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 33
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
weeks after getting to the penitentiary, the information being that his brain was badly diseased. The general impression, however, came to pre- vail that his disease of the brain was the result of cold head-baths, employed as punishment for breach of discipline.
Mary Jane Ramsey's trial was the first trial that took place in the present court house. It had not yet been seated, or furnished in any man- ner, and the space between the raised platform and the main floor was open. Such conveniences as could be readily improvised were arranged, and on Saturday, the 10th day of March, 1860, the trial commenced. R. C. Bur- chell represented the people, and Martin P. Sweet and William T. Miller appeared for the defendant.
The girl, who was about a half idiot, in order to avoid taking care of the child, which was peevish, hunted up some strychnine that Shirk had left over after the Spring's gopher poisoning, and fed it to the child. She acknowledged what she had done, and it was discovered where she had placed the tin cup in which she had mixed the poison previous to administering it.
The learned connsel's defence of the prisoner was that the defendant was so low in the scale of intelligence that she was not responsible for her criminal acts-in other words, that she did not know right from wrong. The soft-hearted jury came to the same conclusion, after the eloquent appeals of counsel. I have listened to many eloquent speeches in murder cases, by the connsel of defendants, but I think I never listened to a more eloquent speech than that delivered by Martin P. Sweet in his defence of that poor, black, ignorant, imbruted, despised girl. He pictured the wrongs of her race, and her ignorance, and concluded by claiming that the Shirk family were, in a measure, responsible for their great sorrow by their neg- lect to properly look after the welfare of the girl, who had been reared in their family. There were several democrats on the jury, but politics had no influence in shaping the minds of that jury. They were either swayed by Sweet's eloquence, or the influence of the counsel, Miller, who was a democrat of the strictest faith. The girl was but about thirteen years of age at the time she committed the crime. The names of the jury in that case were: Benj. R. Frohock, Luther H. Bowen, Jabez S. Bush, Leonard Hall, James R. Howell, Peter Holman, Joseph C. Christian, Franklin Sisler, republicans; John Johnston, Jr., Seymour Downs, Hiram S. Palmer, democrats, and Martin Eshelman, of no politics, perhaps.
Pease Case .- In the year 1868, Warren S. Pease was indicted, at the October term of the Circuit Court, for manslaughter, for the killing of one Amos L. Zuck.
Zuck had insulted a danghter of Pease, and, incensed at the fact, Pease had songht an encounter with him. and having met him just after getting off the cars at Thomson, Pease struck him with his fist. The blow, in con- sequence of the diseased condition of Zuck's skull, proved instantly fatal. No person ever supposed that Pease intended to do more than give Zuck a deserved whipping. The jury very readily pronounced a verdict of not guilty-a verdiet with which the whole population of the county was satisfied.
Goddard Case .- At the March term, 1869, Adaline Goddard was indicted for the murder of a Miss Cole. It was an unprovoked, brutal murder. It occurred at the barn on the premises now owned and occupied by George Pope, Esq., in York Township. The girl being at the barn for some purpose, Mrs. Goddard followed her there with a butcher knife, and
319
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
plunged it to her heart. A change of venue was taken to Whiteside County. Hon. David McCartney, state's attorney, tried the case for the people. W. E. Leflingwell and William T. Miller, two of the attorneys in the Dorsey case, defended. At the first trial, the jury found her guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced her to the penitentiary for four years. Judge Heaton, pre- siding, had instructed the jury, for the people, that if the jury believed, from the evidence, that any one of the defendant's witnesses had sworn falsely any material fact, they were at liberty to disregard the whole of such wit- ness' evidence; that the maxim of the law was-"False in one thing, false in all things." After the trial and conviction, the court's attention was called to a decision of the supreme court, just announced, holding that such an instruction was in error unless it was accompanied with the quali- fication, after the word evidence, "unless corroborated by other evidence which the jury does believe." The rule announced by Judge Heaton has always been the rule in England, and, I think, in all of the states up to that time. Most of our lawyers consider the qualification senseless, for, if rightly considered, it leaves the matter just as it stood before. If a false witness is corroborated by a truthful witness, you do not have any more faith in the fact sworn to by the truthful witness because the false witness has also sworn to it; you believe it because the truthful witness says so, and not because a false witness is corroborated. The result of this decision was a new trial for the murderess. At the next trial, twelve fools said, under their oaths: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Adaline Goddard, not guilty." If any or many of the jury who pronounced that verdict of not guilty had fallen by similar means, few acquainted with the circumstances of the murder mentioned could have said otherwise than that the doom was in some measure merited.
