USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 17
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Among poisonous plants the most frequently seen are the three-leafed ivy, nightshade, water hemlock, water parsnip, nettle, wild parsnip, and the jimpson or Jamestown weed.
Of plants wholly edible are water-cress and pepper-grass, found in a few places, and purslane and tongue-grass, all too common.
There are more than one hundred species of native and naturalized plants in the county that have a recognized medicinal value, some of the more common being the following: May-apple, blood-root, nightshade, bonesct, dan- delion, lobelia, stramonium, yellow-dock, and pennyroyal. Less common species are hepatica, two kinds of snake-root, wild sarsaparilla, ginseng, gen- tian, horehound, peppermint, veronica, and sweet-flag.
Of trees, the largest types are the sycamore, the white elm and the cotton- wood. More useful varieties are the burr oak, white oak, red oak, red clm, hickory, black walnut, hard maple, and the different varieties of ash.
The hackberry, once perhaps the commonest of trees of the "Big Woods" of Rock river, is now quite scarce. It did not grow in the groves of the north part of the county. The berrics of this tree, like those of the juniper, dry upon the twigs and furnish an abundance of food for many species of birds that are winter residents here. The red cedar, a species of juniper, is the
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only evergreen found native in the county and is seareely to be met with out- side of the towns of Ustiek and Garden Plain.
FENTON.
This modest stone, what few vain marbles ean,
May truly say, Here lies an honest man.
Calmly he looked on either life, and here
Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear .- Alexander Pope.
The poet wrote this of his esteemed friend, Elijah Fenton, who assisted in the translation of the Odyssey, and died in 1730, but he could with perfeet truth have applied it to Joseph Fenton, after whom the township is named. Mr. Fenton came with his wife and four children from Burlington county, New Jersey, in October, 1835. He first lived in a cabin, before ereeting a log house. Fish were plenty, and deer were constantly seen dashing over the prairie. The Winnebago Indians were there, and continued to haunt the land for years. Although harmless, they were not agreeable callers to the women. Alfred, their son, was the first white ehild born in the township, May 13, 1837. Except wild game, substantial food was searee in the way of potatoes, eorn meal, flour, all of which had to be obtained from Roek Island or Henderson Grove. In time, of course, they raised their own vegetables. Mr. Fenton's wife was Elizabeth Durrell, of Burlington. They had nine children. He was a domestic man and a kind neighbor. He died in 1874 at eighty. His son, John D., 74, is living at Erie.
FENTON CENTER.
This is the metropolis of the township. Not very aneient, as it was plat- ted in 1872 by James Usom, who owned the land, when the Mendota branch of the Burlington railroad eame through. He deeded ten aeres for depot, traeks and water tank to the company. The highest situation in the whole country about. It is like Mount Zion. A battery here eould command the township with its guns. A little singular, too, as the land below is so level. As you approach the place from Denroek on the road, which runs parallel with Roek ereek and the diteh, there are deep ehasms into which a vieious horse might easily plunge a carriage.
A lively village with three general stores, Wright, Forth and Likes, a town hall, school taught by Miss Mamie MeLaughlin, her third year, thirty pupils. The ereamery is operated by J. Wright and son. The eream is brought in ten gallon eans, and the average is thirty eans a week. Butter is made in the summer. The eream is shipped to Clinton and Chicago. They have been in the business twenty years. Mr. Wright eame here 32 years ago from Vermont, and is a typical New Englander, plain, frank, shrewd, in- telligent, hospitable. House, store, and small hotel all in the same building. Mrs. Wright and daughter are seientifie housekeepers. Travelers are enter- tained' in royal style with a generous table of substantial food and beds that recall the dreams of childhood.
A U. B. church, Liberal, meets the religious wants of the citizens. The
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membership is 75, Sunday school of 100 boys and girls, and the various other societics, Y. P. Union, C. Endeavor, Ladies' Aid, and the prayer meeting. The minister in charge is a lady, Miss Mary Murrel, who twice served as missionary in Africa, and is here for the second time. She has made diligent preparation for her work by studies at colleges in Indiana and Iowa. The church is a neat building. The majority of the people are farmers who are enjoying comfort in their cosy homes after the struggles of other days. Morris Blaisdell came in 1854 from New York, and W. S. James from Jack- sonville in 1865.
THREE FENTON VETERANS.
Hail, Columbia, happy land !
Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band !- Hopkinson.
