USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > History of the city of Quincy, Illinois > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
The publie excitement was still at the full and the interest as rose-colored as ever, with that novelty and hope which even at this long later day attaches to every idea of California. Time had not at all tamed the early eagerness of adventure, and all reports from the few who had as yet returned were accepted just as the hearer wished. In one respect the interest had changed. Danger was no longer dreaded as attendant on the trip across the desolate, track- less. savage-haunted plains, or over the long tortuous orean route, but an equal apprehen- sion arose from the attested rumors that chol- era had waylaid and was doing fell ravage among the traveling trains.
Sickness and pestilence are the saddest of intlietions at home, but when they reach after the far-off wanderer. away from care and sym- pathy and resources, they bring tenfold ter- rors, magnified by wild rumor and faney. The cholera was fearfully fatal in places on the plains, though the stories of its progress were naturally much exaggerated. A special anx- iety was felt in Quincy, for the reason that with the earliest reports that the disease had broken out among the emigrants, came also the news of the death of Charles Steinagel, one of the most active and prominent German citizens of this place. Quite a number of Quincy and Adams county people died of this disease, but
the conditions of the climate, the pure air and the altitude of the country were repellants to the pestilence, which otherwise might have reaped a fearful harvest.
Among the now fixed institutions of the place. the Adams County Medical Society, as at present constituted, dates its origin in this vear. Several attempts had been made by the resident physicians during the preceding ten or twelve years to form a local medical associa- tion, but the efforts were short-lived, and this was the only successful organization. It com- meneed with a membership of ten. Drs. Ral- ston. S. W. Rogers, Roeschlaub. IoHowbush, Wilson, Watson. Shepherd, Leach, Chapman and Elliott : all familiar names for many years in the past. Of these, all but three (Chapman. Elliott and Shepherd) were from the city. and now. thirty-six years after its formation, two only of the original members of the society survive, Dr. L. T. Wilson, of Quincy. and Dr. L. Watson, of Ellis, Kan.
The seventh national eensus was taken this year by E. 11. Buckley and W. R. Lockwood, Deputy United States Marshals, appointed for that purpose. Prior to this time. as prescribed by the constitution of 1818. a state census had been taken every ten years, intermediate to the time of the national eensus. for the pur- pose of apportioning the representation in the state legislature, which is established every five years ; the framers of this first constitution. rightly foreseeing that with the rapidly in- creasing population of the state, this repre- sentation would soon become unequal and un- certain if dependent for its accuracy on the decennial federal census. This state census was taken in 1825-35 and 45, but the provi- sion therefor, under the economic influences of the time, was omitted in the state constitution of 1847, and also. unfortunately, left out of the constitution of 1873. so that every alternate readjustment of representation in the state leg- islature is now based largely on guess work.
The returns of this census, which was quickly and correctly taken, gave a population of 16,901 to Quiney, and to the entire county, the city included. 25,508. This placed Adams county after Cook and Quiney next to Chicago on the record as the most populous county and rity in the state, a relative position which they maintained during the twenty succeeding years.
The private banking business of Quincy be- gan with this year. After the suspension of the State Bank of Illinois, with its branch in Quiney, in 1842, there was for some years much diffienlty in conveniently obtaining eastern ex- change. This was an especial embarrassment to the mercantile business of the place. At
I33
PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
certain seasons of the year. during tax-paying time, some relief was afforded by the land agencies who at that period were drawing upon their eastern clients, and it was not an in''re- ment custom for the merchants to send to St. Lonis, or even to the branch bank of the State of Missouri at Palmyra and there purchase drafts by which to remit and make their pe- riodical payments to their eastern creditors. For a year or two before this time, Mr. Newton Flagg had been engaged in selling exchange in a quiet way, and his business grew so greatly that in the fall of 1850. in partnership with Charles A. Savage. with whom afterward I. (). Woodruff was associated, the banking house of Flagg & Savage was opened on the south side of Maine street. between Fourth and Fifth, afterwards removed to the corner of Maine and Fifth, where for years was transacted a large and Inerative business. The house suspended in 1857. and resumed a few months later, but after a hard struggle of one or two years, finally closed in 1860. It was the first perma- nently established private bank of the place. The earliest in date, however. was that of J. II. Smith and A. C. Marsh, who opened, on the 5th of March, near the corner of Maine and Fourth. under the Quincy House. the "Farmers' and Merchants' Exchange Company." It was not strong. however, and its existence was brief.
