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 45
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Horatio@bouchard
FREEPORT.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
the town builders to remove their stakes to a point further west, comprehended in that portion of the city now bounded by Winslow, Broadway, part of Locust, Oak and Chicago streets and the Illinois Central track. This section, after the removal was made, continued to lie idle and unimproved for many years, until John A. Clark and some other gentlemen obtained title to it, and laid out the Winneshiek Addition, by which it is now known, since when it has become one of the most desirable portions of the city for residence purposes.
When the time arrived for setting the stake for the county seat, those who had been instrumental in aiding the claimant to perfect her title to the land in this beautiful portion of the township, were refused a hearing when they sought to have the county seat established in the village first laid out, and subsequently, these officious intermeddlers were escorted to the borders of the county whence they were invited to depart, with the assurance that, if they returned, hospit- able graves would welcome their coming.
The season of 1836 witnessed a limited number of arrivals with a view to settle permanently in the proposed city; the larger proportion of those who came, however, remained but a brief period at Freeport-or, as it was then known, Winneshiek-before departing to other portions of the county. The drift of immigration, as a rule, avoided the town, which then consisted of Baker's cabin and tavern. While this latter was building the only gimlet in the settlement was broken, and Frederick Baker walked to Craine's Grove, in Silver Creek Township, charged with the duty of supplying its absence by bor- rowing one of Mr. Craine. Not only was he successful in this respect, but he then, for the first time, met the young lady who subsequently became his wife.
One of the most important events of the year was the birth of Caroline Baker, which occurred in May, and was the first child born in the city or town- ship. She still lives, as Mrs. Amos Doane, of Kansas.
Baker, Kirkpatrick, Galbraith & Co. put up two houses this year, one at the corner of Galena and Chicago streets, and one on what is now Stephenson street, opposite the monument. These two comprised the improvements made, except a small hut on the river bank, occupied in the fall by L. O. Crocker as a store, subsequently by O. H. Wright, and finally as a schoolhouse, where Nelson Martin inaugurated a system of education long since vacated for that now in force.
Among those who settled in Freeport in 1836, was (). H. Wright, L. O. Crocker, Joel Dodds, Hiram G. Eads, Jacob Goodheart, John Hinkle, James Burns, the first mason ; William, Samuel and Robert Smith, Benjamin R. Wil- mot, John Brown, etc. F. D. Bulkley went to Silver Creek ; E. H. D. San- born came in and went to Harlem; so that when winter succeeded the ides of November, there was quite a sprinkling of inhabitants. That winter is remembered as one of exceeding severity, and none engaged in labor out of doors but what was indispensable to procure in-door comforts. There was no building in the future city; the saw-mill of Kirkpatrick at Mill Grove-which supplied the lumber for houses put up that and succeeding years by the company of which he was a member-was idle, and any mater- ial prepared for building purposes was hewn in the woods. The spring of 1837 opened auspiciously, and the outlook for the season was regarded as promising. This year's arrivals included Isaac Stoneman, Daniel Eobrust, who was moved into the city by William Kirkpatrick ; Richard Earl, John A. McDowell, Maj. John Howe, Michael Red, Luther and Charles Hall, Richard Howe, Chancellor Martin, Richard Hunt, - Davis, Abraham Johnson, William Stewart, L. W. Guiteau and others. Those who came to the city, but removed to other points in
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
the county, were Thomas J. Turner, Julius Smith, Patrick Frame, Harvey P. Waters. William Barlow, etc. The company erected buildings on Galena street ; Michael Red put up one at the corner of Galena and Van Buren streets ; B. R. Wilmot and Levi J. Webb, erected residences on the former thoroughfare. During the summer, Thomas Hathaway and James and Matthew Brown made their first appearance and "broke" farms in the present city. They raised what was known as sod corn, and oats, but as there were no markets for their sale the crops were retained for home consumption. That summer also, the company continued to complete improvements, extending the same to Stephen- son street. O. H. Wright erected a frame store near the reservation, to which was added his residence. Mr. Wright had previously purchased lots near the original town, but business promised to flourish in the new town and he removed thither. Before fall of 1837 the county seat of Stephenson County had been established at Freeport, by which name the town was that year formally characterized. It had been previously known as Winneshiek, and consisted then of not to exceed a few houses. The tavern, in fact though not in name, was the residence of William Baker, on the river bank, at which new- comers were hospitably welcomed, often without price. Mrs. Baker finally began to tire of her husband's promiscuous hospitality, and one morning at breakfast re-christened the settlement "Freeport," under which generous title, applied ironically in the instance cited, it has become familiar to the settler, merchant, drummer and speculating public.
