USA > Illinois > Kane County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County > Part 131
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ized man resides, the "Elgin National Watch" marks the standard time; and wherever a ship traverses the sea, "Borden's Condensed Milk" is an indispensable part of its supplies for comfort and health. And so, also, for man's mental and moral culture the "David C. Cook Publishing Company," with offices at Elgin, Chicago and New York, is daily mailing its wholesome literature to every land and clime under the sun. Scores and hundreds of other manufacturing plants within the county are constantly shipping their various products to all portions of our own land, and to many for- eign countries; the weekly prices of our Dairy Board of Trade are quoted, and its goods are sold in the commercial centers of America and Europe; and the superbly-bred horses, cattle and sheep of Kane County are taking premiums at the great exhibits, and are shipped at the very highest prices to every State in the Union.
It is highly suggestive to note what one pro- gressive movement, establishing a large in- dustrial plant, will accomplish for the develop- ment of a community, and striking illustra- tions of this are shown by comparing the growth of Aurora, Elgin and St. Charles-the three largest cities in the county. The census of 1850 gave Aurora Township a population of 1,895, St. Charles 2,132 and Elgin 2,359. In 1855 Aurora succeeded, by an enlightened lib- eral policy that was bitterly opposed by some of her good citizens, in securing the great Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Car Shops, and the census of 1860 shows her population to have increased to 6,011-a gain of over two hundred per cent. St. Charles had fallen in numbers to 1,882, and Elgin had reached 3,341. Again, in 1865, the first buildings of the Elgin National Watch Company were erected, and the next census shows Elgin's population to have in- creased to 6,739, and St. Charles had reached but 2,281. St. Charles has now entered upon a progressive manufacturing career, and it may safely be predicted that the next census will show a very gratifying growth of that beautiful city. From Carpentersville, near the north line of the county, to Montgomery at its south line, ten unusually fine cities and villages adorn the banks of the lovely river, with an aggregate population of 60,000 or more enterprising, culti- vated people. Kane is the only county in the State having two cities, each containing more than 20,000 inhabitants; and the beautiful Fox is the only river having two such cities upon its banks, except the great Mississippi, which
656
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
has three in this State. The historic Illinois has but one-Peoria-and the splendid Rock, with its broad and fertile valley, has only the noble city of Rockford. In these cities and villages, there are now in active operation more than one hundred and five industrial or- ganizations, employing from five persons to three thousand each-practically formed and built up within the last forty years. Their combined investment of capital exceeds $15,- 788,500, and the value of their annual product is more than $19,319,000. The old river still furnishes 3,100 horse power; steam produces 9,317 horse power, and electricity supplies the power of 687 horses. These establishments fur- nish employment for 9,590 men, 2,770 women, 754 boys and 520 girls. Many of the men em- ployed are mechanics and inventors of the highest type and skill, and the combined wages of all probably exceeds $30,000 daily. We con- fidently claim these facts justify the belief that Kane is second in the State only to Cook Coun- ty in the extent, variety, and usefulness of its manufacturing interests.
"Cram's Universal Atlas" of 1895 states that "Aurora opened the first free public schools in the State, and was the first city in the world to light its streets with electricity, in 1881." The same high authority declares Chicago to be "the most remarkable city in its growth, influ- ence and future outlook, that the world has ever produced," that "it is the chief grain mar- ket, the largest lumber market, and the great- est pork-packing and live-stock market in the world; that she "has the proud distinction of being the greatest railroad center of the world," and that her extensive and numerous parks, beautiful boulevards, handsome streets, and magnificent mercantile buildings are not equalled by any city of the country." So many of Chicago's active and leading men in all the years have been residents of Kane County, and so many of our men have ever been in the front management .of Chicago enterprises, that we may fairly claim a portion of these well-mer- ited distinctions.
The banking facilities of the county seem fully adequate to meet all business and finan- cial needs. There are five National Banks at Aurora, whose combined resources, on Septem- ber 9, 1903, were officially stated to be $4,319,- 292.31; one Trust and Savings Bank, showing a business of $187,232.75, and two Building and Improvement Associations, with loans amount- ing to $512,490. Batavia's National Bank
states its resources to be $545,920.24; the Ge- neva State Bank reports $142,529.32; that at Maple Park, $90,845.43, and the one at Elburn about $80,000. The National Bank at St. Charles reports its resources to be $42,000, and those of the private bank are estimated at about $300,000. The three National Banks at Elgin certify their resources to'be $2,296,719.36; the two savings banks report $2,016,776.29, and the Loan and Homestead Association has $335,000 loaned out. The Dundee National Bank state- ment of resources is $240,000, its State Bank $44,842.13, and the private bank at Hampshire $36,000. These figures make a grand total of eleven National Banks, three State Banks, three private banks, three Savings Banks, and three Loan and Building Associations, whose aggre- gate resources amount to $11,813,047.83.
