CHAPTER XXIV.

NINETEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY-1854-56.

The Nineteenth General Assembly convened January 1, 1855, and adjourned February 15.

Lieut.-Gov. Koerner presided over the Senate, and Geo. T. Brown was elected Secretary. Thomas J. Turner was elected Speaker of the House, and Edwin T. Bridges Clerk.

Among the familiar names in this Legislature were these: In the Senate, Norman B. Judd, Burton C. Cook, John M. Palmer, Silas L. Bryan and Joseph Gillespie ; and in the House, Wm. J. Allen, S. W. Moulton, Stephen T. Logan, Chauncey L. Higbee and Owen Lovejoy.

One of the important duties devolving upon this Legislature was the election of a United States Senator, to succeed Senator Shields, and the two houses met in joint session February 8, and balloted for Senator. James Shields was the Democratic candidate, and Abraham Lincoln the Whig. On the first ballot Shields received 41 votes; Lincoln, 45; scattering, 13. On the second, Shields received 41; Lincoln, 43; scattering, 15. On the third, Shields received 41; Lincoln, 41; scattering, 16. On the fourth, Shields received 41; Lincoln, 38; scattering, 19. On the fifth, Shields received 42; Lincoln, 34; scattering, 23. On the sixth, Shields received 41; Lincoln, 36; scattering, 21. On the seventh Shields' name was withdrawn, and that of Joel A. Matteson substituted, who on this ballot received 44; Lincoln, 38; scattering, 16. On the eighth, Matteson received 46; Lincoln, 27; scattering, 25. On the ninth, Matteson received 47; and Lincoln's name having been withdrawn, Trumbull received 35; scattering, 16. On the tenth, Trumbull received 51; Matteson, 47;

scattering, 1. Mr. Trumbull having received a majority of all the votes cast, was declared by the Speaker Senator-elect.

This was at the time of the Kansas-Nebraska excitement. John M. Palmer, Norman B. Judd and B. C. Cook were anti-Nebraska Democrats, and it was expected that they would vote for Mr. Lincoln, which, with the vote of Henry S. Baker, an anti-Nebraska Whig, would have secured his election; but when Mr. Lincoln found, through his friend John T. Stuart, whom he had authorized to wait upon these gentlemen, that they could not vote for Mr. Lincoln, for the reason that they were instructed by their constituents to vote for an anti-Nebraska Democrat, then it was that Mr. Lincoln, standing in the lobby, reached over with his long arm, touched a member of the House and directed him to withdraw his name, which being done, Mr. Trumbull was elected on the next ballot. This was the first break in the political control of the State by the Democratic party since its organization, and the election of Lyman Trumbull as an outspoken anti-slavery man was the forerunner of the organization of the Republican party in 1856.

RAILROADS.

It seems almost incredible to say, that in 1841 there was but one Railroad in Illinois, and that it was laid with flat iron, and only twenty-four miles in length, or that for a time its cars were drawn by mules, but such is the true beginning of Railroad building in the State. The termini of this road were Jacksonville and Meredosia. From that one, the number has increased to fixty-six, whose aggregate number of miles, in main lines and branches, is 8,766. We enumerate them as they are given in the annual report of the Railroad and WarehouseCommission for 1883:

Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago, 262.60; Belt Railway, of Chicago, 23.67; Central Iowa Railway, 504; Chicago & Alton, 849.78; Chicago & Atlantic, 249.10; Chicago & Eastern Illinois, 247.50; Chicago & Grand Trunk, 330.50; Chicago & Iowa, 104; Chicago & Northwestern, 3,584.10; Chicago & Western, 1.50; Chicago & Western Indiana, 27.90; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, 1,673.52; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, 4,514.22; Pekin & Southwestern, 85.50; Rock Island & Pacific, 1,380.42; St. Louis & Pittsburgh, 580.50; Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago, 342.91; Danville, Olney & Ohio River, 86.10; East St. Louis & Carondelet Railway, 11.50; East St. Louis Connecting Railway, 2.66; Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway, 61; Grand Tower & Carbondale, 24.21; Grand Trunk Junction, 3.90; Illinois, St. Louis and Coal, 25; Illinois Central, 1,927.78; Illinois Midland Railway, 173.13; Indiana & Illinois Southern Railway, 56; Indiana, Bloomington & Western, 685.20; Indiana, Illinois & Iowa, 110; Indianapolis & St. Louis, 266.20; Jacksonville Southeastern Railway, 82.90; Kankakee & Seneca, 42.30; Lake Erie & Western Railway, 386.91; Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, 1,339.54; Louisville & Nashville, 2,065.27; Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railway, 249.13; Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, 446; Michigan Central, 270; Moline & Southeastern, 8; New York, Chicago & St. Louis, 523; Ohio & Mississippi Railway, 616.20; Pennsylvania Co., 467.97; Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, 18; Peoria, Decatur & Evansville, 240.69; Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, 580.50; Rock Island & Mercer Co., 26.71; Rock Island & Peoria, 91; St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute, 137; St. Louis & Cairo, 151.60; St. Louis Coal, 92.66; St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago, 307,67; Sycamore, Cortland & Chicago, 4.90; Terre Haute & Indianapolis, 159.13; Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis, 781.96; Union Stock Yards & Transit Co., 50; Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway, 3,482.40.

Poor's Railroad Manual, for 1883, reports the whole number of miles of Railroad in the United States at 113,907. In this Manual it is shown that Illinois has more miles of railway than any other State in the Union; the number of miles given her were 8,722. New York ranks next to Illinois; she had 7,037; Iowa, 6,962; Pennsylvania, 6,792; Ohio, 6,931; Texas, 6,006; while the other States and Territories have from 211 miles to 4,646. Rhode Island has a less number of miles of railway than any State or Territory in the Union, having only 211 miles.

MANUFACTURING AND MINING.

Some idea may be obtained as to the progress made in the industries of the State by consulting the following statement, which is based upon the census of the United States and the records of the Auditor of Public Accounts:

In 1860, the census returns showed that Illinois had 4,268 manufacturing establishments, with $27,548,563 capital invested. There were 22,489 employees. There was paid out for labor, $7,637,921. The value of the products was $57,580,886.

In 1880, the number of manufacturing establishments was shown to be 13,347. The capital invested was $117,273,585. There were 126,547 employees. There was paid out for labor $53,693,461. The value of the products was $346,454,393.

In 1860, there were seventy-three coal mines in operation. The capital invested was $3,169,290. The number of employees was 1,483. The number of tons of coal mined was 728,400.

In 1880, there were 590 coal mines in operation. The capital invested was $10,416,552. The number of employees was 16,301. The number of tons of coal mined was 6,115,377.

PHYSICAL RESOURCES.

On the physical resources of a State is dependent everything that contributes to make it great and grand, and Illinois possesses these elements in an eminent degree. In her onward march in greatness and wealth, agriculture and its kindred pursuits have kept pace with the rapid progress in other branches of industry, and a retrospect reference to the primitive days of agriculture will be pleasing and instructive. In contrast with the early mode of doing farm work, we print an extract from an elaborate paper from the pen of W. C. Flagg, now deceased, of Moro, in 1876, which gives a vivid picture of early farming: "Forty or fifty years ago the mould-boards of the plows were made of wood, which was possibly, in some cases, covered with hoop-iron. These plows were about the only implements used in working with the soil, harrows with wooden teeth and rollers being poorly made and but little used. Corn-planters had not yet superseded the barefooted boys and girls, and wheat drills were entirely unknown. The grain cradle, a great improvement on the sickle, though used in Madison county, it is said, as early as 1819, was but just coming into vogue.. Grass was still cut with the scythe and raked with hand-rakes. Wheat and other grain was tramped out with horses, who traveled in a circle over a carefully-adjusted ring of bundles, laid with heads lapping over the butts and towards the coming hoofs,-all this has changed. The gang and sulkey plows have increased the capacity of human labor and decreased its severity. Machines drill the wheat, cut and even bind the grain, and thresh and winnow it. Machines cut, rake, load and pitch the hay."

The records of the Auditor of Public Accounts show the aggregate number of acres of cultivated land in 1860 to have been 7,364,626.