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T n n V
ILliNOiS
o^^:?..
ia3i>
FIRST RESIDENCE IN OREGON
JAS.W. GALElS
^r^Ss^"*
THE HISTORY
OF
OGLE COUNTY,
ILLINOIS,
CONTAINING
A HISTORY OF THE (^OUNTY J TS (^ITIES, ^OWNS, ^TC.
A BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF ITS CITIZENS, WAR RECORD OF ITS
VOLUNTEERS IN THE LA TE REBELLION, GENERAL
AND LOCAL STA TISTICS,
PORTRAITS OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROimENT MEN,
History of the Northwest, History op Illinois,
Map of Ogle County, Constitution op the United States,
Miscellaneous Matters, Etc.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAGO:
H. F. KETT & CO., TIMES BUILDING.
1878.
OTTAWAY & COLBERT, PRINTERS, 147 &;149 FIFT^ Ay., CHICAGO.
F5i-T
Preface.
Forty-eight years have come and gone since civilization's advance guards in the per-
sons of Isaac Chambers and John Ankeny, came to occupy and develop the rich agri-
cultural lands and exercise dominion in the Sinnissippi* Country, erst the home of the wild,
untutored red men, their wives and little ones, and the grazing places of the buffalo, the elk,
the deer and other animals native to the climate, herbage and grasses. Had these pioneers
or some of the others who immediately followed them, directed their attention to the keeping
of a chronological journal or diary of events, to write a history of the country now, would
be a comparatively easy task. In the absence of such records, the magnitude of the under-
taking is very materially augmented, and rendered still more intricate and difficult by
reason of the absence of nearly all the pioneer fathers and mothers who first came to gladden
the prairie and forest wilds with their presence, and scatter the seeds of that better intelli-
gence which, growing and spreading as year was added to year, until the country of their
choice ranks second to none in modern accomplishments. The seeds they scattered ripened
into the fullness of a plentiful harvest, and school-houses, churches, colleges, cities, towns,
telegraphs, railroads and palatial-like residences occupy the old " camp grounds " of the
Winnebagoes, Pottawatomies, and kindred tribes of red men.
The struggles, changes, and vicissitudes that forty-eight years evoke, are as trying to
the minds as to the bodies of men. Physical and mental strength waste away together
beneath accumulating years, and the memory of names, dates, and events becomes lost in the
confusion brought by time and its restless, unceasing changes. Circumstances that were
fresh in memory ten and twenty years after their occurrence, are almost, if not entirely, for-
gotten, when nearly fifty years have gone. If not entirely obliterated and effaced from
memory's tablet, they are so nearly so that, when recalled by one seeking to preserve them,
the recollections come slowly back, more like the mamory of a midnight dream than of an
actual occurrence, in which they were partial, if not active participants and prominent
actors. The footprint of time leaves its impressions and destroying agencies upon every
thing, and hence it would be unreasonable to suppose that the annals, incidents and hap-
penings of nearly half a century, in a community like that whose history we have attempted
to write, could be preserved intact and unbroken.
That part of this history of Ogle County relating to the Prairie Pirates is believed to
be the only succinct, clear and reliable history ever published of the outrages and outlawry
to which Ogle and adjoining counties were subjected for so many years. The facts relating
to that reign of terror were obtained from different citizens who took a prominent and active
part in the measures inaugurated to free themselves from the presence of the outlaws that
defiled and corrupted the country and the courts, and held the people in terror from 1835 to
1845, when the piratical combination was broken up and dispersed. Many of the prom-
inent and active members of the so-called Regulators have maintained a continuous resi-
dence in the county, where they have steadily grown in wealth, honor and influence; and
while they regret the necessity for the organization of themselves as Vigilantes and the kill-
ing of the Driscolls, they believed then, as they believe now, that it was the only means of
protecting their lives and their homes. We feel assured this chapter will be read with interest.
The passage of several years was marked in the pages of time after the first settle-
ments were made at Buffalo Grove before any records of a public nature, relating to what is
now Ogle County, were made. From the date of the first settlements by white men
at Galena, until the organization of Ogle County in 1836, this territory, now so populous
and full of business prosperity, was subject to the jurisdiction of the Fever River Country;
and as matters of historical truth [many things of which we have written were collected
from the early records of Jo Daviess County at Galena. However remote this source of
* Indian for Kocky River.
iv:279881
VI PREFACE.
information may seem, as connected with the history of Ogle County, those records were
invaluable aids to the authors of this book. Without them and the information therein
preserved, this history would be very incomplete and imperfect. With this single exception
the gentlemen entrusted with the duty of writing this history were forced to depend upon
the memory and intelligence of the few surviving pioneer settlers for a very large share of
facts and information relating to immediate local events until after the organization of the
county by act of the legislature, approved January 16, 1836, the first election for county
officers December 24, 1836, and the first session of the County Commissioners' Court
January 3, 1837.
For these reasons it is not to be expected this volume will be entirely accurate as
to names, dates, etc., or that it will be so perfect as to be above and beyond criticism, for the
book is yet to be written and printed that can justly claim the meed of perfection; but it is
the publishers' hope, as it is their belief, that it will be found measurably correct and gener-
ally accurate and reliable. Industrious and studied care has been exercised to make it a
standard book of reference, as well as one of interest, to the general reader. If in such a
multiplicity of names, dates, etc., some errors are not detected, it will be strange, indeed.
Such as it is, our offering is completed, and it only remains for us to acknowledge
our obligations to the gentlemen named below for the valuable information furnished by
them, without which this history of Ogle County would not be so voluminous and com
prehensive.
To PaiNEAs Chaney, Hon. James V. Gale, Captain George P. Jacobs, Georgb
W. Phelps, Isaac S. Woolley, Hugh Rea, Samuel Wilson, Esq., H. P. Lason, editor of
the Gourier, T. Oscar Johnston, editor of the Reporter, George W. Hormell, County
Clerk, and his accomplished and efficient deputy, John Mack, Elbert K. Light, Clerk of
the Circuit Court, and Jonathan W. Jenkins, of Oregon; Prof. D. J. Pinckney, A.
QuiNBY Allen, Esq., Mrs. Emily Hitt, J. W. Hitt, Esq., Prof. N. C. Dougherty,
Samuel Knodle, Frederick B. Brayton, Esq., Martin T. Rohrer, Esq., and Mrs.
Elizabeth McCoy, of Mount Morris ; Capt. Nathaniel Swingley, Thomas Smith, of
Creston ; Silas St. John Mix, Perry Norton and G. W. Hawks, of Byron ; Geo. D.
Read, J. W. Clinton, Col. J. D. Stevenson, Jas. C. Luckey, Esq., and Hon. J. D. Camp-
bell, of Polo ; Alfred S. Hoadley and E. L. Otis, of Rochelle ; Samuel Mitchell, of
Forreston; Charles Throop, of Grand de Tour; and W. J. Keyes, of Daysville; this
paragraph of acknowledgment is therefore respectfully dedicated.
To the ministers and official representatives of the various churches, and to the
Superintendent, Principal and Teachers of the schools of the county, we are also under
obligations for statistical and historical information. To the parties named above is due, in
a great measure, whatever of merit may be ascribed to this undertaking.
To the people of the county in general, and the people of Oregon City in particular,
our most grateful considerations are due for their universal kindness to our representatives
and agents, who were charged with the labor of collecting and arranging the information
herein presented to that posterity who will come in the not far distant by-and-by to fill the
places of the fathers and mothers, so many of whose names and honorable biographies are
to be found within the pages of this book.
In conclusion, the publishers express the sincere hope that before another forty-eight
years will have passed, other and abler minds will have taken up and recorded the historical
events that will follow after the close of this oflermg to the people of Ogle County, that the
historical literature of the country may be fully preserved and maintained from county to
nation.
H. F. KETT & CO.,
April, 1878. PubUsh&ra.
c
ONTENtS.
HISTORICAT.
Page.
History Northwest Territory.. 19
Geographical Position 19
Early Explorations 20
Discovery of the Ohio 33
English Explorations and
Settlements 35
American Settlements 60
Division of the Northwest
Territory 66
Tecumseh and the War of
1812 70
Black Hawk and the Black
Hawk War 74
Other Indian Troubles 79
Present Condition of the
Northwest 87
Hlinois 99
Indiana 101
Iowa 102
Michigan 103
Wisconsin 104
Minnesota 106
Nebraska 107
History of Illinois 109
Coal 125
Compact of 1787 117
Page.
Mouth of the Mississippi 21
Source of the Mississippi 21
Wild Prairie 23
La Salle Landing on the Shore
ofGreenBay 25
Buffalo Hunt 27
Trapping 29
Hunting 32
Iroquois Chief. 34
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain. 43
Indians Attacking Frontiers-
men -- 56
A Prairie Storm 59
A Pioneer Dwelling 61
Breaking Prairie 63
Tecnmseh,the Shawnoe Chief-
tain 69
Page.
History of Illinois.
Chiicago 132
Early Discoveries 109
Early Settlements 115
Education ...129
French Occupation 112
Genius of La Salle 113
Material Resources 124
Massacre at Ft. Dearborn,141
Physical Features 121
Progress of Development,123
Religion and Morals 128
War Record, 130
History of Ogle/County 221
Physical Geography 221
Introductory 236
Winnebago War 270
Black Hawk War 275
Local History 291
Township Organization... 325
Circuit Records 344
Prairie Pirates 350
Bridge 380
War History 384
Railroads. 423
Northern Boundary 443
IliliUSTRATIONS.
Page.
Indians Attacking a Stockade, 72
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain 75
Big Eagle 80
Captain Jack,the Modoc Chief-
tain 83
Kinzie House 85
Village Residence 86
A Representative Pioneer 87
Lincoln Monument, Spring-
field, 111 88
A Pioneer School House 89
Farm View in the Winter 90
Spring Scene 91
Pioneers' First Winter 92
Apple Harvest 94
Great Iron Bridge of C, R. I.
and P. R. R., Crossing the
Page.
History of Ogle Co .
Press 447
Mound Builders 455
Fossils and Petrifactions. 458
County Ofiicers 460
Vote 462
Property Statement 464
Educational 465
Rock River Seminary 468
Old Settlers 479
Swamp Lands 482
River Improvement ..483
County Poor 484
History of Towns :
Oregon 486
Rochelle 504
Mt. Morris 533
Polo 551
Forreston 578
Byron 589
Ghana 599
Creston 603
Davis Junction 606
Grand de Tour 607
Daysville 611
Other Towns 613
Page. •
Mississippi at Davenport,
Iowa 96
A Western Dwelling 100
Hunting Prairie Wolves in an
Early Day ....108
Starved Rock, on the Illinois
River, La Salle Co., Ill 110
An Early Settlement 116
Chicago in 1833 133
Old Fort Dearborn,1830 136
Present Site Lake St. Bridge,
Chicago, 1833 ...136
Ruins of Chicago 142
View of the City of Chicago. .144
Shabbona 149
First Residence in Oregon
Frontispiece
I^ITHOORAPHIC PORTRAITS.
Page.
Bacon, B. W 397
Babcock, A. S 337
Burns, W. W 565
Clinton, J. W 673
Chaney,P 219
Campbell, J. D 827
Dutcher, E. F 357
Davis, Jeremiah 601
Flagg, W. P 165
Fuller, W. W 257
Gale, J. V 367
Hotaling, J. R 417
Hathaway, M.D 529
Page.
Hoadley A. S 511
Johnston, T. 619
Lason, H. P 493
Mix, W.J., Sr 147
Mix, W. J., Jr 247
Mix,H. A. (deceased) 277
Mix, H. A., M. D 287
Mix, S. St John 655
Phelps, G. W 407
Petrie, F. J 377
Potter, E. S 427
Reed, Ed. E 347
Roe, Jno. Dr 637
Page.
Rice, Isaac 709
Ray, J. T 469
Shumway, R. G 267
Sharer, Jno 547
Schryver, M. E 691
Slocum, C. E 583
Stiles, D. B 307
Stocking, Wm 317
Sheets, B. F 387
Smith, P 237
Wagner, R :..183
Williams, C. K 201
Wamsly, Wm .297
OOI.£ COUNTY WAR RECORD.
Page.
Infantry ,
15th.
34th,
39th.
46th.
55th.
69th.
74th,
.396
.400
.401
.403
.404
.404
Infantry.
Page.
Cavalry.
Page.
75th
406
7th
419
92d
406
8th
420
140th
413
12th
420
142d
414
13th
420
Miscellaneous Infantry..
415
14th
420
Cavalry
416
15th
421
2d
416
17th
421
4th
419
Artillery
421
VIU
CONTENTS.
BIOORAPHICAI. TOWJfSHIP DIRECTORY.
Pagb.
Oregon 617
Flagg 651
Buflalo 675
Maryland 711
Forreeton 721
Dement 729
Leaf River 740
Rockvale 753
Page.
Mt. Morris ....768
Byron 840
Brookville 789
Eagle Point 812
Grand de Tour 808
Lincoln 845
Lafayette 784
Lynnville 793
Page.
Monroe _ 798
Marion 823
Nashua 639
Pine Rock 852
Pine Creek 818
Scott 832
Taylor 807
White Rock 642
ABSTRACT OF IL.I.INOIS STATE liAWS.
Page.
Adoption of Children 160
Bills of Exchange and Prom-
issory Notes , 151
County Courts 155
Conveyances 164
Church Organization 189
Descent 151
Deeds and Mortgages... 157
Drainage 163
Damages from Trespass 169
Definition of Com'rcial Termsl73
Exemptions from Forced Sale,156
Estrays 157
Fences 168
Forms :
Articles of Agreement 175
Bills ot Purchase 174
Bills of Sale 176
Forms: Page.
Bonds 176
Chattel Mortgages 177
Codicil 189
Lease of Farm and B'ld'gs,179
Lease of House 180
Landlord's Agreement 180
Notes 174
Notice Tenant to Q,uit.-.181
Orders 174
Quit Claim Deed 185
Receipt 174
Real Estate Mortgage to
secure paym't of Money,181
Release 186
Tenant's Agreement 180
Tenant's Notice to Quit.. 181
Warranty Deed 182
Will 1S7
Page.
Game 158
Interest 151
Jurisdiction of Courts 154
Limitation of Action 155
Landlord and Tenant 169
Liens 172
Married Women 155
Millers 159
Marks and Brands 1.59
Paupers 164
Roads and Bridges 161
Surveyors and Survevs 160
Suggestion toPerson's purchas-
ing Books by Subscription .190
Taxes... 154
Wills and Estates 152
Weights and Measures 158
Wolf Scalps 164
Page.
Map of Ogle Co Front.
Constitution of United States 192
Electors of President and
Vice-President, 1876 206
Practical Rules for every day
use 207
U. S. Government Land Meas-
ure 210
1IIISCEI.I.ANEOUS .
Page.
Surveyors Measure 211
How to keep accounts 211
Interest Table 212
Miscellaneous Table 212
Names of the States of the
Union and their Significa-
tions 213
Population of the U. S 214
Page.
Population of Fifty Principal
Cities of the U. S 214
Population and Area of the
United States 215
Population ol the Principal
Countries in the World 215
Population Illinois. ...216 & 217
Agricultural Productions of
Illinois by Counties 1870 ...218
The Northwest Territory.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi
River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the
"New Northwest," in contradisitinction from the old "Northwestern
Territory.'*
In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States,
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula-
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhajpitants, or nearly one third of
the entire population of the United States.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far-
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent
on the globe.
For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North-
west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United
States.
(19)
20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no
settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that
he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and
disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery
for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize
upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before .any adventurer
took advantage of these discoveries.
In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene-
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the
first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary,
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent
result ; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes,
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by
Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude
Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the
Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen-
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St.
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come.
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
21
22 THE NORTHWEST TBRRITOitY.
request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe-
dition, prepared for the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist-
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But,
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he
was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the
adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar-
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows,
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in
giving them an abundant ' " chase." This was the farthest outpost to
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the
year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake.
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to
Joliet, said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun-
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin,
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were
now upon the bosom of ths Father of Waters. The mystery was about
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
2g
Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs-on either hand
" reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab-
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas-
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.
THE WILD PRAIRIE.
On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon
the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person.
After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course
24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois,
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, ^' did we see
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River."
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette
returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them
until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan — he asked
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe,
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefull}^ passed away while at
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been
called Marquette.
While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre-
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of
those ages— a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific,
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol-
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous
western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to
Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan,
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf
of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un-
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis-
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.
LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who
warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received
from aU the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev-
f
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
25
alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on
these fresh- water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were
some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed
on to Green Bay, the " Bale des Puans " of the French, where he found
a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,
LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OP GEEEN BAY.
started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard
of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear-
ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all his men — thirty working
men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by
the Indians, " Theakeke," wolf^ because of the tribes of Indians called
by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The
French pronounced it Kiakihi^ which became corrupted to Kankakee.
"Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the
country," about the last of December they reached a village of the
Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment
26 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
•
no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs,
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi-
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village
of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored,
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening,
on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have
been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi^ that
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent
some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that
place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were
trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men
were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel.
He called this fort " Crevecoeur'^ (broken-heart), a name expressive of the
very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship.
Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the
part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause
him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was
placeddn his food, but fortunately was discovered.
While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to
return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in
the enterprise. For this purpose he»made Hennepin the leader of a party
to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour-
ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and
was successfully made, though over an almost unknown route, and in a
bad season of the year. He safely reached Canada, and set out again for
the object of his search.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecceur on the last of February,
1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he
found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after
leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the
icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River
by the 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen-
nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy-
age they found several beautiful lakes, and " saw some charming prairies."
Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux
nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when
they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony
THE NOBTHWEST TERRITORY.
27
in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling
nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages.
Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their
captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen,
BUFFALO HUNT.
headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene-
trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow-
countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the
borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had
returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went
to France, where he published an account of his adventures.
28 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring,
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander-
ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers,
reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered
about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them-
selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan-
tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it
would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of
Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba.
They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but,
being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country,
and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through.
To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the
first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of
explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed
the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February,
reached the banks of the Mississippi.
On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they
pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis-
covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters
into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event :
" We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river, a
little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the
ref^h of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to
the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription :
Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, 1682,
The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum^ and then, after
a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi,'' the column was erected by M. de
LaSalle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of
the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis-
sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where
another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two
succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along
the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the
TSIJ NORTHWEST TERRTTOKY.
29
treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions was not
accomplished until 1699, when D'Iberville, under the authority of the
crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea, the mouth
of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by the natives
^'' Malbouchia,'' and by the Spaniards, " Za Palissade,'' from the great
TBAPPING.
number of trees about its mouth. After traversing the several outlets,
and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its
western outlet, and returned to France.
An avenue of trade was now opened out which was fully improved.
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colon-
ists. In 1762, the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased by
30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory
of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the
charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in defeat
and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown
open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ;
had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu-
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,)
it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were
peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of
the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored."
The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois,
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil-
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of
these missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest,
dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de I'lmmaculate Conception de
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river,
(pronounced Wa-b3,, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly) was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob-
able that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia
and Cahokia. In July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchartrain
were laid by De la.Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta-
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle-
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England
in 1718. This was mainly accomplished through the efforts of the
famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law,
who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away.
From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis-
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated
• There is considerable dispute about tliis date, some asserting it was founded as late as 1742. When
the new court house at Vincennes was erected, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and
1702 fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 81
injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company-
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains
indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of
the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the
attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the
New World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary
among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and
Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages,
and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues
situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias) . In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred
whites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The
three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all
told. Most of the French till the soil; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and
horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can
be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and
save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were
found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France
by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem-
ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the
mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low
to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I
think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork
and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty
vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans,
plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of
Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty -five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five
or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther
up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners
through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise
excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas,
where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river
traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred
leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at
the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the
Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to
32
THE NORTHWEST TERRITOEY.
work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at
Vincennes in 1812, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some
individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada.
Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are
like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find
silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also
in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large
pieces are found in the streams."
"^^^^^^^'^
HUNTING.
At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at
the Maumee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what
may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest
they had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan,
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac,
Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of
LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of
this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settlement. Another
nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country.
THE NORTHWEST TERKITOEY. 33
and hearing of its wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for
securing the great profits arising therefrom.
The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.
This " Beautiful " river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La-
Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet
and Marquette.
While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois.
He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed
to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident
soon occurred which, decided him to fit out an exploring expedition.
While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state-
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream.
LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great
rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to
embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to
the commerce of China and Japan.
He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov-
ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant,
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro-
vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul-
pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition,
and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money,
the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred
dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the
necessary supplies for the outfit.
On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons,
embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence ; two additional canoes
carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present
City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to
conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed.
The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After
waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian
84 THE NOBTHWEST TEERITOKY.
from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence.
On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they
heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving
, IBOQUOIS CULKF.
among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume
their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the
arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved
to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. He
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35
had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper mines
on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec.
He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the
lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in
that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the
expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the
Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet
with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and
after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at
Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers,
Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field.
These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron
saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian.
After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a
tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far
as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the
persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669.
The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony-
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count
Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as
an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio
Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony
of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec
replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries
of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to
make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters
and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts
already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri-
ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet
under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty
36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In
Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov-
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces-
sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, by that
power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain
to this unexplored wilderness.
England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a
discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants
to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was- not all her claim.
She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat-
ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward, Gov-
ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks, Onei-
das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were
taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six Nations.
They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in
1701, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed
was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has
often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of
Virginia," for which the Indians received .£200 in gold and a like sum in
goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid.'
The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel
William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was
called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with
presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa-
nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings
regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment,
and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desire the
cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant
of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun-
dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of
June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was
made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000
acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French
were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the
West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 87
settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain
possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Vaud-
reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the
consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading
posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further
secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel-
eron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds
and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which
were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and
within the memory of residents now living along the " Oyo," as the
beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found
with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and
a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the
plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society,
among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not,
however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and
though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and
it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the
frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio
Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees,
on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He
afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he ' went down
the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville,
and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur-
ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the
Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing
their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party
of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng-
lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and
Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of
the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
(They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were
carried away to Canada, and one account says several were burned. This
fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the
king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawillanes, in the center of the terri-
tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is probably some
variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones
Pickaweke."
* The following is a translation of the Inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749. reign of Louis XV.,
King of France, we. Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com-
mander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have
buried this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoln, this twenty- ninth of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise
Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession whicli we have taken of the said river, and all its
tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and
treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Ohapelle."
88 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOEX,
This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and
occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about
forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter-
ested in the progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter-
mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to
occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing-
ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and
Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan-
caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June,
these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts-
burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban-
doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize
the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour,
the interpreter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a
chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their
favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing
a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a
settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should
not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre
each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally
outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con-
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni-
tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were
coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The
Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when
we wanted help, forsook us."
At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon
and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng-
lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until
the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans
of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them
away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts
already begun, and would not abandon the field.
Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 89
ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young
man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank
of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This
personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then
held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just
twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied
by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon-
gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to
Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of
the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and
also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol-
lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to
turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral.
Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to
Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the
French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing
of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the
11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here
he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter, received his answer, took his
observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one
but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him,
notwithstanding the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their
homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet
they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754.
From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by
Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would
not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made
in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French
finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications,
and gathered their forces to be in readiness.
The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised
two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were
gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent
had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were
40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOUir.
working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork of
the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest.
" The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift
river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of
Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian
scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet,
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent
in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten
miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder-
ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning
of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw
upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink — sixty batteaux and
three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and
stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecoeur,
and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men
and tools, marched up the Monongahela."
The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle, in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue
of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New-
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the
English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted
disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed
the fortifications begun at the Fork, which they had so easily captured,
and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived.
He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him-
self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called
by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of
French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the
morning of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort
Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
TtlE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41
acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This
occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as the battle
of Monongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with
various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence-
ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre-
tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to
carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one,
under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie,
against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against
Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a
desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the
Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie
captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne,
of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was
found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession,
rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the
name to Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of
Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to
reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to
capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant
Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga
and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor-
able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated
Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement
Montcolm and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor,
marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of
defeating the English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was
fought one of the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It
resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal.
The Governor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was
surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it
was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and
under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of
the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.
On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent
from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post
in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post,
Beletre, refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued ^defeat of the
42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d
under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom,
no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the
purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was
assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not
desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much
to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while
on their journey home.
Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one
month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Mauraee, thence
across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com-
mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of
the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is,
crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon
John's Town" on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town
on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one
hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across
Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork.
The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule.
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises
with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe-
trated, and the country would have been spared their recital.
The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named
Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as
far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French,
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his
hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian
to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached
him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He
declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no presents sent
them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation.
He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was
civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies.
The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina,
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified
February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN..
44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead.
Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander
of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares
and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unit©
in this enterprise.
The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 1768,
Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, " scooped up in the hollow
of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton.
Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit.
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing
the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out,
however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when
Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian
chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed
musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He
saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He
endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt
was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe
reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.
Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764,
continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a regular
commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark,
which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At
the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went
further south, living many years among the Illinois^
He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a
quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon
afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern
Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed.
Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly
have been carried out.
It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex-
ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and
were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the chief,
Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their
French father would awake soon 'and utterly destroy his enemies, said :
*' Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIT. 46
yet conquered us ! We are not your, slaves! These lakes, these woods,
these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance,
and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like
the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you
ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided
food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains."
He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them,
no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war.
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the
French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the
English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going
on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments.
In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre-
vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters
of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon-
tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States
and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great
Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these
sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and,
twenty years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to
France, and by France sold to the United States.
In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set-
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia,
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large tract
of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St.
Louis.
By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including
all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England;
but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until 1765, when
Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him-
self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage,
dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath-
olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their
effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen.
It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the
war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that
chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle-
46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year
1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed-
eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French, Pon-
tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom
he afterward lost his life.
As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began
rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces
explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga-
hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This
was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing-
ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Oapt. Crawford
and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts-
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen
miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which
were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort.
Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus-
tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This
same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages.
He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only
forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and
at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year
or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally
Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main-
tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts
was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and
flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the
policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension
of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal
proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the
sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance
of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement
without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy
reach of Great Britain.
The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for
themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother
country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow."
In accordance with this policy. Gov. Gage issued a proclamation
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set-
tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this thejr
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47
strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and -were allowed to
remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its
change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French
population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned
the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which
was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend-
ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the present
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern-
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor
that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the
early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side
of the war for independence.
In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration
to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the
pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth.
One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the
Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it
Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for
settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed
portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the
famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and
driven across the Ohio.
During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies
and the perseverance of individuals, several settlements were firmly estab-
lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held
in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling
themselves the " Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the
Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on
the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer-
chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes
as the agent of the association called the " Wabash Land Company." On
the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for
37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested
by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in
the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com-
panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all
were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of
April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the
"United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made
48 THE NORTHWEST TEBBITORY.
strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all
signally failed.
When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor-
ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders.
In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at that time
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in-
habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con-
tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were
east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa-
tions were made — " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230
negroes."
From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report
made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following
extract is made :
"Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which
appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of
the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la
Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There
are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five
miles further up the river."
St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con-
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country
west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until
ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the
country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there
were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to
1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more
than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated — the people being engaged
in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will here
relate.
It is the oldest town in the Northwest, "having been founded by
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width.
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space
between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house
(near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn,
and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by
oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had
four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first three of these
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49
gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six-
pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a
parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running
east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen
feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten
to fifteen feet in width.
At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was
inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two
stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient
to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The
citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of
Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story,
with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some
hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance,
called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east
gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned
by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and
the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of
twenty -four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning
between nine and ten o'clock. Each furnished four sentinels, who were
relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who per-
formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset;
even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were
delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened
in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter
town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand-
ing order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of
every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were
restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were
allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only
at the east and west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the
Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house
near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians.
The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two
hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by
fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present *' new '*
town was laid out.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post of
importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of
Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests,
60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in
this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those
within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their
civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway^
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state.
Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held
in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived
in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which
had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty
was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented
her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the
British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. Ht
saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British
intended to penetrate the country from the north and south, and annihi-
late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel,
afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were not
unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could
the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives
might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose,
he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements
might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the
project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on
November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th,
Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly
encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at
once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been
agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the
scene of action to be able to guide them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his
plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret,
the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven
companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three
months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand
at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country.
With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61
ston for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required
number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to
join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private
volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he
navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified
Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville,
Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may
yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him
with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and
as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to
the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements,
and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the
24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured
no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with
his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as
far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia.
Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to
Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he
intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the
Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor-
mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the
United States; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois
country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to
believe by the British that the '* Long Knives " or Virginians, were the
most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With
this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would
cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati-
tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency.
The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun,
and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort
near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and without
the loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per-
fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the
great confiict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity
from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab-
itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked
for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom-
panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place
surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus
52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English
into the possession of Virginia.
In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a
powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession
of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its boun-
daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken.
St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit, remained yet to be taken
before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that
he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection
with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July,
in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of
peace, and on the 1st of August returned with the cheerful intelligence
that the post on the " Oubache " had taken the oath of allegiance to
the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts,
placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his
men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville,
erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who
had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond.
In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature
of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor,
and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of
the Old Dominion through their Legislature.
In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle-
giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton,
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down
the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing
the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the
rebels from the West. Gen. Clark had, on the return of M. Gibault,
dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend-
ant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort.
Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly
surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at
the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail-
ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of the
fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to
the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the
force in the garrison.
Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53
and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass the
Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he
saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless
he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the
news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi-
ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi
a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and
Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray.
On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching
through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back-
woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the
intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind-
ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton was
sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement.
During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes
to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him,
and had earned in consequence thereof the title " Hair-buyer General,"
by which he was ever afterward known.
Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being
apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con-
cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts.
Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in
uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West
would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny
Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from
the commencement, by the British.
" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the
union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might
have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed."
At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern-
ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in-
Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde-
pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the
Ohio frontier. Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders,
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled
to sue for peace.
54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
During this same year (1779) the famous "Land Laws" of Virginia
were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian
conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed
to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the
settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at
forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature
sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many
of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These
gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and
continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided
three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who
came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the
10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the
next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in
relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States
to be rejected. The American Government considered they had a right
to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle-
ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur-
ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the
West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth.
The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in *a
friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had
been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence,
and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the
refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the
satisfaction of both nations.
The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the
"Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few
pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians
and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting
colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the
inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they were
compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on the
settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable
manner, they fled the country in great haste.
About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con-
cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55
and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele-
gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for
the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress
during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep-
tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States
claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body.
This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative
measures which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same
year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might
have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished
him. Nothing decisive was done, yet the heads of the Government knew
that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the
territory.
Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun-
ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town
of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the
United States.
Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d
day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United
States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and
the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was
anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies
were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in
consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements.
Upon the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of
American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian
Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the
frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of
their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity,
a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives.
For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians
committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and
1772 in the history of the Northwest.
During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and
frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan-
dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives,
many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious
56
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his brothers,
was a tenor to women and children. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio
.valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky,
in wliich the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill
and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc-
INDIANS ATTACKING FRONTIERSMEN.
tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American
banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had
been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her uncon-
querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October
preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th of
April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 57
proclaimed to the army of the United States, and on the 2d of the next
September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle
was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West
were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of
the Great Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake ;
thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi
River ; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line
east to the head of the Appalachicola River; down its center to its junc-
tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and
thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts
were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these
was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements
with the Indians throughout Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whose
lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by
the proper treaty.
To remedy this latter evil. Congress appointed commissioners to
treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the set-
tlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the
year another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however,
not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest
she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of
December preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded
to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and
the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred
and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the
Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region
opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of
Clarksville, about midway between the Cities of New Albany and Jeffer-
sonville, Indiana.
While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit
refused to evacuate alleging that he had no orders from his King to do
so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the Spring
of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur
Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian
council at Fort Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in
appearance. He says :
" Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who
live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being
# bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila-
58 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and
money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a
priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."
Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and
was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A
land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take
defensive precaution against the Indians who were yet, in some instances,
incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year,
1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although no
entries were recorded until 1787.
The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They
held large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress
adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the
surveys of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of the
Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made
with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made
in 1784. That at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, and through these much land
was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to comply
with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel
their adherence to its provisions, force was used. During the year 1786,
the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused
various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to
excite speculation in regard to the western lands. Congress had promised
bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the
unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its naviga-
tion, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared
its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded
between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, how-
ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some
grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con-
necticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as
the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a
large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a company, who at once
took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company
•were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction
of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies. They received
750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the
seventh range of townships, on the west by the sixteenth range, and on
the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without
the reservations. In addition to this. Congress afterward granted 100,000
acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the
resolutions of 1789 and 1790.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
69
While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing
its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the
cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected.
A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition
of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered,
and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states
A PRAIRIE STORM.
by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten
states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the
northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher-
sonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, lUenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly-
potamia and Pelisipia.
There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of
names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu-
tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries
of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles
60 THE NORTHWEST TERBITORY.
square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the
subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into
not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by
the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was
again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year
and until July, 1787, when the famous " Compact of 1787 " was passed,
and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com-
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book,
and to it the reader is referred.
The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company
was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis.
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and,
being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the
New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury
Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following
year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Company
were preparing to occupy their grant the following Spring, and upon the
23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men,
under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six
boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur-
veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart-
ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as
soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the 8d of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and
to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and two days later appointed Arthur
St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest.
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now com-
plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of, Indian affairs, settlers from
the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England
Company sent their men during the Winter of 1787-8 pressing on over
the Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into
Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike
from Cumberland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled
on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had
been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived
on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded
as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
61
Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not having
yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published by
being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed
to administer them.
Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the
Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under
such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum.
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of such a community.''
A PIONEER DWELLING-.
On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held
on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new-
born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the
"Muskingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor
of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the block -houses stood"
was called ^'' Campus Martins f^ square number 19, ^'- Capitolium ;"" square
number 61, ^'•Cecilia f and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra
Via.'" Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum,
who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the
judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October, 1787. On July 9,
Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act
of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest,
nI
62 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a
governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon
the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th
of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the
next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country
that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the
County of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the
doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the
2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing
ceremonies.
The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com-
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb-
ruary and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the
"Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been
ready to receive them.
On the 26th of November, 1787, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating
the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In
January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest
in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon
which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he
sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the
three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which
was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the mouth of which
they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the
town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : — " Mr. Filson, who had
been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to
its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of the mixed race that
were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being
interpreted, means : ville, the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os, the
mouth ; L. of Licking."
Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse
teams under way for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays-
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here
Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left
the " Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first
was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a
colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami,
whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
63
been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr.
Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788,
with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain
through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they
were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood
of 1789.
On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States
went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaug-
urated President of the American people, and during the next Summer,
an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The
President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General
Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but
BEEAKING PEAIEIE.
was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne,
Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were
the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair
was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while
he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee,
he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men.
General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794,
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the
treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large
tract of country was ceded to the United States.
Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati.
Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the
64 THE NOKTHWEST TEERITORY.
whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures,
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon-
chartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago,
Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west
of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a
rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of
strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks
were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters
were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished.
The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an
acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.
The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river,
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the
Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by
small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house,
familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of
the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished
and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was
for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments
of the Northwestern Territory.
Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec-
ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain
from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands.
These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous
schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain
was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured.
No sooner had the treaty of 179'5 been ratified than settlements began
to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the
occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was
this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British
forces. The United States, owing to ce;'tain conditions, did not feel
justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to Detroit
and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were
called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Waj^ne, who
had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who, before
the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65
quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after
him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan,
and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were
formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle-
town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators
began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland
was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and
Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red-
stone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy
houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous
to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians,
Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that
part of the Northwest.
The election of representatives for the territory had taken place,
and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now
known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and
considered the capital of the Territory — to nominate persons from whom
the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with
a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly
adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named
the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg,
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President
of the Council.
The message of Gov. St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to
Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes
cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of
Gen. St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by
the Governor, were thirty-seven — eleven others were passed, but received
his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to
the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro-
tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the
30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Bryd to the
office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to
Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day.
66 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOBY.
DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain,
and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct
the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to
divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a
committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution.
This committee,' on the 3d of March, reported that:
*'In the three western countries there has been but one court having
cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders
experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim-
inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements
in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist-
ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * Xo
minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee
that it is expedient that a division of said territory into two distinct and
separate governments should be made ; and that such division be made
by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running
directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States
and Canada."
The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its
suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri-
tory, which Act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these :
" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of
the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward
of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the
Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north
until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a
separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory."
After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of
the territories, and other provisions, the Act further provides :
" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the
said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the
seat of government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the
Ohio River ; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the
seat of government for the Indiana Territory."
, Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut
also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67
was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had iDeen made upon
thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven
hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of November
the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year,
the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no
township containing more than eleven families. It was upon the first of
October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province
of Louisiana.
In January, 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char-
tered the college at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787,
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read
throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the
Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern
territory the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of
the "compact of 1787" provided that whenever the number of inhabit-
ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to
a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a
census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number,
and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits,
and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio,
so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundary, came
into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known,
but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly
within the territory of Indiana.
Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties
with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is
memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from
France by the United States for $15,000,000. Thus by a peaceful mode,
the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of
country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction
of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early
part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits
of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year
large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of
Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill respecting the
College Township in the district of Cincinnati.
Before the close of the year. Gen. Harrison obtained additional
grants of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present
limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at
St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from the
68 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in
and about Detroit.
C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri-
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post :
" The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now,
from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those
two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town
and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four
acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm.
Macomb. * * * A stockade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a state of gradual decay. The
streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right
angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant."
During this year, Congress granted a township of land for the sup-
port of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these
wilds, and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to
fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year, also,
a law was passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into two
portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of
government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed to the
domain of Gen. Harrison.
On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed,
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the
change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fire
OQCurred at Detroit, which destroj^ed almost every building in the place.
When the ofl&cers of the new territory reached the post, they found it in
ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the country. Rebuild-
ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more
houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built.
While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade
of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large
tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian,
Tecumthe or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main cause
of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the
settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the
British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Tecumseh at
the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest,
we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life,
and his connection with this conflict.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
6;^
TECUMSEH, THE SHAWANOE CHIEFTAIN.
TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
TECUMSEH, AND THE WAR OF 1812.
This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from
the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa,
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his
mother, Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century
to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be
chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum-
seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was
declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the
present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he
returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River, Indiana. In
1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced
himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chief
comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age,
was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of
enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas-
ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed
by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi-
dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who
afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first
house built on the site of Chicago. At this time, Tecumseh entered
upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of
land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the
Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land
could be made save by the consent of this confederation.
He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south
to the north, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect.
Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move-
ments of the Indians, became convinced that a grand conspiracy was
forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's
plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity.
During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre-
paring for the work. In that year. Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians
and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon
the Wabash, to all of which Teouraseh entered a bitter protest, averring
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 71
as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any
lands north and west of the Ohio River.
Tecumseh, in August, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and
held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly
angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after
departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict.
Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the
prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten-
tions, provided they were true to the existing treaties. He encamped
near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he
was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of
Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their town broken
up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his
brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating
the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans.
Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned
from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time
previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go
as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never
made.
In June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against
the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his
people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif-
ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew
his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai-
den, in Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard.
He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was,
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow-
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan-
tonly murder the captive.
In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victory on Lake Erie occurred, and
shortly after active preparations were made to capture Maiden. On the
27th of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai-
den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand-
wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen.
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.
72
TSE3 ^rORTHWES•r TERRITORY.
On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor,
whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of the Thames followed.
Early in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief-
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the war in
the Northwest.
INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADE.
Just who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ;
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson,
who fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal.
In 1805 occurred Burr's Insurrection. He took possession of a
beautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged
by many with attempting to set up an independent government. His
plans were frustrated by the general government, his property confiscated
and he was compelled to flee the country for safety.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73
In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about
Detroit. It was also during this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored
to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby
slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts,
however, all signally failed.
In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory.
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western
part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year,
the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and
then began the events already narrated.
While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with
surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the
first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of
the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the
" monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the
close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being
nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its
downward trip.
The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not
fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green-
ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States
and the Indian tribes, in which it was stipulated that the Indians should
cease hostilities against the Americans if the war were continued. Such,
happily, was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty
of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United
States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various
Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again
restored in this part of the new world.
On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city.
It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its
manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed
to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties
organized, containing about sixty-three thousand inhabitants. The first
election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings
was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and
on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For
some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central
location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana),
was laid out January 1, 1825.
74 THE NORTHWEST TERBITORY.
Oq the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was
chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were
under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish branches
at different convenient points.
Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati had in turn enjoyed the
privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the
northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a
more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col-
umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State.
Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was
chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state
the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable
to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend.
In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her
northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich-
igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes
was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of
revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that
the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to
navigate the bosom of that inland sea.
Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War,
but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were
opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab-
lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan
University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were
becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended,
and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the
record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros-
perity.
BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in
the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part
of the United States.
Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal
Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the
Mississippi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ;
his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early
distinguished himself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted
to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he
went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, oaQ
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
76
BLACK HAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN.
76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian bravery he was
permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the
head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the
Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to
his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce
battle ensued, in which the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The
Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees
for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City
of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of
the " Medicine Bag," at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation.
He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the
head of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged
war against the Osage nation and subdued it. For two years he battled
successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered.
Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to
the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish
Father," he declined to see any of the Americans, alleging, as a reason,
he did not want two fathers.
The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the
United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines
Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who
at once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was
garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties
with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812
followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by
giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the
Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, at the head of about five
hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on
his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre
had a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British
Government but little is known. In 1813 he with his little band descended
the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard
was defeated.
In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi
were notified that peace had been declared between the United States
and England, and nearly all hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not
sign any treaty, however, until May of the following year. He then recog-
nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. From the time of
signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he
and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life.
Ten years before the commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77
Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of
Waters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of
which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal,
and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of
the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set-
tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of his
native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and
his actions were undoubtedly misunderstood, and had his wishes been
acquiesced in at the beginning of the struggle, much bloodshed would
have been prevented.
Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted
warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearly three
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived
many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them,
they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their
time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village
and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who
from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From
one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white
men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice they obtained
deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were
finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the
lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, but as the
authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he
was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged
the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty
made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to
enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the
river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On
the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a
band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were
defeated.
This attack and its result aroused the whites. A large force of men
was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the
lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of
the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was
repulsed by Major Demont between Rock River and Galena. The Ameri-
can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of
the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band,
and defeated them near the Blue Mounds.
Before this action, Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main
army by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the whole crossed the
78 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the 2d of August, and in the battle
which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He
fled, but was seized by the Winnebagoes and delivered to the whites.
On the 21st of September, 1832, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con-
cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes by which they
ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain
peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi-
sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that
Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs
of the hostile bands should be retained as hostages during the pleasure
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons.
The next Spring, by order of the Secretary of War, they were taken
to Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress Monroe,
"there to remain until the conduct of their nation was such as to justify
their being set at liberty." They were retained here until the 4th of
June, when the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal
cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white
people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the
old chief being extensively known. By the middle of August they
reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon
after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth-
place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village
where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had
hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer.
On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and
his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder
of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re-
mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among
the Indians, living with her upward of forty years.
Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel-
ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all
times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten-
tion. He was an honored guest at the old settlers' reunion in Lee County,
Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem.
In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his
annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted
in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3.
His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply
during his sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre-
sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried in
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. '' The
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 79
body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a
seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him
by Henry Clay, was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it.
Many of the old warrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some
Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons."
No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began
rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin,
now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, from a trading post, had
grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence.
In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed,
but did not take active form until two years later, when the State became
a part of the Federal Union.
The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of
Lake Michigan, now included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial
wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this
region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 1836 was
made a territory, then including Minnesota and Iowa. The latter State
was detached two years later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a
State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various
divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from
the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances
compelled its present division.
OTHER INDIAN TROUBLES.
Before leaving this part of the narrative, we will narrate briefly the
Indian troubles in Minnesota and elsewhere by the Sioux Indians.
In August, 1862, the Sioux Indians living on the western borders of
Minnesota fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, and in a few hours mas-
sacred ten or twelve hundred persons. A distressful panic was the
immediate result, fully thirty thousand persons fleeing from their homes
to districts supposed to be better protected. The military authorities
at once took active measures to punish the savages, and a large number
were killed and captured. About a year after, Little Crow, the chief,
was killed by a Mr. Lampson near Scattered Lake. Of those captured,
thirty were hung at Mankato, and the remainder, through fears of mob
violence, were removed to Camp McClellan, on the outskirts of the City
of Davenport. It was here that Big Eagle came into prominence and
secured his release by the following order ;
80
THE NORTHWEST TERRTTOBY.
mG EAGLE.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 81
"Special Order, No. 430. "War Department,
" Adjutant General's Office, Washington, Dec. 3, 1864.
" Big Eagle, an Indian now in confinement at Davenport, Iowa,
will, upon the receipt of this order, be immediately released from confine-
ment and set at liberty.
" By order of the President of the United States.
" Official : " E. D. Townsend, AssH Adft G-en.
" Capt. James Vander venter, Com'y Sub. Vols. «
" Through Com'g Gen'l, Washington, D. C."
Another Indian who figures more prominently than Big Eagle, and
who was more cowardly in his nature, with his band of Modoc Indians,
is noted in the annals of the New Northwest : we refer to Captain Jack.
This distinguished Indian, noted for his cowardly murder of Gen. Canby,
was a chief of a Modoc tribe of Indians inhabiting the border lands
between California and Oregon. This region of country comprises what
is known as the " Lava Beds," a tract of land described as utterly impene-
trable, save by those savages who had made it their home.
The Modocs are known as an exceedingly fierce and treacherous
race. They had, according to their own traditions, resided here for many
generations, and at one time were exceedingly numerous and powerful.
A famine carried off nearly half their numbers, and disease, indolence
and the vices of the white man have reduced them to a poor, weak and
insignificant tribe.
Soon after the settlement of California and Oregon, complaints began
to be heard of massacres of emigrant trains passing through the Modoc
country. In 1847, an emigrant train, comprising eighteen souls, was en-
tirely destroyed at a place since known as " Bloody Point." These occur-
rences caused the United States Government to appoint a peace commission,
who, after repeated attempts, in 1864, made a treaty with the Modocs,
Snakes and Klamaths, in which it was agreed on their part to remove to
a reservation set apart for them in the southern part of Oregon.
With the exception of Captain Jack and a band. of his followers, who
remained at Clear Lake, about six miles from Klamath, all the Indians
complied. The Modocs who went to the reservation were under chief
Schonchin. Captain Jack remained at the lake without disturbance
until 1869, when he was also induced to remove to the reservation. The
Modocs and the Klamaths soon became involved in a quarrel, and Captain
Jack and his band returned to the Lava Beds.
Several attempts were made by the Indian Commissioners to induce
tliem to returu to the yeserv^,tiou, ^.nci finally becoming involved iu 9,
82 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
difficulty with the commissioner and his military escort, a fight ensued,
in which the chief and his band were routed. They were greatly enraged,
and on their retreat, before the day closed, killed eleven inoffensive whites.
The nation was aroused and immediate action demanded. A com-
mission was at once appointed by the Government to see what could be
done. It comprised the following persons : Gen. E. R. S. Canby, Rev.
Dr. E. Thomas, a leading Methodist divine of California ; Mr. A. B.
Meacham, Judge Rosborough, of California, and a Mr. Dyer, of Oregon.
After several interviews, in which the savages were always aggressive,
often appearing with scalps in their belts, Bogus Charley came to the
commission on the evening of April 10, 1873, and informed them that
Capt. Jack and his band would have a " talk " to-morrow at a place near
Clear Lake, about three miles distant. Here the Commissioners, accom-
panied by Charley, Riddle, the interpreter, and Boston Charley repaired.
After the usual greeting the council proceedings commenced. On behalf
of the Indians there were present : Capt. Jack, Black Jim, Schnac Nasty
Jim, Ellen's Man, and Hooker Jim. They had no guns, but carried pis-
tols. After short speeches by Mr. Meacham, Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas,
Chief Schonchin arose to speak. He had scarcely proceeded when,
as if by a preconcerted arrangement, Capt. Jack drew his pistol and shot
Gen. Canby dead. In less than a minute a dozen shots were fired by the
savages, and the massacre completed. Mr. Meacham was shot by Schon-
chin, and Dr. Thomas by Boston Charley. Mr. Dyer barely escaped, being
fired at twice. Riddle, the interpreter, and his squaw escaped. The
troops rushed to the spot where they found Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas
dead, and Mr. Meacham badly wounded. The savages had escaped to
their impenetrable fastnesses and could not be pursued.
The whole country was aroused by this brutal massacre ; but it was
not until the following May that the murderers were brought to justice.
At that time Boston Charley gave himself up, and offered to guide the
troops to Capt. Jack's stronghold. This led to the capture of his entire
gang, a number of whom were murdered by Oregon volunteers while on
their way to trial. The remaining Indians were held as prisoners until
July when their trial occurred, which led to the conviction of Capt.
Jack, Schonchin, Boston Charley, Hooker Jim, Broncho, alias One-Eyed
Jim, and Slotuck, who were sentenced to be hanged. These sentences
were approved by the President, save in the case of Slotuck and Broncho
whose sentences were commuted to imprisonment for life. The others
were executed at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873.
These closed the Indian troubles for a time in the Northwest, and for
several years the borders of civilization remained in peace. They were
ag^ain involved in a conflict with the savages about the country of the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
83
CAPTAIN JACK, THE MODOC CHIEFTAIN.
84 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Black Hills, in which war the gallant Gen. Custer lost his life. Just
now the borders of Oregon and California are again in fear of hostilities ;
but as the Government has learned how to deal with the Indians, they
will be of short duration. The red man is fast passing away before the
march of the white man, and a few more generations will read of the
Indians as one of the nations of the past.
The Northwest abounds in memorable places. We have generally
noticed them in the narrative, but our space forbids their description in
detail, save of the most important places. Detroit, Cincinnati, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia and their kindred towns have all been described. But ere we
leave the narrative we will present our readers with an account of the
Kinzie house, the old landmark of Chicago, and the discovery of the
source of the Mississippi River, each of which may well find a place in
the annals of the Northwest.
Mr. John Kinzie, of the Kinzie house, represented in the illustra-
tion, established a trading house at Fort Dearborn in 1804. The stockade
had been erected the year previous, and named Fort Dearborn in honor
of the Secretary of War. It had a block house at each of the two angles,
on the southern side a sallyport, a covered way on the north side, that led
down to the river, for the double purpose of providing means of escape,
and of procuring water in the event of a siege.
Fort Dearborn stood on the south bank of the Chicago River, about
half a mile from its mouth. When Major Whistler built it, his soldiers
hauled all the timber, for he had no oxen, and so economically did he
work that the fort cost the Government only fifty dollars. For a while
the garrison could get no grain, and W histler and his men subsisted on
acorns. Now Chicago is the greatest grain center in the world.
Mr. Kinzie bought the hut of the first settler, Jean Baptiste Point au
Sable, on the site of which he erected his mansion. Within an inclosure
in front he planted some Lombardy poplars, seen in the engraving, and in
the rear he soon had a fine garden and growing orchard.
In 1812 the Kinzie house and its surroundings became the theater
of stirring events. The garrison of Fort Dearborn consisted of fifty-four
men, under the charge of Capt. Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant
Lenai T. Helm (son-in-law to Mrs. Kinzie), and Ensign Ronan. The
surgeon was Dr. Voorhees. The only residents at the post at that time
were the wives of Capt. Heald and Lieutenant Helm and a few of the
soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and a few Canadian voyagers with their
wives and children. The soldiers and Mr. Kinzie were on the most
friendly terms wdth the Pottawatomies and the Winnebagoes, the prin-
cipal tribes around them, but they could not win them from their attach-
ment to the British.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
85
' After the battle of Tippecanoe it was observed that some of the lead-
ing chiefs became sullen, for some of their people had perished in that
conflict with American troops.
One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing his violin and his
children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing into
the house pale with terror, and exclaiming, " The Indians ! the Indians ! "
" What? Where? " eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. "Up at Lee's, killing
and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who, when the alarm was
given, was attending Mrs. Burns, a newly-made mother, living not far off.
KTITZIE HOUSE.
Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river in boats, and took refuge in
the fort, to which place Mrs. Burns and her infant, not a day old, were
conveyed in safety to the shelter of the guns of Fort Dearborn, and the
rest of the white inhabitants fled. The Indians were a scalping party of
Winnebagoes, who hovered around the fort some days, when they dis-
appeared, and for several weeks the inhabitants were not disturbed by
alarms.
Chicago was then so deep in the wilderness, that the news of the
declaration of war against Great Britain, made on the 19th of June, 1812,
did not reach the commander of the garrison at Fort Dearborn till the 7th
of August. Now the fast mail train will carry a man from New York to
Chiijago in twenty-seven hours, and such a declaration might be sent,
every word, by the telegraph in less than the same number of minutes.
THE ITOETHWEST TERRITORY.
87
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NORTHWEST^
Preceding chapters have brought us to the close of the Black Hawk
war, and we now turn to the contemplation of the growth and prosperity
of the Northwest under the smile of peace and the blessings of our civili-
zBstinn. The pioneers of this region date events back to the deep snow
A KEPKES1:JS1TATIVE PIONEEK.
of 1831, no one arriving here since that date taking first honors. The
inciting cause of the immigration which overflowed the prairies early in
the '30s was the reports of the marvelous beauty and fertility of the
region distributed through the East by those who had participated in the
Black Hawk campaign with Gen. Scott. Chicago and Milwaukee then
had a few hundred inhabitants, and Gurdon S. Hubbard's trail from the
former city to Kaskaskia led almost through a wilderness. Vegetables
and clothing were largely distributed through the regions adjoining the
88
1?fiE NOMHWiSSd: TERBiTOItr.
lakes by steamers from the Ohio towns. There are men now living in
Illinois who came to the state when barely an acre was in cultivation,
and a man now prominent in the business circles of Chicago looked over
the swampy, cheerless site of that metropolis in 1818 and went south-
ward into civilization. Emigrants from Pennsylvania in 1830 left behind
LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
them but one small railway in the coal regions, thirty miles in length,
and made their way to the Northwest mostly with ox teams, finding in
Northern Illinois petty settlements scores of miles apart, although the
southern portion of the state was fairly dotted with farms. The
water courses of the lakes and rivers furnished transportation to the
second great army of immigrants, and about 1850 railroads were
pushed to that extent that the crisis of 1837 was precipitated upon us,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
89
from the effects of which the Western country had not fully recovered
at the outbreak of the war. Hostilities found the colonists of the prairies
fully alive to the demands of the occasion, and the honor of recruiting
the vast armies of the Union fell largely to Gov. Yates, of Illinois, and
Gov. Morton, of Indiana. To recount the share of the glories of the
campaign won by dt^v Western troops is a needless task, except to
mention the fact that Illinois ^ave to x,he nation the President who saved
90
THS IfOBG^HWEST TERRITORY.
it, and sent out at the head of one of its regiments tne general who led
its armies to the final victory at Appomattox. The struggle, on the
FAKM VIEW IN WINTER.
whole, had a marked effect for the better on the new Northwest, gi ring
it an impetus which twenty years of peace would not have produced.
In a large degree this prosperity was an inflated one, and with the rest
of the Union we have since been compelled to atone therefor by four
THE NORTHWEST TEKEITORY.
91
SPRING SCENE.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 93
years of depression of values, of scarcity of employment, and loss of
fortune. To a less degree, however, than the manufacturing or mining
regions has the West suffered during the prolonged panic now so near its
end. Agriculture, still the leading feature in our industries, has been
quite prosperous through all these dark years, and the farmers have
cleared away many incumbrances resting over them from the period of
fictitious values. The population has steadily increased, the arts and
sciences are gaining a stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is
becoming daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked communities on the
seaboard dependent wholly on foreign commerce or domestic manufacture.
At the present period there are no great schemes broached for the
Northwest, no propositions for government subsidies or national works
of improvement, but the capital of the world is attracted hither for the
purchase of our products or the expansion of our capacity for serving the
nation at large. A new era is dawning as to transportation, and we bid
fair to deal almost exclusively with the increasing and expanding lines
of steel rail running through every few miles of territory on the prairies.
The lake marine will no doubt continue to be useful in the warmer
season, and to serve as a regulator of freight rates; but experienced
navigators forecast the decay of the system in moving to the seaboard
the enormous crops of the West. Within the past five years it has
become quite common to see direct shipments to Europe and the West
Indies going through from the second-class towns along the Mississippi
and Missouri.
As to popular education, the standard has of late risen very greatly,
and our schools would be creditable to any section of the Union.
More and more as the events of the war pass into obscurity will the
fate of the Northwest be linked with that of the Southwest, and the
next Congressional apportionment will give the valley of the Mississippi
absolute control of the legislation of the nation, and do much toward
securing the removal of the Federal capitol to some more central location.
Our public men continue to wield the full share of influence pertain-
ing to their rank in the national autonomy, and seem not to forget that
for the past sixteen years they and their constituents have dictated the
principles which should govern the country.
In a work like this, destined to lie on the shelves of the library for
generations, and not doomed to daily destruction like a newspaper, one
can not indulge in the same glowing predictions, the sanguine statements
of actualities that fill the columns of ephemeral publications. Time may
bring grief to tBe pet projects of a writer, and explode castles erected on
a pedestal of facts. Yet there are unmistakable indications before us of
94
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 96
the same radical change in our great Northwest which characterizes its
history for the past thirty years. Our domain has a sort of natural
geographical border, save where it melts away to the southward in the
cattle raising districts of the southwest.
Our prime interest will for some years doubtless be the growth of
the food of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival in this duty will naturally be the fertile
plains of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, to say nothing of the new
empire so rapidly growing up in Texas. Over these regions there is a
continued progress in agriculture and in railway building, and we must
look to our laurels. Intelligent observers of events are fully aware of
the strides made in the way of shipments of fresh meats to Europe,
many of these ocean cargoes being actually slaughtered in the West and
transported on ice to the wharves of the seaboard cities. That this new
enterprise will continue there is no reason to doubt. There are in
Chicago several factories for the canning of prepared meats for European
consumption, and the orders for this class of goods are already immense.
English capital is becoming daily more and more dissatisfied with railway
loans and investments, and is gradually seeking mammoth outlays in
lands and live stock. The stock yards in Chicago, Indianapolis and East
St. Louis are yearly increasing their facilities, and their plant steadily
grows more valuable. Importations of blooded animals from the pro-
gressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality
of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing
display in this line than at our state and county fairs, and the interest
in the matter is on the increase.
To attempt to give statistics of our grain production for 1877 would
be useless, so far have we surpassed ourselves in the quantity and
quality of our product. We are too liable to forget that we are giving
the world its first article of necessity — its food supply. An opportunity
to learn this fact so it never can be forgotten was afforded at Chicago at
the outbreak of the great panic of 1873, when Canadian purchasers,
fearing the prostration of business might bring about an anarchical condition
of affairs, went to that city with coin in bulk and foreign drafts to secure
their supplies in their own currency at first hands. It may be justly
claimed by the agricultural community that their combined efforts gave
the nation its first impetus toward a restoration of its crippled industries,
and their labor brought the gold premium to a lower depth than the
government was able to reach by its most intense efforts of legislation
and compulsion. The hundreds of millions about to be disbursed for
farm products have already, by the anticipation common to all commercial
96
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
nations, set the wheels in motion, and will relieve us from the perils so
long shadowing our efforts to return to a healthy tone.
Manufacturing has attained in the chief cities a foothold which bids
fair to render the Northwest independent of the outside world. Nearly
our whole region has a distribution of coal measures which will in time
support the manufactures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As
to transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles except
food, no section is so magnificently endowed, and our facilities are yearly
increasing beyond those of any other region.
THE NORTHWEST TEBBITORT. 97
The period from a central point of the war to the outbreak of the
panic* was marked by a tremendous growth in our railway lines, but the
depression of the times caused almost a total suspension of operations.
Now that prosperity is returning to our stricken country we witness its
anticipation by the railroad interest in a series of projects, extensions,
and leases which bid fair to largely increase our transportation facilities.
The process of foreclosure and sale of incumbered lines is another matter
to be considered. In the case of the Illinois Central road, which formerly
transferred to other lines at Cairo the vast burden of freight destined for
the Gulf region, we now see the incorporation of the tracks connecting
through to New Orleans, every mile co-operating in turning toward the
northwestern metropolis the weight of the inter-state commerce of a
thousand miles or more of fertile plantations. Three competing routes
to Texas have established in Chicago their general freight and passenger
agencies. Four or five lines compete for all Pacific freights to a point as
as far as the interior of Nebraska. Half a dozen or more splendid bridge
structures have been thrown across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by
the railways. The Chicago and Northwestern line has become an aggre-
gation of over two thousand miles of rail, and the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul is its close rival in extent and importance. The three lines
running to Cairo via Vincennes form a through route for all traffic with
the states to the southward. The chief projects now under discussion
are the Chicago and Atlantic, which is to unite with lines now built to
Charleston, and the Chicago and Canada Southern, which line will con-
nect with all the various branches of that Canadian enterprise. Our
latest new road is the Chicago and Lake Huron, formed of three lines,
and entering the city from Valparaiso on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago track. The trunk lines being mainly in operation, the
progress made in the way of shortening tracks, making air-line branches,
and running extensions does not show to the advantage it deserves, as
this process is constantly adding new facilities to the established order
of things. The panic reduced the price of steel to a point where the
railways could hardly afford to use iron rails, and all our northwestern
lines report large relays of Bessemer track. The immense crops now
being moved have given a great rise to the value of railway stocks, and
their transportation must result in heavy pecuniary advantages.
Few are aware of the importance of the wholesale and jobbing trade
of Chicago. One leading firm has since the panic sold $24,000,000 of
dry goods in one year, and they now expect most confidently to add
seventy per cent, to the figures of their last year's business. In boots
and shoes and in clothing, twenty or more great firms from the east have
placed here their distributing agents or their factories ; and in groceries
98
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Chicago supplies the entire Northwest at rates presenting advantages
over New York.
Chicago has stepped in between New York and the rural banks as a
financial center, and scarcely a banking institution in the grain or cattle
regions but keeps its reserve funds in the vaults of our commercial insti-
tutions. Accumulating here throughout the spring and summer months,
they are summoned home at pleasure to move the products of the
prairies. This process greatly strengthens the northwest in its financial
operations, leaving home capital to supplement local operations on
behalf of home interests.
It is impossible to forecast the destiny of this grand and growing
section of the Union. Figures and predictions made at this date might
seem ten years hence so ludicrously small as to excite only derision.
f
ILLINOIS.
Length, 380 miles, mean width about 156 miles. Area, 55,410 square
miles, or 35,462,400 acres. Illinois, as regards its surface, constitutes a
table-land at a varying elevation ranging between 350 and 800 feet above
the sea level ; composed of extensive and highly fertile prairies and plains.
Much of the south division of the State, especially the river-bottoms, are
thickly wooded. The prairies, too, have oasis-like clumps of trees
scattered here and there at intervals. The chief rivers irrigating the
State are the Mississippi — dividing it from Iowa and Missouri — the Ohio
(forming its south barrier), the Illinois, Wabash, Kaskaskia, and San-
gamon, with their numerous affluents. The total extent of navigable
streams is calculated at 4,000 miles. Small lakes are scattered over vari-
ous parts of the State. Illinois is extremely prolific in minerals, chiefly
coal, iron, copper, and zinc ores, sulphur and limestone. The coal-field
alone is estimated to absorb a full third of the entire coal-deposit of North
America. Climate tolerably equable and healthy ; the mean temperature
standing at about 51° Fahrenheit As an agricultural region, Illinois takes
a competitive rank with neighboring States, the cereals, fruits, and root-
crops yielding plentiful returns ; in fact, as a grain-growing State, Illinois
may be deemed, in proportion to her size, to possess a greater area of
lands suitable for its production than any other State in the Union. Stock-
raising is also largely carried on, while her manufacturing interests in
regard of woolen fabrics, etc., are on a very extensive and yearly expand-
ing scale. The lines of railroad in the State are among the most exten-
sive of the Union. Inland water-carriage is facilitated by a canal
connecting the Illinois River with Lake Michigan, and thence with the
St. Lawrence and Atlantic. Illinois is divided into 102 counties ; the
chief towns being Chicago, Springfield (capital), Alton, Quincy, Peoria,
Galena, Bloomington, Rock Island, Vandalia, etc. By the new Consti-
tution, established in 1870, the State Legislature consists of 51 Senators,
elected for four years, and 153 Representatives, for two years ; which
numbers were to be decennially increased thereafter to the number of
six per every additional half-million of inhabitants. Religious and
educational institutions are largely diffused throughout, and are in a very
flourishing condition. Illinois has a State Lunatic and a Deaf and Dumb
Asylum at Jacksonville ; a State Penitentiary at Joliet ; and a Home for
(99)
100 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Soldiers' Orphans at Normal. On November 30, 1870, the public debt of
the State was returned at 14,870,937, with a balance of $1,808,833
unprovided for. At the same period the value of assessed and equalized
property presented the following totals: assessed, 1840,031,703 ; equal-
ized 1480,664,058. The name of Illinois, through nearly the whole of
the eighteenth century, embraced most of the known regions north and
west of Ohio. French colonists established themselves in 1673, at
Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and the territory of which these settlements
formed the nucleus was, in 1763, ceded to Great Britain in conjunction
with Canada, and ultimately resigned to the United States in 1787.
Illinois entered the Union as a State, December 3, 1818; and now sends
19 Representatives to Congress. Population, 2,539,891, in 1870.
A WESTERN DWELLING.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. lOl
INDIANA
The profile of Indiana forms a nearly exact parallelogram, occupy-
ing one of the most fertile portions of the great Mississippi Valley. The
greater extent of the surface embraced within its limits consists of gentle
undulations rising into hilly tracts toward the Ohio bottom. The chief
rivers of the State are the Ohio and Wabash, with their numerous
affluents. The soil is highly productive of the cereals and grasses — most
particularly so in the valleys of the Ohio, Wabash, Whitewater, and
White Rivers. The northeast and central portions are well timbered
with virgin forests, and the west section is notably rich in coal, constitut-
ing an offshoot of the great Illinois carboniferous field. Iron, copper,
marble, slate, gypsum, and various clays are also abundant. From an
agricultural point of view, the staple products are maize and wheat, with
the other cereals in lesser yields ; and besides these, flax, hemp, sorghum,
hops, etc., are extensively raised. Indiana is divided into 92 counties,
and counts among her principal cities and towns, those of Indianapolis
(the capital), Fort Wayne, Evansville, Terre Haute, Madison, Jefferson-
ville, Columbus, Vincennes, South Bend, etc. The public institutions of
the State are many and various, and on a scale of magnitude and
efficiency commensurate with her important political and industrial status.
Upward of two thousand miles of railroads permeate the State in all
directions, and greatly conduce to the development of her expanding
manufacturing interests. Statistics for the fiscal year terminating
October 31, 1870, exhibited a total of receipts, '$3,896,541 as against dis-
bursements, 13,532,406, leaving a balance, $364,135 in favor of the State
Treasury. The entire public debt, January 5, 1871, $3,971,000. This
State was first settled by Canadian voyageurs in 1702, who erected a fort
at Vincennes ; in 1763 it passed into the hands of the English, and was
by the latter ceded to the United States in 1783. From 1788 till 1791,
an Indian warefare ' prevailed. In 1800, all the region west and north of
Ohio (then formed into a distinct territory) became merged in Indiana.
In 1809, the present limits of the State were defined, Michigan and
Illinois having previously been withdrawn. In 1811, Indiana was the
theater of the Indian War of Tecumseh, ending with the decisive battle
of Tippecanoe. In 1816 (December 11), Indiana became enrolled among
the States of the American Union. In 1834, the State passed through a
monetary crisis owing to its having become mixed up with railroad,
(^anal, and other speculations on a gigantic scale, which ended, for the
time being, in a general collapse of public credit, and consequent bank-
ruptcy. Since that time, however, the greater number of the public
102 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
works which had brought about that imbroglio — especially the great
Wabash and Erie Canal — have been completed, to the great benefit of
the State, whose subsequent progress has year by year been marked by
rapid strides in the paths of wealth, commerce, and general social and
political prosperity. The constitution now in force was adopted in 1851.
Population, 1,680^637.
IOWA.
In shape, Iowa presents an almost perfect parallelogram; has a
length, north to south, of about 300 miles, by a pretty even width of 208
miles, and embraces an area of 55,045 square miles, or 35,228,800 acres.
The surface of the State is generally undulating, rising toward the
middle into an elevated plateau which forms the ''divide" of the
Missouri and Mississippi basins. Rolling prairies, especially in the south
section, constitute a regnant feature, and the river bottoms, belted with
woodlands, present a soil of the richest alluvion. Iowa is well watered ;
the principal rivers being the Mississippi and Missouri, which form
respectively its east and west limits, and the Cedar, Iowa, and Des
Moines, affluents of the first named. Mineralogically, Iowa is important
as occupying a section of the great Northwest coal field, to the extent of
an a^ea estimated at 25,000 square miles. Lead, copper, zinc, and iron,
are also mined in considerable quantities. The soil is well adapted to
the production of wheat, maize, and the other cereals ; fruits, vegetables,
and esculent roots; maize, wheat, and oats forming the chief staples.
Wine, tobacco, hops, and wax, are other noticeable items of the agricul-
tural yield. Cattle-raising, too, is a branch of rural industry largely
engaged in. The climate is healthy, although liable to extremes of heat
and cold. The annual gross product of the various manufactures carried
on in this State approximate, in round numbers, a sum of $20,000,000.
Iowa has an immense railroad system, besides over 500 miles of water-
communication by means of its navigable rivers. The State is politically
divided into 99 counties, with the following centers of population : Des
Moines (capital), Iowa City (former capital), Dubuque, Davenport, Bur-
lington, Council Bluffs, Keokuk, Muscatine, and Cedar Rapids. The
State institutions of Iowa — religious, scholastic, and philanthropic — are
on a par, as regards number and perfection of organization and operation,
with those of her Northwest sister States, and education is especially
well cared for, and largely diffused. Iowa formed a portion of the
American territorial acquisitions from France, by the so-called Louisiana
purchase in 1803, and was politically identified with Louisiana till 1812,
THE NORTHWEST TEBRITOEY. 103
when it merged into the Missouri Territory; in 1834 it came under the
Michigan organization, and, in 1836, under that of Wisconsin. Finally,
after being constituted an independent Territory, it became a State of
the Union, December 28, 1846. Population in 1860, 674,913 ; in 1870,
1,191,792, and in 1875, 1,353,118.
MICHIGAN.
United area, 56,243 square miles, or 35,995,520 acres. Extent of the
Upper and smaller Peninsula — length, 316 miles; breadth, fluctuating
between 36 and 120 miles. The south division is 416 miles long, by from
50 to 300 miles wide. Aggregate lake-shore line, 1,400 miles. The
Upper, or North, Peninsula consists chiefly of an elevated plateau,
expanding into the Porcupine mountain-system, attaining a maximum
height of some 2,000 feet. Its shores along Lake Superior are eminently
bold and picturesque, and its area is rich in minerals, its product of
copper constituting an important source of industry. Both divisions are
heavily wooded, and the South one, in addition, boasts of a deep, rich,
loamy soil, throwing up excellent crops of cereals and other agricultural
produce. The climate is generally mild and humid, though the Winter
colds are severe. The chief staples of farm husbandry include the cereals,
grasses, maple sugar, sorghum, tobacco, fruits, and dairy-stuffs. In 1870,
the acres of land in farms were : improved, 5,096,939 ; unimproved
woodland, 4,080,146 ; other unimproved land, 842,057. The cash value
of land was $398,240,578 ; of farming implements and machinery,
$13,711,979. In 1869, there were shipped from the Lake Superior ports,
874,582 tons of iron ore, and 45,762 of smelted pig, along with 14,188
tons of copper (ore and ingot). Coal is another article largely mined.
Inland communication is provided for by an admirably organized railroad
system, and by the St. Mary's Ship Canal, connecting Lakes Huron and
Superior. Michigan is politically divided into 78 counties-; its chief
urban centers are Detroit, Lansing (capital), Ann Arbor, Marquette,
Bay City, Niles, Ypsilanti, Grand Haven, etc. The Governor of the
State is elected biennially. On November 30, 1870, the aggregate bonded
debt of Michigan amounted to $2,385,028, and the assessed valuation of
land to $266,929,278, representing an estimated cash value of $800,000,000.
Education is largely diffused and most excellently conducted and pro-
vided for. The State University at Ann Arbor, the colleges of Detroit
and Kalamazoo, the Albion Female College, the State Normal School at
Ypsilanti, and the State Agricultural College at Lansing, are chief among
the academic institutions. Michigan (a term of Chippeway origin, and
104 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
signifying "Great Lake), was discovered and first settled by French
Canadians, who, in 1670, founded Detroit, the pioneer of a series of trad-
ing-posts on the Indian frontier. During the " Conspiracy of Pontiac,"
following the French loss of Canada, Michigan became the scene of a
sanguinary struggle between the whites and aborigines. In 1796, it
became annexed to the United States, which incorporated this region
with the Northwest Territory, and then with Indiana Territory, tilL1803,
when it became territorially independent. Michigan was the theater of
warlike operations during the war of 1812 with Great Britain, and in
1819 was authorized to be represented by one delegate in Congress ; in
1837 she was admitted into the Union as a State, and in 1869 ratified the
15th Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Population, 1,184,059.
WISCONSIN.
It has a mean length of 260 miles, and a maximum breadth of 215.
Land area, 53,924 square miles, or 34,511,360 acres. Wisconsin lies at a
considerable altitude above sea-level, and consists for the most part of an
upland plateau, the surface of which is undulating and very generally
diversified. Numerous local eminences called mounds are interspersed
over the State, and the Lake Michigan coast-line is in many parts char-
acterized by lofty escarped clifPs, even as on the west side the banks of
the Mississippi form a series of high and picturesque bluffs. A group of
islands known as The Apostles lie off the extreme ijorth point of the
State in Lake Superior, and the great estuary of Green Bay, running far
inland, gives formation to a long, narrow peninsula between its waters
and those of Lake Michigan. The river-system of Wisconsin has three
outlets — those of Lake Superior, Green Bay, and the Mississippi, which
latter stream forms the entire southwest frontier, widening at one point
into the large watery expanse called Lake Pepin. Lake Superior receives
the St. Louis, Burnt Wood, and Montreal Rivers ; Green Bay, the
Menomonee, Peshtigo, Oconto, and Fox ; while into the Mississippi
empty the St. Croix, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, and Pock Rivers.
The chief interior lakes are those of Winnebago, Horicon, and Court
Oreilles, and smaller sheets of water stud a great part of the surface.
The climate is healthful, with cold Winters and brief but very warm
Summers. Mean annual rainfall 31 inches. The geological system
represented by the State, embraces those rocks included between the
primary and the Devonian series, the former containing extensive
deposits of copper and iron ore. Besides these minerals, lead and zinc
are found in great quantities, together with kaolin, plumbago, gypsum,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 105
and various clays. Mining, consequently, forms a prominent industry,
and one of yearly increasing dimensions. The soil of Wisconsin is of
varying quality, but fertile on the whole, and in the north parts of the
State heavily timbered. The agricultural yield comprises the cereals,
together with flax, hemp, tobacco, pulse, sorgum, and all kinds of vege-
tables, and of the hardier fruits. In 1870, the State had a total number
of 102,904 farms, occupying 11,715,321 acres, of which 5,899,343 con-
sisted of improved land, and 3,437,442 were timbered. Cash value of
farms, $300,414,064 ; of farm implements and machinery, $14,239,364.
Total estimated value of all farm products, including betterments and
additions to stock, $78,027,032 ; of orchard and dairy stuffs, $1,045,933 ;
of lumber, $1,327,618 ; of home manufactures, $338,423 ; of all live-stock,
$45,310,882. Number of manufacturing establishments, 7,136, employ-
ing 39,055 hands, and turning out productions valued at $85,624,966.
The political divisions of the State form 61 counties, and the chief places
of wealth, trade, and population, are Madison (the capital), Milwaukee,
Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Prairie du Ghien, Janesville, Portage City,
Racine, Kenosha, and La Crosse. In 1870, the total assessed valuation
reached $333,209,838, as against a true valuation of both real and personal
estate aggregating $602,207,329. Treasury receipts during 1870, $886,-
696 ; disbursements, $906,329. Value of church property, $4,749,983.
Education is amply provided for. Independently of the State University
at Madison, and those of Galesville and of Lawrence at Appleton, and
the colleges of Beloit, Racine, and Milton, there are Normal Schools at
Platteville and , Whitewater. The State is divided into 4,802 common
school districts, maintained at a cost, in 1870, of $2,094,160. The chari-
table institutions of Wisconsin include a Deaf and Dumb Asylum, an
Institute for the Education of the Blind, and a Soldiers' Orphans' School.
In January, 1870, the railroad system ramified throughout the State
totalized 2,779 miles of track, including several lines far advanced toward
completion. Immigration is successfully encouraged by the State author-
ities, the larger number of yearly new-comers being of Scandinavian and
German origin. The territory now occupied within the limits of the
State of Wisconsin was explored by French missionaries and traders in
1639, and it remained under French jurisdiction until 1703, when it
became annexed to the British North American possessions. In 1796, it
reverted to the United States, the government of which latter admitted
it within the limits of the Northwest Territory, and in 1809, attached it
to that of Illinois, and to Michigan in 1818. Wisconsin became independ-
ently territorially organized in 1836, and became a State of the Union,
March 3, 1847. Population in 1870, l,0f)4,985, of which 2,113 were of
the colored race, and 11,521 Indians, 1,206 of the latter being out of
tribal relations.
106 fHE lliOltTHWEST TERRITORY.
MINNESOTA.
Its length, north to south, embraces an extent of 380 miles; its
breadth one of 250 miles at a maximum. Area, 84,000 square miles, or
54,760,000 acres. The surface of Minnesota, generally speaking, con-
sists of a succession of gently undulating plains and prairies, drained by
an admirable water-system, and with here and there heavily- timbered
bottoms and belts of virgin forest. The soil, corresponding with such a
superfices, is exceptionally rich, consisting for the most part of a dark,
calcareous sandy drift intermixed with loam. A distinguishing physical
feature of this State is its riverine ramifications, expanding in nearly
every part of it into almost innumerable lakes — the whole presenting an
aggregate of water-power having hardly a rival in the Union. Besides
the Mississippi — which here has its rise, and drains a basin of 800 miles
of country — the principal streams are the Minnesota (334 miles long),
the Red River of the North, the St. Croix, St. Louis, and many others of
lesser importance ; the chief lakes are those called Red, Cass, Leech,
Mille Lacs, Vermillion, and Winibigosh. Quite a concatenation of sheets
of water fringe the frontier line where Minnesota joins British America,
culminating in the Lake of the Woods. It has been estimated, that of
an area of 1,200,000 acres of surface between the St. Croix and Mis-
sissippi Rivers, not less than 73,000 acres are of lacustrine formation. In
point of minerals, the resources of Minnesota have as yet been very
imperfectly developed; iron, copper, coal, lead — all these are known to
exist in considerable deposits ; together with salt, limestone, and potter's
clay. The agricultural outlook of the State is in a high degree satis-
factory ; wheat constitutes the leading cereal in cultivation, with Indian
corn and oats in next order. Fruits and vegetables are grown in great
plenty and of excellent quality. The lumber resources of Minnesota are
important ; the pine forests in the north region alone occupying an area
of some 21,000 square miles, which in 1870 produced a return of scaled
logs amounting to 313,116,416 feet. The natural industrial advantages
possessed by Minnesota are largely improved upon by a railroad system.
The political divisions of this State number 78 counties ; of which the
chief cities and towns are : St. Paul (the capital), Stillwater, Red Wing,
St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Mankato. Minnesota has
already assumed an attitude of high importance as a manufacturing State ;
this is mainly due to the wonderful command of water-power she pos-
sesses, as before spoken of. Besides her timber-trade, the milling of
flour, the distillation of- whisky, and the tanning of leather, are prominent
interests, which, in 1869, gave returns to the amount of $14,831,043.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 107
Education is notably provided for on a broad and catholic scale, the
entire amount expended scholastically during the year 1870 being $857,-
816 ; while on November 30 of the preceding year the permanent school
fund stood at $2,476,222. Besides a University and Agricultural College,
Normal and Reform Schools flourish, and with these may be mentioned
such various philanthropic and religious institutions as befit the needs of
an intelligent and prosperous community. The finances of the State for
the fiscal year terminating December 1, 1870, exhibited a balance on the
right side to the amount of $136,161, being a gain of $44,000 over the
previous year's figures. The earliest exploration of Minnesota by the
whites was made in 1680 by a French Franciscan, Father Hennepin, who
gave the name of St. Antony to the Great Falls on the Upper Missisippi.
In 1763, the Treaty of Versailles ceded this region to England.
Twenty years later, Minnesota formed part of the Northwest Territory
transferred to the United States, and became herself territorialized inde-
pendently in 1849. Indian cessions in 1851 enlarged her boundaries, and,
May 11, 1857, Minnesota became a unit of the great American federation
of States. Population, 439,706.
NEBRASKA.
Maximum length, 412 miles; extreme breadth, 208 miles. Area,
75,905 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres. The surface of this State is
almost entirely undulating prairie, and forms part of the west slope of
the great central basin of the North American Continent. In its west
division, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, is a sandy belt of
country, irregularly defined. In this part, too, are the " dunes," resem-
bling a wavy sea of sandy billows, as well as the Mauvaises Terres, a tract
of singular formation, produced by eccentric disintegrations and denuda-
tions of the land. The chief rivers are the Missouri, constituting its en-
tire east line of demarcation ; the Nebraska or Platte, the Niobrara, the
Republican Fork of the Kansas, the Elkhorn, and the Loup Fork of the
Platte. The soil is very various, but consisting chiefly of rich, bottomy
loam, admirably adapted to the raising of heavy crops of cereals. All
the vegetables and fruits of the temperate zone are produced in great
size and plenty. For grazing purposes Nebraska is a State exceptionally
well fitted, a region of not less than 23,000,000 acres being adaptable to
this branch of husbandry. It is believed that the, as yet, comparatively
infertile tracts of land found in various parts of the State are susceptible
of productivity by means of a properly conducted system of irrigation.
Few minerals of moment have so far been found within the limits of
108
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Nebraska, if we may except important saline deposits at the head of Salt
Creek in its southeast section. The State is divided into 57 counties,
independent of the Pawnee and Winnebago Indians, and of unorganized
territory in the northwest part. The principal towns are Omaha, Lincoln
(State capital), Nebraska City, Columbus, Grand Island, etc. In 1870,
the total assessed value of property amounted to $53,000,000, being an
increase of $11,000,000 over the previous year's returns. The total
amount received from the school-fund during the year 1869-70 was
$77,999. Education is making great onward strides, the State University
and an Agricultural College being far advanced toward completion. In
the matter of railroad communication, Nebraska bids fair to soon place
herself on a par with her neighbors to the east. Besides being inter-
sected by the Union Pacific line, with its off-shoot, the Fremont and Blair,
other tracks are in course of rapid construction. Organized by Con-
gressional Act into a Territory, May 30, 1854, Nebraska entered the
Union as a full State, March 1, 1867. Population, 122,993.
HUNTING PRAIRIE WOLVES IN AN EARLY DAY.
Early History of Illinois.
The name of this beautiful Prairie State is derived from lUim, a
Delaware word signifying Superior Men. It has a French termination,
and is a symbol of how the two races — the French and the Indians —
were intermixed during the early history of the country.
The appellation was no doubt well applied to the primitive inhabit-
ants of the soil whose prowess in savage warfare long withstood the
combined attacks of the fierce Iroquois on the one side, and the no less
savage and relentless Sacs and Foxes on the other. The Illinois were
once a powerful confederacy, occupying the most beautiful and fertile
region in the great Valley of the Mississippi, which their enemies coveted
and struggled long and hard to wrest from them. By the fortunes of
war they were diminished in numbers, and finally destroyed. " Starved
Rock," on the Illinois River, according to tradition, commemorates their
last tragedy, where, it is said, the entire tribe starved ratheFthan sur-
render.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
The first European discoveries in Illinois date back over two hun-
dred years. They are a part of that movement which, from the begin-
ning to the middle of the seventeenth century, brought the French
Canadian missionaries and fur traders into the Valley of the Mississippi,
and which, at a later period, established the civil and ecclesiastical
authority of France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the foot-hills of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains.
The great river of the West had been discovered by DeSoto, the
Spanish conqueror of Florida, three quarters of a century before the
French founded Quebec in 1608, but the Spanish left the country a wil-
derness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in
which condition it remained until the Mississippi was discovered by the
agents of the French Canadian government, Joliet and Marquette, in 1673.
These renowned explorers were not the first white visitors to Illinois.
In 1671 — two years in advance of them — came Nicholas Perrot to Chicago.
He had been sent by Talon as an agent of the Canadian government to
109
110
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. Ill
call a great peace convention of "Western Indians at Green Bay, prepara-
tory to the movement for the discovery of the Mississippi. It was
deemed a good stroke of policy to secure, as far as possible, the friend-
ship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing upon
an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous, and which
their friendship and assistance would do so much to make successful ;
and to this end Perrot was sent to call together in council the tribes
throughout the Northwest, and to promise them the commerce and pro-
tection of the French government. He accordingly arrived at Green
Bay in 1671, and procuring an escort of Pottawattamies, proceeded in a
bark canoe upon a visit to the Miamis, at Chicago. Perrot was there-
fore the first European to set foot upon the soil of Illinois.
Still there were others before Marquette. In 1672, the Jesuit mis-
sionaries. Fathers Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard
of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin
and northern Illinois, visiting the Foxes on Fox River, and the Masquo-
tines and Kickapoos at the mouth of the Milwaukee. These missionaries
penetrated on the route afterwards followed by Marquette as far as the
Kickapoo village at the head of Lake Winnebago, where Marquette, in
his journey, secured guides across the portage to the Wisconsin.
The oft-repeated story of Marquette and Joliet is well known.
They were the agents employed by the Canadian government to discover
the Mississippi. Marquette was a native of France, born in 1637, a
Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and of great zeal and
devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the Indians.
Arriving in Canada in 1666, he was sent as a missionary to the far
Northwest, and, in 1668, founded a mission at Sault Ste. Marie. The
following year he moved to La Pointe, in Lake Superior, where he
instructed a branch of the Hui'ons till 1670, when he removed south, and
founded the mission at St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. Here
he remained, devoting a portion of his time to the study of the Illinois
language under a native teacher who had accompanied him to the mission
from La Pointe, till he was joined by Joliet in the Spring of 1673. By
the way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, they entered
the Mississippi, which they explored to the mouth of the Arkansas, and
returned by the way of the Illinois and Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan.
On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the great village of
the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in the county of LaSalle. The
following year he returned and established among them the mission of
the Immaculate Virgin Mary, which was the first Jesuit mission founded
in Illinois and in the Mississippi Valley. The intervening winter he
had spent in a hut which his companions erected on the Chicago River, a
few leagues from its mouth. The founding of this mission was the last
112 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
act of Marquette's life. He died in Michigan, on his way back to Green
Bay, May 18, 1675.
FIRST FRENCH OCCUPATION.
The first French occupation of the territory now embraced in Illi-
nois was effected by LaSalle in 1680, seven years after the time of Mar-
quette and Joliet. LaSalle, having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin,"
above the falls of Niagara, which he sailed to Green Bay, and having
passed thence in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by which
and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois, in January, 1680, erected Fort
Orevecoeur^ at the lower end of Peoria Lake, where the city of Peoria is
now situated. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen
just below the outlet of Peoria Lake. It was destined, however, to a
temporary existence. From this point, LaSalle determined to descend
the Mississippi to its mouth, but did not accomplish this purpose till two
years later — in 1682. Returning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of
getting materials with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort in charge of
Touti, his lieutenant, who during his absence was driven off by the Iro-
quois Indians. These savages had made a raid upon the settlement of
the Illinois, and had left nothing in their track but ruin and desolation.
Mr. Davidson, in his History of Illinois, gives the following graphic
account of the picture that met the eyes of LaSalle and his companions
on their return :
" At the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene
which opened to their view. No hunter appeared to break its death-like
silence with a salutatory whoop o± welcome. The plain on which the
town had stood was now strewn with charred fragments of lodges, which
had so recently swarmed with savage life and hilarity. To render more
hideous the picture of desolation, large numbers of skulls had been
placed on the upper extremities of lodge-poles which had escaped the
devouring flames. In the midst of these horrors was the rude fort of
the spoilers, rendered frightful by the same ghastly relics. A near
approach showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and
swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting their loathsome stomachs
on the reeking corruption. To complete the work of destruction, the
growing corn of the village had been cut down and burned, while the
pits containing the products of previous years, had been rifled and their
contents scattered with wanton waste. It was evident the suspected
blow of the Iroquois had fallen with relentless fury."
Tonti had escaped LaSalle knew not whither. Passing down the
lake in search of him and his men, LaSalle discovered that the fort had
been destroyed, but the vessel which he had partly constructed was still
HISTOBY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 113
on the stocks, and but slightly injured. After further fruitless search,
failing to find Tonti, he fastened to a tree a painting representing himself
and party sitting in a canoe and bearing a pipe of peace, and to the paint-
ing attached a letter addressed to Tonti.
Tonti had escaped, and, after untold privations, taken shelter among
the Pottawattamies near Green Bay. These were friendly to the French.
One of their old chiefs used to say, " There were but three great cap-
tains in the world, himself, Tonti and LaSalle."
GENIUS OF LaSALLE.
We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in such
bold relief. He was born in Rouen, France, in 1643. His father was
wealthy, but he renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the
Jesuits, from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man in 1666.
The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a brother, were then the
proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus of which was a seminary or con-
vent founded by that order. The Superior granted to LaSalle a large
tract of land at LaChine, where he established himself in the fur trade.
He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his competitors in
exploits of travel and commerce with the Indians. In 1669, he visited
the headquarters of the great Iroquois Confederacy, at Onondaga, in the
heart of New York, and, obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to
the falls at Louisville.
