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 2
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Jacob Rice, Sr., and family left Washington county, Maryland, in September, 1836, intending to locate in Illinois. They wintered in Ohio with Mr. Rice's brother-in-law, John Wagner, Sr., and in the spring both men came on horseback to Ogle county, to take up claims, which they did within three miles of Mount Morris. Their families, each consisting of twelve children, followed them in July. Mr. Rice's claim was the old Rice farm north of town, now owned by his grandson, J. L. Rice, and occupied by William Funk. Here the large family was raised and scattered to dif- ferent parts of the country. Those of the family best known in Ogle
HON. ROBERT R. HITT.
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EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.
county were Hon. Isaac Rice, father of banker J. L. Rice; John Rice, father of banker John H. Rice; and Jacob Rice, Jr., father of Fred. and William Rice, living north of Mount Morris, all three of whom are now dead. Mrs. Daniel Etnyre, of Oregon, and Mrs. Susan Thomas, of Leaf River, are two of the daughters yet living.
John Wagner's claim comprised the farm now owned by George Carr, northeast of town. Here his rather remarkable and time-honored family was raised, every one of his six sons and six daughters living to a ripe old age and scattering to all points of the compass. The circle was not broken until the death of Joseph, in 1891, at which time the eldest was aged 75 years and the youngest 49 years. Eight are yet living; viz., Mrs. J. A. Knodle, of Mount Morris; Mrs. Barbara McNeill, Mrs. Catherine Griffin, Capt. David C., Reuben and Nehemiah, of Chicago; Mrs. Henry Wertz, of Falls City, Nebr., and Mrs. Sarah Good, of Sedgwick, Kans. Capt. Benj. Wagner died in 1898; John, in 1897; and Mrs. John Timmerman, in 1898. This family, so well preserved for so many years, held many enjoyable re- unions, a number of them in Mount Morris. The last, the twelfth since the Civil War, was held in June, 1896, at the residence of one of the sisters, Mrs. J. A. Knodle, in Mount Morris, at which the eleven living members of the family were present. At that time it was estimated that thirty-eight of their children, seventy-two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren were living. A picture was taken at this reunion of Aunt Kittie Rice, Grandmother Mumma, Uncle George Fouke and Uncle John Timmerman, all of them being over ninety years of age. An- other, taken of the entire assem- blage, is shown on page 21 .. Many persons appear in it who have since died.
Another arrival from the east in 1837 was Caleb Marshall who was accompanied by his family. His son, Reuben S., now living on the old home- stead, three miles north of town, was but ten years of age at that time, and he has a vivid remem- brance of the early pioneer days. Mrs. John Gale, of Oregon; Mrs. Elmira Spenser, of Nora Spring, Iowa; and Isaac S. Marshall, of Decatur county, Iowa, are the other living children.
In September, 1837, for one thousand dollars, John Fridley purchased the old Ford cabin
REUBEN S. MARSHALL.
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MOUNT MORRIS: PAST AND PRESENT.
and claim, where he continued to live until the time of his death. The land then became the property of his sons, Andrew, David, John, Jacob and Benjamin. Of these, Andrew, John and Benjamin are yet living in the township, and David and Jacob have died.
These settlers who arrived in 1837 were well pleased with the new country, and consequently in the following spring, 1838, at the solicitation of 'Squire Samuel Hitt and Capt. Nathaniel Swingley, who had induced many of the settlers of the year previous to emigrate, a large number of families, known as the Maryland colony proper, left their eastern homes and came to Mount Morris township. Many of them took up claims here, while others went to Carroll county and other places. Among these fam- ilies were the Ilers, the Etnyres and the Sprechers. In May, A. Quimby Allen, father of R. Q. and E. J. Allen; Philip Sprecher, father of John and George Sprecher; and John S. Miller arrived in a carriage from Maryland. Mr. Allen remained and taught the first school in the township. Mr. Sprecher returned to Maryland and brought his family back with him the following spring, settling upon a claim part of which is the farm now owned by Henry Moats, northeast of town. Others who came during 1838 and 1839 were John Smith, John Coffman and family, Henry Artz, Michael Brantner, Henry Sharer, Henry Hiestand and family, John Wallace, Sr., and others. Mr. Coffman, who was the father of Frank Coffman, of this place, settled about two miles southwest of the village, where he died sev- eral years ago. Mr. Artz lived for many years three and one- half miles southeast of the vil- lage, and has also died. Michael Branter lives near Maryland and is now well advanced in age. Henry Sharer is still an honored and respected citizen of Mount Morris, and passed his eighty-third milestone March 29, 1900. His portrait appears on page 25. John Wallace, who married a sister of Rev. Thomas and Samuel Hitt, owned the farm now the property of Mrs. Margaret New- comer and cultivated by Wil- liam Castle. He died at this place over forty years ago.
