USA > Illinois > McHenry County > Biographical directory of the tax-payers and voters of McHenry County : containing also a map of the county, a condensed history of the state of Illinois, an historical sketch of the county, its towns and villages, an abstract of everyday laws of the state, a business directory, officers of societies, lodges and public officers, a department of general information for farmers, dairymen, etc., etc > Part 9
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. THE CHERRY.
The cherry belongs to another class of fruits, and is a general favorite. Our native species have not been improved by cultivation. Old fashioned cherries, in the garden borders of Eastern farmers, were left to their own in- clinations of growth. In some seasons the trees, unpruned and totally uncared for, would be loaded with ripe fruit in mid-summer-enough for birds and boys and other people. Whoever remembers the rare, sweet Black Cherry of those times will desire none better among the varieties of later introduction.
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GENERAL INFORMATION FOR FARMERS.
Like all other fruits cultivated in the North temperate zone, the yield is more certain and prolific, if the trees are dug about, pruned and manured. Dwarf cherry trees promise, in time, to become popular. At present, growers in this country have made little effort in this direction.
FERTILIZERS AND COMPOST.
Persons who have the management of farms often erroneously suppose that the plentiful use of fertilizing substances is the only condition necessary for the growth of a good crop, while little attention is given to the condition of the ground or the preparation of the manure. €
There is a suitable season as well as appropriate methods to be em- ployed in the use of all kinds of fertilizers. Fixed rules, however, cannot be applicable to all circumstances. If the substance be of the nitrogenou's class, as ammonia, the discretion of the person must be used in the selection of the most economical method for storing it up and having it ready for use at the time it may be demanded. For this purpose, some kind of soil, or the compost heap, in most cases, will be most advantageous. A manure that possesses peculiar value when well-employed may be nearly wasted by lack of regard to several considerations.
Farm-yard .manure of the best quality, when scattered on the surface of a field, merely at a convenient time, or without regard to the proper season, or when the crop requires it, will be likely to be wasted. That it may serve its best purpose, it must be brought into such relations with the soil that the ammonia it contains may be stored up for the crop and imparted to its growth.
Ammonia is very volatile-readily carried away in the atmosphere. It should, therefore, be preserved from waste. The materials of some soils are often most appropriate for this purpose. As ammonia is lighter than the at- mosphere, there must be some method for retaining it. Dry clay is the best substance for this purpose.
Guano, more than yard manure, is liable to be impaired and wasted. It is naturally incapable of acting as a retainer of ammonia. It is also important that they should not be covered so deep as to prevent the liberation of am- monia.
The farmer, in the first place, should study the adaptability of his soil to the proposed crop and supply it with what is most desirable as fertilizing agents. This can be done to a large extent from the compost heap which all should keep prepared. It may be made of ingredients generally to be found about any farm. A muck or marl bed, ashes, chip dirt, bones, leaves, dead animals, refuse from slaughter-houses, woolen or paper-mills, night soil, barn-yard manure, plaster, lime, refuse salt, old brine, hen manure, soap suds, soot, etc .- these can all be utilized. Animal mnanures act as a ferment, and the decomposition that takes
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GENERAL INFORMATION FOR FARMERS.
place reduces the whole to uniform consistence. Without mixture with other substances, the tendency of animal manures is to a too rapid fermentation. They may become mouldy and burn up. The addition of manure to the heap is necessary. It requires occasional turning and intermixing, so that the whole mass may become thoroughly mixed. It is not good policy to apply composted manures to fields indiscriminately.
A soil well-supplied with humus is often benefited by lime and other stimu- lants. Light and sandy soils require carbon and potash. Heavy, stiff and cold clays require carbonaceous and animal manures and silicates, to improve their mechanical condition.
Compost heaps are a part of the farmer's capital. They deserve more at- tention than is usually given to them, especially in the Western States. As the country grows older and the soil is depleted, it must be a more prominent agency for supporting the land.
MILK.
The process of fermentation of milk, in the manufacture of butter and cheese, is an interesting one to science, and of great importance to dairymen.