In order to understand the genius of LaSalle, it must be remembered
that for many years prior to his time the missionaries and traders were
obliged to make their way to the Northwest by the Ottawa River (of
Canada) on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the lower
lakes and Niagara River, which entirely closed this latter route to the
Upper Lakes. They carried on their commerce chiefly by canoes, pad-
dling them through the Ottawa to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across
the portage to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron. This
being the route by which they reached the Northwest, accounts for the
fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions were established in the neighbor-
hood of the Upper Lakes. LaSalle conceived the grand idea of opening
the route by Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce
by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the Mississippi, and
thus opening a magnificent water communication from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. This truly grand and comprehensive
purpose seems to have animated him in all his wonderful achievements
and the matchless difficulties and hardships he surmounted. As the first
step in the accomplishment of this object he established himself on Lake
Ontario, and built and garrisoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present
114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
city of Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from the
French crown and a body of troops by which he beat back the invading
Iroquois and cleared the passage to Niagara Falls. Having by this mas-
terly stroke made it safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his
next step, as we have seen, was to advance to the Falls with all his
outfit for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He was success-
ful in this undertaking, though his ultimate purpose was defeated by a
strange combination of untoward circumstances. The Jesuits evidently
hated LaSalle and plotted against him, because he had abandoned them
and co-operated with a rival order. The fur traders were also jealous of
his superior success in opening new channels of commerce. At LaChine
he had taken the trade of Lake Ontario, which but for his presence there
would have gone to Quebec. While they were plodding with their barK
canoes through the Ottawa he was constructing sailing vessels to com-
mand the trade of the lakes and the Mississippi. These great plans
excited the jealousy and envy of the small traders, introduced treason and
revolt into the ranks of his own companions, and finally led to the foul
assassination by which his great achievements were prematurely ended.
In 1682, LaSalle, having completed his vessel at Peoria, descended
the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. Erecting a
standard on which he inscribed the arms of France, he took formal pos-
session of the whole valley of the mighty river, in the name of Louis
XIV., then reigning, in honor of whom he named the country Louisiana.
LaSalle then went to France, was appointed Governor, and returned
with a fleet and immigrants, for the purpose of planting a colony in Illi-
nois. They arrived in due time in the Gulf of Mexico, but failing to
find the mouth of the Mississippi, up which LaSalle intended to sail, his
supply ship, with the immigrants, was driven ashore and wrecked on
Matagorda Bay. With the fragments of the vessel he constructed a
stockade and rude huts on the shore for the protection of the immigrants,
calling the post Fort St. Louis. He then made a trip into New Mexico,
in search of silver mines, but, meeting with disappointment, returned to
find his little colony reduced to forty souls. He then resolved to travel
on foot to Illinois, and, starting with his companions, had reached the
valley of the Colorado, near the mouth of Trinity river, when he was
shot by one of his men. This occurred on the 19th of March, 1687.
Dr. J. W. Foster remarks of him : " Thus fell, not far from the banks
of the Trinity, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, one of the grandest charac-
ters that ever figured in American history — a man capable of originating
the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment capable of
carrying them to successful results. Had ample facilities been placed by
the King of France at his disposal, the result of the colonization of this
continent might have been far different from what we now behold."
V' -
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 115
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
A temporary isettlement was made at Fort St. Louis, or the old Kas-
kaskia village, on the Illinois River, in what is now LaSalle County, in
1682. In 1690, this was removed, with the mission connected with it, to
Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, emptying into the lower Mississippi
in St. Clair County. Cahokia was settled about the same time, or at
least, both of these settlements began in the year 1690, though it is now
pretty well settled that Cahokia is the older place, and ranks as the oldest
permanent settlement in Illinuib', as well as in the Mississippi Valley.
The reason for the removal of jbhe -old Kaskaskia settlement and mission,
was probably because the dangeroui^ and difficult route by Lake Michigan
and the Chicago portage had been almost abandoned, and travelers and
traders passed down and up the Mississippi by the Fox and Wisconsin
River route. They removed to the vicinity of the Mississippi in order
to be in the line of travel from Canada to Louisiana, that is, the lower
part of it, for it was all Louisiana then south of the lakes.
During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population prob-
ably never exceeded ten thousand, including whites and blacks. Within
that portion of it now included in Indiana, trading posts were established
at the principal Miami villages which stood on the head waters of the
Maumee, the Wea villages situated at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and
the Piankeshaw villages at Post Vincennes ; all of which were probably
visited by French traders and missionaries before the close of the seven-
teenth century.
In the vast territory claimed by the French, many settlements of
considerable importance had sprung up. Biloxi, on Mobile Bay, had
been founded by DTberville, in 1699 ; Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac had
founded Detroit in 1701 ; and New Orleans had been founded by Bien-
ville, under the auspices of the Mississippi Company, in 1718. In Illi-
nois also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they
embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred " con^
verted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In that portion of the
country, on the east side of the Mississippi, there were five distinct set-
tlements, with their respective villages, viz. : Cahokia, near the mouth
of Cahokia Creek and about five miles below the present city of St.
Louis ; St. Philip, about forty-five miles below Cahokia, and four miles
above Fort Chartres ; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia ;
Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its conflu-
ence with the Mississippi ; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres.
To these must be added St. Genevieve and St. Louis, on the west side
116
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 117
the oldest French towns in the Mississippi Valley. Kaskaskia, in its best
days, was a town of some two or three thousand inhabitants. After it
passed from the crown of France its population for many years did not
exceed fifteen hundred. Under British rule, in 1773, the population had
decreased to four hundred and fifty. As early as 1721, the Jesuits had
established a college and a monastery in Kaskaskia.
Fort Chartres was first built under the direction of the Mississippi
Company, in 1718, by M. de Boisbraint, a military officer, under command
of Bienville. It stood on the east bank of the Mississippi, about eighteen
miles below Kaskaskia, and was for some time the headquarters of the
military commandants of the district of Illinois.
In the Centennial Oration of Dr. Fowler, delivered at Philadelphia,
by appointment of Gov. Beveridge, we find some interesting facts with
regard to the State of Illinois, which we appropriate in this history :
In 1682 Illinois became a possession of the French crown, a depend-
ency of Canada, and a part of Louisiana. In 1765 the English flag was
run up on old Fort Chartres, and Illinois was counted among the treas-
ures of Great Britain.
In 1779 it was taken from the English by Col. George Rogers Clark.
This man was resolute in nature, wise in council, prudent in policy, bold
in action, and heroic in danger. Few men who have figured in the his-
tory of America are more deserving than this colonel. Nothing short of
first-class ability could have rescued Vincens and all Illinois from the
English. And it is not possible to over-estimate the influence of this
achievement upon the republic. In 1779 Illinois became a part of Vir-
ginia. It was soon known as Illinois County. In 1784 Virginia ceded
all this territory to the general government, to be cut into States, to be
republican in form, with " the same right of sovereignty, freedom, and
independence as the other States."
In 1787 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legislation found
in any merely human records. No man can study the secret history of
THE '' COMPACT OF 1787,"
and not feel that Providence was guiding with sleepless eye these unborn
States. The ordinance that on July 13, 1787, finally became the incor-
porating act, has a most marvelous history. Jefl'erson had vainly tried
to secure a system of government for the northwestern territory. He
was an emancipationist of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery
from the territory Virginia had ceded to the general government; but
the South voted him down as often as it came up. In 1787, as late as
July 10, an organizing act without the anti-slavery clause was pending.
This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in
118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
session in New York City. On July 5, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of
Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the northwestern terri-
tory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe.
The state of the public credit, the growing of Southern prejudice,
the basis of his mission, his personal character, all combined to complete
one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that
once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the
breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a graduate of Yale — received his
A.M. from Harvard, and his D.D. from Yale. He had studied and taken
degrees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He
had thus America's best indorsement. He had published a scientific
examination of the plants of New England. His name stood second only
to that of Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly gentle-
man of the old style, a man of commanding presence, and of inviting
face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman
in the North. He came representing a company that desired to purchase
a tract of land now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony.
It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on
the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected enough to pur-
chase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made
Dr. Cutler their agent (lobbyist). On the 12th he represented a demand
for 5,500,000 acres. This would reduce the national debt. Jefferson
and Virginia were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia
had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the public credit,
and this was a good opportunity to do something.
Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was
crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the northwestern
region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspira-
tion, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The English minister invited him to
dine with some of the Southern gentlemen. He was the center of interest.
The entire South rallied round him. Massachusetts could not vote
against him, because many of the constituents of her members were
interested personally in the western speculation. Thus Cutler, making
friends with the South, and, doubtless, using all the arts of the lobby,
was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convictions, he
dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise states-
manship that has ever adorned any human law book. He borrowed from
Jefferson the term " Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal
constitution, rose into the most sacred character. He then followed very
closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before.
Its most marked points were :
1. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever.
2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary,
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 119
and every section numbered 16 in each township ; that is, one-thirty-sixth
of all the land, for public schools.
3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the
enactment of any law that should nullify pre-existing contracts.
Be it forever remembered that this compact declared that " Religion,
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always
be encouraged."
Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield.
Giving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing — that unless
they could make the land desirable they did not want it — he took his
horse and buggy, and started for the constitutional convention in Phila-
delphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon -its passage, and was
unanimously adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one
man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voting against it. But as the States voted
as States, Yates lost his vote, and the compact was put beyond repeal.
Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis-
consin — a vast empire, the heart of the great valley — were consecrated
to freedom, intelligence, and honesty. Thus the great heart of the nation
was prepared for a year and a day and an hour. In the light of these eighty-
nine years I affirm that this act was the salvation of the republic and the
destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder, and
tried to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee
of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance
was a compact, and opposed repeal. Thus it stood a rock, in the way
of the on-rushing sea of slavery.
With all this timely aid it was, after all, a most desperate and pro-
tracted struggle to keep the soil of Illinois sacred to freedom. It was
the natural battle-field for the irrepressible conflict. In the southern end
of the State slavery preceded the compact. It existed among the old
French settlers, and was hard to eradicate. The southern part of the
State was settled from the slave States, and this population brought their
laws, customs, and institutions with them. A stream of population from
the North poured into the northern part of the State. These sections
misunderstood and hated each other perfectly. The Southerners regarded
the Yankees as a skinning, tricky, penurious race of peddlers, filling the
country with tinware, brass clocks, and wooden nutmegs. The North-
erner thought of the Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy creature, burrowing
in a hut, and rioting in whisky, dirt and ignorance. These causes aided
in making the struggle long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy
with slavery that, in spite of the ordinance of 1787, and in spite of the
deed of cession, it was determined to allow the old French settlers to
retain their slaves. Planters from the slave States mi^ht bring theiar
120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
slaves, if they would give them a chance to choose freedom or years
of service and bondage for their children till they should become
thirty years of age. If they chose freedom they must leave the State
in sixty days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for offenses
for which white men are fined. Each lash paid forty cents of the fine. A
negro ten miles from home without a pass was whipped. These famous
laws were imported from the slave States just as they imported laws foi
the inspection of flax and wool when there was neither in the State.
These Black Laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was made
to protect slavery in the State Constitution of 1817. It barely failed.
It was renewed in 1825, when a convention was asked to make a new
constitution. After a hard fight the convention was defeated. But
slaves did not disappear from the census of the State until 1850. There
were mobs and murders in the interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added
to the list of martyrs — a sort of first-fruits of that long life of immortal
heroes who saw freedom as the one supreme desire of their souls, and
were so enamored of her that they preferred to die rather than survive her.
The population of 12,282 that occupied the territory in A.D. 1800,
increased to 45,000 in A.D. 1818, when the State Constitution was
adopted, and Illinois took her place in the Union, with a star on the flag
and two votes in the Senate.
Shadrach Bond was the first Governor, and in his first message he
recommended the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
The simple economy in those da3's is seen in the fact that the entire
bill for stationery for the first Legislature was only $13.50. Yet this
simple body actually enacted a very superior code.
There was no money in the territory before the war of 1812. Deer
skins and coon skins were the circulating medium. In 1821, the Legis-
lature ordained a State Bank on the credit of the State. It issued notes
in the likeness of bank bills. These notes were made a legal tender for
every thing, and the bank was ordered to loan to the people f 100 on per-
sonal security, and more on mortgages. They actually passed a resolu-
tion requesting the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to
receive these notes for land. The old French Lieutenant Governor, Col.
Menard, put the resolution as follows: " Gentlemen of the Senate : It is
moved and seconded dat de notes of dis bank be made land-office money.
All in favor of dat motion say aye ; all against it say no. It is decided
in de affirmative. Now, gentlemen, I bet you one hundred dollar he
never be land-office money ! " Hard sense, like hard money, is always
above par.
This old Frenchman presents a fine figure up against the dark back-
ground of most of his nation. They made no progress. They clung to
their earliest and simplest implements. They never wore hats or caps^
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 121
They pulled their blankets over their heads in the winter like the Indians,
with whom they freely intermingled.
Demagogism had an early development. One John Grammar (only
in name), elected to the Territorial and State Legislatures of 1816 and
1836, invented the policy of opposing every new thing, saying, " If it
succeeds, no one will ask who voted against it. If it proves a failure, he
could quote its record." In sharp contrast with Grammar was the char-
acter of D. P. Cook, after whom the county containing Chicago was
named. Such was his transparent integrity and remarkable ability that
his will was almost the law of the State. In Congress, a young man,
and from a poor State, he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee. He was pre-eminent for standing by his committee, regard-
less of consequences. It was his integrity that elected John Quincy
Adams to the Presidency. There were four candidates in 1824, Jackson,
Clay, Crawford, and John Quincy Adams. There being no choice by the
people, the election was thrown into the House. It was so balanced that
it turned on his vote, and that he cast for Adams, electing him ; then
went home to face the wrath of the Jackson party in Illinois. It cost
him all but character and greatness. It is a suggestive comment on the
times, that there was no legal interest till 1830. It often reached 150
per cent., usually 50 per cent. Then it was reduced to 12, and now to
10 per cent.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE PRAIRIE STATE.
In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about
150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to
North Carolina. It embraces wide variety of climate. It is tempered
on the north by the great inland, saltless, tideless sea, which keeps the
thermometer from either extreme. Being a table land, from 600 to 1,600
feet above the level of the sea, one is prepared to find on the health
maps, prepared by the general government, an almost clean and perfect
record. In freedom from fever and malarial diseases and consumptions,
the three deadly enemies of the American Saxon, Illinois, as a State,
stands without a superior. She furnishes one of the essential conditions
of a great people — sound bodies. I suspect that this fact lies back of
that old Delaware word, Illini, superior men.
The great battles of history that have been determinative of dynas-
ties and destinies have been strategical battles, chiefly the question of
position. Thermopylae has been the war-cry of freemen for twenty-four
centuries. It only tells how much there may be in position. All this
advantage belongs to Illinois. It is in the heart of the greatest valley in
the world, the vast region between the mountains — a valley that could
1*22 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
feed mankind for one thousand years. It is well on toward the center of
the continent. It is in the great temperate belt, in which have been
found nearly all the aggressive civilizations of history. It has sixty-five
miles of frontage on the head of the lake. With the Mississippi forming
the western and southern boundary, with the Ohio running along the
southeastern line, with the Illinois River and Canal dividing the State
diagonally from the lake to the Lower Mississippi, and with the Rock and
Wabash Rivers furnishing altogether 2,000 miles of water-front, con-
necting with, and running through, in all about 12,000 miles of navi-
gable water.
But this is not all. These waters are made most available by the
fact that the lake and the State lie on the ridge running into the great
valley from the east. Within cannon-shot of the lake the water runs
away from the lake to the Gulf. The lake now empties at both ends,
one into the Atlantic and one into the Gulf of Mexico. The lake thus
seems to hang over the land. This makes the dockage most serviceable ;
there are no steep banks to damage it. Both lake and river are made
for use.
The climate varies from Portland to Richmond ; it favors every pro-
duct of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen
exceptions. It produces every great nutriment of the Avorld except ban-
anas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive
spot known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full
of minerals ; with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel ;
with perfect natural drainage, and abundant springs and streams and
navigable rivers ; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits
of the South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, cop-
per, lead, and zinc; containing and controlling the great grain, cattle,
pork, and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has
the advantage of position.
This advantage has been supplemented by the character of the popu-
lation. In the early days when Illinois was first admitted to the Union,
her population were chiefly from Kentucky and Virginia. But, in the
conflict of ideas concerning slavery, a strong tide of emigration came in
from the East, and soon changed this composition. In 1870 her non-
native population were from colder soils. New York furnished 133,290 ;
Ohio gave 162,623; Pennsylvania sent on 98,352; the entire South gave
us only 206,T34. In all her cities, and in all her German and Scandina-
vian and other foreign colonies, Illinois has only about one-fifth of her
people of foreign birth.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 123
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
One of the greatest elements in the early development of Illinois is
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the Illinois and Mississippi
Rivers with the lakes. It was of the utmost importance to the State.
It was recommended by Gov. Bond, the first governor, in his first message.
In 1821, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 for surveying the route.
Two bright young engineers surveyed it, and estimated the cost at
1600,000 or 1700,000. It finally cost $8,000,000. In 1825, a law was
passed to incorporate the Canal Company, but no stock was sold. In
1826, upon the solicitation of Cook, Congress gave 800,000 acres of land
on the line of the work. In 1828, another law — commissioners appointed,
and work commenced with new survey and new estimates. In 1834-35,
George Farquhar made an able report on the whole matter. This was,
doubtless, the ablest report ever made to a western legislature, and it
became the model for subsequent reports and action. From this the
work went on till it was finished in 1848. It cost the State a large
amount of money ; but it gave to the industries of the State an impetus
that pushed it up into the first rank of greatness. It was not built as a
speculation any more than a doctor is employed on a speculation. But
it has paid into the Treasury of the State an average annual net sum of
over 1111,000.
Pending the construction of the canal, the land and town-lot fever
broke out in the State, in 1834-35. It took on the malignant type in
Chicago, lifting the town up into a city. The disease spread over the
entire State and adjoining States. It was epidemic. It cut up men's
farms without regard to locality, aiid icut up the purses of the purchasers
without regard to consequences. It is estimated that building lots enough
were sold in Indiana alone to accommodate every citizen then in the
United States.
Towns and cities were exported to the Eastern market by the ship-
load. There was no lack of buyers. Every up-ship came freighted with
speculators and their money.
This distemper seized upon the Legislature in 1836-37, and left not
one to tell the tale. They enacted a system of internal improvement
without a parallel in the grandeur of its conception. They ordered the
construction of 1,300 miles of railroad, crossing the State in all direc-
tions. This was surpassed by the river and canal improvements.
There were a few counties not touched by either railroad or river or
canal, and those were to be comforted and compensated by the free dis-
tribution of $200,000 among them. To inflate this balloon beyond cre-
dence it was ordered that work should be commenced on both eads of
124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
each of these railroads and rivers, and at each river-crossing, all at the
same time. The appropriations for these vast improvements were over
$12,000,000, and commissioners were appointed to borrow the money on
the credit of the State. Remember that all this was in tlie early days of
railroading, when railroads were luxuries; that the State had whole
counties with scarcely a cabin ; and that the population of the State was
less than 400,000, and you can form some idea of the vigor with which
these brave men undertook the work of making a great State. In the
light of history I am compelled to say that this was only a premature
throb of the power that actually slumbered in the soil of the State. It
was Hercules in the cradle.
At this juncture the State Bank loaned its funds largely to Godfrey
(xilman & Co., and to other leading houses, for the purpose of drawing
trade from St. Louis to Alton. Soon they failed, and took down the
bank with them.
In 1840, all hope seemed gone. A population of 480,000 were loaded
with a debt of $14,000,000. It had only six small cities, really only
towns, namely: Chicago, Alton, Springfield, Quincy, Galena, Nauvoo.
This debt was to be cared for when there was not a dollar in the treas-
ury, and when the State had borrowed itself out of all credit, and when
there was not good money enough in the hands of all the people to pay
the interest of the debt lor a single year. Yet, in the presence of all
these difficulties, the young State steadily refused to repudiate. Gov.
Ford took hold of the problem and solved it, bringing the State through
in triumph.
Having touched lightly upon some of the more distinctive points in
the history of the development of Illinois, let us next briefly consider the
MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE.
It is a garden four hundred miles long and one hundred and fifty
miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black sandy loam, from six inches to
sixty feet thick. On the American bottoms it has been cultivated for
one hundred and fifty years without renewal. About the old French
towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help.
It produces nearly everything green in the temperate and tropical zones.
She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow.
Her products from 25,000,000 of acres are incalculable. Her mineral
wealth is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal, iron,
lead, copper, zinc, many varieties of building stone, fire clay, cuma clay,
common brick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint — every thing
needed for a high civilization. Left to herself, she has the elements of
all greatness. The single item of coal is too vast for an appreciative
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF H^LINOIS. 125
handling in figures. We can handle it in general terms like algebraical
signs, but long before we get up into the millions and billions the human
mind drops down from comprehension to mere symbolic apprehension.
When I tell you that nearly four-fifths of the entire State is under-
laid with a deposit of coal more than forty feet thick on the average (now
estimated, by recent surveys, at seventy feet thick), you can get some
idea of its amount, as you do of the amount of the national debt. There
it is ! 41,000 square miles — one vast mine into which you could put
any of the States ; in which you could bury scores of European and
ancient empires, and have room enough all round to work without know-
ing that they had been sepulchered there.
Put this vast coal-bed down by the other great coal deposits of the
world, and its importance becomes manifest. Great Britain has 12,000
square miles of coal; Spain, 3,000; France, 1,719; Belgium, 578; Illinois
about twice as many square miles as all combined. Virginia has 20,000
square miles ; Pennsylvania, 16,000 ; Ohio, 12,000. Illinois has 41,000
squ3,re miles. One-seventh of all the known coal on this continent is in
Illinois.
Could we sell the coal in this single State for one-seventh of one cent
a ton it would pay the national debt. Converted into power, even with
the wastage in our common engines, it would do more work than could
be done by the entire race, beginning at Adam's wedding and working
ten hours a day through all the centuries till the present time, and right
on into the future at the same rate for the next 600,000 years.
Great Britain uses enough mechanical power to-day to give to each
man, woman, and child in the kingdom the help and service of nineteen
untiring servants. No wonder she has leisure and luxuries. No wonder
the home of the common artisan has in it more luxuries than could be
found in the palace of good old King Arthur. Think, if you can conceive
of it, of the vast army of servants that slumber in the soil of Illinois,
Impatiently awaiting the call of Genius to come forth to minister to our
comfort.
At the present rate of consumption England's coal supply will be
exhausted in 250 years. When this is gone she must transfer her dominion
either to the Indies, or to British America, which I would not resist ; or
to some other people, which I would regret as a loss to civilization.
COAL IS KING.
At the same rate of consumption (which far exceeds our own) the
deposit of coal in Illinois will last 120,000 years. And her kingdom shall
be an everlasting kingdom.
Let us turn now from this reserve power to the annual products of
126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
the State. We shall not be humiliated in this field. Here we strike the
secret of our national credit. Nature provides a market in the constant
appetite of the race. Men must eat, and if we can furnish the provisions
we can command the treasure. All that a man hath will he give for his
Hfe.
According to the last census Illinois produced 30,000,000 of bushels
of wheat. That is more wheat than was raised by any other State in the
Union. She raised In 1875, 130,000,000 of bushels of corn — twice as
much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United
States. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearly one-tenth of all the
hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that
the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The
hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana. Go to Charleston, S. C,
and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity,
as we regard Chinese gods or the cryolite of Greenland; drink your
coffee and condensed milk; and walk back from the coast for many a
league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmos-
phere of the mountains, without seeing a waving meadow or a grazing
herd ; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State,
where the grass often grows sixteen feet high.
The value of her farm implements is $211,000,000, and the value of
her live stock is only second to the great State of New York. in 1875
she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that
were packed in the United States. This is no insignificant item. Pork
is a growing demand of the old world. Since the laborers of Europe
have gotten a taste of our bacon, and we have learned how to pack it dry
in boxes, like dry goods, the world has become the market.
The hog is on the march into the future. His nose is ordained to
uncover the secrets of dominion, and his feet shall be guided by the star
of empire.
Illinois marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals — ^more
than any other State, and a seventh of all the States.
Be patient with me, and pardon my pride, and I will give you a list
of some of the things in which Illinois excels all other States.
Depth and richness of soil ; per cent, of good ground ; acres of
improved land ; large farms — some farms contain from 40,000 to 60,000
acres of cultivated land, 40,000 acres of corn on a single farm ; number of
farmers ; amount of wheat, corn, oats and honey produced ; value of ani-
mals for slaughter ; number of hogs ; amount of pork ; number of horses
— three times as many as Kentucky, the horse State.
Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of
postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of
lumber sold in ner markets.
HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF ILMNOIS. 127
Illinois is only second in many important matters. This sample list
comprises a few of the more important : Permanent school fund (good
for a young state) ; total income for educational purposes ; number of pub-
lishers of books, maps, papers, etc.; value of farm products and imple-
ments, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined.
The shipping of Illinois is only second to New York. Out of one
port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sends forth
a vessel every ten minutes. This does not include canal boats, which go
one every five minutes. No wonder she is only second in number of
bankers and brokers or in physicians and surgeons.
She is third in colleges, teachers and schools; cattle, lead, hay,
flax, sorghum and beeswax.
She is fourth in population, in children enrolled in public schools, in
law schools, in butter, potatoes and carriages.
She is fifth in value of real and personal property, in theological
seminaries and colleges exclusively for women, in milk sold, and in boots
and shoes manufactured, and in book-binding.
She is only seventh in the production of wood, while she is the
twelfth in area. Surely that is well done for the Prairie State. She now
has much more wood and growing timber than she had thirty years ago.
A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She manufactures
$205,000,000 worth of goods, which places her well up toward New York
and Pennsylvania. The number of her manufacturing establishments
increased from 1860 to 1870, 300 per cent.; capital employed increased 350
per cent., and the amount of product increased 400 per cent. She issued
5,500,000 copies of commercial and financial newspapers — only second to
New York. She has 6,759 miles of railroad, thus leading all other States,
worth f 636,458,000, using 3,245 engines, and 67,712 cars, making a train
long enough to cover one-tenth of the entire roads of the State. Her
stations are only five miles apart. She carried last year 15,795,000 passen-
gers, an average of 36 J miles, or equal to taking her entire population twice
across the State. More than two-thirds of her land is within five miles of
a railroad, and less than two per cent, is more than fifteen miles away.
The State has a large financial interest in the Illinois Central railroad.
The road was incorporated in 1850, and the State gave each alternate sec-
tion for six miles on each side, and doubled the price of the remaining
land, so keeping herself good. The road received 2,595,000 acres of land,
and pays to the State one-seventh of the gross receipts. The State
receives this year $350,000, and has received in all about $7,000,000. It
is practically the people's road, and it has a most able and gentlemanly
management. Add to this the annual receipts from the canal, $111,000,
and a large per cent, of the State tax is provided for.
128 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
THE RELIGION AND MORALS
of the State keep step with her productions and growth. She was born
of the missionary spirit. It was a minister who secured for her the ordi-
nance of 1787, by which she has been saved from slavery, ignorance, and
dishonesty. Rev. Mr. Wiley, pastor of a Scotch congregation in Randolph
County, petitioned the Constitutional Convention of 1818 to recognize
Jesus Christ as king, and the Scriptures as the only necessary guide and
book of law. The convention did not act in the case, and the old Cove-
nanters refused to accept citizenship. They never voted until 1824, when
the slavery question was submitted to the people ; then they all voted
against it and cast the determining votes. Conscience has predominated
whenever a great moral question has been submitted to the people.
But little mob violence has ever been felt in the State. In 1817
regulators disposed of a band of horse-thieves that infested the territory.
The Mormon indignities finally awoke the same spirit. Alton was also
the scene of a pro-slavery mob, in which Lovejoy was added to the list of
martyrs. The moral sense of the people makes the law supreme, and gives
to the State unruffled peace. '
With $22,300,000 in church property, and 4,298 church organizations,
the State has that divine police, the sleepless patrol of moral ideas, that
alone is able to secure perfect safety. Conscience takes the knife from
the assassin's hand and the bludgeon from the grasp of the highwayman.
We sleep in safety, not because we are behind bolts and bars — these only
fence against the innocent ; not because a lone officer drowses on a distant
corner of a street ; not because a sheriff may call his posse from a remote
part of the county ; but because conscience guards the very portals of the
air and stirs in the deepest recesses of the public mind. This spirit issues
within the State 9,500,000 copies of religious papers annually, and receives
still more from without. Thus the crime of the State is only one-fourth
that of New York and one-half that of Pennsylvania.
Illinois never had but one duel between her own citizens. In Belle-
ville, in 1820, Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett arranged to vindi-
cate injured honor. The seconds agreed to make it a sham, and make
them shoot blanks. Stewart was in the secret. Bennett mistrusted some-
thing, and, unobserved, slipped a bullet into his gun and killed Stewart.
He then fled the State. After two years he was caught, tried, convicted,
and, in spite of friends and political aid, was hung. This fixed the code
of honor on a Christian basis, and terminated its use in Illinois.
The early preachers were ignorant men, who were accounted eloquent
according to the strength of their voices. But they set the style for all
public speakers. Lawyers and political speakers followed this rule. Gov.
HISTORY OP THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 129
Ford says: "Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable
benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality. To them
are we indebted for the first Christian character of the Protestant portion
of the people."
In education Illinois surpasses her material resources. The ordinance
of 1787 consecrated one thirty-sixth of her soil to common schools, and
the law of 1818, the first law that went upon her statutes, gave three per
cent, of all the rest to
EDUCATION.
The old compact secures this interest forever, and by its yoking
morality and intelligence it precludes the legal interference with the Bible
in the public schools. With such a start it is natural that we should have
11,050 schools, and that our illiteracy should be less than New York or
Pennsylvania, and only about one-half of Massachusetts. We are not to
blame for not having more than one-half as many idiots as the great
States. These public schools soon made colleges inevitable. The first
college, still flourishing, was started in Lebanon in 1828, by the M. E.
church, and named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois College, at Jackson-
ville, supported by the Presbyterians, followed in 1830. In 1832 the Bap-
tists built Shurtleff College, at Alton. Then the Presbyterians built Knox
College, at Galesburg, in 1838, and the Episcopalians built Jubilee College,
at Peoria, in 1847. After these early years colleges have rained down.
A settler could hardly encamp on the prairie but a college would spring
up by his wagon. The State now has one very well endowed and equipped
university, namely, the Northwestern University, at Evans ton, with six
colleges, ninety instructors, over 1,000 students, and $1,500,000 endow-
ment.
Rev. J. M. Peck was the first educated Protestant minister m tne
State. He settled at Rock Spring, in St. Clair County, 1820, and left his
impress on the State. Before 1837 only party papers were published, but
Mr. Peck published a Gazetteer of Illinois. Soon after John Russell, of
BlufPdale, published essays and tales showing genius. Judge James Hall
published The Illinois Monthly Magazine with great ability, and an annual
called The Western Souvenir^ which gave him an enviable fame all over the
United States. From these beginnings Illinois has gone on till she has
more volumes in public libaaries even than Massachusetts, and of the
44,500,000 volumes in all the public libraries of the United States, she
has one-thirteenth. In newspapers she stands fourth. Her increase is
marvelous. In 1850 she issued 5,000,000 copies; in 1860, 27,590,000 ; in
1870, 113,140,000. In 1860 she had eighteen colleges and seminaries ; in
1870 she had eighty. That is a grand advance for the war decade.
This brings us to a record unsurpassed in the history of any age,
130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
THE WAR RECORD OF ILLINOIS.
I hardly know where to begin, or how to advance, or what to say. I
can at best give you only a broken synopsis of her deeds, and you must
put them in the order of glory for yourself. Her sons have always been
foremost on fields of danger. In 1832-33, at the call of Gov. Reynolds,
her sons drove Blackhawk over the Mississippi.
When the Mexican war came, in May, 1846, 8,370 men offered them-
selves when only 3,720 could be accepted. The fields of Buena Vista and
Vera Cruz, and the storming of Cerro Gordo, will carry the glory of Illinois
soldiers along after the infamy of the cause they served has been forgotten.
But it was reserved till our day for her sons to find a field and cause and
foemen that could fitly illustrate their spirit and heroism. Illinois put
into her own regiments for the United States government 256,000 men,
and into the army through other States enough to swell the number to
290,000. This far exceeds all the soldiers of* the federal government in
all the war of the revolution. Her total years of service were over 600,000.
She enrolled men from eighteen to forty-five years of age when the law
of Congress in 1864 — the test time — only asked for those from twenty to
forty-five. Her enrollment was otherwise excessive. Her people wanted
to go, and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment. Thus the
basis of fixing the quota was too great, and then the quota itself, at least
in the trying time, was far above any other State.
Thus the demand on some counties, as Monroe, for example, took every
able-bodied man in the county, and then did not have enough to fill the
quota. Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for ninety or one hundred days,
for whom no credit was asked. When Mr. Lincoln's attention was called
to the inequality of the quota compared with other States, he replied,
" The country needs the sacrifice. We must put the whip on the free
horse." In spite of all these disadvantages Illinois gave to the country
73,000 years of service above all calls. With one-thirteenth of the popu-
lation of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-tenth of all the soldiers,
and in the peril of the closing calls, when patriots were few and weary,
she then sent one-eighth of all that were called for by her loved and hon-
ored son in the white house. Her mothers and daughters went into the
fields to raise the grain and keep the children together, while the fathers
and older sons went to the harvest fields of the world. I knew a father
and four sons who agreed that one of them must stay at home ; and they
pulled straws from a stack to see who might go. The father was left.
The next day he came into the camp, saying : " Mother says she can get
the crops in, and I am going, too." I know large Methodist churches
from which every male member went to the army. Do you want to know
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 131
what these heroes from Illinois did in the field ? Ask any soldier with a
good record of his own, who is thus able to judge, and he will tell you
that the Illinois men went in to win. It is common history that the greater
victories were won in the West. When everything else looked dark Illi-
nois was gaining victories all down the river, and dividing the confederacy.
Sherman took with him on his great march forty-five regiments of Illinois
infantry, three companies of artillery, and one company of cg.valry. He
could not avoid
GOING TO THE SEA.
If he had been killed, I doubt not the men would have gone right on.
Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with, " It is impossible ;
there is a migMty sight of fight in 100,000 Western men." Illinois soldiers
brought home 300 battle-flags. The first United States flag that floated
over Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and nurses to
every field and hospital, to care for her sick and wounded sons. She said,
*' These suffering ones are my sons, and I will care for them."
When individuals had given all, then cities and towns came forward
with their credit to the extent of many millions, to aid these men and
their families.
Illinois gave the country the great general of the war — Ulysses S.
Grant — since honored with two terms of the Presidency of the United
States.
One other name from Illinois comes up in all minds, embalmed in all
hearts, that must have the supreme place in this story of our glory and
of our nation's hojior ; that name is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.
The analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character is difficult on account of its
symmetry.
In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising honesty.
And well we may, for this saved us. Thousands throughout the length
and breadth of our country who knew him only as " Honest Old Abe,"
voted for him on that account ; and wisely did they choose, for no other
man could have carried us through the fearful night of the war. When
his plans were too vast for our comprehension, and his faith in the cause
too sublime for our participation ; when it was all night about us, and all
dread before us, and all sad and desolate behind us ; when not one ray
shone upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant at the
South, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ; when the loyal men here
seemed almost in the minority ; when the stoutest heart quailed, the bravest
cheek paled ; when generals were defeating each other for place, and
contractors were leeching out the very heart's blood of the prostrate
republic : when every thing else had failed us, we looked at this calm,
patient man standing like a rock in the storm, and said ; " Mr. Lincoln
132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
is honest, and we can trust him still." Holding to this single point with
the energy of faith and despair we held together, and, under God, he
brought us through to victory.
His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. With such
certainty did Mr. Lincoln follow causes to their ultimate effects, that his
foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic.
He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory shall shed a
glory upon this age that shall fill the eyes of men as they look into his-
tory. Other men have excelled him in some point, but, taken at all
points, all in all, he stands head and shoulders above every other man of
6,000 years. An administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of
unparalleled civil war. A statesman, he justified his measures by their
success. A philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and salvation to
another. A moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the
foot of the Cross, and became a Christian. A mediator, he exercised mercy
under the most absolute abeyance to law. A leader, he was no partisan.
A commander, he was untainted with blood. A ruler in desperate times,
he was unsullied with crime. A man, he has left no word of passion, no
thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no purpose of
selfish ambition. Thus perfected, without a model, and without a peer,
he was dropped into these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that
is good and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all coming
time the representative of the divine idea of free government.
It is not too much to say that away down in the future, when the
republic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time ; when the great
war itself shall have faded out in the distance like a mist on the horizon ;
when the Anglo-Saxon language shall be spoken only by the tongue of
the stranger ; then the generations looking this way shall see the great
president as the supreme figure in this vortex of history
CHICAGO.
It is impossible in our brief space to give more than a meager sketch
of such a city as Chicago, which is in itself the greatest marvel of the
Prairie State. This mysterious, majestic, mighty city, born first of water,
and next of fire; sown in weakness, and raised in power; planted among
the willows of the marsh, and crowned with the glory of the mountains ;
sleeping on the bosom of the prairie, and rocked on the bosom of the sea ,
the youngest city of the world, and still the eye of the prairie, as Damas-
cus, the oldest city of the world, is the eye of the desert. With a com-
merce far exceeding that of Corinth on her isthmus, in the highway to
the East ; with the defenses of a continent piled around her by the thou-
sand miles, making her far safer than Rome on the banks of the Tiber ;
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 137
branches, and reaping the great fields this side of the Missouri River.
I can only mention the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, our Illinois Central,
described elsewhere, and the Chicago & Rock Island. Further around
we come to the lines connecting us with all the eastern cities. The
Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne &
Chicago, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Cen-
tral and Great Western, give us many highways to the seaboard. Thus we
reach the Mississippi at five points, from St. Paul to Cairo and the Gulf
itself by two routes. We also reach Cincinnati and Baltimore, and Pitts-
burgh and Philadelphia, and New York. North and south run the water
courses of the lakes and the rivers, broken just enough at this point to
make a pass. Through this, from east to west, run the long lines that
stretch from ocean to ocean.
This is the neck of the glass, and the golden sands of commerce
must pass into our hands. Altogether we have more than 10,000 miles
of railroad, directly tributary to this city, seeking to unload their wealth
in our coffers. All these roads have come themselves by the infallible
instinct of capital. Not a dollar was ever given by the city to secure
one of them, and only a small per cent, of stock taken originally by her
citizens, and that taken simply as an investment. Coming in the natural
order of events, they will not be easily diverted.
There is still another showing to all this. The connection between
New York and San Francisco is by the middle route. This passes inevit-
ably through Chicago. St. Louis wants the Southern Pacific or Kansas
Pacific, and pushes it out through Denver, and so on up to Cheyenne.
But before the road is fairly under way, the Chicago roads shove out to
Kansas City, making even the Kansas Pacific a feeder, and actually leav-
ing St. Louis out in the cold. It is not too much to expect that Dakota,
Montana, and Washington Territory will find their great market in Chi-
cago.
But these are not all. Perhaps I had better notice here the ten or
fifteen new roads that have just entered, or are just entering, our city.
Their names are all that is necessary to give. Chicago & St. Paul, look-
ing up the Red River country to the British possessions ; the Chicago,
Atlantic & Pacific ; the Chicago, Decatur & State Line ; the Baltimore &
Ohio ; the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes ; the Chicago & LaSalle Rail-
road ; the Chicago, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati ; the Chicago and Canada
Southern ; the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad. These, with their
connections, and with the new connections of the old roads, already in
process of erection, give to Chicago not less than 10,000 miles of new
tributaries from the richest land on the continent. Thus there will be
added to the reserve power, to the capital within reach of this city, not
less than $1,000,000,000.
138 mSTOBY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
Add to all this transporting power the ships that sail one every nine
minutes of the business hours of the season of navigation ; add, also, the
canal boats that leave one every ^ve minutes during the same time — and
you will see something of the business of the city.
THE COMMERCE OF THIS CITY
has been leaping along to keep pace with the growth of the country
around us. In 1852, our commerce reached the hopeful sum of
120,000,000. In 1870 it reached $400,000,000. In 1871 it was pushed
up above $450,000,000. And in 1875 it touched nearly double that.
One-half of our imported goods come directly to Chicago. Grain
enough is exported directly from our docks to the old world to employ a
semi-weekly line of steamers of 3,000 tons capacity. This branch is
not likely to be greatly developed. Even after the great Welland Canal
is completed we shall have only fourteen feet of water. The great ocean
vessels will continue to control the trade.
The banking capital of Chicago is $24,431,000. Total exchange in
1875, $659,000,000. Her wholesale business in 1875 was $294,000,000.
The rate of taxes is less than in any other great city.
The schools of Chicago are unsurpassed in America. Out of a popu-
lation of 300,000 there were only 186 persons between the ages of six
and twenty-one unable to read. This is the best known record.
In 1831 the mail system was condensed into a half-breed, who went
on foot to Niles, Mich., once in two weeks, and brought back what papers
and news he could find. As late as 1846 there was often only one mail
a week. A post-office was established in Chicago in 1833, and the post-
master nailed up old boot-legs on one side of his shop to serve as boxes
for the nabobs and literary men.
It is an interesting fact in the growth of the young city that in the
active life of the business men of that day the mail matter has grown to
a daily average of over 6,500 pounds. It speaks equally well for the
intelligence of the people and the commercial importance of the place,
that the mail matter distributed to the territory immediately tributary to
Chicago is seven times greater than that distributed to the territory
immediately tributary to St. Louis.
The improvements that have characterized the city are as startling
as the city itself. In 1831, Mark Beaubien established a ferry over the
river, and put himself under bonds to carry all the citizens free for the
privilege of charging strangers. Now there are twenty-four large bridges
and two tunnels.
In 1833 the government expended $30,000 on the harbor. Then
commenced that series of manoeuvers with the river that has made it one
HISTORY OF THE STATE OP ILLINOIS. 1'6\)
of the world's curiosities. It used to wind around in the lower end of
the town, and make its way rippling over the sand into the lake at the
foot of Madison street. They took it up and put it down where it now
is. It was a narrow stream, so narrow that even moderately small crafts
had to go up through the willows and cat's tails to the point near Lake
street bridge, and back up one of the branches to get room enough in
which to turn around.
In 1844 the quagmires in the streets were first pontooned by plank
roads, which acted in wet weather as public squirt-guns. Keeping you
out of the mud, they compromised by squirting the mud over you. The
wooden-block pavements came to Chicago in 1857. In 1840 water was
delivered by peddlers in carts or by hand. Then a twenty-five horse-
power engine pushed it through hollow or bored logs along the streets
till 1854, when it was introduced into the houses by new works. The
first fire-engine was used in 1835, and the first steam fire-engine in 1859.
Gas was utilized for lighting the city in 1850. The Young Men's Chris-
tian Association was organized in 1858, and horse railroads carried them
to their work in 1859. The museum was opened in 1863. The alarm
telegraph adopted in 1864. The opera-house built in 1865. The city
grew from 560 acres in 1833 to 23,000 in 1869. In 1834, the taxes
amounted to 148.90, and the trustees of the town borrowed |60 more for
opening and improving streets. In 1835, the legislature authorized a loan
of 12,000, and the treasurer and street commissioners resigned rather than
plunge the town into such a gulf.
Now the city embraces 36 square miles of territory, and has 30 miles
of water front, besides the outside harbor of refuge, of 400 acres, inclosed
by a crib sea-wall. One-third of the city has been raised up an average
of eight feet, giving good pitch to the 263 miles of sewerage. The water
of the city is above all competition. It is received through two tunnels
extending to a crib in the lake two miles from shore. The closest analy-
sis fails to detect any impurities, and, received 35 feet below the surface,
it is always clear and cold. The first tunnel is five feet two inches in
diameter and two miles long, and can deliver 50,000,000 of gallons per
day. The second tunnel is seven feet in diameter and six miles long,
running four miles under the city, and can deliver 100,000,000 of gal-
lons per day. This water is distributed through 410 miles of water-
mains.
The three grand engineering exploits of the city are : First, lifting
the city up on jack-screws, whole squares at a time, without interrupting
the business, thus giving us good drainage ; second, running the tunnels
under the lake, giving us the best water in the world ; and third, the
turning the current of the river in its own channel, delivering us from the
old abominations, and making decency possible. They redound about
140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
equally to the credit of the engineering, to the energy of the people, and
to the health of the city.
That which really constitutes the city, its indescribable spirit, its soul,
the way it lights up in every feature in the hour of action, has not been
touched. In meeting strangers, one is often surprised how some homely
women marry so well. Their forms are bad, their gait uneven and awk-
ward, their complexion is dull, their features are misshapen and mismatch-
ed, and when we see them there is no beauty that we should desire them.
But when once they are aroused on some subject, they put on new pro-
portions. They light up into great power. The real person comes out
from its unseemly ambush, and captures us -at will. They have power.
They have ability to cause things to come to pass. We no longer wonder
why they are in such high demand. So it is with our city.
There is no grand scenery except the two seas, one of water, the
other of prairie. Nevertheless, there is a spirit about it, a push, a breadth,
a power, that soon makes it a place never to be forsaken. One soon
ceases to believe in impossibilities. Balaams are the only prophets that are
disappointed. The bottom that has been on the point of falling out has
been there so long that it has grown fast. It can not fall out. It has all
the capital of the world itching to get inside the corporation.
The two great laws that govern the growth and size of cities are,
first, the amount of territory for which they are the distributing and
receiving points ; second, the number of medium or moderate dealers that
do this distributing. Monopolists build up themselves, not the cities.
They neither eat, wear, nor live in proportion to their business. Both
these laws help Chicago.
The tide of trade is eastward — not up or down the map, but across
the map. The lake runs up a wingdam for 500 miles to gather in the
business. Commerce can not ferry up there for seven months in the year,
and the facilities for seven months can do the work for twelve. Then the
great region west of us is nearly all good, productive land. Dropping
south into the trail of St. Louis, you fall into vast deserts and rocky dis-
tricts, useful in holding the world together. St. Louis and Cincinnati,
instead of rivaling and hurting Chicago, are her greatest sureties of
dominion. They are far enough away to give sea-room, — farther off than
Paris is from London, — and yet they are near enough to prevent the
springing up of any other great city between them.
St. Louis will be helped by the opening of the Mississippi, but also
hurt. That will put New Orleans on her feet, and with a railroad running
over into Texas and so West, she will tap the streams that now crawl up
the Texas and Missouri road. The current is East, not North, and a sea-
port at New Orleans can not permanently help St. Louis.
Chicago is in the field almost alone, to handle the wealth of one-
HISTOBY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 145
The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached
the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawattamie
escort, under the leadership of Blackbird, filed to the right, placing those
hills between them and the white people. Wells, with his Miamis, had
kept in the advance. They suddenly came rushing back. Wells exclaim-
ing, " They are about to attack us ; form instantly." These words were
quickly followed by a storm of bullets, which came whistling over the
little hills which the treacherous savages had made the covert for their
murderous attack. The white troops charged upon the Indians, drove
them back to the prairie, and then the battle was waged between fifty-
four soldiers, twelve civilians and three or four women (the cowardly
Miamis having fled at the outset)" against five hundred Indian warriors.
The white people, hopeless, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
Ensign Ronan wielded his weapon vigorously, even after falling upon his
knees weak from the loss of blood. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of
his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest
coolness and courage. He said to her, " We have not the slightest chance
for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you."
And then he dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a
demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve children, and tomahawk
them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, " If that is your
game, butchering women and children, I will kill too." He spurred his
horse towards the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and
papooses, hotly pursued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent bullets
whistling after him. One of these killed his horse and wounded him
severely in the leg. With a yell the young braves rushed to make him
their prisoner and reserve him for torture. He resolved not to be made
a captive, and by the use of the most provoking epithets tried to induce
them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a squaw, when
the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his tomahawk, jumped
upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm morsel
with savage delight !
In this fearful combat women bore a conspicuous part. Mrs. Heald
was an excellent equestrian and an expert in the use of the rifle. She
fought the savages bravely, receiving several severe wounds. Though
faint from the loss of blood, she managed to keep her saddle. A savage
raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face,
and with a sweet smilfe and in a gentle voice said, in his own language,
" Surely you will not kill a squaw ! " The arm of the savage fell, and
the life of the heroic woman was saved.
Mrs. Helm, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had an encounter with
a stout Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. Springing to one side,
she received the glancing blow on her shoulder, and at the same instant
146 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
seized the savage round the neck with her arms and endeavored to get
hold of his scalping knife, which hung in a sheath at his breast. While
she was thus struggling she was dragged from her antagonist by anothei'
powerful Indian, who bore her, in spite of her struggles, to the margin
of the lake and plunged her in. To her astonishment she was held by
him so that she would not drown, and she soon perceived that she was
in the hands of the friendly Black Partridge, who had saved her life.
The wife of Sergeant Holt, a large and powerful woman, behaved as
bravely as an Amazon. She rode a fine, high-spirited horse, which the
Indians coveted, and several of them attacked her with the butts of their
guns, for the purpose of dismounting her ; but she used the sword which
she had snatched from her disabled husband so skillfully that she foiled
them ; and, suddenly wheeling her horse, she dashed over the prairie,
followed by the savages shouting, " The brave woman ! the brave woman !
Don't hurt her ! " They finally overtook her, and while she was fighting
them in front, a powerful savage came up behind her, seized her by the
neck and dragged her to the ground. Horse and woman were made
captives. Mrs. Holt was a long time a captive among the Indians, but
was afterwards ransomed.
In this sharp conflict two-thirds of the white people were slain and
wounded, and all their horses, baggage and provision were lost. Only
twenty-eight straggling men now remained to fight five hundred Indians
rendered furious b}^ the sight of blood. They succeeded in breaking
through the ranks of the murderers and gaining a slight eminence on the
prairie near the Oak Woods. The Indians did not pursue, but gathered
on their flanks, while the chiefs held a consultation on the sand-hills, and
showed signs of willingness to parley. It would have been madness on
the part of the whites to renew the fight ; and so Capt. Heald went for-
ward and met Blackbird on the open prairie, where terms of surrender
were soon agreed upon. It was arranged that the white people should
give up their arms to Blackbird, and that the survivors should become
prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable.
With this understanding captives and captors started for the Indian
camp near the fort, to which Mrs. Helm had been taken bleeding and
suffering by Black Partridge, and had met her step-father and learned
that her husband was safe.
A new scene of horror was now opened at the Indian camp. The
wounded, not being included in the terms of surrender, as it was inter-
preted by the Indians, and the British general. Proctor, having offered a
liberal bounty for American scalps, delivered at Maiden, nearly all the
wounded men were killed and scalped, and the price .of the trophies was
afterwards paid by the British government.
I
^^^^
(2^/
(DECEASEDj
OREGON
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
149
SHABBONA.
This celebrated Indian chief, whose portrait appears in this work,'
deserves more than a passing notice. Although Shabbona was not so con-
spicuous as Tecumseh or Black Hawk, yet in point of merit he was
superior to either of them.
Shabbona was born at an Indian village on the Kankakee River, now
in Will County, about the year 1775. While young he was made chief of
the band, and went to Shabbona Grove, now DeKalb County, where they
were found in the early settlement of the county.
Ir. ths war of 1812 Sbabboaa with bis warriors joined Tecumseh. w.^s
160 HISTOBY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
aid to that great chief, and stood by his side when he fell at the battle of
the Thames. At the time of the Winnebago war, in 1827, he visited almost
every village among the Pottawatomies, and by his persuasive arguments
prevented them from taking part in the Avar. By request of the citizens
of Chicago, Shabbona, accompanied by Billy Caldwell (Sauganash), visited
Big Foot's village at Geneva Lake, in order to pacify the warriors, as fears
were entertained that they were about to raise the tomahawk against the
whites. Here Shabbona was taken prisoner by Big Foot, and his life
threatened, but on the following day was set at liberty. From that time
the Indians (through reproach) styled him " the white man's friend,"
and many times his life was endangered.
Before the Black Hawk war, Shabbona met in council at two differ-
ent times, and by his influence prevented his people from taking part with
the Sacs and Foxes. After the death of Black Partridge and Senachwine,
no chief among the Pottawatomies exerted so much influence as Shabbona.
Black Hawk, aware of this influence, visited him at two different times, in
order to enlist him in his cause, but was unsuccessful. While Black Hawk
was a prisoner at Jefferson Barracks, he said, had it not been for Shabbona
the whole Pottawatomie nation would have joined his standard, and he
could have continued the war for years.
To Shabbona many of the early settlers of Illinois owe the pres-
ervation of their lives, for it is a well-known fact, had he not notified the
people of their danger, a large portion of them would have fallen victims
to the tomahawk of savages. By saving the lives of whites he endangered
his own, for the Sacs and Foxes threatened to kill him, and made two
attempts to execute their threats. They killed Pypeogee, his son, and
Pyps, his nephew, and hunted him down as though he was a wild beast.
Shabbona had a reservation of two sections of land at his Grove, but
by leaving it and going west for a short time, the Government declared
the reservation forfeited, and sold it the same as other vacant land. ' On
Shabbona's return, and finding his possessions gone, he was very sad and
broken down in spirit, and left the Grove for ever. The citizens of Ottawa
raised money and bought him a tract of land on the Illinois River, above
Seneca, in Grundy County, on which they built a house, and supplied
him with means to live on. He lived here until his death, which occurred
on the 17th of July, 1859, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and was*
buried with great pomp in the cemetery at Morris. His squaw, Pokanoka,
was drowned in Mazen Creek, Grundy County, on the 30th of November,
1864, and was buried by his side.
In 1861 subscriptions were taken up in many of the river towns, to
erect a monument over the remains of Shabbona, but the war breaking
out, the enterprise was abandoned. Only a plain marble slab marks the
resting-place of this friend of the white man.
Abstract of Illinois State Laws.
BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES.
No promissory note, check, draft, bill of exchange, order, or note, negO'
liable instrument payable at sight, or on demand, or on presentment, shall
be entitled to days of grace. All other bills of exchange, drafts or notes are
entitled to three days of grace. All the above mentioned paper falling
due on Sunday, New Years'* Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or any
day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States or
the G-overnor of the State as a day of fast or thanksgiving, shall be deemed
as due on the day previous, and should two or more of these days come
together, then such instrument shall be treated as due on the day previous
to the first of said days. No defense can be made against a negotiable
instrument (assigned before due) in the hands of the assignee without
notice, except fraud was used in obtaining the same. To hold an indorser,
due diligence must be used by suit, in collecting of the maker, unless suit
would have been unavailing. Notes payable to person named or to order,
in order to absolutely transfer title, must be indorsed by the payee. Notes
payable to bearer may be transferred by delivery, and when so payable
every indorser thereon is held as a guarantor of payment unless otherwise
expressed.
In computing interest or discount on negotiable instruments, a month
shall be considered a calendar month or twelfth of a year, and for less
than a month, a day shall be figured a thirtieth part of a month. Notes
only bear interest when so expressed, but after due they draw the legal
interest, even if not stated.
INTEREST.
The legal rate of interest is six per cent. Parties may agree in writ-
ing on a rate not exceeding ten per cent. If a rate of interest greater
than ten per cent, is contracted for, it works a forfeiture of the whole of
said interest, and only the principal can be recovered.
I.
DESCENT.
When no will is made, the property of a deceased person is distrib-
te4 as follows :
151
152 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
First. To his or her children and their descendants in equal parts ;
the descendants of the deceased child or grandchild taking the share of
their deceased parents in equal parts among them.
Second. Where there is no child, nor descendant of such child, and
no widow or surviving husband, then to the parents, brothers and sisters
of the deceased, and their descendants, in equal parts, the surviving
parent, if either be dead, taking a double portion ; and if there is no
parent living, then to the brothers and sisters of the intestate and their
descendants.
Third. When there is a widow or surviving husband, and no child or
children, or descendants of the same, then one-half of the real estate and
the whole of the personal estate shall descend to such widow or surviving
husband, absolutely, and the other half of the real estate shall descend as
in other cases where there is no child or children or descendants of the
same.
Fourth. When there is a widow or surviving husband and also a child
or children, or descendants of the latter, then one third of all the personal
estate to the widow or surviving husband absolutely.
Fifth. If there is no child, parent, brother or sister, or descendants of
either of them, and no widow or surviving husband, then in equal parts
to the next of kin to the intestate in equal degree. Collaterals shall not
be represented except with the descendants of brothers and sisters of the
intestate, and there shall be no distinction between kindred of the whole
and the half blood.
Sixth. If any intestate leaves a ividow or surviving husband and no
kindred, then to such widow or surviving husband ; and if there is no such
widow or surviving husband, it shall escheat to and vest in the county
where the same, or the greater portion thereof, is situated.
WILLS AND ESTATES OF DECEASED PERSONS.
No exact form of words are necessary in order to make a will good at
law. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, and eyevj female
of the age of eighteen years, of sound mind and memory, can make a valid
will ; it must be in writing, signed by the testator or by some one in his
or her presence and by his or her direction, and attested by two or more
credible witnesses. Care should be taken that the witnesses are not inter-
ested in the will. Persons knowing themselves to have been named in the
will or appointed executor, must within thirty days of the death of
deceased cause the will to be proved and recorded in the proper county,
or present it, and refuse to accept; on failure to do so are liable to forfeit
the sum of twenty dollars per month. Inventory to be made by executor
or administrator within three months from date of letters testamentary or
ABSTRACT OF IliLINOIS STATE LAWS. 16B
of administration. Executors' and administrators' compensation not to
exceed six per cent, on amount of personal estate, and three per cent,
on money realized from real estate, with such additional allowance a?
shall be reasonable for extra services. Appraisers' compensation $2 pel
day.
Notice requiring all claims to be presented against the estate shall b^
given by the executor or administrator within six months of being quali'
fied. Any person having a claim and not presenting it at the time fixed
by said notice is required to have summons issujed notifying the executor
or administrator of his having filed his claim in court ; in such cases the
costs have to be paid by the claimant. Claims should be filed within two
years from the time administration is granted on an estate, as after that
time they SLve forever barred, unless other estate is found that was not in-
ventoried. Married women, infants, persons insane, imprisoned or without
the United States, in the employment of the United States, or of this
State, have two gears after their disabilities are removed to file claims.
Claims are classified and paid out of the estate in the folio wing manner:
Mr St. Funeral expenses.
Second. The widow's award, if there is a widow ; or children if there
are children, and no widow.
Third. Expenses attending the last illness, not including physician's
bill.
Fourth. Debts due the common school or township fund .
Fifth. All expenses of proving the will and taking out letters testa-
mentary or administration, and settlement of the estate, and the physi-
cian's bill in the last illness of deceased.
Sixth. Where the deceased has received money in trust for any pur-
pose, his executor or administrator shall pay out of his estate the amount
received and not accounted for.
Seventh. All other debts and demands of whatsoever kind, without
regard to quality or dignity, which shall be exhibited to the court within
two years from the granting of letters.
Award to Widow and Children, exclusive of debts and legacies or be-
quests, except funeral expenses :
First. The family pictures and wearing apparel, jewels and ornaments
of herself and minor children.
Second. School books and the family library of the value of $100.
Third. One sewing machine.
Fourth. Necessary beds, bedsteads and bedding for herself and family.
Fifth. The stoves and pipe used in the family, with the necessary
cooking utensils, or in case they have none, $50 in money.
Sixth. Household and kitchen furniture to the value of f 100.
Seventh. One milch cow and calf for every four members of her family.
154 ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
MgJith. Two sheep for each member of her family, and the fleeces
taken from the same, and onehorse^ saddle and bridle.
Ninth. Provisions for herself and family for one year.
Tenth. Food for the stock above specified for six months.
Eleventh. Fuel for herself and family for three months.
Twelfth. One hundred dollars worth of other property suited to her
condition in life, to be selected by the widow.
The widow if she elects may have in lieu of the said award, the same
personal property or money in place thereof as is or may be exempt from
execution or attachment against the head of a family.
TAXES.
The owners of real and personal property, on the first day of May in
each year, are liable for the taxes thereon.
Assessments should be completed before the fourth Monday in June.,
at which time the town board of review meets to examine assessments,
hear objections^ and make such changes as ought to be made. The county
board have also power to correct or change assessments.
The tax books are placed in the hands of the town collector on or
before the tenth day of December, who retains them until the tenth day
of March following, when he is required to return them to the county
treasurer, who then collects all delinquent taxes.
No costs accrue on real estate taxes till advertised^ which takes place
the first day of April, when three weeks' notice is required before judg-
ment. Cost of advertising, twenty cents each tract of land, and ten cents
each lot.
Judgment is usually obtained at May term of County Court. Costs
six cents each tract of land, and five cents each lot. Sale takes place in
June. Costs in addition to those before mentioned, twenty-eight cents
each tract of land, and twenty-seven cents each town lot.
Real estate sold for taxes may be redeemed any time before the expi-
ration of two years from the date of sale, by payment to the County Qlerk
of the amount for which it was sold and twenty-five per cent, thereon if
redeemed within six months, fifty per cent, if between six and twelve
months, if between twelve and eighteen mohths seventy-five per cent.,
and if between eighteen months and two years one hundred per cent.,
and in addition, all subsequent taxes paid by the purchaser, with ten per
cent, interest thereon, also one dollar each tract if notice is given by the
purchaser of the sale, and a fee of twenty-five cents to the clerk for his
certificate.
JURISDICTION OF COURTS.
Justices have jurisdiction in all civil cases on contracts for the recovery
of moneys for damages for injury to real property ^ or taking, detaining, or
ABSTEACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 155
injuring personal property ; for rent; for all cases to recover damages done
real or personal property by railroad companies, in actions of replevin^ and
in actions for damages for fraud in the sale^ purchase^ or exchange of per-
sonal property^ when the amount claimed as due is not over $200. They
have also jurisdiction in all cases for violation of the ordinances of cities^
towns or villages, A justice of the peace may orally order an officer or a
private person to arrest any one committing or attempting to commit a
criminal offense. He also upon complaint can issue his warrant for the
arrest of any person accused of having committed a crime, and have him
brought before him for examination.
COUNTY COURTS
Have jurisdiction in all matters of probate (except in counties having a
population of one hundred thousand or over), settlement of estates of
deceased persons, appointment of guardians and conservators, and settle-
ment of their accounts ; all matters relating to apprentices ; proceedings
for the collection of taxes and assessments, and in proceedings of executors,
administrators, guardians and conservators for the sale of real estate. In
law cases they have concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Courts in all
cases where justices of the peace now have, or hereafter may have,
jurisdiction when the amount claimed shall not exceed |1,000, and in all
criminal offenses where the punishment is not imprisonment in the peni-
tentiary, or death, and in all cases of appeals from justices of the peace
and police magistrates ; excepting when the county judge is sitting as a
justice of the peace. Circuit Courts have unlimited jurisdiction.
LIMITATION OF ACTION.
Accounts five years. Notes and written contracts ten years. Judg-
ments twenty years. Partial payments or new promise in writing, within
or after said period, will revive the debt. Absence from the State deducted,
and when the cause of action is barred by the law of another State, it has
the same effect here. Slander and libel, one year. Personal injuries, two
years. To recover land or make entry thereon, twenty years. Action to
foreclose mortgage or trust deed, or make a sale, within ten years.
All persons in possession of land, and paying taxes for seven consecu-
tive years, with color of title, and all persons paying taxes for seven con-
secutive years, with color of title, on vacant land, shall be held to be the
legal owners to the extent of their paper title.
MARRIED WOMEN
May sue and be sued. Husband and wife not liable for each other'' s debts,
either before or after marriage, but both are liable for expenses and edu-
cation of the family.
4
156 ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
, She may contract the same as if unmarried^ except that in a partner-
ship business she can not, without consent of her husband, unless he has
abandoned or deserted her^ or is idiotic or insane, or confined in peniten-
tiary ; she is entitled and can recover her own earnings, but neither hus-
band nor wife is entitled to compensation for any services rendered for the
other. At the death of the husband, in addition to widow's award, a
married woman has a dower interest (one-third) in all real estate owned
by her husband after their marriage, and which has not been released by
her, and the husband has the same interest in the real estate of the wife
at her death.
EXEMPTIONS FROM FORCED SALE.
Some worth $1,000, and the following Personal Property : Lot of ground
and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence by the debtor, being a house-
holder and having a family, to the value of $1,000. Exerription continues
after the death of the householder for the benefit of widow and family, some
one of them occupying the homestead until youngest child shall become
twenty -one years of age^ and until death of widow. There is no exemptio7i
from sale for taxes, assessments, debt or liability incurred for the purchase
or improvement of said homestead. No release or waiver of exemption is
valid, unless in writing, and subscribed by such "householder and wife (if
he have one), and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate are required
to be acknowledged. The following articles of personal property owned
by the debtor, are exempt from execution, writ of attachment, and distress
for rent : The necessary wearing apparel, Bibles, school books and family
pictures of every person ; and, 2d, one hundred dollars worth of other
property to be selected by the debtor, and, in addition, when the debtor
is the head of a family and resides with the same, three hundred dollars
worth of other property to be selected by the debtor ; provided that such
selection and exemption shall not be made by the debtor or allowed to
him or her from any money, salary or wages due him or her from any
person or persons or corporations whatever.
When the head of a family shall die, desert or not reside with the
same, the family shall be entitled to and receive all the benefit and priv-
ileges which are by this act conferred upon the head of a family residing
with the same. No personal property is exempt from execution when
judgment is obtained for the wages of laborers or servants. Wages of a
laborer who is the head of a family can not be garnisheed, except the sum
due him be in excess of $25.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 157
DEEDS AND MORTGAGES.
To he valid there must he a valid consideration. Special care should
be taken to have them signed, sealed, delivered, and ' properly acknowl-
edged, with the proper seal attached. Witnesses are not required. The
acknowledgement must be made in this state, before Master in Chancery^
Notary Puhlic, United States Commissioner^ Circuit or County Clerk, Justice
of Peace, or any Court of Record having a seal, or any Judge, Justice, or
Clerk of any such Court. When taken before a Notary Puhlic, or United
States Commissio7ier, the same shall be attested by his official seal, when
taken before a Gour} or the Clerk thereof, the same shall be attested by
the seal of such Court, and when taken before a Justice of the Peace resid-
ing out of the county where the real estate to be conveyed lies, there shall
be added a certificate of the County Clerk under his seal of office, that he
was a Justice of the Peace in the county at the time of taking the same.
A deed is good without such certificate attached, but can not be used in
evidence unless such a certificate is produced or other competent evidence
introduced. Acknowledgements made out of the state must either be
executed according to the laws of this state, or there should be attached
a certificate that it is in conformity with the laws of the state or country
where executed. Where this is not done the same may be proved by any
other legal way. Acknowledgments where the Homestead rights are to
be waived must state as follows : " Including the release and waiver of
the right of homestead."
Notaries Puhlic can take acknowledgements any where in the state.
Sheriffs, if authorized by the mortgagor of real or personal property
in his mortgage, may sell the property mortgaged. *
In the case of the death of grantor or holder of the equity of redemp-
tion of real estate mortgaged, X)r conveyed by deed of trust where equity
of redemption is waived, and it contains power of sale, must be foreclosed
in the same manner as a common mortgage in court.
ESTRAYS.
Horses, mules, asses, neat cattle, swine, sheep, or goats found straying
at any time during the year, in counties where such animals are not allowed
to run at large, or between the last day of October and the 15th day of
April in other counties, the owner thereof heing unknown, may he taken up
as estrays.
No person not a householder in the county where estray is found can
lawfully take up an estray, and then only upon or ahout his farm or place
of residence. Estrays should not he used hefore advertised, except animals
giving milk, which may be milked for their benefit.
158 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Notices must be posted up within five (5) days in three (3) of the
most public places in the town or precinct in which estray was found, giv-
ing the residence of the taker up, and a particular description of the
estray, its age, color, and marks natural and artificial, and stating before
what justice of the peace in such town or precinct, and at what time, not
less than ten (10) nor more than fifteen (15) days from the time of post-
ing such notices, he will apply to have the estray appraised.
A cojpy of such notice should be filed by the taker up with the town
V cleric^ whose duty it is to enter the same at large, in a hook kept by him
for that purpose.
If the owner of estray shall not have appeared and proved ownership,
and taken the same away, first paying the taker up his reasonable charges
for taking up, keeping, and advertising the same, the taker up shall appear
before the justice of the peace mentioned in above mentioned notice, and
make an affidavit as required by law.
As the affidavit has to he made hefore the justice, and all other steps as
to appraisement, etc., are before him, who is familiar therewith, they are
therefore omitted here.
Any person taking up an estray at any other place than about or
upon his farm or residence, or without complying with the law, shall forfeit
and pay a fine of ten dollars with costs.
Ordinary diligence is required in taking care of estrays, but in case
they die or get away the taker is not liable for the same.
GAME.
It is unlawful for any person to kill, or attempt to kill or destroy, in
any manner, any prairie hen or chicken or woodcock between the 15th day
of January and the 1st day of September ; or any deer, fawn, wild-turkey,
partridge or pheasant between the 1st day of February and the 1st day
of October ; or any quail between the 1st day of February and 1st day of
November ; or any wild goose, duck, snipe, brant or other water fowl
between the 1st day of May and 15th day of August in each year.
Penalty : Fine not less than ^5 nor more than $25, for each bird or
animal, and costs of suit, and stand committed to county jail until fine is
paid, but not exceeding ten days. It is unlawful to hunt with gun, dog
or net within the inclosed grounds or lands of another without permission.
Penalty: Fine not less than $3 nor more than |100, to be paid into
school fund.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Whenever any of the following articles shall be contracted for, or
sold or delivered, and no special contract or agreement shall be made to
the contrary, the weight per bushel shall be as follows, to-wit :
ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
159
Pounds.
Pounds.
Stone Coal, -
- 80
Buckwheat, -
- 52
Unslacked Lime,
- 80
Coarse Salt,
- 50
Corn in the ear,
- TO
Barley, - - -
- 48
Wheat,
- 60
Corn Meal,
- 48
Irish Potatoes,
- 60
Castor Beans,
- 46
White Beans,
- 60
Timothy Seed, -
- 45
Clover Seed, -
- 60
Hemp Seed, -
- 44
Onions, _ = -
- 57
Malt, - - - -
- 38
Shelled Corn,
- 56
Dried Peaches,
- 33
Rye, - - - -
- 56
Oats, - - - -
- 32
Flax Seed,
- - 56
Dried Apples,
- 24
Sweet Potatoes, -
- 55
Bran, - - - -
- 20
Turnips,
- 55
Blue Grass Seed, -
- 14
Fine Salt, - - -
- 55
Hair (plastering).
8
Penalty for giving less than the above standard is double the amount
of property wrongfully not given, and ten dollars addition thereto.
MILLERS.
The owner or occupant of every public grist mill in this state shall
grind all grain brought to his mill in its turn. The toll for both steam
and water mills, is, for grinding and bolting wheat., rye., or other grain., one
eighth part; for grinding Indian corn., oats., barley and buckwheat not
required to be bolted., one seventh part; for grinding malt., and chopping dill
kinds of grain, one eighth part. It is the duty of every miller when his
mill is in repair, to aid and assist in loading and unloading all grain brought
to him to be ground, and he is also required to keep an accurate half
bushel measure., and an accurate set of toll dishes or scales for weighing
the grain. The penalty for neglect or refusal to comply with the law is
$5, to the use of any person to sue for the same, to be recovered before
any justice of the peace of the county where penalty is incurred. Millers
are accountable for the safe keeping of all grain left in his mill for the
purpose of being ground, with bags or casks containing same (except it
results from unavoidable accidents), provided that such bags or casks are
distinctly marked with the initial letters of the owner's name.
MARKS AND BRANDS.
Owners of cattle, horses, hogs, sheep or goats may have one ear mark
and one brand, but which shall be different from his neighbor's., and may
be recorded by the county clerk of the county in which such property is
kept. The/ee for such record is fifteen cents. The record of such shall
be open to examination free of charge. In cases of disputes as to marks
or brands, such record is prima facie evidence. Owners of cattle, horses,
hogs, sheep or goats that may have been branded by the former owner,
160 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
may be re-branded in presence of one or more of his neighbors, who shall
certify to the facts of the marking or branding being done, when done,
and in what brand or mark they were re-branded or re-marked, which
certificate may also be recorded as before stated.
ADOPTION OF CHILDREN.
Children may be adopted by any resident of this state, by filing a
petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which he resides,
asking leave to do so, and if desired may ask that the name of the child
be changed. Such petition, if made by a person having a husband or
wife, will not be granted, unless the husband or wife joins therein, as the
adoption must be by them jointly.
The petition shall state name, sex, and age of the child, and the new
name, if it is desired to change the name. Also the name and residence
of the parents of the child, if known, and of the guardian, if any, and
whether the parents or guardians consent to the adoption.
The court must find, before granting decree, that the parents of the
child, or the survivors of them, have deserted his or her family or such
child for one year next preceding the application, or if neither are living,
the guardian ; if no guardian, the next of kin in this state capable of giving
consent, has had notice of the presentation of the petition and consents
to such adoption. If the child is of the age of fourteen years or upwards,
the adoption can not be made without its consent.
SURVEYORS AND SURVEYS.
There is in every county elected a surveyor known as county sur-
veyor, who has power to appoint deputies, for whose official acts he is
responsible. It is the duty of the county surveyor, either by himself or
his deputy, to make all surveys that he may be called upon to make within
his county as soon as may be after application is made. The necessary
chainmen and other assistance must be employed by the person requiring
the same to be done, and to be by him paid, unless otherwise agreed ; but
the chainmen must be disinterested persons and approved by the surveyor
and sworn by him to measure justly and impartially.
The County Board in each county is required by law to provide a copy
of the United States field notes and plats of their surveys of the lands
in the county to be kept in the recorder's office subject to examination
by the public, and the county surveyor is required to make his surveys
in conformity to said notes, plats and the laws of the United States gov-
erning such matters. The surveyor is also required to keep a record
of all surveys made by him, which shall be subject to inspection by any
one interested, and shall be delivered up to his successor in office. A
ABSTBACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 161
certified copy of the said surveyor's record shall be prima fade evidence
of its contents.
The fees of county surveyors are six dollars per day. The county
surveyor is also ex officio inspector of mines, and as such, assisted by some
practical miner selected by him, shall once each year inspect all the
mines in the county, for which they shall each receive such compensa-
tion as may be fixed by the County Board, not exceeding $5 a day, to
be paid out of the county treasury.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
Where practicable from the nature of the ground, persons traveling
in any kind of vehicle, must turn to the right of the center of the road, so
as to permit each carriage to pass without interfering with each other.
The penalty/ for a violation of this provision is $5 for every offense, to
be recovered by the parti/ injured; but to recover, there must have
occurred some injury to person or property resulting from the violation.
The oivn£-rs of any carriage traveling upon any road in this State for the
conveyance of passengers who shall employ or continue in his employment
as driver any person who is addicted to drunkenness, or the excessive use of
spiritous liquors, after he has had notice of the same, shall forfeit, at the
rate of |5 per day, and if any driver while actually engaged in driving
any such carriage, shall be guilty of intoxication to such a degree as to
endanger the safety of passengers, it shall be the duty of the owner, on
receiving written notice of the fact, signed by one of the passengers, and
certified by him on oath, forthwith to discharge such driver. If such owner
shall have such driver in his employ within three months after such notice,
he is liable for f 5 per day for the time he shall keep said driver in his
employment after receiving such notice.
Persons driving any carriage on any public highway are prohibited
from running their horses upon any occasion under a penalty of a fine not
exceeding |10, or imprisonment not exceeding sixty days, at the discre-
tion of the court. Horses attached to any carriage used to convey passen-
gers for hire must be properly hitched or the lines placed in the hands of
some other person before the driver leaves them for any purpose. For
violation of this provision each driver shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be
recovered by action, to be commenced within six months. It is under-
stood by the term carriage herein to mean any carriage or vehicle used
for the transportation of passengers or goods or either of them.
The commissioners of highways in the different towns have the care
and superintendence of highways and bridges therein. They have all
the powers necessary to lay out, vacate, regulate and repair all roads^
build and repair bridges. In addition to the above, it is their duty to
erect and keep in repair at the forks or crossing-place of the most
162 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
important roads post and guide boards with plain inscriptions, giving
directions and distances to the most noted places to which such road may
lead; also to make provisions to prevent thistles, burdock, and cockle
burrs, mustard, yellow dock, Indian mallow and jimson weed from
seeding, and to extirpate the same as far as practicable, and to prevent
all rank growth of vegetation on the public highways so far as the same
may obstruct public travel, and it is in their discretion to erect watering
places for public use for watering teams at such points as may be deemed
advisable.
The Commissioners, on or before the 1st day of May of each year,
shall make out and deliver to their treasurer a list of all able-bodied men
in their town, excepting paupers, idiots, lunatics, and such others as are
exempt by law, and assess against each the sum of two dollars as a poll
tax for highway purposes. Within thirty days after such list is delivered
they shall cause a written or printed notice to be given to each person so
assessed, notifying him of the time when and place where such tax must
be paid, or its equivalent in labor performed ; they may contract with
persons owing such poll tax to perform a certain amount of labor on any
road or bridge in payment of the same, and if such tax is not paid nor
labor performed by the first Monday of July of such year, or within ten
days after notice is given after that time, they shall bring suit therefor
against such person before a justice of the peace, who shall hear and
determine the case according to law for the offense complained of, and
shall forthwith issue an execution, directed to any constable of the county
where the delinquent shall reside, who shall forthwith collect the moneys
therein mentioned.
The Commissioners of Highways of each town shall annually ascer-
tain, as near as practicable, how much money must be raised by tax on real
and personal property for the making and repairing of roads, only, to any
amount they may deem necessary, not exceeding forty cents on each one
hundred dollars' worth, as valued oh the assessment roll of the previous
year. The tax so levied on property lying within an incorporated village,
town or city, shall be paid over to the corporate authorities of such town,
village or city. Commissioners shall receive $1.50 for each day neces-
sarily employed in the discharge of their duty.
Overseers. At the first meeting the Commissioners shall choose one
of their number to act General Overseer of Highways in their township,
whose duty it shall be to take charge of and safely keep all tools, imple-
ments and machinery belonging to said town, and shall, by the direction
of the Board, have general supervision of all roads and bridges in their
town.
ABSTEACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 163
As all township and county officers are familiar with their duties, it
is only intended to give the points of the law that the public should be
familiar with. The manner of laying out, altering or vacating roads, etc.,
will not be here stated, as it would require more space than is contem-
plated in a work of this kind. It is sufficient to state that, the first step
is by petition, addressed to the Commissioners, setting out what is prayed
for, giving the names of the owners of lands if known, if not known so
state, over which the road is to pass, giving the general course, its place
of beginning, and where it terminates. It requires not less than twelve
freeholders residing within three miles of the road who shall sign the
petition. Public road^ must not be less than fifty feet wide, nor more
than sixty feet wide. Roads not exceeding two miles in length, if peti-
tioned for, may be laid out, not less than forty feet. Private roads
for private and public use, may be laid out of the width of three rods, on
T)etition of the person directly interested ; the damage occasioned thereby
shall be paid by the premises benefited thereby, and before the road is
opened. If not opened in two years, the order shall be considered
rescinded. Commissioners in their discretion may permit persons who
live on or have private roads, to work out their road tax thereon. Public
roads must be opened in five days from date of filing order of locatipn,
or be deemed vacated.
DRAINAGE.
Whenever one or more owners or occupants of land desire to construct
% drain or ditch across the land of others for agricultural^ sanitary or
mining purposes^ the proceedings are as follows :
File a petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which
the proposed ditch or drain is to be constructed, setting forth the neces-
sity for the same, with a description of its proposed starting point, route
and terminus, and if it shall be necessary for the drainage of the land or
coal mines or for sanitary purposes, that a drain, ditch, levee or similar
work be constructed, a description of the same. It shall also set forth
the names of all persons owning the land over which such drain or ditch
shall be constructed, or if unknown stating that fact.
No private property shall be taken or damaged for the purpose of
constructing a ditch, drain or levee, without compensation, if claimed by
the owner, the same to be ascertained by a jury ; but if the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee shall be a benefit to the owner, the same
shall be a set off against such compensation.
If the proceedings seek to affect the property of a minor, lunatic or
married woman, the guardian, conservator or husband of the same shall
be made party defendant. The petition may be amended and parties
made defendants at any time when it is necessary to a fair trial.
164 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
When the petition is presented to the judge, he shall note therein
when he will hear the same, and order the issuance of summonses and
the publication of notice to each non-resident or unknown defendant.
The petition may be heard by such judge in vacation as well as in
term time. Upon the trial, the jury shall ascertain the just compensation
to each owner of the property sought to be damaged by the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee, and truly report the same.
As it is only contemplated in a work of this kind to give an abstract
of the laws, and as the parties who have in charge the execution of the
further proceedings are likely to be familiar with the requirements of the
statute, the necessary details are not here inserted.
WOLF SCALPS.
The County Board of any county in this State may hereafter allt»w
such bounty on wolf scalps as the board may deem reasonable.
Any person claiming a bounty shall produce the scalp or scalps with
the ears thereon, within sixty days after the wolf or wolves shall have
been caught, to the Clerk of the County Board, who shall administer to
said person the following oath or affirmation, to- wit: "You do solemnly
swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that the scalp or scalps here pro-
duced by you was taken from a wolf or wolves killed and first captured
by yourself within the limits of this county, and within the sixty days
last past."
CONVEYANCES.
When the reversion expectant on a lease of any tenements or here-
ditaments of any tenure shall be surrendered or merged, the estate which
shall for the time being confer as against the tenant under the same lease
the next vested right to the same tenements or hereditaments, shall, to
the extent and for the purpose of preserving such incidents to and obli-
gations on the same reversion, as but for the surrender or merger thereof,
would have subsisted, be deemed the reversion expectant on the same
lease.
PAUPERS.
Every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in conse-
quence of any bodily infirmity^ idiocy^ lunacy or unavoidable cause^ shall
be supported by the father, grand-father, mother, grand-mother, children,
grand-children, brothers or sisters of such poor person, if they or either
of them be of sufficient ability ; but if any of such dependent class shall
have become so from intemperance or other bad conduct^ they shall not be
entitled to support from any relation except parent or child.
:"^i
W. R FLAGG
(deceased)
ROCHEiaE
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 167
The children shall first be called on to support their parents, if they
are able ; but if not, the parents of such poor person shall then be called
on, if of sufficient ability ; and if there be no parents or children able^
then the brothers and sisters of such dependent person shall be called
upon ; and if there be no brothers or sisters of sufficient ability, the
grand-children of such person shall next be called on ; and if they are
not able, then the grand-parents. Married females, while their husbands
live, shall not be liable to contribute for the support of their poor relations
; except out of their separate property. It is the duty of the state's
(county) attorney, to make complaint to the County Court of his county
against all the relatives of such paupers in this state liable to his support
and prosecute the same. In case the state's attorney neglects, or refuses, to
complain in such cases, then it is the duty of the overseer of the poor to
do so. The person called upon to contribute shall have at least ten days'
notice of such application by summons. The court has the power to
determine the kind of support, depending upon the circumstances of the
parties, and may also order two or more of the different degrees to main-
tain such poor person, and prescribe the proportion of each, according to
their ability. The court may specify the time for which the relative shall
contribute — in fact has control over the entire subject matter, with power
to enforce its orders. Every county (except those in which the poor are
supported by the towns, and in such cases the towns are liable) is required
to relieve and support all poor and indigent persons lawfully resident
therein. Residence means the actual residence of the party, or the place
where he was employed ; or in case he was in no employment, then it
shall be the place where he made his home. When any person becomes
chargeable as a pauper in any county or town who did not reside at the
commencement of six months immediately preceding his becoming so,
but did at that time reside in some other county or town in this state,
then the county or town, as the case may be, becomes liable for the expense
of taking care of such person until removed, and it is the duty of the
overseer to notify the proper authorities of the fact. If any person shall
bring and leave any pauper in any county in this state where such pauper
had no legal residence, knowing him to be such, he is liable to a fine of
$100. In counties under township organization, the supervisors in each
town are ex-officio overseers of the poor. The overseers of the poor act
under the directions of the County Board in taking care of the poor and
granting of temporary relief; also, providing for non-resident persons not
paupers who may be taken sick and not able to pay their way, and in case
of death cause such person to be decently buried.
The residence of the inmates of poorhouses and other charitable
institutions for voting purposes is their former place of abode.
168 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
FENCES.
In counties under township organization, the town assessor and com-
missioner of highways are the fence-viewers in their respective towns.
In other counties the County Board appoints three in each precinct annu-
ally. A laicful fence is four and one-half feet high^ in good repair, con-
sisting of rails, timber, boards, stone, hedges, or whatever the fence-
viewers of the town or precinct where the same shall lie, shall consider
equivalent thereto, but in counties under township organization the annual
town meeting may establish any other kind of fence as such, or the County
Board in other counties may do the same. Division fences shall be made
and maintained in just proportion by the adjoining owners, except when
the owner shall choose to let his land lie open, but after a division fence is
built by agreement or otherwise, neither party can remove his part of such
fence so long as he may crop or use such land for farm purposes, or without
giving the other party one year's notice in writing of his intention to remove
his portion. When any person shall enclose his land upon the enclosure
of another, he shall refund the owner of the adjoining lands a just pro-
portion of the value at that time of such fence. The value of fence and
the just proportion to be paid or built and maintained by each is to be
ascertained by two fence-viewers in the town or precinct. Such fence-
viewers have power to settle all disputes between different owners as to
fences built or to be built, as well as to repairs to be made. Each party
chooses one of the viewers, but if the other party neglects, after eight
days' notice in writing, to make his choice, then the other party ma^;
select both. It is sufficient to notify the tenant or party in possession,
when the owner is not a resident of the town or precinct. The two
fence-viewers chosen, after viewing the premises, shall hear the state-
ments of the parties , in case they can't agree, they shall select another
fence-viewer to act with them, and the decision of any two of them is
final. The decision must be reduced to writing, and should plainly set
out description of fence and all matters settled by them, and must be
filed in the office of the town clerk in counties under township organiza-
tion, and in other counties with the county clerk.
Where any person is liable to contribute to the erection or the
repairing of a division fence, neglects or refuses so to do, the party
injured, after giving sixty days notice in writing when a fence is to be
erected, or ten days when it is only repairs, may proceed to have the
work done at the expense of the party whose duty it is to do it, to be
recovered from him with costs of suit, and the party so neglecting shall
also be liable to the party injured for all damages accruing from such
neglect or refusal, to be determined by any two fence-viewers selected
as before provided, the appraisement to bQ reduced to writing and signed.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 169
Where a person shall conclude to remove his part of a division fence,
and let his land lie open, and having given the year's notice required, the
adjoining owner may cause the value of said fence to be ascertained by
fence-vifiwers as before provided, and on payment or tender of the
amount of such valuation to the owner, it shall prevent the removal. A
party removing a division fence without notice is liable for the damages
accruing thereby.
Where a fence has been built on the land of another through mis-
take, the owner may enter upon such premises and remove his fence and
material within ^ix months after the division line has been ascertained.
Where the material to build such a fence has been taken from the land
on which it was built, then before it can be removed, the person claiming
must first pay for such material to the owner of the land from which it
was taken, nor shall Huch a fence be removed at a time when the removal
will throw open or expose the crops of the other party ; a reasonable
time must be given beyond the ^ix months to remove crops.
The compensation ^f fence-viewers is one dollar and fifty cents a
day each, to be paid in the first instance by the party calling them, but
in the end all expenses, including amount charged by the fence-viewers,
must be paid equally bj^ the parties, except in cases where a party neglects
or refuses .to make or maiiktain a just proportion of a division fence, when
the party in default shall pay them.
DAMAGES FROM TRESPASS.
Where stock of any kind breaks into any person's enclosure, the
fence being good and sufficient, the owner is liable for the damage done ;
but where the damage is done by stock running at large, contrary to law,
the owner is liable where thtjre is not such a fence. Where stock is
found trespassing on the enclosure of another as aforesaid, the owner oi
occupier of the premises may take possession of such stock and keep the
same until damages, with reasonable charges for keeping and feeding and
all costs of suit, are paid. Any person taking or rescuing such stock so
held without his consent, shall be liable to a fine of not less than three
nor more than five dollars for each animal rescued, to be recovered by
suit before a justice of the peace for the use of the school fund. Within
twenty-four hours after taking such animal into his possession, the per-
son taking it up must give notice of the fact to the owner, if known, or
if unknown, notices must be posted in some public place near the premises.
LANDLORD AND TENANT.
The owner of lands, or his legal representatives, can sue for and
recover rent therefor, in any of the following cases :
First. When rent is due and in arrears on a lease for life or lives.
5
170 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Second. When lands are held and occupied by any person without
any special agreement for rent.
Third. When possession is obtained under an agreement, written
or verbal, for the purchase of the premises and before deed given, the
right to possession is terminated by forfeiture on con-compliance with the
agreement, and possession is wrongfully refused or neglected to be given
upon demand made in writing by the party entitled thereto. Provided
that all payments made by the vendee or his representatives or assigns,
may be set off against the rent.
Fourth. When land has been sold upon a judgment or a decree of
court, when the party to such judgment or decree, or person holding under
him, wrongfully refuses, or neglects, to surrender possession of the same,
after demand in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
Fifth. When the lands have been sold upon a mortgage or trust
deed, and the mortgagor or grantor or person holding under him, wrong-
fully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand
in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
If any tenant, or any person who shall come into possession from or
under or by collusion with such tenant, shall willfully hold over any lands,
etc., after the expiration the term of their lease, and after demand made
in writing for the possession thereof, is liable to pay double rent. A
tenancy from year to year requires sixty days notice in writing, to termi-
nate the same at the end of the year ; such notice can be given at any
time within four months preceding the last sixty days of the year.
A tenancy by the month, or less than a year, where the tenant holds
over without any special agreement, the landlord may terminate the
tenancy, by thirty days notice in writing.
When rent is due, the landlord may serve a notice upon the tenant,
stating that unless the rent is paid within not less than five days, his lease
will be terminated ; if the rent is not paid, the landlord may consider the
lease ended. When default is made in any of the terms of a lease, it
shall not be necessary to give more than ten days notice to quit or of the
termination of such tenancy ; and the same may be terminated on giving
such notice to quit, at any time after such default in any of the terms of
such lease ; which notice may be substantially in the following form, viz:
To , You are hereby notified that, in consequence of your default
in (^here insert the character of the default), of the premises now occupied
by you, being etc. (here describe the premises), I have elected to deter-
mine your lease, and you are hereby notified to quit and deliver up pos-
session of the same to me within ten days of this date (dated, etc.)
The above to be signed by the lessor or his agent, and no other notice
or demand of possession or termination of such tenancy is necessary.
Demand may be made, or notice served, by delivering a written or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 171
printed, or partly either, copy thereof to the tenant, or leaving the same
with some person above the age of twelve years residing on or in posses-
sion of the premises ; and in case no one is in the actual possession of the
said premises, then by posting the same on the premises. When the
tenancy is for a certain time, and the term expires by the terms of the
lease, the tenant is then bound to surrender possession, and no notice
to quit or demand of possession is necessary.
Distre^ for rent. — In all cases of distress for rent, the landlord, by
himself, his agent or attorney, may seize for rent any personal property of
his tenant that may be found in the county where the tenant resides ; the
property of any other person, even if found on the premises, is not
liable.
An inventory of the property levied upon, with a statement of the
amount of rent claimed, should be at once filed with some justice of the
peace, if not over $200 ; and if above that sum, with the clerk of a court
of record of competent jurisdictioi^. Property may be released, by the
party executing a satisfactory bond for double the amount.
The landlord may distrain for rent, any time within six months after
the expiration of the term of the lease, or when terminated.
