Rockton Township (part 1 of 2)

Rockton Township

dividing line between ranges numbers seven and eight; thence north alonosaid dividing line, to the northern boundary of the State; thence east along said boundary line, to the northeast corner of range four, east of the third principal meridian; thence south to the place of beginning."

As thus defined, Winnebago included all of the present county of Boone, and the two tier of townships on the western part of Stephenson County. Boone was set off and erected into a separate county in the winter of 1836-7, the first election being held on the first Monday of May, 1837. Stephenson was created a year or two later.

The same act designated Robert Stephens and Rezin Zorley, of Cook county, and John Phelps, of Jo. Daviess County, as commissioners to " establish the permanent seat of justice of Winnebago County," and appointed the first Monday in May of the same year as the time, and the house of Daniel S. Haight as the place, where they should meet preparatory to a discharge of their duties as such commissioners.

Section 8, of the same act, provided that, until public buildings should be erected, the courts should be held at the house of Germanicus Kent or Daniel S. Ilaight, as the county commissioners should direct.

The law under which the county was organized required that there should be three hundred and fifty legal voters before the county could hold an election. Dr. Daniel H. Whitney undertook the task of census-taker, and succeeded in obtaining the requisite number of names, which evidence was submitted to Hon. Thomas H. Ford, then Circuit Judge, who gave the necessary order for the election. At that time, and from the adoption of the constitution under which Illinois Territory had been admitted into the union as a sovereign and independent state, the county and state elections were held on the first Monday in August annually. Since then the time has been changed to IS^ovember. At the same time Judge Ford ordered the election, he appointed Germanicus Kent, of Rockford, Joseph P. Griggs, of Cherry Valley (then Butler precinct), and Robert J, Cross, of Roscoe, as judges or inspectors of the election.

ISTot withstanding the first Monday in May, 1836, had been appointed by Legislative enactment for the meeting of the commissioners to locate the county seat, they delayed meeting for the discharge of the trust reposed in them until the fourteenth of July following.

In August, 1835, Nicholas Boilvin, of Chicago, aided by a Major Campbell, (said to have been a resident of Ottawa) purchased of Catherine Mayott, a woman of Indian extraction, her right to an unlocated section of land, for the sum of eight hundred dollars. This land, as was shown by subsequent events, belonged jointly to Nicholas Boilvin, a free trader, of Chicago, Charles Reed, of Joliet, and Major Campbell. The instrument of writing conveying this right of ownership from Catherine Mayott to the parties above named was the first deed entered on record in Winnebago County, and, as the land it conveyed entered largely into the early history of the county, we copy it entire :

Know all men by these presents, that I, Catharine Mayott, of the town of Chica,o;o, and State of Illinois, for and in consideration of the sum of eight hundred dollars, to me in hand well and truly paid by my relative and friend, Nicholas Boilvin, of said Chicago, the receipt whereof I hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold and conveyed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell and convey unto the said Nicholas Boilvin, his heirs, executors and assigns, the unlocated section of land which was granted to me by the littii article of the treaty between the United States and the Winnebago Nation of Indians, made and concluded at Prairie du Chien, on the first day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, (the other section granted to me having been sold to Henry Gratiot), toi^ether with all the right, title, interest, claim and control which I, the said Catharine Muyott, have, or may, or can have, by virtue of the treaty aforesaid. To have and to hold to him, the said Nicholas Boilvin, his heirs, executors and assigns, to his and their sole use and behoof forever. And furthermore, I, the said Catharine, for myself, my heirs, executors and assigns, hereby covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Niciiolas Boilvin, his heirs, executors and assigns, that all acts and doings in the premises which have hitherto been done, or may yet be performed under tlie direction or authority of the said Boilvin or his lawful agent, I will ratify and confirm ; and I hereby bind myself, my heirs and executors, to the fulfillment of the contract between the said Boilvin and myself, hereby granting and selhng unto the said Nicholas Boilvin all my right, title and interest in and to the premises aforesaid, in as full, perfect and absolute a manner as it is possible to be done, performed or executed. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Chicago aforesaid, this twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.

State op Illinois, Cook Co. This day came before me, Catharine Mayott, to me personally known as the real person who executed the foregoing deed of conveyance; and then before me, after the same was read, and the contents thereof being fully explained to her, acknowledged that she had executed the same freely and voluntarily for the uses and purposes therein contained, and acknowledged herself satisfied with the consideration therein named and received thereof. Given under my hand and seal this 2oth day of August, A. D. 1835.

Recorder's Office,' Cook County, Illinois. I, Richard J. Hamilton, Recorder of Cook County and State aforesaid, do hereby certify that the within and foregoing deed of conveyance from Catharine Mayott to Nicholas Boilvin is a true copy of the original as recorded in my ofiice, on the third day of September, 1835, in Book I, page 428. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this 29th day of August, 1836.

Ten years after the date of the certificate of the Recorder of CooIj County, the copy ot the deed certified to by him was entered for record in 'Winnel3ago County, as the following endorsement certifies:

With the warranty conveyed in this deed, JSTicholas Boilvin claimed section fourteen, township number forty-four north, range one east of the third principal meridian, about two miles above the city of Rockford. Soon after Boilvin made this selection, Mr. Charles Reed appeared as principal manager, and a town was mapped out and named Winnebago. Reed's purpose was to make this place the county seat, and so far as the action of the gentlemen appointed by the Legislature to establish the "permanent seat of justice for Winnebago County" was concerned - at least two of them, Robert Stephens and Rezin Zorley (the third one, John Phelps, never appearing) - he was successful. The time fixed by law for the discharge of that dtity, was the first Monday in May, 1836, or as soon thereafter as practicable; but the two commissioners named above (Stephens and Zorley) did not appear at the place appointed for them to meet, until the fourteenth day of July following. After being first duly sworn by James McKee, a justice of the peace for Will County, they proceeded to discharge their trust. On the sixteenth day of the same month, they reported that, "b^ng governed in the matter by the best judgment they were able to form respecting the same, they had determined on, iixed and selected, the following place or location for the permanent seat of justice for Winnebago County, to-wit: In secti'on fourteen, township number forty-four north, range one, east of the third principal meridian, at a point fourteen chains south of the (juarter-section corner, on the line dividing sections thirteen and fourteen, and four chains west of said line, upon which point the stake was struck, on the sixteenth day of July, A. D. 1836, on lands owned by Nicholas Boilvin & Co., on the express condition that said Boilvin & Co. are to make a good warranty deed to said County of Winnebago, of thirty acres, for the purpose of erecting public buildings for said County, so long as it shall remain the permanent seat of justice for said County," etc.

This selection of a site for the "permanent seat of justice for Winnebago County," was not satisfactory to the people - at least to that portion of them included among the friends of Kockford, and they were more numerous than the friends of Winnebago, and it was intimated among a good many of the settlers, that Heed had seen the commissioners before they cajiie to discharge their duty. However true this intimation may have been, his seeing them and the honor of having secured their report favorable to Winnebago, proved of little real value to him and his associates, Messrs. Campbell and Boilvin, for the county business was never transacted there. To quote the language of the surviving settlers of 1836, "theywere -bull-dozed' out of it."

