USA > Illinois > DuPage County > A history of the County of Du Page, Illinois > Part 10
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HISTORY OF
party camped for the night among the prairie grass and flowers. Their slumbers were somewhat disturbed by the prairie wolves, which howled most hideously about them during a greater part of the night; but wearied by their long marches, they rested full as well as could be expected under the circumstances. On the following day they reached Meacham's grove, where they found three settlers by the name of Meacham. Here they obtained some instruction in the arts of border life. They learned how to make their claims, how to construct cabins, and how to manufacture their beds. From this place they pro- ceeded to Elk grove, and thence along the west bank of Salt creek to Duncklee's grove, and camped for the night on the spot where the house of H. D. Fisher now stands.
On the 12th day of September they took a northern direction through the timber, and made their claims near the north end of the grove. The timber claims were made by marking trees, and the prairie claims by plowing a furrow entirely around each. Imme- diate preparations were made for the erection of a house. The ground was leveled with a hoe, and prairie grass, which was cut with an ax, was spread upon it for beds. A tent was made of cotton cloth, and here they lived for half a month, until their cabin could be completed. The sides of the new cabin were formed of logs, drawn together by the pony - an important member of the company, of whom honor- able mention is hereafter made - the floor was formed of split logs, and the roof of oak shingles. The family of E. Duncklee arrived in August, 1834. The 18th day of June, 1835, was the date of the birth of the
149
-
DU PAGE COUNTY.
first white child in the town. Three barrels of frozen apples were planted by Mr. Duncklee in the spring of 1836, from which nearly all the region has been sup- plied with fruit trees. He sold from his own orchard, in 1855, upward of $600 worth of fruit. There is a cotton-wood tree standing in his yard which sprang from seed sown in 1837, and measures five feet two inches in circumference, at a height of fourteen inches from the ground.
The following table gives the names of the early settlers, the date of settlement, and the state or coun -. try from which they emigrated :
NAMES.
YEAR.
WHERE FROM.
Hezekiah Duncklee
1834
N. H.
Mason Smith
6
E. Duncklee
1835
66
A. Ingals.
1834
Mass.
C. Fisher
Germany.
H. Smith, sen
1835
Geo. Rouse
N. Y.
E. Lester.
M. Lester.
F. Lester.
D. Lester.
J. F. Franzen.
1836
Germany.
B. Kaler ..
D. S. Dunning.
D. Gray.
1834
F. Gray.
H. D. Fisher
1836
66
- H. Smith, jun.
1835
F. Smith.
T. Thomson.
1834
Lewis Smith.
1835
66
H. Rotermund.
1837
.
F. Kragie.
«
J. Bertman
1836
S. D. Pierce
66
N. Y. 66
C. W. Martin
66
W. Boske
1835
Germany.
B. F. Fillmore
1836
Vermont.
Edwin Pierce.
1837
N. Y.
N. Y. Germany. =
F. Stainkle
66
.
150
HISTORY OF
This is strictly an agricultural town. The first at- tempt at farming, of which the writer has any account, was in the fall of 1834. Mason Smith and Hezekiah. Duncklee cut and stacked a few tons of hay near Salt creek, to keep a small pony, which was their joint possession, and which had brought them all the way from Detroit. Their stack was completed after several days' hard labor, and they were advised to burn the grass for several rods around it, in order to protect it from the annual fires set by the Indians. Being. un- acquainted with the business, they set the fire too near, and not only burned up the grass about it, but , the whole stack was consumed, leaving the pony des- titute of a winter's allowance. Winter came on, and having no hay, they turned him into the grove, where he lived and prospered until the opening of spring. The land in this town came into market in 1842, hav- ing been surveyed the previous year. When the first settlers came into the town, the land being unsurveyed, each made what was termed a claim, by staking or surrounding with a furrow as much land as he thought he would be able to pay for, when it should come into market. The usual quantity claimed was 160 acres ;. some, however, claimed more, and some less than that amount. There were some conflicting claims ; but these difficulties were generally settled when the land was sold, by the one having the largest portion of the disputed claim buying the whole, and then re-deeding to each holder his proportion. In this way all obtain- ed their lands as claimed, without regard to govern- ment lines. There are three groves of thrifty growing timber in this town. Duncklee's grove lies on the east bank and along the Salt creek. It is about three
151
DU PAGE COUNTY.
miles in length, and half a mile in width. Grey's grove lies also on the east branch of Salt creek, and contains about 100 acres. Kaler's grove, though smaller, affords considerable fuel and timber.
