USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, from the first settlement in 1834 to the civil war > Part 12
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
[Whittier] was accustomed to say that only two of the teach- ers who were employed in that district during his school days were fit for the not very exacting position they occupied. Both of these were Dartmouth students: one of them George Has- kell, to whom reference has already been made." Dr. Haskell began the practice of medicine at East Cambridge, Massachu- setts, in 1827, and removed to Ashby, in the same state, in the following year.
Dr. Haskell came to Illinois in 1831, and settled at Edwards- ville, and two years later he removed to Upper Alton. While there he became one of thefounders of Shurtleff college, of which he was trustee and treasurer. The Doctor built up a large practice, which he soon abandoned. November 7, 1837, the cause of the slave received its first baptism of blood. On that day Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered at Alton, for his bold utterances in behalf of an oppressed race. Dr. Haskell enter- tained radical anti-slavery views, and he determined to leave that portion of the state in which the pro-slavery sentiment was largely predominant.
From the time of his arrival in Rockford until his removal from thecity about twenty-eight years later, Dr. Haskell was a broad-minded, representative man of affairs. He conducted for a short time a mercantile business on the river bank, as the successor of Platt & Sanford. But his ruling passion was hor- ticulture. He entered from the government quite a tract of land lying north of North street, and built the house on North Main street now occupied by George R. Forbes. He planted a nursery and became an expert in raising fruit. It is said that one year he raised sixty bushels of peaches. The severe winter of 1855-56 killed his trees, and from that time he devoted his attention to more hardy fruits. His later Rockford home was on North Court street, near the residence of Hon. Andrew Ashton. Dr. Haskell was generous and public-spirited. He and his brother-in-law, John Edwards, presented to the city the West side public square, which was named Haskell park, in honor of the former. A street, called Edwards place, forms the southern boundary of the park. A ward schoolhouse in West Rockford also bears Dr. Haskell's name.
In 1853 Dr. Haskell became a convert to Spiritualism, and his long and honored membership with the First Baptist church ceased on the last day of that year. It has been stated that he was first alienated from the church by his lack of esteem for
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BECOMES A SPIRITUALIST.
Elder Jacob Knapp, who was then a prominent member. Mrs. Haskell followed her husband, and withdrew from the church May 6, 1854. Dr. Haskell entered upon his new religious life with that energy and enthusiasm which had signalized his for- mer adherence to Baptist doctrine. April 15, 1854, he began the publication of the Spirit Advocate, an eight-page monthly. The paper was an able propagandist of the new faith. A com- plete file of this paper has been preserved in the Rockford public library. Twenty-three numbers were published. In the issue of March 15, 1856, the editor announced that the publication of the Advocate would be discontinued, and that it would be consolidated with the Orient, under the name of the Orient and Advocate, with headquarters at Waukegan. In his farewell address to his constituents, Dr. Haskell said : "While hitherto laboring in the cause of human advancement from the thrall- dom of bigotry, error and superstition, we have had the con- sciousness of having acted honestly in proclaiming 'theglorious gospel of the blessed God.' We feel that the cause is of God and must prevail; and the combined force of men and devils can not prevent its final triumph. . . . The great contest between truth and error has commenced; and the advocates of error and superstition are arraying all their forces to withstand the onward march of truth and harmony ; but truth must triumph over all opposing foes."
The best and most charitable commentary upon this proph- ecy is in the lines of Tennyson :
"Our little systems have their day ; They have their day, and cease to be."
In 1866, Dr. Haskell removed to New Jersey. There he was engaged in founding an industrial school, and purchased with others a tract of four thousand acres, which was laid out for a model community. In 1857 Dartmouth college gave the Doctor the degree of A. B., as of the year 1827.
Dr. Haskell died at Vineland, New Jersey, August 23,1876. The late George S. Haskell, widely known as a seedsman, was a son ; and Mrs. Henry P. Kimball is a daughter. Dr. Frank H., Willis M. and Carl Kimball are grandsons. His nephew, Rev. Samel Haskell, pays him this tribute in Pickard's work, previously noted : "He was a man of scholarship and enthusi- asm, a friend of struggling students, many of whom he befriended in his home and with his means."
CHAPTER XXIV.
JAMES M. WIGHT .- JASON MARSH .- OTHER PIONEERS OF 1838-39.
