USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, from the first settlement in 1834 to the civil war > Part 1
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD
. ..
THATCHER BLAKE
[Germaniens Kent and Thatcher Blake were the first settlers of Rockford. They came from Galena in the summer of 1834|
HISTORY
OF
ROCKFORD
AND
WINNEBAGO COUNTY
ILLINOIS
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1834 TO THE CIVIL WAR
CHARLES A. CHURCH
BY 1 11
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM NEGATIVES TAKEN BY MEMBERS OF NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY, AND OTHERS
Published by the new England Society of Rockford, HII.
ROCKFORD, ILL. W. P. LAMB, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 1900.
L
14844
Library of Congress I WU COPIES RECEIVED JUL 5 1900 Copyright entry
May 18, 1900 9. 12466 No
SECOND COPY. Delivered to ORDER DIVISION.
JUL 6 1900
64827 COPYRIGHT 1900 BY THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS
FOR
"Both justice and decency require that we should bestow on our forefathers an honorable remembrance." THUCYDIDES.
TO THE MEMORY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF ROCKFORD
WHO FOUNDED THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY UPON THE NEW ENGLAND MODEL, AND GAVE TO IT THE BEST ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
Officers new England Society 1900=1901
PRESIDENT ARTHUR H. FROST
VICE-PRESIDENT GEORGE M. BLAKE
SECRETARY (Vacancy to be filled)
TREASURER JOHN L. CLARK
Executive Committee
FRANK J. LEONARD MRS. G. W. MAGUIRE W. C. TAFT MRS. E. W. CHANDLER MRS. EDNA SOUTHGATE
Distorical Committee
CHARLES L. WILLIAMS MRS. HARRIOTT WIGHT SHERRATT MRS. E. P. CATLIN MRS. ANNA C. VINCENT
S. J. CASWELL
-
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
1. GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 1
II. GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY 6
III. THE MOUND-BUILDERS AND THE WINNEBAGO INDIANS 10
16 IV. THE BLACK HAWK WAR .
V. STEPHEN MACK .- JOHN PHELPS .- JOSEPH KEMP 22
VI. GERMANICUS KENT AND THATCHER BLAKE . 26
VII. PICTURESQUE ROCKFORD .- ITS FLORA AND FAUNA 32
VIII. DANIEL SHAW HAIGHT .- OTHER SETTLERS OF 1835 35
IX. THE PIONEERS OF 1836 40
X. JOHN C. KEMBLE: THE FIRST LAWYER .- OTHER SETTLERS OF 1837 45
XI. ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY .- THE FIRST ELECTION . 51
XII. LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT AT WINNEBAGO 58
XIII. THE FERRY .- EARLY STATE AND COUNTY ROADS 61
XIV. THE VILLAGE CHRISTENED .- THE FIRST SURVEYS 65
XV. THE RISE OF METHODISM .- FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 68
XVI. FIRST CRIME .- FIRST MARRIAGES AND BIRTHS .- CLAIM FIGIITS 75
XVII. THE COUNTY DIVIDED .- " MILE-STRIP CONTEST."-MINOR NOTES 81
XVIII. NEW ENGLAND CONGREGATIONALISM .- THE FIRST CHURCH 87 97
XIX. FIRST PATRIOTIC CELEBRATION .- THE POSTOFFICE .- FIRST COURTS
xx. THE STAGE COACH .- EARLY HOTELS .- VILLAGE PLATS 102 XXI. DR. A. M. CATLIN .- THE FOOTE BROTHERS .- FIRST SEMINARY IDEA 107 XXII. DR. JOSIAH C. GOODHUE .- DR. ALDEN THOMAS 110
