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 32
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Tis now a score of years since a war for the perpetuation of a nation " conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created free and equal," was commenced and fought to the end. The lessons taught have been as varied as the races which mingled in the contest. They are not confined in their benefits to States, districts or counties ; but every locality inhabited by Americans is vested with the admonitions they embody. The people and the army, in which Illinois, Stephenson County and the towns within her borders, were prominent integers, are truly celebrated, less so for the sup- pression of war equally disastrous as the invasion of foreign levies, than for exter- minating in America the causes which precipitated its advent and continuance.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
The effects of the war were to increase the volume of business in this vicinity, creating demands for future consignments, and supplying resources for the revival and conducting of business. There was no immigration into the county worthy of mention immediately after the close of the last act in the bloody drama at Appomattox Court House, where the Confederate Government became a thing of the past, and for years the places of soldiers who came not back were left unfilled. Emigrants and speculators passed by on the roads which pass through the county, but, instead of halting, pushed onward to the gold fields of Colorado, deeming the uncertainties of a life amid the surroundings of wealth, the procurement of which was a "lottery," with associations which are measured by their excesses rather than their absence, far preferable to comfort. contentment, and a moderate income on the borders of civilization.
When peace resumed dominion over the entire country, many of the evils that follow in the wake of war were far from dissipated, and if not miti- gated by the influences its coming exerted, were at least tempered. There were towns in the county which had sprung into existence with the railroads ; in these, the breaking out of the war caused the suspension of operations. If none of these retrograded, none improved to any appreciable extent; and, if none amassed wealth, none contracted liabilities which involved them in bankruptcy. After the war, building was resumed and trade increased. Elevators were erected, banks established, operators from abroad came in, and these, with other combinations, laid the foundation for shipments of cereals and live-stock, that have grown into a magnitude and importance that can scarcely be approxi- mated.
Freeport, more benefited by the war in limine, experienced more sensibly the effects of the reaction when the "flush " of trade was over. The drain upon its resources, as a result of the panic, had not been fully balanced, and the " spurt" in business the war excited, though temporary, was sufficient to, in a measure, compensate for the long season of dullness and inactivity, then at its height. From thence on trade gradually revived, until it boomed in 1865 when soldiers returned with money. Considerable was put in circulation by them, and a suspicion that hard times had gone away to return no more was generally indulged.
Improvements were made all over the county between 1860 and 1870, and of a superior order in every particular. The houses are patterns of comfort, being composed of brick and frame, and the beauty and finish of the surround- ings are only surpassed by the domestic felicities found within doors.
The system of agriculture had undergone great changes since the days when the farmer cultivated four acres of ground and harvested his crop for home consumption, and these changes are not completed in this day, either. Mechanical skill and genius had conspired to place the farmer in as independ- ent an attitude with regard to the cost of labor and, consequently, productions, as the manufacturer. He ploughed, sowed, cultivated, reaped, bound, stacked and thrashed with machinery. Money that was paid to hands for performing these various duties ten years before, was then appropriated to the cultivation of the farm and supplying it with superior strains of blood for the improvement of stock, for the erection and furnishing of commodious homes, the education of the young idea, and the many other purposes which for years had been denied the people by reason of their inability to pay therefor.
Throughout the county, while private enterprise had not been delayed, public improvements became equally as numerous and valuable. Roads were opened, graded and made available, streams "dammed " or drained as the
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necessities of trade or health demanded, railroad enterprises inaugurated and carried to a finality, and other advances made along the line of progress.
The system of education adopted in 1855, was working with benefits to all who came within the circle of its influence, and the cause of religion was ably sustained, both in the city and county.
