USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Past and present of DeKalb County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 28
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graduating from this institution were admitted to universities without examinations. Mrs. Abbie L. Waterman, by her will, gave for the founda- tion of a school for girls the family residence on Somonauk street, together with sixty acres of land, on which suitable buildings for the institution's purpose were erected in 1889. She also gave as an endowment a well stocked farm of five hundred aeres adjoining the school, Waterman Block, con- sisting of the three best located stores and office building in Sycamore, and valuable Chicago prop- erty. Rev. B. F. Fleetwood was appointed rector upon its organization and is at present still at the head of the institution.
During the year 1907 Sycamore has added to her industrial institutions the Hardware Supply Factory. Borden's Condensed Milk Factory and the Turner Brass Works, and is at present grow- ing in population and wealth. The Sycamore Pre- serve Works was established in 1881 and its capa- city has been continually increased. until at pres- ent it is one of the largest institutions of the kind in northern Illinois.
F. C. Patten Manufacturing Company now oc- cupies the old R. Ellwood Manufacturing plant and the Marsh Harvester Building and employs a large number of men.
Sycamore being the county seat, has during her career had as residents men of ability and influ- enee. The majority of the De Kalb county bar resides here, and in earlier days the financiers of the county found Sycamore a great convenience as a business center. Among the earlier business men were James, Charles, John C. and John 1. Waterman, J. H. Rogers, G. P. Wild, John Hark- ness, Reuben Ellwood, member of congress in 1880-84 ; Chauncey, Alonzo and Ed. Ellwood, Dan- iel Pierce, Moses Dean and Harmon Paine. H. HT. Mason and C. O. Boynton came here at an early day and established a brokerage firm and were men of wealth and splendid business ca- pacity. Of the men in political life who attained to more than local prominence were Jesse Kellogg, John R. Hamlin, Marshall Stark, Dr. James Har- rington, J. K. Sliles, and the Ellwoods. Those who achieved distinction as military men and at- tained the rank of brevet brigadier general were Daniel Dustin, E. F. Dutton, Charles Waite, F. W. Partridge, who formerly resided in Sandwich but a resident of Sycamore at the time of receiving
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his rank, John L. Beveridge, who was an early resident of Sycamore. but removed to Evanston in 1854 and entered the war from that place. became a brevet brigadier general and was afterward gov- ernor of the state of Illinois. Charles W. Stol- brand, who was conducting an abstract office at the time of the breaking out of the Civil war, or- ganized a company of artillery. and rose to the rank of full brigadier and in 1866 received the rank of brevet major general. He was educated at a military academy in Sweden and at once be- came a valuable otlicer and at the close of the war was chief of the artillery of the Army of the Tennessee.
Those who attained prominence in the legal profession will be treated of in a separate article entitled the Bench and Bar, and those who were foremost in the medical profession in a chapter en- titled Medicine and Surgery.
Those who have been appointed as consuls to foreign countries were Captain Hood and General F. W. Partridge, the latter serving for several years as minister to Siam. Sycamore gave three hundred and seven men for the suppression of the rebellion. Out of this number abont sixty lost their lives and a large number returned maimed and crippled.
The supervisors of the township have been Dr. James Harrington from its organization in 1850 to 1856. lle was succeeded by E. L. Mayo and Mayo was succeeded by Daniel B. James, Dr. Har- rington again serving in 1859. 1860 and 1861; Roswell Dow in 1862. 1863 and 1864: Sammel Al- den two years : Henry Wood one year : N. S. Cot- trell one year; Henry Wood one year: John B. Smith two years : E. B. Shurtleff two years : Mar- shall Stark from 1878-85: IT. C. Whittemore, who is serving at present. has held the position for twenty-two years. Those who have held the posi- tion of assistant supervisor are E. L. Mayo. C. M. Brown. Alonzo Ellwood, C. O. Boynton, Charles Kellum. Luther Lowell. Reuben Ellwood, Moses Dean, Captain R. A. Smith. W. W. Marsh. Henry C. Whittemore. Byron F. Wyman. Edwin Waite and F. B. Townsend.
GENOA.
