USA > Illinois > Kane County > The past and present of Kane County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion statistics history of the Northwest etc., etc > Part 28
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297
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
Col. Joseph Lyon, from the Empire State, settled in Batavia early in 1834, and remained in the village throughout its settlement and progress until 1875, when he left for Stockton, California, his present home. Few men have ever possessed more fully the esteem of their townsmen. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was, for a number of years before his removal to California, the oldest settler in the county. Capt. C. B. Dodson, now the oldest, settled at Clybournville, a mile and a half south of Batavia village, in June, 1834. But Clybournville was only a prospect then, and is only a memory now. No sooner had Capt. Dodson settled than he commenced building the first saw-mill in the county, at the mouth of Mill Creek, and the first store, for trade with the Indians. In the same year, a partnership was formed between himself and Mr. Clybourn, of Chicago, and the settlement at the mouth of the creek was named in honor of Capt. Dodson's partner. Great preparations were made to trade with the Indians, and an old hunter, one Caldwell, from Michigan, was kept in the swamps with the redskins, as an agent. The store was often filled with the skins which were purchased for almost nothing and sold for but little more. A young Indian chief was obtained to stay in the store, for the purpose of teaching the American clerk his language, and for communicating with his own race-as few of them understood the English language well-and Capt. Dodson himself soon learned to speak the Pottowattomie vernacular with nearly as much fluency as his mother tongue. His life has been a remarkably event- ful one, both before and after his arrival in Illinois. It required no small amount of courage and determination to settle-almost the only European- amid hordes of the hereditary enemies of the white race, conciliated within a comparatively recent period, and well aware that the government was plotting to cheat them out of their land. Capt. Dodson was well acquainted with Wau- bansie and Shabbona, and describes the former as a man of splendid personal appearance, who always carried a long spear as a badge of his exalted position in his tribe. He never spoke the language of the conquering race well, but independently used his own, whether in conversation with his tribe or with others. In 1835, Dodson & Clybourn took a contract from the Government to remove the Indians to Council Bluffs and Kansas. Waubansie lingered upon his hunting grounds, reluctant to go, until many of his friends had left, but was at length induced to leave at the solicitation of Capt. Dodson. He was the last of his tribe to go, however, and it may be doubted if he would have gone at all, had not the squaws been induced to take their places in the wagons prepared for them, and the journey commenced. Then he followed, and left the valley of Fox River forever. Previous to their departure, Col. Lyon had made an un- successful attempt to civilize one of them. The result illustrates the lazy na- ture of the race. Neuqua, eldest son of Waubansie, was an intelligent young man and a general favorite among the settlers. As he wandered into a field one day, where Col. Lyon was at work, the latter staked out a small piece of land plowed and ready to plant, and told him that if he would put the seed in the
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
ground, he should have the entire crop for his trouble. The idea pleased him, and he promised to be on hand the next morning. True to his pledge, he ap- peared at the time designated, but with him came a dozen or more squaws, with hoes upon their shoulders. Col. Lyon remonstrated, informing him that the bargain was that he should perform the work himself, and intimated that the land was not staked out to afford him an opportunity to give practical illustra- tions of woman's rights. But in vain was the attempt. Neuqua replied, " Me hunt the meat, squaw hunt the corn," and would not touch a hoe. This chief is said to have raised a regiment of Pottawattomies in Kansas, and assisted the Northern army in Missouri during the late war.
We have it from the authority of 'Squire Town, that James Vanatta was located upon a claim east of Batavia village, previous to January, 1834, and one Corey, about the same time, was settled on a tract adjoining. During the latter part of December, 1833, James Nelson took up a claim and built a cabin in a grove known to the early settlers as Nelson's Grove, about two miles west of the village, and moved into his house in January, 1834. The place is now known as the Carr farm. John Gregg, the first blacksmith in the township, settled on what is now known as the Griffith place, east of the village, early in the Spring of 1834. His services were in great demand, as he was an excel- lent workman, and the prairie breakers used to come to his shop from Rockford -a journey which required a week to perform and return-to get their plows repaired.
