USA > Illinois > Lee County > Recollections of the pioneers of Lee County [Illinois] > Part 31
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
The following year he sent for his family, consisting of mother and myself. We were accompanied by Grandfather and Grandmother Scott, went by steamer via the lakes to Chicago, and thence by stage to Dixon. Father remained with his family about a year in Dixon and then settled upon the land preempted by him on the Inlet Creek (Green River), in what is now Marion Township.
It was related to me by father that when mother looked upon the long stretches of prairie, utterly devoid of houses, trees, or any other evi- dences of civilization-or uncivilization, for that matter-for the Indians had fled-she exercised her woman's prerogative and sat down for a two weeks' cry. She gave her undivided attention to the business in hand- that of weeping. The contrast between the city of Buffalo with its charm- ing society and the bleak bare prairies of Illinois was too great, the trans-
- 421 -
formation too sudden for this refined young woman, so there was nothing left her to do but to just open the tear ducts and cry it out.
But time, that merciful assuager of all griefs, at last reconciled her to pioneer life. Old friends and acquaintances began to remove from the east and settle in Dixon or the vicinage.
A double log house was built on the farm, the lumber for the doors and window sash, flooring, shingles, etc., had to be hauled by teams of horses from Chicago. This was about 1840. The floors of the house were covered with velvet and Brussels carpet and costly rugs, the furniture was . of mahogany and walnut-all brought from the east. The contrast be- tween that log house and its belongings was so great as to excite the wonder and admiration of strangers from the east who chanced to alight from the stages and enter our pioneer home. Many amusing anecdotes as to this were recounted by mother. Our house at the farm was on the stage road leading from Peoria to Galena. There were for many years only three houses between Dixon and Princeton, i. e., one at "Dad Joe's" Grove, one on the south side of Palestine Grove and the other in which we lived. After all, if my boyhood recollection serves me rightly- father having nearly recovered his health, this circumstance, together with many visitors and sleighing and dancing parties at our house, in- provised by the young folks of Dixon, made us all quite contented and happy in our new home. In a few years our parents moved back to Dixon and lived at that place and at the farm alternately until their death.
Of those who were contemporaneous pioneers with them I now recall the names of Major Sterling, Silas Noble, A. L. Porter, John Dixon, the founder of the town of Dixon, and his sons James P. and John jr., Gil- breth, James and Dan McKenney, Henry McKenney, Lorenzo Wood, George Chase, Judge Heaton, "Than" Porter, Dr. Everett, Paul Gallup, Col. Dement. Max Alexander, E. B. Stiles, and McBoel (pronounced Buel). The last named was a fine performer on the violin and an all round artist. I remember that during a presidential campaign in which Henry Clay was the Whig candidate the ladies desired Mr. McBoel to paint them a banner with a likeness of Clay thereon, to be presented to the Whig Campaign Club. There was no picture of Clay extant to copy from at that time in that "neck of the woods," and so poor Mac, who was always a gallant knight in his conduct towards the ladies, and regarded himself in honor bound to please them, was put to his trumps for a portrait from which to copy Clay's picture upon the banner. So, as a last resort, he began to inquire around among the people as to the general appearance of the great Con.moner. Alas! none had ever seen him save old Doctor
- 422 -
Jerry Coggswell, a prominent character of the town. Jerry said unto Mac, "paint a picture of a man about six feet high, of slender build, with small feet and small white hands, a long head with a high forehead, large ears, and when that is done paint in the middle of his face a big catfish mouth." The caricature of Clay was then painted on the banner by Mac according to the description of him as given by Jerry, the banner pre- sented with due form and ceremony by the ladies to the club in a neat little speech composed by Mrs. Nancy Noble, wife of Col. Silas Noble.
These early pioneers of the Rock River Valley were absolutely ex opti- mo optime of the east, "generous to a fault," they helped each other in the trials and tribulations incident to that early day. They were men and women of education and refinement, they were self-reliant, independ- ent, bold and daring, and with their coadjutors builded a commonwealth which is at once the pride and glory of the whole country-a common- wealth that gave us Lincoln and Grant and according to its population sent more young men into the army for the preservation of the govern- ment than any other state in the union.
