CHICAGO, the county-seat of Cook County, chief city of Illinois and (1910) second city
in population in the United States.
SITUATION - The city is situated at the southwest bend of Lake Michigan, 18 miles north of the extreme
southern point of the lake, at the mouth of the Chicago River; 715 miles west of New York, 590 miles
north of west from Washington, and 260 miles northeast of St. Louis. From the Pacific Coast it is
distant 2,417 miles. Latitude 41° 52' north; longitude 87° 35' west of Greenwich. Area (1910), 190.6
square miles.
TOPOGRAPHY - Chicago stands on the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and St. Lawrence basins. It is
502 feet above sea-level, and its highest point is some 18 feet above Lake Michigan. The Chicago River
is virtually a bayou, dividing into north and south branches about a half-mile west of the lake. The
surrounding country is a low, flat prairie, but engineering science and skill have done much for it in
the way of drainage. The Illinois & Michigan Canal terminates at a point on the south branch of the
Chicago River, within the city limits, and unites the waters of Lake Michigan with those of the Illinois
River.
COMMERCE - The Chicago River, with its branches, affords a water frontage of nearly 60 miles, the greater
part of which is utilized for the shipment and unloading of grain, lumber, stone, coal, merchandise,
etc. Another navigable stream (the Calumet River) also lies within the corporate limits. Dredging has
made the Chicago River, with its branches, navigable for vessels of deep draft. The harbor has also been
widened and deepened. Well constructed breakwaters protect the vessels lying inside, and the port is
as safe as any on the great lakes. The city is a port of entry, and the tonnage of vessels arriving
there exceeds that of any other port in the United States. During 1897, 9,156 vessels arrived, with an
aggregate tonnage of 7,209,442, while 9,201 cleared, representing a tonnage of 7,185,324. It is the
largest grain market in the world, its elevators (in 1897) having a capacity of 32,550,000 bushels.
According to the reports of the Board of Trade, the total receipts and shipments of grain for the year
1898 - counting flour as its grain equivalent in bushels amounted to 323,097,453 bushels of the former,
to 289,920,028 bushels of the latter. The receipts and shipments of various products for the year
(1898) were as follows:
Receipts & Shipments
Flour (bbls.) - 5,316,195 - 5,032,236
Wheat (bu.) - 35,741,555 - 38,094,900
Corn (bu.) - 127,426,374 - 130,397,681
Oats (bu.) - 110,293,647 - 85,057,636
Rye (bu.) - 4,935,308 - 4,453,384
Barley (bu.) - 18,116,594 - 6,755,247
Cured Meats (lbs.) - 229,005,246 - 923,627,722
Dressed Beef (lbs.) - 110,286,652 - 1,060,859,808
Live-stock - Hogs (lbs.) - 9,360,968 - 1,334,768
Cattle (lbs.) - 2,480,632 - 864,408
Sheep (lbs.) - 3,502,378 - 545,001
Chicago is also an important lumber market, the receipts in 1895, including shingles, being 1,562,527
in feet. As a center for beef and pork-packing, the city is without a rival in the amount of its
products, there having been 92,459 cattle and 760,514 hogs packed in 1894-95. In bank clearings and
general mercantile business it ranks second only to New York, while it is also one of the chief
manufacturing centers of the country. The census of 1890 shows 9,959 manufacturing establishments, with
a capital of $292,477,038; employing 203,108 hands, and turning out products valued at $632,184,140.
Of the output by far the largest was that of the slaughtering and meat-packing establishments, amounting
to $203,825,092; men's clothing came next ($32,-517,226); iron and steel, $31,419,854; foundry and
machine shop products, $29,928,616; planed lumber, $17,604,494. Chicago is also the most important
live-stock market in the United States. The Union Stock Yards (in the southwest part of the city) are
connected with all railroad lines entering the city, and cover many hundreds of acres. In 1894, there
were received 8,788,049 animals (of all descriptions), valued at $148,057,626. Chicago is also a primary
market for hides and leather, the production and sales being both of large proportions, and the trade
in manufactured leather (notably in boots and shoes) exceeds that of any other market in the country.
Ship-building is a leading industry, as are also brick-making, distilling and brewing.
TRANSPORTATION, ETC - Besides being the chief port on the great lakes, Chicago ranks second to no other
American city as a railway center. The old "Galena & Chicago Union," its first railroad, was operated
in 1849, and within three years a substantial advance had been scored in the way of steam transportation.
Since then the multiplication of railroad lines focusing in or passing through Chicago has been rapid
and steady. In 1895 not less than thirty-eight distinct lines enter the city, although these are
operated by only twenty-two companies. Some 2,600 miles of railroad track are laid within the city
limits. The number of trains daily arriving and departing (suburban and freight included) is about
2,000. Intramural transportation is afforded by electric, steam, cable and horse-car lines. Four tunnels
under the Chicago River and its branches, and numerous bridges connect the various divisions of the
city.
HISTORY - Point du Sable (a native of San Domingo) was admittedly the first resident of Chicago other
than the aborigines. The French missionaries and explorers - Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, Hennepin and
others - came a century earlier, their explorations beginning in 1673. After the expulsion of the French
at the close of the French and Indian War, the territory passed under British control, though French
traders remained in this vicinity after the War of the Revolution. One of these named Le Mai followed
Point du Sable about 1796, and was himself succeeded by John Kinzie, the Indian trader, who came in
1803. Fort Dearborn was built near the mouth of the Chicago River in 1804 on land acquired from the
Indians by the treaty of Greenville, concluded by Gen. Anthony Wayne in 1795, but was evacuated in
1812, when most of the garrison and the few inhabitants were massacred by the savages. (See Fort
Dearborn.) The fort was rebuilt in 1816, and another settlement established around it. The first
Government survey was made, 1829-30. Early residents were the Kinzies, the Wolcotts, the Beaubiens and
the Millers. The Black Hawk War (1832) rather aided in developing the resources and increasing the
population of the infant settlement by drawing to it settlers from the interior for purposes of mutual
protection. Town organization was effected on August 10, 1832, the total nuinber of votes polled being
28. The town grew rapidly for a time, but received a set-back in the financial crisis of 1837. During
May of that year, however, a charter was obtained and Chicago became a city. The total number of votes
cast at that time was 703. The census of the city for the 1st of July of that year showed a population
of 4,180. The following table shows the names and term of office of the chief city officers from 1837
to 1899:
YEAR |
MAYOR |
CITY CLERK |
CITY ATTORNEY |
CITY TREASURER |
1837 |
Wm B Ogden |
I. N. Arnold, Geo Davis (1) |
N. B. Judd |
Hiram Pearsons |
1838 |
Buckner S Morris |
Geo Davis |
N. B. Judd |
Hiram Pearsons |
1839 |
Benj. W. Raymond |
Wm. H. Brackett |
Samuel L. Smith |
Geo. W. Dole |
1840 |
Alexander Lloyd |
Thomas Hoyne |
Mark Skinner |
W.S. Gurnee, N.H. Bolles(2) |
1841 |
F. C. Sherman |
Thomas Hoyne |
Geo. Manierre |
N. H. Bolles |
1842 |
Benj. W. Raymond |
J. Curtis |
Henry Brown |
F. C. Sherman |
1843 |
Augustus Garrett |
James M. Lowe |
G. Manierre, Henry Brown(3) |
Walter S. Gurnee |
1844 |
Aug.Garrett,Alson S.Sherman(4) |
E. A. Rucker |
Henry W. Clarke |
Walter S. Gurnee |
1845 |
Aug.Garrett, Alson S.Sherman(4) |
E. A. Rucker,Wm.S.Brown(5) |
Henry W. Clarke |
Wm. L. Church |
1846 |
John P. Chapin |
Henry B. Clarke |
Charles H. Larrabee |
Wm. L. Church |
1847 |
James Curtiss |
Henry B. Clarke |
Patrick Ballingall |
Andrew Getzler |
1848 |
James H. Woodworth |
Sidney Abell |
Giles Spring |
Wm. L. Church |
1849 |
James H. Woodworth |
Sidney Abell |
O. R. W. Lull |
Wm. L. Church |
1850 |
James Curtiss |
Sidney Abell |
Henry H. Clark |
Edward Manierre |
1851 |
Walter S. Gurnee |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
Henry H. Clark |
Edward Manierre |
1852 |
Walter S. Gurnee |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
Arno Voss |
Edward Manierre |
1853 |
Charles M. Gray |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
Arno Voss |
Edward Manierre |
1854 |
