USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside county, Illinois, from its first settlement to the present time, with numerous Biographical and Family Sketches > Part 67
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NEWSPAPERS.
The Tampico Tornado was established May 4, 1876, by A. D. Hill and
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Charles F. Gifford, the firm being known as Hill & Gifford. During the first year the paper was printed at Prophetstown, and at its close the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Gifford becoming the entire owner. He at once purchased a new press, new type, ete., and since that time has both published and printed the paper at Tampico. At the time the paper was started it was thought to be considerable of an undertaking, but Mr. Gifford being a practical printer of long experience, and a gentleman of tact and energy, the enterprise was pushed for- ward until it has now reached a firm footing. Its circulation is 350, and it is receiving a good support, both in its advertising and jobbing departments, from the people of Tampico and vicinity. Mr. Gifford is adding new material to his office as his demands require.
CHURCHES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
Methodist Episcopal Church :- At the time the Grand Trunk Railroad, now the Mendota branch of the C. B. & Q. Railroad, was built, and Tampico be- came a village, the society now known as the Tampico M. E. Church and Soc- iety, belonged to the Spring Hill and Yorktown Circuit, Rev. G. W. Carr being pastor. In the fall of that year, 1871, the members residing in Tampico con- cluded to establish a church of their own. Previous to that time meetings had been held only once a fortnight in the old town house, a mile south of the present village. After removing to the village the first meetings were held in Sheldon's Hall, on Main street, the Society employing their own pastor, the Rev. L. A. Sanford, of Sterling. The membership then numbered about thirty. Mr. Sanford remained with them until the meeting of the next Annual Conference in the fall of 1872. The Conference sent Rev. H. T. Seoville to take charge, who remained for one year. During the fall of 1872 the Society built a church edifice at a cost of $1,300. The building was 30 by 44 feet, and 18 feet high. The next pastor was Rev. J. P. Morris, who remained until the fall of 1874. On the 6th of June in this year the meeting house was complete- ly destroyed by the tornado which then swept over the place. There were no regular services held during the balance of that year, as the pastor was en- gaged for most of the time in soliciting subscriptions for the erection of a new edifice. When there were services they were held in the school house. The present building was commenced in the fall of 1874, and the main part com- pleted that year, the balance, with the steeple, being finished in 1875. Its size is 32 by 62 feet, and 20 feet in height. The height of steeple from the ground is 100 feet. The whole cost of the building was $2,500. In the fall of 1874, Rev. C. H. Huffman was sent as pastor, and remained until the fall of 1876. The next pastor was Rev. A. B. Mettler, who was succeeded the present fall (1877) by Rev. F. Pomeroy, who has charge of the Tampico and Spring Hill churches. The first Board of Trustees, consisting of J. P. Badgley, A. M. Smith, John W. Glassburn, Joseph Jacobs, John Miller, Thomas Passmore, and T. M. Wylie, was elected April 17th, 1871. T. M. Wylie was chosen Clerk. The pres- ent Trustees are, J. P. Badgley, A. M. Smith, George W. Apley, G. A. Stilson, and T. M. Wylie, the latter still retaining his position as Clerk. A Sabbath School has been connected with the church ever since its organization, Mr. T. M. Wylie filling the position as Superintendent from the commencement until the fall of 1876, when Rev. A. B. Mettler succeeded him. The present member- ship of the church is about sixty.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church :- St. Mary's Church, of Tampico, was first organized in April, 1875, by a Committee of four, consisting of Maurice Fitzgerald, George Dee, Thomas Burden, and Peter Burke. The officers of the Committee were: Maurice Fitzgerald, President; George Dee, Vice President;
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY.
Peter Burke, Secretary, and Thomas Burden, Treasurer. On the 20th of May, 1875, Right Rev. Bishop Foley, of Chicago, granted a charter to the Com- mittee authorizing them to raise subscriptions to build a church edifice. The Committee went immediately at work, and in a comparatively short time raised an amount sufficient to erect and complete it in its present form. A part of the amount was raised by notes from parties in that section of the county, and the other part, amounting to $2,520, by a Fair held at Tampico. At the Fair a tea- set was put up, two young ladies, one the daughter of Mr. Thomas Burden, and the other a daughter of Mr. John Gaffey, to be the contestants therefor. The tickets were one dollar each, and parties could buy one or more as they chose, each ticket being a ballot for one or the other of the young ladies. At the close of the Fair it was found that Miss Burden received 1,518 votes, and Miss Gaffey, 1,002. The prize was therefore awarded to Miss Burden. The church building was commenced on the 26th of June, 1875, and completed on the 1Stlı of September following, an incredibly short space of time, when we consider the size and finish of the building. The edifice is 40 by 99 feet, and 30 feet high, giving ample space for all interior arrangements required, besides sufficient room to seat the large congregation. The height of the spire from the ground is 112 feet, makingit the highest in the town. Great creditis due to the Committee for their indefatigable efforts in raising the funds necessary to ereet and properly furnish the edifice. Father O'Gara MeShean was the first pastor of the parish, and was succeeded by Father P. J. Gormley, who still continues in the position. The church has retained the same Committee through whose efforts it was es- tablished. The parish is made up of a part of the northern portion of Bureau county contiguous to Whiteside, and the towns of Tampico, Hume, Prophets- town, Hahnaman, and Montmorency. There are now 963 members of the church, old and young, throughout the parish. The land upon which the church edifice stands was very generously donated by Jolin W. Glassburn, Esq., and is 100 feet front by 150 feet deep.
