William P. Halliday

William Parker Halliday
Born July 21, 1827
Rutland, Ohio
Died September 22, 1899(1899-09-22) (aged 72)
Cook County, Illinois
Resting place Beech Grove Cemetery, Mounds, Illinois
Occupation Steamboat Captain
Banker
Printer
Hotel Owner
Railroad Executive
Businessman
Known for River transportation business
Board member of Halliday Brothers Co.
City National Bank of Cairo
Cairo City Coal Company
Cairo Street Railway Company
Cairo Telephone Company
Cairo Gas Company
Halliday Wharf Boat Company
Cairo and St. Louis Railroad
Cairo and Vincennes Railroad
First Bank and Trust Company
Halliday Hotel
Muddy Valley Mining and Manufacturing Company
Religion Methodist Episcopal Church
Spouse(s) Eliza Craig Wright
Children Charlotte J. Halliday
William P. Halliday, Jr.
Mary H. Halliday
Florence Halliday
Ada G. Halliday
John Halliday
Parent(s) Samuel Halliday
Eliza Parker
Relatives Samuel Bennett Halliday (brother)
Edwin Warner Halliday (brother)
Henry Laing Halliday (brother)
Thomas Wyatt Halliday (brother)
Horace Herbert Halliday (nephew)
Harold Mason Halliday (great nephew)
Herbert Halliday Ewing (great great nephew)
Marion Wright (brother-in law)
Charles T. Hinde (brother-in law)
Signature

William Parker Halliday (July 21, 1827 – September 22, 1899) was an American steamboat captain, banker, printer, hotel owner, vast land owner and businessman. Halliday began his professional career working on steamboats on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and eventually became a captain of a steamboat based out of Louisville, Kentucky. A pioneer in the river and railroad transportation businesses, Halliday was responsible for the expansion of Cairo, Illinois, following the American Civil War.

Before the war, Halliday predicted that it would greatly impact river and railroad transportation and moved to Cairo, Illinois, a town at a critical position, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Soon after relocating, Halliday established many businesses that focused on river transportation and general merchandise. During the war, Halliday became good friends with General Ulysses S. Grant, and this relationship increased his personal fortune considerably through favorable military contracts.

After the Civil War, Halliday, his four brothers, and other family members rapidly expanded their business interests in the region. Halliday purchased real estate, businesses, hotels, mines, railroads, lumber yards, steamboats, and furniture companies, and took advantage of many other business opportunities. His business success led to the advancement of the region and specifically contributed to the development of Cairo, Illinois, and Hallidayboro, Illinois.

Early years

Halliday was born to Samuel Halliday and Eliza Parker in Ohio in 1827, the eldest of seven children.[1] His father, an immigrant from Scotland, had graduated from the University of Edinburgh at the age of 19 and immigrated to America in 1818 to receive a professorship at the University of Ohio. However, his travel was difficult, and he became stranded in the small village of Rutland, where he was convinced to stay and open a school. Eventually, Samuel surveyed and planned a town with William Parker, Halliday's grandfather.[2] Samuel held the position of county auditor in Meigs County, Ohio, for 25 years.[3]

Halliday received a general education in Ohio and was first employed as a printer. His first job was as proprietor of Meigs County Gazette and later he worked at the Cincinnati Gazette. Sometime before 1857 Halliday became a surveyor working for the United States Department of the Interior under Marcus Baker and other surveyors. The purpose of the surveying group was to determine the northwestern most boundary of the United States. Halliday worked on the surveying teams that surveyed the Poteau Mountain Quadrangle (Arkansas-Indian Territory), Tuskahoma Quadrangle, Antlers Quadrangle, Clarksville Quadrangle (Indian Territory-Texas), and other areas.[4]

After a short time he switched careers and became a clerk on a steamboat, frequently working alongside Charles T. Hinde, who later married his sister.[5] Halliday gradually advanced in the steamboat business until he was made a captain. In 1860, he relocated with his family to Cairo and initially worked as a commission merchant. Later, he was a merchant, cotton planter, lumberman, banker, miller, coal mine operator, owned of vast tracts of coal and farm lands, owned salt mines in Illinois, and was a pioneer lumber dealer in Cairo. Halliday was a very successful businessman and by the end of his life was a multimillionaire. He owned steamboats, hotels, commercial shipping businesses, and other investments.[6]

