Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 32

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois > Part 32

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Final finish was made towards the certain completion of the railroad both north and east by the vote of Brown county pledging a sub- seription of $100,000 to the eastern branch from Camp Point to Meredosia. This was first ef- fected through the influence of private parties, whose publie spirit had taken hold of the project. No chartered railroad company there then existed. There was not then as there is now. a general incorporation law authorizing

corporate organization at any time in the in- terim of legislative sessions, and it was two years later that the parties who built the road through Brown county secured a charter at the session of 1856-57, against a factious oppo- sition. The first election in Brown for this $100,000 subscription failed. The vote was 525 for to 206 against, but the terms under which the election was held required that the vote in favor of the project should be equal to two-thirds of the vote cast at the last general election. It failed by seven votes, through over-confidence and inattention. At a second election held a few weeks later it was carried by a most decisive vote, there being scarcely any opposition.

The summer was extremely hot, the hottest ever known, as the oldest inhabitants always say. The thermometer rated on July 17th at 105. and six days during the month showed a degree over 100. with a monthly average of 93. really an extraordinary continuance of heat. With this was also mueh sickness. The cholera made a slight visitation, but only some half a dozen cases occurred in the city. while near around and in the county there were a good many more eases.

Some notable changes occurred among the newspaper establishments. always objects of public interest. The Patriot, published by Warren & Gibson, edited by the latter and later by D. S. Morrison, became a tri-weekly on the 16th of September. II. V. Sullivan. the first publisher of the Quiney Whig, with which he had subsequently been always connected, sold his interest therein to Henry Young. and made preparation for establishing another paper. This, the Republican, he brought out in part- nership with F. A. Dallam in the following year, 1855. There were at this time four estab- lished journals in the city. the Herald. Courier ( German). Whig and Patriot. The first two were democratic. the Whig was whig and the Patriot independent and anti-slavery.

The military mania was all-pervading this year. The Blues made their first parade. in creditable shape, on the 7th of January. and later in the seasan an artillery company under the command of Austin Brooks. of the Herald. was organized, but did not turn ont until the next year.

Probably the most destructive fire that had as yet attacked the city. was on the 20th of October, when Thayer's large distillery with many of its surroundings, were destroyed. The damage was estimated at over $50,000, with lit- tle insurance. a much greater figure than had footed the losses suffered at any former fire.

Political excitement, here as all over the country. was intense and continuous through-

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ont the whole year. That mad issue made by the repeal of the Missouri compromise, offering the entrance of slavery into the territories and its protection while there, absorbed all other questions of dispute, shattering old party as- sociations and creating a new line of politienl separation. The Nebraska bill and slavery ex- tension were the leading and almost only sub- jects of thought and disession, resulting in the overthrow of the democratic party in the state, completely reversing the political conditions that had existed, unbroken, for twenty-five years. The operation was different in several sections of the state. In the northern part, which had heretofore been decidedly demo- eratie, almost the entire whig party and a very large percentage of the democratie, united in what was called the anti-Nebraska movement, from which sprang the republican party. In the central belt, where the whig element was stronger, the parties remained nearly the same ; a few changes only being made from either side. In the southern section where were the great democratie majorities, with the exception of the locations wherein the German vote lay, which now ent loose from the democratic party to which it had been almost solidly attached, the democrats as a whole and nearly all of the few whigs that were there, supported the re- peal of the compromise, thus leaving scarcely a nominal opposition in all the Egyptian part of the state.

In Adams county and adjoining the political changes were few and very nearly offset each other. Wm. A. Richardson was renominated for congress at the democratic convention after a long and stubborn contest between several other aspirants, and Archibald Williams was brought out by the opposition. The other democratie candidates were, for state senator, Wm. II. Carlin : for representatives. J. M. Rud- dle and Eli Sechorn, and Wilson Lane for sher- iff. Opposed to these were Peter B. Garrett for the senate; for the house, I. V. Sullivan and Win. B. Gooding, regular nominees, and Wm. (. Ilarrington, independent. and B. M. Prentiss for sheriff. It was at this election that a small local cause brought about the elec- tion of the first republican U. S. senator from Illinois, which has already been mentioned in these sketches.

