USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I > Part 15
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The Illinois & Fox River Railroad Company was incorporated by act of the legislature, approved February 16, 1865, the incorporators being A. J. Joslyn, P. J. Burchell, A. M. Herrington, J. W. Eddy, William Coffin, Daniel Volintine and William B. Allen, all of Kane county, and others in the counties of Kendall and Grundy. Capital stock to be $1,000.000, limited to $2,000,000. The company was empowered to construct a railroad from Elgin through St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Aurora, Oswego, Bristol and Yorkville, to Morris, Grundy county, with the privilege of extending it south through the coal fields to connect at some point in said county with the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. At a meeting of the incorporators, held April 20, 1865, Daniel Volintine was elected chairman, and P. A. Armstrong, secretary. The road has never been built.
TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES.
When the railroad fever made itself manifest in Kane county, it was quite natural that the people should desire telegraph lines as an accompaniment, and numerous schemes were sprung upon the people to supply the need; but, as in the case of plank roads, most of them went no farther than talk. In June, 1848, it was proposed to construct a telegraph line from Janesville, Wisconsin, to Joliet or Ottawa, Illinois, via Beloit, Rockford. Belvidere. Elgin. St. Charles, Geneva. Batavia. Aurora and Oswego, connecting with other through lines at the terminal points. The sum of $9,000 was asked to build the branch route, and an office was promised to each place subscribing $2,000. The stock was to be in shares of $50 each, and the profit was promised to amount to 15 to 25 per cent. The plan failed of consummation.
Another line, from Elgin to Aurora, and thence to Naperville, was talked of in May, 1849. Offices were promised at Elgin, St. Charles. Geneva, Batavia and Aurora, provided each place subscribed not less than $500, and also provided $4,600 should be subscribed along Fox river. That this propo- sition must at length have been looked upon with favor is evident, from the
FLOOD OF 1857. AURORA, SHOWING SOUTH END OF STOLPS ISLAND.
16
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
fact that a line was put up in Kane county in the winter of 1850-51, reaching from Elgin to Aurora, and thence extending to Naperville. All local lines of telegraph finally gave way to the great systems which followed up the railroads, and have since grown to mammouth proportions, and become num- bered among the giant monopolies of the land.
The telephone systems, of which there are two doing business in Kane county, the Chicago Telephone Company and the Interstate Telephone Com- pany, are of practically late origin, but have become an indispensable part of the life of business and social activities. In 1885 the telephone was prac- tically unknown, so much so as to pass entirely unmentioned by a historian of that period. Today a resident of Kane county may talk with anyone within 500 miles over the wire at comparatively small cost. To converse with a person 50 miles distant is a daily occurrence. The Chicago Telephone Com- pany is a branch of the corporation of the same name doing business in Chicago. It is the only 'phone service from Kane county to Chicago; the other company being unable to secure a franchise in Chicago. This company offers communication with the country, and towns and cities outside Chicago. Its promoters hope to ultimately secure a grant in Chicago and be able to compete with the Chicago people for the Chicago service.
The past twenty years has seen the rise and rapid development of the electric railway and the automobile. The electric trolley cars now connect every city along the river from Aurora to Carpentersville. A complete system of lines centering at Elgin and Aurora traverse the county and extend into nearby counties. A new line is now building from Woodstock to Sycamore, crossing the west end of the county. This will greatly aid travel in that section. The A. E. & C. Railway Company have absorbed most of the traffic, and now own the Aurora-Elgin line, the Belvidere line and the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago third rail line, which runs cars to Chicago every hour-time one hour and twenty-five minutes. The corporation is controlled by stockholders at Cleveland, Ohio. The traffic is large. A new line will be laid this year from Elgin to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and the summer resorts.
Drainage ditches have been an improvement much enjoyed the past twenty years for the purpose of reclaiming swamp lands. Hundreds of acres have been, by this means, made productive. An extensive drain was put in Rutland township in 1886, and this year one is being dug through Plato and other townships. The southern end of the county is also putting in ditches.
CHAPTER XV.
AGRICULTURAL AND DAIRYING INTERESTS, STOCK, ETC.
