USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > History of DeKalb County, Illinois > Part 34
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Genoa was established as a post-office in 1836. It was named by Madison, its first settler, who was also its first post- master. He came from Genoa, in New York, and finding here, as there, a Geneva and Batavia, he concluded to carry out the parallel by giving it this name. For many years it was decidedly the most flourishing village in the County.
In 1848 its trade supported four large dry goods stores, each of them doing a larger trade than any other in the County. They were kept by E. A. Durham, Robert Water- man, W. H. Allen, John N. Maxfield and John Ball. There were two large, well-built taverns, kept by Henry Durham and H. N. Perkins, at which a line of stages from Elgin to Galena made a stopping place.
Elgin was then the market for this section of country, and to enable benighted travelers to keep that road on the broad, unbroken prairie, they annually plowed up a series of parallel furrows on each side of the track, and this was about all of the road work that was done.
The population of Genoa in 1855 was 895; in 1860, 985; in 1865, 1027.
Genoa furnished the Union army with 109 men, and at the time of the first enrollment for a draft had already sent out sixty-eight per cent. of her arms-bearing population. Of those who lost their lives in the war were :
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
J. H. Chase, who died at Kansas City, Mo., June 11, 1865. R. M. Gillett, Alexandria, Va., April 9, 1862.
Ellis Buck, Washington, D. C., April 28, 1864.
A. H. Burzell, who was lost off steamboat Olive, below St. Louis, on the Mississippi, June 28, 1865.
Augustus Martin, at Genoa, February 13, 1863.
Sergeant J. H. Depue, at - March 21, 1864.
J. S. Bailey, at Chicago, Ill., October 1, 1862.
J. H. Burroughs, at New Albany, Ind., December 24, 1862.
The Supervisors of the town have been : For 1850, Henry Durham; 1851, G. F. King; 1852, I. W. Garvin; 1853-54, A. M. Hollenbeck; 1855, I. W. Garvin ; 1856, Jesse Doud ; 1857, Daniel Buck; 1858-59, John Heth; 1860, J. L. Brown; 1861-62, John Heth; 1863, J. L. Brown; 1864-65, Daniel Buck; 1866-67-68, Henry N. Perkins.
The water-power near the village has been employed in operating a flouring mill and a distillery, but neither are now in operation.
KINGSTON.
In the spring of 1835 the only human inhabitants of Kingston were the Pottawattamie Indians, who occupied a considerable village upon the farm since claimed by Lewis Driggs, and who, upon the low-lands near the Kishwaukee river, had two or three flourishing fields of corn, cultivated by the squaws, and protected from the depredations of their ponies by a shabby defence of stakes and poles.
But the report had gone abroad that the Indian occupancy of this section of country must cease with the fall of this year, and a number of white men, attracted by the story that timbered land, not claimed, could be found upon the banks of the Kishwaukee, made their way into this section, and speedily claimed all of the timber in the town. Among these first comers were: Thomas Robb, George H. Hill, Isaiah Fairclo, Harmon Miller, Lewis Driggs, John Judd, Benjamin Schoon- over, James Green, Nathan Billings, and John Freel. They built for themselves rude shanties, somewhat like the Indian wigwams, of poles and bark, and lived in them until the ap- proach of winter compelled them to erect substantial, though small, log cabins.
Mr. George H. Hill, who was always a favorite among the people of the County, for his candor, intelligence, and integ- rity, was stripped of his entire property this winter by the destruction of his house by fire.
Kingston, in addition to the benefits of the rich, black, fertile soil that is common to all the land in this County, has more than one-third of its surface covered with excellent tim- ber, and is remarkably well watered. These advantages early
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
attracted settlers, and it was among the first inhabited towns in the County.
But poverty and destitution were the prevalent complaints of the early inhabitants. They started in life without much property, and for many years found it difficult to acquire it.
