By TOM AYDT
At Ninth and Washington Avenue, in Halliday Park, in Cairo, Illinois, stands the statue of the Hewer. It was Miss Mary Halliday, a resident of Cairo, who commissioned George Grey Bernard to sculpture it in 1901. It was completed in 1904, and put on exhibit at the Columbian Exposition at St. Louis as one of the priceless art works of the period.
The Hewer is a bronze statue, six feet high, weighing 1,850 pounds. It is full of strength without strain. The swing of the mighty arm brings into play all the powerful muscles of the shoulder and chest. The figure shows not only sculptural 'bigness" - that breadth of treatment which is essential in great art - but reveals an unusual emphasis in the matter of straight lines and planes, which give it remarkable carrying power. Close at hand, some of these planes may appear a trifle arbitrary, but at a distance, their value is felt in the assurance of structural strength and adequacy, which mere rounded bulk never conveys. In 1910, Lordao Taft deemed The Hewer to be one of the two best nudes in America.
Miss Mary Halliday, a citizen of Cairo, brought the Hewer to Cairo. She
had commissioned George Grey Bernard, her personal friend, to carve The
Hewer in 1901. The letter Miss Halliday gave the Cairo Public Library in
1954 tells that The Hewer was first conceived in marble, but it was changed
to bronze because of Cairo's extreme weather conditions.
The artist
tried for ten months to complete the work in Cairo, but without success.
Bernard finally sent his sketch to New York, where a price of $3,000 was
made to him. It was begun in 1901, and was not finished until 1904, at a
total cost of $6,000. It was then placed on exhibit in St. Louis, Mo., as
one of the priceless art works of the period.
Bernard's conception
was correct of Captain Halliday's character, and depicted him as a hewer -
one who is capable of hewing out his own pathway and doing so. The Hewer,
because of these things, has become a part of Cairo's' tradition.
The Sculpture Says:
In a letter to Mrs. J. Frederick Grieve in 1937,
when she had spear-headed a movement to remodel and modernize the monument,
Bernard said:
"The Hewer disappeared to my mind and the world when
the terrible flood threatened your brave city, but you all stood like
Horatio on the Bridge and saved your city." "My Hewer was created (strangely
but true) from just such a vision of men laboring on the shore of a flood,
hewing and dragging wood to save people from death and destruction." "My
conception is: 'God's work is perfect and the only thing divine, so who has
the right to change it or better it?"
By PHYLLIS BAKER
A hundred years had not yet passed when one of
the most serene structures in Cairo was dismantled and put to rest in the
heart of all Cairoites.
St. Joseph's Church (St. Joe to the people
who knew it well) was one of the most divine places of worship in Cairo. The
Gothic exterior was of orange-red brick which was burned right here in Cairo
in the home of Mr. Jacob Klein. Four stained glass windows of God's own
children lined each side of the building. The welcoming recessed doors were
shaped like an arch, and through them passed peoples of all faith and races.
In the steeple hung three bells which Catholics and non-Catholics alike
considered the most beautiful sounding church chimes in the surrounding
area. These bells were donated by three prominent families of Cairo in
memory of deceased members of their families. After St. Joe was torn down
the bells were placed in the tower of St. Patrick's Church, which is also
located here in Cairo.
The interior of the church was even more
divine than the exterior. Between the stained glass windows, which were
donated by the people of the parish, hung the twelve stations of the cross.
Among the sacred statues it housed were the almost life-sized ones of St.
Joseph, The Blessed Virgin, and The Guardian Angel. The altar and communion
rail were of wood, inlaid with gold designs of holy origin. To receive the
blessed sacrament of Holy Communion the congregation knelt on a felt covered
kneeling rail. From the ceiling hung two chandeliers which provided for the
main part of the church lighting. The church also contained a choir loft
which proudly held an adult's mixed choir, an all men's choir, and a student
choir.
The movement by the German Catholics to build St. Joe was
begun in 1870 because the congregation felt that they had outgrown the
capacity of St. Patrick's Church, and also because they decided to have a
church of their own in which they hoped to have services in their own
language.