The early settlers of Kane county, though accustomed to wooded country, soon discovered that in the soil of the beautiful prairie, which made up the most of its area, there lay unbounded resources for the benefit of the agri- culturist, and it did not require long for them to learn to take advantage
162
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
of these. All the small grains were successfully grown, and corn came in time to be the staple crop. Fruits of various sorts were raised in greater or, less abundance. In time the profits in attempting to raise wheat became so smiall that attention was turned to other branches of agriculture. About 1864 or 1865. a few experiments were tried in the dairying line, and proved so successful that the business soon became general throughout Kane and other counties in the northern part of the state, and has grown to mammoth pro- portions. Among the pioneer dairymen in this county were D. E. Wood, of Elgin : Martin Switzer and L. C. Ward, of St. Charles ; Rodney McDole and Joseph Ingham and J. B. Paull of Sugar Grove, and H. L. Ford, of Batavia. These were all in the business as early as 1865-66, Mr. MIcDole managing a private dairy, and others erecting factories for the manufacture of cheese. Others in Dundee, Elgin. Plato, Campton, Blackberry, Geneva, Burlington, Virgil, etc .. fell into the new line, and the result was manifest in discharged farm debts and fine improvements in nearly all sections of the county. Experienced cheese makers came on from the East-Herkimer and Oneida counties, New York, and elsewhere-to superintend the factories. At length the manufacture of butter was also commenced, and has practically super- seded cheese making, which is less profitable. The products of the Kane county creameries command the highest prices in the markets. East, West and South.
In march, 1872. a board of trade was organized at Elgin for the benefit of dairymen, and up to August, 1877. it had transacted business amounting to $22.180.204.4972. being a monthly average of $120.544.59. The quotations upon the Elgin market control the prices of butter and cheese throughout the United States, and affect many foreign markets as well.
Aside from the vast amount of milk manufactured in Kane county, many thousand cans are shipped each year to dealers in Chicago, direct from the various railway stations on several lines of the road. Dundee and Car- pentersville furnish the greatest amount, with Elgin, St. Charles. Geneva. Elburn and other points closely following.
With the introduction of the dairy business into this region naturally came the desire to weed out inferior grades of cattle, and replace them by those of greatest profit. As a consequence the fields and pastures of Kane county nurture as fine stock at the present day as can be found in the United States. The premium herds of the old countries have been drawn upon in order that the very best might be secured : the principal breeds finding favor in the eyes of dairymen being the Holstein-Friesian. the Shorthorns. the Jerseys. the Herefords, and the Polled-Angus: some being preferred for their milk yield alone, and others for both milk and beef. Among the noted stock breeders and dealers of the county were Dr. W. A. Pratt and the Manns, of Elgin; M. W. Dunham and N. S. Carlisle. of St. Charles (the latter's farms lying in Hampshire) ; Frank H. Hall, of Sugar Grove: George E. Brown & Co .. George Leigh & Co., Blair Bros. & Curry, and Hiram Norris. of Aurora: and Hon. John Stewart. of Campton, besides numerous others engaged in stock raising to a considerable extent in various parts of the county.
163
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Some of these became so extensively interested also in the importation and raising of fine horses that their names are known throughout the civilized world. Particularly was this the case with Mark W. Dunham of St. Charles, and George E. Brown & Co .. of Aurora, from whose stock farms have come many of the finest animals in the world. The specialty of the Dunham farm was the magnificent Percheron horse, and in handling these Mr. Dunham acquired, during the years he followed the business, a splendid fortune. His annual importations from France amounted to hundreds of the very finest horses which money can purchase, and he was the heaviest dealer in this class of horses in America. George E. Brown & Co., owners of two large stock farms, one in Aurora and the other in Batavia, acquired a national reputation as dealers in the fine English draft horses. Cleveland Bays and Exmoor ponies, and their annual importations are scarcely behind those of Mr. Dunham. Their Batavia farm, known as "Brookside," was formerly the property of Col. B. H. Campbell, also a noted stock dealer. W. S. Frazier, of Aurora, was for a number of years engaged in the culture of fine horses, and some of the most noted racers of the country were housed in his stables.
The settlers of this portion of the state early turned their attention toward exhibiting the products of the soil and of making displays of their best stock. On October 2. 1842. a state fair, so-called, was held at Aurora, and is said to have been the first in the state, although an unsuccessful attempt had been made in the year previous to hold one at Naperville. The stock exhibited comprised half a dozen cattle and a few hogs, and Charles Hoyt purchased nearly all of them after the "fair" was over. Five or six hundred people attended. Aurora had agreed to furnish a free dinner for the occasion, but, owing to a misunderstanding between the managers and the citizens, it was not done, and the inhabitants of Sugar Grove provided roast pigs, coffee, bread, etc .. the pigs being artistically carved with a hatchet. Dinner was eaten on an open spot of ground west of River street, in the rear of the present business district. On the same day the first stone was turned in the old Black Hawk mill.
