Mount Carroll Township (part 2 of 4)

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In January, A.D. 1818, the territorial legislature of Illinois petitioned Congress for the admission of the territory into the Union as an independent state. At that time Nathaniel Pope was territorial representative (delegate) in Congress, and it was through him the petition was presented to Congress. By reason of a pressure of other business, the petition was allowed to remain in abeyance until the following April, when, with certain amendments prepared by Mr. Pope, it became a law, and Illinois was declared to be a sovereign and independent state of the American Union. The amendments pi-oposed by Mr. Pope were, first, to extend the northern boundary ot the new state to the pai-allel of 42 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude; and second, to apply the three per cent, fund, arising from the sales of the public lands, to the encouragement of leaving instead of to the making of roads leading to the state, as had been the practice on the admission of Ohio and Indiana.

"These important changes," says Ford's History of Illinois, "were proposed and carried through both houses of Congress, by Mr. Pope, upon his own resiDonsibility. The territorial legislature had not petitioned for them - no one at that time having suggested or requested the making of them, but they met the unqualitied approbation of the people of the state."

Under the ordinance of 1787, there were to be not less than three, nor more than five, states, erected out of the territory northwest of the Ohio River. The boundaries of these states were defined by that ordinance. The three states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, were to include the whole territory, and were to be bounded by the British possessions on the noi'th. But Congress reserved the right, if they thereafter found it expedient, to form one or two states in that part of the territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southern bend of Lake Michigan.

'-That line, it was generally su|)posed," continues Mr. Ford, " was to be the north boundary of Illinois." Judge Pope, seeing that the port of Chicago was north of that line, and that it would be excluded by it from the state, was led to a critical examination of tlie ordinance which resulted in a clear and satisfactory conviction that it was competent for Congress to extend the boundaries of the new state as far north as they ]ileased, and he found no diliiculty in convincing others of the correctness of his views.

The same ordinance vested (Congress M'ith the power, if ihey should tind it expedient, to establish a state north of Illinois, in that part of the northwestern territorv which lies n(»i'th of the i)ai-allel I'unnini:; throu<;h the southern bend of the lake. " Under this provision, \Visconsin, at one time, laid claim to certain part of the northern section of Illinois, including," said ^Ir. Ford, at the date of his writing (1S47), "fourteen counties, embracing the richest and most populous part of the State."

When Illinois was admitted into the Union in IS IS, the whole people numbered only about forty-live thousand souls. Of these, some two thousand were the descendants of the old French settlers at Kaskaskia, Prairie dii Rocher, Prairie dn Pont, Caliokia, Peoria and Chicago. These people lived in the style of the French peasantry of more than two hundred years ago. They had made no improvements in anything, nor had they adopted any of the improvements made by others. The other forty-three thousand were made np by people from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. In that year (1818) the settled part of the state extended a little north of Edwardsville and Alton; south, along the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio; east, in the direction of Carlysle, in Clinton county, to the Wabash, and down the Wabash and the Ohio to the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi, where Cairo has since been built. But the country included w^ithin these boundaries was not all occupied at that time. Between the Kaskaskia Piver and the Wabash, and betw^een the Kaskaskia and the Ohio there was a large wilderness that could not be traversed in less than three days. The entire northern part of the state was a trackless prairie. But gradually the settlements extended northward. Year by year immigration increased, but, as a rule, the early settlers selected homes in the timbered districts, leaving the prairies as worthless for agricultural uses, because of the scarcity of timber for fencing and other purposes. Gradually, however, a change came over the minds of men in regard to these things, and the prairies were sought after and put under cultivation; and as their easy subjection to farm tillage and rich returns came to be known, their fame spread abroad, and Illinois began to be rea^arded as a very Ycdparaiso.^ But with all their wealth and productiveness the prairies of Northern Illinois remained comparatively unknown, and almost entirely unoccupied by white men until after the close of the Black Hawk Indian troubles, in 1832.

The first i)art of Northern Illinois to be permanently occupied by white men, so far as any records can be found, seems to have been La Pointe (now Galena). As to who made the first settlement the authorities differ. Ford's history ascribes that honor to Colonel James Johnson and a party of miners, from Kentucky, who located there in 1 824, and commenced mining operations about one mile above the present site of the city. Another authority gives the honor to Ira Barker, who went from Terre Haute, Indiana, with an exploring party in the Summer of 1824. This party made the entire journey across the state without seeing a single white man or sleeping in a house until they reached La Pointe, which, on their arrival, only boasted three or four log huts. The same authority frcun which this information is derived says that in the same Summer three other men, Smith, Meeker and Harris, also arrived at the same place. La Pointe. Whatever the diflerences of opinion as to wJio w^ere the fiist settlers there, all agree as to the time - the Summer of 1824. These men, it is fair to presume, wei'e all mining adventurers, and the extraordinary success that attended their ventures induced a great rush there in 1825; while in 1826 and 1827 fortune hunters poured in by thousands. In 1825 Galena was mapped out, and February 17, 1827, Jo Daviess County was organized. With the exception of the Galena miners of 1824, and a few scattered fur traders, there were no white settlers in all of Northern Illinois at that time.

The first settlements made in Carroll County were at Savanna, in 1828. In November of that year, George and Vance L. Davidson, Aaron Pierce and William Blundle, and their families, wJio had gone to the lead mines at Galena during the great exciteiaent attending their early discovery and development by white men. removed from the mining district and settled at what was then known as the "Council Bluffs of the Upper Mississippi." This name was derived from the high, rocky blutfs that overlook the river at Savanna, and from the fact of an Indian council house having been built there. This house was built of poles and the bark of trees, and was two stories high, and sufficiently large to hold 1,000 persons. This old council house was still standing when the above named families came there, and was occupied by the Pierce family as a frontier hotel, and may be recognized as the first hotel or tavern opened in Cnrroll County. The Pierce family cuntiiuied to occupy this old council house as a residence and house of entertainment until a loo- cabin could be built.

Settlements in Western and i^orthwestern and Northern Illin- is at that date were few and far between - the Galena mining district being by far the largest, as it was the nearest to the new settlement made at the "Council Bluffs of the Upper Mississippi " by the Davidson, Pierce and Blundle families. Westward across the Mississippi and far away towards the setting sun the country was unknown to white men, and uniidiabited save by Indian tribes. It was one vast wild, the stillness of which had never been broken by the voice of civilization and the resounding strokes of industry as they fell upon river, forests and flowery praii-ies. Eastward to Dixon's ferry, the prairie was just as wild -as that from which it was divided by the Father of Waters, and the nearest settlement on the south was at Albany. Thus situated the new settlement was an isolated one - almost entirelv shut out from civilization and civilizing intinences, and to the hardy and resolute men and women who commenced it belongs the honor and the glory of being the advance guard of that large multitude of intelligent, refined and wealthy men and women who came after and swept on before them even to the golden slopes of the mighty Pacific ocean.

In a historical sketch of the county, prepared by Hon. James Shaw, of Mt. Carroll, and I'cad l)y that gentleman at Lanark, July 4, 1876, there is the following reference to some of the surroundings of these pioneers, which we transfei' to these pages as a part of the county's Past :

"The Indians were numerous and friendly. Game and fish were abundant, and so were mus(|uitoes, flies and raccoons, also blackbirds, crows and other birds of piey. In fact, the first corn fields had to be guarded from the deprediitions of the latter. * '" * Uiver navigation was then done mostly by keel boats, by cordeling, poling, sailing and rowing, and the usual time from St. Louis to Galena was 30 days. Skiff" voyages were often made to St. Louis. In July, 1828, Aaron Pierce and Marshal P. Pierce, his Son, went to Pond County, this state, where they first made a tem])orary settlement on coming to the West, and drove their horses and cows to their new home at (now) Savanna." These, it is to be assumed, were the first domestic horses and cows known to the territory now end»raced in tlie present County <jf Can-oil.

The Winter of 1S2S-'J was s])ent in building cabins, making and hauling rails and preparing the ground for spring crops. Tiiese pioneer families had moved from the mines in wagons drawn by oxen, and, coming in iS'ovember, when the season was too far advanced to make hay, the oxen were subsisted u|ion the green grass that was protected and sheltered from frosts and snows by the thick growth uf wild rushes that grew abundantly along the bottom lands.

From November, 1828, to tlie Spring of 1830-1, these families lived alone, but about the latter date John Bernard and three other men, named, respectiveJj^ Hays, Corbin and Ilobinson, joined the little olonj, and set about making farms on claims thev selected. Says Mr. Shaw in the paper already quoted: " Julin Bernard settled on the place now known as the 'Hatfield' place, and Hays and Bobinson on the farm now owned by George Fish. Corbin took up the farm now owned by Noah McFarland. Corbin built his house or nest in a tree, eight feet from the ground, to keep away from the snakes that abounded there." These men were all bachelors Mdien they first settled here, but all of them subsequently became convinced that it was not good for nian to l)e alone, and took wives unto themselves.

