Labor Day - The Working Man's Holiday

In recent years, Labor Day has become a “farewell to summer” holiday, but its true purpose is rooted in honoring the American worker.

Bricklayers probably in Waukegan. Circa 1910. Dunn Museum 63.18.4

Labor Day was first celebrated in New York in 1882. The first Labor Day parade was held on the first Monday in September 1883 by New York workers. Few, if any workers got the day off and were threatened with being fired if they attended the parade. Despite the warning, more than 10,000 workers joined the march. Bricklayers in white aprons paraded with a band playing “Killarney.”

The idea of a “working man’s holiday” spread across the nation. With the growth of labor organizations the holiday became more popular, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers around the country. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday (1887). By 1894, 23 states had adopted the holiday, and Congress passed a law recognizing Labor Day as an official national holiday.

Postcard of Iron Workers' Union family camp grounds in Round Lake, IL. Circa 1912. Photo by C.R. Childs. Dunn Museum M-86.1.710.

The celebrations took the form of a parade exhibiting to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” followed by a festival with recreation, food and entertainment for workers and their families.

Teamsters Union on parade, Waukegan, circa 1906. Dunn Museum 63.18.2.

Strong support for the American labor movement was especially noticeable in cities dominated by industry such as Chicago. In Illinois, the first workers’ compensation law took effect in May 1912. Before then, workers assumed all risks on the job. If a worker was injured or killed, the employer was not legally responsible.

Page from Chicago & North Western Railroad Injury & Treatment Record Ledger. Notes that engineer, Irwin Stetler, got coal cinders embedded in his left eye, June 1, 1914, and that treatment was begun. Dunn Museum Collections. 

At the United States Sugar Refinery in Waukegan, which operated from 1890 to 1913, workers faced unusually high incidence of death and injury. Over the years, the refinery claimed the lives of 47 people. The single worst industrial accident in Lake County’s history occurred at the refinery on November 25, 1912.

Photo postcard of the U.S. Sugar Refiner, circa 1906. Dunn Museum 92.27.307

An explosion in the starch house resulted in 14 people being killed and 24 injured. With the new compensation law in place, this was the first time in Illinois history that workers and their families could be compensated. 

Fansteel workers using magnifying glasses to examine and sort small objects (possibly phonograph needles), Waukegan, IL 1942. Dunn Museum 2007.28

Though there are few (if any) workers' parades these days, Labor Day remains a tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength and prosperity of our nation.

Captain Asiel Z. Blodgett, 96th Illinois Infantry, Company D

Photo of Captain A.Z. Blodgett from the History of the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 1887.

Asiel Z. Blodgett was born at Fort Dearborn (Chicago) in 1832. As a young man, he became an employee of the Chicago & North Western Railroad Company, and in 1858, he was made the station agent at Waukegan. His older brother, Henry Blodgett, was the abolitionist and judge mentioned in several previous posts.

Asiel served as station agent until July 1862, when he received a recruiting commission from Governor Yates, and according to the regimental history: "with the cooperation of leading citizens and businessmen, undertook the work of enrolling a sufficient number of men to form a Company." He was promoted to Captain of Company D of the 96th Illinois on August 9. 

Postcard of McFarland's Gap, Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. Curt Teich Co. RC411.

During one of the initial skirmishes of the Battle of Chickamauga, on September 18, 1863, Blodgett received a severe gunshot wound in the right shoulder near McAfee Church while advancing the skirmish line. He did not leave command and fought with the regiment until Sunday, September 20, when he was disabled by a heavy tree limb that was torn off by artillery fire and fell on him, injuring his back. 

According to his biographical sketch of 1891, Blodgett participated in all engagements of the Atlanta campaign and was with General Sherman until the capture of Atlanta. He was also present at the Battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

Blodgett from a glass negative, circa 1878. Dunn Museum 2011.0.86

On returning to Waukegan after the war, Blodgett resumed his position as station agent, where he worked until his retirement in 1900. He was recognized as the oldest employee of the railroad at Waukegan, having been with the company for 42 years, except during his service in the Civil War. He was considered "prompt, correct and reliable and by his uniform courtesy and fairness has won the respect and good will of all with whom he has had business relations." 

In addition to this full-time position, in 1875, he began dealing in fine horses and cattle, being a proprietor of a stock farm situated several miles outside of the city where he bred Clydesdale horses and Galloway cattle. He served two terms as the Mayor of Waukegan (1883 and 1884).

Asiel died in 1916.

Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda Railroad

After the Civil War, Chicago's population boomed, and the city became the railroad hub of the nation. Railroad lines stretched out from the city like tendrils, reaching and connecting a myriad of small towns, and an entire nation.

The first railway into Lake County was the Chicago  & North Western Railroad which arrived in Waukegan to much fanfare in 1855. Shown at right is the CNW's work train building the rail line to Waukegan. 

By the 1870s and 1880s, many towns in Lake County had railroad depots, including Grayslake, Gurnee, and Lake Villa. Though Wauconda seemed forgotten, the townsfolk dreamt of having a railroad come through its borders to connect Cook County to Wisconsin.

Finally, in 1911 work on the Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda (PLZ & W) Railroad began. The last obstacle to making the dream a reality was purchasing land on Lake Zurich Golf Club property.

Golf Club founder Charley Wood and other members of the club learned that the railroad could not condemn cemeteries. Doctors who were also club members went to the county morgue for the unclaimed bodies of four deceased men. They buried the men and put up a sign to mark the “ad hoc” cemetery and stop the railroad from acquiring the land. Fortunately for Wauconda, this only caused a short delay while the railroad rerouted its tracks.

In 1913, an 1885-built engine named “Old Maud” was purchased from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and the new line was in business.

Real photo postcard of the dedication of the new railroad with the first train arriving in Wauconda. (above)

PLZ&W abandoned depot in Lake Zurich, photographed about 1965.

Unfortunately, the railroad struggled for many years, never attracting passengers during the winter months and losing customers to the growing popularity of automobiles and trucks. In 1924, only 11 years after its promising start, the dream of the PLZ&W Railroad came to an end.

A PLZ&W Railroad overpass in disrepair, photographed about 1965.

There are no remains of the PLZ&W to be found. The site of the Wauconda depot is now home to Wauconda's Police Department.

Map showing the PLZ&W Railroad line created by Richard Whitney (1940-1994). 

Whitney used the image in his book, "Old Maud: The Story of the Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda Railroad." 1992.

Nationwide from the 1950s and 1970s, enormous amounts of rail heritage were abandoned and ripped up, including railroad lines and New York's original, legendary Pennsylvania Station. Nostalgia for railway history has sparked an interest in preservation. Though it's too late for the PLZ&W, other aspects of railway history are being saved from demolition or preserved in museums.

The nation's largest railway museum is located in Union, Illinois. The Illinois Railway Museum’s mission is dedicated to preserving the history of rail operations in and around Chicago (including the area’s extensive trolley operations), as well as the entire country.