USA > Illinois > Kane County > Elgin > The history of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875 > Part 2
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Abraham Leatherman, Thos. H. Shields, Seth Green, Amos Perry, Thomas Mitchell, Jubilee Deweese, Benj. Moore, Hardin Oatman, James Deweese, Thos. Metcalf, John Hammer, John Oatman, Jr., Ransom Olds, Alf. McNelvey, John Jackson, Fred. Ashbaugh, John Mann, Francis Perry, John Oatman, Richard Simpkins, Ira Earl, James E. Parker, David Deweese, Wanton Parker, Chris. Brannard, Benj. Jinks, Thos. H. Thomp- son, Joseph Russell, Jonathan Kimball, J. Russell, Jr., Thos. Deweese, Wm. W. Welch, Wm. Wilber, Jonathan Tefft, Stansbury Long, Dan. Stubert, Augustus F. Knox, Isaac Fitz, Sol. H. Hamilton, David Hammer, Colton Knox, Isaac N. Newman. The record shows that except Messrs. Deweese, Brannard, Thompson, A. F. Knox, Simpkins, Parker, Fitz and Hamilton, the electors all voted one way-democratic -- it is thought. Another election, and the last that took place in Lake precinct, occurred in August, 1837.
The second election that ever took place in Elgin, occurred at the house of Eli Henderson (who had bought the public house of H. Gifford), on October 9, 1837. It was for a justice of the peace and constable, James T. Gifford being then elected to the former office and Eli Henderson to the latter.
During 1836, emigrants desirous of reaching points west of Elgin, were continually troubled to find out a road, but the indomitable James T. Gifford took upon himself the task of making one. He was influenced in so doing by a double motive. In the first place, he was desirous of serving the emigrants ; and, in the next place, of making Elgin a great point on the thoroughfare from Chicago to Galena ; and, as he knew that exertions must be made to divert travel from the old road or trail which crossed the river
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
some miles south of Elgin, he undertook to give the emigrants a good road west of his settlement. For this purpose, he first "marked " a road west- ward by " blazing " trees to a point near Coon creek, where he became dis- satisfied with the conformation of the country as a highway, and returned to Elgin. Again he, in company with Mr. S. J. Kimball, recommenced sur- veying and "blazing " a new route, nor did they cease their labors until they had "marked out " the present Galena road to Belvidere, and securely established a highway that has ever since been used by travelers from Chi- cago to the great northwest.
The year 1836 saw the first religious organization of Elgin firmly estab- lished. True, before this date, services had been held in the Messrs. Giffords' cabins, as has been stated, but now the standard of Christ was raised and permanently planted. In February, of the year alluded to, Rev. John H. Prentiss, of Joliet, and Rev. N. C. Clark, then of Naperville, but since, for many years, one of the most honored and beloved citizens of Elgin, met at Mr. J. T. Gifford's house, by invitation, and spent a Sabbath beneath that hospitable roof. Mr. Prentiss preached on the occasion, and it was concluded to organize a church as soon as possible. In May, 1836, a church was formed, according to the usages of the Congregational denomination.
And now was born the first white male child that saw light on the banks of the Illinois Fox. The birth took place in S. J. Kimball's cabin, on Nov. 28, 1836, and " the bairn " was called Joseph Kimball. The event was a memorable one to the settlers.
The first marriage-rare luxury in those days-was celebrated at the house of Jonathan Kimball, when his daughter, Martha, was united to Sid- ney Kimball.
The first death, too, in Elgin, that of Miss Mary Ann Kimball, daughter of P. J. Kimball, Sr., took place in May of this year. The deceased was buried in the newly-formed cemetery, situated on the property now owned by Mrs. Horace French, and the adjacent lots. The present cemetery was not used until 1844, and on its establishment many bodies had to be trans- ferred to it from the old burying ground. It is a pleasure to add, that through the exertions of a former sexton of this cemetery (Mr. Newcomb), a perfect record of interments has been kept, that is almost invaluable.
