Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 104

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 104

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of which were private Cincinnati institutions of a high order. At the age of sixteen he re- moved with his father to lowa, and they were associated in business for several years. From 1858 to 1861 he was engaged in the in- surance business in New York City, in the latter year removing to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he resided for thirty-nine years, or until the time of his death, which occurred April 20, 1000. In St. Joseph he first en- gaged in the insurance business, but in about 1863 embarked in the wholesale grocery trade as a member of the firm of Koch, Chew & Co. This association continued until 1874. when the subject of this sketch entered the real estate and brokerage business, repre- senting some of the strongest Eastern con- cerns. Major Chew was one of the pro- moters and builders of St. Joseph's system of waterworks, and in many substantial ways gave material evidence of a degree of munici- pal loyalty and public spirit that won for him esteem and gratitude. He owned a one- fourth interest in the plant until the works were sold to the present owners. During the Civil War. Major Chew served on the staff of General Hall and other commissioned officers of prominence on the Union side. He also served as quartermaster of the de- partment of St. Joseph, with the rank of major, from 1862 to 1865. During the years 1872 and 1873 he was president of the Board of Trade of St. Joseph, and occupied other official positions up to the time when his financial affairs made it impossible to devote energy to matters other than those closely allied with the immense interests which de- manded first attention. In politics Major Chew was a staunch Republican, but was not a seeker after public honors. Nevertheless he was a powerful factor in political affairs and matters pertaining to the welfare of his party. He was recognized as a sound polit- ical adviser, always acting upon the principle that whatever was right shoukl and would prevail. He was persuaded by his friends to accept an election unanimously tendered to the National Republican Convention in Min- neapolis in 1802, and was several times a delegate to State conventions, although his refusals of such honors outnumbered his ac- ceptances. In 1888 Major Chew became managing owner of the St. Joseph "Herald," and exercised a general supervision over all departments of that excellent journal. His

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CHICAGO & ALTON RAILWAY.

policies were upright and noble, and he be- lieved in conducting his newspaper upon lines of dignity and clean principle. The same de- sire and the same determination that marked his business career were noticeable in social life. He was a clean man, a true friend and a thorough gentleman. His fortune was of considerable proportions, and of his means he gave generously to the worthy cause. No man wielded a stronger influence for good in St. Joseph and northwest Missouri than Major Chew. He was married, in 1861, to Miss Kitty M. Forbes, in New York City. She died in May, 1897. One child of this union died in infancy. Major Chew was the second time married, in May, 1899, to Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkinson, of St. Joseph, Missouri, a sister of Mrs. John L. Bittinger.

Chicago & Alton Railway .- The his- tory of this railroad, like that of many others, affords an interesting example of the changed conditions brought about by railroads them- selves, without ever intending or thinking of them. It might be supposed that the road was conceived and built for the purpose of connecting the two great cities of Chicago and St. Louis, with Alton as a way station, but it was not. When it was conceived the connection between Chicago and St. Louis did not exist. The two places scarcely knew one another. St. Louis was only a brisk, prosperous little river city, and Chicago was smaller still, with a population half as great as that of one of its wards at the present time. It was in 1847 that the road had its be- ginning in the Alton & Sangamon Railroad Company, chartered to build a railroad from Alton to Springfield-the cities of Chicago and St. Louis being so little taken into ac- count in the conception that their names, even, were not included in the name of the road. Alton was one of the most important and promising towns in the State, and Springfield, in Sangamon County, was the capital-and it was thought advisable to have a railroad between the two. The Legislature of Illinois did not contemplate the extension of it to St. Louis, and if such a thing had been hinted at it would not have granted the char- ter, for an extension to a point opposite to St. Louis would have been considered hostile to the most ambitious and thriving river town in Illinois, and the doctrine of "State policy," much talked of in those days, peremptorily