The law providing for the organization of Winnebago County further declared '"that the said county seat should be located on lands belonging to the United States, if a site for said county seat on such lands can be found eligible, or upon lands claimed by citizens of said county; but if such location, should be made upon land claimed by any individual having title or pre-emption right to the same, the claimant or proprietor upon whose claim or right of pre-emption the said seat of justice might be located, should make a deed in fee simple to any number of acres of said tract, not less than twenty, to the said county; or in lieu thereof, such claimant or owner or owners of such pre-emption right should donate to the said county at least three thousand dollars, to be applied to building county buildings within one year after the location of said county seat; and that the proceeds of such quarter section, if the county seat should be located on government lands, or the proceeds of such twenty acres of land, if it were located on pre-emption right of individuals, or the said three thousand dollars, in case such pre-emption right or owner or owners shall elect to pay that sum in lieu of the said twenty acres, shall be appropriated to the erection of a sufficient court house and jail."

Reed, for himself and associates, carried out in good faith, so far as making and tendering a deed for the land (as specified in the bill under which the county was organized) was concerned, to the county commissioners at their first meeting in August; but it was rejected in consequence of the following objectionable clause: "To have and to hold (the said thirty acres of land), with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging, as long as the same shall remain as the permanent seat of justice for said county."

From the time the locating commissioners struck the stake designating the ground whereon the county seat should be located, Mr. Reed spared no efibrt to herald the advantages of Winnebago, and to improve the place by the erection of buildin^^s, etc. He at once built a two-story lionse, which lie used as a hotel and store. S. S. Richardson and Kingsley located there and joined Heed in making improvements. John Yance started a provision store, and a son of Yulcan opened a blacksmith shop. With these buildings, seven dwelling houses, a free ferry, a lime kiln, etc., the opening of a road through the timber east from AVinnebago, to meet the state road from Chicago to Galena, at Beaver creek, and sundry other local undertakings, Winnebago really began to wear the appearance of thrift. No man knew better than Reed that all these things were necessary to bolster up and sustain the report of the commissioners. But other agencies were at work, which, in the end overcame all his aspirations and rendered useless his expenditures of time and money to make Winnebago the "permanent seat of justice for Winnebago County," This was the beginning of county seat troubles, which continued until settled by the people on tlie fii st Monday in May, 1839, of ^liicli farther mention will hereafter be made.

Although dissatisfied with the location of the county seat, there was nothing left to the settlers, at least for the time, but submission; and the first election having been set for the first Monday in August, and the time being only a few days distant, the settlers turned their attention to the selection of candidates to be voted for. Political considerations, from a partisan standpoint, did not enter into the manipulations of that election, and instead of calling a convention, as is done in these latter days, the honors were divided between the voting settlers of the different sections of the county, which at that time, and until May, 1837, included Boone county. Besides a member of Congress and two members of the State Legislature to be voted for, the following county officers were to be chosen: Three County Commissioners, Recorder, Sheriff, County Surveyor and Coroner. The duty of the commissioners of those days of the Past were the same as devolve upon the supervisors in these days of the Present. Upon them devolved the duty of putting the county machinery in motion, and the future of the county depended, in a great measure, upon their character and business capacity, upon the same principle that

To Squaw Prairie (now Belvidere), were assigned two of the candidates - commissioner and recorder; to Rockford, one commissioner and the candidate for sheriff", and to the north part of the county, the other candidate for commissioner. In adjusting the distribution of the Rockford candidates a dissension arose between the east and west parts of the town. Daniel S. Haight, of the east side, had been named as the candidate for sheriff", and his interests all being on that side of the river, and looking forward to a final and permanent adjustment of the county seat question, he was naturally desirous that the candidate for commissioner should also be chosen from among the settlers of his bailiwick. Kent and his west side friends were equally determijied in their adherence to the terms of the treaty entered into for a fair and equal distribution of the oflices to the different sections of the county, and upon the eve of the election advised Mr. Haight that unless he also adhered to the agreement that the west side would select both the candidates for sheriff and commissioner and vote for and elect them. This argument convinced Haight of his error, and

Elections in those days were not conducted as thej now are. Written or printed ballots were not then in use in Illinois, and hence citizens voted viva voce. And without previous organization and without statutes to guide tliem in their duties, it may be readily imagined that the first election in Winnebago County was conducted M'ithout much form. Mr. H. R. Enoch, editor of the Rockford Journal, in speaking of this election through his paper, said:

"Neither one of the judges knew anything of the election laws of Illinois, and not a statute was to be obtained in the county. Of the judges, Mr. Kent knew something of the laws of Virginia and Alabama; Mr. Robert J. Cross was familiar with those of IS'ew York and Michigan, and Mr. Griggs with those of Ohio. D. A. Spaulding had some knowledge of the laws of Illinois, so he was selected as one of the clerks, and intrusted with the duty of making the poll books, and upon him devolved the honor of principally conducting the first election in the county."

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

Of the above 120 voters at the first election in Winnebago County, only fifteen are living at the date of this writing, Oct. 1, 1877. Of these,

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

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

For County Commissio7iers. - Th.oma,&Ji. Talcott had 83 votes; Simon P. Doty had 68 votes; William E. Dunbar had 60 votes; G. Kent had 35 votes; Seth Scott had 46 votes; Levi Moulthrop had 32 votes, and Isaiah Courtright had 4 votes. Talcott, Doty and Dunbar were elected.

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

[It may be well to state that previous to this organization all that part of the country east of Rock River, including the present counties of Boone, McHenry, DeKalb, and a part of Ogle, and probably a portion of some of the others adjoining, was known as LaSalle Count3\ All west of Rock River, including the present counties of Jo Daviess, Carroll, Lee, and that part of Ogle lying west of Rock River, was known and recognized in the courts of the state as Jo- Daviess County, named in honor of Col. Jo Daviess, of Kentucky, who bore a conspicuous part in the campaigns of Gen. Harrison against the Indians.]

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

' Yellow JEtiver included townships 26-7, of ranges 8 and 0, east of the fourth principal meridian, now the towns of Silver Creek, Ridott, Freeport, Lancaster, and the south half of Rock River in Stephenson County.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we have already stated, political prejudices did not disturb the conditions of the first election, August 1, 1836. But when the county had been fully organized and its machinery put in motion by the first board of county commissioners, the settlers began to divide up - to define party lines and to take sides accordingly. In 1836, John T. Stuart was the Whig candidate for Congress, and came out 29 votes behind his Democratic competitor. Two years later (in 1838) Mr. Stuart was again a candidate against Stephen A. Douglas, when he received a majorit}^ of 93 in the county; and in 1840, when General Harrison was the Whig candidate for president - when the people went wild over "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," Mr. Stuart was again a candidate, and this time received a majority in the county of 270 over his Democratic competitor. These results showed a steady Whig gain. Stuart was beaten in the district in 1836, by William L. May, Democrat, but in the elections of 1838-40, he was elected by handsome majorities. The district at that time extenOed from the Wisconsin state line on the north to a line below Springfield, extending across the state from a point on the Indiana state line to the Mississippi river. There are now twelve Congressional districts in the same territory.