Up to the breaking out of the Black Hawk War, in 1832, the families of George and Vance L. Davidson, Aaron Pierce and AVilliam Blundle, and the " old bachelors," Bernard, Hays, Robinson, Goss and Corbin, and a man named Upton, constituted tiie entire population of the lower river part of Jo Daviess County. When Black Hawk and his tribe of Pottawatomies declared war against the whites who had settled on various parts of their hunting grounds, the women and children of the settlers at the " Council Blurt's of the Upper Mississippi," were removed to Galena for safety, while the men remained to take care of their stock, cultivate tlieir crops, etc. " To provide for their own safety," continues Mr. Sliaw, " they built a small block-house fort of logs, near the point of the bluifs and not far from where the residence of Mr. M'Dupuis now stands. In this fort they withstc/od the fire of the Indians all of one afternoon without the loss of life, but their horses and cattle were not so fortunate. During that afternoon attack, Upton, who was a wild, daring, generous man, but of intemperate habits, and withal a kind of favorite with the settlers, had quite an adventure. When the attack commenced, he was out hunting, and not far from the site of the " Whitton farm " had shot a deer and was in the act of cuttino^ its throat when he saw a band of Indians adv^ancino- in a circle towards him, with the evident intention of making him a prisoner. He didn't stop to finish the slaughter of the deer, but, re-loading his rifle, he struck out for the fort at a pace that has never since been equalled on the Tapper Mississippi savannas.'" Bullets flew thick and fast from the Indian guns, but Upton ran so last they did not reach him, or dodged so quick as to escape their range, and escaped unharmed, although it was said that one ball did cut oif the strap of his powder horn. Ashe neared the fort he heard the firing, and, turning from his course, sought concealment and safety in a cave, about half a mile above the present village site, which has ever since been known as " Upton's cave." He remained in the cave until darkness came on. The besieged men remained in the fort until nightfall, when, under cover of darkness, they made their escape to the river and started for Galena in a skiff. From his place of concealment Upton could hear the plashing of the skiff's oars and the niuruiuring voices of the occuoants, and hailed tliem and thus escaped with the rest. It was said that, as the little boat was rounding to take him on board, the occupants urged him to jump in before it had got within forty feet of the shore. During the afternoon, when the Indians were after liim, Upton had done some pretty good jumpino; as he thouMit, but forty feet was a little more than he was willino- to undertake, particulai'ly as the night was dark and he didn't know the depth of the water. He was particularly anxious to keep his powder dry. It was also said before leaving the fort the men drew lots to see who should first <ro out and reconnoitre the surroundino^s and hunt up their boat. The lot fell upon Aaron Pierce, who, though his hair almost lifted his hat from his head, did his duty like a brave man. Mr. Goss happened to be outside of the fort when the attack commenced and w^as shut off from the main entrance by the Indians, but climbed up on the top and let himself down through the chimney.

The Black'Hawk War was not of Ions; duration, and in 1833 the influx of settlers to this part of the state was pretty large, and many accessions were made to the " Upper Mississippi Council Bluffs " colony, the first settlers having returned as soon as the danger had ]>assed. In 1832 Luther H. Bowen, a surveyor, after assisting in establishing the boundary line between Illinois and Wisconsin, settled at Galena, where he engaged as a clerk in some of the heavy smelting works. In 1835 he came down to the "Council Bluffs of the* Upper Mississippi," and bought the claim interests of George Davidson and Aaron Pierce, in sections four and nine, where the villao-e of Savanna was founded. In 183o he returned and laid off the town, and soon after commenced business by opening a store, and where he continued to live until his death, lamented by all, May 5, 1876 - a period of forty years, during which time he was recognized as one of the most public-spirited men of the county, and in wdiich he was called to fill several positions of trust and honor, in all of which he was approved by his fellowcitizens as a good and faithful servant.

When Mr. Bowen subdivided his land into town lots, he named the place Savanna, by which name it will hereafter be called in these pages. The name was suggested by the marshy plains lying south of and adjoining the town site, which were supposed to resemble the savannas that abounded along the course of the lower Mississippi river.

The first post-office in this part of the Galena or Joe Daviess territory - for it was a territory then, embracing all the ccuintry north of the 41st parallel of latitude and w^est of Cook County - was established at Savanna, in 1836, and Mr. Bowen was appointed postmaster.

Soon after Mr. i'owen opened his store, another was opened by Pierce A: Davidson, and still others followed from time to time, for the Savanna settlement was the only one of importance between the villages of Galena and Rock Island, and a few years later became of almost as much import-' ance as eitlier of those places, a prominence it maintained until towns and trading places grew up with the settlement of the country east to Pock River and the Kishwaukees. Freeport then - although a ]>roininent trade and railroad center now - was known as Winnisheik (Indian) village.

In August, 1837, Dr. Elias Woodruff came from Orange C(Uintv, Xew ^'oi-k, and took up his residence here. John AV. Fuller and David L. i>owen had also become Savaunans, and, being men of spirit and enterprise, became pi-<>inineutly identified with the town and its subsequent history. Dr. Wood rutf, John Fuller mikI David L. P»owen are still living, at the ilate of this writing. [N^ovembcr, 1877'.1 Dr. Woodrufi'in 1 8.") 1 opened a drug store in a small frame building on the main street of the village, and ill which he has continued business without interruption to the present. About the same time, Aai'on Pierce, who had, in 1828, occu|)icd the old council house as a residence and hotel, or taxcrn, built a frame iiotel on the site now occupied by the home of John B. Rhodes, but it was afterwards moved further down town, and is now known as tlie Chambers House. In 1837, Mr. L. H. Bowen also erected a liotel building, which was christened the Mississippi House, but the name was afterwards changed to the AVoodruff House. This building of forty years ago is still standing and occupied as a hotel.

Miss Fuller, a sister of John W. Fuller, taught the first Savanna school in the Summer of 1837. In the Winter of 1837-8 Dr.Woodruif taught the village school in a loo; build in o- that stood down toward the lower end of town. He was the first male teacher and likewise the first physician to prescribe and administer fever and ague remedies, then, as in all new countries, the prevailing diseases. And north of the 41st parallel of latitude he was the frontier physician. West to the Pacific Ocean, there was no other one, and no need of one, for that vast region of country, now so full of life and civilization, w-as a wild, uninhabited by white men. It is said to the credit of Dr. Woodrufi" that he never failed to respond promptly to all calls, whether rich or poor, and that no settler was ever allowed to suftcr and languish for want of medical treatment and medicine, no matter how poor he might be; that fees did not concern him nearly as much as the health of those among whom he had cast his fortunes.

The first saw-mill was erected in 1833, by Captain Craig, at Eowen's mill site, on Plum River, about two and a half miles to the east of the main part of the village. A year later, the Bowen Brothers (Luther H. and John L., the last named having joined the settlement in 1835-6) came in possession of this propert}' and continued to operate it for some years. A powder mill was buih at the same place in the course of the early history of Savanna, but both it and the old saw-mill went down long ago. Perhaps it ought to be written that the powder mill went up, as, in 18-15, two of these mill buildings blew up. killing a young man named Balcom, and seriously injuring Elinathan Jacobs and one or two others. The mill was immediately rebuilt, and the manufacture of blasting powder for the mines (for which they were originally built) continued. In time, they ceased to be sufliciently remunerative to justify their continued operation, and the enterprise was abandoned. Idle and untenanted, some fishermen encamped in them, and in attempting to light a pipe, another explosion of powder that had been embedded in the loose soil succeeded, iijstantly killing one of the party, named Hicks, terribly burning another one, named Smith, and badly injuring a third one. The mills were originally built by Purter Sargent in 1839, but a man named Bemis and some other eastern ca])italists subsequently became interested in the enterprise, and at one time, when the Galena and other upper river lead mines were in the zenith of their success, proved a profitable investment. The site of these mills is now occupied by the laro^e flourino; mills of Messrs. Wood ilf Kitchen.

While Savanna was building up as a village, settlements had been making and extending back into the countrj^ and the people found it inconvenient and expensive in time and money to go to Galena to attend to county business, the distance being about forty miles by river, and about the same distance across the country and the hills. As the settlements increased, this inconvenience began to be a subject of general complaint, and ways and means came to be considered by which these inconveniences might be obvdated. After mature deliberation, the formation of a new county was conceded to be the surest and quickest means of emancipating themselves from the inconveniences against whicli the settlers had just cause of complaint. The necessary measures were inaugurated to carry out their purpose, and the eleventh session of the General Assembly of the State, whicli convened at Vandalia on the third day of December, 1S38, passed the following act defining the boundaries of Carroll County, and providing also for the manner of choosing a seat of justice.

Section 1. Be it enacted Ijy the people of the State of Illinois^ represented in the General Assemhly, That all that tract of country contained within the following boundaries, to- wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of town 25 north, range 2, east of the fourth principal meridian; thence east, on said township line, to the middle of range 7; thence south on the section line, to the north boundary of Whiteside County; thence west along the north boundary of Whiteside County to the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River; thence up the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River to a point opposite the place of beginning; thence east to the place of beginning, shall constitute the County of Carroll.

