Lee County, Illinois - The whole text, 1881 (part 8 of 24)

It does not require much penetration to discover that anterior to this time, in the absence of all regulations for maintaining themselves in their homes, there would not have been wanting vexatious sources of disagreement, which would have ended in confusion, if not in something worse. As the individual disposition is to infringe private as well as public rights, so the spontaneous movement of a communit}' is toward the general security by opposing and restraining the smaller with the collective force. Nine years elapsed from the first permanent settlement of the township till the land came into market; during the first two years, and until immigration began to assume some importance, the danger from trespass or claim-jumping was too small to excite notice, but in 1837 the people in this vicinity banded together with those having a common center at Inlet Grove, for mutual protection, and the settlement of disputes respecting claims. Somewhat later the Palestine Grove Association was organized, and held its meetings at Sherman Hatch's and Wm. Dolan's. All necessity for it having ceased, in 1847 it was discontinued. The people were everywhere thus organized into associations, with meeting-places convenient to their locality. These were every one independent of the other, but as their objects were kindred, each was at all times ready to help enforce the authority of a neighboring organization on call. They were known as "Grove Associations," and the assemblies were called "grove meetings." Fi'om a few fragmentary papers, relics of the Inlet Society, for whose use we are indebted to the courtes}' of Ira Brewer, Esq., of Bradford township, we are able to present a partial yet tolerably clear view of the powers assumed, the business transacted, and the manner of procedure adopted. The earliest document, the constitixtion, the original draft of which is in the handwriting of Joseph Sawyer, bears date at " Inlet, Ogle county, Illinois, July 10, 1837," and the subscribers, sixt3'-six in number, set forth their purposes in the following preamble : " The encouragement that congress gave to the pioneers of this country stimulated the present inhabitants to sacrifice property and ease, and commence a long and fiatiguing journey in order to better themselves and their offspring, - not only to encounter the fatigue of a long and expensive journey, but also the privations to which they were exposed in consequence of the scarcity of the comforts of life, as well as the inclemency of the weather in open log cabins. Everything considered, we think it no more than right, just, and honorable that each man should hold a reasonable claim, and at the land sales obtain his lands at congress price." They express their willingness to be governed by rules and regulations based upon equity, and adopt a code, a summary of the chief features being that they " voluntarily agree to join together in defense of their honest claims as far as prudency and honorable principles dictate," and declaring that those which "have been established in the Grove shall be considered honest claims and defended as such.'' Provision was made for a committee of tive to be chosen by the inhabitants to decide " in regard to the honest right and title to claims" ; for the rejection of one or more of the committee by either contestant, and for the removal of the entire committee for cause at the pleasure of the citizens. A clerk kept the " proceedings of the Grove," which were to be free for the inspection of all concerned. Every rightful claimant was to be respected and defended as though he had a warranty deed for his land. The seventh and last article is in these words :

"Any person holding a claim must do $25 worth of work on said claim within six months from the 10th of instant month or his claim shall be forfeited,. unless sickness or something reasonable prevents." On March 16, 1839, a committee to which had been assigned the duty of reporting amendments, addressing the "grove," say they "believe it to be important that you not only live up to the spirit of the constitution formed in 1837, but that you amend it, and adapt it to a denser pupulation." Already contemplating a dense population, and not yet 2,000 inhabitants in the whole county ! But then ideas are only comparative. As amended, the constitution further provided for an annual meeting on the third Saturday of March each year, at which the president and clerk were to be elected ; it enjoined upon the latter officer the duty of giving members seven days' notice of special and annual meetings, and the calling together of the committee to hear evidence in contested cases, wherein two or more individuals pretended to rights in the same claim, and granting to either party the right of ajipeal from the decision of the committee to the society whose determination was to be final. The boundaries of the association were defined as extending " south half way from this [Inlet] grove to Knox, half way to Dixon, half way to Malugan, half way to Palestine and halfway to Franklin Grove." Claimants actually occupying and improving land were entitled to ))rotection in a claim of one half-section. Nothing was to be construed contrary to the laws of the state or of the United States. All lands within the bounds of the association not recognized by the records of the same as " claimed" were to be considered as unclaimed. Privilege was given to any person residing within the jurisdiction of the association to become a member and have his claims recorded. At a called meeting on the 2d a general registry of claims had been made. At the annual meeting on the 16th George E. Haskell was chosen president for that year, and Martin Wright clerk. The committee elected consisted of Ransom Barnes, D. H. Birdsall, Ozro C. Wright, Daniel M. Dewey and Benjamin Whiteaker. At the regular election, March 20, 1841, Messrs. Haskell and Wright were again elected president and clerk respectively, and D. H. Birdsall, David Tripp, Daniel M. Dewey, Charles Starks and Sherman Shaw committee. The president and clerk were reelected in 1842, and once more in 1843. For the former year Daniel M. Dewey, Joseph Sawyer, Benjamin Whiteaker, Charles Starks, and D. H. Birdsall constituted " the committee for the grove"; and for the latter, Daniel M. Dewey, Charles Starks, Joseph Sawyer, Benjamin Whiteaker, and Lewis Clapp.

A few extracts taken at random from their proceedings will convey a better idea of their administration of justice than any description can.

March 2, 1839. " On motion a vote was called relative to Roswell Streeter's holding the lot north of the township line (being north of the one claimed by Sherman Shaw), and decided in the negative ; as also was the one east of this."

"A vote was taken on the question whether Sherman Shaw should be allowed to claim one lot north of his present one, and decided in the affirmative."

"A vote was taken whether Martin Wright should hold one quarter-section, being the two second lots lying north of the township line, and north of the two claimed by Whiteaker and Clapp, and decided in the affirmative."

"A motion was made by George E. Haskell, and carried, that all claims now made which can be satisfactorily proved by marks and evidence be entitled to the protection of the Grove as if they were entered, until a plat is provided embracing the tract within the Grove's jurisdiction."

A reconsideration of the vote in the case of Roswell Streeter was taken, and it was decided that he should not extend his claim one lot farther north.

"Another vote was called to ascertain whether Sherman Shaw should have the lot contended for by Roswell Streeter, and decided in the affirmative."

" Voted that Lewis Clapp should hold one hundred rods in width north of the township line (being north of his present claim), extending the length of one lot ; and that Ozro C. Wright should have sixty rods in width and be permitted to hold the second lot north of the township line (being north of his present claim)."

Juh- 7. " The chairman stated tiie object of the meeting to be to take into consideration the difficult}' which had arisen between Benoni Hannum and Martin Eastwood in regard to a certain claim lying west of Benoni Ilannum's on the south side of the road."

January 21, 1843. - "The chairman stated the object of the meeting, namely, to take into consideration the adoption of such measures whereby we all may be protected more effectually in our claim rigiits.

January 28. - "Article" read and unanimously adopted. Committee of live, consisting of Daniel M. Dewey, Joseph Sawyer, Charles Starks, Daniel Frost, and Adolplius Bliss, appointed to circulate it for signatures.

" Voted that those members who have signed the article may have the privilege of erasing their names at the next meeting, provided all the members of the association do not sign the same."

February 2. - Committee to circulate bond reported and was discharged. New committee appointed, composed of Charles West, Thomas Dexter, Martin Wright, Joseph Sawyer, and William Church.

February 17. - " On motion it was carried that Joseph Sawyer, Lewis Clapp, Charles Starks, Daniel Frost and Sherman Shaw be a committee to go and see those members of this association that have rot signed the bond, and obtain their signatures if possible.

Tlie purport of this bond is to us as nmch a matter of conjecture as to the reader; but to throw some light upon it, as well as upon cognate points of interest, we copy the entire report, which was evidently made to the association about this time, or a little before. The chirography is that of Mr. George E. Haskell - a beautiful, lady-like hand. If anv evidence were wanting: to show the character of these early settlers in intelligence and scholarship, this report is all that would be required.

