USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I > Part 73
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NEW LIBRARY HALL, CARPENTERSVILLE.
OLD LIBRARY HALL, CARPENTERSVILLE.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
A reading room was opened in this building January, 1881, and for about six years the room was open six evenings in each week. In 1887 the open evenings were cut down to two each week, and the books were allowed to be circulated. A unique and interesting feature of this library and reading room is the fact that its entire support for many years has been met by the circulation of an annual subscription paper, Mrs. Carpenter, afterward Mrs. Mary E. C. Lord, duplicating the sum thus raised.
January 2, 1897, the present quarters of the library were dedicated and a few days thereafter the books were installed in their new racks. The rooms are the gift of Mrs. Lord to the association, and the furnishing and equipment are without doubt the most elegant and complete to be found in any similar rooms outside of the larger cities. By the terms of the will of Mrs. Lord, whose death occurred April 27, 1905, an endowment fund, the income from which will be ample to insure the maintenance of this institution, was pro- vided. Views of the old building and of the new are herein given.
DUNDEE TOWNSHIP.
That Dundee township should be among the first settled by the incom- ing pioneers is not to be wondered at. Its high, beautiful bluffs and fine water power make it an ideal place for residence or industry. It is not surprising that when Jesse H. Newman and Joseph Russell, the first settlers, stood in October, 1834, on the bluff and looked across the fine land in sight, they decided to locate. Although they were but prospecting they did not hesitate. but at once staked a claim, and in April, 1835, (meantime having gone to Indiana to get their family) they took possession and were the first of as fine a class of pioneers as has honored any locality by their settlement.
The Newman cabin was soon built on the west bluff and all lived in it until Russell's cabin was built on the east side. It stood until 1875, just below the brickyard grounds.
One of Russell's sons early married one of Newman's daughters. Jesse Oatman came soon after, and during his life said of the Indians who lived here, that they were located "about eighty rods below the brickyard" in six huts, or wigwams, and in all comprised about twenty-five persons. The Black Hawk war had opened the eyes of easterners to northern Illinois, and they came in flocks after 1834. A. R. Dempster came in May, 1835, and "staked" on the east side: the farm afterward belonging to George Giddings. He later published in the Dundee Record an account of early experiences. He stated that at the time he came in the settlers were Russell and Newman. John Jackson, Dr. Parker, a Mr. Moore, Burbank and George Taylor, mostly along the west side of the river. On the east side were Benjamin Miller. Trick Van Asdell, Jesse Miller and the Hawley family. Soon after this came Thomas Deweese and General George McClure, afterward well-known in Elgin, where he died. This Deweese claimed all land not appropriated, and was the cause of much trouble. On another page of this book appears a judgment rendered against him in a controversy he had with James C. Hanks over land southeast of Dundee. He also had a contest with Eaton Walker,
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
who located just southeast of Dundee about 1838. Walker went on land that was part of Deweese's "universal" claim and began building a cabin. Meantime Deweese had sold to David Hammer ( whose son still owns prop- erty in the same vicinity). Threats not prevailing, some of Deweese's men appeared. Walker went to Elgin. and securing John Lovell, constable. returned. The result was a general fight in which clubs were freely used and heads bruised. Walker in the end drove Deweese out and held the land. Most of the land controversies were peaceably adjusted before the justices of the peace. Dr. Goodnow or T. H. Thompson. Captain T. H. Thompson came to Dundee in 1835 and located on the west side. He was long prominent as county commissioner, and was the first supervisor and the first justice of the peace.
Henry Smith and Freeman came in 1835. as did the Ashbaughs. In 1836 came a Mr. Welch, John Allison, William Wilburn. George W. Browning and George Hall. In 1837 arrived William Hale and G. Hoxie. In 1838 C. V. Carpenter. Daniel Carpenter and W. R. Hemenway arrived.
The first election appears to have been held in 1835. at the home of Captain Thompson. for state senator and county officers. James Kimball was elected justice of the peace in 1835. the total vote being eighteen.
A bridge building committee, comprising I. C. Bosworth, Jesse Oatman. Seth Green, Thomas Deweese and E. W. Austin, was named in 1838 and made a contract for a bridge of timber to be completed by March. 1839. The acceptance of the completed bridge is dated February 27. 1839. It cost about $1,500, in subscriptions of SI and upward.