But Father Time with a gentle hand has at last drawn about many of them the shades of the evening of their useful lives; others are dead- have passed over into the dark shadow of the valley of death. Over them, "Twilight has pulled the curtain down and pinned it with a star." Peace to their ashes.
JOHN M. WELTY.
101
The Township of Nachuga.
-
Gleanings Among Pioneers.
-
W E naturally and rightfully dwell upon our comforts as compared with those of our ancesters or predecessors, and it seems most appropriate that in this, the beginning of a new century from our country's discovery, we pause and gather some of the experiences of the past, that may, perchance, assist the historian of the next century, and teach some lessons to the coming generation of the expense at which its blessings have been bought. It is certainly true that in many ways life has today new and peculiar pleasures, and a retrospect may help us to valuc them more highly.
The broad, free west had been the land of many a youthful dream, and when my thoughts turned to it as a veritable home land I pictured some spot of natural beauty, with broad outlook, including many smiling homes and a tranquil lake or murmuring stream, as my home.
I am not a pioneer. My first glimpse of the Prairie state was on October 23, 1869, when, with my husband, I reached Chicago from Provi- dence, R. I., which latter place we left October 21. On the 24th we reached "The Kingdom" and received a most hospitable welcome from Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Wetherbee, Mrs. Wetherbee being my husband's sister. Mr. Gilman had bargained for a tract of land adjoining Mr. Wetherbee and had already commenced preparations for house-building. We re- mained in Mr. Wetherbee's family until early the following February, when we commenced life in our own cottage, which in process of time ;vas christened "Woodside."
I recall very vividly the wintry morning in November when I first saw the spot upon which I have now lived more than a score of years. Gradually the outook has widened, but on that morning the blue sky above, and the snow mantled oaks around, were all that could be seen. Then we were within the limits of the town of China, but a year or two after the township was divided and we took the name of the nearest rail-
- 427 -
1
road station, Nachusa, also the name applied to the pioneer settler at Dixon, by the Indians, which I once heard Father Dixon interpret as signifying "white long hair."
We are at the extreme northwest limit of Lee county, and our school district is about equally divided between the counties of Ogle and Lee. Our neighborhood name "Kingdom" for many years bore no enviable reputation, socially, and then carried a prefix which is now discarded. We have come to think it a very tolerable place in which to live and that the people compare favorably with other rural communities with similar' social and intellectual advantages. We have churches at different points within a radius of four miles, namely: At Grand Detour, Nachusa and Mt. Union. Twice a month we have services at our school house, under the auspices of the Evangelical association, which have been kept up for more than twenty years. A union Sunday school was organized here in 1868 by Mrs. S. A. Wetherbee, and superintended by her as long as she remained in the community. It is still maintained and has always been an "evergreen" school. It is now superintended by Mr. L. R. Floto, successor to John McCollum. We have also quite a flourishing L. T. L. and a Ladies' Missionary society.
In an early day Cyrus Chamberlin, who then lived where Mr. Wether- bee now does, built a stone school house and donated it to the community. This house is still standing, having been remodeled into a tenant house by Mr. Wetherbee. Miss Nancy Teal, now the wife of A. O. Brown, ex-mayor of Parsons, Kansas, was one of the first teachers here. She remembers that her salary as teacher was twelve shillings a week. Mr. Chamberlin was interested in the school and his dwelling near. The teacher was of the age of sixteen. He furnished her with a tin horn, instructing her that should she require any assistance to "blow the horn' and he would come. After a time one of the pupils was refractory and obstinate. She blew the horn. Mr. Chamberlin responded. She laid the case before him. The verdict was that "the boy must take his books and go home." When he reached home and told his story, the father seized a whip and hastened to the school house to chastize the teacher. Mr. Chamberlin caught the whip from his hand and bade him "go home and teach his child obedience." The pupil returned in a few days, con- fessed his fault and gave no further cause of complaint. Mrs. Brown has for many years been actively engaged in Sunday school and temper- ance work.
About the year 1850 the district built a school house, locating it on the boundary between Lee and Ogle counties, called "the Red," within
- 428 -
whose walls the writer taught for nearly ten years. "The Red" in turn gave place to the present neat structure, built in 1888. Mr. C. C. Bucka- loo is now doing acceptable service as teacher here.