In all cases where the premises rented shall be sub-let, or the lease
assigned, the landlord shall have the same right to enforce lien against
such lessee or assignee, that he has against the tenant to whom the pre-
mises were rented.
When a tenant abandons or removes from the premises or any part
thereof, the landlord, or his agent or attorney, may seize upon any grain
or other crops grown or growing upon the premises, or part thereof so
abandoned, whether the rent is due or not. If such grain, or other crops,
or any part thereof, is not fully grown or matured, the landlord, or his
agent or attorney, shall cause the same to be properly cultivated, harvested
or gathered, and may sell the same, and from the proceeds pay all his
labor, expenses and rent. The tenant may, before the sale of such pro-
perty, redeem the same by tendering the rent and reasonable compensation
for work done, or he may replevy the same.
Exemption. — The same articles of personal property which are bylaw
exempt from execution, except the crops as above stated, is also exempt
from distress for rent.
If any tenant is about to or shall permit or attempt to sell and
remove from the premises, without the consent of his landlord, such
portion of the crops raised thereon as will endanger the lien of the land-
lord upon such crops, for the rent, it shall be lawful for the landlord to
distress before rent is due.
172 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
LIENS.
Any person who shall by contract^ express or implied, or partly both,
with the owner of any lot or tract of land, furnish labor or material, or
services as an architect or superintendent, in building, altering, repairing
or ornamenting any house or other building or appurtenance thereto on
such lot, or upon any street or alley, and connected with such improve-
ments, shall have a lien upon the whole of such lot or tract of land, and
upon such house or building and appurtenances, for the amount due to
him for such labor, material or services. If the contract is expressed, and
the time for the completion of the work is heyond three years from the com-
mencement thereof ; or, if the time of payment is beyond one year from
the time stipulated for the completion of the work, then no lien exists.
If the contract is implied^ then no lien exists, unless the work be done or
material is furnished within one year from the commencement of the work
or delivery of the materials. As between different creditors having liens,
no preference is given to the one whose contract was first made ; but each
shares pro-rata. Incumbrances existing on the lot or tract of the land at
the time the contract is made, do not operate on the improvements, and
are only preferred to the extent of the value of the land at the time of
making the contract. The above lien can not be enforced unless suit is
commenced within six months after the last payment for labor or materials
shall have become due and payable. Sub-contractors, mechanics, workmen
and other persons furnishing any material, or performing any labor for a
contractor as before specified, have a lien to the extent of the amount due
the contractor at the time the following notice is served upon the owner
of the land who made the contract :
To , You are hereby notified, that I have been employed by-
(here state whether to labor or furnish material, and substantially the
nature of the demand) upon your (here state in general terms description
and situation of building), and that I shall hold the (building, or as the
case may be), and your interest in the ground, liable for the amount that
may (is or may become) due me on account thereof. Signature,*
Date,
If there is a contract in writing between contractor and sub-contractor,
a copy of it should be served with above notice, and said notice must be
served within forty days from the completion of such sub-contract, if there
is one ; if not, then from the time payment should have been made to the
person performing the labor or furnishing the material. If the owner is
not a resident of the county, or can not be found therein, then the above
notice must be filed with the clerk of the Circuit Court, with his fee, fifty
cents, and a copy of said notice must be published in a newspaper pub-
lished in the county, for four successive weeks.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 173
When the owner or agent is notified as above, he can retain any
money due the contractor sufficient to pay such claim ; if more than one
claim, and not enough to pay all, they are to be paid pro rata.
The owner has the right to demand in writing, a statement of the
contractor, of what he owes for labor, etc., from time to time as the work
progresses, and on his failure to comply, forfeits to the owner $50 for
every offense.
The liens referred to cover any and all estates, whether in fee for
life, for years, or any other interest which the owner may have.
To enforce the lien of suh-contr actors, suit must be commenced within
three months from the time of the performance of the sub-contract, or
during the work or furnishing materials.
Hotel, inn and hoarding-house keepers, have a lien upon the baggage
and other valuables of their guests or boarders, brought into such hotel,
linn or boarding-house, by their guests or boarders, for the proper charges
due from such guests or boarders for their accommodation, board and
lodgings, and such extras as are furnished at their request.
Stable-keepers and other persons have a lien upon the horses, car-
riages and harness kept by them, for the proper charges due for the keep-
ing thereof and expenses bestowed thereon at the request of the owner
or the person having the possession of the same.
Agisters (persons who take care of cattle belonging to others), and
persons keeping, yarding, feeding or pasturing domestic animals, shall
have a lien upon the animals agistered, kept, yarded or fed, for the proper
charges due for such service.
All persons who may furnish any railroad corporation in this state
with fuel, ties, material, supplies or any other article or thing necessary
for the construction, maintenance, operation or repair of its road by con-
tract, or may perform work or labor on the same, is entitled to be paid as
part of the current expenses of the road, and have a lien upon all its pro-
perty. Sub-contractors or laborers have also a lien. The conditions and
limitations both as to contractors and sub-contractors, are about the same
as herein stated as to general liens.
DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TERMS.
I means dollars, being a contraction of U. S., which was formerly
placed before any denomination of money, and meant, as it means now,
United States Currency.
<£ means pounds, English money.
@ stands for at or to. lb for pound, and bbl. for barrel; ^ ioT per or
hi/ the. Thus, Butter sells at 20@30c ^ lb, and Flour at $8@12 ^ bbl.
fo for per cent and $ for number.
May 1.— Wheat sells at |1.20@1.25, "seller June." Seller June
1T4 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
means that the person who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering
it at any time during the month of June.
Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or
stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller
has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling
"short," to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may-
buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts " are termed
" bears."
Buying long^ is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or
shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stipulated time,
expecting to make a profit by the rise of prices. The "longs" are
termed "bulls," as it is for their interest to "operate " so as to "toss"
the prices upward as much as possible.
NOTES.
Form of note is legal, worded in the simplest way, so that the
amount and time of payment are mentioned.
$100. Chicago, 111., Sept. 15, 1876.
Sixty days from date I promise to pay to E. F. Brown,
or order, One Hundred dollars, for value received.
L. D. LowRY.
A note to be payable in any thing else than money needs only the
facts substituted for money in the above form.
ORDERS.
Orders should be worded simply, thus :
Mr. F. H. Coats: Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Please pay to H. Birdsall, Twenty-five dollars, and charge to
F. D. SiLVA.
RECEIPTS.
Receipts should always state when received and what for, thus :
$100. Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Received of J. W. Davis, One Hundred dollars, for services
rendered in grading his lot in Fort Madison, on account.
Thomas Brady.
If receipt is in full it should be so stated.
BILLS OF PURCHASE.
W. N. Mason, Salem, Illinois, Sept. 15, 1876.
Bought of A. A. Graham.
4 Bushels of Seed Wheat, at $1.50 - - - - $6.00
2 Seamless Sacks " .30 - - .60
Received payment, $6.60
A. A. Graham.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 176
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
An agreement is where one party promises to another to do a certain
thing in a certain time for a stipulated sum. Good business men always
reduce an agreement to writing, which nearly always saves misunder-
standings and trouble. No particular form is necessary, but the facts must
be clearly and explicitly stated, and there must, to make it valid, be a
reasonable consideration.
GENERAL FORM OF AGREEMENT.
This Agreement, made the Second day of October, 1876, between
John Jones, of Aurora, County of Kane, State of Illinois, of the first part,
and Thomas Whiteside, of the same place, of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that the said John Jones, in consideration of the agree-
ment of the party of the second part, hereinafter contained, contracts and
agrees to and with the said Thomas Whiteside, that he will deliver, in
good and marketable condition, at the Village of Batavia, 111., during the
month of November, of this year. One Hundred Tons of Prairie Hay, in
the following lots, and at the following specified times ; namely, twenty-
five tons by the seventh of November, twenty-five tons additional by the
fourteenth of the month, twenty-five tons more by the twenty-first, and
the entire one hundred tons to be all delivered by the thirtieth of
November.
And the said Thomas Whiteside, in consideration of the prompt
fulfillment of this contract, on the part of the party of the first part,
contracts to and agrees with the said John Jones, to pay for said hay five
dollars per ton, for each ton as soon as delivered.
In case of failure of agreement by either of the parties hereto, it is
hereby stipulated and agreed that the party so failing shall pay to the
other. One Hundred Dollars, as fixed and settled damages.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands the day and
year first above written. John Jones,
Thomas Whiteside.
AGREEMENT WITH CLERK FOR SERVICES.
This Agreement, made the first day of May, one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six, between Reuben Stone, of Chicago, County
of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the first part, and George Barclay, of
Englewood, County of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that Said George Barclay agrees faithfully and dili-
gently to work as clerk and salesman for the said Reuben Stone, for
and during the space of one year from the date hereof, should both
live such length of time, without absenting himself from his occupation ;
176 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
during which time he, the said Barclay, in the store of said Stone, of
Chicago, will carefully and honestly attend, doing and performing all
duties as clerk and salesman aforesaid, in accordance and in all respects
as directed and desired by the said Stone.
In consideration of which services, so to be rendered by the said
Barclay, the said Stone agrees to pay to said Barclay the annual sum of
one thousand dollars, payable in twelve equal monthly payments, each
upon the last day of each month ; provided that all dues for days of
absence from business by said Barclay, shall be deducted from the sum
otherwise by the agreement due and payable by the said Stone to the said
Barclay.
Witness our hands. Reuben Stone.
George Barclay.
BILLS OF SALE.
A bill of sale is a written agreement to another party, for a consider-
ation to convey his right and interest in the personal property. The
purchaser must take actual possession of the property. Juries have
power to determine upon the fairness or unfairness of a bill of sale.
COMMON FORM OF BILL OF SALE.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, Louis Clay, of Princeton,
Illinois, of the first part, for and in consideration of Five Hundred
and Ten dollars, to me paid by John Floyd, of the same place, of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have sold, and
by this instrument do convey unto the said Floyd, party of the second
part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, my undivided half of
ten acres of corn, now growing on the farm of Thomas Tyrrell, in the
town above mentioned ; one pair of horses, sixteen sheep, and five cows,
belonging to me, and in my possession at the farm aforesaid ; to have and
to hold the same unto the party of the second part, his executors and
assigns, forever. And I do, for myself and legal representatives, agree
with the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives, to
warrant and defend the sale of the afore-mentioned property and chattels
unto the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives,
against all and every person whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand, this tenth day
of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Louis Clay.
BONDS.
A bond is a written admission on the part of the maker in which he
pledges a certain sum to another, at a certain time.
i
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 177
COMMON FORM OF BOND.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, George Edgerton, of
Watseka, Iroquois County, State of Illinois, am firmly bound unto Peter
Kirchoff, of the place aforesaid, in the sum of five hundred dollars, to be
paid to the said Peter Kirchoff, or his legal representatives ; to which
payment, to be made, I bind myself, or my legal representatives, by this
instrument.
Sealed with my seal, and dated this second day of November, one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
The condition of this bond is such that if I, George Edgerton, my
heirs, administrators, or executors, shall promptly pay the sum of two
hundred and fifty dollars in three equal annual payments from the date
hereof, with annual interest, then the above obligation to be of no effect ;
otherwise to be in full force and valid.
Sealed and delivered in
presence of George Edgerton. [l.s.]
William Turner.
CHATTEL MORTGAGES.
A chattel mortgage is a mortgage on personal property for payment
of a certain sum of money, to hold the property against debts of other
creditors. The mortgage must describe the property, and must be
acknowledged before a justice of the peace in the township or precinct
where the mortgagee resides, and entered upon his docket, and must be
recorded in the recorder's office of the county.
GENERAL FORM OF CHATTEL MORTGAGE.
This Indenture, made and entered into this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
between Theodore Lottinville, of the town of Geneseo in the County
of Henry, and State of Illinois, party of the first part, and Paul Hen&haw,
of the same town, county, and State, party of the second part.
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consider-
ation of the sum of one thousand dollars, in hand paid, the receipt whereof
is hereby acknowledged, does hereby grant, sell, convey, and confirm unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever, all and
singular the following described goods and chattels, to wit :
Two three-year old roan-colored horses, one Burdett organ, No. 987,
one Brussels carpet, 15x20 feet in size, one marble-top center table, one
Home Comfort cooking stove. No. 8, one black walnut bureau with mirror
attached, one set of parlor chairs (six in number), upholstered in green
rep, with lounge corresponding with same in style and color of upholstery,
now in possession of said Lottinville, at No. 4 Prairie Ave., Geneseo, 111.;
178 ABSTRACT OF rLLESTOIS STATE LAWS.
Together with all and singular, the appurtenances thereunto "belong-
ing, or in any wise appertaining ; to have and to hold the above described
goods and chattels, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and
assigns, forever.
Provided, always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said Theodore Lottinville, his heirs, executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall, on or before the first day of January, A.D., one thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six, pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Paul
Ranslow, or his lawful attorney or attorneys, heirs, executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, the sum of One Thousand dollars, together with the
interest that may accrue thereon, at the rate of ten per cent, per annum,
from the first day of January, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five, until paid, according to the tenor of one promissory note
bearing even date herewith for the payment of said sum of money, that
then and from thenceforth, these presents, and everything herein con-
tained, shall cease, and be null and void, anything herein contained to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Provided, also, that the said Theodore Lottinville may retain the
possession of and have the use of said goods and chattels until the day
of payment aforesaid ; and also, at his own expense, shall keep said goods
and chattels ; and also at the expiration of said time of payment, if said
sum of money, together with the interest as aforesaid, shall not be paid,
shall deliver up said goods and chattels, in good condition, to said Paul
Ranslow, or his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.
And provided, also, that if default in payment as aforesaid, by said
party of the first part, shall be made, or if said party of the second part
shall at any time before said promissory note becomes due, feel himself
unsafe or insecure, that then the said party of the second part, or his
attorney, agent, assigns, or heirs, executors, or administrators, shall have
the right to take possession of said goods and chattels, wherever they
may or can be found, and sell the same at public or private sale, to the
highest bidder for cash in hand, after giving ten days' notice of the time
and place of said sale, together with a description of the goods and chat-
tels to be sold, by at least four advertisements, posted up in public places
in the vicinity where said sale is to take place, and proceed to make the
sum of money and interest promised as aforesaid , together with all reason-
able costs, charges, and expenses in so doing ; and if there shall be any
overplus, shall pay the same without delay to the said party of the first
part, or his legal representatives.
In testimony whereof, the said party of the first part has hereunto
set his hand and affixed his seal, the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in
presence of Theodore Lottinville. [l.s.]
Samuel J. Tilden.
ABSTBACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 179
LEASE OF FARM AND BUILDINGS THEREON.
This Indenture, made this second day of June, 1875, between David
Patton of the Town of Bisbee, State of Illinois, of the first part, and John
Doyle of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said David Patton, for and in consideration of
the covenants hereinafter mentioned and reserved, on the part of the said
John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to be paid, kept,
and performed, hath let, and by these presents doth grant, demise, and
let, unto the said John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns,
all that parcel of land situate in Bisbee aforesaid, bounded and described
as follows, to wit :
[^Here describe the land.~\
Together with all the appurtenances appertaining thereto. To have
and to hold the said premises, with appurtenances thereto belonging, unto
the said Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for the term of
five years, from the first day of October next following, at a yearly rent
of Six Hundred dollars, to be paid in equal payments, semi-annually, as
long as said buildings are in good tenantable condition.
And the said Doyle, by these presents, covenants and agrees to pay
all taxes and assessments, and keep in repair all hedges, ditches, rail, and
other fences ; (the said David Patton, his heirs, assigns and administra-
tors, to furnish all timber, brick, tile, and other materials necessary for
such repairs.)
Said Doyle further covenants and agrees to apply to said land, in a
farmer-like manner, all manure and compost accumulating upon said
farm, and cultivate all the arable land in a husbandlike manner, accord-
ing to the usual custom among farmers in the neighborhood ; he also
agrees to trim the hedges at a seasonable time, preventing injury from
cattle to such hedges, and to all fruit and other trees on the said premises.
That he will seed down with clover and timothy seed twenty acres yearly
of arable land, ploughing the same number of acres each Spring of land
now in grass, and hitherto unbroken.
It is further agreed, that if the said Doyle shall fail to perform the
whole or any one of the above mentioned covenants, then and in that
case the said David Patton may declare this lease terminated, by giving
three months' notice of the same, prior to the first of October of any
year, and may distrain any part of the stock, goods, or chattels, or other
property in possession of said Doyle, for sufficient to compensate for the
non-performance of the above written covenants, the same to be deter-
mined, and amounts so to be paid to be determined, by three arbitrators,
chosen as follows ; Each of the parties to this instrument to choose one,
180 ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
and the two so chosen to select a third ; the decision of said arbitrators
to be final.
In witness whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in presence of Dayid Patton. [l.s.]
James Waldron. John Doyle. [l.s.]
FORM OF LEASE OF A HOUSE.
This Instrument, made the first day of October, 1875, witnesseth
that Amos Griest of Yorkville, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, hath
rented from Aaron Young of Logansport aforesaid, the dwelling and lot
No. 13 Ohio Street, situated in said City of Yorkville, for five years
from the above date, at the yearly rental of Three Hundred dollars, pay-
able monthly, on the first day of each month, in advance, at the residence
of said Aaron Young.
At the expiration of said above mentioned term, the said Griest
agrees to give the said Young peaceable possession of the said dwelling,
,in as good condition as when taken, ordinary wear and casualties excepted.
In witness whereof, we place our hands and seals the day and year
aforesaid.
Signed, sealed and delivered Amos Griest. [l.s.]
in presence of
NiCKOLAS SCHUTZ, AARON YoUNG. [L.S.]
Notary Public.
LANDLORD'S AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have let and rented, this first day of January,
1876, unto Jacob Schmidt, my house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the
City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and its appurtenances ; he to have the
free and uninterrupted occupation thereof for one year from this date, at
the yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly in advance ;
rent to cease if destroyed by fire, or otherwise made untenantable.
Peter Funk.
TENANTS AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have hired and taken from Peter Funk, his
house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the City of Chicago, State of Illi-
nois, with appurtenances thereto belonging, for one year, to commence
this day, at a yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly
in advance ; unless said house becomes untenantable from fire or other
causes, in which case rent ceases ; and I further agree to give and yield
said premises one year from this first day of January 1876, in as good
condition as now, ordinary wear and damage by the elements excepted.
Given under my hand this day. Jacob Schmidt.
ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 181
NOTICE TO OUIT.
To F. W. Aelen,
Sir : Please observe that the term of one year, for which the house
and land, situated at No. 6 Indiana Street, and now occupied by you,
were rented to you, expired on the first day of October, 1875, and as I
desire to repossess said premises, you are hereby requested and required
to vacate the same. RespectfuUv Yours,
P. T. Babnum.
Lincoln, Neb., October 4, 1875.
TENANT'S NOTICE OF LEAVING.
Dear Sir:
The premises I now occupy as your tenant, at No. 6 Indiana Street,
I shall vacate on the first day of November, 1875. You will please take
notice accordingly.
Dated this tenth day of October, 1875. F. W. Arlen.
To P, T. Barnum, Esq.
REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE TO SECURE PAYMENT OF MONEY.
This Indenture, made this sixteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between William
Stocker, of Peoria, County of Peoria, and State of Illinois, and 011a, his
wife, party of the first part, and Edward Singer, party of the second part.
Whereas, the said party of the first part is justly indebted to the said
party of the second part, in the sum of Two Thousand dollars, secured
to be paid by two certain promissory notes (bearing even date herewith)
the one due and payable at the Second National Bank in Peoria, Illinois,
with interest, on the sixteenth day of May, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three ; the other due and payable at the Second
National Bank at Peoria, 111., with interest, on the sixteenth day of May,
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Now, therefore, this indenture witnesseth, that the said party of the
first part, for the better securing the payment of the money aforesaid,
with interest thereon, according to the tenor and effect of the said two
promissory notes above mentioned ; and, also in consideration of the fur-
ther sum of one dollar to them in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
I end part, at the delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby
acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, and conveyed, and by these
presents do grant, bargain, sell, and convey, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain parcel of land,
situate, etc.
[Describing the premises^]
To ha^^e and to hold the same, together with all and singular the
Tenements, Hereditaments, Privileges and Appurtenances thereunto
183 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
belonging or in any wise appertaining. And also, all the estate, interest,
and claim whatsoever, in law as well as in equity which the party of
the first part have in and to the premises hereby conveyed unto the said
party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, and to their only proper
use, benefit and behoof. And the said William Stocker, and 011a, his
wife, party of the first part, hereby expressly waive, relinquish, release,
and convey unto the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit
whatever, in and to the above described premises, and each and every
part thereof, which is given by or results from all laws of this state per^
taining to the exemption of homesteads.
Provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said party of the first part, their heirs, executors, or adminis-
trators, shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, to the said party of
the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the afore-
said sums of money, with such interest thereon, at the time and in the
manner specified in the above mentioned promissory notes, according to
the true intent and meaning thereof, then in that case, these presents and
every thing herein expressed, shall be absolutely null and void.
In witness whereof, the said party of the first part hereunto set their
hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
James Whitehead, William Stocker. [l.s.]
Fred. Samuels. Olla Stocker. [l.s.]
WARRANTY DEED WITH COVENANTS.
This Indenture, made this sixth day of April, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between Henry Best
of Lawrence, County of Lawrence, State of Illinois, and Belle, his wife,
of the first part, and Charles Pearson of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration
of the sum of Six Thousand dollars in hand paid by the said party of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted,
bargained, and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell,
unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, all the fol-
lowing described lor, piece, or parcel of land, situated in the City of Law-
rence, in the County of Lawrence, and State of Illinois, to wit :
[^Here describe the property.']
Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances
thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining, and the reversion and
reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof;
and all the estate, rignt, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever, of
the said party of the nrst part, either in law or equity, of, in, and to tht;
I
POLO
ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 185
above bargained premises, with the hereditaments and appurtenances.
To have and to hold the said premises above bargained and described,
with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs
and assigns, forever. And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, par-
ties of the first part, hereby expressly waive, release, and relinquish unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit whatever, in and to the
above described premises, and each and every part thereof, which is given
by or results from all laws of this state pertaining to the exemption of
homesteads.
And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, party of the first
part, for themselves and their heirs, executors, and administrators, do
coven'iut, grant, bargain, and agree, to and with the said party of the
secon . part, his heirs and assigns, that at the time of the ensealing and
deliv ry of these presents they were well seized of the premises above
conv yed, as of a |,ood, sure, perfect, absolute, and indefeasible estate of
inhe itance in law. and in fee simple, and have good right, full power,
and lawful authoricy to grant, bargain, sell, and convey the same, in
mai ler and form aforesaid, and that the same are free and clear from all
former and other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments, and
encumbrances of what kind or nature soever ; and the above bargained
premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person or persons
lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, the said party
of the first part shall and will warrant and forever defend.
In testimony whereof, the said parties of the first part have hereunto
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered
in presence of Henry Best, [l.s.]
Jerry Linklater. Belle Best, [l.s.]
aUIT-CLAIM DEED.
This Indenture, mac e the eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between David Tour,
of Piano, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, party of the first part,
and Larry O'Brien, of the same place, party of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in considera-
tion of Nine Hundred dollars in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
ond part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and the said party
of the second part forever released and discharged therefrom, has remised,
released, sold, conveyed, and quit-claimed, and by these presents does
remise, release, sell, convey, and quit-claim, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all the right, title, interest,
186 ABSTBACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
claim, and demand, which the said party of the first part has in and to
the following described lot, piece, or parcel of land, to wit :
[JSere describe the land.~\
To have and to hold the same, together with all and singular the
appurtenances and privileges thereunto belonging, or in any wise there-
unto appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, interest, and claim
whatever, of the said party of the first part, either in law or equity, to
the only proper use, benefit, and behoof of the said party of the second
part, his heirs and assigns forever.
In witness whereof the said party of the first part hereunto set his
hand and seal the day and year above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered David Touk. [l.s.]
in presence of
Thomas Ashley.
The above forms of Deeds and Mortgage are such as have heretofore
been generally used, but the following are much shorter, and are made
equally valid by the laws of this state.
' WARRANTY DEED.
The grantor (here insert name or names and place of residence), for
and in consideration of (here insert consideration) in hand paid, conveys
and warrants to (here insert the grantee's name or names) the following
described real estate (here insert description), situated in the County of
in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
QUIT CLAIM DEED.
The grantor (here insert grantor's name or names and place of resi-
dence), for the consideration of (here insert consideration) convey and
quit-claim to (here insert grantee's name or names) all interest in the
following described real estate (here insert description), situated in the
County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
MORTGAGE.
The mortgagor (here insert name or names) mortgages and warrants
to (here insert name or names of mortgagee or mortgagees), to secure the
payment of (here recite the nature and amount of indebtedness, showing
when due and the rate of interest, and whether secured by note or other-
wise), the following described real estate (here insert description thereof),
situated in the County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
RELEASE.
Know all Men by these presents, that I, Peter Ahlund, of Chicago,
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, for and in consideration of
One dollar, to me in hand paid, and for other good and valuable considera-
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 187
tions, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed, do hereby grant, bargain,
remise, convey, release, and quit-claim unto J'oseph Carlin of Chicago,
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, all the right, title, interest,
claim, or demand whatsoever, I may have acquired in, through, or by a
certain Indenture or Mortgage Deed, bearing date the second day of Jan-
uary, A. D. 1871, and recorded in the Recorder's office of said county,
in book A of Deeds, page 46, to the premises therein described, and which
said Deed was made to secure one certain promissory note, bearing even
date with said deed, for the sum of Three Hundred dollars.
Witness my hand and seal, this second day of November, A. D. 1874.
Peter Ahlund. [l.s.]
State of Illinois, )
Cook County. j * I, George Saxton, a Notary Public in
and for said county, in the state aforesaid, do hereby
certify that Peter Ahlund, personally known to me
as the same person whose name is subscribed to the
foregoing Release, appeared before me this day in
[ ^SBAL.^^ ] person, and acknowledged that he signed, sealed, and
delivered the said instrument of writing as his free
and voluntary act, for the uses and purposes therein
set forth.
Giv^n under my hand and seal, this second day of
Novemb3r, A. D. 1874.
George Saxton, N. P.
GENERAL FOM/I OF WILL FOR REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
I, Charles Mansfield, of the Town of Salem, County of Jackson,
Scate of Illinois, being aware of the uncertainty of life, and in failing
health, but of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this to be
my last will and testament, in manner following, to wit:
First. I give, devise and bequeath unto my oldest son, Sidney H.
Mansfield, the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, of bank stock, now in the
Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the farm owned by myself
ill the Town of Buskirk, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, with
all the houses, tenements, and improvements thereunto belonging ; to
have and to hold unto my said son, his heirs and assign^., forever.
Second. I give, devise and bequeath to each of my daughters, Anna
Louise Mansfield and Ida Clara Mansfield, each Two Thousand dollars in
bank stock, in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and also each
one quarter section of land, owned by myself, situated in the Town of
Lake, Illinois, and recorded in my name in the Recorder's officw) in the
county where such land is located. The north one hundred and sixty
acres of said half section is devised to my eldest daughter, itnna Louise.
6
188 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Third, I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Frank Alfred Mans-
field, Five shares of Railroad stock in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
and my one hundred and sixty acres of land and saw mill thereon, situ-
ated in Manistee, Michigan, with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, which said real estate is recorded in my name in the
county where situated.
Fourth, I give to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, all my
household furniture, goods, chattels, and personal property, about my
home, not hitherto disposed of, including Eight Thousand dollars of bank
stock in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifteen shares in
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the free and unrestricted use, pos-
session, and benefit of the home farm, so long as she may live, in lieu of
dower, to which she is entitled by law ; said farm being my present place
of residence.
Fifth. I bequeath to my invalid father, Elijah H. Mansfield, the
income from rents of my store building at 145 Jackson Street, Chicago,
Illinois, during the term of his natural life. Said building and land there-
with to revert to my said sons and daughters in equal proportion, upon
the demise of my said father.
Sixth. It is also my will and desire that, at the death of my wife,
Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, or at any time when she may arrange to
relinquish her life interest in the above mentioned homestead, the same
may revert to my above named children, or to the lawful heirs of each.
And lastly, I nominate and appoint as executors of this my last will
and testament, my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, and my eldest son,
Sidney H. Mansfield.
I further direct that my debts and necessary funeral expenses shad
be paid from moneys now on deposit in the Savings Bank of Salem, the
residue of such moneys to revert to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield,
for her use forever.
In witness whereof, I, Charles Mansfield, to this my last will and
testament, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourth day of April,
eighteen hundred and seventy-two.
Signed, sealed, and declared by Charles
Mansfield, as and for his last will and
testament, in the presence of us, who,
at his request, and in his presence, and
in the presence of each other, have sub-
scribed our names hereunto as witnesses
thereof.
Peter A. Schenck, Sycamore, Ills.
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills.
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 181)
CODICIL.
Whereas I, Charles Mansfield, did, on the fourth day of April, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, make my last will and testa-
ment, I do now, by this writing, add this codicil to my said will, to be
taken as a part thereof.
Whereas, by the dispensation of Providence, my daughter, Anna
Louise, has deceased November fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three,
and whereas, a son has been born to me, which son is now christened
Richard Albert Mansfield, I give and bequeath unto him my gold watch,
and all right, interest, and title in lands and bank stock and chattels
bequeathed to my deceased daughter, Anna Louise, in the body of this will.
In witness whereof, I hereunto place my hand and seal, this tenth
day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy -five.
Signed, sealed, published, and declared to'
us by the testator, Charles Mansfield, as
and for a codicil to be annexed to his
last will and testament. And we, at
his request, and in his presence, and in
the presence of each other, have sub-
scribed our names as witnesses thereto,
at the date hereof.
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills.
John C. Shay, Salem, Ills.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS
May be legally made by electing or appointing^ according to the usages
or customs of the body of which it is a part, at any meeting held for that
purpose, two or more of its members as trustees, wardens or vestrymen, and
may adopt a corporate name. The chairman or secretary of such meeting
shall, as soon as possible, make and file in the office of the recorder of
deeds of the county, an affidavit substantially in the following form :
State of Illinois, )
County. ( ^^•
I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be),
that at a meeting of the members of the (here insert the name of the
church, society or congregation as known before organization), held at
(here insert place of meeting), in the County of , and State of
Ilhnois, on the day of , A.D. 18—, for that purpose, the fol-
lowing persons were elected (or appointed) [here insert their names']
trustees, wardens, vestrymen, (or officers by whatever name they may
choose to adopt, with powers similar to trustees) according to the rules
and usages of such (church, society or congregation), and said
190 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
adopted as its corporate name (here insert name), and at said meeting
this affiant acted as (chairman or secretary, as the case may be).
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this day of , A.D.
18—, Name of Affiant
which affidavit must be recorded by the recorder, and shall be, or a certi-
fied copy made by the recorder, received as evidence of such an incorpo-
ration.
N'o certificate of election after the first need he filed for record.
The term of office of the trustees and the general government of the
society can be determined by the rules or by-laws adopted. Failure to
elect trustees at the time provided does not work a dissolution, but the
old trustees hold over. A trustee or trustees may be removed, in the
same manner by the society as elections are held by a meeting called for
that purpose. The property of the society vests in the corporation. The
corporation may hold, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, land not
exceeding ten acres, for the purpose of the society. The trustees have
the care, custody and control of the property of the corporation, and can,
when directed by the society, erect houses or improvements, and repair
and alter the same, and may also when so directed by the society,
mortgage, encumber, sell and convey any real or personal estate belonging
to the corporation, and make all proper contracts in the name of such
corporation. But they are prohibited by law from encumbering or inter-
fering, with any property so as to destroy the effect of any gift, grant,
devise or bequest to the corporation ; but such gifts, grants, devises or
bequests, must in all cases be used so as to carry out the object intended
by the persons making the same. Existing societies may organize in the
manner herein set forth, and have all the advantages thereof.
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE PURCHASING BOOKS BY SUBSCRIPTION.
The business of publishing bSoks by subscription having so often been
brought into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations
not authorized by the publisher ; in order to prevent that as much as possi-
ble, and that there may be more general knowledge of the relation such
agents bear to their principal, and the law governing such cases, the fol-
lowing statement is made :
A subscription is in the nature of a contract of mutual promises, by
which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ;
the consideration is concurrent that the publisher shall publish the book
named^ and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price
named. The nature and character of the work is described in the prospectus
and by the sample shown. These should be carefully examined before sub-
scribing^ as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pay,
ABSTRACT OF IJ^LTNOIS STATE LAWS. 191
and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agent ^ who is merely
employed to solicit subscriptions^ for which he is usually paid a commission
for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions
upon which the subscriptions are authorized to be made by the publisher.
Should the agent assume to agree to make the subscription conditional or
modify or change the agreement of the publisher^ as set out by prospectus
and sample, in order to hi7id the principal^ the subscriber should see that
such conditions or changes are stated over or in connection with his signa-
ture^ so that the publisher may have notice of the same.
All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or
any other business, should remember that the law as to written contracts is,
that they can not be varied^ altered or rescinded verbally, but if done at all,
must be done in writing. It is therefore important that all persons contem-
plating subscribing should distinctly understand that all talk before or after
the subscription is made, is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the
contract.
Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known to the trade as
canvassers. They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a
prescribed mode, and have no authority to do it in any other way to the
prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in any other
matter. They cannot collect money, or agree that payment may be made
in anything else but money. They can not extend the time of payment
beyond the time of delivery, nor bind their principal for the payment of
expenses incurred in their buisness.
It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons,
before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instru-
ment, would examine carefully what it is ; if they can not read themselves,
should call on some one disinterested who can.
6
192 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND ITS AMENDMENTS.
We^ the people of the United States^ in order to form a more perfect union^
establish justice^ insure domestic tranquillity^ provide for the common
defense^ promote the general welfare^ and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity^ do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America,
Article I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem-
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev-
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to theii
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse-
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand,
but each state shall have at least one Representative ; and until such
enumeration shall be made the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations one, Connecticut five. New York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylva-
nia eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five,
and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years ;
and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira-
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 193
tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state,
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he
shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside.
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the members present.
Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment,
and punishment according to law.
Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen-
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legis-
lature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.
Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute
a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members
in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen-
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason.
194 COKSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house
they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.
Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President
- the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it ; but if not he shall
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi-
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec-
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays,
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and lim-
itations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power —
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
Stcites, and with the Indian tribes ;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures ;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States ;
To establish post offices and post roads ;
AKD ITS AMENDMENTS. 195
To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing,
for ^'mited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries ;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations ;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water ;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years ;
To provide and maintain a navy ;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces ;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ;
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment^of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disci-
pline prescribed by Congress ;
To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful
buildings ; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart-
ment or officer thereof.
Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev-
enue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.
196 CONSTITtTTlON OF THE UNITED STATES
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder-
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and
imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will
not admit of delay.
Article II.
Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows :
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ;
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[*The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres-
ident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a ma-
jority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President,
•This clause between.brackets has been superseded and annulled by tbe Twelfthjamendment.
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 197
the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-Presi-
dent.]
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and
the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible
to the of&ce of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Pr.esident, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignatioti, or inabil-
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the dis-
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com-
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of
them.
Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the fol-
lowing oath or affirmation :
" I do solemnly ^wear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses
against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con-
cur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment
of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.
Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea-
sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary
198 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES
occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree-
ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con-
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III.
Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at
stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ;
between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of differ-
ent states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants
of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens, or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have
original jurisdiction.
In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shal\
have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.
Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy-
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the tes-
timony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture,
except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV.
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 199
the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand
of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the state having jurisdici-on of the crime.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states
concerned, as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed
as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.
Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Execu-
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic vio-
lence.
Article V.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ap-
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati-
fied by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by con-
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifi-
cation may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI.
All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop-
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mem-
200
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi-
cers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under
the United States.
Akticle VII.
The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names.
GEO. WASHINGTON,
President and Deputy from Virginia,
New Hampshire,
John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman.
Massachusetts.
Nathaniel Gorham,
RUFus King.
Connecticut,
Wm. Sam'l Johnson,
Roger Sherman.
Delaware.
Geo. Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco. Broom,
Gunning Bedford, Je.,
Richard Bassett.
Maryland,
James M' Henry,
Danl. Carroll,
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer.
New York,
Alexander Hamilton.
New Jersey,
WiL. Livingston,
Wm. Paterson,
David Brearley,
JoNA. Dayton.
Virginia,
John Blair,
James Madison, Jb.
North Carolina,
Wm. Blount,
Hu. Williamson,
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight.
Pennsylvania,
B. Franklin,
Robt. Morris,
Thos. Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,
Thos. Mifflin,
Geo. Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Gouv. Morris.
South Carolina,
j. rutledge,
Charles Pinckney,
Chas. Cotesworth Pincezney,
Pierce Butler.
Georgia.
William Few,
Abr. Baldwin.
WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary,
L--^^
POLO
I
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 203
iTiCLEs IN Addition to and Amendatory of the Constitution
OF THE United States of America.
Proposed hy Congress and ratified hy the Legislatures of the several stated,
pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution,
Article I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article II.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Article III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be pre-
scribed by law.
Article IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio-
lated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the persons or things to be seized.
Article V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Article VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to »
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Article VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
204 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX.
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Ariicle X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.
Article XI.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one
of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub-
jects of any foreign state.
Article XII.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their
ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the
highest number not exceeding three oh the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi-
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of
the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority
of the whole number of electors appointed," and if no person have a major-
I
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 205
ity-; then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
Article XIII.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris-
diction.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation. •
Article XIV.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per-
sons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu-
tive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the num-
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens
twenty-one years of age in such state.
Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previ-
ously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an execu-
tive or judicial officer of any state to support the Constitution of the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may,
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.
I ^ Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author-
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and boun-
I ties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques-
i tioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt
I or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the
United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts,
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
206
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this act.
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT.
November 7, 1876.
COUNTIES.
ail
ll
5
II
ll
COUNTIES.
Ill
W P3
Mi
ill
if
1
^0.
is
<
Adftms
4953
1219
1520
1965
944
3719
441
2231
1209
1814
1416
2957
36548
1355
1145
3679
1928
mi
2715
970
1145
966
4187
703
1695
•i?
3496
330
1315
4177
3768
2040
6308
1280
1142
363
ii
918
1618
3103
3287
2197
39240
1643
1407
1413
1174
466
742
1302
3160
1142
1433
4207
611
1015
1928
2578
2071
41
17i 1
Livingston
3550
2788
3120
3567
4554
2009
1231
2952
3465
!?Si
2486
3069
1245
3833
4665
1319
3055
1043
2357
1410
nil
4851
1522
910
2069
1140
3198
650
2795
1911
1570
Mil
4770
1672
4505
1733
2134
2595
2782
4076
4730
2444
1430
'?i
2811
1874
4410
1657
1428
3174
1672
Itil
800
iifi
4040
772
1081
5847
'St
3553
786
i?IJ
3171
2155
3031
936
1984
1671
1751
2131
3999
1644
1568
2105
1170
37
135
^'§
90
5§l
28
104
'1
48
117
35
16
'"i
"3
"8
3
Alexander . .
'
Logan
Bond
17
43
183
145
■"2
1
2
li
Macon
Macoupin
Bureau . . ,
Marion
Calhoun
Marshall...
1
Carroll
111
74
604
207
236
112
132
102
65
746
94
25
161
61
43
57
204
391
89
282
1
7
"i
....
lO
3
"i
6
9
....
"3
3
■"8
Massac
McDonough
Champaign . .
Christian
S
Clark
7
Clay
Clinton ... .
Menard
S
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Morgan
^
Cumberland .
Moultrie
De Kalb
Ogle
8
DeWitt
Peoria
Douglas
Pope
■"i
I>iatt
Edwards
Pike
4
Efflngham
Pulaski
J.
"'i
■■9
■■■4
14
2
if
641
li
%
26
44
3
138
1
.1?
'.'.'.'.
Franklin .
Richland
Gallatin
Saline
Sangamon
Schuyler
Grundy
'.'.'.'.
Shelby
Stark
Hardin
134
1
340
Tot
"4
14
"'e
1
"2
1
3
Tazewell
2
"8
"13
1
130
9
Jefferson
1346
1367
ii?
1869
.5235
2619
6277
1198
3087
1667
2166
2276
893
2850
1363
524
2632
1647
6001
1329
2080
647
"■140
61
172
26
309
141
55
514
27
100
12
2
■3
'".5
2
Wabash
Jersey ... .
Warren
I
Johnson
Wayne
Kane
White
4
Kankakee
Whiteside
1
Kendall
Will
Knox
::::
1
1
15
Williamson^
Lake
2
La Salle . .
Woodford
4
Total
Lee
■■■2
■6
275958
257099
16951
157
Practical Rules for Every Day Use.
now to find the gain or loss per cent, when the cost and selling price
are given.
Rule. — Find the difference between the cost and selling price, which
will be the gain or loss.
Annex two ciphers to the gain or loss, and divide it by the cost
price ; the result will be the gain or loss per cent.
How to change gold into currency.
Rule. — Multiply the given sum of gold by the price of gold.
How to change currency into gold.
Divide the amount in currency by the price of gold.
How to find each partner's share of the gain or loss in a copartnership
business.
Rule. — Divide the whole gain or loss by the entire stock, the quo-
tient will be the gain or loss per cent.
Multiply each partner's stock by this per cent., the result will be
each one's share of the gain or loss.
How to find gross and net weight and price of hogs.
A short and simple method for finding the net weight, or price of hogs,
when the gross weight or price is given, and vice versa.
Note.— It is generally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent,
of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by X or 25 per cent, of itself equals the
{^ross weight.
tTo find the net weight or gross price.
Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths.)
To find the gross weight or net price.
Divide the given number by .8 (tenths.)
How to find the capacity of a granary, bin, or wagon-bed.
Rule. — Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by
6308, and point off one decimal place — the result will be the correct
answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.
For only an approximate answer, multiply the cubic feet by 8, and
j point off one decimal place.
How to find the contents of a corn-crib.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 54, short method, or
(207)
208 ' MISCELLAKEOITS INFORM ATIOK.
by 4i ordinary method, and point off one decimal place — the result wil)
be the answer in bushels.
Note.— In estimating corn in tlie ear, the quality and tlie time it lias been cribbed must be taken
Into consideration, since corn will shrink considerably during the Winter and Spring, This rule generally hold&
good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is sound and clean.
How to find the contents of a cistern or tank.
Rule. — Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all
in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off one
decimal place — the result will be the contents in barrels of 31i gallons.
How to find the contents of a barrel or cask.
Rule. — Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length
(all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the
TENS ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point
off one decimal place, and the rpsult will be the answer in wine gallons.
How to measure hoards.
Rule. — Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and
divide the product by 12— the result will be the contents in square feet.
How to measure scantlings^ Joists, planks, sills, etc.
Rule. — Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together
(the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide
the product by 12 — the result will be square feet.
How to find the number of acres in a body of land.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the
product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal jplaces if there is a
remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.
When the opposite sides of a piece of land are of unequal length,
add them together and take one-half for the mean length or width.
How to find the number of square yards in a floor or wall.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width or height (in feet), and
divide the product by 9, the result will be square yards.
How to find the number of bricks required in a building.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 22^.
The number of cubic feet is found by multiplying the length, height
and thickness (in feet) together.
Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches
thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar,
but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space.
How to find the number of shingles required in a roof.
Rule. — Multiply the number of square feet in the roof by 8, if the
shingles are exposed 4^- inches, or by 7 1-5 if exposed 5 inches.
To find the number of square feet, multiply the length of the roof by
twice the length of the rafters.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 209
To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the
width of the building by .b6 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6
(tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths) ; at one-half
pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from
the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be
taken into consideration.
Note.— By X or }i pitch Is meant that the apex or comb of the roof is to be X or J^ the width of the
building higher than the walls or base of the rafters.
How to reckon the cost of hay.
Rule. — Multiply the number of pounds by half the price per ton,
and remove the decimal point three places to the left.
How to measure grain.
Rule. — Level the grain; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic
feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point ofP one place to
the left.
Note.— Exactness requires the addition to every three hundred bushels of one extra bushel.
The foregoing rule may be used for finding the number of gallons, by
multiplying the number of bushels by 8.
If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find
the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai
corn to make 1 of shelled corn.
Rapid rules for measuring land without instruments.
In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any
given plot in square yards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the
number of rods and acres.
The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now,
an ordinary -sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on
the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.
To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to
walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line
straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walk-
ing, keep these objects constantly in line.
Farmers and others hy adopting the following simple and ingenious con-
trivance^ may always carry with them the scale to construct a correct yard
measure.
Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of
the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the
left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.
To find how many rods in length will make an acre., the width being given.
Rule. — Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer.
210 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
How to find the number of acres in any plot of land^ the number of rods
being given.
Rule. — Divide the number of rods by 8, multiply the quotient by 5,
and remove the decimal point two places to the left.
The diameter being given, to find the circumference.
Rule. — Multiply the diameter by 3 1-7.
How to find the diameter, when the circumference is given.
Rule. — Divide the circumference by 3 1-7.
To find how many solid feet a round stick of timber of the same thick-
ness throughout will contain when squared.
Rule. — Square half the diameter in inches, multiply by 2, multiply
by the length in feet, and divide the product by 144.
G-eneral rule for measuring timber, to find the solid contents in feet.
Rule. — Multiply the depth in inches by the breadth in inches, and
then multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 144.
To find the number of feet of timber in trees with the bark on.
Rule. — Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in
inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by 144. Deduct 1-10 to
1-15 according to the thickness of the bark.
Howard' s new rule for computing interest.
Rule. — The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest
on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal
point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point
one place to the left ; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three
places to the left.
Increase or diminish the results to suit the time given.
Note.— The reciprocal of the rate is found by inverting the rate ; thus 3 per cent, per month, in-
verted, becomes Ji of a month, or 10 days.
When the rate is expressed by one figure, always write it thus : 3-1,
three ones.
Rule for converting English into American currency.
Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals,
by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by 90.
U. S. GOVERNMENT LAND MEASURE.
A township — 36 sections each a mile square.
A section — 640 acres.
A quarter section, half a mile square — 160 acres.
An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter
of a mile wide — 80 acres.
A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square — 40 acres.
MISCBLLAKEOUS IKFORMATION. 211
The sections are all numbered 1 to 36, commencing at the north-east
corner.
The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the
cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The de-
scription of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of
the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west,
or as the case might be ; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes
overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.
The nautical mile is 795 4-5 feet longer than the common mile.
SURVEYORS' MEASURE.
7 92-100 inches make 1 link.
25 links " 1 rod.
4 rods " 1 chain.
80 chains " 1 mile.
Note. — A chain is 100 links, equal to 4 rods or 66 feet.
Shoemakers formerly used a subdivision of the inch called a barley-
corn ; three of which made an inch.
Horses are measured directly over the fore feet, and the standard of
measure is four inches — called a hand.
In Biblical and other old measurements, the term span is sometimes
used, which is a length of nine inches.
The sacred cubit of the Jews was 24.024 inches in length.
The common cubit of the Jews was 21.704 inches in length.
A pace is equal to a yard or 36 inches.
A fathom is equal to 6 feet.
A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly
speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal
to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said
to be a league.
In cloth measure an aune is equal to li yards, or 45 inches.
An Amsterdam ell is equal to 26.796 inches.
A Trieste ell is equal to 25.284 inches.
I A Brabant ell is equal to 27.116 inches.
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS.
Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business,
should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic man-
ner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of ac-
quiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here
present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended,
and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics
and laborers.
212
MISCELLAHEOtrS IKPORMATIOK.
1875.
A. H. JACKSON.
Dr.
Cr
Jan.
10
((
17
Feb.
4
((
4
March
8
((
8
li
13
u
27
April
9
9
May
6
24
July
4
To 7 bushels Wheat ...at $1.25
By shoeing span of Horses _
To 14 bushels Oats at $ .45
To 5 lbs. Butter 1 at .25
By new Harrow _
By sharpening 2 Plows
By new Double-Tree
To Cow and Calf
To half ton of Hay _ _
By Cash
By repairing Corn-Planter .. .
To one Sow with Pigs
By Cash, to balance account
18
75
$2
6
30
1
25
18
2
48
00
6
25
25
4
17
50
35
$88
05
$88
50
00
40.
25
00
75
15
05
1875.
CASSA MASON.
Dr.
Cr.
March 21
«
21
t(
23
May
1
u
1
June
19
((
26
July
10
u
29
Aug.
12
u
12
Sept.
1
By 3 days' labor
To2 Shoats
To 18 bushels Corn
By 1 month's Labor
To Cash
By 8 days' Mowing
To 50 lbs. Flour
To 27 lbs. Meat
By 9 days' Harvesting
By 6 days' Labor ,
To Cash
To Cash to balance account.
.at $1.25
.dt 3.00
.at .45
..at $1.50
...at $" .io
...at 2.00
...at 1.50
$3
$6
00
8
10
25
10
00
12
2
75
2
70
18
9
20
00
18
20
$67
75
$67
75
00
00
00
00
75
INTEREST TABLE.
A SiMPi-B Rule for accurately Computing Interest at Any Given Per Cent, por Any
Length op Time.
Multiply the principal (amount of money at interest) by the time reduced to days; then divide this product
by the quotient obtained by dividing 360 (the number of days in the interest year) by the per cent, of interest,
andt/ie quotient thus obtained will be the required interest.
illustration. Solution.
Requiretheinterestof $462.50 for one month and eighteen days at 6 per cent. An $462.50
interest month is 30 days; one month and eighteen days equal 48 days. $462.50 multi- .48
plied by .48 gives $222.0000; 360 divided by 6 (the per cent, of interest) gives 60, and
$222.0000 divided by 60 will give you the exact interest, which Is $3.70. ff the rate of 370000
interest in the above example were 12 per cent., we would divide the $222.0000 by 30 6)360 \ 185000
(because 360 divided by 12 gives 30); if 4 per cent., we would divide by90; if 8per )
cent, by 45: and in like manner for any otber per cent.
60/$222.0000($3.70
180
420
420
00
MISCELLANEOUS TABLE.
12 units, or things, 1 Dozen.
12 dozen, 1 Gross.
20 things, 1 Score.
196 pounds, 1 Barrel of Flour. I 24 sheets of paper, 1 Quire.
200 pounds, 1 Barrel of Pork. 20 quires paper 1 jReam,
56 pounds, 1 Firkin of Butter. | 4 ft. wide, 4 ft. high, and 8 ft. long, 1 Cord Wood.
MISCELLANEOUS INFOEMATION. 213
NAMES OF THE STATES OF THE UNION, AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS.
Virginia. — The oldest of the States, was so called in honor of Queen
Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made
his first attempt to colonize that region.
Florida. — Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter
Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was
the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers."
Louisiana was called after Louis the Fourteenth, who at one time
owned that section of the country.
Alabama was so named by the Indians, and signifies " Here we Rest."
Mississippi is likewise an Indian name, meaning " Long River."
Arkansas, from Kansas, the Indian word for " smoky water." Its
prefix was really arc, the French word for " bow."
The Carolinas were originally one tract, and were called "Carolana,"
after Charles the Ninth of France.
G-eorgia owes its name to George the Second of England, who first
established a colony there in 1732.
Tennessee is the Indian name for the " River of the Bend," i. e., the
Mississippi which forms its western boundary.
Kentucky is the Indian name for " at the head of the river."
Ohio means " beautiful ; " Iowa, " drowsy ones ; " Minnesota, " cloudy
water," and Wisconsin, "wild-rushing channel."
Illinois is derived from the Indian word illini, men, and the French
suf&x ois, together signifying "tribe of men."
Michigan was called by the name given the lake, fish-weir, which was
so styled from its fancied resemblance to a fish trap.
Missouri is from the Indian word " muddy," which more properly
applies to the river that flows through it.
Oregon owes its Indian name also to its principal river.
Cortes named California.
Massachusetts!^ the Indian for " The country around the great hills."
Connecticut, from the Indian Quon-ch-ta-Cut, signifying "Long
River."
Maryland, after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles the First, of
England.
New York was named by the Duke of York.
Pennsylvania means " Penn's woods," and was so called after Williauft
Penn, its orignal owner.
214
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Delaware after Lord De La Ware.
New Jersey^ so called in honor of Sir George Carteret, who was
Governor of the Island of Jersey, in the British Channel.
3Iaine was called after the province of Maine in France, in compli-
ment of Queen Henrietta of England, who owned that province.
Vermont, from the French word Vert Mont, signifying Green
Mountain.
New Hampshire, from Hampshire county in England. It was
formerly called Laconia.
The little State of Bhode Island owes its name to the Island of
Rhodes in the Mediterranean, which domain it is said to greatly
resemble.
Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that
section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.
POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES.
States and Territories.
Totai
Population.
996.992
484,471
California
560,247
5.37,454
125,015
Flori da
187,748
Georgia
1.184; 109
Illinois
2,539,891
1,680,637
Iowa
1,191,792
364,399
1,321,011
Louisiana
726,915
Maine
626,915
Maryland .
780 894
1,457,351
1,184,059
439,706
Mississippi...
827,922
1,721,295
122 993
Nevada •
42,491
318.300
906.096
New Yorlc
4,882.759
1,071,361
2,665,260
90 923
3,521,791
217,353
705,606
1,258,520
818,579
330 551
North Carolina
Oregon .
Pennsylvania
Soutii Carolina
Vermont . . . . .
Virginia
1,225', 163
442,014
1,054,670
38,113,253
9,658
39,864
West Virginia
Wisconsin
jjakota
14181
131.700
14,999
District of Columbia
Montana . .
20 595
91,874
New Mexico
Utah
86,786
Washington .
23 955
9,118
442,730
Total United States
38,555,983
POPULATION OF FIFTY
PRINCIPAL CITIES.
New York, N. Y
Philadelphia, Pa....
Brooklyn, N. Y
St. Louis, Mo
Chicago, 111
Baltimore, Md
Boston, Mass
Cincinnati, Ohio....
New Orleans, La. ..
San Francisco, Cal..
Buifalo, N, Y
Washington, D. C...
Newark, N.J
Louisville, Ky
Cleveland, Ohio
Pittsburg, Pa
Jersey City, N. J ...
Detroit, Mich
Milwaukee, Wis
Albany, N. Y
Providence, R. I
Rochester, N. Y
Allegheny, Pa
Richmond, Va
New Haven, Conn..
Charleston, S. C
Indianapolis, Ind...
Troy, N. Y
Syracuse, N. Y
Worcester, Mass
Lowell, Mass
Memphis, Tenn
Cambridge, Mass. . .
Hartford, Conn
Scranton, Pa
Reading, Pa
Paterson, N.J
Kansas City, Mo...,
Mobile, Ala
Toledo. Ohio
Portland, Me
Columbus, Ohio
Wilraingtoii, Del...
Dayton, Ohio
Lawrence, Mass
Utica, N. Y
Charlestown, Mass
Savannah, Ga
Lynn. Mass
Fall River, Mass...
Aggregate
Population.
942,292
674,022
396,099
310,864
298,977
267,354
250,526
216,239
191,418
149,473
117.714
109,199
105,059
100,753
92,829
86,076
82,546
79,577
71,440
69,422
68,904
62,386
53,180
51,038
50,840
48,956
48,244
46,465
43,051
41,105
40.928
40.226
39,634
37,180
35,092
33,930
33,579
32,260
32,034
31,584
31,413
31,274
30.841
30,473
28,921
28.804
28.323
28,235
28,233
MISCELLANEOUS INFOBMATION.
21o
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
States and
tebritoribs.
States.
Alabama
Arkansas..
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts...
Michigan*
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire.
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina..
Ohio
Oregon
722
198
981
674
120
268
000
410
809
045
318
600
346
776
184
;8oo
451
531
156
350
9P5
090
280
320
,000
,704
,964
,244
Population.
996,992
484,471
560,247
537,454
125,015
187,748
1,184,109
2,539,891
1,680,637
1,191.792
364,399
1,321,011
726,915
626,915
780,894
1.457,351
1,184,059
439,706
827.922
1,721,295
123,993
42,491
318.300
906,096
4,382,759
1,071,361
2,665,260
90,923
1,350,544
528,r-
857,039
1,651,912
1,334,031
598,429
246,280
52,540
1,026,502
4,705,208
Miles
R. R.
1872.
1,671
25
1,013
820
227
466
2,108
5,904
3.529
3.160
1,760
1,123
539
871
820
1,606
2,235
1,612
990
2,580
828
593
790
1.265
4,470
1.1"
3,740
lo9
* Last Census of Michigan taken in 1874.
States and
Territories.
States.
Pennsylvania...
Rhode Island...
South Carolina.
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia...
Wisconsin
Total States
Territories.
Arizona
Colorado
Dakota
Dist. of Columbia
Idaho.
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Total Territories.
Area in
square
Miles.
46,000
1,306
29,385
45,600
237,504
10,212
40,904
23,000
53,924
1,950,171
113,
104,
147,
143
121,
80,
69
965,032
Population
1870.
3,521,791
217,353
705,606
1,258,520
818.579
330,551
1,225,163
442,014
1,054.670
38,113,253
39,
14,
131,
14,
20,
91,
86,
23,
442,730
Miles
R. R.
1875. 1872.
258,239
925,145
1,236,729
5,113
136
1,201
1,520
865
675
1,490
485
1,725
59,587
375
498
1.265
Aggregate of U. S.. 2,915,203 38,555,983 60,852
» Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland.
PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD;
Population and Area.
Countries.
Population.
Date of
Census.
Area in
Square
Miles.
Inhabitants
to Square
Mile.
Capitals.
Population.
China
British Empire
Russia
United States with Alaska.
France
Austria and Hungary
Great Britain and Ireland.
German Empire
Italy
Spain
Brazil
Turkey
Mexico
Sweden and Norway
Persia
Belgium
Bavaria
Portugal
Holland
.IV ew Grenada
Chili
Switzerland
Peru
Bolivia
Argentine Republic
Wurtemburg
Denmark
Venezuela
Baden
Greece
Guatemala
Ecuador
Paraguay
Hesse
Liberia ,
San Salvador ,
Hayti
Nicaragua
Uruguay
Honduras
San Domingo
Costa Rica
Hawaii
446,500,000
226,817,108
81,925,400
38,925,600
36,469,800
35.904,400
34,785,300
31,817.100
29,906,092
27,439,921
16,642,000
10,000.000
16,463,000
9,173.000
5,921.500
5,000.000
5,021,300
4,861,400
3,995,200
3,688,300
3.000,000
2,000,000
2,669,100
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,812,000
1,818,500
1,784,700
1,500,000
1,461,400
1,457,900
1,180,000
1,300,000
1,000,000
823,138
718,000
600,000
572,000
350,000
300,000
350,000
136,000
165,000
62,950
1871
1871
1871
1870
1866
1869
1871
1871
1871
1871
1867
1869
1870
1870
1869
1871
1868
1870
1870
1869
1870
1871
■1869
1871
1870
'ih'ii
1870
1871
'isVi
1^71
1871
1871
1871
1871
"isVo
3.741,846
4,677,432
8.003,778
2,603,884
204,091
240,348
149,399
121,315
160,207
118,847
195,775
3,253,029
672.621
761,526
292,871
635,964
11,373
29,292
34,494
12.680
357.157
132,616
15,992
471,838
497,321
871,848
7,533
14,753
368,238
5,912
19,353
40,879
218,928
63,787
2,969
9,576
7,335
10,205
58.171
66.722
47.092
17,827
21,505
7.633
119.3
48.6
10.2
7.78
178.7
149.4
232.8
262.3
187.
230.9
85.
3.07
24.4
20.
7.8
441.5
165.9
115.8
290.9
8.4
15.1
166.9
5.3
4.
2.1
241.4
120.9
4.2
247.
75.3
28.9
5.9
15.6
277.
74.9
81.8
56.
6.
6.5
7.4
7.6
7.7
Pekin
London
St. Petersburg..
Washington
Paris
Vienna
Yeddo
London
Berlin
Rome
Madrid
Rio Janeiro
Constantinople ,
Mexico
Stockholm
Teheran
Brussels
Munich
Lisbon
Hague
Bogota
Santiago
Berne
Lima
Chuquisaca
Buenos Ayres. .
Stuttgart
Copenhagen
Caraccas
Carlsruhe
Athens
Guatemala
Quito
Asuncion
Darmstadt
Monrovia
Sal Salvador . . .
Port au Prince
Managua
Monte Video...
Comayagua ....
San Domingo. . .
San Jose
Honolulu
1,648.800
3,251.800
667.000
109,199
1,825,300
833,900
1.5.54.900
3,251,800
825,400
244,484
332,000
420,000
1,075,000
210.300
136,900
120.000
314,100
169.500
224,063
90.100
45.000
115.400
36,000
160,100
25.000
177.800
91,600
162.042
47,000
86,600
43.400
40.000
70.000
48.000
30.000
.3,000
15,000
20.000
10,000
44,500
12.000
20.000
2.000
7,688
216
MISCELLANEOUS INFOBMATION
POPUIiATION OF ILLINOIS,
By Counties.
COUNTIES.
Adams
Alexander- .
Bond
Boone
Brown
Bureau
Calhoun —
Carroll
Cass
Champaign.
Christian __
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cumberland
De Kalb...
De Witt...
Douglas
Du Page...
Edgar
Edwards
Effingham. _
Fayette
Ford
Franklin . . .
Fulton
Gallatin ...
Greene
Grundy
Hamilton _ .
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson .
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson . . .
Jersey
Jo Daviess.
Johnson
Kane
Kankakee. .
Kendall —
Knox.-'
Lake
La Salle...
Lawrence..
Lee
Livingston .
Logan
AGGRBGATE.
1870. 1860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820
56362
10564
13152
12942
12205
32415
6562
16705
II580
32737
20363
• 18719
15875
16285
25235
349966
13889
12223
23265
14768
13484
16685
21450
7565
15653
19638
9103
12652
38291
III34
20277
14938
13014
35935
5113
12582
35506
25782
19634
1 1234
17864
15054
27820
11248
39091
24352
12399
39522
21014
60792
12533
27171
31471
23053
41323
4707
9815
11678
9938
26426
5144
11733
11325
14629
10492
14987
9336
10941
14203
144954
11551
8311
19086
10820
7140
14701
16925
5454
7816
11189
1979
9393
33338
8055
16093
10379
9915
29061
3759
9501
20660
12325
9589
8364
12965
12051
' 27325
9342
30062
15412
13074
28663
18257
48332
9214
1 765 1
1 1637
14272
26508
2484
6144
7624
7198
8841
3231
4586
7253
2649
3203
9532
4289
5139
9335
43385
7135
3718
7540
5002
9290
10692
3524
3799
8075
5681
22508
5448
12429
3023
6362
14652
2887
4612
3807
4149
5862
3220
8109
7354
18604
4114
16703
7730
13279
14226
17815
6121
5.392
1553
5128
14476
3313
5060
1705
4183
3067
1741
1023
2981
1475
1878
7453
3228
3718
9616
10201
4422
1697
3247
3535
8225
3070
1675
6328
3682
13142
10760
11951
3945
9946
1378
1260
1695
3566
1472
5762
4535
6r8o
3626
6501
7060
2634
9348
7092
2035
759
2333
2186
1390
3124
1090
3940
755
2330
3117
407
1649
2704
4083
184
7405
7674
2616
483
41
1828
2555
2rii
1596
274
3668
626
2931
931
*23
2999
3444
1763
3155
1542
691
843
MISCELLANEOUS INFOBMATION.
217
POPULATION OF ILLINOIS— Concluded.
COUNTIES.
Macon
Macoupin..
Madison
Marion
Marshall —
Mason
Massac
McDonough,
McHenry ._
McLean
Menard.-..
Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perry
Piatt .-.;..
Pike. -
Pope
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph _ _ .
Richland _.,
Rock Island
Saline
Sangamon _.
Schuyler
Scott ,
Shelby
Stark
St. Clair
Stephenson..
Tazewell-. _
Union
Vermilion _ _
Wabash
Warren
Washington.
Wayne
White
Whitesides .
Will.
Williamson.
Winnebago.
Woodford..
Total. .
AQOREOATB.
1870. 1860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820
26481
32726
441 3 1
20622
16950
16184
9581
26509
23762
53988
11735
18769
12982
25314
28463
10385
27492
47540
13723
10953
30708
11437
875^
6280
20859
12803
29783
12714
46352
17419
10530
25476
1075 1
51068
30608
27903
16518
30388
8841
23174
17599
19758
16846
27503
43013
17329
29301
18956
2539891
13738
24602
31251
12739
13437
T0931
6213
20069
22089
28772
9584
15042
12832
13979
22112
6385
22888
36601
9552
6127
27249
6742
3943
5587
17205
9711
21005
9331
32274
14684
9069
14613
9004
37694
25112
21470
1118
19800
7313
18336
13731
12223
12403
18737
29321
12205
24491
13282
1711951
3988
12355
20441
6720
5180
5921
4092
7616
14978
10163
6349
5246
7679
6277
16064
3234
10020
17547
5278
1606
18819
3975
2265
3924
1 1079
4012
6937
5588
19228
10573
7914
7807
3710
20180
1 1666
12052
7615
1 1492
4690
8176
6953
6825
8925
5361
16703
7216
11773
4415
851470
3039
7926
14433
4742
1849
5308
2578
6565
443
2352
4481
4490
19547
3479
6153
3222
[1728
4094
2131
7944
26 ip
14716
6972
6215
6659
1573
13631
2800
7221
5524
9303
4240
6739
4810
5133
7919
2514
10167
4457
4609
476183
1 122
1990
6221
2125
ib)
26
2000
2953
12714
1215
2396
3316
/ri3I0
4429
12960
^2959
2972
7078
4716
3239
5836
2710
308
1675
2553
6091
13550
*2I
I516
2610
3492
*5
5248
2362
1517
1 1 14
4828
157445
*49
5516a
PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES.— 1870.
JOUNTIES
Total
Adams
Alexander
Bond
Boone
Brown
Bureau
Calhoun
Carroll
Cass
Champaign
Christian
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cumberland....
DeKalb
DeWitt ,
Douglas
DuPage
Edgar ,
Edwards
Effingham
Fayette
Ford
Franklin
Fulton...
Gallatin
Greene
Grundy
Hamilton
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jasper .,
Jelierson
Jersey
JoDavIess ,.
Johnson. ..
Kane...
Kankakee
ICendall
Knox .,
Lake
LaSalle
Lawrence
Lee
Livingston
Logan
Macon
Macoupin
Madison
Marion
Marshall .
Mason
Massac
McDonough
McHenry
McLean
Menard
Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perry
Piatt
Pike
Pope
Pulaski
i'utnam
Randolph
Richland
Rock Island
Saline
Sangamon
Schuyler
Scott
Shelby
Stark
St. Clair
Stephenson
Tazewell
Union
Vermilion
Wabash
Warren
Washington
Wayne
White
Whitesides
Will
Williamson
Winnebago
V/oodfortt
Improved
Land.
Number,
19.329.952
287,926
13,83b
145,045
137.307
57,062
398,611
37,1^
186,864
92.902
419,368
241,472
118,594
146,922
150,177
208.337
348,824
105,505
75,342
334,502
168,539
147,633
164,874
^65,458
58.912
120,343
187,1'"
141,228
80,749
228,1 '
49,572
175,408
193,999
88,996
311,517
28,117
140,954
265,904
322,510
78,548
90,867
118,951
94,147
156,517
57,820
240.120
312,182
164.004
330,829
207,779
533,724
87,828
322,212
377,505
321,709
205,259
231.059
257,032
173.081
166,057
209,453
25.151
261,635
230.566
494,978
134.173
222.809
92.810
276,682
293.450
144.220
316,883
170,729
93,754
94,454
233.785
55,980
19,319
37,271
140,764
75,079
155,214
72,309
421,748
96,195
85,331
310,179
138,129
231,117
254,857
229,126
75,832
360,251
54,063
266,187
177.592
147,352
92,398
289,r""
419,442
128,448
241,373
226,504
Woodl'nd
Numbe
5,061.578
112.576
17.761
42,613
29.886
35,491
41,866
63.443
29,793
33,493
16,789
19,803
102,201
80,612
48.868
45,214
19,635
78,350
40, r~
17,722
29,548
11,897
17,243
66,803
57,585
56.330
93,460
123.823
68,750
93,242
6,256
93,878
43,385
44,771
34,705
12,620
22,478
87,642
67,023
94,888
51,427
82,076
3
34,646
10,978
14,244
41,566
21,072
48,117
72,738
12,071
12,462
17,394
18,153
81,224
89,450
61,579
28,260
31,739
33,396
52,547
53,293
40,36t)
34.931
45,977
83,369
47,804
60,217
24,783
43,643
48,666
68,470
5,978
128,953
87,754
12,516
17,184
162,274
50,618
31,239
70,393
51.085
62.477
44,633
74,908
12,375
76,591
43.167
45,268
83,606
53.078
37,558
27,294
55,852
146,794
78,167
21,823
24,261
116,949
37.238
85,217
Otlier un-
improved
Number.
1,491.331
19,370
■■■i;9i5
2,658
25,608
15,803
2,754
33,302
6,604
58,502
19,173
5,420
5,225
8,722
3,27
17,33
27,185
5,604
6,551
17,633
7,'316
3.851
14,282
830
26,206
16,786
63,976
86,710
4,076
2,565
29.653
4,505
3,343
18.480
107
14,243
31,459
63,498
5,991
12,250
778
1,363
45,779
79,141
399
10,598
2,283
25.155
24,399
2,356
3,273
7,409
41,788
408
9,115
7,343
13,675
4.142
2.976
31,013
30
14.035
57,998
49,087
13,952
22,588
666
8,495
1,376
13,112
14,913
2,516
220
L3,897
9,302
4.174
1,170
2.025
20,755
809
19,932
21,294
1,610
9,314
2,783
2,016
13,701
14,846
5,300
31.122
509
14,583
1,931
10,486
869
37.310
6,335
1,648
15,237
23,135
Spring
Wheat.
Winter
Wheat.
Bushels. I
10,133.2071
Bushels.
19.995,198
Rye.
Bushels.
2.456,578
Indian
Corn.
Bushels.
129.921, .395
16,191
700
241,042
13,276
465,236
75
418,073
12,165
102.577
18.360
1,894
500
2.651
144,296
60
550
398,059
106,493
7.683
106,096
13,283
77
42,571
365
193,669
2i;700
1
181,378
1"
161,112
462,379
57,160
890
2,758
188,826
103,466
90,681
267,764
168,914
271,181
450,793
120,206
198,056
55,239
160
550
106,129
73,261
273,871
401,790
211,801
36,152
289,291
59
18,196
17,128
497,038
92,361
26,382
130
28.137
450
243,541
200
89,304
56,221
18
15,526
124,630
2,550
527,394
132.417
"44; 806
186,290
266
4.57,455
195,286
176
408,606
178,139,
947,61
42,658
368.625
599
117,502
724
221,298
260
127,054
123,091
504,041
195.118
85,737
610,888
154,485
4,904
212,924
84,697
190
11,695
65,461
693
247,360
122,703
195,716
351,310
1,008
111,324
223,930
83,093
577,400
150
92,347
232,750
32,306
69,062
445
10,480
329,036
87,808
100,553
558,367
555
92.191
325
480
1,249
7,654
221
2,193
264.134
2,260
1,339
40,963
196,613
861,398
1,207,181
173,65Ji
900
125,628
72,316
36,146
270
10,955
45,793
13,203
651,767
744,891
357,523
196,436
5,580
31,843
350,446
39,762
1 057,497
70,457
44,922
796
1,031,022
150,268
2.279
83.011
247,658
165,724
266,105
452,015
1,562,621
2.118
72,410
180,231
249,558
202.201
5,712
672,486
164,689
184,321
264
1,996
170,787
2,468
108,307
20,989
30
6,240
35,871
4,742
43,811
186
25,721
2.772
45,752
10,722
7,r - ;
3,221
1,619
8,825
20,171
15,497
14,798
21,018
11,540
9,or
7,532
37,508
528
19,759
25,328
11,57"
5.195
131,711
512
415
4,930
11.672
133,533
865
96,430
35,766
23,259
524
9,165
5,934
7.185
2,468
23,618
12,935
.5.163
113.547
5,871
48,30e
1,121
14,829
26,16;f
37.232
29,223
2.404
3.68.5
1*4.5 17
36.135
49,182
544
52,401
29,264
,39,824
4.28:-
40,77!-
1,425
3,296
5.535
6,670
157,504
99,502
1,016
9,24S
25,303
2,309
222
7,707
3,235
3.401
20,003
568
23,073
20,841
930
23,686
30,534
1,008
135,362
59,027
1,737
52,476
72,212
2,576
8,665
418
31.658
8,030
6,228
137,985
30.426
1,452,905
244,220
1,064,052
466,985
337,769
3,030.404
234,041
1,367.965
1,146,980
3,924.720
1,883,336
614,582
1,019,994
813.257
2,133,111
570,42'
581,964
403,075
1,023,849
1,311,635
1,680,225
331,981
2,107,615
352,371
620,247
962,525
565,671
653,209
1,508,763
509,491
1,051.313
295,971
735,252
1,510,401
172,651
1,712,901
2.541,683
799,810
611,951
461,345
887,981
519,120
1,286,326
343,298
674,333
637.39fe
681,267
2,708,319
517,353
3.077.02!!
656.363
1,656.978
1,182,696
4,221,640
2,214,468
1,051,544
2,127.549
1,034,057
1,182,903
2,648, 72tj
133,126
1,362,490
1,145,005
3,723,379
1,973.88(<
2,054,962
543,718
1,527,898
3,198,835
1,753.141
1,787,066
969,224
384,446
1,029.725
1.399.188
315,958
195,735
334,259
510,080
482,594
1,459,653
531,516
4,388,763
440,975
752,771
2,082,578
1,149,878
1,423.121
1.615.679
2,062,053
679,753
2,818,027
421. .361
2,982,853
836,115
1,179,291
870,521
2,163,943
1.131.458
655,710
1,237,406
2,164,186
OREGON
(/u-^jy\
'■^
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF OGLE CO.
[Taken from Illinois State Geological Reports.]
This large and excellent county is bounded on the north by parts of
Stephenson and Winnebago Counties ; on the east by DeKalb County ; on
the south by Lee County, and on the west by Carroll County, and a small
portion of Whiteside County, just touching it on the southwest corner.
It is thirty-nine miles from east to west, and about twenty-one miles from
north to south, making eighteen full townships of land, and about seven
half townships, containing, therefore, about seven hundred and seventy-
three sections, or square miles.
Rock River, a broad-flowing, swift, bubble-dancing stream, flows in a
diagonal direction across the countv, entering it about twelve miles from
its northeast corner, and making its exit about eight miles east of its south-
west corner, dividing the county nearly equally. For most of this distance
the stream sweeps along in long, undulating curves except at Grand de Tour,
where it doubles upon itself in short, abrupt crooks. The river valley here
is unlike itself further north and south. The face of the country along the
river is abrupt, rough, broken and timbered. In only a few places do the
prairie vistas open down to the water's edge, aftbrding glimpses of the
broad, undulating plains, which open so wide beyond, that the blue of the
sky. and the green of the rolling sward, seem to mingle in a far-off blending.
The little streams on either side have cut down through the hills, leaving
bold outcrops of the Trenton limestones and St. Peter's sandstone.
To one familiar with the sublimity and grandeur of mountain scenery
as displayed in Alpine regions, or among the canons and wonders of our
own Sierra Nevada or Rocky Mountain chains, where the slow-moving
glacier creeps among eternal rocks down to the evergreen forests and the
smiling valleys ; where the mountain-born torrent leaps in foam along its
rocky channel ; where gorge and precipice and adamantine rocks, in wild
confusion piled, fill the soul with wonder — to one, we say, familiar with such
scenes as these, the scenery along Rock River, in Ogle County, may seem
tame ; but to the inhabitant of the prairies, accustomed only to the grassy
plains and green slopes of his native state, bedecked though they be in their
native wildness with flowers of gayest hue, there is a charm in such scenery
as a ride along the river bank froin Byron to Dixon discloses.
The resemblance to the old feudal castles of England, as, half-ruined,
moss-covered and ivy draped, they are preserved to us in picture galleries,
is constant and recurring. The limestone bluffs, covered half way up their
steep side with the accumulated talus of ages, look like mural escarpments
and Cyclopean walls among the wild hills. The sandstone cliffs of various
hues, now glancing like snow peaks in the sunshine, or glowing like hills of
flame or yellow, when stained with the red oxide of iron, are weathered into
all sorts of fantastic shapes. The rounded, tower-like, casemated masses,
which stand out in bold relief at the Indian Pulpit, three or four miles
below Oregon, and at other places along this heavy outcrop of the St. Peter's
sandstone, need not the aid of imagination or fancy to shape themselves
13
222 BISTORT OF OGLE COtTNTT.
iDto dome and minaret, spire or cupola, or the graceful flutings, carvings,
mouldings and columns of Gothic, Doric or Corinthian architecture. If
well painted in oil, some of the more striking scenes would illustrate
Illinois landscapes of no mean order of beauty.
. These bold, perpendicular bluffs of rock and deep ravines cut into
them by the little streams, aftbrd excellent opportunities for an examina-
tion of the geology of this county, and will be again referred to in another
part of this report.
At Oregon and Grand de Tour good dams are built across the river,
and a part of the magnificent powers thus obtained are made available for
milling and manufacturing purposes. Dams might be constructed at many
other points on the river within this county, and a supply of water power
be put into use unlimited in extent. Indeed, such a stream as Hock Hiver,
for water powers, is hard to find ; and some day it will enrich all this part
of the state with its mills, manufactories, factories, founderies and machine
shops. Other, but smaller streams, run through different parts of the county.
On the west side of Rock Hiver^ and tributary thereto, is Leaf River
and Pine Creek. The former rises in Stephenson County, enters Ogle
County about ten miles west of Adeline, and flowing in a southeast
course, mingles its waters with those of the larger river a few miles below
Byron. It is a considerable stream, and affords some fair water powers for
light work. Pine Creek runs into Rock River a short distance west of Grand
de Tour. It comes down from the north, making a sweeping bend toward
the east. It is not a large stream, but, geologically, is one of the most
interesting water courses we ever examined.
On the south side of Rock River, the two streams of most note are
Stillman's Run and Kyte River. The former is a small stream, rising in the
eastern prairie townships and terminating in Rock River, at the bend east of
Byron. Those familiar with the history of the Black Hawk War need not be
told that this stream took its name from the retreat of a detachment of white
soldiers under Major Stillman, after it had been ambushed and defeated by
a band of Black Hawk's warriors. Those slain in crossing the stream were
buried on a high point of land near the residence of Joshua White, Esq.
So long as the little stream flows, its historic name will preserve the memory
of that disgraceful scare and wild retreat from an almost imaginary danger.
Kyte River is a more considerable body of water, coming in from a south-
east direction. Its. mouth is near the little Tillage of Daysville. It is a
slow, lazy stream.
The country is rough, and more or less rolling, in close proximity to
all these streams, except Stillman's Run. The rough, hilly part of the
county, along the streams, is covered with a fair growth of the usual white
and black oak timber. None of it could be called heavy timber, and some
of it is brushy barrens. Still, all these streams, with a few isolated groves,
furnish a fair supply for fuel and other economical uses.
The timber soil is thin and white, but under proper cultivation, returns
good crops of potatoes, fruits, cereals and garden products.
By far the largest portion of the county, however, is rich, undulating
prairie land. All the eastern and southeastern part, all the western and
northwestern part, together with much of the northern part, is prairie, as
rich and beautiful as the state can produce. These prairies are covered with
a soil composed of the richest prairie loam. In a part of the state where
all the counties are prosperous, Ogle will rank among the foremost in
HtSTOEY OF OGLE COUNTS'. 223
agricultural resources, and in the elements of material wealth. The
amount of farm products annually raised and sold is enormous, while the
real resources of the soil are not yet half developed. When these resources
shall be more fully developed, and the vast untouched water powers of Rock
River audits tributaries shall be utilized, this county will attain a degree of
prosperity which will place it foremost in that richest portion of the rrairie
State lying between Rock River and the Mississippi.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATION'S.
The geology of Ogle County is of a highly interesting character.
Besides the usual surface deposits, the Galena, Blue and Buff limestones of the
Trenton series, and the Cincinnati group, are all developed and outcrop ;
while the St. Peter's sandstone, for about fourteen miles along the river,
rises in bold outcrops of from twenty-five to two hundred feet in thickness.
The only other outcrops of this interesting formation in the northern part
of the state are at Starved Rock and Deer Park on the Illinois River, and a
few other points in LaSalle County.
The following section will show the measured outcrops. They are all
thicker, perhaps, than these figures indicate, except the St. Peter's sand-
stone. The bottom of that formation and its full outcrop, we think, was
reached. The floor of Rock River, three or four miles below Oregon,
where its thickest development is reached, is the top of Calciferous sand-
stone or Lower Magnesian limestone :
SECTION OF OGLE COUNTY FORMATIONS.
Usual suface deposits, consisting of sands, clays, soils and gravel beds,
aggregate, perhaps 125 feet.
Cincinnati group, green and blue shales 25 "
Galena limestone _ __ 35 "
Blue Trenton 1 imestone 44 "
Butf Trenton limestone _ _ 36 "
St. Peter's sandstone, white, soft 200 "
Lower Magnesian limestone __ — "
The above figures indicate the maximum thickness of the surface de-
posits, the St. Peter's sandstone, and, perhaps, the Buff limestone. The
other members of the section we think are thicker than the above measure-
ments indicate. No where could we find exposures where the full thickness
could be determined. Commencing at the top, we will describe these for-
mations in their descending order.
SURFACE GEOLOGY.
The usual "river bottoms" exist along the streams to a limited extent.
This, together with the common prairie soil, a vegetable mold, covering
most of the county, comprises the extent of the alluvial deposits. The
drift formation is much more heavily developed. Over the southern and
eastern portion of the county, and along the lower Rock River bluffs, it
thins out to a considerable extent ; but over the northern and northwestern
parts of the county the true drift, in the form of drift-hills and coarse
gravel-beds, is very heavily deposited, reaching a thickness, as we have
above indicated, of one hundred and twenty-five feet. Over the parts first
mentioned fine-grained clay, some times marly and some times sandy, cover
the nether rocks. These clays are almost uniformly of a light yellowish
224: HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
color. Few gravel beds and little coarse gravel can be noticed in passing
over them. Boulders are of rarer occurrence than in any other portion of
this part of -the state. It is not a driftless region, but the drift forces have
acted peacefully here, and nothing but the finer sediments and precipitates
of the water were here deposited or accumulated under the action of chemi-
cal, atmospheric and aqueous agencies. But in the parts of the county
last mentioned, vast accumulations of coarse gravel, commingled with fine
white sand, have been deposited, indicating that the drift forces and agen-
cies acted here on a large scale. Around the head waters of Leaf Kiver
these gravel hills are a marked feature in the landscape. About three miles
and a half north of Foreston, the Illinois Central Railroad passes through
a range of these hills. The company have there opened many gravel pits
and quarries, and are constantly loading trains for the purpose of ballast-
ing their road. The appearance of that chain of hills is so remarkable that
few travelers on the swiftly-flying passenger trains fail to notice and remark
upon it. East of the track, a backbone of hills stretch away toward Ade
line, broadening and widening in the distance, until they resemble great
ocean waves fixed and solid. Our pocket-level showed that the highest
hump on this backbone, measuring from the base, was about one hundred
and three feet, while to the level of the water in the brooks some distance
off, the descent was probably twenty feet. The railroad track is cut through
these gravel hills to the depth of about forty feet. For that depth the ma-
terial is composed of gravel, from the size of pebbles to that of small boul-
ders, mixed with a large quantity of white sand. The sand is almost as
white as the St. Peter's sandstone, except where stained yellow by the oxide
of iron. The gravel is very much rounded and water- worn. The deposit
has marks of partial stratification in a few places. At one place, close to
railroad track, a bed of gravel, almost free from sand, is cemented so
strongly together by some calcareous substance that it has to be quarried
like ordinary stone. It looks like a coarse conglomerate or pudding stone,
and will risist, without breaking, a smart blow from a heavy hammer.
Such is the internal structure of these gravel hills. On the surface they
are covered with a thin soil, full of gravel and whitish boulders of small
size, into which a spade could not be sunk. Toward the east the hills pre-
serve their outlines for a distance of some eight miles before they sink
down into ordinary gravel beds, extending for a long distance across the
northern part of the county. Toward the west they extend three or four
miles before losing themselves in the general roll of the prairies. The
direction of main chain is exactly east and west ; the western part, as indi-
cated by a very good pocket compass, bears west southwest by east
northeast.
A little brook runs toward the east on either side of the gravel hills,
being, perhaps, a quarter to half a mile apart. About the middle of the
range, the brook on the north side breaks through an abrupt gap and joins
its sister on the south, and together they seek Leaf River, skirting along
the south side of the gravel beds. To the north and the south of the small
valleys through which these little streams flow, the prairie gradually rises
until it attains almost the elevation of the gravel hills themselves.
These hills resemble strongly the central morraines of a vast glacier,
or where two glaciers meet and mingle in one ; but they also give evidences
of the sifting and assorting agencies of water. They are, doubtless " mor-
raine hillocks," such as are found in many parts of Northern Wisconsin.
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTY. 225
If the surface of the underlying Trenton rocks could be examined, over a
dozen miles in extent in this locality, they would, we think, in many places
be found plowed, grooved and scratched, or planed smooth, by the slow,
silent force of the irresistible glacier or iceberg.
If the phenomena in this interesting locality indicate glacial action,
and we think they most unmistakably do, it was probably coinbined with
aqueous forces, and the two causes contributed to the results observed. We
have sought for the manifestations of glacial action in many places, while
examining the drift through these counties ; but while evidences of the
floating iceberg and ice-floe, with their freight of boulders, of peaceful
atmospheric or strong aqueous forces are constant and recurring, this is the
only locality where we could find phenomena that looked like the work of
the glaciers.
I examined with care the materials of which these gravel beds are
made up. Much of it is composed of metamorphic rocks, brought from
the regions of Lake Superior. But a large portion, from one third to one
half perhaps, is derived from the Niagara, Gralenaand such other limestones
as are found in the lead basin. They are much rounded and water- worn,
but are not transported from the great distances from whence came the
granites, syenites, and other boulders and gravels : Tentaculites^ from the
JSTiagara ; fragments of Orthocera and Orthis, from the Blue ; Pleurotu-
marias and pieces of Trilobite shields, from the Galena, were noticed among
the piles of gravel — imperfect as fossils, of course, but sure indications of
tlie neighboring formations from which they M^ere derived.
A mixed mass of gravel, like the one under consideration, would seem
to indicate that forces from a distance and forces near at hand, operating
in every conceivable direction, with great force and over long periods of
time, all contributed to gather together these heaps of abraided materials,
some from the distant regions of the granite and the traps, and some from
the neighb'>ring limestones of a by-gone geological age ; but all equally
worn smooth by the grinding of the waters and ice.
But, leaving this interesting accumulation, we still find evidence of
the drift gravels all over the northern part of the county ; but the beds
become comparatively thin, and are underlaid by the usual clays of this
part of the state. The blue clays, belonging to the base of the drift, we
failed to detect through Ogle County. It doubtless exists, if proper exca-
vations were made, but the common, light-colored, yellowish clay is by far
the most common.
Remains of the Mastodon have been found closely connected with this
formation. In 1858 the tooth of one of these animals was found in a little
tributary of Stillman's Run. The locality is low — somewhat marshy.
The stream has cut a channel through the black alluvium of the low prairie.
The tooth was washed out and lodged against a clump of willows when
found. It is a ponderous grinder, weighs seven and one half pounds, is
covered with a black, shining enamel, and is a fine fossil, in a high state of
preservation. The fortunate finder carefully preserves it, and can not be
induced to part with his treasure.
Other mastodon remains doubtless exist about the marshy springs of
Stillman's Run.
Some years ago a large bone, supposed to be from the fore-leg of one
of these animals, was found two or three miles above Byron. The bank of
Rock River had caved down for some distance back from the stream ; som e
226 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
five feet below the surface of the high land coming up to the river, and
perhaps fifteen feet above ordinary water level, the bone was found, sticking
in the bank. The bank seems to be a sort of a modified drift, made up of
somewhat marly, dark colored alluvial clay, intermixed with river sand and
a considerable quantity of gravel. The formation is hardly alluvium, but
seems to be a kind of a river drift. The fossil is light, porous, and whitish
in color, in a rather poor state of preservation. We obtained it through
the courtesy of Mr. Mix, and sent it to the State Geological Cabi^net.
Among the mineral substances found in the drift of this county, bits
of lead and pieces of pure Lake Superior copper are occasionally met with.
THE CINCINNATI GEOUP.
This formation is but lightly developed in Ogle County. N'o exposed
outcrop, that we are aware of, exists at all. The high prairie, however,
east and northeast of Polo, lying between Pine .Creek and the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad, and extending a few miles north towards Adeline, is under-
laid by the shales of the Cincinnati group. At several recently dug wells,
piles of these cream colored and blue shales and clays attracted our atten-
tion. They are generally struck at a depth of fifteen or twenty feet, and
soon crumble to pieces when exposed to the rains and frosts and other
atmospheric influences. The exact thickness of this group I am unable to
state, but think it exceeds rather than falls below twenty-five feet. The
area indicated is covered by the usual light colored, finely comminuted
clays, which nearly always rest upon the rocks of this group. It generally
forms the subsoil of a good agricultural region, but sometimes it is inclined
to be a little too sticky and wet.
Ever living wells of reasonably pure water are found without difiiculty
where ever the Cincinnati shales lie near the surface. In some cases masses
of sticks and decayed drift wood lie between the shales and superimposed
clays, separated from the former by only a few feet of marly, blackish clay.
In such cases the water of the wells is neither sweet nor pure.
THE TKENTON GEOUP.
The Galena Limestone. — Next in the descending series comes the up-
per division of the Trenton grouge, known generally in the books as the
Galena limestone. It imderlies a considerable portion of the county,
emerging along the face of the ravines from beneath the concealing drift,
and even rising like mural walls along some of the streams. The lines of
demarcation between this and the nether Blue limestone is not always
easily distinguished. Layers, partaking of the characteristics of each of
these divisions, are often found intermingled for some distance, although
the characteristics of the mass of the two formations are very distinct.
This peculiarity is not so marked in this county as in the eastern part of
Stephenson.
The rock here usually preserves its usual coarse-graihed nature
towards the top of the quarries, changing into a deeper sub-crystalline mass
towards the bottom of the formation. It preserves its usual dull, greyish,
cream-colored, chrome-yellow tints. No outcrop of it appears along the
banks of the Rock River, unless it may be near the Winnebago County
line. But as we go back from the river the older formations sink down
and run under, and this becomes the prevailing surface rock.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 227
It is an important member of the series of Illinois strata, both on ac-
count of its many economical uses, its historic interest, and the lead-bear-
ing character of certain portions of its basin.
