Chicago south branoh dock company. 
 
 Charter, by-laws and statement of property of 
 the Chicago south branch dock cc. Chicago, April, 
 1359. Chicago, Journal steam press print, fC ICearbe^ 
 
 Q C 
 
 oo 
 
 n. mao. 23 cm. 
 
 * i 
 
 Cover-title. 
 
 Street, 1359. 
 
 o 
 
 NC 0365758 ICHi MH 
 

 n ? - j *v .v 
 
 
 CHARTER 
 
 9 
 
 CK 
 
 
 BY-LAWS 
 
 AND 
 
 statement of Iroprtj, 
 
 * OP THE 
 
 CHICAGO SOUTH BRANCH BOCK CO, 
 
 Chicago, April, 1§59. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 JOURNAL STEAM PRESS PRINT, 50 DEARDORN STREET. 
 
 1859. 
 
zi 
 
 c 
 
 AJSS ACT 
 
 To Incorporate the Chicago South Branch Bock Go, 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois , 
 represented in the General Assembly , That Wm. Greene, Wm. 
 S. Sampson, Richard J. Arnold, John F. Hance, Roswell B. 
 Mason, Amos G. Throop, Abraham J. Knisely, and all such per¬ 
 sons as shall hereafter become stock-holders in the Company hereby 
 incorporated, shall be, and for the time of thirty years after the 
 passage of this act, shall continue to be a body politic and incor¬ 
 porate by the name and style of the “ Chicago South Branch Dock 
 Company/' and by that name and style shall be capable of suing 
 and being sued, implead, answer or defend in law or equity, in all 
 courts and places whatsoever, make and use a common seal, and to 
 alter or renew the same at pleasure, and by their said corporate 
 name and style, shall be capable in law of contracting and being 
 contracted with, and shall be, and are hereby invested with all the 
 powers, privileges, immunities and franchises, of acquiring by pur¬ 
 chase or otherwise, and of holding and conveying all real and per¬ 
 sonal estate which may be needful or convenient for carrying into 
 effect, fully, the objects and purposes of this act, and may receive 
 and make all deeds, transfers, covenants, conveyances, grants, con¬ 
 tracts, agreements and bargains whatsoever, necessary for such pur¬ 
 poses, and generally may do every other act or thing necessary to 
 carry into effect the provisions of this act, and promote the objects 
 and designs of said Company, as by this act authorized. 
 
 Sec. 2. The said Corporation is hereby authorized and empow¬ 
 ered to improve in such a manner as shall be conformable to the 
 laws of this State, and not contrary to, or inconsistent with, any of 
 the rights or privileges of the City of Chicago, or of any citizen or 
 citizens of this or of the United States, the following described lands 
 
2 
 
 and property situated in the City of Chicago, in the County of 
 Cook, and State of Illinois, to-wit: The north fractional part of 
 section twenty-nine, in township thirty-nine north of range fourteen, 
 east of the third principal meridian, excepting the east sixteen 
 and seventy-two hundredths acres, and any other lands and appur¬ 
 tenances now belonging or which shall hereafter belong to said Com¬ 
 pany, by laying the same out into lots, streets, squares, lanes, alleys 
 and other divisions, and by surveying, locating, constructing, alter¬ 
 ing, maintaining and operating seven or any less or greater number 
 of canals, and to connect such canals with the South Branch of the 
 Chicago Piiver, in such a manner as not to injure the navigation of 
 the said river, and to make and use on such lands all such Bail 
 Boads, Wharves, Work-shops, Ware-houses, Stores and such other 
 buildings and improvements as may be found necessary, convenient 
 or ornamental, with full powers of letting, renting, selling, grant¬ 
 ing or using any lot or other portion of any such lands or the im¬ 
 provements made or to be made thereon for any trade, business or 
 manufacture authorized or permitted by the laws of the State, 
 Provided, that the said Company and its agents shall in all cases 
 whatsoever be subject to and observe the ordinances of the City 
 of Chicago within the limits of said city. 
 
