USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, from the first settlement in 1834 to the civil war > Part 16
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
June next, and the jail to be finished before the first day of January, 1844. The remainder of the said buildings were to be finished by the first day of November, 1844. The donors were to perfect and convey to the county a good title to the land on which the said buildings should stand, to the amount of two and a half acres. This proposition was signed by Messrs. George Haskell, Charles I. Horsman, H. W. Loomis, M. Burner, Charles Hall, Thomas D. Robertson, George W. Dewey, David D. Alling, H. R. Maynard, Alden Thomas, S. Skinner, George Barrows, John Fisher, Derastus Harper, Daniel Dow.
Nothing had been done on the East side toward erecting county buildings with the material which had been contributed ; and the proposition from the West side citizens was accepted, with five conditions. These were : first, that security be given to the acceptance of the commissioners or any two of them, in term time or vacation within twenty days; second, that the security be a bond for twenty thousand dollars, and the buildings be worth not less than six thousand dollars; third, that said bond be placed in the hands of the clerk of the court within three days from its acceptance; fourth, that the subscribers to the proposition, or a majority of them, enter into a contract in writing within twenty days to erect the buildings as offered in their proposition ; fifth, that the contract be placed in the hands of the clerk of the court within three days from its approval. The commissioners ordered that block twenty-five in West Rock- ford be the site of the buildings.
Thus closed a contest which had continued for seven years. An opinion prevails to this day that the cession of the mile-strip to Boone county insured the location of the county buildings on the west side of the river; and that the voters on the strip, if they had remained in this county, would have held the balance of power, which would have been exercised in the election of two commissioners from the east side of the river. The official rec- ords are clearly against this tradition. The county seat was permanently located in April, 1843; whereas, the election on the mile-strip did not occur until the following month. The result was due to a single citizen. William Hulin was elected a county commissioner in 1841, while a resident of Rockton, on the east side of the river. During his term of office he removed to West Rockford. Mr. Hulin's friends claim that his sympa- thies were always with the West side; while others maintain that this change of residence was quite naturally followed by a
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AN ERRONEOUS TRADITION.
change of sectional preference. In either event, Mr. Hulin gave the casting vote in favor of the West side.
It is quite certain, however, that the cession of the mile-strip had been regarded with favor for years by the citizens of the western part of the county. It is even alleged that the scheme was deliberately planned in West Rockford, to reduce the vot- ing strength on the east side of the river. The citizens on the strip petitioned the legislature to be annexed to Boone; and as early as December 24, 1840, a bill wasintroduced in the senate, for a change in the boundary line of Boone county. December 30th, the bill was read the third time and passed. The bill came before the house January 13, 1841. It was subsequently amended and referred to a select committee. The Rock River Express of January 16, 1841, published a brief but vigorous protest against the proposed cession. The bill, however, was lost. Had it passed that session, it would doubtless have had its influence in the contest over the county seat. But the bill did not become a law until two years later. In the meantime the question had been settled in a different manner.
The brick jail was completed and occupied January 1, 1844. The court house was finished in July of the same year, and was accepted by the county commissioners. Derastus Harper and John Beattie were the architects. It was one story, about fifty- six feet long, thirty-five feet in width, and seventeen feet high. The court room was fifty-four by thirty-three feet ; nine feet in the rear of the bench was partitioned off into jury rooms. Two rows of slips made in the style of those erected in the churches, filled the room outside the bar, and accommodated three hun- dred persons. The entire edifice, including the pediment and four fluted columns in front, was built in the Grecian Doric order of architecture. The public square, jail and court house were furnished by the citizens of West Rockford without the outlay of a dollar by the county. The stone building in which the county records were kept, was built in 1851. All these buildings have been removed from the square.
The first term of court held in the new building was in August, 1844. The presiding judge was Thomas C. Brown; James Mitchell, clerk; G. A. Sanford, sheriff. Many bright stars in the legal firmament of that day practiced in Winnebago county. Belvidere, Freeport, Galena and Chicago sent their best talent. The famous "Mat." Carpenter, of Wisconsin, came to Rockford on professional business half a century ago.