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

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

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

Sunday, June 27, 18il, the bloody deed was accomplished. Campbell and his family had gone to church, several miles ^distant, in the morning. On their return in the afternoon, he stopped at his barn to care for his horses. This care discharged, he started from the barn towards his house, when he was confronted by Bridge and Driscoll, the former of whom asked him some question, and before he could answer it Driscoll raised his gun and shot him through the heart, and Campbell fell to the earth a corpse. Their oath had been kept.

News of the nrurder spread like wildfire. Iiidignation against the Driscolls was aroused to fever heat. On Monday, the 28th, the remains of Campbell were buried. After the funeral, the excitement and indignation against the perpetrators and instigators of the bloody crime broke out afresh. The very air was filled with threats of vengeance against them, and nothing but the lives of the murderous gang would pay the penalty. News of the terrible crime had been carried to Sycamore, Oregon and Eockford, and help in the work of extenuation demanded, and it was given. Monday afternoon Ilockford was more like a deserted village than a bustling, busy little village. Every man that could go, vveiit - all determined to "avenge Campbell's death. The arrest of William Driscoll was made by Eockfoi-d men. Men from Oregon, headed by the Sheriff", had arrested old man Driscoll and lodged him in the Ogle county jail. Bridge and David Driscoll could not be found. They had escaped the vigilance of an outraged people, and fled no one knew whither. Tuesday morning, the 29th, the Oregon people heard that the citizens of Rockford had William Driscoll a prisoner at Lafayette Grove, and the old man was immediately taken from the jail, a rope put around his neck, by which he was dragged after the infuriated ])opulace to the ferry, where they crossed to the opposite side of the river, and by ten o'clock they had joined the Rockford division at Washington Grove. By this time the crowd had increased to at least five hundred men. Three of the Driscolls - the old man, William and Pierce, the latter being the youngest of the family - were prisoners. Only the old man was manacled. In the centre of one group stood William Driscoll, knowing full well that at last he had been overtaken in his career of crime, and that his life was about to pay the penalty. He was about torty-five years of age, rather above the average of men in height, hea\y set and muscular, and would probably have tipped the scales at one hundred and eighty pounds. He was a man of strong will and great endurance. U is features were firm and presented a peculiarly heavy appearance. He was that type of man that could face any ordinary danger without the least fear, but here were five hundred resolute, determined men to hold him to an account for his Miaiiifdld crimes, the remembrance of which at this moment no doubt arose before him like so many spectres. Pierce, his younger brother, stood near by, and soon the father, dragged along by a rope tied around his neck, was phiced near them. "This man," says those who knew him, "was a singular looking specimen of humanity. He was upwards of six feet in height, slightly inclined to corpulency, and weighed about two hundred pounds. He was all muscle and sinew, and every way one of the most powerful men in all that crowd of half a thousand men. His face was the only repulsive feature about old John Driscoll, which was owing to the loss of a part of his nose, which had long before been bitten off in a fight. His hair was iron gray and coarse, his eyebrows heavy and shaggy -like, and his face smooth." Untrembling and unmoved, he stood motionless in the midst of his inquisitors and executioners.

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

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

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

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

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

The hour expired, the moment of execution had come. One hundred citizens, armed Avith rifles, were formed in two death divisions - fifty were to fire upon the old man and fifty upon his son William. The old man was led forth first; his eyes were bandaged, and he was made to kneel upon the earth. All things in readiness, the word to fire was given, and the old man fell to the earth riddled and shattered to pieces with the charges of ffty rljles.

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

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

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

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

People diftered as to the means employed to free the country of the presence of the desperadoes, and took sides accordingly. Mr. Kna]>pen, editor of the Star^ took strong grounds against the proceedings in the Driscoll case, and denounced it in strong language. In an editorial under date of July 1, 184:1, Mr. Knappen said:

" Now, be it kuown to all the world that we have solemnly resolved that the proceedings of the Ogle County, or any county volunteer lynch company, cannot be justilied or encouraged in our columns. The view we take of the subject does not permit us to approve the measures and conduct of th said company. If two or three hundred citizens are to assume the administration of the lynch law in the face and eyes of the laws of the land, we shall soon have a fearful state of things, and where, we ask, will it end if mob law is to supercede the civil law? If it is tolerated, no man's life or pi'operty is safe; his neighbor, who may be more popular than himself, wnll possess an easy, ready way to be revenged by misrepresentation and false accusation; in short, of what avail are our legislative bodies and their enactments? AVe live in a land of laws, and to them it becomes us to resort and submit for the punishment and redress as faithful keepers of the laws, and thus extend to each other the protection and advantages of the law, and repulse every attempt to deprive a fellow citizen of the precious privilege granted in all civilized countries - namely, the right to be tried by an impartial jury of twelve good men of his county. . JBut, perhaps, it will be argued l)y some, that we have in this new country no means or proper phiccs for securing offenders and 1)reakers of the laws, to which w'e answer, then build tliem. The time already spent by three or four hundred men in tliis and Ogle counties, at three or four different times, and from two to four days at a time, this season, would have built jails so strong that no man, or dozen men on earth, deprived of implements with which to work, and confined in them, could ever escape, and guard them sufficiently strong by armed men outside, to prevent assistance from rescuing them from the arm of the law. Would not this course be much more patriotic and creditable to the citizens of a civilized and Christianized country, than to resort to the administration of mob Uuv by Judge Lynch? Not on us, gentlemen, but on your own heads be the responsibility; we wash our hands clear from the Blood of Lynch LawP

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

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

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

On the night of the 18th of September, 1843, the store of William McKinney, in liockford, was entered and plundered of a trunk containing between $700 and $800. A brother of McKinney was sleeping in the store, but was awakened by the noise made by the midnitdit prowlers, and attempting to oppose the robber, who called him by name, he was awed into silence and non-resistance by a knife that was placed against his breast, the thief remarking that he "must have the trunk containing the money, as he could not afford to run such risks for nothing." He got the trunk and escaped, and eluded capture.

Scarcely had the excitement created by this bold robbery died away, when the community was again startled by the perpetration of a bolder one

Still. This rol)bery was committed on one of Frink, Walker & Co.'s fourhorse mail coaches, about four miles out from Kockford towards Chicago, while, as it is stated, the coach was actually in motion and full of passengers, l)ut wag not discovered until the coach arrived at Newbergh. The following morning the trunks and baggage were found a few rods from the road, broken open and rifled of all their valuables. A newspaper published here at the time, in speaking of this robbery said: "What renders these transactions still more exciting, is the fact that they are committed by those who are perfect scholars in the business movements of the town." 'No immediate clue to this last bold robbery was obtained.

