USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Portrait and biographical record of St. Clair County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 77
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law until his death. lle and his partner, E. C. Blackburn, stood at the head of the legal profes- sion in St Louis, and were considered among the most eminent attorneys of the West. Politically, he was a Democrat.
The mother of our subjeet was Mary W. John- ston, who was born in Piqua, Ohio. Her father, Col. John Johnston, was born in Ireland, March 3. 1775. and when young accompanied his parents to America, settling in Cumberland County, l'a. lle was with Gen. Wayne on the Ohio River in 1793-94, served as clerk in the War Department and Indian Bureau thirty-one years, and in the War of 1812 was Paymaster and Quartermaster alternately. In 1841-42, he was United States Commissioner for trading with the Indians, and in all these respon- sible positions he acquitted himself honorably. The mother of our subjeet died in Shiloh, this county, where she had made her home on a farm.
Our subject was one of six children who grew to maturity, four of whom are now surviving. He was brought to St. Clair County in 1844, but re- mained only a short time. In 1849, he returned here, but during the high water of 1851 the family removed to St. Louis. After acquiring his educa- tion, he became a telegraph operator and remained in East St. Louis in that capacity about six years. In 1861. he enlisted in Company I, Forty-third Illinois Infantry, and as Corporal marched with his regiment to Arkansas. lle was in Little Rock at the time of the assassination of President Lincoln. In July, 1865, he was mustered out and returned to East St. Louis.
In 1867 our subjeet was made Chief of Police, a position which he occupied for four years and in which his quickness of perception and courage saved blood-shed and riot several times. In 1871 he became a Captain of the Wiggins Ferry, and contin- ues in that capacity. His residence is at No. 621 Collinsville Avenue, and in addition to that place he owns considerable real estate and several busi- news blocks in the city; also some unimproved land in Missouri and Minnesota.
At East St. Louis, in 1870, C'apt. Me. Lean mar- ried Miss Elisa A. Griffith, a native of East St. Lonis and the daughter of Joseph Griffith, an early settler of this place. They are the parents
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of five children: John J., Nathaniel, Eliza L., Ralph and Birdie. Jobn .J., who is a graduate of Bryant & Stratton's Business College, is Assistant Cashier of the First National Bank; Nathaniel, who also was graduated from Bryant & Stratton's
College, is one of the best stenographers of East St. Louis. The Captain has held many positions of honor in the county and in politics is one of the most prominent Republicans of the com- munity.
ransportation.
The Wabash.
O THE publie and our thousands of readers in general: It will no doubt be interesting to all if we give a brief description of this road. The Wabash, as now known, has been oper- ated under different names from time to time. It is the offspring, as it were, of the first line of road projected in Illinois, then known as the Northern Cross Railroad, extending from Dan- ville to Quiney. This was chartered in 1837, and upon it the first locomotive was placed in the winter of 1838-39, running from Meredosia, on the Illinois River, to Jacksonville. In 1842, the road was completed from Jacksonville to Springfield, and three trips per week were made. The track was of the old flat-rail style, which was made by nailing thin strips of iron on two parallel lines of timbers placed at the proper distance apart and running lengthwise of the road. The engine, as well as the road, became so impaired that the former had to be abandoned and mules substituted as the motor power. However, such locomotion was destined to be of short duration, for the State soon after sold the entire road for a nominal sum, and thus for a short time was suspended one of the first railroad enterprises in Illinois. But in the West a new era-one of prodigious industrial ac- tivity and far-reaching results in the practical arts -was dawning, and within thirty years of the tem- porary failure of the road mentioned, Illinois had putstripped all others in gigantic internal muprove-
ments, and at present has more miles of railroad than any other State in the Union. The Great Western, whose name has been successively changed to Toledo, Wabashı & Western, Wabash, and Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, and Wabash Railroad, and The Wabash, the last of which it still bears, was an extension of the Northern Cross Railroad above mentioned, and traverses some of the finest portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It soon became the popular highway of travel and tratfie between the East and the West. Through a system of consolidation unparalleled in American railways, it has become a giant among them, and has added many millions of dollars to the value of bonds and shares of the various com- panies now incorporated in the Wabash System. The road takes its title from the river of that name, a tributary of the Ohio, which in part sep- arates the States of Illinois and Indiana. In look- ing over the maps of the Wabash Railroad it will be seen that the line extends through the most fertile and wealthy portions of the center of the United States, having termini at more large cities than any other Western road. It was, indeed, a far-reaching sagacity which consolidated these var- ions lines into the Wabash System, forming one immense chain of great commercial activity and power. Its terminal facilities are unsurpassed by any competing line, Its home offices are estab- lished in commodious quarters in St. Louis, The lines of the road are co-extensive with the impor- tance of the great transportation facilities required
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TRANSPORTATION.