A enrions feature connected with the organ- ization of this legislature. before alluded to, with its meagre majority of one, and being the first anti-democratie legislature in the state since the formation of that party, is worth men- tion. It is not local to Quiney or Adams county, but is a part of the general political history of the state and nation, and caused the Adams county representation in the general as-

sembly to play a much more important part than it otherwise might have done. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan, the two most eminent men in that section, were elected by several hundred majority as the anti-Nebraska members of the honse from Sangamon county, Mr. Lincoln very much against his wish, he- canse he was recognized as being the candidate of the party for election to the U. S. Senate. When it was ascertained that the anti-Nebraska party had the control of the legislature by a clear majority of at least three, Mr. Lincoln resigned, every one supposing that Sangamon county would choose as his successor a man of the same politieal stamp. But the democrats laid low. and quietly organizing a "still hunt." rum in a Mr. MeDaniel, a very obscure man, and completely reversed the 600 or 700 major- ity of the month before. This left the balance of strength so close that half a dozen anti- Nebraska members, formerly democrats, con- trolled the situation and they demanded that an anti-Douglas democrat, rather than an old whig, should be elected as the successor of General Shields in the U. S. Senate. They sue- ceeded, and after several days' balloting, where Mr. Lincoln came very near success, Judge Trumbull was chosen by one vote more than the vote given to Matteson, the Douglas can- didate. Wlad Mr. Lincoln not been a ean- didate for the legislature, some other man like him in opinions would have been chosen with Judge Logan, and Mr. Lincoln would have been elected senator. Had he not resigned the result would have been the same. But if Abra- ham Lincoln had gone into the United States Senate in 1854, would he there have achieved that distinction which he afterward acquired, and would he four years later, in 1858, have fought the great debate with Douglas, which laid the foundation of his elevation to the pres- ideney and eternal fame?

A private "High School" was opened by Prof. M. T. Root on the 6th of October, which may perhaps properly be called the first of its kind, since it was the only institution claiming such a character that was sustained for any great length of time. This school was popular and prospered under the management of Mr. Root and of those who succeeded him, until about the time when, several years later, the public high school, of like scope, and affording equal advantages, sneh a one as it had been unsnecessfully proposed to establish in the spring of this year, was engrafted upon the city school system. Mr. Root, beside being an musually well educated instructor, and a de- cided though gentle disciplinarian, possessed that other valuable trait in a teacher of sym- pathetic association with his pupils. He added

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to the attractions of his school by the organiza- tion of a military company from among his students. This. the "Quincy Cadets. " with its simple, tasteful uniform, and a drill profi- cieney equal to the average. soon became one of the popular institutions of the city. One of its officers, Lieutenant Shipley, afterwards a lieutenant in the 27th Illinois Infantry, was the first commissioned officer from Quincy who was killed in the civil war. at Behnont. Mo .. in 1861.

Another effort was made to establish a public free school for colored children by an appropri- ation of the council of $150 towards building a school house "whenever the property was bought and paid for." This project. like that proposed in the early part of the year, was a failure.

The Westminster church. December 24, 1853. representing the old school branch of the Pres- byterian church, with the Rev. Win. MeCandish as its pastor. began service in a small building on Sixth street between Maine and Jersey. Soon after they erected a church on Hampshire near Ninth, which they occupied until they re- united with the other Presbyterians about thirty years later.

There were at this time eighteen religious societies in Quiney having churches for regu- lar worship. Of these. thirteen conducted services in English, viz. : Two Methodist Epis- copal. one Protestant Methodist, one Christian (or Campbellite). two Presbyterian (Old and New School). two Congregationalist. one Epis- copalian, one Unitarian. one Universalist and one Catholic : and five in German. two Evan- gelical. one Lutheran. one Methodist Episcopal. and one Catholic. The Catholic societies were by far the largest of any of these. Their in- crease in this section for a good many years had been rapid and extensive. A publie state- ment made about this time reports the Catholic diocese of Quincy to embrace 52 churches. 39 stations. with a church attendance of 42,000.

