Rockford Township (part 4 of 11)

From 1841 to 1853 Rockford had been a part of the Mt. Morris district. In the latter year, the conference, which met at Chicago September 14th, redistricted the work, and the Rockford district was formed. Bishop Scott sent Luke Hitchcock to the district as presiding elder. William Tasker was assigned to the First church, and "West Rockford" was left to be supplied by Mr. Chatfield.

Lewiston was the seat of the next conference, which was held September 13, 1854. James Baume was sent from this session by Bishop Morris to East Rockford. He served the church two years. Mr. Baume went to India as a missionary in 1859, and remained seven years. He was stationed at Lucknow, where his daughter, now Mrs. Henry D. Andrew, was born. Mr. Baume returned in 1866, and in that year he was assigned to the First church by Bishop Clark. Mrs. Baume died in 1867. Mr. Baume's second wife is a sister of Mrs. Thomas G. Lawler. In 1883 Mr. Baume returned to the foreign field. He first went to Naini Tal, a resort in the Himalaya mountains, and thence to Bowen church in Bombay. He returned in 1893 to Rockford, after having given seventeen years to foreign missionary fields. Mr. Baume died in June, 1897. Circuit Judge Baume, of Galena, isasori. At his death it was said of him : "He esteemed the Christian ministry the choicest, most privileged and far the highest place on earth. . . and he therefore had that calm and impress! veuess which come to a man in the presence of such exalted persuasions."

From the Aurora conference, September 12, 1856, Bishop Simpson sent Hooper Crews to this charge. During his second year the society again swarmed, and the Third Street church was formed. At the conference of August, 1858, which met at Waukegan, the three societies in Rockford were respectively named First Church, Court Street and Third Street. The next conference was held at Galena, in October, 1859, when Bishop Ames reappointed Francis A . Reed to the First church. Mrs. Reed died during his first year. The Swedish Methodist Episcopal church was organized in July, 1861, during his second year.

The portraits of many of these pioneer Methodist ministers adorn the parlors of Centennial church. There is also a picture of the First Methodist church. The union of the First church and the Third Street church under the name of the Centennial church, will be considered in a later chapter.

A complet list of the early presiding elders who have served on the districts in which the Rockford appointments have been located, are as follows : 1836-40, John Clark, Chicago district ; 1840-41, John T. Mitchell, Chicago district; 1841-42,8. H. Stocking, Mt. Morris district ; 1842-44. John T. Mitchell, Mt. Morris district ; 1844-48, Cooper Crews, Mt. Morris district ; 1848-50, Philo Judson, Mt. Morris district; 1850-53, Richard Haney, Mt. Morris district; 1853 - 54, Luke Hitchcock, Rockford district ; 1854-58, Rev. G. L. S. Stuff, Rockford district ; 1858-60, Cooper Crews, Rockford district; 1860-64, Richard A. Blanchard, Rockford district; 1864-65, W. T. Harlow, Mt. Morris district; 1864-68, L. A. Sanford (six months), Rockford district; 1864-68, H. L. Martin (three years and six months), Rockford district; 1868-72, W. C. Willing, Rockford district ; 1872-76, W. P. Gray, Rockford district; 1876-80, Henry L. Martin, Rockford district; 1880-84, C. E. Mandeville, Rockford district.

Of the sixty sessions of the Rock River conference, eight have been held in Rockford. The first convened with the First church, July 18, 1849. Edmund S. Janes was the presiding bishop. August 26, 1857, the conference convened in Court Street church, with Lewis Scott as presiding bishop. At the conference held with the First church, September 23, 1863, Bishop Scott again presided. October 9, 1872, the conference met in the Third Street church, with Bishop Isaac W. Wiley presiding. The next conference in Rockford met October 13, 1880, in Court Street church. Bishop Hurst presided. The charge of heresy preferred against Dr. H. W. Thomas was considered and referred to the presiding elder of his district. September 21, 1884, the conference convened with Centennial church. Bishop Henry W. Warren presided. Bishop Mallalieu presided at the conference held with Court Street church, September 27, 1887. The eighth conference convened with Centennial church, October 3, 1899, with Bishop Hurst in the chair.

Chapter Xvi

1~"HE first crime brought to light in Winnebago county was committed in the summer of 1835. The body of a murdered man, terribly mutilated, was found in the woods, about two and a half miles south of the settlement. This discovery sent a thrill of horror to the hearts of the pioneers, who began for the first time to feel distrustful. The county had been settled by an excellent class of citizens, and this murder was the one dark shadow of these first years. The crime was at first attributed to the Indians ; but this accusation was not warranted by their general treatment of the whites. The remains of the stranger were buried in the woods where he met his death. The crime remains a mystery to this day ; but the poor fellow was doubtless murdered by an unsuspected Judas for his claim. The settlers allowed the tragedy to pass unrecorded in local history; and not until forty years later appeared the first published statement of the affair. This first crime was the first death of a white person in the county, so far as known. The second death was that of Sampson George, to whom reference was made in a preceding chapter.

The first marriage was that of Dr. Daniel H. Whitney and Sarah Caswell, and was solemnized by Rev. Seth S. Whitman, of Belvidere, December 10, 1836. The first marriage ceremony within the present limits of thecounty was that of Jeremiah Roberts and Harriet Clausen, and was performed December 11,1836, by Sylvester Talcott, a justice of the peace. The first marriage, however, reported in the registry in the county clerk's office is that of William P. Randall and Miss Delia Driscoll, solemnized February 13, 1837, by William R. Wheeler, a justice of the peace.

Dr. Daniel Hilton Whitney, the first benedict, was a historic character. He was not the Daniel Whitney who figured prominently in the early transfers of land in sections twenty-one, twenty-two and twenty-seven, in Rockford township. Dr. Whitney settled in Belvidere in 1835, and was elected the first recorder of Winnebago county, which in 1836 included Boone county. Dr. Whitney was tall, of commanding presence, with swarthy complexion, coal-black hair, and eagle eye, and withal the very incarnation of dynamic force. At one time Dr. Whitney was not a believer in revealed religion. Rev. EleazerT. Ball, a Presbyterian pastor of Belvidere, when on his death-bed, sent an invitation to Dr. Whitney to come and see a Christian die. Upon his brow had come the first breath of the eternal morning, and into his soul the thrill of thriumph. With Paul he could say: "0 grave! where is thy victory !" Death to him was but the kiss of an angel, to waft the gentle spirit homeward to its God. Wfiat, to this, is the hero's clarion, though its blast should ring with the mastery of a world ! Dr. Whitney died February 17, 1864, aged fifty-seven years. There was much in his life and character that appealed to the love of romance; and he is kindly remembered to this day. Dr. Jones, a grandson of Dr. Whitney, is practicing medicine at Belvidere.

Melissa J. Long, daughter of John B. Long, born in February, 1836, is entitled to the distinction of being the first white child born in the county. The first male child, Ogden Hance, was born in what is now Pecatonica township. George E. Dunbar, son of William E. Dunbar, was born in 1836, in a little log house situated about one block south of Kent street, on Main. Mrs. T. W. Carrico, a daughter of Benjamin Kilburn, was also among the earliest accessions by birth to the population of the village.

The protection of land claims was one of the difficulties that confronted the early settlers. Stephen A. Douglas' doctrine of squatter sovereignty was not practicable in dealing with slavery in the territories; and perhaps the renowned and doughty little giant never designed that it should be. But in Winnebago county, during the first five years after the arrival of Kent and Blake, the fact of actual possession was the only title to the soil. The land in this vicinity was not brought into market until 1839 ; and the Polish claims, which will be considered in a subsequent chapter, did not permit the land in two townships co be opened to sale until several years later. Claims were made upon lands, deeds were executed and money paid for lands that were still in technical legal possession of the government. In some instances several transfers were made before the original grantor obtained his patent from the government. Three facts produced this peculiar condition in the real estate market. The "floats" which were given certainhalf-breed Winnebago Indians by the treaty of Prairie du Chien, were located on desirable lands by shrewd land speculators, who purchased the "floats" from their wards. These claims were given precedence. Another cause was the claim of a Polish count to Rockford and Kockton townships. The third factor was the settlement by the pioneers on lands several years before they were advertised for sale at the land office. Thus this feature of local history is quite complex. Many of the early instruments were not deeds, but simply transfers of claims, or agreements to sell the land when the titles of the grantors had been obtained. These transactions indicate the utmost confidence in the good faith of the government, and this confidence was never misplaced.

Under these circumstances, however, trouble among claimants was inevitable. There was no golden age in which the brethren always dwelt together in unity. The "transfigured menagerie," of which Dr. Boardman speaks, when the lion and the lamb should lie down together, was not fully realized on the banks of Rock river. The law allowed a settler to hold such land as he could enclose. His ambition was sometimes greater than his ability to "enclose," which was occasionally done byplowing a furrow around the claim. The first fences were of split rails or sods. The latter were quite extensively built at first, but were soon abandoned. They were* made by building the sides of cut turf and filling the middle with earth. When well made, these fences were quite attractive to the eye. Their insufficiency, however, soon drew attention to hedges, and after trials of many kinds, the osage orange was extensively used. The county was not entirely free from that depraved and desperate class, who usually keep in advance of the administration of justice by the regularly established institutions of law. But these soon found that the moral atmosphere around them rendered their situation not only uncomfortable, but actually dangerous; and they were warned either to reform or emigrate.

