USA > Illinois > Carroll County > The history of Carroll county, Illinois, containing a history of the county-its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory war record statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men history of the Northwest Illinois miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 20
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The first saw-mill was erected in 1833, by Captain Craig, at Bowen's mill site, on Plum River, about two and a half miles to the east of the main part of the village. A year later, the Bowen Brothers (Luther H. and John L., the last named having joined the settlement in 1835-6) came in posses- sion of this property and continued to operate it for some years. A powder mill was built at the same place in the course of the early history of Savanna, but both it and the old saw-mill went down long ago. Perhaps it ought to be written that the powder mill went up, as, in 1845, two of these mill buildings blew up, killing a young man named Balcom, and seriously injuring Elinathan Jacobs and one or two others. The mill was immedi- ately rebuilt, and the manufacture of blasting powder for the mines (for which they were originally built) continued. In time, they ceased to be sufficiently remunerative to justify their continued operation, and the enter- prise was abandoned. Idle and untenanted, some fishermen encamped in them, and in attempting to light a pipe, another explosion of powder that had been embedded in the loose soil succeeded, instantly killing one of the party, named Hicks, terribly burning another one, named Smith, and badly injuring a third one. The mills were originally built by Porter Sargent in 1839, but a man named Bemis and some other eastern capitalists subse- quently became interested in the enterprise, and at one time, when the Galena and other upper river lead mines were in the zenith of their success, proved a profitable investment. The site of these mills is now occupied by the large flouring mills of Messrs. Wood & Kitchen.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
While Savanna was building up as a village, settlements had been making and extending back into the country, and the people found it incon- venient and expensive in time and money to go to Galena to attend to county business, the distance being about forty miles by river, and about the same distance across the country and the hills. As the settlements increased, this inconvenience began to be a subject of general complaint, and ways and means came to be considered by which these inconveniences might be obviated. After mature deliberation, the formation of a new
227
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
county was conceded to be the surest and quickest means of emancipating themselves from the inconveniences against which the settlers had just cause of complaint. The necessary measures were inaugurated to carry out their purpose, and the eleventh session of the General Assembly of the State, which convened at Vandalia on the third day of December, 1838, passed the following act defining the boundaries of Carroll County, and providing also for the manner of choosing a seat of justice.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, repre- sented in the General Assembly, That all that tract of country contained within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of town 25 north, range 2, east of the fourth principal meridian; thence east, on said township line, to the middle of range 7; thence south on the section line, to the north boundary of Whiteside County; thence west along the north boundary of Whiteside County to the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River; thence up the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River to a point opposite the place of beginning; thence east to the place of beginning, shall constitute the County of Carroll.
SEC. 2. That, for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of the said county, it shall be lawful for the legal voters within the above named boundaries to meet on the second Monday in April next, at the several places of holding elections, and vote for the place where the county seat shall be located, and the place receiving a majority of all the votes given shall be the permanent seat of justice of said county; and if no one place shall have received a majority of all the votes given, then it shall be lawful for the said legal voters to meet at the several places of holding elections on the second Monday of July, 1839, and then and there select and vote for one of the two places only heretofore voted for in April having the two highest number of votes, where the county seat shall be located; and that place having a majority of all the votes given, shall be the per- manent seat of justice of said connty.
SEC. 3. The county seat shall be located on lands belonging to the United States, if a site for said county seat on such lands can be found equally as eligible as upon lands owned by individuals. If such location shall be made upon lands claimed by any individual in said county, or any individual having pre-emption right or title to the same, the claimant or proprietor upon whose lands, claim, or pre-emption right, the said seat of justice may be located, shall make a deed, in fee simple, to any number of acres of said tract, not less than twenty-five, to the said county; or, in lieu thereof, such claimant, owner or owners, shall donate to the said county at least three thousand five hundred dollars, to be applied to the building of county buildings, in six, twelve and eighteen months after locating said county seat. If the town of Savanna, in said county, should receive the majority of all the votes given, the proprietors or owner of said town are hereby required to donate to said new county, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a sufficient number of lots, in the town of Savanna, for the accommodation of the necessary public buildings, and three thousand five hundred dollars in cash, payable in three equal instalments, say in six, twelve and eighteen months, from the time the location of said county seat is established.
