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Full text of "History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois"

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LIBRARY OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 



977c39 
P42h 



I o H o b o 




HISTORY 



OF 



JjJj 



XAIER, Union Al POLASRI CODNTIES, 



IKL.INOIS. 



B33ITEX> ,3Y AAT'IXjIjIJ^Iid: HElTR-y X'ER/R/IIT. 



ILLUSTRATE.D 



CHICAGO: 

O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 

183 Lake Street. 

1883. 






PREFACE. 



rpHE history of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, after months of persistent toil and 
-L research, is now completed, and it is believed that no subject of universal public impor- 
tance or interest has been omitted, save where protracted effort failed to secure reliable results- 
We are well aware of our inability to furnish a perfect history from meager public documents 
and numberless conflicting traditions, but claim to have prepared a work fully up to the standard 
of our promises. Through the courtesy and assistance generously afforded by the residents of 
these counties, we have been enabled to trace out and put on record the greater portion of the 
important events that have transpired in Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, up to the 
present time. And we feel assured that all thoughtful people in these counties, now and in 
future, will recognize and appreciate the importance of the work and its permanent value. 

A dry statement of events has, as far as possible, been avoided, and incidents and anecdotes 
have been interwoven with facts and statistics, forming a narrative at once instructive and inter- 
esting. 

We are indebted to John Grear, Esq., for the history of Jonesboro and Precinct; to Dr. J 
H. Sanborn for the history of Anna and Precinct; to Dr. N. R. Casey for the history of Mound 
City and Precinct, and to George W. Endicott, Esq., of Villa Ridge, for his chapter on Agricult- 
ure and Horticulture of Pulaski County. Also to H. C. Bradsby, Esq., for his very able and 
exhaustive history of Cairo, as well as the general history of the respective counties, and to the 
many citizens who furnished our corps of writers with material aid in the compilation of the 
facts embodied in the work. 

September, 1883 Tjjg PUBLISHERS. 



s 

§0 



^ 



00 



852588 



CONTENTS 



PART I. 



CAIRO. 

PAGE. 

<^'>I AFTER I.— City of Cairo— The First Steamboat on West- 
ern Waters — Great Eartliquake of l.'^ll — First Settle- 
ment of Cairo— Hoibrook's Schemes — A Mushroom 
( ity and the Bubble Bursted — Early Navigation of 
Western Rivers — Capt. Henry M. Shreve, etc., etc 11 

CHAPTER II.— Crash of the Cairo City and Canal Company 
in 1841 — The Exodus of the People— Pastimes and 
Social Life of Those Who Remain — Judge Cilbert — 
How a Riot was Suppressed — Bryan Shaunessy — 
Gradual Growth of the Town Again — The Record 
Brought Down to 1.^53, etc .SI 

( HAPTER III.— Cairo Platted— First Sale of Lots— The 
Foundation of a City Laid — Beginning of Work on 
the Central Railroad — S. Staats Taylor^City Gov- 
ernment Organized and Who Were Its Officers — In- 
crease of Population — The War — Soldiers in Cairo — 
Battle of Belmont— Waif of the Battle-tield— " Old 
Rube ■' — Killing of Spencer — Overflow of '58 — Wash 
Graham and Gen. (irant — A Few More Practical 
Jokes, etc., etc 47 

( HAPTER IV.— Decidedly a Cairo chapter— Cairo and Its 
Different Bodies, Politic and Corporate — Cairo City 
and Bank of Cairo — Cairo and Canal Company — Cairo 
, < ity Property— Trustees of the Cairo Trust Property 
— The Illinois Exporting Company — D. B. Holbrook 
—Justin Butterfield— Recapitulation, etc., etc 67 

(HAI'TER v.— The Levees— How the Territorial Legisla- 
ture by Law Placed the Natural Town Site Above 
C»verflows — First Efibrts at Constructing Levees — 
Engineer's Reports on the Same — Estimated Height 
and Costs — The Floods — The City Overflowed — Great 
Disaster, the f'ause and Its Effects— The Levees are 
Reconstructed and They Defy the Greatest Waters 
Ever Known 90 

CHAPTER VI.— The Press— Its Power as the Great Civil- 
izer of the Age — Cairo's First Editorial Ventures- 
Birth and Death of Newspapers Innumerable — The 
Bohemians — Who They Were and What They Did — 
" Bull Run " Russell— Harrell, Willett, Faxon and 
Others — Some of the "Intelligent Compositors" — 
Quantum Sufficit 126 

( HAPTER VII.— Societies: Literary, Social and Benevolent 
—The Ideal League — Lyceimi — Masonic Fraternity — 
Its Great Antiquity— Odd Fellowship — The Cairo 
Casino — Other Societies, etc ISS 



CHAPTER VIII.— Cairo— Her Condition -in 1861-187S-1>;.><:; 
— The Ebb and Flow of Business and Population — 
War and the Panic Which Followed — Steamboat.s— 
Mark Twain— Pilots — .Some Steamboat Disasters— And 
a Joke or Two by Way of Illustration, etc W' 

CHAPTER IX.— The Church History— St. Patrick's— Ger- 
man Lutheran — Presbyterian — Baptist — Methodist 
and Other Dcnomination.s — The Different Pastors — 
Their Flocks, Temples, the City .Schools, etc., etc 17G 

CHAPTER X.— Railroads — The Illinois Central —Cairo 
Short Line — The Iron Mountain — Cairo & St. Louis — 
The Wabash— Mobile & Ohio— Texas A St. Louis— The 
Great Jackson Route — Roads Being Built, etc., etc.... 19.5 

CHAPTER XL— Conclusion— The Future of the City Con- 
sidered—Her Present Status and Growth — Present 
City Officials, etc 217 



PART II. 

UNION COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I.— Intro<luction — Geology— Importance of Edu- 
cating the People on This Subject — The Limestone 
District of Illinois — Keononiical (ieology of Union, 
Alexander and Pulaski Counties — Medical .Sprjngs, 
Building Material, Soil, etc.— Wonderful Wealth of 
Nature's Bounties — Topograi)hy and Cliniato of this 
Region, etc "^'i-? 

CHAPTER 11.— Pre-historic Races— The Mound-Buildera— 
Fire Worshipers — Relics of these Unknown People — 
Mounds, Workshops and Battle-<i rounds in Ufllijn, 
Alexander and Pulaski Counties — Visits of Noxious 
Insects— History Thereof, etc 244 

CHAPTER III.— The Daring Discoveries and Settlements 
by the French— The Catholic Missionaries— Discov- 
ery of the Mississippi River — .Some Corrections in 
History — A World's Wonderful Drama of Nearly 
Three Hundred Years' Duration, etc 2.5'i 

CHAPTER IV.— 1 ollowing the Footsteps of the First Pio- 
neers — Who They Were— How They Came— Where They 
Stopped— From 179.J to 1810— Cordeling— Bear Fight- 
First Schools, Preachers, and the Kind of People they 
Were— John Orammar, the Father of Illinois State- 
Craft, etc '^^* 

CHAPTER v.— Settlers in Union, Alexander and Pulaski— 
Lean Venison and Fat Bear— Primitive Furniture— A 



CONTENTS. 



Pioneer Boy .Sees a Plastered House — ilow People 
F'orted — Their Dress and Amusements — Witchcraft, 
Wizards, etc. — No Law nor Church— Sports, etc. — fiov. 
Dougherty — Philip Shaver and the Cache Massacre — 
Families in the Order they I'ame, etc., etc '21o 

CHAPTER VI.— Organization of Union County— Act of 
Legislature Forming It — The County Seal — Commis- 
sioners' Court — Abner Field — A List of Families — Cen- 
sus from 1820 to ISSO— Dr. Brooks— The Flood of 1844— 
Willard Family — Col. Henry L. Webb — Railroads — 
Schools — Moralizing, etc., etc 285 

CHAPTER VIL— The Bench and Bar— Gov. Reynolds- 
Early Courts— First Term and Officers— Daniel P. Cook 
— Census of 1818— County Officers to Date— Abner and 
Alexander P. Field— Winsted Davie — Young and Mc- 
Roberts — Visiting and Resident Lawyers — Grand .Juries 
Punched — Ilunsaker's Letter — War Between Jouesboro 
and Anna— County Vote, etc., etc 301 

CHAPTER VIIL— The Pre-ss- Finley and Evans, and the 
First Newspaper — " Union County Democrat'' — John 
Grear— The "Record," "Herald," and Other Publica- 
tions—How the Telegraph Produced Drought— Dr. S. S. 
Conden— Present Publishers and Their Able Papers, etc. 318 

CHAPTER IX.— Military History— "Wars and Rumors of 
Wars" — And Some of the (lenuine Article — Revolu- 
tionary .Soldiers— Mexican War- Our Late Civil Strife 
—Union County's Honorable Part In It— The One Hun- 
dred and Ninth Regiment — Its Vindication in History, 
etc., etc 82.3 

CHAPTER X.— Agriculture— Similarity of Union County 
to the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky— Adaptability to 
Stock-Raising — Fair Associations — Horticulture — Its 
Rise, Wonderful Progress and Present Condition— Va- 
rieties of Fruit and Their Culture— The Fruit Garden 
of the West— Vegetables — Shipments— Statistics, etc., 
etc 334 

CHAPTER XL— Jonesboro Precinct — Topography and 
Physical Features— Coming of the Whites— Pioneer 
Hardships— Early Industries— Roads, Bridges, Taverns, 
etc.— Religious and Educational— State of .Society- 
Progress and Improvements, etc- 3.52 

CHAPTER XII.— City of Jonesboro— .Selected and Sur- 
veyed as the County Seat— Its Healthy Location— Early 
Citizens— Some who Remained and Some who Went 
Away— First Sale of Lots— Growth of the Town— Mer- 
chants and Business Men— Town Incorporated — .Schools 
and ( hurches — .Secret .Societies, etc 351 

CHAPTER XIII.- Anna Precinct— (ieneral Description 
and Topography— Early .Settlement— The Cold Year- 
Organization of Precinct— Incident of the Telegraph- 
Schools and Churches— Bee-Keei)ing, Dairying, etc.— 
Crop Statistics— A Hail-Storm, etc 363 

CHAPTER XIV.— City of Anna— The Laying-out of a 
Town— Its Name— Early Growth and Progress— Incor- 
porated— Fires— Notable Events— Societies, Schools and 
Churches— Manufactures— Organized as a City— Hos- 
pital for the Insane- City Finances 371 



CHAPTER XV.— South Pass, or Cobden Precinct— Its To- 
pographical and Physical Features— Early Settlement of 
White Peoi)le— Where They Came From and a Record 
of Their Work— tJrowth and Development of the Pre- 
cinct-Richard Cobden— The Village: What it Was, 
What It Is, and What It Will Be— Schools, Churches, 
etc., etc 392 

CHAPTER XVI. — Dongola Precinct — Surface, Timber, 
Water-Courses, Products, etc. — Settlement — Pioneer 
Trials and Industries — Schools and Churches — Mills— 
Dongola Village : Its Growth and Development— Leav- 
enworth— What He Did for the Town, etc 402 

CHAPTER XVIL— Ridge or Alto Pass Precinct— Surface 
Features, Boundaries, and Timber Grown — Occupation 
of the Whites — Pioneer Trials — Industries, Improve- 
ments, etc.— The Knob — Churches and Schools— Vil- 
lages, etc., etc 410 

CHAPTER XVIIL— Rich Precinct— Description, Bounda- 
ries and Surface Features — .Settlement of the Whites— 
W^here They Came From and Where They Located— 
Lick Creek Post office— .Schools and Churches — Caves, 
Sulphur !*pring3, etc 414 

CHAPTER XIX.— Stokes Precinct— Topography and Boun- 
daries — Coming of the Pioneers — Their Trials and 
Tribulations— Mills and Other Improvements — Mount 
Pleasant laid out as a Village — Churches, Schools, 
etc., etc 41'J 

CHAPTER XX. — Saratoga Precinct — Its Formation and De- 
scription — Topography, Physical Features, etc. — Early 
.Settlement— The Wild Man of the Woods— Mills- 
Saratoga Village —Sulphur .Springs — An Incident — 
Roads and Bridges — Schools, Churches, etc., etc 42-5 

CHAPTER XXL— Mill Creek Precinct— Its Natural Char- 
acteristics and Resources— One of the Earliest Settle- 
ments in the County — Pioneer Improvements — Schools 
and Churches— Villages, etc 431 

CHAPTER XXII.— Meisenheimer Precinct — Its Surface 
Features, Timber, .Streams and Boundaries — Settle- 
ment of the Whites — Early Struggles of the Pioneers 
— Schools and Schoolhouses— ^Religious — Mills, Roads, 
etc.. etc 433 

CHAPTER XXIIL— Preston and Union Precincts— Their 
Geographical and Topographical Features — Early 
Pioneers — Where They Came From, and How They 
Lived — The Aldridges and Other " Fir.st Families" — 
Swamps, Bullfrogs and Mosquitoes — Schools, Churches, 
etc V i^i-'> 



PART III. 

ALEXANDER COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I.— First .'Settlement of the County— The Way 
the People Lived — Growth and Progress — Geology and 
Soils — The Mound-Builders — Trinity — America — Col. 
Rector, Webb and Others — Wilkinsonville — Caledonia 
— Unity — Many Interesting ICveuts— etc., etc., etc 44-5 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

( IIAITKK II.— The Act Creating the County— How it was 
Named — Some Interesting Extracts from Pr. Alexan- 
der's Letters — The rroniinent People — Col. John S. 
Hacker — Official Doings of the Courts — County Officers 
in Succession — Different Removals of the County .Seat 
— Treacher Wofford — etc., etc 4.54 

CHAl'TER III. — Census of Alexander County Considered — 
The Kind of I'eople They Were — How They Improved 
the ( ountry — Who Built the Mills — Dogs Versus Sheep 
— Periods of Comparative Immigration — Acts of the 
Legislature Efi'ectiug the County, etc., etc 46fi 

CHAPTER IV.— War Record— 1812-15— Blaek Hawk War- 
Some Account of It, and ('apt. Webb's Company- 
Roster of the Company— War witli Mexico — Our Late 
Civil War — Politics — Representatives and Other 
Officials — John Q. Ilarniou— State Senators, etc. — Some 
Slanders Upon the People Repelled, etc., etc 472 

CHAPTER V. — Bench and Bar of Alexander County — State 
Judiciary and Early Laws Concerning It — Judicial 
Courts — How Formed — First Justices of the Supreme 
Court — Who Came and Practiced Law — Judges Mul- 
key. Baker, I. N. Haynie, Allen, Green, Wall, Yocura, 
Linegar and Lansden — Local Lawyers, etc 479 

CHAPTER VL— The Precincts of Alexander County— To- 
pography and Boundaries — Their Early Settlement — 
Dangers and Hardships of the Pioneers — Villages — 
Schools and Churches — Modern Improvements, etc 491 



PAET IV. 

PULASKI COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I. — Geology, Meteorology, Topography, Timber, 
Water, Soil, etc. — Great Fertility of the Land — Its Ag- 
ricultural and Ilortieultural Advantages — What Far- 
mers are Learning — Address of I'arker Earle, etc 503 

CAAITER II. — Organization of the County— The Facts 
That Led to (he Same — Act of the Legislature — Estab- 
lishment of the <'ourts— the First Officers — Kemoval 
of the Seat of Justice -The Census — Precinct Organi- 
zation — Lawyers — Schools, Churches, etc., etc., etc 510 

CHAPTER III. — About Early Leading Citizens — tJeorge 
Cloud, H. M. Smith, Capt. Riddle, Justus Post— Pulaski 
in War— Black Hawk, Mexican and the Late Civil 
War— History of the .Men Who Took Part— A. C. 
Bartlesou, Price, Athertou — Mr. Clemson's Farm, etc., 
etc 5i;i 

( IIAPTER IV.— Agriculture— Early Mode of Farming in 
Pulaski County— Incidents— Stock-Kaising— Present 
Improvements- Horticulture— First Attempts at 
Fruit-* irowing— Apples— Tree Pe<ldlers— Strawberries 
—Peaches — Grapes and Wine— Other Fruits, Vegeta- 
ble.?, etc., etc .520 

CHAPTER v.— Mound <ity— Early History of the Place— 
The Indian Massacre— Joseph Tibbs and Some of the 



Early Citizens of " The Mounds "—Gen. Rawlings— 
First Sale of Ix)ts— The Emporium Company— How 
It Flourished and Then Played Out— The Marine 
Ways— Government Hospital— The National Ceme- 
lery. etc 535 

CHAPTEl! VL— Mound (ity— Decline and Death of the 
Emporium Company— Overflow of the Ohio in 1858— 
Flood of 1802, 1S<>7, 1882 and ISS.'i— leveeing the City 
—Bonds for the Payment of the Same— .\ Few Mur- 
ders, With a Taste of Lynch Law, etc .553 

CHAPTER VIL— Mound City— It Becomes the County Seat 
County Officials— Jud,ge Mansfield— Lawyers— F. M. 
Kawlings and Others— Jo Tibbs Again— The Press— 
" National Emporium "—Other Papers— First Physi- 
cians of the City— Schools— Teachers and Their Sala- 
ries, etc., etc .561 

CHAPTER VIII.— Mound City— Its ( hurch History— Catho- 
lic Church— The Methodists, etc.— Colored Churches- 
Fires and the Losses whicli Hesultcd— Manufactories 
— .Secret and Benevolent Societies— Something of the 
Mercantile Business— Population of the City— Its 
Officers and Government, etc 570 

CHAPTER IX.— Election Precincts Aside from Mound City 
—Boundaries, Topographical Features, etc.— Advent 
of the White People and their .Settlements— How they 
Lived— Progress of Churches and .Schools— Growth 



and Development of the County.. 



PAET V. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Cairo ; :: 

Cairo- Extra 56a 

Union County.— Anna Precinct .57 

.Tone.sboro Precinct 92 

Cobden Precinct 118 

Alto Pass Precinct 153 

Dongola Precinct 170 

Meisenheimer Precinct 182 

Stokes Precinct -jgo 

Saratoga Precinct 197 

Rich I'recinct 204 

Union Precinct 209 

Preston Precinct ojl 

Mill Creek Precinct 212 

Anna and Jonesboro — Extra 214 

Alexander County.- Elco Precinct 218 

Thebes Precinct 228 

East Cape Girardeau Precinct 2;!.5 

II n ity Precinct 239 

Clear Creek Precinct 243 

Santa F'e i'recinct 247 

r.eeeh }£idge Precinct 249 

Lake Millikin Precinct 2.50 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

PiT.AS^Ki County.— Mound City Precinct 251 

Villa Ridge Precinct 282 

Grand CJiain Precinct 298 

Ohio Precinct ^^^ 

Wetaug Precinct ^^^ 

UUin Precinct 326 

Pulaski Precinct 3^1 

Burkville Precinct 3** 



PORTRAITS. 

Arter, I) ^^3 

Casey, N. B 547 

Casper, P. H 241 

Clemson. .1. Y 9^ 

Pavie, Winstead 223 

Endicott, G. \V • 529 

Finch, E. H 151 

Oaunt, J. W 259 

(irear, John ■'''^^ 



PAGE. 

Hambleton, W. L 565 

Hess, John 1^' 

Hight, W. A 511 

Hileman, Jacob ^31 

Hoftner,C ^ ^3 

Hughes, M. L ;;••: 277 

Leavenworth, E ^1 

Mason, B. F ; 295 

Meyer, G. F 205 

Miller, Caleb ^l-^ 

Morris, James S ^''^ 

Paruily, John -157 

Ros», B. F -103 

Saflbrd, A. B 25 

Sanborn, J. H 385 

Scarsdale, F. E 169 

Spencer, H. H US 

Stokes, M 421 

Toler, J. M 79 

Wardner, H 367 

Weaver, John 475 

Williams, A. G 493 




^^^ 



HISTOEY OF 



EXANDER, UNION AND PULASKI 



COUNTIES. 



PART I. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO, 



BY H. C. BRADSBY. 



CHAPTER I. 



CITY OF CAIRO— THE FIRST STEAMBOAT ON WESTERN AVATERS— GREAT EARTHQUAKE OF 1811- 

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CAIRO— HOLBROOK'S SCHEMES— A MUSHROOM CITY AND 

THE BUBBLE BURSTEU — EARLY NAVIGATION OF WESTERN 

M. SHREVE, ETC., ETC. 



RIVERS— CAPT. HENRY 

"And leaves the world to solitude and me." — Gray. 

THE earliest settlement of Cairo, on the 
promontory of land formed by the junc- 
tion of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, dates 
back only sixty-six years ago. There are 
persons yet living, not only who were born 
then, but who can even remember events of 
that time with distinctness. But these clear- 
headed old people are nearly all gone, and 
in a very few years there will be nothing left 
us but the traditions of 1817, unless the pres- 
ent opportunity is conserved, and the facts 
placed in a permanen.t form while it is yet 
possible to obtain them from those who not 
only saw, but were a part of the long-ago 
events that have led to the present changed 
condition of affairs. The tooth of time eats 
away the living evidences of what occurred 
more than fifty years ago with unerring 
swiftness. 

The life of a nation or city, compared to 
time, is but a breath, although it may sur- 
vive generations and centurie.'?, and how in- 
conceivably brief, then, is the longest space 
of a single human life. 



Man'rf nature is such that he is deeply 
concerned in the movements of those who 
have gone before him. Whether his fore- 
fathers were wise or foolish, he wants to 
learn all he can about them; to study their 
customs, habits and general movements. 
And while those are yet left who were par- 
ticipants in the earliest gathering of a peo- 
ple in any particular locality, it is easy 
enough to sit down by the fireside and listen 
to the story of the father«; of their trials, 
their triumphs, their failiues, their ways of 
thought and their genei'aj actions; but in a 
moment, and before you have had time to re- 
flect upon the loss, they are all gone, and the 
places that knew them so well will know them 
no more forever; and then it is the chronicler, 
who puts in permanant form all these once 
supposed trifling details, has performed an 
invaluable, if not an imperishable, seivice. 
The proper study of mankind is man. It is 
the one inexhaustible fountain of real knowl- 
edge ; and the " man" that is best studied is 
your own immediate forefathers or predeces- 
sors. To learn and know them well is to 



13 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



know all you can learn of the human family. 
To solve the complex problem of the human 
race does not so much consist in trying to 
study all the living and the dead, as in 
mastering, in ^^o far as it is possible, the 
chosen few. 

Many thousands of years ago, preparations 
first began to be made for a habitation for 
man upon the very spot now occupied by the 
city of Cairo. The uplift of the rocks that 
formed the first dry laTi I upon the continent 
in and about the Huron region had pro- 
ceeded slowlv \.\ their southwesterly direc- 
tion for a very long time. This was then a 
part of the Gulf of Mexico, and it was slow 
and very gradual the uplift went on, and the 
waters of the Gulf receded south of the junc- 
tion of the two rivers, and the Lower Missis- 
sippi River began to form. From Freeport 
southward, along the line of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad, there is a gi-adual descent to 
the valley of the Big Muddy River, in Jack- 
son County, where the level of the railroad 
grade is only fifty-five feet above that of the 
river at Cairo. At that point, there is a sud- 
den rise of nearly seven hundred feet, the 
only true mountain elevation in Illinois. It 
runs entirely across the southei'u portion of 
the State, finally crosses the Ohio, in the 
vicinity of Shawneetown, and then is [lost 
beneath the coal measures of Kentucky. 
The forces beneath the surface made this up- 
lift, and it is supposed by geologists that 
this must have taken place before the Gulf 
receded below the present junction of the 
rivers. 

Caii-o stands upon an alluviiun and drift of 
about thirty feet in depth, and while it prob- 
ably was many centi:vfies ingathering here so 
as to rise above the face of the waters, yet it 
has been here a comparatively long time, as 
is evidenced by the immense trees of oak, 
and walnut, and many others that do not 



grow in swamps or grounds that more than 
occasionally ovei'flow, and beneath these 
great trees that have braved the storms of 
hundreds of years has been found the re- 
mains, deep in the soil, of other great forests 
that had preceded the one found here by the 
first discoverers. It takes the geological 
seons to prepare the way for man's coming, 
and man can only come when the prepara- 
tions for his reception are complete. 

Mr. Jacob Klein, the brick-maker of Cairo, 
and who has carried on this business success- 
fully the past nineteen years, determined 
three years ago to try the experiment of get- 
ting pure water by digging. He has sunk 
three wells; the first was sixty-five feet deep 
where it struck [a heavy bed of gravel and 
promised an abundant supply of water, but 
the very dry season of three years ago his 
water supply was short. He then had the 
second well sunk. This is 100 feet deep, 
and, like the first, stopped in the gravel. 
Not still satisfied, Mr. K. contracted for 
the third Well, to be put down with a two 
and a half inch pipe. The contract called 
for a well 300 feet deep. The contractor 
went down 206 feet and stopped, and then 
IMi'. Klein took up the work himself and car- 
ried it to 218 feet, when he struck the rock. 
A bed of white clay was encountered, five feet 
thick, resting upon the rock. Here, clearly, 
was once the bed of the river. From the clay, 
which is 213 feet below the surface, the strata 
are coarse sand and seams of coarse gravel 
until the alluvium of the surface is reached. 
Mr. Klein reached an inexhaustible supply of 
pure, soft water, which stands within fifteen 
feet of, the siu-f ace at all seasons of the year, 
I and for all pui'poses is as fine water as was 
I ever found. It is described to be as soft as 
! rain water and clear and cold, and is never 
I affected by the stage of waters in ^the river. 
It never flows during a long stage of high 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



13 



water, as do the shallow wells when the town 
begins tx) fill with sipe water, ^li-. Klein is 
satisfied that fron^ten to twenty feet farther 
do\^n, which will pass through the rock he 
has now reached, will give him a flowing 
artesian well, and this improvement he has 
in contemplation of making the present or 
next year. This is the first real effort ever 
made here to get pure well water, and has 
demonstrated* the fact that it is beneath us, 
in inexhaustible quantities and of the very 
best quality. 

Without the attention being specially 
called to the fact, there are very few people 
who would! suppose that the white man had 
come almost in what is a subui'b now of 
Cairo, and built his fort and fought the 
" redskins " one hundred and two years ago; 
yet such is the fact. Fort Jefferson is one of 
the favorite picnic i-esorts of the people of 
Cairo. It is only six miles below here, and 
across on the Kentucky shore. To the gay 
party starting out for a festival day, it is but 
little, if anything, more than merely cross- 
ing the river into Kentucky to go to Fort 
Jefferson. How many of all oui- people, es- 
pecially the young, know, when they wander 
about the place, that they are upon historic 
ground? Let us tell them something of its 
tragic story, and when they next stroll about 
in its grateful shades and resting places, let 
them look for the fast fading landmarks of 
the old fort, and remember that Mrs. Capt. 
Piggott and many other noble souls lie buried 
there; and also let them recall the heroic 
efforts of those, not only who died that ^we 
might live, but of those who so heroically 
struggled to drive back the red fiends. 

This fort was erected by George Rogers 
Clark, under the direction of Thomas Jeffer- 
son, in 1781. Jefferson was then 'Governor 
of Virginia, and, being advised the Spanish 
Crown would attempt to set up a claim to 



the country east of the Mississippi River, 
he took this step to foil the design. 

Immediately after the erection of the fort, 
Clark was called away to the frontiers of 
Kentucky, but was succeeded by Capt. J ames 
Piggott. 

Immigration to the fort was encouraged, 
and several families settled at once in its 
vicinity, and for a living proceeded to culti- 
vate the soil. For a short time, the settle- 
ment flourished. During 1781, however, the 
Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians became ex- 
ceedingly incensed at the encroachments of 
the whites (their consent for the [erection of 
the fort not having been obtained), and they 
commenced an attack upon the settlers in the 
neighboi'hood. The whole number of war- 
riors belonging to these tribes at that time 
was about twelve hundred, including the 
celebrated Scotchman Calbert, whose pos- 
terity figured as half-breeds. As soon as it 
was decided an attack would be made upon 
the fort by the Indians, a trusty messenger 
was dispatched to the Falls of the Ohio for 
further supplies of ammunition and provisions. 

The settlement and fort were in great dis- 
tress — at the point of starvation, indeed — 
and succor could not be obtained short of the 
Falls or Kaskaskia. 

The Indians 'approached the settlement at 
fii'st in small parties, and succeeded in kill- 
ing a number of the settlers before they 
could be moved to the fort. Half the people, 
both in the fort and its vicinity, were help- 
less from sickness, and the famine was so dis- 
tressing that it is said pumpkins were eaten 
as soon as the blossoms had fallen off the 
vines. The Indians continued their mui'der- 
ous visits in squads for about two weeks be- 
fore the main army of " braves" reached the 
fort. The soldiers aided and received into 
the fort all the white population that could 
be moved. 



14 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



In the skirmishes to which we have al- 
luded, a white man was taken prisoner by 
the Indians, who, to save his life, exposed 
the true state of the garrison. The infor- 
mation seemed to add fury to the passions of 
the savages. 

After the arrival of the main body of the 
savages, under Calbert, the fort was besieged 
three days and nights. Dvu-ing this time, the 
suffering and misery of the garrison were ex- 
t'-emely great. The water had almost given 
out; the river was falling rapidly, and the 
water in the wells receded with the river. 
The supply of provisions was qiiite exhausted, 
and sickness raged to such an extent that a 
veiy large number could not be moved from 
their beds. The wife of Capt. Piggott and 
several others died, and were bui'ied within 
the walls of the fort while the savages were 
besieging the outside. It seemed reduced to 
a certainty, at this junctui'e, that, unless re- 
lief came speedily, the garrison would fall 
into the hands' of the Indians and be mur- 
dered. 

The white prisoner now in the hands of 
the Indians detailed the true state of the 
fort He told his captors that more than 
half its inmates were sick, and that each man 
had not more than three rounds of ammuni- 
tion, and that the garrison was quite desti- 
tute of water and provisions. On receiving 
this information, the whole Indian army re- 
tired about two miles to hold a council. In 
a few hours, Calbert and three chiefs, with 
a flag of truce, were sent back to the fort. 

When the inmates of the fort discovered 
the flag, they sent out Capt. Piggott, Mr. 
Owens and another man, to meet the Indian 
delegation. The parley was conducted under 
the range of the guns of the garrison. 

Calbert demanded a surrender of the fort 
at discretion, urging that the Indians knew 
its weak condition, and that an unconditional 



surrender might save much bloodshed. He 
further said that he had sent a force of war- 
riors up the Ohio, to intercept the succor for 
which the whites had sent a messenger. He 
gave the assurance that he would do his best 
to save the lives of the prisoners, except in 
the case of a few whom the Indians had 
sworn to butcher. He gave the garrison one 
hour to form a conclusion. 

The delegates from the whites promised 
that if the Indians would leave the country, 
the inmates of the fort would abandon it with 
all haste. Calbert'agreed to submit this prop- 
osition to the council, and was at the point 
of returning when a Mr. Music, whose fam- 
ily had been cruelly murdered, and another 
man at the fort, fired upon him and wounded 
him somewhat severely, 

The warriors were engaged a long time in 
council, and, by almost a seeming interposi- 
tion of Providence, the long- wished- for suc- 
cor arrived during the time in safety from 
the "Falls." The Indians had struck the 
river too high up, and thereby the boat es- 
caped The provisions and men were hui-ried 
into the iort, a new spirit seemed to possess 
every one, and active exertions were at once 
made to place the fort in position for a stcut 
resistance. The sick and the small children 
were placed beyond the reach of harm, and 
all the women and the 'children of any con- 
siderable size were instructed in the art of 
defense. 

Shortly after dark, the Indians attempted 
to steal on the fort and capture it; but in 
this being most decidedly frustrated, they 
assaulted the garrison and tried to storm it. 
The cannon had been placed in proper posi- 
tion to rake the walls, so when the " red- 
skins " mounted the ramparts, the ^cannon 
swept them off in heaps. The Indians, with 
hideous yells, and loud and savage demon- 
strations, kept up a streaming fii'e from their 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



15 



rifles upon the garrison, which, however, did 
but little execution. In this manner the bat- 
tle raged for hours; but at last the Indians 
were forced to fly fi-om the deadly cannon of 
the fort to save themselves from destruction. 
Calbert and other chiefs rallied them again, 
but the same result followed; they were 
again forced to fly, and all further efforts to 
rally them proved ineffectual. 

The whites were in constant fear that the 
fort would be fired by the Indians. This, 
indeed, was their gi-eatest fear. At one time 
a huge savage, painted for the occasion, 
gained the top of one of the block-hoiises and 
was applying fire to the roof, when he was 
shot dead by a white soldier. His body fell 
on the outside of the wall, and was can-ied 
off by his comi-ades. 

The Indians, satisfied they could not capt- 
ure the fort, abandoned the siege entirely, 
and, securing their dead and wounded, left 
the country. A large number of them had 
been killed and wounded, while none of the 
whites had been killed, and only a few 
wounded. The whites were 'rejoiced at this 
turn in affairs, as the number of Indians, 
and their ability to continue the siege, were 
calculated to terrify them. 

AVith all convenient speed, the fort was 
abandoned. Many of the soldiers, together 
with settlers who had taken refuge in the 
fort, moved to Kaskaskia. They proved the 
first considerable acquisition of American 
population in Illinois. Since then, Fort Jef- 
ferson has remained abandoned, and is now 
but marked by here and there certain shape- 
less moiuids and piles of debris that are in- 
distinguishable unless pointed out to the 
stranger. But this spot will ever retain a 
great interest to Americans, at least as long 
as the struggles and privations of those who 
pioneered the valley of the Mississippi retain 
a place in the memory of the American people. 



While it is true that this first attempt of the 
white men to make a habitation and a home 
within the immediate neighborhood of Cairo 
was abandoned and the people dispersed, the 
most of them coming to Illinois and making 
their homes in Kaskaskia, it was not wholly 
a failure in behalf of civilization. The little 
band, as brave and true heroes as ever fought 
upon the immortal fields of Thermopylae, 
had accomplished a great purpose — they had 
withstood the murderous midnight attack of 
the bloody, yelling fiends and drove them 
off. They taught him a bloody lesson, yet 
that is the only school a savage will learn in. 
This siege and battle were the first great step 
in making the shores of these rivers habit- 
able, and even though the fort was dismantled 
and abandoned, it is quite true it taught the 
savage to respect the power of the white 
man. It was not a long time after this de- 
ciding battle that we find the white man in 
his flat-boats, and soon in his keel-boats, in a 
small way commencing to carry on that great 
commerce that has since so filled the rivers, 
and dotted their shores with the pleasing evi- 
dences of civilization. This commerce of 
the flat-boat, the keel boat and the pirogue, 
continued to slowly increase and perform the 
scanty commerce of the day, until finally the 
steamboat ^ came, bearing upon its decks the 
great human revolution, that stands un- 
equaled in importance, and that will go on 
in its gi-eat effects forevei'. 

In 1795, William Bird, then a mere child, 
in company with his father's family, landed 
at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers. This family remained here only a 
short time, and then went to Cape Girardeau, 
where they resided, and in 1817 William 
Bird applied at the land office in Kaskaskia 
and entered the land mentioned in another 
part of this chapter. This family were the 
first white people, so far as can be now as- 



16 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



certained, that "ever put foot upon the spot 
now called Cairo. 

December 18, 1811. — The anniversary of 
this day the people of Cairo and its vicinity 
should never forget. It was the coming of 
the first steamboat to where Cairo now is — 
the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt, Command- 
ing. It was the severest day of the great 
throes of the New Madrid earthquake; at the 
same time, a fiery comet was rushing athwart 
the horizon. 

In the year 1809, Robert Fulton and Chan- 
cellor Livingston had commenced their im- 
mortal experiments to navigate by steam the 
Hudson River. As soon as this experiment 
was crowned with success, they turned their 
eyes toward these great Western water-ways. 
They saw that here was the greatest inland 
sea in all the world, but did they, think you, 
prolong their vision 'to the present time, and 
realize a tithe of the possibilities they were 
giving to the world ? They unrolled the map 
of this continent, and they sent Capt. Roose- 
velt to Pittsburgh, to go over the river from 
there to New Orleans, and report whether they 
could be navigated or not. He made the in- 
spection, and his favorable report resulted in 
the immediate construction of the steamer 
New Orleans, which was launched in Pitts- 
burgh in December, 1811. 

Could Capt. Roosevelt now come to us in 
his natural life, and call the good people of 
Cairo together and relate his experiences of 
the day he passed where Cairo now stands, 
it would be a story transcending, in thrilling 
interest, anything ever listened to by any now 
living. All fiction ever conceived by busy 
brains would be tame by the side of his truth- 
ful narrative. His boat passed out of the 
Ohio River and into the Mississippi River 
in the very midst of that most remarkable 
convulsion of nature ever known — the great 
New Madrid earthquake. As the boat came 



down the Ohio River, it had moored opposite 
Yellow Banks to coal, this having been pro- 
vided some time previously, and, while load- 
ing this on, the voyagers were approached by 
the squatters of the neighborhood, who in- 
quired if they had not heard strange noises 
on the river and in the woods in the course 
of the preceding day, and perceived the 
shores shake, insisting they had repeatedly 
felt the earth tremble. The weather was very 
hot; the air misty, still and dull, and though 
the sun was visible, like an immense glowing 
ball of copper, his rays hardly shed more 
than a mournful twilight on the surface of 
the water. Evening di'ew nigh, and with 
it some indications of what was passing 
around them became evident, for ever and 
anon they heard a rushing sound, violent 
splash, and finally saw large portions of the 
shore tearing away from the land and laps- 
ing into the watery abyss. An eye-witness 
says: " It was a startling scene — one could 
have heard a pin drop on deck. The crew 
spoke but little; they noticed, too, that the 
comet, for some time visible in the heavens, 
had suddenly disappeared, and every one on 
board was thunderstruck." 

The next day the portentous signs of this 
terrible natural convulsion increased. The 
trees that remained on shore were seen wav- 
ing and nodding without a wind. The voy- 
agers had no choice but to pursue their course 
down the stream, as all day this violence 
seemed only to increase. They had usually 
brought to, under the shore, but at all points 
they saw the high banks disappearing, over- 
whelming everything near or under them, 
particularly |many of the siuall craft that 
were in use in those days, carrying down to 
death many and ;many who had thus gone to 
shore in the hope of escaping. A large island 
in mid-channel, which had been selected 
by the pilot as the better alternative, was 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



17 



sought for in vain, having totally disap- 
peared, and thousands of acres, constituting 
the surrounding country, were found to have 
been swallowed up, with their gigantic 
growths of forest and cane. 

Thus, in doubt and terror, they proceeded 
hour after hour until dark, when they 
found a small island, and rounded to, moor- 
ing at the foot of it Here they lay, keeping 
watch on deck dm'ing the long night, listen- 
ing to the sound of waters which roared and 
whirled wildly around them, hearing, also, 
from time to time, the rushing earth slide 
from the shore, and the commotion of the 
falling mass as it became engulfed in the 
river. Thus, this boat, during the intensity 
of the earthquake, was moored almost in 
sight of Cairo; practically, it was at Cairo 
during the worst of the thi-ee worst nights. 

Yet the day that succeeded this awful night 
brought no solace in its dawn. Shock fol- 
lowed shock, a dense black cloud of vapor 
overshadowed the land, through which no sun- 
beam found its way to cheer the desponding 
heart of man. It seems incredible to us that 
the bed of the river could be so agitated as to 
lash the waters into yeasty foam, until the 
foam would gather in great bodies, said to 
be larger than floiir barrels, and float away. 
Again, it is still more incredible to be told 
that the waters of the two rivers were turned 
back upon themselves in swift streams, but 
these, and much more, are well-established 
facts. It is impossible now to depict all the 
wonderful phenomena of this world's won- 
der. There were wave motions, and perpen- 
dicular motions of the earth's surface, and 
there were, judging from eftects, as well as 
testimony of those who witnessed it, sudden 
risings and bursting of the earth's crust, from 
whence would shoot into the air many feet 
jets of water, sand and black shale. 

Just below New Madrid, a flat-boat belong- 



ing to Eichard Stump was swamped, and six 
men were drowned. Large trees disappeared 
under the ground, or were cast with fright- 
ful violence into the river. At times the 
waters of the river were seen to rise like a 
wall in the middle of the stream, and then 
suddenly rolling back, would beat against 
either bank with terrific force. Boats of con- 
siderable size were " high and dry" upon the 
shores of the river. Frequently a loud roar- 
ing and hissing were heard, like the escape 
of steam from a boiler. The air was impreg- 
nated with sulphurous effluvium, and a taste 
of sulphur was observed in the water of the 
river and the neighboring springs. Each 
shock was accompanied by what seemed to be 
the reports of heavy artillery. A man who 
was on the river in a boat at the time of one 
of the shocks declared that he saw the mighty 
Mississippi cut in twain, while the waters 
poured down a vast chasm into the bowels of 
the earth. A moment more and the chasm 
was tilled, but the boat which contained this 
witness was crushed in the tumultuous 
effort of the flood to regain its former level. 
The town of New Madrid, that had stood upon 
a blufif fifteen or twenty feet above the high- 
est water, sank so low, that the next rise of 
the water covered it to the depth of five feet. 
So far as can now be ascertained, but one 
person has put upon record his observations 
who saw it upon land. This was Mr. Bring- 
•ier, an engineer, who related what he saw 
to Sir Charles Lyell, in 1846. This account 
represents that he was on horseback near 
New Madrid, when some of the severest 
shocks occurred, and that, as the waves ad- 
vanced, he saw the trees bend down, and 
often, the instant afterward, when in the act 
of recovering their position, meet the boughs 
of other trees similarly inclined, so as to be- 
come interlocked, being prevented from 
rio-hting themselves again. The transit of the 



18 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



waves through the woods was marked by the 
crashing noise of countless branches, first 
heard on one side and then the other; at the 
same time, powerful jets of water, mixed 
with sand, loam, and bituminous shale, were 
cast up with such impetuosity that both 
horse and rider might have perished had the 
swelling and upheaving ground happened to 
burst immediately beneath them. Some of 
the shocks were perpendicular, while others, 
much more desolating, were horizontal, or 
moved along like great waves; and where the 
principal fountains of mud and water were 
throwD up, circular cavities, called "sink 
holes," were formed. One of the lakes thus 
formed is over sixty miles long and from 
three to twenty miles wide, and in places 
fifty to one hundred feet deep. In sailing 
over the sui'face of this lake, one is struck 
with astonishment at beholding the gigantic 
trees of the forest standing partially exposed 
amid the waste of waters, like gaunt, mysteri- 
ous monsters; but this mystery is still in- 
creased on casting the eye into the depths, 
to witness cane-brakes covering its bottom, 
over which a mammoth species of tortoise is 
sometimes seen dragging its slow length 
along, while millions of fish sport through 
the aquatic thickets — the whole constituting 
one of the remarkable features of American 
scenery. 

In that part of the country that borders 
upon what is called the "sunk country" — that 
is, depressions upon which lakesdidnot form 
— all the trees prioi: to the date of the'great 
earthquake are dead. Their leafless, barkless, 
and finally branchless bodies stood for many 
years as noticeable objects and monuments of 
the earth's agitation, that was to that terrific 
extent as to break them and wholly loosen 
from them the supporting soil. 

As before stated, the severest shocks were 
the first three days, but they lasted for thi-ee 



months. In many sections, the people dis- 
covered the opening seams ran generally in 
a parallel course, and they took advantage of 
this by felling trees at right angles, and in 
severe shocks even the children learned to 
cling upon these, and thus many were saved. 

Were we wrong in stating that the coming 
of the first steamboat to Cairo was a most 
memorable event? 

Such, indeed, faintly described, were some 
of the smToundings amid which the steamer 
New Orleans rode out of the troubled waters 
of the Ohio and into the yet worse troubled 
waters of the Mississippi Siver. It was 
natiu'e's grandest exhibition. It was the 
coming of the first steamboat in such awful 
surroundings that made such a strange meet- 
ing of the excited energies of nature and a 
human thought — a silent thought of man's 
brain fashioned into a steam engine, propel- 
ling a boat by this new idea upon the West- 
ern waters! What grandeur, and awful force 
and terror in the one, and, compared to it 
how feeble and insignificant the human prod- 
uct! How one, in its terrific grandeur, could 
change the whole face of our country in a 
moment, and make the feeble steamboat ap- 
pear as insignificant as the cork upon the 
storm-tossed ocean. A strange meeting of 
the two — those two things in the world which 
are so misread, and have been so long mis- 
understood by men! When nature puts on 
her suit of riot and force and begins the 
play of those fantastic tricks, men's souls 
are affrighted, and they fall upon their knees 
— rthose, often, who never did so before — and 
their feeble voices of supplication would ap- 
pease the storm or stop the earth's throes. 
The unusual display of the forces of nature 
appal men, and they worship what they con- 
ceive to be irresistible power. Hence, a 
country of earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones 
and storms is very religious, and generally 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



19 



full of superstition. A couDtry where lurks 
danger and perils upon every hand unseen — 
dangers that accumulate like the horrors of 
the nightmare — will produce in the human 
mind little else than superstition and quak- 
ing fears; the horrible di'ead ingulfs them 
like a living hell, till the very soul responds 
to the hideous surroundings. Man is so con- 
stituted, he will bow down and worship what 
he fears, especially when it is an unseen, re- 
sistless power, displayed in such appalling 
force as to enfeeble and dwarf his intellect. 

The ignorant squatters along the river — 
that is, some of them — had only known that 
the first steamboat and the great eai'thquake 
had come here together. It was firmly be- 
lieved that it was this flying in the face of 
God, and making a boat run with " bilin' 
water," that caused the earthquake. " Pre- 
sumptuous man had boiled the water, when, 
if God had wanted it to boil, he would have 
so made it. " People had navigated the river 
in flat-boats, keel-boats and canoes, and under 
these the glad rivers went singing to the sea. 
But Jman must come with his fire boat, and 
the earth went into convulsions, and ten'or 
and desolation brooded over the land. God 
was mysterious, and man presumptuous. 
The earth indeed trembled when He frowned, 
and man must learn to be meek and humble; 
he was but as the grass that was mowed down 
by the scythe — a breath, a passing vapor. 

But even the less ignorant of men — could 
he comprehend that in this boat was a great 
human thought, a wonderful invention of 
man? He could see the weak hands of men 
guiding and controlling it. It's a mere toy 
and child's play, and he looks at it a moment 
in childish curiosity, perhaps smiles ap- 
provingly upon it. It's all a momentary 
pastime with him. It's too feeble to do more 
than receive a passing notice. 



Think of it! The thoughts and inventions 
of genius are the one only powerful thing 
among men — they and their effects alone 
endure forever. All else passes away and is 
forgotten. In a little while, only the' traces 
of the great'earthquake, even, can be found 
and pointed out, while the steam engine has 
been the first, the great power that has done 
more for civilization and human advancement 
in the past fifty years than all else combined. 
From this one feeble, imperfect boat has 
come the world's Armada, that now plows 
the waves of every river and sea, until the 
busy world upon the waters and its wealth 
of nations almost equals that upon land. It 
is ever present — ever living — ever growing 
in might, power and the welfare of the whole 
human family. The earthquake, in its efifects 
upon mankind, compared to the engine, was 
as the mote to a world — a di-op of water com- 
pared to the ocean. No one thing in the his- 
tory of the human family has so contributed to 
the good of the human race, as the engine be- 
cause it opened the way and made possible the 
sweeping advance of the past three-quarters of 
a century. Remember, since the engine came, 
the average of human life has been increased 
ten years; man knows now, where he guessed 
and feared before. In no century, in all the 
world's history, has civilization made such 
great strides forward as this. It made possible 
all those comforts and necessities we now en- 
joy. It has lightened the laboi's and burdens of 
men, and given the mind a chance to work. It 
has cheapened food, clothing, books and in- 
telligence itself, and is gathering momentum 
as it goes. "Who may guess, who may dream 
of the ^'et benign and good effects to man 
that lay hidden in that gi-and and sublime 
thought of Fulton's that gave us the power 
of steam ? 

Then, indeed, what a great, what an im- 



20 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



mortal thing, was the first steamboat upon 
the Western waters! What a temporary 
thing was the earthquake that received it! 

Had the 18th day of December, 1811, only 
been signaled by any one of the three events 
above referred to, it would have constituted 
it a memoi'able day. But the wonderful com- 
bination of events makes it out most prom- 
inently in the calendar, as a day calling up 
the most vivid and important recollections of 
any other in the country's history. Suitable 
monuments along the river from Pittsburgh 
to New Orleans should be placed sacred to 
the memory of Capt. Roosevelt. 

As soon as the steamboat New Orleans had 
made its successful trip from Pittsburgh to 
New Orleans and return, the commerce of 
the Western waters really began to grow, and 
although it was six years after this success- 
ful steam voyage on the Ohio before a steam- 
boat attempted the waters of the Upper Mis- 
sissippi as far as St. Louis, yet Cairo soon 
began to attract the attention of river and 
commercial men as an important trans-ship- 
ping point. 

The steamboat Orleans was furnished 
with a propelling wheel at the stern and two 
masts; for Fulton believed, at that time,|,that 
the occasional use of sails would be indis- 
pensable. Her capacity was a hundred tons. 

The first appearance of this steamboat 
upon Western waters produced, as the reader 
may suppose, not a little excitement and 
admiration. A steamboat, to common observ- 
ers, was almost as great a wonder as a flying 
angel would be at present. The banks of 
the river, in some places, were thronged with 
spectators, gazing, in speechless astonish- 
ment, at the puffing and smoking phenome- 
non. The average speed of this boat was 
only about three miles per hour. Before her 
ability to move through the water without 
the aid of sails or oars had been exemplified, 



comparatively few persons believed she could 
possibly be made to answer any purpose of 
real utility. In fact, she had made several 
voyages before the general prejudice began 
to subside, and for some months many of the 
river merchants preferred the old mode of 
transportation with all its risks, delays and 
extra expense, rather than make use of such 
a contrivance as a steamboat, which, to their 
apprehensions, appeared too marvelous and 
miraculous for the business of every-dav life. 
How slow are the masses of mankind to 
adopt improvements, even when they appear 
to be most obvious and unquestionable! 

The second steamboat of the West wars a 
diminutive vessel called the Comet. She was 
rated at twenty-five tons. Daniel D. Smith 
was the owner and D. French the builder of 
this boat. Her machinery was on a plan for 
which French had obtained a patent in 1809. 
She went to Louisville in the summer of 

1813, and descended to New Orleans in the 
spring of 1814 She afterward made two 
voyages to Natchez, and was then sold, taken 
to pieces, and the engine was put up in a 
cotton factory. 

The Vesuvius was the next boat in the 
record. She was built by Fulton in Pitts- 
burgh, for a company, the members of which 
resided in New York, Philadelphia and New 
Orleans. She was under Capt. Frank Ogden, 
and went to New Orleans in the spring of 

1814. From New Orleans, she started for 
Louisville in July of the same year, but was 
grounded on a bar, seven hundred miles up 
the river, where she remained until the 3d 
of December following, when, being floated 
off by the tide, she returned to New Or- 
leans. In 1815-16, she made trips, for sev- 
eral months, from New Orleans to Natchez, 
under the command of Capt. Clement. 
This gentleman was succeeded by Capt, 
John De Hart, and while approaching New 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



21 



Orleans with a valuable cargo on board, she 
took fire and burned to the water's edge. 
After being submerged several months, the 
hull was raised and refitted. She was after- 
ward in the Louisville trade, and condemned 
in 1819. 

The Enterprise was the next boat in the 
West. She was built at Brownsville, Penn., 
by D. French, under his patent, and was 
owned by several residents of that place. 
This was a small boat of seventy-five tons. 
She made two voyages to Louisville in 1814, 
under the command of Capt. J. Gregg. On 
the 1st of December in the same year, she con- 
veyed a cai'go of ordnance stores from Pitts- 
burgh to New Orleans. While at the last- 
named port, she was pressed into seiwice by 
Gen. Jackson. When engaged in the public 
service, she was eminently useful in trans- 
porting troops, arms, ammunition and stores 
to the seat of war. She left New Orleans for 
Pittsburgh on the 6th of May, 1815, and 
reached Louisville after a passage of twenty- 
five days, thus completing the fii'st steam- 
boat voyage ever made from New Orleans to 
Louisville. But from the fact that the 
waters were very high, and she run all the 
cut-offs and over fields, etc., this experi- 
mental trip was not satisfactory, the public 
being still in doubt whether a steamboat 
could ascend the Mississippi when the river 
was confined within its banks, and the cur- 
rent as rapid as it generally is. 

Such was the state of public opinion when 
the steamboat Washington commenced her 
career. This vessel, the fifth in the cata- 
logue of Western steamboats, was constructed 
under the personal superintendence and 
direction of Capt. Henry M. Shreve. The 
hull was built at Wheeling, Va., and the 
engines were made at Brownsville, Penn. 
The entire construction of the boat couiprised 
various innovations, which were 



suggested 



by the ingenuity and experience of Capt. 
Shreve. The Washington was the first "two 
decker" on the Western waters. The cabin 
was placed between the decks. It had 
been the general practice for steamboats to 
carry their engines in the hold; in this par- 
ticular Capt. Shreve made a new arrange- 
ment, by placing the boiler of the Washing- 
ton on deck, and this plan was such an ob- 
vious improvement that all the steamboats 
on the waters retain it to the present day. 
The engines constructed under Fulton's pat- 
ent had upright and stationary cylinders; in 
French's engines vibrating cylinders were 
used. Shreve caused the cylinders of the 
Washington to be placed in a horizontal 
position, and gave the vibrations to the pit- 
man, Fulton and French used single low- 
pressure engines; Shreve employed a double 
high-pressure engine, with cranks at right 
angles, and this was the first engine of that 
kind ever used on the Western waters. Mr. 
David Prentice had previously used cam 
wheels for working the valves of the cylinder. 
Capt Shi'evo added his great invention of 
the cam cut-off, with flues to the boilers, by 
which three-fifths of the fuel was saved. 
These impr vements originated with Capt, 
Shreve, but although they have been in uni- 
versal use for a long [time, their origin has 
not been properly credited to the rightful 
inventor. 

On the 24th day of September, 1816, the 
Washington passed over the Falls of Ohio on 
her first trip to New Orleans, and returned to 
Louisville November following. While at 
New Orleans, the ingenuity of her construc- 
tion excited the admiration of the most in- 
telligent citizens of that place. Edward 
Livingston, after a critical examination of 
the boat and her machinery, remarked to Capt. 
Shi'eve, "You deserve well of your country, 
young man; but we [referring to Fulton 



32 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



and Livingston's monopoly] shall be com- 
pelled to beat you [in the courts] if we can." 

An accumulation of ice in the Ohio com- 
pelled the Washington to remain at the 
Falls until March 12, 1817. On that day she 
commenced her second trip to New Orleans. 
She accomplished this trip and returned to 
Shippingsport, at the foot of the Falls, in 
forty-one days. The ascending voyage was 
made in twenty-five days, and from this voy- 
age all historians date the commencement of 
steam navigation in the Mississippi Valley. 
It was now practically demonstrated, to the 
satisfaction of the public in general, that 
steamboats could ascend this river in less 
than one-fourth the time which the bai'ges 
and keel boats had required for the same 
purpose. This feat of the Washington pro- 
duced almost as much popular excitement 
and exultation in that region as the battle of 
New Orleans. The citizens of Louisville 
gave a public dinner to Capt. Shreve, at 
which he predicted the time would come 
when the trip from New Orleans to Louis- 
ville would be made in ten days. Although 
this may have been regarded as a boastful 
declaration at that time, the prediction has 
been more than fulfilled; for as early as 
1853, the trip was made in four days and 
nine hours. 