XXIII. DR. GEORGE HASKELL .- THE GIPSY : THE FIRST STEAMBOAT 114
XXIV. JAMES M. WIGHT .- JASON MARSH .- OTHER PIONEERS 1838-39 118
XXV. TRIALS OF THE PIONEERS .- SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS .
131
XXVI. ROCKFORD HOUSES IN 1838 .- LATER BUILDINGS .- H. H. SILSBY 134
XXVII.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH .- JACOB KNAPP .- DR. THOMAS KERR
138
XXVIII. VILLAGE INCORPORATED .- LAND SALE .- FIRST TEMPERANCE CLUB 148 XXIX. ROCKFORD CEMETERIES 151
XXX. THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR OVER THE SITE OF THE COUNTY SEAT 154 XXXI. PLAN OF SECESSION AND PROPOSED ANNEXATION TO WISCONSIN 160
XXXII. ROCKFORD'S ATTITUDE TOWARD REPUDIATION OF STATE DEBT 166
XXXIII. THE LYCEUM .- SETTLERS OF THE EARLY FORTIES .- MINOR NOTES 168
172 XXXIV. ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY .- THE FIRST FAIR . XXXV. THE REIGN OF TERROR -THE BANDITTI OF THE FRONTIER 174
XXXVI. ROBBERY OF MCKENNEY AND MULFORD .- COLONEL DAVENPORT 182
CONTENTS.
CHAP.
XXXVII. TRANSPORTATION : NAVIGATION OF ROCK RIVER .- PLANK ROADS 188 XXXVIII. NEW ENGLAND UNITARIANISM .- FIRST CHURCH .~ REV. A. H. CONANT 194
EARLY ELECTIONS .- POLITICAL REMINISCENCES . 201 208
XL.
XLI. THE POLISH CLAIMS .- DELAY IN OBTAINING LAND PATENTS
210
XLII. PIONEERS IN LOCAL JOURNALISM 215 THE FIRST DAM .- THE WATER POWER .- HIGH WATER OF 1844 222 .
XLIII.
226 XLIV. POSTMASTERS OF ROCKFORD .- ITS ONLY POSTMISTRESS 229 XLV. ORGANIZATION OF THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH . .
XLVI. FIRST BRIDGE .- FIRST FOUNDRY AND MACHINE SHOP 231
XLVII. WORCESTER A. DICKERMAN .- ROCKFORD AS HE SAW IT IN 1844. 235 XLVIII. THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ROCKFORD IN THE EARLY FORTIES 248 253
XLIX. PREDOMINANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND TYPE IN EARLY ROCKFORD
L. RIVER AND HARBOR CONVENTION .- WINNEBAGO DELEGATES . 257 LI. THE "REFORM" OF THE JUDICIARY .- CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 260
LIII. REPRESENTATIVE ROCKFORD CITIZENS: 1842-50 .
LII. THE GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION : THE FIRST RAILROAD . 266 . 273 281 284
LIV. DEPARTURE OF MR. HAIGHT .- LOCAL STATISTICS .- OTHER NOTES LV. EMMANUEL CHURCH (EPISCOPAL)
287
LVI. ROCKFORD FEMALE SEMINARY,-ANNA P. SILL .- ARATUS KENT LVII. STATE AND LOCAL SCHOOL FUNDS .- EARLY ROCKFORD SCHOOLS 296 304
LVIII. ADOPTION OF TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION
LIX. SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 306
LX. INCORPORATION OF ROCKFORD AS A CITY .- MINOR NOTES 313
LXI. ELECTIONS OF 1852-53 .- ELIHU B. WASHBURNE 319
LXII. THE WATER POWER .- THE MANNY-MCCORMICK SUIT 321
LXIII. LXIV.
EMERSON, LOWELL, WHIPPLE AND OTHERS LECTURE IN ROCKFORD 326 A FRAGMENT OF POLITICAL HISTORY .- ROCKFORD BANKS .- NOTES 329
LXV. ROCKFORD SETTLERS 1851-54 333
THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 341
LXVI.
LXVII. THE FIRST LIBRARY .- WESLEYAN SEMINARY 344
LXVIII.
BAYARD TAYLOR'S TRIBUTE .- FRATERNITIES .- NOTES 347
350
LXIX. LXX.
MURDER OF SHERIFF TAYLOR .- EXECUTION OF COUNTRYMAN 352 KENOSHA AND ROCKFORD RAILROAD .- EARLY MANSIONS .- NOTES FATALITY AT A CHARIVARI .- TRIAL OF GOVERNOR BEBB .- NOTES 358 360
LXXII. THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
LXXIII. ROCKFORD SETTLERS 1855-59 362
LXXIV. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 1850-60 368
LXXV. CONCLUSION 378
.
XXXIX. LOUIS KENT: THE ONLY SLAVE IN THE COUNTY .
PAGE
LXXI.
