USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, from the first settlement in 1834 to the civil war > Part 13
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E. L. Herrick was born at Andover, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 30, 1820. Mrs. Herrick, previous to her marriage, was a teacher in Rockford seminary. She came in September, 1852, and taught three years. They have three children: Elizabeth L., professor of French language and literature at Rockford college; Charles E., assistant cashier of the Manufacturers National Bank; and Frank J., of the firm of Bedwell & Herrick. Mrs. William Marshall, now residing in Florida, is a daughter of Mr. Herrick.
Samuel Herrick was only four years of age when his parents came to this county, and he has continuously resided here since that time. His daughters, Hattie and Clara M., are teachers in the Rockford schools.
The three Spafford brothers came to Rockford in 1839, in company with their brother-in-law, Jason Marsh. Their father was Dr. John Spafford. The eldest son, Charles H. Spafford, was born in Jefferson county, New York, January 6, 1819. He was educated at Castleton, Vermont. He had chosen the profession of the law, but his decision to come west changed his plans in life. Mr. Spafford performed a conspicuous part in the development of thecity. He held the offices of postmaster, circuit clerk and recorder. He was president of the Kenosha & Rockford Railroad Company. Mr. Spafford, in company with his brother John, and John Hall, built Metropolitan Hall block. The stores and offices were owned separately and the hall was held in common. Mr. Spafford also, with others, built the block now known as the Chick House. Although Mr. Spafford made a large amount of money, he sustained reverses of fortune. When the banking house of Spafford, Clark & Ellis went into liquidation, he paid all the liabilities of the firm, which were forty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Spafford's splendid service in the early struggles of Rockford college will be noted in the chap- ter devoted to that subject. March, 8, 1842, Mr. Spafford was united in marriage to Miss Abby Warren. In March, 1892, Mr. and Mrs. Spafford celebrated their golden wedding. Their children are: Mrs. Carrie S. Brett, Mrs. Charles H. Godfrey, and Charles H. Spafford, Jr. Mr. Spafford died in September, 1892, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a genial gentleman ; courtesy was the habit of his life.
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SPAFFORD BROTHERS .- PHINEAS HOWES.
Amos Catlin Spafford was born September 14, 1824, in Ad- ams, Jefferson county, New York. After he came west he followed farming in this county until 1848. About a year later be was interested in a sawmill on the old water-power on the East side. In 1850 he went to California, where he remained two years. About 1854 he became a member of the banking firm of Briggs, Spafford & Penfield. Upon the organization of the Third Na- tional bank in 1864, Mr. Spafford became its president, and held this position thirty-three years, until his death. In 1876 he was one of the state commissioners at the centennial exposi- tion. Mr. Spafford died suddenly at Adams, New York, while on a vacation, August 22, 1897. Mrs. Spafford died May 22, 1898. Their children are: Mrs. J. W. Archibald, who resides in Florida; Miss Jessie I. Spafford, professor of mathematics and physics at Rockford college; George C. Spafford, cashier of the Third National Bank, and Miss Nettie L. Spafford. Genuine worth is self-revealing. Mr. Spafford was a man whose face was an immediate passport to confidence, and it was a true index to his character. His genial disposition, sterling worth and absolute integrity shone out in every feature and expression. He was unostentatious, kind-hearted and neighborly in manner, and stood for the best things in the life of the city. He was con- servative in judgment, yet efficient and progressive in business. He was a leading representative of the influential men whose strong and forceful characters have made Rockford a synonym for solidity, enterprise, morality and prosperity.
John Spafford was born November 26, 1821. During his long life in Rockford he was engaged successively in farming, grocery, and grain and lumber trade. In 1856 he became the general agent of the Rockford & Kenosha Railroad company. Until within two years of his death, Mr. Spafford was president of the Rockford Wire Works Company and the Rockford Sus- pender Company ; he was also interested in manufacturing a lubricating oil, and in a planing-mill. Mr. Spafford died De- cember 5, 1897. His manner was ever gracious toward all sorts and conditions of men. Mrs. Spafford and one daughter, Miss Kate, survive. Two daughters are deceased.
Phineas Howes was a native of Putnam county, New York, and was born September 25, 1817. He came to Rockford in 1839, and in that year he erected a small house on East State street, which is still standing. Mr. Howes was a carpenter aud joiner, and followed this trade for many years. He purchased
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
a tract of land in Cherry Valley township. For about fifteen years he was a partner with John Lake in the lumber trade. By strict attention to business, Mr. Howes accumulated quite a large estate. His death occurred October 11, 1894. Mrs. C. H. Woolsey is a daughter. Mrs. Howes was a sister of the late Harris Barnum. She died December 10, 1877.
