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 Some Information 
 
 In Regard to the 
 
 Illinois State 
 Capitol 
 
 Compiled by 
 
 LOUIS L. KMMKRSON, 
 Secretary of State 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112122620005 
 
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 Schxkpi* & n.\nx.'-:s. StatL Phintkrs 
 Si'rin'gpikij), III. 
 
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 •»- 
 
 * 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 (Louis L. Emmerson, Secretary of 
 State, is indebted to Mrs. Jessie Paiaier 
 Weber, Secretary Illinois Centennial 
 Commission, for the descriptive matter 
 contained in this booklet > 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 
9 
 
 THE ILLINOIS STATE 
 CAPITOL BUILDING. 
 
 Shortly after the close of the M or of 
 the Rebellion the capitol building or 
 State House of Illinois was found to be 
 inadequate for the needs of the rapidly 
 growing state and on February 25. ISti. 
 the Twenty-fifth General Assembly passed 
 an act authorizing the erection of a new 
 State House. 
 
 This act axtthorized the Governor to 
 convey to the County of Sangamon and 
 the City of Springfield the old capitol 
 building and grounds. This building is 
 now the Sangamon County Court House 
 and stands in the middle of the public 
 square of the city of Springfield. The 
 consideration received by the State for 
 the old capitol was two hundred thous¬ 
 and <$200,0001 dollars and the site for 
 the erection of the new Capitol. The act 
 limited the cost to three million ($3,000.- 
 000) dollars. On March 11, ISOS ground 
 w as broken for the new building. I he 
 corner stone was laid October 5, 1S6S, on 
 which, occasion Judge John D. Oaton 
 delivered the principal address. 
 
 The first board of State House Commis¬ 
 sioners was appointed by Gov Richard J. 
 Oglesby, and consisted of seven members. 
 They were John W. Smith, John J. S. 
 Wilson. Philip Wadsworth, Janies C. Rob¬ 
 inson, William T. Yandeveer, William 1-. 
 Hambleton, and James H. Beveridge. Mr. 
 John J. S. Wilson did not long remain on 
 the Board and Jacob Bunn was appointed 
 in his place. On the organization of the 
 Board Mr. Bunn was elected its Chair¬ 
 man. The last Board of State House 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY 
 
 1129 00494 1803 
 
4 
 
 Commissioners appointed in 1885 by Gov 
 Richard J. Oglesby, who had been for tht 
 third time elected governor of Illinois, 
 consisted of George Kirk, William Javm 
 aud John McCreery, and these gentlemen 
 directed the expenditure of the last ap 
 propriation and the completion of the 
 building. 
 
 A prize of three thousand ($3,009) 
 dollars was offered by the commission in 
 1807 for the best design for the eapitol 
 building. Twenty-one designs were re¬ 
 ceived. The design submitted by John C. 
 Cochrane of Chicago was chosen on July 
 2, 1867 and Mr. Cochrane 'was appointed 
 as architect and superintendent for the 
 construction of the building. For this 
 work his compensation was fixed at two 
 and a half per cent of the cost of the 
 building. 
 
 W. D. Clark, Alfred H. Piquenard, \1. 
 E. Bell and W. W. Boyington were also 
 employed in the architectural work of 
 the erection of the eapitol building at dif¬ 
 ferent times during the period of its con¬ 
 struction. 
 
 In September 1869 the foundation was 
 completed. 
 
 In 1876 the building was first occupied, 
 though in an unfinished condition. John 
 L. Beveridge was governor at that time. 
 
 In 3885 the final appropriation was 
 made and the building was completed in 
 1888, twenty-one years after its erection 
 was authorized by the General Assembly. 
 
 The entire cost of the building has been 
 nearly four and a half million ($4,500,- 
 000) dollars. The limit of the cost had 
 been fixed by the Constitution of 1870 at 
 three and a half million ($3,500,000) dol¬ 
 lars. Appropriations by the General As¬ 
 sembly exceeding this amount required a 
 vote of approval by the people of the 
 State. In November 1877 the people by 
 
5 
 
 their vote refused to sanction an appro¬ 
 priation' for the completion of the capitol. 
 At the election of 1882 the people again 
 refused their approval of an appropria¬ 
 tion for this purpose. In 1884 the people 
 of the State by their vote approved an 
 appropriation to complete the building, 
 and the work was carried to completion. 
 
