USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
188
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
to Tientsin. In the spring of 1906 he was sent to Japan to establish Y. M. C. A. work among the Chinese students at Tokyo. In the fall of 1906 was appointed principal of the Chinese Boys' Intermediate School, in Tientsin, and still (1907) is in that work.
MISS MARY KINGSBURY.
Miss Mary Kingsbury, who has been engaged in active missionary work in India for twenty-six years, was born in Hudsonville, Ill., Feb. 7, 1857. Her childhood days were spent in Decatur, Ill., where her parents went to reside in 1860 and where she entered the public school at the age of six.
As a child she was obedient to her parents; kind and loving to her younger brothers and sisters, and showed, at a very tender age, an ability. to decide quickly in favor of what was right and just in all matters that came up in her daily life.
When a girl of 15 she, with her parents, removed to Sterling, Whiteside county, Ill., and in September, 1872, she became a pupil of the Second Ward school; graduating from the High School with honors in 1877.
Miss Kingsbury was a very systematic, painstaking student, laboring diligently to excel in her work and early laid the foundation for that mar- velous executive ability which has since characterized her labors in foreign lands.
At the age of 16 she became a member of the Christian church and has always been an ardent and energetic supporter of its teachings. Being of a deeply religious nature from her earliest childhood, it was no surprise to her friends, when the call having been sent out by the Christian Women's Board of Missions of Indianapolis, Ind., for four young ladies to volunteer to go out to India to organize and establish a mission field in that far off country, that . she was one of the first to respond.
Accordingly on the sixteenth day of September, 1881, she, in company with four young ladies sent out by the National Women's Board, and two gentlemen accompanied by their wives sent by the Foreign Board of the Christian church, sailed for India to begin their great work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
These pioneers first located in Jubbalpur, where they at once began the study of the language, and later they removed to Hurda, which was regarded as a more healthful city, and after two years of faithful study they perfected plans for opening up a permanent mission station at Bilaspur in the Central Provinces.
With bullock carts, provisions and small tents in which to sleep at night, they started through the thick jungle to undertake their new work. Bilaspur was two hundred and twenty miles away, a journey of three weeks, traveling as they then must go. The first part of the trip was pleasant and over ja smooth government road, but after three or four days this was left behind and they entered the dense jungle, which was filled with tigers and other wild animals. At night they would stop for rest and around their tents and trains they would keep large camp fires to protect themselves from wild beasts.
When they reached Bilaspur, jaded and weary, they were accorded a
189
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
cordial welcome by the chief men of the village. Miss Kingsbury at once began doing zenana work (teaching women in their homes), in which she continued until a year or so later, when she met with a very severe accident, which resulted in a broken ankle and from which she suffered from lameness for many years. This necessitated a change of work, which led to the found- ing of a girls' orphanage which became Miss Kingbury's individual work.
An interesting story is told of an appeal made to our missionaries in Bilaspur before the founding of the orphanage. An old man and his wife were living near them. They were so poor and miserable they could scarcely live, and the father was so very ill that he did not live very long after this. One day they came to the missionaries bringing their baby boy and telling them they were too poor to feed and care for him and asked them to take him. The missionaries refused several times for they had no orphanage, and they could not understand why the parents would give up such a dear little boy. Day after day the old people came pleading with them to take the child, saying it would die of starvation if they did not. When at last they were allowed to leave him they went away quite happy, though afterward they found the mother quietly weeping, when she thought she was not seen. The mission- aries would have thought she cared nothing for the child had they not seen her. Sirawan, the name of the child, was the first member of the orphanage. Now he is a useful Christian man as a teacher and evangelist in Bilaspur.
This orphanage is now used exclusively for girls and has been a haven of refuge for many a helpless little one. Here they are tenderly cared for and taught to be self-reliant, capable women. All these years Miss Kingsbury has faithfully eared for these orphan girls. Many have married Christian men and now preside over Christian homes, showing their own people what such homes are like. Many have become teachers and many others nurses and helpers not only in Bilaspur station, but in other missions. There are now in the orphanage about one hundred and thirty girls being trained to live useful lives.
It may be interesting to mention that during the many years Miss Kings- bury has been engaged in missionary work she has only made three visits to her native land. The first visit was made in the spring of 1888, when she remained at home with her loved ones for over a year.
