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 63
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
the picture of a life of felicity, sobriety and prosperity, as unusual as it is unde- niable, and as gratifying as it is pronounced.
The first birth in the settlement occurred in 1843, a son to George Cavanagh.
The first marriage solemnized was that of Robert Cavanagh to Bridget Maher, in 1844. A Mr. Gillis, died in December, 1845, the first death. He was taken sick during the autumn of that year, and, in spite of admonitions to care for himself, he continued to labor until about the date mentioned, when he "jumped the life to come," and was buried in the grove on Burns' Branch, when death and winter closed the autumn scene.
ST. MARY S CHURCH OF THE MOUND.
Dublin settlement was projected and completed in the days when the groves were God's first temples throughout the wilderness of Illinois. It was built of logs, being 18x20, and claimed as the first Catholic Church erected in the diocese, between Galena and Chicago, though the same claim is made for the Catholic Church in Rock Run Township, erected by the Mullarkey and Doyle families. St. Mary's was put up by the early settlers, eight logs high, but without furniture, i. e., pews or ornamentations, and occupied until 1857, when the present stone edifice, 35x75, was completed and consecrated. The first Pastors in the old church were the Rev. Fathers Schlaugenberg, Petitot, Brady, Keeney, Durvin, Cavanagh and Mclaughlin. The present congregation numbers sixty families, under the pastorate of Father Michael Hogan.
The realty of the church includes forty acres, five of which are appropri- ated to cemetery purposes. These are located opposite the church edifice, and contain quite a number of handsome monuments.
The church property is valued, with the parsonage, at $10,000.
KNIGHTS OF ST. PATRICK OF NEW DUBLIN.
A temperance association organized in District Schoolhouse No. 7, St. Patrick's Day, 1871, with twenty-two members.
In 1874, the society purchased an acre of ground adjoining the school- house, on which was erected a frame hall one story high, 22x56 in dimensions. The labors of the association have been eminently successful ; the society at present enjoys a large membership, with the following officers, and owning prop- erty valued at $600 : Daniel Brown, President ; Bryan Duffey, Vice President ; Michael McGurk, Treasurer, and Peter Doyle, Secretary.
Meetings are convened once a month.
ELEROY,
a pleasant village of 100 inhabitants, is located in the eastern portion of Erin Township, on the Illinois Central road, eight miles west of Freeport, and derives its importance from being the shipping-point for farmers in Erin, and certain portions of Kent and Harlem Townships. The location is beauti- ful ; being built in a grove, it possesses an abundance of shade trees, an orna- ment ordinarily wanting in prairie villages ; several springs of excellent water abound, and the ground upon which the village is built is sufficiently rolling to give the place a very picturesque appearance. The farming country in the vicinity is superior, and the business carried on considerable.
In 1853, after the Illinois Central road had been surveyed, and while work on the road-bed was in progress, it was decided to locate a station in the vicinity
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
of the village, and considerable speculation was indulged as to its exact site. This speculation bred discussions which led to the manifestation of a spirit of rivalry between the owners of property contiguous to the proposed depot, notably among whom were D. S. Jones, A. Bacon, D. S. Pickard and G. D. Babbitt. Finally, the three last named appropriated twenty acres of ground, and, procuring the services of F. D. Bulkley, surveyed the present village, laying out eighty six lots and otherwise, which were readily sold at prices ranging from $25 to $50 each, to George Andrews, James Harwood, James De Nure, Daniel Reese and other purchasers. At this time there were but two houses in the village limits, those of A. Bacon and S. O. Pickard.
Although lots sold without difficulty and at extravagant rates, improve- ments failed to keep pace with the expectations cultivated by lot-owners and would-be speculators, and it was not until the railroad was completed to Warren and trains began to run, that an impetus was given to building and business. In 1854, James F. Harwood put up the first store in the village. It was located on the present site of Huff's store, and after passing through several hands was burned under the proprietorship of Benjamin Merrill. The next houses were built by Samuel Mathews and E. H. Woodbridge, both being of frame, and other improvements followed in the wake of those mentioned. The follow- ing year Benjamin Merrill built another house, which met, in 1858, the fate of his previous enterprise. The schoolhouse, a one-story brick, was built that year also. William Harwood and David Stacks built, on Ridge street, in 1855, and Samuel Michaels on the same thoroughfare during 1857, the house now occupied by Mrs. Ansenberger. The panic of 1857 produced no visible effect upon the progress or decay of the village, which is to-day a quiet habitation of quiet people, with much in the beauty of its situation and surroundings to recommend it as a place of residence.