After that memorable voyage of the Wash- 
ington, all doubts and prejudices in reference 
to steam navigation were removed. Shipyards 
began to be established in every convenient lo- 
cality, and the business of steamboat build- 
ing was vigorously prosecuted. But a new 
obstacle now presented itself, which for a 
time threatened to give an effectual check 
to the spirit of enterprise and progression 
which had just been developed. We refer to 
the claims made by Fulton and Livingston 
to the exclusive right of steam navigation on 
the rivers of the United States. This claim 



being resisted by Capt. Shreve, the Washing- 
ton was attached at New Orleans, and taken 
possession of by the Sheriff. When the case 
came for adjudication before the District 
Court of Louisiana, that tribunal promptly 
negatived the exclusive privileges claimed 
by Livingston and Fulton, which were decided 
to be unconstitutional. The monopoly claims 
of L. and F. were finally withdrawn in 1819, 
and the last restraint on the steamboat 
navigation of the Western rivers was thus 
removed, leaving AVestern enterprise and 
energy full liberty to carry on the great work 
of improvement. This work has been so 
progressive, that at one time no less than 800 
steamboats were in operation on the Ohio and 
Mississippi Rivers; and here this mode of 
navigation has been carried on to a degree 
of perfection unrivaled in any other part of 
the world. 

In the year 1818, William Bird, now de- 
ceased, entered the extreme point of land on 
the peninsula formed by the junction of the 
two rivers, and known in the Congressional 
Survey as the southeast quarter of Section 
25, and all of Fractional Section 36, the two 
tracts aggi'egating about three hundred and 
sixty acres; but for some years the land lay 
unimproved and neglected. From this 
ownership by Mr. Bird, the locality took the 
name of Bird's Point, by which name it was 
designated for nearly twenty years. 

Shortly after Bird's entry, a company was 
formed, at the head of which was a man 
named Comegys, and apparently in good 
faith set about the work of building a city 
here that should anticipate the wants of 
men and commerce for all time to come. 
They obtained a charter for that purpose, 
under the name and style of the "City and 
Bank Company of Cairo." This company 
foresaw the Illinois Central Eailroad, and 
here, so far as the facts can now be gathered, 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



23 



was the first tangible idea of this great rail- 
road put forth to the world. There was no 
Chicago then to build a road to; there was 
little or nothing in the central or northern 
portion of the State demanding highway 
privileges and commercial rights, and yet 
the idea was formulated that, in the course of 
time, was worked out to h most successful issue. 
The particulars of this corporation, and its 
struggles and its end, are given in another 
chapter. Sufficient to say here, that the com- 
pany ceased to exist, and had left untouched 
the great old forest trees that covered the 
town site when first discovered. This first 
failure had hardly attracted any public at- 
tention to Cairo. The majority who had 
come to know the country believed that a 
city would arise somewhere here on the pen- 
insula, but they were mostly convinced that 
it must be built back upon the hills, and not 
upon the point that all could see was subject 
to frequent inundations. Henry L. Webb 
and a few others, therefore, had started, as 
far back as 1817, the town of Trinity, at the 
mouth of Cache River, six miles above Cairo, 
on the Ohio River. This had grown to be a 
steamboat landing, and in very early times 
the place could boast a boat store, a tavern, a 
bar and a billiard soloon, but for ten years 
after this first abortive attempt to settle, 
" the smoke of no adventurer's hovel gave 
gloom to Cairo's canopy," and the unbroken 
silence remained with the " neck of the 
woods," where the future Cairo was to be. 

In 1828, John and Thompson Bird, the 
sons of William Bird, made the first improve- 
ment here. They selected the spot a few 
hundred 'feet south of the present Halliday 
House, and, bringing their slaves over from 
Missouri, threw up a sufficient embankment 
to protect a building which they erected 
about twenty-five by thirty-five feet in 
dimensions, and in a short time after the^ 



erected another building, between this and 
the river, which was about twenty feet 
square, and was placed on piles, as a security 
against the water. The first building was a 
tavern, and the latter a store, and for several 
years it was only the chance flat- boatman that 
circumstances compelled to land here and 
get a few supplies for his crew that fur- 
nished customers to these Alexander Selkirks. 
Bacon, whisky and flour were the only com- 
modities wanted by any of the customers of 
those days. The next season after the Birds 
had taken possession, a wood-chopper put up 
a shanty near their imjuovement, and in this 
he lived and chopped wood, and piled it on 
the bank, waiting for some boat to come 
along and want it. The wood-chopper made 
a very little impression on the big trees 
around him, and the Birds had only a small 
spot cleared and cleaned off, so as to have a 
little breathing room, as well as a place to 
receive and pass out the goods they handled. 
In 1831, only about five acres had been cut 
away, and this lay in a narrow strip along 
the banks of the Ohio, and extended no 
fui'ther north than to about where is now 
Second street. Until 1835, Trinity continued 
to be the commanding and promising point. 
In this year, Messrs. Breese, Swanwick, 
Baker, Gilbert and others began to give the 
point their open attention, and they entered 
several thousand acres of land, including all 
that portion between the two rivers up to 
and beyond Cache River. They had in view 
the future possibilities of the place as a point 
for a city, but having secvu'ed the land, mat- 
ters remained quiet for some time. The next 
step taken was on the IGth day of January, 
1830, when a charter was granted a com- 
pany, by the Illinois Legislature, to build 
the Illinois Central Railroad. 

February 27, 1837. the State of Illinois 
passed the General Improvement Bill — better 



24 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



known to the immediate posterity of these 
early statesmen as the General Insanity Bill 
— which resulted in a wide-spread bankruptcy, 
and seriously threatened, at one time, to ruin 
the State for nearly all time to come. This 
State scheme df making all the improvements 
swallowed up all charters that had been 
granted to private parties, and, among the 
others, the charter for the construction of th6 
Illinois Central Railroad; and, as a specimen 
of what aji insane State could do, the 
Legislatui'e appropriated (not having a dol- 
lar, it seems, in the treasury) $3,500,000 for 
the building of this last-named road. 

On the 4th day of March, 1S37, the Cairo 
City & Canal Company was chartered by 
the Illinois Legislature. This was the final 
act and organization that led to founding a 
city here, and of the charter and laws and the 
official acts of the company, and their 
failures, etc. , we refer the reader to another 
chapter, where these matters are given in 
their order and at length. 

This company purchased, on credit, vast 
bodies of land, including the Bird tract, and 
pretty much all lands on the peninsula, to 
and beyond Cache River. The master-spirit 
of the enterprise, as soon as it was success- 
fully started, was Darius B. Holbrook, of 
Boston. The company, apparently, cared 
not what price it agreed to pay for the land; 
so the title was secured, that seemed enough. 
The daring, and doubtless unscrupulous, 
leader of this company, even in those days of 
little money and natural economy, seemed to 
talk and think of money in sums of never 
less than millions. He expected to borrow 
immense sums, and stake these over-bar- 
gained lands as the security for the vast 
amount of money wherewith to improve the 
lands and build the city; and, remarkable as 
it may be, did so borrow money, and had 
arranged for it to be advanced by the million, 



sure enough. While such success shows 
there must have been method in his madness, 
yet his whole idea, after he had secured the 
money, was a piece of madcap folly. When 
he found it possible to find other men to 
furnish the money for him to expend, he was 
at once seized with the idea that, with money 
enough, he could build a great city, and the 
whole thing, when completed, would be as 
much of a private piece of property as would be 
a large factory, steam mill, or, for that matter, 
a block of private residences. His theory 
was to se] 1 no property about the town, except 
the bonds and stocks. No one could buy a 
lot and build upon it and own it. You could 
not buy an inch of the city grounds; but you 
could buy the bonds, and, upon this insane 
idea, he went to Europe and hypothecated 
the city bonds to the amount of more than 
$2,000,000, and returned to Cairo with the 
first installment of this money, and com- 
menced the stupendous work upon a stupen- 
dous scale. The only parallel to the vast 
scheme was the State's craze on the internal 
improvement folly. It is amusing to conjec- 
ture what Holbrook would have done had he 
been backed by a limitless supply of money. 
He evidently would have left some wrecks 
here, the like of which the world had never 
seen, while his cold, selfish, Yankee instincts 
would have made a heavy per cent of all the 
money that passed through his hands stick 
in his fingers. Thus, iu the end, he would 
have grown immensely rich; but it is not at 
all certain he ever would have erected a town 
here. 

When he roturned from Europe, he issued 
a flaming address — a kind of open letter ad- 
dressed to all the world — full of as much 
fulsome nonsense and after the style of Na- 
poleon's address to his soldiers. It can only 
be guessed why he issued these flaming ad- 
dresses. He was not seeking purchasers for 





o^ 



/ 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



his town property, for he had nothing to sell, 
and the addresses were not got up to draw 
renters. The only excuse there can be for 
their existence was to brag on himself, and, 
in the common slang, "blow his own horn." 

If Cairo has had any parallel, either in its 
commencement or in much that has occurred 
in its history during its progress, we are not 
aware of it. Its very first building was a 
tavern, its second a store, and then came the 
first natural growth — the woodman' s shanty. 
Then the next effort was to found a city by 
starting a wild-cat bank, and then came Hoi- 
brook and his idea of a city and the inhabitants 
all stockholders, while he and his company 
were the real owners. But Holbrook was at 
least in earnest about the building of levees 
around the town, to keep out the water. As 
soon as be secm-ed the money, he made con- 
tracts with S. & H. Howard, J. H. McMurry, 
Murphy and others, and these contractors 
brought on laborei's here in large numbers. 
Many of these brought their families, and, 
in hastily constructed shanties and huts, they 
went to living, "keeping boarders," and put- 
ting on those airs which belong to a city that 
has grown in a night. Mr. Walter Falls had 
a store on a boat, moored at the levee, but its 
capacity for furnishing supplies was wholly 
inadequate, and passing boats were called 
upon to help fm'nish the people with some of 
the necessaries of life. The State also threw 
a large number of men here to work on the 
Illinois Central Railroad, so that the demand 
for flour, bacon and coffee was still increased 
to that extent that often loaded flat-boats 
would stop here, and sell out the cargoes 
they had intended for farther south. 

A population reaching 2.000 souls were 
thus thrown suddeuly together, and affairs 
had much the appearance of one of those 
mining towns that jump into existence so 
suddenly, and sometimes seem to jump out 



quite as quickly. But the people believed 
everything was permanent; they, therefore, 
proceeded in due form to organize a regular 
form of government, and appoint the neces- 
sary officers to carry out its edicts. As Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Mr. Mai'sh and ]Mr. Mc- 
Cord were chosen, and two lawyers decorated 
a couple of shanty doors with their shin- 
gles; these were Mr. Gass (good legal name) 
and a JNIr. McCrillis. A post office was at 
once established, and Squire Marsh was ap- 
pointed Postmaster. In addition to being 
Postmaster, he had to receive and forward all 
mails, and in a short time this task was 
worth three or foiu* times the whole salary of 
the office. A Dr. Cummings hung out his 
banner on the outer walls, and called the sick 
and afflicted to come to him for quinine and 
calomel. The Catholic element, mindful of 
their religious obligations, set about the prep- 
aration of a place for the public worship 
of God. As they were limited alike in means 
and building materials, and as they desired 
to siibserve only a temporary purpose, they 
satisfied themselves with a rough, board- 
roofed shanty in the depths of the convenient 
woods. In the forks of one of the trees over- 
shadowing their unpretending chvu'ch build- 
ing, they suspended a bell, and this, every 
Sunday morning and evening, rang out 
through the deep woods and over the face of 
the suiTounding waters the call of " Come, 
and let us worship." • Such was the first 
organization of municipal, governmental and 
church matters in Cairo, as well as the first 
lawA'ers. and the first doctor and the first 
people. Such was the young city at the 
commencemeut of the year 1841. At this 
time, the firm of Bellews, Hathaway & Gil- 
bert secui'ed a charter for iron works, and 
they opened their establishment. It was filled 
with all the finest machinery that could be 
procured in England. At the time, it ranked 



38 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



among the completest establishments of its 
kind in the United States, and as it was run 
to its fullest capacity, it gave Jabor to a large 
force of men. These works were erected about 
where is now the corner of Twelfth street and 
the Ohio levee. Near the iron works were 
two large saw mills, of great capacity each, 
and they were busily at work converting the 
big trees of the adjacent forest into lumber 
for building jDurposes and railroad timbers. 
The company had revived the old City Bank 
of Cairo — a bank of issue, and, by law, was 
temporarily located at Kaskaskia, and this 
money was scattered profusely about the 
town. By some favored arrangement, the 
money of this wild-cat bank was taken at the 
Kaskaskia Land Office, while much better 
money from Indiana and Ohio was refused 
there. The company had erected a long 
frame hotel at the point— its great length, 
and its verandas extending fi'om one end to 
the other, all painted white, made it a con- 
spicuous landmark in approaching Cairo. Its 
landlord was a man named Jones, and in 
these flush times it was at all times thronged 
with the chief men of the town and travelers 
awaiting the arrival and departure of boats 
to carry them on their intended way. A 
planing mill of mammoth proportions was 
erected near the corner of Eighth and Com- 
mercial streets. Two brick-yards, each sup- 
plied with the latest patents for turning out 
brick by the many thousand daily, from diy, 
compressed earth, were erected. These were 
then located in what is called Upper Cairo. 
The company had erected a dry dock, at a 
cost of over $35,000, and notwithstanding 
a heavy force of carpenters were erecting 
buildings in every direction, yet, so m-gent 
was the demand for houses of any and every 
kind, that Col. Falls had moored at the levee 
the hull of the steamer Peru, and a IVIr. 
Thompson had also brought the steamer 



Asia to the wharf for the same purpose. In 
short, the entire levee soon became a compact 
mass of wharf- boat hotels, stores, residences, 
boarding-houses and business places of every 
kind. Here was a little busy city on boats 
moored to the shore. Everything and every- 
where about Cairo bespoke a_marvelous thrift 
— all was at high pressure, and the wonder 
of the age had come at last. And all over 
the land the contagion spread. Along the 
rivers, from Pittsbui'g and St. Louis to Xew 
Orleans its name grew, and crossing the 
Alleghanies and over the Eastern States, and, 
pushed by the great banking-house of Wright 
& Co., of London, which had taken over 
$2,000,000 in the Cairo bonds, and who were 
interested in advertising it all over Europe 
in the most unqualified and extravagant 
terms, until apparently the large portion of 
the civilized world looked, at least, and as- 
certained where this remarkable young city 
was located on the world's map. Never was 
more thorough, elaborate or expensive adver- 
tising done for any place than that for Cairo. 
Flaming prospective views of the city in 
splendid lithographs were hung upon the 
walls of steamboats, hotels, halls and other 
public places, and to all these were added 
the potency of a great young State, advertis- 
ing, by its legislative acts, this great South Sea 
Bubble, or, as Cairo was modestly then 
called in the proclamations of Holbrook, the 
" great commercial and manufacturing mart 
and emporium." 

The State had literally bankrupted itself, 
and perforce wound up its Utopian schemes. 
Its folly had very nearly universally bank- 
rupted the entire people. The whole coun- 
try was ripe for a panic and contraction, and 
the probe of a solid specie basis pricked, of 
course, the Cairo bubble, and the crash of 
tumbling air castles, and the haK-comj)leted 
real ones, carried everything with them, and 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



29 



left the Cairo City k Canal CompaBy 
biiried beneath a mountain of debris. We 
have already shown the inherent defects 
there were in the Holbrook idea of founding 
and building a great city, but in a sketch by 
M. B. Harrell, published in 1864, he gives 
the following as his conclusions as to the 
immediate and remote causes of the collapse 
of the town: 

" There are many causes," he says, "which 
contributed to the downfall of Cairo, but the 
chief cause alleged is the failui'e of the house 
of Wright & Co., London, through whom 
the company anticipated continued loans. 
But this is by no means the sole cause. The 
suspension of work on the Illinois Central 
Railroad, the great artery of trade and traffic 
upon which so much depended, and the gen- 
eral abandonment of the system of public 
works inaugurated by the State in 1837, 
seemed to affect the piablic at large, and 
so seriously enervated the enterprise of Cairo. 
And, again, it is directly taught, by the his- 
tory of the whole country, that no man, set of 
men or corporation, can create and success- 
fully conduct such a monstrous monopoly as 
that attempted at the contiuence of these 
rivers by D. B. Holbrook & Co. Even per- 
sonal liberty and freedom of thought were 
broucjht in direct antafjconism to this sinofu- 
lar undertaking. The proje^it amounted to 
no more nor less than an attempt on the part 
of these men to build, own and direct a city 
at the mouth of the Ohio River. At no price, 
in no shape or form, could a resident of this 
city, under the Holbrook auspices, become a 
freeholder. He could not piirchase, he could 
not lease, or otherwise acquire a title in a 
single foot of ground within the proposed 
city. If he occupied a dwelling, this com- 
pany owned it, and consequently he lived in 
it only during the pleasiu'e of this * Lord of 
the manor.' If ordered to vacate, he could 



not quarter himself in a hotel or boarding- 
house and bid his persecutor defiance, for 
even that was held by the all- pervading 
power. No house or hotel anywhere within 
the prescribed limits of the corporation could 
be erected or destroyed, imless Holbrook ex- 
ercised the power of controlling the manner 
and means, and designating the time and 
place for such erection or destruction. And 
his powers, or what is the same thing, 
the powers of the Cairo City & Canal Com- 
pany, terminated not here. A coi'rupt or an 
imbecile Legislature conferi-ed upon that 
company the dangerous authority to establish 
all the rules and regulations for the govern- 
ment of the municipality that a ^Ihyor and a 
Board of Councilmen, selected from amongst 
the people might, as a body, establish. It 
was for D. B. Holbrook, or what is the same, 
the Cairo City & Canal Company, to define 
offenses and prescribe their punishment; to 
declare, by fixing wharfage at a rate that 
would amount to a prohibition, that steam- 
boats should cease landing at this delta: to 
say what style of living or existing should 
amount to vagabondage, and affix the penal- 
ty; to declare a levy of taxes, and enforce its 
collection; and to expend these taxes as he 
elected, whether for the advantage of the 
piiblic or the fiu-therauce of the aims of his 
bantling, the Cairo City & Canal Company. 
In short, D. B. Holbrcjok, as the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, at a late hour in his 
career here, to wit, on the 17th February, 
1871, were clothed by the then sitting, 
thoughtless or villainous Legislature of 
Illinois, with all the powers conferi-ed upon 
the Board of Aldei-men of the City of Quincy, 
as defined between the First and Forty-fifth 
Sections of the charter of that city; an<l these 
grants of power the same Legislature con- 
firmed for a period of ten years. It is, per- 
haps true that he never exercised any legal 



30 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



despotism, or felt any disposition to exercise 
it, but the mere reposition of such alarming 
privileges in one man, and that man charged 
with the control of the material affairs of the 
city, could have but exercised a most enervat- 
ing and desti-uctive influence upon the proj- 
ect in hand, and of itself ultimately insured 
the overthrow and destruction of the enter- 
prise." 

From 1839 to 1841, a little more than two 
years of Cairo's first glory, there ^ was spent 
here by Holbrook's company, or the founda- 
tions laid for spending, the whole of the 
$1,250,000 that he had arranged for in 
Europe, and when to this is added the actua 1 
expenditures made by the State, and the pros ■ 
pective future expenditure of the $3,500,000 
by the State on the Illinois Central road, 
the wonder is ^there were not more than two 
thousand people gathered here. Nearly every 
one of these must have been needed as em- 
ployes in the vast enterprises commenced 
and projected. When the work was stopped 
by Holbrook's company, the two levees run- 
ning along the shores of eacli river, joining at 
the south end and forming a levee, were com- 
pleted, and were of a height and strength then 
determined by the company' s engineers to be 
amply sufficient for protection from inunda- 
tion. The base of the levee was forty feet, a 
top width of twelve feet, with an easy descent 
on the outside of one foot perpendicularly to 
seven feet horizontally. In 1843, Mr. M. A. 
Gilbert constructed the cross levee. As said 
above, a splendid dry dock and ship -yard 
had been established, and, under the super- 
intendence of Capt. Garrison, a well-known 
river man, the steamer Tennessee Valley had 
fceen built, and the iron work for this vessel 
had been turned out by the Cairo Foundry 
Works, and thus a complete vessel, of first- 
class quality, had been fitted out and wholly 
completed by Cairo skill alone. 



As the existence of Cairo, under Holbrook's 
auspices, ran only through about three years, 
and as much of that time was exhausted in 
the procurement of lands and means to im- 
prove them, and in the erection of saw mills 
and the opening of quarries and brick-yards 
to provide building materials, but few build- 
ings were erected, whether for residence or 
business houses. According to the best data 
to be obtained, we have it represented that 
the first building put up by the company was 
the additioE to the Cairo Hotel, situated on 
the point; then the Bellews House was erected 
next; then the machine shops; Holbrook's 
spacious residence, on the spot now occupied 
by the Halliday House; the planing mills, 
and some twenty cottages. These, with a 
number of shanties, that stood at the mercy 
of Holbrook, as his order to tear them down 
at any time would have been like the edict of 
a tyrant, were the sum total of Cairo's im- 
provements in this line even in this zenith of 
her glory. But a great many others were 
contemj)lated, and a few had been commenced 
before the crash came. An immense stone 
foundation, near what is now the corner of 
Sixth street and the Ohio levee, was nearly 
completed, upon which was to be erected the 
" Great London Warehouse, " that was to 
eclipse, in point of size, elegance and general 
finish, the monster warehouse of like name 
in the City of London. 

The intentions of Holbrook's company, in 
regard to future building operations, is prob- 
ably truthfully shadowed forth in the follow- 
ing extract from one of the circulars issued 
about the time when the prospects for the 
town were the fairest: 

" The demand for bailding for every pur- 
pose and every description, encourages the 
company to use all the labor and force which 
can be advantageously employed to meet 
these apiilieations — in fact, the conclusion is 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



31 



iresistible, that the proper and requisite 
number of dwellings and places for business 
ai-e only wanting at Cairo to seom-e a popula- 
tion equal in number and character to any 
town in the West; and it will be evideot to 
every one that the advantages which the com- 
pany possess for building are very great, 
having their own forests of timber, saw mills, 
quarries of stone, lime and brick yards, and 
every other material required is obtainable 
in large quantities, and consequently at a 
reduced price ; and eveiy kind of labor which 
can be done, to save advantage, by use of 
steam power and machinery, will be adopted 
by the company and made available." 

This is appropriately chapter one of the 
history of Cairo. Abortive as the grand 



effort, or "splurge," to use a more truthful 
description of the occasion, was, it was the 
one final effort to lay the foundation upon 
which the present superstructure stands. A 
generation has passed away since that time, 
and of all the struggling, active, busy throng 
that were parties to this stirring [and hope- 
ful period, there are but very few now left 
us to tell over the story, and recall the hopes 
and fears and trials and triumphs that ani- 
mated their bosoms in those young days of 
their lives and of the city's life. The story 
is a remarkable one and fiill of interest, and 
contains a lesson, when properly 'read, that 
none can afford to pass by unnoticed, and that 
all may contemplate with pleasui'e and 
profit. 



CHAPTER 11. 



CRASH OF THE CAIRO CITY AND CANAL COMPANY IN 1841— THE EXODUS OF THE PEOPLE- 
PASTIMES AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THOSE WHO REMAIN— JUDGE GILBERT— HOW A RIOT 
WAS SUPPRESSED— BRYAN SHANNESSY— GRADUAL GROWTH OF THE 
TOWN AGAIN— THE RECORD BROUGHT DOWN TO 1853, ETC. 



IN the preceding chapter we told of the 
first gathering of the people here, and on 
what a grand scale they went to work to 
build a great city. How the Cairo City & 
Canal Company literally took charge of 
everything, and, by a profuse display of 
money, and work and high wages, it in- 
duced many hundreds of people to come and 
cast their fortunes with the rising young city; 
and how in a moment, when all seemed the 
most promising and cheerful, the whole 
thing vanished like a pricked bubble, and 
leaving nothing but grief and pain for 
promised joy to the many himdreds who felt 
they had been lured into the wilds by false rep- 
resentations, and bitterness and disappoint- 



ment took the place of hope and promise' 
As already intimated, when the crash came 
there had gathered here about two thousand 
people, and they were proceeding rapidly to 
gather about them all the appliances of civil- 
ized and municipal life. A man named T. 
J. Gass, mentioned in the preceding chapter, 
was teaching the first school in Cairo. It 
was a pay school, taught in a hastily con- 
structed building near where is now the cox-- 
nerof Twelfth street and Washington avenue. 
But when the failure of the city company 
came, everything of a public natiu-e, and 
even every private enterprise, stopped, and 
the work of depopulating at once set in and 
went forward with almost as much celerity as 



32 



HISTOKY OF CAIKO. 



had its gathering of people the year before. 
The post office, Col. Walter Falls, Postmas- 
ter, continued. It is said, as an evidence 
that the few left here were not writing to 
their friends for money to get away, that his 
salary often amounted to as much as $2. 15 
per^quarter. The Catholic Church, the only 
one regularly established here at that time, 
continued its work. The foundry tried to 
brave the storm, and continued to run when 
all else had apparently stopped forever, but 
the cross levee was not yet constructed, and 
the floods came in 1842, and, on the 22d day 
of March of that year, it put out its fur- 
naces, and forever afterward partook of the 
universal abandonment to quietude and decay. 
Col. Falls did continue his store, on his 
wharf-boat and his wharf-boat business until 
1846 or 1847, when he quitted the town and 
removed to a place once called " Ohio City," 
on the Missouri shore, a short distance 
below Cairo. 

So rapidly did the process of depopulation 
go on that in a few months there were not 
more than a score of families left. The flam- 
ing forges, the flying wheels, the clangor of 
machinery and the "music of the hammer 
and the saw" had died away, and given place 
to a quiet that could not have been far sur- 
passed had nature set upon the city the very 
signet of eternity . 

And now commenced, on the part of those 
who held unsatisfied claims against the com- 
pany, a legal effort to secure their own. 
Judgments were rendered, executions issued, 
and every article of movable property left 
or abandoned by the company, not excepting 
the fine machinery of the mills, shops and 
foundries, was seized upon and sold for a 
mere trifle under the hammer at public sale. 
The dry dock was either cut loose, or the 
high waters of 1842 swept it away in the 
flood, and as it approached the Kentucky 



shore it was seized under an execution for 
debt, sold, and taken to New Orleans and 
used at Algiers until the war, when the rebels 
converted it into one of their first formidable 
war vessels. 

For more than a year, the Cairo City & 
Canal Company, as if overpowered by their 
complete failure, appeared utterly careless of 
the wreck they had left behind them. The 
company had gone and chaos came, and there 
seemed to be no one left to look after or care 
for its property or its rights here. People 
moved into the houses that were deserted at 
will, where they had no landlord, no rents, 
no taxes, nor no care how soon it fell into 
decay or was used piece-meal for kindling the 
matutinal fires. The same with the land; 
whoever first fancied to take possession and 
cultivate any cleai*ed portion, did so without 
let or hindi'ance. We have spoken of the 
dangerous powers the Legislatui'e had placed 
in Holbrook's hands. Upon the sudden dis- 
appearance of this autocrat, with his excess 
of law and authority, the people were left at 
the other extreme, and possession now was 
sovereign, and, as a rule, every man was a 
law unto himself. 

Judge Miles A. Gilbert was the first per- 
son to come to Cairo after the collapse, and 
act as agent and representative of the com- 
pany, to the extent of protecting its property 
and his own, of which he had large quanti- 
ties, as well as a considerable holder in the 
stocks of the company. A detailed account 
of what he found here, and the spirit and 
moods of the people in their anger at Hol- 
brook and his company, could they be fully 
given, would read like a Western early-day 
romance. And of all the men it was possible 
to send here to speak peace to the brewing 
storm, and stay the uplifted hands of vio- 
lence, he was the only one. His unflinching 
integrity, his ripe judgment, and his mild. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



33 



and firm and fair treatment of all questions 
that arose between the people and the com- 
pany were productive of results that must 
have saved even bloodshed at times, and at 
all times it was a protection to the property of 
the place, as well as to the angered and out- 
raged people who clamored for the pay due 
them. 

Judge Gilbert may justly be regarded as 
one of the active and leading spirits engaged 
in the early enterprise of founding the city 
of Cairo, and the only one of the early 
founders of the city now living. He was 
born in Hartford, Conn., January 1, 1810; 
came to Kaskaskia, 111., June 8, 1832, with 
a large stock of goods; merchandized there 
eleven yeai-s; November 17, 1836, married 
Ann Eliza Bakei', eldest daughter of Hon. 
David J. ^Baker, Sr., at Kaskaskia, 111. 
April, 1843, he removed to Cairo, and took 
charge of all the property there owned by 
the Cairo City & Canal Company, as their 
agent. The company had just failed, and a 
great number of men, in consequence, thrown 
out of employment, were in a wild, ungovern- 
able state, making a great noise about their 
pay. Judge Gilbert's gi-eat- grandfather was 
Abraliam Gilbert, who died at Hamden in 
1718, and was the grandson of Josiah Gil- 
bert, who, with three other brothers, came 
from Norfolk, England, to America in 1640, 
and settled near New Haven, Conn. ; so that 
Judge Gilbert's lineage is traceable directly 
back to the " Gilberts of Norfolk," England, 
whose coat of arms bore the motto Tenax 
propositi — firm of pni-pose; and there is, per 
haps, nothing more illustrative of this trait 
of character in Judge Gilbert, in his long, 
honorable and active life, or better illustra- 
tive of the condition of affairs at Cairo, im- 
mediately following the failvu'e of the Cairo 
City & Canal Company, than his bold, de- 
termined and successful defense of the prop- 



erty of the company he came to Cairo to 
protect and preserve, as against the enraged 
mob of workmen he found fiercely demand- 
ing everything, and threatening an open out- 
break, and, by mob violence, to seize and 
sacrifice all within reach. This was the con- 
dition of affairs when Judge Gilbert arrived 
in the spring of 1843, and his first work was 
to set about the most active efforts to thwart 
the threatened mob. Had he reached the 
grounds sooner, it is probable he could have 
influenced the leaders and prevented an out- 
break. Here were a great number of men sud- 
denly thrown out of employment; they had 
grown clamorous and turbulent, and they de- 
termined to break into the company's machine 
and carpenter shops, a large building, 
150x200 feet in dimensions, and filled with 
the most expensive machinery, which was 
attached to and formed part of the building, 
and in law formed a part of the realty, and 
had to be so treated as regards attachments 
or executions. The tui-bulents went to Judge 
Gilbert, and demanded that he allow them to 
enter the building and detach the machinery 
and sell it under execution. He had n6 
authority to grant the request, and so in- 
formed them. They swore they would take 
it at all hazards, when he informed them he 
was here to protect the property, and he 
would do so against friend or foe. The 
leaders retired in great anger from the in- 
terview, and at once began to gather their 
mob. Judge Gilbert, realizing what was 
coming, selected four laboring men, upon 
whom he could fully rely, hired them and 
armed them, and the five men entered the 
building and hastily barricaded the doors and 
windows as best they could, and took their 
respective positions at ^such places as the at- 
tacking party would have to approach. They 
had hardly had time to do so when the mob, 
in gi-eat force, approached the front or main 



34 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



entrance; failing to open this, they tried the 
windows, but finding them secm-ely fastened 
they procured a ladder. Judge Gilbert, from 
the second story window, addressed the 
crowd, and his quiet, firm, yet pleasant man- 
ner secured their close attention. ITe told 
them he was their friend, and not their 
enemy; that it would deeply pain him to 
hurt or injiu-e any one of them in any way, 
but that he had been placed there to protect 
the property, and protect it he would, to the 
extent of his life. He advised them to go 
peaceably home, and await the results of the 
negotiations of the President of the com- 
pany, who was then in New York, and nego- 
tiating for money wherewith to pay every one 
of them every cent the company owed them. 
He showed them that they were violating the 
law, and that, instead of- thus righting their 
wrongs, they were putting themselves in the 
position to be punished by law; that the law 
was his protection; it was with him in his 
effort to protect property, and this made his 
apparent helplessness and weakness strong 
enough to resist and riepel even their over- 
powering numbers. He frankly told them 
they could not come into the building while 
he was alive, and that for them to kill him 
in order to get in would be murder, for which 
they would be hung. He m'ged them to 
peaceably go away, and concluded by in- 
forming them that he would kill the ih'st 
man who entered the building. This quiet 
and sensible talk had a marked influence on 
the crowd; the leaders called them away, 
and they retired a short distance to hold a 
council. After much parleying, and a 
bounteous supply of fighting whisky, they re- 
turned to the charge, more fiuuous than ever. 
They surrounded the building, cursing, 
swearing and howling their rage, like in- 
furiated beasts, and calling upon each other 
to kill Judge Gilbert and his four faithful 



companions and take the machinery and con- 
tents and destroy the building. The front of 
the building was upon or against the levee, 
and the rear of it stood about ten feet above 
the ground, and here was a large trap -door, 
used for the purpose of taking in and pass- 
ing out the most curaberseme articles of 
goods. The mob succeeded in breaking and 
pushing up and open this trap-door, and 
then they attempted to "boost" their men up 
through this. Judge Gilbert was at the spot 
by the time they had the trap open, and again 
appealed personally to some of the leaders 
and begged them to go away. He showed 
them he was armed with firearms and a stout 
hickory club, and told them he alone coald 
kill them as fast as they could show their 
heads above the floor, and informed them he 
would certainly do so. Several ventured to 
put up their hands and clasp the upper side 
of the floor, but a sharp rap from the hickory 
club made them quickly take them down 
again. Finally, after trying all manner of 
means to efifect an entrance, they persuaded 
one poor fellow, who was much under the in- 
fluence of liquor, to let them push him up 
through the floor. He was warned, as he 
started up, not to attempt it, but, nothing 
daunted, he allowed himself to be shoved 
forward. He received a light blow from the 
club, and it affected him so little that the 
crowd cheered and pushed him the harder. 
The club was then rained upon his head fast 
and furious, and finally he yelled in agony 
to be lowered instantly or he would be killed 
sure enough, and he was let down. This 
man's dreadful experience sobered him, and 
also seems to have had the effect of sobering 
the crowd. A feeble effort was made to call 
out other volunteers to go up, but to this there 
was no response. They began to fall away 
in small squads, but the majority lingered 
around the building until after dark, when 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



35 



they all left, and quiet reigned supreme once 
more. Judge Gilbert and bis four men re- 
mained on guard all night, and it can well 
be imagined they did not even sleep by 
relays. They stayed close upon duty for 
several days, until the leaders of the mob 
(something they should have thought of tirst) 
advised vrith attorneys, and concluded a mob 
v^as not the true remedy for their wrongs. 

This episode is properly a histoiy of the 
trying times in Cairo, but it well answers the 
double purpose of illustrating the temper of 
the people when Judge Gilbert came here 
to take possession of the Cairo City Canal 
Company's interests, as well as something of 
the iron there was in the Judge's nature, and 
which constituted him the right man in the 
right place. 

Judge Gilbert had the cross levee built in 
1843, and had the Ohio and Mississippi 
levees repaired, inclosing about six hundred 
acres of land, so strong and permanent that 
it secured Cairo from inundation during the 
great flood of 1844. He remained there for 
three years; was one of the original pur- 
chasers of the land, from Government, on 
which the city is now biiilt; was identified 
with all the charter railroads and organiza- 
tions of the city, as either Pi-esident, Direc- 
tor or stockholder, up to the appointment of 
Samuel Staats Taylor as agent of the Trustees 
(Thomas S. Taylor and Charles Davis), He 
then moved to Ste. Genevieve County, Mo. , 
where he had large landed interests; laid oflf 
a town thereon, and called it "Ste. Mary," 
now a flourishing village of several hundred 
inhabitants, where he has resided ever since, 
and still resides at his homestead, "Oakwood 
Villa," situated upon a beautiful hill over- 
looking the village, on the banks of the 
Mississippi River, with a splendid view of 
the river for many miles each way. He has 
been an active, energetic man ail his life; 



has been for many j-ears, and still is, though 
now over seventy-three years of age, one of 
the leading and most influential citizens of 
Ste. Genevieve County, with a high character 
for honesty and integrity, and [n kindness, 
hospitality and generosity poverbial among 
those who know him. He was elected Judge 
of the County and Probate Courts of the 
county three successive terms — twelve years 
— and so well did he manage the afifairs and 
finances of the county and discharge the du- 
ties of the ofiice that he was strongly urged 
to accept another election to the office, but 
declined. In politics, Judge Gilbert, since 
the disruption of the old Whig party, has 
been a Democrat, but strongly opposed the 
secession movement in Missouri. The first 
Union resolutions in his county were drav^n 
up by him, advocating to "stick to the Union," 
and that "secession would prove the death- 
knell of slairery." 

In 1800, during the secession excitement 
in Missouri, the State Convention was called, 
to detei'mine whether Missoui'i should secede 
or remain in the Union, Judge Gilbert took 
an active part in seciu'ing Union delegates 
from his district, against powerful opposi- 
tion, and it was largely through the , influ- 
ence of his pen and management that Union 
delegates were elected from his Congression- 
al District. At the Congressional District 
Convention, it is said that he sat up all 
night, wrote the Union circular address to 
the people, got it printed, and had it circu- 
lated all over the district by 12-o'clock next 
day, and before the secessionists (and 
seceders from that convention) had their 
circular printed. 

Judge Gilbert still holds large interests in 
Cairo and Alexander County; has two sons 
living in Cairo — William B. and Miles 
Frederick Gilbert — practicing law there. 
His wife is also still living, and he has one 



36 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



married daughter — Sarah F., wife of Thomas 
B. Whitledge, residing with him at Ste. 
Mary, and a prominent lawyer of that place. 
Judge Gilbert makes frequent visits to 
Cairo, and takes great interest in the pros- 
perity of the place, and still has a lively 
faith in the future greatness of the city. 

The presence and control of the company's 
interests here by Judge Gilbert was a great 
surprise to many who began to look upon 
themselves as old settlers. It was the first 
intimation that the abandonment had not 
been so complete as they had for some time 
supposed. "When he had completed the cross 
levee, and had so strengthened the others as 
to protect the city, even from the extraordi- 
nary high waters of the Mississippi in the 
year 1844, when Cairo was the only dry spot 
from St. Louis to New Orleans, and when 
these duties were discharged, he would re- 
turn to business that called him to other 
places, and, therefore, his government of the 
people here amounted to no more than the 
mere assertion of the company's title and 
possession to moveable property, so the 
Cairoites continued to occupy at will the houses 
and so much of the land as they pleased, 
without rents or question. And they were 
soon inclined to hoot at the idea of any one 
collecting rent from them. Was it not 
enough to live in such a place as Cairo! And 
thus they assured each other. Thus occupied, 
the property fell far short of furnishing the 
means of paying the annual taxes levied 
against it. For about thirteen years — from 
1841 to 1853 — there was little of change in 
Cairo, except that of slow decay. 

Mose Harrell is authority for the assertion 
that the little handful of people here — 
as the shelter they enjoyed, the ground 
they cultivated, and the general privileges 
they exercised, cost them nothing, — prob- 



ably enjoyed themselves. This inference is 
strengthened by the recollection that daring- 
all this time, they did, or had, but little else 
to do, and Harrell, therefore, asserts (he was 
one of the jolly crowd) " they enjoyed them- 
selves to a degree beyond -ajiy other people, 
so far as he knew or could hear or read about. " 
In the course of time, after the crash, the mea- 
ger population left, of about fifty souls, had 
increased to nearly two hundred, and the town 
seemed to run to wharf-boats, flats and all 
manner of water craft. The business was 
nearly all upon the water's edge, and there 
was quite a period when it really looked as 
though, as soon as the few houses rotted 
down, or were used up for kindling-wood, 
the entire population and business would 
crawl over outside the levee, and become a 
real floating city. Here were the gathering 
places, eating places, drinking places and the 
center of all the fun or excitement. People 
wanted to see the steamboats land; they 
wanted to go on board, look around, and, by 
examining the passengers, recall recollections 
of when they were innocent members of the 
civilized world. 

There were three wharf-boats moored in 
front of the town, and, strange as it may 
seem, all were doing a fair business, and 
some of them made money. The Louisiana, 
Henry Simmons, proprietor, lay about oppo- 
site what is now Second street; the Ellen 
Kirkman, Rodney & Wright, proprietors, was 
just below this, and the Sam Dale, T. J. 
Smith & Co., proprietors, lay below where 
the Halliday House stands. " On the hill," 
as the top of the levee was then called, were to 
be found the Cairo Hotel, by S. H. Candee, the 
stores of B. S. Harrell and Oliver S. Sayre, 
the office of the Cairo Delta newspaper, the 
saloon of George L. Rattlemueller, and the 
bakery of George Baumgard. The five last- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



37 



mentioned were all in the buildings erected 
by Jones & Holbrook on the ground now oc- 
cupied by the Halliday House. 

About the total population that was left 
here after the exodus, as the names were 
furnished us by Mr. Robert Baird, who was 
here as early as I83l>, are the following — 
premising there are some, of course, thai Mr. 
Baird cannot now recall, or has wholly for- 
gotten, and further stating the explanatory 
fact that, of all the earliest comers of Cairo, 
the only persons now living of those who 
did not leave the city in its first panic, are 
Robert Baird, Nick Devore and Mrs. Pat 
Smith — just three persons. Here is the now 
imperfect list of the 1839-40 comers: Squire 
Marsh, Constable Lee, Dr. Cummings, T. J. 
Glass, Mr. Jones, Thomas Eagan, Mrs. Pat 
Smith, D. W. Thompson, who had moved 
down the hull of the Asia and converted it 
into a wharf -boat and hotel, afterward taking 
oflf the cabin of the boat and moving it to 
Blandville, Ky. , where he made another hotel 
of it, which was about the first house in that 
place; Hathaway & Garrison, the latter went 
to California and grew quite wealthy; Mr. 
McCoy, who afterward went to Iowa; Dr. 
Gilpin and family, kept a boarding-house 
near where is now the corner of Sixth and 
levee; Thomas Feely, kept dairy, near cor- 
ner of Eighth and levee; Mi'. Adkins, a 
butcher; Mr. Ferdon, a carpenter, whose 
grown young daughter was afflicted with at- 
tacks of occasional insanity. In one of these 
moods she wandered off, and some distance 
north of town she came to an old, deserted 
hut, and as it was night she entered it and 
found two deer inside, and, closing the door, 
kept them there, and in this strange company 
the girl passed the night, unharmed and in 
seeming content. The next morning she 
stepped out and fastened the door, and re- 
porting her adventure to her father, he, in com- 



pany with some friends, among whom was our 
informant, Mr. Baird, repaired to the hut and 
secured the venison; next, a Mr. Lyles, the 
father-in-law of Mr. Miles F. Parker, a 
citizen of Cairo; Mr. Shutleff, a foreman in 
the shops; Tom Brohan, a teamster and con- 
tractor; Jacob Weldon and family, his 
widow afterward marrying Judge Shannessy; 
Isaac Lee, whose son Bill was for many 
years a Cairo landmark; John Riggs, a ma- 
chinist, left here afterward and went to Cali- 
fornia; Ed McKinney, machinist; John Sulli- 
van, tailor; Mr. Kehoe, carpenter and kept a 
boarding-house; Walter Falls, kept bar at the 
hotel and afterward wharf-boat and store; 
John Addison, carpenter and boarding- 
house; John Wesley, shoe-maker; William 
Holbrook and family; Henry Ours, baker and 
saloon; George L. Rattlemueller, saloon. 

Pat Smith married Miss Hennessy, the 
wedding taking place at the residence of 
Mrs. Weldon. It was late in the afternoon, 
and at the chui-ch door Smith left his new 
wife to go along with the crowd, while he 
went to get up his cows (he seems to have 
alwa}'s had milch cows). He got his cows, 
milked, and bethought himself to look up his 
wife, and she had gone visiting among her 
friends, enjoying herself very much indeed, 
and partly to annoy and plague her husband, 
and partly for fun; so well did she hide her- 
self that it was late at night before he found 
her, although he had traveled the town over. 
No proper history of Cairo will ever be 
written that omits the conspicuous mention 
of the name of Judge Bryan Shannessy; nay 
more, it must account well for some of his 
acts, and much of the remarkable peculiari- 
ties of character that possessed him. For 
the true history of all people is chiefly in the 
candid picturing of the extraordinary or 
leading characters, who were among the chief 
promoters or factors of that society's exist- 



38 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



ence. By this we do not mean the old notion 
of the history of a people, where the histo- 
rian had filled his whole duty when he told 
all the minutiae of the kings, princes, the 
queens and princesses, and how they were 
dressed, dined, wined, and the cost of the 
latter; how they were sick, or died, or were 
buried, or were born, or with other details 
ad nauseum. Or of battles, defeats, and 
slaughters and sieges; of famines; of chm-ch 
dignitaries and State rulers. These things, 
during the centuries alone, were history. 
Had Voltaire and Buckle not lived, this 
might have been so yet, and continued indefi- 
nitely. 

But now, the history of a people, State or 
nation means the common people as well as 
the notorious — the history of all alike. Of 
course it is impossible to individually men- 
tion each of the masses, as this would make 
it a mere directory of names, but to portray 
the extraordinary characters of those who 
were of the masses, who mingled with and 
were a part of them, who, as it were, were 
the very outgrowth; the immediate develop- 
ment of that community itself, is to bring to 
the reader's knowledge one of the best and 
clearest hints of what the great mass of the 
people were, how they acted, thought and 
were influenced. 

Such a representative we deem Mr. Shan- 
nessy to be. He came here with the rush of 
1840, as unpretentious and unassuming an 
Irishman as th« humblest knight of the wheel- 
barrow in all the crowd that were drawn here 
by the mighty schemes of the founders of 
Cairo. But there was that stuff in him, 
sometimes called fate, faith or a star, which 
made him shape his course very differently 
indeed from the common crowd. He was one 
of the very few who did not flee when the 
memorable crash of 1841 came, and reduced 
the city, in a few weeks, from a prosperous 



and busy population of over two thousand to 
less than fifty souls, with no work, no busi- 
ness, nothing, in short, to do except to oc- 
cupy "the deserted houses of the desolate city. 
Then Shannessy, like the man who said if all 
the world were dead he would go to Phila- 
delphia and open a big hotel, he opened a 
boarding-house, and in 1853, while but little 
better than cockle and jimson weeds had un- 
disputed possession here, we find him the 
happy lord of a dingy boarding-house, a 
saloon, a Squire's shop, a drug store, the 
post office and a doctor's ofiice. There was 
nothiog else in the place, or he would have 
had that. It is said the few natives of the 
place thought of calling on him to preach to 
them, but when they talked it over among 
themselves they got afraid of the fiery thun- 
derbolts he would launch at them in all his 
seiTQons, mixed with brogue and brimstone. 
He continued to hold office all his long life. 
When the city had waxed great, he became 
Associate County Judge, and he was Police 
Magistrate in this city so long that " five 
dollars and costs " was as natural to his 
tongue and his existence as breath. 

He was a shrewd, original, strong-minded 
man, who " never went back on a friend. " 
This last trait is well told by the story of a 
prominent lawyer, who desired to bring a 
certain suit, bat felt doubtful about the issue; 
80 he went to the Squire and told him freely 
his dilemma, and stated what he supposed to 
be the facts of the case. The Squire told 
him " that sifter would hold water, dead 
sure. " The suit was brought, but on trial 
the defendant introduced evidence that utter- 
ly destroyed every vestige of plaintiff's case. 
The court finally gave his decision in an 
elaborate and learned opinion, reasoned 
about the law, the evidence, the world's his- 
tory, the flood, the pandects, the quadrilater- 
al and the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty, and 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



39 



concluded by giving judgment, for the plain- 
tiff. Everybody was amazed, even the plain- 
tiff's attorney. Afterward, to this attorney, 
he remarked: " That was a very close case, 
very close. The closest case I ever decided 
in my life. In fact, I believe the law and 
the evidence were both dead against you; but 
I never go back on a friend. " 

He loved his friends as well as he loved 
office, and he believed in being just to them, 
and this sometimes made strangers think they 
had to suffer. But altogether he was full of 
good, kind traits of character. This is evi- 
denced by the fact that these outre decisions 
never alienated his friends so as to defeat 
him at an election. He reared a large family, 
of the very highest respectability, and de- 
parted this life at a ripe old age and full of 
honors, and his fame is growing greener in 
the memories of all his numerous friends 
than is that of, probably, any other man's. 

It was this decade of years in Cairo's life 
that it acquired a wide — if not a world-wide 
— reputation, as being one of the " hardest '* 
places known. Partly, this was owing to the 
natural reflex swing of the pendulum that 
had been pushed too far the other way by 
Holbrook & Co., in their extraordinary 
puffing of the place in its first heyday, but 
it is doubtful if this was one of the largest 
factors that resulted in such gross injustice 
to Cairo. The wi-iter distinctly recollects 
that the first he ever heard of Cairo and 
Mound City' was in the scorching lampoons 
that at that time were passing between Mose 
Harrell and Len Faxon, on the two rival 
towns. Doubtless, like thousands of othei's, 
he formed his idea of the two places, 
although he knew, of course, they were the 
essence of extravagance, from these mutual 
attacks. If he stopped to think about it at 
all, he must have known that the lanfruajre 
was Pickwickian in the extreme; yet, per- 



haps, like all the world, who knew nothing 
of their own knowledge, he must have sup- 
posed they understood each other's weak 
points, and made the attacks accordingly. 
For instance, the Mound City Emporium 
prints the following neighborly notice: 

"A number of Cairoites, impelled, per- 
haps, by a desire to see dry land — to stand 
once more on terra firma — visited Mound 
City last Friday, ou the tug-boat Pollard. 
They were a cadaverous, saffron-colored lot 
of mortals, most terribly afflicted with bad 
hats and the smell of onions. These poor 
people inhaled the pure atmosphere of our 
highlands with an almost ravenous greedi- 
ness, and on their wan features would occa- 
sionally play a flush of health as they did so 
that betokened they were sucking in a flow, 
to their physical and spiritual parts, of some 
of that strong, buoyant principle of life 
possessed by every Mound Cityite. But from 
this delightful recuperative process they 
were summoned by the tap of the boat bell. 
Descending from the elevation our city oc- 
cupies to the landing, they boarded the 
craft, and then, descending the Ohio to its 
mouth, they stopped and made a further 
descent of sixteen feet or more, which placed 
them in Cairo. A further descent of sixteen 
feet could not be made on account of heat, 
smoke and the smell of brimstone! That's 
just the distance between the two places!" 

To this the Times and Delta replies: "The 
Buckeye Belle came down from Mound City 
last Saturday, having on board quite a num- 
ber of people from that delectable village; 
but the quarantine officers of our city enforced 
the ordinance relative to steamboats landinsr 
with sick people on board, and would not 
permit her to touch, whereupon, after mak- 
ing sundry ineffectual attempts to land at 
each wharf-boat, she shoved out into the 
river, whei'e all hands set up one indignant 



40 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



yell of defiance, and, 'cussing,' proceeded 
back to Mound City, where, we presume, tbe 
passengers were remanded back to their re- 
spective hospitals." 

The Cairo paper thus topographically talks 
of its neighbor: 

"At last accounts from Mound City, the 
principal portion of the inhabitants were 
roosting in trees. Some of them sleep with 
skiffs by their bedsides. One of these deter- 
mined not to be treed, procui'ed two quarts 
of 'crow whisky,' some bread and bacon, and 
induced one or two inhabitants to go with 
him, and they have fortified themselves on 
the ' carbuncle,' or mound — the only dry 
place in the town — where they intend to 
stay until the waters subside. 

" The principal occupation of the inhabit- 
ants for the past three weeks has been every 
half hour to proceed to the river, punch a 
stick in the ground at the water's edge, see 
how much the water has come up and. then 
go home and move their cooking iitensils 
and ' steds ' into the second stories of their 
houses. Where there are no second stories, 
*as we said before,' they 'clum' trees." 

From the same source, here are a few re- 
marks on health: 

" The Mayor of Mound City, in his inau- 
gural address, says to the Council: 'It will 
soon be your duty to purchase, and fit for 
use, a sufficient ground for a public ceme- 
tery. It will take half of the town plat for 
that pui'pose.' The Mayor means, we sup- 
pose, by ' fitting for use,' that portions of the 
swamp should be fenced and filled up with 
dirt, so as to give it a bottom." 

Or this: " We saw a couple betting high 
at draw poker the other night. The ante was 
two negroes, and the little one had run up 
the pot to a cotton plantation and three 
stern-wheel boats. 



" ' I'll go you the City of Sandoval better,' 
said the big one. 

" 'I'll see you with Mound City and call 
you.' said t'other. 

"'Psahw! That ain't money enough,' 
said big bones. 

" 'Well, I'll take that back, and bet you 
a keg of tar and a blind horse.' 

" ' That'll do,' said big bones, ' but don't 
try to ring in Mound City again, for I want 
to play a decent game! ' " 

And in this way, for about three years, 
the " sparring " in the two papers went on, 
never abating in severity or intensity of ex- 
pression from the first day, until all that 
could be said mean of the two places was 
blown upon every wind, and, upon the prin- 
ciple of the dropping water wearing away 
the hardest stone, so these persistent lam- 
poons had, doubtless, their effect upon the 
minds of the outside world. Then, to those 
who visited and saw the town, there was 
that unfinished, half-commenced hole dug 
here, and half-formed moiinds thrown up 
there, that made up its quota of reasons for 
assisting any rising prejudices in the mind 
of the beholder, that also aided in creating 
prejudices against the place. Then, there 
was still another reason for the bad reputa- 
tion of Cairo, that is so curious, so extraor- 
dinary, that, were it not vouched for by the 
best of authority that was here, and knew 
whereof it affirms, we could not believe it, 
and would give it no notice in these columns. 
We again refer to M. B. Harrell, as authority 
on this matter, only premising that in much 
of the practical jokes he was nearly always 
in the thickest of the fray: 

" Cairo then, and up to a much later 
period, unjustly bore a hard reputation. 
Stories of fiendish murders and robberies of 
travelers stopping in the place were so cur- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



41 



rent over the country that the poor Cairoite 
who would attempt to contradict or correct 
them was laughed and derided into painful 
silence. Knowing they could not refute such 
a general and well-settled impression, they 
' turned tack,' and whenever they saw travel- 
ers exhibiting foolish appi'ehensions of per- 
sonal danger, they would at once set about 
operating upon them. ' just,' as they would 
say, ' to get even with them.' For instance: 
" Two consumate dandies [being ' dan- 
dies,' it seems, was the great crime they were 
guilty of] fi'om Pittsburgh, stopped upon one 
of the wharf-boats, to await a passage to 
New Orleans, they having arrived on a boat 
that was bound for St. Louis. At once it 
became evident that these young men had 
been fed upoa stories of Cairo horrors; but 
they tried fo show, nevertheless, that they 
could not be scared by anything, however 
dreadful. Both had revolvers and bowie- 
knives, but that they were unused to them 
could be told by the practiced eye of a 
Cairoite. These weapons were freely ex- 
hibited, and always worn so as partly to be 
seen while concealed about their persons. 
Diligently did these young men try to im- 
press it upon the people that they would be 
'ugly customers' in a hand-to-hand encoun- 
ter.. To show that they were familiar with 
rough life, they would swear voluminously, 
and occasionally they would drink brandy, 
etc., etc." These were hue subjects for vic- 
tims, and the hoodlums of tho village 
gathered about them in full force, and then 
hours of confidential talk among them would 
occur — care being taken that the intended 
victims should overhear every word, about as 
follows : 

"I'll be , Tom," remarked a rough- 
looking customer, as he slammed down an 
empty boot box beside the counter, "I hain't 
had nothin' as has sot so hard onto mv 



feelio's as the killia' of that boy, sense the 
day I hit my old woman in the breast with 
the hatchet. He was a smart boy, and, by 

, you know he was; and just to think I 

could git mad enough at him, cos he failed 
to lift the stranger's wallet, to smash his 
skull with a oar, is positive distressin'. But 
I'll tell ye, Tom — give us a drink — that boy 
"Waxey shall be buried right. The human 
left into me will see to that. The cat-fish 
fed onto the old woman, but d — n the bite 
shall they git of "Waxey. And now, Tom, 
have you a longer box than this? Waxey is 
five feet long, and this is only four. Hain't 
got none, hey? "Well, 'tis little 'gainst a 
father's feelin's, but this box must coffin 
him. I couldn't do no better, Tom, and you 
know it, so I'll go home now and saw off his 
legs!" 

