USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > History of Stephenson County, Illinois : a record of its settlement, organization, and three-quarters of a century of progress > Part 15
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The speakers stand had been erected at the head of Chicago Street, on the rolling place just west of Judge Purinton's place. About the stands was a sea of heads above which were waving banners and devices, presenting a scene long to be remembered, and one which filled the hearts of all lovers of freedom and human rights with joy and fresh courage."
At one o'clock Hon. Thomas J. Turner was elected president. There were about 20 vice presidents and 6 secretaries. The crowd was so large that three orators spoke simultaneously : Hon. David Moogle, of Wisconsin, at the main stand. To the right was S. A. Hulbert of Belvidere, to the left Hon. E. B. Wash- burn. Mr. N. P. Banks also spoke and according to the Journal it "was one of the most eloquent speeches to which we ever listened. Hon. E. B. Washburn made part of his addresses to the Germans in their own language. "The Galena Turn- ers were here in a body. They were joined by the Freeport Turners and made a fine appearance. A company of cavalry, made up of two or three hundred young republicans, lead the parade. A large delegation came from Lee County on the train. The good order of the day was remarked by all. No drunken
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men were seen staggering about the streets and there was no rowdyism. It was a glorious demonstration."
In the evening a mass meeting was held at the courthouse and the speakers were McLean, Turner, Smith and others.
BANNERS.
Banners were the order of the day in political celebrations and this one was conspicuous for its wonderful banners and devices.
Buchanan democracy was represented on one banner by a line, "Collo'd possum chained and shackeled, on the top of the banner. The Mt. Carroll Seminary was represented by a carriage of young ladies with the banner: "Mt. Carroll Seminary, Liberty and Union, Fremont." Among the banners were these:
"Our Inland Seas: We want a President who knows them."
"We keep our powder dry for disunionists."
"Die Deutsches von Ridott for Fremont and Dayton."
"Freie Arbeit & Freie Kansas."
"No old bachelors in the White House. Fremont, Jessie and the Union."
"No more Slave States."
"No Compromise with Slavery."
"No Comprise with Slavery."
"Up Freeman and at em. Music. Star-spangled banner."
It was estimated the big crowd numbered 35,000 to 50,000 by some of the newspapers. Some who attended the Fremont convention and the Lincoln-Doug- las debate maintained that the former drew the larger crowd. The great crowd was evidence that the newly born republican party was a lusty youngster.
CAMPAIGN OF 1860.
The enthusiasm of the campaign of 1860 is shown in the headlines in the Wide Awake, October 20, 1860:
Republican Jubilee.
Freeport All Ablaze.
The Douglas Wake Eclipsed, Two to One.
1,500 to 2,000 Torches. Brilliant Illuminations. Fire Works.
Grand Procession.
Great Enthusiasm.
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German Mounted Rangers.
400 in Sherman Procession.
Hon. J. C. Kean Declares For Lincoln.
Innumerable Banners.
Seven Bands of Music.
Speeches by Washburne, Sweet & Shaffer.
Stephenson Good for 1,000 Majority For Old Abe.
Oh Ain't I Glad I Joined the Republicans.
ITEM, 1860.
The county gave Lincoln nearly 900 majority and Freeport gave him 205 in 1860.
THE RAILROAD-THE END OF PIONEER TIMES.
The invention of the steam engine and the building of railroads in the east pointed the way for the rapid development of Illinois. Little progress could be made in any large way so long as supplies and crops must be hauled to and from such a distant market as Chicago by horse and ox teams. The interior coun- ties had advanced about as far as they could without a better means of trans- portation. The legislature of Illinois was possessed with the idea of internal improvements. In 1837 the legislature appropriated ten million dollars for a system of railroads and other improvements. The state borrowed money and work was begun. A heavy debt was contracted, fifty miles of railroad were built and the state rapidly approached bankruptcy. The state's credit was dam- aged. There was some talk of repudiating the debt. This disgrace was pre- vented largely through the foresight and ability of Governor Thomas Ford, and the honor of Illinois was saved.
