USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, from the first settlement in 1834 to the civil war > Part 32
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E. H. Potter & Company and Edward N. Kitchel were also in the banking business on the East side. These banks, with Roberson & Holland, founded in 1848, and Mr. Horsman's
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
bank, established in 1852, and which have been noted in preced- ing chapters, complete the roster of Rockford banks to 1861. It was a day of unstable currency, when "wild-cat" money was abundant, but worthless. This fact made banking a precarious business as compared with the splendid system of today.
In 1852 the first party of Swedish emigrants arrived in Rockford. They left their native land with no thought of com- ing to this city. Some were destined for Chicago, but upon arriving there, they were told there were better opportunities in the country. About twenty-five came to Rockford in 1852. Among these were S. A. Johnson, John Nelson, Andrew Hollem, P. G. Hollem, Alexander Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Hokan- son, P. A. Peterson, Sr., and wife, P. A. Peterson, Jr., Claus Peterson. John Stibb came in 1854. His son, Frank G., was the first male born in Rockford of Swedish parents, and Mrs. Augusta Lind, daughter of Jonas Anderson, was the first female. Emigrants continued to arrive annually for some years. The cholera in 1853-54 checked emigration, and later the civil war had the same result; and it was not until 1867 that the greatest Swedish emigration was reached in a single year. The Swedish early settlers have a society, whose records are kept in their native language.
In June, 1852, the Rock River Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany was granted a charter by the legislature. The company did quite a business for a time, but it was finally unsuccessful.
In 1853 the three-story, double-store brick block on the southwest corner of State and First streets, was built by Abra- ham I. Enoch, and his brother-in-law, Daniel Davis. Mr. Davis was a "forty-niner," and returned from California with quite an amount of ready money.
At the election in November, 1854, Wait Talcott was elected state senator; William Lyman, reprepresentative; John F. Taylor, sheriff; A. A. Chamberlain, sheriff.
Under a statute of February 27, 1854, the judge of the county court of Winnebago county was given jurisdiction in law and chancery, where the amount involved did not exceed one thousand dollars. This law was repealed February 12, 1863.
The earnings of the Galena & Chicago Union railroad for August, 1854, were $103,000. The earnings for the corres- ponding month the preceding year were $48,000.
CHAPTER LXV.
ROCKFORD SETTLERS 1851-54.
IN the early history of the county, Rockton, by reason of its water-power, was a rival of Rockford. As the latter began to forge more rapidly to the front, several of the settlers of Rockton from time to time sought the larger opportunities of the county seat. This exodus from the northern neighbor might be called the Rockton migration. Among those who came from Rockton to Rockford were James M. and J. Ambrose Wight and William Hulin, to whom reference has been made in early chapters, and Seely Perry, Jesse Blinn and Wait Talcott.
Seely Perry was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, August 22, 1822, and was graduated from Union college at Schenectady in 1845. Mr. Perry came to Rockton in 1849, and in 1851 he settled in Rockford. After teaching one year he engaged in the lumber trade, in which he has continued for nearly half a century. In 1846 Mr. Perry married Elizabeth Benedict, who died in 1874. She was the mother of Lewis Seely, and Mrs. Eva Moore, of St. Louis. In 1876 Mr. Perry married Marie Thompson. They have one daughter, Miss Marie. Mr. Perry was elected mayor of Rockford in 1858 and served one term. He is now the oldest living ex-mayor of the city. Mr. Perry has also served the city as alderman, member of the board of education, and a director of the public library.
Jesse Blinn was born in 1809 in Vermont, and from there he removed to Conneaut, Ohio. He came to Rockton in 1838; in 1850 he settled in Rockford, and his family a yearlater. He opened the first exclusive hardware store in the city. His stock invoiced $10,000. He subsequently became a manufacturer on the water-power, to which reference has been made. Mr. Blinn died in 1879. Mrs. Blinn is a native of New Hampshire. She is descended from Lord James Louden, whose estate is still pre- served in Scotland. Mrs. Blinn has some autograph lines writ- ten by Robert Burns, commemorating his visit to Louden cas- tle. Joshua R. Giddings was entertained at Mr. Blinn's home when he made a political address in Rockford in 1854. Mrs. Blinn is residing with her daughter, Mrs. H. P. Holland.