CHAPTER XXXI.
PLAN OF SECESSION AND PROPOSED ANNEXATION TO WISCONSIN.
SI IXTY years ago Winnebago county figured prominently in a movement of secession from Illinois, for the purpose of annexation to Wisconsin. Thefew surviving settlers of northern Illinois will recall the prolonged controversy over the northern boundary of the state. This agitation covered the entire period between the admission of Illinois in 1818, and the admission of Wisconsin thirty years later. The story forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the commonwealth. The final adjustment is a perpetual witness to the prophetic genius of Nathaniel Pope, the territorial representative of Illinois in congress. In the light of subsequent history, it was nothing less than genius that enabled this man, alone and unchallenged, to add fifty miles to the northern boundary of Illinois; and thus make her, with her commercial metropolis on the lake front, the keystone in the magnificent arch of great western states. As a statesman and patriot, Nathaniel Pope is worthy to be placed at the head of the illustrious column which includes Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Yates and Logan.
This movement was widespread, and the feeling at times was intense, and even bitter. The war cry of "fifty-four forty or fight" did not more thoroughly arouse the enthusiastic Democracy over the Oregon boundary line fifty-six years ago, than did this inter-state controversy enkindle the sectional prejudices of the settlers in the disputed territory. The village of Rockford played quite a part in this struggle. There was brought to light in this city about a year ago a copy of the official proceedings of a mass meeting held in Rockford July 6, 1840. This convention was composed of delegates from the northern fourteen counties of the state. Its purpose was seces- sion from Illinois and annexation to the proposed new state of Wisconsin.
History has never fully explained the causes of this move- ment. Tradition alone has interpreted its true animus. The
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REASONS FOR THE MOVEMENT.
apparent motive was a restoration of the boundary line as originally established between the two states that might be formed of the territory north of an east-and-west line running through the southerly bend of Lake Michigan. This line, it was claimed, had been arbitrarily and unfairly extended fifty miles north when Illinois became a state.
The real reasons for this movement were two: First, the settlers in the northern and the southern portions of the state had little or no interest in common. The northern portion was settled principally by people who had come from New England and New York. They were industrious, thrifty and progressive. They built towns and cities as by magic. The southern part of Illinois was settled by emigrants from the slave-holding states. They were generally poor, as the well-to-do people did not emi- grate. In those days the poor man in the south was scarcely above the Negro in the social scale. This class came into south- ern Illinois from slave-holding states to escape the limitations of their former poverty. Between the people of the southern and the northern portions of the state was a great gulf fixed. Each misunderstood the other. The Illinois and Michigan canal was opposed by the people of southern Illinois for fear it would flood the state with Yankees. This conflict of interest and opinion was a continuation of the struggle between the civilizations of Plymouth and Jamestown. The Puritan and the class distinctions of the cavalier had entered the western arena, where a few years later Lincoln and Douglas fought the historic battle of the century.
The second reason for this sectional divorcement was the desire of the northern people to escape the burden of the enor- mous state debt, which had been created by the gigantic scheme of internal improvements. In 1840, during Governor Carlin's administration, the total debt of the state, principal and inter- est, was fourteen million six hundred and sixty-six thousand five hundred and sixty-two dollars and forty-two cents. The treasury was bankrupt; the revenue was insufficient ; the people were not able to pay high taxes, and the state had borrowed itself out of credit. The state never repudiated its debt, but it simply could not pay it at that time. Moreover, thestate had little to show for this vast expenditure. Southern Illinois dominated the state, and the people in the sparsely settled northern counties were not responsible for the creation of the state debt.
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
Such was the condition of affairs when the massconvention was held in Rockford in the summer of 1840. In order to more fully understand the historic situation at that time, it will be necessary to briefly refer to the document which gave a plausible pretext to the separatist movement. This was the ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory, adopted in 1787. This ordinance provided for the division of this vast area for territorial purposes, which of course had no bearing upon the present matter. It further provided that not more than two states should be formed from the territory north of an east-and-west line running through the southerly bend of Lake Michigan.