The first railroad in the United States was built in 1826, between Albany and Schenectady in New York. Illinois jumped early into the railroad business. A line was built from Meredosia to Springfield at a cost of $1,000,000, and later sold for $100,000. The first locomotive to run in the Mississippi valley ran over eight miles of this road in 1838, twelve years after the first railroad was op- erated in the United States. But the state indebtedness of $14,666,562.42 ac- companied by bank suspensions, a depreciated currency and talk of repudiation, gave a decided check to the dream of state railroading. The next undertak- ings were to be by private capital with state and national aid.
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By 1850 the Chicago and Galena railroad was completed as far as Elgin. Capital was availabe but the people held mass meetings and determined to admit no railroads that did not make a terminus on Illinois soil.
In 1850 Congress passed the bill donating to Illinois, three million acres of public lands to aid in railroad construction. This was a turning point and broader and saner views of railroad building prevailed. In 1850 there were three pieces of railroad in Illinois ; one eight miles long from Meredosia and Na- ples to Springfield; one six miles long from the coal fields opposite St. Louis; and one from Chicago to Elgin. The act of Congress provided for a right of way through the public lands of Illinois two hundred feet wide. The road was to run from a point near the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi to the southern terminus of Illinois and Michigan Canal, and from that point in two branches to Galena and to Chicago. The railraad company was granted alter- nate sections, designated by even numbers, six sections deep from the right of way. The road was to begin simultaneously at the northern and southern ter- mini, and was to be completed in ten years. The government's odd number sec- tions at once rose in price from $1.25 to $2.50 an acre. The land was taken off the market for two years and was finally sold at an average of $5 per acre. So, although the federal government had made a great donation to Illinois, it profited itself, because its treasury was enriched by large sales of public lands at a higher rate.
Davidson and Strive's History of Illinois says: "The capitalists who or- ganized the Illinois Central Railroad Company were six men from New York and three from Boston. It was one of the most stupendous and ingenious speculations of modern times. By means of it, a few sagacious capitalists came into possession of a first class railroad, over 700 miles long and millions of acres of land worth in the aggregate, perhaps, $40,000,000 without an actual outlay of a cent of their own money. After the road is in operation the state is to receive 5% of the gross earnings in lien of all state taxes forever. When the road was completed the minimum value of the lands donated by the gov- ernment was $20,000,000, or $6,000,000 more than the cost of the road. Bonds sold readily at par and the road was built. The government realized a profit of $9,000,000 as a result of increase in land values.
THE GALENA AND CHICAGO RAILROAD.
The railroad fever reached Freeport and Stephenson County about 1845. The people were thoroughly aroused because now they saw a solution to the perplexing problem of markets and transportation. Until these problems were solved, there was no possibility of rapid progress in the county. But the rail- road would be a panacea. Not only would it bring markets and transportation ; it would bring new settlers by thousands. The new settlers and the accessible markets would cause a rise in land values, and once more the conservative op- timism of the county had dreams of a prosperous future.
There was much railroad sentiment in 1846. But it was not till January 7, 1847, that the movement for railroads took definite form. On that date a rail- road convention was held at Rockford. All northern Illinois was represented.
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Stephenson County was instrumental in calling the meeting and was well rep- resented at Rockford. Among the delegates from this county were John H. Adams, Luman Montague, Jackson Richert, D. A. Knowlton, Martin P. Sweet and Adrian P. Lucas. From Chicago came W. B. Ogden, I. N. Arnold and Walter Newbury. Chicago parties had already received a charter and this company proposed to go ahead and build the Galena and Chicago railroad. Several speeches were made at Rockford and each locality was ambitious to show why the railroad would profit by passing its way.
The railroad question soon became a question of cash. Money was scarce and capital difficult to obtain. To construct the road, it was absolutely neces- sary to sell stock along the right of way. The company told the Stephenson County people that $20,000 worth of stock must be subscribed in this county. The time had now arrived when people who wanted a railroad, could back the desire with cash.
Solicitors traveled over the county disposing of the stock. They met with a response that was quite generous, considering the tight money conditions of the times. The appreciation of the necessity of the railroad was general and women were as enthusiastic as the men. So apparent was the necessity for the railroad that both men and women were willing to sacrifice to aid the cause and hasten the day. It is said that women aided in many cases to pay for stock subscribed by selling eggs, butter and provisions. Finally the $20,000 was subscribed by Stephenson County.
