a branch from Mexico to Cedar City, opposite Jefferson City, fifty miles in length. It is believed that in consideration of building this road in Missouri, the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company were to receive $80,000 per mile, $15,000 mortgage bonds, 810,000 preferred, and 85,000 ordinary stock of the Louisiana and Missouri River Railroad Company, and in addition such county and local aid, as had been donated in favor of the enterprise. The fifty miles of road from Louisiana to Mexico were opened for traffic in the winter of 1871-72, the line from Mexico to Fulton, 24} miles, March 6th, 1872, and the line from Fulton to Cedar City, 25} miles, in July of the same year. At the time when the Chicago and Alton Rail- road Company assumed the control of the road in Missouri, it was intended to build an independent line from Louisiana to Kansas City, but when the road had reached Mexico, and when considerable grading had been done between that point and Glasgow, legal questions were raised as to the legality of certain county and township aid which had been voted beyond the Missouri river at Glasgow, and the courts held that the charter only con- templated a line between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and not crossing of the river at various points, hence the subventions beyond Glasgow were illegal. This decision involved the suspension of the through line project, and arrangements were made with the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railway Company for traffic arrangements, over its road from Mexico to Kansas City, and for running through passenger and sleeping cars on the line between Chicago and Kansas City, via Blooming- ton, Roodhouse, Louisiana and Mexico. It is almost needless to say that the advantages for through business thus obtained, have been abundantly utilized, to the pecuniary advantage of both railroad companies interested in the through line; also that the Chicago and Alton Kansas City line has been one of the most popular for passenger traffic between the east and west. The rapid, and it might be truly said unparalleled development of Kansas, Colorado and South-western Missouri, during the past six years, convinced the managers of the Chicago and Alton Railroad of the necessity for owning and controlling an independent line from Mexico to Kansas City, and the views thus entertained assumed a practical shape during 1878, by the formation of an independent company, to build what is known as the Missouri Extension, from Mexico to Kansas City, it being understood that the extension, when built, should be leased in perpetuity by the Chi- cago and Alton Railroad Company, and thus become an integral part of that extended railroad system. The through line from Chicago to Kansas City, via Mexico and Glasgow, will not exceed 485 miles in length, and the distance will be about four miles shorter than that via Galesburg and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad.
(1) CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROAD.
Main Line-Chicago to Joliet, perpetual lease, . 37.20 miles. Joliet to East St. Louis, owned, . . 243.50
Western Division-Dwight to Washington, owned . . 69.80
Branch to Lacon, owned, . 10.00 4
Chicago and Illinois River, leased, .
Coal Branch, owned, .
23.86 4
Jacksonville Division-Bloomington to Godfrey, leased, . 150.60
3.98 "
Roodhouse to Louisiana, including bridge, owned, . . 38.10 Louisiana and Missouri Railroad-perpetual lease, Louisiana to Mexico, 50.80 Mexico to Cedar City,
=
=
Missouri Extension-perpetual lease,
50.00
Mexico and Glasgow, Marshall to Kansas City, . 162.50 "
Total length of road owned and leased, .
.840.34 «
* For data on C. and A. R. R. we are indebted to an article by Mr. Ed. Vernon, in a work entitled, "Railway and River System of St. Louis," and published by L. U. Reavis.
