Alexander County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter XXIX Cairo Banks And Businesses 1910 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 20, 2007, 4:16 pm Book Title: A History Of The City Of Cairo Illiniois CHAPTER XXIX CAIRO BANKS-BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS-THE CUSTOM HOUSE-THE HALLIDAY HOTEL-THE SPRINGFIELD BLOCK-THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ALEXANDER M. JENKINS CAIRO BANKS.- On the 2d day of March, 1839, the legislature granted to the Cairo City & Canal Company the right to use the banking privileges granted by the Territorial Act of January 9, 1818, to the City and Bank of Cairo, the tenth section of which required the banking business of the corporation to be transacted at Kaskaskia; hence, the reason why the bank bills represented on the opposite page were issued at Kaskaskia. Bills were issued from time to time and to such an extent that the legislature thought best to interfere; and on March 4, 1843, it repealed the act of January 9, 1818, so far as it related to banking. The City Bank of Cairo was organized in the year 1858 under the general banking law of the state, by Mr. Lotus Niles, of Springfield. Of this bank Mr. James C. Smith was president and Mr. Alfred B. Safford was the cashier. It carried on its business in Cairo up to the time of the organization of the City National Bank. The Planters Bank of Cairo was organized under the same general banking act in the same year and by a Mr. Trimble, of McCracken County, Kentucky. It did business here for a few years and seems to have been succeeded by the First National Bank of Cairo. The First National Bank of Cairo was organized on the 24th day of July, 1863, under the National Banking Act of February 25, 1863. The first board of directors were John W. Trover, Daniel Hurd, Robert W. Miller, and the president, cashier and teller were John W. Trover, Daniel Hurd and William H. Morris. The bank continued to do business for many years; but its experience was somewhat varied, and its stock depreciating, Capt. William P. Halliday acquired the controlling interest in the stock, and after having carried on the business of the bank for a year or two, found it best to discontinue the institution. The City National Bank of Cairo was organized February 7, 1865, under the same National Banking Act. The first board of directors were William P. Halliday, Samuel B. Halliday, A. B. Safford, S. Staats Taylor, and G. D. Williamson. The first of these became its president, the second its vice-president, and the third its cashier. They continued in these positions up to the times of their respective deaths. This bank continued to transact a large business in Cairo for over forty years, and until merged into the present First Bank & Trust Company. The Enterprise (Savings) Bank of Cairo was chartered March 3, 1869, tne incorporators of which were William P. Halliday, William H. Green, and Alfred B. Safford. It was conducted chiefly as a savings bank and did a large business until its merger, with the City National, into the First Bank & Trust Company. The First Bank & Trust Company was organized on the 2d day of January, 1907, and is the successor of the City National Bank and the Enterprise (Savings) Bank above mentioned. The present officers and board of directors of the bank are as follows: John S. Aisthorpe, president; Henry S. Candee, Walter H. Wood, and William P. Halliday, vice-presidents; H. R. Aisthorpe, cashier and secretary; Thomas P. Cotter, Reed Green, H. E. Halliday, Andrew Lohr, Peter Saup, Paul G. Schuh and Thomas J. Smyth. There was no other bank in Cairo besides the two National Banks from the year 1865 until the year 1875, when Thomas Lewis, long a resident of Cairo, organized the Alexander County Bank under the state banking law of February 15, 1851, and only a short time before that act was repealed by the adoption of the state constitution of 1870. The officers of that bank were P. C. Canady, president; Henry Wells, vice-president; Thomas Lewis, cashier; and Thomas J. Kerth, assistant cashier. About one year later, the bank was reorganized, with Judge Fredolin Bross as president; Peter Neff as vice-president; Henry Wells, cashier; and Thomas J. Kerth, assistant cashier. It continued its banking business until July 1, 1887, when it was changed to a national bank, and called the Alexander County National Bank. Its present board of directors and officers are as follows: Edward A. Buder, president; Charles Feuchter, vice-president; James H. Galligan, cashier; Charles O. Patier, Calvin V. Neff, William Kluge, N. B. Thistlewood, David S. Lansden, George Parsons, and Thomas Boyd. In the year 1889, the Alexander County Savings Bank was organized. Its officers and directors are those of the Alexander County National Bank. The Cairo National Bank was organized in August, 1903, under the same national banking act. It has done a prosperous business and seems to have fully justified its establishment. The present board of directors and the officers are as follows: Egbert A. Smith, president; W. F. Grinstead, vice-president; E. E. Cox, cashier; and Q. E. Beckwith, assistant cashier; Daniel Hartman, M. J. Howley, E. J. Pink, T. J. Kerth, P. I. Nassauer, Oscar L. Herbert, and F. Teichman. BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.