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

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

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

The trial of Oliver excited the people of Winnebago County as they had never been excited before, and as they have seldom been excited since. When the case came on, the court house was crowded to its utmost capacity, Thomas C. Browne was presiding judge of the district at that time. Jas. L. Loop was district attorney, and was assisted in the prosecution by nearly the entire legal profession of'Rockford - Jason Marsh, James M. Wright, Anson S. and Cyrus F. Miller and Thos. D. Bobertson. The prisoner was represented by M. P. Sweet, of Freeport, and M. T. Johnson, of Galena. Oliver was bold and defiant. The robbery of Mulford had been so carefully planned and secretly managed that he felt sure of acquittal. The only witness to be feared was Stearns, and he imagined himself secure from his testimony by reason of his imprisonment in the Michigan penitentiarj'-, never suspecting that measures had been taken to secure his pardon, ])resence and appearance in court as a witness against him. But Jason Marsh, who. from the time of the Mulford robbery, had been actively engaged in working up the case and ferreting out the robbers, had accomplished this important end, and had Stearns in Rockford when the court came on - a fact unknown to the prisoner until Stearns, when his name was called with that of other witnesses - G. A. Sandford, Jas. B. Martyn, C. II. Spafibrd, Anson Barnum, D. Howell, Dr. Searle, A. Eice and others - appeared at the clerk's desk to be sworn. The testimony of Stearns was so direct and conclusive that the cross examination failed to weaken it in the least, and Oliver was sentenced to the penitentiary for eight years. At the end of five years, he was par- doned out and rejoined his wife and family in New York. A few years later, he visited Rockford and mingled qnite freely with the people among whom lie had once been so popular, and to some of whom he explained why the gang had not robbed more of them. To Goodyear A. Sandford he said: "The buys often wanted to go for you (as county treasurer), but I wouldn't let them, because you was such a clever fellow." McDowell was convicted a little later in the course of time, and was also sentenced for eight years, but, like his old leader in crime, was jiardoned at the end of five years and went to work as a carpenter at Alton, where he so conducted himself as to win the respect of the people, and where he was still living at last accounts. Bridge took a change of venue to Ogle County, where he was also convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary. After his release, he went to Iowa, where, reports say, he fell into his old vices and was finally killed by -i sheritf, whom he was resisting. Mr. Loop, the prosecuting attorney, was a young man, and his management of the case for the people is still highly praised, and a bright and honorable career as an attorney was predicted for him, but he lived only a few years to enjoy the fame he earned oil that occasion. Of Mr. Marsh it was said, "fees large and liberal might have been his to defend Oliver and McDowell, both of whom had accumulated considerable means, and whose counsel he had previously been, but he chose rather to lend his ability and legal knowledge towards freeing the country from the presence of the desperadoes and outlaws that had so long infested it." And his efforts in that direction were not without reward. The conviction of Oliver and McDowell in the Winnebago court, and the arrest and conviction, and in some cases, the execution, of the other members of the gang, either frightened their unarrested associates in crime out of the country or turned them from their evil ways.

Of Thomas D. Robertson, another of the Rockford lawyers who assisted in the prosecution, it is said that "though young in years and in the practice of his profession, he acquitted himself admirably, fully sustaining the hopes of his friends." He is now the president of the Winnebago JSTational Bank.

The jury before whom Oliver was tried was composed of the following named gentlemen' Giles Maybee, Asa Farnsworth, E. C. Tracy, Calvin Haskell, Edward Bradley, Asa Crosby, Joshua Heath, Jr., Albert Tuttle, Phineas Howes, Harvey Higl)ee, Geo. Dixon andAndrus Corbin. Of these jurors, all are dead but Mr. Howes, who still lives in Rockford.

For the first two or three years either Haight's private residence or the Rockfurd House served as a court house or for the sessions of the county commissioncis, etc. Then came the building of a frame house for the use of the county, schools, churches, and public meetings, and such other occasions as the occurrences of the time demanded. For the first five years these buildings answered very cleverly for the many uses to which they were applied, but the rapid increase of population and public business demanded something better and more commodious.

In April, 1843, Daniel S. Ilaight, E. Hubbell, Potter Hollis, H. Holmes, Loanii Peake, Daniel Howell and John A. Brown, all of the East Side, made propositions to the county commissioners to build a court house and jail, to cost four thousand dollars. Some preliminary arrangements were considered, and the site for the court house and jail selected, but some complications arose that interfered and prevented the proposition from being consummated. At a special meeting of the Board of Commissioners held on the 22d of April, 1843, C. I. Ilorsman, for himself and others, presented rhe following proposition:

"That the undersigned citizens of Kockford agree to erect such buildings as the county commissioners shall direct, and according to such plan and finish as the commissioners shall furnish for a court house, countyoffices and jail, the said buildings to be commenced before the lirst day of June next, and the jail to be linished before the first day of January, 1844. The remainder of the said building or buildings to be linished bv the first day of January, 1844, and to perfect and convey to the county a good title to the land on which the same buildings shall stand, to the amount of two and a half acres. Provided: The commissioners select the site of the buildings on the west side of Rock River, and to give satisfactory security to be filed with the county clerk as soon as the commissioners accept the proposition. Signed, George Haskell, Charles I. Horsman, H. W. Loomis, M. Burrows, Charles Hall, Thomas D. Robertson, Geo. W. Dewej^, David D. Ailing, H. R. Maynard, Alden Thomas, S. Skinner, Geo. Barrows, John Fisher, D. Harper, D. Dow."

This proposition was accepted, and entering into bond in the sum of $20,000 for the faithful performance of their undertaking, Messrs. Haskell, Horsman, and their associates were paid ten dollars by the commissioners to "bind the bargain," and the contract to build the court house was let.

The site selected for the county buildings is that now occupied. The undertaking was completed in good faith, as specified in the proposition. The jail served its purpose until 1873, when it gave place to the present structure, and the court house for just thirty-three years, but at last the primitive structure,jwhich bears the date of "1492," is overshadowed by the walls of one of the grandest county buildings in the state. Its style of architecture is known as the French Venetian with American treatment. But of this magnificent structure, and the terrible catastrophe attending its erection, more anon. The stone building in which the county records are kept and business transacted was built in 1851.