The superficial area underlaid by the Galena limestone in this county
is quite large. South of Kock River the older formations come to the sur-
face a few miles back from the stream, and outcrop along the ravines cut
down into this belt of rough, rolling country. But the Galena runs on al-
most as soon as the level prairie is struck ; and all the eastern and south-
eastern townships are underlaid by it, and would show it, could the con-
cealing drift clays be removed. The township of White Rock takes its
name from a low outcrop of light-colored Galena about the head waters of
Stillman's Run, near the centre of the township. It is quarried to some
extent, and hauled over the surrounding prairie. The stone is rather soft
and crumbly, but is used extensively by the farmers for cellar walls, foun-
dations and other similar uses. Killbuck Creek running north through
the southeastern portion of the county, cuts into the same rock and even
touches the Blue limestone, but no good outcrop is shown. About Payne's
Point, in the Township of Pine Rock, along a little timber ravine, stone are
quarried whose conchoidal fracture and ash color show beds of passage
between the Galena and the Blue.
North of Rock River the same phenomenon is observed, only on a
more extensive scale. The older formations sink as the distance from the
stream increases, until the Galena runs on, forming surface rock where the
river enters the county, but before reaching Byron it strikes these older
formations. Leaf River and Pine Creek cut deep into the surface deposits,
and. show outcrops of the St. Peter's sandstone, the Buff and Blue lime-
stones respectively, for some distance after the Galena becomes the under-
lying rock of the surrounding country ; but even along the banks of these
streams the Galena outcrops long before the sources are reached. All
round the head waters of Leaf River the gravel beds rest directly upon the
Galena limestone. The road from Polo to Mt. Morris crosses Pine Creek
about the middle of its course. At the crossing. Galena escarpments,
crowned with the white pine and red cedar, overhang the creek as it washes
their base. In going down stream the Blue Trenton is soon struck ; but
in going up stream, even to its very sources, massive time-worn outcrops
of the real lead-bearing rocks add picturesqueness to the scenery. At the
forks of Pine Creek, a few miles northwest of the residence of Hon. D. J.
Pinckney, there is an outcrop thirty-six feet thick, the upper half of which
is quarried into. A lime kiln is here in successful operation, and stone is
quarried for common building purposes.
The western part of the county, between the Illinois Central Railroad
track and county line, are principally underlaid by the limestone under con-
sideration. Elkhorn Creek, which just touches the county about Brook-
ville, and Buffalo Creek, a small stream west of Polo, both cut into the
Blue limestone, as the exceptions to the above statement. At the quarry
one mile west of Polo, on the Mount Carroll road, the Galena
composes the top layers ; the middle is beds of passage and the bot-
tom is the Trenton Blue. Following the creek down past the large
Blue limestone quarries southwest of Polo, the Galena is again struck
before the county line is reached, and at San ford svi lie, a short distance
beyond the county line in Whiteside County, displays itself in a massive
quarry, worked extensively in former days. The same rock prevails about
Woosung.
228 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
At White Kock and at the forks of Pine Creek a few characteristic fos-
sils were to be seen ; but the rock is not worked enough in this county to
afford many fossils or good specimens. Where a Galena quarry is exten-
sively worked for months at a time, and • carefully examined during all its
workings, fossils worth gathering may be found ; but a visit of a few hours
to outcrops little worked at the time, can not be very satisfactory so far as
the acquisition of fossils is concerned.
The Blue Limestone. — This, the Blue limestone of the western geolo-
gists, or the Trenton limes one of the ^ew York survey, is, under present
classification, the Blue or Middle division of the Trenton proper. In a
descending order it next succeeds the Magnesian beds of the Galena
division. It is variable in appearance. The upper parts of its outcrops
are thin-bedded, almost shaly, and of a buff or lead-white color, often break-
ing into fragments when quarried. The lower layers are compact and thick
enough to make a good building stone. They break with a glassy fracture;
and some of the layers near the bottom are of a deep ultra-marine blue
color. This fine color fades a shade or two lighter when the stones have
been quarried and exposed to the weather.
In the region of country underlaid by this rock, pit-holes, or sink-holes,
are of frequent occurrence. These curious depressions in the face of the
country are from one to three rods in diameter, and run to a point in a
funnel-shape, at a depth of from six to fifteen or twenty feet. The rock
also contains vertical crevices, through which subterranean streams of
water often rush after heavy rains or springy thaws.
Along Buffalo Creek, west of Polo, for three or four miles there is an
upheaval of the Blue limestone. The top of the first quarry, the one on the
Mt. Carroll road, as already stated, is composed of Galena limestone, shading
down into beds of passage into the underlying division ; but tlie bottom is
the genuine blue " glass rock '' of the Trenton. Two miles below this, on
the creek, several other quarries are opened and heavily worked. They,
and in fact all worked exposures of this rock examined in this county, show
substantially the following section :
Chocolate-colored clays and subsoils, with fragments of rock and
some gravel 5 feet.
Thin-bedded, butf-colored, fragmentary limestone, sometimes light lead-
colored ...-__ _-...14 "
Heavy-bedded, blue, glassy layers, breaking with cloudy, conchoidal
fracture __ _ 6 "
These Polo quarries are worked to a depth of about twenty-five feet.
The blue layers in the bottom are sometimes a foot thick. When lifted'
from their watery bed they look as if dyed in blue ink. A large public
school house is now building in Polo from stone obtained at this locality.
The blue color is conspicuous, and the effect striking and beautiful.
This limestone also outcrops about Brookville and west of Foreston a
short distance, where it is quarried on some of the small feeding streams
of Elkhorn Creek.
On tlie map ot Ogle County I have marked, in colors, several long,
narrow strip on either side of Rock River. They extend diagonally nearly
across the county, preserving the general course of the stream. The broad
blue band represents the part of the county along the stream underlaid by
the Blue limestone. All the small streams falling into Rock River from
both sides, so far as I examined them, present the following succession of
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 229
the rocks. At their mouths, especially from three miles above Oregon to
Grand de Tour, the St. Peter's sandstone comes to the surface ; a short dis-
tance up stream the Buff limestone outcrops along the banks and on the
sides of the ravines ; farther up, the limestone under consideration is met
and continues to outcrop for two, three or four miles; then the Galena rises
like a rocky wall along the water's edge, and continues the surface rock until
the head waters of the streams are reached. Some of the hill sides show
all three of these resting comfortably upon each other, as in the ravines
about Oregon, and along the lower part of Pine Creek. Kite Eiver and
the next stream below it south of Rock River, Leaf River, Pine Greek, and
almost any of the small brooks, present the same succession of the rocks.
On Pine Creek, from a mile below the crossing of tke highway leading
directly east of Polo, to about Sharp's Mill, the upper thin-bedded layers of
the limestone under consideration outcrop in rocky-faced, abrupt bluffs,
reaching a thickness of forty or fifty feet. The heavier blue layers of the"
Polo beds were not here observed. They resemble the outcrops of the same
rocks above Dixon, except the fossils are rare, and the rocks have a dry,
baked appearance. At Sharp's Mill, the St. Peter's sandstone and the BufP
limestone begin to outcrop along the base of the hills. Above Byron the
river hills are capped with the Blue, changing into the Buff toward their
bases.
The Blue limestone at Dixon and many other places is full of fossils.
Slabs of thin stone are there found covered so thickly with fragments of
small trilobites, corals, stems of encrinites, and mollusca of various genera
and species that one can not help wondering at the great abundance of the
lower forms of animal life, which swarmed in the ocean of the lower Silu-
rian era. These thin fossiliferous strata are compact and solid, and when
dressed and polished look like a beautiful variegated marble. Dr. Everett,
of Dixon, has in his cabinet specimens of this polished marble which will
compare in beauty with any marble we ever saw. In Ogle County, how-
ever, we could nowhere find in the Blue limestone the same abundance of
fossils. At Polo, a lar^e chambered shell known there as an Ammonite^
but probably the Lituites undatus of Hall, is occasionally found ; also an
Orthoceras^ which sometimes reached the great size of nine inches in diame-
ter and eight or ten feet in length. Thin fossiliferous layers have recently
been found in the quarries at Oregon. A heavier working of the outcrops
along Pine Creek might also disclose them. A barrenness of good fossils
seems to characterize all the formations in Ogle County.
The Buff Limestone.— ThQ lower division of the Trenton, or the Buff
limestone of Owen, next succeeds in the descending order. It crops out
in many places in close proximity to the St. Peter's sandstone. In some
places it is separated from the overlying division by a few feet of shale
and blue clay ; in others, the transition from the one to the other is not
easily distinguished. In the former, it is thick bedded, compact, and the
heavy layers are divided by thin, fossiliferous layers and thin, blue bands of
clay "; in the latter it is shaly, shingly, yellowish buff colored, resembling
much, certain parts of the Blue division.
Dr. Everett's description of this rock corresponds with our own obser-
vations, so far as outcrops in close proximity to the St. Peter's sandstone
were examined. In the ravines above and opposite Oregon ; at Sharp's
mill, on Pine Creek ; at Moore's quarry, in Lee County ; on Kyte River,
and in one or two other places, this is true. At Sharp's mill, and near
230 HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTY.
Oregon, the lower layers are of a dull, earthy color and fracture, with con-
siderable sand in their composition, and on being struck with the hammer,
give a heavy, dead sound or thud, as if striking a mass of frozen earth.
This description would hardly apply, however, to the outcrop at Byron.
This corresponds exactly with Whitney's description of the Buif limestone
outcrops at Winslow and Beloit ; and these are exactly like many outcrops
of the Blue division, except that the fossils do not seem to be identical.
Fossils. — At Moore's farm, in Lee County, many fossils were observed,
mostly imperfect casts on the thin layers of shaly matter separating the
massive layers, and also on the surface of some of the massive layers. But
in the Ogle County outcrops we could hardly detect a fossil except at Bryon.
There we found a part of a large Orthoceras^ six inches in diameter, per-
haps. The animal to which it belonged must have been six or seven feet long.
THE ST. Peter's sandstone.
This very interesting formation outcrops heavily in this county. It is
the prevailing rock along Rock River, from about two and one half miles
abovg^ Oregon to three miles below Grand de Tour, a distance of about
fifteen and one half miles. Where the bluffs and high land come up to the
river this rock nowhere outcrops more than a mile or two back from the
stream. Even the river blufiB along the sandstone region, in places, are
capped by the limestones of the upper Blue and BuflF. But up the tribu-
tary streams, low outcrops may be noticed extending miles back from Rock
River. Up Pine Creek it may be traced as high as Sharp's mill, some five
miles from the river. Up Kyte River, for perhaps as great a distance, it
shows itself along the base of the blufi's and hills, often just above the
water's edge. Up the smaller streams it can be traced lesser distances.
Many of these hills we found capped with the Blue limestone lying
upon the sandstone unconformably ; many others exhibit the Buff nnd Blue
lying upon each other conformably ; some are capped by the Buff alone ;
some are nothing but hills of sandstone, uncapped by even the overlying
drift, weathered into shapes resembling the pictured icebergs of the Arctic
seas. The high bluffs, at the base of which the Town of Oregon stands,
with the exception of a light limestone cap on the top, are composed of
light-colored St. Peter's sandstone. At this locality it is about one hundred
feet thick. It rapidly dips for two miles and a half up the river, and finally
runs out of sight, the last outcrop observed being half a mile up the little
stream, and about twelve feet thick. As we go down the river the thick-
ness increases. About four miles below Oregon, at the fantastic shaped
" Indian pulpit," the sandstone peaks rise higher than at Oregon, and
before the mouth of Pine Creek is reached, the elevations measure from one
hundred and seventy-five to two hundred feet. After reaching the mouth
of Pine Creek, the formation dips rapidly and soon runs under the over-
lying formations.
Two or three miles above Oregon, on the west side of Rock River,
the bluffs rise in a long line along the stream to a height of perhaps one
hundred feet. The debris and talus of these hills present an abrupt, grass-
covered slope to within twenty feet of the top. The rest of the height is a
long, low, L'cetling mural escarpment of frowning Buff and Blue limestone.
The talus covers the St. Peter's sandstone, which doubtless forms the base
of the hills. Opposite Oregon, in a low hill, a sandstone quarry and a Buff
limestone quarry exist within a few rods of each other.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 231
Peculiarities noticed while examining this interesting sandstone suggest
a few observations.
In many instances hard metallic-looking layers, or bands, like the red
cornelian bands in the trappean rocks of Lake Superior in their modes of
occurrence, are found running in somewhat parallel planes through the
softer material of which this sand rock is composed. These are from one
half an inch to two inches in thickness, and are often within a few inches
of each other. As the softer material crumbles away these remain project-
ing, giving the rocky face of the outcrop a pictured or horizontally-veined
appearance. The frost breaks these off and they accumulate in the ravines.
They give a hard and ringing sound when struck with the hammer, and
almost resemble old pieces of castings in both color and hardness. These
layers are ferruginous in texture, and were formed by the oxide of iron
cementing together and hardening thin layers of the sandstone, while in
course of being deposited. At a little ravine between Oregon and Mt.
Morris they lay in piles, as if an old pot foundry had once existed there.
At the crossing of a small stream between Dixon and Daysville, where a
mill-dam had once been built, and a low outcrop of red St. Peter's sand-
stone may be noticed at the right of the crossing, they lay over the hillside
and in the road in great abundance. On many of them ripple-marks, as
_ perfect as when made in the soft sand of the old Silurian beach, still exist.
^They are the eddies and ripples of the Silurian seas turned to fossils, and
preserved in the embrace of iron and sand.
Again, these sandstone hills resist atmospheric agencies in a wonderful
degree, considering the soft and friable nature of their composition. Often-
times where they are most abrupt one can pick holes in their perpendicular
sides with his knife, or strike his pick into the solid-looking mass. One
would expect that such masses would crumble to pieces and sink into low,
white sand banks, but such is not the case. They preserve their forms as
well as the limestones, and have quite as little debris and talus piled about
their bases.
The color of this sandstone is of all shades, from the whiteness of
crushed sugar to chrome yellow, and the many tints of brown and red.
The color is a stain produced by the oxide of iron held in solution in the
waters, which have at various times percolated through the sandstone
mass. Where this dye was absent in the percolating water, a sandstone as
white as granulated snow was the result; as the dye was present in the
water, in that proportion are the sandstones colored and stained.
In consistence this sandstone is saccharoidal, or sugary, and much of
it is held together by the slightest cohesive attraction. In many places,
especially where the sandstone was very white, I found difficulty in obtain-
ing cabinet f-pecimens. Every blow of the hammer would shiver the block
to pieces. But this is not always true. I saw houses built from this ma-
terial which seemed to be hardening into a fair building stone, and Dr.
Everett gives an account of an nrched railroad bridge built over Franklin
Creek, in Lee County, from the same sandstone. In a few places it seems
to have become hard and crystalline; in a few more it has cohesion enough
to make an indifferent building stone; but its general character is soft,
friable and uncohesiv^e.
Under a strong microscope the grains of the white variety appear
limpid and semi-translucent ; those of the darker varieties appear as if
coated over by rust. All the grains are round, similarly formed and simi-
232 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
lar in size. The grains are quite small, and the mass is remarkably pure
and homogeneous in character. These incoherent, chrystalline grains of
transparent quartz owe their darker colors, where colored, to a solution of
the coloring matter held in chemical combination ; but in most cases the
color is caused by a formation over the surface of the siHcious grains of sand.
Distinct stratification exists in most of the outcrops, and even lines of
cross stratification are not rare. Whitney failed to notice wave-marks in
the Wisconsin outcrops ; but there can be no mistake as to the wave and
ripple-marks on the ferruginous layers of the Rock River outcrops. Some
of the large masses present abrupt and strong dips ; but these are owing
to local causes. Ko trace of organic life, either plant or animal, has yet
been observed in these sandstones. The area of their deposition seems to
have been a peculiar one. Great changes must have taken place as it was
ushered in and as it went out.
A high axis of elevation runs along this heavy deposit. In either
direction from the river it dips away rapidly, and the overlying deposits
come on in quick succession. Rock River runs along this anticlinal axis,
having cut down almost or entirely through the formation.
The heaviest outcrop of the deposit now under coneideration, in the
whole area over which it is known, is the one along Rock River in Ogle
County. The formation is thin and wide-extended, embracing a superficial
extent in the Northwest alone, of more than four hundred miles in length
by over one hundred in width. At Starved Rock, on the Illinois River, it is
about one hundred and fifty feet thick. In Calhoun County it outcrops, in
the Cap au-Gress Bluffs, to a thickness of about eighty feet. In Wisconsin
and Minnesota its heaviest outcrops do not much exceed one hundred feet
in thickness. In Ogle County, however, we think it reaches fully two hun-
dred feet, and at the artesian well, in Stephenson County, it is, perhaps,
considerably thicker. It is the identical same rock known in the Mis-
souri Reports as the Saccharoidal sandstone, so extensively used in the man-
ufacture of glass at Pittsburgh. As observed in Missouri, however, it is
oftener of a light buff or brown color, and has less of the white, pure
silicious sand in its composition than the same rock has in Illinois and fur-
ther north.
Geologists seem to be greatly in the dark as to the origin of this curious,
interesting formation.
THE LOWER MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.
The Lower Magnesian limestone, or Calciferous sandstone of the 'New
York geologists, or its western equivalent, comes, we think, to the surface
at several places in the bed of Rock River, between Oregon and Grand de
Tour. The floor of the river in many places along these high sandstone
bluffs, we are quite sure, is a harder, solider and altogether different rock.
When doing field work in that part of the ground gone over by us, we had
poor facilities for examining the river bed ; but at one locality on the north
bank of the stream, five or six miles below Oregon, and just at the edge of
rather low water, we found a stratum of stone, apparently m situ, which we
believe to have been the top of this formation. We confess, however, that
our judgment as to the existence of the Lower Magnesian limestone along
the river bed in this county is formed, at least partly, from analogy, appear-
ances and the natural belief that the bottom of the St. Peter's sandstone is
here reached. A proper examination of the river bed, or some shallow
HISTORY OF OGLE cotrKTir. 233
borings along its shores, would satisfactorily test the matter, and settle any
existing doubt.
ECONOMICAL AND AGKICULTURAL GEOLOGY.
Most of our remarks upon the economical and agricultural geology of
counties north of this one, would apply with equal correctness to Ogle. In
physical features, geological formations and agricultural capabilities, they
have much in common. There are some points of difference, however.
Stone for EGonomical Uses. — All the limestones form a good build-
ing stone. The seminary buildings at Mt. Morris, and the new public
school at Polo, are fine examples of the building materials furnished by the
Blue limestone quarries. The rock is not only strong, easily worked, con-
venient to obtain, but when properly laid up of blue, or mingled buff and
blue colors, the architectural effect is beautiful. The thin-bedded top layers
furnish a good stone for the lighter industrial uses. The heavy-bedded,
dull-colored buff is more used for the heavier kinds of masonry. The
Galena, in this county is a rough, thick-bedded stone, used in cellar walls,
bridge foundations and the common stone work necessary on the farms
about its outcrops. In a few places the St. Peter's sandstone has crystalline
layers of sufficient tenacity to cut into window and door caps, build into
cellar walls and dwelling houses; and in one instance, at least, is used for
the culverts in a small railroad bridge. It is easily hewn into shape, and
seasons into greater hardness and tenacity.
Certain layers of the Blue limestone also burn an excellent common
lime. The kilns above Dixon, in Lee County, turn out an abundance of as
good lime for ordinary building purposes as need be desired. The sub-
crystalline layers of the Galena are well adapted for lime production, and
are much used for that purpose. On Pine Creek, timber is abundant; stone
from both these divisions is easily obtained, and of good quality; and lime
can be made in any desired quantity.
It is generally believed that some layers of the Buff might be burned
into a good hydraulic lime, but this is not known by the test of experiment.
Peat. — On the Killbuck Creek, on section 30, in the Township of
Monroe, there is a long, narrow, irregularly-shaped peat bed containing
about lifty acres. In the deepest parts the deposit is perhaps twelve feet
thick. The peat is the result of the decay of the usual grasses, sedges and
mosses, but is rather grass peat than moss peat. Compared with the Cat-
tail beds of Whiteside County, it is more porous, fibrous and unripe. It is
available already as a fertilizer, and like the rest of our small prairie, un-
ripe beds, will some day be used largely for that purpose. Its value as a
fuel depends upon the success of the peat experiments now being tried in
many places.
clays and Sands. — Banks of common yellow sand, suitable for mortar
making and plastering, may be found almost any where in the banks and
sand-bars of Hock River. "^The sub-soil clays under the thin oak soils, and
in fact most of the sandy sub-soil, may be molded into a good article of
common red brick.
According to all our western geologists, the white rocks of the St.
Peter's sandstone furnish the very best material for the manufacture of
glassware. The Pittsburgh glass manufactories obtain tons of their sand
irom the saccharoidal deposits of Missouri, a rock identical with our St.
Peter's sandstone. Our sandstone, however, is white, pure, limpid and
^S4: • HTSTORlr OF OGLE COUNTf .
free from foreign matter ; theirs consist more of the yellow .and brown-
stained varieties. The sugary, white sandstone of the Upper Mississippi is
a pure silica. If the statements of the learned Dr. Owen are true, only
about two tenths of one per cent of extraneous matter, as shown by chem-
ical analysis, enters into the composition of the snow-white sands of this
formation.
Thousands of tons of the sand could be cheaply transported down the
river to the Rock Island coal fields ; or, when the contemplated railroad up
the Rock River Yalley is completed, for the purpose of connecting the lum-
ber regions of the north with the coal fields of Illinois, the coal could be
easily run up from Rock Island to the Oregon or Grand de Tour sand cliffs,
and glassware for the whole Northwest be cheaply and successfully manu-
factured. These facilities for moving the coal and sand together will exist
at no distant day. It will then remain for capital to invest in this
remunerative branch of manufacturing industry.
Soils and their jproduots. — The dark-colored loams are underlaid by a
light-colored, clayey or gravelly sub-soil. The loam is largely composed
of vegetable elements. If not made up of it, it is at least greatly enriched
by the successive growth and decay, for ages, of our common prairie grasses.
This is the soil of our prairies. The timber soils are the usual clayey
deposits of the oak ridges, underlaid by a close, compact, yellow sub-soil.
Hungry, sandy soils are seldom met with. Leachy, loamy, fat soils, well
adapted for the best farming lands, cover most of the county. The soils in
this portion of the state are composed of silica, or the earth of flints ;
alumina, or tine, impalpable clays ; carbonate of lime, or calcareous materials,
making marly soils ; and various other materials, such as the oxide of iron,
organic matter, and the like. The first two are the basis of all our soils.
The last gives them fertility. No soil is composed of a single one of these
elements ; but the mixture or chemical combination of all these, and some
times many other elements, exist in the same soil, making clay soils, clay
loams, loamy soils, sandy soils, vegetable molds, marly clays or sands, and
many other kinds of soils, well known to agricultural chemistry.
We think the general proposition is true, that where large tracts of
country are underlaid by the same or closely related geological formations,
the soils will have some resemblance to those formations. They are
undoubtedly, in part, deriv^ed from them ; and in many cases, in this part
of the state, as we have already intimated, the soils and sub-soils seem to
show their origin from these subjacent rocks. But this remark must be
received with considerable allowance. The transporting, sorting and sifting
agency of water, the ice action of glaciers and icebergs, and the evidences
that other geological forces have been at work all over this region, leads us
to greatly modify the statement just made, and to believe that our soils are,
in part at least, derived from many sources — some of them remote from
their present localities. The same is true, we think, of the sub-soils and
finer materials of the drift. These, originally, perhaps, were all alike ; but
chemical and atmospheric agencies, and the growth of vegetation, changed
the surface clays into rich, fat soils ; the sub-soils received less of these
influences but still felt them, and were further changed by the percolating,
saturating surface waters ; but the deep lying clay and sand beds received
no change from these agencies. Even the acids of the air could not pene-
trate to them, and they remain unchanged.
Ogle County shows more evidences of a transported soil than "Western
Stephenson or Carroll County.
HtSTORlr OF OGLE COUNTY. 235
Geology, engaged in investigating these phenomena, is thus the hand-
maiden of agriculture, and ought to be encouraged and studied by the
farmer. He should not be slow to learn that all branches of human knowl-
edge are bound together like the links of a chain ; all the arts of life sus-
tain to each other dependent relations, and all cultivators of soil or science
ought to be bound together by the bonds of a common interest.
But, however derived or made up, the soils of this county are generous
and fertile in a high degree. Indian corn, wheat, oats, hay, potatoes, barley,
rye, the products of the kitchen garden, the hardier fruits of garden and
orchard, are here raised in bountiful profusion. Yine culture has not yet
attracted much attention, not for the want of suitable localities in which to
try the experiment, but simply because attention has not yet been directed
to this branch of horticultural industry.
In speaking of these noble soils — the Edens of agriculture in these
Western States — we may as well make some remarks here, which apply with
equal force to the agricultural policy of this and all the neighboring coun-
ties, and to the practice of prairie farming generally. We mean the unsci-
entific, slovenly and wasteful modes of cultivating the virgin soils of our
broad prairies. The unripe peat and muck remain undisturbed in their
beds ; trenching and sub-soil plowing are never resorted to ; annual fires
consume the surplus stubble and stalks left from the last year's crop; ashes,
bones, lime, the barn-yard and stable manures, if disturbed at all, are raked
into some convenient, out of the way place ; and the farmer generally cul-
tivates so much that he can not half cultivate anything at all.
Geology and chemistry, and the experience of older countries, all cry
out against this wrong done to our generous soils. In the first place, the
farmer ought to study his soil, ascertain what element is wanting, ov what
it has in excess, and intelligently supply the one or counteract the other.
Instead of scratching over a large amount of soil, if he would go deeper,
and throw up a little sub-soil, the kiss of the roving winds, the rain and
the sunshine would enrich these, and his soil would grow deeper instead of
becoming hungry and exhausted. Composts should yearly be made of
every available substance, and scattered with a profuse hand over his
meadows and grain-producing fields. Perhaps some water-soaked bog, and
some unproductive ridge, lying side by side, and both worthless, have in
them the complements of the best producing soils, and^ only need a little
mingling to make them the most valuable tracts in the field or on the farm.
A Httle mind employed in cultivating the earth is better than much manual
labor, aided though it be with all forms of labor-saving machinery.
Against this wasteful system of farming, every industrial interest
should cry out. Our soils, when new, used to return average crops of forty
bushels to the acre ; now fifteen is a good crop on the older cultivated
lands. In the corn field, seventy, eighty and one hundred bushels to the
acre was not an unusual yield ; now thirty-five or forty is oftener the excep-
tion than the rule. At this rate, our land will rapidly become exhausted.
Good husbaudry, good farming, if not able to keep the soil up to its prim-
itive fertility, ought, at least, to prevent its rapid deterioration.
236 HiSTOBf OF OGLE COrNTST.
History of Ogle County,
INTKODUCTOEY.
The History of Ogle County is sointimately connected with the history
of the northwestern part of the state, that a correct history of the former
can not be written without reference to the early settlement of the latter,
and indeed it would be a waste of time to attempt *to write a history of
either, without going back to the date of the first settlement of the territory
now embraced within the limits of the State of Illinois, by Americans, in
1784. In entering upon this task it will be our purpose to draw upon such
historical authorities as have received the sanction of accuracy and impar-
tiality. In matters pertaining to the local history, we will refer to such of
the pioneers of the county as have survived the storms and vicissitudes of
life, and whose participation in the public afiairs of the Rock Kiver Yalley
renders their lives a part of its history.
A little more than half a century has passed since white men began to
enter upon and occupy the northwestern part of Illinois on Fever (now
Galena) Eiver, at the galena mines, and forty-seven years have been buried
beneath the debris of time since the first voting precinct was established
(under authority of the County Commissioners of Jo Daviess County)
within the limits of Ogle County. It is a little more than that since Ogle,
Chambers, Dixon, Ankeny and Kellogg came here to found homes, and,
as a natural consequence, a great many early incidents of local importance
at the time of their happening, are entirely lost' to the memory of the oldest
surviving settlers; or, if not entirely lost, have become so confused with the
multiplicity of accumulating cares, that, to extricate an accurate account of
them from time's rubbish and preserve them in printed pages so they will
be seen now as they were seen tJien^ will require the most critical exercise
of mind and pen.
When the thirteen American colonies declared their independence of
British rule, July 4, 1776, the magnificent valley of the Mississippi and its
tributaries was under the jurisdiction of European powers. France had
ceded to Great Britain that portion of the Province of Louisiana lying at
the east side of the " Father of Waters." The first British governor, Cap-
tain Sterling, took fvirmal possession of Illinois and raised the English flag
at Fort Chartres, ten years after the treaty of cession in October, 1765, and
in 1766 by an act of Parliament known as the Quebec bill, the Illinois
country was annexed to Canada, and remained under Canadian jurisdiction
until 1778, a period of fourteen years.
In 1778, Col. George Rogers Clarke, a native of Yirginia, who had
won military fame in conflicts with the Indians of Kentucky, Ohio and
elsewhere, conceived the idea of an expedition to capture the British posts
in the Illinois country. Patrick Henry, then Governor of Yirginia, favored
the enterprise, and aided by the advice of Thomas Jefferson, George Mason
ROCHELLE
HISTORY OF OGLE COtJNTT. 239
and George "Wythie, directed the expedition. Col. Clarke raised four com-
panies of Virginians, and through his wonderful skill and heroism the
expedition was completely successful. The Virginia Legislature voted the
thanks of the people to Col. Clarke, his officers and men^for their brilliant
achievements, and in October, 1778, by act of the House of Burgesses,
established the County of Illinois, embracing all the territory northwest of
the Ohio River, and making Col. John Todd, Jr., its civil commandant.
"Thus," says Mr. Miller, "Patrick Henry became the first American Gov-
ernor of Illinois." The proclamation to its inhabitants is dated June
15, 1779.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, Great Britain formally ceded
to the United States all her territory east of the Mississippi River, and in
1784 Virginia ceded to the Federal Government all the territory northwest
of the Ohio Rivor, her claim to the Illinois countiy being through a grant
from James I. of England, and by virtue of conquest in 1778.
Notwithstanding the ordinance providing for the erection of the North-
western Territory was passed in 1787, its provisions were not acted upon
until 1788, when General Arthur St. Clair was made its governor. The
capital of the territory was first established at Marietta, afterwards removed
to Chillicothe, and in 1795 again removed to Cincinnati, and subsequently
to Vincennes. From 1784 until 1790, when Gov. St. Clair organized the
first county in Illinois (St. Clair), there was no executive, no legislature and
no judicial authority exercised in the country. The people were a law unto
themselves, and during these six years it is said that remarkable good feel-
ing, harmony and fidelity to agreements prevailed. Previous to the division
of the Northwest Territory, in 18u9, there had been but one term of court
having criminal jurisdiction in the three western counties of the territory,
namely, Knox County (Indiana), and St. Clair and Randolph Counties
(Illinois), the last named being organized by Governor St. Clair in 1795.
The Territory of Illinois w^as established in 1809, and Hon. Ninian
Edwards, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Ken-
tucky, was appointed governor, and Nathaniel Pope, Esq., of Kaskaskia,
secretary of the treasury. Kaskaskia was established as the territorial
capitnl. This had been a part of Indiana Territory from 1800, during
which time the government was of two grades ; first, the lawmaking power,
consisting of the governor and judges; second, the territorial legislature,
consisting of a house of representatives elected by the people, and a
council appointed by the president and senate. Up to 1812 the Territorial
Government of Illinois was of the first grade.
From 1795 to 1812, there were only two counties in the territory —
St. Clair and Randolph. In 1812, Madison, Gallatin and Johnson Counties
were erected, increasing the number to five.
February 14, 1812, Governor Edwards issued an order directing an
election to be held in each county, on the second Monday in April, to
enable the people to determine whether they would enter upon the second
grade of government. The governor was clothed with full power to advance
the territory to the second degree, but he chose to be guided by the popular
will. The election was held, and the question was decided in the affirmative
by a very large majority.
In September of the same year, Governor Edwards ordered an election
to be held on the 8th, 9tli and 10th days of October, to choose members of
the council and house of representatives. This was the first election for
14
240 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
members of the territorial legislature, and on the 25th of November, 1812,
the first legislature assembled at Kaskaskia. The following named gentle-
men were retujned as members of the council: Benjamin Talcott, of Gal-
latin County; William Biggs, of St. Clair County; Samuel Judah, of
Madison County, and Pierre Menard, of Randolph County. George Fisher,
of Handolph County; Philip Trommel and Alexander Wilson, of Gallatin
County; John Grammer, of Johnson County; Joshua Oglesby and Jacob
Short, of St. Clair County, and William Jones, of Madison County, were
elected as members of the house.
It may not be out of place here — inasmuch as we are briefly
tracing the history of Illinois, as a Territory and as a State — to go back one
year and note an important event in the history of the country — a series of
earthquakes that commenced on the night of the 16th of December, 1816,
and which, according to Dr. Hildreth, continued until the following February.
During the continuance of these earth-shocks, the towji of New Madrid, on
the Missouri side of the Mississipj)i River, was almost entirely destroyed.
Lands were sunken for many miles around New Madrid, and down into
Northeastern Arkansas. The writer has been told by reliable authority,
that in the northeastern corner of Arkansas there is a tract of country
known as the '' sunken lands," that is an impassible bog or quagmire — that,
in the centre there is a kind of island, that can be seen from the outer edges,
but which has never been reached since the earthquake that occasioned it,
but that as late as 1871-'2 there were evidences of animal life on the island,
in the presence of deer, etc., that were supposed to have come from a parent
stock left on the island when the earthquake subsided. This assertion
is not vouched for as a fact, but is given from what is believed to be relia-
ble authority — the statement of a resident of Arkansas, whose acquaintance
the writer enjoyed while living in that state, after the close of the war. But
to return to Dr. liildreth's statement: "The banks of the Mississippi in
many places gave way in large masses and fell in the river, while the water
changed to a reddish hue, became thick with mud thrown up from the bot-
tom, and the surface, lashed violently by the agitation of the earth beneath,
was covered with foam, which gathered into masses and floated along
the trembling surface. Its vibrations were felt all over the valley, as far
up as Pittsburgh."
Returning again to the territorial legislature, we find that from Jan-
uary 11, 1811, to November 8, 1814, the revenue received from taxes was
$4,875.45, of which there had been paid into the treasury, $2,516.89;
remaining in the hands of delinquent sherifl", $2,374.47. As a matter of
comparison for the curious, the following figures, taken from the last ac-
cessible report of the State Auditor, are presented:
Slate lax receipts, 1874 $1.561,7.32 04
Slate tax receipts, 1875 l,7o9,916 03
$2,321,048 07
Increase in state taxes since the state was organized — sixty-four years
—$3,316,772.63.
As another item of comparison: the journals of the first State Legisla-
ture show that a committee appointed for the purpose purchased a sufii-
cient supply of stationery for the use of that body for $13.50. The amount
paid for stationery for the use of the 29th session of the General Assembly
was $1,680.
On the 18th day of April, 1818, the Congress of the United States
HtSTOKT OF OGLE C0I:NTY. 241
passed an act, entitled "An act to enable the people of the Illinois Terri-
tory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of
such state into the Union, on an equal footing witli the original states." Im-
mediately following the passage, approval and publication of this act, an
order was issued for an election to choose members to the constitutional con-
vention. The constitutional convention assembled at Kaskaskia, in July of
the same year, and on the 26th day of August following, signed and sub-
mitted the constitution under which Illinois become a sovereign and inde-
pendent state.
At that time there were fifteen counties in the territory, which had
been organized in the following chronological order: St. Clair, 1790; Ran-
dolph, 1795; Madison, 1812; ''Gallatin, 1812; Johnson, 1812; Edwards,
1814; White, 1816; Monroe, 1816; Pope, 1816; Jackson, 1816; Crawford,
1817; Bond, 1817; Union, 1818; Washington, 1818; Franklin, 1818.
The old constitution bears the signatures of the following members:
Jesse B. Thomas, President of the Convention and Representative from
the County of St. Clair.
John Messinger, James Lemen, Jr., St. Clair County; George Fisher,
Elias Kent Kane, Randolph County; B. Stephenson, Joseph Borough,
Abraham Prickett, Madison County; Michael Jones, Leonard White,
Adolphus Frederick Hubbard, Gallatin County; Hezekiah West, William
M'Fatridge, Johnson County; Seth Gard, Levi Compton, Edwards County;
Willis Ilargrave, William McIIenry, White County; Caldwell Cams,
Enoch Moore, Monroe County; Samuel Omelveny, Hamlet Ferguson, Pope
County; Conrad Will, James Hall, Jr., Jackson County; Joseph Kitchell,
Ed. N. CuUom, Crawford County; Thomas Kirkpatrick, Samuel G. Morse,
Bond County; William Echols, John Whitaker, Union County; Andrew
Bankson, Washington County; Isham Harrison, Thomas Roberts, Frank-
lin County.
William C. Greenup was secretary of the convention.
Section two of article two of the constitution provided as follows: " The
first election for senators and representatives shall commence on the third
Thursday of September next, and continue for that and the two succeeding
days; and the next election shall be held on the first Monday in August,
one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and forever after elections shall
be held once in two years, on the first Monday in August, in each and
every county, at such places therein as may be provided by law."
Under the new constitution, elections are held on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November.
Section eighteen of the same article provided that " the General Assem-
bly of this state shall not allow the following ofiicers of government
greater or smaller annual salaries than as follows, until the year one thou-
sand eight hundred and twenty-four: the governor, one thousand dollars;
and the secretary of state, six hundred dollars."
Section two of article three: " The first election for governor shall
commence on the third Thursday of September next, and continue for that
and the two succeeding days; and the next election shall be held on the first
Monday of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred
and twenty-one. And forever after, elections for governor shall be held once
in four years, on the first Monday of August."
Section three of the same article: "The first governor shall hold his
office until the first Monday of December, in the year of our Lord, one
242 HISTORY OF OGLI: COUNTY.
thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and until another governor shall
be elected and qualitied to office; and forever after, the governor shall hold
his office for the term of four years, and until another governor shall be
elected and qualified; but he shall not be eligible for more than four years
in any term of eight years," etc.
Pursuant to section two of article two of the constitution, the first
election for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, senators, rep-
resentatives, etc., commenced on the third Thursday of September, 1818,
and continued for two days thereafter.
The poll books of the several voting places in the fifteen organized
counties that made up 'the State of Illinois at that time, would be interest-
ing now if it were possible to secure them. But very few, if any, of the
voters at that election are spared to the present. Almost sixty years have
been engulfed in the vortex of time since the first state officers were elected,
and since then the people of the commonwealth have participated in no
less than three wars — the Black Hawk War of 1832 ; the Mexican War, and
the great American Rebellion — the bloody and prolonged conflict between
freedom and slavery, 1861"'5.
In these sixty years this state has given the parent government one of
the most successful w^arrior-chieftains, known to history, and two presi-
dents — Lincoln, freedom's martyr, and U. S. Grant, the honored guest of
the crowned heads and titled courts of the European world. But we
digress.
Mr. Ford in his history of Illinois says, in reference to the constitu-
tional convention and its members: " The principal member of it w^as Elias
K. Kane, late a senator in Congress, and now deceased, to whose talents we
are mostly indebted for the peculiar features of the constitution. Mr.
Kane was born in the State of JS'ew York, and was bred to the profession of
the law. He removed in early youth to Tennessee, where he rambled about
for some time, and finally settled in the ancient village of Kaskaskia, Illinois,
about the year 1815, when he was about twenty years of age. His talents
were both solid and brilliant. After being appointed secretary of state
under the new government, he was elected to the legislature, from which
he was elected, and again re-elected to the United States Senate. He died a
member of that body in the Autumn of 1835; and in memory of him the
County of Kane, on Fox River, was named." .
The following is the act of Congress declaring the admission of the
State of Illinois into the Union:
Resolved, hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That, whereas, in pursuance of an act of Congress, passed on the
eighteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, entitled " An act to
enable the people of Illinois Territory to form a constitution and state government, and for
the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original states,"
the people of said territoiy did, on the twenty-sixth, day of August, in the present year, by a
conveniion called to for that purpose, form for themselves a constitution and state govern-
ment, which constitution and state government, so formed, is republican, and in conformity
to the principles of the articles of compact between the original states and the people and
states in the territory northwest of the River Ohio, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven. Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State of Illinois shall
be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted
into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever.
[Apiproved, December 3, 1818,]
The act of Congress of the 18th day of April, 1818, referred to in the
act just quoted, was based upon the action of the territorial legislature in
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 243
session January, 1818, when a petition for authority to organize as a state
was prepared and forwarded to Nathaniel Pope, then territorial delegate in
Congress. Mr. Pope lost no time in presenting the petition to Congress,
and that body as promptly referred it to the proper committee, and that
committee instructed Mr. Pope to prepare a bill in accordance with the
prayer of the petition. Mr. Pope complied with the instructions, but the
bill as originally drafted did not embrace the present area of Illinois, and
when it was i-eported to Congress certain amendments proposed by Mr.
Pope, were reported with it. The ordinance of 1787 provided that not less
than three nor more than five states were to be erected out of the territory
northwest of the Ohio River. Three states were to include the whole ter-
ritory, and these states were to be bounded on the north by the British
possessions, but Congress reserved the right, if it should be found expe-
dient, to form two more states out of that part of the territory which lies
north of au east and west line drawn through the southern extremity of Lake
Michigan.
These important changes in the original bill, says Mr. Ford in his
History of Illinois, " were proposed and carried through botli Houses of
Congress by Mr. Pope on his own responsibility. The Territorial Legisla-
ture had not petitioned for them — no one had suggested them, but they met
the general approval of the people." The change of the boundary line,
however, suggested to Mr. Pope — from the fact that the boundary as defined
by the ordinance of 1787, would have left Illinois without a harbor, on Lake
Michigan — did not meet the unqualified approval of the people in the
northwestern part of the new state. For many years the northern boundary
of the state was not definitely known, and the settlers in the northern tier
of counties did not know whether they were in Illinois or Michigan Terri-
tory. Under the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, Wisconsin at one
time laid claim to a portion of northern Illinois, "including," says Mr.
Ford, writing in 1847, "fourteen counties, embracing the richest and most
populous part of the state." October 27, 1827, nine years after the admis-
sion of the state. Dr. Horatio Newhall, who had then recently arrived at
the Fever River Settlement, wrote to his brother as follows: "It is uncer-
tain whether 1 am in the boundary of Illinois or Michigan, but direct your
letters to Fever River, 111., and they will come safely." In October, 1828,
a petition was sent to Congress from the people of that part of Illinois lying
north of the line established by the ordinance of 1787, and that part of the
Territory of Michigan west of Lake Michigan and comprehending the
mining 'district known as the Fever River Lead Mines, praying for the
formation of a new territory. A bill had been introduced at the previous
session of Congress for the establishment of a new territory north of the
State of Illinois, to be called " Huron Territory," upon which report had
been made, in part, favorable to the wishes of the petitioners, but they
asked for the re-establishment of the line as ordained by Congress in 1787.
They declared " that the people inhabiting the territory northwest of the
Ohio had a right to expect that the country lying north of an east and
west line passing through the southernmost end of Lake Michigan, to the
Mississippi River, and between said lake, the Mississippi and the Canada
line, would remain TO(iETHER" as a territory and state. They claimed that
this was a part of the compact, unchangeably granted by the people of the
original states to the people who should inhabit the " territory northwest of
the Ohio." They declared that the change of the chartered limits, when
244 HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTT.
Illinois was declared a state, was an open invasion of their rights in a body
when thej were unrepresented in either territory; that "an unrepresented
people, without their knowledge or consent, have been transferred from one
sovereignty to another." They urged that the present " division of the
miners by an ideal line, separating into different governments individuals
intimately connected in similar pursuits, is embarrassing." They asked for
"even-handed justice," and the restoration of their "chartered limits."
The Miners^ (Galena) Journal^ of October 25, 1828, which contains the
full text of the petition, says: "We do not fully agree with the memorial-
ists in petitioning Congress again to dispose of that tract of country which
has once been granted to Illinois; but we think that it would be for the
interest of the miners to be erected, together with the adjoining county
above, into a separate territory. And we firmly believe, too, that Congress
departed from the clear and express terms of their own. ordinance passed in
the year 1787, when they granted to the State of Illinois nearly a degree
and a half of latitude of the chartered limits of this country. "Whether
Congress will annex this tract to the new territory we much doubt, but we
believe the ultimate decision ot the United States Court will be, that the
northern boundary line of the State of Illinois shall commence at the south-
ernmost end of Lake Michigan." The petition was unavailing, and the
northern line of Illinois remains unchanged, but the agitation of the sub-
ject by the people of this region continued. In 1840 the people of the
counties north of the ordinance line sent delegates to a convention held at
Kockford to take action in relation to the annexation of the tract north of
that line to Wisconsin Territory, and it is said the scheme then discussed
embrace'd an efibrt to make Galena the capital of the territory. Charles S.
Hempstead and Frederick Stahl were delegates to the convention from
Galena, and James Y. Gale, Dr. W. J. Mix, Col. Dauphin Brown, S. M.
Hitt and W. W. Fuller were delegates from Ogle. At that convention
speeches were made by Messrs. Charles S. Hempstead, Martin P. Sweet,
Jason P. Marsh, and others. Resolutions were adopted requesting the
senators and representatives in Congress for Ulfnois to 6xert their influence
in favor of the project. The labors of the convention produced no results,
but until the admission of Wisconsin as a state, there was a strong feeling
among the people of northwestern Illinois that they riohtfully belonged to
Wisconsin, and a strong desire to be restored to their chartered limits.
Perhaps the heavy debt with which Illinois was burdened at that time
may have had some influence in causing the feeling.
Until the admission of the state inco the Union in 1818, all the north-
ern and northwestern part of the state was inhabited only by Indians, who
claimed this whole region. In 1804, the Sacs and Foxes, then a powerful
tribe, by treaty made at St. Louis with Gen. Harrison, then governor of
the Territory oi* Indiana, ceded to the United States all their lands l3ang
east of the Mississippi; but Black Hawk and other chiefs who were not
present at St. Louis, refused to be bound by its terms. All the territory
north of the line drawn west from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan
to the Mississippi, was in the undisputed possession of the native tribes,
wh^ the state was erected, in 1818, except a tract five leagues square on
the, Mississippi, of which Fever River was about the centre, which by
treaty the United States Government had reserved ostensibly for a military
post,' but really to control the lead mines. The government had possessed
knowledge for many years of the existence of lead mines here, but their loca-
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 246
tion was not known, and it was thought that all would be included within the
limits of the reservation. The government designed to own and hold ex-
clusive control of these mines.
But leaving the territorial condition of the country of the Illini^'^ we
come directly to the state organization and the several county organizations
down to 182T, when the County of Jo Daviess was organized. The first
election for governor, lieutenant governor, county ofiicers, etc., was com-
menced on the third Thursday of September, 1818, and continued for that
and the two succeeding days. Shadrach Bond was elected governor, and com-
menced his term of four years in October, 1818, a few weeks after the elec-
tion. " Governor Bond," says Mr. Ford, in his Illinois History, "was a
native of Maryland, was bred a farmer, and was a very early settler among
the pioneers of the Illinois Territory. He settled on a farm in the Amer-
ican bottom, in Mv>nroe County, near Eagle Creek. He was several times
elected to the Territorial Legislature, and once a delegate to represent the
territory in Congress. He was also a receiver of public moneys at Kaskas-
kia, but was never elected or appointed to any office after his term as gov-
ernor. Indeed, of the first seven governors of Illinois, onl^ one has ever
held any office since the expiration of their respective terms of service;
though I believe they have all, except myself, tried to obtain some other
office. Governor Bond was a substantial, farmer-like man, of strong, plain,
common sense, with but little pretentions to learning or general informa-
tion. He was a well-made, well-set, sturdy gentleman, and what is remark-
able at this day, his first message to the legislature contained a strong recom-
mendation in favor of the Illinois and Michigan Canal."
Governor Bond died about 1834. Bond County, organized in 1817,
was named in his honor.
" Colonel Pierre Manard, a Frenchman, and an old settler in the
country, was generally looked to to fill the office of lieutenant governor; but
as he had not been naturalized until a year or so before, the convention de-
clared in a schedule to the constitution, that any citizen of the United
States who had resided in <4:he state for two years, might be eligible to this
office."
Ex-Governor (territorial) Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas, were the first
United States Senators from Illinois. Elias K. Kane was appointed secre-
tary of state; Daniel P. Cookf was elected the first attorney general;
Elijah C. Berry was auditor of public accounts, and John Thomas was the
first state treasurer.
"Under the auspices and guidance of these men Illinois was launched
on her career of administration as an independent state of the American
Union. At this time the whole people numbered only about forty-five
thousand souls. Some two thousand of these were the descendants of the
old French settlers in the Yillages of Kaskaskia, Prairie Du Rocher,
Prairie Du Pont, Cahokia, Peoria "and Chicago. These people had fields
* Tribe of men.
f In 1819 Daniel P. Cook was elected to Congress, and re-elected biennially un-
til 1826, when he was defeated by Governor Duncan. He rose to a high position in Con-
gress, and the last session he was there, he acted as chairman of the important committee of
ways and means of the lower house. To his services, at this last session, the people of
Illinois are indebted for the donation by Congress of 300,000 acres of land, for the construc-
tion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. For him the County of Cook was appropriately
named, as more than half of its great prosperity is owing to his exertions in Congress ia
favor of the canal.
246 HISTOBY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in common for farming, and farmed, built houses, and lived in the style of
the peasantry of old France an hundred and fifty (1847) years ago. They
had made no improvements in any thing, nor had they adopted any of the
improvements made by others. They were the descendants of those French
people who had first settled the country more than a hundred and fifty
years before under La Salle, Ibberville, and the priests Alvarez, Rasles,
Gravier, Pinet, Marest, and others; and such as subsequently joined them
from New Orleans and Canada, and they now formed all that remained of
the once proud empire which Louis XIY., King of France, and the regent
Duke of Orleans, had intended to plant in the Illinois country. The orig-
inal settlers had many of them intermarried with the native Indians, and
some of the descendants of these partook of the wild, roving disposition of
the savage, united to the politeness and courtesy of the Frenchman."
The first settlement made by people of the United States was in 1784,
when a few families from Virginia founded a small colony or settlement
near Bellefontaine, in Monroe County. The next American settlements
were made in St. Clair County, two of which were made previous to the
beginning of the year 1800. ,
The first American settlers were chiefly from Kentucky, Yirginia,
Pennsylvania, l^orth Carolina, Tennessee, and some from Maryland, as
was Governor Bond and his immediate friends. " Some of them had been
officers and soldiers under General Kogers Clark, who conquered the coun-
try from the British in 1778, and they, with others, who followed them,
maintained their position in the country during the Indian wars in Ohio
and Indiana, in the times of Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne." This
whole people did not number more than 12,000 in 1812, but with the aid of
one company of regular soldiers defended themselves and their settlements
during the war of 1821, against the then numerous and powerful nations of
Kickapoos, Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies, and Shawnees, and even made hos-
tile expeditions into the heart of their territories, burning their villages and
defeating and driving them from the country.
When the state was admitted in 1818, the settlements extended a little
north of Ed wards ville and Alton; south along the Mississippi to the
mouth of the Ohio; east in the direction of Carlysle (in Clinton County),
to the Wabash, and down the Wabash "and the Ohio, to the mouth of the
last named river. But within these boundaries there was a very large and
unsettled wilderness tract of country between the Kaskaskia River and
the Wabash, and between the Kaskaskia and the Ohio — the distance across
it being equal to a three days' journey.
Such was the extent of the settlement in Illinois when the territory
was clothed with state honors. As before stated, there were but fifteen
organized counties represented in the constitutional convention — St. Clair,
Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson, Edwards, White, Monroe, Pope,
Jackson, Crawford, Bond, Union, Washington and Franklin, Union, Wash-
ington and FrankliA were the youngest, all of them being organized in
1818. ^
Pike County was erected January 31, 1821, and included all the ter-
ritory west and north of the Illinois River, and its south fork, now the Kan-
kakee River. At the first election after the organization, only thirty-five
votes were polled. This was the first county organization under state
authority that embraced the territory of which Ogle is a part, and out of
which more than fifty counties have been organized. A Gazetteer of Illi-
/y
REGON
HISTORY OF OGLE OOUNTT. 249
nois and Wisconsin, published about 1822, says that the county "included
a part of the lands appropriated l)y Congress for the payment or military
bounties. The lands constituting that tract, are included within a penin-
sula of tlie Illinois and the Mississippi, and extend on the meridian line
(4th) passing through the mouth of the Illinois, one hundred and sixty- two
miles north. Pike County will no doubt be divided into several counties;
some of which will become very wealthy and important. It is probable that
the section about Fort Clark (now Peoria) will be the most thickly settled. On
the Mississippi River, above Pock River, lead ore is found in abundance.
Pike County contains between 700 and 800 inhabitants. It is attached to
the first judicial circuit, sends one member to the House of Representa-
tives and, with Green, one to the Senate. The county seat is Colesgrove, a
post town. It was laid out in 1821, and is situated in township 11, south,
in range 2, west of the fourth principal meridian; very little improvement
has yet been made in this place or the vicinity. The situation is high and
healthy, and it bids fair to become a place of some importance." 'i'his is all
that is known of the Town of Colesgrove, the countv seat of all this region
in 1821.
Fulton County was organized from Pike, with the county seat at Lew^-
iston, January 28, 1823, and included all the territory north of the base
line, and west of the fourth principal meridian, which had been in Pike.
Peoria County, with Fort Clark (now the City of Peoria), as the
county seat, was organized from Fulton, January 13, 1825.
In 1826 the County Commissioners of Peoria County estabhshed a
voting precinct on Fever River, now Galena, which they called Fever River
Precinct. At an election held on the 7th day of August, 1826, this precinct
polled 202 votes. Messrs. JSTehemiah Bates, Jesse W. Shull and Andrew
Clamo were Judges, or inspectors of election. Before entering upon the
discharge of their duties they were sworn by John L. Bogardus, a Justice
of the Peace. This was the first election ever held in the northwestern
part of Illinois, including the territory now embraced in Ogle County.
Of the 202 names on that old poll book, not one is recognized as representing
any of the early settlers of Ogle County, from which we infer that white
men had not yet attempted an abiding place within the limits of the
county whose history we are writing.
There is a tax-list of 1826 on file at Peoria, containing 204 names of
men in the Fever River Settlement; but the deputy collector who under-
took to collect the taxes reported that they openly defied him and refused to
pay a cent. Evidently there were "tax-fighters" in those days as well as in
the present.
Jo Daviess County was organized from Peoria, February 17, 1827, and
was bounded as follows: Beginning on the Mississippi River at the north-
western corner of the state, thence down the Mississippi, to the north line
of the Military Tract, thence east to the Illinois River, thence north to the
northern boundary of the state, thence west to the place of beginning.
Galena was named as the county seat. The north line of the Military
Tract commenced on the Mississippi River, not far from Keithsburg, in
Mercer County, and running east, reached the Illinois River not far from
Hennepin, in Putnam County, and included an area equal to 240 townships
of six miles square, of thirty-six sections each, covering 8,640 square
miles, and embracing 5,529,600 acres.
From February 16, 1827, to December 24, 1836 (the date of the first
250 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
election, although the act organizing the county was approved January 16,
1836), the territory of Ogle County formed a part, and was subject to the
jurisdiction of Jo Daviess County. Daring these years the general and
local history of the two counties are almost identical, and in order to
perfect the history of events transpiring in Ogle County, it will be indispen-
sably necessary totollow the history of Jo Daviess County up to the period
when Ogle was full}^ organized as an independent county.
The earliest history and first occupation of the region of country
embraced within the limits of Jo Daviess County, as originally organized,
are enshrouded in almost impenetrable obscurity. After the lapse of more
than three quarters of a century, the almost total absence of records, and
the fact that the whites who visited or lived in this region prior to 1820
have all passed away, render it impossible now to determine with any
degree of certainty the name of him who is entitled to the. honor of being
recorded as first settler, or who first even temporarily sojourned on the
banks of the Sin-sin-ah-wah (the home of the eagle) and the Mah-cah-bee
(the fever that blisters), for there the settlement of ITorthwestern Illinois
commenced.
Probably the first explorer of this region was Le Sueur, a French
trader, who, on the 25th of August, 1700, while on an expedition to the
Sioux on St. Peter's River (now the Minnesota) discovered a small river
entering the Mississippi on the right side, which he named " The Piver of
the Mines." He described it as a small river running from the north, but-
it turns to the northeast, and he further says, that a few miles up \h\s river
is a lead mine. Le Saeur was unquestionably the first white man who ever
trod the banks of Fever Piver, and visited the mines then known and prob-
ably worked by the natives.
When Julien Dubuque first located near the present town of Dubuque,
in 1788, he wns accompanied by one D'Bois, who is said to hav^e located on
the east bank of the Mississippi, a short distance below the present town of
Dunleith, very nearly opposite his companion's location. But nothing
further is known of him, and from that time until about 1810 or '11 no
definite information can be obtained. It is said that traces of white
occupants at a very early period were discovered on the Sinsinawa by the
first settlers or miners. It would be strange, indeed, with the knowledge
of the immense deposits of lead and the abundance of game in this region,
as well as of the mining operations of Dubuque on the west side of the
Mississippi, if no adventurers or traders ever visited the Piviere au Feve,
now Galena Piver, or ventured among the Sacs and Foxes on the east side
of the Mississippi from 1788 until about 1820. Poving traders and the
agents of the American Fur Company could not have overlooked the value
of this location as a trading post, even if they made only annual visits,
remaining long enough to dispose of their goods and purchase the lead and
peltries accumulated by the Indians. But thus far no records of such
occupation have been discovered, and the only positive evidence of the
occupation of any portion of the territory of Jo Daviess County after
D'Bois, and prior to 1819-'20, is the testimony of Captain D. S. Harris, of
Galena, the oldest surviving steamboat captain on the Mississippi, and the
oldest known survivor of the immigration of 1823, who says that, about
1811, George E. Jackson, a Missouri miner, had a rude log furnace and
smelted lead on an island then existing in the Mississippi Piver, on the
east side of the main channel, a short distance below Dunleith, and nearly
HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY. 251
opposite the mouth of Catfish Creek. Here the first smelting now known
to have been done by white men, within the limits of Jo Daviess County,
was done. Jackson built a flat boat to carry his lead to St. Louis, and had
much trouble with the Indians on his way down the river. " lie was
joined," says Capt. Harris, " probably about 1812 or '13, by John S. Miller,
but soon after the island was abandoned. Jackson went to Missouri, and
Miller went down the river and built the first cabin and blacksmith shop on
the present site of Hannibal, Mo." It is also said that in 1818, Miller,
with George W. Ash and another man, ascended the Mississippi with a boat
load of merchandise as far as Dubuque's mines, trading with the Indians,
and he probably visited La Pointe and may have spent some time there.
Both Jackson and Miller returned to Fever River in 1823. The island has
now nearly disappeared, but in the Fall of 1823 two keel-boat loads of
scoriae and partially burned mineral were taken from the site of Jackson's
old furnace, by Moses Meeker, and carried to his furnace on Fever Kiver
and smelted.
The first permanent settlements by the whites in all Northwestern
Illinois, of which any record or reliable knowledge now remains, existed
about 1820 on the banks of the river now known as the Galena. This
river was tlien known as Feve or Bean River. There is a tradition that the
river took its name from one La Fevre, a Frenchman, who first visited that
locality, but there is no evidence to confirm it. The Indian name for the
river was Mah-cau-bee — Macaubee, which translated, means " fever," or,
more literally, "fever that blisters," the Indian term for small pox. They
gave it this name, it is said, because, in tlie early history of this country,
when the extreme western frontier of the white settlements was many
hundred miles eastward, some of the warriors from the populous Indian
villages then existing on the present site of Galena, and on the banks of a
small creek a little way southward, went to the assistance of their eastern
brethren. On their return they brought with them the loathsome disease
for which they had no other name than Mah-cau-bee, the fever that blisters.
The larger one they called " Moshuck — Macaubee — Sepo," Big Small Pox
River, and the smaller " Cosh-a-neush — Macaubee — Sepo," Little Small Pox
River. Hundreds of the natives died and the Indians named both streams
Macaubee. The smaller one is still called Small Pox Creek, but the larger
was changed by the whites to the rather more pleasant name of Fever, and
the little frontier hamlet was known as " Fever River Settlement," or La
Pointe, until 1826-7, when the name of Galena was substituted. The name
" Bean," which was sometimes applied to i^ ever River in early days, came
from the fact that the early French traders and adventurers, who were evi-
dently familiar with this locality long before 1820, had changed the Indian
name to " Riviere au Feve," which translated into English, means river of
the bean;" hence the name "Bean River," * applied to it in the early
* Since this was written some additional light has been thrown upon the origin of the
names " B^an " and " Fever." Mr. B. C. St. Cyr, one of the early merchints of Galena, on
the authority of his uncle, who traded among the Indians in this region, more than a
hundred years ago, stites that the stream was then called by the French Flelle from an old
Indian chief, bearing that name, then living on its banks. This name, Flelle, signifymg
gall, was afterward corrupted by later French visitors, or by the Indians tliemselves, to
Feve, sigiiifving bean, tlie pronunciation being somewhat similar. From Feve the transi-
tion was easy to Fevre— Fever. Tlie origin of tlie Indian name Macaubee appears to be
mare maln-n. In IS3), Wm. H. Sayaer, Esq., of Galena, spent some time wilh Col. Geo.
D.ivenport. Mr. S ly.l^r hid then recently opened one of the ancient mounds on the bluff
near the Portage, and found an immense quantity of human bones, evidently of quite modern
252 HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY.
fazetteers. This is but another indication pointing to the occupation of La
'ointe, prior to the date of its first settlement, as now fixed by some
historians. Certainly the names of the men who were first there, and
applied the name " Riviere au Feve,'' have passed into oblivion.
As early as 1822, this extreme western frontier settlement had become
snfiiciently well known to have a place in the literature of that day. A
rare copy of " The Gazetteer of lilinois and Missouri" (now many years out
of print), published in 1822, and at present in the possession of William
Hempstead, Esq., of Galena, contains the following: —
" Bean River (Riviere au Feve, Fr.,) a navigable stream of Pike County, emptying
into the Mississippi three miles below Catfish Creek, twenty miles below Dubuque's mines
and about seventy above Rock River. Nine miles up this stream, a small creek empties
into it from the west. The banks of this creek, and the hills wiiich bound its alluvian, are
filled with lead ore of the best quality. Three miles below this on the banks of Bean
River is the Traders Village, consisting of ten or twelve houses or cabins. At this place
the ore procured from the Indians is smelted and then sent in boats either to *Canada or
New Orleans. The mines are at present extensively worked by Col. Johnson, of Kentucky,
who during: the last session of Congres (winter of 1821-2) obtained the exclusive right of
working them for three years. The lands on tlii« stream ^yq poor, and are only valuable on
account of the immense quantities of mineral which they contain."
In the same work Chicago is simply mentioned as " a village of Pike
County, containing twelve or fifteen houses, and about sixty or seventy
inhabitants." It is very evident that there was a ^' Traders Village " on or
near the present site of Galena in 1822, and that it was a point of more
importance, commercially, than Chicago, at that time. The statement of
the gazetteer is confirmed by a letter from Capt. M. Marston, then Com-
mander at Fort Edwards, to Amos Farrar, Fever Kiver, dated April 12,
1822. in which occurs the following: — "The Johnsons of Kentucky have
leased the Fever River lead mines and are about sending up a large number
of men. It is also said that some soldiers will be stationed there. If this
is all true, the Foxes, and all the trading establishments now there, must
remove."
In 1803, when the United States purchased the province of Louisiana
from Napoleon, of France, the existence of lead mines in that region was
known. In 1807 Cony.ress enacted that these mines should be reserved
from sale, and held in fee simple, under the exclusive control of the govern-
ment. Leases of three to five years were issued to various individuals to
work them as tenants of the United States, but until about 1823, the most
of the work being done in Missouri, the mining operations appear to have
been carried on without much system. Miners throughout all the lead
mining districts paid but slight attention to Congressional enactments.
Lessees were not properly supported in their rights, and of course became
constantly involved in disputes with claimants and trespassers, which often
proved ruinous to their undertakings.
In November, 1821, when the charge of the lead mines was transferred
from the General Land Office to the War Department, no mines were
known to be worked in any of the mining districts, under leases or legal
date. Mentioning tlie circumstance to Col. Davenport, that gentleman said that the Indians
living on the streams now called Fever River and Small Pox Creek had taken the small pox,
and died in large numbers, the survivors fled, bui while he (Davenport) lived at Portage,
about 1816, they returned, gathered up the remains of the victims, and buried them in the
mound Snyder had opened. From that time the Indians called both streams "Macaubee,"
" the fever that blisters," hence the name Fever; the smaller stream being still called
Small Pox.
* By way of Wisconsin River to the portage, then down the Fox River to Green Bay.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 253
autliority, altlioiigli many were known to be worked without authority,
especially in Missouri.
Mr. Seymour, in his history of "Galena Mines," etc., published in
184:8-'49 states, on the authority of Jesse W. Shull, that previous to 1819
" the Sacs and Foxes, noted as warlike and dangerous tribes, had already
killed several traders who had attempted to traffic among them," and adds:
" It was a current report among the settlers at Prairie du Chien, that a
trader was murdered in 1813, at the mouth of the Sinsinawa. His wife, a
squaw, had warned him to leave the country, as the Indians meditated
taking his life. Disregarding her friendly warnings, he remained, and was
murdered the same night."
In 1816, by a treaty made at St. Louis with various tribes to settle the
disputes that had arisen under the treaty of 1804, by which the Sacs and
Foxes had ceded to the United States all the lands lying between the Illi-
nois and Wisconsin Eiver east of the Mississippi, all the lands north of a
line running west from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the
Mississippi River, were relinquished to the Indians, except a tract one
league square at the mouth of the Wisconsin, and another tract iive leagues
square on the Mississippi River, of which Fever River was about the centre.
These reservations were intended to be sufficie;it to embrace the lead mines
known to be worked by the squaws, and presumed to be valuable, although
their location was not known to the government.
From the best information now accessible, it appears that the point
of land lying between Fever River and the creek now known as
" Meeker's Branch," at the junction of these streams, was called " January's
Point," when the "first settlers " came in 1819 or '20. John Lorrain, in
his History of Jo Daviess County, published in 1876. says: " In 1820
Jesse Shull and Samuel C. Muir opened a trading post near the present site
of the City of Galena, then called "January's Point," and by this name it
was known to the early settlers, as well as by the French name La Pointe —
The Point — by which it was generally called by the traders and miners for
years afterwards, until a Frenchman named Frederic Gros Claude settled
near the site of January's old post, and then it was sometimes called Fred-
eric's Point. The presumption is that Thomas H. January, a Pennsylvan-
ian, occupied The Point as a smelter and trader long enough before the
arrival of Shull and others to give his name to it, or " La Pointe." the name
given to it by the French traders, familiar with the location and friendly
with the Indians, perhaps, even before January located there. Captain
Harris, previously quoted, however, thinks that January, who was from
Pittsburgh, was not permanently located here until about 1821 or 1822.
In the Spring of 1848, the Louisville Courier stated that one Henry
Shreeve came up Fever River and obtained lead in 1810.
In February, 1810, Nicholas Boilvin, then agent for the Winnebagoes
at Prairie du Chien, passed through this region on foot from Rock Island,
with Indians for guides, and by them was shown a lead mine, which, from
his memoranda, written in the French language, was near Fever River,
and was probably what was afterward known to the early settlers as " the
old Buck lead."'
The veteran Capt. Harris says, that unquestionably Julien Dubuque
operated on both sides of the Mississippi, and mined on Apple River, near
the present village of Elizabeth, worked the old Buck and Hog leads, near
Fever River, the Cave diggings, in what is now Vinegar Hill Townshio,
254 HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY.
Jo Daviess County, and others, as early as 1805, and very probably at a still
earlier date. The Indians were on very friendly terms with Dubuque, and
when they reported a discovery to him he sent his assistants, Canadian
Frenchmen and half breeds, to prove them, and in some cases to work them.
All over that region, when Capt. H. came to Fever River, a lad of fifteen,
in 1823, traces of old mining operations existed, which were evidently not
the work of the Indians. At what was called the Allen wrath diggings, at
Ottawa, about two miles from the present City of Galena, a heavy sledge
hammer was found under the ashes of one of these primitive furnaces, in
1826. This furnace had been worked long before the date generally assigned
to the first white settlement in this region. This ancient hammer,
weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds, is still preserved by Mr. Houghton,
for many years the leading editor of the Northwest. The Indians never
used such an implement, and it was unquestionably left, where it was found
in 1826, by some of Dubuque's miners.
All these important considerations, in connection with the. fact that
the Mississippi River was the great highway of the pioneers of that day — .
that Prairie du Chien was a thriving French village, and had been a French
military post as early as 1755, long before Dubuque located above the
mouth of Catfish Creek — that a military and trading post existed at Fort
Armstrong (Rock Island) previous to the later "first .settlements" on the
east side of the Mississippi, now Jo Daviess County, lead almost irresist-
ibly to the conclusion that "La Pointe" was well known to the earlier
Indian traders, and that the lead mining region around Riviere au Feve
had been visited and occupied, temporarily at least, by white men for many
years prior to 1819-'20 But by whom? History is silent, and those hardy
pioneers hava left no footprints on the ever shifting sands of time.
It must be considered as reasonably certain, as previously stated, that
the lead mining district now lying in both Jo Daviess County and in Wis-
consin, was more or less occupied by Dubuque's men before any permanent
settlements were made in the territory. Dubuque, by his wonderful mag-
netic power, had obtained great influence among the Indians, then occupy-
ing this entire region. They believed him to be almost the equal of the
Great Spirit, and they feared him nearly as much. They implicitly obeyed
him, and it is not a mere chimera to presume that they reported to him the
existence of leads on the east, as well as on the west, side of tlie Father of
* Waters, and it is reasonable to suppose when such reports were made to
him, that he verified them by actual observations made by himself or his
men. From the remembrances of the oldest residents of Jo Daviess County
now surviving, and the traces of mining done by whites long before any per-
manent settlements were made, it seems more than probable that Dubuque
and his men were the first whites who occupied the Fever River lead
mining district, in common with the aboriginal inhabitants.
It must also be considered certain that La Pointe, as the present City of
Galena was called by the French traders and miners, was familiar to them as
a trading post or point for many years before the first settlements were
made, of which meagre, fragmentary and often confused and conflicting ac-
counts have come down to the present day. These were favorite hunting
grounds for the native tribes who had populous villages on the banks of
. the Macaubee and other streams in this country, and it was undoubtedly a
favorite resort for traders, who voyaged up and down (he Mississippi on
their periodical trafficking expeditions. That it was known as a good trading
HISTORY OF OGLte COtJNTY. 255
point for many years prior to Mr. ShulPs location tliere in 1819, is beyond
question. The total absence of records of the local events in these early
days, however, renders it impossible now .to determine who they were.
Doubtless some of them were tliere after permanent settlements were made,
and were among the first settlers.
In 1819, the historic diggings, known for more than half a century as
the "Buck Lead," were being worked by the Indians, the most of the work
being done by the squaws. It was the largest body of mineral then ever
discovered on Fever Kiver, and an immense amount of galena ore was taken
out by the natives and sold to the traders before it was worked out by John-
son. Mr. Farrar estimated that several million pounds had been taken from
this lead by the Indians, more, in fact, than was taken from it by the white
miners afterwards. This lead took its name from the "Buck," a Sac or Fox
chief who was encamped, with his band, on Fever River in 1819, and worked
it. Its existence had been known to the Indians for many years, and unques-
tionably by Dubuque, previous to its working by Buck and his band. Close
by it, and parallel with it, was a smaller lead, which was called the "Doe
lead," in honor of Buck's favorite squaw. Before the arrival of Johnson,
in 1820 or '21, the Indians took from this lead the largest nugget of mineral
ever raised in the mines. It took all the force they could muster to raise it,
and when they had safely landed it on terra tirma, the Indian miners
wanted the traders to send it to Washington as a present to the " Great
Father." As it never reached there, the presumption is that the traders
preferred to purchase the mineral, at the rate of a peck of corn for a peck
of mineral.
In 1816, the late Col. George Davenport, agent for the American Fur
Company, trading with the Sacs and Foxes, occupied a trading post at the
Portage, on Fever River, and lived there. How long is not now known.
He soon after left that point and went to Rock Island. The post was after-
wards occupied, in 1821, by Amos Farrar, of the firm of Davenport, Farrar
& Farnham, agents for the American Fur Company. This important fact
in the early history of that region is given on the authority of Wm. H.
Snyder, Esq., of Galena, who received it from the lips of Davenport him-
self, in 1835. ""
In 1819, when the "Buck lead" was being worked by the Indians, as
above stated, Mr. Jesse W. Shull was trading at Dubuque's mines (now
Dubuque) for a company at Prairie du Chien. That company desired him
to go to Fever River and trade with the Indians, but he dijclared that it was
unsafe — that the Sacs and Foxes had already murdered several traders —
and declined to go unless he could have the protection of the United States
troops. Col. Johnson, of the United States Army, was induced to summon
a council of Sac and Fox nations at Prairie du Chien, and when the chiefs
had assembled he informed them that the goods that Mr. Shull was about
to bring among them were sent out by their Father, the President of the
United States (it was not considered a sin to lie to the Indians even then),
and told them that they must not molest Mr. Shull in his business. Having
received from the government officers and from the Indians assurances of
protection, Mr. Shull came to Fever River late in the Summer of that year
(1819), and erected a trading house on the bottom near the river, not far from
the foot of Perry Street, Galena. Mr. Seymour, in his history of Galena, pub-
lished in 1848, fixes the location as "just below where the American House
now stands," but as the " American House " has long since disappeared,
256 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
this location is not now very definite. Daring that year (1848), Mr. Sey-
mour had a personal interview with Mr. Shull, then residing in Green
County, Wisconsin^ and gathered from his own lips the facts as stated above.
At that interview Mr. Shull stated that himself and Dr. Samuel C. Muir
were the first white settlers on Fever River, at that pointy in 1819, that
"during that year Dr. Muir commenced trading there with goods furnished
by the late Col. Davenport, of Rock Island." Mr. Shull also stated that
later in the same year Francois Bouthillier came and occupied a shanty at
the bend, on the east side of Fever River, below the present limits of the
City of Galena. It is to be regretted that Mr. Shull had not been more
explicit, as it would be very interesting now to know whether Mr.
Bouthillier built that shanty there, or whether it had been built by him or
some other roving trader before that time, and whether it was occupied
temporarily or permanently by him in 1819. Mr. Bouthillier was a French
trader known at Prairie du Chien as early as 1812, when, it- is said, he acted
as interpreter and guide for the British troops. He undoubtedly knew of
the Fever River trading point, and may have frequently visited it and
"occupied a shanty," as probably others had, prior to 1819. Mr. Shull
himself does not appear to have been a very permanent fixture at that point
then, for during " the Fall he moved his goods to the mouth of Apple
River, of the Maquoketa, Iowa, and other places, to suit the convenience of
the Indians as they returned from their Fall hunts." Mr. Shull does not
appear as a trader after that year, although he may have been engaged in
the Indian trade somewhat later, but he soon became interested in mining,
and remained in the mining district, finally locating in Michigan Territory,
now Wisconsin.
At that time all this region was a wilderness, occupied only by a few
fur traders and roving tribes of Indians. The nearest settlements at the
north were at Dubuque's mines and Prairie du Chien, the latter an old
town of great distinction and extensive trade, relatively of as much impor-
tance in the Mississippi Yalley at that period as St. Paul and St. Louis are
now. On the east, the nearest village was Chicago, consisting of a few rude
cabins inhabited by half-breeds. At Fort Clark (now Peoria), on the south,
were a few pioneers, and thence a long interval to the white settlements
near Vandalia.
Dr. Samuel C. Muir, mentioned by Mr. Shull as trading at Galena, in
1819, may have been there at that time, but whether before, after, or with
Mr. S., does not appear. It is very probable that he was there, may have
been there before 1819, but if he engaged in trade it was very temporary.
It may be that he came there on a tour of observation, and took a few goods
with him, like the provident Scotchman he was, "to pay expenses." But
Dr. Muir was a physician. He had received his education at Edinburgh,
and felt a just pride in his profession. He was a man of strict integrity
and irreproachable character. He was a surgeon in the United States Army
previous to his settlement at La Pointe. When stationed with his regi-
ment at some post in the northern country he married an Indian woman
of the Fox nation. Of that marriage the following romantic account is
given.
The post where he was stationed was visited by a beautiful Indian
maiden (whose native name unfortunately has not been preserved) who, in
her dreams, had seen a white brave unmoor her canoe, paddle it across the
river, and come directly to her lodge. She knew, according to the supersti-
^//^/^T'^i^^^^^
(deceased)
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTT. 259
tious belief of her race, tliat in her dream she had seen her future husband,
and came to the fort to find him. Meeting Dr. Muir, she instantly recog-
nized him as the hero of her dream, which she, with childlike innocence
and simplicity, related to him. Her dream was indeed prophetic. Charmed
with Sophia's beauty, innocence and devotion, the doctor honorably mar-
ried her; but after awhile the sneers of his brother officers, less honorable,
perhaps, than he, made him ashamed of his dark-skinned wife, and when
his regiment was ordered down the river to Bellefontaine, it is said he
embraced the opportunity to rid himself of her, and left her, thinking that
she could never find him again, or, if she could, that she would not have
the courage and power to follow him. But, with her infant child, the
intrepid wife and mother started alone in her canoe, and, after days of
weary labor, at last reached him, but much worn and emaciated, after a
lonely journey of nine hundred miles. She said, " When I got there, I was
all perished away — so thin." The doctor, touched by such unexampled
devotion, took her to his bosom, aild until his death, treated her with
marked respect. She always presided at his table, and was respected by all
who knew her, but never abandoned her native dress.
In 1819-'20, Dr. Muir was stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw,
but threw up his commission, and in the Spring of 1820 built the first
cabin erected by a white man on the present site of the City of Keokuk,
Iowa, but leased his claim to parties from St. Louis, and, later in the same
year, went to LaPointe to practice his profession, and was the first physician
known to have located in Northern Ilfinois. He remained in practice there
about ten years. He had four children, viz. : Louise (married at Keokuk,
since dead), James (drowned at Keokuk), Mary and Sophia. Dr. Muir
died suddenly, soon after he returned to Keokuk, left his property in such
condition that it was wasted in vexatious litigation, and his brave and faith-
ful wife, left penniless and friendless, became discouraged, and with her
children, disappeared, and it is said, returned to her people on the Upper
Missouri.
Francois Bouthillier, the other and later occupant of that shanty in 1819,
was a roving trader, following the Indians. Whether he remained there
permanently from that time is very uncertain, but nothing further is known
of him until Mr. J. G. Soulard, then on his way to Fort Snelling, found
him there in 1821, still an Indiaji trader. " Mr. Bouthillier," says Mr.
Shull, " after he occupied a ' shanty at the Bend,' in 1819, purchased a cabin
then known as the cabin of Bagwell & Co., supposed to be situated near the
lower ferry." But he says, " in 1824, and previous to Bouthillier's pur-
chase, the house and lot had been sold for $80." Here Mr. Bouthillier
engaged in trade, and established a ferry, which is the first permanent set-
tlement made by him of which there is authentic account. Captain Harris
says he remembers distinctly when Bouthillier built his trading house at or
near that point.
In this connection, it is well to add that Mr. George Ferguson and^ Mr.
Allan Tomlin, both early settlers and highly esteemed and reliable citizens
of Galena, express the opinion that there was a trading post at the Portage,
three and one half miles below LaPointe, between Fever Kiver and the
Mississippi, even prior to the advent of either of those whose names have
been mentioned. However this may be, it must be admitted that there
were a large number of Indians encamped or living there at that time, whose
women and old men were engaged in raising lead from the '' Buck lead," and
15
260 HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTY.
the fame of their rude, and, for them, extensive mining operations, mnst'have
naturally attracted the attention of traders, who came there to traffic with
them. Probably others than Shull, Muir and BouthilHer were in that
vicinity with their goods, and the surrounding circumstances would seem
to corroborate and justify the opinion expressed by Messrs. Ferguson and
Tomlin. The Portage was a narrow neck of land between the Fever River
and the Mississippi, so named because the Indians and traders were accus-
tomed to transport their canoes and goods across to save their journey down
the same point again, the distance across the neck being only a few rods.
A furrow was plowed across this neck of land at its narrowest point, bv
Lieut. Hobart, in 1834, and now there is a deep channel, called the " cut-
off." That location was very convenient for a trading post.
If the lead mines attracted traders, they attracted miners as well.
Among the first, if not the first, to work the mines, of whom any definite
account has been preserved, was James Johnson, of Kentucky, said to be a
brother of Colonel R. M. Johnson, of historic renown as the slayer of
Tecumseh, and vice president with Yan Buren. It has already been shown
that "the Johnsons" of Kentucky were engaged in lead mining there in
1822. The date of Johnson's first arrival there must forever remain in
obscurity, unless some records not now accessible, shall be found to show
it. In a letter written by Dr. H. Kewhall, dated Fever River, March 1,
1828, he speaks of the " Buck lead " as having been worked out by Colonel
Johnson while he was at these mines in 1820-'21." Mr. J. G. Soulard,who
passed LaPointe in 1821, on his way to Fort Snelling, and stopped there a
day or two, says that, on his way up, they met Johnson's boat going down,
and that, wh,ile there, he understood that he was mining there,' but did not
see him. From the best information now at hand, it would seem that Mr.
Johnson first visited that region as a trader, as early, perhaps, as 1819, pos-
sibly before, and that, in 1820 -'1, he was mining there without authority
from the government, under purchased permission of the Indians. It does
not appear that the government exercised any especial jurisdiction there at
that time, as the lead mining district was under the control of the general
land office until 1821. It may be, also, that he was not mining, but sim-
ply smelting the mineral purchased from the Indians.
Some time during the Summer of 1820, Mr. A. P. Yanmeter — or
Yanmatre, as the name is spelled in early records — is said to have located
at G-alena, probably on the east side of the river, opposite the present
woolen mill above Baker's Branch, as he was afterwards there engaged in
smelting.
It is more than probable that others came with him, or during the
same year, but their names do not appear of record. Mr. D. G. Bates
was associated with Yanmatre shortly afterwards in the smelting business,
but whether he arrived there contemporaneously with Mr. Yanmatre is
not known.
In August or September, 1821, Amos Farrar was managing a trading
post on Fever River as agent for the American Fur Company, and was
living there with his Fox wife. This fact is established beyond question by
a letter addressed to him at the " Lead Mines, Fever River," from Major
S. Burbank, commander at Fort Armstrong, dated October 14, 1821, ^' by
favor of Mr. Music," presenting Mr. Farrar with " my old black horse, if
he will be of any service to you." A letter dated Fort Armstrong, Novem-
ber 21, 1821, signed J. R. Stubbs, a blacksmith, addressed to Amos Farrar,
HISTORY OF OGLE COFNTY. 261
Fever River, introducing to the latter the bearer of the letter, Mr. Sjmmes,
who was accompanied by Mr. Connor and Mr. Bates " — undoubtedly B.
Symines and James Connor, and, perhaps, David G. Bates, who have always
been considered among the earliest settlers in the mining region. These
and other letters and papers belonging to Mr. Farrar were kindly placed at
the disposal of the writer by Captain G. W. Girdon, of Galena, one of the
oldest steamboat captains now in service on the Mississippi, and enabled
him to fix the date of his permanent settlement on Fever River more
accurately than can be done with some others. From these letters it
appears that Mr. Farrar was, for at least two years before, and up to July
22, 1821, in the service of Louis Devotion, as a trader on the Mississippi,
located at Fort Armstrong, bringing his supplies via Green Bay from
Canada. At that date he left the service of Mr. Devotion, and, immedi
ately after, came to Fever River, as before stated, and probably located at
the Portage. In 1823, he had a trading house on the bank of the river,
near the centre of what is now Water Street, between Perry and Franklin
Streets, Galena. On the 1st of June, 1825, Mr. Farrar received a permit,
signed Charles Smith, acting sub-agent United States lead mines, permit-
ting him to occupy five acres of United States land for cultivation, and to
build a cabin thereon, situated near the Portage. He must comply with
all regulations concerning cutting timber. Mr. Farrar had three children
by his Indian wife (now all dead). About two years before his death he
married Miss Sophia Gear, sister of Captain H. H. Gear, who still survives
him. He died of consumption, at his residence within the stockade, July
24, 1832, beloved and respected by all who knew him. The following copy
of a printed notice to the inhabitants will show the esteem in which he
was held :
Yourself and family are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of Mr. Amos Farrar
this morning at ten o'clock, from his late residence within the stockade.
Galena, July 26, 1832.
This was probably the first funeral notice ever printed in Northwestern
Illinois.
We have been thus elaborate in regard to the mining regions of
Galena, to show the origin of settlements in Northwestern Illinois. The
mines naturally attracted attention, and the more they became known, the
greater was the influx of immigrants. Up to 1831, the immigration was
confined exclusively to the mines at Galena, and but little attention was
given to the rich farming lands of the prairies and river valleys, and only a
few attempts had been made towards taking claims and making farms in
any part of the country away from the Galena section. Early in the Sum-
mer of 1825, a Mr. Kellogg "started from Fort Clark for the Fever River
Mines, and reached and crossed Rock River a few miles above the present
City of Dixon. Passing up the prairie lying between Polo and Mount
Morris, touching the western part of West Grove, he continued northward
to Galena. Mr. Kellogg was the pioneer traveler from Fort Clark, now
Peoria, and thus marked out a course of travel that came to be known as
" Kellogg's Trail." During that Summer and Fall, a large number of
fortune hunters, some with teams, but more on foot, and all camping out,
passed over the same route, which continued to be the line of travel between
Fort Clark and Galena until a shorter one was defined in 1826.
There were neither ferries nor bridges over any of the streams in those
days, and the method of crossing them was primitive and simple. Indians,
262 HISTORY OF OGLE COFNTY.
particularly the Winnebagoes, were numerous all through this country, and
were thickly sett'ed or encamped along Rock River, and were easily per-
suaded to help the whites cross the river. Two of their canoes would be
placed side by side, the two wheels of one side of a wagon placed in one of
them, and the two wheels of the other side placed in the other canoe, thus
forming a ferry boat, on which they would be transferred from one side of
the river to the other. The horses or oxen were made to swim the
river, and, safely crossed, they would be hitched up again, and the journey
renewed.
As the country came to be understood, the Kellogg trail was regarded
as circuitous, and bearing too far to the east to be the shortest, and, in the
Spring of 1826, John Boles, who was traveling across the country, left the
beaten trail, some miles south of Rock River, and crossed that stream just
above where it is now crossed by the Illinois Central Railroad at Dixon.
He then passed up through the country, about one mile 'east of Polo ;
thence north to White Oak Grove, about half a mile west of Forreston ;
thence through Crane's Grove, and so on to Galena. This trail immediately
came to be the popular route of travel, and was known as " Boles' Trail."
For three years, or until 1829, it was the only route used. It is said that,
on the prairie, a few miles east of Polo, traces of this old trail are still to
be seen and easily defined.
In the winter months there was but very little travel, probably from
the fact that there was but little or nothing doing in the mines, and may
be because of the exposure necessarily incident to the trip. In March, 1827,
however, a heavy tide of travel set in from Fort Clark, and other parts of
the state below there.
Among the first to come up that season and cross Rock River at the
Boles trail (now Dixon) was Elisha Doty, who subsequently settled at Polo.
"When he arrived at the river it was still covered with ice, over which he
essayed to cross, but before he had proceeded far the ice began to give way,
and he was obliged to abandon the attempt. " While waiting on the bank
(says Boss' Sketches of the History of Ogle County, published in 1859),
just before starting on his return, about two hundred teams collected there,
all on their way to Galena. We mention this fact that an approximate
idea may be formed of the amount of travel to and fro through the country
at that early period."
This was not the only trail or line of travel from the southern part of
the state, to Galena, at that date. About the same time the Kellogg trail
was marked out, another trail, known as the " Lewiston Trail," was estab-
lished. This trail crossed the river a little above Prophetstown, in what is
now Whiteside County, and passed some miles west of the western line of
Ogle County. There was probably as much travel on the Lewiston trail as
on the Boles trail, and hence the reader will readily infer that there was
an immense rush to the lead mines in 1827.
There was another trail from the south part of the state, known as the
" Sucker Trail," and is often mentioned by old Illinoisans. One peculiarity
of the miners was to apply to the people from the various states, names
suggested by some peculiarity of character or surrounding circumstances.
Miners and others came in such large number from Missouri as to suggest
to the fertile imagination of the hardy settlers the idea that the State of
Missouri had taken an emetic, and forthwith all Missourians were dubbed
" Pukes." The people of Southern Illinois had the habit of coming up
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 263
«
here with their teams in the Spring to haul mineral and work in the mines,
but regularly returned to their homes in the Fall. This suggested that they
were Hke the iish called ''suckers," which run up the small streams in the
Spring, and run down to deeper water at the approach of cold weather. All
lUinoisans were called " Suckers," therefore, and here, in \he lead mines
of the Upper Mississippi, originated the term which is now applied to all
residents of the " Sucker State." Kentuckians were called " corn-crackers; "
Indianians, "Hoosiers;" Ohioans, "Buckeyes," etc., and hence the name
" Sucker Trail."
Isaac Chambers, the first white settler in Ogle County, passed through
the county limits early in the Summer of 1827, en route for Galena, and
was so favorably impressed with the beauty of the country and the richness
of the soil, that he determined to make it his future home, which determi-
nation he carried out in 1829, but of this more anon.
In 1827 the site of Dixon had become a fixed place for travelers to
cross the river, but crossing was often attended with a great deal of incon-
venience, as up to this time, and until 1828, there was no ferry other than
the kind of canoe ferry already described, and the Indians were not always
present and in readiness with their canoes. When the water was low, the
river could be forded jvithout difficulty, but this was not always the case. The
establishment of a ferry at that point was first undertaken by a man named
J. L. Begordis, of Peoria, who sent a man up in the early Summer of 1827
to build a shanty 8 by 10, on the bank, and to live there and " hold the
fort," or ferry, until Begordis could find and forward the necessary work-
men, carpenters, etc., to build the ferry boat. Soon after the shanty was
completed, Mr. Doty (the father of Elisha Doty already mentioned), a car-
penter, came, and work on the boat was commenced and vigorously prose-
cuted. When the boat was about half completed, the Indians set fire to it,
and informed its builders that they should not build a boat there,
and told them to " go to Peoria." Doty and his assistant did not stand
upon the order of their going, but went at once, for the command was im-
perative, if not threatening.
In the Spring of 1828, Joe Ogee, a Frenchman and an Indian inter-
preter, whose wife was a Pottawattomie woman, settled there, built a
house, and established a ferry. The records in the County Clerk's office at
Galena, show that on the 7th day of December, 1829, Ogee applied to the
Board (»f Commissioners of Jo Daviess County, for license to keep a ferry,
although he had maintained one for more than a year. At the same time
he made application for license to keep a tavern, both of which were granted.
The county commissioners had power to fix both ferry and tavern
rates, and as a reminder of times long agone, we copy the following rates at
Ogee's Ferry:
Footmen 123^ Cents.