- These associations might properly be called institutions of the city. That would be saying a great deal for them, but not more than they deserve. The evil of waste and prodigality is all prevailing. Anything that tends to teach frugality, economy, saving, thrift, should stand in great favor. Anything that tends to afford means or methods by which homes may be procured is certainly a very great thing in any civilized community. By means of these associations hundreds of homes have been secured in our city; and besides this, the invaluable lesson of economy has been widely and strikingly taught. THE CAIRO BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION was established in the year 1880. Esq. Alfred Comings has been at its head all the time, and to him, more than to any other man, its success has been due. It is the pioneer society and should have the credit accorded all pioneers. I would be glad to give some statistics here, all of which would be strongly confirmatory of what I have said of the above associations. The present officers and directors of this association are: Henry Hasenjager, president; Wm. Schatz, vice-president; A. Comings, secretary; J. H. Galligan, treasurer; P. A. Conant, L. H. Myers, W. P. Greaney, John C. Gholson, Charles F. Miller, and Paul G. Schuh. THE CITIZENS' BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION was established in the year 1887. Its present officers and directors are: E. A. Buder, president; M. J. Howley, vice-president; J. C. Crowley, secretary; E. E. Cox, treasurer; John W. C. Fry, E. G. Pink, G. T. Carnes, Charles Feuchter, and G. P. Crabtree. THE HOME BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION was established in 1890. Its present officers and directors are: Alexander Wilson, president; C. R. Stuart, vice-president; E. C. Halliday, secretary; George T. Carnes, treasurer; Miles Fred'k Gilbert, attorney; E. J. Stuart, G. P. Crabtree, C. B. Dewey, and T. L. Pulley. THE CENTRAL BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION was established in 1899. Its present officers and directors are: J. B. Magee, president; C. S. Carey, vice-president; Edward L. Gilbert, secretary; Thomas J. Kerth, treasurer; William S. Dewey, attorney; Frank Thomas, H. S. Antrim, T. J. Pryor, A. T. DeBaun, A. J. Rees, W. P. June, and Ira Hastings. THE GREATER CAIRO BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION was established in the year 1905. Its present officers and directors are: Paul G. Schuh, president; Bernard McManus, Jr., vice-president; Matt C. Metzger, secretary; Wm. P. Greaney, treasurer; Frank Ferguson, Walter Denzel, Reed Green, Ed. Hall, and Peter Day. The capital stock allowed to each of the above five associations is $1,000,000. THE CUSTOM HOUSE.- Cairo was made a port of delivery by the act of congress of August 3, 1854. It was discontinued August 31, 1885, and re-established September 4, 1890. The following named persons were surveyors of the port in the order named: Col. John S. Hacker, 1854 to 1858; Levi L. Lightner, 1858 to 1861 ; Col. James C. Sloo, in 1861; Daniel Arter, 1861 to 1869; George Fisher, 1869 to 1885; John F. Rector, 1890 to 1894; Frank Cassiday, 1894 to 1898; Thomas C. Elliott, 1899, to the present time. Cairo was never a port of entry. We suppose no place or point in southern Illinois was made a port of entry since the old act of February 28, 1799, the 14th section of which created a collection district, called the District of Massac. The territory embraced in the district included the lands "relinquished and ceded to the United States by the Indian nations at the treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, lying near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and on the north side thereof and from the mouth of the Ohio to the eastern side of the river Wabash." Fort Massac, or such other place as the President might designate, was made the sole port of entry for the district, and a collector was to be appointed who should reside thereat. Ports of entry are those ports established by law at which imported goods are fully described, that is, entered in and according to the form prescribed therefor. The entries are made by the owner of the vessel, a consignee of the goods, or other properly authorized person. Ports of delivery are those at which goods may be delivered and unloaded after having passed ports of entry. On the 18th day of February, 1859, 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 City 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 present building on the block. The entire cost of the property is said to have been as much as two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The government began the erection of the building in the year 1869, and the same was completed in the year 1872. The building was planned by the supervising architect at Washington, Mr. A. B. Mullett, who, when he came here and saw that the main floor of the structure was to be on a level with the then existing levees, ordered so much of the stone courses of the walls removed as would bring it down to the present grade. This recalls the fact that long before that time, it was the desire of a great many persons to have all the buildings of a permanent character erected to the grade of the levees; and I believe the city established such a grade. Winter's block building on the corner of Seventh Street and Commercial Avenue, now the property of Mr. Edward A. Buder, was built to this high grade; but it appearing that a lower grade was likely to come into general use, especially as