Genoa township lies in the extreme northeastern part of the county. Kane county forming its east-
ern boundary and McHenry its northern. Genoa belongs to the original Polish survey and that with the two townships lying west and north of the base line was the first land to be surveyed in the county. The town is watered by the Kishwau- kee on the west side and Coon creek on the east side. The first white inhabitant of the town was Thomas Madison, a native of Ohio. This was in 1836. and during this year he was followed by H. N. Perkins, Samuel Corey. Thomas Munnehan and Henry Durham, and to these men Thomas Madison sold his claim of two sections of land for twenty-eight hundred dollars. Mr. Madison. being a natural frontiersman, went farther west. The cabin of Thomas Madison was on the site of Perkins Hotel. The first store kept in Genoa was opened by Henry Durham in the Madison cabin. He was a shrewd, sharp, energetic citizen and lived in Genoa for nearly thirty years and died there. having accumulated considerable fortune by trade, by hotel keeping and land speculation. The inhabitants mentioned were soon followed by Dan- iel H. Whittemore. Henry Preston. E. P. Gleason, Samuel Stevens, Jeremiah and Putney Brown, E. S. Gregory, Ephraim Hall. A. M. Hollenbeak and Dr. F. M. Page. the latter the first practicing phy- sician in the town. In the spring of 1838 Genoa was quite a populous center and was larger than any other village in the county. During the spring of this year Il. N. Perkins' house was entered by a part of the banditti, who robbed him of three hundred dollars. He had good evidence that it was taken by the Brodies of Brodies Grove and their accomplices, who were understood to be con- federated with Daniel H. Whittemore and E. P. Gleason. of Genoa, but no prosecution was made. nor was the money recovered.
During this year James S. and Charles Water- man opened a stock of goods and carried on a very successful business for some time. Daniel Ball opened the third store and Mr. Amsden the fourth. A very large business was transacted by some of these dealers, one person stated that the Water- mans reported a sale of ninety thousand dollars per year. Joseph Maltby opened the first black- smith shop here about 1840. Mr. Preston was the first wagon maker and E. S. Gregory and Jere- miah Brown were the first shoemakers. S. O. Pike. who settled in Sycamore during the latter years of his life. claims to have built the first wagon in
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the county at his home in Genoa township in 1847.
In 1837 when the commissioners were examin- ing a site for the county seat they decided that Genoa was too far from the center, but Genoa was a valuable aid to Sycamore in the contest of Syca- more, being the nearest town to that point. In 1838 a Fourth of July celebration was held in Genoa, which was the second one held in the county, of which we have any record. George H. Hill. afterward county judge, delivered an oration to an audience of over a thousand people. They came to this celebration from Rockford, Aurora and St. Charles and from all the surrounding country, and it must be remembered that at this time Genoa was as promising a town and had a population equal to the other towns named. Bel- videre at the time contained only two houses, Judge Hill was at this time a man of less than thirty years, was possessed with great natural abil- ity, had a better education than boys generally at that period, and was a speaker of considerable power and many are those present who have testi- fied to the ability of Judge Hill on this occasion.
Two men of Genoa by this time had acquired considerable notoriety. One was Daniel T. Whitte- more, and the other E. P. Gleason, both now known to be members of the banditti and asso- ciates of the Brodies and other outlaws who in- fested the country at that time. After the Per- kins robbery both men were under suspicion and Daniel Whittemore soon left the country, dispos- ing of his claim to E. P. Gleason, and when last heard from was residing in California. Gleason in his subsequent career kept up the reputation which he had established from the beginning. While boarding at Perkins' log tavern soon after his arrival a carpet sack was found in his posses- sion well filled with counterfeit money and the fact that h had plenty of money on hand and was a man of considerable property at that time was easily accounted for. He was a man of fine ap- pearance, agreeable manners, fair in his dealings with his neighbors and generally liked, and con- sequently had a host of friends who were ever ready to take his part. In the ordinary affairs of life he never tried to pass counterfeit money, but he manufactured it and wholesaled it to his con- federates. In 1839 one of his associates, a travel- ing confederate, was arrested in Chicago and dur- ing his confinement confessed his guilt. implicat-
ing one of the chiefs of the gang. Gleason was arrested, but although the testimony of this wit- ness had been promised, when the trial came on he could not be procured and Gleason was liberated.
