Whiteside County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 12 of those read), 1877

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 12 of those read)

The territory now comprising the township of Hume at first formed a part of Portland and Prophetstown Precincts. In 1852 the boundaries of the township were defined, and its name given, by the Commissioners appointed by the County Commissioners' Court to divide Whiteside county into townships under the township organization law. Hume includes all that part of Congressional township 20, north of range 6 east of the Fourth Principal Meridian, South of Rock river, and contains twenty-five full sections, and eight fractional sections. The whole surface of the township was originally prairie, with not a tree to diversify the scenery, but since its settlement groves have been planted, and almost every farm has its large orchard. Now the township presents a beautiful contrast of broad fields and wood land. Every acre is susceptible of cultivation. A small portion needs more draining than it has received, but when that is done the soil will yield abundantly. One-third of the township is bottom land, the remainder a rich table land, and about all enclosed either as cultivated fields, meadow, or pasture lands. A part of the county ditch runs through sections twenty-five and thirty-six in the southeast part of the township. Rock river forms most of the boundary of the township on the north, but there are no streams running through it. This lack, however, is abundantly made up by numerous wells which furnish an excellent quality of water. Hume did not become fully organized until 1857, the east half being attached to Hopkins, and the west to Prophetstown, from 1852 until that time, for judicial purposes.

The first settler in what is now the township of Hume, was Leonard Morse, who came from Lee county, Illinois, and made a claim on section sixteen, in 1836. Upon this claim he built a log cabin, the first house of any kind put up in the town, and lived in it with his family until 1843 when he sold out and went to McHenry county, Illinois. The next settler was Uriah Wood who came in 1839, and settled on section sixteen, where he built a house with sods, and besides occupying it with his family, consisting of a wife and seven children, kept boarders. Where the boarders came from, and what they did in Hume at that day, the ancient chronicles do not state. The most probable supposition is that they came into this new Canaan to spy out the land. If so, they could not have failed to make a good report upon their return to their brethren.

Hume being comparatively a new township, the number of those denominated old settlers who have resided, or do now reside within its limits, is quite small. Those who came previous to July, 1840, were Leonard Morse, and Uriah Wood, already mentioned, David Ramsey, and Charles Wright. Those coming shortly afterwards were William Ramsay, Lyman Baker, J. S. Scott, and David Scott, and still later David Cleaveland, R. F. Stewart, J. G. Peckham, J. D. Bean, S. D. Perry, Austin Morse, Gr. W. Curtis, and those elsewhere mentioned.

As yet there is no church edifice in the township, although the Wesleyan Methodists have a Parsonage near Mr. J. Vandemark's on section thirty-five. Religious services are held by the Methodists, and some other denominations, in school houses. Those who belong to religious organizations, however, usually attend church at Sterling, Rock Falls, Prophetstown, or Tampico.

A Postoffice was established at South Hume in 1874, and S. D. Perry appointed Postmaster. It was run for about two years, and then discontinued. That was the onlj' Postoffice that has been established in the township.

3Ir. William Ramsay has the credit of first stepping -'down and out" of the ranks of the bachelors in the township of Hume, and, participating in the delights and assuming the cares of a Benedict. His choice was Miss Lucy Ann Church, and a fortunate one it has proved. The marriage took place February 3, 1845^

The first birth was a child of Leonard Morse, one of the original settlers of the township, and occurred in 1838, and the second a daughter of Sidney Barker, in 1841.

The first person to depart this life was Miss Ann Maria Ramsay, a sister of William Ramsay, her death taking place in the fall of 1842. After that there was not a death in the town for a number of years, and the mortality list has been very small from that time to the present. There is probably not a healthier town in Whiteside county, than Hume.

The first school in the township was taught by Miss Jane Griffith, in 1857, in what is known as the Cleaveland school house. This school house had just been completed when Miss Grriffith commenced her school, and was the first one erected in the township. Now there are six school buildings, known as the Hume, East Hume, Hume Center, Morse, Perry, and Cleaveland school houses. All of these are good edifices, and well furnished with improved seats, and proper school apparatus. Schools are taught nine months during the year.