Politically, the county became more pronouncedly Republican with each succeeding year. In early days, as has been noted, the Whig and Democratic parties were the rival organizations, under whose direction the political affairs of the county were manipulated. This continued without change until 1856, when the birth of the Republican party absorbed a majority of the Whig element, together with a limited number of anti-slavery Democrats. These successors to the organizations of the old regime flourished up to the breaking out of the war with varying success. During the continuance of that struggle the Repub- lican party gained a very decided ascendancy, notwithstanding the Democrats maintained strict party lines. Some opposition was manifested by the latter while the contest lasted, but it never became organized, and obtained no decided prominence in the community. Since the war the Republicans have remained in the ascendant, and to-day control the offices, influence and patronage in the county, by a majority estimated at 500.
The inhabitants of the county are composed of the best classes of all nationalities. The farmers are intelligent, scientific workers, as a rule inde- pendent, with many of them wealthy, cultivating from 160 to 700 acres of land, and raising crops which command ready sale and at the best market rates. The merchants are enterprising, substantial, responsible and honorable men, who add to the character of the population not less than to the wealth of the communities in which they reside. The professions are represented by men of dignity, capacity and intelligence, many of whom have won distinction on the bench, where their opinions have shed a luster upon the pages of jurisprudence in Illinois, and at the bar, where their reasoning power and superior judgment have commanded admiration ; as physicians, whose advice and opinions have been accepted as authority on the subject-matter to which they relate; as ministers of the gospel, whose charity illustrates the greatest of virtues ; as editors, the conservators of public opinion and public morality ; and in the less prominent walks of life, her citizens have evinced the possession of those characteristics which constitute the composition of men who make a State.
During the past ten years the new court house has been completed and occupied, and improvements of great value and utility supplied the place of imperfect machinery. Railroads and highways afford easy access to the East, West, North and South, and all things have combined to render the happiness and prosperity of the people universal.
One can hardly realize the changes that have been wrought in this section of Northern Illinois in less than a half-century. A brief interval has elapsed since the county was a wilderness inhabited by the Indians; where the county seat now stands was located the village of Winneshiek and his tribe. A remarkable, indeed miraculous, change has come since then, due in part to the careful and laborious thrift of the people, as also to the broad-gauge principle upon which business is conducted. The golden-clad fields, laden at this season of the year with plenteous harvests, indicate the fertility of the soil, and how Nature has endowed these broad prairies. Nor has she been sparing in her con- tributions of beautiful scenery ; a more exquisite panorama than is to be seen from eligible points in Stephenson County, the eye never rested upon. From elevations in West Point Township a more delightful landscape can scarcely be
Yours Truly DA knowlton
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imagined; stretching away to the south and west are a range of mounds, cross- ing Apple River to Galena; in the extreme west Sinsiniwa Mound lifts its head, crowned with age; to the northwest a range of hills, in which the glistening ore of commerce is said to lie imbedded; away to the north a line of mounds greets the gaze, while off toward Mineral Point lies a belt of woodland, defining the course of the Pecatonica.
With railroad facilities for communication with the East and North and South, the county is placed in direct connection with markets and places of resort, as also in a position with reference to the future that admits of no mis- understanding. Banks and commercial establishments flourish where once the Indian met in council, and farms are cultivated where once he pursued the fleeing game.
So, too, in moral, intellectual and educational improvements, the people have kept pace with the times. Churches, schools, libraries and other avenues of improvement are open to the admission of all who may seek their portals, acces- sible to whomsoever may apply for permission to avail himself of the privileges.
The old settlers of to-day are scarcely able to realize the changes that have been made and the improvements completed since they first came into this new country, when they were younger than they are now. The past rises up before them in characters of life-like fidelity, reminding them of days long since moldering with the dead, and of friends years ago entombed in Mother Earth. Again they are at their place of birth, the home of their nativity, sanctified by a mother's presence and a mother's love. They are carried back to the day, when, cutting loose from that home and its sacred associations, they took up the burden of life and began their weary pilgrimage across its sands and drifts. They recall the day when, weary and footsore, but exuberant with youth and hope and determination, they came upon the scene, and, gazing out upon the landscape, rejoiced at the spectacle which greeted their vision. The scene itself is pictured to them as they saw it then, in all the exquisite beauty of its rural simplicity; immense forests, wherein the foot of man ne'er left its im- press; boundless prairies, flowing in the colors of variegated blossoms. No genial spirit welcomed them to the hospitalities of a home, no cheerful notes of gladness were sounded at their approach. The stillness of solitude, and soli- tude itself, alone awaited their acceptance and guarded them against the advance of human foes.