The railroad was built as far as Elgin in 1850 and finally reached Belvi- dere. At this time all the difficulties and discouragements to which such an undertaking is susceptible, threatened to stop the progress of construction. In the midst of the period of discouragement, an attempt was made to turn the course of the road from the original route and send it through to Savannah. This change would leave Stephenson County entirely without a railroad. The county was at once thrust in gloom and almost in despair. Men who had urged the people to subscribe for the stock were alarmed for the blame would be fixed largely on them if it developed that the people had put $20,000 in a rail- road for some other county. People who had sacrificed by buying stock, were beginning to feel that they had been fleeced.
But there were aggressive leaders in Stephenson County who were deter- mined that the county was not to be side-tracked by such a game. A com- mittee of citizens was appointed, consisting of J. H. Adams, O. H. Wright, D. A. Knowlton, and John A. Clark, to visit Rockford and Chicago to insist that the original contract be carried out. The committee visited Rockford and made a strong impression on the influential ones there and then went on to Chi- cago. In Chicago they met the officers of the road and convinced them that the road should come on west through Freeport to Dubuque, for which they al- ready had the right of way. The committee was entirely successful, as it must have been with such men working together. It was cooperation and unity of interest and action that won the day for greater Freeport and Stephenson County. The county owes much to these men who aided materially in bring- ing the railroad into the county, for it was a question of ox teams or railroads. It owes much also to every individual who cooperated by buying stock, by back-
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ing up his ideas with his cash, and by showing a large spirit of concerted social activity.
Work soon began again on the road and slowly but surely it made its way towards Freeport.
THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL.
February 10, 1851, the Illinois State Legislature passed a law providing for the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, according to the conditions laid down by Congress. Considerable time was spent on a multitude of bills and amendments, for such a great enterprise would be naturally a good subject for cranks and grafters. Honest men had hard work to keep the transaction clear of graft and also to secure to the state its own rights. An understanding was entered into by which the Galena and Chicago road was to end at Freeport and the Illinois Central was to go on to Galena. Surveys were at once begun on the proposed lines and in 1852 made commendable progress.
To relieve the monotony of the times and to add spice to the situation, a strike occurred while the road was being built through Silver Creek Township near Crain's Grove. The men had made demands for higher wages, but their demands had been passed by unheeded. Finally the gang of workmen quit work, drank too much liquor and became disorderly. The situation was threat- ening and the company appealed to the authorities for protection of their prop- erty. The proper authorities took the matter up promptly and the local militia company, under command of Captain J. W. Crane, marched to Crain's Grove, destroyed the whiskey and suppressed the disorder. After this show of force there was no further trouble with the strikers, and the work went merrily on.
In 1854 the Galena and Chicago line was completed, through Lena to Warren.
THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL.
The original company was chartered in 1852 to build a railroad from Racine to Beloit. Racine, Elkhorn, Delevan and Beloit subscribed $490,000 worth of stock. Many farmers along the right of way also bought stock, some mortgaging their farms. In 1856 the road was completed to Beloit. The company failed to meet its obligations and a new company took charge of the road. In the reor- ganization the farmers were left out. Considerable litigation followed, but "the holders being innocent purchasers, the courts recognized their equities and the mortgagors were compelled to pay them." In 1858-9 the work of extension through Stephenson County was prosecuted with vigor. A strike occurred at "Deep Cut," but Captain Crane and his militia put a quietus on the threatened riot and destruction of property. In 1859 the road was completed to Freeport. Later it was extended to Savannah and Rock Island.
The following villages and towns were built up around Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul stations: Davis, Rock City, Dakota and Florence. The railroad passes through the townships of Rock Run, Dakota, Freeport, Silver Creek and Florence.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul thus brought steam transportation within easy reach of a large part of the county, and added the third railroad for the city of Freeport. It did its part after 1859 in developing the county. More immigrants came, the county was closely settled up along the line and land values rose.
ITEMS ON RAILROADS-FREEPORT JOURNAL.
A Stephenson County railroad meeting was held in Freeport January 14, 1850, with Jared Sheetz chairman and F. W. S. Brawley, secretary. O. H. Wright was made chairman of a committee to select delegates to the Rock- ford Railroad Convention. The following resolution was adopted: "Resolved : That we, the citizens of Stephenson County, are in favor of a tax of 1% per annum, for three years in succession, to aid in the constructing of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, provided said road is located through this county." Another . mass meeting was held January 26th, with Johnathan Reitzell as chairman.