The ancient date borne by the old court house - 1492 - is the work of one of Rockford's wags, and had its origin in this: The completion of the Rockford Central Railroad, running from Rockford to Rochelle, was signalized by a railroad jubilee - that is to say, the people of Rockford extended an invitation to "all the world and the rest of mankind" to come and see them on that occasion. Ample preparations were made to entertain their guests. The city put on its best. Public and private buildings were handsomely decorated - all but the old court house. Frank Peats was the Sheritf, and by virtue of his office had charge of the public buildings. Some inquiries were made why the local temple of justice was not decorated, and Sheriff Peats was reminded of his duty as a public officer - that as it was to be a gala day he should not neglect the opportunity or the occasion to dress up the court house in a style becoming the spirit and pride of the people of Winnebago County. "Enough said." ^y trade, the Sheriff was a painter, and procuring a pot, brush and ladder, he erected the latter against the front of the old temple, and painted in large black figures "1492," representing the year in which Christopher Columbus discovered America. This inscription has never been erased. It has been the subject of many a hearty laugh to some, and of indignation to others. To one man in particular, in middle life, in good circumstances, was it a snbject of annoyance, to say the least. Some of his friends from the East had come to visit him, and. as in duty bound, he was sho\ving them aronnd Kockford. During their perambulations, they passed in front of the court house. His eyes caught the inscription - 1492. He suddenly stopped, and looked. "AYliy,"' said he, when he recovered himself sufficiently to find his voice, "what is that? What does it mean? 1492? That's the year Columbus discovered America. That's outrageously sacriligious. I was christened in that building." And such was the fact, and he has not gotten over it yet - we don't mean the christening, but the knowledge of the fact that a sacriligious hand held so defamed the Winnebago court house.

Ante-War Records

Turning again to the old records of the County Commissioners' Court, we come to a document that is not without interest, particularly so as it will carry the mind of the reader back to ante-war times - to the time when human beings were bought and sold like cattle - when husbands and fathers were torn from wives and children, manacled and driven wherever it pleased the speculator in human flesh - wHen children were sold from parents, and the separation made as final and irrevocable, and more terrible in torture, than if death, the king of terrors, had come and taken them away. But we need not dwell on this poisonous plague that once ruled in triumph over one part of our common country, for, at last, outraged humanity and civilization could endure it no longer, and it was washed out in blood.

Germanicus Kent was born in Connecticut. When quite a young man he went to Virginia, where he remained some years, and then removed to Alabama. In those states he made the workings and influences of slavery an especial study. In Alabama he became associated in a business way with Jarmes G. Birney, the first candidate ever nominated to the presidency by the Abolition Party. Associated together for a number of years, Messrs. Birney and Kent had ample opportunities for investigation and interchange of opinions on the one subject - slavery - that was not only uppermost in their minds, but afiecting and poisoning almost every commercial, social and political interest of the country, and they determined to quit the section that fostered and protected it the first favorable opportunity that offered for disposing of their business interests. The time came; their property was disposed of, and they struck out for the north - the home of the free - Mr. Birney went to Ohio, and Mr. Kent, as already known, coming to Illinois and Winnebago County.

During the years that Mr. Kent lived in Alabama, he had become the owner, by purchase, of a colored boy named Lewis Lemon, for to be without the ownership of a slave in any of the Southern States in those days was to ostracise one's self from business and social recognition. Mr. Kent bought Lewis, when he was seventeen years of age, from Ori-is D. Lemon, a slave dealer, to whom he paid $450 in gold. According to the statement of Lewis, he was born in North Carolina, but had been sold from time to time, until he passed into the ownership of Lemon and then to Kent. When the latter concluded to come to Illinois, Lewis chose between coming along and buying his freedom from Mr. Kent, and being sold again into the hands of southern slave speculators. At St. Louis, in 1834, while they were en route to Galena, Mr. Kent and Lewis entered into an agreement as to the price which the latter was to pay for himself in work at $15 per month, the stipulated price being $800, bearing ten per cent, interest - time, six years and seven months. Both parties religiously kept the faith of the agreement, and in four years and four nujuths, Lewis worked his way into freedom and independence. At the March meeting, 1842, of the County Commissioners' Court, the following document, relating to this transaction, was entered of record:

Be it remembered that at the present term, March, A. D. 1842, of the County of Winnebago, State of Illinois, Lewis Lemon, a free man of color, presented the evidence of his being a free man by the following writing of Uermanicus Kent, of said county, which being duly acknowledged by him, is ordered to be filed and entered on record :

To all to whom these presents shall come, Gkeetino : That, Avhereas the undersigned, Germauicus Kent, of Rockford, Illinois, did, in the year A. D. 132!), being then a resident of the State of Alabama, purchase of Orrin D. Lemon, since deceased, a colored boy named Lewis, then about seventeen years of age, as a slave for life; and whereas, upon the removal of the undersigned from said State of Alabama, to said State of Illinois; now this is to certify that said Lewis by my removmg him to said State of Illinois, and his residence there ever since, did become free and emancipated from all services due to me as a slave, and that lie is, and by right ought to be, free forever hereafter. And this is to further certify that said Lewis was born a slave of said Orrin D. Lemon, then residing in Wake County (N. C.) from whence he removed to Madison County, Alabama, where I purchased said Lewis of him. The said Lewis is aged about twenty.seven years; in person he is five feet, eight inches high, well built, rather stout, and weighs about one hundred and seventy pounds; his features are good, dark yellow complexion, open and frank countenance, mouth prominent and large lips.

. State of Illinois, Winnebago County, ss: This day before me, Selden M. Church, Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of the said County, came Germanicus Kent, known to me to be the real person described in, and who executed the within instrument of writing, and acknowledged that he executed the same for the uses and purposes therein expressed.

And it further appearing to the satisfaction of the said Court, that said Lewis Lemon has resided in the State of Illinois as a man of color since the month of August, A. D. 1884, and that he has demeaned himself as a sober and honest person, this Court doth therefore order that the clerk ot the Court shall certify under the seal of the Court the facts aforesaid, and that said Lewis Lemon is a free person of color, entitled to all rights and immunities as such.

Thus was Lewis Lemon made an independent man. It is the only document of record to remind the people of the county of the former existence of slavery, and that one of its victims here found freedom and a home. In August, 1877, Lewis Lemon, at the age of about sixty-five years, ended his earthly pilgrimage, and was called to meet his kindred who had gone before him to the land of the leal.

Plank Koads Kiver Improvements Railroads

Ten years in the passage of time marks wonderful changes and improvements in any country - among any people. But in no country, among no people, perhaps, did that period of time bring greater changes than to the country of the Winnebagoes and the Winnebago people. In the early summer of 1835, every soul living in the county could have been comfortably seated in a 12x11 cabin. Ten years later settlements had reached to all parts of the county. The wild prairies of a decade before had been reduced to cultivation and remunerative tillage. Foundations for competence and independence had been laid, and were being successfully carried out. A large surplus of farm produce was being raised for which a market abroad must be found. There was little demand at home - almost everybody raised enough and to spare. Hitherto the only means of transportation was by ox or horse teams; the only means of travel by lumbering four-horse stage coaches. Something else, something faster and something better was demanded, and the people began to think and plan. A plank road between Rockford and Chicago had been discussed. An estimate on the probable cost per mile had been made, and was set down at $3,860.37, or an aggregate of $312,731.29. A convention had also been held at Sterling to consider the improvement of Rock River so as to make it navagable. In 1843 a survey was made between Joliet and Aurora to determine if it were possible to supply the Illinois and Michigan canal from Fox River. The report of the surveyors and engineers was highly favorable to the scheme. The bed of the Fox River at Aurora was found to be forty feet higher than the summit level of the canal, and the report set the people of the Rock River valley, especially in the vicinity of Rockford, all agog.

