USA > Illinois > Ogle County > Mount Morris > Mount Morris: past and present, an illustrated history of the township and the village of Mount Morris, Ogle County, Illinois, in their various stages of development, together with a local biographical directory > Part 14
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The farm was occupied by Carlton Wolfe, who was a heavy loser in the storm. His binder, plows, corn planter, and other machinery were broken beyond repair and a number of cattle, horses and hogs were badly injured. One horse was carried fifty rods and afterward found with a piece of tim- ber firmly imbedded in its back.
The residence of Benj. Fridley, about one and one-half miles south of Mount Morris, was the next place directly in the path of the tornado and there it was that the terrified residents of the village first closely in- spected the awful work of the storm. The house, barn and every out- building were so completely swept away that nothing was left to indicate the former abode of the family save the cellar walls, an old battered fence and the mud-plastered stumps of several trees which had stood in the yard.
WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE FRIDLEY HOUSE.
So complete was the ruin that the mind could scarcely be forced to be- lieve the truth, presented before one's very eyes. Excepting a few splin- tered boards and planks scattered near the foundation and in the field to the eastward, hardly a vestage of the house and its furnishings could be found. It would seem that the great bulk of the material used in the con- struction of the buildings could have been found, at least within a radius of a mile, but such was not the case; it was evidently carried into the vor- tex of the mighty whirlwind, churned into a million atoms and strewn along the path of destruction for many miles. At this place occurred the first injury to human life along the path described. Mr. Fridley, his daughters, Mattie and Bessie, and sons, John and Benj., decended to the cellar at the approach of the cloud, but John, the eldest son, left the cellar
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to investigate and was caught by the storm on the south side of the house. He seized hold of a tree, and in some miraculous manner succeeded in clinging to it until the fearful disturbance had passed, notwithstanding the fact that the tree was broken off not far above his head and the bark skinned off of the stump nearly to the ground. He was exceedingly fortu- nate that he escaped with his life and as it was, he had one leg broken, and sustained numerous severe bruises caused by being struck by flying missiles. The others of the family who remained in the cellar were only slightly injured by flying debris, Mr. Fridley being bruised the most. Here there were many curious sights, such as chickens with every feather blown off running about as if to escape the kettle, and animals with pieces of boards driven into them. The path of the storm both west and east of
RUINS OF BARN ON OLD FRIDLEY PLACE.
the Fridley place presented a most remarkable aspect, because of the thoroughness with which all fences and vegetation were swept away and the clear definition of its limits, shown by the thick slimy mud with which everything remaining was covered.
The old Fridley place, along the railroad, occupied by Jacob Bonar next was visited by the funnel-shaped cloud, and although the house was unharmed the huge bank barn was left in a heap of ruins. Mrs. Bonar, and her brother, David Hedrick, were milking in the barn at the time, but both escaped without serious injury. Mr. Bonar lost much valuable farm machinery. At this place there were further evidences of the terrible force of the storm. Pine sticks, some of them not more than a quarter of an inch thick, were driven through inch boards in the gable of the corn crib, and the steel wind-mill tower twisted to the ground as though it were but a stock of grain.
TERRIBLE WORK OF THE TORNADO IN MAJOR NEWCOMER'S TIMBER.
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On John Fridley's farm the barn was unroofed and the sides partly demolished. The shingles were blown off of a part of the house roof, but otherwise the house escaped unharmed. From this point the storm wid- ened to nearly a mile, one wing reaching as far east as Andrew Fridley's place, overturning out-buildings and mangling the orchard trees. At David Fridley's farm, the summer kitchen was carried away, a part of the barn unroofed and the windwill thrown over. As a result of the cloud's visit to the premises of Andrew Gigous the house had almost to be rebuilt and many demolished out-buildings replaced. A corn-planter left stand- ing in the field was missing after the storm and not a trace of it was ever found. A small amount of insurance was granted him by the Pine Creek company in which his property was insured.