forbade any public measure that would facili- tate the transfer of business to the cities of other States. It was not until 1852, six years after the charter was granted, that the road was built to Springfield. Two years later it was extended to Bloomington, and a year later still to Joliet. The Chicago & Missis- sippi Railroad met it at Bloomington, and this gave unbroken connection between Chi- cago and Alton. As the Legislature of Illi- nois still refused to allow the road to be extended to a point opposite St. Louis, the connection between Alton and that city was by fast packets, the passenger packet making two trips a day. The road gave to St. Louis its first rail connection with the East, and for several years all travel between St. Louis and New York went over it. In 1857 the road was reorganized as the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad, but it was not until 1863 that it was extended to St. Louis and as- sumed its real character. In 1862 the road from Godfrey to Milton was opened, and be- came part of the Jacksonville line, and a branch was built from Roodhouse, Illinois, to Louisiana, Missouri. In 1872 it extended its system into Missouri by building the road from Louisiana through Mexico to Cedar City, opposite Jefferson City, on the Mis- souri, and in 1879 to Kansas City, by secur- ing control of the Kansas City, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad. In 1879 the Chicago & Illinois Railroad was bought, and became the Coal City Branch. Occupying such an ad- vantageous geographical position, running through some of the most fertile lands and prosperous cities of Illinois and Missouri, and linking together the three great cities, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, the road naturally attracted the attention of capital- ists, who saw in it a most desirable, if not an absolutely necessary, piece of property, for them to control in order to round out their plans and to protect their other railroad in- vestments, aside from the dividends which the Alton property could be relied upon to supply on its own account. Therefore, dur- ing the year 1898 the bulk of the common and preferred shares of the Chicago & Alton Railway were purchased from the owners, who had held them as a permanent invest- ment for an uninterrupted term of twenty- five years or more, the preferred shares hav- ing paid annual dividends of 7 per cent, and the common shares average annual dividends

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CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY RAILROAD

of over 8 per cent. The prices paid by the purchasers, generally known as the "Harri- man Syndicate," were $200 for the preferred and $175 for the common stock, the nominal value of each share being $100. The original owners of Chicago & Alton stock, it will be seen, were exceedingly and unusually for- tunate with respect to continuous and hand- some dividends for more than a quarter of a century, and excellent prices for their shares when they decided to part with them.

Now that it has passed into other hands, it is pleasant to note the faith of its new owners in the property on which they are spending millions in development. Grades are being cut down and curves are being eliminated. A large number of old bridges are being re- placed with new ones. Extensions of double track are being made, and additional side tracks are being provided. New engines, new passenger cars and new freight equip- ment have been added, and orders for more have been placed. Always a first-class line, the new management believe that it is capa- ble of development beyond anything that was conceived for it by its builders. Under the conspicuously able management of President Felton, the faith of the new owners in the possibilities of this splendid property is al- ready being justified and demonstrated in largely increased traffic receipts.

In the latter part of the year 1899 that part of the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway lying between Springfield and Peoria passed into the control of the Chicago & Alton Rail- way Company, and is now a part of that sys- tem. The Chicago & Alton-or the "Alton," as it is popularly called-is now a compact system, operating on both sides of the Mis- sissippi in the States of Illinois and Missouri, with Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Peoria as its chief terminals, and it is recog- nized as one of the most efficient and useful of the St. Louis systems.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad .- This system, familiarly known as the "Burlington," is one of the largest in the country, having over 8,000 miles of road -910 miles of which are in the State of Mis- souri-and extending into and over eleven States. Like many other great institutions, it had an humble origin-the humblest of all the great railway systems of the West. There was a railroad from Chicago to Galena, called