Mrs. Isabel Teal relates that she came to this vicinity from New York state in 1836. Her husband, Elias Teal, was government surveyor. One season he had much business in that line on the west side of the Rock river, and moved his family there temporarily, occupying a rude house near the river. Here Mrs. Teal was taken sick. Neighbors were distant. The child of three months died in its sick mother's arms. They were two days and two nights without food. The third night, late in the evening, there came a knock at the door. To the inquiry, "who is there?" the reply was, "a friend." It proved to be a stranger who had been waylaid and robbed. When he took in the situation, he kindly minis- fered to the needs of the sick, going to the river for water, for which they had all suffered, and under Mrs. Teal's direction prepared them gruel, and then departed, calling at the first house he came to, to apprise them of their neighbor's condition. Help soon came and the health of both was speedily restored.
Immediately following this experience Mr. Teal returned to the east side of the river and purchased the land upon which he lived during the remainder of his life. The price paid was ten shillings per acre. Their house was of logs with an old quilt for a door and a sliding board for a window No mill short of eighteen miles; nearest market Chicago. Mr. Teal once took some pork there with an ox team and had to sell it at one dollar per cwt.
There were no ministers of the gospel here in those days. A neigh- bor's child_died, and but for Mrs. Teal they must have laid it to rest , with no word of Scripture or of prayer. There was, she says, one dear, Christian lady half a mile away, Mrs. Anthony, with whom she found solace. They used to run together for sympathy and worship, though timber lay between their homes and the howling wolves often seemed very near. Sometimes she became almost desperate, but for her children's sake she braved her hardships. Of her nine children, seven with their father, have gone "the way of all the earth." Two daughters remain, both in the west. Mrs. Teal is now past her four score years and retains her faculties exceptionally well. Of her reminiscences there are few mirtli-provoking ones, yet she was quite merry over one.
There was to be a government land sale in Dixon. She had some money in specie that she had brought from the east and would like to invest it in land, and she and Mr. Teal determined to go to the sale.
- 429 -
She put her money in a hand-bag, concealing it beneath a circular cloak which she wore. The land did not go to suit Mr. Teal and they made no purchase. They went to a public house for dinner. She was afraid to lay down her bag, and afraid to take off her cloak lest it be seen, and notwithstanding they had a "quail pot pie" for dinner, which dish was a great favorite of hers, she was so cumbered with her hand-bag that she could not enjoy it. £ Returning home the cutter up-set in the snow, her bag string broke and the money all shelled out. What could she do? There was no alternative. She gathered up first herself and then gold, silver and snow all together, having many fears of leaving some behind. But when she reached home they counted it and found not a piece miss- ing.
Whoever passes Teal's corner to-day and looks upon the broad acres and nice buildings, knowing nothing of the beginning, could have little idea of the privations and hardships that have brought into this pleasing form this country home.
From an interview with Mrs. Lewis Floto I learn that with her hus- band and eldest daughter, and in company with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Bachman and their little son, they reached Grand Detour in the autumn of 1850. They could find there no tenement or business, so crossed to this side of the river. About two miles above the ferry was a log house of two rooms, one of which was vacant, the other was to be soon, and into the empty one the two families went. Mr. Floto made a bedstead of fence rails and upon it they placed their straw bed, but Mr. Bachman did not get his bedstead donc, and they placed their straw on the floor in the opposite corner, and thus they spent their first night in their new home. Their table was improvised from rough boards. A few benches, left by a former tenant, served as chairs. The house was old, . made of logs and unceiled. They could see the moon and stars above, by night, and the sun by day. A short time after they moved their eldest son was born. The winter was cold and it was with difficulty that they could keep warm. Many days the mother was obliged to keep her bed with her babe that it might be comfortable.
Mr. Floto, that winter, chopped wood at forty cents per cord, and boarded himself. When spring opened he found employment among the farmers at seventy-five cents per day paid in provisions. They knew very little of our language then and often had difficulty in understanding and being understood in their intercourse with neighbors, but had the advantage of some foreigners, inasmuch as there were two families and they were company for each other. As long as Mr. Bachman lived their homes were near.
