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 28
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In 1856, as has been already shown, Gov. Cullom made his first appearance in the political arena by entering the race for membership of the lower house of the legislature. Influenced by his early training and a warm admiration for Millard Fillmore, he owed his election to his alliance with the Ameri- can party. His sympathies, however, had always been with the republicans, and being a warm personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, he gave him his cordial support in his contest with Judge Douglas for the United-States senate in 1858. Thence- forth his political fortunes were linked with those of the repub- lican party and he was the only one of its candidates for the legislature elected in 1860 in Sangamon County, which gave Douglas a small majority. His election to the speakership of the twenty-second general assembly was a compliment not only to his success but to his ability. The chair of the house, although it had been graced by Zadoc Casey, Newton Cloud,
843
GOVERNOR CULLOM.
and Sydney Breese with such distinguished ability, had never been more worthily occupied.
In 1862, he was appointed by President Lincoln on an im- portant claims commission upon which were also Gov. Bout- well of Massachusetts, and Chas. A. Dana of New York. This same year he was prevailed upon to become a candidate for the state senate, but owing to the unpopularity of the war at this its darkest period, he suffered his first and only defeat.
In 1864, he received the republican nomination for congress in the old eighth district and defeated his former preceptor, John T. Stuart. He was reëlected in 1866 and 1868, the time of service embracing that eventful period when the questions of reconstruction, the funding and payment of the national debt, and the readjustment of the currency, were under con- sideration. In shaping the national policy upon all these vital questions in congress, he occupied a leading position, taking an aggressive and influential part in the debates and proceed- ings. He was specially conspicuous in securing the passage through the lower house of the first anti-polygamy bill.
He failed to receive a renomination for a fourth term in con- gress, and with a new candidate the district was lost to the republicans. Returning home, he was again honored with a seat in the legislature, 1873, and for the second time was elected speaker of the house. He was also returned as a member of the twenty - ninth general assembly, and would have been again called to the speaker's chair but for a coalition of demo- crats and independents, who together outnumbered the repub- licans. It was with such an experience in public life, broader and more varied than any of his predecessors, that Governor Cullom came to occupy the executive chair of state.
Although his many years of public life have made him so well known to the present generation, it may not be out of the way to remark that in person he is tall and spare; his hair is black, his forehead high and massive; his features clearly cut and expressive. In general contour of face and figure, he reminds those who knew them both of Abraham Lincoln, whom indeed he resembles in many of his mental characteristics. Unlike that great man, however, the senator possesses a natu- ral ease of carriage and grace of manner which have in no small degree contributed to his popularity.
844
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
His cast of mind is solid rather than showy, and his oratory convincing rather than ornate. His rhetoric is unpolished and his illustrations homely, drawn indeed, from subjects familiar to his audiences, with whom he establishes a friendly feeling conducive to conviction-the end of oratory. He is greatly assisted in his speeches by the possession of a full, round voice, of large compass, and that sympathetic quality which captivates attention.
As a politician, Gov. Cullom has proved himself one of the most astute and far-seeing which the State has yet produced; and his public career has demonstrated the fact that he pos- sesses those higher attributes which belong to statesmanship. To a judgment of men and affairs far above the average, he unites that plain, hard common-sense which formed one of the prominent traits in the character of Lincoln. His political sagacity has been demonstrated in many ways, but especially in the fact that he alone of all those aspirants for public honors in the State, who were unable to appeal to the people on the score of heroic service in the civil war, has thus far enjoyed a career of uninterrupted success.
Andrew Shuman, whose name followed that of Shelby M. Cullom on the republican state-ticket elected in November, 1876, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in Novem- ber, 1830. Thrown upon his own resources at an early age, his literary education was begun in the composing-room of the Lancaster Times and Sentinel, which he entered at the age of fifteen years. His business life was devoted to journal- ism, his earliest editorial venture having been made when he was but nineteen years old, when he published a small literary sheet known as the Auburnian, of which he was at once the editor, foreman, typo, devil, and pressman. Feeling the want of the education which circumstances had prevented his acquir- ing in boyhood, he abandoned editorial work to enter Hamil- ton College, becoming a freshman at the-now-a-day's mature -age of twenty-one, and supporting himself through his college course by desultory literary labor and working at the case during vacation. He came to Illinois in 1856 and began his career as a western journalist in the chair of assistant- editor of the Chicago Daily Fournal, becoming editor in chief in 1861, and subsequently part owner of the paper.
