USA > Illinois > Cook County > Palatine > Palatine centennial book: history of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois > Part 4
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Town meetings were held in the homes, the first few years. When somebody tried to stuff the ballot boxes, the moderator would draw out sufficient votes so that the number of voters and ballots agreed. The polls were closed for one hour at noon.
A caucus to select township candidates was first attempted in 1871. No further mention is made of such caucuses, but later a Republican club "took over."
The railroad depot was built in 1855, and its waiting room was used for town meetings until the Masonic Hall was built in 1860. When the Masons began charging $10 for the one day rent, the meet- ings were transferred to a hall adjoining one of the taverns, where rent was free because of business attracted to the drink emporium.
The above "sidelights" cover the first 25 years of the existence of Palatine township.
SUPERVISORS-B. B. Lincoln, 1851; Thomas Bradwell, 1852; Harris Webster, 1853; Thomas S. Clark, 1954; L. D. Castle, 1855-56; Thomas S. Clark, 1857; M. S. Johnson, 1858; J. H. Pahlman, 1859-62; M. L. Pinney, 1863-65; J. H. Pahlman, 1866-70; Gran- ville Peck, 1871-74; Henry C. Batterman, 1875-77; John B. Clay, 1878-80; M. C. Batterman, 1881; Ly- man Staples, 1882-89; John Loges, 1890-91; Herman Reed, 1892; Milan Reynolds, 1893-98; Mason Staples, 1899-01; J. G. Horstman, 1902-15; A. W. Timmerman, 1916; J. H. Meyer, 1927-47; Albert DePue, 1948.
TOWN CLERKS D. B. Wood, 1851; Leander Grilly, 1852; L. Castle, 1853; D. B. Wood, 1854; John B. Clay, 1855-56; L. A. Shepard, 1857; John B. Clay, 1858; G. W. Hawks, 1859; R. S. Williamson, 1860-61; Crawford Wood, 1862-63; William Dickinson, 1864; A. S. Jackson, 1865; S. Barber, 1866-67; Granville Peck, 1868; F. J. Filbert, 1869-70; George C. Whip- ple, 1871-72; F. J. Filbert, 1873-74; Dennis Morgan, 1875-82; J. B. Clay, 1883-92; Ira Frye, 1893-1900; Henry Grebe, 1901; Ira Frye, 1902; Harry Schoppe, 1903-32; George W. Howes, 1933-
19
SADDLE HAR NESS SHOP,
1880 North and south side of Slade street. The Vehe Harness Shop later became Bruhn's Market. The A. G. Smith printing office and later the Mosser Studio occupied the build- ing at the right between 1900 and 1915. It was the first office of Arthur T. McIntosh in Palatine. C. Urhammer started his men's furnishing store on this site. Below: John Torgler, father of Mrs. N. L. Thompson, owned this shop prior to his death. The present brick block occupied by Sanitary Market and the quarters of the Country Cobbler are on the site of one of these buildings.
1885
MACHINES
CHAPTER II DEVELOPMENT OF PALATINE
FOUNDER'S OWN STORY
The late A. G. Smith received from Joel Wood in 1900 the following account of his part in establish- ing the village of Palatine.
"I bought my farm in the vicinity of Palatine in February 1847. The railroad survey, I think, was made in 1850 and the railroad station was located and built in 1855. Elisha Pratt removed a small store building onto the village site the same year. Mr. Thurston built the first house. I surveyed the village into lots, blocks and streets in July, 1855.
"I built the store now occupied by A. S. Olms (Coleman's) in 1858. The house south of the old Christian Lutheran church was built by Dr. Keeler in 1855 (present Lutheran parsonage). In 1855 Elisha Pratt built a home and store and Messrs. Shirding and Slade built the store they jointly occupied (Schoppe location).
"I presented to the village, sites for school building, Methodist church and Christian church, and the cemetery property on N. Smith st. (Note: First burial probably Mrs. Joel Wood). Later I pre- sented to the Christian minister a five acre block in the eastern border for a parsonage (Benton st. north of Slade).