- 430 -
Mr. Floto lived in that log house five years. After the first, he found employment in the Grand Detour plow shops. The wife stayed at home, cared for her increasing family and in summer made garden and grew vegetables for family supply and for the village market. The liusband took the orders, she prepared the vegetables, loaded them into a wheel- barrow, and he wheeled to the river, crossed over in boat, and delivered them before going to his day's work.
At the end of five years they bought sixty acres of land in Ogle county just beyond the limits of Lee. Here they determined to have a home, dug a cellar, raised a house and covered it, and then finished it as means cante. It was against their principles to buy anything till they had the money to pay for it, and they have maintained the practice through life.
Ten children have been given them, each of whom they have aided generously when they have stepped from beneath the home roof to make one of their own. One son and four daughters have western homes. One daughter and three sons reside in the near vicinity of their parents' present home, and one, Mrs. Emma Floto Girton, passed to "the beyond" five years ago. The parents have retired from the cares of farm life with ample means for comfort and even luxury.
Some of the first whose acquaintance I made, and whose friendship has blessed my life, were dwellers in Grand Detour, said to be the oldest village in Ogle county, and at one time the largest, but, the Chicago & Northwestern railroad drew business from it to points along its line and its growth failed. Some of its present residents are sanguine for its future, believing a place so richly endowed by nature will yet attract capital and ability.
History relates that in 1834 Leonard Andrus sailed in a canoe from Dixon Ferry up Rock river to this point, and that he was probably the first white man to view the lovely scenery of this portion of the valley. There he landed and laid claim to the beautiful site of Grand Detour. The next season he and W. A. House, with their families, took up their residence there and built a log cabin. Their kitchen was located out of doors, and their culinary operations watched by lounging Indians.
By July 4, 1836, there were two houses and a store. One of the houses was used as a tavern, kept by Israel Hill. The other, occupied by W. A. House, consisted of one small room used as a kitchen, dining-room and sleeping rcom. For a dressing room a patch of tall grass near the river bank was cut down, and there they made their toilets, using the river as their mirror.
The above named date was celebrated in Grand Detour by digging the
- 431 -
town well. Mr. Ruel Peabody relates that on that day there sat down to dinner in Grand Detour seventeen men, whose names he remembers, and three women. The rooster was killed, and there he first tasted potatoes in Illinois. The ladies' names were Mrs. Hill, Mrs. W. A. House and her sister, Miss Sophronia Wetherby, who was the first lady teacher in Grand Detour. One Mr. Goodrich taught the winter preceding her summer term in a slab shanty of two rooms, in one of which he lived with his family and in the other kept his school.
The settlement had frequent recruits, among them-in 1837-a newly wedded couple, Cyrus Aiken and his bride, Eliza Atherton, from New England. Mr. Aiken's uncle had settled on Rock river and wrote such glowing accounts of the country, including the offer of eighty acres of land to the young people if they would come and occupy it, that they scarcely hesitated, but were soon enroute for the land of their hopes. Reaching Chicago in the face of many difficulties they found a man who for one hundred dollars was willing to take them in his wagon across the prairies. When they arrived, after incredible hardships and weary delays, what was their surprise to find so small a village-only two or .
three log houses, and one in process of erection for themselves.
They began their western life in the uncle's home, with sometimes as many as twenty-five in the family, crowded together in two rooms. When after a few weeks their own house was finished they found the first night they were not the only inmates. Too weary to put up beds they slept on carpets and comfortables laid on the floor of split logs. Waking in the morning Mrs. Aiken saw something gliding along the side of the floor in the early sunshine. Examining, she found to her horror that it was a large rattlesrake. Their first act of housekeeping was to kill the unwel- come guest. Then as she went about preparing the morning meal, turn- ing to the shelves nailed to the wall where she had placed some bread brought with her, she found three gophers enjoying their breakfast from it. These destroyed she set about putting her house in order, but it was certainly housekeeping under difficulties.
