USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. I > Part 42
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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
In advance of any action by State authority, although both Govs. Bond and Coles had recommended it, congress passed an act, March 30, 1822, "authorizing the State of Illinois to open a canal through the public lands to connect the Illinois River with Lake Michigan," by which for said purpose ninety feet of land on each side of said canal was vested in said State. The way being thus opened, even though only to a limited extent, so far as regards governmental aid, the legislature in 1823 passed
* " American State Papers," Vol. XX, p. 714. + Niles' Register, VI, p. 140. + Niles' Register, VI 394. The statement, hitherto accepted upon the authority of several historians, that it was brought to the attention of congress in a message by President Madison in 1814, can not be verified.
§ " American State Papers, " XXI, p. 555.
Il It is a noticeable fact, however, that in the "Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River" by Major Long in 1823, although he visited Chicago and carefully inspected the proposed route for a canal, he makes no reference to any former visit to this locality or to any previous report by him on the subject. In this latter narrative, while he states that "an expenditure, trifling in comparison to the
463
ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN CANAL.
an act providing for the appointment of commissioners "to consider, devise, and adopt such means as may be required to effect the communication by canal and locks between the navigable waters of the Illinois River and Lake Michigan." $6000, a large sum at that time, was appropriated to defray the expenses of the commission. The commissioners appointed were Emanuel J. West, Erastus Brown, Theophilus W. Smith, Thos. Sloo, jr., and Samuel Alexander. Rene Paul and Justin Post were employed as engineers, who made a survey of the route-very superficial as it turned out-and reported that the cost of construction would not exceed $700,000. This under- estimate was responsible for the commencement of the work on a larger scale than the State found itself able to maintain, resulting in a useless expenditure of $1,500,000.
The favorable report of the commissioners led to the pas- sage of a law at the next session of the legislature, Jan. 17, 1825, incorporating the "Illinois-and- Michigan Canal Associa- tion with a capital of $1,000,000," by which it was provided that "all cessions, grants, and transfers, made, or that may be hereafter made, by the government of the United States for the purpose of promoting the completion of the canal shall pass. and vest in said corporation." Our congressman, Daniel P. Cook, who had secured a favorable report upon a bill making a donation of land to the State for the purpose of constructing the canal, perceiving that there would be danger of defeating the bill when it was seen that the grant would inure to the benefit of a private corporation, by his personal influence secured the surrender and repeal of this charter.
On March 2, 1827, Mr. Cook, seconded by senators Kane and Thomas, secured the passage by congress of the act granting importance of the object, would again render Lake Michigan a tributary of the Mexican Gulf," he further remarks that "it is the opinion of those best acquainted with the nature of the country, that the easiest communication would be between the Little Calamick and some point of the Desplaines, probably below the portage road."-"Long's Expedition," Vol. I, 166.
The latter view is also supported by Gov. Coles in a communication published in the "Illinois Monthly Magazine," Oct., 1830, in which he says : "There should like- wise be a reconnoissance between the Kalamick of the lake and the Saganaskee and Joliet of the Deplaine, between which streams the summit level is believed to be the lowest. *
* * From all the information I have been able to collect, I am of opinion that this is the best place for the construction of a canal."
464
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
to the State "for the purpose of aiding her in opening a canal to connect the waters of the Illinois River with those of Lake Michigan," the alternate sections of the public lands on each side of the canal for five miles in width along its entire route- the number of acres as subsequently ascertained being 224,322.
An act to "consider, devise, and adopt such measures as may be required to facilitate and effect" the construction of the canal was passed by the legislature Jan. 22, 1826. Under this law the canal commissioners appointed were Dr. Gershom Jayne, Edmund Roberts, and Charles Dunn. A new survey was made by Engineer James M. Bucklin, but not much prog- ress was made until 1831, when an amendatory act was passed withdrawing the lands from private entry, and providing for the subdivision of tracts and their public sale. Under the pro- visions of these acts the board laid out the towns of Ottawa and Chicago.
The commissioners having reported that the cost of the canal would amount to over $4,000,000, and that of a railroad between the same points would be only one million, the ques- tion of substituting a railroad for a canal was considered. An act of congress was passed, March 2, 1833, providing that the lands granted to the State "may be used and disposed of for the purpose of making a railroad instead of a canal."