"When the railroad station was located, grounds surveyed, platted, and building commenced, it was seen that a postoffice was necessary. The township of Palatine had two offices, one in the northern part; the other in the southern part of the township. The signature of postmaster Cook of Chicago was ob- tained to a petition to the post office department to discontinue one of the offices and establish one in the village which was done. D. B. Wood was ap- pointed postmaster.
"A grist mill was thought to be necessary. Mr. Baley proposed to build one and a site for a mill was given him and a mill built in the west part of the village by Mr. Baley which operated for a time, but misunderstandings arose and unfortunately for the community it was burned.
"These notes are intended to assist the historian of the village of Palatine and are submitted to be culled and used if desired."
(Signed) Joel Wood
Joel Wood and Elisha Pratt had the vision to see where the business center of the rural community would be. Even one train a day meant days saved in the marketing of merchandise.
Mr. Wood presumably owned the land which is north of present Chicago Ave., and Elisha Pratt owned the land south of that street. But not every- one was so optimistic about the future of Palatine. Hiram Thurston is said to have laughed in Joel Wood's face when he offered him what is now the center of downtown Palatine for $10. It was a slough filled with cattails and green water.
Elisha Pratt became Palatine's first merchant when he moved his store from Clay's crossing to the right of way facing the railroad track in 1855. Later Mr. Converse's house was moved in and added to the store for a dwelling. Mr. Pratt is said to have
written his accounts receivable on the beams over- head. In course of time either by fire or white-wash- ing these accounts were destroyed. When someone asked "Uncle Elisha" if he could remember to whom he had charged the original accounts, he said, "No. But I have them charged to someone just as good."
After Mr. Pratt sold his store it was occupied by a cabinetmaker, named Nickrum, and for many years by Ernest Prellberg, a tailor. The building still serves as a residence on Railroad Ave.
In the same year that Pratt moved into his store, John Guthrie had a blacksmith shop at the southeast corner of Wilson and Bothwell.
Darius Wood operated his general store at the southeast corner of Plum Grove and Slade St. (Present Schrage residence). At that time the structure faced Plum Grove and had a platform and staircase in front. This was probably the first lo- cation of the post office after it was moved into the town of Palatine from Deer Grove.
Among the first houses in town were: Babcock house (11 W. Chicago), Dr. Keeler's house (14 W. Wood), Smith Pratt's house (149 'S. Brockway), and the Thurston house (19 S. Bothwell).
A Cook County map for 1862 lists these business- es: Rothschild, clothing and dry goods; E. Pratt, drugs and groceries; T. Dean, stoves and hardware; I. Smith, hotel; B. A. Bailey, flour mill; A. T. Thurs- ton, cabinet maker; H. P. Galpin, deputy sheriff; G. W. Hawks, E. W. Fenton, H. T. Thurston, carriage makers; G. W. Hawks, smith; J. Guthrie, smith; R. S. Williamson, R. R. and Ins .; H. L. Webster, livery stable.
Streets named on this same map are east and west: Wood, Wilson, Slade, Chicago, Granger, Wash- ington. North and south streets are: Benton, Hale, Plum Grove; Bothwell, north of Chicago, (south Medinah); Brockway, north; (south, Fremont) ; Greeley north, (south, Monroe); and Janson street which had the same name north and south.
James Daniels' farm account books shows these prices for 1867: 12 pounds of butter, $3; 5 pounds wool, $2.50; 2 calves, $17.50; 8 bushels of onions, $10; 1 hog at 9c a pound. Mr. Daniels purchased supplies from these firms: Slade and Schirding, nails; lime from Lytle and Slade; bricks from Wright Kitson; in 1875, lumber from Slade and Com- fort; horseshoes in 1878 from Houghteling (Guthrie), and flour in 1880 from Fred Schrader at 116 S. Plum Grove.
