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 33
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Thirteen years have now come and gone since the independence of Ogle County was recognized by an act of the legislature. In these years the wild prairies-erst the home of the red men-had been reduced to farm tillage, and evidences of wealth, intelligence, comfort and refinement were to be seen in every direction. Indian trails had given way to state and county roads; villages, churches and school-houses had sprung up on the " old camp grounds " of the Pottawattomies and their kindred tribes of men, native to the beautiful valleys of Rock River and its tributaries. "Claims" upon which the hardy pioneers had settled long before the government surveyors had disturbed the grasses and flowers that grew in great profusion with jacob-staff and chain, as they defined township and section lines, and established section corners, had been " proved up," and with a guaranty from Uncle Sam, the occupants were " monarchs of all they surveyed." In peaceable possession of their lands and their homes, the outlaws expelled from the country, their lands rich and productive, the people of Ogle could well afford to be joyous and happy. What if their
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
pioneer days were often full of hardship, toil, exposure and want; the worst was over. These years of trial had brought them comfort and plenty, and the future was bright with hope and full of promise. Since then (1850) twenty-eight more years have come and gonc, each of them adding to the population, wealth and intelligence of the people, until the county has come to rank among the richest and most populous in the great State of Illinois -- a proud monument to the memory of the brave and heroic Ogle, whose coolness and courage at the head of his command during the siege of Fort Henry, rendered him so conspicuous among the other fearless officers by whom he was surrounded, and in whose honor the county was named.
As elsewhere stated, Isaac Chambers was the first white man to claim a habitation within the limits of what is now Ogle County, having come to White Oak Grove, about one half mile west of the present village of Forreston, in the early Spring of 1830. We are not advised whether he made a claim there or not, but if he did, he soon abandoned it, for a site ten miles south, at Nanusha, or Buffalo Grove, where John Ankeney had made a claim by marking some trees early the same season. While it is an admitted fact that Isaac Chambers and family were the first actual settlers, it is an open question whether he or Ankeney made the first claim, but the preponderance of evidence seems to be in favor of Ankeney. Ankeney, as our readers will remember, had come np from some part of Southern Illinois, and after making his claim as mentioned above, returned to his family. Chambers must have been at White Oak Grove about the same time, but we have no evidence that he made any claim before he moved down to Buffalo Grove, where, by chance, he selected the claim that Ankeney had marked. He was probably entirely ignorant of the fact that he was "jumping " a claim, or that any other white man had ever disturbed the native wildness by his presence. Other settlers in that neighborhood followed from year to year. In 1831 there were enough voters to entitle them to an election precinct, and in 1831 the county commissioners of Jo Daviess erected the Buffalo Grove precinct. From Buffalo Grove the settlements extended to other parts of the country from time to time, the settlers all occupying claims under claim-emption laws of congress, until the lands were surveyed and thrown upon the market. Fourteen townships of land east of the third principal meridian were open to sale at the United States land office at Galena, October 29, 1839. These townships included the land in what is now White Rock and Scott Townships, where the first lands in the northern district were sold. The first tract offered was the east half of the northeast quarter of section 1, town 41, range 1 east, and so on throughout the section. For the unoccupied lands there were no bidders. The first tract sold was bid in by Thomas O. Young, agent for the settlers, for Jacob Wickhizer, and included the east half of the north- west quarter, and the west half of the northeast quarter of section five, town forty-one, range one, east of the third principal meridian.
The lands west of the third principal meridian, within the present County of Ogle, were not open to sale until the Summer of 1843, and none of the lands became subject to taxation until five years after date of purchase.