Man and horse 25 "
Each yoke of cattle 37^^ "
Other cattle per head, or horse. 25 "
Each road wagon.- $1 00
Each horse hitched thereto 25 "
Each two-horse wagon 75 "
Each two- wheeled carriage or cart $1 00
Each one-horse wagon 75 "
Each 100 lbs. merchandise 6 "
The tavern rates he was allowed to charge were thus established:
264: HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Each meal ---373^ Cents.
Horse feed ._ 25 "
Horse per night to corn and hay 623^ "
Man per night... 12}4 "
Each half ]3int of French brandy or wine 25 "
" • " whisky or other domestic liquors 123^ "
Holland gin - ..25
" quart of porter, cider or ale 25 "
Mr. Boss says Ogee was '' almost an Indian, from his long association
with them, and having adopted many of their social and domestic habits."
His tavern and ferry were not disturbed by the Indians, and he remained
in possession of the ferry until the 11th of April, 1830, when he sold out
to John Dixon, of Peoria, after whom the City of Dixon was named.
All was not happiness, however, in Ogee's' family. There was a " skel
eton in the closet," and, some months before Dixon bought the ferry, a
separation between them was agreed upon. The Indian wife went her way,
leaving the husband to act as landlord, landlady and ferryman, as best he
might. Mrs. Ogee belonged to one of the wealthiest Indian families of
the country, and was an heiress, owning nearly one half of Paw Paw Grove,
an Indian reservation. After the separation between herself and Jo, she
was looked upon as a captivating widow, and was not long in finding
admirers. After angling around awhile, she selected one Job Alcott as the
" best suited to her mind," to whom she was married. When the Potta-
wattomies were removed to Kansas, Job Alcott and his wife accompanied
them to their new home.
John Ankeney came up from the southern part of the state, in the
Spring of 1829, and located a claim at Nanusha, or Bufialo Grove, near
where the old Galena road crossed Buffalo Creek. After making his claim,
he returned for his family, and, while he was absent on that mission, Isaac
Chambers came down from Galena with his family, and stopped at White
Oak Grove, a small growth or patch of timber about half a mile to the
west of the present village of Forreston. But, not altogether suited, he
remained there only a short time. He reasoned that the timbered parts of
the country would become more valuable than the prairie land, because of
the superabundance of the latter, and comparative scarcity of the former.
Aftei" prospecting around for awhile, and examining different localities, he
finally settled upon Buffalo Grove, about ten miles south of his first stop-
ping place at White Oak Grove. He removed his family there, and com-
menced to make arrangements to build a house a few rods above the site of
the old bridge over Buffalo Creek, where there was an easy crossing of that
stream of water. He also had in purpose a plan to open a road through
the timber, and, by building a hotel, divert the travel from the prairie and
thus put his time, labor and money where they would do the most good.
As it happened, Mr. Chambers had taken the claim previously selected by
by Ankeney, and while he was perfecting his plans and arrangements for
opening the contemplated road and building a hotel, Mr. Ankeney came
back with his family, and was surprised to find that his claim had been
"jumped," or taken, by Mr. Chambers, while the latter was no less sur-
prised at the appearance of Ankeney. The surprise was mutual, although
it is to be presumed that it was not at all agreeable to either. If either
had been left alone in undisputed possession of the claim, it would have
been a long distance, in any direction, to the nearest neighbor. But this
consideration was of no consequence to either of the disputants, and Mr.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 265
Ankeney, in no very pleasant mood of temper, went down the creek about
one hundred rods, where he proceeded to erect a " public house," although
there was but one road in the whole country, and that one fully two miles
distant.
Hotels in those days were of the most primitive character. Generally
speaking, they were one-story log structures — round logs, at that, not even
*' scutched down." If they had more than one room, the extra one was, in
all probability, a " shed addition," built on the side. If there was an up-
stairs apartment, it was reached by a rude step-ladder, made from a con-
veniently sized sapling, cut to the proper length, through which inch or
inch and a half augur holes were bored at desired intervals, and then split
in halves. The smaller undergrowth of hickory, oak or ash, about the size
of common hoop-poles, were next brought into use, cut to the proper length,
and the ends dressed down to fit the holes in the side pieces of the ladder.
When enough of these were made ready, the ladder was put together, and
was ready for use. This ladder would be elevated in one corner of the
room, or, may be, set up in the chimney-corner outside, underneath a window
or half-doorway, cut in the end of the upper part of the house. The furni-
ture of the " taverns" was just as simple as the plans and architecture of
the house. Often the floor was nothing but the earth. As likely as not three-
legged stools supplied the place of chairs. Tables were often made from
puncheons split from logs, dressed down with a broad-axe to a proper
thickness, then fastened together by a cross piece underneath, which was
held in place by wooden pins. In each corner of the table a hole was bored
with a hand augur, which received the legs. Bedsteads were sometimes made
by boring a hole in one of the logs at the proper height, in one side of the
building, about four feet from the corner. About six feet from the wall a
post was driven into the ground. One end of the side rail would be fitted
in the augur-hole, and the other end fastened to the post. The foot rail
was provided in the same way. Then came the slats (instead of bed-cords),
reaching from the side rail to the side of the house, and the bedstead was
completed. Mr. Boss says : " These bedsteads were often so made that, by-
placing one above another, one bed-post would support twelve sleepers, if
the family consisted of both sexes, curtains of deer skins or other materials,
were hung between the beds, or else the light was put out just before
retiring. This was done by covering up or throwing water on the fire in
the fire-place, for those were days of economy. If, perchance, fires were
extinguished, they were re-kindled by striking flints and catching sparks
on tinder."
Such were the tavern accommodations in the Kock Eiver Yalley fifty
years ago. And in such houses the fathers and mothers of some of the
most aristocratic first families of Ogle County set up housekeeping.
After their houses were built, Chambers and Ankeney proceeded to
establish the dividing line between their claims. Other boundary lines were
unnecessary, for there were no otlier claimants in all the country, and, if
they so willed it, one of them could claim Kock River for his eastern line,
and the other one the Mississippi for his western line. They were, for the
time, '' monarchs of all they surveyed." But we will quote from Mr. Boss :
" One clear, star-light night, when the moon did not shine, and when
there were no clouds floating'across the sky, they went together to the south
side of the grove, and, from a red-oak 'stump, they started towards the
North Star, hacking the trees which stood in their way, the marked trees
being the line between them."
266 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
All things being ready, thej went to Ogee's Ferry, and staked out eacli
his road, the two lines running parallel, being at no place more than half a
mile apart. Chambers' stakes, of course, ran by his house, and Mr.
Ankeney's by his house. The lines intersected north of the grove, and the
main line, after continuing a considerable distance, again intersected with
the old Boles trail. No difficulty was found in inducing travelers to take,
one of the two proposed roads, but the question was, which road should they
take? Each at once set at work to make his own house the most attractive.
Jealousy and rivalry at once arose between them, and were harbored as long
as they lived so near together with conflicting interests. Each used every
means in his power to injure the custom of the other, by such acts as fell-
ing trees across the other's road, and in many other equally irritating ways,
which rendered it quite an unpleasant neighborhood.
Early in 1828 a man named Clempson secured the contract for carrying
the mail between Peoria and Galena, but he soon transferred the contract
to John Dixon, who carried it hj hack or stage, his son being the driver,
and was probably the first stage driver on the old Peoria and Galena route.
He commenced to make regular trips some time before Ogee's ferry boat
was completed, and often experienced great difficulty in getting the Indians
to ferry him over the river. In 1830, as before stated, Dixon bought the
ferry and its privileges and moved his family from Peoria to Dixon's Ferry.
In May, 1829, Oliver W. Kellogg settled in what is now Erin Town-
ship, Stephenson County. He remained there until the Spring of 1831,
when he moved down to Buffalo Grove, and bought the Chambers claim
and "' tavern." Chambers moved about six miles north and made another
claim at what has ever since been known as Chambers' Grove. Kellogg not
only succeeded to the ownership of the Chambers property, but to the
Chambers line of hostilities against Ankeney.
The same day that Kellogg arrived at Buffalo Grove, Samuel Reed and
family came and made a claim on the south side of the grove, where he
continued to live until the time of his death in 1852.
In June of the same year (1829) two Kentuckians, Bush and Brooky,
settled on. the north side of the grove.
In 1831, settlers were scattered along the route between Peoria and
Galena as follows: The first was at LaSalle trairie, about fifteen miles north
of Peoria. The second was John Boyd, about twenty miles above LaSalle
Prairie, at what is known as Boyd's Grove. Bulbony came next, about
eight miles north of Boyd's. Henry Thomas lived at the head of Bureau
Timber, twelve miles distant from Boyd's Grove. Joseph Smith was the
next settler northward, and lived at a grove which was called " Dad Joe's
Grove," in honor of this first settler at that point, which was nineteen
miles south of Dixon's Ferry. The first settlement north of Dixon was
Buffalo Grove. Then came Cherry Grove, Crane's Grove, John Flack's on
Rush Creek, John Winters, on Apple River, where the Tillage of Elizabeth
now stands. Mr. Winters afterwards removed to Bufialo Grove. North-
ward, between Elizabeth and Galena, there were only two or three miners'
huts, one of which belonged to William Durley, who was subsequently shot
by the Indians at Buffalo Grove.
, For many years these were noted places. Their settlement had been
made in the midst of Indians. The Winnebagoes had not left the country,
and the Pottawatomies, while a smaller tribe, still occupied their old hunt-
ing grounds. They were peaceable, however, and never manifested any
(I^^'T!^,^^:^^^?^^-''*---*--''^^
POLO
'y
HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTY. 269
disposition to pilfer or do any of those trifling acts that characterized many-
other tribes of Indians when they professed peace and friendship.
In the Spring of 1831 the settlers of Buffalo Grove made the first
attempts at cultivating the soil. Some prairie sod was turned over and
planted to corn. We again quote from Boss' Sketches of the History of
Ogle County: " The ' first moon in June ' was the time at which the Indians
held their annual council, and when they met at Rock Island it was rumored
that they were going to make war upon the whites. Deeming it imprudent
to remain here, the settlers started for Galena. On arriving at Apple River,
their numbers were considerably increased by the addition of several per-
sons from other points, and they concluded to stop and build a stockade.
They had been there just a week and commenced cutting the timbers for a
fort, when a dispatch was received from Rock Island informing them that a
treaty had been made, and that they might safely return to their farms.
On their return, the farms were fenced, in order to secure the growing
crops. Before the crops could be harvested, provisions grew short, arid the
settlers were obliged to go to Peoria County for supplies.
" When Autumn came the corn crop was light and late. After being
harvested, the grain was grated on a grater to get meal for bread, until it
was too dry, when it was pounded in a mortar. [The more appropriate
name would be a hominy block.] The mortar was made by boring and
burning out the end of a log prepared for the purpose. The pestle was
made by fastening an iron wedge to a ' spring stick ' attached to an upright
post (much in the fashion of an old fashioned well sweep) ; handles were
then put on, when the operator commenced pounding, the elasticity of. the
stick lightening the labor by raising the wedge after it had struck the corn.
This rude mill was generally used once a day. The Indianr-, wdio were the
nearest neighbors, supplied them with venison during the Winter, receiving
corn and pumpkins for their compensation. The Winter (1831-'2) was
long and tedious, with deep snows and high winds."
June 8, 1831, the first voting precinct ever established within the
limits of the territory of Ogle County, was defined by the County Com-
missioners of Jo Daviess County. On that day the commissioners afore-
said entered the following order :
It is considered tliat the persons residing within the following limits shall constitute
voters within Bufialo Grove Precinct, viz. : East of the Lewiston road and south of a line to
include the dwelling of Crane and Hylliard, running to the southern boundary of the
county inclusive.
It is considered that John Dixon, Isaac Chambers and John Ankeney be and they
are hereby appointed judges of elections for the Butfalo Grove Precinct.
It is ordered that the house of John Ankeney be the place of voting in and for the
BuflFalo Grove Precinct.
The Lewiston trail crossed Rock River at Prophetstown, and passed
up through Carroll County not far (as some of the settlers of 1836 tell us)
from Lanark. Crane's Grove, according to the same authority, was on the
dividing ridge between the headwaters of Straddle (now Carroll) Creek and
Plum River. Thus it will be seen that Buffalo precinct embraced a wide
range of territory. In all that region at that time there were not to exceed
fifty voters — probably not twenty-five, and may be not even that number.
We sought to find the original poll-book at Galena, but like a good many
of the other early papers it had been lost or carried off'. It is a lamentable
fact that there was not that care in the preservation of early documents
there should have been— a carelessness that is now deeply regretted. That
16
^70 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
old poll-book of forty-seven years ago would be a valuable document, and
the names of the voters at the first election in August, 1831, would make
an interesting paragraph in the history of Ogle County.
The history thus far written has been of a general character and not
confined to Ogle County, but has been considered necessary to show the
origin and spread of the settlements in I^orthwestern Illinois. We have
quoted from what is believed to be good and reliable authority. Some of
the statements are gathered from personal interviews with old Galenians —
men who came there as boys of fifteen years in 1823, and who have
remained there ever since, helping to develop the country, and taking an
active part, as their years increased, in all of the public enterprises of the
country. Men of good minds and observant characters, it is reasonable to
suppose that their statements are authentic and accurate. In other instances,
we have quoted from printed history, written years ago, when the memory
of early incidents and happenings was fresh in the memory of the people.
So there is no reason to question the accuracy of the incidents we have thus far
grouped together. Having followed the settlement of the country from its first
occupancy by white men at Galena in 1819, to the erection of the first voting
precinct within the limits of Ogle County in 1831, we will now ask our
readers to go back with us to review the incidents of the two Indian Wars —
the Winnebago War of 1827, and the Black Hawk War of 1832. When
-we liave written of the causes that conspired to bring on these wars — wars
in which the first settlers were directly interested, and in which they par-
ticipated — of their prosecution and final conclusion — the local history and
development of the county will be taken up in- chronological order and
followed down to the present era.
It will be noticed by critical and studious readers that the theory
herein presented as to the origin of these wars, especially of the Winnebago
War, is at variance in some important respects from the theories and causes
advanced by earlier writers. The time has now come, if never before, when
the people can afibrd to be just to the memory of the rights of the people
who once occupied the beautiful and fertile valleys of Kock River and its
tributaries. It is not our purpose to divest the Indians of all responsi-
bility or immunity from wrong doing in all cases, but simply to deal with
facts as we have found them. These facts are gathered from intelligent,
unprejudiced minds — from men who saw and were a part of the army
against the Indians, and who know whereof they aflSrm.
THE WINNEBAGO WAR.
As has already been shown, when Jo Daviess County was first organ-
ized in 1827, it embraced within its jurisdiction all the country within the
following boundaries : "Commencing at the northwest corner of the state,
thence down the Mississippi River to the north line of the military tract
(not far from Keithsburg, in Mercer County); thence east to the Illinois
River ; thence north to the State line ; thence west to the place of begin-
ing." These lines included a vast area of territory — much larger and
richer than the territory embraced within several of the New England
States.
The year 1827 is not only memorable to the people of this country
as being the year in which the great Northwest was organized (since when
HISTOEY OF OGLE COUNTT. 271
*
■Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and ]S"ebraska have been organized as states
and settled by millions of civilized and intelligent people, and the great
territory of Dakota knocking for admission into the Union), but as being
the period of the first serious troubles experienced by the pioneer settlers
with the Indians, and now dignified by the title of the " Winnebago War."
All the territory north of the Ordinance line of 1787 was in the undisputed
possession of the Indians, except the reservations at the north of the Wis-
consin and on Fever River, and the mining district in Jo Daviess County
and Michigan Territory, outside these reservations, was occupied largely by
the Winnebagoes. Early in 1827, miners, settlers and adventurers flocked
hither in great numbers, and inevitably extended their explorations for
mineral beyond the " Ridge," recognized as the line of the " five leagues
square," although it does not now appear that the limits of the reservation
were ever accurately determined. Many rich leads were discovered on
Indian lands, and miners persisted in digging there, in direct disobedience
of the orders of the Superintendent of the United States Lead Mines to
desist and withdraw from lands on which the United States were not
authorized to even explore for mineral. In exceptional instances, the right
to mine was purchased from the Indians, but in most cases the restless
searchers for mineral wealth totally disregarded the orders of the Superin-
tendent and the rights of the Indians, who, according to the acts of the
trespassers, " had no right which a white man was bound to respect." Fre-
quent disputes occurred in consequence between the miners and the Indians.
Mr. Shull, who had discovered a fine lead and had erected a shanty near it^
was driven ofi", and his cabin destroyed by the Winnebagoes, who, owning
the land, did no more, and perhaps not as much, as whites would have done
under similar circumstances, to protect and preserve their rights and prop-
erty. The dissatisfaction and ill feeling engendered by these encroachments
upon their territory was, perhaps, a minor cause of the outbreak, but had no
other cause operated to further exasperate the Indians, the difficulties might,
and probably would, have been amicably adjusted without bloodshed.
About this time, and while these disputes between the miners and
Indians were occurring, two keel-boats, belonging to the contractor to fur-
nish supplies for the troops at Fort Snelling, while on their way up the
river, stopped at a point not far above Prairie du Chien, where were
encamped a large number of Winnebago Indians. John Wakefield, Esq.,
in writing from^ memory an account of the war, if it can be called such (and
it must be admitted now, writing in a spirit of bitter prejudice against
the Indians, who had been peaceable and friendly with the settlers here,
until provoked beyond endurance), says that these boats were run by " Capt.
Allen Lindsey, a gentleman of the first respectability in our country," and
that he was with his boats on this particular trip, but it is to be hoped that
Wakefield was in error, for no " respectable gentleman " could have per-
mitted men under his command to indulge in such fiendish excesses, not
only endangering their own lives, but imperiling the safety of all the
frontier settlements as well.
Reynolds says that after stopping at the Winnebago camp "the
boatmen made the Indians drunk — and no doubt were so themselves— when
they captured six or seven squaws, who were also drunk. These captured
squaws 'were forced on the boats for corrupt and brutal purposes. But not
satisfied with this outrage on female virtue, the boatmen took the squaws
with them in the boats to Fort Snelling." Another version given by
272 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
*
Harvey Mann, of Yinegar Hill, Jo Daviess County, and others who were
familiar with the events of that year, is that the boatmen and the Indians
had a drunken frolic ; that several squaws were kept on board the boats all
night and put ashore the next morning before any of the tribe had recovered
from the eifects of their " spree," and the boats continued on their voyage
up the river. These accounts agree as to the main fact that the boatmen
committed a gross outrage upon the Indians, and provoked an attack.
When the duped and injured Winnebagoes had slept off the effects of
their debauch and become sober enough to comprehend the outrage com-
mitted upon their women, and the injury done them in " this delicate
point," they were intensely exasperated, and resolved to wash out the stain
upon their honor in blood. What white people would not have done the
same, under similar circumstances? Hunners were sent out in all directions
summoning the warriors to the scene of action at once for an attack on
the boats when they returned. A war party of the Winnebagoes went
from Jo Daviess County, in the vicinity ot Galena, to aid their northern
brethren in avenging the insult they Jiad received. Capt. D. S. Harris
states that at this time a band of fifteen or twenty of these Indians stopped
at his father's house on the way up the river, and were very insolent.
" Old Curley," a friendly Indian, had notified the family of the intended
visit, and the younger members had sought refuge in the neighboring
cornfield, leaving only Smith and Scribe in the house with their mother.
"The Indians," says Smith Harris, " were very insolent, as was not unusual
for that tribe. They offered no personal injury, for Scribe (Smith's brother)
and I stood by our guns. They did attempt to take some articles of goods
we had, but we told them if they didn't let things alone we would shoot,
and they knew we meant it. They finally left without doing any harm,
and we felt much relieved." This band went north, and, it is said, mur-
dered a family near Prairie du Chien. Four Winnebago Chiefs called upon
the G-ratiots, at Gratiot's Grove, and informed them that on account of the
action of the whites they should be unable to restrain their young men
from declaring war, and as they did not desire to harm the " Choteaus" (as
the Indians always called the Gratiot family), they had come to tell them
that they had better remove. But careful inquiry among these who were
at Galena during that year fails to develop any evidence that any outrages
were committed by the Indians in the mining district at that time, either
before or after the insult by those drunken keel-boatmen, and which the
injured party intended to avenge upon the guilty parties themselves.
Wakefield says that some of the Indians " came aboard of Lindsey's
boat on his way up and showed such signs of hostility that he was lead to
expect an attack on his return, and provided hinaself with a few fire arms,
so that in case of an attack by them he might be able to defend himself."
Other accounts state that the boatmen anticipated an attack upon their
return. Why, if they had done nothing to provoke an assaut? The Indians
were peaceable, and even in the mines, where they had reason to complain
of the encroachments of the whites upon their territory, they had done noth-
ing more than to drive off the trespassers.
Of course the boatmen expected an attack on their return trip, for they
knew they deserved it, and the dispassionate judgment of humanity, after
the lapse' of half a century, concurs in that opinion. Knowing this, they
attempted to run^by the Winnebago Yillage on their return, in the night.
The watchful, vengeful Winnebagoes, however, were not to be eluded. The
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTY. 273
boats were forced to approach near the shore in the narrow channel of the
river at that point, and there, says Reynold's, " the infuriated savages as-
sailed one boat and permitted the other to pass down " unmolested. The
presumption is that the boat assailed contained the offenders whom they
wished to punish. Reynolds' account of the light is as follows :
The boatmen were not entirely prepared for the attack, although to some extent they
were guarded against it. The^ had procured some arms, and were on the alert to some de-
gree. The Indians laid down in their canoes and tried to paddle them to the boat; but the
whites, seeing this, fired their muskets on them in the canoes. It was a desperate and
furious fight for a few minutes, between a good many Indians exposed in open canoes and
only a few boatmen protected, to some extent, by their boat. One boatman, a sailor by pro-
fession on the lakes and ocean, who had been in many battles with the British during the
war of 1813, saved the boat and those of the crew who were not killed. This man was large
and strong, and possessed the courage of an African lion. He seized a part of the setting
pole of the boat, which was about four feet long and had on the end a piece of iron, which
made the pole weighty and a powerful weapon in the hands of " Saucy Jack," as the cham-
pion was called. It is stated that when the Indians attempted to board the boat, Jack
would knock them back into the river as fast as they approached. The boat got fast on the
ground, and the whites seemed doomed, but with great exertion, courage and hard fighting,
the Indians were repelled. ("Jack," unmindful of the shower of bullets whistling about,
seized a pole, pushed the boat into the current, and it floated beyond the reach of the as-
sailants.) The savages killed several white men and wounded many more, leaving barely
enough to navigate the boat. Thus commenced and thus ended the bloodshed of the
Winnebago War. No white man or Indian was killed before or after this naval engage-
ment.
The arrival of these boats at Galena and the report of their narrow
escape, created great alarm, intensified by the arrival, the same day, of a
party who had fled to Galena for safety, anticipating war, and by the warn-
ing given to the Gratriots. All mining operations ceased ; the miners and
scattered settlers hurried to Galena for safety, built stockades and block-
houses in their own neighborhoods, or left the country. A little fort was
built at Elizabeth, another at Apple River, and still another in Michigan
Territory. These forts, although not needed then, were afterwards found
" very handy to have in the family."
Governor Edwards received information, on which he relied, that the
Winnebago Indians had attacked some keel-boats, that the settlers and
miners on Fever River were in imminent danger of an attack from a band
of the same and other Indians (although the facts, as reported to him and
upon which he acted, have never been made public), and called out the
Twentieth Regiment Illinois Militia, under Col. Thomas M. ^N^eale, who
were to rendezvous at Fort Clark (Peoria), " and march with all possible
expedition to the assistance of our fellow citizens at Galena." The brave
citizens of Sangamon rallied to the rendezvous, and, with ten days rations,
marched to Gratiot Grove, and— finding no hostile Indians there, disbanded
and — marched home again.
Gen. Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory, who had been
appointed by the government to hold a treaty with the Lake Michigan
Indians, at Green Bay, arrived there about this time, but, finding but few
there and hearing that the Lake Indians had received war messages from
the interior, hastened to communicate the startling intelligence to the
military commander at St. Louis. He ascended Fox River from Green Bay,
descended the Wisconsin and Mississippi, and in nine days arrived at St.
Louis. It is said that " among the Winnebagoes he discovered warlike
preparations, but his sudden and unexpected appearance among them in a
birch canoe, of larger size than that used by ordinary traders, filled with
armed 'men, with the U. S. fiag flying, led the Indians to suspect that he
274 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
was accompanied by a superior force. To this fact and the rapidity of his
movements may be attributed his safety and the men under his command."
A single birch bark canoe, with armed men enough in it to overcome
thousands of hostile savages for hundreds of miles, must have been worth
seeing.
On his way down, G-en. Cass stopped at Galena, where Gen. Henry
Dodge and Gen. Whiteside had raised a company of volunteers, ready to
march against the terrible foe. An eye witness of his arrival says that in
the midst of the alarm then prevailing the excited people heard singing,
and thought the Indians were coming, but soon their fears were allayed, for
they saw, gliding gracefully up the river, around the point below the vil-
lage, a large canoe flying the United States flag and containing an Ameri-
can officer and six Canadians dressed in blue jackets and red sashes, with
bright feathers in their hats, who were singing the "Canadian Boat Song"
as they bent over their oars, and with measured strokes sent it flying to the
bank, when Gen. Cass stepped ashore amid the cheers of the assembled
population. "Armed men " were few and far between in that boat.
Immediately upon receipt of news from Governor Cass, General
Atkinson marched with 600 men to the " seat of war," and formed a junc-
tion with the Galena Yolunteers at Fort Winnebago. " Thus far they had
marched into the bowels of the land without impediment." During all this
period of alarm, excitement and feverish expectation of a descent of the
hostile Indians upon the defenceless frontier settlements in the mining dis-
trict, what were these Indians doing ? They had had time enough to have
swept the white settlers on Fever River out of the country, or out of exist-
ence, before the "imposing display of such a large number of troops in the
heart of their country, dampened their war spirit and induced them to sur-
render their chiefs," but it does not appear that they murdered a single set-
tler, or committed any serious depredations after they had punished the
keel-boatmen who had so grossly insulted them.
Capt. D. S. Harris, who was a volunteer in the Galena company com-
manded by Gen. Dodge, says: " We marched to Fort Winnebago, where
Red Wing was brought in a prisoner, and that was the end of it." The
Winnebagoes surrendered Red Wing and We-Kaw, the two chiefs who had
led the attack upon the keel-boats, when Gen. Atkinson made the imposing
military display in " the heart of their country." Red Wing was impris-
oned at Prairie du Chien, where he was to be kept as a hostage for the
good behavior of his nation, but his proud spirit was so broken by the con-
finement which he felt was unjust, that he soon died.
Thus ended the Winnebago War, which was really only an attack upon
some keel-boatmen, provoked by the outrages upon the Indians by the boat-
men themselves. There was no war elsewhere, but the prosperity of the
mining region was temporarily checked by the alarm and consequent sus-
pension of mining and business.
Whether, had the Indians succeeded in their attempt to murder the
offending crew of the boat they attacked while they permitted the other to
pass down the river unmolested, they would have entered upon the war path
against all the white settlements in this region, must forever be a matter of
conjecture, and while there were and are differences of opinion, the most of
the survivors of that period of excitement coincide in the belief that had
not the Indians been stung to fury by these drunken boatmen there would
have been no trouble. The mineral lands could have been bought, as they
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 275
were, subsequently, by treaty. If the government, when it demanded the
surrender of Red Wing and kept him as a hostage, had arrested these boat-
men and imprisoned them for hfe, both for the outrage they committed
and for recklessly disturbing the peace, and destroyino^ for a ti'me the pros-
perity of the frontier settlements, and causing so much damage to the inno-
cent settlers, or had delivered them to the Indians to be kept as hostages
for the good behavior of their class, it would have been only even-handed
justice.
Soon after this digraceful and, in some respects, ludicrous affair, a
treaty was made with the Winnebagoes by which, for twenty thousand dol-
lars paid in goods and trinkets at fabulous prices, they were'satisfied for the
damages sustained by them in consequence of the trespasses on their lands,
and relinquished a large tract of these lands to the miners.
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
The great event of the year 1832 was the Black Hawk War. The
reader is familiar with the general history of this war, but there are some
incidents connected with it and some phases of it familiar to the survivors
of the sturdy rank and file that participated in it, who had and still have
their opinions relating to its causes and conduct, differing from most pub-
lished accounts, that should be recorded. The war was commenced and
most of the blood was spilt in what was then Jo Daviess County. Mostly
confining this sketch to these events and to the causes of the war as received
from the lips of the survivors, it may appear that, like the Winnebago affair
of 1827, the whites were not entirely guiltless.
In 1831, Black Hawk and his band had crossed to their old homes on
Rock River, but had negotiated a treaty and returned to the west side of
the Mississippi, receiving liberal presents of goods and provisions from the
Grovernment, and promised never to return without the consent of the
President of the United States or the Grovernor of Illinois. But on the 6th
day of April, 1832, he again recrossed the Mississippi with his entire band
and their women and children. The Galenian^ edited by Dr. A. Philleo,
of May 2, 1832, says that '^ Black Hawk was invited by the Prophet, and
had taken possession of a tract about forty miles up Rock River, but that
he did not remain there long, but commenced his march up Rock River."
Capt. William B. Green, now of Chicago, but who served in Stephenson's
Company of mounted rangers, says that " Black Hawk and his band crossed
the river with no hostile intent, but to accept an invitation from Pit-ta-wak,
a friendly chief, to come over and spend the Summer with his people on the
head waters of the Illinois," and the movements of Black Hawk up Rock
River before pursuit by the military, seems to confirm this statement.
There seems to be no question of the fact that he came in consequence of
an invitation from the Prophet or Pit-ta-wak, or both, as his people were in
a starving condition.
Others who agree with Green, that Black Hawk did not come to fight^
and had no idea of fighting, say that he had retired to the west side of
the Mississippi the previous year under treaty, receiving a large quantity of
corn and other provisions, but in the Spring his provisions were gone, his
followers were starving, and he came back expecting to negotiate another
treaty and to get a new supply of provisions.
276 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
There is still another explanation that may enable the reader to har-
monize the preceding statements and to understand why Black Hawk
returned in 1832. It is well known that in nearly aU the treaties ever made
with the Indians, the Indian traders dictated the terms for their allies and
customers, and, of course, received a large share of the annuities, etc., in
payment for debts due to them. Each tribe had certain traders wko sup-
plied them. George Davenport had .a trading post at Fort Armstrong.
His customers were largely the Sacs and Foxes, and he was held in high
esteem by them ; in fact, his word was their law. It is said that Black
Hawk's band became indebted to him for a large amount and were unable
to pay. They had not had good luck hunting during the Winter, and he
was likely to lose heavily. If Black Hawk, therefore, could be induced to
come on this side of the river again and the people could be alarmed so that
a military force could be sent in puriuit of him, another treaty could be
made, he might assist in making terms and get his pay out of the payrhents
the government would make, and all would be well. Mr. Amos Farrar, who
was X)aven port's partner for some years, and who died in Galena during the
war, is said to have declared, while on his death-bed, that the " Indians were
not to be blamed, that if they had been let alone there would hava been no
trouble — that the band were owing Mr. Davenport and he wanted to get
his pay and would, if another treaty had been made."
In a letter to Gen. Atkinson, dated April 13, 1832, Davenport says :
*' I have been informed that the British band of Sac Indians are determined
to make war on the frontier settlements. * * -^ From every informa-
tion that I have received I am of the opinion that the intention of the
British band of Sac Indians is to commit depredations on the inhabitants
of the frontier."
Just such a.letter as he or any other trader would have written to cause
a pursuit, and consequent treaty. Black Hawk evidentlj^ understood the
fame. He was leisurely pursuing his way up Rock River, waiting for the
rst appearance of the military to display the white flag and negotiate as
he had done the previous year.
Although Black Hawk's movement across the Mississippi, on the 6th
of April, was at once construed into a hostile demonstration, and Daven-
port skillfully cultivated the idea, he was accompanied by his old men,
women and children. No Indian warriors ever went on the war path
encumbered in that way. More than this, it does not appear, from the sixth
day of April until Stillman's drunken soldiers fired on his flag of truce, on
the 12th of May, that a single settler was murdered, or suffered any material
injury at the hands of Black Hawk or his band. In truth, Hon. H. S.
Townsend, of Warren, Jo Daviess County, states that in one instance, at
least, where they took corn from a settler they paid him for it. Capt. W.
B. Green writes : " I never heard of Black Hawk's band, while passing up
Rock River, committing any depredation whatever, not even petty theft."
Frederick Stahl, Esq., of Galena, states that he was informed by the veteran,
John Dixon, that" when Black Hawk's band passed his post, before the arrival
of the troops, they were at his house, l^e-o-pope had the young l)raves
well in hand, and informed him that they intended to commit no depreda-
tions, and should notpght unless they were attacked."
Whatever his motive may have been, it is the unanimous testimony of
the survivors, now residing on the old battle-fields of that day, that except
the violation of treaty stipulations and an arrogance of manner natural to
.^.T^^^-^
(deceased)
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 279
an Indian who wanted to make a new trade with the " Great Father," the
Sacs under Black Hawk committed no serious acts of hostility, and intended
none, until after the alternative of war or extermination was presented to
them by Stillman's men.
Certain it is that the people of Gralena and of the mining district
generally, apprehended no serious trouble and made no preparations for war
until Capt. Stephenson brought the news of Stillman's route, on the 15th
of May. '
Some United States troops arrived at Galena from Prairie du Chien on
the 1st of May, and about the same time Black Hawk commenced his march
up Rock River, from the Prophet's Tillage (Prophetstown, Whiteside
County), but there was no serious alarm among the inhabitants of the settled
portions of Jo Daviess County, and the troops went to Rock Island (Fort
Armstrong) on the 7th. About that time J. W. Stephenson, John Foley
and Mr. Atchinson returned from a reconnoitering expedition, and reported
that the Indians had " dispersed among the neighboring tribes." The
Galeman of May 16th, printed before the tidings of Stillman's fiasco had
reached Galena, said : " It is already proved that they will not attempt to
fight it out with us, as many have supposed. Will the temporary dis-
persion of Black Hawk's band among their neighbors cause our troops to be
disbanded?"
On Saturday, May 12, Gov. Reynolds was at Dixon's Ferry, with about
two thousand mounted riflemen, awaiting the arrival of Gen. Atkinson's
forces from Fort Armstrong. A day or two previous, Major Isaiah Still-
man, " with about four hundred well-mounted volunteers," says the Gale-
nian^ " commenced his march with a fixed determination to wage a war of
extermination wherever he might find any part of the hostile band." Just
before night, on the 12th | of May, 1832, Stillman's forces encamped at
White Rock Grove, in the eastern part of Marion Township, near what is
now called Stillman Creek, about ten miles from Oregon. He was in
close proximity to Black Hawk's encampment, but did not know it. Black
Hawk was at that moment making arrangements to propose a treaty of
peace. Stillman's men were well supplied with whisky. Some authorities
state that they had with them a barrel of " fire water," and that many of them
were drunk. They were all eager to get sight of an Indian, and were
determined not to be happy until each had the gory scalp of a. Sac dangling
at his belt. Extermination was their motto, although the game they hunted
had committed no depredations.
Soon after, becoming- aware of the immediate presence of an armed
force. Black Hawk sent a small party of his braves to Stillman's camp with
a flag of truce. On their approach, they were discovered by some of the
men, who, without reporting to their commander, and without orders,
hastily mounted and dashed down upon the approaching Indians. These,
not understanding this sudden movement, and apparently suspicious,
retreated toward the camp of their chief. The whites fired, killed two and
captured two more, but the others escaped, still pursued by the reckless
volunteers. When Black Hawk and his war chief, Ne-o-pope, saw them
dashing down upon their camp, their flag of truce disregarded, and, believ-
ing that their overtures for peace had been rejected, they raised the terrible
war-whoop and prepared for the fray.
It was now the turn of the volunteers to retreat, which they did with
wonderful celerity, after murdering their two prisoners, without waiting for
280 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the onslaught, supposing they were pursued by a thousand savage warriors.
The flying braggarts rushed through the camp, spreading terror and con-
sternation among their comrades, but late so eager to meet the foe. The
wildest panic ensued, there was " mounting in hot haste," and without wait-
ing to see whether there was any thing to run for, every man fled, never
stopping until they liad reached Dixon's Ferry or some other place of safety,
or had been stopped by the tomahawk or bullet. The first man to reach
Dixon was a Kentucky lawyer, not unknown to fame in Jo Daviess County,
who, as he strode into Dixon, reported that every man of Stillman's com-
mand had been killed except himself. Another man, named Comstock,
never stopped until he reached Galena, where he reported that " the men
were all drunk, as he was, got scared and made the best time they could out
of danger, but that he didn't see a single Indian." All accounts concur in
the main facts, however, that the men were drunk, and that the white flag
displayed by Black Hawk was fired upon in utter disregard of all rules of
warfare recognized, even among the Indians. The whites had commenced
the work of murder, and the Indians, losing all hope of negotiation, deter-
mined that extermination was a game that both parties could play. Gen.
Whiteside, who was in command at Dixon, at once marched for the fatal
field, but the enemy had gone, the main body having moved northward, and
the rest scattered in small bands to avenge the death of their people upon
unoflending settlers. Eleven of Stillman's men were killed, among whom
were Captain Adams and Major Perkins. Their mutilated remains were
gathered and buried, and the place is known as " Stillman's Run " to this
day. This was the commencement of hostilities, and justice compels the
impartial historian to record that. the whites were the aggressors. Many of
the volunteers appreciated the fact, too. It was not such grand sport to
kill Indians when they found that Indians might kill them, and esi)ecially
when war had been wantonly commenced by firing upon and killing the
bearers of the flag of peace. They grumbled and demanded to be mustered
out, and were dismissed soon after by Governor Reynolds. Another call
was issued, and a new regiment of volunteers was mustered in at Beards-
town, with Jacob Fry as Colonel; James D. Henry, Lieutenant Colonel,
and John Thomas, Major. The late commanding general, Whiteside, vol-
unteered as a private.
The fatal act of Stillman's men precipitated all the horrors of Indian
border warfare upon the white settlements in Jo Daviess County, as it then
existed, and in the adjoining portions of Michigan Territory. ]^or is it
certain that all the outrnges were perpetrated by the " British Band." It
is certain that young Pottawattomies and Winnebagoes joined Black Hawk,
and after the war suddenly closed at Bad Axe, it was ascertained that many
of the murders had been committed by these Indians. Among the first
results of " Stillman's defeat" was the descent of about seventy Indians
upon an unprotected settlement at Indian Creek (LaSalle County) where
they massacred fifteen men, women and children of the families of Hall,
Davis and Pettigrew, and captured two young women, Sylvia and Rachel
Hall. These girls, seventeen and fifteen years old, respectively, were after-
wards brought in by Winnebagoes to Gratiot Grove, and were ransomed by
Major Henry Gratiot, for two thousand dollars in horses, wampum and
trinkets, and taken to Galena.
May 15, 1832, Capt. James W. Stephenson arrived at Galena with the
startling intelligence of Stillman's disastrous defeat and the commencement
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 281
of bloody hostilities by tlie Indians, creating intense excitement among the
people. The ringing notes of the bugle called the settlers and miners
together on the old race course on the river bottom, near the foot of Wash-
ington Street, and a company of mounted rangers was organized, with
James W. Stephenson for captain. At 3 o'clock on the morning of Satur-
day, May 19, Sergeant Fred Stahl (now a respected citizen of Galena) and
privates William Durley, Yincent Smith, Redding Bennett, and James
Smith, started to bear dispatches to Gen. Atkinson, at Dixon's Ferry, with
John D. Winters, the mail contractor, for guide, but on Sunday, 20th,
Sergeant Stahl returned and added to the alarm of the people by reporting
that his party had been ambuscaded by the Indians just on the edge of
Buffalo Grove, about 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon, aiid that Durley was
instantly killed and left on the spot. Stahl received a bullet through his
coat collar, and James Smith afterwards found a bullet hole in his liat and
became intensely frightened. After the w^ar the leader of the Indians told
Dixon that he could have killed the young fellow (Stahl) as well as not,
but he had a fine horse, and in trying to shoot him without injuring the
animal, he shot too high, as Stahl suddenly stooped at the same time.
The Galenian ot' Msij 23, iS32, ssijs: "The tomahawk and scalping
knife have again been drawn on our frontier. Blood of our best citizens
has been spilt in great profusion within the borders of Illinois. * * The
Indians must be exterminated or sent off."
In the same paper it is said that " fortifications for the defense of the
town are rapidly progressing. On Saturday last (19th) a stockade"* was
commenced near the centre of the town." On a bluff above, at a spot
selected by Lieut. J. li. B. Gardenier, commanding the stockade and a large
part of the town, a blockhouse was erected and a oattery planted, manned
by an artillery company, of which Lieut. Gardenier was captain.
On Monday, May 21, f Col. J. M. Strode, commanding the 27th Regi-
ment Illinois Militia, proclaimed martial law, and required every able
bodied man to work on the stockade from 9 A. M. to 6 P. M. Strode's
proclamation also prohibited the sale of spirits " at any of the groceries or
taverns in Galena from 8 o'clock A. M. until 7 o'clock P. M.," and all per-
sons were " positively prohibited from firing guns without positive orders,
unless while standing guard to give an alarm."
The following is a list of the officers of the different companies then
organized, as published in the Galenian, May 23:
First Mounted Rangers— J. "W. Stephenson, Captain; J. K. Hammett, Alex. Kerr,
Lieutenants.
Second Artillery— J. R. B. Gardenier. Captain; W. Campbell, First Lieutenant.
Independent Company of Galena Volunteer Guards— M. M. Mauglis, Captain; Moses
Swan and R. Singleton, Lieutenants.
Captain H. H. Gear's company consists of sixty men. Captain Beedle's company of
forty or fifty men. Captain Aldenratli's company, from East Fork, is also in town.
A blockhouse and stockade are built at Apple River (near Elizabetli) aud a company
of forty-six men organized, commanded by Vance L. Davidson ; James Craig and James
Temple, Lieutenants.
At White Oak Springs, ten miles from Galena, a stockade was erected, and a company
* A stockade was made by first digging a trench and standing upright in it timbers
from six to twelve inches in diameter, from ten to fourteen feet long, and hewed to a point
on the top end. These timbers were placed close together, so that when the trench was
filled with earth there would be a solid wooden wall eight to ten feet in height. In the
inside a platform was built, on which the inmates could stand to fire over the top, and the
walls were also pierced with loop-holes.
t Col. Strode was said to have been the first man to reach Dixon after Stillman's defeat.
282 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
of seventy organized. Benj. W. Clark, Captain; John R. Shultz, J. B. Woodson, Lieu-
tenants.
At the New Diggings, nine miles from Galena, was another company of sixty-nine
men under command of L. P. Vosbargh, Captain; P. Carr and H. Cavener, Lieutenants;
and at Vinegar Hill a company of fifty-two men was commanded by Captain Jonathan
Craig, with Thomas Kilgore and R. C. Bourn, Lieutenants. There was also a large com-
pany of nearly one hundred men at Gratiot's Grove.
The miners and settlers were thus able to protect themselves within a
week after the news of Stillman's disaster reached them.
May 21, Indians fired on a Mr, Goss, near the mouth of Plum River.
May 23, Felix St. Yrain, agent for the Sacs and Foxes, bearer of dis-
patches, left General Atkinson's headquarters, on Rock River, accompanied
by John Fowler, Thomas Kenney, William Hale, Aquilla Floyd, Aaron
Hawley, and Alexander Higginbotham. At Buffalo Grove they found the
body of the lamented Durley, and buried it a rod from the spot where they
found it. The next day (24th) .they were attacked by a party of thirty
Indians near Kellogg's "old place." St. Yrain, Fowler, Hale and Hawley
were killed. The other three escaped, and arrived at Galena on the morn-
ing of the 26th.
From the time the first volunteers were mustered out by Gov. Rey-
nolds, on the 26th or 27th of May, until the new levies were organized, on
the 15th of June, numerous murders were committed by the Indians, and
the only protection the people had were their own brave hearts and strong
arms. The atrocities perpetrated by the Indians upon the bodies of their
victims, aroused the vengeance of the settlers and miners, many of whom
had previously felt that the Indians were not so much in fault, and had been
needlessly provoked to bloodshed.
On the 30th day of May, 1832, a meeting of the citizens of Galena and
vicinity, called by Col. Strode, to consider the perilous situation of the
mining district, and devise measures for security and protection, was held
at the house of M. & A. 0. Swan (standing on the corner of Main and
Green Streets, opposite De Soto House). William Smith, Esq., was called
to the chair, and Captain James Craig,appointed secretary.
On motion of Dr. Meeker, a committee of nine, consisting of Moses
Meeker, William Hempstead, Michael Byrne, Robert Graham, Mr. Shears,
James Craig, D. R. Davis, Mr. Thomas and David McNair were appointed
to deliberate, and propose such measures as they might think best calculated
to secure the object in view. This committee subsequently reported a
series of resolutions, that the picketing and block houses be finished ; that
a garrison of 100 to 150 men be detailed, one third to be quartered in the
garrison, and the others to be equally divided in the two extremities of the
town, independent of the artillery and horse companies; that not less than
fifteen men belonging to the artillery company lodge in the block house
every night; recommending that two companies be made of Capt. Stephen-
son's company, and that they and Capt. Craig's company elect a major to
command the squadron ; that these companies shall be stationed in the
vicinity of Galena, and shall keep out a sufficient number of spies or scouts
to form a circuit of from ten to twenty-five miles around Galena, and report
every evening; that all persons subject to military dut}^ be immediately
enrolled, held in readiness for active service, and to parade with their arms
and equipments every evening at four o'clock ; that at least ten days' pro-
visions for one thousand men, with fifty barrels of water, be kept constantly
in the stockade ; that there must be unity of action between the forces
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTT. 283
under Gen. Dodge and the mounted men of the place, and that Dr. A. T.
Crow, William Smith, Esq., and James Craig should prepare an address to
the citizens of the mining district, in order to I'eraove some existing mis-
understanding "^ between the people of the town and country.
The gentlemen named prepared and published, the following :
ADDRESS.
To the Citizens of the Mining District, embracing the County of Jo Daviess, in the State of
Illinois, and the Western part of the Territory of Michigan, on the Tipper Mississippi:
Inhabiting, as we do, a country isolated from our brethren, both of the State and of
the Union, to which we belong, surrounded by a savage and hostile enemy, who have raised
both the tomahawk and the scalping knife, alike on the defenseless inhabitants, as the sol-
dier going forth to battle. Already have we witnessed the fall of a Durley, a 8t. Vrain, a
Hale, a Fowler, and a Hawley, on this side of Rock River, while the scalping knife is still
reeking in the blood of our fellow citizens between Rock River and Peoria, and two of our
sisters (Sylvia and Rachel Hall) are groaning in captivity amongst a savage enemy — our
communication is cut off by land from the south and east. Prevented by Indian hostility
from cultivating our farms and gardens, receiving but little succor from the state to which
we belong, or from the general government, receiving but scanty supplies by way of the
Mississippi, which must every day become more precarious. Thrown as we are upon our
defensive means and resources, let us rally to the standard of our country, and husband with
the utmost care the means we can command for our preservation and protection. Our
supplies of every kind are principally in this place. Already are our means of security
advancing rapidly to a completion, and here will be a place of security iov our women and
children; here, also, will be food and raiment for them. It is but too true that some of our
citizens have been too remiss in their duty; the flame of patriotism does not burn alike in
every bosom; and the soldier will look with pity, and not with contempt, at his less gifted
neighbor. But when common danger threatens, let brethren unite the more closely, and
while our enterprising men shall contend with an enemy in the open field, let those who
remain at home do their duty in procuring and preparing all the means of defense and
preservation in their power.
The time can not be distant when our situation must be known to our brethren abroad,
and if we can defend our position but a short time, we may reasonably look for the succor
which both the state and general government are bound to give us. Let us do with alacrity
the duty assigned to each of us, and forget our little bickerings and jealousies. Let us
finish our stockading and block houses. Let us examine the country, watching the approach
and movements of any hostile party that may be in our borders ; meet and chastise them if
we can ; and when peace shall again gladden our ears, we will then settle our misunder-
standing, if any should then remain.
Signed on behalf of the meeting by A. T. CROW,
WM. SMITH,
Galena, May 30, 1832. JAMES CRAIG.
On the 6th of June the Galenian says : " The stockade in Galena is
nearly done, and those in the country are in a tolerable state of completion."
But it is evident, from the above address and from concurrent testimony,
that the people did not all rally to the work as earnestly as the commander
wished. Perhaps they did not realize that they were in any immediate
danger, and they had to attend to their own business affairs. To show
them the importance of completing their defenses and of attending to duty,
as well as to give the citizens some practice in case the Indians should
really make a night attack, some of the officers, including Col. Strode,
planned to have a false alarm, by firing the cannon at midnight, the Monday
night following the meeting. The date and results of the '* scare '' are given
* The people of the country coming to Galena for safety were not provided for as
they thought they ought to be. The people of the town were all excited, had their own
business (the little that remained) to manage, and probably left their country neighbors to
take care of themselves. Numbers of them were encamped on the bottom near the river
for some time, no provision for them having been made within the stockade. Mmers
refused to come into town for this reason. They said, " We may as well remam at home as
to go to the Point, w^here no arrangements have been made for us." A feelmg of jealousy
or bitterness sprang up in consequence, and to this the committee had reference.
284 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in a letter from Dr. Kewhall to his brother, dated Galena, June 8, 1832,
as follows :
The Indian war has assumed an alarming character. On Monday night last (4th) we
had an alarm that the town was attacked. The scene was horrid beyond description ; men
women and children flying to the stockade. I calculated seven hundred women and chil-
dren were there within fifteen minutes after the alarm gun was fired — some with dresses on,
and soiiie with none ; some with shoes, and some barefoot ; sick persons were transported
on other's shoulders ; women and children screaming from one end of the town to the other.
It was a false alarm. Had there been an Indian attack, I believe the people would have
fought well.
Many ludicrous incidents are related of this " bi^ scare," ludicrous
afterwards and now, but not then, when all, save a few in the secret, fully
beheved the Indians were upon them. Among these, it is said that the
worthy postmaster didn't stop to put on his trousers, and rushed into the
stockade wrapped in a sheet, calling wildly for some one to bring him a
pair of pants. A Mrs. Bennett was already there, making cartridges; and
as the P. M. was rushing about for some clothes, she handed him a musket,
with the cool remark, " Here, take this gun, and don't be scared to death."
The next day, when the people learned how cruelly their fears had
been played upon, their indignation knew no bounds. All business was
suspended. Col. Strode and his associates fled the town, an impromptu
indignation meeting was held at Swan's tavern, at which strong denuncia-
tory resolutions were passed, and a committee appointed to investigate the
matter, of which Rivers Cormack, the old Methodist minister, was chair-
man. After a few days, popular indignation subsided, and Colonel Strode
returned. His motive was good, but the means adopted did not quite meet
the approval of the citizens, and the experiment was not repeated.*
In Dr. NewhalPs letter of June 8, quoted above, occurs the following:
The Indians have already taken about forty scalps in the whole. News has this day
arrived of one more man (Mr. Auberry) having been killed and scalped, near Blue Mound.f
June 8, Captain Stephenson's company of mounted rangers found the
bodies of St. Yrain, Hale, Fowler and Hawley, four miles south of Kellogg's
Grove, and buried them.
Colonel William S. Hamilton (a son of Alexander Hamilton, who was
killed in a duel with Aaron Burr) arrived in Gralena with two hundred and
thirty Indians, mostly Sioux, with some Menominees and Winnebagoes, on
the 8th. These Indians left Galena on the 10th, to join General Atkinson
at Dixon's Ferry, all anxious to obtain Sac scalps. Black Hawk's band was
reported moving slowly northward.
On the night of June 8, the Indians stole fourteen horses just outside
the stockade on Apple River (Elizabeth), and on the night of the 17th, ten
more were stolen. The next morning, Capt. J. W. Stephenson, with twelve
of his men and nine from Apple River Fort, started on the trail of the red
thieves, and overtook them about twelve miles east of Kellogg's Grove,
southeast of Waddam's Grove, and pursued them several miles, until a little
northeast of Waddam's (in Stephenson County), the Indians (seven in num-
ber, says Captain Green), took refuge 'in a dense thicket, and awaited the
* Tuesday night, July 24, a fire broke out in Dr. Crow's stable in the stockade, and
two horses were burned. It was said that there was powder stored in the stable, and there
was another scare, but this time the stampede was from the stockade. Amos Farrar died
at his house in the stockade the same night.
f At the close of the war, it was discovered that Mr. Auberry was murdered by some
Winnebago Indians.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. . 285
attack. Stephenson dismounted his men, and, detailing a guard for the
horses, led his men in a gallant charge upon the concealed foe, received
their fire and returned it, returning to the open prairie to re-load. Three
times the brave boys charged upon this fatal thicket, losing a man each
time. Only one Indian was known to be killed. He was bayonetted by
Private Hood, and stabbed in the neck by Thomas Subktt. This Indian
was scalped several times, and a piece of his scalp-lock is now (1878) in the
possession of Wm. H. Snyder, Esq., of Galena. The three men killed were
Stephen P. Howard, George Eames and Michael Lovell. Stephenson him-
self was wounded. After the third charge, Stephenson retreated, leaving
his dead where they fell, and returned to Galena, arriving on the 19th. Of
this desperate battle. Gov. Ford says: "This attack of Capt. Stephenson
was unsuccessful, and may have been imprudent; but it equalled any thing
in modern warfare in daring and desperate courage.''
On the evening of June 14, five men, at work in a cornfield at Spaf
ford's farm, five miles below Fort Hamilton, on Spaftord's Creek, and on
the morning of the 16th, Henry Apple, a German, were killed within half
a mile of the fort. Gen. Dodge, with twenty-nine men, at once pursued
them about three miles, when they were discovered, eleven in number, in
open ground, but were not overtaken until they crossed the East Pick-e-ton-
e-ka, and entered an almost inpenetrable swamp, at Horse Shoe Bend.
At the edge of the swamp. Dodge ordered his men to dismount and link
horses. Four men were left in charge of the horses, four were posted
around the swamp to prevent the escape of the savages, and the remainder,
twenty-one in number, advanced into the swamp about half a mile, where
they received the fire of the Indians, and three men fell severely wounded.
Gen. Dodge instantly ordered a charge. The Indians were found lying
under the bank of a slough, and were not seen until the soldiers were within
six or eight feet of them, when they fired. The whole hostile party were
killed and scalped in one or two minutes, except one who swam the slough
in an attempt to escape, and was shot down on the opposite bank. In this
battle F. M. Morris and Samuel Wells were mortally, and Samuel Black
and Thomas Jenkins severely, wounded. This was the first victory
achieved over the murderous Sacs, and occasioned great rejoicing in the
settlements.
On the 20th, Stephenson's and Craig's companies, under command of
Col. Strode, went to Waddam's Grove to bury the remains of Howard,
Eames and Lovell, which they did, but left the dead Indian above ground.
On their return they heard some suspicious sounds, but pushed on iu the
night to Imus's (in Push Township) and returned to Galena in safety.
Afterwards, says Capt. Green, who was with Stephenson's company,^ we
learned that '' a large party of Sacs were within a half-hour's march of us,
when we left the graves of our dead comrades."
This party, which numbered about 150, had left the main body of Sacs
on Rock River, and, after following Strode's command, were, undoubtedly,
the same who made a furious attack on the stockade at Apple River, on the
night of the 24th, under the following circumstances : I . Dixon, Edmund
Welsh, G. W. Herclerode and Jas. L. Kirkpatrick started to carry dispatches
to Gen. Atkinson. They had passed Apple River Fort when they were
fired upon by Indians, and Welsh was badly wounded. His companions
told him to retreat to the fort, and to give him time, turned upon the foe
and raised a yell. This temporarily checked them; Welsh reached the
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTy.
fort and gave the alarm. Their stratagem succeeded. Dixon dashed through
the savages, and escaped to Galena. Kirkpatrick and Herclerode gained
the fort ; the gate was shut, and for three quarters of an ^hour the battle
raged. The women and girls made ' cartridges and loaded the muskets.
Herclerode was killed while taking deliberate aim at an Indian over the
top of the pickets. The number of Indians killed was not known, but thej
were supposed to have lost several, and finally withdrew, after stealing a
large number of cattle, and destroying considerable property.
On the 29th of June, three men at work in a cornfield at Sinsinawa
Mound (Jones' Mound), ten miles from Galena, were attacked by a small
party of Indians, and two of them, James Boxley and John Thompson,
were killed. Major Stephenson with thirty men started immediately on
receipt of the news, to bury the murdered men and pursue the murderers.
The bodies were shockingly mangled and both scalped, and Thompson's
heart cut out. The Indians were followed to the residence of Mr. Jordan,
(now Dunleith), on the Mississippi, where they had stolen a canoe and
crossed the river. These Indians could hardly have been any of Black
Hawk's band, unless they had deserted and were making their way back to
the west side of the Mississippi.
On the 30th of June, all the inhabitants north of Galena and on the
Mississippi, this side of Cassville, came into Galena for safety. It was not
then considered safe to go a mile out of town without a strong guard.
Captain George W. Harrison, in Command at Fort Hamilton, on the
Pick-a-ton-e-ka, thirty miles from Galena, after vainly endeavoring to get
a cannon, went to Colonel Hamilton's furnace and cast several lead pieces,
intended for two-pounders, which were properly mounted at the stockade,
and answered every purpose.
June 20, 1832, the ladies of Galena, represented by Mrs. Nancy B.
Lockwood, Mrs. Sarah B. Coons, and Miss Elizabeth A. Dodge, com-
mittee, presented a stand of colors to Captain Jas. W. Stepenson's com-
pany. On the 21st, "The daughters of the lead mines " presented a flag
" to our Father War Chief," General Henry Dodge. Afterwards, on the
15th of July, the ladies of the mining country, represented by Miss Mar-
garet C. Brophy and Miss Bridget F. Kyan, presented a stand of colors to
Captain Bazil B. Craig's company, and about the same time, Misses Cath-
erine S. and Amelia G. Dyas presented colors to Captain Alexander M.
Jenkins.
It must be remembered that Black Hawk's forces kept on their march
up Rock River, with the evident intention of returning to the west side of
the Mississippi, as the forces of General Atkinson below prevented their
return by the way they came, and they as evidently believed, after the afiair
with Stiilman, that no flag of truce or proposals for peace would be received
by the whites. But various Indian signs were discovered on the Mississippi
River. July 6, Lieutenant Orrin Smith was sent, with twenty men, to Jor-
dan's farm (opposite Dubuque), to scour the country there. On the 9th,
Indians were in the vicinity of Rountree's Fort (Platteville), where they
held a war dance around the scalp of a woman. On the 10th, the Oalenian
says : " To-day we learn that the trail of the Indians shows that they must
have come from the west of the Mississippi, in a direction from Dubuque's
mines."
These facts indicate very plainly that Black Hawk and his band were
not responsible for all the outrages committed in the mining district, but
■^ (^, ^y^y Af^ ^
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
I
that some of them, at least, are to be attributed to Indians from the west,
while others, it is now known, were committed by young Winnebagoes.
^ July 14, Governor Reynolds, Colonel Fields (Secretary of State), Judges
Smith and Brown, Colonels Hickman, G-rant, Bresse and Gatewood, Captain
Jeffreys and others, arrived at Galena from the army. These gentlemen
reported that the Indians were entirely destitute of provisions, and were
endeavoring to re^ch and re-cross the Mississippi.
July 15, an express arrived at Galena, stating that Captain Harney, of
the U. S. A., had found and pursued the trail of the Indians for thirty
miles, passing four of their encampments in that distance, and that lie
found many signs of their want of provisions, " such as where thev had
butchered horses, dug for roots, and scraped the trees for bark," and it
became evident that the military had concluded that Black Hawk was doing
his best to escape to the west side of the Mississippi. Orders were sent to
troops stationed on the banks of that river " to prevent or delay the Indians
from crossing until the brigade sent by General Atkinson could come up
with them." Indian outrages had now nearly ceased in Jo Daviess County,
and a brief sketch of the movements of the troops from Dixon's Ferry to
Bad Axe will close this part of the history.
On the 15th of June, 1832, the new levies of volunteers in camp at
Dixon's Ferry were formed into three brigades. The first was commanded
by General Alexander Posey; the second by General Milton R. Alexander,
and the third by General James D. Henry.
June 17th, Captain Adam W. Snyder, of Colonel Fry's regiment, sent
to scout the country between Rock River and Galena, while encamped near
Burr Oak Grove, in what is now the Township of Erin, Stephenson County,
was fired upon by four Indians. He pursued and killed them, losing one
man mortally wounded. Returning, he was attacked by seventy Indians,
both parties taking positions behind trees. General Whiteside, then a
private, shot the leader of the band and they retreated, but were not pursued.
Snyder lost two men killed and one wounded.
June 25th, a detachment of General Posey's brigade, commanded by
Major John Dement, and encamped at Kellogg's Grove, or Burr Oak Grove,
as it was then called, was attacked by a large party of Indians, and a sharp
skirmish ensued. Major Dement lost five men and about twenty horses
killed. The Indians left nine of their number stretched upon the field.
General Posey, then encamped at Buffalo Grove, hastened to the relief of
Dement, but the Indians had retreated two hours before he arrived. He
returned to Kellogg's Grove to await the arrival of his baggage wagons,
and then marched to Fort Hamilton, Michigan Territory.
Gen. Atkinson commenced his slow and cautious march up the river
about the 25th of June, and finally reached Lake Koshkonong, where he was
joined by Gen. Alexander's brigade, and then continued his march to White
River, or Whitewater, where he was joined by Posey's brigade and the
Galena battalion under Major Dodge. Gen. Alexander, Gen. Henry and
Maj. Dodge were sent to Fort Winnebago for supplies. Here they heard
that Black Hawk was making his way toward the Wisconsin River, and,
disobeying orders, Henry and Dodge started in pursuit (Gen. Alexander
and his brigade returing to Gen. Atkinson), struck the broad, fresh trail
of the Indians and followed them with tireless energy. Ever and anon
they would find old men, women and children, who could not keep up
and had been abandoned to their fate by the flying Indians; some were
17
290 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
killed. One old man, left to die, was sitting against a tree, and was boldly-
shot and scalped bj a surgeon, who afterwards exhibited the scalp as a
trophy of his valor.
Black Hawk was overtaken at Wisconsin River, and his braves offered
battle, to enable the women and children to cross the river. The battle of
Wisconsin Heights, at which the Indians were badly whipped by our troops,
and '' worse whipped by starvation," says Mr. Townsend, was fought on the
22d of July, 1832. Skirmishing commenced a little after noon, but the
heaviest fighting was about sunset. The first Indian killed was discovered
walking ahead of the troops with a pack of meat on his back, A soldier
fired but missed him, when he turned and threw down his gun but was
bayonetted after his surrender by Samples M. Journey, The fighting ceased
about 10 o'clock, P, M., and the men bivouacked for rest on their arms.
" About daybreak," says Oapt. D. S. Harris, then a Lieutenant in command
of Stephenson's Company, " the camp was alarmed by the clarion voice of
the Prophet from a hill nearly a mile away. At first we thought it was an
alarm, but soon found that the Prophet wanted peace. Although he was so
far distant I could hear distinctly every word, and I understood enough to
know that he did not want to fight. The interpreter said that the Prophet
said they ' had their squaws and families with them and were starving —
that they did not want to fight any more, but wanted peace and would do
no more harm if they could l)e permitted to cross the Mississippi in peace,' "
Mr, P, J. Pilcher, now of Elizabeth, who was also there, says that they
were awakened by the shrill voice of the chief, and that he plainly under-
stood: " Ne-com, P-e — e-1 — o-o-o;" "Friends, we fight no more." Mr.
Pilcher says he told Henry what the Indian said, but Henry said " pay no
attention to any thing they say or do, but form in line of battle." The
Witinebagoes in camp also informed the officers of the meaning" of the
Prophet's message, and " early in the morning," says Pilcher, " they went
with us to the spot where the Indian had stood when he proclaimed peace,
and there we found a tomahawk huried^^ an emphatic declaration that so
far as Black Hawk and his band were concerned, hostilities were ended. I^o
attention was paid to this second attempt to negotiate peace. It is said that
the officers had no interpreter and did not know what the Prophet said
until alter the war closed. This excuse is exploded by the direct and
emphatic testimony of Capt. Harris and Mr. Pilcher that the starved and
dying Indians must be exterminated.
The next morning not an Indian remained on the east side of the Wis-
consin. Gen. Henry pushed back for supplies, and Gen. Atkinson's
" bottled forces " coming up, the pursuit was renewed, and the battle of
Bad Axe was fought August 2, 1832, " For eight miles," says Townsend,
" we were skirmishing with their rear guard," and numbers of squaws and
children were killed.
When the troops charged upon the Indians the squaws and children
were so closely commingled with the braves, and the squaws were dressed
so nearly like the bucks, that it was almost impossible to distinguish
between them.
In a sketch of the Black Hawk War, published by Benjamin Drake,
the following incident is related : "A young squaw was standing in the
grass, a short distance from the American line, holding her child, a little
girl four years old, in her arms. In this position a gun was directed at her,
and the bullet struck the right arm of the child just above the elbow,
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 291
shattering the bone, passed into the breast of the young mother and
instantly killed her. She fell upon the child and confined it to the ground.
When the battle was nearly over, Lieutenant Anderson, of the United
States Army, heard the cries of the child, and went to the spot and took it
from beneath its dead mother and carried it to the place for surgical aid.
The arm was amputated, and during the operation the half-starved child
did not cry, but sat quietly eating a piece of hard biscuit. [Other authori-
ties say it gnawed ravenously at the raw flesh on a horse-bone it had in its
hand when its mother was shot. — Ed.] The child was sent to Prairie du
Ohien, and fully recovered from its wound."
The battle of Bad Axe terminated the war, and Black Hawk's
surrender, subsequent visit to Washington, and return to his people in
Iowa, are events familiar to the reader. After nearly half a century has
passed, and the Indians have disappeared before the westward advance of
civilization, it is but just that the truth should be recorded. Passion and
prejudice have passed away, and it must be admitted that " when the toma-
hawk and scalping knife were drawn " in 1832, it was only after the whites
had commenced the carnival of blood by first firing on the flag of truce at
"Stillman's Run." The vindictive pursuit and murder of women and
children after the Prophet had in person informed his ruthless pursuers that
" his people were starving and wanted peace," can not be justified. It was
as savao^e an act as the savasres themselves had committed. It must be
added, also, that after Stillman's defeat, Black Hawk, then an old man, lost
all control of his young braves, who were led by N"e-o-pope. But for that
fatal act of Stillman's drunken soldiers, in all human probability the subse-
quent acts of savage barbarity by both Indians and whites had remained
undone. " Fire-water " was the active cause of the Black Hawk War, as it
was of the Winnebago War.
LOCAL HISTORY.
In the Spring of 1832, the few settlers at Buffalo Grove and other
parts of the country, had commenced plowing and plantino, only to be in-
terrupted in their pioneer pursuits by the Black Hawk War. Thej^ had
heard and seen that the Indians were going up Rock River, the Indians-
saying that they were going up to plant corn, etc. Some time in the month
of April, some friendly Indians called at Reed's with some fresh fish, and
one of them told the family that Gen. Whiteside was coming up the river
with " heap Che-mo-kee man," to fight the Indians, and that they (the
whites) must go away — -that bad Indians would kill them. " Me no kill
you; bad Indians kill you and your papooses."
Mr. Reed had planted some potatoes and about two acres of corn and
other " truck," on Saturday, May 12. On Sunday, says our authortiy, there
was a heavy fall of rain, which rendered the ground in an unfit condi-
tion for further planting. On Monday evening the report of fire arms was
heard in the direction ^of Kellogg's house, which, on account of the num-
ber of shots, alarmed the Reed family. Had they known the occasion of
the firing, there would have been no cause for alarm at that immediate
time. But of this they were ignorant, and they were thrown into a terrible
state of excitement and suspense. Gen. Dodge, with a scouting party, had
encamped near Kellogg's, and on their arrival had discharged their pieces.
Tuesday morning, however, a messenger from Whiteside's camp arrived at
292 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Keed's with the news of the battle at Stillman's Run, and advising them to go
immediately to Dixon, where the main body of the army was encamped.
Arrangements for removal were made as hastily as possible. There house-
hold goods were loaded on a wagon without much regard to order, and the
flight to Dixon was commenced and reached in safety. After remaining
there a few days, the JReed family went to Peoria, under escort of a com-
pany of volunteers, who were going south to receive their discharge. In
September, after the conclusion of hostilities, the men returned to their
claims, leaving the women in Peoria County. There was now no danger
of Indian molestation, and vigorous and active measures were inaugurated
for the improvement of their homes. The prairies were covered with a
thick and luxuriant growth of grass, which was mown, cured and stacked
for hay for their stock. Additional ground was plowed and sown to wheat,
and when Winter began to approach, they returned to Peoria and brought
their wives and children back to their homes, from which they had been
frightened by the Indians in the month of May preceding.
The wheat sown on the Reed claim was probably the first ever sown in
the county.
In 1833 the quiet and tranquility into which the pioneers had settled
was partially disturbed by the rumor that the Indians were dissatisfied with
the treaty they had made, and were resolved on another war. For the
third time the settlers at Buffalo Grove abandoned their homes and went
to Peoria. Leaving their families there, the men returned to cultivate
their crops, and " fight it out that Summer." But before harvest time
came, the women and children were sent for and again brought up to their
homes. The rumor here referred to proved to be a false one, and came to
be known among the settlers as '^ Mammy Dixon's War."
A few Indians still remained in the country after the conclusion of the
Black Hawk War in 1832, and the alarm of 1833 was occasioned by Mrs.
Dixon overhearing a conversation between some of the remaining Indians,
in which they expressed their dissatisfaction with the treaty. She commu-
nicated this conversation to her neighbors. It spread rapidly, grew as it
spread, as gossip always does, until a panic ensued. Ko outbreak occurred
however, and from that time forward the people of Buffalo Grove and other
parts of the Rock River country were left in undisturbed possession of their
claims, so far as the Indians were concerned.
As the reader has observed, the settlement of Ogle County was com-
menced at Buffalo Grove. As the years increased and people continued to
come in, the settlements extended to other parts of the county, but it was
many years before the land was all occupied. From 1833 to about 184:5"'6
the immigration was slow, but gradually increased from year to year.
About 18 J5-'6, however, when the Chicago and Galena Union Railroad en-
terprise was being agitated, a large influx of immigration set in, \vhich was
continued until the county was generally occupied.
The next settler at Buffalo Grove, after those already named, was
Elisha Dotv, who came from Peoria, in 1834. The same year Ankeney re-
moved to the farm subsequently owned and occupied by Harry Smith. In
May of this year, Albion Sanford and his family settled here, and in the Fall
they were followed by Cyrenus, Ahiraand Harrison Sanford and their fam-
ilies. Cyrenus Sanford was the father of Ahira, Albion and Harrison San-
ford, and he continued to occupy the claim upon which he first settled, until
the date of his death, May 28, 1858. In 1831 a man named Sackett, also
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 293
became a settler at Buffalo Grove. Pearson Shoemaker came about the
same time, but subsequently removed to Elkhorn Grove, and re-settied near
the line between Ogle and Carroll Counties.
In 1834-''5 there were numerous accessions to the Buffalo Grove Colony,
if -we may call it such. Among the new-comers were John D. Stevenson,
George Webster and the Water burys. In 1835, O. W. Kellogg and Hugh
Stevenson laid out a town at Buffalo Grove, which they called St. Mary's.
The name was afterwards changed to Buffalo.
Firstlings. — The first houses built in the county were erected by Messrs.
Isaac Chambers and John Ankeney.
The first wedding was the marriage between Samples M. Journey and
Ankeney's only daughter, early in 1832. It was attended with great eclat^
as it was a wedding among the ^rs^ families. The license was procured at
Galena, this county still being within the jurisdiction of Jo Daviess County.
All the neighbors, the Kellogg family excepted, for miles around, were
present, including guests from Galena, Rush Creek and the southern part
of the state. Festivity and dancing were kept up until the " wee small
hours " of morning began to approach, when the happy couple were put to
bed in real old fashioned style. Journey subsequently went to California,
where he was living in 1858-'9, while his wife was living at Lyons, Iowa,
at the same time, from which it is to be inferred that the match did not
prove a happy one.
September 4, 1834, Cyrus Doty, the first white child native of Ogle
County, was born at Buffalo Grove, where he continues to reside, engaged
in farming. He is now a grandfather.
The first school taught in the county was in the Winter of 1834-'5.
Simon Fellows was the teacher. The school was kept in a house belonging
to O. W. Kellogg.
Elkanah F. Bush was the first postmaster, and Buffalo Grove was the
first post-office. It was established in the Winter of 1835 (before a post-
office was established at Rockford). Previous to the establishment of this
post-office, the settlers hereabouts received their mail matter at Dixon. Mr.
Bush was not permitted to wear the honors of postmaster very long, but
was removed and O. W. Kellogg appointed in his place.
The Town of St. Marys, afterwards called Buffalo, w^as the first town
laid off in the county.
According to Mr. Boss, the first wheat sown was in the Fall of 1832.
But the same local writer says the " first crop of Winter wheat raised near
Buffalo Grove, was in 1834." [There is a probability that the first wheat
sown was in the Fall of 1833, after the " Mammy Dixon War " scare,
instead of in the Fall of 1832, after the Black Hawk War.]
The first saw mill was built in 1836 by O. W. Kellogg, George D.
Wilcoxen and Reason Wilcoxen, on Buffalo Creek.
In 1835, Joseph M. Wilson and James Talbot commenced the erection
of a grist mill. It was completed in the early Summer of 1836, and in
June commenced grinding corn. Flour was manufactured there in the
Fall of the same year.
The first lawsuits grew out of the claim troubles (already mentioned)
between Chambers and Ankeney, commencing in 1836. They were con-
tinued until 1839. . „
Appearance of the Country in 183T.— " When we came from Dixon,
said Mr. C. G. Holbrook in Boss' Sketches, " and came up on the rismg
294c HISTORY OF OGLE COTTNTT.
ground three miles nortli of that place, there was not a single foot of ground
to be seen which the hand of man had touched. Men were located "in the
countrj^ but their abodes were in the hollows and groves where they could
not be seen." Mr. Boss added: "Since settlements have been made, many
of the prairie flowers have disappeared, being destroyed by the cattle and
the fires. When the first settlers arrived here, there was no underbrush in
the groves, as the Spring fires "^ always kept it down, and one could see
almost as far in the groves as on the prairies."
COUNTY OKGANIZATION — FIRST ELECTION FIRST BOARD OF COUNTY OFFICERS
FIRST TERM OF THE CIRCUIT COURT^ ETC.
Ogle County was erected by an act of the legislature, approved Jan-
uary 16, 1836. The boundary lines of the county were defined as follows :
Commencing at the southwest corner of township number nineteen, north, range
eight, east of the fourth principal meridian, and running thence north along the range line,
dividing ranges numbered seven and eight east, to the southwest corner of township number
twenty-six, north of ran^e number eight east ; thence east to the third principal meridian ;
thence south along the line of said meridian, to the southwest corner of township number
forty-three north, of range number one, east of the third principal meridian ; thence east
with the line dividing townships numbered forty-two and forty-three north, to the southeast
corner of township number forty-three north of range two, east of the third principal
meridian ; thence south with the line between ranges numbered two and three, east of the
third principal meridian, to the southeast corner of township tliirty-seven north; thence
west with the line dividing townships thirty-six and' thirty-seven north, to the southwest
corner of township thirty-seven north ; thence south with the third principal meridian, to
the southeast corner of township number nineteen, north of range eleven, east of the fourth
principal meridian ; thence west with the line between townships numbered eighteen and
nineteen north, to the place of beginning, shall constitute a county, to be called Ogle.
The name was suggested by the late Governor Ford, and was intended
to perpetuate the memory of Captain Ogle, whose coolness, courage and
daring were so conspicuous in the long and bloody confiict attending the
siege of Fort Henry, during the early days of our country's history.
Kane, McHenry, Winnebago and Whiteside Counties were organized
under the same law. Stephenson, Boone and DeKalb were organized in 1837.
Kane was named in honor of Ehas K. Kane, the guiding and control-
ling spirit of the constitutional convention of 1818. Winnebago is an
Indian name, and was so named because of its territory having been the
favorite " hunting ground " of the Winnebago Indians. Whiteside was
named in honor of General Whiteside, who participated in the Black
Hawk War of 1832. Stephenson was named in honor of Colonel Stephen-
son, who also bore a gallant and conspicuous part in that campaign, and
Boone was named in honor of Kentucky's great pioneer hunter. Colonel
Daniel Boone.
DeKalb County was named in honor of Baron John DeKalb, a native
of the Province of Alsace, a German province in the possession of France,
who, in November, 1776, ofiored his services to Dr. Benjamin Franklin and
Silas Deane (the first envoys from the American Republic after the declara-
tion of independence), to serve in the armies of the revolted colonies. He
fell, at the head of his command, at the battle of Camden, on the 7th of
August, 1780, pierced by eleven bayonet wounds, and died in a few hours.
To a British officer who kindly condoled with him on his misfortune, he
* Some old settlers of Jo Daviess County, at Galena, told the writer that the Indians
set out tliese fires every Spring in order to keep down the undergrowth that their hunting
grounds might be unobstructed— to afford them better opportunities for sighting deer, etc.
HISTOKT OF OGLE COUNTY. 295
replied: "I thank you for your generous sympathy, but die the death I
have always prayed for — the death of a soldier fighting for the rights of
man; and, though I fight no more in this world, I trust I may still be of
some service to the cause of freedom."
As originally organized, Ogle County included the present County of
Lee, but rival interests led to a division of the territory, and the erection of
Lee County in 1839. Of this, more in another paragraph.
Section eleven of the act under which the county was organized pro-
vided that, "for the purpose of fixing the permanent county seat of Ogle
County, Charles Reed, of Cook County, James L. Kirkpatrick, of Jo
Daviess County, and James B. Campbell, of Cook County, are hereby
appointed Commissioners, who, or any two 'of them, being first duly
sworn before some justice of the peace of this state, as is required by
the seventh section of this act, shall meet at the house of Oliver W. Kel-
logg, in said county, on the first Monday of May next or within sixty days
thereafter, and shall proceed in all respects as is required in the seventh
section of this act."
Section seven, herein quoted, provides that the said county seat shall
be located on lands belonging to the United States, if a site for said county
seat on such lands can be found equally eligible, or upon lands claimed by
citizens of said county ; but if such location shall be made upon land
claimed by any individual having title or pre-emption right to the same,
the claimant or proprietor upon whose claim or right of pre-emption, the
said seat of justice may be located, shall make a deed in fee simple to any
number of acres of said tract, not less than twenty, to the said county ; or,
in lieu thereof, such claimant, or owner or owners of such pre-emption right,
shall donate to the said county, at least three thousand dollars, to be
applied to building county buildings, within one year after the location of
said county seat ; and the proceeds of such quarter section, if the said county
seat shall be located on government lands, or the proceeds of such twenty
acres of land, if it be located on the pre-emption right of an individual or
individuals, or the said three thousand dollars, in case such pre-emption
right owner or owners, shall elect to pay that sum in lieu of the said twenty
acres, shall be appropriated to the erection of a sufficient court house and
jail.
Section twelve provided that the county and circuit court should be
held at such places as the county commissioners court should appoint, and
that the circuit judge of the sixth judicial circuit should have power to fix
the times for holding courts as in his discretion he might think would best
promote the public good.
Section nine provided that an election should be held on the first Mon-
day of April (1836) for one sherifi", one coroner, one recorder, one county
surveyor, and three county commissioners, who should hold their
offices until the next succeeding general election, and until their successors were
elected and qualified, and, that the qualified voters present might elect from
among their own number, three qualified voters to act as judges of said
election, and that they, the judges, should appoint two qualified voters to
act as clerks.
Section nine also declared that the election should be held at the house
of John Phelps, and that it should be regulated and conducted in the same
manner as prescribed in section nine, etc.
Section eighteen provided, however, " that no one of the counties created
296 HISTORY OF OGLE OOtTNTT.
bj this act shall be organized, and no election hereby authorized, shall be
held, until a petition shall be presented to the judge of the sixth judicial
circuit, or in his absence, some other circuit judge, signed \)j a majority of
the voters of the county asked to be organized, and proof made before such
judge, that such county contains at least three hundred and fifty inhabi-
tants ; and upon such petition being presented, and such proof made, the
said judge is hereby authorized and required to grant an order for the
election of county officers, naming the day for such election, the place at
which such election shall be held, the description of officers to be elected,
and appointing the judges of elections ; and the said judges of election shall
give public notice of said election, by posting up notices in at least four
public places in the county ; and, such election shall be held and conducted
in all respects as other elections."
From some reason, presumably because there were not the requisite num-
ber of inhabitants within the county limits, the election provided for' in
section thirteen, to-wit : on the first Monday in April, was not held ; and
until the 1st of January, A. D., 1837, the territory named in the boundaries
of Ogle County, as originally defined, remained under the jurisdiction
of Jo Daviess County. For the same reason, perhaps, the organization of
"Whiteside was not fully perfected until 1839, when Lee and Whiteside were
both set ofi^ from Ogle.
Origin of Naiaes. — Before proceeding further with the local affairs of
the counl^, a few paragraphs will be devoted to the origin ^of names as
applied to several historic points in the county, from the reason that fre-
quent reference will necessarily be made to them in coming pages.
White Rook. — So named because of the white rock to be seen on the
banks of Stillman's Run from a long distance.
Killhuck. — Because of a large buck being found dead in the stream
so named. Another version is that the Driscolls, who moved from the
banks of an Ohio stream by that name, named this one Killbuck, they
being the first settlers here.
Brodie's Grove. — From the name of a notorious first settler, an associ-
ate and relative of the Driscolls.
PiM6 Rock. — Because of a number of pine trees growing on a large
rock.
Grand de Tour. — From a long bend or curve in the course of Rock
River.
Mount Morris. — After Bishop Morris, an eminent divine of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. [This distinguished and worthy Bishop died
at his home in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, a few years ago.]
Adeline. — After the name of the first wife of Thomas J. Turner, a former
member of Congress from this district, who lived at Freeport. He died at
Hot Springs, Arkansas, only a few years ago.
Washington and Lafayette Groves. — In honor of Generals Washing-
ton and Lafayette, and so named by the Aikens families.
Light House I^oint. — Because of the high ground and lights being
seen from the summit at great distances, believed to have been so named by
Dr. John Roe.
Knox^s Spring.-^ After Dr. J. Knox.
Indian Mound. — Because of the remains of an Indian having been
found buried there by the early settlei's. The skull was to be seen at
Mount Morris Seminary some years ago, and may. still be preserved there.
(deceased)
BUFFALO TP
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 299
Liberty Hill. — This elevated point on the outskirts of Oregon, was
named by an old gentleman from Yankee Settlement, Illinois, named Teller.
Baysville. — After Colonel Day, who attempted to build a village there
in opposition to Oregon.
Oregon. — So named by Miss Sarah Phelps, daughter of John Phelps,
who first came here in 1833. She subsequently married Mr. Wesley
Johnston, and still lives in Oregon.
K Hyde Parh. — Was named by George W. Lee, after Hyde Park,
N^w York.
Paynes Point. — In honor of Aaron Payne, an early settler.
Buffalo Grrove. — Because of the finding of buffalo bones there by the
first settlers.
Pine Creek. — From the pine trees that grew along its banks.
Dement. — In honor of Colonel John Dement, of Dixon.
Byron. — This village was first named Bloomingville. When the
people first petitioned for a post-oflSce under that name, the petition was
refused by the Postmaster General because of the similarity of the name
to Bloomington. The name of Byron was adopted at the suggestion of
Leonard Andrus — probably a reader and an admirer of the works of
Lord Byron.
Flagg.—ln honor of W. P. Flagg.
Lane. — After Dr. Lane, a prominent pliysician of Rockford.
Pulpit Rock. — Because of its fancied resemblance to a pulpit.
Sugar Loaf. — Because of its resemblance to a sugar loaf. After the
killing of the DriscoUs, June 29, 1841, the Regulators met there to the
number of 112 and surrendered themselves to the Sherifil
Skunk Town. — Because of the number of skunks killed there at one
time.
Squaw Hill. — Because of the accidental killing of an Indian squaw
on its summit. Her body was enclosed in a rude coffin, made by sawing
an old canoe in halves, which, according to Indian custom, was elevated
about four feet from the ground. This rude coffin was not long enough to
include her whole body, and her feet and ankles were left protruding at the
open end. James Y. Gale says: "I saw her feet while she lay thus
entombed. A Yandal named Thompson tore down the scaffold, rifled the
old canoe of her remains, and carried the trinkets, beads, etc., to Dixon.
West Grove. — Because situated in the western part of the county.
North Grove. — Because situated in the northern part of the county.
Stillman^s Pun. — In memory of Colonel Stillman, who was defeated
there by the Indians at the commencement of the Black Hawk War.
Polo. — The name was adopted at the suggestion of Hon. Zeuos
Applington, who was killed at the head of his command at ^the battle of
Corinth.
Woosung. — Named by the proprietors after a Chinese city of that name.
CarnphelVs Grove. — In honor of an old Yirginian who settled there.
Sinnissippi. — Indian for Rocky River.
DeviVs Backbone. — A sharp ridge of rocks about one mile and a
quarter below Oregon.
Fossil Quarry. — From the immense quantity of fossil shells found in
the rock quarried there for building the dam at Oregon.
In pursuance of the provisions of section eighteen of the act under
which Ogle County was organized, an order was issued by Thomas Ford,
18
300 HISTORY OF OGLE GOVNTi.
then judge of the sixth judicial district, for an election to be held on the
24th day of December — the day before Christmas — 1836. The election
was appointed to be held at the house of John Phelps, a " tavern." The
judges were: James Y. Gale, George W. Rosecrans and Jonathan W.
Jenxins. The clerks were George Chandler and Smith Gilbraith.
Even at that day a rivalry had sprung up between Oregon and Dixon
for county seat honors, notwithstanding the commissioners appointed for
the purpose by the legislature had located the county seat on the 20th of
June, 1836, where Oregon has since been built up. In selecting candidates
for county commissioners, partisanism was ignored. Only local influence
was considered. The Dixonites selected three citizens for county com-
missioners, Wvho were believed to be friendly to Dixon, and who would
use their official influence to maintain the county offices at that place.
Oregon people were equally zealous, and they, too, selected candidate^ for
county commissioners pledged to their interests. The Dixon candidates
were V. A. Bogue, S. Si. John Mix and Cyrus Chamberlain. The Oregon
candidates were Isaac Rosecrans, Ezra Bond and W. J. Mix. The contest
was animated and excited, and the polls were kept open until midnight.
The certificate of the judges of election showed the following vote:
DIXON CANDIDATES.
V. A. Bogue _ _ __ 98 votes.
S.St. John Mix 98 "
Cyrus Chamberlain _ _ 95 "
OREGON CANDIDATES.
Isaac Kosencrans _ 89 votes.
Ezra Bond .- ..-.. ...90 "
W. J. Mix.... ..87 "
The Dixon candidates were elected. For the other county officers the
vote was as follows:
Recorder — James Y. Gale, 138 votes; B. J. Phelps, 48 votes. Sur-
veyor — Joseph Crawford, 119 votes ; William Sanderson, 63 votes. Sheriff—
W. W. Mudd, 95 votes; Jeremiah Murphy, 93 votes. Coroner — L. H.
Evarts, 94 votes; Ira Hill, 96 votes.
Mr. James Y. Gale, in his private diary, says of this election:
There was great excitement at this election. All the towns were against Oregon. A
large quantity of whisky was drunk, and several fights occurred. Dixon, Grand De Tour,
Buffalo Grove, and Bloomingville (now Byron) all combined against Oregon. A great
deal of hard feeling grew out of this election that lasted until Lee County was set off and
erected into an independent county. One man became so boisterous and pugilistic towards
his brother that he was tied with a rope. It was the noisiest, roughest, most exciting elec-
tion ever held in the county.
One hundred and eighty-eight votes were cast at this election. A part
of the poll-book is still in preservation at the county clerk's office; but
much the larger part has either been unintentionally destroyed, lost or
carried off, although the records of that department of county affairs are
remarkably well preserved and are arranged with admirable system. The
papers are all kept in such order that the present incumbent of the office,
Mr. George W. Hormell, and his assistant, Mr. J ohn Mack, can place their
hands on any desired paper at once. In fact, the office is a model of neat-
ness — a pattern which seven out of every ten county clerks in the state
might follow with profit and credit.
That part of the poll-book made out in the county, showing a return.
HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY.
301
of the first county election, held on the 24th day of December, A. D. 1836,
has the names of the following forty-three voters. We would like to pre-
sent the names of the entire 188 sovereign and independent settlers of
forty- two years ago, but can not for the reasons already stated. The names
preserved are:
*W. A. House,
L. Crandle,
f'N. W. Brown,
E. Hine,
*J. L. Spaulding,
A. Shepherd,
*J. P. Dixon,
J. F. Sanford,
D. Javinole,
M. T. Kimball,
L. S. Huff,
A. Kue,
J. Rue,
C. JN". Turner,
J. Young.
Of the above
known to be dead ;
A. Dickerman,
H. Hill,
B.'B. Brown,
f J. Snyder,
*S. S. Spaulding,
R. Murry,
P. Cameron,
W Southall,
*William Sanderson,
*S. Sharer,
*S. Gilbraith,
Gr. Chandler,
f James Y. Gale,
*G. Rosencrans,
W. W. Mudd,
*D. Brown,
f J. W. Jenkins,
John Boardman,
fS. C. Fuller,
f Robert Page,
^David Reed,
■^H. Rosencrans,
S. Smith,
G. Angel,
Jas. Williams,
I. W. Moss,
S. Johnson,
— Driscoll,
named voters at the first election, those marked * are
those marked f are known to be living. Jonathan W.
Jenkins, James Y. Gale and Robert Page only are known to have always
maintained a residence in the county. Mr. Jenkins is in his seventy-
seventh year. James Y. Gale is seventy-one years of age.
Of the first county officers, so far as known, the following still survive
the ravages and cares of time:
James Y. Gale, recorder, still lives in Oregon, where he has always
maintained an excellent name. He filled the office of recorder for eleven
years. He was also elected as the first justice of the peace in Oregon Pre-
cinct, and held that office four years. He was likewise appointed as the
first public administrator in the county by Governor Duncan, and held that
office eight years. During the war period he served his county as repre-
sentative in the State Legislature, and has served Oregon Township about
ten years as supervisor. He is now a prominent stockholder and director
and vice president of the First National Bank of Oregon. Besides these
positions, he held the post-office of Oregon two years, being appointed
under President Harrison in 1841, but was removed in 1843 because he
wouldn't Tylerize. When Orgeon was incorporated as a city, in 1870, he
was elected the first mayor, in which position he served two years.
Yirgil A. Bogue, one of the county commissioners, died at Bufiklo
Grove in 1869, where he had accumulated a handsome property. He also
served one or two terms as probate judge, and as justice of the peace of his
precinct — Buffalo Grove.
