USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 11
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GALT.
Since I was so soon done for, I wonder what I was begun for.
When Galt was platted in 1855, and the railroad came through, the death knell of Como, over a mile south, was rung. So near, and yet so far. A depot was erected, and various business concerns sprang up, some of which have since subsided. The elevator and lumber yard remain. The Cheese company was started in 1873 with a capital of $3,100 and a main building and addition. For a few years sixty thousand pounds of cheese were made annually. William Pratt was president, and Robert A. Galt treasurer. It ceased operations long ago. An account of the Galt family after whom the station is named is given in the second volume.
On a spacious lot planted with trees, stands the most imposing edifice in Galt, the school room below, and the town hall in the second story. It is of frame painted white. The citizens take pride in their school as the best jewel in their crown. In December, 1907, an operetta, "Bonnybell, or Cinderella's Cousin," was given by the pupils, and received with great satisfaction. In the cast were forty pupils, and the characters were all well taken from the prince and queen to the fairies and brownies. Some excel- lent musical numbers. The town hall is the favorite place for oyster sup- pers and festivals. It is at the service of any minister who desires to hold religious meetings.
EMPIRE OR EMERSON?
Perhaps, in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre .- Gray.
A mile or so north from Galt is Emerson. The old name was Empire, but some admirer of the philosopher decided to change the appellation. In its palmy days, the prettiest inland spot in the county. It has not the bluffs of Albany and the mighty Mississippi, but Elkhorn and the dam, Spring creek and its rocky banks, the mossy meadows between, the white cottages, and around all, the refreshing woodlands, made a romantic picture on which the eye loved to linger. But much of the beauty is departed. The dam is gone and turned into a cornfield, and so farewell to Riley's "ole swimmin' hole," and the skating crystal of January. . The bed of Spring creek is quarried out. Acres of noble oak have fallen before the Vandal ax. It were vain to say
Woodman; spare that tree, Touch not a single bough.
Corn and hogs drive out all sentiment. Like Como, the present village has lost much of its early importance. The grist mill, woolen factory, and saw mill, ceased operations before the dam was swept away. There remain the
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store and blacksmith shop. There is a substantial two-story schoolhouse, erected in the early fifties, and afterwards enlarged. It once bore the flat- tering title of Oak Grove Academy. Here were in attendance at various times some persons who are quite well known: Rev. John K. Reed, mis- sionary to Africa, Dr. Frank Keefer, Miss Alice Dinsmoor, Mrs. George Keefer, Jarvis Dinsmoor, Esq. At one time many of the patrons were from Franklin county, coming in 1854 and 55, the Reeds, Keefers, and Groves. James Dinsmoor, Esq., a member of the legislature, had an extensive farm in the northeastern part of the district. Of all the settlers fifty years ago, only two are living, Benjamin Reed and Mrs. Ryerson, now in Sterling. Martin Ryerson came from New Jersey to Whiteside in 1850, worked as a carpenter and farmer, married Margaret Johnson, and died a few years ago. At sixteen he was apprenticed for four years at ten cents a day.
Through the kindness of Mr. Harry Reed, we are furnished with the subjoined account of the First Lutheran church of Hopkins. It stands in Emerson on the road leading north :
The Lutheran church at Empire (now Emerson) was organized April 4, 1870, and a church building erected the same year. Dr. J. W. Richards, who has since risen to a prominent position in the Lutheran church, was practically the first pastor of the church, although there was preaching for a short period before that time. The names of the pastors, and time they served, are as follows: J. W. Richard, April 1, 1871, to July 31, 1873; J. T. Gladhill, August 1, 1873, to December 15, 1874; E. S. Rees, August 1, 1875, to August 1, 1878; J. W. Elser, December 1, 1878 to December 1, 1880. At this date the church ceased to have a resident pastor, and services were held by Rev. E. Brown of Sterling Sunday afternoons, with the excep- tion of one Sunday each month, during more than nineteen years, until his death. From that time until now preaching services have been held by Mr. H. K. Hostetter of Sterling, and the ministers of Trinity Evangelical church on alternate Sunday afternoons. There are 58 members of the church. The Sunday school was held in the schoolhouse long before the church was built. It has continued without any interruption ever since. The superintendent is H. M. Overholser. The total attendance is about 50.