Adjustment of Land Claims .- It may seem strange to the people of the present that, with nothing but claim titles to their homes, there were not more serious differences between the settlers than there appears to have been. In point of fact, there was but little legal law in the country from
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
the time when Chambers and Ankeney settled here, in 1830, up to the time when Ogle County was set off from Jo Daviess County, in 1837, and the machinery of the county set in motion. It is very true that the courts were open at Galena, but it must be remembered that the distance between Galena and Oregon was a two days' journey. There were no railroads then, and horseback or wagon conveyance, where settlers had horses or wagons, was the only means of travel, unless men went on foot. A visit to Galena and return, required the largest part of a week. Few settlers could well spare that much time from their claims and homes. They would rather bear with patience impositions that would now seem outrageous, than go to Galena to go to law. Only the more aggravated cases were ever sought to be redressed by statutory provisions. There was but little lawing in those days. The people were bound together by a community of interests, and essayed to govern themselves and protect each other upon the principle of the golden rule-" As ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." Very few claim disputes ever found their way into the courts for settlement and adjudication. The settlers were sovereign, and made their own claim laws and regulations.
To give the reader an idea of how the pioneer settlers protected the claim rights of each other, we present the following constitution and by- laws of the Oregon Claim Society, which was adopted on the 11th day of March, A. D. 1839 (two years after the County of Ogle was organized), and which was placed at our disposal by Hon. James V. Gale.
Preliminary to the adoption of this constitution, a meeting of settlers met in Oregon at the date above quoted, when Dr. William J. Mix was called to the chair, and D. H. T. Moss appointed secretary of the meet- ing. Spooner Ruggles, of Grand de Tour Precinct ; Edwin S. Leland and James V. Gale, of Oregon Precinct ; Samuel M. Hitt and David Worden, of Boston Precinct ; Aaron Payne and Ephraim Page, of Bloomingville Pre- cinct; David Reed and Chauncy Blodgett, of Brooklyn Precinct, and Enoch Wood and Jacob Perry, of Washington Precinct, were appointed a com- mittee to report amendments to the rules and regulations previously adopted and in force among the settlers and land claimants. After due delibera- tion, the committee reported the following :
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE OREGON CLAIM SOCIETY.
ARTICLE 1. This society shall be called the Oregon Claim Protecting Society.
ARTICLE 2. Its officers shall consist of a president, secretary, and three referees in each of the following precincts, viz .: Oregon, Grand de Tour, Bloomingville, Brooklyn, Boston and Washington, and two directors and one marshal in each of said precincts.
ARTICLE 3. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at the meetings of the society, aud to direct the secretary to issue notices for special meetings. In case of his absence, the society may elect a president pro tem.
ARTICLE 4. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep a record of the proceedings of the society, to receive and record the claims of its members, designating accurately on a plat the metes and bounds of said claims, to record such title papers as may be handed in by the members, awards of arbitration and referees, to issue such notices, and perform such other duties as shall hereinafter be required of him.
ARTICLE 5. It shall be the duty of each director, when ever any member shall apply to him for a trial of any dispute between him, the said member, and any other individual in relation to a claim, to appoint three disinterested persons who shall not be relatives of either of the contending parties, or residents of the same precinct in which either of them reside, arbitrators to hear and determine said controversy, and shall furnish the secretary with a certificate of the names of the persons so selected by him, who shall thereupon issue a writ- ten notice to the adverse party informing him of the time and place of trial, and duly specifying the claim, demand or subject matter in difference to be adjusted, and also a notice in writing informing the arbitrators of the time and place of trial, which said notice
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ATTORNEY AT LAW PROPRIETOR OF THE OGLE CO. ABSTRACT OFFICE OREGON
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
shall be served upon said arbitrators and adverse party at least one week before the day of trial.
ARTICLE 6. Said arbitrators, after receiving satisfactory evidence that due notice has been given as mentioned in Article 5th (unless good cause shall be shown by one of said parties for a continuance) shall, at the time and place appointed, proceed to hear and deter. mine the case according to the evidence produced, and according to their best skill and judgment. In case one of said arbitrators shall be absent, the two present shall have power to fill the vacancy in their board with a fair and impartial man, in nowise related to either of said parties. After said arbitrators shall have made out their award, which shall clearly and explicitly describe the premises and damages and cost awarded, together with the names of the parties, and bear date on the day of the trial, they shall forward the same to the secretary to be by him recorded.
