Winnebago County, Illinois - The whole text, 1877 (part 6 of 17)

There were no "split tickets" at that election-^the settlers generally voted straight, and there was not much difiiculty or confusion in makingout the tally sheet. The poll l.'ook showed that 120 votes had been cast. There being but one voting precinct in the county, the settlers from all parts of the county voted here. The following names represent the voters at that election :

Of the above 120 voters at the first election in Winnebago County, only fifteen are living at the date of this writing, Oct. 1, 18T7. Of these,

Thatcher Blake, Ephraim Sumner, Charles Works, Phineas Churchill, Thomas Lake, and Ephraim W^^man are living in E-ockford, or its immediate vicinity. Thomas B. Talcott, Isaac Adams of Rockton, and A. C. Gleason live at Cherry A^alley; Simon P. Doty, at Belvidere; Harlyn Shattuck, at Shattuck's Grove, Boone County (P. O. Belvidere); H. M. Wattles (at last authentic account, one year ago), in Minnesota; W. R. Wheeler, Colorado Springs, Colorado; R. M. Waller, Charles City, Iowa; Israel Morrill, Minnesota; David Caswell, Iowa.

For Representative to the State Legislature. - John Turner had 74 votes; Charles R. Bennett had 73 votes; Elijah Charles had 34 votes; James Craig had 40, and L. H. Bo wen had 8 votes.

For County Commissioners. - Thomas B. Talcott had 83 votes; Simon P. Doty had Q^ votes; William E. Dunbar had 60 votes; G. Kent had 35 votes ; Seth Scott had 46 votes ; Levi Moulthrop had 32 votes, and Isaiah Courtright had 4 votes. Talcott, Doty and Dunbar were elected.

The lirst Monday in August, 1836, was also the first day of the month. On Wednesday, the third, the second day after their election, the commissioners met at the house of Daniel S. H.-iight, on the east side of the river, and, there being n(> Justice of the Peace nearer than Galena, Ottawa, Joliet or Chicago, proceeded to administer the oath of office to each other.

[It may be well to state that previous to this organization all that part of the country east of Rock River, including the present counties of Boone, McHenry, DeKalb, and a part of Ogle, and probably a portion of some of the others adjoining, was known as LaSalle County. All west of Rock River, including the present counties of Jo Daviess, Carroll, Lee, and that part of Ogle lying west of R(jck River, was known and recognized in the courts of the state as Jo Daviess County, named in honor of Col. Jo Daviess, of Kentucky, who bore a conspicuous part in the campaigns of Gen. Harrison against the Indians.]

After subscribing to the oath of office, the commissioners proceeded to the business of starting the machinery of the county. The first order entered was one appointing Don Alonzo Spaulding as clerk of the Board. The second order related to the division of the county into precincts, and fixing a time for the election of Justices of the Peace, constables, etc. Seven voting precincts were then established, as follows:

Yellow jRiver included townships 26-7, of ranges 8 and 9, east of the fourth principal meridian, now the towns of Silver Creek, Ridott, Freeport, Lancaster, and the south half of Rock River in Stephenson County.

Rock G^'ove included townships 28-9, in ranges 8, 9 and 10, east of the third principal meridian, now the north half of Rock River, all of Buck Eye, Rock Grove, and the east half of Oneco, in Stephenson County, and Laona and Howard, in Winnebago.

Kiswaukee included townships 4, 3, ranges 1 and 2, east of the third principal meridian, now known as Cherry Yalley, New Milford, and part of the town of Itockford.

Rochford included township 26, range 11, east of the fourth principal meridian, and township 44 and the south half of township 45, ranges 1 and "A, east of the third principal meridian, now including the towns of Winnebago, Guilford, the most of Rockford, and tlie south half of Owen and Harlem.

Roch River included townships 28 and 29, range 11, east of the fourth principal meridian, and the north half of township 45, range 1, and all of township 46, ranges 1, 2 and 3, east of the third princi2:>al meridian, now the towns of Shirland, Harrison, Rockton, Roscoe, the north half of Owen and Harlem, in Winnebago County, and the town of Manchester in Boone County, a strip of territory 24 miles long and from 6 to 12 in width, and covering 6 townships of land. Immense as it was, it only polled 20 votes at the Presidential election, in November, 1836.

Belvidere included townships 43, 44, and 45, in ranges 3 and 4 east, and township 46, range 4 east. This precinct embraced all the county of Boone, exce]»t the town of Manchester, which was embraced in the Rock River precinct, and although it covered an area of 252 square miles, it only polled 23 votes in the Yan Buren and Harrison presidential campaign in November, 1836.

The commissioners also entered an order fixing the time and places of holding the election. The time fixed was the 2Tth of August; the ofiicers to be elected were Justices of the Peace and constables. Judges or inspectors of election were also appointed. In only three of the precincts, however, were elections held in August, as ordered by the commissioners - Belvidere, Rock River, and Pecatonica. In Belvidere, John K. Towner and John S. King were elected Justices of the Peace, and Abel Thurston and Mason Sherburne, constables.

In Pecatonica, Ephraim Sumner and Isaac Hance were chosen as Justices, and William Sumner and Thomas Hance designated as constables. The above named were the first civil ofiicers elected in the county. At a subsequent meeting of the board of county commissioners, anotlier election was ordered to be held in the precincts that failed to vote in August. This second election was set for the 14th of October following. At this date the following named settlers were selected as justices and constables:

Some of the above named refused to qualify - among them Daniel W. Wootan, of Yellow River precinct. His commission as justice of the peace still remains among the files in the office of the county clerk.

At this August session of the board of county commissioners, Robert Stephens and Rezin Zorley, two of the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to estabhsh the "permanent seat of justice of Winnebago County," ajjpeared and presented their report, to which reference has already been made.

Cliarles Reed next presented a deed from Nicholas Boilvin & Co., to the County of Winnebago, for thirty acres of land at the town of Winnebago, for the use of the public buildings of the county, as required by the act of the Legislature creating the county, establishing the county seat, etc. This deed at the time was rejected, because it stipulated that the title should remain vested in the county so lo7ig as the town of Winnebago should remain as the "permanent seat of justice for said county. " Says Mr. Hiram R. Enoch:

"The 'county seat question' had thus early entered into the politics of the county, and, as it turned out, proved one of the most, if not the most exciting question in the county for several years, being fruitful of numerous exciting elections, and the means of producing many schisms between the representatives of the rival towns."

At this same August meeting of the county commissioners, Robert J. Cross, of Roscoe, was appointed county treasurer. Why the particular necessity of the early appointment of this officer is not clearly defined, as the amount of public money to be taken care of was exceedingly small, as there had been no assessment or collection of taxes up to that time.

William E. Dunbar was appointed as agent of the county to carry the returns of the election to Yandalia, then the capital of the State, procure the commissions of the officers just elected, and, if possible, secure copies of the State laws, etc.

The lirst claims ever entered of record as against the county, were presented to this meeting of the board. Germanicus Kent, Robert J. Cross and J. P. Griggs, as judges of election, and D. A. Spaulding and S. A. Lee, as clerks, presented claims of one dollar each for their services at the election held on the Monday previous. D. A. Spaulding was also allowed Jjftf/ cents for stationery furnished for poll books.

As we have already stated, political prejudices did not disturb the conditions of the first election, August 1, 1836. But when the county had been fully organized and its machinery put in motion by the first board of county commissioners, the settlers began to divide up - to define party lines and to take sides accordingly. In 1836, John T. Stuart was the Whig candidate for Congress, and came out 29 votes behiiul his Democratic competitor. Tavo years later (in 1838) Mr. Stuart was again a candidate against Stephen A. Douglas, when he received a majority of 93 in the county; and in 1840, when General Harrison was the Whig candidate for pi'esident - when the people went wild over "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," Mr. Stuart was again a candidate, and this time received a majority in the county of 270 over his Democratic competitor. These results showed a steady Whig gain. Stuart was beaten in the district in 1830, by William L. May, Democrat, but in the elections of 1838 - 10, he was elected by handsome majorities. The district at that time extended from the AVisconsin state line on the north to a line below Springfield, extending across the state from a point on the Indiana state line to the Mississippi river. There are now twelve Congressional districts in the same territory.

In 1840, when Boone County had been organized from a ])art of the territory east of Rock river, and Stephenson County had absorbed two tiers of townships from tlie western part of Winnebago, as originally erected, leaving the county as now constituted, the vote was as follows: In August the Whigs polled 637 votes, and the Democrats 285 votes, making a total of 922 votes, and a Whig majority of 352. In November of the same year, at the presidential election, the Whigs cast 789 votes, and the Demo- 'crats 321 - total, 1,110. Whig majority 468.

