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 23
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
James Craig built the first saw mill. It was built on Plum River, about two miles east of town, at the site now occupied by Messrs. Wood & Kitchen's flouring mills.
The Winter of 1842-3 was a long and cold one. Snow commenced falling in October, and did not entirely disappear until late in April. On the 10th of April, 1843, we crossed the Mississippi River on ice, with four yoke of cattle, hauling bridge timber. During the Winter, owing to the severe and intense cold and deep and continued snow, stock of all kinds suffered severely, and a great many cattle starved and froze to death. The like of that Win- ter has never since been experienced.
Very Respectfully and Truly Yours, E. WOODRUFF.
The 4th of July, 1876, was celebrated by the Mt. Carroll people in right royal style. In perfecting their arrangements, C. B. Smith, Esq., was selected as orator of the day, and Volney Armour, Esq., was appointed to prepare and read a historical sketch of the early history of the county, which was subsequently reproduced in the Carroll County Mirror, running through several numbers of that paper. While compiling this book, these papers were placed in possession of the writer, and very materially assisted him in perfecting his chain of history, and especially in regard to fixing the dates and names of the settlers in the different parts of the county-facts now under consideration. Referring to the condition of Savanna when the first settlers came there, in the Fall of 1828, Mr. Armonr said:
Above the place where the Irvine Saw Mill used to stand, extending from the bluffs nearly to Main Street, the timber was splendid. The trees, however, were all dead, having been girdled by the Indians a year or two prior to the arrival of the settlers. Some of these trees were more than ten feet in circumference. The near neighbors were the few settlers at Albany, Whiteside County, Dixon, Lee County, and Hanover, Jo Daviess County. Each of the first settlers brought with them a pair of cattle, with which they did their logging and breaking. They planted the first crop ever cast into the bosom of the prolific earth of Carroll County in the Spring of 1829, and while they planted, the Lord watered ; yet the earth would have brought no increase except that the boys and girls had been kept by day scaring the countless millions of birds of every kind and hue from devouring the germinat. ing seed in the Spring, and the ripening corn in the Fall; and the men and boys had kept in check the hundreds of raccoons that came upon their fields, like the plagues of Egypt in the night. But perseverance and industry conquered, and the settlers gathered a harvest of golden grain, that gave proof of the fatness of the land. M. B. Pierce says that we of to-day have no idea of the throngs of birds that filled the groves and made vocal the solitudes around, nor of the wild fowl that swam in the sloughs and creeks at that time. I gather from what he says that they swarmed around Savanna then like the grasshoppers on the plains and prairies of Colorado. % * The Indians at that time were numerous and friendly, and, for a trifling compensation, shared the products of the chase and fish from the streams. These substantials, as well as delicacies, the mere thought of which, at this late day, makes our stomachs hunger, and our mouths water, consisted of venison, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, and ducks, geese, woodcock and snipe, in their sea- son ; and occasionally buffalo meat, as countless herds of bison then roamed the prairies of Iowa and Minnesota. Whether these settlers hankered after the flesh-pots of Egypt, such as hog meat, I do not know, but certainly the grunt of the porker was yet unheard in Carroll County. And I know they sighed for milk and butter, for of these they had none until M. P. Pierce and his father went down to Bond County in the Summer and came back in August, 1829, with a few cows. They also bronght up a few horses. While these settlers had so much to gladden their stomachs, the county was not without its pull-back's or draw- backs, for the voracious musquito sang and hummed about the unsilent couches, and wood ticks, buffalo gnats and horse flies sought their life blood in revenge for being disturbed in their hitherto quiet domain. * % *
In the Spring of 1830-1, John Bernard settled in what is now Washington Township, at the Hartfield place. Hayes and Robinson settled on the George Fish farm, the same Spring. Corbin (heretofore mentioned) on the land now included on the Noah McFarland farm. Corbin's house or hut was built in a tree about ten feet from the ground, to avoid snake bites, rattlesnakes then abounding in all this region. An idea of how numerous were some of the fur-bearing animals around the Dyson neighborhood, in York, may be reached by a statement of the fact that M. B. Pierce and another man, in five weeks, killed 1,600 muskrats, the skins of which brought them the snug little sum of $200 per man.