The lots at the corner of Cross and Walnut Streets were
purchased and on Sunday, October 22, 1871, the cornerstone was laid. The
sixty-five by one hundred foot building was built by Mechler and Son of St.
Louis, Mo. The cost of $20,000 was donated by the members of the parish;
some of which gave as much as $1,000.
The opening ceremonies were
held on April 22, 1872, during which both an English and a German solemn
high mass were recited by the Reverend Cornelius Hoffman who readily won the
love and confidence of his parish.
The first trustees of St. Joe
were William Kluge and Peter Saup who faithfully served their positions for
many years.
In 1879 St. Joe stopped being solely a German church
when Bishop Balter established a line of division between St. Joseph's and
St. Patrick's Churches.
During its years of existence St. Joe Church
contributed a number of young men and women to the religious life. Nine
women became nuns and seven men were ordained into the priesthood. Currently
there are three boys from St. Joe studying for the priesthood.
St.
Joseph's Church also established a school which was erected on the lot
behind the church in the winter of 1905-1906.
The School Sisters of
Notre Dame taught and still teach in St. Joe School which stands today.
Along with the establishment of a school came the building of an auditorium
which was completed in 1928.
The monsignor Rudolph E. Jantzen was
the priest who served the longest pastorate during St. Joe's 90 years of
existence. During his pastorate the ladies of the parish formed the St.
Joseph's Circle which took many steps toward progress in the church. One of
their outstanding contributions was the purchasing of an electric organ to
replace the old and worn pipe organ. Monsignor Jantzen also reactivated the
Men's Holy Name Society which is still in existence today.
Another
outstanding achievement of St. Joseph's Church which is presently recorded
in the annals was the faithful and zealous thirty-five years of service
rendered by Miss Anna Aydt who was the housekeeper of St. Joe's rectory.
In ninety short years St. Joe came to live and thrive in the hearts of
the Catholic and non-Catholic, Cairoites alike. Though it has been
destroyed, the memory it left behind is one which will never perish.
By PHYLLIS BAKER
Tall columns, an iron trimmed balcony, wide entrance steps, and deeply recessed windows with arched frames show the dignity possessed by the classic Greek lines of the Alexander County Courthouse.
"The county seat of Alexander County is to be moved from Thebes to
Cairo." These words were officially printed in the Mound City Emporium on
November 10, 1859.
As early as 1848 there was dissatisfaction with
the location of the courthouse at Thebes. Anyone wishing or having to attend
court hearings and other county affairs would have to travel from Cairo to
Thebes by steamboat which caused many delays. The courthouse at Thebes was
also at the point where it had seen better days - prisoners were even
escaping by digging away a portion of the wall. Something had to be done!
A Cairo newspaper owner, Addison H. Saunders, actually started the
movement for a new courthouse. His pleas, however, were ignored for many
years (the war played a big part in this). It was not until 1859 that any
real progress was made. On February 8, the Illinois Legislature passed a law
to hold an election on the first Tuesday of November to see if the people
desired to move the county seat to Cairo. The results of the election (which
was held on November 8, 1859) were quite favorable. A look at the records
shows 570 people were for the move and 390 were against it.
On
January 8, 1863, a special term of the court which petitioned the Senate and
House of Representatives was held. Later in that month the legislature
authorized the county of Alexander to issue bonds to construct a large and
commodious courthouse at Cairo.
Citizens lost no time in getting
bids for the awarding of a contract to build the courthouse. This contract
was let to Mr. J. K. Frick on March 2, 1863, for $28,000. After he had done
a large portion of the work Frick surrendered his contract. A new contract
for completion was drawn up and let to John Major for $32,000.
In
the early part of 1865 the citizens of the county saw their "dream come
true" - their new courthouse was completed. People lost no time in moving
into their new courthouse. The first court term was held in July, 1865.
Judge John Mulky presided over the Court of Common Pleas.
From the time of its completion until 1935 the courthouse saw only minor
repairs (one being the ventilation of the vaults to prevent dampness). In
1935 it underwent a refurbishing done by W.P.A. However, many a cry of
indignation was voiced when the paint arrived. It was, unfortunately, the
dreadful color of horseradish mustard. After many heated arguments it was
learned that it was "use this paint or none." With much dissatisfaction it
was finally painted and it was 1941 before our courthouse was restored to
its beautiful white.