They raised small crops. In 1837 Mr. W. A. Miller raised ten acres of corn, and he had then the largest crop in the County. Mills were to be reached only by traveling long journeys, and the people avoided this necessity by pounding corn or buckwheat in a mortar, and living upon the rough cakes made from this coarse provender. Fish was a great resource. They were taken in great abundance, and, bar- relled for future use, they constituted a permanent article of diet. Gradually the new comers acquired the comforts of life, but nearly a score of years elapsed before the real hard- ships incident to the new settlement were ended.
An unusual proportion of the first settlers now remain upon the lands which they first occupied, and enjoy that wealth and comfort to which the hardships endured in the early times have given them the best of titles.
The population of Kingston in 1855 was 874; in 1860, 1094; in 1865, 1181.
In April, 1860, a fearful tornado swept through the town. It was first seen as a black cloud, in tunnel shape, sweeping along at the rate of a mile a minute. Huge trees were taken up in the air, and carried off like straws. A house belonging to Isaac McCoy was torn in fragments, and not a stick of it was left near its former position. Even the stones of its cellar were carried off. It was occupied by Mr. Weaver, but for- tunately empty at the moment. The earth, in the course of the tornado, was swept and hollowed out so that it resembled the bed of a rapid river. Large stumps were torn out by the roots. Mr. Luke Penwell, seeing it approach, ran to avoid it; but being caught, seized a sapling, to which he clung with the energy of despair, while the wind whipped his legs around his head with great violence.
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TOWN OF KINGSTON.
A similar tornado, passing in the same direction, swept through the town seven years before.
In April, 1862, Mr. George Magenety was killed by being shot by Asa Baldwin, a wealthy money-loaner of Belvidere, while resisting Baldwin's attempt to take possession of some property conveyed to him by a chattel mortgage. Baldwin was arrested for murder, and lay in jail for many months ; but obtained a change of venue to Belvidere, and was finally acquitted.
Kingston, from a population of 1094, gave 105 soldiers to the ranks of the defenders of the Union.
Among the dead of the war from this town were three sons of John Russell. They were: Wesley Dickson Russell, of Company F, in the Thirteenth Infantry, R. W. Russell, of Company K, Forty-Second Illinois Infantry, who was wounded at Stone River, remained seven days on the battle-field, was then re-taken, and died of his wounds, and David F. Russell, of the Ninety-Fifth Infantry, who died at Vicksburg. Rich- ard W. Atwood, of Company C, in the One Hundred and Fifth, lost an arm and leg at Dalton, Georgia, and after in- tense suffering, died two weeks after. Ira G. Burzell, of Company L, Eighth Cavalry, was drowned in the Mississippi. Arba Lankton, of the Ninety-Fifth, died in hospital at Vicks- burg.
John Swanson, at Atlanta, August 12, 1864.
David Bear, at Chattanooga, December 27, 1864.
Levi Sherman, at Bowling Green, December 3, 1862.
Gilbert Barnes, at Jefferson City, Mo., October 24, 1861. Abner Westbrook, at Memphis, Tenn., October 22, 1864. James Collier, at Evansville, Ind.
Frank Artz, at Chattanooga, October 15, 1863. J. B. Blake, died at home, December 1, 1862. Abner Dalby, at Vicksburg, November 2, 1866. Anson Brainard, at St. Louis, December 12, 1861.
Henry Potter, at Natchez, Miss., July 29, 1863.
William H. Branch, at home, December 29, 1861. 58
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HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY.
E. H. Branch, Pontotoc, Miss., July 12, 1864. William Davis, at Tipton, Mo., October 15, 1861. Lewis Miller, at home, December 4, 1864. William Middleton, at Milligan's Bend, February 5, 1863. Andrew Raymond, at home, April 24, 1864. George Ayres, at home, November 8, 1864. Thomas Burchfield, at South Tunnell, Tonn., Jan. 3, 1863. C. N. Brown, at Paducah, Ky., March 22, 1865. Isaac Kepple, at Batesville, Ark., May 15, 1861. George Palmer, at Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. Frank McMann, not known.