Ira L. Milliken |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
Patrick Ballingall |
Uriah P. Harris |
1855 |
Levi D. Boone |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
J. A. Thompson |
Wm. P. De Wolf |
1856 |
Thomas Dyer |
Henry W. Zimmerman |
J. L Marsh |
O.J. Rose |
1857 |
John Wentworth |
H. Kreisman |
John C. Miller |
C. N. Holden |
1858 |
John C. Haines |
H. Kreisman |
Elliott Anthony |
Alonzo Harvey |
1859 |
John C. Haines |
H. Kreisman |
Geo. F. Crocker |
Alonzo Harvey |
1860 |
John Wentworth |
Abraham Kohn |
John Lyle King |
Alonzo Harvey,C.W.Hunt(6) |
1861 |
Julian S. Rumsey |
A. J. Marble |
Ira W. Buel |
W. H. Rice |
1862 |
F. C.Sherman |
A. J. Marble |
Geo. A. Meech |
F. H. Cutting, W. H. Rice(7) |
1863 |
F.C.Sherman |
H.W.Zimmerman |
Francis Adams |
David A. Gage |
1864 |
F. C. Sherman |
H. W. Zimmerman |
Francis Adams |
David A. Gage |
1865 |
John B. Bice |
Albert H. Bodman |
Daniel D. Driscoll |
A. G. Throop |
1866 |
John B. Rice |
Albert H. Bodman |
Daniel D. Driscoll |
A. G. Throop |
1867 |
John B. Rice |
Albert H. Bodman |
Hasbrouck Davis |
Wm. F. Wentworth |
1868 |
John B. Bice |
Albert H. Bodman |
Hasbrouck Davis |
Wm. F. Wentworth |
1869 |
John B. Rice (8) |
Albert H. Bodman |
Hasbrouck Davis |
Wm. F. Wentworth |
1870 |
B.B. Mason |
Charles T. Hotchkiss |
Israel N. Stiles |
David A. Gage |
1871 |
B.B. Mason |
Charles T. Hotchkiss |
Israel N. Stiles |
David A. Gage |
1872 |
Joseph Medill |
Charles T. Hotchkiss |
Israel N. Stiles |
David A. Gage |
1873 |
Joseph Medill |
Charles T. Hotchkiss |
Israel N. Stiles |
David A. Gage |
1874 |
Harvey D. Colvin |
Jos. K. C. Forrest |
Egbert Jamieson |
Daniel O'Hara |
1875 |
Harvey D. Colvin |
Jos. K. C. Forrest |
Egbert Jamieson |
Daniel O'Hara |
1876 |
Monroe Heath,(9), H. D. Colvin,
Thomas Hoyne |
Caspar Butz |
R. S. Tuthill |
Clinton Briggs |
1877-78 |
Monroe Heath |
Caspar Butz |
R. S. Tuthill |
Chas. B. Larrabee |
1879-80 |
Carter H. Harrison |
P.J.Howard |
Julius S. Grinnell |
W. C. Scipp |
1881-82 |
Carter H. Harrison |
P. J. Howard |
Julius S. Grinnell |
Rudolph Brand |
1883-84 |
Carter H. Harrison |
John G. Neumeister |
Julius S. Grinnell |
John M. Dunphy |
1885- 86 |
Carter H. Harrison |
C. Herman Plautz |
Hempstead Washburne |
Wm. M. Devine |
1887-88 |
John A. Boche |
D. W. Nickerson |
Hempstead Washburne |
C. Herman Plautz |
1889-90 |
Dewitt C. Cregier |
Franz Amberg |
Geo. F. Sugg |
Bernard Roesing |
1891-92 |
Hempstead Washburne |
James R. B. Van Cleave |
Jacob J. Kern, G.A.Trude(10) |
Peter Kiolbassa |
1893-94 |
Carter H. Harrison, Geo. B. Swift. (11), John P. Hopkins.(11) |
Chas. D. Gastfield |
Geo. A. Trude |
Michael J. Bransfield |
1895-96 |
Geo. B. Swift |
James R. B. Van Cleave |
Roy O. West |
Adam Wolf |
1897-98 |
Carter H. Harrison, Jr |
William Loeffler |
Miles J. Devine |
Ernst Hummel |
1899-01 |
Carter H. Harrison, Jr |
William Loeffler |
Andrew J. Ryan |
Adam Ortseifen |
1901-03 |
Carter H. Harrison, Jr |
William Loeffler |
A. J. Ryan (12) |
Charles F. Gunther |
1903-05 |
Carter H. Harrison, Jr |
Fred C. Bender |
John F. Smulski (13) |
Adam Ortseifer |
1906-07 |
Edward F. Dunne |
A. C. Anson |
Office made appointive |
Fred W. Blocki |
1907-09 |
Fred A. Busse |
John B. McCabe |
(1905) |
John A. Traeger |
1909-11 |
(Term 4 years) |
F. D. Connery |
. |
Isaac N. Powell |
1911- |
Carter H. Harrison |
F. D. Connery |
. |
Henry Stuckart |
(1) I. N. Arnold resigned, and Geo. Davis appointed, October, 1837.
(2) Gurnee resigned, Bolles appointed his successor, April, 1840.
(3) Manierre resigned, Brown appointed his successor, July, 1843.
(4) Election of Garrett declared illegal, and Sherman elected at new election, held April, 1844.
(5) Brown appointed to fill vacancy caused by resignation of Rucker.
(6) Harvey resigned and Hunt appointed to fill vacancy.
(7) Cutting having failed to qualify, Rice, who was already in office, held over.
(8) Legislature changed date of election from April to November, the persons in office at beginning
of 1869 remaining in office to December of that year.
(9) City organized under general Incorporation Act in 1875, and no city election held until April,
1876. The order for a new election omitted the office of Mayor, yet a popular vote was taken which
gave a majority to Thomas Hoyne. The Council then in office refuted to canvass this vote, but its
successor, at its first meeting, did so, declaring Hoyne duly elected. Colvin, the incumbent, refused
to surrender the office, claiming the right to " hold over;" Hoyne then made a contest for the office,
which resulted in a decision by the Supreme Court denying the claims of both contestants, when a new
election was ordered by the City Council, July 12, 1876, at which Monroe Heath was elected, serving
out the term.
(10) City Attorney Kern, having resigned November 21, 1892, Geo. A. Trude was appointed to serve out
the remainder of the term.
(11) Mayor Harrison, having been assassinated, October 28, 1893, the City Council at its next meeting
(November 6, 1893) elected Geo. B. Swift (an Alderman from the Eleventh Ward) Mayor ad interim. At a
special election held December 19, 1893, John P. Hopkins was elected to fill out the unexpired term
of Mayor Harrison.
THE FIRE OF 1871 - The city steadily grew in beauty, population and commercial importance until 1871. On
Oct. 9 of that year occurred the "great fire" the story of which has passed into history. Recuperation
was speedy, and the 2,100 acres burned over were rapidly being rebuilt, when, in 1874, occurred a second
conflagration, although by no means so disastrous as that of 1871. The city's recuperative power was
again demonstrated, and its subsequent development has been phenomenal. The subjoined statement shows
its growth in population:
1837 - 4,179
1840 - 4,470
1850 - 28,269
1860 - 112,162
1870 - 298,977
1880 - 503,185
1890 - 1,099,850
1900 - 1,698,575
1910 - 2,185,283
Notwithstanding a large foreign population and a constant army of unemployed men, Chicago has
witnessed only three disturbances of the peace by mobs - the railroad riots of 1877, the Anarchist
disturbance of 1886, and a strike of railroad employes in 1894.
MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION - Chicago long since outgrew its special charter, and is now incorporated
under the broader provisions of the law applicable to "cities of the first class," under which the
city is virtually autonomous. The personnel, drill and equipment of the police and fire departments
are second to none, if not superior to any, to be found in other American cities. The Chicago River,
with its branches, divides the city into three principal divisions, known respectively as North,
South and West. Each division has its statutory geographical boundaries, and each retains its own
distinct township organization. This system is anomalous; it has, however, both assailants and
defenders.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS - Chicago has a fine system of parks and boulevards, well developed, well improved
and well managed. One of the parks (Jackson in the South Division) was the site of the World's
Columbian Exposition. The water supply is obtained from Lake Michigan by means of cribs and tunnels.
In this direction new and better facilities are being constantly introduced, and the existing water
system will compare favorably with that of any other American city.
- The public and office buildings, as well as the business blocks, are in some instances
classical, but generally severely plain.
Granite and other varieties of stone are used in the City Hall, County Court House, the Board of Trade
structure, and in a few commercial buildings, as well as in many private residences. In the business
part of the city, however, steel, iron, brick and fire clay are the materials most largely employed in
construction, the exterior walls being of brick. The most approved methods of fire-proof building are
followed, and the "Chicago construction" has been recognized and adopted (with modifications) all over
the United States. Office buildings range from ten to sixteen, and even, as in the case of the Masonic
Temple, twenty stories in height. Most of them are sumptuous as to the interior, and many of the largest
will each accommodate 3,000 to 5,000 occupants, including tenants and their employes. In the residence
sections wide diversity may be seen; the chaste and the ornate styles being about equally popular.
Among the handsome public, or semi-public buildings may be mentioned the Public Library, the Newberry
Library, the Art Institute, the Armour Institute, the Academy of Sciences, the Auditorium, the Board of
Trade Building, the Masonic Temple, and several of the railroad depots.
EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES - Chicago has a public school system unsurpassed for excellence in any other
city in the country. According to the report of the Board of Education for 1898, the city had a total
of 221 primary and grammar schools, besides fourteen high schools, employing 5,268 teachers and giving
instruction to over 236,000 pupils in the course of the year. The total expenditures during the year
amounted to $6,785,601, of which nearly $4,500,000 was on account of teachers' salaries. The city has
nearly $7,500,000 invested in school buildings. Beside pupils attending public schools there are about
100,000 in attendance on private and parochial schools, not reckoning students at higher institutions
of learning, such as medical, law, theological, dental and pharmaceutical schools, and the great
University of Chicago. Near the city are also the Northwestern and the Lake Forest Universities, the
former at Evanston and the latter at Lake Forest. Besides an extensive Free Public Library for
circulating and reference purposes, maintained by public taxation, and embracing (in 1898) a total of
over 235,000 volumes and nearly 50,000 pamphlets, there are the Library of the Chicago Historical
Society and the Newberry and Crerar Libraries - the last two thje outgrowth of posthumous donations by
public-spirited and liberal citizens - all open to the public for purposes of reference under certain
conditions. This list does not include the extensive library of the University of Chicago and those
connected with the Armour Institute and the public schools, intended for the use of the pupils of these
various institutions.
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE, one of the leading commercial exchanges of the world. It was
originally organized in the spring of 1843 as a voluntary association, with a membership of
eighty-two. Its primary object was the promotion of the city's commercial interests by unity of
action. On Feb. 8, 1849, the Legislature enacted a general law authorizing the establishment of Boards
of Trade, and under its provisions an incorporation was effected - a second organization being effected
in April, 1850. For several years the association languished, and at times its existence seemed
precarious. It was, however, largely instrumental in securing the introduction of the system of
measuring grain by weight, which initial step opened the way for subsequent great improvements in the
methods of handling, storing, inspecting and grading cereals and seeds. By the close of 1856, the
association had overcome the difficulties incident to its earlier years, and the feasibility of
erecting a permanent Exchange building began to be agitated, but the project lay dormant for several
years. In 1856 was adopted the first system of classification and grading of wheat, which, though
crude, formed the foundation of the elaborate modern system, which has proved of such benefit to the
grain-growing States of the West, and has done so much to give Chicago its commanding influence in
the grain markets of the world. In 1858, the privilege of trading on the floor of the Exchange was
limited to members. The same year the Board began to receive and send out daily telegraphic market
reports at a cost, for the first year, of $500,000, which was defrayed by private subscriptions.
New York was the only city with which such communication was then maintained. In February, 1859, a
special charter was obtained, conferring more extensive powers upon the organization, and
correspondingly increasing its efficiency. An important era in the Board's history was the Civil War
of 1861-65. During this struggle its attitude was one of undeviating loyalty and generous patriotism.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars were contributed, by individual members and from the treasury of
the organization, for the work of recruiting and equipping regiments, in caring for the wounded on
Southern battlefields, and providing for the families of enlisted men. In 1864, the Board waged to
a successful issue a war upon the irredeemable currency with which the entire West was then flooded,
and secured such action by the banks and by the railroad and express companies as compelled its
replacement by United States legal-tender notes and national bank notes. In 1865, handsome, large
(and, as then supposed, permanent) quarters were occupied in a new building erected by the Chicago
Chamber of Commerce under an agreement with the Board of Trade. This structure was destroyed in the
fire of October, 1871, but at once rebuilt, and made ready for re-occupancy in precisely one year
after the destruction of its predecessor. Spacious and ample as these quarters were then considered,
the growing membership and increasing business demonstrated their inadequacy before the close of
1877. Steps looking to the erection of a new building were taken in 1881, and, on May 1, 1885, the
new edifice - then the largest and most ornate of its class in the world - was opened for occupancy. The
membership of the Board for the year 1898 aggregated considerably in excess of 1,800. The influence
of the association is felt in every quarter of the commercial world.
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & NORTHERN RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad.)
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY RAILROAD (known as the "Burlington Route") is the parent organization of an extensive system which operates railroads in eleven Western and Northwestern States, furnishing connections from Chicago with Omaha, Denver, St. Paul and Minneapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City, Cheyenne (Wyo.), Billings (Mont.), Deadwood (So. Dak,), and intermediate points, and having connections by affiliated roads with the Pacific Coast. The main line extends from Chicago to Denver (Colo.), 1,025.41 miles. The mileage of the various branches and leased proprietary lines (1898) aggregates 4,627.06 miles. The Company uses 207.23 miles in conjunction with other roads, besides subsidiary standard-gauge lines controlled through the ownership of securities amounting to 1,440 miles more. In addition to these the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy controls 179 miles of narrow-gauge road. The whole number of miles of standard-gauge road operated by the Burlington system, and known as the Burlington Route, on June 30, 1899, is estimated at 7,419, of which 1,509 is in Illinois, all but 47 miles being owned by the Company. The system in Illinois connects many important commercial points, including Chicago, Aurora, Galesburg, Quincy, Peoria, Streator, Sterling, Mendota, Fulton, Lewistown, Rushville, Geneva, Keithsburg, Rock Island, Beardstown, Alton, etc. The entire capitalization of the line (including stock, bonds and floating debt) amounted, in 1898, to $234,884,600, which was equivalent to about $33,000 per mile. The total earnings of the road in Illinois, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, amounted to $8,724,997, and the total disbursements of the Company within the State, during the same period, to $7,469,456. Taxes paid in 1898, $377,968. - (HISTORY). The first section of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad was constructed under a charter granted, in 1849, to the Aurora Branch Railroad Company, the name being changed in 1852 to the Chicago & Aurora Railroad Company. The line was completed in 1853, from the junction with the old Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, 30 miles west of Chicago, to Aurora, later being extended to Mendota. In 1855 the name of the Company was changed by act of the Legislature to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. The section between Mendota and Galesburg (80 miles) was built under a charter granted in 1851 to the Central Military Tract Railroad Company, and completed in 1854. July 9, 1856, the two companies were consolidated under the name of the former. Previous to this consolidation the Company had extended aid to the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad (from Peoria to the Mississippi River, nearly opposite Burlington, Iowa), and to the Northern Cross Railroad from Quincy to Galesburg, both of which were completed in 1855 and operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. In 1857 the name of the Northern Cross was changed to the Quincy & Chicago Railroad. In 1860 the latter was sold under foreclosure to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and, in 1863, the Peoria & Oquawka was acquired in the same way - the former constituting the Quincy branch of the main line and the latter giving it its Burlington connection. Up to 1863, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy used the track of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad to enter the city of Chicago, but that year began the construction of its line from Aurora to Chicago, which was completed in 1864. In 1872 it acquired control, by perpetual lease, of the Burlington & Missouri River Road in Iowa, and, in 1880, extended this line into Nebraska, now reaching Billings, Mont., with a lateral branch to Deadwood, So. Dak. Other branches in Illinois, built or acquired by this corporation, include the Peoria & Hannibal; Carthage & Burlington; Quincy & Warsaw; Ottawa, Chicago & Fox River Valley; Quincy, Alton & St. Louis, and the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago. The Chicago, Burlington & Northern - known as the Northern Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy - is an important part of the system, furnishing a connection between St. Louis on the south and St. Paul and Minneapolis on the north, of which more than half of the distance of 583 miles between terminal points, is in Illinois. The latter division was originally chartered, Oct. 21, 1885, and constructed from Oregon, Ill., to St. Paul, Minn. (319 miles), and from Fulton to Savanna, Ill. (16.72 miles), and opened, Nov. 1. 1886. It was formally incorporated into the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line in 1899. In June of the same year the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy also acquired by purchase the Keokuk & Western Railroad from Keokuk to Van Wert, Iowa (143 miles), and the Des Moines & Kansas City Railway, from Des Moines, Iowa, to Cainesville, Mo. (112 miles).
CHICAGO, DANVILLE & VINCENNES RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.)