All the things done by the W.P.A. weren't like
the paint incident. With W.P. A.'s help the grounds were landscaped; irises,
roses, and althea lined the driveway and walk. The V.F.W. cannon was given a
bright coat of paint. Magnolias and sycamores also added to the beautiful
landscaping.
There are three main floors in our courthouse: the
basement, the first (main) floor, and second floor. All three floors are
handsomely done in the original white oak furnishings.
The basement
contains the maid's and cook's quarters, the kitchen for the jail, the
Deputy's Office, a small vault, and the county jail.
The first floor
contains the Circuit Clerk's and Recorder's Office (Mr. John Dewey has held
this office for 48 consecutive years), the County Clerk's Office, County
Sheriff's and Tax Collector's Offices, the County Court Room and County
Judge's Office. The original vaults which are located between the County and
Circuit Clerk's Offices are also on this floor.
The second floor
contains the main courtroom (for circuit cases and big county cases), the
County Superintendent of School's Office, the State's Attorney's Office, and
the jury room.
In 1958 a new vault was built for the County Clerk's
Office and a new addition for the County Superintendent of Highways was also
added. At an earlier year the original back porch (on first floor) was
closed in for the office of the County Assessor and Treasurer.
Our courthouse has been the scene of many dramatic events; murder trials,
death sentences, and life imprisonments. Oratory of the highest order has
echoed through its walls as prosecution and defense attorneys pleaded for
and against the lives of prisoners. It has also been the scene of many
public and political gatherings. It has been threatened by fires and floods.
It could tell numerous tales of human misery and wrongdoings. On the other
hand, it could tell of many delightful events.
Next year our
courthouse will be a hundred years old; next year our courthouse will be
torn down. Progress? Yes, the old must make way for the new. The old front
and two new additions will remain as a basis for the upcoming courthouse
which, we're all sure, will capture the beauty and dignity of our present
courthouse.
By MARY ANN BUCHER
October 21, 1861, was the beginning of many
years of service in Cairo, Illinois, for the Sisters of the Holy Cross. On
that night, the Sisters at the Saint Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Indiana,
received an appeal from the Governor of Indiana. He wanted them to serve as
nurses on the battlefield. As soon as they heard the message, they willingly
volunteered their help. No later than the next day six nuns departed for
Cairo to meet with General Grant, whose headquarters were now in Cairo.
Meanwhile, in Cairo, the hospital facilities were over-filled. Houses
churches, school buildings, and every possible place provided shelter for
the soldiers wounded in battle.
On October 24, Mother Angela
Gillespie and the other five volunteers arrived in Cairo, yet she was not to
meet with General Grant until two days later. When this day came, Mother
Angela was warmly welcomed by Grant. He looked at his visitor with a kind
smile and said, "Mother Angela, I am very glad indeed to have you and your
Sisters with us."
From here the Sisters received their orders for
service in areas near Cairo. Mother M. Liguori, provincial superior, and a
band of six nuns went to war. They served in St. Louis, Mound City, and
Cairo. On December 14, 1861, Sister M. Ferdinand came to Cairo with three
other Sisters. Then she accompanied Mother M. Angela to Mound City, leaving
the others at the hospital in Cairo under the direction of Dr. Burke. On
December 31, 1861, a third group of Sisters arrived in Cairo at the request
of the Secretary of War. The next day they saw the frightful condition of
the hospital which was called The Bulletin (later changed to St. John's
Hospital). Dr. Burke, the Surgeon in charge requested Mother Angela to allow
the Sisters to remain here in Cairo. The three Sisters who stayed began work
immediately and within a few days the hospital was comparatively clean.
The service of the Holy Cross Nuns had been so outstanding that they
were confronted with the request to open a hospital here. In October, 1867,
Sister Augusta and Sister Matilda came to start a hospital or perish in the
attempt to do so. Within a few days they had raised $153 by means of a
house-to-house Canvass and on November 26, 1867, St. Mary's Infirmary was
opened in a house on Eleventh Street between Poplar and Commercial. Before
much time had elapsed they found it necessary to move to a larger building.
