History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Davis, William W
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 706

USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 4

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The best laid schemes o' men and mice, Gang aft agley.

Morrison had some shrewd managers, and they saw their opportunity. An act was passed by the General Assembly, and approved by the governor, Feb. 7, 1857, entitled "An act for the removal of the seat of justice of White- side county." The act provided that the election should be held in the several townships of the county at the general election in November. In case a majority of votes were in favor of removal, the seat of justice would then be declared located in section eighteen in Morrison, but not until a deed should be made conveying to the county a tract of land three hundred feet square. Morrison was also to pay the county $3,000 towards the erection of county buildings. The election was held Nov. 3, 1857, with the close result: For removal 1,631 votes; against removal 1,572; majority in favor 59. At the November term, 1857, of the Board of Supervisors, W. S. Barnes, A. Hurd, H. C. Fellows, P. B. Besse, and D. O. Coc were appointed commissioners to examine and select the ground at Morrison, upon which to erect the build- ings, and receive the $3,000 given by the citizens of the town. On May 3, 1858, the county offices were moved to Morrison from Sterling.

For twenty years the old courthouse stood silent and deserted in the lot along Broadway, a mournful memorial of its former importance. It was forty feet square, lower story nine feet, a hall ten feet wide, upper story twelve. This was the court room. Here Sackett, Henry, and the early lawyers made their pleas, and here religious services were held on Sunday before some of the churches were built. The brick in the old edifice were burned in the eastern part of town by Luther Bush, and were laid in the building by that pioneer and his boys. George Brewer helped to fire the kilns. After the courthouse was taken down, the square was divided into

HISTORY OF' WHITESIDE COUNTY

lots, and rows of pretty residences now occupy the site; making a great change in its appearance.

DISASTERS BY WIND AND WATER.

The wind one morning sprung up from sleep, Saying, "Now for a frolic! Now for a leap! Now for a madcap galloping chase! I'll make a commotion in every place !"-William Howitt.

THE TORNADO OF 1860.

Our county has enjoyed a merciful immunity from' the horrors of the cyclone on an extensive scale. While this dreadful freak of the elements yearly sweeps many of the states west and south with the besom of destruc- tion, our happy valley, with the exception of a violent storm here and there in the townships, has escaped the widespread ruin of life and property in the long path of the calamity. But there was one terrible visitation. In the lines of the first editon of the Light Brigade :

Long will the tale be told, Yea, when our babes are old.

We refer to the memorable tornado of 1860. The present generation knows it only by hearsay.

It occurred on the evening of June 3, striking the county on the west and moving to the southeast. It began near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The black masses of clouds, rolling and surging in their fury, the thunder and lightning, the unearthly din of the advance, conveyed to the beholder the impression of titanic demons in struggle in mid-air. It was the Satanic onset in Paradise Lost.

So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell Grew darker at their frown, so matched they stood.

Camanche, a village in Iowa, on the Mississippi, received the first blow. Ninety dwellings, hotels churches, and stores were leveled, twenty-nine per- sons killed and many seriously injured. Twenty-four persons were blown from a raft and drowned.

At Albany people were just starting for evening service when the storm burst upon their devoted heads in all its fury. In a moment the pleasant town was a scene of ruin and desolation. Five persons were killed, most of the houses demolished, many blown from their foundations, few left unin- jured. Duty Buck, Ed. Efner, Sweet, Riley, and a man unknown, were those killed. This is considered remarkable in a population of eight hundred. As usual, various freaks. Some roofs were entirely stripped of shingles, others in spots of fanciful shapes. One small house carried uninjured for a square. A church bell whirled for rods and landed with only a piece chipped from the rim. The total loss to the town was estimated at nearly $100,000.

From Albany the direction of the tornado was southeast. The upper story of the dwelling of Mrs. Senior, in Garden Plain, was dashed to pieces,

HARVEY'S DAM. SWEPT AWAY BY A FRESHET

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

the two-story residence of Thomas Smith was carried a rod from its founda- tion and left a wreck, the house of Draper Richmond torn to atoms, and Mrs. Richmond so badly injured that she died in an hour. In Montmorency the house of Alonzo Golder roughly shaken, and much of the furniture destroyed. The schoolhouse was annihilated. The dwellings of Joel Wood, A. J. Good- rich, Mr. Pike, Capt. Doty, and Levi Macomber, were all more or less racked. At Pike's a young girl had her leg broken, and at Doty's, his son his collar bone. The wonder is that amid all the wreckage of the homes so few lives were lost.