GEO. HUNT
JAMES SHAW
ANDREW SHUMAN
JAMES P.SLADE
THOS. B.NEEDLES
LIBRA Ny C
845
LIEUT .- GOVERNOR SHUMAN.
His political affiliations from his earliest manhood had been republican, his first venture into the field of partisan journalism having been in the control of the Syracuse, New York, Daily Journal, a position which he assumed at the earnest request of the friends of William H. Seward.
Gov. Shuman's first public office in Illinois was that of com- missioner of the Illinois penitentiary, to which he was elected in 1864 and which he resigned in 1871. His nomination to the office of lieutenant-governor in 1876 was in recognition of long and faithful service to his party. His record as presiding officer of the senate can not be assailed; to dignity he united courtesy, and while himself an ardent partisan, the impartiality of his rulings commanded the respect of his political opponents .*
The thirtieth general assembly convened in the new state- house, now nearly completed, January 3, 1877. In the senate, there were 21 republicans, 22 democrats, and 8 independents. The new senators were: Daniel N. Bash, Francis A. Riddle, Martin A. DeLany of Cook County, Merritt L. Josslyn of Mc Henry, Robert H. McClellan of Jo Daviess, Henry D. Dement of Lee, Joseph H. Mayborne of Kane, Thomas P. Bonfield of Kankakee, Samuel T. Fosdick of Livingston, Henry J. Frantz of Woodford, Benjamin C. Talliaferro of Mercer, Wm. Scott of Hancock, John M. Hamilton of Mc Lean, Chester P. Davis of Piatt, Malden Jones of Douglas, Elizur Southworth of Mont- gomery, Luther Dearborn of Mason, George W. Herdman of Jersey, F. E. W. Brink of Washington, Robert P. Hanna of Wayne, Charles E. McDowell of White, and Ambrose Hoener of Monroe. All the others were either "hold-overs" or re- elected. Fawcett Plumb was elected president pro tempore, and James H. Paddock, secretary.
In the house, 79 were counted as republicans, 67 as demo- crats, and 7 as independents. Twenty-nine members had been reëlected or had served in former legislatures, namely: Moses J. Wentworth, Solomon P. Hopkins, and Michael J. Dunne from
* After the expiration of his term of service as lieutenant-governor, he devoted himself to the editorship of the Journal. In 1889, his health having become impaired by overwork, he made a visit to Europe, returning in the summer much improved. He, however, did not again resume the active management of his paper, though retaining the presidency of the Journal Company. He died suddenly in Chicago on the evening of May 6, 1890.
846
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
Cook; F. K. Granger from McHenry; W. A. James, Lake; Andrew Ashton, Winnebago; Edward L. Cronkrite, Lee; James Shaw, Carroll; James Herrington, Kane; Luke H. Goodrich, Will; Geo. W. Armstrong, LaSalle; James J. Herron, Bureau; John T. Browning, John P. Fox, Rufus M. Grennel, the three members elected from the twenty-first district -an unusual occurrence-Joseph F. Latimer, Knox; C. W. Boydston, War- ren; E. K. Westfall, McDonough; John F. Winter and T. P. Rogers, McLean; Samuel S. Jack, Macon; Jacob H. Oakwood, Vermilion; John N. English, Jersey; Samuel A. Buckmaster, Madison; Frederick Remann, Fayette; Thomas E. Merritt, Marion; John H. Hally, Jasper; James M. Washburn, Will- iamson; Fontaine E. Albright, Jackson.
Among the new members were the following: W. H. Thomp- son, Charles L. Easton, J. W. E. Thomas, Joseph E. Smith, James B. Taylor, Henry F. Sheridan, Elijah B. Sherman, Jos. J. Kearney, John A. Roche, Peter Kiolbassa, Eugene A. Sittig, Arno Voss, Austin O. Sexton, John H. Kedzie, and George C. Klehm of Cook; Bernard H. Truesdell, Lee; Henry H. Evans, Kane; James G. Wright, Du Page; Conrad Secrest, Iroquois; Lucien B. Crooker, LaSalle; Charles Baldwin, Bureau; Charles F. Robison, Fulton; Detrich C. Smith, Tazewell; Thomas F. Mitchell, Mc Lean; Robert L. Mckinlay, Edgar; Henry A. Neal, Coles; John Mayo Palmer, and DeWitt W. Smith, San- gomon; Jacob Wheeler, Mason; Thomas G. Black, Adams; Asa C. Matthews, Pike; Isaac L. Morrison, and William P. Callon, Morgan; Richard Rowett, Macoupin; Ross Graham, White; Theophilus T. Fountain, Perry; William S. Morris, Hardin .*
James Shaw, a leading lawyer of Carroll County, who had served with distinction in the twenty-eighth general assembly, was elected speaker, receiving 78 votes to 65 for S. A. Buck- master, and 8 for Andrew Ashton. E. F. Dutton was elected clerk.