The temperance sentiment, which at this time was all pervading throughout the country, took possession of Quiney with a force unknown be- fore or since. Many and large petitions were presented to the council protesting against the liquor traffic. and the granting of licenses therefor. In deference to these an election to obtain the wishes of the people was ordered to be held on the 9th of March. There was a singular accord of feeling expressed on this matter. The people. the politicians and the press worked all one way. The Whig. Herald and Journal vied with each other as to which should be foremost and most radical in the cause, and the result was that out of a poll of 578 (being about two-thirds of the entire vote of the city) all but 45 votes were given against license, making a temperance majority of 488. The council immediately thereupon assembled and passed an ordinance forbidding the retail sale of liquor and also revoking the licenses already issued.
The proprietors of the Northern Cross Rail- road held a meeting on the 15th of February. and. after subscribing $10,000 additional stock. reorganized the company by the election of J. W. Singleton, I. N. Morris. N. Bushnell, N. Flagg and J. M. Pitman as directors, with I. N. Morris as president : S. Holmes, secretary, and Ebenezer Moore, treasurer. The board gave
notice that on the Ist of April the railroad com- pany would take possession and claim the ex- «Insive use of that portion of the roadbed lying within the city. A committee was appointed by the council to confer with the railroad com- pany upon the matter. This property referred to was that part of Broadway west of Twelfth street extending to the river, which had been relinquished by the state to the city prior to the purchase of the remainder of the road by the railroad company. As the city's title was seenre and the railroad company had really no use for the property claimed. action on the subject went no Further. Subscription books to the stock of the road were opened on the 2nd of April to remain open for thirty days. No additional stoek was taken. Prior to this period, about the first of March. the president of the road asked from the city a subscription of $150.000. It was not responded to. The time had not yet come. The engineers, Messrs. Whittle and Shipman, published two exhaust- ive and excellent reports of their survey, etc .. in which they estimated the value of the road as purchased at $120.000. Farther than the labor of the engineers in their survey, no work of any consequence was done upon the road during this year.
The fiscal statement of the city for the year ending April 1, 1850, was a well-prepared and favorable showing. The amount of bonded in- debtedness was reported as $33,373.43. of which $20.000 had been created by the refund- ing operations of the past year, when by the issue of this amount of bonds. which realized. when placed on the market. $18.400. all the then matured bond obligations of the city were taken up and a balance of about $1,500 in cash. was left in the city treasury for "pocket money." It was a judicions. well-managed operation. All of the bonded debt mentioned above would mature consecutively during the next ten years. The outstanding vouchers in circulation amounted to $1.994.26. about the same as at the end of the last fiscal year. hut there was at this time cash on hand to meet these liabilities. The total expenditures of the city for the past twelve months had been greater than during any preceding year, but this was unavoidable, as. in addition to the natural increase of expense with growth. the year 1849 had made many and unusual de- mands upon the public purse. The prevalent pestilence had caused the nuisance. poor house. pauper and other accounts to swell to a large figure. and there had been completed and paid for. during this year, one of the costliest im- provements ever made by the city. This was the grading of Sixth street from Maine to Jer- sey. which involved the filling of a ravine twen-
134
PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
ty feet deep running along the entire length of the block.
At the ammal city election in April there was no party contest. The democratic ticket, headed by Mr. Holmes, was successful over an independent ticket by a decisive majority ; Holmes receiving 569 votes against 394 for R. S. Benneson, the independent nominee for mayor. At the same time. Amos Green and H. L. Simmons, democrats, were elected alder- men in the First and Second wards, John Wood only, in the Third ward, being chosen on the independent ticket. The city council was de- cidedly democratic, and the organization and action for the year was radically the same. There had been an election held all over the county on the 2nd of April for town officers under the township law, now for the first time going into operation, but the city, though de- clared as one of the towns, decided not to hold an election.