Civil War

William P. Halliday, during the Civil War

Before the Civil War, Halliday lived in Lousville, Kentucky, and owned a grain business.[7] In 1860, Halliday moved to Cairo, Illinois, predicting that war would come to Cairo thanks to its strategic location, and he set up businesses to benefit from the conflict.[8] By February 1861, Halliday had established Halliday, Graham, & Co. and moved his "mammoth wharfboat" from Mound City, Illinois, down river to Cairo. Once the wharfboat arrived, journalists predicted that Halliday's company would be the most extensive forwarder in the Mississippi Valley, and Halliday organized a citywide celebration to mark the boat's arrival.[9]

Halliday and his partner, N. W. Graham, signed a contract with Ulysses S. Grant for the Union Army's use of the wharfboat during the war. The contract compensated Halliday and Graham $1,000 per month and did not have an expiration date. Some commentators have suggested that the contract was a result of the close personal friendship of General Grant and Halliday, instead of sound military strategy.[10] For a short time, General Grant made his military headquarters in the Halliday hotel in Cairo, Illinois.[11]

During the war, Halliday and Grant became close friends. Grant commandeered one of Halliday's wharfboats for use in the Union Commissary Department, and soon after the boat was commandeered Halliday signed up to work as the commissary agent. Halliday gained the trust of Grant and, though he never enlisted in the army, Halliday accompanied General Grant to numerous battles and expeditions.[12] In addition to the military uses Halliday's wharfboats were also used to connect the Mobile and Ohio Railroad with the Illinois Central Railroad at Cairo.[13]

Civil War ends

View from the Ohio River of the Halliday House Hotel located in Cairo, Illinois.

In 1865, at the close of the Civil War, Halliday established several railroads with his close associates.[14] On February 15, 1865, Halliday, Asa Eastman, S. Staats Taylor, N. R. Casey, Isham N. Haynie, Henry W. Webb, and John Q. Harman were granted a charter by the State of Illinois legislature to incorporate the Cairo and Mound City Railroad and were authorized to have $200,000 in capital stock.[15] The next day the Illinois legislature approved the railroad charter for the Cairo and St. Louis Railroad on February 16, 1865 and Sharon Tyndale, Isham N. Haynie, Samuel Staats Taylor, John Thomas, William H. Logan, Halliday, and Tilman B. Cantrell were the original incorporators and were authorized to have $3,000,000 in capital stock.[16] Also in 1865, Halliday and his brothers established the First Bank and Trust Company and bought the largest hotel in Cairo, renaming it after the family name.[17]

Riverlore Mansion

Riverlore Mansion is a stately white French Second Empire Style Mansion built in Cairo, Illinois on “Millionaire’s Row”. Riverlore is an 11-room brick home built in 1865 by Captain William Parker Halliday, a prominent Cairo businessman and riverboat captain.

Halliday built the Riverlore Mansion in 1865 in Cairo, Illinois, across the street from the Magnolia Manor. The brick mansion has 11 rooms, three floors, and a basement. When the mansion was completed in 1865, it spanned the entire city block.[18]

The first floor of the mansion has the front entry, sitting area, family room, parlor, kitchen, sunroom, dining room, hallway and powder room. An oval central stairway with a curved cherry balustrade winds more than three stories, encompassing some 38 feet to the slate mansard roof, which is capped by an ornamental iron railing. The second floor has three guest bedrooms, a guest bath, a sitting room, a master bedroom, and a luxurious bath complete with a sunken tub. The third floor has a sitting area, an office, a library, and a theater complete with a stage and 18 movie seats.[19]