the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, and south of it, at a distance of thirty miles west of Chicago, was an ambitious little town called Aurora, which, in 1852, desired a branch to connect it with the main line at Turner Station. This branch, thirteen miles in length, was built by the Aurora Branch Railroad Company, which ran its trains over the main line into Chicago. In a little while it was extended to Mendota, forty-six miles, and the company took the more dignified and pretentious name of Chicago & Aurora Rail- road Company, and three years later, in 1855, it took the name of Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railroad, which it has borne ever since, and under which it has achieved its greatness. In 1856 it was consolidated with the Military Tract Railroad Company, by which it secured an extension to Gales- burg, giving it a length of 139 miles in the direction of Burlington, Iowa, on the Missis- sippi River. Shortly afterward it was ex- tended to Burlington, and also to Quincy, securing at the latter point, in 1859, the ferry- boats plying between Quincy and Hannibal, a distance of twelve miles, in connection with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad of Missouri. At that time Iowa had a popula- tion of only about 600,000, and Missouri of about 1, 100,000, and beyond them there was little besides Indians and buffalo; but the "Burlington" management discerned the imperial future of that vast region, and, en- tering Iowa at Burlington, and Missouri at Hannibal, began its career of development west of the Mississippi. Its field of opera- tions in Missouri was secured by getting control, first, of the Hannibal & St. Joseph ; next, of the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwest- ern ; next, of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs; and, last, of the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City-these lines giv- ing it almost undisputed possession of the larger part of north Missouri. The Hannibal & St. Joseph, the first completed line built in Missouri, was itself made up of three differ- ent roads. The original Hannibal & St. Jo- seph Railroad Company was incorporated as early as 1847. Two years later the prelimi- nary surveys were made. In 1851 the final location was begun, and in August. 1852, a contract was made and the work begun at both ends. On the 13th of February, 1859, the last rail was laid connecting the eastern and western sections, near Chillicothe, and

580

CHICK.

two days after the first through train passed over the road from Hannibal to St. Joseph- 207 miles. Subsequently, in 1872, a branch was built from St. Joseph to Winthrop, oppo- site Atchison, Kansas, a distance of twenty miles. In 1867 the Hannibal & St. Joseph Company was consolidated with the Quincy & Palmyra Railroad Company, and, in 1870, with the Kansas City & Cameron Railroad Company. The road from Hannibal to Pal- myra-thirteen miles-was opened in 1860, and the road from Cameron to Kansas City -fifty-four miles-in 1867. Two years later the bridge over the Missouri River at Kansas City was built and opened. This completed the Hannibal & St. Joseph connections, a mileage of 297 miles, with the Kansas City bridge. The next acquisition of the "Bur- lington," in Missouri, was the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern, which itself was the product of consolidations and reorgani- zations of eleven companies-the Canton & Bloomfield, the Alexandria, Canton, La Grange & West Quincy, the Mississippi & Missouri Air Line, the Mississippi Valley, the Clarksville & Western, the Mississippi Valley & Western, the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern, the Keokuk, Iowa City & Minnesota, the Keokuk, Mt. Pleasant & Northern, and the Mt. Pleasant & Keokuk. The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad, next absorbed, composed of eight roads-the Platte Country, the Atchison & St. Joseph, the Weston & Atchison, the Mis- souri Valley, the St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph, the Nodaway Valley, and the Tarkio-giving a mileage of 309 miles. The Chicago, Burlington & Kan- sas City Railway Company, which was next to pass into the control of the "Burling- ton," to complete the Missouri part of its sys- tem, was made up of the Burlington & South- western, the Iowa & Missouri State Line, the Ft. Madison, Farmington & Western, the St. Joseph & Iowa, the Lexington, Lake & Gulf, the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Burlington, and the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City -having a mileage of 221 miles. These sev- eral acquisitions by the "Burlington" in Mis- souri, though valuable and important, left its system in the State incomplete, because they left it without an entrance of its own into St. Louis. From St. Peter's, on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern, it was dependent upon connection with the Wabash for getting

into that city, and as this dependence grew more and more irksome with the increase of its traffic, the enterprise of securing a way of its own into St. Louis engaged the attention and efforts of its management. It was deter- mined to construct an extension from a point ten miles north of St. Peter's to the Missouri River at Bellefontaine Bluffs, crossing the river there, and coming into the city from the north ; and in 1892 the work was begun on both sides of the river, and also the construc- tion of the bridge at Bellefontaine Bluffs. The first train crossed the bridge on the 3d of December, 1893, less than a year and a half from the day it was begun, and on the 4th of March, 1894, the extension was opened and the "Burlington" began to conduct its traffic into and out of St. Louis over its own property. In 1900 the Burlington system operated 8,063 miles of owned, controlled and leased lines, 4,313 of which are east of, and 3,750 miles west of, the Missouri River. The eastern terminals are St. Paul, Chicago, Peo- ria and St. Louis, and the western terminals are Denver, Colorado : Cheyenne and Guern- sey, Wyoming ; Billings, Montana, and Dead- wood, South Dakota.

