USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 16
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There was a debt of $900, but before the exercises were concluded, sub- scriptions canceled every obligation.
A cement walk has been laid in front of the church and extended in front of the cemetery. The handsome iron fence completes the surround- ings of one of the prettiest country cemeteries and church in this part of the state.
The board of trustees consists of E. H. Kempster, president, Daniel Young, treasurer, Fred Crosier, Dave Urick, Ralph Smedley, Clark Fuller. The new church is a mile and a half west of Spring Hill.
EARLY SETTLERS.
From 1834 to 1841, over one hundred pioneers made their home in the township. Some grew old and died on the land they had tilled, others for various reasons, moved to other counties or other states. Singular to say, about one-half came from New York, others were divided among Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts. For instance, from New York emigrated Levi
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Fuller in 1834, Simeon Fuller in 1835, Bacchus Besse in 1835, Simeon Chaffee in 1835, John Smith Rowe, in 1835, Robert Getty, in 1835. Alphonso Brooks in 1836, John Smith Logan in 1836, James Rowe, 1836, Jesse Slawson, 1836, Amos Young, 1836, Walter Young, 1838, Daniel F. Cole, 1837, Hiram Mckenzie, 1837. Several from foreign countries. Christian Benson, born in Gottenburg, Sweden, after working as a pilot around New York came in 1835, and had a terrible experience of freezing in a November slough. Louis Arnett, Alsace, France, made his claim in 1837. Jacob Arnett, Elstein, France, arrived in 1836, worked as a ditcher, went to California, and returned with wallets of gold. James Graham from Ireland, settled in 1837. John Kempster, Berkshire, Eng- land, came in 1837, and died in 1869. Martin Reis, Ahrang, Prussia, and Philip Rapp from France. Another Graham, William, from Ireland. Rob- crt Thompson, Ireland, carpenter, 1837, introduced blooded stock.
Massachusetts sent Horace Burke, John Baxter, Guy Ray, Hiram Har- mon, D. Porter Brewer, William Maynard. From Connecticut came Levi Fuller, Alden Tuller, Chauncey Reynolds, Asa Maynard. A good many from Vermont. Daniel Blaisdell, Job Dodge, Smith Hurd, Hiram Under- hill, W. S. Crane, A. T. Wiggins, Benjamin Dow, Arbela Adams. Nathaniel Norton, Maine, came in 1837, and started the first nursery. Two trees from his stock were in good bearing in 1877 on the farm of Frank Cushing in Portland. He aided generously in the building of Sharon church in 1841, and removed to Chicago in 1843.
THE SEELYS.
Nearly every spot has its prevailing name. Quincy has the Adamses, Virginia, the Lees, Delaware, the Bayards. So Portland has the Seelys. Blooded stock. John Robert Seeley, Cambridge, England, gave the world "Ecce Homo" in 1869, which roused the theologians. J. H. Seelye was presi- dent of Amherst and member of congress. Difference in spelling, but a rose smells sweet by any name. Jeduthan Seely came to Portland in 1836 with his son Ebnezer, but died of medical bleeding like Washington, the same autumn. Norman B. and Alexander J., his sons, had preceded him in 1834. Norman built the first house in Portland, and walked to Rock Island, forty miles, every Monday morning, to work on a government job. Alexander was a blacksmith, but killing an Indian in a quarrel, to escape the vengeance of the savages, he fled to Texas, and fought in the war with Mexico.
Col. Ebenezer Seely, the best known of the family, made his claim in the fall of 1834. He and his wife opened their cabin to every stranger. The latch string was always out. A man of large frame, face with a smile that never came off. At the old settlers' meeting till his death, he was easily the big gun. The writer often saw him in Sterling in later years at the hotel of his son, Sol. Mrs. Seely died in 1874 at 72.
ITEMS.
The first town mecting was held April 6, 1852, and in 1854 it was voted to pay a bounty of one dollar for every wolf killed, increased in 1859 to two.
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The first traveled road was the stage route from Dixon to Roek Island, laid out in 1837.
The first school was taught in 1836 by Miss Eliza Hall in a log house owned by Norman B. Seely. Twelve pupils. The first schoolhouse was of logs, and ereeted in 1837.
