USA > Illinois > Ogle County > The history of Ogle County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Illinois etc > Part 47
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
President, Thomas Drummond, of Jo Daviess; Vice Presidents, William H. Brown, of Cook; Joel Walker, of Boone; Spooner Ruggles, of Ogle; and Elijah Wilcox, of Kane. Secretaries. T. D. Robertson, of Winnebago; J. B. F. Russell, of Cook; and S. P. Hyde, of McHenry.
When the organization of the convention was fully perfected, the following resolution was introduced by Walter L. Newberry, of Cook County.
Resolved, If a satisfactory arrangement can be made with the present holders of the stock of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, that the members of this con- vention will use all honorable measures to obtain subscriptions to the stock of said company.
An animated and spirited discussion followed the introduction of this resolution, which elicited a full history of the charter, its powers, and the happy results that would follow its purchase, and the completion of the road under it, etc., after which the resolution was unanimously adopted.
Previous to the adoption of this resolution, a committee of one from each county had been appointed to draft a series of resolutions expressive of the views of the convention on the subject under consideration. That committee consisted of the following named gentlemen, to wit: J. Y.
Scammon, of Cook; George T. Kasson, of McHenry; C. S. Hempstead, of Jo Daviess; W. G. Dana, of Ogle; James S. Waterman, of DeKalb; W. H. Gilman, of Boone; John A. Clark, of Stephenson; A. B. Wells, of Kane; S. M. Church, of Winnebago.
This committee, through its chairman, J. Y. Scammon, submitted the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the wants of the farmers and business men of Northern Illinois, require the immediate construction of a railroad from Chicago to Galena; that the value of farms upon the route would be doubled by the construction of the road, and the convenience of the inhabitants immeasurably promoted thereby.
Resolved. That in order to accomplish the object of this convention, it is indispensably necessary that the inhabitants and owners of property between Galena and Chicago should come forward and subscribe to the stock of the proposed railroad, to the extent of their ability ; and that. if each farmer upon the route shall take at least one share of the stock ($100), the completion of the road would be placed beyond contingency.
Several meetings were subsequently held in Rockford to advance the interests of the enterprise, and on the 20th of August, 1852, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was completed to the east side of Rock River; and to the west side of the river, by the erection of the necessary bridge, in August, 1853.
A branch of this road, called the " Dixon Air Line," starting from the Junction, about six miles east of St. Charles, was built through the south- east corner of Ogle County in 1854.
TIIE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.
The first railroad built into and through the County of Ogle and operated within its limits was the Illinois Central. The grand scheme of connecting Lake Michigan with the great water highway of the Mississippi at the mouth of the Ohio, early attracted the attention of the people. It constituted an important portion of the internal improvement system of the state in 1837, and work on the line was commenced at that time, but ceased with the collapse of that system. The Central Railway was subse- quently revived by legislation secured by some of the sagacious business men of the state, who appeared to appreciate to some extent the magnificent future that awaited this region, but the whole scheme languished-lacked
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
vitality-until September, 1850, when Congress granted the right of way, 200 feet wide, through the public lands from the southern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan Canal-LaSalle-to a point at or near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and for branches to Chicago and Galena. In addition to this, in itself a liberal grant, Congress, by the same act, granted nearly 3,000,000 acres of the public lands in the very heart of this great state to aid in the construction of the road. The lands granted were the alternate sections designated by even numbers for six sections deep on each side of the trunk line and its branches, and for lands already sold or pre-empted within these limits an equal quantity of even numbered sec- tions of the public lands might be selected within fifteen miles on each side of the tracks.
The grant was subject to the control and disposal of the Legislature of Illinois, and the road and its branches when built was to be and remain a public highway for the use of the government of the United States free of tolls for the transportation of troops, munitions or other property of the Federal Government. At the same time the minimum price of the odd numbered sections within the limits of the grant was raised from $1.25 per acre to $2.50. The land was taken out of the market for two years, and in the Fall of 1852, when they were again offered for sale, an average price of $5 per acre was realized.
This was the first donation of public lands made by Congress in aid of railroads, and the precedent thus established has been so lamentably well followed as to deprive the nation of a large portion of the public domain, and the people of lands for farms to which they were justly entitled upon payment of the expenses of survey.
