USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume II > Part 16
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COMPLETION OF BUILDINGS.
The brick jail was completed and occupied January 1, 1844. The courthouse was finished in July of the same year, and was accepted by the county commissioners. Derastus Harper and John Beattie were the architects. It was
one story, about 56 feet long, 35 feet in width, and 17 feet high. The court room was 54 by 33 feet; 9 feet in the rear of the bench was partitioned off into jury rooms. Two rows of slips made in the style of those erected in the churches, filled the room outside the bar, and acommodated 300 persons. The entire edifice, including the pediment and four fluted columns in front, was built in the Grecian Doric order of architecture. The public square, jail and courthouse were furnished by the citizens of West Rockford without the outlay of a dollar by the county. The stone building in which the county records were kept was buillt in 1851. All these buildings have been removed from the square.
The first term of court held in the new build- ing was in August, 1844. The presiding judge was Thomas C. Brown ; James Mitchell, clerk ; G. A. Sanford, sheriff. Many bright stars in the legal firmament of that day practiced in Winnebago County. Belvidere, Freeport, Ga- lena and Chicago sent their best talent. The famous "Mat." Carpenter, of Wisconsin, came to Rockford on professional business half a century ago.
A MOVEMENT OF SECESSION.
Seventy-five years ago Winnebago County figured prominently in a movement of secession from Illinois, for the purpose of annexation to Wisconsin. This agitation covered the entire period between the admission of Illinois in 1818, and the admission of Wisconsin thirty years later. The story forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the com- monwealth. The final adjustment is a perpet- ual witness to the prophetic genius of Nathaniel Pope, the territorial representative of Illinois in Congress. In the light of subsequent history, it was nothing less than genius that enabled this man, alone and unchallenged, to add fifty miles to the northern boundary of Illinois; and thus make her, with her commercial metropolis on the lake front, the keystone in the magnifi- cent arch of great western states. As a states- man and patriot, Nathaniel Pope is worthy to be placed at the head of the illustrious column which includes Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Yates and Logan.
This movement was widespread, and the feel- ing at times was intense, and even bitter. The
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war cry of "fifty-four forty or fight" did not more thoroughly arouse the enthusiastic De- mocracy over the Oregon boundary line than did this inter-state controversy enkindle the sectional prejudices of the settlers in the dis- puted territory. The village of Rockford played quite a part in this struggle. There was brought to light in this city a few years ago a copy of the official proceedings of a mass meeting held in Rockford July 6, 1840. This convention was composed of delegates from the northern fourteen counties of the state. Its purpose was secession from Illinois and annexation to the proposed new state of Wisconsin. History has' never fully explained the causes of this move- ment. Tradition alone has interpreted its true animus. The apparent motive was a restora- tion of the boundary line as originally estab- lished between the two states that might be formed of the territory north of an east-and- west line running through the southerly bend of Lake Michigan. This line, it was claimed, had been arbitrarily and unfairly extended fifty miles north when Illinois became a state.
The real reasons for this movement were two. First, the settlers in the northern and the south- ern portions of the state had little or no inter- est in common. The northern portion was settled principally by people who had come from New England and New York. They were industrious, thrifty and progressive. They built towns and cities as by magic. The southern part of Illinois was settled by emigrants from the slave-holding states. They were generally poor, as the well-to-do people did not emigrate in those days from the South. This class came into southern Illinois from slave-holding states to escape the limitations of their former por- erty. Between the people of the southern and the northern portions of the state was a great gulf fixed. Each misunderstood the other. The Illinois and Michigan canal was opposed by the people of southern Illinois for fear it would flood the state with Yankees. This conflict of interest and opinion was a continuation of the struggle between the civilization of Plymouth and Jamestown, The Puritan and the class distinctions of the cavalier had entered the western arena, where a few years later Lincoln and Douglas fought the historic battle of the century.
The second reason for this sectional divorce- ment was the desire of the northern people to
escape the burden of the enormous state debt, which had been created by the gigantic scheme of internal improvements. In 1840, during Gov- ernor Carlin's administration, the total debt of the state, principal and interest, was $14,666,- 562.42. The treasury was bankrupt; the reve- nue was insufficient; the people were not able to pay high taxes, and the state had borrowed itself out of credit. The state never repudiated its debt, but it simply could not pay it at that time. Moreover, the state had little to show for this vast expenditure. Southern Illinois dominated the state, and the people in the sparsely settled northern counties were not re- sponsible for the creation of the state debt.
