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 46
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464
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
An institution of the township, deserving of notice, is the planing-mill of George Kettelwell, in the new village of Hampshire. It was built in the Fall of 1877, and is designed to be, when completed, a planing-mill, machine shop, lathe, etc., and will give employment to a number of hands. A feed-mill is also attached, and kept busily engaged, grinding feed for the neighboring dairyman.
The Hampshire Gazette, a live little newspaper, published by C. E. Howe, was established in the village of Hampshire, in the Fall of 1877. It is devoted to the interests of the town, and is liberally supported by the citizens.
The Chicago & Pacific Railroad crosses Hampshire Township from east to west, dividing it very nearly through the center. The road met with a hearty support here, very unlike to that extended to it in the more eastern section of the county. A substantial endorsement was given it by this township, in the shape of $26,400 stock, individually subscribed by the citizens. Mr. Jacob Rinn, alone, subscribed $10,000. The first train passed over the road through Hampshire, in May, 1875, and doubtless would have been serenaded, could the delighted inhabitants have kept up with it. Although the road has not yet been in operation three years, the following statement of the business done at Hampshire station (the only station in the township) shows, very conclusively, the advantage it has been to this section of country.
Forwarded in 1877 :
Freight on Milk
$2,331.00
Other Freights Forwarded 4,343.43
Receipts from Passengers 2,270.75
Total. $8,945.18
Freights Received. 6,290.23
Excess of Freights Forwarded, $2,654.95
The villages of this township are Old and New Hampshire. The old town, in the zenith of its glory, never exceeded two or three stores, a tavern, black- smith shop, and a post office. One small store, a school house and a post office, with one mail a week, now comprise the town. But associated with it are some of the tender reminiscences of the early settlers, that will fade only with their lives. Here was the first store, the first tavern, and the first post office; and here, after the toil of the week was ended, the farmers congregated to gather the news ; to discuss the events of the day over their evening grog, and recount the hardships of pioneer life.
The new village of Hampshire is one of those mushroom towns that spring up, as if by magic, on new railway lines. Three years ago, there was not a house in the section where it is situated, except a few farmhouses. In October, 1874, it was surveyed by W. H. Pearce, for Andrew J. Willing and Ceylen A. Fasseth, who owned north of the land. It was laid out, the next Summer, as a village ; and after the Chicago & Pacific Railroad, upon which it is located, was built through, its growth was rapid. It was incorporated in October, 1876, and
465
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
Philip Doty, S. C. Rowell, E. W. Whelpley, J. S. Wychoff, Henry Rinn and A. R. Fremen elected Trustees, who organized, by making S. C. Rowell Pres- ident of the Board, and J. S. Wychoff, Clerk. The population, January 1, 1878, was about 600. It has two churches, one school house, one cheese fac- tory, one steam flouring-mill, two steam feed-mills, one planing-mill and machine shop, five general stores, one grocery store, two hardware stores, one drug store, one bakery, two hotels, one restaurant, two butcher shops, one newspaper, five blacksmith shops, three wagon shops, one lumber yard, two agricultural stores, two livery stables, four saloons, three billiard halls, two shoe shops, one harness shop, one millinery store, three doctors, one lawyer, one preacher, etc. The buildings are all new, and of a better class than the majority of young railroad towns. To sum up, in a few words: The village of Hampshire is a busy, thriving place; its citizens industrious, wide awake and enterprising, and deserv- ing of the greatest prosperity.
The name of Hampshire was bestowed on the township, in commemmoration of the Old Granite State, from whence came many of its early setttlers. This, with Rutland Township, was, in the early settling, Deerfield Precinct. When organized into townships, in 1848, under government survey, and the question of a name came up, there chanced to be a majority who were natives of New Hampshire, and so carried the day, so far as the naming of the township went. Politically, Hampshire is largely Republican ; though, in the daysof Whigs and Democrats, it was pretty evenly contested on the questions at issue.
CAMPTON TOWNSHIP.
SETTLEMENT.
Campton, the central township of Kane County, lies west of St. Charles and east of Virgil, is bounded on the north by Plato and south by Blackberry, and is Town No. 40, Range 7 east of the Third Principal Meridian.