But the wand of progress touches the wilderness, and it falls never to hope more. It touches the rolling prairies, and they are changed into fruitful fields ; it touches the solitudes and peoples them with a race whose career has been marked with success at every mile-stone on the route. What a change, what a wonderful change, has been worked by the ingenuity and industry of man! The forest has yielded precedence, and the wilderness become sources of wealth. The rolling prairie has been converted into productive fields, and the harvest song is heard where once the war-cries of the savages resounded.
The past ten years have been years of profit to the county and its inhab- itants. Buildings have gone up, improvements concluded and much been accom- plished. The county has had little to discourage its advance during the past ten years less to prevent a full and complete fruition in the future. The county is completely out of debt, with resources almost unlimited, and of an excellence beyond comparison. The prosperity that came with time was accom- panied by refining influences also ; and the county, having passed that period in the history of great endeavors when failure is to be apprehended, is drawing nearer and nearer unto a perfect day.
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COUNTY BUILDINGS.
Court House .- On the 6th of December, 1837, Hon. Thomas J. Turner, since deceased, at that time a carpenter and joiner, concluded a contract with Lemuel W. Streeter, Isaac G. Forbesand Julius Smith, County Commissioners, to build a court house and jail on the site of the present edifice, in the square. bounded by Stephenson street, Galena avenue, Bridge and Van Buren streets. During the winter of 1837-38, the timbers for the old court house were hewn in the woods, under the immediate supervision of Julius Smith. These completed, the same were " framed " and erected, standing from 1838 to 1870, and, with the exception of the sill beneath the front door, which had long been exposed to. the weather, not a timber decayed. That plain old temple of justice, when built, surpassed in size and elegance all other buildings west of Detroit and north of St. Louis, but long since the county outgrew it, and, like some of the old settlers, it was obliged to take up the line of march to humbler quarters. Within its bar, in early times, gathered men whose names have become histori- cal, including Thomas Drummond, Joseph L. Hoge, Thompson Campbell, Joseph Knox, James L. Loop, Jason Marsh, Martin P. Sweet, Seth B. Farwell, Benjamin R. Sheldon and others, the latter presiding therein as Circuit Judge for the space of twenty years.
This old building served its purpose well until advancing civilization, increased prosperity and population demanded that the abode of justice should be somewhat in harmony with the surroundings, when steps were inaugurated which were concluded with the erection of the present edifice.
On the 27th of April, 1869, the first practicable movement was made toward the object in hand. The Board of Supervisors at that time was made up of Ralph Sabin, A. A. Babcock, Charles H. Rosenstiel, John M. Williams, George Osterhout, J. A. Grimes, John Burrell, C. F. Mayer, H. H. Becker, Francis Boeke, James McFatrick, S. K. Fisher, Peter Marlin, James A. Tem- pleton, H. O. Frankeberger, Andrew Hinds and Samuel Wilber, and, on motion, the committee appointed to receive plans and specifications was con- tinued, with instructions to procure the same for a new court house at an expense not to exceed $80,000.
At the next session of the board, the plans and specifications of E. E. Myers were adopted, and on February 22, 1870, the committee reported that it had closed a contract to erect the new court house with A. Walbaum & Co., which was also adopted, and the chairman authorized to execute the contract on behalf of the people. On the 23d of April following, S. K. Fisher, Ralph Sabin, George Osterhout, A. P. Goddard, Peter Marlin and Andrew Hinds were appointed the Building Committee, and arrangements were completed for the laying of the corner-stone, which occurred during the summer of the same year. From that event no delay in the building was experienced, the same being labored upon uninterruptedly until its dedication on the 22d of February, 1873, after which the undertaking was delivered into the hands of the county authorities complete in every particular, and costing a total for building and furnishing, of $130,413.56.
