USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > History of DeKalb County, Illinois > Part 36
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In 1858 the village of Sycamore was incorporated, and in accordance with the provisions of its charter, has been repre- sented upon the Board of Supervisors by the President of its Board of Trustees. These have been: For 1859, E. L. Mayo; 1860, C. M. Brown; 1861, Alonzo Ellwood; 1862, C. O. Boynton ; 1863, Alonzo Ellwood; 1864-65, Charles Kellum ; 1866, Luther Lowell ; 1867-68, C. O. Boynton
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CORTLAND.
It was on one mild day in October, 1835, that a party of emigrants, pushing rapidly northward from, Ottawa, on the line of an Indian trail, and traveling after darkness had set in, suddenly, and to their surprise, found themselves in the midst of an Indian village, situated on what is now Section Three, in the town of Cortland. They halted for the night, and in the morning, pleased with the appearance of the coun- try, proceeded to make claims, and ultimately to build houses, and surround themselves with some of the comforts of the pioneers' home.
The party consisted of George W. and Isaac Gandy, John and Perry Ellet, David Wood, and Henry Smith, with their families, who thus became the first settlers of this township. They lived for the winter in close and peaceful proximity to the Indians, a few of whom remained in the grove, and in the spring they were joined by a considerable number of new settlers. These were the Springs, Crossetts, Hale Perry, Norcutts, Alvin Dayton, Kites, Lowries, Osgoods, Ralph Wyman, John Champlin, Peter Young, and Elias IIartman. They all settled as near as possible to the borders of the Ohio Grove, which gained its name from the fact that most of the new comers were from Ohio, and which borders the eastern line of the township.
A small grove in the centre of the town, which had the appearance of having strayed away from the main body of timber, and which, for this reason, was named Lost Grove, was claimed at an early date by James and Joseph Roberts, two old bachelors, who for many years entertained travelers
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TOWN OF CORTLAND,
in their little log house, fourteen feet square; but most of the remainder of the town remained unsettled and the property of the government until about 1852, when a number of dwell- ings were built on the open prairie, and the population of the town was considerably increased. A Baptist church was built near the grove during this year.
About this time a little village of a half-dozen houses, with a tavern, a store, and the usual shops and dwellings, was commenced at Luce's Corners, a half-mile south of the present location of the village of Cortland; but most of the buildings were subsequently moved to the railroad station.
The railroad was built in 1853, and a smart little village soon grew up around the station. But its prospects seem to have been not considered brilliant, for in the following year the railroad company bought the farm of Marcenus Hall, upon which the eastern part of the village now stands, at ten dollars per acre, and laid out a village upon it; and when, in the terrible storm of the following winter, Mr. S. L. Porter, one of their engineers, had his leg crushed, while endeavoring to force his engine through a snow-bank in this vicinity, the company made him a present of the village. The Hersha farm, upon which Artlipp's and Croft's additions were laid out, was sold about this time at twenty-five dollars per acre.
In 1856 a very lively village had been built up, inhabited by a smart, enterprising population, among whom were a good many young men, full of enterprise and full of fun.
But the hard times of 1857 checked its prosperity, and the construction of the Sycamore and Cortland Railroad in 1858 cut off' some of the grain trade from the north. Its increase has not been rapid since that time.
The population of the township in 1855 was 1182; in 1860, 1298; and in 1865, 1324. Only the three towns of Somo- nauk, De Kalb, and Sycamore, have a larger population, or a larger amount of taxable property.
The first name given the town was Richland. This was soon after changed to Pampas, a name suggested by J. R.
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
Crossett, from the resemblance of its prairies to the pampas or plains of South America. In 1864 this name was changed by the Legislature to Cortland, the name of its village and postal station.
The first school house in the town was a log hut, built in Ohio Grove about 1838, and the first teacher was Rev. Castle Churchill, who was succeeded by Miss Mary Ann Hamlin.
In 1866 the spacious and elegant edifice, a view of which is here inserted, was built by the village of Cortland. Its cost was $7000. It is a conspicuous ornament to the town, and honors the enterprise and liberality of its people.