 The Illinois State Capitol Building is in 
 the form of a Latin cross. It is situated 
 in a plot of ground eight and one-half 
 acres in extent. The building faces east, 
 and looks down Capitol Avenue. 
 
 The present Capitol grounds are 
 bounded on the east by Second Street, 
 on the north by Monroe Street, on the 
 west by Spring Street, and on the south 
 by Charles Street. When the Centennial 
 Memorial Building is erected on ground 
 directly south of the Capitol, and now 
 owned by the State, Charles Street will 
 probably be made a part of the Capitol 
 grounds and no longer used as a public 
 street. 
 
 The State House is of the composite 
 order of architecture. The circular 
 foundation upon which the great dome 
 of the Capitol rests is ninety-two and a 
 half feet in diameter, and is twenty-tive 
 arui a half feet below the grade line, 
 based upon the solid rock. The walls 
 supporting the dome are seventeen feet 
 in thickness from the foundation to the 
 floor of the first story. The foundation 
 walls are built of granular magnesian 
 limestone which was obtained from the 
 Sonora quarries of Hancock County, Illi¬ 
 nois. The foundation for the outer walls 
 is from eleven to sixteen feet thick below 
 the grade line, and nine feet thick up to 
 the first floor. The outer walls of the 
 superstructure are constructed of Niagara 
 limestone the lower story from the Joliet 
 quarries, and the upper stories from the 
 quarries at Lemont. 
 
6 
 
 The extreme length of the building 
 from north to south is three hundred and 
 seventy-nine (379) feet, and from east to 
 west two hundred and sixtv-eight (2t>S > 
 feet. The height from the ground line to 
 the top of the dome is three hundred and 
 sixty-one C’.bt > feet, and to tip of flag 
 staff four hundred and tive (40r>> feet. 
 
 As the Capitol is approached from the 
 east, at the entrance of the grounds is 
 situated the statue of Abraham Lincoln. 
 This represents Mr. Lincoln at the time 
 of leaving Springfield to assume his 
 duties in Washington. February It. 1*<U. 
 It is of bronze, is ten feet and six inches 
 in height. It is on a granite base with a 
 large granite slab as a background. Oil 
 the reverse side of this slab is carved 
 Lincoln's Farewell Address to his neigh¬ 
 bor^. The sculptor is Andrew O'Connor. 
 The statue, with its na^e cost when com¬ 
 pleted. fifty thousand I 1)00 > dollars. 
 It will be dedicated October 5. 10is as a 
 part of the State's Centennial observance. 
 
 To the north of the Lincoln statue, or 
 at the left of Mr. Lincoln is placed the 
 bronze statue of Stephen A. Douglas. 
 The sculptor of this statue is Gilbert P. 
 Riswold of Chicago. Its entire cost was 
 ten thousand LSto.ooo c dollars. It will 
 also l>e dedicated October 5. tOLv 
 
 At the extreme southeast corner of the 
 present rapitol grounds is situated a 
 statue of Pierre Menard first Lieutenant- 
 governor of Illinois. Pierre Menard was 
 an Indian trailer and enjoyed the confi¬ 
 dence of his Red Brothers. The statue 
 represents Menard in the act of trading 
 with Indians Thi; bronze statue is the 
 gift, to Illinois of Mr. Charles P. Choteati 
 of St. Louis, whose father was a friend 
 and business associate of Menard. The 
 statue was dedicated. January lo, r<Ss. 
 
 Entering the Capitol building from the 
 east one conies under the magnificent 
 
7 
 
 port ico. The nase of the portico is of 
 limestone which forms a support for a 
 row of ten huge polished granite pillars, 
 with Corinthian capitals of stone. These 
 in turn support the Corinthian gable 
 of the building which is of solid stone. 
 The entire interior decoration of the 
 building is of the French Renaissance 
 style. On entering the east corridor one 
 immediately is attracted by the mural 
 decorations, which were at the time 
 when they were placed, considered line 
 specimens of such work. A wainscot 
 of marble about six leet in height runs 
 all around the lower corridors. These 
 mural paintings depict mythological per¬ 
 sonage- or noted scenes or persons of 
 Illinois history. They were the work of 
 the Phillipson Decorating Company of 
 Chicago. 
 