S. St. John Mix, another one of the commissioners, is still a resident of
the county and of Byron, from which place he was elected — Byron then
being called Bloomingville. He is now nearly eighty years of age, and still
engaged in active business pursuits.
Cyrus Chamberlain, the third commissioner, is now between eighty-
three and eiglity-four years of age, and a resident of Grand deTour. He
has always maintained a residence in the county, and at ^one time had
acquired a valuable property.
S03 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The three Oregon candidates for county commissioners, Isaac Hosen-
craus, Ezra Bond and Williani J. Mix, are all dead.
Joseph Crawford, surveyor, who lived near Grand de Tour at the time
of his election, accumulated a handsome competency and subsequently
removed to Dixon, where he became a prominent politician and representa-
tive man. He is now president of one of the national banks of that city.
W. W. Mudd, sheriff, removed from the county soon after the expira-
tion of his oflScial services, and all knowledge of him is lost.
Ira Hill, coroner, also removed from the county a number of years
ago, and, like Sherifi' Mudd, has become lost to the knowledge of Ogle
County people.
Smith Grilbraith, county clerk, was appointed from Dixon, where, as
the county settled up and Dixon began to assume some importance, he
became a conspicuous character in public affairs. He died at Dixon a
number of years since.
Of the judges of the election at which the above named gentlemen
were chosen to office, James Y. Gale is still a resident of the county and of
Oregon, as elsewhere noted. George W. Rosencrans died in Utah some
three or four years ago, where he was engaged in mining, etc. Jonathan
W. Jenkins is still living and a resident of Oregon, as already mentioned.
The first session of the County Commissioners Court was held at the
house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, January 3, 1837. Present, Yirgil
A. Bogue and S. St. John Mix. The first order entered was the appoint-
ment of Smith Gilbraith as clerk of the County Commissioners Court. He
was required to give bond in the sum of one thousand dollars for a faithful
discharge of the duties of the office. O. W. Kellogg and James P. Dixon
were his bondsmen.
James Y. Gale appeared and qualified as county recorder.
The court then ordered that " the precincts in Ogle County remain the
same as established by the Commissioners of Jo Daviess County until the
next session, and then adjourned until the first Monday in March, to meet
at the house of F. Cushman in Buffalo Grove Township."
March 6 the commissioners met at the house of Mr. Cushman, Buffalo
Grove Precinct, pursuant to adjournment. At this session, Joseph Craw-
ford, the other commissioner, appeared, took the prescribed oath and entered
upon the duties of commissioner.
At this session Oliver W. Kellogg was appointed county treasurer, and
entered into bonds in the sum of $3,000 for a faithful discharge of the
duties of the office. E. W. Covell and James P. Dixon, both of Dixon,
were his bondsmen.
License was granted to E. W. Covell, of Dixon, to sell goods, wares,
merchandise, etc., for one year, upon consideration of the payment of ten
dollars to the county treasurer. This was the first money paid into the
county treasury.
The court next proceeded to lay off and establish election precincts, as
follows :
Bloomingville. — Commencing on the north line of Ogle County on
the, line between ranges of townships 9 and 10; thence south to the center
of township 24; thence east to the line between 10 and 11; thence south to
the north line of township 23; thence enst to the east line of the county
through the center of townsship forty-one, one and two, east of the third
principal meridian; thence north and west along said county lines to the
place of beginning.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 303
Joseph Sanford, Miner M. York and Asa G. Spaulding were appointed
judges of elections in this precinct, and the elections were appointed to be
held at the school-house.
Oregon City PreciuGt. — Beginning at the center of township 24, range
9 east of the 4th principal meridian, and running south to the center of
township 23, same range; then east to the line between 9 and 10; then
south one mile; then east to Rock River; then down said river to the line
between towns 22 and 23; thence east to the line between 10 and 11; then
south to the north line of 21; then east to the east line of said county;
then north along said line to the center of town 41 ; thence west along the
line of Bloomingville precinct to the place of beginning.
William J. Mix, James Clark and John Phelps were appointed judges
of elections. Elections were appointed to be held at the house of John
Phelps.
Grand de Tour. — (Americanized Grand Detour.) Beginning at town-
ship 23, north range 9, east of the 4th principal meridian, and running east
to town line ; then south one mile ; then east to Rock River ; then down
said river to the north line of town 22 north; then east to the line between
10 and 11; then south to the north line of town 20; then west to the west
line of range 10; then north to the north line of town 21; then west two
miles; then north three miles; then west to Rock River; then up the river
until it strikes the line between 4 and 5; then north to the town line; then
east one mile; then north to the place of beginning.
John Chamberlain, Spooner Ruggles and Ira Hill were named as
judges of elections, and elections were ordered to be held at House & Co.'s
Btore.
Buffalo Grove. — Commencing at the northwest corner of the county
and running east to line of township between 9 and 10; then south to the
center of township 24, north; thence west to the center of town 24, range
9, east; then south to the north line of town 22; then west to the county
line; then north on said line to the place of beginning.
Stephen Hull, John D. Stephenson and Frederick Cushman were
appointed judges of elections, and the elections were appointed to be held
at the house of Mr. Cushman.
Dixon. — Commencing on the west line of the county on township hne
between 22 and 23, running east eight miles; then south to Rock River;
down Rock River to the south line of section 17; then east two miles; then
south three miles on line between sections 34 and 35 ; then east to town
line; then south to the north Hne of town 20; then west to county line;
then north to place of beginning.
William P. Burrows, James P. Dixon and William Martin were
appointed judges of elections, and the house of E. W. Co veil was named
as the voting place.
I nlet. ~Bo\m&Qdi as follows: On the north by Dixon, Grand de Tour
and Oregon City Precincts; on the east, by the county line, and on the south
and west, bv the lines of said county.
Z. Mellugin, Thomas Dexter and Charles West were appointed judges
of elections, and the elections were appointed to be held at the house of
Cory don Dewey.
The court next divided the county into road districts, nine in numbef,
appointed a supervisor for each district, etc.
At that time Whiteside County, for reasons already suggested, was
within the jurisdiction of Ogle County, and the territory defined by the
304 HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTT.
law creating Whiteside Countv (passed at the same time Ogle was erected)
was divided into four election precincts, and each precinct was declared to
be a road district.
March 7th, Adolphus Bliss and others presented a road petition asking
for a view of a certain route defined in the petition. The petitioners were
required to deposit $5 with the county clerk to cover expenses, etc., in
the event the viewers did not report favorably. If the report was favorable,
the deposit was ordered to be returned to the depositors. Tliis was the
practice in all new counties. John Dixon, Oorydon Dewey and Z. Mellu-
gin were appointed viewers.
[Adolphus Bliss and Oorydon Dewey will be made to figure somewhat
conspicuously, if not creditably, in another department of this history, and
it may not be out of place to remark that this first road was intended to
open up a highway of travel to and past Bliss' " Traveller's Home," a " log
tavern " familiarly known to the early settlers as a rendezvous or head-
quarters for the outlaws, horse-thieves, counterfeiters, etc., that infested this
county from 1835 to 1845, when the gang was finally broken up by the
honest, sturdy settlers whom they had so repeatedly outraged.]
The same day, Leonard Andrus presented a road petition looking to
the opening up of a legal highway to Bloomingville (now Byron), and, after
making the conditional deposit, M. M. York, J. P. Dixon and E. Hubbell
were appointed viewers.
In those days the county commissioners granted license to parties
desirous of keeping tavern, and as almost every man who had a cabin aspired
to be a " tavern-keeper," the income from this source was not inconsider-
able, and was the means of meeting some of the first expenses, such as
stationery, etc., etc. Grocers, merchants, etc., were also required to take
out license, as were ferrymen and the like. The first tavern license was
granted to Joseph Sawyer, and the second to Adolphus Bliss, each of whom
was required to pay to the county treasurer the sum of $10. Messrs.
Wales, Hunn & Oo. were licensed to sell " goods, wares and merchandise "
upon the payment of $12. J. D. Stephenson & Oo. were charged $12 for
the privilege of selling goods at Buffalo Grove.
The county commissioners were also vested with power to fix the rate
of charges for "tavern keepers " and ferry men, and among the "orders "
entered up at this session of the county commissioners court were the fol-
lowing, copied verhatim from the record :
TAVERN RATES.
Foreach meal of vituals 373^ Cents.
" keeping each horse one knight to hay and grain . 50 "
" each lodging 25 "
" " drink of spirituous liquors 1%% "
ROCK RIVER FERRY RATES.
For each yoke of oxen and wagon '.. 75 Cents.
" " additional yoke of oxen _ 25 "
" two horses and wagon 75 "
" each additional horse 12^^ "
" " two horse pleasure carriage $1 00
" " man and horse 25 "
" " footman 123^ «
" one horse and wagon 37^^ "
" each horse and gig ._ 50 ''
" " " or ass 121^ "
" " head of cattle Q^ "
« " " « sheep or hogs ^U "
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 305
Among other business transacted at this term of the court, it was
Ordered, That, on the second Monday in June next, such portion of the section of
land on which the county stake is stuck, be sold at public auction for the benefit of Ogle
County ; the portion to be sold to be hereafter designated by the county commissioners.
Adjourned March 8, 1837.
At this session of the commissioners, the court ordered an election to
be held in each of the precincts in Ogle County, on the 12th day of April,
to fill vacancies in the county ofiices. An examination of the poll -books
fails to show the election of any officers but justices of the peace and con-
stables. The Oregon City Precinct election resulted as follows :
Justices of the Peace — James H. Stephenson received 58 votes ; Isaac
W. Moss received 44 votes ; Lester H. Everts received 35 votes. Consta-
hles — Isaac DeMott received 71 votes, and John S. Lord received 74 votes.
In Buffalo" Grove Precinct the election resulted as follows :
Justices of the Peace — John D. Stevenson received 3 votes, and Yirgil
A. Bogue received 13 votes. Constahles — Charles Cushman received 13
votes ; Benajah Beardsley received 14 votes, and Isaac Every received 3 votes.
Dixon Precinct voted for two constables. Benjamin H. Steward
received 30 votes, and John Morse received 29 votes.
Inlet Precinct made the following return :
Justice of the Peace — Daniel M. Dewey received 17 votes. Consta-
hle — Charles West received 17 votes.
Justice Dewey, Constable West, Adolphus Bliss (of the old "Travel-
lers' Home"), his wife, Hannah, and a few others of their gang, because
of their " close " connection and secret and suspicious ways of transacting
public and private business, came to be known to the pioneers as " Dewey,
West & Co." To this wing of the Driscoll gang a distinct section of this
history will be devoted.
In Blooming ville (now Byron), the sovereign voters made the follow-
ing return :
Justices of the Peace — James Scott received 23 votes ; Lucius Read
received 15 votes, and Asa Gr. Spalding received 11 votes. Constables —
James Scott received 23 votes ; Andrew Shepherd received 15 votes, and
Iliram Maynard received 8 votes.
Elkhorn Precinct rendered the following certificate :
Justices of the Peace — John W. Chapman received 12 votes ; Elijah
Worthington received 10 votes, and Yon J. Adams received 2 votes. Con-
stables — John McLemore received 5 votes ; Nelson Mason received 11
votes, and Isaac H. Albertson received 8 votes.
In Grand de Tour Precinct twenty-seven votes were cast. Erastus
Hubbell and Cyrus Chamberlain were elected justices, and Calvin Turner
and Jeremiah Murphy were chosen as constables.
The next session of the county commissioners court was ordered to be
held at Grand de Tour, where it convened on the 6th of June, 1837, when
Leonard Andrus was authorized to keep a ferry at Grand de Tour, upon
the payment of a license fee of $10. The clerk was also authorized to issue
a license for a ferry at Van Buren, on the payment of $20, and San-
ford was authorized to keep a ferry at Bloomingville on the payment of $5.
Leonard Andrus was appointed school commissioner — ^the first in the
county.
Ordered, That Oregon City precinct be divided by Rock River, and that that part
of it on the south side be called Washington precinct ; and that James Clark, Richard B.
306 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Aiken and Jehiel Day be, and they hereby are, appointed judges of elections, and that
elections shall be held at the house of Jehiel Day.
Ordered, That the clerk commence suit, in the name of the County Commissioners,
against the Sheriff of Ogle County, in each and every case for omission of duty.
Smith Gilbraith presented his account for official services to date,
$8.87; also, for expenses for records, stationery, etc., $8.50 — $17.50; the
first account filed against the county. The account was allowed and an
order directed to be issued against the treasury for the same.
An order for one dollar each was directed to be issued to the several
judges and clerks at the December election.
The commissioners next passed upon their own claims against the
county: Y. A. Bogue, $6; C. Chamberlain, $6; S. St. John Mix, $7.50.
Sheriff Mudd was allowed $3 for attendance upon the court.
Adjourned June 7, 1837.
June 20, 1836, Charles Reed and James L. Kirkpatrick, two of the
commissioners appointed to locate a permanent seat of Justice for Ogle
County, proceeded to discharge that duty. The report was in these words:
"We, the undersigned commissioners appointed by an act of the Legislature, entitled
" an act to establish certain counties," approved January 16, 1836, for the purpose of fixing
the permanent seat of justice for Ogle County, report, that we did, on1;he 15th day of June,
1836, meet at the house of O. W". Kellogg, in the county of Ogle, and having been first duly
sworn before J. C. O wings, Esq., justice of the Peace in, and for Jo Daviess County, agree-
ably to the provisions of said act, proceeeded to view, select, locate and establish the seat of
justice for said county; we, the commissioners, believe, that in making the location for said
seat of justice, that they have complied with the letter of the law in that respect. We have
selected a point which we consider the most eligible. We have fixed the location with a
view to the convenience of the people, the situation of the settlement, and also, with a view
to the future population of said county, and to the general advantage and convenience of the
people. We, the commissioners, having the above objects in view, and being governed in
the matter by the best judgment that we are able to form respecting the same, having deter-
mined on, fixed and selected the following place or location for the permanent seat of justice
for the County of Ogle, to wit: the southeast quarter of section four (4), township twenty-
three north, range ten, east of the fourth principal meridian, upon which quarter we, the
commissioners, have set a stake this day, the 20th of June, 1836, the said quarter being
claimed by John Phelps & Co., of Ogle County. " Signed,
" Charles Reed,
"J. L. Kirkpatrick."
[The point on which the stake was planted was on the high point of ground just
north of and adjoining the grounds occupied by the present Union school house.]
This report was dated June 20, 1836, but does not appear of record until
the 4th of September, A. D. 1838, when the County Commissioners Court
being in session it was ordered to be accepted and entered upon the records
of the court. When the locating commissioners " stuck " the county
seat stake on the 20th of June, 1836, the lands had not been sub-
divided into sections, half sections, etc. Only the township lines had been
established, and, as subsequent developments proved, the site selected was on
the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of section three. This error
was occasioned by a misapprehension as to the true location of the line
(north and south) between sections three and four — that line and the half-
section line east and west, crossing on the high point or mound, where the
stake was planted. The fault originated with a local surveyor, who had
been employed by parties interested, to run temporary section lines from
the east and north lines of township twenty-three. When the govern-
ment surveyors come to subdivide the township in 1837, they fixed the sec-
tion line between sections three and four, a few rods west of the line marked
out by the temporary survey, which left the spot selected by the locating
&A
ROCHELLE
I
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 309
commissioners as the "permanent seat of justice in Ogle County," in the
extreme northeast corner of the southeast quarter of section four.
When this error was fully established, the county commissioners, un-
der authority of an act of congress, approved Feb. 5, 1829, granting 160
acres of government land for county seat purposes, sought to hold the
northwest quarter of section three, by causing the following entry to be
made on their record:
Ordered, That the clerk cause three written notices to be posted in Oregon City, for-
bidding all persons trespassing, or in any way taking possession of any portion of the north-
west quarter of section number three, in township number twenty-three north, range ten,
east of the fourth principal meridian, the quarter section on which the stake designating
the location of the county seat was planted.
The mistake or error of the locating commissioners, and the action of
the county commissioners, resulted in a long contest between the county
authorities and Mr. John Phelps, which was carried before the Commis-
sioner of the General Land Office, at Washington City, for final arbitra-
ment and decision. The nature of this contest will be more fully noticed
under the incidents of 1838, and the years following until permanently set-
tled.
In order to follow in chronological order the history under considera-
tion, it is necessary to go back to the 10th of June. On that day the
pioneers of Dixon voted for Justices of the Peace and Constables, with the
following result:
Justices of the Peace. — Samuel C. McClure received 31 votes; Horace
Thompson received 19 votes, and E. W. Covell received one vote.
Constables. — Daniel B. McKenney received 35 votes; Samuel
Leonard received 10 votes, and S. Britton received one vote.
On the first day of July the people of the county voted for member of
the General Assembly. The candidates were S. M. Bartlett and James L.
Kirkpatrick. The vote in the several precincts (as far as poll -book evi-
dence can be found) was as follows:
Precincts. Bartlett. Kirkpatrick.
Oregon City 3 62
Dixon - 25 18
Elkhorn Grove (Whiteside) - 7 9
Buffalo Grove 16 10
50 99
David Crockett had one vote, increasing the total number of votes cast
to 150. The vote for Crockett— presumably old Davy Crockett of Texas
memory — was probably cast by some wag as a reminder to the successful
candidate, " to be sure he was right (in legislative affairs) and then go
ahead."
An extra session of the Commissioners Court was held at Dixon on
Saturday, July 29, 183T, when a petition was presented, asking the Court
to refuse license to grocery keepers (saloon). The petition was granted
and this responsive order directed to be entered:
Ordered, That the clerk shall not grant to any person or persons license to keep grocery
in the Town of Dixon.
This was probably the first anti-license movement made in the county.
First Fines.— Alt this session of the court the following entry was
made:
■Received of John F. Stevenson, Esq., three dollars, collected from P. Blivios, for
assault on Lewis Cavr. Also, five dollars from P. Blivias for malconduct.
310 HISTOKY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The court then adjourned, and its next session was held at Buffalo
Grove September 4,. 1837, when Smith Gilbraith, having been elected
County Clerk at the August election, filed his bond, in the penal sum of
one thousand dollars, with C. Chamberlain as bondsman.
A new precinct, erected out of parts of Bloomingville, Oregon City
and Bufiklo Grove precincts, to be called Boston, was established, the
elections to be held at the house of S. S. Crowell. James Snyder, John
C. Oliver and M. T. Crowell were appointed judges.
Among other orders, the clerk was directed to commence immediate
proceedings against all inkeepers who were violating, or had violated, the
law regulating their avocation. It was also
Ordered, That the clerk inform all the county officers and the judge of the Circuit
Court that Dixon has been selected as the place of holding courts until August, 1838.
After the selection of grand and petit juries, the Court adjourned.
The records do not show where the next (December) session was held,
but the tfenor of the order last quoted would indicate that it was held at
Dixon. Wherever held, the session wa^ principally devoted to the examina-
tion and allowance of accounts, and " squaring " up the business of the
year.
The next session commenced March 5, 1838, when the court ordered
that the following tax be assessed against the several ferries within the
jurisdiction of the county:
Bloomingville _ -. $10 00
Davsville 10 00
Dixon ._ 30 00
Knox 15 00
Oregon City 15 00
Grand de Tour 15 00
Portland 10 00
Fulton (Mississippi) Ferry (Whiteside County) next claimed the Court's
attention, and the following rates were authorized:
For each footman. $ 25
" man and horse 75
" head of cattle or loose horse 25
" two-wheeled carriage, drawn by horses or oxen 1 00
" yoke of oxen 50
" loaded wagon and two horses or oxen _ 1 50
" additional horse or ox.. 25
" head of hogs or sheep 123=^
" one-horse wagon ..._.. 1 00
The rates of the several Rock River ferries were thus revised :
For each yoke of oxen and wagon $ 75
" additional yoke of oxen 25
" two horses and wagon 75
" additional horse 123^
'* two-horse pleasure carriage 100
" man and horse - .- 25
'* footman 123^
" one-horse wagon 50
" one-horse gig 50
" head of neat cattle 12i^
" two-horse sleigh - 75
" one-horse sleigh 50
" head of hogs or sheep Q}4
At this date the financial condition of the county was shown in the
words and figures following :
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTT. 311
Treasuby of Ogle County, March 5, 1838. Account Current.
O. W. Kellogg, March 7, 1837, as per recei'pt $70 00
June " " " » 28 00
• $98 00
Cr.
O. W. Kellogg, Sept. 7, 1837, by cash to J. Day, Treasurer. $18 19
Due county $79 81
Jehiel Day, Dr., Sept. 7, 1837, to cash of O. W. Kellogg $18 19
" " " " receipts for cash _ _ 40 00
" 14 " » » _... 141 50
" 8 « " " 95 50
$295 19
Cr.
Jehiel Day, March 8, 1838, by county orders paid and returned to court. $339 64
Due county treasurer __ $44 45
Then followed this entry : " Settled with Jehiel Day, County Treas-
urer, and found due him on the 5th day of March, 1838, forty-four dollars
and forty-five cents ($4:4.45)." The court also
Ordered, That the clerk give himself credit for $237, it being in full for all moneys
received by him for the use of Ogle County up to March 5, 1838.
Between the time of the adjournment of this session of the court and
August 30, the sessions of the court were taken up in the ordinary routine
of business — granting road views, appointing viewers, preparing for the
August election, etc.
As the reader has already discovered, the County Court from the time
of its first session, January 13, 1837, had been of rather a migratory charac-
ter. It seems to have had no settled habitation. Sometimes it was held at
the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City — that house and two or three
others being the city — sometimes at Buffalo Grove, then at Grand de Tour,
and lastly at Dixon. [N^otwithstanding the commissioners appointed to
locate a permanent seat of justice for Ogle County had selected a site and
planted a stake upon it on the 20th of June, 1836, within one quarter of a
mile of which, under the law, the county offices were required to be kept,
they were moved about from place to place, as above stated. From the
time the county seat stake was planted until Lee County was set off, in
1839, there was a strong opposition in some parts of the county against
making Oregon City (first called Florence) the " permanent seat of justice."
The first board of county commissioners was elected by this opposition
influence, and, perhaps, in moving the sessions of their court from place to
place, they hoped to conciliate the conflicting elements, and finally remove
the seat of justice to some other locality. But if such was their purpose,
it never matured.
At the general election, held on the first Monday in August, 1838, a
new board of commissioners — Messrs. Martin Keynolds, Jacob Parry, and
Masten Williams — was elected. This board, as appears from the proceed-
ings of their first session, herewith published, were not disposed to tempor-
ize with the question, but to adopt a positive course of action.
August 30, they convened in extra session at Dixon. They first pre-
sented their certificates of election, after which they severally subscribed to
312 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the required oath of office, when they were ready to enter upon the dis-
charge of the duties to which they had been chosen. After these prelim-
inary requirements, the court adjourned until two o'clock in the afternoon,
when the following proceedings appear of record :
The clerk then prepared three tickets, upon one of which was written "one year;"
upon another one "two years," and upon another one "three years," which tickets, when so
prepared, were presented to each commissioner, whereupon it was decided that Martin Reyn-
olds continue in ofHce one year; Hasten Williams continue in office two years; and Jacob
Parry continue in office three years.
[The law under which the county commissioners were elected provided
that one of them should serve for one year, one of them for two years, and
one of them for three years, so that two of them were always familiar with
the routine of county business. It was in compliance with this law that the
tickets above were prepared and drawn.]
The following additional orders were then entered :
Ordered, That the place of holding Circuit Court in the County of Ogle shall be at
the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, after the end of the next October term, which
shall be held in the Town of Dixon.
Ordered, That the County Court shall hereafter beheld at the house of John Phelps,
in Oregon City.
Ordered, That the clerk notify the judge of the sixth judicial circuit that the Circuit
Court will beheld at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, after the end of the next
October term, which shall be held in the Town of Dixon.
The next regular session of the court was held . at the house of John
Phelps, in Oregon City, in September, when it was
Ordered, That so much of the order of .this court, passed the 30tli day of August last,
as relates to the place of holding the circuit courts, for Ogle County, be aud the same is
hereby rescinded ; and it is further ordered, that the circuit courts of Ogle County shall here-
after be held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, in said county, until public build-
ings shall be erected.
There was no double meaning in this or the orders of the 30th of
August. They were of the positive kind. Every one knew where to find
the county commissiohers when they were in session ; where the circuit
courts were to be held, and also, where to find the county and circuit court
clerks, and other county officials.
During this September session of the county commissioners court, the
report (already published) of Charles Kead and J. L. Kirkpatrick, two of
the commissioners appointed to select a site " for the permanent seat of
justice of Ogle County," was presented, accepted and ordered to be entered
of record. Soon after, or about this time, the people began to agitate the
necessity of erecting county buildings. Notwithstanding the locating com-
missioners had declared Oregon City as the most desirable and convenient
location, and that the county commissioners had, at the extra session held
on the 30th of August, and by an amended order, adopted at this session,
ordered that all the courts should be held at Oregon City, there was still an
opposition element to making Oregon (^/ity the permanent seat of justice.
The sooner public buildings could be erected, the sooner that factious element
would be overcome. At least, so reasoned those friendly to Oregon City.
At this time, the town plat had been surveyed and platted, and on
Wednesday, the 4th of December, the county commissioners court being in
session, it was
Ordered, That lots three and four and nine and ten, in block ninety-nine, be appro-
priated for the building of a church for public worship of Almighty God, and a school-
house, free for all denominations.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 313
Thursday morning, the 6th, this order was amended, as follows :
Ordered, That so much of the last order of yesterday, relating to the appropriation
of lots for a church and school-house, is hereby rescinded, as makes lots three and four,
in block ninety-nine, a part of the donation, and that lots three and four, in block one hun-
dred be appropriated in their place, making lots three and four, in block one hundred, and
nine and ten, in block ninety-nine, the ones devoted to the purposes mentioned in the
former order.
At a special session, J^ovember 8, the commissioners
Ordered, That public buildings shall be erected for Ogle County, Illinois, in Oregon
City, the seat of justice of said county, and on the southeast quarter of section four, town-
ship twenty-three north, range ten east of the fourth principal meridian, and that the clerk
of this court shall cause notices to be given to all the principal settlements of said county
that bids will be received and contracts let for that purpose, on the first day of December
next, at which time plans of the work will be submitted.
Ordered, That Thomas Ford is hereby appointed a commissioner to sell lots for the
County of Ogle, situate on the quarter section on which the county seat of said county was
located by Charles Read and J. L. Kirkpatrick, being the southeast quarter of section four,
township twenty-three north, range ten east of the fourth principal meridian, at public ven-
due, in Oregon City, on the first Monday in December next, he giving due notice of said
sale, and that he have power to make and deliver deeds for lots so sold by him; said com-
missioner to sell on a credit of six, twelve and eighteeu months, with approved security,
and that he have power to cause a plat of said quarter section to be drawn up, exhibiting
the location and size of the lots ; and also to lay out and sell out lots of a suitable size, and
for that purpose to call on the county surveyor; the proceedings of said commissioner, at
all times, to be under the county commissioners court.
The court next proceeded to the selection of a site for a court house,
jail, etc., and having so decided, it was
Ordered, That the court house be erected on block number 78, it being the one laid
on the recorded plat for the public square ; and that the hill on said square be leveled ten
feet in the center, leaving a plain of sixty-five by fifty-five feet square, at the center, and
from said plain to be made a gradual descent to a level with the balance of the plat, except
the hill north, which is to be level with said plain thirty feet from its edge or boundary.
The clerk was then " ordered to advertise for sealed proposals, to be
received to the second Monday in the month of January, 1839 (a special
term of the court to be held on that day), for the building of a court and
jail house in Oregon City, for Ogle County, and the grading and leveling
of the hill on the public square in said town, according to plans filed in the
clerk's ofiice.''
Plans for a two-story court house had been previously adopted. The
building was to be 40 by 50 feet *' from out to out," the narrow way fronting
the river, and the walls to rest on stone foundations sunk four feet in the
ground and raised three feet above the surface. The lower story to be
twelve feet in height, with eighteen-inch walls. A hall or passage-way,
ten feet in width, was to extend from front to rear, on either side of which
the county offices were to be located. Provisions were made for large
windows on either side of the front entrance, and for ample side windows
to light the offices. The second story was to be ten feet high above the
floor, and to be finished oil* as a court room.
Plans for a jail 18 by 18 feet, two stories high, were adopted at the same
time. The walls were to be solid stone, three feet in thickness, and corres-
pondingly strong throughout.
At the special term in January, 1839, the contract for building the
jail was awarded to John Acker in these words:
Ordered, That John Acker have the contract for building jail as per a first order and
contract of this date, for the sum of twelve hundred and forty-nine dollars ; provided^ the
314: HISTORY OF OGLE OOUNTT.
said Acker appear at the first day of the March term, next, and give security to be approved
by the court, for the completion of said jail, according to the order and article of agree-
ment.
The contract for the building of the court house was awarded in the
words following:
Ordered, That William J. Mix, Martin C. Hill and John C. Hulett have the contract
for building the court house for Ogle County, as per order of court, December term, 1838,
and contract of this date.
February 27, 1839, the act providing for the erection of Lee County
was approved and became a law. This act provided " that all that part of
Ogle County lying south of a line beginning on the western boundary
of Ogle County, at the northwest corner of section eighteen, in township
twenty-two north, of range eight, east of the fourth principal meridian;
thence, on the section line between sections numbered seven and eighteen,
in said township, east, to the main channel of Rock River; thence, up the
centre of the main channel of Rock River, to the section line between sec-
tions twelve and thirteen, in township ^; wen ty- two, north, of range nine, east
of the fourth principal meridian; thence, east, with the last mentioned
section line, to the northeast corner of section seventeen, in township
twenty-two north, of range ten, east of the fourth principal meridian;
thence, south, to the southeast corner of the last mentioned section; and
thence, east, with the section lines, to the eastern boundary of the county,
shall constitute the County of Lee."
The erection of Lee County left Ogle with eighteen full townships and.
about seven half townships of land — thirty-nine miles from east to west
and twentv-one miles from north to south.
The Dixon interests sought to have the north line of Lee County estab-
lished a few miles north of the line as defined by the law creating the
county, but they were not successful. Their purpose in that attempt was
to remove the centre of Ogle farther north, and thus destroy the chances
of their old rival, Oregon City, from becoming the county seat.
A little incident attending the rivalry between Dixon and Oregon
City and their representative men, John Dixon and J ohn Phelps, may not
be out of place here.
Dixon kept a hotel which, it seems, was the most popular, if liot the only
hotel at that time, in that embryo city. Mr. Phelps, of Oregon City, had
occasion to visit Dixon one day, when the county seat question was terribly
agitated, and stopped at the Dixon House for dinner. Mr. Dixon, the pro-
prietor, was absent, and Mrs. Dixon did the honors of the table. During
the meal she remarked to Mr. Phelps : "It is a good thing for you, Mr.
Phelps, that Mr. Dixon is not at home to-day, for if he was, you would get
hurt. There would be a fuss."
"It is a good thing for Mr. Dixon, madam," replied Mr. Phelps,
" that he is not at home, for if he was, he surely would be hurt. I was
born in a fuss, and nothing pleases me better than to be engaged in a
fuss."
Mr. Phelps was of Southern birth and education — at times impetuous
and seemingly hot-headed and headstrong, yet, withal, he was a really gen-
erous, charitable man, and a good and enterprising citizen— warm in his
friendships, and bitter in his enmities, when he was an enemy.
Since the erection of Lee county, there have been no changes in the
boundary lines of Ogle; the county seat question was definitely settled, and,
HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTr. 315
as the lands came into market and subject to entry, the people who had
made claims secured the warranty of Uncle Sam to full and uninterrupted
possession, and settled down to a course^of industry that has made their
county one of the foremost and richest in the Rock Eiver Valley,
At the March term, 1839, it was
Ordered, That, whereas, by an order of this court at its extra session, Jan. A. D. 1839,
the contract for the erection of the county jail was let to John Acker, under a condition
therein named ; and whereas, said condition has not been complied with on the part of
said Acker, the said contract with the said Acker is hereby declared forfeited by failure on
the part of the said Acker; and the said contract for the erection of the jail, as aforesaid,
is hereby let to Joseph Knop, to be completed as per order of this court in relation thereto,
and the contract of date of March 8, A. D. 1839, for the sum of eighteen hundred and
twenty-two dollars and tifty cents (|1,822.50).
March 9, it was ordered that a sale of lots on the county quarter, in Oregon City,
commence on the 4th Monday in May following, and to be continued from day to day as
long as the Commissioners Court shall see proper. The clerk was instructed to advertise
the same in the Chicago Democrat, Peoria Register, the Galena Democrat and the Chicago
American, four weeks preceding said sale.
The same day Jehiel Day tendered his resignation as county treasurer,
which was accepted, and Isaac S. Woolley appointed to the vacancy.
April, 1839, for the first time in the history of the county, the assess-
ment of personal property was assigned to assessors appointed for the pur-
pose, where, as before, that duty had been confided to the county treasurer.
Lucius Eeed was appointed assessor for that part of the county lying
west of Rock River; Major Chamberlain for that part of the county on
the east side of Rock river; Joseph Sawyer for that part of Lee County
east of Rock River; JBenj. H. Stewart for that part of Lee County west
of Rock River; K. Gr. Reynolds for that part of Whiteside County lying
southeast of Rock River, and John B. Dodge for the west.
[The first election for county officers for Lee County was held on the first Monday
in August, 1839. Until they were elected and qualified, that county was subject to the juris-
diction of Ogle County, which accounts for the appointment of the assessors named for Lee
County in the above order.]
The contract for grading and leveling down the hill on which it had
been determined to erect the court house, was awarded to Joseph Knox, and
on the 3d of July, 1839, the contract having been completed, the court
Ordered, That Joseph Knox have an order on the treasury for $326.12 for grading
the mound on the public square as per contract.
Two years and more had now passed since the county was organized.
In this time it began to be questioned whether the point of ground on
which Messrs. Reed and Kirkpatrick, two of the commissioners for
" locating the permanent seat of justice of Ogle County," had planted the
stake, was in the extreme soathwest corner of the northeast quarter of
section three, or in the extreme northeast quarter of the southeast quarter
of section four, town twenty-three north of range ten east. To determine
the question beyond cavil or controversy, the commissioners requested the
county surveyor, Mr. Joseph Crawford, to make the necessary survey to
definitely fix the lines and corners in question. Mr. Crawford proceeded
to discharge that duty in the month of September, 1839, and in October
following submitted to the court his report in the words following:
Report of Joseph Crawford, Surveyor of Ogle County, in compliance with the request of the
County Commissioners of Ogle County, to ascertain on what quarter section the stake
designating the location of the county seat was placed :
On account of an error in the original survey of Township twenty-three north, the
undersigned was led into a mistake in a survey made by him on the fourth day of December,
316 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, for the purpose afore-
said, since which time the error lias been discovered, and it now appears that the said stalce
was placed on the northwest quarter of section three, in Township twenty-three, north of
range number ten, east of the fourth principal meridian. Said last survey was made by me
on the fourth day of September last.
Dated this second day of October, A. D. 1839.
(Signed) JOSEPH CRAWFORD,
Suvoeyor of Ogle County, Illinois.
After the rendition of this report, the court ruled as follows:
It appearing to the satisfaction of the court that said stake in the above report men-
tioned, was placed on said northwest quarter of section number three, in Township number
twenty-three, north of range number ten, east of the fourth principal meridian, it is con-
sidered by the court that the said quarter section, by virtue of the act of Congress on that
subject, belongs to the County of Ogle, to be appropriated to the uses and purposes in said
act mentioned.
Ordered, That the clerk cause three written notices to be posted in Oregon City, for-
bidding all persons trespassing, or in any way taking possession of any portion of the
northwest quarter of section number three, in Township number twenty-three, north of
range ten, east of the fourth principal meridian, the quarter section on which the stake
designating the location of the county seat was planted.
This action of the county commissioners evoked a controversy with
Mr. Fhelps and other parties interested as claimants of the northwest quar-
ter of section three. It seems to have been the purpose of these claimants
to have the county seat stake planted on the northwest quarter of section
three; but in consequence of reasons already stated, it was^placed on section
four. The commissioners maintained tliat the planting of the stake on
section three gave them the right to hold it, notwithstanding it had been
previously claimed by Mr. Plielps for himself and others. The question
was taken before the district land authorities, who sustained the commis-
sioners. Mr. Phelps, who had sold a number of lots in the disputed quarter
section (which had been sub-divided into town lots) appealed from that
decision to the Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington
City, who sustained the ruling of the district land office authorities, thus
confirming the claim of the county commissioners, and on the 22d day of
September, 1842, the following certificate issued to them from the Greneral
Government:
Pre-emption Certificate No. 13,098. To all to whom these presents shall come:
Greeting — Wheras, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved on the 26th of
May, 1824, entitled an act granting to the counties, or parishes, in each state and territory,
in which the Public Lands are situated, the right of pre-emption to quarter sections of lands
for Seats of Justice within the same, there has been deposited in the General Land Office of
the United States, a certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Dixon, whereby, it ap-
pears that full payment has been made by the County of Ogle, in the State of Illinois, by
Dolphus Brown, Spooner Ruggles and Henry Farrell, Commissioners of the County of
Ogle, as aforesaid, according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April,
1820, entitled. An Act making further provisions for the sale of Public Lands, for fractions
numbered one and two, of the northwest quarter of section three, in Township twenty-
three, of Range ten east, in the district of lands subject to sale at Dixon, Illinois, contain-
ing one hundred and thirty-one acres, and fifty-three hundredths of an acre, according
to the official plat of the survey of the said lands, returned to the General Land Office,
which said tract has been purchased by the said County of Ogle, in the state aforesaid :
Now know ye. That the United States of America, in consideration of the premises
and in conformity with the several acts of Congress, in such case made and provided, have
given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant unto the said County of Ogle,
in the state aforesaid, the said tract above described ; to have and to hold the same, together
with all the rights, priveledges, immunities, and appurtenances of whatever nature thereunto
belonging, unto the said County of Ogle in the state aforesaid and to its successors and
assigns forever.
=^^^f/
^>^^l^^^:^^^z^^^^v^Z>>^-^^^
ROCHELLE
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 319
In testimony wliereof, I, John Tyler, President of the United States of America, have
caused these letters to be made patent, and the Seal of the General Land office to be here-
unto affixed.
[Seal.]
Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the twenty-second day of September,
in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and of the Independence
of the IJnited States the sixty-seventh.
By the President, JOHN TYLER.
By R. Tyler, Secretary.
Recorded Vol. 20, Page 487, Ex. J. Williamson Recorder of the General Land Office.
In the final liearing of the case before the commissioners of the general
land office, the Phelps interest was represented by Francis Scott Key,
of Baltimore, Maryland (author of the " Star Spangled Banner), who died
in 1843. The county commissioners were represented by General Sampson
Mason, of Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, an able attorney of that state, a
prominent Whig politician in the days of that party, and for several years
(and at that time) a member of Congress from the Springfield district.
[November 18, 1839, the county court being in session, Mr. Jacob B.
Crist, representing William J. Mix, Martin C. Kill and John C. Hulett,
to whom was awarded the contract for building the court house, presented
the following estimate for materials:
150,000 brick at $6.50 per M |975 00
1 1 8 perch of stone for foundation wall, at $5 590 00
1,948 feet of square timber, at 10 cents per foot 194 80
$1759 80
Deduct fifteen per cent. 263 85 $1,425 95
On the 4th of December another estimate of material was presented-,
in the words and figures following, to-wit:
Two kegs of nails, at $10.50 per keg _ $21 00
Five boxes 10x12 glass at $5.50 27 50
$48 50
Deduct fifteen per cent. 7 27 $41 23
. An extra session of the commissioners was held in January, 1840,
when it was
Ordered, That the court house foundations, now on block seventy-eight, according to
the old original city plat, be removed to block ninety-one, Florence, and built on lots two
and three (the site now occupied), eastern end, as follows : The ditch for the reception: of
the foundation wall to be sunk three feet at the front toward the east, and leveled back fifty
feet ; the wall to be seven feet high from the bottom of foundation, three feet thick, raised
four feet above the surface of the ground at the front, and back according to the rise of the
ground, considering the wall to be seven feet from commencement of foundation as afore-
said ; all that part of the wall above natural ground to be of large stone, neatly hammer-
dressed, and the whole to be laid in good lime mortar.
Ordered, That proposals for removing and re-building the foundation, according to
the foregoing order be received immediately, and to be completed by the 13th of April next
The contract for the removal of the foundation, etc., was awarded to
Jacob B. Crist.
At an extra session of the county commissioners court, held May 12,
1840, the following named gentlemen were appointed to superintend the
building of the Ogle County court house and jail : A. M. I). Robertson,
Isaac S. Wooley and Robert Davis, provided, that if either of the
above named persons become interested in the contract for the erection
of either of the said buildings, they shall no longer act as superintendents
of the erection of the same.
June 5, 1840, the commissioners ordered that a tax of fifty cents be
levied on every hundred dollars worth of taxable property in the county
19
320 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
This assessment returned a revenue, according to the following settlement
made with the county treasurer, in June, 1841, of $1,667.T8, representing
an appraised value of $333,556.00.
Dr.
County tax $877 78
Road tax 438 89
Statetax 35111
$1,667 78
Against this the county treasurer was allowed the following credits :
Cr.
J Uncollected county tax $67 74
" road tax 33 88
" state tax 27 09
Commission on collection of $1,215 05 at 6 per cent 72 90
Co. proportion of commission at 4 per cent on first $500 15 75
Amount of treasurer's receipts 1,043 38
" " cash paid in _ _ 83 02
" " state tax collected and to be accounted for to auditor of state. 224 02
$1,667 78
The total valuation of personal property in 1842 was $167,348, on
which an assessment of one half of one per cent was ordered to be levied.
June 7, of that year, the records show the following settlement was made
with the collector for 1841 :
Value of property as per receipt. $167,268 00
Add error discovered after date of receipt 80 00
$167,348 00
County tax at one half of one per cent $836 74
" " collected from persons assessed 4 52
$841 26
State tax, three tenths per cent $502 04
*' " collected of persons assessed.' 2 69
$504 73
Ordered^ That Charles Throop, Collector, he allowed the following credits, to wit:
Uncollectable tax, as per certificate $34 46
Ten per cent for collecting five eighths of $500. _ . 31 25
Six " " " " balance, viz: $494.30 31 65
Treasurer's receipts 741 90
$841 26
Uncollectable state tax $20 64
Ten per cent on three eighths of $500 18 75
Six " " " balance, viz. : $296 59 17 79
Balance due state 447 55
$504 73
The total valuation of taxable property in 1877 was $18,633,943, and
the rate of taxation $1.33 on the hundred. Total tax levy for 1877,
$241,497.08.
At the August term of the county commissioners court, the first jail
in the county having been completed, an order for $1,822.50 was ordered to
issue to Joseph Knox, the builder, in full payment for its erection.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 321
From the date of the organization of the county up to the completion
of this jail, evil doers and law breakers had but little fear of local " grates
and bars." As will be shown elsewhere, the country was literally overrun
with horse-thieves, counterfeiters and criminals of the worst character.
They were scattered all over the county. In some localities, their numbers
were so great that they controlled the election of local officers, such as jus-
tices of the peace, etc. Grand and petit juries were never free from their
presence. They were smooth, oily-tongued fellow^s, of good address, and,
to use the words of an old settler who knew them, "generally as smart as
whips." Under such circumstances, it was a very difficult matter to con-
vict a wrong doer. When arrests were made, bail was always ready to be
furnished, for many of the rogues were wealthy. Before the jail was com-
pleted, prisoners were either taken to the Jo Daviess or Winnebago County
jail, or kept under guard. The general situation considered, however, there
were not many such cases, although there were instances when prisons were
a necessity. An evil doer who did not belong to the regularly organized
gang had no standing among the " brotherhood," and such '' unfortunates,"
when arrested, tried, and found sufficiently guilty to be held to answer to
the higher courts, were turned over to guards, or taken to neighboring
county jails, most of which, in those days, were very insecure concerns.
For want of a jail, and in consideration of the expense attending their
transportation to other counties, or guarding them at home, many a rogue
"got off" much easier than if Ogle County had been provided with a
" good and sufficient " jail. But the time came when the gang did not
escape arrest and imprisonment, and after the jail was completed, as many
as ten and fifteen of them were incarcerated at one time. But that was a
dangerous time for the sheriff and jailor. Life insurance companies, if
they had been fashionable then, would not have insured the life of an Ogle
County sheriff, his deputies, or the jailor, for a cent. But of these things,
more anon.
The first allowance made by the county commissioners court for the
care of prisoners in the Ogle County jail, was at their December session,
1840, when a county order was directed to issue to Isaac S. Woolley, for
$174,874 for committing prisoners Terrill, Brown, Webb and Dennison to
jail, and dieting them to date, and for other duties as jailor.
While the jail was being built and completed, the court house was also
under way, and on the 5th of March, 1841, it was " ordered that Jacob B.
Crist be allowed $3,000 on court house contract." The reader should bear
in mind the fact that the cost of building the jail and court house was not
met and covered by the taxes assessed and collected from personal property,
for that would have been entirely inadequate. In 1840 the county tax
amounted to only $877.78, and in 1841 to $836.74. When the county com-
missioners filed a claim to the northwest quarter of section three, of which
fact mention has already been made, although Mr. Phelps and his associates
had sold a large number of lots, Judge Ford was appointed as county agent
to sell lots, etc., subject to the order and direction of the county commis-
sioners. Judge Ford was succeeded in this duty in June, 1840, by Mr. D.
H. L. Moss. The proceeds of these lots were*^ intended to apply on the
erection of public buildings for the county, as provided in the act of
congress of May 24, 1824, and sundry amendments thereto. Without this
aid, the erection of public buildings could not have been undertaken, as any
one can readily see that the amount of taxable property at that time was
entirely inadequate to such an undertaking.
322 HISTOET OF OGLE COUNTY.
At the time the three thousand dollar order was issued to Crist on the
court house contract, the building was nearing completion— at least, it was
so far completed that it was intended to be used for holding the Spring
term of the circuit court, which was set for Monday the 22d of March.
But the outlaws willed that it should never be used for that or any other
term of the court, for, during the night before the court was to convene
they set fire to the building and burned it to the ground. This fire being
the work of the outlaws that held dominion in this county at that time, for
several years previous and for some years afterwards, a further account of
it will be left to make up a part of the history of a reign of terror that
hung over the settlers of the Rock River Yalley like a death pall for a full
decade of years.
On the 4th of June, 1841, it was " ordered that Jacob B. Crist be
allowed the sum of $1,000, which is in final settlement on the part of the
County of Ogle on the contract for the building of the court house, entered
into between'WiUiam J. Mix, Martin C. Hill and John Hulett, of whom
Jacob B. Crist is the representative."
This order closed out the first court house undertaking, and left the
county to rebuild a new temple of justice, which was erected on the site of
the one destroyed, its erection being commenced in 1843.
The jail built by Mr. Knox, already mentioned, was a stone building,
two stories high, and stood a little to the west of the present court house.
The building was only eighteen feet square, and had no doors in the lower
part. The second story was reached by a stairway on the outside. The
prison part or cells were reached through a kind of trap door. Prisoners
were taken up the stairs, thence through the door into the upper part. The
trap door was raised and a ladder lowered to the first floor, by which the
prisoners descended to the " cage," when the ladder was drawn up. But
withal, it did not prove to be a very safe concern. In one instance, a pris-
oner who had been incarcerated within its walls for some minor ofiense,
dug out in less than an hour with an old jack knife. When the more des-
perate characters were imprisoned, it required an almost constant watch
to prevent their escape, and even then, they would sometimes get away.
There were always some members of the organized gang on the outside,
seemingly on the watch, and they spared neither opportunity nor occasion
to render " aid and comfort " to such of their confederates as happened to
be in the cage; and when it is considered that, for a number of years the
gang overran the county, holding the community in continued terror, it
is almost a wonder they did not batter the jail to pieces the first time it
was used for the confinement of such of the gang as were caught within
the toils of the laws which they set at naught.
After the court house was burned in 1841, until the ])resent court
house was built in 1843, courts were held in such buildings as could be had
sufiiciently large for the purpose — sometimes in a house belonging to a Mr.
Sanderson, but most generally in a log house belonging to Mr. Jno. Phelps,
on Third Street, at or near the corner of Monroe, and not far from the site
now occupied by the cheese factory.
Between the time of the burning of the first court house on Sunday
night, March 21, 1841, and the building of the present one, the removal of
the county seat from Oregon City was seriously agitated. The feeling that
had been engendered against Oregon City by the Dixon interests before the
erection of Lee county, had never fully died out, and when it became neces-
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 323
sarv to build a new court house, the smouldering embers of that fiery oppo-
sition were fanned into new life, and the excitement ran pretty high.
Mount Morris, Daysville, Grand de Tour and Byron, were candidates for
county seat honors. The friends of each place devised plans and schemes
for a division of the county, each different plan being so defined as to make
the favorite town the grand centre. But single-handed and alone, Oregon
City maintained the supremacy, and finally gained what proved to be a per-
manent victory. During the agitation of this question, the county author-
ities took no action towards the erection of public buildings, but let the
matter remain in abeyance.
In the latter part of March, 1843, a call was issued for a mass meeting
of the people of the county, to be held at the old school-house that stood
on the west side of Fifth Street, between Washington and Jefferson Streets,
to take action in regard to the matter, and to adopt such measures as would
settle the question beyond further dispute. That meeting was called for
the 3d of April, and was largely attended. The Spring was the most back-
ward of any known in the history of the country. Rock River was still
blockaded with ice, and snow lay on the ground to the depth of several
inches. The day was mild and pleasant, however, and the streets and
vacant places — and there was a good deal of vacancy, then — soon became
plains of slush.
Colonel Dauphin Brown was selected to preside over the deliberations
of the meeting, but the name of the secretary is forgotten — the written pro-
ceedings not being preserved. Mount Morris, Grand de Tour, Daysville and
Byron were represented in full force. Mr. Phelps and the other represen-
tative men of Oregon City were not indifferent to the issue involved, and
had secured the presence of every one friendly to their interests. Speeches
were made by representative men from each of the contesting villages, each
of them claiming superior county seat advantages. After each of the
spokesmen had exhausted their arguments, the question of location was
submitted to a vote of the meeting, which resulted in favor of Oregon City
by a small majority — Daysville giving up the contest before the vote was
taken, and voting with Mr. Phelps and his friends for Oregon City.
A resolution was then passed asking the county commissioners to pro-
ceed at once with the erection of a one-story brick court house on the
foundations of the one destroyed by fire, a number of persons pledging
themselves to assist in its erection and to take town lots in payment for
their labor thereon, or for such material as they might be able to furnish.
The meeting then adjourned, waded down town through the slush, and, in
bumpers of the best whisky to be had in the embryo city, provided at the
expense of the Oregon people, pledged each other to bury the hatchet, let
by-gones be by-gones, and work together for the common good of the
county, after which the delegates retired to their respective homes, as merry
as only pioneers know how to be, and yet keep sober. The county seat
question was settled.
During the proceedings of the meeting, when the proposition to build
a one-story court house was being considered, one of the Danas, of Grand
de Tour, took occasion to remark that such a building would look more
like a black schooner than a court house, and that it ought to be so called.
Mr. Ben. Holden, then a settler in the Town of Maryland, replied that the
Grand de Tour people might call it a black schooner if they wished. He
was willing to adopt the name. When completed and rigged and ready for
324 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the crew, he knew where to find them. All that was necessary was to go
down to Grand de Tour. A crew for such a craft could be picked up there
at any time.
After this action on the part of the people, the county commissioners
set to work to carry out the spirit of the meeting, and soon thereafter pro-
ceeded to the erection of the building. At a session of the county commis-
sioners held in April, General Philip R. Bennett, the father of William
Bennett, Esq., president of the First I^ational Bank of Oregon City, was
appointed to superintend the erection of the new temple of justice. At the
September term of the Commissioners Court, General Bennett presented to
the court the original subscription list by which different citizens had
agreed to aid in its erection, take town lots in payment therefor, etc., etc.
At the same session, the court authorized Messrs. Bennett, W. W. Fuller
and D. H. L. Moss to " proceed with the erection of the court house, and to
vary the plan of the same from the specifications presented to the court in
April so that the walls will be sixteen feet high." These agents were also
authorized to sell lots to defray the additional expense beyond the original
estimate of $2,000.
Under these auspices, the present court house, the wings excepted, was
completed and ready for court occupancy in the Summer of 1848. The
wings were built in 1847, at a cost of $1,000. Moses T. Crowell was the
contractor and builder.
In the Summer of 1845, a new jail became a necessity. The old one,
always weak and unsafe, was condemned, and measures inaugurated for the
erection of a new one on the south side of the public square, between the
building now occupied by the county clerk and county treasurer and the
new brick jail, erected in 1874. December 4, 1845, the commissioners
ordered the clerk to advertise for proposals for the erection of a new two-
story brick jail, 18 by 32 feet, resting on stone foundations sunk two and
one half feet below the surface of the ground and rising eighteen inches
above the surface — the walls to be sixteen feet high. Provisions were made
for two cells in the north end of the building, eight feet square each, and to
be lined with two thicknesses of two-inch white oak planks, lined between
with thick plate iron, to be spiked through with wrought iron spikes. The
plans adopted also called for another cell seven by eight feet, to be lined in
a similar manner, spiked and nailed together, etc. Each cell was to be fur-
nished with good, substantial iron-barred doors, five feet high and eighteen
inches wide. Innumerable locks, bars, bolts, etc., were included in the
" plans and specifications," with a seeming determination of purpose to secure
a jail that would bid defiance to the worst of characters, feut jail-breaking
then had not been reduced to a science. Such a jail now would be looked
upon as but little better than a pile of brick and rubbish, to be picked to
pieces at will.
On the 9th of January, 1846, the commissioners being in session, the
matter of the building of the jail was considered, and a blank contract was
drawn up by the clerk, stipulating the manner of payment, etc. On the
10th, the contract for building the same was put up at public auction, the
lowest responsible bidder to be awarded the contract. Thomas A. Potwin
was the successful bidder, the contract being " knocked down " to him at the
sum of $1,990. Isaac S. Wooley became Potwin's bondsman. In March,
W. L. Ward was appointed to superintend the building of the jail, which
was completed during the Summer, and accepted by the commissioners
December 9, 1846.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 325
That jail answered for all needed purposes until 1874, when the pres-
ent handsome county prison, including a residence for the sheriff, at the
southwest corner of the public square, was undertaken. In an exterior
point of view, this county building is among the handsomest of its kind in
the state. Messrs. Damier and Elder, of Chicago, were the contractors and
builders, Messrs. Street and Baker, architects. Messrs. Daniel Shotten-
kirk, Charles M. Samis and George W. Dwight, of the board of super-
visors, were the building committee and superintendents— Shottenkirk,
chairman. The brick were from the kilns of Messrs. Hallett & Wertz, one
and a quarter miles north of Oregon City. The structure cost $20,000.
Henry C. Peak was the first sheriff to occupy the new building after its
completion.
The last session of the county commissioners court was held on the
30th of November, A. D. 1849, and their last order related to the appoint-
ment of commissioners to divide the county into townships, and was in the
words following, to-wit :
Ordered, That William Wamsley, Henry Hill and Daniel J. Pinkney be and they are
hereby appointed commissioners to divide the County of Ogle into towns, under the pro-
visions of the act of the legislature, entitled "Township Organization;" said commissioners
being governed in the discharge of their duties by the provisions of said act, and make
report accordingly. {Signed) Samuel H. Coffman,
WiLIAM p. FlAGG,
William Wamsley,
County Gommissioners.
And so passed away the time-honored and economical system of county
management by three commissioners.
TOWJS-SHIP OEGAlSriZATIO]^.
When Illinois was admitted into the Union as a sovereign and inde-
pendent state in 1818, the county system of management by a board of three
county commissioners became a part of the organic law, but when the con-
stitution of 1848 was adopted, provisions were made for submitting the
question of a change from county to township organization to the people of
the several counties of the state. The two systems are so entirely different
in origin and management, that a ^brief synopsis of the differences is
deemed pertinent in this connection.
Elijah M. Haines, in his "Laws of Illinois, Kelative to Township
Organization," says the county system " originated with Yirginia, whose
early settlers soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling,
living apart in almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and own-
ing the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town
were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.
The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole
business of the community, retaining their places almost at their pleasure,
scarcely responsible at all except in name, and permitted to conduct the
county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was, moreover, conso-
nant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities
of the landed aristocracy of England, in descent from whom the Yirginia
gentlemen felt so much pride. In 1834, eight counties were organized in
Yirginia, and the system, extending throughout the state, spread into all
the Southern States, and some of the Korthern States, unless we except the
326 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
nearly similar division into ^ districts ' in South Carolina, and that into
'parishes' in Louisiana, from the French laws.
" Illinois, which, with its vast additional territory, became a county of
Virginia on its conquest by Gen. George Rogers Clark, retained the county
organization, which was formally extended over the state by the constitu-
tion of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until the constitution of 1848.
Under this system, as in other states adopting it, most local business was
transacted by three commissioners in each county, who constituted a county
court, with quarterly sessions. During the period ending with the consti-
tutional convention of 1847, a large portion of the state had become filled
up with a population of New England birth or character, daily growing
more and more compact and dissatisfied with the comparatively arbitrary
and inefficient county system." It was maintained by the people that the
heavily populated districts would always control the election of the com-
missioners to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections — in
short, that under that system, " equal and exact justice " to all parts of the
county could not be secured. The township system had its origin in Mas-
sachusetts, and dates back to 1635. The first legal enactment concerning
this system provided that, whereas, " particular towns have many things
which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and
disposing of business in their own town," therefore, " the freemen of every
town, or the major part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their
own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said towns, to grant
lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own
towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the General
Court." " They might also (says Mr. Haines), impose fines of not more
than twenty shillings, and ' choose their own particular officers, as consta-
bles, surveyors for the highways, and the like.' Evidently this enactment
relieved the ^ general court of a mass of municipal details, without any
danger to the powers of that body in controlling general measures or public
policy. Probably, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt,
for the control of their own home concerns.
'♦ Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the
first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639; and the plan of township
organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, efficacy and
adaptation to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, became uni-
versal throughout 'New England, and went westward with the emigrants
from New England, into New York, Ohio and other Western States, includ-
ing the northern part of Illinois."
Under these influences, the constitutional provision of 1848, and sub-
sequent law of 1849, were enacted, enabling the people of the several coun-
ties of the state to vote "for " or " against" adopting the township system.
This question was submitted to the people of the state on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November, 1849, and was adopted by most of the
counties^north of the Illinois River.
February 12, 1849, the legislature passed a law creating a county
court. Section one of this law provided " that there should be established
* The New England colonies were first governed by a "general court," or legislature
composed of a governor and a small council, which court consisted of the most influential
inhabitants, and possessed and exercised both legislative and judicial powers, which were
limited only by the wisdom of the holders. They made laws, ordered their execution by
officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes, enacted all manner of municipal regu-
lations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony,
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in each of the counties of this state, now created and organized, or which
may hereafter be created or organized, a court of record, to be styled the
' County Court,' to be held and consist of one judge, to be styled the ' County
Judge.' " Section seventeen of the same act [see p. 307-10, Statutes of
1858] provided for the election of two additional justices of the peace, whose
jurisdiction should be co-extensive with the counties, etc., and who should
sit with the county judge as members of the court, for the transaction of
all county business and none other.
IS^ovember, 1849, Spooner Ruggles was elected county judge, and
William C. Salisbury and Joshua White were elected associate justices.
The first term of the county court was commenced on the 17th of Decem-
ber, 1849. The commission of Spooner Euggles was signed by Augustus
C. French, Governor, and bore date December 3, 1849. Justice Salisbury's
commission bore the same date; Justice White's commission was dated the
17th of the same month. John M. Hinkle was elected county clerk at the
same election, and his commission also bore date December 3, 1849.
The county court remained in the management of county aifairs until
succeeded by a board of supervisors in the Fall of 1850, the first board
being elected in April, 1850, and holding their first session on the 11th of
November, A. D. 1850. February 5, 1850, the commissioners appointed
by the county commissioners court, at their last session, November, 1849,
to divide the county into townships, submitted the following report to the
county court, which report was accepted and ordered to be made of record :
Report of the Gommissioners appointed to divide the Gounty of Ogle into Towns, in pursuance
of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, entitled •' An Act to provide
for Gounty and Township organizations.'''' Approved February 12, 1849:
Monroe Township — Includes all of Township 42 north, range 2 east of the third
principal meridian.
Scott Township — Includes all of Township 42 north, range 1 east of the third princi-
pal meridian.
White Bock Toiomhip — Includes all of Township 41 north, range 1 east of the third
principal meridian.
Lynnmlle Township — Contains all of Township 41 north, range 2 east of the third
principal meridian.
Flagg Two /is^«29— Comprises all of Township 40 _north, range 1 east of the third
principal meridian.
Lafayette Township — Includes all that half of Township 22 north, range 11 east of
the fourth principal meridian, which lies in Ogle County.
Eagle ^<pwws^^>— Includes all of Township 23 north, range 11 east of the fourth
principal meridian.
Taylor Township—Qom^vi^es, all those portions of Township 22 north, ranges 9 and
10 east of the fourth principal meridian, which lie in Ogle County and east of the middle
of Rock River.
Nashua Township — Includes all that part of Township 23 north, range .10 east of the
fourth principal meridian, which is situated on the east side of a line drawn along the
middle of Rock River, and on the south side of the half section line running east and west
through the centres of sections 10, 11 and 12 of said township 23, range 10 east; also, the
following islands in Rock River: Nos. 7, 8 and 10.
Oregon Township— ContSLins all that part of Township 23 north, range 10 east of the
fourth principal meridian, which lies on the west side of tlie middle of Rock River, and
that part of said township which lies on the east side of Rock River, north of the half sec-
tion line running east and west through the centres of sections 10, 11 and 12 of said town-
ship 23 north, range 10 east, and also the islands in said Rock River which are not placed
to the Town of Nashua and in the bounds of said township 23.
Brooklyn Township— Qom\)vi^QS all of Township 24 north, range 10 east of the fourth
principal meridian.
Marion TownsJiip— Includes all of Township 24 north, range 11 east, and that part of
Township 25 north, range 11 east of the fourth principal meridian, which lies south and
east of the middle of Rock River.
330 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Byron Township— IncXu^e^ all that part of Township 25, range 11 east of the fourth
principal meridian, which lies on the north and west of the middle of Rock River, and all
the east half of Townsliip 25 north, range 10 east of the fourth principal meridian.
Grand cle Tour Township— Contains all those portions of Township 22 north, range
9 and 10 east of the fourth principal nieridian, which are situated in Ogle County and on
the west side of the middle of Rock River.
Pine Greek Township — Contains all of Township 23 north, range 9 east of the fourth
principal meridian.
Mount Morris Township — Comprises all of Township 24 north, range 9 east of the
fourth principal meridian, and the east half of Township 24 north, range 8 east of the
fourth principal meridian.
Leaf River Township — Includes the west half of Township 25 north, range 10, and
the east half of Township 25 north, range 9 east of the fourth principal meridian.
Harrison Townsliip — Includes the west half of township 25 north, range 9 east, and
the east half of Township 25 north, range 8 east of the fourth principal meridian.
Brookdille Township — Contains the west half of Township 24 and the west half of
Township 25 north, range 8 east of the fourth principal meridian, also all of fractional
Townships 24 and 25 north, range 7 east of the fourth principal meridian.
Buffalo ToiDnship—lnc\\i6.QS all of Township 23 north, range 8 east, and fractional
Township 22 north, range 8 east of the fourth principal meridian, also fractional Township
33 north, range 7 east of the fourth principal meridian.
{Signed) William Wamsley,
Henry Hill,
Daniel J. Pinkney,
Commissioners,
~~ At the general^election ]S"ovember, 1849, the people of Ogle County-
voted on the question of adopting the township system, with the following
result:
Precincts. For. against.
Oregon 94 8
GranddeTour 78 25
Maryland 158 —
Buffalo 154 1
Harrison 88 4
Brooklyn 96 —
*Jefferson 72 2
Byron 135 —
Washington -. 74 —
Monroe ^_._. __ 75 —
1,024 40
Whole number of votes cast 1,064
Majority in favor of towhship system 984
At the April election, 1850, the following named gentlemen were re-
turned as supervisors:
Oregon J. B. Cheney. Marion ..E. Payson Snow.
Buffalo Zenas Aplington. Scott Geo. Young.
Brookville David Hoffman. Monroe ._ Austin Lines.
Pine Creek Spooner Ruggles. Lynnville C. C. Burroughs.
Mount Morris James B. McCoy. Flagg.. Ira Overacker.
Brooklyn N. W. Wads worth. Eagle Jeriel Robinson.
Harrison __ Samuel Mitchell. Nashua Joseph Williams.
Leaf River Wm. C. Salisbury. Taylor Hiram Sanford.
' Byron .A. O. Campbell. Lafayette* Thomas Paddock.
This Board of Supervisors first met in an official capacity on the
morning of November 11, 1850, when Joseph Williams was chosen tem-
porary chairman, and Messrs. Spooner Kuggles, A. O. Campbell and Wm.
SaHsbury were appointed a committee on rules and regulations. The board
then adjourned until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
*' Thomas Paddock and Charles C. Royce were contestants from Lafayette Township,
an examination of w^hich was deferred from the first to the second day of the session, and
then referred to the committee on elections. On the third day this committee reported in
favor of Mr. Paddock. The report was adopted and the seat given to that gentleman.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 331
At 2 P.M. the board re-assembled and proceeded to perfect tlieir
organization. Zenas Aplington was cliosen permanent chairman. After
the transaction of some further preliminary business, the board adjourned
until 9 o'clock, IN'ovember 12.
November 12. — The board met pursuant to adjournment, when the
Committee on Eules and Regulations reported the following:
1. The cliairman shall take the chair each day precisely at the hour to which the board
shall have adjourned, and shall immediately call the meeting to order, and if a quorum be
present shall cause the minutes of the previous day to be read.
2. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the chair, or, when
presented in meeting, shall be handed to the clerk to be read aloud before debate.
3. When any member is about to speak in debate, or present any matter to the
board, he shall rise from his seat and address himself to " Mr. Chairman," and shall confine
himself to the question under debate, and avoid personalities.
4. Where two or more members shall rise at once, the chair shall name the member
who is first to speak.
5. No member shall speak more than once on the same question without leave of the
board, nor more than once until every member choosing to speak shall have spoken.
6. When the chairman is putting any question or addressing the board, no member
shall walk across the room ; nor when a member is speaking shall entertain private con-
versation ; nor when a member is speaking pass between him and the chair.
7. No person shall be permitted to smoke in the house during the sitting of the
board.
The next business to claim the attention of the board was in relation to
a change of name of three of the townships, as reported by the commission-
ers appointed to divide the county into townships. On motion it was
resolved that ^
Whereas, It appears from a communication from the Auditor of State to the Clerk of
the County Court that, by a decision in his office, the names of the Towns of Harrison,
Eagle and Brooklyn must be changed, in pursuance of which the name of the Town of Har-
rison is changed to the name of Maryland ; the name of the Town of Brooklyn is changed
to the name of Rockvale, and the name of the Town of Eagle is changed to the name of
Pine Rock.
[Haldane Township was erected from the west part of Mount Morris and the east part
of Brookville Townships, September 15, 1869. September 11, 1872, the name was changed
from Haldane to Lincoln. The first election in Haldane was held in April, 1870.
Eagle Point Township was taken from the To\yn of Buffalo, September 15, 1869.
Forreston was erected from Brookville and Maryland, March 5, 1857.
Dement was set off from Flagg, September 11, 1855.]
Among the other committees appointed at the first session of the first
Board of Supervisors, a special committee — Austin Lines, Samuel Mitchell
and E. Payson Snow — to consider the traffic in spirituous liquors, and
devise ways and means to regulate what was then believed by many people
(as many people now believe) to be an evil. That committee had the sub-
ject under consideration for two or three days, and on the last day of the
session submitted their report, recommending the Board o Supervisors to
fix the sum to be paid by apphcants for license at one hundred and fifty
dollars. " Your committee are led to this conclusion from the fact that they
consider the practice of selling liquor by the small measure to be a fruitful
source of immorality and opposed to the well-being and good order of
society; and they would further state, as their conviction, that this sum
fixed as the price to be paid would perhaps have a greater tendency to dis-
courage the traffic, than an attempt at utter prohibition. And your com-
mittee would further recommend to the Board of Supervisors to use all due
dilligence to put the law in force against all who may violate the license
law, and to recommend all good citizens to do the same, to the end that
332 HISTORY OF OGLE COFNTY.
the traffic may be discouraged, and tlie law sustained in case of violation."
The report was adopted. So it seems that in 1850 the temperance
wave was agitating the people pt' Ogle County, and that the Board of Super-
visors, through a special committee, placed themselves in an attitude of
antagonism to what their special committee designated in their report as
" a fruitful source of immorality." But that action did not permanently
settle the question. Thirty-eight years, almost, have come and gone, and
still the evil exists. The coming of every municipal or April election, re-
opens the agitation of the subject, and license or no license is the dividing
issue in almost every municipality. Sometimes the scales have been pretty
evenly balanced between the license and anti-license elements, but as a rule
the license people have maintained the supremacy. The license system
may have been a source of revenue, and the means of aiding in certain im-
provements, but it is a fact that can not be readily and successfully denied,
say the more intelligent representatives of the two factions, that the cost of
prosecuting the law cases that grow out of the traffic, even under license,
more than overbalances the amount of revenue that is derived from license.
From another report of a special committee herewith presented, it
would seem that the affairs of the county in its early days were loosely and
carelessly managed. It is a lamentable fact that in almost every instance
there was an inexcusable carelessness or negligence about preserving official
papers, and keeping a proper record of the accounts of counties, the
receipts and expenditures, the different sources of revenue, etc. There is
no valid reason why there should not be in every county a ready means of
showing every business transaction from the time the first entry was made
upon the records to the close of the last year. JSTeither is there any reason
(loss by tires or floods excepted) why every paper of an official character, no
matter how small or comparatively trifling, should not be carefully pre-
served. On the other hand, there ought to be a severe penalty imposed
upon all officials, whether of new counties or old ones, who fail to preserve
intact the official papers of the offices they fill. If this rule were always
followed by public officers, it would save a world of trouble and vexatious
confusion. Special committees of examination and charges of fraud, cor-
ruption and dishonesty would not be so frequent, and the means would
always be at hand to show the taxpayers where their money goes.
When the supervisors succeeded the county commissioners and county
court in the management of county affairs in 1850, " confusion confounded "
or confounded confusion, prevailed, to a very great extent in the county
offices. Papers had been carelessly kept, the records, in many instances,
were in bad shape. 'No one knew the exact, or even approximate, condition
of the financial status of the county. This was not the result of a dishon-
esty of purpose on the part of the respective clerks and other guardians of
the county's interests, but of carelessness and indifference. The careless-
ness had come to be an abuse, and the abuse demanded correction. So at
a special meeting of the board, E'ovember 15, 1850, a special finance com-
mittee of two was appointed to investigate the affairs of the county and
report at a subsequent meeting. December 5, 1850, the board again met
in special session, when the special committee just mentioned, presented the
following report as the result of their investigations:
First. We have, by carefully inspecting the records in the County Clerk's office and
the books of the Treasurer, endeavored to ascertain the amount of revenue orders issued
from the year 1837 up to September, 1850 ; also, the amount of the same in payment of
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 333
taxes and cancelled during the same period of time ; also, the amount of interest on the
unpaid balance, which had been presented to the treasurer for payment up to the present
time.
Second. We have, by a careful examination of the records, found the whole amount
of building fund orders which have been issued from A. D. 1839 up to June, A. D. 1843,
including all that species of orders ever issued by the county. Next, we found the amount
of these orders which had been paid into the Treasury. Then we carefully computed the
interest on the unpaid balance, which, when added to the principal, shows the amount, or
the total indebtedness of the county on the building fund.
Under the third division of our report your committee have labored under serious
embarrassment. In this division we designed to show the indebtedness of the county in the
form of Jury certificates, but it appears on inquiry of Mr. Light that a record of a very
small part of the jury certificates issued had been kept, consequently your committee had
no resort left but to ascertain the amount of which a record had been kept by the present
clerk, and then refer to the whole mass of cancelled county paper now in the archives of
the county. From this mass, where county orders, building fund orders, jury certificates,
county clerk and county commissioners certificates, etc., etc., are in wild confusion mingled,
we have, by carefully unfolding each package and paper separately, of the thousands there
found, been able to figure up the whole amount of jury certificates already paid. From
this amount we have deducted the amount of which a record has been kept, and thereby
shown the sum cancelled, which had never been recorded ; and your committee would here
add, only, however, as a presumption of their own, that as these certificates are usually
issued in small sums and scattered generally throughout the county, they have mostly found
their way back to the county treasury, and are not to any great extent a source of county
indebtedness.
The following is a tabular view of the revenue fund as at present existing, and
coming under the first privision of the foregoing report :
Whole amount of revenue orders issued ^ $21,591 21
Whole amount of revenue orders paid 13,945 41
$7,645 80
Interest on this balance since presented for payment 1,359 16
Total indebtedness - $9,004 96
Under the second division of the report we present the present condition of the
Building Fund orders :
Whole amount of building fund orders issued up to pres-
ent time $17819 83
Whole amount of building fund orders paid . 6,647 75 $11,172 08
Interest on unpaid balance 6,809 13
Total amount of building account indebtedness $17,981 21
RECAPITULATION.
Whole indebtedness on revenue account .$9,004 96
Whole indebtedness on building fund - 17,981 21
Total indebtedness on both funds $26,986 17
Add amount of indebtedness of county commissioners and clerks
certificates 939 65
Total indebtedness of county aside from jury certificates. $27,925 82
Against this indebtedness we have notes and obligations and inter-
est in favor of county in hands of clerks, amounting to .$2,084 90
Valuation of town lots unsold 4,260 00
Notes and interests in hands of Judge Ruggles 101 81
Due county from late Sheriff on delinquent tax list 118 06
Orders uncalled for in hands of clerk 105 67
Total assets - $6,670 44
Under the third division of this report We present the following view ;of the jury
certificates, unsatisfactory and imperfect as it may be :
Whole amount of jury certificates issued of which a record has been
kept up to Kov. 30,1850 .$1,467 80
Whole amount of jury certificates paid into the treasury and can-
celled from 1837 to November, 1850 2,767 38
$4,235 18
384 HiSTOKT OF OGLE COUNTY.
From this amount deduct recorded certificates, and we find a balance of [$1,299.55, of
which no record has been kept. Then by adding the amount of certificates recorded, to
those already cancelled, and we have a total amount of $4,235.18, as above.
Your committee would further report that from the thorough examination they have
given this part of the duty assigned them, they have come to the conclusion that by far the
greatest part of the jury certificates issued by the clerk of the Circuit Court previous to a
record being kept, are paid. Of those issued under the administration of the present clerk,
about on6 fourth only have been cancelled. One fourth of $1,467.80 is $366.95 ; this amount
taken from the whole amount recorded, leaves a balance against the county of jury certifi-
cates unpaid of $1,100.85.
In conclusion, your committee would recommend the adoption of the following-
resolution :
That the treasurer of Ogle County be instructed by the Board of Supervisors to keep
a separate and distinct account of the species of funds paid into the treasury, viz.: Cash,
Revenue Orders, Building Fund Orders, Certificates of County Commissioners, and Clerks
and Jury Certificates, each separate and distinct, and on separate pages ; also, that the
County Clerk be instructed to file each of the foregoing species of county paper, when can-
celled, in his office, in separate parcels.
The adoption of the above resolutions, in the opinion of your committee, would here-
after avoid confusion and greatly facilitate reference to the state of the affairs of the county.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
N. W. Wadsworth.
Joseph Williams.
The report was adopted and ordered to be prepared by the county
attorney and printed in the Mount Morris Gazette.
Thus was inaugurated county management under the township
system.
It would be as unprofitable as unnecessary to present in detail the
numerous orders, reports, resolutions, etc., etc., of the board of supervisors.
Among so many men, their> proceedings partake a good deal of the nature
of a legislature. There are always some cool business heads, as well as a
good many glib tongues. Some of them are practical, industrious
workers — others are of the "buncombe" order, and always ready to make
a speech or voluminous report, more to be heard and read of men, than for
real, practical usefulness to their constituency and the taxpayers. This is
in no wise derogatory to their characters as men, for they can't help it.
They were born so. It has always been and always will be. In the Congress
of the United States, in state legislatures, a few men do the work, a few
others do the talking — make the speeches. This is neither romance nor
elaboration, but solid history, sustained by facts as old as civilized
government. •
Thirteen years have now come and gone since the independence of
Ogle County was recognized by an act of the legislature. In these years
the wild prairies — erst the home of the red men — had been reduced to
farm tillage, and evidences of wealth, intelligence, comfort and refinement
were to be seen in every direction. Indian trails had given way to state
and county roads; villages, churches and school-houses had sprung up on
the " old camp grounds " of the Pottawattomies and their kindred tribes of
men, native to the beautiful valleys of Rock River and its tributaries.
'' Claims " upon which the hardy pioneers had settled long before the
government surveyors had disturbed the grasses and flowers that grew in
great profusion with jacob-stafi and chain, as they defined township and
section lines, and established section corners, had been " proved up," and
with a guaranty from Uncle Sam, the occupants were " monarchs of all
they surveyed." In peaceable possession of their lands and their homes,
the outlaws expelled from the country, their lands rich and productive, the
people of Ogle could well afford to be joyous and happy. What if their
HISTORY OF OGLE COTJNTT. 335
pioneer days were often full of hardship, toil, exposure'and want; the worst
was over. These years of trial had brought them comfort and plenty, and
the future was bright with hope and full of promise. Since then (1850)
twenty-eight more years have come and gone, each of them adding to the
population, wealth and intelHgence of the people, until the county has
come to rank among the richest and most populous in the great State of
Illinois — a proud monument to the memory of the brave and heroic Ogle,
whose coolness and courage at the head of his command during the siege of
Fort Henry, rendered him so conspicuous among the other fearless officers
by whom he was surrounded, and in whose honor the county was named.
As elsewhere stated, Isaac Chambers was the first white man to claim
a habitation within the limits of what is now Ogle County, having come to
White Oak Grove, about one half mile west of the present village of
Forreston, in the early Spring of 1830. We are not advised whether he
made a claim there or not, but if he did, he soon abandoned it, for a site ten
miles south, at Nanusha, or Buffalo Grove, where John Ankeney had made
a claim by marking some trees early the same season. While it is an
admitted fact that Isaac Chambers and family were the first actual settlers,
it is an open question whether he or Ankeney made the first claim, but the
preponderance of evidence seems to be in favor of Ankeney. Ankeney, as
our readers will remember, had come up from some part of Southern
Illinois, and after making his claim as mentioned above, returned to his
family. Chambers must have been at White Oak Grove about the same
time, but we have no evidence that he made any claim before he moved
down to Bufltalo Grove, where, by chance, he selected the claim that
Ankeney had marked. He was probably entirely ignorant of the fact that
he was "jumping " a claim, or that any other white man had ever disturbed
the native wildness by his presence. Other settlers in that neighborhood
followed from year to year. In 1831 there were enough voters to entitle
them to an election precinct, and in 1831 the county commissioners of Jo
Daviess erected the Buffalo Grove precinct. From Buffalo Grove the
settlements extended to other parts of the country from time to time, the
settlers all occupying claims under claim-emption laws of congress, until
the lands were surveyed and thrown upon the market. Fourteen townships
of land east of the third principal meridian were open to sale at the United
States land office at Galena, October 29, 1839. These townships included
the land in what is now White Kock and Scott Townships, where the first
lands in the northern district were sold. The first tract offered was the
east half of the northeast quarter of section 1, town 41, range 1 east, and
so on throughout the section. For the unoccupied lands there were no
bidders. The first tract sold was bid in by Thomas O. Young, agent for
the settlers, for Jacob Wickhizer, and included the east half of the north-
west quarter, and the west half of the northeast quarter of section five,
town forty-one, range one, east of the third principal meridian.
The lands west of the third principal meridian, within the present
County of Ogle, were not open to sale until the Summer of 1843, and none
of the lands became subject to taxation until five years after date of
purchase.
Adjustment of Land Claims. — It may seem strange to the people of
the present that, with nothing but claim titles to their homes, there were
not more serious differences between the settlers than there appears to have
been. In point of fact, there was but little legal law in the country from
336 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. ^
the time when Chambers and Ankeney settled here, in 1830, up to the time
when Ogle Ooantj was set off from Jo Daviess County, in 1837, and the
machinery of the county set in motion. It is very true that the courts were
open at Galena, but it must be remembered that the distance between
G-alena and Oregon was a two days' journey. There were no railroads then,
and horseback or wagon conveyance, where settlers had horses or wagons,
was the only means of travel, unless men went on foot. A visit to G-alena
and return, required the largest part of a week. Few settlers could well
spare that much time from their claims and homes. They would rather
bear with patience impositions that would now seem outrageous, than go to
Galena to go to law. Only the more aggravated cases were ever sought to
be redressed by statutory provisions. There was but little lawing in those
days. The people were bound together by a community of interests, and
essayed to govern themselves and protect each other upon the principle of
the golden rule — " As ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even
so unto them." Yery few claim disputes ever found their way into the
courts for settlement and adjudication. The settlers were sovereign, and
made their own claim laws and regulations.
To give the reader an idea of how the pioneer settlers protected the
claim rights of each other, we present the following constitution and by-
laws of the Oregon Claim Society, which was adopted on the 11th day of
March, A. D. 1839 (two years after the County of Ogle was organized),
and which was placed at our disposal by Hon. James Y. Gale.
Preliminary to the adoption of this constitution, a meeting of settlers
met in Oregon at the date above quoted, when Dr. William J. Mix
was called to the chair, and D. H. T. Moss appointed secretary of the meet-
ing. Spooner Ruggles, of Grand de Tour Precinct ; Edwin S. Leland and
James Y. Gale, of Oregon Precinct ; Samuel M. Hitt and David Worden, of
Boston Precinct ; Aaron Payne and E]>hraim Page, of Bloomingville Pre-
cinct; David Reed and Chauncy Blodgett, of Brooklyn Precinct, and Enoch
Wood and Jacob Perry, of Washington Precinct, were appointed a com-
mittee to report amendments to the rules and regulations previously adopted
and in force among the settlers and land claimants. After due delibera-
tion, the committee reported the following :
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE OREGON CLAIM SOCIETY.
Article 1. This society shall be called the Oregon Claim Protecting Society.
Article 2. Its oflScers shall consist of a president, secretary, and three referees in
each of the following precincts, viz.: Oregon, Grand de Tour, Bloomingville, Brooklyn,
Boston and Washington, and two directors and one marshal in each of said precincts.
Article 3. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at the meetings of the
society, and to direct the secretary to issue notices for special meetings. In case of his
absence, the society may elect a president pro tern.
Article 4. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep a record of the proceedings
of the society, to receive and record the claims of its members, designating accurately on a
plat the metes and bounds of said claims, to record such title papers as may be handed in
by the members, awards of arbitration and referees, to issue such notices, and perform such
other duties as shall hereinafter be required of him.
Article 5. It shall be the duty of each director, when ever any member shall apply
to him for a trial of any dispute between him, the said member, and any other individual in
relation to a claim, to appoint three disinterested persons who shall not be relatives of either
of the contending parties, or residents of the same precinct in which either of them reside,
arbitrators to hear and determine said controversy, ana shall furnish the secretary with a
certificate of the names of the persons so selected by him, who shall thereupon issue a writ-
ten notice to the adverse party informing him of the lime and place of trial, and duly
specifying the claim, demand or subject matter in difference to be adjusted, and also a
notice" in writing informing the arbitrators of the time and place of trial, which said notice
AirORNEYATLAW
PROPRIETOR OF THE OGLE CO. ABSTRACT OFFICE
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE COtJNTY. [ 339
shall be served upon said arbitrators and adverse party at least cne week before the day
of trial.
Article 6. Said arbitrators, after receiving satisfactory evidence that due notice has
been given as mentioiied in Article 5th (unless good cause shall be shown by one of said
parties for a continuance) shall, at the time and place appointed, proceed to hear and deter-
mine the case according to the evidence produced, and according to their best skill and
judgment. In case one of said arbitrators shall be absent, the two present shall have power
to fill the vacancy in their board with a fair and impartial man, in nowise related to either
of said parties. After said arbitrators shall have made out their award, which shall clearly
and explicitly describe the premises and damages and cost awarded, together with the names
of the parties, and bear date on the day of the trial, they shall forward the same to the
secretary to be by him recorded.
Article 7. If either of said parties shall be disappointed with the decision of said
arbitrators, he shall have the right to an appeal from the decision of said arbitrators, by
giving notice thereof to the secretary withm five days next after the trial, to a tribunal to
be constituted in the following manner, viz, : The secretary shall select by lot five of the
eighteen referees, appointed officers of this society, who shall have final and conclusive
jurisdiction of all controversies in regard to claims. Whenever the secretary shall renew
the notice that an appeal is claimed, he shall select said board of referees by lot as aforesaid,
and shall give to the party claiming the appeal a notice in writing to be served upon the
adverse party, informing him that an appeal has been taken, and of the time and place of
trial before the referees. Also, a notice in writing informing the referees of the time and
place of trial, to be served upon said referees and adverse party at least one week before the
day of trial. The notice to the referees shall inform them of the subject matter in difi"erence,
mentioned in the notice to the adverse party, of the trial before the arbitrators, to which
they shall confine themselves in the trial before them.
Article 8. Said referees, after receiving satisfactory evidence that due notice has
been given as mentioned in Article 7th (unless good cause shall be shown for a continuance)
shall proceed to hear and determine the controversy between said parties according to the
evidence, and according to the best of their skill and judgment.
If not more than two of said referees shall be absent, those present shall have power
to fill the vacancy in their board by calling in the nearest one or two to be found of the
other referees mentioned as officers of this society ; but three of said referees shall have
power to try and decide an application for a continuance. After the trial has been decided,
it shall be the duty of said board of referees to make out their award containing the names
of the parties, and clearly describing the premises, damages and costs awarded, and forward
the same to the secretary for record.
Article 9. In all trials, either before the arbitrators or referees, a decision may be
made by a majority, and if an appeal be not taken from the decision of the arbitrators as
heretofore mentioned, their decision shall be final and conclusive.
Article 10. There shall be allowed to said arbitrators for their services, two dollars
per day, and to said referees three dollars per day, and to the secretary the following fees,
viz.: For making an entry of a claim upon the plat, twenty-five cents; for each notice in
writing, twelve and a half cents; for recording instruments of writing, the same fee as
allowed to county recorders for similar services, to be advanced by the party or person
claiming their services, except in case of a continuance, in which case the party asking for
the continuance shall pay the costs occasioned thereby.
Article 11. In all trials the successful party shall recover his costs.(except the cost
of a continuance, which shall in all cases be paid by the party on whose motion the contin-
uance is granted). And in all trials before the referees, if the parly in whose favor they de-
cide has advanced money to pav the costs, and the adverse party shall neglect or refuse to
pay said money so advanced by "said successful party, the said referees shall have power,
and it shall be their duty to award to said party in whose favor they decide, such timber,
stone or part of the claim of said unsuccessful party, not protected by law, as they deem
sufficient.
Article 12. It shall be the duty of the marshals when the rules and regulations of
this society are violated, to call upon any one of the members to aid in enforcing them ; and
all members when notified so to do by either of said marshals, shall turnout and enforce an
observance of them or protect their rights of membership, unless a reasonable excuse shall
be offered.
Article 13. If any member of the society, shall be desirous of having but one trial
of a matter in difference between himself and another individual, in relation to a claim
which shall be final and conclusive, he may obtain a hearing before the Board of Referees
in the following manner, viz. : He shall make application to the secretary therefor, whose
duty it shall be to select said board in a manner heretofore provided in Article 7, and shall
thereupon issue a notice of writing, informing the adverse party and Board of Referees of
the time and place of trial ; which said notice shall be served upon said adverse party and
upon each of said referees, at least one week before the day of trial. The notice to the ad-
340 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
verse party shall clearly specify the demand or matter in difference to be tried. The trial
to be conducted in the same manner heretofore pointed out in Article 8, and the amount to
be made out in the same manner and forwarded to the secretary for record.
Article 14. This society will in no instance countenance any individual in trespass-
ing upon the claims of another; but, any individual not having' a claim of his own, and be-
coming a member of this society, who shall feel himself aggrieved by another person unjustly
holding a claim of unreasonable size, may make application to a director who shall pro-
ceed in the manner heretofore pointed out m Article 5, or if he shall prefer to have but one
trial, and that by the Board of Referees, he shall apply to the secretary, as pointed out in
Article 13; whereupon said directop or secretary shall proceed as heretolore directed in said
article, and if on the trial it shall appear to the arbitrators or referees that said claim is un-
der all tlie circumstances of the case of Gnreasonable size and unjust, ihcy shall award to
said person so claiming a trial, a part of said claim exceeding in no case three hundred and
twenty acies; such proportion of which shall be prairie, and such timber as in their judg-
ment shall seem right. If said trial shall in the first instance be had before the arbitrators,
either party may appeal in the manuer heretofore described. In case of a complaint being
made as mentioned in this article, the arbitrators or referees as the case may be, shall not
award to said complainant any partition of the claim of another actually under improve-
ment, or any portion of the timber actually necessary, taking into consideration the amount
of improved prairie.
Article 15. It shall be the duty of the members of this Society, to hand in to the
Secretary for record a plat of their claims within three months, in order that it may be
easily ascertained what is. and what is not claimed; and in order that all disputes may be
settled as soon as possible, and before the land sales, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to
ascertain and inform the parties when the plat of different members cover the same parcel of
land, that the difficulty may be settled by members on trial, and adjusted in the manner
heretofore described ; and if any member" shall neglect or refuse to have his claim recorded
within said three months, this society will not consider such members entitled to its
protection.
Article 16. All arbitrations had and determined, either uuder the rules and regula-
tions of this Society, or by arbitrators mutually chosen by the parties, shall be deemed final
and conclusive.
Article 17. Any individual who shall have been in peaceable possession of any
claim, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, by residence thereon for the term of
six months, shall not be disturbed in his said possession, and it shall in all trials be evidence
that the claim is his.
Article 18. In all cases of complaint by a member, that the claim of another is
unjust and of unreasonable size, when the person in whose name the claim is holden shall
reside without the limits of this Society, the said party making application of a trial, shall
cause three copies of the notice to the adverse party, given him by the Secretary, to be posted
up, two weeks successively next before the day of trial, a copy at the house of the nearest
settler to the premises. Whereupon the arbitrators or referees shall proceed in the manner
heretofore pointed out.
Article 19. All unoccupied and unimproved Congress land, owmed by individuals
residing without the limits of this Society, on which there are no valuable improvements or
marks of claim except hacking in the timber, stakes set in the prairie or furrow round it,
unless the same shall have been bona fide purchased for a valuable consideration, by a per-
son intending to settle on the same, shall no longer be considered a claim, but may be occu-
pied by any person who may see fit to settle on it, and in case said claim shall have been
bona fide purchased by a person intending to reside on it, unless said purchaser shall remove
to and settle within the limits of this Society within six months, or shall within said time
make improvements at least to the value of fifty dollars on each half section, the same shall
be considered open for settlement, but ijo person settling upon land situated as herein men-
tioned shall be entitled to claim more than three hundred and twenty acres, not more than
eighty acres of which shall be timber, provided there be prairie enough to make out the
half section.
