USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > History of Stephenson County, Illinois : a record of its settlement, organization, and three-quarters of a century of progress > Part 47
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Farmers' Bank. The Farmers' Bank, of Davis, is a substantial institution founded fifteen years ago, and since maintained on a firm and solid basis. The officers and directors are all men of avowed business ability, and the affairs of the bank have been conducted with unimpeachable sagacity and clear-headedness.
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The Farmers' Bank was organized in 1895 by T. Stabeck, a descendant of the C. Stabeck, who immigrated to Stephenson county with the original Nor- wegian colony and settled at Rock Run Mills P. O. in 1839. The institution was capitalized at $25,000, which capital has never been raised. The bank occupies a brick structure, the most substantial on the main street of Davis, a few doors from the hotel. The officers of the Farmers' Bank at present are:
President, Fred Alberstett; vice-president, Niles Pattison; cashier, C. O. R. Stabeck; directors, Fred Alberstett, Niles Pattison, C. O. R. Stabeck, H .- N. Stabeck, and O. H. Anderson.
The Davis Creamery, operated by J. F. Beardsley, was established about fif- teen years ago, and continues to do a flourishing business.
Newspapers of Davis. Davis has, at certain periods of its history, supported weekly newspapers. The projects have all been discontinued for the very ex- cellent reason that the village of Davis is altogether too small to support a news- paper, and there is not the slightest probability that they will ever be resuscitated.
The Davis Budget, started in May, 1873, by K. T. and K. C. Stabeck, was a quarto sheet, independent as to politics, which was published in connection with the Freeport Budget. For five years, the Davis Budget was published by Stabeck Brothers, until they removed to Freeport in September, 1878, and decided to devote their whole time to the publication of the Freeport sheet. They disposed of their Davis interests to S. W. Tallman, who changed the name of the paper to the Davis Review and the politics from independent to republican. Mr. Tallman spent a good deal of labor upon his paper, and succeeded in raising the weekly circulation from a mere handful to three hundred and fifty. But he soon dis- covered that a newspaper in a country village was not a paying proposition. The Davis Review was abandoned, and the unsavory experiment has never been tried since.
Churches. Davis contains four churches, but services are held in only three of them at present.
First Methodist Church. The First Methodist Episcopal church is the lead- ing church of Davis in activity and in respect to the size of its congregation and Sunday school. Likewise it is one of the oldest. It was organized in June, 1859, under the auspices of the Rev. James McLane, with twelve charter mem- bers. For three years services were held in the Davis schoolhouse, when the church leased the Evangelical Chapel, and held services there when the church was not in use by the other congregation. In 1866, four years later, the struc- ture at present in use was built at a cost of $1,800. Subsequent repairs, im- provement, and additions have raised the value of the building several hundred dollars.
For a time the Davis church formed a part of the Durand (Winnebago County) charge, and services were held only on Sunday afternoons. In the fall of 1878 it became an independent charge, with the Rev. F. W. Nazarene as pas- tor. For a good many years after this, the Davis charge was a student charge, but wtihin the last three years it has had a regularly ordained minister. The Rock City church has become a part of the Davis charge also.
The congregation at Davis numbers fifty-two members, but a much larger number attend the services-in fact, practically all the English speaking portion
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of the community. The Sunday school numbers a few more-about sixty-two. The church building, together with the lot upon which it stands are valued at about $3,000. The parsonage which is a comfortable building, built some time ago, is valued at $1,200.
The various church societies are very active. The Epworth League and the Ladies' Aid Society form a large part of the women's and young people's social life in Davis. The church is in a very prosperous condition at present. Two years ago, the church was entirely rebuilt, inside and out, at a cost of $450, $150 being expended upon the exterior repairs, and $300 upon the interior frescoing and re-decoration. New Methodist hymnals were purchased recently by the congregation to take the place of the old ones, which were deemed out of date and inappropriate. The pastor in charge is the Rev. J. A. H. McLean, an Eng- lishman, who came to the Davis charge from Canada in January, 1910.