Mr. Armour next referred to the breaking ont of the Black Hawk War and the attack made by the Indians upon the Savanna settlement, an ac-
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
count of which we have already written, and the statements are so nearly alike that a further mention would be entirely superfluous, hence the omis- sion of this part of his address. Resuming an examination of the address from which we are copying, the speaker continues:
Aaron Pierce was Savanna's first tavern keeper; he even commenced entertaining strangers while living in the old council house, and still continued afterwards. He built the present Chambers House in 1836-7. Luther H. Bowen built the Woodruff-House, which was first called the Mississippi House. These hotels were built in anticipation of a glorious future for Savanna. During the Winter of 1835-6, the Legislature of Illinois inaugurated its grand scheme of internal improvements, embracing about 1,350 miles of railroad. One of these contemplated lines was intended to terminate at Savanna, and had this road been built at that time, Savanna would, no doubt, have become one of the most important cities of the state. What Quincy is, may be safely regarded as a fair representation of what Savanna might have been. It was in anticipation of this supposed future that these hotels were built. They were then the best hotels in all this region of country. It is sad, even at this late day, to contemplate what possibilities for Savanna were blasted by the financial tornado of 1837.
The late Luther H. Bowen, probably the most enterprising citizen Savanna ever had, came to the state in 1832, and assisted in the early surveys of the northwestern terri- tory. Although he came to Savanna several years after the Pierces, Davidsons and Blun- dells, he became the original proprietor of the town, in connection with some Quakers by the name of Murray, of Philadelphia. Settlers came in slowly until 1833 and 1834, when there was a very noticcable increase. Stephen N. Arnold, who gave his name to the land- ing above Savanna, settled on what subsequently became the farm of John Robinson, came about this time. Royal Cooper came about 1835, and was an active participant in the early affairs of the county. Nathan Lord and Elijah Bellows settled in the Savanna district about the same time. At the April election, 1839, when the first board of county officers was elected, Savanna precinct cast 127 votes, of which 60 were residents of the village. This, according to the established rule of estimating five persons to each voter, would fix Savanna's population at that time at 300 men, women and children.
CHERRY GROVE .- This settlement next claimed Mr. Armour's attention: "The first settlement of any locality is always around a grove, if there be one, or along roads of travel, if there be any. Carroll County was not an exception to the rule, for we find that our first settlers. except those at Savanna, who came there to found a village, settled at Elkhorn Grove, Chambers' Grove, which, in fact, is a part or branch of Elkhorn Grove, and Cherry Grove, in the immediate vicinity of the route of travel from Dixon's Ferry to Galena, but as Chambers' Grove is almost entirely in Ogle County, we will have but little to say about that old-time land mark. At which particular grove the first settler marked his claim and reared his hut or cabin, is not very clear, as no record of the event seems to have been kept. But, from the best and most reliable data to be had, the first settlement is credited to Cherry Grove, and was made by Thomas Crane; and from the fact of his having built a log or block house in the grove, a little east of the Garner Moffett House, he must have had some companions or associates. It is also presumable that he had some knowledge of Indian character, for he surrounded his house by an abatis* to protect its inmates from surprise. The walls of the house were pierced with post holes, and the abatis was large enough to include within it a small garden. For many years this old house offered shelter and protection to all new-comers and wayfarers. Geo. W. Harris and family found shelter within it in 1837; David Emmert and family in 1840; and the father and family of W. A. J. Pierce in 1841. Numerous other families whose names are not remembered at this late day, also found temporary homes beneath the old house's friendly roof and within its protecting walls.
* A species of fence placed in front of a breastwork, or on a glacis, for the purpose of impeding the advance of an attack. It is usually made of felled trees, with the branches pointed outward.
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
" Shortly after the close of the Black Hawk War, Thomas Crane sold his claim to Samuel M. Hitt, of Maryland, who afterwards became prominently identified with the public affairs of Ogle County, and Crane removed to what was subsequently known as Crane's Point, in Stephenson County. Francis Garner, wife and family, including five or six children, came here from Southern Illinois soon after the Indian troubles were conquered. His youngest daughter, Mary, and probably Jane, also (but of this I am not certain), was born in Carroll County. Garner had been one of the army against the Indians, and he selected his claim when he was en route home, after his discharge at Galena.