The first marriage, as near as can be ascertained, after the village was laid out, was that between Horace Perkins and Susan Lloyd, in June, 1854, Squire A. Bacon tying the knot. The ceremony was performed while an epidemic of cholera was at its height, and the Justice who responded to the couple's solicitations to unite them, left the bedside of a member of his family, almost in the last pangs of dissolution, to discharge a duty imposed upon him by law.
The first death was Mrs. Aseneth, wife of N. J. Churchill, who died August 17, 1858, and, there being no cemetery laid out at Eleroy, her body was interred at Lena. With regard to the first birth, the chronicles are silent.
To-day, as already stated, Eleroy is a village of 100 population, according to the enumerations for 1880, and a shipping-point for grain and live stock, appreciating yearly. During 1879, there were 500 car loads of wheat and hogs shipped from this station. Within the village proper there are an elevator attached to the depot and operated by horse-power, two stores, a blacksmith- shop, school, church, and a number of private residences, which attract by their modest beauty and appearance of comfort. The "madding crowd" will scarcely ever run wild in the sunshine of Eleroy's prosperity, but want and distress, the attendant concomitants of riches and pretentiousness, will never be known within her bills of mortality.
The School-Was built in 1855, and is still in use. One teacher is em- ployed, who directs the studies of an average daily attendance of sixty-five pupils, under the direction of a Board of Trustees, composed of David Ide, E. R. Prindle and John Winters.
The annual expense is stated at $400.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
The United Brethren Church-A handsome stone church, located at the further end of Bidge street, was erected in 1869, at the cost of $4,400, with a small membership under the pastorship of the Rev. O. B. Phillips. Previous to that date, the congregation worshiped in the schoolhouse, but now the associ- ation, which consists of six communicants, hold services in the church on alter- nate Sundays, the Rev. J. F. Hallowell, officiating.
The following Pastors have served : The Revs. O. B. Phillips, I. K. Stratton, J. Johnson, E. D. Palmer and the present incumbent.
A few Baptists under the charge of Elder F. Bower, of Waddams Grove, and a Methodist class led by Mr. Hazlett, of Freeport, also a limited number of the Evangelical society, presided over by the Rev. Mr. Fair, alternate in their occupation of the church, Sundays, morning and evening.
Eleroy Lodge, No. 247, I. O. O. F .- Was organized on the 18th of De- cember, 1857, with seven charter members, of whom N. J. Churchill was N. G .; A. Bacon, V. G .; G. F. Anderson, Secretary, and A. C. Culver, Treas- urer.
Meetings were first convened at the corner of Ridge and Coal streets, where they continued two years, and were attended with a gratifying degree of prosperity. Thence the lodge room was removed to Churchill's house, and after a brief period work was suspended, the lodge surrendering its charter. After remaining quiescent for a number of years, the lodge revived on October 9, 1873, and is still in active operation.
The present membership is stated at seventeen. Meetings are held weekly on Saturday night. The lodge property is valued at $275, and the officers are E. R. Prindle, N. G .; John Hoff, V. G .; John Winters, Treasurer, and H. Stocks, Secretary.
Salem Lutheran Church-Located one mile from Eleroy, was established in 1856, and has since grown steadily in wealth and influence. In that year, the congregation erected a small stone church, which answered the demand until 1869. when the present imposing edifice was completed and dedicated to worship. It is of stone, 55x32, located in the center of a six-acre lot, part of which is dedicated to burial purposes, and its steeple can be plainly seen for miles around. The church cost about $4,000, and is one of the most elaborate in the county.
The congregation, which numbers fifty-four members, support a school enjoying an average attendance of seventy pupils, taught by the Rev. William Wall, the Pastor, and an assistant.
HARLEM TOWNSHIP,
one of the central tier of townships, the fourth settled in point of date in the county, is inferior to none as regards its location and agricultural advantages. The township is plentifully supplied with wood and water, and possesses other features of excellence indigenous to the country.
