USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 5
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On Feb. 27, 1837, an act was approved authorizing the survey of a road from Peoria via Wappelo and Savanna to Galena. But like most other roads designed to attack the Dixon road, nothing successful ever came of it. The Cleaveland charter, under the act of Feb. 19, 1839, superseded all others, just as in the earlier years it had preceded them.
May 3, 1843, Morris Walrod of DeKalb, Reuben Pritchard of Ogle, and Bela T. Hunt of Kane county, were appointed commis- sioners to lay ont, mark and locate a state road from Chicago via St. Charles, Sycamore, Coltonville and Browdies' Grove to Dixon. The bill also conferred the power to assess damages as well as esti- mate the advantages and disadvantages. This bill was designed to draw to Sycamore some of the importance which had become attached to places along the more southerly route and unite at Sycamore, the Oregon and the Dixon routes. But nothing ever came of it.
The state road, LaSalle to Inlet, where it intersected the Chi- cago road was authorized by act of March 3, 1843, and it was the road which crossed Sublette township and subsequently was used extensively. To locate this road Zimri Lewis and Jarvis Swift of LaSalle county and George E. Haskell of Lee county, were appointed commissioners.
Evidently, once a state road had been located, it remained a fixture until subsequent legislation changed it, because in looking over the session laws, I found many instances where old routes were vacated either by change or abandonnent. The Dixon-Peoria road was no exception. On March 2, 1843, so much of the Peoria-
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Galena road via Osceola and Wappello (spelling of the act fol- lowed), was vacated, "as is located across block 1, Hale's second addition to Peoria, and extending diagonally across said block from Main to Hamilton street."
The last road worthy of notice, which I find, was authorized by act of Feb. 12, 1849, and it appointed Commissioners Henry Porter of Lee, Henry Childs of Bureau and J. P. Thompson of LaSalle, to locate it from Pern to Knox's Grove, in the town of Sublette.
The trails are gone. In Lee county, the banditti of the prairie gave them many chapters of desperate deeds. They lent an atmos- phere and an action which made brave men tremble, but which now have the lure of memories far more pleasing. Like all the other problems which confronted the old pioneer, he met and conquered the desperado, the corduroy road, the storm and poverty. What a fight that brave old warrior made! What a brave old soul that hardy fearless pioneer was! If he were alive today, he would hark back to the scenes with the same interest we do and with perhaps a secret pleasure that he was in at the beginning and that he was in at the death, too, of the regime of terror and trouble.
Do you now cavil because I have spent so much time upon the first days of this fertile and prosperous county of ours where lands sell for fabulous sums; where men drive miles in less time than the pioneer drove inches ?
CHAPTER IV
LEE COUNTY WHILE A PART OF OGLE
After the adoption of the constitution in 1818, and the rapid settlement in the newer parts of the state, communities desired closer communication with county seats and so, early, those set- tlements broke away from the parent county and set up for them- selves.
When on Jan. 31, 1821, Pike county was formed, Lee county became a part of Pike county. When on Jan. 13, 1825, Peoria broke away from Fulton, Lee became a part of Peoria county.
In the year 1826, voters in the northwestern part of the state became numerous enough to have appointed for them a voting precinct on Fever river, near Galena, called the Fever river pre- cinet and on Angust 7, the first election was held, of which Nehe- mialı Bates, Jesse W. Shull, and Andrew Clamo, sworn in before John L. Bogardus, J. P., acted as judges.
In that same year, 204 persons were listed as tax payers and a deputy from Peoria was sent up to collect the taxes. But the citi- zens of that district defied the deputy and he returned home with- out any taxes. Such a state of anarchy could not endure for long and so Jo Daviess county was organized Feb. 2, 1827, and Lee came into that jurisdiction. The process was slow, but nevertheless, certain.
Then in the year 1836, Ogle was organized and our stay in Ogle provided us with some of our most interesting history. But before entering Ogle I should state that the first election precinct which embraced Dixon and in which its people might vote, was estab- lished June 8, 1831, by the county commissioners of Jo Daviess county, and was defined as follows:
"It is considered that the persons residing within the following limits shall constitute voters within Buffalo Grove precinet. viz. :
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
East of the Lewiston road and south of a line to include the dwell- ings of Crane and Hylliard, running to the southern boundary of the county inclusive.
"It is considered that John Dixon, Isaac Chambers and John Ankeny, be and they are appointed judges of elections for the Buf- falo Grove precinct."