Taking another di'ink, the distressed fa- 
ther (?) shouldered the box, and left the 
wharf-boat, chuckling at the efitect his story 
had produced upon the strangers. 

And now night had gathered around, and 
the usual crowd collected at Louis' bar-room, 
which, it must be known, was in the store 
and adjoining the depository for baggage. 
The strangers continued guard over their 
baggage, and viewed, with trembling, the 
growing multitude. Drinking followed the 
arrival of each character, and after several 
glasses had been emptied, the following con- 
versation ensued, and all for the strangers' 
benefit, and so arranged that they could hear 
every word of it : 

"Well. Boggie, if ever thar war a nicer 
time'n last night, I'm not posted. Them two 
strangers what we hornswoggled with us, and 
who danced with Spike-foot, ain't now 'sash- 
aying' around here much. But now, Boggie, 
them men fought tigerish, I tell you! I 
didn't know, till Bob, here, told me, that we 
were a-goin' to mince 'em. I didn't, now. 



42 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



darned ef I did! And of course, jest as soon 
as he told me that we war a-goin' to mince 
'em, why, I stabbed the old one right in the 
small of the back, like. 3e had floored 
Wash Wiggins, and I guess was a-chokin' of 
Wash, but when he felt my knife ronch 
against his spinal bone, why, it diverted his 
attention. He cum at me savage; struck out 
thickly, and kep' me clear out of reach of 
him; but Dave, who had got a swingle- tree, 
seein' how matters was, dropped it on the old 
one's cranium, and a groan, a gurgle and a 
little splash of brains was all there was that 
followed. The old man dropped, and I, 
thinkin' he might revive and suffer, separ- 
ated his jugular and let him bleed some. 
But the other, I tell you he was a snorter! 
He knocked Clark Ogden clean through the 
winder, followed, and before anybody knowed 
it, dressed him off confounded handsome. 
As we all had nothin' to do, then, but to make 
way with this chicken, we at once set about 
it. His first cut I give him; the next punch 
you made, and then he cut dirt and humped 
himself. Zofe, there, caught him near the 
river, but havin' no weapons, he just held 
him and hollered until weapons was forth- 
coming. The swipe that let out his innards 
would 'a saved him; but Dave, you know, 
stabbed him six times afterward, all over the 
breast and body. He fell then, and right thar 
I saw him lyin' not more'n an hour ago. 
Take the scrape altogether, Boggie," con- 
tinued the speaker, casting a meaning glance 
at the strangers, " I think it just about as in 
terestin' as any we' 11 have 'tween this and the 
mornin'." 

Such was the substance of the rigmarole 
intended to directly affect the strangers, and 
it is easy enough to believe the assertion that 
they believed every word they heard; and 
the further fact that they had seen one of the 
desperate men steal a pocket-book from 



another's pocket (a pre-arranged affair, too), 
all combined, left the two young men ap- 
palled with horror. Even this devil-may-care 
crowd noticed, from the actions of the young 
men, that they had probably carried the joke 
too far, and there was danger of them pluQg- 
ing into the river in order to avoid the worse 
fate they felt certain was in store for them. 
It was about decided to explain the joke to 
them, but it was dangerous to approach thera 
to attempt an explanation, as such an ap- 
proach would be a signal for them to jump 
into the waters. Fortunately, at this moment 
a boat approached and touched at the land- 
ing, and instantly the two young men 
boarded her, and hid themselves in the cabin 
until the boat pulled out. The vessel was on 
its way to St. Louis, and they were going to 
New Orleans, but so intense was their alarm 
that they would have taken a boat for any 
point in the world to get away from Cairo. 

It is said that a short time after this, a 
Pittsburgh paper reached Cairo, in which was 
a letter, dated from St. Louis, describing, 
with shocking details, the bloody murders at 
Cairo, which we have given above, the 
writers not only attesting that they saw them 
committed, but they had shot dead two of the 
murderers themselves, in a perilous effort to 
stay the butcheries. The story of the boy 
corpse and the short boot box went the rounds 
of the papers of the country, and in seven- 
leagued boots, the Cairo horrors traveled 
about the world. « 

We have given an account of this in- 
stance pretty fiilly. It was only one among 
hundreds, until the horrible stories from 
Cairo had been familiarized pretty much over 
the civilized world. The Cairo people did 
all this, they said, in revenge for the many 
gross falsehoods that had been circulated 
about them and their town. It was a unique 
mode of revenge, and was of doubtful virtue, 






/ 




HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



45 



for the outside world only too readily be- 
lieved all tliey thus saw, but more, too, and 
it soon fixed itself in the minds of men as a 
shocking reality. Here was another cause 
of the blighted reputation of the place. 
Add this to the causes recited above, and 
when tney are combined it is wonderful that 
all men did not shun the place as they 
would the lepers' grounds. There is but one 
strong reason why they did not. Cairo was 
the one gateway between the North and the 
South, and through here all must pass in 
nearly all communications between these two 
regions. This forced men to come. Even 
the timid and trembling were compelled 
thus to face the fearful imaginary dangers of 
the place, and when thus forced into the 
town, they were like the boy who finally 
saw the preacher, and remarked to his mother, 
in disgust, "Why, he's nothin' but a man;" 
so the Cairo people were found by these com- 
pulsory visitors to be nothing but human 
beings; as quiet, civil, well-behaved and 
honest as any people in the world. But 
while a slander flies upon tireless wings. 
truth crawls in gyves and hobbles, and while 
it is true that " when crushed to earth will 
rise again," yet there is no day nor horn- 
fixed for the " rising " to be done, and as 
" the eternal years are hers," she generally 
takes up the most of them in running down 
a lie and putting the truth triumphantly in 
its place. 

[j t,The only school taught here between 1842 
and 1848 was a pay school, and only for a 
few months, by Mrs. Peplow. In 1848, a 
Sabbath school was started. It was held in 
the Cairo Chapel — an up-stairs room in the 
Holbrook House — but after a few weeks of 
meager attendance and listless interests it 
permanently closed up for repairs and the 
want of patronage. On the 4th of July, 1848, 



under the auspices of Mrs. Peplow's school, 
the town held its first national celebration. 
Dr. C. L. Lind was the Orator of the Day, 
and Bailey S. Harrell read the Declaration of 
Independence. 

This year, too, came the singing-master — 
the king of the tuniag-fork, who could read 
the " square notes," and who was born with 
a hawk-nose, chewing plug tobacco, and had 
been forever trying to marry the belle sun- 
flower of every school he had taught or at- 
tended. This particular one is described as 
a " cadaverous, bacon-colored old curmudy- 
oen named Winchester. " He left the town 
in great disgust, so complete was his at- 
tempted school a failure, and it is supposed 
Cairo survived this calamity with greater 
equanimity than any of her other inflictions; 
we have no hesitation in calling his depart- 
ure a calamity, because from the above de- 
scription it will be seen he had many of the 
ear-marks of a gi'eat and good singing-school 
master, and yet he could not sing his "squai-e 
notes" in Cairo. His experience here may 
have given rise to the little legend, "I'm sad- 
dest when I sing." 

About the only relief to the monotony of 
Cairo life began to come as early as 1848, in 
the promised revival of the building of the 
Illinois Central Railroad. The subject was 
stirred more or less at every session of the 
Legislatm-e, and when the news would reach 
Cairo of what was being done, a tremor of 
excitement would pass around, and the wisest 
heads would say, "Wait till next spring, and 
the engineers will then be along." There 
seemed to be no question of the great work 
being ultimately done. On this point there 
was neither dispute nor argument, but all 
questioning turned upon the one pivot, 
When ? And here the Cairoites centered their 
future hopes. But year by year came and 

3 



46 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



went, and no engineers showed themselves, 
and the hopes and fears of the people would 
rise and fall with the seasons. 

In the meantime, Cairo grew a little — just 
a little more than the natural increase of 
population. The few there were here found, 
eventually, plenty to do, and the steamboat 
trade had gradually gi'own to be of the great- 
est importance. In the winter season, par- 
ticularly when navigation on the upper rivers 
would be stopped by the ice, the people of 
Cairo would find themselves overwhelmed 
by people, suddenly stopped on their way, 
until all houses would be filled to overflow- 
ing, and often hundreds of them woald go 
into camp, and be 'compelled to wait for 
weeks for the breaking- up of the ice and to 
resume their journey. Often a boat would 
thus land and parties would hire rigs and 
thus go on to St. Louis. Sometimes others 
would purchase saddle-horses, or a wagon and 
team, and depend upon selling for what they 
could get when at the end of their journey. 
The boats going and coming soon got so they 
all touched at this point, and in those days 
there were great numbers of people travel- 
ing on deck, and these would rush ashore in 
great cx'owds for supplies at the baker's, 
butcher's and at the boat stores. 

Grp,dually, too, Cairo came to be quite 
a re-shipping point for St. Louis, and Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh freights, and 
this gave abundant and profitable business 
to the wharf -boats. In these and a hundred 
ways, business thrived, and money was dis- 



tributed among the people sometimes in 
plentiful abundance, and there] were hard- 
working, attentive business men among them, 
and all such not only made a living, but 
generally were on the highway to independ- 
ence and wealth. The social life of the 
place was much like that of the average 
small river towns, except the wags and prac- 
tical jokers noticed elsewhere, and with this 
further and marked exception, they were a 
big, warm-hearted, hospitable, independent, 
and a mind-youi'-own-business kind of peo- 
ple. Perhaps no community was ever more 
wholly free from that tea-table, back-biting 
species of gossip and slander, and prying 
into other people's private aflairs, than were 
the people of Cairo. They were a just, gen- 
erous and true people, and so marked was 
this characteristic from the first, that they 
have left their impress in these respects, ap- 
parently, upon the town. The first comers 
are nearly all gone, the descendants of only 
a few remain; and yet, whosoever knows the 
people of Cairo well, may count as his friend 
many as true people as were ever got 
together before in the same sized "commu- 
nity. 

This concludes the second natural division 
in the eras of Cairo's history, to wit, the 
decade between the collapse of the Cairo City 
& Canal Company and the revival of the 
prospects of Cairo by the actual commence- 
ment of work on the Central Railroad, and, 
therefore, is an appropriate ending of the 
chapter. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



47 



CHAPTER III. 



Cairo platted— first sale of lots— the foundation of a city laid— beginning of 

WORK ON the central RAILROAD— S. STAATS TAYLOR — CITY GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED 

AND WHO WERE ITS OFFICERS — INCREASE OF POPULATION — THE WAR— SOLDIERS 

IN CAIRO— BATTLE OF BELMONT— WAIF OF THE BATTLE-FIELD— " OLD RUBE" 

— RILLING OF SPENCER — OVERFLOW OF 08- WASH GRAHAM AND 

GEN. GRANT — A FEW MORE PRACTICAL JOKES, ETC, ETC. 



IN the preceding chapter.s we have traced the 
efforts to found and build a city here, and 
the social and business life of the people, as best 
we could, down to the year 1852. We found 
that from 1841 to 1851 — more properly to 1853 
— was the long period of stagnation, marked 
only by the natural decay of time, and the 
small damages that it was possible to accrue to 
the place from a succession of high waters in 
the rivers. Miserable little levees, about eight 
feet high, girdled about the town, winding with 
the bends of the stream, or jogged into short 
angles, in the language of a Mound City paper 
of the earl}- times, the " broken ribs" levee. 
From the first attempted founding of the cit}' 
by the Cairo Cit}- & Canal Company down 
to 1851, the company clung pertinaciously to 
Holbrook's first idea of never selling a foot of 
the land — only leasing upon the most rigid 
and arbitrary terms. The agent and attor- 
ney-in-fact of the propeil}' trustees, S. Staats 
Taylor, Esq., arrived in Cairo, September, 1851. 
He came with instructions and the power to 
inaugurate some new and healthy ideas for the 
compan}^ and for the good of the people and 
the town. But his first and most difficult task 
was to obtain peaceable possession of the com- 
pany's property. The residents had much of 
it in possession, and so long had they occupied 
it without landlord, rents or taxes that they 
felt encouraged to treat the company's preten- 
sions to ownership with indifference and con- 
tempt. Then, other parties from the outside 



had noticed the apparent abandonment of the 
place by the company in 1841, and they 
pounced upon the rich flotsam like buzzards 
upon a dead carcass, and bj- all manner of 
Sheriffs titles, tax deeds, and even bogus 
deeds, attempted to secure both possession and 
title, some to the whole and some to large por- 
tions of the land within the city limits. One 
instance, called the ■' Holmes claim," may 
serve as an illustration of some of the many 
difficulties that the company encountered in 
regaining what they had apparently aban- 
doned. The company had acquired title to a 
large portion of the southern part of the city 
by purchase from the heirs of Gov. Bond. 
These heirs had made separate deeds, one of 
them, Elizabeth Bond, had executed her j)rop- 
er deed to her interests in the land and this 
deed Holbrook had carelessly carried in his 
pocket and neglected to put it upon the record, 
until, in the course of time, it was mislaid and 
forgotten. Holmes was a brother-in-law of 
Miss Bond, and in some way he ascertained 
p]lizal)elh's deed was not on record. He went 
to Thebes, then the count}' seat, examined 
the records, and, being dul}- prepared, at once 
placed a deed upon record from Elizabeth 
Bond to himself, conve3'ing all her right, title 
and interest in Cairo. This conveyance in- 
cluded about one hundred acres in the south- 
west portion of the city. The corapaii}- ap- 
pealed to the courts ; the case went into the 
United States Court, and there it stayed for 



48 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



twenty-three years before being finally adjudi- 
cated and settled. Five different trials before 
juries resulted in three verdicts in favor of the 
compan3\ and two in favor of Holmes — as the 
boys would sa\-, " the best three in five." 
There was no question but the chain in the re- 
cord-title was with Holmes, but the compau}' 
based their claim and relied wholl}' upon color 
of title and seven years' possession and the 
payment of taxes.- Upon this claim the Su- 
preme Court of the United States gave the 
company the land and settled the question for- 
ever. 

As said, 1851 dawned a new era upon Cairo. 
It came to be known that the law had passed 
the Congress of the United States that would 
at last secure the building of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Eailroad, and this was cheering news to the 
good people of the town, and of the whole 
State. In 1851, the advance guard — the en- 
gineers — put in their cheerful appearance, and 
bright and early one morning a squad of them 
were to be seen trimming out a passage wa}' 
in the bush and undergrowth and hoisting flag- 
poles here and there, and peeping knowingh' 
through instruments, and the children shouted 
to each other that the railroad had come at 
last. The almost expiring hopes of the older 
people were revived to the highest pitch once 
more. Yet the onward move of the towu itself 
loitered, and, until 1854, there was no change 
among the residents, and but few accessions to 
the population or improvements of the town. 
The causes for this were the difficulties about 
the possession and titles above noticed. Here 
were three years in the historical life of the 
city that may be briefl}- passed over, the real 
history-, if any, that was made during that 
time, was exclusively concerning the Central 
Railroad, and will be found in the chapter giv- 
ing an account of that enterprise. 

Mose Harrell, in his sketch of Cairo, justly, 
we think, insists that for the ••'real commence- 
ment of Cairo we are not authorized to go be- 



hind that period " (1854). The many years 
consumed by monopolies in futile attempts to 
build up fhe place, and the greater number of 
years of non-action, cannot be fairl}- added to 
the real age of the place, as during the whole 
of that time public capital and energ\- were 
not onlj' not invited to come to Cairo, but ab- 
solutely forbidden an}- kind of foothold what- 
ever. Fairness, then, will fix the birth of the 
cit}' at that exact period when it became 
possible and allowable for those essential ele- 
ments of prosperity to take hold of the under- 
taking, and to operate without fetter or tram- 
mel — and not before that period. 

The Agent, Mr. Taylor, had finally got such 
sufficient possession of the property, and had 
platted and laid oft' the town anew, that on the 
4th day of September, 1854, the lots were of- 
fered for sale. On the morning of that day, 
Peter Stapleton purchased the lot on the cor- 
ner of Third street and Commercial avenue, 
where he at once erected a substantial and per- 
manent residence and business house. This 
was the first sale ever made of a lot in Cairo ; 
it was the first step in the real cit}' building 
that has gone on steadily from that day to the 
present time. The price paid for the lot was 
SI, 250, not far from what the unimproved lot 
would be rated at now. This purchase was 
soon followed by others, including Mrs. Can- 
dee, John Howlev. M. B. Harrell and the 
grounds on which were erected the Taylor 
House (burned down with several other build- 
ings in i8G0). The people were now buying 
the lots and building up the town, and it was 
no longer Holbrook and his iron-cast monopo- 
h" ; and now the good work went on with ra- 
pidity, and within a year from the day that 
Stapleton purchased his lot, so actively had 
the work gone on. that a large number of build- 
ings were erected and in the course of erection. 
and the streets and avenues come to be well 
defined by the buildings that reared their fronts 
alons: the streets and at the corners. But 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



49 



at this time no improvements had been erected 
on the Ohio levee. The company saw proper 
to put restrictions hei'e, and would onlj- stipu- 
late that no other building except brick, iron 
or stone should be built thereon. All these 
front lots wei'e regarded as the valuable ones 
of the town. Williams' brick block had been 
put up on the levee, and it stood alone until 
quite an amount of buildings had been placed 
on Third and Fourth streets and Commercial 
avenue. Time soon demonstrated the foolish- 
ness of these restrictions, as few purchasers, be- 
fore becoming acquainted with the city, its busi- 
ness, the character and permanency of its pro- 
tective embankments, the health of the people, 
etc., felt disposed to erect either ver}' fine or 
expensive buildings, and these barriers were 
brushed away and the lots on the levee put 
upon sale upon the same terms as the others 
of the town. 

Then came the- hosts of eager purchasers, in 
response to the word that went out that lots in 
Cairo were upon the market without restric- 
tions, and upon terms that were regarded as 
just and liberal. Another proof, were an}- 
proof needed, that no man in New York, 
Philadelphia, or London can manage and build 
a great city either out here in Cairo or any- 
where else, where he is not present and a part 
of the community. As seen by the purchase 
price of Stapleton's lot, the property was gen- 
erall}' placed at a high figure, but when the 
property on the levee was thrown, unrestricted, 
upon the market, the figures were increased, 
and were, in fact, enormously high ; yet the 
sales were numerous, the most buying for 
improvement, and man}- for speculation, even 
at these high figures. Then, indeed, came the 
race in putting up buildings — the wants of 
builders putting to the test the numerous saw 
mills in the county, and calling fi'om abroad 
hosts of mechanics and laborers. A great vari- 
ety'of business enterprises were inaugui'ated, 
business, both commercial and mechanical, 



grew apace ; drays and other vehicles rattled 
over the wharf and the streets, and the features 
of a young and thrifty city began to be visible 
everywhere. 

In another part of this work we have given 
some account of the rather loose and inefficient 
general city government that had been adopted 
by the people, after the dethronement of the 
Czar of all the Cairos, Holbrook. and the tak- 
ing of the reins of government into the hands 
of the few people left here. Early in 1855, so 
rapid had been the growth of the place, and so 
apparent the gi'owing necessit}', that the 
citizens met in mass convention, in the Central 
Railroad depot, and there determined that until 
a special charter could be obtained from the 
Legislature, that the cit}^ should be incorpor- 
ated under the general incorporation laws. 

In pursuance of this determination, the fol- 
lowing were chosen, at a general election. 
Trustees for the ensuing 3'ear : S. Staats Tay- 
lor, John Howley, Peter Stapletou, Lewis W. 
Young, B. Shannessy and M. B. Harrell. 

This board, at once proceeded to put in place 
the wheels and pulleys and bauds and cogs of 
an elaborate and complete general government. 
It enacted voluminous ordinances and fulmi- 
nated its edicts. The quiet and health of the 
cit}- was their one ambition. Mose Harrell 
commenced to stud}-, with avidity, the laws of 
hygiene under Shannessy, and John Howley 
and Stapletou purchased diagrams and charts 
of the Constitution of the United States, with a 
view, perhaps, of settling, by a great com- 
promise, the questions that were agitating the 
wharves and wharf-boats, mails, transfers, etc. 
But the people, from some inscrutable cause, 
would continue to look upon the whole proceed- 
ing as a " good joke," and the ordinances 
were not enforced — remained, in a monumental 
way, a dead letter upon the journal of the 
board's proceedings. 

On iSIarch 9, 1856, imperious necessity called 
out another eflfort at a cit}' Government — 



50 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



spelled with a big Gr — and anotlier electiou was 
held, when, besides a Board of Trustees, a 
Police Magistrate was elected, in the person of 
Robert E. Yost, Esq. At the first meeting of 
the board, Thomas Wilson, Esq., was made 
President ; James Kenedy, Marshal ; Isaac L. 
Harrell, Clerk; George D. Gordon, Wharf- 
master, and all other matters closely scru- 
tinized, to put the machinery of the government 
into successful operation. 

But again, this year, there was not a great 
deal of government in active play, except in 
the matter of the ordinance department : these 
were ably composed, and they did '' sound so 
grand " on the river's bank, but with the ex- 
ception of a Marshal, to run in a few unfortu- 
nates before the Police Magistrate — these two 
officers reporting, as their year's work, the 
munificent collection of fines, etc., of $355 — 
and this was added to the Wharfmaster's year's 
report of $331.50 wharfage, making in all, for 
those three officers, the munificent sum of 
$686.50; of itself, not a verj- enormous salaiy, 
but then there were the honors, which may 
run the sum total into the thousands. 

In addition to the fines and wharfage, the 
city this 3-ear derived, from grocer}- and other 
licenses, $2,250.50 ; from taxes, 12,325.78. 

The entire real and personal property of 
the citv then was valued, for the purpose of 
taxation, at a fraction over $450,000. There 
were twenty-eight licensed saloons in the city, 
two billiard saloons, and nine licensed drays. 
The records tell the story of how rapidly 
a solid and flourishing city was rising out of 
the debris of the wreck of 1841, when the City 
of Cairo & Canal Company carried all down 
in its general wreck and ruin. The music of 
the hammer and the saw was heard upon every 
side, and to all these was added the cheering 
scream of the locomotive whistle, and the 
heyda}' of flush times once more began to 
come to Cairo. 

Before passing again, however, to the 



material aflairs of the cit}-, we choose to incor- 
porate here the details of the most notable 
occurrence that disturbed the quiet or marred 
the dignity of Cairo. This was the mobbing 
of the desperate negro, Joseph Spencer, which 
took place in the autumn of the year 1855. A 
citizen of Cairo, George D. Gordon, we believe, 
had instituted legal proceedings against the 
negro for trespass, and a writ had been issued 
for his apprehension. It was served upon him 
and he informed the officer that he would be at 
the Justice's office in a few minutes. Instead 
of quietl}- submitting himself to the law, like a 
rational being, he procured a keg of powder, 
and with this under his arm he repaired to the 
court of justice. This office was in a room on 
the first floor of the Cairo Hotel, the upper rooms 
being occupied by guests, including many 
women and children. Arrived at the Squire's 
office, and seating himself upon the keg, and 
immersing the muzzle of a cocked pistol far 
into the powder, the audacious negro dictated 
his own terms to the officer, which were, that 
judgment should be instantly pronounced in 
his favor, and the suit thrown out of court, or 
he would " fire, and blow to h — 11 the building 
and every one in it ! " It was evident, from 
his wicked eye that he would do as he said, 
and scores of unsuspecting persons in the 
rooms above would have been blown to atoms. 
The hangers-on in the court room, as well as 
the officers present, adjourned themselves out 
of the doors and windows in rapid confusion. 
Word of this infernal outrage being generally 
circulated, a lai'ge number of citizens and 
strangers gathered, and determined that, at 
least, such a dangerous character should at 
once leave the city. The negro had a hotel 
wharf-boat moored to the shore, where he kept 
a tavern of no mean pretensions, and where 
many of the sojourners here in their travels 
have stopped and been entertained. But the 
reputation of the place was becoming infamous, 
and circumstances had caused manv to sus- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



51 



pect that in the name of caring for travelers, 
crimes of the deepest cast had long been going 
on in Spencer's boat. Strangers had been 
known to repeatedl}' stop there and were never 
seen or heard of again after going to bed. The 
bedrooms ran along the building on either 
side, with a hallway in the center, and it was 1 
ascertained that under each bed, in every room, 
was a trap-door, with the cai'pet so neatly fitted 
over this that it could not be discovered with- i 
out the closest inspection, and by this arrange- 
ment a person could enter, from the hull below, 
and pass from one room to the other without 
ever going in or out at a room door. 

Spencer was waited upon b}' a few represent- 
ative citizens and informed of the determination 
of the people, and at the same time he was as- 
sured that he should be safely conve3^ed across 
the river. The negro consented to this, pro- 
vided one or two of the delegation, whom he 
named, would go in the skiff with him, and to 
this they agreed. In the meantime a great 
crowd had gathered on the levee above Spen- 
cer's boat. Some parties in the crowd, when 
they learned that these men were going to cross 
the river with the negro, went to them and ad- 
vised them not to do so, and thereupon they 
declined to go, and then Spencer not only de- 
clined to go, but mocked and defied the people 
he had so signally outraged. An hours time 
was given him for preparation to leave — then 
another hour ; but instead of employing the 
time for such an end, he used it in preparing 
himself for resistance. He now concealed him- 
self in his boat and refused to have intercourse 
with any one. The crowd grew greatly incensed 
and they determined to force the negro to leave 
at all hazards. They made a rush for the room 
where he was concealed and forced the door, 
but he had escaped through his secret trap- 
door as they entered. The^' were soon notified, 
however, of his whereabouts, by the report of his 
shot-gun from another room, the charge of the 
gun taking effect in the breast and shoulder of 



one of the party, producing a wound of which the 
man died some time after. We can find no one 
now able to recall the name of this man, he being 
almost an entire stranger. He was a river man, 
and either a pilot or engineer. When this shot 
was fired, the crowd rushed to the room and 
broke it open, but the room was vacant ; and 
while the assailants were bewildered about the 
negro's second strange disappearance, the re- 
port of his gun was again heard. This shot 
wounded the well-known citizen, Ed Willett,who 
was innocently on board the boat, not joining in 
the assault, but endeavoring to save the furni- 
ture. This last shot enraged the people in an 
instant into a fierce mob that cried aloud for 
blood and that now nothing else would appease. 
The boat was torn from its moorings and towed 
out into the river, and in full view of at least 
a thousand people set on fire, and in less than 
thirty minutes burned to the waters' edge. 
But while this work was in progress the desper- 
ate and now doomed negro was not idle. He 
evidently felt that he must die, but seemed de- 
termined to sell his life dearly. Upon those 
who towed his boat into the stream, upon those 
who applied the torch, and upon those who 
filled the scores of skiffs which dotted the Ohio 
River, he fired repeated rounds and scarcely ever 
without effect. Exhausting his shot or projec- 
tiles, he charged his piece with stone-coal and 
fired that upon his assailants, as long as the 
eager flames allowed him to resist at all. And 
now the advancing element had fully shrouded 
the upper works of the boat, leaving only a plat- 
form on the stern to be enveloped. Many had 
concluded the wretched creature had perished 
in the flames, and as they were about to turn 
from the sickening sight there was a crash 
of glass heard in the great bulk of flame. In 
an instant afterward Spencer appeared upon 
the stern, in full view of the great crowd, and of 
[ his wife upon the wharf-boat, and, looking defi- 
antly at all, he placed his hand upon his breast 
, and leaped headlong into what he then must 



52 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



have considered the '• friendl}^ waters of the 
Ohio." Long and anxiously the crowd looked 
for his appearance to the surface, but the wa- 
ters had closed over him once and forever. 
Thus, calling destruction on his own head, per- 
ished the desperate negro, Joseph Spencer. 

For weeks and months afterward the news- 
papers of the country made allusion to the affair 
as a '' characteristic mob," giving it more shapes 
than Proteus, every writer who took it in hand, 
molding it exactly to his own liking. Mose 
Harrell, who was an eye witness to the whole 
sad affair, and who was daily receiving in his 
exchange papers from all over the couutr}^ at- 
tempted to summarize the accounts and recon- 
cile them all into one straight, consistent story, 
and here is the remarkable result : 

*' Joseph Spencer, an eminent colored divine, 
whose desperate character made him the terror 
of the community, and whose deeds of blood 
and acts of Christian piety gave him great emi- 
nence, was recently killed by a mob in Cairo 
under the following justifiable and bloodthirsty 
circumstances : Mr. Spencer, while conducting 
a prayer meeting on his boat, which was reek- 
ing in the blood of his murdered victims, was 
shot down by a disguised mob of well known 
citizens, who, without premeditation, had assem- 
bled shortly after dark on the morning of the 
bloody day for the hellish and authorized pur- 
pose. These negro drivers, who had just 
arrived on a Mississippi steamer, then seized 
him while in the act of getting down to a game 
of " old sledge" with a distinguished Method- 
ist minister from Cincinnati, tied him to a 
convenient tree, and there burned him until the 
waters of the Ohio closed over him forever. 
His boat,"upon which he remained until the last 
moment, was then towed to the middle of the 
Ohio River, where it sunk against the Ken- 
tucky shore, b}' applying the flaming torch to 
the cabin. 

" A more diabolical and fiendish act of mer- 
ited punishment never disgraced a community 



of incarnate fiends of high respectability more 
signall}' than has this act of damnable but 
richly deserved retribution disgraced all con- 
cerned in it, not excepting the victim himself, 
who was seen at Memphis receutlj^, swearing 
vengeance dire against his sanctimonious mur- 
derers." 

Thus, from Joe Spencer to Eliza Pinkston, 
the " bloody shirt" floated in ample folds all 
over the North, while the " mud-sills" and the 
"corner-stone of slavery," equally ripened 
and flourished at the South. And of a nation's 
throes, coming of these infinitesimal circum- 
stances, a Lincoln's fame was born, and the way 
was prepared for that " ambitious 3'outb who 
fired the Ephesian dome," to assassinate Lin- 
coln in a theater, on G-ood Friday, of 1865 ; and 
the hanging of an innocent woman ; and the 
second assassination of a President, and the 
hanging of an insane man. These are the skele- 
ton, surface results, but beneath that ghastly 
covering who will ever know, who can ever in his 
wildest imaginings conceive the blighted virtue, 
the ruined names, the crushed hearts, the 
ghastly corpses, the unspeakable agony and 
woe, that ran over this people like a consum- 
ing conflagration ! It is well for the mental 
health of the human race that the charity of 
oblivion rests so deeply upon the sickening 
story that it ma}' never be told. Joe Spencer 
was nothing but a wretched, desperate, igno- 
rant and brutal negro, whose life was a constant 
menace to all with whom he came in contact ; 
yet the century had been preparing the way 
for even this vile wretch, and it culminated in 
his self-sought destruction into a power for 
evil which may run on for 3'et a hundred years. 
Nothing is clearer than that it was the right 
way, the high and solemn duty of the people 
of Cairo to either drive off or kill the danger- 
ous, bad negro. They should have done this 
long before they did, and if it was necessary to 
kill him in order to get rid of him, he was en- 
titled to no more considex-ation than a snake 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



58 



or a rabid clog. But when he could stand at 
bay no longei*, he placed heav}- irons about his 
neck and plunged into the river, with his dead- 
ly gun in his hands, and, thus prepared, he 
fully determined never to rise again, but his 
conjured ghost was impressed into the service 
of aiding in the bloody preparations for the 
carnival of death that was so soon to follow 
after his destruction. 

In a preceding chapter, we had occasion to 
notice the penchant, the genius rather, of the 
young men of Cairo, that was so fully devel- 
oped in those dull years following the disper- 
sion of the people here in 1841. So ingi-ained 
had this become, that now, when the flush 
times again came to Cairo, and work and busi- 
ness crowded upon them from every side, they 
would steal these golden moments whenever 
opportunit}' presented itself to again indulge 
in their favorite pastime. 

The Legislature had organized a Court of 
Common Pleas for Cairo, and appointed Isham 
N. Haynie, Judge. He came to Cairo to hold 
his first term of court, and a court room had 
been secured in the Springfield Block. He had 
not more than fairly opened the session when 
the " boys" opened a similar court in the other 
end of the block, and they had all the officials 
and paraphernalia of a most August court. 
The officer of Judge Haynie's Court would 
stick his head out of the window and call a 
juror, attorne}', or witness, and so would the 
official at the moot court, only the bogus one 
would call louder, oftener, and a greater num- 
ber of names, and the bailiffs were flying 
around the streets summoning witnesses, 
jurors and parties to come into court instan- 
ter. The bogus grand jury held prolonged 
sessions, and as the bailiffs well understood 
who to summon as witnesses, and as the jurors 
well understood what questions to ask such 
witnesses, it was a roaring farce from morn 
till night, particularly the revelations the}' 
drew out of an old chap whose shebang was 



down on the point, and who sold ice principal- 
1}'. From day to da^- this immense burlesque 
went on. and many names of the best people 
began to be compromised ^dly. Judge 
Haynie finall}- took notice of the matter, and a 
United States Marshal making his appearance 
with writs, frightened the " boys" seriously, 
and, in fact it resulted in driving several of 
them temporarily out of town, until the matter 
was finally fixed up in some wa}', and their 
thoughtless acts were excused. 

A more innocent and comical joke was 
worked ofl" by John Q. Harmon and Mose 
Harrell. They were both j'oung fellows, and 
Mose was clerking in his brother's store — a 
place of great resort for the old fellows who 
delighted to loaf, and chew tobacco and " swap 
lies," and absorb the heat of the stove in cold 
weather. To move these fellows from the 
warm fire and clear the 8tore-roon» was the 
project set about by these boys. Harmon had 
got a suppl}' of sand and had it carefull}' 
wrapped in a good sized bundle, and seeking 
the time when the loafers were thickest about 
the store, he walked in with his package in his 
hand. He addressed Mose, in a tone that all 
could hear, telling him he was going hunting, 
that he had all the powder he wanted, display- 
ing his three or four pounds of sand, and went 
on to tell Harrell that he wanted some shot and 
would pay for it in a few days, etc. 

" No sir !" said Harrell, " if 3"0U have no 
money, you cannot get an}- shot." 

"Well," says Harmon, "you need not be so 
short about it. I'll pay 3'ou next week." 

And from the first the words grew more 
bitter and loud, and soon the two quarrelers 
had the entire attention of the house. In the 
meantime, Harmon had wedged his vra,y close 
up to the door of the red-hot stove, when, Lhe 
quarrel going on still, he opened the stove 
door and bitterly said : " Well, if I can't get 
any shot, I don't want any powder !" and 
heaved the bundle into the stove. Such a 



54 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



hurried exit — some of them not taking time to 
rise from their chairs to run, but tumbling 
backward and rolling to the door, and all 
were upon the streets in such a frightful race 
to get awa}' they did not take time to look 
back at the building which every instant they 
expected would be blown sky high, until the}' 
ran so far they were fagged out. In the 
meantim'e, John and Mose were fairly rolling 
over the floor in explosions of laughter. It 
was several days before the old loafers would 
venture within half a mile of Harrell's store. 

During the winter of 1857, the city was 
specially incorporated by the Legislature, *and 
on the 9th day of March following the first 
Council, under the charter, met for organiza- 
tion and business. The following gentlemen 
formed the Council : 

Maj'or, S. Staats Taylor ; Aldermen, Peter 
Stapletor^ Peter Neff, Patrick Burke, Roger 
Finn, John Howle}^, Harry Whitcamp, C. Os- 
terloh, C. A. Whaley, William Standing, Cor- 
nelius Manly, Martin Eagan and T. N. Graff- 
ney. 

As the city officers were not elected by the 
people at that time, the Council elected John 
Q. Harmon, City Clerk ; H. H. Candee, Treas- 
urer ; and Thomas Wilson, Marshal. 

The Board of Aldermen disapproving of the 
work of their predecessors, by a simple resolu- 
tion, wiped from the books every general and 
special enactment found in force, leaving no 
vestige of the old board's wisdom or folly in 
operation, save only such enactments as con- 
ferred rights or privileges for a specified time or 
special nature. The whole city government 
was remodeled — an entire new set of ordi- 
nances, relating /to ever}' legitimate subject, 
being framed and adopted. They assumed all 
responsibility, willing to take the credit arising, 
or the shower of condemnation following the 
new order of things. The charter was broad 
and liberal in its provisions, and under it, with 
ver}' few and immaterial amendments, the 



usual work doubtless of " governing too much" 
has gone on smoothl}-^ ever since. 

S. Staats Ta3'lor filled the oflflce of Mayor six 
times, viz. : During 1857-58-59-60 and 63. 

H. Watson Webb was Mayor during 1862, 
being elected without opposition. J. H. Ober- 
ly in 1869. 

In 1864, David J. Baker, one of the present 
Judges of the Circuit Court, wa,^ elected Mayor. 

During the years 1857-58-59-60 and 61, 
John Q. Harmon held the office of City Clerk. 
He was succeeded by A. H. Irvin, who held it 
seven 3'ears. J. P. Fagan, elected 1868 ; Pat- 
rick Mockler, 1869 ; Mockler was suspended 
and T. Nail}', appointed to fill out his term ; 
John Brown was then elected. N. J. Howley, in 
1870, held it four terras ; 1872, W. H.Hawkins; 
1875, W. K. Ackley; James W. Stewart, 1876; 
John B. Phillis, 1877 ; D. J. Fpley, 1879 ; re- 
elected in 1881, and again in 1883. 

The following were the City Treasurers in the 
order in which they are named : H. H. Candee, 
Louis Jorgensen, John H. Brown, B. S. Harrell, 
A. C. Holden, Peter Stapleton, John Howley, 
J. B. Taylor, who held the office until 1872, 
and was succeeded by Robert A. Cunningham ; 
in 1875, B. F. Blake was elected ; then F. M. 
Stockfleth, and then B. F. Parke ; in 1879, E. 
Zezonia ; 1881, Thomas J. Curt. 

The City Marshals were Thomas Wilson, D. 
C. Stewart, P. Corcoran, R. H. Baird, Martin 
Egan, John Hodges, Jr. 

In addition to the City Marshals above given 
we may mention M. Bambrick, Andrew Kane- 
City Attorneys — H. Watson Webb, who filled 
the office for four successive terms, and was 
again re-elected in 1863 and 1864. In 1871, P. 
H. Pope was elected, and re-elected in 1872. In 
1873, H. Watson Webb was again elected. In 
1875, H. H. Black, was elected, and re-elected in 
1876 ; 1877, William Q. McGee ; 1879, W. E. 
Hendricks, and re-elected the next term. 

Police Magistrates —B. Shannessy, who held 
the office successively from 1857 to 1864, Fred- 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



' 55 



oline Bross was elected in 1865. In 1876, 
two Police Magisti-ates were elected to this 
office. J. J. Bird in 1880 ; Bird resigned and 
George E. Olmstead was elected ; in 1881, 
Alfred Comings was elected. 

In 1863, for the first time the Council pro- 
vided for the office of Cit)' Surve3-or, and the 
Board elected August F. Taylor to that posi- 
tion. Mr. Thrupp has filled the position almost 
continually. 

In addition to the Mayors above enumerated, 
Thomas Wilson filled the office in 1870 ; John 
M. Lansden, 1871 ; re-elected in 1872 ; in 1873, 
John Wood ; 1874, B. F. Blake ; 1875, Henry 
Winters ; re-elected 1877 ; and in 1879, M. B. 
Thistlewood was elected and re-elected in 1881. 
The present officers just elected, will be found 
complete in another chapter. 

Cairo was always "diabolically Democratic," 
at least until the " man and brother" from the 
cotton-fields and jungles of the South parted 
company with the swamp alligators and tooth- 
some possoms of that region and came upon 
the town like the black ants of his native Af- 
rica. The town sits upon that point of land in 
Illinois that is wedged away down between 
what wei'e the two slave States of Missouri and 
Kentucky. So cosmopolitan were the Cairo 
people that they were impatient of the bawl- 
ings and crockodile tears of the Abolitionists, 
and the equally idiotic oaths about the divine 
institution of slaver}'. And hence the}' were 
equally abused by both sides of the fanatics 
and fools. Among other most horrid slanders 
that ran their perennial course through the col- 
umns of many Northern papers, was the one 
that Cairo was ready and eager to mob and kill 
every " loyal " man who happened to be found 
in the place. One flaming story was added to 
the Spencer mobbing, about a little preacher 
named Ferree, who attempted to make an Abo- 
lition speech in Cairo and was odorously egged, 
etc. The whole thing was only one of the man}' 
slanders upon Cairo. 



In the campaign of 1856, a noted negroite, 
from the office of the Chicago Tribune, came to 
Cairo to make a Fremont speech. His paper had 
published tomes of the Cairo slanders, and 
dwelt long and lovingly on the Spencer and 
Ferree mobs. After the distinguished orator 
arrived in Cairo he ran his eye over the columns 
of his paper, of which he carried a file that was 
filled with .sectional slanders, and he became nerv- 
ous, and actually worked upon his own fears un- 
til he began to seriously believe many of his 
own published lies. He thought the people would 
mob him. He locked himself in his room and 
sent for the Republican leaders, and informed 
them he was afraid to attempt to speak in Cairo. 
These men assured him there was no danger, 
but he would not be satisfied until nearly every 
leading Democrat in the town had been sent 
for, and they all pledged themselves'and staked 
their lives upon his entire safety and immunity 
from all danger. Then, though still nervous, 
he consented to go on with the meeting. When 
the hour for the meeting had come the hall was 
packed with people, although there were not a 
score of Republicans in the place. The speaker, 
with his escort, appeared upon the platform, 
was introduced and received with hearty cheers. 
He commenced his speech, and the attention of 
the crowd was close and respectful, and upon the 
speaker's slightest allusion to anything patriotic 
or of a spread-eagle nature, prolonged cheers 
would greet his words. His exordium had been 
splendidly pronounced and speaker and audi- 
ence were en rapport, and thus encouraged the 
orator was rising to the occasion in some of the 
most eloquent slanders of the South that ever 
greeted eager and lengthened ears, when all 
at once, Sam Hall, who sat nearly in the front 
row of benches, jumped to his feet, turned 
around with his back to the speaker and facing 
the audience, and placing his hand significantly 
to his hip pocket, in a clear and distinct voice, 
said : " I'll shoot the first son-of-a-sea-cook that 
throws an egg ! " These words struck the ora- 



56 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



tor's ears like the crack of doom ; his big 
speech, even articulation, was frightened out of 
him ; he was so nervous that he could no longer 
stand, and silence, with an exceptional here and 
there men clearing their throats and suppress- 
ing the " audible smiles " of those who knew 
what the inveterate wag, Sam Hall, meant, was 
intense, and the speaker hurriedly passed out 
of the rear door of the hall, and made fast time 
to his hotel, and was on the first train out of 
town, and for weeks the Chicago Tribune wrung 
the changes on " Another Cairo Mob — Free 
Speech Suppressed," etc. 

Among the early and long time institutions 
of Cairo was " Old Rube," the innocent ad- 
vance guard of the whole " coon " tribe, that 
have since been inflicted upon Cairo. Old 
Rube was a rather quiet, well-behaved darkey, 
who did chores about town, acted as "mud- 
clerk " for most of the saloons, was always, 
when he could catch an audience or listener on 
the street, talking learnedly about the Scriptures, 
and had a great weakness for chicken-roosts. 
" Old Rube " was a more modest Ethiopian 
than his modern kind, at least he never at- 
tempted to turn the Cairo white children out 
of their schools, and have himself installed in 
their places. His extraordinar}' ideas, and his 
amusing way of putting them, made him not 
only tolerated b}- all young and old of the 
place, but they afforded much innocent pas- 
time. He was one morning doing his usual 
clerking in the new telegraph office, when it 
was run by Mose Harrell. The only telegraph 
instruments in those days were the old- 
fashioned kind, that were wound up, and used 
long strips of paper. In sweeping about the 
instrument, which was wound up, in some way 
he touched it, and it commenced to run down. 
He realized what he had done and was greatly 
frightened as he saw the weight slowly descend 
toward the floor. In some way he got it into 
his woolly pate that when the weight struck the 
floor an explosion would follow, and he thought 



it would blow the whole world into smithereens. 
On a full run he started to hunt Mose, and 
when he found him, told him what was going 
on. Mose in apparent fright, rushed back 
with Rube to the office, and just as they entered 
the machine had run down and stopped, of 
course, just before the weight touched the floor. 
He made Rube believe he was just there at 
the last moment, and conflrmed the darkey's 
idea and enlarged them greatly b}^ showing 
him how the explosion, commencing at Cairo, 
would have blown awa}' entirely St. Louis, 
Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and in fact all 
the leading cities of the world. For the re- 
mainder of Rube's life he told over this thrill- 
ing stor}- in which he and Mose Harrell were 
such conspicuous actors, always adding some 
embellishments to the story, and ever}' time 
going a little more learnedly into the scientific 
intricacies of electricity. In discussing the 
Scriptures, he evidently believed that the' story 
of Jonah and the whale, and Noah and his ark, 
were about the sum total of the whole busi- 
ness. He believed it a religious duty to 
smoke a strong pipe, because had Jonah 
not had his pipe and matches in his pocket, 
after the whale swallowed him, and was swim- 
ming oflT for a general frolic with the other 
whales, he would never have been cast ashore. 
Explaining one day on the streets all about 
how Noah constructed the Ark, how long it 
took him, and how much material there was in 
it. The question was asked, ''Where did he 
get his nails ? " " Wh}-, in Pittsburgh, of course, 
you fool you! Whar could he get 'em if not dar?" 
He believed heaven a place made up exclusive- 
ly of chicken roosts, and where there was 
nothing higher for them to roost upon than a 
common rail fence. Every one kindly tolerated 
the ignorant and innocent old man, gave him 
alwa3'S plenty to eat, and he dressed himself 
j'ear in and out with the old clothes of which 
he always had an immense supply. In his 
young days, he had been one of the innumera- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



57 



ble servants of George Washington, at all 
events he had told the story until he un- 
doubtedl}' believed it, and he al\va3-s respect- 
fully spoke of him as " Mas'r George." He was 
a stanch Republican from the formation of 
that part}', and was a regular attendant upon 
its meetings in Cairo, j'et his associates and 
friends were exclusivel}' Democrats. He never 
expected or apparently' wanted to vote, and 
sometimes, like perhaps a majorit}' of the white 
voters, got his religion and politics so mixed 
up that he could not disentangle them. x\nd 
often when the question was suddenly sprung 
upon him he could not tell " Mas'r Linkum " 
from the ark, nor Noah from the whale, but, 
to his credit be it said, this mental, political 
and religious confusion but rarely took pos- 
session of the old man, except after he had 
cleaned and righted up, and purified and 
sweetened his usual morning round of the dog- 
geries. He has long since, if his theories were 
all correct, had a touch of experience of those 
other worlds, about which while here he talked 
so much, and dreamed such vague and incoher- 
ent dreams. He rests beneath the willow tree. 
1^58 — Cairo Inundated. — For the second 
time a widespread disaster overwhelmed Cairo, 
and under circumstances in some respects very 
similar to that of 1841. But this time it was 
water. On Saturday, June 13, 1858, at about 
the hour of 5 P. M., the levee gave away on 
the Mississippi side of the town, near its inter- 
section with the embankment of the Illinois 
Central Railroad. For several days previous 
it had been predicted b}' many who had closel}' 
watched the progi-ess of the flood, and who 
were familiar with the character of the levees, 
that the town was in constant danger. The 
people were warned of the peril ; but lulled into 
a feeling of security by the fact that during the 
fifteen j-ears past they had escaped sul)mersion, 
and by assurances of the reckless that all was 
safe, they paid no attention whatever to the 
warning regarding it, only as the bugbear of 



panic-makers. As a consequence, the flood 
came upon many of the people unexpectedly, 
leaving them only time to escape with their 
lives. 

The break, it is now known, resulted from the 
defective construction of the works by the un- 
principled contractor who made the embank- 
ment. The water was more than a foot below the 
top of the Igvee, and up to the moment of the 
break gave no sign of the coming disaster. 
The waters rushed through with a great roar, 
carrying with them the embankment in great 
sections, and in places with such force and 
violence as to uproot trees and stumps in its 
course. 

A force of 500 men were as soon as possible 
placed upon what is known as the " Old Cross 
Levee," an embankment running from the Ohio 
to the Mississippi in the upper portion of the 
city, with the hope that they would be able to 
fill up the openings which had been cut on the 
line of the streets and stop the flood of this 
embankment. But the waters poured in so 
rapidly and came with such a strong current 
that this attempt was reluctantly but necessa- 
ril}' abandoned. 

A lady resident, still of the citj' of Cairo, 
who was here at the time, gave the writer a 
most graphic description of the scenes imme- 
diately following the break in the levee. Gen- 
erally the women and children only were at 
the houses — the men at their business, many 
trying to move their goods and perishable arti- 
cles to safe places in upper stories, where they 
could get these, and 3'et man}- others were out 
upon the levees trying in vain to stop the 
waters. It was after G o'clock when a man 
came galloping down the main street, horse 
and rider covered with mud and calling out at 
the top of his voice, " The levee is broken — 
flee for your lives !" In a few minutes the 
waters were seen stealing along the sewers and 
low places in the streets, winding about the 
houses and the people like an anaconda. The 



58 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



poor women and children were generally wring- 
ing their hands and crying in utter helplessness. 
She says she saw one poor woman with a piece 
of stove-pipe under one arm and a cheap look- 
ing-glass under the other, on her way to the 
Ohio Levee, followed by a brood of five or six 
children, and all weeping in the greatest dis- 
tress. Confusion was turned loose, and while 
all were in the greatest fear and apprehension, 
yet it was those whose houses were low, one- 
storied concerns and in low places, that death 
to them and their little dependent ones seemed 
staring them in the face. Generally those who 
were in houses of two stories concluded to stay 
at home and were busy moving everything into 
the second stor}". 

Soon through the streets in great force came 
the muddy waters, carrying upon its bosom logs, 
fences, trees and lumber, and presenting a scene 
that oppressed the stoutest heart ; and night 
settled upon the sad scene, and in the darkness 
and soon in the water itself, were families mak- 
ing their way to the Ohio Levee. By daylight 
Sunday morning, there was no dr}^ land to be 
seen inside the levees, and bj- noon of that day 
the waters inside were of the height of the 
rivers. As far as the eye could see the spec- 
tator behold naught but a sea of turbid water 
and a scene of confusion and ruin. 

Some of the one-stor}- buildings in the low 
grounds of the town presented only their roofs 
above the water ; a few light and frail ones 
had left their foundations, and yet a few othei's 
had careened, while every building of this 
character had been abandoned at an early hour 
by their occupants. 

In ever}- quarter of the city skiffs, canoes 
and floats of every kind plied industriously 
from house to house and were engaged in re- 
moving women and children, furniture, goods, 
etc., to the Ohio Levee. The plank walks were 
sawed into convenient sections and used as 
floats, and every imaginable species of craft 
were improvised for the occasion. 



Altogether about 500 persons were driven 
from their homes, and the little strip of the 
Ohio Levee, the only dr^' spot for miles around, 
was crowded with men, women and children, 
dogs, cattle, plunder, wagons, cars, etc., from 
one end to the other. Every nook and corner 
of the warehouses were crowded to excess 
with the houseless and their plunder, and the 
cars on the railroad track were all similarly 
occupied. Many made their way in rafts 
and skiffs and also left on steamboats for the 
highlands, and many of these stood aloof from 
" health and fortune " by making their absence 
permanent. 

Some families were made destitute by the 
flood, but these were so promptly- provided for 
by the more fortunate citizens that no real 
cases of suffering ensued. Charity was offered 
the people from other cities, but the plucky 
Cairoites said "No ; we can and are providing 
for our own people." 

We can get no reliable estimate of the dam- 
age financially that the people of the town suf- 
fered. Many poor people whose loss in dollars 
and cents was small, yet to them it was great 
because it was their all. But under the cir- 
cumstances, and considering that the visitation 
was upon the entire town, and each one lost 
more or less, the aggregate was not large, not 
near so large in property- as in the disrupting 
of established business, the destruction of con- 
fidence and the general bad odor it attached to 
Cairo's already grievous burdens in this respect. 
It was the suffering by the cit}', as a cit}-, that 
brought more damage than all the water in- 
flicted. The general revulsion that followed, 
the depreciation of property, the loss of con- 
fidence — these formed a sum of damages that 
cannot be estimated in dollars. 

There was no perceptible rise in the rivers 
after the breaking of the levee, and the waters 
began rapidly to recede. In less than two 
weeks the city was dry again, and every da}- 
the citizens were returning to their homes; logs 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



5» 



and rubbish were cleared from the streets, 
houses were repaired and re painted, and fences 
re-built, and but a few months had passed 
when the prominent marks of the flood had 
been cleared away — wiped out forever. 

The two 3'ears following the submersion of 
Cairo formed probabh- the most trying period 
of her histor}-. Real estate dropped its former 
high figures, and purchasers could buy at al- 
most their own figures, but the shock public 
confidence had received pi'evented investments, 
and business being in a measure deadened, there 
was no incentive for improvement strong 
enough to move to action those who had for- 
merly invested. Rival interests eagerly pro- 
claimed the downfall of the city, and confident- 
ly predicted it would never attempt to rise 
again, and there were many in Cairo and out of 
it who were ready to believe the blow had 
proved effectually crushing. But the repair- 
ing, widening and strengthening the levees and 
expending vast sums in this work, soon created 
abetter feeling at home and helped to inspire 
confidence abroad, and by the end of the sec- 
ond year after the overflow, property had about 
regained its former value and the business of 
the place its accustomed tone; and as time 
wore on, and the heights and proportions of 
the levees increased, confidence in the habita- 
bleness of the locality gained its original 
standard. 

In 1861, Cairo had recovered wholly from 
the overflow, and her population had increased 
to a little over 2,000 souls, the census of 18(10 
showing a population for Alexander County of 
a little over 4,000. The town had recovered 
slowly, but its foundations had been solidly 
built and the levees had been made the strong- 
est and safest in the world. 

In April, 18G1, the great civil war was fully 
inaugurated. The majority of the people 
of Cairo " knew no North, no South, no East, no 
West, but the Union, the whole Union, one and 
inseparable, now and forever." They had 



hoped, up to the last hour, that in some way 
the bloody issue would be spared the country 
once more. A military company, armed and 
uniformed, and composed of nearly all the 
young men of the town, met and drilled at 
their hall regularly every week. They met one 
evening, and after their usual exercises they 
engaged in a social meeting and talked over 
the then absorbing subject of the war. It was 
evident that it was then upon the country. 
Lincoln had called for 75,000 troops, and 
Seward had proclaimed that it would be fought 
out in ninety days. Several of the Cairo braves 
made "talks," and the meeting finall}' passed 
some " armed neutralit}' " resolutions and ad- 
journed. During all that night the incoming 
trains were freighted with United States sol- 
diers, and when the Cairo soldiers got up in the 
morning, the streets and woods were full of 
them. And the Cairo companj- never met 
again. It is due the Cairo boys to say that 
about every one of them joined the Union 
arm}-, and, still more to their credit, it is said 
tliat every one of them rose to honorable, and 
many of them to eminent promotions. 
The immediate effect of the occupation 
of the place by the militar}- was to check im- 
provements and paralyze business. This 
largel}- resulted from the fact that some of the 
early commandants of the place were ignorant 
fanatics, and who proposed to treat ever}' 
Democrat as a traitor, and visit all with a 
heavy hand. Then, the further fact, that 
neither the Government nor troops had any 
money here at that time, and the business 
means of the city were absorbed in advancing 
supplies on credit. But when the Government 
commenced distributing money here to the 
troops and its creditors, then a far more grat- 
ifying condition of affiirs was at once inaugu- 
rated. Our merchants, mechanics and laborers 
were reimbursed for what they had advanced, 
and at once an unusual activity not only 
marked every department of business, but new 



60 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



branches of trade were introduced, the old 
ones were multiplied and a vigor, which had 
never before been felt, characterized the entire 
city. Cairo was the great gateway between 
the North and the South. It was a military 
post of vast importance. Thousands of soldiers 
were stationed here, forts erected, and 
still other thousands of soldiers were 
daily passing through the place. Green- 
backs were plenty and morals became scarce. 
Many unblushing outrages, which were never 
punished, were committed upon citizens by 
the demoralized soldiers. But the war adver- 
tised Cairo more than had all else in her his- 
tory as an important and commanding point 
on the continent, and business and capital was 
attracted here in an unparalleled degree. And 
by the spring of 1863, Cairo was, for the third 
time, in the glories of flush times. New houses 
were going up on every hand that were always 
rented before finished, and, for a village,^ often 
at enormous figures ; but the new-comers were 
on a race for some place to shelter their fam- 
ilies, and they rarely hesitated about the price 
of the rent. Everybody was making money, 
and spending it freely and lavishly. The evi- 
dences of this were well given in the swarms of 
gamblers that came here and were busy 
plying their vocation, until finally, so systemat- 
ically were they robbing the soldiers, that rigid 
military orders were issued in regard to them, 
and some were put in irons. 