Journal, January 14, 1850: "A plank road is to be constructed from St. Charles to the Rock River."
The Journal, Monday, January 28, 1850: "The cars are now running to El- gin, about 1/4 the distance from Chicago to Galena."
The railroad tax was vigorously opposed at the meeting January 26, 1850. The chief arguments against it were: People could not stand an additional tax; unconstitutional, could not make the county a part of an incorporal body ; would build up monopoly to enrich the few at the expense of the many.
The Galena Gazette, May, 1850: "On Friday morning there were ten teams loaded with produce here from Stephenson County."
June 14, 1850, a large and enthusiastic railroad meeting was held at the courthouse. John H. Adams was chairman and Charles Betts, secretary. Speeches were made by Hon. W. B. Ogden, president of the Galena & Chi- cago Union Railroad Co., and by Hon. Thomas J. Turner. By June 24th, through the efforts of John A. Holland of Rockford and D. A. Knowlton the stock subscription in Stephenson County reached $40,000.
The Journal, 1850, said: "It usually requires eight days and costs $24 to make a trip with grain to Chicago and return. A farmer usually hauls 40 bushels and gets $32 for it, which leaves him $8.10. This was used as an argu- ment for a railroad tax.
THE CARS ARE HERE.
Friday, August 26, 1853, the Freeport Journal had an article under the above heading. The article follows: "At last after all the disappointments and diffi- culties of reaching us, the cars have at last come. We have seen and heard the panting of the iron horse and heard the shrill whistle of the locomotive for the first time in Freeport.
Yesterday the construction train crossed the bridge over the Pecatonica and today will probably reach the depot grounds at the lower end of town. Our
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
farmers, merchants and business men will rejoice over this event heartily and hail with delight this new advance of wealth into our midst. Where, by the way, is the celebration we heard so much about? Has it fizzled ?"
September 16, 1853, the Journal says: "During the past two weeks our town has been busy, consequently, upon the completion of the railroad. Meanwhile, we want more hotels, store rooms and dwelling houses."
THE CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY-THE "CORN BELT ROUTE."
The Chicago Great Western Railroad was completed through Stephenson County in 1889. It was believed for a time that the road would enter Free- port, but this hope has never been realized and the road runs through the county south of Freeport, and along its line several important stations have been built up, such as: Bolton, Pearl City, German Valley and South Free- port. This is a rich grain section and elevators along the line do a big business. The connection with Freeport is by stage and auto-bus, meeting all passenger trains at South Freeport, three miles south of Freeport. At present, a ticket office is maintained in the "rest room," at the northwest corner of the square.
The Great Western was at first largely in the hands of English capitalists. In 1909, after a heroic struggle by President Stickney, it went into the hands of a receiver and was later bought up at a low figure by the Morgan interests of New York. This was followed by a reorganization and recapitalization. As a consequence of ample financial backing, the road at once began extensive improvements, the main feature of which was double tracking from Oelwein to Chicago. Grades are being reduced and the entire line is being reballasted with a twelve inch bed of gravel ballast under the ties. Double passing tracks are laid five miles apart, many of which are lapped sidings, interlocked at the lap. The ties are treated with creosote and efficient screw spikes are used.
A prospective interurban line from Freeport to Dixon, crossing the Great Western at South Freeport, is sure to be built some day, and then the Great Western will do considerable more passenger business from Freeport.
THE ROCKFORD & INTERURBAN RAILROAD COMPANY.
The Freeport-Rockford line of the Rockford & Interurban Railroad Co. was completed into Freeport in the spring of 1904. The road does a large pas- senger and freight business and has been a great advantage to the city and the county. Local capital aided in the construction of the road, but some time ago the company passed into the control of an eastern syndicate.
The officials are: President, H. D. Walbridge; first vice president, Emil G. Schmidt ; second vice president, T. M. Ellis ; secretary, W. H. Lemons ; treasurer, W. H. Bruner; general manager, Chester P. Wilson; general passenger agent, C. C. Shockley.
The local officials are: J. J. Brereton, agent ; and Wm. Holmes, assistant.
THE MIGRATION TO STEPHENSON COUNTY.
"They builded better than they knew."
