USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. II > Part 27
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
and pulled back. Cummings vacated the chair. Haines returned to the speaker's desk, and the gavel, which had been held by Bogue, was restored to its place. Major Connolly jumped upon his desk and advised the republicans to withdraw, the democrats having agreed that they should have a fair show on Monday. Jones also helped to calm the troubled waters by apologizing to Plater; and finally, amid cheers and applause, the members left the house .*
The laws passed by the twenty - ninth general assembly, which adjourned April 15, 1875, are contained in a volume o. 118 pages-smaller than that of any of its predecessors for the last forty years. A general revision of the laws had just been completed and no new questions of any pressing importance had arisen. A few statutes were amended and the following new laws, among others, were passed: to provide for the re- organization of cities; for the trial of the right of property in the county court; for operating elevated ways and conveyors, to prevent frauds upon travelers, generally called the "scalper's act;" the tax-refunding law; and an act to regulate and con- solidate the State charitable institutions.
The twenty-eighth general assembly having provided for the appointment of a board of managers to represent the interests of Illinois at the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, an appropriation of $10,000, all that could be secured, was made to defray the expenses of the commission. The board was composed of John P. Reynolds,+ president, John C.
* The following head-lines of leading papers show how the a Tair was regarded at the time :
Chicago Tribune :- The sublime altitude of obloquy attained in the Illinois house Saturday. The tumult precipitated by efforts to exclude a republican protest. A splenetive and rash republican hurls a book at Plater. Whereat that incomparable idiot flounders like an acephalous rooster. Drawn up in a plug-ugly affray, coward- ice and not shame prevents a Tipperary head-smashing.
Chicago Times: - Hell broke loose. Successful performance of the spectacular drama of that name at Springfield. Introducing Plater, Jo Daviess' Jones, 'Lige Haines, and Tom Merritt, in their great bear-dance. During great confusion the show is declared adjourned.
+ John Parker Reynolds, who for over a quarter of a century has been so promi- nently and favorably connected with the agricultural and industrial interests of the State, was born March 1, 1820, in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, of parents who were natives of eastern New York. He was educated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, graduating with the class of 1838. Studied law and was graduated from the
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THE CENTENNIAL OF 1876.
Smith, secretary, and Carlisle Mason of Chicago, Francis Col- ton of Galesburg, A. C. Spofford of Rockford, Lawrence Wel- don of Bloomington, and F. L. Matthews of Carlinville. They succeeded in making a very creditable display of the agricultu- ral products and manufactures, mineral resources, commercial prominence, and educational advantages of Illinois, the State ranking sixth in respect of the number of exhibitors and the amount of space occupied.
This much in favor of the twenty-ninth general assembly may be said, that it was the most economical in expenditures of any since 1865, the amount charged up against it by the auditor on account of the legislature being $221,810, as against $539,390 for the twenty-eighth, and $693,062 for the twenty- seventh general assembly.
The centennial year of 1876 is notable for its presidential and other heated political contests. The seceding states had all been restored to the Union in full possession of their sov- ereignty and free from all interference in their domestic affairs on the part of the general government. They were now, notwithstanding the constitutional amendments, principally under the control of what was called the "rebel element" which was in full fellowship with the democratic party of the north, under whose flag and upon whose platforms all state officers and members of the legislature were elected. Under their peculiar method of conducting elections, by which the colored vote was not permitted to effect the result, it soon be-
Cincinnati law-school with the class of 1840. Entered upon the practice in 1841 as the partner of Gov. William Bebb. Removed to Winnebago County, Illinois, in 1850, thence to Marion County, Illinois, in 1854, thence to Springfield in 1860, and thence to Chicago in 1869. From 1860-70, he held the position of secretary of the State Agricultural Society. Was first president of the State Board of Agriculture in 1871 and was a member of the society and board from 1860 until his resignation in 1888. He was president of the Illinois State Sanitary Commission throughout the civil war. Was the only state commissioner and also delegate of the State Agricul- tural Society and one of the United - States commissioners to the universal exposition of 1867 in Paris, in attendance upon which he spent five months as com- missioner and juryman. In 1873, he became the first secretary of the Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago and has continued to hold that position until the present time. He also held the position of state inspector of grain from 1878-82. In all of these positions, Mr. Reynolds has exhibited great ability as an organizer and administrative officer.