"In the examination of the subject submitted to their investigation your committee canuot but revert to the principles that have given rise to this association, and operated thus far to continue it in existence to the security and happiness of tlie community which it embraces. Thrown together as its members have been from various states of our Union, and possessing all the traits of character peculiar to those who have been reared under difierent circumstances, it affords a happy illustration of the tendency of our republican institutions, in implanting, nourishing and keeping alive a spirit of equality and just regard for the rights of all, together with that predisposition to establish and maintain inviolate the social compact wherever the citizen of our country may be found. Actuated by this spirit, the inhabitants of this community early embraced the opportunity of bringing into practical operation the principle of self-government, upon a point which legislative enactment could not reach, and which they have pledged their honor to support; and it is a source of mutual congratulation that thus far its tendency has been to produce the most beneficial results. The claims of all have been respected, and a just regard had to the growth and prosperity of the neighborhood, in the accommodations aflbrded to all that wished to unite themselves to this community in nearness of settlement. The plighted honor of the association has been kept good, and from the indications around it would seem that all which was contemplated in the original organization of this compact is to be fully realized. Such is undoubtedly the case. But a change in our circumstances is about to take place. The rightful owner of the soil upon which we are located is to call upon us for his due, and that, too, at a period not far distant. Some, and it is to be hoped all, the members of this association will be able to answer the call and obtain a title to the land which they now claim. Under circumstances even of this character it would appear, perhaps, that the constitution adopted by this association might afford a sufficient guarantee for the rights and privileges of all, but a mature consideration of the subject has convinced your committee that such is not the case. In paying for land, whether at the general land sales or under the preemption law, the individual so paying receives his title to the same, which no right of the claimant can ever reach. This, of course, is a settled and incontrovertible point. Now it is well known and understood that there are individuals settled upon these lands embraced within the limits of this association, who by entering under the preemption law, in consequence of being located on one eighty of a quarter-section can carry the other with it, and thus deprive their neighbor of what, under the articles of our association, is considered justly his right to purchase of government. Again, many of the claims of the settlers are made according to imaginary lines, which, it is supposed, may be the lines established by the general survey, and will thus embrace their claim in a certain section, quarter-section, etc., as the claimants themselves have marked them out. But respecting this there is great uncertainty. The survey may accord with the claim lines, and it may not. Instances have been mentioned, in the late subdivisions that have taken place, where townships in some cases have overrun and in others have i'allen short. Thus a particular number of a section, or its quarter-section, may embrace one man's claim and part of another's, and the certificate, instead of giving him what was his, gives him what belonged to another, and deprives that other of his right. These two difiiculties, it would seem, are the most important that present themselves to the consideration of this body at present, and to your committee they appear matters of consequence, and to call for some remedial action. If it be the case that anything ioterfere to prevent the settlers from obtaining a title to their just claims, which it is competent for this association to remove, it is but justice that its powers be exerted to that point. By its constitution all its members are entitled to call for such action ; for who can resist the conviction that ever}' member who has subscribed to it is pledged in his honor to assist in atYording his neighbor all the assistance consistent with honorable principles in securing his claim against the encroachments of his neighbor i And if that security ma}- necessarily extend to a legal obligation, to take efi'ect after the land sale, does not his honor here plighted require that he should cheerfull}' accede to it? It may, however, be presumed on the part of some that if such be the case the honor here pledged may be a sufficient guarantee from the purchaser of another man's claim to render him a title when the certificate from government is procured. But your committee cannot come to that conclusion. The association, as it now stands, presents a bod}- of individuals mutually dependent on each other; consequently what may be the interest of one must be the interest of all to a greater or less extent ; and as the life of this association is co-existent with the life of claims, it is only during that period that its members are privileged with an appeal to its principles or jurisdiction. The purchaser, then, with his title in his hands, acknowledges no respect but to the law which secures the soil, and may forever stand aloof from him who has trusted in vain to his honor. Again, experience plainly proves that power, when once obtained, is likely to be abused. The individual to-day surrounded by circumstances that constrain him to act witii propriety, and to deal out justice to all with whom he may stand con- neeted, to-morrow, bj' a change of circumstances, may be ready to hold at bay all whom he had before respected. This principle in human nature, so generally applicable that any deviation from it is accounted an exception to a general rule, behooves men, as they regard their own peace and that of those around them, to guard well against it, and where or when can they be called upon more imperiously than in this association and at this time? It is a call not only to secure effectually a right, but to perforin a duty which respects the well being, future prosperity, peace and harmony of the social compact, of which each settler forms a part. To yonr committee it would seem that no reasonable objection could arise in the mind of anyone to secure his neighbor by a legal obligation to take effect conditionally after the land sales may have taken place. This undoubtedly would prevent any disturbance whatever, and is so clearly predicated upon the golden rule that any man who might dissent Trom it, would seem not to be actuated by those principles; and if he could not now show himself willing to comply with them it cannot be considered safe to predict that he would at any time hereafter. It is therefoi'e recommended to this association that they adopt the following resolution :

^^ Resolved, That the members of this association who may now have their claim limits marked and defined, be each separately and individually required, as soon as it may be required of them by an adjoining claimant, to enter into a bond with such adjoining claimant, conditioned that if he, the person so required, shall purchase or cause to be purchased of government any of the lands embi'aced within the adjoining claimant's claim lines, acknowledged and defined according to the customs of the grove association, he will convey by deed to such adjoining claimant (upon said claimant's furnishing the money to pay for the same to the government) all the land which he may have so purchased within his (the requiring claimant's) claim lines as above specified, within thirt}' days after such purchase. And further, that all those whose claim limits are not specifically defined shall immediately proceed to have their lines clearly marked out according to the custom of this association, and enter into the bond as herein named and required of those whose boundaries are defined; and upon failure of any member to comply herewith he shall cease to be a member of this association, and shall no longer be entitled to its protection. All of which is respectfully submitted.

This report and these proceedings give a very fair idea of the methods adopted by the inhabitants to protect each man in his riglitof possession to land, and the spirit wiiich animated and governed them in the exercise of their powers. Technically they were there without right - trespassers upon the public domain - yet doing in advance only that which was a gratification to the law and fulfillment of it, when in its tardy progress westward it should overtake "the star of empire." They had left bustling communities and cultivated homes behind, with the ambitious design of making other homes; and while, perhaps, in the long run they would increase their possessions, it was still as much a matter of complacent regard and calculation to the whole country as to them, inasmuch as could be seen in it a laudable growth of empire in wealth, settlement, and population. Civilized usage defends the natural right of ownership to the person first in possession, and the moral aspect of the situation which the early settlers assumed is a complete justification of the course they adopted and pursued. The government, indeed, owned the land, and was willing that it should be occupied ; but made no choice as to occupants, and would give title, when put in market, to whomsoever should first present himself as a purchaser. As regarded land and law the pioneers were in the condition of our first parents ; to the former they held on by sufferance, and of the latter experienced a distressing nakedness; but their programme contemplated not their own driving out, but that of the interlopers and speculators. Respecting the question of land - a very precious item of account since it meant home and all - they ]>romptly and wisely constituted themselves law-makers, judges, and executors of the law. From what has gone before we have learned how they discharged the two former functions ; and after we have gleaned a little light on the latter we may dismiss this topic.

The making and expounding of law is not the most complex and difficult part of the governmental economy. " The proof of the pudding is in the eating;" and of the law in the administering. In making a claim to land the claimant was required to establish visible limits in some manner, as by staking out the tract, or plowing a furrow around it ; and to make some improvement, though this was often very slight, as evidence of good faith on his part to become an actual settler. This "law of the place" completely barred out speculators; for while a man was limited, as we have seen, to a claim of half a section, he was obliged to be a resident, though it was not essential that his land should be taken in a body, for he might have separate claims aggregating his allowance.

public sentiment was nsnally all that was required to convince an offender how hopeless was a single-handed contest with a thoroughly organized and determined commnnity. A committee of citizens would wait on liim and remonstrate in a firm but friendly manner, pointing out the rights of the prior claimant and showing him his own wrong. Very rarely would such treatment fail of the desired result, and then only when the subject was so obdurate as not to be susceptible to the kindlier influences, in which case nothing I'emained but to persuade him with literal water baptism for temporal purposes. The people were concerned in the preservation of peace and good order, and the practice of justice; but human nature being the same in all classes, climes, and ages, they could not escape the necessity of sustaining their home-made laws against the usual license and infraction ; and there is no reason to doubt that a great variety of devices, ingenious and sometimes violent, were brought into requisition first by one side in the commission of wrong, and then by the other in undoing and correcting it.

A grotesque occurrence, exhibiting the spirit of the people, took place soon after the land came into market. A poor man named Anderson lived on a " forty " at Perkins' Grove. Perkins having a spite against him, as subsequently appeared, intei-ested a stage agent at Dixon by the name of Bull to enter Anderson's homestead. At once all except the moving cause became known ; and with calm, decided purpose the citizens collected one night about sundown at Rocky Ford, to the number of seventy-five, and turning their backs upon the illumination of a big bonfire as the shades of evening began to thicken, they marched all night with resolute tread for Dixon. Sheriff Campbell lived a mile or two out of the town, and they took the trouble to call at his house and inform him of the object of the expedition, and to assure him that there was no intention to raise a riot or inflict personal injur}'. The design was to enter Dixon before the people should be up and stirring about much, to take Bull prisoner, depart to a convenient place, and demand of him a conveyance of the land to Anderson. The affair was well planned and executed. Just as day was breaking the motley cavalcade tiled into the sleepy town and surrounded the hotel. One of the strongest in the crowd had been detailed to wait in the bar-room until he should make his appearance. Presently Bull entered and stepped behind the bar; uo sooner had he done this than he was vigorously seized, but being also a strong man, and having the advantage of the counter, he was able to maintain a successful resistance until two more men were sent to the assistance of the first, when he was brought out promptly, thrown into the wagon, and driven off. The colored waiter, alarmed at the proceeding, leaped into the street and rushed tliroiigli the town, brandisliing a big butcher knife and shouting " murder ! " The commotion brought the people out in sudden amazement and in all states of dress, and tarrying only long enough to grasp their weapons they started in hot pursuit on foot, mounted and. in wagons. The party with the prisoner wore soon overtaken, and the pursuers, in ignorance of their real design, made so excited and hostile a demonstration as to threaten imminent danger of bloodshed. At first Bull himself was not a little terrified, and implored an explanation ; being told his oflfonse he was speedily relieved, and able to convince the people that it was not through any improper motive that he had entered Anderson's land, and that he would at once cheerfully make it over to him. On reaching Slierifi Campbell's a circle was formed to keep back the Dixonites, Bull placed in the ring, and the preliminaries concluded by which Campbell became surety for the performance of Bull's agreement to convey the land to Anderson on terms of no small advantage to the latter. This was in the spring of 18i5, and was one of the most notable exploits under the old regime.