CHICAGO DRAINAGE CANAL, a channel or waterway, in course of construction (1892-99) from
the Chicago River, within the limits of the city of Chicago, to Joliet Lake, in the Des Plaines River,
about 12 miles above the junction of the Des Plaines with the Illinois. The primary object of the
channel is the removal of the sewage of the city of Chicago and the proper drainage of the region
comprised within what is called the "Sanitary District of Chicago." The feasibility of connecting the
waters of Lake Michigan by way of the Des Plaines River with those of the Illinois, attracted the
attention of the earliest French explorers of this region, and was commented upon, from time to time,
by them and their successors. As early as 1808 the subject of a canal uniting Lake Michigan with the
Illinois was discussed in a report on roads and canals by Albert Gallatin, then Secretary of the
Treasury, and the project was touched upon in a bill relating to the Erie Canal and other enterprises,
introduced in Congress in 1811. The measure continued to receive attention in the press, in Western
Territorial Legislatures and in official reports, one of the latter being a report by John C. Calhoun,
as Secretary of War, in 1819, in which it is spoken of as "valuable for military purposes." In 1822
Congress passed an act granting the right of way to the State through the public lands for such an
enterprise, which was followed, five years later, by a grant of lands for the purpose of its
construction. The work was begun in 1836, and so far completed in 1848 as to admit of the passage of
boats from the Chicago basin to La Salle. (See Illinois & Michigan Canal.) Under an act passed by the
Legislature in 1865, the work of deepening the canal was undertaken by the city of Chicago with a view
to furnishing means to relieve the city of its sewage, the work being completed some time before the
fire of 1871. This scheme having failed to accomplish the object designed, other measures began to be
considered. Various remedies were proposed, but in all the authorities were confronted with the
difficulty of providing a fund, under the provisions of the Constitution of 1870, to meet the necessary
cost of construction. In the closing months of the year 1885, Hon. H. B. Hurd, who had been a member of
a Board of "Drainage Commissioners," organized in 1855, was induced to give attention to the subject.
Having satisfied himself and others that the difficulties were not insurmountable with proper action
by the Legislature, the City Council, on Jan. 27, 1886, passed a resolution authorizing the Mayor to
appoint a Commission, to consist of "one expert engineer of reputation and experience in engineering
and sanitary matters," and two consulting engineers, to constitute a "drainage and water-supply
commission" for the purpose of investigating and reporting upon the matter of water-supply and
disposition of the sewage of the city. As a result of this action, Rudolph Hering, of Philadelphia,
was appointed expert engineer by Mayor Harrison, with Benezette Williams and S. G. Artingstall, of
Chicago, as consulting engineers. At the succeeding session of the General Assembly (1887), two
bills - one known as the "Hurd bill" and the other as the "Winston bill," but both drawn by Mr. Hurd,
the first contemplating doing the work by general taxation and the issue of bonds, and the other by
special assessment - were introduced in that body. As it was found that neither of these bills could be
passed at that session, a new and shorter one, which became known as the "Roche-Winston bill," was
introduced and passed near the close of the session. A resolution was also adopted creating a
commission, consisting of two Senators, two Representatives and Mayor Roche of Chicago, to further
investigate the subject. The later act, just referred to, provided for the construction of a cutoff
from the Des Plaines River, which would divert the flood-waters of that stream and the North Branch
into Lake Michigan north of the city. Nothing was done under this act, however. At the next session
(1889) the commission made a favorable report, and a new law was enacted embracing the main features
of the Hurd bill, though changing the title of the organization to be formed from the "Metropolitan
Town," as proposed by Mr. Hurd, to the "Sanitary District." The act, as passed, provided for the
election of a Board of nine Trustees, their powers being confined to "providing for the drainage of the
district," both as to surplus water and sewage. Much opposition to the measure had been developed
during the pendency of the legislation on the subject, especially in the Illinois valley, on sanitary
grounds, as well as fear of midsummer flooding of the bottom lands which are cultivated to some extent;
but this was overcome by the argument that the channel would, when the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers
were improved between Joliet and La Salle, furnish a new and enlarged waterway for the passage of
vessels between the lake and the Mississippi River, and the enterprise was indorsed by conventions
held at Peoria, Memphis and elsewhere, during the eighteen months preceding the passage of the act.
The promise ultimately to furnish a flow of not less than 600,000 cubic feet per minute also excited
alarm in cities situated upon the lakes, lest the taking of so large a volume of water from Lake
Michigan should affect the lake-level injuriously to navigation; but these apprehensions were quieted
by the assurance of expert engineers that the greatest reduction of the lake-level below the present
minimum would not exceed three inches, and more likely would not produce a perceptible effect. At the
general election, held Nov. 5, 1889, the "Sanitary District of Chicago" was organized by an almost
unanimous popular vote - the returns showing 70,958 votes for the measure to 242 against. The District,
as thus formed, embraces all of the city of Chicago north of Eighty-seventh Street, with forty-three
square miles outside of the city limits but within the area to be benefited by the improvement. Though
the channel is located partly in Will County, the district is wholly in Cook and bears the entire
expense of construction. The first election of Trustees was held at a special election, Dec. 12, 1889,
the Trustees then elected to hold their offices for five years and until the following November. The
second election occurred, Nov. 5, 1895, when the Board, as now constituted (1899), was chosen, viz.:
William Boldenweck, Joseph C. Braden, Zina R. Carter, Bernard A. Eckhart, Alexander J. Jones, Thomas
Kelly, James P. Mallette, Thomas A. Smyth and Frank Wenter. The Trustees have power to sell bonds in
order to procure funds to prosecute the work and to levy taxes upon property within the district, under
certain limitations as to length of time the taxes run and the rate per cent imposed. Under an amendment
of the Drainage Act adopted by the Legislature in 1897, the rate of assessment upon property within the
Drainage District is limited to one and one-half per cent, up to and including the year 1899, but after
that date becomes one-half of one per cent. The bed of the channel, as now in process of construction,
commences at Robey Street and the South Branch of the Chicago River, 5.8 miles from Lake Michigan, and
extends in a southwesterly direction to the vicinity of Summit, where it intersects the Des Plaines
River. From this point it follows the bed of that stream to Lockport, in Will County, where, in
consequence of the sudden depression in the ground, the bed of the channel comes to the surface, and
where the great controlling works are situated. This has made necessary the excavation of about
thirteen miles of new channel for the river - which runs parallel with, and on the west side of, the
drainage canal - besides the construction of about nineteen miles of levee to separate the waters of the
canal from the river. The following statement of the quality of the material excavated and the dimensions
of the work, is taken from a paper by Hon. H. B. Hurd, under the title, "The Chicago Drainage Channel
and Waterway," published in the sixth volume of "Industrial Chicago" (1896): "Through that portion of
the channel between Chicago and Summit, which is being constructed to produce a flow of 300,000 cubic
feet per minute, which is supposed to be sufficient to dilute sewage for about the present population
(of Chicago), the width of the channel is 110 feet on the bottom, with side slopes of two to one. This
portion of the channel is ultimately to be enlarged to the capacity of 600,000 cubic feet per minute.
The bottom of the channel, at Robey Street, is 24.448 feet below Chicago datum. The width of the
channel from Summit down to the neighborhood of Willow Springs is 202 feet on the bottom, with the
same side slope. The cut through the rock, which extends from the neighborhood of Willow Springs to
the point where the channel runs out of ground near Lockport, is 160 feet wide at the bottom. The
entire depth of the channel is substantially the same as at Robey Street, with the addition of one
foot in 40,000 feet. The rock portion of the channel is constructed to the full capacity of 600,000
cubic feet per minute. From the point where the channel runs out of ground to Joliet Lake, there is a
rapid fall; over this slope works are to be constructed to let the water down in such a manner as not
to damage Joliet." Ground was broken on the rock-cut near Lemont, on Sept. 3, 1892, and work has been
in progress almost constantly ever since. The progress of the work was greatly obstructed during the
year 1898, by difficulties encountered in securing the right of way for the discharge of the waters
of the canal through the city of Joliet, but these were compromised near the close of the year, and
it was anticipated that the work would be prosecuted to completion during the year 1899. From Feb. 1,
1890, to Dec. 31, 1898, the net receipts of the Board for the prosecution of the work aggregated
$28,257,707, while the net expenditures had amounted to $28,221.864.57. Of the latter, $20,099,284.67
was charged to construction account, $3,156,903.12 to "land account" (including right of way), and
$1,222,092.82 to the cost of maintaining the engineering department. When finished, the cost will
reach not less than $35,000,000. These figures indicate the stupendous character of the work, which
bids fair to stand without a rival of its kind in modern engineering and in the results it is expected
to achieve.
CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. The total mileage of this line, June 30, 1898, was
1,008 miles, of which 152.52 miles are operated and owned in Illinois. The line in this State extends
west from Chicago to East Dubuque, the extreme terminal points being Chicago and Minneapolis in the
Northwest, and Kansas City in the Southwest. It has several branches in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota,
and trackage arrangements with several lines, the most important being with the St. Paul & Northern
Pacific (10.56 miles), completing the connection between St. Paul and Minneapolis; with the Illinois
Central from East Dubuque to Portage (12.23 miles), and with the Chicago & Northern Pacific from Forest
Home to the Grand Central Station in Chicago. The company's own track is single, of standard gauge,
laid with sixty and seventy-five-pound steel rails. Grades and curvature are light, and the equipment
well maintained. The outstanding capital stock (1898) was $52,019,054; total capitalization, including
stock, bonds and miscellaneous indebtedness, $57,144,245. (HISTORY). The road was chartered, Jan. 5,
1892, under the laws of Illinois, for the purpose of reorganization of the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas
City Railway Company on a stock basis. During 1895, the De Kalb & Great Western Railroad (5.81 miles)
was built from De Kalb to Sycamore are a feeder of this line.