The first settler to visit the present township of Harlem with a view to locate permanently was Miller Preston, who came in 1835, and settled upon Section 22, near the Galena stage road. It is believed by members of his household who survive Mr. Preston, that he visited Stephenson County first in 1833, coming from Dixon on a prospecting tour, and, after a hasty survey of the country, selected the site whereon he subsequently settled. Having made his claim in that year, he returned to Gallipolis, Ohio, where he concluded the
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
tanning of a batch of hides upon which he was employed when considering the policy of emigrating to the West, and, purchasing a drove of cattle, came once more to Illinois, arriving upon his claim in the spring of 1835, the original settler in the present township of Harlem, which was then Lancaster Township, and so continued until the eastern portion of that territory was set off and appropriated to the organization under which it is now known.
The country is represented as being peculiarly attractive at that date. The prairies were covered with flowers, dotted here and there with burr oak timber, the branches of which served as a shelter not only to the pioneers but to the dusky maiden and painted savage, from the dews of the nights in spring and the heat of the summer's sun. The soil was of surpassing richness, and streams, creeks, rivulets, brooks and springs were distributed about the terri- tory as if with mathematical exactness. But Mr. Preston proceeded to work at once and confirmed his title to the claim entered by erecting a log hut at the point above mentioned. The ax was sent to the heart of the surrounding trees by the muscular arms of the sturdy pioneer; log after log was rolled to, and fixed in, its proper place, and while the deer browsed among the fallen tree foliage, and the howl of the wolf from the surrounding hill-tops was heard above the contest with the forest, the first house in Harlem Township attained its limited proportions.
In the succeeding fall, William Baker, Benjamin Goddard and others had settled in what was subsequently set off as Lancaster Township, where Mr. Preston enjoyed the society of neighbors, participating in the raising of Baker's cabin, and other social amenities calculated to promote the genial in a sparsely settled portion of the country.
During 1836, except Elias McComber, there is no record of any one set- tling permanently in Harlem, but a year later the population was materially augmented by the arrival of John Edwards, who came in May ; Rezin, Levi and Thompson Wilcoxon, Levi Lewis, John Lewis, and some others. The same season, Levi Wilcoxon erected a mill on Richland Creek, on the present site of Scioto Mills. Among those who were employed during its building, John Lewis put in the water-wheel, and the following persons assisted in the various work necessary : John Edwards, George Cockerell, William Goddard, Alpheus Goddard, Peter Smith, Wesley Bradford, Homer Graves and John Anscomb. The mill was completed and operated during the month of August of that year.
In the year 1838, P. L. Wright settled on a claim purchased of William Robey, who had come on a short time previous, as also had E. H. D. Sanborn, the latter owning a claim of half a section on the Lancaster line, which he sub- sequently sold to George Furst for $2,800; William Preston, who settled on the banks of the Pecatonica, Lewis Preston, Mathew Bridendall, and some others. Lewis Preston settled on Section 10, and, before he had put his house in order, an infant daughter was added to the family number, the first birth in the township. She grew to womanhood, and to-day, as Mrs. Benjamin Brown, has been enumerated in the census returns of the State of Iowa.
In 1839, Robert Young settled in the township near the mouth of Cedar Creek. Benjamin Bennett came the same year, and bought what is now known as the Putnam farm. In the month of February of this year, the first death in the township took place-Mrs. William Preston, who died at the resi- dence of her husband in Section 15, and was buried in the vicinity.
Between 1839 and 1845, Thompson Cockerel settled on the east side of the Pecatonica; Charles W. and Robert Barber, and others became residents
Ina Wind.
( Deceased .) ONECO.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
of the township ; a man named Clark married the " Widow " Lyon, and many other events of great import, doubtless, were included among the number accomplished.
From this date thenceforward to the survey of the Illinois Central route through the township, immigration was scarcely proportioned to that in the direction of other townships in the county. The lands were cheap, and advan- tages equal to those offered elsewhere, but for some unaccountable reason the incoming settler was an unknown commodity, or one of such rare exception as to create comment. About 1850, a change came over the spirit of those who came West, and many began to settle in Harlem. When the railroad was sur- veyed, however, and its construction determined beyond doubt, the value of land appreciated, until to-day property which sold for $12 per acre twenty-five years ago cannot be had at thrice that sum. The water privileges, too, became valu- able about this time, though necessity and speculation had made a market there- for almost with the first settlement.
KENT TOWNSHIP.
This township comprises the east half of Township 27, Range 5, and the west half of Township 27, Range 6, with an aggregate of 22,700 acres, upward of 20,000 acres being under cultivation. The township is well watered by Yel- low Creek and its numerous branches, and a fine growth of timber is to be found in the northern part.
