Warren Township (part 3 of 5)

7. That part of fractional township 29 north, range 1 west, west of the Sinsinawa River, and fractional township 29 north, range 2 west, and fractional township 28 north, range 2 west, and that part of fractional township 28 north, range 1 west, west of the Sinsinawa River, to constitute one township, named Menominee.

9. That part of township 28 north, range 1 east, and that part of township 28 north, range 1 west, east of Fever River, and fractional township 27 north, range 1 east, and fractional township 27 north, range 1 west, to constitute one township, named East Galena.

10. That part of township 28 north, range 1 west, east of Sinsinawa River, and west of Fever River, and all that part of township 28 north, range 1 east, west of Fever River, to constitute one township, named West Galena.

The first meeting of the board of supervisors was held on Monday, September 12, 1853. Harvey Mann, one of the old county commissioners, was chosen chairman. Richard Seal was county clerk.

Fractional section 18 and sections 19, 30 and the north half of section 31, jn township 29, range 5 east, Township of Nora, be detached therefrom, and that the same be attached to the Township of Courtland, and to take effect from and after the fifteenth day of March, 1855.

Commencing at the northeast corner of section 17, on the state line in township 29, range 2 east; thence west along the state line five miles, to the northwest corner of section 15, township 29, range 1 east; thence due south on section line to the southwest corner of section 34, township 29, range 1 east; thence due east along the township line five miles to the southeast corner of section 32, township 29, range 2 east; thence north on the section line to the state line or place of beginning.

Commencing at the northeast corner of section 16, township 29, range 1 east; thence west along the state line to the northwest corner of section 15, township 29, range 1 west; thence due south on the section line to the southwest corner of section 34, township 29, range 1 west (which said section line is the division line between the Township of Menominee and the Township of Mann); thence due east along the township line to the southeast corner of section 33, township 29, range 1 east; thence due north to the state line or place of beginning.

The division line between Menominee and West Galena Townships was made as follows, by the board of supervisors at a meeting held in March, 1855, to-wit:

Commencing at the northeast corner of section 4, township 28, range 1 west; thence south on the section line one mile; thence west to the Sinsinawa River; thence down said river to the Mississippi River.

Sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30 and 31 in township 27, range 3 east, Township of Woodbine, be detached therefrom, and that the same be attached to the Township of Elizabeth. (This was changed back, as originally, in June, 1855.)

All that part of fractional township 26, range 5 east, be struck off from the Township of Pleasant Valley and created a new township and established as such, by the name of Berreman.

20. At the September meeting, 1858, the following was erected, to-wit: All of fractional township 29, north of range 3 east, being taken from

All of fractional township 27, range 1 east, and all of fractional township 27, range 1 west, be taken from the Township of East Galena, and be made a new and distinct township, and be named by the name of Washington. (Changed to Rice.)

Since the changes as above noted, there have been a few others of minor importance. These are noted in the history of the townships they affect.

Circuit Court

Previous to 1828 there was no court of adjudication on Fever River. The only written law in the mines was contained on a single page of foolscap, signed by the superintendents of the mines, and posted up at the most public place. These " regulations " provided for the settlement of disputes between miners, but in the ordinary business transactions, as in credits, the people were governed entirely by the laws of honor.

The fourth section of the act of February, 1827, establishing Jo Daviess County, constituted it a part of the first judicial circuit, and provided for terms of the Circuit Court to be held on the first Mondays in June and October, providing, also, that if the judge of the circuit was unable to attend at any regular term, he should notify the clerk, who thereupon should notify all the justices of the peace in the county, who should, or any three of them, attend and hold the court, and while sitting, were clothed with the same powers exercised by the judges, except as to capital offenses.

By another act of the same legislature, and approved the same day, the judge of the first circuit was required to hold a court in one of the counties below at the same time the court was to be held in Jo Daviess. Of course the judge could not preside in both counties on the same day, and left the new county of Jo Daviess to take care of itself and organize its own court. Both terms in 1828 were accordingly held by justices of the peace, in compliance with the law, but the people complained that they were not treated as well as the other counties were treated, and the justices' court failed to satisfy them.