Much the most comprehensive annual re- view of the city that had as yet appeared was prepared and published at the close of this year. It is too lengthy and detailed for repeti- tion here, though some of its principal state- ments may be shown. The gross amount of business reported displays a decided increase over any past year. The value of "agricul- tural exports" was as recited. $1.171.258. Among the leading items scheduled were 48,000 barrels of flour, valued at $312.000: of hay. 1,325 tons, $17,225; wheat. 22.294 bushels. $24,- 633: oats. 192,839 bushels, $61,710: corn. 76 .- 416 bushels. $32.190: to this last article the compiler says should be added the 178,514 bushels that it took to make 624.800 gallons of

whiskey, worth $206.184, all of which was made and shipped from here. The total num- ber of hogs packed was 23,000. an advance on the previous year, and the value of the manu- facture $296.444. Beef packing summed up a value of $49.149. Shipments south were made of 301,560 pounds of hides. valued at $15,078: 62.200 boxes of soap, $15.500: 4,215 boxes of candles. $25.440 : 3.000 barrels of crackers. $15,- 000. Of brick 6,000,000 were manufactured, worth $21,000. and marble and stone work to an equal amount was done. Cabinet work amounted to $106,390. The cooper shops, 21 in number. turned out 55.400 fon. 10,750 pork and 14.550 whiskey barrels, and other work amounting to $63.362. The 15 wagon and plow shops and the 2 carriage factories reported a business of $179.315: 2 planing mills and 18 carpenter shops $152,211; 1 steam saw mill $50,000: 5 machine shops, $77.450: 4 foundries (2 of them stove ). $165,520: 5 saddle and har- ness shops. $77.030: 5 lumber yards received 5.000,000 feet of pine humber worth $100,000, 230 licensed stores of all kinds are reported as transacting business to the extent of $1,279,500. The compiler says in reference to the last amount above stated that he is disposed to consider it as possibly $200.000 too small. but that he had sednlonsly through his entire ex- amination, from fear of over-estimation. kept his figures down as much as possible.

This statement of the leading industries of the city was compiled by a quaint, earnest old gentleman, now deceased. who was from very early times and for nearly half a century one of the notables of the place. and of whom and his oddities a characteristic anecdote fol- lows. He was an excellent, benevolent man, defectively educated, but a singular compound of shrewd intelligenec and eccentric action. a most ardent whig. and opposed to innovation of old theories, politieal. medieal or anywise, having an especial distrust of whatever new- fangled thing began with "anti" or ended with "isms." What the worthy captain pre- cisely meant by hydropathie inventions, he only could explain. He considered some med- ical quackery, or maybe a lurking pun on the sound of the first syllable of the word hydro- pathic, as the story below, one of a thousand such as might be told about him. illustrates :

At a social gathering. where the captain was present. during the time, many years ago, when animal magnetism, mesmerism, spiritualism and such like perplexities were new, but per- vading the country. and as little understood then as now, the subject of transcendentalism became a topic of talk. It was a new idea and. a strange word to the captain. and kept him unusually silent for awhile. "Transcendental-

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ism," thought he to himself for awhile. all in a puzzle. Part of this word sounded familiar, but altogether it was too long and too deep for him, when suddenly some expression used in the diseussion threw at onee a flood of apparent light upon his mind. "Oh," said he. "I see what you're talking about; it's a religions fixin' it seems. I didn't know before what transdentalism meant. I thought it was some new fangled ism about the teeth!" And then he dived into the discussion as fearlessly. as learnedly, and no doubt as meidly as any of the other disputants. The subject was one which calls for more tongue than sense; and is well described by a satiric old Scotch phil- osopher as the fairest of all themes for con- troversy, "because, dyje see, it's an equal for baith parties, for the mon who talked didna ken what he meant, and the gude folk that listen dinna ken e'en all of his fool clatter."

The unusual early spring flood, continuing throughout the summer, suddenly subsided in the late fall months, leaving an almost unpre- cedented low stage of water. On the middle of November thirty inches of water was reported in the river channel, and much floating ice thus early appeared. This shallow channel and ob- strueting ice continued throughout the coming winter, but at no time did the river freeze fast. Boats with difficulty made occasional trips from St. Louis to Keokuk all through the win- ter months.

There was much financial distrust and busi- ness embarrassment during this year all over the west, and especially in Illinois, growing out of the weakness of the state stock banking sys- tem. Illinois was flooded with bank paper se- cured by pledge of the uneertain and declining bonds of other states, and rivalry and competi- tion among the banks and brokers brought about some failures and created a general dis- trust towards all bank paper, vet the average prosperity continned, and in Quincy especially so, making this year, 1854, the most hopeful period in all its history to date.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

1855.