The first settlement was made in 1827, by O. W. Kellogg, who ventured into the wilderness of Burrows' (now Timms' Grove), and erected a shanty, which remained intact until 1862, when it was torn down and a new one erected on the site; this is still standing, owned by a Mr. Taylor.
The old cabin, however, was first sold to a man named Lafayette, who in turn assigned his title to one by the name of Green, from Galena. The latter remained in possession until 1835, when James Timms became the purchaser, removing thither with his family the same year, the first permanent settler in the township, and the only settler at that date west of Freeport. In the fall of 1835, Jesse Willet came in, and settled at what is now known as Willet's bridge, below Timms', building a house there that is yet standing. Calvin and Jabez Giddings are said to have come about the same time and established themselves on Yellow Creek, four miles north of Timms'. During the winter of that year and the spring of 1836, there is no record of any one having ventured into the vicinity, wherein Timms and his neighbors held undisputed possession, and culti- vated patches of corn and other grains. In the fall of 1836, Gilbert Osborn was added to the number of settlers already mentioned, and again was the col- ony remitted to quiet and relief from further incursions by pioneer plodders in the wilderness. In 1839, J. Reber settled one and a half miles northwest of Timms', and in the following year Frank Maginnis erected a cabin on the pres- ent farm of Jacob Gable. Benjamin Illingsworth settled near the Timms house, making that hospitable mansion a home while his cabin was without a roof to protect its owner from the inclemency of the weather.
Previous to this last date, a mill had been erected on Yellow Creek by John and Frederick Reber, and, as it was near the center of the township, it was liberally patronized. Before its completion, the settlers had been obliged to procure the grinding of their cereals at Craig's mill, on Apple River, at Buffalo Creek, in Ogle County, and elsewhere. The inhabitants obtained their supplies
S
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
of bacon from Galena or Dixon, and when short of " hog-meat," indulged an appetite for game, which was to be found in abundance in the winter, on barrens and prairie. In 1837, a school was opened by William Ensign in the house of James Timms, where he taught the young idea, acknowledged by the Timms, Maginnis, Giddings and Willet families, the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. By these and kindred means did the early pioneers of Kent Township not only dissipate dull care, but contributed in providing substantial means for future wealth and civilization.
Among others who settled up the township was Thomas Carter, Isaac Rand, etc. ; Samuel Bailey settled across Yellow Creek ; Jacob Gable came in and purchased the Maginnis place ; L. L. L. Pitcher, who is still living near the old Timms place ; a man named Lathrop, with some few others, were among the number who became identified with the cultivation and development of the county in that portion subsequently allotted to Kent.
In 1840, the township began to be made the objective point for a large proportion of emigrants coming into Northern Illinois. These, as is well known, were largely made up of natives of Pennsylvania and the more Eastern States. They brought resources with them, and their industry, thrift, economy and perseverance have been the agencies through which not only Stephenson County and Illinois, but the Great West, to-day in the last degree prosperous, have been brought to that condition of independence it now enjoys. Thence to 1850 the increase in population, proportioned to the inducements held out to become residents, was large and profitable. In 1844, the land came into market and was sold at public vendue in Dixon. For a short time after, there was considerable trouble between settlers who had come at an early day and purchasers at the Dixon sales, arising from a conflict of title to lands thereat disposed of. The difficulties growing out of this dispensation were, however, compromised in time, and what promised to prevent, for a season at least, the gratifying success now apparent throughout the township, in no manner mate- rially affected its settlement, growth or improvement.
Since 1850, when the results of nearly twenty years of labor began to bear fruit, the prosperity of the township has been not more pronounced than rapid. Since 1832, when Capt. Adam Snyder was attacked by Indians while encamped in Kellogg's Grove, until to-day, nature and art would seem to have combined to render Kent Township attractive. That they have proved irresist- ible to a superior class of settlers, is to be found in the wealth and education of the inhabitants, the cultivated fields, the handsome homes, the schools and churches and other evidences of refinement and morality which greet the eye of the permanent and transient at all points.
The first marriage in the township was in 1837, between James Blair and Kate Marsh, who were united at the house of James Timms.
The first birth was a son to James Timms and wife, who was born on the 26th of May, 1837, christened Harvey M. Timms, and now resides in Loran Township, a prosperous farmer.