Sec. 2. That, for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of the said county, it shall be lawful for the legal voters within the above named boundaries to meet on the second Monday in April next, at the several places of holding elections and vote for the place where the county seat shall be located, and the place receiving a majority of all the votes given shall be the permanent seat of justice of said county; and if no one place shall have received a majority of all the votes given, then it shall be lawful for the said legal voters to meet at the several places of holding elections on the second Monday of July, 1839, and then and there select and vote for one of the two places only heretofore voted for in April having the two highest number of votes, where the county seat shall be located; and that place having a majority of all the votes given, shall be the permanent seat of justice of said county.

Sec. 3. The county seat shall be located on lands belonging to the United States, if a site for said county seat on such lands can be found e(|ually as eligible as u])on lands owned bv individuals. If such location shall be made upon lands claimed by any individual in said county, or any individual having pre-emption right or title to the same, the claimant or propriet(jr upon whose lands, claim, or ])re-emption right, the said scat of justice may be located, shall make a deed, in fee sim])le, to any number of acres of said tract, not less than twenty-five, to the said county; or, in lieu thereof, such claimant, owner or owners, shall donate to the said' county at least three thousand five hundred dollars, to be applied to the building of county buildings, in six, twelve and eighteen montht^. after locating said county seat. If the town of Savanna, in said county, should receive the inajoi'ity of all the votes given, the proju-ietoi's or owner of said town are hereby re([uired to donate to said new county, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a sufficient number of lots, in the toAvn of Savaima, for the accommodation of the necessary luiblic buildings, and thri'C thousand five hundred dollars in cash, payable in threi' e<pial instalments, say in six, twelve and eiHiteen months, from the time the location of said countv seat is established.

SKr. 4. \\\ election shall be held on the second Monday in A]iril, next, at the dillerent election precincts, for the pur])ose of electing county officers, who shall hold their offices until the next general election, and until their successors are qualified; whicli said election shall be conducted, in all respects, agreeably to the provisions ot the law rei^nlatino^ elections. Returns of said election shah be made by the judges and clerks to the justices ot" the peace within said county. Said justices of the peace shall meet at the town of Savanna within seven days after said election and proceed to open said returns, and in all things perform the duties required by law of the clerks of county commissioners' courts and justices ot the peace in like cases.

Sec. 5. That the county commissioners shall meet at the town of Savanna, within ten days after their election, and being first duly sworn, shall proceed to lay off the county into justices districts, and shall order an election to be held for the purpose of electing additional justices of the peace and constables within said county; shall provide means for raising county revenue, lay off the county into road districts, appoint supervisors, assess the amount of road labor, and perform such other duties as are required b}' law; Provided^ That nothing in this section shall be so construed as to repeal out of office any justice of the peace or constable now entitled and residing within the limits of said new county.

Sec. 6. The courts of said county shall be held at the town of Savanna until a suital)le preparation can be made of the county seat; said county shall constitute a part of the sixth judicial circuit, and tlie circuit court shall be held for said county twice a year, at such time as may be fixed by the judge of said district, until otherwise provided by law.

Sec. 7. The qualified voters of the County of Carroll, in all elections, except county elections, shall vote with the district to which they belong; and the clerk of the county commissioners' court of said county shall compare the election returns of said county with the clerk of the County of Jo Daviess, and shall make returns of elections to the Secretary of State, as is now required by law. The provisions of this section shall be observed until the next ap]M:)rtionment, or until otherwise provided by law.

Sec. 8. The east half of the seventh range Iving north of Whiteside County and South of Stephenson County, in towns 23, 24 and 25 north, shall be attached to and form a part of Ogle County.

In those days there was perhaps as much political figuring, according to the population, as there is now, and men who had county seat aspirations to gratify were no less wily and watchful than are the politicians of 1877. The founders of Savanna were naturally and creditably ambitious to have that point made the county seat of the new county, but there were some influences inimical to their interests to overcome. These influences, in the main, were confined to the three eastern townships. At Elkhorn Grove, a settlement almost as large as that at Savanna had grown up, which, united w^ith the other infiuences opposed to Savanna, would overcome and defeat the last named place for the county seat. If that infiuence could be divided, the Savannans felt assured of success. These influences were fully considered, and plans matured for their division or removal. In preparing the bill for the erection of the county it was so drafted (as the reader will see by reference to the first section) as to split the eastern tier of townships in the centre from north to south. This legal maneuvering crippled Savanna's opposition and rendered the choice of that place as the county seat certain beyond doubt, and accounts for the three half townships of Lima, Elkhorn Grove and Shannon, on the east.

As will be seen by reference to section four of the law under which Carroll County was organized, it was made the duty of the voters to elect a full l)oard of county officers at the same time they voted for the location of the seat of justice, and that the returns of the election should he certified to by the judo-es and clerks of the election in the several precincts, and transmitted to ^tlie justices of the peace within the county by virtue of thenelection under the jurisdiction of Jo Daviess Coi-nty. who should open the poll books, count tiie ballots and declare the result. The law further provided that these justices should meet at the town of Savanna withm seven davs after the election, for the discharge of this duty, and on Thursday, the "nth day of April, they so met, and, after examining the returns, made the following certiilcate:

We the undersiffned, actiiiff justices of tlie pence in and for the original county of Jo Davie>s, now within the limits of Carroll County, do hereby certify that the town of Savanna received the greatest number of votes for the county seat ot tlie said county ot Carroll, being one hundred and twenty-six votes, at an election held in said county, on the 8th inst.

This certificate was returned to the County Commissioners' Court and ordered to be spread upon the record, and is to be seen on the Oth page ot within the territory of the county there were only three precmcts or voting places - Savanna, Plum River and Elkhorn Grove. Only two places for the county seat were voted for - Savanna, and Section 9 jn townshii) 24: north, range 5 east, about three miles to_ the southeast ot Mount Carroll. The vote in the three precincts was as follows:

Thus far we have traced the history of the settlement of the territory within the limits of Carroll Countv, from its first occupancy at Savanna bv (Tcorge and Vance L. Davidson, Aaron Pieice and William Llundleand their families, in ^Jovember, 1828, to its organization as a separate and independent county and the location of the seat of justice, \n 1839. Aow from the fact of its coming within the range of the Galena district a briet syn..p>is of its Physical (;c(»graphy and Geological Formations will not be without interest, after which" the jiolitical, commercial and social history will be resumed.

Physical Geography

Carroll County is situated in the northwestern part of the State of Illinois, and is bounded north by Jo Daviess; east by Stevenson; south by Ogle, Lee and AVhiteside, and west by the Mississippi River. It contains an area of about 450 S(|uare miles. By surveys of the Illinois Central Railr{>ad. its elevation above Lake Michigan is about 400 feet, and al)ove tlie mouth of the Ohio Rivei" at Cairo about 800 feet. About one third of the county, the northwestern, is somewhat rough, being mineral or ''leadbearing" land. The surface of this is hilly and sparsely timbered, but in the valleys along the streams of this part of the couuty, many excellent farms have been opened. The usual alluvial bottom skirts the Mississippi, being from half a mile to four miles in width. Immediately adjoining the river there is a belt of heavy timber, but the rest of this bottom is composed of drifted sand banks, marshv swamps and rich tracts of the best pasture and farming lands. The southern and eastern parts of the county are composed of gently rolling prairies, Avith here and there an island-like grove, as if the iingers of the retiring ocean had stroked the soft surface into swelling undulations. The agricultural portions of the county are perfect garden spots - rich in their almost virgin soil and manifold resources of wealth. Nor is the county wanting in ])icturesque scenery. Carroll Creek flowing west through its center, and Plum River ruiming through its mineral land, have each cut channels deep into the underlying rocks. These are piled about in massive grandeur - are crowned with evergreens; and are in many cases the abodes of wonderful echoes. Above Savanna, along the l\[ississi})pi River, the huge, towering JS^iagara rocks lift their heads like a Cyclopean wall.

Geological Formation. - This country lies deep down in the Geological world, almost in the line of union between the upper and lower Silurian systems. Three distinctly marked groups of the roeks outcrop in Carroll County. These are the Galena Limestone, Cincinnati Group and JSiagara Group. Above these are the usual deposits belonging to the quaternary system.