Part of the original design of the Riverlore is the distinctive river boat theme of the house. There is a glassed-in pilothouse with a sliding hatch that serves as the entrance to the roof. The roof was designed to be flat and resemble the deck of a steamboat, so that Halliday could view the river and reminisce about his early days working as a steamboat captain while standing on his roof.[20] Captain Halliday lived at the Riverlore for 34 years.[21]

Business career following the Civil War

William P. Halliday, Cairo & Vincennes Railway Board of Director
Samuel P. Wheeler, friend and fellow Cairo & Vincennes Railway Board of Director

Halliday and his brothers achieved substantial business success following the Civil War through a variety of businesses and investments. One commentator has stated that by the 1880s the Halliday family was among the most powerful in the region, and Halliday was the significant figure in the family.[22] W.P. Halliday the driving force behind the firm of Halliday Bros in Cairo had four brothers, the brothers together operated as members of the Firm Halliday Bros. The brother’s character in business and personal life has been noted in many writings, publications, and books, one such book A History of the City of Cairo Illinois by John M. Lansden speaks of the brothers:

There were five of them, a somewhat exceptional number: William P. Halliday, Samuel B. Halliday, Edwin W. Halliday, Henry L. Halliday, and Thomas W. Halliday. Of them all, I may be permitted to say that while they all differed from each other, they all exhibited features of character and conduct that would have given them prominence anywhere in the business world. No doubt in some one or two important respects, each one excelled the others. This was shown in those matters and things to which they gave their chief attention. Speaking of them and their families, so well represented here with us and elsewhere, it can be said that they have always stood for better things, not with assumption or pharisaically, but openly and firmly. They pushed their business enterprises with diligence, and had there been more of such men it would have been better for the city and for them also, I have no doubt.[23]

This is a check printed for the H.L. Halliday Milling Company by the Western Bank Note Co, Chicago. It was issued by the H.L. Halliday Milling Company located in Cairo, Illinois May 11, 1901.

The Halliday business empire following the Civil War comprised numerous businesses in Cairo, cotton lands in Arkansas, a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, furniture companies in Memphis and New Orleans, coal mines in southern Illinois, salt wells in southern Illinois and Indiana, numerous large farms, and many other investments.[24] Halliday and his brothers dealt heavily in flour following the Civil War.[25]

In order to keep updated on their daily business activities Halliday and his brothers installed private telegraph lines between their residences and their business offices.[26] In the early 1870s Halliday held the public office of city councilman for the city of Cairo Illinois, for the city at large ward with Daniel Hurd.[27]

On March 5, 1867, Halliday, David J. Baker, Jr., Alfred B. Safford, Daniel Hurd, and George D. Williamson were granted permission by the Illinois legislature to incorporate The Valley Iron Company.[28]

The capital stock of the company was $200,000 and the company headquarters were in Cairo, Illinois. The company's purpose was to mine and manufacture iron and other metals, with the stated purpose of supplying railroads.[29] Also at this time, Halliday, Hurd, Safford, and others served on the transportation committee of the Illinois Central Railroad.[30]

During the Civil War Halliday was associated with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad through the railroad's use of his wharfboats.[31] After the war, Halliday became a major investor in the railroad along with William Butler Duncan, Charles Walsh, and Charles Edward Tracy. Halliday's investments centered around the railroad's expansion to Cairo in the late 1870s.[32] On April 22, 1874, the shareholders of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad elected Halliday to the board of directors.[33]

Illinois Central ad (1870)

As Halliday's business interests grew, he began investing in businesses that supported his railroad and steamboat businesses, primarily coal mines. Halliday purchased his first coal mine in St. John, Illinois, to supply his steamships and coal depots.[34]

Due to the success of the coal mines, Halliday began to purchase property in the area to search for oil. He was unsuccessful in locating oil deposits but did find one of the most productive salt mines in the region. Haliiday's brother-in-law, Marion Wright, ran and oversaw the Halliday coal and salt mines.[35]