The myriads of animals or animalculi, that float in the atmosphere, cannot exist in a temperature below the freezing or above the boiling point. They must eat, like larger animals. Instead of devouring milk, as the cat does, the animalcules make their home in it, and the vessels that hold it. As soon as the milk is taken from the cow, myriads of them alight on the surface, and devour its nutritious elements. They multiply rapidly, and eat all the time. Here is the main source of success or failure in making good butter. If milk is kept in unclean vessels, or allowed to stand but a few hours, its quality, and that of the butter and cheese made from it, will be impaired in proportion to. the time it is exposed to even a moderately warm atmosphere. This may occur, before the fermentation gives evidence of souring.
Milk, then, cannot be kept safely in vessels not perfectly clean and pure. Its temperature should be immediately cooled, until it approaches the freezing point, even though the cream rises more slowly. There is often too much haste in securing the cream, provided the milk is kept in a cool place. Forcing cream to rise by immediate heat, bringing the milk, as soon as strained, to almost a scalding point, has been successfully tried, the results being a large proportion of cream, and very sweet butter. Churning sweet milk with the sour cream has been practiced to some extent, but seems not to have become a universally popular process. It is generally believed, by butter makers, that the sooner it will "come," in the churn, the better it will be, if skil -. fully managed afterward. The careful and conscientious observer will gain much valuable knowledge in this, as well as all other arts and processes, by experience.
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GENERAL INFORMATION FOR FARMERS.
Cheese is subject to the deleterious action of animalcules, as spoken of above. The peculiar flavor of old cheese, which many people prize, is owing to the excrement of these insects. They make it their home, but do not de- stroy it, like the larger pest of the cheese fly.
VARIOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST.
The best way to free potatoes in the cellar from sprouts is to put three pecks or a bushel in a barrel and skake them briskly till these sprouts are broken off. This covers them with moisture that prevents their wilting and keeps them fresh longer than if sprouted by hand. It is well to keep a few potatoes, a bushel in a barrel, shaking them frequently.
A new mash for horses is now in use. Take two quarts of oats, one of bran, a half pint of flax seed, place the oats first in the stable-bucket, place over it the linseed, add boiling water, then the bran, covering the mixture with thick cloth, allowing it to rest five hours, then stir up well. One feed per day is sufficient. It is easily digested and is adapted to young animals, giving sub- stance to their frames and volume rather than height.
Old pork barrels, whether tainted or not, should be cleansed before using for new pork. A peck of strong wood ashes, a couple of pails of water, standing a day or two in a barrel, then scoured with a stiff broom, will effectually clean them. Rinse in cold water, then pour boiling water down the sides.
FEEDING RATIONS FOR MILK AND BUTTER.
What is the most economical daily ration for a cow in milk ?
There are various rations that are about equally good. If the object is milk , only, the following is good and cheap :
15 pounds corn stalks, cut and steamed.
5 hay, 66 5 cabbage, 66
10 sugar beets, pulped or steamed.
Total, 35 pounds.
This ration should not cost over eleven or twelve cents a day, including labor and coal for steaming. If butter is the object in view, it may be changed as follows :
10 pounds corn stalks, cut and steamed,
5 corn meal,
4 meadow hay,
5 cabbage,
5 sugar beets, pulped or steamed. 66
HISTORY OF MCHENRY COUNTY.
SETTLEMENTS within the limits of this county commenced along the Fox
River and on the military road from Chicago to Green Bay, in 1834, Algonquin being entitled to the honor of the oldest inhabitant. These first settlers came from Virginia, and it was appropriate that the "Mother of Presidents," herself the oldest settled of the English colonies, should perform the same office for this county that their ancestors had for Virginia.
The Blackhawk War had just ended, the Indian title had been extinguished, and the country, to those brought up among the mountains of Virginia, was beauty itself. They were in search of something better, and surely they need look no further. Here was a deep and inexhaustible soil ready for the plow, and, within easy range, timber along the streams-not such as they had left behind them, but amply sufficient for buildings and fences.
The land had not been surveyed, but that made little difference to them ; they could and did make their claims by mutual consent, and waited till the man with the compass should put in an appearance.
THE VIRGINIA SETTLEMENT.
In 1835, Christopher Walkup, James Dufield, John McClure, Christopher McClure, William Hartman, John L. Gibson and John Gillilan came from Western Virginia and located in the eastern part of the town of Dorr, since that time known as the " Virginia Settlement." John Gillilan, preferring to be near the water, made his claim where he now resides.