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
Ralph Emerson was the son of Rev. Ralph Emerson, a Con- gregational clergyman, and a professor in Andover theologi- cal seminary, the oldest Congregational divinity school in the country. Another son is Professor Joseph Emerson, of Beloit. Mr. Emerson was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1831. He came to Rockford in 1852, and was later a partner with Jesse Blinn in the hardware business until they became interested in the water-power. The Emerson company has proved one of the most successful manufacturers in the west. This result may be attributed to Mr. Emerson's unusual executive ability. He has made a generous use of his large wealth in contributions to various religious enterprises. Mr. Emerson married Adaline Talcott, a daughter of Hon. Wait Talcott. They have had eight children. Two sons died in infancy, and in 1889 Ralph was killed by falling from a building during a fire on the water- power. Their daughters are Mrs. Adaline E. Thompson, Mrs. Harriet E. Hinchliff, Mrs. Mary Lathrop, Mrs. Belle E. Keith, and Mrs. Dora B. Wheeler, whose husband is a professor of biology in the University of Texas. In April, 1900, Mrs. Emer- son was appointed by Governor Tanner to represent Illinois as a commissioner at the Paris exposition.
Hon. Wait Talcott was a son of William Talcott, and was born at Hebron, Connecticut, October 17, 1807. He came to Rockton in the autumn of 1838. He was one of the incor- porators of Beloit college and Rockford seminary. In 1854 he came to Rockford and began his career as a manufacturer on the water-power with his brother, Sylvester. In 1854 he was elected state senator from the district comprising Winnebago, Carroll, Boone and Ogle counties. Upon the passage of the in- ternal revenue act, President Lincoln appointed Mr. Talcott commissioner of internal revenue for the Second congressional district. This appointment was dated August 27, 1862, and Mr. Talcott served five years. Mr. Talcott preserved files of Chicago and Rockford newspapers, and upon his death, which occurred November 7, 1890, his son William A. Talcott, pre- sented them in excellent bound condition 'to the Rockford public library.
John S. Coleman was a native of Delaware county, New York. In 1851 he removed with his family to Rockford and became a member of the banking firm of Robertson, Coleman & Company. He built the stone house on North Main street, now owned by William Nelson. Mr. Coleman was a trustee of Rock-
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JAMES L. LOOP-WILLIAM LATHROP.
ford seminary and treasurer of the board, and a member of the city council. He was a man of high character and unostenta- tious life and manner, and his death was deeply mourned by the community. Mr. Coleman died April 6, 1864, in his fifty- eighth year.
James L. Loop was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1815. He settled in Belvidere in 1838, and some years later he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Stephen A. Hurl- but, in the practice of law. He was prosecuting attorney for the northern district of Illinois in 1843-5. From 1846 to 1850 Mr. Loop was secretary of the Illinois and Michigan canal, which office he resigned. In 1852 Mr. Loop removed to Rockford and formed a law partnership with William Lathrop. In 1856 he was elected mayor of Rockford and served one term. Mr. Loop's death occurred February 8, 1865, when he was fifty years of age. The remains were taken to Belvidere for burial. By the common consent of the Rockford bar, James L. Loop possessed the finest legal ability of any man who ever practiced in this city. His intellect was strong and his resources were at his instant command. His grasp of legal principles was due to his acute, intuitive sense of what was right between man and man, which was a gift from nature. Mr. Loop was always the genial gentleman. Like so many other gifted men, he was his own worst enemy, and his sad, untimely death was an impres- sive object lesson that strong drink is no respecter of persons.
William Lathrop is a native of Genesee county, New York. He came to Rockford in January, 1851. He was a partner with James L. Loop from 1853 to 1857. In 1856 Mr. Lathrop was elected a member of the legislature, and served one term. In 1876 he succeeded Stephen A. Hurlbut as member of congress from the Fourth district, and served one term. During his long residence in Rockford Mr. Lathrop has enjoyed a large and lucrative legal practice. His clientele has come from the influ- ential portion of the community. He has in some respects the finest law library in the city, and the author takes pleasure in acknowledging his obligations to Mr. Lathrop for the free use of his library and for information personally given. Mr. Lathrop married Adaline Potter, a daughter of E. H. Potter. Their children are Mrs. Anna Case, of Charles City, Iowa; Miss Julia, a member of the state board of charities, and Edward, Rob- ert and William
Hon. John Early was born in Middlesex county, Canada
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
West, March 17, 1828. In 1846 he removed with his parents to Boone county, and in 1852 he settled in Rockford. He served three terms as assessor of Rockford. In 1869 he was appointed one of the first board of trustees of the reform school at Pontiac. In 1870 Mr. Early was elected state senator from the Twenty-third district, composed of Winnebago, Boone, McHenry and Lake counties. His senatorial colleague was General Allen C. Fuller, of Belvidere. After the state had been re-districted he was elected senator in 1872, from the Ninth district, which included Winnebago and Boone counties, and again in 1874, for the full term of four years. By the election of Governor Oglesby to the United States senate and Lieuten- ant-Governor Beveridge becoming governor, Mr. Early became acting lieutenant-governor of the state. Mr. Early died Sep- tember 2, 1877. He was father of A. I). and John H. Early. Mrs. Early and Miss Bertha reside in East Rockford.
