History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 206

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

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The Bickerdikes moved into this township in 1833. George Bickerdike, who had, like John Noble, visited this country in 1831 or 1832, also like him returned to England and brought back with him to America a small

party of friends, including Joseph Kettlestrings and wife.

Besides the Bickerdikes, who moved into the town- ship in 1833, as stated above, Joseph Lovett also came, in the same year. He was from Bath, Steuben Co., N. Y., and came alone to look for a location for a home. Having made a selection, one mile northwest of Whisky Point, he returned to New York for his family, whom he brought out in 1834, consisting of his wife, five chil- dren, and son-in-law, George Merrill, who was married to his daughter Julia. The four unmarried children were as follows, named in the order of their ages : Har- riet, Henry, Nancy and William. Mr. Lovett's claim, one mile northwest of Whisky Point, consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, which he held by "right of possession," until the sales of lands in Jefferson Town- ship, which occurred in 1838, as soon as practicable after the authentic Government survey in 1837, made to correct the errors of the original survey in 1821; the lands in this township having been, on account of these errors, reserved from preceding sales until an accurate survey could be made. At the sale of 1838, Mr. Lovett bought his claim. Upon this claim he had erected a small log house with but one room, which served for kitchen, sitting-room, parlor and bed-room for the whole family, and often for as many as thirty strangers at a time. The logs for this house were hauled from the timber to the northward, with a yoke of oxen bought in Chicago of Archibald Clybourn. Mr. Lovett's nearest neighbor to the castward was four miles away, and to the westward his nearest neighbor was David Everett, six miles away, at whose house the settlers were accus- tomed to assemble for some time to hear preaching by various Methodist ministers, among them a Rev. Mr. Coulson, from Tennessee.

There were but few other settlers in the township until 1836, when Elijah Wentworth settled on the ridge known as Sand Ridge, and sometimes as Went- worth's Ridge, at the point where the village of Jeffer- son is now located. Here he erected a hotel, long known as Wentworth's Hotel, and long noted as being the place where, of all others, the traveler received the most hospitable entertainment. This was the Wentworth known everywhere as "Old Gcese," from a favorite song he used to sing when inspired by a little of the excel- lent whisky dispensed in those honest days, the refrain of which was-

" I wish I were a geese, All forlorn, all forlorn ; I wish I were a geese, All forlorn : I'd cal my grass in peace And accumulate much grease, Ealing corn."

Besides Mr. Wentworth, others who moved into the township in 1836, were Winthrop Merrill, father of George Merrill ; William E. Sayre, Martin N. Kimbell, Major Noble, Israel G. and Gustavus V. Smith, Philip, Richard and James Townsend, S. S. Abbott, John Anderson, Laomi Butterfield, Thomas Burkel, Abner Ellison and John Sweeney. In 1837 John Robinson, Hiram Sanford and others, In . 1838 Rees Eaton, Edward Simons and others.

One of these, William E. Sayre, was for many years respected as one of the ablest citizens of the township, holding important offices during the most of the time of his residence therein. He was married to Miss Har- riet Lovett, January 3, 1839, by the Rev. Isaac T. Hin- ton, of Chicago. Of Mrs. William E. Sayre an histor- ical address, delivered in 1881, at an old settlers' meet-

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

ing, speaks as follows, and the language met with very general approval :

" Mrs. Sayre, now living, was one of the wonderful women of that generation. She was one of those wiry workers who never tire, never wear out , who baked the best bread, got out her Monday s washing earliest, and knitted more pairs of stockings per day, beside. doing her housework, than any other woman in the land."

Martin N. Kimbell, also mentioned as coming to the township in 1836, was one of the wiry and muscular workers of those early days. During the years 1837 and 1838, Mr. Kimbell furnished Chicago with about five hundred tons of hay each year, at $3.00 per ton. Since then he has furnished as much as one thousand tons per year. For some years cutting and curing hay was the main branch of farming carried on in this township east of Union Ridge ; but this was not from any lack of enterprise on the part of the early settlers. It was entirely owing to the lowness and levelness of the prai- rie, combined with want of drainage. A few of the main farmers of the early days were Daniel Booth, John Rutherford, Robert Robinson, Israel G, and Gustavus V. Smith, and James Jaques. Oats and corn were the principal crops. Gardening was commenced in 1837 by George N. Powell and M. N. Kimbell, forming a copartnership, and employing about nine men during the summer season. For a number of years Mr. Kim- bell visited almost every family in Chicago every morn- ing-during the early season, with lettuce, onions and radishes, and later, with other garden products.