Old Empire had two conspicuous characters, familiar to the dwellers as household words, Joel Harvey and Major Wallace. Joel came from New York. Hc built the mill and store, several dwellings, and owned large tracts of land in the vicinity. It was said, although ready to buy, he never sold an acre. A man of enterprise, sagacity, and very tenacious of his rights. His son, Samuel, was second sergeant in Co. B, 13th Illinois Volunteers, and went through all the battles without a scratch. Joel bored an artesian well in Sterling, and laid pipes, long before the present system. He removed to Sterling, and died there in 1875.
ELIJAH AND ELIZABETH WALLACE, PIONEERS IN HOPKINS.
My acquaintance with Major Wallace began in 1859 when I taught the Empire school, and boarded at the large white farm house, one of the firm- est ever put up in the county. Martin Ryerson. neighbor on the north, was
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the carpenter. He was a man of powerful muscle, raw boned, and used to pick up timbers that generally required two ordinary fellows to lift. A wide hall runs through the center, two spacious rooms on each side. The major called the ample cellar and garret the two best rooms in the house.
A genuine Sucker, careless in dress, slouch pulled over his eyes, his hooked cane hung over his arm, shambling gait, always ready to stop and chat, full of joke and story. An early riser, and at four o'clock he might regularly be seen dozing in his rocking chair before the Franklin stove in the sitting room. O pity this has disappeared, the only specimen in the state, I suppose. It was a large cast iron hearth with back and plate, all open, no doors.
His estate of stream and woodland was his world. Day after day about the house or farm, or to the village store, or to some neighbor's, or in pleasant weather lounging at one end of the long front porch. He was induced to attend the state fair at Freeport about 1860, and that was the only time I ever heard of his going away, or saw him in his Sunday suit of rusty black. He was no Beau Brummel.
As he had plenty of leisure and tired of reading, he liked to meet folks. He was fond of the children, talked to them as they went to school, and they in turn liked him. In fact, Major had no enemies. He never looked for trouble, never made any, always in good humor, played jokes, and took them. Always at meeting when any was held in the school house, an admirer of Rev. E. Erskine, Presbyterian, who occasionally preached at Empire.
It is said the father of Hugh and Elijah Wallace came with them at first, and that they rode on horseback from Cumberland county, Pa., the father advising the boys in the selection of land. Certainly the original tract as purchased in 1838 was an ideal spot, watered by Spring and Elkhorn creeks with prairie for farmning, and woodlands for pasture. A noble home- stead, now all in the hands of strangers. The major soon planted a large orchard, and for years after his bins were full. Empire people were invited to help themselves.
The major took to hunting and fishing as a duck to water. Just suited his tastes, as he had no fondness for steady work. What stories he had of deer, fish, and the wild denizens of the woods. At that day a stroll on the prairie or a search along the banks of the creeks, generally was rewarded with some kind of game. An expert carver, laying a fowl in pieces with the ease of an operator in a hospital.
Elizabeth Wallace was in some respects like the major, good natured, companionable, simple in dress, kindly, sympathetic, but much more indus- trious. Seldom away from home, except once in a while to a neighbor's, but always busy. Her tastes were purely domestic. The kitchen was her world. The preparation of the meals and the various functions of the cul- inary department occupied most of her time.
She took the milk management into her care, for they had a herd of cows, and it was her joy to perform the regular task of making the butter. In pleasant weather as you drove past the kitchen door, you were sure to
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see Aunt Elizabeth standing by the high upright churn, and moving the piston up and down, the strings of her white cap fluttering in the wind.
Gentle in mein and mind Of gentle womankind.
Mrs. Wallace had an excellent pedigree, belonging to one of the best families in Pennsylvania, the Cassatts. Her father was prominent in politics, and it will be remembered that the late Napoleonic president of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company was A. J. Cassatt. In her girlhood, Mrs. Wal- lace had a good education, and in her pioneer days must have missed the refinements of her father's home in which the first years were spent before the big frame house was built, was allowed to stand, and was used as a cob house. It was on the south side of the Morrison road, and near the rocky bank of Spring Creek, but finally tumbled down. As late as 1865 the spring at the foot of the hill north of Spring creek bridge, was running, but with the cut- ting of the forest trees it has dried up.
The major died at 53 in 1861, followed in time by Anna and David. The oldest daughter, Mary, married and moved to Iowa, where the mother removed after the sale of the favorite early homestead. James also died in Iowa. Robert is in California. Aunt Elizabeth, on her death in Iowa, was brought to Sterling, and laid by the side of her husband and daughter in Riverside. The entire family is broken up and the Wallace name is for- gotten.