 EAST CORRIDOR. 
 
 First Floor. 
 
 The ceiling is divided into four panels. 
 The figure in the one immediately east 
 of the center is "Charity”. She holds 
 the horn of plenty and is distributing 
 her wealth with impartial hand. On the 
 other side of the cent* r panels are 
 “Hope” and "Faith’’, both in conventional 
 design. Hope leaning on an Anchor and 
 gazing far out upon the sea, Charity 
 holding oti her right arm the cross. The 
 center panel is decorated with renais¬ 
 sance ornaments, the chiet features of 
 which are four cupids, one in each 
 corner, supporting the 1 nited States 
 coat of arms. 
 
 FIRST FLOOR. 
 
 Center. 
 
 At the intersection of the corridor 
 stands a bronze female figure of heroic 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8 
 
 size, representing “Illinois welcoming 
 the World.” This was designed for and 
 exhibited at the World’s Columbian Ex¬ 
 position at Chicago in 1893. This piece 
 of statuary was placed on exhibition by 
 the Woman’s Exposition Committee dur¬ 
 ing the Exposition, in the Illinois Build¬ 
 ing, and was transferred to the State 
 House after the close of the Fair. The 
 sculptor was Miss Julia M. Bracken of 
 Jo Daviess County, Illinois. 
 
 FIRST FLOOR. 
 
 North Corridor. 
 
 MURAL PAINTINGS. 
 
 Right hand entering from the north. 
 
 I. Starved Rock on the Illinois River 
 near Ottawa. 
 
 II. Fort Chartres on Mississippi River 
 near Prairie du Rocher, erected 1720. 
 
 III. General Grant taking the com¬ 
 mand at Cairo. 
 
 FIRST FLOOR. 
 
 South Corridor. 
 
 MURAL PAINTINGS. 
 
 EIGHT H \M> GOING SOl'TU. 
 
 I. Fort .Dearborn, mouth of Chicago 
 River. 
 
 II. Governor Coles freeing his slaves 
 on the Ohio River. 
 
 LEFT HAND SIDE. 
 
 III. Lincoln. Offut and Green on Flat 
 Boat at New Salem. 
 
 IV'. New Salem. 
 
 V. Marquette and Joliet at Indian vil¬ 
 lage on DesPlaines River near Joliet, 
 1673. 
 
 WEST CORRIDOR. 
 
 First Floor. 
 
 The main feature of this part of the 
 lower structure is the grand stairway, 
 
9 
 
 made of solid marble with a frame 
 work of iron. The ceiling of the west 
 wing is a succession of arches and 
 panels and is decorated with fresco 
 paintings, with an oriental tinge in 
 shades of red and gold. Plastic relief 
 in metal effects heightens the beauty of 
 the side wall decorations. 
 
 Second Floor, or Executive Floor. 
 
 Large painting of George Rogers Clark 
 making a treaty with the Indians, 1778. 
 
 This floor is reached by means of two 
 large passenger elevators, and the fea¬ 
 ture which at once strikes the eye in 
 landing is the huge painting at the head 
 of the grand marble stairway. It is 
 20x40 feet in size and the figures in the 
 foreground are ten feet in height. Al¬ 
 though it has been severely criticized 
 by many, it is nevertheless a magnificent 
 piece of work. It represents George 
 Rogers Clark before Fort Kaskaskia, 
 engaged in making a treaty with the 
 Indians in July, 177S. The work on tins 
 painting was done :n part by a painter 
 named G. A. Fuchs, under the direction 
 of Mr. William Phillipson. It can be 
 best seen from the third floor. 
 
 East Corridor. 
 
 The principal features of the side walls 
 of the second or executive floor are four 
 panel pictures some twelve feet by five 
 feet in size, executed by Matt Morgan of 
 Cincinnati. They represent “Art”, “Lit¬ 
 erature”, “Peace” and “War”. They are 
 painted on copper colored bronze back¬ 
 ground, and are all of female figures, 
 with the conventional insignia of their 
 respective allegorical characters. 
 