In the path of the whirlwind, about eighty rods wide, were exhibited the pranks of the destroyer, so often observed elsewhere. Trees were twisted to pieces, cleared of their branches, or town out bodily by their roots. Geese, turkeys, and chickens, not killed, were stripped of their feathers, sad and for- lorn, answering to Diogenes' definition of Plato's man. The prairie was scat- tered with boards, furniture, books, goods, utensils, articles of every name which the storm king had wrested from their proper habitat. The remainder of the summer, tramps who wished to excite the sympathy of the charitable, in asking for aid plead their misfortune through the ravages of the tornado.

THE ICE GORGE OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND SIX.

Ye ice falls! yc that from the mountain's brow Adown enormous ravines slope amain --- Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge !- Coleridge.

Our beautiful Rock river, sparkling in the summer sun, is a treach- erous stream. It is not always on its; good behavior. It has its moods like a person of excitable temperament.

When good, it is very good, When bad, it is horrid.

In short, old Rock sometimes gets on the rampage. The oldest inhabi- tant can recall different years in which high water or ice did much damage to stock, farms, fences, buildings, and various kinds of property exposed to its ravages. We cannot mention them all, but shall simply recall the season of 1887. Snow and sleighing in January were followed by rains in the first week of February. Feb. 8 the ice moved off the dam at Sterling, with continued rain. A personal diary furnishes the details. On Feb. 9 no cars running on account of wash-outs. The bottom lands southwest of Sterling covered with water, and many cattle lost. On February 12, mer- cury fell to 5 degrees below, and the river rosc, owing to the formation of ice and obstruction of the current. Houses near the fair ground in Sterling surrounded by water, and families obliged to move out. There was consid- erable suffering and loss in town and country, the river was frozen again and continued so through February, and not until April did the weather become mild and genial.

But the ice gorge of 1906 broke the record. Nothing so vast or so

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

destructive since the settlement of the country. Perhaps we cannot do bet- ter than give a running account of the catastrophe as the news items appeared from day to day in the current issues of the papers. It will bring the occur- rence in a more lively and vivid manner to our readers.

Jan. 23. Water in river higher than ever known. Ice at Dixon broke, and beginning to run.

Jan. 24. Continuous gorge between Erie and Lyndon, immense lake at Lyndon, water far as eye can see. Mr. Greenman and family reported shut in, also Charles Roslief and family. Ice not only gorged, but frozen solid.

Jan. 25. For twenty miles from Sterling, water in an alarming condi- tion. All factories in Sterling shut down. Charles Lathe on an island near Erie within a foot of inundation by water and ice. Ice reported broken at Beloit and Janesville. The Aylesworth farm, George Andrews, Henry Lancaster, Nathan Gage, George Baker, George Richmond, and others near Lyndon, mostly under water. At Riverside schoolhouse, Stella Beeman, teacher, parents came in boats at noon for the children, and before night the building was surrounded by water high as fences.

Jan. 26. Water only three feet below the floor of Avenue G bridge. The condition is worse at Sterling because of the gorge between dam and Como bottom. Water below dam on level with that above.

Feb. 5. Three degrees below zero. Gorged ice frozen solid.

Feb. 22. River high at Como, Lyndon, Prophetstown. Many factories in Sterling unable to run, others using steam power.

Friday, Feb. 23. This is the big head in this evening's daily :

FLOOD HAVOC !

One thousand men idle, damage may reach $150,000! New Avenue G bridge a wreck, First Avenue bridge condemned as unsafe for travel, city in darkness tonight, gas supply exhausted !

The flood now raging is the greatest in history of Rock river. At nine this A. M., a new record, water 21/2 feet higher than in Feb. 9, 1887. Six- teen families on First street homeless. Basements of 32 homes flooded. Dam- age to Dillon-Griswold wire mill may reach $15,000. Ice below dam ten to fifteen feet thick. Washout on Northwestern R. R. prevents running of trains. The Burlington R. R. preparing to put trains on bridge to prevent it from moving off. Avenue G bridge all gone, center span first, then the other two sank with a crash.