Northwest of Emerson is a German church for the benefit of the sur- rounding farmers from the Fatherland. The German Evangelical Lutheran church of Hopkins township was organized in the year 1875 by Rev. Fr. Lussky, at present in Ottawa, Ill. Before Rev. Lussky organized this church, there had been Lutheran service for some time by Rev. C. Seuel, who was at that time stationed at Lyons, Iowa. His present location is Freistadt, Wis. Several years ago he advanced to the office of president of the Wisconsin District of the Missouri Synod.
The following are some of the first members of this congregation : John Kuelson, Aug. Stern, John Staassen, H. T. Meins, Frank Hayen, Aug. Ohms, Louis Dauen, John F. Onken, D. L. Janssen, Henry Ohnen, Gerh. Dirks, Wm. Hinrichs. After Rev. C. Seuel, the congregation had the following ministers: Fr. Lussky, C. Ponitz, and Em. Meyer. Emanuel Meyer, present minister, was born in Rodenberg, Cook county, Ill., educated at Concordia College, Ft. Wayne, Ind., and prepared for the ministry at Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Ill. His installation here took place on Oct. 23, 1892, fifteen years ago last October. At the present time the church has a voting membership of 53. All told, about 75 families belong to this church. There is no Sunday school, but part of the Sunday service is devoted to catechetical instruction for the children in the presence of the whole con- gregation. The average attendance of the children is 30. Besides this, there is a parochial school with 28 pupils.
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ITEMS.
In the Whiteside Historical Society is a wooden sign, two fcet by threc, bearing the words, "Temperance House," which swung in the stage- coach days before the Sampson hotel.
As late as 1860 the cabins of Joel Harvey and Major Wallace were standing on their property. The first by his new dwelling, the second in his barn yard, both used as cob houses.
Peter Pollock, son of the pioneer surveyor of Como, says Elkhorn creek derives its name from that animal's remains in Hopkins. His father gave Elijah Wallace $15 for a pair of elkhorns found along the creek, and sent them as a gift to Peter Maison in Philadelphia.
Como's old cemetery, north of the town, opposite the dam, has suffered of late by the inroads of the creek in freshet, so that some graves had to be removed.
Col. George Weber, promoter of the Como mill, a frequent visitor at Pollocks, was grandfather of Janc Addams, the founder of Hull House in Chicago.
Buckley's circus in Como when time was young was the first sawdust exhibition in the county.
Dr. Leander Harding, who gave pills and powders for Como aches, was highly esteemed as a man and a physician.
One of the most useful citizens at old Empire was O. C. Stolp, manager of the carding mill. Mrs. Stolp was a good cook, and the traveler was sure of comfortable entertainment. There was a prophet's chamber for the itinerant Methodist preacher. Mr. S. was for a long time the only person in the village to conduct the Sunday school. He took delight in every good word and work. At the lyceum meetings in the schoolhouse he often sent in a poem on some current event. Two children, Lydia and Byron. Byron is a doctor near Chicago. Mr. Stolp died in Missouri.
Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be.
COMO CHIEF-A TROTTER.
About 1870, when the old Sterling fair was in its glory, and the after- noon races were the attractive feature, the appearance of one dark horse in the ring was the signal for applause. That was Como Chief, and he was always driven in sulky by his proud owner, Ezekiel Olds. In his best days he was never beaten, although matched against imported stock. Game to the last, reliable, never broke, trotted squarely from start to finish. What cheers as the Olds horse crossed the pole. Like Patti, he never secmed to decline. Year after year witnessed the triumphs of the staunch steed. But that was a generation ago, and driver and horse are now under the violets.
PRICES IN 1862 AND 1865.
WAR HISTORY IN OLD LEDGERS.
There was a pile of dusty day-books in the basement of the store formerly
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owned by D. M. Crawford, Sterling, and one winter day as the janitor was shoving them, one by one, into the furnace, a friendly hand in the nick of time rescued two from annihilation, and placed them in the Historical Society. A glance through the big volumes makes interesting reading today. The present generation knows little about low prices or high prices. "Before and after," as the patent medicine pictures say. It was about 1860 that corn was only ten cents a bushel, and in some places was burned for fuel.