Gen. Prentiss came here, we believe, in 
charge of the first arrivals of soldiers, and 
assumed the command of the post. He was 
superseded by Gen. Grant, who was here so 
long that he almost became a citizen. He had 
his oflSce in the bank building, on Ohio levee, 
now occupied as a law office by Green & Gil- 
bert. The present old settlers of Cairo all 
came to know Grant quite well while he was 
here. John Rawlins came here with Grant and 
was his factotum in office headquarters, and 
"Washington Graham, a citizen and business 



man of Cairo, was Grant's factotum outside. 
Graham had extensive business ambition, and 
he was shrewd enough to know and under- 
stand Gen. Grant and quickly formed the 
closest intimacy with him. He spent his money 
on the General like a prince, and he was soon 
the power behind the throne. He bought the 
best of cigars b}' the wholesale, and constantly 
kept the liquid commissary department at 
headquarters abundantly supplied. Wash- 
ington Graham, had he lived during the war, 
would have, beyond doubt, extended his in- 
fluence and power just as Grant was advanced 
along the line of promotion. He was a man of 
genial nature, strong social powers, and shrewd 
sense — exactly- the kind of man who liked to be 
the power behind the throne, and wielding that 
power, when opportunitj' ofiered. to put money 
in- his purse, and to make the fortune of his 
friends and pull down remorselessly' his 
enemies. He soon became essential to the 
Grant party in all its junketing on the rivei's, 
and was a member of headquarters' mess on 
the steamboat in the expedition to Paducah 
and to Fort Donelson. Grant liked him and 
his liberal ways from the first of their acquaint- 
ance, and when he was stricken down with con- 
sumption and went to his friends in 
St. Louis to die, it must have seemed to 
Gen. Grant a serious aflliction. The 
General must have loved all jolly, liberal men. 
No man in the world could play his role better 
than Washington Graham. Gen. Grant's family 
were here for some time with him, and had 
living-rooms across the hall from his head- 
quarters. At that time the family seemed to 
be very plain, unpretending people. Bill 
Shuter's extensive establishment was the alma 
mater of much of the enthusiastic patriot- 
ism of those days, as well as some of the 
early strategic movements of the war in the 
West. 

Among the first military movements of Gen. 
Prentiss after he was placed in command of the 





v 




U'^^/enuz^^ 



^t 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



63 



forces at Cairo, numbering 4,800 men, was to 
formally demand the arms of the Cairo Guards. 
As the compan}' had dissolved into the air im- 
mediately upon the coming of the soldiers, the 
General could find no one to respond to 
his flag of truce demanding an unconditional 
surrender of the ordnances. But he found the 
keys to the armory, and the deadly weapons of 
war were taken possession of in the name of the 
United States and turned over to arm the 
Union soldiers. 

The next and much more important move- 
ment was to look out for the steamers C. E. 
Hillman and John D. Perry, which he had been 
notified by Gov. Yates had been loaded with 
arms and ammunition and were on their way 
South with their cargoes. When the boats' 
reached Cairo they were boarded and brought 
to the wharf A large number of arms and 
ammunition were'seized and confiscated — a pro- 
ceeding, at the time informal, but it was after- 
ward approved by the Secretary' of War. 

Gen. Grant's first battle in the war was Bel- 
mont, Mo., a point nearly opposite Columbus, 
K3'., where the rebels were in strong force, and 
had detached a small portion of the Columbus 
forces to occupy Belmont. Gen. Grant conclud- 
ed it would be an immense piece of strategy- 
to capture Belmont, and thus relieve that por- 
tion of Missouri, and to some extent intercept all 
communications between the rebel forces of 
Kentucky and Missouri. So a fleet of boats 
sailed down the river, and a part of the force 
marched down by land from Bird's Point — 
the force from the river to land and attack in 
front, and the land force to come up in the rear, 
and thus pocket the enem}'. The whole scheme 
was well devised, and the river force, reaching 
the grounds long before the land force, and 
so eager were oflBcers and men for blood 
and glory, that they at once attacked. The 
river forces were under the immediate com- 
mand of Gen. Grant. They were hastily 
deploved from the boats, a short distance above 



Belmont, formed in battle line, opened fire, and 
charged upon the enem3''s encampment and 
captured it. But the teats were empt}-, mostly, 
and all hands were in deep indignation at the 
enemy for running awa3' in such a dastardl}' 
manner. And the soldiers fell to work ripping 
up fhe tents, and prying into the culinar}' affairs 
of the enem3''s camp, and exulting over their 
easj' victory. Just when they had become 
prett}' well scattered over the grounds, the 
enemy suddenly' emerged from the woods, and 
at short range, opened a galling fire. The ad- 
vance of the land forces just then appeared, 
and for a few minutes the battle raged fiercely 
— the rebels charged, and the Union forces fled 
to the boats, and in a dreadfull}' un-dress-pa- 
rade fashion, and amid flying bullets the boats 
were loaded and steamed back io Cairo. From 
the manner in which the boats had been sprin- 
kled with shot, from buckshot to birdshot, and 
from many of the wounds in the clothes of the 
federals, the enemy must have been mostly- 
armed with shotguns and fowling pieces. The 
land forces continued to return in straggling 
squads, to Bird's Point for a week, as some of 
them got lost in the river bottoms. The fed- 
eral forces had simply walked into a trap that 
had been set for them, and the}' escaped b}' the 
" skin of the teeth." 

An incident of this battle is worth relating. 
When the Union forces captured the enemy's 
camp, as stated above, the}' found nobody at 
home, but they did find a female baby 
about three months old, sleeping peacefully on 
the bare ground, amid the roar of battle and 
the whistling bullets that played thick and fast 
all around it. There was no one to claim it, 
and a good Caii'o citizen took the babe in his 
arms and brought it to Cairo, whei'e it was 
taken in charge by Father Lambert, and a 
home provided for the little trophy of war. 
Nothing could ever be learned concerning the 
child, although every exertion was made to do 
so. It was duly christened a Christian, and 



64 



HISTORY OF CAIEO. 



named " Belmont Lambert." The supposition 
is, that in the attack and firing upon the camp, 
the mother of the child had been killed, and as 
the father must have been a rebel soldier, it is 
probable he was killed in this battle, or in 
some other soon after, and it may be that no 
one of this father, mother and babe ever knew 
what became of the others. We know nothing 
of the history of Belle Lambert, after she was 
provided for here in Cairo, as an infant. If 
alive now, she is a gi-own woman, twenty-two 
years old. What a dream the strange story of 
her life must be to her. How she must have 
employed heavy hours of her young life in 
peering at every lineament of her features in 
the glass, trying to discover traces of her un- 
known father and mother, and having fixed 
them in her mind, as she supposed, how eagerly 
would she scan every strange face she met, in 
the vain hope, in all this multitude, of finding 
the long-lost and ideally formed and loved 
mother or father. Is there a mothers heart in 
all the world that is not melted at the story of 
this lost babe — the little angel waif, found un- 
harmed in the midst of slaughter and blood — a 
little flower of peace and love, sleeping sweetly 
amid all its hideous surroundings. 

But to refer again, briefly, to the Belmont 
battle : There is a part of that storj' that is 
furnished us b}' a prominent and reliable gen- 
tleman of Cairo, William Lornegan, who was 
acting mate on the transport, Montgomery, that 
has never been told in print, and that will some 
day be essential to the truth of history. He 
says that one afternoon while the Montgomery 
was anchored in front of Cairo. Wash Oraham 
came on board and ordered the Captain to coal 
at once, and drop down to Fort Holt,on the Ken- 
tucky side, and that when he received the signal 
from the flag-boat he was to swing out into the 
stream and follow. The Captain asked Graham 
what the signal was to be, and was answered, 
"five whistles." Then, for the first time, word 
passed around with the crew that they were 



going to attack Columbus. Before that, they 
supposed the}- were going to be loaded with 
soldiers, and take them to Cape Girardeau, as 
they had made a trip or two of this kind al- 
ready. These troops, it was afterwai'd known, 
were to march by land, and come upon Bel- 
mont, in conjunction with the water forces, and 
the Bird's Point forces. A force had been sent 
out from Fort Holt to make a similar detour 
upon Columbus from the east. Thus, by three 
columns, a land force on each side of the river 
and a fleet of transports and two gunboats by 
the river, the two places, Columbus and Bel- 
mont, were both to be captured. In accordance 
with instructions, the flag-boat passed down by 
Fort Holt about 4 o'clock, P. M., and gave the 
*five-whistle signal, and the fleet of five trans- 
ports and two gunboats sailed down the river. 
Going about half way to Columbus, the}' round- 
ed to and tied up for the night. The next 
morning the fleet dropped down in full view of 
the Columbus bluflfs, all over which were 
mounted the rebel cannon, commanding the 
river. About 9 o'clock in the morning, the 
forces were disembarked, and were marched 
toward Belmont. The gunboats dropped down 
a short distance below the fleet, and fired upon 
Columbus, the guns from the fort promptly re- 
sponding, sending their balls, from the first shot, 
closely about the transports — one ball falling 
just at the stern of the Montgomery, and splash- 
ing the water over the deck. The fleet moved 
out from this point, and took a position two 
and a half miles further up the river in a safe 
bend, and there listened at the progress of the 
fight at Belmont. The opening musketry was 
not of long duration, and then there was a long 
cessation, and the firing again commenced. 
Mr. L. tells us that he saw nothing of the fight 
at Belmont, and only learned from hearing the 
soldiers talk about it, that the enemy threw a 
force across the river from Columbus, and re- 
newed the fight. He says the first signs he 
noticed from the battle-ground was about sun- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



65 



down, when two soldiers appeared at the boat, 
one leading and helping the other, who had 
been wounded in the arm. Thej- reported that 
the rebels had crossed over from Columbus, and 
were " cutting our men all to pieces.' The 
transports at once dropped down to the point 
where they had landed the night before, so as 
to permit our forces, whom the}' learned were 
in full retreat before the enemy, to get on' 
board. By the time the\- had landed it was 
dark, and b}' this time, our forces were coming, 
pell-mell — rank and file — officers and privates, 
in one indiscriminate mass on board the boats. 
In the confusion, some one from the hurricane 
deck gave the mate the order to haul in his gang 
plank and cast loose. This was only done, 
when the Captain of the boat ordered the gang 
I)lank run out again, so as to permit the fast- 
coming soldiers to get on board. This was 
done, and then almost immediately the order 
was again given to cast loose, and this was 
obej-ed, and the boat steamed up the river. 
The whole fleet was on its way, and the banks 
of the river were lined with rebels, pouring 
a hot fire into the boats. The rebels sent 
a battery across a bend up the river, intend- 
ing by this movement to capture or sink 
the entire fleet. As good fortune would 
have it, they only reached their position 
just as the boats passed, but so closel}' 
had the}- pursued them that they fired a num- 
ber of shots at the fleet. Mr. L. thinks that 
had the fleet been dela3-ed thirty minutes longer, 
the capture of the Union army and fleet would 
have been complete. A number of soldiers 
were left on the bank, and they made their way 
to Bird's Point, as best they could, and for days 
and days these stragglers were coming in. Mr. 
L. says the fact of our forces not all being able 
to get on the boats was painfull}- manifested to 
his mind at the time by a conversation he 
heard Gen. Logan have with some other officer. 
Logan denounced what he called deserting these 
men to their fate, and was insisting the fleet 



should return and lake them on board. Mr. L. 
says when he heard this, he made up his mind 
he would swim ashore and walk home, rather 
than go back. 

Wash Graham seems to have been the acting 
Admiral of the fleet, and so far as its actions 
were concerned, he managed his part of the battle 
with skill and success. Upon the return of the 
army to Cairo, everybody seemed to be laboring 
for several days under a general kind of nebulous 
demoralization. But in a short time the troops 
were called back to Cairo, Bird's Point and Fort 
Holt, and the most of them put upon transports 
and sent to Paducah, Ky. The history of 
Grant's expedition up the river and the fights at 
Fort Henry, Heiman and Fort Donelson are a 
part of the war history of the country, and 
are not properly to be considered as an essential 
part of the history of Cairo ; although Cairo 
was the base from which the expedition started 
and on which it relied for material support. 
And although it is also true that there are men 
still living in Cairo who were in thatexpedition? 
and who were boat officers on the boat that car- 
ried Gen. Grant, Wash Graham and staff", and 
whose recollection of much of the behind-the- 
curtain facts that took place on that boat, are 
essential to the truth of history, yet we do not 
care to lumber the story of the city of Cairo 
with them, but to the war historians who are to 
come — those who do not care to write a partisan 
account of the war, there may be found val- 
uable mines of truth among the war survivors 
at Cairo. 

In another chapter, we give a toleralily broad 
insinuation of the kind of men among the first 
commandants of the post Cairo had during the 
early war times. Col. Boohfort was a crank 
and in his dotage ; he was a silly old vicious 
creature. threatening everybody — "I'll have you 
shot, sir ! Have you shot ! " or in his more 
rational moods threatening to put them in irons. 
He had a whole company of his own men ar- 
rested one day and was going to have them shot 



66 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



as usual, because in ridiug b}- their camp he 
heard them singing " My Mary Ann, "' when it 
turned out that that was his wife's name. A 
Cairo butcher's team ran awaj- one day and at 
full speed, the driver trying his best to stop 
them, they ran across his parade grounds, and 
when the old man saw his sacred grounds thus 
sacrilegiously invaded, he screamed at the poor, 
helpless driver as far as he could see him, " I'll 
have you shot ! Arrest that man ! etc. " The 
people, however, soon learned that he was as 
vain as he was weak, and they wound him 
around their finger by a little fulsome flattery 
and bragging on him as being the greatest Gen- 
eral in all the world. Yet his presence was a 
dreadful affliction to the place. They 
greatly feared and despised him, and there 
were few in the town but that rejoiced when he 
was taken away. His successor was, we believe. 
Gen. ^leredith, of Indiana — a soldier and a 
gentleman, and better still, a man of good sound 
sense. His presence gave cheer and hope again 
to the people, and once more men could go and 
come from their homes to their business with- 
out fear and trembling. The result was, the 
business and the prospects of the town were 
soon in the most flourishing condition. Then, 
some of the commandants of the post in the 
town were sometimes cursed with painfully offi- 
cious and dishonest Provost Marshals. And 
when one of these fellows was in command of 
the Provost guards that patroled the city, and 
did police duty, he had it in his power and some- 
times did perpetrate scandulous outrages upon 
private citizens. The}" were blackmailers, 
clothed with power to compel terms from their 
victims. The people had to appease these sharks 
bj- frequent voluntari/ subscriptions to buy pres- 
ents from their admirers, in the way of fine 
swords, horses, watches, and champagne, cigars 
and whisky. These subscriptions were taken 
up b}- passing around a subscription paper, and 
each man would put down his name and not 
less than S5, and thus he paid his tax 



to be let alone so that he could carry on his 
business. It is incredible how many ways these 
rascals could invent to bring men face to face 
with the alternatives of blood-moue}', or iron 
manacles. A specimen that may illustrate all: 
A large lot of rebel prisoners were passing 
through town, after the Fort Donelson fight, 
and they were standing in front of the business 
houses on the levee; the weather was wretched, 
and the poor creatures were the picture of dis- 
comfort ; they wanted clothing, food, and, es- 
pecialh', tobacco. At a tobacco store where 
several prisoners had begged a little tobacco, 
two or three rebel officers entered "and wanted 
some of the weed, and all the mone}- they had 
was Confederate bills. The tobacco was^iven 
to them, onl}- a few plugs, and the Confederate 
money was taken as a curiosity. The Provost- 
Marshal a few days after arrested the members 
of the firm and fined them $100 for 
taking Confederate money. They paid the 
bill, and, of course, the Government never saw 
a cent of the money. " Oh, patriotism ! patriot- 
ism ! what atrocities have been committed in 
thy name." Another instance of legal honesty 
will suffice for our purpose, without any further 
reference to the thousands of others of a char- 
acter incomparably worse : An official ap- 
proached a merchant and wanted to buy fort}- 
or fifty suits of clothes. He said he did not 
care what they were so they were cheap, very 
cheap, anything, any style, second-hand or 
rebel captured uniforms, or anything else that 
could be classed as suits. The goods were 
promptly got ready for delivery at about §2 50 
a suit. The officer looked at them, took them 
and instructed the merchant to make out his 
bill at §22.50 a suit. And upon his paying in 
cash the difference in the real price and the 
bill, he received his voucher for the whole 
amount. 

When the Union forces wrested the Missis- 
sippi river from the grasp of the rebels, and 
made this orreat hi^hwav again a free channel 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



67 



of travel and commerce, then, indeed, were the 
floodgates of prosperity once more opened to 
Cairo, and the town as the gateway between the 
Mississippi Valley and the South was the busiest 
place of its size on the continent. On every 
train and on ever}' steamboat the tide of hu- 
manity poured through the town. The steam- 
boats, freighted to the very waters edge, going 
and coming, filled the rivers, and da}- and night 
they were struggling and almost fighting for 
room at our wharves to load and unload their 
cargoes. The Ohio levee, from one end to the 
other, was covered with freight in great rows 
and piles in bewildering quantities. The marine- 
ways and docks from here to Pittsburgh were 
building boats as fast as they could, and every 
da}', almost, new and elegant ones rounded to 
at our wharf, and yet they were wholly inad- 
equate to carry the immense merchandise that 
was awaiting shipments. The railroads were 
taxed until they cried " peccavi ! " And it is a 
well-known fact that property amounting to 
millions of dollars awaited shipment over the 
Illinois Central Railroad, at stations where there 
being no room in the depots, it was exposed to 
the weather and rotted. To all this there came 



a corresponding horde of people to Cairo — per- 
manent and temporary sojourners. The hotels, 
boarding houses, tenement and everything in 
the shape of a house was crowded to suffocation ; 
new houses were at once being rapidly con- 
structed and the universal cry was for more. 
Rents went to fanciful figures, and in a short 
time it was impossible to tell how many people 
were here. Lots, leases, houses, rents and 
nearly all Cairo property went balooning away 
in a gay style — sailing up and up as grandly 
and to as dizzy heights as a Fourth of July 
orator's eagle. As said, the transient pop- 
ulation was immense. In 1864, it was even es- 
timated, counting the^floating population, that 
there were nearly 12,000 people here, although 
the vote at that time had never reached a thou- 
sand. In other words, the population was 
estimated greater then than the census has smce 
shown it to be, although the last general elec- 
tion showed there were over 1,800 voters. In 
other words, the census of 1880 shows a pop- 
ulation of a little less than 10,000 people. And it 
is estimated now that the actual number of in- 
habitants here is a fraction over 12,000. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DECIDEDLY A CAIRO CHAriER— CAIRO AND ITS DIFFERENT BODIES POLITIC AND CORPoRATE- 

CAIRO CITY AND BANK OF CAIRO — CAIRO AND CANAL COMPANY — CAIRO CITY 

PROPERTY— TRUSTEES OF THE C.\IRO TRUST PROPERTY— THE ILLINOIS 

EXPORTING COMPANY — D. B. HOLBROOK— JUSTIN BUTTEll- 

FI ELD— RECAPITULATION, ETC., ETC. 



AT a time simultaneous with, or just prior 
to, the coming of the nineteenth century, 
the delta formed by the jimction of the Mis- 
sissippi and Ohio Rivers began to attract the 
attention of far-seeing men, as one of the 
futiu'e important points upon the continent. 
And from the time the fii'st white man's eyes 



ever beheld it, 210 years ago, as Joliet and 
Marquette and their little party, consisting 
of five men besides themselves, floated around 
the point of land that forms the extreme 
southern limit of Illinois, and with joy and 
gladness beheld the beautiful blue Ohio 
River, and by this, their marvelous voyage 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



of discovery, placed this great Mississippi 
Valley under the segis of France and Papal 
Christendom, and thereby inaugurated that 
tremendous world's drama that continued 
during more than ninety years, in which 
France and the Church were such conspicuous 
actors; we say, from this date on, the little strip 
of land on which the city of Cairo stands at- 
tracted the attention of men, and presented 
something of its prospective importance to the 
entire Christian world. At the time of its 
discovery, nearly all nations were more or 
less involved in wars of conquest and in- 
vasion — those mighty struggles for suprem- 
acy in civilization, that were the most im- 
portant factors in the present advanced state 
of mankind, and especially that splendid 
civilization that has been spread broadcast 
over the world by the Anglo-Saxon race. 
Hence, for more than a century after the dis- 
covery of the point of junction of the two 
great rivers, situated almost in the center of 
the inhabitable portions of the continent of 
North America, its transcendent importance, 
in a military point of view, were studied and 
well comprehended by all the military 
powers of Europe. Its wonderful undevel- 
oped and almost unclaimed commercial value 
and inexhaustible productions were but little 
considered until the long Revolutionary war 
had been fought out, and peace had begun to 
win those triumphs that have resulted in the 
present rich and prosperous nation of more 
than fifty millions of people. 

A lai'ge number of incorporation acts, dat- 
ing back even to the TeiTitorial times of 
Illinois, have been enacted, and a somewhat 
extended notice of these legislative doings 
is made of great importance, from the fact 
that in the attempt to make laws for found- 
ing a city here there resulted the most im- 
portant legislation, in both the State Legis- 
lature and the Congress of the United States, 



for the entii'e State of Illinois, that have 
ever been placed upon the statute books; 
wise laws, that have brought Illinois from 
a sparsely settled, banki'upt and unpromis- 
ing waste and wilderness, to the position of 
the first State in the Union in many of the 
leading agricultiu-al products, as well as in 
railroads and all that tends to make a rich, 
prosperous and happy people. 

On the 9th day of January, 1818, the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature concluded the time had 
come that imperatively demanded that a city 
be founded here, and on that day it passed 
an act for the incorporation of the "City and 
Bank of Cairo in the State of Illinois;" the 
incorporators, consisting of John G. Comyges, 
Thomas H. Harris, Thomas F. Herbert, 
Shadrach Bond, Michael Jones, "Warren 
Brown, Edward Humphreys and Charles W. 
Hunter, who had entered a certain tract of 
land between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers 
and near the junction of the same. This 
land included Fractional Sections 14, 15, 22, 
23, 24, 25, 26, and the northeast fractional 
quarter of Section 27, Town 17 south. Range 
1 west, and contained about 1,800 aci*es. 
The act of incoi'poration is ushered into the 
world by the following grandiloquent stump 
speech: " And whereas, the said proprietors 
represent that there is, in their opinion, no 
position in the whole extent of these "Western 
States better calculated, as it respects com- 
mercial advantages and local supply, for a 
great and important city, than that afi'orded 
by the junction of those two great highways, 
the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. But that 
nature, having denied to the extreme point 
formed by their union, a sufi&cient degree of 
elevation to protect the improvements made 
thereon, from the ordinary inundations of 
the adjacent waters, such elevation is to be 
found only upon the tract above mentioned 
and described. [It must be borne in mind 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



that this is one way of putting it that the 
town site only commenced at the north line 
of Bird'p land, which was not included in 
the town plat.] So that improvements and 
property made and located thereon [no sem- 
blance of levees then made] may be deemed 
perfectly safe and absolutely secure from all 
such ordinary inundations, and liable to injury 
only from the concurrence of unusually high 
and simultaneous inundations in both of said 
rivers, an event which is alleged but rarely 
to happen, and the injurious consequenijes of 
which it is considered practicable, by proper 
embankments, wholly and effectually and 
permanently to obviate. And whereas, there 
is no doubt that a city erected at, or as near 
as practicable, to the junction of the Ohio 
and Mississippi Rivers, provided it be thus 
secured by sufi&cient embankments, or in 
such other way as experience may prove most 
efficacious for that purpose, from every such 
extraordinary inundation, must necessarily 
become a place of vast consequence to the 
prosperity of this growing Territory, and, in 
fact, to that of the greater part of the in- 
habitants of these Western States. And 
whereas, the above-named proprietors are 
desirous of erecting such city, under the 
sanction and patronage of the Legislature 
of this TeiTitory, and also of providing by 
law for the security and prosperity of the 
same, and to that end propose to appropriate 
one-third part of all money arising from the 
sale and disposition of the lots into which 
the same be surveyed, as a fund for the con- 
struction and preservation of such dykes, 
levees and other embankments as may be 
necessary to render the same perfectly 
secui-e; and also, if such fund shall be 
deemed sufficient thereto, for the erection of 
public edifices and such other improvements 
in the said city as may be, from time to time, 
considered expedient and practicable, and to 



appropriate the two-thirds part of the said 
purchase- moneys to the operation of bank- 
ing. And whereas, it is considered that an 
act to incorporate the said proprietors and 
their associates, viz., all such persons as 
shall, by purchase or otherwise, hereafter 
become proprietors of the tract above men 
tioned and described, as a body corporate 
and politic, while it guarantees to all those 
who may become freeholders or residents 
within the said city the fullest security as 
to their habitations and property, will at the 
same time concentrate the views and facili- 
tate the operations of the said proprietors 
and their said associates in rendering the 
said city secure from all such inundations as 
aforesaid, and in promoting the internal 
prosperity of the same. " After this extraor- 
dinary line of whereases, the Legislature pro- 
ceeds to regularly incorporate the " City and 
Bank of Cairo" — the city to be here, at the 
junction of the rivers, and the bank tempo- 
rarily to be, and transact business in, the town 
of Kaskaskia, giving the body corporate the 
title of the " President, Directors and Com- 
pany of the Bank of Cairo, " requiring John 
Gr. Comyges and his associates, within the 
space of nine months from the passing of this 
act, to proceed to lay off, on such town site, 
a city, to be known and distinguished by the 
name of Cairo; which shall consist of not 
less than 2,000 lots, each lot being not less 
than sixty-six feet wide and 120 feet deep, 
and the streets of said city to be not less than 
eighty feet wide, and to run, as near as may 
be, at right angles to each other; that the 
price of the said lots shall be fixed and 
limited at $150 each, and appropriating the 
money arising from the sale of lots as fol- 
lows. Two-thirds part thereof, that is to 
say, the sum of $100 on each lot sold, shall 
constitute the capital stock of the bank; 
dividing the capital stock into twice as many 



70 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



shares as there are lots, the one-half of which 
shares shall belong to the purchasers of said 
lots, in the proportion of one share to each 
lot, and the remaining of the shares shall 
be the property of the said John G. Corny ges 
and his associates, their heirs and assigns, in 
proportion to the interest they may hold in 
the same respectively; the remaining one- 
third part of the piu'chase- money to consti- 
tute a fund to be exclusively appropriated to 
the security and improvement of said city; 
the said Comyges and associates are author- 
ized to appoint so many commissioners as 
they may deem necessary, to receive sub- 
scriptions for the purchase of lots; they are 
required, upon any person applying to 
make such purchase of subscription, to direct 
the person so applying to deposit to the credit 
of the Bank of Cairo, in the Bank of the 
United States, or in the nearest chartered 
bank, one-third of the purchase money, in 
three and six months' payments. Then it 
provides that no subscription shall be re- 
ceived from any person for more than ten of 
said lots. When oOO lots have been sub- 
scribed for, the Commissioners are to call a 
meeting of such subscribers at Kaskaskia, and 
elect from their body thirteen Directors, who 
were to hold office one year, and then these 
Directors are to choose, by ballot, a Presi- 
dent; authorizing them to prescribe by-laws 
and regulations, and defining the duties of 
the officers; the Directors are at once to dis- 
tribute by lot among the subscribers, the 
niimber each is entitled to receive, anc? to 
make deeds therefor upon full and final 
payment, and they are imperatively required 
to receive all moneys deposited to their credit 
in other banks, and thereupon to "commence 
their operations as a banking company." 
Provision is then made that the total amount 
of debts which the bank may at any time 
owe shall not exceed twice the amount of 



the capital stock actually paid into said bank; 
making the bills of credit, under the seal of 
the corporation, assignable by indorsement, 
as well as making all bills or notes which 
may be issued by the corporation, in pay- 
ment, though not under seal, binding and 
obligatoi'y as upon any private person or per- 
sons; the bank is required to make half-year- 
ly dividends of profits; requiring each Cash- 
ier, before entering upon the duties of his 
office, to give bond and security to the amount 
of SlOjOOO, and each clerk in the bank to 
give, like bond to the amount of .f 2,000; lim- 
its the interest on loans made by the bank 
to six per cent. It then provides for the ap- 
pointment of three of the Directors, a Com- 
mittee, to have the charge and management 
of all that portion of the purchase moneys 
above set apart, and appropriated as a fund 
for the security and improvement of said 
city; and which fund, or such portion there- 
of as the said Committee shall deem proper 
and advisable, shall be invested in stock of 
said bank, the said Directors being author- 
ized and required to add to the capital stock 
so many shares as shall be sufficient to take 
in the same, at the par value of the stock. 
Section 20 explicitly requires that it shall be 
the duty of the Directors, immediately after 
their election, to appoint tiu'ee persons not 
of their own body, but who shall be remov- 
able at the pleasure of the Directors, who 
shall be citizens of Illinois, and even res- 
idents of Cairo, if competent and judicious 
persons can be found in the city, who shall 
be styled " The Board of Secm-ity and Im- 
provement of the City of Cairo," which 
board, or a majority thereof, shall, under 
the sanction of the Directors of the said 
bank first had and obtained, direct and 
superintend the construction and preserva- 
tion of such dykes, levees and embankments 
as may be necessary for the security of the 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



71 



city of Cairo, and every part thereof, from 
all and every inundation which can possibly 
affect or injiu'e the same; and the erection, 
fiom time to time, of such public works and 
improvements as the state of such fund will 
justify. They ai-e authorized to increase the 
cai')ital stock, but it shall never exceed the 
sum of $500,000. Section 23 commands 
that the corporation shall not at any time 
suspend, or refuse payment in'gold and silver 
for any of its notes, bills or obligations, nor 
any moneys received on deposit in the bank 
or in its office of discount and deposit, and 
if at any time such default is made, then 
the bank shall forfeit 12 per cent per annum 
from the time of such demand. The twenty- 
foui'th and last section declares this to be a 
public act, "and that the same be construed in 
all courts and places benignly and favor- 
ably." 

Such was the gi'and scheme of the Illinois 
Territory for founding here a city. To some 
extent, it was running counter to the world's 
experience, namely, to start the bank and 
the embryo city at one and the same time, 
and require the bank to build the city and 
the city make rich and strong the bank. It 
was a species of legislative financial wisdom 
that might be likened unto the old saying of 
making one hand wash the other. They pro- 
longed their vision into their future and our 
present time, and dreamed golden day-dreams 
of all Illinois — at least all the part of it 
soiith of Kaskaskia. They thought, perhaps, 
of Romulus and Eome and the she- wolf ; of 
St. Petersburg and Peter the Great; of Ven- 
ice and her gondoliers, and her soft moon- 
light and music; of Alexandi'ia, in Lower 
Egypt, with her great forests of masts in her 
harbor, and her temples and towers and 
steeples and minarets glittering in the morn- 
ing sun — the proud mistress of the world, in 
wealth, commerce, intelligence, prowess and 



glory — and their souls were fired with no 
less an ambition than to rival and surpass all 
these, and, therefore, to found and build here 
a great and eternal city. They knew of the 
Egyptian Cairo, lying midway between Eu- 
rope, Asia, the Mediterranean Sea and the 
north of Africa; of St. Petersbiu-g, where the 
Gulf of Finland, , the Black Sea and the 
White Sea, the Baltic and the Caspian pour 
in their wealth upon *^her, through the Dnie- 
per and Dniester, the Neva, the Dwina and 
the Volga, with all their ten thousand reser- 
voirs, by the help of her great canal system, 
giving her a direct navigation of 4,000 miles, 
fi'om St. Petersburg to the borders of China. 
They looked upon New York and her vast 
navigation; upon New Orleans, whose waters 
di'ained a great empii'e. They, doubtless, 
unrolled the world's map, and 'there noticed 
that there are certain points that engage the 
attention of mankind; that these^'points are 
centers of civilization, and in all time they 
have been found where vast bodies of water 
meet, and large, populous and fertile terri- 
tories converge, giving the most favorable 
conditions for colonization, supply and de- 
fense. There cannot be a doubt that, in the 
estimate they put upon the natural point at 
Cairo, they were wholly cori'ect, however 
much they may have been mistaken in the 
legislative machinery they deemed it wise to 
put in motion to start into being the young 
city. 

John R. Corny ges was the moving and mas- 
ter spirit in the inception and origin of the 
" City and Bank of Cairo" scheme. He at- 
tended upon the Legislature, and unfolded 
his vast enterprise in such glowing terms that 
that body made haste to grant his every re- 
quest. He must have inspired those won- 
derfully-constructed " whereases " that were 
enacted into a law. And it must have been 
his busy brain that conceived the dashing 



73 



HISTOEY OF CAIRO. 



idea of first founding a wild-cat bank in the 
wild jungles, the oozing mai-shes and among 
the festive frogs of the Delta, and upon this 
South Sea Bubble to lay the foundation of a • 
great city, where men should " build for the 
ages unafraid. " 

This, the earliest effort to start a city here, 
to fix a " base whereon these ashlars, well 
hewn, may be laid," although so generously 
aided by the Territorial Legislature, came to 
naught, by the death of Comyges, just as he 
was about to visit the capitalists of Europe, 
to enlist their aid and interests in the grand 
and promising scheme. The company had 
entered the land on the old credit system, 
and had sui'veyed and platted the town, and 
were pushing every department under favor- 
ing prospects, when the sudden death of their 
organizer and leader, when there was no one 
to take his place, spread such general doubts 
and dismay among the stockholders, that the 
enterprise collapsed and passed away, and 
the title to the land reverted to the Govern- 
ment. 

A pai't of the interest that now attaches to 
this original Cairo Company is the record it 
made as to the knowledge men possessed 
sixty-five years ago, as to the high waters in 
our rivers, and how much we have learned by 
the intervening experiences between then ana 
now. In the prospectus, it stated to the world : 
"It remains only to be shown that the want, 
in this tract, of sufficient material elevation 
presents but an inconsidrable obstacle to its 
future greatness. To prove this fact, it be- 
comes necessary to advert to the provisions 
contained in the charter and the report of 
the Surveyor, Maj. Duncan, who, at the re- 
quest of the proprietors, undertook to run 
the exterior limits and to ascertain the eleva- 
tion of the ground; from which report it 
will appear that an embankment of the 
average height of five feet will secure it 



effectually against the highest swells in both 
rivers. It may here be proper to state that 
much of this tract is already high, and quite 
as eligible for warehouses and other build- 
ings as many of the most flourishing stations 
on the Ohio." They carefully estimated, 
from their engineers' reports, that $20,000 
would build all the levees around Cairo to 
forever secure it against any possible waters 
in the rivers. 

Cairo City & Canal Company. — On the 
4th of March, 1837, the Illinois Legislatui-e 
incorporated Darius B. Holbrook, Miles A. 
Gilbert, John S. Hacker, Alexander M. Jen- 
kins, Anthony Olney and William M. Wal- 
ker as a body corporate and politic, under 
the name of the "Cairo City & Canal Com- 
pany;" giving the usual powers of a charter 
company, and to own and hardle real estate, 
but providing that " the real estate owned 
and held by said company shall not exceed 
the quantity of land embraced in Fractional 
Township 17, in Alexander County, and the 
said corporation are hereby authorized to piu-- 
chase said land, or any part thereof, but 
more particularly the tract of land incorpo- 
rated as the city of Cairo, and may proceed 
to lay off said land, or any part of the land of 
said Township 17, into lots for a town, to be 
known as the city of Cairo, and whenever a 
plan of said city is made, the company shall 
deposit a copy of the same, with a full de- 
scription thereof, in the Recorder of Deeds' 
office in the C unfy of Alexander. * * * 
And the said corporation may construct 
dykes, canals, levees and embankiuents for 
the sec;u-ity and preservation of said city and 
land and all improvements thereon, from all 
and every inundation which can possibly 
affect or injui*e the same, and may erect such 
works, buildings and improvements which 
they may deem necessary for promoting the 
health and prosperity of said city. And for 



HISTORY OF CAIKO. 



73 



draining said city, and other purposes, said 
corporation may lay off and construct a canal, 
to unite with Cache Kiver, at such point of 
such river as the company may deem most 
eligible and proper, and may use the water of 
sa^id river for said canal, running to and 
through said city of Cairo, as said company 
may direct. * * * * The capital stock 
of the company shall consist of 20,000 shares, 
and no greater assessment shall be laid upon 
any shares in said company of a greater 
amount than §100 each share. And the im- 
mediate government and direction, of the 
affairs of said company shall be vested in 
a board of not less than five Directors, who 
shall be chosen by the members of the cor- 
poration in manner hereinafter provided, a 
majority of whom shall form a quorum for 
the transaction of business; shall elect one 
of their number to be President of the 
Board, who shall also be President of the 



company. 



* * * * 



The President and 



Directors for the time being are hereby au- 
thorized and empowered, by themselves or 
their agents, to execute all powers herein 
gi'anted to the company, and all such other 
powers and authority for the management of 
the affairs of the company not heretofore 
granted, as may be proper and necessary to 
carry into effect the object of this act, and to 
make such equal assessments, from time to 
time, on all shares of said company as they 
may deem expedient and necessary, and 
direct the same to be paid m to the Treasurer 
of the company; and the Treasurer shall give 
notice of all such assessments, and in case 
any subscriber shall neglect to pay his as- 
sessment for the spice of thirty days due 
notice by the Treasurer of said company, the 
Directors may order the Treasurer to sell 
such share or shares at public auction, after 
giving due notice thereof, to the highest 
bidder, and the same shall be transferred to 



the purchaser, and such delinquent subscriber 
shall be held accountable to the company for 
the balance. * * * * ^ toll is hereby 
granted and established, for the benefit of 
said company, upon all passengers an d prop- 
erty of all descriptions which may be con- 
veyed or transported upon the canal of the 
company, upon such terms as may be agreed 
upon and established, from time to time, by 
the Directors of said company. That the 
company shall not be authorized by this act 
to erect or construct any dam or dams upon 
or across Cache River, for the purpose afore- 
said, until they shall first have obtained the 
consent of the County Commissioners' Court 
of Alexander County, which consent . so ob- 
tained shall be entered upon the recoi'ds of 
said court; and whenever the route on said 
canal shall be located, the company shall 
have recorded a plan and description thei*eof 
in the office of the Recorder of Deeds and 
the office of said County Commissioners' 
Court, in Alexander County. The said com- 
pany shall be holden to pay all damages that 
may arise to any person or corporation, by 
taking their land for said canal or any other 
invrpose when it cannot be obtained by volun- 
tary agreement, to be estimated and re- 
covered in 4he manner provided by law, for 
the recovering of damages happening by lay- 
ing out highways. When the lands, or 
other property or estate of any femme-covert, 
infant or person non comj)os mentis, shall be 
wanted for the purposes and objects of the 
company, the guardian of said infant or per- 
soni non compos mentis, or husband of such 
femme-covert, may release all damage and 
interest for and in such lands or estate 
taken for the company as they ^might do if 
the same were holden by them in their own 
right respectively This act shall be deemed 
and taken as a public act. It shall continue 
in force for the term of twenty-five years 



74 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



from the passage thereof. The final section 
requires that -unless §20.000 is expended on 
the canal within five years from the date of 
the act, it shall be forfeited. In February, 
1839, the Legislature amended that act as 
follows: " "that the said Cairo City & 
Canal Company shall not be obliged, as au- 
thorized by its charter, to lay ofi" and con- 
struct a canal to unite with Cache River, 
should the same be deemed injurious to the 
health of the city — and the twelfth section of 
said act. which requires a certain amount to 
be expended on said canal within five years, 
is hereby repealed." 

We have given verbatim enough of this 
remarkable charter, in its ultimate results 
one of the most important that .was ever 
gi-anted by the State of Illinois, for the 
reader to see for himself that it is one of 
two things, namely, either the most amazing 
in the complete simplicity of its author's 
ideas, or Machiavelian in its transcendant 
ability to hide the iron hand beneath the vel- 
vet glove. No State document was ever 
drafted that could look more innocent, and 
at the same time appropriate to itself com- 
plete and sovereign and autocratic powers, 
in the name of building a canal from the 
mouth of Cache River to and through the 
city of Cairo to the extreme southern point 
of land. If the company ever thought of 
building a canal from the mouth of Cache 
through the city, they would not only have 
to curve it several times on its route, to keep 
the canal from running into the river, but 
they must have known they would Lave to 
erect great and sti'ong artificial levees on 
both sides of their canal to prevent both rivers 
from rushing from their long-occupied beds, 
with an angry roar, souse into the canal. On 
the other hand, if they never did contemplate 
building the canal, then, indeed, is its mas- 
terly shrewdness patent at a glance. Cer- 



tainly, even an Illinois Legislature would 
have discovered the cat in the meal-tub had 
the incorporators gone before them and 
asked for a charter to found a city, and, 
without any canal attachment, asked for such 
complete powers of the right of eminent 
domain over private property, real and per- 
sonal! If they ever intended to build a 
canal, they were soon cured of that hallucina- 
tion, as is shown by the amendment of 1S39, 
which simply permits the whole canal scheme 
to be dropped, and yet leaves all the great 
powers that were originally gi-anted the com- 
pany intact. So far as can now be ascer- 
tained, the company never abused or exer- 
cised to the ill of any one these powers con- 
ferred by the charter. If there was a pur- 
pose Im'king beneath the fair face of the 
fundamental law of the new city, it, perhaps, 
was not in the idea of its author to use it to 
wrong or oppress any private citizen, and it 
would only be invoked as a last resort to pro- 
tect the vital welfare of the future city. 

As stated above, this Caii'o City & Canal 
Company charter became a law March 4, 
1837, and not March 4, 1838, as probably 
the compositor made Mose Harrell say, in a 
sketch of early Cairo that he published a few 
years ago. The date is important, because 
on June 7, 1837, "The Illinois Central Rail- 
road Company," which had been incorpor- 
ated January 16, 1836, and authorized to 
construct a railroad, commencing at or near 
the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, and extending to Galena, released all 
its rights back to the State of Illinois, con- 
ditioned, however, that "the State of Illinois 
shall commence the conetruction of said rail- 
road within a reasonable |time, and to com- 
mence at the city of Cairo and build north 
to Galena." 

On the 27th day of June, 1837, there was 
an agreement entered into between the orig- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



75 



inal Illinois Central Kailroad, by A. M. 
Jenkins, its President, and the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, by D. B. Holbrook, its 
President, by which it was stipulated the 
railroad to be constructed by the Illinois 
Central Railroad " shall be commenced at 
such point in the city of Cairo as the Cairo 
City & Canal Company may fix and direct. 
This release of the Central Railroad of its 
franchise back to the State was caused by 
the wild craze that had taken possession of 
the entire State on the great internal im- 
provement system, that bo quickly landed the 
Commonwealth in bankruptcy, and abruptly 
stopped all State progress fox several years. 
This was a sad and severe lesson to the 
young State, but probably in the end it was 
for the best. On the same day of the above 
agreement, namely, 20th June, 1837, the Cairo 
& Canal Company having obtained, by 
purchase, the lands in Town 17 south, Range 
1 west, on a portion of which had been laid 
out the city of Cairo, mortgaged the entire 
property to the New York Life Insurance 
& Trust Company, to secvu*e certain loans 
and moneys advanced by English capitalists. 
The release made by the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company was accepted by the 
State, on the conditions imposed, and the 
State commenced at Cairo the construction 
of the railroad, which the railroad company 
had been authorized to construct to Galena; 
and the Cairo City & Canal Company 
pressed forward the improvements it was 
making, upon which, up to February 1, 
1S40, it had expended, of boiTowed money, 
about $1,000,000. It had erected mills, 
various workshops atfl houses for its em- 
ployees, and there had congregated here about 
1,500 souls. But on February 1, 1840, the 
great internal improvement system, which 
had been inaugiu'atod by the infatuated State 
Legislature of 1837, was repealed, and the 



work upon the Illinois Central stopped, after 
the State had expended, as stated, over 
$1,000,000. While the bursting of this 
bubble seriously crippled, financially, the 
entire people of the State, it was especially 
disastrous at Cairo. It was the work upon 
the railroad that had brought the people 
here, and when not only the State was bank- 
rupt, but the Cairo City & Canal Company 
was insolvent, the railroad defunct, the 
banker of the company in England had 
failed, and all work and improvements were 
abandoned, the people fled, and desolation 
brooded over the town, where now "the 
spider might weave, unmolested, his web in 
her palaces, and the owl hoot his watch song 
in her temples." 

On March 6, 1843, the Legislatm-e passed 
an act to incorporate the Great Western 
Railway Company. "While this was a rail- 
road charter, authorizing the construction of 
a railroad upon the line of the original 
Illinois Central Railroad, yet it was, in fact, 
a re-incorporation of the Cairo City & 
Canal Company. After the enacting clause, 
it says: "That the President and Directors 
of the Cairo City & Canal Company (in- 
corporated by the State of Illinois) and their 
successors in office be and they are hereby 
made a body corporate and politic under the 
name and style of the ' Great Western Rail- 
way Company,' and under that name and 
style shall bo and are hereby made capable, 
in law and equity, to sue and be sued, de- 
feud and be defended, in any court or place 
whatsoever, to make, have and use a common 
seal, the same to alter and renew at pleasure, 
and by that name and style be capable in 
law of contracting and being conti acted 
with, of purchasing, holding and conveying 
away of real estate and personal estate for 
the pui-poses and uses of said corporation; 
and shall be and are herebv invested with 



76 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



all the powers, privileges and immunities, 
which are or may be necessary to carry into 
eflect the object .and pui-poses of ^this act, as 
hereinafter set forth; and the said corpora- 
tion ai*e hereby authorized and empowered to 
locate, construct and finally complete a rail- 
road, commencing at the city of Cairo, 
thence north by way of Vandalia, etc.," 
almost exactly as specified in the charter of 
the original Illinois Central Railroad. 

This act of incorporation was mei'ely the 
grafting into the Cairo City & Canal Com- 
pany a railroad franchise, which in no single 
clause diminished the original powers of the 
Cairo City & Canal Company, but enlarged 
and extended them throughout the entire 
length of the State. So completely were the 
two companies made one, indeed, so fully was 
the railroad merged into and absorbed by 
the canal company, that the officers of the 
city company, including the President and 
Directors, were made the officers of the rail- 
road by the legislative act. It should be 
borne in mind that the State had expended 
over $1,000,000 in work upon the Illinois 
Central Railroad, and all this was turned 
over to the Cairo City & Canal Company 
and the Great Western Railroad (all one and 
the same thing) and this was turned over to 
the new company in the following rather 
loose language, in Section 12 of the incor- 
poration act: "The frovernor of this State is 
hereby authorized and required to appoint 
one or more* competent persons to estimate 
the present value of any work done, at the 
expense of the State, on the Central Rail- 
road; also of any materials or right of way; 
and whatever sum shall be fixed upon as the 
value thereof, by said persons, shall be paid 
for by the company, in the bonds or other 
indebtedness of the State, any time during 
the progress of the road to completion, and 
any contract entered into under the seal of 



the State, signed by the Governor thereof, 
shall be legal and binding, to the full intent 
and purpose thereof, on the State of Illinois," 

Section 14, with equal State liberality and 
vagueness, goes on to specify that whenever 
the whole indebtedness of the company shall 
be paid and liquidated, the Legislature of 
the State ^ of Illinois, thereafter then in 
session, shall have the power to alter, amend 
or modify this act, as the public good shall 
require, and also that of the City of Cairo 
& Canal Company; and the eleventh section 
of the act incorporating the said Cairo Citi/ 
& Canal Company, which limits its charter 
to twenty years, be and the said section is 
hereby repealed, and this act be and is de- 
clared a public act, and as such shall be 
taken notice of by all courts of justic ■ in the 
State, etc. 

Two years after this, March 3, 1845, the 
Legislature repealed the act incoi-porating 
the Great Western Railroad Company. This 
repealing law like all other legislation upon 
that subject, was no doubt passed at the in- 
stance of the railroad company, or rather of 
the Cairo Cit}^ & Canal Company. On its 
face, it has the appearance of a design to 
give back to the State all its rights and 
privileges except those pertaining to the 
founding of a city here and the construction 
of a canal from Cache to and through Cairo. 

But on February 10, 1849, the Legislature 
passed another law, which repealed the re- 
pealing act, and starts out by saying that 
the President and Directors of the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, under the name and 
style of the " Great Western Railway Com- 
pany," chartered Mf^eh 6. 1843, and that 
William F. Thornton, Willis Allen, Thomas 
G. C. Davis, John Moore, John Huffman, 
John Green, Robert Blackwell, Benjamin 
Bond, Daniel H. Brush, George W. Pace, 
Walter B. Scates, Samuel K. Casey, Albert 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



77 



G. Caldwell, Humphrey B. Jones, Charles 
Hoyt, Ira Minarcl. Charles S. Hempstead, 
John B. Chapin, Uri Osgood, H. D. Berley, 
Hemy Corwith, I. C. Pugh, John J. Mc- 
Graw, Onslow Peters, D. D. Shumway, Jus- 
tin Butterfield, John B. Turner, Mark Skin- 
ner and Gavion D. A. Parks be associates 
with said company in the construction of 
said railroad, and are empowered and 
reinstated, with all the powers and privileges 
contained in said act of incorpoi-ation, 
and are also subject to all restrictions 
contained in said act of incoporation — the 
act in force March 3. 1845, which repealed 
the charter of the company, to the contrary 
notwithstanding. This reviving act then 
proceeds to extend the privileges of the Cairo 
City & Canal Company in a most liberal 
manner. It authorizes them to construct the 
Great Western Eailroad from the teiTaina- 
tion set forth in the said charter, at or near 
the termination of the Illinois & Michigan 
Canal to the city of Chicago. Section 3 is 
important enough to give it entire, as follows: 
"And the right of way the State may have 
obtained, together with all the work and sur- 
veying done at the expense of the State, and 
materials connected with said road, Mng be- 
tween the termination of the Illinois & 
Michigan Canal and Cairo City, are hereby 
granted to said company upon conditions as 
follows: Said company shall take posses- 
sion of ^said road within two years of the 
passage of this act, and as far as practicable 
preserve the same from injury and dilapida- 
tion; and said company shall, within two 
years from the passage of this act, expend 
$100,000 in the construction of said road, 
and $200,000 for each year thereafter, until 
said road shall have been completed from the 
city of Cairo to the city of Chicago. 

Sec 4. The Governor of the State of 
Illinois is hereby authorized and empowered I 



to contract with and agree to hold iu trust, 
for the use and benefit of said Great West- 
ern Railway Company, whatever lands may 
be donated or thereunto seciu-ed to the State 
of Illinois by the General Government, to 
aid in the completion of the Central or Great 
Western Railroad from Cairo to Chicago, 
subject to the conditions and provisions of 
the bill granting the lands by Congi-ess, 
and the said company is hereby authorized 
to receive, hold and dispose of any and all 
lands secui'ed to said company by donation, 
pre-emption or otherwise; subject, however, 
to the provisions of the eighteenth section of 
its charter. [This clause was to the effect 
that all lands coming into the hands of the 
company, not required for use, security or 
construction, should be sold by the company 
within live years, or revert to the Govern- 
ment.] Provision was then further made that 
the Governor should, from time to time, as 
the company progressed with the work, des- 
ignate in writing the proportion of such 
lands donated by Congress to be sold and dis- 
posed of. 

In order to complete the list of incorpo- 
ration acts, that had a direct reference to the 
owners and proprietors of the city of Caii'o, 
it is proper here to explain that on January 
18, 1836, the Legislature incorporated the 
Illinois Exporting Company. The act states 
that "all such persons as shall become sub- 
scribers to the stock hei-eiuafter described, 
shall be and they are hereby constituted and 
declared a body politic and corporate." It 
proceeds to enable the President and Direct- 
ors of the company to "carry on the manu- 
facture of agricultural products; erect mills 
and buildings; export their products and 
manufactures, and enter into all contracts 
concerning- the management of their prop- 
erty. The capital stock is §150,000, and 
may be increased to $500,000; meetings and 



78 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



general places of business of the company to 
be at Alton ; may select any other place of 
business; may erect mills, etc., in any county 
in the State, by permission of the County 
Commisisoners' Court. James S. Lane, 
Thomas G. Howley, Anthony Olney, John 
M. Krum and D. B. Holbrook are appointed 
Commissioners to obtain subscription to the 
capital stock of the company; any one could 
become a subscriber by paying $1. Provided, 
the provisions of this act shall in no case 
extend to the counties of Edgar, Green and 
St. Clair, etc., etc. 

On September 29, 1846, in consequence of 
the general and financial disasters, resulting 
from panic and widespread bankruptcy 
throughout the commercial world, the pai'ties 
interested in Cairo, the mortgagees, judg- 
ment creditors, owners in fee and otherwise 
interested, after a series of consultations, 
agi-eed and did form and create the " Trust 
of the Cairo City Property," conveying the 
property to Thomas Taylor, of Philadelphia, 
and Charles Davis, of New York, as Trustees. 

On May 10, 1876, the Trustees of the Cairo 
City property, having expended in making 
material improvements about Cairo $1,307,- 
021.42, of which $184,505.64 was expended 
upon the levee running along the Ohio River, 
and $149,973.23 upon the levee running 
along the Mississippi River, and $70,445.06 
upon the protection of the Mississippi River 
bank, and $571,534.08 upon general improve- 
ments, and $330,553.41 upon taxes and as- 
sessments, found themselves unable to pay 
two loans obtained from Hiram Ketchum, 
of New York — one on October 1, 1863, for 
$250,000, and the other on October 1, 1867, 
for $50,000, to secure which, mortgages, of 
the dates given, had been executed. The 
mortgages were, therefore, foreclosed, and 
the property of the Trust of the Cairo City 
Property sold to the bondholders under the 



mortgage, and a new, and the present, trust 
was formed, called the Cairo Trust Property, 
under the control and management oE Col. 
S. Staats Taylor and Edwin Parsons, the 
Trustees. 

On the 14th of February, 1841, the Legis- 
lature passed an act conferring upon the 
Cairo City & Catial Company "all the 
powers conferred upon the Board of Alder- 
men of the City of Quincy, as defined be- 
tween the fii'st and forty-fifth sections ol the 
charter of that city," and these grants were 
confirmed for ten years. 