 The floor of this east wing is of marble 
 flagging and a three-foot marble wains- 
 

10 
 
 cot extends around the side walls, 
 making a base lor marble shafts sup¬ 
 porting the ceiling. Of the north and 
 south wings of this tloor but little can be 
 said, except that they are decorated in 
 French Renaissance frescoe designs. 
 
 SOUTH CORRIDOR. 
 Second Floor. 
 
 Old Supreme Court Room. Now Public 
 Utilities quarters. Mural decorations on 
 the ceiling, the work of Moretti. of the 
 tirm of Miragoli Moretti, St. Louis, Mo. 
 The principal figure represents the God¬ 
 dess of Justice, heroic size, seated on a 
 forum, a table of the law on the left hand, 
 sword in the right. One foot, protruding 
 from the drapery, is bare, and trampling 
 upon gold pieces from a cornucopia in¬ 
 dicates that Justice is not bought; a 
 quiver of arrows at her feet. Two little 
 cherubs—one holding a book of the law. 
 the other the National Flag—balance 
 the representation of the Goddess. In the 
 dim perspective is the reproduction of 
 the Capitol. 
 
 WEST CORRIDOR. 
 
 Second Floor. 
 
 Plaster statues in nicin s in rotunda. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Stephen A. Douglas. 
 
 John Wood. This statue was the gift 
 of the people of the city of Quincy, Illi¬ 
 nois. Governor Wood having been a resi¬ 
 dent of that city. The statue is the 
 work of Leonard Volk. 
 
 THE ROTUNDA. 
 
 The rerun la from r ho second door is 
 formed of a succession of marble, granite 
 ae 1 bronze. Doth the second and third 
 
11 
 
 floors are encircled with balustrades of 
 electric plate iron, with heavy brass 
 rails. This treatment of stone, marble 
 and granite is carried to a height of 
 eighty feet, until it reaches a huge frieze 
 of about forty feet In height, completely 
 encircling the dome. 
 
 THIRD FLOOR. 
 
 The frieze, in plastic relief in imitation 
 of bronze, represents the progress of 
 Civilization, or the migrations of the 
 pioneer. The sculptor was F. Nicolai. 
 Beginning at the west side, the scenes 
 in relief represent: 
 
 1. The first panel represents a trader’s 
 habitation and the trader himself bar 
 gaining for some hides with the savages. 
 The brave housewife is near the door 
 and completes the picture of the earliest 
 pioneer life. 
 
 2. Tim cabin is again represented wirh 
 the wife and children near it. while the 
 husband is starting forth to his daily 
 toil, driving a team of yoked oxen, while 
 a band of Indians Turk behind a grmp 
 of trees and with drawn bows threaten 
 his life. 
 
 3. The third panel of the frieze shows 
 a stockade for with its outside sentinels, 
 while a group of settlers are ruling in 
 from their homes, seeking protection 
 from the depredations of the Indians. 
 
 4. This pane! represents a group of 
 four settlers in the midst of an Indian 
 camp, ostensibly there for the purpose of 
 making a treaty with the savage 
 warriors. 
 
 5. This panel represents real Indian 
 border warfare. The pioneers on foot and 
 in the saddle are charging at full speed 
 upon a band of ambushed red men. who 
 are fighting for Iif« and receiving swarms 
 of recruits on horses. There is much 
 vigor in the picture, and the settlers are 
 

12 
 
 •epresented as getting the better of their 
 mponents. 
 
 This panel shows the surrender of 
 Black Hawk at Prairie du Chien and 
 •'•hows the Indians submitting a truce. 
 Their chief is in the center speaking to 
 the commanding officer, while followers 
 of each await the outcome of the 
 
 meeting. , __ 
 
 7. The interior of a primitive meeting 
 
 house or church. The minister is ex¬ 
 horting and the congregation in shaker 
 bonnets and quaint old clothes is listen¬ 
 ing in rapt attention. (Minister sup¬ 
 posed to be Peter Cartwright.) 
 
 8. Virginia House of Burgesses, w r ith 
 Patrick " Henry as the central figure, 
 making his memorable address, and 
 Washington and Richard Henry Lee 
 among his attentive auditors. 
 