Chick, Joseph S., one of the founders of the first banking house in Kansas City, and a man who has been identified with the commercial interests of western Missouri for over fifty years, was born August 3, 1828, in Howard County, Missouri. His parents were of Virginia nativity, his father being a merchant in that State, and his mother a daughter of Joseph Smith, a large importing merchant of Alexandria, Virginia, before Baltimore, Maryland, could lay claim to the distinction of being as great a commercial center as Alexandria. About 1822 they left their native State and removed to Missouri, residing in Howard County for a number of years, and locating in Jackson County in 1836. Joseph S. Chick, at the age of eight- een, entered upon his business career as a clerk in the general store of H. M. Northrup, then one of the most important of its kind in Kansas City or tributary country. Kansas City was at that time a small trading post, but considerable business was transacted on account of heavy and growing Western trade, traffic with the Indians and outfitting parties and adventurers. In 1852 Mr. Chick was admitted to partnership with his former

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CHILD.

employer, and five years later, having built up a large trade and finding it to their ad- vantage to increase the facilities for com- mercial exchange and financial accommoda- tions, they established the first banking house in Kansas City, under the firm name of Northrup & Co. During this time they had converted their mercantile business into a wholesale grocery house, under the firm name of J. S. Chick & Co. Their Kansas City business was sold a few years later, and the members of this pioneer banking firm re- moved to New York, where, for a long period, they conducted a profitable business in Wall Street, under the firm name of North- rup & Chick. In 1874 Mr. Chick returned to Kansas City. Shortly after his return he purchased a controlling interest in the Kan- sas City National Bank. He helped to or- ganize the Bank of Kansas City in November, 1875, and in 1886 this institution was merged into the National Bank of Kansas City, with which Mr. Chick was connected as an impor- tant officer and director until 1895, when its affairs were closed and he retired from active business. Since that time he has devoted himself to the management of his own real estate business and personal affairs. Ile has been connected with many of the most im- portant organizations of Kansas City, served as president and director of the Board of Trade, and has devoted time and means lib- erally to every movement calculated to ad- vance the interests of the city and promote the welfare of the State in whose develop- ment he has played so great a part. During the early days Mr. Chick was in close touch with the freighting business carried on by enterprising tradesmen across the broad plains, and his personal experiences along this line are interestingly told in another part of this historical work, under the heading "Freighting from Kansas City." Mr. Chick has owned many acres of the land upon which Kansas City now stands, and has been a most important factor in the upbuilding of the city. Brooklyn Avenue. a thoroughfare which skirts ten acres of the land owned by him, was named by Mr. Chick in honor of the city in which he resided during the days of his business career in New York. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and has always been liberal in his gifts to the worthy cause. He was one of the mov- ing spirits in the erection of the Centenary

Methodist Church, an editice that is one of the best structures for religious purposes in Kansas City. Mr. Chick was married, Au- gust 31, 1858, to Miss Julia Sexton, a native of Howard County, Missouri, daughter of J. M. Sexton, then a resident of Kansas City. Six children have been born to them. Three daughters are deceased. Frank N., who was vice president of the National Bank of Kan- sas City, of which his father was president, died in February, 1893. Joseph S. Chick, Jr., is associated with his father in the manage- ment of their real estate and financial affairs. No name is more familiar to the early resi- dents of western Missouri than that of Joseph S. Chick, and no man is more highly thought of. His business methods were above re- proach, and his stewardship over matters entrusted to his care was invariably marked by the same conscientious attention to detail that has characterized the management of his own affairs. The name of the subject of this sketch is inseparably linked with the growth of a section of the State that has prospered marvelously under the helpful influence of such noble men as he. In politics he is a Democrat.