The first death in the township was that of a child of one Myers, who kept house for Capt. Dodson in 1834, and the first death of an adult, that of Mrs. Ward, in the Fall of the same year.
Settlers flocked in during 1835, 1836 and 1837, and before the close of the year 1838 we find, aside from those already mentioned, J. W. Churchill, William Van Nortwick, Joel McKee, James Risk, James Rockwell, Dr. D. K. and Horace Town, William Vandeventer, Isaac Wilson, George Fowler and James Latham, all permanently located in Batavia. Clybournville, although it was proposed to locate the county seat there in 1836, never became more than an exceedingly small hamlet, but Batavia village, just north of it, attained the position which the cluster of shanties at the mouth of Mill Creek never gained. The history of that village is the history of Batavia Township, since little of historical importance has transpired in the latter since its settlement. Its fer- tile farms passed from squatter claims to Government purchases without excite- ment, or injustice to any man, since the settlers had formed regular claim or- ganizations, in common with the other townships, and each tract was purchased and retained by the original owner at a dollar and a quarter per acre. From that day to this, the quiet but steady occupation upon which all others depend has been pursued and abundantly rewarded. The assessed valuation ofits land in 1876 was $665,007.
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
EDUCATION
has received more than usual attention in this township, and it claims the first school in the county. This was taught in a log house on Col. Lyon's claim, a mile east of the village, in the Fall of 1834. The teacher was a Vermonter, by the name of Knowles, and the average number of pupils in attendance, nine. The estimated valuation of school property in Geneva and Batavia, for the year 1876, was $70,000, nearly $40,000 of which is contained in Batavia.
WAR RECORD.
There came a time in Batavia's history when the usual uneventful course of daily pursuits was broken, and every patriotic soul burned with indignation- the day when the wires proclaimed throughout the land that the national flag had been fired upon. Then did the township first in the county in settlement, schools and progress of every description take her place among the first in the defense of the country. Three companies were enrolled in the village during the war-one for the Forty-second, one for the Fifty-second and one for the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois regiments. Among the officers from Batavia may be, mentioned Col. E. D. Swain, now in Chicago; Major H. K. Wolcott, and Col. D. C. Newton, still residents of Batavia ; Major Adin Mann and Capt. E. S. Stafford, since removed West, and F. P. Crandon, who enlisted in the First Maryland Cavalry. The names of those who fell upon the numer- ous Southern battle fields, or perished in those cursed prisons, we have not the statistics to obtain ; but wherever their graves may lie-scattered though they may be throughout the South, or removed to Northern cemeteries-a grateful nation honors them.
" And freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there."
CITY OF BATAVIA.
The manufacturing village of Batavia is situated on both banks of Fox River, about two miles by rail from Geneva, and seven miles from Aurora.
The first claim taken up within its limits, which is also generally considered the first in the county, was made by Christopher Payne, in October, 1833, on the east side of the river. Much dispute has occurred concerning Payne's nativity, some contending that he was a North Carolinian, and others that he entered the county from nearly every point of the compass ; but E. S. Town, Esq., who settled on the West Side, in June, 1834, upon the place now occupied by C. W. Porter, and who was well acquainted with Payne, and possesses an excellent memory of early events, states that he had frequently told him that he hailed from the Empire State, but had been a wanderer nearly all his life. Like the celebrated character whose name, with a varied orthography, he bore, he could say that the world was his home. He came from North Carolina to
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
Illinois ; and Capt. Dodson states that he entered Kane County and broke land in 1832, but left during the Indian troubles. He was a pioneer by nature, ever hovering on the outer edge of civilization, and seldom remaining long enough in one place to enjoy the fruits of his labors. He had been in Naper- ville previous to settling in Kane County, but had not remained there long. He claimed that he had first entered the county and broken some land near the head of " Big Woods," but that his family had not come until the following year (1833). According to Mr. Town, he was one of the roughest men in the world, but possessed of a generous and kind nature. Capt. Dodson also states that he was one of nature's noblemen. He was extremely hospitable, and his little sixteen square log shanty, the first in Batavia, was frequently crowded with strangers. It has long been torn down and forgotten. It may also be considered the first tavern in the place, as Payne there entertained all the explorers who sought his door as long as he remained in Batavia, and it was the general and only