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The air-line between St. Louis and Chicago, the two most prominent cities of the Great West, and the most pronounced commercial rivals, occupies a prominent position among the Trans-Mississippi railroads. This may be at- tributed partly to the persistent manner in which the management has fos- tered and developed the local business along the line of the road, and partly to the fact that since its reorganization in 1862 the company has, until re- cently, been the only one in the railroad system of St. Louis, east of the Mis- sissippi river, which paid dividends to its stockholders. Little did they dream who obtained a charter, in or about 1847, for the Alton and Sangamon Rail- road," and who were indefatigable in securing subscriptions along the pro- posed line, (72 miles in length), for its construction and equipment, that they were laying the corner-stone of one of the most valuable railroad properties in the country, and that within the comparatively brief period of thirty years, the line between Alton and Springfield would be merely a small link in an extended railroad system, under one comprehensive management, of more than 840.34 miles. The road between Alton and Springfield was com- menced in 1849, and completed in 1852, with the proceeds of bona fide local subscriptions to stock, under the management of a local board of directors. After the completion of the road to Springfield, additional legislation was ob- tained for extending the line to Bloomington. Mr. Henry Dwight conceived the idea of extending the road to Joliet, and making a connection at that point for Chicago and the East. In furtherance of this idea he obtained a charter for a company called the "Chicago and Mississippi Railroad Com- pany," and having obtained a board of directors in his interest, issued bonds to the amount of 83,500,000 in 1856, with the proceeds of which the line was completed through to Joliet. Subsequently a lease of the road from Alton to Joliet was made. The road was sold at auction, and it was bid off by Governor Mattison and one or two associates in December, 1857, for the paltry sum of 85,000. The road between Alton and Joliet, at the time of this sale, represented a cost for construction and equipment of 89,535,000, or about 846,640 per mile of road. The purchasers at this auction sale organ- ized themselves into a company, called the "St. Louis, Alton and Chicago Railroad Company," and perhaps under ordinary circumstances might have made their venture a success; but the business and general interests of the whole country were so crippled by the panic of 1857, that failure seems to have been accepted as a foregone conclusion, and after various struggles for existence, the property passed in 1860 under the hands of a receiver, Mr. James Robb, formerly a banker of New Orleans, and a gentleman of recog- nized executive and financial ability. Under Mr. Robb's management an era of prosperity was inaugurated, and the affairs of the company were so successfully managed that in 1862 measures were taken for reorganizing the company, and in October of that year the Chicago and Alton Railroad Com- pany was formed, with the former receiver as president of the new company. The attention of the management, after the reorganization, was directed to securing an independent line under their own control between Chicago and St. Louis, which were recognized as the future termini of the property. In furtherance of these views, a lease in perpetuity was first secured of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad.
It was at this juncture that Mr. John J. Mitchell, a warm friend and sup. porter of the Chicago and Alton interests, offered to build an independent road from Alton to East St. Louis, provided that the Chicago and Alton would, on completion of the road, merge the franchises of the Alton and St. Louis charter, obtained in 1850, then owned and controlled by Mr. John J. Mitchell, with their own. The proposition was accepted, and during the winter of 1864 trains of the Chicago and Alton Railroad were running to East St. Louis, and terminating on valuable depot grounds, obtained by Mr. Mitchell for the Chicago and Alton Railroad from the Wiggins Ferry Com- pany. From this date forward this railroad company assumed an indepen- dent position in the metropolis of the Mississippi Valley, as the chief trans- portation line between St. Louis and Chicago. Four years later, viz .: in 1868, the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company secured control of the line from Bloomington to Godfrey, a distance of 150 miles, built under the char-
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34
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
STATISTICS OF POPULATION, WEALTH, &c., OF COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS TRAVERSED BY THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD.
COUNTIES.
tion.
of Real and Real and Personal Est. Personal Est. Improved.
Land
Value of Farms.
valueof Fattu Products.
Live Stock.
Cook.
349 966 $85,684,584 8575,000,000
348,824 $22,873.349 $4.033,256 $2,612,441
Will.
43,913
6,906,882
28,516,120
419,442
20,654,783
3.965,271
3,091,825
Grundy ......
14,93$
3,257,451
10,628,165
193,999
7,739,878
1,043,965
1,113,149
Livingston
31,471
6,762,063
19,178,415
377,505
14,246,593
1,981,993
2,171,727
McLean.
53,988
11,249,494
44,926,108
494,978
24,863,68!
4.860,898
4,129,814
Logan .
23,053
4,797,206
19,133,108
321,709
16,163,686
3,623,501
2,435,541
Sangamon
32.726
6,863,906
27,511 624
291,039
13,128,576
2,459,465
1,831,772
Madison.
44,131
10,692,365
40,745,328
257,032
18,194,701
3,727,065
1,831,004
Tazewell
27,903
5,919,124
23,165 560
229,126
11,854,646
2,320.048
1,768,989
Menard.
11,735
2,348,070
9,376,840
134,173
7,944,895
2,237,505
1,617,389
Mason ......
16,184
3,622,207
13,759,592
209,453
10,109,200
2,304,803
1,293,818
Morgan ....
28,463
7,552,936
29,885,996
293,450
18.818,839
4,482,802
3 875,150
Pike ...
30,768
5,417,025
21,097,652
233,785
14,508,922
3,119,376
2,073,538
Greene.