There was considerable rivalry for the county seat, made principally by Cedarville, Freeport, and one other town which was backed by Thompson and Rezin Wicoxon, but without success. The claims made for Cedarville were based upon her location near the center of the county, but the company organ- ized to build up Freeport emphasized their arguments with a donation of $6,500 for the erection of the county buildings, and that decided all doubts in favor of Freeport.
Thereafter, the town began to fill up rapidly, and improvements kept pace with the new arrivals." In the summer, W. H. and H. W. Hollenbeck, Am- brose Tower, Charles and Isaac Truax, William Patterson, Allen Wiley, James Barr, Samuel Leonard, John Montgomery, John A. Clark and others came in. About this time the Indians, who were in the vicinity in patches, robbed the "Widow" Brown of supplies, and fled to Rock Run Township. The
madam promulgated the loss she had sustained, and William Baker, M. Brown, Jake Godheart and "Wild Gunner" Murphey pursued the thieves, accompa- nied by Frederick Baker, who was to officiate as interpreter. The rascals were come up with, as stated, in Rock Run Township, and as soon as their camp was reached, one of the pursuers, becoming frightened at their warlike and bloodthirsty appearance, retired from further overtures for the return of the stolen articles, at a gait rivaling that reported of Tam O'Shanter when pur- sued by the witches. The red men who, by the way, are said to have been in a condition of decided inebriety, and proportionately fierce, interrogated Mr. Baker as to the cause of the paleface's sudden withdrawal, and were answered that he was hurrying to a force of one hundred men, en route to their camp, to announce the location of the enemy, and, if an immediate settlement was not concluded favorable to the widow, reprisals would be made of their scalps. Thus admonished, the thieves exhausted their eloquence and available resources to reach a compromise, which was finally attained, the Indians returning what remained of the "widow's" property, and reimbursing her for what had been disposed of with a horse, giving Mr. Baker a horse to pilot them clear of
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
Freeport and the volunteers, and paying Frederick Brown four coon skins for conducting the negotiations.
This year, it is said, Court convened in O. H. Wright's house, Judge Daniel Stone presiding.
Speaking of Indians, the following is related in that connection : On the afternoon of a very stormy winter's day, five Indians came to the door of a resident (F. D. Bulkley), and asked shelter, extending their hands with expres- sive gestures toward the naked frames of their deserted wigwams that stood in sight, and saying, "Wigwams all gone ; Indian got no wigwam." They were welcomed to the cabin, where they stripped off their wet clothes and hung them to dry, and, as the only way in which they could testify their gratitude, sent a lad of their number to transfer whisky with his mouth from a large jug to a small one, so as to offer him a drink.
One day Mr. Kent, the first settler at Rockford, had been to visit his brother, the Rev. Aratus Kent, who then resided at Galena. On his return he procured a canoe at some point on the Pecatonica, and, loading the same with potatoes, continued his journey to Rockford. Arriving at Winneshiek Lodge (Freeport), he tied up and went on shore. When he came back he found his boat surrounded by squaws and little Indians, naked and swimming about, all busy as squirrels carrying away his potatoes. Those that remained he carried home, planted them, raised a fine crop, and awoke one morning to find them all harvested and carried off by the Indians.
In the fall of that year (1836), Emma Eads, daughter of Hiram G. Eads, died in a two-story frame house at the foot of Stephenson street, then occupied as a tavern. She was buried in a lot of ground, afterward laid out as a ceme- tery, at the foot of Summit street, the coffin being made, it is thought, by Richard Earl, a carpenter, who settled in the city, as already stated, in the preceding spring. Hers was the first death in the city or township.
