USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches war record statistics portraits of early settlers history of the Northwest, history of Illinois, &c. > Part 28
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In the history of Haight's apostasy to the cause of morality and good government, the writer had forgotten Shumway and his less prominent com- panions. Well, so much the better. He was never heard of, however, after being " led astray " by Latter-Day Saints.
In this year the town of Oneco, in Oneco Township, was laid out under the direction of John K. Brewster, and Orangeville, within sight of Oneco, was also surveyed about this period by John M. Curtis, though its platting and building up were delayed until 1846, when John Bowers came in and estab- lished the place.
But it was to Oneco that the sanguine hopes of Mr. Brewster, Mr. Corwith and others, were turned in lively anticipation of what that town would become. These hopes, as is known by the world and the flesh resident in Stephenson County, were doomed to disappointment. The eligible site was never improved to its utmost capacity, and the water privileges that it was thought would become unexhaustible and invaluable, were never availed of. A church, schoolhouse, post office, one or two stores, and other indications of life, survive the flight of time, and the proud man's contumely, to illustrate to a later gener- ation the beginnings of what might have been.
Before the year 1840 had run the race set before it, the county was com- mencing to show good results of the years of labor that had been expended upon its improvement, and it promised, upon its advent into the fourth year of its existence, to do more than had been done during the years that had rolled into the past. "Let there be light," was the first word of the Creative Power, and "Let there be light" must remain the motto of every future development. The year was remarkable for many improvements, and an increase in the num- ber of farms that were occupied and cultivated. Very little can be said con- cerning the emigration hither, for, beyond the fact that some come in, its meas- ure was not in any ratio with what it should have been. This was due to the causes cited, more than the absence of large numbers who were only waiting for the sign that was to move them to change their several camps. The popu- lation was increased very slightly, as will be inferred, and did not, during the entire year, receive accessions of more than two hundred to the number already
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there. The post office, which was established at Freeport a year before, was not an unfruitful source of comfort and convenience to citizens throughout the county, as they were by its means enabled to communicate with their friends more frequently than when Thomas Craine was accustomed to carry the mail once or twice a month to Freeport. A stage line had been in operation for some time at this period, and the inspirations of delight that were felt when the
bugle was sounded, need but to be referred to to be recalled. The notes brought back a consciousness that its auditors were not altogether beyond the pale of civilization ; that a trip of two days and two nights, and the expend- iture of a round sum of money, would carry one to the heart of the city, where he might be brought directly in communication with scenes and incidents to which he had been theretofore a stranger. And no doubt there will be many who read these lines to echo their truth and be carried back to days when they made their first trip to Chicago, arriving in the city and stopping at the old frame tavern on Lake street, near the river, as the day was declining into evening.
The fact that there was no material increase in the population during 1840 would argue the conclusion that there were, comparatively, no improve- ments. This was generally the case outside of towns, but not altogether so in Freeport, and other less pretentious but more ambitious bailiwicks. Freeport then had about sixty houses, divided into stores, saloons and residences, the major part being, of course, devoted to the latter purpose, with a population, within the present city limits, of about fifty families» With this meas- ured showing, the town aped the manners of a city. Saloons were maintained, and gambling was indulged without limit. John Barleycorn reigned in those days more generally in proportion to the number of the inhabitants, than he does now, while the Tiger of Pharaoh was a beast that roamed abroad freely, and, though no one was ever known to fear him, there were many who retired wounded after encounters with his strength and skill.
Secret societies and granges had not at this time become objects either of curiosity or interest to the people, and the square and level were as yet in the unborn future. Temperance societies, were in existence, though, and had been for two years. Not that there was a vital necessity for their existence, for the early settlers were not topers. But they came into being as the settlers came into the county, doubtless, for the enjoyment of life, liberty and pursuit of hap- piness, in which trinity of objects they were aided by patrons and admirers. Along in 1838, L. W. Guiteau made a pilgrimage to the present town of Cedarville, where he was to deliver a temperance address, at the invitation of A. Goddard and others. At the time appointed, a snow storm was prevail- ing, and, though Mr. Guiteau disliked to go there, he went, and was confronted by an audience of fifteen or twenty, to whom he spoke with reference to the advantages to be derived from a practical application of the doctrine of total abstinence. This was the first speech ever delivered in the county on the sub- ject, but the work of reform begun upon that night, amid the storm and sur- rounded by many, very many, discouraging circumstances, has grown in strength, and, stretching out its sympathetic arms, has since gathered into its folds many of the loved and lost of Stephenson County. Two years later, the Rev. F. C. Winslow and John A. Clark headed a temperance movement in Freeport, holding sessions of an order of Crusaders in a little room over a saloon, at the corner of Galena and Chicago streets. From these insignificant commencements, the cause of temperance has increased each year, until
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to-day it is a power for good in the county, including among the members of its organizations some of the most capable, intelligent and educated influences in this portion of the State.