the city government favored the lower grade, the owners of the building at very great expense lowered the same to the present grade. The beginning of the construction of the custom house building to the high grade was about the last important attempt made in the city to build to that grade. The fine property of the Trustees on the east side of Washington Avenue, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, is another example of high-grade construction. It is a matter of great regret that this high-grade method of building and street filling could not have been carried out. I do not suppose the city will ever return to it. Too much has been done and too much money expended to allow of the change. As heretofore stated a number of times, it was a question of money, but Supervising Architect Mullett could not have regarded the matter of expense as important in the case of the Cairo custom house. As elsewhere remarked, the government could not accept the transfer of the block above mentioned and erect thereon an expensive building without the strongest assurances as to the title of the Trustees. This was perhaps the most important instance in which the Trustees undertook to show a title back to the government itself, or as we generally say, a perfect title. Mr. James C. Rankin was for a time superintendent of the construction of the custom house. He was succeeded by Mr. George Sease. Although forty years ago many of our citizens will remember those gentlemen. THE HALLIDAY HOTEL.- The "Commercial Gazetteer of the Ohio River," with a map of the river from Pittsburg to Cairo, and published at Indianapolis in 1861, by G. W. Hawes, contains quite a long list of Cairo advertisers, a few of whom only can be mentioned. There is not a word in any of its four hundred and forty-six pages to indicate that the war had then opened. The following are some of the advertising cards in the book: I. & W. Adler, clothing; John Antrim, wholesale and retail dealer in clothing, hats, caps, etc.; Atlantic Hotel, F. E. Wilson, 15 Ohio Levee; Blelock & Co., booksellers; H. H. Candee and M. S. Gilbert, wholesale grocers, forwarding and commission merchants, No. 1 Springfield Block; John Cheek, hay, corn, oats, etc.; The City Bank of Cairo, A. B. Safford, cashier; Charles Galigher & Co., Cairo City Mills, Premium Eagle Flour; Graham, Halliday & Co., forwarding merchants and wharfboat proprietors; Hamilton & Riley, dry goods; Planters Bank, Bank Building, Ohio Levee, Walter Hyslop, cashier; G. F. Rasor, International Saloon, Ohio Levee; A. B. Safford, general insurance agent and cashier of City Bank of Cairo; Smyth & Brother, wholesale and retail grocers; J. Q. Stancil, butcher and meat market, Commercial Avenue; A. F. & J. B. Taylor, wholesale grocers, commission and forwarding merchants, No. 9 Springfield Block; Trover & Miller, forwarding commission and grocery merchants, No. 11 Ohio Levee; F. Vincent, wholesale and retail dealer in produce, provisions, etc., 18 Ohio Levee; I. Walder & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in clothing; Williamson, Haynes & Co., commission and forwarding merchants on their new wharfboat; Wilson & Co., forwarding and commission merchants, No. 4 Springfield Block; William Winter, hardware, Commercial Avenue, and restaurant, Ohio Levee. Among the numerous hotels named are the St. Charles, the Lamothe House, the Louisiana House, the Virginia Hotel and the Central House. The St. Charles Hotel twenty years afterwards became the Halliday Hotel. I may speak of the Halliday Hotel as one doing and having long done great credit to our city. Were almost everything else in the city made to correspond with it, we would have a fine city of fifty to one hundred thousand people. If we could "grow twenty feet high and swell out in proportion," in the language of Dickens, so as to correspond with the hotel, the Illinois Central Railroad bridge would be at the center of the city instead of being on its north boundary line. On the 9th day of February, 1857, the legislature of the state incorporated the Cairo City Hotel Company. The incorporators were Ninian W. Edwards, John T. Smith, John E. Ousley, Hiram Walker, William Butler, Daniel Hannon, Thomas Ragsdale, James C. Conkling, John Cook, Philip Wineman, Thomas H. Campbell, Benjamin F. Edwards, W. J. Stephens and Abraham Williams. The hotel was in the course of construction when the inundation of June 12, 1858, occurred; and the water coming in all around the foundation and reaching a large storage of lime, the effect was such as to cause a part of one of the walls to fall. The work went on at once after the subsidence of the water, and the hotel was finished and named the St. Charles and opened about the first of January, 1859. It was conducted by different persons from time to time, under leases from its owners; and like almost everything else in Cairo, had a somewhat varied experience, especially after the war closed. During the war its business was up to its full capacity all the time. Afterwards it shared largely in the general shrinkage which took place. The ownership of the hotel changed but two or three times, and in the year 1880, Halliday Brothers acquired the property, and so improved it as to make it almost a new building. Its name was changed to "The Halliday" and opened under the new management July 1, 1881. New improvements were made from time to time, until in 1908, the very large addition was made on the south side, greatly enlarging its capacity and rendering it in every respect a first-class modern hotel. The property now belongs to the estate of Capt. Halliday, and with the Gayoso Hotel, of Memphis, has been under the management of Mr. L. P. Parker for a number of years. Mr. Parker has long stood in the front rank of hotel managers. If the reader will turn to Chapter XXX and read the account there given by a Frenchman he will see what the Frenchman said of the hotel about the time it was first opened. The Frenchman's language is extravagantly commendatory; but the fact is that this hotel from the day it was first opened to the present time has been far above the character and standing of almost any hotel anywhere in the country in a city not larger than ours. THE SPRINGFIELD BLOCK.