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 49
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
voted aid and subscriptions to the capital stock of the company. Oregon held a town meeting January 21, 1861, subscribed for $35,000 of the stock by vote of 134 to 18, and appointed William J. Mix to represent the stock subscribed at all meetings of the directors of the road until the next annual meeting. Several other towns voted aid to this enterprise, but there is nothing further of record relating to the road, which, it is needless to add, was not built.
ROCKFORD, ROCK ISLAND AND ST. LOUIS RAILROAD.
On Thursday, February 10, 1870, the people of Oregon voted a sub- scription to the capital stock of the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Railroad Company, conditioned that no bonds should be delivered in pay- ment therefor until the road should be constructed at and within the Town of Oregon, and was to be void if the road was not so constructed and in operation before Jauuary 1, 1871. It was iu aid of an effort to build the road from Sterling to Rockford, and other towns in the county responded to the call. But the road was not built, and afterwards the old Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis was purchased by a new company called the
ST. LOUIS, ROCK ISLAND AND CHICAGO,
at the nominal sum of $10,000 per mile, bonds for the payment of which were given to the German capitalists who owned the old road. In the Spring of 1876 that company made the following proposition to the citizens of the Rock River Valley:
Resolved, That if the people living between Sterling and Rockford will donate the right of way and sufficient grounds for depot purposes, for building a railroad from Ster- ling to Rockford, and will then subscribe enough money in stock and bonds, said bonds not to be in excess of $300,000, to build said railroad, under the supervision of an engineer to be appointed by this company, that this company will operate said road as a part of its own line, and will pro-rate with it on all freight and passenger business passing over it, or origi- nating, or terminating on the same, and allow to holders of its stock and bonds 25 per cent of its gross earnings. This company furthermore guaranteeing that said 25 per cent shall amount to no less than 7 per cent interest per annum on the bonds outstanding, and requiring that if the said 25 per cent shall be in excess of the interest named, then said excess shall be used, first, for the payment of dividends on the stock to the amount of not exceeding 10 per cent, and any surplus after paying the interest on the bonds, and 10 per cent dividend on the stock, shall be used for the redemption of the bonded debt until the same be wholly liquidated.
After the redemption of all the outstanding funded debt, the said railroad shall belong to and become the property of the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad Company, and cach stockholder shall be entitled to an amount of new stock to be issued by the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad Company, equal to the amount of stock which each one held in the said above mentioned road.
We hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad Company, at its meet- ing on Tuesday, May 23, 1876.
H. OSTERBERG, President.
WALTER TRUMBULL, Secretary.
Subsequently five of the seven directors of the company agreed to guarantee that the 25 per cent of the gross earnings would pay seven per cent on the $300,000 bonds, and an annual dividend of $10,000; or they would issue two kinds of stock -- upon one kind they would guarantee six per cent interest, and no more, and upon the other the holder might re- ceive as high as ten per cent, but must take his own chances upon the earn- ings of the road.
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442
HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
On Monday, May 29, 1876, the officers of the St. Louis, Rockford and Chieago Railroad Company, held an inquiry meeting at Dixon, and sub- mitted to the people the question. " Will you build a railroad?" At first, said Mayor Hawley, of Dixon, " It fell like a wet blanket upon our hopes." " The bare idea," says the Oregon Courier of June 12, " that the citizens of this valley were called upon to build a railroad; to own, operate, and have a railroad; to grade, tie, bridge, iron, and rent a railroad, seemed so absurd, that no body wanted to get within forty feet of the Baron (Oster- berg) who proposed it, lest perehance, their little all should be swallowed up by the immense and terrible affair." But, after listening to the argu- ments of Baron Osterberg, Judge Gould. Charles Deere, and others of the St. L., R. & C. R. R., a more favorable impression prevailed.
The people organized a stock company under the laws of the state, known as the Rock River Valley Railroad Company, for the purpose of construeting a road from Sterling to Roekford. The estimated cost of grading and bridging this road-52 miles-was set down in round figures, at $200,000. This money the new company wanted to raise. If they could raise it and grade the road, then there were responsible parties who stood ready to tie and iron the road for $300,000 worth of seven per cent bonds. Mr. Brewster said the St. L., R. & C. company would guarantee the ties and iron, and put them down for that sum.
