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 36
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But all these things are changed now. A log school-house in Illinois is a rarity. Their places are filled with handsome frame or brick structures. The rude furniture has also given way, and the old school books-the " Pop- ular Reader," the "English Reader " (the best school reader ever known in American schools), and "Webster's Elementary Spelling Book "-are superseded by others of greater pretensions. The old spelling classes and spelling matches have followed the old school-houses, until they are remem- bered only in name. Of her school system Illinois can justly boast. It is a pride and a credit to the adopted home of the great men this great state has sent out as rulers and representative men-men like Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Shields, Lovejoy, Yates, Washburne, Drummond, and hundreds of others whose names are as familiar abroad as they are in the histories of the counties and neighborhoods where once they lived. While the state has extended such fostering care to the interests of education, the several coun- ties have been no less zealous and watchful in the management of tliis vital interest. And Jo Daviess County forms no exception to the rule. The school-houses and their furnishings are in full keeping with the spirit of the law that provides for their maintenance and support. The teachers rank high among the other thousands of teachers in the state, and the several county superintendents, since the office of superintendent was made a part of the school system, have been chosen with especial reference to their fit- ness for the position.
The present superintendent of county schools is Robert Brand, Esq., who was first elected in November, 1873, and re-elected in November, 1877. From Mr. Brand's last report to the State Superintendent, the following statistics are compiled :
Number of males under 21 years of age
7,435
Number of females 66
7,363
Total
14,798
Number of males between 6 and 21 years.
5,092
Number of females
.6 5,002
Total
10,094
Number of school districts.
121
Number having school five months or more
119
Average number of months school sustained.
7.5-24
Number of male pupils enrolled
3,861
Number of female
3,516
Total
7,377
Number of male teachers enrolled.
88
Number of female
153
Total
241
Grand total number of days' attendance, 607,110, being equal in school time (i. e., nine months of four weeks each, and five days to a week) to 3,372 years, 7 months and 2 weeks. Highest monthly wages paid to any male teacher
66
66
female
$111 11 50 00
Lowest 66
06
66 female
15 00
Average
male
47 17
66 female
26 49
Value of school libraries
486 00
66
male
16 00
201%
362
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
Total receipts during the year $ 66,381 75
Total expenditures during the year 56,451 10
Balance in the hands of treasurers 9,850 65
Estimated value of school property 109,355 00
Estimated value of apparatus 2,134 00
Principal of township fund. 51,126 47
Number of different places where examinations were held. 13
Whole number of examinations held. 35
Whole number of male applicants examined.
Whole number of male applicants examined for second grade certifi- cates.
16
Whole number of female applicants examined during the year for first grade certificates. 25
88
Whole number of female applicants examined during the year for second grade certificates 235
Total number examined. 28
Total number of second grade certificates issued during the year_ 258
Number of male applicants rejected. 20
Number of female applicants rejected 40
Total number rejected. 65
During the year Mr. Brand visited seventy-seven different schools, nineteen of which were visited more than once. He failed to visit forty- two, and spent on an average of five hours in each of the schools he did visit. He spent ninety-six days in visitation, thirty-five in examinations, eleven in institute work, thirty-eight in office work, and seven in other official duties, making a total of one hundred and eighty-three days devoted especially to school work.
It is said that the " colored servants, or indentured apprentices," brought here by the Johnsons and others of the early miners, accumulated a good deal of property, which was subject to taxation. A friend to that people, believed to have been Hon. Thompson Campbell, secured the pas- sage of an enactment by which the tax collected from them was set aside for their especial school benefit. In time, a sufficient sum accumulated to sustain a school a part of each year, but no one in Illinois at that time, either male or female, could be found who had courage enough to teachi a negro school. Especial inquiry was made by the historians to learn the name of the public man of that time who was bold enough, philanthropic enough, generous enough, liberal enough, in the face of the then existing prejudice, to seek to educationally benefit the emancipated Illinois slaves. But no one could remember. Mr. Christopher, a representative man of the colored people of Galena, is of the opinion that the Mr. Campbell named above was the inan, but does not state it as a fact. Neither could any one tell them what became of the money collected from that people in taxes and set apart for the support of a school for them.