The names of a large portion of the enlisted men will be found in the roster of those regiments to which they belonged. Amoug the commissioned officers were : Colonel Lorenzo H. Whitney and Lieutenant William Whitney, of the Eighth Cavalry, Lieutenant William Hill, of the Ninety-Fifth In- fantry, Lieutenant John Hickman, of the Ninety-Fifth, and Captain J. W. Foster, of the Forty-Second Infantry, who was desperately wounded and reported dead, but survived to suffer the horrors of a rebel prison. The story of his suffer- ings, escapes, re-captures, and final flight to the Union lines, is of thrilling interest.
The Supervisors of Kingston have been : For 1850, John Sheely ; 1851, C. W. Branch; 1852, W. A. Miller ; 1853- 54-55-56-57, George H. Hill; 1858, George L. Wood; 1859-60, James McAllister ; 1861-62, Phillip Heckman ; 1863, George H. Hill; 1864-65, C. W. Branch; 1867, Phillip Heckman ; 1868, C. W. Branch.
A small hamlet, called Stewartville, consisting of a store, post-office, wagon and blacksmith shop, and a handsome Ma- sonic hall, is the only village in the town.
Among the many wealthy farmers of the town, Messrs. N. Saum and John and James Russell have been long noted for the encouragement they have given to the Agricultural Societies, and for their noble herds of high-bred Devon cattle.
There are three good churches in Kingston, at which public worship has for many years been regularly maintained by the Methodist denomination.
FRANKLIN.
This town, the northwesternmost of the County, contains more running streams and a larger surface of timbered land than any other town in the County. It has also some quarries of stone, mostly a soft, inferior limestone, which is used for building, and is also converted into very good lime.
Andrew and William Miles and Samuel Corey were proba- bly the first settlers in the town They came in 1836, follow- ing close upon the footsteps of the Indians, who had been removed but a year before. Mr. Miles brought the first fruit trees, and the fine orchard on the Humphreys place was a part of this first importation.
Other settlers who followed soon after were D. M. Gilchrist, T. H. Humphreys, Theophilus Watkins, Elder Barrett, and John M. Riddle.
Hieks' mills were built in 1837, by the Hicks brothers and Gilchrist. They did both the sawing and grinding. The water-power was pretty good, and the mills have been in use till this day. In 1838 these mills were kept busy in sawing lumber to build the new town of Kishwaukee, which was pro- jected and designed to be an important place. It was located at the mouth of the Kishwaukee river. Several buildings were constructed, stores, shops, etc., started, but the town never acquired any considerable size, and is now abandoned.
The early settlers were all quite poor; indeed, many of them were thriftless and improvident. Some, who are now wealthy, subsisted for the most of the time, during their first residence, principally upon suckers, which they caught in immense numbers in the neighboring streams.
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
The builders of the mill were desperately poor, and when their land came in market, they were unable to purchase the title to their mills, and they became the property of Dr. Ho- bart. He was a marked character,-a man of much general information,-and thoroughly educated, and enthusiastic in his profession, of fine appearance, and possessing great ambi- tion, he played a prominent part in the affairs of the town in its early history, and acquired a large amount of property ; but, to the surprise of all who knew him, died of delirium- tremens at last.
This township, with the other two which form the northern tier of the County, was surveyed and put in market some five years earlier than the twelve towns south of it. This accounts for the fact that the survey lines do not coincide with those of the towns below it.
Very little of the land, however, was entered at this carly date. It was held by means of claim associations, composed of men who were banded together to lynch any one who should enter lands held by claim title. In 1845 Dr. Hobart was President of such an association. Its by-laws provided that any person entering land claimed by any of its members soould be compelled to deed it back to the claimant, on pay- ment of the price ($1.25 per acre) paid for entry, or should pay the claimant the same sum, in addition to what he had already paid the government, and take the property. This association, holding vast tracts in this manner, kept many who otherwise would have become permanent residents from settling there.