THE HISTORIC SITUATION.
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Such was the condition of affairs when the mass convention was held in Rockford in the summer of 1840. In order to more fully under- stand the historic situation at that time, it will be necessary to briefly refer to the document which gave a plausible pretext to the separatist movement. This was the ordinance for the gov- ernment of the Northwest Territory, adopted in 1787. This ordinance provided for the divi- sion of this vast area for territorial purposes, which of course had no bearing upon the pres- ent matter. It further provided that not more than two states should be formed from the territory north of an east-and-west line running through the southerly bend of Lake Michigan.
In 1818 Illinois Territory petitioned Con- gress for admission into the Union on an equality with the original states. The petition defined the northern boundary of the state in acordance with the provisions of the ordinance of 1787. When the petition came before Con- gress, Mr. Pope was instructed by the commit- tee to report a bill in pursuance of the petition. Before the bill became a law it was amended by the extension of the boundary line from the southerly hend of Lake Michigan to 42 deg. 30 min. Thus was added to Illinois a terri- tory fifty miles from north to south, which now includes the northern fourteen counties of the state. These important and radical changes were proposed and carried through both houses of Congress by Mr. Pope. entirely on his own personal responsibility. The territorial legisla- ture had not petitioned for them, but the great and lasting advantage was so apparent that
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the action of Mr. Pope received the unqualified endorsement of the people.
When Wisconsin began to aspire to state- hood, it was upon the language of the ordi- nance of 1787, above quoted, which was de- clared a compact to remain forever unalter- able, that our northern neighbor based her claim to the territory north of the original line. This question of boundary became an issue in local politics, and it was not until 1848, when Wis- consin became a state, that all hope of the restoration of the original line was abandoned.
MASS MEETINGS,
In accordance with this widespread move- ment, which is said to have begun at Galena, a mass meeting was held at the Rockford House, in Rockford, July 6, 1840. One hundred and twenty delegates, who represented the entire territory in dispute, were in attendance. Dr. Goodhue was chosen chairman.
One committee was appointed to prepare an address to the people of the disputed territory. A second committee was instructed to report resolutions declaratory of the right of Wiscon- sin to the territory in dispute. The preamble declared that it was the general if not the uni- versal belief of the residents of the tract of territory in dispute, that the same by right and by law is a part of the Territory of Wisconsin ; and that their interests would be advanced by the restoration of the original line, as defined by the ordinance of 1787.
The resolutions declared first, that it was the opinion of the meeting that the intention of the framers of the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, was that if Congress formed one or two states north of the east-and-west line above mentioned, that the states south of the line should not extend north and beyond it; second, that Congress, in thus extending the northern boundary of Illi- nois, transcended its power and violated the provisions of the ordinance. It was also re- solved that if the governor of Wisconsin Terri- tory should issue a proclamation for an election of delegates to a convention for the formation of a state government, under the resolutions relating to the southern boundary, approved January 13, 1840, the citizens of the territory in dispute should elect delegates to the con- vention, acording to the ratio fixed by the reso-
lution. The sixth resolution provided that a central committee of five be appointed to carry into effect the resolutions of the convention, and to inform the executive of Wisconsin of the status of public opinion. It was finally re- solved that a copy of the proceedings of the convention should be signed by the president and secretary and forwarded to the governor of the Territory of Wisconsin.
Other boundary conventions were held in various parts of the district. A convention at Oregon City, January 22, 1842, adopted reso- lutions similar to those approved at Rockford eighteen months earlier. The delegates even went to the point of declaring that the ordi- nance of 1787 should not be changed without the consent of the people of the original states, and of the Northwest Territory. A meeting was held in Galena, March 18, 1842, of which Charles S. Hempstead was president. Strong resolutions were adopted. One declared that the annexation of the district to Illinois was an unlawful, arbitrary proceeding, and a dan- gerous precedent.
RESULT OF POPULAR VOTE.
In June, 1842, the commissioners' court of Winnebago County submitted this question to a popular vote of the county at the August election. The returns were as follows: For annexation to Wisconsin, 971; oppoosed to an- nexation, 6.