Evangelical Association. The Evangelical church of Davis is the old- est church of the village. It was organized in 1857, with the following mem- bers : Thomas Bond and family, Jacob Bond and family, Jacob Weaver, Michael Meinzer, William Kramer, T. Jenuine, and their families, and M. Abbersted. Services were conducted in various private residences and in the schoolhouse until 1862, when the present church was built at an expense of $2,500. It is a frame structure, solid and substantial, without attempt at much ornamentation without or within. Recent improvements have somewhat raised the value of the property.
When the break occurred in the Illinois Conference and the Dubs faction withdrew, the latter built another church in Davis, and the Evangelical Associa- tion continued in possession of its first church. Some changes were occasioned, however, notably in the circuit, which no longer embraced Rock City, but took in instead Davis, Afolkey and Ridott. The minister in charge of the Davis church resides in Afolkey. The Davis church numbers about fifty communi- cants, with a Sunday school of about the same size. The church property is valued at $2,750.
Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Lutheran church of Davis is probably a thing of the past. Services have not been held in it for some time and al- though the congregation still possesses a handsome church structure the church is disorganized and broken up.
The Lutheran church was one of the newer churches in Davis, having been organized as late as 1870 by the Rev. William Shock, of Forreston, with eighteen members, of whom Joseph Keller was elder, and Levi Ungst deacon. For two years services were held in the Methodist church. In 1872, the present struc- ture was built, of frame 34 x 50, with a steeple seventy-five feet high, at a total cost of $3,100. It was then occupied for many years, but lately, as heretofore stated, services have been discontinued, and there is every reason to believe that they will never be resumed.
United Evangelical Church. One of the smaller churches, as well as the newest, is the United Evangelical church. It came into existence at the time of the quarrel in the Illinois Conference, and the Dubs adherents of Davis withdrew to complete its organization. Services were held in various places until a few years ago, when the new church building, a frame structure, was put up. The
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new church is an inconsiderable and unpretentious edifice, built in the most old- fashioned of styles. The congregation numbers about fifty. The Davis church is on a circuit with the Rock City church. The pastor is the Rev. J. Johnson, who came here from Ashton, Illinois, on April 1, 1910.
Lodges. The village of Davis supports a large number of lodges, of which it is possible to give only brief mention.
Evening Star Lodge, No. 414 ,A. F. & A. M. The Davis lodge of Masons is one of the oldest in the county. It was organized on March II, 1864, under ยท a dispensation of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. It obtained a charter October 5 of the same year. The following were the first officers: James Zuver, W. M .; George Osterhaus, S. W .; Edward R. Lord, J. W .; Dr. J. R. Hammill, secre- tary; Charles Wright, treasurer. The lodge has always been the most prosper- ous and progressive of the commuity. It occupies a handsome lodge hall, and has now a membership of fifty-two members. The officers are W. M., C. O. R. Stabeck; secretary, T. H. Briggs.
Eastern Star. The Eastern Star lodge was established in Davis seven years ago. It has always had a large membership, the present roll amounting to about thirty-three members. The officers are: W. M., Mrs. William Kanne; secre- tary, T. H. Briggs.
Davis Lodge, No. 376, I. O. O. F. The Odd Fellows lodge of Davis was organized September 19, 1880, with the following members: Martin H. Davis, Isaac Denner, John Nagle, Thomas Hays, Alvin Gestenberger, and J. W. Caldwell. The officers were: Noble Grand, John Nagle; Vice Grand, Martin H. Davis; treasurer, Thomas Hays.
The I. O. O. F. occupies today a lodge hall just off from the main street, which is one of the largest and best appointed in the country towns of the vicin- ity. The membership is thirty-four, and the officers: Noble Grand, Arthur Wise; secretary, A. A. Rheingans.
Rebekah Degree, I. O. O. F., Faithful Lodge, No. 187. The Rebekahs have been in existence in Davis for fifteen years. The membership has been fluc- tuating, at times higher than it is now. The lodge now claims a membership of twenty-eight, with the following officers: Noble Grand, Miss Ella Degun- ther; Secretary, A. Rheingans.
R. N. A. The Royal Neighbors have been in existence for the past four years, have a membership of twenty-three, and the following officers: Oracle, Mrs. A. Bliss; Secretary, Miss Ella Degunther.
Modern Woodmen of America, Davis Camp, No. 25. The Davis Camp of the Modern Woodmen is one of the oldest in existence, having been founded about twenty-five years ago, when the organization was very young. The mem- bership is large, approximating fifty-two. A. Helmts is Counsel, and M. M. Kurtz, Secretary.
