USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 5
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Another deal in 1893, and Whiteside was lined with Rock Island, Mer- cer, Henry, Knox and Stark, forming the tenth district with
PHILIP SIDNEY POST
of Galesburg, as our member, but dying in January, 1895, soon after the beginning of the term,
GEORGE W. PRINCE
was elected to fill the vacancy, and was continued in office by successive re-elections to 1903. In the case of Mr. Prince, there was a practical example of civil service. He rose to his high office by gradual preparation. A grad- uate of .Knox college, city attorney, member of the legislature. Only about forty when first elected, he proved himself a worthy successor of his predeces- sors of ampler experience, and was always equal to the responsible demands of his position. He is still in the prime of life, and continues his residence in Galesburg.
As the state continues to develop, new arrangements become necessary, and in 1901 another apportionment was made, dividing Illinois into twenty- five districts, giving Chicago ten congressmen, and the rest of the state fifteen. Whiteside is now in the thirteenth district with Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle and Stephenson.
ROBERT ROBERTS HITT
of Mount Morris, was elected as our new representative in 1903. He was new to our district, but a tried member for successive terms from the ninth, so that when he took his seat, he was in familiar work and amid familiar scenes. In fact he was at home in Washington. Hitt was indeed a veteran in political life. Born in Ohio, like Grant, Sherman, Garfield, Bishop Simp- son, and a dozen other great men, removing to Illinois, receiving his early education at Mt. Morris seminary which he continued at De Pauw university, he took up as a diversion, shorthand reporting, which formed the starting point of a brilliant career. As an acquaintance of Lincoln, he was requested to make full reports of the famous debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. An old citizen, Albert Woodcock, gives the following incident of the debate at Freeport, August 27:
"A stand was erected in a field adjacent to the city. Thousands of peo- ple gathered about the platform. The speakers were ready, the throng was impatient. The tall form of Lincoln arosc. He looked anxiously over the crowd and called out :
" 'Where's Hitt? Is Hitt present?'
"Hitt from the outskirts of the surging mass answered, 'Here I am, but I cannot get to the platform.'
"The good-natured people understood the situation, seized the slender youth and passed him over their heads to the stand." Hitt's report of that epoch-making discussion is the authoritative standard of this day. Then began that versatile career which kept him in the public eye to its mournful
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
close. In 1867-8 he made the tour of Europe, Egypt and Palestine. In 1874 Grant appointed him secretary of legation at Paris, a position con- tinued by President Hayes, and during the six years of Mr. and Mrs. Hitt in the French capital, his tact and her charm won golden opinions from all classes. Although offered a foreign mission by President Arthur, he declined, preferring to remain in his own country. Hitt was like Lincoln, a plain man, fond of mingling with the people, and ever ready to accept any respon- sibility in the line of his work. Illinois or the United States never had a more conscientious public servant. Hc had a comfortable cottage at Mt. Morris, and in Washington occupied the mansion at Fifteenth and K streets, formerly the residence of William M. Evarts, secretary of state in the cabinet of President Hayes. Hitt's health was gradually failing, however, and his death was not a surprise.
The sweet remembrance of the just, Shall flourish when they sleep in dust.
FRANK O. LOWDEN.
A country boy getting his education in the primitive style, working on the farm in the summer, and attending school in the winter. A graduate of the Iowa State University in 1885, where he was valedictorian, and then of the Union College of Law, Chicago, where he repeated his literary suc- cess. He married a daughter of the late George M. Pullman, and began the practice of law in Chicago, in connection with various avenues of business. His early love of rural life returned, however, and closing his commercial interests, he purchased a large tract of land near Oregon in Ogle county, and began the career of farmer on an extensive scale.
