USA > Illinois > Ogle County > The history of Ogle County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Illinois etc > Part 30
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In order to follow in chronological order the history under considera- tion, it is necessary to go back to the 10th of June. On that day the pioneers of Dixon voted for Justices of the Peace and Constables, with the following result:
Justices of the Peace .- Samuel C. McClure received 31 votes; Horace Thompson received 19 votes, and E. W. Covell received one vote.
Constables .- Daniel B. McKenney received 35 votes; Samuel Leonard received 10 votes, and S. Britton received one vote.
On the first day of July the people of the county voted for member of the General Assembly. The candidates were S. M. Bartlett and James L. Kirkpatrick. The vote in the several precincts (as far as poll-book evi- dence can be found) was as follows:
Precincts.
Bartlett.
Kirkpatrick.
Oregon City
2
62
Dixon ..
25
18
Elkhorn Grove (Whiteside).
7
9
Buffalo Grove
16
10
50
99
David Crockett had one vote, increasing the total number of votes cast to 150. The vote for Crockett-presumably old Davy Crockett of Texas memory-was probably cast by some wag as a reminder to the successful candidate, " to be sure he was right (in legislative affairs) and then go ahead."
An extra session of the Commissioners Court was held at Dixon on Saturday, July 29, 1837, when a petition was presented, asking the Court to refuse license to grocery keepers (saloon). The petition was granted and this responsive order directed to be entered:
Ordered, That the clerk shall not grant to any person or persons license to keep grocery in the Town of Dixon.
This was probably the first anti-license movement made in the county.
First Fines .- At this session of the court the following entry was made:
Received of John F. Stevenson, Esq., three dollars, collected from P. Blivins, for assault on Lewis Carr. Also, five dollars from P. Blivins for malconduct.
310
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The court then adjourned, and its next session was held at Buffalo Grove September 4, 1837, when Smith Gilbraith, having been elected County Clerk at the August election, filed his bond, in the penal sum of one thousand dollars, with C. Chamberlain as bondsman.
A new precinct, erected out of parts of Bloomingville, Oregon City and Buffalo Grove precincts, to be called Boston, was established, the elections to be held at the house of S. S. Crowell. James Snyder, John C. Oliver and M. T. Crowell were appointed judges.
Among other orders, the clerk was directed to commence immediate proceedings against all inkeepers who were violating, or had violated, the law regulating their avocation. It was also
Ordered, That the clerk inform all the county officers and the judge of the Circuit Court that Dixon has been selected as the place of holding courts until August, 1838.
After the selection of grand and petit juries, the Court adjourned.
The records do not show where the next (December) session was held, but the tenor of the order last quoted would indicate that it was held at Dixon. Wherever held, the session was principally devoted to the examina- tion and allowance of accounts, and " squaring" up the business of the year.
The next session commenced March 5, 1838, when the court ordered that the following tax be assessed against the several ferries within the jurisdiction of the county:
Bloomingville $10 00
Daysville. 10 00
Dixon 30 00
Knox 15 00
Oregon City 15 00
Grand de Tour 15 00
Portland
10 00
Fulton (Mississippi) Ferry (Whiteside County) next claimed the Court's attention, and the following rates were authorized:
For each footman. $ 25
man and horse.
75
head of cattle or loose horse 25
two-wheeled carriage, drawn by horses or oxen 1 00
yoke of oxen_ 50
loaded wagon and two horses or oxen. 1 50
additional horse or ox 25
head of hogs or sheep. 121%
one-horse wagon. 1 00
The rates of the several Rock River ferries were thus revised:
For each yoke of oxen and wagon
$ 75
additional yoke of oxen
25
two horses and wagon.
75
additional horse
121%
" two-horse pleasure carriage.
1 00
= man and horse
25
footman
121%
66 one-horse wagon
50
one-horse gig
50
=
head of neat cattle
1215
two-horse sleigh 75
one-horse sleigh 50
16 head of hogs or sheep 614
At this date the financial condition of the county was shown in the words and figures following :
311
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
TREASURY OF OGLE COUNTY, MARCH 5, 1838. ACCOUNT CURRENT.