Although Halliday had originally invested in the Cairo and Vincennes Railway in 1865, it was not completed and incorporated until July 9, 1880. In the 15 years in between, Halliday was able to attract many influential and important investors to the project. Banking tycoon, J. P. Morgan served as president and as a director of the railroad with Halliday.[36] In 1869, Halliday spent eight weeks in New York City with co-investors Burnside, Hurd, and Raum trying to get investment for the Cairo and Vinncennes Railway project. During the trip, Halliday was able to gain the support and investment of the United States railroad construction company.[37]

William P. Halliday and the town of Hallidayboro Illinois

The town of Muddy Valley, Illinois, which was located in Jackson County, Illinois, was renamed Hallidayboro in 1894 in honor of Halliday. Halliday was a major investor and owner of the Muddy Valley Mining and Manufacturing Company located in the town.[38] The company remained in Halliday's estate for over 30 years after his death. When the company was sold, it consisted of 5,700 acres of coal lands, numerous mine buildings and property, and several farms.[39] The town was planned by Halliday based on his friend George Pullman's ideas developed from a similar industrial mining town he had founded earlier. Halliday wanted to avoid the labor and capital disputes that plagued the era by creating a model town for his mine workers and their families. At the height of the mine's production, Halliday employed over 500 men. White and black families lived and worked together, and it was one of the first towns in southern Illinois to have electricity.[40]

Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion: Letter from Halliday Brothers & Co. to Acting Rear-Admiral Porter, U.S. Navy, requesting the return of cotton to certain destitute owners. Page 418 Series I Volume 24

William Parker Halliday became acquainted with George Pullman through his many business interests which took him to Chicago, Springfield, and Washington, D.C. Halliday owned his own Pullman Palace Car, a personal gift from George Pullman.[41]

The town, originally named Muddy Valley, contrasted sharply with other southern Illinois coal towns, commonly referred to as "mining camps". Some aspects of Halllidayboro so closely resembled Pullman as to leave no doubt of William Halliday's intention to pattern his community after the cook county town. Tenements showing a distinctive style of architecture set in the midst of well-manicured trees and gardens caused journalists to designate the town a "Storybook Village".[42]

Employees at Hallidayboro commonly worked a ten-hour day, but by 1898 William Halliday's mines adopted an eight-hour schedule on all shifts and agreed to pay union wage.[43]

An interest in farming came naturally to William Halliday. Besides teaching, his father, Samuel, farmed successfully in Scotland and in the United States. Halliday owned a prosperous cotton plantation in Arkansas in addition to several thousand cultivated acres not connected with the model town. The 3500 cultivated acres surrounding the village provided important staples for the town. Forage for the mine mules as well as food for mining families came from company farms. In order to process its own meat, the company operated a slaughterhouse. By using this system the store was able to sell fresh meat at affordable prices.[44]

George Pullman and William Halliday familiarized themselves with their industrial operations, giving attention to the minutest details. Their labor forces, tempered by the demands of industry in America, expected to work hard in exchange for the necessities of life. Cooperation between managers and workers created a higher standard of living, which in turn, encouraged better working conditions.Good housing also helped promote good work habits.[45]

In the United States, unbearably inadequate housing and overcrowded neighborhoods pushed working men out of the home and into saloons where they congregated for drink and discussion. Wealthy capitalists wishing to strike a balance between the demands of labor and desires of capital looked to Robert Owen's example. George Pullman and William Halliday implemented a policy of tolerance in their towns identical to that of Robert Owen. The peaceful atmosphere in Pullman and Hallidayboro can be attributed in part to the absence of alcohol.[46]

That Hallidayboro was relatively peaceful is especially significant because most coal towns in the region were prone to "heinous crime". Residents in other southern Illinois coal towns, containing no policy of temperance, often experienced murder and fatal injuries resulting from bar-room brawls. Violence sometimes took the form of wife-beating. Several southern Illinois miners lost their lives at the hands of a frustrated spouse.[47]

Reformers reasoned that adequate housing could counter the drinking problems. George Pullman adhered to this idea. He believed that a good residential surrounding would benefit the workers and that beauty in the town would breed good character in the residents. Pullman hoped the comfortable, beautiful environment of his town would encourage cleanliness, industriousness and sobriety in the work force. Attractive housing with adequate living space did create good work habits in the towns.[48]