A mastodon's tusk was found at the village of Portland in 1846 by David B. Seely. It weighed 32 pounds, was found in sand and gravel 27 feet below the surface, and sent to Barnum in New York.
In the cemetery adjoining the schoolhouse on seetion fourteen, is a splendid soldiers' monument, erected by the citizens in honor of the fallen heroes of the township.
At the election in Portland for president in 1836, when Martin Van Buren received 170 electoral votes to Harrison's 73, and Daniel Webster's 14, twenty votes were east, and Sol Scely was put on a pony to bear the re- turns through November blasts over 28 miles of an Indian trail to Dixon.
Fever and ague was bad in the hot suminer of 1839, and Cobb ran a boat on Rock river, furnishing ague medicine and other supplies.
George Hamilton put up the first frame house in 1837, and it remained for many years.
A good crop of winter wheat was raised in 1841, and as the price in Chieago was one dollar a bushel, the settlers hauled the grain there, the trip taking eight days with horses, two weeks with oxen.
An aid society composed of many of the active ladies of the township meets regularly at the homes of the inembers.
VOICES FROM THE DEAD-OLD NEWSPAPERS. Hark from the tombs, a doleful sound ! Mine ears attend the cry. Ye living men, eome view the ground, Where ye must shortly lie .- Watts.
Looking over these yellow, faded journals of ye olden time is like walk- ing through a cemetery. The people and events comc before the mind's eye as vividly as though you were gazing at a panorama.
How life-like thro' the mist of years, Each well-remembered face appears.
Before us is the 'Sterling Times, Dec. 12, 1854, Charles Boynton, editor. Six narrow columns. R. L. Wilson figures largely, and he was large, as elerk of court, insurance agent, land agent, dealer in real estate. Few advertise- ments. A. S. Hudson was doctor, M. S. Henry, Stillman & Sackett were the lawyers. Mrs. D. R. Beck had a choice selection of millinery, and Hall & Blakesley a large assortment of heating and cooking stoves. But the iron horse was not yet. Sterling was literally stage-struck. In black type we read these head lines:
Rail Road Open to Dixon !
On and after Monday, Dec. 4, 1854, trains on the Galena & Chicago Union
:
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
will run as follows: Passenger train leaves Dixon at six, a. m., and arrives at Dixon at eight. So Sterling people were obliged to take stage to Dixon for Chicago, or if the walking was good, go on foot.
This is the Sterling Republican, Oct. 25, 1856, William Caffrey, editor. A campaign year. For president, John C. Fremont. For vice president, Wm. L. Dayton. For governor, W. H. Bissell. For congress, John F. Farns- worth. For legislature, John V. Eustace. A mass meeting, Oct. 30, and Hon. John P. Hale, senator from New Hampshire, was to be present without fail. He was, for the writer heard him. Also Judge Trumbull, Joe Knox, Sam Galloway, Farnsworth, Bross.
C. B. Smith and Miss M. E. Gilman will open a school in basement of Presbyterian church. Miss Palmer, pianist, will have charge of musical de- partment.
Two familiar medical names have cards, Dr. Julius P. Anthony, who is supplied with a full set of amputating instruments, and Dr. M. M. Royer, who speaks the English and German languages. B. G. Wheeler & Co. started a bank, which after a time closed doors. George Hagey had received an ex- cellent assortment of gold and silver watches. James Potts of New York has a rich supply of ready-made clothing. Sawyer & Gilbert had received three cargoes of Saginaw lumber. By 1857, Anthony & Royer had formed a part- nership in the drug business. R. B. Colcord in Genesee was advertising tomb stones. D. McCartney at Fulton would attend to all legal matters entrusted to his care.