Improvements this fall were of a nominal character. Wilmot and the Hollenbecks put up cabins, and some motion was made toward pretentiousness in the town, of limited capacities, however, in their behalf. Religious meetings were occasionally held, when the circuit rider tarried at the fireside of a settler to define the Scriptures or engage in the duties incident to his profession. This year, it is believed, Father McKean preached the first sermon in the city. While the religious interests of the community were thus cared for, the cause of education was reserved for the future to develop, and the youth of the inhab- itants ran wild in the woods, afar from pedagogue influence or restraint. Social amenities began to crop out, and dancing found admirers among the belles of the surrounding country, the Craine girls, Eliza and Sarah Hunt with Melinda Norris being the focal attractions toward which sighing swains were irresistibly drawn. O. H. Wright maintained the store, Dr. Martin and Van Valzah, the latter residing at Cedarville, however, prescribed medicaments for the diseased, carpenters officiated as undertakers, and graves for the dead were prepared by friends and relatives of the family thus afflicted. There were neither holidays nor sports, Christmas came and went without the "fixins" peculiar to the modern celebration of that event, and Fourth of July, the day upon which the hearts of Americans are supposed to thrill with an exuberance of enthusiasm, was not celebrated until 1838 in the city.
The spring succeeding was equally uninteresting as the fall of 1837. Richard Hunt erected a frame building on Van Buren street, also one on the corner of that thoroughfare and Spring street. But building was not general. The country, however, enjoyed a happier experience ; farms were opened, the
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY. .
area of cultivation was measurably increased, and the system employed brought forth more generous returns. Early in the summer, Michael Red added to the number of buildings, and on the 9th of April, Richard Earl was married to Catharine Brown, Squire Julius Smith consolidating the two hearts into one according to the forms prescribed by statute. This was the first matrimonial venture made in the settlement, and, without exaggeration, it may be concluded, was regarded as an auspicious circumstance in the history of the town.
In the spring of this year, H. G. Eads built a tavern at the pres- ent corner of Stephenson and Liberty streets. Julius Smith was the architect and carpenter employed, and. upon its completion, it was named the "City Hotel." The court house, for which timbers had been gotten out during the winter previous, was begun the same spring, though its completion was delayed until 1840, due probably to the embarrassed financial condition of the county, county orders at this period commanding but thirty cents on the dollar.
The nation's birthday was first celebrated in Freeport July 4, 1838, with all the pomp and circumstance available at that period.
In the fall of 1838, the " Mansion House " was put up by Benjamin God- dard, and for many years thereafter occupied as a hotel under the control of Mr. G. It was of frame, two stories high, with nine rooms and accommoda- tions for a limited number of guests. It still stands across the creek in the southern portion of the city on the very spot of its origin, and occupied for the manufacture of "pop, root beer, cider" and other compounds, which commend themselves to the patronage of teetotalers.
John Montgomery and A. Wiley built a frame house on the present site of the First National Bank, which was used as a store, and subsequently became a tavern. Elijah Barrett opened a similar depot the same year, and L. W. Guiteau an establishment for the sale of a general assortment of goods, at the corner of Galena and Liberty streets. In the winter, Nelson Martin opened the first school taught in the city, in the building formerly occupied by L. O. Crocker as a store. This year the ferry was removed to the foot of Stephen- son street, where it was maintained by H. G. Eads and his successors until public necessity substituted a bridge. The ferry was first established on Peca- tonica River, opposite the city, by William Baker, when Freeport was known as Winnesheik.
On the last day of the year (1839), George Purinton, still living, one of the oldest residents in the city, came to his future home with ten shillings in his pocket, and put up at the Mansion House. Among others who came in 1839 was Squire A. T. Green, who still lives in the city he made his home forty-one years ago. He has been identified with its progress, as he was with its infancy, by the erection of buildings, and other improvements, and in the enjoyment of a hale old age, bright memories blossom out of the shadowy past for him, beautifying its dimness and tinting the vanished years with colors of never-ending fascination.
The year had been one of greater prosperity than those preceding. Emi- gration had been general to the State and county, and many who had come in search of a permanent abiding-place found that desideratum at Freeport, and remained. The outlook was the reverse of gloomy ; the panic of 1837, which paralyzed more prosperous communities, was not felt in Freeport, and the " city," which, but five years before, was without a local habitation, had been sur- veyed, laid out and platted by F. D. Bulkley, the plat being drawn by Miss Cornelia Russell, one of the vocal celebrants of July 4, 1838.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
The houses, though not numerous, were sufficiently so to demonstrate pos- sibilities a few years hence to those who anticipated a day when their most san- guine expectations would be fully realized. None of them bore the marks of architectural finish, but presented an appearance which added a spice of cheer- fulness to the surroundings. Business was, as a rule, transacted on a cash basis, thereby avoiding causes of complaint and bills of costs. Amusements were found in developing the country and providing ways and means to enrich the inhabitants. Balls, dances and socials comprised the limit of entertainments provided, and these were conducted with a dignity and propriety more genuine than is to be observed among the blue and gold social circles of to-day. The moral show, circus, Ethiopian comedians and combinations were " blessings " yet unborn in the history of the town, and the residents were to be felicitated on their possession of a bliss born of an ignorance of the existence of these chan- nels of useless expense. No one was rich ; impoverishment, rather than inde- pendence, was the rule, and if extravagance had been added to these embargoes the history of Freeport might yet have been in a future, beyond the ken of man to descry.