William Halliday, like George Pullman, had cherished a desire to create a model company town.[49]

Hallidayboro's housing compared favorably to that in other model company towns during this period. Not until the turn of the century did comparable company houses appear in southern Illinois, when Joseph Leiter built the town of Zeigler. In contrast to Hallidayboro's bustling, peaceful environment, coal miners never lived in the attractive houses provided by Joseph Leiter.[50]

Until 1920, electricity was rare in southern Illinois communities, except in Hallidayboro.[51]

Raised by teachers, William Halliday also believed in the value of education. One of the original buildings in Hallidayboro, the schoolhouse followed the overall architecture scheme of the village. Nestled at the west end of Main Street, the frame schoolhouse accommodated forty students. Typical of the period, separated entrances for boys and girls appeared under the twin bell towers. It is also likely that Halliday maintained a book collection for the use of the residents of his company town. In his home city he served on the Cairo Library Board and he endowed the Cairo Library with $5,000.00 in his will. A high degree of literacy existed in Hallidayboro.[52]

Towns such as Pullman and Hallidayboro supported Robert Owen's original belief that owners could profit from helping their workers.[53]

Later life and legacy

The Hewer Statue erected in honor of Captain William Parker Halliday, Cairo, Illinois 1906. Sculpted by George Grey Barnard. Image/Postcard 7B167-N (Printed 1947)167th card printed that year.

Towards the end of his life, Halliday was the president of the Illinois Bankers Association.[54] In 1885, Halliday was President of the City National Bank of Cairo and his brother, Thomas W. Halliday was listed as Cashier of the bank. At the time the bank had $772,994.34 of available funds.[55] Based on inflation from 1885 to 2012, $772,994.34 is the money equivalent to approx $19,451,163 today.

Ever since moving to Cairo in 1860, Halliday was a huge force in the development of the city and region. One source describes his contributions in the following manner, "In life he was one of the city's staunchest friends. No labor in her interests was too arduous for him to undertake, no expense for her welfare or promotion too great for him too assume. Numerous monuments to his far-seeing sagacity exist to-day and will exist for centuries to come."[56] Another source described Halliday by stating, "He is an effective worker, accomplishing more by action than a half dozen men might by talking."[57]

In addition to the town, Halliday also named one of his steamboats the William P. Halliday. It was under the command of Sobieski Jolly and was mentioned in Mark Twain's papers.[58] The boat was destroyed by fire on a Monday morning in February 1884 while it was next to the St. Louis City wharf.[59]

In 1895, Halliday and other leading men were appointed to the first set of officers to direct the Ohio Valley Improvement Association. The primary purpose of the organization was to be the collection, preparation, and presentation to the United States Congress statistics and other information relating to commerce and navigation on the Ohio River. Halliday served as one of six vice presidents, and the sitting governor of West Virginia, Mac Corkle was present.[60] The following year in 1896, Halliday was reelected as a vice president of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association at the second annual convention held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[61]

In 1898, about one year before Halliday died, he and other merchants and businessmen in Cairo sponsored a boat race from Mound City, Illinois to Cairo, Illinois. The race offered a cash prize to the winner and was widely reported in the newspapers of towns and villages along the Ohio River. Halliday stood next to the Halliday House and shot a gun when the first boat crossed the finish line to announce to the crowd of people the winning boat.[62]

William P. Halliday, tombstone in Mound City, Illinois

Halliday spent the last six months of his life residing in the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. He had been battling an illness during his stay in Chicago and died from the condition.[63] At his death he was reputed to be worth from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000.[64] Based on inflation from 1899 to 2012, $4,000,000 is the money equivalent to approx $108,649,539 today. After Halliday's death in 1899, his estate left the Cairo Public Library $5,000, to be used to expand the collection of rare and fine edition books. Halliday had served as president of the library board.[65] In 1906, Halliday's daughter Mary presented the Hewer to the city of Cairo in honor of her father. The Hewer is a historic bronze nude by George Grey Barnard that was exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair and was considered to be one of the two best nudes in the United States.[66]