O. W. Kellogg, March 7, 1837, as per receipt. 66 June = 28 00
$70 00
$98 00
CR.
O. W. Kellogg, Sept. 7, 1837, by cash to J. Day, Treasurer $18 19
Due county $79 81
Jehiel Day, Dr., Sept. 7, 1837, to cash of O. W. Kellogg $18 19
16
"
receipts for cash "
40 00
=
4 14
141 50
8
95 50
CR $295 19
Jehiel Day, March 8, 1838, by county orders paid and returned to court_$339 64
Due county treasurer. $44 45
Then followed this entry : "Settled with Jehiel Day, County Treas- urer, and found due him on the 5th day of March, 1838, forty-four dollars and forty-five cents ($14.45)." The court also
Ordered, That the clerk give himself credit for $237, it being in full for all moneys received by him for the use of Ogle County up to March 5, 1838.
Between the time of the adjournment of this session of the court and August 30, the sessions of the court were taken up in the ordinary routine of business-granting road views, appointing viewers, preparing for the August election, etc.
As the reader has already discovered, the County Court from the time of its first session, January 13, 1837, had been of rather a migratory charac- ter. It seems to have had no settled habitation. Sometimes it was held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City-that house and two or three others being the city-sometimes at Buffalo Grove, then at Grand de Tour, and lastly at Dixon. Notwithstanding the commissioners appointed to locate a permanent seat of justice for Ogle County had selected a site and planted a stake upon it on the 20th of June, 1836, within one quarter of a mile of which, under the law, the county offices were required to be kept, they were moved about from place to place, as above stated. From the time the county seat stake was planted until Lee County was set off, in 1839, there was a strong opposition in some parts of the county against making Oregon City (first called Florence) the "permanent seat of justice." The first board of county commissioners was elected by this opposition influence, and, perhaps, in moving the sessions of their court from place to place, they hoped to conciliate the conflicting elements, and finally remove the seat of justice to some other locality. But if such was their purpose, it never matured.
At the general election, held on the first Monday in August, 1838, a new board of commissioners-Messrs. Martin Reynolds, Jacob Parry, and Masten Williams-was elected. This board, as appears from the proceed- ings of their first session, herewith published, were not disposed to tempor- ize with the question, but to adopt a positive course of action.
Angust 30, they convened in extra session at Dixon. They first pre- sented their certificates of election, after which they severally subscribed to
312
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the required oath of office, when they were ready to enter upon the dis- charge of the duties to which they had been chosen. After these prelim- inary requirements, the court adjourned until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the following proceedings appear of record :
The clerk then prepared three tickets, upon one of which was written "one year;" upon another one "two years," and upon another one "three years," which tickets, when so prepared, were presented to each commissioner, whereupon it wasdecided that Martin Reyn- olds continue in office one year; Masten Williams continue in office two years; and Jacob Parry continue in office three years.
[The law under which the county commissioners were elected provided that one of them should serve for one year, one of them for two years, and one of them for three years, so that two of them were always familiar with the routine of county business. It was in compliance with this law that the tickets above were prepared and drawn.]
The following additional orders were then entered:
Ordered, That the place of holding Circuit Court in the County of Ogle shall be at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, after the end of the next October term, which shall be held in the Town of Dixon.
Ordered, That the County Court shall hereafter be held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City.
Ordered, That the clerk notify the judge of the sixth judicial circuit that the Circuit Court will be held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, after the end of the next October term, which shall be held in the Town of Dixon.
The next regular session of the court was held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, in September, when it was
Ordered, That so much of the order of this court, passed the 30th day of August last, as relates to the place of holding the circuit courts, for Ogle County, be and the same is hereby rescinded; and it is further ordered, that the circuit courts of Ogle County shall here- after be held at the house of John Phelps, in Oregon City, in said county, until public build- ings shall be erected.
There was no double meaning in this or the orders of the 30th of August. They were of the positive kind. Every one knew where to find the county commissioners when they were in session ; where the circuit courts were to be held, and also, where to find the county and circuit court clerks, and other county officials.