The first terra of the Circuit Court commenced on Monday, June 2, 1828, by thiee justices: Connolly, Coulter and Field. The attorney for the court was not present, either in person or by deputy, and the court appointed Jonathan H. Pugh " to prosecute at this term."

The first case of record was that of Andrew Arnett, James Arnett and Houston Barton, partners, doing business under the name and style of Andrew Arnett & Co., vs. Thomas Jordan and Kinchen Odom. " It appear- ing to the court that l the process in this case not having been served on the defendants, it is ordered that this case be continued till the next term of this court, and that an alias issue.' '

On the first day of this term James A. Clark, a Missouri lawyer, wa? permitted " to practice at this term, and until the next term of this court."

The first indictment returned was on the second day of the term against Michael Dee, for assault and battery, with intent to murder. Dee was arrested at once, brought into court, arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. A jury, consisting of William Tate, Alexis Phelps, William Erasure, John Barrel, Peter Carr, James Langworthy, James Smith, Dawson Parish, H. H. Gear, James Kindall, John Ray and William Henry, were " elected, tried and sworn." The defendant, by his attorney, " moved to exclude the testimony of Daniel Harrison and Warren Spears, and that they be sworn to answer whether they believed in a future state of rewards and punishments. The witnesses said they knew nothing about it, and they would not swear to any thing which they did not know." This answer was evidently satisfactory to the court, as the witnesses were sworn. The case was tried, and the jury brought in a verdict of " guilty."

June 5, Joseph Payne and James M. Strode were fined ten dollars each for contempt, and the sheriff was ordered to take their bodies and keep them in custody until the fines were paid.

At the second term, commenced Monday, October 6, 1828, Justices Connolly, Harris and Field presided, and " P. H. Winchester presented an appointment from the attorney general to prosecute in this court at this term as his deputy."

Among others fined for contempt at this term was William S. Hamilton, who was fined $5. There was apparently no little contempt of court in those days, and the court was determined that it should be properly respected.

During the Winter of 1828-'9 the legislature changed the time of holding court in this county, and the third term commenced on Monday, May 11, 1829. Judge Richard M. Young presided.

A grand jury was impanelled in due form as follows: William P. Tilton, William Hempstead, Elisha Blanchard, William Bennett, Charles D. St. Yrain, Moses Hallett, H. H. Gear, David McXair, A. T. Crow, David G. Bates, D. B. Morehouse, A. R. Howe, Dennis Murphy, James Wanton, Horatio Newhall, Thomas K. Rice, Hiram Watson, James Bennett, Lewis Curtis. ^ David G. Bates was appointed foreman, and the first court in Jo Daviess* County held by a judge was in operation. Albion T. Crow and Horatio Newhall were discharged from the panel, as they were physicians, and John Ankeny and H. Smean were sworn in their places.

On the 12th of November, 1829, Robert B. Bartlett, a Scotchman, made declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States - the first act under the naturalization laws in the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess County.

At the circuit court begun and held at Galena April 6, 1835, Sidney Breese produced his commission as circuit judge of the Second Judicial Circuit.

April 4, 1836, Thomas Ford, Sixth Judicial Circuit [Mr. Ford was afterwards (in August, 1842) elected governor of the state, and served four years. He died at Peoria in 1850.]

Criminal Mention

Considering that many of the early miners of the Fever River country were adventurers or fortune hunters, rather than settlers - that is, people who came to found homes - the criminal calendar of the circuit court has always been remarkably free from records of a very atrocious character. This fact is due, perhaps, more to the firm, unyielding, uncompromising and determined character - the honesty and sterling moral worth of the early permanent settlers, like the Harrises, Meekers, Newhalls, Proctors, Greens, Bates, Langworthys, the Gears and the Hempsteads, and others of their associates - who came to make homes in the mineral wilds of Fever River, than to any other cause. However determined and guarded as these pioneer fathers were, desperate characters - gambling adventurers - would often find their way to the mines, and, after a time, throw oft' all disguise and seek to over- awe and over- ride every one who, in any way, interfered with their plans and purposes. This has been the history of all mining regions - of all new countries. But as true as it may be, the history of Galena and of Jo Daviess County is freer from capital offenses - atrocious murders - perhaps, than almost any other county in the state, and it is a credit to the names of the people who pioneered the way to the wealth, population and intelligence of 1878, that, through all the changes - from chaos and absence of all written or statute law when the Johnsons carne in 1821 - to the present, so far as any positive knowledge exists, not a single case of lynch-luw stains the name of Jo Daviess County. No other mining district, so far as the knowledge of the writer extends, can show the same record. Murders, it is true, have been committed, but these have been atoned through means provided by the law. There have been other criminal oifenses, but in no case have the people taken the law into their own hands. In only one instance has the capital sentence been executed, and that was in the case of Taylor, who was hanged on the 19th of February, 1855, on the charge of murdering his wife. The circumstances in brief were as follows:

In the Galena Gazette, of December 7, 1877, we find a summary of the several murders and murder trials in the county, prepared by George W. Perrigro, Esq., associate editor of that paper, from which we make the following extracts. In his introductory to this resume, Mr. Perrigro says:

" The citizens of Jo Daviess County have been frequently shocked by foul and bloody tragedies which have occurred in their midst; yet this section has not been distinguished in this regard above others, for crime is the natural offspring of all localities, and will be so long as justice is a mockery and the statute books a dead letter."

Taylor Wife Murder. - The first notable crime which was committed within the borders of the county was the murder of Mrs. Taylor, by her husband, John I. Taylor, who suffered the death penalty as an atonement for the deed. Since that time murderers have got oft with various terms of imprisonment, from three years to life sentences. The facts connected with the Taylor murder were briefly as follows: Taylor resided in the upper story of a dilapidated frame house in Old Town, near the bank of the creek. A man by the name of Rosenburg occupied the first floor, and is said to have been on too intimate terms with Taylor's wife. One night in the month of October, 1856, Taylor reeled home drunk, and began to abuse his wife. Rosenburg heard the disturbance overhead, and went up for the purpose of quelling it. Taylor, enraged at the sight of the man whom he imagined was criminally intimate with his wife, seized a gun and struck at Rosenburg, who had turned for the purpose of fleeing down stairs. At that instant Mrs. Taylor stepped between the two men, and received the blow on the side of her own head, crushing in the skull.

As already stated, Taylor was arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. The jury was made up of W. L. Waterman, Jonathan Hendershot, John Morgan, William Green, Thomas Thompson, Thomas Hamilton, Nicholas Shott, Joseph Hempstead, William Ball, Bazil Meek, Addison Philleo and John B. Horuell. The death sentence was rendered by Judge Ben R. Sheldon, before whom the case was tried, on Thursday, November 30, 1854, and Taylor was ordered to be hanged on " Friday, the nineteenth day of January next (1855), between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and four o'clock in the afternoon of that day." The verdict of the law was carried out on the day above named by W. R. Rowley, sheriff. The scaffold was erected on the poor house farm, and the execution was open, and witnessed by as many as five thousand people. That was the first and last execution in Jo Daviess County. It has been said that one of the principal witnesses, and the only important one against Taylor, confessed on his death-bed that he was the one who killed Mrs. Taylor, and that Taylor was innocent. As to the truth or untruth of this rumor the people differ. But, true or false, the confession, if one was made, came too late to save Taylor's life, or to affect him for either weal or woe.

The Shay Case. - " In 1855, one Michael Shay, of Pleasant Valley, murdered a citizen of that place, whom he followed home from a saloon in which they had been drinking, and felled him to the ground with a club. Shay escaped from justice, and was never afterwards apprehended."

The Howe-MaC arty Murder. - " A year later, a man named McCarty was stabbed to death by a blacksmith named Bat Howe, on his wedding day, arid was taken home to his bride a corpse. McCartv was a currier, in the employ of Grant (Gen. Grant's father) & Perkins. He was married at the Four Mile House, now kept by Joseph Greibe. He returned to town with the priest who performed the ceremony, and on the way back was met by Howe, at the beginning of the plank road at Franklin Street, who charged him with having asserted that he (meaning McCarty) was a better man than Howe was. A fight ensued, during which McCarty fired a revolver at Howe twice. The first shot passed over his head, while the second entered his shoulder. Howe then whipped out a clasp knife and plunged it deep into the thigh of his antagonist, who died within two minutes after receiving the wound. Strange to say, the deed was witnessed by Circuit Clerk "W. R. Rowley, Deputy Sheriff Win. Pittam, and other officers, who were at that time searching in that neighborhood for an escaped prisoner, and the desperado Howe was arrested by the fearless Pittam and escorted to jail before the blood of his victim had fairly cooled. He was tried for manslaughter, convicted, sentenced to state prison for seven years, and died during his incarceration."

