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 33
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The services of the pre-emption commissioners were continued from August 20, 1836, to March 29, 1838-about one year and seven months. Their last meeting was held at the date last written, when the following entry was made :
- It appearing that all applications for the right of pre-emption have been decided, and the decisions entered of record, it is ordered that the board adjourn.
SAMUEL LEECH, JOHN TURNEY,
Commissioners.
In closing their official labors as commissioners for laying off the Town of Galena, etc., the undersigned state that they entered upon the discharge of their duties with much diffidence, arising from the novel and multifarious character of the claims they had to ad- just and the rights they had to determine. They could find no precedent to guide them nor any general rules that could be applied to the cases arising under the law. Nor was it in their power to establish any. They consequently gave a liberal construction to the law and judged of every case according to its intrinsic merits, without regard to strictly legal tech- nicalities. The course they have adopted, and the decisions they have made, they are proud to believe have met with the hearty appreciation of a great majority of their fellow citizens.
It is very evident the commissioners intended to append their signa- tures to this closing order, but for some reason unknown to the writer they failed to do so.
September 10, 1836, soon after the pre-emption commissioners entered upon a discharge of their duties, the county commissioners, being in session,
Ordered, That the commissioners for laying off the Town of Galena be requested to have reserved for public purposes that portion of ground on the prairie on the bottom between the cross streets running by Bernard Dignan's and Lawrence Ryan's, and in the rear of the tier of lots on Main Street, to the river; also any portion of the ground on what is called Meeker's Point, as may not belong to individuals.
This request appears to have been granted, for on page 40 of the pre- emption record the commissioners Wann and Turney say that " after mature deliberation, it is ordered that the lots on the prairie extend back from Main Street one hundred and twenty feet, and that a street of seventy feet wide, parallel thereto, be laid out, only making the angles on the cross streets, in- stead of the blocks, and that the residue of the ground between this street and Water Street be divided in its center, one half fronting on the street laid parallel to Main Street, and the other half fronting on Water Street, and that the square back of Benninger's and Ryan's be reserved for public uses, in conformity with the request of the County Commissioners Court of Jo Daviess County."
[The lots covered by the above order of the pre-emption commissioners are known as and described on the plat as No. 61, 62. 63 and 64. These lots were all entered by the president of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Galena, July 23, 1838. September 18, 1839, lot No. 62 was mortgaged by the Board of Trustees to William Tiernan for $200, which mortgage has never been satisfied, but remains unpaid, and, of course, is " outlawed." They are occupied by the market house.]
March 20 and 28, 1838, about the time the pre-emption commissioners
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
were closing up the business of their appointment, and among the last business entries the following appears of record :
March 20, 1838. Present, Samuel Leech, John Turney, Daniel Wann. The County Commissioners of Jo Daviess County claim lot No. 64, above Meeker's, on behalf and for the benefit of said county, and in support of said claim produced a regular permit granting the same to the County Commissioners of said County, dated June 28, 1828, and signed by M. Thomas, Sup't U. S. lead mines. The Commissioners are therefore of the opinion that the County Commissioners of Jo Daviess County and their successors in office for the erection of public buildings are entitled to a pre-emption to said lot No. 64 above Meeker's for the use and benefit of the county aforesaid. Said lot fronting 134 feet on Gratiot Street, and running westwardly 217 8-12 feet, containing .669 of an acre of the first class. Certificate issued " March 28, 1838. Present, Samuel Leech and John Turney: The County Commis- sioners of Jo Daviess County claim lot No. 52, between Bench and Main Streets, and in support of said claim produced evidence that the same was occupied and improved in the years 1827, 1828 and 1829, by John Connelly, together with a deed from said Farrar dated May 22, 1829; also, an instrument of settlement between Amos Farrar, Russell Farnham and George Davenport, by which said Farnham and Davenport became joint owners of said lot with Farrar; also, a deed executed by James Craig, Horatio Newhall and D. G. Bates, Commissioners appointed by the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess County, at a public vendue ordered by said Circuit Court, for the sale of certain property belonging to the said Farrar, Farnham and Davenport, to James Bennett, dated January 7, 1834. It appearing, however, by a certified copy of the record of the County Commissioners Court of Jo Daviess County, filed in this case, that the said James Bennett " bid off" the same lot at the public vendue above mentioned by direction and under authority of the Commissioners of the said county, for the uses and purposes mentioned in said record-that said James Bennett received from said county one hundred dollars, it being the sum required to be paid down by the terms of said sale-that the said Commissioners have taken up the note given by the said James Bennett, to the said Craig, Newhall and Bates, Commissioners in "partition " aforesaid, for the balance of the purchase money (nine hundred dollars) for said lot.