" In 1833, Wm. Thompson settled either at Cherry Grove or Arnold's Grove. If at Cherry Grove, he soon sold out and took up the elaim of the old Arnold and Henry Strickler places. Levi Walden (or Walker) took up a claim the same year. George Swaggert came the next year, and soon after his arrival his wife died. She had selected the place for her burial, and hers was the first grave in the Cherry Grove graveyard. Garner Moffett came in 1835, and purchased a claim, probably Swaggert's. Moffett lived in the original log house until 1846 or 1848. Win. Daniels came in 1837, and made a claim on the creek near Lanark, where George Ransover now lives. This was the pioneer claim-away out beyond the frontier line of settlement, and was considered a bold move on the part of Mr. Ransover. In 1837, George W. Harris, another Marylander, came to the Grove, more to look after and take care of Hitt's interests than as a settler. He first lived in the old, fort-like house built by Crane, and kept a kind of tavern therein for three years, when he built the old Cherry Grove House for Hitt, which he also occupied for a time, as did also David Emmert in 1840 and 1841. Emmert was succeeded by a Mr. Pierce. John Iler and Peter Meyers came about the same time that Harris came. Some time about 1835 or 1836, a line of stage coaches was established between Galena and Peoria, via Dixon's Ferry. The line was kept up until 1846, and made a station with Harris as long as he remained at Cherry Grove, and when he removed to Plum River, his place there was made a station, also. Emanuel Stover afterwards came into the ownership of the farm on which the Cherry Grove House stood, and either Mr. Stover, or some one to whom he sold it, removed it to Lanark, and it now makes a part of the Taber House barn.
Sarah, daughter of Garner Moffett (now the wife of Emanuel Stover), was born in 1837, and is the oldest native resident of that vicinity.
When Harris left the Grove, he took the claim that is now covered by the farm of Samuel Ludwick, on Plum River. In 1847, he moved to Mt. Carroll, where he was postmaster from 1853 to 1861 -- eight years, and jus- tice of the peace for a much longer period. He died in 1875. Jas. Mark came without money or property in 1837. In 1841 he was living in an 8 by 10 pole shanty on his claim, east of where H. F. Lowman now lives. Nathan Frisk, Israel Jones, and Bradstreet Robbins made claims about 1838-9. Frisk located on the north side of the Grove, Jones at the Big Springs near Shannon, and Robinson east of the Grove-Jones venturing further out than any settler had ever attempted before. Some time previous to these last-named accessions to the Cherry Grove settlement, the father of John Laird either selected or bought a claim. When George Swaggert left the Grove, he bought the claim of Win. Thompson, who in turn took up the Shultz farm in Woodland, which, a few years later; he sold to Daniel Arnold and Henry Strickler, and in 1838, together with S. M. Hitt and
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Daniel Christian, bought the Otis and Mathews claim to Mt. Carroll and vicinity, and in 1841-2 lived where Hartman now resides. In later years, he took up the farm two miles southeast of Mt. Carroll, where he died in 1856 or 1857.
"John C. Owings came to the county in 1834, from some one of the Southern States, and settled a little to the southwest of the Grove. He was a man of energy and influence, and a kind of leader or representative man, and served for a number of years as a justice of the peace, and also as post- master. He removed from the county in 1868, and now lives in Iowa.
"Garner Moffett, of whom mention has heretofore been made, was a kindly, genial gentleman, of fair talents and some degree of culture. He filled several offices of trust and honor, always being elected by large majorities, notwithstanding he was a Democrat, and the county decidedly Whig. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1848, and died in 1856, respected and regretted by every citizen and acquaintance."
ELKHORN GROVE .- This settlement dates back to 1830, at which period John Ankeny and Thos. Parish built cabins on the east side of the Grove, both near, if not both on, the Harry Smith place, but both left about the time of the breaking out of the Black Hawk War, in 1832. So far as known, neither one of them ever returned to their claims-in fact, Parisli was never heard of afterwards, while Ankeny turned his attention to keep- ing a hotel or tavern at Buffalo, a few months after leaving his claim. This beginning excepted, Elkhorn Grove remained an unbroken, undisturbed wild until about 1834, when Levi Warner settled on the south side of the Grove. A surveyor by profession, he was elected county surveyor at the first county election, in April, 1839, and re-elected for several successive terms. He came here a bachelor, and remained in " single blessedness " for a number of years. John H. Hawes now lives where Warner first settled. In 1835 Alvin Humphrey settled at the northeast corner of the Grove, and Caleb Dains and Thos. Hughes at the southeast corner. Humphrey was a great wag, and a great many of his "jokes " are still remembered with broad faces. John Knox and family, including Geo. W. Knox, came about 1834 or 1835, and made a claim on the south side of the Grove, where he " set out " the first orchard planted in the county. Geo. W. Knox now occu- pies the old home place. In 1835, John Ankeny returned to the Grove. Uncle Harry Smith and Samples M. Journey settled at the Grove in 1834- the first-named on the land where he now resides, and the latter a little further to the east, on the farm on which Ransom Wilson died a short time ago. Miles Z. Landon, Elder John Paynter, Joseph Steffins, Manasas Neikerk and Lyman Hunt came soon afterwards. A rapid tide of immi- gration now set in, and among them came a number of our now most prom- inent citizens. In 1837, Elijah Eaton built a saw mill-the first in the township. The same year the people of the Grove celebrated the 4th of July with great pomp and ceremony, at the place of Alvin Humphrey. Felix Connor delivered the oration, and a right good one it is said to have been. In 1834, a millwright named Peters settled on Elkhorn Creek bottom, near the present village of Milledgeville, but, falling sick, he gave up his claim to Jesse Kester, who improved it with a saw mill. Kester subse- quently sold out his claim to Adam Knox, who built the grist mill. In 1839, his danghter, Eliza J., was born, which was the first birth. Soon after, his son Albert died, which was the first death at or near Milledge- ville. In 1844, a post-office was established there, and Jacob .McCourtie