THE BAY A PLACE FOR WINTERING STEAM- BOATS. VOTING ON A TEMPERANCE LAW. SKINNER ELECTED JUDGE OF SUPREME

COURT. SIBLEY ELECTED JUDGE OF CIR-

CUIT COURT. FISCAL STATEMENT. STREET IMPROVEMENTS. HOSPITAL GROUNDS PUR- CHASED. RAILROAD IMPROVEMENTS. WOOD- LAND ORPHANS' HOME. QUINCY AS A PORT OF ENTRY. A CITY DIRECTORY. U. S. LAND OFFICE MOVED TO SPRINGFIELD. REVIEW

OF ITS HISTORY. THE NEWSPAPERS. MILI- TARY ORGANIZATION. PROSPERITY.

Business during the winter season was good. The pork production, at that time the best in-

dex of business prosperity, amounted to $35,- 000, which with the occasional steamboat ar- rivals, made activity and kept other occupa- tions active. The river continued to keep open throughout the early part of the winter, with more or less running ice, and an average of about three feet in the channel. It shut down on this uncertain navigation by freezing solid on the 25th of January. The last steamer which left here on the 22nd of January was nearly a week on her passage to St. Louis. The river opened for the season on March 8th, and main- tained a good stage of water until its final freeze on the 24th of December. Some half dozen large steamers were laid up for the win- ter, painted and repaired, in the "bay," which made quite an addition to the business appear- ance of the place. This making use of the "".bay" for the wintering and repair of boats during the winter, had been for a few years common, and after this time continued, but for some reason it has been abandoned. There is no place on the upper Mississippi so fitting in all respects as the Quiney Bay for "putting in ordinary" of steamboats in winter, and for several years it was not unusual to see half a dozen or more of No. 1 crafts there, among them sometimes, a large New Orleans steamer.

Two important elections were held during the summer of this year, one of them general, embracing the entire state. and the other. which occurred on the same day, June 6th, con- fined to the central section, including Quincy. where it aroused especial interest and feeling. The first was over the ratification by popular vote, of a stringent temperance law which had been passed at the preceding session of the legislature, subject to approval of the people. The law was largely fashioned after the Maine liquor law, and the contest over it was quite stirring. producing an unusually large vote (about 170.000), an inerease of more than 30,- 000 on the state vote of the previous year. No political lines were drawn at this election, which was the first of the kind held in Illinois, but action on the law was strongly sectional, it receiving general support in the northern eonnties, while in the southern section it was as uniformly opposed. It failed of ratification by about 14,000 votes. Quiney gave against it a majority of 105, which was increased in the county to 978.

The appointment of AJudge Treat as United States district judge for southern Illinois made a vacancy in the supreme court of the state in the second district, and Judge Skinner, who had acceptably presided over the Adams and Hancock circuit, offered as a candidate for that position. Opposed to him were Stephen T. Logan of Sangamon, and Charles II. Constable

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of Wabash counties. Political feeling was not enlisted in this election, but like the election on the liquor question, local sentiment and preference was active and controlling each aspirant receiving the general vote of his own section of the district, and Judge Skinner was easily successful by abont 10,000 majority. The contest for the circuit judgeship and a suc- cessor to Judge Skinner, was like the above, a sort of triangular duel, and was attended with more of personal bitterness than often at- taches to a purely political contest. The Adams county bar, with a desire to avoid political strife, had almost unanimously recommended for this position George Edmunds, an active and rising young lawyer of Quincy. A per- sonal hostility to Mr. Edmunds brought for- ward an opposition and some severe attacks. which were refuted, but operated upon the elec- tion. Resultant on this was the candidacy of Joseph Sibley and John W. Marsh of Hancock county. the first, as the nominee of a democratic convention, and the latter one of the oldest and most experienced lawyers of the state, sup- ported generally by the whigs of the district. such as had not committed themselves to the support of Mr. Edmunds. It was a close and doubtful election, ending in the election of Mr. Sibley by a small majority. Judge Sibley was three times re-chosen to this office, holding it for twenty-four years, the longest term of ju- dicial cirenit service known in the state.

The fall election for county officers excited but little interest. Three officials, treasurer, school superintendent and surveyor, only were to be chosen, and the democrats elected them all. At the city election in April J. M. Pitman was the democratic candidate for re-election to the mayoralty, and was successful with the rest of the ticket by 250 majority over Wm. B. Pow- ers, "independent" candidate. This secured the democratic control of the council, which was continued through the three succeeding years, and no changes were made among the official representatives of the city.