The property valuations, for the basis of tax- ation in the county for the year 1903, are shown by the Assessor's books as follows: Per- sonal property, $19,903,945; farm lands, $21,- 575,260; town and city lots, $33,089,280; rail- road lands and lots "other than railroad track," $179,005; personal "other than rolling stock," $739,865; telegraph and telephone property, $331,786-making a total of $75,819,341. These assessor's valuations, as all know, entirely fail to reach much of the actual property held, and fall far below the real value of much that is covered. Yet these very conservative figures show an average of over $1,500 for each man, woman and child in the county.
CHAPTER XI.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.
PIONEER PREACHERS-A CAMP-MEETING REVIVAL- IMMERSIONS IN ICE-COVERED WATERS-KANE COUNTY CHURCHES-SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND RE- LIGIOUS SOCIETIES-PUBLIC SCHOOLS-FATIIER BREWSTER AND IIIS FREE SC1100L-AN ABRAHAM LINCOLN STORY-HIGHER INSTITUTIONS AT EL- GIN AND AURORA-PUBLIC LIBRARIES-CARNE- GIE LIBRARY AT ALTRORA-"GAIL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY" AT ELGIN-BATAVIA AND DUNDEE LI- BRARIES.
The real pioneer clergymen of Kane County were Rev. Nathaniel C. Clark, of the Congrega-
657
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
tional Church; Rev. John Clark, of the Meth- odist; and Rev. Joshua E. Ambrose, of the Bap- tist denomination. They commenced their la- bors in this vicinity in 1833 or '34 and, with untiring zeal, consecrated their lives to the cause of their Divine Master. Their names are invariably associated with the schools, as well as with the churches, of those primitive days. On foot and on horseback, in summer's beauty and in winter's severity, these devoted men visited the lonely settlers and the scattered communities along the river valley, with words of encouragement and cheer; ministering to the sick, comforting the disheartened, praising well-doing, discountenancing evil and suggest- ing better ways of living. Where night or storm came upon them, there they abode as welcome, but helpful, guests. If not offensive, they reverently read and expounded selections of the Sacred Word, and conducted family wor- ship. In humble homes, in shady groves and in the rude school-rooms, they raised the voice of prayer, and praise, and admonition. They married the lovers; they baptized the convert- ed; they christened the children; and they spoke words of consolation and warning above the still forms of the dead. They persuaded in- to paths of righteousness and admonished against wicked ways; and, with the earnestness of deep conviction, they hurled, in the manner of their time, the vengeance of God's eternal decrees of wrath and torment, against the stub- bornly unrepentant. They were not polished in speech or deportment, and their only elo- quence was the passionate utterance of deeply earnest souls. Yet they moved the people mightily, and their wholesome influence in guiding public sentiment and action aright, in that formative period, can hardly be overesti- mated.
The Rev. John Clark was transferred to a Texas conference about 1841, where he contin- ued his ministerial work for a few years amid the pioneers of that young republic, and was then returned to this conference. He resumed his labors here with unabated vigor and enthus- iasm, but during the cholera epidemic of 1853- 4, was stricken with that dreaded ailment and died in Chicago. The fine educational institu- tion, so beautifully located at Aurora, that for so many years has exercised a wide and benefi- cent influence beyond calculation, and which seems to stand today upon the threshold of still broader achievement for virtue and knowledge, was first suggested by him. And
because of his strenuous effort in behalf of this ideal, which was not completed in material form until four years after his death, its orig- inal builders dedicated it in his honor under the title of "Clark Seminary," and it will long stand a superb and appropriate memorial of his consecrated life.