At the time this grant was made the only railroad completed in the state was a section of the Chicago & Galena, from Chicago to Elgin; a section of the Northern Cross Railroad, from Meredosia and Naples to Springfield, and six miles of track across the American bottom, from a point opposite St. Louis to the coal mines in the bluffs.
By act of the general assembly, approved February 17, 1851, an act entitled " An act to incorporate the Great Western Railway Company," approved March 6, 1843; " an act to amend an act entitled an act to incorporate the Great Western Railway Company," approved Feb. 10, 1849, and " An act to incorporate the Illinois Central Railroad Company," approved January 16, 1836, were repealed. By section 3 of the same act the grant of Congress approved September 20, 1850 was accepted.
But prior to the passage of this repealing act, the General Assembly, declaring that in its judgment the object of incorporating the Central Railroad Company could not be attained under general laws passed "An Act to incorporate the Illinois Central Railroad Company," which was approved February 10, 1851. The corporators named in this act were: Robert Schuyler, George Griswold, Governeur Morris, Franklin Haven, David A. Neil, Robert Rantoul, Junior, Jonathan Sturgis, George W. Ludlow, John F. A. Sanford, Henry Grinnell, William H. Aspinwall, Leroy Wiley and Joseph W. Alsop, and by section 6, these gentlemen, with the Governor of the State of Illinois for the time being, were constituted the first board of directors. To this company the congressional grant of right of way and public lands, together with " the right of way which the State of Illinois has heretofore obtained; " the lot of land obtained by the State within the City of Cairo for a depot; " all the grading, embankments, exca-
M.D.
OREGON
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
vations, surveys, work, materials, personal property, profiles, plats and papers constructed, procured, furnished and done by or in behalf of the State of Illinois, for or on account of said road and branches, and the right of way over and through lands owned by the state," were "ceded and granted," and the company were required to execute a deed of trust of all this property, together with " the railroad which may be built," to Morris Ketchum, John Moore and Samnel D. Lockwood, trustees, to secure to the state the first lien on the property so conveyed, the construction of the road, and the indemnification of the state against the claims of the United States, in case the road should not be completed within ten years as required by the Act of Congress of September 20, 1850.
Thus the magnificent grant to the state was relinquished to a private corporation, not without strong opposition, however, for there was a deep feeling against the measure. The magnitude of the grant was so over- powering to the minds of many good citizens, that they argued earnestly that by proper management the state might not only build the 700 miles of railroad, but from the proceeds of the lands pay off a burdensome state debt of many millions of dollars besides. Doubtless this might have been possible, but the opportunities for "steals" might not have been easily resisted. Mr. John S. Wright, of Chicago, published a pamphlet, in which he insisted that the state would be " everlastingly dishonored if the legislature did not devise laws to build the road, and disenthral the state of its enormous debt besides, out of the avails of this grant."*
The company negotiated a loan of $400,000, but the money could not be realized until there should be a conveyance of the lands from the general government. In this there was some delay. Justin Butterfield, the com- missioner of the general land office, at Washington, who was from Chicago, construed the grant as entitling the company to lands for the Chicago branch, on a straight line to Chicago, which would avoid the junction with the Michigan Central. After some vexatious delay this construction of the act was overruled by the president and secretary of the interior, and in March, 1852, the necessary patents were issued, contracts were awarded, work commenced, the road progressed to completion with little interruption, and was built through Ogle County in 1853.
THE CHICAGO AND NORTIIWESTERN RAILROAD.
The next railroad which entered upon the territory of Ogle County was the " Dixon Air Line " branch of the Galena and Chicago Union Rail- road, which, passing through the Towns of Dement and Flagg, in the south- eastern part of the county, with stations at Creston and Lane (now Rochelle), was built through the county in 1854. Subsequently it was purchased by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company, and is now one of the trunk lines of that corporation. A station was established on this road, four miles sonthwest of Rochelle, in 1866, called Flagg Station.
THE CHICAGO, ST. CHARLES AND MISSISSIPPI AIR LINE RAILROAD.