Although difficulties frequently arose among settlers in regard to their respective titles to land, there were few of so serious a nature that they were not peaceably and satisfactorily adjusted by the claims committee. This was a sort of squatter sovereignty judiciary, which was established in almost every community. When complaint was made, a meeting was called, a chairman appointed, and a verdict rendered, which was very generally respected. A settler who had made what was considered a favorable selection of land, or one that was likely from the growth of the county to become valuable, occasionally found in the morning that a board shanty had been put up during the night on his claim. This cabin would generally be occupied by three or four men, friends of the "jumper," who had come with him to assist in maintaining his seizure. These intruders usually had their shanties ready to put together. The work was done at some convenient sawmill where lumber could be obtained. It was then loaded on a wagon at night ; and by morning they would have the house put up, and be ready to maintain their position by force of arms in what they called their "castle." The decision of the settlers' court, in the matter of "jumping claims," was usually in favor of the man who had a family, and who intended to become an actual settler ; and it was always carried out to the strict letter.

An instance occurred in Rockford in the winter of 1838-39, in which the "jumper" refused to submit his pretensions to the determination of this tribunal, but persisted in completing his building upon land which had been previously recognized as belonging to another. The neighbors turned out almost en masse, carefully raised the building and placed it upon ox sleds, and with their teams hauled it into town. On the top of the building sat Mark Beaubien, a young man, who tied together a number of red handkerchiefs into a flaming banner, which he waved in triumph over that portion of the "land of the free." On either side of the cabin, which was now playing the role of a circuit-rider, marched the citizens in procession, one hundred or more in number. Their destination was the residence of George W. Brinckerhoff, who, it was alleged, had counseled the jumping of the claim, and who would be interested therein should it be secured. They quietly deposited their freight in Mr. Brinckerhoff s front yard, and told him they had found his property astray on the prairie; and, fearing some injury might come to it, they had deemed it their duty as good neighbors, to return it to him. They also expressed the hope that he would exercise police regulations over his wayward property. The citizens then quietly dispersed ; and it is said no further trouble arose from that source.

Another case occurred at Twelve-Mile Grove, in 1844, which resulted in the death of one of the claimants. Two men started at the same time to pre-empt forty acres of land in that neigh- borhood. One of them, named Pierce, found on reaching- the place that Andrus had forestalled him, and was putting up a cabin. Pierce immediately started for Dixon on horseback. By hard riding he reached his destination the same day, made his entry atthe land office, received his certificate, and immediately returned. When he arrived on the tract in dispute, he found thereon the cabin which had just been completed. His opponent had labored all night and had finished his cabin, and was now away at breakfast. Pierce quickly summoned two or three of his friends; and, on the principle that possession is nine points in the law, they entered the shanty, locked the door and awaited developments. When Andrus returned he found that he had been locked out of the cabin, and he immediately rallied to his aid a number of neighbors. Terms of capitulation were offered and refused, and hostilities began. The inmates could not be dislodged ; and as a last resort the assailants tried to overturn the cabin. They had raised one side several feet, when a shot was fired from within, and they dropped their load. As the cabin recovered its perpendicular with great force, the board which covered the window fell in, and one of the attacking party fired through. Pierce sprang though the window, ran a few steps and fell dead, shot through the heart. The participants in the disturbance were apprehended for riot. One of them was tried for murder; but it could not be proved who fired the fatal shot, and all were acquitted.

The treatment of a Mr. Brown, who came to Rockford in the winter of 1837, with a large family and a very small purse, has been told by other writers. Brown built a log cabin, and moved from his wagon into his new home. He was thereupon told that his castle must be pulled down, as the claim belonged to Mr. Spaulding, who was then at St. Louis. Mr. Brown was not easily intimidated, and defended his rights. One day a crowd, under the influence of liquor, besieged his cabin. Brown confronted them with a musket. Terms of settlement were proposed. "If you will leave this claim, we agree to get you a better one, build a house, and furnish you with provisions." The ruse was successful. The terms were accepted, and the barricade removed, when the goods were ejected from the cabin, which was torn down, and the logs rolled together and burned. Brown's affects were hauled into the woods, and his family exposed to the elements on a cold, stormy night, until compassionate friends gave them shelter. Upon Mr. Spaulding's return, he denied all pretension to the ownership of the claim. Other instances occurred in the county ; but as land titles became settled, these controversies ceased.

Jonathan Weldon, who settled at Westfield, was unpopular among the early residents. John H. Thurston says it was a common story in early days that Richard Montague emigrated from New Hampshire mainly that he might be at a comfortable distance from Weldon. Mr. Montague was somewhat dismayed upon his arrival inRockford, to find that Mr. Weldon was to be afellow citizen. Mr. Weldon was intellectual and shrewd, though seriously deformed. In one instance he successfully opposed the entire bar of the county when it was proposed to open a road through his land. Weldon did not live at peace with his neighbors ; and one night he was taken from his house by a masked party and carried to the prairie, where they made preparations, as he then believed, to hang him. However, after a consultation, they took him to the school house, and left him in the fire-place, covered with tar and feathers. Mr. Weldon, however, must not be dismissed without reference to another phase of his character; and this has been presented by one who knew him well. In a letter to the late Hon. E. H. Baker, from Eureka, California, under date of November 24, 1886, C. A. Huntington, formerly of Rockford, writes : "Without exception he was the most remarkable man I ever knew. A man who never walked a step in his life, yet traveled more miles than any farmer of his time. He settled without a dollar in the grove near Rock river, and took up a large farm well chosen with both prairie and timber. His children, when young, two sons and two daughters (whose mother was also a cripple and never walked a step in her life), while yet in their childhood so plied their young hands to work, that in a few years under the prudent management of parents, both of whom had judgment and tact, that they had fields fenced and plowed, they had a good stock of horses, mules, swine, cattle, poultry, and money in abundance. Mr. Weldon was a man of education, and in spite of all the impediments of frontier life and all the disadvantages under which he labored, a cripple himself with a decrepid wife, he educated his children, all of whom took rank among the best settlers of the county, and one, his oldest son, became a clergyman."

Chapter Xvii

An act of the legislature, approved March 4, 1837, provided for the reorganization of Winnebago county, and the creation of Stephenson and Boone. The latter was named in honor of Colonel Daniel Boone, the first white settler of Kentucky. By this act Winnebago county was reduced to one-half its original size. The reader will find it necessary, in tracing the boundary lines, to have before him maps of Winnebago and Boone counties; also some acquaintance with the township survey system. Confusion will arise if it is not remembered that the townships in Winnebago county, west of the third principal meridian, are numbered from a different base-line from those east of this meridian. It must also be borne in mind that the ranges west of the third principal meridian are numbered, not as ranges west of the third principal meridian, but as east of the fourth principal meridian.

The first section of this law creates Stephenson county from the eastern portion of Jo Daviess and the western two ranges of Winnebago, as the latter had been organized the preceding year. The next section defines the new boundary of Winnebago. The line begins at the northeast corner of Stephenson, as formed by the preceding section ; thence running east on the state line to the section line between sections five and six, in township forty-six north, range three east of the third principal meridian; thence south on said section line to the south boundary of township forty-three north, range three east: thence west on said township line to the third principal meridian ; thence north on said meridian to the southeast corner of township twentysix north, range eleven east of the fourth principal meridian; thence west on said line to the range line between ranges nine and ten east of the fourth principal meridian ; thence north to the place of beginning.

The third section of this law contemplated the boundaries of Boone as they now exist, except the mile-strip on the west. This law was seriously defective in defining the boundary lines. The intention of the legislature, however, was obvious, and was accepted until two years later, when the act of March 2, 1839, corrected the errors, which may have been either verbal or typographical. This act also proposed to extend Boone county on the east to include the western range of townships in McHenry county, provided the voters in those townships should so elect. As Boone never extended farther east than at present, it may be inferred that the settlers residing on the range in question voted against annexation to Boone. The writer was once told by the late Judge Lawrence, of Booue county, that about 1846 this question was again submitted to the voters of these western McHenry townships, and that an election was carried in favor of annexation to Boone, but that this expression of the popular will was defeated by a dishonest postmaster, who changed the election returns while they were in his office to suit his purpose.

By comparing the boundary lines of Winnebago and Booue, as defined by the act of 1837, with an atlas of the counties, it will be observed that the eastern boundary of Winnebago was exactly one mile east of its present line. Thus established, Boone was only eleven miles wide. The western tier of sections, which clearly belonged to Boone under the government survey, was denied her and given to Winnebago.

This manifest injustice to Boone county was a thorn in the flesh of her citizens, and finally precipitated what is known as the "mile-strip contest," the most bitter controversy of those early days. The statement is twice made in Kett's History of Boone county that the assignment of this mile-strip to Winnebago in 1837 was a compromise to conciliate conflicting interests in this county. These "conflicting interests" were probably the ambitions of East and West Rockford for the county buildings. The extra mile-strip may have been given to Winnebago, at the instance of clever manipulators, to increase the voting strength of that part of thecountyeastof Rock river.