These men were the real pioneers of the county, and for that reason deserve more than a passing notice ; but it is chiefly on account of their true Southern hospitality to all new comers, to whom their latch-string always hung out, and who were always welcome to all the assistance they could render through money, men and teams, that they are gratefully remembered by those who had occasion to claim their aid or hospitality.
Christopher Walkup, John McClure and John L. Gibson have taken their final emigration, while the others are as ready as ever to welcome the stranger to the best the house affords.
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
Of all these places, Christopher Walkup's was perhaps the most noted, as he held several of the offices of Justice of the Peace and Sheriff. of the County. He was the father of the late lamented Josiah Walkup, of Crystal Lake Crossing. The elder Mr. Walkup died about six years ago, at the age of eighty. John McClure died in Kansas, and John L. Gibson at his resi- dence in Ridgefield.
These "old settlers" are passing away, and as we shall never have any more, it is well that their memory be embalmed in history as it is in the memory of those who in that early day were forced to put their hospitality to the test ; and if one of them was ever found wanting, the instance has not come to light.
These Virginians brought with them the local customs of the place whence they came, where one was not thought to have made a visit unless he had come with the entire family, and spent at least one night. beneath the roof of his host. The march of improvement has changed all this, but still their memory is green ; and many are now living who have cause to remember the Virginia Settlement.
Pleasant Grove, now Marengo, came next in order, in 1835, after which time it were of little use to essay the settlement in the order of time.
Deer, wolves, foxes and other animals at that time roamed over these prairies and through the openings, as many and free as the Indian, and no great exertion was necessary to procure meat for the table ; indeed, the temptation was too great, so that much more was killed than was needed for the necessi- ties of the settler. The men hunted the deer during the day, and the wolves hunted the sheep and pigs during the night. In 1844, the people of McHenry County thought to rid themselves of the wolves by a grand hunt, in which they would surround a large tract of land with a skirmish line, armed with any- thing that would make a noise, drive the animals into the center of their noisy circle, there to slaughter them at their leisure. The hunters found their meet- ing place on section six, Seneca Township ; and although they had corralled about sixty deer, all but one of which were allowed to escape, they bagged a wolf and a fox. This was the first and last hunt of the kind ever held in the county.
ORGANIZATION.
During the session of 1836-7, the Legislature passed an act setting off from Cook the territory now included in McHenry and Lake Counties, under the former name, which was given in honor of an officer of that name who, in the Sac War, marched through the Territory on his way to Fort Atkinson.
In May, 1837, the county seat was located at McHenry, which had been chosen by Commissioners appointed by the Legislature, Crystal Lake, Half Day, Fort Hill and Independence Grove, now Libertyville, competing with
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
Mc Henry for that honor. John Coville, of Bloomington, Peter Cohen and Peter Pruyne, of Cook County, examined the different points, and after mature consideration, taking into account that the first-named point was near the geo- graphical center of the territory, and not a bad location in other respects, de- creed accordingly. McHenry County then contained thirty Congressional Townships, being bounded on the east by the Lake, on the south by Cook, on the west by Boone, organized about the same time, and on the north by Wis- consin, then a Territory. It was about equally divided between timber and prairie, was well watered by creeks and rivers, not to mention the two dozen lakes, large and small, that then supplied and still supply an abundance of fish.
On the first day of June, 1837, at the store of Hiram Kennicott, near Half Day, the first election of county officers was held. . The vote was not large, the total being 138, and the three County Comissioners chosen were Charles H. Bartlett, Mathias Mason and Solomon Norton. Henry B. Steele was chosen Sheriff; Michael McGuire, Coroner; Seth Washburn, Recorder; Chas. E. Moore, County Surveyor; the Commissioners appointed Hamilton Dennison, of Half Day, for Clerk, and Andrew S. Wells, of the same place, Treasurer. These Commissioners held their first court at McHenry, June 5, 1837, to organ- ize the county, their first order being an approval of the Clerk's bond; their second, the appointment of a Treasurer; and third, dividing the county into precincts, or magistrate districts; which being done, the county machinery was in running order. The court then proceeded to divide the territory into precincts or magistrate districts, ; the first, called Fox Precinct, included all the territory in the then County of McHenry lying west and two miles east of Fox River, which, as will be seen, comprised a trifle more than is now within this county. The election was held at McHenry ; Christy G. Wheeler, Wm. L. Way and John V. McLane were appointed Judges of Election ; H. N. Owen and B. B. Brown, Clerks; and at the first election held July 3d, 1837, Wm. H. Buck and Wm. L. Way were elected Justices of the Peace.