McCarty Wife Murder. - '" The murder of Mrs. McCarty, in East Galena, by her husband, and the subsequent suicide of the latter, is well remembered by the older citizens. The tragedy occurred in 1859. McCarty lived with his wife, in a small frame house just back of the Normal School ^building. One night, maddened by drink, he went to his isolated home, dragged his wife out of doors by the hair, beat her to death with a club, carried the body into the house, and applied the torch to the building, to destroy the evidence of his guilt. The charred remains of the murdered woman were found, and McCarty was arrested and confined in jail. Shortly after the coroner's inquest had been concluded, McCarty obtained possession, in some unknown manner, of a razor, and drew the blade of the instrument across his neck, severing the windpipe. He lived eleven days without taking nourishment of any kind, and died a most horrible death, filling the grave of a murderer and suicide."

Zowar -Keller Murder. - " The next notable murder occurred in 1866, when Peter Zowar, frenzied by jealousy and a desire for revenge, repaired to the house of a Mr. Keller, residing in the Town of Guilford, armed with a revolver. Mrs. K. heard the desperado about the premises, and raised the window for the purpose of reconnoitering. She had no sooner put her head out of the window than Zowar fired at her, shooting her fatally through the body. Keller then rushed to the window, only to be a target for the murderer below, whose shot fortunately missed him. The former then ran down stairs, and, arming himself with a shot-gun, opened the front door and fired at Zowar, who was taken unawares. The latter received the contents in his breast, but, as the shots were small, they did not produce more than a slight wound. He fled the neighborhood that night, and was subsequently arrested in Northern Kansas by Sheriff Luke and S. K. Miner, Esq., and brought back to this city for trial. He was granted a change of venue to Stephenson County, was tried, convicted, and sentenced by Judge Sheldon to state prison for life. The incentive to the crime was hatred for the parents, who refused to permit him to visit their daughter."

The Ably Case. - The last murder trial that stains the criminal records of Jo Daviess County was concluded on Saturday, December 1, 1877. " Other crimes have been committed in Jo Daviess County, but for coldbloodedness, premeditated design and systematic planning, the Ably murder of the 16th of last September ranks pre-eminent, as stated in the outset, above every other kindred crime that has transpired within the county. A son having assassinated his own father in a most cruel way, made it all the more shocking, and the deed will forever hereafter be pointed at as the blackest stain upon the annals of the county. Yet there are extenuating circumstances connected with the murder, which, in our historv of the affair, ought not to be omitted, in justice to the wretched young man now confined in prison for the offense. These facts were brought to light by the officers during their untiring efforts to bring the guilty party to justice, and furnish a history of crime and mystery which will be perused with the greatest interest by our readers.