Turning back to the action of the board of County Commissioners, we find nothing of material importance to claim their attention for several sessions. The most of their time was taken up in hearing petitions for roads, appointing viewers, etc. The most important among their first official actions at their first sessions in August, September and Decemlier, 1830, was the establishment of ferries at Rockford and Winnebago, and one where the township line between townships 44 and 45 crosses Rock river. The rates of toll established at these ferries was as follows :

The commissioners likewise established hotel rates in those days, and in poring over the first record of their proceedings, from August 3, 1S3(), to December 10, 1842 inclusive, and numbering 475 pages, we found the following table of rates licensed hotels were allowed to charge :

Eleven months after the complete organization of the county, and the election of the first board pf county officers in August, 1836, came the ''day we celebrate," J"uly 4, A. D. 1837', and, as full of' patriotism as the people within the shadows of Independence Hall, or Bunker Hill, the settlers resolved to spare one day from tlieir farm-making and other business pursuits, and to join in such patriotic and social amusements as tlieir limited advantages would permit. The programme consisted of an opening salute by the Anvil Artillery, the raising of a liberty pole (hickory) in the rear of what is now No. 310 State street. East Rockford, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, by C. I. Horsman, an oration by John C. Kemble, and a grand dinner, served up by Henry Thurston, in the frame ot the Rockford House, which was roofed, and sided up as high as the windows.

Temporary tables were put up, and the edibles were served on clean shingles in lieu of plates. Beef was the staple, which was cooked, as the bill of iare said, in various ways, and served cold. The speakins^ took place in ITaio;ht's barn, which stood near the present corner of State and Ivishwaukee streets. The bay of the barn was covered for the speakers, and tlje threshing floor, which was a large one, having been built to thresh with three horses abreast, was tilled up with benches for the audience. An old settler, one who dined at the Rockford House on that day, a little over forty vears ago, said of the dinner to the writer: " The fact was that the number "to be cooked for was soniuch laiger than was anticipated, that the beef could only be cooked in sulKcient quantities in one way. This was done by Mrs. Thurston, who boiled the beef in a twelve-gallon, iron kettle, in the yard in the rear of the house. Knives and fork's, as well as plates, were "scarce, and each man ' went in with his own tools' whenever these useful table appliances were lacking."

Tlie proceedings ot the day wound up with a grand ball at Haight's yellow house, which stood opposite the Ilockford House, and which was ready for plastering. Some sheeting was procured, which was used to partition olf the ladies'" dressing room. Supper was provided by Mrs. Kilburn, of " Whig Hill," and a good one it was, says our informant. The music was furnished by Jacob Miller, commonly called "old Jake." The belle of the occasion became a grandmother several years ago.

Among the lirst settlers were a goodly number who, if not reared within large cities, were at least raised near them, and, as a consequence, had been accustomed to the amusements they furnished. The change from these associations to the scenes of a wild, new country was attended with a degree of lonesomeness, sometimes not calculated to make them feel at ease; and to remove this kind of "dull care," something must be provided that would shorten the long winter evenings. Among the most popular amusements provided was a "Mock Court, which is well remembered by many of the survivors of 1836-7-8, as affording some remarkable scenes. Quoting from a paper written by Hiram R. Enoch, Esq., we present a brief sketch of this court and its characters :

" The sessions of the 'court' were held in ' Miller's store,' and the specimens of lofty, spread-eagle eloquence made before that tribunal have seldom been equalled. The decisions of the court were not always in strict accordance with the law and evidence, but were rigidly enforced. Each member of the court, as well as outsiders, had his particular souhriqxiet^ to which he answered as readily as if addressed by his proper name. There was 'old Haves, after the noted thief-catcher of that day in Kew York; 'Flint,' 'Gun Lock,' 'Tut,' 'Blower,' 'Brink,' 'S. C.,' 'Queen,' 'Old Frost,' 'Young Frost,' 'Big Frost,' 'Little Frost,' 'Red Frost,' and some others that would not sound well in ears polite.

" Another popular summer institution was the ' Awkwark Squad.' Some of the old settlers will remember the hearty laughs they had when, as the squad were paraded in double column fn front of 'Sam Little's grocery,' the 'Colonel' took 'S. C and 'Queen' from the ranks to 'mark time,' with fre(|uent 'dressing of the ranks,' in front of 'Sam's bar to 'smile.' "

Close readers of history will remember that somewhere about 1830-1-2 an insurrection, reaching in magnitude a rebellion, occurred in Poland, against the Russian Government; that the insurrection was speedily suppressed, and its leaders or officers exiled. Out of sympathy for their condi- tion, Congress, with a generosity, peculiar to a free people, made a grant of western lands to them whereon they might settle as a colony. The terms of tlie grant gave them permission to settle on any unclaimed Western lands they might select. Accepting the grant, they sent an agent by the name of (Jhlopicki, to make the selection, and, arriving in America about the time the Winnebago country was the great centre of attraction, he came to Winnebago County, and made a selection of thirty-six sections in the present towns of Kockford, Owen and Rocktoji. Nearly all of this land, iiowever, had been previously occupied by settlers, and hence this selection was clearly in violation of the grant, lor it stipulated that the selection could onlj^ be made from unoccupied lands. Chlopicki was informed that his selection was in violation of the terms of the grant, and he agreed to lay his claim elsewhere, but did not keep his word. This action on his part led to an unpleasant and uneasy condition of affixirs that continued for several years. The lands in this part of the Winnebago County belonged to the Galena land district, and all outside of Rockford, Owen and Rockton (in which were located the thirty-six sections in controversy) were opened to sale an<l entry in the fall of 1S39, but these lands were withheld from sale for nearly eight years after they had been surveyed and platted. In a communication upon this subject, published in the Winnebago Forum, in 1843, William H, Halen, Esq., wrote as follows:

" These two townships (a portion of Rockton and Rockford) have been witliheld from sale for a much greater length of time than is ordinarily allowed to elapse after the land has been settled upon by permanent t)ccupants. They were duly surveyed out and sub-divided into sections and parts of sections, more than seven years ago, and in the regular course of things should have been brought into market as early as 1838 or 1839. This consummation, so desirable to two parties, namely, to the government and the settlers - to the first that it might get its honest dues, and to the second that they might secure a title to the property - was prevented at that time by the intrusion of a third party.

" This unwelcome, unbidden third party was a self-constituted committee pretending to be the representatives of a company of Polish exiles, sent over in two Austrian frigates. Congress had passed an act authorizing this company of exiles, upon certain terms and conditions, and in a certain manner in the act prescribed, to select for its members a quantity of lands; and these pseudo agents or representatives, greedy for speculations and attracted principally by their beauty and numerous natural advantages, pounced upon these two townships like hawks upon their prey, regardless of the rights of the settlers, although at that time they might have found thousands of acres of lands unoccupied, unclaimed, and of as fine a quality for farming purposes as need ever be sought on the earth's surface. A minute history of this spurious claim might not, 23erhaps, be uninteresting to such as are yet unacquainted with it, but I should deem it quite out of place here, seeing that it is now numbered with the things that were, and the time, the room and the inclination, and, above all, in this connection the occasion for its details, are lacking.

" Suffice it to say, that after the settlers had, by their petitions for several successive sessions, called the attention of Congress to the subject, an act was passed and became a law on the lltli of April, 1842, removiiig the incubus, and authorizing the entry of these lands in these two townships by pre-emption, like other government lands.

" In the midst of our rejoicings over the righteous result, let us not lose sight of the important fact that our business might have been buried beneath the mass of unfinished Congressional matters for years to come, but for the kindness of the Hon. O. H. Smith, of Indiana, the Hon. Robt. J. Walker, of Mississippi, and the Hon. Richard M. Young, of this State, Senators in Congress, who, well informed of the facts in the case, and satisfied of the justice of our cause, most generously gave us the benefit of their efficient aid, by which the affair was finally disposed of to the satisfaction ot all parties, as well as ourselves, and ample provision was made for the benefit of the real exiles from Poland, and these unfortunate and meritorious countrymen of Kosciusko had no occasion to question the honor and good faith of a government which some of the most illustrious patriots of Poland had bled to establish."

Claim troubles were of frequent occurrence, and many of the original or first claimants, after making their selections and returning for their families, were gieatly surprised on their return to settle on them to find them in the possession of others. These second occupants were called "jumpers."