In 1839 came G. W. Bullard from Massachusetts and located on the east side. Charles B. Wells arrived from Massachusetts in 1840. He was elected circuit clerk of the county in 1848 and removed to Geneva.
The first birth in the settlement is in controversy as between a daughter of Dr. Parker and W. R. Dempster. Catherine Dempster was born June 28. 1835, and became Mrs. Malcolm McNeil. Thomas Deweese, Sr., died October. 1836. his being the first death in the township. The first marriage was that of Captain Jamison to a daughter of General McClure. in 1837. Alex. Gardiner and Sallie Miller married soon after that date.
The first school was taught by Amanda Cochrane, who married Moses Wanzer. He arrived in 1836 with Marshall Sherman and Cyrus Larkin, the latter afterward a prominent citizen of Elgin, where his daughter. Mrs. Hornbeek, still resides.
The first church in the township, outside of the village, was built by a sect of Mormons who located near Carpentersville in 1856. The building cost $1.000. The sect did not last long.
Dundee township being especially adapted for stock raising. it early became the location of cheese and butter factories and has continued to increase in that regard. The Borden Condensed Milk Company now have a plant there. and every hill is dotted with cattle as fine as are raised anywhere. Sidney Wanzer built the first factory in 1877 and did a good business at once. J. T. Mason erected a building the same year. as did also Jesse Oatman and his
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
sons. Others have since been put up, until the township is second to none in its dairy products and its facilities for handling them.
An idea of the hardships and privations suffered by the early settlers who journeyed here from the East may be had from the experience of Mr. and Mrs. George E. Sawyer, who came from Vermont to Kane county in 1837. The means of conveyance for the trip was a wagon drawn by a single horse, and occupied from April to October. Shortly after their arrival a farm, or "claim," was purchased in Dundee township. in which was invested their entire fortune, about $300, brought with them from the East. During the winter was begun the erection of a log cabin, and while engaged in this Mr. Sawyer injured his back, and for several months was unable to do any work. There they were, he helpless, without money, an uncompleted log cabin, and among strangers, better off than themselves in but one particular, they were able to work. By the help of these good neighbors they were enabled to complete the cabin, which provided them a shelter, and wood being plentiful, they could at least keep warm, but how were they to live. Here the neighbors once more rallied to their assistance, and when springtime came they man- aged to get about twenty acres cleared, broke and planted to corn. Some time during the season Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer one day drove several miles to a neighbor's, at whose cabin a doctor from St. Charles was making occasional visits to see a patient, the purpose of the trip being that Mr. Sawyer, who was still laid up, might consult a doctor without incurring the not-to-be-thought-of expense of a visit from him. When they were away on this trip, a herd of cattle, belonging to neighbors, got into and destroyed the entire field of corn. Here was a dilemma. It was this twenty acres of growing corn upon which their dependence had been placed to carry them through the winter. They had nothing now left but a quantity of hay, cut from their prairie land. A trip was made to Pingree Grove to the home of a relative of Mrs. Sawyer, and through his influence, some cattle were taken to be fed during the winter on this hay, the pay for which was advanced, and thus they were tided over.
In common with all other settlers, the first habitation of Charles V. Carpenter was a log cabin, erected within what is now the village of Carpentersville. These cabins, or log houses, as they were called. were built of logs cut from the woods, the trees being selected of as nearly as possible a uniform size, and to get the required length with as little variation in dimen- sion at top and bottom as could be found. The logs were slightly flattened on two sides, then laid up crib-fashion one upon another, breaking joints at the corners so as to interlock and hold the corners firmly. Rafters of smaller timbers were put in place to receive the roof boards or flattened small timbers, on which the split or shaved shingles or shakes were laid. Floors consisted of slabs laid on log joists. The spaces between the logs were filled with wet clay, plastered or otherwise rendered weather-proof. The more pretentious of these cabins were of dimensions to admit of a partition dividing it into two rooms below and with a "loft" above, where the younger members of the family could sleep, and that, too, without fear of suffering from want of fresh air.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
Early in the '40s, following the attainment of some degree of material prosperity, came also a longing for better and more comfortable quarters, more like that which had been given up when they left their homes in Massachusetts, and so, in exchange for wheat and wool, hauled by tean to Chicago, lumber for a frame house was obtained and transported on the same wagons on the return trip. The frame timbers of oak were hewn from logs cut in the home woods, and some of the floors were of oak plank sawed from logs at the local sawmill. The roof boards were also of oak, and the lath were of the same material, the boards being first sawed to the required thickness and then split and spread apart as they were nailed onto the studding, thus forming what were known as "split" lath. This house was built by a carpenter who had come from Massachusetts, and he worked out by hand all the inside finish and moldings. The building was completed about the year 1846, and is still standing. It is now occupied by the grand-daughter of the first owner, she having been born and also married in this same house.