Feb. 24. Washouts on Northwestern greater than in 1887. A territory ten miles long, five wide, covered with water to west and south of Como. Roads leading to Prophetstown below from one to five feet of water.

Sunday, Feb. 26. Ice in north channel of Avenue G bridge crushed against the tubular piers, and hundreds of tons of steel swept away like chaff. Then the ice struck the massive plate girders, and in a moment the six spans slid from the piers and abutments and were whirled down the river. At Spring creek slough which comes into Rock river a mile south of Como, the ice was piled up twenty feet higher than the water.

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

March 2. Ice and water gradually receding, but fields and lowlands covered with huge cakes, and the soil overlaid with sand and gravel.

Various steps were taken in Sterling to assist the needy. A relief meet- ing was called by Mayor Lewis, and a considerable amount subscribed. The Banda Verda announced a concert, and a cantata was given at Grace church for their benefit.

Of the whole calamity the greatest single loss was the destruction of Avenue G bridge, only completed Nov., 1904. The structure proper with its nine steel spans, 900 feet long, cost $52,000. The grade in the center and the approaches on either side, 600 feet in all, $20,000. In has since been replaced with commendable promptness, and a description will be found in another place.

AN ILLINOIS MAP OF 1844.

There is in possession of the family of the late James L. Crawford a map which he purchased before his removal to the west. It was published by S. Augustus Mitchell in Philadelphia, 1844. He was the author of the geographies in use two generations ago. It is a map of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. That was the cra of steamboats, and in a column on one side arc the distances between prominent cities, and the towns along the route. One table for instance has Pittsburg to New Orleans, Louisville to St. Louis, St. Louis to Peoria, St. Louis to Prairie du Chien.

The states are divided into counties as at present. Only two towns are marked in Whiteside, Fulton and Linden, not spelled as it is now. Elk- horn is called Dogshead creek. The population by census of 1840 was 2,514. Cook county with Chicago had only 10,201. Only one railroad in the state, that from Naples on Illinois river to Springfield. Only two highways cross- ing Whiteside. One ran from Galena to Peoria, passing through Lyndon, the other from Rock Island through Richmond in Henry county to Buffalo Grove in Ogle.

The river routes presented by this old map confirm the experience of the carly settlers who generally reached Whiteside by water. Whether from New York or Pennsylvania, they managed to strike Pittsburg, and then by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi, in due time after a long trip, were enabled to land either at Fulton or Albany, generally the latter. Those who made the journey overland by wagon from the cast, were very tired when they reached the Promised Land, for the early roads were through dense woods, swamps, and over streams that were scarcely fordable. Supplies, too, were not always easy to obtain.

WHITESIDE IN THE LEGISLATURE.

Pour the full tide of eloquence along, Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong .- Pope.

From the time of Aaron C. Jackson who represented Whiteside in the House from 1842 to 1844, our county has sent many of her best citizens to Springfield. Being attached to other districts, the member was often from

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

some other county. But our own county has always had excellent men. All of our early members in house or senate have passed away. Hugh Wallace, Van J. Adams, M. S. Henry, D. Richards, James Dinsmoor, W. S. Wilkin- son, Nathan Williams, J. E. McPherran, W. C. Snyder, John G. Manahan. These were all leaders in their communities, and loyal to their constituents. The writer will always cherish a kindly regard for Nathan Williams for some rare volumes of the state geological survey. Some of our later states- men are still with us to watch the results of recent legislation. Charles Bent, Dr. Griswold, C. C. Johnson, C. A. Wetherbee, V. Ferguson, A. U. Abbott, H. L. Sheldon, Dean Efner. The latter is the Nestor of the .group, born in 1822, and yet remarkably clear-headed as he sits in his chair at his brick cottage in Albany. The next is Dr. C. A. Griswold of Fulton, the ready writer, and general scholar, who seems as competent for legislative business today as twenty years ago. Time has dealt kindly with C. C. Johnson and Virgil Ferguson, who continue in politics and are solicitous for the welfare of this glorious country.

By the apportionment of 1901, Whiteside, Lee, and DeKalb form the 35th senatorial district. A change from 1893 when Whiteside was with Bureau, Putnam and Stark.

WHITESIDE IN CONGRESS.

SKETCHES OF SOME OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES AT WASHINGTON.

You'd scarce expect one of my age, To speak in public on the stage, But if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by.