In the absence of those who had first selected them, these interlopers would put up on the claim a hut or cabin, and maybe plow a furrow around as much of the land as they desired, and assume to be "lord of all they surveyed." Others who had made valuable selections, that is to say, where they had selected claims in favorable locations - locations that were likely from the growth of the country to become valuable in the future by reason of their probable proximity to towns, public roads, etc., and who remained on them, were often surprised on getting up in the morning, to find that during the night another shanty or cabin had sprung up and was occupying a place near their own. This new shanty would usually be occupied by three or four men, friends of the "jumper," who had come to help him hold his claim. The modus operandi of these men was to put their 10x12 shanty together at some convenient locality where lumber was within easy reach, load it on a wagon at night, and transport it to their intended site of occupancy, dump it down quietly, and by the "peep o' day" be ready to maintain their claim by force of arms, in what they were pleased to c;ill their ''castle." This course of procedure often resulted in severe and bitter hand-to-hand fights among the parties, and finally grew so numerous that arrangements had to be provided to protect the rightful claimants in the maintenance of their claims. A "settlers' court" was organized, at which all these cases were determined, each party stating his case to the court, and the reasons for wishing to retain his claim. As a rule, the decisions ot this court were in favor of the settler who had a family and intended to become a permanent settler; and to the credit of both parties to these claims controversies, be it said, the findings of the court were always observed and can-ied out to the very letter, with but few very rare exceptions. When a disposition to treat the decisions of the court with contempt did occur, the settlers were ready to turn out en masse to enforce the decree of their court. No violence would be used, but the jumpers were given to understand that the decisions of that court were law, and must be respected. If they stood upon the order of their going, their shanties and all within them would be loaded up on wagons or runners, and hauled some miles away, with the assurance that harsher measures would be used in case of another olfense of like character.

settlers were called tot^etlier in a public meeting at Rockford, for the purpose of choosing a committee to attend at the sale and adjust and settle any dispute or controversy that might arise in regard to claims, etc. Messrs. Henry Enoch, Hayes and Jas. B. Martyn were chosen as such committee. They were duly sworn and directed to proceed to Galena and heep open court every day during the continuance of the sales, or at least until there was no longer occasion for such courts of adjustment. And, as we are advised b}- a settler of that date who has lived to see the prairie wildernesses of 1834-5 reduced to fields of agricultural beauty and productiveness, that the adoption of such precautions was a wise measure, and that it prevented a great deal of subsequent litigation.

Question Settled

Another fruitful' source of local discord was the road question, and it is a fact sustained by the records of the commissioners' court that the principal business of that body for the tirst three or four years after the county was organized and its machinery set in motion was confined to settling these ugly neighborhood dissensions. Petitions and remonstrances were received by the dozen at almost every session; viewers had to be appointed, reports to be examined, and delegations received and their complaints heard. All these things consumed time.

Every man occupying an "eligible" claim was possessed to a greater or less degree with a town mania, and to further his schemes sought to have all the roads of the country to center at his particular location, and as a consequence a great deal of hard work had to be done by the parties directly interested, and numerous towns, with "big sounding" names, innumerable streets, avenues, and parks, with no less pretentious designations, were mapped out on paper, and heralded to the world as the great center of the Winnebago country, and the future inland metropolis of the "great West." But few of these towns, however, survived long. The places that once knew them in name now know them no more, except as well-cultivated productive farms. Some of these towns were conceived in a spirit of speculation that made some men almost wild with excitement. Lots sold at wonderfully fabulous prices, and a great many men in distant states who saw the towns on paper, but who never had set foot in the state, were induced to invest money in "corner lots." They were made to see a great future before these towns, and that future has grown wider and wider, while the towns and the large returns they expected from their investments were "long since buried within the rusty vaults of time. The resistless march of improvement and enterprise swept on and over these paper cities, crushing them down and out of sight, and almost out of memory. Permanent and needed roads were established, and local demands and natural advantages have made towns and villages, and mills, and other adjuncts and necessities of a better civilization and more enlightened intelligence to spring up in localities but little dreamed of by the pioneer settlers of 1834.

Among the towns that once had an existence but now are not was the town of Winnebago, to which reference has already been made as the point at which the county seat was originally located. The site of that old town is about two miles above State street, Rockford, and embraced an area of six hundred and thirty-seven and seventy-eight-huudredths acres. This town was laid out by Nicholas Boilvin & Co., Charles Reed and Major Camp- bell being the "Co." The plat contained two hundred and fifty-seven blocks, which were subdivided into two thousand, four hundred and thirtysix lots. The refusal of the county officers to recognize it as the county seat, a refusal in which they perseveringly persisted, lead to connty seat troubles that were not settled until an act was passed by the legislature, and approved March 2, 1839 (see laws of Illinois, 1838-9, page 264), providing for the holding of a special connty seat election on the first Monday in May following (1839). At that election, Rockford, Winnebago, Roscoe, Willow Creek (Ilarlem Township), Pecatonica, and Scipio (also in Harlem Township), wen; aspirants for county seat honors. The following figures show the number of votes cast for each town: JRockford, 320; Winnebago, 75; Roscoe, 2 ; Willow Creek, 5 ; Pecatonica, 1 ; Scipio, 1 ; total votes cast, 404, of which Kocktord had a majority over all of 236 votes. This election settled for all time the county seat tronbles of Winnebago County, although it left for many yenrs traces of ill-feeling between some of the settlers, notwithstanding the victors treated the vanquished right royally the night after the electi(Vn, at the Ilockford Honse, where each pledged the other in Kentucky's best Bourbon to "let the dead past bury its dead," and to i^orever ignore the' personal differences that had grown up out of the question they had that day settled at the ballot box.

i^'rom that day Winnebago began to fall into decay. Some of the houses that had been built there were pulled down, hauled to Rockford and re-erected; others were removed elsewhere, and Boilvin & Co. saw their cherished iiopes vanish into nothingness. Mr. Reed subseqnently moved to Rockton, where he continued to reside until his death. The lots and blocks into which the section of land had been divided in many instances became delinquent for taxes and were sold at tax sale. Rockford has grown up that way, and some of the residents occupy houses and homes on the southern part of what was once Winnebago. Another part of it is an open common; a third part is cultivated by Mr. George S. Haskel, the world-renowned seedsman, while a fourth part of it is included in the West Rockford cemetery.

A few years ago, Mrs. Campbell, the widow of Major Campbell, one of the original proprietors, by her attorney appeared in Rockford and put in a claim for dower interest in this land. The facts upon which she based her claim were these: Some time after Mr. CampbeU had become interested in Winnebago, he took the benefit of the bankrupt law, and among other aasignments made for the benefit of his creditors he assigned his interest in tiie Winnebago property w'ithout the knowledge, consent, or signature of his wife. After his death, and when legal luminaries had discovered that no assignment of real estate was good in law without the wife joined in the assignment, she sought to recover her dower interest here as above stated. Some of the parties who had become owners of lots and grounds in Winnebago readily settled and paid over whatever price was agreed upon. Some others, believing that possession covers nine points in law, presented a bold front, "determined to hold the fort." To these, Mrs. Campbell's agent proposed an appraisement of the property and a settlement on the basis of five per cent, of whatever value might be established. Another part of the occupants laughed the claim to scorn. As a town, Winnebago lost its prestige, what little it had, when Rockford was voted the county seat by a majority of 236 over all competitors, and little by little it passed into oblivion, and there is nothing now but its name to mark its memory. ,

First Circuit Court Judge, Jury, Etc

Notwithstanding the county was organized and the machinery put in working order in August, 1S36, no circuit court was held in the county until October, 1837. The sessions of the county commissioners had been held at the house of Daniel S. Haiglit. The commissioners were vested with power to designate the place where the sessions of the circuit court should be held, and in consonance with that power they designated the house of Mr. Haight. V>y this time, Mr. Haight had erected a more pretentious structure than Ids first cabin, and had named it the Rockford House, occupying it as a hotel. In this building, says Mr. J. H. Thurston, the first session of the circuit court was held. The court convened October 6, 1837. Dan (not Daniel) Stone was judge and James H. Mitchell was clerk. Judge Stone occupied one of the few chairs the house afibrded, which was placed behind a table that occupied a central position in one end of the room, and the clerk occupied another table and another one of the few remaining chairs. The states attorney was not present, and Judge Stone appointed Seth B. Farwell prosecutor pro tetn. The audience contented themselves with seats on rude benches that were placed around the sides of the room. The petit jurors in attendance at this term of court were: Edward Gating, James B. Martyn, Joel Pike, William Pepper, Richard Montague, Isaac N. Cunningham, Thatcher Blake, Henry Thurston, Charles I. Horsman, David Goodrich, James Jackson, and Cyrus Jenks. Of these jurymen, only Thatcher Blake, Richard Montague, and James B. Martyn are known to be still living, 'i'he first two named reside in Rockford, and James B. Martyn at Belvidere, the owner and manager of the Baltic Flouring Mills.

The compensation of jurors in those days was fixed at seventy-five cents per day for each day's attendance, and payment made in county orders worth only about forty cents on the dollar.

The first case called was S. Finley vs. David A. Blake. This case was continued. The next was The People of the State of Illinois m. Isaac Hance and Albert Hance, but no prosecuting witnesses appearing the case was quashed. The case ot the People vs. Robert Mattox, charged with assault with intent to kill, was also quashed. The most important case, and one of two that went to a jury, was a suit over a claim between Samuel Gregory and Thomas Lake. Aften a two days' session, the court adjourned until the next term in course.