With the satisfactory condition of the city finances and its credit placed in a better shape than at any time before. there came now an active advance in business, which increasingly continued for the next half a dozen years, slowing down after that time until in 1861 it was revived by the war times, when there was plenty of money and so many interests and al- most everybody, for a time, lived off the gov- ernment. This revival of business life and industry was all over the land as well as here. By some it was attributed to the stimulus of the California gold coming into circulation : by one-half of the politicians it was credited to the national administration being whig, and this was as zealously denied by the other half. Again, and with some degree of truth, so far as it concerned Illinois. it was claimed that the new constitution. by its having redeemed the bankrupt credit of the state, had encouraged and invited immigration. It was really. how- ever. besides the effect of the above influences. the natural periodical return of prosperity, and confidence that regularly appears after a pe- riod of depression.
In Quiney the effects were early and evident. It was a year of bustle and improvement. Two daily packet lines of steamers were running to St. Louis in addition to the Galena and St. Paul boats, two or three of which passed every day. Property rapidly advanced in value. For instance. the two large lots in Nevins' addition of the southeast corner of Maine and Twelfth streets, where now stands the Webster school house. and which had been offered for sale in the year before at $500, now were bought for school purposes by the city for $2,000, and to- day probably the same property without the
buildings thereon may be easily called worth ness structures were erected. The MeFadon's, Rogers', Manzey's buildings on the north side over $50,000. Many superior substantial busi- of the square: Kendall's. since called the City Hall. at the corner of Maine and Sixth ; Luce's buildings, on Fourth. south of Maine, where for a long time the post office was located, and a number of other permanent and costly edifices were erected, giving better appearance to the city. Some handsome private residences were constructed. This was a feature in Quincy's appearance which was sadly neglected before. Now it equals any other city of its elass in the state. in the number, variety and elegance of its private residences. Then, and up to this pe- riod, there was next to nothing to show of at- traetiveness in this line, nothing but what would be second or third class today. The old Wood, Keyes and Young mansions and two or three others were about all. The Leavitt house, perhaps the most pretentious and expensive private residence of its time. was built this vear. It stood on the corner of Vermont and Eighth, was afterward purchased by General Singleton, and now is built over and forms a part of the St. Mary's School.
With the general business stimulation, man- ufacturing enterprise which is always the surest indication of local prosperity, became active. A larger number of factories of a valuable and durable kind were established than had ever been before. Among them were the Phoenix works, by the energetic and enterprising Com- stoek Bros., in the fall of the year, and about the same time the cotton factory of Dimock & Gove, which did a successful business for some years : also the planing mill of Chase & Scripps. the first large concern of the kind in the city which had been working in a small way before. now extended its business, and a number of other factories beneficial to the place and which have continued successfully, originated with this year.
There were severe losses by fire, of which there was an unusual number. In January the large brick steam flouring mill and distillery, known as the "Casey Mill." situated near the Bay, about where the freight depot now stands, was entirely consumed. It was the most ex- tensive concern of the kind in the city, being a four-story strneture, with surrounding build- ings, originally erected by Messrs. Miller, at a cost of between $20.000 and $25,000. The prop- erty afterwards passed into the hands of Capt. Casey and other parties, who expended on it some $15,000 more. It was a serious loss to the business of the place. Later than this, also on the 30th of March. Kimball's mill, at the foot
135
PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
of Delaware streeet. went the way of all mills. This also was a large establishment, and an old landmark. It was the oldest steam mill in the city. erected in 1831, although much enlarged since.
The long-talked Female Seminary, for which there had been yearning and movement for many months past, opened finally in October, in the buildings on the south side of Maine, near Sixth, which had for some years past been used by Miss Doty for the same purposes. It began under the supervision of Miss Catherine Beecher and a corps of teachers, with nearly one hundred pupils and fine prospects of sue- voss, which, however, were doomed to disap- pointment, as it lived hardly a year, sinking with itself a good deal of hope and more or less money beside.