The balance of the lands of this town is chiefly flat prairie. The soil is from two to two and one-half feet in depth, with a subsoil of clay. It produces good spring wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, etc. Winter wheat generally kills out in the spring, by alternate freezing and thawing. The greater part of the hay is made from prairie grass, which grows luxuriantly on the creek bottoms, and on the low ground. Clover, timo- thy and herdsgrass do well, but require manure to neutralize the alkalies in the land. The lands produce an average of about twenty bushels of spring wheat, forty bushels of oats, forty bushels of corn, and one hundred bushels of potatoes to the acre.
"The price of farms in this town varies according to their improvement. The minimum value is $25 per acre, and the maximum $50.
The school section of this town sold for $800, which has been increased, by addition of interest from tinie to time, to $1,300. There are eight school districts in the town, six of which are provided with good school buildings. There are three German schools taught. Henry Bartling is the post master in the south part of the town, and S. D. Pierce at Sagone, in the north part. There are three churches, two establishments for the manufacture of brick, one grist mill, one car- riage shop, one cabinet shop, four stores, two boot and shoe shops, and two blacksmith shops in the town. The Lutherans have a large society, and worship in a
152
HISTORY OF
house built for their own, accommodation. The present pastor is Rev. E. A. Brauer.
The German Methodist society of this town. is also large. It has a house of worship, and the pulpit is regularly supplied by a settled pastor. The present pastor of this church is Rev. U. Macklin.
This town has been visited with several violent and destructive storms within a few years past, the effects of which were also experienced in other parts of the county, and through the kindness of Mr. M. L. Dunlap, Esq., we are enabled to place some account of them before our readers. . The following communication was published in the Chicago Democrat, of June 13, 1847 :
THE HAIL STORM.
"This part of the country was yesterday visited with one of the severest storms of rain and hail that I have ever witnessed - the country is completely inundated. The morning was cloudy, with' wind from the south, occasionally shifting to the southwest; during the forenoon, the clouds gave the appearance of good weather. At 7 A. M. the barometer stood at 29.50 inches, and thermometer at 68°. At 12 o'clock the latter had risen to 770, and the former had fallen to 28.40 inches. At this time a thunder shower was roll- ing up its black masses from the northwest, and at 1 o'clock it burst upon us with full force, attended with large quantities of hail of icy firmness. The mass of hail stones would average three-eights of an inch in diameter, while many specimens picked up measured over one and a half inches in circumference.
Several lighter showers followed, with wind from
: ,
153
DU PAGE COUNTY.
the southeast; and at 4 o'clock a heavy shower pre- sented itself in the north, extending : itself south and east, with wind from tlie east. In a few minutes the wind suddenly shifted to the north, when the rain commenced falling in torrents, completely shutting out the view. The rain partially abated, when the hail commenced pouring down at a fearful rate, the average size of the hail stones being half an inch in diameter, while many of them would measure over three inches in circumference, being an aggregation of hail stones cemented together -perfect ragged lumps of ice. The barometer fell to 28.30 inches, and thermometer to 59º; after the storm the latter rose to 67º, and the former to 28.40 inches. There was but little wind during the falling of the hail.
This morning the houses, gardens and fields were a dismal sight. Nearly all the glass is out of the win- dows on the north sides of the houses, the young fruit is stripped from the trees, buds and grafts of this year's growth are broken off, and the field crops are more than half destroyed. The damage to our farms in this part of the county will be severely felt." Here is another dated July 15th, 1854.
A DESTRUCTIVE STORM.
" We turn aside from our usual articles on culture, to record one of the most destructive hail storms within our knowledge.' It occurred about 5 o'clock P. M., Thursday, the 13th instant. Commencing in the town of Bloomingdale, Du PAGE County, and passing through Addison in the same county, thence into Cook county through the north part of Leyden,
7%
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HISTORY OF
the south part of Elk grove and Maine, thence through Niles to the lake .. Its track of greatest destruction was about a mile in width, though the hail fell in tor- rents, doing more or less damage for a mile on each side of this line. The entire crops of grain and po- tatoes are completely broken down and ruined; the grass has fared little better, being badly injured and much of it not worth cutting. The corn is completely stripped of its leaves, and mostly broken off near the ground. Fruit and shade trees are nearly defoliated, badly bruised, and in many cases large stripes of bark knocked off .. At the house of I. Knowles, in Addison, a pile of hail stones accumulated in an angle of the building three feet deep, and at 5 o'clock next day, hail stones were measured from this pile from three to five inches in circumference. The trees on this farm are mostly stripped of their bark.