The following extracts are from a letter dated at Uxbridge, Massachu- setts, October 2, 1839, and were written by Mrs. Jemima Paine to her sister Esther, the wife of Charles V. Carpenter, Carpentersville, Illinois :
"The boys send their love to Angelo. John sends 25 cents to him. Esther, I send you a little dried apple, it is all I have, and a few berries that I have dried this week. You must put them out in the sun as quick as you receive them, for I am afraid that they will spoil before they reach you."
The letters, the money and the precious dried fruit were all sent by one Sulivan Seagraves, who was journeying westward.
The "Angelo," to whom was sent the 25 cents, was at that time a lad of twelve years of age, and was Julius Angelo Carpenter, founder of the Illinois Iron & Bolt Company, and other enterprises at Carpentersville. He was the first husband of the late Mrs. Mary E. Carpenter Lord, and it was he who accumulated the large estate, which, after making some minor bequests, was left to his widow, and which made it possible for her to distribute with . a bountiful hand during her lifetime to so many and various purposes in Kane county, and especially at Elgin and Carpentersville, and at her death to endow some of the institutions and public benefactions established by her. Nobly did she carry out that which had been in the heart and mind of Mr. Carpenter to do, but of the pleasure of which he was deprived through having been stricken down in the prime of his manhood, and that quite suddenly. at the age of fifty-two years.
Here is a letter relating to matters that may be of especial interest to the women. It was addressed to "Carpenter Grove," Illinois (now Carpenters- ville ) :
"Providence, R. I., August 7. 1839.
"My Dear Sister :
Brother Joseph gave me $II yesterday, and I went down street and bought jaconet cambric for the wedding dresses, the gloves, handkerchiefs and belts for the brides. My dressmaker told me twelve yards would be enough without capes; they make them here, bodice waist, small bishop sleeves, with a little wristband, the sleeves gathered and set in at the top with three gath-
ILLINOIS IRON AND BOLT COMPANY, CARPENTERSVILLE.
ILLINOIS IRON AND BOLT COMPANY'S BUILDING, ABOUT 1875.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
erings about an inch apart below sewed on to some tape or cord inside the sleeve to fasten it, and three gatherings the same above the wristband. I send also a couple of snoods for the brides' heads, made, as you will see, of white satin ribbon braided. I send you some calico for Waity and Esther and the little Maria. I got twenty-one yards yesterday. Mr. Chapin thinks that is not enough, he will get some more today, so you will understand why it is in two pieces. I send you each two spools of cotton, six skeins of silk, six piece of tape, two boxes of hooks and eyes, all the colored thread I have. The spool of thread and hooks and eyes in the white dresses is for Mary and Helen ( the brides to be). The colored spool, in the calico, is the only one I could find, perhaps you can run up the breadths with white, and divide the spool between you.
ELBURN.
The village of Elburn ( formerly Blackberry ) is situated on the C. & N. W. R. R., forty-four miles from Chicago, nearly due west, and nine miles from Geneva, in the midst of a rich and higlily cultivated farming region.
The original plot was laid out by Jacob Jolinson in the fall of 1854, about one year after the completion of the railroad, and contained forty acres. The surveying was done by Samuel Bethell, of St. Charles. Additions have been made at various times by Andrew Johnson, Horace Willis, Jemuel Gates, L. R. Read, and one called the Assessor's Addition. The place has had a steady ยท and healthy growth, and is doing a large amount of business in grain, lum- ber, stock and merchandise.
Among the prominent men who have lived here may be mentioned Noah B. Spalding. John and Elisha Warne, Horace Willis, Dr. S. McNair, E. S. Runyon. C. H. White, Esquire, F. G. Garfield, Esquire, Jacob Johnson, L. R. Read and others. N. B. Spalding came into the county in 1836, and was the first man married in the county after its organization. The marriage took place July 17th, 1836. Mr. Spalding was elected sheriff in 1842 and served until 1848. In 1852 he was again elected and served one term. The Free Will Baptists built a church in 1857: Methodist Episcopal built in 1862; Christians built in 1857, and Catholics built in 1868. All built edifices neat and commodious, costing on an average from $3,000 to $4,000 each. A very large and flourishing school is maintained, and the district built a schoolhouse in 1860, which cost about $3,000. The people pride themselves upon their excellent school. There is a good hotel here.