The town experienced a slow, steady growth, and the first development on a large scale started about 1920. In 1925 farms were selling for $400 an acre, a sewer system had just been completed, all streets had been or were being paved with reinforced con- crete, and elaborate street lighting had been in- stalled.
In 1950 there were 1158 dwellings in Palatine village. Census figures read as follows :
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950
Palatine village
1144 1210 2213 2222 405
Palatine township 2147 2258 4434 8271
A count of business services offered this year, 1955, shows 234.
21
OPEN PALATINE POSTOFFICE
At first there was a post office at both the north and south sections of the grove settlements, namely at Deer Grove and Wickliffe. The first and only appointment for the former was held by Mr. and Mrs. Mason Sutherland. A letter from J. D. Bristow, Ass't. P.M. Gen., dated in 1899, says that Wickliffe was the original office established and Gustavus W. Southworth appointed Postmaster in July 1842. Mr. Southworth ran the "Wickliffe House" tavern at Highland Grove. The post office was probably a box with pigeonholes in it at the rear of the estab- lishment. Morgan Johnson served as deputy post- master for four years after he purchased Mr. Southworth's property. T. S. Clark received the Wickliffe appointment in 1844 and 1850.
After the location of the depot in Palatine, citi- zens petitioned the department to have one of these offices closed. The decision was that the Deer Grove office in the Sutherland home be discontinued and an office be established in Palatine at D. B. Woods' store. Since March 1931, the post office has been in leased quarters at 45 W. Slade St. In the '80's and'90's the office was in the stores of F. G. Robinson, A. S. Olms, and H. C. Matthei. Other locations were 21 N. Brockway and the northwest corner of Brockway and Chicago Ave.
In Southworth's day it cost 25c to send a letter anywhere in the U. S. There are no records of busi- ness transacted in those early days. The present postmaster and 15 employees handle a $66,000 vol- ume of business annually.
The first R.F.D. service was started in 1904. Clark Keyes delivered Rte. 1 and Henry Wildhagen, Rte. 2. There are now 3 R.F.D. Routes and 2 Mounted Routes. Walter Witt has carried mail 18 years. City delivery has been in effect about 10 years.
ARRIVAL OF RAILROAD
When the Illinois and Wisconsin R.R. began to build west of Dunton Station (Arlington Heights) in 1853, three settlements along the line demanded a side track. The company countered by promising a track to the group which took the largest share of stock. Clay's Crossing, a mile west of Palatine subscribed $3,000 worth of stock; Palatine's amount was $10,000. No record has been found of how much stock Glendale, a mile east of town, agreed to take.
Joel Wood and Mason Sutherland were told that the $10,000 was not enough when they went to Chi- cago with the offer. They indignantly left the of- fice; but they were called back before they reached the street and their offer accepted. The side track was put in June 10, 1855.
The road was single gauge. Service started with one freight train a day. It came out in the morning and returned in the afternoon. The crew of the first train over the road were all from Elk Grove: Jack Tripp, engineer; Mr. Russell, conduc- tor; Mr. Cole, brakeman, baggageman, and fireman.
After two weeks the company hired Julius Thur- ston of Palatine to attend to the freight, check bills, and turn the switch. In addition to these duties, Julius, along with Will Dickinson and Hiram Cad- well, was supposed to fill the water tank. This tank stood west of Brockway street and was filled with a hand pump. For all this work "Superintendent" Thurston was paid $15 a month.
The first depot agent was James Sawyer, son of a pioneer Plum Grove settler. He was followed by Mr. Sheppard and Rollin S. Williamson, whose as- sistant was Martin Swick.
In Dec. 1855, passenger service was inaugurated when a large crowd went to Chicago on a free ex- cursion. The railroad company failed, and the stockholders lost everything. A new company was formed, the name changed to Prairie du Chien and Fond du Lac, and in 1859 the present title of Chicago and North Western was adopted.
The North Western is unique among American rail systems. It is left handed. Purchase of the or- iginal engines from England is one of the reasons which has been suggested for this.
The first depot at Palatine, later used as a freight depot, was built in 1855 by Hiram Thurston. The site and lumber were both given by Joel Wood.
