of age when he arrived from Rushville, Illinois, in 1847. He had received a good education at McKendree College where he also conducted classes and prepared himself for the profession of law. On his arrival he opened an office in Chicago, where he was associated with Mr. Paul Cornell, who afterwards became known as the "Father of the Park System of Chicago." In 1848 Mr. Scripps bought a one-third interest in the Chicago Tribune, which had been established the preceding year, Messrs. John E. Wheeler and Thomas A. Stewart making up the trio of ownership. William Bross in his history says that "Mr. Scripps was its principal writer and editorial manager. The press of Chicago was then in its infancy. He at once, by his dignified labor, gave tone and character to it." Again quoting from Bross, it is said that "Mr. Scripps' literary abilities were of a high order, his style was chaste, lucid and simple, his reasoning powers always strong and cogent, his arguments well timed and condensed, and straight to the point." In the volume of contributions published by the Illinois State Historical Society for the year 1903, Mr. Howard F. Dyson has an article on "Lincoln in Rushville." Rushville is the county seat of Schuyler county, Illinois, and it was here that Lincoln made a speech on October 20th, 1858. "In the audience that greeted Lincoln on that day," says Dyson, "was a Rushville gentleman who at the time was one of the Republican leaders of the state, and was afterwards instrumental in securing for Chicago the National Convention in 1860, the one thing needed to secure Lincoln's nomination for president. We refer to John Locke Scripps, the editor of the Chicago Press and Tribune, the recognized organ of the Republican party in Illinois. As editor-in-chief, Mr. Scripps wielded all the influence at his command towards bringing Lincoln before the country as a presidential candidate. The Rev. W. H. Milburn, the blind chaplain of Congress, in a letter to Mr. Scripps' daughter, Mrs. Frank B. Dyche of Evanston, says: 'I suppose your father's influence did more to secure Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the presidency than that of any other man.' SCRIPPS WRITES THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF LINCOLN After the nomination of Mr. Lincoln as a candidate for the presidency, Mr. Scripps visited him at his home in Springfield for the purpose of gathering the necessary facts to write an account of his life. This was the first authorized life of Lincoln. How he came to obtain the facts on which to base the work is told by another one of Lincoln's biographers. Though characteristically reluctant to enter into the personal details required, Mr. Lincoln was confronted with the "demand for facts." Dyson continues, "Just how he met and disposed of the question the world will probably never know, for he locked himself up in a room with his biographer one afternoon, and there communicated certain facts regarding his ancestry and early history which Scripps, so long as he lived, would never under any circumstances disclose." Scripps' "Life of Lincoln" forms the basis of all standard works on the subject, and Dr. Holland, in his volume, bears testimony to its excellence. When the work was completed the book was extensively circulated and served to acquaint the general public outside of the state with Lincoln's personality, concerning which there was great curiosity. Its value as an accurate and truthful statement is well known, and as copies of it have become rare it is highly valued by collectors. "It is gratifying to me to see," he afterwards wrote Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, "that the same qualities in Lincoln to which I then gave greatest prominence are those on which his fame ever chiefly rests. Is it not true that this is the leading lesson of Lincoln's life, that true and enduring greatness, the greatness that will survive the corrosion and abrasion of time, change and progress, must rest upon character? In certain showy, and what is understood to be most desirable endowments, how many Americans have surpassed him! Not eloquence or logic nor grasp of thought, not statesmanship nor power of command, not courage, not any nor all of these have made him what he is. But these, in the degree in which he possessed them, conjoined to those certain qualities composed in the term character, have given him his fame, have made him for all time to come, the great American Man, the grand central figure in American history." 