Mystic Workers, Davis Royal Lodge, No. 143. The Mystic Workers first came into existence in Davis in 1902, and have since pursued a prosperous and upward path. The membership is far larger than that of any other organization in Davis, embracing as many as seventy-two members. The officers for the year are: Prefect, E. Jenewien; Secretary, Edward Degunther.
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The village of Davis supports a number of stores and shops, a reasonably satisfactory hostelry, known as the Davis Hotel, two livery barns, etc. Among the mercantile establishments, the barber shop of Edward Degunther is espe- cially to be noted. It has been kept by the Degunther family for nearly the last half century, having been kept by the grandfather of the present proprietor for many years, then by his father, P. J. Degunther, and now by himself.
The village is said to have a population of about five hundred or more in- habitants. It is reached from Freeport by the C., M. & St. P. R. R., being about thirteen miles distant by railroad, and twenty miles by carriage road. The vil- lage supports very good schools, the district school building being one of the best for miles around. It is a two-story structure, 30 x 20, which was built in 1863, at a cost of $2,000.
ROCK CITY.
Rock City, located about two and one-half miles west of Davis on the line of the C., M. & St. P. R. R., is a city only in name. It is doubtful if a spot more completely devoid of life is existent in the county. The site is not an un- pleasant one, for all that, and the village contains a central square, in the middle of which is a tall windmill, which pumps water for the village pump and water- ing trough.
The village was projected and platted early in 1859, upon the completion of the Western Union Railroad through the place. In reality the history of Rock City reaches farther back than 1859, for the village is a logical outgrowth of the old Rock Run Mills Post-office, founded by H. G. Davis as early as 1841. In 1848, the Rock Run Mills Post-office was moved to a town called Jamestown, or Grab-all, very near the site of Rock City. Here it remained for eleven years, until the building of the Western Union Railroad through Rock City made Grab-all a lost town and the very site is now almost forgotten.
On January 10, 1859, George Raymer executed a contract with T. S. Wil- coxin and William Peterson for the transfer of a certain section of land for vil- lage purposes. In the same year the village was surveyed and platted, and lots were sold at prices ranging from $10 to $50. Upon the completion of the railroad, the town began to build up somewhat, but the settlement never suffered the throes of a "boom." No considerable inducements were ever offered to settlers in Rock City, and settlers never came there in considerable numbers.
Rock City boasts of two churches and a school, both churches being sup- plied by ministers from Davis.
United Evangelical Church. This church somewhat dominates the religious element of the village. It was originally a church of the Evangelical Associa- tion, having been founded in 1868. The present edifice was completed and dedicated in 1869, under the pastorate of the Rev. H. Rohland at a cost of $2,200. The pulpit is now occupied by the Rev. J. Johnson, of Davis. The number of communicants approximates thirty-five, with a Sunday school of about the same proportions.
Methodist Church. In the fall of 1878 a number of Methodist believers of Rock City connected themselves with the Davis circuit, holding services in the
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schoolhouse and the Evangelical Church until the summer of 1879, when the present church building was completed and occupied. Its cost, including a bell, was $1,500. The congregation at Rock City has always been small; the pres- ent membership is about a dozen. No Sunday school is maintained. It is alto- gether probable that Methodist services will be discontinued at Rock City, the size of the Methodist community being too small to warrant their further con- tinuance.
Rock City presents a commonplace appearance, quite like that of any other unprogressive country village of the present day and age. There are a few very handsome residences, one or two stores, a railroad station, together with the buildings connected therewith, and there the catalogue ends. There has never been any large influx of population, and probably never will be. The fact that the village is hemmed in between Davis and Dakota, and is, withal, only about eleven miles from Freeport by railroad, and seventeen by road precludes the possibility of growth. The population is not over one hundred.
EPLEYANNA.
Epleyanna is a small settlement on the road between Rock City and Davis. It scarcely deserves the title of village, for there is no general store, and there never has been a post-office. There is a mill which was built in 1837, and, with many improvements and changes, is still standing. It is a stone structure, three stories in height, and is turned by the current of Rock Run.