We found Michael N. Crohan, lively as a cricket. He came from Ireland, Connaught, Roscommon, to this country in 1850; and enlisted at Morrison in 1861, in the 8th Illinois cavalry. During its service in the east, it was called Abraham Lincoln's regiment, only boys who could handle Mosby. When the reunion was held in Chicago, Mosby used to attend. Although Mr. Crohan is seventy, his eye is bright, manner animated, action vigorous as a fellow of forty. He is ready to shoulder the musket again.
Another member of the 8th Illinois cavalry is Elwood Elliott, who en- listed at Morrison. He was also in the second N. Y. infantry. His service altogether extended over three years and six months, passing through the Battles of the Wilderness, and other fierce engagements of the Army of the Potomac. Farnsworth was his first colonel, then Gamble. Mr. Elliott belongs to Albany Post.
Thomas Neary was living in Montmorency when the war began, and en- listed at Sterling. His first service was in the Army of the Potomac, but after- wards transferred to the south. He was mustered out at Houston.
SOME FENTON PIONEERS.
One of the most prominent of the early emigrants was James M. Pratt, from Erie county, New York, who reached Lyndon at fifteen in 1837. His father, John C., had made his claim in 1835. James moved to his farm in Fenton in 1854. His wife was Miss Lucinda Emery. They had twelve chil- dren. Mr. Pratt was a man of high character and business ability, and was often called to positions of responsibility, as supervisor, highway commis- sioner, president of agricultural society.
Martin M. Potter was another New Yorker, who came to Whiteside in 1837, and settled in Fenton in 1851. An enthusiastic promoter of the old settlers meetings.
Solon Stevens saw his one hundred dollars of 1851 grow into a fertile farm of 340 acres. Joseph James was born in England, came to America in 1830, in 1836 to Whiteside, and helped to put up the first cabin in Erie town- ship. There were numerous members of the Thompson family. Reuben was from Vermont, and settled in Whiteside in 1841, married twice, and had a. number of children. His son, Reuben M. was born in Ohio, and after pros-
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i
peeting, finally fixed his abode in Fenton in 1841. He became the largest landholder in the county, owning 1,863 aeres of land, and engaged extensively in the raising of stock.
From Virginia, the mother of presidents, eame Edward J. Ewers in 1843, who did so much for the school interests of the township.
West of Fenton Center is a small cemetery. On the tombs are such names as Sprinkle, Montague, Shepherd, Baker, Burns, Ewers, Likes, Miller, Croeker. The graves of some soldiers. Jacob P. Miller 1840-1905. No regiment given. W. R. Moore, Co. F, 52 Illinois infantry. It is a pity that in some of the cemeteries the graves have only the name of the soldier on the stone, no deseription. A flag is placed on the mound by friends on Memorial Day, but when friends disappear, there will be no record to tell of the forgotten patriot who sleeps below.
CEMETERY IN THE FIELDS.
Further west on the borders of Fenton and Garden Plain is another graveyard about which it is hard to gather definite information. It reminds one of a famous church in London where Charles Second's favorite, Nell Gwynn, is buried, ealled St. Martin's in the Fields. This cemetery lies nortlı of the road leading west from Fenton, and can be reached only by passing through a neighboring barnyard. The writer was told that a man in Erie was able to give particulars, and on addressing him received the following reply :
Erie, Jan. 29, 1908.
In answer to the letter, I hardly know what to tell. If you were here, I. eould speak better than write. That graveyard has always gone by the name of Orien Root graveyard, and as the land ehanged hands, it went by the name of the people who owned the land. It is located in the center of my farm. The part that is not sold off in lots belongs to me. Where the dead are buried, each person has a deed of the lot. JAMES SMACK.
My previous informant said it was known as the Jim Smaek cemetery, confirming the allusion in Mr. Smaek's letter. The old enelosure is in good order, trim and clean and several soldiers are lying on their "night eneamp- ment -on the hill."
ITEMS.
Much of the low, swampy ground originally has been so much improved by careful ditching that the land is now well drained and produetive.
The Dixon and Rock Island road, through the southern part of the township, was the main route of travel for years, and the Brink & Walker line of stages was the speediest and most luxurious method of transportation from Chicago to all points west.
In the fall of 1848 the first school was taught by Miss Arminta Lathe in a log house, owned by James M. Prait. The first publie schoolhouse was built in distriet number one, in 1857.
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AUTHORS OF WHITESIDE.
But how the subject theme may gang, Let time and chance determine, Perhaps it may turn out a sang, Perhaps turn out a sermon .- Burns.
