USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Past and present of DeKalb County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
The supervisors of Shabbona were William Marks. Isaac Comstock. Thomas S. King. H. E. Allen. D. D. Stevens. D. Norton, P. V. Quilhot. Frederick Ball. Benjamin S. White. Giles M. Alex- ander, John H. Woodbury. Septimus Storey. Henry Clapsaddle. R. Youngren, L. C. Burke. Lewis Olmstead and John Middleton.
MILAN.
Milan, the infant township of the county, came into existence in 1857. Previous to this time it had been a part of Malta and Shabbona. There are no natural groves within its border and conse- quently it was one of the latest to he settled. Lewis MeEwen was the first settler of the town. He came from New York state originally, had been to California in search of gold, and came to Milan township. where he resided until 1869. Being the pioneer of the township. coming there in 1852. he saw the growth of the town. He did not long remain as the only white inhabitant, for other elaimants came for settlement-Benjamin Banfield. Reuben Dodd and Gurdon Hewitt. The latter had purchased land warrants for eighty cents an acre and entered nine sections in one day. This land he afterward sold at from eight to thirteen dollars an acre, which made his invest- ment a most profitable one. The first schoolhouse was built in 1855 in the center of the town, but previous to this the educational means of the chil- dren had been supplied at improvised schoolrooms in private houses. The township felt the need of a publie building for public meetings and in the summer of 1868 a two-story frame building was erected, known as the Milan Town House. The lower story is used for a school room, while the upper story is used as a town hall and a place of worship. There are at present nine districts in the township. Milan did not become thickly pop- ulated because there are no villages within its borders and no railroads nearer than the North- western. There are no postoffices in the township. Milan in the early part of its history possessed much wet land. which was unsuitable for farming purposes. About twelve years ago a drainage dis- trict was organized and the wet portion of the township was made tillable. Thousands upon thousands of rods of tile have been laid in this
125
PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
township, until at the present time Milan possesses as little wet land as any township of the county.
In 1854 Theodore Berg and Ira Oleson came into this town, and being of Norwegian birth, others of that nationality followed. until at pres- ent they form the larger part of the population of Milan. Others who followed the two first men- tioned gentlemen in Milan were the Sandersons, Oaklands, Grovers, Eames and Kettlesons. The Norwegian element of Milan is prosperous, thrifty. generally adherents of the Lutheran faith. They make a splendid addition to the citizenship of the county. At the breaking out of the Civil war Milan. out of a population of two hundred and fifty, gave thirty-eight soldiers to the Union army and raised several thousand dollars in taxation and bounties. Among the men of prominence who have resided in Milan is Lewis MeEwen, god- father of the town, Captain A. L. Wells, Captain Howard, George Cox, who served as county clerk, and S. D. Armstrong, who served his county for fourteen years in the office of circuit clerk and recorder and twenty years as county surveyor. Those who have served the town as supervisors are: Lewis McEwen, who served eleven years ; John Banfield, A. L. Wells, E. R. Colby, Captain L. A. Howard, and S. M. Sanderson, who has served thirteen years and is still a member of the board in that township.
MALTA.
What has been responsible for Malta's growth was also responsible for her lack of growth when other parts of the county were being settled in the '30s and '40s-her topography. The country presented a broad expanse of prairie land with no timber and as the early settlers depended on the groves for material for their log houses, this was a consideration not lightly overlooked, and it was not until the year 1851 that government land was entered by home seekers. Ezekiel Whitehead was the first comer and he was followed soon after by C. C. Shepherd. H. A. Mix, Mark Howard and others.
The billowy prairie lands which retarded early settlement formed the most important factor of growth, for the grain raisers found them very produetive. In three years after the first settle- ment was made the farmers petitioned the Galena
division of the Northwestern road, which by this time had been built as far west as Dixon. to estab- lish a station as a shipping point to accommodate them. The road granted the request and named the place Malta.
Previous to this the land had been partially controlled by De Kalb township, but in 1856 it was found to have population enough to form a township itself and the board of supervisors ac- cordingly organized it under the name of Milton, which was subsequently changed to Etna and finally to Malta, the name of its business center that had sprung up. E. Whitehead represented his town on the board of supervisors in 1856 and today the men who uphold Malta's interests at the sessions at the county seat are B. B. Smiley and T. W. Dodge.