Lieutenant-Colonel Edward F. W. Ellis was born in Milton, Maine, April 15, 1819. He was admitted to the bar in Ohio. In 1849 he went to California, where he was unsuccessful in commercial speculation, and resumed the practice of law; in 1851 he was a member of the California legislature. Colonel Ellis came to Rockford in 1854 and became a member of the banking firm of Spafford, Clark & Ellis. Upon the outbreak of the civil war Colonel Ellis raised a company for the Fifteenth regiment, called the Ellis Rifles. He was chosen lieutentant- colonel, but was acting colonel at the time of his death. At the battle of Shiloh he was in command of the Fifteenth, which be- longed to General Hurlbut's division. On Monday morning his regiment was exposed to a terrible fire and Colonel Ellis was struck in the breast by a ball, and instantly expired. Colonel Ellis was a tall, noble-looking man, of much decision of charac- ter. The city of Rockford mourned his death with profound sorrow. Colonel Ellis' home was the historic homestead lately owned by Dr. W. H. Fitch, on West State street. In 1856 the property was transferred to Colonel Ellis, and there he lived with his wife and children. The latter were Blanche, now Mrs. Chandler Starr; Alma Hortense, now Mrs. Fisher, of California, and Edward. The home was always characterized by generous hospitality.
Henry P. Kimball was a native of New Hampshire, and was graduated from Rochester university. Mr. Kimball came to Rockford in 1852, and taught school for some time. He had a
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EAST STATE STREET AS SEENJIN 1855 .- Published through the courtesy of the Register-Gazette.
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DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
local reputation as a horticulturist. As secretary of the Agri- cultural Society, Mr. Kimball achieved a unique distinction as a successful fair advertiser. Upon his invitation many of the most distinguished men of the last generation visited Rockford and made addresses. Among these were General Grant, Attor- ney-General Taft, Benjamin F. Butler, John A. Logan, Chief- Justice Waite, General Martindale, Wade Hampton, James R. Doolittle, Matt Carpenter, Benjamin F. Taylor and Will Carle- ton. In 1875 Mr. Kimball invited Jefferson Davis to deliver an address. This invitation created such excitement that Mr. Davis withdrew his acceptance. Mr. Kimball married Miss Ellen, a daughter of Dr. George Haskell. Their sons are Dr. Frank H., Willis M., and Carl Kimball. Mr. Kimball died May 10, 1889, when sixty years of age.
John Nelson was a native of West Gothland, Sweden, born April 5, 1830. He came to Rockford in 1852. His life was uneventful until a short time before his death, when he perfected the Nelson knitting machine, which revolutionized the knitting of hosiery. After General Grant had returned from his tour around the world, he visited Mr. Nelson's factory, and declared that he had never seen such perfect machinery for this purpose. Mr. Nelson died April 15, 1883. The Hotel Nelson is named in his honor.
A. E. Goodwin, M. D., was born August 11, 1827, at Chel- sea, Vermont. He was graduated from Berkshire medical col- lege at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Dr. Goodwin came to Rock- ford in 1854. During the civil war he was a surgeon in the Elev- enth Illinois infantry and in the One Hundred and Eighth. He was wounded at Vicksburg. Dr. Goodwin wasa member of the city board of education and of the public library board. Dr. Goodwin died May 14, 1889. His only surviving child is Mrs. Robert Rew.
Chester C. Briggs was a native of Vermont. He was born in Dover, September 6, 1817. He was graduated from Dart- mouth college, and edited the Green Mountain Freeman, an anti-slavery paper. In 1853 Mr. Briggs came to Rockford and became the senior member of the banking firm of Briggs, Spaf- ford & Penfield. He was subsequently financial manager of the Kenosha Railroad company. In 1868 he became associated with the firm of Briggs, Mead & Skinner, in the manufacture of agricultural implements. The firm name was later changed to Briggs & Enoch. Mr. Briggs died January 24, 1892.
V
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
James G. Manlove was a native of Dover, Delaware, where he was born December 15, 1812. He was admitted to the bar in Wisconsin, and settled in Rockford in 1851, and began the practice of law. He held the offices of police magistrate, justice of the peace, town clerk and alderman, and the confidence which the people reposed in him is attested by his repeated elections as town clerk and justice of the peace. Mr. Manlove died November 6, 1891.