Cortland gave liberally, of the best blood of her township, to the country, in the defence of the flag, when traitors assailed it. One hundred and thirty-four of her sons enlisted in the Union army, and the names of sixteen who lost their lives in the service have been preserved. These are :
Ruthven and Alonzo Russell, Robert Close, W. Stark, and Charles Plopper, the date and place of whose death is not ascertained; Spafford Deford, who died at Savannah, Georgia, January 20, 1865; John Young, at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, March 5th, 1864; Charles F. Bannister, at Alexandria, Vir- ginia, April 11, 1863; Charles V. Peck, at Ringgold, Geor- gia, March 27, 1864; Oliver Wilson, at Shiloh, July 6, 1862; Emery Marshall, at Beardstown, Kentucky, December 6, 1862; George H. Gould, at Nashville, Tennessee, November 4, 1853; T. D. Packard, at Shiloh, April 6, 1862; W. II. Rose, at Kingston, Georgia, January 6, 1864; and Morris R. Wilson, at Corinth, Tennessee, June 23, 1862. The last mentioned was but a lad of fifteen, when a rebel bullet ended his career.
Among her townsmen who served most honorably, and suf- fered most severely, was Captain R. A. Smith.
When an apprenticed lad in Chenango County, N. Y., he twice ran away to enlist in the Mexican war, but his regiment was not admitted to service. Removing to Cortland in 1856, he engaged in the grain trade, and worked as a mason, until,
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TOWN OF CORTLAND.
at the first breaking out of the war, he raised a number of recruits, and enlisted in Company F, of the Thirteenth In- fantry. After two years of very hard service, during most of which time he commanded that company, the regiment was thrown into the terrible abyss of fire and death which met the first assault on Vicksburg; and there he lost his right arm, and was fearfully wounded in the thigh.
Returning home, he was elected County Treasurer, which office he has filled by three successive re-elections, till the present time.
The Supervisors of Cortland have been: For 1850-51-52, David F. Finley ; 1853, Austin Hayden; 1854, David F. Finley ; 1855-56-57-58, Horace S. Champlin; 1859-60-61, Alonzo L. Lovell; 1862, P. S. Coolidge; 1863-64-65, Jacob R. Crossett; 1866, Edwin Gilson; 1867-68, John Wright.
The village of Cortland was incorporated in 1866, and T. T. Peck in 1867, and John King in 1868, have, as President of its Board of Trustees, been members of the Board of Su- pervisors.
Cortland raised by taxation $12,103 for war purposes.
DE KALB.
The town of De Kalb, located near the centre of the County, is second to none other in the County in its natural advantages, and in its prospects for future growth and wealth.
The surface of the town, like the remainder of the County, is mostly occupied by handsome rolling prairie; but, unlike some others, it is favored with a handsome stream,-the head waters of one branch of the Kishwaukee,-and is liberally supplied with timber from an extensive grove bordering this stream, formerly known far and wide as Huntley's Grove.
The first settlers of this township were John B. Collins and Norman C. Moore. Collins settled the farm now owned by Captain Burpee, and Moore made a claim a mile or two north of him. They came in the spring of 1835, and during that summer all of the timbered land in the town was claimed. McClellan claimed the south end of the grove afterward held by Mr. Huntley. James Cox claimed a farm now owned by C. W. Marsh, and James Paisley the place on which some of his family now reside.
There was a large Indian village at Coltonville, on the northern border of this township, but during this fall they were removed beyond the Mississippi.
It was probably a company of United States mounted troops, engaged in assembling these Indians at their rendez- vous at PawPaw Grove, preparatory to removal, that passed along the east side of the grove during this fall, and camped for the night on the site of the present village of De Kalb.
While here, one of their number attempted to desert, and he paid McClellan a sum of money to secrete him; but being threatened by the officer in command, McClellan gave him up
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TOWN OF DE KALB.
again, and he was tied to the rear of the army wagon, and dragged on foot through the remainder of the route. The neighbors, indignant at McClellan's treachery, threatened to lynch him, and he was obliged to fly the country to secure his safety.
In the autumn of 1835, Messrs. Jenks & Co. claimed the land now occupied by Albert Schryver, damned the creek, built a mill, and projected a town in the vicinity. The streams were much larger then than now, and it was thought that the water-power would be of permanent value ; but a dry suminer or two convinced them of their mistake, and they never completed their proposed village.