The Kane County Agricultural Society was organized May 18, 1857, although exhibitions had taken place annually since 1853. The first officers of the socity were: President, William P. West; secretary, S. W. Curtis; treasurer, George W. Waite. Its fairs were for years almost the principal annual events in the county, and were very largely attended. As the population became more dense, interest commenced to lag. and now the old fair grounds are deserted, and the ancient race tracks are overgrown or cut up into building lots. Several attempts to revive the interest proved failures, and finally the idea of holding fairs in other portions of the county were broached. The Aurora Agricultural and Horticultural Society was incorporated in 1869, with a capital stock limited to $10,000. Fifty-five acres of land, lying east of the city, were purchased for a fair ground, costing about $7.000, and the total expenditures were carried up to over $20,000. The first fair was held Sep- tember 21 to 25. 1869, and several others followed in succeeding years. In the spring of 1874 the society found itself badly in debt. and the grounds were sold in June of that year to a newly organized association, called the
164
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Northern Illinois Agricultural Society, having a capital stock of $15.000. The experience of this association was. in the end, no more encouraging than that of its predecessor, and no fairs have been held for several years. The Elgin Agricultural Society was organized in 1870, and expended $10,000 in grounds and buildings ; but after a few attempts at holding fairs the scheme was abandoned as unprofitable.
The only exhibitions of this character that are held in this vicinity are the county fair at Woodstock, McHenry county, and the so-called horse shows. The chief farm products now raised are corn, wheat, oats; and within the past few years considerable land has been planted to the sugar beet, a large crop being raised this year. Foreign laborers are brought in to work the crops, as the local farmer is as yet unfamiliar with its culture. No fac- tories have been built in this county to date, the crop being contracted for by factories in Wisconsin and shipped there. The belief is that more land will be given to this product. The days when farming was chiefly done by the labor of the individual have gone. Machinery has everywhere come into use until nearly every farm process is now done with a machine. Plowing alone seems to hold its own and require the hand to guide the blade in the furrow. The reaper is an old story, but the corn cutter, upon which one man sits, and driving his horses through the corn field, cuts it down, row by row, is a modern invention that saves much labor. To buy the mechanisms now considered necessary to farming alone requires an expenditure of several thousand dollars. And lands that, in the '40s, could he bought for from 25 cents to $1.25 an acre now sell for from $90 to $125 an acre.
Another fact conspicuous in farming is the change of nationalities in the owners. Fifty years ago farms were owned and worked largely by the Yankees, who entered them in the first place. Later these original settlers sold out or leased to Germans, and within the past fifteen years the Ger- mans are being displaced in large numbers by the Scandinavians, who buy them out. The rural free delivery list of the Elgin postoffice shows the present predominance of the Germans and natives of Sweden and Norway. While many Germans are found among the very earliest settlers, the wave of immigration from Germany did not begin until after the Civil war, and the coming of the Scandinavians may be noted in the early 'zos by the appearance of their names in the directories. Both these classes make good farmers, and accumulate property by frugality and toil where the native Yankee would not make ends meet, owing to his more expensive ways of living.
REPORT OF SALES OF SCHOOL LAND IN KANE COUNTY.
Township and range
Date 1845
Purchaser
Number of acres
Price per acre
42, R. 7
Dec. 16
Stewart Christy
10
$ .25 No. I
42, R. 7
Dec. 16
Robert Eakin
40
.373
9
41. R. 6
Oct. 31
Joel Root
40
1.25
I5
41, R. 6
Oct. 31
Th. Robinson
10
1.25
16
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Township and range
Date Purchaser
Number of acres
Price per acre
41, R. 6
Oct. 31
Jno. O. Kane
40
1.25
2
41, R. 6
Oct. 31
Jos. Robinson
40
1.25
3
1845
39, R. 6
Oct. 13
Israel Seaton
20
1.25
23
39, R. 6
Oct 13
Israel Seaton
20
.50
25
39, R. 6
Oct. 31
Jno. Bunker
20
1.25
31
39, R. 6
Oct. 31
Jno. Bunker
20
1.623
32
39, R. 6
Nov. 8
Aaron Phelps
20
16
39, R. 6
Nov. 8
Aaron Phelps
20
(33)
$65.00
39, R. 6
Jan. 3
Patk. Markey
60
(26-27-28)
55.00
1846
39, R. 6
Jan. 3
Jas. Donough
60
( 5- 6- 7)
85.00
39, R. 6
Jan. 3
Jas. Donough
80
( 8-11-12-12)
67.50
.38, R. 6
Feb. 2
Jas. Dundas
39-60/100
1.25
9
38, R. 6
Feb. 2
Justus E. Ament
40
.50
7
39, R. 6 Oct. 13
Israel Seaton
20
.50
24
Today the
The above shows the prices paid for land sixty years ago. same farming lands sell for $100 to $125 per acre.