" Unveiling the past." - A portion of the land owned by Jacob Ably was originally entered by one Hiram N". Byers, who emigrated to this section before civilization had scarcely planted its banner in this part of the Great West. Byers' family consisted of his wife, one boy and a girl. The wife of Jacob Ably, the murdered man, then a young unmarried woman, was employed in the house of Byers as a servant, having emigrated to Council Hill from Chicago, One morning, Byers' wife died suddenly, and her rapid burial excited considerable comment on the part of the settlers. Soon after the death of the lady, the servant girl was advanced to the position of housekeeper and was subsequently married to Byers. Six months after this event, the girl by the first wife died suddenly, and, like its mother, was hurriedly buried. About that time Jacob Ably, who had just arrived in America from Switzerland, was employed on the farm of Byers, and became intimate with the latter's wife, who it is asserted, had a child by him, a girl, shortly after her marriage with Byers. One other girl was born, and soon after its entry into this world, the father of the child died in a mysterious manner. He retired to bed well and hearty at night, and before the dawn of the morrow, he was stiff in death. No investigation was ever had, and the story that Byers had died of cholera was generally credited, though some there were who shook their heads in doubt, believing that a foul murder had been committed. A few weeks after the death of Byers, his son, to whom he had secretly willed his property, left the house, transferring his interest in the estate to his step-sisters. ISTo one knows where he went, nor has any one ever heard from him since his departure. In the course of time, Jacob Ably married the widow Byers, and shortly after their union the two girls, to whom had been transferred the estate, with the exception of a third interest, died within two weeks of each other, from causes which many regarded as unnatural. The property was inherited by the mother of the children, at that time the wife of Ably, and having been held in her name up to the time of her death, was the source of much trouble between them, and led to her melancholy suicide, and still later to the assassination of Ably. The latter vainly besought his wife in her lifetime to dispose of her farm and go to Nebraska. Refusing to accede to his wishes, Ably treated her in a brutal manner, and, as is claimed by the boys, beat her frequently. In February last, her body was found hanging ,to the limb of a tree in the back yard, and was dragged into the house by the husband, who had slept in a separate room that night. She was frozen stiff, and had died from strangulation. A jury was summoned, an inquest was held, and a verdict rendered to the effect that the unfortunate woman had committed suicide by hanging herself as indicated above. As soon arthe grave closed over her remains, it began to be whispered about that she might have been murdered. %

" There was but little evidence tending to criminate the husband, and it finally resolved itself into a dark suspicion which none dared to give utterance to except the boys of Jacob Ably, who openly charged their father with first having made way with the old lady, and then to cover up the crime, placed her in the position in which she had been found. They claimed that thero were marks about her person, that they had had trouble the night before, and that their mother had been heard to moan and cry out with pain during the night. These stories may have been manufactured for the purpose of mitigating the awful crime which formed the sequel to the mysterious record detailed above.

"The circumstances attending the assassination of Jacob Ably are well remembered by our readers, and appear in detail in the voluminous report of the testimony adduced on the trial. * * * * Ably was a native of Glaris, Switzerland, was about 52 years of age, and a farmer by occupation. He was well known hereabouts, and regarded as an honest and industrious man. It has been, stated, though not offered in evidence during the trial, that he informed parties in this city shortly before the murder, that he was afraid his boys would kill him. That they were dissatisfied, and would not remain at home, and that they wanted to get the farm into their own hands.

" The circumstances attending the arrest of the three Ably boys and Peter Miller, Sr., and Peter Miller, Jr., are also still fresh in the minds of all, and will not bear repetition here. It will be remembered that the elder Peter Miller was discharged, there being no evidence to criminate him. The remaining four boys were retained in custody, and at the recent session of the Grand Jury, Joseph, Henry, and Jacob Ably were severally indicted on the testimony of young Peter Miller, who had turned States evidence in the vain hope of saving his own head.

" Miller's story was to the effect that on the afternoon of the 1 6th of September, 1877, he accompanied Joseph Ably, then employed on the farm of John D. Brown, of the Town of Rush, across the country on foot, to the premises of the elder Ably, in Council Hill Township, eighteen miles away, for the purpose of stealing grapes from the latter's vineyard. That, during the journey over, Joseph Ably took from a corn shock, a musket, a revolver, and a box of cartridges. Arriving at the bottom in front of the house, they stopped to rest, when Miller asked young Ably to go up with him after the grapes. The latter replied: 'Wait a minute. I will go and see where the old man is.' This was about 8 o'clock in the evening. Young Ably, gun in hand, cautiously opened the barnyard gate, and, followed by Miller, crossed to the gate opening into the premises at the rear of the house. Miller testified that he remained at this second gate while Joseph entered the yard and passed around the back of the house. A moment after he had gone, Miller says he heard the report of fire-arms, and, rushing in the direction of the sound, he met Joe Ably fleeing toward him precipitately, and was by him urged to run, lest he be caught.

