USA > Illinois > Jo Daviess County > The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion history of the Northwest, history of Illinois Constitution of the United States > Part 22
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
the new settlement, and to them, perhaps more than to any others, it owes its rapid development and growth, until, only six years after, on the spot where they landed, a town was laid off by the United States authorities. To these hardy pioneers and their worthy associates, fit representatives of "nature's noblemen," who first settled this country, belongs the lionor of really leading the way where others were so soon to follow, and of laving the foundations for the permanent settlement of this, then extreme, western frontier. Mrs. Meeker died December, 1829, aged 39 years. Dr. Meeker removed to Iowa County, Wis., in 1833, and resumed the practice of his profession, and died there, July 7, 1865, aged 75 years. His remains were bronglit to Galena, and lie in the old cemetery on the hill. Mr. Harris lived but a few years to witness the results of his labors, as he died sud- denly, in 1829, and he, too, lies near his old friend, in the midst of the scenes he loved so well, but how changed since he left for a higher and better settlement above! His children and descendants still live in the home he helped so largely to make for them, among the most honored and respected citizens of the country.
Dr. Meeker builta cabin on what was called Meeker's Bench, on the east side of Main street or Broadway, a short distance above " Whittam Row." Hunt built a cabin a little north, about where Mr. Bench's brick building now stands, near Duer's flouring mill. Directly across the road from Meeker's cabin, a well was sunk. This well, called " Meeker's Well," still remains, although unused, as an unerring landmark of that time. Fifteen or twenty feet north of that well, near the road, in what is now J. Moore's front yard, Benson Hunt built a little log blacksmithi shop, and went to work at his trade; the first blacksmith known to have lifted a ham- mer in Jo Daviess County. (It is proper to add that Mr. Hunt lived in Galena until 1838, when he removed to Sand Prairie, remained there two years and then returned to Galena, where he continued to reside until a short time prior to his death). Harris and his son also built a cabin on Meeker's Bench, near Meeker and Hunt, and near the present Court House.
At this time there was a ford across Fever River, almost directly at the foot of Franklin Street, used in low water-there were no bridges then. Below the ford, to the mouth of the river, says Captain Harris, there was then, and for years afterwards, a depth of from twelve to sixteen feet at " dead low water." In fact, the water was always two or three feet deeper in the Fever River (which is really only an arm of the Mississippi to Galena) than it was in the channel of the "Great River." In after years, at high water, large boats steamed up the Fever River some distance above the town, and also up Meeker's Branch, now an insignificant rivulet.
When Dr. Meeker and his party arrived here in June, 1823, they found less than one hundred white men mining and trading with the Indians. Prominent among them were Dr. Samuel C. Muir (who was practicing medicine and stood liigli), Thomas H. January, Amos Farrar, Jesse W. Shull, Francois Bouthillier, A. P. Vanmatre, D. G. Bates, Jolın Conley, John Ray, James Johnson, Nehemialı Bates, James Connor, B. Symmes, E. Rutter, John Barrell, Joseph Hardy, Robert Burton (not the smelter), Montgomery Wilson, Stephen P. Howard, Martin Smith, Israel Mitchell (a surveyor), John Armstrong, Cuyler Armstrong, - Vander. slice, Wm. Thorn, and others.
Wm. Adney and wife were also here at that time, Adney had been
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
a soldier, and arrived here that Spring; " and his wife," says Capt. Harris, " was the only white woman here when we arrived." Mr. Lorrain says " Mrs. Adney was the first white woman who came to the mines," but this does not appear to be absolutely certain. About three years later, in 1826, Thomas H. Jannary is said to have exhumed the remains of his wife, who had been buried some years, certainly before 1823, somewhere near the junction of Bench and Diagonal Streets, and re-interred them elsewhere. If she was a white woman, as presumably she was, Mrs. Jannary came to these mines before the arrival of Mrs. Adney, and in the absence of further knowledge must be considered the first white woman who settled in Jo Daviess County. Mr. Shull, subsequently, in 1827, went into Mich- igan Territory, now Wisconsin, and founded the Village of Shullsburg.