resort. When Mr. Town, Harry Boardman, * afterward well known in Batavia, and a gentleman whose name has no connection with this history, visited the "Big Woods," in June, 1834, they found Payne comfortably located with his family, a parcel of land under cultivation, and a yoke of oxen. That night there were sixteen lodged in his house. As Mrs. Payne was spreading the blankets upon the floor for the guests, one of them remarked that he could not imagine where she could dispose of them all, to which the good woman replied that there would be plenty of room as she had lodged twenty-three there by tucking her children under her own bed. Mr. Town settled in the same month (June, 1834), on the West Side, and during the same year the settlement was increased by the arrival of Col. Lyon, James Latham, Joel McKee, James Risk, Titus Howe, and Wm. Vanderventer, all of whom took up claims near the preseut corporation limits. Col. Lyon arrived on the 24th of April, 1834, and remained in town during its settlement and much of its progress, but is now residing in California. James Latham like- wise removed to California, where he died. Joel McKee died at his residence near Batavia some years ago. James Risk emigrated to Kansas, and Howe and Vandeventer are in their graves. Howe was the first to utilize the water power of the town, by building a dam and a frame for a saw-mill at the lower end of the island in 1835, but the dam was carried away in a flood the follow- ing Spring. The property was purchased by Van Nortwick, Barker, House & Co., and the saw-mill removed and operated by them further up the stream.
In 1835, a number of families settled in and about Batavia, among them Judge Wilson, William Van Nortwick and his son, John, and J. W. Churchill. The first was the father of Hon. Isaac G. Wilson, well known through the county, and located on the claim taken by Christopher Payne, the latter re- moving to parts unknown, according to his usual custom. The house which Judge Wilson erected is now occupied as a residence by Frank Snow, on the
* Died near Naperville, 1877.
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
original site. To Wilson, who emigrated from Batavia, N. Y., the name of the town and village is due.
William Van Nortwick located on the West Side, and is long since deceased. His son is one of the most prominent manufacturers in Batavia, or in the State. J. W. Churchill has emigrated west.
The settlement of the country occupied by the present village had not been completed, by any means, in 1838, for Mr. J. Rockwell, who came in that year, and is now living in the place, says that there were not more than a half dozen families within its limits at the time of his arrival. Among them were Horace Town, deceased, and G. W. Fowler, still one of the prominent business men of the place.
During the earliest years of the occupation of the "Head of Big Woods," the nearest post office was Naperville. Letters came to that point for settlers in all parts of the region now known as Kane County, and some are now in existence directed "Naperville, Head of Big Woods," and "Naperville, McCarty's Mill." Owing to mistakes which frequently occurred, where so little was known of the country, it was often more convenient to receive mes- sages from civilization at the Chicago office, and Mr. Town states that during his first year in Batavia he went there for his newspaper. But the settlers had not long to endure this inconvenience before a post office was established at Geneva ; and in 1842, Judge Wilson was appointed the first Postmaster in Batavia.
A school was opened as early as 1835, and possibly in 1834, in a small log house. One Cleghorn was the earliest pedagogue.
In 1835, Father Clark preached the first sermon, in a grove near Payne's residence ; and in June, of the same year, Joel McKee established the first store in town, on the West Side, near the northern line of the present corpora- tion.
The first resident physician in the town was Dr. D. K. Town, the commence- ment of whose practice there dates from 1839. He is still a resident of the place, although retired from practice.
In 1835, J. W. Churchill located in the village as the first attorney, and in the following year was elected to the State Senate. He removed to Daven- port, Iowa, about 1853.
The original plat of the village was laid out upon the East Side, in 1837, by Van Nortwick, Barker, House & Co .; that of the West Side in 1844, by John Van Nortwick.
A bridge was constructed in 1837 across the Fox River, and paid for by subscription ; and in 1843, a second one, further up the stream. In 1854, the bridge from the East Side to the island was built, of the stone for which Batavia is so justly noted. In 1857, owing to some deficiency in its structure, a por- tion of it was carried away by a freshet, but it was immediately rebuilt by the town, in its present durable form, with six arches. It has cost $9,000,
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
the manufactured article to all parts of the civilized world. Mr. Daniel Halli- day, the inventor of the mill, is one of the best known and most respected busi- ness men in the country, and has contributed largely to the prosperity of the vil- lage. One hundred men are employed on an average in the shops. The com- pany is incorporated and John Van Nortwick is the President.