Among others who came during the early forties might be mentioned Jacob Turney, Michael Swingley, David Mum- ma, William Printz, Jonas Shafs- tall, Moses Crowell, Jacob Buck,
BENJAMIN SWINGLEY.
.
WAGNER FAMILY REUNION IN 1896.
.
7
7
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EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.
Daniel Wolfe, Joseph Rowe, Jacob Detrick, Samuel S. Fouts, Benjamin Myers, Silas Snyder, Adam Patterson. Otho Wallace, Solomon Nalley, Henry A. Neff, Bartholomew and Benjamin McNutt, Jacob Hiestand, Wil- liam Watts, Daniel and F. B. Brayton, Peter, Emanuel, Jonathan, Jacob and Joseph Knodle, many of them with their families. Still later came Benjamin Swingley, whose portrait is shown on page 20; Frank Hamilton, Samuel Newcomer and his son Charles, George Avey, father of Josiah Avey; Emanuel, Henry and Andrew Newcomer; Joseph and Frisby Watts, and scores of others. About this time they began to come so rapidly that it would be useless to attempt to keep track of them. In fact, the Mary- land people have never ceased coming, and today the great majority of the residents of Mount Morris township are either natives of Maryland or children of immigrants from that state. It is a noticeable fact, and one often commented upon, that the obituaries of those dying in this com- munity, as published in the Mount Morris papers almost invariably con- tain the clause, "was born in Washington county, Maryland."
Much more than what has already been said concerning the appear- ance and condition of the country in the thirties and early forties and of pioneer life of those days, could yet be written. As has already been stated, the Indians had practically left this part of the country when the first settlers arrived, and no trouble was experienced with them. But the township did not entirely escape from the ravages of the early bands of prairie robbers who harassed the settlers principally by stealing their horses and smuggling them during the night-time along certain lines of dishonest settlers, something in the manner of the "underground rail- way " by which slaves were aided in their flight to Canada before the war. These prairie pirates were well organized all over the country, being a combination of horse thieves, counterfeiters and murderers. At a very early day they held almost undisputed and unobstructed dominion throughout this whole section of the country, and very few of the honest settlers were fortunate enough to keep all their property from being swept into the meshes of the net-work these land pirates had spread around them. The principal leaders of this gang of cut-throats were John Dris- coll, John Brodie and Samuel Aikens and their eight sons, William Bridge and Norton Royce. Although none of them were residents of the town- ship, their operations were often carried on in this vicinity. Their nefari- ous transactions became so intolerable at last that an organization of settlers, known as Vigilantes, was formed, the members of which proceed- ed to clear the country of these villains in a summary manner. A man by the name of John Campbell, of White Rock, captain of the Vigilantes, was shot by the Driscolls in 1841, and immediately the entire country was scoured until the murderers were caught. A brief trial was given them, the entire one hundred and eleven Vigilantes serving as a jury, and being found guilty, they were shot without further parley, each being pierced by over fifty rifle balls. By this vigorous action the settlers pro- tected their interests very effectually until the time when the regular courts of justice dealt with this class of criminals. A number of settlers
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MOUNT MORRIS: PAST AND PRESENT.
from this vicinity had a hand in the execution of the Driscolls. The prairie fires is one of the interesting topics that might be discussed. At least once every year, and often several times in one season, some careless settler would allow fire to get started in the long grass on his claim; and, ere he could mend the mischief, the flames, fed by the thick growth of vegetation, would soon be speeding across the prairie with the speed of the wind, often faster than a horse could gallop, a leaping, de- vouring wall of flame and smoke. The settlers kept these fires from de- vastating their fields and homes by plowing up the soil in wide tracts, over which the flames could not leap. Occasionally, persons were caught out upon the broad prairies by these fires, and were compelled to adopt sum- mary means for protection, if flight were found impracticable. This was accomplished by starting a new fire at the place where they stood. This new fire, caught by the wind, would soon start ahead and burn a track upon which they could advance and be free from the fire advancing in the rear. When the country became fairly well settled, and one of these fires would get started, the men over the whole neighborhood would turn out to fight the devouring element. Many of our citizens can yet remember instances of this kind.