ARTICLE 7. If either of said parties shall be disappointed with the decision of said arbitrators, he shall have the right to an appeal from the decision of said arbitrators, by giving notice thereof to the secrefary within five days next after the trial, to a tribunal to be constituted in the following manner, viz .: The secretary shall select by lot five of the eighteen referees, appointed officers of this society, who shall have final and conclusive jurisdiction of all controversies in regard to claims. Whenever the secretary shall renew the notice that an appeal is claimed, he shall select said board of referees by lot as aforesaid, and shall give to the party claiming the appeal a notice in writing to be served upon the adverse party, informing him that an appeal has been taken, and of the time and place of trial before the referees. Also, a notice in writing informing the referees of the time and place of trial, to be served upon said referees and adverse party at least one week before the day of trial. The notice to the referees shall inform them of the subject matter in difference, mentioned in the notice to the adverse party, of the trial before the arbitrators, to which they shall confine themselves in the trial before them.
ARTICLE 8. Said referees, after receiving satisfactory evidence that due notice has been given as mentioned in Article 7th (unless good cause shall be shown for a continuance) shall proceed to hear and determine the controversy between said parties according to the evidence, and according to the best of their skill and judgment.
If not more than two of said referees shall be absent, those present shall have power to fill the vacancy in their board by calling in the nearest one or two to be found of the other referees mentioned as officers of this society; but three of said referees shall have power to try and decide an application for a continuance. After the trial has been decided, it shall be the duty of said board of referees to make out their award containing the names of the parties, and clearly describing the premises, damages and costs awarded, and forward the same to the secretary for record.
ARTICLE 9. In all trials, either before the arbitrators or referees, a decision may be made by a majority, and if an appeal be not taken from the decision of the arbitrators as heretofore mentioned, their decision shall be final and conclusive.
ARTICLE 10. There shall be allowed to said arbitrators for their services, two dollars per day, and to said referees three dollars per day, and to the secretary the following fees, viz .: For making an entry of a claim upon the plat, twenty-five cents; for each notice in writing, twelve and a half cents; for recording instruments of writing, the same fee as allowed to county recorders for similar services, to be advanced by the party or person claiming their services, except in case of a continuance, in which case the party asking for the continuance shall pay the costs occasioned thereby.
ARTICLE 11. In all trials the successful party shall recover his costs (except the cost of a continuance, which shall in all cases be paid by the party on whose motion the contin. uance is granted). And in all trials before the referees, if the party in whose favor they de- cide has advanced money to pay the costs. and the adverse party shall neglect or refuse to pay said money so advanced by said successful party, the said reterees shall have power, and it shall be their duty to award to said party in whose favor they decide, such timber, stone or part of the claim of said unsuccessful party, not protected by law, as they deem sufficient.
ARTICLE 12. It shall be the duty of the marshals when the rules and regulations of this society are violated, to call upon any one of the members to aid in enforcing them ; and all members when notified so to do by either of said marshals, shall turn out and enforce an observance of them or protect their rights of membership, unless a reasonable excuse shall be offered.
ARTICLE 13. If any member of the society shall be desirous of having but one trial of a matter in difference between himself and another individual, in relation to a claim which shall be final and conclusive, he may obtain a hearing before the Board of Referees in the following manner, viz .: He shall make application to the secretary therefor, whose duty it shall be to select said board in a manner heretofore provided in Article 7, and shall thereupon issue a notice of writing, informing the adverse party and Board of Referees of the time and place of trial; which said notice shall be served upon said adverse party and upon each of said referees, at least one week before the day of trial. The notice to the ad-
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
verse party shall clearly specify the demand or matter in difference to be tried. The trial to be conducted io the same manner heretofore pointed out in Article 8, and the amount to be made out in the same manner and forwarded to the secretary for record.
