USA > Illinois > Will County > The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest > Part 34
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
in May of this year. There were probably other settlers than those mentioned, who came this year, but if so, their names are forgotten by the few who still survive.
During the year 1835, the settlement grew rapidly. Among those who came this year were the following : Hervey Lowe, S. W. Bowen, Hugh Hender- son, Wm. A. Boardman, Russell Frary, Michael Shoemaker, John L. Wilson, Richard L. Wilson, Charles L. Wilson, Abijah Cagwin, H. N. Marsh, J. Beau- mont, Levi Jenks, O. F. Rogers, Rev. J. H. Prentiss, C. C. Pepper, Francis Nicholson, W. R. Atwell, Jonathan Barnett, John M. Wilson, Elias Hyde, from New York ; Oliver W. Stillman and Allen Pratt, from the old Bay State ; S. B. Hopkins and Charles W. Hopkins, from New Jersey ; E. M. Daggett, Barton Smith, Wm. A. Chatfield, .William Walters, F. Collins, from the Hoosier State of Indiana ; Thos. Culbertson, from Delaware; Robert Duncan, from Detroit; George Higley, from Ohio; and J. Lyons, Asa Rowe, George Squire, whose native place we could not learn. Hugh Henderson came in the Fall of this year, and was the first lawyer in Joliet Township or City. Board- man came soon after, and was his partner in the law business. Russell Frary bought Dr. Bowen's stock of goods, who had opened a store soon after he set- tled in the town. Frary remained in the mercantile business several years, but finally sold out and returned to New York. Michael Shoemaker was a brother to Dr. Bowen's wife, and lived in Joliet till 1840. He formed a copartnership with Dr. Bowen, which continued from 1836 to 1838, when Bowen sold to J. A. Matteson, and the firm changed to Matteson & Shoemaker. The latter finally closed up his business and went to Jackson, Mich., and is at present a member of the Senate of that State. Hervey Lowe was a brother-in-law of Gov. Matteson, and now lives in Chicago. John L., Richard L. and Charles L. Wilson were brothers, and the middle initial of each name was the same, and was for the mother's family. They were from Albany, and came in March. Charles died within the present year ; Richard died several years ago, and John is in Chicago-one of the proprietors of the Evening Journal. Abijah Cagwin settled on Section 12, of this township, and is still living. H. N. Marsh, whose father first settled in Crete Township, was a cabinet maker, a business he fol- lowed until 1847, when he purchased the True Democrat, as noticed in the history of the city of Joliet. Rev. J. H. Prentiss was a Presbyterian preacher, and the first resident minister in the city or township. Chas. Hopkins settled here during the Fall. His wife was a literary lady, and a writer of consider- able merit. Robert Duncan was at one time Recorder, and for many years an active merchant. Oliver W. Stillman was the first Justice of the Peace on the East Side, and was elected in 1836, while McKee was the first on the West Side, as already noticed. John M. Wilson is the well-known Judge Wilson, of Chicago. Collins came this Summer, and lived for a while in Robert Stevens' house, whose wife had died just before Collins came to the settlement. Levi Jenks was for some time Clerk of the County Court, and at last accounts of him was in California. Wm. Walters settled on the West Side, and now lives in
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
Grundy County. Chatfield was another West Sider, and one of the early Justices of the Peace .. Allen Pratt was an old bachelor or widower, and was a little near-sighted. "The girls used to have a deal of fun with him," as an old lady expressed it to us. One evening, he had been with a party of young ladies, and returning home by moonshine saw what he thought was a black place in the road, and upon stepping on it found it to be a cow lying down. It sprang to its feet, bringing him astride its back, and dashed away at full speed, treat- ing him to a kind of John Gilpin ride. C. C. Pepper was one of the early disciples of Blackstone. L. B. Hopkins was a merchant, on the East Side, and Hyde was a carriage maker on the East Side. Atwell was a blacksmith, and one of the first in the settlement. Of the others mentioned, not much information can now be obtained. Thus we have endeavored to briefly notice the early settlers of Joliet Township. It may be that the names of many of those who settled here in the years named have been omitted from the list given, but we have taken much pains and trouble to obtain them so far as possible, and in doing so have drawn pretty freely on the memories of the few early settlers still living and within our reach.