The success of the Central Railroad scheme induced what may perhaps be properly termed a " railroad fever" among the people. Numerous lines were projected, and the people were called upon to aid in their construction by subscriptions to capital stock, donations and loans of credit, both in
* Davidson & Stuve's History of Illinois.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
their individual and corporate capacity. Among those that were projected about this time, was the Chicago, St. Charles and Mississippi Air Line Railroad, which was designed to traverse this county from east to west, and open to its people a most brilliant future. By the terms of its charter, the people along its proposed line were anthorized to subscribe to its capital stock in their corporate capacity, and, as history records, they seldom neg- lected to vote the required aid to any railroad, albeit there was usually a pretty strong minority opposed to such measures, and numerous quarrels and much litigation have been entailed upon the people in consequence. But, then, the most flattering tales were told them. Without their subse- quent and dearly bought experience, the people were led to believe that every man's farm would be a fortune if they would but aid liberally in the construction of railroads. After a time they began to discover the folly of such a course, but it was not until 1870 that they amended their constitu- tion and prohibited such corporate action.
But to return. Late in 1853, James V. Gale, supervisor of the Town of Oregon, Enoch Wood, supervisor of the Town of Nashua, R. B. Light and eighty-two others, filed petitions with the county clerk, requesting him to call a special meeting of the board of supervisors for the purpose of calling an election to determine whether the County of Ogle should take $100,000 in the capital stock of that railroad company. The meeting of the board, asked for by the petitioners, was called and held on Thursday, December 29, 1853, when Mr. Wood presented the following :
Resolved, That the Board of Supervisors of the County of Ogle order an election, in pursuance of an act entitled, " An Act to provide for a general system of railroad incorpora- tions," approved November 6, 1849, to be held in the several towns in said county, on the ninth day of February, A. D. 1854, at the usual places of holding general elections, and according to the laws now in force concerning general elections, for the purpose of giving the legal voters of said county an opportunity of voting for or against said Ogle County taking $100,000 in the capital stock of the Chicago, St. Charles and Mississippi Air Line Railroad Company, and issuing the bonds of said county for said amount, running twenty- five years and drawing eight per cent per annum.
This resolution was adopted by yeas and nays, as follows :
Yeas-James V. Gale, James W. Johnston, Dauphin Brown, Gould G. Norton, Thomas Stinson, Washington Paddock, Millican Hunt, Enoch Wood-8.
Nays-L. N. Barber, Walter Donaldson, Spooner Ruggles, S. C. Cot- ton, L. P. Piper, Samnel Doctor, Peter Mills-7.
On the 6th day of February, 1854, the following document was filed in the office of the county clerk :
We, G. L. Hubbard of Chicago, J. P. Smith, H. A. Mix, J. M. Russell, A. O. Camp- bell, Dudley Wood, Wesley Pierce, Lucins Reed, Hamilton Norton, Henry Sharer, George Swingley, M. M. York, Charles L. Patrick, A. M. Trumbull, Susan L. Patrick, Charles W. Murtfeldt, E. R. Tyler, S. M. Hitt, James V. Gale, E. F. Dutcher, Dexter Beaman, C. F. Emerson, N. W. Wadsworth, R. S. Hitt, M. Hunt, Washington Paddock, A. H. Hart, J. M. Hinkle. P. R. Bennett, P. R. Bennett, Jr., E. K. Light, R. B. Light, Miles B. Light, Clinton Helm, E. R. Stoddard, A. S. Tripp, P. Jacobs, T. H. Potwin, C. S. Marshall, George Gris- wold, W. S. Blair, Henry A. Neiff. Andrew Newcomer, Samuel Thomas, Isaac Long, Jacob Coffman, Henry Thomas, E. Carroll, Jonathan Knodle, W. A. McNeill, R. C. Burchell, Joshua Thomas, F. G. Petrie, F. B. Rrayton, Asa Coho, Daniel J. Pinckney, J. Hitt, J. W. Hitt, A. M. Hitt, D. A. Potter, James M. Webb, John Phelps, Elias Baker, A. J. King, Phineas Chaney, E. M. Light, Elias Etnyre, E. S. Potter, A. I. Vaughan, Benjamin Boyle, all of Ogle County, Illinois, do hereby jointly and severally agree to and with said County of Ogle, in the State of Illinois (by the board of supervisors of said county), that we will, if the people of said county should, on the ninth (9th) day of February next, vote to take one hundred thousand dollars in the capital stock of the Chicago, St. Charles and Missis-
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
sippi Air Line Railroad Company, and should issue their bonds in payment for said stock, and should receive certificates of stock from said railroad company, that we will, in case said county will assign us the certificates of stock so held by the county, that we will, in consideration thereof, execute to said county, in our joint and several capacities, a bond of indemnity against the bonds of said county, so issued in payment for said stock, with cov- enants of warranty and indemnity against the principal and interest of said bonds, and in all things to save the county harmless from said bonds, and, farther to secure the faithful observance of said covenants, to mortgage real estate of the present value of one hundred thousand dollars or upwards, or other security, to be approved by the board of supervisors of said County of Ogle.