 Sec. 3. The capital stock of said Company shall be six hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars, which may be increased from time to 
 time to any sum not exceeding the entire amount of the value 
 of such lands, including any and all improvements made and to be 
 made upon the same, divided into shares of one hundred dollars 
 each, which shall be deemed personal property, and may be issued 
 and transferred in such manner as may be ordered and provided 
 by the Board of Directors, who shall have power to require the 
 payment of the sums subscribed by stock-holders in such manner and 
 on such terms as they may think proper, and on refusal, neglect 
 or default on the part of the stock-holders, or any of them, to make 
 payment as, and when, required by the Board of Directors, the said 
 Company may sue for and collect the same, or may, after thirty 
 days' notice thereof, published in a daily newspaper in the City of 
 Chicago, sell the shares of such delinquent or delinquents at public 
 auction, under such rules as the Board of Directors may adopt, the 
 surplus money, if any, remaining after deducting the payments 
 due, with the interest and costs of sale, to be paid to such delinquent 
 
stock-holder or stock-holders, or his or their legal representatives. 
 The persons named in the first section of this Act, or a majority of 
 them, are hereby authorized to dispose of the stock of said Com¬ 
 pany and to cause books to be opened for subscription to said cap¬ 
 ital stock, in such manner and at such times and places as they 
 may deem expedient. 
 
 Sec. 4. The corporate powers of said Company shall be vested 
 in a Board of Directors and such officers and agents as such Board 
 shall appoint. The Board of Directors shall consist of five persons, 
 who shall be stock-holders of said Compaay, to be chosen annually 
 by the stock-holders, each share having one vote, which may be 
 given in person or by proxy, such Directors to continue in office for 
 one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Va¬ 
 cancies in the Board may be filled at any time by two-thirds of the 
 Directors remaining, such appointees to continue in office until 
 the next regular annual election of Directors. The officers of said 
 Board, and the officers, agents, servants and employees of said Com¬ 
 pany, whether members of the Board of Directors or otherwise, may 
 be appointed, employed, paid and dismissed under such rules and 
 regulations, and may be required to enter into such bonds as the 
 Board of Directors may from time to time adopt and direct. 
 
 Sec. 5. The said Company shall have power to make all such 
 by-laws, rules and regulations, as may be deemed expedient and 
 necessary to fulfill the purjjoses and carry into effect the provisions 
 of this Act, and for the well ordering, regulating and securing the 
 affairs, business and interests of the Company ; Provided the same 
 be not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, 
 or of this State, or to this Act. 
 
 Sec. 6 . The said “ Chicago South Branch Dock Company ” are 
 authorized and empowered to borrow, from time to time, such sum 
 or sums of money, not exceeding at any one time fifty thousand 
 dollars, as in their discretion the Directors thereof may deem nec¬ 
 essary, to aid in the construction of said Docks, Rail Roads, and 
 other improvements and works, and to pay interest thereon not ex¬ 
 ceeding ten per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually, or other¬ 
 wise, and pledge and mortgage the lands, Docks, Rail Roads, real 
 estate, effects, rights, credits and franchises of said Company, as 
 security for any such loan at such rate and on such terms, as the 
 Board of Directors may determine ; and the Directors of said Com- 
 
4 
 
 pany may confer on any bond-holder of any bond issued for money 
 borrowed as aforesaid, the right to convert the principal due or owing 
 thereon, into stock of said Company, at any time not exceeding 
 ten years from the date of the bond, under such rules as the Board 
 of Directors may adopt therefor ; Provided , however, that no mort¬ 
 gage or other conveyance of the real estate of said Company shall be 
 valid, unless signed by the President and Secretary therof, and be 
 under the seal of the Company, and be duly acknowledged by said 
 President and Secretary before a proper officer, according to law; 
 and provided, further, that nothing in this Act contained shall be 
 so construed as to vest said Company with banking powers, or to 
 authorize them to make, emit or utter any bank note, or other 
 device to be used as money. 
 
 Sec. 7. So soon as the sum of Five Plundred Thousand Dollars 
 of the capital stock of said Company shall have been subscribed, 
 the said persons named in the first section of this Act, or a major¬ 
 ity of them, shall give ten days’ notice, by publishing in a newspaper 
 printed in the City of Chicago, of an election by said stock-holders 
 of a Board of Directors as hereinbefore provided. At the time 
 and place appointed in said notice for that purpose, the said persons 
 named in the first section of this Act, or a majority of them, shall 
 attend and act as inspectors of said election, and the stock¬ 
 holders present shall proceed to elect five Directors by ballot; and 
 the said inspectors present shall certify the result of said election 
 under their hands, which certificate shall be recorded in the book of 
 records of said “ Chicago South Branch Dock Company,” and shall 
 be sufficient evidence of the election of Directors therein named, 
 and the Directors thus elected shall hold their offices for one year, 
 and until their successors are elected and qualified, and shall elect 
 one of their number as President of the Board. All future elec¬ 
 tions shall be held at the time and in the manner prescribed by the 
 by-laws and regulations of said Incorporation. 
 