John Beatty, from Crawford County, Penn., came to Chicago April 20, 1834, and, remaining there until March, 1835, proceeded westward, and reached Fox River at the present site of Geneva, where Bird, Haight and Aken were then living. Early in the season, he traveled northwestward, and, entering the present township of Campton, took up a claim of prairie where C. H. Shaw now resides. Returning thence to Geneva, he remained in the vicinity for about two months, when he again sought the wilderness toward the setting sun, and this time, proceeding further, took up a tract composed of both prairie and timber, upon which the widow Burr now resides, and built thereon the first log cabin in the township. Not feeling satisfied with his first claim, owing to the scarcity of timber and running water-which was abundant upon the latter one -he subsequently sold the former to one Archie, who settled and remained upon it for several years. Mr. Beatty did not locate upon his land for more than
466
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
a year after it was taken, and, meanwhile, several settlers arrived. Foremost among these were Henry Warne, in the southwest part of the town ; John Whitney, from New York State, who lived where his son Melvin now resides, and took up a claim embracing a thousand acres or more ; Culverson, where Robert Garfield lives ; James Hackett, from Ohio, who located where C. Cooley now resides ; Luke Pike, from, the same State, upon the present Chaffce homestead, and Charles Babcock, on the Stewart place. All of the above took up their claims in 1835.
When Mr. Beatty came to the township, he states that an Indian trail extended across it upon the south from Ohio Grove, thence east past Lilly Lake, across the Robert Garfield farm, thence through the lot now occupied by the cemetery to a point about a mile and a half east, where it branched, one fork bearing southward to Waubansie Town and the other reaching the river a little south of St. Charles.
About 1838, a company from St. Charles, including Ira Minard and Daniel Marvin, drove an ox team attached to a fallen tree to the settlement of Oregon, on Rock River, thus marking a road the entire distance, a portion of which lay in Campton.
Prairie breaking was an important industry in those days, as many of the settlers were but illy supplied with teams and plows. The prairie breakers traveled the entire country with ox teams, and plowed wherever their services were required. Mr. Beatty broke extensive tracts in the Summer of 1836. His team consisted of six yokes of oxen, and the price charged was $3.50 per acre. He states that he plowed the first furrow in the township.
The settlers early turned their attention to the education of their children. and, accordingly, we find a log school house in 1836 on land now owned by a Scandinavian named Lawson, and in it a Mrs. McClure was installed as teacher. The building was the result of the united efforts of Messrs. Pike, Hackett, Archie, Culverson, Ryder and others, and the flock of little boys and girls who gathered there at the opening of the first term was small in numbers, but the following year found them more than doubled.
In the Winter of 1837, Mr. Beatty remained upon his claim, having passed the two previous Winters in Geneva. During the previous season he had assisted in conveying the portion of the Pottawattomie Indians living in Indi- ana to their reservation across the Mississippi, and, during the same Spring and Summer, numbers of settlers had arrived. Among these were Harry and Spald- ing E. Eddy, brothers, from Genesee Co., N. Y.
The latter informs us that upon his arrival one Trow was living upon the farm owned at present by Augustus Fisher ; John Hogoman or Hagarman, a Dane, upon a claim still owned by his descendants ; Thomas E. Dodge upon the claim afterward purchased by Garret Norton ; Ansel Lake upon his pres- ent homestead ; John Tucker, deceased, where his heirs reside; Geo. Thomp- son, of Ohio, the father of Charles Thompson, of St. Charles, was living upon
467
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
the Hitchcock farm, and E. Reed and James Outhouse were cultivating the banks of Lilly Lake, where they have remained ever since.
Edward Page and Edmund Elliott were early settlers from the State of New Hampshire. The former died upon his claim, in 1838, of small pox.
Previous to this, however, death had appeared in the township and in 1837, a Mrs. Burgess had been laid at rest in the old burying ground near King's mill. Mrs. J. Whitney was likewise called to her final reward, in the Fall of the same year.
The first marriage was that of Mark Whitney and Caroline Ward, about 1838.
John Durant should be mentioned as one of the earlier residents in the eastern part of Campton.
Mr. Beatty, the first settler, is still living in the township, at the age of 80 years, and possesses a memory peculiarly clear regarding events which occurred during the early years of the settlement.
William Kendall was the first settler at Canada Corners, where he claimed a vast tract of land.
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James Ward, from the State of New York, settled where the Shavers now live, in the Spring of 1836.
