Toll Roads Owner

Amos J. Snell — Wealthy Chicago Landlord and Toll Road Tycoon

Amos J. Snell was a wealthy Chicago landlord and tycoon who grew immensely rich by purchasing and operating the Northwestern Plank-Road Company toll roads, specifically the Milwaukee Avenue ("Upper") and Elston ("Lower") routes. He made a fortune by adding gravel, maintaining wooden plank surfaces, and aggressively collecting tolls from farmers traveling into the city.

At the time of his death in 1888, Snell was reputed to be Chicago's wealthiest property owner — his fortune estimated at more than $3 million, with some 400 real estate properties across the city and surrounding townships. His toll roads were the engine of that wealth, and the source of enormous public resentment.

The Plank Roads

• —Built originally in the late 1840s and 1850s to lift travelers out of deep Chicago mud.
• —Constructed of heavy wooden boards laid across stringers, later improved with gravel by Snell.
• —Connected growing outlying areas like Jefferson, Niles, and Wheeling to downtown Chicago.

Conflict and Demise

• —Public Anger: Farmers and locals despised the frequent toll gates and fees, sometimes burning down toll houses or finding hidden bypasses.
• —City Annexation: As Chicago's city limits expanded outward, the legal right to operate a toll road inside municipal boundaries vanished.
• —Legal Battles: Snell was murdered in an unsolved 1888 home invasion, and shortly after, the U.S. Supreme Court and state courts ruled against his estate, allowing Chicago to tear down the remaining toll gates.

The Chronicle Below

Six stories trace the full arc — from the first plank laid in 1849 to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that finally freed the roads in 1894.

• ›The plank roads and how they worked
• ›The road rebellions and toll house burnings
• ›The Illinois Supreme Court ruling
• ›The Snell v. Chicago case, 1894

1870

Snell Buys the Road

Snell purchases the Northwestern Plank-Road toll road for $20,000. Built under an 1849 state grant, the road ran from Fullerton & Milwaukee all the way to the Lake–Cook county line near Wheeling. Snell improves it with gravel — and adds more toll gates, enraging the public.

Feb. 9, 1888

Murder & No Will

Snell is awakened by a burglar and shot dead in his home. He left no will. His heirs move immediately to secure the estate — especially the toll road, his most lucrative asset. Chicago, whose boundaries had expanded to swallow parts of the road, begins tearing down the toll gates.

1890

Illinois Supreme Court

Snell's heirs sue the City of Chicago to stop the gate removals, arguing the right to collect tolls was guaranteed in the original sale contract. The Superior Court rules for the city. The Illinois Supreme Court affirms: the toll authority was a life estate — it died with Snell and could not pass to his heirs. Case: 133 Ill. 413 (1890). Justice Benjamin Magruder, writing for the Court.

1894

U.S. Supreme Court

The heirs appeal to the highest court in the land. The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the ruling. The Court acknowledged Snell could have secured perpetual toll rights — if he had incorporated his business under the law. He did not. Failing that, he had nothing to pass on after his lifetime. Case: 152 U.S. 191 (1894).

What the Courts Decided

The core legal question was whether the right to collect tolls — granted by the state of Illinois to the Northwestern Plank-Road Company in 1849 — could be inherited by Snell's heirs after his death.

Both courts said no. The authority to charge tolls was held by Snell as a life estate — a right personal to him, not a permanent property right he could transfer. The continued authority to charge tolls was contrary to public policy, the courts ruled, because the "free and untrammeled use of roads belongs to the public."

The U.S. Supreme Court added a telling footnote: Snell could have secured perpetual toll rights had he incorporated his business under Illinois law. He never did. That single oversight cost his estate the road entirely.

"The free and untrammeled use of roads belongs to the public."

— Illinois Supreme Court, 133 Ill. 413 (1890)
Justice Benjamin Magruder

Six Stories

The Complete Toll Road Chronicle