CHAPTER XVI.
RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL.
One of the early settlers of St. Charles, Joseph T. Sibley, states that probably the first minister of the gospel who visited the Fox river valley was Rev. John Clark, a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, with whom Mr. Sibley had become acquainted at Middlebury, Vermont. He became a resident of Kane county about 1837, in which year Mr. Sibley helped to build a log house for him on the east side of the river, between Geneva and Batavia, on the corner opposite the old Todd place. It is stated he came here from Chi- cago. Mr. Clark was born in Washington county, New York, July 30, 1797, converted in 1817, and in 1820 entered the New York conference at the Methodist Episcopal church as an itinerant. In 1832 he was appointed super- intendent of all the Indian missions in the Northwest, and arrived at Green Bay. Wisconsin, July 21, of that year, being the first Protestant minister to administer the sacrament in the state. In 1836 he was transferred to the Illinois conference, and it is likely that he first visited this region some time previous to that date-perhaps about 1833-34. He was transferred to Texas in 1841, to the Troy conference in 1844. and to the Rock River conference in 1852, when he was stationed in Chicago. As presiding elder. Mr. Clark's labors led him over a large district lying west of Lake Michigan. Clark (now Jennings) Seminary, at Aurora, was named in his honor, the idea of such a school having first been advanced by him. He died of cholera in Chicago, July 11, 1853, and was mourned both East and West as a good man gone.
166
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
It has also been stated that probably the first sermon in Kane county was preached in August, 1834, at the log house of Christopher Payne, in Batavia township, by Rev. N. C. Clark, a minister of the Congregational church, whose labors among the pioneers of the valley began at that time. "Father Clark," as he was called, has been described as "one of God's noble- men, of a kindly, affectionate nature, truthful and sincere, and one who drew men to better things, by his own gentle and consistent ways, quite as much as by his persuasive exhortations. No breath of suspicion ever followed him from his first entrance into the county until loving hands bore him tenderly to the beautiful city of the dead that overlooks his old homestead in Elgin." Mr. Clark assisted in the organization of several Congregational churches in Kane county, and his home was for a time in St. Charles, where he was residing in 1837.
Contemporary laborers with "Father Clark" were Elder J. E. Ambrose, of the Baptist denomination, and Rev. William Kimball, a Methodist. A former historian has said of these three: "These men traveled on foot or on horseback among the early settlers around Chicago, stopping where night overtook them, and receiving the hospitalities of the cabin; without money and without price. Reverently asking the blessing of God upon all that they did, their lives were simple and unostentatious, their wants few and easily satis- field; their teaching plain and unvarnished. touched with no eloquence, save that of their daily living, which was seen and known of all men. Though of different religious sects-one being a Congregationalist, one a Baptist, and the other a Methodist-yet no discord was ever manifested between them, but a united effort was made by them to show men the way to better things by better living. They were not only physicians for the soul's care, but they sometimes ministered to the body's ailments. They married the living and buried the dead; christened the babe, admonished the young and warned the old; cheered the despondent, rebuked the wilful, and hurled the vengeance of eternal burnings at the desperately wicked. When other orators were scarce, they sometimes mounted the rostrum on the Fourth of July, and stirred the people to patriotic thoughts. Wherever they came they were welcome, and notice was soon sent around to the neighbors, and a meeting held. For years they could say literally, as did the Master before them, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but (we) the sons of men have not where to lay our heads."
The first actual church organization in the county was effected by the Congregationalists, at Batavia, in August. 1835. The Baptists and Metho- dists formed nearly contemporary organizations. the years 1836 and 1837 witnessing the formation of several church societies in the county. The Episcopalians were also early in the field, and the Universalists built, in 1842, at St. Charles, the first house of worship erected by that denomination in Illi- nois. The material used in its construction was brick. Rev. William Rounse- ville, who assisted in the work of building it, also formed a Universalist society at Aurora in the same year. Rev. Andrew Pingree, of Rutland, was also an early Universalist minister.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ELGIN.