The first settlers found an abundance of game in this region. The most plentiful was the deer, thousands of which were native in the coun- try. Mr. Michael Bovey avows having counted as many as sixty in a herd, and Henry Sharer, who was something of a hunter, claims to have seen herds containing over a hundred. While in the east Mr. Sharer was a great lover of fox-hunting with hounds, and he brought five good hounds with him when he came west in 1839. He soon found, however, that the still deer hunters here were very much opposed to hounds, because they tended to frighten the deer from the neighborhood. Accordingly, it was not long until all of his hounds had been shot. At that time one could not go through the timber very far without stirring up several droves of the timid deer, which, however, spent most of their day-time upon the prairie, if not too much molested, and retreated to the timber at night. They were very timid, and considerable experience was necessary to en- able the hunters to get sufficiently close to kill them. Then, too, the hunters were not as well supplied with guns and ammunition as they might have been, since these articles had to be brought from Chicago by team. However, some of them were able to slaughter many of the deer, and a liberal supply of venison was kept on hand. The Rock Rirer Register, a paper published in Mount Morris in 1842, of which a full account appears elsewhere, contains the following item of news, headed "Gunning Un- paralleled," which shows to what extent deer were slaughtered then. It is interesting now, when a live deer would be a curiosity in this region.
The extent to which David Mumma. of this neighborhood, shoots down our deer strikes us as being pretty alarmingly exhausting. While his extraordinary Nimrod- ian exploits render David our boast, yet we must fear that he is playing havoc with our game.
He has shot seventy deer this season. He has sold deer skins to the amount of $30. besides which he has taken and sold otters' skins and other peltry. He is now taking a
HENRY SHARER.
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EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.
load of venison (hindquarters) to Chicago. Here mark his pro-PENCE-City. Besides all this. he has feasted on the forequarters. and treated his neighbors bountifully to the same luxury.
In one of his hunts. he sent a bullet through the vitals of three deer at once, laying them all low. Who has ever equaled this shot? We ask who?
The deer in Ogle county have long since been exterminated. Prob- ably the last killed in this vicinity were shot in 1862 by Reuben S. Mar- shall, several miles north of town. For a number of years previous very few of the animals were ever sighted, but these had evidently escaped the Nimrods of the country and wandered from some unfrequented timber, only to fall victims to Mr. Marshall's good marksmanship. These last deer were a buck, a doe and a fawn, all of which Mr. Marshall succeeded in kill- ing.
Small game was also very plentiful in this vicinity. Prairie chickens without end nested on the prairie, and the hunters could bag them by the hundred. Wild ducks also were numerous in certain seasons and they af- forded many a delicious repast for our hard-working fathers. There were some rabbits in the county, but not nearly as many as at the present time, a rather peculiar fact. In the timber, squirrels of several varieties were - plentiful. and pheasants were frequently met with.
In addition to the game animals there were two varieties of the wolf, -the grey and the red, the latter being much the smaller and more nu- merous. These animals were too small and timid to do the settlers bodily injury, but each possessed a very noticeable " bark," one being capable of making as much noise as a half-dozen dogs, as an old settler expressed it. Dozens of them in the winter time made the nights hideous with their barking and yelping, especially if there was a dog about to worry them. When the snow lay upon the ground for long periods, these animals would become desperate for something to eat, and at such times were quite bold in attacking some of the smaller domestic animals.
The long thick prairie grass harbored an endless number of different varieties of the snake, some of them being of a dangerous character. Rattlesnakes were probably the most numerous of the poisonous kind, and quite frequently some unwary youngster, and sometimes older people, would be bitten by them. Being on the alert for such emergencies, the settlers were able to administer speedy remedies, and fatal results were easily averted. Copper-heads, blue-racers and bull-snakes were also plen- tiful. Persons traveling on the prairie, whether for short or long dis- tances, always carried a stout club, if not a gun, and no one ever lost the opportunity of dispatching all of these reptiles they chanced to meet. By this vigilance the cultivated portions of the prairie were in a few years practically freed from these dangerous pests.