CHICAGO, HARLEM & BATAVIA RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Northern Pacific Railroad.)
CHICAGO, HAVANA & WESTERN RAILROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, organized, April 24, 1856, for the purposes of (1)
establishing a library and a cabinet of antiquities, relics, etc.; (2) the collection and preservation
of historical manuscripts, documents, papers and tracts; (3) the encouragement of the discovery and
investigation of aboriginal remains, particularly in Illinois; (4) the collection of material
illustrating the growth and settlement of Chicago. By 1871 the Society had accumulated much valuable
material, but the entire collection was destroyed in the great Chicago fire of that year, among the
manuscripts consumed being the original draft of the emancipation proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.
The nucleus of a second collection was consumed by fire in 1874. Its loss in this second conflagration
included many valuable manuscripts. In 1877 a temporary building was erected, which was torn down in
1892 to make room for the erection, on the same lot, of a thoroughly fire-proof structure of granite,
planned after the most approved modern systems. The new building was erected and dedicated under the
direction of its late President, Edward G. Mason, Esq., Dec. 12, 1896. The Society's third collection
now embraces about twenty-five thousand volumes and nearly fifty thousand pamphlets; seventy-five
portraits in oils, with other works of art; a valuable collection of mauuscript documents, and a large
museum of local and miscellaneous antiquities. Mr. Charles Evans is Secretary and Librarian.
CHICAGO HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE, organized in 1876, with a teaching faculty of
nineteen and forty-five matriculates. Its first term opened October 4, of that year, in a leased
building. By 1881 the college had outgrown its first quarters, and a commodious, well appointed
structure was erected by the trustees, in a more desirable location. The institution was among the
first to introduce a graded course of instruction, extending over a period of eighteen years. In 1897,
the matriculating class numbered over 200.
CHICAGO HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, located at Chicago, and founded in 1865 by
Dr. Mary Harris Thompson. Its declared objects are: "To afford a home for women and children among the
respectable poor in need of medical and surgical aid; to treat the same classes at home by an assistant
physician; to afford a free dispensary for the same, and to train competent nurses." At the outset the
hospital was fairly well sustained through private benefactions, and, in 1870, largely through Dr.
Thompson's efforts, a college was organized for the medical education of women exclusively. (See
Northwestern University Woman's Medical School.) The hospital building was totally destroyed in the
great fire of 1871, but temporary accommodations were provided in another section of the city. The
following year, with the aid of $25,000 appropriated by the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, a permanent
building was purchased, and, in 1885, a new, commodious and well planned building was erected on the
same site, at a cost of about $75,000.
CHICAGO, MADISON & NORTHERN RAILROAD, a line of railway 231.3 miles in length, 140
miles of which lie within Illinois. It is operated by the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and is
known as its "Freeport Division." The par value of the capital stock outstanding is $50,000 and of
bonds $2,500,000, while the floating debt is $3,620,698, making a total capitalization of $6,170,698,
or $26,698 per mile. (See also Illinois Central Railroad.) This road was opened from Chicago to
Freeport in 1888.
CHICAGO MEDICAL COLLEGE. (See Northwestern University Medical College.)
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY, one of the great trunk lines of the Northwest,
having a total mileage (1898) of 6,153.83 miles, of which 317.94 are in Illinois. The main line
extends from Chicago to Minneapolis, 420 miles, although it has connections with Kansas City, Omaha,
Sioux City and various points in Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railroad Company enjoys the distinction of being the owner of all the lines operated by it, though it
operates 245 miles of second tracks owned jointly wTith other lines. The greater part of its track
is laid with 60, 75 and 85-lb. steel rails. The total capital invested (1898) is $220,005,901,
distributed as follows: capital stock, $77,845,000; bonded debt, $135,285,500; other forms of
indebtedness, $5,572,401. Its total earnings in Illinois for 1898 were $5,205,244, and the total
expenditures, $3,320,248. The total number of employees in Illinois for 1898 was 2,293, receiving
$1,746,827.70 in aggregate compensation. Taxes paid for the same year amounted to $151,285. - (HISTORY).
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was organized in 1863 under the name of the Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway. The Illinois portion of the main line was built under a charter granted to the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, and the Wisconsin portion under charter to the Wisconsin Union
Railroad Company; the whole built and opened in 1872 and purchased by the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
Company. It subsequently acquired by purchase several lines in Wisconsin, the whole receiving the
present name of the line by act of the Wisconsin Legislature, passed, Feb. 14, 1874. The Chicago &
Evanston Railroad was chartered, Feb. 16, 1861, built from Chicago to Calvary (10.8 miles), and opened,
May 1,1885; was consolidated with the Chicago & Lake Superior Railroad, under the title of the Chicago,
Evanston & Lake Superior Railroad Company, Dec. 22,1885, opened to Evanston, August 1, 1886, and
purchased, in June, 1887, by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. The Road, as now
organized, is made up of twenty-two divisions located in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North
and South Dakota, Missouri and Michigan.
CHICAGO, PADUCAH & MEMPHIS RAILROAD (Projected), a road chartered, Dec. 19, 1893, to
run between Altamont and Metropolis, Ill., 152 miles, with a branch from Johnston City to Carbondale,
20 miles - total length, 172 miles. The gauge is standard, and the track laid with sixty-pound steel
rails. By Feb. 1, 1895, the road from Altamont to Marion (100 miles) was completed, and work on the
remainder of the line has been in progress. It is intended to connect with the Wabash and the St.
Louis Southern systems. Capital stock authorized and subscribed, $2,500,000; bonds issued, $1,575,000.
Funded debt, authorized, $15,000 per mile in five per cent first mortgage gold bonds. Cost of road up
to Feb. 1, 1895, $20,000 per mile; estimated cost of the entire line, $2,000,000. In December, 1896,
this road passed into the hands of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company, and is now
operated to Marion, in Williamson County. (See Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.)
CHICAGO, PEKIN & SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD, a division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad,
chartered as the Chicago & Plainfleld Railroad, in 1859; opened from Pekin to Streator in 1873, and
to Mazon Bridge in 1876; sold under foreclosure in 1879, and now constitutes a part of the Chicago &
Alton system.
CHICAGO, PEORIA & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD COMPANY (of Illinois), a corporation operating
two lines of railroad, one extending from Peoria to Jacksonville, and the other from Peoria to
Springfield, with a connection from the latter place (in 1895), over a leased line, with St. Louis.
The total mileage, as officially reported in 1895, was 208.66 miles, of which 166 were owned by the
corporation. (1) The original of the Jacksonville Division of this line was the Illinois River
Railroad, opened from Pekin to Virginia in 1859. In October, 1863, it was sold under foreclosure, and,
early in 1864, was transferred by the purchasers to a new corporation called the Peoria, Pekin &
Jacksonville Railroad Company, by whom it was extended the same year to Peoria, and, in 1869, to
Jacksonville. Another foreclosure, in 1879, resulted in its sale to the creditors, followed by
consolidation, in 1881, with the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway. (2) The Springfield Division was
incorporated in 1869 as the Springfield & Northwestern Railway; construction was begun in 1872, and
road opened from Springfield to Havana (45.20 miles) in December, 1874, and from Havana to Pekin and
Peoria over the track of the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville line. The same year the road was leased to
the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad Company, but the lease was forfeited, in 1875, and
the road placed in the hands of a receiver. In 1881, together with the Jacksonville Division, it was
transferred to the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway, and by that company operated as the Peoria &
Springfield Railroad. The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific having defaulted and gone into the hands of a
receiver, both the Jacksonville and the Springfield Divisions were reorganized in February, 1887,
under the name, of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad, and placed under control of the
Jacksonville Southeastern Railroad. A reorganization of the latter took place, in 1890, under the
name of the Jacksonville, Louisville & St. Louis Railway, and, in 1893, it passed into the hands of
receivers, and was severed from its allied lines. The Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad remained
under the management of a separate receiver until January, 1896, when a reorganization was effected
under its present name - "The Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad of Illinois." The lease of the
Springfield & St. Louis Division having expired in December, 1895, it has also been reorganized as
an independent corporation under the name of the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway (which see).
CHICAGO RIVER, a sluggish stream, draining a narrow strip of land between Lake
Michigan and the Des Plaines River, the entire watershed drained amounting to some 470 square miles.
It is formed by the union of the "North" and the "South Branch," which unite less than a mile and a
half from the mouth of the main stream. At an early day the former was known as the "Guarie" and the
latter as "Portage River." The total length of the North Branch is about 20 miles, only a small
fraction of which is navigable. The Sooth Branch is shorter but offers greater facilities for
navigation, being lined along its lower portions with grain-elevators, lumber-yards and manufactories.
The Illinois Indians in early days bond an easy portage between it and the Des Plaines River. The
Chicago River, with its branches, separates Cliicago into three divisions, known, respectively, as the
"North" the "South" and the "West Divisions." Drawbridges have been erected at the principal street
crossings over the river and both branches, and four tunnels, connecting the various divisions of the
citv, have been constructed under the river bed.