" When I arrived," says Capt. Harris, "there were six or eight cabins on and below the present site of the woolen mill, above Baker's Branch. Bates and Vanmatre had a sinelting establishment on the east side of the river, opposite that point, obtaining their mineral mostly from Vanmatre's lead, on Apple River, near Elizabeth. Next above was the smelting establish -. ment of James Johnson, consisting of a double log cabin, a log and an ash furnace, very nearly on the present site of H. F. McCloskey's store on the levee on the west side of Main Street, directly opposite the foot of Bouthil- lier Street. Amos Farrar had a trading post (a double log cabin), on the bank of the river, between the foot of Perry Street and of Franklin, about in the middle of Water Street. There was a little bayon or slongh opening out of the river near the foot of Perry Street, and running up behind Farrar's post. Near by was a cabin built by Farrar, to accommodate his Indian customers. Thomas H. Jannary also had a double log cabin and warehouse on the point bearing his name. Wm. Adney had a little cabin on the south side of "Buck-lead " branch, now Meeker's Branch, just below the first fork, on the second bench.
These few log cabins constituted the dwellings and places of business of the entire white population of all this region at that time, but the river bottoms, ravines and hillsides were thickly dotted with the wigwams of the Sacs and Foxes, who numbered at least 2,000 in this immediate vicinity. They were peaceable, and treated the white settlers kindly. They were engaged in hunting and fishing, and supplied the whites with a large por- tion of their meats, consisting of venison, game, fish, etc. The squaws and old men, too old to hunt, raised the most of the mineral which supplied the furnaces. Captain Harris remarks that for years they " felt quite as safe among these Indians as they do now," and this is the universal testimony of all the early settlers in this county, now living. The Winnebagoes and Menominees also came here to trade, but their home was then farther nortlı, in Michigan Territory. The Menominees are represented as being the most pleasant and friendly, while the Winnebagoes were always the most insolent, irascible and turbulent. At this time a large pond existed where the De Soto Honse now stands, corner of Main and Green Streets, and extended some distance northward, east of Main Street. Here the boys, both white and Indian, used to come to fish for years afterwards. During the high water, in 1828, a catfish weighing 106 pounds was caught at the present site of the De Soto House. In August, following his arrival, Smith Harris and a young Sac boy, abont his own age, sunk a hole, in search of mineral, on the north side of Franklin Street, about one fourth of a inile from the present court house, but were not very successful. At this time
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
the white settlers were engaged in mining and smelting mineral dug by themselves and furnished by the Indians, and in trading, but with a spirit of enterprise, characteristic of the frontier at that time, they were prospect- ing and making claims in the vicinity for miles around, and commenced the work of making settlements elsewhere, the particulars of which will be found in the township histories in another part of this volume.
In September, 1823. according to reports to the War Department, the only persons engaged in mining or smelting at Fever River mining district under lease from the government were: James Johnson, James Connor, B. Symines and E. Rutter. Dr. Meeker erected a furnace near the present site of Whittam Row, and being possessed of some capital, commenced business on a somewhat extensive scale. During the Fall of this year, James Harris commenced making a farm for Mr. Meeker, abont two and one half miles north of the present city limits of Galena, at what has ever since been known as " Meeker's farm," and the next year, (1824) raised a crop on it, and, as accurately as can be ascertained, planted there the first orchard in the county in the same year.
In the Fall of 1823, Israel Garretson and Maria Bunce were married at the cabin of Dr. Meeker by an army officer, whose name can not be ascertained (possibly Maj. John Anderson, then stationed liere as the government agent), as there was neither minister nor magistrate here. Miss Rutherford and William Hines were married at the same time. These, so far as is known, were the first marriages solemnized in this part of the country. About the same time, it is said that a General Schimerinan died on Fever River, and was buried on Prospect Street, a short distance from Spring Street. This was the first death after the arrival of the Ohio iminigrants.
Jolın S. Miller and family also arrived at the mines in 1823, bnilt a large, double log cabin in what is now called Oldtown, at the northwest corner of Branch and Dodge Streets, and kept a tavern and boarding house. George E. Jackson also returned to this region from Missouri.