 Sec. 8. The joint stock, property, funds, and effects of said 
 Company shall be answerable for all the contracts made or author¬ 
 ized by or for the said Company, and for all just claims against the 
 same ; but none of the stockholders shall be liable in person or prop¬ 
 erty for any contracts or claims against the said Corporation, and 
 the service of legal process on the President or any of the Directors 
 shall be sufficient service on the Corporation. 
 
5 
 
 Sec. 9. This Act shall be deemed and taken as a public Act, and 
 shall be construed beneficially for all purposes herein specified or 
 intended, and all copies thereof printed by or under the direction 
 of the General Assembly of this State, shall be received in all 
 courts and places whatsoever in this State, as sufficient evidence 
 thereof without further proof. 
 
 Sec. 10. This Act to take effect and be in force from and after 
 its passage. 
 
 WM. R. MORRISON, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 JOHN WOOD, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved, February 19, 1859. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BISSELL. 
 
 
 BY-LAW S. 
 
 ARTICLE 1. 
 
 The annual election of Directors of this Company shall be held 
 at the office of the Company, on the first Monday in June of each 
 year—after the year 1859—between the hours of 10 A. M., and 2 
 P. M. 
 
 Thirty days’ previous notice of said election shall be given by the 
 Secretary of the Company, in a newspaper, published in the City 
 of Chicago. 
 
 Each share of capital stock of said Company shall be entitled to 
 one vote ; and a majority of all the votes cast shall be necessary to 
 the election of a Director. Said elections shall be conducted by any 
 one or more of the Directors in conjunction with the Secretary, and 
 the result shall be certified by them accordingly. Notice of their 
 election shall be given to the newly elected Directors, who shall 
 meet within ten days after said election, for organization. 
 
 ARTICLE 2. 
 
 A majority of the Directors shall be necessary to constitute a 
 quorum for the transaction of business. Meetings of the Board of 
 
6 
 
 Directors shall be held on their own adjournment, or at the special 
 call of the President, either at Chicago, Illinois, or at Cincinnati, 
 Ohio; Provided , that when any such meeting shall be held at Cin¬ 
 cinnati, the Directors present shall appoint an assistant Secretary, 
 whose duty it shall be to keep full and correct minutes of the busi¬ 
 ness done, and proceedings had at such meeting, which minutes shall 
 be signed by the President and such assistant Secretary, and, by the 
 latter, transmitted, under his hand and in his official capacity, to 
 the Secretary of said Company at Chicago, who shall enter the same 
 at large upon the records of said Company. 
 
 ARTICLE 3. 
 
 The officers of this Company shall be a President and a Secretary 
 (who shall be, ex officio , Treasurer,) and such Agent or Agents, for 
 the transaction of the business of the Company, as the Board of Di¬ 
 rectors shall, from time to time, appoint. 
 
 ARTICLE 4. 
 
 The duties of the President, and the Secretary and Treasurer, 
 shall be such as usually belong to those officers. 
 
 ARTICLE 5. 
 
 The Secretary shall exhibit a statement of the condition of the 
 affairs of the Company, at any time when required by the Board of 
 Directors, and shall prepare a full report annually, for the informa¬ 
 tion of the Stockholders, at their annual meeting, on the first 
 Monday in June. 
 
 ARTICLE 6. 
 
 The Treasurer shall give bonds for the faithful performance of 
 the duties of his office, in the sum of five thousand dollars, (or such 
 other sum as the Board of Directors may, from time to time, 
 require), which shall be approved by the President. 
 
 ARTICLE 7. 
 
 Certificates shall, from time to time, be issued to the holders of 
 the stock of the Company, and they shall be signed by the President, 
 and countersigned by the Secretary, who shall attach to each certifi¬ 
 cate so signed and countersigned, the seal of the Company. 
 
 ARTICLE 8. 
 
 All transfers of Stock shall be made on the books of the Company, 
 either by the stockholder himself, or by the Secretary authorized to 
 act in his name, by a power of attorney under his hand or that of 
 
7 
 
 his legal representative, appended to, or endorsed upon said certifi¬ 
 cate. 
 
 ARTICLE 9. 
 
 The books for transfer shall be closed ten days before every an¬ 
 nual election, and shall remain closed until the day after the period 
 appointed for such election. 
 
 ARTICLE 10. 
 
 Dividends of the surplus moneys of the Company, may, from time 
 to time, be declared by the Board of Directors, as, in their judgment, 
 the condition of the Company justifies ; and in anticipation of any 
 such dividend, the books of transfer shall be closed for the period of 
 ten days next preceding the day of payment of such dividend. 
 
 ARTICLE 11. 
 