JAMES MADISON WIGHT was born in Norwich, Massachu- setts, in 1810. He was admitted to the bar of Queens county, New York, in 1837, and immediately afterward came west. He first joined his brother, J. Ambrose Wight, in Rock- ton. But he found no field in that village for the practice of his profession ; and he came in 1838, to Rockford, where for a time he taught school. In his early life he served a few terms as city attorney of Rockford. He was one of the pioneer law- yers of northern Illinois, and built up a large practice. He was for many years local attorney for the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and for other corporations. He was also for a time a member of the state legislature, and served on the judiciary committee. Mr. Wight was a member of the constitutional convention of 1870, called to draft a new constitution for sub- mission to the voters of the state. To Mr. Wight, law was not merely a profession ; it was an absorbing and delightful study. He was above all, a student; a perfect cyclopedia of general information, familiar with the literature of many languages, which he read in the original, and a passionate lover of classi. cal music and art. Mr. Wight was a cousin of George Bancroft, the famous historian. To many lawyers of today, Mr. Wighit's sense of professional honor might seem a little strained; but for him there was only one standard, the standard of a Chris- tian gentleman, and to that conception his business principles were subordinated. Mr. Wight died in Rockford in 1877, leav- ing to his children the heritage of an honest name, and the memory of a modest, blameless and tender life. Mr. Wight was the father of Mrs. Harriott Wight Sherratt, Miss Mary Wight, and Miss Carrie, who died in 1891. In his religious views, Mr. Wight was a Channing Unitarian. The Wight school in the Sixth ward was named in his honor. His home was the resi- dence now owned by Judge L. L. Morrison.
Jason Marsh was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Ver- mont, in 1807. At the age of sixteen he removed to Saratoga,
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COLONEL OF SEVENTY-FOURTH.
New York. In 1831 he was admitted to the bar in Adams, Jef- ferson county, where he first practiced. In 1832 Mr. Marsh married Harriet M. Spafford, a sister of Charles, John and Catlin Spafford. Mr. Marsh came to Rockford in 1839. He was accompanied by his wife and children, a brother and wife, and his three brothers-in-law. Soon after his arrival he and the three Spafford brothers built the brick house three miles south of State street, on the Kishwaukee road, now occupied by F. J. Morey. A large farm was attached. Mr. Marsh drove daily to the village, where he practiced his profession. His later home was the residence subsequently owned by the late W. W. Fairfield, on East State street. These beautiful grounds are now subdivided. In 1862 Mr. Marsh entered military service as colonel of the Seventy-fourth Illinois infantry. He was severely wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridgein the autumn of 1863, and returned home. Two months later he again went to the front. In the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta his old wound troubled him, and he resigned. Colonel Marsh was a man of fine presence, rather above medium height, portly, and perhaps slightly pompous, with blue eyes. The corner of the left eye was slightly marred by a wound received in his younger days. He was accustomed to comb the hair low over the eye, and thus unconsciously gave to the eye a little wicked expression. Colonel Marsh was very courteous, and extremely fond of society. He delighted in picturesque costumes. His favorite suit was a blue dress coat with gilt buttons, buff vest and light pantaloons. Colonel Marsh was a lover of games; chess was his favorite. He forgot everything when engaged in a game of chess, and spent long afternoons and evenings at this pastime, oblivious of everything else; much, of course, to the detriment of his business. Colonel Marsh, or 'Squire Marsh, as he was often called, was a gentleman of striking character- istics. He preserved the courtliness of the old-school gentleman. His social nature was of a generous kind. He was at home either in long-continued argument, or he could adapt himself to the lighter conversation of gallant and graceful nothings of fashionable society. His habitual attire combined the present and the past with striking effect. His blue swallow-tail coat, buff vest and gold-headed cane are intimately associated with his sturdy personality in the minds of all who remember him. Colonel Marsh was a man of well-stored mind, and made his mark as a lawyer at an early day. His last years were
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
spent on his farm near Durand. His death occurred at the home of his daughter in Chicago, March 13, 1881. He was buried in Rockford with military honors. His surviving children are: Mrs. E. H. Baker, formerly of Rockford; Mrs. William Ruger, of Batona, Florida ; and Cerdric G., of Chicago. Ogden C. died soon after his father. J. M. and Volney Southgate are nephews.