20,277
3,931,129
15 724.516
175.408
11.007,844
2,507,350
1 247,532
Jersey
15,054
2,972,913
11,891,272
94,147
6,065,415
1.445,440
827,323
Total
790,22.8180,972,392 8941,703,828 4,495,838 $243,563,126 $48,669,449 835,798,056
DEDUCTIONS FROM THE ABOVE.
Number of counties in the state of Illinois traversed by Chicago & Alton Railroad sixteen, 15.68 per cent. of the whole number of counties in the state.
Population of said counties 31.15 per cent. of the total population of the state in 1870. Assessed value of real and personal estate in said sixteen counties 37.48 per cent. of the total assessed value of real and personal estate in the state.
True value of real and personal estate in said sixteen counties, 44.42 per cent. of the total true value of real and personal estate in the state.
Number of acres of improved land in said sixteen counties, 23.25 per cent. of the whole improved property in the state.
Value of farms in said sixteeen counties, 26.46 per cent. of the total value of improved farms in the state.
Estimated value of farm productions in said sixteen counties, 23.09 per cent. of the total estimated value of farm productions in the state.
Value of live stock in said sixteen counties, 24 per cent. of the total value of live stock in the state.
STATISTICS OF POPULATION, WEALTH OF COUNTIES IN MISSOURI, TRAVERSED BY THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD.
=
Popula- tion.
Assess'd Val. True Val. of Acres of Real & Per- Real and Per-, Land sonal rotate. sonal l'state. Improved.
Value of Farıns.
Value of Farm Productions.
Value of
Pike
23,076 $ 7,331,100 $15,550,000 174,840 $ 8 256,252 $ 2,052 574 $ 1,641,721
Audrain.
12,307
5,102.127 8,503,407: 191,087
5,131,435
1,467,751
1,495,611
Callaway
19.202
3.237,734
7,000,000
174,990
5,863,926
1,649,405
1.643.821
Boone ...
20.765
6,363,103 15,000,000
222.29
5,883,432
1,212,831
1,345,424
Howard
17.233
5,429,003
9.000,000
128,342
5,006,825
1,400,936
932.766
Saline ..
21,672
9,210,870 13,000,000
200,799
9,354 974
2,695,617:
1,651,691
Lafayette ..
22,623
8,357,956 20,000,000
166,608
8,623,785
1,806,904
1,446,638
Jackson
55,041 16,103,332| 38,000,000,
195,134 10,349,680
1,615,990
1,356,802
Total.
191,919 $61,135,225 126,053,407 1,454,096 $58,470,309 $13,902,008 $11,514,744
DEDUCTIONS FROM THE ABOVE.
Number of counties in the state of Missouri traversed by Chicago & Al- ton Railroad, eight, 7 per cent. of the whole number of counties in the state.
Population of said counties, 11.15 per cent. of the total population of the state in 1870.
Assessed value of real and personal estate in said eight counties, 11 per cent. of the total assessed value of real and personal estate in the state.
True value of real and personal estate in said eight counties, 9.81 per cent. of the total true value of real and personal estate in the state.
Number of acres of improved land in said eight counties, 15.92 per cent. of the whole improved property in the state.
Value of farms in said eight counties, 14.88 per cent. of the total value of improved farms in the state.
Estimated value of farm productions in said eight counties, 13.50 per cent. of the total estimated value of farm productions in the state.
Value of live stock in said eight counties, 13.66 per cent. of the total value of live stock in the state.
In brief the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company has, by a judicious system of permanent improvement, and by the introduction of all the modern appliances which tend to the preservation of life and property, placed itself in such a condition, materially and physically, that its financial future can-
not be affected by the contingencies which severally affect other roads. Its success as one of the great highways of the west is an assured reality. It might be appropriately noted here that while much of this roads past suc- cess may be attributed to its admirable geographical location, embracing a very rich section of the country for local traffic, and with termini on Lake Michigan and the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, equally as much is due to the stability of the management during the past decade and a half, and to the fact that the property has never yet become the foot-ball of speculators. Nothing, perhaps, has a greater tendency to demoralize the working force on any railroad, and, it might be said, impair its usefulness to the public, than the spasmodic changes in the control and management, which have charac- terized the history of most western railroads, and from these vicissitudes the Chicago and Alton Railroad has been happily exempt. The executive man- agement and the entire directors have been practically the same for the past 15 years, and where to recognized skill in operating there has been added the financiering and engineering ability of the president, and the solid unani- mous support of wealthy stockholders, and directors distinguished for busi- ness ability, it is not surprising that the Chicago and Alton Railroad has maintained a firm position as an investment in the moneyed centers of the world, and it has acquired a well-merited popularity with the traveling and shipping public.