There were then, and are now, differences of opinion in relation to the motives of Mr. Osterberg and his associates. Some were convinced that he honestly intended to build the road if the required aid were fur- nished, while others as stoutly maintain that such was never his design, that the object was to create an enthusiasm along the proposed line, on the strength of which a sale could be effected, of the entire road. However this may be, it is certain that while the route was surveyed, and sites for depots selected, the people called upon Mr. Osterberg for a reduction of his terms, and finally the whole seheme was abandoned.
ROCKFORD CENTRAL RAILROAD.
The importance of a railroad in the Rock River Valley early engaged the attention of the people, and on the 7th of March. 1855, the Rockford Central Railroad Company was organized with the following officers: President, R. P. Lane; Secretary, E. H. Baker; Treasurer, C. H. Spafford; Attorney, Jason Marsh; Chief Engineer, R. Ogilby; Consulting Engineer, R. B. Mason: Executive Committee, M. Starr, Jason Marsh, D. S. Penfield.
This road was designed to run from Rockford to Mendota, on the Illinois Central Railroad, and to extend northward up Rock River to Beloit, Wisconsin, and other points in that direction. And its objeet was to afford the people of the Rock River Valley direct communication with the coal fields in the southern part of the state, and the lumber distriets of Wiseon- sin. Other enterprises coming on about that time, operations were never commeneed on this line, other than mere temporary surveys, until the Spring of 1871, when the project was revived, and a large amount was expended in 1871-'2 in grading in Rockford, and between that city and Rochelle, and in building substantial stone piers for a bridge at Rockford. Eighteen or twenty miles of the road were graded on the line of the road from the Kishwaukee River along and near the third principal meridian to White Rock. This road was called the "Tinker route" from Robert H.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
Tinker, who was largely interested in the road. But funds gave out, and the projectors were forced to abandon the enterprisc.
THE CHICAGO, ROCKFORD & NORTHERN RAILROAD.
In 1874, the project of building a road over the route of the Rockford Central was revived and a new company was organized for this purpose, in which Mr. F. E. Hinckley, of the Chicago & Iowa Railroad, was largely inter- ested. The line of the road was located about three miles east of the old "Tinker route " in Ogle County, on which so much work had been done. Work was commenced in 1874, and in 1875 the road was completed for a junction with the Chicago & Iowa, at Flagg Center, three miles from Rochelle northward through the Townships of Flagg, White Rock and Scott, crossing the Chicago & Pacific Railroad at Davis Junction, thence to Rock- ford, and regular rains commenced running in the same year.
THE CHICAGO AND PACIFIC RAILROAD.
This road was originally designed for a narrow guage road from Chi- cago to the Mississippi River, to cross Ogle County, but subsequently the ordinary gnage of other railroads was adopted, whether wisely or not is still a disputed question. It was completed to Rock River at Byron March 19, 1875. By the liberality of the enterprising and public spirited citizens of Byron, a substantial bridge, nearly 800 feet in length, was built across Rock River during the Summer and Autumn of that year, and on the 30th day of December, 1875, the first train crossed it and entered the Village of Byron, which is at present, and is likely to be for some time to come, the western terminus of the road.
THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY QUESTION.
When the Illinois Territorial Legislature petitioned Congress for the admission of the territory as a sovereign state, the document was sent to Nathaniel Pope, the territorial delegate, by whom it was promptly presented, and it was referred to the proper committee, which instructed Mr. Pope to prepare and report a bill in accordance with its prayer. The bill, as drawn in accordance with these instructions, did not embrace the present area of Illinois, and when it was reported to Congress, certain amendments pro- posed by Mr. Pope were reported with it. It was generally supposed that the line established by the ordinance of 1787, namely: the line drawn through the southern point of Lake Michigan, west to the Mississippi, was to be the northern boundary of the new state. But this, if adopted, wonld have left the port of Chicago in the Territory of Michigan. as well as all the territory now embraced within the limits of fourteen rich and populous counties in northern Illinois. A critical examination of the ordinance, however, convinced Mr. Pope that Congress had the power and conld right- fully extend the northern boundary of the state as far beyond the line pro- vided in 1787 as it pleased. The principal amendments proposed by Mr. Pope, therefore, were, first, that the northern boundary of the new state should be extended to the parallel of 42 deg. 30 min. north latitude-this would give a good harbor on Lake Michigan; and secondly, more important than the boundary line, to apply the three per cent fund arising from the sale of public lands to educational purposes, instead of making roads, as
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
had been the case in Ohio and Indiana. These amendments were adopted withont serious opposition, and Illinois was declared an independent state.
