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 61
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The value of the village church property, which embraces a parsonage, is quoted at $3,500, and the following ministers have served since the circuit was established : The Revs. George Fleisher, John Dengel, Jacob Schafle, Samuel Dickover, W. Strasburger, A. Niebul, H. Rohland, William Huelster, Henry Bucks. L. B. Tobias, S. A. Tobias and J. G. Kleinknecht, the present incum- bent.
The association also have a church at Rock Run, established about 1850.
Davis Methodist Episcopal Church-Was organized in June, 1859, under the auspices of the Rev. James McLane, with twelve charter members. Until
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
1862, services were held in the schoolhouse, when the use of the Evangelical Chapel was obtained and occupied four years.
In 1866, the present edifice, costing $1,800, was erected, and has since been occupied by the congregation.
With the exception of one year, the church formed a part of the Durand charge, and services were had only Sunday afternoons. In the fall of 1878, however, it became an independent charge, with the Rev. F. W. Nazarene as Pastor. Since then, the church has enjoyed a steady growth, and is quite pros- perous. Its membership numbers about eighty, embracing a large proportion of the English-speaking element of the community. During the summer of 1880, extensive repairs were made on the church, which is now one of the neatest and most commodious in the district.
Since its foundation the following Pastors have officiated in charge of the congregation : The Revs. James McLane, C. C. Best, L. Holt, H. N. Rey- nolds, Thomas Cochran, M. G. Sheldon, Mr. Taylor, L. Campbell, T. L. Hall- owell, W. H. Orlap, P. C. Stere, T. H. Hazeltine and the present minister.
Davis Manufacturing Company-Was incorporated in 1876, with a capital stock of $10,000, and the following official board: Lemuel Goodrich, Presi- dent, and A. J. Morris, Secretary ; Lemuel Goodrich, A. J. Morris, Jacob Orth, E. A. Benton, G. W. Becker, A. Inman and M. W. Kurtz, Board of Directors. The objects of the association were the building and conducting a flouring-mill, and in the summer of 1876, the mill on Blackamore street, opposite the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad track, was completed, supplied with four run of stone, propelled by steam power, and taken possession of by Ball & Green, under a lease executed by the company. The sum of $16,000 was paid for building the mill, being largely in excess of the capital stock, which was secured by a trust deed of the property to the stockholders. This was foreclosed in 1878, and sold to the gentlemen composing the original board of officers and directors, who now own the property. It has been operated at intervals by the company-Aaron Stoll and Gift & Eichelberger, until May, 1880, when it was closed up.
The capacity of the mill is stated at 450 bushels of wheat per day, in addition to a large quantity of ground feed. The organization is still in existence but not active.
Evening Star Lodge, No. 414, A., F. ยง A. M .- Was organized under dispensation of the Grand Lodge of Illinois March 11, 1864, and received its charter October 5 of the same year, with the following officers : James Zuver, W. M .; George Osterhaus, S. W .; Edward R. Lord, J. W .; Dr. J. R. Ham- mill, Secretary ; Charles Wright, Treasurer.
The lodge prospered, increasing its roster of membership, the influence exerted by the members and resources of the craft. Recently, the lodge erected a handsome hall on Stanton street, which was completed, furnished and dedicated the same year at an expense of about $3,000.
The lodge now contains forty-two members, with the following officers : John Weber, W. M. ; D. G. Lashell, S. W .; C. M. Gift, J. W .; G. W. Becker, Treasurer ; T. Ihlert, S. D .; T. Nulks, J. D .; C. A. Carnefix, Secretary ; I. J. Haynes, Chaplain, and W. T. Schlamp, Tiler.
Meetings are held on the first and third Fridays of the month.
Davis Lodge, No. 376 I. O. O. F .- Was organized on the 19th of Sep- tember with the following members : Martin H. Davis, Isaac Denner, John Nagle, Thomas Hays, Alvin Gestenberger and J. W. Caldwell. Of these, John Nagle was N. G., Martin H. Davis, V. G., and Thomas Hays, Treasurer.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
The present officers are Jacob Swartz, N. G .; W. S. Caum, V. G .; Henry Warner, Treasurer; J. M. Caldwell, Secretary ; J. W. Caldwell, Warden ; and J. L. Blackamore, Conductor.
The present membership is about twenty-five, and meetings are convened weekly.
The town of Davis now has twelve stores of dealers in dry goods, groce- ries, drugs, and other commodities ; two blacksmith-shops, in one of which a superior quality of plow is made ; three churches, one paper, one mill, and other evidences of prosperity, together with a population of about seven hundred, to commend it to the patronage and confidence of the world at large.