The amusements of the people, for by this time amusements had become more general, were naturally, by reason of the limited resources in their behalf, confined to a class of entertainments requiring preparations and expenditures by no means elaborate or extravagant. With some, dancing was a species of pleasure, indulged upon appropriate occasions, and there are a number of ladies residing in the county to-day, married years ago, who well remember the sharp, frosty nights, upon which they mounted a horse and galloped off through the brisk air to attend a dance in some distant log cabin to the inspiriting notes of a fiddle manipulated by Daniel Wooton, "Professor " Clark, or musicians of equal skill and repute. Sleigh-riding became a favorite amusement in time, as did skating, while the elegant accomplishments were made up of the house-" hold duties with which the girl of the period, to whom gilt is gold, and curb- stone wit philosophy, is entirely unfamiliar.
To those who regarded dancing as an evil to be avoided, quiltings and sociables were substituted, and no doubt contributed a fund of humor to the company attracted. The circus was never known in the county until along about 1842, and it was years after that, before the lecturer or facial contortionist came along and paved a way for the building of a theater to accommodate tragedians very much crushed, limp disciples of Comus, the ballet, the minstrels or Little Buttercup and Pinafore.
The public health was never quoted in those days, and sanitary commis- sioners, harmless as doves, but without the wisdom of serpents, were reserved for the future to delineate. Physicians were somewhat of a rarity, too, and, when sickness prostrated settler after settler, these indispensable adjuncts to com- fort and consequent happiness were without leisure. The complaints suffered from in those days were generally of a kind indigenous to a new country, being made up of chills, ague, intermittent and other fevers that most always yielded temporarily to remedies. Senna, salts, quinine and calomel were staple com- modities kept by storekeepers, and it was a rare occurrence when they were without all of these articles. The patient was most generally charged with compounds of which the constituent parts were as above indicated. While his system remained thus impregnated he was free from ailment, but let him sus- pend a dose and the last stage of his disease was worse than the first. This liability to attack remained until the lands were drained and cultivated, the forests cut down, and pure air substituted for the miasmatic vapors that proceeded from rank vegetation and the swamps. When these improvements were gradu- ally completed, they brought health to the frames that were palsied by sickness and bloom to cheeks from which the color had long since fled. The waste places were built up and the lands were made to bud and blossom again.
Society, it might be here observed, was such as is peculiar to a new country, and, while there were many marriages, there were also many bachelors, living by themselves, and, with fewer women to reverence than in older settled constituencies, there may have been a lack of reverence for women. But there was an absence of scandal, either of a private nature or of the weakness of public characters, which cannot be otherwise regarded than as a compensation. For the absence of agencies, which, while they may conduce to enjoyment yet promote infelicities, is to be desired and commended. This condition of affairs is not only natural but inevitable, in new countries where the first fight is for life, and the masculine quality predominates. But with the
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progress made, and the civilizing influences that come with Time, the feminine nature increased. It crept in everywhere, in men and women alike, in intel- lectual culture, in art and social intercourse, refining and hallowing the atmos- phere of every-day life. In affairs of public morals, of education and religion, it created a healthy progress. The New England element was largely repre- sented, their Puritan habits softened by association with the free life of a young settlement and its cosmopolitan inhabitants, though preserving the best quali- ties of decency, order, justice and constant progress upward in morality and virtue. As the ratio of production increased, the ratio of comfort and pros- perity grew, and as productive enterprises were ventured, the country was benefited by an increase in the amount of capital seeking investment. Coun- tries, like individuals, are great only as they are teachers, and the history of early settlements in the Northwest shows that they are great because they have taught that there are mines of treasure to be gained by industry and per- severance, and that rich gems of blessing will be laid bare to the toiler.
With the progress made, as cited, the history of Stephenson County enters upon another year of its existence. This year would contain many new features, it was thought, and be an improvement upon the one that had closed. The people had met discouragements in years gone by, in opposition from sections possessing greater inducements for settlers, but were never overcome by them. They had encountered difficulties which are always strewn in the walks of life. In place of being vanquished, these awoke their sleeping energies and set them to working with increased determination. Their resources were tested, and the metal of their composition tried in the fire. They realized that the earth was not a Paradise, but put forth thorns at every season. They also realized that labor and perseverance conquer every opposition, surmount every difficulty and overcome misfortune. They were taught these lessons in the schools of experience, and guided in the future by the admonitions they impressed.