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church :- The church society known as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tampico, was organized in May, 1874, with a membership of forty-five persons, heads of families. The first pastor was Rev. H. T. Sanstrum, and the first trustees Oliver D. Olson, Thomas Pearson, and Lewis Wilson. In 1875, the same pastor and the same trustees were con- tinued. During that year the church edifice was built at a cost of $2,500. The building is 40 by 60 feet, and 20 feet high. The steeple reaches a heighth of 110 feet from the ground, and is a landmark which can be seen for miles and miles around. The church is of a capacity capable of holding a congregation of over five hundred people. In 1876 the church had no stated clerical supply, the pulpit being temporarily filled by John Elander, a student of the Augustana College and Theological Seminary, at Rock Island. This College is under the supervision of the Swedish Lutheran Augustana Synod of the United States, the special object of its founders being to provide means for the education of young men to become pastors and teachers among the Scandinavian population of the Northwest. Mr. Elander is still officiating as pastor. The Trustees of the church for 1877 are: Oliver D. Olson, Thomas Pearson, and O. B. Kelsen. The membership now consists of fifty-five heads of families, besides the younger members. At present services are held every month, although it is expected that regular services will be held every Sabbath within a short period.
Public Schools :- The township of Tampico from the commencement has been beneficent in the care, encouragement, and sustenance of its public schools. From the time Orlando McNickle taught the first school in the Aldrich district in the winter of 1856-'57, until the present, its inhabitants have kept fully
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CHURCHES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
abreast the times in all matters pertaining to the education of their children. Each of the school districts is provided with a good, commodious school house, and great care is taken in the selection of teachers. The public school building in the village of Tampico is an admirable one. The first school house in that district was built in 1869, and stood one mile south of the present village, but when the railroad was laid through the town, it was moved to the village. So rapid was the increase of scholars that during the next summer ninety-three crowded its walls seeking instruction. In the following winter the second floor of George Guffey's brick store was fitted up for the primary scholars, and Miss Rosa Laughlin engaged to assist Mr. A. W. Bastian in teaching. The wants of the district soon called for more room, and in 1874 the Board of Directors, com- posed of J. W. Glassburn, Alfred Smith, and H. L. Denison, contracted for the erection of the present building. Its size is 32 by 56 feet, two stories in heighth with a wing for halls and stairways. It has four comfortable, well lighted rooms, twelve feet in heighth, and furnished with seats of the Sterling School Furni- ture Company's manufacture. Each room is capable of accommodating desks for forty-eight scholars. The cost of the building was $4,000. The teachers who have been engaged in the various departments since the erection of the building are as follows: Mr. A. W. Bastian, and Misses Rosa Laughlin, Katie Fuller, Jennie Maxfield, Mary Glassburn, Maria Banes, and Sadie Glassburn. The present teachers are: A. W. Bastian, Principal; Miss Maria Banes, Inter- mediate Department, and Miss Sadie Glassburn, Primary Department. The number of pupils enrolled for 1877 was 148. The school has been successfully managed by Mr. Bastian, who has been Principal for three years. So well has it been conducted that there now more applications from pupils outside of the district than can be accommodated. No less than fifteen of the scholars have been engaged in teaching during the present year (1877) .. The Board of Direc- tors now consists of H. L. Denison, Alfred Smith and A. M. Smith.
Hook and Ladder Company :- The village of Tampico has a fine Hook and Ladder Company of thirty members, and officered as follows : Robert Collins, Foreman; Ed. Forward, First Assistant; H. H. Seymour, Second Assistant; A. W. Bastian, Secretary; and J. F. Leonard, Treasurer. The Company have a good truck, with complete equipments, and have their house in the rear of Burke & Forward's store. Their organization dates the 24th of May, 1877. It was first formed for an Engine Company, with Maurice Fitzgerald as Captain, but was afterwards turned into a Hook and Ladder Company.