Stephenson County is five hundred, seventy-three square miles of rolling prairie in the heart of a continent and makes an interesting theme in the study
A PIONEER SCENE
PIONEER OX TEAM
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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of geology. The most valuable part of the county's geology is its soil of great fertility and variety, affording occupation and wealth for its people. Its loca- tion too is favorable, being located near the lead region and on the great path- way to the west, on the old trail that led from the east to the west, via Chicago and the Great Lakes. The county's soil and natural drainage system have made it a rich agricultural and stock raising region and its location has made it a railroad and manufacturing center. But of more interest than the soil or the favored location; of vastly more interest than its agriculture and its in- dustries is the change of these five hundred, seventy-three square miles of wild prairies and wooded hills and valleys from a land occupied only by a few roving savages and roamed over by the wolf and the deer, with not a white man trodding its primeval state-the change of five hundred, seventy-three square miles, transformed by civilization and affording homes for over 40,000 citizens of the United States, with farms, villages, towns and cities and societies, churches, schools and organized governments, and all in seventy-eight years.
Such a people have an interesting history. They came not from one state or from one people. Not the Western States alone, but the old Commonwealth of the Atlantic Coast, from Massachusetts to Georgia, sent many of their best families to lay here the foundations of a new people. Europe, too, contributed liberally its daring and progressive spirits. Hardly a state in the nation, or a nation in Europe, that did not add its mite to the upbuilding of Stephenson County's civil society.
Indeed, it is a fascinating study to trace to the east to their former homes, the trail of the multitude that settled here, following close upon the wake of the departing red men and in advance of the railroad. Some walked and some came on horseback. Others drove ox or horse teams from the Atlantic seaboard plains over the mountains and across the trackless and almost endless valley of the Mississippi. Still others came by canal and boat around the Great Lakes, or down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and the Illinois, and yet others by way of New Orleans and the Father of Waters.
The old covered wagon, or "Prairie Schooner," was a home on wheels, the family unit enroute to new lands of wider opportunity. It was not a breaking away from the institutions and the faith of the fathers. Their strange cov- ered wagons were loaded down with the institutional ideas of a great people and wherever they stopped in the wild west, the family stepped from wagon to cabin, primitive agriculture began, schools and churches and trades and civil government sprang up round about. The wagons contained a few simple pieces of furniture and cooking utensils, the trusty rifle and the family Bible with its sacred pages of the family record. Sometimes alone, and sometimes in twos and threes, these started westward from far away Vermont or Massachusetts. Some came from New York and Pennsylvania, and yet others from Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina. There were weeks and weeks of tedious travel, - now resting by night at some friendly inn or with a settler, enjoying the un- alloyed hospitality of the frontier, or frequently pitching camp under the open sky. No road was too long, no hill too steep, no mire too deep, no dangers too great to dampen the ardor of those heroic spirits that had heard the call of the great west. It was a spirit that would not die out, and may be seen today, flash-
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ing up in its original vigor and vitality through three quarters of a century of our history, as we listen reverently to the tales told by the few remaining heroes and heroines of that early time.
Old Europe, too, heard the call. The revolutions of 1830 and 1848 were sure indications of restless spirit. Stories of wide fields of opportunity were carried cross the Atlantic and passed from the seaport towns to the interior, and in taverns and about the firesides, in old England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Prussia and Bavaria, plans were made to cast fortunes in the new land. Some- times it was a desire for greater political or religious freedom and often be- cause of a desire to seek a country of greater industrial opportunities, untram- melled by the limiting restrictions of aristocracy and hard and fast rules of social traditions. Many were poor, and staked all on this one great struggle to get to the land of the free and the land of plenty. From England, France and the German states, and later from Norway and Sweden, came hundreds of brave, thrifty, honest souls to found families here in the county and to add vastly to the richness and variety of our National life. Breaking home ties, they crossed the stormy Atlantic, came west by railroad as far as railroad came, and then by wagons they pushed on into the new country. The records show that most of them were workmen, trained in the apprentice system of the Old World. Wher- ever they came, shops sprang up and these shops in a generation have developed into our factory system. They gave us lessons in honesty, frugality and industry. They were loyal to the new country. In '61, when the flag was assailed and the nation threatened, alongside the men from Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, marched the men from Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Sweden, Alsace, Prussia, Wertemburg and Old England, the colors blended in the Star Spangled Banner.
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