SCHOOLS.
As already shown, the first public institution established in Campton Town- ship was a school house. Later, in the Winter of 1837-38, Miss Mary Lee taught in the house of James Ward, and about a year from that date the settlers erected a log school house on land now forming a portion of the county near the residence of A. Fisher.
In 1841, we find a Board of Trustees organized, composed of E. Chaffee, Charles Fletcher, Thomas E. Dodge, Ansel Lake and Hylas T. Currier, with Nelson Walker, Clerk.
The records have been carefully preserved, and exhibit a division of the en- tire region now occupied by Campton into districts, as follows: District 1 was composed of Secs. 1, 2, the east half of 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and the north half of 22, 23, 24 and 25. District 2 embraced the west halves of Secs. 3 and 10, Sec. 4, the north half of 9 and northeast fourth of 8. District 3 embraced Secs. 5 and 6, the northwest fourth of 8, the north half of 7 and a fraction of Township 41. District 4 included the south halves of Secs. 7, 8 and 9, and Secs. 17, 18 and 19. District 5 was formed of the south half of Sec. 22, Sec. 21, the east half of Sec. 20, the south half of Sec. 25, and Secs. 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35 and 36.
Aside from the above, there was a Union District, embracing the west half of Secs. 20, 19, 29, 31 and 32 in Township 40, and several sections in what is now Virgil. These six original districts were afterward increased in number, and in 1847 there were not less than thirteen.
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468
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
School houses were built as necessity required, and, before the year 1850, there was not an urchin in the thirty-six square miles of Campton but possessed the opportunities for acquiring the rudiments of an education near home. At present there are eight good frame buildings in the township, dedicated to learning. Several of them were built a number of years ago, but have since been repaired and all are now comfortable, and several elegant structures. As an example of the latter, the one in District 9 may be cited, which was erected at a cost of $1,600. The estimated valuation of school property is $5,000.
NAME, TOWN HOUSE, ETC.
The history of Campton refutes the old saying that " There's nothing in a name," since its citizens have deemed it necessary to change its name for the sake of convenience. It was known at first as Fairfield, having been named by Timothy Garfield, who had purchased of Culverson, of Ohio, and had come from the town of Fairfield, Vt. By this name it was called until 1850, when it was ascertained that there was another Fairfield in the State, and a change was demanded. Various names were offered and there are two records in exist- ence, dated early in the above year, in which the township is designated as Milo township. But this name seems to have been speedily dropped, and since December, of the same year, the township has been called Campton. The town was surveyed in August, 1842, for the Government, by Silas Reed .*
Town meetings were held for many years in the house of Eber Chaffee, after- ward in various school houses, but in 1874, the inhabitants, with their charac- teristic enterprise, having determined to adopt a permanent location for the future, erected the beautiful town house now in use. It stands upon Section 22, is a frame building, and with its clean white walls contrasted with its dark green blinds, presents a peculiarly neat appearance, and may be taken as a model country town house. But few of the townships in the county, west of the river, possess buildings erected for a similar purpose.
The earliest roads in the township were the one from Geneva to Rockford, extending past Friend Marks, and thence by King's mill, and the one from St. Charles to Oregon, both of which were laid out before the town was generally settled. The vast amount of teaming across the town at an early day rendered the hotel business important, and accordingly we find a log one kept by Elias Crary on the St. Charles and Geneva road at the south end of Chicken Grove. It was replaced at a later period by a frame building, where entertainment was offered to the traveler, for a number of years. Timothy Garfield also opened a public house on the road from St. Charles to Sycamore, as early as 1839, About this time, or a little later, there were forty-one hotels between the present resi- dence of Spalding Eddy and Randolph street, Chicago ; so great was the travel from the present metropolis to the towns west of Kane County. Prominent among these inns was the Fairfield Exchange, kept by B. D. Mallory, and
* From a copy of the Surveyor's field notes, in the possession of Rev. A. Pingree.
469
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
located where the residence of George Norton now stands. It was originally a log house built by Albert Dodge, and was purchased by Mallory, who made frame additions upon all sides as well as on the top of it. The original building has long since disappeared, but several of the frame portions still' exist, the parlor being a kitchen in the house of the present owner, while the bar-room has been degraded to serve as a hennery. Many a scene of revelry and mirth has that small apartment witnessed as filled with jolly teamsters, in a heaven of tobacco smoke,
" The night drave on wi' sangs an' clatter."