When the late Senator Pettus of Alabama was asked what he would do if he had his life to live again, he replied, "Buy a big piece of land, and settle in the middle of it." Many of our statesmen felt the same way in regard to an Arcadian retreat. Jefferson had Monticello, Clay had Ashland, Webster, Marshfield. So Col. Lowden is following some eminent examples. The original dwelling of his purchase has been enlarged, necessary farm buildings erected, several miles of road laid out, choice stock secured, and every arrangement made for the development of a farm model in every detail. The spacious residence on a high slope along Rock river, like Abbotsford on the Tweed, has already become a Mecca not only for politicians, but for friends and neighbors, who are sure of a cordial reception. As in the case of Gen. Harrison's cabin, the latch string is always out. Col. Lowden was elected by a large majority in the fall of 1906 to take the place of the lamented Hitt, and he promises to keep up the prestige that Whiteside has always been fortunate in enjoying in her Congressional representatives.
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES.
Fifty years ago almost every one in Whiteside or the west was ready to talk about this book. The full title was :
THE BANDITTI OF THE PRAIRIES.
A TALE OF THE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. An Authentic Narrative of Thrilling Adventures in the Early Settlement of the Western Country.
By Edward Bonney.
A gang of robbers and cut-throats, who infested Northern Illinois and Iowa, murdered Col. George Davenport July 4, 1845, at. his home at Rock Island in the river. This Bonney tracked the villains, discovered their plans, . and was the means, at the risk of his neck, of bringing them to justice. They were tried at Rock Island, and on Oct. 19, 1845, John and Aaron Long and Granville Young were hung in the presence of a large crowd at Rock Island. One of the prosecuting lawyers was Joe Knox, who frequently appeared in Whiteside as pleader or campaigner. This hanging struck terror into the rest of the marauders, and they speedily vanished. Doubtless their piracies often took them through Whiteside.
WHITESIDE AND CIRCUIT COURT.
Whoever fights, whoever falls, Justice conquers evermore .- Emerson.
As in the legislature and congress, our county has not always been in the same district. The first court was held at Lyndon, April, 1840, Hon. Daniel Stone, of the sixth judicial circuit, presiding. James C. Woodburn was sheriff. Among the attorneys present whose names are familiar were: Hugh Wallace, Harvey and Woodruff, James McCoy, Knox and Drury. Joe Knox was a popular speaker in the political campaigns. By the act of the general assembly, 1839, the sixth judicial circuit included the counties of Rock Island, Whiteside, Carroll, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone and Jo Daviess. Subsequent acts changed the countics and the number of the cir- cuit. By the act of 1877, thirteen judicial circuits were created, and White- side was in the thirteenth. From the Blue Book of Illinois, 1905, compiled by James A. Rose, secretary of state, the subjoined list of judges in the thir- tecnth is given:
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Wm. W. Heaton, June 16, 1873, Dixon, dicd.
Wm. Brown, June 16, 1873, Rockford.
Joseph M. Bailey, Aug. 20, 1877, Freeport.
J. V. Eustace, June 16, 1879, Dixon, vice Heaton. J. V. Eustace, June 16, 1879, Dixon.
Wm. Brown, June 16, 1879, Rockford.
Joseph M. Bailey, June 16, 1879, Freeport. J. M. Bailey, June 1, 1885, Resigned.
Wm. Brown, June 1, 1885, Rockford.
J. V. Eustace, June 1, 1885, Dixon, died.
J. D. Crabtree, June 4, 1888, Dixon, vice Bailey.
J. H. Cartwright, June 1, 1888, Oregon, vice Eustace.
J. H. Cartwright, June 1, 1891, Resigned.
J. D. Crabtree, June 1, 1891, Dixon.
James Shaw, June 1, 1891, Mt. Carroll.