This Lewiston trail crossed Rock river at Prophetstown and passed up through Carroll county, not far from Lanark.
But even for those days, Galena was a long distance away for county seat purposes and impatient for more convenience, a new county was prayed for in the confident expectation that by its erec- tion a settlement, instead of a raw piece of prairie remote from settlement, would be selected, and an act was passed by the Legis- lature, and approved Jan. 16, 1836, erecting the county of Ogle. Its area comprehended the present counties of Lee and Ogle.
Two of the three commissioners, appointed by the act, met as ordered, June 20, 1836, at the house of Oliver W. Kellogg, in Buf- falo Grove, from which they traveled over eastward and located the county seat in the midst of a wild unsettled country and on a claim "claimed" by John Phelps and a stake was driven in the land to indicate that it had been selected for county seat purposes.
It was the rule at the time that when commissioners had selected raw land for county seat purposes, the United States would donate the same for the purpose and issue a patent.
In this instance, the location was done so carelessly that a mis- take was made in the description of the quarter section and later, the mistake created a fruitful subject for litigation. But, the spot was the one upon which Oregon, once called Florence, stands today. Then the house of John Phelps was about the only one near the place.
The action of the commissioners made every settlement in the county angry and at the first election Oregon had to fight them all.
The act provided for an election of county officers on the first Monday of April, 1836, but because the commissioners had not met to locate the county seat and because of indifference, the election was not held until Dec. 24, 1836, the date set by Thomas Ford the judge of the Sixth judicial circuit, so that meantime the territory remained under the jurisdiction of Jo Daviess county.
By the same act creating Ogle, Whiteside county was erected, but for reasons, similar, perhaps to those existing in Ogle, White- side was not organized completely until 1839, when Lee and White- side both were ent off from Ogle.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Some historians have made the mistake of stating that Ogle county as created by the act of the Legislature, embraced White- side county. Such was not the case. Whiteside was attached to Ogle during its formative process for judicial purposes only.
By the time this election day called by Judge Ford had rolled around, the fiercest rivalry between Dixon and the so-called village of Oregon, had sprung up, and so the two places prepared to grapple for supremacy.
Inasmuch as the county commissioners would control the place of holding the courts and could control the county officers as well, until suitable buildings were provided, and they were made the judges of what constituted suitable county buildings, Dixon and its friends prepared to secure the election of commissioners favorable to Dixon, and it presented the names of Virgil A. Bogue, of Buffalo Grove; S. St. John Mix, of Byron and Cyrus Chamberlain, of Lee county (now), but a resident of Grand Detour precinct. Oregon presented the names of Isaac Rosencrans, Ezra Bond and W. J. Mix of Oregon.
Following was the vote :
DIXON CANDIDATES
V. A. Bogue 98 votes
S. St. John Mix 98 votes
Cyrus Chamberlain 95 votes
OREGON CANDIDATES
Isaac Rosencrans 89 votes
Ezra Bond 90 votes
W. J. Mix 87 votes
Votes on county officers were as follows :
Recorder, James V. Gale, 138; B. J. Phelps, 48. Surveyor, Joseph Crawford, 119; William Sanderson, 63. Sheriff, W. W. Mudd, 95; Jeremiah Murphy, 93. Coroner, L. H. Evarts, 94; Ira Hill, 96.
The poll book showing the 188 voters, voting at that exciting election, has been destroyed partially. The only names left on it are: J. P. Dixon, W. A. House, L. Crandle, E. W. Hine, J. L. Spaulding, A. Shepherd, J. F. Sanford, D. Javinole, M. T. Kimball, L. S. Huff, A. Rue, J. Rue, C. N. Turner, J. Young, A. Dickerman,
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
H. Hill, B. B. Brown, J. Snyder, S. S. Spaulding, R. Murray, P. Cameron, W. Southall, William Sanderson, S. Sharer, S. Gilbraith, G. Chandler, James V. Gale, G. Rosencrans. W. W. Mudd, D. Brown, J. W. Jenkins, John Boardman, S. C. Fuller, Robert Page, David Reed, H. Rosencrans, S. Smith, G. Angel, Jas. Williams, I. W. Moss. S. Johnson, - Driscoll. Mr. Gale, of Oregon, recorder- elect. made the following entry in his diary, which indicates mildly the feeling aroused at that election :
"There was great excitement at this election. All the towns were against Oregon. A large quantity of whiskey was drunk, and several fights occurred. Dixon, Grand Detour, Buffalo Grove and Bloomingville (now Byron), all combined against Oregon. A great deal of hard feeling grew ont of this election that lasted until Lee county was set off and erected into an independent county. One man became so boisterous and pugilistic towards his brother that he was tied with a rope. It was the noisiest, roughest, most exciting election ever held in the county."