"*The trial of this case came on at the September term of the Circuit Court, 1877, commencing on Monday, the 26th. Tuesday noon, the 27th, the following named jurors were obtained, after exhausting the regular panel and several special venires : Albert Stevenson, Dunleith, livery stable keeper; Joseph Gothard, Woodbine, farmer; John McFadden, Apple River, farmer; D. Mahoney, Yinegar Hill, farmer; G. Engles, Galena, shoemaker; W. Whippo, Galena, carpenter; T. E. Reynolds, Galena, dry goods clerk; L. Weisegarber, Galena, shoemaker; R. S. Bostwick, Galena, chair maker; E. A. Wilson, Galena, dry goods clerk; Conrad Bahwell, Galena, clothing merchant; W. H. Bond, Galena, painter.

History Of Jo Dat1Ess County

practitioners at the Galena bar. The court room was crowded with spectators during the continuance of the trial, and the evidence of Peter Miller and Max St. Bar, who occupied a jail cell with Ably, was listened to with intense interest on the part of the court, the bar, the jury and the vast crowd of spectators.

" Joseph Ably, the principal figure in the trio, is a young man about nineteen years of age, with beardless face, brown, restless and sharp eyes, broad chin, firm-set mouth, high forehead, dark hair and florid complexion. He is about five feet eleven inches high, and during the whole of the trial manifested a nervousness and restless manner which was proof conclusive of his guilt. His brother Henry, strongly suspected of being accessory to the murder, is about five feet six inches in height, is a cripple, with piercing dark eyes, black hair and black mustache, and a defiant, careless look which militated more than a little against him, and which, in the absence of positive testimony, came very near sending him to a felon's cell. Jacob, the elder of the three, possessed a manly bearing, a frank, though sad, face, and impressed every one who saw him with his innocence. His acquittal was generally expected, and the verdict, so far as he was concerned, was, therefore, a surprise to no one.

" On Friday noon, the defense rested their case, and on the following day (Saturday), after lengthy and able arguments on the part of Messrs. Williams & Hodson for the prisoners, and E. L. Bedford, Esq., for the people, his honor charged the jury, and at half-past 2 o'clock, P. M., they retired to their room for consultation. At 6 o'clock they propounded the following query to his honor, Judge Brown:

" In answer to the inquiry of the jury, the court instructs the jury that the least punishment it can inflict for murder is imprisonment in the penitentiary for fourteen years."

Having received the above instructions, the jury, at 7 o'clock, returned into court, with a verdict of not guilty as to Henry and Jacob, and guilty as to Joseph Ably, fixing his sentence at state prison for life. As soon as the verdict was announced, the wretched young man hung his head, while Mr. Williams, one of his attorneys, vainly sought to encourage him with words of cheer. The brothers, Jacob and Henry, were permitted to go free by his honor, the jail doors were locked upon the parricide, and he was left to ponder upon the awful crime he had committed and the dreadful future which awaited him. /

"On Monday afternoon, October 3, at 3 o'clock, the motion for a new trial filed by his attorneys having been withdrawn, he was removed from his cell to the court house, for the purpose of having sentence pronounced upon him by the court, according to the requirements of the law. He had become in a measure reconciled to his doom, and was calm and apparently unmoved when brought into the presence of. his honor and the large number of spectators who had assembled to witness the solemn scene. When asked if he had aught to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon him, he replied in a firm voice, ' No.' His honor, thereupon, in an eloquent and fervent manner, his voice tremulous at times with emotion which well nigh overcame him, addressed the prisoner, a death-like stillness pervading the court house the while."

Mr. Perrigo says of this address : " There was scarcely a dry eye in the court room during the address of his honor to the prisoner, and not one person within the sound of his voice who was not more or less affected by the solemn drama which had been enacted. Immediately after sentence had been pronounced, the prisoner was escorted to jail, where he was confined until evening, when he was put on board the 10 o'clock train, and, in company with six companions in crime, was conveyed to Joliet, under charge of Deputy Sheriffs Wm. Earner, of Galena, and M. S. Murphy, of Warren."