SEC. 4. An election shall be held on the second Monday in April, next, at the different election precincts, for the purpose of electing county officers, who shall hold their offices until the next general election, and
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
until their successors are qualified; which said election shall be conducted, in all respects, agreeably to the provisions of the law regulating elections. Returns of said election shall be made by the judges and clerks to the justices of the peace within said county. Said justices of the peace shall meet at the town of Savanna within seven days after said election and proceed to open said returns, and in all things perform the duties required by law of the elerks of county commissioners' courts and justicees of the peace in like cases.
SEC. 5. That the county commissioners shall meet at the town of Savanna, within ten days after their election, and being first duly sworn, shall proceed to lay off the county into justices districts, and shall order an election to be held for the purpose of electing additional justices of the peace and constables within said county; shall provide means for raising county revenue, lay off the county into road districts, appoint supervisors, assess the amount of road labor, and perform such other duties as are required by law; Provided, That nothing in this section shall be so con- strued as to repeal ont of office any justice of the peace or constable now entitled and residing within the limits of said new county.
SEC. 6. The courts of said county shall be held at the town of Savan- na until a suitable preparation can be made of the county seat; said county shall constitute a part of the sixth judicial circuit, and the circuit court shall be held for said county twice a year, at such time as may be fixed by the judge of said district, until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 7. The qualified voters of the County of Carroll, in all elections, except county elections, shall vote with the district to which they belong; and the clerk of the county commissioners' conrt of said county shall com- pare the election returns of said county with the clerk of the County of Jo Daviess, and shall make returns of elections to the Secretary of State, as is now required by law. The provisions of this section shall be observed until the next apportionment, or until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 8. The east half of the seventh range lying north of Whiteside County and South of Stephenson County, in towns 23, 24 and 25 north, shall be attached to and form a part of Ogle County.
Approved, February 22, 1839. [Laws 1838-9, pp. 160-1-2.]
In those days there was perhaps as much political figuring, according to the population, as there is now, and men who had county seat aspirations to gratify were no less wily and watchful than are the politicians of 1877. The founders of Savanna were naturally and creditably ambitious to have that point made the county seat of the new county, but there were some in- finences inimical to their interests to overcome. These influences, in the main, were confined to the three eastern townships. At Elkhorn Grove, a settlement almost as large as that at Savanna had grown up, which, united with the other influences opposed to Savanna, would overcome and defeat the last named place for the county seat. If that influence could be divided, the Savannans felt assured of success. These influences were fully considered, and plans matured for their division or removal. In pre- paring the bill for the erection of the county it was so drafted (as the reader will see by reference to the first section) as to split the eastern tier of town- ships in the centre from north to south. This legal maneuvering crippled Savanna's opposition and rendered the choice of that place as the county seat certain beyond doubt, and accounts for the three half townships of Lima, Elkhorn Grove and Shannon, on the east.
229
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
As will be seen by reference to section four of the law under which Carroll County was organized, it was made the duty of the voters to elect a full board of county officers at the same time they voted for the location of the seat of justice, and that the returns of the election should be certified to by the judges and clerks of the election in the several precincts, and transmitted to the justices of the peace within the county by virtue of their election under the jurisdiction of Jo Daviess County, who should open the poll books, count the ballots and declare the result. The law further pro- vided that these justices should meet at the town of Savanna within seven days after the election, for the discharge of this duty, and on Thurs- day, the 11th day of April. they so met, and, after examining the returns, made the following certificate:
We, the undersigned, acting justices of the peace in and for the original county of Jo Daviess, now within the limits of Carroll County, do hereby certify that the town of Savanna received the greatest number of votes for the county seat of the said county of Carroll, being one hundred and twenty-six votes, at an election held in said county, on the 8th inst.