The judges of that election were James V. Gale, G. W. Rosen- crans and Jonathan W. Jenkins. The clerks were Smith Gilbraith and George Chandler.
Smith Gilbraith was appointed clerk of the county commis- sioners' court. James P. Dixon and Oliver W. Kellogg, father of Mrs. E. B. Baker, signed his bond. Thus Dixon controlled the situation and thus it will be seen how, with a technical county seat at Oregon, all the courts were held in Dixon at the schoolhouse. Until Lee was set off, the county commissioners' court, which must not be confused with the circuit court, was a peripatetic affair.
The first session convened Jan. 3, 1837, at the house of James Phelps in Oregon City. Present, Virgil A. Bogne and S. St. John Mix. The first order made was the appointment of Smith Gil- braith, clerk.
On March 6, 1837, the commissioners met at the house of Mr. F. Unshan, Buffalo Grove. At this session Cyrus Chamberlain appeared, and Oliver W. Kellogg was appointed county treasurer and entered into bonds in the sum of $3,000 with James P. Dixon and E. W. Covell. both of Dixon. as sureties. At this session, too, license was granted E. W. Covell. to sell goods, wares, merchan- dise, ete., for one year, in consideration of the payment of $10 to the county treasurer. This $10 was the first money paid into the treasury.
It may be interesting to know, at this point that the first license to keep tavern in the new county was issued to Joseph Sawyer,
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
and the second one was issued to Adolphus Bliss of Inlet notoriety, for which each paid $10.
One of the first as well as one of the most important duties of the commissioners at that session was to lay off election precincts, two of which fell to territory now embraced in Lee county. The Dixon precinet was bounded as follows: "Commencing on the west line of the county on township line between sections 22 and 23; running east eight miles : then south to Rock river; down Rock river to the south line of section 17; then east two miles, then south three miles on line between sections 34 and 35; then east to town line; then south to the north line of town 20; then west to county line ; then north to place of beginning."
William P. Burrows, James P. Dixon and William Martin, were appointed judges of elections, and the house of E. W. Covell, was named as the voting place.
Inlet was named also as a precinct : Bounded on the north by Dixon, Grand Detour and Oregon City precincts; on the cast, by the county line, and on the south and west by the lines of said county. Zachariah Melugin, Thomas Dexter and Charles West were appointed judges and the house of Corydon Dewey was made the polling place.
March 7th, Adolphus Bliss and others presented a petition ask- ing for viewers to view for road purposes, a route past the "Travel- er's Home," the log tavern of Bliss. Five dollars was deposited to pay the viewers' expenses and John Dixon. Corydon Dewey and Zachariah Melugin were appointed viewers and their report was unfavorable to the proposed road. It may be well to add at this point that the deposit of money in those days went to pay the view- ers' fees : if the road was built, it was returned ; if not the money was not returned.
At this same meeting, rates for tavern keepers were established and so were rates for the Dixon ferry.
TAVERN RATES
For each meal of victuals 371% cents
For keeping each horse one "knight." to hay and grain 50 cents
For each lodging .25 cents
For each drink of spiritnons liquor 121% cents
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
ROCK RIVER FERRY RATES
For each yoke of oxen and wagon $ .75
For each additional yoke of oxen .25
For two horses and wagon. .75
For each additional horse. .121/2
For each two horse pleasure carriage 1.00
For each man and horse .25
For each footman
.121%
For one horse and wagon
.371%
For each horse and gig .50
For each horse or ass.
.121/2
For each head of cattle. .061/4
For each head of sheep or hogs .061/4
At this same very important meeting the commissioners "Ordered, That, on the second Monday in June next, such portion of the section of land on which the county stake is stuck, be sold at public auction for the benefit of Ogle county; the portion to be sold to be hereafter designated by the county commissioners." Another important order was made, to-wit: for the election of justices and constables on April 12th, following.
In Dixon, Benjamin H. Steward (30 votes) and John Morse (29 votes) were elected constables.