Her second visit was made in the summer of 1896 and upon this occasion she made a short visit with friends in Sterling, then going on to Brookings, S. Dak., to spend a few months with her mother, and completing her visit with her sisters and brothers in Butte, Mont.
Her third and last visit was made in the summer of 1905, when she remained for over a year. Upon this occasion she divided her time between Minneapolis, Minn., and Butte, Mont.
In September of 1906 she again sailed for India and to quote from a letter just received from her, dated November 14, 1907, she writes: "A year ago today the good ship Caledonia was gradually drawing near to Caleutta. How quiekly the time flies."
Miss Kingsbury's strong personality, genial disposition and kind but firm leadership has greatly endeared her to the girls and her quiet dignity and
190
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
influence for good is leaving its impression upon all who are so fortunate as to become inmates of the Bilaspur Orphanage for Girls.
MISS J. EDITH JENKS.
She was born in Fenton township, April 11, 1872, and is a graduate of Wheaton college, 1897. In her early girlhood she consecrated her life to her Savior, joining the Student Volunteer Movement soon after entering college. While pursuing a training course in Bible study at Moody Institute, Chicago, the way opened that she could become a candidate of the Woman's Board of the Northwest. She was accepted in April, 1901, and assigned to India as her field of labor. Her work there has been greatly blessed. Miss Jenks is a member, much beloved, of the Newton Presbyterian church. Not the "little church around the corner" of New York, but the modest frame church of the prairie and the woods.
HUME.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy .- Hamlet.
David Hume was a philosopher and a historian. Hume's History of England was all our grandfathers knew. David enjoyed life, and died in Edinburgh in 1776, before he could tell how our glorious revolution was to end. Was Hume township named after the Scotch historian? Did any of the original settlers believe in his philosophy? Were they Highlanders, and admirers of their distinguished countryman ? Wc fear not. They were true blue New Englanders.
No, the first settlers were not scholars, simply earnest, industrious men and women. They preferred a good quarter section to all the Humes from the beginning of time. For instance, there was Leonard Morse, who built a log cabin in 1836. Uriah Wood, 1839, who in a sod house with wife and seven children, still had room for boarders. These early cabins were like modern omnibuses, always room for onc more. Strangers could sleep on floor, and the table could be set outdoors. Most of the emigrants came after 1840, the Scotts, Mckenzie, Paddock, Plumley, Baker, Crook, and others.
Like Newton, Ustick, and some of the other townships, Hume has no central village, no seat of influence with lawyers, doctors, merchants, and politicians. It is a broad district of bottom land, occupied with comfortable homes, fertile fields, and every substantial sign of rural independence. Thc main road from Rock Falls southwest offers a delightful drive in early autumn. You have glimpses of Rock river. You see the old road that ran to Como when there was a ferry boat moved by the current. Here and there the track is raised over low places that in 1840 must have been mires to stagger a yoke of oxen.
As you turn at the beautiful Ramsay farm to go south, what a vast area of land level as a floor stretches away far as the eye can reach. Doubtless, in the past ages, the bed of a lake, perhaps a greater Michigan. Here is a little,
191
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
deserted, ragged hut, seven by ninc. What a story it could tell of other days. Built, says someone, by Joseph Peckham. This is the South Hume school, Miss J. McNeill with 22 pupils, who as it is recess crowd around the door at our approach. We recall Alice Carey's poem :
All at the windows open wide, Heads and shoulders clear outside, And fair young faccs all ablush ; Perhaps, you may have scen some day, , Roses crowding the self-same way, Out of a wilding, way-side bush.
Here we turn to the east, and by the roadside embossed in a thicket of evergreens, shrubbery, and coarse grass growing over the stones falling from their base, is a little cemetery. You can hardly read the names so dim and rusty. Not a dozen graves in the half acre. It was started evidently by some people in the neighborhood, who after the burial of their friends, have moved away and left the sacred corner desolate.
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid,
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire.
R. B. Stoddard claims he built the first house on the prairie in South Hume in 1854.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND SOCIETIES.
