USA > Illinois > McHenry County > History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
Yours respectfully, WALTER S. HAINES, M. D.
Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology at Rush Medical College.
THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH.
Woodstock has always been noted for the spirit and enthusiasm with which it has entered into the celebration of the Fourth of July. But the largest and most successful celebration was held here on July 4, 1876. A large crowd, estimated at from 6,000 to 8,000 people, was in attendance, principally from this county, and the exercises were carried out in a very successful manner. As an inducement for people to attend, the city had offered to present a
562
HISTORY OF MC HENRY COUNTY.
fine banner to that town which should send the largest delegation to the celebration. The city was decorated with flags, and the en- trances to the park were ornamented by evergreen arches, skill- fully and tastily arranged. The exercises began with a parade in which the Woodstock Band, the Knights' Templar, the Odd Fel- lows and the Fantastics and Horribles took part. There was also a car of thirty-eight young ladies, representing the States of the Union; a wagon containing thirteen damsels in poke bonnets, fol- lowing the (supposed) load of tea thrown into Boston harbor more than 100 years before; the May Flower, and other features. Alto- gether a very entertaining exhibition was made.
ยท The speaking began at twelve o'clock. The President of the day, Judge Murphy, had just commenced, when the "Indians" boarded the tea-ship and began throwing the chests into the sea. When the tea party had ceased its operations, the Judge concluded this remarks and introduced Rev. Mr. Buell who offered prayer. The choir then sang the Centennial Hymn. Miss Florence Ses- sions read the Declaration of Independence, after which the choir sang " America."
Hon. B. N. Smith then delivered an oration; the choir rendered the " Anvil Chorus," and the Mannerchor, a German song. Fol- lowing came the speech of Rev. T. C. Northcott, and singing of the " Star Spangled Banner" by Mrs. Hall.
Mayor Donnelly, in a few appropriate remarks, then presented the banner to the town of Seneca, this town having the largest delegation (789 persons) in attendance. C. O. Parsons responded in behalf of the town. The exercises concluded with music.
Then came a " slow" mule race, a wheelbarrow race, greased pig race, foot race, sack race, hurdy gurdy, etc. In the evening the Woodstock Dramatic Association presented "The Hidden Hand " to a large and appreciative audience.
There were also fireworks worthy of the occasion. Altogether the celebration was the largest and most successful ever witnessed in Woodstock.
.
PROMINENT INDUSTRIES.
The pickle factory of Squire Dingee & Co. was first established by a stock company, formed in 1873 with a capital stock of $50,- 000. The building was erected in 1874 and E. T. Hopkins, from the East, was put in charge of the establishment. The busi- ness was not successful under this management, and the factory
563
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
was next leased for five years to Heintz, Noble & Co. More money was raised, a new engine procured, vinegar machines set up, additions built to the factory, and the number of tubs doubled. But this firm followed the example of its predecessor-and failed. The factory was next operated partly on the co-operative plan. J. J. Wilson was the next manager, and he, in 1880, was succeeded by the present proprietors, Squire Dingee & Co. The works liave a capacity for 55,000 bushels per year. There are fifty-five vats for salting purposes. Employment is given to twelve men in the busy season, and the amount of products shipped to various parts of the country is eight or ten car-loads per week. The establish- ment is wholly devoted to bulk goods, putting up in sizes varying from one gallon pails to barrels. The concern manufactures its own vinegar consuming about 3,000 barrels per year.
The original establishment of Squire Dingee was erected by him at Rose Hill, on the Milwaukee division of the Northwestern Rail- road, in 1858. The capacity of that establisliment is 200 barrels per day. The goods of this firm are sent to the far Western Terri- tories as well as to the Eastern States, and liave an excellent repa- tation throughout the country.
The pickle factory of Norman Frame & Co. is undoubtedly the largest establishment of the kind in McHenry County. The an- nual product since the business was started reaches the enormous amount of 60,000 bushels, requiring a capital of over $30,000 to carry on the business. The buildings are located in the north side of Woodstock near the railroad track where are at hand first-class facilities for shipping. This partnership was formed in 1881 con- sisting of Norman Frame and Judge T. D. Murphy, who have re- cently become the owners of the valuable vinegar pickle works situated at the east side of Woodstock and now held by a lease by Squire Dingee & Co.