In 1948, Bothwell Street was closed to vehicular traffic at the tracks, and the new station built on the Bothwell Street crossing. The former depot, which stood between Brockway and Bothwell was razed. This old depot was the subject of an etching by Mor- ris Hobbs, former resident, which is included in "American Prize Prints of the Twenteth Century" collection.
FARMER PREVENTS BANK BOBBERY
Dateline Sept. 20, 1899
The most desperate attempt at robbery and mur- der ever attempted in Palatine occurred September 18, 1899. Fred Filbert, cashier of the Palatine bank of Charles Patten, was seriously injured and was never able to return to work. Henry Plagge, an aged farmer, living a few miles west of the village was the hero. He was badly cut about the head by the assassin.
Last Wednesday afternoon a tall, well-built and neatly dressed man alighted from the Lake Geneva train which arrives here from Chicago at 2:05. He was unnoticed and, it seems, failed to attract any attention. He went into the bank a little before 3 o'clock while Cashier Filbert was alone. As Filbert attempted to locate an alleged farm on the map, the stranger hit him on the head with a hammer. He pulled Filbert behind a counter. At that moment, Henry Plagge entered the bank door saying, want to see Mr. Filbert."
The stranger called attention to Mr. Filbert who was lying on the floor, saying, "He is sick or hurt." Plagge, suspecting nothing, went behind the desk and as he approached the prostrate form of the cashier, was hit on the head by a large tack hammer. Plagge grabbed the robber around the lower part of the legs and threw him to the floor. The robber fell on top of him and commenced to beat Plagge with the butt end of a revolver.
In the struggle, the gun was discharged, the bullet entering the assassin's groin. The noise at- tracted pedestrians. The robber was fatally wound- ed and died within a few days.
Mr. Filbert's son, William J. Filbert, an officer of the U.S. Steel Corporation, used a special train to get to his father and called in some of the fore- most doctors of Chicago in an effort to save his fath- er's life.
If the robber had not been interrupted, he would have escaped on the 3:19 train with over $5,000.
22
Early Streets And Roads
Familiarity with the names of the early settlers in the township gives meaning to most of the road names still used today.
Freeman Road, which begins at Ela Road and meanders along the southwest township line, is so named because of the Freeman homestead which is situated a little beyond the first bend in the road. The house and barn are on opposite sides of the road.
Ela Road led to the early settlement of Ela, named for George Ela in the township of that name. Judge Bradwell's former acreage was at the inter- section of Bradwell and Ela Roads and Baldwin Road, also beginning at Ela, at one time separated the farms of J. G. and J. P. Baldwin.
Hicks Road passes the old Hicks farm just northeast of town, while Staples Road, an extension of Smith St. in the village, ends at the original Ly- man Staples farm at Dundee Road. The east town- ship line, Wilke Road, passes Fred Wilke's farm north of Northwest highway on the west side of Wilke Road.
Residents who grew up in Palatine remember Quintens Corners at the meeting of Rand and Quin- tens Roads, where three Quentin brothers ran a creamery, store, and hotel, one on each of three cor- ners. The homestead was on the fourth. The family name is spelled Quentin, while the vowels have been reversed in the road spelling. The change was in- advertently made by the county highway depart- ment.
Spring floods and mud became serious handi- caps in the early days. Once each week the Quen- tins took butter from their creamery to the railroad at Palatine in time for the Chicago Express. Some- times four horses were needed to get through the slough at Deer Grove.
James Daniels' farm was just south of Daniels Road and west of Plum Grove. A little farther south a Glade farm explains Glade Road. A map of 1886 shows H. Kirchhoff owning 355 acres north of Kirch- hoff Road bordering Rohlwing. Fifty years ago the Wilde farm, now Rolling Meadows, belonged to William Kirchhoff. All these farms were on Kirch- hoff Road, while the Kirchhoff homestead was a mile west of Mt. Prospect on Central Road. Rohlwing Road, which ends at Baldwin, originates near the John Rohlwing homestead in Elk Grove township.