ROCK CITY.
On the 10th of January, 1859, George Raymer executed a contract with T. S. Wilcoxon and William Peterson for the transfer of the southwest corner of the northeast quarter of Section 29, containing 50 acres for town purposes, which was the first move made toward founding Rock City. During the same year, the town was surveyed and platted, 180 lots being laid out, fronting on Jackson, Washington, Main, Congress, Clay, Center and Market streets and Jefferson avenue, which commanded prices ranging from $10 to $50 each, when the town began to build up, immediately upon the completion of the railroad. In the fall of 1859, Samuel Hutchison and S. E. M. Carnefix, donated an addition to the south part of the town, which, however, was vacated in 1860, and remained unimproved. David Wilcoxon, John Graham and Perry Duncan were the store-keepers, and the station was located and built during the same year.
The educational facilities, limited to a school on Carnefix farm at an early day, were increased and improved after the town was laid out, and are to-day inferior to none in the county.
Two churches afford spiritual pabulum to the citizens, and in this respect Rock City is equally fortunate as other township villages already mentioned. To these advantages is added that of accessibility for shipping purposes to farmers and speculators, being in the center of the township, with good roads from all portions of the surrounding country leading to the depot, and the town is rapidly assuming a prominence and value in this respect, that will result in attracting to its population, enterprise and wealth in the near future.
Its roster of material interest is made up of two stores, two churches, and a schoolhouse, and these, together with the fact that the town is but a short distance removed from Freeport, induce the conclusion that at some day, not far distant, it may be made the resident portion of that thriving city.
Schools .- As already stated, a school was maintained previous to the lay- ing out of the city on the Carnefix farm ; subsequent to that event a stone school- house was put up west of the village and taught by a master of the art named Searles.
This edifice answered public expectation and demands until the present quarters were erected in 1878, when they were substituted, and promise to sup- ply the needs for which they were built until Rock City shall become a city in fact as also in name.
Two teachers are employed ; the average daily attendance is seventy-five pupils, and the annual expenses about $800.
Evangelical Church of Rock City-Was organized in 1868, with a limited membership, which has been measurably increased during the past ten years.
In 1869, the present church edifice was commenced, completed and dedi- cated under the pastorship of the Rev. H. Rohland. It cost $2,200, is in a
Rofs Babcock
(DECEASED) RIDOTT.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
good state of repair and an ornament to the town. Rock City being in the Davis Circuit, the same pastors who officiate at that point do likewise for com- municants residing at the former place.
Methodist Church .- The organization of this church is due to the efforts of a small body of Christians who connected themselves with the Davis Circuit in the fall of 1878. Services were held in the Evangelical Chapel and the school- house until the summer of 1879, when the church building was completed and taken possession of. Its cost, including the bell and furniture, was $1,500; it has at present about twenty-five members, with the Rev. F. W. Nazarene as Pastor.
DAKOTA TOWNSHIP.
The territory comprising the present township of Dakota consists of 11,378 acres, originally contained in Buckeye Township. When the latter was set apart in 1850, the polling place for voters residing in the southeastern por- tion of Buckeye was located at the Red Schoolhouse, near the present town of Buena Vista. The distance thereto was a source of infinite inconvenience and vexation of spirit to those deeming it an inestimable privilege to exercise the privileges of the elective franchise, and for many years was bridged with complainings and irregularity by the American citizens who subsequently became pioneer settlers in Dakota. These complainings and vexations of spirit, born of the inconvenience cited, finally culminated in efforts to create a new town- ship, which were crowned with success through the labors of Silas Yount, R. Baird, B. Dornblazer and others, during the month of September, 1860.
Settlements had been made in that portion of Buckeye Township as early as 1836, many of which have already been mentioned in this work, and need not be recapitulated. There were some, however, who, during that and sub- sequent years, their names having been reserved for that purpose, are herein quoted. They include, among others, the family of Benson McElheney, who settled near Hickory Grove ; Henry Bordner, Jacob Bordner, John Brown, Robin Mcgee, James McKee, Samuel Templeton, John Price, Peter Fair, Daniel Zimmerman, Robert Pierce et al., a portion of whom settled on Cedar Creek, the remainder distributing themselves through various portions of the original township.