1861. BECOMES POSTMASTER AT CHICAGO Mr. Scripps was appointed postmaster at Chicago by Mr. Lincoln April 22d, Of his services in that office Mr. Bross wrote, "It is not saying too much, nor is it injustice to others to say, that he was the best postmaster Chicago ever had. His labors were constant and unremitting. He rapidly comprehended the routine of the office, and his quick perceptions suggested radical and important changes both in and out of the office, which were adopted by the Department, and have since proved of great value." Another writer says: "Jointly with George B. Armstrong, his assistant, he conceived and carried out the idea of distributing mail on the cars, a system which has generally been introduced." When the first Board of Trade regiment was in process of formation Mr. Scripps liberally provided for a company of men enlisted from among the post office employes. He bore the expense of equipment of this company, cared for the families of many of the men during their absence, besides lending his presence and influence on all occasions where the cause of the Union would be aided. If he had entered the military service himself he would no doubt have attained high rank, but he judged, and rightly judged, that he would be more useful to the cause in the sphere in which he found himself. HANDLING THE SOLDIERS' MAIL Mr. Rush R. Sloane, who during the war was the general agent of the Post Office department with an office in Chicago, wrote under date of April 22d, 1899, to Charles U. Gordon, postmaster at Chicago on the latter date, narrating some interesting details of mail transportation and distribution in wartime. He relates that soon after the movement of troops towards the South became very heavy, there was a large accumulation of mail matter at Cairo, Illinois. "The rush of mail matter was so great," he says, "that at one time forty car loads of mail was on side tracks in Cairo. The post office there was a small one-story building about ten by fourteen feet in size. General Grant and Commodore Foote telegraphed President Lincoln, 'the soldiers must get their letters or they would go home.' Under orders from Washington I at once went to Cairo and seized a large two-story brick building, ordered forty employes to come from the Chicago post office, and in fifteen days the army was receiving the mail regularly. This action was severe on Chicago, but Mr. Scripps and his capable assistant, George B. Armstrong, soon restored order and business went on as usual." The year after his arrival in Chicago, Mr. Scripps was married to Mary Elizabeth Blanchard, daughter of Seth Blanchard, Esq., of Greenville, Illinois; to them were born two daughters and a son. The only one of these children now surviving is Mrs. Grace Locke Scripps Dyche, whose husband is Mr. Frank B. Dyche, a prominent lawyer of Chicago, and a long time resident of Evanston. Mrs. Dyche has preserved many memorials of her father which she cherishes with filial de votion. THE CLOSING SCENES OF HIS LIFE After his resignation as postmaster at Chicago, in 1866, Mr. Scripps disposed of his interest in the Tribune, and became senior partner in the banking firm of Scripps, Preston & Kean; but a few days later he was seized with a dangerous attack of pneumonia. The death of Mrs. Scripps in the preceding month of January had completely prostrated him with grief, and he could not rally from the attack. On September 21st, 1866, Mr. Scripps breathed his last, being at that time in the forty-ninth year of his age. ness. John L. Scripps was a cultured man of great force of character, identified with every movement, either as leader or helper, making for civic or personal righteousEspecially was he a devoted supporter of the Union cause from the beginning, and he possessed the confidence of Mr. Lincoln to as great a degree as any man in Chicago. One writer said of him, "No citizen of this or any other community ever commanded a more hearty and thorough respect from his fellows than he. Candor, integrity and courage were the marked traits of his character. A mean act, an unworthy motive, a cowardly thought, had no room in his soul. He avoided the very appearance of evil. It is not too much to say that in the meridian of life, with his ample fortune, his unsullied record, and his conspicuous talents, he might have aspired to almost any position in the gift of his fellow citizens." INTERESTING ANNIVERSARIES The fiftieth anniversaries of many important events, such as the inauguration of President Lincoln, firing on Fort Sumter, the president's first call for troops, the riots at Baltimore, and the first battle of Bull Run, occurred during the early months of 1911, and public attention was called to them in various ways by the daily press. The Chicago Daily News inaugurated a series of articles descriptive of the early scenes of the war attracting widespread interest. Especially noteworthy was the enterprise of the Chicago Historical Society in the formation of an extensive exhibit of historical material of every description, occupying almost all of the available