In 1843 the question of annexing this mile-strip to Boone county came before the legislature. An enabling act, approved February 28th, provided that sections six, seven, eighteen, nineteen, thirty and thirty-one, in townships forty-three, forty-four, forty-five and forty-six, range three east, should be annexed to Boone, if the voters on the mile-strip should so elect. The strip comprised what is now the western tier of sections in the townships of Manchester, Caledonia, Belvidere and Flora, in Boone county. An election was ordered to be held at the house of

Samuel Keith, in the village of Newburg, Winnebago county, May 4, 1843. The citizens of Rockford were deeply interested in the result, although the county seat had recently been re-located on the West side, and the voters the preceding year had expressed a preference for that side. They were not, of course, allowed to vote. Only those on the mile-strip had a voice in the matter. The election called out ninety-five votes. Fifty-one were for annexation to Boone, and forty-four against it ; a majority of seven in favor of Boone. This election added twenty-four sections of valuable land to our eastern neighbor, and thus greatly - increased her taxable property. Had this election been held several years earlier, the result might have been a factor in determining the location of the county buildings. But under the circumstances, it had no such influence. Additional facts upon this point are given in a later chapter devoted to the prolonged controversy over the county seat.

In 1845 the legislature passed an act which provided as follows : "That it shall be lawful for the county commissioners' court of the county of Boone, by an order to be entered upon the records of said court, to require the recorder of the county of Winnebago, and the clerk of the commissioners' court of said county, to transcribe into a book, to be provided for that purpose by the county commissioners' court of the said county of Boone, all records of said offices relating to the following described territory of land, to-wit: Sections six, seven, eighteen, nineteen, thirty and thirty-one, in each of the townships of forty -three, forty-four, forty-five and forty-six, in range three east of the third principal meridian."

This act referred to the mile-strip ; and its provisions were faithfully executed. The county commissioners of Boone provided the necessary books, and required the clerk and recorder of Winnebago county to transcribe therein all records and orders relating to the strip. When completed, this transcript was regularly certified and forwarded to the proper official in Boone, and placed among the recorded proceedings of its court. This transaction completed the record of the transfer for that county.

The first tax levy was ordered by the county commissioners' court, at its March term, 1837. One-half per cent, tax was levied on town lots, horses and mares, neat cattle above three years old, watches, carriages, and wagons, and a tax of one-fourth per cent, on stock in trade. Through some technicality, this levy was declared illegal, and a second levy was made. At that time farm lands were not taxable. They were not placed upon the market at the laud offices until two years later, and for three years thereafter they were exempt from taxation. It wa« not until 1842-43 that any county revenue was obtained from this source. The revenue required to meet the expense of the county until the lands became taxable was derived from assessments against personal property. Under this order the total amount levied was five hundred and sixty -two dollars and fifty-nine and one-half cents. Of this sum, two hundred and ninety-eight dollars and twenty-nine and one-half cents were assessed upon personal property; and two hundred and sixty-four dollars and thirty cents on lots in the town of Winnebago, owned by non-residents. At that time the assessment was made by the county treasurer, and the taxes were collected by the sheriff. R. J. Cross, the treasurer, consumed fifteen days in makingthis assessment. His compensation was thirty dollars, or two dollars per day. He was also allowed nine dollars and twenty-eight cents, for receiving and disbursing the taxes when collected. This commission was two per cent, on four hundred and sixtyfour dollars, the amount actually collected.

The revenue law of February, 1839, changed the manner of assessing and collecting taxes. The county commissioners' courts were authorized to appoint one or more assessors, not exceeding one for each justice's district; also a suitable person for collector. The Whig county convention of 1840 made nominations for county assessor and collector; but they must have been only as timely suggestions to the commissioners' court. An act of February, 1841, restricted the commissioners' courts to the appoiument of one assessor for the county. From 1838 to 1844, Goodyear A. Sauford collected all the taxes of the county, which aggregated from two hundred and thirtyseven to six hundred and forty dollars per annum during those years. These collections were made in part by virtue of his office of deputy sheriff, and the balance by special appointment. This system was superseded a few years later by the township organization law.

This chapter may properly close with a reference to the day of small things. The first frame building in Rockf ord was erected in 1836, by Sidney Twogood and Thomas Lake. It was a story-and-a-half structure, aud stood 011 the southwest corner of State and Madison streets, and faced east. It was first occupied as a general store by Harry W. Bundy and George Goodhue. The latter was a nephew of Dr. Goodhue. This firm continued in business there only about two years, and then removed to Beloit in the spring of 1838. Many years later this building was removed to the lot adjoining the railroad track on the same side of the street, where it remained until a few years ago, when a stone building was erected on the site. The second frame structure was built for Daniel S. Haight, on the northeast corner of State and Madison streets, and to which reference has already been made. While this building was in progress, however, Mr. Haight employed a force of carpenters in constructing a small frame dwelling house on lot nine of the same block. He lived in this as soon as it was enclosed. This was the first frame house in Rockford occupied by a family. Mr. Haight had vacated his first log house for the Miller family. James B. Marty n, who came from Alabama upon Mr. Haight's solicitation, claimed to have built the first frame house in the county, in 1836, on his claim on the State road, one mile east of the intersection of State and Third streets. Mr. Martyn died at Belvidere in 1881.

The first theatrical performance was given October 29, 1838, in the old Rockford House. The manager of the company was the elder Jefferson, father of the world-renowned Joseph Jefferson. "Joe" vras but a youth, and acted in "Lord Lovell," then a new play. The company was weather-bound in Rockford while enroute from Chicago to Galena. The river was not passable by reason of heavy moving ice. The last time the famous impersonator of "Rip Van Winkle" was in Rockford he related this incident to a local reporter.

The first tailor in Rockford was William H. Tinker, who came from Massachusetts. He was in the village in 1836, but he did not consider the outlook very promising, and he left the field. In June, 1837, Parson King Johnson, from Brandon, Vermont, came to Rockford, and found Mr. Tinker's cutting board in the rear room of Buudy & Goodhue's store. Mr. Tinker returned to Rockford, and the firm of Tinker & Johnson became the first in that line in the village. The firm occupied the upper room in a building on the site of 111 South Madison street. Mr. Tinker is now living with a son at St. Paul, and is about eighty-six years of age. He visited Rockford last year. Mr.

The first shoemaker was Ezra Barnum. He was father of Anson Barnum and Mrs. James M. Wight, and grandfather of Mrs. Sherratt. Mr. Barnum came from Danbury, Connecticut, in the summer of 1837. A history of Danbury shows the Barnums to have been an old family of that city. One of the eight founders of the city, with this name, died in 1695. Mrs. M. T. Trowbridge is descended from a branch of this family. The history was written in part by J. M. Bailey, the well known humorist of the Danbury News.

The first brick was made in the autumn of 1837 by Cyrus C. Jenks, in Guilford, about three and a half miles northeast of the town. The larger portion of this brick was used for chimneys. The first brick house was a small, square structure, one story, on the southeast corner of block eighteen, on First street, opposite the public square. It was built in 1838, by John H. Morse. The first carpenter cannot be determined with accuracy ; but it is probable that Thomas Lake and Sidney Twogood were the first skilled workmen. The first saloon was opened in 1837, by Samuel Little, an Englishman. He put up a small one-story building near 316 East State street. The first blacksmith was probably one of the men employed by Mr. Kent. The second was William Penfield. His frame building was on the northeast corner of Madison and Market streets. William P. Dennis was the first house-painter, and in 1837 he displayed his skill on Mr. Haight's first frame house. The first drug-store was opened early in the summer of 1838, by "Dr." Marshal, a Scotchman. It was on the north side of State street, about eighty feet from the river. He was once called to prescribe for Dr. Haskell, who refused to take his medicine. It proved to be seventy grains of calomel. The first bakers were Ephraim Wyman and Bethuel Houghton, who did business in 1838 as partners on South Main street. The first store was kept by John Vance, in a log cabin on South First street, opposite the hay market. He subsequently started a provision store at Winnebago, when that village seemed likely to become the county seat.

Chapter Xviii

NEW England Congregationalism came with the early settlers. This institution was firmly established within three years after the arrival of Mr. Kent and Mr. Blake, and ^t has maintained a strong and influential position in Rockford until the present time. The First Congregational church was organized May 5,1837, with nine members: Rev. John Morrill, Herman B. Potter, Israel Morrill, Richard Morrill, Elizabeth P. Morrill, Mary J. Morrill, Sophia N. Morrill, Minerva Potter, and Eunice Brown. The only survivor of this membership is Richard Morrill, who is now living with his son in Minnesota. Mr. Morrill is ninety-four years of age. He is an uncle of Mrs. A. M. Catlin, of Rockford. The church was founded by Rev. John Morrill, at the home of his brother, Israel Morrill, on the west side of the river. It is therefore the oldest church in Rockford, inasmuch as the First Methodist church, formed the previous year, ceased to exist. The three Morrill brothers and their wives constituted just two-thirds of the original membership. Two weeks later, May 19th, there were five accessions: Edward Gating, Charles Works, Asa Crosby, Mary Crosby, and Mary Danforth. Mies Danforth was a sister of Mrs. Israel Morrill. Their sister Sarah was the wife of D. A. Spaulding, the surveyor. Mrs. Spaulding died at Alton, Illinois, August 22, 1887. She was seventy-six years of age. During the year the following were also received into membership : Mary Works, wife of Charles Works, Deborah Barnura, wifeof EzraBarnum, Eleazer H. Potter, Adeline Potter, Samuel D. Preston, and Mary Preston. - The last named member is Mrs. Selden M. Church, who is the only survivor among the women of that first year's congregation. During its first year the church had attained a membership of twenty souls. Israel Morrill and H. B. Potter were the first deacons.