The Pickle Growers' Union was organized in 1881 with about 100 members. Mr. Edward Short and others stood at the head of the enterprise, the object being to store their own pickles and take advantage of the markets which are usually better late in the season. During the past three years they have done a business of $40,000 with no material losses. They charge parties not belonging to the union only the customary prices for storage, and out of this fund they have been able to pay for their buildings and tanks. The members of the union receive the full benefit of the sales of their products less the expense of caring for them. This netted the
564 HISTORY OF MC HENRY COUNTY.
growers a profit of $1.07 per bushel for the year 1881, and a net profit of 573 cents per bushel for the crop of 1882. And for the crop of 1883 a net profit of 75 cents per bushel. Their building is situated near the railroad track, on the north side of Woodstock, and has a capacity for 25,000 bushels. The membership keeps up to about 100; though some have drawn out others have entered the union. Officers are elected annually who comprise the business head of the union, transacting all business as their better judgment may direct, and striking the dividends after all expenses are de- ducted. Present officers are: T. McD. Richards, President; Mark Hickox, Treasurer; Edward Short, Secretary.
The Woodstock Brewery is found among the most active indus- tries of McHenry County. It is located one half-mile west of Woodstock and owned by the firm of Arnold, Zimmer & Co., who became the owners and proprietors in 1868. The business was established some twenty-seven years ago by Mr. John Bertchey, who erected a small building and for several years engaged in the manufacture of common beer.
Gradually the business has increased and new facilities and build - ings have been added which required an investment of many thou- sand dollars. A never failing spring supplies them with pure water whilc a small creek fills their artificial ice pond.
The property consists of the brewery proper with its commodi- ous malt and fermenting rooms, bottling and cooling rooms, cel- lars, etc., besides three mammoth ice-houses, and stables, sheds, etc., necessary for teams and wagons. This firm uses annually from 20,000 to 25,000 bushels of malt, the greater part of which they make themselves.
They employ from twenty to twenty-five hands, own twelve horses and eight wagons, which are kept in constant use. They manufacture about 800 barrels of beer per month during the sum- mer; their annual amount is abont 7,000, including the brands Standard Bohemian and Export. The bottling department is a new branch of their business but so far they have bottled 650 dozen per month. Their beer has a large sale in Woodstock, Harvard, Janes- ville, Wis., Rockford, Clinton, Elgin, Dundce, and, in fact, all the principal points within a radius of fifty miles around. This com- pany owns, in connection with the brewery, 180 acres of land upon which they feed cattle, shipping annually several car-loads of heavy, fat steers.
In the manufacture of their product they use only the best of
565
C
HISTORY OF MO HENRY OOUNTY.
malt and hops, aloes never being used as is the custom with some brewers. Their beer is always in great demand, sometimes mak- ing it quite difficult for them to promptly fill their orders. A visit to this brewery will disarm a person of his strongest prejudices when he sees what care and cleanliness is used in the manufacture of this great American beverage.
ITEMS.
Woodstock was not always the quiet, orderly, well-behaved town that it is to-day. Here is an ordinance passed July 14, 1854, which gives us a glance at a different state of things :
"An Ordinance, to establish a police force in the village of Woodstock.
"WHEREAS, Confusion and turmoil seems to be the order of the day, and drinking and dissipation and street fights are practiced by many transient persons in this town and surrounding country, endangering the lives of peaceable citizens, and bringing disgrace upon our otherwise peaceable village,
"Therefore, be it ordained by the President and Board of Trus- tees of the town of Woodstock, That a police force be and is hereby established, of one chief and six assistants, to be appointed by the Board of Trustees, whose duty it shall be to suppress all intoxica- tion and rioting in the streets or other places, by arresting the parties making loud and unusual noises, if in their opinion said noise is made by means of intoxicating liquor ( !), or when the parties may be in the act of quarreling or fighting, whether from said cause or otherwise, and commit such parties to the jail located in said corporation, and deliver him or her or them to the keeper of said jail, to be safely kept by him until him or her or them [sic.] be peaceable or sober as the case may be, when they shall be conveyed before the police inagistrate," etc.
For a number of years Woodstock maintained a literary society known as the Young Men's Association, which was a source of much benefit to those who took part in its exercises and debates. Among those who were foremost in the society in 1856 were L. S. Church, J. F. Hamilton, R. G. Schryver, E. E. Richards, M. F. Irwin, J. A. Parrish, W. B. Mendell and M. C. Jolinson.