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came an easy task to cement and hold together a "solid South."
The prospects for the success of the republican party were further imperiled by the increasing strength of the Greenback- Granger element, especially in Illinois, where, although not polling the vote its leaders expected, it had nevertheless elected a portion of its ticket and held the balance of power in the legislature. The financial stringency which had followed the failures and bankruptcies of 1873 still continued, and the pass- age of the specie resumption law of January, 1875, in the face of a demand from the West for more currency, had tended to strengthen the opposition to republican ascendency, rather than to conciliate the friends and supporters of the party in power.
The Greenback, or Independent Reform, party was the first to move, meeting in state convention at Decatur, and nominat- ing the following ticket: for governor, Lewis Steward of Kendall County; lieutenant - governor, James H. Pickrell of Sangamon; secretary of state, M. M. Hooton; auditor of public accounts, John Hise; treasurer, Henry T. Aspern; attorney-general, Winfield S. Coy.
The national convention of this party was held at Indianap- olis, May 17. Peter Cooper of New York, was nominated for president, and Samuel F. Cary of Ohio, for vice - president. The platform, relating almost exclusively to the currency, was comprised in four planks, as follows: demanding the immedi- ate and unconditional repeal of the resumption act; recom- mending the issue of United-States legal-tender notes as the circulating medium of the country; protesting against the further issue of gold-bonds and against the sale of government bonds for the purpose of purchasing silver to be used as a substitute for fractional currency; and declaring against sub- sidies to railroads.
The republican state-convention met at Springfield, May 24, 1876, and was presided over by Henry S. Baker of Madi- son County; Daniel Shepard acting as the principal secretary. The candidates for governor were Shelby M. Cullom, John L. Beveridge, and Thomas S. Ridgway; and upon the first ballot the former carried off the prize, the vote standing for Cullom 387, Beveridge 142, Ridgway 87. Gov. Beveridge made
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STATE CONVENTIONS OF 1876.
a good showing considering the opposition to him in his own county, Cook, which he was unable to overcome owing to the formidable and persistent hostility of the Chicago Tribune, which had lately returned to the support of the republican party.
The strength of the numerous candidates for lieutenant-gov- ernor was shown on the first ballot to be as follows: Andrew Shuman of Cook received 186 votes; A. M. Jones of Jo Daviess, 170; Reuben M. Benjamin of McLean, 83; David Pierson* of Greene, 36; Patrick H. Sanford of Knox, 47; George W. Vinton of Rock Island, 47; J. W. Kitchell of Christian, 31; F. A. Leitz of Clinton 16. The elevation of the last lieutenant-governor to the executive chair had evidently increased the importance of this position in the eyes of the politicians. Shuman suc- ceeded in carrying off the nomination on the second ballot.
George H. Harlow was re-nominated for secretary of state on the first ballot, his principal opponent being George Scroggs of Vermilion; William H. Edgar of Jersey and John Moses of Scott being also candidates for the nomination. Thomas B. Needles of Washington County was nominated for auditor against the then incumbent Charles E. Lippincott, who was seeking a third term. Edward Rutz was made the candidate the second time for treasurer. James K. Edsall was renomin- ated for attorney-general, the other candidates being Charles B. Steele of Edgar and Ethelbert Callahan of Crawford.
The platform adopted embraced the following points: con- demning the policy of leniency toward the people of the South lately in rebellion; favoring a lower rate of interest for United- States bonds; the payment of the public debt in good faith, and endorsing the present system of paper currency as the
* David Pierson, the old pioneer here mentioned, was born in Cazenovia, New York, July 9, 1806, and was one of the very earliest settlers in Green County, where he removed with his father's family in 1821. He was an old whig, and thoroughly believed that all the evils that ever befell this country could be traced to Andrew Jackson and the rule of the democratic party. He was strongly anti-slavery and helped to organize the republican party, and has been one of its most influential supporters ever since. He has been a successful merchant, miller, and banker, and as a leading member of the Baptist church conspicuous for his benevolence and charity. He is still (June, 1890) living at his old home in Carrollton and has forgotten nothing of his politics or religion.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
best ever devised; the purification of the public service-"let no guilty man escape;" remembering the soldiers with grati- tude and their preference in appointments to office .*
The candidates for governor were called out at the close of the proceedings and handsomely responded. The speech of Gov. Beveridge, toward whom as the defeated candidate the sympathies of the delegates had gone out, was most happily conceived and eloquently delivered. It was well received by an enthusiastic audience, and it was remarked that if the cir- cumstances hal justified the making of such an effort before the balloting, the result might have been different. He closed by referring to the candidates for president and, out of place as it was, offered a resolution instructing the delegates to sup- port James G. Blaine for president, which was adopted by a standing vote, with three cheers. If the convention had had any other honors to bestow, Gov. Beveridge would have re- ceived his full share.