In 1818 Illinois Territory petitioned congress for admission into the union on an equality with the original states. The petition defined the northern boundary of the state in accord- ance with the provisions of the ordinance of 1787. When the petition came before congress, Mr. Pope was instructed by the committee to report a bill in pursuance of the petition. Before the bill became a law it was amended by the extension of the boundary line from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan to forty-two degrees thirty minutes. Thus was added to Illinois a territory fifty miles from north to south, which now includes the northern fourteen counties of the state. These important and radical changes were proposed and carried through both houses of congress by Mr. Pope, entirely on his own personal responsibility. The territorial legislature had not petitioned for them, but the great and lasting advantage was so apparent that the action of Mr. Pope received the unqualified endorse- ment of the people.
When Wisconsin began to aspire to statehood, it was upon the language of the ordinance of 1787, above quoted, which was declared a compact to remain forever unalterable, that our northern neighbor based her claim to the territory north of the original line.
This question of boundary became an issue in local politics, and it was not until 1848, when Wisconsin became a state, that all hope of the restoration of the original line was abandoned.
In accordance with this widespread movement, which is said to have begun at Galena, a mass meeting was held at the Rockford House, in Rockford, July 6, 1840. One hundred and twenty delegates, who represented the entire territory in dis- pute, were in attendance. Among the supporters from Rockford
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THE ROCKFORD CONVENTION.
and the immediate vicinity were Dr. J. C. Goodhue, William E. Dunbar, Jason Marsh, Thomas D. Robertson, Horace Miller, Dr. Levi Moulthrop, Alonzo Corey, John W. Taylor, and Ger- manicus Kent, of Rockford ; Daniel H. Whitney and James M. Loop, of Belvidere; and Martin P. Sweet, of Freeport. Dr. Goodhue was chosen permanent chairman of the convention.
One committee was appointed to prepare an address to the people of the disputed territory. A second committee was instructed to report resolutions declaratory of the right of Wisconsin to the territory in dispute. The preamble declared that it was the general if not the universal belief of the residents of the tract of territory in dispute, that the same by right and by law is a part of the Territory of Wisconsin; and that their interests would be advanced by the restoration of the original line, as defined by the ordinance of 1787.
The resolutions declared first, that it was the opinion of the meeting that the intention of the framers of the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, was that if congress formed one or two states north of the east-and- west line above mentioned, that the states south of the line should not extend north and beyond it; second, that congress, in thus extending the northern boundary of Illinois, transcended its power and violated the provisions of the ordinance.
It was also resolved that if the governor of Wisconsin Ter- ritory should issue a proclamation for an election of delegates to a convention for the formation of a state government, under the resolutions relating to the southern boundary, approved January 13, 1840, the citizens of the territory in dispute should elect delegates to the convention, according to the ratio fixed by the resolution.
The sixth resolution provided that a central committee of five be appointed to carry into effect the resolutions of the convention, and to inform the executive of Wisconsin of the status of public opinion. It was finally resolved that a copy of the proceedings of the convention should be signed by the president and secretary and forwarded to the governor of the Territory of Wisconsin.
Other boundary conventions were held in various parts of the district. A convention at Oregon City, January 22, 1842, adopted resolutions similar to those approved at Rockford eighteen months earlier. The delegates even went to the point of declaring that the ordinance of 1787 should not be changed
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
without the consent of the people of the original states, and of the Northwest Territory.
A meeting was held in Galena, March 18, 1842, of which Charles S. Hempstead was president. Strong resolutions were adopted. One declared that the annexation of the district to Illinois was au unlawful, arbitrary proceeding, and a dangerous precedent.
In June, 1842, the commissioners' court of Winnebago county submitted this questiou to a popular vote of the county at the August election. Thereturns were as follows : For annex- ation to Wisconsin, nine hundred and seventy-one; opposed to annexation, six.