Glorious crowds assembled there, and not unfrequently their numbers were so great that some of them were obliged to sleep upon the floor. This deficiency in lodging accommodations was more than offset, however, by the excellent table for which Mr. Mallory is still noted and which would have satisfied the demands of the most fastidious epicurean. The fare for the teamster and team was four shillings sixpence, and a " receipt " was always given in the shape of a glass of good Bourbon. In the course of time, a plank road was laid from St. Charles to Canada Corners, with the design of extending it to Sycamore, but as it did not promise to become a profitable enterprise, it was never completed, and was merely graded to the proposed terminus. With the appearance of railroads, the extensive wagon travel ceased, as well as the taverns in Campton.
SAW-MILLS.
A steam saw-mill was built near the old homstead of the Chaffees, for the purpose of sawing the plank for the road which passed there, but it was never used for any other purpose. Previous to its erection, Dr. John King had built, on Lilly Lake Creek, a mill which contained a single up-and-down saw, and was operated occasionally for several years, but, the power being insufficient, it never sawed a great amount of timber. Dr. King was both a physician and preacher, and the first resident professional gentleman in the town. He left the county at an early day.
POST OFFICES AND STORES.
The Campton people went to St. Charles or Virgil, at first, for their mail. The earliest post office in the township was kept in the extreme southwestern part by Henry Warne. It was called the Fairfield office, but the name was finally changed to Swinton, and it was at length removed to Blackberry Station. A post office was established, under Dr. King, at an early day, at King's Mill, by which name it was known. At a later period, it was removed to Gray Wil- low, where it still remains. The Campton office, at " Canada Corners," was established about 1845, and has since been discontinued and revived. It is now supplied from Blackberry.
The Corners is the most extensive hamlet in the town. As early as 1853, Eldridge Walker, a Canadian, kept a store there, stocked with a few dry goods and groceries. The Woolcotts and Lindseys were early at that point, and
470
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
were also from Canada-whence the name of the settlement. It now contains a church, school house, store, two blacksmith shops, a paint shop, and fourteen dwellings.
CHURCHES.
Rev. D. W. Elmore planted the germ of a Baptist Church in Campton, at an old log dwelling, near King's mill, as early as 1838. The same organ- ization continued to flourish for many years, under the ministration of Dr. King and several other preachers, but at length became weakened, and had ceased to exist, when, in 1872, the church at " Canada Corners " was commenced. The society was then revived, and several members contributed liberally to the church, where the Baptists now hold meetings alternately with their Methodist brethren.
A Congregational Church was established very early in the Stewart neigh- borhood, formerly known as the New Hampshire settlement. Father Clark was an early preacher ; also, Rev. Mr. Warner, who lived where Orus Hitch- cock now resides; but the membership was never sufficiently strong to erect a house of worship, and in process of time, they became scattered, many of them uniting with the church in St. Charles.
The Methodist Episcopal society was organized at the old log school house, in the Eddy District ; early removed to the Corron school house and Canada Corners, and in the Fall of 1872, built with others the Union Church at the latter place, at the cost of about $2,500. The membership is about thirty-five.
CHEESE FACTORIES.
About 1868, a small cheese factory was built at Gray Willow, by the Lar- kins Brothers, and was sold, at length, to George Lake, and ceased operations in 1875, when the fine building was erected for a similar purpose, near the old site of King's mill. In the Fall of 1877, Mr. Lake disposed of the property, and the business is now continued by Duncan Johnson, who has since manufac- tured both butter and cheese, from 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of milk per diem. In the Spring of 1870, Edward Thornton built a butter and cheese factory on the west side of the township, and has worked it ever since, obtaining, on an average, the milk from 400 cows daily. The building, like the above, is of wood, well furnished, and cost $6,000.
TOPOGRAPHY AND POPULATION.
Campton Township is well diversified between prairie and wood land, and contains but few tracts of the former which are not under excellent cultiva- tion. It ranks as one of the best towns in the county, both in agricultural resources and the intelligence of its inhabitants, and like all the others, is stead- ily progressing. Its population, by the last census, was 960.
R. B. CHISHOLM ELGIN.
1
473
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
BLACKBERRY TOWNSHIP.