When the first white man came to Joliet Township in 1831, there were plenty of Indians in the present limits of Will County, and, though of the friendly Pottawatomies, yet the very fact that they were surrounded by savages, whose ferocity, when aroused, is scarcely equaled by wild beasts, coupled with the fact that low mutterings were now and then borne to them on the gale, of the threatening troubles with the Sacs, then on the verge of taking the war path, all conspired to divest the wilderness of its romance, and render their every-day life, to say the least, unpleasant. The Pottawatomies, though friendly as already stated, were looked upon with much suspicion at times, and required a good deal of watching to prevent their petty thieving, a penchant for which is a native characteristic of the red man. While the Black Hawk war was raging in 1832, the few settlers who remained upon their claims built a fort in the present city limits of Joliet, which they called "Fort Nonsense," but as it is graphically described in the general history, we pass it with this slight allusion. Nearly half a century has passed since Black Hawk led his painted warriors over the prai- ries of Illinois, and the wilderness where a few hardy pioneers braving danger, planted a feeble settlement, has " flourished and blossomed like the rose." The Indians have long since taken up their line of march toward the "land of the setting sun "; their council fires burn far away in the " untrodden West," and the little settlement on the Des Planes River, which had its birth, as it were, in the midst of an Indian war, has grown into a prosperous community, with a prosperous city in its midst. The half dozen families that settled in Joliet Township in 1831, have increased in numbers, and, including city and township, aggregate several thousand.
In all new communities, one of the first things thought of is a mill. This branch of enterprise engaged the attention of the people of Joliet Town-
375
HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
ship at a very early period of its settlement. When we look around us at the magnificent mills of to-day and the unbounded facilities for procuring our sup- plies of meal and flour, it seems almost impossible to realize the limited means of obtaining bread by the pioneers of fifty years ago. What would we think at the present day, of having to go to Peoria to mill, with a wagon and team, and a rainy season coming on, of being detained six weeks ? And yet there are those living within sound of the church bells of Joliet, who remember such an experience. The first attempt at a mill in Joliet Township was made by one John Norman, in 1833-4. It was built at the head of an island nearly oppo- site the penitentiary and was rather a primitive affair. He built a dam across one branch of the river, and thus turned the current in the other. In this' his wheel was placed, the shaft communicating with the machinery of the mill. It was a small log structure, and its capacity for grinding rather limited, as we have been told that fifteen bushels of grain in twenty-four hours was good work for it. The next mill was McKee's, built on the west side of the river, just above Jefferson. street, the frame of which is still standing, a monument to pioneer enterprise. Several saw-mills were built in the town. A. Cagwin built one on Hickory Creek, near where the Reed Mills now stand. Col. Sayre and Mansfield Wheeler had a saw-mill also on Hickory Creek, in which was sawed the lumber for the first frame house in Joliet. Clement & Clark, and the Haven Bros. built mills in the early times, as noticed in the general his- tory of the county. But the day of usefulness of these original mills has long since passed, and the more modern inventions and improvements fill their place.
The first roads through Joliet Township were the old Indian trails and emi- grant trails, the latter made by the settlers' wagons passing through the swamps and prairie grass. When a man in those days started to a certain place he took the most direct route and turned aside for no surmountable object The stage route from Chicaga to Ottawa was the first effort at a public highway, and was opened for travel as early as 1834. Coaches were put on this route, which ran along on the west bluff of the Des Planes River, and was considered a grand im- provement on the mode of transit, to the " ox-team express" hitherto in use be- tween the settlement and Chicago. But for a number of years, there were no bridges over the water-courses and sloughs, and, as a consequence, travel on this was sometimes prolonged beyond the specified periods laid down in its time tables. The first post office was established through the instrumentality of Dr. Bowen, in February, 1835, who was appointed Postmaster, a position he held until the election of Gen. Taylor as President in 1848. The mail came by a cross line from Plainfield where it connected with the Chicago and Ottawa stage line, that being the nearest station of the line to this settlement, at that time. A man of the name of McDougall succeeded Dr. Bowen as Postmaster. The first store in Joliet Township was in the present limits of the city of Joliet, where it will be noticed. The church history of the township is so closely identified
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
with the city that it also will be noticed in that connection, as well as some other points usually given in the township histories.