All the windows on the south and west sides of the houses had the glass broken. . Cattle ran bellowing through the fields -- horses broke from their fastenings and ran with whatever was fast to them. The ten minutes the hail was falling, were of fearful grandeur, alarm and rapid destruction. The dark mass of cloud streaked with the lurid lightning- the roaring of the hail like the pouring out of a thousand torrents might well inspire terror and dismay. In a few short min- utes the hopes of the husbandman were gone; the broad ears of beautiful waving grain fast ripening for the reaper, and which were destined to feed and clothe those he held most dear, were utterly ruined and pros- trated before him. Think you, gentle reader, that no tears coursed down the sun-burnt cheeks of those
155
DU PAGE COUNTY.
hardy sons of toil, to see their cherished hopes thus swept away, themselves, teams and farm implements turned out nearly idle for the remainder of the season ; and the hopes of their families resting on their daily labor, or the prospect of a mortgage to carry them forward to another harvest ? We know the heart of the farmer is large, and ever open to relieve the un- fortunate, and in this case we feel assured that those in the immediate vicinity will extend a helping hand in the way of grass, grain, and labor, not forgetting those garden vegetables so desirable to the health and comfort of a family.
Yesterday we passed over a small portion of the unfortunate tract, and made some figures of the loss, but these embrace only a small portion, and do not include all within the distance passed over, as we pre- fer to omit the estimate rather than take them from hearsay. In this estimate we have taken, the probable amount of grain, etc., at its market price, after deduct- ing the cost of harvesting and marketing. It is prob- ably much below the ultimate loss in deranging farm operations, and the extra expense of procuring hay and grain for farm use :
Wm. Richardson, $600
D. Lester,
.600
C. Heimsoth,
200
Mr. Bottings
250
J. H. Ehle,
400
S. D. Pierce,
900
A. Ingals,
.300
A. Tupp,
.100
Mr. Ohlerking,
800
F. Turner,
600
D. S. Dunning,
400
M. Millner,
$500
Mr. Millner,:
.350
J. & J. Baker,
450
J. Knowls,
600
T. D. Pierce, .
500
Messrs. Chesman,
400
Messrs. Lock,
100
L. Gary.
.300
Mrs. Going,
500
B. F. Fillmore,
200
C. W. Martin,
300
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HISTORY OF
C. Schwitzer, 300
F. Teduka,. 400
Dr. E. Smith, 200
Lewis Lester, 100
D. Clark, jr., .500
G. Landmair, 300
H. Hadkin,. 200
J. Fennemore, 900
T. B. Cochran,
600
This list, imperfect as it is, shows a large loss for a small neighborhood in a rural district, and nearly all within the delivery of the Sagone post office, in the town of Addison. The south margin of the storm passed over Dunlap's nursery, in the town of Leyden, injuring the young grafts and knocking off fruit from the specimen grounds, which is to be regretted, as many varieties were fruiting for the first time, by which their correctness of nomenclature would have been decided. Such large quantities of decaying vegetable matter, now sweltering in a summer sun, cannot have otherwise than a deleterious effect on the health of families residing on this track of desolation."
Under the township organization law, the first town election took place in Addison, in April, 1850. The following list includes the names of town officers since that time :
SUPERVISOR :
1850-S. D. Pierce.
1851-P. Northrop.
1852-J. Pierce.
, 1853-E. Lester.
1854-J. Wakeman.
1855-H. D. Fisher.
1856-
1857-
TOWN CLERK :
1850-P. Northrop.
1854-B. F. Fillmore.
1851-B. F. Fillmore.
1855-
1852-
1856-
1853-
1857 - H. Bartling.
157
DU PAGE COUNTY.
ASSESSOR :
1850- H. Rotermund.
1854-S. D. Pierce.
1851 -
1852-L. Barnum.
1853-S. D. Pierce.
1857-S. D. Pierce.
CONSTABLE :
1850-W. Rotermund,
1854-S. D. Pierce.
S. D. Pierce.
1855-L. Rust,
1851 -
J. Pierce.
1852-
1856-
1853-
1857- G. Schneider.
COLLECTOR :
1850-W. Rotermund.
1854-L. Rotermund.
1851 -
1855- L. Rust.
1852-T. E. Lester.
1856- «
1853 - L. Rotermund.
1857 - T. Smith.
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE :
1850 - S. D. Pierce,
Peter Northrup.
1854-
1851 -
1855-
1852-
1856 -
1853-S. D. Pierce,
H. D. Fisher.
1857 -
1855-N. Sadler.
1856-J. A. Kinne.
158
HISTORY OF
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WINFIELD.