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
was appointed postmaster. At that time, Milledgeville (it is said) was a larger place than Mt. Carroll. In 1839, Simeon Johnson and his son, J. B. Jolinson, Byron and Nelson Fletcher, and Abel Eastabrooks, the father of L. F., and the other Eastabrooks boys, settled in the present town of Wysox. About this time-some a little before and some a little afterwards-the fol- lowing named persons had settled in the Elkhorn Grove neighborhood, in which are included the towns of Lima and Wysox : Tilson Aldrich, John Richardson, I. H. Woodruff, Hiram McNamer, Geo. G.Colton, N. Spencer, Alvah Dains, Henry Hunter, E. W. Todds, Chas. Redman, Stephen Jen- kins, Philetus Peck, several by the name of Grant, and D. Stormer.
" With but few exceptions, these settlers hugged the Groves, only the boldest of them venturing out on the prairie. The sweep of the winter winds, it was thought by some, would render the prairie practically uninhab- itable. Others could not bear the idea of removing so far away from the timber. Two gentlemen who had sold their farms in Pennsylvania, came to Milledgeville in 1840, with the intention of investing their means in lands thereabouts, and rearing stately homes on the broad fields nature had cleared. Some parties had accompanied them to show them the beautiful prairie between Milledgeville and Cherry Grove, etc. After traversing the broad and undulating expanse, vaster than anything of the kind their imag- ination had ever pietured, they came to the conclusion that the prairie was and must forever remain worthless, because it could never be inhabited to any extent for want of timber. So they repacked their dollars, turned their baeks upon that garden-spot of nature, and re-invested their wealth in rocks and mountains and hills and timber of Pennsylvania.
"A Mr. Ingalls was the first school teacher in the Elkhorn Grove neighborhood, and taught in what is now known as the Centre School House District."
MOUNT CARROLL .- " Samuel Preston, Sr., made the first claim and was the first settler in Mt. Carroll Township. His claim covered the water power of Fulrath's Mill and what has ever since been known as 'Preston's Prairie.' The same day, Paul D. Otis and Granville Mathews made a claim of the land and water power at Mt. Carroll, which afterwards became the property of Emmert, Halderman & Co. These claims were made some time in 1836 and in 1837. Messrs. Otis and Mathews built a cabin near what subsequently became the Christian homestead, and into which Mr. Mathews removed his father. As already stated in these pages, Otis and Mathews sold their claim to Geo. Swaggert and others, and they in turn sold it to Emmert, Halderman & Co., who were the real founders of Mt. Carroll.
"In the Fall of 1836, Nathan Downing took a claim that is now known as Kinney's Farm. Nathan Downing sold his claim to his brother, Heman Downing, within a year afterwards, who continued to occupy and improve it until 1856, when he sold the farm to John Kinney.
" The first white child born in the Mt. Carroll settlement was a daugh- ter to Nathan Downing, born in the Spring of 1837. When this daughter grew to womanhood, she was given in marriage to Gideon Carr. This same Spring, Rezin Everts took up the land now known as the Trail Farm; and Samuel S. Bayless claimed a part of section 12, at the present fair grounds. He laid off a town there, which, in honor of the capital of his native state, Virginia, he called Richmond. He made liberal offers of lots to settlers, and two small houses were built, but the financial troubles of
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
1837 killed Richmond, and blasted the hopes and expectations of its founder. Otis and Mathews, like a great many other claim-takers, were greedy and tried to ' slide ' their claim over on to Bayless', but he 'didn't scare worth a cent,' and wisely held on to his claim. In 1839, a post-office was estab- lished at Richmond and was entered on the post-office records at Washing- ton under that name. When the Whigs came into power under Harrison, in 1841, the 'Richmond, Carroll County, Illinois' post-office was stricken from the list of U. S. P. O.'s, and has never since been known by that name. A little circumstance in connection with the appointment of the first post- master at Richmond is worthy of preservation. A part of the settlers wanted old 'Squire Chas. G. Hawley for postmaster, and another part of them wanted Heman Downing. Both were Whigs. The appointing power (Van Buren's) was Democratic, so Downing's friends ventured to assert in their petition that he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, thinking that would be an irresistible and unanswerable argument in his favor, and sure to settle the question-and it did. Both parties handed their petitions to Luther H. Bowen, postmaster at Savanna, who was a Democrat. Ile looked over the petitions and made this simple endorsement on Downing's : "He is a Whig." He said nothing about Hawley's politics, but Hawley got the post-office.