The first birth in Joliet Township cannot, at this distant period, be given with any degree of correctness. Mr. Woodruff, in his " Forty Years Ago," in speaking of this matter, says : " My own impressions would be in favor of a McKee, as, according to my recollection, such an event was a yearly one at the McKee mansion." This is as definite as "Forty Years Ago" is on the subject, and our own inquiries have failed to elicit any further information ; so, with Mr. Woodruff, we will accord the honor to McKee, in absence of authority to the contrary. The first death in the settlement is likewise involved in some uncer- tainty. Some are of the opinion that Mr. John B. Cook, mentioned elsewhere as a Revolutionary soldier, was the first to cross over the "Dark River." He was verging on to his fourscore when he came to this township with his son, Major Cook, and, it is said, died in a few years after he came. Others there are who think that the first wife of Robert Stevens was probably the first death. She was a lady of delicate constitution, and survived wilderness life but a few years, at furthest. The first marriage occurring in this township, was Thomas Ellis to Miss Anne Pence, of the Hickory Creek settlement, and the matrimonial knot was tied for them by. Benjamin F. Barker, a Justice of the Peace. The mar- riage took place on the 4th of July, 1835, and was a part of the exercises-not on the programme-of the first Fourth of July celebration ever held in Joliet Towsnhip. This celebration of our National Birthday consisted of music, a pro- cession, reader, orator, dinner, etc., and was held in a little grove of timber near the present round-house of the C. A. & St. L. R. R., and enjoyed by the crowd as such free entertainments usually are. Rev. J. H. Prentiss was Chaplain of the occasion, Jonathan Barnett, Marshal of the procession, Dr. Bowen read the Declaration of Independence, but the name of the orator of the day has been suffered to sink into oblivion. It was doubtless interesting, and did honor to the day they celebrated.
The first practicing physician in the town, as already noted, was Dr. A. W. Bowen, who settled here in 1834, and is at present living in Wilmington, enjoy- ing in his old age the competence obtained through a life of honest toil and square dealing with his fellow-men. Dr. Charles Reed was the next physician after Dr. Bowen, and came in the following Autumn. The first lawyers are more particularly noticed in the history of the city, where legal talent usually congregates, and where it is mostly employed. The first Justices of the Peace of Joliet Township were Oliver W. Stillman, on the east side of the river, and James McKee on the west side, and were elected in 1836, the first year of the formation of the county. The courts of these early Justices afforded many ludicrous and humorous incidents characteristic of the backwoods. One of these dispensers of justice, named - Lawler, usually held his courts in a building, the front room of which was occupied as a saloon. A case was tried before him one day in which two well-known attorneys were engaged-Messrs. D. L. Gregg'
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
and E. C. Fellows. It seemed rather a plain case, but the Justice decided it adversely to what the majority really expected, which so exasperated Mr. Gregg, whose case had thus been defeated, that he jumped to his feet with the compli- mentary remark, "You are a - old jackass !" Fellows arose, and with much dignity said, "May it please your Honor, the Court has been insulted, and should fine the offender $1,000 and imprison him for life." "Oh," said the 'Squire, " Mr. Gregg and I understand each other. Boys, lets all go and take something to drink." William R. Atwell was the first blacksmith, and had a shop on the west side of the river as early as 1834. The first school house was built about 1836-7, and was in the present city limits, and is further noticed on another page. A man named John Watkins taught the first school in this primitive temple of learning, and is still living (in New Lenox Township), though old and feeble and nearly blind. This was not, however, the first school in the township, or settlement it was then ; but the honor of teaching the first school is awarded to a Miss Cleveland, who, it is said, taught in the " old fort," which has been frequently mentioned in this work. She lived in California, the last known of her. Of the early schools of the township but little can now be learned. The first records are mislaid or destroyed, and hence no informa- tion can be obtained through that source. Through the courtesy of Mr. Fay, the School Treasurer, we have examined all the books in his possession, which consist mostly of loan, cash and account books, but no early records beyond these account books. The school facilities have increased somewhat since Miss Cleveland taught in " Fort Nonsense," and Watkins in the little school house, as we find in the report of 1872 that there were eleven school districts, with pupils enrolled to the number of 3,589. Forty-five teachers were employed, and there were in the town seventeen school houses. The special tax of town- ship was $2,140.12, and city school tax $4,419.70. Mr. Fay's last report to the County Superintendent of Schools shows the following :
Number of males in township under 21 years of age 3,125
Number of females in township under 21 years of age ..