Halliday and his wife, Eliza W. Halliday, separated from each other and had a legally binding separation agreement in force at the time of his death.[67] His wife dissented from the terms of his will and instead took her dower rights under Illinois law, which at that time amounted to one third of all property and personalty in his estate.[68] Soon after his wife was granted her dower rights, his wife and six children created the W. P. Halliday trust and funded it in 1900 with $1,062,921.88 from Halliday's estate.[69] In 1939 the estate was held to be an association, and tax deficiencies were levied against the trust beneficiaries for unpaid taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.[70] Over the course of time the trust was in existence the beneficiaries expanded the trust holdings through the purchase of stock, real estate, and businesses and the majority of these investments were very profitable.[71]

Funeral and obituary

Obituaries and Death Notices The Cairo Citizen 5 Jan 1899- 28 Dec 1899 Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois Thursday, 28 Sep 1899:

CAIRO SUFFERS LOSS

In the Death of Capt. W. P. Halliday, Her Foremost Citizen.[72]

He Passed Away at Chicago Last Friday Night.—Funeral from Halliday Hotel Tuesday Afternoon and Buried at Beech Grove Cemetery—Sketch of the Life of a Great Man.[73]

Capt. William P. Halliday, Cairo’s most prominent citizen, died at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago at midnight Friday night. Capt. Halliday had been ill for about six weeks. He went to Chicago to receive treatment and change of air to ward off an attack of malaria. While feeling badly, he was able to be up and around until a few days before his death. His friends and family did not anticipate his demise would come so soon, but it appeared the captain himself did. He made his will while in Chicago and prepared for the end. A few days before his death, however, his condition grew so bad that his family were summoned to his bedside. Thursday morning about 3 o’clock he lost consciousness, and although life was kept up by artificial means for many hours, he slept away and Friday night at midnight the final dissolution came.[74]

The remains were immediately prepared for burial and were brought down from Chicago on the train leaving there Saturday afternoon. The Illinois Central railroad very kindly furnished two private cars for the use of the family and friends. Arriving here the remains were taken to the Halliday Hotel and lay in state in parlor A until Tuesday. All that was earthly of Capt. Halliday lay in a handsome cloth covered metallic casket, and throngs of people passed through the rooms Sunday and Monday to gaze once more upon his features. His illness had left its traces on his face, which looked thin and haggard. Profuse floral pieces surrounded the casket, and the life-size oil painting of the deceased, which hung at the head of the casket, was draped heavily in mourning.[75]

The same evidences of mourning were seen along the levee. The Halliday Hotel the City National Bank and the gas office all bore crepe on their doors, while a number of buildings along the levee were draped in black and flags hung at half-mast.[76]

Halliday Family Plot Marker Beech Grove Cemetery Cairo, Illinois. The Halliday family grave marker weighs an estimated 22 tons.

The funeral of the late Capt. Halliday was held at the Halliday Hotel Tuesday afternoon. Long before two o’clock the crowds commenced to gather and when the services began the parlors and halfway were crowded with people and numbers could not get upstairs but waited in the office or outside on the street. Rev. F. A. DeRosset, rector of the Church of the Redeemer, conducted the last solemn rites and a quartette choir composed of Mr. Buchanan, Miss Lelia Miller, and Messrs. Buchanan and Tunnel sang several beautiful hymns. The funeral address was delivered by Rev. C. T. Phillips, of Princeville, Ill., formerly pastor of the Presbyterian Church here. Mr. Phillips was a close friend of the deceased, and it was the wish of Capt. Halliday that he might assist in the service. Mr. Phillips spoke of the Captain’s kindness and generosity, how he rendered assistance to so many and did it in such a delicate way that no sensitive or proud natures were hurt. He spoke of the Captain’s loyalty to Cairo. How he aided the city in its struggle against the great floods; how he instructed the bank to cash all paper issued by the city in those dark days; how his fortune was ready to be used in protecting life and property here, and how his barges were always placed in readiness to be sunk opposite weak places in the levee. He told of a conversation the Captain had with him in the panic days of 1892-’93, when banks were failing everywhere, in which the deceased said his entire fortune was ready to preserve the integrity of the bank here and to protect the businessmen from loss. He told what a kind employer Capt. Halliday was, how a position with him was a life job if the employee did his work faithfully. Mr. Phillips said he had known men at DuQuoin 21 years ago that were still in the service of Capt. Halliday. He told how Capt. Halliday watched the careers of young men who were striving to get ahead in life, and how he helped them to get on by opening the way for them without ever letting them see his hand. All this he told and more of the man whom he termed the best friend Cairo ever had.[77]