Lake County appears to have had a monopoly of precincts, having four, named respectively, Oak, Lake, Indian Creek and Abingdon; the first hold- ing an election at the residence of William Dwyer, Isaac Hickox, Arthur Pat- terson and Benjamin Marks being Judges of Election ; in the second, the voting was done at the house of Samuel P. Ransome, the Judges being Jere- miah Porter, Emsley Sunderland and Edward Jenkins; Seth Washburne's house was made the voting place in the third, John G. Ragan, Richard Steele and Andrew S. Wells receiving the tickets ; and in the fourth, the house of Thomas McClure was where the Justices and Constables were elected, Jared Gage, Willard Jones and Samuel Brooks being Judges. Two Justices and a like number of Constables were elected in each precinct.
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
COURT OF CLAIMS.
The County being now organized, immigrants poured in as fast as ox-teams could bring them, but as the Government surveyor had not yet made his appear- ance, each man could only choose prairie or timber solely, stake out his "claim " or plow around it if he had a plow to do it with, put up his cabin and consider himself at home, although, according to Henry Clay, the whole mass formed " a lawless band of squatters."
The human disposition being the same then as now, it became necessary to provide some mode of proving and recording those claims, as a security against those disposed to "jump." Accordingly, the settlers formed themselves into an association for mutual protection, organizing a sort of "Court of Claims." In pursuance of this object, the territory was divided into "claim districts." Each district was then sub divided into sub-districts, in each of which three Commissioners were appointed to record claims and hear and determine all con- tests in that regard. These claims, when recorded, became evidence of title. It does not appear that these Claim Commissioners had much to do with what is now McHenry County, but so well did they perform their duty in the Lake precincts that but little trouble arose and that was easily and quietly adjusted. The survey of the land comprised in the county proceeded from the third principal meridian eastward, reaching the west range (5) in 1838, and finish- ing Lake County four years later, when these courts of claims, being no longer needed, ceased to exist.
These immigrants were a neighborly set, coming, as they sometimes did, in strings of six to eight covered wagons, the inmates of which were seeking to better their condition by putting to some use the immense waste of timber and prairie stretching away on every side as far as the range of human vision. The difficulty of choice was increased by the extent of unoccupied beautiful country, still they could not wander on forever; they must have land, water and timber, the last all-important to them, as the first thing to be provided was shelter. The spot having been selected and claims satisfactorily adjusted, they formed themselves into a co-operative society for the purpose of house-building, putting up the first house for him who seemed to them to stand the most in need of shelter. Thus, in a short time, all were provided with such dwellings at the materials at hand afforded.
Mills, log school-houses and villages soon made their appearance, and if 1 unlike in that respect to those who, in December, 1620, left the Mayflower for the bleak coast of New England, they brought no minister with them, that necessary element of civilized society was not long behind, preaching in barns. schools and private houses to audiences more attentive if less fashionable than now, and finding beneath every "shake" roof a hearty welcome to the table
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
and no less hearty one to the " shake down" for the night, unless the host was provided with that rarity in those days, a spare bed.
Their rate of taxation was one per cent. on the following schedule : Slaves or indentured or registered negro or mulatto servants, stock in trade, horses, mules, asses, and neat cattle above three years of age, swine, lumber, and one horse wagons, clocks, watches, etc., but never a bit of bank or railroad stock, piano or silver ware. The tax of 1837 realized $370.86.
Among the curiosities of ancient legislation is a tavern license of 1837, the license costing eight dollars, and that the landlord might not swindle his thirsty customers, the Board established the following prices for liquors : Brandy, rum or gin, pints, 25 cents ; wine, 37}; whisky, 12} ; beer or cider, the same ; meals, 37}; lodging, 12} ; while a span of horses could chew hay all night, for 25 cents. Those were halcyon times, but we have no record that the men and women of that day were all drunkards, the secret of which may have been that the shilling for the pint of whisky was as difficult to get at that day as it is to obtain enough to pay for the same quantity now. They had one advantage of us in that they were in the most blissful ignorance of tlie " crooked."