Chicago Ave. used to be called Kitson Road and Lucy Flake, who grew up west of town, well re- members the difficulties in crossing Kitson's bridge when Salt Creek was on the rampage. The follow- ing is a remonstrance against laying of the road now known as Chicago Ave., and is given verbatim, showing that the spirit of opposition existed just as strongly then, as now.
Palatine, Sept. 17, 1855
"To the honurabe the Commitionors of Palatine County of Cook state of Ill. We the undersighned Beg Leeve Respectfully to submit our Remonstrance against the Petition of Joel Wood & others Disiring to Lay a Road across our Lands & through the town of palatine on the Grounds First we think that the Publick Good Doas Not require it But that it is a
skeem got up By a few for Dollars & sents. secand That it will put the Town & Those that own the Land to a good Deal of unnesseary Expence and truble.
Thos. Atkinson D Myron H. Lytle D
Fredrick Roper D Thos. Bradwell
Hr. Heinemann D John Swick D
G. Heinemann D Peter Bogart
John Kitson D Henry Wilson
Heinrich Halber
Andrew Wilson
H. Heinemann
D John Rieger
F. Theo. Frye
M. C. Merill
D Henry Rieger Chas. Freeman
Thomas F. Wilson
A. H. Fosket
Lorin Edgerton
E. Cady
Friedrich Roper
John George Vehe
Thos. Freeman
F. Freund
David Lytle D
N.B. those of ous that has the Letter D atached to our Names will Clame Damag in case you think good to Lay the said Road.
Respectfully Yours &c"
A township minutes book reveals that Old Plum Grove Road was officially dedicated in 1876 after having been used as a highway for over twenty years.
Delving into old records brings to light many interesting facts and some puzzles. From a com- parison of the 1861 map included elsewhere in this book one concludes that the road dedicated "Plumb Grove Road" Oct. 21, 1850, was located one-half mile east of the present Plum Grove Road, at what is now Hicks Road. The dedication reads as follows :
"The undersigned commissioners of highways for the town of Palatine in the county of Cook on the application of D. B. Wood and others, did on the 21st day of October cause a survey to be made of the following route to wit: commencing at a point on the Dundee and Wheeling road at the center of the north line of sect. 11 thence running south be- tween lands owned by Mason Sutherland and Grove Bennett, Sidney Sutherland and William B. Alford, Aldrich Sutherland and James Wilson, P. Webster and D. B. Wood, Joel Wood and Sumner Sayles, to that E. corner of Jonas's Baker's land .
According to early accounts, tree branches and straw were used in making the road-bed.
Many of the streets in the village likewise pre- serve the memory of early citizens such as M. S. Johnson, John Slade, John Wilson, Joel Wood, B. B. Lincoln, Richmond and Robertson. Smith St., for- merly Cemetery Road extended from Hillside Ceme- tery to the home of Israel Smith, now N. Smith St. Wooden sidewalks were used for pedestrians and the street crossings were made of planks with a slop- ing rar ıp connecting the sidewalk and crossing. In muddy weather after a team and wagon went by, a storekeeper would often go out and sweep the mud from the crossing to keep it from being tracked into his place of business. One suspects that these store- keepers were particularly agreeable to the paving assessments in later years.
23
FLAX MILL ERECTED IN 1878. DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1892
1878
MR. AND MRS. M. L. PINNEY Mrs. Clarinda Cady Pinney (1838-1932) was the first white child to be born in Palatine township.
1885
OLD PALATINE LANDMARK DISMANTLED IN 1900 - Wind provided the power to grind the feed for farmers. Above is taken from an oil painting by Lottie Hart when she was 16 years old.
EARLY PALATINE INDUSTRIES
The various mills in Palatine in the '80's and '90's competed for the business of the surrounding area.
The Batterman enterprises included a flax mill, planing mill, and grain elevator. The first flax mill, owned by this firm, built about 1878, was located south of Chicago Ave. and west of Greeley St.