 *) Lincoln and Douglas debate. This 
 relief probably represents the Lincoln- 
 DmusU»* debate »t Gatesburs Octeber .. 
 1ST,8. the fifth in the series of the im- 
 mortal seven Joint debates between 
 Mr. Lincoln and Senator Douglas. 
 
 There are twenty figures. The key or 
 explanation of the relief has been lost, 
 blit it is believed that the following in¬ 
 complete list of men is approximately 
 correct. Captain A. W. Jerome, who was 
 long employed in the Capitol building, 
 made a study of this scene, and trorn the 
 evidence which he could secure 
 made up the list as here given: 
 
 I . eft to right—No. L Leonard Swett; 
 
 No. 2. Ozias Hatch: No. •’>. - ^ ~ 
 
 No 4. Lvman Trumbull: No. 
 
 1J_- No. 6. William Butler: No. 7. 
 
 __*__: No. S.-- -- 
 
 th John M. Palmer: No 10 Jesse K. 
 Dubois: No. 1L Stephen T. Logan, No. 
 12 Abraham Lincoln: No. 13. Stephen A. 
 Douglas: No. 14.--- : No 1;> * 
 
IS 
 
 \ 
 
 -; No. 16 ,-; Xo. 
 
 17, David I avis; No. IS,- ; 
 
 No. 19, Anthony Thornton; No. 20, negro 
 slave. 
 
 This heavy frieze is supported by broad 
 bands of relief ornaments in the French 
 renaissance style, slightly tinged with 
 the Grecian in solid bronzes and antique 
 colorings. It is surmounted by a succes¬ 
 sion of highly decorated mouldings car¬ 
 ried to the height of some twenty feet 
 in steel colored effects, which furnishes 
 a foundation for a colonnade and also 
 for a succession of twenty-four columns 
 supporting, 
 
 THE UPPER DOME. 
 
 The columns are sixty feet high and 
 four feet in diameter, in imitation of 
 Sieqna marble, with vases and capitals 
 in imitation of antique bronze. The upper 
 dome is built inside of galvanized iron, 
 decarcted and panelled with relief orna¬ 
 ments, all of which are treated in atmos¬ 
 pheric colors to give distance to a struc¬ 
 ture already reaching to the height of 
 over two hundred feet. Blue and gold 
 are the predominating colors. The im¬ 
 mediate center and extreme point of the 
 dome is about fourteen teet in diameter 
 and is finished with stained glass, on 
 which 1 he principal design of ornamenta¬ 
 tion is the coat of arms of the State of 
 Illinois. The dome decorations are 
 arranged in a manner to show both its 
 gigantic proportions and its enormous 
 height. 
 
 The contractor for the decorations of 
 the dome and the lower corridor was the 
 Phillipson Decorative Company of Chi¬ 
 cago. and the work was done under the 
 personal supervision of Mr. William 
 Phillipson. Mitchell £ Hoi bach of Chi¬ 
 cago were the contractors for the work 
 on the executive floor. 
 


14 
 
 BRONZE STATUES ON THE 
 CORBELS. 
 
 Or Pedestals in the Dome. Below 
 the Frieze Just Described. 
 
 There was much discussion at the time 
 of the selection of the individuals to be 
 so honored. The State House Commis¬ 
 sion finally selected the following eight 
 men distinguished in the annals o*. Ilii- 
 
 nois: . , 
 
 1. Ninian Edwards, Territorial Gover¬ 
 nor of Illinois. 
 
 2. Shadrach Bond, first Governor of the 
 State of Illinois, 
 
 3. Edward Coles, second Governor oi 
 
 the State of Illinois, 
 
 4. Sidney Breese, Justice of the Mate 
 Supreme Court and United States Sena- 
 
 5. Lyman Trumbull, United States Sen- 
 
 6* Gen. U. S. Grant, the greatest of the 
 State's soldiers. 
 
 7. Gen. John A. lx>gan, distinguished 
 volunteer soldier and United States Sen¬ 
 ator. 
 
 8. William R. Morrison, soldier and 
 
 congressman. 
 