Old settlers are frequently heard to remark upon the great abundance of wild strawberries which grew in the bottoms and along the timber. The berries grew in large luscious clusters, with long stems to hold the ripening fruit near the top of the high growth of vegetation. Those who gathered them in their childhood days affirm that they were sweeter and
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MOUNT MORRIS: PAST AND PRESENT.
better than the present cultivated species. Besides strawberries, the set- tlers had access to many wild plum thickets, the fruit from which was ex- cellent and easily gathered. In the groves, hickory nuts and walnuts were so amazingly abundant that the amount gathered was but a tithe of those allowed to go to waste. Then, instead of rushing to the timber when the nuts were so green that a blow from a stout club would be necessary to disengage each individual nut from its twig, as the custom now is, the peo- ple waited until the frost burst open the hulls and the nuts could be gath- ered by the sackful under the trees.
At an early day fish were very abundant in Pine creek and Rock river. In the former stream, before the dam was built and when the water stood considerably higher than in late years, many fine fish came up from the river and were easily captured. Fishing was generally done with seines. there being no laws in those days to restrict it, as there are now.
The first fences built were of two varieties. When the owner of a claim had access to timber, he would probably split rails and construct the ordinary " worm," or " stake and rider," fence, which was common un- til late years, it being replaced principally by light but substantial patent wire fences, to keep up with the march of progress. The first fence built on the prairie, however, was constructed of sod. A ditch about three feet wide and four feet deep was dug, and the dirt thrown up to a height of four feet on one side, the sod taken from the ditch being planted on the ridge to keep it in shape.
Old settlers tell us that the winters of the thirties, forties and fifties were much more regular than in late years. Snow lay upon the ground all winter, and the weather continued cold until spring gradually took posses- sion of the earth. Winter and spring and fall and winter weather appar- ently did not change to such sudden extremes, but converged more regu- larly. No cyclones were ever heard of.
The stories of the founding of Mount Morris and of Rock River Seminary are one and the same, and in a chapter devoted to the latter the The Village Founded subject is treated at some length. It will suffice to say here that the Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, which was deeply interested in the cause of educa- tion, had, at the earnest solicitation of many of the then limited members of the church in the state, concluded to establish a seminary in Illinois, and appointed a committee to select a location. The members of the Maryland colony determined to land the enterprise, if possible, and final- ly, having pledged an extraordinarily large sum, both in cash and in lands, they succeeded. The committee, May 4, 1839, proceeded to select a site for the future seminary, which was destined to exercise such an important in- fluence in northern Illinois, and they " drove the stake" for the building on the summit into which the grandly-rolling prairie crested. From this point the committee had a commanding view of a large extent of country of almost marvelous beauty, dotted on every side with near-approaching
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EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.
groves. Not a building was standing within the present corporate limits of Mount Morris when this selection was made, showing that the location of the seminary constituted the real founding of the village. The con- tract for the building was let at eighteen thousand dollars to James B. McCoy, father of J. E., A. S., and James McCoy. Work was begun at once.
The first house built within the corporate limits of the village was a small frame building erected by Mr. McCoy to board his carpenters. It was located within the present campus limits, across from the old Hilger house on the south side. In 1841 it was moved south to the present site of A. S. McCoy's residence. Later it was moved still farther south to the lot now owned by Robert Wright, where it was occupied for many years as a residence by William Fouke. At present it is situated in the rear of Mr. Wright's new house, and is being used as a barn. An engraving of it ap- pears as the frontispiece of this volume. The house is not very inviting in appearance, but it is interesting because of its being the first house in Mount Morris.