On January 1, 1868. they moved to the Pilot House located on the site of the
present Armory.
There was still a lack of room until the Cairo Trust
Property came to the rescue by giving an entire block to be used for a
hospital site. A large two-story building, now the annex, was obtained. It
had previously been used as a river warehouse and a detention barracks for
soldiers during the war. Since it was too large to be moved across the
street, it was necessary to take it down, haul it to the new site, and
rebuild it. The new hospital was opened December 18, 1869.
Additions
to St. Mary's Hospital were built in 1892 and 1902. As the hospital grew it
acquired new and modern equipment. St. Mary's even had an x-ray machine that
took away man's last privacy, that of his insides. At the time of the third
addition, St. Mary's Hospital was the largest and best hospital between
Memphis and St. Louis,
St. Mary's Hospital, now under the
directorship of Sister Mary Clarissa, has brought more to Cairo than many of
her industries. This service to Cairo was all made possible by Holy Cross
Sisters. These remarkable women were begged to come to Cairo, and their
skill, quietness, gentleness, and tenderness made them invaluable to St.
Mary's Hospital.
By JACK BUIE
As I sat and looked out the water frosted glass
windows of the Cairo Public Library, mighty torrents of rain fell and the
winds howled around the 85 year old structure across the street that stands
like the Rock of Gibraltar. I am referring, of course, to the Custom House
of Cairo or what is more commonly known as "The Old Post Office." It is a
living monument to the history of Cairo, Illinois, and its people.
Traveling back more than a century into the past to the 18th day of
February, 1859, one year before the Civil War, the legislature ceded to the
United States jurisdiction over block thirty-nine in the city for the
construction of a building for a United States Court, a post office and a
custom house.
"The trustees of the Cairo Property, on the 28th day
of April, 1866, conveyed to the United States the said block, bounded by
Washington Avenue, Poplar Street, and Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets; and
in the years 1868 to 1871, various appropriations, amounting to one hundred
and eighty-four thousand dollars, were made by Congress for the erection of
the building on the block."
The entire cost of the property and
building is said to be over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The
government began the erection of the building in the year 1868 and was
completed in 1871.
The architectural building consists of four
stories in a rectangular shape with two wings, a story lower and extending
on out toward Washington Avenue and Poplar Street from opposite sides of the
main body. It is constructed of stone and has a metal framework.
The
interior is one of marked beauty with offices on the 1st, 2nd and 4th
floors. On the third floor is the court room with its ornamented carved
fireplace. The walls are very thick for insulation and the ceilings are
vaulted high to keep it cool in hot weather.
The building was
planned by the supervising architect at Washington, D. C., Mr. A. B.
Mullett. He designed the structure so the main floor of the building would
be on the same level as the levees. This was the latest in safety measures.
This recalls the fact that before that time, it was the desire of
the people to have all the buildings of a permanent character erected to the
grades of the levees; and the city established such a grade just in case of
high water from the two rivers, Ohio and Mississippi, that make up Cairo's
boundaries.
The building in the prime of its life contained the post
office, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois,
clerk's and marshal's offices, and the Signal Service Bureau. The latter was
the most complete in equipment and of great value in determining weather
forecasts to the whole country. Later, when the new post office was built
(1940) most of the Government Offices were transplanted into the new and
present dated building.
The Old Custom House since 1940 has
contained numerous offices, but at the present date houses only the Cairo
Police Department, which occupies the first floor of this beautifully
constructed building of the past.
Whirling back to the present, the
sky has cleared and the setting sun's orange rays are gleaming against the
proud historical building that for so long has stood for the glory of
justice.
By TOM E. BURNS
On October 29, 1889, a tremendous feat of
engineering, and in the 19th century a sometime called wonder of the world,
the Illinois Central Railroad bridge was opened. A gigantic "S" shaped
structure some four miles long, it was hailed as an engineering feat of the
century, but for one to fully appreciate the feat we must go back to the
beginning.