The first confession of faith and form of covenant, adopted temporarily at its organization, was that recommended by the Watertown presbytery. One year later, May 4, 1838, this was displaced by the articles of faith and covenant of the Rock

River Congregational Association. At the first meeting it was unanimously voted that "all persons, before uniting with the church, should sign a pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks as a beverage." Under date of August 11, 1837, there is found the following entry : "The resolution touching the slavery question being agitated, it was resolved that for the present the subject be postponed, to receive the attention and action of the church at some future time." No other record upon this subject, however, has been found.

Rev. John Morrill was the first pastor. Very little is known of him previous to his removal to the west. He had come in a farm wagon from New York as a home missionary to this county, where his brother had previously settled. Mr. Morrill served as pastor one year from May, 1837. He officiated at the organization of the Presbyterian church in Belvidere, March 17, 1839, and was its stated supply until March of the following year. The late Mrs. Eunice Brown Lyon is authority for the statement that Mr. Morrill received no formal call to the pastorate of the Congregational church. He was the leading spirit in its organization, and he may have assumed the work with the understanding, explicit or implied, that he should serve as its pastor for a time. Mrs. Brown also says that the brethren were somewhat slack in paying the pastor's salary. This delinquency, however, was redeemed by the ladies, who secured pledges for a goodly sum. Mr. Morrill was a devout man, who labored for the spiritual growth of the people. He placed emphasis upon pecuniary reward only so far as it was necessary for his support. This pioneer minister died at Pecatonica February 16, 1874.

Soon after its organization the church held services in the "stage barn," built by Daniel S. Haight, near the intersection of State and Third streets. Only a few years ago this structure was standing on the farm of Isaac Rowley, near the city. In the summer of 1838 the trustees began the erection of a frame structure on the west side of North First street, on a site near the residence of Irving French. When the building had been enclosed and shingled it was learned that Messrs. Kent and Brinckerhoff had obtained about eight hundred dollars from friends in New York, for a church. Instead of turning over this money to the society to complete the church, these gentlemen built an edifice on their own side of the river. This building was raised in the summer of 1838, and enclosed the same sea- son. When it was completed they turned it over to the society for worship, but retained their nominal title. At that time they possessed no legal title to the land from the government. Those eastern friends knew but little of the power for good of this beautiful little church, in laying the foundations of a prosperous Christian community. The unfinished building on North First street was abandoned, and was never afterward used by this church as a house of worship. It was, however, devoted to other purposes, which will be noted in subsequent chapters.

The building erected by Kent and Brinckerhoff was the first church edifice in Rockiord. It stood on the -southwest corner of Church and Green streets. It was a frame structure, clapboarded, in Doric style, forty-five feet square inside, and stood on a foundation of blocks of trees cut in the adjoining grove, with sills resting upon them about three feet above the ground. In fact, the greater portion of the building material was obtained from adjacent lots. The building fronted to the east, and had three windows on each side. A porch about ten feet wide extended across the front, covered by an extension of the roof, which was supported by four fluted wooden columns. On the east end of the roof stood a cupola, or belfry, about eight feet square, ten feet high, and covered by a hip roof. This cupola had a bell, whose tones seemed sweeter to the worshipers on a quiet Sabbath morning than any other which they have heard in Rockford since that time. This bell was taken away by the owner, Rev. Cyrus L. Watson, upon the close of his pastorate. The building was plastered, and painted white inside. Two doors led to the sanctuary from the front ; two aisles extended from these, which made four rows of pews. The pulpit at the west end was large, high, and enclosed by panel work, and withal was capable of withstanding a siege. The singers' gallery was formed by raised pews at the eastern end of the auditorium. This structure was plain, but neat and substantial, and its pure white exterior, with a background of oak trees in the surrounding forest, made it beautiful for situation, and the joy of its friends. This sylvan sanctuary was occupied by the First church about six years.

The Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society was organized in 1838, just one year after the founding of the church. The originators of this movement, like the founders of the church, were largely from New England, who had been interested in foreign missions and education in their eastern homes, and who had not left their zeal behind them, although they might properly have considered themselves on home missionary ground. The object of the society is briefly stated in its preamble: "In view of the deplorable condition of millions in this and foreign lands, who are destitute of the word of life, and esteeming it a duty and privilege to aid by prayer, contribution and influence the great work of evangelizing the world, we, the ladies of Rockford, feeling that united influence is far the most powerful, agree tc form ourselves into a society for the promotion of this object." The first year there were thirty-six contributors. In May, 1838, the society made its first appropriation to a girls' school inDindegal, in southern India. All sectarian feeling was merged in a common desire to fulfill the great commission. Episcopalians, Baptists and Unitarians were among its early members. As near as can be ascertained, a Sunday-school was organized in the spring of 1839.

The second pastor was Rev. Cyrus L. Watson, who served the church from November, 1838, to May, 1841. He was a genial, social, elderly gentleman, a good pastor, and he was highly esteemed. His death occurred at Battle Creek, Michigan. Rev. William S. Curtis, D. I)., supplied the pulpit from November, 1841, to August, 1842. Dr. Curtis subsequently became pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian church. His death occurred in 1885, and his funeral was held June 1st, from the Westminster church. Dr. Curtis' son, Edward L. Curtis, is a professor in the Yale divinity school. Prof. Curtis married a sister of Rev. B. E. S. Ely, pastor of the First Presbyterian church. The senior Curtis was succeeded by Rev. Oliver W. Norton, who was pastor fror^ September, 1842, until some time in the following year. He possessed that argumentative type of mind which was common among the clergymen of the old school. Rev. Lansing Porter served a brief pastorate from February, 1844, to April, 1846.

In the spring of 1846 the church dedicated a new house of worship on the East side. It was a brick structure, and stood on the northeast corner of South First and Walnut streets, on the site of the engine house. Its dimensions were forty by sixty feet; the walls were twenty feet high. A projection at the rear formed a recess for the pulpit. The roof was one-quarter pitch, with a square tower on the center of the front, rising about twenty feet. From this tower a bell called the people to their public devotions. The bell belonged to Rev. Norton, and he took it with him when he went away. W. A. Dickerman, as agent for the church, subsequently purchased a Meneely bell in New York, weighing six hundred and forty pounds. When it was brought to town by team it was first delivered in a warehouse. So anxious were the people to hear a bell in Rockford, that a platform was extemporized, so that it rang out loud and clear, and attracted all the parishioners, before it was taken to the church.

No picture of this church is known to have been preserved. The exterior was finished nearly in the Tuscan style of architecture, and it presented a very attractive appearance. A vestibule extended across the interior front, with a choir gallery overhead. In this vestibule were held the prayer-meetings of the church. Two aisles extended from the vestibule to the pulpit at the rear of the church. The pews were shut in by doors in the old-fashioned way. This building had a seating capacity of about three hundred and fifty, and cost not far from eight thousand dollars. Galleries were subsequently built, with a seating capacity of one hundred and fifty. This church continued to be the house of worship for this congregation until 1870.

The construction of a new house of worship is frequently, and perhaps generally, followed by a change in the pastorate. Such was the experience of this society soon after the dedication of its new church. The resignation of Rev. Lansing Porter was followed by a call to the Rev. Lewis H. Loss, whose pastorate began in August, 1846.

Many recollections of those early days are recalled by citizens who are still residents of the city. "Everybody went to church in those days," said H. H. Waldo on one occasion, while in a reminiscent mood. "I sang with the ladies, the Misses Silsby and others, in the First Congregational church, when itwas where the East side fire station is now. I could write a book of the pranks and jokes of the members of that choir and my early friends. I remember one Sunday Jason Marsh came to church wearing the first pair of prunella shoes that we had ever seen. He stuck them up conspicuously on the railing. I came in from the country with my boots all covered with mud, and espying those prunella shoes, put mine up beside them. He took his down, and was never known again to sit with his feet on the choir rail.

would allow LIO one to take a seat. I reached church one cold day just as Dr. Loss had started prayer, and it was no fun standing outside. 'Cat.,' says I, 'how much longer will he be? ' He pulled out his watch. 'Fifteen minutes; he's just praying for the Mexican war,' Mr. Spafford answered." In reply to the question as to whether he remembered any of the girls of those days, Mr. Waldo said: "Well, 1 should say so. There were a lot of them, but they are all dead and gone to heaven now. There were Mrs. Kriowlton, Mrs. Hitchcock, Mrs. George W. Barnes, Mrs. General Chetlain, who was Miss Edwards, and others."