O' Neil Case .- The latest trial was that of Joseph O'Neil and Thomas O'Neil, indicted in the County of Whiteside, for the murder of one Rexford, in September or October, 1872. The murder occurred at the house on the island below Fulton, in Whiteside County. Joe O'Neil was the principal, and Thomas, who is a dwarf, was accessory before and after the fact. A change of venue brought the case to Carroll County, and it was tried at the April Term of the Circuit Court, 1873. The crime grew out of jealousy. On the day of the murder, the O'Neils took a boat at the island and went over to Clinton, Iowa, and brought Rexford back to the island, under the pretense that he was needed there to do some painting, which, perhaps, was the fact. Rexford had just commenced work, when Joe O'Neil assaulted him with a piece of board, and literally knocked his brains out. The circumstances of the murder were of the most brutal and heartless character, and produced a great excitement in the vicinity.
The case was prosecuted by V. Armour, state's attorney for Carroll County, and D. McCartney, state's attorney of Whiteside County. The defence was conducted by E. F. Dutcher, of Ogle County, by appointment of the court. The proof of the murder was clear and certain. The only show of the defence was to claim that the brutality of the crime, in its manner of perpetration, showed the defendant such a moral monster that it was sufficient of itself to establish insanity-that no sane man could become so brutal.
The jury in this case was made of sterner stuff than some of the prior juries of which we have spoken. They found both defendants guilty. Joe's punishment was to be hanging, and Tommy's fifteen years in the peniten-
320
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
tiary. Tommy got a new trial, and the next jury gave him fourteen years. Joe was sentenced by Judge Heaton, to be hanged by the neck until dead, on May 16, 1873, on which day, Sheriff George P. Sutton carried the sentence into effect. The gallows was erected between two poplar trees, north of the court house. Joe was prepared for the occasion by three Catholic priests. No visible injury was done to either of the poplar trees spoken of, but neither of them leaved out that season, and, becoming appar- ently dead, they were cut down and removed. Though several of that kind of trees were growing upon the court house square at the time, none others have since died or shown symptoms of decay. Judge Patch says they were cursed by the priests. Since the killing of these trees, the writer has seen a similar circumstance published as to trees near some other place of execu- tion. While the writer has no faith in the notion that the trees died by reason of the tragedy enacted at their sides, he is willing any religionists should conjure up any reasons they may choose. The writer's own theory, however, is that the severe frosts of the preceding Winter had impaired the vitality of the trees, situated, as they were, on the cold north side of the court house, and hence they were backward in putting forth their foliage; that the opinion that they were dead was not well founded, and it would have been so demonstrated if they had been left standing a few weeks longer.
Every person entitled under the law to witness the execution, did so, except V. Armour, Esq., state's attorney of Carroll County. He refused to witness the horrible spectacle, his presence being unnecessary, so far as the legality of the proceeding was concerned. O'Neil's neck was broken at the base of the skull by the fall, so that his death must have been painless. His remains were taken to Clinton, Iowa, that same day, by wagon, and interred at that place.