Such a bridge had been a dream of many people since the
formation of the Illinois Central Railroad. Shortly after the Civil War the
Paducah and Illinois Bridge Company was formed and the spirit behind this
company, Judge Lawrence S. Tremble, the president of the New Orleans and
Ohio Railroad (now part of Illinois Central Railroad) wanted to build a
bridge across the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky. but these plans failed to
develop.
The state of affairs remained quiet until 1879 when W. K.
Ackerman, president of the Illinois Central, conducted a survey to find the
most feasible point on the Ohio above its emptying into the Mississippi this
point was Cairo.
The next logical move would have been to start
construction at Cairo, but pressure was put on Congress and Kentucky
legislation to build the proposed bridge at Paducah. In March of 1886 the
Kentucky Act provided for a bridge "at Cairo or any point within five miles
above the upper corporate limits of Cairo and Paducah."
Oddly
enough, the border between Illinois and Kentucky is at the low water line on
the Illinois side. Thus at low water practically the whole river belongs to
Kentucky. The Illinois Central was convinced that it would be better to let
the Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad build the bridge because
there would be less obstruction in the Kentucky legislatures and the
Illinois Central did control this railroad. The reason this company was
chosen was that it was a southern branch railroad.
So a contract was
signed with the Union Bridge company and George S. Marison was obtained as
head engineer.
On July 1, 1887, work was begun on the caissons; and
on July 26, 1888 work was begun on the steel work. And on August 28, 1889
the bridge was completed.
The original bridge was 20,461 feet long.
The metallic portion was 10,560 feet long and the bridge proper 4,644 feet
long. There were borings 86 feet deep on the Illinois side and 193 feet on
the Kentucky side. The clearance above low water was 104.2 feet and the
total height of the bridge was 284.94 feet. The cost of this tremendous
structure was $2,952,286.00.
October 29, 1889, a never to be
forgotten day in the history of Cairo, the Halliday House was full as were
the other hotels. Early on the morning of the 29th nine seventy-five ton
Mogul locomotives arrived, and shortly the first cab started across the
bridge with the president of the Illinois Central in it. Before long, all
nine locomotives were on the bridge with a combined weight of six hundred
seventy-five tons; thus dispelling the fear that the bridge wouldn't support
heavy weight. Immediately following the locomotives was the first regular
scheduled locomotive to cross the bridge with Martin Egan at the controls.
This bridge closed the last transportation gap between the North and
the South. Also, it was so well constructed that no important changes were
made until 1949.
From 1890 the Illinois Central Railroad Bridge was
in constant use by the Illinois Central lines and the Gulf, Mobile, and
Ohio, helping to link the North with the South in railway transportation.
In the early 1940's laws were made limiting the amount of load a
train could carry and the speed of a train crossing the bridge. This was
because through the years there had been no major repairs and the bridge was
beginning to show the wear and tear of the years. In the late 1940's these
laws began throwing the trains off schedule and costing the railroad money.
Something had to be done!
The Illinois Central decided on a complete
reconstruction of the bridge. A joint contract was let to the Massman
Construction Company and the Kansas City Bridge Company, with the concrete
furnished by Edgar Stephens and Sons Ready Mix Concrete Company and the
steel for the superstructure was furnished and erected by the American
Bridge Company.
In 1949 the work on the bridge was begun. The work
was very complex and very difficult. A wooden ramp, approximately 350 feet
long was built from the Ohio levee protruding over the Ohio River. The
concrete trucks would then back down this ramp and dump their concrete into
buckets on a barge waiting below. The barge would then take the concrete out
to the bridge where coffer dams had been built around the peers and pumped
dry. Tremie tubes, known in construction terminology as "elephant tusks,'"
had been lowered into the dam: and a special "high early strength concrete"
with a water-proof additive, which was especially made by Marquette Cement
Company of St. Louis, was poured in them. By this time water had entered the
dam and all of this was taking place under water. The concrete was allowed
to set for awhile and the tremies were then removed. This operation could
not be stopped once it was started, and they sometimes worked day and night
for fifteen and sixteen hours to finish. A difficult and time consuming
task, the above procedure had to be performed on every pier of the bridge.