The village of Malta was surveyed and platted in Angust, 1856, and the first house was erected that fall by J. M. Orput, who opened a stock of staple and fancy groceries and also dealt in lumber. coal and grain. The following spring he formed a partnership with John Atwood, now one of the leading merchants of De Kalb, and the business continued until the fall of 1857. under the name of Orput & Atwood. dry goods having becen added to the grocery stock. This was the beginning of the business of Malla, which now occupies a prom- inent feature of the town.
The postoffice was established in the winter of 1856. with W. F. Shedd as first postmaster. With a series of changes. F. D. Pease now has charge. with Miss Nettie Pease as deputy.
One of the early industries of the place was the making of flour, etc., from the grains and cereals raised in such abundance. and as early as the year 1857 a steam grist mill was built by Clement & Dodge. The financial crisis of 1857 affected this industry as it did business all over the country and the mill failed to meet the expectations of its proprietors. After four years of existence it burned and the people felt the need of a substi- tute and as soon as the war elosed a subscription was taken and another mill erected by Caleb Peters. For many years it did a good business, but now elevators take care of the vast amount of grain brought to the place. Malta is acknowl- edged to be the best grain market in the county and regardless of the condition of the roads (in bad weather the fertile condition of the soil is
126
PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
just as evident in the highways as it is in the farm land a rod distant ) grain wagons come from all directions and are unloaded at the elevators. Until this year one elevator, run by J. C. Pierce, has had the handling of all grain shipped and un- like most merchants who have the monopoly of a business, Mr. Pierce has given the best possible prices. But the traffic was more than he could handle, it sometimes being necessary for the farmn- ers to stand in line nearly all day before they could be waited upon. The old mill was pur- chased by a Chicago commission firin, Van Wie & Noorehead, in 1898, fitted up with all of the latest appliances as an elevator, and is now in successful operation.
With the large, rich farming community about it, the village of Malta has substantial support in its growth. The town was incorporated in 1869 ; the first election resulted in making G. W. Smiley president of the village board : C. Anderson, J. V. Willrett, James Welch, S. T. Wright, trustees ; J. C. Westgate. police justice ; and W. H. Scofield. constable. Since that time the town has been a thriving little place.
Among the early settlers who helped to make Malta what she now is were: R. Pendegrass, S. T. Wright. Chauncey Hooker. now dead. J. C. Pierce. D. A. Smith, now in Nebraska, W. S. Wolston, living at present in lowa, D. F. Pease. llenry Claxton, one of the oldest residents of Malta at present. T. S. and G. A. Ingersoll, Cap- tain John Sergeant, Captain G. W. Corbett, Henry Madden, Mrs. Francisco and a number of others. While these were some of the prominent people of early days their usefulness in many instances is not yet a thing of the past, for several are in business there now.
But it is the farmers round about Malta who now play an important part in her every day life. Among the principal farmers who own or work farms are D. F. Delbridge, M. Redmond. Charles Doane, J. E. Doane, Angust Anderson, Mrs. G. W. Smiley. William Malia, H. H. Harrington, L. Farley, Joseph Greek, Thomas Delbridge, T. J. Tindall and scores of others, having farms ranging from sixty to one hundred and sixty acres.
Mr. Mames Orput built the first house in the village of Malta in the fall of 1856 and carried a stock of groceries. He also dealt in lumber. coal and grain, buying the first grain shipped from this
station. Shedd & Fuller erected a warchouse in 1856. The present hotel was built in 1858. The first hardware store was started by J. R. Evans in 1858. Henry Madden was the first druggist. The first blacksmith was John Schultz ; the first wagon maker was Walter Teuitt : the first furniture dealer was William Lebrant; the first shoemaker was John Swanson, and the first harness maker was J. O. Westgate. The first schoolhouse was built in 1857, and in 1823 the present building was erected at a cost of six thousand dollars.
The Baptists, Methodists and Congregationalists have built churches, which still have regular ser- vices. The Episcopalian and Universalist churches have ceased to hold service.