ROCK ISLAND DIVISION OF THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY R. R.
This road enters the county on section 31 in Chesterfield township, and leaves the county at section 31; Brighton township. There are three stations in Macoupin : Medora, Piasa and Brighton. The number of miles in this county of the main track is 13113; side tracks, rod miles. The road was built in the fall of '69, and winter and spring of 1870. Trains commenced running between Beardstown and East St. Louis about the middle of May, 1870. Road bed and ballast is mostly common soil. There is some of the bed graveled, and about 2,600 oak ties per mile. Iron, 50, with fish plate joints.
N. W. & S. E. R. R.
Its western terminus is at Jacksonville, and eastern at Virden. It enters Virden township on section 6, and traverses the township in a south-easterly direction to its junction with the C. & A. R. R.
INDIANAPOLIS AND ST. LOUIS RAILROAD.
Its general offices are located at Indianapolis, which point is its eastern terminus. And St. Louis being its western termini, the length of track from either termini is 261 miles. The road-bed is of substantial build, and well ballasted, tied and ironed. It enters the state of Illinois in Edgar county, and the principal towns which it passes through in this state are Paris, Charleston, Mattoon, Shelbyville, Pana, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Bunker Hill, Alton and East St. Louis. The line of the road is laid through a very fer- tile district of the state, and it receives a fair proportion of the eastern traf- fic. It strikes Macoupin county first on the northern line of section 1, Ca- hokia township, and traverses the county in a south-westerly direction, and leaving it on section 33, Bunker Hill township. The most important station in this county is Bunker Hill. Other stations are Dorchester, Gillespie and Clyde.
WABASH RAILWAY.
The St. Louis branch of this road passes through the south-eastern corner of the county, and furnishes transportation facilities for the flourishing towns of Mt. Olive and Staunton, and the district of country tributary thereto. It has been the means of opening up several coal mines which are quite extensive. These, with the milling interests, have largely promoted the growth and wealth of the two towns, and furnishes excellent markets for their products. Staunton is situated 35 miles from St. Louis, and Mt. Olive about 42, and the former 396 from Toledo, and the latter 389 miles from Toledo. It enters the county on section 36, Cahokia township, and leaves it on section 32, Staunton township. The Wabash is one of the best roads in the west.
CHAPTER VI.
GEOLOGY.
JOR the following article, we are indebted to the state geological report of A. H. Worthen, its editor. We have selected such portions as we deem of most interest to our readers.
Drift Deposits .- The Quatenary beds of this county consist mainly of drift clays, with some interstratified beds of sand and gravel, and
Digitized by
46,352
12,995,035
51,133,532
421,748
25,388,118
4,557.741
3,777 044
Macoupin
Popula- Assessed value True value of Acres of
Estimated
Value of
COUNTIES.
Live Stock.
1
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
35
some local deposits of loess along the bluffs of the Macoupin. They range in thickness from forty to two hundred feet or more, their greatest develop- ment being restricted to the ancient valleys, excavated anterior to, or during the drift epoch, and subsequently filled with drift accumulations.
Three miles south of Carlinville, a shaft was sunk by T. L. Loomis, Esq., to the depth of one hundred and sixty feet, without reaching bed rock, all but a few feet at the top being through a blue hard-pan. At this point a stream of water broke through, probably from an underlying bed of quick- sand, and filled the shaft in a few hours to the depth of about eighty feet, and the work was consequently abandoned.
At a coal shaft, one mile south-east of Bunker Hill, the superficial deposits were only twenty-eight feet thick, while at a shaft east of Staunton, they were one hundred and ten feet ; at the Virden shaft twenty, and at Girard about seventy feet. These figures illustrate the variable thickness of the drift deposits in the county, and indicate the irregularity of the original sur- face of the bed rock, which seems to have been intersected by valleys of erosion quite as deep, if not as numerous as those which characterize the sur- face at the present time.
Stratified Rock .- All the stratified rocks of this county belong to the coal measures, and include all the strata from the horizon of coal No. 4, which outcrops on Hodge's creek, just on the Greene county line, to coal No. 10, in- clusive, embracing an aggregate thickness of about three hundred and fifty feet. The following section of the coal shaft at Virden, will give a general idea of the relative thickness and position of the strata, and includes nearly all the different beds that outcrop in the county.
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