Upon the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the church, Dr. Goodwin prepared a memorial address, which abounded in those felicitous character sketches for which he was noted. A few of those personal allusions to the members of the church and congregation who worshiped in the old brick church are quoted herewith. E. H. Potter was indeed a pillar both of the church and the community, a granite column whose firmness and solidity of character no force of circumstances or opinions of others could shake. His place in the sanctuary was as fixed and constant as that of the seasons, and his support of the gospel and all Christian charity was relied on with a confidence like that we repose in the laws of nature. Joel Potter, his brother, was also a pillar, but of a somewhat different type. He was of a more gentle and flexible mould, more delicate in feeling and sensibility, less self-poised and resolute, at least in manner, though not wanting in strength of conviction and of character. He was a, leader in the spiritual concerns of the church, as the other was in its material affairs. His wise spiritual exhortations came from a soul that knew how to commune with God and had learned the ways of the Spirit. Deacon Skinner was undemonstrative, humble-minded, plain and even rustic in his nature and habit, but disclosing, like certain rough minerals, a hidden ore of gold to those who examined it. Deacon Crosby was one of those silent, modest, thoughtful and steadfast souls whose power lies in their character, rather than in what they say and do. Deacon Baker was familiarly known and revered as "Good Deacon Baker." Dr. Goodwin's memory of himwaslike that of a long, mellow, sunshiny afternoon in autumn, when the sun seems to shine lovingly and lingeringly on all things, and to impart a golden luster to every thing on which it shines. Bela Shaw was a man whom to know at all was to esteem. His urbanity of manner, the combined integrity and gentleness of bis bearing, his uniform kindness and courtesy, and the soul of honor and integrity that shone through it all, and gave to his character a diamond luster - these traits marked him as the true gentleman. Volney A. Marsh was a devoted member, and superintendent of the sabbath-school. William H. Townsend proved his faith by his works. He was modest and sensitive as awoman, retiring and almostshy in his disposition, and shrank from all display or publicity. He was the very soul of honor and integrity. He felt the slightest breath of suspicion as a deadly iniasma that infected the seat of life and struck at the vitals of his character. David S. Penfield, a member of the society, was highly esteemed for his Christian character. He was one of the pillars upon which the church and society leaned for support. Samuel I. Church was one of its earliest and most constant supporters. William T. Wallis was distinguished for his generous social qualities, refined courtesy and gentleness of spirit. He was a true Christian gentleman and helper.

The pipe organ used in the church was built by H. H. Silsby and his brother. The organist at one time was Rufus Hatch, who subsequently removed to New York, and became one of the most famous operators of Wall street. During his residence in Rockford he was engaged in the dry goods business, on East State street, near the site of Mr. Coyner's drug store. His home was on South Madison street, where Miss Kate O'Connor's residence now stands. Mr. Hatch removed from Rockford about 1856. His house was purchased by Dr. Hale, who lived in it until he built another on the corner, where Mrs. Hale now resides. When Mr. Hatch became wealthy, he presented the pipe organ which is now in use in the present house of worship, to Dr. and Mrs. Goodwin. The Doctor was pastor when this church was dedicated. This splendid gift, which cost about four thousand dollars, was Mr. Hatch's personal token of esteem for Dr. Goodwin. Some time later Dr. Goodwin preached a sermon on Music, in which he referred to its high place in Christian worship. At the close of this discourse Dr. Goodwin said that he and Mrs. Goodwin relinquished all claim to the organ. "It is henceforth neither mine nor yours, but the Lord's, to whom I now dedicate it."

Mrs. E. P. Catlin recalls the time when the young people were not so prominent in the devotional meetings as in these later years. Upon this point Mrs. Catlin writes this interesting reminiscence : "The social life of the church was of a very sedate and discreet quality in those days. The prayer-meeting could hardly be called a social function. I heard one of sainted memory liken it to a pole under a sagging clothes-line. It always braced her up at the right point. We young people rarely invaded its sacred precincts, and I recall how we admired the courage of the sisters who dared to say a few words in these meetings. I am sure we could detect a little apprehensive quiver in their voices, lest they receive merited rebuke, but the sweet words of counsel or admonition uttered by Mrs. Mary Potter, Mrs. Mary Penfleld and Mrs. Sarah Catlin are among those beautiful early memories. The singing by the church choir was truly a part of the worship, and not a musical entertainment merely. Prominent and dignified members of the church were willing to assist in the singing. We can recall the clear soprano of Miss Sill, principal of the seminary, and the deep bass of 'Squire Marsh, whose position as one of the first lawyers did not prevent his giving his services gladly. The little wheezy melodeon contributed its quota when the day of the tuning-fork had passed. In all this the children and very young people had noplace. . . . In comparing this social life with the present, nothing is more marked than the absence of young people in the church membership, as well as in its relations. While some of our church entertainments bring and deserve criticism, the younger element is certainly more in evidence now, and adds very materially to our efficiency and enjoyment."

Dr. Loss' pastorate continued until November, 1849. He was a man of ability and thorough education. He went from Rockford to Joliet, where he had charge of a church until 1856. His last pastorate was at Marshalltown, Iowa, where he died. In his last illness he longed to see his old friend and physician, Dr. Lucius Clark, of this city ; and his church sent for the Doctor and paid his traveling expenses.

Dr. Loss was succeeded by the Rev. Henry M. Goodwin, D. D., who perhaps gave to the church its most distinctive pastorate. It extended from August, 1850, to January, 1872. This period of more than twenty-one years constitutes fully onethird of its entire history. The interim between the departure of Dr. Loss and Dr. Goodwin's acceptance of a call was supplied by Prof. Joseph Emerson, of Beloit college. Dr. Goodwin was a native of Hartford, Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale, and the Rockford church was his first parish. A long and close acquaintance with Dr. Goodwin was necessary in order to form a correct estimate of his character. With the reserved quiet of the scholar, he "opened not his heart to each passer-by." His people enjoyed his sermons, and carried thoughts from them through the busy week; thoughts that inspired to high endeavor, and stirred a feeling of reverence toward the pastor. The intellectual quality and literary finish of his sermons did not always insure general appreciation. He did not aspire to be a "popular preacher," in the modern use of the term. Some of his admirers would have been surprised if they had been told that Dr. Goodwin possessed a keen sense of humor, and that he could tell a bright story in a charming way. He was criticised for not always recognizing acquaintances on the street; yet this same abstracted scholar knew the little ones of the flock by name; and no one could be more tender in his ministrations when sickness and sorrow came into the home.

Dr. Goodwin was a progressive thinker; and in certain lines he was far in advance of his time. On one occasion he remarked that the name of one of the church papers, the Advance, should be changed to the Retreat. Had the term "higher criticism" been in vogue in his day, he would have been classed with such critics. His broad Christian charity caused some anxiety among his more conservative friends. This fact was illustrated during revival services about 1860, when Dr. Goodwin invited a Unitarian minister, with others, to join in the meetings. The censure thus incurred was not measured or unspoken. One zealous man gave utterance to his amazement and indignation at the service in question. He was allowed free and full expression of his feelings without protest. After he had finished, Dr. Goodwin arose, and in gentle, dignified tones, repeated Leigh Hunt's famous poem, "Abou Ben Adhem" - may his tribe increase. Ben Adhem truly loved his fellow men, and so the angel, who came to him by night, recorded his name among the first of those whom the love of God had blest. The moral was obvious ; and the silence that followed this recital was of that quality that could be felt. No finer illustration of Dr. Goodwin's all-embracing aud forgiving charity could have been given.

Dr. Goodwin was an enthusiastic disciple of Dr. Horace Bushnell. In his work, The Vicarious Sacrifice, Dr. Bushnell formulates in a clear and forcible manner the moral influence theory of Christ's atonement. Dr. Bushnell and Dr. Goodwin believed that the substitutionary and the governmental views were inconsistent with an enlightened conception of God. For this position they were not infrequently charged with heresy. Dr. Bushnell's later book, Forgiveness and Law, is believed to contain some modification of his former radical views. But Dr. Goodwin reverently and earnestly preached this doctrine of the divine sacrifice during his entire pastorate ; and since his day it has been taught by many progressive thinkers in the Congregational church ; and during the last ten years it has gained rapidly in other evangelical bodies. Dr. Goodwin testified to his regard for his illustrious teacher by naming his son Horace Bushnell Goodwin.

Dr. Goodwin's pleasant home while in Rockford was on Kishwaukee street. His lots extended from the corner on First avenue to Col. Lawler's home. The house, which stood near what is now 206 Kishwaukee street, now stands in the rear of the Carpenter Block, and fronts on First avenue. Mrs. Goodwin was an aunt of Mrs. Clara G. Sanford and Miss Blanche Goodall. Before her marriage she was a teacher at the seminary.

Many of the young men and women of that period, whose faces are now turned toward life's setting sun, are sure that of Dr. Goodwin it could be said : "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Soon after leaving Rockford, Dr. Goodwin wrote a book entitled Christ and Humanity, which was published by the Harpers. It was dedicated to his friend in these noble words : "To Horace Bushnell, my revered friend and teacher, whose profound and sanctified genius has made the world his debtor, and whose eminent services to Christianity in the reconciliation of faith and reason await the verdict of the future ages, these later studies of Christian doctrine are filially and affectionately inscribed by the author. ; ' This work was written while the author was enjoying an extended sojourn in Germany. In 1875 Dr. Goodwin was called to the chair of English literature by the college at Olivet, Michigan, which he filled for several years. His death occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Weld, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, March 1, 1893. Dr. Goodwin was seventy-one years of age. His remains were brought to Rockford for burial.

Chapter Xix

THE patriotism of the little village did not differ essentially from the prevailing type. It necessarily found its expression in more primitive ways than it does at the present time. There was such a display of eloquence and gunpowder as the times afforded; and the amusements differed somewhat from those of today.