The Galena Li'ine^tone. - This is a massive grayish, yellowish or brownish drape colored Magnesian limestone - friable and coarse grained near its union with the clays, but very solid in its lower stratification. In Jo Daviess County it is estimated to be about 250 feet thick: in this county it has never been accurately measured, but is perhaps somewhat thinner, as we are on the edge of the lead basin. Its heaviest outcrop commences near the geographical center of the county. Thence, westward, heavy ledges of it outcrop along the banks of the Carroll Creek almost to Savanna. North of tliis little stream similar outcrops may be found, and the banks of Plum River. The former of these streams, especially, has cut its channel deep into this rock. Along this stream an anticlinal axis seems to run as the rocks dip slightly in both directions from the creek, and a slight upheaval must have once taken place here. Along the ridge of elevation thus formed, a fissure naturally would be left. The frost, the rains, and the tooth of old Father Time disintegrated, wore down and gnawed away the

This is the famous "lead-bearing rock" of the Northwest, ihe ore occurs in fissures and caverns running through the rock in the form ot what mhiers call " sheet" and "log," or crystalized mineral, the common sulphuret of lead. In the reddish clay overlying the rock and formed by the decomposition of its upper beds' "float," ore is found, never, however, m very laro-e (luantities. Mining operations have never been carried on, on a large scaTe or on scientific principles. The diggings extend for several miles north and west of the town of Mt. Carroll. The pick, spade, common windlass and bucket are the only machinery in use. Little more than a livelihood has ever been made by these ]:)rimitive miners. For a long time it was thouo-ht a system of deep mining would reveal heavy deposits ot the ore.^ In two instances companies were formed and a considerable amount ot capital invested. In one instance, water compelled the abandonment ot the mine, and in the other nothing was found to repay a tithe of the expenses ot the company. This surface mining wih still go on as a temporary employment for those whose other employments are not steady. But no one win probably l.'e found willing to spend money enough to thoroughly test a system of deep mining. The deepest section of this rock measured by me is one hundred and fifty feet, but the bottom was not exposed and extended down indefinitely. The early writers have been treatmg the Galena limestone as a separate system. We believe it is now coming td be reo-arded ai a member of the Trenton limestone, none ot which latter rock oirtcror)s in this county, although it is reached in sinking deep wells m the southeastern part, and one quarry of the real blue Trenton limestone is now worked in Ogle County, two or three miles from the county line, ^i^^the characteristic fossils, the Receptacidities sulcata, or " Sunflower coral, ot the miners is the most usually observed, and very perfect specmiens are sometimes found. The Mtirchisonia oUusa and Ltm/ula quadmta also abound. Orthoccra several feet long, several species of the Orthis, corals of a number of species also abound. A very interesting species ot tnlobite has left its remains in these rocks, and we firmly believe that many new fossils will be found when the quarries in this rock are carefully and scientifically examined. Of the economic value of this rock we will speak again. It is the underlying rock in perhaps two thirds of the county, embracing the central, northern and eastern parts, being our chief building stone.

The Cinrinnatl Group. - The gentle slopes from the Mississippi bottom lands up to where the blufi's are clipped with the castellated crags ot tlie Niao-ara Rocks, if exposed would reveal outcrops of this group., bonie ot the small streams have cut down into this formation through the overlying Nia^'-ara. Johnson Creek, winding in a sinuous course trom the central to the southwestern portion of the county, shows the same rocks, sometimes near the sui-face. One half of the southern part of the county has this as the immediate underlying formation. About one mile below Savanna, there is a fine outcrop, where the county road cuts the side _(.t the hills. About one mile above Savanna, there are considerable quarries opened m this formation on the si.le of the blutls. Here the formation, as near as we can measure, is 80 feet thick. This is tlie best place in the county to make a selection. At some large springs just at the level of the :Mississippi, m a full stage of water, the i^rou]. l)en:ins resting solidly on the (^alena hinestone as a foundation. Far up the hillside the overlying Niagara rocks are just as distinctly marked. In the railroad cut on the Tomlinson farm, some four miles southwest of Mt. Carroll, may be found another and perhaps the finest exposure in the county. At BluftVille, also, it is exposed by quarries. There are, however, few natural exposures of this rock. It soon disintegrates and crumbles away. Gentle hills and slopes and graceful undulations are characteristic of its physical geography.

Many springs burst out from the bases of these hills, and marshes and swampj places are not infrequent. Shales and shaley limestones compose a large part of the rocks of this group, but its lower beds are sometimes solid and massive enough for a building stone, and even contain lead in small quantities. These shales are of a bluish-white color, their particles are finely comminuted, as if deposited in deop, peaceful seas. A vast amount of carbon is contained in the black shales of this group. Specimens taken fiom near Savanna and from near the Beers Tomlinson farm, are almost as black as cannel coal and l)urn with an oily, bright flame for a considerable time. Misled by this, some capital has been expended at the latter place boring for coal, and nothing but experience will convince those engaged that such a search is useless. One of our citizens also succeeded in extracting some oil, which he pronounced petroleum, out of similar specimens. When the great oil excitement arose in this country, an oil company was Ibrmed here, and but for the advice of the geologists, this company would now be spending its money in a vain eflfort to strike oil. The geologist of Iowa, Prof. Whitney, estimates that the carbon of these rocks, if gathered into one strata, would form a bed twenty-five feet thick.

Whence comes this mass of combustible in these old silurian rocks? No geologist, to my knowledge, has undertaken to answer this question. Is it of ortyanic orio^in - the remains of an ancient vegetation ? Is it the result ot animate life ? The Coral Halls Iowa Eeport states that no trace of vegetation has as yet been observed in the widely distributed shales of this group, except a few traces of fucoids in the Utica slates of Kew York. This makes him doubt the vegetable origin of this bituminous matter. In this county, however, we have discovered fucoids woven all over the tops of some of the strata in this formation. May it not be that a condition of things similar to that of the Carboniferous eras existed over the broad basin in which these shales were deposited ? The vegetation consisted of the lowest orders - such as would decay and leave few traces of their existence. The disorganized remains would alone remain in the form of carbon, or coaly shale. The day may come when this substance, whatever it is, will be of economic value for light, or even fuel. AVith this brief notice, we must dismiss, for the present, this very interesting question.

This formation is prolific of fossils. Countless remains, with occasional perfect specimens of the splendid large trilobite, the Asaiyhus gigns are the most noticeable. Orthis occidentaJis and 0. lestudinaria abound. Some of these shales are covered witli beautifully marked dendrites. Fucoids are also found. Orfhoceratites and a laro^e Lituites have been found m it, together with numerous other fossils.

TJw Niagara Limestone. - This is Owens' " pentemerus beds " of the upper Magnesian limestone. It is next in order above the group just considered. The traveller on the Upper Mississippi must have been struck with its bold and picturesque appearance, as he passed between Fulton City and Dubuque. Kow the bluffs sweep down to the water's edge, now they trend ofi' in a semi-circular direction, as if for the site of a colossal amphi-

Like vast mural structures, they rise along the highest elevations, weather worn into all kinds of fantastic shapes, and displaying in their escarped cliffs resemblances to old forts and ruined cathedrals, time-worn, castellated Ijattlements, or distant spires and minarets of some old town. Such is the appearance of these rocks along the river blutfs above Sa\aiina, and towards the southern line ot the county. The beholder, especially if he be a geologist, feels a strange spell stealing over him. Mighty visions ot the old geologic ages enrapture his soul. A leaf from the old stone book is upturned before him, and he reads in the great Bible of Nature her sublime truths. He has discovered hard se^we - common sense, in the rocks. But enouo-h ot dream and fancy sketching. Leaving the river, we do not lind exposures of this limestone. Over the northern and northwestern portions of the county all the highest portions are covered with it, in broken, fragmentary masses. Once it doubtless covered a large part of the county, but it has been denuded and carried off, leaving chert beds, corals and fragments of the rock itself, as memorials of whore it once existed as the surface rock. Tlie frost, the rain and the atmosphere pulverize the Niagara rocks, and the chert beds in them, beino; harder, settle down like a crop of white flints, sown over farm, field and hill. These chert beds show that the water of the old Niao-ara seas contained much silica in solution.

The Niagara limestone abounds in fossils. The most common and characteristic"is the beautiful Fentamerus oUongus, or '-petrified hickory nut " of the miners. But the old Niagara seas were particularly the homes of the coral builders, and these minute animals swarmed in countless myriads everywhere, leaving their fossil monuments. Among the most characteristic are the FavosUcs favosa, F. Nkigerensis, Stromatojoora concentrica, Ilali/site.'^ cale)iulat lis, mid msiuy other species and genera, containino-, doubtless, new and undescribed corals.

° This brings us through the Illinois rocks as developed m this county. Sometimes traces of the Trenton proper are found in the southern part, Init thev hardlv deserve a place in the surface geology of Carroll County. U he rocks of all three of these formations possess value as bnikhng stone, ihe (Galena ranks first and the Cincinnati group last in economic value.

The Quaternary System. - XWwx'nun. The ]\Iississii)pi bottom, from Savanna to the south line of the county, in width averaging nearly five miles, is cnnposed of this recent river deposit. The same deposit also exists north of Savanna on the Mississippi, and along some of the small streams in the interior. Some of it is a rich, deep black and rather wet soil, much of it consists of san<ly deposits, while a portion forms our very best a<n-icultural lands. The loess or bluff formation does not exist to a crroat extent in Carroll County, unless the soil and sub-soil of our productive prairies belongs to this deposit. Some of our bluffs, as, for instance, where Johnson Creek breaks throu^di to the Mississippi bottom, are composed of the loess clays. The drift formation is also manifest in our county, to a consiilerable extent, although some seem to argue that it is undetected in the Galena lead basin. Deposits of drift in our county can be found resting immediately on the (ialona rocks. All our little streams almost have cut down into deposits of i)oulders and gravel beds.