In the Inlet precinct. Daniel M. Dewey was elected justice of the peace (17 votes), and Charles West was elected constable (17 votes), and from a history of Ogle county which speaks plainly, we are told: "Justice Dewey, Constable West, Adolphus Bliss (of the old Travelers' Home), his wife, Hannah, and a few others of their gang, because of their 'close' connection and secret and sus- picions ways of transacting public and private business, came to be known to the pioneers as 'Dewey, West & Co.'"
On March 8, 1837, the commissioners adjourned to meet at Grand de Tour (so spelled ). June 6, 1837.
At an election held in Dixon, June 10, 1837, two justices and two constables were elected : Samuel C. MeClure received 31 votes for justice. Horace Thompson 19 votes, and E. W. Covell 1 vote. For constable, Daniel B. MeKenney received 35 votes, Samuel Leonard 10 votes, and S. Britton 1 vote.
The next, an extra session, was held at Dixon, July 29, 1837, and at it, the petition was approved, asking that no license be granted for the sale of liquor in Dixon.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
"Ordered, That the clerk shall not grant to any person or per- sons, license to keep grocery in the town of Dixon." Our first dry period in Dixon! Though by reference to the list of indictments returned at the first term of the Lee circuit court, for selling with- out license, it will be guessed that liquor was to be had.
The county officers made but little in those days: Smith Gil- braith's fees amounted to $8.87 ; his records, stationery, etc., $8.50, and this account was the first one presented against the county of Ogle. The next session was held at Buffalo Grove, Sept. 4, 1837. Meantime, in August, under the law, Smith Gilbraith had been elected county clerk; his bond for $1,000 with Cyrus Chamberlain as surety, was approved. At this session, this very important order was made by the commissioners: "Ordered, That the clerk inform all the county officers and the judge of the circuit court, that Dixon has been selected as the place of holding courts until August, 1838."
The next, December, session was held in Dixon.
At the March. 1838, session, the Dixon ferry was assessed a tax of $30, which was larger by 100 per cent than any other of the seven ferries in the county ; the ferry charges too were revised at this session moderately, by adding to the lists of vehicles, sleighs. Some more minor changes were made too. So one may see how migratory the place of holding the county commissioners' court had been. The present board was determined to remain away from Oregon. During all this time, the commissioners had met but once at the house of John Phelps and that was the first time.
To criticise and question the motives of the first commissioners, did no good and so the friends of other settlements determined to seek relief by carving a new county out of Ogle. This information was not known generally and so in August, 1838, when under the new law three new commissioners were to be elected, Dixon made no opposition to the efforts of Oregon to elect them. Messrs. Mar- tin Reynolds. Jacob Parry and Masten Williams, all partisans of Oregon, were elected. They met in Dixon, in special session, August 30th, and ordered that the October term, 1838, of the circuit court, be held at Dixon ; after that, at the house of John Phelps, Oregon City, and that the county court be held thereafter at the house of John Phelps.
But when news reached Oregon City that Dixon had been per- mitted even that small concession, its withdrawal was demanded the very minute the commissioners met at Oregon. Accordingly we find that in September, the order was revoked so far as Dixon was concerned, and the October term, 1838, was ordered to be held Vol. I-4
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
in Oregon, although as a matter of fact, it was not. A climax had been reached. Peaceful men had tired of waging warfare and of fighting out the controversies. The feud had extended to include members of the family, the women and the children. The story is told to the effect that one day John Phelps had to come to Dixon on business. Father Dixon kept the only tavern in the place. Phelps was hungry. Father Dixon was absent, but just the same, Phelps did not want to enter; but he had to. During the meal, Mrs. Dixon is reported as remarking to Phelps: "It is a good thing for you, Mr. Phelps, that Mr. Dixon is not home today, for if he was, you would get hurt. There would be a fuss."
To which Phelps is reported as replying, "It is a good thing for Mr. Dixon, madam, that he is not at home, for if he was, he surely would be hurt. I was born in a fuss, and nothing pleases me better than to be engaged in a fuss." There may be consider- able improbability about this story, but as a matter of fact the climax which brought matters to a focus, was enacted in Galena when Phelps while in Galena, discovered the plans of Mr. Dixon, by reading a notice posted to the effect that at the next session of the Legislature, a bill would be introduced for the formation of a new county which would include Oregon on its northernmost line. Immediately, Phelps posted other notices to the effect that at the next meeting of the Legislature he would apply for a division of the county whose south line would include Dixon on its extreme southern limit.