The morning of July 4, 1837, was welcomed with the boom of all available artillery. William Penfield's blacksmith's anvil did heroic service. The "boys" spent a long time in drilling a hole for priming. One held a drill down with a lever, while another drilled. (The subsequent owner of the anvil would not allow the patriots to use it in later years for salutes; but they took it, nevertheless, and made it ring.) A hickory liberty-pole was raised near what is now 310 East State street. Patriotic exercises were held in Mr. Haight's barn, which stood in the grove near the intersection of State and Third streets. The bay was floored for the speakers, and the threshing-floor was occupied by the ladies. Charles I. Horsman read the Declaration of Independence, and Hon. John C. Kemble was the orator of the day. Dinner was served in the old Rockford House, by the proprietor, Henry Thurston. The main part of the building had been covered with a roof, and was sided to the first-story windows. Loose boards were laid for a floor, tables were arranged, and, in the absence of crockery, the cold meat was served on shingles. The tickets for this dinner were sold at one dollar each, and this feature of the celebration was a financial success. J. Ambrose Wight, in a letter written many years later, referred to the celebration in this wise: "The seventeenyear locusts were on hand and gave us such music as they had ; sufficient at least in quantity. And in seventeen years again they were on hand in the same vicinity ; that is, their successors were. After the celebration there was a dinner with toasts given and liquors swallowed. But a temperance society was organized in the barn during the afternoon. The elder Mr. Potter, Eleazer or Herman, I forget which - but who lived near by in the grove, was the leader in the movement."

The celebration was concluded with a public ball, the first in the county, given in Mr. Haight's barn. John H. Thurston, in referring to this event, says: "Some shirting was tacked to the studding about one room for a ladies' dressing-room." The orchestra consisted of three pieces. In this day they would be called violins ; but sixty-three years ago they were simply common fiddles. The leader, Mr. Thurston says, was "old Jake Miller, whose only dancing tune was 'Zip Coon.' " Thus passed the first celebration of the national holiday in Rockford.

This observance of the day, however, was not the first in the county. July 4, 1836, when Belvidere was in Winnebago county, the citizens of that village let loose their patriotism in quite unconventional fashion. Dr. Daniel H. Whitney has given this vivid pen-picture of the day : "Young Morn shook from her purple wings as glorious a Fourth as ever kissed Aurora's cheek when she unbarred the gates of light, and no more patriotic and grateful hearts beat in American bosoms on that glorious day than did those of the citizens of Boone, as with all available material at our command, an old rifle, a tolerable shot-gun and a pocket pistol, the old settlers took their position on the mound, raised a liberty-pole, from which fluttered in the breeze a pocket handkerchief having the portraits of the presidents around its border, and being the nearest approach to a national flag of anything in these 'diggings.' We read the Declaration of Independence, fired a national salute, gave three times three that frightened the Indian from his wigwam, and the red deer from his covert."

The first postmaster was Daniel S. Haight, who served from August 31, 1837, to June 26, 1840. The first mail arrived about September 15th. Previous to this time the small packages of mail had been brought from Chicago by parties who made trips to that city for supplies. An order for mail upon the postmaster at that office, to which each man attached his name, was left at Mr. Haight's house. The first mail was brought on horseback, the second by a carrier, and the third by open wagon with two horses. After the postoffice had been established, the contract for carrying the mail was made with

Arrival Of The First Mail

John D. Winters. About this time Winters became associated with Frink, Walker & Co. Still later Winters was on the line west from Rockford, and finally Frink, Walker & Co. carried the mail on the through line. Previous to January, 1838, the mail arrived from Chicago once a week. In 1839-40 the mails arrived from the west and east each three times a week. The northern and the southern mails came once a week ; the mail from Mineral Point arrived on Saturday, and the mail from Coltonville came on Wednesday.

The first mail, in September, arrived with no key, and it was returned unopened. When the second mail arrived a key had been provided, but the postmaster was not equal to the combination, and he turned it over to Giles C. Hard, who solved the problem. Its contents, about a hatful, were received with a general handshaking. The postage was twenty-five cents for each letter, and stamps were unknown. That amount of money then represented the highest respectability; the mail-bags were therefore lean, while the letters were plump. These missives were read and re-read until they were almost committed to memory. They came from loved ones far away, and were regarded with a degree of sanctity. Letters from the east were from fifteen to thirty days in transit. Should the postmaster find that letters had been written to Several persons, and enclosed in one envelope as a measure of economy in postage, he was supposed to collect twenty-five cents from each person so receiving a letter. Mr. Haight erected a small building sixteen by twenty-six feet, one and a half story, in the summer of 1837, for a postoffice, near 107 South Madison street. There were about twenty-five boxes. This building was used until the following year, when Mr. Haight erected a more commodious structure, near 312 East State street, with ante-room and boxes. This building was used for this purpose during several administrations.

The act establishing the county had provided that until public buildings should be erected, the circuit courts should be held at the house of Mr. Kent or Mr. Haight, as the county commissioners should direct. At the first session of this court it was ordered that, pending the location of the county seat, the circuit courts should be held at the house of Mr. Haight. An examination at the circuit clerk's office reveals the almost incredible fact that no records of this court previous to 1854, except the simple dockets of the judge, have been preserved.

The conclusion must be drawn that this docket was the only record made at the time. Memoranda kept by individuals have given facts upon which the official records are silent.

The first circuit court convened at the house of Daniel S. Haight, October 6, 1837. This is the frame building which stood on the northeast corner of Madison and State streets, and a part of which is now on the northeast corner of Second and Walnut streets. At that time there was no elective judiciary. Under the old constitution, the justices of the supreme court and the judges of the inferior courts were appointed by joint ballot of both branches of the general assembly. Under this same fundamental law, these courts appointed their own clerks. The state's attorney was also appointed. The statute of 1835 provided that the general assembly, on joint ballot, at that session, and every two years thereafter, should choose one state's attorney for each judicial circuit.

At this first court Hon. Dan. Stone, of Galena, was the presiding judge. Seth B. Farwell was appointed state's attorney pro tern; and James Mitchell, then of Jo Daviess county, clerk. Mr. Mitchell held this position until 1 846, when he was chosen superintendent of the lead mines. He was succeeded as clerk by Jason Marsh, who was appointed by Judge Thomas C. Brown. The offices of circuit clerk and recorder were separate until the second constitution went into effect, when they were united, and this officer was made elective.

The petit jurors on duty at the first term were: Edward Gating, James B. Marty n, Joel Pike, William Pepper, Richard Montague, Isaac N. Cunningham, Thatcher Blake, Henry Thurston, Charles 1. Horsman, David Goodrich, James Jackson, and Cyrus C. Jenks. There were but two trials by jury, and these were of very little importance.

The sessions of May, 1838, and April 18, 1839, were also held at Mr. Haight's house ; although, for convenience, a room in the Rockford House, on the corner west, was actually used when more room was required. The first grand jury was impaneled at the May term, 1838. The names of this jury were : Anson Barnum, Lyman Amsden, Isaac Johnson, James Sayre, H. M. Wattles, Asa Daggett, H. W. Gleason, Samuel Gregory, Asa Crosby, Daniel Beers, Walter Earle, Isaac Hance, Benjamin T. Lee, E. H. Potter, Paul D. Taylor, Lyman B. Carrier, Aaron Felts, Cyrus C. Jenks, James B. Marty n, Livingston Robbins, Henry Enoch, and Luman Pettibone. Anson Barnum was appointed foreman. At this term the usual order was reversed, in that the judge occupied one of the few chairs in the house, while the jury "sat on the bench."

The first building erected for the use of courts and religious meetings was built by Mr. Haight, in the summer of 1838, on the southeast corner of Madison and Market streets, on the site of the American House. It was a frame structure, about sixteen by thirty-two feet, with one story. This house, with additions, is now the residence of William G. Conick. In this building were probably held the sessions of November, 1839, and April, 1840. Several of the lawyers who attended the courts in those days attained distinction in their profession. Among these may be mentioned Judge Drummond, then of Galena, who removed to Chicago and became a judge of a federal court; Thompson Campbell, of Galena; Joel Wells, who canvassed the district for congress; Norman B. Judd, of Chicago; and Seth B. Farwell and Martin P. Sweet, of Freeport. The famous John Wentworth, "Long John," made his maiden speech in Rockford, as attorney in a case that promised to bring him prominently before the public-. Mr. Wentworth made frequent visits to Rockford in later years ; and for several terms he represented the Belvidere district in congress.

September 12, 1840, the county purchased the abandoned building on North First street, which had been commenced by the First Congregational church two years before. The consideration was six hundred dollars. The deed was executed by H. B. Potter, E. H. Potter and S. D. Preston. Since the building had been abandoned by the Congregationalist people it had been used as a carpenter's shop. When the county obtained possession the building was partially finished so that the courts could be held there. The session of September 10, 1840, and subsequent sessions were held at this place, until the transfer of the court house to the West side.

Chapter Xx

THE state roads naturally prepared the way for the stage coach. The railroad had not then reached this western region, and the only common carrier was "the coach and four." Stage lines were then running from Chicago in several directions. They carried mails, passengers and light parcels. Frink, Walker & Co. became famous throughout this region as the proprietors of the one stage line which connected Chicago with Rockford. It is impossible to determine the precise date when the stage coach began to make regular trips on this line as far west as Rockford. It is certain that it had thus become an established institution not later than January 1, 1838. On that day the arrival of the stage coach in Rockford attracted the attention of the people of the village, and large numbers came from the surrounding country to witness the spectacle. The stage office in Chicago was for a long time at 123 Lake street, and later at the southwest corner of Lake and Dearborn.