Emigrants now commenced passing into the western country in great numbers. The aborigines had, in 1836, received their last payment in Chi- cago and were moving off. The Elgin people no more heard their impor- tunities for "pennyack," " quashkin " and " goonatosh," yet, in this year, the settlers received a severe scare from a report brought into the village by a courier from the north, that the Indians were coming back to slay and scalp all before them. A public meeting was at once called, and a com- mittee of defense appointed, but the red men did not put in an appearance. The village was growing now. Elgin's first physician, Dr. Joseph Tefft, had commenced practice, and built a house on the ground now used as a hay
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
and wood market. A man named Stowers, too, had built a store, near Mrs. Dunton's property. Mr. Gifford had got the name of the village legally authenticated in Washington, and the mail and stage route west, located through Elgin ; people no longer had to send horsemen to Chicago for let- ters and papers. Settlers, including the Knox, Gilbert, Tefft and other fami- lies, had come in on the trail that led up the Fox from the direction of Joliet, and Elgin most decidedly "looked up "during the gracious year of 1836. Miss Gifford's school was also a success.
Travelers still continued, at this period, to pour into and through Elgin, and while every house in the village was a hospice no less generous than the storm-battered refuge on the summit of Saint Bernard, it became apparent that a tavern must be built. Accordingly, J. T. Gifford proposed, early in 1836, to his brother Hezekiah, the erection of a tavern, saying, that for the purpose he would give him three of the best lots in the village. The offer was accepted, and a log tavern was built, 16x24, on the site now occupied by the Presbyterian church. In the fall of that year a frame addition was made to this tavern, which remained standing, though not on its original site, until April, 1875. Some time after this, the Elgin house, for years kept by a person named Tibballs, was built. It stood on the corner of Chicago and Center streets, and a portion of it is now the Elgin boarding house. It was at one time considered one of the finest hotels in the west; but after the departure of Mr. Tibballs, it was converted into a female seminary, and for years, under the management of the Misses Lord, held a first-class reputa- tion as an institution of the kind.
The sharply-contested election between Carlin and Edwards for gov- ernor, and the congressional battle between Stephen A. Douglas and John T. Stewart, which occurred in 1837, drew out a large amount of political enthusiasm in Elgin. At the election held in the village at the house of Eli Henderson, on the 6th of August, of the year alluded to, the candidates received the following vote : Carlin and Anderson, democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant-governor, received each forty-seven votes. Edwards and Davidson, opposition, received each twenty-six votes ; Stephen A. Douglas, forty-five votes, and John T. Stewart, twenty-six votes. It is said that in this election the congressional district included almost all north- ern Illinois, and that the stumping done by Mr. Stewart, and the future great Illinois senator, was wonderful.
Mr. W. C. Kimball came to Elgin in 1837, and at once energetically set at work, in conjunction with Mr. J. T. Gifford and Mr. S. J. Kimball, in improving the business facilities of the little place. A mill dam was built by these gentlemen ; a saw mill was erected, and Mr. Gifford built quite a good grist mill, that for years stood near the present head of the race. After disuse, and the erection of other mills, it was used as a slaughter house, until burned by incendiarism in 1857.
In 1838, Henry Sherman settled about two miles west of the embryo vil-
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
lage. Jason House, Elgin's first blacksmith ; B. Healy, the first harness . maker ; John and Vincent Lovell, Alfred Hadlock, Wm. Shaw, Solomon Hamilton, Burgess Truesdell, Harvey Raymond and many others, came about the same time. The productions of the country found a ready market in Chicago, then just commencing her wonderful career. Wheat never sold for less than thirty cents per bushel, nor corn for less than twenty cents, and pork was often firm at $1.50 per hundred.
