German Valley, Illinois

The township formed a portion of Silver Creek Precinct until after the passage of the law providing for township organization, when it was laid oif and named, it is said, after a clerk in the Post Office Department at Washington. The first settlement of the town was made in the spring of 1836, by Andrew iTackson and Jeiferson Niles, who claim to have come on the 4th of March of that year, and built a shanty on the east bank of the Pecatonica. During the winter of 1835 or 1836, or early in the spring of the latter year, Harvey P. Waters, accompanied by Lyman Bennett, visited the present territory of Stephenson County, and halted at the mouth of Yellow Creek, now included within the limits of Silver Creek Township. He remained here until spring had become an established fact in this section, when he removed to Ridott, and is still enumerated in the census of that town. That spring, it is said, quite a number of settlers identified themselves with future Ridott, and, besides increasing the number of voters in that portion of the county, contributed materially to the promulgation of its attractions. Among these were Sawyer Forbes, Daniel Wooten, who settled one mile west of the present village of Ridott ; Horace Colburn, where Samuel Moyer now resides ; a man named Wickham, who entered the land upon which the village of Ridott is located ; John Reed and brother, who squatted on the Farwell farm ; Benjamin and Josiah Ostrander, at the mouth of the Creek ; David Niles, on land subsequently owned by Garrett Lloyd ; Asa Nichols, and some others. They, one and all, indulged the same anticipations, experienced the same vicissitudes, conquered the same hardships, and rejoiced in final victory, as did those who came at an early day, and, in other portions of the county, were tried and triumphed gloriously.

Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.

About 1850, lands began to increase in value and command ready sale. During that year, the influx of Germans was quite large. They were composed of the better class of that nationality, and, settling south of the old State road, opened up farms and completed improvements, which to the present day, testify in behalf of those who projected and concluded them. The colony originally numbered about fifty members, among whom were Poppa Poppa, Wessel Wessels, Jurin van Buckum, Christian Akerman, Folk Huyanga, Yelle Ruter, Uno Collman, T. Jussen and others, whose descendants have survived them and succeeded to generous inheritances, the fruit of labor employed by their parents, and which has done so much to create a demand for land in the State.

Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.

From 1850 to 1860, the settlements made by individuals and parties were more frequent and permanent. In 1852, the Galena & Chicago road, since passed into the possession of the Northwestern corporation, was completed through Ridott and contributed materially to the populating and improvement of the township. In 1860, the lands had been generally taken up and occupied ; the war, as a matter of course, diminished the population to an appreciable extent ; but since its close, the numbers who enlisted and never returned have been made up by the arrival of those now counted among the inhabitants and identified with the public good. The township, to-day, is regarded, by those at least who reside within its limits, as one of the most healthful, fertile and desirable in the county, the home of industry, independence and prosperity.

Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Ridott Township - it names this place 10 more 10 times.