A meeting of the citizens of Belvidere was held September 7, 1842, when it was decided to call a special election for the fourth Monday in September, in pursuance of the recommenda- tion contained in the proclamation of Governor Doty, of the Territory of Wisconsin. Such an election was held, with a result similar to that in Winnebago county.
This prolonged agitation accomplished no result. The movement suddenly lost its momentum and became a spent force. The esssential principle involved in the resolutions that were adopted at Oregon City was whether the congress of the United States under the constitution, had no power to amend a prior act of confederated states. In view of the subsequent evolution of the federal idea, under the splendid leadership of Webster and Marshall, it seems surprising that such a prepos- terous claim should have been seriously considered.
The beneficent results arising from the policy of Nathaniel Pope and the failure of the separatists are incalculable. No reflections are cast upon those who desired separation. They acted from worthy motives, but they could not foresee the future. Time has shown their error to have been that of judg- ment rather than of heart. The people of Wisconsin, however, have never been fully reconciled to the situation. From the standpoint of state pride, it may be said that in the collapse of the movement was the magnificent city of Chicago, "the queen of the north and the west," saved to Illinois. The wealthiest, most populous and progressive counties were preserved to our commonwealth, which has become the pride of the nation. In 1840 the people of northern Illinois were more in sympathy with the ideas and institutions of Wisconsin, because they had a common origin in the east. With the lapse of time the two
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ILLINOIS A PIVOTAL STATE.
portions of the state have been wrought into a bond of indis- soluble unity.
Moreover, there were national reasons why Illinois should not be dismembered. In all previous confederated republics there had been danger of dissolution. Illinois, by reason of her geographical position, is a pivotal state. With a port on the chain of lakes, her western shore bounded by the Father of Waters, and her southern and eastern borders drained by the Wabash and the Ohio, the commercial power of the Prairie State extends southward to the gulf, and eastward to the sea. Mr. Pope foresaw that none of the states in the west could ven- ture a dissolution of the union without the assistance of a state which nature had planned should be large and powerful.
Nathaniel Pope belongs to the roll of forgotten statesmen. The sphere of his activity was limited. He did not in his dav receive the recognition to which he was entitled. He builded wiser than he knew. He foresaw possibilities which his genera- tion did not fully comprehend. In the clear light of today, that shines from the grandeur of the Prairie State, it must be said that Nathaniel Pope was a constructive statesman of the first rank.
CHAPTER XXXII.
ROCKFORD'S ATTITUDE TOWARD REPUDIATION OF STATE DEBT.
THE history of the bonded indebtedness of the states begins with the period from 1830 to 1840. At the beginning of that decade the aggregate debt of the several states amounted to only thirteen million dollars. Then began an era of extrav- agance in which certain states made enormous expenditures for internal improvements, and for funding their debts, negotiated large loans on long time. Within the twelve years succeeding 1830 the aggregate debt of the states had arisen to more than two hundred millions, an increase of more than sixteen hundred per cent.
As a relief from this burden, several states repudiated their debts. The constitution of the United States prohibits a state from passing laws "impairing the obligation of contracts;" and the supreme court had repeatedly affirmed that this clause includes cases to which the several states may be parties.
These decisions, however, indicated that the value of this contract clause depends upon other laws which provide for the enforcement of contracts. If a state owe a debt, her obligation depends upon existing laws for the enforcement of contracts against the state. If there are no such laws, the contract, though legal, may be practically worthless, if the state chooses to dis- regard its provisions. Under these circumstances, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia actually repudiated their debts.
Illinois narrowly escaped the odium of repudiation. Atthis critical period Thomas Ford became governor. On this point he says in his History of Illinois: "It is my solemn belief that when I came into office, I had the power to make Illinois a repu- diating state." After July, 1841, no effort was made to pay even the interest on the debt; and her bonds declined to four- teen cents on the dollar. Ford was elected governor in 1842; and his title to fame securely rests upon the fact that he stemmed the tide, so that the larger portion of the debt was actually paid during his administration.
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GOVERNOR FORD.