The old stage road originally leadiugfrom Beloit to Rock Island, afterwards from Chicago to Rock Island, but better known in this section as the Dixon and Rock Island road, was the first traveled road in the township. It is now known as the Sterling and Prophetstown road. The first legally laid out road in the township is the one running through Hume Center.

The following have been the Supervisors, Town Clerks, Assessors, Collectors, and Justices of the Peace, of the township of Hume, from its organization in 1857, until the present time:

Biographical

The township of Hume contains 18,484 acres of improved land, and not an acre of unimproved, as appears by the Assessor's books. It is the only township in the county that makes such a showing, and the figures speak more emphatically and pointedly than words can possibly do of the fertility and splendid situation of its eighteen and a half thousand acres. The township next to it, in regard to unimproved lands is Coloma, that township having only one hundred and thirty acres of such lands. The Assessor's books also show that the number of horse's in the township of Hume in 1877 was 573; of cattle, 2,002; mules and asses, 17; sheep, 55; hogs, 3,439; carriages and wagons, 194; watches and clocks, 103; sewing and knitting machines, 77; melodeons and organs, 23; total value of lands, lots, and personal property, $342,053.

The population of Hume in "1870, as shown by the Federal census of that year, was 634, of which 565 were of native birth and 69 of foreign birth. The population in 1860 was 195. The estimated population in 1877 is 850.

Charles Wright was born in the town of Ruport, Bennington county, Vermont, April 27, 1806, and was brought up in his native Green Mountain State. At the age of twenty he crossed over into Washington county, New York, where he remained a year, and at the age of twenty-one settled in Burford, county of Oxford, Canada West. He resided in Canada from that time until April, 1839, when he came- to Whiteside county and settled first near Prophetstown, and in 1840 in Hume. Mr. Wright married Miss Cynthia Martin at Blenheim, Oxford county, Canada, on the 31st of January, 1833. Their children were four sons, and four daughters : Charlotte P., born July 9, 1834; Alexander H., born June 17, 1836; Charles P., born July 9, 1838; John W., born March 23, 1847; David E., born October 12, 1853; Emily M., born September 18, 1840; Cynthia C, born November 4, 1842, and Sarah E., born May 20, 1844. Of these, Alexander H. died November 25, 1865, aged twenty-nine years, and Charles P., May 28, 1857, aged twenty, both of consumption ; David E. died at the age of six years. Charlotte P. married Abel Cleaveland February 3, 1852; Mr. Cleaveland died ^Vugust 18, 1855, and Mrs. Cleaveland married Carlos Haven, March 4, 1857; she is now residing at Port Henry, New York. John Wentworth Wright married Miss Mary Jane Jones, March 1, 1870; children, Mertie E., born December 7, 1873, and Ralph Collier, born November 13, 1875; Mr. Wright is now an extensive farmer, residing at the old homestead in Hume. Emily M. married James Johnson, March 4, 1857; had one child, Lai-mia, born October, 1859; Mr. Johnson died in April, 1862; in April 1864, Mrs. Johnson married Geo. M. Fern, and is now living in Prophetstown; children, Mary E. and Charles W. Cynthia C. married George Haven, April- 12, 1860; Mr. Haven was a native of Essex county, New York, and came to Whiteside in 1854, and was a farmer and stock grower; he died October 30, 1875, of typhoid fever, at the age of fortytwo years; there is one child, Nellie, by this marriage. Sarah E. married Wallace Johnson; children, Edwin H., Grace E., and Charlotte P. Mr. Wright's first wife died January 24, 1855. He afterwards married Miss Nancy A. Brydia, who still resides at the homestead in Hume. During his early days Mr. Wright was a school teacher, and then he became a farmer which occupation he followed until his death, which occurred September 25, 1875, having very nearly arrived at three score years and ten, the allotted age of man. He occupied a number of public positions during his lifetime, the duties of which he discharged with credit to himself, and with general satisfaction to the public. In 1852 he was elected Sheriff of the county; for nine successive years was Supervisor for the township of Hume, and for seven years Deputy Revenue Assessor in this Dis- trict. As a man, his actions were guided by the golden rule; as a neighbor and friend he was kind and generous, and in the discharge of the rare quality of charity was wont to quote the Scripture passage, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." He was the center of the social circle into which he was thrown, having an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, and a faculty of relating every incident in that peculiarly happy manner that renders the relator so indispensable to a social gathering.

