Bloomingdale Township

Bloomingdale Township

Silas Meacham, Lyman Meacham, and Harvey Meacham, were the first settlers of this town. They came here together, and clearing away the snow from a spot selected for the purpose, pitched their tents, on the eleventh day of March, 1833. The Indians, who were numerous at that time, were their only neighbors during the first year. There were no settlers nearer than King's grove, on the east branch of the Du Pages, none on the Chicago and Galena road, and none on Fox river above Green's mill. Their Indian neighbors were generally peaceable and quiet, but filled with all manner of superstitious and savage peculiarities. Soon after the settlement commenced, a dog was discovered in the grove hanging from a limb to which it was fastened, with a piece of tobacco tied to each foot. The settlers afterward learned from Lawton, an Indian trader, that the Indians had had some bad luck, and the dog was offered as a sacrifice.

The grove was known among the Indians as Penneack grove, and received its name from a root found in it, resembling the potato. It grew in such abundance, that the Indians came for it, and carried it away to their camps, in sacks, on their ponies.

The Indians were generally trusty, and on the whole proved themselves good neighbors. The settlers placed great confidence in them. They frequently came to all cases. Harvey Meacham once loaned his valuable rifle to one of them for several days, on the promise that he would return it at a certain time; the Indian, faithful to his word, brought it back on the appointed day.

wagon box which was brought from the east. The next death in the settlement was that of a young mechanic, who came into the town with Major Skinner, jn 1834. He was buried in a coffin made of plank, split from a login the grove.

A small addition to the settlement was made in 1834. Among the settlers of that year were H. Woodworth, N. Stevens, D. Bangs, Elias Maynard, and Major Skinner. The Meacham brothers, during the first year, built a log house for each of their families, broke aad planted forty acres of prairie, and fenced it in, to secure it from their stock which grazed upon the open fields. At the end of the year 1834, the settlement had increased to twelve or fifteen families. Many trials, incident to the settlers of a new country, were experienced by these first pioneers. Weare informed by one of them, that it was no uncommon thing for a man to take his plow share and mould board, weighing some sixty pounds, upon his back and trudge away to Chicago, a distance of twenty-four miles, to get it sharpened.

The first election in this precinct was held at Elk grove, eight miles north east of Bloomingdale. Lyman Meacham was elected justice of the peace. The first path master went as far south as Warrenville, ten miles distant, to warn out the settlers on the highway to perform their road labor. The claim difficulty to which allusion has been made, occurred in this town. It is thought that no correct history of the horrid transaction has ever appeared. Thestatement of this affair, given in the life of George W. Green, the banker, who committed suicide in the Chicago jail, is very erroneous. The compilers have been at considerable pains to obtain a brief, and as they believe, an impartial account of the transaction, which is commonly known as

The Kent Tragedy

In the year 1835, or thereabouts, Ebenezer Peck bought the undivided half of Dr. Meacham's claim. While they held it jointly, they leased it to Milton Kent. Before the lease expired, Dr. Meacham sold his half to Mr. Peck, and moved to the O'Plain river, previous to any difficulty with Kent. The trouble respecting the claim commenced soon after Mr. Peck became the sole owner. Mr. Kent's lease expired in the spring of 1837, and the claim was sold to George W. Green, of Chicago, who came on to occupy it, but Mr. Kent would not allow him to take possession ; whereupon, a suit at law was brought, which after several years' litigation, resulted in giving Green a title to the whole property. In the mean time, Mr. Kent had built a house and barn suited to the business of tavern keeping, near the east end of the claim, and upon a piece of land which he and his friends said, Dr. Meacham gave him for a tavern stand. Near the first of March 1840, Mr. Green and family, accompanied by Daniel M. Green, the sheriff of Du Pacz County, came on to the ground and demanded the possession of the entire premises, tavern stand included. Mr. Kent was very unwilling to go, but notwithstanding his reluctance, he was forced to remove his household effects from the house he had built, and quit the premises on which he had invested all he had. His furniture was removed to a shanty which had been hastily constructed of boards upon the claim, ata little distance from the house. The sheriff notified him to leave the claim immediately, but at the old man's earnest request that he might remain over the Sabbath, it being then Saturday night, it was provided that he could do so upon the condition that he would depart early on Monday.