William Worthington was born at Enfield, Connecticut, July 5, 1813. He came to Rockford in the spring of 1838. About 1840 he built a brick blacksmith's shop on the south- west corner of State and First streets, where the Crotty block now stands. This shop was eight or ten feet below the present grade. Later Mr. Worthington built a wagon shop on the samelot, about the same size, of wood, onestory. This was the first wagon shop on the East side. There were then no other buildings on those corners. Mr. Worthington was the next blacksmith on the East side, after William Penfield, and was probably the fourth in the village. About 1842 Mr. Worthing- ton formed a partnership with Hosea D. Searles, and opened a drug store. This was the founding of the business now car- ried on by Worthington & Slade. Mr. Searles had come from Connecticut the year before, and wasfamiliarly known as "Doc." Mr. Worthington's children are: Miss Julia, William, Frank, and Charles. His death occurred April 11, 1886. Mr. Worth- ington's partner, "Doc." Searles, had a fund of humor and anecdotes with which he entertained his patrons. He possessed mechanical skill, which he utilized by making the first soda fountain in the village. It was made of wood, with a lever of the same material, about ten feet long. He also built a rotary steam engine, which he sold to the Mt. Morris seminary.
Laomi Peake, Sr., a native of Herkimer county, New York, emigrated from St. Thomas, Upper Canada, to Rockford, in September, 1839. He was one of the few pioneers who brought ready capital. He came with about five thousand dollars in money, which was a princely sum for that time. Mr. Peake was the first person who made a harness in Rockford, although a man preceded him who did repairing. Mr. Peake purchased the northeast corner lot on First and State streets, sixty-six feet front on First street, by one hundred and fifty-six feet on State street, for one hundred dollars, and erected a brick building twenty-two by thirty-five feet, with two stories and a basement, at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. The corner of this lot is now occupied by the Manufacturers Bank. In 1852 he com-
SECOND COURT HOUSE Built in thit, on the Court House Square
DANIEL S. HAIGHT'S RESIDENCE
Built in 1837, on the northeast corner of State an | Madison streets : now standing on the northeast corner of Second and Walnut streets. The first session of the circuit court was held in this house
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LAOMI PEAKE .- WILLIAM HULIN .- THE BARNUMS.
pleted a second brick block on the same site, and finished a hall on the third floor, at a total expense of about eight thousand dollars. Peake's hall was the first public hall in Rockford. This block was destroyed by fire in November, 1857, and the side and rear walls were left standing. The corner store was occupied at the time by C. A. Huntington and Robert Barnes, as a book-store, at a rental of four hundred and fifty dollars per year. Elisha A. Kirk and Anthony Haines purchased the property in the autumn of 1858, for four thousand dollars, and rebuilt the block the following year. In 1841 Mr. Peake built the small brick house directly west of Mrs. Anthony Haines' residence, on the same lot, where seven of his twelve children were born. In 1856 he built the substantial stone house which is now the residence of Mrs. Haines. Mr. Peake died November 8, 1891, at the age of eighty-four years. He was thefather of L. Peake, the harness-dealer on West State street. Mrs. Peake resides in East Rockford, and is eighty-three years of age.
William Hulin was a native of Salem, Massachusetts. He settled in Rockton township in 1837 or '38. August 5, 1839, he was chosen a justice of the peace, and from that time he was continually in the public service. He resigned from the office of clerk of the county court a few days before his death, which occurred December 10, 1869. Mr. Hulin was about sixty-one years of age. In the early forties he removed to Rockford. His home in this city was the residence of Dr. C. H. Richings, on North Main street. In 1855 he married the widow of Merrill E. Mack. Mr. Hulin was a high-minded gentleman, in whom those who knew him best placed perfect confidence. Mr. Hulin preserved files of early Rockford papers, which are now in the public library. He edited a work on school law, with forms, which was of value to teachers.
Daniel Barnum was a native of New York, born in 1778. In 1838 Mr. Barnum, with his wife and six children, came to Winnebago county, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Cherry Valley township. Mr. Barnum removed to Rockford and spent his last days in retirement. He died Nov- ember 8, 1870, at the age of ninety-two years.