Rev. Nathaniel C. Clark's enduring monu- ment is of a different, yet, perhaps, of a less permanent or significant and appropriate char- acter. It is written, again and again, upon the records of the many churches of his denomina- tion which he organized, and whose houses of worship he assisted in erecting and dedicating to their holy use in all parts of the county. It stands in the assured place he holds as the Nestor of Congregationalism in the Fox River valley; it is inscribed in the utterances and resolutions of scores of assemblages of that denomination, and it abides in the loving title of "Father Clark," so appropriately bestowed by his grateful people. Surely he was well called "Nathaniel," for he was indeed a "man without guile." His life, and that of his equally excellent wife, had their full measure of chas- tening sorrow. Very nearly in the order of their birth, their children fell asleep in the mysteri- ous change that men call death-the first born, in early childhood; the only son, in the promis- ing vigor of youth; and the two older daugh- ters, in the beauty of young womanhood and wifehood. And then, amid a rapidly changing and marvelously developing civilization-life's work all done, and well done-his kind and gentle spirit entered into rest. His home had been at Elgin since 1840, and here he died, on the 3d day of December, 1873, aged 71 years. His devoted and loving wife survived him until January 15, 1884, when her entrance completed the unbroken circle above.
"Elder" Ambrose also spent the whole, or nearly all, of his life in active minister- ial work in this county; and here his mortal remains are entombed. His achievements are likewise written upon many records of the Baptist denomination, and he was held in high esteem. But he was, by nature, more austere and inclined to theological controversy, and never came into a close and kindly fellowship with the struggling people. Many other cler- gymen contributed most excellent Christian ser- vice in their respective denominations, but these were the pioneers who remained until transferred by death.
In the earlier years the camp-meeting, in
.
658
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
summer, and the "protracted meetings" (re- vivals), in winter, held sway in their crudest forms. The most materialistic ideas and utter- ances characterized these assemblages. To the sad-eyed, heavily burdened saint, this earthly life was a "desert dread," a lonely thorny way, "with here and there a traveler;" while to the sinner, it was a gay, delightsome place, a broad and sunny road, "and thousands walked to- gether there." "Righteousness was a 'weary load' and sin was delicious as a 'sweet morsel under the tongue.'" When this brief life terminated, however, then all was absolutely reversed. The wearied saint became a "happy angel" in heaven, a place of delightful reward for sorrows endured on earth; the happy sin- ner was plunged into hell, a place of excruciat- ing torment, principally by fire, as an endless penalty for the simple enjoyments of life on earth. Death's knell sounded the eternal doom. The Omnipotent Jehovah, bound by irrevocable decrees, looked on mildly indifferent, while Jesus tearfully pleaded with the thoughtless sinner to choose the narrow, grievous way, and Satan laughingly beckoned him to dance along the bright and shining road. Profes- sional exhorters, full of emotional fervor and untrammeled by devotion to truth or reason. enunciated and elaborated such doctrines with consummate energy and ability, and enforced them by sharp illustrations wrought out through months and years of study and prac- tice. On the instant they could change from the most vehement and vengeful denunciation to the most tender and tearful pleading. The effect was often remarkable. When the care- fully-planned and well-heralded meeting had been under way a few days, the whole sur- rounding community became strangely excited. It was the one absorbing theme of thought and speech. The leader did not hesitate to name the individual selected to be "plucked as a brand from the burning;" and, by alternate exhortation, threatening, prayer and pleading, centered the thought and utterance of the whole assembly upon that person with an in- fluence and power almost irresistible. An un- accountable frenzy would sweep intelligent people into utterances and acts of the most ri- diculous folly. A leading merchant at a reviv- al, praying the Lord to save a certain sinner "right now," shouted, "Come down through the roof, dear Jesus, and I will pay the damage;" and a calm, sensible father in his normal state, at a camp-meeting stood by and watched his
educated daughter of eighteen or twenty, scream and gasp and sob, almost in con- vulsions, under the mysterious influence of the "power," while he, in almost equal frenzy, clapped his hands and shouted, "Go it Harriet! That is the way to conquer Satan; that is the way Jesus saves." And hundreds of people have many times stood upon the ice on Fox River, and seen converts go down upon steps placed in a hole cut through the ice for that purpose into the freezing water to be im- mersed. Revival scenes, as they have often been portrayed, were enacted in all their wild completeness in Kane County during the early 'thirties and 'forties. Similar meetings are still occasionally held; and, by many excellent people, are believed to be productive of great good; but the more objectionable features have been largely eliminated.