During this September session of the county commissioners court, the report (already published) of Charles Read and J. L. Kirkpatrick, two of the commissioners appointed to select a site "for the permanent seat of justice of Ogle County," was presented, accepted and ordered to be entered of record. Soon after, or about this time, the people began to agitate the necessity of erecting county buildings. Notwithstanding the locating com- missioners had declared Oregon City as the most desirable and convenient location, and that the county commissioners had, at the extra session held on the 30th of August, and by an amended order, adopted at this session, ordered that all the courts should be held at Oregon City, there was still an opposition element to making Oregon City the permanent seat of justice. The sooner public buildings could be erected, the sooner that factious element would be overcome. At least, so reasoned those friendly to Oregon City.
At this time, the town plat had been surveyed and platted, and on Wednesday, the 4th of December, the county commissioners court being in session, it was
Ordered, That lots three and four and nine and ten, in block ninety-nine, be appro- priated for the building of a church for public worship of Almighty God, and a school- house, free for all denominations.
313
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Thursday morning, the 6th, this order was amended, as follows :
Ordered, That so much of the last order of yesterday, relating to the appropriation of lots for a church and school-house, is hereby rescinded, as makes lots three and four, in block ninety-nine, a part of the donation, and that lots three and four, in block one hun- dred be appropriated in their place, making lots three and four, in block one hundred, and nine and ten, in block ninety-nine, the ones devoted to the purposes mentioned in the former order.
At a special session, November S, the commissioners
Ordered, That public buildings shall he erected for Ogle County, Illinois, in Oregon City, the seat of justice of said county, and on the southeast quarter of section four, town- ship twenty-three north, range ten east of the fourth principal meridian, and that the clerk of this court shall cause notices to he given to all the principal settlements of said county that bids will be received and contracts let for that purpose, on the first day of December next, at which time plans of the work will be submitted.
Ordered, That Thomas Ford is hereby appointed a commissioner to sell lots for the County of Ogle, situate on the quarter section on which the county seat of said county was located by Charles Read and J. L. Kirkpatrick, being the southeast quarter of section four, township twenty-three north, range ten east of the fourth principal meridian, at public ven- due, in Oregon City, on the first Monday in December next, he giving due notice of said sale, and that he have power to make and deliver deeds for lots so sold by him; said com- missioner to sell on a credit of six, twelve and eighteen months, with approved security, and that he have power to cause a plat of said quarter section to be drawn up, exhibiting the location and size of the lots; and also to lay out and sell out lots of a suitable size, and for that purpose to call on the county surveyor; the proceedings of said commissioner, at all times, to be under the county commissioners court.
The court next proceeded to the selection of a site for a court house, jail, etc., and having so decided, it was
Ordered, That the court house be erected on block number 78, it being the one laid on the recorded plat for the public square; and that the hill on said square be leveled ten feet in the center, leaving a plain of sixty-five by fifty-five feet square, at the center, and from said plain to he made a gradual descent to a level with the balance of the plat, except the hill north, which is to be level with said plain thirty feet from its edge or houndary.
The clerk was then "ordered to advertise for sealed proposals, to be received to the second Monday in the month of January, 1839 (a special term of the court to be held on that day), for the building of a court and jail house in Oregon City, for Ogle County, and the grading and leveling of the hill on the public square in said town, according to plans filed in the clerk's office."
Plans for a two-story court house had been previously adopted. The building was to be 40 by 50 feet " from out to out," the narrow way fronting the river, and the walls to rest on stone foundations sunk four feet in the ground and raised three feet above the surface. The lower story to be twelve feet in height, with eighteen-inch walls. A hall or passage-way, ten feet in width, was to extend from front to rear, on either side of which the county offices were to be located. Provisions were made for large windows on either side of the front entrance, and for ample side windows to light the offices. The second story was to be ten feet high above the floor, and to be finished off as a court room.
Plans for a jail 18 by 18 feet, two stories high, were adopted at the same time. The walls were to be solid stone, three feet in thickness, and corres- pondingly strong throughout.