In February, 1837, Mr. Russell Huntley, representing a company of capitalists, who designed to build mills and carry on farming, moved to the south end of the grove, and bought the claim of James Root, who had succeeded McClellan. Wild-cat money was plenty then, and claims sold at higher prices than they would bring ten years after. Mr. Huntley bought all of the south part of the grove, paying $5300 to the several claimants. Ilis purchase embraced about five hundred acres of woodland, and as much of the prairie as he chose to call his own. As it seemed desirable, however, that each should know where his line was, he made an agreement with the Brodies, of Brodie's Grove, about ten miles west of him, that the division line between them should be half way between the two groves: and he made a similar verbal ar- rangement with the inhabitants of Shabbona Grove on the south.
In the autumn of 1836 was the first election held in the County. It was held in Captain Eli Barnes' house, in this town, and the voters came from all parts of the County. It was an election for Justice of the Peace. Mr. Samuel Miller, of Squaw Grove, relates that ten dollars was sent down to him by one of the candidates to pay him for bringing up ten voters, and that these ton voters carried this election. It was
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
probably the first ten dollars spent to carry an election in this County, but not the last, by thousands.
After the first two years, settlers came in very rarely. Ilard times came on, money became very scarce, the people grew poor; and in 1843, when the land, for the claims to which they had paid such liberal prices, came in market, most of them found great difficulty in raising the money to enter it. As late as 1850, Mr. Huntley was offering half of the land upon which De Kalb village now stands to any man who would furnish $1.25 per acre to enter it.
For nearly twenty years he kept an excellent tavern at this place, and in the busy season it was constantly crowded by teamsters from the west, as far as the Mississippi river, who were on their way to Chicago with grain. The proceeds of the load, oftentimes, did not pay the expenses of drawing to market. For this reason, thousands of bushels of exeellent wheat raised in this town were fed to cattle without threshing. This poverty among the people continued until the railroad was built through, in 1853.
In 1850 the township was organized, with the name of Orange, and Thomas M. Hopkins was chosen its first Super- visor. In that year the first store in the place was opened by J. M. Goodell, in one end of the dwelling now owned by Rufus Hopkins. In 1852, J. S. Waterman and Alvah Cart- wright started another, and they, with Goodell and Ruby's store, Huntley's tavern, and a blacksmith's shop, constituted the village in 1853, when the railroad was built, revolutioniz- ing the business affairs of the country. After this, a large and flourishing village was speedily built up at this place. Its progress was remarkable. Houses sprang up as by magic. The neighboring farmers who visited it one month would hardly recognize the place when they visited it the next. Mr. Huntley sold part of his land to three directors of the railroad company,-Holland, Robinson, and Van Nortwick,- and they together laid out the village, and speedily sold the lots at good prices. Stores, shops, warehouses, hotels, and
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TOWN OF SYCAMORE.
dwellings, filled up the village plat, and the evidences of taste and refinement were to be seen in its streets and dwellings. For several years it went by the name of Buena Vista.
In 1855 its population was 557. It was confidently ex- pected that, owing to its central location and its being upon a railroad, it would soon be made the seat of justice for the County.
The financial crash of 1857 impeded the progress of the thriving little village. Money scarce, trade dull, credit gone, prices low. Like all new towns, it was settled by a population full of enterprise, but of small capital, and the destruction of confidence and depression of trade was a serious injury to ts progress. But its people were full of enterprise, courage and enthusiasm for the prosperity of their town. They taxed themselves heavily for all needed improvements, and worked with a will for the good of their town.
In 1860, a County Society for the promotion of agriculture and the mechanical arts was established, beautiful grounds selected and handsomely furnished, and flourishing annual fairs have ever since been held.
In 1361, the elegant brick building was erected for a Graded School,-for many years the finest common-school building in any town of its size in the State. It was designed to cost $8000, but its total expense has been over $25,000. The first school house in the town was a small structure built of bass-wood logs, and roofed with shakes, which stood near the grove, and near the line of the railroad, and for many years served both as school house and church.
In 1854, churches were built by both the Baptist and Methodist societies; in 1860 the Catholics constructed a spa- cious church, and in 1864 the Sweedish population, a large number of whom had gathered around this place, built a small church, in which worship is conducted in the Sweedish form and language. A number of the most reputable citizens have embraced the Mormon faith, and the services of that sect have frequently been held in the place.
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HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNY.
In 1858 a newspaper, under the name of the Western World and De Kalb Review, was published in De Kalb by Mr. Andrews. This was succeeded in 1860 by the De Kalb Leader, edited by E. B. Gilbert; and this, in 1861, by the De Kalb Times, edited by G. D. R. Boyd. In 1867 the De Kalb County News was started, and now publishes a su- perior country journal.