Not long after a message was again sent from Chicago saying that if our officers would again ar- rest Gleason the evidence against him should be forthcoming. Three or four deputies were now commissioned to go to Genoa and effect his arrest. They reached his place at midnight and after watching until dawn had the satisfaction of seeing him come to his door, when they approached and captured him. But Gleason hospitably insisted that his captors should stop and get breakfast before they went away and they consented. In the meantime he took them out in his garden to show them his fine crop of corn, of which he was justly proud. In an instant he had disappeared in the tall corn and for several years after was not seen in the country.
Several years after, when the evidence had again become unattainable, Gleason came back and start- ed business again. Ite had a store, sawmill and fine farm, all in full operation, and had married a respectable young woman of the neighborhood. A few years after he became ill and a traveling doctor named Smitch, who boarded in his family and was reported to be attached to his wife, attend- ed him. He grew worse without any evident cause. After eating one day of some porridge prepared by his wife and the doctor he complained that it did not taste just right, but ate heartily and soon after died in convulsions and delirium. Not long after his burial the Doctor and Mrs. (leason were arrested on a charge of murdering him by poison. The body was exhumed and the contents of the stomach examined and a special term held for their trial, but the evidence of guilt was insufficient and they were discharged. The Doctor and Mrs. Gleason soon afterward married, moved to La Salle county, where the Doctor died under circumstances that led to the suspicion that he had been poisoned. His wife soon after died very suddenly. Such was the miserable end of one who was undoubtedly a leader in the crime that had disturbed the early settlers of this coun- ty. He escaped the punishment of his crime against the law only to meet a more terrible fate. An old settler who recently visited here remembers seeing a cabin on what is now known as Fishtrap
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PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
about 1840. across in Mayfield township. There was found no regular path leading to the cabin and it is supposed they came by different routes so as to leave no tracks of their going and coming. Many are satisfied that much of the counterfeit money found in possession of Gleason was made at this point and it was known by his neighbors that he spent many nights away from home. returning before daybreak.
The first religious services were held in the house of Il. N. Perkins, services being conducted by Rev. Ora Walker in the winter of 1831-8. Rev. Mr. Gaddis was the second preacher in the town- ship.
In 1831 a mail ronto was established from St. Charles through Genoa and a postoffice was opened by Horatio MI. Perkins. This office Mr. Perkins held for forty-seven consecutive years. resigning in 1884. when his grandson, H. A. Perkins, was appointed. Genoa received its name from Thomas Madison, who named it Genoa in honor of his na- tive town in New York. In 1848 Genoa still had as large trade as any other town in the county. It had two well built taverns along the stage line from Elgin to Galena. These hotels did an excel- lent business. Aside from that they were great social centers. Balls were frequently held there and the young men and young ladies here came from miles around and danced until the wee small hours of the morning. Not only wore these events of social interest but they proved profitable, for Mr. Perkins reports having taken in as high as two hundred and twenty-five dollars in one night. In 1854 the Genoa Anti-Horse Thief Association was organized. the process of law being too slow for practical purposes, so the good people of Genoa abandoned the red tape forms and the people started out on a plan to protect themselves. So successful were they in this enterprise that after its organization but one horse ever came up miss- ing and that was found after a long search and an expenditure of two hundred dollars.
The first school was held in 1838 and was taught by Mary Ann Hill. The site of the first institu- tion of learning was about three-quarters of a mile south of the present village. The Methodist services were held in the schoolhouse until 1854. when the Genoa Methodist church was erected, which at that time was the finest church edifice in the county. In 1867 the Ney church was erect-
ed near the north line of the town on land donated by Daniel Buck. The original subscription list is in our possession and it shows how anxious these pioneers were for the spread of the gospel. Dan- iel Buck contributed a thousand dollars aside from the site, while others gave sums that seem to us ahnost incredible when considering the small amount of property, from which these sums were taken.