Old Mr. Kent was a man of iron will, and determined still to have the property, and,stake everything on the effort, preferring even death itself, to being conquered. After preparing a quit claim deed, the following plan, as revealed by those concerned in it, was adopted.

The old man, accompanied by his son, son-in-law, a friend, who afterwards married into the family, and a hired man, making five in all, were to go to the house of Mr. Green late on Sunday evening, decoy him to the door, seize him, carry him off and force him to sign the ded. When the time arrived they went to the house. Four of the number were on foot, and took their station at the side of the door,.to seize Green when he came out, while the fourth, who was on horseback, rode up in front of the house and called loudly for Mr. Green; but, instead of going to the door, Mr. Green answered him through the window of the room in which he was sleeping. The horseman told him that he wished to stop there over night, to which Mr. Green replied that the house was no longer a tavern; that he could obtain lodging a little further on. He had scarcely said this when the outside door was broken in with a loud crash. In an instant the four men who had been stationed at the door appeared in his room. He had prepared himself with arms for his defense, should he be molested, and seizing his rifle, fired in the direction of the assaulters. The ball passed through the collar of old Mr. Kent's coat, and escaped through the window frame. He then snapped his pistol, the muzzle being against the breast of one of his assailants, but the collar of his coat caught in the lock in some way, and it missed fire.

The room was very dark, and, therefore, Green had the better chance to defend himself. In entering the room a table of dishes was overturned, and two of the number sprang upon the bed, seizing Mrs. Green, whom they mistook for her husband. Finding their mistake, they left her unharmed, and went to the assistance of their comrades. In the meantime, Green seized alarge butcher knife, and commenced making desperate thrusts with it at all who came in his way. A son of Mr. Kent succeeded, at length, in grasping Green tightly around the body, in such a manner as to give him but little use of his arms; but he soon regretted his rashness, for it was not long before he felt the sharp point of the knife entering his back, and making an awful wound. He cried murder, implored Green to spare his life, and his comrades to come to his assistance.

Old Mr. Kent advanced, and was about to lay hold of Green, when he (Green) drew the knife from the body of the young man, and struck the old man a mortal blow under the left arm, at which he raised his hands, gave a dying shriek, left the room unobserved, walked a few paces from the door, and fell to the ground dead.

Young Kent was now released from Green's grasp, and, notwithstanding he had received, as he supposed, a mortal wound, he still determined to conquer, and the party rallied, with all their strength, to make one more effort to secure Green. A furious onslaught ensued, and Green was at last overpowered, although he fought desperately. He was knocked down, and beaten with merciless severity upon the head with a horse pistol, and afterward taken, in a senseless condition, from the floor and carried, without clothing, save his shirt, across the fields to the shanty. When he had recovered his senses, he was there required to sign the paper, and the young man whom he had so severely wounded with the knife remarked that "he must do it d - n quick, too, for he wanted to see it done before he died, and his boots were then overflowing with blood." Expecting that his life would be taken in any event, Green signed the papers in presence of the daughters, and then importuned them to let him die at once, upon which he was taken back across the field, and left, in an almost helpless state, near his house, which he succeeded in reaching soon after.

Mrs. Green, after witnessing the brutal treatment of her husband, and being left alone in the house, suffered the most intense alarm, supposing he would be killed, and that a similar fate awaited herself. She stood at the door crying murder, in a voice not above awhisper. The death of old Mr. Kent was not known to his son until after the papers were signed.

Consternation filled the minds of the settlers at such a tragedy transpiring in their midst. A sight never to be forgotten was the lifeless body of that old man, as it lay there upon the ground, his hair white like the frost of winter gathering around his icy temples, and ruffled by the passing breeze, as it moaned among the branches of the grove. His countenance was fresh as though life yet lingered in his veins, but his limbs were stiff and cold in death.