Ablifs Confession. - On Monday forenoon, October 3, Mr. Perrigo visited the doomed Ably in his cell at the county jail, and succeeded in obtaining the confession from the parricide, of the terrible crime, which was subsequently sworn to before W. W. Wagdin, Master in Chancery.' " The young man," says Mr. Perrigo, " told the story with remarkable nonchalence, though he seemed somewhat loth to come down to the real facts connected with the murder. The statement corroborated the testimony of St. Bar, and disclosed more fully than was shown during the trial, the circumstances connected with this most diabolical plot of Ably's to assassinate his own father."

Of the attorneys engaged in the trial of this case, the Gazette said: " We can not close our lengthy report of this, the most important criminal trial ever held in Jo Daviess County, without saying a word in commendation of Prosecuting Attorney Bedford, who managed the case on the part of the people with consummate skill, and in a manner highly creditable to him as a lawyer. The case was beset with almost insurmountable obstacles from the start, and had it not been for his untiring exertions, combined with the assistance rendered by Sheriff' Earner, S. K. Miner, Esq., Detective Murphy and Deputy Sheriff Wm. Earner, a conviction could not have been secured.

"We also take pleasure in complimenting Messrs. Hodson & Williams, the attorneys for the defendants, for the ability shown by them in the management of their case. They are both graduates of the Ann Arbor Law University.

Educational

The first schools taught in Jo Daviess County were private or subscription schools. Their accommodations, as may readily be supposed, were not good. Sometimes they were taught in small log houses, erected for the purpose. Stoves and such heating apparatus as are in use now were unknown. A mud and stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth, with a fire-place wide enough and deep enough to take in a four-feet back log, and smaller wood to match, served for warming purposes in Winter and a kind of conservatory in Summer. For windows, part ot a log was cut out in either side, and may be a few panes of eight-by-ten glass set in, or, just as likely as not, the aperture would be covered over with greased paper. Writing benches were made of wide planks or, may be, puncheons, resting on pins or arms driven into two-inch augur-holes, bored into the logs beneath the windows. Seats were made out of thick planks or puncheons. Flooring was made of the same kind of stuff. Every thing was rude and plain, nut many of America's great men have gone out from just such school-houses to grapple with the world and make names for themselves, and names that come to be an honor to their coun- try. Among these might be named Abraham Lincoln, America's martyred President, and one of the noblest men ever known to the world's history. In other cases, private rooms and parts of private houses were utilized as school-houses, but the furniture was just as plain.

But all these things are changed now. A log school-house in Illinois is a rarity. Their places are filled with handsome frame or brick structures. The rude furniture has also given way, and the old school books - the" Popular Reader,'* the " English Reader" (the best school reader ever known in American schools), and " Webster's Elementary Spelling Book " - are superseded by others of greater pretensions. The old spelling classes and spelling matches have followed the old school-houses, until they are remembered only in name. Of her school system Illinois can justly boast. It is a pride and a credit to the adopted home of the great men this great state has sent out as rulers and representative men - men like Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Shields, Lovejoy, Yates, Washburne, Drummond, and hundreds of others whose names are as familiar abroad as they are in the histories of the counties and neighborhoods where once they lived. While the state has extended such fostering care to the interests of education, the several counties have been no less zealous and watchful in the management of this vital interest. And Jo Daviess County forms no exception to the rule. The school-houses and their furnishings are in full keeping with the spirit of the law that provides for their maintenance and support. The teachers rank high among the other thousands of teachers in the state, and the several county superintendents, since the office of superintendent was made a part of the school system, have been chosen with especial reference to their fitness for the position.

The present superintendent of county schools is Robert Brand, Esq., who was first elected in November, 1873, and re-elected in November, 1877. From Mr. Brand's last report to the State Superintendent, the following statistics are compiled:

Grand total number of days' attendance, 607,110, being equal in school time (i. e.t nine months of four weeks each, and five days to a week) to 3,372 years, 7 months and 2 weeks. Highest monthly wages paid to any male teacher $111 11

During the year Mr. Brand visited seventy-seven different schools, nineteen of which were visited more than once. He failed to visit fortytwo, and spent on an average of five hours in each of the schools he did visit. He spent ninety-six days in visitation, thirty-five in examinations, eleven in institute work, thirty-eight in office work, and seven in other official duties, making a total of one hundred and eighty-three days devoted especially to school work.