Let us look at the day-book of June, 1862. Common shoes only $1.15, muslin 14 cents a yard, cheap gloves 9 cents, cheaper shoes 50 cents, calico 18 cents, drilling 28, denim 22, coffee 25 cents, cotton flannel 30, buttons 10, thread 8. As the year worc on, however, things advanced, and we find in November, muslin at 28 cents, thread 10, shoes $1.75, calico 20. The poor farmers were almost giving their produce away. What do you think of bringing 30 pounds of butter five miles for eight cents a pound, and eggs for four cents? The hens should have gone on a strike. Lard was only seven cents. As the stores took the butter and eggs in trade, we find they were sold over the counter at the same price.
Now turn to the day-book for March, 1865. The war was about over, but goods were soaring. The times did not try men's souls as in 1776, but their pocketbooks. Muslin 65, suspenders 90, coffee 50, hose 50 and 60, tea $2.25, drilling 50, Cassimere $3.62 per yard, check 60, hickory 55, cloth for coats $8 yard, denim 60, wool shirt $4, boy's coat $11, yarn $2, goods for suit $43, cotton flannel 65. The poor farmer began to smile. November, 1865, he was receiving 30 cents for butter, and 30 for eggs. Doubtless the books for 1866 and onward would show a gradual decrease in merchandise, but produce has never since fallen so low.
PROPHETSTOWN.
Prophet, said I, thing of evil! Prophet still, if bird or devil! By that heaven that bends above us, By that God we both adore, Tell this soul with sorrow laden-Poe's Raven.
Many of our state names preserve the memory of the red man, who roamed these prairies before us, and it is commendable. Every name tells a story, awakens an emotion: Illinois, Mississippi, Chicago, Winnebago. Of all our townships, Prophetstown is the only one of Indian association, recalling Black Hawk's chief adviser, whose home was on or near the site of the present village.
Too goodly a land to be neglected, and soon as the Black Hawk strug- gle was settled and the coast was clear, the white emigrants made their claims. In June, 1834, Asa Crook and family arrived, living in his wagon and a lodge all summer until he erected a log house in the fall. John W. Slakes and wife came in September. In the spring of 1836, James Knox, Sr., started the ferry across Rock river, the first in the county. The same year Daniel Crocker from Galena opened a store in a log cabin. In June,
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1837, Jabez Warner with his two sons came up Rock river in a flatboat, with a stock of goods, forming a partnership with Simon Page. Most of the original settlers came before 1840, and we shall consider them again.
Prophetstown lies in the heart of a very rich agricultural district. The land is extremely fertile, and thrifty farmers have grown independent. Perhaps the only rural section where the tillers of the soil have automo- biles. It is said in town and country around there are nearly twenty of these destructive machines. The face of the land is beautiful, not a dead level, but just enough swell and meadow to gladden the eye and rejoice the heart. No wonder Black Hawk and his braves clung to this lovely valley.
Heavens, what a goodly prospect Of hills and dales and woods. .
Prophetstown is on the Mendota branch of the Burlington, and can be reached from the north or south by changing cars at Denrock. A pleasant drive from Sterling on the south side of the river through a charming section of well improved farms. Soon after leaving the station you enter the main street with several blocks of stores, offices, and various business houses. Here is the Farmers' National Bank, organized in 1902, with a present capital stock of $60,000, and deposits of $133,907. N. Thompson is president, and O. P. Petty, formerly of First National, Sterling, is assistant cashier.
This is the office of the Eclipse Self-Sharpening Lawn Mower, a ma- chine that is winning high praise wherever used. It has ten-inch drive wheels, four steel blades, handle and roller of seasoned hard maple. As a precaution against rust the machine is treated to a heavy coat of white paint, and then finished in aluminum, giving it a neat appearance. Three prime points are claimed. It does not rust, nor clog, and is self-sharpening. During three years it has stood all tests, and is recommended by those who have used it as the best on the market. The manufacture is just in its infancy, but is bound to grow.
Along Main street are the offices of the five doctors who take care of the public health, Johnson, Arnett, Tascher, Mosher, and Bruce from Indiana, the latest arrival. Also, three dentists who aim to keep the village ivory in perfect condition, Holland, and two Gostelows. These have their rooms over stores. Several restaurants, where a dime will secure a good cup of coffee and piece of pie, or a quarter a square meal. The postoffice business is increasing. The sale of stamps during 1907 amounted to $4,009, an increase of $285 over the previous year. The money order trade was $20,- 000. The weight of mail matter dispatched from July, 1907, to Decem- ber, 1907, was 8,222 pounds. There are five rural routes.
THE CHURCHIES.