Dakota is deservedly regarded as one of the finest farming sections in the county. Though of limited dimensions, nearly every foot of soil, which in point of quality is unsurpassed, is under cultivation. That the natural facilities for acquiring wealth through the farm are more than generous, is to be found in the fact that the husbandmen residents therein are, as a rule, in independent circum- stances. The amount of timber is limited to one grove of measured dimensions, the balance of the township being rolling prairie. Cedar Creek courses the township from north to south, and the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway from east to west, affording water-power and means of communication possessed by few townships in the county, and sources of profit to the inhabitants. Dakota, though one of the smallest of Stephenson County's seventeen townships, is also one of the more prosperous and attractive, commending its resources and produ- cing results to the cultivator and shipper as substantial as they are comparatively unlimited, and certainly remunerative.
DAKOTA VILLAGE.
In 1857, the Western Union Railroad Company completed surveying the line of its proposed route, and engaged upon its construction. At
R
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY,
that time, the site of Dakota was owned by Robinson Baird and Ludwig Stan- ton. The former sold his claim to Thomas J. Turner, who, in turn, sold to S. J. Davis, and to him, in conjunction with Ludwig Stanton, is due the honor of the surveying and platting of the present prosperous village. Robinson Baird, Chas. Butterfield and a man named Wohlford, owned houses located at different points on the one hundred acres which subsequently became the town, and these are said to have been the only improvements visible at this time. Soon after, an appli- cation was made to the Department to locate a post office in the village. This was granted, and the present name adopted by the Postmaster General, at the suggestion of Robinson Baird and Benjamin Dornblazer. The improvements concluded during the earlier years of Dakota's existence were scarcely of a character to astonish the outside world, or enrich the operator, and the first substantial house erected in the town was due to the enterprise and ambition of Benjamin Dornblazer. In the year 1859, that gentleman and John Brown, appreciating the future importance of the place for shipping purposes, put up a warehouse adjoining the track of the road then laid, and in the fall of the same year a second warehouse was moved into the city, like the Trojan horse, ready complete, and located to the rear of that subsequently raised by Fisher & Schmeltzer.
In 1860, the town contained seven dwellings, occupied severally by Ben- jamin Dornblazer, Samuel Lapp, D. W. C. Holsople, Abner Hall, Robinson Baird, Daniel Keck and " Auntie " Dawson. Holsople carried on a blacksmith- shop, Robert Neil a cabinet-shop, and Daniel Keck conducted the village store.
In that year, S. H. Fisher and S. D. Schmeltzer erected a warehouse, the third to be raised since the town was laid out, but three years previous; the Methodist Church also went up, and improvements began to be generally made. These included the dwelling now occupied as a residence by John Brown, which was completed in 1860, and used as a hotel. George Muffley built a residence, as also did a Mrs. Ingraham ; Charles Muffley completed a carpenter-shop and tap-room, emigrating from some distant point in a house of limited dimensions and comforts, protected from the elements by a car-roof, and was persuaded to cast anchor in the growing village and open for business. This latter failed to materialize with gratifying profit to the Ganymede, who enlisted in the army, and is reported as having been killed in one of the engagements in the Southwest.
The war coming on, improvements were suspended, and nothing of impor- tance was accomplished. This uninteresting condition was prolonged until 1864, in which year a number of dwellings were added to the list of domiciles. In 1866, more of the same kind were erected, and between that year and 1870, the main part of the town was built up. In 1869, the town was incorporated as a village, and business increased in a proportionate ratio. This gratifying pros- perity continued until 1873, when the panic palsied trade, improvements, and other features of advancement which had previously manifested a healthy growth. This calamity affected Dakota visibly and disastrously ; there was neither business nor money ; the crops, though abundant, could not be profitably marketed, and these adverse circumstances produced their natural results, as already suggested. After five years of embarrassments and financial strin- gency, times became more easy, money was to be had, crops to be marketed, and the resources of the surrounding country, in process of a more generous development, to enrich the town.
The past two years have been years of prosperity to Dakota; the year 1880, a gratifying improvement over 1879, with a promise for the future cor-
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
respondingly encouraging. In 1879, $169,315 was paid out in the village for grain, hogs and cattle. Five hundred and ninety-four car loads of grain and 125 car loads of cattle and hogs were shipped therefrom, and improvements of value and beauty added to those previously enumerated. The village has a population of over 200, is an important station on the road, the center of a rich agricultural country, and possessing all the requirements for a successful out- come.
The village was incorporated by a special act of the Legislature, approved during the session of 1869, and the first election under the provisions thereof held on Monday, April 5, of the same year, at which Silas Yount, W. R. Auman. J. D. Bennehoff acted as Judges ; F. B. Walker and A. T. Milliken, Clerks.