1824. This year James Harris commenced making a farm on the Mis- sissippi at Anderson's Slough, since known as Harris' Slongh, and occu- pied the cabin abandoned by Major Anderson. This and the Meeker farm were the first farms known to have been cultivated in the mining district of Fever River, although at that time, and until about 1830, when lead was so low that the miners were compelled to plant or starve, the impression generally prevailed that this region was too far north to be an agricultural country, and that the soil was valuable only for the mineral it contained. This year witnessed still greater additions to the population of the settle- ment, now not confined to the banks of Fever River. Meeker's keel boat, the "Col. Bumford," came up the river again, loaded with immigrants. Among the passengers were the family of James Harris, consisting of his wife, Abigail Harris; sons, Robert Scribe (now living in Dubuque), Martin Keeler and James Meeker (now residing in Galena); and daughters, Selinda, Lucina and Electa ; James Sinitli and his wife, Susan Harris Smith : Mrs. Mary R. Meeker, wife of Dr. Meeker; his sons, Jonathan, Henry, Warner and John, and a daughter, Eveline (who married - - Potts), William Colvin, and others. Selinda Harris married John Ray in 1825, and the young couple were obliged to go to Prairie du Chien to be married, as there was no person then authorized to solemnize marriages in the Fever River Set- tlements. Lucina Harris married Lieut. C. C. Hobart, of the army, a
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
nephew of Gen. Dearborn. Her second husband was William Blair. Electa married William H. Hooper, since delegate to Congress from Utah Territory. Among the other arrivals at the mines in 1824 were Orrin Sinithi, James L. Langworthy (who soon afterwards removed to Dubuque), Mathew Fawcett, Barney Dignan, P. Hogan, Michael Byrne, John Furlong, James Bruner, John Clews, Thompson Humes, Daniel Dyer and John Dugan.
August 18, 1824, Lieut. Martin Thomas was appointed superintendent of the lead mines of the Upper Mississippi, and authorized to grant leases and permits to smelters and miners, and to farmers, provided they did not interfere with the mining interests.
In October, 1824, a son was born to Benson Hunt. The old family bible contains the following entry, now nearly effaced: "James Smithi Hunt, born at 15 minutes past one o'clock P. M., on (day illegible) the 9th day of October, 1824." Soon after this event, Mary S. Miller, daughter of John S. Miller was born. Both these children were born within the limits of the present City of Galena, and, so far as is known, were the first white children born in Jo Daviess County.
1825. The immigration to the mines now became so large that only a few of the arrivals can be mentioned in the brief space allotted to this part of the work. John Foley, first sheriff of the county ; Capt. James Craig, a surveyor and a prominent man, and Capt. William Henry came this year. Craig's wife was a grand-daugliter of Daniel Boone. He afterwards set- tled in Hanover, at what is now called "Craig's Mills." Later in the Fall of this year, Col. Henry Gratiot and his brother, Jolin P. B. Gratiot, came to the Fever River Settlement in a light wagon, with three hired men and their outfit. They struck some mineral and made their first settlement in the valley, between Hinckley's and Waddell's Mounds.
Subsequently the Indians made some large discoveries fifteen miles from Fever River, in Michigan Territory. The Gratiots purchased from them the right of settlement, and located there, naming the place "Gratiot's Grove."
1826. Among those prominent in the early history of this region, who arrived in 1826, are Maj. T. B. Farnsworth, M. C. Comstock, Charles Gear, his son William T. Gear, his sister Sophia Gear, John Turney, William Smith, Jolin Dowling and his son Nicholas, Capt. Allenwrath, Capt. Abra- ham Hathaway, Lemon Parker, William P. Tilton, R. P. Gaylord, James H. Hammett, Jolin Campbell, William Townsend, Louis Chetlain and many others. Charles Gear was an enthusiastic Mason, and was undoubtedly instrumental in organizing Strangers Union Lodge, No. 14, the first masonic organization in " the mines," under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. Sophia Gear, his sister, opened the first school tanghit by a female, in 1827, and subsequently married Amos Far- rar. Allenwrath struck the lead called " Allenwrath Diggings," soon after his arrival. John Turney was a lawyer, said to be the first limb of the law to settle here. Hathaway was a butcher for some years, and then removed to Guilford, where he now resides. Lemon Parker, William P. Tilton, D. B. Morehouse and Robert P. Guyard organized the firm of Parker, Tilton & Co., or the " Galena Mining Company," and located at Ottawa (now Burton's), one and one half miles above January's Point, on the east side of the river, and for years this was a place of considerable importance. Steamboats ran up there, loaded with supplies, and to load with lead. The
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
principal business of the company, says Mr. Lorrain, "was smelting lead ore, which was on an extensive scale. They used what were called 'log furnaces,' of which they had several. They also liad a large building, filled with all kinds of miners' supplies, which they sold to the miners and took mineral in exchange. 'This firm continued to operate until the year 1829, when the partnership was .dissolved. One of tlie parties, Lemon Parker, converted the premises into a factory for the purpose of manufacturing sheet lead and lead pipe. The article made was of superior quality. Not receiving sufficient patronage, however, the business was abandoned. Shortly after, the war department ordered ten thousand dollars' worth of sheet lead, but the order came too late to save the enterprise, as at that time the machinery had been taken out and sold." At Apple River (now Eliza- betli), a large amount of mineral was raised and smelted, and the place was of sonie importance.