A steam flouring mill was erected in 1868. The town gave $2,500. A hay press was put in operation about 1865.
The village contains the usual amount of stores and shops, and for a prairie town is decidedly a thriving and enterprising one. The business men are, many of them, very wealthy, and the stocks of dry goods in particular compare favorably with those of much larger towns.
BLACKBERRY TOWNSHIP.
The first settlers in Blackberry township were squatters who came in and held the land by occupation until 1842, when it was surveyed by the govern-
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
ment and sold. The entire township is good soil and early caught the atten- tion of settlers. In 1834 William Lance, who lived to be one hundred and two years of age, dying in 1873. came in and made his location of land in the township. He personally knew George Washington. He was a native of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and walked all the way from Pennsylvania. His sons, John and Charles, and daughter. Mary, came with him. The younger son drove the ox team behind which the women rode, while the men walked beside, their muskets on their shoulders. Isaac Waltrop met the caravan in DuPage county and came with them, but left soon after. The Lances located near Nelson's Grove, which land was afterward owned by Charles Souders. They had no covering at first but the wagon they had driven to the West. Their nearest neighbor was Christopher Payne, near the Big Woods, ten miles east. McCarty was at Aurora. Haight at Geneva and Pierce at Montgomery, which about comprised the county population at that time. Peter Dodd arrived in 1834, as did David Beeler. a son-in-law of William Lance. He built a cabin on Johnson's Mound. Harry White came in the spring of 1835 : David W. Annis came the same year, as did Jolin Sow- ders. He married Mary Lance in 1835. The wedding occurred at the Lance cabin, built that year, and was the first marriage in the first house in the settlement. 'Squire Morgan came up from Yorkville to tie the knot. Hiram Hall arrived in 1835 and became an influential resident. George Trimble and L. D. Kendall located that year.
In the fall of 1835 Martha Beeler, daughter of David Beeler and William Lance's daughter. Margaret, was born, being the first child born in the township. S. Kendall. J. Calkins, S. Platt and James Smith arrived in the spring of 1837. N. B. Spalding. M. Sperry and Larkin came about the same time. All these pioneers settled about the grove, the Easterners who came in at that time not knowing the value of prairie land. They "took to the woods" in preference to the open country. Jacob Johnson arrived with a family of seven in 1838 from Staten Island, New York. The village of Blackberry was afterward laid out on his farm. General Nathan Young located in 1842. He afterward removed to Kaneville, where he died in 1869. He was a brigadier in the Vermont militia. C. H. Spalding came from Cazenovia. New York, with his family in 1845. He was a brother of Noah B. Spalding, at one time sheriff of the county. E. G. Morse drove a team from New York, arriving in 1841. Peter H. Johnson bought land here in 1843. coming from New York. Johnson's Mound took its name from him. He built the first frame house in the township, moving into it on July 4th, 1844. William West arrived early and located near the grove. He was elected the first justice of the peace, and was long an influential citizen. He removed later to Geneva and opened a bank there. When the lands were sold at public auction he was chosen agent by the settlers to bid them in at an agreed price-a responsible trust.
F. T. Morrill came from Orange county, Vermont, in 1844 and settled at Blackberry Corners and was postmaster at Blackberry Center for twenty- eight years.
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The first road was laid out by W. A. Tanner, later of Aurora, from Sugar Grove to Chicken Grove, through the township in 1837. A Union church was built in 1853. among the early preachers who served them being Rev. Springer and Rev. Van Deusen. In 1879 a cheese factory was built.
PLATO TOWNSHIP.
Plato township was formed of the north half of what was Fairfield dis- trict and organized in 1848 under the name of "Homer." It was soon learned however, that there was another place by the name of Homer in the state and the name was changed to Plato, undoubtedly after the Greek philosopher of that name. No settlement was made in the township until the year 1835, during the spring of which year three families came in. John Griggs and his son, John, came from Ohio and took up separate claims : a cabin being built only by the father. They lived together, did their own work, cooking. washing and ironing. A man named Judkins came about the same time and built a cabin. Mr. Griggs soon after opened his house to the public as a tavern, which was well patronized by the in-coming settlers, there being no place for a night's rest except the cabins of the Griggses and Judkins for many miles around. Judkins sold out and returned to Indiana later.