Those who have served as supervisors of this town are George W. Smiley, G. A. Ingersoll, Dan F. Pease, Albert McCrea. Alfred Ball, Jacob V. Willret, Charles W. Haish, B. W. Smiley. Frank Pease, Edward Bone, Ben F. Hurt. Those who have served as supervisors from the township are E. E. Whitehead, T. C. Wetmore, Dr. Henry Mad- den, M. C. Dedrick, who served more than twenty years, G. W. Smiley, William HI. Wollston, Daniel Pease. A. W. Townsend and T. W. Dodge.
Malta sent ninety-four men to serve in the Civil war.
The village of Malta was visited in 1822 by a destructive fire in the business portions. This part of. the village was again rebuilt of wood and remained intact until the fire of 1894. when the business portion of Malta suffered heavy loss. The fire started at half past ten and the night being dark and threatening, few people were on the streets. The fire started in the store of Mr. Haish by an explosion of a kerosene lamp. The fire spread rapidly and in less than two hours thir- teen buildings were consumed and the loss esti- mated at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
The buildings consumed were C. W. Haish's double store, the Hopkins buildings, occupied by Oscar Scott. W. L. Stevens' store. Samuel Veale's store, occupied by Badgley & Jacobs, druggists. W. E. Harp's, John Ball's, F. Barker's, George Burke's, the Wright building and the D. F. P'ease store. Messages were sent to De Kalb for assist- ance, but upon the arrival of the De Kalb firemen they found the De Kalb engine would not fit the engine house connections and it was impossible to get any water from that source. The fire fight-
127
PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
ing was kept up by the bucket brigade. A drench- ing rain set in, which helped stop the spread of the fire, but caused great loss to parties having goods uncovered. The town was rapidly rebuilt with brick structures, and on the whole the fire, which was considered at the time a great catastro- phe, has proved a benefit to the village. .
SOUTHI GROVE.
South Grove was named Driscoll's Grove be- fore the township organization of the county in 1850. It was then called Vernon, and finally South Grove, as it was the first grove south of the large woods along the Kishwaukee in the north part of the county. The first settlers of the large woods along the Kishwaukee in the north part of the county. The first settlers of this township were Solomon Wells, Nathaniel Hatch and William Driscoll. David Driscoll took up a claim in 1836. The farm occupied by Wil- liam Driscoll is now owned by his son Decatur. The farm of Solomon Wells, which was bought of the Driscolls, is now owned by George Adce. The Nathaniel Hatch farm is the one now owned by William Masterson. Benjamin Worden settled on his homestead about 1838. The Orputs settled Orput's Grove in 1839, where are now the James Gibson and Robert Byers homesteads. Barnabas Ilatch and Dexter Beeman came in 1840. In 1841 James Byers, Sr., came with his wife and family of three sons and two daughters from Delaware county, New York. They located on the farmn which is now owned by William Byers. The next year came Jesse Tindall and family, in 1843 Jon- athan Adee, and in 1844 Matthew Thompson with their large families settled on farms now owned by their descendants. Henry and Oliver Safford came from Massachusetts in 1845 and located where John Masterson now lives. Oliver went to California and Henry afterward owned the farm which is now James Casey's. John S. Brown came from Michigan in 1846, and located on what is now the Asa Byers homestead. James Gibson and wife came from Scotland in 1848 and purchased the Orput farm some years later. In 1851 James and Thomas Renwick worked for James Byers. Sr., and a few years later bought of Henry Mix, a land speculator. the land now
owned by James Renwick, Daniel MeMurchy and Robert Hutchinson.
The land was unsurveyed when first settled and a "claim" was held by staking out the land and plowing a furrow around it. or by blazing in the grove. The Driscolls claimed about three hun- dred acres of the grove and later settlers respected their claim and purchased of them "claim rights." and in addition paid the government one dollar and a quarter per acre after the land was sur- veyed. James Byers, Sr., bought of them for three hundred dollars the right to seventy acres of timber and as much prairie as he chose to plow around.
In 1842 or 1843 the government survey was made and the land put in the market. The land office was located at Dixon. John Dement was re- ceiver. It was a very anxious time for the set- tlers who had no money to pay for their land, so they banded together against would-be purchasers and agreed to protect each others' rights from the "land sharks," who would rob them of their homes. There was no "claim jumping" in South Grove. so the argument of fists, firearms and tar were not used here, as in some localities.