The design was furnished by E. E. Myers, of Springfield, Ill. The style of architecture should properly be called American, and the artist has dis- played an exquisite' taste in blending the different styles to combine the useful and ornamental, and to give the whole the appearance of grandeur both simple and bold. The building is of stone, from the crystalline marble quarries, 99x80, four stories high, including basement, which is six feet above grade line, the upper story being known as the Mansard or French style.
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The entrance fronting on Stephenson street, is reached by a flight of marble steps, and opens into a lobby, thence to corridors, leading to the Clerk's, Recorder's, Sheriff's and Treasurer's offices, County Court room and Board of Supervisors. A broad, open flight of stairs leads to the next floors above, on which are located the State's Attorney's, Surveyor's and other offices, together with the Circuit Court room. The style adopted in the interior finish of the building is Corinthian, the wood finish being walnut with white ash inlaid. The Circuit Court room is 56x76 and 28 feet high, frescoed in oil, and finished in the highest style of the art. From this floor two flights of stairs lead to the upper story, which comprehends six rooms, designed for consultation and jury rooms, and from this floor the dome is reached, containing the clock, and affording to visitors an unsurpassed view of the surrounding country.
The clock was placed in the tower by A. W. Ford immediately upon its completion, and is conveniently accessible to those who desire to see 'it in motion. It weighs 2,000 pounds, with a pendulum eight and a half feet long, and weights necessary to running the clock aggregating 950 pounds. It was built by Seth Thomas & Sons, of Connecticut, and is famous not only for its beauty and finish, but also for its regularity and accurate time. The bell was also furnished by A. W. Ford, from the foundry of E. A. & G. R. Meneley, of Troy, N. Y .; weighs 1850 pounds, and is of superior tone.
The old court house still remains intact, occupying the northwest cor- ner of Clay and Adams streets, where it is used as a tobacco warehouse. The new court house is a source of admiration to strangers as well as citizens, and is in truth and in deed a temple of justice, where the rights of the widow and orphan are guarded, and the heritage left them by the dead is saved from the avarice of the living. No bonds were ever issued, and no debt hangs over the county for the cost of its erection. No law-suits or entanglements have grown out of the work, and none can or will, as everything was fully settled and adjusted on the day when its formal dedication took place.
County Jail .- The first jail erected in the county was that, doubtless, built under the supervision of Thomas J. Turner, under his contract made with the County Commissioners in 1839. The building was commenced during the same year, but remained incomplete and so uninhabitable for some time that the citizens were often obliged to shoulder their guns and stand guard, to pre- vent the escape of prisoners. It was built of logs, after the most primitive, not to say original, style of architecture, and occupied the present site of the high school, where it remained until the actual necessities of the case compelled the authorities to seek more commodious and secure quarters. In early days, counterfeiters, horse-thieves and the felonious scum, it might be said, indige- nous to a new settlement, were here in force, and, as a consequence, the little log jail was almost constantly filled to repletion with these classes of citizens, awaiting trial or transportation. The jail was the reverse of secure, and its occupants the opposite of obtuse, and upon every occasion they made it apparent to the freeholders about Freeport that, unless extraordinary diligence was prac- ticed, the building could not be held responsible for the retention of those incar- cerated. This knowledge led to the organization of a "night watch," it is said, who paced their beats about the jail at an hour when graveyards yawn, as a security against being revisited and depredated upon by those who were tem- porarily immured in its Chillon-like dungeons. In time, this was relieved of that spice of variety it added to frontier life, and the decision was made to remove into a stone jail, to the rear of the present structure, corner of Bridge street and Galena avenue. Possession was taken thereof as soon as the