Among the features of the settlement are the German Evangelical Church, Rev. Mr. Beerbohm, pastor, and the Epleyanna School. The settlement com- prises a few less than a dozen houses and a population of about thirty inhabi- tants.
The settlement takes its name from Conrad Epley, who early in the history of the township purchased the Epleyanna Mills and the land surrounding the regions. His descendants have moved to other parts of the county since his death.
IRISH GROVE.
Irish Grove was one of the earliest settlements of the county. It was gath- ered about 1836 by a company of Irish immigrants, whose descendants still re- side in the vicinity. There were the Mullarkeys, the Foleys, the O'Briens, and many others. Here, at Irish Grove, one of the five Catholic churches of Ste- phenson County was established in 1838. Father Petiot, a Galena priest, as- sisted in the raising of the first structure, and he is said to have walked on foot from the western town to preach the Word of God to the early settlers.
The old church did service until 1862, when the second structure was built. The old church had been a ramshackle affair with only two pews, and the 1862 edifice was not much better. Finally, in 1895, under the leadership of Father Sullivan, the Irish Grove people built the present handsome frame structure. Irish Grove has no store or post-office, and only about twenty settlers, but the vicinity is replete with Celts and adherents of Catholicity.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
1
Silver Creek township is adjacent to the city of Freeport, and is consequently a section of considerable importance from every standpoint. It is bounded on the north by the Pecatonica River, on the east by Ridott township, on the west by Florence township, and on the south by Ogle county. The township is some- what larger than the surveyors' customary thirty-six square miles, owing to the extensive curves of the Pecatonica River. All told the township embraces twenty-two thousand and sixty-nine acres of land, or about thirty-seven and a half square miles.
The township is well supplied with water. Yellow Creek courses across the northwestern corner of Silver Creek and flows into the Pecatonica two or three miles east of Freeport. Yellow Creek is joined on its way by three smaller creeks, all of which rise within Silver Creek township, and the Pecatonica is joined by one inconsiderable stream which rises in the southern part of Ridott township, flows into Silver Creek, and thence north through the eastern part of the township to the river.
Three railroads cross Silver Creek township: the Illinois Central, with two branches, the main line crossing the extreme northern portion from west to east, and the south branch traversing the town from north to south, from Freeport to Baileyville; the Chicago and Great Western which crosses the central part of the township from east to west; and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, which crosses the northwestern corner and then proceeds into Florence township.
The roads are good and the school and church facilities of Silver Creek are particularly excellent. The proximity of the township to Freeport has made the growth of any large town an impossibility, and the section is devoid of settle- ments except for a tiny one at South Freeport, a station at Dunbar, and the out- lying sections of Baileyville, whose post-office is in Ogle county.
The first permanent settlement in Silver Creek township was made in August, 1835, by Thomas Craine, who took up a claim in the southwest corner of the township, built a log cabin, and made a home for his family, which consisted of a wife and three children. In the fall of the same year, Augustus Bonner settled on section 34, near the mouth of Yellow Creek. However the land did not be- long to him, and, during the winter of 1836, he relinquished the claim and the cabin which he built upon it to the rightful owner, Thomas Covel. He himself went on farther west.
In the spring of 1836, a large number of new settlers arrived, Charles Walker, F. D. Bulkeley, a Mr. Hammand, and, in the fall of the same year, Sidney Steb- bins, Joel Baker, Loran Snow and a Mrs. Brown. Of these, Charles Walker was a notorious character, and his subsequent history was particularly interest- ing. It seems that he was employed by Thomas Craine, the pioneer settler, to tutor his children, at the salary of $75 a quarter. It was a mere pittance, of course, and evidently Walker did not think that it was enough to meet his needs, for he began to employ his spare moments in the profitable enterprise of horse stealing. Unfortunately, his career was short lived. He was soon caught, and sent to the penitentiary at Alton.
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The next year was a fallow period in Silver Creek's development. Settlers came in large numbers to other portions of Stephenson County, but very few to Silver Creek. In 1837 Seth Scott settled here, near Craine's Grove, Hiram Hill, at a point on Yellow Creek, Major John Howe, west of Craine's Grove, I. Forbes, in the extreme eastern portion, on the old Stage Road near the Ridott town line. Two deaths occurred in 1837, those of Thomas Milburn and a man named Reed, who were drowned while attempting to cross the Pecatonica River. These were the first recorded deaths in Silver Creek Township. Reed, accord- ing to tradition, had only arrived in the township a few months previous.