In 1838, B. W. Raymond, of Chicago, in connection with his partner, S. N. Dexter, bought one-half of J. T. Gifford's claim, and, in 1840, Mr. Gifford sold one-half of the remainder to Dr. Root. Elgin is greatly indebted to B. W. Raymond for its early and later prominence. Although not an actual resident, he made large investments here and furnished the material for many of the most important enterprises. His contributions for the estab- lishment of the Academy were liberal, and was one of the first, and for many years one of the leading, merchants. He was a partner in the foundry of Augustus Adams & Co., the first manufacturers of corn shellers in this part of the west. He was chiefly instrumental in the establishment of the woolen factory, built by S. N. Dexter in 1842. He assisted in the erection of a large tannery, and in securing the location of the watch factory here, of which company he became the president.
All this time (1838), the religious sympathies of the people of Elgin were by no means undemonstrative. The Baptists, who had been partly organ- ized for some time, met in Hezekiah Gifford's residence, in July, 1838, and organized a society, with Rev. J. E. Ambrose as pastor. This congregation, together with other Christian bodies, however, met in common for some time in a frame building, 30x25 feet, which stood where the stone church (or school house) now is. This was opened for worship in December, 1838, and was surmounted by a small tower and bell. It served both for church and school house purposes, and was long the only building so used in Elgin. In 1837, the Elgin Methodists organized a church, and, in 1840, built a neat little frame chapel, on the corner of Center and Division streets, to which they added a spacious wing in 1852, occupying the same until 1866, when the present stately and elegant Centenary Methodist Episcopal church was built. During the Christian occupancy of the little frame building first alluded to, the several denominations worshiping therein divided the time harmoniously among them, and the Sunday school officers were chosen from different denominations. In July, 1837, a great religious meeting was held in a large tent, near the site of the present stone church (school house), and in September of that year the Congregationalists secured the services of Rev. Mr. Clark, to minister to them on alternate Sundays, he being then a resident of St. Charles. At this time he divided his services with the Dundee church. At this time, also, Rev. Mr. St. Palais, a missionary from Indiana, occasionally visited the few Catholics in Elgin. This gentleman afterward was bishop of Vincennes, in that state.
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
The want of a bridge now became apparent, and on one occasion it is authenticated that several young ladies, who were visiting on the west side, were forced to return to the east bank by wading through the flood. On another occasion, when a number of teamsters had congregated while the river was filled with ice cakes, the question came up how to cross, and western enterprise was appealed to. The result was that a crossing was effected by throwing quantities of straw from cake to cake, and then throw- ing water on the straw ; thus the ice became a solidified mass, and a passage became practicable. But this state of things could not continue, and, in 1837, Elgin's first bridge was built. It was a wooden structure, reaching from Mr. Healy's present place of business to Mrs. Lynch's store on the west side. It was carried off by a freshet in 1849, and was succeeded in that year by a substantial wooden bridge, which lasted until 1866, when it was removed and an iron bridge built. The fall of this structure beneath a drove of cattle, and the subsequent fall of a part of the new iron bridge on the Fourth of July, 1869, are events that will be remembered with sadness.
Two new hotels were erected in Elgin in 1839-the American and West- ern. These houses are now owned respectively by Messrs. Hansen and Fitzgerald, of the west side.