It is possible there were other laws passed 
for the benefit of the many charter companies 
that depended and hinged upon the Cairo 
City & Canal Company, but we have not, 
so far, found them. But in all these acts 
and doings, one fact is distinctly seen : Many 
people believed that it was all, practically, 
the work of D. B. Holbrook, and that, as a 
rule, up to the time that his path was crossed 
by Judge Douglas, the names of D. B. Hol- 
brook and the Cairo City & Canal Company 
were practically one and the same thing. 
He was certainly a man of great activity of 
intellect, shrewdness and untiring industry, 
and while all conceded him this, yet many 
deemed him utterly selfish, and indifferent 
to all interests except his own, and that he 
was a shrewd and dangerous marplot, who 
brought evil to Cairo by his reckless greed 
of power and money. In speaking of the 
crash that came upon Cairo in 1841, Mose 
Harrell, among other things, enumerated, as 
the chief cause thereof, to have been the fail- 
ure of the banking-house of Wright & Co., 
London, through which continuous loans to 
the City Company were anticipated; the sus- 
pension of work on the Illinois Central Rail- 
road, upon which so much trade depended, 
and the general abandonment of the system 
of public works inaugurated by the State in 



'^.i- 



im^ 



4 



/J i>f^' 



m-L^.cM, X-/ix^ 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



81 



1837, and he says: " Possibly another reason 
was the monopoly of which Holbrook was the 
head. Under his rule, no person could be- 
come a freeholder in the city; ground there 
could not be purchased or leased; all the 
dwellings were owned by the company; no 
one could live in the city, unless at the pleas- 
ure of Holbrook, as even the hotels were the 
property of the company. More than that, 
the company were empowered (with) all the 
rules and regulations for the municipal gov- 
ernment, such as a Mayor and Common 
Council might establish. The company could 
declare a levy of taxes and enforce its col- 
lection, and could expend the money as it 
chose." In a letter published in the New 
York Herald, and of date October 3, 1850, 
we extract the following: " In 1835, Mr. D. 
B. Holbrook, originally from Boston, pro- 
cured from the Legislature of the State of 
Illinois his first charter for the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, and he also procured a 
charter for the Central Kailroad Company, 
from Cairo to Galena. He subsequently ob- 
tained a third charter, for the Illinois Ex- 
porting Company, with authority to carry on 
transportation by land and water, and to in- 
sure against risks from fii'e and water, and 
to carry on manufacturing business gener- 
ally. He also purchased and revived a de- 
funct bank charter, known as the Cairo Bank, 
and one or two others I cannot specify. Mr. 
Holbrook at once organized the Cairo City 
& Canal Company; took the stock himself, 
and had himself elected President; also or- 
ganized the Central Railroad Company, by a 
nominal payment of -SI per share (which was 
never paid in, but a note given in lieu of the 
money), and elected himself President. He 
also organized the Illinois Exporting Com- 
pany, in the same mode; and also organized 
the Cairo Bank, and put one of his instru- 
ments at the head of it. Subsequently, D. 



B. Holbrook, as President of the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, entered into a contract 
with D. B. Holbrook, as President of the 
Central Bailroad Company; and D. B. Hol- 
brook, as President of the Central Railroad 
Company, further contracted with D. B. Hol- 
brook, of the Illinois Exporting Company, 
and D. B. Holbrook, as President of that 
company, contracted with D. B. Holbrook, as 
President of each of the other companies, 
that each of said companies might exercise all 
and singular, the rights, privileges and 
powers conferred by law upon either; by 
which all companies were to be consolidated 
into one, and exercise the several powers con- 
ferred upon each. * * * * jn 1S36, 
the Illinois Legislature adopted its mam- 
moth system of internal improvement, and 
among other enterprises, commenced the 
construction of a Central Railroad as a State 
work, Mr. Holbrook having surrendered 
his charter for that purpose. After having 
spent about $1,000,000 on |the road, the 
credit of the State failed, and the system was 
abandoned. A charter was subsequently 
granted bj' the Legislature to the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, by which that company 
was authorized to construct the Central Rail- 
road. At the last regular session of the 
Legislatm-e, while a bill was pending before 
Congress, making" a grant of land to the 
State, in aid of the construction of the rail- 
road, a law was passed, transferring to the 
said company the right of way, and all the 
work which had been executed by the State 
at the cost of $1,000,000, together with all 
the lands which had been, or should here- 
after be, granted by Congress to the State in 
aid of the constniction of said railroad. 
How this act was passed remains a mystery, 
as its existence was not known in Illinois 
until Judge Douglas brought it to light in a 
speech at Chicago in October last. In that 



83 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



speech, Judge Douglas denounced the whole 
transaction as a fraud upon the Legislature 
and the people of the State, and declared 
that he would denounce it as such in the 
Senate of the United States, if an application 
was ever made to that body for a grant of 
land, whilst the Holbrook charters, and es- 
pecially the act referred to, remained in 
force." 

Tlae letter proceeds to give an account of 
how Judge Douglas finally compelled Hol- 
brook and his company to execute a complete 
release of their charter to the State, and 
then says: "But for the execution of the re- 
lease by Mr. Holbrook, and the surrender of 
all claims to any railroad charter, or rights 
and privileges under any act of the Illinois 
Legislature on the subject, the grant of land 
would never have been ,made by Congi-ess. 
Thus it appears that Mr. Holbrook has no 
charter for a railroad in Illinois, and no 
claims to the lands which have been granted, 
unless the State of Illinois refuses to accept 
the release, or makes a new grant to D. B. 
Holbrook, which, unless its members are 
crazy, it is not likely to do. I have deemed 
it necessary to make this exposition of the 
facts in the case, in order ,that capitalists in 
New York and elsewhere may not labor under 
eiToneous impressions in regaixl to so impor- 
tant a matter, affecting alike the honor of the 
State of Illinois and that of Congress." 

A full and complete account of the nego- 
tiations, correspondence, etc., that ^resulted 
in this important transaction, will be found 
in another chapter in the account of the 
building of the Illinois Central Railroad. 
We give here these extracts from the letter of 
"An Illinois Bondholder," merely to show 
the tenor of the attacks that were in that day 
made upon Holbrook, and the wide and pro- 
found sensation the appearance of this ex- 
traordinary financier made all over the coun- 



try. The reader (^can now readily see there 
are many historical inaccuracies in the let- 
ter, yet, at the time it was published, it was 
a strong document, and had evidently been 
carefully prepared by some one who had 
studied well the subject. It is possible the 
writer was a jealous rival of Holbrook's, and 
one who conceived that his own success could 
only be accomplished by first pulling down 
Holbrook and his company. Certainly, there 
is too much feeling displayed in these attacks 
upon this remarkable man by his cotempo- 
raries, to cause all their statements about his 
unholy purposes to be now implicitly re- 
ceived, and given to the world as attested 
facts. A patient and impartial investigation 
of the times, and the general circumstances 
surrounding D. B. Holbrook and his asso- 
ciates in the Cairo City & Canal Company, 
leads to the conclusion that they were seek- 
ing sincerely to improve the great West, and 
to build here in Illinois great cities and rail- 
roads, and that neither the glory nor the 
blame, nor the wise and beneficial acts, nor 
the mistakes of the company properly be- 
longed wholly to Holbrook, as were so widely 
charged in his day of activity here. His as- 
sociates and co-Jncorporators in the Cairo 
City & Canal charter were among the most 
eminent, patriotic and just men in the State 
in their day. They have mostly passed from 
earth, and all have ceased from the active 
struggles of life, and of Breese, and Casey, 
and Judge Jenkins and Miles A. Gilbert, the 
only one living, and the many other co- 
laborers in the early work of improvements 
in Illinois, their untarnished [memories will 
ever remain a rich legacy to the people of 
Illinois. The finger marks of these men will 
ever remain upon the early history of the 
i State. Each one of them worked in his own 
chosen or allotted sphere, yet in harmony 
with his other incorporators, and together 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



S3 



they thought out and worked out causes here, 
whose effects Avill endiu'e perpetually. 

As remarked in the early j)ortion of this 
chapter, the act granting the charter of the 
City of Cairo & Canal Company was the 
first step in attracting the attention of many 
of the leading men of the nation to this great 
natui'al commercial point, and that attention 
once arrested, and the lakes of the North and 
the waters of the great rivers at once made 
plain the fact that they must be joined 
together by railroads, had set busy minds to 
thinking how this immense work could best 
be done, or, for that matter, done at all. 
Men were stiidying the maps with the care 
and diligence which warriors give these 
things with reference to their marches, re- 
treats or battle grounds. 

In the latter days of Judge Breese's life, 
he claimed that he had promulgated the idea 
of a Government land-grant in aid of the 
construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. 

There is an abundance of evidence that 
not only Judge Breese, but that many others 
were giving it close attention. But, com- 
mencing with Judge Breese, and following 
along all the now existing records, lottei's 
and publications, we find they, one and all, 
fell short in the full completion of the idea 
of a land donation in this: They advocated 
donating the lands by pre-emption, and not 
as in the form the act was finally passed by 
Judge Douglas as a direct and absolute 
transfer of the title in fee to the railroad, 
upon its conforming to the prescribed condi- 
tions. Nearly all the people of Illinois bad 
discussed the subject in social life, in the 
press and in public meetings held in .the 
counties along the route of the pi'oposed 
railroad, but the pre-emption-donation idea 
only prevailed, and the first time the thought 
of a direct title in fee was put forth by 
Mr. Justin Butterfield, January 18, 1848, in 



a public meeting of the citizens of Chicago, 
which he had called for the purpose of con- 
sidering the feasibility of constructing h rail- 
road to connect the Tpper and Lower Mis- 
sissippi with the Great Lakes of the North, 
and to recommend to Congress that a grant of 
lands should be made to the State of Illinois 
for that purpose. The meeting was presided 
over by Thomas Dyer, Esq. , and Dr. Brainord 
acted as Secretary. Col. K. J. Hamilton, 
Justin Butterfield, M. Skinner, A. Hunting- 
ton and E. B. AVilliams were appointed, by 
the chair, a Committee to report resolutions, 
and they reported the following, which had 
been prepared by Mr. Butterfield. which 
were unanimously adopted: 

Resolved, That the great and almost in- 
credible increase in wealth, population and 
commerce of the great valley of the West, 
duriiig the last ten years, as clearly exhibited 
by oflficial reports submitted to the Congress 
of the United States, appears to recjuire. on 
the part of that enlightened body, a cori-e- 
sponding* attention to its wants an 1 necessi- 
ties. 

Resolved, That the grant of public lands 
by Congress, for the purpose of opening or 
improving avenues of commerce in their 
State jurisdiction, has been approved by the 
wisest and most experienced of our states- 
men, and has been eminently beneficial to 
the States and the Union. 

Resolved, That a railroad, to connect the 
Upper and Lower Mississippi with the great 
lakes, would be a work of great importance, 
not only to the agricultural and commercial 
interests of the State, but to all portions of 
the United States interested in the commerce 
of the lakes and the Western rivers. 

Resolved, That, in a military point of view, 
as well as for the speedy and economical 
transportation of the mails (objects eminent- 
ly connected with the general welfai'e and 
common defense), such a road would be un- 
questionably of national importance, and 
therefore deserving of aid from the National 
Legislature. 

Resolved, That om- Senators and Repre- 



84 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



sentatives in Congress of the United States 
be requested to use their best exertions to 
secure the passage of a law, granting to the 
State of Illinois the right of way and public 
lands, for the constraction of a railroad to 
connect the Upper and Lower Mississippi 
with the lakes at Chicago, equal to every al- 
ternate section for five miles wide on each 
side of said road. 

Upon these resolutions, Mr. Butterfield de- 
livered an able address, which he read from 
manuscript; from which we make the fol- 
lowing extracts: "The locomotive, whose 
speed almost annihilates time and distance, 
has introduced a new era in travel, in trans- 
portation and fn commercial interchanges. 
It is in successful operation in most of the 
nations of Europe, and in most of the Ameri- 
can States, Illinois excepted — a level, cham- 
paign country, better adapted by natm'e for 
its use than any other State or country of 
equal extent in the world. Why we should 
be so far behind the age, in the adoption of 
this great improvement, it is unnecessary 
now to inquire. Suffice it to say, that in the 
years 1836 and 1837, when we were compara- 
tively weak and feeble in population, in pro- 
ductive industry and pecuniaiy resources, we 
madly and wildly rushed into a gigantic and 
ill-digested system of internal improvements 
altogether beyond our ability. We j^rojected 
more than thirteen hundred miles of railroad; 
we borrowed millions of money, and sowed 
it broadcast; our money was soon expended, 
and our credit gone; in the great re-action of 
1839 and 1840, desolation swept over the 
land, and the moldering ruins and crumbling 
monuments of public works are all that now 
remain of our once magnificent system of in- 
ternal improvements. * * * * 

" The extent of steam navigation upon the 
Mississippi and its tributaries is rising of 
16,000 miles, giving a coast of over 32,000 
miles, * * a large portion of which is as 



fertile as the Valley of the Nile, and capable 
of sustaining a population as dense as that 
of England, and is now settling and im- 
proving with unparalleled rapidity. The 
Middle and Eastern States, and many of the 
nations of Europe, are the great hives that 
are sending forth their swarms to populate 
our Western lands; year after year, in ever- 
increasing numbers, they come, and truly 
demonstrate that ' Westward the march of 
empire takes its way.' But who can foresee, 
who can calculate, the immense trade, travel 
and commerce that will be done upon the 
Western lakes and rivers when their banks 
and coasts shall be settled with half the 
density with which Europe is populated? 

" It is proposed to construct a railroad to 
connect the Upp^r and Lower Mississippi 
with the Great Lakes; this railroad to com- 
mence at the confluence of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi Rivers at Cairo, * * * * 

" Cairo is the most favorable point for th e 
southern tei'minus of this road, as the navi- 
gation of both the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, above Cairo, is often obstructed by 
ice in the winter and by low water in the 
summer; but from Cairo to New Orleans 
there is an uninterrupted navigation all sea- 
sons of the year. * * * * The i-ailroad 
is important to our national defense. I be- 
lieve it is regarded by military men, that in 
case of a war with a maritime power, like 
England, the Gulf of Mexico on the south, 
and that portion of our country bordering 
upon Canada in the north are our weakest 
frontiers; and in the event of such a war, it 
will be necessary for our defense to marshal 
our naval forces, so as to maintain our mari- 
time ascendency in the Gulf and on the lakes. 
That it is viewed in this light by the Govern- 
ment, may be inferred from the fact that 
about three years ago the project of the 
United States constructing a ship canal, be- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



85 



tween Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, 
was agitated in Congress, and resulted in 
the Secretary of the Navy sending out one of 
our most distinguished naval commanders, 
and the chief of the Engineer Corps, to in- 
vestigate the practicability of the meas- 

i-iY^fi ^ "T^ ■^ ■^ 

" AVe ask the Government to make a dona- 
tion of public lands to the State of Illinois, 
to aid in the construction of this railroad, 
equal to every alternate section, for a space 
of five miles wide on each side of it. * * * 
"We do not ask for this land to be given to 
any private or chartered company, that they 
make gain or speculation out of it, but we 
ask for it to be donated • to this State, in 
trust, to be used in the constiiiction of a 
great public work, that will shed its benefits 
upon the whole of our common country, that 
will bind us together in the golden bands of 
commerce, and be om* greatest blessing in 
time of peace, as well as our surest defense 
in time of war." * * * 

The address concludes with the following 
sentence : " In the winter season there ac- 
cumulates upon the hands of our merchants 
produce to the amount of about one-half mill- 
ion of dollars, which lies dead-weight upon 
their hands for three or four months, until 
the opening of the navigation of the lakes. 
Our merchants, in the meantime, receive in- 
formation by telegi-aph of the rise and fall 
of produce, but cannot avail themselves of 
the benefits of the lightning, either to buy 
or sell. Here the produce is, and must re- 
main, under the inexorable decree of nature, 
locked up bj the ice. Construct this rail- 
road, give Chicago a southern outlet for her 
produce in the winter, and it is all she asks." 

The resolutions adopted by this meeting, 
and the speech made by Mr. Butterfield, 
were printed in pamphlet form^ and were 
sent to the different counties along the line 



of the proposed road, with requests that i)ub- 
lic meetings should be held at each county 
seat, for the pm'pose of creating a public 
sentiment in favor of the Congressional land- 
grant project, and of requesting the Illinios 
Delegates in Congress to support it. This 
work among the people of Illinois, in order 
to influence to activity the members of Con- 
gress, was necessary and proper, and attended 
with much labor and considerable expense, 
and the preceding circumstances that brought 
both of these about were the following: The 
Bank of the United States of Pennsylvania, 
located at Philadelphia, had become the 
owner of large interests in "Western real es- 
tate, as well as a large number of the bonds 
of the Cairo City & Canal Company, and the 
holder of much of the land of the company 
as security for loans advanced. It was, there- 
fore, largely interested in Cairo. In the 
year 1843, it sent its confidential clerk. S. 
Staats Taylor, to the West, to look after its 
interests. Mr. Taylor made his head(^uarter8 
in Chicago, and had his office, during that 
time, with Justin Butterfield. This, prob- 
ably, was the main cause of deeply interest- 
ing the latter in the railroad project from 
Chicago to Cairo. Then, the bank's interests 
in the "West caused it to take a deep concern 
in the progress of the State of Illinois, and 
especially of Cairo and its vicinity, and it 
therefore provided the necessary funds to de- 
fray these first and necessary expenses. In 
fact, it is now well understood that the start- 
ing point in the building of the Central road 
and the city were made originally a tangible 
fact and the expenses defrayed in getting the 
law passed by Congress, by the hypotheca 
tion of a strip of land in the city of Cairo, 
running from river to river, and long known 
as the "Holbrook strip." This strip of land 
is what is now Tenth street to Twelfth street, 
inclusive. 



86 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Mr. Justin Butterfield was one of the 
large-minded, public-spirited men of Illinois, 
who was profoundly interested in the de- 
velopment and welfare of his adopted State, 
and while he did not lay claim to the patern 
ity of the advanced idea that perfected the 
land-grant to the railroad, and made it such 
a great and complete success, yet as he had 
stated to his office companion, Col. Taylor, 
he bad first heard the idea advanced at some 
of the county meetings he had held, and his 
active mind was ready to take it at once in its 
entirety, to see its value and to boldly and 
ably push it forward to its final triumph. 
Certainly, the Central road had no better or 
abler friend than was Justin Butterfield, who, 
singularly enough, was the Commissioner of 
the GeneralLand Office during the building 
of the railroad, and in that position was con- 
stantly called upon to guard the State's, the 
road's and the Government's interest in the 
matter of the land grant of the road. Prob- 
ably for his incorruptible discharge of these 
duties, he was savagely attacked in some of 
the public jirints, and on April 24, 1852, he 
repelled these slanders in an open letter to 
the country, which opens with the following 
explanatory sentence: " During the past 
and present months, various publications 
have appeared in the Chicago Democrat 
(John "Wentworth's paper), charging J. 
Butterfield, Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, with having been actuated by 
deadly hostility against the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company; of unwarrantably delay- 
ing and procrastinating the adjustment of 
the grant of lands; of attempting to kill the 
Chicago branch, by deciding that it should 
have diverged from the main trunk at the 
junction of the canal and river at Peru, and 
that the act of the Legislatm-e, providing 
that it should not diverge from any point 
north of 39 degrees, 30 minutes, was void; 



and of corruptly making various other de- 
cisions in the progress of the adjustment of 
that grant, adverse to the rights of that com- 
pany, from which an appeal was taken to the 
Secretary, and Mr. Butterfield overruled in 
all his objections; but that things went on 
so slowly, that the Directors of the company 
laid their case before the President, who at 
once wdered Mr. Butterfield to put the whole 
force of his office upon the work, if necessary 
to its execution; and that after this Mr. B. 
changed his whole course of conduct, etc. " 

After giving this summary of the charges 
against him, he proceeds to say in reply: 
" Had these publications been confined to the 
scurrilous sheets issued by the notorious 
editor of that paper, I should not have 
noticed them; bat these falsehoods are told 
with such apparent candor and circumstan- 
tial detail, that some respectable papers, I 
observe, have been imposed upon, and copied 
them." He then gives a brief and succinct 
history of the grant, and the transactions un- 
der it, and then sums up the six distinct 
falsehoods in the charges, denies and refutes 
j them in detail, and thus concludes his inter- 
1 esting letter: " The route of the old Central 
Railroad, as established in 1836, was from 
i Cairo, via Vandalia, Shelbyville, Decatur, 
: Bloomington, Peru and Dixon, to Galena; it 
did not touch within about one hundred 
' miles of Chicago. 

" A project was devised and published, in 

the latter part of 1847, for a railroad leading 

directly from Cairo to Chicago, and from 

thence to Galena, recommending an applica- 

'■ tion to Congress for a grant of lands to be 

made to the State, in alternate sections, to 

aid in its construction. Judge Dickey, 

j James H. Collins, Thomas Dyer and hun- 

j di-eds of other citizens of Chicago and other 

1 portions of the State, will recollect who was 

' the author of the project! To whom did 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



87 



the newspapers of that day ascribe it? 
"Who, at his own expense, got up and circu- 
lated petitions far and wide to Congress 
for a donation of lands to the State for this 
purpose ? Who called the first meeting that 
was ever held in the State on the subject of 
a railroad direct from Cairo to Chicago? 
An address which I had the honor to make 
on that occasion, giving my views of the im- 
mense importance of the work and urging 
its prosecution, was published and circu- 
lated. 

" Those who have, for years past, known 
my sentiments and humble services in favor 
of internal improvements, and especially for 
a direct communication between Chicago 
and Cairo by railroad, can judge of the prob- 
ability of my having attempted to strangle 
the project on the eve of its accomplishment! 
The charge emanates from one whose name 
and character, wherever he is known, is a 
sovereign antidote for all the poison he can 
distill. 

" Although famous at the Capitol, in the 
adjustment of ' Congressional stationery,' in 
which vocation 'he can't be beat,' he is evi- 
dently a great novice in the adjustment of 
railroad grants." 

Recapitulation. — In their chronological 
order, we give the corporation acts, as they 
were passed by the different Legislative bod- 
ies, that had in view the buildincj of the 
city of Cairo, and that are refen-ed to at 
length in the preceding part of this chapter. 

January 9, 1817 — John G. Comyges and 
associates were incorporated by the Territo- 
rial Legislature of Illinois, as the "President, 
Directors and Company of the Bank of 
Cairo," and authorized to build a city upon 
the lands entered by them. 

January- 16, 1836— D. B. Holbrook, A. M. 
Jenkins, M. A. Gilbert and others were in- 



corporated by the Legislature of Illinois as 
the "Illinois Central Railroad Company." 
authorizing the company to construct a rail- 
road, " commencing at or near the mouth of 
the Ohio River, and thence north, to a point 
on the Illinois River, at or near the termina- 
tion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal," with 
the privilege of extending the road from the 
Illinois River to Galena. 

February 27, 1837 — Act passed by the 
Legislatui-e, of Illinois, " to establish and 
maintain a General System of Internal Im- 
provement," and "providing for a Board of 
Public Works," and directing and ordering 
the construction of a raih'oad from the city 
of Cairo, at or near the confluence of the 
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to ^some point 
at or near the southern termination of the 
Illinois & Michigan Canal, via Vandal ia, 
Shelby ville, Decatur and Bloomington, thence 
via Savanna to Galena, and appropriating for 
the construction of said railroad the sum of 
$8,500,000. 

March 4, 1837— A. M. Jenkins, D. B. Hol- 
brook, M. A. Gilbert and others were incor- 
porated as the Cairo City & Canal Company, 
and were authorized to pui'chase and sell land 
in Township 17 south, Range 1 west, in Alex- 
ander County, and to build a city thereon, to 
be called the city of Cairo. This act 
amended February, 1839. 

June 7, 1837 — The Illinois Central Rail- 
road Company released and' gave back to the 
State the right to constnict " a railroad, com- 
mencing at or near the confluence of the 
Ohio and Mississippi Rivei"S, and extending 
to Galena, conditional, however, that the said 
State of Illinois shall commence the con- 
struction of said railroad, within a reasonable 
time, from the city of Cairo." 

June 26, 1837 — Anagi-eement entered into 
between the Illinois Central Railroad, by its 
President, A. M. Jenkins, and the Cairo City 



88 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



& Canal Company, by D. B. Holbrook, its 
President, that the railroad to be constructed 
by the Illinois Central Railroad Company 
" shall commence at such point or place in 
the city of Cairo, as the Cairo City & Canal 
Company may fix and direct." 

June 26, 1837— The Cairo City & Canal 
Company mortgaged its lands in Township 
17 south. Range 1 west, of the Third Principal 
Meridian, on a portion of which the city of 
Cairo had been platted and laid out, to the 
New York Life Insurance & Trust Company, 
as security for loans secured from English 
capitalists. 

February 1, 1840 — The act to establish 
and maintain a General System of Internal 
Improvements, passed February 27, 1837, 
was repealed by the Legislatiu-e, and the 
work on the Illinois Central Railroad 
stopped; building a city here stopped, and, to 
complete Cairo's disasters, the company's 
banker in London failed, and the Cairo City 
& Canal Company were hopelessly bankrupt, 
and the nearly fifteen hundred people that 
had gathered here dispersed, and desolation 
brooded over the land. 

March 6, 1843— The President and Direct- 
ors of the Cairo City & Canal Company were 
incorporated as the Great Western Railway 
Company, and authorized to construct a 
railroad, " commencing at the city of Cairo, 
in Alexander County, 111., and thence north, by 
way of Vandalia, Shelbyville, Decatur and 
Bloomington, to a point on the Illinois 
River at or near the termination of the 
Illinois & Michigan Canal," and to extend 
the main road to Galena. 

March 6, 1845 — The last above-mentioned 
act repealed by the Legislature. 

September 29, 1846— The bondholders, 
creditors and owners of the City of Cairo & 
Canal Company franchise, organized The 
Trust of the Cairo Property, and all the com- 



pany's property in Town 17 south, Rauge 1 
west, was conveyed to Thomas Taylor, of 
Philadelphia, and Charles Davis, [of New 
York, as Trustees of the Cairo City Prop- 
erty. 

February 10, 1849— The President and 
Directors of the Cairo City & Canal Com- 
pany, with others, rechartered and rein- 
stated as the Great Western Railway Com- 
pany, with all the powers conferred by the 
act of March 6, 1843, and the Governor of 
the State authorized to hold in trust for the 
Great Western Railway Company whatever 
lands might be donated or thereafter secured 
to the State of Illinois b_y the General Gov- 
ernment to aid in the construction and com- 
pletion of the Illinois Central or the Great 
Western Railroad from Cairo to Chicago. 

December 24, 1849 — Release executed by 
the Cairo City & Canal Company to the State 
of Illinois, of the charter of the Great West- 
ern Railway Company, upon the condition 
that the State would build "within ten years 
from January 1, 1850, a railroad from Cairo 
to Chicago, and that the southern terminus 
should be the city of Cairo. 

September 20, 1850 — An act of Congress, 
granting to the State of Illinois the alternate 
sections of land, for sixteen sections in 
width, on each side of the railroad and its 
branches, for the construction of a railroad 
from the southern terminus of the Illinois & 
Michigan Canal to a point at or near the 
junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 
with branches to Chicago and Galena. 

September 20, 1850 — Release by the Cairo 
City & Canal Company of the charter of the 
Great Western Railway Company to the 
State, and the acceptance of the same by the 
State of Illinois. 

February 30, 1851 — The act of incorpora- 
tion of the Illinois Central Railroad passed 
by the Legislature, and providing for the 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



89 



conveyance to Trustees the lands donated by 
the General Government to the State. 

Jnne 11, 1851 — An agreement between the 
Illinois Central Railroad and the Trustees of 
the Cairo City Property, for the railroad to 
construct and maintain levees around the 
City of Cairo, in consideration of conveyance 
to the railroad company of certain lands in 
the city of Cairo, specifying the levees were 
to be about seven miles long, and to inclose 
about thirteen hunch'ed acres of laud on the 
point. 

September 15, 1853 — The city of Cairo 
was platted and laid out and recorded by the 
Cairo City Property, and the first lot sold to 
Peter Stapleton. 

October 15, 1853 — Deed executed by the 
Trustees of the Cairo City Property, to the 
Illinois Central Railroad, for the land speci- 
fied in the agreement of the road to construct 
and maintain levees. 

May 31, 1855 — An additional agreement 
entered into between the Cairo City Property 
and the Central road, by which the road 
agreed to "construct and maintain new pro- 
tective embankment, to prevent the abrasion 
of the Mississippi levee." This agreement 
materially changed that of June 11, 1851. 

June 12, 1858 — This new embankment, 
constructed on the Mississippi River, gave 
way, and the city was inundated. 

October 12, 1858- The Illinois Central 
Railroad, having restored the levees to the 
condition they were in before the overflow, 
were informed that the reconstruction of the 
levees did not fulfill their agreement, and the 
road was notified to widen and strengthen 
the works to at least a width of twenty feet 
on the top of the levees, with a slope on each 
side of one foot perpendicular to five feet 
horizontal, and the entire levees to be raised 
two feet higher than the old levees. 

October 29, 1858~Foi-mal notice given by 



the Trustees of the Cairo City Property to 
the Illinois Central i-oad, that, in, conse- 
quence of the road's failure and refusal to 
strengthen the levees, according to their con- 
tract, the Trustees would at once proceed to 
do the work and hold the railroad company 
responsible for the reimbursement of all 
costs of the same, with interest. 

October 1, 1863 — Mortgage executed, by 
the Trustees of Cairo City Property, to Hiram 
Ketchum, Trustee, to all the property of the 
Trust of the Cairo City Property, as a secur- 
ity for a loan of $250,000. 

October 1, 1867 — An additional mortgage, 
by the same parties last above-named, upon 
the same propei'ty, for an additional loan of 
150,000. 

July 18, 1872 — Suit commenced by the 
Cairo City Property against the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad, for $250,000, money expended 
by the city company upon the levees. The 
suit was compromised by the payment by the 
railroad of $80,000, and the conveying back 
by deed to the Cairo City Property, of 397 
acres of the 487 acres that had been conveyed 
to the railroad, in consideration that the road 
would construct protective levees. By this 
settlement, the railroad was released from 
any further obligations in regard to the 
levees. 

May 10, 1876— The Cairo City Property, 
being unable to pay the loans negotiated in 
1863 and 1867, the mortgages were fore- 
closed, and the property of the Trust sold to 
the bondholders under the mortgage. 

January 20, 1876 — A new Trust formed, 
called the Cairo City Trust Property, under 
which the property is now managed by S. 
Staats Taylor . and Edwin Parsons, Trustees. 

The finale of all this is, there was much 
more legislation than city or railroads con- 
structed It is an evidence that the way 
cities are built is not by cunning or strong 



90 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



legislative acts, but by strong, enterprising, 
busy men; not by powerful, speculative cor- 
porations, but by independent individuals; 
not by anticipating the incomiug rush of the 
thousands who make it a metropolis, and dis- 
counting in advance the per capita profits of 
their coming, but by voluntary acts of each 
one, actinor in ignorance and unconcern of 



what the future is or may be of the place — 
the busy, enterprising men of small capital 
and vast energy. These are the broad and 
strong foundations of all great cities that 
have ever yet been built in this country. It 
is the antipodes, in everything of a movement 
to found a city, to be, when completed, the 
property of a chartered corporation. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE LEVEES— HOW THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE BY LAW PLACED THE NATURAL TOWN SITE 
ABOVE OVERFLOWS— FIRST EFFORTS AT CONSTRUCTING LEVEES— ENGINEER'S REPORTS ON 
THE SAME— ESTIMATED HEIGHT AND COSTS— THE FLOODS— THE CITY OVERFLOWED 
—GREAT DISASTER, THE CAUSE AND ITS EFFECTS— THE LEVEES ARE RECON- 
STRUCTED AND THEY DEFY THE GREATEST WATERS EVER KNOWN. 



IN the preceding chapter we have at- 
tempted to give a succinct account of the 
many charter and other corporation laws 
passed in reference to founding the city of 
Cairo, commencing with the first act of the 
Illinois Territorial Legislature, of June 9, 
1818, and in chronological order tracing 
these acts down to date. Following this, in 
the natural order, would be a similar account 
of the construction of the city's levees, from 
the first little rude embankments of William 
Bird around his little trading house, to the 
present more than seven miles of the finest, 
and probably the most solid, protective em- 
bankments in the world. 

In the year 1828, John and Thompson 
Bird brought their slaves over from Missoui-i, 
and built an embankment around the hotel 
that then was the solitary building in Cairo; 
which stood a short distance below the pres- 
ent Halliday House. It was a frame build- 
ing, about twenty-five by thirty-five feet in 
dimensions. This levee seems to have ful- 
filled its purposes well, and for years kept 
out the waters. The same parties soon after 



erected another building, for a store, and as 
this was just outside the levee, it was perched 
on posts that were high enough to keep it 
from the raging waters. 

For the particulars of the next attempt to 
construct levees we are indebted to the now 
venerable Judge Miles A. Gilbert, of Ste. 
Mary's, Mo., who gives us his recollections 
of the acts and doings of the old City & 
Bank of Cairo Company. He says: " John 
C. Comyges, the master spirit of this enter- 
prise, had just perfected his plans to go over 
to Holland, and bring to Cairo a shipload of 
Dutch laborers, to build the dykes or levees 
around the city, when he was taken sick and 
soon died, when the other incorporators, 
becoming discouraged, the enterprise was 
finally abandoned. In those days (1818), the 
public lands were purchased from the Gov- 
ernment, under a credit system of $2 per 
acre— 50 cents in cash paid, and $1.50 on 
timp. If the $1.50 was not promptly paid 
at maturity, the land reverted to the Govern- 
ment, and the 50 cents per acre paid was 
forfeited, and the land became again subject 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



91 



to entry. In 1835, Judge Sidney Breese, 
Miles A. Gilbert and Thomas Swanwiok re- 
entered these lands, the object being to revive 
the old charter of the City & Bank of Cairo 
Company, of 1818, which had not yet expired 
by limitation of its charter. In order to gain 
influence to eft'ect this purpose, Miles A. Gil- 
bert and Thomas Swanwick sold an undivided 
interest to Hon. David J. Baker, Hon. Elias 
K. Kane. PieiTe Mesnard and Darius B. Hol- 
brook." [Then follows an account of the 
chartering of the original Illinois Central 
Railroad, and the Internal Improvement Sys- 
tem, and the final release of the railroad 
charter to the State. For particulars see pre- 
ceding chapter. — En.] " Judge Gilbert in- 
forms us that one of the conditions of the 
Central's release to the State was, the State 
should build a road upon the proposed line 
and establish a depot in the city limits, and 
the city company was to deed the railroad 
t«;n acres of land for depot purposes, which 
deed was duly made. 

"In 1838, D. B. Holbrook, the President of 
the Cairo City & Canal Company, went to 
England and negotiated a loan or hypotheca- 
tion of the company's bonds, to the amount 
of 155,800 pounds sterling. On his return, 
he revived and organized the Cairo City 
Bank, which was, as required by law, for the 
time being, located at Kaskaskia, when work 
was commenced at Cairo upon a large and 
extravagant scale. Anthony Olney was ap- 
pointed General Superintendent. A large 
force was set to work, building the levees 
around the city. 

" Foundries, machine shops, workshops, 
boarding-houses and dwellings went up as if 
by magic. But in the midst of this general 
and cheerful prosperity, the banking-house 
of Wright &Co., of London, failed. The im- 
mediate cause of the suspension at Cairo 
was the failure of Wright & Co. to meet the 



di'af ts then drawn on them by the Cairo City 
& Canal Company, and that were on their 
way to England. Had the failure been ]X)st- 
poned sixty days longer, and the existing 
drafts been honored, the Cairo Company 
could have met all its contracts thereafter 
incurred, by a little prudence, and the com- 
pany have been made self-sustaining. D. B. 
Holbrook made every effort in his power to 
raise means to pay and secure those whom 
the company owed at Cairo, but distrust had 
seized every one, and the result was the com- 
pany, bank, and all work su-spended. Fol- 
lowing this, recklessness and mob law 
reigned supreme" — idleness, rioting, de- 
moralization and drunkenness held sway, 
and the seethingr, roaring mob were as a den 
of mixed wild beasts, where only the fierce 
and bloodthirsty passions were manifested or 
to be met. Here was the rapidly gathered 
together young city, of about two thousand 
people, plain laborers mostly, many skilled 
mechanics, boarding-house keepers, engineers, 
merchants, traders, contractors, and the 
women and children. Their incipient city 
fringed along the banks of the Ohio Kiver, 
where the gi'eat old forest trees had been 
felled along the edges of the river bank to 
make room for this little border of mosaic 
work of civilization in the far West. The 
young town was in all its bewildering new- 
ness and freshness — that unfinished confusion 
on a fresh bank of earth here, a ditch there ; a 
rough, stumpy, newly blazed road or trail, 
hardly yet cut by its first wagon tracks, lead- 
ing nowhere; newly- built houses dotted here 
and there as though di-opped at random from 
the skies, without reference to their ever tak- 
ing their positions in streets or regularity, so 
new, too, were they, that a blanket, a jiiece of 
cai'pet or a quilt did duty for a door, and upon 
every hand were other still newer houses in 
every stage of building, fi'om the few half- 



9-2 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



hewn logs that lay scattered over the ground 
and obstructing the* passage-ways, to those 
with the new board roof being nailed on; 
workshops, boarding-houses, hotels, foun- 
dries, in short, a great city was almost 
magically being built in the wild forests, 
and simultaneously a great railroad was 
being built in the city, and happy and busy 
men were working out this apparently inex- 
tricable confusion, and bringing order and 
symmetry out of disorder, when the crash 
came, and hope and confidence fled from the 
people; all labor instantly ceased, and whole 
families swarmed from their homes, cabins 
and tents, after the fashion of angry bees 
when a stick is thrust into their hive. Hol- 
brook's fair promises were scouted, the law 
of the land ridiculed, and pell-mell the mob 
commenced an indiscriminate sacking of all 
public or city company property. They 
mostly must have found but little comfort in 
this, as there was little or nothing that could 
be converted to private use that would be of 
any value, and hence the robberies or appro- 
priations must often have been after the 
fashion of the soldier, who started on the 
march to Georgia, and the first day out dis- 
covered the highways and the by-ways, the 
fields and the woods were full of bummers, 
who were stealing everything as they went. 
Piqued at his being behind ^the early birds, 
he looked about him for something to steal, 
when the only thing he could find left was a 
plow. This he shouldered, and in happiness 
resumed his march. After tusrscins: in sore 
agony and distress under his load of loot for 
a few miles, he overhauled his elder patriotic 
brother, stranded by the wayside from a 
grindstone that he had appropriated a few 
miles back. These two patriots, as it ia right 
and proper they should be, are now on the 
penson list, for permanent disability — not 
for wounds received in battle, but for strains 



in transporting from the Southern Confeder- 
acy the sinews of war. 

Mr; Anthony Olney, the Superintendent, 
attempted to stay the storm and protect the 
property, but soon saw how futile his efforts 
were, and he quit serious efforts in that di- 
I'ection. He died a short time after this. 

Soon those to whom the Cairo City & 
Canal Company was indebted began to make 
efforts to collect their money by law. They 
attached everything they could find belonging 
to the company, which was sold at public 
sale for a mere trifle. For nearly two years 
the place was abandoned by all the repre- 
sentatives of the company, and the mob and 
the officers of the laws had effectually dis- 
posed of all the company's property. 

In 1838, just previous to the commence- 
ment of the improvements noted above, the 
city company issued the following circular: 

" The President of the Cairo City & Canal 
Company, having made arrangements in 
England for the funds requisite to carry on 
their contemplated improvements in the city 
of Cairo, upon the most extensive and liberal 
scale, it is now deemed proper to 'give pub- 
licity to the objects, plans and other matters 
connected with this great work, in order that 
every one who feels an interest or has pride in 
the success of this magnificent public enter- 
prise, may properly understand and appre- 
ciate the motives and designs of the project- 
ors. 

" The company, from the commencement 
determined to withhold from sale, at any 
price, the corporate property of the city, un- 
til it should be made manifest to the most 
doubting and skeptical, the perfect practica- 
bility of making the site of the city of Cairo 
habitable. This being now fully established, 
by the report of the distinguished engineers, 
Messrs. Strickland & Taylor, of Pennsyl- 
vania, and also by that of the principal en- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



93 



gineers of the State works of Illinois, the 
company are (?) proceeding in the execution 
of their ( ?) plans, as set forth in their pros 
pectus, viz.: To make the levees, streets 
and embankments of the city; to erect ware- 
houses, stores and shops convenient for every 
branch of commercial business; diy docks; 
also buildings adapted for every useful me- 
chanical an manufacturing purpose, and 
dwelling-houses of such cost and description 
as will suit the taste and means of every 
citizen — which course has been adopted as 
the most certain to secure the destined popu- 
lation of Cairo, within the least possible 
time. The company, however, wish it fully 
understood, that it is far from their desire 
or intention to monopolize, or engage in any 
of the various objects of entei'prise, trade or 
business which must of necessity spring up 
and be carried on with great and singular 
success in this city; it being their governino- 
motive to offer every reasonable and proper 
encouragement to the enterprising and skill- 
ful artisan, manufactui-er, merchant and pro- 
fessional man to identify his interests with 
the growth and i)rosperity of the city. When 
the company makes sales or leases of prop- 
erty, it will be on such liberal terms as no 
other toAvn or city can offer, possessing like 
advantages for the acquisition of that essen- 
tial means of human happiness — wealth. 
The President of the company is fully em- 
powered, whenever he shall deem it expedi- 
ent, to sell or lease the property, and other- 
wise to represent the general interests and 
aflairs of the company." 

This proclamation was the work of the 
President, Holbrook, and it was the aims, 
hopes, ambitions and intentions of the com- 
pany, as he was willing and eager for all the 
world to see and know them. In this mani- 
festo, Mr. Holbrook feels constrained, in the 
name of the company, to say, " that it is far 



from their desire or intention to monopolize 
or engage in any of the various objects of 
enterprise, trade or business, which must of 
necessity spring up, etc. " It was only after 
the calamitous crash came that people re- 
membered there had been anything reallv 
said in the President's circular except that 
" the President of the Cairo City & Canal 
Company, having made arrangements in 
England for the funds requisite to carry out 
their contemplated improvements in the city 
of Cairo, upon the most extensive mid iiberal 
scale, etc." 

The subject of "funds" was all that caught 
the eye of the hopeful comer to Cairo, and 
the liberal and extensive works of buildim^- 
thfi foundations of the city, that caused the 
money to pour out to the people in a golden 
stream, were abundant evidences to all the 
Avorld that the company had not only got the 
money, but were honestly putting it to the 
purposes for which they said " they had 
secui-ed it " in their circular. But in the 
great financial wreck, that carried dowoi such 
a wide circle of public and private enter- 
prises, and that came like a clap of thunder 
from a clouldess sky, the larger portion of 
the laborers that suffered from the visitation 
looked no further for the source of their woe 
than to Holbrook and his circular. And no 
doubt that here was the origin of the distrust 
of this man and his schemes, that eventually 
widely spread, and entered deeply into the 
minds of men all over our country, even to 
that extent that his usefulness ceased, and 
he returned to his Boston home to retire- 
ment from his struggles, to privacy and 
death. 

When Holbrook got the money from Eng- 
land, he put his engineers at once to work 
to ascertain the wants of the town site in the 
way of protective embankments from the 
waters of the two rivers that laved the three 



94 



HISTOHY OF CAIRO. 



sides of its shores, and when they reported, 
he put 1, 500 laborers upon this work, which 
he was pushing vigorously when the crash 
came. The levees along the two rivers had 
been regularly made and joined together at 
the southern extremity, but the cross levee 
on the north, to connect the two levees on 
the shores, and thus encircling the entire city, 
had not been constructed, and thus, practically, 
all the work completed was of little or no 
value without the completion of the north 
cross -levee. 

As stated above, the Cairo City & Canal 
Company, and their Superintendent, Mr. 
Olney, had abandoned the town and their 
property, and, eventually, so did nearly all 
the 2,000 people that had gathered here, 
and so complete was this exodus that it is 
stated less than fifty of them permanently re- 
mained. These seem to have been an easy, 
devil-may-care class of men, who found 
themselves the happy possessors, and for all 
purposes of use and occupation, the owners 
of a great young city, or the half-finished 
ground-plans thereof. 

The sudden coming together of what all 
the world thought to be a young and prom- 
ising great city was equaled only by its sud- 
den, almost complete desertion when the 
storm of adversity broke upon it. 

The completed improvements in the town 
were the iron works of Bellews, Hathaway & 
Gilbert, which were supplied with the best 
English machinery, which were in full oper- 
ation, and turning out much valuable prod- 
ucts. This institution continued its busi- 
ness, running its machinery to its full capac- 
ity until the 22d of March, 18-1:2, when the 
floods of that year, owing to the unfinished 
condition of the levees, washed it away. This 
flood at the same time swept away the dry 
dock, which had been erected at a cost of 
over S35,000, when it was seized by credit- 



ors, taken to New Orleans and sold. The 
City Company had made a large addition to 
the Cairo Hotel, which was thronged with 
guests at all times, many of them being 
tourists, attracted here by the wide name and 
fame of Cairo. Two large saw mills were 
turning out building lumber and steamboat 
timbers. A three-story planing mill was 
running to its fullest capacity. This was 
situated on the corner of Eighth street and 
the Ohio levee. The steamer Asia and the 
hull of the steamer Peru had been moored in 
front of the city, and were made into wharf- 
boats and hotels. Holbrook had erected a 
spacious and elegant residence on the spot 
now occupied by the Halliday House. The 
company had erected twenty neat and com- 
modious cottages during the season of 1841. 

Then the numerous shanties, cabins and 
pole-huts, together with the unfinished levees 
and an unfinished railroad, were the heirlooms 
that became the possessions of the happy-go- 
lucky fifty people that remained here amid 
the general wreck and ruin. 

In April, 1843, Miles A. Gilbert was ap- 
pointed Agent of the Cairo City & Canal 
Company, to take possession, care and gen- 
eral control of its property in the city. The 
condition in which he found matters upon his 
arrival here, the mood and temper and claims 
of the people, the lawless spirit of the mob, 
and their primitive notions of the vested 
rights to everything that their occupancy had 
given them, the episodes Mr. Gilbert en- 
countered, that drove him to that " last re- 
sort of nations," ai-e fully told in the bio- 
graphical sketch of him in another part of 
this work. 

As soon as Mr. Gilbert had vindicated his 
right to the possession and control of the 
property, he put a force of laborers at work 
constructing the cross-levee, from the Ohio 
to the Mississippi levee, and this was com- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



95 



pleted during the year 1843. He also re- 
paired, strengthened, raised and leveled 
the old levees running along the river banks. 
The levees, as now completed, inclosed 
about six hundred acres of ground. Their 
average height above the natural surface of 
the land was between seven and eight feet. 

Their efficacy as embankments to keep out 
the waters is well told in the following from 
Mr. Miles A. Gilbert: " They kept out the 
great flood in the Missisippi of June, 1844. 
Cairo was the only diy spot in the river bot- 
toms to be found between St. Louis and 
New Orleans. That season, I had a field of 
corn, of many acres, planted inside the Cairo 
levee, which gi-ew to maturity and ripened 
into a good crop, although the water sur- 
rounding the city was about eight feet higher 
than the surface of the corn-field." 

The flood in the Mississippi River of the 
spring of 1844 was historical, and remains 
to this day, as marking the extreme height 
to which the waters of that river have attained 
since its discovery. The writer remembers 
standing upon the high blufl's opposite St. 
Louis, when the waters of the river stretched 
from the base of the hills like a great sea, 
and as he looked west over the expanse of 
waters, could see no dry land except Monk's 
Mound, which was covered with domestic 
animals. From Alton to New Orleans, the 
river extended from the hills on one side to 
the hills on the o})posite side, and probably 
averaged in width between fifteen and 
twenty miles. The destruction of human 
life, the devastation of property, in all this 
strip of wide country, for twelve hundred 
miles, was appalling. Houses, fences and 
buildings of all kinds were washed away, and 
a wide track of desolation marked the whole 
course of the river— -except within the levee 
of the city of Cairo. Here, Miles A. Gril- 
bert's field of corn was vigorously pushing 



up its heads, to look and smile, perhaps, 
upon the angry fljod that surrounded it. 
What a triumph for the young city, to fol- 
low, as it did, so closely in time upon the 
tracks of the financial disaster that had swept 
over it, and against which no levees or em- 
bankments could protect it! What a laurel 
wreath it was for Miles A. Gilbert and his 
co-laborers in their heroic determination to 
overcome all obstacles, and build a city here! 

Fi'om the hour that Mr. Gilbert finished 
and inclosed the city with a levee, there 
has come to the town no disaster from the 
high waters in the Mississippi River; and 
yet the highest floods ever known in that 
river came while the levees were so con- 
structed and finished by INIr. Gilbert, and 
before they had been raised to their present 
height, which is an average of about twelve 
feet above the surface of the ground all 
around the city, or, in other words, five feet 
in height had been added to the original 
levees. 

It is a well-established fact that even the 
fii'st levees built here would have been an 
abundant protection from any waters in the 
Mississippi River. While this wonderful 
river, in its onward surge to the sea, defies 
and baffles the piiny arm of man to guide, 
check or control it, yet nature has so arranged 
the topography o£ the country, thiough 
which tht> river runs between this point and 
St. Louis, that its gi'eatest floods can do 
no hai-m at Cairo. At Grand Chain, the 
river has cut its bed down through the solid 
rocks many hundreds of feet, and the great, 
water-seamed cliffs stand facing each other, 
forming the narrowest point, and the highest 
perpendicular rocky bluffs on either side of 
any other place in^the Lower Mississippi. 
This narrow gorge holds back the water 
above, and allows it only to pass through in 
such quantities, that the wide bottoms that 



96 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



commence here take them off as fast as they 
can come. 

While this is true of the Mississippi River, 
it is not the case with the Ohio Eiver. The 
same Grand Chain crosses the Ohio, and 
passes into Kentucky a few miles above here; 
yet the river channel has not been so con- 
fined by steep, rocky shores, but, upon the 
contrary, there is quite a sufficient space for 
the waters in uninterrupted [volume,'even at 
the highest stages. 

But recent experiences teach there has been 
a materia] change in the frequency and force 
of the high waters, especially in the Ohio 
River. The great freshets in the Mississippi 
are usually known as the " June rise," and 
generally come from the melting snows in 
the Rocky Mountain regions, while the Ohio 
Eiver is almost wholly influenced by long- 
continued heavy rains in the Mississippi 
Valley. Since 1860, the drainage of the en- 
tire agricultural country in the Valley has 
been greatly increased, until lagoons and 
marshes and ponds that ouce held the rain- 
fall, and • allowed it to pass off only by 
evaporation, are now dry and well-tilled 
farms. So wide and thorough has general 
drainage been inaugurated, in sm-face, and 
subsoil and tile drainage, that it must greatly 
affect the gathering of the waters to the large 
rivers, and is, no doubt, one of the large 
factors in producing the change that has 
taken place in the annual freshets in our rivers. 
Still another alleged influence is the clearing 
out of the forests all over tbe country, and thus 
taking from the atmosphere and the soil one 
large source of gathering and holding back 
the waters. But this last theory is somewhat 
fuddled by the often- advanced philosophical 
idea that the cutting away of the forests re- 
duces the rainfall, and heoce the great 
droughts which so severely afflict the country 
at now frequent intervals. One or the other, 



perhaps both, of these theories are false, yet 
there is one thing well established, namely, 
that a heavily- timbered country always be- 
speaks a large rainfall there, while the treeless 
desert as certainly tells of a cloudless sky 
and no rainfall. So, if the trees do not pro- 
duce an increase in the rain, the rain cer- 
tainly does increase the tree growth. 

When Miles F. Gilbert had completed his 
levees around the city of Cairo, in 1843, he 
had walled the waters out, and fenced in the 
ragged squad of fifty men, women and chil- 
dren that constituted the population of the 
forlorn city. This tattered remnant of peo- 
ple had taken and held possession of the 
houses, and the first choice of hut, shanty, 
cottage, Holbrook's handsome residence, or 
mill, or factory, was to the swift of foot, who, 
when the exodus commenced, could get there 
first, and acquire ownership by possession. 
They evidently looked upon Mr. Gilbert with 
some distrust and ill-will, as he was " not 
regular" in this; he claimed there were yet 
property rights here of the Cairo & Canal 
Company, and he further believed in the 
majesty and supremacy of the law of the 
land. He ^ave his time and labored faith- 
fully, never, for a moment, so doubting his 
eyes and senses as to lose faitli in the future 
great destiny of Cairo. From 1843 to 1851 
did he continue thus to "hold the fort," 
and protect the town and build up its inter- 
ests. In those eight long years of decay and 
dilapidation, the population increased only 
from 50 to 200 souls. Except for the 
efforts of Mr. Gilbert, there was an interreg- 
num here, and a prostration of the hopes of 
the lown quite as profound as was the finan- 
cial and commercial panic in the country 
generally. And all over the West this pros- 
tration lasted until the passage by Congress 
of the bill for the building of the Illinois 
Central Railroad, in February, 1851. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



99 



April 15, 1851, S. Staats Taylor succeeded 
M. A. Gilbert, as Agent of the Trustees of 
the Cairo City Property. At that time, only 
about fifty acres, along the Ohio River, near 
its confluence with the Mississippi Eiver 
were cleared. The rest of the grounds were 
mostly covered with a dense growth of tim- 
ber. The buildings and other improvements 
made by the city company, from 1837 to 
1842, had nearly all fallen and decayed, or 
been removed. Only a few buildings re- 
mained, and they were in a tumble-down 
condition. The Central Railroad had made 
arrangements to commence the construction 
of its road, and desiring privileges within 
the city of Cairo, and the right of way from 
the north to the south limits of the town, on 
June 11, 1851, Thomas S. Taylor and 
Charles Davis, the Trustees, living in New 
"York, entered into a contract with the rail- 
road company to construct and maintain 
levees around the city. The consideration 
paid the railroad, in addition to the right of 
way through the city, was 487 acres of land, 
this land mostly on each side of the track 
and the levees around the city, with certain 
tracts extending to the rivers on each side of 
the city. This agreement provided that the 
railroad company should encompass the city 
with a levee or embankment of adequate 
height to exclude the waters of the rivers 
at any then known stage or rise of the same; 
that this embankment or levee should be so 
formed or graded as to furnish a street or 
roadway, as nearly level, transversely, as 
might be deemed proper, of not less than 
eighty feet in width, and, beyond the street 
or roadway, to slope toward the river, on a 
descent of one foot in five, to the natural 
surface of the land, which [slope was to have 
been continued toward the river, to low water 
mark. 

As this agreement and contract was event- 



ually the most important to the city com- 
pany, to the town and to the railroad, and 
led finally to misuodorstandings and lawsuits 
between the two companies, and to much dis- 
cussion and disputes among property holders 
in the city, and as they have never been 
properly understood by the many interested 
therein, we give them hei-e entire, together 
with the correspondence arising therefrom 
between the railroad, the city company and 
the property holders: 

" AGREEMENT. 

" The Illinois Central Railroad Company, 
with the Trustees of the Cairo City 
Property. June 11, 1S51. 

" Memorandum of an agreement made pro- 
visionally, this 11th day of June, 1851. be- 
tween Thomas S. Taylor and Charles Davis, 
of the first part, and the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company of the second part. 

"1. It is hereby mutually agreed, that 
proper deeds, conveyances and instruments 
necessary to secure the performance of this 
agreement, shall bo executed by the respect- 
ive parties hereto, when prepared in due 
form of law and with accurate descriptions. 

" 2. It is also agreed, that the site of 
Cairo City, substantially as shown on a map 
thereof made by H. C. Long, dated June, 
1851, and annexed hereto, "shall be estab- 
lished by the parties of the first part, and 
maintained by them against the abrasion and 
wear of the waters of the rivers, and that all 
the constructions, of whatever nature, for the 
purposes of forming, maintaining and pro- 
tecting the site of the city, shall be made by 
and at the cost of the parties of the first 
part. 

" 3. It is agreed, that this site shall be 
encompassed entirely by a levee or embank - 
mpnt of adequate height to exclude the 
waters of the rivers at any stage or rise of 
the same now known, to be established, for 



100 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



the purposes of this agreement, by the en- 
gineers of both parties, which shall be so 
formed and graded as to furnish a street or 
roadway as nearly level, transversely, as may 
be deemed proper, of not less than eighty 
feet in width, and, beyond the width 
adopted for the level _ street or roadway, to 
slope toward the rivers, on a descent of one 
foot in five, to the uatiu-al surface of the land 
— which slope is to be continued toward the 
river, to a point to be selected by the en- 
gineers at low water mark; but a level sur- 
face (transversely) may be introduced between 
the slope of the levee or embankment and 
the slope down to the low water mark, in case 
the width of the bank between the water and 
the levee should make it necessary or expedi- 
ent, and it should be so arranged by the en- 
gineers of both parties. All of which em- 
bankment, or levee, or slopes, and inter- 
mediate level, if any there be, shall be 
made, formed and graded by and at the cost 
of the parties of the second part. 