The first lawyer in the place was Marcus White, who com- menced practice in 1855. The first resident physician was Dr. Hyslop. In 1859, Dr. Rufus Hopkins, of Sycamore. who had always had a considerable practice in that town, re- moved to the place, and as a physician, banker, and active man of business, has been a prominent actor in the affairs of the town. The first bank was established here in 1859, by J. R. Hamlin and E. T. Hunt.
The four brothers Glidden, who first settled here in 1841, have been among its most worthy and active citizens. E. B. Gilbert, Esq., who came to Sycamore in 1847, and to De Kalb in 1852, was elected Justice in 1853, and by successive re- elections has ever since held that office. Harvey Thompson, J. M. Glidden, and Jabez L. Cheesbrough, have long been among the most popular and reliable grain dealers in the County. The brothers Isaac L. and Hiram Ellwood have been among its most active business men. R. K. Chandler has long been a merchant in whom all have confidence. It is such enterprising men as these, with the Vaughans, Smulls, Roberts, Millers, and others that might be mentioned, that have given tone and character to the town.
The Supervisors of De Kalb have been : For 1850, Thomas M. Hopkins : 1851, Joseph F. Glidden ; 1852, Thomas M. Hopkins ; 1853, Alonzo Converse; 1854, Luman Huntley ; 1855, Alonzo Converse; 1856, Marcus White; 1857, E. P. Young; 1858-59, Hiram Ellwood; 1860, Silas Tappan ; 1861-62, J. F. Glidden; 1863, Harvey Thompson; 1864-6,5, Thomas M. Hopkins ; 1866, J. F. Glidden ; 1867, Harvey Thompson ; 1868, W. C. Tappan,
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TOWN OF SYCAMORE.
The village was incorporated under a general act in 1856, and in 1860 by a special charter, which made the President of the Board of Trustees a member of the Board of Super- visors. This position has been filled by W. H. Allen in 1861-62; Silas Tappan in 1863; Leonard Morse in 1864; S. O. Vaughan in 1865; E. B. Gilbert in 1866; and W. H. Allen in 1867-68.
De Kalb furnished 223 men for the war for the preservation of our nation from the armed rebellion. The story of their toils, their losses, their sufferings, and their triumphs, will be found in the record of the part that De Kalb County took in the war of the great rebellion.
The population of De Kalb in 1855 was 1588; in 1860, 1900; and in 1865, 1976.
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MALTA.
This town, situated far out upon the billowy prairie, remote from groves, and streams, and other attractions to the early settler, was one of the later-settled townships of the County. Its first inhabitant was Mr. Ezekiel Whitehead, who com- menced a farm in 1851. A large portion of the land was at this time in the hands of the government; but was entered, during this and the following year, by C. C. Shepard, II. A. Mix, Mark Howard, and other speculators, who have since gained great wealth by the rise in their value.
In 1854 the citizens of South Grove, which lies directly north of this town, petitioned the Galena Railroad Company; which had built the Dixon branch through the town, to estab- lish a station for their accommodation; and after some months' delay, the company acceded to the request. The station once established, settlers rapidly filled up the township. It had been a part of the town of De Kalb, but in 1855, a sufficient number having moved in to give them a right to a separate town organization, a petition was presented to the Board of Supervisors, asking this privilege, which was granted; and the new town, under the name of Milton, embracing this township and one-half of that one south of it, was admitted into the Union. The village at the station was named Malta, and a thriving town rapidly grew up at this point.
The name of Etna was, soon after its organization, substi- tuted in place of Milton, and this, a few years later, was changed to Malta, the name of its village and post-office.
The financial storm of 1857, which prostrated the value of every kind of property, and ruined the currency of the coun-
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TOWN OF MALTA.
try, reduced the vitality of this ambitious little village, and gave it a blow from which it was many years in recovering. Building was stopped; houses were vacant and valueless; merchants and grain dealers failed; every body grew poor, and multitudes left the country.
In 1857 a large steam mill was built, but it was never a profitable property; and four years later it was burned down, under circumstances that led to the suspicion that it was burned by the lessces. Suits growing out of this charge are still pending before the courts.
In 1867, aided by a liberal subscription of the citizens of the village, Mr. Abraham Peters erected another large and substantial steam grist mill, which is now doing a good busi- ness.