By 1860 the paper had become Republican and Gazette, and the adver- tisements were more numerous: James Galt, real estate and collector, Penn- sylvania House, Central House, W. M. Kilgour, Edward N. Kirk, B. C. Coblenz, Henry & Price, lawyers. Galt & Crawford had hardware, Wells and Emmons furniture, W. A. Sanborn coal yard. Among the dry goods mer- chants were, J. L. Crawford & Co., and Patterson & Witmer. J. W. Sheaffer guaranteed good log pumps, M. A. Bunn was ready to extract teeth, A. P. Smith to teach piano, Clark Powell to furnish trees, Hinsdale and Johnson drugs, Dr. J. C. Teats to take your picture, Nelson Maxson had wagons, H. Brink had brick and lime, Terrell & Harper groceries. Only two societies, Masons and Odd Fellows. Hapgood was mayor. The National ticket was: Lincoln and Hamlin, and Arnold for Congress.
To show the ravages of fifty years, it is only necessary to say that of all the persons whose names appear in these wrinkled sheets, only two remain, so far as known, upon the earth in the spring of 1908. The venerable. Thomas A. Galt, at eighty is still looking after numerous business interests: on both sides of the river. Isaac N. Bressler, who as city sexton, kept on hand, coffins and shrouds, yet wonderful to relate, after starving in three rebel prisons, holds the fort on the identical spot where he did business two generations ago. If you would sec the names of the Sterling men and women of 1860, you must read them on the marble and granite in River- side cemetery.
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY ยท
USTICK.
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls .- Othello.
The reader has no need to puzzle his brain about the name of this town- ship. It comes honestly from Henry Ustick, who emigrated from Western Pennsylvania in 1845, and lived on his farm till he died in 1855. But he 'belonged to a later set. Wooster Y. Ives, Connecticut, came in 1837. He was a Nimrod, and as game was abundant, deer and wild fowl, found much pleas- ure in the hunt. He afterwards moved to Fulton. In 1839 William H. Knight, Maine, farmer, hotel-keeper, ferry owner, grocer. Lewis and Allen Graves, Jesse Johnson and Henry Bond in 1838. John Hollinshead, New Jersey, 1840, was buried on his farm. His wife belonged to the Rush family of Pennsylvania, Dr. Benjamin Rush being a signer of the Declaration. From 1840 to 1843 we have the Bakers, John McKenzie, William Watt, James Logan, John Maheny from Ireland, Warren Bond, who became one of the prosperous stock raisers of the county. Oliver Baker cultivated his large farm till 1867, when he moved to Morrison to engage in the stock business, leaving two sons to manage operations at the homestead.
THE OATMAN MASSACRE. -
This is the most dreadful event connected with this quiet settlement. Roys Oatman, who came in 1842, sold his farm in 1849, and started with his wife and seven children in wagon for California, taking the Santa Fe route. All went well until they reached the junction of the Gila and Colo- rado rivers, Arizona, when the party was attacked by the Indians, and Mr. and Mrs. Oatman and four children murdered. Lorenzo was left for dead, but recovered, Olive and Mary Ann were taken captives. Ann died two years afterwards, and Olive, after five years of search, was restored to her friends. Mrs. Oatman was a sister of A. M. Abbott, Ustick pioneer, and aunt of the present Hon. A. N. Abbott, of that township.
THE CREAMERY.
The main industrial concern of Ustick is the creamery, situated on a hill- side. A peculiar feature is an unfailing spring, over which the building stands. It is four feet deep, and requires a ten-inch tile to carry away the water. In the height of the season, 20,000 pounds of milk and cream are received daily, 700 to 800 pounds of butter churned per day, packed in tubs holding 80 pounds. The buttermilk is free to farmers, who generally deliver the milk to the factory. Operations go on all the year, no postponement on account of weather. William Kane, manager, has been here nine years. His house adjoins.
SOME LATER SETTLERS.
In a drive through the township the writer met several excellent people who belong to recent years. At Ustick Corners was John Hoak, who was entirely blind, and yet was able to serve customers with goods in his little
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
groeery. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb from Vermont, who came in 1857. Ncar their farm is Cobb sehool. Mr. and Mrs. Bion Bull, both still vigorous after years of struggle in improving their farm, talk of retiring to town. William Aitken, from Aberdeen, Seotland, 1873, eherishes a warm feeling for the land of Burns, was baek four years ago, and showed a portfolio of Scottish citics and scenery.
ABOUT THE CHURCHES.