We are informed by Mrs. C. F. Rumley there are three Sunday schools, North, South, and West Hume. Once a month. preaching at West Hume, Rev. Mr. Durdick of Prophetstown often officiating. Christian Endeavor at North Hume every Sunday night. Mrs. Edward D. Clemons, secretary, writes that the Good Deed Circle of King's Daughters has 26 members, who meet every four wecks at the homes of the members. The object is to develop spiritual life, and to stimulate Christian activity, as well as to aid home missions in every way. The officers are elected annually, and the present are: Mrs. Frank Russell, leader, and Mrs. Harry Butler, treasurer. Social intercourse is highly esteemcd and encouraged by the circle. But some positive work is always on hand. At one meeting two comforters were made, and at another, a box of clothing was packed for the needy. Sometimes a special session.is called to do sewing for a poor family. There is a Ladies' Aid society that meets at the various homes to engage in some useful work, like sewing carpet rags, quilt- ing, or similar domestic diversions. A good supper always closes the festivities of the occasion. : The Loyal Circle of King's Daughters sent a quantity of children's clothing to an orphanage in Chicago. Another form of entertain- ment on winter evenings is the Basket Social. There is a program of music and recitations, the ladies bringing baskets of dainties which are sold at auc- tion to the highest bidder. At one of these the Christian Endeavor realized eleven dollars.
DITCHING FOR DRAINAGE.
The commissioners of Union Special Drainage district of Tampico, Prophetstown and Hume townships met January, 1908, in Morrison and
192
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
decided to have Coon creek line No. 1 ditch decpened and widened. The ditch is seventeen miles in length and has its source in Lee county north of Van Petten and crosses several townships in Whiteside county and empties in Coon creek below Prophetstown. 241,240 cubic yards of dirt is the estimate to be removed from the mammoth drainage ditch. The ditch will have a twenty foot width at the bottom and will have a good slope. 46,260 acres of land is comprised in the drainage district. The estimated.cost of making the improve- ment is from $16,000 to $20,000. The cost will be more than the excavation work as the ditch passes under the government canal feeder and is also spanned by several bridges which have to be removed before a stcam dredge can pass the obstruction.
The ditch was widened and deepened about twelve years ago, and at that time was increased to a water carrying capacity which was ample for the pur- pose intended. Since that time, sub-districts have been organized and lateral ditches connected with the main ditch, and this with the fill in has caused a demand for a widening and deepening of the stream which will be large enough to carry off the water without causing an overflow.
REPRESENTATIVE PIONEERS.
Perhaps the face of no man was more familiar than that of Charles Wright. He was one of those cheery, companionable souls that seemed to enjoy the good things of life, and aimed to make the world better and brighter. Stout and active, fond of being in the crowd, mingling with his fellows. The writer often saw him on the streets of Sterling. He held several public posi- tions. In 1852 elected sheriff, for nine years supervisor, for seven years revenue assessor in the district. Like Lincoln, fond of a good story, ready to tell or to listen. Mr. Wright came from Vermont, and settled in Hume in 1840. He died in 1875, not quite 70.
David Cleaveland first came in 1850, and then again in 1852. A large family. He came from Oneida county, New York. His name will be best preserved by the gallantry of his son David, captain in the 34th Illinois, now living near Prophetstown, the liveliest soldier in the post.
Josiah Scott, a genial old man, who died not long ago, walked in his eightieth year from his home to Sterling to present the writer for the His- torical Society a manuscript bearing the signature of an early president. Mr. Scott was born in 1819, and emigrated from Ohio to Whiteside in 1839.
Pond Lily Farm west of Rock Falls was the home for many years of Mr. and Mrs. William Ramsay. She was Lucy A. Church, Oxford, N. Y., and was married in 1845. Five children. Mr. Ramsay died in 1900, Mrs. Ramsay in 1907. Lizzie, Kate, and Luman reside in the old A. P. Smith property, the family home since leaving the farm.
ITEMS.
The first traveled road in Hume was the stage route from Chicago to Rock Island, now the Sterling and Prophetstown road, and one of the finest in the country on account of the numerous improved farms and residences along the entire distance.
193
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Miss Jane Griffith has the honor of teaching the first sehool, 1857, in the Cleaveland schoolhouse.