The act of incorporation was adopted by a vote of twenty-four to twelve, and the following officers have served at intervals since that date:
1869-Peter Yoder, President; John Brown, W. R. Auman, George Lam- bert and R. M. Milliken, Associates.
1870-The board remained as in 1869, except that W. Askey and E. H. Dressler were elected in place of George Lambert and R. M. Milliken.
1871-W. R. Auman, President; W. Askey, J. Fury, John Brown and J. D. Schmeltzer.
1872-G. Walker, President; J. D. Schmeltzer, who resigned and was succeeded by D. Lides, E. Yount, A. Oaks and S. Zimmerman who was suc- ceeded by D. Keck, Zimmerman having resigned.
1873-J. Brown, President; E. W. Yount, D. B. Bobb, Ezra Durling and Isaac Aldendorfer.
1874-George Walker, President; D. B. Bobb, John Brown, W. R. Au- man and Daniel Seidles, Sr.
1875-Michael Stack, President; D. B. Bobb, W. R. Auman, Samuel Schmidt and Edwin W. Yount.
1876-Michael Stack, President; R. M. Telfer, N. B. Perry, E. W. Yount and D. M. Ruth.
1877-W. R. Auman, President; S. P. Rote, John Brown, M. Stack and R. M. Telfer.
1878-John Brown, President; W. R. Auman, R. M. Telfer, M. Stack and T. B. Schmeltzer.
1879-D. B. Bobb, President; S. P. Rote, R. M. Telfer, T. B. Schmelt- zer and A. M. Artley.
1880-M. Slack, President; D. Keck, W. R. Auman, A. M. Artley and Joseph Unangst.
Village Treasurer .- George Lambert, 1869; W. Askey, 1870-71; S. Zimmerman, 1872; E. W. Yount, 1873; W. R. Auman, 1874-75; E. W. Yount, 1876; S. P. Rote, 1877; R. M. Telfer, 1878; S. P. Rote, 1879; Joseph Unangst, 1880.
Village Clerk .- R. M. Milliken, 1869; E. H. Dressler, 1870; J. D. Schmeltzer, 1871; A. Oaks, 1872; D. B. Bobb, 1873-75; ,R. M. Telfer, 1876 -77 ; T. B. Schmeltzer, 1878-79; W. R. Auman, 1880.
Rock Run Presbyterian Church .- The congregation was organized in 1855, and one year later the church edifice in Section 30, Rock Run Township, erected and occupied until the village of Dakota was built up, when the organization was changed to that point where, in 1870, the church now occu- pied was built, the old edifice in Section 30 being appropriated by the Reformed Presbyterians, of which the Rev. Dr. Harris is the Pastor.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
The church at Dakota is of frame, 35x55, with a steeple eighty feet high, supplied with an organ, and was built at an expense of $3,000. It will afford a seating capacity for 300 worshipers.
The congregation consists of sixty members, and the following ministers have served : The Revs. John M. Linn, L. H. Mitchell and J. C. Irwin. Services are held every other Sabbath.
Methodist Church-Was organized soon after the village was laid out, under the auspices of the Rev. W. D. Atchison. In the summer of 1860, the congregation erected a commodious and handsome house of worship in the vil- lage of Dakota, at a cost of $2,000. In 1878, the steeple was completed, and other improvements added. It is of frame, 49x36, with a capacity for 300, and in every respect appropriate to the uses for which it was designed.
The present congregation numbers 100 members, and the value of church property, including a parsonage, represents about $4,000. The following is a list of ministers who have officiated : The Revs. W. D. Atchison, Barton H. Cartwright, John O. Foster, 'Aaron Cross, James M. Condee, T. H. Hasel- tine and George H. Wells, the present incumbent.
Evangelical Lutheran Church .- Sometime during the year 1857, the Rev. Ephraim Miller began to preach in the schoolhouse at Dakota, and, on the 3d day of September, 1859, the following persons held a meeting and organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dakota: Ephraim and Sarah Stotler, Samuel and Mary Lapp, Jacob and Helena Maurer, John and Catha- rine Wirth, James Ling and George Frantz. The Rev. Ephraim Miller was elected Pastor, Ephraim Stotler, Elder, and James Ling, Deacon.
In the fall of 1867, steps were taken to build a house of worship, which was completed and dedicated December 5, 1868, at a cost of $2,626.71, the same being paid when the edifice was delivered to the church authorities. At the date of its dedication, money was subscribed for the purchase of a bell, which was accordingly procured, the first bell introduced into the township.