The First Crime Horrible Discovery

The first crime committed in the county after its settlement by white men, dates back to 1835 - a year before the county was organized, and that crime remains as much of a mystery in 1877 - forty-two years after it was committed - as it was when first uncovered. It is at least one instance in contradiction of the old saying that "murder will out." This mystery consisted in the finding of the remains of a human body in the woods about two and a half miles south of Rockford. The body was terribly mutilated and in an advanced state of decomposition, but not so far decomposed as to render its indentity, as those of a white man, obscure or doubtful. The finding of these remains naturally excited the people and sowed the seed of distrust. Up to that time nothing had ever transpired to shake their faith in each other, but this was a mystery. Harmony and good will had always prevailed amoiig- the people from one end of the county to the other, and, knowing each other as they imagined they did, it was impossible to fix the crime upon any one. Says James P. Martyn, now of Belvidere, in speaking ot this discovery to the writer : "The finding of this ghastly corpse in the woods only two miles from Rockford upset the entire community. By some, the murder was charged to a few scattering Indians that had been roaming about tlie settlement. But this theory was not justified by the status the Indians had maintained toward the whites, which had always been friendly. Others were of the opinion that there was a Cain among the pioneers of those days, but the general character sustained by the early settlers bore down this opinion, and the more the matter was discussed, the more hidden the murderer seemed to become. The general conclusion reached, however, was that the poor fellow had been murdered for his claim, and that, while his slayer was among the later comers to the settlement, his crime had been so secretly and stealthily committed as to be past finding out. Tiie remains were buried in the woods where they were found, since when they have not been disturbed."

This first crime was also the first death in the county. The second death w^as that of Sampson George, an Englishman, who came to the county in September, 183(1, his death occurring about five weeks after his arrival. A short time after arriving in the county, Mr. George purchased an 880 acre claim of Mr. Joshua Faucett, about one and a half miles southeast of Rockford, where he was engaged in preparing and fitting up a cabin for winter (juarters, when he fell a victim to sickness and disease which terminated in death.

County Offices. First Levy Of Taxes

For several years after the county was organized, the county business w^as all transacted on the east side of the river, and on that side the first court house, a small aifair, was built. It was located on the present site of the American House. Besides serving as a court house, it was also used for holding religious services, and during 1838-9, it was also used as a school house, Mr. James M. Wight being the teacher, who also has the credit of being the first male teacher in the county. This building was afterwards used as a printing office, by Philander Knappen, who published a newspaper known as the Rockford Star, a Democratic organ, in 1840, continuing it for a little over a year, when he sold the establishment to John A. Brown, who changed the name to the Rockford Pilot. This building was subsequently removed to the opposite side of the block (where it is still standing) remodeled and converted into a dwelling house, and is designated as No. 114 North First street.

Resuming an examination of the old County Commissioners' record, we find that the first order levying county taxes was made at the March term ot 1837. That order was short, and was embraced in these two paragraphs :

''Town lots, horses and mares, meat cattle above three years old, watches, carriages and wagons; and it is likewise ordered that one-fourth per cent, be levied on stock in trade."

The sum total of the assessment under this order was $562. 59|^. Of this sum, $298.29^ was assessed against personal property ; $264.30 against town lots in Winnebago, owned by non-residents. At that date, lands were not taxable - the lands not yet having come into market. Under the old constitution and laws, assessments were made by county treasurers, and the taxes collected by sheriffs. As previously noted, Mr. li. J. Cross had been appointed county treasurer in the fall of 1S36, and it took him only fifteen days to complete the first assessment made in the county, for which service he was allowed the sum of $30.00, or $2.00 per day. He was also allowed the further sum of $9.28 for receiving and disbursing the taxes when collected, that being two per cent, on the amount collected - about $464.00.

Survey Of Public Lands. Land Sales

The survey of the public lands in Winnebago County was not commenced until the fall of 1836, after the first county election in August. Don Alonzo Spaulding was the surveyor, and among his assistants was C. B. Farwell who has since represented one of the Chicago districts in Congress. The lands did not come into market until the fall of 1839, and for three years after were exempt from taxation, so that it was not until 1842-3 that any county revenue was derived from that source. All revenue necessary to defray the expenses of the county until the lands became taxable was raised from taxes assessed against personal property.

The opening of the lands to sale and entry was an interesting era to the settlers of Winnebago County. Many of them had got their farms well under way, and had raised a sufiicient surplus to enable them to be prepared to secure their homes when the sale commenced. Others had enough hoarded up from other sources when they first settled on their claims, but a few were so unfortunate as to be dependent on a certain class of men who are always around at such times, anxious to befriend the needy, provided they can make a nice thing out of it for themselves.

The years 1837-8-9, up to the o])ening of the land sales at Galena, in October of the last named year, were not marked by any events of extraordinary interest. For the most part, the settlers were an honest, upright and industrious people as individuals, and correspondingly so as a community. Secure in possession of their homes by a guaranty from "Uncle Sam," new plans were marked out and new enterj^rises undertaken, that, in a large majority of cases, were successfully carried out. Public and private economy seem to have been well studied ; and public and private business so carefully managed from the beginning that Winnebago County and Winnebago people have come to enjoy an enviable character, both at home and abroad.

Eakly Politics Incidents, Etc

Until the opening of the ever memorable campaign of 1840, there was but little to disturb the "even tenor of the ways" and pursuits of the people, or to distract their attention from the industries in which they were engaged. But the enthusiasm of that campaign reached the uttermost parts of the country, and the excitement ran as high in the Winnebago country as it did among the people in the immediate vicinity of the Tippecanoe battle ground in the Wabash (Indiana) country, or among the neighbors of General Harrison (the political idol of the Whig party), in his North Bend home, in Hamilton County, Ohio. That was the "Log Cabin," "Coon Skin," and "Hard Cider" campaign, and the campaign whicli, in a measure, was the origin of the large political meetings that have since marked our presidential campaii^iis, and rendered them important eras in the history of our national politics. In that campaign, large delegations, headed by bands of music, and log cabins built on wheels, sometimes drawn by four horses, and sometimes by several yokes of oxen, would travel scores of miles to participate in \Yhig- meetings and listen to Whig gospel as it fell from the lips of Whig orators. Following the log cabins there would sometimes be a huge canoe, long enough and wide enough to seat fifty men, all of whom would wear coon skin caps, and maybe support on their right shoulders a miniature cabin built of hazel or willow twigs. General Harrison had made the race against Van Buren in 1836, but was defeated. He was again nominated by the Whigs in 1840, and Van Buren by the Democrats. From the time these nominations were made until the day of the election in [N^ovember, the excitement ran high and both parties were on the alert for every possible ad\'antage. One of the leading arguments ot the Whigs in that campaign was that Van Buren's re-election would be the signal for a reduction in the price of all American commodities, the ruin of industrj^ and the destruction of labor. Whig newspapers in those days contained advertisements something like the following :

Winnebago County had started out as a Whig County, and when the campaign of 1840 opened, the Whig voters entered fully into the spirit that had been awakened in the older states, and the symbols of the Whig party - log cabins, coon skins, hard cider and canoes - were readily adopted as peculiarly symbolic of the condition of the country. Public meetino;s were appointed, hard cider was drunk. Whig songs were sung in unison with fifes, drums and fiddles, speeches were made botli by day and by night, and thus the campaign went on.

Up to this time, the Democrats had always carried the state, and it was determined by the Whigs that a political regeneration must be secured; and to aid in this undertaking, it was determined by the local Whig leaders to get up a rousing rally at Rockford. The meeting was called, and the response was most gratifying. H. B. Potter was marshal of the day, and as delegations from difierent parts of Winnebago and adjoining counties approached the embryo city, they were met by the marshal, his aids, and portions, at least, of such dele^tions as had already arrived, and the band - an E bugle played by Sam Parker, and a clarionet manipulated by another musical genius, whose name we have forgotten. Neither one of the members of this ''band" knew anything of music, and consequently could not "keep time" or play in unison, so they concluded to play separately. The effect of this double solo may be imagined, but is not easily described; but headed by' this band, the delegations were marched into town. Men, women and children took part in this meeting, which was addressed by Hon. Edw, Baker (who subseij^uently became a general in the union army), Jacob B. Miller and others.

During this campaign, a number of incidents occurred in Pockford, the mention of which awakens recollections of olden times. Among these is the following:

The AVliigs had selected a log cabin on the corner of South Main and State streets, east side, and surmounted it with the tallest pole that could be found in the woods. Cords and pulleys were attached, and all was left in readiness to run up the stars and stripes. The night before the meeting for which these preparations were made, the Democrats conceived the idea of playing a trick on their Whig neighbors, and at once put it into eiiect. To a red flannel skirl (which was claimed by the Democrats to be suggestive of some little difficulty in which General Harrison was the chief actor) they attached the cord and running it up to the top of the pole, cut the cord so high that it could not be taken down. But the anticipated effect of this intended joke was lost, for the Whigs were not disconcerted by it in the least, but calmly said to the perpetrators, "'if that is your flag, gentlemen, you are welcome to it." To the credit of the more thoughtful of the Democrats, like Haight, Knappen and others, they condemned the act as unworthy of good Democrats, and washed their hands of the affair in an extra edition of the Stm' (Knappen's paper), which was freely circulated at the Whig meeting.