In connection with Mr. Kimbell's early experience, it is related that it was no uncommon occurrence for wolves to visit his yard, and that on one of these occa- sions Mr. Kimbell attempted to chase a wolf off his premises with a pitchfork, when the wolf turned upon him and chased him back to his house. Mr. Kimbell's horse-barn covers a portion of the old Indian trail north- west from Chicago, which trail was followed by travel for some years, but in order to make the road straighter ditches were dug, directing travel between them, and thus Milwaukee Avenue originated, over which Captain Mancel Talcott claimed his wagon to have been the first to pass, as far as where Chester Dickinson's house now stands, but this was before Milwaukee Avenue was thought of.

The following account of the laying out of Milwau- kee Avenue is substantially the same as that given by George C. Klehim, at present one of the Commissioners of Cook County:

There was a crooked wagon track leading from Kin- zie Strect through Jefferson, the western part of Niles, and through Northfield toward Deerfield. Every settler in making his way across the prairie, was accustomed to take a course to suit himself, in order to avoid sloughs, holes, and wagon ruts, and as a consequence it some- times happened that half a dozen or more tracks ran parallel to each other. When roads were good the time required to get to Chicago and back from Northfield was four days; when the roads were muddy nearly double that time was required; and in the spring of the year there were several months when they were for the most part impassable.

Silas W. Sherman, a prominent settler of Northfield, made a petition to the Legislature to have that road es- tablished and surveyed. The petition was granted, and Asa F. Bradley was entrusted with the surveying of the road.

The starting point was at Kinzie Street in Chicago. George N. Powell, who had then already a hotel, fearing that the road might not be located past his place of busi-

ness, raised a flag and informed the surveying party that if they could strike that flag with the line of their road, a good dinner, with the best wine and whisky, would be ready for them as soon as they arrived. There was never quicker or better work done in the history of en- gincering, than that between Kinzie Street and that flag. Mr. Powell made good his promise, and the boys had a splendid repast, His whisky was straight, and a supply sufficient to last to Cliester Dickinson's house was taken in, and this, we presume, accounts for the straight line of Milwaukee Avenue to that point, Here some scoun. drel must have got some crooked whisky into the sur- veying party, for the road runs zig zag from there to the northern line of Northfield and into Lake County.

Benjamin Lupton has been mentioned as one of the earliest settlers. Somewhat later came William West from England, where he had left his promised future bride On the occasion of Mr. Lupton's visit to En- gland, Mr. West, so the story goes, sent by him money to pay the passage of his affianced to America. But instead of bringing her over that she might become Mrs. West, he brought her over as Mrs. Benjamin Lupton,

Laomi Butterfield, one of the very earliest settlers, was about the time of the occurrence of this event, found dead in the school-house on Elston road. The supposition was that his death was caused by too freely imbibing the contents of a jug which was found emjky by his side after his death, and which remained un- touched in the house for weeks. In those early days, the habit of drinking malt and distilled liquors was much more general than at present, and it was not con- sidered so unrespectable, and when one of the settlers came home from Chicago, his team finding its own way, or driven by a neighbor, he himself too much under the influence of some intoxicant to be of any use as a guide, his family and friends joked him next morning about coming home the night before " rather fresh," and when he became sober he was in precisely as good standing in the community as before.

Abram Gale was one of the earliest settlers in Jeffer- son Township. He arrived from New York City in Chicago May 22, 1835, with his wife, daughter and two sons. Upon his arrival he found Charles Chapman erecting a two-story building on the north part of the lot upon which the Marine Bank afterward stood. H. O. McGee occupied a portion of the first story of this building for a grocery, and Mrs. Gale, upon the arrival of her stock of goods from New York, opened in the other part of the first story the first millinery store in Chicago. While awaiting the arrival of their goods, Mr. and Mrs. Gale and family put up at the Green Tree Tavern, which stood at the corner of Lake and Canal streets. But Mrs. Gale declared, one Saturday, that she would not remain in that tavern another night, so, notwithstanding a shower of rain was falling, Mr. Gale moved his family into a building at the corner of Ran- clolph and Wells streets, in which there was one com- fortable room and a pantry finished off, but in the other portions of the house the floor had been torn up. The next morning, Sunday, Mr. Gale laid the floor io the remaining portions of the building, put the house in order, and had company to tea that night.