This prolonged agitation accomplished no result. The movement suddenly lost its mo- mentum and became a spent force. The essen- tial principle involved in the resolutions that were adopted at Oregon City was whether the Congress of the United States under the con- stitution, had no power to amend a prior act of confederated states. In view of the subse- quent evolution of the federal idea, under the splendid leadership of Webster and Marshall, it seems surprising that such a preposterous claim should have been seriously considered.
The beneficent results arising from the policy of Nathaniel Pope and the failure of the sepa- ratists are incalculable. No reflections are cast upon those who desired separation. They acted from worthy motives, but they could not fore- see the future. Time has shown their error to have been that of judgment rather than of heart. The people of Wisconsin, however, have
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never been fully reconciled to the situation. From the standpoint of state pride, it may be said that in the collapse of the movement was the magnificent city of Chicago, "the queen of the north and the west," saved to Illionis. The wealthiest, most populous and progressive counties were preserved to our commonwealth, which has become the pride of the nation. In 1840 the people of northern Illinois were more in sympathy with the ideas and institutions of Wisconsin, because they had a common origin in the east. With the lapse of time the two portions of the state have been wrought into a bond of indissoluble unity. Moreover, there were national reasons why Illinois should not be dismembered. In all previous confederated republics there had been danger of dissolution. Illinois, by reason of her geographical position, is a pivotal state. With a port on the chain of lakes, her western shore bounded by the Father of Waters, and her southern and eastern borders drained by the Wabash and the Ohio, the commercial power of the Prairie State ex- tends southward to the gulf, and eastward to the sea. Mr. Pope foresaw that none of the states in the west could venture a dissolution of the Union without the asistance of a state which nature had planned should be large and powerful.
Nathaniel Pope belongs to the roll of forgot- ten statesmen. The sphere of his activity was limited. He did not in his day receive the recognition to which he was entitled. He builded wiser than he knew. He foresaw pos- sibilities which his generation did not fully comprehend. In the clear light of today, that shines from the grandeur of the Prairie State, it must be said that Nathaniel Pope was a constructive statesman of the first rank.
ADOPTION OF TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
The constitution of 184S provided for a county court, as the successor of the county commis- sioners' court, and authorized the legislature to enact a general law, providing for township or- ganization, under which counties might organ- ize, by a majority vote of the people. In the early days of Illinois as a state, southern ideas and institutions dominated the commonwealth. The commissioners' form of local government originated in this country with the Virginia planters. The system of township organization
had its origin in New England. But the root of this form of local government may be traced to the districting of England into tithings by King Alfred, in the ninth century, to curb the widespread social disorders which disturbed his realm. The change under the second constitu- tion of Illinois was due to the influence of New England settlers in the northern portion of the state. The Illinois township system, however, is not closely modeled after that of the New England states. The legislature, by two acts approved February 12, 1849, supplemented these two constitutional provisions by the necessary legislation. The first created a county court, the judges of which should be elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1849, and quadrennially thereafter, and assume their duties on the first Monday in December following. There were also to be elected at the same times and places, two associate jus- tices of the peace, who, with the judge, consti- tuted the county court, which succeeded the county commissioners' court.
This county court was short-lived, so far as Winnebago County was concerned. The second statute, also approved February 12, 1849, pro- vided that at the next general election in No- vember, 1849, the voters in any county might vote for or against township organization. Consequently, at the same general election in November, 1849, the voters of this county elected both a county court to succeed the county commissioners' court, and voted to adopt township organization. Section four of the new law provided that if the voters so elected, the township organization should be in force the first Tuesday in April, 1850. At that time the associate justices ceased to be members of the county court, under the provision of section six of article seven of the new constitution. The associate justices, however, were elected for several years as justices of the peace for the county at large. It may seem, at first thought, that two such laws would not have been passed by the legislature, as the second might nullify the first. But it will be observed that the township organization system did not become operative unless the people so voted ; hence there was a possibility that they would not conflict. From 1849 to 1855 the clerk of the county court was also clerk of the board of supervisors, under section eight of article sixteen of the township organization law. By
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virtue of an act of February 9, 1855, the clerk of the county court of Winnebago County ceased to be ex officio clerk of the board of supervisors, after the first Monday of the following April. Under this law Duncan Ferguson was ap- pointed ; and a separate clerk of the board was thereafter biennially appointed, until the law was repealed.
SHERIFFS.