Given under our hands and seals this 11th day of April, A. D. 1839.
JOHN KNOX. [Seal.]
LEONARD GOSS.
[Seal.]
ALVIN HUMPHREY.
Seal.
J. C. OWINGS.
Seal. ]
BENJAMIN CHURCHI.
[Seal.]
This certificate was returned to the County Commissioners' Court and ordered to be spread upon the record, and is to be seen on the 6th page of the old journal.
Within the territory of the county there were only three precincts or voting places-Savanna, Plum River and Elkhorn Grove. Only two places for the county seat were voted for-Savanna, and Section 9 in town- ship 24 north, range 5 east, about three miles to the southeast of Mount Carroll. The vote in the three precincts was as follows:
Precincts.
Savanna. 108
Section 9.
Savanna.
19
Plum River
4
30
Elkhorn Grove.
14
37
Total for each place
126
86
Aggregate number of votes cast.
212
Majority in favor of Savanna
50
Of the 212 votes cast (and this was a full county vote) only eighteen were given for Savanna outside of that precinct.
Thus far we have traced the history of the settlement of the territory within the limits of Carroll County, from its first occupancy at Savanna by George and Vance L. Davidson, Aaron Pierce and William Blundle and their families, in November, 1828, to its organization as a separate and independent county and the location of the seat of justice, in 1839. Now, from the fact of its coming within the range of the Galena district, a brief synopsis of its Physical Geography and Geological Formations will not be without interest, after which the political, commercial and social history will be resumed.
230
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
The following is taken from the GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ILLINOIS, and written by HON. JAMES SHAW :
Carroll County is situated in the northwestern part of the State of Illinois, and is bounded north by Jo Daviess; east by Stevenson; south by Ogle, Lee and Whiteside, and west by the Mississippi River. It contains an area of about 450 square miles. By surveys of the Illinois Central Railroad, its elevation above Lake Michigan is about 400 feet, and above the month of the Ohio River at Cairo about 800 feet. About one third of the county, the northwestern, is somewhat rough, being mineral or "lead- bearing" land. The surface of this is hilly and sparsely timbered, but in the valleys along the streams of this part of the county, many excellent farms have been opened. The usual alluvial bottom skirts the Mississippi, being from half a mile to four miles in width. Immediately adjoining the river there is a belt of heavy timber, but the rest of this bottom is composed of drifted sand banks, marshy swamps and rich tracts of the best pasture and farming lands. The southern and eastern parts of the county are composed of gently rolling prairies, with here and there an island-like grove, as if the fingers of the retiring ocean had stroked the soft surface into swelling undu- lations. The agricultural portions of the county are perfect garden spots- rich in their almost virgin soil and manifold resources of wealth. Nor is the county wanting in picturesque scenery. Carroll Creek flowing west through its center, and Plum River running through its mineral land, have each eut channels deep into the underlying rocks. These are piled about in massive grandeur-are crowned with evergreens; and are in many cases the abodes of wonderful echoes. Above Savanna, along the Mississippi River, the huge, towering Niagara rocks lift their heads like a Cyclopean wall.
Geological Formation .- This country lies deep down in the Geological world, almost in the line of union between the upper and lower Silurian systems. Three distinctly marked groups of the rocks outerop in Carroll County. These are the Galena Limestone, Cincinnati Group and Niagara Group. Above these are the usual deposits belonging to the quaternary system.