The winter of 1838-39 was characterized by " harder times." than any pre- vious season. There were no accessible markets for the sale of crops, compara- tively little money, impassable roads and other features of a pioneer life that increase the general happiness in proportion as they diminish in importance. Supplies were obtained at Galena, New Diggings, and occasionally brought from Chicago by teams and wagons, or "prairie schooners," as they were sometimes termed, the piloting of which not only required the skill of a special pleader, but levied contributions from sources of original and fruitful profanity.
About 1837 or 1838, J. D. Winters operated a stage line from Chicago to Freeport, where Frink & Walker made connection for Galena. In 1839, how- ever, this arrangement was abandoned, Frink & Walker monopolizing the entire trade, and finally compelling the Winters organization to abandon the field. The stages, drawn by four horses, reached Freeport three times a week from Chicago, and delivered passengers at the Mansion House, kept by Benjamin God- dard. It required two days and a night to make the trip to or from Chicago, and the fare is stated to have been $5.
In the spring of 1839, a well-known character by the name of Worden P. Fletcher, but more familiar to settlers under the euphonious pseudonym of "Pony " Fletcher, was arrested for "jumping " a claim, and conducted to the office of Justice Richard Hunt, at the corner of Galena and Van Buren streets, to be arraigned and plead. It seemed that upon a submission of the evidence, His Honor decided the eccentric " Pony " guilty, and imposed some penalty which the latter conceived as entirely disproportioned to what he insisted was a nominal offense. In harmony with this conclusion, the alleged claim jumper attempted to escape from the presence of justice without first having satisfied the demands of the blind goddess. But his movements in that direction were restrained by the audience, from which a posse comitatus was enlisted, and Fletcher's departure indefinitely postponed. When brought to bay, and all hope of escape prevented, the prisoner seized his gun, and, before any one was able to prevent him, discharged its contents at the Justice ; happily, the only damage done was to the Squire's vest, which was ruined, and, before the impet- uous gunner could again draw the bead, he was disarmed by the crowd, which included Frederick Baker, Isaac Stoneman, Allen Wiley and others, and tied in a hopelessly defenseless " knot" until the case could be adjudicated. He was held in bonds to appear on a future day, and obtaining bail, departed for
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Rock Run Township, where he opened a farm, married a daughter of the Widow Swanson and become a prominent citizen, identifying himself with the best interests of the people. The charge against him was never prosecuted.
During the same year, a man named John Barker was arrested for a sim- ilar offense against the laws, but failed to receive the generous leniency accorded Fletcher. The accused had " settled " on one of Benjamin Goddard's claims, since become a part of the city, and now identified as the block on Stephenson street, wherein Maynard's store is located, and refused to vacate. He was accordingly arrested, and submitted his defense before a committee, of which William Baker was chairman. After a careful consideration of the premises, the court decided that the claim must be vacated by Barker within a certain time, in default of which, thirty lashes should be administered to the recalcitrant settler.
He failed, however, to heed this admonition, and, on the day upon which the limit of indulgence expired, he was taken into custody, tied up by the thumbs and lashed into penitence and humility. Upon being released from custody, he was escorted to the county line and urged to consult neither time nor distance in accomplishing a permanent and unlimited space between himself and present surroundings. If he returned to the vicinity. he was told he would certainly be hanged. His presence was never again inflicted upon the citizens of Freeport.
As an illustration of the early administration of the civil law, the following is related : One Mike Walsh was arrested for assault and battery and brought before Justice Red. The jury was summoned, and the case heard, but, before the jury retired, the accused came in with a tin pail of whisky and cup, saying, "I expect you'll hang the little Irishman anyhow, but we'll have a drink together first." When their thirst was sufficiently slaked, the jury retired, and soon Red come demanding admittance to give some further instruc- tions. This came near causing a fight with the Constable, but was at length disposed of, when the jury came forth with a decision of " not guilty," and that the costs be divided between the parties. Accordingly, the money was handed over to the Justice, and by him paid to witnesses and others coming with demands until it was all gone, and, when the clouds were sufficiently dissipated to permit of a reckoning, he found himself about $4 out of pocket.