for the products of the Mississippi Valley. This line passes through the States of Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The various lines of road may be divided into the following:
Miles.
St. Louis to Chicago 286
Toledo to Kansas City 662
St. Louis to Des Moines 360
Logansport to Detroit. 207
Chicago to Laketon Junction 123
Clayton to Keokuk. 42
Bluffs to Quiney.
105
Streator to Forest .
37
Attica to Covington ..
15
Champaign to Sidney. 12
Edwardsville to Edwardsville Crossing . 9
Bement to Altamont & Effingham .. 63
Brunswick to Omaha. 225
Roseberry to Clarinda. 21
Salisbury to Glasgow. 15
C'entralia to Columbia
22
Total miles of main lines and branches. . 2204
From the above main lines and branches as in- dicated it will readily be seen that the Wabash connects with more large cities and great marts of trade than any other line, bringing Omaha, Kan- sas City, Des Moines, Keokuk, Quincy, St. Louis, Chicago, Toledo and Detroit together with one continuous line of steel rails. This road has an immense freight traffic of the cereals, live stock, various productions and manufactured articles of the West, and the States through which it passes. Its facilities for rapid transit for the vast produe- tions of the packing houses of Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago to Detroit. Toledo and the East- ern marts of trade is unequalled. A large portion of the grain productions of Kansas, Nebraska, lowa, Missouri, Ilinois and Indiana finds its way to the Eastern markets over the lines of this road. The Wabash has always taken an advanced posi- tion in tariffs, and its course toward its patrons has been just and liberal, so that it has always en- joyed the commendation of the business and trav- eling public. The roadbed is one of the best in the country, and is ballasted with gravel and stone, well tied, and laid with steel rails. The bridges along the various lines are substantial structures. The depots, grounds and general property of the road are in good condition. The
management of the Wabash is fully abreast of the times. The road is progressive in every respeet. The finest passenger cars on the continent are run on its lines, and every effort is made to advance the interests of its patrons. The passenger de- partment is unexcelled for the elegant and sub- stantial comfort afforded travelers. The sleeping cars on some of the most important lines are of the compartment system, upholstered in a costly and tasteful manner, each room supplied with hot and cold water. On several of the main branches of the system dining cars are run.
Illinois Central Railroad.
6 IIIS is one of the largest corporations in Illi- nois, and with its splendid terminal facili- ties in Chicago, and its numerous suburban trains, has been a potent factor in building up the South Side and South Chicago, while at the same time enriching itself. Its management has always been careful and conservative, and it is not too much to say that it has been most potential in de- veloping many of the rich agricultural distriets of the State, besides fostering and encouraging the growth of towns and cities along its line. Ax this was one of the early roads of the State it will not be uninteresting to give a brief history of its inception.
In September, 1850, Congress passed an act, and it was approved by President Fillmore, grant- ing an aggregate of two million five hundred and ninety-five thousand and fifty-three acres to aid in building the road. The act granted the right of way and gave alternate sections of land for six miles on either side of the road. The grant of land was made directly to the State. On February 10, 1851, the Legislature of Illinois granted a charter to an Eastern company to build it, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The Legislature, in granting the charter and transferring to the cor- poration the lands, stipulated that seven per eent. of the gross earnings of the road should be paid semi-annually into the treasury of the State for-
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TRANSPORTATION.
ever. This wise provision, in lieu of the liberal land grant, yields a handsome annual revenue to the State. Also, that in the event of war, Gov- ernment transportation should be furnished at a certain reduction from the prices regularly paid by the General Government for such services.