There 'is ever a thoughtless inclination to belittle the work of the Christian ministry, and to criticise too severely the speech and action of the clergy; but, in sober truth, it is the church and its ministry that, while imperfect as all human agency and life must always be, is still the great conservator of morality, kind- ness and virtue, and the inspiring power that raises the minds and souls of men toward nobler and diviner ideals. To the clergymen- Protestants of all denominations, and Catholic as well-perhaps more than to any other class or profession, the people of Kane County are indebted for the high mental and moral culture that has been attained and enjoyed in its happy homes of plenty and content, the orderly peace and kindliness that prevails, and its excellent public and private schools.
Each church organization has its churches, its Sunday schools and classes for Bible study; and now in many churches, kindergartens are held to care for the little children in order that the mothers may attend the church service. The churches have powerful auxiliaries in the various Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, Christian Endeavor Societies, Young People's Christian Unions, and similar organizations that have enrolled hun- dreds of the best young men and women of the county in the service for God and humanity. It is said that, in 1850, there were eighteen church edifices in Kane County capable of seat- ing about 5,000 people, and valued at about $30,000. Today, there are one hundred and twenty-six church buildings in the county, with a seating capacity of more than 51,900, and of
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
659
an estimated value of $1,134,400; and the ag- gregate expense of maintaining them is fully $234,250 per annum, as shown by the accom- panying table, which indicates their location by townships and denominations.
Hampshire
5
44
23S
282
Kaneville
2
17
120
137
Plato
G
19
197
216
Rutland
1
23
154
177
St. Charles
8
96
743
839
CHURCH STATISTICS OF KANE COUNTY.
TOWNSHIPS
Congregational
Methodist
Baptist
Presbyterian
Catholic
Unitarian
Universalist
Episcopal
Adventist
Apostolic Cr
Swedish
German
Nor. and Danish
Free Methodist
Christian
People's
Total
Value
Seating
Annual
Aurora
5
2
6
1
1
1
3
1
1
31
$497,700
16,425
$78,700
Batavia
4
3
1
1
2
1
1
1
15
110,000
4,900
20,900
Big Rock
2
1
1
1
10,200
725
4,300
Burlington
1
2
1
1
1
1
5
2
1
2
2
1
7
1
31
324,500
16,200
64,750
Geneva
2
1
1
1
6
19,500
1.550
8,600
Hampshire
1
1
5
13,000
1,600
7.400
Kaneville
1
1
1
1
2
3.700
000
2,500
Rutland
1
1
1
1
6
26.500
1,700
7.600
Virgil
1
1
2
10,000
1,000
5,500
Total
11
30
22
3
13
1
1
5
3
4
6
15
3
3
1
1
126 $1,134,400
51.900
$234,250
The several churches contribute about one- tenth as much more for missionary and benevolent uses, and nearly every church has one or more organization of ladies engaged in the local charitable and social activities of the parish Sunday schools. The Kane County Sunday School Union is rendering excellent service in harmonizing, systematizing, and stimulating the work of the Sunday Schools. The report made at its annual meeting, held at St. Charles in November, 1903, exhibits the condition of the work in the Protestant schools of the county as follows:
KANE COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
Officers and
Schools. Teachers. Scholars. Total.
Aurora
35
555
4,245
4,800
Batavia
15
157
1,149
1,306
Big Rock
4
44
273
317
Blackberry
4
32
205
237
Burlington
4
17
97
114
Campton
5
38
199
237
Dundee
10
109
1,048
1,187
Elgin
38
689
5,821
6,510
Geneva
7
79
533
612
Sugar Grove
2
15
63
78
Virgil
2
14
85
99
Totals
151
1,948
15,170
17,148
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
2
7,000
5 0
7,000
Plato
1
3,700
650
2,500
St. Charles
1
Sugar-Grove
2
6,000
450
2,000
6,600
1,550
4,000
Campton Dundee
2
8
64,500
2.450
10,500
Elgin
1
6
1
8,000
700
3,500
3
23,500
580
4,500
Blackberry
1
1
Evangelical
Evangelical
Evangelical
Science
Capacity
Outlay
2 1
--
1
Schools for the children engaged the ac- tive attention of the very first settlers. Scarcely had half a dozen families located within a radius of three or four miles, and secured indispensable shelter in their primitive cabins, before effort was made to provide a school for the children. It is quite impossible to state, with any degree of certainty, exactly when or where the very first school in the county was opened. Neither is place of slight priority of especial import- ance; but it is highly significant and important to note the quick and general recognition of the need of intellectual training and the instant effort to provide the best attainable. In 1848, at the first opportunity to vote upon the ques- tion of levying a school-tax, 1,176 votes were cast in favor of a two-mill assessment and but 221 against it. It is quite probable, however. that the first secular school, and Sunday school also, was held at Batavia in 1834 or '35, and within a year there were primitive schools in
660
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
in educational matters. Soon after his arrival he built a rude school house near his home in the "Little Woods," and taught without pay- doubtless, the first free school in the State. He was the first Superintendent of Kane County Schools, and held the first teacher's institute at Geneva in 1851, in the old stone Court House, now the city hall. Having thirty or forty female teachers to provide for, he secured sleeping quarters for them in the ball room of the near-by hotel (long since burned), and solicited table entertainment among the good citizens. They appropriately named him "Father" Brewster; and, in grateful honor, the old settlers still so speak of him. Few nobler men have blessed the world by excellent pre- cept and example. His death occurred at Wheaton in 1886. An interesting incident il- lustrating the ready humor of the great Presi- dent Lincoln, occurred during the famous de- bate with Stephen A. Douglas, at Freeport, in 1858. As he arose for his address, Mr. Lincoln swung off the loose cloak which he wore, and turning to Mr. Brewster sitting on the plat- form, he said, in a low but penetrating tone, "Please hold my clothes, Father Brewster, while I stone Stephen."