ILLUSTRATIONS
THATCHER BLAKE, Frontispiece
MAP OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS, 17
FIRST METHODIST CHURCH, 89
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 89
RESIDENCE OF DANIEL S. HAIGHT, 129
SECOND COURT HOUSE, 129
OLD SECOND NATIONAL BANK BLOCK, 177
W. G. CONICK'S RESIDENCE, .
MANDEVILLE HOUSE, 233
177
BRINCKERHOFF HOUSE, 233
OLD SEMINARY BUILDING,
289
SCIENCE HALL, ROCKFORD COLLEGE, . 289
EAST STATE STREET, AS SEEN IN 1855, 337
INTRODUCTION
N the days of ancient Rome Janus was the guardian deity of gates. As every gate turned either way, so Janus was rep- resented with two heads. One was of a youth, to indicate begin- ning ; the other was of an old man, suggestive of the end. The first looked toward the future; the second, toward the past. The student, like Janus of old, surveys the past; and only from this point of view can he intelligently interpret the pres- ent, and in some measure forecast the future.
As a community becomes older, and the habits of its people become fixed, the study of local history receives attention. A movement was recently begun in this state for the purpose of creating popular interest in state and local history; and these subjects will doubtless receive more attention than formerly. This volume does not claim infallibility; but it does purport to be a thorough and conscientious effort to present in miniature the life of this community during a period of twenty-seven years from its first settlement. It is primarily a history of Rock- ford; but no history of the city would be complete unless con- siderable attention were given to the county, as a background. Nearly all the early settlers have passed away. This fact makes the fund of reminiscences smaller than might be desired. It is believed, however, this volume contains a larger number of local facts than were ever before presented in a single work. This is due to the fact that the author has been fortunate in obtaining access to sources of information that were not available to any of his predecessors. It is hoped that the treatment of all available material has been such that no future historian of Rockford will be obliged to go over the ground in order to sub- stantiate the facts herein set forth. The Roman poet, Ovid, made Janus say: "Everything depends on the beginning." The author hopes that upon this foundation a later historian will rear the superstructure of a complete history of the Forest City to the close of the century.
Clio, the muse of history, is represented as wearing a wreath of laurel, and holding a half-open parchment roll, upon which she has inscribed the deeds of heroes and the songs of love.
INTRODUCTION.
Clio and her sister-muses were nymphs of the springs that bick- ered down the sides of Helicon and Parnassus, the waters of which were supposed to possess the property of inspiration. Thus the historian of the old school painted ideal heroes and their exploits, with the grouping made very largely according to the taste of the artist.
This age demands a sterner realism. The modern histo- rian is a patient plodder and a delver after facts. He must clear and arrange the buried fragments of the past, and so far as he may reconstruct the shifting tableaux of human life, " so that king and subject, wise and simple, high and low, rich and poor, capital and labor, virtue and vice, crown and spade, crook and plow, sword and pen, and all that makes the thought and act of life, may be to the present what they were to the past." The inventive genius of Rockford has produced a ma- chine that will paint a portrait of high artistic excellence, with comparative ease. The next wonder may be a device to grind out history, with neither sweat of brow nor weariness of brain.
The author has received the cordial co-operation of the officers and executive and historical committees of the New Eng- land society. He is indebted to many friends for valuable aid in personal reminiscences. He has received the utmost courtesy from early settlers and others interested in the work; and to them is due, in large measure, whatever success may attend its publication. He is especially indebted to collections of manu- scripts gathered some years ago by the late Hon. E. H. Baker and the late H. H. Silsby. Lewis F. Lake, M. A. Norton and H. C. Scovill have placed the records of their respective offices at his disposal. The clerks of the several churches have loaned their records; and the early records of Rockford seminary have been frequently consulted. The author is also indebted to Mrs. Harriott Wight Sherratt, Mrs. Katherine Keeler, Mrs. E. P. Cat- lin, Chas. H. Spafford, Hon. Wm. Lathrop, S. J. Caswell, and H. N. Starr, for the loan of family manuscripts and valuable information personally given. The splendid resources of the public library have been utilized, and without them this volume could not have been prepared upon it present scale.
CHARLES A. CHURCH.
ROCKFORD, ILL., MAY 22, 1900.
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW.