The sheriffs of Winnebago County have been : Daniel S. Haight, 1836-1838; Isaac N. Cunning- ham, 1838-1842; G. A. Sanford, 1842-1844; An- son Barnum, 1844-1846; Hiram R. Maynard, 1846-1850; Peter B. Johnson, 1850-1852; King H. Milliken, 1852-1854 ; John F. Taylor, 1854-1856 ; Samuel I. Church, 1856-1858; King H. Milliken, 1858-1860 ; Morris J. Upright, 1860-1862; Hiram J. Sawyer, 1862-1864; James E. Dennis, 1864- 1866; William Courtright, 1866-1868; Patrick Flynn, 1868-1872; Frank F. Peats, 1872-1880 ; Amasa Hutchins, 1880-1886; J. M. Atkinson, 1886-1890; A. J. Burbank, 1890-1894; Robert Oliver, 1894-1898; W. E. Sawyer, 1898-1902; Alex Collier, 1902-1906; Charles Collier, 1906- 1910; H. W. Young, 1910-1914; Guy Ginders, 1914 to date.
TREASURERS.
The following citizens have served Winne- bago County as treasurer: Robert J. Cross, 1836-1839; Samuel D. Preston, 1839-1843 ; Eph- raim Wyman, 1843-1846; Hollis H. Holmes, 1846-1849 ; Duncan Ferguson, 1849-1855; Hiram R. Enoch, 1855-1863; Charles Works, 1863-1867 ; J. E. Richardson, 1867-1870 (Mr. Richardson died while in office, and his brother-in-law, J. G. Lyford, filled the unexpired term) ; Thomas W. Cole, 1871-1877; O. H. Partch, 1877-1886 ; Roger Brown, 1886-1890 ; John Beatson, 1890-1894; A. A. Snyder, 1894-1898 ; Thomas Gilmore, 1898- 1902; James H. Carson, 1902-1906; C. J. Holm- quist, 1906-1910; F. A. Carson, 1910,1914; C. H. Kjellquist, 1914 to date.
CORONERS.
Eliphalet Gregory, 1836-1838 ; Cyrus C. Jenks, 1838-1840 ; Alonzo Platt, 1840-1841; Har- vey Gregory, 1841-1842 ; Nathaniel Loomis, 1842- 1844; Artemas Hitchcock, 1844-1850; Isaiah
Lyon, 1850-1852; A. A. Chamberlain, 1852-1856; H. T. Mesler, 1856-1858; John Fisher, 1858- 1860; Giles C. Hard, 1860-1861; John Fisher, 1861-1865; Isaiah Lyon, 1865-1866; Halsey G. Clark, 1866-1876; Dr. J. D. Burns, 1876-1878 ; R. H. Ross, 1878-1880 ; James Dame, 1880-1882; W. C. McCaughey, 1882-1888; N. S. Aagesen, 1888-1896; Frank M. Marsh, 1896-1908; Martin H. McAllister, 1908 to date.
SURVEYORS.
Don Alonzo Spalding, 1838-1839; John Emer- son, 1839-1841; Duncan Ferguson, 1841-1855; T. J. L. Remington, 1855-1888; D. W. Mead, 1888-1892; E. Baldwin, 1892-1904; Th. L. Leon de Tissandier, 1904-1912; D. E. Andrus, 1912- 1914; J. H. Sabin, 1914 to date.
For other county officers see Chapters XII and XIV.
CHAPTER X.
A QUARTER CENTURY OF DEVELOPMENT, 1835-1860.
ROCKFORD APPROPRIATELY NAMED-LAYING OUT OF STREETS-EARLY BUSINESS INTERESTS-TOWN INCORPORATED - SOCIAL STANDARDS - WASHING- TON IRVING'S KINDRED HERE-ONLY SLAVE IN COUNTY-INTERESTING BIOGRAPHIES-EARLY PUB- LIC IMPROVEMENTS-FIRST MILITARY COMPANY- CENSUS REPORT IN 1860-CHOLERA IN 1853-4- BAYARD TAYLOR'S BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO ROCK- FORD.
AN APPROPRIATE NAME.