Harris Barnum, son of Daniel Barnum, was born in Dan- bury, Connecticut, September 8, 1819. He came with hisfather to Rockford in 1838. His early manhood was spent on his fath- er's farm. In 1866 he engaged in the shoe business in Rockford with the late Daniel Miller, but soon sold his interest. From
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
1870 to 1874 he was associated with Duncan Ferguson, now of Denver, in the real estate and loan business. In 1874 Mr. Barnum was one of the organizers of the Forest City Insurance Company, of which he served as treasurer until incapacitated by illness. Mr. Barnum held the offices of alderman and super- visor. Mr. and Mrs. Barnum have had five children, three of whom are living: Mrs. Alta Williams, and Misses Blanche and Emily. Mr. Barnum was a man of excellent business ability and strict integrity. With these qualities he acquired a large estate. Mr. Barnum died February 26, 1899, in his eightieth year.
Hon. Horace Miller was a native of Berkshire county, Mass- achusetts, and was born in 1798. He came to this county in 1839, and settled on a large tract of land near the mouth of the Kishwaukee river, which in an early day was known as the Terrace farm. At one time he owned twelve hundred and fifty acres. From 1850 to 1852 Mr. Miller represented this county in the state legislature. He resided on his farm until about 1861, when he came to Rockford and lived a retired life until his death August 5, 1864. Mr. Miller was father of William H. Miller, a well known citizen. Mrs. Brown, widow of the late Judge Brown, is a daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. John Benjamin came from Canada in 1839, and settled in Guilford township. Mr. Benjamin's step-daugh- ter, Mrs. Sarah A. Cook, who still resides in East Rockford, has the distinction of being the first matron of Rockford semi- nary. She served in this capacity from 1849 to 1852. The students were served with meals in a frame structure directly opposite the first seminary building, on the east side of North First street.
Among the other pioneers of 1838 were: Alfred P. Mather, William Hamilton, Levi Monroe, and Richard Marsh. In 1839 there came Courtland Mandeville, Frederick Charlie, Thaddeus Davis, Sr., Stephen Crilley, D. Bierer, Chester Hitchcock, John Bull, H. Hudson. Others who came previous to 1840 were: Sylvester Scott, James Gilbert, Artemas Hitchcock, John W. Dyer, Samuel C. Fuller, Newton Crawford, Jonathan Hitchcock, Dr. D. Goodrich, Hollis H. Holmes, Stephen Gilbert, and Bela Shaw. Judge Shaw died suddenly May 31, 1865. Five broth- ers, Thomas, William, John, Robert and Benjamin Garrett, with their parents, settled in Guilford township. Thomas died January 20, 1900. He was a Manxman, born on the Isle of Man, February 11, 1827.
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CHAPTER XXV.
TRIALS OF THE PIONEERS .- SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS.
O NE of the greatest privations of the early settlers was the scarcity of provisions, which at that time were obtained from the older settlements in the southern portion of the state. The pioneers possessed limited means, and few were individually able to bear the expense of a journey of such distance. Several neighbors would unite their small sums, and send one of their number for supplies. The difficulties of travel were great; there were rivers to cross, either forded or swam ; streams and sloughs to be waded; muddy roads and ponderous wagons. Under these circumstances, the time of the messenger's return was uncertain. Later, when a trade in provisions had been estab- lished, the same obstacles kept them at almost fabulous prices, and the settlers were sometimes reduced to the verge of absolute destitution. Flour sold from sixteen to twenty dollars per barrel, and on one occasion Thomas Lake purchased three bar- rels at twenty-two dollars each. Pork was thirty dollars per barrel; wheat sold from three to four dollars per bushel; New Orleans sugar twenty-five cents per pound; and other provis- ions in proportion. This condition rendered it impossible for the great majority of the settlers, with their scanty means, to scarcely procure the necessities for their support. For six weeks in the winter of 1837-38 there was a tobacco famine, which was a terrible privation to the slaves of the filthy weed. "Judge" E. S. Blackstone said the people in the early forties were too poor to cast a shadow. Mr. Thurston ventures the assertion that in 1841-42 there were not twenty farmers in the county who possessed a suit of clothes suitable to wear at church or at court, which they had purchased with the fruits of their labor on their farms. Some who had passed the prime of life became discouraged and returned to their homes in the east to die. Barter was practiced even in payment for performing the mar- riage ceremony. Abraham I. Enoch, a justice of the peace, once took a bushel of beans as his fee. Joel B. Potter, a clergyman, was compensated for two ceremonies in wheat, and one day's breaking. Ephraim Sumner swam Pecatonica river twice one cold night, to perform the rite, and received fifty cents.