Besides the strengthening of the piers, all of the steel trestles
had to be replaced. This could have meant closing the bridge for as much as
two or three years, but a method was developed so that the bridge was never
closed for more than four or five hours at a time. This was accomplished by
cutting trestles in sections and dropping them into the river. As soon as a
section was dropped off one side of the bridge the new replacement was
brought in by barge from the other side and lowered into place by a crane.
Later, divers used underwater torches to cut the old trestles into small
sections so that they could be removed from the river easier. They had to be
removed as they were a hindrance to navigation.
This operation begun
in 1949, was completed in early 1952 at a cost of $6,500,000. An amazing
factor is that in all the time of this highly dangerous procedure, and much
to the credit of the contractors, only one man was killed.
The
Illinois Central Railroad Bridge may have lost some of its glory from days
of old, but it is still an important link in the Illinois Central chain and
will continue to be for many years.
By JANIS CARTER
In this paper I will try to show the beginning
struggles, and development of a town whose principal advantage lay in its
splendid geographical situation. We know there was an awareness of the value
of the site as early as the first French explorers. Indians probably used
the site as a camping ground long before that, since both hunting and
fishing were good. Indian mounds found in the area testify to the presence
of Indians at an early date.
Several attempts were made to establish
a town on the site of Cairo. The first of these attempts failed because of
lack of financial backing and small faith in the site, because of the
surrounding rivers. Progress was definitely slow because of the flood
conditions of the area.
The early settlers were rough and rugged.
The first building was a tavern, the second a store. These were followed by
a woodsman's shanty. The history of Cairo includes men who left their
imprint on Cairo both in ideas and buildings.
Marouette and Joliet,
the first white men to explore the upper length of the Mississippi River,
glided past the site of Cairo in 1672. They noted the formation of the land
at the confluence of the rivers. In 1682, La Salle's expedition reached the
site of Cairo and noted the joining of the rivers, the low banks, marshy
land, walnut trees and other timber.
In 1702 Charles Juchereau de
St. Denys, Lieutenant General of th? Jurisdiction of Montreal, obtained a
royal concession near the mouth of the Ohio River, where he established a
tannery in 1702.
In 1721, Charlevoix, a Jesuit missionary, wrote at
Kaskaskia that the place at the confluence of the rivers was not fit for
settlement. His advice was not heeded and settlement was made on the
Mississippi from Alton to Chester, Illinois, north of the site of Cairo.
In 1778, George Rodgers Clark entered the Illinois Country with a small
force and captured the British posts at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes.
In 1779 in a letter to Thomas Jefferson he gave his opinions and ideas
concerning this land. The area was subject to seasonal rises of the rivers
and for that reason the fort, named Fort Jefferson, was built on the east
bank of the Mississippi, five miles downstream from the site of Cairo. This
fort was so placed to maintain possession of the frontier. Fort Jefferson
was attacked in 1781 and after the siege all left except several members of
the Bird family. The Bird family settled on the west bank of the river
opposite the site of Cairo. This area is still known as Bird's Point.
Archie Henry surveyed for the Federal Government township 17 comprising
the site of Cairo in 1807. Shortly after a keelboatman landed at the
junction of the rivers and found a polehut on stilts, a canoe and stakes
driven into the water as mooring posts.
The crew of the New Orleans,
the first steamboat to go down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, saw
Indians in canoes among the trees on the land flooded by the Mississippi at
the mouth of the Ohio.
In 1817 Captain Henry W. Shreve, builder of
the first double-deck steamboat, showed that the rivers could be navigated
by shipping a full cargo from Louisville, Kentucky, to New Orleans and back
in twenty-five days. This trip convinced traders and builders that the Ohio
and Mississippi were to be avenues of trade and travel. The land at the
junction became a desirable investment and the site of Cairo was purchased
four months later.
In 1817 William and Thomas Bird took about 300
acres of what is now the south part of Cairo. At the same time John Gleaves
Comegys, a merchant of Baltimore and St. Louis, took 1,800 acres. William
and Thomas Bird planned no settlement other than a spontaneous outgrowth of
shops and dwellings caused by the development of the midwest. Comegys,
however, obtained an act, passed by the Territorial Legislature
incorporating the City and Bank of Cairo. "The bill provided that a city be
platted; that a third of the money derived from the sale of lots be used to
construct levees; and that the remaining funds be invested in the Cairo
Bank. The city was named Cairo because of the supposed similarity of its
site to the land at the Nile delta."