J. C. Garver, April 7, 1896, Rockford, vice Cartwright.
Two of these judges were well known to all citizens who had business at Morrison in court time. Under the old constitution of 1848, John V. Eustace and William W. Heaton were on the twenty-second circuit, the first commissioned in 1857, the second in 1861. Judge Heaton sat so regularly on the bench ycar after year that he seemed one of the fixtures of the court room. Quiet, easy, genial, approachable. Judge Eustace was somewhat sterner, and carried to his position much of that military dignity which he found necessary as provost marshal at Dixon during the civil war. Under the apportionment of 1897, the counties of Rock Island, Mercer, Whiteside and Henry compose the fourteenth judicial circuit, with Emery C. Graves, Geneseo, William H. Gest, Rock Island, and Frank D. Ramsay, Morrison, as judges. The term is six years, and the salary, $3,500. Judge Ramsay began in 1897, and is serving acceptably in his second term. Court is held on first Mondays in January, April and October.
.Of the conspicuous figures at Morrison during the last 30 or 40 years were David McCartney, formerly of Fulton, later of Sterling, states attorney from 1872 to 1880, and Walter Stager of Sterling, 1880 to 1904, who made a brilliant record in the prosecution of crime. H. H. Waite of Prophets- town occupies the position since 1904.
THE GRANGE IN WHITESIDE.
Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man. Today he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, tomorrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost .- Henry VIII.
All persons under forty years of age know no more of the Grange move- ment than they do of the laws of the Medes and Persians. Like the Know Nothing party in 1856, it was mighty for awhile, but soon vanished. It was a political meteor, a social comct that blazed and disappeared. As the
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
name indicates, the Grange was a farmers' organization to give the sons of the soil their proper influence in business, in society, in politics. From a small beginning it rapidly spread to various parts of the country, and was especially strong in Whiteside. Every district had its branch. The opera- tions were confined to the rural districts, and carried on secretly without giving any notice in the papers, so that town people were in blissful igno- rance of the movement. A picnic was planned for the island below the dam at Sterling one summer day about 1870, and when the long procession of two-horse wagons, filled with the families of the farmers, began to move slowly through the streets, the citizens rubbed their eyes and gazed in amaze- ment. It seemed like an endless procession. It was evidently no circus. This was the first open notice to Sterling of the existence of the new organization.
To show the controlling influence exercised by Whiteside in the order, the following is clipped from a paper of 1873:
GRANGE DIRECTORY ..
ILLINOIS STATE GRANGE.
Master-Alonzo Golder, Rock Falls.V
Secretary-O. E. Fanning, Galt.
Lecturer-A. Woodford, Rock Falls. V
Overseer-E. V. Lapham, Morrison.
Steward-S. J. Baird, Sterling.
Asst. Steward-Jos. Anthony, Round Grove.
Chaplain-A. B. Smith, Dixon.d
Treasurer-J. H. Simonson, Round Grove.
Gate-Keeper-W. P. McAllister, Morrison."
Ceres-Mrs. D. W. Dame, Lanark.
Pomona-Maggie J. Lapham, Morrison.V
Flora-Miss E. Golder, Rock Falls.
L. A. Steward-Mrs. H. P. Garrison, Morrison.
Leading citizens in every township entered heartily into the new organi- zation, as will be seen by the subjoined list of local branches taken from the same sheet of 1873:
GRANGES.
Portland, No. 396 .- George B. Quigley, M .; J. P. Averill, S. Regular meetings first and third Saturday evenings of each month.
Newton, No. 47 .- Wm. Payne, Master; G. M. Miller, Sec'y.
Garden Plain, No. 54 .- C. R. Rood, M .; Alex. Wilson, S. Regular meeting held at Town Hall, Garden Plain, every Thursday evening on or before full moon, and second Thursday evening following.
Little Rock, No. 55 .- J. H. Platt, M .; J. J. Davis, S. Regular meet- ings first Tuesday in each month.
Franklin, No. 60 .- A. M. Abbott, M .; A. C. Crauch, S. Regular meet- ing, Friday evening of each week.
Ustick, No. 124 .- J. C. Martindale, M .; G. W. McKinzie, S.