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
Had it not been for a beneficent Providence, who stocked the woods and prairies with game and therivers with fish, many would have suffered for the necessities of the barest subsistence. As late as 1841 the scarcity of fruit was a great trial. There was little, and often none, not even canned fruit. There were dried apples, and the housewives inade "mince-pies" of them. Sometimes, in case of sickness, the ways and means looked rather dark, and the mother and her whole family might be involved. In such cases none filled a more important place than Miss Betsy Weldon, whom a few will remember. Strong and well herself, she could fill the place of nurse, housekeeper, dressmaker, milliner, and general repairer of clothing. She was ever ready to respond to cases of need.
The late Judge Church once told this story : "I have in my mind one who is now among the most prosperous farmers, who found himself without the means of procuring for his family a single meal, and he, with one of his neighbors similarly situated, determined to try their luck at fishing. They proceeded to Rock river, and met with success entirely beyond their expectations. When returning, each with as many fish as he could well carry, said one farmer: 'Well, we have got our fish, but what have we to fry them in?' 'Fry them in!' replied his hopeful and satisfied companion. 'Why, fry them in water!' And could you in those days have visited the log cabins scattered over these prairies, that are now groaning under the load of a boun- tiful harvest, and covered with all the evidences of comfort that wealth can purchase, you would have found many a man going to his hard day's toil from as scanty a breakfast as of suckers fried in water."
It is well that Winnebago county was settled by such a class of sturdy pioneers ; men of will and purpose, who knew no such word as fail; who pushed out in advance of civilization, with the determination of the old Norse baron, who engraved upon his shield, as heraldic device, a pickax, surmounted by the motto, "Where there's no hole for me to pass, I'll make one."
It must be evident to the casual observer that only a small portion of the human family possess the qualifications for pio- neers. It is not the business of the pioneer to seek good society ; but to make it. Contrary to Mr. Carlyle's dictum, the society of that day was not founded upon cloth. The social status was based upon respectability. In the rural districts a family would sometimes drive twenty or twenty-five miles in a lumber
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TRIBUTE TO PIONEER WOMEN.
wagon, to visit a "neighbor." In the village amusements were extemporized to dispel the lonesomeness of the long winter evenings. Among the most popular was the "mock court." The sessions of the court were held in Mr. Miller's store, where "pent-up Uticas" of spread-eagle eloquence were allowed full expression. Each member of the court had his sobriquet ; some of these were not suggested by the muses. Another popular summer amusement with a certain class was the "awkward squad," which performed frequent evolutions around Sam Little's saloon. They always produced a "smile."
The noble band of women displayed the fortitude of true heroines. They shared the toils, endured the privations, coun- seled in difficulties, encouraged in despondeney, and nursed in sickness. At the first reunion of the Society of Early Settlers, held at the Holland House, February 2, 1871, Charles I. Hors- man responded to the toast, "The Mothers and Daughters of the West, in which he paid them this tribute :
"I don't know whyI have been selected to respond to this toast, only that the ladies and I have always been good friends, and I find them my best friends in prosperity and in adversity.
"'Man works from sun to sun, Woman's work is never done.'
"Mr. President, the truth of this old adage was literally verified in the early settlement of this county. It was the women that carried the laboring oar, and it was to their untiring industry by day and night that we, the men, mainly owe the measure of success we have achieved. It was her words of encouragement, and smiles of approbation that cheered us on in the darkest hour of trial. They were not the effeminate angels that Willis writes of, 'with lips like rose-leaves torn,' but sterling women that met the stern realities of life, and were equal to the occa- sion ; and, Mr. President, what would we poor fellows have done when burning up with fever, or chilled to death with the ague! But for the kind offices of wife and mother and sister to smooth our pillow, bathe our fevered brows, and moisten our parched lips, many of use here tonight in robust health would be lying under the clods of the valley. All honor, say I, Mr. President, to the mothers and daughters of the west, those who, with their enterprising fathers and husbands, left their own pleasant hills and valleys to tread upon the receding footsteps of the red man."
CHAPTER XXVI.
ROCKFORD HOUSES IN 1838 .- LATER BUILDINGS .- H. H. SILSBY.