This was the only case in which the death penalty was inflicted in the history of the county, from the time it was organized, in May, 1839, to January 1, 1878.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first schools taught in Carroll County were private or subscription schools. Their accommodations, as may readily be supposed, were not good. Sometimes they were taught in small, round log houses, erected for the purpose. Stoves and such heating apparatus as are in use now were unknown. A mud and stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth, and a fire-place wide enough and deep enough to take in a four feet back log, and smaller wood to match, served for warming purposes in Winter and a kind of conservatory in Summer. For windows, part of a log was cut out in either side, and may be a few panes of eight-by-ten glass set in, or, just as likely as not, the aperture would be covered over with greased paper. Writing benches were made of wide planks, or may be puncheons, resting on pins or arms driven into two-inch auger-holes bored into the logs beneath the windows. Seats were made out of thick plank or puncheons. Flooring was made of the same kind of stuff. Every thing was rude and plain, but many of America's great men have gone out from just such school houses to grapple with the world and make
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
names for themselves, and names that come to be an honor to their country. Among these might be named Abraham Lincoln, America's martyred pres- ident, and one of the noblest men ever known to the world's history. In other cases, private rooms and parts of private houses were utilized as school houses, but the furniture was just as plain.
But all these things are changed now. A log school house in Illinois is a rarity. Their places are filled with handsome frame or brick structures. The rude furniture has also given way, and the old school books-the "Popular Reader," the "English Reader" (the best school reader ever known in American schools), and "Webster's Elementary Spelling Book "- are superseded by others of greater pretensions. The old' spelling classes and spelling matches have followed the old school houses, until they are remembered only in name. Of her school system, Illinois can justly boast. It is a pride and a credit to the adopted home of the great men the great state has sent out as rulers and representative men-men like Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Shields, Lovejoy, Yates, Washburne, Drummond, and hun- dreds of others whose names are as familiar abroad as they are in the his- tories of the counties and neighborhoods where once they lived. While the state has extended such fostering care to the interests of education, the several counties have been no less zealous and watchful in the manage- ment of this vital interest. And Carroll County forms no exception to the rule. The school houses and their furnishings are in full keeping with the spirit of the law that provides for their maintenance and support. The teachers rank high among the other thousands of teachers in the state, and the several county superintendents, since the office of superintendent was made a part of the school system, have been chosen with especial reference to their fitness for the position.
The present superintendent is Mr. J. E. Millard, of Lanark, an educator of experience and learning. Mr. Millard is now serving his eighth year, having been first elected about 1869 or 1870. From his last report, the following facts and figures in relation to the condition of the schools under his care are selected :
Number of males under 21 years of age. 4389
Number of females “ 4306
Total 8695
Number of males between 6 and 21 years 3089
Number of females 3088
Total 6177
Number of school districts 114
Number having school five months or more 112
Average number of months school sustained 7.37
Number of male pupils enrolled 2730
Number of female 2600
Total 5330
Number of male teachers employed
92
Number of female 123
Total 215
Grand total number of days' attendance, 438,848, being equal in school time ( ¿. e., nine months of four weeks each and five days to a week) to 2,438 years and eight days.
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Highest monthly wages paid to any male teacher
$135 00
Highest
6
female
60 00
Lowest
male 66
25 00
Lowest
" female
16 00
Average
66 male teachers
42 65
Average
66
66
female
30 80
Value of school libraries
2,143 00
Total receipts during the year.
72,730 17
Total expenditures during the year.
58,407 38
Balance in hands of treasurers.
14,322 79
Estimated value of school property
119,618 00
Estimated
apparatus
1,786 00
Principal of township fund.
66,056 66
Principal of county fund.
15,037 87
Number of applicants for certificates examined 144
Number of first grade certificates granted.
8
Number of second grade certificates granted.
69
Total number of certificates granted 7
Number of applicants rejected. 67
During the eight years that Mr. Millard has been superintendent, twenty-five new school buildings have been erected in the county, costing from $700 to $20,000 each. These have all been seated with modern improved seats, and many of the old buildings have been seated in like" manner. These improvements, and the higher grade to which the schools have attained, are largely due to the interest which has been awakened on the subject of education by the holding of meetings in various localities of the county by the superintendent calling the citizens together to listen to sug- gestions and discuss educational matters, as well as by holding institutes and the hearty co-operation of teachers. etc. The first county convention of school officers ever held in the state was called by Mr. Millard, at Mount Carroll, in 1871, and was the inauguration of similar conventions through- out the state.
