"We were met by the train superintendent, Frank Lewis, who greeted us and invited us aboard a special coach on the train which ahd been waiting a half hour. We had half an hour to wait for the eastbound train on the 3-I Railroand (Indiana, Illinois & Iowa ) and then sped across the river and on through the timber past Nelson Morris' 30,000 or more acres, catching a glimpse of his herd of elk, and then on to DeMotte and Kersey, not far away. "Upon arriving at Dick Fuller's Hotel in the fast growing town of Shelby, our horses were cared for and our supper ordered for our return in the evening. We observed that the beet plants were more healthy on black soil than on the sandy. Closer to Shelby the sugar beet acreage could be seen, and the shantys and tents of the beet growers are seen in groups in every direction. "South of Fuller Island, cultivation has been rapidly taking over, until there is very little marsh left. We noticed the fine state of cultivation where Claude Rumsey, Lew Chapman and John Klein all had fine corn growing on the bottoms. "The drive to Sheby was a splendid outing in itself, as it gave us a view of the farmlands on both sides, and there was enthusiastic comment on the great improvement on the land as we crossed the marsh to Fuller Island. Gifford with the purpose in mind of inviting him to bring his railroad through Lowell. Davis and Mort Gragg followed in a buggy. These men boarded the Kelsey Livery Bus, while Dr. Several men from Lowell took time off from their busy schedules on the morning of July 2, 1901. "In the summer of 1901, I had the privilege of joining an excursion on the new Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad, a trip that offered an excellent opportunity to view the country-side and to inspect the new business venture of Mr. The following story about that railroad and the enterprising Gifford is told by the "Old Timer": While drilling deep wells for water on his land north of Gifford, Ind., he discovered oil and built a million-dollar oil refinery in 1899. He drained the marshes by building many miles of dredge ditching, built public roads, dug smaller ditches, and divided his land into farms of 80, 160, and 320 acres, building sets of farm buildings on each site. ![]() During the war he was wounded several times, and carried a bullet in his spine until he died in the hospital in Rensselaer in March 1913, at the age of 73.*īenjamin Gifford acquired about 36,000 acres of the low-lands in southern Lake and Jasper counties. Gifford grew to manhood in those pioneer days, acquired his education, taught school, studied law, became a lawyer, and in 1861 volunterred and served under General Grant in the Union Army. ![]() ![]() He was the son of Freeman Gifford and Cornelia Fielder Gifford, natives of New Jersey, who came by covered wagon and homesteaded in Kendall County, Ill., in 1838. The Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad was built by Benjamin Gifford, who came to this area in 1891. (from the September 28, 1983, Lowell Tribune, page 4) Benjamin Gifford and the Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad
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