Again it is related that her husband had invited two young friends to visit them. She had stirred up a sponge cake, placed it in a tin "reflector" to bake and turned to other duties. After a little her husband asked, "What can I do to help?" "You might see if the sponge cake is brown- ing," said she. So taking the hot but half-baked cake from the reflector he suddenly dropped it from his burned fingers. "Never mind," she said, "there is one left." A fragrant brown loaf of fruit cake stood in the window to cool while she laid the table. Glancing at her husband she
- 432 -
saw that he was laughing most heartlly. She missed the cake from the sill, and reached the window just in time to see a wild hog roll down the bank and swim over the river with her cake hield carefully out of the water in his mouth. They remained in Grand Detour about two years, then moved on the east side of river to the land upon which . Rev. Levi Trostle has lived for many years.
They left behind them a little grave, that of their first-born, and to the new home brought the second child, a few weeks old. The crops needed care and they moved in before the house was plastered or the windows in. The family was large, including helpers on the farmn. Mrs. Aiken's health utterly failed, and for months she was confined to her bed. : 'Three miles away, near Daysville, lived an aged physician, Dr. Roe, who, with his wife, became greatly interested in the young invalid. Carefully was she conveyed to their home and tenderly nursed back to health. The doctor was a Methodist class leader and the only religious meetings were 1
held at his house, and Mrs. Aiken was most happy to meet with these . , Christians in their weekly service.
From a book, written by Mrs. Galusha Anderson, entitled, "The Story of Aunt Lizzie Aiken," I learn many of the above particulars of the experiences of one of the most devoted pioneers of Ogle County. A faithful earnest christian wife and mother, when bereft of the compan- . ionship of her husband and childless, she went about ministering to the needy and suffering in such a manner as to win all hearts.
When the events of '61 filled the nation with sad foreboding, Mrs Aiken showed her sympathy by exerting herself for the comfort of those who had no loved ones to supply them with the necessaries of army life, and as the want of nurses began to be felt, she gave herself wholly to the work.
All through the war from battlefield to camp and hospital, with love -
that knew no weariness she ministered to the suffering. Later, she entered a broader work, in the general hospital at Memphis, where for many months she was like a christian mother. to multitudes of our brave soldiers, light and joy springing up in sad and weary hearts when "Aunt Lizzie's" step was heard.
In 1867 she was appointed missionary to the Second Baptist church in Chicago, and has so faithfully labored in that capacity as to win the grateful memory of a multitude and where her presence is still a · bless- ing.
Of religious associations in Grand Detour, the Congregationists were the first to form a society. It was organized July 8, 1837, and Rev. Colvin
- 433 --
W. Babbitt beeame the first pastor. It consisted of twelve members, of whom Mrs Esther Sawyer is believed to have been the latest survivor. The church of this society was dedicated November 12, 1848. The lun- , ber was purchased in Chicago and hauled out by Ruel Peabody, one of the Arst trustees of the church. The society is now disorganized and the building no longer exists.
The first Episcopal service held in this place was at the residence of E. H. Shaw on an evening in June 1837, Bishop Chase officiating. The pulpit was a three legged stool set upon a table and covered with a towel. Tallow candles were used for light. The church building was com- menced in April, 1849, and completed the following year. The Ladies' Sewing society paid the first hundred dollars for Inmber, which was bought in Chicago by E. W. Dutcher, who hauled the first load. The house was consecrated by the name of St. Peter's church by Bishop Whitehouse October 22, 1832. Its first pastor was Andrew J. Warner.
A Methodist class was formed by O. F. Ayers in 1839. Its church edi- fice was built by Cyrus Chamberlin in 1857, at a cost of $2,500. It was dedicated in January 1858 by Rev. T. M. Eddy, Luke Hitehcock, and Henry L. Martin.
The first Temperance society was organized in February, 1839 with a total of seventy-one members. Chester Harrington, its first secretary, still lives.
The first brick school house was also ereeted this year. Grand Detour's present schoolhouse was completed in 1858 and was at that time the best one in Ogle county. A mail stage line was established from Dixon to Grand Detour in 1838 by Leonard Andrus and is still main- tained.
W. A. House established the Ferry and was first postmaster. Abram Brown, now of South Dixon, was the second postmaster, receiving; his commission from Van Buren. He, in partnership with Robt. McKenney a brother of "Unele Fred," kept a store for several years, selling out to Chas. F. Throop.
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.