John Milburn arrived in 1837, and in 1838 John Walsh, John and Thomas Warren, the latter of whom settled northeast of Craine's Grove, Isaac Scott, Samuel Liebshitz, Christian Strockey, Christian Strockey, Jr. Frederick Strockey, Chauncey Stebbins, and others, all of whom made their claims in the extreme eastern part of the township. And so it continued for about five years more. . No one ventured into the western part of the township, whether from ignorance of the fertility of the land or from some other motive will probably never be known. In 1839 another delegation arrived.
The '39-ers included Jacob Hoebel, A. Gund, Valentine Stoskopf, Ja- cob Shoup, Jacob Bartell, D. E. Pattee, "Jock" Pattee, and others, among them a man named Judkins. Shortly after the arrival of this delegation, Mrs. "Jock" Pattee committed suicide by hanging herself to a tree in the eastern part of the township on Gallows Hill.
In the summer of 1838 the first birth in the township occurred. The dis- tinguished infant was Jacob Thompson, the son of William and Lucinda Thomp- son. Nearly three years later the first marriage in Silver Creek was solemnized, that of Frederick Baker and Miss A. Craine. Miss Craine was a daughter of Thomas Craine, and the wedding ceremony was performed at her father's resi- dence by Squire Thomas. The date is said to have been February II, 1841.
From that time forward the township began to settle up. Two years later, in 1843, a large number of settlements were made in the western part of Silver Creek, that hitherto neglected portion of Stephenson County. Ever since, Sil- ver Creek has been one of the wealthiest and most populous townships of the county. Many of the early settlers were Germans, a thritfy and desirable class of citizens, who have ever since predominated in the annals of Silver Creek.
. SOUTH FREEPORT.
South Freeport, formerly known as Dunbar, is the Freeport station of the Chicago & Great Western Railroad. It is located at the point where the rail- road approaches nearest to Freeport, and consists merely of railroad buildings -the passenger and freight offices, with their atached buildings. A few houses have sprung up in the vicinity, formerly a tiny settlement, but there is no store or post-office, and the population of the whole village, if it can be called a village, does not exceed twenty or twenty-five inhabitants.
When the Great Western originally surveyed its line through Stephenson County, much dissatisfaction was felt because the railroad did not intend to enter Freeport. The directors of the line received a great many petitions from Free-
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port people, but nothing served to alter their course. When the line was fin- ished, however, they did condescend to build the old "Dunbar" station near the point where their tracks crossed the south branch of the Illinois Central. The name was subsequently changed to "South Freeport." The station is connected with Freeport by a stage line. Stages leave the Rest Room, at the corner of Van Buren and Exchange Streets, in time to connect with the various Great Western trains. A short time ago automobiles were substituted for the stages, but they are now doing service elsewhere, and the South Freeport traffic is again via stage line.
DUNBAR.
Dunbar is no longer a village. At one time there were prospects for the establishment and building of a prosperous country village, but the proximity of the place to Freeport, and the unsatisfactory nature of the site precluded any such possibility. There is now only a railway platform along the side of the tracks and a sign-board to denote the place where Dunbar might have been. A declining spur connects the Illinois Central tracks with those of the Great West- ern. A few hundred feet south of Dunbar is the Oakdale Campmeeting Ground of the Evangelical Association.
BAILEYVILLE.
Baileyville proper is not in Stephenson County, but is located for the greater part in Ogle County. A northern addition, however, known as Knapp's Addi- tion, extends into Silver Creek Township. It is said that plans were once made to remove the Baileyville post-office from Ogle to Stephenson County, and trans- fer the business section of the town thither. Extensive plans were immediately made for the establishment of a village, but for some reason none of them ever materialized. Obviously it was altogether impossible to try to found a village where there was no natural reason for its existence, and where no settlers wished to take up their abode. Thus the experiment was a gloomy failure, and Ste- phenson County suffered the loss of a possible additional village to its already large quota of settlements. The village of Baileyville today embraces about one hundred inhabitants, a dozen or more of whom live in Silver Creek Town- ship.
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