The Presbyterian church at Spring Valley was organized in 1860, by Rev. A. H. Laekey, with a membership of 22 persons, comprising the Millers, Ritehies, Watts, MeKies and others. The building was completed in 1866 at a cost of $2,200. It stands so high that it is sometimes ealled the church on the hill. The services have been irregular, as the ancient followers of the Calvinistie faith are few. Jefferson Bureh of Fulton is now in charge. Preach- ing every Sunday at ten, and Sunday school afterwards. He is a Methodist, but supplies the pulpit, as no Presbyterian minister is available.
A Methodist church was started here in 1855, by Rev. Mr. Falkenburgh, pastor at Unionville, and a building was ereeted in 1869, at a eost of $1,500. It was on the Thomson eireuit of the Roek river conference. But its glory is gone, the members departed. The United Evangelical church is now most popular. Rev. R. S. Welsh, pastor, has issued a booklet announeing his appointments at various places, Malvern, Clyde, Greenwood, Fair Haven, Ideal. His portrait is at the head, showing a face of energy and determination. Below, pious sentences for the thoughtful: "Be not afraid to pray; to pray is right. Pray if thou eanst, with hope; but ever pray."
AN ORGAN STORY.
In the cemetery adjoining you may read on the tombs such names as McKee, Peterkin, Melville, MeCullagh, Patterson, McFadden, Aitken, Olson, Cassell, Rayner. There seem to be no relatives left to keep the coarse grass from growing over the graves. About twenty or thirty years ago, some good women of the church collected money for an organ and placed in the edifice to be used in the serviees. But the innovation was displeasing to eertain elders who believed no machine musie should take the place of psalms and hymns, and one night the unlueky organ disappeared and was found buried in a ravine. In time, however, better counsels prevailed, and the ladies were per- mitted to enjoy the instrument in the regular worship.
The Mennonites have a briek ehureh. John Nice, bishop, and John McCulloh, minister. Henry Niee assists. Serviees every Sunday and Sunday school after the sermon.
In the southern part of the township is Cottonwood church, built by the people of the neighborhood. It is a neat frame edifiee, painted white, and was ereeted in 1871, at a cost of $1,700. It is on the Fulton eireuit, and there is preaching every Sunday afternoon to a small membership. Here also is the Cottonwood sehool.
In the South Ustick cemetery we noticed the names of Goff, Baker, Cottle, Bull, Daniels, Webb, Lockhart. Stephen Hoxsie, 85, and Elizabeth, his wife,
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
84. Samuel C. Dumbauld, 1810-1906. Horace L. Abbott, 1863, Co. F, 93rd Ill. Infantry. H. Thompson, Co. E, 46th Ill. Infantry. Many handsome monuments of gray and red granite, and the grounds in fine order.
USTICK SOLDIERS IN THE REBELLION.
Ah, never shall the land forget How gushed the life-blood of the brave, Gushed warm with hope and courage yet, Upon the soil they fought to save .- Bryant.
Miss Mary E. Hoak has kindly furnished much valuable information in regard to the boys in blue, of whom one hundred and forty enlisted from the township. The following died during the service :
John T. Allen, Co. D, 62nd Ill. Infantry, 1864.
Almund Baker, Co. I, 75th Ill., 1862, from wounds received at Perryville. Philip O. Bettys, Co. C, 8th Ill. Cavalry, killed at Culpepper, Va., 1863. Robert Bradley, Co. A, 34th Ill., killed at Shiloh, 1862. Allen Bond, Co. K, 156th Ill., Nashville, 1865. Nara S. Baker, Co. B, 127th Ill., Chattanooga, 1865.
George Baxter, Co. B, 34th Ill., died of wounds.
Jay Canfield, Co. C, 8th Ill., Cavalry, Alexandria, 1862.
James Canfield, Co. I, 75th Ill., Nashville, 1862.
James Collins, Co. I, 75th Ill., died at home, 1865. James Craine, Co. I, 75th Ill., died of wounds.
Samuel E. Crawford, Co. I, 46th Ill., Memphis, 1863.