The following section, made in" a well in the town of Mount Carroll, might bo taken as a fair type of the superiicial deposit resting upon our rocks, beginning at the top ami measuring downwards:

Another well, some three miles distant, parsed through a second soil some lifteen feet below the surface, and iramediatelv thereafter a deposit of timber or wood, two or three feet in thickness, many of the pieces having tenacity enough to hold together for months after exposure to the atmosphere. This well is on the farm of Felix O'jSTeal, and at the time of its opening was considered an object of much interest.

AVe can not leave this part of our subject without again adverting to the boulders. For us they have a peculiar charm and interest. Tiiese " nigger heads," " hard heads," or lost rocks, abound in many places where the streams and rains have carried the soils away. Oftentimes they are associated witli gravel beds of the transported drift. Among them have been found several nuggets of copper, one of which was found lodged in a crevice of one of our Galena quarries. Some of these boulders are striated and furrowed by the glacier or the iceberg. Quartz, feldspar, granite, gneiss hornblende, porphyry syenite, and various combinations of these and other minerals make up these travelled rocks. Would that we could have the true hi.>tory of one of these lost rocks - real old cosmopolitans in a primal world. What a wonderful interest would cling around its wanderings from the time when it left its home among the Plutonic rocks of Lake Superior until some iceberg dropped it into its present bed, through gently-moving currents towards the southwest ! Ocean streams rolled these uncouth stones for ages at the bottom of the " vasty deep." Frozen into glaciers, they have been pushed along their snail-like pace. xVdhering to icebergs and ice fields and ice floes, thev floated hither and thither throuo-h ]S^orthern seas, until the ice dissolved in its genial warmth. Could we know their true history, the masquerade of the elements, the lost history of the world, would be made as plain as a well-conned lesson. The associated pieces of water-worn copper are '- finger boards," telling from whence they both came, and the direction of the ocean currents which deposited our drift.

Historical Eesume

Monday, April 8, 1839, the county seat was established at an election ordered and held for that purpose. At the same election and under the same special law, the people voted for a full board of county officers. At that time politics did not cut much of a figure in the selection of candidates, although it is reasonable to suppose that the election was full of interest to the settlers, as from that day they were to be recognized in the management of the affairs of the state as a separate and independent county, and entitled to all the rights and privileges of the other and older counties. For judicial purposes, the county was made to form a part of the sixth district, of which Dan Stone, of Galena, was the presiding judge. Courts were to be held twice a year at such times as the judge should des-

County CorriTnissioners, Samples M. Journey, Garner Moffett, and Luther H. Bowen; County Clerh. William B. Goss; Sheiiff, Hezekiah Francis; Probate Justice of the Peace, John C. Ovvings; Coroner, Mason C. Taylor; Recorder, Royal Cooper; Surveyor, Levi Warner.

On the 13th day of April, hve days after their election, two of the county commissioners. Samples M. Journey and Lulher H. Bowen, met and organized as a county commissioners' court. The first entry made on their journal of proceedings was the oath of office administered to WiUiam B. Goss as county clerk, which is in these words, to-wit:

''State of Illinois. Carroll County. - I, the undersigned, being duly elected clerk of the county commissioners' court for said county, do liereby swear that I will support tlie constitution of the United States, and of this stale, and tliat I will fultil the duties ot uiy office as clerk of said court truly and faithfully to the best ot my knowledge and ability; so help me God.

The next entry was the oath of office administered to each of the two commissioners, and in the same words, except that ''county commissioners" is substituted for "county clerk." The oath of office was administered by the same iustice, Beniamin Church.

This was the style of their orders. There was no waste or unnecessary use of words. " Short, quick and sharp " was their method - a rule of action that characterized Luther H. Bowen, the guiding and controling spirit of the board, in all his business transactions, and each order was signed by the commissioners, as they were written by the clerk. At this session the commissioners divided the county into ten road districts and appointed a supervisor for each district, etc. Having thus started the county machinery, the commissioners adjourned until the 3d day of Jime following.

At this session the first business appearing of record was the appointment of C. Grant and Jno. ^Vnkeny, of Elkhorn Grove, and Herman Downing, of the Preston Settlement, to review the road from " Stoney C'reek to the county line in the direction to Bufialo Grove, touching Elkhorn Grove," which appears to be the first road viewed in the county. There is no record of any petition having l)een presented "praying" for the establishment of tliis road, and hence there is a probability that the road was petitioned for bL'f(jre Carroll County was set otf from Jo Daviess, or that the commissioners ordered it without petition.

Two petitions follow this order - one for a road leading from "Savanna in said county to Knox mill on Elk Horn creek, and also a road diverging from the first named road at or near Johnson Creek to the county line, in a direction to Harrisburgh on Rock Kiver." The viewers appointed for these roads were Vance L. Davidson. A. L. Knox and Tluunas Francis.

The second ])ctition "prayed " for tlu- location of a road " from Savanna via Bowen's ferry to the scnith line of the county in the direction of Fulton

City, and that a road diverge from said road on or about two miles from Savanna and intersect the road leading from the Savanna Mill to Prophetstown, near the farm now occupied by Elijah Stearns." The viewers appointed for this road were Elijah Stearns, Asa Patrick and Andrew Dodds.

At this session of the Board of County Commissioners the regulation and formation of election precincts claimed attention, and it was "oi'dered that the Cherry Grrove Pi'ecinct include all of Cherry Grove, the inhabitants 'vitliin the limits of range 5, G and 7 in township 25, and that Garner ]\[offitt, G. ^V. Harris and John C. Owings be appointed judges of elections and the elections be held at the house of John C. Owings/'

''Ordered. That the inhabitants within the limits of townships twenty-three and twentyfour, east of tlie center of range four and west of Little Rock River or creek, be recognized as the Preston Precinct, and tliat Samuel Preston, Heman Downing and Daniel Cristian be the judges of elections, and tli:it the elections be held at tiie house of Samuel Preston."

Ordered, That the inhabitants of all that part of Carroll County laying west of the middle of range 4, in townships 28 and 24, and all west of range 5 in township 25, be included in the Savanna Precinct, and thai N. D. French, Vance L. Davidson, and John A. Wakefield be ai)p()inted judges of elections, the election to be held at Wm. L. B. Jinks' tavern, in Savanna.

The following named settlers were selected as grand and petit jurors for the first term of the Circuit Court, which was expected to convene in September of that year:

It being made manifest to the court that no legal summons had been issued by the clerk of tlie County Commissioners' Court to the Sheriti' of the County of Carrol], commanding him to summon tiie persons selected by said Commissioners' Court, at their April term, inthe year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty, as grand and petit jurors, to appear before said Circuit Court on the first daj' of said term; and, it further appearing that the Sheriti" of said county had summoned, without any legal venise or summons, twenty-three pei-sons as grand jurors, and twenty-four persons as petit jurors, to appear on the first d^y of said term, which said persons were in attendance as grand and petit jurors, not having been summoned according to law, it is ordered that they be discharged from further attendance on said court.

Ordered, That the sum of seven dollars be granted to Alva Dainesfor three and one half days' services as assessor, and the sum of seventeen dollars be granted to Elijah Bellows for eight and one half days' services as assessor. And that tlie above be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

been a firm and fast friend of the institution, as well as of the teachers, assumed ;xnd paid the furniture debt, in turn for which a life scholarship in the seminarywas issued to his son. Thus it will be seen, as the history of this institution progresses, that the seminary owes all of its successes, merit and popularity to the Misses Wood and Gregory - the former of whom was the financial and business manager, and the latter the school worker. All the help they ever had from the community in which the seminary has been built up, was the donation of the five acres of ground and about one thousand dollars of money paid in by the stockholders. In this connection it is proper to remark that when these women came to Mount Carroll, all their cash capital was about $80, belonging to Miss Gregory - her sole savings of three years' teaching after their graduation. This was all that Miss Gregory ever put into the enterprise in money, either directly or indirectly - /. e., nothing through her home friends as a loan or otherwise. Miss Wood had nothing at the time in her own right, but an indomitable will and determination. But with such a heavy debt hanging over them, without help from some source, their undertaking would have fallen. In the person of Isaac Nash, before mentioned, who married a sister of Miss Wood, the institution had a friend in whom there " was neither variableness norshadow of turning," and he came to the relief of his sister and her co-laboror when relief was most needed. To his generosity, liberality and confidence in her ability, honesty and management, Miss Wood acknowledges her obligations. To his help, when all other sources failed, she accords a laro^e share of the success that at last crowned the seminary of which she is now the sole manager and principal. Whatever of honor and fame attaches to this seminary, and it is wide-spread, should be equally divided between the Misses Wood and Gregory, and Isaac Nash, the financial and liberal farmer of Milton, New York.