Challenge Mills .- The Challenge Mill Company, engaged in the manufac- ture of the Nichols Wind Mill, feed mills, corn shellers, and pumps, com- menced operations under the proprietorship of Burr & Armstrong, in 1867. Two hands performed the work at the commencement, but in 1869 the business was enlarged, and from that date to 1871, from thirty to fifty men were em- ployed. On the 10th of March, 1872, the building was destroyed in the con- flagration which also consumed the Batavia Mills. The loss of the Challenge Mills was in the neighborhood of $45,000, $20,000 of which was covered by insurance, but only $150 of the insurance was ever obtained. The company immediately commenced building on a larger scale than before, and on the afternoon of April 24, one month and fourteen days from the time of the de- struction, the wheels were again set in motion. The number of men employed varies from twenty-five to sixty, and the mills made are too well and favorably known to need any praise.
Batavia Foundry .- In 1867, Mr. A. N. Merrill started a small foundry at Batavia. Mr. D. R. Sperry subsequently purchased an interest in the concern, and in 1869 bought out Merrill. The foundry is now worked under the name of D. R. Sperry & Co., and has been engaged for some time in job work. From thirty to fifty hands are employed, and the hollow-ware and other pro- ducts shipped enjoy a wide-spread reputation.
Osgood & Shumway's Foundry .- In the Summer of 1872, Merrill & Shum- way commenced the foundry business in the stone building on the island now occupied by Osgood & Shumway. The firm was changed to Merrill & Osgood for a period of less than a year, and in 1875 became known under its present name. A machine shop is attached to the foundry, and the number of tons of iron used in the works during the past year (1877) is 600. From thirty to forty men are employed. The business is principally contract work. There are, aside from the above, two other small foundries in the village.
The Batavia Manufacturing Company is engaged in the construction of Nichols' Centennial Wind Mill, a patent tire-shrinker and several the or small but standard articles. The company has but recently commenced on the island, near Osgood & Shumway's foundry, but the quality of the articles which are presented for the public patronage make the prospects of success extremely probable.
Cheese Factory .- A cheese factory has been opened in a substantial stone building, upon the ruins of the old flax-mill, during the past season (1877). Its cheese is highly recommended by competent judges of the merits of the article, and we are told that the factory has been generally patronized by the farmers of the immediate vicinity.
305
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
QUARRIES.
To her quarries, next to her great manufacturing interests, has Batavia been indebted for her prosperity. In about 1842, Z. Reynolds opened the first on the West Side, since which time no less than ten have been operated success- fully, so far as success depended upon finding a quality of stone adapted to all building purposes. It is obtained from two inches in thickness to three feet and three inches, and of as large an area as can be moved. Single blocks eight to ten inches thick, nine feet wide and twenty feet long have been shipped from the quarries to Chicago. It is a quality of limestone, and equal to any lime- stone quarried for building.
Extensive kilns have been built by J. T. & F. P. Brady above one of the quarries which had not proved a financial success ; and from the limestone, which lies ten feet deep above the building stone, they are manufacturing an excellent quality of lime.
A history of the quarries and their successive transfers from owner to owner to the present time would not interest the general reader. Hundreds of hands have found employment in them, and they have not only contributed to the prosperity of the place by bringing wealth from outside and furnishing employ- ment for its laborers, but by placing at convenient distances, and for a merely nominal sum, a material with which to build its schools, churches, manufactur- ing establishments, business blocks, many of its private residences and the side- walks of its principal streets, lasting as the eternal hills.
RAILROADS.