THIS town was settled in 1832 by Erastus and Jude P. Gary. They came in just after the close of the Black Hawk war, and settled in the cast part of the town. Among the settlers of 1834 were Messrs. M. Griswold, J. M. Warren, J. S. P. Lord, A. Churchill, Alvah Fowler, Ira Herrick, and Ezra Galusha. The town is six miles square ; is well supplied with wood and timber; is watered by the Du Page and several smaller streams ; has a productive soil and healthy climate; and is now rapidly increasing in wealth and population.
There are in the town three pleasant villages, three churches, one academy, one grist mill, two saw mills, twelve stores, ten factories, three post offices, two rail- road stations, and a population of about 1,600.
Of the three villages - Warrenville, Winfield and Turner - Warrenville was first settled. The first house was built by Col. J. M. Warren in 1834. There are now in the village a Baptist church, an incorpo- rated academy, a grist mill, a saw mill, three black- smith shops, two dry goods stores, one drug store, a post office, two wagon shops, a hotel, and about 250 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on the west fork of the Du Page river, three miles from Winfield station, on the G. & C. U. railroad.
The first efforts toward establishing a religious or- ganization in Winfield were commenced at this place by a few members of the Du Page Baptist church, as
.
159
DU PAGE COUNTY.
early as 1834. February 4th, 1836, preparatory mea- sures were taken to organize a society. At a meeting held at that time, after some discussion, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted : " Whereas, in the providence of God, we are located in this part of God's moral vineyard, and at a considerable dis- tance from our mother church, or any other church of the same faith and order: Resolved, That we organize ourselves into a regular Baptist church, to be located at Warrenville, and to be called the Second Du Page Baptist church : Resolved, That we send letters to sister churches, inviting them to send their pastors and deacons, for the purpose of giving us fellowship as a sister church."
On the 23d of February the society met at Warren- ville for the purpose of organizing, and the following churches were represented : First Baptist church of Chicago, by Elder J. T. Hinton and Deacon Jonson ; First Church of Du Page, by Elder A. B. Hubbard and Judge Wilson.
The council was duly organized by the appointment of Judge Wilson moderator, and. A. E. Carpenter scribe. The articles of faith, and practice and coven- ant, were then presented to the council, with the names of the members proposing to be recognized. Sixteen members were present, and it was resolved by the council : " That we recognize these members as a regular Baptist church." The services of recognition then took place. A sermon was preached by Elder J. T. Hinton, and the right hand of fellowship was given and a prayer offered by Elder Hubbard. The following are the names of the members recognized :
160
HISTORY OF
A. E. Carpenter, Sarah Carpenter, Manus Griswold, Sophia Griswold, Alfred Churchill, Susannah Chur- - chill, J. S. P. Lord, Mary Lord, Nancy Warren, Phi- linda Warren, Joseph Fish.
Several ministers took a deep interest at an early day in this branch of Zion. Among them was Elder Ashley, whose name is embalmed in the hearts of the pious in this part of the Lord's vineyard. He was with this church through several precious revivals, and was the means, in the hand of God, of bringing many from darkness to light. The first pastor of this society was Elder L. B. King. He has been succeeded by Elders A. B. Hubbard, Joel Wheeler, A. J. Joslyn, A. Taylor, Joel Wheeler, S. F. Holt, - Freeman, and H. Westcott, the present pastor, who recently came to this state from New Jersey. The society worshipped in a private house for some time in its early history, there being no school house in or about Warrenville, in which to hold its meetings. The first school house built here was occupied by the church until the old church building was purchased of Col. Warren and fitted up for the use of the society. A large and handsome church edifice is now in process of erection. The corner stone was laid July 22d, 1857. The ceremonies were conducted by Rev. Dr. Howard and Rev. Mr. Boyd, of Chicago; Rev. Mr. Raymond and Rev. Mr. Estee, of Aurora ; Rev. J. H. Worrell, of Bloomingdale ; Rev. E. Barker, of Naperville; and Rev. H. Westcott, pastor. The house is 35 feet by 66, surmounted with a beautiful spire. The cost of building, including bell and fixtures, is estimated at between four and five thousand dollars. Connected
161
DU PAGE COUNTY.
with this church are a Sabbath school of fifty scholars, and two interesting bible classes. There are now belonging to this church fifty members.
A Presbyterian church was organized in the west part of the town in 1836, by Rev. Mr. Clark, mission- ary, with seven members. Rev. Washington Wilcox commenced preaching at the Big Woods in 1836, and continued as their- circuit preacher until 1839. In June, 1839, the Big Woods church was completed, having been built by the united efforts of the Congre- gational, Baptist, and Methodist societies, who have occupied it alternately since that time. The Rev. Mr. Baxter officiates at this time as the Congregational pastor, and Rev. H. Westcott as the Baptist pastor. There are at present about eight Baptist members, and about the same number of Congregational members.