" In the Spring of 1838, Daniel Christian moved on to the Otis and Mathews claim and built the old saw mill down the creek. Wmn. Mackay (the elder brother of Duncan Mackay) and Jolin George leased and ran the mill for some time. This year Heman Downing built the first frame barn of any size in the county. Its sills and posts and beams and girders were made of hewn oak timber, and, as was the practice in those days, they were large and heavy, and required the united strength of all the settlers between Plum River and Cherry Grove to raise it. It was the model barn of the county in those days, but its glory departed before many years.
" In 1838, Geo. W. Stewart settled on the Samuel Hayes farm, on the Savanna road, and a man by the name of Hinckley settled on the land now covered by the Danicl Crouse farm.
" Somewhere about 1838 (the exact date is unknown), John Kinney, Joseph Ferrin, Rezin Everts and others were fishing down Carroll Creek, early in the Spring, and all at once they heard a hissing and rattling noise, and, looking around, they found themselves overtaken by hundreds of rat- tlesnakes that had come out from their dens to sun themselves. They quit fishing and went to snake-killing, and when none but dead ones were to be seen, they took an inventory of the stock on hand, and found that they had disposed of one hundred and ninety, and they didn't think it was a very good day for snakes, either ! They had more snakes than fish.
" In 1839, Mr. Whipple, a travelling Presbyterian minister, preached the first sermon on the prairie. The first school was taught the same year, by Sarah J. Hawley, in the upper part of the senior Preston's house.
" Previous to the time which we have reached in the history of the county, Sidney and Lewis Bliss, John O'Neal, Benj. Church, Jos. Ferrin, John Kinney and a few others had settled on Preston Prairie, and David Masters a half a mile south of the Mt. Carroll depot.
" A man named Leonard built a grist mill in 1838-9, at the site of the mill now owned by Adam Fulrath. The mill-stones were quarried from the Galena Limestone that crops out along the creek, one of which may still be seen at the Fulrath mill."
Garner Moffett
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
MOUNT CARROLL .- " David Emmert and family, of Pennsylvania, came to Cherry Grove in May, 1840, and kept the Cherry Grove House for a while. In the Fall of 1841, N. Halderman, also, came into the county, and, stopping at Cherry Grove, made Emmert's acquaintance, and entered into an arrangement with him to build a mill somewhere in the county. Their attention was directed to the Mount Carroll mill site, which Halderman examined some time in the month of November, and being fully satisfied with its advantages, a mill company was formed, the site purchased, and operations commeneed. The company was composed of David Emmert, N. Halderman, John Rinewalt, and Thomas Robinson, of the firm of Irvine & Robinson, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A log house was built at "Stags' Point," on the ground now occupied by the residence of I. P. Sheldon, and in January, 1842, the Emmert family moved in and occupied it. Abont this time Halderman fell in with Daniel Hurley, at Cherry Grove, who, with Hugh Slowey and one or two other men, were en route for Galena hunting a job of work. Halderman entered into a contract with Hurley to build the dam and lay the foundation of the mill building. Some twenty men were employed on this work, quarrying the stone for the mill, etc., all of whom boarded with Emmert. The next dwelling houses were built by some of the men employed in the mill enterprise. Jesse and Thomas Rapp settled here in 1842, intending to unite their fortunes with the mill company, but subsequently changed their minds. Jesse Rapp built the first house south of the stone hotel (now the Chapman House), soon after the town was laid out, some two or three houses having been built in advance of the survey. The first season after the survey, a man named Goltman built a house on the lot subsequently occupied by John S. Miller's store. The same year a house was built on the first corner south of that now occupied by the Chapman House. Until 1844, when the Chapman House was built, this was the largest and best house in town, and was used as a boarding-house by Thomas Rapp. Soon after the completion of this (then) somewhat aristocratic house, Harlan Pyle built another one just west of the mill-race, which was afterwards rebuilt by Evan Rea." Thus commenced the settlement of Mount Carroll, and here the settlement will be left to be taken up again in a local history of the growth and pros- perity of the city.
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