A county paper thus speaks of the efficiency and industry of Mr. Mil- lard as a school superintendent :
Mr. Millard is and always has been held in the highest estimation by the citizens of our township as a thorough, accommodating and efficient officer. He has visited our schools much more than we could expect. He has criticized, made suggestions, and assisted our schools, so that Salem Township now, in educational facilities, stands second to none in the county.
COUNTY SUNDAY SCIIOOL ASSOCIATION.
A county Sunday-school association was organized at Mount Carroll, in May, 1876, through the efforts of Rev. - Terrell, of Chicago. Sev- eral meetings of the association have been held, and much interest has been awakened in the cause of Sunday-schools through their influence. Associ- ation meets semi-annually, in May and October.
The following are the officers of the association : President, J. E. Millard, Lanark; Secretary, S. C. Cotton, Mount Carroll; Treasurer, S. H. Puterbaugh, Shannon; Vice Presidents : R. M. Cook, Shannon; Rev. R. L. Chitty, Cherry Grove; William R. Laird, Freedom; W. E. Hall, Wood- land; Rev. C. H. Mitchell, Washington; Simon Greenleaf, Savanna; James Hallett, Mount Carroll ; John Mackay, Salem ; Charles A. Mastin, Rock Creek; William Fleisher, Lima; Rev. Fisher Allison, Elkhorn Grove; W. O. Millard, Wysox; Elijah Bailey, York; ---- , Fair Haven.
323
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
RAILROAD HISTORY.
BY D. W. DAME, LANARK.
The Savanna Branch Railroad Company was organized under the pro- visions of an act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, and approved by the governor of said state, on the fifth day of November, A.D. 1849, and entitled " An Act to provide for a General System of Railroad Incor- porations," and a further " Act supplement to the aforesaid act," approved Nov. 6, A.D. 1849-with articles of association adopted at Savanna, Illinois, the 21st day of January, A. D. 1851, and filed in the office of the secretary of state, according to the provisions of the aforementioned acts.
The western terminus of said road is to be at Savanna, Carroll County, Illinois, on the bank of the Mississippi River, and to go thence in an easterly direction, by the best and most practicable route, through a part of the Counties of Carroll and Stephenson, and to intersect the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad at some point in Stephenson County, not exceeding fifteen miles from the town of Freeport. The capital stock of said company shall be $300,000, with the privilege of increasing the same to $600,000.
First Board of Directors-Luther H. Bowen, John B. Rhodes, Porter Sargent, Nathaniel Halderman, David Emmert, Henry Smith, Monroe Bailey, Norman D. French, and Enoch A. Wood.
Elias Woodruff, Cyrus Kellogg, John L. Hostetter, John A. Melendy, and Reuben W. Brush, shall be commissioners for receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of said Savanna Branch Railroad Company.
The Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company was organized under the laws of the State of Wisconsin by an act entitled " An Act to Incorporate the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company." Approved April 17, 1852. The route of the road to be located and constructed from the City of Racine, in the State of Wisconsin, via the Village of Janesville, to the Mississippi River.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Wisconsin, approved March 19, 1853, the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company was authorized to construct their road in divisions.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Wisconsin, approved June 27, 1853, the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company was authorized to build a branch railroad from the main line of said road, at any point west of Fox River and Beloit, and, also, to connect said railroad and operate the same with other railroads, and consolidate the capital stock of the said company with the capital stock of any railroad company with which the road of the said companies shall intersect.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Wisconsin, approved July 9, 1853, the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company are hereby authorized to connect their railroad at Beloit with any railroad or branch railroad in the State of Illinois ; and shall, also, have power to consolidate the capital stock of said Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Com- pany with the capital stock of any such road, now or hereafter chartered by the State of Illinois with which said company may connect at Beloit.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Wisconsin, approved March 31, 1855, the name of the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company was changed to that of the "Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company."