The annual "fiscal statement" of the city for the year ending April 1. 1855, exhibited a more economical administration of the city af- fairs than that of the preceding year, when, as per this report. the expenditures had exceeded the receipts by $4,174.37, while by the showing of '54-55 the receipts amounted to $37.476.64 and the expenditures to only $36.993.95. leav- ing a balance on hand of $482.69.

A very decided advance in population was told by the state census taking during this sum- mer, 10,754 against 6,901 as returned by the na- tional census in 1850, showing an increase of over 56 per cent within five years. An un- usual amount of substantial improvement also

marks the records of this year. Jersey street, making now the seventh completed traversable track between the upper and the river section of the city, was graded from Third to Front street, Maine street was macadamized from Fifth to Eighth and brought to a better level father east. Broadway east of Wood, or Twelfth street, as it now was called, was in- creased in width to 76 feet to correspond with its western width. Thirteenth nor Fourteenth street was opened from Jersey to Broadway. This opening was the first departure from the original town plan which had heretofore been generally followed, of evenly bounded blocks 24 rods square and streets 4 rods wide; a very judicious arrangement, neatly adapted to the system of the federal land surveys and to the road laws of the state. The innovation in the establishment of Fourteenth street by making a block of double the usual length from east to west has since been followed in some other ad- ditions in the eastern part of the city by leav- ing out each odd numbered street running north and south. It was growing out of this, and with the idea of regulating the future shaping of the city, that the council, however, not now excepting to this particular measure, made the requirement, under the provisions of a state law to that effect. that all plots and plans for addition to the city must before be- ing recorded obtain the approval of the city conneil. The chief idea in this ordinance be- ing to ensure that all streets, platted in the onter sections of the city, shall conform in width and alignment to those already existing, even though they may not connect therewith. Orange street. since called Eighteenth, was opened from State street to Chestnut. This was on the line which had heretofore been the most eastern boundary of the city. A large addition was now made. At the January meet- ing of the council a new city charter was pro- posed and the mayor authorized to proceed to Springfield and urge its passage through the legislature. The main feature in the new «harter was the enlargement of the city area. It proposed to about double the area of the city, making Twenty-fourth street the eastern and Locust and llarrison the northern and southern boundaries. The measure passed with some opposition, and was much resented by many parties, who, owning land near the city, were thus forced into citizenship against their wish and made to encounter increased taxation and responsibility for the large past and prospective city debt.

Orange street continued to be the eastern boundary of the city. The proposed amend- ment to the charter for the purpose of enlarg- ing the eity area, although it easily passed

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through the council, met with much opposition in the legislature, where the outside interests could make themselves heard, and it failed to become a law. Two years later, however, at the regular session, the same measure was in- trodneed and passed in January, 1857, and at the same session, a month later, another amend- ment to the charter was passed adding to the city what was then known as East Quincy, an area of about eighty acres bounded by Broad- way and Thirtieth, an east and west line about on the extension of JJersey street taking in the old city cemetery, and Twenty-fourth streets. These lines, then made, have not since been changed and constitute the present bounds of the city. An order was made by the council that there should be prepared by the city engi- neer a complete plan of the city, showing the grades of all the streets and alleys, their di- inensions, with points of intersection defined and marked, and figures attached, which should be the official record of grades as uniformly established all over the city, the same to be finished within two years. This was a project like that which had been begun in the preced- ing year, but then only partially carried out. Before the two years' limit expired, the addi- tion to the city above mentioned was made and the work extended so as to comprehend its entire area, and this established system of sur- vey and grades remains, with occasionally slight alterations such as the local interest seemed to require. A charter for Quiney water works was obtained from the legislature, but nothing resulted from it. Ten years later a charter for the same purpose passed the legis- lature, but did not receive the executive ap- proval, and it was not until about ten years farther on that an individual enterprise, com- meneed on a somewhat limited scale, perma- nently established for the city this essential improvement. Purchase was made by the city of John Wood, for $8,160 in eight year bonds, of what was then called the Hospital grounds (since used for that and other police purposes), a tract of land of about eight acres lying west of Fifth street and sonth of and adjoining the Woodland cemetery.

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Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 32

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228