Mr. Shaw was born in Ireland, May 3, 1832, and was brought to this State in infancy, where he was raised on a farm in Cass County. After graduating from Illinois College, he was admitted to the bar, and removed to Mt. Carroll, where he has since
* In the senate, there were 27 lawyers, 11 farmers, and 6 bankers. In the house, 41 lawyers, 33 farmers, 25 merchants, besides bankers, physicians, etc.
847
INAUGURATION CEREMONIES.
resided. He was a presidential elector in 1872, and has been a member of the state central committee. Mr. Shaw filled the speaker's chair with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his friends.
The formal ceremonies of inauguration attending a change of state administration resemble each other. This year, 1877, this event occurred on January 8, and to "preserve the record" may be briefly summarized as follows: The governor and other state-officers elect were escorted to the capitol by a civic and military procession headed by a brass-band. At one o'clock, the house was called to order by the speaker, and in a few minutes thereafter, the members rising, the senate, preceded by its president-Fawcett Plumb, was received and seated. Then came the members of the supreme court, headed by the vener- able Sidney Breese, who were assigned places on the rostrum. In the meantime, a brilliant audience, composed of the élite of the capital and other large cities, had been admitted by tickets to seats in the spacious gallery and on the floor. At two o' clock, Governor-elect Cullom, accompanied by state-officers and Senator Logan, entered the hall. Prayer was offered by Rev. Albert Hale, the oldest minister in Springfield. The oath of office was then administered by Chief-Justice Sheldon. Ex-Gov. Beveridge next advanced to the speaker's desk and delivered a brief valedictory address, handing over to hi: successor the keys of the executive chamber and insignia of office. The inaugural address of Gov. Cullom followed in order; at the close of which the senate retired to its chamber where Lieu- tenant-Governor Shuman was duly installed, and also delivered a brief address.
Gov. Cullom's address gave evidence of statesmanlike quali- ties and as an able state paper was generally commended. A considerable portion of it was devoted to the discussion of the revenue law, pointing out its defects and suggesting amend- ments. He also dwelt at some length upon the-pending presi- dential controversy, advising a peaceable acquiescence in what- ever result might be constitutionally and legally reached.
Edward F. Leonard, who had been connected with the auditor's department for many years and had filled several positions of trust and confidence with marked ability, was
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
honored by the governor with the appointment of private secre- tary .*
There is never much business done in either house of the legislature until after the selection and appointment of the committees, which usually consumes nearly two weeks' time. The interval at this session was employed by the members in discussing the pending election of a United-States senator to succeed Gen. Logan, whose term would expire March 4.
The independents, of whom there were eight in the senate and seven in the house, held the balance of power, their vote combined with that of the democrats giving an majority of four. There was no serious opposition among regular republicans to the reëlection of Gen. Logan, although it was considered im- politic to make the fight in his favor as if he were the only member of the party who could be elected. A few members remained out of the caucus on this account.
The democratic members selected John M. Palmer as their candidate with great unanimity. The independents, though comparatively so insignificant in numbers, could not agree upon a candidate-those of the senate having decided in favor of Gen. William B. Anderson, while those of the house preferred Judge David Davis.
The election of a United-States senator is governed by a law of congress,+ which provides that on the second Tuesday after the meeting and organization of any state legislature, "each house shall openly, by a viva-voce vote of each member present, name one person for senator in congress from such state, and the name of the person so voted for, who receives a majority of the whole number of votes cast in each house, shall be entered on the journal of that house by the clerk or secretary thereof; or if either house fails to give such majority to any person on that day, the fact shall be entered on the journal. At twelve o'clock meridian of the day following that on which proceed- ings are required to take place as aforesaid, the members of the
* Mr. Leonard was born in Connecticut in 1836. He graduated at Union College, N.Y .; was admitted to the bar, and removed to Springfield in 1858, where he has since resided. He has of late years devoted his energies to railroad interests and is now president of the Toledo, - Peoria, - and - Western Railway.