These important changes in the original bill, says Mr. Ford in his History of Illinois, " were proposed and carried through both Houses of Congress by Mr. Pope on his own responsibility. The Territorial Legisla- ture had not petitioned for them-no one had suggested them, but they met the general approval of the people." The change of the boundary line, however, suggested to Mr. Pope-from the fact that the boundary as defined by the ordinance of 1787, would have left Illinois without a harbor on Lake Michigan-did not meet the unqualified approval of the people in the north- western part of the new state. For many years the northern boundary of the state was not definitely known, and the settlers in the northern tier of counties did not know whether they were in Illinois or Michigan Territory. Under the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, Wisconsin at one time laid claim to a portion of northern Illinois, "including," says Mr. Ford, writing in 1847, "fourteen counties, embracing the richest and most populous part of the state." October 27, 1827, nine years after the admission of the state, Dr. Horatio Newhall, who had then recently arrived at the Fever River Settlement, wrote to his brother as follows: "It is uncertain whether I am in the boundary of Illinois or Michigan." In October, 1828, a petition was sent to Congress from the people of that part of Illinois lying north of the line established by the ordinance of 1787, and that part of the Territory of Michigan west of Lake Michigan, praying for the formation of a new territory. A bill had been introduced at the previous session of Congress for the establishment of a new territory north of the State of Illinois, to be called " Huron Territory," upon which report had been made, in part, favor- able to the wishes of the petitioners, but they asked for the re-establishiment of the line as ordained by Congress in 1787. They declared "that the people inhabiting the territory northwest of the Ohio had a right to expect that the territory lying north of an 'east and west line passing through the southernmost end of Lake Michigan,' to the Mississippi River, and between said lake, the Mississippi and the Canada line, would REMAIN TOGETHER" as a territory and state. They declared that this was a part of the compact, unchangeably granted by the people of the original states to the people who should inhabit the "territory northwest of the Ohio." They declared that the change of the chartered limits, when Illinois was made a state, was open invasion of their rights in a body when they were unrepresented in either territory; that "an unrepresented people, without their knowledge or consent, have been transferred from one sovereignty to another." They urged that the present "division of the miners by an ideal line, separating into different governments individuals intimately connected in similar pur- snits, is embarrassing." They asked for "even-handed justice," and the restoration of their "chartered limits." The Galena Miners' Journal, of October 25, 1828, which contains the full text of the petition, says: "We do not fully agree with the memorialists in petitioning Congress again to dispose of that tract of country which has once been granted to Illinois; but we think that it would be for the interest of the miners to be erected, together with the adjoining county above, into a separate territory. And we firmly believe, too, that Congress departed from the clear and express terms of their own ordinance passed in the year 1787, when they granted to the State of Illinois nearly a degree and a half of latitude of the CHAR- TERED LIMITS of this country. Whether Congress will annex this tract to
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY
the new territory we much doubt, but we believe the ultimate decision of the United States Court will be, that the northern boundary line of the State of Illinois shall commence at the southernmost end of Lake Michigan." The petition was unavailing, and the northern line of Illinois remains unchanged, but the agitation of the subject by the people of this region continued.
During the Winter of 1839-'40 a strong movement was inaugurated in the northern counties of the state for the annexation of all that part of the state lying north of the line above described to Wisconsin. This movement, it is said, originated at Galena, and that one of the objects sought appears to have been to locate the capital of the new State of Wisconsin at that place. A public meeting was held at the court house in Galena, Feb- ruary 1, 1840, "to express an opinion in relation to the boundary question between the State of Illinois and the Territory of Wisconsin."" C. S. Hempstead was called to the chair, and O. S. Johnson appointed secretary; Dr. A. T. Crow, HI. H. Gear, John Atchison, T. B. Farnsworth, John Dowling, C. S. Hempstead and O. S. Johnson were appointed a committee to collect facts in relation to the question at issue, which was the annexation of Northern Illinois to Wisconsin. Thomas Melville, Frederick Stalil and M. M. Maughs were appointed to correspond with the people in the various districts of the ." Disputed Territory," and ascertain their views and feel- ings. A resolution was adopted, on motion of H. H. Gear, recommending the people in the several districts to hold meetings for the expression of their views.