From 1839 until 1840 but little of interest occurred in Elgin. In the latter year its citizens took great interest in the presidential campaign. The whigs, it seems, had now become quite a party in Elgin, and, as the names of the voters and how they voted may be of interest to those of the present day, the list is annexed, those marked with a * being democrats :
*Colton Knox, *Edward E. Harvey, *George W. Renwick, *David Hun- ter, Erasmus Davis, *Philo S. Patterson, Benjamin Hall, Thomas Frazier, William V. Clark, Thomas Hammer, James P. Corron, *William Conley, *Thomas Calvert, *Aaron Harwood, *Lewis Ray, *Charles H. Hayden, *Joseph S. Burdwick, *Anthony Phillips, *Caleb Kipp, *W. S. Shaw, Luther C. Stiles, *Asahel B. Hinsdell, *Seth Green, *George Hammer, *Justice Stowers, *Hiram Williams, *Jonathan Kimball, *Joseph Tefft, *William C. Kimball, Burgess Truesdell, Charles W. Mappa, George Hassan, Asa Mer- rill, *John W. Switzer, *James Hoag, Otis Hinckley, Abel Walker, *Francis Wells, *Samuel Waterman, *David Hammer, *David Welch, *John Hill, George E. Smith, James Sutherland, Finley Frazier, *Daniel B. Taylor, *George W. Hammer, Erastus Bailey, Lorenzo Whipple, *George R. Dyer, *John B. Scovill, John Lovell, E. A. Miltimore, *William B. Howard, Aaron Bailey, *Alfred Hadlock, *William W. Welch, Harvey Gage, *Elisha Sprague, *John Flinn, *Pierce Tobin, Benjamin Burritt, N. C. Clark, Wolcot Hart, *Benjamin Williams, *George W. Kimball, Lyman Rockwood, Ralph Grow, Asa Gifford, Solomon Hamilton, *Ira Earl, Calvin Carr, Perry Stephens, Norman Stephens, S. A. Wolcott, *Ransom Olds, *James M. Howard, Moses Wanzer, *Jonathan Tefft, Jr., *Lyman Williams, Halsey Rosenkrans, *Whit- man Underwood, Ralph Stowell, Lewis Tupper, Myron Smith, "Guy Adams,
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
*Lewis Eaton, William R. Mann, *Amos Tefft, Hezekiah Gifford, *John S. Calvert, *Isaac Stone, *Jesse Abbott, Charles B. Tucker, Harvey Raymond, * Abraham Leatherman, Peter Burritt, *Daniel Leatherman, *Samuel Par- ker, *Nathan E. Daggett, Craig Duncan, Thomas Mitchell, Calvin Hall, *Adin Mann, *Isaac West, *Jonathan Tefft, *A. W. Hoag, Anson Leonard, *John Guptill, *Joseph Corron, Lattimer S. Tyler, *George Hammer 2d, Artemus Hewitt, Christopher Branham, *Daniel Guptail, Humphrey Huck- ins, Henry Sherman, '*Marcus Ranstead, Abel D. Gifford, Alphonso Whip- ple, *Josiah Stephens, Alfred Gurtean, George Sawyer, *Samuel Kimball, *Berry Branham, *William Plummer Kimball, *A. S. Kimball, *Joseph Kimball, *Charles Kimball, Aaron Porter, Gould Hinman, Addison R. Por- ter, *Jason House, Jarvis Smith, Seth Stowell, *Franklin Bascomb, *Mark Adams, Stephen De Long, *James West, *Thomas Burbanks, *Moses Gray, *Elijah Waterman, *Almond Fuller, James T. Gifford, *John Ranstead, *D. B. McMillen, *Isaac Hammer, Isaac Otis, *Rowland Lee, *Alexander McMillen, *Folsom Bean, *Judah H. Fuller, Philo Hatch, Amos Stone, *Samuel J. Kimball, Thomas Bateman, Horace Benham, *N. K. Abbott, E. K. Mann, *Abraham Cawood, *Russell F. Kimball, *Samuel Hunting, *Al- fred C. Ordway, Halsey Adams, *Luther Herrick, *William W. Welch, Alexander Plummer, George W. Rowley, David Corlis, John Cromer, *George F. Taylor, P. M. Goodrich, Anson Underwood, James H. Rowley, *Charles S. Tibballs, *Aurelius Barney, *Owen Burk, *Samuel P. Burdick, John Jenne, Byron Smith, Charles Merrifield, Phineas J. Kimball, Jr., Asa Rosenkrans, *Samuel Minard, *Benjamin Adams, Joshua E. Ambrose, *Abel Pierce, ;* W. M. Bellows, *Simon Dike, William A Moulton, *Hiram George, *Richard A. Heath, *Horace Heath, Chaplin W. Merrill, *James Todd, Orange Parker, James Parker, *Sidney Heath, Vincent S. Lovell, John Ternorth, Solomon H. Hamilton, Philip H. Sargent, James H. Scott, Philo Sylla, "Elijah Clark, *Amos Clark. Democrats, 110; Whigs, 97.