-
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
Rock River, No. 7 .- P. C. Woods, M .; J. W. Niles, S.
Whiteside, No. 9 .- E. V. Lapham, M .; A. B. Gibbs, S. Regular meet- ings the last Friday in each month, special meeting every Friday.
Rock Falls, No. 10 .- Rob't. McNiel, M .; J. Wright, S.
Hume, No. 12 .- W. F. Ramsay, M .; J. Angell, S.
Hopkins, No. 13 .- S. J. Baird, M; S. N. Brown, S. Regular meeting, Saturday, on or before each full moon.
Round Grove, No. 14 .- J. H. Simonson, M .; Aaron Young, S. Regular meetings Wednesday evening, on or before the full moon and the second Wednesday evening after.
Prophetstown, No. 15 .- Chas. Humaston, M .; G. W. Park, S.
Galt, No. 16 .- B. R. Watson, M .; R. G. Wallace, S.
Prairie Center, No. 18 .- W. P. McAllister, M .; J. Upton, S. Regular meeting on Friday evening, on or before full moon, and second Friday fol- lowing.
Hahnaman, No. 20 .- W. K. Caughey, M .; V. Rice, S.
Tampico, No. 19 .- John Fea, M .; J. C. Reeves, S.
Jordan, No. 23 .- D. N. Foster, M .; T. S. Kauffman, S.
Genesee, No. 25 .- R. J. Silliman, M .; B. F. St John, S.
Union, No. 26 .- R. A. Langdon, M .; S. H. Baird, S.
V Sterling, No. 27 .- Benj. Stauffer, M .; C. A. Wetherbee, S. Genesee, No. 28 .- W. H. Green, M .; W. Tumbleson, S ..
North Prairie, No. 29 .- Henry Tucker, M .; F. M. Thomas, S. Regu- lar meeting on or before the full moon of each month.
Lyndon, No. 31 .- E. P. Gibbs, M .; F. G. Brewer, S.
Fenton, No. 34 .- A. S. Round, M. Regular meetings the last Thursday in each month.
Union Grove, No. 42 .- R. F. Logan, M .; Geo. Topping, S.
D. N. Foster, an intelligent farmer living north of Sterling, went with enthusiasm into the Grange movement in the seventies, when it was at its zenith. He championed the principle that if farmers ever received any bene- fit from state legislation, they must elect farmer legislators. The principle found favor, and seven farmers were elected in the fall of 1876 as the result of this agitation. These seven found when they met in the capitol at the assembly that the two political parties were so evenly divided that they, the seven, held the balance of power. As a United States Senator was to be elected, each party was scheming to secure the votes necessary to elect their candidate. At this critical period, the regular annual convention of the state grange with 800 delegates met at Springfield. Hon. David Davis, then on the supreme bench at Washington, offered the use of his opera house to the convention, and it was accepted. The seven Grange legislators were unde- cided in regard to their action in the election of senator. In the caucus that was called were Alonzo Golder, Omer Fanning, D. N. Foster. Should the seven vote with the Democrats or Republicans? After some discussion, Mr. Foster proposed that they make their own nomination and oblige one of the parties to come to their selection. The idea seemed ridiculous, as no
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
candidate could be secured at so short notice. "Why not Judge Davis," replied Foster. A telegram was sent, he accepted the nomination, and David Davis was elected senator from Illinois. Mr. Foster rightly claims this result as a crowning triumph of Granger legislation.
Some agreeable features in the Grange which made it popular in the county districts: Ladies were eligible to several offices, and the regular meetings when elections took place, were social occasion of great enjoyment in the way of banquet, addresses and literary exercises. An attempt was made to establish stores to be controlled and supported by the patronage of the order, but it was soon found that necessary expenses made competition impossible with the established stores of the towns. Salaried officers proved to be somewhat of a burden, members began to lose their early enthusiasm, there was a lack of political cohesion, and thus by degrees the once prosperous organization declined, in the words of Grover Cleveland to "innocuous desue- tude."