Mr. Christopher does remember, however, that Captain H. H. Gear gave them a lot of ground for educational and religious purposes, which they utilized.
As late as 1866, the " color line " was so clearly defined in Galena, that a colored school was crushed out by public prejudice. A Miss Han- nah Christopher (daughter of a Congregational minister of that name, who was located here) a woman of enlarged, humane, generous, liberal ideas, attempted to teach a colored school, but was forced to give it up. As soon as she commenced the school, she became an object of malice and malignity. Slander, abuse, traduction-every thing that prejudice could suggest or hatred of the blacks invent-were hurled at her with such merciless viru- lence that she was compelled to abandon the undertaking. She finally
.
363
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
accompanied her family (that made up part of a colony) to Abilene, Kansas.
Gradually, however, the sober second thought, which is said to be always right, asserted itself, and about 1868 provisions were made for edu- cating the children of that long-despised and down-trodden people. Sep- arate schools were established. That was one step. But the prejudice still existed. The black scholars were objects of malice. The white scholars of the other schools seemed to think them natural enemies or natural objects for 'personal assault, and pitched battles were of not infrequent occur- rence. But they learned rapidly, and soon demonstrated the fact that they were equally as apt as white scholars. They quickly reached a standard that entitled them to admission to the high school, and the demand for such admission was made by Mr. Christopher. . Then came another "tug of war." Some of the authorities favored their admission to the high school, and, strange to say, some that had always professed to be friends of the colored people, opposed it. They assigned as a reason, that, if admitted to the high school, the white scholars would kill them. Mr. Christopher per- sisted in claiming equal rights and privileges for the children of his peo- ple, and finally told the opposition that he was willing to risk a trial. To "If there is any killing to be done, let them com- quote his own words: inence by killing some of my children. I am willing to make the sacri- fice." There was an issue of right involved, and Christopher met it like a Roman hero. It was true, manly courage-a courage to be admired. He was contending for the rights of his people, and he triumphed. His chil- dren were admitted, and they were not killed. Others were admitted, and they were not killed. They now get along harmoniously, and are natural allies-offensive and defensive-the white and colored pupils of the high school against the scholars of the other schools. When an assault is made against one, it is an assault made against all. And scarcely any one is now to be found who was ever opposed to the education of the negroes, either in separate or mixed schools. So much for the advancement of civilization and intelligence. "John Brown's soul goes marching on."
The Northwestern German-English Normal School .- This institution was organized in 1868 by the German Methodist Conference, under whose auspices it still continues. This society purchased the building which was erected as a marine hospital, including eleven acres of ground, for six thousand dollars. The original cost to the government was $43,000.
The school was opened on September 23, 1868, with Professor Jacob Wernli, formerly assistant principal of the State Normal School at Platte- ville, Wisconsin, as principal; Professors Charles Zimmerman and B. F. Merten, assistants.
The objects of this school are to educate young ladies and gentlemen to become teachers in German, English or German-English schools; also, to prepare for college those desirous of a higher education.
In July, 1869, the school numbered 120.
In the Fall of 1869, Professor H. H. Oldenhage, of Milwaukee, assumed the chair of German, Latin and the natural sciences.
Mr. Oldenhage returned to Milwaukee in 1873, where, on December 20, 1877, he died, in the prime of life, amid the enjoyment of the highest esteem for his mental attainments, his ability as a teacher and his noble character.
His position in the school was filled by George P, Merten, A. B., until
364
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
June, 1876, who was in turn succeeded by Carl Hobe, A. B. Miss Addie Bonnell assisted as teacher from January, 1870, to June, 1871; Mr. Fred- erick Hirsch from 1871 to 1873.
In 1872 Prof. C. Zimmerman returned to Milwaukee, where he has for the last three years been superintendent of drawing in the public schools of Milwaukee. In 1873 Prof. J. Wernli resigned and was succeeded as principal by Professor B. F. Merton, who had been professor of mathematics, and who still holds the position of principal. Rev. B. Lampert and Miss Annie Tomlin taught from 1873 to 1875. Mrs. C. E. Anderson was connected with the school as teacher of instrumental music for six years. Since 1875 Jacob Boss, A. B., has assisted as instructor.