The most active Whig speakers of those days were M. P. Sweet, of Freeport, Jacob B. Miller, and the present Judge Drummond, who was at that time a young lawyer practicing at the Rockford bar, and Judge Selden M. Church, who still lives at Kockford. The Democrats were locally represented by Thompson Campbell, Jason Marsh, Daniel S. Haight, and P. Knappen, editor of the Star.

In 1840 the Winnebago prairies, hill tops and river valleys seemed to be alive with Whigs', and Democracy was on the decline. This condition ot the political pulse alarmed the Democrats and nerved them to action. A great Democratic meeting was called, and preparations made on an elaborate scale for the diffusion of Democratic truths. The enemy must be assaulted and the Whig ari'.iy routed, horse, foot and dragoon. To this end, the biggest guns of the party were engaged to be present and belch forth Democratic thunder. Huge posters were procured and spread broadcast, announcing in heavy lines and flaming colors the. names of the speakers and a brief outline of the programme. Among the speakers was John^ - -Long John - Wentworth, of Chicago, then a Democrat in good standing, of whom, on this occasion, the following joke is told:

Some days before the great Democratic rally was to take place, the towering form of Mr. Wentworth loomed up in the midst of the Pockfordites, by whom he was looked ti'p to as the great political Moses who was to deliver the Democracy from the toils the Whigs were spreading around them. The day before that set for the meeting, Mr. Wentworth sought the solitude and privacy o± an adjacent grove (so the story goes), and mounting a convenient log, with the trees for an audience, proceeded to rehearse the speech he had prepared for delivery the next day. But he was not unheard by man. Giles C. Hard, the ferryman, was an involuntary listener, and after listening to the speaker's flow of .logic and eloquence until his pent-up admiration and enthusiasm could be controlled no longer, he gave vent to his feelings in ''rapturous applause," and rushed forward to congratulate Mr. W. upon his soul-stirring address. It is needless to say, that, though approaching the finale of his speech, it was not fully completed that day nor the next in consequence of Mr. Hard's interruption, and the subsequent act in the drama. The joke was too good to keep, and Hard opened the bag, or rather his mouth, and let the secret out.. Mr. B. J. Gray, the editor of the Whig newspaper, the Express, got hold of it, and Hard, having a good memory, repeated it to that gentleman, who noted ir down. That night the Express office was illuminated and Mr. Wentvvorth's speech to the trees put in type, and long before the Democratic meeting appointed for the next day had assembled, extras of the Express containing this speech were issued, and scattered broadcast througliout Rockford, thus forestalling the public mind, and stealing the speaker's thunder. The originality, poetry and eloquence of the speech were gone, and what little of it Mr. Wentworth did deliver, fell vapid upon the ears of his listeners. Knowing the cause and appreciating the awkwardness of the situation, the speaker finally abandoned the line of tlie stolen speech, and branched off in an entirely different line of argumcTit, and, rising to the dignity of the occasion, made one of the best political speeches (from a Democratic stand-point) ever delivered in Winnebago County.

After having been once beaten for the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court of Hamilton County, Ohio, and for President in 1836, General Harrison was elected in 1840, but lived to fill the office but one month. Of all the presidents before or since his time, Van Buren was the only one who left his salary as president intact and untouched until the expii-ation of his term (March, 1841), when he drew the entire amount, $100,000 in gold, and retired to Kinder hook. In after years he became the leader and candidate of the Free Soil party for president.

Pkairie Bandits And Outlawry

As the immigration increased, a few bad and dishonest characters followed, and scattered themselves about among the people in different parts of the county. Up to 1840-1 only one crime of a serious nature (and of that mention has already been made), so far as the records show, had been committed. But from this time for several years forward, the honest people seem to have been at the mercy of the outlaws and desperadoes. This gang of cut-throats, however, was not confined to Winnebago County alone, but was spread broadcast over the country, while they had communication with like characters in all the Western and Southwestern states and territories. The honest, industrious part of the community had been attracted here by the advantages the country offered for procuring homes and the accumulation of sufficient wealth to provide against want in declining years. The blacklegs followed, on the same principle that "where the carcass is, there will be gathered the buzzards also." Another consideration with them, perhaps, was the scarcity of jails and prisons, the unorganized condition of society, the absence of civil law, and consequently the comparative ease with which they might escape detection, or at least punishment by imprisonment, etc. For several years after the first settlement of Winnebago County, the nearest jail was at Galena, and that was only an apology for a prison. It is related that on one occasion an evil doer was sentenced to jail for some offense, and that he was taken to the Galena jail and locked up. The sheriff started home, but had scarcely left the shadow of the jail, before his prisoner managed to get out, and when the sheriff arrived at Rockford, his late prisoner was among the first to greet his return. In those days the facilities for administering justice were necessarily incomplete, the courts l)ut imperfectly organized, while the resources from which to derive revenue to pay officers of law, were very limited. Most of the people who had settled here brought but little of this world's goods with them, but depended on their own strong arms and industry and the resources of nature to sup- ply tliem with the necessaries of life. All these things were understood and considered by the black-legs and their allies, and were just so many arguments to induce them to choose this as a held for their operations. The sparse settlements, absence of thickly traveled roads and the long distances between houses, oflered favorable opportunities for transferring stolen horses from one section to another. Extending from Wisconsin down through Illinois into Missouri and Arkansas, there was unquestionably a line of horse thieves, along which stolen horses were almost continaously passing. This line had convenient stations, and the stations were in charge of men, who, to all outward appearances were honest, hard-working settlers. Under this arrangement a horse stolen at either end of the line, or anywhere in its vicinity in the interior, for that matter, could be passed from one agent to another, and no one of the agents be absent from his home or business for more than a few hours at a time. And thus, for years, they could remain unsuspected. But these operations grew bolder and bolder. Horse after horse would be stolen and spirited away, no one knew where or how. Robbery after robbery occurred throughout the country, and every once in a while a mangled corpse would be found in some uninhabifed wood. Counterfeit money was flooding the country, but no clue to the authors of these crimes could be obtained. Ogle County, particularly, seemed to be a favorite and chosen field for the operations of these outlaws, but they extended into Winnebago as well. At last they became too common for longer endurance. Patience ceased to be a virtue; and hope that such things would die out as the country advanced in population and improvements, grew sick, and determined desperation seized upon the minds of men, and they resolved if there were no laws that would protect them against the ravages of thieves, roljbers and counterfeiters, that they would protect themselves. It was a desperate resolve, and desperately and bloodily executed.

It may not be amiss in this connection to state, that, as subsequent events proved, some of the gang of villains, to whose operations reference has just been made, had so conducted themselves before the public that they had been clothed with positions of trust. This is particularly true as to Lee County. About the year 1835 or 1836 there came to Inlet Grove, in that county, Adolphus Bliss and his wife, Hannah, and two other men named Dewey and West. These parties were the first to settle in that part of the county, and from the close intimacy that existed between them, they came to be known to the later settlers as " Bliss, Dewey, West & Co," They had each settled on government land, and to the casual passer-by seemed to be intent on making farms and -earning an honest living. But time and events proved otherwise. Bliss had built a log house, which was known all along the Rock River valley as the " Log Tavern." On a board in front of the house painted in large black letters, was this inscription - " Travellers' Home." To many a land hunter in those days that sign was a welcome sight, and many a family and individual sojourned there longer than they would have done had they known the true character of the proprietors. Later events showed that this " Log Tavern " was a rendezvous for counterfeiters, or, at least, a distributing point for their currency and coin, especially the latter. Making change is quite a business in its way with hotel keepers, and, as most people know, change is sometimes hard to get. But "Aunt Hannah," the wife of Bliss, was never " short," and never allowed herself to become

SO, for she had the means of always making the supply eqnal to the demand, for, as subsequently shown, she kept no less than five sets of bogus dies sewed up in her feather bed. jSTow, for the other ])arties: Dewey was Bliss' nearest neighl)or on the one hand, and "West on the other, the last ol whom eventually turned traitor, and revealed the secrets of "Bliss, Dewey, West c^ Co."' As the settlement in that neighborhood increased, Dewey was elected justice of the peace, and West was chosen constable. Whenever their funds began to run low, all that was necessary to replenish their exchequer was to call on Aunt Hannah, and officially demand the dies, and their demands were never resisted - -for such resistance would have been a criminal breach of the law! Whenever an attempt was made to arrest a villain. Justice Dewey would inform his comrades of the facts, then issue a warrant and place it in the hands of Constable West for knowing in which direction the outlaw had gone, would start out in hot haste in a directly opposite direction, and, of course, always return his warrant endorsed "not found." For years, the firm of "Bliss, Dewey, Westct Co." boldly prosecuted this kind of business. At last, however, their true characters were unmasked, and Bliss and Dewey were arrested, tried, convicted and sent to the states prison at Alton, West appearing against them as a witness on the part of the people that he and they had so long outraged and plundered.