"Indeed," said the report, "there are but two places on the whole line that would require anything like heavy excavation. The deepest cut is about fifteen feet, and the distance about twenty rods. The maximum cost of a feeder with a tow path, and to answer all purposes of navigation, is estimated at $200,000. * * * Should the plan be carried out, but one further step remains to be taken. If a favorable route can be found, the work will be extended from Aurora to Rockford. The interest of the company demands it - the city of Chicago, the farmers of Rock River, the mineral region of Wisconsin, and the people of the state, all have an interest in the undertaking." This undertaking was discussed for a time, but like the plank road and kindred schemes was finally abandoned. At last, in 1845, the people settled down to the consideration of railroad enterprises, and on the 28th of November of that year the initiatory meeting was held to devdse ways and means to interest the people in the building of a railroad leading to Chicago. Anson S. Miller was chairman, and Selden M. Church, secretary, and Hon. M. P. Sweet addressed the meeting. The following resolutions were adopted:

Hesohcd, That those counties interested in the construction of a railroad from Galena to Chicago be recommended to meet in convention at Rockfock for the purpose of taking measures for constructing said road at the earliest possible period.

Jason Marsh, T. D. Robertson and William Hulin were appointed a committee of correspondence to carry out the spirit of the meeting; and Horace Miller, A. C. Gleason, Reuben Barrett, Harvey Gregory, Robert J. Cross, Asa Farnsworth, Stephen Mack, Thomas R. Talcott, Simon Pettibone, Guy Hulett, Snyder J . Fletcher, Alonzo Hall, Daniel Baker, E. S. Cable, Harvey Woodruff, Joseph Manchester, George Haskell, Willard Wheeler, E. H. Potter, Newton Crawford, J. C. Goodhue, S. M. Church, Anson Miller, Jason Marsh, and Thomas D. Robertson, were appointed to address the meeting on the importance and necessity of the undertaking.

In all the counties from Chicago to Galena meetings were held and delegates appointed to attend the Rockford Convention. Cook County sent Isaac N. Arnold, J. Y. Scammon, J. B. F. Russell, Mark Skinner, Thomas Dyer, E. W. Tracy, Jno. Davlin, Stephen F. Gale, Wm. H. Brown, Walter L. Newberry, William E. Jones, Bryan W. Raymond, F. C. Sherman, Wil-

The following named gentlemen were chosen as permanent officers of the meeting: President, Thomas Drummond, of Jo Daviess; Yice Presidents, William H. Brown, of Cook; Joel Walker, of Boone: Spooner Ruggles, of Ogle; and Elijah Wilcox, of Kane. Secretaries, T. D. Robertson, of Winnebago; J. B. F. Russell, of Cook; and S. P. Hyde, of McHenry.

It is proper to remark in this connection that in 1836 a charter had been obtained by ISTew York parties under the name and style of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, for the purpose of building a railroad from Galena to Chicago. This company had also secured a tract of 1,000 acres of land on DuPage River, and in 1838 had done some grading on the prairie west of Chicago. This much accomplished, the undertaking was left in abeyance. Some time in the latter part of 1845, Messrs. Ogde'n and Jones, of Chicago, negotiated with Messrs. Kevins and Matteson, of New York, for the purchase of this charter, and the DuPage land, etc., for which they paid $20,000.

Resolved, If a satisfactory arrangement can be made with the present holders of the stock of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, that the members of this convention will use all honorable measures to obtain subscriptions to the stock of said company.

An animated and spirited discussion followed the introduction of this resolution, which elicited a full history of the charter, its great powers, and the happy results that would follow its purchase, and the completion of the road under it, etc., after which the resolution was unanimously adopted.

Previous to the adoption of this resolution, a committee of one from each county had been appointed to draft a series of resolutions expressive of the views of the convention on the subject under consideration. That committee consisted of the following named gentlemen, to wit: J. Y. Scammon, of Cook; George T. Kasson, of McHenry; C. S. Herasted, of Jo Daviess; M. G. Dana, of Ogle; James S. Waterman, of DeKalb; W. H. Oilman, of Boone; John A. Clark, of Stephenson; A. B. Wells, of Kane; S. M. Church, of Winnebago.

Besolved, That the wants of the farmers and business men of Northern Illinois, require the immediate construction of a railroad from Chicago to Galena ; that the value of farms upon the route would be doubled by the construction of the road, and the convenience of the inhabitants immeasurably promoted thereby.

Besolved, That in order to accomplish the object of this convention, it is indispensably necessary that the inhabitants and owners of property between Galena and Chicago should come forward and subscribe to the stock of the proposed railroad, to the extent of their ability ; and that, if each farmer upon the route shall take at least one share of the stock (.$100), the completion of the road would be placed beyond contingencj^

This embraces the history of the beginning of the Illinois railroad system, and was the nucleus around which has gathered so many accomplishments of that character - from which have grown similar undertakings, until there is scarcely a county or county town in the entire State, that is not accessible by railroad communication.

Several subsequent meetings were held in Rockford, to promote the interests of the undertaking, urge subscriptions, etc., at which meetings the magnitude of the undertaking, and its interests and benefits to the community were presented by Messrs. Ogden, John Warner, Charles Walker and others. John A. Holland, then residing in Rockford, but now deceased, was an active advocate of the enterprise, and largely contributed to its success. In 1S4S, T. D. Robertson, now of the Winnebago National Bank, was elected a director of the road, in which capacity he continued to serve until the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad interests were consolidated with the Chicago and jSTorthwestern, in 1864. He also served as director in that Company until July, 1867,

Aug. 20, 1852, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was completed to the east side of Rock river; and to the west side of the river, by the erection of the necessary bridge, in August, 1853.

The next railroad undertaking was the organization of a company to L'uild what was first known as the Rockford Central Railroad, intended to run from Rockturd to Mendota, on the Illinois Central railroad, and to extend northward up Rock river to Beloit, Wisconsin, and other points in that direction. This CQ^npany was organized on the 7th of March, 1855, with the following officers:

The object of this road was to afford Rockford direct communication with the coal fields in the southern part of the State, and the lumber districts of Wisconsin. Other enterprises coming on about that time, operations were never commenced on this line, other than mere temporary surveys.

The project of building a road over this same route was again revived in the spring of 1871, under the name of the Rockford Central R. P., and several thousand dollars were expended in grading in Rockford and between Pockford and Rochelle, and substantia] stone piers for a bridge across Rock river, just below the dam, were constructed; but this enterprise also fell through for lack of funds and want of confidence in the chiet manager, E. F. Hollister. In the summer of 1874, the project was again revived, under the management of F. E. Hinkley, of the C. & I. P. P., and under his manfigement, in 1875 the Rockford division of the C. '& I. P. R. was completed and beg:m running between Rockford and Rochelle. The road is a valuable auxiliary to Rockford manufacturing interests, as it opens up a close communication for that interest with the southwest, by means of the Chicago, Burlington & Quinc-y P. P., in whose interests the C. & I. P. P. is largely opei'ated.