" While true I came at the time empty-handed, my brother-in-law, Isaac Nash, coming with us and defraying my expenses, etc., I afterwards put into this enterprise a small patrimony received on the settlement of my father's estate, of about two thousand dollars. This, of course, was a little help, but quite inadequate to meet the exigencies liable to arise in such an undertaking, and here came in the valuable aid, as backer, of Mr. Nash, who not only stood ready to relieve any business emergency, but did so many things to contribute to our comfort and pleasure, and as one instance of his thoughtfulness, indulge me in giving you the history of my first horse and carriage in the West. In the Summer of 1854, while I was East purchasing the furniture for the new seminary building put up by the trustees (for they entrusted this all to us) Mr. Nash said to me : 'You have always enjoyed driving so much, you must have a horse and carriage at Mount Carroll. Go to Saratoga with your Cousin David (whom manv of the citizens will remember spending the Winter of 1854-5 here) and select as handsome a carriage as you choose, and order a harness to match. Cousin David shall break Franky (a very fine young horse Mr. Nash had raised) to go single, and then he shall take the entire rig out to Mount Carroll for you.' All was done according to orders, and a few weeks after our return here in September, 1854, Cousin David arrived with horse, carriage and harness. This is but one of many examples I might give of the thoughtful kindness of my brother-in-hivv. Mrs. Nash, my only sister, who was some twenty-one years my senior, and more as a mother to me, was also constantly mindful of our wants, and contributing with a liberal and untiring hand to our necessities and to our pleasure. To me it seems that such another noble, generous couple as my sister and her husband can rarely be found, and such untiring benefactors as they proved through all those years of labor and trial which must be met in the pioneer work of such an enterprise, but few are blessed with. That noble sister has gone to her reward. The brother-in-law, though now eighty years of age, con- tinues to pay me annual visits. I am now (December, 1877) in daily expectation of his arrival. That he enjoys witnessing the success that has crowned our enterprise, I need not say.

"One other couple, ^/c/ residents of this county, to whom I am indebted for much of encouragement in this work, I would name - Rev. Thomas Powell and wife, of Ottawa, Illinois. Mr. Powell became pastor of the church to which my parents and sister belonged (m Saratoga County, N. Y.) when I was a babe six months old, and thus the first ten years of my life, though not of a very appreciative age, I sat under his preaching, and to me he was the model preacher. Mrs. Powell I recollect as one of my very earliest teachers - the first teacher of whom I have any distinct recollection, as I began my school life at two and a half years of age (quite too young, by the way, for sensible children to go to school), and one for whom I -entertained the greatest admiration (I had almost said adoration) of any teacher I ever had, and the lapse of over forty-five years has in no measure diminished the feeling, but matured it into the highest regard for both as friends and counsellors. Over forty years ago Mr. Powell came to' Illinois under the auspices of the Mission Board, and the great pioneer vvork he so successfully achieved renders him peculiarly susceptible to, and appreciative of, sacrifices in others. Thus have I had a most valued adviser and sincere sympathizer in all my work here, and when he shall be called to his reward. Mount Carroll Seminary will lose a most valued friend. Long may that day be deferred."

In [857, the managers felt justified in undertaking an addition to their building, and, acting as their own architect and draughtsman - or draughtswoman - Miss Wood prepared the plans and specifications for an addition 21 by 60, to the southeast part of the original building. This addition was all'completed under her own immediate supervision. Mechanics were employed and paid by the day, and the closest economy exercised in every particular. This addition, like the original building, was raised two and a half stories above the basement, embraced twenty-three rooms, and cost the same as the first - $4,500.

Success and popularity attended the seminary from the time it ])assed under the exclusive management and control of Misses Wood and Gregory. When it was formally opened by the trustees and incorporators, in October, 1854, the salary paid these ladies was only $300 each. When the original management grew discouraged, their united savings did not exceed $500, but they had confidence and faith in the enterprise, and they determined to make it a success, and when a woman once wills to do a thing, she generally does it. But here were two women with one will to accomplish the one purpose, and they succeeded. The debt hanging over the institution when they assumed its management, and which they agreed to pay, was only an incentive to greater energy and determination. Seven out of every ten men would have shrunk from the undertaking, but these women seemed to accept the situation as a harbinger of success, and from April, 1S55, to the present, success has attended its every step. As its patronage increased, the debts were paid off, and new plans devised for its enlargement and improvement. Miss Wood planned and schemed and worked outside - in the school-room, when necessary; in the kitchen, when occasion required - superintended the building of the additions - painted (the cornices excepted) and papered some of them entire; contracted for the material wherever the most favorable terms could be had, and managed everything with a skill that defied opposition, while it commanded admiration. Miss Gregory was no less earnest among the pupils, and thus the work went on.

Up to 1864, the seminary had been open to both sexes, but in that year it was closed against young men and boys, and devoted exclusively to the education of girls and young women. This was not because the management was opposed to educating the sexes together, but because the accommodations were not sufficient. On the contrary, the principal is in favor of the co-education of the sexes, and hopes, at no distant day, to be able to re-open the seminary to boys and young men. This year another addition was undertaken. This addition was built on the west side of the first addition, was thirty feet in width and seventy feet long, extending ten feet south of and taking in the first addition. Both additions were raised to a uniform height with the old building, which was unroofed, and the whole placed under one cover, presenting the appearance of one building. This last addition added thirty-eight rooms to the institution, all of which were larger than any previously provided. These enlargements and improvements cost about $ii,ooo.

A third addition of 40 by 100 feet at the northeast corner of the buildings already erected, was commenced in 1S65 and completed in 1867. It has four stories and a fifteen-room attic - adding, all told, seventy-one rooms, and increasing the other conveniences in like proportion, and costing about $30,000. As in the construction of the other additions, so in this one. Miss Wood superintended the building from its commencement to its completion. She contracted for the lumber with Minnesota Mills, and had it delivered in strings of rafts at Savanna. There she contracted with planing mills to receive it, reduce it to proper dimensions for particular purposes, to dress it and deliver it on the cars, having also contracted with the railroad authorities to deliver'it from Savanna at the Mount Carroll depot. In this way she maintains that she saved fully, if not more than half in the cost of the lumber as compared with the price asked by dealers here. Lime, glass, paint, paper, etc., were bought the same way. The stone used was taken from her own quarries by men hired by the day.

\Vhen the seminary was located, the owners of the lands thereabouts laid off an addition to Mount Carroll, and the town commenced to grow up that way. When the financial panic of 1857 fell upon the country, these improvements were materially checked. Wishing enlarged grounds, steps were taken to secure the vacation as a town plat of that addition, and the seminary interests, by purchase, at $100 per acre, increased its domain there to twenty-five acres. These grounds were enclosed by a substantial fencing and planted with trees, shrubs, vines, etc., until it has become a garden of beauty, as well as an ornament, not only to the seminary, but to the town at which it is located.

Retros['ective. - From October, 1854, to April, 1855, the seminary was under the control of the incorporators. The last board ot trustees were Hon. John Wilson, president; J- P- Emmert, Esq., secretary; H. G. Gratton, treasurer; Nathaniel Halderman, William T. Miller, Garner Moffett, John A. Clark, Rev. W. W. Harsha and John Rinewalt. From April, 1855, to December, 1857, under the control of Miss F. A. Wood and Miss C. M.Gregorv. From December, 1857 to July 18, 1870, under the management of Mrs. F. A, Wood Shinier (Miss Wood having married Dr. Henry Shimer). July 1870, the partnership between Mrs. Wood Shimer and Miss Gregory was dissolved, and the former lady became sole manager of the institution. Miss A. C. Joy, of Maine, an accomplished lady and thorough educator, is now associate princiixil. Besides her accomplishments as a teacher, she is a valuable business aid-de-camp to Mrs. Shimer in the management of the large and increasing business of the seminary. Dr. Shimer's present connection with the school is that of a lecturer, although he has, at times, served as one of the teachers, generally in the mathematical department.

When he and Miss Wood were married, he did not assume any of the business duties of the institution, but ])referred to leave its entire control in the hands of the one who had fashioned, sliapod, guided and directed it to such magnificent success. A great student of Natural History, he has collected a choice cabinet for the use of the school. Competent judges assert that his

Through the influence of Hon. E. B. Washburn, this institution was made one of the depositories of copies of all the public documents published at Washington, of which there are thirty to forty volumes of every session of Congress. Besides these, there is a library of about 3,000 volumes that is considered very complete. The music rooms are furnished with the best of pianos and organs, as well as with the most proficient teachers. In all its details the Mount Carroll Seminary ranks among the best institutions in the country. It has ample facilities for the accommodation of 180 pupils, and has turned out about sixty graduates since the adoption of a regular course of study, in i860. For the last ten years, it has maintained an average yearly attendance of 175 pupils, coming from all the Western states.

This great institution has been built up in a quarter of a century, and in the main is the work of one woman. When likely to fail under the management of men, this woman of the great head and iron will, aided and supported by a no less determined sister, put her whole soul into the work, and has wrought out a position for the seminary that is an honor, not only to the state in which it has been built up, but to that national government, which is based upon the intelligence and virtue of its people.

''When we came to Mount Carroll, Henry G. Grattan was editor and proprietor of the Carroll County Jiepublican, and deserves honorable mention for the aid he gave to this enterprise. He had no money to give, but gave space freely in the editorial columns of his paper, and through these, with the enthusiasm with which he worked for every enterprise that looked towards the improvement of the town, he gave more true aid to this institution in its incipient year than all the moiey paid by the citizens of this county, which, as elsewhere shown, amounted to about one thousand dollars. Mr. G. long since retired from the editorial chair and is now a well-to-do farmer in Alamakee County, Iowa."