" 4. It is agreed, that the location of the 
levee or embankment shall be such as will 
supply, from the excavation and removal of 
the earth forming the slope to the low water 
mark, all the earth necessary for the forma- 
tion, grading and construction of the levee 
or embankment, with only such variations in 
the places as the engineers of both parties 
may agree upoQ as absolutely necessary. 

" 5. It is agi-eed, that when the levee 
street is formed and graded, of a width of 
not less than eighty feet on top, and the 
slope of the levee wharf formed and graded, 
that the same shall be considered as com- 
pleted under this agi'eement, and that no 
further protection or construction, such as 
paving, planking, etc., shall be required of 
the parties of the second part; biit all re- 
pairs, works or constructions which may 
thereafter become essential or necessary for 



the preservation, maintenance and rej^air 
of the levee or embankment shall be made by 
and at the cost of the parties of the second 
part; and such as may be essential and neces- 
sary for the preservation, maintenance and 
repair of the level in front of the levee or em- 
bankment, and of the slopes or levee-wharf, 
shall be made by and at the cost of the parties 
of the first part, except in front of those parcels 
of land to be appropriated to the parties of 
the second part, extending r,o and into the 
waters of the rivers, where the level, slopes 
or levee-wharf shall be maintained and re- 
paired by and at the cost of the parties of 
the second part, but not so far as to dis- 
charge the parties of the first part from the 
agreement to establish and maintain the site 
of the city No. 2. 

" 6. It is agreed, that the parties of the 
second part may, whenever they may see fit, 
lay do\vn, construct and operate a single or 
double line of rails, of such form or rail, 
gauge and manner of construction as they 
may deem judicious, upon or along the levee 
or embankment or any part thereof; and 
may use the same for the transportation of 
passengers, goodf and merchandise, by steam 
or other power — subject only to such reason- 
able and just rules and regulations, as to 
the use of their tracts, as may be made and 
imposed by the proper authorities of Cairo 
City for the time being, but no rules or reg- 
ulations shall be imposed, or if imposed 
need be respected, which, in effect, would 
essentially eflfectually impair or entirely de- 
stroy its right of constructing and operating 
the tracks on the levee or embankment. 

" 7. It is agreed, that cross-levees or em- 
bankments shall be made and maintained by 
and at the cost of the parties of the second 
part, of adequate height and width for the 
purposes proposed for them, which shall 
cross from the levee or embankment on the 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



101 



Mississippi to that on the Ohio, one of them 
on and upon the strip of land marked on the 
map A, and the other on the strip of land at 
the northern boundary of the city, marked 
B; but no public streets or highways are to 
be laid out upon these levees or embank- 
ments, except to cross the same nearly or 
exactly at right angles; and the tracks and 
rails laid thereon are not to be subject to any 
rules or regulations other than those Avhich 
are imposed upon the parties of the second 
part by their act of incorporation aod the 
laws of the land. 

" 8. It is agreed, that the parties of the 
second part shall proceed with due diligence 
in the construction of the crosslevee or em- 
bankment on the lower strip marked A, and 
of the levee or embankment below the same, 
and entirely around the point of the city, at 
the confluence of the rivers, as shown on the 
map; but that they may postpone to such 
time as they may deem reasonable and 
proper, the construction of the cross-levee or 
embankment on the upper strip of land, 
marked B. and the levees or embankments 
to connect with those previously constnicted 
on the lower portion of the city. 

"9. It is agi'eed, that the parties of the 
second part may locate their railroad gfrom 
the northern line of Cairo City, upon the 
line of the width of roadway [shown on the 
annexed map, being 100 feet, to a point to 
be established and fixed by the engineers of 
the two parties, in the northern line of the 
cross strip of land, marked A on the annexed 
map, and below and south of that point on 
and over all the land colored blue on said 
map, to be surveyed and described by metes 
and bounds; and also on and over all the 
lands colored blue on the annexed map, 
above the northerly line of the strip marked 
A, on each river to the northerly line of the 
city; and also on and over the strip of laud 



marked B, including in the preceding de- 
scription the station lots, depot grounds and 
levee wharves shown on the said map. 

" 10. It is agreed, that when the above 
location shall have been made according to 
law, that the deeds of release and cession 
shall be made, executed and delivered by the 
parties of the first part, to the parties of the 
second part, inthe consideration of the agree- 
ment on their part for the construction and 
maintenance of the levees, embankments and 
slopes above described, of all the lands and 
premises to which refei'ence has heretofore 
been made, and which are to be particularly 
smweyed and accurately located and de- 
scribed, to hold the same absolutely in fee 
simple, for the uses and purposes of the said 
railroad and its business, and for the trans- 
portation of passengers, goods and merchan- 
dise and the station accommodations, storage, 
receipt, delivery and safe keeping of the 
same, and for the machine and repair shops, 
engine and car houses, turn-tables, water 
tanks, and generally for all the wants and 
requirements of the railroad service, so \oncr 
as the said parties of the second part shall 
continue to use, occupy and operate tlie same 
for the purposes above intended. 

"11. It is agreed, that the parties of the 
second part may lay down, maintain and 
operate their lines of tracks and rails, upon 
the above -described lands, in such manner 
and form as they may deem proper; ami mav 
use thereon steam, or other power of any 
kind, subject only to the general liabilities of 
land -owners as to the use of their propt'rtv, 
but exempt from any special rules or obliga- 
tions imposed or attempted to be imposed by 
the parties of the first part, or any and every 
grantees or grantee of the Cairo City Proper- 

ty. 

" 12. It is agreed, that the tracks or lines 
of rails of the parties of the second pavt, 



102 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



to be laid down on tlie strip of land, of 100 
feet in width, running entirely around the 
city, shall be laid, as nearly as may be, at 
and under each street crossing, upon the 
natural level or grade of the land, in order 
to gain as much elevation as possible under 
the bridges to bo erected by the parties of 
the first part, and each at every street cross- 
ing, but the grade may vary from the natural 
surface at all other points, as the parties of 
the second part may see fit. 

"13. It is agreed, that the cross streets 
are to be located by the parties of the first 
part, across and over the strip of land men- 
tioned in the preceding article, with a space 
of at least 400 feet between them; and are 
to be graduated so as to cross the strip of 
land on bridges, with at least sixteen feet 
above the rails of the parties of the second 
part, for the passage of engines, and that no 
crossing shall be laid out to cross the tracks 
in any other way "than with sufficient space 
below it for the passage of engines, and that 
no crossing through or upon any of the sta- 
tion or depot lands. 

" 14. It is agreed, that the parties of the 
first part are to build and maintain all 
the bridges or street crossings, at their ex- 
pense and cost, and that the parties of the 
second part ai-e to drain and protect the strip 
of land above-mentioned, by sewers, drains, 
culverts and fences, at their expense and 
costs. 

" 15. It is agreed, that the parties of the 
second part shall release and convey to the 
parties of the first part, all their right, title 
and interest of, in and to a certain depot lot 
in the city of Cairo, containing ten acres of 
land, conveyed to them by the State of 
Illinois by deed dated the 24th day of 
March, 1851, and also of, in and to all the 
roadway of the railroad heretofore located 
in the city of Cairo and also conveyed to 



them by the above-mentioned indenture, so 
far as the same may not be included within 
the boundaries of the lands and premises, 
which are intended to be conveyed to the 
parties of the second part, under this agi'ee- 
ment. 

" 16. Finally, it is agreed, that in case 
of the necessity of any further covenants 
or aiTangements, to carry out the pui'poses 
of this agreement, or eq^lanatory of the 
same, but not essentially to impair or mod- 
ify the same, that both parties will proceed 
to adjust and execute the same, in the full 
spirit of mutual confidence in which this 
agi-eement has been negotiated and settled, 
and that in the event of any misunderstand- 
ing or disagreement of any kind, or in any 
way connected with this agreement, its pur- 
poses and objects, that the points of disagree- 
ment and dispute shall be reduced to writ- 
ing, and in that form submitted to the arbit- 
rament and decision of three I'efei-ees, to be 
chosen in the usual manner. " 

This agreement was duly signed by Robert 
Schuyler, President of the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company, and by T. S. Taylor and 
Charles Davis, Trustees of the Cairo City 
Property. 

In addition to the foregoing vast consider- 
ation of lands and privileges granted to the 
Illinois Central Railroad Company, 5,000 
shares of the Cairo City stock were conveyed 
to the order of the Directors of that com- 
pany, by the Trustees of the Cairo City Prop- 
erty, as appears by the following extract 
from a circular published by them in Novem- 
ber, 1854, for the information of the share- 
holders, and of all others interested, or wish- 
ing to become interested therein: 

"In the year 1851, the Trustees made the 
most advantageous arrangements for the 
property, by which they secured the con- 
struction of the Illinois Central Railroad, 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



108 



from Cairo, as its southern terminus, to 
Chicago and Galena; and by which they 
also secured the completion of the levees of 
the most permanent character, and inclosing 
the whole site of Cairo, by the said Illinois 
Central Railroad Company, and at its ex- 
pense. These arrangements were perfected 
by the Trustees, by an authorized expend- 
itui-e or issue of 5,000 new shares in the 
'Cairo City Property,' and by donations of 
the land at Cairo needed for railroad and 
other purposes." 

On May 31, 1855, the following additional 
memorandum of an agreement was made and 
entered into between Thomas S. Taylor, of the 
city of Philadelphia, and Charles Davis, of 
the city of New York, Trustees of the Cairo 
City Property, of the first part, and the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad Company of the 
second part: 

" "Whereas, the said parties did, on the 
11th day of June, 1851, make and enter into 
a certain agreement with each other, relative 
to the 'deeding and conveying certain prop- 
erty at Cairo, by the said first to the said 
second party, and in consideration thereof 
for the construction of certain levees and 
works, for the protection of the said city of 
Cairo from the waters of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi Rivers, by the said party of the 
second part; and 

" Whereas, the said deed and conveyances 
have been executed, delivered and accepted, 
and a part of the levee to be constructed, on 
the Ohio River, had been begun and partly 
completed, and in other respects said con- 
tract remains to be executed; and 

" Whereas, for the purpose of obviating 
misunderstanding, as well as because re- 
monstrances seem to render it expedient, it 
has been deemed best to modify the said con- 
tract in one or two particulars, as well as to 



render more clear its meaning in others; 
now, therefore, 

" This Indenture icitnesseth, That, for the 
consideration named in said agi-eement, and 
in consideration of tbe premises, and of $1 
by each of the parties hereto paid to the 
others, the receipt whereof is mutually con- 
fessed, it is agi-eed by the said parties as fol- 
lows, to wit: 

^^ First. The said second party agrees that 
the levee on the Ohio River, now under con- 
struction, shall be completed to low water 
mark, which has been designated and fixed 
by the engineers of both parties, at a point 
forty -two feet below the grade line of the 
levees, as soon as the condition of the river 
will permit, and the paving in front of the 
lots of land conveyed by the first parties to 
the said second parties, under the agreement 
of the 11th of June, required to be done by 
the parties of the second part before men- 
tioned, shall be prosecuted and completed by 
the second pai'ties with all convenient dis- 
patch; and the first parties shall, in like 
manner, prosecute and complete the pave- 
ment in front of the remainder of the said 
levee, when completed as above. 

" Second. The said fii'st party agrees, that 
the completion of the remaining parts of the 
levee agi'eed upon and described in the said 
agreement of June 11, and the constniction 
of which was therein undertaken by the said 
second parties, as is herein agreed, but in no 
way modifying the s&id original agi-eement in 
this respect, except as to the time of con- 
structing and completing said levees, and 
that upon the condition of the construction 
of protective embankments, as hereinafter 
agreed. 

" Third. The said party of the second part 
agree to maintain in good repair the protec- 
tive embankment, now existing, from the 



104 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



point of the confluence of the Rivera Ohio and 
Mississippi to the old cross embankment, to 
the height of the newly- constructed levee on 
the Ohio River, except so far as the engineers 
of both parties shall deem it advisable to 
deviate from the present course of the same; 
and in case it shall be deemed advisable to 
deviate from it at any point, the , new em- 
bankment required to be constructed by the 
said direction shall be constructed and main- 
tained by the said party of the second part, 
to the same height and in the same manner as 
tliey are a'equired to maintain the present 
embaukment. 

" The said second party shall and will also 
construct and maintain a new protective em- 
bankment upon the Mississippi River, from 
a point at the westerly end of the old cross 
embankment, to be fixed by the engineers of 
both parties, upon a location to be determined 
by said engineers, to connect with the ti'ack 
of the Illinois Central Railroad, at or near 
the strip of land marked 'A' upon the map 
or plan fixed to said agreement of the 11th 
of June, A. I). 1851 ; and the mark to be re- 
quired for the construction and i-epair of the 
embankments herein mentioned, shall be com- 
pleted before. the 1st day of December next. 
" Fourth. The embankments above pro- 
vided, but which are only provisional and 
temporary, sitbstituted for the levees agreed 
to be constructed by the said second parties, 
shall be maintained and kept in repair by 
the said party of the second part, until the 
levees by them agreed to be constructed shall 
be built in the manner and form as prefaced 
in the said agreement of 11th June, 1851. 
And the said second parties agree to construct 
and complete the said levees as fast as ^the 
business of the Illinois Central Railroad re- 
quires the extension of the track over and 
upon any portion of the bank of the Missis- 
sippi River, which is to be protected by such 



embankment, whether upon the levee or on 
the inner track, and shall in like jnanner 
construct a similar levee or levees, upon the 
banks of the Ohio, between the land by the 
strij) marked 'A' upon the said map or plan, 
and the levee already constructed upon the 
bank of said river, as the business of the 
city of Cairo shall require it, and the parties 
of the first part, or their successors, shall re- 
quire it to be done. 

******* 

^^ Eighth. The parties of the second part 
shall examine the Mississippi bank, on the 
tract of land conveyed to them for a station, 
and take all necessary steps to protect the 
same from further abrasion until the con- 
struction of the permanent levees, according 
to the said agreement of the 11th June, 1851, 
at their own expense. 

" They shall, in like manner, examine and 
protect the point of the Mississippi River, 
where the abrasion has affected the old em- 
bankment, and do what is necessary to pro- 
tect it for the same period, at their own ex- 
pense. 

" They shall also survey the Mississippi 
River banks opposite the point nearest the 
Cache River, and shall dn at their ex- 
pense, what is in the report of the sm-veyors 
necessary to protect the same from further 
abrasion or inroads; provided such work shall 
not exceed in expense the sum of $20,000; 
and provided also, all the work herein pro- 
vided for, as well as the said provisional 
temporary embankment, shall be constructed 
under the joint superintendence of the en- 
gineers of the two parties, and be proceeded 
with as early as practicable." 

This agreement concludes by specifying 
that the original agreement is to remain in 
full force, except where modified by this> 

It is then duly signed and acknowledged 
by W. H. Osborn, President of the Illinois 



IILSTOKY OF CAIRO. 



105 



Central Railroad, and by the Cairo City 
Property. 

There were many causes occm-ring, be- 
tween the dates of this first and second 
agreement, that led, finally, to the adoption 
of the additional and explanatory second 
agreement between the two interested par- 
ties, the leading ones of which are yet the un- 
written though important part of the city's 
history. 

In accordance with the terms of the first 
agreement of 1851, the Illinois Central Rail- 
road, in a short time after the adoption of 
the articles, proceeded about the work of 
making new levees, "and to construct these ac- 
cording to the terms of the contract. 

In order to the better understanding of 
the work done by the road, it is proper to ex- 
plain that the levees, as completed under 
the BUj)ervision of Miles A. Gilbert, were 
constructed near the banks of the two rivers, 
ai-d circling and coming together at the south 
upon the line now occupied by the levee. 
The north cross- levee was upon a ridge of 
ground commencing near the present Illinois 
Central Railroad stone depot (about Tenth 
street), and running directly west to the Mis- 
sissippi River, inclosing about six hundred 
acres. By the contract with the Central 
road, the north cross-levee was to be ex- 
tended, or caii'ied north, so that the levees 
would inclose about thirteen hundred acres 
of ground, or to the position substantially as 
DOW consti'ucted. 

The new levees along the rivers were lo- 
cated inside the old levees, and, whei'e prac- 
ticable, their dirt was used on the new ones. 

The President and Directors of the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company were, unques- 
tionably, in good faith anxious to fulfill their 
contract; construct strong and really protect- 
ive levees; stop the abrasion of the natural 
bank on the Mississippi side, and fui'ther the 



interest of their road and the city, and help 
build a great city here. But their work upon 
the levees soon began to di'ag; to meet un- 
accountable obstructions; to work at loose 
pui'poses, and often to assume the appear- 
ances of undoing good work that had been 
before done, and tearing down instead of 
building up. This inexplicable course of 
circumstances would often menace the very 
existence of the city; greatly astound and 
exasperate the Cairo City Property, as well 
as the President and Directors of the Central 
road. 

The secret of these studied wrongs that so 
greatly injured the city, and fi'om the evil 
effects of some of them it has hardly re- 
covered yet, was this: The Chief Engineer 
of the Central Railroad — a man named Ash- 
ley — and it is alleged other ofiicers, and 
among them R. B. Mason, the Superintend- 
ent, had conceived a daring scheme of specu- 
lation, whereby they purchased a great deal 
of real estate in and around Mound City, 
and in order to make this valuable they un- 
dertook to destroy Cairo, and thereby make 
Mound City the actual terminal point of the 
road. And Engineer Ashley evidently an- 
ticipated that his official position in con- 
trolling the work in Cairo would enable him 
to carry out this poi'pose. 

That such was their cunning scheme, which 
Ashley boldly attempted, is strongly evi- 
denced by this incident, as well as many 
others that occurred in the year 1854, as 
follows: 

A contractor upon the levee work, named 
Dutcher, brought on a force of six hundred 
or more laborers to wox'k on the road and 
levees, and commenced to cut down the old 
levees, and, as he stated, for the purpose 
of erecting the new ones. But the new ones 
were left with gi-eat gaps, and often there 
were long stretches where there were no ap- 



106 



HISTORY OF CAIEO. 



pearance of new embankments going up. 
In the meantime, the high waters began to 
come down the rivers, and the agent of the 
Cairo City Propex'ty began to realize that 
Dutcher was exposing the city. He said all 
he could to change the course of the work, 
but Dutcher would only promise and do noth- 
ing. When it became plain something must 
be done quickly, IMr. Taylor employed 300 
men to work at night, and bank off ,the ris- 
ing waters, where the levees had been cut 
down. They would go to work in the even- 
ing, wheD Dutcher's men would quit work. 
After this had gone on two or three nights, 
Mr. Dutcher claimed the city company were 
interfering with his work, and he abandoned 
his contract, and turned adrift his force of 
600 men, all of whom, of coui'se, were given 
to understand that the city company had 
brought about the troubles. On the third 
night, when the night laborers repaired to 
their work — the waters eveiy moment now 
becoming very dangerous — they found their 
works and tools in the possession of a mob of 
Dutcher's men, and they were vowing and 
swearing that no man should do a stroke of 
work unless their whole force was also em- 
ployed, and paid at the rate of $3 each per 
night Such was the emergency, that even to 
delay and parley was to sacrifice the town, and 
the agent of the Cairo City Property ordered 
one and all to go to work. They did so, and 
this disastrous mob attack, at a critical mo- 
ment, when it could not be resisted, was after 
all, the means that saved the city and kept out 
the waters. The strip of levee between the 
old and new levee was the weak spot in the 
works, and so rapidly did the waters come 
during the night, that on this place the men 
worked for hoiu's in water over twenty inches 
in depth. To understand this, it is neces- 
sary to state that there was an old levee out- 
side of this, and that when the water broke 



over the outside levee, it came to the new one 
in a swirl or circle, so that the tendency of 
the current was not over the new levee. But 
so great was the emergency, and, thanks to 
the mob, so abundant were the laborers, that 
men were placed upon the endangered spot, 
and actually so thickly were they crowded, 
that human flesh formed an embankment, and 
kept back the waters until dirt was placed 
there, and the levee made high and stroug 
enough to stay the waters. The riotous labor- 
ers lingered about the town, often threatening 
the men at work on the levees with violence; 
openly threatening to bui-n and destroy the 
town, and they were several times caught at- 
te'mpting to cut the levees and, let in the 
water. The regular laborers had aruied, as 
well as they could possibly, with pistols and 
guns, and one night the rioters fired a num- 
ber of pistol shots in the direction of the 
workmen, and it is most fortunate that they 
did not hit or hurt any of them, for the rea- 
son that the laborers had their instruction 
to pay no attention to their assailants unless 
some of their men were hurt, and in that 
event to charge upon them and spare not, 
but kill all they came to. Many of the peo- 
ple in the town took sides against the com- 
pany, and tui-bulence continued to spread and 
intensify and grow, and finally the company 
telegraphed to St. Louis for a few boxes of 
muskets, and when the mob saw these arrive, 
and noticed they were taken to the com- 
pany's ofiice, the next morning the roads, the 
by-ways and the brush, even, were full of 
Dutcher's laborers, with their .little bundles 
on their shoulders, getting out of town as 
fast as they could. Dutcher, when he threw 
up his contract, repaired to the nearest hills, 
up the line of the railroad, and there awaited 
news of the drowning or burning of Cairo, 
and vapored and blowed his wrath at the 
town, threatening to sue and collect many 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



1C7 



millions of dollars damages for interfering 
with bis contract work. 

There are many other circumstances that 
go to establish the fact that Ashley was not 
only disloyal to the railroad company that 
employed him, but that he was willing to 
sacrifice not only Cairo, but the best inter- 
ests of the road in his schemes of speculation 
and selfishness. So plain did this eventually 
become, that the authorities of the railroad 
became aware of his tricks, and they per- 
emptorily and curtly dismissed him from 
their service. Instead of the city company 
being sued and made to pay immeasurable 
damages for employing this large force of 
men to work at night and save the city, the 
agent, Mr. Taylor, made out a bill against the 
road for every dollar he had expended, and 
the I'oad paid it, because it was convinced 
that, instead of interfering with Butcher's 
contract work, the company, by their agent, 
w^as simply doing the work the road had 
bound itself, by solemn contract, to do. 

Strange as it may seem, this dastardly at- 
tempt to destroy the town, and probably all 
in it, was not understood at the time by the 
people; in fact, many so completely misun- 
derstood the daring moves of the unholy con- 
spirators, that they not only did not see how 
they and theirs had been saved, but they took 
sides, and many were vehement partisans of 
Ashley and his followers. They believed that 
the city company had stood about the town 
like a dog in the manger, and refused to let 
the railroad build the levees; and when the 
arrival of the muskets had dispersed the riot- 
ous laborers, and di'iven them in panic away, 
there were citizens left to take up their quar- 
rel, and threaten the city company. 

Another par incident, only on a more ex- 
tended scale, was when the United States 
Marshal came down from Springfield to serve 
writs upon the " heads of the town " — lead- 



ing citizens, as it were, who, like pretty 
much all of the residents, were defiant tres- 
passers upon the company's property, and 
the few leaders of whom the company had 
commenced ' proceedings against in the 
United States Court. When the Marshal ar- 
rived, there was a flutter of excitement, and 
the mutterings of the threatened storm were 
all around the sky. But the Marshal was 
quiet and gentlemanly; in truth, he seemed to 
be about the only one not heated with great 
excitement. He waited upon the parties for 
whom he had writs; told them that he was 
going up the river for two days, and then he 
would return, and they must give bail, or 
he would be compelled to perform the pain- 
ful duty of putting them in jail. That night, 
a meeting of the people was called; some 
brave, short speeches were made, and finally 
the meeting resolved that the city company 
had no right nor title to any property within 
the city, and that they would not obey the 
writs of the United States Court. Here was 
insurrection and civil war! Oi', as it turned 
out, a roaring farce, that surpassed the Three 
Tailors of Bow Street, when they issued 
their proclamation to an astonished world, 
and announced that " We, the People of 
England, etc." 

When the oflScer returned, and the 
" rebels " took a second look at him, they 
concluded to recognize his writs, and, under 
solemn protests, gave bail and escaped the 
bastile. 

The embankments constructed by the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad, under their contract, 
did not prove to be protective embankments 
or levees. On June 12, 1858, they gave way, 
and the city was inundated; this inimdation 
was the result solely of the imperfect con- 
struction of the embankment. Logs and 
stumps had been put in the levees, and this 
furnished a route for the waters until the 



108 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



dirt became so soft and giving,that it ceased 
to be an obstruction to the waters, and the 
flood came. This destructive overflow led to 
ithe following correspondence between the 
Illinois Central Railroad Company and the 
Cairo City & Canal Company, and which 
furnishes the only complete explanation of 
the facts, and the views of the different in- 
terested parties at the time that we can now 
procure: 

July 13, 1858, Charles Davis, Esq., one of 
the Trustees, addressed the President and 
Directors of the Central road, substantially 
as follows: " The recent inundation of Cairo 
has particularly directed the attention of the 
Trustees of the Cairo City Property to their 
agreements with the Illinois Central Rail- 
road Company, relative to the construction 
and maintenance of levees or protective em- 
bankments around the city of Cairo. 

" At the time of making those agreements, 
the Trustees understood, and have ever since 
understood, and have uniformly and repeated- 
ly been advised by various counsel, that 
these agreements were, on the part of your 
company, not only a legal undertaking to 
construct levees or protective embankments, 
to the extent and in the manner prescribed in 
said agreements, but were also a continuing 
and perpetual legal undertaking to maintain 
the same after they had been constructed. 

" The Trustees have received, both from 
their beneficiaries and from purchasers of land 
at Cairo, very many expressions of regret that 
the levees and protective embankments have 
proved insufficient for the pui'pose of their con- 
struction, and very many statements of great 
actual and prospective loss and damage to 
such beneficiaries and purchasers, and many 
inquiries whether the Illinois Central Com- 
pany had performed their agreements before- 
mentioned. Their beneficiaries have com- 
municated to the Trustees the opinion of said 



beneficiaries, that the duty of the Trustees to 
the said beneficiaries required them to de- 
mand, and by all means in their power to en- 
force, a full and continual performance of 
said agreements, and urgently request the 
Trustees to give immediately, and in the fut- 
ure continue to give, their attention to this 
matter. 

" Without now adverting to any omissions 
in the past, the recent inundation has done 
much damage to the levees and embankments, 
which, under said agreements, it is the duty 
of your company to repair. The Trustees 
have a telegram from Mr. S. S. Taylor, 
dated at Cairo, 6th inst. , informing them 
that the sewers were all open, and a portion 
of the city dry, so that work on the levees 
and embankments could be resumed. 

" The Trustees do hereby, in conformity to 
the requests of their beneficiaries, and in as- 
sertion of their rights under said agreements, 
request the President and Directors of the 
Illinois Central Railroad Company to repair 
the damage which has been done, and also to 
perform at once whatever has been omitted 
that is required to be performed, under said 
agreements for the construction and main- 
tenance of levees and protective embank- 
ments around the city of Cairo. 

"When the Trustees consider the importance 
of the performance of these agreements to the 
compamy itself, but much more "when they 
consider the innumerable and the very heavy 
liabilities to which the company is needlessly 
exposed by every omission to perform agree- 
ments of such general and public concern, 
the Trustees can scarcely believe that the 
President and Directors of the company will 
delay unnecessarily, or even voluntarily 
neglect to do all that the company has by 
said agi'eements undertaken." ^ 

To this, under date 15th July, 185^, Mr. 
Osborn, the President of the Central I'oad, 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



109 



replies, acknowledging the receipt of the let- 
ter, and stating " it is the intention of the 
company to repair the damage occasioned 
by the late freshet to the works at Cairo, as 
far as is incumbent upon it under the con- 
tracts with your company. I am not aware 
of any omission in the performance of the 
contract, and do not understand that clause 
of your letter which requests this company 
to perform at once whatever has been omit- 
ted that is required to, be performed under 
said agreement for the construction and 
maintenance of levees and protective em- 
bankments, etc." 

Under date 22d, the same month, Mr. Os- 
born again writes to Mr. Davis, and among 
other things says : " I am desirous to meet 
the views and wishes of your shareholders, 
but the difficulty is the ready money. Capt. 
McClellan^has decided to accept, if not al- 
ready done, the proposition of Mr. Edwards, 
to whom the price of the unfinished work was 
referred, payable, $5,000 upon the 1st day 
of September, and the balance (about $(3,000) 
on the 1st day of December. If you will be 
good enough to postpone those payments un- 
til the 15th of January, I will at once give 
directions to have a force make the repairs 
to the levee and embankments with all prac- 
ticable dispatch." 

On the same day, by written communica- 
tion, Mr. Davis accepted the terms and con- 
ditions proposed by Mr. Osborn. 

Under same date, S. Staats Taylor, in re- 
ply to letter of inquiry from the Trustee, Mr. 
Davis, writes: " I would state that, in my 
opinion, an embankment twenty feet wide on 
the top, with a slope on each side of one foot 
perpendicular to five (or even four) feet 
horizontal, would be sufficiently strong to 
resist the pressui'e of any water that cjuld be 
brought against it, provided it was properly 
constructed. The late high water at Cairo 



has demonstrated that the levees are not hisrh 
enough, and to make them safe in this par- 
ticular they should be at least two feet (if 
not three feet) higher. Where the levees 
were up to grade, the water in the Ohio was 
within (me foot seven and a half inches of the 
top of the levees, and on the Mississippi side 
it was still higher, bringing it within a 
very few inches of the grade. 

" I have reason to believe that the embank- 
ment at the place where it bi'oke was ren- 
dered weak and insecm'e by logs being buried 
in or under it, and a considerable portion of 
the new protective embankment, both on the 
Mississippi and Ohio Kivers, was con- 
structed without the natural sm-face being 
properly prepared by grubbing and plowing, 
so as to allow the artificial embankment to 
amalgamate and firmly combine with the 
natural ground. From a neglect to do this, 
the water during the late high water perco- 
lated, and found a passage in many places in 
considerable quantities, between the artificial 
embankment, and the natural gi'ound. This 
neglect to properly prepare the gi'ound ex- 
isted at the time of building the new levee 
on the Mississippi last winter, and the ground 
was not only not grubbed or plowed, but 
largiB stumps were allowed to remain in that 
levee, and are there now, notwithstanding my 
notification at the time to Capt. McClelland 
that they were so allowed to remain there. 
The contractor employed by the railroad 
company last winter was detected by myself 
in bmying large logs in that embankment, 
not merely allowing those to remain that had 
fallen, when the embankment was to be con- 
structed, but actually rolling others in from 
other places. When detected, those that 
were in view were removed, but as a portion 
of the embankment was constructed before 
his practices were known, the probability is 



no 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



that others are yet in the embankment, de- 
tracting, of course from its strength and 
security. " 

A communication from 'Mr. S. S. Taylor, 
which was read at the meeting of the Trustees 
on the 29th September, 1858, is, to some ex- 
tent, a semi-official account of the overflow 
of the town in 1858, and as such deserves to 
be placed upon a permanent record. It is 
dated Cairo, September 6, 1858. " After the 
last meeting of the stockholders, in Septem- 
ber, 1857, our city continued to increase in 
population, and improvements continued to 
be made, the improvements, owing to the 
financial crisis, being fewer in number than 
during the previous spring and winter. The 
increase in population was, nevertheless, 
gi-eater than at any previous period, every 
house and structure capable of protecting 
population from the elements becoming filled 
to repletion. This increase continued dur- 
ing the winter and spring, so that at the 
municipal election in February last, in which 
there was no such particular interest taken 
by the people as to bring out a full vote, 
there were over [four hundred votes polled, 
and at the same time it was known that there 
were about two hundi-ed and fifty residents 
who did not vote, some by reason of not 
being entitled, and others for want of inter- 
est. 

" It was thus ascertained, with a consider- 
able degree of accuracy, that at the time of 
the election in February last, we had at least 
650 men residents here. It is generally con- 
ceded that one in seven of a population is a 
large allowance of voters, in many places it 
not being more than one in ten. But giving 
us the largest allowance, and that may be 
proper, inasmuch as in a new place there is 
always a preponderance of men, this calcula- 
tion will afford us a population of 4,500, 
Shortly after this time, some inconven- 



ience from the accumulation of water within 
our levees began to be felt. This accumula- 
tion arose from excessive rains. These rains 
interfered somewhat with the filling in and 
grading of the Ohio levee, and in the early 
part of December we were obliged to close 
our sewers, from the waters in the rivers 
having risen to a level with their outside 
mouths, and, with the exception of a few 
days in the early spring, they remained 
closed until they were re-opened after the 
overflow. 

" This state of things continued until, and 
was in existence at, the time the breach in 
our levees occm'red on the 12th of June last. 

"As you are aware, this breach, whereby 
the water was first let into the tovni, oc- 
curred on the Mississippi, at the point where 
the levee on that river leaves the river bank, 
on the curve toward the Ohio River, and 
about half a mile from the junction of the 
two levees. 

" At this point where the crevasse fii-st oc- 
curred, the levee was very high, the filling 
of earth being not less than twelve feet high. 

" In the neighborhood of the crevasse, the 
soil appears to be sandy, and an undue quan- 
tity of that kind of soil may have entered 
into the composition of tlie levee at that 
point. An inspection of the crevasse also 
shows that the groimd was not properly 
prepared for the reception of the embank- 
ment, it not having been properly grubbed, 
as appears by the roots and stumps still 
standing in it, in the ground where the em- 
bankment is washed off. When the levee 
broke, no one was in sight of it, that I can 
ascertain. Capt. McClelland, the Vice Presi- 
dent and Chief Engineer of the Central Eail- 
road and myself had passed over it on foot 
within two hours before it occurred, and a 
watchman, whose duty it was to look after it, 
was over it about twenty minutes before, but 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Ill 



to none of us was there any appearance of 
weakness. After leaving the location about 
twenty minutes, and being distant less than 
one- fourth of a mile, the watchman heard the 
roaring of the waters running through the 
crevasse, and when I reached it, three- fourths 
of an hour afterward, the water was running 
through to the full width of 300 feet, and in 
an unbroken stream, as if it was to the full 
depth of the embankment. The probability 
is, I think, that, aided by the stumps and 
roots in the embankment, and it is possible 
some other extraneous substances, the water 
had found its way through the base of the 
embankment, and had so far saturated it as 
to destroy its cohesion with the natural 
ground below, and then the weight of the 
waters on the outside had pushed it away. 

" As you are aware, when the contracts for 
building the different divisions of gthe Illinois 
Central road wei-e originally let, in June, 1852, 
that for the construction of the lower cross- 
levee and the levees below it, on both the Ohio 
and Mississippi Rivers, was included in the 
letting, and was given out to _Mr. Richard 
Ellis. Under this contract, work was com- 
menced and prosecuted at various points, on 
both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from 
September to December, 1852, when the con- 
tractor failed, and the work was abandoned 
until December, 1853, except on that pov- 
tion along the Ohio River above the freight 
depot. On that section it was continued, 
with a view, apparenth', of constructing an 
embankment for the accommodation of their 
railroad track, rather than for the purpose of 
protecting the town from inundation, the em- 
bankment having been built in the same 
manner as their ordinary railroad embank- 
ments. The instructions given by their en- 
gineer in charge of their work at the time it 
was done were the same as those issued in 
other cases for the construction of railroad 



embankments, viz., that while the filling 
was over four feet, the stumps were not to be 
removed, and no grubbing done, and I am 
told by the engineer in charge at the time 
the work was done that these instructions 
were followed, and that the embankments 
along the Ohio River, above the freight de- 
pot, was thus built without the stumps being 
removed or grubbing done. A portion of this 
bank, at or near the curve on the Ohio near 
the junction of the levee, is quite narrow, 
and after our late experience I should think 
it was far from being secui'e. 

" At the time of the overflow, a very large 
portion of our population were obliged to go 
away, from inability to procure accommoda- 
tions here. Some, who had two-stoi'ied 
houses, remained in the upper story, but 
most were obliged to desert their dwellings. 
The population thus mostly scattered into 
the neighboring towns and country, with the 
exception of those whoi^rocured accommoda-' 
tion on the wharf and flat-boats and barges 
at the levee. A large portion of those who 
thus went away have already returned ; others 
are coming back daily, and if employment to 
justify their return can be found, I am sat- 
isfied the great bulk of our population will 
shortly be back here again. I think our 
population ia at least three thousand now, 
if not more. 

" Early in the last spring, the foundry 
buildings took fire, and were entirely con- 
sumed. The ["establishment was just begin- 
ning to transact a very successful and pro- 
fitable business. 

" During the last spring, a good ferry was 
established between Cairo and the adjoining 
States of Missouri and Kentucky, by the 
Cairo City Feny Company, and a good steam 
ferry-boat fui*nished, which makes regular 
trip? between those States and Cairo, bring- 
ing ti'ade and produce to it. Before the de- 



112 



HISTORY or CAIRO. 



struction, by the late high water, of the prod- 
uce of the farms alonor the rivers, a very 
perceptible increase in the business of the 
city took place from this cause, and a re- 
suscitation of the business of the adjoining 
country on the opposite sides of the river 
will, by the aid of the ferry, be attended with 
a corresponding effect here. 

" Portions of the roads in the adjoining 
States are so far finished that, by the 1st of 
November, we shall have a continuous rail- 
road from here to New Orleans, with the ex- 
ception of the river travel between here and 
Columbus City, sixteen miles from here. 
This road is now finished, with the exception 
of two gaps, of eighteen and six miles re- 
spectively, and these are being rapidly filled. 
A steam ferry-boat will commence running 
from here to Coliimbus, on the 1st of the 
next month, in connection with this road, 
and when the road is completed, as it will be 
by November 1, we shall be within two days' 
travel of New Orleans. 

" The first section of the Cairo & Fulton 
Eailroad, in Missouri, is now pushed for- 
ward with energy, and that portion between 
Bird's Landing, opposite here, and Charles- 
ton, a village about fourteen miles from the 
river (Mississippi), will be in operation by 
the 1st of December next Charleston is a 
thrivin gvillage, in a well-settled, well-culti- 
vated and flourishing section of Missouri, 
and our connection with it by railroad will 
tend to increase considerably the business 
and trade of our town. As you are aware, a 
road was cut out along the bank of the Ohio 
Eiverto Moimd City last fall, and a bridge • 
across Cache River was commenced then, but 
has been delayed since by the high water. 
The construction of this bi'idge has been 
since re-coramenced, and the contractor in- 
forms me that it will be ready for use one 
week from next Saturday. This will give us 



a good road to Mound City, and, by connec- 
tion with roads there, will give us free com- 
munication with the country and villages be- 
yond, and thus give us a good deal of trade 
from those quarters. 

" In consequence of the great destruction 
of property by high water in the country 
about us, the farmers have but little to sell, 
and this, connected with the general depres- 
sion of trade, has made it rather dull here; 
notwithstanding which, some improvements 
are still going on in our city. The distillery 
which was commenced last spring is being 
pushed to completion, and will be ready for 
operation by the 1st of next month. Two 
houses — one a dwelling, twenty-five by forty, 
two stories high, the other for a German 
tavern, twenty-five by seventy-five, and three 
stories high — both commenced before the 
overflow, are in process of completion. Two 
others, one twenty-five by seventy and three 
stories high, have been contracted for and 
begun since the overflow, and are nearly 
finished; and one other, a dwelling-house, 
contracted for since the overflow but not yet 
begun. 

" The work of macadamizing the Ohio levee, 
and building the protecting wall at the base, 
has so far advanced, that about one thousand 
feet of the wall, extending from the lower 
side of Fourth street to the lower side of 
Eighth street, has been completed, and for 
about six hundred feet in length additional, 
the broken rock is placed for about one 
hundi-ed and twenty -five feet from the toj) of 
the levee. The gi-ading of the levee with 
earth, within the same limits, has also been 
prosecuted, as the waters in the rivers would 
permit. A few weeks of favorable weather 
and a favorable stage of water would enable 
us to complete the whole of the grading and 
macadamizing of the whole of the 1,000 feet 
above the passenger depot. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



113 



" Most of tliis rock work was done pre- 
viously to January 1, 1858, when the com- 
munication with the quarries was interrupted 
by ice in the INHssissippi; after this difficulty 
was removed, the water was so high as to 
cover the quarries, and has continued so un- 
til the last week, with a brief interval, dur- 
ing which we were enabled to get down two 
barge loads of stone, and last week the water 
had so far receded at the quarry as enabled 
us to make regular trips with the steamb )at 
and barges. During the spring and summer, 
the water has been too high, most of the 
time, to admit of much work on the filling 
and grading of the Ohio levee, between the 
depots, according to our arrangements with 
the railroad company, to complete for them the 
unfinished work. But at intervals, we were 
enabled to do something, and worked moder 
ately, as the weather and water would per- 
mit, until, within the last four weeks, when 
we have pushed the work vigorously. 

" The bank building belonging to Gov. 
Matteson has been [completed for several 
weeks, but there do not appear to be any in- 
dications of an early opening of the establish- 
ment, although I am told the note-plates 
have all been prepared, the officers engaged 
and all other arrangements completed months 
ago for the opening. This delay is to be I'e- 
gretted, especially as, if the ground had not 
been occupied by. Gov. Matteson, or rather if 
his declared intention had not gone abroad 
through the whole country round about, a 
good bank would have been established here 
last fall, by Mr. E. Norton, one of our old 
citizens, in connection with his brother, the 
Cashier of the Southern Bank of Kentucky, 
established at Russellville, Ky. 

" In conclusion, it is very evident that 
had the Illinois Central Railroad constructed 
the levees, as they should be constructed, and 
not have substituted for them the common 



railroad embankments, that this interruption 
to the onward pi-ogress of Cairo would not 
have taken place. " 

Some robust correspondence was inaugu- 
rated by the Cairo property owners of 
Springfield, 111., after the overflow of June, 
1858, and as they discuss some questions 
that have been mooted by our people at vari- 
ous times, we give extended extracts from 
both sides of the discussion. 

On the 17th June. 1858, J. A. Matteson, 
Johnson & Bradford, R. F. Ruth, John E. 
Ousley, W. D. Chenery, H. Walker, T. S. 
Mather and fifteen others of the leading 
citizens of Springfield, addi-essed a joint- letter 
to S. Staats Taylor, " Resident Agent," from 
which letter we extract such sentences as 
these : " We are apprised most fully of the 
great calamity which has befallen Cairo. 
Had we supposed such ruin possible, we 
could never have been induced to expend the 
large amounts of money which we have, nor 
could we have used our influence as an in- 
ducement for others to do so. 

" The large sum of $318,000 has been ex- 
pended by ourselves, and others of Spring- 
field, in the purchase of property and its 
impi'overnent at Cairo; and the people of 
Springfield themselves, under the strong as- 
surances made to them by the Cairo City 
Company, have invested, and induced others 
to invest, no less than from S150,000 to 
8200,000 in buildings alone. 

" By this calamity, which might have been 
prevented if the compauy had thrown around 
the city such complete protection as they 
were bound by interest and by legal con- 
tract with purchasers, to do, this property 
has been rendered comparatively valueless. 
Nothing but prompt action and judicious 
plans, on your part, can save your city and 
yoiu" property alike, with that of others, from 
utter ruin, or at least from such a set-back 



114 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



as will require the work of years to regain. 
" Already is the sentiment fast gaining 
ground upon the public mind that Cairo is 
hopelessly ruined. This sentiment must be 
at once met, and contradicted at whatever 

cost. 

* ii^ * * * * * 

" We feel that the company are both legal- 
ly and vioralhj hound to fully restore those 
who have sustained the damage to their 
former position before the flood. Independ- 
ent of their legal obligations, we deem it to 
be the highest interest of the company to 
institute thp most prompt and vigorous 
measures, not only to restore to those who 
have suffered loss, but to so act as to satisfy 
the public mind at once that the company 
themselves are not disheartened, but that they 
are ready, promptly, to do justice to every one 
who has sustained damage by the overflow of 
water. * * * * In our judgment, the 
company should seek to inspire all those who 
had made Cairo their home, and who had 
made improvements there, however trivial 
in amount, that they will be immediately 
aided and fully restored to their property. 
This would establish confidence against 
which no tide could successfully flow. But 
this must be done promptly; tnust he done at 
once. The people who have settled there 
should not be suffered to scatter, if possihle 
to prevent it. They should be aided and en- 
couraged at once with the idea that the 
storm is over, and the floods are past ; they 
shall be made good again, and their future 
secured beyond a contingency, 

" Many of the subscribers to this letter 
own stock in the Cairo Hotel Company, and 
we think that, as soon as the waters subside, 
you ought to rebuild the fallen building, at 
least to a point to where the company had 
carried it before the levee gave way. * * 

" Public sympathy might now be relied 



upon to a large extent. Cairo, though worse 
afflicted, has been overtaken by a calamity 
which has befallen almost every city and 
town in the Mississippi Valley to a greater 
or less extent. This superior affliction may, 
by timely action, be made to bear rather 
favorably than otherwise; and the waiers of 
public opinion, which now inundate the pros- 
pects of Cairo, may be made to subside as 
rapidly as those of the Mississippi will retire 
now that the storms are past." 

The object of this carefully constructed 
letter, signed by so many of the leading men 
of Springfield, was to get money from the 
company to compensate them for damages 
sustained. 

The company, however, in substance, an- 
swers as follows: 

"1. There was no such contract ever made. 
Honest opinions and conscientious repi-esent- 
atious were made, of which the parties pur- 
chasing were always able to judge, having 
the city of Cairo with all its defenses before 
them, and all the agreements with the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company lying open for 
their inspection. 

" 2. Ample confirmation is found here, as 
» to the mischievous character of the news- 
paper reports complained of. 

"3. All that is recommended and more 
will be done. See the resolutions adopted at 
the meeting of September 29, 1858. 

" 4. The gentlemen whose names are af- 
fixed to this letter will find their leading views 
corroborated by the proceedings referred to 
above, though the facts relied upon, the 
points urged and the legal questions in- 
volved, are very differently understood by the 
Trustees and their Counsel. 

" 5. The population have not been suffered 
to scatter, as will be seen by the report of 
the General Agent, and the most liberal 
course of action has been recommended by the 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



117 



Executive Committee, and authorized by 
Si/XK'i votes:' 

Other, and, if possible, stronger letters, 
were written the company by N. W. Edwards 
and also by "William Butler. President of the 
Cairo City Hotel Company. Then. July S, 
iSaS, Mr. William Butler, President, and 
James C. Conklin, Secretary, addiessed a 
joint-letter to S. S. Taylor, and in it they 
say: " We notice the stockholders of Cairo 
City are requested to meet at Philadelphia 
on the 15th inst. We presume one of their 
objects is to take into consideration the 
course of action to be adopted by them con- 
cerning the damages which resulted from the 
recent flood. In behalf of the Cairo Hotel 
Company, we desire they should not only 
consider the communication heretofore trans- 
mitted by us to you, which was. general in its 
character, and had reference, more partcular- 
ly, to what might be deemed politic on the 
part of the Cairo City Company, but we wish 
to propose now, more distinctly for their con- 
sideration, the position of the Cairo City 
Hotel Company. 

" In the publications made by the Cairo 
City Company, under date of January 1 5, 
1S55, and in their pamphlet issued in 1S56, 
various inducements were held out to capi- 
talists to invest at Cairo City : and the strong- 
est language was used in regard to the sta- 
bility and permanency of its levees. It was 
said that they would afford a complete pro- 
tection from overflow at any stage of water, 
however high: that the expense of the levees 
was provided for by the Trustees of the City 
Property; that it would entirely encompass 
the city, and was to be eighty feet wide on 
the top. and that an inundation was an 
impossibility, and that human ingenuity 
had successfully opposed a barrier, even to 
the chance of an overflow, and that gigantic 
works had marked the Rubicon which even 



the mighty- Father of Waters could not 
overstep. 

These works, it was represented, had 
been commenced, and progress had been 
made in their construction, ' for tho interests 
of property holders." * * * * 

These representations were published to 
the world, and extraordinary efforts were 
made to impress the minds of the community 
that Cairo was beyond the reach of any con- 
tingency arising from floods, uiltil the con- 
viction was well-established, and it was gen- 
erally believed that the Cairo City Company 
had effectually provided against any danger 
that might be apprehended from this source. 

The events of the last few weeks, however, 
abundantly testify that said embankments 
were not seciu*e, that the company had not 
fully pretected the interests of property hold- 
ers in said city, etc., etc. * * * « 

In consideration of the premises, the un- 
designed, in behalf of the hotel company, 
would respectfully represent to the stock- 
holders of Cairo City, that said stockholders 
ought to assume the responsibility of said 
loss and damage, that this is the just and 
reasonable view of the case, and that the 
claim of the hotel company is not only 
founded upon sound reason and good faith, 
but that, by the established rules of law. the 
Cairo City Company and their Trustees are 
bound to indemnify the hotel company for 
all the losses sustained by reason of the in- 
sufficiency of the levee to protect the city. 

To this the Board of Directors and the 
Trustees answer substantially as follows, in 
addition to previous answers to similar com- 
munications from pai'ties in Springtield: 

1. All the promises were prospective, and 
founded upon a justifiable belief. 

2. And this, their belief, was founded 
upon all past experience, upon careful sur- 
veys, many times repeated by eminent engi- 

7 



118 



HISTOHY OF CAIRO. 



neers, and upon the testimotiy of unimpeach- 
able witnesses. Their expectations were 
well-founded, and not unreasonable, as the 
adverse parties knetv, and acknowledged by 
their acts, for they were able to judge for 
themselves, and asked for no other deed than 
that which had always been given. And 
what, after all, do the Trustees promise in 
the publication cited? Only that certain 
things "would be done" thereafter; and 
that^ when done, there would be no possible 
danger from overflow. And they say the 
same thing now. They expected the levee to 
be completed by the Illinios Central Rail- 
road, as promised and paid for ; and they 
tried, in every way, to have it done, short 
of bi'inging them into a court of law, while 
under ovei*whelming embaiTassment; and if 
they had fulfilled their undertaking, it is 
clear, beyond all question, as tl^e foregoing 
documents prove, that Cairo would not have 
been flooded in June last, notwithstanding 
the unexampled rise of both rivers. * * 

4. Under all the circumstances, the fault 
being that of the Illinois Central Railroad, 
and not of the Cairo City Property or their 
Trustees, would this be a just or reasonable 
expectation? etc., etc. 

The shareholders of the Cairo City Prop- 
erty, as per call noticed above, met in Phila- 
delphia on the 15th of July, 1858, and, 
among other proceedings, passed the follow- 
ing resolution: 

" Resolved, That the Executive Committee 
be requested to confer with the President and 
Directors of the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company, to ascertain if some arrangement 
cannot be made to repair the damage to 
Cairo, and if that cannot be accomplished, 
then to request the Trustees of Cairo City 
Property to authorize the agent, S. Staats 
Taylor, to cause the proper repairs to be 
made, and to institute legal proceedings 



against the railroad company for the amount 
expended, and for all damages sustained by 
the overflow caused by the neglect of the said 
railroad company. 

The shai'eholders had appointed an Execu- 
tive Committee, to consider matters in refer- 
ence to the inundation of Cairo. This com- 
mittee held a meeting in New York, and in 
their report they say: " Believing that they 
could not properly and thoroughly discharge 
their duty, under the resolutions referred to, 
without a personal examination of Cairo, and 
the General Agent, Mr. S. S. Taylor, being 
of opinion that a visit by the whole Execu- 
tive Committee, or by a sub-committee of this 
board, would greatly encourage the people 
of Cairo, tned to allay their apprehensions, 
and check, if it did not put a stop at once 
and forever, to the mischievous falsehoods 
and gross exaggerations which, under a show 
of authority, and as admissions made by par- 
ties deeply interested in the reputation and 
welfare of Cairo, were gradually taking pos- 
session of the public mind, both at home and 
abroad, your committee delegated Mr. Bald- 
win, of Syracuse, and Mr. Neal, of Maine, 
to visit Cairo, and make such personal inves- 
tigation upon the ground as would enable 
them to report understandingly upon the 
present condition and wants of the city. 
* * * And to take such immediate meas- 
ures as might, in their judgment, be needed 
for the safety of the city, before the whole 
board could be brought together. " 

When this sub-committee arrived in Cairo, 
they looked carefully over the gi'ounds, and 
on the 6th of August, 1858, a public meeting 
of the inhabitants of Cairo was called, with 
a view to a full understanding of all ques- 
tions at issue; and of this meeting the com- 
mittee said in their report: 

" The meeting was large, for the popula- 
tion, and very quiet, and the addresses of 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



119 



your sub- committee, together with explana- 
tions and assurances, in behalf of the share- 
holders and proprietors, were well received. 
It was stated that shareholders, to the 
amount of nearly two millions and a half, 
at the par value of the stock, were assembled 
at Philadelphia, on the 15th of July, where 
they chose an Executive Committee of six, 
who afterward chose from their number two, 
as a sub- committee to visit Cairo in person, 
look into the condition of the city and the 
wants of the people, and report at the next 
yearly meeting, on the 29th of September. 

" The people of Cairo were encouraged to 
believe that, if they were faithful to them- 
selves, the Tnistees, and shareholders and 
proprietors were determined to pursue a 
liberal course of action, and they might con- 
sider the C. C. P. pledged to the full amount 
of all their interests in Cairo to carry out 
whatever they believed to be for the advan- 
tage of all parties; and the meeting ended at 
last with mutual congratulations and assur- 
ances that Cairo should not be left to the 
guardianship of treacherous friends or un- 
principled foes; but to the watchful care of 
those who had something at stake in her rep- 
utation and welfare. " 

The sharp bend in the Mississippi River, 
just belc w the north line of the city, throws 
the water almost straight across to the Illinois 
shore, and the abrasion of this shore threat 
ened to cut its way, eventually, entirely across 
to the Ohio River, unless in some way con- 
trolled. Between the years 1875 and 1880 
the General Government expended on the 
protective works on the Mississippi, opposite 
this city, the sum of $113,351.43. This work 
extends along the face of the river bank, from a 
point below where the Mississippi River levee 
runs away from the river bank at least three- 
quarters of a mile, to a point up the river at 
least two miles above the upper limits of the 



city. When the water is at a low stage in 
the Mississippi, the current thrown, as stated, 
against the Illinois shore, begins to under- 
mine the banks, which are nearly always 
perpendicular and composed mostly of de- 
posits made by the silt-bearing water of the 
river in flood times. This undermining proc- 
ess goes on at the surface of the water, un- 
til the superincumbent mass of the bank falls 
into the river, and is carried away by tho 
stream. Then the undermining process 
commences again, and proceeds to precisely 
similar results. In this way, at this point, 
the river has heretofore undermined the 
banks of the Mississippi River, dropping 
them slowly into the stream, and iinally 
digging under portions of the levees and 
carrying them away into the river. Here has 
been one of the severest problems in the mat- 
ter of protecting the city from the waters, 
this erosive -action in low water goino- on re- 
gardless of any possible heights of levees 
placed upon the shores. This abrasion of the 
shore has necessitated the building of a new 
levee on the Mississippi side, about a mile in 
length, which is of an average of twelve feet 
high, measuring from the surface on which 
it is constructed; is twelve feet wide on the 
top, with a slope on its outside of one foot 
perpendicular to live feet horizontal, and on 
its inside of one foot to two and a half feet, 
making an average width of fifty feet; and 
its top is fifty-four feet above low water 
mark. The average height of the other 
portions of the levee, standing on the bank 
of the Mississippi River, from its junction 
with the new levee on the bank of the Ohio 
River, is one foot and three inches above 
the high water mark. This is measuring 
only to and not including the ties of the 
Cairo & St. Louis Railroad track. The 
Cairo & St. Louis Railroad has the right of 
way along its top, from the Ohio River to a 



120 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



point beyond and outside of where the new 
levee makes a junction with the levee owned 
by the Trustees. Where this right of way 
exists, the railroad company is obliged, by 
reservations and penalties in its deed, to 
maintain the levee at its original height, of 
fifty- three feet and three inches, and to its 
original width on top of sixteen feet. 