AAmong the publie events of the year were the observances on the death of General Taylor, the second President of the United States, who had died in office. A publie meeting was called by the Mayor and proper preparations made, and on the 27th of July. with formal accompanying ceremonies, an impressive ad- dress was delivered at the Market House by Judge Peter Lott. Judge Lott was the most felicitous orator for such occasions in the city. and had performed a similar duty nine years before, on the occasion of the death of Presi- dent Harrison. Several persons who had or- eupied places of more or less prominence in past Quiney history. passed away from life dur- ing this year. Judge Jesse B. Thomas, one of the oldest and ablest legal men of the state. who had presided over this judicial eirenit. suc- feeding Judge Donglas, in 1843. and residing for some years in Quiney. died at Chicago on the 17th of February. Governor Ford. a citizen of Quiney and practicing lawyer as early as 1833, afterward Supreme Judge and Governor of the state, died at Peoria during the month of November. A more personal as well as general feeling of regret was occasioned by the death of II. S. Cooley, who died at New Orleans on the 21st of March, of consumption, and was buried here by the Masons with a good deal of publie display. Mr. Cooley came to Quincy from Maine. in 1840. and at once became eon- spienons. He was made Quartermaster General of the state in 1843. appointed Secretary of State in 1846. elected to the same office in 1848. and held it until his death. He was a man of fair talent. aetive and ambitious and, had his life been longer, would probably have contin- ned to rise in politieal distinction.
The newspaper business exhibited the same advanced energy and enterprise that marked other eallings. but it could not be fairly said
to be as profitable and stable. There were two weekly German papers issued, both moderately democratie in politics. One, the Illinois Courier, published by Linz and Richter, came out in April and continued for several years. The other, the Wochenblatt, had but a short life, dying out with the sudden disappearance "be- tween two days" of its publisher. The three other journals were the Herald, Whig and the Journal. The latter had somewhat of an in- voluntary chameleon reputation. It was charged by the Whig with being a democratic sheet, and as severely attacked by the Herald for its whig proclivities. The editor. L. M. Booth, an old newspaper man, had the luck or non luck to often be freighted with this un- certain reputation. He was somewhat in the situation of the two Trishmen, strangers who met and each thought that he recognized the other. After a grasp of the hand and a second look. both started back, and one of them says: "Faith and we're both mistaken. I thought it was you and you thought it was me, and it seems it is neither of us." llis paper did not prosper, and he left in April, promptly, like the Wochenblatt editor. for California, where he soon embarked in a similar business. The JJour- nal fell into the hands of C. M. Woods, who changed. in May. the name from People's Jour- nal to Quiney JJournal, and on the 20th of No- vember commenced the issue of a daily paper. There had been two brief efforts to carry on a daily publication in Quincy (once, in 1845, and again in 1847 ) : each lived but a few months. Mr. Wood's Journal was published at the price of ten cents a week. It had difficulties (sus- pended once or twice), but after some changes in name and ownership, was merged into and became the present Daily Herald, the oldest continuons daily of the city. Another journal. the Columbus Gazette, was started during this summer, but its existence was short and its cir- culation light and mostly confined to the county and its own immediate neighborhood.
Journalism then, thirty-six years ago, was laden with less labor. but also owned less con- veniences, than since and now. Local news was seant and hard to obtain. and the manu- facture of the same was a yet undeveloped art. Early news from abroad came at variable pe- riods. As illustrative of this, one of the weekly journals, in two successive issues, tells its read- ers that it has "no dispatches again this week. owing to the storm." a somewhat signifieant comment on what the telegraph was in those days.