The proceeds of land sales have been regularly applied to the redemption of construction bonds, and it is significant that the original issue of mortgage bonds amounted to $22,000,000. That amount has been so redneed that in 1892 the whole issue will be practically retired, and the stockholders will own a road in Illinois more than one thousand miles in length, fully equipped, and with no outstanding liability other than the share of capital. It may be noted here that when the General Government donated lands to the States of Illinois, Mississippi and Alabama, it was in- tended that through the aid derived from these lands a through artery of travel should be estab- lished between the Lakes and Gulf ports. Had the war not supervened, the project would then have been carried out in its entirety, and the North and South movement of traffic would have been fully developed, but the enforced delay in carrying out the original program was utilized in building up the State of Illinois and in perfecting the track of this road. Striet attention to local business has always been a marked characteristic of the Illinois C'entral Railroad management.
By an extensive system of railroad construction and by its leased lines, the Illinois Central Rail- road has termini in many important centers of trade in the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, as well as the great chain of lakes at Chicago. Through this vast system Chicago is brought into close connection with Sioux Falls, Dak .; Sioux City, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Iowa; Lyle, Minn .; and Dodgeville and Madison, Wis. Its traffic also extends to St. Louis, Mo., through run- ning arrangements over the lines of the Vandalia and Cairo Short Line Railroads. Its " Diamond Special," between Chicago and St. Louis, is rapidly acquiring popularity with the traveling public, owing to its splendid equipment and rapid time. Over the Big Four Road connection is made with Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and with its Spring-
field Division the Illinois C'entral reaches the eap- ital of Illinois, and taps the center of the great corn belt. At Cairo the Ohio River is spanned by a magnificent steel bridge, from which point south connections are made with the great cotton marts of Memphis, and the principal cities of Mississippi, and New Orleans. Thus it will be seen that the great metropolis nestling on the shores of Lake Michigan by this sinuous artery of steel is brought into direct traffic relations with the leading marts in the sunny South, as well as the semi-arctic regions of Dakota, affording the traveler, both in summer and winter. unsurpassed facilities for reaching a pleasant clime.
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Chicago & Alton Railroad.
6 HIS road traverses some of the best terri- tory of Illinois and Missouri, having its Western terminus in Kansas City, and South- ern in St. Louis, and the principal termini and general headquarters in Chicago. It is one of the important lines of the great system of railroads in the Mississippi Valley.
The Air Line between St. Louis and Chicago, the most prominent cities of the great West, and the most pronounced commercial rivals, occupies a prominent position among the trans-Mississippi railroads. This may be attributed partly to the manner in which the management has fostered and developed the local business along the line of the road since its organization in 1862. Its manage- ment has always kept abreast of the times. The length of the system is practically nine hundred miles. In brief, the Chicago & Alton Railroad has by a judicious system of permanent improve- ment, and by the introduction of modern appli- ances, which tend to the preservation of life and property, placed itself in such a condition, mate- rially and physically, that its financial condition is not easily affected. Its success as one of the great highways of the West is an assured reality. It may be appropriately noted here, that, while much of this road's past success may be attributed to its
668
TRANSPORTATION.