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY, formed by the consolidation of various lines
in 1880. The parent corporation (The Chicago & Rock Island Railroad) was chartered in Illinois in
1851, and the road opened from Chicago to the Mississippi River at Rock Island (181 miles), July
10, 1854. In 1852 a company was chartered under the name of the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad for
the extension of the road from the Mississippi to the Missouri River. The two roads were consolidated
in 1866 as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and the extension to the Missouri River and
a junction with the Union Pacific completed in 1869. The Peoria & Bureau Valley Railroad (an important
feeder from Peoria to Bureau Junction - 46.7 miles) was incorporated in 1853, and completed and based
in perpetuity to the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, in 1854. The St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad was
purchased in 1889, and the Kansas City & Topeka Railway in 1891. The Company has financial and traffic
agreements with the Chicago, Rock Island & Texas Railway, extending from Terral Station, Indian
Territory, to Fort Worth, Texas. The road also has connections from Chicago with Peoria; St. Paul and
Minneapolis; Omaha and Lincoln (Neb.); Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo (Colo.), besides various
points in South Dakota, Iowa and Southwestern Kansas. The extent of the lines owned and operated by
the Company ("Poor's Manual," 1898), is 3,568.15 miles, of which 236.51 miles are in Illinois, 189.52
miles being owned by the corporation. All of the Company's owned and leased lines are laid with steel
rails. The total capitalization reported for the same year was $116,748,211, of which $50,000,000 was
in stock and $58,830,000 in bonds. The total earnings and income of the line in Illinois, for the year
ending June 30, 1898, was $5,851,875, and the total expenses $3,401,165, of which $233,129 was in the
form of taxes. The Company has received under Congressional grants 550,194 acres of land, exclusive of
State grants, of which there had been sold, up to March 31, 1894, 548,609 acres.
CHICAGO, ST. PAUL & FOND DU LAC RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Northwestern Railway.)
CHICAGO, ST. PAUL & KANSAS CITY RAILWAY. (See Chicago Great Western Railway.)
CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS & PADUCAH RAILWAY, a short road, of standard gauge, laid with
steel rails, extending from Marion to Brooklyn, Ill., 53.64 miles. It was chartered, Feb. 7, 1887,
and opened for traffic, Jan. 1, 1889. The St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company is the
lessee, having guaranteed principal and interest on its first mortgage bonds. Its capital stock is
$1,000,000, and its bonded debt $2,000,000, making the total capitalization about $56,000 per mile.
The cost of the road was $2,950,000; total incumbrance (1895), $3,016,715.
CHICAGO TERMINAL TRANSFER RAILROAD, the successor to the Chicago & Northern Pacific
Railroad. The latter was organized in November, 1889, to acquire and lease facilities to other roads
and transact a local business. The Road under its new name was chartered, June 4, 1897, to purchase
at foreclosure sale the property of the Chicago & Northern Pacific, soon after acquiring the property
of the Chicago & Calumet Terminal Railway also. The combination gives it the control of 84.53 miles of
road, of which 70.76 miles are in Illinois. The line is used for both passenger and freight terminal
purposes, and also a belt line just outside the city limits. Its principal tenants are the Chicago
Great Western, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Wisconsin Central Lines, and the ChicagQ, Hammond & Western
Railroad. The Company also has control of the ground on which the Grand Central Depot is located.
Its total capitalization (1898) was $44,553,044, of which $30,000,000 was capital stock and $13,394,000
in the form of bonds.
CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, organized, Sept. 26, 1854, by a convention of
Congregational ministers and laymen representing seven Western States, among which was Illinois. A
special and liberal charter was granted, Feb. 15, 1855. The Seminary has always been under
Congregational control and supervision, its twenty-four trustees being elected at Triennial
Conventions, at which are represented all the churches of that denomination west of the Ohio and east
of the Rocky Mountains. The institution was formally opened to students, Oct. 6, 1858, with two
professors and twenty-nine matriculates. Since then it has steadily grown in both numbers and
influence. Preparatory and linguistic schools have been added and the faculty (1896) includes eight
professors and nine minor instructors. The Seminary is liberally endowed, its productive assets being nearly $1,000,000, and the value of its grounds, buildings, library, etc., amounting to nearly $500,000 more. No charge is made for tuition or room rent, and there are forty-two endowed scholarships, the income of which is devoted to the aid of needy students. The buildings, including the library and dormitories, are four in number, and are well constructed and arranged.
CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD, an important railway running in a southwesterly direction
from Chicago to St. Louis, with numerous branches, extending into Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. The
Chicago & Alton Railroad proper was constructed under two charters—the first granted to the Alton &
Sangamon Railroad Company, in 1847, and the second to the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad Company, in
1852. Construction of the former was begun in 1852, and the line opened from Alton to Springfield in
1853. Under the second corporation, the line was opened from Springfield to Bloomington in 1854, and
to Joliet in 1856. In 1855 a line was constructed from Chicago to Joliet under the name of the
Joliet & Chicago Railroad, and leased in perpetuity to the present Company, which was reorganized
in 1857 under the name of the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad Company. For some time connection
was had between Alton and St. Louis by steam-packet boats running in connection with the railroad;
but later over the line of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad— the first railway line connecting
the two cities— and, finally, by the Company's own line, which was constructed in 1864, and formally
opened Jan. 1, 1865. In 1861, a company with the present name (Chicago & Alton Railroad Company) was
organized, which, in 1862, purchased the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Road at foreclosure sale. Several
branch lines have since been acquired by purchase or lease, the most important in the State being the
line from Bloomington to St. Louis by way of Jacksonville. This was chartered in 1851 under the name
of the St. Louis, Jacksonville & Chicago Railroad, was opened for business in January, 1868, and having
been diverted from the route upon which it was originally projected, was completed to Bloomington and
leased to the Chicago & Alton in 1868. In 1884 this branch was absorbed by the main line. Other
important branches are the Kansas City Branch from Roodhouse, crossing the Mississippi at Louisiana,
Mo.; the Washington Branch from Dwight to Washington and Lacon, and the Chicago & Peoria, by which
entrance is obtained into the city of Peoria over the tracks of the Toledo, Peoria & Western. The whole
number of miles operated (1898; is 843.54, of which 580.73 lie in Illinois. Including double tracks
and sidings, the Company has a total trackage of 1,186 miles. The total capitalization, in 1898, was
$32,793,972, of which $22,230,600 was in stock, and $6,694,850 in bonds. The total earnings and income
for the year, in Illinois, were $5,022,315, and the operating and other expenses, $4,272,207. This
road, under its management as it existed up to 1898, has been one of the most uniformly successful
in the country. Dividends have been paid semiannually from 1863 to 1884, and quarterly from 1884 to
1896. For a number of years previous to 1897, the dividends had amounted to eight per cent per annum
on both preferred and common stock, but later had been reduced to seven per cent on account of short
crops along the line. The taxes paid in 1898 were $341,040. The surplus, June 30, 1895, exceeded two
and three-quarter million dollars. The Chicago & Alton was the first line in the world to put into
service sleeping and dining cars of the Pullman model, which have since been so widely adopted, as
well as the first to run free reclining chair-cars for the convenience and comfort of its passengers.
At the time the matter embraced in this volume is undergoing final revision (1899), negotiations are
in progress for the purchase of this historic line by a syndicate representing the Baltimore & Ohio,
the Missouri Pacific, the Union Pacific, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas systems, in whose interest
it will hereafter be operated.
CHICAGO & AURORA RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.)
CHICAGO & EASTERN ILLINOIS RAILROAD. This company operates a line 516.3 miles in
length, of which 278 miles are within Illinois. The main line in this State extends southerly from
Dolton Junction (17 miles south of Chicago) to Danville. Entrance to the Polk Street Depot in Chicago
is secured over the tracks of the Western Indiana Railroad. The company owns several important branch
lines, as follows: From Momence Junction to the Indiana State Line; from Cissna Junction to Cissna
Park; from Danville Junction to Shelbyville, and from Sidell to Rossville. The system in Illinois is
of standard gauge, about 108 miles being double track. The right of way is 100 feet wide and well
fenced. The grades are light, and the construction (including rails, ties, ballast and bridges), is
generally excellent. The capital stock outstanding (1895) is $13,594,400; funded debt, $18,018,000;
floating debt, $916,381; total capital invested, $32,570,781; total earnings in Illinois, $2,592,072;
expenditures in the State, $2,595,631. The company paid the same year a dividend of six per cent on
its common stock ($286,914), and reported a surplus of $1,484,762. The Chicago & Eastern Illinois
was originally chartered in 1865 as the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad, its main line
being completed in 1872. In 1873, it defaulted on interest, was sold under foreclosure in 1877, and
reorganized as the Chicago & Nashville, but later in same year took its present name. In 1894 it
was consolidated with the Chicago & Indiana Coal Railway. Two spurs (5.27 miles in length) were
added to the line in 1895. Early in 1897 this line obtained control of the Chicago, Paducah &
Memphis Railroad, which is now operated to Marion, in Williamson County. (See Chicago, Paducah &
Memphis Railroad.)
