Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1901 — GIFFORD’S HOLDINGS. [ARTICLE]

GIFFORD’S HOLDINGS.

A Chicago Paper’s Write Up of Jasper’s Land King. The Chicago Record Herald gives a two column article on the Gifford swamps, of Jasper county, with a short biographical sketch of Capt. 3enj. J. Gifford, the owner of the vast tract. When a boy of eleven years, plowing corn on his father’s farm in Illinois he noticed the stalks in the swales grew taller and thriftier than those on the ridges. The article mentions the following as some of the achievements the result of the boyish discovery: He has transformed an Indian swamp into a farm of 30,000 acres. He has dotted it with 200 bouses and as many barns. He has built a twenty-severt-mile railroad through the middle of the farm to carry its produce to market and is heading the road for Chicago. He has seven townsites with railroad stations on his farm, to say nothing about wells producing oil used in making asphaltum. He has 100 miles of ditches cut in his farm, and has a dredging machine busy year after year keeping them in good condition.

He has lately purchased a tract of 25,000 acres of Nelson Morris, the Chicago packer. His first attempt at building railroads was on a* line be tween Leroy, 111., and West Lebanon, Ind., a narrow guage road of seventysix miles. He finally sold this road to Jay Gould for $250,000. He then came to Indiana and purchased 6,700 acres in Jasper county where he has made the wonderful improvements, and purchased additional tracts. He keeps a dredge busy the year round which costs him $6,000 a year with one shift. He built his railroad on this land with ties cut from his timber land and discarded light mils from large cornpa nies and the rolling stock two engines and nineteen cars. He has huilt twenty-four miles of track between Kersey on the Indiana, Illinois and lowa Railroad southward through the center of his property to MeCoysbnrg, .on the Monon Railroad. He intends this road shall ultimately reach Chicago and enable him to turn a large ■part of his farm into a vegetable garden for supplying the Chicago market. The line has been laid out tentatively to Chicago Heights, where it may connect with a road giving an inlet into the city. One-half of the right of way from Kersey to Chicago Heights has been secured, and the roadbed is graded to the Kankakee River. The right of way has been secured also twenty miles south of McOoysburg and a line mapped ont to Lafayette. It is possible thiß line will be diverted to the southwest to tap the coal fields and quarries of the Wabash Valley, for Mr. Gifford things the construction of the Nicaragua Oanal will tend to divert the grain of Indiana and Illinois from New York to New Orleans. Oil has been discovered on the northeastern edge of his big farm. The product is used for making asphaltum. About 50 per cent is nnder cultivation and subdivided into 190 farms of 160 acres each supplied with a house, barn and well. Instead of letting the faints in the customary manner he makes a contract with each one reserving control of the property, and ownership of the crop until divided, and stipulates that he will give the tenant two thirds of the crop for his work. Capt. Gifford figures his investment at nearly $1,000,000. „