| East Dubuque Local Area
History Project |
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by
B.D.
3/31/00 |
George Wallace Jones was a key player in the political agenda of the Tri-State area, and was instrumental in getting the railroad to come here. He came from a political family.
He was born in 1804 in
Vincennees, Indiana Territory. His family moved to Missouri in 1809 where his father helped write some of the Missouri State constitution. There, his father became a justice in the Missouri state supreme court.
Jefferson Davis was George’s roommate in college. After college, he studied law with his brother-in-law, a congressman. |
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In 1827, George Wallace Jones headed north to
Sinsinawa Mound, a rocky outcrop overlooking the Mississippi River. He squatted on 1,001 acres where he started to mine lead. He also had two smelting furnaces. His most
common trade was with the Fox Indians who were sometimes very temperamental.
In 1831, he returned to Missouri to retrieve his wife, Josephine, and seven slaves. One year later, he fought in the Black Hawk War and was not
injured. |
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At that time, the Michigan territory consisted of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. George Wallace Jones became a Chief Justice of Iowa County, which was part of the Michigan Territory. Jones ran for the U.S. Congress as a representative of the territory. He ran against four other men, and won the election. He could not vote in decisions, but he could introduce bills. This was good, because he was excellent at coaxing people to side with him. After Michigan became a state in 1836, he convinced Congress to name the leftovers from the Michigan territory (Illinois and Wisconsin) a new territory and to call it Wisconsin. |
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Jones was always interested in getting a railroad to come to the tri-state area. He supported a proposal made by
Dubuquer John Plumber, Jr. in which a railroad would come from Milwaukee to Dubuque and on to the Pacific Ocean.
Although the railroad was never built, the land was surveyed, however, and the idea for a future railroad was planted. |
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Jones also proposed a new territory to Congress. It would be located across the river from the Wisconsin Territory, and Jones at this time, 1838, had interests in Dubuque. He suggested they call it the Iowa Territory. |
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Soon, Jones got himself into political trouble. He was indirectly involved in a feud between two congressmen. He was the replacement for one of them in a duel. For this he lost favor with the voters, and lost the election to Congress in 1843. |
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Back home at Sinsinawa, he made a bargain with Father Samuel Mazzucchelli. He sold his stake at Sinsinawa to him, and moved his family to Mineral Point to become a clerk for the Territorial Supreme Court. In 1844, the Democrats regained the majority in Congress, and he was offered the job of Surveyor General in Dubuque. After he moved to Dubuque, Iowa, and Iowa became a state in 1846, the state thus needed senators. Jones’ name was proposed for the job, but the legislators argued about it for two years, and Jones wasn’t elected until 1848. |
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As soon as Jones had returned to Washington, he once again proposed a railroad. It failed. Back in 1836, the Illinois state legislature had approved a railroad effort that was called the Grand Stem. The project received ten million dollars and a land grant. The railroad was planned to go from Savanna south to Cairo, Illinois. The railroad was started, but it failed following the financial crash of 1837. |
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In 1857, Steven Douglas proposed another land grant for a railroad. George Wallace Jones amended his proposal to end the railroad in
Dunleith. The U.S. Congress gave 2.5 million acres for the project, which had a Y-shaped route that north and south through Illinois. Jones lost some friends in the debate over the issue. |
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Back home, Jones formed an alliance with the Proprietors of Dunleith, a group of land speculators who owned the land in downtown Dunleith. He hoped to make money from the land sales sparked by the coming of the railroad. |
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The Illinois Central was built. It was begun in 1852. Workers came from all over the United States, from all the way down in New Orleans, as well as from Kentucky, New England, and New York. 100,000 workers came, with about 10,000 working at a time. There were Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, and Poles. This work was disease plagued. Cholera was a big problem. The Irish workers were constantly intoxicated because they believed they could ward off cholera with alcohol.
There was a high rate of pay. They got $1.25 for a twelve hour day, which was very high for that period. The railroad arrived in Galena October 30, 1854. The railroad arrived in
Dunleith
June 11, 1855, although it was delayed by a Galenian who drove a stake between the rails to prevent the train from continuing past Galena. All 705 miles had been built by 1856. At the time, this was the world’s longest railroad. |
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Jones was having political problems back home. Slavery was a hot topic. Jones had once had an estate with slaves on it.
Jones no longer had slaves, but he had political enemies now. In 1858, the Iowa Republicans voted him out of office. |
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He was appointed the U.S. Minister to Columbia, South America. He served there for two years. The Civil War started while he was away. |
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While in Columbia, he had written a letter to his old roommate, Jefferson Davis, who was now president of the Confederacy. In this letter, he complained about the Republicans, and he predicted that anti-slavery forces would ruin the country.
Jones had not known about the start of the war, and had not advised Davis to secede from the Union. Nevertheless, he was still charged with treason. He served 64 days in prison, and his political career was ended. He returned to Dubuque, and died 35 years later at an age of 92. |
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Jones was a lawyer, miner, land speculator, congressman, senator, and a foreign diplomat. He names Iowa and Wisconsin, and he helped get the railroad into Illinois. He got into trouble for his involvement in a duel and his involvement in slavery, and he was accused of treason. He is one of the more interesting personalities in the history of our area. |