Banditti

BANDITTI. The boldest creations of romance are little more tlian feeble imitations of the actual. As an illustration of this the system of organized crime which inclosed this region from 1843 to 1850 is an examjile without a parallel. The history of the western country in the early stages of settlement is checkered with graceless characters who have prosecuted their desperate designs against the peace and safety of society, singly and in gangs; but no other band, we think, was so successful in inveigling into its toils an equal nunibeiof confederates, distributed over the land, scattered through every neighborhood, whose operations were so adroit and connections so skilltnlly concealed, and wiio secreted stolen property, counterfeited money, and harbored red-handed criminals with such clandestine success as to make the keenest vigilance for a while appear like a di'owsy god. The Green River bottoms in places were gloomy, tangled, unknown swamps, which even the most curious and adventuresome hunters had not explored. The immense Inlet swamp, and the larger Gieen River swamp in the southwest corner of the county and the north part of Bureau, were tryst ing-p! aces for the outlaws. Deep forests and rank vegetation covered them. The latter, a sink and den of horrors, was skirted by low and rambling hills, whose winding ravines were passes in all directions. The sparscness of population was also favorable to the commission of crime and the escape of criujiuals. Hidingplaces were convenient and inimerous. A man found no difhculty in secreting himself in the tall grass in low places. The rider who pene- trated the groves and marshes could elude pursuit; besides, friends unknown as accomplices, except to the robbers themselve?, kept watch for their companions, communicated information to them, hid and protected, fed and warmed them and shared their plunder; and througli a period of long-standing danger and excitement were able to defy detection by the people, who were paralyzed with wonder and alarm at the boldness and i'rcqiiency of the crimes committed. Mysterious siglits and discoveries went unexplained. Strangers on foot, sometimes nionutcd, of singular or suspicions appearance, now with bushy wliiskers and lonn; hair, wearing slouch hats, sugo'estino; dark and dangerous freebooters, again clad in spruce outfit, with tall beaver hats, and canes in hand, would be seen passing through the settlement. Children often came homo with stories of such men seen when driving up the cows at niglit. Faint trails were discovered, and secluded spots where animals had been fed and men had lounged while waiting; and at unnsnal hours of night and in uncommon places the neighing of horses made women shudder, as they thought of the bandits at their work.

Horse-stealing was but a recreation. Counterfeiting served well the purpose tp absorb idle hours. Atrocious murder, blood-curdling and cruel, was committed and expiated on the scaffold without a sign of regret by these hardened men. People locked their stables, barricaded their doois, and placed their wciipons within reach for instant use, not knowing what dieadful tragedy they might be actors in before morning. Public helplessness to ferret out and bring to punishment the rufiians who set at naught ever^' form and semblance of law destroyed all sense of security. Suspicions were directed against some, and whispered about ; others were so vague that no man dared more than entertain them. Men stood in doubt, if not in dread, of neighbors, and no one could deny that a strange thrill pervaded his consciousness as if every man's hand was against him.

This gigantic crime against the state is adequately treated of elsewhere, and we are confined, peiforce, to a relation of the local efforts made for its suppression. The operations of the gang embraced the whole Mississippi valley, but its depredations in this region were sufficiently startling to awaken among the people and keep in constant activity the liveliest apprehensions.

Among the most daring of these were the robbery of Mulford in Ogle county ; McKinney, at Rockford ; Miller, at Troy Grove; George E. Haskell, at Inlet; the plot against the Dixon land office and the robbery of Frink, Walker & Go's stage ; the murder of Campbell, "captain of the vigilance committee " in Ogle county, by three of the desperadoes, two of whom, the Driscolls, were promptly lynched ; and the shocking murder of Col. Davenport at Hock Island, July 4, 1845.

Tlic active vigilance and cooperation of the whole coniinunit}' became immediately necessary. An attempted robbery near Inlet Grove implicated two of the principal citizens of the place, one of whom was the magistrate. These were arrested, and at the spring term of the Lee county circuit court convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. Both died before the expiration of their tenri. Soon after the arrest of these men, in the autumn of 1844, Charles West, another citizen of Inlet Grove (who was also the constable), was suspected of the robbery of the peddler Miller, at Troy Grove, and search being made some of the goods were found in his house. He was examined and committed for trial, but turned state's evidence and made what purported to be a full disclosure. His confession led to a number of searches and arrests, and considerable stolen property was recovered. Goods having been found in the house of another leading man at Inlet Grove, he was arrested (June 1845) and sent to the penitentiar}' for two years, but was pardoned and set at liberty after a few months. He had had a horse stolen, and while den3'ing any active participation in the robberies, or having profited" by them, he accounted for his guilty knowledge by confessing that the brigands had ])roposed to return his horse as an equivalent for his friendship, and that in his anxiety to obtain his property he had allowed himself to become criminally associated with them. He denied all knowledge of the goods found in his house; and it was and still is the belief that his wife and step-son were far more deeply involved than he. There were strong presumptions in his favor regarding the degree of his complicity, which led to his pardon. One of the methods by which the ringleaders extended their organization was to rob a man, then work on his sensibilities in this manner, and after he had once yielded in the least measure it was an easy matter to terrify the victim into their ranks by threats of exposure.

Close upon these surprising developments at Inlet Grove the people organized themselves into a body, styled "An Association for Furthering the Cause of Justice," and adopted a constitution, the preamble to which exi)lains their motives and the necessity for their action. We acknowledge again our obligations to Mr. Ira Brewer for the original document, together with some resolutions and other proceedings relating to the subject.

" Whekeas, Sundry depredations have been committed upon the property of the citizens of this vicinity from time to time, and appearances have plainly shown that Inlet Grove has been a resting-place and depot for the numerous rogues that infest the country; and whereas it has now become a settled point in our belief that there are those about us who are not only willing to aid and succor the thief that passes through in the hour of darkness with his ill-gotten booty, but also to receive it at his hands and to share the spoils; and whereas, from the peculiar character of our country, and the numbers associated in the shape of banditti, it has been heretofore and is still difficult for the officers of justice, with the individual assistance of the person robbed or suffering at their hands, to bring the offenders to justice; therefore we, the undersigned, have agreed to form ourselves into an association for the purpose of aiding any man that unites with us in attempting to regain his property unlawfully taken, to protect ourselves from all incursions of a villainous character, to assist the ofiicers of justice in taking rogues of all descriptions, and as much as may be to assist each other in maintaining good order in society, by keeping a constant look-out for all persons of a suspicions character, and we accordingly pledge ourselves to each other to mutually exert ourselves as far as we are able to counteract the evils enumerated, as well as to bring about the good proposed."

After providing for the customary offices of president, secretary and treasurer, and prescribing their duties, this instrument declares that a vigilance committee shall be appointed by the presiding officer, and defines it to be their duty " to receive from any member of the association any information relating to unlawful depredations made at any time upon the person or property of our members, and to report it forthwith to a person selected as chairman of said committee, whose duty it shall be to act in behalf of the society by communicating tlie information immediately to the officers of justice, and to obey any instruction which may hereafter be given him by the association. The said committee shall elect said chairman, to be known to no one but themselves and the ofiicers of justice ; and he shall make his communications to the said officers of justice as secretly as possible, in order to avoid the escape of a criminal or of persons suspected. Any member of the vigilance committee may report immediately to the officers of justice if he deem it advisable.

"Article Fifth : A set of runners shall be appointed by the vigilance committee whose duty it shall be to start immediately in all directions that it may be supposed a rogue has gone, whenever anything shall appear to have been feloniously taken, or any mischief done to tlie property of our associated members, and to make all necessary search." Funds were to be raised by the subscription of members, and it is declared that they " shall consider themselves bound, by their subscribing to this constitution, to pay * * * as much as if they had given their note for value received," and they pledge themselves to pay to the treasurer on his demand as the vigilance committee require from time to time.

" Article Seventh. - We do hereby pledge ourselves inutiially to do all in our power for the detection of all rogues; that we will be vigilant, and whenever any suspicious person shall be around will forthwith report him ; whenever any property shall appear under suspicious circumstances, will give information respecting the same, either to a member of our vigilance committee or directly to the officers of justice; and will do all in our power consistently with our circumstances in life to make any sufferer hereafter from their attacks as good as before.

" Article Eighth. - Any person who is not of a suspicious character may become a member of this association by signing the constitution ; but if objections are made to him at the time of joining by any member, he shall be admitted only by a vote of the association, the majority' at all times ruling."