Similar meetings were held in Ogle, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Carroll, Whiteside, and other counties. At a meeting held in Galena on the 7th of March, 1840, at which it was resolved to call a convention of del- egates to be elected by the people of Rockford, on the 6th of July follow- ing, and a committee appointed to issue the call. The convention was held on the day appointed, of which Josiah G. Goodhue, of Winnebago County, was President; John Howe and Orris Crosby, of Boone, and E. G. Nichols, of Whiteside, Vice Presidents; Hamilton Norton, of Ogle, and Wm. E. Dunbar, Secretaries.
January 22, 1842, a general meeting of the citizens of Ogle County, was held at Oregon, for the purpose "of considering the expediency of advising and effecting a separation of this section of the state from the State of Illinois, and annexing the same to Wisconsin." Col. Brown was elected President, and Joseph B. Henshaw, Secretary. S. N. Sample, E. A. Hurd, D. T. Moss, W. W. Fuller and J. Swan, were appointed a committee on resolutions.
A Central Committee, consisting of James V. Gale, Joseph B. Hen- shaw and E. S. Leland, to correspond with other committees and persons, "on all subjects of the meeting, with power to appoint precinct commit- tees." By this committee the following were appointed:
Oregon Precinct-the Central Committee. Bloomingville-H. Norton and A. Wilbur. Maryland-N. Swingley and C. Marshall.
Buffalo Grove-J. D. Stevenson and H. Wales.
Grand de Tour-S. Cumins and B. Butterfield. Washington Grove-J. Day and C. Rice.
Brooklyn-D. Reed and R. Young. Monroe-H. Hill and I. Shearer.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
The committee on resolutions reported the following:
WHEREAS, By an ordinance entitled an ordinance for the Government of the North- western Territory, " it was ordained and declared by the Congress of the United States, that there should be formed in the Northwestern Territory, not less than three nor more than five states; and that in pursuance of said ordinance, the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were formed; and whereas, it was also ordained and declared by the ordinance aforesaid, that the boundaries of other states should be subject to be so altered, that if Con- gress should find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states on that part of said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extremity of Lake Michigan; and whereas, by virtue of the last mentioned power, the State of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin have been formed north of said line; and whereas, it is ordained and declared by the ordinance aforesaid, that the fifth article thereof (that which defines the boundaries) shall be considered one of the articles of com- pact between the original states and the people and states in said territory, and forever to re- main unalterable, unless by common consent. Therefore,
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting, that that part of the Northwestern Ter- ritory which lies north of an "east and west line through the southerly bend or extremity of Lake Michigan," belongs to, and of right, ought to be, a part of the state or states which have been, or may be formed, north of said line.
Resolved. That Congress has established by said ordinance, the southern boundary of the state, which may be formed north of the State of Illinois, and that line can not be altered without the consent, as well of the original states, as the people in said Northwest Territory.
Resolved, That as part of the people of the said Northwest Territory, we will not con- sent to an alteration of said line, so as to place us under the jurisdiction of a state to which we do not lawfully belong.
Resolved, That the lines as originally established by Congress, in the "ordinance for the Government of the Northwestern Territory," are better suited to the geographical situa- tion, and to the local interests of said territory, than any others that can now be made.
Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to alter the lines as originally established, so as to place any of the territory north of the " line drawn through the southern extremity of Lake Michigan," within the jurisdiction of the state south of said line, without the con- sent of the people of said Northwest Territory.
Resolved, That it is expedient for the people now included in the state, and residing north of a " line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan," to claim to be included in a state to be formed from territory north of said line.
Resolved, That it be recommended to the Legislature of Wisconsin, to apply during the present session of Congress, to be admitted to the Union, claiming as a southern bound- ary of the state, "a line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme end of Lake Mich- igan," and running due west to the Mississippi.