Germanicus Kent was, in a sense, the first proprietor of Rockford. He gave it the name of Midway. This name, which is said to have been proposed by Mrs. Kent, was suggested by the fact that the settlement was about halfway from Chicago to Galena. "Midway, Rock River,
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Jo Daviess county, Illinois, June 17, 1835," is the name and date Mr. Kent gives in a letter to a friend. The law of 1836 which established the state road, referred to "Midway at the ford on Rock river." A letter written by Mr. Kent in the autumn of 1834, addressed to J. B. Martyn, of Alabama, directed that gentleman to "Mid- way" as follows : "At Galena call on my brother. From Galena go directly east until you come to and cross Apple river, thence turn in a south- easterly course to Plum river, and from there to Cherry Grove. There leave some timber on your left, and a small grove on your right [later known as Twelve-Mile Grove] and then keep on until you strike Rock river, from which a blind path will lead you to Midway." These instructions were about as definite as Launce- lot's direction to the Jew's house, in the Mcr- chant of Venice: "Turn up on your right hand at the next turning, but at the next turning of all, on your left; marry, at the very next turn- ing, turn of no hand, but turn down indirectly to the Jew's house." Nevertheless, Mr. Martyn found Midway.
Under date of October 17, 1837, Mr. Kent writes a letter from Rockford. The settlement was therefore known as Midway from one to three years. It is said "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;" but it is doubtful if the ambitious young community would have become the commercial and educational center of the Rock river valley, handicapped by the primitive name of Midway. The original pro- prietors early came to this conclusion. Authori- ties differ as to the origin of the name Rockford. One writer says the place was known as Rock- ford by the Indians; and that this name was suggested to them by nature. Upon the site of the present dam was a solid rock bottom, where the water was usually so shallow as to afford easy crossing with their ponies. Hence it was called by them the rock-ford.
John H. Thurston gives a somewhat different, though not necessarily a conflicting version. He says Daniel S. Haight, Germanicus Kent, Wil- liam H. Gilman of Belvidere, John P. Chapin and Ebenezer Peck of Chicago, and Stephen Edgel, later of St. Louis, met at Dr. Goodhue's office, on Lake street, in Chicago, to name the claim, or mill privilege, which they hoped at some time would become a town. "Midway," though an appropriate name, was not in favor. Various names were suggested and rejected, un-
til Dr. Goodhue said: "Why not call it Rock- ford, from the splendid rock-bottom ford on the river there?" The suggestion seemed an inspira- tion, and was at once unanimously adopted ; and from that day to this, Dr. Goodhue has been given the credit of the present name. The date of this christening is uncertain. Mr. Thurston says it occurred in the summer of 1835; but the statute of January, 1836, still designated it Mid- way. News traveled slowly, however, in those days; and possibly the solons at Vandalia had not learned of the change.
The term "Forest City," as applied to Rock- ford, had its origin in an article written by a correspondent of the New York Tribune, which was published in the autumn of 1853. The preservation of the native forest trees made the name appropriate, and Rockford is so desig- nated to this day.
D. A. Spaulding, surveyor, was not responsible for the fact that the streets of East and West Rockford do not squarely meet at the river. He stated that in January, 1836, Mr. Kent requested him to lay out two or three streets, parallel with the river, on the West side, as the beginning of lis town. There were probably ten or twelve blocks, the corners of which were defined by stakes. This survey of blocks and streets was a personal transaction with Mr. Kent, and entirely separate from Mr. Spaulding's survey of town- ships and ranges for the government. In the spring of 1836 several persons interested in the east side of the river wished Mr. Spaulding to lay out the beginning of their town. After mak- ing a preliminary examination, he found that he could not make the front street or the street next the river, on the most suitable ground and have the cross streets correspond with the streets on the west side of the river. He then examined bis work on the West side, and found that it could be changed so as to conform to the East side. At that time no improvements had been made which would have been affected by the prospec- tive change; and a slight modification would have inade the streets on the two sides of the river harmonize, as though there had been no river dividing the town. Mr. Spaulding ex- plained to Mr. Kent the advantage of such har- mony to both sides of the river; but Mr. Kent was unwilling to comply with his suggestions, and forty-five years later Mr. Spaulding made this explanation to relieve himself of the respon- sibility for the city streets as they now touch
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the river. The rivalry between the two sides of the river could not be compromised. Nature provided that the river should be a bond of union in which there is strength; but the two factions made it a cause of division. Both Kent and Haight, however, foresaw that the pros- perity of Rockford would largely depend upon the development of the natural water-power.
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