Article 20. This Society deems itself bound to protect all claims bona fide pur-
chased for a valuable consideration and owned by residents within the limits of this
Society.
Article 21. There shall be an annual meeting of the Society, on the second Monday
of June for the election of officers and for the transaction of such other business as may be
brought before the meeting.
The members of this Society hereby pledge themselves to be at all times ready to aid
and support each other in carrying into effect its rules and regulations and to support each
other at the land sales, by preventing all bidding upon the claims of any member thereof.
All the rules and regulations of the Claim Protecting Society adopted at Oregon on
the 2d day of July, A. D. 1836, not inconsistent with the above, are still in force and adopted.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
341
The society then proceeded to the election of officers, as follows:
President. — Dr. William J. Mix, of Oregon; Secretary— ^^Wm. S.
Leland, of Oregon.
Referees. — William J. Mix, Seweli Biitterfield and Martin C. Hill, of
Oregon; David Keed, Harvey Jewett and Alden, of Brooklin; Erastus D.
Hubbell, Cyrus Chamberlin and Cotton, of Grand de Tour; Aaron Payne,
Joseph Sanford and Dauphin Brown, of Bloomingville; Isaac Eosencrans,
Jehiel Day and Enoch Wood, of Washington; Martin Keynolds, S. M.
Hitt and B. Worden, of Boston.
Directors. — James Y. Gale and D. H. T. Moss, of Oregon; David
Reed and Harvey Jewett, of Brooklyn ; Moore and Prichard, of Grand de
Tour; Joseph Sanford and Wm. Wilkenson, of Bloomingville; R Aikins and
B. Eathburn, of Washington; D. Stover and Hestand of Boston, Moore
and Prichard, of Grand de Tour.
Marshals. — Jno. Waggoner, of Oregon; C. Blodgett, of Brooklyn; J. C.
H., of Grand de Tour; Simon Spaulding of Bloomingville; Eiley Paddock,
of Washington ; ISTathan Swingley, of Boston.
The old record from which the above is copied bears the names of
sixty of the old pioneers of the " times that tried men's souls," " when this
country was new " — who came here before the Indians were gone — markets
and stores many miles away — who lived on such game as the wilds afforded
for meat, beans, etc., with an occasional "mess" of potatoes, and now and
then a " corn dodger," until their strong arms and brave hearts reduced
the prairie sod to productive tillages-then they began to live as they and
their parents lived in the states from which they came.
Dr. Wm. J. Mix,
Edwin S. Leland,
Jacob Rice,
Joshua Rice,
Eli as Thomas,
John Rice,
Stephen Bemis,
C. Burr Artz,
Thomas Hinkle,
Jolm Waggoner,
Daniel Stover,
Balka Niehoti",
John M. Hinkle,
John Collier.
John Stover,
Michael McVey,
Spooner Ruggles,
C. W. Babbett,
Louis Burner,
John Acker,
Christian Mangel,
D. Babbett,
Henry Williams,
Asa Whitehead,
P. C. Whitehead,
Sam Mitchell,
Thos. Medford,
E. M. Sheller,
Columbus S. Marshall.
M. Perry,
James M. Knox,
D. H. T. Moss,
Isaac Trask,
Henry Hestand,
J. W. Shaw,
Seweli Butterfield,
Riley Paddock,
Enoch Wood,
Ben Hestand,
N. B. Royce,
E. Stover,
E. H. Baker,
Isaac Lansdell,
John Fridley,
Henry Waggoner,
Eben Rogers,
David Hunter,
Geo. Griswold,
John Timmerman,
Jere. Payne,
Wm. Sanderson,
Cyrus Chamberlin,
James V. Gale,
Henry Wright,
John L. Stewart,
John Frantz,
Oliver W. Kellogg,
E. J. Linscot,
Daniel Day,
Jos. B. Hensliaw.
Two principal reasons conspired to render a combination of this char-
acter necessary. First, there was a class of men, void of character and
honesty, who were 'professional claim jumpers. They came in after the
" ice was broken," and sought to take forcible possession of claims which
rightfully belonged to others. Second, as the time for the land sales came
on, capitalists and land speculators, only different from claim jumpers in
that they had more money, commenced to plan and scheme to buy up
large tracts of land, including the improvements settlers had made, by out-
bidding the pioneer occupants. Both the claim jumpers and the speculators
were justly regarded as natural enemies to the settlers, and hence the latter
formed a " ring," if it may be so called, to protect each other, and who can
honestly maintain that they were not right.
342 HISTOEY OF OGLK COUNTY.
After this digression we return to the Supervisors record, to notice a
few more orders and resohitions, when we will pass to the consideration of
other matters.
The educational interests' of the county were earnestly and carefully
guarded from the time when first there were children enough to form a
school, and the precedents established by the early county authorities in
this regard, have been zealously followed and maintained until the schools
of Ogle County outrank the schools of any other in the state.
As early as January, 1852, the county legislators or Board of Super-
visors, introduced and adopted a resolution providing for a series of lectures
on education in the several schools districts of the county, as follows:
Resolved, That the school commissioner of Ogle County be, and is hereby authorized
to visit the schools of the several towns ot the county for the purpose of promoting the
cause of education by delivering lectures or otherwise, during the present year, and that he
be paid two dollars per day by the county for the time actually employed in such service;
provided the lime so employed by him shall not exceed fifty days.
An amendment was oiFered providing that the time should not exceed
thirty days, but the amendment was lost, and the resolution, as originally
drawn, was adopted.
This was probably the first movement of the kind undertaken in the
state; that it was a movement in the right direction can not be gainsaid.
It was time and money well employed, as the present proud position of the
schools amply testifies. It was the beginning of that fostering care, which,
carefully followed, won for the Ogle County schools a Centennial medal in
1876, of which more will be said in a special educational section.
September 14, 1853, the liquor license question again came before the
Board of Supervisors in the form of a petition bearing 1,723 signatures
asking the board to adopt a retail license resolution or order. With a large
class of people at that time this question seems to have been considered as
a vital and important one, and to have kept the public mind in an almost
continued state of agitation and unrest. The petition, however, on motion,
was laid on the table, and so far as the records show, was never again
called up.
September, 1856, the Board of Supervisors^inaugurated measures to
secure the erection of a fire -proof building for the use of the several county
officers, resulting in the building of the two small concerns at the northeast
corner and the southeast corner of the public square. Messrs. Rood, Wood
and Williams were appointed to make estimates for the erection of the
same. On the 5th of March, 1857, a resolution was presented provid-
ing fur the erection of two buildings instead of one. The resolution was
adopted, and on the 7th of March a new building committee (composed of
Messrs. Potwine, Baker and Rood) was appointed to superintend their
erection. A final settlement for these buildings was not made for a year or
two after their completion in consequence of a diiference of opinion between
the supervisors and the builders, the former maintaining that the build-
ings were not finished according to the contract requirements. The difier-
ences were finally adjusted, however, without resort to the courts of law,
and the buildings accepted and paid for.
So far as the proceedings of the county commissioners, the county
court and the board of supervisors are concerned, we have carefully traced
the more important of their acts to the present. There are some things,
however, such as the building of the bridge across Rock Kiver, the county's
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 343
connection with railroad enterprises, etc., that are treated under separate
headings, and their history will be found in appropriate sections, and will
be found full of interest, an interest that will increase with the increase of
years. This part of our undertaking so far completed, we turn back to the
earlier records to reproduce some miscellaneous records that are not with-
out historical value. When we have disposed of these, we will take up
circuit court affairs, the history of the Eeign of Terror and Outlawry
endured by this people for a period of ten years or more, culminating in
the organization of a Yigilance committee, the killing of^he Driscolls, etc.,
after which will take up the War Record of the county — a record of which
every man and woman of the county has just reason to be proud.
MISCELLANEOUS COUNTY COUKT RECORDS.
The first marriage license issued from the county court was to Mr.
Horace Thompson and Miss Eliza Ann McKinney. The license was dated
January 31, 1831, and was signed " Smith Gilbraith, clerk, by J. P. Dixon,
deputy clerk." The certificate of marriage was returned on the 12th day
of February following, by John Thomas, who certified that he solemnized
their marriage on the Tth day of February, 1837.
The first probate order on record related to the estate of Peter Meyer,
deceased. This order was dated June 10, but the year was omitted. From
the fact, however, that on the 31st day of July, 1840, Jacob Meyer and Mary
Meyer, widow of Peter Meyer, were appointed guardians of the persons
and effects of Peter Meyer, it is presumable that the order first quoted was
made June 10, 1840.
The device for the circuit court seal was adopted at a session of the
County Commissioners Court held in August, 1840. The device is thus
described on the records: "Clouds above, from which is thrust an illu-
minated hand holding the scales of justice, and the words, 'Circuit Court,
Ogle County.' "
The First Will. — County of Ogle and State of Illinois. In the mat-
ter of the estate of Alexander Irvine, deceased. Last Will and Testament:
I, Alexander Irvine, of the County of Ogle and State of Illinois, do make and publish
this my last Will and Testament, in manner and form following, that is to say:
First. That it is my Will that my funeral expenses, and all my just debts be fully paid.
Second. I give and devise to my eldest son, Joseph W. Irvine, all that tract of land
lying eighty rods on the river, south of Cyril James' line, and north to the line of Wm.
Wilkerson,' being about two miles, containing nearly half of a section; also, money to enter,
or pay tor said tract of land, and to his heirs and assigns forever.
Third. I give and devise one thousand dollars to the Missionary Society of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, to be paid in forty years from date, without interest.
Fourth. I give, and devise, and bequeath to my beloved wife, Clarisa Irvine, all^ the
remainder of my property, both in this State and elsewhere, to distribute as she sees fit or
best. And further, it IS my desire that my son Joseph have a general superintendence of
said property if he is willing. And lastly, I hereby constitute and appoint my wife, Clarisa
Irvine, and my son, Joseph W. Irvine, and my friend, Horace Miller, to be the executors for
this my last Will and Testament, revoking and annuling all former wills by me made, and
ratifying and confirming this and no other, to be my last Will and Testament.
In testimony whereof I have hereby set my hand and seal, this twenly-fourth day of
August, A. D. 1840. (Signed) ' ALEXANDER IRVINE.
Signed, published and delivered by the above named Alexander Irvine, as and for his
last Will and Testament, in presence of us, who, at his request, have sisrned our names as
witnesses to the same. J- M. RUSSEL,
CYRIL JAMES.
Done before me, at the house of Alexander Irvine, this 24th day of Ausfust, A.D. 1840.
A. WILBER, J. P.
344 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
I, Alexander Irvine, do further devise and give to Andrew Meatester, when he becomes
of age, eight}' acres of land, to be situated with wood sufficient to make him a small farm;
j9w»e6?e6Z, he, Andrew Meatester, has not been put to learn some useful trade, and to his
heirs and assigns forever.
A true record of the original, as entered by me this the 9th davof Januarv, A. D. 1841.
WM. J. MIX, Probate Justice.
Farmer^ s Hydraulic Company. — This company was organized early
in 1851. The object of the company is recited in the following instrument,
which is duly recorded :
Byron, February 21, 1850.
We the undersigned, for the purpose of erecting a dam across Rock River, between
the mouth of Stillman's Creek and the south liue of section ten, in town twenty-five, range
eleven east of the fourth principal meridian, under the act of the legislature of 1849, entitled
*'an act for the improvement of navigation on Rock River, and the production of hydraulic
power," have formed ourselves into a company under the name and style of the Farmer's
Hydraulic Company, with a capital stock of $10,000, and do agree to take the number of
shares set opposite our names in the capital stock of said company, and to pay therefor to
the treasurer of said company, the sum of $25 for each share of said stock set opposite our
names, respectively, in such manners and proportions, and at such times as the Board of
Directors of said company may from time to time direct: D. & A. T. Brown, 40 shares;
Seth Noble, 40; Wm R. Morley, 11; A. E. Hurd, 30; J. M. Bradley, 20; Wm. H. Ferguson,
30; Joshua White. 40; William Spackman, 40; P. T. Kimball, 40; F. A. Smith, 40; A.
Woodburn, 40; Harrj Spaulding, 4; Norton B. Royce, 15; A. L. Johnson, 6; J. L.
Spauldinff, 20; H. Wilder, 16; J. B. M()ffett,5; M. M.York, 5; WoodhuU Helen,5; Liberty
Ruggles, 8; Dudley Wood, 20; Peter Strang, 6; M. D. Johnson, 4; William H. Fuller, 5;
William C. Dunning, 10; Silas St. John Mix, 30; J. M. Irvine, 12; A. M. Campbell, 10;
C. C. Bradley, 5; P. Burke, 20; Jos. Johnson, 20; L. L. Case, 10; J. Gerber, 20; J. D.
Sperrv, 6; J. M. Russell, 16; Hamilton Norton, 2; Nathaniel Belknap, 10; John Arny, 10;
David Lewis, 40; A. M. Trumbull, 10; A. G. Spaulding, 10; Mathias Dunning, 10; R. C.
Bray ton, 6; Charles Fisher, 8; Total shares, 755.
This entry is followed by the certificate of incorporation, duly acknowl-
edged. Officers were elected, and on the 4th of September, 1850, an order was
entered granting leave to the company to build the necessary dam, race, etc.
Subsequently, the improvement commenced and partially completed, passed
into the hands of a Chicago company by whom it is owned and controlled.
This company meets once a year to elect officers, etc., and that is all. But
little interest is taken in the development of the power here afforded. The
time may come, however, when a little more life will be infused into the
controlling corporation, and such improvements made as will render the
water power at Byron the best and most productive in the state.
CIBCUIT COURT.
The twelfth section of the act of January 16, 1836, establishing Ogle
County, constituted it a part of the sixth judicial circuit, and provided for
terms of the circuit court to be held at such places as the county commis-
sioners should designate, and that the circuit judge of the sixth judicial
circuit should have power to fix the time for holding such court as, in his
discretion, would best promote the public good. Under this provision the
commissioners, on the 4th day of September, 1837, ordered that the county
clerk inform all the county officers and circuit judges, that Dixon had
been selected as the place of holding the circuit court until August, 1838..
The first term of the circuit court commenced on Monday, October 2,
1837. Hon. Dan Stone presiding. William W. Mudd was sheriff, and
William J. Mix was deputy sheriff.
Benjamin T. Phelps presented his commission as clerk, signed by
Judge Thomas C. Ford, judge of the sixth judicial district, before whom he
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 845
had taken the oath of office. Judge Ford also became bondsman for Mr.
Phelps in the sum of $2,000.
The grand jury at this term of the court was composed of the follow -
named " good and true " citizens :
A. E. Hurd, L. O. Bryan, Asa G. Spaulding, Hugh Moore, Wm. A-.
Houser, John Dixon, Samuel Johnson, Stephen Fellows, James Clark, James
Y. Gale, William Wainsley, G. H. Wilcoxen, Corydin Dewey, Joseph Saw-
yer, E. Worthington, John Gilbraith, Brener Jarvis, Miller Dewey, I. Day
and Ebenezer Seeley; John Dixon was appointed foreman.
The Record shows that a grand jury consisting of the following named
" settlers," was chosen at the January term of the commissioners court
(1837), but there are no records to show that they ever qualified as jurors.
John "Whittaker, Andrew Sheppard, L. O. Bryan, Hugh Moore, Cyrus
R Miner, 1^. Morehouse, L. C. McClure, G. D. H. Wilcoxen, Samuel John-
ston, James Clark, Leicester Everts, Wm. J. Mix, F. Cushman, Wm. Wams-
ley, Thomas Dexter, Corydin Dewey, John L. Fosdick. On the attached
part (Whiteside): Wm. Dudley, E. Worthington, John Stokes, Ebenezer
Seeley, and Wyatt Cantrell.
The following named settlers appeared as petit jurors:
P. Kimble, P. Norton, James L. Spaulding, R. Prichard, Jeremiah
Whipple, Leonard Andrews, J. D. Pratt, Wm. Martin, A. Fender, Larkin
Baker, Ezra Bond, S. S. Crowell, Elisha Doty, Stephen Hull, James McFar-
lin, Adolphus Bliss, Charles West, John Brown, P. B. Akin, and John P.
Whidden.
Attached: A. R. Hamilton, J. G. Walker, Dr. Smith, H. Print and
Yan J. Adams.
The first case tried in the circuit court was that of Robert Innes v.
Jacob Reed, on a writ of replevin.
A jury consisting of P. Kimble, P. Korton, James Spaulding, L.
Andrews, William Martin, Ezra Bond, S. S. Crowell, Stephen Hull, James
McFarland, Adolphus Bliss, John Brown, and Richard B. Atkins, were
'' elected, tried and sworn."
The jury, after listening to the evidence and arguments of the counsel,
retired to consider their verdict, and after remaining out a reasonable length
of time returned a verdict finding for the plaintiff".
The first case of record was that of the People v. William K. Bridges
and others, on a recognizance.
A motion to quash the indictment was entered by the defendant's
attorney, and the court, after listening to the arguments of the counsel, en-
tertained the motion and ordered that the defendants be acquitted and go
thence without day.
On the fourth day of the term, the grand jury returned into court and
presented the following indictments:
Asa Crook was indicted for corruption in oflSce.
Wm. Cushman was indicted for arson.
Wm. W. Mudd, Sheriff", was indicted for palpable omission of duty..
Thomas and Louis Kerr were indicted for riot.
William H. Peyton was indicted for assault with intent to commit
murder.
Preston Blevins was indicted for assault with intent to commit
murder.
Wm. Southal was indicted for palpable omission of duty. In this case
the jury declared him not guilty.
346 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The grand jury, having no further business before them, were dis-
charged.
the first divorce case was entered by Elizabeth McGoon, against
Richard H. McGoon.
The first criminal trial of any note, was that of The People v. John
Porter, charged with having in his possession, and attempting to pass
counterfeit money. The case came up at the June term, 1839.
The following named gentlemen being sworn as jurors : Larkin Baker,
Wm. P. Burroughs, Erastus G. Nichols, John Waggoner, John Wilson,
Samuel Johnston, Moses T. Crowel, G. D. H. Wilcoxen, John M. Smith,
David Maxwell, Robert E. Page and Joseph M. Wilson.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and Porter was sentenced to two
years and six months in the penitentiary at Alton, the first month to be
passed in solitary confinement.
A motion for a new trial was entered, but was overruled.
Since October, 1837, the judges in regular succession have been :
October, 1837, Dan Stone; January 17, 1839, Thomas Ford, Sixth Judicial
Circuit, [Mr. Ford was afterwards (in August, 1842), elected Governor of
the state, and served four years. He died at Peoria in 1850] ; September
19, 1842, John D. Caton; May 7, 1849, Hugh Anderson; September 24,
1849, T. L. Dickey; April 1, 1850, Benjamin R. Sheldon; August 25,
1851, Ira O. Wilkinson; August 1, 1855, J. Wilson Drury; June 1, 1857,
John y. Eustace; November 1, 1861, William W. Heaton; October, 1877,
William Brown; January, 1878, Joseph M. Bailey.
Judge Eustace was elected in February, 1878, to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Judge William W. Heaton.
After the outlaws were banished from the country by sending some of
them to the penitentiary, and the summary execution of at least two others
by an outraged and long-suifering people, the country settled down into
remarkable quiet and obedience to law, since when there have been but
very few cases, comparatively speaking, of a criminal nature. Murders
have been of very rare occurrence, the first and most fiendish being that of
Mr. John Campbell by the Driscoll gang on Sunday afternoon, June 27,
1841. The Driscoll gang were summarily disposed of within a very short time
thereafter by the citizens, who rose en masse, and proceeded to the work
of extermination. They commenced with the execution of John and William
Driscoll. One hundred and twelve citizens, many of whom are now among
the best and wealthiest, were indicted and tried for participation in this
oifense, but were acquitted by a jury of their countrymen. This was the
most exciting trial ever had in the circuit court, and, perhaps, embraced the
largest number of persons ever arraigned under one indictment in the
United States. But of this more anon.
Since the organization of the county, in 1836, a period of time cover-
ing forty-two years, the records of the circuit court only show eight
indictments for murder, seven of which were tried. The following is the
record :
The first indictment was for the murder of the DriscolPs, of which
mention is made above.
The Slater-Minor Murder. — Frederick K. Slater and Allen Minor were
neighbors, living in the Town of Lynnville, on Killbuck Creek. A feud
had existed between them for some time previous to the murder, and meet-
ing on the 18th of September, 1850, the day the murder was committed.
COUNTr TREASURER
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE OOITNTY.
349
a quarrel ensued, and it was supposed Slater killed Minor with a sled stake.
Minor's body was found dead in a corn field the next day. Slater had been
known to pass that way, and he was arrested on a charge of the murder.
He was indicted at the August term, 1851, of the circuit court. The trial
commenced August 25, 1851, and concluded September 5. The jury
returned a verdict of not guilty. H. B. Stillman, assisted by E. F. Dutcher
and John A. Holland, conducted the prosecution. The defense was rep-
resented by H. A. Mix, Jason Marsh and B. O. Cook.
The Paul- Augustine Murder. — On the 23d of November, 1854,
Andrew Paul was stabbed to death by August Augustine. Augustine was
a tenant of Paul's, and had a crib of corn on Paul's place, and had gone
after it. Paul refused to let him have the corn, when they engaged in a
quarrel about the matter and came to blows. Paul struck Augustine on
the head with a rail. Augustine then drew his knife and killed Paul,
and then drove to Brookville and swore out a warrant for the arrest
of Paul for assault. Augustine was indicted at the May term, 1855, and
tried at the same term. The defense introduced the plea of insanity, claim-
ing that the blow of the club had produced temporary insanity. The jury
returned a verdict of not guilty. The following named gentlemen were
interested in the case: For the prosecution, Wm. T. Miller, J. L. Loop and
T. F. Guodhue; for the defense, H. A. Mix, Thomas J. Turner, E. F.
Dutcher, David S. Pride, Robert 0. Burchell and Miles B. Light.
Kichard F. Tallman was indicted at the May term, 1856, for the murder
of James VV. Johnston, on the evening of the 2ist day of February, 1856, by
stabbing him in the groin. Johnson died in forty-eight hours. A quarrel
ensued between them in the grocery store of Michael J^ohe, and upon being
told by Nohe that he would have no fighting there, they went out in the
street, where the quarrel was renewed, and during the altercation, Tallman
thrust a knife into Johnston. The trial took place at the October term,
1856. William T. Miller, prosecuting attorney, assisted by M. P. Sweet
and K. C. Burchell, conducted the case for the people. Messrs. Joseph
Sears, J. L. Loop, Joseph Knox and William W. Heaton defended. The
jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, and Tallman was sentenced to the
penitentiary for five years. He was pardoned out by Governor Bissell,
after having served out one year of bis sentence.
The next murder trial was on a change of venue from Carroll County,
entitled the People vs. Charles Slowey for the murder of John Welsh.
Slowey had been for some time engaged in mining for lead ore, with
his victim as a partner. They had sunk two shafts near their shanty, about
two miles west of Mount Carroll, had taken out some ore, and had a pros-
pect of getting more. At this time they both got on a drunken spree, and
a few days thereafter the victim was found dead in one of the shafts. Inves-
tigation showed plainly that death was not the result of accident or suicide,
as the death wound was evidently inflicted by a miner's pick. After ^fost-
mortem examination by Dr. B. P. Miller and Dr. John L. Hostetter, Slowey
was arrested and committed for the murder, and indicted, as above stated.
The case was continued to the September term, 1800, of the Circuit Court,
when a change of venue was taken to this county. He was tried^ in
November of that year, at Oregon, and convicted of murder in the first
degree. The court," Judge Eustace, for some reason, having granted a new-
trial, the people accepted the proposition of William T. Miller, Slowey s
counsel— Slowey to plead guilty to manslaughter, and a sentence to the
8i
350 HISTORY OF OGLE OOTJNTY.
penitentiary for ten years. This was accordingly done. Slowey died a few
weeks after getting to the penitentiary, the information being that his brain
was badly diseased. The general impression, however, came to prevail that
his disease of the brain was the result of cold head-baths, employed as pun-
ishment for breach of discipline.
Samantha Dildine was indicted at the March term, 1860, for the mur-
der of anew born male (illegitimate) child. March 19, 1861, the court
ordered that the case be continued for service. The woman was spirited
away by her friends, and thus the matter ended.
Kobert Livingston was indicted at the March term, 1861, for the sup-
posed murder of his wife, by poison. McCartney and Burchell prosecuted,
and Messrs. Duteher, Campbell and Carpenter defended. The jury dis-
agreed. A change of venue was granted the defendant to Lee County.
The physician who made the chemical analysis went into the army, and in
some manner Livingston was bailed out, and also enlisted in the service, and
the case was dismissed.
The last indictment for murder was that of The People -y. Thomas
Padgett, David B. Stiles, William Colditz, Thomas Skelton, John A. Huges,
Henry Miller, Levi Schoonmaker and Sebra B. Read, who were indicted at
the June term, 1862, for the murder of Thomas Burke, at Rochelle, by
hanging. This offense occurred during tlie war, when party spirit ran
high. Some warehouses had been burned, and there was apparently ample
proof of Burke's guilt. The case was tried at the June term, 1862, of the
Circuit Court. David McCartney and John Y. Eustace prosecuted, and E.
F. Duteher, M. D. Hathaway and R. C. Burchell managed the case for the
defense. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
PRAIRIE PIRATES.
In the preceding pages of this book frequent reference is made to the
outrages of a combination of outlaws — horse thieves, counterfeiters and
murderers — that fastened themselves upon the country of the Rock River
Yalley about the year 1835. About the confines of American civilization
there has always hovered, like scouts before the march of an invading army,
a swarm of bold, enterprising, adventurous criminals. The broad, untrod-
den prairies, the trackless forests, the rivers, unbroken by the keels of com-
merce, furnished admirable refuge for those whose crimes drove them from
companionship with the honest and law-abiding. Hovering there, where
courts and civil processes could afford but a weak bulwark of protection
against their evil and dishonest purposes and practices, the temptation to
prey upon the comparatively unprotected sons of toil, rather than to gain
a livelihood by the slow process of peaceful industry, has proved too strong
to be resisted. Some of these reckless characters sought the outskirts of
advancing settlements for the express purpose of theft and robbery; some,
because they dare nut remain within reach of efficient laws; others, of lim-
ited means, but ambitious to secure homes of their own, and with honesty
of purpose, exchanged the comforts and protection of law afforded by the
old settled and populous districts for life on the frontiers, and npt finding
all that their fancy painted, were tempted into crime by apparent immunity
from punishment. In all new countries the proportion of the dishonest
and criminal has been greater than in the older and better regulated com-
munities where courts are permanently established and the avenues of
HI8T0BT OP OGLE OOFNTT. 361
escape from punishment for wrong-doing more securely guarded. This was
notably and particularly the case in the early settlement of Ogle and
adjoining counties.
At the time of which we write, and for a number of years afterwards,
a strong Mud well-organized band of desperadoes held almost undisputed
and unobstructed dominion throughout this whole region of country, and
very few of the honest settlers were fortunate enough to preserve all their
property from being swept into the meshes of the net-work these land
pirates had spread around them. Good horses and their equipments were
the most easily captured and most readily concealed, and consequently the
most coveted by the outlaws, as well as the most unsafe property the settlers
could hold. Owners of fast or really good horses never presuiried to leave
them unguarded for a single night, unless the stable was doubly locked and
barred, and a faithful dog either left within the stable or at the stable door;
and often times the owners would sleep in the stable with their trusty rifles
by their side, while no man ever thought of going to his stable or his wood
pile after nightfall without his gun.
The leaders of this gang of cut throats were among the first settlers of
the county, and as a consequence, had the choice of locations. Among the
most prominent and daring of the number were John Driscoll, William
and David Driscoll, his sons; John Brodie and three of his sons, John,
Stephen and Hugh; Samuel Aikens and three sons, E-ichard, Charles and
Thomas; William K. Bridge and Norton B. Eoyce.
These men were the representative characters of the gang — the execu-
tive managers who planned, guided, directed and controlled the movements
of the combination; concealed them when danger threatened; nursed them
when sick; rested them when worn down by fatigue and forced marches;
furnished hiding-places for their stolen booty; shared in the spoils and
proceeds, and under cover of darkness, and intricate and devious ways of
travel, known only to themselves and subordinates, transferred stolen horses
from station to station — for it canie to be known as a well-established fact
that they had stations, and agents, and watchmen scattered throughout the
country at convenient distances, and signals and pass-words to assist and
govern them in all their nefarious transactions.
The operations of the gang extended from one end of the country to
the oth€r — from Texas, up through the Indian Territory, Arkansas,
Missouri and Illinois, to Wisconsin ; from the Ohio Eiver, at Pittsburgh,
through the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, to the Missouri
River — as far as civilization extended. Their hands and depredations were
directed against society everywhere, and they preyed upon the substance of
honest toilers, merchants and business men, with reckless and daring
impunity, sparing no one who was not in some way allied with their
murder- stained combination.
Besides the names quoted as local members and chiefs of the robber <
confederacy, there were many others of less prominence — tools and aids-de-
camp — ready subordinates of the commanders-in-chief, but all the more
dangerous because of their slavery to the men that governed and the oaths
that bound them together, and by which their lives were held in forfeit
when they failed to obey the commands of their superiors in power.
John Driscoll, who was recognized by the honest settlers as the
general-in-chief of the plundering band, came from Ohio in 1835, and
settled on Killbuck Creek, in Monroe Township. It has been said that he
362 HlffTOET OF OGLE OOtHSTTT.
named that creek in honor of a Btream bearing the same name in the Ohio
county in which he lived, And it is further said that when he came here
he came directly from the penitentiary at Columbus, to which prison he
had been sentenced for a number of years for some crime committed
against the laws of that state. It has also been said that he escaped from
that penitentiary some eighteen months before his term of sentence
expired, so that he was in no sense a pardoned citizen or a "ticket-of-leave
man," but an escaped convict. In man^ respects old John Driscoll
is reported to have been a most remarkable man, both in physique] intellect,
coolness and courage. One who knew him well, and who participated in
his execution, thus describes him as he stood in the presence of five hundred
outraged and indignant people on the day of his summary execution, Tues-
day, June 29, 1841.
" He was upwards of six feet in height, slightly inclined to corpulency,
and would have weighed about two hundred pounds. He was all muscle
and sinew, and every way the most powerfully built man in all that crowd
of half a thousand men. His face was the only repulsive feature about old
John Driscoll, and this repulsiveness was occasioned by the loss of a part
of his nose, which had been bitten off some years before in a fight with
some human ghoul. His hair was iron gray and coarse; his eyebrows
heavy and shaggy-like, and his face smooth, from recent shaving. Un-
trembling and unmoved, he stood motionless in the midst of his inquisitors
and executioners. He was not an ignorant man, nor void of generosity or
charity. There were many kind acts passed to his credit in the neighbor-
hood where he lived. In one instance he and his sons finished plowinor and
planting a field of corn for a wife and mother whose husband had died in
the midst of the planting season. He might have been a useful and an in-
fluential citizen in any community, but he chose otherwise, and became an
outlaw and a renegade to all the better instincts of human nature."
William Driscoll settled at South Grove, DeKalb County. Kext to
the old man, William Driscoll was considered the worst and most desperate
of the family — sly, secretive, cunning and revengeful. He was unlettered
and uneducated, but possessed of strong native sense. At the time of his
execution, June 29, 1*841, he was about forty-five years of age, rather above
the average height of men, of heavy build and very muscular, and would
probably have tipped the scales at one hundred and eighty pounds. His
features were firm and presented a peculiarly heavy appearance. He was
that typo of man that could face any ordinary danger without the least fear,
but in the presence of five hundred resolute men, determined to hold him
to an account for his manifold crimes, he was' awed into the most terrible
fear, and every lineament of his face showed evidences of inward torture.
David Driscoll settled a short distance east of the old village site of Lynn-
ville, in what is now Lynnville Township. He was a man of very reserved
character, cold, calculating, devilish, malicious and fearless, and in every
sense a " chip of the old block."
John Brodie settled in a grove of timber in what is now Dement
Township. The grove still bears his name, from the fact of his being the
first settler in that immediate locality. . He came there from Franklin
County, Ohio, and was apparently about fifty-five years of age when he
built his cabin. In physique he was rather under medium size, with very
low forehead; stiff, black hair; small, black eyes set deep in his head, and
in every particular had a very repulsive, piratical look. His three sons,
HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTT. 353
John, Stephen and Hugh, were of nomadic, rarabh'ng, unsettled natures,
.practices and habits, reckless and indifferent to all social amenities, and
void of every shadow of respect for the marital relations. They were
accounted dare-devils generally, and were both feared and despised.
Old man Samuel Aikens and his son Charles settled at Washington
Grove; his other two sons, Thomas and Kichard, at Lafayette Grove,
scarcely half a mile distant. When this family first settled here they were
regarded as rather good men^ and the father and younger son, Samuel
(whose name has not been mentioned before), always maintained that regard.
Wlien speculation in claims became the ruling passion, they all
joined the frenzied mob, and invested heavily, expecting to realize hand-
some returns. But the wheel of fortune suddenly reversed its motion, and
they lost heavily. They were men of considerable wealth and influence,
and when they became victims to the claim speculating mania, they carried
with them a number of their neighbors and acquaintances — men that
regarded the old man Aikens with respectful consideration, and in whose
thrift and ken they had every confidence. When the Aikens failed they
all failed, for the old man had been their counselor and advisor. So, when
fortune, the tickle jade, deserted them and left them high and dry on the
shoals of adversity, the three sons, Charles, Thomas and Kichard, became
reckless, and finally identitied themselves with the outlaws — if not directly,
at least indirectly, and their houses and barns became places of concealment
for such of the gang as needed concealment.
William K. Bridge also settled at Washington Grove. In stature he
stood about six feet, and in every wav was well proportioned. " Indeed,"
said one of his old neighbors, with whom the writer conversed, "he was a
model man in physical development, and one that would be singled out of
a thousand because of his fine, athletic proportions. In form he was an
Adonis. Besides, his face was handsome, and his bearing every wa^" that
of a gentleman. His conversational powers were good. He had an oily
tongue, and could ' soft soap ' any of us, notwithstanding we knew he was
one of the gang. As h sometimes said of counterfeit bills, 'he was well
calculated to deceive.' He would have made a noted lawyer, if he had
turned his attention to that profession, or a good preacher, if there had
been room in his heart and soul for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; but
the demon of darkness took possession of his nature before he was born,
and grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength, until at last
he was sent out here as a special agent of the devil, to deceive and prey
upon the honest settlers who were struggling for homes. By his immediate
neighbors he was accounted a model of rectitude, charity and kindness.
He was a Pennsylvanian by birth, and had the advantages of a liberal edu-
cation; had mingled a good deal in society, knew the meaning, of words,
and how and when to use them. He was always on his guard. He never
allowed himself to be betrayed by either word or gesture. Why, he would
always find out just what we were hunting after without letting us know
what he was 'fishing for.' We couldn't help it. He was the serpent and
we were the victims." Such is the personel and characteristics of William
K. Bridge, who was finally brought to bay and sentenced to the peniten-
tiary for eight years, barely escaping the scaffold.
JS'orton B. Koyce came from Delaware County, Ohio, and settled at
Lafayette Grove. He, too, was a keen, shrewd, sharp, cunning fellow, and
every way suited to fill any station in fife, but too lazy and indolent to en-
354 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
gaoje in honest toil or any of the professions, he turned his attention to
counterfeitirjg, and was generally believed to be the principal director of
the pirates' mint. At last, however, like the others, his villainy was un-
masked, and he, too, was sent to the penitentiary.
Such is a brief outline of the characters of the gang who had claimed
homes in the county whose history we are writing. There were some
others, however, who were non-residents of the county, but who were so inti-
mately connected with the transactions of the men thus far named, that
this sketch would be incomplete without reference to them and their com-
plicity.
Charles Oliver was much such a man as Bridge and Royce. He set-
tled at Hockford in 1836, and made his home at the old Rockford House,
where, among the boarders and citizens, he freely mingled, unsuspected of
unlawful pursuits. He possessed a good education, line conversational
powers, a fund of humor, a rich store of anecdotes and stories, and came
to be almost universally respected. He was a man of some means, his
father having started him out in the world with $4,000 in cash, a part of
which he invested in claim property and improvements near Eockford.
About 1837 there was an election for justice of the pleace at Rockford, and
Charles Oliver was chosen as a candidate on the one side, and James B.
Martyn, now of Bellvidere, Boone County, a candidate on the other side.
The election was closely contested. The polls were kept open until 10
o'clock at night, and every man known to be entitled to a vote was hunted
out and taken to the voting place and made to vote for one or the other
of the candidates. Oliver was beaten by only a few votes. A few years
afterwards he was sent to the penitentiary, his crimes extending back and
covering the period when he came so near being elected a justice of the
peace.
South, at Inlet Grove, in what is now Lee County, another part of the
gang had a habitation, and of whom it is necessary to make mention.
About 1835 or 1836, there came to that place, Adolphus Bliss and
family, and two other men named Corydon Dewey and Charles West. The
names of Bliss, Dewey and West appear frequently in the early records of
the county as grand and petit jurors, justices of the peace, constables, etc.,
which will afford the younger generation and new comers to Ogle County
some idea of the prominence attained and influence exerted by the unlaw-
ful and crime-stained combination.
These three families were the first settlers at Inlet Grove, and from
the close intimacy that existed between them, they come to be known to
the later settlers as '*' Bliss, Dewey, West & Co.'' They had each settled
on government land, and to the casual passer-by seemed to be intent on
making farms and earning an honest living. But time and events proved
otherwise. Bliss had built a log house, which was known all along the
Rock River Yalley as the " Log Tavern." On a board in front of the house,
painted in large black letters, was this inscription: "Travelers' Home."
To many a land hunter in those days that sign was a welcome sight, and
many a family and individual sojourned there longer than they would have
done had they known the true character of the proprietors. Later events
showed that this '* Log Tavern " was a rendezvous for counterfeiters, or, at
least, a distributing point for their currency and coin, especially the Intter.
Making change is quite a business in its way with hotel keepers, and, as
most people know, change is sometimes hard to get, but " mine host " of
mSTOBY OP OGLE COUNTY. 355
the " Travelers' Home " was never " short," for he had the means of mak-
ing the supply equal to the demand. When the villainy of the clan began
to be unmasked, it was shown that no less that five sets of bogus dies were
kept sewed up in one of the feather beds with which the " Home " was sup-
plied. Dewey was Bliss' nearest neighbor on the one hand, and West on
the other, the last of whom eventually turned traitor, and revealed the
secrets of " Bliss, Dewey, West & Co.," as well as of the gang with whom
they operated. As settlements in that neighborhood increased, Dewey
was elected justice of the peace, and West was chosen constable. When-
ever their funds began to run low, all that was necessary to replenish their
exchequer was to call on the " keeper of the seals," and officially demand
the dies, and their demands were never resisted — for such resistance would
have been a criminal breach of the law! Whenever an attempt was made to
arrest a villain. Justice Dewey would inform his comrades of the facts, then
issue a warrant and place it in the hands of Constable West for service,
who, knowing in what direction the outlaw had gone, would start out in
hot haste in a directly opposite direction, and, of course, always returned
his warrants endorsed " not found." For years, the firm of " Bliss, Dewey,
West & Co." boldly prosecuted this kind of business. At last, however,
their true characters were unmasked, and Bliss and Dewey were arrested,
tried, convicted, and sent to the state's prison at Alton — West appearing
against them as a witness on the part of the people.
These personal references are necessary for a clear understanding of the
historical events to follow — events that gave the Rock River country a
national notoriety, and which ended in the arraignment and trial under one
indictment and before one jury, of the greatest number of men ever pre-
sented together before a judicial tribunal.
With an unlawful combination made up of such characters, and scat-
tered about in difierent parts of the country, and with members enough to
control the election of justices of the peace and other local officers, to influ-
ence and break the force and power of juries, it is no wonder the honest,
toiling, struggling pioneer settlers came to live in a continued state of ter-
ror — a terror that brooded over them from about 1836-'37, until the gang
was broken up and dispersed in 1845. For a period of one year after the
kilhng of the Driscolls, the people of Oregon City never went to sleep until
the citizen sentries had gone on duty. So bold and daring had the outlaws
become, that the honest people were forced, as a matter of self-protection,
to organize themselves for night patrol duty — taking turns every other
night. And even then, they felt unsafe, for no one knew the hour when
the night-watch would be overpowered, and a general butchery of the citi-
zens — men, women and children — indiscriminately commenced.
These Prairie Pirates were well organized, and had well defined lines
of travel throughout all the country in which they operated. Extending
from the Ohio River at Pittsburgh on the east, to the Missouri River on
the west; from difierent points in the south and southwest, up into AViscon-
sin, to the lakes and to Michigan, there were lines of horse thieves, along
which stolen horses were continually passing and repassing. These lines
were supplied with convenient stations, and the stations were in charge of
men, who, to all outward appearances, were honest, hard-working settlers.
Under this arrangement a horse stolen at either end of the line, or any
where in its vicinity in the interior, for that matter, could be passed from
one agent to another, and no one of the agents be absent Irom liis home or
356 msTOBY OF ogle county.
business for more than a few hours at a time, and thus, for years, remain
unsuspected. But their operations grew bolder and bolder. Horse after
horse was stolen and spirited , away, no one knew where or how; robbery
after robbery occurred throughout the country; every once in a while a
mangled corpse would be found in some uninhabited wood; counterfeit
money flooded the country, but no clue to the authors of these crimes could
be obtained. Ogle County, particularly, seemed to be a favorite and chosen
field for the operations of these outlaws, but they extended into Winnebago
and other counties as well. At last they became too common for longer
endurance. Patience ceased to be a virtue; and hope that such things
would die out as the country advanced in population and improvements,
grew sick, and determined desperation seized upon the minds of honest
men, and they resolved if there were no statute laws that would protect
them against the ravages of thieves, robbers and counterfeiters, they would
protect themselves. It was a desperate resolve, and desperately and bloodily
executed.
Up to 1841 no decisive measures had been inaugurated to rid the country
of the presence of the villains that had apparent control of every thing.
The laws could not be enforced with any degree of efficiency. If arrested,
tried and found sufficiently guilty to hold them to bail (in bailable offenses)
there were no jails sufficiently secure to hold them; and even if there had
been, there were members of the gang abundantly able to offer any amount
of bail required. Witnesses were always present to prove an alibi, and thus
it came about that the ranks of the prairie pirates were never thinned out
by law processes.
In April of this year, however, fifteen honest, sturdy, fearless and
determined men who had been victims to the predatory raids of the outlaws,
held a meeting in a log school-house at White K^^ck, for consultation.
These fifteen men represented a large district of country upon which the
gang had so long preyed unmolested. Some of them were native born
Americans — some were Canadians, and some were Scotchmen, but all were
resolute and determined. That meeting, after fully and carefully reviewing
the situation and the repeated outrages to which the community had been
subjected, and recognizing the fact, as it seemed to them, that law, justice
and its executives were inadequate to the protection of the people and the
arrest and punishment of the outlaws, they entered into a solemn compact
with each other to rid the country of the desperadoes by which it was
infested. The course resolved upon was to visit every known or suspected
person, and notily them to leave the country within a given length of time,
and that if they did not comply, they would be summarily and severely dealt
with — stripped and lashed until they would promise to comply with the
decision and demands of the " Regulators." To the accomplishment of this
work the Ogle County Regulators solemnly pledged themselves or to die in
the attempt. TJie work was soon commenced. From fifteen, their num-
bers soon increased to scores and hundreds. The first victim was a man
named John Hurl, who had been charged with being instrumental in hav-
ing his neighbor's horse stolen. He was taken out of his house and ordered
to stiip, which order he obeyed. His hands were tied behind his back,
when he was given thirtj^-six lashes with a raw hide, well applied, the blood
following every stroke. He stuod the ordeal, said an eye witness, without
flinching, and when the terrible work was ended, he remarked: "Now, as
your rage is satisfied, and to prove that 1 am an honest man, I will join
ATTYATLAW
OREGON
mSTOKT OF OGLE COUNTY. 359
your company." He became a member of the Regulators, although it was
almost certainly known that before this castigation his life had not been one
of irreproachable honesty.
Their next victim was a man named Daggett, who had once been a
Baptist preacher in the East, but had fallen from his high estate, Daggett
was charged with being accessory to the stealing of three or four horses
from the neighborhood of Rockford belonging to a man named Fish. He
was taken into custody, tried by the rules adopted by the Regulators, found
guilty and sentenced to receive Jim hundred lashes on his tare hack. He
was stripped for the ordeal, and every preparation made to execute the
sentence, but before a blow was struck, his daughter, aged about sixteen
years, of very prepossessing appearance, rushed frantically into the midst
of the men, begging for mercy for her father. Her agonized appeals,
together with the solemn promise of Daggett that he would leave the
country immediately, and the influence of one or two of the representative
men of the Regulators, secured a remission of the sentence, and he was
left without the infliction of a single lash. The company, numbering one
hundred men, then dispersed to their homes, and thus ended the tirst day's
work of the Regulators. About two o'clock that night, however, Phineas
Chaney, a prominent and influential member of the Vigilantes, was called
from his bed by the presence of a number of the Regulators, who informed
him they had found Fish, the owner of the horses Daggett was charged
with having had spirited away, and that they wanted to go back to Dag-
gett's, take him out and whip him until he confessed to the crime. Chaney
opposed the scheme on the grounds that they had once tried Daggett, and
entered into a solemn agreement with him to spare a punishment which
was no doubt just, but to go back there and carry out the proposed purpose
of his midnight visitors, before Daggett had time to make the least prepara-
tion toward keeping his part of the contract, would be dishonorable and
unmanly, and that he would in no wise countenance or encourage such a
proceeding. Exacting a promise from Mr. Chaney that he would not
oppose them, the company proceeded to Daggett's house, took him from
bed, and to a distance of two miles from his cabin, tied him to a burr oak
tree, and gave him ninety-six lashes, well laid on. During the infliction of
this terrible flagellation, Daggett confessed (as was reported) that he had
helped steal the horses, but protested to the last that he did not know where
they were — that they had passed beyond his knowledge. After the whipping
he was released from his cords and allowed to go at will. The next morn-
ing Daggett was reported to have left the county for Indiana, whither his
family soon after followed him. Whether he really left that morning, or
found concealment with some of the fraternity to which he belonged, was
never certainly known, but it is a fact that he was never afterwards seen in
the country.
Once started, the organization spread, and soon extended into Boone,
DeKalb, McHenry and Winnebago Counties, and, had a red flag been
hoisted during the night over every house the inmates of which sympathized
with the Regulators, the people, when they awoke, would have supposed
the whole country had the small-pox. The friends and comrades of the men
who had been whipped and ordered to leave the country were fearfully
enraged, and swore eternal and bloody vengeance. Eighty of them
assembled one night soon after in the barns of Aikens and Bridge — first in
one of the barns, and then adjourned to the other — where their plans were
Z90 BmmKT of ogijs oouvrr.
laid and preparatioiis made to visit White Eock and murder every man,
woman and child in that hamlet That thej absolutely started on that
bloodj mission was positivelj known, but on the way they were met by
anotlier member of the gang, a little cooler headed than the masses, and,
kaming the terrible object of their raid, he implored them to desist firom the
undertaking, and was hnally successful in prevailing upon them to disperse
to their homes. The plans, however, of the desperadoes having been over-
heard, and intelligence of the threatened massacre carried to White Eock,
preparations were at once made by the people to defend their homes and
their lives as dearly as the emergency of the occasion required. Armed
with rifles, shot guns, pistols, pitchforks — ^any thing and every thing that
eoold be made available as weapons of defense — nearly one hundred of the
settlers of White Rock, indudii^ every boy who was old enough and big
oiough to handle any of the weapons named, met together and took up a
position in a lane dividing the premises of T. O. Young and J. Sanford,
and prepared to receive the threatened attack. The fences were torn down
and a barricade erected across the lana Eails were pUed on the cross-
fence, with one end resting on the ground on the side towards the defend-
ing settlers, with the other ends projecting outward in the direction from
which the murderous crew must come, thus forming a kind of €ibaiis pro-
tection. Fortunately, the pirates reconsidered their purpose, and their
threat was not executed.
Within a short time after the Eegulators commenced their work of
extermination, as previously mentioned, and about the time the piratical
dan had sworn vengeance against the people of White Rock, Mr. W. S.
WeUington, who had been dfiosen as the first captain of the Regulators,
resignfM and John Campbell, a Scotchman and a devout Presbyterian, was
chosen as his successor. Within two weeks after his election, he received a
letter firom William DriscoU filled with most direfdl threats — ^not only
threatening Campbell's lite, but the life of every one who dared to oppose
their murderous, thieving operations. The only effect of this letter was to
add fresh|fuel to the already kindled flame, and in directing the rage of the
entire community against the DriscoUs. Soon after the receipt of this
letter by Mr. Campbell, one hundred and ninety-six of the Regulators
assembted together and marched to the residence of the DriscoUs, in South
Grove. On approaching the place, they disocwered a number of ruffians
armed to the teeth, as if inviting the attack. When within a half a mile of
the house, they halted to complete arrangements for the assault. There it
was determine that one of the number should go forward and beard the
lion in his den. While preparing to draw lots as to who should undertake
this death-ride a young man, ^o afterwards became one of Rockford's
best known citizens, volunteered to undertake the mission, and immediately
started. As he nea^ned the house, the door flew open, and nearly a score of
ruffians, all armed with pistols, dashed out and made for the woods. The
old man Driscoll mounted a fast horse and was soon beyond pursuit. One
man remained behind, and he informed the two hundred determined men
tiiat DriscoU had gone to Sycamore to muster his forces, and that they
would return in two hours to fight them. Kothing daunted, the Regulators
dismounted and threw themselves upon the ground to await the coming of
Drisooll's mob.
At three o'clock in the afternoon Driscoll returned, but instead of
bringing his threatened company of confederates, he brought Sherilf Wal-
HISTOET OF OGLE OOUUTT. 361
rodd, Squire Mayo, and the Probate Judge, Lovell, of DeK^lb Ck)unty.
These gentlemen inquired the nature of the strange gathering, in reply to
which Mr. Campbell, as leader of the citizens, made a decided and efiective
answer, every word of which fell with powerful force against DriscoU and
his confederates. ITe not only told why they were there, and for what pur-
pose they had come, but what they intended to do. He told of crimes the
briscoUs had committed — how William Driscoll and another man had
robbed Waterman's store at IN^ewburg, Boone County, and secreted the
plunder in a hiding place in Hickory Grove, and that in a day or two after-
wards Driscoll had gone in the dead hour of night and stolen the goods
from his confederate, thereby " making himself the meanest thief on the
face of God's earth." The Driscolls stood by livid with rage and gnashed
their teeth as Campbell told of their dark deeds.
When Campbell had finished, the three gentlemen from DeKalb, who
had come over with Driscoll, abandoned them, and told the Regulators that
any time they needed help to carry out their purpose to call on Sycamore,
from whence they could rely on at least one hundred good and willing men.
The Driscolls were then notified to leave the state, and were allowed
to name the day when they would depart. They fixed the time at twenty
days. Soon after the citizens dispersed to their homes.
The Driscolls did not leave the country, nor did they make preparations
to leave. On the contrary, they continued in their evil ways, and if possi-
ble became bolder and more defiant than ever, notwithstanding they made
the most solemn protestations that they were making arrangements to quit
the country.
In less than ten days after the events narrated above, a meeting of the
outlaws and desperadoes was held on the farm of William Bridge, at
Washington Grove, where the murder of Campbell and Chaney was planned,
and David and Taylor Driscoll detailed to the murder of Campbell. They
were sworn to waylay Campbell, and not to leave him until he was a corpse.
It was never certainly known who of the gang were detailed to murder
Chaney, but it is known that on Friday night, June 25, 1841, his intended
and designated assassin visited his premises in the dead hour of night.
Chaney had two ferocious watch dogs, who '" treed " them on his corn
cribs, where they remained until nearly daylight, when they managed to
quiet the dogs, and got away'^under cover of the same darkness that con-
cealed their murderous coming. During the alarm created by his dogs,
Chaney got up from his bed, and started out to see what was wrong, but
taking a second thought and remembering that his murder had been
threatened, he returned to his bed, and thus saved his life. His murder,
however, was reported the next morning at school by Hettie, the little
daughter of Bridge. Her story was this: She slept in a trundle bed
which was drawn out from beneath the bed occupied by her father and
mother. In the morning just before daylight, she overheard her father
telling her mother that " Chaney was killed last night by some men that
had been sent to do that work." This statement of his child, too young
and innocent to manufacture the statement, or to know the part her father
bore towards the murderous banditti, left no reason for the settlers to doubt
that Bridge knew all about the scheme, the time fixed and the names of the
cut-throats set to carry out that'part of the sworn vengeance of the infamous
and cowardly combination.
Sunday, June 27, 1841, the two Driscolls — David and Taylor — who
362 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
had been appointed and sworn to murder John Campbell, accomplished the
atrocious and bloody purpose. Saturday the 26th, Mr. Campbell had gone
to Kockford, where he remained over night, returning to his home,' in
White Rock, about noon on Sunday. In the afternoon he and his family
went to church at a school-house one mile west of his residence, from which
service they returned between five and six o'clock. After supper Campbell
lay down on a lounge to rest. About sundown, he arose, went out of the
house and started towards the barn, which stood across a lane from his
house. In the lane, and a little south of the crossing between the barn
and the house, there was a copse or " bunch" of hazel brush, which, in full
leaf, was thick enough to hide his murderers. As he stepped through the
gate from the door yard into the lane, his assassins rose up from behind the
bunch of hazels and remarked, '' We want to go to the burnt mill,* but
have lost our way." Before Carnpbell could answer, David Driscoll raised
his gun, and aiming it at the object of their wrath and sworn vengeance,
shot him through the heart. After he was shot, Campbell re-entered the
gate, and, blinded by approaching death, turned a little to the southeast, and
fell a lifeless corpse fourteen feet from the gate. The Driscoll s had kept
their oath.
After the shooting, the murderers turned and started in a southeast
direction, leaving the house a little to their left. As Campbell fell, his wife
ran to him, and as she reached his lifeless remains, she called after the flee-
ing scoundrels, " Driscolls, you have murdered John Campbell." As Mrs.
Campbell uttered this exclamation, the murderers made a temporary halt,
and Taylor Driscoll raised his rifle and pointed it towards her, but lowered
it without flring, and the two resumed their retreat from the scene of blood.
In the meantime, Martin Campbell, aged about thirteen years, a son of the
victim, seized a double-barrelled shot gun and running around the house,
aimed at the fleeing murderers, pulled the trigger, but both caps snapped.
The gun was double charged with buck shot, but having been loaded for
some time and exposed to damp and wet, failed to go oft*, and thus the
murderers both got away.
News of this murder spread like wildfire. Indignation against the
Driscolls was aroused to fever heat. On Monday, the 28th, the remains of
Campbell were buried. After the funeral, the excitement and indignation
against the perpetrators and instigators of the oloody crime broke out afresh.
The very air was filled with threats of vengeance against them, and nothing
but the lives of the murderous gang would pay the penalty. ISTews ot the
terrible crime had been carried to Sycamore, Oregon and Kockford, and
help in the work of extermination demanded, and it was given. Monday
afternoon Rockford was more like a deserted village, than a bustling, busy
little town. Every man that could go, went — all determined to avenge
Campbell's death.
A little after sunrise on Monday morning after the murder, old John
Driscoll was arrested by the Ogle County sheriff and "posse comitatus at
the house of his son David, near Lynnville, and during the day he was
taken to the jail at Oregon City.
* The mill here referred to had belonged to John Long, who had taken an active part
against the gang, and in revenge it is supposed some of them had burned his mill. The
same night the mill was burned, the incendiaries broke all the legs of tlie only horse Mr.
Long owned, and which he used to ride between his residence and mill, which were situated
about one mile apart. After that occurrence, Mr. Long was rather reticent and indifferent
towards the wretches — seemingly awed into submission and silence.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
As soon as it was sufficiently light on Monday morning, the friends
and neighbors of Campbell began to look around for some evidences that
would help thetn trace the murderers, believing that, while David and
Taylor Driscoll had perpetrated the bloody work, accessories were near by
to oifer their assistance in case they were foiled in their undertaking, and
likely to be overpowered. They pretty soon came on what seemed to be
the tracks of five horses pointing in the direction of David Driscoll's. One
of these tracks was marked by a part (two nails and the cork) of a horse-
shoe. This trail was taken up and followed to David Driscoll's statle.
While a part of the men went to the house and entered it, another part
went into the stable, where they found an animal that seemed to have been
hardly ridden, and still covered with hard, dry sweat. An examination of
the feet of this animal discovered a part of a shoe that corresponded exactly
with the tracks discovered at Campbell's, and which had been followed a
distance of seven miles, to where the animal was found. This was consid-
ered strong circumstantial evidence, at least, and the next important step
was to learn who had ridden the animal, and old man Driscoll, the only
male member of the family present, was thus interrogated by one of the
posse:
" Who rode that animal in the stable (describing it) this morning? "
" I rode it," replied the old man, " from South Grove."
" Who rode it to South Grove last night? "
" I rode it there yesterday afternoon."
" Who rode it from near GamjphelVs place yesterday evening f "
To this last question the old man made no answer, and from that time
forward, he maintained a dogged, stubborn silence, only speaking when it
was unavoidably necessary.
William T. Ward, the sheriff of Ogle County, when he found Driscoll
would answer no more questions upon that point, spoke to him as follows :
" Driscoll, that broken horse shoe and the tracks it left, have placed you
in a quandary from which you will find it difficult to extricate yourself,
and I take you under arrest, in the name of the people of the State of
Illinois, on suspicion of being accessory to the murder of John Campbell."
During the time thus occupied, one of the female members of the
Driscoll household (a daughter-in-law) remarked to some of the posse that
the old man "was a bad and dangerous character, and that if he had received
his just deserts, he would have been shot long ago."
Breakfast was soon served, and the old man was told to eat his break-
fast and get ready to accompany the sheriff. He sat up to the table, but
ate very sparingly, after which he was told to bid his wife (who was there)
and the rest of the family "good-bye," as he might never see them again.
Calmly, coolly, indifferently, and without feeling, as far as outward indica-
tions showed, he turned to his wife and said, " Take care of yourself, and do
the best you can " — " only that, and nothing more," and then went out to
his death.
William and Pierce Driscoll were arrested at their homes at South
Grove, DeKalb County, on the afternoon of the same day, by the Kockford
men, and taken to the residence of John Campbell, and kept under guard
over night. David and Taylor Driscoll, William K. Bridge, Richard and
Thomas Aikens were also sought after, but were not^found. They had
escaped the vigilance of an outraged people, and fled, no one knew whither.
Tuesday morning, the 29th, the people of White Rock, having heard that
364 HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY.
the citizens of Rockford had William and Pierce Driscoll prisoners at
Campbell's, prepared for immediate and decided action, and while the set-
tlers were gathering in force, three of their most trusted and determined
men came to Oregon, and, against the protestations of the sheriff and the
admonitions and warnings of Judge Ford, took John Driscoll from the
custody of the sheriff, hurried him across the river, and started towards
Washington Grove via Daysville. At Daysville a temporary halt was
made, and there Obed Lindsay and Phinneas Clianey took the old man
aside to interrogate him in regard to his former life. He confessed to them
that he had been a very bad man, and that he had done many unlawful and
vicious things, but that he had never committed murder. He admitted
that he had stolen, or caused to be stolen, as many as fifty horses. The
question was asked him, if the number would not reach five hundred, which
he answered by saying, " may be it might ; I have lost count. I have paid
out hundreds of dollars to young men for stealing horses from men against
whom I have had a grudge, and from which I never received a cent of
profit. I paid these hundreds of dollars in small sums of from ten to
twenty dollars each. I did not expect any profit from such expenditures.
All I wanted was sweet revenge. I also did a great wrong towards Pierce,
my son, whom I was the means of sending to the Ohio penitentiary. I had
a grudge against a man that lived seven miles away, and determined to
burn his barn. Pierce lived half way between my place and the man
against whom I held this grudge. I went to Pierce's stable, in the dark
hour of night, took out his horse, rode to the barn, set it on fire, and returned
the horse to the stable. The roads were muddy and the horse was easily
tracked. The tracks led to and from Pierce's stable, and he was arrested,
tried, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for three years, and
served out his time." Pierce Driscoll subsequently confirmed this state-
ment, which left no room to doubt the terribly depraved nature of his father.
At Daysville the crowd had increased to about one hundred men.
When Lindsay and Chaney had finished questioning their captive prisoner,
the excited crowd moved on towards Washington Grove, where they arrived
about ten o'clock, and were joined by the Rockford division with their pris-
oners, William and Pierce Driscoll. After the White Rock people crossed the
river with old man Driscoll, an inch rope halter was taken from a horse's
head and tied around his neck, and in this way he was taken to the place
of execution. Neither one of the other prisoners were hampered by man-
acles of any kind.
When all parties had arrived at Washington Grove, as many as five
hundred indignant and outraged citizens were present. Some from Win-
nebago, some from DeKalb, some from Lee, but the majority was made up
from Ogle County. Almost all classes of citizens were represented — farm-
ers, mechanics, lawyers, preachers, doctors, justices of the peace, constables
and sheriffs. Among the lawyers present, were E. S. Leland (since a prom-
inent judge, and now living at Ottawa), W. W. Fuller, of Oregon; Jason
Marsh and Latimer, of Rockford. Leland was chosen as a general
director of the proceedings to ensue. The Regulators were ordered to form
in a circle around a large black oak tree. One hundred and twenty of
them thus formed, when Mr. Leland suggested that if there were any men
in that circle that were objectionable, on any account, that challengers be
selected to point them out and have them removed. Under this ruling, the
number was reduced to one hundred and eleven men. Chairs were placed
HISTORY OF OGLE OOtJNTT. 366
within the circle and occupied by the prisoners, justices of the peace, etc.
The witnesses were sworn by one of the justices present, and the prisoners
arraigned for trial. William Driscoll was arraigned first, and asked by Mr.
Leland " if he had ever instructed his brother JDavid to go to the Captain's
(meaning Campbell) at twihght in the evening, pretend to be lost, call him
out to inquire the way, and then shoot him down, as they did in Iowa, on a
certain occasion, and saying, ' d — n them (the Regulators), they will all
run then, as they did there? ' " The accused answered in positive language
that he had not. Henry Hill, as worthy a man as ever lived in Ogle
County, was then sworn and examined. He testified that he had heard
Wilham Driscoll give the accused the instructions just quoted, and named
the time and the occasion. Driscoll's memory thus refreshed, he answered:
" I remember it now; I aid use the language, but only did it in jest; "
when Leland replied:
" Driscoll, you will find that jesting away good men's lives is a serious
matter, and that it will not be tolerated in this community."
The evidence of Henry Hill, and others who corroborated him, was held
as sufficient to establish his guilt, as accessory to the murder of John
Campbell.
The old man Driscoll was next arraigned and similarly questioned.
The broken horse-shoe track and other evidence which he could not explain
away was submitted to the jury of " one hundred and eleven" men. The
examination of witnesses was thorough. Both men were given fair and just
opportunities to show their innocence, if they were innocent, as accessories
to the murder of Campbell. Besides this, there were other crimes that had
been traced to the hands of these men, and upon which they were also ques-
tioned. Failing to explain away the dark and damning circumstances that
surrounded them — that pointed unerringly to their guilty participation in
many well- specified crimes — they were held to answer.
The proceedings were conducted calmly, coolly, deliberately, but with a
firmness and determination that showed the citizens to be in earnest in
their determination to free the country from the dominion and presence of
outlaws.
At last, when the examination of old John Driscoll was concluded, the
question was put to the men forming the circle within which the prisoners
had been tried:
" WJmt say you, gentlemen, guilty or not guilty ^^^
" Guilty^'' was the unanimous response of the one hundred and eleven
men composing the jury oefore whom John and David Driscoll had been
tried, and they were sentenced to be hanged.
When the sentence was announced, the condemned men begged that
the sentence be changed — that they might be shot to death, instead of being
'' hanged like dogs." A motion for a change of sentence was submitted to
the men who had found them guilty and announced the penalty, and the
request of the trembling wretches was granted with but few dissenting
voices.
At this point in the proceedings, the old man was allowed to go aside
with Jason Marsh for consultation and confession. When the time granted
for this consultation had expired. Marsh announced in a few words that
Driscoll had no confession to make, and urged the crowd not to be too hasty
in the premises, and that time be allowed the men to prepare for death. A
respite of one hour was granted them for that purpose, which was prolonged
366 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
to fully two hours. Two ministers, who were present, prayed with the con-
demned men, to one of whom, it is said, William Driscoll confessed that
he had murdered no less than six men with his own hand. He prayed for
forgiveness and became quite penitent. The old man was determined, and
held out to the very end, without uttering even the simple prayer, " God
have mercy on my soul."
At the expiration of the time granted, a few men began to clamor for
a full remission of the sentence ; some few others favored the plan of
remanding them to the custody of the law officers, and thus evade the
responsibility they had taken upon themselves. In the midst of these
clamors and suggestions, Latimer, for the people, made a vehement address,
saying that nothing but blood would palliate the crimes that had been com-
mitted, that as long as the gang of outlaws were permitted to remain on
the earth, no community would be safe from their depredations and crimes.
The Driscolls, if not the head centres and authors and instigators of the
untold robberies and murders that had been committed in the country,
were at least accomplices, and had shared in the plunder. He maintained
that the people were justified in taking the course they had, that their
safety demanded it, that the murder of Campbell must be avenged, and that
if the actual murderers could not be found, those who planned the foul
deed must suffer in their stead, and concluded by urging the immediate
execution of John Driscoll and his son William. Jason Marsh followed,
briefly, in the same line of argument. These arguments had the effect of
stilling the clamors of those who were called the " weak-kneed," and to
dispel from the minds of the prisoners all hopes of a stay of proceedings.
The men were formed in line, numbered, and divided into two death
divisions, as nearly equal as the number would permit, fifty-five in one
division and fifty-six in the other. One division was detailed to the execu-
tion of the old man, and the other to the execution of William. The old
man was led forth first; his eyes were bandaged, and he was made to kneel
upon the earth. All things in readiness, the signal to fire was given, and
the old man fell to the^earth, riddled and shattered to pieces with the charges
of fifty -six rifies.
William's fate came next. In the last hour, abject fear overcame his
former boldness, and his hair turned almost white. In a semi-conscious
condition he was led forth, and in a few minutes his body was riddled by
the discharges from the other fifty-five rifles, and lay bleeding and quiver-
ing by the side of his father.
fierce Driscoll, who had been released from custody, was told that he
would be permitted to take charge of the dead bodies of his father and
that teams and help would be provided to convey them home and prepare
them for burial, but the offer was declined with the declaration that he
would have nothing to do with it. Spades and shovels were procured, and
a rude grave was dug on the spot where they had been killed, and,
unwashed and uncoffined, ghastly and gory, their bodies were rolled into
the one grave together and covered over. Six weeks later, their bodies
were taken up by their friends, washed and given a decent burial.
Unparalleled excitement followed these proceedings. The volunteer
club scoured the country in every direction to find William K. Bridge,
Taylor and David Driscoll, and Bridge barely made his escape. When the
Regulators were at his house, he was hidden in an excavation underneath
it. When the Regulators had gone, he left his home and fled to Henry,
^* 11^
HtSTORT OF OGLE COUNTY. 369
on the Illinois River, in Marshall County, and took refuge with a member
of the gang named Redden. The officers, by some means, got on his track
and traced him to his hiding place, and found him concealed in the garret
of Redden's house, where he was arrested and brought back. He was taken
before William J. Mix, a justice of the peace, for examination as being
accessory to the murder of John Campbell, but, for want of sufficient
evidence, was discharged.
Taylor Driscoll was arrested some years later, and brought back to
Ogle County, where he was indicted for the murder of John Campbell. A
change of venue was granted, and the case was sent to McHenry County.
On the tirst trial, the jury disagreed, and a new one was granted. On the
second trial, the court allowed the defendant's counsel a wide latitude in
the cross examination of witnesses for the prosecution, especially of Mrs.
Campbell, who was a nervous, irritable woman, and they worried her into
statements that so injured the case that Driscoll was acquitted.
David Driscoll also left the state, and thus avoided arrest.
The measures thus inaugurated to free the country from the dominion
of outlaws was a last, desperate resort, but it seemed to be the only remedy
left to the settlers. Many of those engaged in the execution of John and
William Driscoll, father and son, became wealthy and respected, and are
now among the most influential citizens of the county.
To communities where courts of law are permanently established;
where society is well organized, and officers of the law sustained in the
execution of laws made for the protection of society and the punishment of
crime and criminals, the action of the settlers in organizing themselves as
Vigilantes or Regulators, and the measures they inaugurated to free them-
selves from the dominion and presence of the law-defying, terror-inspiring
and crime-stained combination against whom their work of extermination
was directed, may seem harsh and cruel. But it should be remembered
that, so numerous had the outlaws become, it was impossible to enforce the
laws against them. Some of their members were justices of the peace;
some were constables, and none of the early grand and petit juries were free
from their presence. The first sheriff of the county was a sympathizer with,
if not an actual member of the clan. Under such circumstances the honest
settlers were completely at the mercy, and within their power, so far as the
execution of the law against them was concerned. So bold, indeed, did
they become, that Judge Ford (subsequently governor of the state), pre-
vious to the organization of the settlers as Vigilantes^ felt constrained to
admonish them from the bench. The occasion when this language was used
was on the trial of Norton B. Royce, for counterfeiting, at the March term
of the circuit court, 1841. After sentence had been pronounced against
Royce, Judge Ford said: " I am going away on business, and will be
obliged to leave my family behind me. If the desperadoes dare to injure
them while I am gone, I will come back, call my neighbors together, and
follow them until I have overtaken them, when the first tree shall be their
gallows; and if the injury is done while I am on the bench trying a case, I
will leave the bench and follow them up until they are exterminated."
Such language as this from a judge on the bench assured the honest peo-
ple in their earnest purpose of extermination. There were some people then,
however, as there have been some writers since, that sought to array the
public sentiment of the country and of the courts against the subsequent
action of the Regulators in their arrest, trial, conviction, sentence and execu-
370 HISTOET OF OGLE COTTNTY.
tion of the Driscolls, and to cast upon them the odium of outlaws and
murderers; but the courts, to which the Regulators, to the number of one
hundred and twelve men, submitted their action, under indictment, and
before which thej were fairly and impartially tried, acquitted them. Pros-
perity and thrift have attended them ever since; they have the respect and
confidence of all classes of society, at home and abroad ; their honesty and
obedience to law are unquestioned and undoubted, so that whatever the
efforts of the sympathizers with the Driscolls as to their sudden and dis-
graceful taking off', and with their two victims of the lash. Hurl and Dag-
gett, the Regulators are fully and proudly vindicated.
The killing of the Driscolls was not the end. It was only the begin-
ning of the work of extermination, although it was the jiTst and last instance
where such desperate measures were considered necessary to accomplish
their purpose.
Among those who took exceptions to the work of the Regulators, was
Mr. P. Knappen, editor of the Rockford Star. In an editorial article
under date of July 1, 1841, Mr. Knappen said:
"A short time since we received through the post office a copy of the
proceedings of the Ogle County Lynchers, up to the latest date, embracing
the following resolution:
" Besolved, That the proceedings of the Volunteer Company be published in the
Rockford newspapers once a month.
" Now, be it known to all the world that we have solemnly resolved
that the proceedings of the Ogle County, or any county volunteer lynch
company can not be justified or encouraged in our columns. The view we
take of the subject does not permit us to approve the measures and conduct
of the said company. If two or three hundred citizens are to assume the
administration of lynch law in the face and eyes of the laws of the land, we
shall soon have a fearful state of things, and where, we ask, will it end if
mob law is to supersede the civil law? If it is tolerated, no man's life or
property is safe; his neighbor, who may be more popular than himself, will
possess an easy, ready way to be revenged by misrepresentation and false
accusation; in short, of what avail are our legislative bodies and their enact-
ments? We live in a land of laws, and to them it becomes us to resort and
submit for the punishment and redress as faithful keepers of the laws, and
thus extend to each other the protection and advantages of the law, and
repulse every attempt to deprive a fellow citizen of the precious privilege
granted in all civilized countries — namely, the right to be tried by an
impartial jury of twelve good men of his county. But, perhaps, it will be
argued by some, that we have in this new country no means or proper
places for securing offenders and breakers of the laws, to which we answer,
then build them. The time already spent by three or four hundred men in
this and Ogle Counties, at three or four different times, and from two to four
days at a time, this season, would have built jails so strong that no man, or
dozen men on earth, deprived of implements with which to work, and con-
fined in them, could ever escape, and guard them sufficiently strong by
armed men outside, to prevent assistance from rescuing them from the arm
of the law. Would not this course be much more patriotic and creditable
to the citizens of a civilized and christianized country, than to resort to the
administration of mob law by Judge Lynch? Not on us, gentlemen, but on
your own heads be the responsibility; we wash our hands clear from the
olood of Lynch law.^'
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTTNTT. 871
In the same number of the Star, from which the above is quoted, there
appeared two communications — one signed Yox Populi, taking strong
grounds against the action of the Regulators, pronouncing them a ^^ Ban-
ditti^'' etc. This writer says: "Banditti like, after organization, these fiends
in human shape, commenced traversing the country for plunder — not, per-
haps, vahiable goods, but the liberty and lives of their fellow citizens!
Every one who happened to fall under the suspicion of one or more of this
gang was at once brought before their self-constituted tribunal, where there
was no difficulty in procuring testimony for convicting him of any crime
named, when he was sentenced, and men appointed to inflict the adjudged
punishment, which, in the embryo existence of the ' Clan,' generally con-
sisted in giving the culprit from twenty to three hundred lashes well laid on.
* * * jN'o one pretends that John and William Driscoll had
committed murder, nor can they say that they merited the punishment they
received, even had they been found guilty by an impartial jury of their
country of the crime alleged by the mob. ITo; had unimpeachable testi-
mony been brought to prove them guilty of that for which circumstantial
evidence was horribly distorted to convict them, the penalty would have
been but three to five years imprisonment in the penitentiary." * -^^ *
And has it come to this, that in a land of civilization and Christianity,
blessed with as wholesome a code of laws as man's ingenuity ever invented,
a few desperadoes shall rise up and inflict all manner of punishment, even
DEATH, upon whomsoever they please ? Shall all Civil Law be sacrificed and
trampled in the dust at the shrine of Mobocracy ? Shall the life and prop-
erty of no one receive any protection from the civil law, but both be subject
to the nod of an inconsiderate and uncontrollable mob % Shall these things
he so f Or will the people rise en masse, and assert the laws of the land,
and enforce the same against the murderers and lynchers? The latter course
is certainly pointed out by Justice, and I trust in God that justice will be
meted out to all who have had a hand in this bloody business."
The second communication to which reference is made above, was
signed "B," bore date July 1, 1841, and sustained the action of the Regu-
lators. It was generally credited to Mr. Latimer, the attorney, who made
such a violent address on the occasion of the killing of the Driscolls. He
subsequently removed to Lancaster, Grant County, Wisconsin, where he
was killed in a street fight with a gambler.
The Star editorial already quoted, and the communication of Yox
Populi, only maddened the Regulators the more, and a few nights after the
paper containing these articles was issued, the office was entered by unknown
parties and the type in forms and cases "pied " — that is, turned out on the
floor promiscuously, and the entire office reduced to a pile of ruins. Knap-
pen's hopes were blasted, and he shortly sold the wreck to John A. Brown,
who rescued the material from confusion, and the publication of a paper
called the Pilot wsls commenced.
Murders, and robberies and kindred crimes, did not stop with the kill-
ing of the Driscolls and the sacking of the Star office. Outrages continued,
and the people came to live in almost uninterrupted fear and alarm. With-
out entering into a detailed specification of the repeated outrages, rob-
beries, etc., we will enumerate a few of the boldest in the order of their
occurrence *
On the night of the 18th of September, 1843, the store of William
McKinney, in Rockford, was entered and plundered of a trunk containing
372 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
between $700 and $800. A brother of McKinney was sleeping in the
store. He was awakened by the noise made by the midnight prowlers, and
attempting to oppose the robber, who called him by name, he was awed into
silence and non-resistance by a knife that was placed against his breast, the
thief remarking that he "must have the trunk containing the money, as he
could not afford to run such risks for nothing." He got the trunk and
escaped, and eluded capture.
Scarcely had the excitement created by this bold robbery died away,
when the community was again startled by the perpetration of a bolder one
still. This robbery was committed on one of Frink, Walker & Co.'s four-
horse mail coaches, about four miles out from Rockford towards Chicago,
while, as it is stated, the coach was actually in motion and full of passen-
gers, but was not discovered until the coach arrived at I^ewburgh. The
following morning the trunks and baggage were found a few rods from the
road, broken open and rifled of all their valuables. A newspaper published
at Rockford at the time, in speaking of this robbery, said : " What renders
these transactions still more exciting, is the fact that they are committed by
those who are perfect scholars in the business movements of the town."
No immediate clue to this last bold robbery was obtained.
This stage robbery was followed a few weeks later by another one fully
as daring, in this instance, the house of William Mulford, in Guilford
Township, was entered in the night time, and while a party of the gang
stood guard over Mr. and Mrs. Mulford, who had gone to bed, the others
ransacked the house, and found about $400, which they carried away. It
had been rumored that Mulford had received some $15,000 from New York
a short time before, and this rumor had reached the ears of the gang. But
luckily, if such sum had been received, it was so carefully secreted as to be
beyond discovery by the robbers. The alarm was given next morning, and
although the country was hunted over for miles, no track of the desperadoes
could be found, and in a short time this robbery was almost forgotten in
the series of depredations that followed — all so perfectly planned and car-
ried out, that detection and discovery seemed impossible. But argus-eyed
Nemesis was on their track.
The killing of the Driscolls was one step towards freeing the country
from desperadoes. But many other steps were necessary before the work
would be fully completed. In the early part of the Summer of 1845, Charles
West, of the firm of "Bliss, Dewey, West & Co.," of whom mention has here-
tofore been made, became offended at the gang. Taking advantage of this
circumstance, certain respectable people in the immediate neighborhood of
the Bliss and Dewey rendezvous, succeeded in prevailing upon West to
reveal the names of the gang, and a number of them were soon afterwards
arrested. Among some of the most prominent and active members of the
gang were Charles Oliver, Jr., and Wm. McDowell, of Rockford; Sutton,
alias Fox, Birch, the " boss " thief of the gang, and who was known from
one end of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to the other by the several
aZ^<3^S6S of Harris, Haynes and Brown; Bridge, Davis, Thomas Aiken, and
Baker. Besides, there were a number of others whose names are forgotten.
• Among other revelations made by West, was the plan, as well as the names
of the parties, who robbed McKinney's store in Rockford.
To complete the history of the chain of circumstances that led to the
arrest, trial, conviction and sentence of a number of the gang, it is neces-
sary , to refer to the following circumstance, an important one in this
connection :
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 373
A member of the gang, whose name has been forgotten, had fallen
under suspicion of his confederates as not being of the "right stripe,'' and,
to relieve the organization of his membership, some of the fraternity in
Bureau County, the home of the suspected menlber, preferred a charge of
horse stealing against him, and secured his arrest and imprisonment in the
jail at Princeton. During his incarceration, he revealed sundry and divers
secrets of the gang to the sheriff of Bureau County. Among these secrets
was a full account of the Mulford robbery, and the names of the parties
engaged in its perpetration, which had been reported to him by another
member of the confederacy, named Irving A. Stearns. Shortly after that
affair Stearns went up into Michigan, where he soon got himself into the
penitentiary for horse-stealing. These revelations were communicated to
the Winnebago authorities, and they made arrangements to secure the
presence of the informer before the grand jury of that county for the
Spring terra, 1845, of the circuit court. For this purpose, a night session
of the grand jury was held, and, upon the evidence of this man, indictments
were found against Charles Oliver and William McDowell, of Winnebago
County, and William K. Bridge, of Ogle County, for committing the Mul-
ford robbery. The same night arrangements were made for the arrest of
Oliver and McDowell. At that particular time, the sheriff of Winnebago
County was absent from home. There was no deputy, and the coroner,
next in authority to the sheriff, was the father-in-law of McDowell, which
fact rendered him an unsafe person to be entrusted with the arrest of Oliver
and McDowell. Under the law, in those days, two justices of the peace
could appoint an officer to act in cases of emergency, where there was no
sheriff, or in the absence of that officer. Acting under this law, Chauncy
Burton and Willard Wheeler, justices of the peace, were called up out of
bed, and Mr. Goodyear A . Sanford, the last preceding sheriff, was appointed
to make the arrest. By this time the night was well-nigh gone, and as the
affair had been kept perfectly quiet, their arrest was deferred till the next
day, when Mr. Sanford took them into custody without difficulty. Soon
after, Bridge was also arrested at his home in Ogle County, and taken up
to Rockford. The news of these important arrests, and of the finding of
the indictments under which they were made, rekindled the old embers of
excitement, and it was determined that no bail ought to be offered or
accepted for the release of these parties, but that they should be held in
close custody until they could be tried in the circuit court. The murder of
Col. Davenport, a month later, July 4, 1845, added fresh fury to the indig-
nation of the people, and it is a matter of wonder that the same fate was
not visited upon them, that had been meted out to the Driscolls.
From the time of the Mulford robbery Jason Marsh, of Rockford, had
been actively and industriously engaged in working up the case, and
attempting to ferret out the robbers. Taking his cue from the sworn evi-
dence upon which the indictments against Oliver, McDowell and Bridge
were founded, coupled with the statements previously made by Charles West,
of " Bliss, Dewey, West & Co.," he visited the Michigan penitentiary,
where he found the man Stearns, who corroborated all, and more than all,
stated by West, and sworn to by his old confederate in crime. Marsh
made arrangements to secure the pardon of Stearns, in order to use him as
as a witness against Oliver, McDowell and Bridge, and then returned to
Rockford to complete preparations for the trial.
The trial of this case commenced August 26, 1845, before Judge
374: HISTORY OF OGLE COrNTT.
Thomas C. Browne, presiding, and excited an interest and an attendance
that was never equalled in the history of the Rock River country. Even
the trial of Alfred Countryman, in February, 1857, for the murder, by
shooting, of Sheriff John Taylor, of Winnebago County, on the 11th day
of November, 1856, failed to attract the attention or to create the excite-
ment consequent upon the trial of Charles Oliver, probably, for the reason
of the large number of crimes that had been committed and the belief
that the prisoner was a ruling spirit, if not the ''head centre," of the
notorious confederacy of thieves that infested the country.
From the time of his arrest, Oliver assumed and maintained an air of
boldness and manifest indifference. He assured his friends of his ability
to establish his innocence of the charges preferred in the indictment. As
the time for the trial came on, Mr. Marsh had gone back to Michigan,
completed arrangements for the pardon of Stearns, and returned with him
to Rockford, where he was kept in close concealment until the court was
ready to receive his testimony, his presence in Rockford, and the means
taken to secure his presence there, being entirely unknown and unsuspected
by both Oliver and McDowell. The Mulford robbery had been so carefully
planned and secretly managed that Oliver felt sure of acquittal. The
only witness whom he had occasion to fear was Stearns, whom he supposed
to be in the Michigan prison, little suspecting that the sworn testimony of
one of his former subordinates and slaves was at hand to convict and sen-
tence him to an imprisonment from which the latter had just been par-
doned.
When the court was ready to receive the testimony of Stearns, that
witness was smuggled in to the court room in the midst of a number of
other men, and so seated* as to be concealed from the prisoner when he was
brought in, which followed soon after. Oliver came in chatting and laugh-
ing with his attendants as if he were only an ordinary spectator, instead of
a prisoner on trial for high crimes and misdemeanors. When court was
opened and the names of witnesses for the prosecution were called, the name
of " Irving A. Stearns " fell with startling distinctness upon the ears of the
hitherto defiant Oliver. His face turned deathly pale, and he sat trembling
and crestfallen by the side of his counsel. Courage and hope fled together.
Stearns testified that the secrets of the Mulford robbery had been im-
parted to him by Oliver, and that Oliver had offered him some of the stolen
money in exchange for a horse, telling him at the same time where and how
the money was obtained. His evidence was direct and unequivocal, and a
rigid cross-examination failed to weaken it in any degree.
West, who was also present as a witness for the people, testified that
Oliver planned the robbery, and that, although he (Oliver) was not present
when the robbery was committed, he admitted to witness that he received
a share of the stolen money. As in the evidence of Stearns, a sharp cross-
examination failed to bring out any contradictory statements, and Oliver
was found guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary at Alton for a term of
eight years. At the end of five years he was pardoned out, and rejoined his
wife and family in New York. A few years later he visited Rockford and
mingled quite freely with the people among whom he had once been so
popular, and to some of whom he explained why the gang had not robbed
more of them. To Goodyear A. Sanford he said: " The boys often wanted
to go for you (as county treasurer), but I wouldn't let them, because you
was such a clever fellow."
HISTOEY OF OGLE COUNTY. 375
McDowell was convicted a little later in the course of time, and was
also sentenced for eight years, but, like his old leader in crime, was pardoned
at the end of five years and went to work as a carpenter at Alton, where he
so conducted himself as to win the respect of the people, and where he was
still living at last accounts.
Bridge took a change of venue to Ogle County, pleaded guilty, and where
he was sentenced to the penitentiary. After his release, he went to Iowa,
where, reports say, he fell into his old vices, and was finally killed.
Three of the Aikens boys, Charles, Richard and Thomas, who were
named in the course of this chapter, went " to the bad," but escaped the
penitentiary. " Charles died at his home at Washington Grove in 1841, from
(as it was reported from two sources) the effects of a terrible whipping
administered by the people of Fort Madison, Iowa, against whom he had
offended. The rumor came from there that, after he was whipped he was
tied to a log of wood and thrown into the Mississippi River. How he
escaped from drowning was never known, but he managed to reach home
more dead than alive, lingered there a few days, suffering the most agoniz-
ing tortures of mind and body, and then went down to a disgraceful and
dislionorable grave. It was said by some of those who were present to
offer the last humane duty of preparing his remains for burial, that his body
was literally cut into gashes from his shoulders to his heels.
Richard Aikens died the same year from sickness contracted from
exposure while hiding by day and by night from the regulators and law
officers.
After the killing of the Driscolls, Thomas Aikens, who had become
fully identified with the prairie pirates, was not seen much in the country.
His movements were governed by the gang with whom he had cast his
fortunes. In 1843 Aikens, Burch, Fox and one or two others, stole some
horses in Warren County and fled northward. The people of Warren
County got on their track and followed their trail to the home of Aikens at
Lafayette Grove, where the thieves had stopped for rest and refreshments,
and where they were captured. They were taken back to Warren County,
where they were arraigned before a justice of the peace on the charge of
stealing horses, and were held to answer. In the absence of bail they were
committed to jail, but managed to escape in a short time and left the
country. Rumor says that I'homas Aikens went out on the frontier and
located far up on the Missouri River, where he settled down to industrious
pursuits, becoming the owner of a good farm, and to all appearances was
leading an honest life. These last statements, however, regarding his where-
abouts and his pursuits, are founded altogether upon rumor, as no direct
and positive knowledge of him was ever had after his escape from the
Warren County jail.
The father, Samuel Aikens, died at Washington ;Grove in 1847. No
charge of dishonesty was ever laid at the old man's door, but the unlawful
and disgraceful lives into which his three eldest sons were drawn, brought
a taint upon the family name, and to a certain extent they were proscribed
in society. His youngest son, Samuel, died of consumption about 1854.
In the Fall of 1839 the Brodie family removed to Linn County, Iowa,
where most of them continued to reside at last direct accounts.
Adolphus Bliss, Corydon Dewey and another man named Sawyer (the
last named not mentioned before), were all sentenced from the Lee Circuit
Court, about 1845 or 1846, to the penitentiary for the robbery of an old
376 HiSTORr OF ogle COtJNTY.
man of the Inlet Grove neighborhood, by the name of Haskel. Their
terms of sentence ranged from three to five years. Bliss died in the
penitentiary. Dewey outlived his terra, and returned to his home and
settled down on his old farm. Sawyer also served out his time, and like-
wise returned home, re-engaged in farming, and is supposed to be still
living in that neighborhood.
fierce Driscoll, who was arrested but acquitted the same day his
father and brother were killed, subsequently removed to Cook County,
Illinois, where he is said to have settled down to an honest, industrious life,
acquiring a very handsome competency. The remainder of the family
scattered to different parts of the country — some to California, some to
Minnesota, and some to unknown localities.
Three of the pirates — John Long, Aaron Long and G-ranville Young —
who engaged in the murder of Colonel Davenport, at Rock Island, July 4,
1845, were hunted down, arrested, brought back, tried, found guilty and
sentenced to be hanged. The execution of the sentence was carried out at
Rock Island on the 19th day of October, 1845, which completed the work
of extennination commenced by the Ogle County Regulators on Tuesday,
the 29th day of June, A. D. 1841.
Martin Campbell, the heroic boy, only thirteen years of age when he
attempted to iire upon his father's murderers, grew to be a good and useful
man, and still remains in White Rock Township, within sight of the place
of his father's murder, a successful farmer and a happy husband and father.
OF THE DRISCOLLS.
At the September term of the circuit court, 1841, an indictment was
found against Jonathan W. Jenkins and one hundred and eleven others,
charging them with the murder of John Driscoll and William Driscoll, on
the 29th day ot June, 1841. The case was entitled " The People v. Jona-
than W. Jenkins, Seth H. King, George D. Johnson, Commodore P. Bridge,
Moses Nettleton, James Clark, Lyman Morgan, William Keys, Wilson Daily,
John H. Stevenson, Zebulon Burroughs, Andrew IT. Hart, John Y. Gale,
George W. Phelps, Benjamin T. Phelps, John Phelps, James C. Phelps,
William Wooley, WilKam Knight, Moses T. Crowell, Jacob B. Crist, Edwin
S. Leland, John S. Lord, Caleb Williamson, Caleb S. Marshall, Philip
Spraker, Richard Chaney, Simeon S. Crowell, James W. Johnson, Alanson
Morgan, Augustus Austin, John Austin, Thomas Stinson, Charles Fletcher,
Aaron Payne, Spowk Wellington, Jeremiah Payne, James Scott, Mason
Taylor, Harvey Jewett, John Oyster, Phineas Chaney, Richard Hayes,
Obed Lindsay, Amos Rice, Erastus Rice, Sumner Brown, Jr., James D.
Sandford, Jacob Wickizer, George Young, Thomas O. Young, Osburn
Chaney, Rolf Chaney, Annas Lucas, Peter Smith, Henry Hill, David D.
Edington, Andrew Keith, John B. Long, Orrin B. Sinith, David Shu m way,
Horace Miller, John F. Smith, Charles Latimer, Jason Marsh, Perley S.