N April, 1838, there were only four houses north of State - street, in West Rockford : the ferry house on the site of the public library building; Abiram Morgan's log house, on or very near the site of the Horsman residence; a log cabin on the bank of the river, about one hundred and thirty rods above State, occupied by Rev. John Morrill, and D. A. Spaulding, the government surveyor; a board and plank house near the site of A. D. Forbes' residence, occupied by John and Calvin Has- kell, nephews of Dr. George Haskell. South of State street there were quite a number of cabins. Nathaniel Loomis and his son, Henry W. Loomis, lived in a log house near the south- east corner of State and Main streets ; and much of the valuable property in this block still belongs to the Loomis estate. On the west side of Main, D. D. Alling had an unfinished house. Directly north was a two-story frame house, which remained unfinished for several years. On the same side, opposite the government building, still stands the residence of George W. Brinckerboff. On the corner north of the Chicago & Northwest- ern depot, Nathaniel Wilder had a house of one and a half story. On the east side of Main, opposite the new depot, Wyman & Houghton had a story-and-a-half building used as a bakery and boarding house. South of the C., B. & Q. depot, on the west side of Main, James Mitchell had a small house. On the same side of the street, near the bank of the creek, stood Mr. Kent's house and sawmill. There was a log hut eight or ten rods below the mill that had been used as a blacksmith's shop, and a store near the river. William E. Dunbar had lived in a log cabin about one hundred yards south of the creek, and twelve to fifteen rods east of Main street. Sanford & Platt's store was on the river bank, south of State. Benjamin Kilburn had a frame house on the site of the Hotel Nelson. There was a total of eighteen buildings in the village on the west side of the river, beside the cabin built by Mr. Blake in the grove to the west.
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EAST SIDE HOUSE'S.
The East side was somewhat larger. The Rockford House was for some time the only hotel between Belvidere and Free- port. On the southwest corner of State and Madison streets stood Bundy & Goodhue's store. Directly south was a build- ing erected by Mr. Haight. The first floor was the postoffice, and the second was occupied by Tinker & Johnson as a tailor shop. On the northwest corner of Madison and Walnut was a ball alley owned by Charles Oliver. On the southeast corner of State and Madison was Potter & Preston's store. They suc- ceeded Bundy & Goodhue on the opposite corner, where they remained until the death of Mr. Preston, when Mr. Potter con- tinued the business alone for a time. East of Potter & Preston's first store was the foundation of the Washington House. On the northeast corner of State and Main was Daniel S. Haight's unfinished frame house. On East State street Mr. Haight was putting up a one-story building for a postoffice, which a few years later was occupied by Worthington & Searles as the sec- ond drug store in the village; this building is still standing near the Kenosha depot. East of the postoffice site, on the alley, was Mr. Haight's first log house, occupied by John Miller as a boarding house. East of the alley, on State, was Samuel Little's saloon. On North First street was a story-and-a-half house occupied by Samuel Corey, a brother-in-law of Mr. Haight. North of Mr. Haight's frame house was a story-and-a-half house owned by William Hamilton; and at the northeast cor- ner of Madison and Market was William Penfield's blacksmith's shop. Between the "swell-front" and the brick house south on South Second street owned by Samuel I. Church, stood a house with a story and a half, owned by Dr. David Goodrich. In the rear of this, on the alley, was a log structure occupied as a schoolhouse about 1837-38. On the site of the street car barns on Kishwaukee street, was Anson Barnum's double log house. At the southeast corner of Second and Walnut was John Phelps' house, afterward owned by William P. Dennis. On the west side of First street, opposite the fire station, was John C. Kem- ble's house; and on the river bank, north of Walnut, James Clark was building a store, in which he kept a general stock. The "stage barn" built for Mr. Haight in 1836 by Thomas Lake and Sidney Twogood, stood near the intersection of State and Third streets. John Vance'e log structure, builtfor astore, was on South First street, opposite the hay market. There was a log house about ten rods southeast of the "stage barn,"
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
occupied by a Mr. Kingsley, who came from Belvidere to work for Mr. Haight on the Rockford House. James Boswell's cabin was near the Peacock estate. Jacob Posson's cabin was in the vicinity of block twenty-one, Gregory & Penfield's Addition. These, with the East side ferry house, and a small log hut used for a stable, were all the buildings within half a mile of theinter- section of State and Madison streets, on the east side of the river, in April, 1838. Mr. Ilaight erected at least seven buildings on the East side, beside three barns, and one-half of the Rockford House. In 1839-40 he build the large two-story brick house east of Longwood street, which is still standing. Mr. Haight claimed that one hundred thousand brick were used in its construction.
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