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
The legislature of the State of Wisconsin passed an act, and approved April 1, 1863, to facilitate and authenticate the formation of a corporation by the purchasers or future owners of the Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company, and provided that said new corporation, when so organized, shall have full power to consolidate their capital stock with that of the Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company, in the State of Illinois, or its successors, or that of the Northern Illinois Railroad Company, or both, and thereby to form a new company.
THE ROCKTON & FREEPORT RAILROAD COMPANY.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Rockton & Freeport Railroad Company," approved Feb. 10, 1853, the said company was authorized and empowered to locate and operate a railroad from a point on the north line of the County of Winnebago, through the Village of Rockton to the Village of Freeport, in the County of Stephenson.
An act passed by the legislature of the State of Illinois, entitled " An Act to enable railroad companies and plank-road companies to con- solidate their stock," approved Feb. 28, 1854, provided: That all railroad companies and plank-road companies now organized, or hereafter to be organized, which now have or hereafter may have their termini fixed by law, whenever their said road or roads intersect by continnous lines, be, and the same are hereby, authorized and empowered to consolidate their property and stock with each other, and to consolidate with companies out of this state whenever their lines connect with the lines of such companies out of this state.
By act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, entitled " An Act to amend an Act to incorporate the Rockton & Freeport Railroad Company," approved Feb., 1853, provides " that the name and style of the Rockton & Freeport Railroad Company be, and the same is, hereby changed to that of the ' Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company.'" Approved Feb. 14. 1855.
By act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to authorize the construction of the Savanna Branch Railroad,'" passed Feb. 12, 1851, provides " that the time for expending ten per cent of the capital stock upon the Savanna Branch Railroad be, and the same is, hereby extended three years.
By act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, entitled " An Act to amend an act entitled ' An Act to amend an act to incorporate the Rock- ton & Freeport Railroad Company, confirming the consolidation of the Savanna Branch Railroad Company with the Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company, and for other purposes," provides that the name and style of the Savanna Branch Railroad Company be, and the same is, hereby changed to that of the " Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company." Approved Feb. 14, 1857.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS RAILROAD.
The Northern Illinois Railroad Company was organized under a charter granted by the legislature of the State of Illinois, passed and ap- proved February 24, 1859.
The said company thereby authorized and empowered to locate, and fully to finish and maintain a railroad, commencing at a point on the north line of the County of Winnebago, at or within one mile from its
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
intersection with Rock River ; thence by the way of Freeport, in the County of Stephenson; Mount Carroll, in the County of Carroll, to Sa- vanna, on the Mississippi River, in said County of Carroll.
By an act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, passed and ap- proved, February 21, 1863, the Northern Illinois Railroad Company, and the Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company, shall have full power to con- solidate their capital stock, and also with that of any other connecting rail- road, and thereby to form a new company, which consolidated company may take any name it may agree upon, and shall have all of the powers of each of the consolidated companies.
. THE MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD COMPANY.
The Mississippi Railroad Company was organized under an Act of Incorporation granted by the legislature of the State of Illinois, approved February 15, 1865.
The said company was anthorized to locate and construct and maintain a railroad from the City of Galena, in Jo Daviess County, to Rock Island, in Rock Island County, in this state. Said company has the power to unite their railroad in whole or in part, with any other railroad or railroads now constructed, or which may hereafter be constructed, either in this state or in the State of Wisconsin, coming in contact therewith.
PROPOSITIONS AND AGREEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATION.
At a meeting of the directors of the Rockton & Freeport Railroad Company, held in the Village of Rockton, on the 23d day of February, 1854, on motion, unanimously adopted a resolution to consolidate the capi- tal stock, powers and franchises of this company, with capital stock of the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company. Articles of agree- ment were made and concluded this 23d day of February, 1854, by and be- tween the Rockton & Freeport Railroad Company, and the Racine, Janes- ville & Mississippi Railroad Company, fully merging and consolidating the capital stock, powers, and franchises of the Rockton and Freeport Railroad Company, with the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company.
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