 These By-Laws may be amended, altered or repealed, at any reg¬ 
 ular annual meeting of the Company. 
 
 At a meeting of the stockholders of the Chicago South Branch 
 Dock Company, held at the office of A. J. Knisely, in the City of 
 Chicago, on Wednesday, March 23d, 1859, in pursuance of a duly 
 published notice, the following named persons were elected Direct - 
 ors of said Company : William Greene, Cincinnati, Ohio, Wrn. S. 
 Sampson, Cincinnati, 0., Henry A. Johnson, Cincinnati, 0., Rich¬ 
 ard J. Arnold, Providence, R. I., Abraham J. Knisely, Chicago, Ill. 
 
 At a meeting of the beard of Directors, Wm. Greene was chosen 
 President, and A. J. Knisely, Secretary. 
 
8 
 
 STATEMENT OF PKOPERTY. 
 
 The whole amount of Capital Stock of said Company is $650,- 
 000, all of which has been subscribed, the whole amount called in, 
 and fully paid. The Company received in payment of said Stock, 
 from the subscribers thereto, land at a nominal valuation, (but at 
 a valuation far below its actual and market value), as follows : 
 17,368 feet of ground in “ G-reene’s South Branch Addition to Chi¬ 
 cago,being at the rate of nearly $37.43 per front foot ; whereas, 
 a fair and reasonable valuation of the same property would not be 
 less than from $75 to $125 per foot, according to the advantages of 
 location, &c., as is satisfactorily shown, in the fact, that within the 
 last six months, lots located in the central portion of the Company’s 
 property, and no more valuable than the average of theirs, have 
 been sold at the rate of $90 per foot. This property is wholly un¬ 
 incumbered, and is now in a state of rapid improvement. An 
 amount of work has already been done, equivalent to completely 
 excavating 4,125 lineal feet of Slip, giving, thereby, 8,250 feet of 
 dock front. This excavating is not only no expense to the Company, 
 but is a source of revenue to them, inasmuch as the clay so excava¬ 
 ted is valuable for brick-making, and, for that purpose, commands a 
 premium over and above the cost of digging the material. These 
 lots are of an average depth of 244 feet ; and 12,829 front feet are 
 on slips already built, or in course of construction. 
 
 The balance of the ground—4,539 feet, lying at the west end of 
 the addition—is capable of being converted into water front in a 
 similar manner, though it has been thought advisable to retain it 
 in its present shape for the time being, with the view of using it 
 for Depot and other railroad purposes. 
 
 A. J. KNISELY, Sec’y. 
 
 Chicago, April 1st, 1859. 
 
LAFLIN«=S 
 
 LOOMIS = ST 
 
 THROOP 
 
 RU CKER—S 
 
 STETSON=S 
 
THE CHICAGO 
 
 HEREBY CALL THE ATTENTION OF 
 
 TO THEIR EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENT OP BUSINESS PROPERTY, 
 
 -ON THE- 
 
 WW-WTW IWIPI 30 :r T :wr 
 mMM: i m iIhwmcII M f t m 
 
 |PI WfWTW 
 IMMM. MX f KMl 
 
 This property is admirably, adapted to the GRAIN AND LUMBER TRADE, 
 or any kind of business where WATER FRONT is required. It is laid out on a 
 liberal scale, each of the Canals being One Hundred Feet in width, and of suffi¬ 
 cient depth to admit the Largest Vessels. The lots are of sufficient size to ac¬ 
 commodate a large business, each embracing a Dock Front of One Hundred 
 Feet, and extending back two hundred and forty-four feet, to an EIGHTY FEET 
 STREET. The Company have the right to lay one or more £ s 
 
 RAIL ROAD TRACKS 
 
 In any or all of the streets through this property, and this will, probably, soon be 
 done, which, when completed, will connect with all the main tracks entering the 
 city, thereby presenting facilities for the 
 
 RE-SHIPPING OF GRAIN, LUMBER, ETC, 
 
 no where else to be found. This, taken in connection with the fact of the close 
 proximity of this property to the 
 
 ILLINOIS AN® MICHIGAN CANAL, 
 
 Through which about one-third of all the grain received in Chicago comes, and 
 from one-fifth to one-fourth of all the Lumber sold here, is shipped, gives to this 
 locality, a decided advantage over any other, for the transaction of any kind of 
 Heavy Business. To those desiring Business Property, for actual use, and not 
 for speculation merely, this is offered on the most favorable terms, by 
 
 Office No. 78 South Dearborn Street. 
 
\ 
 
 4 
 
 IV 
 
 
 5