DIVISION OF THE COUNTY.
The Legislature of 1838-9 passed an act dividing the then County of McHenry into two unequal parts. the present county to retain Ranges 5, 6, 7, 8, and the west third of Range 9, the remainder to constitute the new county which was to be called Lake. In pursuance of the authority given by this act, in 1839, the new county was organized, since which time each county has its own history.
LOCATING COUNTY SEAT.
The object in view in dividing Range 9, so as to leave one-third of it in this county appears to heve been that McHenry might still be the county seat, but being so much to one side the people became dissatisfied, and the Legislature, during the session of 1842-3, passed an act authorizing the people to select a new site for the county seat.
The election was held the August following, and Centerville (now Wood- stock) having the majority, the County Commissioners' Court in September fol- lowing, by proclamation, declared the seat of justice removed to that place, which was done on the 23d of September, 1844, and the Legislature, at its next session, changed the name to that which it now bears.
The court house, built in 1844, stood a little south of the center of the public square, and subserved the ends of justice, till the night of the 4th of July, 1858, when it was destroyed by fire. The present fine building having been erected, in 1857, at a cost of $40,000.
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
The first highway run through the county was the State road running from the Indiana State line through Lockport, Naperville, Du Page, Warrenville, Dundee, Woodstock and thence to Madison. The act passed the Legislature in 1837 and the road was located by William Smith, of Will, I. M. Warren, of Cook, and Zeba S. Beardsley, of McHenry County.
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Cook County having preferred a claim against McHenry for expenses incurred by Cook, on account of McHenry, previous to the creation of the latter county, and Lake being in a similar manner indebted to McHenry, by act of the Legislature, in 1843, a Commissioner was appointed to inquire into and adjust the matter, when it was found that this county was indebted to Cook in the sum of $750, and Joseph Wood, of Lake, with J. H. Johnson, of Mc- Henry, having ascertained that Lake owed us precisely the sanie sum, the mat- ter was settled by Lake paying Cook. In these days such a strange coincidence would be deemed worthy of examination by a committee.
In 1840, the census showed that from 1837, when the first vote was cast, and from which the population was estimated at 500, the population had increased to 2,578, and the county contained thirteen mills and manufacturing establishments.
The nearest market being Chicago, and the only means of reaching that muddy town being by wagon, hauled, for the most part, by oxen over the exe- crable prairie roads, the trip occupying three days at the shortest, and the prices of all kinds of produce being what would, at this day, be thought too insignifi- cant to pay for planting, sowing or feeding, it is no wonder that the seller frequently returned from market no richer than he went. Thirty to forty cents a bushel for wheat, and that was the only article that they were sure of selling at any price, would scarcely pay, even though the produce of that cerial was as high as forty-five bushels to the acre. Twenty teams in line thus going to market with their only staple was no uncommon sight.
At the first election (1838) for Member of the Legislature, .the Whig and Democratic parties put their candidates in the field, but the Democratic party being then greatly in the ascendant, Dr. Richard Murphy, the Democratic nominee, distanced Giles Spring, of the other party. The district, at that time, consisted of Cook, Will, Du Page and McHenry Counties, and the first representative from this county, after the division, was Hon. Wm. M. Jackson, also a Democrat and still living at Union, in the township of Coral.
FIRST COURTS.
The Circuit Court of McHenry County held its first session at the county seat, on May 10th, 1838, John Pearson, of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, pre- siding. The first State's Attorney was Alonzo Huntington; Sheriff, Henry B. Steele; Clerk, A. B. Wynkoop; and the first Grand Jury consisted of the
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HISTORY OF McHENRY COUNTY.
following named gentlemen, several of whom are still living: Andrew S. Wells, C. H. Bartlett, Martin Shields, Phineas Sherman, Thomas McClure, Rufus Saules, Linley S. Wood, Christy G. Wheeler, John Deggins, Moody B. Barley, Christopher Walkup, Isaac H. Loyd, Jeremiah Porter, Willard Jones, Leonard Gage, Daniel Winters, Richard Steele, Alden Harvey, Luke Hale, · Amos Diamond, Aaron Randall, Elisha Clark, R. R. Crosby, and Charles Bartlett, who was Foreman.
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