The Normal Department is a valuable feature of the school. The principal being a graduate of the New York Normal School, and thoroughly imbued with the value of that system of instruction for those having teaching in view, naturally has given prominence to this department. Hundreds of teachers have been educated here, and from their ranks many prominent positions in public and graded schools, in seminaries, academies and colleges, are being most successfully and honorably filled. The teachers from this institution command a decided preference and the demand exceeds the supply. Of those in attendance the past year, over twenty-five had good positions secured within a month from the close of the school year.

A second charter was obtained under date of February 25, 1867, which named Mrs. F. A. Wood Shimer and Miss Cinderella M. Gregory, as sole incorporators. This charter granted full college powers of conferring degrees. Hon. Elijah Funk, one of the oldest and most honored citizens of the county, was the representative at that time, and gave his influence to the measure.

Under the liberal management of the seminary, provision is made {or free tuition to one teacher from each township of Carroll County, and one also from each county in the state.

The Manual Labor Department is another valuable feature of this school, affording the means to scores of the most worthy young women of securing an education and fitting themselves for positions of usefulness. This is not an Industrial School, as none are required to work. The object is merely to give the opportunity to those who could not otherwise enjoy the advantages of a seminary ; to young women of energy and character, to work their way, earning their own education. There are, at this writing, above forty in this department doing all the manual labor of the institution, except the work of one laundry woman, one cook, and a matron. Thus, with the " Teachers' Provision," giving time to those needing, and the manual labor provision, the way is open at this institution for any young lady of good ability, with energy and perseverance, to secure an education to fit herself for a sphere of usefulness.

A Department of Telegraphy was established in January, 1878, largely for the benefit of a class of young women who wish to prepare for something that may enable them to be self-sustaining. A competent and experienced telegraph operator has charge of this department, and makes the course not only complete, but thoroughly practical, thus fitting a class for some other sphere of usefulness of business than teaching.

In 1859, the Neosophic Society of the seminary established the first literary periodical of the school. It was to be sustained by the voluntary contributions of the students and conducted by a corps of editors elected by the students, and to be issued monthly; eight pages, each page 14 by 16 inches, of four columns to each page. The printing was done in the office of the county paper for about a year, at the end of which time the principal bought the office and complete fixtures and removed the same to the seminary, where the Seminary Bell was printed by the students, George R. Shaw, of Galena, a practical printer and student of the school, being foreman. The war was in progress, and during 1862 the call for volunteers took away the foreman. The expenses of running a paper were largely increased. War news was about all the public cared for, and a complication of circumstances led to the suspension of the Seminary Bell. The war still raged and there was no certainty when it could be resumed. The press and material would deteriorate in value if kept, and the principal decided to sell the entire office while prices were high. For six years the school was without a printed paper. In 1868, the Oread Society established a monthly journal, quarto form, of 16 pages, which has steadily grown till it now comprises 28 pages, including a neat cover. The exchanges furnish ample matter for a reading room.

A fact worthy of note is that this school has never resorted to the practice of nearly all others, in employing agents to solicit pupils and funds. Never have the principals asked a person for his or her patronage. Never has an agent been employed for such a purpose. Never has a dollar been donated to the enterprise by the public exce])t the sum of about one thousand dollars in stock, elsewhere noted, and the original five acres of ground where the seminary stands. Of this the principal and present proj-irietor really had very little benefit, except of the five acres of ground, from the fact, as elsewhere shown, they paid the full cost, as per contract price, of the building, and the larger part of the cost of the furniture.

Industry and economy were necessary to these accomplishments. These were exercised without stint. Not a tree, a shrub, or a vine, was planted on the grounds that was not planted under the supervision of the wonderful genius, whose magic touch made the Mount Carroll Seminary rise from chaotic confusion unto magnificence, s])lendor and usefulness.

Puesent Hoard Ok Instruction

director; B. F. Dearborne, principal of vocal department ; Denise Dupuis, Clara A. White, Isabella F. Jones and Elizabeth A. Barber, music; Virginia Dox, singing class; C. A. White, elocution. Additional teachers in music employed duringthe year. Mr. W. F. Browning, departmentof telegraphy; Mrs. F. A. W. Shimer, financier ; Mrs. S. M. Howard, matron; Mrs. A. M. Faulkner, housekeeper.

General Review Description Of Buildings, Etc

There are four buildings, as has been elsewhere described, all so connected as to give the appearance of one building, presenting a west and north front of 256 feet. The first or original building gives a dining room, 42 by 46 feet, on the first floor. The second floor is used for library, office, reception room, and music room. Third floor for society and reading room, and private rooms. Fourth floor for private and trunk rooms.

The second and third buildings give, on the first floor, school and recitation rooms, 32 by 70 feet, and four private rooms for young men, some six or eight being received in the manual labor department, for the convenience of their work about the buildings and grounds, all the advantages of the school being afforded them, the same as to the young ladies. The second and third floors are occupied for private rooms, and the fourth floors for studio and for music practice rooms.

The fourth building, which is just being completed, has on the first floor a kitchen, wash room, dry room, ironing room, furnace room, foul air room, work shop, private rooms for employees, six dry earth closets, slop closet, and dry earth vault and closet, the whole ventilated by the same system as the entire building, and thus kept perfectly free from offence, as any part of a well ventilated building need be. The value of these arrangements, in a sanitary point of view, can not well be overestimated. The second floor has conservatory, principal's rooms, sick and nurses' rooms, bath rooms, and water closets and slop closets on one side of main hall. On the opposite side, the entire length of the building (100 feet) is devoted to parlors and rooms for the musical conservatory, the space being divided into five rooms, each communicating by folding doors, making a most spacious music hall, when thrown into one room. The third and fourth floors are devoted to private rooms for students, all of which are neatly furnished, carpeted throughout with Brussels and three-ply carpets, beds (all with best woven wire mattresses), and all the possible conveniences of drawers, closets, cupboards, etc. Bath rooms, water and slop closets on each floor. The fifth floor has eleven practice rooms for music, ^. sun-bath room, five trunk rooms, and tank rooms, furnished with a thirty-five barrel tank for hard or well water, and the same for cistern water. The water supply is complete, and of the best and purest water. The hard water is from a well one hundred and thirty feet deep, about fifty feet being in solid rock and the remaining eighty feet tubed with heavy galvanized iron. Thus there is no possibility of surface water or any impurities whatever getting into the well. The cistern water supplied to the soft water tank is from nine very large cisterns, connected by pipes at the bottom. The two cisterns receiving the water from the different buildings are furnished with the most complete filters, built in of brick covered with charcoal, gravel, sand, etc. Thus the soft water tank is supplied with pure filtered water. The water is raised by pumps worked by wind power. The wind mill, with a sixteen feet wheel, is built immediately over the well, and near the line of the cisterns The pumps are so set that the mill works both pumps at the same time, thus quickly forcing an abundant supply of water to the fifth floor of the building described, The wind-mill house is a neat octagon structure, all enclosed, with siding painted, and furnished with windows and blinds. It is separated into three stories, making convenient rooms for tools, etc. From the tanks in the attic, the water, both hard and soft, is carried to closets on each floor, thence to the basement, where the soft water is heated in two eightj^-gallon circulating boilers, connected with the kitchen range, and, by its own pressure, returned (both the hot and cold soft water) to the bath rooms on each floor and to the rooms of the first building erected. The different bath rooms are furnished with metallic and rubber tubs for plunge baths, wood tubs for Sitz baths, Brown's steam tub for electrical vapor baths, and a complete shower bath, hot or cold, as may be desired. The system of plumbing is complete - no lead or galvanized pipes being allowed, to convey impure water to poison stealthily, but surely, those using such water - the warming, ventilating and sewerage all being as nearly perfect as is often found. The well water is also carried under ground to the gardens, supplying fountains and hydrants for all needed garden uses. The warming and ventilating is on the Ruttan improved system. The furnaces being so constructed, it is impossible to make the outer casings red-hot, and consequently the air is never '^burned" thus obviating the objection urged against heating by furnaces.

The supply of pure air from direct outside flues is abundant. This is amply warmed (not burned) by contact with outer cases of furnaces, and from this goes direct to an iron reservoir, about eighty feet long by five feet wide and two feet deep, and from this reservoir supplied to the nine stacks of brick flues, each stack having seven or eight independent flues, each of which supplies heat to a room. Every flue has a damper in the basement, which system of dampers, in connection with the registers in each room, gives perfect control of the heating of the building. Every room is furnished with a thermometer, which the occupants are expected to observe, and when the temperature is seventy degrees Fahrenheit, the register is to be closed. If it falls to sixty-five degrees with register open, the occupant can report to fireman and more heat will be sujiplied. Thus, a very nearly even temperature (conducive alike to health and comfort) may with very little air be enjoyed at all times.