- This block when it first received its name extended from 6th to 8th Streets and fronted on what is now Ohio Street. The buildings were erected by Springfield men, including Governor Joel A. Matteson, and almost all of the hotel men above mentioned. Governor Matteson erected the City National Bank building, changed considerably in the last hw years and now the property of the First Bank & Trust Company. The rooms on the second and third floors of this building were occupied during the war by many distinguished army men. General Grant, while here in 1861, occupied the second-floor rooms on the north side of the building, rooms now constituting the law offices of the Hon. Miles Frederick Gilbert. In that pamphlet of 105 pages, entitled "Past, Present and Future of Cairo," frequently referred to herein, those Springfield men set forth the fact that they had invested three to four hundred thousand dollars in Cairo in the purchase of lots and in the making of improvements thereon, and claiming that for the damages done them by the inundation of June 12, 1858, the Trustees, or the Illinois Central Railroad Company, or both together, should reimburse them. THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.- This court was established by our legislature for the city by the act of February 6, 1855. It was amended in many important particulars by the act of February 14, 1859. It had jurisdiction to the amount of fifty thousand dollars and of all crimes except those of treason and murder. Its first judge, the Hon. Isham N. Haynie, was appointed by Governor Joel A. Matteson February 13, 1856, and again January 8, 1857. The law provided that in 1861, and every six years thereafter, the judge of the court should be elected by the people of the city. Judge John H. Mulkey was elected judge of the court June 12, 1861, and again June 27, 1867. He held the office until it was abolished by the act of February 19, 1869. H. Watson Webb was appointed prosecuting attorney of the court April 24, 1856, and served in that capacity until June 26, 1867, when Fountain E. Albright was elected to succeed him. Judge Haynie was born at Dover, Tennessee, November 18, 1824. He worked on a farm to obtain means to study law and was licensed in 1846. He was a lieutenant in the 6th Illinois volunteers in the Mexican War. On his return, he resumed the practice in 1849, and in 1850, was elected to the legislature from Marion County. He graduated from the Kentucky law school at Louisville, in 1852. In i860 he was presidential elector on the Douglas ticket for this congressional district. In 1861 he became colonel of the 48th regiment Illinois volunteers. He was at the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and was severely wounded in the latter battle. In 1862, he was defeated for congress by the Hon. William J. Allen, and the same year he was made brigadier general in the Union army. He resumed the practice of the law at Cairo in 1864, and in 1865 was appointed by Governor Oglesby, adjutant general of the state. He died while holding that office at Springfield in November, 1868. He was the senior member of the firm of Haynie, Marshall & Gilbert for a while before his removal to Springfield, the junior member having been the Hon. William B. Gilbert, who has been somewhat longer than the writer a member of the Cairo bar. Most of the above facts regarding General Haynie are taken from the "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois." Judge Mulkey lived many years in Cairo and was well known, not only here in southern Illinois, but all over the state. He stood very high as a lawyer and jurist, and few such men have a better established reputation with the bar and the judges of our courts throughout Illinois. Quite a full biographical sketch of Judge Mulkey is found in volume eleven of the publications of the Illinois Historical Society, now in our public library and owned by a number of our citizens. There was more of politics in the repeal of the act creating the court of common pleas than there was of good to the city. It may be here stated that many real-estate titles in the city are based on judgments of this court. ALEXANDER M. JENKINS.