One morning in the following December Mr. Gale met a man who had made a claim on the ridge where Galewood is now located. With this man Mr. Gale made a bargain for this claim, and when the lands in Jefferson were sold in 1838, got a title to three hundred and twenty acres. He at once made a contract with a carpenter to put up the frame of a house 18x34 feet in size, for $75. Soon after !! is Mr. Gale had some trouble

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747

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON.

with one of his neighbors, who tried to get his claim away from him, and in consequence of this trouble he employed a ditcher to dig a ditch all round his claim, and in 1837 and 1838 this ditch was dug, at a cost of about $400. At the time of taking up this claim there were about two hundred or three hundred trees upon it, only one of which is now standing. Upon proceeding to plow certain portions of the claim, it was discovered that the ground was full of roots of trees which had been prevented from growing by previous annual prairie fires, and Mr. Gale wisely decided to withdraw the plow, prevent the recurrence of the fires, and permit the trees to grow. The result is that now at Galewood, a small hamlet situated on his farm, there is a fine grove of trees, comprising from fifty to sixty acres. Upon this farm Mr. Gale lived until within a few years, when he removed to the home of his son, E. O. Gale, at Oak Park, where he still lives at the advanced age of eighty- ninc.

Among other early settlers who came to this township within the next few years, were George N. Powell, who came in 1835 ; S. S. Abbott and John Anderson, in 1836 ; John Robinson in 1837; Edward Simons in 1838 ; Richard Y. Spikings and Leighton Turner in 1840 ; E. B. Sutherland in 1841; Abel Kay in 1842 ; D. L. Roberts and William P. Gray in 1844, and Ches- ter Dickinson in 1846. Most of these have been prom- inently connected with the history of the township in various ways, as will appear as this sketch proceeds. A number of them kept hotels at different times, among them George W. Powell, S. S. Abbott and D. I .. Rob- erts, The latter, who came to the township in 1844. purchased about three hundred and twenty acres of of land, and the tavern stand of Elijah Wentworth, at the village of Jefferson. This tavern was a block house two stories high. The three hundred and twenty acres included all of the original village of Jefferson, two hundred and forty acres in Section 9, forty acres in Section 16, twenty-eight acres lay northwest of the Indian boundary line ; and the balance was in the timber to the eastward on the North Branch of the Chi- cago River. Mr. Roberts kept this hotel from 1844 to 1851, when he leased it, mnoved to Chicago, and kept the United States hotel until 1853, when he was burned out. He then returned to Jefferson, bought out the lessee, and kept the old Wentworth hotel for a year or two, when he closed it up. In 1864 Mr. Roberts died.

The post-office was established in 1845, E. B. Suth- crland being the first Postmaster. In 1846 Chester Dickinson became Postmaster, having purchased the land of Mr. Sutherland, and the house in which the post-office was kept, which Mr. Sutherland had built in 1841. Of the land Mr. Sutherland had a bond for a deed. What was in Lot 12 sold for $12.00 per acre in 1841, and that in Lot ir for $11.00 per acre in 1846. In 1840 Mr. M. N. Kimbell, George N. Pow- ell, and Edward Simons were appointed to appraise the school section by the School Commissioners, and they fixed the price at from $4.00 to $12.00 per acre, the high price being put upon and realized for lot twelve on account of its being on the ridge, and a good place for a hotel, which Mr. Sutherland started and kept until he sold out to Mr. Dickinson. Mr. Sutherland built the brick house in which Mr. Dickinson now resides, in the year 1843. In this house there was a bar-room, in which meetings and elections were held for many years.

The following extract from the address already quoted from, expresses very nearly, if not the exact truth with reference to the topics to which it refers:

" At no time in the history of this original settle-

ment was there much of either incident or romance. These old settlers had no time to fritter away upon in- vestigations into the mysteries of witchcraft, nor did they trouble themselves much with disputations upon revealed religion. Of politics, they knew that Andrew Jackson was President, and that was enough for them to know. They had no use for law. nor for lawyers. Every man and cvery community had a law suited to the emergency as it arose, whether it was in the nature of an assumpsit or forcible detainer. Not until the vil- lage was incorporated under the general law, was it in- habited by either lawyer, doctor or minister, and even now (1881) neither of these very excellent professions can secure more than a precarious subsistence."