At once, Mr. Dixon sought Phelps and the agreement was made that an equitable division should be made which would give to Oregon the county seat of Ogle and to Dixon the county seat of the new county.
CHAPTER V
ORGANIZATION OF LEE COUNTY
The first and only term of court for Ogle county held while joined with Lee, was held in Dixon as we have seen, in September, 1837. Judge Dan Stone presided. He appointed Thomas Ford to act as state's attorney, and the first term of court was held in the blacksmith shop of James Wilson, which by that time had its floor laid. Notwithstanding the amicable arrangement made by John Dixon and Mr. Phelps of Oregon City, certain disgruntled locali- ties, notably Buffalo Grove, excepted to it in the fear that in the expansion of Dixon, certain to follow on the heels of its selection as county seat, Buffalo Grove as a village must decline inevitably. Some of Grand Detour feared the same results, and so we find the first locality opposing the arrangement strenuously.
To push this bill through the Legislature, Frederick R. Dutcher was selected by the people of Dixon. To oppose it, Virgil A. Bogue of Buffalo Grove was selected. Both went to Vandalia prepared to fight. The remonstrance which Judge Bogue expected to use against the bill was left behind to be signed more liberally : when the desired number of signatures had been obtained, it was then to be mailed to him at Vandalia. Everything being thoroughly under- stood, the judge rested secure in the belief that he would defeat the bill.
The change from Buffalo Grove to Vandalia diet disagreed with the judge, and for a couple of days he remained indoors to nurse his indisposition.
Meantime Mr. Dutcher called at the postoffice to secure for his friend. the judge, the latter's mail. At the first visit the remon- strance came and Mr. Dutcher put it away where it never bothered the Legislature afterwards.
The judge recovered, but his remonstrance did not reach him. Nothing but his eloquence remained and that he proposed to use in the lobby with unexampled persuasiveness.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
But here again, Mr. Dutcher circumvented the effects of the judge's eloquence in a most effectual manner. The vast majority of the legislators hated abolitionists. The judge was an uncompro- mising abolitionist and like Owen Lovejoy, he was not afraid to say so. Dutcher knew this and so he got Bogue to make a public abolition speech, which many members of the Legislature listened to, his friend Dutcher among the number. It was so much of a masterpiece that when the bill came up it passed almost unani- mously, and was approved Feb. 27, 1839. Now, pray do not claim for the present generation a monopoly of wit in political schemes!
Frederick R. Dutcher named this county Lee, in honor of Light Horse Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame and a national hero of Mr. Dutcher's. Thus after many stormy scenes Lee county, as a separate and a legal status, was prepared to act. D. G. Salisbury, E. H. Nichols and L. G. Butler from various parts of the state were appointed by the act to act as commissioners to locate a county seat. On May 31, 1839, they selected Dixon. Following is their report :
"The undersigned, commissioners appointed by the act creat- ing the county of Lee, approved Feb. 27, 1839, having been duly sworn and after due examination, having due regard to the settle- ments and the convenience of the present and future population of said county of Lee, do hereby locate the seat of justice for the aforesaid county of Lee at the town of Dixon, and have stuck the stake for the place, or point, at which the public buildings shall be erected, on the quarter section composed of the west half of the northwest quarter of section 4, township 21, range 9, east of the fourth principal meridian, and the east half of the northeast quar- ter of section 5, same township and range aforesaid.
"And we further report, that, the proprietors and owners of lots in the aforesaid town of Dixon have executed certain bonds guaranteeing the payment of the sum of $6.460, which is exclusive of $1,050, signed by Messrs. Gilbraith, Wilkinson and Dement, which is embraced and included in a bond of $3,000 and included above. Also one bond for a deed of eighty acres of land adjoining the said town of Dixon.
"All of which is respectfully submitted to the county commis- sioners' court of Lee county.
"D. G. SALISBURY, [SEAL] "ETHAN HT. NICHOLS, [SEAL] "L. G. BUTLER, [SEAL] "Commissioners."
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
It was to be expected that Dixon would be selected. Never- theless, a feeling of relief was felt and expressed at the release of the people from future political quarrels over county seat affairs. The act creating the county fixed the time for an election of county commissioners on the first Monday of Angust, 1839, at which Charles F. Ingals of Inlet, Nathan R. Whitney of Franklin Grove and James P. Dixon of Dixon were elected our first county commissioners. In the absence of a courthouse, the first school- house was selected in which to hold the first session of what then was denominated the county commissioners' court.
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