3,101
Total.
6,226
Number of males attending school in township.
1,107
Number of females attending school in township 1,043
Total. 2,150
Number of male teachers employed
5
Number of female teachers employed. 45
Number of graded schools in township 2
10
Number of public high schools in township. 1
Number of private schools in township
6
Number of male pupils in private schools
247
Number of female pupils in private schools
357
Number of teachers employed in private schools ..
14
Estimated value of school property. $66,400 00
250 00
Estimated value of school libraries.
Estimated value of school apparatus. 465 00
Principal of township fund ..
6,881 80
Amount of district tax levy, etc
22,192 00
Number of ungraded schools in township.
378
HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
There are in the town eighteen comfortable and commodious school houses, five of which are built of stone, and the others are substantial frame buildings. The first bridge in the township of which we have any account was built over the Des Planes River in the latter part of 1837. At that time,, two substantial wooden bridges were built about where the lower and middle bridges now are. They were both washed away, however, in the next Spring, which was a season of unprecedented high water, and many a day passed before they were rebuilt, or other accommodations provided for crossing the river than a " dug-out," or ferry boat, when it was too high to ford. But at the present day, the town is well supplied with excellent bridges, wherever those useful and convenient inventions are needed.
In the early settlement of this section of the country, claims were usually made by "squatting " wherever the new-comer found land or a situation that suited him, provided there was no prior claim. Building a cabin and enclosing and cultivating a patch of ground established a pre-emption right to their claim -that is, a right to purchase it, when it should come into market, at the Gov- ernment price of $1.25 per acre; and at the land sales, though there might be ever so many speculators present, they dare not bid against a settler, unless they chose to risk rousing their vengeance. They (the settlers) had organized a regular court to protect and settle their claims, which was a kind of " Higher. Law," and woe unto him who trespassed upon the rights of this court or the settlers. A compromise was finally effected between the settlers and specu- lators, whereby the latter paid for the land and the settlers gave them half, and thus securing to themselves a reasonable amount of land for nothing. The land sale of 1835 caused a great rush of immigration to this section and a rage for land speculation, and soon all the most valuable and available lands were taken up or secured by the speculators. In 1850, the county adopted township organization, and this further added to the convenience of laying claims and locating lands. Upon the organization of townships, this one received the name of Joliet-a name conspicuous in the early history of Illinois as that of one of the early French explorers, LOUIS JOLIET. The first Supervisor of Joliet Township was Charles Clement, who held the position for three years successively: The present township officers are as follows, viz .: Frederick Rappell, Supervisor, and John Scheidt, John Lyon, William Gleason, Assistant Supervisors; - Kelly, Township Clerk ; W. D. Fay, School Treasurer ; J. T. Millspaugh, Police Magistrate; R. Doolittle, Edmund Wilcox, J. P. Mur- phy, Patrick Shanahan and William P. Webber, Justices of the Peace.