From 1837-8 to 1844-5, when the gang was finally broken up - some of them killed by the "regulators," some arrested and sent to the penitentiary, and the others driven from the state - horse stealing was carried on in a wholesale manner. Two men named Birch and Sutton seem to have been trusty leaders of the gang, and to them was confided tlie duty of running horses from Wisconsin to Missouri, and from Missouri to Wisconsin. These fellows would come up from the south and southwest with stolen horses, and, unless in fear of immediate pursuit, would sometimes leave them with Dewey, West & Sawyer, at Inlet Grove; Bridge, Driscoll & Co., at Washington Grove; or Oliver ^fe Co., at Rockford, and so on to the end of the line. These parties would dispose of them as emergencies or necessities required. This brings our history back to Winnebago county.

Charles Oliver,. of whom mention was made in the last preceding paragraph, was a man of pleasing exterior, and, as is sometimcfs said ot counterfeit bills "well calculated to deceive." He came here in 1836, when Haight's old Rockford House was in the zenith of its glory, where he became a permanent and popular b(jarder, "a hale fellow well met," but Avho, as was afterwards proven in court, was the head center and ring leader of the gang of outlaws that infested this part of tlie country for so many years. But notwithstanding all this, he came near being foisted on to the Rockford community as a justice of the peace, the particulars of which we glean from Mr. James B. Martyn, an early settler of Winnebago county, but now of Belvidere, and from whose memory we have heretofore quoted. Says this authority: "Oliver was a man of some means, his father telling me that he had started Charles out in the world with $4,000, hoping that he would do well. An election for a justice of the peace coming on some time aftor young Oliver's arrival, he was chosen as a candidate on the one side, and myself (Martyn) on the other. The election was closely contested, and the polls did not close until 10 o'clock at night. In those days, so long as a vote was ofiered every ten minutes, the polls were kept open ; and in this instance the friends of the respective candidates were so anxious and deter- mined that tliej never quit the polls until every voter in the precinct had been br()no;lit out, and was known to have cast his ballot. Oliver was beaten by a small majority."

Up to 1841 no decisive measures had been inaugurated to rid the country of* the presence of the villains that had apparent control of everything. The laws could not be enforced with any degree of efficiency. If arrested, tried and found sufficiently guilty to hold them to bail (in bailable offenses) there were no jails sufficiently secure to hold them, and even if there had been, there were members of the gang abundantly able to offer any amount of bail required, and thus it came about that the ranks of the outlaws were iKiver thinned out by the imprisonment of any of the members of the unworthy fraternity. In April, of this year, however, fifteen honest, sturdy, fearless and determined men who had been victims to the predatory raids of the outlaws, held a meeting in a log school house at White Rock, for consultation. These fifteen men represented a large district of county upon which the gang had so long preyed unmolested. Some of them were native born Americans - ^some were Canadians, and some were Scotchmen, but all were resolute and determined. Without entering into details, suffice it to say that that meeting, after fully and carefully reviewing the situation and the repeated outrages to which the commiinity had been subjected, and recognizing the fact, as it seemed to them, that law, justice and its executives were inadequate to the protection of the people and the arrest and punishment of the outlaws, they entered into a solemn compact with each other to rid the county of the desperadoes by which it was infested. The course resolved upon was to visit every known or suspected person, and notify them to leave the county within a given length of time, and that if they did not comply, they would be summarily and severely dealt with - stripped and lashed until they would promise to comply with the decision and demands of the " Regulators." To the accomplishment of this work the Ogle County Regulators solemnly pledged themselves or to die in the attempt. The work was soon commenced. From fifteen, their number soon increased to scores and hundreds. Their first victim was a man whom it was charged had been the means of having a neighbor's horse stolen. He was taken out of his house and ordered to strip, which order he obeyed. His hands were tied behind his back, when he was given thirty-six lashes with a raw hide, well applied, the blood following every stroke. He stood the ordeal, said an eye witness, without flinching, and when the terrible work was ended, he remarked: " Now, as your rage is satisfied, and to prove that I am an honest man, I will join your company." He became a meml»er, although it was almost certainly known that before this castigation his life had not been one of irreproachable honesty. Their next victim was a man who had once been a Baptist preacher in the east, but had long since fallen from his high estate. He was notified to leave the country, which he agreed to do, but after leaving him, it seems that a part of the " regulators returned to his house, took him. out, tied him to a burr oak tree, and gave him ninety-six lashes.

Once started, the organization spread, and soon extended into Boone, McHenry and Winnebago counties, and, says the authority from which we quote, " had a reg flag been hoisted during the night over every house the inmates of which sympathized with the regulators, the people, when they awoke, would have suj)posed the whole county had the small-pox." The friends and comrades of the men who had been whipped and ordered to leave the country were fearfully enraged and swore eternal and bloody vengeance. Eighty of them assembled in the barn of one of their number, where their plans were laid and preparations made to visit White Rock and murder every man, wonian and child in that hamlet. Tiiat they absolutely started on that bloody mission is susceptible of proof, but on the way they met another member of the gang, a little cooler headed than the masses, who, learning the terrible object of their raid, implored them to desist from the undertaking, and was finally successful in prevailing upon them to disperse to their homes. The plans, however, of the desperadoes had been overheard, and intelligence of the threatened massacre carried to White Rock, where preparations were at once made by the people to defend their homes and their lives as dearly as the emergency of the occasion required. Fortunately the attack did not come, and the bloody work was averted.

Soon after this, Mr. S. Wellington, who liad been elected Captain of the Regulators, resigned, and John Campbell, a Scotchman and a devout Presbyterian, was chosen as his successor. Within two weeks after his election, he received a letter from William Driscoll filled with most direful threats - not only threatening Campbell's life, but the life of every one who dared to oppose their murderous, thieving operations. The only efl:ect of this letter was to add fuel to the already kindled flame, and in directing the rage of the entire community against the Driscolls. Soon after the receipt ot this letttr by Mr. Campbell, one hundred and ninety-six of the Regulators assembled together and marched to the residence of the Driscolls, in South Grove. On approaching the place, they discovered a number of ruffians armed to the teeth, as if inviting the attack. When within a half a mile of the house, they halted to complete arrangements for the assault. There it was determined that one of the number should go forward and beard the lion in his den. While preparing to draw lots as to who should undertake this supposed death-ride, a young man, who afterwards became one ot Rockford's best known citizens, volunteered to undertake the mission, and immediately started. As he neared the house, the door flew open, and nearly a score of rufiians, all armed with pistols, dashed out and made for the woods. The old man Driscoll mounted a fast horse and was soon beyond pursuit. One man remained behind, and he informed the two hundred determined men that Driscoll had gone to Sycamore to muster his forces, and that they would return in two hours to tight them. Nothing daunted, the Regulators dismounted and threw themselves upon the ground to await the coming of Driscoll's army.

At three o'clock in the afternoon Driscoll returned, but instead of bringing his threatened company of confederates he brought Sherift" Walrodd. Squire Mayo, and the Probate Judge, Lovell, of Delvalb County. These gentlemen in(]uired the nature of the strange gathering, in answer to which Mr. Campbell, as leader of the citizens, made a decided and eflective answer, every word of which fell with powerful force against Driscoll and his confederates. He not only told why they were there, and for what purpose they had come, but what they intended to do. He told of crimes the DriscoUs had committed - how William Driscoll and another man had robbed, and some said murdered, a peddlar and secreted the plunder in a barn, and that in a day or two afterwards Driscoll had gone in the dead of night and stolen the goods from his confederate, thereby "making himself the meanest thief on the face of God's earth." The DriscoUs btood by livid with rage, and gnashed their teeth as Campbell told^of their dark deeds.

When Campbell had finished, the three gentlemen from DeKalb who had come over with Driscoll abandoned them, and told the citizens that any time they needed help to carry out their purpose to call on Sycamore, from whence they could rely on at least one hundred good and willing men.

The Driscolls were then notified to leave the state, and were allowed to name the day when they would depart. They fixed the time at twenty days. Soon after the citizens dispersed to their homes.

The Driscolls did not leave the state, nor did they make preparations to leave. On the^ontrary, they continued in their evil ways, and if possible became bolderand more defiant than ever. In less than ten days after the events narrated above, a meeting of the outlaws and desperadoes was held on the farm of a man named William Bridge, at Lafayette Grove, where the murder of Campbell was planned, and Bridge and David Driscoll detailed to the ati-ocious work. They were sworn to waylay Campbell, and not to leave him until he was a corpse.