The general assembly, by act of March 1, 1833, abolished the board of canal commissioners, and made no further provi- sion to prosecute the work. But in 1835, it was again decided to construct the canal, and a law was passed authorizing a loan of $500,000 on the credit solely of the canal-lands, but capital- ists declined to invest on the security offered. On Jan. 9, 1836, another act was passed as heretofore stated, under which the loan was secured on the credit and faith of the State, and the actual work of construction, after so many years of preliminary attempts began on July 4, of that year, and the first boat, the General Fry, passed from Lockport to Chicago, April 10, 1848, the first to pass through the entire length of the canal being the General Thornton, on April 23, '48. The event was formally celebrated with enthusiastic demonstrations by citizens from LaSalle and along the line of the canal, at Chicago, April 16.
The main line from Bridgeport to LaSalle, as completed, was
465
ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN CANAL.
96 miles in length; including the Chicago-River portion, 100 miles. It was 60 feet wide at the surface, 36 at the bottom, and 6 feet deep. It had 5 feeders and 17 locks, and was spanned by 25 bridges. Trade-basins were constructed at Lockport, Joliet, Dupage, Ottawa, and LaSalle, besides at the latter point a steamboat-basin connecting the canal with the Illinois River.
The cost of the canal and its receipts, excluding the amount paid Chicago for deepening, as reported by the chief engineer, Daniel C. Jenne, March 1, 1879, were as follows:
Expended by the canal commissioners $5,133,062 Expended by the canal trustees - - 1,424,619
Making the total cost $6,557,681 Receipts from sale canal-lands and lots $5,886,039 · Net earnings over expenses to Mch. '79 2,933,692 8,819,73I
Receipts over cost $2,262,050
The unsold lots and lands were valued at $156,000 in Nov., 1887.
The commissioners* appointed by Gov. Duncan were Wm. F. Thornton, Gurdon S. Hubbard, and Wm. B. Archer, who were succeeded in January, 1839, by Wm. F. Thornton as president of the board, and Jacob Fry, acting commissioners, elected by the general assembly. Isaac N. Morris succeeded Gen. Thorn- ton as president of the board in 1842, when William Gooding became the chief engineer.
The amount expended and work done on the canal for the several years succeeding its commencement was as follows: in 1836 $39.260; 1837 $350,649; 1838 $911,902; 1839 $1,479,907; 1840 $1, 117,702; 1841 $644,875; 1842 $155,195, making a total of $4,679,494. At the time of the suspension of the work in March, 1843, because of lack of funds, there was $210,000 due to superintendents and $230,000 to contractors for damages.+
Under the supplemental act of 1845, providing for a further
* These were all leading and influential whigs. Of Mr. Hubbard it may be said that he was one of Chicago's earliest citizens; was born in Windsor, Vt., August 22, 1802, and first saw Fort Dearborn in ISIS. He was an Indian trader, and finally settled at Chicago in 1834, where he continuously resided until his death, Sept. 14, 1886. He served in the Black-Hawk War, was a member of the Eighth General Assembly, and an enterprising merchant and trader all his life.
+ " Illinois Reports, " 1842-3.
30
466
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
loan of $1,600,000 and the completion of the canal, its lands and appurtenances were conveyed in June, 1845, to three trustees, Wm. H. Swift and David Leavitt, representing the bondholders, and Jacob Fry the State. Under this manage- ment the work was completed.
The loan of $1,600,000 was paid by the trustees in 1858 and they also began paying the principal of the preceding debt, toward which the State contributed $600,000.
The trustees were authorized by the act of Feb. 15, 1865, to enter into an arrangement with the city of Chicago for the purpose of completing the summit division of the canal upon the original deep-cut plan, with such modifications as would secure the cleansing and purification of the Chicago River; it being provided that for the amount expended by the city, the latter should have a vested lien upon the revenues of the canal after paying the present canal-debt, and also that the cost should not exceed $2,500,000.
In August, 1871, the last incumbrance having been removed, the trustees, who had managed the affairs of the canal for twenty-six years, turned the same over to the State with a surplus fund of $92,545. After the great fire of Oct. 9, 1871, in order to aid the city in its dire calamity, the State "for the purpose of relieving the lien" appropriated $2,955,340 to reim- burse the city for its expenditures thereon, and assumed control.