David Ramsay in the forties built a large frame house, which travelers patronized on the trip from Chicago to Rock Island.
John H. Plumley, a Vermonter, got his first house from Charles Mc- Carter by trading a silver watch for it. - When he opened his farm, there were no fences or dwellings to be seen.
THE Y. P. S. C. E. OF WHITESIDE.
Once a year the young people of the county meet in convention to hear reports and addresses, and elect officers. The last convention was held in Tampico, and the officers for 1908 are: President, Miss Marie Hey, Sterling; viee presidents, Miss Myra Jennings, Rock Falls, Jonas Baer, Sterling, and Miss Fredda Rosene, of Tampico; secretary and treasurer, Miss Jennie Spool- man, Garden Plain.
The reports of the Endeavorers was made on Saturday afternoon and six- teen of the twenty Endeavor societies handed in reports which were very gratifying. It was very noticeable this year that thirty-six of the forty dele- gates present were new members of the society. The Junior Endeavor society of Garden Plain was granted the banner for giving the largest amount of money to the mission fund. Their sum given averaged $2.50 for each mem- ber. The Garden Plain young people have been granted the banner for the past six years and it is impossible for any of the other Junior soeieties of the county to beat their record. The next county meeting will be held in Rock Falls next fall.
George H. Fonken, of Sterling, gave a splendid talk on Sunday after- noon on the subject, "The Needs of the Hour," and W. H. Hunt, of Moline, delivered a fine address to a large assemblage of people Sunday evening.
OUR THREE RAILWAYS.
Whizzing through the mountains, Buzzing o'er the vale, Bless me! this is pleasant, Riding on the rail !- Saxe.
We do not appreciate our privileges. We step on the train any hour of the day, and go in any direction. In 1835 there was not a mile of railroad in northern Illinois .: Think of our luckless pioneers floundering through the sloughs. In 1836 the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad secured their first charter, and operations began. It was to start in Chicago and run to the Mississippi river. The strap rail was to be used, as T-rail was too expensive. The survey began in 1847, and various branches were completed from time to time. There was the Aurora Branch, the St. Charles Branch. The main line of the Galena road was finished to Freeport, 120 miles from Chicago, Septem- ber, 1853. Meanwhile work was progressing in other directions. What was called the Chicago, Fulton & Iowa Line was opened to Dixon, Dec. 4, 1854,
194
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
to Sterling, July 22, 1855, to Morrison, Sept. 23, 1855, and to Fulton, Dec. 16, 1855.
That was a wonderful July day for Sterling. The iron horse at last. Preparations were made for a grand jubilee. Why not have an old-fashioned barbecue, feast the world, and make the welkin ring with shout and address? Simeon Coe furnished a three-year-old ox, which was roasted on a primitive arrangement of forked sticks, and then borne in triumph, bedecked with flags and oranges, to an immense arbor of branches near the present Central school. After the banquet, B. F. Taylor, the poet, made a flowery address. The lion of the day was Stephen A. Douglas, who talked to the masses in his own earnest style. Deacon Bross of the Tribune, Long John Wentworth, John B. Turney, railway magnate, governors, judges, editors, all men of note within reach, were on the platform or in the crowd. Estimates of the multitude ran as high as five thousand.
So small was the business of the road even in 1858 that the locomotives were named. Easy to do, as they were only sixty. The boys in Sterling knew every engine by its whistle before they saw it. The Pioneer was the oldest, 1848, built by Baldwin, Philadelphia. All kinds of names, Indian and local. J. B. Turner, Shawbeney, Waubansee, Whirling Thunder, Black Hawk, Achilles, Samson, Hercules.
But the Mississippi had to be crossed for westward progress. On Feb. 14, 1857, the Albany Railroad Bridge Company was incorporated by the Illi- nois legislature with the following stockholders: Barzillia Cottle, William Prothrow, W. W. Durant, Thomas Long, G. H. Parker, E. B. Warner, and A. J. Mattson, for the purpose of building a bridge across the Mississippi be- tween Illinois and Iowa, and for the use of the Galena & Chicago Union Rail- road, and in 1864 this road completed the bridge across the river from Little Rock Island to the Clinton side. In June, 1864, the old Galena company was consolidated with Chicago & Northwestern, and the development of this colossal corporation began. W. B. Ogden was president.