Musical Conservatory .- The Northwestern Musical Conserv- atory was organized in July, 1873, by Mrs. Sherwood. The fac- ulty consisted of Mrs. Florence Sherwood, teacher of the piano, organ, harp, etc., and Signor E. J. Meli, Italian pianist, violinist
566
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
and professor of language. Mrs. Sherwood sold the conservatory, which started under very flattering prospects, to Signor Meli, Jan. 1, 1874. It is no longer active.
The winter of 1880 '81 was remarkable in all parts of the country for severe cold weather and violent snow stormns. The week pre- ceding inauguration day (March 4, 1881) the railroad between Woodstock and Chicago was worse blocked by snow than at any other time since the road was built. On the 4th of March Wood- stock was shut off completely from communication with the rest of the world except by telegraph. No train reached Woodstock from Chicago from Wednesday until late on Sunday night.
WOODSTOCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The first school was taught in the year 1846, the court-house serving as the school-room. The teacher paid $2 per month for the rent of the house. His name was David Richardson, and he formerly served as Professor of Mathematics in Norwich Uni- versity, Vt. He is now a resident of Clinton, Ill.
The first school-house in Woodstock was built on the present school lot in 1847. It was soon found too small to accommodate all the pupils, and was accordingly enlarged. In 1866 the build- ing was sold and a part of it converted into a blacksmith shop, in the rear of J. Donnelly's store. In 1867 the present fine public school building was erected, at a cost of $40,000. It is of brick, built in the best style of school architecture, and makes an orna- ment to the city, highly creditable as a monument to the enterprise and thrift of the citizens, who are fully alive to the importance of forwarding educational interests by every means at their command. The building is of brick, three stories, 60 x 90 feet on the ground. It contains ten school-rooms, each 28 x 35, and an assembly-room on the third floor, 45 x 60 feet.
Under the village government, the public schools were generally well sustained and profitable. After Woodstock became a city the first Board of Education was elected April 5, 1873, and consisted of the following gentlemen : John S. Wheat, John J. Murphy, M. D. Hoy, R. Diesel, George K. Bunker and D. E. Thomas. Asa W. Young, now of Harvard, was the first Principal under the new order of things. He remained one year, and was succeeded by Lyman S. Knight for a like period. The board of 1874 was com- posed of J. S. Wheat, President ; M. D. Hoy, Clerk ; G. K. Bun- ker, R. Diesel, E. E. Thomas and A. S. Stewart. W. C. Kline
567
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
was the third Principal, and served two years. He is now editor of an educational publication in St. Paul, Minn. In 1875 J. S. Wheat, President ; M. D. Hoy, Clerk ; B. N. Smith, R. Diesel and A. R. Murphy constituted the board. In 1876 and 1877 M. D. Hoy was President ; J. C. Choate, Clerk ; D. C. Green, J. J. Murphy, B. N. Smitli and R. Diesel, members. Silas Wood be- came Principal in 1877, and remained two years. In 1878 thie board remained the same, its members having been re-elected. In 1879 two new members of the board were chosen, J. A. Parrish and E. E. Richards. M. D. Hoy was elected President, and J. C. Choate, Secretary. Warren Wilkie, now a teacher in Austin, was called to the principalslip, and served one year in a most satis- factory manner. In 1880 M. D. Hoy was President of the board, and J. A. Parrish, Clerk .! The new members were Alex. L. Salis- bury and Gardner S. Southworth. A. E. Bourne was elected Principal. The following year E. E. Richards was President and J. A. Parrish, Clerk; J. S. Wheat and Henry Herman were elected new members ; J. B. Ester was Principal. In 1882 A. L. Salis- bury was elected Clerk, vice J. A. Parrish, deceased. E. A. Mur- phy was elected a member of the board ; C. R. Buchanan, Princi- pal. In 1883 Messrs. Southworth and Salisbury were re-elected ; the officers of the board remained the same. A. C. Harris, of New Jersey, was chosen Principal. In 1884 Messrs. Wheat and Herman were re-elected, the officers remaining the same. S. B. Hursh is the Principal-elect.