Although our county has had no Bancroft in history, no Longfellow in poetry, no Hawthorne in story, no Gray in science, no Edison in invention, yet several of our citizens, native or resident, have shown literary skill in achievements that will be pleasantly remembered.
There are few immortals. . Only one Dante and Shakespeare. Much literature is local or temporary. N. P. Willis, a household name a generation ago, is rarely mentioned. Of the hundreds of references in Hallam's Middle Ages, nearly all forgotten. Said the Latin poet, "many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but they had no Homer to embalm their deeds." Let us cherish the memory of our own worthies.
ROBERT L. WILSON.
He had collected much material for a history of Whiteside, but when Charles Bent issued his prospectus for a similar work, Col. Wilson and Mr. Bent pooled their issues, and the history published at Morrison in 1877 by Charles Bent is generally known as Bent and Wilson's.
Robert L. Wilson was born in Washington county, Pa., in 1805, and his father removing to Ohio, the boy worked his way through Franklin Col- lege. He taught school in Kentucky, studied law, removed to Illinois in 1833, and in 1836 was elected to the legislature from Sangamon, being one of the "Long Nine" who secured the removal of the capital from Vandalia. In 1840 he removed to Sterling, which was his residence for the remainder of his life. He was circuit clerk for twenty years. As he and Lincoln were old friends, the president, on the breaking out of the war, appointed him paymaster. In 1875 he gratified a long cherished desire by a tour of Europe, going as far as Rome. He died in 1880.
Personally, Col. Wilson was one of the most genial of men. He was never too busy for a chat with friend or stranger. Although most of his life was spent in politics and business, he retained the freshness of youth, and his love for the studies of his earlier years. He once told the writer of working in the garden till ten in the morning, and then taking a bath, and reviewing his Greek testament. Fond of travel, and no American tourist ever traversed the classic cities and scenes of the Old World with a keener apprecia- tion. A noble citizen, whose large nature enjoyed the good, the truc, and the beautiful in the world about him.
CHARLES BENT.
Few men at sixty-four have had a more strenuous or varied carecr. Printer, soldier, journalist, legislator, official, his life exhibits a gratifying record of continual activity. While best known in this county by his asso-
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ciation with the Sentinel, whose character and circulation owe so much to his application ; he has held several responsible positions abroad in the state. His History of Whiteside County, published in 1877, will always be the standard for its complete account of the early settlement, as the data were obtained from the lips of the pioncers who soon afterwards passed away.
REV. MEADE C. WILLIAMS, D. D.
He succeeded Rev. Ebenczer Erskine in the pastorate of the Sterling Pres- byterian church, 1865, and remained until 1873, when he removed to Prince- ton, then to Toledo, and finally to St. Louis, where he died in 1906. Like the well known Henry Van Dyke of his own church, Dr. Williams found his diversion in literature. Historical research had a special attraction. For many years he had a cottage at Mackinac, where he spent his summers, and his observations in that romantic region resulted in "Early Mackinac," which is an agreeable narrative of the various points of interest to visitors as they wander over the island.
In a letter received from him in October, 1905, he spoke of reading a pa- per before the Missouri Historical Society on Henry R. Schoolcraft, whose Indian explorations were first undertaken at Mackinac. For years he was in correspondence with the Michigan Pioneer Society, and furnished them an article on "The Early Fur Trade in America." On returning from a trip to Boston, he wrote an account of a visit to the school-house attended by a young girl with whose ways we are all familiar:
Mary had a little lamb, Whose fleece was white as snow, And every place that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go.
This Mary was not a myth, but a genuine maiden, whose performances arc well attested. The little poem has been credited to Sarah J. Hale, but Dr. Williams was thoroughly persuaded of its authorship by a student who was a chance visitor at the school. As one proof he adduced the fact that the piece is not given among her published poems. The writer addressed Rev. E. E. Hale on the subject, but he replied that he had no positive knowl- edge that Mrs. Hale was the author. Dr. Williams made two voyages to Europe, and contributed letters to the Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati, with which he had editorial connection.
JESSE LYNCH WILLIAMS. .