The Galena Limestone .- This is a massive grayish. yellowish or brownish drape colored Magnesian limestone-friable and coarse grained near its union with the clays, but very solid in its lower stratification. In Jo Daviess County it is estimated to be about 250 feet thick: in this county it has never been accurately measured, but is perhaps somewhat thinner, as we are on the edge of the lead basin. Its heaviest outerop commences near the geographical center of the county. Thence, westward, heavy ledges 'of it outerop along the banks of the Carroll Creek almost to Savanna. North of this little stream similar onterops may be found, and the banks of Plum River. The former of these streams, especially, has cut its channel deep into this rock. Along this stream an antielinal axis seems to run as the rocks dip slightly in both directions from the creek, and a slight upheaval must have once taken place here. Along the ridge of elevation thus formed, a fissure naturally would be left. The frost, the rains, and the tooth of old Father Time disintegrated, wore down and gnawed away the
231
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
rocks, until the fissure became partially filled. This, in process of time, formed the little valley in which Carroll Creek now runs.
This is the famous "lead-bearing rock" of the Northwest. The ore occurs in fissures and caverns running through the rock in the form of what miners call " sheet " and "log," or crystalized mineral, the common sulphuret of lead. In the reddish clay overlying the rock and formed by the decom- position of its upper beds' "float," ore is found, never, however, in very large quantities. Mining operations have never been carried on, on a large scale or on scientific principles. The diggings extend for several miles north and west of the town of Mt. Carroll. The pick, spade, common windlass and bucket are the only machinery in use. Little more than a livelihood has ever been made by these primitive miners. For a long time it was thoughit a system of deep mining would reveal heavy deposits of the ore. In two instances companies were formed and a considerable amount of capital invested. In one instance, water compelled the abandonment of the mine, and in the other nothing was found to repay a tithe of the expenses of the company. This surface mining will still go on as a temporary employment for those whose other employments are not steady. But no one will probably be found willing to spend money enough to thoroughly test a system of deep mining. The deepest section of this rock measured by me is one hundred and fifty feet, but the bottom was not exposed and extended down indefinitely. The early writers have been treating the Galena limestone as a separate system. We believe it is now coming to be regarded as a member of the Trenton limestone, none of which latter rock outcrops in this county, although it is reached in sinking deep wells in the southeastern part, and one quarry of the real blue Trenton limestone is now worked in Ogle County, two or three miles from the county line. Of the characteristic fossils, the Receptaculities sulcata, or "Sunflower coral," of the miners is the most usually observed, and very perfect specimens are sometimes found. The Murchisonia obtusa and Lingula quadrata also abound. Orthocera several feet long, several species of the Orthis, corals of a number of species also abound. A very interesting species of trilobite has left its remains in these rocks, and we firmly believe that many new fossils will be found when the quarries in this rock are carefully and scien- tifically examined. Of the economic value of this rock we will speak again. It is the underlying rock in perhaps two thirds of the county, embracing the central, northern and eastern parts, being our chief building stone.
The Cincinnati Group .- The gentle slopes from the Mississippi bottom lands up to where the bluffs are capped with the castellated crags of the Niagara Rocks, if exposed would reveal outcrops of this group. Some of the small streams have cut down into this formation through the overlying Niagara. Johnson Creek, winding in a sinnous course from the central to the southwestern portion of the county, shows the same rocks, sometimes near the surface. One half of the southern part of the county has this as the immediate underlying formation. About one mile below Savanna, there is a fine outcrop, where the county road cuts the side of the hills. About one mile above Savanna, there are considerable quarries opened in this formation on the side of the bluffs. Here the formation, as near as we can measure, is SO feet thick. This is the best place in the county to make a selection. At some large springs just at the level of the Mississippi, in a full stage of water, the group begins resting solidly on the Galena lime- stone as a foundation. Far up the hillside the overlying Niagara rocks are
232
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
just as distinctly marked. In the railroad cut on the Tomlinson farm, some four miles southwest of Mt. Carroll, may be found another and perhaps the finest exposure in the county. At Bluffville, also, it is exposed by quarries. There are, however, few natural exposures of this rock. It soon disinte- grates and erumbles away. Gentle hills and slopes and graceful undulations are characteristic of its physical geography.