CHICAGO & GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY, Of the 335.27 miles of the Chicago & Grand Trunk Railroad, only 30.65 are in Illinois, and of the latter 9.7 miles are operated under lease. That portion of the line within the State extends from Chicago easterly to the Indiana State line. The Company is also lessee of the Grand Junction Railroad, four miles in length. The Road is capitalized at $6,600,000, has a bonded debt of $12,000,000 and a floating debt (1895) of $2,271,425, making the total capital invested, $20,871,425. The total earnings in Illinois for 1895 amounted to $660,393; disbursements within the State for the same period, $345,233. The Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway, as now constituted, is a consolidation of various lines between Port Huron, Mich., and Chicago, operated in the interest of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. The Illinois section was built under a charter granted in 1878 to the Chicago & State Line Railway Company, to form a connection with Valparaiso, Ind. This corporation acquired the Chicago & Southern Railroad (from Chicago to Dolton), and the Chicago & State Line Extension in Indiana, all being consolidated under the name of the Northwestern Grand Trunk Railroad. In 1880, a final consolidation of these lines with the eastward connections took place under the present name - the Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway.
CHICAGO & GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY. (See Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St.
Louis Railway.)
CHICAGO & GREAT SOUTHERN RAILROAD. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville
Railway.)
CHICAGO & ILLINOIS SOUTHERN RAILWAY. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville
Railway.)
CHICAGO & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Alton Railroad.)
CHICAGO & NASHVILLE RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.)
CHICAGO & NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. (See Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad.)
CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY, one of the great trunk lines of the country, penetrating the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and North and South Dakota. The total length of its main line, branches, proprietary and operated lines, on May 1, 1899, was 5,076.89 miles, of which 594 miles are operated in Illinois, all owned by the company. Second and side tracks increase the mileage to a total of 7,217.91 miles. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway (proper) is operated in nine separate divisions, as follows: The Wisconsin, Galena, Iowa, Northern Iowa, Madison, Peninsula, Winona and St. Peter, Dakota and Ashland Divisions. The principal or main lines of the "Northwestern System," in its entirety, are those which have Chicago, Omaha, St. Paul and Minneapolis for their termini, though their branches reach numerous important points within the States already named, from the shore of Lake Michigan on the east to Wyoming on the west, and from Kansas on the south to Lake Superior on the north. - (History.) The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company was organized in 1859 under charters granted by the Legislatures of Illinois and Wisconsin during that year, under which the new company came into possession of the rights and franchises of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad Company. The latter road was the outgrowth of various railway enterprises which had been projected, chartered and partly constructed in "Wisconsin and Illinois, between 1848 and 1855, including the Madison & Beloit Railroad, the Rock River Valley Union Railroad, and the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad - the last named company being chartered by the Illinois Legislature in 1851, and authorized to build a railroad from Chicago to the Wisconsin line. The Wisconsin Legislature of 1855 authorized the consolidation of the Rock River Valley Union Railroad with the Illinois enterprise, and, in March, 1855, the consolidation of these lines was perfected under the name of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad. During the first four years of its existence this company built 176 miles of the road, of which seventy miles were between Chicago and the Wisconsin State line, with the sections constructed in Wisconsin completing the connection between Chicago and Fond du Lac. As the result of the financial revulsion of 1857, the corporation became financially embarrassed, and the sale of its property and franchises under the foreclosure of 1859, already alluded to, followed. This marked the beginning of the present corporation, and, in the next few years, by the construction of new lines and the purchase of others in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, it added largely to the extent of its lines, both constructed and projected. The most important of these was the union effected with the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, which was formally consolidated with the Chicago & Northwestern in 1864. The history of the Galena & Chicago Union is interesting in view of the fact that it was one of the earliest railroads incorporated in Illinois, having been chartered by special act of the Legislature during the "internal improvement" excitement of 1836. Besides, its charter was the only one of that period under which an organization was effected, and although construction was not begun under it until 1847 (eleven years afterward), it was the second railroad constructed in the State and the first leading from the city of Chicago. In the forty years of its history the growth of the Chicago & Northwestern has been steady, and its success almost phenomenal. In that time it has not only added largely to its mileage by the construction of new lines, but has absorbed more lines than almost any other road in the country, until it now reaches almost every important city in the Northwest. Among the lines in Northern Illinois now constituting a part of it, were several which had become a part of the Galena & Chicago Union before the consolidation. These included a line from Belvidere to Beloit, Wis.; the Fox River Valley Railroad, and the St. Charles & Mississippi Air Line Railroad all Illinois enterprises, and more or less closely connected with the development of the State. The total capitalization of the line, on June 30, 1898, was $200,968,108, of which $66,408,821 was capital stock and $101,603,000 in the form of bonds. The earnings in the State of Illinois, for the same period, aggregated $4,374,923, and the expenditures $3,712,593. At the present time (1899) the Chicago & Northwestern is building eight or ten branch lines in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. The Northwestern System, as such, comprises nearly 3,000 miles of road not included in the preceding statements of mileage and financial condition. Although owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Company, they are managed by different officers and under other names. The mileage of the whole system covers nearly 8,000 miles of main line.
CHICAGO & SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)
CHICAGO & TEXAS RAILROAD, a line seventy-three miles in length, extending from
Johnston City by way of Carbondale westerly to the Mississippi, thence southerly to Cape Girardeau.
The line was originally operated by two companies, under the names of the Grand Tower & Carbondale
and the Grand Tower & Cape Girardeau Railroad Companies. The former was chartered in 1882, and the
road built in 1885; the latter, chartered in 1889 and the line opened the same year. They were
consolidated in 1893, and operated under the name of the Chicago & Texas Railroad Company. In
October, 1897, the last named line was transferred, under a twenty-five year lease, to the Illinois
Central Railroad Company, by whom it is operated as its St. Louis & Cape Girardeau division.
CHICAGO & WESTERN INDIANA RAILROAD. The main line of this road extends from Chicago
to Dolton, Ill. (17 miles), and affords terminal facilities for all lines entering the Polk St. Depot at Chicago. It has branches to Hammond, Ind. (10.28 miles); to Cragin (15.9 miles), and to South
Chicago (5.41 miles); making the direct mileage of its branches 48.59 miles. In addition, its second, third and fourth tracks and sidings increase the mileage to 204.79 miles. The company was organized
June 9, 1879; the road opened in 1880, and, on Jan. 26, 1882, consolidated with the South Chicago &
Western Indiana Railroad Company, and the Chicago & Western Indiana Belt Railway. It also owns some
850 acres in fee in Chicago, including wharf property on the Chicago River, right of way, switch and
transfer yards, depots, the Indiana grain elevator, etc. The elevator and the Belt Division are leased to the Belt Railway Company of Chicago, and the rest of the property is leased conjointly by the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, the Chicago & Grand Trunk, the Chicago & Erie, the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, and the Wabash Railways (each of which owns $1,000,000 of the capital stock), and by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. These companies pay the expense of operation and maintenance on a mileage basis.
CHICAGO & WISCONSIN RAILROAD. (See Wisconsin Central Lines.)
CHILDS, Robert A., was born at Malone, Franklin County, N. Y., March 22, 1845, the
son of an itinerant Methodist preacher, who settled near Belvidere, Boone County, Ill., in 1852. His
home having been broken up by the death of his mother, in 1854, he went to live upon a farm. In April, 1861, at the age of 16 years, he enlisted in the company of Captain (afterwards General) Stephen A. Hurlbut, which was later attached to the Fifteenth Illinois Volunteers. After being mustered out at the close of the war, he entered school, and graduated from the Illinois State Normal University in 1870. For the following three years he was Principal and Superintendent of public schools at Amboy, Lee County, meanwhile studying law, and being admitted to the bar. In 1873, he began the practice of his profession at Chicago, making his home at Hinsdale. After filling various local offices, in 1884 he was chosen Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, and, in 1892, was elected by the narrow majority of thirty-seven votes to represent the Eighth Illinois District in the Fifty-third Congress, as a Republican.
CHILLICOTHE, a city in Peoria County, situated on the Illinois River, at the head
of Peoria Lake; is 19 miles northwest of Peoria, on the Peoria branch of the Chicago, Rock Island &
Pacific Railroad, and the freight division of the Atkinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. It is an
important shipping-point for grain; has a canning factory, a button factory, two banks, five churches, a high school, and two weekly newspapers. Pop. (1900), 1,G99; (1910), 1,851.
CHINIQUY, (Rev.) Charles, clergyman and reformer, was born in Canada, July 30, 1809, of mixed French and Spanish blood, and educated for the Romish priesthood at the Seminary of St.