In spite of their precautions it is said they did not succeed in keeping their ranks free from emissaries of the band, who thus got due apprisal of much that was going on. The e-xpulsion of any member who should aid or countenance the outlaws was declared among the powers of the association, with the supplemental provision that he should " share his fate with them." The chairman of the vigilance committee was to be selected by that committee from the members of the association, and was to be "known to no one but themselves and the officers of justice." Meetings were to be held yearly for the election of officers, and extra meetings were to be called by the vigilance committee, each of whom was to "take bis share of notifying members of the association."

"Article Twelfth. - We do hereby agree that our premises and buildings shall at all times be open and ready for search for missing property, and that any member of our vigilance committee shall at any time have liberty to search us our possessions without any legal process; and whenever we find any person unwilling to admit such search, the person so refusing it shall be considered suspicious, and legal measures shall be taken forthwith to search him and his premises, and be shall forfeit his membership in the association."

This constitution was adopted November 4, 1844, and seventy-two well known citizens attached their signatures. Moses Crombie was elected president, Ira Brewer clerk, and George E. Haskell treasurer. The president appointed the following vigilance committee: Corydon R. Dewey, Sherman Shaw, George R. Linn, C. I. Hitchcock, Sylvanus Peterson, G. A. IngalJs, Harmon Wasson, and John C. Church. Some resolutions were passed referring to the disclosures made by the detection of the first two oflfenders arrested at Inlet, pronouncing judgment upon the guilty ; and also declaring the future course of the associa- tion toward all who should be found in criminal attitude. It is possible now to remark only in general terms that the association rendered valuable service in the enforcement of the laws, and the final suppression of the band. The reader is bj' this time acquainted with the end proposed, and the means and methods adopted to accomplish it, and in the absence of detailed information it is enough to saj' that the sanguine aims of the organization were completely and speedily realized. The straggling records before us show that about the first of June, 1845, the community was thrown into fresh commotion, for on the 7th a meeting was held and George E. Haskell, C. I. Hitchcock and 0. R. Dewey were appointed to report resolutions, which were accepted and laid over for consideration to an adjourned meeting of the 10th. These show that on the 6th one of the leading bandits was in the settlement, and it is charged that " it is confidently believed that the grove," and warning him to beware of the wrath of the people. This was probably when thej' surrounded and beat up the grove for Fox (or Birch) and the audacious outlaw in gentlemanly garb and with walking-stick in hand coolly passed two citizens on the highway who were stationed to intercept him and prevent his escape. Tlie}' did not recognize him, and were so thoughtless as not to detain him. On another occasion one of the gang, riding a stolen horse, was chased into the grove; but he escaped and left the people balancing between excitement and disappointment.

The last person arrested in the neighboi'hood and convicted was the one referred to in the resolution, and it was only a few days afterward that he was taken in custody. West's confession, we find, has brought him into danger from another quarter, for the association declare that " it is well known that the life of Cliarles West has been threatened," but '* we are determined to protect the said Charles West at all events, and that if his life is taken we will take measures to avenge his death," and much more on the same point. They dedicate themselves to more eflScient work by proposing to improve their communication with the people of Dixon and the settlements at the groves, and thus increase the facilities for arousing the country quickly; to appoint a special messenger to assist [in giving immediate notice to the members in an emergency, and by instructing the vigilance committee to meet forthwitii to prepare "for the sutnmer campaign," and to continue their meetings frequently and regularly.

Here, as in all assemblies, men advocated moderate or extreme measures, according as they were of radical or conservative temper. The resolutions in question bear marks of a threatening impatience, and we should not have been surprised if after having been so much harried with dangers and apprehensions the people had put their denunciations in more impetuous words. Dr. Adams, a prominent member, and, bv the way, a democrat, whose inflammable nature needed not such fuel as the situation furnished, advocated the resolutions in a strong speech, and proclaimed himself in favor of hunting the brigands like wolves. The Rev. John Cross, than wliom no milder mannered man broke the bread of life, opposed these views in a neat and softening speech, deprecating violence, and expressing hope that the people would preserve their reputation for obeying the laws. Dr. Adams arose to reply, with fiery indignation stamped on every feature. In a bitter retort he reminded the reverend gentleman that he might be a consistent stickler for the law if he would give absolutely none of his time to running off negroes on tlie underground railroad. Tiie range was close, the shot deadly, and the preacher could not recover. The resolutions passed.

This organization was a necessity of the time, and the only feasible adjunct to the arm of the law, which, without its aid, was utterly powerless. It numbered in its ranks all the better citizens, who addressed themselves with energy and resolution to the business of protecting the community from theft and murder. The execution of tho Hodges, the Longs, and Young, crushed the head of the anaconda. Alarms ceased, and peace reigned once more.

Lee county adopted township organization in ISi'J, and the first election under this new form of local government was in the following spring. Anterior to this date Amboy was divided between the flanking precincts on the east and the west. When the township was christened a number of names were proposed, but none gave satisfaction until Miles Lewis suggested the name of Amboy, which was received with unanimous favor, and adopted. The first annual town meeting was held on Tuesday, April 2; Joseph Farwell presided as moderator, and Joseph B. Appleton was elected clerk. Polling places were at school-houses and private residences until Amboy was built, when the town meetings were for several years iield in Farwell Hall. John Dexter was an early magistrate. His way of doing business was not uncommon in his day on the border, but appears novel to his successors of this period. Complaint had been made against a man for assault and batterj', and he fined him three dollars; the constable whispered in the justice's ear, when he said he would change the fine, and imposed that amount on each the complainant and the defendant, and divided the costs between them.

The subjoined list of township officers does not include tiie whole number, but the principal ones that can be made out from the records and other sources with certaintv:

Collector

Badger and Ives resigned in December 1874, and Channey D. Sears and James T. Tait were appointed to the respective vacancies. Again in April following they resigned their offices. In both cases these resignations were owing to complications of the township arising from certain outstanding railroad bonds.

Public Improvements

The first road laid throngh the township connected Grand de Tour and Peru; the second one ran from Inlet Grove to Prophetstown, Binghamton and Eocky Ford lying on the route. Main street in Amboy is identical with it, and the large cottonwood trees which flank it to the right and left of the Congregational church were planted by the hand of Joseph Farwell to mark its course.

The old Central railroad, on which the state in a crazy freak squandered over a million dollars, was surveyed and partly built through this township. The charter was first granted to Darius B. Holbrook, but before he had organized a company the legislature repealed it, and included this work in the s^'stem of public improvements undertaken by the state in 1836-7. After the public credit failed he obtained a renewal of Lis charter, with a grant of all the work that had been done. Dr. Harrison, of Peru, took a contract to build part of the line, and sent a force of laborers here in the fall of 1841 to renew the grading which had been begun four or five 3'ears before and worked upon at intervals afterward. He started a bank in Peru and issued circulation ; but one day somebody went down and demanded specie for his paper, and was refused. When news of this reached the gang of men up here they dropped their tools, and the sun never rose on a resumption of the work. Harrison's paper was in the hands of people in this section, where it has remained so long that its "staying qualities" are fully and forever established. It was known as "Bangs' railroad money," and is a reminiscence of "wildcat" banking, and of the old Central "wildcat" improvement. Remains of the old work are yet visible.

The only resemblance ever borne by the present Central railroad to the former was in the name. Stephen A. Douglas procured the release of Holbrook's charter, and was the author of the measure which brought this grand enterprise into successful existence. Congress passed the bill in 1850, and the next winter the Illinois legislature incoiporated the company. The survey was completed in 1851, and the succeeding 3'ear construction l)egan. The division from Mcndota to Frecport was formally opened for traffic February 1, 1855. The first train reached Amboy early in November 1854.

The construction of the Chicago, Amboy & Upper Mississippi railroad was loudly agitated at one time; a charter was procured and the survey direct from Amboy to Chicago made in 1856. under the direction of Col. R. B. Mason. No stock was taken and the undertaking failed. But direct communication with Chicago was an object having many attractions, and was sure some time to furnish the triumphant argument for a road. The situation was improved when, at the session of 1868-9, Alonzo Kinyon, a member of the legislature from Lee county, obtained from that body a charter for the Chicago & Rock River railroad, which was to extend east from Rock Falls and intersect the Central at Calumet. On the organization of the company in May 1869, Mr. Kinyon was elected president. Amboy township was asked to take stock in the road to the amount of $100,000, and on July 26, 1869, voted to do so, polling 517 votes in favor of the proposition, to 92 against it. On March 30, 1870, the contract for building the road was awarded to a New York company. It was to be finished by the 1st of January following; but on July 28, the work having made little headway, the contractor was relieved at his own request, and the construction relet to Hinckley & Co. Still little was done, and in September it was announced that Messrs. Wicker, Micklin & Co., of Chicago, had contracted to complete the road within a year, from Cahimet to Eock Falls, and witliin two j'ears from Amboy to Bureau Junction. The last rail was laid between Amboy and Rock Falls January 4,1872; and on Wednesday, June 19, the road was finished to Paw Paw. Some of the towns between Amboy and Rock Falls that had voted to take stock failed, when that division of the road was built, to transfer their bonds; and on tiie election of the new board in January, the contractors, holding the larger amount of stock, were able to reorganize the board of directors to suit their purposes. This board, in June, sold the first mortgage bonds to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Compan3^ In July it was decided to extend the time for the completion of the road one 3'ear, and in the meantime to make temporary connection with the Chicago & Iowa railroad at Shabbona. To the people of Amboy this was the certain knell of all their hopes, for it told in action, which is said to speak plainer than words, that the road was a failure, that it would not be completed as originall}' proposed. But Amboy had shouldered the elephant by delivering the bonds. She enjoyed a season of great expectations, thinking that the headquarters of the company would be established here, and dreaming of machine shops, and how Amboy was to become a city of furnaces and forges; for all this had been guaranteed in the language of the most eloquent promises. The picture was dazzling.

