The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago: A Biography of William B. Ogden

NOTES

N O T E S Newspaper Abbreviatons AA Albany Argus BE Brooklyn Eagle CA Chicago American CJ Chicago Journal CD Chicago Democrat CIO Chicago Inter Ocean CPT Chicago Press-Tribune CR Chicago Republican CTI Chicago Times CTR Chicago Tribune Preface 1. Arnold and Scammon, William B. Ogden, 25; Holbrook, Story of American Railroads , 133; Stephenson, Recollections, 163. 1. Prelude 1. B. North, “North Family Records.” 2. Lynch, Epoch and a Man, 58, 235. 3. Holland, Life and Political Opinions, 221–23. 4. H. Alexander, American Talleyrand, 309–10. 5. There is no discoverable primary source evidence that a meeting such as the one described in this chapter actually took place for the purpose stated. A few mentions in secondary sources state that Charles Butler, at his brother Benjamin’s bidding, approached Ogden to run for the New York Assembly in order to promote the building of the New York and Erie Railroad. However, Benjamin Butler was a leader in Martin Van Buren’s Albany Regency, his law partner, and eventually his attorney general; so it is a near certainty that Ogden’s candidacy was Van Buren’s idea. Also, as the narrative relates, and as Van Buren scholars attest, his reputation for obfuscation and secrecy would have naturally precluded any recording of a meeting he might have attended to discuss a controversial regional topic such as the New York and Erie Railroad. Although he was not literally in hiding in the Hudson River valley during the summer of 1833, the sparsely settled region would have made him feel secure in attending such a gathering. Finally, Van Buren’s support of Ogden’s effort in the legislature is clearly evidenced by the fact that Ogden’s entire speech was published in the Albany Argus. Van Buren was a major owner of the newspaper, and the editor of that paper was also a leader in his Albany Regency. For these reasons, I am confident in writing that this meeting took place for the purpose I have stated. DCA Door County Advocate DCG Delaware County Gazette GBA Green Bay Advocate MS Milwaukee Daily Sentinel NYDT New York Daily Tribune NYH New York Herald NYT New York Times SFB San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin WSR Wisconsin State Register 269 6. Background on American railroads is discussed more fully in chapter 2. 7. American Railroad Journal, March 7, 1835, as quoted in Ward, Railroads and Character , 23–24. 8. AA, March 21, 1835. 2. The Little Railroad That Could 1. Wormser, Iron Horse, 7. 2. Arnold and Scammon, William B. Ogden, 11. 3. Wendt, Swift Walker, 344. 4. For a description of technology changes in American society in the 1830s and their effects on the growth of cities, see Johnson, Birth of the Modern, 875–79. 5. Wormser, Iron Horse, 1–2; Gerstner, Early American Railroads, 830. 6. George W. Ogden, Personal Diaries, 1832–35. 7. Dickens, American Notes, 61–63. 8. Hungerford, Men of Erie, 15–16. 9. Frey, Railroads in the Nineteenth Century, 115. 10. Lord, Historical Review of New York & Erie, 10. 11. Frey, Railroads in the Nineteenth Century, 115. 12. AA, March 21, 1835. 13. AA, March 30, 1835. 14. Lord, Historical Review of New York & Erie, 39. 15. Hungerford, Men of Erie, 112–20. 16. Ibid., 120–21. 17. Holbrook, Story of American Railroads, 66. 3. Stately Edifices and Lofty Spires 1. Arnold and Scammon, William B. Ogden, 8. 2. Both letters are quoted extensively in chapter 13. 3. D. L. Miller, City of the Century, 92. 4. NYT, August 4, 1877. 5. Harpster, John Ogden, 38. 6. Wheeler, Ogden Family, 200. A family history book such as Wheeler’s would not ordinarily be used extensively as a credible source in a biography like this one. However, Wheeler was William B. Ogden’s nephew, was in his employ for many years, and lived with him for a time. Ogden had been a genealogy hobbyist himself, and it was his work that Wheeler took up after Ogden’s death. Wheeler also had virtually unlimited access to Ogden’s knowledge, his life, and his friends. Thus I believe that Wheeler’s knowledge of Ogden and his life, as portrayed in the family history, ranks as firsthand, reliable information. For more on Wheeler’s life, see chapter 11. 7. Gould, History of Delaware County, ch. 7. 8. Ibid. 9. Miles, “History of Cannonsville,” 2. 10. Wheeler, Ogden Family, 200. 11. Book B of Deeds, 287–88. 12. Murray, Centennial History, ch. 3 (on Walton), p...