The Commissioners are therefore of the opinion that the County Commissioners of Jo Daviess County are entitled to a pre-emption to lot No. 52, fronting 10412 feet on Bench Street, and running eastwardly 116 feet, containing .257 of an acre of the first class. Certi- ficate issued.
Lot No. 51, center addition was entered by Thomas Fox, and by the administrator of the estate of Thomas Fox was conveyed to Thomas Drum. September 29, 1838, Thomas Drum conveyed it to the commissioners of Jo Daviess County. Drum also conveyed to the county the lot (No. 17, block 24) on which the jail is situated. Lot No. 52 was entered by Nathaniel Head, and after one or two changes of ownership, was conveyed to the county.
Court House and Jail Redivivus .- Having traced up the origin of the title to the court house grounds, we return to the erection of the jail and court house. There were no records to show that the jail was built under contract, nor was there any person to be found who remembered the particulars attending its erection. There are several orders, however, made by the county commissioners that leave the inference that it was built by different mechanics, laborers, etc., under the direction of an agent appointed for that purpose by the county. For instance, September 13, 1838, a draft on the " cash fund of the county for $2,000 was ordered to issue to William H. Bradley, to be expended as required for the erection of the jail." . The same day, W. B. Green was allowed "fifty dollars for his services as agent for erecting the county jail," and "Hughes & Co. were allowed $500 out of the cash fund for quarrying stone for jail foundation." At the same time "Thomas Drum, Abel Proctor and Elijah Charles were appointed to super- intend the erection of the jail." This last order indicates the removal of W. B. Green as agent for the purpose. These several orders indicate pretty clearly that the jail was not built under contract. The plans presented by Rogers and approved by the court, as heretofore mentioned, were carried out,
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
and the jail so far completed in 1839 as to be tenantable. It was not fully completed, however, as shown by an order of the Commissioners Court passed June 11, 1841, which provided for the appointment of Abraham Hathaway as agent " to complete the jail, now in an unfinished condition." No resident of Galena could be found by the historians who remembered the name of a single mechanic-stone mason, brick mason or carpenter-who was employed on its erection. Neither were any records to be found show- ing to whom money was paid for the purpose, or how much. The money ($2,000 already quoted) was directed to be paid to Bradley, and it is pre- sumable that he paid it over to the workmen, and hence the fact that their names do not appear in the records.
The court house appears to have been built in like manner. March 9, 1839, it was "ordered (by the county commissioners) that Thomas Drum and Abel Proctor (now of Wright County, Iowa,) be appointed agents to superintend the erection of the court house, with full power to make and enter into contracts for the erection of the same, and to do all other acts and things which to them shall be deemed necessary for the prosecution and speedy completion of the said court house." The same day it was further "ordered by the court that William H. Bradley be appointed. agent for the county to pay all bills certified by the agents of the county, of the laborers and contractors for work done in and about the erection of the court house, and to keep a correct account of all money paid, and all and every expense attending the erection of the same, and to make report of the same to the agents or to the court when it shall be required."