The first school-house in Amboy township was built of logs in the year 1839, and situated on the Sublette road, just south of the railroad crossing. Lucy Ann Church was the first teacher. Men were employed in winter and women in summer. Leonard Pratt, John Carey, Ira Hale, David Hale and Charlotte Doan taught in this house. After the Wasson school-house, the second in the township, and a frame building, was erected in 1845, the former was moved farther south and put up near the Lewis homestead. Here Roena Badger and Roxy Wasson taught for many years, and the}' seemed, in fact, to be the principal dependence of the community for summer teachers. John Scott, an able pedagogue, who died afterward in California, taught first in the Wasson district. The Misses Badger and Wasson, H. E. Badger and Lyman C. Wheat were also earl}' teachers in the same place. John C. Church, who was a director, tells an anecdote on himself with considerable relish. He had hired Wheat to teach, and the latter, as a matter of course, invited him to visit the school. Cluirch replied in his positis'e way: "I hired you to keep the school, and now I want you to do it." But, passing one afternoon on his way home from Binghampton, he thought he would drop in to see how teacher and pupils were getting on. The grammar class was called, and a book was politely handed him. Now, Mr. Church never studied grammar but half a day in his whole life ; but he made immense progress in that short time. It used to be the case that the less one had studied grammar the more positive he was that it was of no utility, and in order to respect his positiveness he had to convince himself that he knew a good deal on the subject. But not so with a ready learner like Mr. Church. That half-day's ramble with Lindley Murray among nouns and pronouns and their fellows of speech had disclosed imponderable mysteries to his view; but he still has a lurking recollection that the subject was "dry." The teacher and the class got into a protracted dispute involving some question on the lesson, and to settle it the former appealed to Mr. Church, whose diplomatic answer was, " You are correct ; that is the way it should be parsed." This response killed the controversy " as dead as a door nail." That night he told "Wheat of his shrewd escape, and was complimented no less for his foresight in avoiding the part of principal in the argument than for his ability to use all that he had learned in half a day's study of grammar.

In an early day an irregular select school was kept at Rocky Ford. Amboy township now comprises ten districts, and in 1879 the total school expenditures were $8,284.

Religious

The frontier itinerant was a truly divine laborer. Courage and industry were the preeminent virtues of his activity. His circuit embraced what would now seem an incredible extent of country, and he did well if he served all his appointments once every month. To defy distance and weather was a regular habit. He usually traveled on hoiseback, carrying, in capacious saddle-bags, a small bible, a liymn book, and a homely luncheon. Often he would ride thirty miles to preach a funeral sermon, and forty or fifty to marry a couple for three dollars. But he did not scorn privations and overcome obstacles for money ; it was a pleasure to be about his Master's work. He grew strong in view of the great field and the waiting harvest, and his soul was animated by the simple joy and hearty salutations which the warm hearts of the people always expressed at his coming. But before circuits were formed the zealous messengers of the truth rode through the wilderness visiting the scattered settlements and carrying the healing news of the Good Shepherd. His arrival was the signal for word to go forth like a swift joy in every direction to summon together the hungry souls. Meetings were held in the cabins, and in God's first temples, the groves. On these occasions full hearts rendered thanks to God for the preservation of life and health of the minister of peace, and the hardy settlers from the abounding dangers of the exposed frontier, and appealed in earnest invocations for his continued grace and precious mercy, and deliverance from the distemper of the soul - sin. Then, with the service over, he departed on his rugged journey, refreshed with the hospitality of his fiill-souled entertainers, and laden with the provisions which the thoughtful housewife had prepared for his comfort, bearing on his head their blessings, and followed by silent prayers for his safety and return.

The first minister around whom the early settlers gathered for gospel instruction was Father Gorbus, a Methodist preacher well advanced in years, who came from Indian creek. At this early period denominations exerted no influence; congregations were composed of every sect and those who represented no sect, all feeling and acknowledging a common necessity for worship. Father Gorbus received his pay in provisions, such as potatoes, and meat, and flour.

As an instance of the dearness of money and the cheapness of stock, produce, and labor, F. H. Northway says he tried to redeem his note for $3.75, in the hands of a neighbor, by offering a yearling steer, two shoats weighing 125 pounds each, and two days' work. This was declined, and he was sued.

A German Baptist, Father Hetchler, came very early, perhaps was next to Father Gorbus. It is thought that Eev. Curtis Lathrop, a Methodist, was the third, and that Father White, another Methodist, was the fourth ; but regarding order we do not profess any certainty. Elder DeWolf was an educated Episcopalian, who settled on the Chicago road, between Dixon and Inlet Grove, but after a few years returned to the east. In 1843 the Eev. Donaldson, from Dover, who preached here at times, assisted in organizing the first Congregational church in Lee county, at the house of Deacon Moses Crombie. This was called the " Congregational Church of Palestine Grove," and the members worshiped several years at the Wasson school-house. The Eev. John Morrell, the first pastor, was followed b}' the Eev. Inger- Boll (father of Col. Eobert G. IngersoU), and he was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Gardiner and the Eev. Mr. Pierson. About 1849 this congregation removed its place of worship to Lee Center, and changed the name of the society to that of the new locality. From this the present Amboy society has descended. What is known of the first

Methodist society is recorded in tlie sketch of Binghamton. Another very early organization was tlie Palestine Grove Baptist church, but we are not able to state what year it took regular form. The Rev. Charles Cross, now living in Aniboy township, became the regular pastor in 1847, and filled the pulpit some time. The membership was located on both sides of the grove, and when Amboy and Sublette were built the society naturally broke in two, and the parts gravitated to these towns. The records were retained by the Sublette division.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints obtained a foothold and a large membership at an early date. The first preacher to come was William Anderson, who got permission to preach in John Hook's house. Traveling preachers came along at intervals, and something of a band was formed, which grew to considerable proportions in a short while. Any reference to this sect will lead us to tell the story of the prophet's arrest in this township. His wife, before marriage, was Emma Hale, sister to Alva Hale, of Sublette, and David Hale and Mrs. Benjamin Wasson, of Amboy. In tlie community were acquaintances of Smith's boyhood, and one at least. Uncle Asa Searles, had been a school-fellow. Occasionally Smith visited his friends in the vicinity of Palestine Grove, and the presence of his followers, who numbered some of the most respectable families, made his journeys here doubly pleasurable. At sneh times he always preached, and the people came to the log school-house situated on the Sublette road, a few rods south of where the railroad is, to listen to his vehement oratory. It is more than y)robable that his visits were prompted by other motives than pleasure and duty, for when the saints were driven in vengeance from Missouri, the leaders, including the prophet, were tried before a drum-head court-martial and sentenced to be shot for treason, but were saved from this mobbish proceeding b}- the humane intervention of Gen. Doniphan, who afterward became justly celebrated for his brilliant achievements during the Mexican war. These men were held in custody for trial, on charges of theft, arson, treason and murder, but escaped and came to Nauvoo. In the autnmn of 1841 the governor of Missouri made a requisition on Gov. Carlin, of this state, for the delivery of the fugitives. A writ was issued, but being soon after returned unexecuted. Gov. Carlin again placed it in the hands of an officer, and Smith was this time arrested. He was taken before Judge Douglas, who was then sitting on the supreme bench, and discharged upon a writ of habeas corpus, " upon the ground that the writ upon which he had been arrested had been once returned before it was executed, and was functus officio." The next year the governor issued a new writ, and " STuith was arrested again, and was either rescued by his followers or discharged by the municipal court [a Mormon tribunal] on a writ of habeas corpus." In liis " History of Illinois," Gov. Ford has given a circumstantial relation of these arrests, and we follow bis account, injecting sucb further particulars as we have reason to believe are authentic. In June, 1843, the governor of Missouri renewed his demand for the arrest and surrender of Smith, and according!}' "a new warrant, in pursuance of the constitution of the United States, was issued, and placed in the hands of a constable in Hancock. This constable and the Missouri agent hastened to Nauvoo to make the arrest, where they ascertained that Joe Smith was on a visit to Rock river. They pursued him thither, and succeeded in arresting him in Palestine Grove, in the county of Lee." Mrs. Smith was here visiting her relations, and the prophet, as was natural for him to do, had joined her, and had spoken once at the log school-liouse, in a Sunday discussion with a Methodist preacher named lieadly, regarding the authenticity of the " Book of Mormon." The next day he was called upon by tiiese two men, and on being told that they had a warrant for him, lie forcibly undertook to contest their ability to make him prisoner. " He was full six feet high, strongly built, and uncommonly well muscled," and with the two united against him the struggle that followed was a desperate one. He was at length overpowered, but not till all bad received bruises enough to show that each had been in the ' tiiickest of the tight.'"