Shumway, Alfred M. Jarboe, Francis Emerson, Thomas Emerson, Abel
Smith, Eliphalet Allen, James Baker, Jarvis C. Baker, Joseph Jewell,
Jefferson Jewell, Charles Abbott, Sidney M. Layton, M. Perry Kerr, James
Harpham, John Coffraan, Anthony Pitzer, Jonas Shoffstalt, Jacob M.
Myers, Samuel Mitchell, John Harmon, John Cooley, William Dewey,
William Wallace, Robert Davis, James Stewart, David Wagner, Aaron
Billig, Joseph M. Reynolds, John Kerr, James Hatch, Alhanon W. Rinker,
H?^
OREGON
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 379
David Potter, Martin Rhodeamon, Ralsamon Thomas, Benjamin Worden,
John Mc A lister, John Beedle, Ephraham Yaughn, Justus Merrifield, Elias
Yaughn, John Adams, Israel Robertson and George W. Kinney. Indict-
ment for murder.
The case was called for trial at the same term of court, J udge Ford
presiding, at which the indictment was found. Seth B. Farwell appeared
for the people, and Messrs. Peters, Dodge, Champlin and Caton for the
defendants. The jury before whom they were tried was composed of S. S.
Beatty, S. M. Hitt, James 0. Hagan, Elias Baker, William Carpenter, John
Shoffstalt, James B. McCoy, George Swingley, Richard McLean, William
Renner, Justin Hitchcock and Hiram Weldon — S. M. Hitt, foreman.
When arraigned for trial the defendants pleaded not guilty, and the trial
proceeded. The most of the time occupied in the disposition of the case
was consumed in calling the names of the defendants. Several witnesses
were called on the part of the prosecution, but no direct evidence was
adduced, and after a brief address by Prosecutor Farwell, for the people,
and John D. Caton, on behalf of the defendants, the case went to the jury,
and without leaving their seats the jury returned a verdict of " not guilty."
The grand jury that found the indictment under which " Jonathan W.
Jenkins and one hundred and eleven others " were tried for the murder of
John and William Driscoll, was made up of the following named citizens:
Anthony Petzer, John Price, Moses T. Crowell, Jacob Meyers, John
Fridley, John Carpenter, Samuel Patrick, Phelan Parker, Andrew H. Holt,
C. S. Marshall, George Taylor, Samuel C. Cotton, Leonard Andrews,
Rodolphus Brown, Robert Wilson, Philip Spracker, James Y. Gale and C.
Burr Artz. James Y. Gale was the foreman.
As will be seen by a comparison of the names of these jurymen with
the names of the defendants, some of their own number were indicted
for complicity in that tragedy. The jury met in a small building then
belonging to an attorney named John Cheney, and was afterwards occu-
pied by him as a dwelling. The building still stands on the old site,
but has fallen into dilapidation and decay. When Cheney removed west
he sold the property, and it now belongs to the H. A. Mix estate.
When the case was presented for consideration, together with a list of
the names of those charged with being engaged in the afiair, the name at
the top of the list was first called. If it happened to be the name of a
juryman, the juryman was excused, for the time being, and asked to retire.
When he had gone from the room, the allegement was duly examined and
disposed of, and the juryman recalled. The next name was then called, and
the same mode of procedure observed, until the entire list was completed,
and which resulted in the indictment of one hundred and twelve men for
the murder of the Driscolls — the largest number of men ever indicted
under one charge at one session of a grand jury known to judicial history.
BURNING OF THE COURT HOUSE.
Sunday night, March 21, 1841, the first court house commenced in
Ogle County, which was nearing completion — in fact, was so far completed
as to be in a condition to be used for the sitting of that term of the court,
which was to commence on Monday, March 22 — was burned to the ground.
Several indictments were pending for trial, and six of the indicted parties
were in jail awaiting the sitting of the court. All day Sunday the town
was full of men known to belong to the Prairie Pirates, evidently watching
84
380 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the movements of the court officers — the clerk, the sheriff, etc. Mr. B. T.
Phelps, at that time Clerk of the Circuit Court, kept the books and papers
of the office at his residence!. On Sunday evening he loaded the records
on a wheelbarrow, and started to remove them to the court house to have
them in readiness when court was called the next morning. When part of
the way from his house, he was met by Mr. E. R. Dodge, a lawyer of
Ottawa, who could not find accommodations at the hotel because of its
crowded condition, and who was on his way to Phelps' residence to claim
his hospitality for the night. Luckily, Mr. Phelps did not come on to the
court house with the records, but turned back with Mr. Dodge, taking the
papers back with him and storing them away in his house.
About midnight the alarm of fire was raised, and the citizens found
their new court house in flames that were so far under headway that it was
impossible to stay their progress, and it was burned to the grolmd.
Hugh Ray, who lives two miles distant from Oregon City, had been
employed on the court house when it was in course of erection, and com-
menced to sleep in the building as soon as it was far enough advanced to
afibrd sufficient protection from the elements without. He was not
awakened until the flames were well started, and barely escaped with his
life, his clothing, tools, etc., being left as sacrifices to the devouring element
and the vengeance of the Prairie Pirates.
When the citizens reached the burning building they found the pris-
oners already up, dressed and apparently watching and waiting for their
" hour of delivery." But it came not. The flames did not reach the jail,
although it stood but a few rods from the burning court house. It was the
belief of the citizens at the time, and the belief was afterwards verified by
the confessions or admissions of some members of the gang, that the build-
ing was fired by the buccaneers under the opinion that the court records had
been deposited there by Phelps on Sunday evening, as he had started to do,
and that it was their purpose to destroy the indictments against their con-
federates, and, in the excitement and confusion consequent upon the fire,
also secure the release of their imprisoned co-workers in iniquity, but
their purpose was abandoned.
The sitting of the court was not deferred, but was held in a building
belonging to William Sanderson that then stood on the site now occupied
by the Catholic Church. The building was subsequently removed and was
afterwards used by Christian Layman, and was known as the "red wagon
shop " until it was made to give way before the march of improvements.
THE BRIDGE.
There is but one bridge, aside from railroad bridges, across Rock River
in the County of Ogle. That is at Oregon, where now stands the third
that has been erected at that point, and not many years will elapse before
the fourth one will be necessary.
By an act of the General Assembly approved February 17, 1851,
"James H. Hanchete and his associates, their heirs and assigns were author-
ized to build a bridge across Rock River at any point on the plat of Oregon
that he may select." Section two, however, authorized the said Hanchete
and his associates to construct said bridge below or on the dam " now con- '
structed across said river at said Town of Oregon ; provided^ if they should
construct the same on said dam, they shall procure the right so to do from
HISTORY OF OGLE COTTKTT. 381
the proprietors thereof." They were authorized to place a toll-gate at
either end of the bridge and demand the same rates of toll as were then
allowed for passing the ferry, and permitted to double these rates for all
persons passing over said bridge after nine o'clock in the evening and before
four o'clock in the morning. It was provided that the navigation of Rock
River should not " be in any wise obstructed or delayed by the said bridge,"
and the County Court was vested with power to determine whether the
erection of said bridge will have the eifect of impedino- the free navigation
of Rock River, and with power " to prescribe such regulations as they may
deem proper to prevent such obstruction."
At a session of the board of supervisors held on "Wednesday, January
28, 1852, the following preamble and resolution was introduced, viz.:
Wheiieas, It is proposed by James H. Hanchett (spelled Hanchete in the law above
quoted) to erect a bridge across Rock River in the Town of Oregon, in the County of Ogle;
and, whereas, the people of said county are greatly interested in the success of said under-
taking by the said Hanchett; therefore, be it
^Hesolved, That on the completion of said bridge by the said James H. Hanchett at
the Town of Oregon in said County of Ogle, an order shall be drawn on the treasurer of
said county for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars in favor of the said Hanchett; provided,
however, and it is hereby expressly declared that the order aforesaid for the sum aforesaid
shall not be issued to the said James H. Hanchett until he shall have executed to said
county a good and sufficient right of way across said bridge for all the oflScers of said
county while employed on the business of the county, to continue for and during the term
of twenty years from the date hereof, which said grant shall include a right of way across
said bridge for all grand and petit jurors and all witnesses attending criminal trials.
The resolution was amended by striking out the words '' fifteen hundred "
and inserting the words " one thousand," so that it appropriated the sum of
one thousand dollars, and as amended the resolution was adopted, C. R. Hoadly,
Annas Lucas, Sterling Blackman, Hiram Sanford, Hiram D, Wood, Joseph
Williams, Jeriel Robinson, IS". W. Wadsworth, A. O. Campbell, Elias
Thomas, JB. T. Hedrick — 11 — voting in the affirmative; and S. C. Cotton,
Spooner Ruggles, John Garman, A. G. Spalding, Austin Lines and J. A.
Ettinger — 6 — voting in the negative.
There was strong opposition to this measure. It was . urged that the
board of supervisors had no legal authority to appropriate public money to
aid in building a toll-bridge, and to test the question, a bill in chancery,
Salmon C. Cotton, et al., vs. James H. Hanchett, et als.^ was filed in the
Circuit Court of Ogle County, Wilkinson, J., at the March term, 1852, and
upon agreement of parties a pro forma decree was entered. The case went
to the supreme court, where the decision of the circuit court was reversed
and the cause remanded. Judge Trumbull held:
The act to provide for township organizations does not give the board of supervisors
authority to appropriate the county funds in aid of the construction of toll-bridges or to aid
a private individual in the construction of a free bridge-, nor does the securing to the
county a right of way for county ofiicers, grand and petit jurors and witnesses in criminal
cases, alter the powers of the supervisors.
The law fixes the compensation and defines the privileges and immunities of county
officers, and they have no right, by the use of county funds, to secure to themselves or to
any other particular class of individuals, immunities not granted by the statutes. A bill
to enjoin the board of supervisors from misapplying the money of the county is the proper
remedy. — 13 III. Hep., pp. 615.
The bridge was built in 1852, on piles instead of piers, but was swept
out by ice in February, 1857.
On Tuesday, April 6, 1858, at the annual town meeting, the commis-
sioners of highways reported that the building of a bridge across Rock
HISTORY OF OGLE OOTINTY.
River at Oregon was an " improvement " very necessary to be made, and
estimated the expense of building it, beyond the sums that would be raised
from other sources, at ten thousand dollars. Whereupon the town ordered
the levy of a tax of six thousand dollars that year for that purpose.
At a special session of the County Board of Supervisors, May 20, 1858,
Supervisor James Y. Gale offered the following :
Resolved, That we appropriate the sum of eight thousand, three hundred and thirty-
three dollars to aid in the construction of a free bridge across Kock River, at Oregon, in
this county; provided, said bridge shall be of a substantial and durable character, and to
be built with stone piers, and to cost at least the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, the
residue of the cost of the same to be raised by said Town of Oregon, by subscription and
otherwise. Said sum not to be paid by the county until said bridge shall be completed and
accepted by the commissioners of highways of said town, and by a committee to be appointed
by the board.
This was tabled, but was taken up . and passed by yeas and nays, on
the 21st, as follows :
Yeas — James Y. Gale, Philo B. Wood, Hiram J. Motter, Isaac Trask,
William Artz, James Wells, Solon Cuniins, A. S. Shottenkirk, J. Rood, J.
Cook, Washington Paddock and Joshua White — 12.
Nays — Gould G. Norton, Anson Barnum, Elias Thomas, M. Blair,
Edwin Rice, J. A. Ettinger, W. Donaldson, Daniel Sprecker and L. N.
Barber — 9.
May 22, the board appointed Supervisors Barber, Sprecker, Cook, Rood
and Trask a committee to examine and accept, when completed, the bridge
to be built over Rock River (very near the site of the present bridge).
A contract was made with Mr. D. C. Pierce, H. A. Mix surety,
for the erection of the bridge for the sum of $24,915. In addition to the
tax assessed by the Town of Oregon, and the appropriation of $8,333 by
the county board, the people of the county subscribed in various sums,
to be paid in cash, $10,666.83; to be paid in cash when the bridge should
be completed, $1,175.50 ; payable in labor, materials, etc., $1,639; payable
in cash at different dates, $195; other subscriptions, making the total
amount subscribed in the form of notes, $14,176.33. Of the first class
there were 524 subscribers; second class, 120; third class, 38. The names
of those who subscribed $50 and upwards were : Theodore Austin, Alanson
Bishop, William W. Bennett, R. C. Burchell, Perry Barker, Clark & Dana,
John Carpenter, Phineas Chaney, E. F. Dutcher, William S. Davis, John
Eyster, John Etnyre, Daniel Etnyre, Elias Etnyre ($200), C. F. Emerson,
Horace Grant, James Y. Gale, John Y. Gale, G. W. Hill ($200), S. M.
Hitt ($300), L. Hemenway, P. Jacobs, Margaret Johnston, R. B. Light, C.
S. Marshall, William Moore, Charles P. Potter, E. S. Potter $400), F. G.
Petrie, Sylvester Potter, John H. Rutledge, Andrew Schechter, Stewart &
Wheeler ($200), E. J. Sexton, J. M. Snowden, Thomas Stinson, Adam
Schryver ($150), W. C. Stoddard, M. W. Smith, Joseph Sears, Isaac Trask,
Joshua Thomas, I. S. Woolley ($125), John Acker, S. S. Crowell, C. W.
Murtfeldt, E. M. Light, H. A. Mix ($1,000).
Soon after executing the contract, Mr. Pierce, the contractor, died, and
the work was commenced and completed by H. A. Mix, who was the real
principal in the contract. The work was commenced in 1858, but was not
completed until 1859. September 10, 1858, the subscription notes, amount-
ing to $14,176.33, were paid over to Mr. Mix, and June 3, 1859, he was
paid the amount received on tax of 1858, $4,820.44 ; from the county
treasurer, $563.58.
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY. 383
December 1, 1859, Mr. Barber having died, and other members of the
examining committee appointed in May, 1858, having gone out of office,
the board of supervisors resolved itself into a committee of the whole to
inspect the new bridge. The committee made report on the same day, and
the board, by vote, accepted the structure, and ordered the issue of orders
on the county treasurer for the sum appropriated, viz.: $8,333.
This bridge remained until 1867, about eight years, when it fell.
At a special session of tUe county board of supervisors, January 15,
1867, the report of the committee appointed at the session in September,
1866, to consult with the commissioners of highways of the Town of Oregon
and co-operate with them in efforts to ascertain the best and most economi-
cal plan for building a bridge across Kock River, at Oregon, reported
as follows :
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Ogle
The undersigned, your committee appointed to co-operate with the highway commis-
sioners of Oregon, to ascertain the best and most economical plan for building a super-
structure to the Bridge across Rock River at said town, report that in company with said
commissioners they have thoroughly investigated the subject — that they went to Elgin, in
Kane County, and examined the iron bridge across Fox River, built by Messrs. Truesdail.
That your committee were much pleased with the construction of said bridge, and they are
firmly of the opinion that, in consideration of the durability.of an iron superstructure, it
will be economy to build a superstructure of iron on the piers across Rock River, at
Oregon, and they hereby recommend that six additional piers be erected in the river at that
place, and that an iron superstructure be constructed upon the old and said new piers in
Rock River, at said Town of Oregon.
Signed, JOHN^ABPENTEB, | Coualy Com.
James V. Gale, Town Com.
I did not visit said bridge, but having examined the model and heard the report of
Messrs Andrus, May and Gale, do approve of the same.
John Carpenter.
Mr. Thompson introduced a resolution appropriating $38,000 for the
construction of an iron bridge across Rock River at Oregon, on condition
that the Town of Oregon should build the additional piers, defray all other
expenses, and keep the bridge in repair. This resolution elicited consider-
able discussion, various amendments were offered and rejected, and at last
it was laid on the table for thirty minutes that the plan and specifications
of Mr. Spaiford, of Dixon, and a gentleman from Yermont, for building a
wooden bridge, might be examined. On motion of Mr. Gale, Messrs. Gale,
Field, Burns, Davis and Dresser were appointed a committee to examine
Spafford's plan, and the tabled resolution was referred to the same
committee.
This committee reported, recommending that a " good, substantial
wood-covered bridge be erected on the present piers, and that the sum of
$15,000 be appropriated to aid in the construction of the same, provided,
that the Town of Oregon pay the sum of $5,000 for said purpose." The
report was accepted, and it was so ordered. It was also ordered that the
bridge should be built under the supervision of a joint committee
appointed by the board and by the commissioners of highways of the Town
of Oregon. Messrs. Joshua White, Leonard Andrus, John Carpenter and
R. M. Pearson were appointed on the part of the county. The vote passing
these orders was by yeas and nays. Those voting in the affirmative were :
Messrs. Norton, Taylor, Mack, Dresser, Field, Hedrick, Carpenter, Gale,
Baker, Eshback, Thompson, Davis, Martin and White — 14. Those voting
384 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in the negative were : Messrs. Sanborn, Barber, Parker, Tice, Miller, Burns,
Rice and Hoadley — 8.
At the annual meeting pf the Town of Oregon, April 2, 1867, the
supervisor was authorized to borrow five thousand dollars " to defray the
amount the town is to raise for the new bridge."
Previous to this, however, the committee of the board of supervisors
and the commissioners of highways, of the Town of Oregon, held a meet-
ing in the county clerk's office on the 26th day of February, 1867, for the
purpose of adopting a plan for the bridge, receiving proposals and letting
the contract tor the construction thereof. The bridge was to be a new
superstructure of the Howe truss pattern, erected on the piers of the old
bridge. Proposals were received from S. M. Town, Elias Etnyre and
Messrs. Cauda & Hinckley. The contract was awarded to Cauda & Hinck-
ley, of Chicago, for $20,000 and the old bridge.
The old bridge, although considered unsafe, was still in use. But on
the 8th of May the National Guard announced that " Our bridge, which
for some time past has been in rather a precarious condition, underwent a
thorough repairing last week, and is now considered entirely safe. It did
not remain so long, however, for on the 5th of June, says the Guards " the
two western spans settled into the river her souse. The Franklin stage had
passed over only an hour previous, also horses, and cattle, and several
footmen. Mr. William Waterman was wheeling a wheelbarrow across at
the time of the fall, but was so far over that the falling spans did not reach
him, though it somewhat accelerated his movements." He violated law in
that he drove his wheelbarrow across " faster than a walk," but under the
circumstances he was excusable.
Immediately upon the fall of the bridge a ferry was established,
temporarily, by contributions of the citizens.
July 17, 1867, the Guard announced the arrival of the bridge
builders and the commencement of the work of building the new bridge.
On Saturday, September 7, it was crossed by teams for the first time, and
the ferryboat was no longer needed. The bridge was formally accepted by
the authorities of the county November 4, 1867, and at the present time
(April, 1878,) it is in urgent need of extensive repairs, and must be
rebuilt at no very distant day.
WAR HISTORY.
If there is any one thing more than another of which the people of the
Northern States have reason to be proud, it is of the record they made
during the dark and bloody days of the War of the Rebellion. When the
war was forced upon the country, the people were quietly pursuing the
even tenor of their ways, doing whatever their hands found to do —
making farms or cultivating those already made, erecting homes, foimding
cities and towns, building shops and manufactories — in short, the country
was alive with industry and hopes for the future. The country was just
recovering from the depression and losses incident to the financial panic of
1857. The future looked bright and promising, and the industrious and
patriotic sons and daughters of the Free States were buoyant with hope —
looking forward to the perfecting of new plans for the ensurement of com-
fort and competence in their declining years, they little heeded the mutter-
ings and threatenings of treason's children in the Slave States of the South ^
HISTORY OP OGLE COUNTY. 385
True sons and descendants of the heroes of the " times that tried men's
souls " — the struggle for American independence — they never dreamed that
there was even one so base as to dare attempt the destruction of the Union
of their fathers — a government baptized with the best blood the world ever
knew. While immediately surrounded with peace and tranquility, they
paid but little attention to the rumored plots and plans of those who lived
and grew rich from the sweat and toil, blood and flesh of others — aye, even
trafficked in the offspring of their own loins. JS'evertheless, the war came
with all its attendant horrors.
April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, Major
Anderson, U. S. A., commandant, was fired upon by rebels in arms. Al-
though basest treason, this first act in the bloody reality that followed was
looked upon as mere bravado of a few hot-heads — the act of a few fire-eaters
whose sectional bias and freedom hatred was crazed by the excessive indul-
gence in intoxicating potations. When, a day later, the news was borne along
the telegraph wires that Major Anderson had been forced to surrender to
what had first been regarded as a drunken mob, the patriotic people of the
l^orth were startled from their dreams of the future — from undertakings
half completed — and made to realize that behind that mob there was a dark,
deep and well organized purpose to destroy the government, rend the Union
in twain, and out of its ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would
dare question their right to hold in bondage the sons and daughters of men
whose skins were black, or who, perchance, through practices of lustful
natures, were half or quarter removed from the color that God, for His own
purposes, had given them. But they " reckoned without their host." Their
dieams of the future — their plans for the establishment of an independent
confederacy — were doomed from their inception to sad and bitter disap-
pointment.
Immediately upon the surrender of Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln —
America's martyr President — who, but a few short weeks before, had taken
the oath of office as the nation's chief executive, issued a proclamation call-
ing for 75,000 volunteers for three months. The last word of that proc-
lamation had scarcely been taken from the electric wires before the call
was filled. Men and money were counted out by hundreds and thousands.
The people who loved their whole government could not give enough.
Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart. The
farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college,
the school-house — every calling offered its best men, their lives and fortunes
in defense of the government's honor and unity. Party lines were, for the
time, ignored. Bitter words, spoken in moments of political heat, were
forgotten and forgiven, and, joining hands in a common cause, they repeated
the oath of America's soldier statesman : " By the Great Eternal^ the union
must and shall he preserved P^
The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South in their attack
upon Fort Sumter was accepted — not, however, in the spirit with which
insolence meets insolence — but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism
and love of country. The duty of the President was plain under the con-
stitution and the laws, and above and beyond all, the people from whom all
political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and
stood ready to sustain the authority of their representatives and executive
officers.
386 HISTOET OF OGLE OOtTNTr.
April 14, A. D. 1861, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, issued the following
•PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, The laws of the United States have been, and now are, violently opposed
in several states by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary way, I there-
fore call for the militia of the several states of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000,
to suppress said combination and execute the laws. I appeal to all loyal citizensto facili-
tate and aid in this effort to maintain the laws, the integrity and the perpetuity of the
popular government, and redress wrongs long enough endured. The first service assigned
to the forces, probably, will be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been
seized from the Union. Let the utmost care be taken, consistent with the object, to avoid
devastation, destruction, interference with the property of peaceful citizens in any part of the
country; and I hereby command persons composing the*aforesaid combination to disperse
within twenty days from date.
I hereby convene both houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next, to determine
upon measures for public safety which the interest of the subject demands.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
Wm. H. Seward, President of the United States.
Secretary of State.
Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion.
JS'or were ten times that number. Tlie war went on, and call followed call,
until it began to look as if there would not be men enough in all the Free
States to crush out and subdue the monstrous war traitors had inaugurated.
But to every call, for either men or money, there was a willing and a ready
response. And it is a boast of the people that, had the supply of men
fallen short, there were women brave enougJi, daring enough, patriotic
enough, to have offered themselves as sacrifices on their country's altar.
Such were the impulses, motives and actions of the patriotic men of the
ITorth, among whom the sons of Ogle made a conspicuous and praise-
worthy record. .
The readiness with which the first call was filled, together with the
embarrassments that surrounded President Lincoln in the absence of suf-
ficient laws to authorize him to meet the unholy, unlooked for and unex-
pected emergency — an emergency that had never been anticipated by the
wisest and best of America's statesmen — together with an underestimate
of the magnitude of the rebellion and a general belief that the war could
not, and would not last more than three months, checked, rather than
encouraged, the patriotic ardor of the people. But very few of the men
comparatively speaking, who volunteered in response to President Lincoln's
call for 75,000 volunteers for three months, were accepted. But the time
soon came w^hen there was a place and a musket for every man. Call
followed call in quick succession, until the number reached the grand total
of 3,339,748, as follows:
April 16, 1861, for three months.' - 75,000
May 4, 1861, for five years 64,748
July, 1861, for three years... 500,000
July 18, 1862, for three years.. 300,000
August 4, 1862, for nine months 300,000
June, 1863, for three years. 300,000
October 17, 1863, for three years. 300,000
February 18, 1864, for three years 500,000
July 10, 1864, for three years.... - 200,000
July 16, 1864, for one, two and three years 500,000
December 21 , 1864, for three years 300,000—3,339,748
To the credit of the county, be it said, there was no draft. To each
and every call above quoted, there was a liberal response. Of the oflferings
^^^^"'^^
OREGON
HISTOKY OF OGLE COUNTY. 389
of men and money made by this people during the great and final struggle
between freedom and slavery, it is the purpose now to write.
April 30, 1861, the board of supervisors beine, in session, Hon. James
Y. Gale, a member of the board presented a resolution relating to the crisis
and the duty of the people, which, on motion, was referred to a special com-
mittee of three — Messrs. Korton, Frisby and Hitt.
May 1st, that committee reported as follows, whicli report was unani-
mously adopted :
Whereas, The President of the United States has made known to the people of the
United States through his proclamation that rebellion against the government and laws of
the United States has been undertaken, and is maintained by certain States of the con-
federacy, and that to suppress the same the armed forces of the State of Illinois will be
required, therefore,
We, the board of supervisors, for, and in behalf of the citizens of the County of Ogle,
State of Illinois, endorsing fully the President in his efforts and desires to suppress said
rebellion and preserve the Union, and to protect the State of Illinois, and the County of
Ogle, do hereby appropriate the sum of |5,000 to be paid in orders on the county treasury,
as follows, to-wit :
To every commissioned otficer, non-commissioned officer and private, raised in the
said County of Ogle, and received in the service of the United States, or under the order of
the Legislature, or Governor of the State of Illinois, the sum of five dollars per month, to
commence from the date of the acceptance of said company either in the United States
forces or under the order of the State Legislature or Governor of the State of Illinois; Pro-
mded, however, that such sums shall in no case be paid to any officer or private unless at
the time of such enrollment in any such company, he shall have a family depending on
him for support; and, Provided, further, that said family shall need the said sum for their
absolute support, which necessity shall be certified to by the supervisor of the town in
which said officer or private may reside at the time of said, enrollments
And provided, further, that for the purpose of this order and to entitle the parties to
the benefits thereof, it shall not be necessary that said officer or private shall be a married
man, but if he have a mother, or brother, or sister, depending upon him for support they
shall be considered his family within the meaning of the order.
It shall be the duty of the supervisor of each town, whenever application shall be
made by any persons entitled to receive benefits from the provision of this order, to make
certificate that said applicant is entitled to the same, and to what amount, and, which cer-
tificate, endorsed by the town clerk and one justice of the peace, where the applicant shall
reside, shall be sufficient evidence to the county clerk, who, thereupon, shall issue county
orders to the amount of said certificate so endorsed, for the benefit of said applicant or his
family, and pay it over to him, or them, or their order.
It shall be the duty of each supervisor, on application of such soldier or his represen-
tative, as may be entitled to the benefits^of this order, to issue his certificate for the relief of
such applicant until such soldier shall be discharged from duty.
The tocsin of war was sounded. Meetings were held in all the town-
ships, at which stirring and spirited addresses were made, and resolutions
adopted that admitted of but one interpretation. The spirit of the people
in the early days of the war, is very clearly reflected in the following pre-
amble and resolutions:
Whereas, It becomes American citizens to know no political law but their country's
welfare ; and whereas, the flag of our country has been insulted, and the laws set at defiance
by formidably organized bands of lawless men whose avowed purpose and overt acts are
high treason against the government, therefore, resolved,
1. That in the present endangered state of our country we will ignore all party differ-
ences and distinctions and will unite in rendering all the aid within our power, to the
Federal Executive in executing the laws and defending the honor of our national fla^.
2. That we recognize the form of government formed by our fathers— and baptized in
their blood — as the best in the world ; the bii'thright of American citizens, and to be given
up but with our lives.
3. That we are unalterably for the Union of the States, one and inseparable, now and
forever.
With such a spirit, and guided and directed by such patriots as: R C.
Burchell, H. A. Mix (now deceased), John Y. Gale, E. F. Dutcher, Hugh
390 HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Rea, B. F. Sheets, Joseph Sears, James V. Gale, Albert Woodcock, of
Orefi^on; John S. Rosier, Amzie Johnston, Dr. Clinton Helm, of Byron;
P. B. Boyce, John A. Huges, of Rochelle; Morton D. Swift, of Polo ; Prof.
Pinckney and S. M. Hitt, of Mount Morris; there was no wavering, if
there had been a disposition to waver. The people were united in senti-
ment and prompt in action.
The pen could be employed for months in sketching the uprising of
the people, the formation of companies, and telling of the deeds of valor
and heroism of the " Boys in Blue " from Ogle County There is material
here for volumes upon volumes, and it would be a pleasing task to collect
and arrange it, but no words our pen could employ would add a single
laurel to their brave and heroic deeds. Acts speak louder than words, and
their acts have spoken — are recorded in pages already written. The people
of no county in any of the states of the freedom and Union-loving I^orth
made a better record during the dark and trying times of the great and
final struggle between freedom and slavery — patriotism and treason — than
the people of Ogle. Monuments may crumble; cities may fall into decay;
the tooth of time leave its impress on all the works of man, but the memory
of the gallant deeds of the army of the Union in the war of the great
rebellion, in which the sons of this county bore so conspicuous a part, will
live in the minds of men so long as time andcivihzed governments endure.
The people were liberal, as well as patriotic, and while the men were
busy enlisting, organizing and equipping companies, the ladies were no less
active. Committees were appointed to look after the necessities and to
secure comfort to the families of those who enlisted. The spirit of the
resolutions of the board of supervisors, adopted May 1, 1861, and care-
fully fostered by the board throughout the years of the war, pervaded the
entire community, which was divided into committees, and each committee
assigned a duty. And right nobly did each committee do its work. There
were no laggards, no niggardliness. Men and money were given by tens
and hundreds and thousands. Iso one stopped to count the costs. The
life of the nation was at stake, and the people were ready to sacrifice all,
EVERT THING, for the preservation and maintenance of the Union —
" A union of lakes, a union of lands —
A union that none can sever —
A union of hearts, a union of hands.
The American Union forever."
It would be interesting to record the money contributions — voluntary,
as well as by means of taxation — made by the people during the years of
the rebellion, but that would be impossible. Of the former, no accounts
were kept. People never stopped to reckon the cost, or to keep accounts of
what they gave. When ever money was needed for any purpose, and pur-
poses and needs were plenty, it was given and paid on demand. There
were no delays, no excuses, no " days of grace," no time for consid-
eration demanded. People were ready and willing. Husbands and fathers
abandoned homes and their comforts, wives and little ones for the dangers
of tented fields of battle, assured that, in their absence, plenty would be
provided for their loved ones. Because of this knowledge, their dreams
were none the less sweet, nor their slumbers less refreshing, even if their
beds were made upon mother earth, and their covering only that of the
starry dome above.
mSTOEY OF OGLE COUNTY. 391
While it is impossible to make even an approximate estimate of the
amount of money provided by voluntary contributions for war purposes, it
is almost as impossible to arrive at the actual amounts provided by the
public authorities by means of taxation — some times for the reason that the
accounts were indifferently and loosely kept, and some times because of the
seeming reluctance of parties (as in the case of township clerks) who ought
to possess the knowledge, to impart it for preservation in printed pages of
history. When the compilation of this work was commenced, each of the
several township clerks was solicited, by printed circulars, to send the
gentlemen in charge of the work the amounts provided by their respective
townships for war purposes such as the payment of bounties, benefit of
soldiers' families, etc. Out of the twenty-four township clerks, only five
responded. These five were, K. W. Sheadle, White Rock; A. S. Hodley,
Flagg; George M. Reed, ]S"ashua; O. S. Dentler, Scott; M. D. Swift, Polo.
The amounts provided in these townships were as follows :
Flagg 111,036 64
Nashua 1,200 00
Buffalo 11,000 00
Scott 11,500 00
White Rock_. 8,500 00
Total in five townships ..$43,236 64
It would be a much pleasanter duty to complete the showing by town-
ships than to stop with those quoted. But, for reasons already stated, it
is beyond the writer's power. These figures, even now, would be an voXjqx-
estino^ souvenir — in years to come, invaluable as facts for reference.
The good work of the board of supervisors did not end with the appro-
priation of $5,000, as provided in their resolutions of May 1; 1861, but was
continued from time to time, as occasion and necessity demanded, until the
sum of $120,070 was raised and paid out under county authority. Kow, in
time of national peace and tranquility, this sum seems enormously large;
and if the assessment of that amount for purposes of public improvements
was submitted to a vote of the people, it would be voted down by a very
large majority. Adding this sum of $120,070 to the $43,236.64 provided
by the five townships of Flagg, JS'ashua, Buffalo, Scott and White Rock,
and we have a known total of $163,306.64. To this may be added at least
$60,000 for voluntary contributions and the nineteen townships not reported,
and we have an estimated [grand total of $223,306.64, provided by the
people of Ogle County to aid in the suppression of the rebellion.
RECAPITULATION.
By Board of Supervisors -...$120,070 00
" five townships - 43,236 64
" estimate for nineteen townships not reported, etc 60,000 00
Estimated grand total $223,306 64
The world never witnessed such an uprising of the masses, such a
unanimity of sentiment, such a willingness to sacrifice men and money, as
was shown bv the people of the states of the north from the time the rebels
fired upon Fort Sumter in April, 1861, until the surrender of treason's
army in 1865 — and no county in all the northern states made a bolder,
clearer or better record than Ogle.
Having thus noticed the spirit of patriotism that fired the hearts of
tlie sons and daughters of Ogle, the sacrifices and readiness of the wealthier
392
mSTOBT OF OGLE OOTTNTT.
classes and of the taxpayers to sustain the Union, we come now to the volun-
teer soldiery. And of these what can we say ? What words can our pen
employ that would do justice to their heroic valor — to their unequalled and
unparalleled valor ? Home and home comforts — wives and little ones,
fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers — were given up for life and danger on the
tented fields of battle — for exposure, disease and death at the cannon's
mouth. They reckoned none of these, but went out with their lives in their
hands to meet and conquer the foes of the Union, maintain its supremacy,
and vindicate its honor and integrity. We can offer no more fitting tribute
to their patriotic valor than a full and complete record, so far as it is possible
to make it, that will embrace the names, the terms of enlistments, the bat-
tles in which they engaged, etc. It will be a wreath of glory encircling
every brow, and a memento which each and every one of them earned in
defense of their country's honor, integrity and unity.
Ogle County Volunteers.
ABBREVIATIONS.
Adjt Adjutant
Art '. Artillery
Bat Battalion
Col Colonel
Capt... Captain
Corpl Corporal
Comsy Commissary
com .. commissioned
cav cavalry
captd captured
desrtd deserted
disab disabled
disd discharged
e enlisted
excd exchanged
inf infantry
kid killed
Lieut Lieutenant
Maj Major
m. o mustered out
prmtd promoted
prisr prisoner
Regt..., Regiment
re-e re-enhsted
res resigned
Sergt Sergeant
trans transfered
vet veteran
wd wounded
hon discd honorably discharged
George P. Jacobs, commissioned Commissary of Subsistence with the rank of Captain, February, 186:?, and served
throughout the war.
15th Infantry,
The Fifteenth R-giment Infantry Illinois Volunteers
was organized at Freei)ort, Illinois, and mustered into
the United States service May 24, 1861 — being the first
regiment organized from the state for the three years'
seivice. It then proceeded to Alton, 111., remaining
there six weeks for instruction. Left Alton for St.
Charles, _Mo.; thence by rail to Mexico, Mo. Marched
to Hannibal, Mo.; thence by steamboat to Jefferson
Barracks; then by rail to Rolla, Mo. Arrived in time to
cover Gen. Siegel's retreat from Wilson's Creek; thence
to Tipton, Mo., and thence joined Gen. B'remont's
army. Marched from there to Springfield, Mo.; thence
back to Tipton; then to Sedalia, with Gen. Pope, and
assisted in the capture of 1,300 of the enemy a few
miles from the latter place; then marched to OtterviUe,
Mo., where it went into winter quarters Dec. 26, 1861.
Remained there until Feb. i, 1862. Then marched to
Jefferson City; thence to St. Louis by rail; embarked
on transports for Fort Donelson, arriving there the day
of the surrender.
The regiment was then assigned to the Fourth Di-
vision, Gen. Hurlbut commanding, and marched to
Fort Henry. Then embarked on transports for Pitts-
burg Landing. Participated in the battles of the 6th
and 7th of April, losing 252 men, killed and wounded.
Among the former were Lieutenant-Colonel E. T. W.
Ellis, Major Goddard, Captains Brownell and Wayne,
and Lieutenant John W. Putemaugh. Captain Adam
Nase, wounded and taken prisoner. The regiment then
marched to Corinth, participating in various skirmishes
and the siege of that place, losing a number of men
killed and wounded.
. After the evacuation of Corinth, the regiment marched
to Grand Junction; thence to Holly Springs; back to
Grand Junction; thence to Lagrange; tnence to Mem-
phis, arriving there July 21, 1862, and remained there
until September 6. Then marched to Bolivar; thence
to the Hatchie River, and participated in the battle of
the Hatchie. Lost fifty killed and wounded in that en-
gagement. Then returned to Bolivar; from thence to
Lagrange ; thence, with Gen. Grant, down through
Mississippi to Coffeeville, returning to Lagrange and
Memphis; thence to Vicksburg, taking an active part
in the siege of that place. After the surrender of
Vicksburg, marched with Sherman to Jackson, Miss.;
then returned to Vicksburg and embarked for Natchez.
Marched thence to Kingston; returned to Natchez;
then to Harrisonburg, La., capturing Fort Beauregard,
on the Washita River. Returned to Natchez, remained
there until Nov. 10, 1863. Proceeded to Vicksburg and
went in^o winter quarters. Here the regiment re-
enlisted as veterans, remaining until Feb, i, 1864, when
it moved with Gen. Sherman through Mississippi. On
Champion Hills had a severe engagement with rebel
Carney. Marched to Meridan; thence south to Enter-
prise ; thence back to Vicksburg. Was then ordered to
Illinois on veteran furlough. On expiration of furlough
joined Seventeenth Army Corps, and proceeded up the
Tennessee River to Clifton ; thence to Huntsville, Ala.;
thence to Decatur and Rome, Ga.; thence to Kingston,
and joined Gen. Sherman's Army, marching on
Atlanta.
At Allatoona Pass, the Fifteenth and the Fourteenth
Infantry were consolidated, and the organization was
known as the Veteran Battalion Fourteenth and Fif-
teenth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, and numbering 625
men. From Allatoona Pass it proceeded to Ackworth,
and was then assigned to duty, guarding the Chatta-
nooga & Atlanta Railroad. Whilst engaged in this
duty, the regiment being scattered along the line of
road, the rebel. Gen. Hood, marching north, struck the
road at Big Shanty and Ackworth, and captured about
300 of the command. The remaindftr retreated to Ma-
rietta, were mounted, and acted as scouts for Gen. Van-
dever. They were afterwards transferred to Gen. F.
P. Blair, and marched with Gen. Sherman through
Georgia.
After the capture of Savannah, the regiment pro-
ceeded to Beaufort, South Carolina ; thence to Salka-
hatchie River, participating in the various skirmishes
in that vicinity — Columbia, S. C; Fayetteville, N. C;
battle of Bentonville — losing a number wounded; thence
to Goldsboro and Raleigh. At Raleigh, recruits suffi-
cient to fill up both regiments were received, and the
organization of the V. teran Battalion discontinued, and
the Fifteenth re-organized. The campaign of Gen.
Sherman ended by the surrender of Gen. Johnson.
The regiment then marched with the army to Wash-
ington, D. C, via Richmond and Fredericksburg, and
participated in the grand review at Washington, May
24, 1865; remained there two weeks. Proceeded, by
rail and steamboat, to Louisville, Ky.; remained at
Louisville two weeks. The regiment was then detached
from the Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps,
and proceeded, by steamer, to St. Louis ; from thence
394
OGLE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, arriving^ there July i,
1865. Joined the army serving on the Plains. Arrived
at Fort Kearney August 14 ; then ordered to return to
Fort Leavenworth September i, i86s, where the regi-
ment was mustered out of the service and placed en
route for Springfield, 111., for final payment' and dis-
charge — having served four years and four months.
Number of miles marched 4299
Number of miles by rail 2403
Number of miles by steamer.. 4310
Total miles traveled 11,012
Number of men joined from organization 1963
Number of men at date of muster-out 640
Adjutant Chas. F, Barber, com.Oct, 26. 1861. Resigned
June 2, 1863.
Adjutant George Q. Allen, com. June 2, 1863. Term
expired, re-entered service, 144th Vols.
Regimental Band.
Leader A. A. Millard, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. April
18, 1862.
Musician Theo. F. Higley, e. May 24, 1861, m. o.
April 18, 1862.
Musician John F. Warner, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. April
18, 1862.
Musician Edwin H. Riley, e. May 24, 1861, m. o,
April 18, 1862.
Musician William Kinnament, e. May 24, 1861, m. o.
April 18, 1862.
Company H.
Capt. Morton D. Swift, com. April 22, 1861. Res. Jan.
12, 1863.
Capt. Wm. J. Gibbs, com. 2d lieut. April 22, 1861.
Prmtd. ist lieut. Sept. 23, 1862. Prmtd.capt. Jan.
12, 1863, m. o. at consolidation.
First Lieut. Tho?. J. Hewitt, com. April 22, 1861. Res.
Sept. 23, 1862.
First Lieut. John B. Newland, e. as corpl. May 24, '61.
Prmtd. 2d lieut. Sept. 23, 1862. Prmtd. ist lieut.
Jan. 12, 1863, m. o. at consolidation.
Second Lieut. Jasper F. Allison, e. as sergt. May 24,
1861. Prmtd. 2d lieut. Jan. 12, 1863. Hon. disd.
June 17, 1864.
First Sergt. Chas. H. Ousterhoudt, e. May 24, 1861,
disd. Nov. 26, 1862, wd.
Sergt. Chas. W. Thompson, e. May 24, 1861, died April
II, 1862, wd.
Sergt. Rudolph S. Small, e. May 24, 1861, drowned
July 20, 1861.
Corpl. Chas. Fox, e. May 24, 1861, kid. at Shiloh April
6, 1862.
Corpl. M. G. Montgomery, e. May 24, 1861, vet., m. o.
Sept. 16, 1865.
Corpl. C. O. W. Newton, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May
24, 1864.
Allen Geo. Q. e. May 24, 1861, trans, to N. C. S. as
sergt. major.
Aspel Pat'k, e. May 24, 1861. m. o. May 24, 1864.
Austin H. J. e. May 24, '61, died May 6, '62, wd.
Belknap L M. e. May 24, '61, disd. July 10, '62, disab.
Bassett Wm. W. e. May 24, 1861, died Nov. 7, 1862.
Bassett Chas. O. e. May 24, 1861.
Bassett Wm. E. e. May 24, '61, disd. Oct. ii,'6i, disab.
Bond J. L. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Barnes Z. A. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Belcher Albert, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Berkey David, e. May 24, '61, disd. Dec. 16, '62, disab.
Barber Chas. F. e. May 24, 1861, trans, to N.C. S. May
24, 1861.
Crunkleton Robt. e. May 24, '61, disd. July i, '62, wd.
Champlin Chas. A. e. May 24, '61, disd. Sept.4,'62, wd.
Coffin John, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Cover Peter R. e. May 24, 1861, vet., prmt. sergt., m.
o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Cheeney C. R. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Feb. i, '63, disab.
Chappel Aug. S. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Dowell Geo. e. May 24, 1861, died July 18, 1863.
Dixon Chas. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Evarts A. B. e. May 24, '61, disd. May 31, '63, disab.
Elsey Henry, e. May. 24, 1861, disd. Oct. 11, '61, disab.
Hardy David E. e. May 24,'6i, disd. Oct. i8,'62, disab.
Helm Jas. E. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Aug. 5, 1863.
Heaper Martin, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Huntley Edw. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Oct. 11, '61, disab.
Higley Theo. e. May 24, 1861, trans, to band.
Hewitt Philo, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 14, 1864.
KeedyC. R.
Kinnament Wm. e. May 24, 1861, trans, to band May
24, 1861.
Kellogg Fred'k, e. May 24, '61, disd. Oct. 18, '62, disab.
Kellogg C. F. A. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Lur.t John W. e. May 24, '61, disd. Oct. 11, '61, disab.
Lampert F. P. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Lane John, e. May 24, 1861, desrtd. June 10, 1861,
Lowell N. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24. 1864.
Lovelady H. e. May 24, 1861, disd. May 3, 1862, wd.
Morris Chas. e. May 24, '61, drowned May 24, 1861.
McKinL-y Jas. e. May 24, 1861, vet., m.o. Aug. 14, '65.
Moreton John A. e. May 24, '61, vet., m.o. June 12, '65.
Martin David, e. May 24, '61, disd. Oct. 4, 1861, disab.
Mack H. C. e. May 24, 1861, vet., in. o. Sept. 16, \'66^.
Maish Fred'k, e. May 24, 1861, disd. Oct. ii,'6x, disab.
Nikirk Sam'l H. e. May 24, '61, vet., m. o. May 30, '65.
Paul Jacob, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Potter Sam'l W. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Palmer Levi, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Robertson Andrew, e. May 24, '61, disd. July i,'62, wd.
Roe John M. e. May 24, 1861, disd. June 15, 1861, writ
Habeas Corpus.
Ruggles J. H. e. May 24, '61, died May 4, 1862, wd.
Roby Daniel, e. May 24, '61, kid. at Shiloh April 6, '62.
Royce Asa, e. May 24, 1861, vet., m. o. May 30, 1865.
Scott Jas. e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Snyder Daniel H.e.May 24, '61, disd. April 27,'63,disab.
Scott Daniel, e, Maj' 24, '6r, disd. Oct. 4, '61, disab.
Sweet Valentine, e. May 24, 1861, disd. Oct. 11, 1861,
disab.
Smith Valentine, e. May 24, i86i,died 15, '62, wd.
Stevenson Simon, e. May 24, '61, disd. Aug. 8,'62,disab.
Seward W. H. e. May 24, 1861, vet., m. o. May 30, '65.
Snell John. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Oct. 4, 1861, disab.
Stuckenberg Aug. e. May 24, '62, disd. Aug. i,'62, disab.
Skuart S. B. e. May 24, 1861, vet., m. o. May 30, 1865.
Todd H. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Dec. 18, 1862, disab.
Tusher F. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Dec. 5, 1862, wd.
Typer Andrew, e. May 24, 1861, kid. at Shiloh April
_ 6, 1862.
Williams Anson, e. May 24, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1862.
Woodruff Alonzo. e. May 24, '61, vet., m.o. May 30, '65.
Whiteside R. e. May 24, 1861, vet., Sept, 16, 1865,
as ist sergt.
Warner John H. e. May 24, 1861, trans, to band May
24, 1861.
West J. e. May 24, 1861, vet., m. o. May 30, 1865.
Walkey Benj. e. May 24, 1861.
Wolsey R. D. e. May 24, 1861, disd. Oct. 11, '61, disab.
Washburne J. C. e. May 24,1861, disd. Dec. i6,'62,wd.
Buswell Joel B. e. May 18, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Bassett John, e. June i, 1861, m. o. May 24, 1864.
Boown Robt. e. June 15, 1861, trans, to Co. B, m. o.
Sept. 16, 1865.
Boown Wm. e. June 15, 1861, died Oct. 8, 1862.
Barr John Nelson, e. June 17, '61, deserted Sept. 6, '62.
Bryan Peter, e. Sept. 10, 1861, disd. June 17, '63, disab.
Bowers O. E. e. Oct. 15, 1861, trans. toCo.C, vet. bat.,
m. o. June 12, 1865.
Dickson Alfred M. e. Sept. 12, 1861, disd. Nov. 29,
1862, disab.
Finkle Robt. e. June 11, 1861, disd. Aug. 9, 1862, disab.
July 8, 1861, trans, to Co. G, 1st 111.
, Aug. 21, 1861, disd. May 27,
[862, trans, to Co. C, vet. bat.,
Gibson E. C.
Cav., Aug. I, '1861.
Hammonds Alfred J. (
1862, disab.
Kennedy Jas. e. Jan. i,
m. o. June 5, 1865.
Klinger David, e. Oct. 5, '61, disd. Dec. 27, '61, disab.
Long Wm. e. June i. 1861, m. o. June i, 1864.
Livermore John F.e.May — ,'6i, disd. Feb. 4,'62,disab.
Long John A. e. Sept. 7, '61, trans, to Co. C, vet. bat.,
m. o. Sept. 7, 1864.
Lower Riley, e. Oct. 5, t86i, trans, to Co. C, vet. bat.,
m. o. Sept. 7, 1864.
McCaig Wm. e. June 17, 1861, m. o. June 17, 1864.
Mulnix Wm. e. June i, 1861, disd. Oct. 11, '61, disab.
NeafFChas. F. e. Sept. 22, '61, vet., m. o. May 30, 1865.
Offal Jos. e. J\ily 25, 1861, desrtd. July 30, 1861.
Parker Moses, e. Oct. i, 1861, disd. Oct. 2, 1861, wd.
Stocking Wm. e. June i, 1861, m. o. June i, 1864.
Shirk Daniel F. e. )une i7,'6i, disd. Nov. i,'6i, disab.
Staplin Chas. e. March 10, 1862, trans, to Co. C, vet.
bat., m. o. May 27, 1865.
OGLE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
395
Wymer Wm. J. disd. Feb. 6, 1862, disab.
Waterbury Edw. S. disd. Oct. 8, 1862, disab.
Wood John, disd. Dee. 25, 1862, disab.
Willis Geo. W. trans, to Co. C, vet. bat., m. o. Jan.
5, 1865.
ISth Inf. ( Re- organised,)
Company C.
First. Lieut. Jas. Hooker, com. 2d lieut. July 20, 1864.
Prmtd. ist lieut. Aug. 10, 1864. m. o.
First Lieut. Romeyn Whiteside, e. as private March i\
1864. Prmtd. ist lieut. Sept. 20, 1865, m. o. as
sergt. Sept. 16, 1865.
[Note. — See Co. H^ isth Regt.^ as first organized.']
Company D.
Sergt. Chas. J. Davis, e. Mch. 4,'65, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Corpl. M. T. Trowbridge, e. March 4, 1865, m. o. Sept.
16, 1865.
Cassidy Benj. e. March 4, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, i86q.
Croak Dennis, e. Feb. 21, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Donavan John, e. March 6, 1865, deserted Mch. 15, '65.
Frost Harrison, e. Feb. 21, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Hill H. F. e. Feb. 21, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Miller B. H. e. March 4, 1865, deserted.
Rand J. G. e. March 2, 1865, died April 7, 1865.
Stearns John S. e. Feb. 21, 1865, deserted July 25,1865.
Company E.
Hallock Wallace, e. April 27, 1864, m. o. May 30, 1865.
Louden Jacob, e. March 27, 1864, m. o. May 30, 1865.
Miller C. C. e. Aiarch 26, 1862, m. o. May 30, 1865.
Company F.
Capt. Matthew Blair, com. March 17, 1865. Res. July
10, 1865.
Capt. Jonathan M. Clendining, com. 2d lieut. March
16, 1865. Prmtd. capt. Aug. 21, 1865. M. o. Sept.
16, 1865.
First Lieut. Edwin H. Riley, com. March 17, 1865. On
detached service.
Second Lieut. John C. Galbraith, e. as sergt. March 2,
1865. Prmtd. 2d lieut. Sept. 20, 1865. M. o. as
sergt. Sept. 16, 1865.
Sergt. N E. Rogers, e. March i,'65, m. o. Sept. i6,'65.
Sergt. Bowen B. Keith, e. Mch. 2. '65, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Corpl. W. J. Van Eman, e.Mch. i,'6s, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Corpl. Chas. A. Geeting, e.Mch. i, '65, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Corpl. Jos. Dean, e. March i, 1865, m.o. Sept. 16,1865.
Corpl. B. J. Fritze, e. March i, 1865, m.o. Sept. 16/65.
Corpl. Peter S. Meyers, e. Mch 2, '65, m. o. Aug. 8, '65.
Corpl. Wm. Sloggett, e. Mch. 2, '65, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Corpl. Chris. Krjener, e. Mch. 2, '65, m.o. Sept. 16, "65.
Corpl. S. P. Seas, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. June 7, 1865.
Musician Jos. H. Sweet, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept.
16, 1865.
Musician Wm. C. Galpin, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept.
16, 186^.
Wagoner John D. Schlosser, e. March 2, 1865, m. o.
Sept. 16, 1865.
Bowman U. J. e. March 13, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Billig Sam'l, e. March i, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Billig David, e. March i, 1865, m.o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Bovey Lewis, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Blair Sam'l W. e. March 2, 1865, m, o. June 7, 1865.
Billig Wm. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Cheeseman Robt. D. e. March 2,1865, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Dagnan Wm. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Dowden Geo. A. e. March i, 1865, ni- o- July i9i 1865.
Dibolt Geo.e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Derby E. W. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Eakle.M. H. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Eyrick Wm. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Eakle John W. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Freese A. W. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Karrell Patrick, e. March i, 1865, desrtd. June 11, 1865.
Freeseman John, e. March 14, 1865, desrtd. July 2, '65.
Griggs Eli, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Gasmuth John, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Gross Chas. E. e. March 2, desrtd. June 26, 1865.
Gage Luther S. e. Feb. 23, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Harmon A. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Hoofnagle H. e. March, i, 1865, in hospital at Fort
Leavenworth.
Hulse Adam, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Harmon R. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Hanna R. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. June 26, 1865.
Hanna Thos. e. March 2, 1865, m. o.' Sept. 16, 1865.
Hoover Daniel, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Hagert F. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. fulv 25, 1865.
Hollinshead D. C. e. March 2, '65, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Hoorf August, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Kitsmiller J< hn, e. March 1, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865."
Knodle Jos. N. e. March i, 1865, m. o. June 2. 1865.
Krouch Jas. e. March 6, 1865, m. o. Aug. 8, 1865.
Kobon Fredk. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. July 5, 1865.
Kamaiy Jas. A. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865,
KirkhaufFP. N. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Marsh F. W. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Miller F. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Marker P. F. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Maxwell Chas. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
McClain Wm. e. March 2, 1865, desrtd. July 17, 1865,
Mooney Thos. e. March u , 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Martin David, e. March 2, 1865, desrted. July 26, '65.
Mullen Daniel, e. March 2, 1865, m.o. Aug. 8, 1865.
Miller W. H. H. e. March 2. 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Piper Geo. W. e. March i, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Petrie Freedline, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Petne Upton, e. March i, 1865, m. o. Aug. 8, 1865.
Pappen H. S. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Piper Daniel, e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Rhodes Wm. B. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Reisinger A. S. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Reisinger S. Y. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Reisinger Jacob D. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. i6,'65.
Reecy B. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Ryan Jas. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Stoppy — , e. March 1, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Shipman S. e. March i, 1865. ™- o- ^ept. 16, 1865.
Stanley Hugh, e. March 2, 1865, ni. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Toms Samuel W. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Van Patten A. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Wheat Amos H. e. March i, 1865, m- o- Sept. 16, 1865.
Webb •-^amuel, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Aug. 8, 1865.
WetzellJ. P. e. March 2, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
COMPANY G.
Johnson Jas. T. e. March 11, 1865, m. o. May 11, 1865.
Klinker M. e. March 10, 1865, desrtd. July 2, 1865.
McClure T. C. e. March 11, 1865, m. o. June 29, 1865.
Sherig Edward R. c, March 11, 1865, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Trowbridge Wm. e. March 10, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
COMPANY H.
Sergt. Robert Marks, e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16,
1865.
Musician Buckhart Jos. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. July 31,
1865.
Byerly Emanuel, e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Groves Daniel S. e. Feb. 25, 1865, desrtd. July 14. '65.
Gaffin Chas. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Hoffman E. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Kearns Wm. e. Feb. 25,1865, died June 19, 1865.
Kretsinger S. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Knodle H. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Knodle John W. e. Feb. 25, 1865, desrtd. July 14, 1865.
Knepper Hiram, e. Feb. 25, 18.65, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Michael Daniel C. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. June 8, 1865.
Mon Henry R. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Piper Martin, e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865,
Savage Wm. C. e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. July 14, 1865.
StuU H. H e. Feb. 25, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Ray David C.
COMPANY K.
First Lieut. Jacob Paul, com. March 21, 1865, m. o.
Sept. 16, 1865.
Second Lieut. Tillman Driesbach, com. March 21, 1865,
m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
First Sergt. Wm. A. Long, e. March 18, 1865, m. o.
Sept. 16, 1865.
Sergt David Overdorf, e. Mch. 18, '65, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Sergt. Chas. Debenham,e. Mch. 18, '65, .mo. Sept.i6,'6s.
Strgt. John Emrick, e. March 18, '65, m.o. June i, 1865.
Corpl. Jacob M. Piper, e. Mch. 18. '65, m.o. Sept.i6,'65.
Corpl. Jas. L. Smith, e. March i8,'65, m.o. Sept. i6,'65.
896
OGLE COITNTY WAR RECORD.
Abies John, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. June i, 1865.
Alberts John, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Abies Jacob, e. March 8, 1865, m. o.June 29, 1865.
Baker David H. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Aug. 8, 1865.
Bingman Jacob, e. March 13, 1865, absent, sick.
Brand Robt. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Aug. 8, 1865.
Crietz John T. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Cooley John, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Cort T. c. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Eicholtz John L. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Ettinger John W. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Finney Wm. e. March 8, 1865, deserted July 22, 1865.
Feldmann John, e. March 8,1865, deserted June 26, '65.
Finney Abner, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Fry Chris, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Fry Jacob, e. March 7. 1865, m. o. Aug. 2, 1865.
Hoffins I. C. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. July 10, 1865.
Hoffman F. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Harris A. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16. 1863.
Hawk Daniel, e. March 8, 1865, deserted July 22, 1865.
Hammond Jos. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Heller John, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Knopp Geo. M. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Kieweit Jacob, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Lower Henry, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Meyer Edw. e. March 21, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
McKerral N. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Myers S. C. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Myers Wm. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Maddux Thos. F. e. March 11, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Nicodemus Geo. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Piper Geo. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Pull Geo. c. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Riley Thos. e. March 6, 1865, desrtd. March 14, 1865.
Rotharmell Amos, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, '65.
Rickert Sam'l, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Rhinehart J. B. c. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Shaffer Dan'l, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Sarby W. O. e. March 8, 1865, deserted July 23, 1865.
Schreerer E. M. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. July 27, 1865.
Salser John F. e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Small John, e. March 8, 1865, m. o. July 13, 1865.
Stuckenberg H. F. e. March 8, 1865, m.o. Sept. 16, '65.
Schriver A. E. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. Sept. i6^ 1865.
Tobias Joel, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Wiloby Wm. e. March 8, 1865, m. o. July 31, 1865.
Waliisa Israel, e. March 7, 1865, m. o. Sept. 16, 1865.
Fisket Wm. e. April 6, 1865.
Hicks F. M. e. April 6, 1865.
Rickerson C. W. F. e. April 6, 1865.
34:th Infantry,
The Thirty-fourth Infantry Illinois Volunteers was
organized at Camp Butler, Illinois, September 7, 1861,
by Colonel E. N. Kirk. Moved, October 2, to Lexing-
ton, Ky., and from thence to Louisvdle, and then to
Camp Nevia, Ky., where it remained until February
14, 1862. Marched to Bowling Green, and thence, via
Nashville, Franklin and Columbia, to Savannah, on the
Tennessee Kiver. Arrived at Pittsburg Landing April
7, 1862, and was hotly engaged in that battle, losing
Major Levanway and 15 men killed, and 112 wounded.
From thence moved to Corinth, and was engaged on the
29th of May, losing one man killed and five wounded.
From Corinth, moved to Florence and luka, Alabama.
Crossed the river at that place, and moved to Athens,
Huntsv\lle and Stevenson, Alabama. Was encamped
over a month at Battle Creek. From thence marched,
via Pellam, Murfreesboro and Nashville, to Louisville,
Ky., arriving September 27, 1862.
October i, 1862, left Louisville for Frankfort. Regi-
ment commanded by Lieut. Col. H. W. Bristol, Brigade
by Col. E. N. Kirk, and Division by Brig. Gen. Sill.
October 4, was engaged in a skirmish at Clayville, Ky.
From brankfort, moved, via Laurensburg, Perryville,
Danville, Crab Orchard, Lebanon and Bowling Green,
to Nashville. November 27, had a skirmish at La-
vergne. Regiment remained in camp, five miles south-
east of Nashville, until December 26, 1862.
December 27, Right Wmg moved to Triune, and,
after a sharp fight, drove the enemy from town. On the
29th, moved, via Independence Hill, toward Murfrees-
boro. On the 30th, took position at extreme right of
Union lines. On the 31st, the enemy attacked the reg-
iment in overwhelming force, driving it back on the
main line. Following the advantage gained by his in-
fantry, the enemy's cavalry charged the line and cap-
tured many of the regiment. Loss — killed 21, wounded
93, missing 66. Gen. Kirk was mortally wounded.
While at Murfreesboro, the Right Wing, Fourteenth
Army Corps, was organized into the Twentieth Army
Corps, and Maj. Gen. McCook assigned to command.
June 24, 1863, the Twentieth Corps moved, by the
Shelbyville Pike, toward Liberty Gap. On the 25th,
the Second Brigade was ordered forward, and advanced
across an open corn field, eighty rods in width, lately
plowed, and softened by the rains which fell the day
and night before, until the men sunk half way to the
knee in mud at every step. Without help, and in the
faca of a rebel brigade advantageously posted, they
drove the enemy from his position — the Second Arkan-
sas Infantry leaving their battle flag on the hill, where
thev fought in front of the Thirty-fourth. The regi-
ment lost 3 killed and 26 wounded.
Moved, on the 26th, via Beech Grove, to Manchester,
entering Tullahoma on the morning of July i.
August 16, moved, via Larkin's Valley, to Belief nte,
Alabama. The Thirty- fourth was here detailed as
Provost Guard. On the 30th, moved to Caperton's
Ferry, on Tennessee River. Here the regiment was
left to guard the pontoon bridge.
SepteiT ber 18, moved the boats to Battle Creek.
October 20, 1863, moved, under command of Brigadier
General J. D. Morgan, to Anderson's Cross Roads, in
Sequatchie Valley.
November 8, moved to Harrison's Landing, on Ten-
nessee River. November 14, ordered to report to Briga-
dier General John Beatty, commanding Second Brigade,
Second Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, Jeff. C.
Davis commanding Division. Arrived at Chattanooga
15th, and camped on Moccasin Point.
November 25, ordered to join the Brigade on the
battle field of Chattanooga. Arrived 11 o'clock P. M.
Moved at i o'clock A. M. of 26th, and moved via
( hicamauga Station.
On the 28th, moved back to Chattanooga, where
those unable to march were put in camp, the remainder
of the regiment moving on the expedition into East
Tennessee, as far as Loudon, where the Thirty-fourth
was detailed to run agrist mill, grinding corn and wheat
for tha Division. Returned to Chattanooga, arriving
December 19, 1863.
December 22, the Thirty-fourth was mustered as a
veteran organization, and January 8, 1864, started for
Springfield, Illinois, for veteran furlough.
Re(.eived veteran furlough, and rendezvoused at
Dixon, Illinois. February 28, moved, via Chicago,
Louisville and Nashville, arriving at Chattanooga
March 7, 1864, and moved out tojoin the Second Bri-
gade, Colonel John G. Mitchell, One Hundred and
Thirteenth Ohio, commanding, in camp near Rossville,
Georgia.
Mustered out July 12, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky.
Arrived at Chicago July 16, 1865, for final payment and
discharge.
Lieutenant Colonel Amos Bosworth, com. Aug. 15,
1861. Res. April 18, 1862.
Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Van Tassell, com. capt. Co.
F, Aug. 15, 1861. Prmtd. lieut. col. Feb, 14, 1863.
M. o. Nov. 7, 1864.
Major John M. Miller, com. capt. Co. H, Aug. 15,1861.
Prmtd. major Nov. 29, 1862. Res. Sept. 13, 1864.
Quartermaster D. H. Talbott, e. as ist sergt. Sept. 18,
1861. Prmtd. comsy. sergt. Sept. 21, 1861. Prmtd.
quartermaster Marcn 21, 1863. Term expired Nov.
6, 1864.
First Assistant Surgeon Franklin Barker ,com, April 14,
1865. M. o. July 12, 1865.
Company A.
Cooper Jos. e. March 9, 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Palmer 1. W. vet., kll. Averysboro March 16, 1865.
Palmer Geo. W. e. Oct. 15, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Company C.
Wagoner Chas. H. Evans, died at Hamburg, Tenn.,
June, 1862.
Marker M. m. o. Sept. 12, 1864.
Buck David, e. Feb. 19, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Buck A. F. e. Feb. 14, 1564, disd. Oct. 29, 1864, wd.
Foreman Jacob, e. Feb. 23, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Glen Geo. W. ;:. Feb. 15, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Royce B. R. e Oct. 15, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865,
(deceased)
OREGON
OGLE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
399
Doyle Edw. vet.,
Savage Wm. vet.
Company D.
n. o. July 12, 1865.
m. o. July 12, 1865.
Company E.
k
Capt. Henry Weld, com. Aug. 15, 1861. Res. March
26, 1862.
Capt. Samuel L. Patrick, com. ist heut. Aug. 15, 1861.
Prmtd. capt. March 28, 1862. Res. Nov. 21, 1863.
Capt. HoUis S. Hall, e. as seigt. Sept. 7, 1861. Prmtd.
2d lieut. June 12, 1862. Prmtd. capt. June 8, 1865.
M. o. July 12, 1865.
First Lieut. Ed. H. Weld, com. 2d lieut. Aug. 15, 1861.
Prmtd. ist lieut. June 12, 1862. M. o. Mch. 3o,'65.
Second Lieut. Thos. Bell, com. Aug. 15,1861. Dismissed
Feb. 15, 1862.
j^ Second Lieut. Chas. J. Loveland, e. as private Sept. 7,
^ 1861. Re-e. as vet. Prmtd. 2d lieut. June 14,
1865. M. o. as sergt. July 12, 1865.
Sergt. Julius J. Comstock, e. Sept. 7, 1861, resigned as
Second Lieut. June 22, 1862. Never com.
Sergt. Daniel W. Weld, e. Sept. 24, 1861.
Corpl. Marcus D- Bennett, e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Corpl. Geo. F. Cheshire, e. Sept. 18, 1861.
Corpl. Jas. P. Stewart, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., kid. at
Kenesaw, June 15, 1864.
Corpl. Geo. Fink, e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at St. Louis,
June 30, 1862. .
Corpl. Ctias. H. Broyword, e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at St.
Louis, June 20, 1862.
Corpl. Geo. R. Dewey, e. Sept. 17, 1861, m. o. Jan. 13,
1865, as wagoner.
Musician Geo. L. Wade,e. Sept. 24, 1861.
Austin Amos W. e. Sept. 12, 1861, vet., m. o, July 12,
1865, as sergt.
Bennett Chas. G. e. Sept. 7, 1861, disd.
Blakely A. S. e. Sept. 24. 1861.
Brainard Chas. died.
Calkins D. K. e. Sept. 24, 1861, m. o. Sept. 24, 1864.
Clark Thos. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Colborough J. H. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as sergt.
Crouch H. D. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Drelney J. C. e. Sept. 24, 1861, m. o. Sept. 23, 1864.
Dawson D. H. e. Sept. 7, 1861, disd. July 21, 1862.
Doughty Geo. J.e. Sept. 7, 1861. •
Devine Wm. e. Sept. 7, 1861, wd. and capt., m. o. Sept.
26, 1864. , ,
Dunlava John W. e. Sept. 12. 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as sergt.
EdgingtonM. S. e. Sept, 7, 1861, disd.
Finley Dennis, e. Sept. 24. 1861, vet., m.o. July 14, 65.
Gaston N. e. Sept. 24, 1861.
Hall James, e. Sept. 12, 1861, died at Camp Denison, -
Ohio.
Hartnett John, e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at St. Louis, Jan.
13, 1862, ot wounds.
Hore Wm. e. Sept. 18, 1861. died at Corinth, Miss.
Jenness G. B. e. Sept. 12, 1861, m. o. Sept. 12, 1864.
Laphorn Avery, e. Sept. 18, 1861, m. o. Sept. 17, 1864.
Lee Louis H. e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Lemke H. C. e. Sept. 24, 1861, m. o. Sept. 23, 1864.
Mangan Timothy, e. Sept. 24, 1861.
Miller Jas. e. Sept. 24. 1861, desrtd.
Miner Chas. E. e. Sept. 12, 1861, vet., m.o. July 12, 65.
Moore O. A. e. Sept. 7, 1861, trans, vet. res. corp.
Newton John, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., lu. o. July 12, 65.
Northrup Chas. L. e. Sept. 7, disd. June 9, 1862. ^
Story James, Jr., e. Sept. 12, 1861, m. o. Sept. 17, 64.
Story James, Sr., e. Sept. 24, 1864, vet., disd., March
25, 1865, disab.
Tyers Thos. e. Sept. 7, i86i, m. o. Sept. 12, 1864.
Tyers Fredk. e. Sept. 18, i86t.
Turner E. T. e. Sept. iS, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as sergt.
Wilder H. W. e. Sept. 7, '61, kid. at Shiloh, April 7,'62.
Youngs Geo. E. e. Sept. 7, died at Camp Wood, Ky.,
Feb. 3, 1862.
Zink John, e. Sept. 7, 1861, wd. and captd., m. o. Sept.
3, 1864.
Brown Samuel, died at Nashville, April 7, 1862.
Dolon John, e. Jan. 25, 1864, vet. recruit, m. o. July
12,1865.
Green Geo. W. e. Feb. 10, 1864, vet. recruit., m. o. July
12, 1865.
Lawrence John, e. Oct. 9, 1864, disd. Oct. 8, 1864,
term ex.
Piper Edward T. e. Oct. 2, 1861. disd. Sept. 14, 1862.
O'Brien Lawrence, e. Sept. 24, '61, died March 15, '64.
Ryan Edw. e. Sept. 24, 1861, kid. May 29, 1862.
COMPANY F.
Capt. Uriah G. Gallon, com. ist lieut. Aug. 15, 1861,
prmtd. capt. Feb. 14, 1863, m. o. Nov. 7, 1864.
Capt. John Slaughter, com. 2d lieut. Aug. 15, 1861,
prmtd. First Lieut. Feb. 14, 1863, prmtd. capt.
Nov. 7, 1864, m. o. Julv 12, 1865.
First Lieut. William D. Frost, e. as sergt., re-e. as
vet., Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. ist lieut. from ist sergt.
Nov. 7, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Second Lieut. A ex D. Miller, e. as ist sergt., prmtd.
2d lieut. Feb. 14. 1863, kid. JiAie 26, 1863.
Second Lieut. Josephus P. Moats, e. as wagoner, re-e.
as vet. Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. ist sergt. then 2d
lieut. June 14, 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Sergt. John T. Gantz.
Corpl. Steph n Brayton, disd. July 31, 1862, disab.
C( rpl. John L. Frost, vet., disd. March 9, 1864 for
promotion as capt.
Musician John W. Cooper, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Musician Virgil E. Reed, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Bowen James.
Brunson L. C.
Butjerfield Chas. vet. m. o. July 12, 1865, as corpl.
Cole David, m. o. July 12, 1865, as sergt.
Cowan J. H. vet., July 12, 1865.
Christian John, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Deets L. wd., m. o. Sept. 9, 1864.
Ellis Lewis S. vet., died March 27, 1865, wds.
Fish Isaac A. vet., m. o. July 12, 1865, as sergt.
Furgeson Dayid, died Nov. 13, 1861.
Fletcher L. F. m. o. July 12, 1865.
Gull J. H.
Hardesty A. m. o July 12, 1865, as corpl.
Harding Geo. died Nov. 10, 1862, disab.
Merritt E. F,
Merrick D. kid. March 16, 1865.
Pratt A. M.
McDonald Jas. died at Camp Wood, Ky.
Newcomer Wm. H. m. o. Sept. 7, 1864.
Powell Wm. E.
Richardson J. W. m. o. July 12, 1865.
Smith Benj. F.
Steel N. N.
Steel C. W. vet. m. o. July 12, 1865, as corpl.
Steel W. H.
Slaughter T. J.
Snyder B. F. kid. at Shiloh April 7, 1862.
Stephens W. C. died Nov. 8, 1862.
Taylor Elliott, m o. July 12, 1865.
Thurston A. O.
Van Ness J. m. o. July 12, 1865, as corpl.
Wood N. C. died Aug. 21, 1862.
Secoy A. J. vet., m. o. July 12 1865.
Taylor Jas. B. vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Wolf Jos. vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Wolf Benj. vet., sick at m.. o. Absent.
Warner Chas. A. vet., m. o. July 12, 1865, as sergt.
Hastings J. S. e. Feb. 8, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Newcomer E. S. e. Aug. 10, 1861.
Paul John W. e. March 9, 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Richerson W. J. e. Nov. 2, 1861, m. o. Nov. 8, 1864.
Taylor C. M. e. Feb. 23, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Taylor S. J. e. Feb. 23, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Turner Jabez, e. F'eb. 23, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Goodman A. J. e. March 8. 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Tilton Geo. W. e, Feb. 23, 1864, vet. recruit, m. o.
July 12, 1865
ey John D.
July 12, 1865
Wiley John D. e. Feb. 24, 1864, vet. recruit, m. o.
Williams W. T. e. Jan. 22, 1862, vet. recruit, m. o.
July 12, 1865.
Spalding A. C. e. Feb. 17, 1864, vet. recruit, m. o.
July 12, 1865.
Reed E. E. e. Feb. 17, 1864, vet. recruit m. o. July
12, 1865.
Avory Samuel, e. Oct. 10, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
COMPANY H.
Capt. Henry H. Newcomer, e. as sergt. Sept. 7, 1861,
prmtd. 2d Lieut., prmtd. Capt. Nov. 29, 1862* res.
Sept. 12, 1863.
Capt. Peter Householder, e. as sergt. Sept. 7, i8bi,
prmtd. ist sergt., then ist lieut. Dec. 27, 1862,
prmtd. capt. Sept. 12, 1863, res. Nov. 6, 1864.
25
400
OGLE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
Capt. Jos. H. Myers, e. as corpl. Sept. 7, 1861, prnitd.
2d Heui . Nov. 29, 1862, prmtd. ist lieut. Sept. 12,
1863, prmtd. capt. Nov. 6, 1864, m^ o. July 12, '64.
First Lieut. Benj. R. Wagner, com. 2d licut., Aug. 15,
1861, prmtd. ist lieut. Jan. 13, 1862, res. Dec.
27, 1862.
First Lieut. Edward B. Harner, e. as corpl. Sept. 7,
1861, re-e. as vet. Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. ist. sergt.,
then ist lieut, Nov. 6, 1864, kid. in action April
15 1865
First Lieut. John A. Geeting, e. as private Sept. 7,
1861, re-e. as vet. Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. ist. sergt.,
then ist lieut. May 19, 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Second Lieut. Henry Hiller, e. as ist sergt. Sept. 7,
1861, prmtd. 2d lieut. Jan. 13, 1862, died.
Second Lieut. John M. Smith, e. as sergt. Sept. 7, 1861,
prmtd. 2d lieut. May i, 1862, kid. in battle Stone
River Dec. 31, 1862.
Second Lieut. Michael Loos, e. as private Sept. 7, 1861,
re-e. as vet. Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. ist sergt. then
2d lieut. June 14, 1865, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Sergt. Silas Jackson Blair, e. Sept. 7, 1861, kid. at
Shiloh April 7, 1862.
Corpl. Wm. J. Foakee. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 15,
1864, as private.
Corpl. Chas. Fletcher, e. Sept. 7, 1861, reduced, desrtd.
Oct. 8, 1864.
Corpl. Robt. v^. Heister, e. Sept. 7, 1861, trans, to vet.
res. corps, July 3, 1864.
Corpl. Luther M. Strot, e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Corpl. Jacob Wagner, e. Sept. 7, 1861, disd. at Chicago.
Corpl. Levi Hulsinger,e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13,
1864, as private.
Wagoner John Price, died July 8, 1864.
Asky Jas. T. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865,
as corpl.
Avey T. J. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Baker Jesse, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865,
as sergt.
Barnhizer Isaac, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as corpl.
Black Jas. D. e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Barger Wm. M. e. Sept. 7, 1861, disd. July 2i,'62, wds.
Bell David, e. Sept. 7, 1861, died May i, 1862, wds.
Billig Annanias, e. Sept. 7, 1861, trans, to inv. corps.
Brooks T. F. e. Sept 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 23, 1864.
Bennett H. H. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Cone Thos. e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at Louisville, Ky.,
Jan. 15, 1862.
Cort John, c. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Coggins Wm. H. e. Sept. 7, '61, vet., m. o. July i2,'6s.
Detwilder Geo. e. Sept. 7, '61, vet., m. o. July 12, '65.
Deniston Samuel, e. Sept. 7, '61, vet.,m. o. July i2,'65,
as corpl.
Finkboner Geo. H. e Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as corpl.
Giles Geo. C e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Grove J. e . Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Harrison J. L. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, '65.
Haslett Peter B. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July i2,'6s.
Hickman Aug. e. Sept. 7, '61, vet., m.o. July 12, 1865.
Hills E.e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at Camp Wojd, Ky.,
Feb. 3, 1862.
Hills B. H. e. Sept. 7, 1861, died May i, 1862, wds.
Hays L. E. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865.
Harner E. e. Sept. 7, i86i,vet., m. o. July 12, 1865, as
Johnson W. W. e. Sept. 7, '61, disd. June 9, '64, disab.
Kennedy W. H. A. e. Sept. 7, 1861, desrtd. Oct. i5,'62.
Lawrence Wm. e. Sept. 7, 1861, died May i, 1862, wds.
Lawrence E. Y. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Mann C. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Merridith Davis V. e. Sept. 7, 1861, ■
May 14, 1864.
Morrow Russell, e. Sept. 7, '61, disd. Dec. 30,'6i, wds.
Matmiller Jos. e Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,
1865, as corpl.
Miller Lewis, e. Sept. 7, 1861.
McClure Wilson, e. Sept. 7, '61, vet., m. o. July 12, 65.
Noel John A. e. Sept. 7. t86i, died April 15, 1862, wds.
Ni^gent Michael, e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Perine N. E. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., trans, to vet. vol.
eug. July 23, 1864.
Palmer D. W. e, Sept. 7, 1861, died at St. Louis, May
1, 1862, wds.
Robins Wm. H. e. Sept. 7, '61, disd. Jime i, '62, disab.
ReifE.C.e. Sept. 7,1861.
Reisinger Peter, e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Richman W.R. e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. March 8, 1865,
term ex.
vet., kid. at Resaca
Sadler D. B.e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., trans, to vet. vol'
eng. July 23, 1864.
Scott Wm. J. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Shaw John, e. Sept. i, 1861, vet., m.o, July 12, 1865.
Sharrer John H. e. Sept. 7, '61, vet., m. o. July 12, '65.
Sage Harrison, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet.,m. o. July 12, '65.
Sterner M. e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
Tice O. e. Sept. 7, 1861, m, o. Sept. 12, 1864.
Tice Samuel L. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12,1865,
as sergt.
Turney David, e. Sept. 7, 1861, died at Mound City
May I, 1862, wds.
Taylor A. L. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Wilson R. M. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Withers T. W. e. Sept. 7. 1861.
Wertz S. R. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Withers Jacob, e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12. '65.
Widney L. L. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., prmtd. sergt. major.
Weimer Edw. e. Sept. 7, 1861,
Wagner N. c. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., m. o. July 12, 1865, as
ist sergt.
Wagner L e. Sept. 7, 1861, m. o. Sept. 13, 1864.
ZoUer C. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., kid. at Jonesboro, Ga.,
Sept. I, 1864.
Anger Geo. e. Sept. 3, 1862, died at Nashville, Tenn.,
May 7, 1862.
Bowman Wm. H. e. Feb. 13, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Bowers R. D. e. March 21, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Cooper M. L. e. Feb. 27, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Easton Chas. e. Aug. 30, 1862, kid. at Stone River Dec.
31, 1862.
Goodfellow John, e. Jan. 27, 1864, trans, to V. R. C,
m. o. July 29, 1865.
Huff David, e. Feb. 10, 1864. disd. Feb. 7, 1865, disab.
Heinke August, e. Feb. 18, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Morrison U. S. A. e. Sept. 3, 1862, trans, to inv. corp.
Sept. 30, 1863.
Ryan Dennis, e. Jan. 29, 1864, desrtd. March i, 1864.
Steffa Samuel F. e. Feb. i, 1864, vet, recruit, m, o, July
12, 1865, as corpl.
Slogett Wm. e. Feb. 24, 1864, ^- o- July 12, 1865.
Sadler Wm. H. e. Feb. 14, '64, disd. Oct. 20, '64, disab.
Weltz Samuel F. e. Feb. 5, 1864, died Aug. 8, '64, wds.
White James, e. Feb. 18, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Wallaby H. A. e. Sept. 15, 1862, kid. at Stone River
Dec. 31, 1862.
Weimer Edw. e. Feb. 10, 1864, m. o- July 12, 1865.
Warner Henry, e. Feb. 2, 1864, m. o. July 12, 1865.
Welker V. e. Feb. 18, 1864, died at Chattanooga,
July 8, 1864, wds.
COMPANY I.
Second Lieut. Jas. Brooks, e. as private Sept. 7, 1861,
re-e. as vet. Dec. 23, 1863, prmtd. 2d lieut. June 14,
1865, m. o. as sergt, July 12, 1865,
Brace Chas. P. e. Sept. 7, 1861.
Smith George W. e. Sept. 7, 1861, vet., kid. near
Marietta, Ga., June 27, 1864.
Company K.
Captain David C. Wagner, com. Jan. 13, 1862. Re-
signed Aug. 20, 1864.
Willis James, e. March 30, 1864, deserted May 13, 1864,
in lace of enemy.
Warren Emery, e. March 30, 1864.
Young James, e. Oct. 17, 1864.
39th Infantry.
(YATES PHALANX.)
Was mustered into U. S. service Oct. 13, 1861, and
moved to St, Louis, Mo. October 29, received ofders
to move to William-port, Md., where it was fully armed
and equipped. The following are the most important
events in the history of this celebrated regiment : Held
a force of 10,000 rebels under command of Stonewall
Jackson, for twenty-four hours. Participated in battle
of Winchester. Four companies under Major S. W.
Munn captured thirty prisoners at Columbia Bridge.
Was in Gen. McClellan's seven days' fight. Was at
Suffolk, Va., September, October and November, forti-
fying the place and making frequent raids, capturing on
one occasion two cannon and forty prisoners. Jan. 5,
1863, broke camp and marched to Chowan River, where
it took transports and reported to Gen. Foster at New-
OGLE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
401
burn, N. C. Here its colonel, T. O. Osborn, took
command of the brigade. Moved on expedition to
Hilton Head. Was in Gen. Hunter's expedition against
Charleston. At Morris Island, wa-. assigned to Gen.
Terry's expedition, and participated in capture of Fort
Wagner. Was first in the Fort. Left Hilton Head
on veteran furlough, Jan. i, 1864, via New York. Re-
turned 750 strong, and was on Butler's expedition up
James River, the entire loss being nearly 200. At
Wier's Bottom Church, May 20, the Thirty-ninth was
ordered to dislodge the enemy, which it did most gal-
lantly, losing 40, but capturing many prisoners, in-
cluding Gen. Walker. On the i6th of May, had an
engagement with Longstreet's command, losing some
35. August 14, crossed James River and operated with
Army of the James. On August 15 the regiment lost
104 men , among them several valuable officers. October
13, in a charge, the Thirty-ninlh lost 60 out of 250
engaged. March 27 about loo recruits joined. Took
part in movements that resulted in capture ot Peters-
burgh and Richmond. In engagement at Fort Gregg,
which was mostly hand to hand, the loss was 65 out of
150 engaged. For this gallantry Gen. Gibbon, their
commanding general, had a magnificent brazen eagle
cast and presented to the regiment. After various ma-
noeuvres and surrender c.f Lee, the Thirty-ninth was
mustered out at Norfolk, Va., and received final pay
and discharge at Springfield, 111., Dec. 15, 1865.
Quartermaster J. F. Linton, com. June 12, 1862, hon.
disd. April 19, 1864.
Company D.
Captain Geo. O. Snowdon, e. as ist sergt. Aug. 12, 1861.
Prmtd. ist lieut. June 12, 1862. Prmtd. capt. Jan.
13, 1864. Term expired Nov. 10, 1864.
First Lieutenant Wm. H. Ferrin, e. as private Aug. 9,
1861. Re-e. as vet. Jan. i, 1864. Prmtd. ist sergt.
Prmtd. ist lieut. Dec. 30, 1864. Res. Aug. 16, '65.
Second Lieut. Austin Towner, com. Aug. 9, 1861, res.
Sept. 4, 1862.
Second Lieutenant John Frane, e. as sergt. Aug. q,
1861. Prmtd. 2d lieut. Jan. 13, 1863. Died Aug.
16, 1864.
Second Lieut. George W. Linn, e. as private Aug. 21,
1861, vet., prmtd. 2d lieut. Oct. 4, 1865, m. o. as
sergt. Dec. 6, 1865.
Sergt. )ohn W. GUchell,e. Aug. 9, 1861, died at Delhi,
Ga., June 22, 1862.
Sergt. John L. York, e. Aug. 9, 1861, died at St. Louis
Oct. 18, 1861.
Corpl. M. E. Wait, e. Aug. 9, 1861, disd. June 6, 1862.
Corpl. Wm. H. Beach, e. Sept. 5, 1861, disd. May 30,
1862, disab.
Musician Jos. D. Frauble, e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet.
Atwood Jos. S. e. Aug. 12, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 6, '65.
Bowdon F. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., absent sick at m. o.
Boyce Hiram, e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 6, 1865,
as corpl.
Bullis N. e. Aug. 12, 1861, disd. Sept. 10, 1864, term ex.
Collins David, e. Aug. 27, 1861, disd. Sept. 10, 1864, as
sergt., term ex.
Corsaut Henry, e. Sept. 5, '61, disd. Oct. 16, '62, disab.
Crum Wm. W. e. Sept. 5, 1861, disd. June 6, 1862.
Cium G. e. Sept. 5, 1861, disd. July 29, 1863, disab.
Chasm Thos. e. Aug. 21, 1861, died Aug. 18, 1862.
Dresser L. e. Aug. g, 1861, vet., kid. Aug. 16, 1864.
Ferrell Jesse, e. Aug. 9, 1861, vet., died in S. C. Oct.
27, 1864.
Fuller L. C. e. Aug. 29,1861, disd. Jan. 14, 1863, disab.
Fuller Geo. L. e, Aug. 22, 1861, disd. Sept. 10, 1864,
term ex.
Farley Patrick, e. Aug. 12, 1861, vet., trans, to Reserve
Corps May 15, 1865.
Fuller M. Y. e. Sept. 21, i86i, m. o. Dec. 6, '65, corpl.
German A. e. Aug. 29, 1861, desrtd. Dec. 18, 1861.
Grant J. L. e. Sept. 12, 1861, disd. June 6, 1862.
HufFChas. e. Aug. 21, 1861, deserted Nov. 30, 1861.
Harding E. H. e. Aug. 9, 1861, vet., disd. Jan. 16,
1865, wd.
Hemmerling F. e. Sept. 6, 1861, m. o. Dec. 6, '65, sergt.
Kenney Patrick, e. Aug. 22, '61. disd. Dec. 6, '62,disab.
Kinnaw Thos. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., absent sick at
m. o. of regt,
Lacey Jas. L. e. Sept. 21, 1861, disd. June 6, 1862.
Odell John, e. Sept. 12, '61, vet., died June 29, '64, wd.
Poffenberger Jas. e. Aug. 28, i86i, disd. Dec. 16, 1862,
disab.
Patterson Wm. e. Aug. 21, 1S61, disd. Sept. 10, 1864,
term ex.
Cannon Patrick, e. Feb. 25, 1864, died in Va. Oct. 22
1864, wd.
Green Ira W. e. Feb. 26, 1864, m. o. Dec. 6, 1865.
Kinney Patrick, e. Feb. 25, 1864, m. o. Dec. 6, 1865.
Lyons John, e. Jan. i. 1864, m. o. Dec. 6, 1865, corpl.
Mathison John, e. Jan. i, 1864. m. o. Dec. 6, 1865.
McCarnley F. S. e. Dec. 26, 1863, m. o. Dec. 6, 1865,
as corpl., wd.
Root C. N. e. Jan. i, 1864, kid. in Va. Sept. 9, 1864.
Griffith George, e. Aug. 2 1, 1861, died Aug. 31, '62, wds.
Godfrey I. W. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., m. o. July 20, '65.
Hare John, e. Aug. 9, 1861, disd. May 31, 1862, disab.
Hummel R. N. e. Aug. 16, 1861, vet., kid. April 2, '65,
at Fort Gregg, Va.
Hewett F. e. Aug. 16, 1861, disd. June 9, 1862, disab.
Jones Wm. e. Sept. 3, 1861, vet., absent, sick at m. o,
of regt.
Lynn Geo. W. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 6, '65,
as sergt.
Lankenaw Henry, e. Aug 21, 1861, ret., kid. at Deep
Run, Va., Aug. 16, 1864.
Lyons John, e. Aug. 27, 1861, vet.,m.o. Dec. 16, 1865,
as corpl.
Lucen Thos. e. Sept. 19, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 16, 1865,
as corpl.
McCarnley F. S. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 16,
1865, as corpl.
Martin John, e. Aug. 21, 1861, disd. June 6, 1862.
Miller John, e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., di>d. Jan. 15, 1865,
disab.
McLaughlin John. e. Sept. 3, i85i, trans, to Battery B,
5th U. S. Artillery, Dec. 5, 1862.
Moore Wm. e. Aug. 26, '61, disd. Sept. 10, '64, term ex.
Nye Edw, e. Sept. 15, 1861, m. o. Oct. 12, 1864.
Root Chas. e. Aug. 21, 1861, vet., kid. at Petersburgh,
Va., Sept. 9, 1864.
Reese John, e. Aug. 9, 1861, vet. sergt., desrtd. Aug.
5, 1865.
Smith Michael, Aug. 21, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 6,1865.
Sawin Royal E. e. Aug. 12, 1861, vet. sergt., kid. in Va.,
May 16, 1864.
Tobias Natha* el, e. Aug. 29, 1861, vet.
Waite M. C. e. Aug. 9, 1861, vet., died July 2, '64, wds.
Wade Wm. e. Aug. 8, 1861.
Wells George W. e. Aug. 12, 1861, vet., m. o. Dec. 6,
1865, as sergt.
Edmonds D. W. e. Aug. 18, 1861, desrtd. Aug. 20, '61.
Fuller T. A. e. March i, 1865, m. o. Dec. 6, 1865.
Page Allen, e. March 23, 1865, died May 12, 1865, at
Point of R 