+ Revised Statutes of United States, 1875-page 3.
849
DAVID DAVIS ELECTED UNITED-STATES SENATOR.
two houses shall convene in joint assembly, and the journal of each house shall then be read, and if the same person has received a majority of the votes in each house, he shall be declared duly elected senator. But if the same person has not received a majority of the votes in each house, or if either house has failed to take proceedings as herein required, the joint assembly shall then proceed to choose, by a viva-voce vote of each member present, a person for senator, and the person who receives a majoriry of all the votes of the joint- assembly, a majority of all the members elected to both houses being present and voting, shall be declared duly elected. If no person receives such majority on the first day, the joint assem- bly shall meet at twelve o'clock meridian of each succeeding day during the session of the legislature, and shall take at least one vote, until a senator is elecled."
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, 1877, the vote required by the above law was taken by each house and resulted as follows: in the senate, John A. Logan received 20 votes, John M. Palmer 22, William B. Anderson 7, Elihu Benjamin Washburne I, and one blank. The vote in the house was for Logan 77, Palmer 67, David Davis 7, William Lathrop I. No one having received a majority, the two houses met in joint-session on the 17th and proceeded to vote with the following result:
Logan, 20 senators, 78 representatives = 98
Palmer, 22 senators, 66 representatives = 88
Anderson,
7 senators, = 7
Davis,
6 representatives = 6
Senator Buehler voted for Elihu B. Washburne and Senator Haines for W. H. Parrish.
Twelve ballots were had with but little change when the joint-session adjourned. On the following day, six ballots were taken with about the same results; and on Friday five efforts were made, the independents uniting their strength on Ander- son thus giving him 13 votes. On Monday the 22d, Palmer's name was withdrawn and the democrats began to vote for Anderson, who received 62 votes on the 24th ballot, which were increased to 85 on the 25th. Logan's vote continued the same, and the balance were scattering. On the morning of the
850
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
24th, it becoming evident that General Logan could not obtain the 4 votes required to elect, his name was reluctantly with- drawn, the bulk of the republicans voting for Judge C. B. Law- rence, and the democrats having failed to effect a union upon Anderson began to vote for Davis; the 35th ballot standing as follows: for Lawrence 81, Davis 98, John C. Haines 15, and 4 scattering. The vote of Haines at one time reached 69. The contest continued until January 25, when it was terminated by the election of Judge Davis on the 40th ballot which resulted as follows: Davis 101, Lawrence 94, Haines 3, Logan I, Parish I. No inducements could bring the independents to the support of either of the other parties, while the democrats preferred to accept Davis rather than prolong the struggle at the risk of a republican success.
David Davis, thus transferred from the United-States supreme court to the senate, was a native of Maryland, where he was born in Cecil County, March 9, 1815. He graduated at Kenyon College, Ohio, in 1832, studied law in Massachusetts, and re- moved to McLean County in this State in 1835. He was a member of the fourteenth general assembly, 1844, and of the constitutional convention of 1847. In 1848, he was elected judge of the eighth judicial circuit, and reelected in 1855, and in 1861. He was an old whig and warm personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him to a seat on the bench of the United-States supreme court in 1862.
He was neither a greenbacker, nor an anti-monopolist in the political sense in which those terms were used, but having separated from the republican party on the question of the . impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, he was regarded as sufficiently independent to serve as the candidate of that party. He acted in the senate as much with the republicans as with the democrats, and upon the death of President Garfield, was elected president of the senate in 1880, which position he continued to fill until the close of his term. In 1884, he sup- ported Blaine and Logan .*
The thirtieth general assembly remained in session until May 24, and passed, among others, the following laws: to provide the manner of proposing amendments to the state constitution;
* He died at his old home in Bloomington, June 26, 1886.