This episode occasioned the wildest excitement; the people suspected the legality of the arrest, and were not sure that it was not a ruse to get him away where he could be made the victim of insult and violence. A crowd followed to Dixon to insure fair play, and finally consented for the captors to depart with their prisoner'withont opposition. "The constable immediately delivered his prisoner to the Missouri agent, and returned his warrant as having been executed. The agent started with his prisoner in the direction of Missouri, but on the road was met by a number of armed Mormons, who captured the whole party, and conducted them in tlie direction of Nauvoo. Further on they were met by hundreds of the Mormons, coming to the rescue of their prophet, who conducted him in grand triumph to his own city." A writ of habeas corpus was sued out of the municipal court "composed of Joe Smith's tools and particular friends," and by this court he was discharged. A year later he and his brother Hiram were basely murdered by an infuriated and cowardly mob ; and as soon as the twelve apostles who were absent on missionary work, could return, they, with Brigham Young at their head, usurped the government of the ciuirch. Numbers of Smith's followers had become disaffected before his death ; the ranks of these were now augmented by considerable accessions, and a schism of no little importance was the result. Many of those who withdrew liad to make their escape secretly to save their property, and they formed the nucleus of the reorganized church, whicli abjures polygamy. By these the claim is made that tiie prophet was not a patron of spiritual wifeism, but this is not to be at once admitted.

Aaron Hook, who had lived at Nauvoo and been ordained an elder, returned to Rocky Ford to take up his residence; he sometimes preached, and was an influential man among those of his faith. About the time of the hegira to Salt Lake, William Smith, a brother to the prophet, came among the saints at the Ford and organized a branch. He claimed to be a lepresentative of the younger Joseph, son of the pro])hct and a mere lad, and that it was his duty to rule and direct the people uiitil the latter should assume the first place, or prophetship, in the church. Smith remained here awhile preaching and extending his congregation until it numbered no fewer than sixty souls. The company was swelled by arrivals frotn Ohio and other places. Aaron Hook fitted up his house with a hall which was used for their services. They laid out a town on the ridge north of Rocky Ford, and at one time there was talk of building a temple, but the conception was never carried out. In course of time Smith got into bad odor with outsiders, and was once arrested for bigamy, but was not convicted, and in a little while he removed to otiicr parts. The branch he had established lost its energy after his departure. Besides the Hooks, Edwin Cadwell who came to the township in 1848, and is still living here, has been a leading and respected Mormon. Wentworth Blair, Stephen Stone and his father, and David L. Doan belong to the same category.

The further history' of the sect in this place is uneventful until the year 1860, when, on April 0, the anniversary of the founding of the church, the annual conference assembled in Ambo\% with representatives from the different branches in Iowa, Michigan, and this state; and Joseph Smith, jr., of Piano, was solemnly installed prophet and high priest in the old Mechanics' hall. Two conferences are held annually; for several years the spring gathering met at Amboy and the autumnal meeting in Iowa. Conversions and additions to the church have been made at different times, and the society has a membership of about forty. Joseph Smith, jr., who is a highly respected man, resides at Piano, where the headquarters of the church are established and the publications issued. Removal to Iowa is decided upon for this year.

This town was laid out in the S.E. ^ of Sec. 14. T. 21 N., R. 10 E. of the 4th P.M., in April 1818, by the proprietor, Asa B. Searles, and named in honor of the city of that name, county seat of Broome county,

New York, from which county a large number of the tirst settlers in tliis vicinity emigrated. Some lots were at the same time laid off on the S.W. J of Sec. 13 for "Warren Badger as part of the town. Mr. Searles built and kept the Binghauiton House, and also erected a store and took Edward Waters into partnership. Henry Porter bought them out, and he in turn sold to the Union Comjjany, a cooperative concern run on the stock principle and conducted by James H. Preston. While Mr. Searles was keeping public house, Robert G. Ingersoll, the now celebrated orator and infidel, then about sixteen years of age, was his man-of-all-work on the premises a full year. The Ingersoll family lived in the neighborhood three years from about 1846; the father was Congregational minister, and he and the boys, John, Ebon and Bob, farmed some on rented land. The latter, we are told, was a live boy, full of fun and stories. In 1844 a flouring-mill, the first built in Lee count}', was raised here by John Dexter and the Badger brothers, Warren and Palmer. The latter was crushed and killed by a bank of earth falling upon him, and his place in the partnership was taken by Chester Badger. In 1858 he (Chester) and his brother Henry purchased the property, and in the following winter introduced steam power. On Thursday' night, July 18, 1872, it was burned to the ground, and the proprietors sustained a loss of $6,000, the sum of $8,000 being covered by insurance. It was at once rebuilt, and Chester Badger sold his interest to H. E. Badger & Son, «ho operated it until its late destruction. It was struck and set on fire b}' lightning in the evening of July 21, 1881 ; the value of mill and stock was $16,000, with an insurance of $6,000. This mill was furnished with all the modern improvements, was run both b}' water and steam, and its destruction was not only a heavy loss to the owners, but a serious one also to the community.

James Doan set up a plow factory, but after a year sold to Frederick Bainter; and in 1846 another was started by the Shaws and Churches. In 1851 H. E. Badger entered into partnership with Bainter, but they soon dissolved, and the next year the manufacture was continued by Henry and Chester Badger, while Bainter carried on another shop. In 1854 James Dexter built a saw-mill. David Crocker and David Searles, partners, and Warren Badger were storekeepers not before mentioned. Besides the " Binghamton," there was another place of public entertainment known as the "Reed House." The town had two custom blacksmiths, a shoemaker, one wagon shop and a carding machine. After the mail and stage route was changed and the postoffice removed from Shelburn to Binghamton in 1850 this became a brisk place of trade and manufacture, whose crowded hotels were an index of the great travel by this route.

About 1S40 a Metliodist class was organized in this settlement, and among the original members were Joseph Dean, Curtis Bridgman, Andrew Bainter, aaid their wives, and Aunt Betsy Doan. Frederick Baiiiter, Joseph Lewis, Henry E. Badger and their wives were leading members. This society was in the Lee Center circuit, and in 1851 they erected a house of worship in this town. When Amboy sprang into existence H. E. Badger purchased the building, and another was reared in the rising city. That was used a few years and then sold to the district for a school-house.

Binghainton is situated a mile east of Amboy, and certainly it was not expected that she would never languish like all old-time towns which the modern system of travel has failed to rescue from decay, but nevertheless she has carried herself proudly in her desolation. The only business interest of which she is not now bereft is the plow factory of "W. L Fish, if we e.xcept the Amboy Drain Tile and Brick Works erected the present season by Wightwick & Stone less than half a mile north of the place. These works represent a growing and important industry, which is destined to exercise an influence in the development of wealth beyond all calculation. The main building is 50x100 feet, two stories high, and the facilities for burning include four of Tiffany's patent square, down-draft kilns, all under one roof, so arranged as to utilize the waste heat of the kiln while cooling in firing the next. Tiffany's Centennial Tiffany Brick and Tile Machine is the one used for moulding, and this is propelled by a Siamese Twins Duplex engine of twenty-horse power. The fixtures are all of the latest pattern, and comprise some very recent novel and valuable improvements. Messrs. AVightwick & Stone intend to operate the year I'ound by means of steam drying in winter, which will give their factory a capacity of 2,000,000 tiles annually. Additions to their works are to be made in the near future.

The first interment in the cemetery at this town was Patience, wife of A. B. Searles, who died December 19, 1846. The place was used as a common burial lot until March 1856, when the Binghamton Cemetery Association was formed, and a piece of land bought from Mr. Searles and put under fence. Three soldiers of the late war are buried here: Otis Bridgman, who enlisted at Amboy, May 1861, in Co. C, 13th 111. Vols., served three years, and died of disease contracted in the service; John Bainter, whose enlistment was the same in all respects, was mustered out January 15, 1S64, and died from the same cause March 24; and John Lewis, who enlisted in Co. G, 39th 111. Vols. (Yates' phalanx), at Amboy, in August 1861, served on the Peninsula campaign, was discharged, and died November 22, 1864, of disease contracted in the army.