The school has done a valuable work for the educational development of this and other counties. Most of the schools of this county are taught by its graduates, of whom there have been forty-one. The school has a beautiful building and surroundings and excellent facilities for thorough education.
OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
Oh! a wonderful stream is the river of Time, As it runs through the realm of tears, With a faultless rhythm, and a musical rhyme, And a broader sweep, and a surge sublime, As it blends in the ocean of years.
-B. F. Taylor.
Three quarters of a century has passed since white men first entered upon the occupancy of the fertile valleys and mineral lands of the extremne northwestern part of the great country of the Illini-erst the home of the Sacs, the Foxes, the Winnebagoes, the Menominees and kindred tribes of people native to American wilds. Since the time when the cabins of white men began to be reared upon the hillsides and within the valleys of the numerous streams that find their source in hill-side springs, and, flowing to the southwest, unite their waters with the mighty Mississippi, the Father of Waters, the years have been so full of changes that the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past, could scarcely be made to realize that during these years a population of 28,000 has grown up within the limits of the county whose history we are writing. From a savage wild, marked only by bloody conflicts of Indian tribes and recorded only on rude, unspeaking tablets and dumb mounds of earth, the galena section has become a centre of civiliza- tion-the home and school of soldiers, great war ministers, congressmen, governors, grave senators, solemn judges, foreign ministers, presidents- men known and honored, not only at home, but among the crowned heads and titled courts of the old world. Schools, churches, colleges, busy manu- factories, highly cultivated and remunerative farms, with their palatial-like dwellings, mark the camping places and battle-grounds of the wild men wlio once held dominion over these prairie-plains and forest-covered and mineral-filled hills. Cities, towns and villages occupy the places once dotted over with Indian wigwams. Iron bridges span the rivers where once bark canoes served as ferries for the wild men, their women and children, and railroads and telegraph lines-adjuncts and agencies of the highest type of civilization known to the world's history-mark the course of the trails they made when traveling from one part of the country to another. Of
365
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
the land-marks of the "long ago," but few are left as the children of the forest and prairie wilds left them, except the prehistoric mounds to be found in almost every part of the county, and they were fashioned by whom?
It is not strange that among the pioneer settlers of any new country a deep-seated and sincere friendship should spring up, that would grow and strengthen with their years. The incidents peculiar to life in a new coun- try-the trials and hardships, privations and destitutions-are well calcu- lated to test not only the physical powers of endurance, but the moral, kindly, generous attributes of manhood and womanhood. They are times that try men's souls and bring to the surface all that there may be in them of either good or bad. As a rule, there is an equality of conditions that recognizes no distinctions. All occupy a common level, and as a natural consequence, a brotherly and sisterly feeling grows up that is as lasting as time, for "a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." With such a com- munity, there is a hospitality, a kindness, a benevolence and a charity unknown and unpracticed among the older, richer and more densely popu- lated commonwealths. The very nature of their surroundings teaches them to "feel each other's woe, to share each other's joy." An injury or a wrong may be ignored, but a kindly, generous, charitable act is never forgotten. The inemory of old associations and kindly deeds is always fresh. Raven locks may bleach and whiten; full, round -cheeks wither and waste away; the fires of intelligence vanish from the organs of vision; the brow become wrinkled with care and age, and the erect form bowed with accumulating years, but the true friends of the "long ago" will be remembered as long as life and reason endure.
The surroundings of pioneer life are well calculated to test the "true inwardness" of the human heart. As a rule, the men and women who first occupy a new country-who go in advance to spy out the land and prepare it for the coming of a future people-are bold, fearless, self-reliant and industrious. In these respects, no matter from what remote sections or countries they may come, there is a similarity of character. In birth, edu- cation, religion and language, there may be a vast difference, but imbued with a common purpose -- the founding and building of homes-these dif- ferences are soon lost by association, and thus they become one people, united by a common interest, and no matter what changes may come in after years, the associations thus formed are never buried out of memory.