Resolved, That the liberal appropriation of the Legislature of the State of Illinois for internal improvements, within one district, embracing that part of the Northwest Territory claimed by Illinois, was made in good faith, and that we disclaim any intention to absolve ourselves from any pecuniary responsibility created by the Legislature of Illinois for such purposes, and hold sacred the legal obligations of the state.
Resolved, That a committee of nine persons be appointed as delegates from this county, to proceed to Madison, in the Territory of Wisconsin, with full power to consult with the governor and Legislature, or either of them, and to take such measures as, in in their opinion, will most speedily and effectually obtain the object of this meeting.
The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and W. W. Fuller, Dauphin Brown, Joseph B. Henshaw, Jehiel Day, James Swan, Spooner Ruggles, Samuel M. Hitt, Henry Hiestand and Augustus Austin, were ap- pointed the committee provided for by the last resolve.
On the 26th of February, 1842, another meeting was held at Oregon, and the committee reported that they had received assurances of the earnest co-operation of Governor Doty and the legislature, who recommended that a census of the several counties in the disputed territory be taken, with a view to the presentation of a petition to the Congress, for the formation of a new state. Meetings were subsequently held in various parts of Northern Illinois, showing a deep and widespread feeling in favor of the movement. This agitation continued until the matter was definitely settled by the ad- mission of Wisconsin to the Union, with boundaries as they now exist.
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HISTORY OF OGLE COUNTY.
THE PRESS.
One of the most potent agencies in moulding the destinies of the pioneer settlements of the great Empire of the West, and perhaps among those least appreciated by the people called upon to sustain them, was and is the printing press. Nor was Ogle County an exception. The advance guard of civilization who first settled this county had no daily papers, and even weeklies were like "angel's visits, few and far between," for mails were irregular and infrequent, being carried on horseback, and sometimes not carried at all. Althoughi the first settlers came in 1829, there was no attempt to establish a local paper in the county until 1842. Until that time there were no papers taken by the people, save perhaps a few copies of some religious papers and an occasional copy of some eastern journal. The Chicago Democrat, by John Wentworth, and the Galena Gazette were the only political newspapers circulating here.
The Rock River Register was the first paper printed in Ogle County. It was started in Mount Morris, then the great literary centre of Northern Illinois, by Mr. Jonathan Knodle. The first number, under the editorial management of Mr. Emanuel Knodle, was issued January 1, 1842. The Register was printed on an old Ramage press, large enough to print only one half of the form, or one page, at a time. The paper was not so large as some of its successors have been, being a small five-column folio sheet, printed on a very inferior quality of paper. The motto of the Register, suggested by Rev. T. S. Hitt, was, " We hope to be recognized as fellow laborers in the noble work of enlightening the human mind." The terms were " $2.50 in advance, or $3 if not paid in advance." Number four con- tained the notice of the marriage, by Rev. S. S. Walker, of Michael Cheshire to Margaret McAllister. "This," the writer naively remarked, "is the first case of Matrimony which has ever occurred in Mount Morris." In the same number appear the business cards of H. A. Mix and Henry Roberts, attorneys at law at Oregon ; James J. Beatty, physician and sur- geon, Mount Morris ; an administrator's notice in the matter of the estate of William Driskell, etc. When the Register started, the entire population of the Village of Mount Morris, including the students at Rock River Seminary, was 282, the whole number of citizens being 137. Its nearest neighbor was the Rockford Pilot. Number twelve, issued in April, announced the death of the editor, Mr. Emanuel Knodle, aged thirty-two years, and the same paper bore the names of Knodle & Stephens, publish- ers. Mr. D. C. Duncan succeeded Mr. Knodle as editor. Until July 10, 1842, the Register was politically neutral, but on that date it hoisted the Whig flag, and supported Joseph Duncan for governor, in opposition to Judge Thomas Ford, the democratic candidate, whom it vigorously denounced as "a Northern man with Southern principles," because he was opposed to the scheme, which originated in Galena two years before, for annexing all of the territory of Illinois north of a line drawn from the southernmost point of Lake Michigan due west to the Mississippi River, to Wisconsin. September 12. 1842, the Register was removed to Grand de Tour, or Grand Detour, and its issne of September 16 was dated at that place. The removal was made in consequence of the mail at Mount Morris " being reduced to a weekly horseback." October 7, 1842, it was dressed in mourning for the death of the second editor, Mr. D. C. Dunbar,
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