After the Mexican war land warrants were is- sued, giving cach soldier one hundred and sixty acres of land to be located wherever he chose. These could at one time be bought in the market for one hundred and twelve dollars, making land very cheap, seventy cents an acre. The first set- tlers came in their wagons. The journey from New York took four weeks, the family walking much of the way to spare the horses.
The Frink and Walker line of four-horse stages ran from Chicago to Galena daily, the lead mines being then a craze. These stages brought the mail to the postoffice at the home of James Byers, Sr., who was first postmaster. His first year's sal- ary was the magnificent sum of two dollars and sixty-four cents. The office supplied the country for fifteen miles around. The papers that came were the Chicago Democrat. edited by John Went- worth, Greeley's New York Tribune, and the only magazine was Godey's Lady's Book. The post- master's children read everything that came to the office, except the letters, and the penwritten post- marks of these served as lessons in geography. but letters were few. for the postage was twenty-five cents.
128
PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
The first religious services in the town were held by Rev. Isaac Norton, a Freewill Baptist min- ister. For the sum of thirty-five dollars Mr. Nor- ton agreed to hold services twice a month for one year, commencing in the fall of 1842. Levi Lee. who has been mentioned prominently in the county history, was the first Methodist preacher to hold religious services in South Grove. The class was organized in 1842, which continues in existence. Services were held for a time in the South Grove schoolhouse and for the last few years at Clare Methodist Episcopal church. This church organi- zation is made up of four smaller congregations- the Mayfield Town Hall charge, the South Grove charge, the one of the Clark schoolhouse, and an Episcopalian appointment held at the Clare school. These constitute one excellent church society. which exerts a splendid influence over the circuit.
The first school was taught in the winter of 18-11-2 by James Byers. Sr .. in a small room in his cabin. The pupils came from distances of five or six miles. The text-books used wore the Elemen- tary spelling book. Daboll's arithmetic, English reader, geography and a copy book and any other text-books they happened to have. They paid tui- tion in corn. potatoes and pork. In 1812-3 the in- habitants clubbed together and built a log school- house by voluntary labor in the center of the grove. Mr. Byer's salary originally was to be ten dollars a month and board himself, and owing to the great scarcity of money took his pay as above stated. The young men and women about the Grove will never forget that school-how the kind. genial voice of the teacher, softening down its rugged Scotch, cheered them over the frightful alps of "a. b. ab." and "two times one are two."-how the eyes were always blind to any fun and the laugh was ever as long and loud as that of the merriest urchin. No wonder that those boys and girls, a portion of them. "played the mischief" with some of the teachers who succeeded this model one.
The first public schoolhouse was erected in the grove. It was of logs, but nieely built, and con- sidered quite a capacious one : though it was, after a time, pretty well filled with its sixty scholars. It was twenty by twenty-two feet and well lighted, having a window five or six panes in width and two in height at each end of the building. Mr. H. C. Beard and Mr. T. K. Waite of Sycamore were among the successful teachers in the log school-
house. The second schoolhouse was built on a fine site donated to the district by Mr. James Byers, Sr .. in 1854, and in 1868 another-a very pleasant and commodious one, the former having been destroyed by fire-was erected in the same place.
The first building was of logs, made without nails, doors of "shakes" pinned together and were opened with lateh strings hanging from the wooden latch. The chinks were stopped with clay. The first dwellings had puncheon floors but the school- house floor was of boards. These were obtained by drawing logs to Lovi Lee's sawmill on the Kish- waukee, near Kingston. eighteen miles, where they were sawed into boards. Half the boards were paid for sawing. The shake shingles were made with an ax. wedge and throw : they were held in place on the roof by poles. The seats were slabs with sticks for legs. There was a window on each side of the house. The chimneys were then made of two boxes, the smaller inside and the space be- tween filled with mud. When the mud was dry and hard the inside box was burned and the chim- ney was complete. The first comers used a fire- place, very apt to smoke, but the schoolhouse was warmed by a box-shaped iron stove.
The girls wore dresses of linsey woolsey and looked as pretty as their granddaughters do in their silks. One girl's best dress was made of white sheeting. colored with black walnut bark. The dye was not a success and the children made fun of it. The boys' suits were of a cheap gray cotton goods called "hard times cloth." Their coats were "wammusses." a loose blouse affair, coming well over the hips and belted around the waist. The feet were dressed with moccasins made of sole leather. Sylvester Sutton made them. Some wore shoes made by the traveling cobbler. Hats were home made of coon or rabbit skin or cloth.