In 1850 the village of Genoa was platted, but had not attained much size and prominence until the building of the railroad in 1816. Since this time Genoa has had a rapid growth and at present has a population of two thousand. On the east side of the town in the settlement started by Padgett Hodgeboom and George Moore a village was erected along the Milwaukee road called New Lebanon, which has a postoffice, store, elevator and butter factory and makes an excellent shipping station for the people on this side of the town. A large number of Germans have settled here and have built an excellent German Lutheran church in Genoa and maintain a parochial school. Among the leading Germans who have been successful in the building up of this community and securing for themselves a competency in this life are John Becker, John Lambke, Chris and John Ault, Au- gust Japp, Joseph Dunevan. IT. Kreuger and M. Housline. In the latter '50s a large number of Pennsylvanians settled in the northeast part of the town. Among the number were the Kitchens. Cor- sans. Eichlers. Kitchens and Spencers. In 18 ;; the Genoa graded school was built and the school was organized by David S. Gibbs, the first principal. For six years this institution was the only graded school in the north part of the county. pupils at- tending from MeHenry and Kane counties and for a distance of ten or fifteen miles around. Pro- fessor Gibbs was raised in Franklin township near Blood's Point. was a schoolteacher in his early days and afterward a soldier in the Civil war. His work was of a lasting character and he and his wife. Julia, have left an impression on young hearts that will last when their monuments shall have crumbled into dust.
Genoa furnished the Union army with one hun- dred and nine men. and at the time of the first enrollment for a draft had already sent out sixty- eight per cent of her arms hearing population. Of those who lost their lives in the war were:
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN GENOA.
PUB: CHIRIE!
٠١٨ ٨٤١٠٫٠٠٠ TILDEN FINNS ITHINK
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PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
J. H. Chase, who died at Kansas City, Missouri, June 11, 1865 ; R. M. Gillett, Alexandria, Virginia, April 9. 1862; Ellis Buek, Washington, D. C., April 28, 1864; A. II. Bruzell who was lost off steamboat Olive, below St. Louis, on the Missis- sippi, June 28, 1865; Augustus Martin, at Genoa, February 13, 1863; Sergeant J. H. Depue, March 21, 1864; J. S. Bailey at Chicago, Illinois, Oc- tober 1, 1862; J. H. Burroughs, at New Albany, Indiana. December 24, 1862.
The supervisors of the town are: Henry Dur- ham, 1850: G. F. King, 1851: 1. W. Garvin, 1852; A. M. Hollenbeck, 1853-4; 1. W. Garvin, 1855; Jesse Dond, 1856; Daniel Buck. 1856 : John Heth, 1861-2; J. L. Brown, 1863: Daniel Buek, 1864-5; Henry N. Perkins, 1866-9; A. II. Pond, 18:0-3; John Heth, 1874; Jeremiah L. Brown, 1825; John Heth, 1876: Henry N. Perkins, 18:7-80; A. H. Pond. 1881-3; Kendall Jackman, 1884: D. S. Brown: J. E. Stott : J. Siglin, and F. Duval.
DE KALB COUNTY IN WAR.
When the war with Mexico broke out in 1845. De Kalb county was then very sparsely settled, having a population of less than three thousand. Illinois furnished six regiments of troops and De Kalb county more than a score of soldiers. A company of soldiers from Belvidere, headed by . Captain William Shepherd marched from that city to Sycamore and encamped for the night. As they came marching into the little village they were headed by a fife and drum corps. At that period martial music was not frequently heard on the frontier, and it created considerable excite- ment. The boys built bonfires, made speeches and played the martial music until late in the night. This so stirred the American blood of 1726 and 1812 that in the morning the force was consider- ably increased. With this additional re-inforce- ment they marched on to Dixon and from there to the river, where they took ship for Alton and were enrolled with the Second Regiment of Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry. The soldiers from De Kalb county in this company are given in the Ad- jutant's Report of Belvidere, and no mention is made of the fact that part of the company were residents of De Kalb county, but several are known who have resided here both before and after the Mexican war. Among the number were George Dennis and Peter Murray of Mayfield, and Leroy Benson, of Kingston township and per-
haps Francis Russell, whose residence is in De Kalb county. The same is true of the soldiers of the Mexican war from which county who en- listed in the First Illinois Regiment of Volun- teer Infantry. Among the number are Alonzo Laporte, of Paw Paw; Peleg Sweet, later a resi- dent of Victor; and Theron Potter, later a resi- dent of Sandwich. Alonzo Laporte still resides in West Paw Paw. George Dennis is a resident of Iowa. The company belonging to the Second Illinois suffered heavy loss, losing more than half their number. They are buried at Monterey, Ja- lapa, City of Mexico, Vera Cruz and Pueblo, more dying from disease contracted in that tropical cli- mate of Mexico than from the bullets of the enemy.