WiLLlA3i Eamsay is a native of Oneida county, New York, and was born February 16, 1815. On the 3d of February, 1845, he married Miss Lucy Church, a native of Oxford, Chenango county, New York. The children of this marriage have been : William F., born April 27, 1846; Ann Maria, born August 8, 1847; Lucy E., born April 22, 1851; Lehman McNeal, born July 11, 1858, and one son who died in infancy. William F. married Miss Alida Kleespie, December 20, 1876. Mr. Ramsay has long been a resident of Hume township, and is one of its reliable and solid citizens. He was brought up as a farmer, and has always followed that occupation, together with stock raising.

David Rams AY was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1787, and married Miss Lydia Butler, in Vermont, iu 1812. After his marriage he emigrated to Oneida county. New York, remaining there until 1840 when he came to Whiteside county, and settled on what is now the Morse farm, on section ten, in the present township of Hume. He built a frame house upon this farm, which was considered a large one in those days, and though not intending it for a hotel, it was used as the central stopping place between Rock Island and Dixon, on the main road from Chicago to Rock Island. The old Indian trail from Chicago to Rock Island was about a mile south of his house. Mr. Ramsay died in 1852, and Mrs. Ramsay in 1860.

JosiAH Scott is a native of Ohio, ai5d was born May 18, 1819. He came to Whiteside county, with his father's family, in June, 1839. On the 13th of March, 1846, he married Miss Harriet J. Coryell. The children by this marriage have been : Walter H., born December 24, 1847; Edwin D., born November 15, 1849; Celestia L., born July 8, 1853; Hiram B., born November 15, 1855; Eliza J., born May 10, 1857; Franklin C., born February 27, 1858; Alice A., born February 17, 1860; Jesse T., born January 12, 1862; Orange M., born July 31, 1863; Bertha L., born May 26, 1867; Hattie A., born October 24, 1869. Two children died in infancy. Walter H. married Miss Gertrude Wilcox; one child, George. Celestia L. married William E. Richardson; children, Charles and Bessie. Eliza J. married George E. Baker; children, Frederick, and Ida. Edwin D. and Hiram B. are teachers. Mr. Scott owns a fai-m of two hundred and eighty acres on section twelve.

Lyman Baker was born in Washington county. New York, January 31, 1818, and was married to Miss Anna J. Treadwell, July 19, 1836. They have one child, Clarence A., born January 11, 1858. Mr. Baker is an old resident of Hume township, and owns a fine farm on section eleven. He is a good neighbor, friend, and a respected citizen.