Jesse Willet, Jr., is reputed to have been the first death in the township. He was buried at what was afterward known as "Willet's burying-ground," where the Dunkard Church now stands.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
RIDOTT TOWNSHIP.
Occupies the southeastern corner of the county and is nine miles in length by six in width, with an area of 34,400 acres, of which about 30,000 acres are under cultivation. It is well watered in the northern part by the Pecatonica and tributary streams, and heavily timbered in that section also, while the southern portion is mostly rolling prairie.
The township formed a portion of Silver Creek Precinct until after the passage of the law providing for township organization, when it was laid off and named, it is said, after a clerk in the Post Office Department at Washington. The first settlement of the town was made in the spring of 1836, by Andrew Jackson and Jefferson Niles, who claim to have come on the 4th of March of that year, and built a shanty on the east bank of the Pecatonica. During the winter of 1835 or 1836, or early in the spring of the latter year, Harvey P. Waters, accompanied by Lyman Bennett, visited the present territory of Stephenson County, and halted at the mouth of Yellow Creek, now included within the limits of Silver Creek Township. He remained here until spring had become an established fact in this section, when he removed to Ridott, and is still enu- merated in the census of that town. That spring, it is said, quite a number of settlers identified themselves with future Ridott, and, besides increasing the number of voters in that portion of the county, contributed materially to the promulgation of its attractions. £ Wooten, who settled one mile west of the present village of Ridott; Horace Among these were Sawyer Forbes, Daniel Colburn, where Samuel Moyer now resides; a man named Wickham, who entered the land upon which the village of Ridott is located ; John Reed and brother, who squatted on the Farwell farm ; Benjamin and Josiah Ostrander, at the mouth of the Creek ; David Niles, on land subsequently owned by Garrett Lloyd ; Asa Nichols, and some others. They, one and all, indulged the same anticipations, experienced the same vicissitudes, conquered the same hardships, and rejoiced in final victory, as did those who came at an early day, and, in other portions of the county, were tried and triumphed gloriously.
The primary settlements made in Ridott, as elsewhere in portions of the county watered by the Pecatonica, were established along the bank of the river. The land there was more desirable, apparently, for agricultural purposes than the rolling prairies at a distance from the stream, and the water-power sought to be utilized for mechanical and other purposes was deemed as an invaluable adjunct to the building-up of the country. The houses were, of course, primitive beyond description, often being constructed of sod, with thatched roofs and other evidences of the limited resources available in those days. Yet this discouraging outlook attracted rather than dismayed the emi- grants, who came in large numbers even after the township had been generally settled, and desirable sites were held at extravagant rates. In 1837, Caleb Tompkins took up land in the timber on what was afterward known as the Bride Farm. G. A. Seth, Isaac and Eldredge Farwell settled adjoining each other, four miles east of the present village. Garrett Lloyd became a settler this year also, as did Norman, Levi, Isaac and Orsemus Brace, Harvey and Jeremiah Webster, Sybil Ann Price, who entered a claim to land three miles east of the present village ; Stewart Reynolds, Sanford Niles, etc. These were followed in 1838 by Lewis and David Gitchell, Philo Hammond, Ezekiel and Jacob Forsythe, John Lloyd, a brother of Garrett Lloyd, who came the year previous ; Putnam Perley, who entered a claim to the place now known as
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
Hemmenway's; Ezekiel Brown, who settled near Holmes' Mill; John Brazee, one mile west of the village, probably Christian Clay, and others. In the fall of 1837, a girl was introduced into the household of Daniel and Julia Wooten, who was christened Margaret, and published as the first birth to occur in the township. In 1839, among those who cast their lines in the pleasant places with which Silver Creek Precinct abounded, were Charles Babcock and George H. Watson, accompanied by 1,000 sheep; William B. Hawkins, Ross and Anson Babcock, John Karcher, Lewis Woodruff, etc., etc. Early this year, i. e., on March 10, Thomas J. Turner, who had been among the first to settle in the township and make permanent improvements, and was then acting in the capacity of a Justice of the Peace, performed the first marriage ceremony that occurred in the town; the celebrants were A. J. Niles and Nancy A., daughter of Gustavus A. Farwell; the ceremony took place at the farmhouse of N. Eldredge Farwell, and the "couple" began the voyage of life without the "fixins " and " flourish " now deemed indispensable to similar events.
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