Several lawyers and other professional men about this period arrived in Elgin, among them Mr. Edward E. Harvey, who raised a military company in Elgin for the Mexican war. This gentleman afterward died in Mexico. Hon. Isaac G. Wilson, also, about this time came to Elgin, and for years suc- cessfully practiced law in the village. He was Mr. Gifford's successor as postmaster, and left Elgin when raised to the bench of the Circuit Court.
In July, 1843, a great religious revival took place in Elgin, and about the same time the Millerite fallacy created a great excitement in the community. The corner-stone of the Congregational church was also laid at this time, but the edifice was not finished until July, 1847. This church has since been thoroughly remodeled, and is now one of the most elegant church edifices west of Chicago.
And now came a great change in the business quarters of Elgin. Up to 1840, or perhaps 1842, it seemed that a portion of Center street south of and near its intersection with Chicago street, was to be the business center of
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Elgin ; yet such was not to be the case. The revolution in this respect, was partly brought about by Mr. B. W. Raymond erecting the store now occu- pied by Stewart's bakery on Chicago street. This became the great store of the village. The postoffice, too, went into the building long known as Roberts' meat market, further up the street on the north side. A law office was established in the same building. Dr. Tefft's office was next door, and commercial Elgin, in a word, began to move toward the river.
But in 1840 came a grand financial crash. The Illinois State bank, the great monetary source of supply of the west, went down, and there were suffering and hard times in the village. Soon after, however, the Wiscon- sin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's notes supplied the lack of currency ; financial difficulty ceased, and business prospered more than ever.
About this period, Burgess Truesdell, Esq., established a very extensive cocoonery in the village for the growth of silk-worms. It partly suc- ceeded, and a large quantity of Elgin silk found its way to market. The investment, however, was not sufficiently profitable to warrant its continu- ance ; but the effort deserves mention as Elgin's first manufacturing enter- prise.
During 1843, the woolen factory was built by S. Newton Dexter, Esq., and a new impetus was given to the village. The new establishment was worthy of the town, and through it Elgin received its first lesson in the great and splendid advantages to be derived from the location of manufac- turing establishments. From that time to the present, the lesson has never been forgotten in the community. Elgin knows that every stride it has taken has been owing to the building up in its midst of great productive establishments, and, for this reason it is, that the public-spirited people of this locality always hail the establishment of new enterprises as new beacons pointing to the continued growth of their city. The Elgin woolen factory for many years employed a large force of operatives, but for some time previous to 1866 was but little used as a factory. In that year it was pur- chased by a stock company and thoroughly remodeled. It is now one of the finest and best mills in the state, its fabrics taking high rank at all textile exhibitions. It is at present managed by J. P. Goodale, Esq.
Elgin did not escape that bane of new western settlements-the fever and ague. So prevalent had sickness become in 1845, that the place was little better than a hospital. Everybody had the ague or bilious fever, and it is said that a poor man, whose wife died during the summer of that year, could with difficulty find help sufficient to bury her. There was, too, a per- fect hegira of its inhabitants ; everybody was fleeing from sickness ; the village was shunned by strangers ; even the indomitable J. T. Gifford left it, and went to the village of Grafton, Wisconsin, where two of his children died. After the health of the town was in a measure restored, Mr. Gifford again returned to his home, where he lived until August, 1850, when he died of Asiatic cholera. A nobler man never lived ; a more generous philan-
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
thropist never put forth an unstinted hand; a more Christian gentleman never kept in accord the precepts and examples of that high station. His death was mourned by everybody in Elgin, and his memory will be long revered in the city that he helped to found and ever befriended.
The epidemic of 1845 being over, Elgin was again soon progressing. Hon. Augustus Adams, now of Sandwich, Ill., associated with the town's foremost merchant, B. W. Raymond, Esq., had established quite an exten- sive foundry, which stood where the present elegant DuBois block is built. Messrs. G. W. Renwick, Philo Sylla, Alfred Hadlock and others, were gain- ing a manufacturing name for Elgin. The " Big Blue " threshing machines were known far and wide, and Elgin's reputation was widespread, as early as 1849. Farmers came to it for machinery from a great distance, and it was recognized as the great wool depot of the country west of Chicago.