The third railroad enterprise inaugurated by the Rockford people, was the Rockford and Kenosha line. A company to build this road was organized in ISTovember, 1856, and the following named gentlemen chosen as officers : was under a different inanageinent, and governed by a charter grantc 1 by the legislature of Wisconsin. Althongh work was commenced on this road in the early S[)ring of 1857, its progress was slow, and in the fall of that year, in consequence of the financial revulsions that paralj'zed all industries for the time, work was almost entirely suspended. In August, 1858, the company had become so crippled, that they found it necessary to apply to the City Council for a loan of the city credit to the amount of $50,000, which was granted by a v'ote of -the people by a majority of five hundred. This is the only instance in the history of Rockford, where the credit of the city was loaned in aid of a railroad, and from the results that followed this experiment, it will probably be the last.

In November, 1859, the road was completed beween Rockford and Harvard, and on the 21st of that month an excursion train arrived from Chicago, bringing a number of guests from that city and intervening points, and a grand banquet was held at the Holland House, the same evening, in honor of the completion of the undertaking. The completion of this road opened a competing line between liockford and Chicago, under the management of the Chicago and North western railway company, by which the new road has continued to be operated. Until the last named road obtained control of the Galena and Chicago Union, the benefits of this competition to Rockford interests were very marked, the rivalry became very sharp, and at one time, passenger fare between Rockford and Chicago was reduced to one dollar.

July 5th an adjourned meeting of the Society was held, when an address was delivered by the president, after which the following resolur tions were passed, and an amended constitution adopted:

Resolved, That this Society tender their thanks to the president for his address, and that Jason Marsh,, James S. Norton and Jonathan Weldon be a committee to confer with the president and request a copy of his address for publication.

"2. That this Society regard with great interest the dissemination of useful agricultural information among the farmers of this region ot country; and would therefore recommend the Union Agriculturalist to the people of this county, as a paper adapted to their w.ants, and which promises to be of important service to the cause of agriculture in Illinois.

"8. That as the soil and the rolling character of the lands in Winnebago County render this district one of the most eligible in the West for wool-growing - that from past ex])erience in raising sheep among us, it is found that they are less liable to disease than in most other sections of our cou.ntry, this Society regards the growing of wool as among the most certain, easy and profitable productions; one which, when the home market shall be supplied, can be transported to a distant market for a small percentage of its value; and therefore we would earnestly recommend persons from abroad who contemplate removing to this region, and our own farmers,

"The annual meeting of the Society and Cattle Show will be on the second Wednesday in October, when premiums will be given on the following articles. The amount of the premiums will be governed by the funds of the Society on hand at that time. Where nothing more substantial is awarded, a certificate will be given."

The premium list was a small affair, only occupying forty-six lines (newspaper measure) of minion type. Seven premiums were oilered on horses, six on cattle, four on hogs, two on sheep, one for the best cultivated ten acres of land, taking into account the condition of the land and the amount of the crop; for the best twenty-five 'pounds of butter, for the best cheese weighing fifteen pounds and over, for the best ten yards of flanuel manufactured in the county, for the best fifty "skeins of silk manufactured in the county, and for the best ten pounds of beet sugar manufactured in the county."

The announcement further added: "Premiums may be given for other articles not specified in the list, which may be presented at the fair, and which may be considered worthy of a premium. * * * ^g the great object of the Society is improvement, it is hoped all who have anything icorthy of exhibition will present it at the Cattle SAoio.-^

That the annual fairs be held at Rockford alternately, on the east and west side of the river, commencing the present season on th^ east side."

That all the available funds of the society be distributed in premiums on the day of the cattle show, and that the premiums be paid in agricultural publications."

That with a view of extending the benefits of the Winnebago Agricultural Society, of enlisting the combined efforts of the farmers of this county in sustaining the society, J. Weldon be appointed our agent to obtain members of the society, and to collect the moneys for the same, which shall be devoted to the payment of the premiums at the ensuing cattle show."

Resolved^ That the society meet at two o'clock p. m. on the 13tli day of October, and form a procession under the direction of Jason Marsh, Esq., Marshal of the day, and march to the place appointed for the delivery of the address."

That D. S. Haight, Dr. Goodhue, and C. I. Horsman, be a committee of arrangements to prepare a place for a show, and to make all the necessary preparations for exhibitions, rent a room for the delivery of an address, and for facilitating the passage over the ferry."

I. IT. Cunningham, J, Weldon, and Lebbeus Wilson, were appointed a committee on horses; Milton Kilbourne, Horace Miller, and Samuel Hayes, on cattle; Isaac M. Johnson, J. S. Norton, and Ezra S. Cable, on sheep; C. I. Horsman, Alonzo Carey, and Jason Marsh, on cultivated lands; B. T. Lee, Peter B. Johnson. D. S. Haight, P. H. Watson, and James B. Martyn, on hogs; H. Leach, Henry ^Thurston, and W. E. Dunbar, on domestic articles.

citizens, could prevent the indignant and outraged populace from lynching him upon the instant. But to the good name of the people be it said, better counsels prevailed, and the law was allowed to take its course. Countrvnian was placed in jail and closely confined, until the February term (1857) of the Circuit Court, Judge Benjamin E.. Sheldon presiding, when he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the 2Tth of March tollovving.

The case was called on Monday, February 23d, and the entire afternoon was spent in empannelling a jury, which consisted of the following named persons:

The jury being thus empanelled and sworn, the court adjourned until 9 o'clock Tuesday morning. The prosecution was conducted by U. D. Meacham, State's Attorney, and William Brown, Esq.; the defence by Orrin Miller, Jr., and T. J. Turner, Esq.

The trial was concluded on Thursday afternoon, Feljruary 26th, and the case submitted to the jury, who returned a verdict of ''guilty of murder as charged in the indictment," when Judge Sheldon proceeded to pass the death sentence as follows:

''Alfred Countryman, you stand convicted of the murder of John F. Taylor. Your crime was attended with very aggravated circumstances. Mr. Taylor was the Sheriff' of this county - he had arrested you for a felony, and was carrying you to the jail, when you broke from his custody and ran; he pursued, and as he was about to retake you, you drew forth from a place of concealment upon yoar person a pistol, turned upon and shot him, killing him in two or three minutes of time. Continuing your flight, you were seen to reload your pistol, to be prepared, it would seem, to take the life of the next man who approached to take you.

"This deed was perpetrated in the public streets of Eockford, in open day, in the midst of the host of friends of the deceased, to whom he was endeared by his qualities as a man and his faithful services as an officer, several of whom were eye-witnesses of the scene. It could only have been the respect for law, which distinguishes this community, that prevented you from being rent in pieces on the spot, by an explosion of popular indignation.