7 THE territory now comprised within the state of Illinois first nominally formed a part of Virginia. The primal rights of the native Indians were never recognized by the explorers from the old world. The English crown, by virtue of discov- eries made by the Cabots and the colonies planted by Sir Walter Raleigh, took formal possession of that portion of the new world known as Virginia. This name was given the new pos- session by the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth. in honor of herself. In 1606, early in the reign of King James I., two companies were formed for the colonization of America. Virginia was divided into two parts. To the London Company the king granted South Virginia, which extended from Cape Fear, in North Car- olina, to the Potomac. To the Plymouth Company he gave North Virginia, which stretched from Nova Scotia to Long Island. The region between 'the Potomac and the Hudson was left as a broad belt of neutral territory. Under therevised charter of 1609 these grants were to run in straight zones across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They included "all the islands lying within one hundred miles along the coast of both seas" aforesaid. So little was then known of the geography of North America, that it was believed the con- tinent at this latitude was no wider than in Mexico. Hence England made extensive grants of land on this continent in utter ignorance of its extent and configuration. This charter was subsequently annulled by quo warranto, and special com- missions issued, in which the king declared that the charter was abrogated for the benefit of the settlers; but that it should not affect their private or civil rights, but only the political rights of the company at home.
The English colonists in Virginia, however, did not penetrate far into theinterior. Thus the royal claim to the "land through- out from sea to sea west and northwest" did not secure the title of the English crown to this vast domain. The French were the first actual settlers in the great Mississippi valley. During the latter part of the seventeenth century Father Mar- quette, Joliet, La Salle, Tonti and others explored the shores of
A
2
HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
the Father of Waters and his tributaries, and believed they had found a terrestrial paradise. La Salle descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. He named the country Louisiana, in honor of his king, Louis XIV. By virtue of these explorations France made formal claim to the territory lying on either side of the Mississippi. Possession is said to be nine points in the law. According to this doctrine France, and not England, was the first European power to establish its claim to the Illinois territory by actual occupation. Between the years 1695 and 1705 colonies from Lower Canada founded the villages of Kas- kaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes. The French government united its possessions in Canada with those in Louisiana by a chain of posts, from Quebec to New Orleans ; and Le Grande Monarque made numerous grants to his favorites. The large number of grants of land made during this period indicate that Illinois even at that early day had attracted general attention. Thus, with English colonies on the coast, and French occupation in the valley of the Mississippi, it was only a question of time when there would come a final struggle for the possession of this vast territory.
This crisis came with the French and Indian war, the issue of which committed the destiny of the west to the Anglo-Saxon civilization. By the treaty of Paris, in 1763, Great Britain obtained all the French territory east of the Mississippi, with the exception of the island of New Orleans. France ceded New Orleans and all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi to Spain. In all the great continent of America, France retained not a foot of ground.
The special claim made by Virginia to the Illinois territory was based upon the bold conquest of this region by Colonel George Rogers Clark. In 1778 Colonel Clark conducted a series of brilliant campaigns against the military posts at Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes. These posts and those upon the lakes were in possession of the British, under the command of Henry Hamilton, whose headquarters were at Detroit. From these posts the Indians were supplied with munitions, and were thus enabled to harass the settlements in Kentucky with their cruel guerrilla warfare. The French villages, the only settlements in the region, were seats of British power. If these posts could be taken, and the capture of the British soldiers effected, the entire region would be won for the Old Dominion. This result could only be effected by force; and the scheme appealed to the bold
3
THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST.
spirit of Colonel Clark. He presented the matter to Patrick Henry, who was then governor of Virginia. Henry's ardent soul quickly caught the flame, and he secretly rendered such assistance as came within his power.
The outcome justified Colonel Clark's most sanguine expec- tations. His brilliant exploits constitute one of the most romantic chapters in pioneer history. The results were very great, and doubtless prepared the way for the purchase of Lou- isiana. If Clark had failed to conquer and hold the Illinois and Vincennes, there is reason to believe that the Ohio river would have been the boundary between the American and the British possessions. The colonial charters furnished color of title; but the American claim actually rested on the conquest and occu- pation of the west by Colonel Clark and the backwoodsmen. Thus the west was won by the westward movement of the backwoodsmen during the Revolution; by the final success of the Continental armies in the east; and by the diplomacy of Franklin, Jay and Adams in the treaty of Paris. Failure at any one of these points would have given the British the possession of the west. Colonel Clark spent his last years alone in poverty, in a rude dwelling on Corn Island, until he went to the home of his sister. When Virginia sent him a sword he received the compliments of the committee in gloomy silence and then exclaimed : "When Virginia wanted a sword I gave her one. She sends me now a toy. I want bread." He thrust the sword into the ground, and broke it with his crutch. His grave is in Cave Hill cemetery at Louisville, marked by a little headstone bearing the letters, G. R. C. It is said that not half a dozen persons in the United States can pointit out. Fortune was unkind to him, and republics seemed ungrateful; but his- tory must pay its just tribute to his genius, his patriotism, and his prowess.