The evening entertainments were the spelling schools, in which contests the girls usually won. but they took no part in the debates on the ques- tion whether fire or water was the stronger ele- ment, or whether there was more pleasure in an- ticipation or in participation. The judges chosen to decide the "weight of argument" were William T. Adee. John Orput. William Byers and others of the older boys. There were singing schools, too. and after houses were large enough, parties. The
129
PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
schoolhouse served also as a place for religious meetings, and the Rev. Mr. Norton of honored memory was the first minister. The first funeral in town was that of the little daughter of James Byers, Sr. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Levi Lee. The interment was on the east side of the grove and the land was afterward do- nated to the town for a cemetery by James Byers. Sr. Many years afterward the South Grove church was built at Dustin and it has since served as the place of worship for people of all denominations.
The food for the settlers' first year was mostly cornmeal, pork and potatoes. A pound of tea lasted a family a year. The next year wheat was raised. It was ground at St. Charles, thirty miles distant. The fruits found in the woods were crab- apples, plums and gooseberries.
The wheat was cut with a cradle and tramped out by horses on a cleared place on the prairie and was cleaned from chaff by pouring in the wind. It was drawn to Chicago, a round trip of five days. A load of forty bushels sold for forty cents a bushel, half cash and half trade. The hotel charges were fifty cents for supper, breakfast and lodging and hay for two horses, dinner a shilling. so that the farmer could at best bring home not more than five or six dollars in cash and cheap cloth, leather for shoes, salt and a few groceries.
The first hotel in town was kept by Solomon Wells, later by Jonathan Adee on the now George Adee farm. There were no taxes on land until it was surveyed, and only a small tax on personal property. Money was scarce ; labor, grain, pork and potatoes served instead. The wages in harvest were two bushels of wheat a day, or about fifty cents. When wheat became a cash article there was money to pay the government for land.
The first plows used were made by C. W. Branch, father of Hiram Branch, of Kingston. The mold board was made of straps of iron about two inches wide with spaces of the same width. The woodwork was made by Nathaniel Hatch. who hewed the timber for a beam and carefully selected crooked sticks in the grove for handles. Four yoke of cattle were used to break the tough prairie sod. The first reaper was a McCormick bought by John S. Brown and James Byers, Sr .. for one hundred and thirty dollars, in 1847 or 1848.
In 1853, when it was rumored that a railroad would be built through the town, speculators pur- chased nearly all of the government land left, but the railroad failed to materialize. The purchasers entered with land warrants and bought for eighty cents per acre land now worth sixty and sixty-five dollars per acre.
In 1851 Ichabod Richmond, an erratic, enter- prising genius, built a sawmill and grist mill on Owen's creek, section 26, but a quantity of water sufficient to operate it was not found, except in case of a freshet. A similar experiment was made by Barnaby Hatch further down the stream.
The history of this fertile region is interwoven with many romantic and even tragic incidents. It is said that "Brodie's Grove," situated near the west line of what is now the town of Dement, was the rendezvous of an organized band of bandits. Benjamin Worden has related that about the year 1840 he had a fine team of horses, considered in those days very valuable property, and nightly slept in his stable, much against his will. in order to protect himself from horse thieves. "Old Brodie" had taken a fancy to Worden, and hearing of this practice inquired the reason why. Worden respond- ed that there were many thieves about and he feared that his horses would be stolen, whereupon the old man informed Ben that he need have no fears, as his property was safe. "Uncle Ben" did not doubt his sincerity. However, walking across the prairie one day he discovered a cavity carefully dug out and covered with boards and nicely arranged sods, so that no trace of a cave could be found. Its nearness to this lonely grove, together with the foregoing incident, proved to his mind conclui- sively that this was a place of concealment for the booty of those daring marauders, who as history further states, "roamed the billowy prairies in those early days as pirates rove the seas." This and other stories and a record of the tragic fate of many will be found on the pages of current history.
Many incidents are cited which show the skill, daring and courage of the pioneer women, amid prairie fires and attacks from wolves and the red man, for at that time the howl of the wolf was nightly heard and the Indian trail was here found. the chief Big Thunder, with his braves, making the surrounding woodland the place of temporary abode.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.