Many of the first settlers of the town were from the South- ern States. Among them were William T. Kirk, one of the most extensive and wealthiest of the farmers in the County, and who has borne a prominent part in its political affairs ; Spencer Myers, an energetic, wealthy farmer ; the Riddles, men distinguished for sound judgment and good sense; and the Rowins, extensive, spirited, and wealthy farmers.
D. B. Kingsbury, an intelligent and worthy citizen of this
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TOWN OF FRANKLIN.
town, came from New Hampshire in 1844. He bought a fine farm of one hundred and forty-four acres for one thousand dollars, and has since added largely to its extent. At that time most of the town was not settled, or entered. There was but one house between Kingsbury's grove and the little town of Belvidere.
Thomas J. Humphrey, a gentleman of education and cul- ture, and a lawyer by profession, came in 1843. He died soon after his arrival, leaving a large family of children. The eldest male member of this family was Thomas W. Humphrey, who was then but eight years of age. Although left thus early, struggling with the hardships of frontier life in Illinois, he acquired a superior education for his circum- stances, passed through the scientific course at Beloit college, subsequently became deputy Circuit Clerk of De Kalb County, married at twenty-one, and purchased the Humphrey home- stead. He was always a bold, brave, ventursome youth, whose intelligence, integrity, and manliness of character made every one his friend. He crossed the plains to California in 1861, and on the expedition heroically rescued a wounded emigrant and his family from a tribe of hostile Indians.
Returning in 1862, he raised a company of volunteers from about the borders of De Kalb, Boone and McHenry Counties. This company was made a part of the 95th Illinois Infantry, of which he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel. Devoting him- self with characteristic ardor to his new profession, he was from the first really its first officer.
At the storming of Vicksburg, on the 19th and 22nd of May, 1863, he was wounded on the first day, but, continuing at the head of the regiment, was on the 22nd stunned by the explosion of a shell, and reported killed, but crawled back to camp in the night.
At the disastrous battle of Guntown he lost his life, and with that loss the army lost one of its most distinguished and most fearless officers, and De Kalb County one of the most heroic of her sons.
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
His body was returned to Franklin, and beneath the grand old oaks of the family home the largest concourse ever as- sembled in the town gathered to honor the memory of their martyred hero, by one of the grandest of funeral ceremonies.
A younger brother of General Humphrey, Captain James Humphrey, enlisted early in the war as private, in the Eighth Cavalry, and fought his way up to a Captaincy.
Of the ninety-nine men enlisted from this town seven be- came commissioned officers. They were, in addition to those mentioned, Captain John B. Nash, Lieutenants Hiram Har- rington, Samuel Williamson, John M. Schoonmaker, and John W. Burst, all of the One Hundred and Fifth. Lieu- tenant Burst first entered the Fifteenth Infantry, but lost his sight while on duty in Missouri, by the poison of a scor- pion. After nearly six months of blindness, he recovered; and, full of ardor for the great cause, he re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifth, and after two years faithful service at the battle of New Hope church, he lost his leg, which was three times amputated before it finally healed.
Of the martyred dead of the war from this town were:
Hiram S. Harrington, who died August 27, 1863.
W. Miles, at home, December 2, 1862.
Wesley Witter, at home, December 25, 1862.
John Stoker, in hospital, Bowling Green, Nov. 23, 1862. Eustice Lusher, in hospital, Bowling Green, Nov. 21, 1862. Henry Cline, at Gallatin, December 22, 1862.
Alonzo Randall, near Memphis, March 1, 1863.