SuJiday, June 27, 1841, the bloody deed was accomplished. Campbell and his family had gone to church, several miles [distant, in the morning. On their return in the afternoon, he stopped at his barn to care for his horses. This care discharged, he started from the barn towards his house, when he was confronted by Bridge and Driscoll, the former of whom asked him some question, and before he could answer it Driscoll raised his gun and shot him through the heart, and Campbell fell to the earth a corpse. Their oath had been kept.

JN'ews of the murder spread like wildfire. Indignation against the Driscolls was aroused to fever heat. On Monday, the 2Sth, the remains of Campbell w^ere buried. After the funeral, the excitement and indignation against the perpetrators and instigators of the bloody crime broke out afresh. The very air was filled with threats of vengeance against them, and nothing but the lives of the murderous gang would pay the penalty. News of the terrible crime had been carried to Sycamore, Oregon and Rockford, and help in the work of extenuation demanded, and it was given. Monday afternoon Rockford was more like a deserted village than a bustling, busy little village. Every man that could go, went - all determined to avenge Campbell's death. The arrest of William Driscoll was made by Rockford men. Men from Oregon, headed by the Sheriff, had arrested old man Driscoll and lodged him in the Ogle county jail. Bridge and David Driscoll could not be found. They had escaped the vigilance of an outraged people, and fled no one knew whither. Tuesday morning, the 29th, "the Oregon people heard that the citizens of Rockford had William Driscoll a prisoner at Lafayette Grove, and the old man was immediately taken from the jail, a rope put around his neck, by which he was dragged after the infuriated populace to the ferry, where they crossed to the opposite side of the rivei-, and by ten o'clock they had joined the Rockford division at Washington Grove. By this time the crowd had increased to at least five hundred men. Three of the Driscolls - the old man, William and Pierce, the latter being the youngest of the family - were prisoners. Only the old man was manacled. In the centre of one group stood William Driscoll, knowing full well that at last he had been overtaken in his career of crime, and that his life was about to pay the penalty. He was about forty-five years of age, rather above the average of men in height, heavy set and muscular, and would probably have tipped the scales at one hundred and eighty pounds. He was a man of strong will and great endurance. Alls features were firm and presented a peculiarly heavy appearance. He was that type of man that could face any (U-dinary danger without the least fear, hut here were five hundred resolute, determined men to hold him to an account for his iiianifdld crimes, the remembrance of which at this moment no doubt arose before him like so many spectres. Pierce, his youno^er brother, stood near by, and soon the father, dragged along by a rope tied around his neck, was placed near them. "This man," says tliose who knew him, "was a singular looking specimen of humanity. He wa^ upwards of six feet in height, slightly inclined to corpulency, and weighed aU)ut two hundred pounds. He was all muscle and .sinew, and every way one of the most powerful men in all that crowd of half a thousand men. His face was the only repulsive feature about old John Driscoll, which was owing to the loss of a part of his nose, which had long before been bitten ofi' in a fight. His hair was iron gray and coarse, his eyebrows heavy and shaggy -like, and his face smooth." Untrembling and unmoved, he stood motionless in the midst of his inquisitors and executioners.

One of the men standing near by asked the old man how many horses he supposed he had stolen during his life of crime and outlawry, to which he coolly replied: "I presume I have been the. means of stealing from fifty to one hundred," and as he thus answered a momentary smile flashed across his features.

William Driscoll was similarly questioned. He admitted that at one of their midnight conclaves he had suggested that Campbell should be served as the gang had served a man out in Iowa - killed - but denied all knowledge of the murder of John Campbell on the Sunday before.

About this time Lawyers Latimer and. Jason Marsh arrived from Rockford, and they were made spokesmen for the part3\ Old man Driscoll, carefully guarded, was allowed to step aside for consultation with Marsh, to whom he protested that he was innocent. When the time granted for this consultation had expired. Marsh announced in a few words that Driscoll had no confession to make, and urged the crowd not to be too hasty in the premises, and that time be allowed the men to ])repare tor death. He also urged that Pierce Driscoll, the younger, be released, to which the crowd assented.

Latimer, for the people, made a vehement address, saying that nothing but blood would palliate the crimes that had been committed, that as long as the gang of outlaws were permitted to remain on the earth, no community would be safe from their depredations and crimes. The Driscolls, if not the head centers and authors and instigators of the untold robberies and murders that had been committed in the country, were at least accomplices, and had shared in the plunder. He maintained that the people were justified in taking the course they had, that their safety demanded it, that the murder of Campbell must be avenged, and that if the actual murdei-ers could not he found, those who planned the foul deed must suffer in their stead, and concluded by urging the immediate execution of John Driscoll and his son, William.

When Latimer concluded his remarks, the son-in-law of Campbell moved that sentence of death be passed upon the two prisoners. The motion was submitted to the crowd. Death-like silence prevailed, and the prisoners, although calm and motionless, turned deathly pale. When at last the silence was broken, tho vote was almost unanimous in favor of immediate execution, and the men were told to prej)are to die. The old man was the first to speak, and turning to a by-stander he said: "If you are going to shoot me down, for God's sake take this rope from my neck, for it is choking me/' CampbelTs son-in-law untied it. One hour was given them for prayer, and two ministers who were present prayed with the condemned men, to one of whom it is said William Driseoll confessed that he had murdered no less than six men with his own hand. -He prayed for forgiveness and became quite penitent. The old man was determined, and held out to the very end without uttering the simple prayer, "God have mercy on my soul."

The hour expired, the moment of execution had come. One hundred citizens, t>Tmed with rifles, were formed in two death divisions - fifty were to fire upon the old man and fifty upon his son "William. The old man was led tVirth first; his eyes were bandaged, and he was made to kneel upon the earth. All things in readiness, the word to fire was given, and the old man fell to the earth riddled and shattered to pieces with the charges oi fifty r'lfies.

William and Pierce Driseoll witnessed the execution of their father. William's fate came next. In the last hour abject fear overcame his former boldness, and his hair turned almost white. In a semi-conscious condition he was led forth, and in a few minutes his body was riddled by the discharges from the other fifty rifles, and lay bleeding and quivering by the side of his father.

Pierce Driseoll was told that he would be permitted to take charge of the dead bodies of his father and brother, and that teams and help would be provided to convey them home and prepared for burial, but the offer was declined with the declaration th^t he would have nothing to do with it. Sjmdes and shovels were procured and a rude grave was dug on the spot where thej^ had been killed, and unwashed and uncoffined, ghastly and gory, their bodies were rolled into the one grave together and covered over. Three weeks later their bodies were taken up by their friends, washed and given a decent burial.

Unparalleled excitement followed these proceedings. The volunteer club scoured the country in every direction to find William Bridge and David Driseoll, and Bridge barely made his escape. When the Regulators were at his house, he was hidden in an excavation underneath it. When the Regulators had gone, he left his home and fled from the State, but subsequently returned, and was arrested. David Driseoll was arrested some years later and tried on the charge of killing Campbell, but was finally ac(piitted, when he left the country.

It is true that this bloody tragedy was enacted in an adjoining county, but being so closely allied to Winnebago, and participated in by people from this county, that it luiturally forms a part of the history we are writing. Many of the participants became wealthy and respected citizens, and there is no doubt but what they honestly and conscientiously l)elieved it was the only means by which they could rid the country of the outlaws that infested it, and thereby protect their lives and their property. But this disposition of the Driscolls was not the end.

People diftered as to the means employed to free the country of the presence of the desperadoes, and took sides aceordingl3^ Mr. Ivna])pen, editor of the Star^ took strong groumls against the proceedings in the Driseoll case, and denounced it in strong language. In an editorial under date of July 1, 1841, Mr. Knappen said:

" Now, be it kuown to all the world that we have solemnly resolved that the proceedings of the Ogle County, or any county volunteer lynch company, cannot be justified or encouraged in our columns. The view we take of the subject does not permit us to approve the measures and conduct of th said company. If two or three hundred citizens are to assume the administration of the lynch law in the face and eyes of the laws of the land, we shall soon have a fearful state of things, and where, we ask, will it end if mob law is to supercede the civil law? If it is tolerated, no man's life or property is safe; his neighbor, who may be more popular than himself, will possess an easy, ready way to be revenged by misrepresentation and false accusation; in short, of what avail are our legislative bodies and their enactments? We live in a land of laws, and to them it becomes us to resort and submit for the punishment and redress as faithful keepers of the laws, and thus extend to each other the protection and advantages of the law, and repulse every attempt to deprive a fellow citizen of the precious privilege granted in all civilized countries - namely, the right to be tried by an impartial jury of twelve good men of his county. JBut, perhaps, it will be argued by some, that we have in this new conutry no means or proper places for securing offenders and breakers of the laws, to which we answer, then build them. The time ah-eady spent by three or four hundred men in this and Ogle counties, at three or four different times, and from two to four days at a time, this season, would have built jails so strong that no man, or dozen men on earth, deprived of implements with which to work, and confined in them, could ever escape, and guard them sufficiently strong by armed men outside, to prevent assistance from rescuing them from the arm of the law. Would not this course be much more patriotic and creditable to the citizens of a civilized and Christianized country, than to resort to the administration of mob law by Judge Lynch? Not on us, gentlemen, but on your own heads be the responsibility; we wash our hands clear from the Blood of Lynch Law.''''