John S. Lee (from whom descended the Lees of Elgin and Plato) ar- rived in 1835 from Putnam county, New York. He was then nineteen years of age. He soon afterward married Miss Perry, of Campton town- ship, the first marriage in Plato. It is claimed that Abijah Lee (who now lives at Elgin at an advanced age) was the first child born in the township- the date being September 4, 1839.
The celebrated Griggs log house hotel was still standing in 1890, little the worse for the wear and tear of years.
In the '3os the pioneers had to go to Naperville for a mill, but in time Mr. Boardman put up his mill near Batavia. The first road was the one lead- ing to Naperville, which was opened by John Griggs and the Lees in driving back and forth to the mill. John Griggs. Sr., was elected the first justice of the peace in what was then Washington precinct, of which Plato was a part. In 1840 J. S. Lee was elected justice of the peace. In 1836 Dr. L. S. Tyler staked a claim upon the land which afterward became the village and post- office of Udina. He was from Orange county, Vermont. John Ranstead, father of J. W. Ranstead, of Elgin, took up a claim here. A family named Merrill, afterward prominent at McQueen Station, came at the same time. Dr. Daniel Pingree came from New Hampshire in 1838. He was actively in practice for some years in California, but returned to Plato about 1860 and devoted much attention to the raising of Norman horses. The next year, 1839, William Hanson came and located just south of Plato Center.
In 1840 Thomas Burnidge came with his father, at which time also came A. M. Burnidge, who has lived in Elgin for many years and has held the office of constable there for the past twenty years. At a general election held August 5. 1844, thirty-nine votes were cast from which it was estimated that there were about two hundred people in the township about that time. The
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
first store in the township was opened up at Plato Corners in 1848 by Levi Jackman, who came from Elgin. He continued but a few years. In 1854 Freeman Temple opened a store at North Plato and continued about four years, when he sold out to other parties who continued the business.
The first cheese factory in the township was erected in 1866 about two miles south of Plato Center; was operated by Duncan Johnson. It was aft- erward sold to Hawthorne Brothers at Elgin. Johnson built a second cheese factory at Plato Center in 1874. Another one was built in North Plato in 1873. The value of these factories to the farmers was then, and is still, very great, furnishing as it does, a home market for their dairy products, and encouraging a branch of agriculture not wholly dependent upon the weather. It was these pioneer cheese factories and creameries that laid the foundation for the progress that has made Kane county the greatest dairying district in the world.
The first church erected in the township was the Congregational church at U'dina, which was built in 1852. Rev. N. C. Clark, of Elgin, organized the congregation in 1848. Rev. Taylor being the first minister. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. French. The society first met in the schoolhouse. The Scotch Presbyterians built a church in the northeast corner of the township about the same time. Their first pastor was Rev. Mr. Stewart. In 1865 or 1867 a dissension arose between the younger and older members which resulted in a new church which was built not far from the old one and became known as the American Presbyterian church. The Methodists built a frame church at Plato Center in 1859. the first sermon being preached by T. M. Eddy, of Chicago. Revs. Woolsey and Call were in charge the first year. The Scotch Presbyterians erected their house of worship in North Plato in 1873, at a cost of $3,000. Rev. McDougall was the first pastor. The Methodist Epis- copal church near Plato Corners was dedicated August 2, 1885, the sermon being delivered by Elder W. . A. Spencer. Two thousand dollars was raised by subscription to pay for the church.
The first schoolhouse in the township was built in Plato Corners in 1840 and taught by Charlotte Griggs. In 1841 the school trustees were Stephen Archer and Franklin Bascom, with J. S. Burdick treasurer. The township was incorporated in December, 1841, by an election held at the house of J. S. Burdick, the proposition for incorporation carrying unanimously. L. S. Tyler. David Bogue, Russell Thrall. John S. Lee and J. S. Burdick were elected school trustees. D. McNichols and Sarah Ann Burdick were named as teachers. In 1843 there was a total of one hundred and seventy-six pupils in the schools; in 1847 the reports show four hundred and seven school chil- dren in eight districts. In 1851 there were four male and three female teachers. The highest wages paid were $12 a month : the lowest being $1.50 a week. That year the attendance was two hundred and fifty pupils, with ten districts and five schoolhouses.
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