J. H. Strawn, at Gallatin, July 20, 1864.
W. L. Foss, at Atlanta, August 16, 1864.
C. E. Foss, at home, April 20, 1865.
A. G. Foss, at Chattanooga, 1862.
S. L. Cronkhite, at home, August 24, 1865.
Isaac Weaver, at Alexandria, Va., January 21, 1862.
P. C. Rowin, at Stone River, December 31, 1862. Danford Goralum, December, 1863.
J. G. Griffin, in hospital, N. Y., May 25, 1865. John Eckert, at Paducah, March 9, 1862.
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TOWN OF FRANKLIN.
A terrible tornado passed through the northern portion of the town of Franklin on one Sunday in May, 1853. It prostrated immense trees, fences, buildings, and everything that stood in its course. The first house struck was Mr. John Youngs'. It was a large building, but in an instant it was lifted up, shattered to splinters, and considerable parts of it carried off so far that they were never found. Mrs. Young was killed instantly. The residence of Mr. Ira Dean was next struck. It was torn in pieces; and a lady relative, who chanced to be visiting there, had her back broken, and died soon after. In a chamber were two boys, engaged in playing cards. Both were blown out of the window, but not seriously injured. Several other houses were unroofed, and some barns destroyed.
In 1860 another tornado passed through the central por- tion of the town, passing, like the former, from the southwest to the northeast. It carried off one house, of which the oc- cupants were absent, and twisted off and carried away huge trees, which could never after be found. Some electric force seemed to be at work in this terrible gale. It tore the iron- work from tools and machinery, and played numberless strange pranks.
Upon Mr. Charles Buckman's place may be seen a curious relic of the Indians. It is a stout stick of timber, about eight inches square, hewn out so as to resemble an Indian with four faces. It is reported to be an Indian idol.
The population of the town was 837 in 1855, 936 in 1860, and 951 in 1865. The town was organized under the present form of government in 1850.
The names of its Supervisors have been : For 1850, Clark Bliss ; 1851, John Riddle; 1852-53-54, Jonas Hloight ; 1855, William T. Kirk; 1856, W. L. King; 1857-58-59- 60-61, William T. Kirk; 1862-63-64, J. W. Ellithorpe; 1865-66, D. B. Kingsbury: 1867-68, Stephen G. Rowin.
MAYFIELD.
This pleasant farming town, with its pretty name, so sug- gestive of green fields, May-flowers, and all of the beauties of spring-time, was first settled in 1835. The valuable tim- bered lands upon the shore of the Kishwaukee, which courses along its eastern border, early attracted settlers, and it was claimed and occupied by adventurous white men even before the departure of the Indians. A large Indian village then occupied the present site of Coltonville.
John Tower, John Thom, Morris and Erasmus D. Walrod, James and Samuel Gilbert, Ira Douglas, Robert Graham, James McCollum, and Henry Madden, were among the first to occupy this very attractive section of the County; but with them were a number of rough fellows, who made claims of great extent for the purpose of selling them out, and who defied the regulations of the claim association, and kept up a war which drove emigrants away.
Stephen Mowry first settled the place afterwards purchased by Rufus Colton, and which, a few years after, was known as Coltonville. This, about 1838, became a smart little vil- lage, at which the courts of the County were first held, and which it was supposed would be the County Seat. Mr. Cox, Mr. Peaslee, Spafford and Curtis Smith, Phineas Stevens, and Timothy Richardson, first settled this southern portion of the town.
Dr. Henry Madden, an active and intelligent citizen at Brush Point, was the first Representative to the Legislature from this district, and labored hard to secure the location of the County Seat at his place.
Before Sycamore had an existence there was a lively vil-
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C. W. MARSH. OF CLINTON.
W. W. MARSH. OF CLINTON.
Chicago Lithographing Co. Chicago,
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TOWN OF MAYFIELD.
lage of a dozen houses at Coltonville, with a lawyer and a doctor, a store, a tavern, post-office, and shops.