During this year a large number of Swiss arrived and settled here. These people had emigrated to the Northi Red River in 1821, under the auspices of Lord Selkirk. They soon became dissatisfied with their location and, in 1823, some of them (among whom was Louis Chetlain) left that region and went to St. Louis. Mr. Clietlain and others came to Fever River in the Spring of 1826, and nearly all the colony at Red River left there, came to the mines in the Autumn of the same year, and settled in various parts of the mining district. Their descendants still live here, among the most respected and reliable citizens of the county.
June 4, 1826, the first post-office was established in the mining district. It was called " Fever River," Crawford County, Illinois. As this was thien Peoria County, the post-office department evidently labored under the impression that Crawford County, Michigan Territory, was in Illinois. Ezekiel Lockwood was appointed postmaster. The office was located at the northwest corner of Perry and Main Streets, and was to be supplied from Vandalia,* the mails being transported on horseback once in two weeks. Deceniber 17, 1829, the name of the post-office was changed to " Galena," Jo Daviess County, Ill.
In July, 1826, the upper street in the town was surveyed and staked off into lots, the surveying being done by Israel Mitchell and James Craig. The first mention of the "Town of Galena," so far as is known, occurs . December 27, 1826. Several permits granted by Thomas McKnight, Feb- ruarv 22, 1827, are dated Galeni.
Angust 7, 1826, occurred probably the first election hield in the mining district. This was then the Fever River Precinct of Peoria County, which embraced all the settlers in the mining region, extending far up into Mich- igan Territory. The poll book contains two hundred and two names, as previously shown on page 225.
September, 1826, a school was opened in a little log building on the south side of Franklin, near Benchi, and was taught by Dr. Jolin O. Han- cock. Dr. Hancock was employed by Mr. Meeker on salary for a year, but early in the Winter received intelligence of sickness in his family, and went East, employing Samuel S. Lawrence to take his place in the school. Law- rence taught until Hancock returned with his family, in the Spring of 1827. On his return, Hancock threw up his contract and engaged in the practice of his profession, and John G. Hughlett, then just arrived, took the school, in April, 1827, and continued it for some years.
* Regular mail service was not established until 1828.
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
In 1826, Thomas H. January. one of the earliest settlers, had a smelt- ing establishment at Buncombe, and his diggings, known as "January's Patch Diggings," extended over a large part of the eastern portion of what is now Vinegar Hill Township. George E. Jackson had previously smelted here as early, probably, as 1825.
1827. The condition of the mining district at this time is graphically portrayed in the following extract from. a communication signed "H," (supposed to be written by Dr. H. Newhall), published in the Miners' Journal of May 9, 1832 :
At the close of 1826 there were but few inhabitants in the country. About fifteen log . cabins constituted what is now the City of Galena, and in the year ending 30th of September, 1826, there was manufactured, in the whole lead mining country, only 958,842 pounds of lead. In the Spring of 1827, vast numbers of persons immigrated to these mines. Buildings were raised, one after another, in rapid succession, and the town and county continued to flourish until July 1, when the Winnebago War (more extended reference to which will hereafter be made) commenced: All mining operations stopped, and thousands left the county. But in the Spring of 1828, immigrants began to arrive, and on the 14th of July of this year there were in the Village of Galena one hundred and ninety-five dwelling houses, warehouses and shops, and forty-six buildings were commenced, but not, at that time, finished. The number of inhabitants in the village was 669. The population at the mines was estimated at 10,000.
One peculiarity of the miners was to apply to the people from the various states, names suggested by some peculiarity of character or sur- rounding circumstances. Miners and others came in suchlı large numbers from Missouri as to suggest to the fertile imagination of the hardy settlers tlie idea that the State of Missouri had taken an emetic, and forthwith all Missourians were dubbed "Pukes." The people of Southern Illinois had the habit of coming up here with their teams in the Spring to haul mineral and work in the mines, but regularly returned to their homes in the Fall. This suggested that they were like the fish called " suckers,' which run up the small streams in the Spring, and run down to deeper water at the approach of cold weather. All Illinoisans were called "Suckers," there- fore, and here, in the lead mines of the Upper Mississippi, originated the term which is now applied to all residents of the "Sucker State." Ken- tuckians were called"" corn-crackers ; " Indianians, "Hoosiers ; " Ohioans, " Buckeyes," etc.