Many springs burst out from the bases of these hills, and marshes and swampy places are not infrequent. Shales and shaley limestones compose a large part of the rocks of this group, but its lower beds are sometimes solid and massive enough for a building stone, and even contain lead in small quantities. These shales are of a bluish-white color, their particles are finely comminuted, as if deposited in deep, peaceful seas. A vast amount of carbon is contained in the black shales of this group. Speci- mens taken from near Savanna and from near the Beers Tomlinson farm, are almost as black as cannel coal and burn with an oily, bright flame for a considerable time. Misled by this, some capital has been expended at the latter place boring for coal, and nothing but experience will convince those engaged that such a search is useless. One of our citizens also succeeded in extracting some oil, which he pronounced petroleum, out of similar speci- mens. When the great oil excitement arose in this country, an oil com- pany was formed here, and but for the advice of the geologists, this company would now be spending its money in a vain effort to strike oil. The geolo- gist of Iowa, Prof. Whitney, estimates that the carbon of these rocks, if gathered into one strata, would form a bed twenty-five feet thick.
Whence comes this mass of combustible in these old silurian rocks? No geologist, to my knowledge, has undertaken to answer this question. Is it of organic origin-the remains of an ancient vegetation ? Is it the result of animate life ? The Coral Halls Iowa Report states that no trace of vegetation has as yet been observed in the widely distributed shales of this group, except a few traces of fucoids in the Utica slates of New York. This makes him doubt the vegetable origin of this bituminous matter. In this county, however, we have discovered fueoids woven all over the tops of some of the strata in this formation. May it not be that a condition of things similar to that of the Carboniferous eras existed over the broad basin in which these shales were deposited ? The vegetation consisted of the lowest orders-such as would decay and leave few traces of their existence. The disorganized remains would alone remain in the form of carbon, or coaly shale. The day may come when this substance, whatever it is, will be of economie valne for light, or even fuel. With this brief notice, we must dismiss, for the present, this very interesting question.
This formation is prolific of fossils. Countless remains, with occa- sional perfect specimens of the splendid large trilobite, the Asaphus gigus are the most noticeable. Orthis occidentalis and O. lestudinaria abound. Some of these shales are covered with beautifully marked dendrites. Fucoids are also found. Orthoceratites and a large Lituites have been found in it, together with numerous other fossils.
The Niagara Limestone .- This is Owens' " pentemerns beds " of the upper Magnesian limestone. It is next in order above the group just con- sidered. The traveller on the Upper Mississippi must have been struck with its bold and picturesque appearance, as he passed between Fulton City and Dubuque. Now the bluff's sweep down to the water's edge, now they trend off in a semi-circular direction, as if for the site of a colossal amphi-
233
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
theatre. Their bases indicate the gentle slopes of the Cincinnati shales, but their summits are capped with the Niagara rocks.
Like vast mural structures, they rise along the highest elevations, weather worn into all kinds of fantastic shapes, and displaying in their escarped cliffs resemblances to old forts and ruined cathedrals, time-worn, castellated battlements, or distant spires and minarets of some old town. Such is the appearance of these rocks along the river bluffs above Savanna, and towards the southern line of the county. The beholder, especially if he be a geologist, feels a strange spell stealing over him. Mighty visions of the old geologic ages enrapture his soul. A leaf from the old stone book is upturned before him, and he reads in the great Bible of Nature her sublime truthis. He has discovered hard sense-common sense, in the rocks. But enough of dream and fancy sketching. Leaving the river, we do not find exposures of this limestone. Over the northern and northwestern portions of the county all the highest portions are covered with it, in broken, frag- mentary masses. Once it doubtless covered a large part of the county, but it has been denuded and carried off, leaving chert beds, corals and fragments of the rock itself, as memorials of where it once existed as the surface rock. The frost, the rain and the atmosphere pulverize the Niagara rocks, and the chert beds in them, being harder, settle down like a crop of white flints, sown over farm, field and hill. These chert beds show that the water of the old Niagara seas contained muchi silica in solution.
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