From 1836 to 1844, the house of John Warne was occupied as a place of worship by the Episcopal Metho- dists living on the east side of the Big Woods. That branch of the society now worships in the Big Woods church.
There is a small settlement at Gary's mill, near the centre of the town. The first settler here was Rev. Charles Gary, who came in 1837. The saw mill was erected in that year. A society of Methodists, seven in number, was formed here under the labors 'of Rev. W. Wilcox, in 1837, since which time the society has been supplied with preachers appointed to labor on the Naperville circuit. There are at present twenty resident members - many of the members residing in other towns having withdrawn and formed new classes. The Sabbath school of this society was commenced in
162
HISTORY OF .
1838. It now numbers 46 scholars, and has a library of between two and three hundred volumes. The orig- inal members of this. society were Angus Ross, Elizabeth Ross, Erastus Gary, J. P. Gary, Orinda Gary, Samuel Arnold, and Mrs. Arnold.
There are 10 and 68-100 miles of railroad in this town, on which the villages of Winfield, or Fredericks- burg, and Turner are situated. The first building at Winfield was erected by John Hodges, in 1849, and occupied for several-years as the depot of the G. & C. U. Railroad. This station is the nearest point on the railroad to Naperville, and hence its freight business is large. A greater amount of tonnage is sent from this place than from any other station in the county. The present station house was built in 1854. There are in the place three stores, an extensive lumber yard, owned by Mr. John Collins, several manufac- tories, and a brewery.
The following account of the village of Turner has been furnished by Dr. J. McConnell, and rather than run the risk of marring it by any rude touches of our own pen, we insert it verbatim.
" The village of Turner is situated in a healthy region, some thirty miles west of Chicago. It is the centre of a rich and fertile plain, gently undulating, . and beautifully interspersed with luxuriant groves and verdant prairie, with here and there the farmer's home rising up as monuments of industry and beacons of domestic peace. It is at the junction of four railroads, viz. : the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, running from this point to Galena, Ill., and Dubuque, Iowa ; the Chicago Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, running
163
DU PAGE COUNTY.
direct to Nebraska, and crossing the Mississippi at Ful- ton, Ill., and Clinton, Iowa ; and the St. Charles Rail- road running to St. Charles.
The first house within the limits of this village was built by Capt. Alonzo Harvey, who bought the claim , covering the present village site, and during the time of his residence in said house, his daughter Lois was born, being the first white person born on said grounds. But the Captain soon tired of farming, and sold his claim. He is now a prominent citizen of Chicago, where his daughter Lois, of rare beauty, now at the age of sweet sixteen, mingles a welcome guest in tlie first circles of society.
The government title to said claim was partly secured in the name of Winslow, and partly in the name of Stickney, after which the most of it fell into the hands of Hon J. B. Turner, the heirs of Mr. Winslow, and Dea. J. McConnell. But no thoughts of a village at this point were entertained by any of the inhabitants until the Galena & Chicago Union Rail- road Company commenced to run a branch of their road from this place to Fulton, which branch is now the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad. In fact, no effort to build up a village was attempted till the spring of 1856, when Hon. J. B. Turner platted and recorded, according to the statutes of the state, some forty acres, to which C. W. Winslow, Esq., added twenty acres. In the summer following, Deacon J. McConnell made an addition of seventy acres of the most desirable business and dwellings lots in said town. Since which time, there have been sold to actual settlers, about thirty lots, some of which have already been built upon,
·
164
HISTORY OF
and upon others, buildings are now being constructed. Within the same time, from a farm adjoining said vil- lage (owned by G. W. Eastman,) have been sold about fifteen acres, in lots, ranging from one to two acres, for residences, and though our village now numbers only about five hundred souls, it is a place of vast business energy and active life.
We have recently had an extensive variety store established here, of which Williams & West are the proprietors. They sell their extensive stock at Chi- cago prices, and are about building an extensive store and storehouse on Depot street, extending across to the railroad track. W. S. Atchinson is also building a large store, for a wholesale and retail boot and shore business.
With all our railroad facilities, this is a choice loca- tion to head off large Chicago jobbing houses. Dr. Hall is also building a store for the drug business. J. McDonald has also a large store and storehouse, and deals extensively in dry goods, groceries, hardware and agricultural implements. He also pays cash for all the farmer has to sell, and to show the increase in his business, I give the following statistics : In 1853, when he commenced buying grain, his receipts were only 1200 bushels ; in 1854, 3000 bushels ; and in 1855 they reached over 30,000 bushels; with a steady increase ever since, together with a trade in butter, lard, pork and wool, to compare. .
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