In the same number of the Star from which the above is quoted, there appeared two communications - one signed Yox Populi, taking strong grounds against the action of the Kegulators, pronouncing them a ^^Band'ltti^'' etc. This writer says: "Banditti like, after organization, these fiends in human shape, commenced traversing the country for plunder - not, perhaps, valuable goods, but the liberty and livks of their fellow citizens! Every one who happened to fall under the suspicion of one or more of this gang, was at once brought beibre their self-constituted tribunal, where there was no difficulty in procuring testimony for convicting him of any crime named, when he was sentenced, and men appointed to inflict the adjudged punishment, which, in the embryo existence of the 'Clan,' generallj^ consisted in giving the culprit from twenty to three hundred lashes well laid on. * * * No one pretends that John and William DriscoU had committed murder, nor can they say that they merited the punishment they received, even had they been found guilty by an impartial jury of their country of the crime alleged by the mob. No: had imimpeachable testimony been brought to prove them guilty of that for which circumstantial evidence was horribly distorted to convict tliem, the penalty would have been but three to live years imprisonment in the penitentiary." This correspondent also says that "some three weeks since [before the date of his letter], John Driscoll was arrested for some misdemeanor, by the 'Lynching Club,' and after being threatened with whipping and death unless he revealed the names of the horse-thieves and counterfeiters belonging to the tril)e, consented to give the names of certain persons suspected by him, intimating at the same time that some of the members of the club then present would curse the day that the disclosures had been extorted. An almost unanimous cry for his release was raised, and he was set at libertv! And has it come to this, that in a land of civilization and Christianity, blessed with as wholesome a code of laws as man's ingenuity ever invented, < a few desperadoes shall rise up and inflict all manner of ])unishment, even dp:atu, upon whomsoever they please? Shall all Civil Law be sacriflced and trampled in the dust at the shrine of Mobycracy!' Shall the life and property of no one receive any protection from the civil law, but both be subject to the nod of an inconsiderate and uncontrollable mob? Shall these things he so? Or will the people rise en masse, and assert the laws of the land, and enforce the same against the murderers and lynchers? The latter course is certaiidy pointed out by justice, and I trust in God that justice will be meted out to all who have had a hand in this bloody business."

The second communication to which reference was made above, was signed "B," bore date July 1, 1841, and sustained the action of the Regulators. It was generally credited to Mr. Latimer, the attorney, who made such a violent address on the occasion of the killing of the Driscolls. He subsequently removed to Lancaster, Grant County, Wisconsin, where he was killed in a street fight with a gambler.

The Star editorial already quoted, and the communication of Vox Populi, only maddened the Regulators the more, and a few nights after the paper was issued containing these articles, the office was entered by unknown parties and the type in forms and cases "pied" - that is, turned out on the floor promiscuously, and the entire office reduced to a pile of ruins. Knappen's hopes were blasted, and he shortly sold the wreck to John A. Brown, who rescued the material from confusion, and the publication of a paper called the Pilot commenced. But murders, and robberies and kindred crimes did not stop with the killing of the Driscolls and the sacking of the Star office. Outrages continued, and the people came to live in almost uninte]'ru])ted fear and alarm. JSTo horse owner knew at what hour his stables would be plundered or himself murdered. Without entering into a detailed specification of the repeated outrages, robberies, etc., we will enumerate a few of the boldest in the order of their occurrence:

On the night of the 18th of September, ISiS, the store of William McKinney, in Rockford, was entered and plundered of a trunk containing between $700 and $800. A brother of McKinney was sleeping in the store, but was awakened by the noise made by the midnight prowlers, and attempting to oppose the robber, who called him by name, he was awed into silence and non-resistance by a knife that was placed against his breast, the thief remarking that he "must have the trunk containing the money, as he could not affijrd to run such risks for nothing." He got the trunk and escaped, and eluded capture.

Scarcely had the excitement created by this bold robbery died away, when the community was again startled by the perpetration of a bolder one still. This robbery was committed on one of Frink, "Walker & Co.'s fourhorse mail coaches, about four miles out from Rockford towards Chicago, while, as it is stated, the coach was actually in motion and full of passengers, but was not discovered until the coach arrived at Newbergh. The following morning the trunks and baggage were found a few rods from the road, broken open and rifled of all their valuables. A newspaper puljlished liL're at the time, in speaking of this robbery said: "What renders these transactions Still more exciting, is the fact that they are committed by those who are perfect scholars in the business movements of the town," No immediate clue to this last bold robbery was obtained.

This stage robbery was followed a few weeks later by another one fully as daring, in this instance the house of William Mulford, in Guilford township, was entered in the night time, andjwhile a ]3arty of the gang stood guard over Mr. and Mrs. Mulford, who had gone to bed, the others ransacked the house, and found about $400, which they carried away. It had been rumored that Mulford had received some $15,000 from IS'ew York a short time before, and this rumor had reached the ears of the gang. But luckily, if such sum had been received, it was so carefully secreted as to be beyond discovery by the robbers. The alarm was given next morning, and although the country was hunted over for miles, not a track of the desperadoes could be found, and in a short time this robbery was almost forgotten in the series of depredations that followed - all so perfectly planned and carried out, that detection and discovery seemed impossible. But argus-eyed Nemesis was on their track.

The killing of the Driscolls was one stej) made towards ridding the country from desperadoes. But many other steps were necessary before the work would be fully completed. In the early part of the summer of 1845, Charles West, of the firm of Bliss, Dewey, West & Co., of whom mention has heretofore been made, became offended at the sang. Taking advantage of this circumstance, certain respectable people in the immediate neighborhood of the Bliss and Dewey rendezvous, succeeded in prevailing upon West to reveal the names of the gang that had been operating through this part of the country, and a number of them were soon afterwards arrested. Among some of the most prominent and active members of the gang were: Chas. Oliver, Jr., and Wm. McDowell, of Bockford; Sutton, alias Fox, Birch, the "boss" thief of the gang, and who was known from one end of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to the other by the several aliases of Harris, Haynes and Brown ; Bridge, Davis, Thomas Aiken, and Baker. Besides, there were a number of others whose names are forforgotten. Among other revelations made by West, was the plan, as well as the names of the parties, who robbed McKinney's store, in liockford, and Mulford's in Guilford. Oliver, the man who came near being elected to the office of justice of the peace, in Rockford, (a fact already mentioned), was the local director and manager of the gang. He planned the Mulford robbery, and shared the plunder. McDowell, a carpenter, was one of the parties that actively participated in that robbery. On the strength of . West's testimony, Oliver and McDowell were indicted by a night session of the grand jur}^, in June, 1843. The sheriff at that particular time was absent. There was no deputy, and the coroner, next in authority to the sheriff, was the father-in.lavv of McDowell. This fact rendered him an unsafe person to be entrusted with the arrest of Oliver and McDowell. Under the law in those days, two justices of the peace could appoint an officer to act in cases of emergency where there was no slieriiF, or in the absence of that ollicer; and aetino- nnder tliis h\w, Channcy Burton and Willard Wheeler, justices of the peace at thar time, were called up out of bed, and Mr. Goodyear A. Sandford, the last preceding sheriff, appointed to arrest Oliver and McDowell. By this time, the night was well nigh gone, and as the affair had been kept perfectly quiet, their arrest was deferred till the next day, when Mr. Sanford took them into custody without difliculty. At the same time, Bridge, implicated in the killing of Campbell, who had returned to Ogle County, was also arrested and brought u]) to the Winnebago jail. The news of the arrest of Oliver, McDowell and Bridge rekindled the old embers of excitement, and it was determined that no bail ought to be offered or accepted for the release of these parties, but that they should be held in close custody until they could be tried in the Circuit Court. The raui'der of Colonel Davenport a month later, July 4,1845, added fresh fury to the excitement of the people, and it is a matter of remark that the same fate was not meted to the parties under arrest, that had been meted out to the Driscolls; for the finger of suspicion unerringly pointed to Birch and Sutton, alias Fox and Davis, members of the gang, as his murderers, but better counsels prevailed, and they were left to the courts.

The trial of Oliver came on August 26, 1845. Among other revelations. West had stated that Oliver had planned the robbery of Mulford, and that although he was not present when the crime was perpetrated, he had received a share of the stolen money. This money he exchanged for stolen horses. Oliver and McDowell had confided the secrets of the Mulford robbery to a man named Irving A. Stearns, to whom Oliver had offered some of the Mulford money in exchange for a horse. Subsequently Stearns went to Michigan, where, for some crime, he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary, facts which the reader will please bear in mind.