The republican national convention was held at Cincinnati, beginning on June 14. The candidates for president, put in nomination by their friends, were James G. Blaine of Maine, Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky, Roscoe Conkling of New York, John A. Hartranft of Pennsylvania, Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, Marshall Jewell of Connecticut, and Oliver P. Morton of Indiana. Gen. Hayes was nominated on the seventh ballot, receiving 384 votes to 351 for Blaine and 21 for Bristow, and his nomination made unanimous; William A. Wheeler of New York was named for vice-president.
The platform recognized the pacification of the South and demanded protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights as a sacred duty; enjoined the enforcement
* The following were appointed delegates to the republican national convention : at large, Robert G. Ingersoll, Joseph W. Robbins, Green B. Raum, and George D. Banks. From districts, in their numerical order-two from each, Sidney Smith, George M. Bogue; John Mc Arthur, S. K. Dow; Frank W. Palmer, Charles B. Farwell; Wm. Coffin, E. E. Ayres; L. Burchell, Alexander Walker; A. R. Mack, J. W. Hopkins; J. Everts, G. N. Chittenden; J. F. Culver, A. Burk; Thomas A. Boyd, Enoch Emery; D. Mack, D. McDill; J. M. Davis, George W. Ware; Wm. Prescott, N. W. Branson; C. R. Cummings, R. B. Latham; D. D. Evans, L. J. Bond; Benson Wood, Thomas L. Golden; James S. Martin, George C. Mc Cord; John I. Rinaker, H. L. Baker; William M. Adams, Isaac C. Clements; F. D. Ham, Wm. H. Robinson.
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of the constitutional amendments; endorsed the public-credit act of 1869, pledging the faith of the government to make provision, at the earliest practicable period, for the redemption of the United-States notes in coin; opposing the dictation of appointments by United - States senators and favoring civil service; endorsing the public-school system of the United States as the bulwark of the American Republic; favoring the imposition of custom duties to promote the interests of Ameri- can labor; opposing the further grant of public lands to cor- porations and monopolies; approving the substantial advances recently made toward the establishment of equal rights for women and in favor of their appointment and election to the superintendence of education, charities, and other public trusts; demanding the extirpation of polygamy; and arraigning "the democratic party as the same in character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason."
The democrats held two state-conventions this year, both at Springfield, the first, for the purpose of appointing delegates to the national convention at St. Louis, and the second, to nominate a state-ticket, July 27 .*
The democratic national convention which met at St. Louis, June 27, was presided over by Gen. J. A. McClernand of Illinois. Samuel J. Tilden of New York was nominated for president on the second ballot receiving 508 votes to 220 for all others. The Illinois delegation on the first ballot stood 23 for Hen- dricks and 19 for Tilden; on the second ballot 26 for Tilden and 16 for Hendricks. Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana was the nearly unanimous choice of the convention for vice-presi- dent.
The platform of the democrats, which was supposed to have been prepared by Mr. Tilden, was a very able and elaborate
* The delegates from Illinois were as follows: at large, W. J. Allen, F. H. Wins- ton, C. L. Higbee, Charles Dunham; from districts, Melville W. Fuller, John Forsyth, S. S. Hayes, John C. Richberg, Perry H. Smith, Herman Lieb, Thomas Butterworth, A. M. Herrington, W. H. Mitchell, M. W. Hathaway, W. H. Mes- senhop, J. S. Drake, William Reddick, D. H. Phiney, J. Duff, J. E. Ong, John S. Lee, S. P. Cummings, David Ellis, C. H. Whittaker, Linus E. Worcester, S. R. Chittenden, John A. Mc Clernand, James M. Epler, James T. Ewing, James T. Hoblet, E. S. Terry, T. H. Macaughtery, Wm. M. Garrard, Wm. T. O'Hair, T. B. Murray, G. Van Hornbecke, William R. Walsh, G. Koerner, George W. Wall, T. C. Crawford, W. Duff Green, S. F. Cheney.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
document of which the key-note was "reform is necessary." It was an arraignment of the republican party for its alleged mis-government and mal-administration for the past eleven years. It accepted the constitutional amendments; denounced the present tariff for its unjustice and inequality; and although favoring resumption, denounced the act providing therefor, and demanded its repeal.