We further agree, in order to carry out the foregoing proposition, to submit the same to the board of supervisors of said County of Ogle, at their first meeting after the taking of said vote, and should they concur herein, to execute the foregoing bond or bonds and mort- gage or mortgages, in accordance with the foregoing proposition.
In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 2d day of Feb- ruary, 1854.
[Signed by the persons whose names appear above].
As ordered by the Board of Supervisors the election was held in the several towns in the county February 9, 1854, and the returns on file in the Clerk's office show that the proposition was accepted by the people of the county by a vote of 1,219 for the subscription, to 910 against the measure.
Here the matter seems to have stopped, as there is no record of the issne of any bonds in payment for the stoek voted for. Various individuals, however, subseribed for the capital stoek of the C., St. C. & M. A. L. R. R. Company and paid some assessments thereon. No work was ever done on this road in Ogle County, and the people lost all they ever paid for the stock. The only work ever done on this route was to grade the road from Chicago to St. Charles, and the managers sold out to the Galena & Chieago Union Railroad Company.
THE OGLE AND CARROLL COUNTY RAILROAD COMPANY.
By an act of the General Assembly of Illinois, entitled " An Aet to incorporate the Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Company." Approved February 18, 1857," all such persons as may become stockholders agreeable to the provisions of this act " in the corporation created by the act were made "a body corporate and politic by the name and style of 'The Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Company,'" under the usual provisions and restrictions.
Section 2 anthorizes the company to "locate, eonstrnet and complete, maintain and operate a railroad from the Town of Lane (now Rochelle), in the County of Ogle, to the Town of Oregon in same county; from thenee to the Town of Mt. Morris; from thenee on the most eligible and direct route to or near the town of Mt. Carroll, in the County of Carroll; from thence to the Mississippi River. The company was also empowered to eonstruet said railroad east from Oregon to the City of Chicago.
Section 3 fixed the capital stoek of the company at one million dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. The dircetors were author- ized to inerease the capital stock to any sum not exceeding five millions, if necessary to complete the work.
Section 4 appointed John R. Hotaling, Thomas Stinson, Elias S. Potter, Henry A. Mix, Elias Etnyre, Elias Baker, A. M. Hitt, Daniel Z. Herb and H. Hofhim, Commissioners to procure subscriptions to the capital stock who, when one hundred and fifty dollars should be subscribed, were directed to give twenty days notice of an election by the stockholders of nine
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
directors, who were to hold their office for one year and until their successors should be elected and qualified.
The corporation was authorized to connect with, intersect or construct road in connection with any other railroad within the State of Illinois or elsewhere.
By section 12 the proposed railroad was divided into three divisions sa follows:
All said road lying east of the town of Oregon shall constitute the first division ; and the portion thereof lying between the town of Oregon and the Illinois Central Railroad shall constitute the second division ; and that portion of said road lying between the Illinois Central Railroad and the town of Savanna shall constitute the third division.
Section 13 provided that any township organization or any town incorporated or hereafter to be incorporated, through which said railroad may pass, "are hereby authorized and empowered to take stock in said road in their incorporated capacities, by a vote of the legal voters of said township or town; and the amount so taken shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars; which shall be levied and collected as other taxes are, and such township or town shall be subject to all the liabilities and have all the rights of a stockholder as provided in this act."