*'To shoot down a peaceful officer of justice, in the quiet execution of his duty, was a w^ton, brutal act, an awful manifestation of an abandoned and malignant heart. In the eye of the law, no criine is more heinous than to slay one of its officers in the discharge of his duty. The law guards with a strong arm its officers when performing its own mandates. Your case is a sad instance of the mischief of the barbarous practice of carrying deadly weapons. If you had not had that weapon of death concealed ujion your person, you might have escaped a murderer's doom. In a well-ordered community like this, there is no need, under ordinary circumstances, to carry about such weapons of defence, and when carried they are much oftener used as the weapon of offence than of defence.

"The penalty of your high crime is the forfeit of your life - the terrible punishment the law inflicts not out of vengeance towards you, but for the

"I do entreat you to devote your few remaining- days on earth to an earnest preparation for your future state of existence, upon which you are so soon to enter ; delay it not in the hope that you may yet escape punishment. Your counsel, who have ably defended you and done all that legal abihty could do in your behalf, have made strenuous efforts to obtain for you a new trial, and their zeal may yet lead them to attempt to procure a reversal of your sentence. If so, rely not on any hope of success; regard your doom as fixed, and act accordingly.

"Human Tribunals administer justice only, and punish - but you have the consolation that mercy and pardon belong to that tribunal on high before which you must hereafter answer for your violation of the divine law. By meditation upon your spiritual concerns, and by true repentance and contrition of heart, may you become a fit subject of di\ine mercy, and obtain from your final judge forgiveness of your crimes.

" The sentence of the court is, that you, Alfred Countryman, be taken to the jail of this county and detained in close custody until the twentyseventh day of March instant ; that on that day, between the hours of ten iu the morning and five in the afternoon, you be taken thence to the place of execution in this county, and there bo hung by the neck until you are dead. And may God have merc}'^ on your soul."

The place of execution was on what is now the farm of Samuel I. Oharct, about two miles west of the city of Rockford, and was the first and last (to date, 1877) execution of the death penalty in Winnebago County. The execution was public, and thousands of people were present to witness it. When life was pronounced extinct, his body was cut down and delivered to his friends.

Alfred Countryman was born in Montgomery County, l^ew York, June S8, 1830, and was consequently in the twenty-seventh year of his age at the time of his execution. His father's family came to Ogle County in 1845-6, according to the condemned man's confession or written statement of the events of his life, where they were living at the time when Alfred committed the crim^ that forfeited his life. His life does not seem to have been a smooth one, but full of changes and shiftings and wanderings from one part of the country to another. Some time in the letter part of 1853 or in the early part of 1854, while working for the railroad company at Fecatonica, he made the acquaintance of a woman whose home was at Hampton, Michigan, to whom he was married by George Arnold, a justice of the peace of that town. At the time ot his execution he had two children - a girl and a boy - one about two years old, and the other an infant.

Wak Recoed

With the exception of the recurrence of State and iJ^ational elections and the ever-to-be-remeiid^ered Senatorial contest between two of America's political giants, Lincoln and Douglas, in 1858, there was nothing in the history of Winnebago County worth}' of especial mention after the execution of Countryman until the coming of the great and final conflict between freedom and slavery, in 1861. Up to that time the people were busily engaged in perfecting their plans against the coming of declining years - improving their farms, building houses, shops, manufacturing establish- merits, railroads, etc. Crime and criminals, and evil doers, with few exceptions, had been banished from the connty, and an era of local tranquility and prosperity had been fully and successfully inau<^urated, so that when the electric wires conveyed to them tlie intelligence that, on Friday', the 12th day of April, 1801, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, had been lired upon by rebels in arms against the government, tli- y were startled tVom the contemplation of undertakings nearly eom])leted. When, a day later, news was borne along the same wires that Major Anderson had been compelled to surrender Fort Sumter, individual enterprisers were abandoned, at least for the time, and with one purpose the people rallied to a common centre to take counsel together, and inaugurate such measures as might become necessary to meet the Government's call for volunteers to defend and maintain the integrity of the Union. While the people of Charleston were holding high revel over the surrender of Fort Sumter, the people of Winnebago County were preparing to take part in the measures that were sure to be inaugurated to punish their treason. An impromptu meeting was called in Eockford, and a committee appointed to prepare and issue a call for a mass meeting of citizens to consider the exigencies ot the occasion, and to adopt such measures as the times seemed sure to demand. That committee issued the following call:

"The citizens of Winnebago County, without distinction of party, are requested to meet at the court house in Rockford, on Wednesday, April 24:th, 18G1, at one o'clock p. m., for the purpose of holding counsel together and adopting such measures as in their judgment the present alarming crisis demands, and properly responding to the President in his call for support to the General Government. A full attendance from all the towns in the count}^ is anxiously desired. - E. F. W. Ellis, S. M. Church, L. F. Warner, CommAtteeP Dated April 17, 1861.

"Our city, in common with all other places throughout the North, has been the scene of almost continuous excitement on the war question during the whole week. The prevailing subject and constant theme of conversation in all circles, at home as well as on the street, has been the exciting news in connection with the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, and the war thus inaugurated. Party lines have for the time been laid aside in devotion to the Union, and with few exceptions our Democratic citizens, to their honor be it said, join heartily in sustaining the Administration in the crisis thus forced upon the country. It is no time now to argue who is right or who is wrong upon the questions of national policy which have heretofore created dissensions into parties. One common purpose should animate all hearts in this hour of our country's peril - that of preserving it from irretrievable ruin. We hope we have no Cow Boys in Rockford or Winnebago County."

The mass meeting called for the 24:th was an imposing demonstration. Every man present and participating in the action of the meeting had, for the once, divested himself of political bias, and was governed alone by patriotic impulses. There was no halting between two opinions - there was but one expression, but one purpose - "the Union must and shall be preserved." Strong resolutions were adopted, and men and money pledged till the rebellion was conquered, peace restored, and the integrity of the Union vindicated.

But even before this meeting had assembled and taken action in the premises, enlistments had commenced, and the organization of several companies undertaken, and within a week after the news of the surrender of Fort Sumter had been received the Rockford Zouaves had completed their organization and tendered their services to the Government. The citizens, equally patriotic, in a few hours subscribed and paid in the sum of $1,270.49 to purchase the uniform for this company, and with hearts full of love for their country and the prayers of the citizens they marched away under command of Captain iSevins, and went into camp at Springlield. During the week ending May 4, five other companies were raised, as follows: Kockford Zouaves, Company B, Ellis Rifles, Rockford Rifles, a company of Dragoons, and a company of Irish citizens. On. the 20th of September, six companies had been raised and officered in Winnebago County, and accepted for service as follows:

Besides these. Captain Austin was raising a cavalry company, Captain Boyd's company was nearly full. Lieutenant Ketcheson was recruiting for a Missouri regiment, and Major P. Flynn was forwarding recruits for Mulligan's Irish Brigade at St. Louis.