Charles W. Freeman, Co. I, 75th Ill., wounds, 1863. John F. Frank, Co. E, 46th Ill., Corinth, 1862. Jonathan Eads, Co. E, 46th Ill., Henderson, 1862. Delos Goff, Co. B, 127th Ill., Chickasaw, 1863. Ezra Gordon, Co. I, 75th Ill., Chattanooga, 1863.
Henry Creighton, Co. E, 46th Ill., Corinth, 1862.
Robert Hall, Capt. Co. I, 75th Ill., killed at Cupp's plantation, Ga., 1864.
Dwight Harlow, Co. F, 15th Ill., died at home. Oscar Hoxsie, Co. D, 46th Ill., Shiloh, 1862. -
William Hampton, Co. I, 75th Ill., killed at Lovejoy station, Ga., 1864. Robert Imlay, Co. E, 46th Ill., killed at Jackson Cross Roads, 1864 .
James S. Martin, Co. E, 46th Ill., Hamburg, 1862. Alonzo Johnson, Co. I, 75th Ill., Murfreesboro, 1863.
Austin Martin, Co. C, 8th Cavalry, Frederick, 1862.
Samuel L. Martindale, Co. I, 75th Ill., Nashville, 1863.
George W. Oliver, Co. H, 75th Ill., wounds.
John Potter, Co. C, 8th Cavalry, Alexandria, 1862.
Willard Skinner, Co. I, 75th Ill., died in prison, Danville, Ga., 1864. Peter Savage, Co. G, 13th Ill., dicd in Andersonville, 1864.
D. B. Ustick, Co. H, 75th Ill., Perryville, 1862. Irving Williams, Co. I, 75th Ill., Perryville; 1862.
Ephraim Weldon, Co. E, 46th Ill., Kenesaw, 1864.
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Freeman Wilber, Co. E, 46th Ill., Shiloh, 1862.
Charles A. Webb, Co. I, 75th IH., Nashville, 1863. James M. Wyeth, Co. I, 75th Ill., died, 1863.
Since the war the following have died: James Collins, John Kier, Edward Lothrop, George B. Martin George Mckenzie, Henry Plank, Peter Ready, Wil- liam Taylor, Byron Weldon, William Reed.
TAXES IN USTICK.
The tax books for the town of Ustick show a total tax for the year 1907, exclusive of railroads and telegraph lines, of $8,606.49, with a total assessed valuation, as fixed by the state board of equalization, of $252,325. The taxes, as they appear on the collector's books, are divided as follows:
State tax
$1,264.76
County tax
1,918.32
Town tax
339.61
Road and bridge tax
2,557.95
School tax
2,403.85
Dog tax
122.00
Total
$8,606.49
As two creeks, Spring and Otter, traverse the township, substantial bridges are necessary. A contract was lately awarded for the construction of a steel bridge over Otter creek, about thirty rods south of the Spring Valley school- house. The bridge will be the first of the kind ever built in that town. It will be a steel span 100 feet long resting on concrete abutments. The drive- way will be sixteen feet wide and will be made of concrete six inches in thick- ness. The supervisors' committee comprised J. C. Snyder of Fulton, Thomas Mclaughlin of Fenton and Frank Moulton of Union Grove. The commis- sioners of highways were Nelson Edlund, Grier Miller and John McCulloh. Will J. Kane, town clerk of Ustick, was the secretary of the meeting. The contract price was $3,995.
SCHOOLS.
Miss Armenia Ingham, in 1841, taught the first school in Ustick, in Amos Short's cabin. The first schoolhouse, a stone building, was built in 1844, on a corner of Jesse Johnson's- farm. There are now eight school dis- tricts: Hollinshead, Cottonwood, Goff, Crouch, Gridley, Robertson, Cobb, Spring Valley, with enrollment of pupils ranging from 16 to 36. There are three Sunday schools held in connection with the churches. The Mennonites built their church in 1871, having previously held meetings in the South Clyde or Aldritt schoolhouse, and later in the West Clyde school building. The Robertson school building and grounds is said to be one of the best in the township.
A PIONEER FARM.