The receipts of the canal for the first year of its operation were $87,890, and the gross expenses, including repairs, $43,197.
The largest receipts, for any one year, were those of 1866, amounting to $302,958, the expenses being $116,363; and the smallest, those for the year 1887, being $58,024, gross expenses $71,385. Since 1879, the gross expenses have exceeded the tolls every year, making a total deficit for the nine years of $188,327, -or an annual average of $20,925. These figures, however, relate only to the operations of the canal proper. It has other sources of revenue besides tolls. Its receipts from the lease of water-power and lots, sales of clay and "spoil-bank" stone, with some other items, amounted in 1887 to $28,803; and the cash balance on hand November 30, of that year was $62,851.32, which was slightly increased for the year ending Nov. 30, 1888. And although contingent appropriations have been made by
467
ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN CANAL.
the legislature for its use at each session since 1875, not one dollar of the State's money has been needed or expended, the same having been invariably covered back into the treasury.
The longest time the canal has been open for traffic during any one year was in 1853, from March 4 to Dec. 12, being 274 days; the shortest in 1870, from April 7 to Oct. 8, 184 days .*
Under the law for the improvement of the Illinois River, the lock and dam at Henry, costing the State $400,000, was com- pleted in 1872, and that at Copperas Creek in 1877, costing $410,000, of which $80,000 was appropriated by the United States. The entire plan of improvement contemplates the con- struction of three additional locks and dams on the Illinois River at an estimated cost of $1,350,000.
Occupying so large a place in the history of the State as this work has, a plan for its enlargement to the dimensions of a ship-canal and its completion by the general government has assumed a national importance. The constitution of 1870 provided that the Illinois-and- Michigan Canal should never be sold or leased until the proposition therefor had been ratified
* Henry Grinnell of New York succeeded David Leavitt as trustee in 1859, the State trustees were: Jacob Fry from June 18, 1845, to May 1, 1847; Charles. Oakley from May 1, 1847, to Jan. 17, 1849; Joseph B. Wells from Jan. 17, 1849, to. Feb. 17, 1853; Josiah McRoberts from Feb. 17, 1853, to Jan. 23, 1857; Dr. Chas. H. Ray from Jan. 23, 1857, to Jan. 23, 1861; Martin H. Cassell from Jan. 23, 1861, to Feb. 13, 1865; Sheridan Wait from Feb. 13, 1865, to Feb.8, 1869; Richard Row- ett from Feb. 1869, to September, 1871, close of trust.
Under the act for canal and river improvement of Feb. 28, 1867, the following commissioners were appointed: John G. Gindele, Joseph Utley, and Virgil Hickox. Mr. Gindele was succeeded by Robert Milne, Dec. 11, 1869. Upon the surrender of the canal to the State in 1871, it was again placed in charge and under the con- trol of commissioners, in accordance with the provisions of an act previously passed April 22, 1871. Since that period the board has been constituted as follows: 1873 to 1877, Joseph Utley, H. G. Anderson, Wm. N. Brainard; 1877 to 1883, Joseph O. Glover, Martin Kingman, and B. F. Shaw; 1883 to 1885, Charles Bent, George F. Brown, and D. J. Calligan; the present board consists of Isaac Taylor, George F. Brown, and Adam Lieberknecht.
Wm. Gooding was the chief engineer under the trustees until the completion of the work, when he was appointed secretary. E. B. Talcott was the general superin- tendant until 1855 when he was succeeded by John B. Preston, who held the office until 1864, when he was succeeded by Wm. A. Gooding, son of William Gooding, who continued to act up to 1871. Daniel C. Jenne was appointed chief engineer in 1871, and continued as such until 1879. Wm. Thomas was the general superintend- ent from 1872 to July 15, 1885, when he was succeeded by James M. Leighton.
468
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
by the people at the polls. Accordingly an act to cede the canal to the United States was passed April 22, 1882, and ratified by the people at the following November election. A bill passed congress in August of the same year providing for the survey of a canal from a point on the Illinois River, at or near Hennepin, by the most practicable route to the Mississippi River, at or above the city of Rock Island. The enlargement of the canal, its extension to the Mississippi, and the, desired legislation of congress on the subject are current topics of agitation and discussion, now engrossing the minds of the people. That the great work will be accomplished before many years there does not seem to be much reason to doubt.