Nicholet, where he remained ten years, gaining a reputation among his fellow students for extraordinary zeal and piety. Having been ordained to the priesthood in 1833, he labored in various churches in Canada until 1851, when he accepted an invitation to Illinois with a view to building up the church in the Mississippi Valley. Locating at the junction of the Kankakee and Iroquois Rivers, in Kankakee County, he was the means of bringing to that vicinity a colony of some 5,000 French Canadians, followed by colonists from France, Belgium and other European countries. It has been estimated that over 50,000 of this class of emigrants were settled in Illinois within a few years. The colony embraced a territory of some 40 square miles, with the village of St. Ann's as the center. Here Father Chiniquy began his labors by erecting churches and schools for the colonists. He soon became dissatisfied with what he believed to be the exercise of arbitrary authority by the ruling Bishop, then began to have doubts on the question of papal infallibility, the final result being a determination to separate himself from the Mother Church. In this step he appears to have been followed by a large proportion of the colonists who had accompanied him from Canada, but the result was a feeling of intense bitterness between the opposing factions, leading to much litigation and many criminal prosecutions, of which Father Chiniquy was the subject, though never convicted. In one of these suits, in which the Father was accused of an infamous crime, Abraham Lincoln was counsel for the defense, the charge being proven to be the outgrowth of a conspiracy. Having finally determined to espouse the cause of Protestantism, Father Chiniquy allied himself with the Canadian Presbytery, and for many years of his active clerical life, divided his time between Canada and the United States, having supervision of churches in. Montreal and Ottawa, as well as in this country. He also more than once visited Europe by special invitation to address important religious bodies in that country. He died at Montreal, Canada, Jan. 16, 1899, in the 90th year of his age.
CHOUART, Medard, (known also as Sieur des Groseilliers), an early French explorer,
supposed to have been born at Touraine, France, about 1621. Coming to New France in early youth, he
made a voyage of discovery with his brother-in-law, Radisson, westward from Quebec, about 1654-56,
these two being believed to have been the first white men to reach Lake Superior. After spending the
winter of 1658-59 at La Pointe, near where Ashland, Wis., now stands, they are believed by some to
have discovered the Upper Mississippi and to have descended that stream a long distance towards its
mouth, as they claimed to have reached a much milder climate and heard of Spanish ships on the salt
water (Gulf of Mexico). Some antiquarians credit them, about this time (1659), with having visited the present site of the city of Chicago. They were the first explorers of Northwestern Wisconsin and
Minnesota, and are also credited with having been the first to discover an inland route to Hudson's
Bay, and with being the founders of the original Hudson's Bay Company. Groseillier's later history
is unknown, but he ranks among the most intrepid explorers of the "New World" about the middle of the
seventh century.
CHRISMAN, a city of Edgar County, at the intersection of the Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Chicago & St. Louis and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroads, 24 miles south of Danville; has
a pipe-wrench factory, grain elevators, and storage cribs. Pop. (1900), 905; (1910), 1,193.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY, a rich agricultural county, lying in the "central belt," and
organized in 1839 from parts of Macon, Montgomery, Sangamon and Shelby Counties. The name first given to it was Dane, in honor of Nathan Dane, one of the framers of the Ordinance of 1787, but a political prejudice led to a change. A preponderance of early settlers having come from Christian County, Ky., this name was finally adopted. The surface is level and the soil fertile, the northern half of the county being best adapted to corn and the southern to wheat. Its area is about 702 square miles, and its population (1910), was 34,594. The life of the early settlers was exceedingly primitive. Game was abundant; wild honey was used as a substitute for sugar; wolves were troublesome; prairie fires were frequent; the first mill (on Bear Creek) could not grind more than ten bushels of grain per day, by horse-power. The people hauled their corn to St. Louis to exchange for groceries. The first store was opened at Robertson's Point, but the county-seat was established at Taylorville. A great change was wrought in local conditions by the advent of the Illinois Central Railway, which passes through the eastern part of the county. Two other railroads now pass centrally through the county - the "Wabash" and the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern. The principal towns are Taylorville (a railroad center and thriving town of over 5,000 inhabitants), Pana, Morrisonville, Edinburg and Assumption.
CHURCH, Lawrence S., lawyer and legislator, was born at Nunda, N. Y., in 1820; passed his youth on a farm, but having a fondness for study, at an early age began teaching in winter with a view to earning means to prosecute his studies in law. In 1843 he arrived at McHenry, then the county-seat of McHenry County, Ill., having walked a part of the way from New York, paying a portion of his expenses by the delivery of lectures. He soon after visited Springfield, and having been examined before Judge S. H. Treat, was admitted to the bar. On the removal of the county-seat from McHenry to Woodstock, he removed to the latter place, where he continued to reside to the end of his life. A member of the Whig party up to 1856, he was that year elected as a Republican
Representative in the Twentieth General Assembly, serving by re-election in the Twenty-first and
Twenty-second; in 1860, was supported for the nomination for Congress in the Northwestern District, but was defeated by Hon. E. B. Washburne; in 1862, aided in the organization of the Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers, and was commissioned its Colonel, but was compelled to resign before reaching the field on account of failing health. In 1866 he was elected County Judge of McHenry County, to fill a vacancy, and, in 1869 to the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70. Died, July 23, 1870. Judge Church was a man of high principle and a speaker of decided ability.
CHURCH, Selden Marvin, capitalist, was born at East Haddam, Conn., March 4, 1804;
taken by his father to Monroe County, N. Y., in boyhood, and grew up on a farm there, but at the age
of 21, went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in teaching, being one of the earliest teachers in
the public schools of that city. Then, having spent some time in mercantile pursuits in Rochester,
N. Y., in 1835 he removed to Illinois, first locating at Geneva, but the following year removed to
Rockford, where he continued to reside for the remainder of his life. In 1841, he was appointed
Postmaster of the city of Rockford by the first President Harrison, remaining in office three years.
Other offices held by him were those of County Clerk (1843-47), Delegate to the Second Constitutional Convention (1847), Judge of Probate (1849-57), Representative in the Twenty-third General Assembly
(1863-65), and member of the first Board of Public Charities by appointment of Governor Palmer, in 1869, being re-appointed by Governor Beveridge, in 1873, and, for a part of the time, serving as President of the Board. He also served, by appointment of the Secretary of War, as one of the Commissioners to assess damages for the Government improvements at Rock Island and to locate the Government bridge between Rock Island and Davenport. During the latter years of his life he was
President for some time of the Rockford Insurance Company; was also one of the originators, and, for
many years, Managing Director of the Rockford Water Power Company, which has done so much to promote
the prosperity cf that city, and, at the time of his death, was one of the Directors of the Winnebago National Bank. Died at Rockford, June 23, 1892.
CHURCHILL, George, early printer and legislator, was born at Hubbardtown, Rutland
County, Vt., Oct. 11, 1789; received a good education in his youth, thus imbibing a taste for
literature which led to his learning the printer's trade. In 1806 he became an apprentice in the
office of the Albany (N. Y.) "Sentinel," and, after serving his time, worked as a journeyman printer, thereby accumulating means to purchase a half-interest in a small printing office. Selling this out at a loss, a year or two later, he went to New York, and, after working at the case some five months, started for the West, stopping en route at Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Louisville. In the latter place he worked for a time in the office of "The Courier," and still later in that of "The Correspondent," then owned by Col. Elijah C. Berry, who subsequently came to Illinois and served as Auditor of Public Accounts. In 1817 he arrived in St. Louis, but, attracted by the fertile soil of Illinois, determined to engage in agricultural pursuits, finally purchasing land some six miles southeast of Edwardsville, in Madison County, where he continued to reside the remainder of his life. In order to raise means to improve his farm, in the spring of 1819 he worked as a compositor in the office of "The Missouri Gazette" - the predecessor of "The St. Louis Republic." While there he wrote a series of articles over the signature of "A Farmer of St. Charles County," advocating the admission of the State of Missouri into the Union without slavery, which caused considerable excitement among the friends of that institution. During the same year he aided Hooper Warren in establishing his paper, "The Spectator," at Edwardsville, and, still later, became a frequent contributor to its columns, especially during the campaign of 1822-24, which resulted, in the latter year, in the defeat of the attempt to plant slavery in Illinois. In 1822 he was elected Representative in the Third General Assembly, serving in that body by successive re-elections until 1832. His re-election for a second term, in 1824, demonstrated that his vote at the preceding session, in opposition to the scheme for a State Convention to revise the State Constitution in the interest of slavery, was approved by his constituents. In 1838, he was elected to the State Senate, serving four years, and, in 1844, was again elected to the House in a11 serving a period in both Houses of sixteen years. Mr. Churchill was never married. He was an industrious and systematic collector of historical records, and, at the time of his death in the summer of 1872, left a mass of documents and other historical material of great value. (See Slavery and Slave Laws; Warren, Hooper, and Coles, Edward.)
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