The Methodist church erected in 1864 sprang from a mission in the house of N. G. Reynolds in the summer of 1836. There is a membership of 260, a Sunday school of 150, with an Epworth League, Ladies' Aid, Women's Foreign Mission Society. The pastor, Rev. W. B. Doble, is an Englishman,
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was educated at Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical Institute, and entered the Rock River Conference in 1890. This is his first year in this charge.
On a hill stands the Swedish Lutheran with parsonage adjacent. There are over one hundred communicants, a Bible class of 40, a Ladies' Aid of 30, a Y. P. S. E. A small Sunday school for the reason that most of the families are from the country and simply attend the service of preaching. The pastor, Rev. A. Edgren, came from south of Stockholm, and after a high school education in Sweden, studied at Augustana College, then at Pax- ton, now at Rock Island, graduating in 1873. His third year in this place.
The largest church in the town is the Congregational, with a member- ship of 340, a Sunday school of 190, a cradle roll of 40. There are various societies: Woman's Missionary Union, Ladies' Aid, Christian Endeavor, Senior and Junior, Boys' Club. Every two weeks a Bible club meets on Friday. The pastor is Rev. Charles Henry Burdick, of Wisconsin, a grad- uate of Beloit college and Chicago Theological Seminary, 1902. His first charge was at Moline.
What's a table richly spread Without a woman at its head?
The ladies of Prophetstown are wide awake. The W. C. T. U. of fifty members meet every two weeks and discuss subjects announced beforehand. A class in Domestic Science of thirty, who have papers read and topics to consider. Some viand is cooked, and the good women pass opinion on its preparation. As a help and education in this department, literature is studied in the form of Good Housekeeping, published at Springfield, Mass., and the Bos- ton Cooking School Magazinc.
The Bay View Club of sixteen members, so called from the Bay View Magazine, issued at the summer school in Michigan, is purely literary. Mrs. George E. Paddock is the presiding genius. They meet twice a month, and compass in their deliberations a wide variety of topics, American his- tory and literature, proverbs, current events, the orators, the reformers, like Garrison and Phillips, historians like Parkman, Motley and Prescott. A lady is appointed to read a paper followed by a discussion. The meetings are held at the homes.
Paris has its Eiffel tower, Washington the marble monument, land- marks of the sky that overtop all meaner objects. Prophetstown has her lofty tank, 100 feet high, situated on a bluff east of town. The pumping station is at the foot, and it measures 140 feet to the top of the steel tank. The pump is run by a 25 horsepower gasoline engine, with a capacity of 166 gallons a minute. The consumption is from 25,000 to 30,000 gallons per day, and the pump works about four hours a day to supply the demand of a hundred patrons whose number is increasing. All the new residences have closet and bath. The water is obtained from a huge well, 24 fcet deep and ten feet across. It is not river water, but flows from an upper strata in the bluff. The waterworks were constructed in 1904, and with the exten- sions since, have cost $25,000.
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During the disastrous fire, Jan. 27, 1908, the water system worked to perfection. Asst. Engincer Amos Ott had charge of the pumping station and when the fire broke out the 65,000 gallon reservoir was filled to the brim. At no stage of the fire was there less than 40,000 gallons of water in the tank. During the time that three leads of hose were used the water fell ten feet but that was the lowest stage recorded. The pressure was strong, even at the lowest stage. The pumping capacity proved almost equal to the demand of two lines of hosc.
Surrounding the pumping station, which is near the river, is a native grove of the original oak, blackberry, walnut, willow, affording a delightful park for popular resort. No expense is needed. A simple platform, and fes- tivals and celebrations can be enjoyed all through the summer. As you ascend the bluff is the new concrete mansion of Herbert Laneaster, the choic- est situation in the town, commanding a noble view of Rock river and the woods on either bank.
The minstrel "boy to the war has gone, In the ranks of death you'll find him, His father's sword he's girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him .- Moore.
The cemetery east of town, approached by a concrete walk, is crowded with memorials of marble and granite. Numerous soldiers. Lieut. T. G. Bryant, 1863; O. T. Clark, Co. F, 28th Iowa Infantry; John Sanderson, Co. H, 136th N. Y. Infantry; John H. Rise, Co. G, 147th Ill. Infantry ; Roswell Slater, 1863, 543 Post; and Wm. Hyde, only 39; Corporal J. W. Keefer, Co. B, 34th Ill. Infantry; Charles O. Pratt, Co. G, 13th Ill. Infan- try, 34, died in Lyndon, 1871; Henry M. Dailey, 1836-1906; J. D. Beards- ley, Co. K, 34th Ill. Infantry.
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