Town 39 North, of Range 7 East, of the Third Principal Meridian, more familiarly known as Blackberry Township, was surveyed in August, 1842, by Silas Reed, one of the surveyors in the employ of the 'Government .* It lies south of Campton and north of Sugar Grove, and is bounded on the east by Geneva and Batavia, and on the west by Kaneville. The township is crossed from north to south by Blackberry Creek, which, with several small tributaries, are fringed with a thick growth of oak and other timber, which originally extended over the entire western third of the town, and was early named Lance's Grove. The surface in this region is unusually rugged for Kane County, the creek in some parts of its course meandering through deep gorges, . like the mountain streams of the Eastern States. Two isolated mounds or hills in the vicinity rise to a height overlooking all the surrounding country, and are considered stupendous eminences by those whose wanderings have been limited by the limits of this Prairie State. The eastern portion of the township possesses more of those features of scenery common to the best part of Northern Illinois. Nelson's Lake lies partly in Blackberry and partly in Batavia, and its outlet, Lake Run, flows to the southwest into Sugar Grove Township, where it unites with Blackberry Creek. The township contains but little lowland, but the streams referred to furnish, with their affluents, water in sufficient quantities, and the soil is of an excellent quality. The Chicago & North-Western Railroad crosses the north tier of sections, and two of its stations, Blackberry and La Fox, are located in the township.
SETTLEMENT.
The first settlement in Blackberry was made by William Lance and his son John, early in May, 1834. The father was a native of New Jersey, but had been for a number of years a pioneer, his last dwelling place being in the State of Indiana. Starting thence, upon the opening of Spring, with the above named son, his daughter Mary, now Mrs. John Souders, and a younger son, Charles, he drove with eight yoke of oxen to the bank of Fox River, at the Big Woods. Here Mr. Lance was delayed by illness for a few days ; and John, leaving the company, encamped in the wagon, crossed the river, and journeying west past Nelson's Grove, selected the claim where Charles Souders now resides. The Spring of 1834 is said to have been one of the mildest on record in the State, and vegetation was already far advanced when the Lances arrived on the banks of the river. This fact lent a peculiar charm to the scenery where the young man decided to make his home-a spot which, even in the dreariest season of the year, is by no means devoid of romantic beauty-and he marked the spot under the firm impression that it was the most picturesque
* From a copy of the Surveyor's field notes in the possession of Rev. A. Pingree.
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474
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
land upon which the sun ever shone. Having returned to the other side of the river, he guided the remaining members of the party to the place, where the Lance family finally claimed between 70 and 8000 acres. For several days they lived in their wagon, engaged meanwhile in building the first log house in the town. Mrs. Souders is supposed to have been the first white woman in the township.
On the morning of the third or fourth day, the settlers noticed smoke aris- ing from the south, and while still speculating upon the probabilities of its issuing from a pioneer dwelling or an Indian wigwam, a horseman appeared upon a distant hill, riding toward them, who, upon his arrival, introduced himself as Mr. Isbell, and explained that he had just arrived with a party from Ohio, and that the smoke arising in the distance came from his camp fire. He had noticed smoke at the north of him, and, impelled by curiosity, had ridden to discover from whence it came. As may be supposed, the Lances were much rejoiced to learn that they were not alone on the frontier, and mutual congratulations were exchanged. A few days later, the Lances had their house ready to raise, and it was located very near the spot where C. Souders now lives. After its erection, they broke and fenced forty acres of land, and planted a portion of it with corn. It should here be stated that Isaac Waltrup accompanied Mr. Lance from Du Page County, and took up the claim of which George Gould now owns a portion. He was never a resident of the township, however, returning to Du Page in August in the year in which he had taken the land, and later sold it to Hiram Hall. In the Fall, the Lances, father and son, returned to Indiana, leaving Mary and Charles at Peter Dodd's, a brother-in-law, in Du Page County. Dodd had taken up his claim in March of the same year, but eventually sold it and settled in Blackberry. Late in the Fall of 1834, John Lance and his sister Margaret were married, the latter to David Beeler, who accompanied the entire family back to Illinois, arriving on Christmas, and set- tling on a place now known as Johnson's Mound. The Lances and Beeler were the only settlers in the township during the Winter of 1834-5.
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