RI
ELGIN SEMINARY.
169
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Following in rapid succession after the organizations mentioned came others by various denominations in different parts of the county, until now many hundred thousand dollars are invested in church property, while scores of beautiful and substantial edifices point their stately spire upward, and testify that the religious welfare of the inhabitants is not lost sight of.
The first Sunday school in the county was organized at Batavia in 1835, and from that beginning similar organizations have spread throughout the length and breadth of the county, until scarcely a hamlet is without their influence. The Kane County Sunday School Union, with representatives from every portion of the county, has been in existence since 1866, and in its annual conventions seeks to discover the best methods of operating and governing the Sunday schools.
That there were many laughable incidents in the history of the early churches, and in the experience of the teachers of the gospel, is a well authenti- cated fact. The shepherds looking for the lost sheep of Israel were neither more nor less than human beings, and that they enjoyed the ludicrous episodes in their experience can hardly be doubted. In 1883, when there were but few Episcopalians living in St. Charles, Bishop Chase, a tall, fine-looking, white-haired old man, held service under the ritual of that church in that place. J. W. Churchill, the Batavia lawyer, who was a "bluff, nervous fellow. and much attached to the forms of his church," asked his daughter, on their way to church, if she had her prayerbook. "No, father," she replied, "I forgot it." "Forget your prayerbook!" was the excited rejoinder; "Go and get it! You might as well be in hell as in an Episcopalian church without a prayer- book." The chronicler does not state whether the young lady returned for the book or not.
The Free Methodists, a strong body, whose first churches were organized in Kane county about 1859-60, under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Redfield, have for many years held their camp meeting in the beautiful "round grove," three miles northeast of St. Charles, and the attendance is generally very large. A tract of ground has been set off especially for their use, and churches are usually represented from nearly all parts of northern Illinois. The tent life of these people lasts one week in each year.
Other ministers of the gospel who visited the Fox river settlements very early were Rev. Perry, who preached in the house of William T. Wheeler, at St. Charles, in the spring of 1835; Rev. Jesse Walker, a missionary to the Indians, and Rev. Mr. Hubbard, a Baptist. The latter men first made their appearance about 1834-35. A Bible class had also been organized at the house of John Kittridge, in St. Charles, probably in the fall of 1834.
CATHOLIC CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS IN KANNE COUNTY.
Aurora-St. Mary's church, Rev. D. O'Brien, pastor ; Timothy D. Burke, assistant. St. Mary's school; 12 teachers of Providence; pupils, 400. St. Nicholas' church, Rev. C. Schnueckel, pastor; L. M. Linden, assistant; St. Nicholas' school : 12 Sisters of St. Francis ; pupils, 600. St. Charles' hospital, under the direction of 22 Sisters of St. Francis. Sacred Heart church, Rev. J. C. Simond School. 5 Sisters ; pupils. 50. Annunciation B. V. M. church,
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Rev. H. Bangen. School, 3 Sisters of St. Francis ; pupils, 80. Holy Angels' church, Rev. F. L. Reynolds, pastor. St. Joseph's church, Rev. J. F. Schmitt, pastor ; Rev. Charles Nix, assistant. School, 7 schools Sisters of St. Francis; 300 pupils.
Batavia, Kane County-Church of the Holy Cross, Rev. L. Erhardt, pastor.
Elburn, Kane County-Church of St. Gall, Rev. L. Erhardt, pastor.
St. Charles, Kane County-St. Patrick's church, Rev. T. Ryan, pastor. St. Charles school, 7 Dominican Sisters.
Elgin, Kane County-St. Mary's school, II Sisters of Charity; pupils, 238. St. Mary's church, Rev. J. McCann, pastor; F. B. Swanson, assistant. St. Joseph's church, Rev. Joseph Rohde, pastor. St. Joseph's school, 4 teachers of St. Francis ; 100 pupils. St. Joseph's hospital in charge of 13 Sisters of St. Francis. Chaplain. Rev. James Friderich.
Hampshire, Kane County-Church of St. Charles, Rev. C. J. Huth, pastor.
Gilberts-St. Mary's church, attended from Huntley. McHenry County. Maple Park-St. Mary's church, Rev. F. J. Hartman.
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