Francis Burnap was born at Merrimac, New Hampshire, January 4, 1796. He belonged to one of the old historic fami- lies of New England. His mother was a sister of Major-General Brooks, of Revolutionary fame, who was afterward governor of Massachusetts for seven terms. His father was Rev. Jacob Burnap, who for fifty years was pastor of the First Congrega- tional church of Merrimar. Mr. Burnap settled in Rockford in August, 1839, and began the practice of law in Winnebago and neighboring counties, in the state supreme court, and in the federal courts. His industry and patient persistence in his pro- fession were proverbial. He loved chancery practice, and in the knowledge of this department he had few equals in the state. Mr. Burnap was a man of integrity, and boldly avowed his opinions, however unpopular. He belonged to the Liberty party in its early days, and proclaimed his radical anti-slavery sentiments when abolitionism was a term of reproach even in the free north and west. He was also a believer in total abstinence and woman suffrage. Mr. Burnap was a thorough student. His books were his beloved companions. He was a fine linguist and was proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French and Ger- man. As a friend, he was kind, courteous, and dignified in all his social intercourse. While he was affable in manner, he was firm in his principles, even to sternness. The tenacity with which he clung to his opinions, and earnestly defended them, sometimes excited enmity. He practiced in his profession until 1864, when ill health compelled him to retire. Mr. Burnap died in Rockford December 2, 1866. He was the senior practitioner of the Rockford bar, which adopted resolutions of respect at his death, and attended his funeral in a body. In the forenoon preceding his death he dictated his will, in the full possession of his mental faculties. Mr. Burnap never married, and he lived a somewhat isolated life. Mrs. Lucy M. Gauss, of St. Louis, formerly a teacher in the Rockford schools, is a niece.
Duncan Ferguson was a native of Scotland. He was born in Glasgow, in November, 1810. He attended the University of Glasgow two seasons; was employed several years in the
121
DUNCAN FERGUSON .- THOMAS D. ROBERTSON.
land surveys, and soon thereafter he was engaged in the trigo- nometrical surveys of Great Britain, which he continued for ten. years. He was employed most of this timein Ireland. In 1837 he left his native land and came to the United States. He first settled in Pennsylvania, where he remained two years, in the employ of two railroad companies, as draughtsman. Mr. Fer- guson removed with his family to Rockford in 1839. In 1840 he was elected surveyor and justice of the peace. He held the office of surveyor until 1856. In 1862 he was appointed asses- sor of internal revenue. He held this position eight years, and then resigned. For ten years Mr. Ferguson was supervisor from the Seventh ward of the city. March, 3, 1873, he was elected chairman of the county board, to succeed Hon. Robert J. Cross, who had died February 15th. Mr. Ferguson retained this position until 1881. In 1877 he was elected mayor of Rock- ford, and served one year. He held the offices of city engineer, assessor, county treasurer, and commissioner of the county under an act of the legislature for the improvement of Rock river. Mr. Ferguson was a member of the First Baptist church until the schism led by Dr. Kerr, when he became identified with the Church of the Christian Union. Mr. Ferguson was a · genial, courtly gentleman, of high character. His death occurred May 14, 1882.
Thomas D. Robertson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 4, 1818. His parents removed to London when he was a small child. He lived with a brother for a time on the Isle of Sheppey, at the mouth of the Thames, where he attended school. He was subsequently engaged with an older brother in the publication of the Mechanic's Magazine. Mr. Robertson came to the United States in 1838. He stopped for a time in Chicago, and arrived in Rockford in December of the same year. Mr. Roberson studied law in Rockford and at Madison, Wis- consin. He was admitted to the bar, and was a prominent practitioner for some years. In 1848 Mr. Robertson and John A. Holland opened the first banking house in Rockford in a building adjoining the European Hotel site on West Statestreet. From that time he gradually abandoned the practice of law, and devoted his attention to banking and real estate. Mr. Robertson was a leader in the movement to secure the exten- sion of the Galena & Chicago Union railroad to Rockford. He had charge of the collection of the subscriptions to the capital stock in Boone, Winnebago and Ogle counties. Mr. Robertson
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
has continuously resided in Rockford for sixty-one years. No other person has been as prominent in its business circles for so long a time. The church and Christian education have always received his financial support. He is a trustee of Beloit college and Rockford college. Mr. Robertson's career has been signalized by strict integrity and exceptional business ability. He is probably the largest property-owner in thecity. His chil- dren are William T. Robertson, vice-president of the Winnebago National Bank, and Mrs. David N. Starr, of Florida.