The second building erected was, of course the seminary structure, the corner-stone of which was laid July 4, 1839. This structure stood through many years of usefulness, but was finally torn down in 1893, to give place to a ladies' new dormitory, which was erected a few rods west of the old foundation. The next building erected was a barn, raised by Rev. John Sharp in 1840. But living room being in great demand at that time, it was divided into two apartments and occupied by Rev. Philo Judson and Frederick Petrie together with their families, one family in each room. It was afterward finished up and moved to about the present site of William Miller's furniture store on Front street, and was transformed into the residence of M. T. Rohrer. Later it was torn down to give place for the erection of G. W. Deppen's opera house, now William Miller's fur- niture store. The next house built, the first expressly for a residence, was a brick structure occupying the present site of William Newcomer's resi- dence. It was used for a time as a hotel and was finally torn down in 1872 by Andrew Newcomer, and the present frame building was erected in its place. Houses were built so rapidly after this that it is impossible to name them in the order of their erection. During the first several years the seminary was the only enterprise in the village, the inhabitants being principally those connected with that institution. During the latter part of 1841 the village acquired a newspaper, the Rock River Register, the pub- lication of which was a rather hazardous experiment at that early day, as any one can readily conceive when the extreme sparseness of the popula- tion is taken into consideration. Of this publication more is said in a subsequent chapter. The state of the village upon the first day of Janu- ary, 1842, when the first number of the Register was issued, is given in the following item, which appeared in that issue:
MOUNT MORRIS.
We hail from the top of Mount Morris; and it is our purpose. while we reign edi- torially, to hail very effectually .- each of our conglomerations being of the " weight of a talent."
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MOUNT MORRIS: PAST AND PRESENT.
Most seriously, we hail from the new and hale little village of Mount Morris. in Ogle county, state of Illinois (en passant, we shall not be very ill in NOISE; we hope to do a share of noise .- but to Ogle shall be far from us!).
Well. Mount Morris was well founded in the spring of 1841, and it is now already found, when not yet ten months old. to hold 282 souls, inclusive of the teachers and students at Rock River Seminary, which dignifies the center of the village. This day, Jan. 1. 1842. the citizens number 137, and the town consists of twenty-one houses.
Mount Morris is five miles west of Oregon city. in the same county, and eighty miles west of Chicago. It is handsomely situated on a considerably elevated portion of one of the most beautiful and extraordinarily fertile prairies which distinguish Illinois,-especially the Rock river region .- for abundance and excellence of agricul- tural productions.
Mount Morris is named in honor of Bishop Morris. of the M. E. church.
The everyday life of the citizens at that time contained much that would be novel indeed to the present resident of Mount Morris. Peter Knodle, who died at his home in Mount Morris in 1892, came to the town- ship in the fall of 1841, and for a time after his arrival he kept a diary, which is still preserved by his wife, Mrs. Mary Knodle. The entries give some idea of the local conditions at that time. The record is considered to be of sufficient interest to reproduce here. Beyond a few necessary changes in orthography and grammar, the diary is given exactly as writ- ten by Mr. Knodle:
PETER KNODLE'S DIARY. Commenced on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1841.
LANDED .- We were traveling for six weeks and finally landed at Mr. James Coff- man's, on Wednesday at 10 o'clock A. M., September 29, 1841.
BUILDING .- We commenced building a frame house in Mount Morris, to live in, in order to be handy to the printing-office. Commenced on Monday, October 4.
EAST .- Mr. James Coffman is taking his seat in the stage this day for Washing- ton county, Maryland. Wednesday, October 6.
RAISING .- We raised our house on Monday, October 10. with five hands; viz., father, Walter MeNutt. Edmond Coffman. Jonathan Knodle and myself.
HAULING .- We brought from Pecatonica two loads of siding for our house on Tuesday, October 19.
FLOORING WORKED .- Walter MeNutt and myself commenced working flooring plank on Wednesday, October 20.
RAIN .-- We had a good shower of rain this day, or rather, to be more explicit. this morning. Tuesday, October 19.
FIRE .- There was a fire broke out west of Mr. James Coffman's, and drew towards the timber. We had hard fighting, as the wind was blowing hard against us. It was on Thursday, October 21.
HUSKING .- Mr. John Coffman husked his corn on Wednesday, October 27. Com- menced about one o'clock P. M. and finished about dusk, and then returned to the house for supper.
TRIP TO CHICAGO .- Father started to Chicago for some articles, such as a cooking stove. window-sash. putty. glass. etc. Friday, October 29.
COVERING .- Commenced covering our house on Friday, October 29. The coverers were Walter MeNutt and myself.
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