The first free school district was organized at Aurora ,as heretofore stated. Such progress was made in school affairs that the Rev. David Higgins, County Superintendent, reported in 1860 that there were 186 schools in the county, with an attendance of 4,827 boys and 4,247 girls-a total of 9,074. Marvin Quackenbush, Superintendent, prepared a table showing that, in 1887, there were 150 school buildings in the county valued at $540,600; 303 schools, 338 teachers, 5,270 male pupils and 5,151 female pupils-making a total enrollment of 10,421 pupils. The reports of township school officers for the year 1902, as tabulated by Mr. W. H. Bridges, the present efficient Assistant County Superintendent, shows there are now 161 school buildings, valued at $1,052,060, with 394 schools, 432 teachers, 7,669 male and 7,515 female pupils -a total of 15,222 pupils. The accompanying table shows the statistics of 1887 and 1902, as given by townships:
each of the river settlements. They were the result of purely voluntary effort, either of an individual or of a few associated persons, and were, of course, temporary and held amid the crudest possible surroundings. A one-roomed log cabin, whose only furniture was an old chair, or stool made with an ax and an augur, for the teacher, and three or four benches, six or eight feet long, made of puncheons with pegs driven into holes near the ends for legs, to serve as seats for the few children, was the best obtainable at the beginning. Probably there were no two text-books in the room that were of the same edition, and, perhaps, half the children had slates and pencils. Two could study from one book at the same time, and books and slates could be used by different scholars alternately. Generally five and one- half days, from nine to twelve, and from one to five oclock, constituted a school week. Saturday afternoon was a holiday. The teacher "boarded around" usually, and, if a girl, was paid in addition about six shillings or a dollar a week. The men who taught in winter received a little better wages. Then all "sums in arithmetic" were figured out on a slate with a pencil; today, it would be difficult to find a slate or slate pencil in any store or public school in the county. It was in such fashion the schools were begun, and they have been steadily improved in material comforts, facilities and elegances, and in the culture, training and efficiency of teachers, until we reasonably and justifiably boast a school equip- ment, thoroughout the county, as complete and thorough as that of any county in our great State.
Edward W. Brewster, who settled in San- dusky precinct in 1839, on the old army trail upon the bank of the creek that bears his name, and on which his son Charles built and operated a saw-mill in the very early days, long sustained toward the schools of the county the same relations that Father Clark did to the churches. He was a refined and educated gentleman possessing a courteous and commanding presence rarely equaled. and he was an untiring and most enthusiastic leader
661
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
STATISTICS OF KANE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
TOWNSHIPS.
No. Buildings
No. Schools
Male
Female
Total
Male
Pupils
Female
Total
Value of
School
Property
YEARS.
1887 1902 1887 190% 1887 1902 1887 1902 1887 1902
1887
1902
1887
1902
1887
1902
1887
1902
Aurora
17
21
70
93
11
63
92
TO
103
1,681
2,288
1,733
2,322
3,414
4,610 $ 200,665
$ 32,500
Batavia and Geneva
12
18
30
41
3
3
41
30
41
578
877
613
764
1,191
1.64;
77.350
100,535
Big Rock
8
8
18
9
5
1
13
8
18
9
93
94
91
92
184
18℃
7,100
6,200
Blackberry
6
12
8
1
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