But even before this era, the district school and printing press had come. The school in the little church had done wonders, and a small school house, which had been built on the site of Dr. Tefft's present residence property on Milwaukee street, and had been taught by Miss Harvey, afterward Mrs. P. R. Wright, had admirably served its purpose. In 1847, however, a good district school house was completed, one in which for twenty-eight years the infant idea has now been taught to shoot. This institution was the old brick school house, that yet stands on the corner of Du Page and Chapel streets. Subsequently two brick school houses were built on the west side of the river, and in 1858 the brick building in the first ward, known as the high school, was erected. In 1866-7 two frame buildings were erected for school purposes, and during 1870 the large stone church, erected by the Bap- tists in 1849, was purchased by the city and fitted for a public school. Although Elgin possesses no large school house, or one architecturally beau- tiful, its schools are nevertheless conducted on the most advanced system, and presided over by competent teachers. They are of necessity well attended, and of course beneficial. The Elgin Academy, too, an institu- tion which has long held a front place in the educational establishments of the state, is in a highly prosperous condition. It was foundedas a Free- Will Baptist College in 1848, but after being partly built, was abandoned by that society. In 1854 an association was formed, under a charter for an academy, which took charge of the building, finished it, and have ever since controlled it. It is a magnificent ornament to Elgin, and under the present principal (Prof. A. G. Sears) is now filled with pupils.
The printing press, to which allusion has been made, was that of the Western Christian, established in Elgin in 1845, by a joint stock company. It was Baptist and anti-slavery, and was edited by Spencer Carr, Rev. A. J. Jos- lyn and Rev. Wareham Walker. It was afterward moved to New York state. But Elgin was not long left without a journal, the Elgin Gazette being estab- lished soon after the transfer of the Western Christian. Other papers have since been started in Elgin, but, with few exceptions, they exist no longer.
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HISTORY OF ELGIN.
The Fox River Courier, a whig organ, was established in 1851, but did not long preserve an existence. In 1856 the Kane County Journal had a brief life, and the Elgin Palladium, was also, for some time published. The Gazette existed longer than any other paper, and was successively edited by E. Owen, Esq., now of New York ; H. M. Smith, of the Brooklyn Union ; E. S. Joslyn ; the late Prof. Blenkiron, A. M. ; the late Rev. A. J. Joslyn ; Birney Hand, Esq. ; Messrs. Kincaid and Post; Frank T. Gilbert and Edward Keogh.
A democratic paper was published in Elgin during 1858, by Colonel Thomas Grosvenor and F. B. Wilkie. It had a party successor in 1865, when the Second District Democrat was started by Mr. B. W. Staniforth. This, again, was succeeded, in 1865, by the Elgin Chronicle, edited by Mr. Edward Keogh, until 1869, when it was sold to Mr. E. C. Kincaid, who changed its title to that of the Elgin Watchman. It was afterward united with the Gazette, and published by a company, of which the Hon. Z. Eastman was president, and Geo. H. Daniels, secretary.
The Free-Will Baptists and Unitarians erected churches in Elgin in 1846. The former is now occupied by the German Lutherans, and the latter by the Free Methodists. In 1848 Mr. J. T. Gifford presented the Roman Catholics, through their pastor, Rev. Mr. Feeley, with a lot, upon which that denom- ination erected their present church in 1851. In connection with the religious history of Elgin, we may here add that on the Sth of February, 1853, a Presbyterian church was organized in Elgin, and that, on the 14th of May, 1855, a Reformed Presbyterian society was formed, which has since dropped the word " reformed" from its title and taken the place of the first named Presbyterian church, which had become extinct. The Unitarian church also ceased to exist not long after it was organized, and its small edifice passed into the hands of the German Evangelicals, and subsequently into the hands of the Free Methodists, the house built by the latter being taken in exchange. Nor did the Free-Will Baptist church long survive, though at one time it was among the most prosperous in the village.
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