Ira W. Baker arrived on Rock river October 6, 1838, on Saturday, at sundown, with his family of eight, from a grand- mother of seventy to a babe of four. At half past ten the next morning all went over the hill a mile away to attend church, at the house of Mr. Batchelder. It was a double log house of two rooms. The door between the rooms was the pulpit. The Rev. Hiram Foote preached. No scene could better depict the early sabbath in church. Organ and choir, long-drawn aisle and fretted vault waft no truer praise. The soft sky and the air of the Indian summer, silent woods of gorgeous hues, the reverent worshipers, strangers in form but kindred in heart, the solemn and touching service, and the polite and tender greetings and farewells were home and church to the true and earnest pio- neers. Even the little Swiss clock, hanging high in the corner, with its long weights and pendulum, seemed thoughtfully and regretfully to mark the passing moments, and when it must strike twelve it gave due notice, and softly struck its strokes. Perhaps like Tell of its native land, it had prepared for extra work due on such occasions, for it kept right on with thirteen or fourteen, and so forth, until elders and urchins alike smiled upon its little distorted anatomy. The clock, house and owner are now gone, and perhaps all who gathered there; but the church and home of the pioneer are the church and home of today.
Hon. Edward H. Baker, son of Deacon Ira Baker, was born in Ferrisburg, Vermont, April 5, 1828; and when ten years of age he came with his father to Winnebago county. Mr. Baker received his education at Knox college and Illinois college at Jacksonville. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. At one time he was in partnership with his father-in-law, Jason Marsh. Upon the organization of the Rockford & Kenosha railroad, Mr. Baker was chosen secretary of the company. He was elected mayor of Rockford in 1866, and served one year. At the time of his death Mr. Baker was a director of the public
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DAVID S. PENFIELD.
library. His death occurred January 26, 1897. The circuit court, which was then in session, adjourned, out of respect to his memory ; Hon. Charles A. Works pronounced a euolgy, and the bar attended his funeral in a body. Mr. Baker excelled as a toastmaster. He was a thorough student, and acquired a large and varied fund of information. He was an authority upon Masonic matters, and in colonial and local history. He had true historic instinct, and his writings often display fine poetic feeling.
Henry N. Baker, another son of Deacon Baker, was also a native of Ferrisburg, Vermont. For many years he was engaged in the real estate and loan business in East Rockford. Mr. Baker was for some time president of the board of education. He removed from the city in 1899.
David S. Penfield was the first of three brothers to settle in Rockford. He was a native of Pittsfield, Vermont, and was born in 1812. Mr. Penfield and the late Shepherd Leach were schoolboys together in their native place, and the friendship then formed continued through life. Together they emigrated to Michigan, where they remained a short time, and then con- tinued their journey on horseback to Illinois, and came to Rockford in 1838 by way of Dixon. There was then no stable currency. Large numbers of private banks furnished a currency of more or less value, and each state had its own issues. The exchange of money in traveling from state to state was there- fore attended with not a little difficulty, and considerable risk. The unsettled country was infested with bandits, and travelers were never sure, when seeking entertainment for the night, whether they would escape the snare of the fowler. Mr. Penfield and Mr. Leach adopted a rule that is very suggestive. When- ever they came to the house of a settler where flowers were cultivated, there they concluded they would be safe. Upon their arrival in Rockford, Mr. Penfield and Mr. Leach purchased a large tract of land on the West side. They were also in mer- cantile business on the site of 322 East State street, and there employed the first tinner in Rockford. Their stock included hardware, groceries and other lines, and invoiced about three thousand dollars. Mr. Penfield lived for a time in a house owned by Lyman Potter, on North Second street. He formed a partnership with his brother John G. in the real estate and loan business; and subsequently became a member of the bank- ing firm of Briggs, Spafford & Penfield, which was merged into
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
the Third National bank. Mr. Penfield was a very unassuming gentleman, and was universally esteemed. He died May 20, 1873, at the age of sixty-one years. Some years ago Mrs. Pen- field gave the site to the Young Men's Christian Association on which its splendid building now stands. Their children are: Mrs. Henry Robinson, deceased ; Mrs. C. R. Mower, of Rockford ; and Mrs. Stephen A. Norton, of San Diego, California.