The farm owned by the Thomas brothers on the Mount Morris-Oregon road was next devastated, but the damage was slight. The main body of the cloud passed to the northward through the timber on the old Phelps farm, owned by Major Chas. Newcomer, and again at this place the spec- tators of the day following had occasion to open their mouths and eyes in wonder. Every tree was badly mutilated, the most of them, both large and small, being either broken off, twisted down or uprooted. Past the timber the small Martin home was obliterated, and that of J. Wareham handled almost as roughly. Farther on, a number of buildings on the farm of Harvey Griswold were destroyed and the cloud then passed on to Rock river. In passing over the high bluff on the west side, the danc- ing pavilion erected on the crest by a Chicago club, was rolled down the slope and deposited in the road beneath. Persons living near say that vast volumes of water were drawn up into the cloud as it passed over the river, and undoubtedly the stream was very much disturbed.
After crossing the river suffice it to say that the tornado continued on its destructive course to Stillman Valley where much damage was done and a number of lives lost.
After the cloud had passed by Mount Morris to the eastward, the citizens of Mount Morris, realizing from the appearance and terrible roar of the storm that much mischief must have been done, hastened without delay to the nearest part of the path which was at the former location of the Fridley residence. During the remainder of the evening and far into the night and during several succeeding days hundreds of people visited the scene, and many followed along the entire path. It was certainly a most remarkable exhibition of what the elements are capable of, and the people of Mount Morris are to be congratulated upon the freak of the tornado in changing its course and avoiding the limits of the village.
Besides tornadoes, the vicinity of Mount Morris has been visited by a number of very severe hailstorms, which did much damage to windows and vegetation. Probably the most severe of these was the one which occurred on the evening of May 13, 1886, when the pellets of ice destroyed much property. The storm came from the southwest, such that all win-
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dows facing that direction were broken and also many shutters and sashes broken. After the hail ceased falling and the wind subsided, the south side of the gentlemen's dormitory presented a sorry appearance, the forty-eight windows having hardly a single unbroken pane of glass. The hailstones were some of them as large as base balls, and some of very irregular and jagged appearance. On the day following the storm Mr. Michael Bohner made a careful computation of the number of panes of glass broken in the village of Mount Morris alone, and gave the following result from an estimate made upon personal inquiry and individual in- vestigation: Total number of panes broken, 4,415; loss, about $1,150. Other losses occurring raised it to nearly $5,000, including the damage to the fruit crop.
Probably the hailstorm which would rank second in point of violence and amount of damage done is the one which visited the town in May, 1860, coming from the same direction as the one above mentioned. Al- though the hail was not so large, a general breaking of windows occurred throughout the town.
On page thirty-two of this volume, in Peter Knodle's diary, is the ac- count of a hailstorm on Monday evening, June 27, 1842, in which five or six hundred panes of glass were broken in Mount Morris.
Mount Morris can be said to have been very fortunate in the past in the way of fires, there having never been a conflagration in which more than one large building was destroyed, and but few instances where a single structure has been burned entirely to the ground. There have been but two cases of total destruction of valuable buildings by fire within the limits of the village, both occurring during the 90's; the first the destruction of R. C. McCredie's creamery in 1895, and the second the property of J. A. Kable in 1897. The former was started by a spark from the smoke-stack, alighting on the roof. The fire was discovered at about the middle of the forenoon, April 13, 1895, and it was not long until the structure was a heap of ashes. The village, at that time, had no fire protection except the " bucket brigade " which was always formed at fires and consisted of a column of men, extending from the burning structure to any available pump, along which pails of water would be passed as fast as they could be filled by two or three men operating the pump handle. This method, however, failed to be of any use in this case owing to the headway the flames had gained when the fire was discovered. The estimated loss was about $3,500, which was partly cov- ered by insurance. Mr. McCredie immediately rebuilt the creamery.
The immediate result of the burning of Mr. McCredie's creamery was the creation of a strong sentiment in favor of the establishment of a system of water-works for the village, to bar against further loss. The matter was made an issue at the following village election, and a majority vote cast in favor of it, after which the present system of wa- ter-works was put in.