Green delivered himself up to the proper authority, and went before the grand jury of Du Pacr County, confessed the crime he had committed, and was discharged. Writs were issued for the arrest of Lorenzo Kent and others, concerned in the tragic affair. Kent was arrested, and while too ill, as was supposed, to be removed, fled out of the State. The family were scattered, and have never been united since in that hallowed relation. Their head being removed, and themselves being left without a home, they have been compelled to wander from the scenes of their early attachment, at the mercy of an uncharitable world.

Mr. Green remained in the place some three years, but was in constant fear of his life. He never left his house without being armed, and always slept with weapons within his reach. The opinion prevailed among the settlers that he was a dangerous person, and few tears were shed when he sold his claim and left the neighborhood. His subsequent career of crime, which terminated in self-destruction, is familiar to all. He removed to Chicago, where he amassed considerable wealth in the banking business. In 1855 he was convicted of the crime of murder, in poisoning his wife, and lodged in the Chicago jail. Soon after his conviction, and while confined in jail, he was found dead in his cell, having taken his own life rather than undergo the execution of his sentence. Thus, we have endeavored to present a brief and impartial statement of the Kent affair, about which so much has been said and written. This, as we have already intimated, was the only serious claim difficulty in this county; but volumes might be filled with the most thrilling tales of conflict between settlers, respecting their claims, in other parts of the west. Were government to survey its lands before they are settled upon, a portion, at least, of the difficulties now incident to new settlements would be avoided.

Bloomingdale is not excelled by any of its sister towns in healthfulness of climate, fertility of soil, beauty of scenery, variety of products, nor in attention to agriculture. Meacham's grove is in this town, and embraces about 1,200 acres of fine timber. The trail made by Gen. Scott's army, in passing from Fort Dearborn to the Mississippi, is about a mile and a half south of the grove. The trail was visible when the first settlers came, and has always been known as the army trail road. The source of the east branch of the Du Page river is from low land about half a mile south of the grove. The west branch rises in a slough, a few rods in width, situated near the north east corner of the town of Wayne. The town is well watered by springs and small streams, it having but one stream of any size. A branch of Salt creek runs in an easterly direction through the town, uniting with the main branch at Duncklee's grove, in the town of Addison. This stream furnishes water power at some seasons, and a saw mill has been erected upon it.

The village of Bloomingdale contains about thirty dwelling houses, one hotel, 5 factories, 2 stores, and three churches. The Baptist society was organized in. March, 1841, through the instrumentality of Rey. Joel Wheeler and Rev. A. W. Button. There were at first seventeen members, among whom were Noah Stevens, Ephraim Kettle, Asa Dudley, F. R. Stevens, Orange Kent, J: D. Kinne, Philo Nobles, Silas Farr, and William Farr.

For several years the society was without a settled minister, during which time preaching was sustained by Rev. Joel Wheeler, Rev. A. W. Button, Rev. Mr. Smith, Rev. Mr. Edwards, and Rev. Mr. Dickens. The first settled minister was Rev. P. Taylor, who became pastor of the church in 1848, and continued until 1855. He was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Worrell, the present pastor, in 1855.

and four only have died during their membership. The Society now numbers 126 resident members. There is a Sabbath school of 40 scholars connected with this church, having a library of 450 volumes. The present house of worship was built in 1848.

The Congregational Church was organized in August, 1840, by Rev. D. Rockwell, assisted by Rev. F. Bascomb. W. Dodge, A. Buck, Elijah Hough, A. Hills, E. Thayer, C. H. Meacham, and J. P. Yalding, were among the first members. Rev. D. Rockwell was ordained in 1840, and continued as pastor until 1842. The following are the names of pastors since that time :

There have been 203 members in all, of whom eleven have died during their membership. There are now 93 resident members. The Sabbath school has about 50 scholars, and a library of 300 volumes. The church of this Society was built in 1851, and dedicated June 138th, 1852.

There are nine school districts in this town, eight of which have school houses. The school fund derived from sale of land was $1,028. It is now $1,425. There were 325 scholars in attendance during the past year. Trustees, Captain E. Kinne, H. Barnes, H. S. Hills. Treasurer, §. P. Sedgwick.

The first town meeting in Bloomingdale was held at the school house, in the village, on Tuesday, the 2d day of April, 1850. We give below the names of town officers since the adoption of the township