In pioneer life there are always incidents of peculiar interest, not only to the pioneers themselves, but which, if properly preserved, would be of interest to posterity, and it is a matter to be regretted that the formation of "Old Settlers' Associations " has been neglected in so many parts of the country. The presence of such associations in all the counties of our com- mon country, with well kept records of the more important events, such as dates of arrivals, births, marriages, deaths, removals, nativity, etc., as any one can readily see, would be the direct means of preserving to the litera- ture of the country the history of every community, that, to future genera- tions, would be invaluable as a record of reference, and a ready method of settling important questions of controversy. As important as these asso- ciations are admitted to be, their formation has not yet become general, and there are many counties in the Western country whose early history is entirely lost because of such neglect and indifference. Such organizations would possess facts and figures that could not be had from any other source. Aside from their historic importance, they would serve as a means of
366
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
keeping alive and further cementing old friendships, and renewing among the members associations that were necessarily interrupted by the innova- tions of increasing population, cultivating social intercourse, and creating a charitable fund for such of their members as were victims of misfortune and adversity.
Actuated by the purposes suggested in the preceding paragraph, the pioneers of Jo Daviess County organized a society in 1872, that was known as the Jo DAVIESS COUNTY OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION, which title was changed, in a meeting hield June 14, 1873, to Jo DAVIESS EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
The first formal meeting was held at the office of the Gas Light Com- pany at Galena, November 2, 1872, and a permanent organization effected at a subsequent meeting held at the County Court House two weeks later (on the 16th) when the following officers were elected:
President-James G. Soulard.
Vice Presidents-D. S. Harris and Samuel Tyrrell.
Secretary and Treasurer-John Lorrain.
Executive Committee-Henry Marfield, Edgar Bouton, John B. French, Wm. R. Rowley and Thomas O'Leary.
Committee on Constitution and By-Laws .- H. H. Houghton, John Lorrain, John B. French, Harvey Mann, and Richard Seal.
A residence in the county of thirty years, and the payment of one dol- lar fee, were the qualifications for membership, until October, 1874, when the Constitution was so modified that a residence in the lead mine region of thirty years, prior to application for membership, was required. The . object of the society is thus defined by the Constitution:
Feeling and knowing that many of our early settlers have passed away, and with them much valuable informtion lias been lost, and now wishing to preserve, as much as possible, the early incidents attending the first settlement of Jo Daviess County, by gathering to- gether her pioneer fathers; forming them into an association ; cementing and renewing old friendships; bringing to light and recording old, and, in many cases, almost forgotten, reminiscences ; thereby perpetuating and giving to our children and the world a true and reliable history of the first settlement of the northwest corner of the now great State of Illi- nois, do this day form ourselves into a permanent organization.
At a meeting held at the court house, June 14, 1873, Mr. D. S. Harris, the oldest pioneer settler in the county, was made President of the Association, vice J. G. Soulard, resigned, after which the following other officers were elected for the ensuing year:
Vice Presidents .- J. G. Soulard, Harvey Mann, and Samuel Tyrrell.
Secretary and Treasurer .- Jolın Lorrain.
Historical Committee .- J. M. Harris, James G. Soulard, and J. C. Spare.
October 2, 1873, by invitation of the officers of Jo Daviess County Agricultural Association, the Association held a reunion on the Fair Ground, marching thereto in a body, with a flag, inscribed with their society name, floating above them, each member bearing a rosette of the National colors. Wm. R. Rowley was acting Marshal, and I. P. Stevens, Speaker of the day.
At the annual meeting held at the court house, June 20, 1874, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
President .- Daniel Smith Harris.
Vice Presidents .- Samuel Tyrrell, Samuel W. Hathaway, and Harvey Mann.
367
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
Secretary .- John Lorrain.
The following action was taken regarding the death of Brother John G. Potts:
" Resolved, That we each of us deeply sympathize with his bereaved family and many friends, knowing his sterling worth as an honest, upright and unimpeachable gentleman and citizen. As we honored him in life, we sincerely mourn him in death." .
October 1, 1874, the Society visited the County Fair, under similar invitation to that of the year previous. Marshal, Thomas McNulty; Orator of the day, I. P. Stevens; Flag Bearer, P. M. McNulty.
The procession formed at tlie court house and marched to the ground. It was met by the Fair Marshal with the band, and by them escorted to the stand, where they were welcomed in the name of the society by Mr. R. Bar- rett. After music by the band, D. S. Harris, President, introduced I. P. Stevens, Orator of the day. After his address, in which he briefly spoke of the early local history, " Auld Lang Syne " was sung by the Association (standing). The band then rendered "The Star Spangled Banner," after which followed a general hand-shaking and reunion.