ARTICLE 14. This society will in no instance countenance any individual in trespass- ing upon the claims of another; but, any individual not having a claim of his own, and be- coming a member of this society, who shall feel himself aggrieved by another person unjustly holding a claim of unreasonable size, may make application to a director who shall pro- ceed in the manner heretofore pointed out in Article 5, or if he shall prefer to have but one trial, and that by the Board of Referees, he shall apply to the secretary, as pointed out in Article 13; whereupon said director or secretary shall proceed as heretotore directed in said article, and it on the trial it shall appear to the arbitrators or referees that said claim is un- der all the circumstances of the case of unreasonable size and unjust, they shall award to said person so claiming a trial, a part of said claim exceeding in uo case three hundred and twenty acies; such proportion of which shall be prairie, and such timber as in their judg- ment shall seem right. If said trial shall in the first instance be had before the arbitrators, either party may appeal in the manner heretofore described. In case of a complaint being made as mentioned in this article, the arbitrators or referees as the case may be, shall not award to said complainant any partition of the claim of another actually under improve- ment, or any portion of the timber actually necessary, taking into consideration the amount of improved prairie.
ARTICLE 15. It shall be the duty of the members of this Society, to hand in to the Secretary for record a plat of their claims within three months, in order that it may be easily ascertained what is, and what is not claimed; and in order that all disputes may be settled as soon as possible, and before the land sales, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to ascertain and inform the parties when the plat of different members cover the same parcel of land, that the difficulty may be settled by members ou trial, and adjusted in the manner heretofore described; and if any member shall neglect or refuse to have his claim recorded within said three months, this society will not consider such members entitled to its protection.
ARTICLE 16. All arbitrations had and determined, either under the rules and regula- tions of this Society, or by arbitrators mutually chosen by the parties, shall be deemed final and conclusive.
ARTICLE 17. Any individual who shall have been in peaceable possession of any claim, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, by residence thereon for the term of six months, shall not be disturbed io his said possession, and it shall in all trials be evidence that the claim is his.
ARTICLE 18. In all cases of complaint by a member, that the claim of another is unjust and of unreasonable size, when the person in whose name the claim is holden shall reside without the limits of this Society, the said party making application of a trial, shall cause three copies of the notice to the adverse party, given him by the Secretary, to be posted up, two weeks successively next before the day of trial, a copy at the house of the nearest settler to the premises. Whereupon the arbitrators or referees shall proceed in the manner heretofore pointed out.
ARTICLE 19. All unoccupied and unimproved Congress land, owned by individuals residing without the limits of this Society, on which there are no valuable improvements or marks of claim except hacking in the timber, stakes set in the prairie or furrow round it, unless the same shall have been bona fide purchased for a valuable consideration, by a per- son intending to settle on the same, shall no longer be considered a claim, but may be occu- pied by any person who may see fit to settle on it, and in case said claim shall have been bona fide purchased by a person intending to reside on it, unless said purchaser shall remove to and settle within the limits of this Society within six months, or shall within said time make improvements at least to the value of fifty dollars ou each half section, the same shall be considered open for settlement, but no person settling upon land situated as herein men- tioned shall be entitled to claim more than three hundred and twenty acres, not more than eighty acres of which shall be timber, provided there be prairie enough to make out the half section.
ARTICLE 20. This Society deems itself bound to protect all claims bona fide pur- chased for a valuable consideration and owned by residents within the limits of this Society.
ARTICLE 21. There shall be an annual meeting of the Society, on the second Monday of June for the election of officers and for the transaction of such other business as may be brought 1 efore the meeting.
The members of this Society hereby pledge themselves to be at all times ready to aid and support each other in carrying into effect its rules and regulations and to support each other at the land sales, by preventing all bidding upon the claims of any member thereof.
All the rules and regulations of the Claim Protecting Society adopted at Oregon on the 2d day of July, A. D. 1836, not inconsistent with the above, are still in torce and adopted.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The society then proceeded to the election of officers, as follows:
President .- Dr. William J. Mix, of Oregon; Secretary-Edwin S. Leland, of Oregon.
Referees .- William J. Mix, Sewell Butterfield and Martin C. Hill, of Oregon; David Reed, Harvey Jewett and Alden, of Brooklin; Erastus D. Hubbell, Cyrus Chamberlin and Cotton, of Grand de Tour; Aaron Payne, Joseph Sanford and Dauphin Brown, of Bloomingville; Isaac Rosencrans, Jehiel Day and Enoch Wood, of Washington: Martin Reynolds, S. M. Hitt and B. Worden, of Boston.