Toward the close of the great war, Malta again acquired a fresh increase of growth and prosperity. The high prices of grain attracted settlers, and gave increased value to her new prairie lands. Money became plenty, business increased, new buildings were erected, real estate doubled in value, and sales, which for many years were impossible, now became frequent.
Malta is now on the high tide of prosperity. The village is the natural center for a large extent of very rich country, which, filled up with the substantial farming population which now is rapidly centering there, will support a town of three or four times its present population.
The first census of the town was taken in 1860, when it was found to have 620 inhabitants. This number, in 1865, had increased to 849, and is now probably over 1200.
Malta furnished 94 soldiers for the war of the rebellion.
Its Supervisors have been : For 1856, E. Whitehead ; 1857-58, T. C. Wetmore; 1859-60-61, Henry Madden ; 1862-63-64-65, M. C. Dedrick; 1866, G. W. Smiley ; and 1867, D. F. Peasc.
In 18- the Congregational church was organized, with Rev. - as pastor. In 1867 the Baptist and Congregational societies each built handsome churches.
MILAN.
Milan, the youngest of our sisterhood of towns, was born into the family in 1857. Its parents were Malta and Shab- bona, who each contributed three square miles to the endow- ment and fitting out of their newly-born sister.
Mr. Lewis McEwen was the first inhabitant of Milan, and although a bachelor then, and for many years after, he may properly be called the father of the town. He came here in 1852. At this time not a foot of the land in the township had been entered from government. He built a small house, broke up his land, and for two or three years spent most of the winters in hunting. In the winter of 1853-54, more than one hundred deer were seen from his cabin door, and wolves were extremely troublesome. The deer disappeared as soon as the railroad was built ..
Benjamin Banfield moved into the town in 1852, and Reuben Dodd in the following winter.
Most of the land of the township was "entered" in 1853. Before that time it was considered of no value, being so far removed from timber that purchasers thought it doubtful if it ever would be settled. But during the last five years its set- tlement has been very rapid. Nearly every acre is now occu- pied as a farm, and land sells at as high a price as in any part of the County.
In 1853, Gurdon Hewitt entered nine sections in one day, with warrants worth eighty cents per acre. This land was purchased by settlers at from eight to thirteen dollars per acre, and all of the land in the town has now passed into the hands of actual residents.
The School Section was sold in 1865, and produced a
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TOWN OF MILAN.
township school fund of over $8000. The first school house was built in the center of the town in 1855; but before that time schools had been kept in private houses.
In the summer of 1868, a handsome two-story building was erected at the center, the upper part of which belongs to the township, and is used as a town hall and place of worship, while the lower story is used as a district school.
A large colony from Norway own and occupy the south- west portion of the township, and constitute a very honest, industrious, frugal, and respectable population.
The monotony of the prairies, which occupy the entire surface of this town, has of late been broken by miles of hedges of the rapid growing willow, which tend to diversify and beautify the landscape.
Mr. Lewis McEwen, who stood godfather to the town at its first creation, has ever since been its Supervisor, except in 1861, when Mr. John Banfield was elected.
The population of Milan was 262 at the time its first census was taken, in 1860, and five years after had increased to 524. It now probably contains 800 souls. Its property is assessed at $158,266. It furnished 38 soldiers for the Union army in the late great war.
AFTON.
Afton is yet a stripling in our family of towns. Its brief existence has been so little chequered with incident that it can hardly be said to have a history. It is one of those towns that, being far removed from natural groves, and rich only in a soil of unsurpassed fertility, were considered by the early settlers undesirable for farming purposes, and consequently remained unsettled.
The emigrants from the heavily wooded Eastern States, accustomed to eight-rail Virginia fences, huge wood fires, and an abundance of timber for building, could not at first believe that farming could be carried on successfully without large tracts of woodland in the immediate vicinity of their cultivated fields; but they have discovered their mistake. No farms in the County are more profitable than those in Afton, and towns of like character, ten, fifteen, or twenty miles removed from woodland.
Afton is one unbroken prairie, very undulating in its sur- face, with an abundance of gravelly knolls, and with some ledges of stone, which, however, have not yet been worked. It has one handsome stream. The head waters of the Little Rock Creek, a fine stream of pure water, burst from the ground on Section Fourteen, and run southeastwardly through Squaw Grove.
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