NEW RAILROAD-AND-WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONERS. 851
providing for voluntary assignments and conferring jurisdiction therein upon county-courts; to provide for the organization of the state militia; to create a commission of claims; changing the fiscal year, and time of making reports to the governor to November 1; to create and establish a state board of health; to regulate the practice of medicine; to compel railroad com- panies to build and maintain depots for the comfort of passen- gers; for the protection of passengers on railroads; to establish appellate courts. This measure, provided for in the new consti- tution, had become a necessity in order to relieve the over- crowded docket of the supreme court. Four courts, composed of three circuit-judges each, were formed to sit respectively at Chicago, Springfield, Ottawa, and Mt. Vernon.
On February 21, there was appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate a new board of railroad-and-warehouse commissioners, as follows: Wm. M. Smith, George M. Bogue, and John H. Oberly. The first-named was selected as president of the board and Mat H. Chamberlain of Beardstown appointed secretary.
The governor had hardly been comfortably seated in the executive chair, when the great railroad strike of July, 1877, was inaugurated. The continued hard times and depreciation in values had naturally effected prices and wages. Manufact- urers, miners, and railroad companies felt compelled to reduce their expenses, and to make a corresponding reduction in the compensation paid their employés. Laboring men, not only in Illinois but throughout the country, became restless, dissatisfied, and aggressive in their demands. That antago- nism between capital and labor arose which always becomes the most pronounced when the former finds itself doing busi- ness at a loss, and the latter is able to earn barely the necessa- ries of life. A general strike, organized at Pittsburg, was ordered. This was an opportunity which the wilfully idle, the vagrant, and the turbulent anarchist seized upon for the purposes of plunder and destruction. In July, the ferment culminated. Riotous and uncontrollable meetings were held in various portions of the country, and mobs prompted by a wild frenzy took forcible possession of manufactories, mines, and railroads. Riots followed, with calamitous fires and the
852
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
destruction of millions of dollars worth of property. Business was prostrated. Cars loaded with grain, flour, and live-stock, were side-tracked and not a wheel allowed to turn. Railway- trains, machine-shops, yards, and factories, at Chicago, Peoria, Galesburg, Decatur, East St. Louis, and at some minor points, were in the hands of furious mobs, as also were the mines at Braidwood, La Salle, and other places. Hostilities began in Chicago on July 25, by a desperate conflict between the rioters and the police.
The governor was called upon for troops to aid the civil authorities. Under the new law, which had only been in force a few weeks, but little had been done toward the reorganization of the militia, but the entire military force of the State under command of Major-General Arthur C. Ducat was called out. The three brigades were respectively commanded by Brigadier- Generals, J. T. Torrence, E. N. Bates, and C. W. Pavey-Hiram Hilliard being the state adjutant - general. To the force at Chicago, were added six companies of United-States troops which had been stopped on their way east by the request of the governor.
The presence of the troops and their distribution at threat- ened points over the city soon wrought a favorable change. The unlawful crowds were dispersed and business returned to its ordinary channels. Gen. Ducat with the 3d regiment, Col. Joseph W. R. Stambough, and the Ioth battalion of infantry under Lt .- Col. J. B. Parsons, proceeded to Braidwood, where there had been serious disturbances; order was soon restored here also.
The 2d and 3d brigades had been ordered to East St. Louis, where the mob, estimated at 10,000, was terrorizing the citizens and setting the civil authorities at defiance. The governor appeared upon the scene in person and directed the manœuvr- ing of the troops. The ringleaders of the mob were arrested and the trains were successfully guarded out of the city. So wise and judicious had been the arrangements that by July 31, the trouble was at an end. While the destruction of property was not so great in this State as in some others, the loss by the stoppage of trade was immense, necessitating the suspension and failure of many banks and business houses.
DavidDavis.
IOR
LIE NY RARY
853
STATE CONVENTIONS IN 1878.
In the meantime, the agitation of those political questions, in which it was supposed the public welfare was most involved, continued with unabated interest in congress and among the people.
The democrats and independent reformers were generally agreed in favor of a demand for the repeal of the resumption law but were unable to come together upon other questions. The last-named party were the first to throw down the political gauntlet for the biennial contest of 1878, calling their state convention to meet at Springfield, March 27. About 150 dele- gates reported. Gen. Erastus N. Bates was nominated for state treasurer and Frank H. Hall of Kane County for. superinten- dent of public instruction. The platform contained the usual utterances in favor of the exclusive function of the government to coin and create money and regulate its value; the suppression of all banks of issue; the supply of all needed money by con- gress; of the taxation of government bonds and money; and against the contract system of labor in prisons and reformatory institutions.
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