space in their building. This exhibit was thrown open to the public freely, and comprised a vast number and variety of objects which engaged the interest of a great number of visitors. Those persons who were fortunate enough to witness this exhibition of material, as usual in such cases, found their attention centered upon some phases or incidents of the war of especial interest to themselves. Among the great variety one might have seen the collection of articles preserved by a member of a Chicago organization, Mr. Albert Dickinson of Taylor's Battery. Here were articles used by him while in the service during the campaigns, a canteen, a pair of army shoes, a tin plate and cup, coffee boiler, toilet articles, mending outfit, besides the usual arms and accoutrements which every soldier carried. A pocket cash book with items of expenditure showing the interest in the ever present food question, purchases of articles not supplied by the Commissary Department such as bread, cake, cheese, butter, molasses and fresh meats. A pocket diary showed entries of what was uppermost in the mind of the writer while in the field. An entry under date of January 1st, 1864, records the fact that the men have "had no rations for fortyeight hours, no meat for four days." Another entry states that "Captain Rumsey [has] gone to Nashville to see about a new battery." The articles on exhibition comprised a number of swords, one especially which had been presented to General Alexander C. McClurg by his friends in 1862. Also the coat worn by him at the battle of Chickamauga still bearing the shoulder straps of a colonel. An indication of the Colonel's literary tastes cultivated even under the trying conditions of field operations, was to be seen in a copy of Palgrave's "Golden Treasury of Songs and Poems," carried by him through many campaigns, which in later years had been beautifully bound at the Doves' bindery in England, and now preserved as a choice treasure and souvenir by members of the family. No wonder that after every great battle the field was found strewn with letters, books and papers of every description, an evidence of the culture and intelligence of the soldiers of every rank which composed the armies of the Civil War. In thus preserving these mementos and observing the anniversary of the events of that troublous period of strife, the people of this later day render homage to its heroes and participants, both to those who lie at rest in the bosom of Mother Earth, and those who remain "quick upon the stage of action." a The requiem stanzas of William Collins may fittingly be printed here as tribute to those who on many fields have died for their country in the wars of the Republic. "How sleep the brave, who sink to rest "By fairy hands their knell is rung; CHAPTER XXX DEEPENING THE CANAL RAILROAD BUILDING PROPOSAL TO DEEPEN THE CANAL-AID OF CONGRESS SOUGHT CONGRESS-THE WORK-PLANS FORMULATED CANAL CONVENTION AT THE DRAWING-WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIZE-VISIT OF ABRAHAM H. LEE TO THE LATER HISTORY OF THE CANAL HE completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal in 1848 was soon followed by the opening of railroad lines having their termini in Chicago. The Galena and Chicago Union was in running order between Elgin and Chicago in 1850. The Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana railroad reached Chicago from the East, February 20th, 1852; and three months later the Michigan Central railway arrived at the same goal. The Chicago and Rock Island railroad, from Chicago to Rock Island, was completed February 22nd, 1854; the Illinois Central railroad from Centralia to Chicago, September 26th, 1856. Railroad building now absorbed the attention of the people almost to the exclusion of the former interest in the canal. By 1861, such had been the increase in railroads, that the canal which was regarded as a great national work when completed in 1848, had become almost overlooked, says Wright. But there was great vitality in the canal idea, even though it lay comparatively dormant during the earlier years of railroad development. After the War of the Rebellion had been in progress a few months a vigorous demand arose for an enlargement of the Illinois and Michigan canal, so that gunboats and transports with troops and supplies might pass between the lake and the river systems below. One of the resolutions of the River and Harbor convention of 1847 had formulated the proposal in these words: "That the project of connecting the Mississippi river with the lakes of the north by a ship canal and thus with the Atlantic ocean, is a measure worthy of the enlightened consideration of Congress;" and though the element of military necessity had formed no part of the subject matter of the resolution; yet the ad |