Among those who have been prominent in the history of this county, who arrived in 1827, are, Dr. Horatio Newhall, Capt. II. H. Gear and family, Jolın G. Huglilett, James G. Soulard, William B. Green, Harvey Mann, Charles Peck (of firm of Hooper, Peck and Scales), Solomon Oliver, Allan Tomlin, Gov. Thomas Ford, Col. James M. Strode, C. C. P. Hunt, Capt. John Atchison, Paul M. Gratiot, Nathaniel Morris, Moses Hallett, Lucius H. and Edward Langworthy, William Hempstead, D. B. Morehouse, and many others whose names are familiar in Jo Daviess County, and of whom want of space alone forbids mention.
Dr. Newhall arrived here March 31, 1827, 26 days from St. Louis, and engaged in mining and smelting, but abandoned it the next year and resumed the practice of liis profession. Jan. 27, 1830, he married Elizabetlı P. P. Bates, by whom he had six children, three sons and three daugliters. In the Fall of 1830 he became a surgeon in the U. S. Army, and was sta- tioned at Fort Winnebago, but retired from the service and returned to Galena in 1832. When the Black Hawk War broke out he volunteered his services, and, by order of Gen. Scott, established a military hospital at Galena, of which he had sole control until the end of the war, and was
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warmly complimented by Gen. Scott for its "neatness and good arrange- ment." Aug. 19, 1832, he wrote to his brother that he had received all of the wounded and most of the sick of an army of 5,000 men, and besides, he says, "I have not visited less than twenty per day for several weeks out of the hospital." With the army came the Asiatic Cholera, which prevailed in its most malignant form. It was the first time it had appeared in the United States. The disease was new and its treatment unsettled. Dr. Newhall soon forined a decided opinion as to the pathology of the disease and its proper treatment, and such was liis success that his name was a household word from St. Louis to the Falls of St. Anthony. Dr. Newhall, in addition to his extensive practice, found time for much literary labor. The Miners' Journal, the first newspaper in the mining district, was under his editorial charge, as was also the Galena Advertiser, afterwards publislied by Newhall, Pliilleo & Co. He died on Monday, Sept. 19, 1870. Dr. New- hall was a man of marked character, stern integrity and superior ability. He largely moulded public opinion in this region, and at his death left in the hearts and memories of this people a monument more enduring than the marble that marks his last resting place.
Capt. IIezekialı H. Gear, who also arrived at the mines in April, 1827, was another man who exercised a powerful influence in this (then) new country. His brother, Charles, had removed to Buncombe, and he lived on Meeker's Bench, near where Benson IInnt lived, for three months, and then removed to Buncombe (or Bunkliam, as it is shown on old maps) and located a mining tract about seven miles from Galena, near the Village of Old Council Hill, and called his place "Tower Hill " from a large rock, some- thing in the form of a tower, on his claim. As showing the trials and hardships of the pioneer settlers at that time, Capt. Gear's daughter, Chiar- lotte (who subsequently married Capt. George W. Girdon) relates that when her father built liis cabin at Tower Hill, he cut his logs on a steep bluff on the banks of Fever River, rolled them into the water and towed them, one by one, up stream half a mile to the site he liad selected, by tying one end of a rope around the log and the other end around liis body, and walking up, sometimes in the water, sometimes on the bank. When he had thus collected a sufficient number of logs, the miners in the vicinity helped him raise his cabin. The roof of this cabin was thatched witli long prairie grass and covered withi sods. The floor of the cabin was the native earth, and as the roof was not water-tight, the situation of the inmates in a rain storm can be imagined. The next year Capt. Gear sawed some planks from pine logs with a whip-saw, and laid a floor. It was just after a heavy storm, wlien it rained indoors harder than it did out, and Mrs. Girdon (thien a miss of ten years) says: "I never expect to be so happy again, this side of Heaven, as I was when that floor was laid." Capt. Gear soon after provided a better roof and the family was better housed; but such was pioneer life in the mines in 1827. Just after the close of the Black Hawk War, in which lie participated, he discovered an immense deposit of mineral. Shortly before lis deatlı lie declared tliat he had realized from the sale of 26,000,000 pounds of lead ore, all taken from that inine. He became one of the most wealthy and enterprising men of the Northiwest, and at one time he was, perhaps, more extensively engaged in mining and smelting tlian any other person.
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