- I have delayed speaking of Judge Alexander M. Jenkins, in the hope of obtaining answers to my letters to a number of persons for information concerning him, but for some reason the letters seem to have been neglected, and hence the appearance here of what I have relating to this somewhat noted man, who held our circuit court here during the years 1859-1863. The following very brief account of him I have taken from the "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois": Alexander M. Jenkins, Lieutenant Governor (1834-36), came to Illinois in his youth and located in Jackson County, being for a time a resident of Brownsville, the first county seat of Jackson County, where he was engaged in trade. Later he studied law and became eminent in his profession in southern Illinois. In 1830, Mr. Jenkins was elected representative in the seventh general assembly; was re-elected in 1832, serving during his second term as speaker of the house; and took part the latter year in the Black Hawk War as captain of a company. In 1834, Mr. Jenkins was elected lieutenant governor at the same time with Governor Duncan, though on an opposing ticket, but resigned, in 1836, to become President of the first Illinois Central Railroad Company, which was chartered that year. The charter of the road was surrendered in 1837, when the state had in contemplation the policy of building a system of roads at its own expense. For a time he was Receiver of Public Moneys in the Land Office at Edwardsville, and in 1847, was elected to the State Constitutional Convention of that year. Other positions held by him include that of Justice of the circut court for the third judicial circuit, to which he was elected in 1859, and re-elected in 1861, but died in office February 13, 1864. Mr. Jenkins was the uncle of General John A. Logan, who read law with him after his return from the Mexican War. I may here say that it has been stated a number of times that Judge Jenkins, as far back as 1832 or 1833, when in our state legislature, proposed the survey of a line for a railroad from the mouth of the Ohio River to Peru on the Illinois River. I have tried very hard to verify this statement or claim but have been unable to do so. It is said that the records of the proceedings of the legislature of that early day are so incomplete or so lack fullness that the mere absence of anything therein relating to such action on his part would not at all justify the conclusion that no such action had been taken. We have already seen how Jenkins and Holbrook were associated together in 1836 and subsequent years in efforts to build a city here and an Illinois Central Railroad. We know very little of their mutual dealings either as individuals or as representatives of their companies; but our circuit court records here show that Joel Manning, as assignee of Jenkins, on the 15th day of November, 1845, sued Darius B. Holbrook on a promissory note under seal and in the words and figures following: "Alton, Ill., May 26, 1837. For value received, I promise to pay to the order of Alexander M. Jenkins the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars in three years from date, at the Branch of the State Bank of Illinois at Alton. $20,000. D. B. Holbrook (Seal)" On the back of the note is the following: "Received city of N. York June, 1839, one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) on the within note;" and also the following endorsement: "For value received of him I hereby make over and assign and transfer the within note to Joel Manning, May 20th, 1840. A. M. Jenkins." On the back of the summons is the following return: "Served by reading the same to D. B. Holbrook on the 23rd day of November, 1845. A. W. Anderson, Sheriff, Alex., Ill." Judgment was recovered on this note for the amount due thereon; and it seems there was also a foreclosure suit based on a mortgage given to secure the note, and the mortgaged property sold and the proceeds of the sale credited on the note. This entry of credit consists of four or five lines and seems to be in the handwriting of Col. S. Staats Taylor; but he was not here at that early day, and the entry seems to have been made a long time ago. When the writer came to Cairo many years ago he frequently heard Judge Jenkins spoken of as a very able man. The Hon. Monroe C. Crawford, of Jonesboro, I am sure, would speak in the highest terms of Judge Jenkins, both as to his excellency as a man and his great ability as a judge. Besides Judge Jenkins, there were a number of other men of strong character who were associated with Jenkins, Holbrook, Breese, Gilbert and others, of whom I have not been able to say more than a word. There were David J. Baker, senior, Thomas Swanwick, Anthony Olney, Kenneth McKenzie, John M. Krum, who became and was for a long time a very prominent lawyer and citizen of St. Louis, and a number of others whom I would like to mention more or less fully. Joel Manning, above mentioned, was long a resident of Brownsville, quite a celebrated old town of Jackson County, Illinois, the site of which is now in a cornfield. Manning was secretary of the Illinois & Michigan Canal Board and was in public life many years. With reference to the Holbrook-Jenkins note above described, we may say that the promoters of the Cairo of 1836 were active business men and took hold of their enterprise with great energy; and it is no wonder that some of them became heavily involved. The outlook was so bright and promising that they ventured quite too much in many cases. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF CAIRO ILLINOIS BY JOHN M. LANSDEN WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS CHICAGO R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 1910 COPYRIGHTED, 1910 BY JOHN M. LANSDEN The Lakeside Press R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/alexander/history/1910/ahistory/chapterx143gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 27.7 Kb