At the conclusion of the service, the remains were conveyed to Beech Grove Cemetery. A thousand people went out from Cairo in two long trains and several hundred from Mound City, Mounds, and surrounding towns were already gathered there.[78]

The acting pallbearers were all heads of departments of the various institutions, which Capt. Halliday controlled, as follows: George F. Ort, C. B. S. Pennebaker, L. P. Parker, Wood Rittenhouse, R. L. Redman, Norton Renfro, John Forrester, of St. Johns, and James Forrester, of Hallidayboro. The honorary pallbearers were chosen as follows: R. H. Cunningham, R. Bross, Andrew Lohr, C. Pink, Judge William H. Green, J. M. Lansden, William B. Gilbert, P. G. Schuh, Judge J.P. Robarts, P. J. Thistlewood, Walter Warder, Charles Galigher, John Hodges, M. F. Gilbert, N. B. Thistlewood, C. O. Patier, P. W. Barclay, M. J. Howley, Sol. A. Silver, Samuel Hastings, John A. Miller, F. Nordman, Sr., J. B. Reed, Louis Herbert, F. D. Rexford, of Centralia.[79]

As the service at the grave was concluded the freshly made mound was literally covered from sight by the beautiful floral offerings, which were sent in great profusion by friends of the deceased. Quite a number of men of prominence came here to pay their respects to the memory of the deceased. They came from Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Pittsburg, and New Orleans, as well as from smaller and less distant places. Among the number were Capts. Sam and Harry Brown, of Pittsburg; Capts. Henry C. Haarstick, and J. S. Nauson, of St. Louis, rivermen of prominence and associates of Capt. Halliday; also John Markley and wife of Chicago; Judge Youngblood and Barr, of Carbondale; Judge Monroe C. Crawford, of Jonesboro; Capt. William K. Murphy, of Pinckneyville; Senator Pleas T. Chapman, of Vienna; Maj. Daniel Hogan and family of Mound City; and numerous others.[80]

Capt. Halliday was not a lodge man. His interest were far too numerous to allow him to devote any time to secret societies. Nevertheless, he found time to devote to Cairo’s interests. He was a member of the Cairo Board of Trade, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Cairo Public Library. In both of these organizations he rendered efficient aid and his counsel was always sought. The Board of Trade met and prepared a memorial, setting forth the value the deceased had been to the organization and to Cairo, which was adopted. The Library board met and Judge William H. Green addressed them in an appropriate manner, paying a just tribute to the worth of Capt. Halliday and his assistance to the educational life of the city. The city council also met and passed appropriate resolutions, and attended the funeral in a body.[81]

CAIRO WILL MISS HIM

The death of Capt. William P. Halliday is a great loss to Cairo. It will take the people of this city a long time to appreciate how much of a friend he was. His resources were so great and his willingness to help was always to be relied upon. Cairo has won a great reputation as a host, but it was because she had a Capt. Halliday. When there was any entertainment of distinguished guests to be planned, it was done on a magnificent scale because Capt. Halliday’s purse was drawn upon for such a large part of the bill. In this way Cairo won fame as a hospitable city. She was able to outdo her rivals who had no Capt. Hallidays. Now Cairo will have to fall back on a plane with the others. In a business way, he was a great help to the city. Everything he owned, he improved and beautified. He employed large numbers of men and always paid good wages. He was in every movement to advance the city’s interests and often it needed just his influence to carry the project through. But where he will be missed the most will be among those people who have been sharers of his bounty. Their name is legion. He gave quietly, but he gave liberally. It was true of him that he did not let his right hand know what his left hand did. Very frequently the recipient of his bounty could only guess from whence the gift came. He aided the needy in distress in thousands of ways. He seemed to have some occult way of finding out that people needed assistance at certain times, and then he knew how to come to their aid without offending. Hundreds whom the public would never dream had needed his assistance blessed his name as they gazed upon his features for the last time, because he came to them in a substantial way at a critical time. This is where and by whom he will be missed the most. Truly he was a great man.[82]