 The first statue placed was that of 
 Colonel Morrison, on September 4, 188... 
 The others were placed during the follow¬ 
 ing three months. These eight statues 
 cost fen thousand <$ltf.Oo(i) dollars. The 
 artists who designed the figures were: 
 Peter E. Poli, Edward Guitink and Wil¬ 
 liam Mali of* Chicago. The statues were 
 cast in New York from designs furnished 
 by these artists. 
 
 Recently, <19181 between these statues, 
 mural decorations have been painted by 
 G. H. Schanbacher of Springfield. Illinois. 
 These paintings represent the State Seal 
 of Illinois with the blue and white Cen- 
 
15 
 
 tennial banner on the shield. This ban¬ 
 ner was designed hv Wallace Rice of Chi¬ 
 cago. It is a llag with two white stripes 
 and a centre stripe of blue. On each of 
 the white stripes are ten blue stars, rep¬ 
 resenting the ten northern and the ten 
 southern states. On the blue stripe is a 
 large white star representing Illinois the 
 twenty-first state, the central or pivotal 
 state, Illinois being the twenty-first state 
 in ttfe order of its admission to the 
 Tin ion. 
 
 THIRD FLOOR. 
 
 Mural paintings have recently been 
 placed on the walls of this floor. They 
 are: 
 
 “Industry.” South alcove over entrance 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 “Commerce.” North alcove over en¬ 
 trance Senate Chamber. 
 
 “Agriculture.” East wall. 
 
 These paintings are the work of 
 Robert W. Grafton of Chicago. 
 
 Picture — Grand Stairway — GEORGE 
 ROGERS CLARK. TREATY WITH THE 
 INDIANS. Described on page 9. 
 
 The third floor is the Legislative floor, 
 and contains the House of Representa¬ 
 tives and the Senate Chamber with their 
 necessary oHir es. The House of Repre¬ 
 sentatives is on t lit south side, the Sen¬ 
 ate Chamber on the north. Oil portraits 
 of Lincoln and Douglas hang on the 
 walls, of the House of Representatives. 
 They are the work of A. E. Darling, a 
 noted portrait painter. They cost one 
 thousand ($1,000) each. 
 
 The west wing is occupied by the State 
 Library, a magnificent room of splendid 
 proportions. Its bookstacks with fronts 
 of real bronze are ornamented with the 
 portraits of American authors in relief. 
 On the north wall of the main library 
 room is a relief placque- in bronze rep re- 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
16 
 
 senting an ItiipBCls ranger or soldier of 
 the Territorial period, 1809-1S18. This 
 tablet was erected by the State of Illinois 
 to the memory of the Illinois Rangers 
 and soldiers of the War of 1812. The 
 sculptor is Miss Nelly Walker of Chi¬ 
 cago. The Legislature anpropriated 
 twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) for this 
 tablet. It was dedicated January 12, 
 1915. The Illinois Daughters of 1812 had 
 charge of the dedicatory exercises. 
 
 Full length portraits of General Wash¬ 
 ington and of the Marquis de Lafayette 
 painted by J. W. Berry hang on the walls 
 of the Library. 
 
 In the east wing is the Illinois State 
 Historical Library, which contains the 
 State’s collection of material relating to 
 State history and to Abraham Lincoln 
 and other great men of Illinois. The 
 main Library room contains a most 
 interesting collection of Lincoln por¬ 
 traits, books and pamphlets. 
 
 During the past year tne unfinished 
 space in the fourth, fifth and sixth floors 
 of the building has been finished and 
 converted into excellent office rooms. 
 
 When the Capitol building was erected 
 it was considered so large as to bo en¬ 
 tirely out of proportion to the need; of 
 the State. At the close of the first half 
 '•eutury of its existence, and after forty- 
 two years of actual use, it is so over¬ 
 crowded that the Supreme Court build¬ 
 ing recently constructed and the con-! 
 templated Centennial Memorial building 
 are actually needed to carry on con¬ 
 veniently and efficiently the work of the 
 various activities of the executive de¬ 
 partments of the State of Illinois. 
 
 During the year 1918 the entire Capitol 
 building has been cleaned and redeco¬ 
 rated, under the supervision of Louis L. 
 Emmerson, Secretary of State, and the 
 building now presents a splendid ap 
 pearance.