Masonic Lodge :- A dispensation was obtained from the Grand Master to organize Yorktown Lodge No. 655, A. F. and A. M., at Yorktown, Bureau coun- ty, Illinois, June 4, 1870. The charter bears date October 4, 1870. The fol- lowing are the first officers of the Lodge and its charter members: John L. Marvel, W. M .; William W. Craddock, S. W .; Merritt Hopkins, J. W .; Jacob J. Winchell, Treasurer; Philo D. Morse, Secretary; James E. Bunker, S. D .; Edward Forward, J. D .; E. A. Ladue, Tyler; V. S. Bastian, S. M. Green, Stew- ards. July 24, 1875, the Lodge was moved to Tampico, and now has a member- ship of fifty-five. Its present officers are: William W. Craddock, W. M .; Job E. Greenman, S. W .; T. M. Wylie, J. W .; J. F. Leonard, Treasurer; A. W. Bas- tian, Secretary; D. McMillen, S. D .; Samuel Johnson, J. D .; Eli Cain, Tyler. The Past Masters of the Lodge are: John L. Marvel, William W. Craddock, James H. Cain, George W. Guffey.
CHAPTER XXV.
HISTORY OF USTICK TOWNSHIP-BIOGRAPHICAL.
HISTORY OF USTICK TOWNSHIP.
The part of the present township of Ustiek within one mile of the east line of range 4 east, originally formed a portion of Union Precinct, and the part ly- ing west of that line belonged first to Albany Precinct, and afterwards the whole of the township was included in Fulton Precinet. In this condition it remained until it was organized as a township by itself, by the Commissioners appointed for the purpose of creating townships, in 1852. It includes township 22 north of base line, range 4 east of the 4th principal meridian. The topography of the township is considerably diversified, the extreme western part, lying under the bluffs, being level, then coming the bluffs, which rise in many places almost abruptly to a considerable heighth, and the balance eastward consisting of rol- ling prairie. Aside from the bluffs themselves the township is particularly rich as an agricultural district, all the erops grown in this section of the west pro- ducing abundantly. The small portion of the town not adapted to grain raising is advantageously used as pasturage and meadow land. Since the prairie fires have ceased, timber has grown up thriftily in various parts of the town, adding greatly to the beauty of the scenery. The town is watered by Otter creek and its tributaries in the northern part, and by Spring creek in a portion of the southern part. Both of these streams, with most of the tributaries of the for- mer, take their rise in the town. Besides these, abundance of the finest water is supplied by the wells.
The earliest settlers for the most part located under the bluffs, a few mak- ing claims in the southern part. It was quite a number of years before the other parts of the township became settled, many thinking that the great ex- panse of prairie, now forming some of the best farming lands in the county, were not adapted for the homes of white men. The first actual settler was Wooster Y. Ives, who came from Connecticut in 1837. About the same time Edward Corbin came up from Albany, and the two made a claim under the bluff, Mr. Corbin, however, soon disposing of his interest to Mr. Ives. This claim covered the farm for a long time owned and occupied by Mr. Ives, and now owned by Alonzo E. Smith. Amos Short, from Indiana, and Edward Rolph, also came and settled in 1837. A Mr. French, and a Mr. Townsend, came the same year, but did not remain long. Lewis Graves, Allen Graves, Jesse Johnson, and Henry Bond, from New York, and Henry Cone, now living in Thompson, came in 1838. In 1839, William H. Knight, from Maine, David Ingham, Hiram Ing- ham, and Mr. Church, from New York, Oliver Hall, from New England, and Reu- ben Patrick, and Asa Patrick, from Canada, came; and in 1840, Elias Sage, Wil- son S. Wright, John Maheny, Thomas Maheny, and John Hollinshead and his sons. Among those who came from 1840 to 1843, were William Watt, James Logan, Jacob Baker, Oliver Baker, John McKenzie, Levi Houghton, William Sav- age, Warren Bond, and Roys Oatman. The latter lived in the town until 1850, when he started with his family to seek a home in southern California. Upon arriving in the present Territory of Arizona, the family were attacked by Indians, the fearful result of which will be found further on in the history of this township.
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HISTORY OF USTICK TOWNSHIP.
William Watt met an untimely death by falling into a cauldron of hot water used for scalding hogs. Amos Short went to the Pacific coast in 1846, and lost his life by being shipwrecked at the mouth of the Columbia river.