While in Sterling, Dr. Williams lived on East Third street, in an old brown frame house, now, owned by Frank Bowman, csq. Here his son, Jesse Lynch, was born in 1871, and after due preparation, was graduated at Princeton, and inheriting the tastes of his father, soon took up literature as a profession. His first effort was "Princeton Stories" in 1895, but his first de- cided hit was made with the leading tale in a volume of newspaper yarns, entitled "The Stolen Story." This appeared in 1899, and has been made the basis of a play. The plot he has developed into a novel, The Day Dreamer,
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being the full narrative of the Stolen Story. This was published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Mr. Williams is married, and lives at Princeton, New Jersey. His mother, widow of the doctor, resides at the former home, Delmar avenue, St. Louis. While in Chicago, a few years ago, the writer recalls sceing on the bill boards the flashy pictures illustrating the Stolen Story, which was then having a successful run at one of the theaters.
MARTHA A. JOIIN.
Her parents were substantial people of Pennsylvania, and belonged to the Society of Quakers or Friends as they are now called. The early home was in Shamokin, Northumberland county. Her father, Elida John, was a sur- veyor, and a prominent man in the community, a strong advocate for temper- ance, and every good cause. Her mother, Sarah H. Hughes, came from Chester county, Pa., her ancestors owning a farm on which Kennett, Bayard Taylor's town, was afterward built. Martha was one of ten children, and came to Whiteside as early as 1856 to take a position as teacher in the family of Joseph Wilson, proprietor of the well known mills.
An intelligent family, all of the children showing mental power in some form of activity. Martha was meditative, and put the musings of her leisure hours into verse. In 1902 she had a booklet printed entitled "A Souvenir: Incidents, Experiences, and Reflections, by Martha A John." We select a few stanzas to give an idea of the chaste spirit of the collection. The little volume opens with tributes to her father and mother, with their likenesses above. This is one of the stanzas To Mother.
True and thoughtful friends, the very nearest, We cherish tenderly, Yet mother, oh, our mother dearest, None can be like thee !
INVALID LIFE.
In from the fields and from lowlands fair, In from the fragrance of summery air, We sat one day in a restful chair, By an invalid's sidc.
A COMET. .
Stay friends ! do not sleep so early This calm and starry night -- Cast aside the spell of slumber, And catch a wondrous sight! There's a stranger in the heavens, With his luminous train Following a northward pathway Where constellations reign !
Martha never married, and resides with her brother, Chalkly, in Jordan.
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A BIRD IN WINTER.
'Twas a jay at noon that caught our vicw, Lazily afloat in air; Its life seemed linked with the misty blue ;
Our interests awoke, afresh, anew,
As we traced its pathway there.
MAY.
Earth's canopy is robed in blue, -
Celestial grandcur pressing through !
No hint of cloud is on tlie sky, '
And only sunlight sparkles by.
RURAL BLESSINGS.
Far out in the country, in a quiet dell A family of children were wont to dwell; They knew most of the birds of ev'ry name,
That each new year with the sweet spring-time camc.
In these verses, we are reminded sometimes of Wordsworth, sometimes of Whittier.
WILLIAM ROSSER COBBE.
When Chalkly John purchased the Sterling Gazette in 1880, he sum- moned to his aid his nephew to take charge of the editorial - department. Cobbe was a stranger in Sterling, but had already resided four years in the county, two as teacher at Jordan Center school, and two as editor of the Fulton Journal. Peculiar in appearance, eccentric in manner. Tall, broad shoul- ders, inclined to stoop, a leisurely gait, sometimes ready to greet, sometimes passing without recognition, much abstracted, wearing a large soft hat often pulled over his eyes.
Cobbe was a soldier of fortune, a sort of wandering genius who reminds one of Oliver Goldsmith, Coleridge, and that restless class of English authors who lacked steady aim, who seldom had a permanent home, and who drifted on life's tempestuous sea. In his "Doctor Judas" he traces much of his early career. Very precocious in thought. At six he began to inquire about the beginning of God, and at seven, he enjoyed Paradise Lost and Pilgrim's Progress. Overcoming his skepticism at seventeen, he prepared for the min- istry, had a circuit in Virginia, but resigned to accept a chaplaincy in the navy, from which he retired for service in the internal revenue department.
Inheriting a sensitive temperament, and engaging in continued mental activity, Cobbe's nervous system gradually gave way, and to secure relief, he contracted the opium habit, which he overcame only after a terrific struggle. His long bondage to the fiend that enslaved him, and his final triumph, he describes with a graphic pen in Doctor Judas, a book of 320 pages, published by S. C. Griggs and Company, Chicago, 1895.
-Break the vile bondage; cry
I'm free, I'm frec. Alas, you cannot.