Of the many mechanics, laborers, agents, and others who bore a part in the erection of the court house, not many are now living. William H. Bradley, who was clerk of the County Commissioners Court at the time, and financial agent, is now clerk of the Circuit and District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois. Abel Proctor, one of the county commis- sioners mentioned, is a resident of Wright County, Iowa, and is in the eighty-third year of his age-hale, hearty and active, and as straight as an Indian. John L. Slaymaker, now an old man, lives [near Albany, in this state. Richard Darigan, who, with John Hughes and Michael Gannan, made the excavation for the foundation walls of the court house, still lives in Galena and is court house janitor. He is an old man now, but hale, hearty, active and trustworthy. Hughes and Gannan are both dead. Andrew Telford (a brother of John Telford, who did the carpenter work) then a journeyman carpenter, helped to roof the building in the Spring of 1840-the year after he camne here to join his brother John, and has ever since continued to make Galena his home. If the others of their associate workmen are alive, their whereabouts is unknown.
Messrs. Barrick & Russell are remembered by Mr. A. Telford as the stone masons who dressed the stone and laid up the walls.
It is remembered that there were some complaints from tax payers against what they conceived to be mismanagement and extravagance on the part of some of the managers or agents of the court house building. Rev. Father Mazzuchelli, who, with John L. Slayınaker, was appointed engineer to superintend and oversee the architectural work, was not backward, it is said, in his denunciation of the management of some of the authorities. Whatever grounds there may have been for these charges, it is certain that, notwithstanding the amount of money given to the county from the sales of the Galena town lots (amounting, as Mr. Daniel Wann thinks, to about
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
$18,000 * cash) the county treasury was so depleted that it became necessary to borrow money to complete the undertaking. December 4, 1839, the County Commissioners
Ordered, That the Senator and Representative of this district be requested to use their influence to have a special act passed by the legislature to authorize the County Commis- sioners of Jo Daviess County to mortgage real estate belonging to the county for the purpose of raising money in order to finish and complete the court house; and that the clerk for- ward to them a copy of this order.
An order of March 14, 1840, shows that the authority sought through the means of a special legislative enactment was granted, for on that day it was ordered that John Atchison be appointed an agent to negotiate a loan and to mortgage real estate belonging to the county as security there- for. From subsequent orders, it appears that the loan was effected, and the Dowling property so mortgaged as security. By an order made on the 14th day of May, 1840, Atchison was also authorized to mortgage lots numbered 51 and 52 (in so-called Centre Addition), fronting on Meeker and Bench Streets, and the new court house, in addition to the old court house. March 5, 1841, it was "ordered that John Atchison, commissioner, negotiate a loan for the completion of the court house, appointed by an order of this court at the March term, 1840, be requested to make a report to the next term of this court, of the amount of the loan effected by him, of the amount advanced by him from said loan, either to the order of the County Court or their agent, and of all his acts under said agency."
The "next term " of the court was held in June, the records of which show the following proceedings:
Friday Morning, June 11, 1841.
Court met pursuant to adjournment. Present, Messrs. Drum and Hathaway.
In pursuance of an order of this court at the March term thereof, 1841, John Atchi- son, Commissioner to negotiate a loan for the completion of the new court house, made his report, which is accepted by the court and ordered to be recorded, and is in the words and figures following, to-wit:
TO THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY, ILLINOIS,
Gentlemen :- Under the authority of your court of the March term thereof, 1840, as commissioner to negotiate a loan for the completion of the new court house, I borrowed of Richard H. McGoon, on the 16th of May, 1840, seven thousand dollars, at ten per cent inter- est, payable annually, for which I mortgaged to Mr. McGoon lot No. thirty-six (36), part of lot No. thirty-seven (37), on Main Street, Galena, lots on which the old court house stands, and also lots fifty-one and fifty-two in Centre Addition, so called, on which the new court house is erected, of which sum I have paid out as per account rendered herewith, $3,427 02
I have accepted an order for. 203 00
Balance in my hands at this date, say 3,369 98
$7,000 00
With Respect, Your Ob't Servt., JOHN ATCHISON.