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The second fire mentioned, that of the burning of J. A. Kable's property, on A Street, occurred after the new water system had been put in, but before the water mains had been extended far enough or sufficient hose purchased to carry water to the scene of the fire. A neighbor who was tending a sick son, discovered smouldering flames in Mr. Kable's carpet-weaving shop at two o'clock in the morning, dur- ing the dead of winter, and hastily gave the alarm. The fire had evi- dently been burning for a considerable length of time and could not be extinguished. The house and shop, with all the weaving apparatus, were burned to the ground and was a total loss, there being no insur- ance on either.
In the early sixties, an old hovel standing out on the prairie some- where near the present residence of John McNett, was set on fire by a number of mischievous boys who wished to see a blaze. The old building was formerly used as a schoolhouse, but when destroyed was utterly valueless except for firewood.
During the seventies there were two fires in which the flames gained considerable headway, but were finally extinguished by the bucket brigade before the buildings were entirely destroyed. Mrs. Sheets' residence on the corner of Hitt and MeKendrie Streets was so badly damaged that it was soon afterward torn down and a new one erected, which is at present occupied by John Merriman. The other was the house on the corner of Fletcher and West Front Streets, owned at that time by Peter Glascow and later property of Daniel Beard. It was easily repaired, however.
In the fall of 1885 occurred the first serious fire which threatened the safety of the business section of the village. It was discovered in the Sei- bert block at about nine o'clock in the evening, when luckily there were plenty of men still on the streets. The elevator shaft was in flames from the basement to the roof, but the strong pump just behind the building furnished an abundance of water to the bucket brigade, and under the di- rection of several cool-headed men the crowd succeeded in heading off the fiery element. To those who saw the flames leaping from windows on both the first and second floors, the prospects of saving any of the north busi- ness block seemed hopeless, and, in fact the extinguishing of the fire was a marvelous piece of work. Another fire in the business street was threat- ened one evening in the spring of 1900, by a small blaze in the Mount Mor- ris News office in the Mammouth block. The present efficient water sys- tem served to make the danger of short duration. A. R. Binkley also once had a threatened blaze in his store and there may have been several other small blazes but none of consequence.
Among other fires which have occurred in the residence portion of Mount Morris, might be mentioned those in the residences of E. S. Young and A. E. Canode. Both caused considerable excitement but were prompt- ly extinguished by the bucket brigade.
In the township of Mount Morris, outside of the village, there have al- so been fires, several of which resulted in the complete consumption of
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farm residences and large barns. In 1883, the residence of Michael Miller, on his farm west of town, was destroyed and that of Solomon Nalley, a new house, in the year 1878.
CHAPTER IX.
COMING OF THE RAILROAD.
THE history of Mount Morris might properly be divided into two epochs, one reaching from the time of its founding in 1839 until the com- ing of the railroad in 1871, and the second from 1871 until the present time. During the period embraced in this first epoch Mount Morris was isolated from the world, and the restlessness of her citizens knew no bounds. Merchandise of all kinds had to be transported by team from Polo and other towns and grain was hauled long distances to market. Passengers and the mails were transported by the old-time stage coach or on horse- back. At last Mount Morris people began to be very impatient for a rail- road and the subject became the principal topic of discussion both in the home and on the groceryman's store box. Every rumor of a possible rail- way project was grasped by the anxious people and every effort made to encourage any such enterprises. It was as early as 1853 when this "rail- road fever" began to take hold of the people throughout this part of the county, caused no doubt by the success of the Illinois Central railroad, built through the west part of the county in that year. Numerous lines were projected, and the people were called upon to aid in their construc- tion by subscriptions to capital stock, donations and loans of credit, both in their individual and corporate capacities. Among those that were pro- jected about this time was the Chicago, St. Charles & Mississippi Air Line Railroad, which was designed to cross Ogle county from east to west. The board of supervisors of the county met and voted in favor of taking $100,000 in the capital stock of this railroad. This railroad like many oth- ers failed to materialize, however.