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There are twenty-five chapters, each devoted to a separate phase of the dreadful disease, loss of memory, disorders of the body, sleeplessness, fearful imaginings, general irresponsibility.
Doubtless the reader has already been reminded of a famous book on this subject, "Confessions of an English Opium Eater," by Thomas De Quincey. They appeared as separate articles in the London Magazine, 1821, and at once aroused intense interest by their morbid revelations and brilliant style. Cobbe devotes a chapter in Doctor Judas to a review of the Confessions, and while admitting the elegance of the narrative, believes that De Quincey's con- clusions are erroneous, when he asserts there is no desire to increase the quan- tity in using the drug, that hideous dreams are not the necessary effect of opium, and that it really tends to prolong life.
W. R. Cobbe was a southern man, born in Elizabeth City, North Caro- lina, 1846. His father was a slave holder, but loyal to the Union, during the war, as were all of the family. In 1869 at Elizabeth, he married Laura E. John, daughter of Palemon John, Republican editor and politician. She is a niece of Chalkly, Hugh L. and George D. John, of this city. In the fall of 1888, Cobbe left Sterling and went to Chicago, where he engaged in news- paper and literary work for several years. Finally he found his way to New York, leading a sort of Bohemian career, until his sudden death in a hallway in Park Row on the morning of January first, 1907.
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well.
Mrs. Cobbe continues to reside in Chicago.
MIRA COBBE.
She is one of two surviving daughters, and grew up in Sterling. The famliy attended Grace Episcopal church. Every summer a picnic was given the children, and at one of these festivals held on a private lawn, the writer recalls a picture. In the center of an admiring group of girls and boys stood Mira relating some marvelous narrative to which the youngsters were listening with open mouths and ears. She was then in short dresses, but already dis- played the art of an Italian improvisatore. Soon after the removal of the family to Chicago, Mira turned. her talent to account, and for a long time has been contributing to various weeklies, articles and stories under the signature of Constance Beatrice Willard.
L. L. EMMONS.
In the New Year's Greeting of the Sterling Evening Gazette for 1908, there appeared what is unusual in an issue of this kind, a page of music. It was an original song, words and air by L. L. Emmons, of Rock Falls. He Is a native of that place, born in 1855, and has always resided there, except four years in Morrison when publishing the Record. Both Mr. and Mrs. Emmons take a deep interest in intellectual things, are fond of music, and so this har- monious outburst is simply the result of careful and continued culture in the household.
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ROCK RIVER OF GOLD.
O, beautiful River, Rock River of gold, I love your sweet mem'ries, sweet mem'ries of old, Your waters I've waded in childish delight, I've searched the old bayous for pond lilies white. Chorus. Unbidden fancies often go, To the bayous where pond lilies blow. My heart is with thee, oh beautiful Rock, O, glimmering, shimmering Rock ! Oh, beautiful River, Rock River of gold,
I love your sweet mem'ries, sweet mem'ries of old.
My fancies revert to the old swimming hole, To the spots where I sat with my old fishing pole, Yes, those are the times that will never grow old, Those days 'long Rock River, Rock River of gold. Chorus.
Oh, happy the hours when I played on your banks, And made your isles echo in light childish pranks. Ah, those are the mem'ries that never grow old, Sweet dreams of Rock River, Rock River of gold. Chorus.
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W. W DAVIS.
While teaching in Dixon in 1864, he prepared the material for a treatise on "Composition Writing," which was published by George Sherwood, Chi- cago. It was a small, unpretending book, bound in cloth, only fifty-two pages. It was not a text-book for pupils, but a guide for teachers in elementary schools that they might excite more interest in the neglected exercise of orig- inal composition. It is now out of print, and never had an extensive sale, or Mr. Davis would today be an operator on Wall street with J. P. Morgan. After graduating at Lancaster, Pa., in 1856, Mr. Davis came to Sterling, which, except a few years' absence, has been his home ever since.
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move casiest who have learned to dance.
From those educators who believe in this couplet of Pope, the author received many kind words. Dr. Richard Edwards, then in the Normal at Blooming- ton, wrote: "Your plan of making the child's written exercise an expression of his own thought, and not a rehash of stolen platitudes, must commend itself to every philosophical educator." Prof. John S. Hart of the New Jersey Normal at Trenton, said: "For teaching young beginners in common schools the first steps in the art of composition, this book has no superior, if, indeed, it has an equal." Newton Bateman, also, expressed high commendation.
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