* A letter from Mr. Bradley, under date of " Office Clerk Circuit and District Courts, United States, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, February 15, 1878," after referring to the fact of Congress providing for the "laying off a town on Bean River, in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes," the appointment of pre-emption commissioners, and their duties, etc., says : " The proceeds of the sale of lots, after the payment of the expenses of the commission, amounted to $35,000, which was paid over to the county commissioners by Col. John Dement, receiver of the land office then located at Galena." If this statement is correct, and Mr. Bradley ought to know, the people and tax-payers of 1878 will wonder why the necessity of borrowing money by mortgaging the Dowling property and the lots on which the court house stands, together with the new court house, to complete a building that ought not to have cost more than $25,000, at the most. If Mr. Bradley's figures are correct, the court house did not cost less than $60,000, or $65,000, as any one can see by fol- lowing up the records and figures quoted.
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
Without attempting to follow up in detail all the orders, specifications, etc., of the county commissioners, their agents and others, in regard to the erection of the court house, suffice it to say, that, by the time the stone and mason work was completed, the money was all exhausted, and the building was left in an unfinished condition for several years. It was finished, however, in 1844. Captain Abner Eads, then a county commis- sioner, had been very active in his efforts to complete it, and personally superintended the removal of the offices from the old Dowling building.
The tablet over the entrance to the court house credits its erection to to the year 1839. It ought to be made to read " Commenced in 1839, and completed and occupied in 1844."
The McGoon loan, negotiated by John Atchison, by mortgaging the Dowling property, etc., was not fully settled until the year 1848. At a special meeting of the county commissioners held on the 24th day of Jan- uary, of that year, the matter came up for consideration, and a final adjust- ment was effected. The debt was created by a special act of the Legisla- ture, as heretofore mentioned, and another special enactment became neces- sary to help the commissioners out of the difficulty. The second special act authorized the imposition of a special tax for the payment of the mort- gage held by McGoon, which mortgage was made under authority of an act of the Legislature, passed January 18, 1840.
On the 16th day of April, 1844, there was due on this mortgage $5,041.50, and there was to be issued in payment for the interest due or to become due on said mortgage, $504.15, which orders were to draw six per cent interest (subsequently increased to ten per cent). The commission- ers ordered that the sum of $1,650 " at present collected under said special tax be paid over to said McGoon, in part payment of the principal sum of said mortgage," and the treasurer was further ordered to pay to the said McGoon the moneys to be collected under the special tax. McGoon agreed to continue to take orders in payment of the interest, and whenever the principal should be paid, McGoon agreed to release the mortgage and hold the orders for interest, merely like any other creditor. The county com- missioners agreed, on the part of the county, " to pay such orders given, and to be given for payment of interest, with ten per cent interest on said orders, free from all objections of want of consideration, etc., etc .; it being expressly understood that this settlement is final and conclusive settlement forever, binding between the county and said McGoon. If the payment of the principal sum shall be made on said mortgage on or before the 16th of April, 1848, then the present year's interest is to calculated according to law, and an order for such sum is to be issued bearing ten per cent interest as heretofore. If the said principal sum is not so paid, as aforesaid, then the interest due on the principal which may not be paid at that time may be liquidated upon the same principle as heretofore laid down.
October 3, 1843, the county clerk was ordered to advertise for bids for furnishing the court house, according to plans on file, to be paid in orders on the county treasurer at fifty cents on the dollar. [See p. 212, County Commissioners' Record, No. 1].
November, of the same year, a contract for completing the joiners' work on the court house was let to John L. Slaymaker and John Lent.
March 6, 1844, Mr. Atchison made a final settlement, as loan agent, relative to which the following entry appears:
-
Richard Brun
NEW YORK. (FORMERLY OF GALENA).
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
On this day John Atchison rendered vouchers for payments made by him on account of the McGoon fund, amounting to the sum of $280.06, which were allowed by the court, and said Atchison is to be credited with interest thereon in final settlement on his account from the date of said payments respectively. Said allowances were as follows, to-wit:
Paid by J. A. to Slaymaker, Nov. 1, 1842 $181.50
Paid by J. A. to McNulty, Jan. 7, 1843 38.56
Paid by J. A. to McNulty, Jan. 7, 1843 60.00
Amount of vouchers.