EARLY TEACHERS AND THE YEARLY INSTITUTES.
Delightful task! to rcar the tender thought, And teach the young idea how to shoot .- Thomson.
One of the first regular institutes in the county took place in the small brick church, Como, in . the last week of September, 1856. Gray-haired Deacon Charles S. Deming, of Lyndon, was county commissioner, or super- intendent, as the office is now called. Alexander Wilder was imported from New York to be conductor. A tall, lank specimen, a walking cyclopedia, . who could answer any question about earth, air and sea, but confessed his inability to open the sessions with prayer. So a concert repetition of the Lord's prayer formed the devotional exercises. M. R. Kelly brought from Lyndon a two-horse wagon full of girls, which he jocularly called a grist of teachers in allusion to the large Como mill then running. Ephraim Brook- field and John Phinney were there. In the evening audience sat regularly Miss Mary Pollock of Como, a handsome brunette, afterwards married to Mr. Wadley, and long a resident of Clinton. Among the inembers was C. B. Smith, then conducting a select school in the basement of the old Presbyterian church in Sterling, who studied law, and removed to Mt. Carroll where he died.
For years the institute was on wheels, held from town to town. In 1857 at Erie, 1858 at Fulton,' 1859 at Prophetstown, and so through the county. For the last thirty years, the sessions have been held at Sterling or Morrison in the last week of August, just before the opening of schools.
AN OLD PROGRAM.
In the Whiteside County Historical Society is a program of an insti- tute held in Sterling, August 27, 1867, to continue a week. Instruction was given daily in the various common branches, and discussions on 'such sub- jects as government and object lessons. Among the lecturers at night was State Superintendent Newton Bateman, and among the instructors, Metcalf of Normal. E. C. Smith of Dixon, M. W. Smith of Morrison, C. C. Buell
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
of Sterling, H. E. Burr, M. R. Kelly, all numbered with the dead. Walter Stager, John Phinney, W. W. Davis, Emma Wilson, still grasp the hands of their friends.
A FEW REMINISCENCES.
Col. Michacl W. Smith, superintendent from 1869 to 1873, was elected by a whirlwind of Sterling votes, as there was no excitement or issue, and a light vote was polled in the rest of the county. He was precise, stern, methodical, very efficient in the discharge of his duties; for awhile principal of the Morrison schools. On leaving Whiteside he was appointed professor of English literature and history in Hughes high school, Cincinnati, 1874, where he labored with great success to his death in 1889.
Clinton C. Buell was principal for three years of the old second ward school in Sterling after its completion in 1867. He had a farm in Mont- morency, and drove in a light buggy every morning to his duties. A strenu- ous career. After graduating at Madison University, New York, and teach- ing eight years in academies, he emigrated to Iowa, where he entered the army on the beginning of the war in 1861. He was a scholarly man, well read, a good writer and speaker, took a deep interest in agricultural affairs, and often read papers or made speeches at various meetings.
One of the most genial of the former teachers was H. E. Burr, who grad- uated from Oberlin College in 1849, removed to Morrison in 1865, opened a select school, and afterwards taught in public schools. Two heavy mis- fortunes threw a gloom over his later life. A stone falling on his foot in a quarry made him lame, and the death of his only daughter, Charlotte, a young lady of rare qualities of mind and heart, was a crushing blow from which he never recovered. She was the idol of the home, and henceforth the world had no further charm. When the writer met the old gentleman just a short time before the end, he sadly remarked that he was just waiting to move on.
One of the best known primary teachers of Sterling was Miss Sadie Patterson, who was first in the second ward, and then in Wallace school. She grew gray in the service, and almost two generations of children passed under her discipline.
Of all the early teachers, M. R. Kelly, of Morrison, was the dean. Com- ing to the county in his young manhood and remaining here to his death in 1904, he was a landmark. Teachers came and went, but Kelly was like Tennyson's brook :
"For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.