[The records of the association do not show that any meeting of the Society was held in 1875. There is, however, a long printed letter from Hon. E. B. Washburne to Captain Daniel Smitlı Harris, dated Paris, Janu- ary 15, 1875, on the death of Mr. Charles S. Hempstead, that is preserved in the record in an appropriate place. In this letter Mr. Washburne pays a golden tribute of respect to the late Mr. Hempstead, as well as a general review of many of the incidents in which they (Washburne and Hempstead) were prominent actors.]
On the Fourth of July of the Centennial year (1876) the early set- tlers met in reunion, for which occasion a condensed paper was written by John Lorrain, on the History of Jo Daviess County, from which we have frequently quoted.
The next meeting of the Early Settlers was held at the court house on the 28th of October, 1876. This was a business meeting, for the election of officers, etc. Captain Daniel Smith Harris was chosen President, and Har- vey Mann, A. M. Haines, G. H. Mars, I. P. Stevens, and G. W. Girdon Vice Presidents; John Lorrain, Secretary and Treasurer.
The regalia worn on the Centennial Fourth of July was adopted as the regular colors of the association.
James Wilson submitted the following resolution for the consideration of the meeting:
That we, the undersigned early settlers of Jo Daviess County, agree and obligate our- selves to form a permanent organization of the early settlers of said county, under articles and by-laws, etc., and, to make said organization binding, will pay to the treasurer of said association twenty-five cents per month, the fund so created to be used for sustaining the organization, and the burial of our dead.
The resolution was adopted, and John Lorrain cliosen as special treas- urer for this fund.
June 16, 1877, a meeting of the Association was held (at the call of the President) to make arrangements to celebrate the Fourth of July, 1877. At this meeting it was resolved to make a picnic excursion over the Narrow Gauge railroad to Benton, or vicinity, in Wisconsin.
In pursuance of the resolution, the Old Settlers and their families to the number of 130 met at the Narrow Gauge depot in Galena, on the morn- ing of the Fourth of July, 1877, where they were greeted by a very large
1
368
HISTORY OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY.
concourse of citizens. Taking passage on the cars of the Narrow Gauge, they were soon carried to their place of destination, where the following order of exercises were observed:
1. Prayer by Charles Potts, of Galena.
2. Singing by the Choir.
3. Reading of the Declaration of American Independence, by Miss Cottingham, of Benton.
.
4. Music and Song.
5. Address to Sunday School children, by Rev. S. S. Hellsby.
6. Dinner.
After dinner the excursionists and their Benton friends re-assembled at the speaker's stand, where the programme of the day was completed in the following order:
1. Music by the Choir.
2. Address by I. P. Stevens.
3. Music.
An Address by Mrs. Sarah C. Harris, on Woman Suffrage. She main- tained that, while the Declaration of American Independence was broad and magnanimous, it was still unjust in its operations, as one half the people, the women, were not represented in the workings of the govern- ment. Soon after the delivery of this address, which is said to have been a most dignified and queenly effort, the excursionists adjourned to the cars that were in waiting to convey them back to Galena, whence they repaired to their respective homes.
With the Old Settlers of Jo Daviess County thus passed away the 4th day of July, 1877. That all of those who participated in this last reunion will be permitted to join in a similar ineeting in 1878 is not to be expected, for one by one they are passing away-going to the everlasting shores of the Great Beyond-to join in an eternal reunion and pleasures and joys more perfect than any ever conceived in the mind of man.
It is a matter of regret that a complete registry of the names of the first settlers of every new county has not been kept. It would be an invaluable record-connecting and completing links in a country's history. Only in late years, however, has the importance of such a record suggested itself to the minds of men, and it is to be hoped that the spirit of the con- stitution of the Old Settlers Association of Jo Daviess will be carried out to the letter, and that the names, date of birth, date of arrival, etc., will be religiously preserved and handed down to those who will come in the not far distant by-and-by to fill the places now gladdened by the remaining pioneer fathers and mothers. Had this record been commenced when white men and white women first came to develop the great wealth that nature stored away in the galena hills, volumes of historical information would have been preserved, the want of which is now seriously experienced.
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