The O., O! & F. R. V. Railroad and the C., B. & Q. are sufficiently noticed in the chapter upon Aurora. Each enter Batavia, and each have depots within the corporation limits. In 1873, the Chicago & Northwestern Road, wishing to use the Batavia stone for building its extensive shops in West Chicago, laid a track from Geneva to Batavia and opened a convenient and handsome depot there on the 5th of May. Many of the citizens, who had hitherto shipped their freight over the other roads, immediately commenced business with the Northwestern, and it now furnishes a thoroughfare for the transportation of more than half the freight that leaves the village. The entire business of the branch track amounts to $40,000 per annum ; that of the C., B. & Q., from Batavia, $19,000, and the Fox River Valley, about $7,200. Nine trains leave the Batavia depots daily.
The business of the Western Union Telegraph Company, at the C., B. & Q. depot, amounts to about $50.00 per month.
SCHOOL'S.
West Side .- The West Side School is situated in District No. 5, which ex- tends from the Aurora line across the line which separates Batavia from the town of Geneva. A building was erected near the present site, about 1852, at
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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
the manufactured article to all parts of the civilized world. Mr. Daniel Halli- day, the inventor of the mill, is one of the best known and most respected busi- ness men in the country, and has contributed largely to the prosperity of the vil- lage. One hundred men are employed on an average in the shops. The com- pany is incorporated and John Van Nortwick is the President.
Challenge Mills .- The Challenge Mill Company, engaged in the manufac- ture of the Nichols Wind Mill, feed mills, corn shellers, and pumps, com- menced operations under the proprietorship of Burr & Armstrong, in 1867. Two hands performed the work at the commencement, but in 1869 the business was enlarged, and from that date to 1871, from thirty to fifty men were em- ployed. On the 10th of March, 1872, the building was destroyed in the con- flagration which also consumed the Batavia Mills. The loss of the Challenge Mills was in the neighborhood of $15,000, $20,000 of which was covered by insurance, but only $150 of the insurance was ever obtained. The company immediately commenced building on a larger scale than before, and on the afternoon of April 24, one month and fourteen days from the time of the de- struction, the wheels were again set in motion. The number of men employed varies from twenty-five to sixty, and the mills made are too well and favorably known to need any praise.
Batavia Foundry .- In 1867, Mr. A. N. Merrill started a small foundry at Batavia. Mr. D. R. Sperry subsequently purchased an interest in the concern, and in 1869 bought out Merrill. The foundry is now worked under the name of D. R. Sperry & Co., and has been engaged for some time in job work. From thirty to fifty hands are employed, and the hollow-ware and other pro- ducts shipped enjoy a wide-spread reputation.
Osgood & Shumway's Foundry .- In the Summer of 1872, Merrill & Shum- way commenced the foundry business in the stone building on the island now occupied by Osgood & Shumway. The firm was changed to Merrill & Osgood for a period of less than a year, and in 1875 became known under its present name. A machine shop is attached to the foundry, and the number of tons of iron used in the works during the past year (1877) is 600. From thirty to forty men are employed. The business is principally contract work. There are, aside from the above, two other small foundries in the village.
The Batavia Manufacturing Company is engaged in the construction of Nichols' Centennial Wind Mill, a patent tire-shrinker and several the or small but standard articles. The company has but recently commenced on the island, near Osgood & Shumway's foundry, but the quality of the articles which are presented for the public patronage make the prospects of success extremely probable.
Cheese Factory .- A cheese factory has been opened in a substantial stone building, upon the ruins of the old flax-mill, during the past season (1877). Its cheese is highly recommended by competent judges of the merits of the article, and we are told that the factory has been generally patronized by the farmers of the immediate vicinity.
305
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
QUARRIES.
To her quarries, next to her great manufacturing interests, has Batavia been indebted for her prosperity. In about 1842, Z. Reynolds opened the first on the West Side, since which time no less than ten have been operated success- fully, so far as success depended upon finding a quality of stone adapted to all building purposes. It is obtained from two inches in thickness to three feet and three inches, and of as large an area as can be moved. Single blocks eight to ten inches thick, nine feet wide and twenty feet long have been shipped from the quarries to Chicago. It is a quality of limestone, and equal to any lime- stone quarried for building.
Extensive kilns have been built by J. T. & F. P. Brady above one of the quarries which had not proved a financial success ; and from the limestone, which lies ten feet deep above the building stone, they are manufacturing an excellent quality of lime.
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