The company made but little effort to organize under the original act, and two years later the charter was amended by " An Act to amend an Act entitled . An act to incorporate the Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Com- pany,' " approved February 24, 1859. By this act the company was authorized to organize and elect a directory " whenever stock to the amount of twenty thousand dollars should be subscribed, the number of directors was changed from nine to five, three of whom should constitute a quorum. James V. Gale, Henry A. Mix, Joseph Sears, Edward F. Dutcher, Isaac Trask, Elias S. Potter, Langford Green, Miles B. Light, Francis Chase, Thomas Stinson, Robert C. Burchell and Charles C. Royce were made Com- missioners in place of those named in the original act, and the road was to commence "on the east bank of Rock River, opposite the Town of Oregon; from thence on the most eligible route to the Galena and Chicago Union Air Line Railroad."
The several villages and towns along or near the route of the road were authorized to subscribe to the stock of said company or make donations or lend their credit to it.
Under this amendment the company was organized, and soon after its passage Frederick G. Petrie, James V. Gale, D. S. Pride, Henry A. Mix and E. S. Potter were elected Directors; F. G. Petrie was elected President, and these officers continued without much change until 1869, when Mr. Petrie was still President, M. L. Ettenger, Secretary, and the Board of Directors consisted of F. G. Petrie, Elias S. Potter, James V. Gale, Michael Nohe and Elbert K. Light.
A meeting of the legal voters of the Town of Oregon was held at the . Court house February 4, 1860. Charles F. Emerson was chosen Moderator.
At this meeting the town voted to donate thirty thousand dollars to the Railroad Company by a vote of 137 to 24, to aid in the construction of the first division of the road from the cast bank of Rock River opposite the village of Oregon to some point on the Galena and Chicago Union Air Line Railroad.
But no work' was done on the road, and of course the donation was not actually made. In February, 1865, a special town meeting was held in Oregon, when the town vote to subscribe for $50,000 of the stock of the Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Company to be paid for in bonds after
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the completion of the first division of the road, which was required to be done in two years. At this meeting, all former donations and subscriptions. in aid of any railroad were rescinded, and it was ordered that the town should elect annually at the annual town meetings a board of ten men who should each represent $5,000 of stock at the meetings of the company, and at the next annual meeting, April 4, 1865, the following " Railroad Representatives " were elected, viz .: F. G. Petrie, C. S. Marshall, E. K. Light, M. Nohe, M. L. Ettinger, D. Etnyre, John Sharp, O. Wilson, Joseph Sears and J. E. Snowden.
But at another special meeting held on Saturday, February 9, 1867, the town voted almost unanimously to rescind the vote of 1865 subscribing to the capital stock and to donate $50,000 to the company under certain specified conditions and restrictions.
During all these years, however, notwithstanding Oregon and other towns had repeatedly voted aid, the company had accomplished nothing toward the construction of the road. The nearest railroad point to Oregon, the county seat, was at Franklin Grove, Lee County, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, twelve miles away. The Ogle and Carroll County Railroad Company had a contract with the old Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Company by which a junction of the two roads was contemplated at Lane (now Rochelle), and this contract provided certain drawbacks on business furnished, etc., when the first division of the O. & C. C. R. R. should be in operation.
In the Spring of 1867, shortly after the last vote by the Town of Oregon above noticed, the contract to build a new wagon bridge across Rock River at Oregon was awarded to Messrs. Canda & Hinckley, of Chicago. Mr. Francis E. Hinckley had the supervision of the work. While here Mr. Hinckley became aware of the existence of the charter of the Ogle & Car- roll County Railroad Company and the condition of its affairs. He became interested, investigated the matter and determined that the road should be built. He waited upon the officers of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- road, who expressed a willingness to carry out the terins of the contract with the old G. & C. U. Company, and agreed to furnish the iron and ties as soon as the work of grading was completed, and the preliminaries relating to use of cars, drawbacks, etc., should be arranged. The firm of Canda & Hinckley dissolved and Mr. Hinckley assumed sole control of the enterprise, "having," it is authoritatively stated, "possessed himself of a contract for the rights and franchises of the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Company." But further legislation seemed to be necessary.
The act incorporating the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Company was again amended by "An Act to amend an act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Company," approved March 3, 1869. By this act the first division of the road was made to com- mence on the east bank of Rock River, opposite the Town of Oregon, thence on the most eligible route to a connection with the Chicago & North- western Railway or any other railroad leading to the City of Chicago. The second division extended from Oregon to the Mississippi River. The com- pany was also authorized to build a branch of their road to the City of Rockford.
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