Notwithstanding the fact that the citizens of Winnebago county desired annexation to Wisconsin, in part by reason of this debt, there was no attempt made to repudiate the debt so long as they remained in the state. On the other hand, the citizens took an unequivocal position against such a ruinous policy. A call was issued for a meeting February 5, 1842, to consider the condition of the public credit. This call was signed by S. M. Church, S. D. Preston, George S. Haskell, Germanicus Kent, D. S. Haight, G. A. Sanford, Francis Burnap and others. It had been surmised that Illinois would refuse to pay its debt. This call was endorsed by a vigorous editorial in the Rockford Pilot, which closed with these words: "As this is a question of vital consideration to every citizen, we trust that a full attend- ance will be had on that occasion-that by your presence and your voices you may show to the world your opinion in regard to these surmises. Think not that your individual credit is independent of that of your state and nation. All power and all public acts emanate directly from the people, who are the sovereigns of the republic; and whatever honor or shame falls to your state, must be shared among you." The citizens' meet- ing was in sympathy with this editorial comment; and the moral influence of Winnebago county was thus placed on record against a repudiating policy that would have brought the state into everlasting disgrace.
Governor Thomas Ford, whom the people of Illinois should ever hold in grateful remembrance, was born at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1800. He held various civil offices in his adopted state. In 1841 he was assigned as judge to the sixth judicial circuit, and while serving in Ogle county in this capac- ity, he received notice of his nomination for governor by the Democratic convention. He was elected in August, 1842, and was inaugurated in the following December. Governor Ford's History of Illinois is a readable and entertaining book, and will increase in value with the lapse of time. Governor Ford died at Peoria, November 2, 1850. The abject poverty of his last days was declared by the Mormons to be directly due to the curses pronounced against him by their prophet, Joseph Smith. Like many other illustrious men, Governor Ford com- bined intemperate habits with a high sense of official honor.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE LYCEUM .- SETTLERS OF THE EARLY FORTIES .- MINOR NOTES.
T HE lyceum was one of the popular institutions in the early days. The lecture bureau was unknown, and the opportu- nities for intellectual improvement were limited. A celebrated Frenchman said that when he wanted a new book, he wrote one. So the earlier residents of the village were dependent upon their own resources for literary entertainment. In this day the debating club is usually a feature of the district school; but sixty years ago the professional men of the village found recre- ation and profit in the arena of debate. Among the questions discussed in the winters of 1841-43 were the following: Is the British government justifiable in waging the present war with China? Would a protective tariff be sound policy for this gov- ernment? Are we morally bound to abstain from all intoxi- cating drinks? Is Rock river a young river? The membership of the lyceum included Dr. Goodhue, Charles Latimer, James M. Wight, Anson S. Miller, Francis Burnap, Jason Marsh, J. A. Brown, William P. Dennis, Cyrus F. Miller, S. M. Church, Charles I. Horsman, T. D. Robertson, W. E. Dunbar, and other representative citizens. During the winter of 1840-41 James M. Wight delivered a lecture on The March of Mind, and Mr. Burnap gave two addresses on The Rise and Progress of Law.
The Whig Hill Lyceum considered its organization of such importance as to have it entered on the records of the county commissioners' court. Ata meeting held at the home of Milton Kilburn, there was a debate on this grave problem: Which is the better citizen, the thief or the liar? The question never seems to have been authoritatively settled, and it is said the two classes are known to still exist.
Another society was the Mechanics' and Artisans' Institute. At one meeting it wrestled with the problem: Ought the con- gress of the United States to enact a general bankrupt law? After a lapse of more than half a century, and with the light of several experiments, it is still an open question, from a moral point of view.
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LAWYERS OF EARLY FORTIES.
Orrin Miller came to Rockford in 1843, and engaged in the practice of law. He was a brilliant and able attorney. Mr. Miller married a daughter of Willard Wheeler. About 1871 he removed to the Pacific coast. His death occurred at Pomona, near Los Angeles, in February, 1891. He was about seventy years of age. His remains were brought to Rockford for inter- ment. Mr. Miller was a cousin of Mrs. William Brown.
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