Rocky Ford And Shelburn

This place was one of the earliest settled in the township, and for many years was the central point of interest. The ford has made it a crossing-place from time immemorial. The Indian trail from Council BluflFs to Chicago crossed here ; and in the time of the Black Hawk war the command under Maj. Stillman forded the stream at this point on their way to gather laurels at Stillman's Run. Timothy Perkins is generalh' credited with having been the first permanent settler. In company with Horace Bowen he erected a saw-mill which passed successively into the hands of Lee, Mason, Van Norman, and Dutcher. Van Norman was a relic of the Patriot war in Canada (1836-8), where he suifered imprisonment, but escaping in the summer of 1837 reached Dixon. He took a contract of grading on the old Central railroad at this point, which brought him here as a resident. The Peru and Galena road, which passed this place, was a stage route some years, and after the completion of the canal was a highway of heavy traffic and travel. In 1848 Frederick Dutcher bought the property from Daniel Mason and Horace Stump, and the next year platted the village of Shelbnrn, making the creek divide it through the center. Immediately on laying out the place he erected a small distillery on the south bank, and in 1853 added a store. He was followed a 3'ear afterward by Jacob Doan, who put up another store. A few houses were built, and eventually the town came to be one where a very large business was transacted. The large flouring-mill and distillery combined, whose erection was begun in 1856 by the Shelbnrn Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Dutcher was president, was the main feature whicli kept the place alive. The structure was built of stone, the mill proper being 60x60 feet, four stories high, and the distillery 40x140, two and one-half stories. The dam was of masonry, and the cost of the whole property §65,000. The late Col. Wyman was a prominent member of this company. In 1859 an explosion threw down part of the south wall of the building, and projected the boiler thirty rods, landing it south of the creek. John Bentley, the engineer, was seriously injured, and the loss was $4,000. About ten years afterward the building was destroyed by fii'e.

Postal facilities were obtained after a few j'ears, but at first the nearest post-office was at Dixon. Asa B. Searles was the first postmaster in this township, and was appointed by Amos Kendall about 1840. The office was kept at his house. His second incumbency was. under Polk at the time he was keeping store at Binghamton. He resigned^ and was succeeded by Warren Badger. The first north-and-south route of travel through this section was from Galena to Peoria, via: Dixon, but it was at 'length changed to Peru. In 1842 it became a mail-route, and the carrier, a Dtitciiiiia!i, made tiie trip on horseback every week witiiout failure during the year, stopping at John Hook's Monday nights as he went north, and Friday niglits as he went south. The next year Frink & Walker put on a line of stages and carried the mail, and about two years after that Andruss & Di.xon started an opposition line. The Shelburn post-office was established, with Mr. Dutcher as postmaster, but in the rivalry between this place and Binghamton the latter procured the removal of the office, and the diversion of the stage-route to that point. This was too mortifying to be endured, and about as soon as it could be done the office was renewed under the name of Equator. By the removal of buildings and loss by fire and flood Shelburn has nearly disappeared.

City Of Amboy

This embowered little city, second in size in Lee county, containing nearly 2,500 inhabitants, is situated in the Green River valley at the intersection of the Illinois Central and the Rock River branch of the Chicago, Burlington & (Juincy railroad, and is overlooked from nortli and south by beautiful stretches of country which gradually rise to elevations of almost seventy feet. The first beginnings on the site of this place were made in 183S by John Sawyer, who built a cabin on the bank of the creek ; and Cyrus Davis, who erected another just in front of where the Baptist church stands on Mason street. Davis built the first frame house, which was begun in the fall of 1845, and finished the next spring. This stood in the street when the town was platted, but was moved to the east side where it is still used as a dwelling. Sawyer sold his claim to Joseph Farwell and Joseph B. Appleton. Farwell came in 1841 and built where Lucius Clark's residence stands on the corner of Main street and Adams avenue, and his farm was the N.E. ^ Sec. 22. Appleton settled here permanently in 1844, but first came as an unmarried man two or three years prior to that date. The homestead is situated in the west part of the town. He built the second frame house. Josiah M. Davis and his father Joel, who settled here about 1848, lived close to the western limits.

This city is the offspring of the Central railroad. In the early summer of 1851 the surveying parties under the chief engineer, Roswell B. Mason, took their several stations on the line and immediately began preliminary operations. T. B. Blackstone, whose name has been given to one of the streets in the original town, had charge of the squad employed between Dixon and Bloomington. In December 1852 K. F. Booth, for several years afterward a resident of Ambo}', came to this place at the head of a small party whose business was to direct the work on this part of the route. A company, distinct from the Illinois Central Railroad Company, but composed in part, if not wholly, of stockholders in the latter, purchased and owned the land for the village plats along the road. They bought the Lay farm for a depot and station two miles above here in the direction of Dixon, which was subsequently sold to a conductor named Cole. They gave out word that the company would erect machine shops at that point ; a few loads of stone were hauled there, and the place named Kepatau. If there was ever any real intention of making a station and building shops there it was of very brief duration. H. B. Judkins came down one day, and securing the company of a certain influential citizen, went to Farwell, and pretending to be a returned Californian, said he wanted to buy a stock-farm, and a bargain was forthwith made for the " Farwell slough farm," as old settlers had named it, for $13 per acre. John B. Wyman, assistant superintendent of the road, hastened to buy out Cyrus Davis, and then Farwell was given to understand that if he had any wish to secure himself he should lose no time in doing it, and he accordingly purchased the farm from his son-in-law, Curtis Bridgman. The land company made a deed of trust to Messrs. Ketchum and Gray ; and Col. Mason, who was superintendent as well as chief engineer of road, acted as their attorney.

In June, 1853, Michael Egan was sen± to this place to commence the mason work on the station buildings, and in the autumn of the same year D. S. Clark was put in charge of the carpenter work. Some time during the season Mr. Booth prepared the plans for the machine shops, and Mr. Egan laid the foundations and pushed the construction with his characteristic energy throughout the following winter. In the spring the walls of the passenger house were up and the building inclosed ; in course of the summer both that and the freight house were completed, and before winter the machine shops were in a forward state of progress. Most of the other shops which the company now have were built in the following year, 1855.

The year lS5i was the natal year of Amboy. In January or February a Frenchman b}' the name of Meyer, under the directions of Col. Mason, came and laid out the town, completing his survey March 24. On July 26 the first bonds for deeds were executed. John L. Skinner was the first purchaser of lots. He paid S600 for the northeast corner lot on Main street and East avenue, now occupied by the Badger building. On this he began the erection of the Orient House in the fall of 1854; in September, 1855, it was completed, and opened to the public by the Lee brothers, who were proprietors one year under lease. Charles W. Bell, who had been grading on the road nearl}' a year, in August, 1853, came here with his family and opened a boarding-house for railroad men in a mammoth, barn-like shanty belonging to the company, and which had been erected near the spot where the Baptist church stands. On January 21 this caught fire and burned down, but was immediately rebuilt by the company. When Mr. Bell settled in the place Cyrus Davis had moved away ; Appleton was on the homestead ; Farwell was about to move, or had just moved to his new purchase; Alvan H. Thompson was living at his old home where Superintendent Jacobs resides; and a transient family occupied the Davis dwelling. These comprised the population of Amboy, which, by the way, was not yet surveyed and christened, except some railroad employes who could not at that time be regarded as settlers. Isaac Edwards, who graded seven miles of the railroad, settled temporarily south of the Inlet this year.

By the following spring K. F. Booth, D. S. Clark, and Michael Egan were occupying residences with their families; and from this time the place made rapid growth after the nervous fashion of western towns. The "live Yankees" began to pour in, and their partiality for the location at once decided the complexion of society. All available room was speedily secured; every shingle covered a boarder, and the demand for lodgings was as unfortunate as Oliver Twist's crv for " more." The science of storing away was grasped and learned, and every house was crammed to its utmost capacity from ground to garret. Boxes and trunks were piled one above another against the walls to make room to spread the tables for meals, and for the beds upon the floors at night. This was nearing first principles, still these people found more pleasures than hardships, for virtuous freedom may always be enjoyed, and never so much as when those who voluntarilj' come together with a common ])urpose have more wants than privileges to divide. " Roughing it," never unmixed with a certain excitement, had its fascinations, and was encountered with a relish. Busy thoughts and hands and light hearts brought health and zest to every individual, and when people came together, as they often sought and had occasion to do, fo}' and mirth were siiontaneous and uncoiifined. Amusements were not wanting; and though rude and simple, they served the goodly end of recreation, and kept men from base employments. Dancing, the favorite, was indulged with the fondness (jf early days. After supper was over and dusk had come, the room was cleared of chairs and tables b}' piling them up out of doors, and from that time till morning was nigh the cheerful voices of the violin and flute were blended in the pleasing strains of the Fisher's Hornpipe, the Arkansaw Traveler, and other familiar pieces; and Virginia reels and other figures were executed by never wearying feet. The already quickened energies of the people took a new impulse in the whirl of labor and business into which everybody plunged with an absorbing ambition for the fruits of industry and improved opportunities. Men came with their families, and failing to find lodgings, hastily put up rough shanties to guard them from the weather, until more durable buildings could be erected ; and as a matter of feet the earliest structures, though designed to be permanent, were raised in the briefest possible time, and were not of the most substantial character.

The original plat of tlie town was on the N.E. ^ Sec. 22, the Farwell farm. Wyman's addition was next laid out on the S.W. ^ Sec. 15, tiie Cyrus Davis farm, J. B. Wyman, H. C. Purple, and others, being the proprietors. Farwell surveyed a part of his land into lots, and Giison & Ransom, of La Salle, bought an undivided half of Appleton's land and laid off Gilson's addition. A lively strife at once ensued among these rival interests. Wyman was selling residence property, and having a brisk trade. The land company was disposing of business lots on Main street and East avenue, and it seemed almost fated that the center of trade would be in that locality. The interest of the other parties lay in drawing the town, or an equal share of it, to the west side. To compass this end, in the spring of 1855 Giison & Ransom erected the Exchange block, a large wooden structure divided into six or seven business compartments below, and a number of offices and dwelling-rooms above. This occupied lots Nos. 2, 3, and 4 in block 14, Gilson's addition. At the same time Farwell built the hall which bore his name, on lot 8, block 7, north side of Division street. No building associated with the early history of the town will call up such a variety of recollections as Farwell hall ; for it was at once public hall, polling place, school-house, and everybody's meeting-house. For a while the prospects and advantages were somewhat equalized, though there was no time when there was not an unequal rivalry.