Child, Harry P., assistant general man- ager of the Kansas City Stock Yards Com- pany of Missouri, was born October 2, 1848, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ilis father, Dr. Abel L. Child, was born in Vermont and removed to Ohio in about 1843. His lineage is traced to the old Puritan stock, the ancestral lines hay- ing been followed back to the ninth genera- tion. His mother. Rebecca Coates, was born in Pennsylvania, of Quaker parentage. When he was six years of age, 11. P. Child left Cin- cinnati and went to Monmouth, Illinois. There he remained from 1854 until 1859, when he came to Missouri, locating at Kan- sas City, which was his home during the two years which marked the preparations for war between the North and South. He then went to Chicago, and was there until 1869. during these years applying himself to the school room and to the learning of the printer's trade. He served as a compositor on the Chicago "Evening Journal," and developed into a competent craftsman. On the day of the opening of the Chicago Stock Yards he entered upon his employment in this line of work, filling positions at the yards from 1865 until he left Chicago, in 1800. He again re-

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CHILDREN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

moved to Kansas City in the latter year, and for two years was engaged with his uncle in the cattle-shipping business. When the Kansas City Stock Yards were opened, June I, 1871, Mr. Child began his career with the company which was at the head of the great enterprise. He has, therefore, had the honor of witnessing and participating in the opening of the two greatest live stock markets of the world, as far as their connection with the packing industry is concerned. He was first yardmaster of the Kansas City yards, and promotions followed each other speedily. He passed through various offices, serving as as- sistant superintendent and superintendent, and a few years ago was given the position of assistant general manager. He has had great influence in the development of the Kansas City yards to their present immense propor- tions, planning the additions and improve- ments that have been made, and outlining work which has materialized with most profitable results to the promoters. He is a director in the Denver Union Stock Yards Company, and is director and vice president of the Safety Savings & Loan Association of Kansas City. Although primarily a business man, Mr. Child has gratified his literary tastes to a considerable extent, and has one of the choicest libraries in Kansas City. He is a member of the Christian Science Church. He was married, May 11, 1881, to Lillian M. Peirce, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Children of the American Revo- lution. - Under the fostering care of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized, in October, 1896, the Society of the Children of the American Revolution. Its object is the inculcation of patriotism in the young, and its membership includes boys and girls under eighteen years of age, rang- ing down to infancy. The president is always a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Missouri officers for 1897 were: Mrs. George H. Shields, State promoter ; Anna Branch, presi- dent of St. Louis Chapter; Francis Page Hardaway, first vice president; Schuyler Mills, second vice president ; Margaret Long, recording secretary; Rhoda Chase, corresponding secretary ; M. Leighton Shields, treasurer; Elizabeth Dellafield, reg- istrar, and Breckinridge Long, historian.

MARTHA S. KAYSER.

Children's Home, Kansas City .- This noble charity was founded and is man- aged by the Women's Christian Association. (See "Women's Christian Association, Kan- sas City.") A Children's Home was built at 1115 Charlotte Street, and was opened for the reception of inmates April 1, 1883. The expenses of building were met by liberal con- tributions of leading citizens, at the solicita- tion of the association, and through special effort on the part of its finance committee. An endowment fund was created, which in January, 1889, amounted to $1,500; in 1892 it was increased to $3,000, and in January, 1893, it was $4,507. In 1894 Mr. S: B. Armour made the munificent contribution of $25,000 to this fund. In 1898 the endow- ment fund amounted to $31,000, the income from which was expended in maintaining the Children's Home. In the same year Mr. Thomas Swope generously deeded a beauti- ful and desirably situated tract of three and one-half acres of land to the Women's Chris- tian Association as a building site for a new and more commodious Children's Home. The building fund was inadequate, and was increased through the untiring efforts of the association, and by a generous gift of $5,000, made by Mr. S. B. Armour. In March, 1889, Mr. S. B. Armour died ; he had long been a trustee of the association, and one of its most liberal benefactors. He . left a legacy of $25,000, increasing the amount of his gifts to $55,000. The building of the new Children's Home was begun in 1899, and it was com- pleted April 1, 1900, and was occupied in May following. The building contains large airy dormitories, a dining hall, parlors, sew- ing rooms, play rooms, and bath rooms, with modern heating and lighting apparatus. The home will accommodate about 100 children ; the average number cared for is 60. Chil- dren of suitable age attend the public schools ; the smaller ones remain on the premises in charge of an attendant, and infants are cared for by competent nurses. Many children re- main but a short time, as during the illness of a mother, or after her death, until they are otherwise provided for. Some orphans are entered for adoption, and homes with unexceptionable families are found for them. A Memorial Home for the Aged, and a Memorial Hospital, both to be under the management of the Women's Christian As-

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 104

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856