Frink, Walker & Co. first ran their stage lines only from Chicago to Rockford. The coaches were always drawn by four horses. In 1840 the schedule time from Chicago to Rockford was advertised to be twenty-four hours. Horses were changed at intervals of fifteen miles, at stations built for this purpose. Frink, Walker & Co.'s stage barn in Rockford was the well known barn near the intersection of State and Third streets, and faced north and south. It was built in 1836 for Mr. Haight by Sidney Twogood and Thomas Lake. Few buildings in the county have served more diverse uses. It was there the first patriotic exercises were held ; there the First Congregational people first held public services on the East side. When Frink, Walker & Co. purchased the building, it was moved a few rods west, and turned to face east and west. There the first quarterly meeting of the First Methodist church was held in the summer of 1838.

Coaches left the main office in Chicago every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, and returned on alternate days. The fare from Chicago to Rockford was five dollars. Mrs. Charles H.

The First Taverns

Spafford writes as follows of her first journey : "From Chicago I traveled by stage, one of the old'Frink & Walker's,' stopping at night in one of the extremely primitive wayside inns of that early period. The accommodations were not extensive nor luxurious in these little hostleries. I was awakened in the night by a light in my room, and saw a man at the foot of my bed, busy with two large mail bags. It was the postmaster changing the mail. Remembering the limitations of the place, I immediately took in the situation, and made no outcry. It was a dreary ride from Chicago to Rockford in the old stage, and I was very glad to arrive at the end of my journey, where my brother was waiting for me at the Rockford House."

From Rockford to Galena the stage line was conducted for a time by John D. Winters, of Elizabeth, a little town south of Galena. The route first passed through Elizabeth, but subsequently the more direct route was by way of Freeport. The first stopping-place west of Rockford was Twelve-Mile Grove. Mr. Winters retired from the business after a time, and then Frink, Walker & Co. had the entire line from Chicago to Galena. William Cunningham, who still resides in this city, was in the employ of this firm at one time as a driver between Twelve-Mile Grove and Freeport.

The first hotel in Rockford was the Rockford House. The early public houses were more generally called taverns. Before the Rockford House was built, Mr. Kent and a number of the other settlers had entertained strangers, but not as regular hotel-keepers. The Rockford House was built by Daniel S. Haight and Charles S. Oliver. It stood on the site of the Young Men's Christian Association building. The wing was finished in the autumn of 1837, when the house was opened by Henry Thurston. The third story, which was divided into two rooms, was reached by a ladder, which was made by slats nailed to two pieces of the studding, in the first Btory of the main building. The proprietor's son John was an important functionary. He made the beds and escorted the guests up the ladder when they retired. He was admonished by his sire not to drop the melted tallow from the dip upon his guests. Mr. Thurston's successors as landlord wereLathrop Johnson, Daniel Howell, Andrew Brown, J.Schaeffer, Abel Campbell, E. Radcliff, Major John Williamson.

the public the following year. It stood sixty feet front on State street, with large additions in the rear, with basement kitchen, dining-room, and sleeping apartments above the dining-room. The street in front was graded down, and ten or twelve steps were built. This elevation above the street-level proved quite a serious objection, and the house was abandoned, and it stood vacant for some years. The ground was then excavated , the house turned to the street, and lowered to the grade. The name of this hotel was changed to the Rock River House. A part of the building stands on 307 East State street, and is occupied as a fruit store. Another part is the saloon building on the southeast corner of State and Madison streets. The successive proprietors of the house were : Jacob Miller, David Paul, Mc- Kenney & Tyler, E. S. Blackstone, W. Fulton, H. D. Searles, L. Caldwell.

The Log Tavern, known as the Stage House, was opened in 1838. It was built on the old Second National Bank corner. Brown's Cottage was opened in 1850, by Andrew Brown. The name was changed to the American House in 1852 by G. S. Moore, The Waverly and the Union House, near the Northwestern depot, on the West side, were opened in 1852. The Inn, which was located where the Chick House now stands, was opened in 1840 by Spencer & Fuller. The Eagle Hotel was opened in 1841. It was located on South Main street, in the third block below State.

In 1837-38 several towns were projected in Winnebago county. One was on the east side of the river, on what was called Big Bottom, nearly opposite the stone quarry. A man named Wattles staked out his farm into lots and streets, and called it Scipio; but even its classic name did not give it prestige. The proprietor built the only house ever completed. The stakes remained for several years, until they were plowed under by the owner, who could not give away his lots.

Another town was started by the river, at what is known as the old Shumway place. At one time there were from thirtyfive to forty frames erected there ; but only a few of them were ever enclosed. This fact gave the place the appropriate name of "Rib-town." Later many of these frames were torn down and removed. Several were taken to new farms, and others were brought to Rockford. It is certain that two or three "Rib-town" frames were re-erected in the city. One was owned by Jonathan Hitchcock, and located on North Second street; and another by a Mr. Ricard, on the same street. One frame was placed beside the Shumway house, as a part of it. Mark Beaubien finished one two-story house, and occupied it with his family for two or three years, when they removed to Chicago.

In 1839-40 George W. Lee platted a town on the west or upper side of Kishwaukee river, at its junction with Rock river, in what is now New Milford township. Quite a town was actually built, with two stores and a blacksmith shop. A large building for a seminary was enclosed and partially finished, but it was never used for this purpose. Although an excellent building, and standing in a sightly place, it was allowed to remain until all the windows were broken out. The frame was finally torn down and the lumber hauled away. This first attempt to found a seminary in Winnebago county will be considered in the next chapter. Both "Rib-town" and Mr. Lee's plat were named Kishwaukee; but the former was abandoned before George W. Lee platted the second. Thelatter was sometimes called Leetown, in honor of its founder.

Colonel James Sayre, a settler of 1835, projected the village of Newburg. He built a sawmill and afterward pat up a gristmill in the same building, which began to grind early in the winter of 1837-38. Colonel Sayre carried on the business for several years. It was the first gristmill built in the northern counties, and was of great value to the settlers. Mr. Thurston says he went there with a bushel of wheat on his pony the third day after the machinery started. There was no bolting apparatus, and the meal was sifted by hand. The machinery was crude, and the mill was abandoned. Newburg is today only a cross-roads, with nothing to remind the visitor of the time when it was considered a rival of Belvidere and Rockford.

Perhaps few persons now living have ever heard of the Vanceborough postoffice. Vanceborough was another name for Twelve-Mile Grove, on the State road, about halfway from Rockford to Freeport. Ephraim Sumner settled near there in 1835. Mr. Sumner was born in Winhall, Vermont, February 9, 1808. In 1810 his parents removed to Darien, New York, where they remained until 1821, when they settled in Massachusetts. Mr. Sumuer engaged in milling and farming near Twelve-Mile Grove, and became an extensive land-owner. He represented this district in the twenty-sixth general assembly, and held several minor civil offices. Mr. Sumner married a sister of

Thatcher Blake. Their children are Hon. E. B. Sumner and Mrs. Annie S. Lane. Mr. Sumner was one of the very few early settlers who accumulated a large fortune. His last years were spent in Rockford. Mr. Sumner died October 18, 1887. February 11, 1845, Mr. Sumner was commissioned postmaster at Vanceborough. He was to retain the office during the pleasure of the postmaster-general. The commission is signed by C. Wickliffe, who was postmaster-general during the administration of John Tyler. The seal is the figure of a man on horseback, with a small mail-bag upon his back. Both man and horse are apparently in great haste to reach the next station. This commission, now in possession of Hon. E. B. Sumner, is well preserved, although it was issued fifty-five years ago. The elder Sumner built a stone house at Vanceborough, which is still in a good state of preservation, and has well nigh outlived the memory of the town. These primitive villages along the old stage lines were superseded by the railway station, and they now scarcely live in memory.

Chapter Xxi

DR. A. M. CATLIN emigrated to Illinois from the Western Reserve, in Ohio, in February, 1838, in company with the Rev. Hiram Foote and Silas Tyler. This party traveled the entire distance in wagons. They were of New England stock, and were part of a movement to found an institution of learning similar to the one then flourishing at Oberlin, Ohio.

The brothers, Hiram, Lucius and Horatio Foote, all clergymen, were prominent in this movement. They were more or less influenced by the example of the Rev. Charles G. Finney, the famous revivalist and founder of the Oberlin institution. Mr. Ira Baker, Rev. Lewis Sweasy, James S. Morton, a Mr. Field, and others moved from the Western Reserve to Rockford about the same time, and under the same influences. Upon their arrival in Rockford, the only hotel to be found was a double log cabin, and the only bed discovered by Doctor Catlin for himself and boy was a thinly covered, dislocated and dislocating stratum of oak shakes, supported at the sides by the naked logs - a Spartan bed for a cold night. Horace, a fourth brother of the Footes, had preceded the others by a year, and secured a log cabin on Rock river, about two miles above Rockford. Into this single room, with a small loft, were crowded three families, with several children.

Dr. Catlin moved to a log cabin on the bluff overlooking Big Bottom, four miles north of Rockford. A Hoosier by the name of Shores had worn a slight track between his home back on the hills and a plowed field on the Bottom, and this was the only road near the Doctor's new home. A small, inconstant, near-by stream, like the road, lost itself in the dry prairie.