Robert P. Lane, M. D., was born in Hopewell, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1818. He studied medicine with an uncle in his native state. Dr. Lane came to Rockford in 1851. He was a leader in the organization of the Rockford water- power company, and gave his personal attention to the con- struction of the dam. He was a member of the banking firm of Lane, Sanford & Company; one of the organizers of the Second National bank, and continuously served as its president from 1864 until 1881, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Rockford Insurance Company. He had a fine personal presence and unusual suavity. He served as a member of the library board and was senior warden of the Episcopal church for forty years. Dr. Lane died March 7, 1891.
Anthony Haines was a native of Marietta, Pennsylvania, born April 21, 1829. He came to Rockford in 1854, and formed a partnership with Elisha A. Kirk for buying and ship- ping grain over the Kenosha railroad. In 1880 he, with other gentlemen, organized the Rockford Street Railway company, of which he was elected president and general manager. Mr. Haines, at the time of his death in 1898, was vice-president of the Manufacturers National Bank.
Charles O. Upton was born in North Reading, Massachusetts, in 1832, and came to Rockford in 1854. Mr. Upton has been prominent in the banking business of the city. He was a direc- tor of the Second National bank twenty years and the last two years was its vice-president. In 1889 he led in the organiza- tion of the Manufacturers National Bank, and was its presi- dent ten years. Mr. Upton served the public in the city council, on the county board, and as treasurer of Rockford one term. He now resides in Chicago.
Carlton W. Sheldon is a native of New York, born in Victor March 14, 1828. He came to Rockford in 1852, entered the law office of Jason Marsh, and was admitted to the bar in the autumn of the same year. In 1869 he entered the employ of
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LEADER IN FOUNDING LIBRARY.
the Rockford Insurance Company as adjuster, and remained five years, and in 1874 he was elected secretary of the Forest City Insurance company, and held this position five years, when he resumed the practice of law. Mr. Sheldon has four chil- dren : Charles E., George, Mrs. Dora S. Hart, and Miss Ethel.
Isaac Utter was a native of New York. He came to Rock- ford in 1852, and formed a partnership with Orlando Clark, on the water-power. For twenty-one years he was associated with Levi Rhoades, in the manufacture of paper. Mr. Utter was a stockholder in the People's Bank and in the Winnebago and the Second National. He was a man of great energy, and good judgment in business affairs. Mr. Utter died May 7, 1888. He was father of Mrs. J. M. Fraley.
Alexander D. Forbes was born in Perthshire, Scotland, December 13, 1831. He came to Rockford in 1854, and in partnership with his father, Duncan Forbes, began busi- ness on the water-power. In 1864 they established the first malleable iron works west of Cincinnati. The father died in 1871. Mr. Forbes is now president of the People's bank.
Major Elias Cosper was born in Worcester, Ohio, in 1824. He came to Rockford in 1854, and entered the banking house of Robertson, Coleman & Company, as teller, and in 1857 he became its cashier. Upon the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Cosper sold his interest in the bank and entered the service with Company E, Seventy-fourth regiment. After the battle of Chickamauga he was promoted to the rank of major and pay- master of the army. Upon his return to civil life, Mr. Cosper, in company with T. D. Robertson, Melancthon Starr, and John P. Manny, organized the John P. Manny Reaper Company, and was its manager. Since 1874 Mr. Cosper has been connected with the Rockford Tack Company, and is its secretary and treasurer. Mr. Cosper may be called the father of the public library. He spent much time in soliciting subscriptions and was a member of the board of directors for more than twenty years. Mr. Cosper has a fine private library of about thirteen hundred volumes.
John G. Penfield is a native of Vermont and settled in Rockford in 1854. Since that time he has been continuously in business as a broker and dealer in real estate and insurance. Mrs. Penfield gave thelot to the First Congregational church on which the parsonage now stands. They have three daughters: Mrs. Charles E. Sheldon, Mrs. Helen Revelle and Miss Kate.
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
William A. Knowlton was a native of Chautauqua county, New York, and removed to the west when a young man. He came to Rockford in 1853 from Freeport, Illinois. After the death of J. H. Manny, Mr. Knowlton became business agent for Mrs. Manny. He retained this position several years, and was eminently successful. Mr. Knowlton was subsequently engaged in various manufacturing enterprises. He sustained financial reverses, and in the autumn of 1891 he removed to Chicago, where he died September 17th of the following year. Mr. Knowlton was sixty years of age. His surviving family consisted of Mrs. Knowlton and five children : Mrs. Helen Gib- son, Mrs. Fred S. Hardy, Misses Evaline and Mary, and William A. Knowlton, Jr. Miss Evaline recently died in the east.