Joliet Township, including the city, politically is Democratic; and has always, we believe, been of that color in politics wherein party lines were closely drawn. As now, so it was in the days of Whigs and Democrats ; and upon all important occasions, the latter usually carried the day with ease, par- ticularly during " canal times," when they used to bring the sons of the " Ould Sod " to the rescue. As to the township's record in the late war, it has been
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
so ably and truly given in the "Patriotism of Will County " that we make no mention of it here other than to refer the reader to that excellent work. Per- haps the history of Joliet Township would not be complete without some notice of Joliet Mound, notwithstanding it is referred to in the general county history. It attracted a good deal of attention in the early explorations of the country, and was believed by many to have been the labor of the Mound Builders, the remains of whose works constitute the most interesting class of antiquities found within the limits of the United States. But more modern theories and investi- gations have exploded that idea, and it is generally conceded to once have been an "island in the ocean," or in the mighty river which is supposed to have flowed through this valley ages and ages ago, as the southern outlet of Lake Michi- .gan. That it was formed by the action of water there can be little doubt, since the mound has been dug into a considerable depth and found to be composed of sand and gravel, deposited upon a bed of clay. Being something of a natural curiosity, it seems to be a pity to have it destroyed, as is being done at present by the Mound Tile Factory. It would be an eligible site and a most beautiful place for a park. Should the city buy it for that purpose and convert it into a park, a very fine one could be made of it, and the outlay would be well and judiciously made.
Having traced the history of the township through its early settlement and down to its organization, touching upon the main points of interest, we come now to the history of
THE CITY OF JOLIET.
Joliet, or as sometimes styled, and very appropriately, too, the " Stone City," is situated on both sides of the Des Planes River, in a beautiful valley, with its suburbs extending back on to the bluffs like the wings of a great army. It is thirty-eight miles from Chicago, and connected with that suburban retreat by two of the greatest railroads in the State of Illinois, and has also water com- munication with Chicago via the Illinois & Michigan Canal. If Joliet is not a " city set on a hill," it is certainly " founded on a rock," for the entire surface upon which it is situated is stone. It is well laid out, the streets broad, with excellent sidewalks, and bordered with handsome trees. Many fine residences and business houses, built of stone-products of its own enterprise-are to be found here which would adorn any city. Its railroad facilities are excellent ; having the advantage of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific to the West ; the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis to the South ; the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern to the Southwest ; and the Michigan Central to the East. These roads have been of much advantage in building up Joliet ; and their machine shops located here give employment to a large number of men. A full sketch of the rail- roads and of the canal is given in the general history, and so will not be repeated here.
The names of many of the early settlers of the city have already been given in the settlement of the township, but no mention made of them beyond the
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.
date of their coming to the county, their works and their deeds being left for this chapter. As common in townships containing county seats, most of the important history of Joliet centers in the city of the same name. Here many of the more stirring events of the times transpired, and here, as just stated, much of the important history has occurred. Charles Reed is generally re- garded as the first settler in the city of Joliet, or was, at least, the first to lay claim to any portion of the land in the original city. He had made a claim on the southeast quarter of Section 9, upon which, in 1833, he built a small log house, west of the river, and very near where the National Hotel now stands. Reed was from Indiana, and had settled in Reed's Grove about 1831, but, attracted by the water power, came to this place, as already noted, and com- menced preparations for building a mill. In the Fall of 1833, James B. Camp- bell and James McKee purchased the " floats " granted by the State to Silvia and Rachel Hall, two girls who had been captured by the Indians, as narrated
in the general history. Campbell located his float in the early part of 1834, on the east side of the river, embracing a part of the present city of Joliet. On the 13th day of May, the Surveyor's certificate was filed, and on the 10th of June, 1834, the plat was recorded and the town christened to "Juliet," for Campbell's daughter, it is said ; a name it bore until 1845, when it was changed by act of the Legislature. President Van Buren and his Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Paulding, while on a tour through the West, stopped at " Juliet," and, noticing the difference in the name of the city and of Joliet Mound, urged the people to have the former changed to correspond with the latter, which was done as above stated, by act of the Legislature, and approved February 26, 1845. The act further provided that all additions subsequently laid out " shall be known as additions to Joliet." In January, 1834, McKee, after purchas- ing the claim of Reed, located his float on the west side of the river, and laid it out into one-acre lots. In April, 1834, Charles Clement bought one acre from McKee, for which he paid him $125, and on which he erected a story and a half building, the first frame house in West Joliet. Bailey Brothers had some- time previously built a frame house on the East Side.
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