The next railroad project to cause hope to rise in the breasts of the people was that of the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Company which was incorporated in 1857 by the General Assembly of Illinois. Section two authorized the company to "locate, construct and complete, maintain and operate a railroad from the town of Lane (now Rochelle), in the county of Ogle, to the town of Oregon in same county; from thence to the town of Mount Morris; from thence on the most eligible and direct route to or near the town of Mt. Carroll, in the county of Carroll; from thence to the Mississippi river." The company was also empowered to construct said railroad east from Oregon to the city of Chicago. The capital stock was fixed at one million dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. The company made but little effort to organize under the original act, and two years later the charter was amended by " An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to incorporate the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad
(167)
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Company,'" approved February 24, 1859. The company then organized and elected directors, among whom was Frederick G. Petrie, of Mount Morris, who was elected president.
After this railroad company was actually organized in 1859, still there was apparently no better prospects of a railroad through Oregon and Mount Morris than before. Notwithstanding the fact that Oregon and other towns had repeatedly voted aid, the company had accomplished nothing toward the construction of the road as late as 1867. The nearest railroad point to Oregon, was at Franklin Grove, Lee county, on the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railroad, twelve miles away. Finally, however, the right man became interested in the railroad scheme and there began to be evidence of the railroad becoming a reality. Concerning this, Kett's His- tory of Ogle County says:
"In the spring of 1867, shortly after the last vote of the town of Ore- gon (a vote to donate $50,000 to the company, under certain specified con- ditions and restrictions), the contract to build a new wagon bridge across Rock river at Oregon was awarded to Messrs. Canda & Hinckley, of Chica- go. Mr. Francis E. Hinckley had the supervision of the work. While here Mr. Hinckley became aware of the existance of the charter of the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Company and the condition of its affairs. He be- came interested, investigated the matter and determined that the road should be built. He waited upon the officers of the Chicago & Northwest- ern Railroad, who expressed a willingness to carry out the terms of the contract with the old G. & C. U. Company, and agreed to furnish the iron and ties as soon as the work of grading was completed, and the preliminar- ies relating to use of cars, drawbacks, etc., should be arranged. The firm of Canda & Hinckley, dissolved and Mr. Hinckley assumed sole control ' having,' it is authoritatively stated, 'possessed himself of a contract for the rights and franchises of the Ogle & Carroll County Railroad Com- pany.'"
It seems, however, that this old company became disorganized and many of the old members, together with Mr. Hinckley as the moving spirit, applied to the General Assembly for the incorporation of the company under a new name, the Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company. The Assem- bly passed the act of incorporation March 3, 1869. This act provided that "all such persons as may become stockholders in the corporation" should be a body politic and corporate, etc. This company was anthorized to locate, construct, complete, maintain and operate a railroad from Chicago to a crossing of Rock river at or near the town of Oregon, thence through Ogle and Carroll counties to the Mississippi river at Savanna; thence up said river to Galena and the northern boundary of the state. The capital stock was fixed at one million dollars, in shares of one hundred dollars each, and might be increased by the directors to any sum not exceeding five millions. The act provided that the several towns, villages and cities along or near the route of the railroad, in their corporate capacity, might subscribe to the stock of the company or make donations thereto, or lend their credit to the company to aid in constructing or equipping the road,
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provided, that no such subscription, donation or loan should be made un- til the same should be voted for by the people of the respective towns, cities or villages.
The Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company was organized soon after its incorporation, by the election of Francis E. Hinckley, James V. Gale, Frederick G. Petrie, Elias S. Potter, and David B. Stiles, directors; and the board organized by the election of Francis E. Hinckley, president, and James V. Gale, vice-president. Thenceforward the work was prosecuted by this company, entirely superseding the Ogle & Carroll County Rail- road Company. In fact, the corporation act authorized the construction of this railroad over substantially the same route as the proposed Ogle & Carroll County Railroad. The promoters of the scheme proceeded im- mediately to solicit aid of the various towns and cities along the route, as provided by the corporation act. Oregon was the first to respond and voted to donate $50,000 to the enterprise, by a vote of 152 to 1.