There has been much work done, by the 
"United States Government and by the Trust- 
ees of the city company, in protecting from 
the erosive action of the current the Missis- 
sippi River bank. The manner of doing this 
was to place large mattresses, made of wil- 
lows and tree branches; these were loaded 
with rock, and sunk to the bottom, at the 
bank where the current was cutting un- 
der the superstructure, and upon this mat- 
tress was then sunk another one, and another 
one on top of that, until a stone wall was 
formed for the waters to beat against, extend- 
ing from the bottom of the river to above 
the surface of the water. There were about 
two miles and a half of these stone-anchored 
mattress walls conslructed, extending north 
from a point nearly opposite [the lower end 
of the new levee. On the top of these mat- 
tress-walls, medium sized stone were placed 
against the bank, to nearly the top thereof, 
thus facing the river bank with a stone re- 
vetment. Previous to this work being done 
by the Government, the city company had 
some years ago revetted nearly three-quarters 
of a mile in length. So there is now standing, 
against the face of the bank of the Missis- 
sippi, and extending from a point below 
where the levee runs away from the river, up 
the river about three and a half miles, to a 
point about two miles above the upper limits 
of the city, the revetments extending from 
the bottom of the river, and up along the 
face of the shore from fifty to sixty feet. 
There has been here expended $196,806.49, 



of which $113,351.43 was by the General 
Government. 

July 18, 1872, after the Trustees had spent 
large amounts of money in widening, raising 
and strengthening the levees, and had 
brought suit for $250,000 against the Central 
road for money thus expended, which suit 
was eventually compromised and 397 acres of 
the 497 acres were re-conveyed by the rail- 
road to the city company, and the payment 
of $80,000 in money, and the release to the 
Cairo City Property all its original rights to 
the collection of wharfage, etc. And the 
railroad was released from all obligations in 
reference to maintaining and repairing the 
levees, except that portion actually occupied 
and used by them. 

In 1878, in consideration of the vacation of 
Levee street, above Eighteenth, by the city, 
and the granting of privileges upon the 
same to the Illinois Central road, the road 
deeded the 100- foot strip, running from 
Thirty-fourth street to the point, and parallel 
with the Ohio levee to the city. 

The City Council recently ordered the 
Ohio levee to be raised, commencing with a 
raise of two feet at or near the stone depot, 
grading to the present height at Second 
street, and with this increase of the height of 
this levee, the entire levees of the city will 
be above the highest water mark ever known. 
The Hon. D. T. Linegar, the present mem- 
ber of the Illinois Legislature, has secured 
the passage of two bills, that are now attract- 
ing the attention of the people of Cairo. 
The titles of the bills indicate largely the 
purpose of the same — the Levee Bill and the 
High Grade Bill. The fundamental idea of 
the two evidently is to enable the city to raise 
the levees and the lots within the city limits 
to any height or grade they may wish. We 
are informed that the levee bill authorizes 
the city authorities, whenever they shall 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



121 



deem it necessary for the protection of the 
city, to order the owners of any part of the 
levee to raise and strengthen the same, in 
such manner as the city may think best, and 
iipon a failm*e to comply with this order, the 
city may proceed and do the work, and sell 
the property and pay its bill, and nearly a 
similar authority is given as to all lots, 
whether they belong to public institutions or 
are private property. 

The remarkably high waters of 1SS2 and 
1883 go to show that probably from one foot to 
eighteen inches should be added to the 
levees around the city, and, as soon as possi- 
ble, revetments extending entirely around and 
against the embankments of both rivers, and 
thus made strong and permanent, and Cairo 
need never fear or di-ead any high water that 
can ever come against its bulwarks. 

The city has triumphantly passed through 
the flood crisis of the two years of 1882-83, 
that poured oiit the greatest floods of water 
ever witnessed in the rivers at this point; 
and it is now a remarkable historical fact 
that the only town from the source of the 
Ohio River to the mouth of the Mississippi 
River, that passed unscathed and unharmed 
by the floods, was Cairo. The rivers, north 
and south of here, bore devastation upon 
their raging bosoms. Pittsburgh, Cincin- 
nati, Louisville, New Albany, Lawi*encebui-g, 
Shawneetown and many other places have 
suffered immeasurably from the high waters 
of the past two years. Often, the floods in 
the Mississippi have so crippled and confined 
the business of St. Louis, that at intervals it 
was prostrated. But Cairo, so widely be- 
lieved by many to be the worst water- afflicted 
city in the United States, has experienced 
none of the troubles of the other river towDS. 
The past two years, the early spring freshets 
have driven thousands from their homes in 



Cincinnati, Louisville, Shawneetown and 
other places; business houses were flooded 
and washed away; and manufacturing estab- 
lishments were compelled to "shutdown;" 
railroad communication with them was de- 
stroyed, and " the widespread distress filled 
the land with its wail, and the charity of the 
nation was appealed to for aid for the flood 
sufferers. With a flood-line marking a height 
never before attained by any of the floods of 
the past, the citizens of Cairo, while taking 
all precautions to keep the great levees which 
surround her intact, have transacted their 
business, but little disturbed by the threaten- 
ing Avatei's. Not a mill nor a manufacturing 
establishment of any kind has been " shut 
down" for a moment on account of the 
tloods, and the Illinois Central Railroad, 
which makes connection here with its south- 
ern division by a " transfer steamboat " for 
New Orleans, has never missed a train, or 
been compelled to abandon any of its track 
for a single hour. No cry of disti-ess has 
ever gone out to the country from the j^eople 
of Cairo, but when the last waters were high- 
est, and the croakers against Cairo were 
loudest, a public meeting of the people re- 
sponded to theory for helj) from their neigh- 
bors at Shawneetown by a cash subscription 
of $1,000. The truth is- -established by the 
severest test ever known — that Cairo, the 
much maligned and slandered Cairo, is, in 
any flood that may or can come down the 
rivers, the city of refuge — the place of safety, 
and the only reliable one, from St. Louis or 
Pittsburgh to New Orleans. 

On the 26th of February, 1882, the flood- 
line at Cairo was fifty -one feet ten and a half 
inches above low water mark. On the 26th 
of February, 1883, exactly one year to a day, 
the flood-line at Cairo was fifty-two feet two 
inches above low water mark In these two 



122 



HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 



unprecedented stages of water, as before re- 
marked, Cairo was the only river town that 
passed unharmed. 

People wonder, and muse, and talji much 
about these two years, and their great waters, 
and the conclusion is a common one, that it 
is the general system of draining in ^11 the 
coTintiT north of this, both open and tile 
draining, the cutting of the forests and open- 
ing the sluice-ways for the surface water, 
that has been one great cause of the higher 
waters in late years than was ever known 
formerly. Again, it is said that the towns 
and railroads and other improvements upon 
the river banks, tend to confine the waters, 
and thus swell the height of its flow; and the 
fact is cited that where a few years ago were 
ponds and pools of water, sometimes stand- 
ing the whole season through, are now often 
well-tilled farms, with a drainage so perfect 
that no water ever remains more than a few 
hours upon any of its surface. It looks rea- 
sonable that there is something in these 
theories — there probably is — biit the fact 
that the waters were higher at the source of 
the river than here at the mouth (of the 
Ohio), would go far to contradict this theory. 
At Cincinnati this year (1883), the water was 
five fept higher than ever before known. As 
early as the 12th of last February, the rise 
in the Ohio had utterly paralyzed business, 
and had deprived 20,000 working people of 
Cincinnati, Covington and Newport of the 
means of livelihood. Five square miles of 
Cincinnati were covered with water from one 
inch to twenty feet deep. Many lives were 
lost, and many millions of dollars worth of 
property was destroyed, and along the Upper 
Ohio hundreds of thousands of people suf- 
fered inconvenience or loss from the wide- 
spread river overflows. In the Kentucky 
bottoms, opposite Shawneetown, the water 
was three and a half feet higher than ever 



before known since the settlement of the 
country; while at Cairo the water of the year 
only exceeded that of last year by three and 
a half inches. There must have been other 
causes than cutting the trees or draining, 
for the floods of this year (1883), one pecu- 
liarity of them being that ihoy were re- 
stricted to no particular locality, but seem to 
have been general, and to extend nearly over 
the whole world. The long-continued rainn 
in the valley of the Ohio, that fell upon the 
frozen and ice covered grounds, where not a 
drop was absorbed into the earth, and started 
the raging torrent at the fountain-heads, 
were the palpable, prime cause of the unusual 
waters. In Europe the rain-storm started 
that did so much damage here. It flooded 
the Theiss and Danube, the Ehine, in Ger- 
many, and the Ehone and all the rivers of 
France, and sent them, like the Ohio, boom- 
ing out of their banks and doing widespread 
damage. The course of the storm across the 
Atlantic could be distinctly traced to its out- 
burst in the region of the Upper Ohio and 
the lakes, and spreading rapidly all over our 
continent, until every section, often the most 
retired villages, far up in the mountains, and 
miles away from any lake or river, seemed 
scarcely safe. Indeed, one of the most awful 
calamities of the long list of disasters of this 
year was. that which took place out in the 
open prairie near Braidwood, 111., where the 
rain had piled up the waters three feet into 
a lake, which, breaking through a mine, 
drowned the unfortunate miners within. 
Every tributary of the Ohio and Mississipj^i 
■ Rivers was rising at the same time; the 
Allegheny, Monongahela, Licking, Kentucky 
and Cumberland were all at flood-tide; the 
Wabash was out of its bed, and can-ying de- 
struction on its course. The rivers pouring 
into the lakes were also raging; the Miami 
flooded a large portion of Toledo; the Cuya- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



123 



hoga has twice this year inundated Cleve- 
land, and even the Atlantic slope tells the 
same sad story, and in the far West it is 
again repeated. 

We have told of the inundation of Cairo 
in 1858. The damage to the property of the 
town, except the falling of the hotel wall 
(and that was evidently from the imperfect 
building of the foundation more than the 
water) did not amount to $1,000. There was 
not a house, excepting the merest shanties, 
that was materially injured. The largest 
sufferer, in a pecuniary way, was Bailey Har- 
rell, whose stock of goods was injured to the 
extent of a few hundred dollars. The people 
of Cairo felt no suffering from actual want, 
and indeed they refused any outside aid 
when such assistance was tendered them. 
In one sense, the actual and material injury 
to the place was most insignificant and tri- 
fling; and yet, in another sense, by a singular 
chain of circumstances, it was almost an ir- 
reparable calamity to the interests of the city. 
In the most exaggerated way it was blown 
in the face of all the world, until men 
never after heard of Cairo except to 
shudder or shrug the shoulders, and 
either express the sentiment or believe it, 
that its very name meant floods, and drown- 
ings, and wreck and ruin. There is not a 
xiver-town from St. Louis ^or Pittsburgh to 
New Orleans but that has suffered from in- 
undations incomparably worse than has Cairo, 
and yet their raging waters are hardly passed 
away when the people seem to forget it all, and 
their calamity is not again whispered until 
the next high water and its devastation. 

We have shown how trifling and insignifi- 
cant was the only overflow Cairo has ever 
had since she has been walledabout by her 
levees. In contrast to this, look at the fol- 
lowing description, by an eye-witness, of the 
Upper Ohio in last February: 



" The proportions of the calamity that is 
upon the j)eople of the Ohio Valley are hour- 
ly increasing. There are suffering, desola- 
tion and death in each inch of the awful rise 
of the river upon a stage of water absolutely 
without precedent, and the details of distress 
which called for symjjathy in the floods of 
Europe, except as to loss ^of life, are largely 
repeated in this section to-day. * * * * 
For thirty miles, beginning with the upper 
suburb of Cincinnati, and ending with Law- 
I'enceburg, Ind., twenty-five miles below, the 
damage, destitution and distress are unparal- 
leled in American history. Below Lawrence- 
bm-g, and to Louisville [equally true if he 
had said to Cairo — Ed.] the situation is the 
same. Beginning with the upper suburb of 
Cincinnati, on the Ohio side, are Columbia, 
Pendleton, Fulton and , then Cincinnati, 
Sedamsville, Riverside, Fernbank, Lawrence- 
burg, Aiu'ora, Rising Sun, Patriot, Vevay 
and Madison. On the Kentucky side are 
the towns of Dayton, Bellevue and Newport, 
and Covington, opposite Cincinnati, Ludlow, 
Bromley, Petersbui-g, Hamilton, Warsaw, 
Ghent, Carrollton, Milton, Westport and 
Louisville. At Patriot and Vevay, the river 
is five or six miles wide, and at all these 
points it simply extends from the Ohio to the 
Kentucky hills, covering all the rich bottom 
lands. Its average width is from one to two 
miles — a sea of yellow waters. At all these 
points more or less damage is done. No 
statistics are available, but a cool guess 
would place the number of people either 
homeless or imprisoned, at not less than 
50,000. There are 15,000 at Newport alone, 
and 5,000 in Lawrenceburg; at Louisville, 
New Albany and Jeffersonville, it is in many 
respects even worse. 

" The east end, up in Fulton and Colum- 
bia, has eight feet of water flowing thi-ough 
the main street. Many houses have been 



124 



HISTORY OF CATEO. 



swept away, and many more are expected to 
follow. If the weather was not warm and 
pleasant, the suffering worfld be intense. 
The water is five miles wide from Columbia 
to the other shore of the Little Miami River, 
and all the houses on the bottom have disap- 
peared, not even the roofs being visible. 
Western avenue, on the western side of the 
city, along Mill Creek Valley, has been de- 
clared unsafe, and travel on it is stopped. 
The American Oak & Leather Company's 
tannery, the largest in the world, was sub- 
merged at 1 o'clock this morning (February 
15). Along Mill Creek Valley are most of 
the packing houses. One packer has 3,000,- 
000 pounds of meat under water, and from 
10,000,000 to 15,000,000 pounds of dry- 
salted meats are in the same condition. No 
one has dared to make an estimate of the 
total loss here (Cincinnati), but they will be 
millions." 

Of Lawrenceburg, Ind., an official report, 
among other things, specifies: " There never 
was," so they report, " in all history of the 
floods in the Ohio Valley, a city, town or 
hamlet so completely at the mercy of the an- 
gry element as is Lawrenceburg. For three 
days, the citizens ^vere almost without a 
morsel to eat. In the lower portion of the 
city, everything is destroyed, save the dwell- 
ings, and they, of coiu'se, must be badly 
damaged. Hundreds of the houses are from 
ten to fifty feet under water. The people, 
driven from their homes, fled to the public 
buildings. All they possessed is destroyed. 
We steamed alongside the court house, 
woolen mills, churches, furniture factories 
and public school buildings. All of the 
above-named buildings were crowded with 
people rescued from watery gi-aves. 

" In the large and more secure residences, 
families have been driven to the second and 



third stories. On the principal streets, the 
water ranges from seven to twenty-five feet 
deep. Few of the merchants saved any of 
their goods, and although precautions were 
taken, yet nearly all furniture is ruined. A 
great many houses in low lands have been 
swept away, and houses and contents are lost 
forever to the owners. 

" The damage to factories cannot be esti- 
mated. In the city there are a great many 
furniture factories, all of which had on hand 
large stocks of lumber; in many cases this 
has all been swept away. 

" The machinery in some, if not all. the 
factories and mills, has been badly damaged, 
and mostly ruined. The county records have 
all been saved, they having been carried to 
the top stories of the court house. The rich 
and the poor are upon a common level, and 
indiscriminately huddled together. In one 
part of the court house, death was claiming 
its victims, while in another new lives were 
being ushered into the world. * * * * 
The reports of the condition of the people 
have not been exaggerated. In fact, the half 
has not been told. The entire city, with a 
population of some 5,000, are in want, and 
are at the mercy of the public. Distress ex- 
tends from one end of the city to the other. 
The town has been without communication 
with the outside world for days, except by 
boats, and no regular packets are running. 
The telegraph offices are flooded, and the 
wires are down. The telephone office is in 
several feet of water. In short, there is not 
a dry square foot of ground in the place. 

" The situation of the citizens of Law- 
renceburg, imprisoned in the conrt house, is 
constantly growing more dangerous. Added 
to the irregularity of the food supply, and 
the crowded quarters, is the possibility that 
the court house may collapse, from the un- 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



125 



dermining of its foundation by the flood of 
waters. Should that occur, the loss of life 
certainly will be great." 

"We forbear to extend these sad and har- 
rowing details, nor have we given the worst 
side of the picture, as drawn by correspond- 
ents who visited the different towns along 
the Ohio Kiver. 

While this terrible page of history was 
being written of every river town above this 
point, Cairo was peacefully and securely pur- 
suing her avocations; her railroads making 
their regular trips; not a wheel in any of 
her factories impeded for even a moment. 

The ordinaiy business of the day was 

transacted in confidence and safety. No one 

was alarmed even in Cairo, except the negroes 

and a few nervous and timid "tenderfoots," 

who, when they would go upon the levee and 

look out upon the broadest expanse of waters 

they had ever seen, would quake, for fear 

Cairo's great levees would give way, and no 

Noah's ark was at hand to take them in. 

^Vhile Cairo was the one dry spot, the city of 

refuge to which came the sufferers from 

above and from below, the j^fol lowing appeal 

to the world's charity was being issued from 

nearly every town from here to Pittsburgh : 

SuAWNEETOWN, 111., via Evansville, Feb. 24. 
To Marshall Field & Co., Chicago: 

Our people are overwhelmed with the most ap- 
palliiiLc misfortune ever visited upon any locality. 
The Ohio River is five feet higher than ever known, 
and still rising. Our wealth has gone down with 



the angry waves. Hundreds are destitute, penni- 
less and suffering. We must have help. The river 
is from three to thirty-five miles wide, and carrying 
utter destruction before it. The loss in this imme- 
diate vicinity will reach $250,000 at least. We ap- 
peal to the charitable for assistance in this time of 
need. We have been under water for nearly three 
weeks, and ' it will take four weeks for it to subside. 
(Signed) Swofford Bugs., 

Allen & Harrington, 
M. M. Pool, 
Thomas IS. Ridgeway, 
I. M. Millspaugh, Mayor. 

The very next day, February 25, Cairo sent 
out the following: " The river was fifty-two 
feet one inch at 6 P. M. , and on a stand. 
Our levees are holding out splendidly, and 
no fears of trouble from that source are ex- 
pected." 

AVhile Cairo deeply deplored the calami- 
ties to her sister towns, and was ready and 
did lend a generous and helping hand to the 
sufferers, yet why should she not rejoice in 
that prudent care and forethought that 
placed these strong battling walls around 
her, that defied the angry waters, and un- 
shaken, stood guard over the peaceful slum- 
bers, the lives and the property of her peo- 
ple? 

The oft-repeated question, can levees be 
built that will secure your town against any 
water ? has been most triumphantly an- 
swered, both in the year 1882 and 1883. It 
is no longer a theory nor a guess, but a 
demonstration, as plain and strong as Holy 
Writ. 



126 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE PRESS— ITS POWER AS THE GREAT CIVILIZER OF THE AGE— CAIRO'S FIRST EDITORIAL 
VENTURES— BIRTH AND DEATH OF NEWSPAPERS INNUMERABLE— THE BOHEMIANS— 
WHO THEY WERE AND AVHAT THEY DID— " BULL RUN" RUSSELL— HARRELL, 
WILLETT, FAXON AND OTHERS— SOME OF THE "INTELLI- 
GENT COMPOSITORS"— QUANTUM SUFFICIT. 



" A history which takes no account of what was said 
by the Press in memorable emergencies befits an earlier 
age than ours." — Horace Greeley. 

IN the order of making settlements in the 
Mississippi Valley, it was the hunter and the 
trapper, the trader and the merchant, the ham- 
let, village or the mushroom cit}^ and then the 
newspaper. Here it waited not, like of old, for 
that ripened civilization that was supposed to 
come of the centuries, that left people hungry, 
if not perishing, for that rich, juicy and nutri- 
tious mental pabulum that the editor was 
always supposed to furnish. 

The Press is the Third Estate in this coun- 
try — it has been called the palladium of Amer- 
ican liberties. One thing is quite certain, that 
the wisest and best thing our forefathers did 
was to establish a " free press," nominally, if 
not actually. True, it is absolutely free so far 
as the Government is concerned, but sometimes 
it is not so free from militar}- dictation or from 
mob rule, and a few instances have occurred, 
in the histor}' of the country, where there has 
been a foolish, violent and fanatical public sen- 
timent, grossly wrong in all its parts, that has 
ci'ushed out the truth, and actually suppressed 
the only true friend the people had — the local 
press. But in return, the press can say it has 
committed outrages upon the public quite as 
often or oftener than have wrongs been perpe- 
trated against it. The averages, say, are even ; 
then if two wrongs can make a right, a reason- 
able justice has been done, and the great pal- 



ladium remains, and the Government did wisely 
foresee the eventual wants of mankind in this 
respect. And under the benign rays of their 
wisdom, the American people enjoy a free press, 
and this means free speech, free schools, free 
religion, and, supremest, and best of all, free 
thought ; for here is where the world has suf- 
fered most, because as a man's thoughts are 
the highest part of him — that which makes 
him the superior to the ox that grazes upon 
the hill — it is here that he can suffer infinitely 
the most ; where wrongs may be inflicted that 
are ineffaceable, incurable and shocking. For 
it was thought, and nothing else but thought, 
that has produced the present civilization and 
all its joys and pleasures — all that marks the 
difference in us and those miserable crea- 
tures who once were here, owning and possess- 
ing all this grand country, and whose mode 
and manner of life may all be drawn from the 
simple fact that they would bury the live wife 
in the same grave with the dead husband. 
This is a historic fact, although it occurred 
among a prehistoric people. The}' had no 
free speech, free press or free thought. They 
may have had a strong government, a govern- 
ment of iron and lead, and they may have wor- 
shiped that government as dutiful children 
worship a cruel father, but they have never 
had a free thought, except one of the basest 
kind, but the fact remains that they were a 
despicable people, because the}' had none of 
that civilization that eventuates in a free press. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO, 



127 



It was the great invention of movable t3'pes 
that has made the present greatness of the 
press possible. " The types are." remarked 
one of the greatest men the world has pro- 
duced, "as ships which pass through the vast 
seas of time, and make ages to participate of the 
wisdom, illuminations and inventions, the one 
of the other ; for the image of men's wits remain 
in books, exempted from the wrongs of time, 
and capable of perpetual renovation, neither 
are they fitly to be called images, because they 
generate stili and cast their seeds in the minds 
of others, provoking and causing infinite action 
and opinions in succeeding ages. We see, 
then, how far the monuments of wit and 
learning are more durable than the monuments 
of power or of the hands. For have not the 
verses of Homer continued twenty-five hundred 
3'ears or more, without the loss of a syllable or 
letter ? during which time, infinite palaces, 
temples, castles, cities, have decayed or been 
demolished. That whereunto man's nature 
doth most aspire, which is immortality or 
continuance ; for to this tendeth generation, 
and raising of houses and families ; to this 
buildings, foundations and monuments ; to 
this tendeth the desire of memory, fame and 
celebration, and in effect the strength of all 
other human desires." The types do infinitely 
more than this ; they are men's highest source 
of unalloyed enjoyment in this world. They 
may be made to contribute more to his real 
pleasures than anything else. While they are 
the most enduring thing of life, the joy and 
pleasures they bring, which they give for the 
asking, they give food and pleasure to the 
mind. For in life what pleasure equals that of 
the acquisition of new truths ? This is not 
only the greatest pleasure to the healthy 
mind, but it is the most enduring. It is the 
perennial fountain of knowledge, where the 
thirsty mind may drmk deeply, drink draughts 
of which all the nectar the gods ever quaffed 
are but puddle water. And it is not alone to 



the mind thirsting for the deep draughts of 
knowledge that its blessings are confined, but 
it gives equally to all — the thinker, the worker, 
the idle, the dissolute, the rich, the poor, the 
king and the outcast, a3-e, even the wretched 
leper to whom the work of the types are all in 
this world that can save him from a living 
tomb. It is the philosopher's touch-stone, the 
Aladdin's lamp, the genial ray of sunshine 
that penetrates all dungeons, that will go and 
abide forever wherever human life can exist. 
In the dingy printing oflSce is the epitome of 
the world of action and of thought — the best 
school in Christendom — the best church. Here 
is where divine genius perches and pauses, and 
plumes its wings for those loft}- flights that 
attract and awe all mankind and in all ages — 
here are kindled and fanned to a flame the fires 
of genius that sometimes blaze and dazzle like 
the central sun, and that generate and renew 
the rich fruitage of 'benign civilization. The 
press is the drudge and pack-horse — the 
crowned king of all mankind. The gentle click 
of its types is heard around all the world ; 
thej; go sounding down the tide of time, bear- 
ing upon their gentle waves the destinies of 
civilization, and the immortal smiles of the 
pale children of thought, as they troop across 
the fair face of the earth in their entrances and 
exits from the unknown to the unknown, 
scattering here and there immortal blessings, 
that the dull blind types have patientl}- gath- 
ered, to place them where they will live forever. 
It is the earth's S3'mphon3' which endures, which 
transcends that of the " morning when the stars 
sang together," and when its chords are swept 
by the fingers of the immortals, it is the echo 
of those anthems that float up forever to the 
throne of God. Of all that man can have in 
this world, it is the one blessing, whose rose 
need have no thorn, whose stveet need have no 
bitter. It is freighted with man's good, his hap- 
piness and the divine blessings of civilization. 
B}- means of the press, the lowliest cabin equals 



128 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



the lordliest palace in the right and authority 
to bid enter its portals, . and be seated in the 
famil}' circle, the sweet singer of Scotland — the 
delightfiill}' immortal Burns — who died at 
thirty-seven, and over whose grave his mis- 
taken, foolish country-men were relieved of the 
poor outcast and sot ; they thought they were 
burying an outcast, when the clods that 
covered his poor body hid the warm sunlight 
of Scotland. Or bid the crowned monarch of 
mankind come in, and with wife, children and 
friends tarry until bed-time, and tell the real 
story of Hamlet ; or Lord Macaulay will lay 
aside titles and dignity, and with the poor 
cotter's family hold familiar discourse in those 
rich resounding sentences that flow on forever 
like a great and rapid river ; or Charles Lamb, 
whose heart was saddest, whose wit was sweet- 
est, whose life was a mingling of smiles and 
tears, and let him tell the children and the 
grandsires the story of the invention of the 
roast pig ; or Johnson, his boorishness and 
roughness all gone now, in trenchant sentences 
pour out his jeweled thoughts to eager ears ; 
or bid Pope tell somethingof the story of man's 
inhumanity to man ; or poor, poor delightful 
Poe, with his bird of evil omen, croaking, 
croaking, " nevermore !" Or Dickins, George 
Elliott, Bunyan or Voltaire, or any of the 
thousands of others, when all may be fed to 
fullness. 

Thanks, then, a million times thanks, to our 
I dear old Revolutionary sires for giving us the 
great boon of a free press. If our Government 
endures, and the people continue free, here will 
be much of the reason thereof, for, mark you, 
freedom, though once never so well established, 
will not maintain and prepetuate itself, because 
by the laws of heredity that lurks in ever}- man, 
more or less, the latent customs or habits or 
mental convictions of a barbarous ancestry 
leave the seeds of monarchy and despotism. 
True, the Americans have this (speaking in 
reference to a democratic form of government) 



less than any other people in the world ; they 
are farther removed from an ancestry that 
worshiped under kingly rulers — an ancestry 
that perhaps honestly worshiped an autocrat 
and that would have almost let out its own 
blood, had they known they would produce a 
posterity that would cease to worship at the 
same shrine, or even emigrate to some foreign 
country, and learn to detest and hate all im- 
perial pretensions. Hence, we say, the 
American people have this tendency to return 
to monarchy less than any other people in the 
world, and yet even here it is as true now as 
when uttered, that " eternal vigilance is the 
price of liberty." The press, therefore, is 
essential to the perpetuation of free institutions 
in America. 

That the press can do no wrong, it is not our 
intention in the remotest way to assert. So 
great an institution, so varied its interests, 
so numerous its controllers and its guides, that 
it would be a foolish man indeed who would 
even hope that it ever would become infallible. 
A wise people, therefore, will jealously watch 
it, while it is standing upon the. watch-tower, 
hunting for the ambitious usurper to catch and 
slay him. This is the very genius of free 
institutions — vigilance and untiring watchful- 
ness upon the part of all. 

But it is of the coming of the press, the 
printers, the editors, the writers, publishers, 
and others brought here in connection with the 
press, even including that strange creature, 
who always accompanies those pious and verj' 
moral gentleman, the " devil," that it is our 
purpose to immediately speak. They were 
altogether a remarkable set, who published 
remarkable papers, and some still more remark- 
able articles. They, as has always been the 
case everywhere, had their differences, their 
quarrels even, but be it said to their credit, no 
matter from what cause it came, the disputes 
never resulted in anything more serious than a 
few bitter paragraphs, and then their injured 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



129 



honor was appeased, and the entente cordiale 
once more prevailed. Here the whole thing 
was like the rise and fall of the Roman empire, 
except there was more of them. Cairo reached 
the astounding population of 2,000 souls before 
an attempt was made to start a paper here— 
something that could not possibly happen now, 
as probably 300 is the extreme limit that the 
l3^nx-eyed printer of this age will allow to 
gather together without starting at least one 
paper, and often two. In the year 1841, just 
when Cairo was in the zenith of her first term 
of greatness and just before she fell from that 
height and past to her first nadir, that one Mc- 
Neer came here and brought a small press and 
started a paper. It was in the first flush times 
of Cairo, when Holbrook was the master and 
autocrat of all, when his company were spend- 
ing money by the millions, and were building 
everything and doing everything. McNeer was 
a stranger to aflfairs, and showed his utter want 
of judgment by not asking Holbrook if he 
might come. Indeed, worse than this, when 
he started his paper he had the audacity to 
criticize that great ruler, and he soon acknowl- 
edged his error by leaving town and taking his 
paper with him. The unholy monster monopoly 
had crushed him, and no other daring advent- 
urer followed, for the simple reason that in a 
few months the dynasty, the town, and every- 
thing pretty much about it had gone much 
worse bursted and crushed than had poor 
McNeer. 

In June, 1848, Add Saunders established the 
Cairo Delta, neutral in politics, and although 
Cairo had only 142 souls, yet the breezy new- 
ness of such a thing soon gave him a circula- 
tion of 800 copies. But whether because he saw 
the storm coming or from what cause we do not 
know, he closed the concern in October, 1849, 
left Cairo, went to Evansville, and consolidated 
with the Evansville Journal. 

And then another interregnum occurred in 
the newspaper world of Cairo. This continued 



until April 10, 1851, when Frank Rawlings, of 
Emporium, or Mound City, started the Cairo 
Sun here. It was full of good enough Democ- 
racy, but was supposed to be really in the inter- 
ests of the Emporium City Company, if not 
actually started by it. This was a company 
started at Mound City for the purpose of break- 
ing down Cairo and building the great city at 
that point. It was this perhaps as much as 
anything else that caused the paper to die of 
starvation just one year to a day from the time 
of its starting. There are now pretty strong 
evidences that this was the true fact in the case, 
as, within the year of the paper's publication, 
Gren. Rawlings, the father of Frank, had come 
to Cairo, and in the name of some tax-titles or 
Sheriff's deeds or a combination of these and even 
other things, had tried to capture the entire town 
of Cairo, or a larger portion of it. An old settler 
here still remembers seeing the old General in 
solemn state carefully- ride around the city, 
taking possession of his demesne. If there 
were other instances at all similar to this it 
makes it plausible that the good people of Cairo 
feared that " my son Frank " was really little 
else than a well-got-up sp}-. 

Just here it should be noted that it was a 
singular fact that the Cairo & City Canal 
Company, or perhaps better to sa}' Holbrook, 
in all his vast schemes of grabbing after rail- 
roads, canals, wild cat banks and the greatest 
commercial city in the world and untold mill- 
ions of hard dollars from Europe, and what 
little else the balance of mankind had, should 
never have thought to start a paper in his own 
private interest. Was this the fatal spot in 
the heel where he was at last wounded unto 
death ? A personal organ in those daj^s prob- 
ably' had not been tried, but this is precisely 
the reason it ought to have suggested itself to 
Holbrook. 

Cairo Times. — After another reign of silence 
from the news world, Len G. Faxon and W. 
A. Hacker started the Cairo Times. Hacker was 



130 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



the heav}' editor, while Faxon, with a dreadful 
long-pointed sharp stick, stirred up the animals. 
The paper was a weekly, and of the old bour- 
bon barefooted Democrac}- — the kind that 
would have cried out to its million readers, at 
the outbreak of the war (it never had 300, you 
know) to maintain an armed neutralit}' and 
save the nation from bloodshed and war. 
Hacker had good talents, but he was not a 
journalist ; he did not seek to be one. He was 
a politician and a lawyer, and he soon retired 
from the newspaper to his favorite pursuits. 
On the other hand, journalism was as natural 
to Faxon as water is to a duck, and there was 
but one thing that ev'er prevented him gain- 
ing the highest eminence in his profession, and 
that may best be designated as general insta- 
bility. " He was a fellow of infinite jest," and 
a sharp and vigorous pen, but as to using it he 
preferred to be with the boys. He made no 
professions to profundit}' of writing, but he was 
always sparkling and readable. He did not re- 
main a very long time in Cairo, but perhaps as 
long as he has remained anywhere since he be- 
came a Bohemian, and after leaving here he 
has drifted about the world and finalh' is now 
in Paducah, K}-., where he went in his 
regular trade, and after making himself the 
master bantam of that town, we believe he 
dropped his faber and is now seeking other and 
more promising schemes. But it is not worth 
while to bid him adieu yet from the profession, 
for almost an^' moment j'ou ma}' hear of him 
breaking out afresh in some new, strange and 
most unexpected journalistic wa\-. But we 
have not concluded our account of Faxon in 
Cairo 3'et, which we will now proceed to do. 
He severed his connection with the Times earl}' 
in the year 1855, being with the paper a 
little less than one year, and Ed Willett, the 
poet, journalist and erratic young man, took 
his place. And it was then Hacker & Willett 
who were steering the Times along the troubled 
waters of the journalistic sea. They continued 



the publication until the following November, 
when the paper was merged with the Ddta, and 
Hacker, so far as we know, retired forever fi'om 
the vexations, the trials, the strains and glories 
of the editorial life. And as we will say no 
more of Hacker in this department, we will dis- 
miss the subject of his ability, style and excel- 
lence as a writer b}' quoting the remark of 
" Mose" Harrell, in a published account of the 
press of Cairo in 1864. In speaking of this 
very paper that we have just followed to 
its grave, he says : " This hebdomadal was 
Democratic in politics, ever}' number betraying 
the impress of the engaging ponderosity of 
Hacker's pen," etc. — the '• engaging ponderosi- 
ty"^is rather neat, but of Mr. Hacker in his real 
place in life, we will have occasion to speak at 
more length when we come to the chapter on 
the bench and bar. 

Cairo Delta. — On the -ith of July, 1855, 
Faxon started this paper. It had but little 
politics in it, but it wielded a free lance for 
every comer, and poked and prodded and put 
on a long-tailed coat and would tread majesti- 
call}' around dragging this behind and begging 
some man to tread on it. It had onh' a short 
existence of four months, when Faxon, dis- 
covering what he lacked in Willett, and Willett 
discovering certain essential qualities him- 
self in Faxon, they wooed and wedded and 
joined their two papers together, and this 
happy union resulted in the 

Times and Delta. — And so anotlier paper 
was launched upon the journalistic sea, the 
first issue of which was in November. 1855. 
It floui'ished finely under its dual title, because 
it combined the materials of an almost certain 
success in its publishers. The publication con- 
tinued until 1859. 

Cairo Egyptian. — Established in 1856. bv 
Bond & McGrinnis. This was Ben Bond, the 
youngest son of the first Governor of Illinois, 
who was one of the earliest men to see here in 
Cairo great future possibilities. His faith in 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



131 



the place perhaps induced Ben to come here 
and try the wheel of fortune in what turned 
out to be a rash venture. The paper was of 
course an uncompromising Democrat in poli- 
tics. It could hardly have been anything else 
with the name of any one of the numerous 
Bond boys to it. The paper soon passed to 
the control of S. S. Brooks, and its name 
changed to the 

Cairo Gazette, and its publication con- 
tinued under this rather brilliant newspaper 
man for nearly two A'ears. Brooks, when he 
closed out his paper interest here, went to 
Quinc}^ 111., where he established the Her- 
ald, in which he made an extensive reputation, 
which reputation, our recollection is, was some- 
thing after the style of G. D. Prentice, that is, 
in Prentice's double meaning paragraphs. 
In 1858, Brooks sold out to John A. Hull and 
James Hull, and they continued the publica- 
tion until the month of August, 1859, when it 
was purchased by M. B. Harrell, who published 
the paper until the spring of 1864, when he 
sold it out to the Cairo News Company, a Re- 
publican concern, organized chiefly by the 
efforts of John H. Barton. 

Cairo Journal — A German paper, the 
first of the kind attempted here, was issued 
in 1858. A weekh' paper and the few Ger- 
mans there were here to patronize it valued it 
quite highl\-, 3'et it lingered in a state of great, 
destitution and died after a few months. 

Cairo Zeitung. — Its name tells its nativity 
This was a semi-weekh" paper, issued from the 
office of the Gazette in 1859. It was an am- 
bitious little Dutchman, as is evidenced by the 
fact that it started in as semi-weekly. It fair- 
1}' " donnei'ed de wedder" the first few weeks 
of its existence, but it was all to no purpose, it 
sickened and died, aged four months, and its 
happ3' shade is now in the krout business in 
the happy hunting grounds set apart for dead 
Cairo papers. 

Egyptian Obelisk. — In IRtU. William Hunter 



and a few other infatuated souls, concluded 
Cairo was ripe to be Christianized by a great 
daily Republican paper, to let in some light 
upon Egj'ptian darkness. As this was a free 
countr}- — all except Cairo, which was inten^^ely 
Democratic — no one interfered with their gi- 
gantic project, and upon a fixed hour it was 
launched upon an astounded world. Its rug- 
ged course of life lasted through just two 
issues, when its little slippers were put away, 
with the consoling I'emark, " whom the gods 
love die young."' 

Cairo Daily News — A Republican paper, es- 
tablished in 1863, b}' a joint-stock compan}', 
the head of which company', the writer's rec- 
ollection is, was John W. Trover. This was 
quite a pretentious, and in many respects, a 
paper that was a credit to Cairo. It was prob- 
ably the first paper in the town that ever took 
the Associated Press dispatches. It had a 
general and local editor, and published con- 
siderable river and financial news. But its 
specialt}' was the army and navv and '• loyalty," 
with a strong penchant for watching the trait- 
ors, or which was then the same thing, 
the Democrats. It piped its own loyalty, and 
the arrant treason of every one who differed 
from it. Its first editor was Dan Munn, known 
far and wide as a brother of Ben's. Dan was 
an offshoot of the remarkable establishment 
that flourislied here as a part of the great war 
times, known as the house of Munn, Pope & 
Munn. To Dan's credit be it said he never 
was a journalist. His forte la}- in other direc- 
tions, and in a ver}' short time he retired and 
was succeeded as editor by John A. Hull, 
whose industry soon showed that there was a 
marked change in the depai-tment. Hull never 
was brilliant, because he did not have much 
faith in that kind of editing, and to tliis da}' 
we believe that if anything could have made 
the News a success, it was the steady -going, 
even-tempered mode of editing pursued by 
Mr. Hull. 



132 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Before the paper was a 3'ear old, it became 
apparent that Trover was rapidly tiring of 
footing the deficiency bills, and the ]\^ews com- 
pany notified the boys in the office, or at least 
action to that eflfect was had, and the usual 
process of rats deserting the ship was again 
enacted in the world's history. 

At one time Birney Mai'shall and James 0. 
Durff ran it until the first week's bill for the 
Associated Press dispatches came in, when they 
declared the great house temporarily closed. 
Still others were induced to put in enough 
money, and when it had good luck it would 
run a week, and then again twenty-four hours 
would wind it up. But finally, in 1865, at a 
little over the age of two years, and filled with 
mere changes and vicissitudes than an}' similar 
thing that ever existed, it breathed its last. 
It had been dead so long before it acknowl- 
edged it that it is doubtful if it ever had any 
funeral. Marshall and DurflT both died a few 
years ago in Memphis. 

Cairo Democrat — By Thomas Lewis, a daily 
and weekl}' Democratic paper. The office was 
removed from Springfield, 111., to this 
place, and the publication of a nine-column 
daily paper commenced on the 3d da}^ of 
August, 1863. 

This was about the first effort to establish a 
real metropolitan dail}' paper, giving all, even 
the great amount of war news then prevalent 
in the country-. It was brought here at great 
expense, run with a full force of editors, re- 
porters and printers, and was published under 
great disadvantages. Cairo was literall}- a fort 
of the -Union Ai'my, the town full of soldiers and 
under martial law ; provost guaixls were the 
police of the town, and a military' man was not 
only Mayor and Governor, but supreme auto- 
crat, whose will was law even unto death, and 
there were only a few of them who doubted his 
own abilit}', not onlj' to discharge his military 
office, but to edit at least all the Democratic 
papers published within the United States. 



The result was there was sometimes that kind 
of meddling that was exceedingly unpleasant 
to publishers. Orders would come some- 
times daily, either from the Provost Marshal's 
office, or from headquarters, giving directions 
how to run the paper, what to publish and 
what not to publish. Practically, you were 
paying the heavy expenses of a printing office, 
and some one else was editing it — such edit- 
ing as it was. At times an order would come 
—a standing order, mark you — to submit all 
matter intended for the paper to inspection, 
before it could be printed. 

The writer hereof remembers an amusing in- 
cident of those strange times. He had written 
and published a short, silh' story about a man 
who kept a pea-nut stand on the street, and 
how he first " knocked down" the profits, and 
finally the capital and clandestinely closed his 
establishment and crawled under the sidewalk, 
just beneath where his store had been, and left 
his creditors to whistle. Then went on with a 
lot of stuff about how all the first detectives in 
the world were put upon the fugitive's tracks, 
chartering steamers, railroads, telegraphs, 
etc.", and how they peered around and peeked 
into the North pole in the pursuit, and how he 
lay snoring under the sidewalk all the time. 

It is hard to imagine anything more silly to 
be put into print, but there may have been 
some excuse at that day, from the fact that 
some manliad just defaulted in New York for 
a large amount, and supposing he would flee 
to the uttermost parts of the earth the detec- 
tives acted accord ingh\ Whereas, in fact, he 
only moved to a new boarding house, and 
rested there content. It seems he could not be 
found because he 'had not fled. 

For this the writer was jerked up and asked 
to explain it all. He frankly confessed that it 
was wholh' meaningless — confessed upon his 
sacred honor it was not a cipher dispatch to 
the Southern Confederacy, and was ready to 
swear with up-lifted hand, that he thought if 



^^id&A 





HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



13o 



Jeflf Davis ever was compelled to read it, or b}' 
an\' chance should read it, that it would kill 
him in five minutes. 

This happ}- explanation closed the doors of 
the threatening bastile, with the happy victim 
on the outside and not inside. 

We cannot here enumerate all the annoyances 
that it was possible to and that actually were 
thrown in the way of the publication of the 
Democrat, but the}' were many, vexatious and 
sorely trjMug. But just here we wish distinct- 
ly to remark that it was not a universal prac- 
tice with the military to act such silly roles. 
The commauding officer was often changed, 
and it may be said, on behalf of the majority 
of them, that they were intelligent and clever 
gentlemen, and from all such there was no 
more annoyance than from an}' private gentle- 
man. Indeed many of them were of that cult- 
ured and agreeable kind that all the society 
people of Cairo much enjoyed their stay among 
them. But when the meddlers did come, their 
folly was only the more illy borne by the con- 
trast that the others made. 

Mr. Lewis is entitled to all the credit that 
can come of persistence in the face of such 
obstacles as we have named. Of course, there 
were many others, but so there are under any 
circumstances in starting an enterprise of this 
kind. 

The paper had a warm support throughout 
all Southern Illinois, and a partial support from 
both Kentucky and Missouri, but in these two 
last-mentioned places there were so few mail 
facilities, and there were guerrillas frequently 
in those localities, that the circulation of the 
paper was in that direction infinitesimal. 
Without giving figures, it is probably a fact 
that the daily and weekly Democmt, within a 
year of the commencement of publication, had, 
combined, the largest circulation of any paper 
published in Cairo. 

The first editor was H. C. Bradsby, assisted 
in the local department by C. C. Phillipps. and 



John W. McKee. Mr. Bradsby continued in his 
position about one year, and having accepted a 
position of correspondent of the Missouri Re- 
puhUcan and afterward the Chicago Times, re- 
tired, and was succeeded by J. Birney Mar- 
shall, of Kentucky. Mr. Marshall continued for 
some months as editor, and, retiring, was suc- 
ceeded by Joel G-. Morgan, who came here for 
that purpose, from Jonesboro, 111., and 
after a short time Mr. Morgan retired and was 
replaced by John H. Oberly. 

The paper lived along until 1878, when it 
passed into the hands of a joint-stock 
company and joined and consolidated with the 
Cairo Times. The new concern retained the name 
of Cairo Democrat, H. L. Goodall. General 
Superintendent, and John H. Oberly, editor. 

It was the hope of its friends that this ar- 
rangement would relieve both papers of all em- 
barrassments and make one strong, self-sus- 
taining paper. It was ably and expensively 
operated under the new arrangement, and cer- 
tainly a common, strong efl!brt was made to 
make a paper that would draw to itself a good 
support. But after the first month, its very ex- 
istence was precarious, and after fifteen 
months of heroic struggles it was sold by the 
Sheritf, and John H. Oberly became the pur- 
chaser, and thus ended the long struggle for 
existence by a daily paper in Cairo, the long- 
est made by any of the hosts that have come, 
flourished their brief hour and expired. 

Tlie War Eagle — Was a soldier's paper pub- 
lished at Columbus, Ky., by H. L. 
Goodall, who moved the entire concern to 
Cairo in 1864, and made a vigorous, spicy 
little Republican paper of it. It was so suc- 
cessful and was attracting so wide an influence, 
that parties here induced Mr. Goodall to en- 
large his sphere of action, which he did by pur- 
chasing a fine outfit for a large office, moving 
into new and spacious quarters (from the 
Eagle's roost in the barracks). And the en- 
larged new paper was the 



186 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Cairo Times — A daily Republican paper, 
commenced in the latter part of 1866. The 
Eagle was a little unpretentious weekl}', but 
the Phoenix that rose from its ashes, was a 
large, handsome, well-constructed daily. The 
paper was well patronized, but we very much 
doubt if Mr. Goodall ever saw the day, after 
the first six months, that he was glad of the 
change. The Times had none of the Eagles 
scream. Maj. Caffrey was its general editor — 
a man of considerable ability, a strong Repub- 
lican and good fellow. He remained with Mr. 
Goodall until politics had ceased to be a feat- 
ure, when he sought other pastures. At latest 
accounts he was in Kansas City, Kan., pub- 
lishing a weekly Republican paper. 

The Union — A Republican weekly, started 
in 1866, by H. L. Goodall, as a side-show, per- 
haps, to his great and flourishing daily. The 
editor of this inoffensive political organ was 
Mr. Hutchinson. It was soon sold to J. H. 
Barton and its publication discontinued. 

The Sunday Leader — A literary paper, 
started in 1866, by Ed S. Trover, issued every 
Sunday morning. There were many marks of 
real merit about this periodical. The sole 
writer for it was its editor, but he was well 
known in the city from his position of local on 
the News, where he had made his mark as a 
promising boy. 

City Item — A little five-column weekly- local 
paper, was started into existence in the early 
part of 1866, by Bradsby & Field (Bourne). 
It was independent in politics and prett}' much 
everything else. It was only intended to cir- 
culate in Cairo. 

This paper was the suggestion of John Field, 
who had for a long time been foreman in the 
Democrat office, and, leaving that place, he 
went to Bradsb}' with his scheme ; that he 
would do all the work, Bradsb}' to do the 
writing ; to rent a case in one of the printing 
offices and hire the press work done. It was 
to be all original matter, set solid, and to con- 



tain no "ad" more than ten lines long, and no 
display advertisements. It was no serious 
effort at a paper, and b^' common consent, the 
whole com m unit}' looked upon it as a joke, 
and. that really was about all there was of it, 
and it was perhaps luck}- for the criminal that 
this was so. It lived something over a 3'ear 
and then quit. 

Olive Branch — By Mrs. Mary Hutchinson, a 
famil}' paper, with an olive wreath about its 
brow. It lived about one year. It commenced 
and died in 1867. 

Cairo Times. — Revived in 1868, by H. L. 
Goodall. A strong daily and weekl}- Repub- 
lican paper. Its regular publication continued 
until the early part of 1871, when Mr. 
Goodall evidently tired of the newspaper busi- 
ness in Cairo, wound up his concern, sold out 
all Cairo interests and went to Chicago. 

Cairo Daily Bulletin — A Democratic paper 
started by John H. Oberly, in November, 1868. 
J. H. Oberly, chief editor, M. B. Harrell, as- 
sociate. The paper started under most favor- 
able and promising circumstances, but just as 
its promise seemed fairest, the office and con- 
tents burned to the ground, and to add to ita 
calamities there was no insurance on the con- 
cern. This fire occurred in December, 1868, 
when the establishment was only a little more 
than a month old. An entire new outfit was 
immediatel}' procured and the publication re- 
sumed, and is to this day still a daily morning 
paper. 

The reader can hardly imagine what a joy 
and relief it is to at last come to one in the 
long line that is alive, prosperous and happy. 
The long preceding list is so much like a call- 
ing the roll of the dead, that the change from 
the funeral to the festival is inexpressibly 
pleasant. 

Mr. Oberly and Harrell continued to push 
the paper successfull}- for some years. Its 
job department had grown to large proportions 
and eventual!}' promised to support well the 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



187 



newspaper part of the establishment, but in 
1878, matters began to grow perplexed and 
embarrassments began to beset the institution. 
Among other calamities, the 3'ellow fever had 
visited the town and all business was pros- 
trate. 

About this time the arrangements were made 
to lease the office to Mr. Burnett, the present 
proprietor. This took effect Jul}-, 1878, and 
it is probable the absolute stoppage of the 
paper was thus avoided. Mr. Burnett con- 
tinued as lessee until January 1, 1881, when 
b}' purchase he became the absolute and sole 
owner, in which position he has not onh' been 
able to make the paper self-sustaining, but has 
so carefully attended to matters that it is rapid- 
1)- becoming a first-class paying propert}-. 

Mr. Burnett has worked his wa}- from "in 
charge of the circulation." in March, 1868, to 
that of sole owner and proprietor. For two 
years he was book-keeper, and was then made 
general manager. This position he held until 
1867, when he left the office and took employ- 
ment in the Illinois Central Railroad office, in 
this cit}-, where he remained about eighteen 
months. He then returned to the office of the 
Bulletin as lessee. The first 3-ear's earnings of 
the institution were slightl}' in excess of ex- 
penses, even after deducting considerable 
necessar}' additional materials ; the second 
year was not so good, but by this time Mr. 
Burnett had so systematized matters that it 
has been eas}* sailing in placid waters since. 
It is located on the levee in the proprietor's own 
building, and the constant additions and im- 
provements being added will soon make it one 
of the leading solid institutions of the kind in 
the countr}-. 

The first few years after Mr. Burnett took 
control of the Bulletin, it was edited by M. B. 
Harrell, and. when the latter went to Chicago, 
the editorial work was done by Mr. Ernst i 
Theilecke, who was connected with the office i 
for a long time. Mr. Theilecke is now in Lock- 1 



haven, Penn., and occupying much the same 
position there that he did here. 

The present local and assistant writer upon the 
Bulletin is Mr. E. W. Theilecke, who has oc- 
cupied his present place the last two years. 
He is quite a young man, who gives ever}- evi- 
dence of usefulness and ability. 

In as few words as we could possibly make 
it, this is history of one of the very few success- 
ful papers of the many started in Cairo. It 
leaves this as a demonstration and conclusion : 
When the papers of Cairo eventually come in- 
to exactly the right hands, they then, and then 
only, become permanent and valuable institu- 
tions. 

Cairo Sun — A weekly Republican paper, 
started by D. L. Davis in 1869. After running 
it a few months as a weekly, it took the form 
of a daily paper, and in this shape in a short 
time was sold by Mr. Davis to the Joy Bros., 
who continued the publication until January 1, 
1881, when, for some reason best known to the 
publishers, they voluntarily killed off the Sun 
and started a new paper, the News, which 
worked along in fair weather and in foul just 
one year, and ceased to exist January 1, 1882. 

Radical Republican — Its name indicates its 
political proclivities, was issued for a short 
time from the Sun office. Its publisher was 
Louis L. Davis. It never had much vitality, 
and perished in 1880. 

The Three States — Colored ; politics un- 
known. Died February, 1883. 

Gazette — Colored ; W. T. Scott, proprietor 
and publisher. A weekly paper that is one of 
the few that has not ceased to exist. 

Thr Camp Register — A dail}- sheet for sol- 
diers raostl}-. Was published during May, 
June and Jul}-, 1861. 

2'he Daily Dramatic News — Was puljlished by 
H. L. Goodall during the winter of 1864-65 in 
the interests of Crump & Co., the builders and 
first proprietors of the Cairo Athen^um. 

Cairo Paper — A vigorous and able Demo- 



138 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



cratic paper, established by M. B. Harrell in 
1871. Not liking the name, he changed it in a 
short time to Cairo Gazette, and thus returned 
to his first love in the Cairo papers. In this 
style the publication was continued until 1876, 
when it was sold by the proprietor and moved 
to Clinton, Ky. 

Cairo Daily ^r^us— Independent daily pa- 
per, by H. F. Potter, publisher, and Walt F. 
McKee, editor. Was first issued in its present 
form November 15, 1878. Seventeen years 
ago, Mr. Potter took possession as owner and 
publisher of the Mound City Journal, which 
he has conducted from that day to this success- 
fully. Eight years ago, deeming his old fields 
of operations somewhat circumscribed, and 
looking about for an opportunity to enlarge 
them, he conceived the happy idea of a combi- 
nation of Cairo and Mound City interests, and 
so he issued the Cairo Argus and Mound City 
Journal, the work being done at the commence- 
ment in the Mound City office, with a local 
agent and office in Cairo, but no printing mate- 
rial in Cairo. In one year after starting this 
enterprise he moved his office to Cairo, and 
continued the publication, simply reversing the 
local office and the printing office as to their 
places. After the office was in Cairo a few 
months, the title of the paper was changed into 
the Argus- Journal, and was still issued at Cairo 
and Mound City weekly. Then, as above 
stated, in 1878, November 15, he issued directly 
the Cairo Daily Argus, and still continues to 
publish the Mound City Journal, which, upon 
the appearance' of the Daily Argus, resumed its 
old name, and, certainly, a very high compliment 
to Mr. Potter's foresight, the Journal, through 
all its marrying and journeyings, retains every 
one of its old Pulaski County friends, and at 
the same time had so managed its Cairo patrons 
to the weekly paper that when tlie daily was 
started it already had its subscription list made 
up. 3Ir. Potter's past experience, his good, 
strong judgment, his energy and faithfulness to 



his business, and his known integrity, deserve 
an ever-increasing success in his venture into 
a field where so many, so bright and so worth}' 
have heretofore nearly one and all completelj' 
failed. He well understood all these failures 
before he looked toward Cairo as a field of 
operations. He had known Cairo as well dailv 
for the past twenty years as though he had 
been a citizen during all that time. He knew, 
personally, all of these men, and had watched 
their wrecking, and, doubtless, it is well for him 
he had the benefit of others' sad experience, as 
it enabled him to la}' his plans the better, and 
the caution he has displayed when he was eight 
long years in reaching the point of having a 
daily paper in Cairo shows a species of method, 
determination, sound judgment and persistence 
of purpose that is certainly a sufficient guaran- 
tee to the people of Cairo that they need not 
hesitate a moment in giving his concern their 
fullest confidence. We mean by all this that 
they need not fear to trust the man or his busi- 
ness, and they need not be influenced by the 
many failures in the lives of paper ])ublications 
they have seen, and, therefore, class the Daily 
Argus as being only another one that, in a short 
time, is to follow in the already beaten ti*ack of 
the many. 