The present congregation is composed of a large number of worshipers, and the value of the church property is quoted at about $2,500.
The ministers who have served are the Revs. Ephraim Miller, A. A. Trimper, Solomon Ritz, Charles Anderson, Samuel Cook, John Slott, Charles Young, R. Lazarus, S. C. Seidel and J. A. Beidler, the present Pastor.
Schools .- The system of education in force elsewhere throughout the county is employed at Dakota. The present edifice was begun in 1855, and completed, with an addition costing $500, in 1867.
There are two departments, primary and grammar, requiring the services of two teachers, and furnishing the means of education to an average daily attendance of 125 pupils. The school is under the control of a Board of Directors, consisting of E. M. Shullenburger, J. Clingman and D. M. Hols- opple, and require an annual appropriation of $1,000 for their support.
Dakota Lodge, No. 566, I. O. O. F .- Was instituted by Deputy Grand Master W. J. Fink on the 22d of February, 1875, with eight charter members, and the following officers : E. Durling, N. G .; J. W. Gladfelter, V. G .; E. Yount, Treasurer, and J. D. Schmeltzer, Secretary.
The lodge attained a high degree of prosperity, but, upon the morning of October 27, 1877, the building to which the lodge had removed in 1876 from Keck's building, was totally destroyed by fire, the craft losing everything except its lodge books, and suffering, in addition to the inconvenience occasioned by the fire itself, a pecuniary damage of $380. Rooms were at once fitted up in Artley's building, and possession taken thereof December 22, 1877, since
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
when prosperity has prevailed against the elements. The present membership is forty-eight, with the following officers: W. H. Butterfield, N. G .; E. Yount, V. G .; T. B. & J. D. Schmeltzer, Secretaries ; J. R. Young, Treasurer.
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP,
in the southern tier of townships in the county. contains 22,069 acres of land, all of which is improved, being mostly of rolling prairie. The water facilities are generally good, the Pecatonica River and Yellow Creek flowing through the northern portion, with creeks and rivulets of less prominence and value coursing its remaining sections at different points. The Illinois Central passes through the township from north to south, the Western Union cutting across its northwestern corner.
The township is well supplied with schools and church buildings, but has no town within its limits, Freeport being the market for its citizens. An addi- tion to Baileyville, a town in Ogle County abutting on Silver Creek Township, was once made with a view to the establishing of a village, but improvements were neither rapid nor extensive, and the Ogle County portion of the town finally neutralized the Silver Creek undertaking.
The first permanent settlement made in the present township was effected by Thomas Craine, who visited the county in August, 1835, and entered a quarter section of land in the southwest quarter of the township, where he built a cabin and housed his family, consisting of a wife and three chil- dren. In the fall of the same year, Augustus Bonner established himself in Section 34, near the mouth of the Yellow Creek, but was not a settler. He remained there until 1836, building a cabin during the winter, when he resigned his claim to its legitimate owner, Thomas Covel, and went West.
In the spring of 1836, Charles Walker, F. D. Bulkley and Hammond were enrolled among the pioneers, and in the fall Sidney Stebbins, Joel Baker, Loran Snow and the. " Widow " Brown. Walker was employed by Mr. Craine to teach his children the limited rudiments of education, in those days accessi- ble to purchase, paying therefor $75 a quarter. The tutor remained there for several months, familiarizing himself in the mean time, as the sequel proved, with the intricate knowledge of horse stealing, which he subsequently practiced - until 1838, when he was captured and condemned to the penitentiary at Alton, whither he was taken. Some land was "broke up" in 1836, and a few improvements in the way of building completed.
The following year, though emigration to the State and county was more liberal than during the years preceding, Silver Creek failed to gain the quota its fertile soil and other attractions deserved. The settlers who had already put in an appearance entered claims in the eastern part of the township, the western portion being, as vet, uninhabited. This continued for many years, and it was not until about 1843, that lands in the latter sections were taken up, the early settlers therein being Dr. Michner, Thomas and Adam Nelson, Christian Bennett and son, John Flynn and others. But, to return to earlier dates : Seth Scott settled in the township in 1837, at a point east of Crane's Grove; Hiram Hill, also, on Yellow Creek ; Maj. John Howe on the west side of the Grove, Maj. Howe soon after removing to Freeport; I. Forbes on the State road, on the extreme eastern part of Silver Creek. John Milburn, a man named Reed, employed by Thomas Craine, and some few others were included on the bills of mortality this year, which also furnished the first deaths in the
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