As our political readers know, the same counties in Illinois have not always been grouped for the election of a representative in Congress. Until 1832, the state constituted one congressional district. Since that year there have been eight acts of apportionment, 1831, 1843, 1852, 1861, 1872, 1882, 1893, 1901. At every deal Whiteside was placed in a new list of counties. Like a football kicked from post to pillar. For instance, by the apportion- ment of 1843, we were placed with-Stephenson, Ogle, Lee, Jo Daviess, Rock Island and ten others, forming the Sixth District, and our representative from 1847 to 1849 was

THOMAS J. TURNER.

He was a carpenter by trade, an expert mechanic, built the first court- house in Stephenson county, studied law and became one of the ablest advo- cates at the Freeport bar. He is best known, doubtless, as the gallant colonel of the Fifteenth Illinois Regiment. Then came from 1849 to 1851, a man who afterwards made a brilliant record.

EDWARD D. BAKER.

He had a checkered carecr, a soldier of fortune. Coming from London

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

at five with his father, studying law at Springfield, elected to the legislature, raising a regiment and fighting through the Mexican war with Scott, he returned to Galena, when he was elected as our representative from the Sixth. In 1851, at the close of his term, he settled in San Francisco, and soon took rank as the most eloquent orator in the state. On the death of Senator Brod- erick in a duel in 1859, Baker delivered a stirring oration in the public square of San Francisco. On removing to Oregon he was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1860, but the firing upon Fort Sumter roused his patriotism; he raised the California regiment in New York and Philadelphia, and at the assault on Ball's Bluff, he fell mortally wounded, while leading a charge.

By the apportionment of 1852, Whiteside was placed in the Second Dis- trict with Cook, Du Page, Kane, De Kalb, Lee, and Rock Island, and our representative was

JOHN WENTWORTH.

He was popularly known as Long John, from his extreme height. A plain man in his tastes, and a story is told of his fondness for ginger bread and his munching that simple diet at his desk in the House. Mr. Wentworth took much interest in agriculture, and there is a letter of his to George Davi- son, now in Whiteside County Historical Society, in which he speaks of cer- tain breeds of sheep.' A graduate of Dartmouth, and a frequent writer and lecturer on topics connected with the early history of Chicago, as he voted at the first city election in 1837. An article in Munsey's magazine for November, entitled "New Englanders in the West," gives the following story : "Long John Wentworth, a personal friend of Lincoln, and a force in the Republican party, was the hero of an incident in a theater. Although sitting, his tower- ing form interfered with the vision of the spectators, and they began to call: 'Down in front! down in front!' 'In order to convince the audience that I was sitting,' said Long John, now uprearing his person, like. a monument, 'I will now rise up,' whereupon the crowd burst into vociferous cheering." As Dixon H. Lewis, senator from Alabama in 1840, who weighed 430 pounds, and had to have a special desk made for him, was the heaviest member who ever sat in the Capitol, so Wentworth was doubtless the tallest who ever walked under the dome. He died in Chicago in 1888.

There were nine districts and Whiteside was in the second with Cook. Under this same arrangement, our next representative from 1857 to 1859, and from 1859 to 1861, was

JOHN F. FARNSWORTH,

who also practiced law in Chicago. He was popular, an agreeable speaker, and often appeared in Sterling to discuss the issues of the day. Isaac N. Arnold contested his election the second time, and the rivalry almost led to a split in the party. In Sterling the excitement for awhile was intense. Farnsworth was the favorite, and an inflammatory meeting was called in the upper room of Commercial Block on Third street to express the outraged sentiments of the people. A campaign paper to advocate Farnsworth's inter- ests was proposed, and Jacob Haskell and W W. Davis were suggested as editors. But as no money, was in sight for the new sheet, the matter was

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

dropped. When the civil war broke out, Farnsworth was made colonel of the Eighth Illinois cavalry, but resigned in 1863, made his home in St. Charles, and from 1863 to 1873 was a member of Congress from the Kane county district. He afterwards removed to Washington, where he resumed the practice of law, and died in 1897.

The hairs on his brow were silver white, And his blood was thin and cold.