admirable geographical location, embracing a very rich section of the eountry for local traffic, and with termini on Lake Michigan, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, yet equally as much is due to the wisdom and stability of the management.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad,
OPULARLY known as the Santa Fe Route. The initial line of this great system was first built from Atchison to Topeka in 1869, and for many years the former eity was the Eastern terminus of the road. The man- agement of the Santa Fe, with wonderful energy, pushed out its lines in every direction into the young and growing State of Kansas, and in the majority of instances preceding settlement and eivilization. This road was the first to penetrate across the southern part of Colorado, via Pueblo and Trinidad, into New Mexico, until its lines pen- etrated the old adobe town of Santa Fe, whose citizens were half Spanish and half Mexican. As its course penetrated the wilderness, it sometimes followed the Old Santa Fe Trail, and generally not far distant at any time from the trail which had been made famous years before by trappers and the Government freighters. The marvelous growth and development of the State of Kansas is in a great measure due to the enterprise and pub- lie spirit of the managers of the Santa Fe System. Not only did they devote their energy to the up- building of the road, but at great expense they maintained emigration and colonial agents in the various countries of Europe, as well as the Eastern, Middle and Southern States, thereby advertising the State of Kansas as no other State has hereto- fore been done. Its climate, its soil, and great ad- vantages to the homeseeker, were at all times fully portrayed by the enterprise of this road. Every fostering care was given to the stock and ranch- men, to the merchant, to the mechanic and the manufacturer to settle in Kansas. As a result, we have a State here in the center of the Union, of boundless agricultural resources, settled by a
wide-awake, enterprising and prosperous people. The Santa Fe owns and operates more miles of road in Kansas than any other line, with its vast system of East and West, North and South lines reaching every important town in the State, and penetrating sixty-three counties in. Kansas alone. The magnitude of its business is immense. Its lines, beginning at the Missouri River towns in Kansas and Missouri, St. Joseph, Atchison, Leavenworth and Kansas City, extend south to Coffeyville, Arkansas City, Honewell, Caldwell, Kiona (thence to the Pan Handle of Texas); and North to Superior, Neb., Concordia, Clay Centre, Minneapolis, and other Northern Kansas eities. Its main line and branches reach nearly every im- portant city in the State. St. Joseph on the Mis- souri side of the river has a population of nearly one hundred thousand, and its wholesale trade is heavy throughout the West. Atchison is a grow- ing eity, and Leavenworth an important manufae- turing center. Leavenworth was the earliest famons city of Kansas, as it was the original outfitting point for travel and traffic across the plains. The Kansas System may be described as a main East and West line, over four hundred miles in length, with branch lines extending in every direction where an area of particularly rich country or some other special advantages invited a line of rails.
The road from Topeka after 1869 was extended West and South, and then East to Kansas City by purchase of a line built by another company from Kansas City in 1887-88. The line was extended to C'hieago under the name of the Chicago, Santa Fe & California Railroad in 1887, also the pur- chase of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Road; and the extension of the Kansas lines through the In- dian Territory to Texas gave the company a line to the ttulf of Mexico, so that at the present time the Santa Fe System proper begins at Chicago. It passes through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kan- sas, Colorado, Indian Territory, Texas, New Mex- ico, Arizona and California, and has for its South- ern terminal Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico, and El Paso, on the Mexican frontier; and for its Western terminals San Diego and Los Angeles, on the Pacific Coast (San Francisco being practically
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TRANSPORTATION.
a Pacific Coast terminal, as it is reached, via Mo- jave, over the tracks of the Southern Pacific Rail- way); and for its Northern terminals Chicago, St. Joseph, Mo., Superior, Neb., and Denver, the capi- tal of Colorado.
Chicago to Kansas City is practically an air-line, being the most straight and direct of any road be- tween those cities. It passes through a large number of important towns in Illinois, including Joliet, with its great steel works and other manu- facturing interests. The next important place is Streator. A few miles south of the latter place a branch extends to the thriving eities of Peoria and Pekin, on the Hlinois River. From Streator the main line crosses the Illinois at Chillicothe, and extends through Peoria and Knox Counties to the beautiful and enterprising city of Gales- burg. Here it comes in competition with several lines of the Burlington System, then running in a Southwesterly direction through a rich and popu- lous section, crosses the Mississippi at Ft. Madi- son on a magnificent steel bridge. Here the com- pany have established shops, that being the ter- minus of the two operating divisions of the road. From Ft. Madison, Keokuk is reached by a spur. Along the Santa Fe new towns are springing up and new industries are being developed. Twenty miles East of Kansas City the Missouri River is crossed by a steel bridge, so that the line enters Kansas City on the south side of the river. From Kansas City to Topeka the line runs on the south bank of the Kansas River. At Wilder and Ilolli- day are points for the departure of branch hines- one Northward to Atchison, and the other South- ward through Ottawa and Southern Kansas, being known as the Southern Kansas Division of the Santa Fe System. From Lawrence to Topeka the road is still in the Kansas Valley, through a verit- able garden. Native trees of great height over- lang the railway here and there, and in the spring and summer the erops look green and luxuriant. The approach to Topeka is through the long yards and by the vast machine shops of the Santa Fe Company, and across various broad streets to a com- modious brick station. The general otlices of the road are in Topeka, and occupy a handsome and commodious building near the State Capitol.