David Cleaveland is a native of the town of Western, Oneida county, New York, and was born June 16, 1802. He first came to Whiteside county in 1850, and after selecting his farm in Hume returned to the East, and in 1852 brought on his family, then consisting of fourteen persons. Mr. Cleaveland was married to Miss Amy Hawkins, in Oneida county. New York, in July, 1843. This lady is spoken of in the highest terms by every one in Hume and vicinity. The children by this marriage have been : Delight, Abel, Harmon, George, David, Jr., Mary, Cyrus, Edward, Jay, Nelon, Squire, and three who died in infancy at the old home in New York State. Harmon married Miss Mary An- nis, and lives in Montana Territory. Squire is unmarried, and lives in Texas. Delight married Ezra P. Adams, and lives in Hume. Abel married Miss Charlotte P. Wright; on the 18th of August, 1855, he died very suddenly of heart disease at his house, in Hume; the widow sometime afterwards married Carlos Haven, who is also now dead; Mrs. Haven resides at Port Henry, New York. George married Miss Grertrude Andrews, and lives in Prophetstown. David, Jr. married Miss Almara Walker, and lives in Hume. Mary married William Thompson, and lives in Floyd county, Iowa. Cyrus married Miss Mary Mulcay, and lives in Tampico. Edward married Miss Harriet Morehead, and lives in Hume. Jay married Miss Fanny Denison, and lives in Hume. Nelon married Miss Fanny Humaston, and lives in Hume. David, Jr. was one of the earliest to enlist as a private in Company B., .S-tth Illinois Volunteers, and for bravery and meritorious conduct rose to be Captain. He is universally spoken of by those who knew him during the war, as one of the bravest of the Army of the Tennessee. When he arrived at Morrison, on his way home at the close of the war, his father was in attendance at the Circuit Court at that city, as a juror, and was actually one of the twelve in hearing a case, but no sooner did the car whistle reach his ears than he deliberately stepped out of the jury box, seized his hat, and turned to go out of the court room. Judge Heaton was presiding, and as soon as he noticed Mr. Cleaveland's movements, asked him where he was going. "Going to see Dave," was the sententious reply. "Then hold on a minute," said Judge Heaton, "and I will adjourn Court." True enough, the Court was adjourned, and Mr. Cleaveland met his gallant soldier son. Two other of his sons were also soldiers in the Union Army - Cyrus in the 34th Illinois Volunteers, and Edward in the 75th. Edward was wounded, and afterwards honorably discharged. Mr. Cleaveland was Commissioner of Highways of Hume township for fifteen years, and also served a term as Justice of the Peace. His farm is on sections nineteen and thirty, and comprises three hundred and twenty acres, all of which lies in a body.

John H. Plumley is a native of the State of Vermont, and came to Whiteside county in 1856, remaining one year in Prophetstown, and then purchasing his present farm on section twenty-nine in Hume. In 1850 he married Miss Caroline Parks, a native of Waterford, Caledonia county, Vermont. The children arc John G., and Charles C, both of Avhom live in Hume. When Mr. Plumley purchased his farm there were no fences or houses in sight. He got his first dwelling from Charles McCarter by trading a silver watch for it, and by enlarging it and placing it on a ridge it served as a landmark for those coming through the township. Mr- Plumley has been Supervisor of the township, and held other ofiices, within the gift of his fellow townsmen. His farm is situated on sections twenty-nine and thirty-two, and contains two hundred and forty acres of land under an excellent state of cultivation.

Marlon C. McKenzie was born in Essex county, New York, in 1823, and came first to Whiteside county in 1841, and remained three years, when he returned East. In 1865 he again came to Whiteside, and purchased his present farm in Hume township, upon which he has since continued to live. In 1849 he married Miss Marian M. Haven. Their only child is May, now fourteen years of age. Mr. McKenzie has served for two terms as member of the Board of Supervisors, and has also been Assessor for the township. He has two hundred and forty acres of land on sections 28 and 32. Besides carrying on his farm, he is largely engaged as a stock raiser and dealer.

John C. Paddock is a native of the town of Lee, Oneida county, New York, and was born in 1833, and in November, 1851, came to Whiteside county with his father, the latter settling on section 24, in Prophetstown township. In [30-B.]

1866 he purchased three hundred and twenty acres on sections 21 and 28 in the township of Hume, all of which lies in a body. Mr. Paddock married Miss Mary p]. Besse, on the 25th of December, 1855, the children of this marriage being: Fred. Nellie, and Quincy, all of whom reside at home. He was Deputy Sheriif of Whiteside county under Robert G. Clendenin, and has served four years each as Supervisor and Justice of the Peace, of Hume township. He was also the candidate of the Democratic and Liberal parties for Sheriff, in 1872, without seeking the nomination, and polled a large vote. Mr. Paddock's name was the only one mentioned in either convention, for the position. He has lately become a resident of Prophetstown, having rented his farm in Hume.

Rodney C Crook is a native of Corinth, Orange county, Vermont, and was born August 24, 1836. In 1838 his father came to Whiteside with the family, and located in Prophetstown. Mr. Crook married Miss Mary C. Brydie, in Livingston county, Illinois. His farm in Hume is situated on sections 30 and 31. and is one of the most finely cultivated ones in the township. He has been School Director, School Trustee, Commissioner of Highways, and is the present Supervisor of the township. The frequency with which public positions have been conferred upon him, show the estimation in which he is held by his fellow townsmen.