The Peoria and Northwestern Railway is the name given to the branch extending from Nelson in Lee county on the main line to Peoria, cighty-five miles. Its construction was begun in March, 1901, and completed in Jan- uary 19, 1902.
A generous pension system was adopted by the directors in 1900,-by which all employes who have attained the age of 70, and who have been twenty years in the service, shall be retired and pensioned. Larry Gagin, who ran the Sterling passenger train to Chicago and back every day for thirty-six years, and who has been an engineer for forty-eight consecutive years, was retired Feb. 1, 1908, on a pension. He has been thrifty, has property of various kinds, and lives in a modest home in Sterling with a daughter and son, both having enjoyed a good education. With the retirement of Gagin, Philip O'Neill be- comes the dean of Northwestern engine drivers, having been on duty during the civil war.
The Northwestern is lavish in outlay to improve its facilities. The open- V ing of the gravel pit near Como and the thousands of carloads hauled for elevation of the track east of the government dam, the new ninety-pound
-
195
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
steel rails, the widening of the tracks, the riprapping to protect against en- croachments of the river, the new bridge with its twenty-eight piers and abutments over the river at Clinton, all exhibit the ceaseless activity of the great corporation. Picturesque stations of brick at Sterling and Morrison. The lawn at Sterling is gay with the flowers of the scason. A pledge has been circulated among the employes for signatures and went into effect January 1, 1908. A large majority of the employes of the entire system will be tee- totalers. Not content with this, the leaders of the movement hope soon to have every man employed from end to end of the 7,000 miles of road a signer of the pledge.
THE BURLINGTON LINE.
This is the only road by which Sterling has communication with Lyndon and Erie, Prophetstown and Tampico. At Denrock the main lines of the Burlington from Chicago, St. Paul, St. Louis, and the West, intersect, and here the traveler can make connection for all points. The Burlington is the successor of the original railroads that were opened and operated for a time under other names, the Chicago and Rock River through the southern town- ships, and the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis down the river. Much litigation, but of no avail. The great corporations always absorb the branches.
For years the Burlington continued its business in Rock Falls, but in 1883 sufficient property having been quietly secured for a right-of-way, the bridge was built, and the track laid across the Northwestern, and along Second street, south of Wallace Hall. Here on the block between Locust street and Avenue A, a substantial station and depot were crected. The traffic of the road has greatly increased, and it now divides the freight business of Sterling with the Northwestern. Much of this prosperity is due the sagacity and perseverance of L. C. Thorne, general agent for twenty-eight years, who, like all efficient railroad men, has risen from the foot of the ladder.
Alı, whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye? Ah, what is that sound that now larums his car? 'Tis the lightning's red glare, painting hell on the sky !
'Tis the crashing of thunders, the groan of the sphere !- Dimond.
On the night of Oct. 23, 1888, Sterling beheld the spectacular event of her history. The Burlington bridge across Rock river was discovered on fire, and as the flames fairly leapcd along the arches, the whole structure was speedily a blazing mass. As the catastrophe happened before midnight, the entire population were witnesses of the work of the destroying angel. It was a scene of weird and fascinating excitement. Twelve hundred feet of flame, illuminating heaven above and the waters beneath. The origin of the fire a mystery. As the piers were intact, another superstructure of frame was reared the next year.
The cities of Sterling and Rock Falls within a few years have become an important railroad center, and there is a permanent pay roll of almost four hundred men.
The Twin Cities are the division point of the Shabbona and Sterling linc of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and are the division point for the
196
HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Sterling and Denrock branch of the same line. It is the terminal of the Northwestern & Pcoria Railroad, and a part of the administration officers of the Galena division are located here. These officers are the train master, road master of the Galena division and the assistant road master, and the road master of the Peoria line, the traveling engineer and the superintendent of signals.
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy maintains two very large yards, onc on either side of the river, and has a total of about seven miles of switch tracks, in addition to the main lines.
The Northwestern has one yard, and has about five miles of switch tracks.
The "Q" maintains here the office of the roadmaster of the two branches. The only wrecking crew on the Northwestern between Clinton and West Chi- cago is maintained here.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.