$280.06
, July 6, 1844, a contract for plastering the court house was awarded to S. A. Rambo and J. B. Deneber, the contract to be completed "in time for the sitting of the next term of the Circuit Court, on the third Monday of October, 1844; and September 4, 1844, D. Hinkle was employed to paint the wood work of the court house, and have it in readiness by the next " term of the Circuit Court, on the third Monday in October next."
So endeth the court house chapter.
POOR HOUSE.
An examination of the records of the County Clerk's office reveals the fact, and a most commendable one, that from a very early period in the county's history, generous and humane provisions were made for the care of the poor, the sick, and the disabled, to whom fortune had denied her favors. In the earlier days their care and maintenance was secured under contract with suitable persons, who were governed or superintended by commissioners appointed by the County Commissioners Court. The records show that on the 6th of September, 1838, the following order was made:
For the purpose of affording relief to the sick and helpless individuals now in this county, the commissioners have this day contracted with Isham Hardin to furnish, on his part, house room in the dwelling now occupied by him for such persons as shall be directed or sent by the direction of a committee hereinafter mentioned, to the house of him, the said Hardin, and that he shall give such attention and assistance as shall be required by the persons thus sent or directed to his house, after being furnished by the committee afore- said with the necessary provisions, etc., at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents a week for each person thus brought or sent to his house. And it is further ordered by the court that Philip Barry, R. W. Carson, George W. Fuller, P. F. Schimer and J. P. DeZoya be appointed a committee to attend, as often as necessary, at the house of said Hardin, for the purpose of furnishing provisions and other things which they shall deem necessary for the comfort and health of those in the care of Mr. Hardin aforesaid, and that they furnish the provisions necessary aforesaid, at the expense of the county.
Thomas Drum, Abel Proctor and James A. Mitchell were the county commissioners at this date.
An examination of the receipts and expenditures for different years, from 1836 to 1843, shows the following expenditures for poor purposes.
For. the year ending March 1, 1836, $1,539.34; March 1, 1840, $4,257.60; March 1, 1841, $3,488.29; March 1, 1842, $1,160.69; March 1, 1843, $539.75.
A brief reference here to the financial condition of the county may not be out of place in this connection. On the first day of March, 1845, the indebtedness of the county over resources was $53,942.10; March 1, 1846, $63,392.66; March 1, 1847, $68,526.34; March 1, 1848, $67,776.55; March 1, 1849, $44,619.28. The indebtedness of the county was never fully paid off until 1875. During the war, time orders were issued by the board of supervisors, on which a loan of $229,000 was secured for war pur- poses. These orders bore eight per cent interest, but in 1875 the principal
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HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
, and interest and all other evidences of indebtedness were fully settled, and the county paper is now as good as gold.
June 9, 1848, notwithstanding there was an indebtedness of $67,776.55 hanging over the county, over and above its resources, the authorities took under consideration the purchase of a tract of land and the erection of buildings thereon for poor purposes. A tax of six mills on the dollar was ordered for general county purposes, and an additional tax of one half mill for poor purposes-that is, for the purchase of land for a poor farm and the erection of suitable buildings. In 1849 the poor tax was increased to one mill.
Thursday, July 5, 1849, W. B. Green, E. Graham, John Garner and John Lent were appointed a committee to devise plans for a poor house, with a view to building immediately. Sealed proposals for building the same had been invited by public advertisements, and July 19 the clerk was ordered to open the proposals deposited with him from contractors. The proposition of Messrs. Snyder & Willis was considered to be the most favorable, and was accepted, but at a subsequent meeting of the court it was
Ordered, That the building of the poor house be deferred until next Spring.
[December 3, 1849, the county commissioners were succeeded in the management of county affairs by a county judge and two associate justices, who continued to discharge such duties until the people of the county voted to adopt the township system in 1853.]
February 1, 1850, County Judge Bostwick, and R. Brown, as associate justice, sitting as a county court (in special session) for the transaction of county business, had the poor house under consideration. After the county commissioners had ordered that the building of the poor house be deferred, as in the above order, and some time during the month of December, 1849, or January, 1850, new bids for building the same had been invited. Under direction of Judge Bostwick the bids received were opened and severally recorded as follows:
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