His selection of an assistant and editor has 
been equally fortunate with his other move- 
ments in the establishment upon a permanent 
basis of his paper. We refer, of course, to 
Walt F. McKee, than whom no more reliable 
man lives. He has resided in Cairo since boy- 
hood, and during nearly all that time has oc- 
cupied responsible and confidential positions 
for organizations and institutions, which are 
known to give trust only to the most trust- 
worthy. Mr. McKee entered the office of the 
Argus with but a limited knowledge of the bus- 
iness, but as his employer foresaw he would 
learn, and he has learned until to-day he is 
quite as well informed of the duties of his 
position as are those who consider themselves 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



139 



the par excellence leaders and teachers in this 
most tr3ing and arduous profession. 

We gladly dismiss this long column of dis- 
mal failures, consisting of over thirt}- papers, 
onh' three of which are now living to gladden 
the eyes of their friends. But should we drop 
the subject and pass to other themes, and say 
no more than we have said of the men who 
were the actors and doers in this curious news- 
paporial world, the list would be but a skeleton, 
and not a pleasant one at that. 

The Bohemians. — We confess we can find no 
other word under which we can group the au- 
thors, correspondents, editors, reporters and 
contributors, who were of and at one time a 
part of Cairo, so well as the one we have 
adopted. Could we group these as one fair 
picture and show the people who it is that has 
come and gone, attracted to Cairo, some of 
them, in the hunt of permanent homes and bus- 
iness, others brought here as war correspond- 
ents at the time when Cairo was the great 
central news point in the United States, others 
here permanently as the representatives of 
man}-, in fact, nearl}' all the great leading 
dail}- papers of the countr}-. We sa}', had we 
the pen and the necessarj- facts to make this 
gx'ouping, the people would rise from the perusal 
amazed if not delighted. But the knowledge 
of these men by the writer of these lines is 
imperfect, as some of them he never knew, and 
many others, whom he vividly remembers the 
faces and their peculiar cast of mind, their 
names have passed out of mind. 

The first man nearly in point of time, cer- 
tainly in point of fame, who visited Cairo " to 
write," was Charles Dickens. He was here in 
18-lr2. He took his notes, went home and wrote 
JIartin Chuzzlewit. So far as his attempt to 
describe Cairo itself is concerned it is like 
everything else Dickens wrote — fiction. But 
there are some things he said he saw here that 
can hardly be in his usual strain of extrava- 
gance. For instance, any old settler can tell 



you that the first crash in Cairo had come be- 
fore Dickens' visit and that like a stricken city 
the decimation of people from 2,000 to less 
than fift}- had come like a cyclone from a cloud- 
less sky. The historian, too, has no hesitation 
in telling you that the few left could not oc- 
cup3' the houses, and that when the canal com- 
pan}- failed they were left with almost nothing 
to do. Still there is scarcel}- a doubt that no 
matter how bad Dickens found matters, his pen 
would have been palsied if he had not " lied 
just a little." The writer has not seen the 
work in which he tells how Mark Tapley visited 
Cairo and had the ague, and how he and his 
companion were visited by the leadnig politi- 
cian and stump speakers of Southern Illinois ; 
how the stump speaker talked in the '• Home- 
in-the-Settin'-Sun " st3'le, and then spit over the 
prosti'ate Martin, at a crack in the floor ten 
feet awa}' and hit the crack, and assured him he 
might lie easy on his blanket, as he would not 
spit on him, etc., etc. When we read all this 
rather coarse kind of stuif as a boy, we thoi^ght 
it rather smart and funn}'. Mark and his friend, 
it seems, came to Cairo in order to have the 
chills — all the way from England. A long dis- 
tance to come for what they could have pro- 
cured a much stronger article of thousands of 
miles nearer home. But the}' were here for 
that purpose, says the veracious author, and 
while here they described the kind of acquaint- 
ances they associated with and formed. Now 
any Cairoite can to-day go to London and find, 
if his tastes so run, an infinitely worse crowd, 
more vile, more squalid, dirtier, and in short 
the very abomination and indescribable dregs 
of humanity. What a traveler's eyes sees de- 
pends upon the traveler, much more than on 
what is spread before him, panorama-like as 
he moves along. Out of all the Southern Illi- 
nois and Cairo people the traveler met and 
associated with here, there is not the picture of 
one that any here would read and say that is 
so-and-so. even Maj. Challop, the Home-iu-the- 



140 



HISTOEY OF CAIRO. 



Settin'-Sun fellow, the leading politician with 
whoin the travelers conversed in a very 
idiotic fashion ou Grovernment, is an unrec- 
ognizable, not known to a living soul ; but when 
the traveler walked ashore and describes the 
empty building (the}' were certainly here in 
1842), and says " the most abject and forlorn 
among them was called, with great propriety, 
the Bank and National Credit Office. It had 
some feeble props about it, but was settling 
deep down in the mud. past all recover}'." 
That is not a very extravagant picture of the 
real case of Holbrook's bank and where it went 
to. So deeply was that South Sea Bubble hur- 
ried, exploded or evaporated, about the very 
time Dickens penned these lines, that its ghost 
has never been seen even in the region or at 
the hour when " graveyards yawn." And if 
Dickens was right about its settling in the mud 
and ooze, so be it. One thing is certain, this 
is the only real account of what did ever be- 
come of that enormous swindle. 

The man next in order, and, perhaps, the 
next in celebrity, who was at one time a tempo- 
rary resident of Cairo, was W. H. Russell, bet- 
ter known all over this country as Bull Bun 
Bussell, the celebrated war correspondent of 
the London Times. He was stationed here in 
1861. and because he was an Englishman, or 
because he represented the far-off London 
Times, or because this country just at that time 
was deeply engaged in playing sycophant for 
fear of the growl of the English lion, or may- 
hap for all these reasons combined, our mast- 
fed military commanders in and about Cairo 
were doing the very best toadying to this John 
Bull that they could conceive of. They must 
have supposed that Bull Bun would write to 
the Queen, and especially mention the fact that 
Colonel or General So-and-so was a great friend 
of England, and the only way to keep him in a 
good humor and prevent his getting " mad " 
and eventually eating Britain's Isle, would be to 
recosfnize him or the United States, or both, and 



not to recognize Jeff Davis, who was all the 
time hanging on a " sour apple tree." For all 
this coarse, clumsy, and rather disgusting syco- 
phancy, Bussell wrote to the London Times 
fairly taking the hide off these fellows, describ- 
ing them, giving the names of many of the 
most prominent, as coarse, vulgar, ignorant 
louts, who smelt of the stables, even through 
all their new, cheap tinsel and military toggery. 
He criticized unmercifully, and, no doubt, 
justly, their display of military knowledge in 
every department. In the high privates of the 
army he thought he could plainly see the germ 
from which a strong army might be made, but 
evidently in the commanders he could not 
speak of them without thinking of the toady- 
ing they had just been giving him, and his 
patience was at once goue. 

As to the uatives, or the home talent, or 
the native casual Cairoites, we may divide 
them, for convenience' sake, into the two fol- 
lowing natural divisions: the ante-bellum 
crowd, and then the remainder to the pres- 
ent day. 

And of the first, we may designate M. B. 
Harrell, L. G. Faxon and Ed Willett as the 
three names that always come to the lips 
when speaking of the early newspapers. 
Certainly, three more distinct characters, in 
the same line or profession, never met. They 
may be said to have practically been here 
together from the veiy first, and of all these, 
Harrell, so far as we can learn, was here some 
time before the other two were. He must 
have been here early in the " forties." His 
brother, Bailey Harrell, was one of the very 
earliest leading merchants here, and "Mose," 
as he is more widely known than by any other 
designation, was, perhaps, a boy about his 
brother's store when he was quite young, and 
it is reasonable to suppose that he took his 
first lessons in composition in copying or 
finally writing advertisements for the store. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



141 



We only claim to be guessing at all this, but 
if here was where he got his education, then 
he went to a school that has been seldom 
equalled. In the old files of a Cairo j)aper, 
we find an advertisement of B. S. Harrell's 
store, and the whole thing convinces us that 
either Mose or Bailey wrote it. 

There were biit two merchants here, rivals, 
and both doing business under the same roof. 
One was a Yankee, the other Harrell. The 
Yankee brought on a lai'ge stock, and adver- 
tised in the Cairo Delta, that he had bought 
his stock for cash, and could, therefore, sell 
lower by far than any one else. In the very 
next paper, Harrell's advertisement appeared, 
in these words: "Now, these goods I can and 
will sell lower than my competitor, for the 
simple reason that I bought them all on 
credit, and that, too, without the slightest 
intention of ever paying a cent for them. " 

Mose was here during the long reign of 
idleness, when the whole community was 
given over to practical joking and fun of all 
kinds. He was the first telegi'aph operator, 
when but a single wire stretched its way to 
this then outside of the telegraphic world. 
He says he was at last relieved from the ar- 
duous duties of receiving the two or three 
dispatchs that sometimes came daily, " for 
shutting up the office" and going courting 
one night. It is much more probable tha^ 
he was discharged for some of his pranks, of 
which his supply was inexhaustible, as the 
following specimen may show: A boat had 
landed on its way fi'om New Orleans to St. 
Louis. Among the many deck passengers who 
sought the top of the levee for supplies, 
bread, bologna, etc., was one poor fellow 
whom the boat left. He had failed to reach 
the wharf in time to get aboard. He was in 
sore distress; his family were on board the 
boat, and what would he do? Mose, of 
course, met him like a good Samaritan; 



showed him the wire and the poles, and ex- 
plained that it was made on purpose to send 
things to St. Louis. The institution was 
new then, and little understood. The man 
listened, and begged Mose to send him on at 
once. Mose explained to him how he would 
have to jump at each pole, and the man 
thought he could do it. The dupe was then 
prepared for the trip by his friend. The 
bread, cheese, bologna, etc., were made into 
a pack and carefully tied upon ,his back. 
The telegraph-climbers were placed upon his 
feet, in order that he might climb to the wire 
and get on. But for the life of him he 
could not climb the pole; he worked by the 
hour, sometimes digging into the pole and 
sometimes in his own legs, and only from 
sheer exhaustion did he finally give up in 
despair. Mose then told him to go up town 
and find Corcoran, who was the keeper of the 
ladder that was used by the ladies .to climb 
with when they wanted to travel by tele- 
graph. The poor fellow hunted until he 
found Corcoran, and told him what he 
wanted. He was informed that the ladder 
had been broken the day befoi-e by Barnum's 
fat woman going up on it, and finally per- 
suaded the dupe that the wire was considered 
dangerous ever since the fat woman and her 
seven Saratoga trunks had passed over it, 
and that he had probably better wait until 
another boat came along, and then he could 
go to St. Louis in peace and safety. 

Mound City at one time — very foolish it 
all now looks — concluded to rival Cairo, not 
rival, but simply distance and build all the 
great city up there. They probably found 
some man, as Cairo found Holbrook, and at 
it they went, spending money x'ight and left 
at an immense rate. \Vhoever was running 
Mound City was smarter than the one that 
ran Cairo, because, as soon as matters were 
under full 'headway, he imported a news- 



143 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



paper outfit, came to Cairo, and hired M. B. 
HaiTell at a big salary to go up there and 
abuse Cairo. Although the salary was large, 
Harrell earned every dollar, and more too; 
for instance: 

" We attended a meeting of the Cairo City 
Council Monday night. The room being 
well warmed, and a bottle of Fair's Ague 
Tonic being provided for each Alderman, 
and an ounce of quinine for the Board gen- 
erally (from which the Clerk would occasion- 
ally take a spoonful). The fever and ague by 
which the majority were at the tiiue afflicted, 
interfered only immaterially with the buoi- 
ness. If anybody wants to see 'great shakes, ' 
let 'em attend a Cairo Council meeting." 

Or this : 

" The Cairoites, in imitation of the Yankee 
at sea, have provided themselves with a good 
supply of soap, so that, if the river over- 
whelms them, they can wash themselves 
ashore. If they should be compelled to use 
it, the town of Columbus, just below, would 
be overflowed by an awful nasty sea of soap- 
suds." 

Or again: 

" A fire company has been organized at 
Cairo, and where's the necessity for it ? In 
case of a fire, just let them knock the plugs 
out of the levee sewers, and the river water 
will fly all over the village." 

Cairo employed Faxon to stand in front of 
these projectiles, and do the best he could to 
defend Cairo, but this all only resulted in the 
two rival towns coming out like the Kilkenny 
cats, only so much the worse that there evi- 
dently was not so much as the bob-end of a 
tail left to either. It was all quite comical 
at the time, and no doubt the people of the 
two towns looked forward eagerly each week 
to see what next was coming. The serious 
side of the story was, that often the worst of 
these squibs were taken up and reprinted 



over the North, as true pictures of Cairo and 
Mound City, as drawn by their own people. 
Up to the war, this trio, Harrell, Faxon and 
Willett, were the Cairo and Mound City 
editors. They started papers, changed sides, 
and bobbed around, but it was one contin- 
uous circle, and generally all on the Cairo 
press, and they seem to have indulged, to 
their hearts' content, in lampooning each 
other and each other's towns, when they hap- 
pened to be in dififerent villages. 

The compositors of that day seemed to 
deem it a duty devolving upon them to fur- 
nish their full quota of unaccountable human 
beings. They had probably caught the in- 
fection fi'om ^either Willett, Faxon or Har- 
rell. A few specimens: 

A printer who worked here as early as 
1848, was said to have been the fastest hand- 
pressman of his time in the United States. 
He was said to have worked off 800 impres- 
sion of a sheet 24x36, on a Washington 
hand- press, in two hours and twenty minutes. 
This was equivalent to an impression every 
ten and two-fifths seconds. It is probably 
well there were no other such pressmen, or 
there would never have arisen the necessity 
fur the perfected Hoe press. 

A compositor in the Sun office in Cairo, in 
1850, named Frank Urguhart, could set 15, - 
000 long primer and brevier in ten hours, 
and always got roaring drunk after supper, 
but would appear at his case as usual the 
next morning, ready to do as big a day's 
work as ever. He was wholly worthless, 
however. He married a Cairo girl in a short 
time after he came here, lived with her two 
weeks, then abandoned her and has never 
been heard of since. 

E. F. Walker a compositor who worked 
immediately before and during the early 
years of the war, was quite a character. 
For six months or more he was planning a 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



143 



week's hunt in the neighboring woods of 
Missouri. Practicing great economy, he 
finally fonnd himself the possessor of $80. 
He bought a $1.50 shot-gun, four ounces of 
powder and a pound of shot. He then sup- 
plie<l his commissai'y department with a half- 
dozen pigs' feet, a pound of crackers, two 
gallons of whisky, a horse-blanket and a 
second-hand wheelbaiTow. Thus equipped, 
on the morning of July 4, 1862, he bade the 
office boys good-bye, and started for the 
ferry-boat. He halted his wheelbarrow be- 
fore every saloon on the jlevee, stepped in 
to take a drink and bid the boys good-bye. 
The ensuing night, he tumbled into the 
office, drunk as a lord, swearing he could 
not get oflF, because the fenyboat I'efused to 
cany his ammunition ! Nest morning, he and 
his wheelbarrow were again making the 
rounds of the levee. The day again closed 
on a drunken Walker. He explained that 
the ferry-boat multiplied itself so often, and 
ran in so many different directions, he was 
afraid he might take the wrong boat and lose 
his wheelbarrow. On the third day, he got 
drunk again, but, to .the end that he might 
start early and sober, he slept all night on 
the wharf in his wheelbarrow. The fourth 
and fifth days were a repetition of his first 
and second, but on the seventh day he kept 
himself drunk all day and all night, waiting, 
he said, for the arrival of a ferry-boat that 
was not given to the insane habit of running 
' sideways. ' Early on the morning of 'the 
eighth day, he happened to leave his wheel- 
barrow and accouterments unguarded Re- 
turning to search for them, they were not to 
be found. Ed Willett had triindled them 
across the wharf boat, and to this day they 
lie on the bottom of the Ohio Eiver, where 
he dumped them. Walker, having only 40 
cents of his $80 left, couldn't secure another 
outfit, sobered up, and returned to his case I 



again. He was abundantly satisfied with re- 
sults, however, and always afterward, when 
speaking of festive occasions, would Jdeclare 
his ' great seven days' hunt in the Missom-i 
bottoms ' the happiest interval of his exist- 
ence. AValker was a congenial soul; some- 
what en-atic, but always harmless. He has 
long since passed over to the happy hunting 
ground, for the full enjoyment of which, it is 
quite apparent, he was only preparing him- 
self in his great hunt here. 

In the early days of the war, Jimmy 
Stockton, afterward editor of the Grand 
Tower Item, was a compositor in M. B. Har- 
rell's Gazette office. At the time the officer 
in command of the post in Cairo had tried 
to suppress the Gazette, and had ordered the 
editor to submit all matter to him (a full ac- 
count of Avhich we give in another column), 
and the way Hai-rell got around the dilem- 
ma, so tickled poor Stockton, that he got 
more than glorious. He had spent the even- 
ing at Dr. Jim McGuire's, and had repaired 
to his room rather late, which was on the 
fourth floor, just above the composition 
room. 

The printers reported the following cir- 
cumstances: About 11 o'clock at night, a 
compositor, working at his case, heard a 
whiz, and saw a dark object flit past his win- 
dow, which was in the thii-d story. Hasten- 
ing down stairs to see what had happened, 
what was his amazement to find Jimmy 
Stockton, stretched at full length on the top 
of a pile of empty barrels, and sound 
asleep! While leaning out of the fourth 
story window, he had lost his balance; fall- 
ing a distance of about twenty feet, he struck 
the roof of a two-story addition, and rolling 
off, alighted on the barrels and went to sleep. 
But for his limberness, he would have been 
crushed to a pulp, but no serious injury was 
sustained. "Well, now, do you know," said 



144 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Jimmy, when the boys had finally aroused 
him and got him down off the barrels, " that 
I di-eamed I was on top of a tall ladder; that 
a sow uptripped it— and now I come to think 
of it, it wasn't all a dream, boys! but where's 
that sow — and the ladder?" 

The fever of life has passed with poor 
Stockton, and" to those who knew him best, 
the memory of his big heart and warm soul 
will always come sunshiny throughout their 
lives. 

It was poor old Sam Hart, peace to his re- 
mains, who was hard of hearing, and was 
always imagining, when he could not hear 
what was being said, that the other boys 
were talking about him, and over this he was 
in constant hot water. He was getting old, 
and was very nervous and sometimes peevish. 
He would imagine more than enough, but 
then the others, perceiving his oddities, would 
constantly add to his sources of worry and 
vexation. Matters finally culminated in Hart 
making up his mind absolutely to challenge 
to the death Joe "Wiley, as he appeared to be 
about the worst, and was the fittest, in the 
old man's estimation, for an example. He 
called upon his friend, another 'printer, and 
told him his unalterable resolution, and re- 
quested his assistance. This was promptly 
given, and all the minutiae arranged for the 
combat, which was to take place just outside 
the Mississippi levee after sundown. Two 
immense horse- pistols were procured, and the 
parties were to repair to the spot in a" state 
of scatteredness, for fear of drawing the at- 
tention of the polic^e. It seems all were in 
the joke except poor Hart. Parties were 
placed for the fight, and Hart was awful 
nervous, and he told j^his friend he expected 
his time had come. AVhen the weapons were 
handed them, it was with difficulty Hart 
could hold his in both his hands, so very 
nervous had he become. They were ordered 



to stand and await orders to fire, but Hart 
knew ^he could not hear good, and so, the 
moment he got his, he raised it in both 
hands andblaz — no, snapped. But matters 
were again adjusted, 'and he was told he must 
wait for the word to fire. The pistol was 
again placed in his hands, and again he pro- 
ceeded at once to raise it with both hands, 
and fi — no, snap again, and he dropped the 
weapon and fled for life toward town. He 
told his second two or three different stories 
about the matter. First, he was positive 
there was a general conspiracy to mui'der 
him, and, second, that he saw the police com- 
ing, and he thought it all great foolishness, 
anyhow. 

But of the trio of the original Cairo journal- 
ists— Harrell, Faxon and Willetfc. It is diffi- 
cult to di-aw any comparison or parallel be- 
tween any number of men, all of whom are 
wholly unlike. These three men were alike in 
this only — they were all writers. The writer 
of these lines never knew Willett personally, 
yet, in some way, he has formed the opinion 
of the man, to the effect that he was purely 
a literary man in his nature, and always 
thought his chief talent was as a poet, and 
hence he wrote poetry for pleasure, and as a 
rule it turned out to be mere doggerel, but 
that, upon literary subjects, where he some- 
times drove his pen with a master's hand, 
he always felt he was a mere drudge, debas- 
ino- the fine horse Pegasus into the meanest 
of dray horses. That he was of a nervous, 
sensitive turn of mind, and the rough-and- 
tumble bouts that Harrell and Faxon some- 
times gave him nearly killed him. Willett 
left Cairo before or during the very early 
part of the war, and is said now to be on the 
staff of the New York Herald. 

Of Faxon we know more, both personally 
and by reading his writings. His pen 
bristled like the "fretful porcupine," and he 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



145 



shot the pointed quills sometimes in every 
direction. His talents were good, his nature 
genial and full of sunshine. He is living 
now in 'Paducah, Ky., as stated elsewhere, 
and may he be yet spared to develop fully to 
the world what we believe to be truly in him 
in the way of literary talent. 

Of M. B. Harrell it may well be said, there 
is no name yet so impressed upon Cairo and 
its very existence as his — its mark is, every- 
where, and must co -exist with the city. After 
a long and thorough acquaintance with him, 
we have no hesitation in pronouncing him of 
the highest order of talent among the writers 
of his day. Of all the hosts that have vent- 
ui'ed their editorial fortunes in Cairo, they 
found Harrell the Nestor when they came, 
and they left him in undisputed possession 
of his title and crown. 

Mr. Harrell came to Cairo about 1845, a 
mere boy, to do errands about his brother's 
store and learn to be a clerk, if he developed 
talent enough for such promotion. His in- 
stincts [took him, at an early day, to the 
printing office, and here he went to school, 
and soon mastered the business to that ex- 
tent that he was an invaluable part of the 
office. "When the war broke out, he was 
editor and proprietor of the Cairo Gazette, 
and quietly continued its publication after 
the military had |taken possession of Cairo. 

As to some of his experiences at that 
time, we permit IVIr. Harrell to tell himself: 

" In the early stages of the war, when 
nearly every prominent Democrat was in the 
Old Capitol Prison, and Logan was watched, 
and suspicioned Democratic editors in Egypt 
had a rough time of it. I was seated at my 
desk in the Gazette office one morning, when 
in stalked Col. Buford, attended by an Ad- 
jutant, and both of them in the dangling, 
jangling war accouterments in which showy 
warriors were wont to array themselves. ' Is 



the editor in ?' asked the Colonel, in a tone 
of voice suggestive of hissing bombs, sword- 
whizzes and the spluttering of fired grenade 
fuzes. 'He is^ sir,' I replied, with a not- 
able tremor of voice; 'I respond to that de- 
signation. What is your pleasui'e, sir?' 'I 
have this to say to you, sir, and mark me 
well, that there may be no misunderstanding. 
These are perilous times, sir; we have 
enemies at our front, sir, and more cowardly 
ones in our rear, even in our midst. Upon 
these latter I am resolved to lay a strong 
hand. 1 have to say to you, then, that if you 
publish anything in your paper that shall 
tend to discourage enlistments, encourage 
desertions, or in any manner reflect upon the 
war policies of the administration, I shall 
take possession of youi- office, sir, and put 
you in irons.' 

" ' I beg to assure you. ' I replied, as soon 
as I could command composure enough to 
speak at ail, ' I feel no inclination to offend 
in that direction; but how can I shape my 
editorial labors so as to have a guarantee of 
your approval ? ' 

" ' Submit your matter to me, sir. If I find 
it unobjectionable, I'll return it; otherwise, 
I'll destroy it.' 

" Then, with the bearing of a Scipio — a 
' see-the-conquering-herocomes ' gait and 
caiTiage — the Colonel and his Adjutant left 
the office. 

" The next day, and the next, and the day 
after that, I laid before the Colonel a great 
deal more selected matter than I had pub- 
lished during the previous quarter. I clipped 
columns of stuff I had no idea of pub- 
lishing; tore several leaves from the Census 
Eetui-ns of 1860; levied heavy contributions 
from the stah.i jokes found in Ayers' Al- 
manac; long editorials from the Si Louis 
Rejjublican : full pages from De Bow's Sta- 
tistical Review of the Southern Cotton Crop; 



146 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



'takes' of Ed Willett's newspaper poetry, 
and massive rolls of matter that I felt certain 
nobody ever had or ever could read without 
mental retching, and all this stuff I ' respect- 
fully submitted for the Colonel's perusal and 
approval.' Palpable as they were, the Col- 
onel, evidently, did not ' tumble ' to my tac- 
tics. On the evenings of the first and 
second days, the installments were duly re- 
tiurned, stamped with evidence of approval. 
On the evening of the third day, the roll of 
copy was returned unopened, but accompan- 
ied by the following explanatory and ad- 
monitory note. 

"Editor Oazette: Finding that a close pre- 
supervision of the contents of your paper involves 
an expenditure of more paper and labor than I can 
bestow, and much more than I anticipated, I return 
to-day's installment unopened; exercise your cus- 
tomary discretion and allow the latent Unionism in 
j'our composition to assert itself, and the result, I 
dare say, will be as satisfactory to me as it will be 
creditable to j'^ourself . 

(Signed) B. 

In the early part of the war, Cairo devel- 
oped to be just what its very first discoverers 
foresaw, namely, that in case of war it would 
be the one great, important strategic point — 
the key to all the military movements in the 
vast Mississippi Valley. Daniel P. Cook, the 
Delegate from the Territory of Illinois in 
Congress, and who framed the bill for its 
admission as a State into the Union, based 
his report and his spepch in that behalf, 
upon the peculiar position of the Territory, 
and as clearly foretold, as did the Avar 
demonstrate, that Illinois was the natiiral 
keystone State to the gi-eat Northwest. From 
the early part of 1863 until the conclusion 
of the late war, the whole world looked with 
eager interest to Cairo. It was here that all 
eyes turned, in the hope of some word that 
would decisively settle the great and bloody 
questions that were raging so fiercely. 

This brought here a swarm of correspond- 
ents, men representing at one time nearly every 



leading paper in the whole country; and to 
give some idea of the magnitude of the in- 
crease of news that was fvumished at this 
point, it is only necessary to say that from 
four to six telegraph operators were found 
necessary, and that often and often the news 
wires were doubled, and kept busily running 
night and day, and then frequently great 
rolls of copy were taken from the hook the 
next day that it was impossible to pass over 
the wires in time for the paper to go to press. 
The writer of these lines well remembers 
that at one time there were twenty-five men 
here who represented these difierent news- 
papers, and whose sole business was to allow 
nothing to escape them, and send it by light- 
ning dispatch to their respective papers. 
There were great jealousies and rivalries 
among the different representatives of rival 
papers. A correspondent would about as 
soon die as to allow his rival, or anybody 
else, to get up a " scoop " on him while he 
slept or closed his ears, and there was an 
equal rivalry among the respective papers 
backing each one of them. These corre- 
spondents, many of them, had instructions to 
spare no expense in getting news. " If 
necessary to get the latest and important 
news, charter an engine or a steamboat, and 
draw on this office," was substantially [the 
instructions that several of these news- 
gatherex-s had. It was the correspondent 
who failed to get the latest important news 
— no matter how much money he saved — who 
was always summarily dismissed. And of 
course at that time, in this country, the New 
York Herald had the prestige for enterprise 
among all the papers. There was no other 
institution in the country until the war, that 
thought it worth while to try to compete with 
James Gordon Bennett; but the war brought 
much change iiere as well as in other things, 
and made many papers quite as daring in 



I. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



14-; 



enterprise as the Herald. One of the pranks 
sometimes played by correspondents upon 
each other, was to race for the telegraph 
office, say just after a battle, and the first 
one who got the wire, by the rules of the 
office, could hold it until his 'entire dispatch 
was sent. They would thus have a tremen- 
dous race as to who should get there first, 
and then it was an immense joke if he could 
hold it until, say, 4 o'clock next morning, 
when the morning jDapers all had to go to 
press. All the people of Cairo will remem- 
ber Frank Chapman, who came to Cairo as 
the correspondent of the New York Herald. 
This story was told of him: There had been 
a battle, and it was ten miles away to the 
telegi-aph office. He happened to be 
mounted on the fastest horse, and under whip 
and spur started as soon as the result of the 
fight was known. He was followed Jin full 
chase by the others, and it was a break-neck 
race; but Chapman got there first, but it was 
only by a few moments; in short, he was so 
closely followed, that he rushed into the 
office (none of them had their dispatches 
written out yet), and looking about, the only 
thing he saw was a copy of the Bil)le lying 
there. He seized that; opened at the fiist 
chapter of Genesis, and hastily with his pen- 
cil wrote above " To the New York Herald" 
and passing it to the operator, said simply, 
" Send that," and then sat down leisurely to 
write out his dispatch. It is difficult to 
imagine what must have been the thoughts 
of the news editor of the Herald, when the 
Bible was thus being fired at it over the 
wires, as it came chapter after chapter; in that 
regular order that indicated that probably the 
whole book was behind. But when Chapman 
had written out his account, he passed that 
to the operator, and it is very probable the 
first word of the real account of the battle 



told the story of the trick to the New York 
office. 

Poor Frank Chapman! The war over, he 
settled down, and tried to make a livinc in 
Cairo, by first one thing and then another. 
He organized the first Cairo Board of Trade, 
and was the first Secretary. Most unfortu- 
nately for him he was a splendid ventriloquist. 
In 1870, he went to Chicago, and there, after 
long suffering and great privations, died. 
The Herald had here, and in the field ad- 
jacent to this place, at one time or another, 
a dozen or more different correspondents. 
Among them the writer well remembers I. N. 
Higgins, now the editor of the San Francisco 
Morning Call. A brilliant writer, and one 
of the most genial fellows in the world. 
Newt! all hail! Another member of the 
Herald force was a Mr. Knox, who has since 
traveled pretty much all over the world, and 
published several books, one or more of 
which were written for the edification of the 
youths of the nation, and have earned a wide 
and solid fame for him. 

Ralph Kelly was the Cairo war correspond- 
ent of the New Orleans Picayune ; one of the 
most deceiving and one of the most brilliant 
and genial fellows that ever graced the town 
of Cairo. The writer of these lines had 
noticed Mr. Kelly in passing about the 
streets, and he was so very odd-lookino- in 
his make-up, that he gut to inquiring of 
every one he met, Who is that? After a long 
pursuit of this kind, he gained the desired 
information, and his informant not only 
gave the information, but followed it up with 
an introduction. Mr. Kelly was of Milesian 
extraction (which was plainly to be seen), 
and had been reared from early boyhood in 
the Picayune office, until he was about as 
much one of its fixtm-es as was any other part 
of the establishment. His whole life was 



148 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



centered there; be knew no other home, 
guardian, parents, or, apparently, place to 
go, either before or after quitting this world. 
He probably did not form twenty intimate or 
general acquaintances while in Cairo. In 
the presence of strangers, he stood mute, and 
sometimes appeared almost idiotic, and if, 
under such circumstances, he tried to talk and 
make himself intelligible, he apparently only 
made matters so much the worse; yet, locked 
up in a room with some congenial, well-un- 
derstood friend, or place before him pen and 
paper and instantly he was much as one in- 
spired. To know Ralph Kelly even slightly, 
was to read over and over, every day you 
were with him, the story of Oliver Goldsmith, 
and to recall what Johnson said, when he 
called him the " poll-parrot who wrote like 
inspiration. " 

Ralph Kelly! Have you gone with the 
fleeting years, and, like them, gone forever? 
If so it be, we would place one little faded 
flower to thy memory, typical of as pure a 
friendship as ever one being held for another. 

E. H. Whipple was the Cairo war corre- 
spondent of the Chicago Tribune. We re- 
member him as a good-looking, round-faced 
young man, full of the energy and wakeful- 
ness that always got the latest news, and was 
certain it should reach the Tribune before he 
would sleep. He seemed to be a very retir- 
ing, quiet young man, and much to his 
credit it was, too, he did not join much in 
the convivialities that marked the existence 
of the Cairo life of most of the Bohemians. 
Mr. Whipple is now in some way connected 
with a detective agency in Chicago, a ad long 
since has given his Fabers to his babies for 
toys. 

L. Curry represented the Cincinnati Com- 
mercial. A man of an eventful and a very 
sad domestic history. His wife, whom he 
married at the age of eighteen, when he was 



barely twenty-one, dying with her child 
in about twelve months after marriage, un- 
der the saddest circumstances. Mr. Curry 
was a young man of good education, and had 
been reared under the most fortunate circum- 
stances. He was an excellent wi'iter, a warm- 
hearted and most exemplary young man in 
bis habits. He made so few acquaintances 
in Cairo — owing to the facts above referred 
to — that there are very few people here who 
will remember him. His history, after leav- 
ing here, is not known to the writer. 

Charles Phillips represented the Chicago 
Times. He was quite a young man, but his 
writings came from his pen rapidly, and as 
finished, almost, as a stereotype. His cult- 
ure was unusual for one of his age — prob- 
ably twenty-four. The writer knows nothing 
of his history, except what he saw of him in 
Cairo. A more unassuming young man never 
lived, and his talents in his chosen line of 
profession were of the very highest order. 
He was a consistent, practical and conscien- 
tious Christian. He was very quiet in his 
manners, and his whole nature was such that 
he could not intrude his opinions or person. 
He died in the early part of 1864, we believe, 
at the home of his parents or friends, some- 
where near Metropolis, 111., but of this (that 
is, the residence of his friends) we are not 
certain. He died of consumption; and for 
months, befoi'e he left Cairo and went home 
to die, we confess it was one of the saddest 
sights we ever saw, to see him suffering, 
working and wasting away, yet uncomplain- 
ingly working on, until his pen fell from his 
nerveless grasp, and the young life that 
would have been worth so much to the world 
went to sleep in death. Charley Phillips, 
may your sad and cruel wrongs, sufferings 
and untimely taking-off here in this world, 
have been a million of million times com- 
pensated in the next! 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



149 



H. C. Bradsby succeeded Mr. Phillips as 
the representative of the Chicago Times, and 
also enlarged the duties, and represented the 
Missouri Republican. His duties to the lat- 
ter were to furnish at least two letters by 
mail per week, in addition to duplicating 
the Times and Republican dispatches. We 
would not further speak of him here, but we 
realize a public sentiment will expect it, and 
to some extent, therefore, reqiiire it. He had 
none of Mr. Phillips religion or morals, 
and but little of his culture. He was at 
times (very brief) brilliant, but as a rule 
was more marked for daring than genius. 
It would be difficult to find two men more 
the perfect opposites of each other than were 
these two correspondents of the Times. Mr. 
B. continued to represent his two papers until 
after the war was all over, and Cairo had 
long ceased to be a great [news point. He 
was then, awhile, editing or writing for first 
one paper and then another, and at one time 
or another edited or wrote for every paper pub- 
lished in Cairo during his residence here, 
except the Olive Branch. In his writings, 
he sometimes made people laiigh, sometimes 
stare, and sometimes squirm, and he seemed 
ever equally indiflferent as to which result 
flowed out from his pen. His character 
always seemed an inconsistent one; at one 
moment, perhaps, a great egotist, at the next, 
the picture of self-humility; and these were 
often and often exemplified in his writings. 
He had the art complete of making enemies, 
and holding them, when once made, perpet- 
ually; and his friends, therefore, were never 
numerous, but in a jVery few instances firm 
and stanch. What education he got (though 
nominally a collegiate) was in the columns 
of the different papers he worked upon dur- 
ing the twenty-five years intervening between 
his first experience upon the proofs of a 
country press and the present time. He gave 



considerable attention, in a scattered, inco- 
herent kind of way, to the scientific writers 
of the past quarter of a century; and has just 
now learned enough to cease to be dogmatic 
in his opinions — to believe little and know 
less. 

W. B. Kerney was a long time in Cairo, 
commencing here as the agent of the As- 
sociated Press; afterward represented the 
Chicago Evening Journal, and then the 
Chicago Tribune. He was an odd little 
fellow, and quite as clever, when you came 
to know him better, as the best of them. 
He seems to have been, all his young life, 
much given to fall in with isms, and when 
once he had given anything of this kind his 
approval, he, for awhile, at least followed 
it with remarkable devotion. He was an 
honest, thoroughly good man in every re- 
spect. He was very industrious, and atten- 
tive to his bu.siness, and was probably the 
most even-tempered man that ever lived. 
Nothing could swerve him from the even tem- 
per of his way, or provoke him into an angry 
retort. He and his good little wife could 
almost always be seen together, and it was 
beautiful to see the rivalry between them, as 
to which could most admire the other. They 
were childless, and firm believers in the effi- 
cacy of the cold water cure for all the ills of 
life. They had been most unfortunate, in 
losing .several children dying in infancy. 
Upon one occasion, the man and wife were 
fcick, and they were doctoring each other with, 
water, and eating about an apple each a day. 
Fortunately for them both, Dr. Dunning 
happened to be called in. He took in the 
situation, and ordered a good- sized sirloin 
beefsteak, overlooked its preparation, and 
made them eat it. To their amazement, they 
liked it, and they were soon well — better, in 
fact, than they had been for years — con- 
tinued to eat good, nutritious food, and the 



150 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



last accounts the writer had of them, they had 
three or four as fine, healthy childi-en as you 
would want to see. 

In all this vast amount of newspaper 
births and deaths, there were developed but 
two men who were pui'ely and only publish- 
ers. Men who gave this department their 
undivided attention, and depended wholly 
upon hiring all the writing that they wanted. 
These were Thomas Lewis and H. L. Good- 
all. Each had a long career here, and each 
gave many evidences that under different cir- 
cumstances and suiToundings they might 
have built up great institutions. Goodall 
could do the best combining and planning, 
but Lewis had the nerve for any venture that 
promised, even remotely, to pay as an invest- 
ment. When Mr. Lewis quit his old favorite, 
the Democrat, he seems to have made up his 
mind to quit the business, but not so with 
Mr. Goodall. He is now in Chicago, and is 
still a publisher, and we are more than glad 
to learn, at last a successful one. May his 
shadow never grow less! 

In its proper place, perhaps, but the truth 
is, the very last place in the rear column, 
was always the best place for " Old Rogers," 
one of the most remarkable tramp printers 
even Cairo ever had, with all its hosts of distin- 
guished characters in this line. Rogers 
was a very good workman, but his habits 
were to prefer dirt and filth to fine linen 
and the breezes of Araby. He was a 
tramp printer, with all the term implies, and 
a great deal more, too. He was here about 
1S60, and made Cairo a central point in his 
rounds. Everybody then knew him, and un- 
derstood well that he considered it would be 
a hanging crime in himself to be caught 
even passably clean in his person, and so- 
briety and cleanliness were much the same 
thing with old Rogers. Yet at periods, he 
had to sober uj) enough to work, but this 



necessity never arose as to his habits of per- 
son. He was smart, quick-witted, and much 
enjoyed telling how he often astonished and 
disgusted strangers, and if he was kicked off 
a train or boat, he relished telling the cir- 
cumstance immensely. 

On one occasion, he had just arrived in 
Cairo from Evansville, and was surrounded 
by Postmaster Len Faxon, Deputy Bob Jen- 
nings, Sam Hall, Joe Abell and two or three 
others, all anxious to hear Rogers tell some of 
his recent experiences. " I'm just in from 
Evansville, boys," said Rogers, ",and, great 
Caesar, I'm hungry. I was put ashore from 
a flat-boat at Golcouda, because, as the crew 
said, I was too rich for their blood, and so 
I've just footed it all the way from there to 
Cairo, and if I've eaten a mouthful in four 
days, why, then I've eaten a whole army 
mule in the last two minutes. By George, 
to come right down to it, boys, I'm starv- 
ing." 

" Well," said Willett, giving the boys a 
wink, " if I was real hungry, I'd call on 
Capritz; order a baked bass; a fry of oysters; 
a plain omelet, and " 

"But," chimed in Rogers, "I ain't got any 
money." 

" If I were you," said Sam Hall, paying 
no attention to Rogers' impecuniosity, " I'd 
step into Weldon's; get a porterhouse steak 
with mushrooms or onions, some boiled eggs, 
milk toast, and " 

" Oh, boys, don't," cried Rogers, in evi- 
dent agony; "you don't know how you're 
torturing me. I'm awful hungry, but I hain't 
got any " 

" I don't know," interrupted Abell, " but 
a good lay-out for a real hungry man would 
be quail, nicely browned, on toast; quail on 
toast, mind you; a cujd of good, hot choco- 
late; white hot rolls, with country butter, 
and " 




^^^^^i^^ 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



153 



" Oh, ynra — um — yiim!" muttered Rogers, 
laying his hands upon his stomach, and look- 
ing as if he would Jtrade his hope in heaven 

for even a raw turnip; "oh, boys, " 

. " Or," quickly added Jennings, " a cup of 
hot coffee — amber-colored Mocha — with gen- 
uine cream; a fried squirrel, or baked prairie 
chicken; cranberry sauce, of course, and a 
rich oyster stew to commence on, would be, 
for a real hungry man, mind you, about as 
toothsome a " 

" Oh, boys, " exclaimed the tortured 
Rogers, "hush! hush! for God's sake; for 
you'i'e killing me! " And it much appeared 
as if, for once in his life, the poor man was 
telling' the truth about somethingr to eat. 
But an hour later, Rogers was the happiest 
man in town. The boys had staked him with 
a quarter, and with this he had got a pig's 
foot and three 5 -cent di'inks. His hunger 
had been appeased, and calling Joe Abell 
aside, he asked him, in the strictest confi- 
dence, if he knew of a cheap shebang, where 
a pig's foot would be considered a legal ten- 
der for a glass of whisky. 

Among the many different reporters on 
the Democrat was one named Beatty, who 
will be remembered by the old Cairoites 
as a round, red-faced young man. He 
commenced his career in this place as 
foreman of the Morning News, and was for 
some time local, under John A. Hull, on that 
paper, and was then transferred to the Demo- 
crat. He left Cairo in the early part of 
1866, and found employment as a reporter on 
the Indianapolis Journal. He died in In- 
dianapolis in 1867. 

Gen. Schenck was stationed here a good 
while, and then seemed to loaf around some 
time after his post duties had ceased. Al- 
ways, when introduced, he would inform his 
new acquaintance that he was a near relative 
of Gen. Schenck's, of Ohio. For a longtime. 



he had been confidentially telling everybody 
in Cairo that he was expecting an important 
appointment from the President. He was 
watching the papers daily. One day. Gen. 
Sheridan and his escort fleet of steamers 
came up from New Orleans, and Gen. 
Schenek had a grand salute fired from the 
forts and all the guns in port, in honor of 
the great arrival. It so happened, that same 
day and about the same horn* of Sheridan's 
arrival, there came news that California had 
gone Democratic at an important election 
just held. The 'correspondent of the Times 
sent a flaming dispatch to his paper, which 
was duly published, announcing that Gen. 
Schenck was then firing a national salute in 
honor of the California victory, Schenck 
would, after this, tell over and over again, 
how his appointment had just gone to the 
Senate and while it was under considera- 
tion, the Chicago Times arrived, and, in the 
nick of time, forever ruined him. But there 
were many worse men in the army than poor 
Schenck, and if the correspondent' s si lly joke 
did really injure him, he has regretted it a 
thousand times. 

A reporter named Pratt was for some 
time connected with the Cairo papers, com- 
mencing with the Democrat, and continuing 
longer in that place than anywhere else. 
He sometimes wrote little innocent pieces of 
poetry, and the whole thing, probably, may 
be estimated by the title of one of his pieces, 
which was called "A Crack in the Win- 
dow." "When business grew dull in Cairo, 
Mr. Pratt we believe, went to some point 
in IMissouri, and was there a member of the 
rural press. 

John H. Oberly came here from Ohio, a 
young man, and by trade a practical printer. 
His first employment was on the Democrat, 
as general foreman of the press and job 
rooms; and after the retirement of Joel G. 

9 



154 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



Morgan from the editorial chair, Mr. Oberly 

assumed this position, and for some time at- 
tended to both departments, and proving so 
successful a writer, he soon quit entirely the 
mechanical department, and became the gen- 
eral editor. With but limited school advanta- 
ges in early life, and having married when 
quite young, he was forced to early exertions 
for the support of a large young household,and 
at the same time prepare himself for those 
advances in his trade and profession that he 
has achieved. He was blest with one misfort- 
une to himself as a journalist; he could talk 
naturally well — we mean as a public speaker 
— and this soon inclined him to the stump, 
politics, and even some pretensions to state- 
craft, and he wasted some of the best years 
of his school life as a writer, in the State 
Legislature, and was afterward, by the ap- 
pointment of the Governor, one of the Rail- 
road Commissioners for the State of Illinois. 
His natural qualifications are good— much 
above the average. He is now engaged in 
publishing a daily Democratic paper in 
Bloomington, III, where, we learn, he is 
meeting with merited success. As a public, 
off-hand speaker, Mr. Oberly is much above 
the average — in fact, frequently strong, brill- 
iant and fascinating. This flatter talent 
seems to have been natural to him, and he 
has put it to much use the past few years, 
being called to many parts of the State to 
lecture and address public assemblies. For 
his real development in either line, his tal- 



ents have been too versatile, and in some re- 
spects this has been one of his misfortunes, 
as the human mind has always been so con- 
stituted that to achieve great success, it must 
focus upon one- single thing and burn itself 
out there, in order to invest it with those in- 
tellectual calcium lights that attract the 
world's attention. His social qualities and 
ties of friendship are strong, lasting and al- 
ways as true as steel ; but, on the other hand, 
when his ill-will has been once aroused, he 
fills the warmest wish of Dr. Johnson, who 
said he "loved a good hater." He was always 
very popular with the people of Cairo, as is 
evidenced by the fact that they gave him 
every oflfice, commencing with Mayor of the 
city, that he ever asked for. Mr. Oberly 
stayed in Cairo much longer than did the 
average writers or editors who were here and 
have gone; his success while here was, too, 
above the average of them; yet, purely as 
writers, there were several, at one time or 
another, that were his superior in point of 
cultivation, in their chosen line, a fact that 
leads us to the conclusion, that in the West 
the profession has hardly yet been separated 
and made a distinct and independent one ; 
that is, one where nothing but the most care- 
ful training -and preparation can qualify or 
enable the candidate to enter and compete 
for the high honors that it will, at some time, 
bestow, 

A reflection that admonishes us to hurried- 
ly close this chapter. 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



155 



CHAPTER VII. 



SOCIETIES: LITERARY, SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT— THE IDEAL LEAGUE— LYCEUM— MASONIC 

FRATERNITY— ITS GREAT ANTIQUITY— ODD FELLOWSHIP— THE CAIRO 

CASINO— OTHER SOCIETIES, ETC. 



'Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren 
to dwell together in unity." — Psalms, cxxxiii., 1. 

THE Ideal League. — We go to school from 
the cradle to the gi-ave, and this is one of 
the inexorable laws of our being. These 
schools or fountains of education are nearly in- 
finite in variety, and have little in common save 
the imperfections that pervade all. The 
schoolmaster and the birch twigs are the 
real schools only in name; in fact, it is 
doubtful if they are not 2 stupendous and 
prolonged mistake that has, to some extent, 
blockedthe way of true education. Such old- 
fashioned schools were grood trainingf-rooms 
but nothing more. 

A careful investigation of the controlling 
influences of the mind go far to demonstrate 
the fact that real education comes with our 
plays, our pleasures, our joys and that sweet 
social intercourse of congenial spirits, that 
is the mark of the highest type of our 
civilization. The mind must be developed as 
is the perfect physical nature. It is not 
hard, dull work that molds the child into 
beauty and strength, perfection and grace, 
but, on the contrary, too much of this 
dwarfs and warps and stunts the young into 
ungainliness of person and feature. Btit it 
is the happy, light young heart, the hilarious 
romp and that sweetest music in all the 
world, the rippling laughter of innocent 
childhood, that fashions that beauty of per- 
sons whose every movement is the " poetry 



of motion." The child must have the en- 
ergy to play, and play with that abandon 
and bubbling joy that gives an exquisite rel- 
ish to existence itself. And just so is men- 
tal strength and beauty created. It is im- 
possible for it to come from the task-master 
and the rod. A strong, active, gi-aceful and 
well-poised intellect is created only of the 
pleasures of life. It is impossible for knowl- 
edge to come to the mind in any other way. 
This is self-evident when you reflect a moment 
upon the fact that to the mind of culture, 
the most enduring pleasures of life are the 
acquisition of new truths. The activity of 
the mind depends upon the degree and in- 
tensity of its enjoyment. This i.s its food 
and healthy stimulant, and the improvement 
and new truths that come to it thus are its 
seeds of knowledge, that flourish and grow 
into such magnificence and wondrous beauty. 
Let us qualify this, lest the superficial may 
conclude we mean to say that mental indo- 
lence and rest is true education. We 
mean exactly the opposite. We mean 
that intense mental activity that comes of the 
keen zest of mental play-work, of that social 
and intellectual life that is made up of the 
associations of congenial companions " where 
youth and pleasure meet," at the weekly 
trysts of the Ideal League in the cozy parlors 
of Mr. and Mrs. George Parsons. 

The Ideal League was organized March 
13, 1883, and although one of the youngest 



156 



HISTORY OF CAIRO. 



institutions in Cairo, yet it is already the j 
conspicuous figure in the intellectual and so- i 
cial life of the city. As best stated by itself, 
" the objects of this association are musical, ^ 
literary, di-amatic and social enjoyment, the ^ 
promotion of a spirit of good-fellowship , 
among the members; the attainment of a 
higher mental culture, imd a steady growth 
and progressiveness toward enlarged useful- 
ness. " The officers are as follows : President, 
Mr. George Parsons; First Vice President, 
Mrs W. F. Macdowell; Second Vice Presi- 
dent, Miss M. Adella Gordon; Secretary and 
Treasurer, Miss Fannie L. Barclay. 

The charter members: Mr. and Mrs. 
George Parsons, Mr. and ^Mrs. W. F. Mac- 
dowell, Miss M. Adella Gordon, Mr. John 
Horn, Dr. J. A. Benson, Dr. E. C. Strong, 
Mr. Scott White, Mr. E. C. Halliday, Misses 
Mamie and Eida Corlis, Miss Fannie L. 
Barclay, Mr. E. G. Crowell, Mr. J. L. Sar- 
ber, Miss Hattie McKee, Miss Effie Coleman, 
Mr. F. W. Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wells, 
Mr. ^Marx Black, Mr. G. T. Car ens, Mr. 
William Burkett, Mr. F. G. Metcalf, Miss 
Montie Metcalf, :Mr. George E. Ohara, Mr. 
Edward Reno, Misses Phyllys and Katie 
Howard, Capt. T. W. Shields, Miss Ella 
Armstrong, Prof. G. A. M. Storer, Mr. Guy 
Morse, Mr. Henry Hughes, IVIr. W. E. 
Spear, Miss Maud Eittenhouse, Mr. Will- 
iam Williamson, jMr. William Korsmeyer 
and Miss Bettie Korsmeyer. 

The members added since the organization 
are Mr. Albert Galigher, ISIr. James Lock- 
ridge and Mrs. Stephen T. McBride. 

The Ideal League has simply supplied a 
long- felt want in Cairo. The membership 
was wisely limited to forty members, and 
this full number was made up almost from 
the first meeting. The real founders and or- 
ganizers of this pleasant and profitable club 
judged wisely when they determined that the 



harvest was ripe and ready for the gleaners in 
Cairo. The necessity of limiting the member- 
ship of the club is easily understood when the 
fact is mentioned that the meetings of the 
Ideal League are, so far, parlor entertain- 
ments, at which there are only limited capaci- 
ties. 

The work of the Ideal League speaks for 
itself, and while it is among the latest efibrts 
of forming a literarj- and social club, it is al- 
ready crowned with that success that betokens 
a long and useful life, as well as a continual 
source of pleasure and profit to the young 
people of Cairo. 

The Lyceum is an older society than the 
League, and, so far as we can learn, deserves 
thn first place in history, but our investiga- 
tors and seekers after facts have thus far 
wholly failed to find the essential facts and 
dates that will enable us to more than state 
it exists, but whether as an intellectual vol- 
cano, that is, in a state of activity or not, we 
cannot say. So we must content ourselves 
with the statement of the fact of its exis- 
tence, and, with the farther remark that 
Cairo has in all her history to date to some 
extent neglected the improvement of this 
avenue of social and intellectual life. Cir- 
cumstances, and not the absence of an abund- 
ance and the best of material, has been the 
source of all this. It is to be hoped now, 
that this will no longer be the case, as the 
subject has the past winter and spring, by a 
fortunate circumstance, been brought so 
prominently before the people in discussions 
in social circles and much more so in the 
daily papers. 

The Masons — The history of Masonry is 
more or less familiar to all the civilized, and, 
as the order claims, to many of the semi-civ- 
ilized, and even good Masons are to be 
found among barbarous peoples. Among its 
claimed chief merits and glories are its great 



HISTORY or CAIRO. 



157 



age — the oldest organization in the world, 
antedating all sects, religions and even all 
organized social life since the coming of 
Adam and Eve. Again, it is sometimes 
given as the history of its foundation, that, 
as its name indicates, it was founded and 
organized among the workmen for mutual 
protection at the building of that historical 
structure — Solomon's Temple. But like 
everything else, it has adapted itself to the 
inevitable that follows the workings and 
growth of the human mind, and now they 
have attached to the order well-regulated 
benefit associations, and distribute much real 
and beneficial charity and aid to fellow-mem- 
bers and the widows and orphans of deceased 
brethren. The cardinal ideas of Masonry 
have, perhaps, always been a high morality 
founded on the Bible, and a law of mutual 
protection of a brother toward a brother. 

A lodge was chartered in 1857, appoint- 
ing Charles D. Arter, William Standing, J. 
AV. McKenzie, John L. Smith, Robert E. 
Yost, C. Stewart and Robert H. Baird as 
charter members. 

In 1874, the two Cairo lodges — the Delta 
and Lodge 237 — were consolidated and 
formed under the name of the Delta Lodge. 

The order of the Council was chartered 
October 5, 1866. The charter members were 
J. B. Fulton, J. W. Morris, George E. Louns- 
bury, Orlando Wilson, Charles Morris, W. 
H. Walker, E. P. Smith, L. Jorgensen, 
Most Fobs, L. H. Elbrod, William Stand- 
ing, H. Elbrod, E. P. Smith, Charles Minni- 
que. Isadore Meiner, E. S. Davis, C. Ger- 
ricko, A. Harrick, S. J. Jackson, P. H. Pope, 
I. W. Waugh, C. S. Hartough F. F. Dun- 
bar, J. C. Guff, H. T. Bridges, S. Hess, 
William Perkins, J. Joseph and C. R. Wood- 
ward. 

The Odd Fellows — The secret societies 
above now attach much importance to the 



term " ancient," and the very warm stick- 
lers for this are the Masons, followed closely 
by the Odd Fellows. This last-named order 
came to Cairo October 13, 1857. The char- 
ter bearing that date is issued to John Green- 
wood, Abe Williams, G. W. McKenzie, H. 
W. Bacon, John A. Reed, John Antrim and 
L. G. Faxon. 

At the commencement of the late wai*, Joha 
Q. Harmon was the N. G. of the order, and 
for some reason unknown to us he returned 
the charter in 1861, and the society was no 
more a working Cairo institution. 

On October the 3d, 1862, the following 
parties met and determined to have another 
organization efi'ected and the beautiful prin- 
ciples of charity to the loved society once 
more in full operation here, to wit: F. Bross, 
J. S. Morris, H. F. Goodyear, M. Malinski, 
C. S. Hutcheson, I. P. McAuley, Joseph 
McKenzie and C. M. Osterloh. On the 7th 
of the same month, at another meeting, the 
following additional members' names ap- 
pear on the rolls: John T. Rennie, W. V. 
McKee, and A. Halley. After this rest of 
nearly ten years, the members, it seems, 
went to work, determined to make up for 
lost time, and in a little while the member- 
ship had so grown that the I. O. O. F. ex- 
ceeded any society in the town in point of 
membership, and they had fitted up a nice 
hall and furnished it well. The society now 
is in a flourishing condition, and their ele-