Ever since the construction of the first canal mentioned by historians, that connecting the waters of the Red Sea with those of the Mediterranean, and upon which we are told King Solomon passed with his fleet to join that of Hiram, king of Tyre, in an expedition to the land of Ophir, in search of gold, canals as a means of transportation were for thousands of years regarded as the first and most important national im- provements for the promotion of trade and commerce.
But the railraod, the invention of the nineteenth century, being more in consonance with the spirit of activity and rush which characterizes the present age, has to a great extent super- seded the canal wherever the two have come into competition. Although the latter is better adapted to the carrying of bulky freight, it must yield to the iron horse in the attainment of speedy results. The receipts on our own canal are a convinc- ing proof of this fact. Waterways are nevertheless of the greatest importance to the commercial world and will always command encouragement and support. Their existence, and the facility with which they can be employed, operate as a standing menace against exorbitant and unjust charges by lines of rail. They may not carry the wheat or corn or lumber, but they are there ready to do so, and the rates established by them regulate the price of transportation. Their influence in this respect is not confined to the particular route over which they pass, but is as far reaching and controlling as is their connec- tion with other routes in every direction.
CHAPTER XXX.
Administration of Gov. Ford continued - The Mormon Imbroglio - The Mexican War.
THE administration of Gov. Ford was distinguished not more on account of the important financial measures adopted to save the credit of the State, than for the serious disturbances which occurred during that period, growing out of the presence of the Mormons.
The founder of this sect was Joseph Smith, jr., who was born at Sharon, Vermont, Dec. 23, 1805. In 1815, the family removed to a farm near Palmyra, N. Y., where the education of the future seer was carried on by an intermittent attendance at the public school. In early life, he was reputed among his neighbors to be shiftless, lazy, dull, of questionable morals, with predilections toward a vagabond life, and evincing no originality, nor giving any promise of ever becoming a leader of men. He inherited from his mother a dreamy cast of mind and early claimed the gift of second-sight, and the ability, through the medium of an alleged magic stone in his posses- sion, to find lost or stolen goods.
At the age of fifteen, he became morbidly interested in the subject of religion. The period was one peculiarly marked by many wonderful revivals in that portion of the country, in which the subjects of their influence fell into spiritual ecstasies, resulting in remarkable physical manifestations. The excite- ment in the local religious world was intense, and Joseph, with others, came under its spell. He spent much time, as he has stated, "in secret communion with his Maker," and in conse- quence soon set up a claim to be the prophet of the Lord and to receive revelations directly from God. In what he termed a vision, he declared that an angel informed him that he had been selected " as a chosen instrument in the hands of the Lord to accomplish great and marvellous purposes." It was also made known to him that certain sacred records, which had been kept and handed down through many generations by inspired
469
470
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
writers, were deposited in a specified locality near Manchester, N. Y., whither he was instructed to go and view them. Under the direction of this heavenly guide he was first permitted to behold these records, Sept. 22, 1823, and precisely four years thereafter, they were again inspected by him and this time delivered into his hands. They were said to be engraved upon gold plates about the thickness of common tin, eight by seven inches in size, the letters being "reformed Egyptian characters;" these plates were contained in a stone box which was buried just beneath the earth's surface. In the same box were found two stones, transparent and clear as crystal, called the Urim and Thummim, such as were used by ancient Jewish seers as instruments for interpreting revelations, by looking through which, the divine will was made manifest.
His method of proceeding in the transcription of these records, by which the text of the "Book of Mormon" was pro- duced, was as follows: "the seer-stone having been placed in a soft hat, which was closely drawn around his face excluding the natural light, the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear and on that was seen the writing. One character at a time would appear and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear and another character with the interpretation would appear."*
One hundred and sixteen pages were translated through these oracular stones, but the manuscript having been carried away by the amanuensis, Harris, and carelessly lost or stolen, the Lord, by way of chastisement, took away the Urim and Thummim from his prophet, which were replaced, only after long wrestling in prayer, by another stone, oral-shaped and flat, through which he was permitted to complete his work.