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premises could be adapted to the occupation of criminals, and, as it was deemed impossible to escape from, no thought was taken of the possible repetition of experiences suffered in the log jail. For some years this flattering unction was enjoyed, when a lapse in the habits of the officers, or inability of the prem- ises to longer retain the prisoner panting for liberty, caused a ripple of excite- ment, and induced a conclusion in the minds of citizens that in the jail con- struction things were not entirely as they seemed. Some fault existed which demanded immediate correction. Whatever this may have been, it was, pre- sumably, corrected, for no more complaints proceeding from similar causes arose, until recent years, when drafts upon the confidence of people in the stability and reliability of the "little stone jug " became so numerous and heavy that they were finally dishonored, in 1875. During the fall of that year, an exodus from the jail prompted the Supervisors to act decisively, at a meeting of that body convened on November 4, of that year, when a resolution for the build- ing of a new jail, to cost a sum not exceeding $35,000, was adopted nem con. . This being passed, a committee, consisting of Andrew Hinds, F. A. Darling, John Erfert and J. H. Pierce, were appointed to procure specifications, and authorized to visit Rockford, Joliet, Dixon and a superior structure at Monroe, Wis., and, from their observations at these points, formulate plans to be employed in the construction of a jail that should be absolutely proof against the attempts of inmates. The visits were extended and the observations made, but the committee's report was without recommendation.
Thereupon a contract was made with W. H. Myers, of Fort Wayne, Ind., for the building of the jail, which was undertaken, completed and occupied during 1876. The building is erected from plans furnished by T. J. Tolan & Son, architects, also of Fort Wayne, and is certainly as handsome, architect- urally, as it is represented as being substantial. It is built of brick and stone, contains the Sheriff's home and County Jail, and is an ornament to the city, as also an honor to the taste and skill of the builders. The jail proper is com- pleted in stone, containing accommodations for fourteen prisoners, and is every way comfortable and secure. The premises cost, completed, $40,553, and a glance at their arrangements will preclude a suspicion as to their strength, durability and security.
The County Poor House .- One of the first matters disposed of after the county of Stephenson had been set apart and organized, was provision for the poor and afflicted. At an early day a home was established for mendicants, in what now is Silver Creek Township, about two miles south of the city, which was occupied by paupers and the insane until February, 1859.
On the night of Friday, February 28, of that year, the poor house was burned to the ground, and Lavina Kohn, one of the inmates, met a horrible death, while Elizabeth Smiley, also a pauper, was badly burned. The fire, it seems, originated in the room occupied by Lavina Kohn, who, on account of the impossibility of restraining, was placed in an apartment by herself, under lock and key. The evening of the fire, Mrs. Wilson, the Matron, made her rounds of the building, previous to retiring, and found everything secure. Some time after, the alarm was sounded, and being without effective means for subduing the flames, the building was destroyed, entailing a loss of $3,523.95, upon which there was no insurance.
The Board of Supervisors convened on March 1, and adopted a resolu- 'tion providing for the issue of $4,000 in bonds, to be appropriated to the rebuilding of the premises. The same were begun at once, completed in time, and are still used. The almshouse proper is a large two-story stone structure,
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containg seven rooms and a dining-hall on the first floor, with ten apartments on the floor above. To the rear of this is the insane department, being con- structed of brick, 30x45, one story high, and containing ten cells. In 1872 tbe board caused the erection of a commodious dwelling house, to the north of the main building, which is used for residence purposes by the Superintendent. The whole are located on a farm of 160 acres, forty of which are cultivated for the benefit of the corporation, the balance being rented out, the rental being one-third of that produced thereon.
The charity is supported by the townships, which are charged the actual cost of support of those sent them by the Supervisor thereof. The expenses incident to maintaining the poor house, including a salary of $750 paid Jacob S. Reisinger, Superintedent, are estimated at $3,500 per annum.
STEPHENSON COUNTY SOCIETY OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
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