Shepherd Leach, to whom reference was made in the preced- ing paragraph, was an extensive land-owner, and amassed a large estate. Mr. Leach was gifted with keen business sagacity, and was successful in nearly every enterprise. He had an extended acquaintance among business men ; was straightfor- ward in his dealings; and withal, was a man who possessed many qualities worthy of emulation. Mr. Leach died July 9, 1885. Mrs. Edgar E. Bartlett and Mrs. J. B. Whitehead are daughters.
Willard Wheeler came from St. Thomas, Upper Canada, in September, 1839. He was the second tinner in the town. Mr. Wheeler was a brother of Solomon Wheeler. He built the house on South First street where Mrs. Julia A. Littlefield resides. To Mr. Wheeler belonged the honor of being the first mayor of Rockford. He died April 24, 1876.
The Cunningham brothers are among the last survivors of that early period. Samuel Cunningham was born August 15, 1815, in Peterboro, Hillsboro county, New Hampshire. This was Daniel Webster's county, and where he and his brother Ezekiel practiced law. Mr. Cunningham heard Mr. Webster deliver an oration, and voted for him for president in 1836. Mr. Cun- ningham came to this county in the spring of 1839. His active life was devoted to agriculture. He served one term as county commissioner. Mr. Cunningham is a splendid specimen of the sturdy New England type, and the very soul of honor. He has a retentive memory and an interesting fund of political remi- niscence. His brother, William Cunningham, came to Rockford in the spring of 1838. He has spent much of the intervening time on the Pacific coast, but is now living a retired life in Rockford. The writer is indebted to these brothers for valuable historical information. Another brother, Benjamin Franklin Cunningham, preceded Samuel to Rockford in the spring of the same year. He owns a beautiful home below the city, on a rise of ground which commands an extended northern and southern view of the river. A fourth brother, Isaac Newton
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JOEL B. POTTER -THE HERRICK FAMILY.
Cunningham, previously noted, came to Rockford at an earlier date.
Joel B. Potter was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1810. From there the family removed to Orleans county, New York. He received a collegiate education and prepared himself for the Presbyterian ministry. His health failed, and he never resumed this calling. In 1839 he came to this county, where his brothers Herman B. and Eleazer had preceded him. In the same year Mr. Potter built the house now owned by Judge Morrison. He carried on a farm for some years, and was subsequently engaged in the drug business on East Statestreet. He conducted the store alone for a time, and later with his son-in-law, J. F. Harding, as a partner, until the death of Mr. Harding, in 1867, when Mr. Potter retired from business. Mr. Potter and his family were members of Westminster Presbyte- rian church. Mr. Potter died November 30,1880. Mrs. Potter is still living. Advanced age does not impair her intellectual vigor. Mrs. Caroline A. Brazee and Mrs. E. S. Gregory, of Rockford, and Miss Frances D. Potter, of Chicago, are daughters.
The Herrick family came from eastern Massachusetts in 1838-39. Elijah L. Herrick, Sr., and three sons, Ephraim, Elijah L. Jr., and William, arrived in Rockford in 1838; and the following year there came three sons, George, Edward, and Samuel, and four daughters, Phoœbe, Sarah, Martha, and Hannah. About 1849 the father of the family built a cobble- stone house, which is stillstanding on Fourteenth avenue. The Herrick family, though typical New England people, possess one interesting trait peculiar to the Scottish clans. It is said this entire family, with one exception, lived in the vicinity of Rock- ford for forty years, within such distance that all could come together in a few hours' notice. This remarkable fact is seldom paralleled when the size of the family is considered. The father died May 18, 1852; Mrs. Herrick, March 28, 1876; Phoebe, July 13, 1854 ; Sarah, January 21, 1885 ; William, February 13, 1885; Ephraim, January 7, 1888; Martha, July18, 1898. Edward died near Newell, Iowa, September 15, 1899. While a resident of this county he lived on a farm in Cherry Valley township. He removed to Iowa in 1880, and settled on a farm, where he died. He was seventy-seven years of age. One son and one daughter survive. His wife died about eight years ago. George and Hannah Herrick never married. They reside in Rockford. E. L. Herrick and family and Miss Hannah
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
are members of Westminster Presbyterian church. The other members of this family attended the First Congregational church.
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