The fall election for member of congress. state treasurer. members of the legislature and county officials was warmly contested. with
136
PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
peculiar and conflicting results. O. H. Brown- ing was the whig, and W. A. Richardson the democratie candidate for congress. Browning carried the city by about 50 majority and the county (city ineluded) by 139, but was beaten in the district ; only one other county (Peoria) giving him its vote. John Wood. nominated as the whig candidate for the state senate on the declination of Col. Ross, of Pike-Adams and Pike constituting the senatorial district, re- ceived 210 majority in Adams, and C. A. War- ren, his democratic opponent, led in Pike county by about .50 votes. In the represent- ative district, composed of Adams and Brown counties. J. M. Pitman, J. R. Hobbs and J. Dearborn were the democratie nominees, against whom the whigs ran JJ. W. Singleton, Wm. Morrow and Hohan Bowles. Pitman, Singleton and Bowles went out of Adams with small majorities, which the first two retained in Brown. where, however, Hobbs secured a ma- jority sufficient to elect him. It was amusingly noticed at the time, that Dearborn, of Brown, got more votes than Hobbs, of Adams, in Adams, while again, Hobbs led Dearborn in Brown, each appearing to be honored most out of his own county. On the county tieket the whigs elected the sheriff and treasurer, Humph- rey and Pomeroy and the democrats the cor- oner, Munroe, by small majorities. The demo- cratie state ticket was also successful by from two to three hundred votes. This political re- sult is notable as being a partial success for each of the two parties, which for the past twenty years had disputed the control of the county with abont an even record of fortune. and because it was the last success of the whigs. From this period, with a single acci- dental interruption in the legislative succession, the democratic party maintained an easy, con- tinous supremacy in all the county elections for the following fifteen years.
An advance in business life in all directions was (as before stated) the marked feature of this year. There was an increase in the mill and provision prodnet, less noted for the reason that enterprise was spreading itself in so many other occupations, some new, some extensions of what had been. As the best criterion by which to judge the present prosperity of a com- munity, is in the number and extensiveness of its factories, where are offered opportunities for ingenuity to expand and the largest amount of labor to be employed, so the surest test of permanent stability is to be found in the price and valuations of its real estate property. Ilerein is the best basis of a people's wealth. and herein Quincy has an even and healthy record. Sudden changes in the value of real
estate almost always are fictitious, and sooner or later prove so. During the sixteen years of independent corporate existence, six years as a town, ten years as a city, now, in 1850, the retrospeet revealed a slow but steady step for- ward with far less of influctuation than at- tached to the career of most other young com- munities of the west. . It had early, it had always, and it had now, in 1850. a larger pro- portion of people owning their own homes than any other town or city of the same grade in the west : and this has continued. The reasons for this condition of things. it is needless to name. The faet exists that there are nearly 50 per cent more men in Quincy who own their own homes than in any other Illinois eity, and it is easy for any one to deduce from this how strongly, how, of necessity, both business and social feelings and interests must combine to make assurance of a permanent future. As evidencing this record of values during the pe- riod above named, the assessment tables tell a clear story. Valuations of real property by as- sessors rarely give a correct estimate of the value of such property, but the snecessive valu- ations are the best evidence that can be had of the varying value of such property running through a series of years.
The first town assessment to be relied upon was in 1836, when the town property was val- ned at $487,900. Four years later, in 1839, the last one made by the town, the valuation was $658.443. These valuations were high, meh higher than would be made at the present time, but property all over the west had been rated at a speculative value some years before and so continued to be, while the percentage of tax assessments was low. In 1841, the second year of the existence of the city, the vahation of real estate was $729,809, and of personal prop- erty $95,059, and this proportion, slightly ad- vaneing each year, became. in 1850, $1,200,391 for real estate and $353,961 on personal prop- erty. In fact, these valuations which in 1835 were relatively too high, were, in 1850, placed almost as much too low, the earlier valuations being lifted as nearly as possible to the sup- posed cash worth of property, and indeed some- times above, while the later valnations were as steadily falling far below what such property was actually worth. The reason for this de- pression in the assessments was, first, the in- Hated value that had been adopted in the early times, and again the operation of the two mill tax to pay off the state debt prescribed in the the state constitution of 1845. The unexpected effect of this two mill tax was, that if all the property in the state was valued at anywhere near its real worth, a much greater sum would
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.