In the southern part of Ustick is the residence of Hon. A. N. Abbott, son of A. M. Abbott, who came from Vermont in 1847. A beautiful tract of
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
400 acres, the only estate between Morrison and Fulton remaining in the hands of the original owners, tenants cultivating the soil as in many of the townships. Really in possession of the fourth generation, as the grandfather purchased the land at $1.25 per acre. Mr. Abbott still uses the ancestral cot- tage with a few improvements. He is doubtless the only farmer in the county who possesses an agricultural training, having finished his technical course at Champaign in 1885. Mrs. Abbott is an earnest and refined woman who is in sympathy with all the best movements of the times. The state has placed an experimental station on this farm, and in another chapter, Soil Fertility, Mr. Abbott speaks of the operations.
ITEMS.
Of the secret orders, the most active is the Mystic Workers. The lodge has 75 members, and constantly increasing. Like the Round Grove society, the Fair Haven lodge owns its hall. Oyster suppers during the winter. Dr. J. A. Wright is prefect, and Mrs. Lillie Greenawalt secretary.
In the death of Robert Hunter at Morrison, 1907, Ustick lost an early citizen. He was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, coming to America in 1851, and opening a farm in the township. He was married to Miss Betsey Currie of Clinton, Iowa. The Masons had charge of the funeral, and burial was made at Cottonwood. He was 78 years old.
There is an N. G. Club, a society of ladies from Ustick and Union Grove, organized for social and intellectual benefits.
A mournful fact. Miss Hoak adds this item to her soldier article. Of the 140 heroes Ustick sent to the war, 49 were killed in battle, some died of wounds or disease since, and not one remains within her borders except those. who are sleeping in the cemeteries.
Among the later citizens are Ulrich Steiner, the Entwistles, in 1871, and Jonas Edlund, 1870, stone mason, who laid the foundation of the Presby- terian church.
BOTANY OF WHITESIDE.
BY. PROF. S. A. MAXWELL.
A violet by a mossy stone, . Half hidden from the eye, Fair as a star when only one, Is shining in the sky .-- Wordsworth.
Several years ago the writer of this chapter conceived the idea of com- piling a flora of Whiteside county. His own list of native and naturalized plants embraced several hundred species, and to these were added many other species determined by Mr. H. F. Baldwin, who for many years was a resident of Prophetstown. The writer is also under obligations to Mr. James B. Galt of Unionville, to Mr. Herman Long, formerly of Rock Falls, and to Miss Myra Jennings of that city.
The number of species of native plants is diminishing year by year, a fact due to the effects of pasturage and tillage. In this way it is probable.
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
that two-thirds of the species that fifty years ago adorned the prairies or nestled in the woodland shades have disappeared. A few of the old time species still linger in rural cemeteries and along the right-of-way of the rail- roads; but elsewhere are rarely found. Among these the most noticeable are the blue spider-wort, the red-root; or Jersey tea, the purple cone-flower, and the dogsbane. The great blue lobelia and the closed gentian are yet frequently found along the smaller water courses, while the cardinal flower or red lobelia, the lady's-slipper and the fringed gentian are exceedingly rare and possibly cx- tinct. Two other species belonging to the leguminosae, once very common, especially in sandy prairies, were goat's-rue, locally called shoestring, and the lead-plant, often miscalled shoestring by the early settlers. Both of these had very tough roots and where numerous were serious obstacles to the work of breaking the prairie sod. The goat's-rue had a large blossom, just. like a sweet pea, the petals being white, rose, and purple. The blossoms of the lead- plant were blue and were arranged in a slender, pointed spike.
The papaw grows probably in but one place in the county, near the foot of the bluff about one-half mile north of the Fulton cemetery. The delicate harebell is also found growing close by among the rock ledges. In the Cat- tail slough in Fulton, is also found another rare plant, the large water-lily, sometimes called the water chinquapin.
Perhaps the most extraordinary plant of the county is the Indian pipe, a low, parasitic herb destitute of green tissue, the stem and scale-like bracts which it has in place of leaves being white. It is now quite rare, but was formerly common, especially in the woods in the towns of Garden Plain and Newton.
Wild vines are not very numerous. The most common are two species of wild grape, the Virginia creeper, the bittersweet, the wild cucumber, matri- mony vine, hop vine and the wild morning glory.
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