One reason perhaps for this apathy so far as it cx- isted with reference to politics, was that there were very few officers to be elected. Until 1850, when the town of Jefferson was organized, the congressional township of Jefferson was included in two voting precincts, Chicago and Monroe. Chicago precinct comprised North and West Chicago, Lake View and the cast half of the town- ship of Jefferson, or that part of it east of Jefferson Avenue. Monroe precinct comprised the west half of Jefferson Township, Leyden Township, and a portion of Maine. In this precinct the voting place was at Higgin's Tavern, west of the Desplaines, on the State Road to Miller's Grove in the north part of Leyden Town- ship. The precinct officers consisted of two Constables and two Justices of the Peace. In Monroe precinct the following gentlemen were elected Justices of the Peace, from time to time: William E, Sayre, for a number of years; Mancel Talcott, who lived at Park Ridge and was one of the first settlers there; Jesse Everett and W. I .. Dunlap. The names of some of the Constables were Samuel Hummel and John S. Everett. The electors also voted for County Assessors, and for general State and National officers.

The following incident, related in the language of the address from which quotation has already been made, is vouched for as authority by old and relmahle settlers who remember the facts and are still living:

" As the presidential election of 1844 approached, politics began to be discussed a little, though the peo- ple were still averse to taking any active part in the campaign. As a specimen of the general apathy we re- late the story of Hiram Sanford and a Mr. Everett, who were the only persons present at one of the primaries. Sanford was chosen chairman upon the motion of Ev- erett, and Everett was unanimously elected secretary upon the motion of Sanford. When Everett came to make out the credentials for the elected delegate he therein recited that at a large and respectable meeting of the citizens of Monroe precinct, etc. . Hold on," said Sanford, 'don't overdo this thing-state facts.' ' Why,' said Everett to Sanford, who weighed over three hundred pounds, 'ain't you large ?' 'Yes,' said San- ford. 'Well, ain't I respectable?' 'That's decidedly mixed,' said Sanford; and it was, for Everett was not considered as exactly worthy of immediate translation for his good qualities." But notwithstanding this dif- ference of opinion as to the respectability of a portion of the meeting, the credentials of both gentlemen were made out, and duly presented at the Democratic con- vention held in Chicago soon afterward.

But if little interest was awakened by political affairs in precinct times, a change came over the people after the organization of the township in 1850. More offices were created, and the competition for the possession of them was more earnest and animated. More of the public money was to be expended in internal improve-

748

HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

ments, especially in the laying out and grading up of streets, avenues and boulevards, the planting of shade and ornamental trees, and the development of district and high schools.

The township when organized corresponded in ter- ritory to Congressional Township 40 north, Range 13 east, of the third principal meridian, Under the general organization act three commissioners were appointed to divide the county into townships. These commission- ers were : W. 1 .. Church, Philo Winchell and Stephen Rexford. After traveling through the county and con- versing with the inhabitants with reference to boundary lines and names preferred for the townships, a meeting was called at Chester Dickinson's house. At this meet- ing the name Monroe Township was selected and sent to Springfield as the choice of the people, but it was found that this name had already been granted to an- other township, hence another meeting was called to select another name. At this meeting there were pres- ent about twelve of the citizens-among them : M. N. Kimbell, William P. Gray, Edward Simons, Chester Dickinson, David L. Roberts, Zina Byington, S. S. Abbott and Major Noble. M. N. Kimbell proposed the name Jefferson, which was unanimously adopted, and forwarded to Springfield. Hence " Jefferson " became the name of the township.

The first election after the organization of the township was held at the house of Chester Dickinson April 2, 1850. The first vote was for Moderator of the meeting. For this office George Merrill had ten votes, Martin N. Kimbell four and D. I .. Roberts one. For Clerk of the meeting D. I .. Roberts had seventeen votes, and was elected. A vote was then taken for Overseers of Highways and pound masters. It was then voted that cattle and horses, except stallions, should be per- mitted to run at large between April 1 and November 1 of each year. Hogs and sheep were not permitted to run at large, under a penalty of $1.00 per head for hogs and twenty-five cents per head for sheep, the penalties to go into the general fund. It was also voted that a rail fence four and a half feet high should be considered a sufficient fence, and that a ditch and bank, or a ditch, bank and sod, which was equivalent to a rail fence four and a half feet high, should be deemed a sufficient fence. The result of the election for officers was, that Martin N. Kimbell was elected Supervisor by fifty-two votes, to eighteen for David 1 .. Roberts. Robert J. Edbrooke was elected Town Clerk by sixty-seven votes, to one for John H. Butterfield. Russell Morton was elected As- sessor by forty-eight votes, to twenty for William E. Sayre. Alexander Clark was elected Collector by thirty- five votes, to twenty-nine for Cyrus M. Allen and five for John I. Butterfield. George Merrill was elected Overseer of the Poor by forty votes, to eight for Ellis Smalley and one for Chester Dickinson. The following gentlemen were elected Commissioners of Highways : Daniel Booth by sixty-nine votes, Major Noble by sixty- eight and Chester Dickinson by thirty-seven, while Charles R. Ball had twenty-seven votes, Russell Morton four and David Edwards one. For Constable, John H. Butterfield had forty-seven votes and was elected, Alex- ander Clark and Cyrus M. Allen had cach thirty-five, Alexander McMillen had seven, Charles S. Perry two and Ellis Smalley one. The board, consisting of George Merrill, Moderator, and David L. Roberts, clerk, de- cided that, in the case of Alexander Clark and Cyrus M. Allen, each of whom had the same number of votes for Constable, they had no power to act. For Justices of the Peace, Israel G. Smith had forty-two votes and Will- iam P. Gray thirty-seven, both being elected, while