ISAAC N. ARNOLD

was the third member and lawyer from Chicago to represent Whiteside. As he had only one term, 1861 to 1863, his face never became familiar to our citizens. A domestic tragedy saddened his life. While bathing with his son in the Rock river, he saw the poor boy drown before his eyes, being too distant to render assistance. Arnold was a resident of Chicago for fifty years, of fine literary taste, an excellent speaker and writer. As he was an intimate friend of Lincoln in early years before the presidency, he prepared a biog- raphy which is regarded as high authority on certain features of the martyred statesman's career. Mr. Arnold died in 1884, and Hon. E. B. Washburne delivered an address on his life before the Chicago Historical Society of which the deceased had been president for several years.

The apportionment of 1861 made thirteen districts, and Whiteside was associated with Stephenson, Carroll, Ogle, Lee, and J.o Daviess. This was the third district, and now from 1863 to 1871

ELIHU B. WASHBURNE

was our representative. His home was in Galena, and a few years ago the writer visited the old house, standing on a hill in that picturesque town. He lived here thirty years. It is on the same side of the river as the resi- dence presented to Gen. Grant by the citizens. A long, commodious, brick structure with the front portico formed in southern style by the main roof projecting, and supported by tall, circular, wooden columns painted white. In the rear of the parlors is the library, the stationary bookcases built in the wall. Washburne was a faithful member, attentive to his constituents, and regularly visited our county. A plain, rugged face, strong features, honesty of purpose, decision of character, written all over it.

A pillar of state; deep on his front engraven, Deliberation sat, and public care.

He was called the Watch Dog of the Treasury, because when in Con- gress, he opposed every foolish expenditure of public money. Washburne was the stanch friend of Grant, who owed his promotion to the supreme command of the armies to the persistent efforts of the Galena congressman. President Grant was not ungrateful, and was glad to appoint his early friend to the French mission. Here his public services made his fame inter- national. When the Commune after the Franco-Prussian war raised the red flag of riot, all strangers fearing another French Revolution fled from Paris, and Washburne was the only foreign minister who remained at his post.

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

The American Embassy with the stars and stripes was an ark of safety, a castle of refuge, no profane hand dared to touch. His last appearance in Sterling was in 1877 at the opening of the Galt House. He stood in the main stairway and made a short address. On his return from Europe, he took up his residence in Chicago, where he died suddenly of heart trouble in 1887 at the age of seventy-one. As one stood in his old home in Galena, what memories arosc of that brain, busy with cares of state.

And now 'tis silent all, Enchantress, fare thee well !

Under the apportionment of 1872, nineteen districts were formed, and Whiteside was thrown in company with Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and . Ogle, or the fifth district. Horatio C. Burchard of Freeport was our repre- sentative till 1879, succeeded by Robert M. A. Hawk, of Mt. Carroll from 1879 to 1881, and part of the following term, 1881 to 1883, filled out after his death, by Robert R. Hitt, of Mount Morris.

HORATIO C. BURCHARD.

Freeport was his home. No orator or campaigner, he never spoke to the galleries in the House, but will be remembered as one of the steady members who worked for their constituents in the quiet but efficient atmos- phere of the committee room. He was an active member of the committee on ways and means, and was obedient to every wish of his constituents. After his service in Congress, he was appointed director of the U. S. mint, and was removed by Cleveland.

ROBERT M. A. HAWK

had his residence in Mount Carroll, and died somewhat suddenly as the result of a wound from which he had long suffered, received in a skirmish with Wade Hampton's cavalry ncar Raleigh, N. C.

By the apportionment of 1882, the state was divided into twenty dis- tricts, and Whiteside was put into the seventh with Lee, Henry, Bureau and Putnam and

THOMAS J. HENDERSON

of Princeton became our representative. He was born in Tennessee, where ·he received a common school education, removed to Illinois, and after sev- eral terms in the legislature, entered the army in 1862, as colonel of the 112th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, serving gallantly to the close of the war. He was our member from 1883 to 1895, his repeated re-election show- ing the favor in which he was held by his constituents. Whiteside has always been conservative, and always ready to stand by public servants who render- efficient service. Gen. Henderson, now an old man, eighty-three in November, 1907, is enjoying his deserved retirement at his early home in Princeton, but was happy in response to a cordial invitation to appear at the opening of the Hennepin canal fceder in Sterling, October 24, 1907, make a speech, and receive the congratulations of his admirers on the com-

HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY

pletion of an enterprise to the inception of which his unwearied efforts in Con- gress and elsewhere were so largely due.

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History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Davis, William W Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 706

Author: Davis, William W
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 706