The first house put up in the town was of logs, and built by Wooster Y. Ives, in 1837. Its site was near the present stone dwelling house, also erected by Mr. Ives, on the farm now owned by Alonzo E. Smith. The first frame house was erected by Oliver Hall, about 1840, on the farm now owned by S. W. Goff. The timber for this house was taken from the grove in Union Grove township, and was the first taken from timber growing there.
The first white child born in what is now Ustiek township, was Rosetta Patrick, a daughter of Thomas and Louise Patrick, her birth occurring in 1840.
The first parties to enter into the holy bonds of wedlock, were Thomas Patrick and Miss Louise Ingham, the notable event taking place in 1839. The second marriage was that of William H. Knight and Miss Sarah R. Johnson, which took place November 24, 1840.
The first death was a child of Amos Short, who was drowned in a spring on Mr. Short's elaim, in 1840. The first adult death was Mrs. Julia Ann Rush, and occurred in 1842. The husband of Mrs. Rush was a brother of Richard Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Rush was herself a stout patriot in her early days, and frequently donned the male attire and per- formed picket duty whenever she got an opportunity, at her home in Philadel- phia. She was buried on the bluffs above the present residence of Joshua Hol- linshead, the ground being yet used as a burial place. The death of Mr. John Hollinshead, the father of the Messrs. Hollinshead now residing in Ustick, oc- curred soon after, and his remains were interred in the same ground.
The first school was taught by Miss Armenia Ingham, in the chamber of Amos Short's log cabin, in the summer of 1841. The entrance to the school room was by a stairs leading from the outside of the building. The cabin was situated under the bluffs, by the spring near Levi Houghton's present house. The scholars were Charles C. Knight and Miss Naney Ingham, besides Mr. Short's children. The first school house was built on a corner of Jessie Johnson's farm. on section 8, in 1844. It was a small stone building, but amply sufficient to accommodate all the scholars in the town at that day, and is still standing. Miss Sarah Jenks was the first teacher. The district has been known as Distriet No. 1 from that time. The second school house was built in 1846, on seetion 32, and is known as the Franklin, or by many as the Cottonwood school house. There are now eight school districts in the town, each having a good school house, several of them new, and all well provided with the necessary appenda- ges of a modern school. The township has a school fund of nearly ten thou- sand dollars.
The younger portion of the early settlers of Ustick were not indifferent to a proper cultivation of their musical talents, and hence obtained the services of the singing teacher. This pedagogue in the art of teaching the young music ideas how to shoot, was Seymour Tomlinson, and the singing school kept in Ed. Rolph's house under the bluffs, the time being the winter of 1843-'44. A large number of scholars attended, coming from miles around, and the meeting nights were looked forward to with a great deal of interest. The singing part was of itself very attractive, but the occasion the meeting furnished for social inter- course was undoubtedly equally as drawing. How many matches were made there which were afterwards consummated by life partnerships, there are now no means of ascertaining. We have it from a good source, however, that many date their happiness as husbands and wives to the singing school in the little cabin of Ed. Rolph, in that long ago winter.
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY.
The circumstances of the massacre of most of the Oatman family by the Indians, while on their way to seek a home in Southern California, a brief reference to which has been already made in the history of the township, will be remembered by many of the residents of Ustick, and adjoining towns. Roys Oatman came from Ohio to Illinois in 1834, and located in LaHarp, Hancock county, and in 1842 moved to Ustick, and settled on seetion 32, where he re- mained until 1849 when he sold his farm to Henry Bond, and during the next year started with his family, consisting of his wife and seven children, for Southern California, taking the overland route by the way of Independence, Missouri, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The journey had been pleasantly made until the family had reached the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, in the present Territory of Arizona, about one hundred and sixty miles from Fort Yuma, where they were suddenly attacked by a band of Indians, and Mr. and Mrs. Oatman, and four of the children, barbarously murdered. Lorenzo, one of the boys, was left as dead by the Indians, but recovered, and finally reached the settlements in safety. Two girls, Olive, and Mary Ann, aged respectively uine and seven years, were carried into captivity. Mary Ann died two years after- wards of starvation, and Olive was finally rescued after five years search, and restored to her friends, during which time she suffered untold hardships, having been several times bought and sold as a slave, and branded on the face with the slave mark. Mrs. Oatman was a sister of Mrs. A. M. Abbott, of Ustick, and was a woman of fine social and intellectual accomplishments, having enjoyed excellent advantages in her early days.