At that time Dr. Catlin intended to abandon the practice of medicine. To feed his little family, he hired a broken prairie of Herman B. Potter, who lived two miles south of Rockford. This land, six miles from home, the Doctor cultivated under difficulties, for it soon became known to the scattered people that he was a physician, and, like Cincinnatus, he was called from the plow. He was not a man to deny the necessities of others ; and agaiust liis wishes at the time, he was drawn into the practice of his profession, which he continued until near the day of his death, nearly sixty years later. He had practiced in early life in New York and Ohio, and his entire professional service lasted seventy years. He died in 1 892, at the age of ninety-one.

On one occasion while at work on the Potter place, Dr. Catlin was summoned to visit a sick person on the Kishwaukee. He took his horse from the furrow near sunset, and, sending; his boy of eight on foot six miles northward to the lonely cabin on the prairie, he himself rode southward to his patient. He soon learned that his profession was a jealous mistress, and abandoned farming.

The missionary educational managers had selected the mouth of the Kishwaukee as the site of their institution. A large building was begun, but never completed, and the useless frame survived for years as evidence of the untimeliness of their effort. An Indian wigwam still survived on the same site. The Indians, after their bloody victory over the indiscreet militia at Stillman's Run, had abandoned the region, and the military expedition, which included Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, had been withdrawn. Silver brooches, arrow heads and the like were found beside the deep, narrow Indian trails that wound about the bluffs and across the prairies. Kishwaukee, however, soon had about forty frame dwellings, and Dr. Catlin, Mr. Tyler, Mr. Field, Mr. Johnson and others resided there.

» Lucius and Horace Foote had staid by the log house of the latter, and Dr. Catlin, whose wife and Mrs. Lucius Foote were sisters, was induced by this fact and other reasons, to build in this neighborhood, which lie did. He hewed the logs and the floor puncheons, and split the roof shakes with, his own hands. His door and door-frames were made from purchased material, but lacked glazing or other filling for the skylight. As he sat one evening "under his own vine and fig tree," not yet planted, there passed a load of noisy revelers. As they drove furiously by, they shook out a wagon end-board that exactly filled the skylight aperture, and completed the house, which the builder probably enjoyed as much as any he ever occupied ; that is, in the recollection of it.

Although Rockford was from the first clearly indicated as the coming metropolis, by the ford which gave its name, yet Kishwaukee below and Winnebago above were "boomed." In those days they could compare population with Rockford.

Sixty Prescriptions In One Day

Dr. Catlin finally settled in Rockford about 1839, and entered upon a medical practice which, if not large, was very "wide," as it carried him from Roscoe and above on the north, to Stillman's Run on the south, and from Twelve-Mile Grove and beyond to Belvidere. Much of this was night riding. After the settlers' horses had done their day's work, and after the fall of darkness, in the silence of the night, when watchers became nervous, in the midst of storms and when the primitive household lights burned pale, was the accepted time to send for the medical comforter; and the nocturnal "Hollo, Doctor!" was often heard above the storm at the physician's door. He was never ill, and never refused to answer the call. Even when his own horse failed, he was mounted behind the messenger, and rode out in the night to relieve the sick. Once he was persuaded to mount the back of a sturdy messenger, who bore him and his precious medicine-bag through the swellings of icy Kishwaukee.

The year 1846 was signalized by much sickness. Nearly every family living on low land had malarial fever, and the doctors were busy people. At one time Dr. Catlin could get but four or five hours' sleep out of the twenty -four, and he would become so exhausted that he frequently slept while riding from house to house. One day's ride, for example, included a trip of several miles north of Rockford, and then a tour south beyond the Killbuck, and a return by Cherry Valley, closing the day's work in the following morning. Thirty calls were made, and sixty patients prescribed for on that occasion. During this season Dr. Goodhue was asked what could be done for the sick. To this grave question the Doctor made this characteristic reply : "I don't know unless we build a big smoke-house and cure them," referring to the almost universal pallor. Dr. Catlin was an indulgent creditor, and fully shared the burden and poverty of early days.

As a practitioner, Dr. Catlin was distinguished by a combination of conservatism and independence of thought and method. It was said of him by one who knew him well, that "as a careful examiner, close reasoner, and with ability to define and state cause and effect, Dr. Catlin had few superiors." This fact, with his large experience and unobtrusive, non-self-assertive spirit, attracted the regard of his brother practitioners; so that he was often consulted by them in difficult cases. Near the close of his life he was honored by them with a spontaneous tender of a reception and banquet, an honor which he highly appreciated.

Chapter Xxii

THE year 1838 was signalized by the advent of several physicians who became prominent in early local history. Among this number was Dr. Josiah C. Goodhue, who settled in the autumn, with his family. He had been here the preceding autumn on a tour of inspection. Dr. Goodhue had attained some distinction before he became a citizen of this county. He was born in 1803, at Putney, Vermont. His mother is said to have been a cousin of Aaron Burr. The Doctor was graduated from the school of medicine at Yale, and began practice at St. Thomas, Upper Canada, in 1824. While there he was married to Miss Catherine Dunn . A brother, Sir George Goodhue, was in theemploy of theCanadian government. TheDoctor emigrated from Canada to Chicago in 1835. He was the first resident physician in that city outside the garrison of Fort Dearborn. When Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, Dr. Goodhue was elected the first alderman from the First ward. There were six wards in the city at that time. William B. Ogden was chosen mayor in that year. Dr. Goodhue designed the first city seal of Chicago, and it became known as his little baby. He was quite proud of his offspring. The Doctor was the real founder of the first free school system of Chicago. He was one of a committee appointed to solicit subscriptions for the first railroad chartered to run from the city, the Galena & Chicago Union.

In his practice in Chicago, Dr. Goodhue was associated with Dr. Daniel Brainard. Their office was on Lake street, near the old Tremont House. John Wentworth and Ebenezer Peck were engaged in the practice of law in the same building. Dr. Goodhue was one of the men who drew the act of incorporation for Rush Medical college, and was a member of the first board of trustees.

Dr. Goodhue's first house in Rockford was what was then known as the "ball alley," on the northwest corner of Madison and Walnut streets, where the Golden Censer brick building was subsequently erected. He afterward purchased a home on the site of the watch factory ; and the house was moved away when the factory was built. The lot had at one time a pleasant grove, with no fence. Reference was made in a preceding chapter to the fact that Dr. Goodhue gave to the city of Rockford its name.

Dr. Goodhue had thirteen children, five of whom died under five years of age. Four sons and four daughters attained adult life. One son, George Washington Goodhue, died of yellow fever, in Mexico, during the war with that country. Another son, William Sewell, died from illness contracted during the civil war. He had read law with James L. Loop. Dr. Goodhue's oldest daughter, Mrs. C. F. Holland, widow of John A. Holland, and step-mother of H. P. Holland, now resides in Chicago. Mrs. Hoyt Barnum, another daughter, is a resident of Rockford.

Dr. Goodhue is said to have taken the skull from the body of Big Thunder, the Indian chief, whose resting-place was on the court house mound in Belvidere. Big Thunder was a noted character among the Pottawatomies. His name may have been suggested, according to Indian fashion, by his heavy, rolling voice. His burial-place was selected on the highest point of ground. No grave was dug. The chief was wrapped in his blankets, and seated on a rude bench, with his feet resting on an Indian rug. His face was turned toward the west, where he expected a great battle to be fought between his tribe and another. A palisade, made of split white ash logs, from which the bark had been peeled, was placed around his body, and covered with bark. The battle which Big Thunder looked for, never came; and his war-spirit never re-animated his mouldering clay and joined in the victorious whoops of his braves over their vanquished foes. The Indians, as they passed the coop of their fallen chief, would throw tobacco into his lap ; and Simon P. Doty, an early settler, during a torturing tobacco famine, would systematically purloin the weed from Big Thunder. In those days Belvidere was on the stage route from Chicago to Galena; and Big Thunder became the prey of relic hunters. His skull found its way, by Dr. Goodhue, into Rush Medical college, and it was probably destroyed in the great fire of 1871.

Dr. Goodhue was an interesting and eccentric character. A story was current in the early days to the effect that a certain doctor had heard that Dr. Goodhue had said that he had killed Mr. Smith's child. The offended practitioner determined to call upon Dr. Goodhue and make inquiry concerning the rumor. Dr. Goodhue saw him coming, surmised at once his errand, and met his offended friend at the door in his most cordial manner, "lam very glad to see you, sir; come in." This reception embarrassed the visitor, but he unburdened his mind in this wise: "Dr. Goodhue, I hear that you have said that I killed Smith's child." Dr. Goodhue interrupted him with this startling revelation : "Haven't you killed more than one? Lord, I've killed more than forty. If you haven't killed more than one, you are no doctor at all ! " The Doctor gave the name of "Cedar Bend" to the seminary ground, that slopes toward the river, upon which there were many cedars.

Dr. Goodhue's death was the result of an accident, on the night of December 31, 1847. He was called to make a professional visit to the family of Richard Stiles, four miles west on the State road. After caring for his patient, he accompanied Mrs. Stoughton, a neighbor, to her home. The night was dark, and he fell into a well, which was then being excavated, and had not been covered or enclosed . Mrs. Stoughton had asked him to wait until she returned with a light ; but before she came back the Doctor had made the fatal fall. He survived only a short time after he was taken from the well. His death was deplored by the entire community. He was a positive character ; nature had liberally endowed him in qualities of mind and heart. Dr. Goodhue was an attendant at the Unitarian church. Mrs. Goodhue was an Episcopalian. She died October 14, 1873. A son of Dr. Goodhue died November 14, 1880.