George Merrill had twenty-three votes, Niram Sanford twenty-three and George N. Powell four. On the Ist of May, 1850, at a special meeting held for the purpose, the legal voters elected by acclamation Overseers of Highways, as follows : Samdel S. Stickney for District . No. 1 ; Major Noble for No. 2 ; John H. Butterfield, No. 3 ; James Daniels, No. 4; David L. Roberts, No. 5; James M. Washburn, No. 6 ; Alexander McMillen, No. 7 ; John Rutherford, No. 8; Russell Morton, No. 9. It was then voted to raise by taxation $150, to be ex- pended on bridges and plank roads, and that $200 be similarly raised, to meet any other expenses that might be required. Cyrus M. Allen then received fifteen votes for Constable to one vote for Ellis Smalley, and thus the election of town officers was made complete.

The first meeting of the Commissioners of High- ways was held April 16, 1850, at the house of Chester Dickinson, the object being to divide the township up into road districts, but having no plat of the township they were unable to carry out their design. Their sec- ond meeting was held at the house of Major Noble, at which the township was divided into nine districts, as follows : District No. 1, embraced Sections 1, 2 and 3: No. 2, Sections No. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, the east half of 22, and the east half of 26; No. 3-Sections No. 4. 5. the north half of Sections 8 and 9; No. 4-all of the Caldwell Reservation in Jefferson ; No. 5-Sec. tions 16, 17, 18, the south half of Sections 7, 8, 9: No. 6-Sections 35, 36, and west half of 26; No. 7-Sec. tions 21, 27, 28, 33, 34, and the west half of 22 ; No. S -Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32 ; No. 9-Section 6 and the west half of Section 7.

The first road laid out by the Commissioners of Highways was on May 10, 1850, It was four rods wide, and began at southwest corner of Section 20, and ran cast on the section line between Sections 20 and 29, 21 and 28, 22 and 27, and thence between Sections 23 and 26, 13.44 links to the center of the plank road, "which bears S. 50° E. with a variation of 7º 30' east." And on the same day a road was directed to be laid out commencing at the southwest corner of Section 10, and running north along the west line of Section 10 to the quarter corner, thence east 50-100 chains; thence north parallel with the west line of said Section 10, 301% chains to a black oak five inches in diameter; thence north ;2º west 5 chains to a black oak six inches in diameter, bearing north 1576° east, distant 53 links-this tree is on the Indian boundary line ; thence north 38º west. 18.40 chains to the corner of S. S. Abbott's land; thence north 60° west along S. S. Abbott's line 14-38 chains to the southwest (?) corner of said Abbott's land; thence north 3215° east along the west line of Abbott's land 18.37 chains ; thence north 25° west along a cart road 5.75 chains ; thence north 60° west 43.40 chains to the center of the road running from Carpenter's bridge to Gross Point, variation 5° 30' east. This road to be four rods wide. Other roads were authorized to be laid out on May 10 and 11, July 2, 3, 8, 9 and 20, Novem- ber 16 and December 17 in this year. On this latter date the Commissioners of Highways of both Jefferson and Leyden townships, met at the house of Chester Dickinson, for the purpose of dividing the town line between the two townships, and divided it so that the north half of said line belonged to the town of Ley- den, and the south half to the town of Jefferson. And on this same day, Supervisors N. H. Bolles, M. L. Dun- lap and Samuel E. Ferris made a decision against the laying out of a road, as authorized by the Commission- ers of Highways, running from the plank road at the corner of Sections 15 and 20 east along the line between

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 206

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875