Virginia assumed the title to this extensive territory, first by right of her charter, and secondly by the conquest of her own arms. These claims, though challenged by the other states, were successfully maintained by the Old Dominion ; and the territory was at once organized into a county called Illinois. This word is derived from the Algonquin word Inini, or Illini, which means a perfect and accomplished man. The Illinois were an Indian tribe of the Algonquin nation, who occupied a portion of the state which now bears their name. These events occurred during the administration of Patrick Henry as governor of
4
HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
Virginia, and therefore he may be said to have been the first governor of Illinois.
By the treaty of Paris in 1783, which terminated the Revo- lutionary war, the Illinois territory passed forever from the control of Great Britain. It was not clear, however, to whom the title was transferred. During the war four states had made claims either to the whole or to parts of this domain. They were Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia. The first two colonies had received royal permission to extend fron sea to sea. But Virginia was the lordly Old Dominion, which had actually conquered and held the disputed territory.
At this juncture Maryland arose to the occasion in 1777, with a novel and practical suggestion. As a condition of rat- ifying the Articles of Confederation, Maryland insisted that the four claimant states should surrender their claims to the United States, and that the latter should create a domain which should be owned by the confederacy in common. In 1780 congress recommended to the several states such cession of their several claims, and the creation of a national domain. Thus there were planted the fruitful seeds of national unity.
In pursuance of this recommendation Connecticut, Massa- chusetts, and New York surrendered their claims, which were more or less shadowy. The magnanimity of Virginia was genuine. The Old Dominion made a complete surrender of the magnificent territory of which she was in actual possession. In this concession she was greatly influenced by Thomas Jefferson. October 20, 1783, the general assembly passed an act which authorized the delegates of the state in congress to convey to the United States, on certain conditions, her entire territory northwest of the Ohio river. One of these conditions was that the ceded territory should be formed into states not less than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square or as near thereto as circumstances would admit. Accordingly on March 1, 1784, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Mouroe, the delegates for the commonwealth in congress, presented to the United States a deed of cession of the territory northwest of the Ohio river. By the Ordinance of 1787 congress provided that not less than three nor more than five states should be formed from this territory, as soon as Virginia should alter her act of cession and consent to the same. Virginia, by her act of December 30, 1788, promptly ratified the act of congress of the preceding year, "anything to
-
5,
ILLINOIS ADMITTED AS A STATE.
the contrary in the deed of cession of the said territory by this commonwealth to the United States notwithstanding." Thus was accomplished the transfer of this public domain to the United States.
By the act of congress of May 7, 1800, the Northwest Ter- ritory was divided. That portion east of a line drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky river to the British possessions, was called the Ohio Territory. The remainder, west of this line, was called Indiana Territory, and comprised the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. William Henry Harrison was appointed governor. Indiana Territory was divided by act of congress approved June 11, 1805, and that portion corresponding to the present southern portion of Michigan was set apart, under the name of Michigan Territory. In 1809 the Indiana Territory was again divided. That portion lying west of the Wabash river and a line from that river due north to the British possessions, was constituted a separate government, under the name of Illinois. This area included the present states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and peninsular Michi- gan. The seat of government was fixed at Kaskaskia, where a territorial legislature, which consisted of the governor and the judges, convened in June, 1809. Thus the machinery of the first grade of civil government was put in operation in Illinois Territory.
In 1812 the Territory of Illinois was advanced to the second grade of territorial government. This organization continued until 1818. In January the territorial legislature petitioned congress for admission into the union as a sovereign state. A bill for this purpose was presented in congress in April, and through the influence of Nathaniel Pope, the territorial delegate, the northern boundary was extended from the line indicated in the petition to latitude 42° 30'. The reason for the change of the northern boundary line will be more fully explained in a subsequent chapter. The act of congress of April 18, 1818, provided for the admission of Illinoisinto the union. In August of the same year the Illinois convention adopted a constitution and ordinance accepting the terms of admission prescribed by congress. The final act by which Illinois attained its present geographical and political status was a resolution of congress, adopted December 3, 1818, which formally declared the admis- sion of the state into the union.
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