During the summer and autumn of 1869, the engineers of the Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company surveyed and located the road from Rochelle to Oregon, the work of grading was commenced and nearly completed. When it had nearly been finished, Henry Keep, of New York, had been elected president of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and when Mr. Hinckley applied for the iron, which had been promised by that company, he was told that it could not be furnished him. Mr. Hinckley, accompanied by Mr. Petrie, immediately went to New York, but Mr. Keep could be induced to give no reason for violating the agreement, further than that it was not to be the policy of his company to foster or encour age any more branches. This failure, or refusal, of the Chicago & North- western Railroad Company to furnish the iron and ties for the road de layed its completion, but Mr. Hinckley and his associates at length suc ceeded in making satisfactory arrangements with Mr. Joy, president of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, for a connection with that road at Aurora. An appeal was then made to the cities and towns along the proposed line of the road for aid. Aurora voted one hundred thousand dollars, Flagg fifty thousand, Mount Morris and For- reston each seventy-five thousand, Alto, Lee county, thirty-three thous- and, and several of the towns between Alto and Aurora twenty-five thous- and dollars each, Pine Rock ten thousand dollars, Nashua five thousand dollars. After all these appropriations had been made Mr. Hinckley and his friends had no trouble in interesting New York capitalists to the ex- tent of advancing a million dollars on a first mortgage, and late in the fall of 1870 grading commenced in Aurora, and on the thirty-first of Decem- ber, 1870, the construction train reached Rochelle.
Concerning the appropriation of $75,000 by the township of Mount Morris toward the building of this railroad, the township clerk's record book says: "At a special town meeting held in the town of Mount Morris in the county of Ogle and state of Illinois, at the shop of A. W. Little, on the BOth day of June, A. D. 1870, to vote for or against a donation to the Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company. The meeting was called to order by
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Frederick B. Brayton, town clerk. M. T. Rohrer was on motion of Wm. H. Atchison duly chosen as moderator, who being duly sworn by F. B. Brayton, town clerk of said town, entered upon the duties of his office. The polls for the election for or against donation were opened, proclama- tion thereof being first made by the clerk." Following this is the poll list of 269 voters who participated, and the result of the election, as fol- lows: For donation, one hundred and sixty-three votes; against donation, one hundred and six votes.
Here a word regarding these many donations will be in order. It was an exceedingly peculiar or rather remarkable piece of scheming and financiering on the part of Mr. Hinckley, who was really the principal owner of the road, how he managed, with little or no capital of his own to start with, to build and equip this railroad, by actual out-and-out donations, and came out in the end with a fortune. In fact it might literally be said that the people of Illinois deliberately handed him over a sufficient sum of money to build himself a railroad. Although the statement seems somewhat hyperbolical it is not far from the truth. The fact of the case is, the people were placed in a rather queer position with a difficult question to decide upon. Men came along and made propositions that if aid would be voted the railroad could be built and many well knew that the coming of the railroad would surely be worth to the community the amount of money to be paid,-$25,000, $50,000, or 875,000, etc., as the case might be, but on the other hand there was that objection to the thought of deliberately handing over money to a man or company of men and creating for them fortunes, merely because they were in a position to ask it. This latter way of looking at the matter and other objections to these donations were evident to many people and there was of course a strong minority in opposition, and bitter animosi- ties sprang up, which unfortunately are not allayed even yet in some places. The strong opposition by the minority in many towns caused quarrels, and much litigation was entailed upon the people in conse- quence. The majority of the people, however, believed the flattering tales which the railroad projectors told them, and willingly voted the aid requested, as mentioned before. They were led to believe that every man's farm would be a fortune if they would but aid liberally in the construction of railroads. After a time their dearly-bought experience led them to discover the folly of such a course, and in the latter part of 1870 they amended their constitution to prohibit such corporate action in an amendment to the organic law of the state providing that "no county, city, town, township or other municipality, shall ever become subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or private corporation, or make donation to, or loan its credit in aid of such corporation."
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