John P. Manny was born in Amsterdam, New York, March 8, 1823. He settled at Waddam's Grove, Stephenson county, in 1842. He came to Rockford in 1852, and for several years he manufactured knife sections for J. H. Manny's machines. Early in the sixties he perfected several inventions, which were handled by N. C. Thompson. After the war Mr. Manny became interested in the John P. Manny Company, in which he was associated with Elias Cosper, T. D. Robertson and Melancthon Starr. This company and Mr. Thompson paid him royalties upon his inventions, and the Mississippi river was the dividing line between their respective territories. Mr. Manny's income from this source was at one time forty thousand dollars a year. He purchased the John S. Coleman estate on North Main street, which was his home for many years. This property is now owned by William Nelson. While residing at Waddam's Grove Mr. Manny married Miss Eunice Hicks. George J. was their only son who attained his majority. He died in 1892, leaving one son, Dwight, an employe of the Winnebago National Bank. Miss Florida Manny, a daughter, is also a resident of the city. Mrs. J. P. Manny died in 1864, and in 1867 Mr. Manny married a daughter of Melancthon Starr. They had four children : Mrs. Charles Sackett, John Starr Manny, Virginia and Henry Manny. Mr. Manny died November 16, 1897.
Among other well-known citizens who came to Rockford during this period were: Horace Brown, T. J. L. Remington, 1850; J. M. Southgate, Andrew G. Lowry, Horace Buker, 1852; Jacob Hazlett, D. A. Barnard, Samuel Ferguson, 1853 ; Henry Fisher, Melancthon Smith, T. W. Carrico, William and George R. Forbes, 1854.
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CHAPTER LXVI.
THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
T "HE free public school system of Illinois dates from 1855.
In December, 1853, a large common school convention met at Jerseyville, composed of many adjoining counties, and oneat Bloomington, for the whole state. These movements produced results. The general assembly, which met the following Febru- ary, separated the office of state superintendent of public instruction from that of secretary of state, and made it a dis- tinct department of the state government. The state superin- tendent was required to draft a bill embodying a system of free education for all the children of the state, and report to the next general assembly. March 15, 1854, Governor Matteson appointed Hon. N. W. Edwards, state superintendent. In the following January Mr. Edwards presented a bill which became a law February 15, 1855. For state purposes the school tax was fixed at two mills on the one hundred dollars. To this was added the interest from the permanent school fund. A free school was required to be maintained for at least six months in each year, and it was made imperative upon the directors of every school district to levy the necessary tax. Thus the free school system of Illinois began when the taxing power of the state was invoked in its behalf.
The school law was bitterly opposed, and narrowly escaped repeal. Sir William Berkeley, the royal governor of Virginia, said in 1670 : "I thank God there are no free schools nor print- ing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years." The spirit of this pious wish prevailed in southern Illinois ; and there was a repetition of the old conflict between the two dis- tinct classes of people in the two portions of the state. The southern portion was poor, while the northern portion was well- to-do; and it was only as it was made to appear to the south- ern portion that it was receiving more from the state school fund than it was contributing, that the people acquiesced in the law.
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HISTORY OF ROCKFORD AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
The charter of 1854 had conferred upon the city council of Rockford full power over its schools. June 20, 1855, the coun- cil passed its first school ordinance under the new school law. The city was divided into two school districts: East side, number one; West side, number two. A board of school in- spectors was appointed, consisting of George Haskell, A. S. Mil- ler, and Jason Marsh, after whom the Marsh school was named. In December the board voted to purchase of A. W. Freeman his lease of the basement of the First Baptist church for a school in district number two. Mr. Freeman was employed to teach at $800 per year. At the same time H. Sabin was engaged for the first district, and the old court house on the East side was leased.
The council had provided by ordinance for a school agent for each district, whose acts were to be approved by the coun- cil. July 27, 1855, the agent for the first district was author- ized to purchase from Solomon Wheeler, the tract on which the Adams school now stands. September 10th a contract was made for the construction of the building. April 28, 1856, a contract was made for a schoolhouse in the second dis- trict, on the site of the Lincoln school; the contractors were E. N. House, M. H. Regan, and James B. Howell. The progress of the buildings was delayed by unfavorable weather, and the late arrival of school furniture.
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