At the democratic state-convention, July 27, Lewis Steward, the nominee of the Independent Greenback-Reformers, was endorsed as a candidate for governor, and for the remainder of the ticket: A. A. Glenn of Brown County for lieutenant- governor; S. Y. Thornton of Fulton, for secretary of state; John Hise, fusion, auditor; George Gundlack for treasurer; and Edmund Lynch for attorney-general.
The platform of the national convention was reaffirmed, and a separate resolution adopted against the employment of con- vict labor where it comes into competition with free labor.
The nomination of Gen. Hayes was not such as to awaken enthusiasm among the republicans. He was not the choice of the representatives of the party, except as a compromise, nor of the mass of the people. In Illinois particularly, the popu- lar idol, as described by Colonel Ingersoll in his nominating speech, was James G. Blaine, who "like a warrior, like a plumed knight, marched down the halls of the American congress, and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen fore- head of every defamer of his country and maligner of its honor." On the other hand, the nomination of ex-Governor Tilden of New York, a man of marked ability and character who had the credit of being largely instrumental in exposing the frauds and corruptions of the notorious Tweed-ring in New-York city and in denouncing the extravagant manage- ment of the New-York canals, struck a popular chord which increased in strength as the canvass progressed. The demo- cratic platform, also, was well designed to arrest the thought and command the attention of those who were not strongly attached to any particular party, and of those republicans who had begun to think that a change in the national govern- ment would be wise and beneficial.
The campaign on the part of the democrats was under the
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RESULTS OF THE ELECTION.
special conduct and control of Tilden himself, while that of the republicans was solely managed by that "old wheel- horse" of the party, Senator Zachariah Chandler. As the reports came in on the night of the election, that the democrats had carried New York, Indiana, Connecticut, and New Jersey, all the doubtful states, it was generally supposed that with the electoral vote of the solid South, Tilden's election was assured; but the resolute and determined old senator had received favorable news from South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, and on the next morning he sent over the country that historic dispatch, "Rutherford B. Hayes has received one hundred and eighty-five electoral votes and is elected."
The subsequent controversy over the returns from these states and the hearing before the "eight-to-seven" electoral commission, resulting in favor of Gen. Hayes, confirmed the stand taken by the republicans. Gov. Tilden's plurality on the popular vote over Gen. Hayes was 250,970.
The combined opposition to the republicans in Illinois failed because of the weakness of their ticket no less than of the strength of that headed by S. M. Cullom, and the able and thorough canvass made by him and the party leaders. The general tendency of the floating and undecided vote toward the democrats was hard to restrain or control. The republican electors received 277,227 votes, the democratic 258,445, and the Peter Cooper 17,232, leaving only the small majority of 1560 in favor of Gen. Hayes.
When the returns first began to come in, as the opposition was united upon Steward, it was thought that Cullom was beaten. Cook County, which had always been relied upon for from 8,000 to 15,000 republican majority, gave Steward a majority of 181; Champaign, which gave Hayes over 1400 gave Cullom only 800. Hayes carried DeWitt by over 700, and Cullom by only 28; Livingston gave Hayes 1416 major- ity and Cullom 182. In the county of McLean, Cullom fell short nearly 600 and in Will nearly 700. Hamilton County, which gave only 806 majority for Tilden, gave Steward 1445 majority; but in other counties, Cullom ran ahead of his. ticket. The full returns in the State showing: Cullom for governor 279,263, Steward 272,465, scattering 365; Shuman
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for lieutenant-governor 278,167; Glenn 255,970; Pickrell 18,- 053. Harlow's plurality was 22,467; Rutz's 22,744, Edsall's 21,419, Needles' majority 5,198.