These facts show an awareness
of the value of the site from early exploration and although it was years
before a town was built references can be found as to the desirable land at
the confluence of the rivers.
In 1828 the Birds brought slaves
across the river and built a tavern, two frame houses and a store. Later
Judge Sidney Breese enlarged Comegys plan which included construction of a
railroad from Cairo to the Illinois and Michigan Canal. This railroad was to
form a link between the rich farming region on the Great Lakes and large
rivers of the south. Breese interested Anthony Olney, Alexander M. Jenkins,
Thomas Swanwick, Miles A. Gilbert, and Donald J. Baker, who pooled resources
with Breese and in 1835 bought all of the present site of Cairo with the
exception of the Bird's property. Although Judge Breese's group was composed
of astute men, it lacked the empire-builder necessary to promote the plan
financially and politically. Such a man appeared in the person of Darius
Blake Holbrook.
Holbrook met Judge Breese at Vandalia and instantly
impressed him with his glowing conception of Illinois. When the State
Legislature incorporated the Central Railroad in 1836, the name of Holbrook
appeared as the treasurer of the company, along with those of John Reynolds,
Sidney Breese, Pierre Menard, and fifty-five other incorporators who were
commercial and political leaders of Illinois. In Washington a congressional
committee approved a memorial to congress for Federal Aid to build the road.
This measure was superceded by an act of the Illinois Legislature. In accord
with the building of roads, bridges and canals the Illinois Legislature
passed an act for a General System of Internal Improvement in 1837. This act
made Holbrook practically owner and master of Alexander County. A large
frame house was built for Holbrook's use, and, nearby, a spacious hotel was
erected to accommodate in-coming settlers. The population of Cairo mounted
to one thousand within a year. The precise status Holbrook intended for
Cairo remains unknown; in 1840 his plan failed. The State of Illinois
repealed the 1837 act stopping work on the Central Railroad. At this time
news came of the failure of the John Wright Company in London. The rumor
that the English farm controlled the Cairo Bank sent the value of its notes
to nothing in St. Louis and Chicago. The town, with its bright future,
became bankrupt. All the inhabitants who could rushed from the city. Those
who could not leave continued to run the ironworks and shipyard. In 1841 the
steamboat "Tennessee Valley" built by Cairo workmen was launched. This was
the anticlimax of Holbrook's City. Industry stopped, population grew even
smaller and the town was practically deserted. Holbrook seeing the end and
knowing where the blame would be placed left before the storm broke. Then in
1842 as a final touch a flood entered the incompleted levee and put a
definite end to the venture. It was at this time that Dickens, who had
supposedly lost money in the venture, made his well-known remark as to the
"desolate, dirty, dismal swamp which was Cairo." The life period of the town
during this period was three years.
The Cairo City and Canal Company
was succeeded by the Cairo City Property Trust.
In 1843 there were
only about fifty persons living in Cairo. Steamboats were still going up and
down the rivers. They stopped at Cairo for supplies and passenger transfer.
The few residents of the village throve. There were no rents or taxes to
pay.
When the Illinois Central Railroad Company was incorporated by
the State Legislature in 1851, the growth of Cairo was stimulated.
Industries came to Cairo. Ferry service was a thriving business. Many boats
were using the river. To accomodate new businesses, homes were built, and
stores opened. But labor methods changed and river traffic was replaced and
the town began. Although Cairo may never be the great metropolis her
builders thought it, it will continue to live.
People of Cairo are
proud of the old landmarks, and homes built by men who had faith in the
town. Along the water front may still be seen remains of business houses and
hotels that did a thriving business during the time of great river activity.
The iron grillwork of some of these buildings are works of art. The water
front is now quiet. Although the struggle has been great the town was made
from a dismal swamp. Its story has been rough, rugged and in some respects
dramatic and certainly most interesting.
Extracted 30 Dec 2017 by Norma Hass from Alexander County Profiles, published in 1968, pages 5-15.
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