A distillery was built by Phineas Stevens and Rufus Col- ton in 1840, but it never was a source of much profit. The proprietors could n't prevent their fattening swine from get- ting drunk ; and when Stevens finally barreled them up, took them one hundred and fifty miles north to the pinery for a market, and then obtained only two cents a pound for his pork, the distillery was abandoned.
The little village at Coltonville gradually declined, its buildings were removed, and now the entire town contains no village, nor even a post-office, being better accommodated for these purposes by the neighboring village of Sycamore.
Liberty was the name given to the town upon its organiza- tion in 1850. It was selected by the Townsends, Nichols', and Nickersons,-those earnest, active members of the Lib- erty party of those times, who were neither ashamed nor afraid to be known as station-agents on the underground railroads,-but the name had probably been previously given to other townships; for a few months after, it was changed to Mayfield.
Deer, wolves, and massasaugers (or the prairie rattle- snakes), were particularly numerous in the first years of its settlement. In the autumn of 1837, Mr. Godfrey Carnes killed twenty-five deer on his farm, and one new comer was startled, on finishing up the center furrow on a ten-acre "land" which he was breaking, to find twenty-five lively massasaugers hissing and rattling their warnings at him.
The town was kept in a broil for many years by claim jumpers; but when the claim wars were settled by the perfec- tion of their titles through purchase from government, and the claims of the rival points for the seat of justice had been lisposed of, the affairs of the town moved on the even tenor of their way. with perfect quiet. The old settlers gradually acquired the comforts of life, the outlying prairie became settled, and the country increased in population and wealth. ',
59
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HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY.
In 1855 its population was 835, in 1860, 998, and in 1865, 1029.
Mayfield sent 103 men to fight the slaveholders' rebellion, and scarcely any town in the County was more prompt in responding to the calls of the government.
Those who gave their lives to the country in the war were: J. P. Young, who died at Camp Nelson, March 5, 1864. W. H. Decker, at Farmington, May 16, 1862.
G. G. Farewell, at Shiloh, Tenn., April 6, 1862.
J. Patterson, at Camp Sherman, Miss., August 25, 1863. Turner Wing, at Mayfield, May, 1862.
Alonzo Houghton, in rebel prison, Cahaba, Ala., Septem- ber, 1864.
Wm. Stevenson, at Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27, 1864. Joseph Piper, at Quincy, Ill., April 23, 1862.
Samuel Piper, at Youngs' Point, La., April 1, 1863. Edward Howe, at Chattanooga, Tenn., August 15, 1864. Elias Goble, at Gallatin, Tenn., December 21, 1862. Marvin Dennis, at Smithland, Mo., December 31, 1861.
William Kerr, on steamer City of Memphis, Jan. 5, 1863.
The assessment of 1868 shows that it is one of the most wealthy of the towns of the County, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants.
The first religious meetings in the County were held in Mayfield, by the Methodists, and for a year or two they were held regularly at Mr. Ira Douglas' house. They were sub- sequently continued at the school houses ; and in 1860 a fine church was built at Pleasant Hill, by that denomination, the inhabitants contributing with unusual liberality for its con- struction.
The town Supervisors have been: For the year 1850, Mulford Nickerson ; 1851, Willis Lott; 1852, James Siv- right; 1853-54, Agrippa Dow ; 1855, James Parker ; 1856, Henry Madden ; 1857-58, W. A. Nickerson; 1859-60, A. B. Crippen ; 1861-62, James Sivright; 1863-64, T. Wyn- koop ; 1865-66-67-68, Curtis Smith,
SOUTH GROVE.
This township, which was organized in 1850, was first called Vernon. It had previously been known as Driscoll's Grove ; but the name it now bears was, soon after its organ- ization, agreed upon by the settlers.
It is considered one of the best farming towns in De Kalb County. The land is very pleasantly undulating; the subsoil seems peculiarly adapted for the drainage of the surface, and vegetation is early and rapid. There is scarcely an acre of waste land within its borders.
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