Gov. Beveridge left the chair of state with its finances and various benevolent and reformatory institutions in a most grati- fying condition. The public debt, which amounted to $2,060,- 150, December 1, 1872, had been paid off as fast as it fell due, reducing the same up to Dec. 1, 1876, to $1,480,600. He had been patient, conservative, and faithful in the administration of the state government during a period of unusual political agitation, of depression in business, of controversies over the railroad-transportation question, and other disturbing elements growing up under the adjusting period after the war.
The concluding message of the governor was devoted en- tirely to state affairs, excepting at its close, when in view of the pending efforts to adjust the presidential election contro- versy, he remarked, as follows: "I advise moderation, invoke wise councils, and supplicate peace. We want no more war. The blood of the late fratricidal strife still reddens the earth; the graves of the fallen are yet fresh and visible; their widows and orphans are still among us; the griefs and sorrows of the heart are yet unassuaged. Keeping in grateful remembrance the heroic sacrifice for our Country, let us lay aside all animosity and bitterness, heal the broken hearts, build up the waste places, and bind all sections of our beloved Country forever together by the bonds of prosperity and love. No matter how the presidential question may be eventually decided by the proper authorities, for one I shall willingly submit to the decision, and join all persons of every party for the maintenance of law, the preservation of public order, and the protection of all citizens of every race, color, and condi- tion in the full and peaceable enjoyment and exercise of all their rights, privileges, and immunities under the laws."
In 1881, ex-Gov. Beveridge was appointed assistant United- States treasurer at Chicago which position he held four years. He has now retired from politics and gives his entire attention to his private business.
hubulow
OR
NY IBRARY
CHAPTER XLIV.
Administration of Gov. Cullom-Thirtieth General Assem- bly - Election of David Davis to the United - States Senate - Laws - Labor Strikes - Politics in 1878 - Elections-Thirty-first General Assembly.
S
HELBY MOORE CULLOM was the fourth consecutively- elected governor of the State of Illinois who was a native of the neighboring State of Kentucky, where he was born at Monticello in Wayne County, November 22, 1829. He was so young, however, less than two years of age, when his parents removed to Tazewell County in this State, that he might almost consider himself a native Illinoisan.
Richard Northcut Cullom, his father, was a leading and influ- ential whig in his day, and acceptably represented his district in the tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, and eighteenth Illinois general assemblies.
It was a singular coincidence, and so interesting that the reader will pardon the digression, that the father of General Logan, Dr. John Logan, after whom the county of Logan was named, also represented his district in the tenth and twelfth general assemblies. It thus happened that Illinois at one time was represented in the United-States senate by two members whose fathers had formerly sat side by side in the State legislature.
The governor's father was a farmer, and the future states- man was early accustomed to the homely fare and training incident to farm-life in a new country. He learned to swing the ax and guide the plow; and thus laid up a store of physical strength needed in a sedentary life. In those early days, educational advantages were of a limited description and generally confined to such as were afforded by the public school. Shelby Cullom, however, feeling the need of a broader culture, was not content with these, and, though hampered by the want of means, was enabled to spend two years in study at the Rock-River Seminary at Mount Morris, though in order to
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maintain himself, he found it necessary, as did Garfield and Blaine, to devote some time to teaching.
Having determined to follow a professional life, in 1853, he entered the office of Stuart and Edwards in Springfield to study law. He was admitted to the bar and began to prac- tise in 1855. Soon after this, he was elected city attorney and from the trial of the smaller class of municipal cases in the justice's court, soon entered upon a larger and more lucrative practice, his studious and abstemious habits and faithful atten- tion to the interests of his clients being such as to recommend him to the business community. In the upper courts, he fre- quently found himself confronting some of the foremost lawyers in the State, in which contests his habits of close application stood him in good stead.
Before the era of railroad building and of the growth of corporations, the practice of law in this and other western states was not a lucrative occupation, as large fees were the exception. It is hardly to be wondered at, therefore, that the best lawyers in the State, during this early period, should be unable to resist the temptation to enter the field of politics, where the opportunity was presented not only for bettering their worldly fortunes but also for bringing an increase of fame and gratifying a pardonable ambition.
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