At the special term in January, 1839, the contract for building the jail was awarded to John Acker in these words:
Ordered, That John Acker have the contract for building jail as per a first order and contract of this date, for the sum of twelve hundred and forty-nine dollars; provided, the
314
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
said Acker appear at the first day of the March term, next, and give security to be approved by the court, for the completion of said jail, according to the order and article of agree- ment.
The contract for the building of the court house was awarded in the words following:
Ordered, That William J. Mix, Martin C. Hill and John C. Hulett have the contract for building the court house for Ogle County, as per order of court, December term, 1838, and contract of this date.
February 27, 1839, the act providing for the erection of Lee County was approved and became a law. This act provided " that all that part of Ogle County lying south of a line beginning on the western boundary of Ogle County, at the northwest corner of section eighteen, in township twenty-two north, of range eight, east of the fourth principal meridian; thence, on the section line between sections numbered seven and eighteen, in said township, east, to the main channel of Rock River; thence, up the centre of the main channel of Rock River, to the section line between sec- tions twelve and thirteen, in township twenty-two, north, of range nine, east of the fourth principal meridian; thence, east, with the last mentioned section line, to the northeast corner of section seventeen, in township twenty-two north, of range ten, east of the fourth principal meridian; thence, south, to the southeast corner of the last mentioned section; and thence, east, with the section lines, to the eastern boundary of the county, shall constitute the County of Lee."
The erection of Lee County left Ogle with eighteen full townships and about seven half townships of land-thirty-nine miles from east to west and twenty-one miles from north to south.
The Dixon interests sought to have the north line of Lee County estab- lished a few miles north of the line as defined by the law creating the county, but they were not successful. Their purpose in that attempt was to remove the centre of Ogle farther north, and thus destroy the chances of their old rival, Oregon City, from becoming the county seat.
A little incident attending the rivalry between Dixon and Oregon City and their representative men, John Dixon and John Phelps, may not be out of place here.
Dixon kept a hotel which, it seems, was the most popular, if not the only hotel at that time, in that embryo city. Mr. Phelps, of Oregon City, had occasion to visit Dixon one day, when the county seat question was terribly agitated, and stopped at the Dixon House for dinner. Mr. Dixon, the pro- prietor, was absent, and Mrs. Dixon did the honors of the table. During the meal she remarked to Mr. Phelps : "It is a good thing for you, Mr. Phelps, that Mr. Dixon is not at home to-day, for if he was, you would get hurt. There would be a fuss."
" It is a good thing for Mr. Dixon, madam," replied Mr. Phelps, "that he is not at home, for if he was, he surely would be hurt. I was born in a fuss, and nothing pleases me better than to be engaged in a fuss."
Mr. Phelps was of Southern birth and education-at times impetuous and seemingly hot- headed and headstrong, yet, withal, he was a really gen- erous, charitable man, and a good and enterprising citizen-warm in his friendships, and bitter in his enmities, when he was an enemy.
Since the erection of Lee county, there have been no changes in the boundary lines of Ogle; the county seat question was definitely settled, and,
315
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
as the lands came into market and subject to entry, the people who had made claims secured the warranty of Uncle Sam to full and uninterrupted possession, and settled down to a course of industry that has made their county one of the foremost and richest in the Rock River Valley.
At the March term, 1839, it was
Ordered, That, whereas, by an order of this court at its extra session, Jan. A. D. 1839, the contract for the erection of the county jail was let to John Acker, under a condition therein named; and whereas, said condition has not been complied with on the part of said Acker, the said contract with the said Acker is hereby declared forfeited hy failure on the part of the said Acker; and the said contract for the erection of the jail, as aforesaid, is hereby let to Joseph Knop, to he completed as per order of this court in relation thereto, and the contract of date of March 8, A. D. 1839, for the sum of eighteen hundred and twenty-two dollars and fifty cents ($1,822.50).
March 9, it was ordered that a sale of lots on the county quarter, in Oregon City, commence on the 4th Monday in May following, and to be continued from day to day as long as the Commissioners Court shall see proper. The clerk was instructed to advertise the same in the Chicago Democrat, Peoria Register, the Galena Democrat and the Chicago American, four weeks preceding said sale.