The schools are well graded and in admirable condition. The High-School course is arranged with a view toward securing nse- ful rather than ornamental scholarship. It embraces the natural sciences, history, bookkeeping, the higher mathematics, the Eng- lish language and literature, etc.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
Todd Seminary .- The history of this justly popular school for boys is given in the following sketch of R. K. Todd, prepared for this work by his talented son, Henry Alfred Todd :
REV. R. K. TODD, A. M .- The family name of Todd is a word of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning fox. It was doubtless adopted as a surname at a stage of civilization so primitive that the attribute of " cunning," which tradition affirms to have been a prominent early characteristic of the Todds, was regarded as one of the most creditable and praiseworthy of distinctions. The motto, " By
568
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
Cunning, not by Craft," is appropriately symbolized by the coat of arms brought with him to this country by the first American an- cestor of the subject of the present sketch, the shield, which bears a fox rampant, being surmounted by a crest in the form of a white dove, the emblem of innocence. The Todd family, which is be- lieved to have originated in the Highlands of Scotland, has been known in England from at least as far back as the eleventh cent- ury. A vague tradition existing in the family even seeks the interesting, though of course unauthenticated, honor of associat- ing with its name the venerated St. Cuthbert, native missionary to the Northumbrians in the seventh century. The history of the family in America dates from a period proportionally as remote as its earlier history in England. Before the middle of the seventeenth century John Todd and his wife Susannah, weary of the civil and religious strife of their times at home, had crossed to the New World, and taken up their permanent lot with the struggling band of Puritans who founded, in 1639, the little town of Rowley, Essex Co., Mass. There, in accordance with the good traditions of old colonial days, they became the parents of a numerous family of children, the eldest of whom, as the antiquated parish register still attests, was born to them at Rowley, in the year 1649. That the first "John Todd of Rowley" was regarded as a man of weight in the infant colony is indicated by the fact that he was twice sent as a delegate(in 1664 and 1686) to the General Court of Massa- chusetts, and that his eldest son, John, a soldier lad in King Philip's war in 1675, married the daughter of his commanding officer, Captain Samuel Brocklebank, of the same town, a leader who won honorable distinction by his exploits in that hard-fought campaign. One of the great-great-grandsons of this fortunate soldier boy was Richard Kimball Todd, born in his ancestral' town of Rowley, Oct. 14, 1814, and named for the revered school- master of his native hamlet, Richard Kimball, an intimate friend of the family. The father of Richard Kimball Todd was Walling- ford Todd(named for the Wallingford family of Rowley), who, being fascinated with the sailor's life, went early to sea, visiting England and many remote parts of the world, among them the Island of St. Helena, during the confinement there of the illustri- ous prisoner. Later, having devoted himself assiduously to the study of navigation, he was for a number of years officer on board an ocean vessel. Specimens of his neatly executed studies of nautical problems, as well as of his own transcriptions of favorite
C
569
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
music-an art in which he appears to have possessed a cultivated talent-are still preserved as family heirlooms. Meanwhile Wal- lingford Todd had married, in Rowley, his cousin, Hannah Todd, and a family of two sons (Paul Wallingford and Richard Kimball) and five daughters were growing up about the gifted, devoted, and godly mother. No wonder that the pleasure of home should now have proved to the husband and father more attractive than a life of absence and adventure. At a comparatively early age he permanently retired from the sea, and in 1821 removed with his wife and children to the town of Poultney, Vt.
This long and delightful journey by private conveyance was the first noteworthy event in the experience of the little fellow of six years, who in early manhood, after a careful training at acad- emy, college, and theological seminary, interspersed with many vicissitudes tending to develop sound character and self reliance, was to become the whole-souled missionary pioneer to the far West. The deep impression of so tender an age, and the pleasant remi- niscences of this early migration of his father's family, had doubt- less not a little to do with the young man's subsequent readiness to push out vigorously for himself into the wide world.