For a considerable time after the settlement of the township, section 16, set apart for raising a school fund, was considered to be worthless for agricul- tural purposes, and the inhabitants petitioned the General Land Office at Wash- ington to have the school section changed to a location which could be readily brought into market, but the petition was not granted. Mr. Wooster Y. Ives, the Nimrod of Whiteside county then and since, soon after this refusal offered $800 for the section, his intention being if he could secure it, to erect a high fence around it, and make it a deer park. Against this proposition many of the settlers set their faces with a determination irrevocable in its nature. They had no objection to Mr. Ives, whom they considered one of the most worthy residents of the town, hunting deer, wherever he could find them running wild, but to make a deer pen of a whole section of land was entirely foreign to their ideas of what was just and right in the premises. Others favored the plan of Mr. Ives, and endeavored to induce the then School Trustees, Messrs. A. M. Abbott, Oliver Baker, and Aaron W. Ives, to sell him the section, arguing that it would be better to turn it into a deer park, than to allow it to remain a worth- lese waste to the town. The Trustees, however, decided with the opponents of the proposition, and finally, after having it properly surveyed, succeeded in selling it for $2,600 to parties desiring it for farming purposes. This sale des- troyed the last hope of establishing a magnificent park in the township in which animals ferca natura could be cabined, eribbed and confined.
Ustick has had her contests as to the name she should be known and des- ignated by, as well as some other townships in the county. For about two years prior to the time the Commissioners appointed by the County Com- missioners' Court defined the boundaries, and gave names to the several town- ships, the present township of Ustick was called by and known as Salem town- ship, and had the inhabitants been privileged at that time to have had a voice in the selection of a name, the old one of Salem would have been retained by a majority. But unhappily for the Salem advocates, the Commissioners were induced to believe that the name of Ustick would be much
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HISTORY OF USTICK TOWNSHIP.
more appropriate for such a beautiful township of land, than Salem, the latter smacking too strongly of witches, and the summary manner of putting a quietus upon their incantations. Had the first township organization proved legal, all this would have been avoided. Under that or- ganization a town meeting for Salem township was held in April, 1850, and Alpheus Matthews elected Supervisor; A. M. Abbott, Town Clerk; Oliver Baker, Justice of the Peace, with the other usual town officers, none of whom, however, served. So wedded had the inhabitants become to the name of Salem that when it was changed to Ustick they sent a petition to the State Legisla- ture at Springfield to have the former name restored, but information was re- turned that there was already a township by that name in the State which wasa county seat, and that therefore the petition could not be granted. Not content with this another petition was gotten up and sent on to Springfield, to have the name changed to Wooster, but to this no response was made, and the mat- ter of changing the name of the township as fixed by the Commissioners, ended then and there.
The township has also had its full measure of trouble in laying out new roads, and the changing of the location of old ones, keeping the Commissioners of Highways, especially of late years, busily engaged in this regard. Messrs. Joel W. Farley, and Harrison Houghton, of the Board of Commissioners, have kindly exhibited to us the proceedings of the Board for a number of years as to road contests, but interesting as they are, we find them too voluminous for pub- lication in a work of this kind. Suffice it to say, that it will take some time be- fore road matters in the township are amicably settled.
The first Postoffice in the town was established in 1850, and was called Hemlo. Mr. A. M. Abbott was commissioned as Postmaster, and the office located at his residence on the Fulton and Morrison road. The office was con- tinned for nearly eight years, the mail being brought by a stage coach running from Fulton to Sterling, until the present Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was finished, when the stage was hauled off, and the mail brought by a special carrier from Fulton. The name of the office was selected in rather a peculiar way. Twenty-six small blocks were prepared, upon each of which a letter of the alphabet from A to Y inclusive was cut, and put into a hat and shaken up, those present agreeing that the first letter drawn should stand as the initial one of the name which the Postoffice should bear. It happened that the letter H was the first one drawn; then the letter E, and so on until six were taken out, spelling the word Hemlo. Then a halt was demanded in the proceedings, for fear that if a continuance should be had the next two letters drawn would be C and K, thus making the name Hemlock, one that would be sure to defeat the end sought to be attained. Hence Hemlo became the name of the Postoffice. Mr. Abbott continued to hold the office until Clifton station, at the edge of the bluffs, was established by the Railroad Company, when it was taken to that place, and the name changed to ('lifton. William Pearson was first appointed Postmaster for that point, and afterwards Henry Hoover, who held this posi- tion until the station was abandoned, and the Postoffice ceased to exist. The second Postoffice in the township was established about 1853, and named Ustick, Oliver Baker receiving the appointment as Postmaster. When the project of establishing a mail route from Fulton to Galena was being urged. it was considered politie to request as many Postoffices on the route as possible, so as to make it appear to the Government that a large amount of postal business demanded the facilities which it would afford. The route was estab- lished, and nearly all the requests for Postoffices granted. Mr. Baker kept the Ustick Postoffice at his residence, under the bluffs. The mail coach was run
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