The same day Jehiel Day tendered his resignation as county treasurer, which was accepted, and Isaac S. Woolley appointed to the vacancy.
April, 1839, for the first time in the history of the county, the assess- ment of personal property was assigned to assessors appointed for the pur- pose, where, as before, that duty had been confided to the county treasurer.
Lucius Reed was appointed assessor for that part of the county lying west of Rock River; Major Chamberlain for that part of the county on the east side of Rock river; Joseph Sawyer for that part of Lee County east of Rock River; Benj. H. Stewart for that part of Lee County west of Rock River; N. G. Reynolds for that part of Whiteside County lying southeast of Rock River, and John B. Dodge for the west,
[The first election for county officers for Lee County was held on the first Monday in August, 1839. Until they were elected and qualified, that county was subject to the juris- diction of Ogle County, which accounts for the appointment of the assessors named for Lee County in the above order.]
The contract for grading and leveling down the hill on which it had been determined to erect the court house, was awarded to Joseph Knox, and on the 3d of July, 1839, the contract having been completed, the court
Ordered, That Joseph Knox have an order on the treasury for $326.12 for grading the mound on the public square as per contract.
Two years and more had now passed since the county was organized. In this time it began to be questioned whether the point of ground on which Messrs. Reed and Kirkpatrick, two of the commissioners for " locating the permanent seat of justice of Ogle County," had planted the stake, was in the extreme southwest corner of the northeast quarter of section three, or in the extreme northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section four, town twenty-three north of range ten east. To determine the question beyond cavil or controversy, the commissioners requested the county surveyor, Mr. Joseph Crawford, to make the necessary survey to definitely fix the lines and corners in question. Mr. Crawford proceeded to discharge that duty in the month of September, 1839, and in October following submitted to the court his report in the words following:
Report of Joseph Crawford, Surveyor of Ogle County, in compliance with the request of the County Commissioners of Ogle County, to ascertain on what quarter section the stake designating the location of the county seat was placed :
On account of an error in the original survey of Township twenty-three north, the undersigned was led into a mistake in a survey made by him on the fourth day of December,
316
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, for the purpose afore- said, since which time the error has been discovered, and it now appears that the said stake was placed on the northwest quarter of section three, in Township twenty-three, north of range number ten, east of the fourth principal meridian. Said last survey was made by me on the fourth day of September last.
Dated this second day of October, A. D. 1839. (Signed)
JOSEPH CRAWFORD, Surveyor of Ogle County, Illinois.
After the rendition of this report, the court ruled as follows:
It appearing to the satisfaction of the court that said stake in the above report men- tioned, was placed on said northwest quarter of section number three, in Township number twenty-three, north of range number ten, east of the fourth principal meridian, it is con- sidered by the court that the said quarter section, by virtue of the act of Congress on that subject, belongs to the County of Ogle, to be appropriated to the uses and purposes in said act mentioned.
Ordered, That the clerk cause three written notices to be posted in Oregon City, for- bidding all persons trespassing, or in any way taking possession of any portion of the northwest quarter of scction number three, in Township number twenty-three, north of range ten, east of the fourth principal meridian, the quarter section on which the stake designating the location of the county seat was planted.
This action of the county commissioners evoked a controversy with Mr. Phelps and other parties interested as claimants of the northwest quar- ter of section three. It seems to have been the purpose of these claimants to have the county seat stake planted on the northwest quarter of section three; but in consequence of reasons already stated, it was placed on section four. The commissioners maintained that the planting of the stake on section three gave them the right to hold it, notwithstanding it had been previously claimed by Mr. Phelps for himself and others. The question was taken before the district land authorities, who sustained the commis- sioners. Mr. Phelps, who had sold a number of lots in the disputed quarter section (which had been sub-divided into town lots) appealed from that decision to the Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington City, who sustained the ruling of the district land office authorities, thus confirming the claim of the county commissioners, and on the 22d day of September, 1842, the following certificate issued to them from the General Government:
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