Directors .- James V. Gale and D. H. T. Moss, of Oregon; David Reed and Harvey Jewett. of Brooklyn; Moore and Prichard, of Grand de Tour; Joseph Sanford and Wm. Wilkenson, of Bloomingville; R. Aikins and B. Rathburn, of Washington; D. Stover and Hestand of Boston, Moore and Prichard, of Grand de Tour.
Marshals .- Jno. Waggoner, of Oregon; C. Blodgett, of Brooklyn ; J. C. H., of Grand de Tour: Simon Spaulding of Bloomingville; Riley Paddock, of Washington; Nathan Swingley, of Boston.
The old record from which the above is copied bears the names of sixty of the old pioneers of the " times that tried men's souls," "when this country was new "-who came here before the Indians were gone-markets and stores many miles away-who lived on such game as the wilds afforded for meat, beans, etc., with an occasional "mess" of potatoes, and now and then a "corn dodger," until their strong arms and brave hearts reduced the prairie sod to productive tillage-then they began to live as they and their parents lived in the states from which they came.
Dr. Wm. J. Mix,
Christian Mangel,
E. Stover,
Edwin S. Leland,
D. Babbett,
E. H. Baker,
Jacob Rice,
Henry Williams,
Isaac Lansdell,
Joshua Rice,
Asa Whitehead,
John Fridley,
Elias Thomas,
P. C. Whitehead,
Henry Waggoner,
John Rice,
Sam Mitchell.
Eben Rogers,
Stephen Bemis,
Thos. Medford,
David Hunter,
C. Burr Artz,
E. M. Sheller.
Geo. Griswold,
Thomas Hinkle,
Columbus S. Marshall.
John Timmerman, Jere. Payne,
John Waggoner,
M. Perry,
Daniel Stover,
James M. Knox,
Wm. Sanderson,
Balka Niehoff,
D. H. T. Moss,
Cyrus Chamberlin,
John M. Hinkle,
Isaae Trask,
James V. Gale,
John Collier.
Henry Hestand,
Henry Wright,
John Stover,
J. W. Shaw,
John L. Stewart,
Michael McVey,
Sewell Butterfield,
John Frantz,
Spooner Ruggles,
Riley Paddock,
Oliver W. Kellogg,
C. W. Babbett,
Enoch Wood,
E. J. Linscot,
Louis Burner,
Ben Hestand,
Daniel Day,
John Acker,
N. B. Royce,
Jos. B. Henshaw.
Two principal reasons conspired to render a combination of this char- acter necessary. First, there was a class of men, void of character and honesty, who were professional claim jumpers. They came in after the " ice was broken," and sought to take forcible possession of claims which rightfully belonged to others. Second, as the time for the land sales came on, capitalists and land speculators. only different from claim jumpers in that they had more money, commenced to plan and scheme to buy up large tracts of land, including the improvements settlers had made, by out- bidding the pioneer occupants. Both the claim jumpers and the speculators were justly regarded as natural enemies to the settlers, and hence the latter formed a " ring," if it may be so called, to protect each other, and who can honestly maintain that they were not right.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
After this digression we return to the Supervisors record, to notice a few more orders and resolutions, when we will pass to the consideration of other matters.
The educational interests of the county were earnestly and carefully guarded from the time when first there were children enough to form a" school, and the precedents established by the early county authorities in this regard, have been zealously followed and maintained until the schools of Ogle County ontrank the schools of any other in the statc.
As early as January, 1852, the county legislators or Board of Super- visors, introduced and adopted a resolution providing for a series of lectures on education in the several schools districts of the county, as follows:
Resolved, That the school commissioner of Ogle County be, and is hereby authorized to visit the schools of the several towns of the county for the purpose of promoting the cause of education by delivering lectures or otherwise, during the present year, and that he be paid two dollars per day by the county for the time actually employed in such service; provided the time so employed by bim shall not exceed fifty days.
An amendment was offered providing that the time should not exceed thirty days, but the amendment was lost, and the resolution, as originally drawn, was adopted.
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