David Whitmer, one of the witnesses to the "Book of Mor- mon," and who died at the advanced age of eighty-three years in Richmond, Mo., Jan. 25, 1888, where he had resided for over half a century, retained in his possession at the time of his death the original manuscript of this production, and also what
* David Whitmer.
Baractors H 4 C ! (1 4 6+A+1)08-12 TU 203. 3 ") . VT13 ( S, A EX . L. 206 !!!!!!!!! ' C# 2021+ 09
Fac-simile characters transcribed from one of the golden plates from which the " Book of Mormon" was alleged to be translated. (Reduced from a cut published in the Inter Ocean, Chicago, Oct. 17, 1886.)
471
472
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
he claimed to be an original paper containing some of the characters transmitted from one of the golden plates, of which the foregoing is a copy.
The so-called translation was completed in June, 1829. The golden plates were returned to the angel as directed; the holy stone is said to be in Utah. The book purports to be an abridgment of the records of the people of Nephi, who were descendants of Joseph, of the House of Judah; of the Laman- ites, who were a remnant of the House of Israel, and also of the people of Jared. It gives an account of their emigration to America, of their history here, covering a period of two thousand years, and of the final destruction of the Nephites- a white race-on account of their sins, by the Lamanites, who were the ancient red men of this country. Mormon, a holy Nephite, engraved the characters representing this history on plates, but he having been slain, the record fell into the hands of his son Moroni, who being hunted by his enemies, deposited the plates in the ground, four hundred years after Christ, where it is claimed they were found.
To establish the authenticity of the book two certificates were printed therewith, the first signed by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris. They declare that "an angel of God came down from Heaven, and brought and laid before our eyes that we beheld and saw the plates and engrav- ings thereon;" and that they were translated "by the gift and power of God." Eight other witnesses, four of whom were named Whitmer, three of the Smith family, and Hiram Page, certify that the translator exhibited to them the plates referred to, "which had the appearance of gold, and that they handled the leaves which had been translated, with their own hands, and saw the engravings thereon, which had the appearance of ancient work and curious workmanship "
A circumstance which has been cited as strongly presumptive of the sincerity and good faith of Martin Harris is the fact that he took a copy of the transcript of hieroglyphics to New- York City for inspection by Prof. Charles Anthon, am eminent scholar and linguist. The professor examined the paper and found it "a singular scroll" made up of Greek and other letters and curious characters, and came to the conclusion "that it was
473
THE BOOK OF MORMON.
all a trick, perhaps a hoax." Learning that Harris intended to sell his farm to raise money to pay for publishing the alleged translation, the professor became suspicious that it was a scheme to swindle Harris, which opinion he plainly communicated to him, warning him to beware of rogues. To the surprise of the savant, he was soon after again visited by Harris who brought with him a copy of the "golden book" in print, which he tried to sell him, and when the latter declined to purchase insisted upon his acceptance of a copy free of charge for the purpose of examination.
It having been stated in the "Encyclopædia Britannica,"* and various other publications, that the three witnessess, Whitmer, and Cowdery, had denied their testimony regarding the genuine- ness of the book of Mormon, David Whitmer, in 1881, issued what he entitled "A Proclamation to all Nations, Kindred Tongues and People," in which he positively and clearly re- affirms his original statement, and declares that neither Harris nor Cowdery had ever denied their testimony; that the latter died in 1850, in the same town where he, Whitmer, resided, and that his last words were, "Brother David, be true to your testi- mony to the Book of Mormon." This paper is accompanied by a certificate signed by Gen. A. W. Doniphan, Hon. Geo. W. Dunn, and twenty-two other leading citizens of Richmond, Mo., stating that, "we have been long and intimately acquainted with him, Whitmer, and know him to be a man of the highest integrity and of undoubted truth and veracity."
In 1838, all three of these original witnesses were excom- municated from the Mormon Church for apostasy, because they refused to believe in the prophet's subsequent teachings, David Whitmer being especially outspoken in his denunciation of the doctrine of polygamy, the high priesthood, and the later so- called revelations of Joseph Smith and his successors. He firmly adhered to his original faith as a member of the "church of Christ."
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.