The system of ventilation deserves special mention. All the floors through the building are hollow, as also the main partitions from attic to basement. Under every window is a space of perforated base, which gives an opening from every room and hall to the hollow under the floor, which communicates with the hollows in the partitions, and is thus carried down to the foul air room in the basement, which opens directly to a ventilating chimney, some three by six feet in capacity, opening out at the apex of the roof. Thus, the draft of this great chimney upon the entire volume of air in the building naturally tends to exhaust the same from the building. The ventilating openings being at the base of room, where the coldest air and foulest air tends to accumulate, this is, of course, the first to be drawn off, and the pure air from outside, freshly warmed, is drawn upon to sup[)ly the air exhausted.

Thus, as the rooms warm, which they do very rapidly (almost instantane ously on opening the register), and warm air is drawn off by this great chimney draft and passes through the hollows under the floors and down the hollow partitions, the warmth is given out to the floors and partitions, till the entire building is of an L'(|ual temperature, the floors and ceilings of the roomsbemg within a degree or two of the same temperature - a great improvement on the old plan of stove-heated, unventilated rooms, where the " head is baked and the feet frozen." With this system of complete ventilation, capable of changing the entire atmosi)here of the building every thirty to sixty minutes.it is apparent that there is no need of open windows, exposing to cold currents, but on the contrary, however closely the windows and doors are kept closeil, the more perfect will be the ventilation. Hence, every means are used lo make the building close. The walls of brick are thick and hollow, and then furrowed and lathed, to secure warmth and dryness. The windows are all furnished with double sash and outside blinds, all of which contribute to the warmth. In short, this system of warming and ventilating can scarce be improved upon.

The sewerage, as well as closet arrangement, should be noticed, as the healthfulness of a large number together is so directly dependent on the successful arrangement of these details. The slops from kitchen, laundry, bath rooms and private rooms are all emptied into iron sinks in the different closets, etc. suitable, and thence conveyed by iron pipes down from the building into cement sewer pipes laid deep under ground, and thence to a ravine some fifty rods from the building. The waste water pipes are all abundantly supplied with stench traps, and, to make the whole more secure, ventilated by carrying a tin flue from the upper end of the waste pipe out by chimney to top of building. Thus, there is no possible offence, no poisoning the air or earth to be conveyed into the water, at some remote time to cause epidemics, etc.

With such complete sanitary arrangements, may not the Mount Carroll Seminary continue to enjoy the immunity from sickness it is already noted for .'' An elevator conveys all baggage from basement to any floor required. Clothes flues and dirt flues convey all clothes to the laundry, and all dirt to the dirt closet in the basement. Thus, with the added conveniences of water and slop closets on every floor, very much of the runnmg up and down stairs, often objected to, is avoided. The entire buildings are fitted for gas. The gas house of brick is about eight rods from the seminary, where the gas is manufactured for lighting. It may be added that the first (oldest) building is also fitted with furnace and with water supply, and it is the principal's plan to have either furnaces or steam introduced into the first and second additions, another year.

For exercise, in addition to the ample grounds and the floored grape arbor 300 feet long, we will notice the piazzas running the length and width of the first building, and length and width-of last building, giving 500 feet for promenade, which is thoroughly enjoyed by the young ladies.

We have been thus minute in our description, because it is all, except the first of the four buildings, the work of a woman, she being the financier, the architect, the contractor, the builder, or superintendent of the entire work from day to day, nothing done " by contract," all by day's work, in every department, from the quarrying the rock for the foundation to the finishing stroke of .the painter and the final furnishing. No board of trustees to advise - no male adviser in any department or any way. Let women learn to be selfreliant, and go and do likewise. In addition to the buildings, the same woman has made the grounds what they are. Beginning with five acres of naked ground, not a tree or shrub upon it, not even a fence to enclose it, she added to it till now there are 25 acres, enclosed with hedges and ornamental borders of evergreens and varieties of deciduous trees ; planted with vineyards and orchards, embracing every variety of fruits grown in this latitude; flower gardens laid out and planted; walks, play-grounds, and game grounds provided for; macadamized and graveled drives laid ; arbors, with shady seats ; fountains set ; all projected ; material procured, and work done under the immediate supervision of this same woman. Her own landscape gardener, orchardist and planter, every tree and shrub and plant passed through her hands, placing nearly every root in the ground herself, with, in most cases, inexperienced boys to do the digging, etc. During these years of laying out grounds, and planting hedges and trees, being at all times financier, book-keeper, secretary, treasurer, steward and general overseer, this same woman must carry on her improvements out of doors through the day, and attend to the duties of her various other offices at night, thus much of her life taking only four or five hours' sleep of the tvventy-four. If a change of cooks was necessary at any time, this same woman filled the vacancy for weeks, or till suited with a new one. If the cook was sick, as sometimes may happen, this same woman became cook and nurse. Such was the experience of the many of the early years of this enterprise. Say not that women are dependent. Every girl in our country should be educated to be self-reliant, and capable of being self-sustaining. Till this is the aim of every school for young ladies, our institutions are sadly deficient.

Manufacturing Industries

Have never been encouraged or fostered to any extent. The organization of the Hydraulic Company, about 1851-2, had foritsobject the manufacture of alcohol. About that time spirit lamps were generally in use, and it was claimed by the projectors and managers of the Hydraulic Company, that an alcoholic distillery here would afford the farmers a profitable market for their surplus corn, while the distillery would prove a regular "bonanza" (the term was not in use then, however) to those who would invest therein. Investments were made, and the distillery was started, but by some sort of hocus pocus arrangement, the alcohol manufactured was not confined to the purposes claimed when the company was being organized. There were a few good men, among them Father Irvine, who had a suspicion from the start that it would not end well - that the distillery would be diverted to other uses than the making of alcohol - or, that at least the alcohol would not all go towards supplying the spirit-lamp demand. So a watch was kept on the establishment, and some of its barrels tracked away from the distillery and back again, and it turned out that the alcohol was taken to distant refineries, re-handled, turned into a good article of corn whisky, brought back and sold to different individuals - some of it, perhaps, returning to the farmers who had raised the corn from which it was made. This discovery created a furore of excitement. Good men - members of churches - were interested in the concern as stockholders, and to excuse themselves, they claimed that after the production left the distillery, and was sold to other parties, they were not responsible for the uses to which it was put. But the excitement could not be controlled. It increased and extended. Friends of long standing became alienated, and finally the concern was abandoned, after having involved the Mill Company and some others in financial troubles that bore them down.

^" 1853, John Tridel started a foundry and commenced the manufacture of stoves, plows, etc. In 1854, a Mr. Kellogg became a partner, and afterwards John Nycum and Henry McCall, Senior, were admiued as partners. The business was continued up to 1866, when the enterprise was abandoned.

Messrs. Widney and Walker started a fanning mill factory, in 1855, and did a good business for five years, when, the outlook becoming somewhat clouded, they " shut up shop."

The old mill is now under the proprietorship and management of |esse M. Shirk, Owen P. Miles, and Nathaniel Halderman, under the firm "name of Shirk, Miles iV Co. This firm was organized in September, 1864.

J. P. Smith, wagon maker and blacksmith, commenced operations 1854 or 1855, and with the exception of the time he was in the army - going out with the first company and coming back with the last - has been in the business all the time. He is a good workman, employs none but number one mechanics, and turns out the best of work.

J. VV. Miller, carriage maker, commenced operations about the year 1872. He is said to be a sui)erior workman, and that carriages of his make bear favorable comparison witli those of any other establishment in the state. His shops are small, but steadily increasing in size and capacity.

H. C. Blake, a son of Orleans County, Vermont, came here in 1864, and after engaging six and a half years in carrying the mail and staging it between Mount Carroll and Polo, in 1S70, commenced a general blacksmithing busi- ness, making to order any thing needed in that line. His business is steadily increasing, and enlarged shops, greater capacity, and more workmen, are necessities of the near future.

P. B. Cole is well established as a blacksmith and woodworker, and when times were good conducted a large and lucrative business. At one time his business was the largest in the Plum River country. For the last few years his attention has been more directed to the improvement and culture of his farm than his shops.

Brickmaking. - This is the largest manufacturing industry prosecuted in Mount Carroll. James Hallett, practical brick maker and mason, came here in 1847, ^"d at once engaged in the business of making brick, and has continued in the business to the present without interruption. In the Spring of 1848, his brother, B. H. Hallett, became a partner with him, and until 1867, they remained together as brickmakers and builders. In April, 1867, the partnership was dissolved, B. H. Hallett withdrew from the business, and James continued to operate in that line. His kilns are located in the northern part of the city, where an abundance of good clay is of easy access. All of the prominent buildings in the county are built of Hallett's make of brick, including the Seminary, Court House, Public School Buildings, etc. In 1863 and 1864, he operated a yard at Lanark. Since the last-named date, he has confined his operations in Carroll County to his Mount Carroll yard. His average productions amount to 500,000 per year. In season he gives employment to twelve to fifteen operatives.

The Press

The first newspaper started was the Mount Carroll Tribune, by Dr. J. L. Hostetter in 1851. It was printed at Freeport, although it bore date and purported to be published here. It only lived a few months.