CAIRO

CAIRO

Alexander County/Illinois Genealogy Trails

ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL STAFF-1941

HISTORY OF CAIRO

Cairo, despite decades of decline and depression, remains one of the most fascinating cities in the state of Illinois. So much of the city's past glory and shame stands recorded in the streets and buildings that remain, individual works of architectural brilliance. What gives Cairo its magnificent sense of past times, however, is the same thing that threatens its future; decay. The history of Cairo is among the most complex and fascinating of any municipality in Illinois, rife with schemes, skirmishes, phenomenal growth and almost equally phenomenal decline. In many respects, it remains to this day the history of promise unfulfilled.
From the first, explorers and settlers dreamed of the grand city which would surely rise on the Mississippi-Ohio floodplanes. The prohibitive cost of levees, however, caused economic problems, political intrigue and frustrating delay to surround Cairo's founding. Finally, the levee system and the southern terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad, itself an important chapter in Illinois history, combined to make Cairo a prominent center connecting rail and river traffic.

Sources: HISTORY OF ALEXANDER, UNION AND PULASKI COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, edited by William Henry Perrin, 1883, Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publisher, 183 Lake St. Reprinted in 1969.

THE CAIRO CITIZEN, CAIRO, ILLINOIS, "The History of Cairo."

CIVIL WAR YEARS

With its strategic position, Cairo became all-important during the Civil War. It was fortified immediately. General U. S. Grant, the Army of the Tennessee, the Siege of Vicksburg, the Naval Battle for the Mississippi--all were launched from Cairo's riverbanks. At nearby Mound City National Cemetery, the graves of over 2000 unknown Confederate boys lie beside those of their former Union enemies.
With the return of peace, the town became a curious mixture of violence and gentility. Along the wharfs, saloons and gambling casinos catered to rough rivermen, while a discreet carriage ride away, the genteel sheltered in near-palatial mansions along "Millionaire's Row." Lavish churches, opera houses, orchestras, hotels and monumental government buildings boasted of Cairo's wealth.
Cairo's decline has been steady for decades. In 1920 the population was 15, 203 and in 2000 it was 3,642. Cairo is the county seat of Alexander County.

(Used with permission from the Cairo Citizen website http://www.cairocitizen.com.)

MAYORS OF CAIRO
(Partial listing)

Thomas Wilson--3 terms
Henry Winter--2 terms
John M. Lansden--1871
Col. John Wood--1873-1875
Napoleon B. Thistlewood (1837-1915)--1879-83, 1897-1901
C. R. Woodward--1895
Walter H. Wood--1924, 1928
August Bode--1935-38; 1942
Egbert A. Smith--1945-54

Sources: the obituary of Louis H. Meyers, 1834-1918; the Political Graveyard--http://politicalgraveyard.com; obituaries.

SHERIFFS OF CAIRO

Louis H. Meyers--1868

Sources: the obituary of Louis H. Meyers, 1834-1918; the Political Graveyard--http://politicalgraveyard.com; obituaries.

ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL STAFF

The Medical Staff at St. Mary's Hospital on March 15, 1941: Dr. H. J. Elkins of Mounds, Dr. Van Andrews, Dr. Flint Bondurant, Dr. Rendleman, Dr. J. W. Dunn, Dr. Edward Miller, Dr. Howard C. Moreland, Dr. B. S. Hutcheson, Dr. W. R. Wesenburg of Mounds City, Dr. Lewis C. Ent, Dr. C. L. Weber, Dr. O. T. Hudson of Mounds, Dr. Howard D. Stuckey, Dr. Fay S. Comer, Dr. Phil McNemer and Dr. James J. Johnson. --Contributed by Stephen Newell.

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