Local farmers who raised flax delivered loads of flax straw here after the flax was threshed. They were paid $3-$6 a load. Some of the straw was al- lowed to lie on the ground until it reached the proper stage of decay. Then it was shipped on to the rope factories.
Other straw, from which fibers were to be ob- tained for upholstery, was cut and shaken to remove the chaff. It was then shipped in bales to Chicago and eastern city manufacturers.
In 1882 Mr. Batterman built a planing mill on property adjoining the flax mill. August Abelman and Charles Ost were members of this firm which was then known as Abelman & Co. Abelman was a son-in-law of Batterman; Ost was a retired Lake county farmer.
A planing mill did a thriving business in those days of solid lumber. Flooring, sash, doors, blinds, and Palatine's fence pickets were all made there.
A grist mill and lumberyard were also part of this Abelman mill. After these buildings were de- stroyed in the fire of 1892 the members of the firm acquired property adjoining the railroad, west of the Comfort yard, between Greeley and Smith Sts.
They also purchased the Lytle grain elevator which stood on the east side of Brockway, about op- posite the old depot.
Fred Haemker, who lives at 317 W. Chicago Ave., remembers that his father undertook the job of moving this structure which was too large to be tak- en through the streets. Mr. Haemker obtained per- mission from the North Western to use their track from 9 p.m. to the following 6 a.m. That was a busy night for all the men and boys, and waiting train crews, who watched the building on timbers, rolled along the tracks to its new location. Mr. Haemker made good his promise and the track was cleared for trains at 5:30 a.m.
A grist and flour mill was built south of the ele- vator at its new location. After a bank of flour and grain grinders were installed, farmers brought their grain and wheat from great distances, taking home ground feed for their animals and flour for their families.
Miss Grace Beutler's father, Ernest, was in charge of the planing mill situated west of the grist mill. This building was torn down when the planing mill was closed. The other buildings burned in the big fire of 1904, when townspeople joined the fire- men, carrying water in washtubs to try and save the business as well as the surrounding buildings. * *
*
W. R. Comfort Sons, named after its founder, was started in 1874 when it was known as Comfort & Slade. Farmers brought loads of wheat, corn and barley in their big timber wagons. The grain ele- vating machinery in this elevator was operated by horsepower, propelled by a blindfolded horse travel- ing in a circle. The wagon loads of grain were driv- en onto a ramp and securely fastened. When this ramp was tipped, the endgate of the wagon opened allowing the grain to flow into a large hopper be-
neath the ramp. The machinery for raising the grain to storage bins in the upper part of the eleva- tor was the horsepower which set in motion wide belts to which were fastened cups. These cups scooped up the grain, and on reaching the top threw it in a bin. When the market price seemed right the elevator operators shipped the grain into Chicago. * * *
The mill which held the most fascination for children probably was the mill operated by the wind, built by William Jahnke, in the vicinity of Benton and Sherman streets, which he operated from 1879 to 1894. In fact, a former resident, Alma Frye Mill- er, Stockton, Calif., tells this story of her childhood spent at the mill :
"The mill really was a great attraction. It seemed to be on a barren knoll, no trees, naturally, around the mill; about 12 block from Benton street and 200 feet or so behind the house. It was on a 'dead-end' road which was very muddy in the spring. Horse-drawn wagons loaded with grain moved to the platform where 'the dusty miller' helped them unload. When a good strong wind a- rose, whether it was from east, west, north, or south, the big fans would go lickety split, and we knew the grain was being ground into flour.
"Sometimes Mr. Jahnke's children, Alvina and Albert, would take us into the mill. We loved to gaze at the pile of filled bags and hear the rumble , of the fans going round and round.
"The mill was very clean, not a speck of dirt, and a pleasing odor of ground meal and grain per- meated the air. Never were we allowed to go out on the circular platform when the fans were going. There was a story that one of the miller's small boys had been out there when the big fans swooped down and threw him across some rocks, killing him in- stantly.
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