In 1839, the post office was established at Freeport, with Benjamin R. Wilmot as Postmaster, who held the office in his private residence on Galena, between Van Buren and Chicago streets. Two years previous, Thomas Craine, residing at Craine's Grove, where he kept a tavern, carried the mail from his house to Galena and Freeport, via the old State road, his pocket being the letter pouch, himself delivering its contents to the addresses to whom they were directed.
Among those who came to Freeport in 1839, were D. A. Knowlton, who opened a store at the corner of Galena and Van Buren streets, and became one of the most prosperous citizens of later days ; A. T. Green, still residing in the city of his adoption ; N. L. Rogers, James M. Bailey, Charles Pratt, John Rice and others. That winter, John A. Mc Dowell and Isaac Stoneman passed in the woods, preparing timber for the hotel then projected at the corner of Galena and Exchange streets, which was completed a year later.
During 1840, the emigration to the city and county which had up to that date annually increased, came to a stand and gradually diminished until 1850. The growth of the town was in consequence slow, there being comparatively little to attract new-comers.
The town was "inland " at some distance from
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market, and there was an abundance of good farming lands contiguous to Freeport ; but the agricultural classes were not numerous enough to enrich mer- chants and develop a city by liberal patronage. The city contained, at that date, about forty houses, as near as can be recalled by the residents of the period, two or three of which were hotels, three stores, viz., Wright's, Guiteau's, and Knowlton's ; Abraham Johnson, James Rock and James Montgomery's saloons and gambling houses, etc., the remainder consisting of public buildings and private residences ; neither banks nor drug stores being then erected. Money of farmers was deposited with merchants and by them forwarded to places of security in cities rejoicing in the possession of a safe deposit. There was little need of medicine either. When one of the citizens was attacked by the chills and fever, he usually found a solution for his woes, effective if unpalatable, in " Rowan's Tonic Mixture," "Indian Cholagogue " and other specifics retailed as staple articles by the merchants. When, however, the diseases ministered to refused to yield to such harmless compounds and required a more thorough course of treatment to stay the progress of the man on the pale horse, Drs. Martin, Van Valzah and others, who professionally administered to frames dis- eased, were summoned.
If money was comparatively scarce, as noted, and necessaries proportion- ately expensive, luxuries, so called, were not held at figures beyond the reach of the seeker therefor. These latter included liquors which could be obtained at the several saloons in the town, as also at the hotels, except the Mansion House, which was a hotel conducted in accordance with the principles of tem- perance, which even in that early day and where society was measured by its excesses, found substantial expression in this growing city of Northern Illinois.
As a rule, say they who were then residents of the municipality, morality was not held in as high regard as it has since obtained. With a population to a large extent transient, with whisky sixpence a drink, and limited facilities for the enforcement of the laws, any other conclusion would be naturally incor- rect. Gambling, too, was welcomed, not only as a diversion, but also a means of livelihood. The game of faro was publicly dealt without interference, and during 1840, James Rock introduced the game of keno to an admiring patron- age, who in daylight and after dark gathered in a little room in the building then occupying the corner of Van Buren and Galena streets, the present site of Hoebel & Moogk's drug store, to tempt the fickle dame by the card and button route. In the same year, the Rev. F. C. Winslow and John A. Clark, appreciating the existence of a field for the inauguration of reformatory meas- ures, commenced meetings in the same building and organized a temperance society, which accomplished much good in time among the unfortunates who were confirmed worshipers at the shrine of Bacchus. Indeed, drinking is said to have been universal among nearly all classes, and crime scarcely less retiring. Horse-stealing was a species of felony that afforded the guilty party nearly every means of escape and profitable investment. As a result, it was prac- ticed by men unsuspected at the time, at the most inconvenient seasons, and when the victim of the theft was the least prepared either to prevent its com- mission or recover the property. This grade of crime became too frequent in time, and the capture of one of the thieves was almost invariably followed by a trial, the soul of which was its brevity, conviction and summary punishment. Freeport was a resting-place for this class while evolving a plan of future opera- tions to be executed elsewhere. Many miners going to and returning from the mines rendezvoused at Freeport, and, with the facilities for dissipation accessible, debauches and disorder were by no means exceptions in the daily
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