From Topeka to Denver the Santa Fe route runs for about seventy-five miles in a southwesterly di- rection to the upper waters of the Neosho River. At Emporia, passing through Osage County, are found some of the richest coal fields of the West. At Newton the line diverges South through South - ern Kansas, the Indian Territory and Texas to Galveston. Continuing West from Newton the first city of importance reached is Hutchinson. Here are some of the heaviest salt works in the United States, besides other extensive manufactur- ing interests.
At La Junta, Colo., the line for New Mexico, Arizona and beyond turns South. Pueblo, sixty- five miles due West of La Junta, for years the ter- minus of the Santa Fe System, is a growing man- ufacturing city. It is admirably located with ref- erence to the great ore-producing canons of Colo- rado. All roads leading to it ship coal, iron, silver, gold, lead, copper, building stone, everything in faet which is produced in the greatest mining State in the Union rolls naturally down hill to Pueblo. Beyond Pueblo to the west are many thriving cities founded on mining and agriculture, notable among which is Leadville, the greatest min- ing camp in Colorado, while forty miles north of Pueblo,on the line of the Santa Fe, are the beautiful cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou, nestling at the foot of Pike's Peak. Manitou is at the mouth of a deep canon, and is one of the most lovely sum- mer resorts in America. Near here is the famous Garden of the Gods, whose wondrous beauty and grandeur are unsurpassed. From Colorado Springs Westward through Manitou, and up the canon be- yond Pike's Peak, the Colorado Midland Railroad is pushing its way toward the western border of the State. Eighty miles north of Colorado Springs, the Santa Fe line terminates at Denver, a magnili- cently built city. It is probable that no Ameri- can city has so many features of unique beauty as Denver. Its splendid public buildings, and its broad avenues lined with beautiful residences, coz- ily located at the foot of the snow-capped monn- tains of the Rocky Range, render it unlike any other city of its size in the world. The ride from Pueblo to Denver along the foot of the mountains is one never to be missed. The snow-covered
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TRANSPORTATION.
peaks, the many combinations of sun. cloud, rain, snow, and the marvelous atmosphere. all combine to surprise and charm the beholder.
Newton to Galveston. The line leaving the main East and West line in Kansas at Newton runs di- rectly South to Galveston. The first place of im- portance reached is Wichita, located on the big and Little Arkansas Rivers, a city of thirty-five thousand people, where only a few years ago was an Indian trading post. South of Wichita is a cluster of growing cities, comprising Winfield. Wellington. Arkansas City and Caldwell. Wich- ita and Arkansas City have profited much by the opening up of Oklahoma to settlement. Entering the Indian Territory the line passes through a magnificent agricultural country, as yet almost wholly undeveloped. Galveston, the terminus, is a rapidly growing city of fifty thousand inhabi- tants. It is charmingly situated on the Gulf coast, and has an unsurpassed climate in both summer and winter.
La Junta to El Paso. From La Junta the line climbs to the summit of the Raton Range, seven thousand six hundred and twenty-two feet above the sea. On the way up it passes through the im- portant Colorado towns of El Moro and Trinidad. The village of Raton is an important division point for the railway. And then comes Las Ve- gas and its famous hot springs, six miles distant from the main line, but connected with it hy a short line with good equipment. At the hot springs is the Phoenix Hotel. The springs are unsurpassed anywhere in the world, and the hotel is conducted by the company in a most generous manner. The springs are forty-two in number, are hot and cold. and have a variety of mineral properties which render them remarkably strong in their cur- ative power. South of Las Vegas the line passes through fertile valleys, heavy forests and black and rugged canons until the valley of the Rio Grande is reached. A branch line from Lamy ex- tends up the mountain to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, next to St. Augustine the oldest city in America. Its quaint oid churches and dwellings are interspersed with modern structures. It should be seen before the peculiar charm of its antiquity has been entirely destroyed. Albuquer-
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