Edwin II. Fay, who still lives in Hinckley. went from this county into the Sixteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry : William Cone into the First Illinois Volunteer Infantry and David Tawn en- listed from Paw Paw into the same regiment.
The period in our county's history that reached the high tide of patriotism, self-sacrifice and he- roism was that from 1861 to 1865. The emi- grants from eastern homes had by this time become well and comfortably domiciled in their new homes, had attached to the new west and were reaching out for opportunities of education and refinement which comes after years of toil and hardship. The real temper of love of country in the American people had not been put to the se- verest test since the days of 1776, unless we take into consideration the war of 1812 (and that one- sided, short, decisive, but brilliant struggle with our weak sister republic-Mexico -- which in its in- ception does not reflect great eredit on the nation's moral tone, for it was waged to extend an insti- tution, already condemned by the civilized na- tions of the world) no real trial, such as was oc- casioned by the Civil war had come. Foreign na- tions firmly believed that a clash of arms between sections of our country would cause our national fabric to fall and had openly prophesied such a catastrophe. The real wealth and inexhanstible resources of our country were not appreciated and the most optimistic American, had he been told in 1861 that the struggle then in its inception. would mean the expenditure of over five billion dollars of national, state, county and individual wealth, but would have been paralyzed with such an apparently hopeless prospect.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF DE KALB COUNTY.
Every step of this struggle led into unknown and untried policies of finance and legislation. Private expenditures, luxuries for the sick and wounded, bounties for the soldier, and all of those things done from the humanitarian standpoint to alleviate the suffering and sorrows that were rolled upon this nation in its days of travail can never be known. Two million men for the flo- tilla and the field, and the thousands essential for the maintenance of this mighty host in arms were drawn from the occupations of peace and productiveness, and those left at home must continne the work of those in public service and in addition support those armies, navies and all things else that were necessary to the mainte- nance of an indissoluble nation.
The county had been shaken to its foundations by the great political contest of 1860 and people were apparently hopelessly divided when the contest came a few months later, but everything moved with rapidity. Threats of secession were now car- ried to a reality. Our national life was in jeop- ardy. Political divisions began to subside. Finally the flag of our fathers was fired upon. Then the great love of country, which in many seemed to lie dormant, was aroused. Stephen A. Douglas, who had apparently tritled with dangers during a brilliant political career. now came out strongly for the suppression of re- bellion. His Sunday night conference with Presi- dent Lincoln, his recommendations and promised loyal support. stimulated the martyred president to determined activity, and a brighter day dawned upon the administration which from the begin- ning had been enveloped in deep gloom. The Douglas democracy responded to the patriotic spirit of its great leader and they rallied to the support of the crowning act of a brilliant, na- tional career and his position in 1861. the sup- port of Lincoln's administration cannot be fully estimated. His death at only forty-eight years of age in this great national crisis was a truly national calamity. The firing on Fort Sumter awakened the country from the delusion that seces- sion was simply a threat to curb the growing sentiment against slavery in the north and sati- ate political revenge. The call to arms came. the flag unfurled over public buildings and seemed to produce an effect that was electrical.
The best young men came forth to do service. Some institutions of learning found it impos-
sible to continue their school work. The instruc- tor became an officer and led his men to the scene of conflict. Within three days from the first call for troops De Kalb county had men at Cairo ready for duty. Professor A. J. Blanchard, then principal of an academy in Vermont, organized a company and was soon at Washington for de- fense of the capital. The Sycamore high school closed a month before the end of the school year because so many of the boys had enlisted. The north became a vast camp of preparation, the military spirit was high and the people fondly hoped for immediate termination of the conflict.
The township taxes levied and raised, together with personal expenditures, amounted to a quarter of a million dollars, while our total wealth was not a sixth of what it is now, and our popula- tion a little more than half of what it is today. Out of our little more than sixteen thousand peo- ple we sent nearly 3,000 to the field. The draft was resorted to in a few townships. Revenue was collected on many articles, drugs, notes, mort- gages and many other necessaries of life, but the burdens in many cases were imposed by popular vote and most cheerfully borne; and as is the case generally in such a crisis the "money shark" was loudest in his complaints and too often disloyal. The most precious sacrifice, however, was in the lives and health of her quota of gallant boys.
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