Notes

  1. ↑ Larkin 1908, p. 103
  2. ↑ Larkin 1908, p. 103
  3. ↑ Smythe 1913
  4. ↑ Baker 1900, pp. 1–126
  5. ↑ Lansden 1910, pp. 202–207
  6. ↑ Witherspoon 1902, p. 70
  7. ↑ Kionka 2006, p. 26
  8. ↑ Kionka 2006, pp. 26
  9. ↑ Kionka 2006, pp. 26
  10. ↑ Kionka 2006, pp. 117
  11. ↑ Rissler 1957, pp. 299
  12. ↑ Kionka 2006, pp. 119–120
  13. ↑ Lemly 1953
  14. ↑ Bigham 1997, p. 121
  15. ↑ State of Illinois 1865, p. 133
  16. ↑ Perrin 1883, p. 211
  17. ↑ Bigham 1997, p. 152
  18. ↑ Rissler 1957, pp. 295–307
  19. ↑ Rissler 1957, pp. 295–307
  20. ↑ Rissler 1957, p. 300
  21. ↑ Rissler 1957, p. 299
  22. ↑ Lantz 1972, p. 36
  23. ↑ Lansden 1910, pp. 207
  24. ↑ Rissler 1957, p. 299
  25. ↑ The Cairo Bulletin 1873
  26. ↑ The Cairo Bulletin 1874
  27. ↑ The Cairo Bulletin 1872
  28. ↑ State of Illinois 1867, p. 300
  29. ↑ State of Illinois 1867, p. 301
  30. ↑ The Cairo Bulletin 1869
  31. ↑ Lemly 1953
  32. ↑ Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company 1876, pp. 67–342
  33. ↑ The Cairo Bulletin 1874
  34. ↑ McLean 1919, p. 192
  35. ↑ McLean 1919, pp. 192–193
  36. ↑ Illinois. Railroad and Warehouse Commission 1882, p. 14
  37. ↑ The Cairo Evening bulletin 1869
  38. ↑ Callary 2008, p. 149
  39. ↑ Coal Age 1914, p. 610
  40. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 113–132
  41. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 117
  42. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 117
  43. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 119–120
  44. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 120
  45. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 121
  46. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 121
  47. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 121
  48. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 121–122
  49. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 123
  50. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 123–124
  51. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 124
  52. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 127
  53. ↑ Wright 1998, pp. 132
  54. ↑ Witherspoon 1902, p. 70
  55. ↑ House of Representatives 1885, pp. 640
  56. ↑ Tompkins 1901, p. 382
  57. ↑ The Cairo Evening Bulletin 1869
  58. ↑ Twain 1976, p. 528
  59. ↑ Fair Play 1884
  60. ↑ Daily Public Ledger 1895
  61. ↑ Marietta Daily Leader 1896
  62. ↑ The Paducah Daily Sun 1898
  63. ↑ Unsigned 1899
  64. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  65. ↑ University of Illinois 1906, p. 155
  66. ↑ Horner 1973, p. 174
  67. ↑ Board of Tax Appeals 1939, pp. 519
  68. ↑ Board of Tax Appeals 1939, pp. 520
  69. ↑ Board of Tax Appeals 1939, pp. 521
  70. ↑ Board of Tax Appeals 1939, pp. 528
  71. ↑ Board of Tax Appeals 1939, pp. 518–528
  72. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  73. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  74. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  75. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  76. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  77. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  78. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  79. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  80. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  81. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899
  82. ↑ Cairo Citizen 1899

References

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