During 1841, there was absolutely nothing to discourage the people or make them to rejoice with exceeding joy. No event of importance, it is believed, occurred to startle the nation or paralyze the public. If human agencies were lacking of contributions toward perfection, Dame Nature continued to act in her blandest, most beneficial mood, lavishing her gifts to promote the welfare of all, the productive soil yielding abundantly of every farm staple intrusted to its keeping, and the forests giving up their choicest growth for building, fencing and other purposes. The falling-off in the number of emi- grants, begun the previous year, was continued, and improvements were, as a rule, confined to the villages. The professions began to be more freely repre- sented this year, and some who have since left the impress of their characters upon the years that followed, identified themselves with the county from 1839 to 1842. But few remain to recount the difficulties that met them at every turn, or how dangerous a thing to them the "little learning " they possessed often proved to be ; but they survived opposition, and became powerful advocates and accomplished scientists in after days.
One of these gentlemen, who has since occupied distinguished positions on the bench and at the bar, related to the writer a scrap of his experience when first landingin Freeport. It was almost at the close of the year, and the wintry sky hung lowering and repellant. With ten shillings in his purse, a few books, and a still less generous wardrobe, he dismounted from the "jumper" at Mr. Goddard's Mansion House, and contemplated the immediate future, as may be imagined, with no very cheerful conclusions. As a matter of course, he began to climb the
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hill, and it was many days before he halted for the rest and encouragement occu- pation begets. But the day came when forensic eloquence was demanded, when, to express it in the spirit of the day, the present Judge was in town, where he has since remained, honored and enriched by the practice which he obtained .. He long since attained the summit of professional prosperity, but in his days of retirement he often recurs to his entry into Freeport as among the most event- ful, if not the happiest, of a life that has been passed amid scenes as varied with sunshine and shadow as a day in June.
During the early period of 1842 there were no changes, either in the tem- poral or spiritual surroundings of the situation in Stephenson County to report. But, as the days came and went, they were characterized by events out of the ordinary channel in which the lives of settlers and citizens had previously drifted. The payment of interest on the public debt had been abandoned, and the financial embarrassments of the State began to be felt. To add to the dis- tress of the people, State banks were beginning to grow " shaky," and finally to collapse. There was no trade, and business stagnation was complete. Values declined, and the agricultural portion of the community were unable to dispose of their crops, except at prices that entailed a loss on the cost of pro- duction. In this crisis, the farmers of Stephenson County, and merchants of towns located within her boundaries, though not entirely unscathed, suffered less than points more thickly settled, and from other causes susceptible to its influences. But there is no doubt that emigration hither was lessened, though some of the choicest spirits ever associated with the county's history came in during this period.
WALLACE SUICIDE.
During the summer of this year, an old settler named William Wallace, who had settled in the county five years before, suicided by hanging at the edge of Rock Grove, and died before he was discovered. His neighbors regarded him as insane from infelicities, with the exact import of which no one could be found who was familiar, and, while thus oppressed, he had sought in the unknown world that peace of mind denied him here. He was discovered, it is said, by some lads traveling in pursuit of cows, who advertised the fact to the few settlers in the vicinity, by whom he was cut down and buried almost in sight of the tree under which his troubles were dissipated with his life.
Notwithstanding the tight times made mention of, the county was regarded as a terminal point of great excellence by residents of the Eastern States and elsewhere, and agents from communities contemplating emigration to the West were to be found here prospecting and making examinations of the resources, with a view to submit reports that should be acted upon by those who had commissioned them. This was not confined to the Eastern States alone, but extended to foreign parts. It will be remembered that the Nor- wegians, who settled in Rock Run about 1839, adopted this policy before deter- mining upon settlement, and their judgment obtained in other countries of Europe-for example, in England. In the spring of 1842, the inhabitants of farming shires there empowered an agent to visit America and select a location where they could secure land at reasonable rates, that, by the employment. of the same means which at home gave them only a tolerable income, they might be enabled to amass a competency. Acting upon these instructions, he visited Illinois, and was so impressed with the inducements offered in present Ridott Township, that he advised the colony to settle there as possessing every advan- tage that could be had at home, in addition to many inaccessible in England, even
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
to those in easy circumstances. The communication containing this ultimatum was received, and, after some delay devoted to deliberation, its adoption was decided upon, and preparations were inaugurated for the journey. These completed, sail was set, and a colony, consisting of about twenty-two, landed at their future home in Ridott Township, on the 28th of August, 1842, and established themselves in the timber near the present village. They were composed of the sturdy class of English yeomanry, under whose watchful care and taste Devonshire, Sussex and other vicinages have prospered, to-day abounding in scenes of exquisite beauty, with groves, gardens and residences that charm the beholder, inspiring him with emotions of the sublime and beau- tiful, and educating the heart to reverence the gifts of Nature and Nature's God. The settlement made here was inhabited by this character of people, who have aided most liberally in the improvements of that portion of the county, some of whom reside there still. In many cases, they are the propri- etors of vast estates, which are highly cultivated, and stocked with the choicest specimens of improved breeds. Their houses are commodious, substantially built, provided with libraries and centers of comfort. Industrious, with much of that geniality and bonhomie recognized as characteristics of cultivators of the soil, they have done a great deal to develop the section in which they settled, by the appropriation of improved systems of agriculture, the large crops they have laid by, and the air of independent comfort made manifest in their sur- roundings.