Let lis drop the growth of the business quarter long enough to notice the erection of the earliest private houses. The two first were built simultaneously in the summer of 1854, on the north side of Main street, east of Mason, by L. W. Borden and E. S. Reynolds. The latter moved into his in August. Dr. David Bainter built the third, but claims to have been the first to move into the town after it was platted. Mr. Reynolds makes the same claim also for himself. This was situated on the southeast corner of Jones and Division streets, and here Bainter & Co., oculists, aurists and Lidian doctors, had their office on the lower floor, and their art gallery on the upper one. Following these initial buildings others went up rapidly, the music of saws and planes and the clangor of hammers resounding on every street. The business prospects of the place were flattering. The railroad works in progress contributed generously to this progress ; and people crowded into the town to the overflowing of accommodations, and as a consequence rents advanced exorbitantly, and persons seeking board were linocking at every door. By the next spring the inhabitants of the town were estimated at 1,000.

R. D. Peironett and Samuel Goldman were the first to start in had the semblance of mercantile business. Peironett opened a little rough-board shop in the spring of 1854, in which he kept a small stock of common articles; and Goldman, who had been peddling clothing through the country since 1851, set up in trade on East avenue, somewhat later, in a shanty which a dozen men could pick up and carry away. He became a leading citizen, and acquired a large eompetenco; and in 1870 retired from active business and settled in Chicago, where he died a year ago. In the spring of the same year .Tosiah Little, in searching for a location, reached this place, and deciding to make it his home, proceeded to erect a store, the first which could be dignified with the name, on lot 8, block 3, original plat. The stone was brought from Lee Center and the lumber from Mendota. In October it was completed and tilled with drugs, hardware and groceries. Messrs. Wilcox <fe Wooster built a store the same fall on tiie ground now owned and occupied b^' L. Bourne, on East avenue. The lumber for this was hauled from Mendota. They traded in dry-goods and groceries a year, when A. H. "Wooster bought Wilcox's interest, and tiie new firm continued the business'at the old stand another year. Meantime they had purchased the lot on tiie east .corner of Main and Jones streets, at present covered by the Merrifield building, and erected a store. The autumn of 185-1 found E. & J. Little, and the Union store which had been moved from Binghamton, and was conducted by J. H. Preston, and Cornelius Allen, harness-maker, on the north side of Main street, with Warriner & Beresford, lumber merchants, on the south side. Wilcox & Wooster, Samuel Goldman, and Paul Cullen, the latter keeping groceries and liquors, were in trade on East avenue. Between this time and the spring of 185(1 the following firms and persons were identified with the development of business: Guybort & Hyncs, Cyrus Bridgman & Bro., Walton & Tvizer, Rosenbaum & Walton, and Carson & Pirie, who began with groceries in the store built by Wilcox & Wooster, and afterward extended their business to dry -goods in an adjoining house, and carried on a large and successful cash business till 1865, when they removed to Chicago and engaged in the wholesale trade. G. H. McFatrich built a business house in the spring of 1855 on Main street, on the present site of Wheat & Gridley's store. A. & C. D. Vaughan, furniture dealers and undertakers, set up on Mason street, nearly opposite the present Methodist church. J. D. Waddcll, fnrniture and undertaking, built two storerooms on the south side of Main street. On August 25, 1860, while hunting, he was accidentally shot and killed. R. H. Mellen went to manufacturing lumber in the spring of 1S55. James Boyd started in lumber and grain, and after figuring largely for a short time, moved away. C. D. Sears & Co. opened a lumber yard and built a planing-mill and sash and door factory. G. H. Ambrose and Francis Little, grain dealers at first, afterward started a private bank. Henry Keeling, from New Orleans, opened a hardware store in company with Jolm ScoUy. He has been a prominent business man and citizen, and in 1865 built Keeling's block on East avenue. Isaac Edwards began, and has since carried on, the livery business. Briggs & Gushing sold drugs and groceries. C. M. Butler and Robert Merrigold formed a copartnership in lumber and grain. T. J. King, grocer; Badger Bros., N. S. Chase, first in clothing, afterward hardware: Philip Flach, barber; Jacob Kline, baker; Abrara Jackson, baker and confectioner ; Ashford & Cook and George Keefer, butchers; and Mrs. "W. B. Andrnss, artist, who occupied rooms in the Exchange block. No. 33, Vol. I, of the "Lee County Times," published February 7, 1856, the earliest paper on file in the " Amboy Journal " office, contains advertisements of business men and others not already mentioned, as follows: Clark & Watson, clothing; "Wm. B. Stuart, attorney-at-law, city auctioneer and land agent; W. E. Ives, attorney; H. M. Snow, Doane & Quinn, meat market; W. E. Ives, assignee of Peironett & Reed ; W. H. Allen, music store ; E. W. Mc- Lean, general store ; Mead & Hall : dissolution notice of J. W. D. Blake & Co. ; Alexander Martin ; G. R. McKinney, general merchandise; Drs. T. P. Sleeper and J. A. Jackson ; James Boyd, land agent ; Illinois Central railroad time table, James C. Clark, superintendent ; Mrs. Gosden, milliner; A. S. Pierce, boots and shoes; H. F. & E. D. Walker, hardware; James C. Wheat, carpenter and joiner; Gilson & Ransom, land agents; J. Carroll, tailor; Thomas Adamson, jeweler; Illinois Central house, J. B. Wyman, proprietor; Egan & Bootii, grocers; Alex. Zubrod, grocer; A. E. Wilcox, grain; J. H. Wisner, livery ; W. H. Brackett & Co., blacksmiths ; P. Vogt, shoemaker ; Reed & Pond, hides and grain ; and Amboy Lodge, No. 179, 1.O.O.F. Among a large number of mechanics, many of whom were in the employ of the Central railroad company, we may mention in addition the following: Lucius Clarke, Nicholas Koontz, and Harvey and Levi Ives, carpenters; George W. Mingle, shoemaker; and a man named Hines, blacksmith. Henry Chapin erected, in the fall of 1855, the first blacksmith shop east of the railroad, and the second one in the town. Considerable of the business was on the west side, and Exchange block was for some time all occupied. But Gilson died early, before realizing a fruition of his plans; the efforts on behalf of that part of the town grew feebler; and seeing the drift of trade setting steadil}' and more strongly in tlie other direction, the dealers one by one deserted that quarter, like rats abandoning a sinking craft. A part of the now solitary building was torn down, and tlie remainder was leveled by fire. Amboy grew rapidly through 1856, and maintained a steady increase until the breaking out of the war. In speaking of the progress of the town, the "Times," in its issue of July 31, 1856, sums up its development thus: "We have now between 2,000 and 3,000 inhabitants, two churches and another in process of construction, about thirty stores and groceries, a steam planing-mill and sash factory, three hotels, two livery stables, and in fact establishments of almost every variety." The estimate of population is too indeterminate to be of much value now, though it served well enough the purposes of local pride at that time; and "groceries" includes several drinking shops, whose combined eliect has been an ample harvest of crime and woe in accidents, disasters and tragedies.

David Bainter was the first doctor to locate in the new town. Dr. Harmon Wasson lived just beyond the limits. J. A. Jackson came in the autumn of 1854. T. P. Sleeper, who was mostly employed in dentistry, arrived in 1855. Yaughan, a young physician, and brother to C. D. Vaughan, and A. P. Chase the next year; and McFatrich still later. The healing art is at present represented by Drs. Ryon, Felker, Travers, Wilcox, Manning and Saguin. Dr. George Deniing practices dentistry.

The Amboy bar has been composed of men of respectable legal talent. William E. Ives, the oldest practicing attorney in the county, settled here in December 185-1:, and was the first to hang out a sign in the place. Alfred Tooker and James H. Felch, partners, came next ; and in 1855 Alonzo Kinyon, one of the most marked men that Lee county has had, settled here, read law, and began practice in this place. Although lacking in the advantages of education, he possessed large intellectuality and great energy of character, and added to these natural endowments liabits of ceaseless and rugged industry. P<y force of will and activity his success was solid and conspicuous. In politics he was a republican, and an active man in his party; and in 1868 was elected representative to the genera! assembly. The principal measures passed by that body, as the result of his labors, were a charter for the Chicago & Rock River railroad ; and another act creating " The Court of Common Pleas of the City of Amboy," to have concurrent jurisdiction in the city of Amboy with the circuit court of Lee county in all cases, civil and criminal, except murder and treason. In April, 1869, Mr. Kinyon was elected judge of this court for a term of four years, with an annual salary of §3,500 ; and C. D. Vaughan was elected clerk. In February, 1874, the act establishing the court was repealed. In the