Having developed a fondness for study and given promise for the future at the Poultney school, Richard was in due time sent, in company with a young friend named Wheeler, to the then newly founded Burr Seminary at Manchester, Vt., of which the Rev. Dr. Coleman, later a Professor in Princeton and Lafayette colleges, was the first Principal. There the two finished together a three years' course preparatory to college; but both, at the same time, found themselves alike thrown upon their own resources for the further prosecution of their studies. Nothing daunted, the two young men entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, and determined to battle their own way together to the full conquest of a liberal education. New York City was large enough, and dis- tant enough, to lend a special enchantment to their view, and it was decided to make the metropolis their first objective point in the quest of an educational fortune. Taking with them a sufficient sum of money to meet early contingencies, and a letter of intro- duction to a New York clergyman, the youthful adventurers made their way by stage-coach to Albany, and thence by boat down the Hudson, arriving full of energy and hope in the great city. Here they were received with the utmost kindness by the clergy- man referred to, by whom they were recommended, through a
.
570
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
second friend, to Mr. Samuel E. Woodbridge, Principal of a flour- ishing boys' seminary at Perth Amboy, N. J. Mr. Woodbridge was at the time desirous of being relieved of his day pupils, as was also the Principal of the Raritan Female Seminary, situated in the same city. This opening was kindly turned to the advan- tage of the young strangers, and a day-school was promptly opened by them at Perth Amboy, beginning with only eight pupils, but rapidly growing in numbers and reputation until, before the close of the first session, the school enterprise of "Todd and Wheeler," was a recognized success, and the young men found themselves surrounded by warm and influential friends.
During the three following years the school was continued by Mr. Wheeler, while Mr. Todd went over to the chair of Latin and Greek in the Woodbridge Seminary, which he occupied for the same length of time.
The two teachers were now in a position to undertake their col- lege course. But at this point the first separation since the be- ginning of their long friendship seemed imminent, Wheeler, who was of Baptist antecedents, preferring Brown University, while Todd, with his Puritan traditions, had his heart set upon the Mecca of Presbyterianism, at Princeton. The former started first for Brown, which opened earlier than Princeton, but after a few days of loneliness among strangers, returned to fall upon his companion's neck and accompany him to Princeton. There they entered the sophomore class together and passed another year and a half of the closest intimacy, when Wheeler's health requiring a change of climate, he accepted a position as teacher in the State of Louisiana. His fine record for scholarship, however, was so successfully pleaded before the college authorities by his former chum at Princeton that the regular degree of A. B. was conferred upon him, along with the rest of the class, in 1842. The two friends were destined never to meet again.
After teaching privately for two years at Springfield, N. J., where he formed some of his most enduring friendships, Mr. Todd returned to Princeton, and took the three years' course in the- ology at the seminary. While in Princeton he was a college-mate of Frank P. Blair, of Missouri; Richard Stockton, of New Jersey; George H. Boker, of Philadelphia; Charles Scribner, of New York, and many others who have since attained distinction. At the same time with him in the theological seminary were-to mention only a few prominent names-the Hodges, Alexanders
7
Page Colby
6
571
HISTORY OF MO HENRY COUNTY.
and Millers, Drs. Duffield and Shields, of Princeton; Dr. T. L. Cuyler, of Brooklyn; Dr. Charles Elliott, of the North western 'The- ological Seminary, Chicago, and Bishop Littlejohn, of Long Island. The latter was at the time a Presbyterian, and it was in a confiden- tial conversation with his fellow-student, Todd, that he for the first time avowed his intention of going over to the Episcopal church.
While still a college student, Mr. Todd had made the acquaint- ance of Miss Martha Clover, of New York City, who was at the time a youthful member of the Misses Udell's Seminary at Prince- ton. At the close of his theological studies, he was married to Miss Clover in New York, by the Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Thompson, of the Broadway Tabernacle. Mr. Todd's seminary friend, the Rev. Charles Elliott, above mentioned, had previously married Miss Henrietta Udell, and the intimate friendship of the two couples, thus early inaugurated, has been happily continued throughout life.
Having been long imbned with the missionary spirit, the now fully equipped divinity student started soon afterward, with his bride, npon the long journey to the West. This was in the year 1847. The day of railroads had not yet come; from Albany to Buffalo the distance was traversed by the Erie Canal, and there a steam propeller was taken to Milwaukee, by the lakes. The presence of an advance gnard of two or three friends in Northern Illinois led the young clergyman to Woodstock, in Mc- Henry County, where had just been organized a Presbyterian church of thirteen members, of which he was invited to become the first pastor. From that day to the present the home of Mr. Todd has been in Woodstock, and his name and influence have been unbrokenly identified with the religious, moral and intellectual de- velopment, not only of McHenry County, but of the State of Illi- nois and the Northwest.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.