The original settlement remained intact for about one year, when the com- munity of interest which prevailed was interrupted and never afterward resumed. Death visited the home of one and left his mark upon its posts. A wife who came to the new world sickened and died before she scarcely realized the change, but, amid strangers and scenes unlike those she had come from, closed her eyes in death. May it not be, however, that in her cabin in the wilderness, where she may have lingered through the night unconscious of friends around her, she heard a strain of the mysterious harmony from afar, in the midst of dreams of England, the long path across the ocean and friends and home ?
This event, with others of a similar character that followed in its wake, bred a feeling of discontent and loneliness that comes when frail mortality has run its race and the golden ripple comes back no more, which precipitated a dissolution of the band and distributed its members over the West. The separa- tion came gradually, however, and it was not until two years after their coming that the surviving members left the rendezvous rendered sacred by associations and mournful memories. Many remained in Stephenson County with results already quoted, whose worth and standing are as pronounced as they are the fulfillment of a promise always pledged to industry and enterprise.
The English colony was the largest addition to the inhabitants at any point in the county this year, it is believed, Freeport included. Settlers visited other portions of Stephenson, it is true, and some remained, but the large proportion that it was a few years before expected would make the county an abiding place, failed to materialize either in numbers or frequency of arrivals. The reasons for this were doubtless due to hard times and bad roads, though, as before remarked, the hard times did not produce that distress in this as in other counties and States. This was owing to the fact that the people, as also the county, having been accustomed to pay as they went, were comparatively free from debt. The failure of fresh arrivals, however, disturbed no one; the farm- ers continued to labor for the development of this " beautiful land." Schools,
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to cultivate the intellect of the growing generation to educate its uses, and religion to inculcate a respect for morals not less than for self. The merchants increased somewhat in number, as did their business, and they looked forward to a time, in the near future, when their days of probation would be over. Mechanical industries, though, had by this year, begun to assume a prominence in keeping with the times. Wagon and carriage shops were accessible, and that class of work obtained without resorting to lengthy trips and submitting to scores of inconveniences. Blacksmith shops had been established where once they were unknown, and agricultural implements were substituted where a few years before their use had been ridiculed.
The season of 1843 was, in point of material prosperity, an improvement over the previous year. Additions were made to the population, farms became more productive, though markets were as far beyond reach as they had been, farmers being still compelled to draw their wheat to Chicago and receive a price per bushel totally disproportionate to the cost of raising, thrashing and trans- portation. Yet the opportunities to obtain loads on the return trip were more favorable and paid better, for building in Freeport and at other localities was becoming more general, and not unfrequently the material was procured at Chicago. The lead mines were still visited occasionally, when the settler was in a hurry to dispose of his crops, but as markets they ceased to bear so impor- tant a relation to the county as had existed in earlier years. The spring was passed amid bustle and some disorders incident to the resumption of business and farming, and summer came and went without any apparent diminution in these particulars-not disorders involving violations of law, for this was not permitted by the orderly residents, but the hurry and carelessness evidenced where business is paramount to all other considerations. The composition of the emigrants who came in this year was remarked as gratifying. They were as a rule substantial men, untainted by association with adventurers, who seek to conquer adversity without reference to the means employed in that behalf. In the fall, when the crops had been gathered and stacked, and an account was taken of the season's profits, if a very small balance remained to the credit of the producer, it was gratifyingly exceptional and encouraging.
THE BOARDMAN MURDER.
This year witnessed the first murder reported in the annals of Stephen- son County, that is, after the county was incorporated as such. The scene of the tragedy was a farm in Rock Grove Township, at that time owned by Daniel Noble. It seems, according to report, that Noble employed a man to assist him about the farm, by the name of Boardman. The relations existing between them were of a character that, when the latter mysteriously disappeared, Noble's state- ments were received without dispute. One day in the fall of the year, Noble and Boardman took their guns and started off on a hunt, remaining absent for a day or so without exciting distrust. One afternoon Noble turned up without his companion, and, upon being interrogated as to his absence, stated that, hav- ing tired of the point at which he resided, he had made up his mind to seek a location elsewhere. He had departed in the direction of, and asserted that he was going to, Wisconsin. Previous to separating, the missing man handed a watch to Noble and requested that he would deliver it to Mrs. Boardman, with the assurance that when he was established he would send for her. The gun, it was said, he had carried off. The winter passed without hearing from the absent one, and, though anxiety was expressed among the settlers as to the cause, no suspicion was directed toward Noble. The spring came and went without
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