His duties as superintendent called him to all parts of the county, and his sunny disposition made friends everywhere. His face was always wel- come at the tables or the gatherings of the old settlers. Like Caleb of the Old Testament his vigor of mind and body was so remarkable cven in the eighties than his sudden declinc and death came as a surprise. From the Sentinel of Morrison we quote the account of the last sad rites: "The serv- ices were held at the Presbyterian church, and after a hymn by the choir
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
and prayer by the pastor, Rev. W. V. Jeffries, his old friend and co-laborer, W. W. Davis, delivered the following address:
" 'It lies around us like a cloud, A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye, May bring us there to be.
"'Standing in this solemn presence and thinking of our dear departed friend, I recall almost fifty years of uninterrupted and delightful social inter- course. No more that radiant face, that cheerful voice, that active step. On my visits to Morrison, my first thought always was, I hope I shall see Kelly on the street. If not, I must certainly go to his home. How often he invited me to his cottage, and how often I enjoyed his generous hospitality.
"'O for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!
" 'My acquaintance with Mr. Kelly began in September, 1856, when I met him at a teachers' institute in Como. He was the teacher, but soon became county superintendent. Under his administration, the schools of Whiteside received a vigorous impulse. He visited the schools during the day and addressed the patrons at night. And what addresses they were .! He was a remarkable speaker before a crowd of plain people. His rich voice, hearty manner, fund of anecdotes always charmed, and the announcement that Kelly was to speak was sure to pack the house. Like Washington, Beecher and men of earnest natures, Prof. Kelly took much delight in outdoor life. His cottage on the edge of Morrison was a poet's home, with its oaks, vines and shrubbery He was the Nestor of Whiteside teachers. Of all in service during his early visitations, only four remain, John Phinney of Morrison, Grove Wright of Rock Falls, D. N. Foster of Sterling and myself. In his eighty-seventh year, David Dudley Field, the eminent lawyer, composed a remarkable poem, which I believe represents the very sentiments which governed our dear friend Kelly in his later years:
" 'What is it now to live? It is to breathe The air of heaven, behold the pleasant earth,
The shining rivers, the inconstant sea, Sublimity of mountains, wealth of clouds, And radiance o'er all of countless stars. It is to sit before the cheerful hearth
With groups of friends and kindred, store of books,
Rich heritage from ages past, Hold sweet communion, soul with soul.' "
Of all the teachers in the county in 1858, only four remain at the present writing, November, 1907: Grove Wright of Rock Falls, John Phin- ney near Morrison, and D. N. Foster and W. W. Davis of Sterling.
John Phinney was one of the features at the institutes. His hobbies were grammar and mental arithmetic, and he was always ready to take up
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
the cudgel in defense of any method of his that was carelessly criticised. He made no pretensions to elegant speech, but was perfectly able in his earnest way to maintain every principle he espoused. Mr. Phinney taught at vari- ous places, Unionville, Sterling, Como, was thorough in his drills and gave universal satisfaction.
D. N. Foster's usefulness was confined to Jordan, chiefly at the Capp school, and he retired early from the strain of professional life to engage in farming. He now owns the Doc Coe farm on the Freeport road. His wife, formerly Miss Carrie Dinsmoor, a Massachusetts girl, niece of the late Hon. James Dinsmoor, was also a teacher, and during their residence in the country, was a director of the district school.
Grove Wright was in some respects the most successful teacher in the county. There have been more scholarly principals, but none who had the art of infusing so much enthusiasm into his pupils. They all believed in Wright, and heartily entered into every plan he proposcd. Most of his work was in Sterling, in the second and the third wards. His exhibitions every winter in old Wallace Hall had a delightful mixture of declamations, dia- logues, music, various performances, that were heartily enjoyed. Nothing before or since like them. He was a good singer, and music was à promi- nent feature in his schools.
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