It is said that the " colored servants, or indentured apprentices," brought here by the Johnsons and others of the early miners, accumulated a good deal of property, which was subject to taxation. A friend to that people, believed to have been Hon. Thompson Campbell, secured the passage of an enactment by which the tax collected from them was set aside for their especial school benefit. In time, a sufficient sum accumulated to sustain a school a part of each .year, but no one in Illinois at that time, either male or female, could be found who had courage enough to teach a negro school. Especial inquiry was made by the historians to learn the name of the public man of that time who was bold enough, philanthropic enough, generous enough, liberal enough, in the face of the then existing prejudice, to seek to educationally benefit the emancipated Illinois slaves. But no one could remember. Mr. Christopher, a representative man of the colored people of Galena, is of the opinion that the Mr. Campbell named above was the man, but does not state it as a fact. Neither could any one tell them what became of the money collected from that people in taxes and set apart for the support of a school for them.

Mr. Christopher does remember, however, that Captain H. H. Gear gave them a lot of ground for educational and religious purposes, which they utilized.

As late as 1866, the "color line" was so clearly defined in Galena, that a colored school was crushed out by public prejudice. A Miss Hannah Christopher (daughter of a Congregational minister of that name, who was located here) a woman of enlaiged. humane, generous, liberal ideas, attempted to teach a colored school, but was forced to give it up. As soon as she commenced the school, she became an object of malice and malignity. Slander, abuse, traduction - every thing that prejudice could suggest or hatred of the blacks invent - were hurled at her with such merciless virulence that she was compelled to abandon the undertaking. She finally

Hi8Toby Of Jo Daviess County

Gradually, however, the sober second thought, which is said to be always right, asserted itself, and about 1868 provisions were made for educating the children of that long-despised and down-trodden people. Separate schools were established. That was one step. But the prejudice still existed. The black scholars were objects of malice. The white scholars of the other schools seemed to think them natural enemies or natural objects for 'personal assault, and pitched battles were of not infrequent occurrence. But they learned rapidly, and soon demonstrated the fact that they were equally as apt as white scholars. They quickly reached a standard that entitled them to admission to the high school, and the demand for such admission was made by Mr. Christopher. Then came another- "tug of war." Some of the authorities favored their admission to the high school, and, strange to say, some that had always professed to be friends of the colored people, opposed it. They assigned as a reason, that, if admitted to the high school, the white scholars would kill them. Mr. Christopher persisted in claiming equal rights and privileges for the children of his people, and finally told the opposition that he was willing to risk a trial. To quote his own words: " If there is any killing to be done, let them commence by killing some of my children. I am willing to make the sacrifice." There was an issue of right involved, and Christopher met it like a Roman hero. It was true, manly courage - a courage to be admired. He was contending for the rights of his people, and he triumphed. His children were admitted, and they were not killed. Others were admitted, and they were not killed. They now get along harmoniously, and are natural allies - offensive and defensive - the white and colored pupils of the high school against the scholars of the other schools. When an assault is made against one, it is an assault made against all. And scarcely any one is now to be found who was ever opposed to the education of the negroes, either in separate or mixed schools. So much for the advancement of civilization and intelligence. "John Brown's soul goes marching on."

The Northwestern German-English Normal School. - This institution was organized in 1868 by the German Methodist Conference, under whose auspices it still continues. This society purchased the building which was erected as a marine hospital, including eleven acres of ground, for six thousand dollars. The original cost to the government was $4-3,000.

The school was opened on September 23, 1868, with Professor Jacob Wernli, formerly assistant principal of the State Normal School at Platteville, Wisconsin, as principal; Professors Charles Zimmerman and B. F. Merteri, assistants.

The objects of this school are to educate young ladies and gentlemen to become teachers in German, English or German-English schools; also, to prepare for college those desirous of a higher education.

Mr. Oldenhage returned to Milwaukee in 1873, where, on December 20, 1877, he died, in the prime of life, amid the enjoyment of the highest esteem for his mental attainments, his ability as a teacher and his noble character.

June, 1876, who was in turn succeeded by Carl Ho be, A. B. Miss Addie Bonnell assisted as teacher from January, 1870, to June, 1871; Mr. Frederick Hirsch from 1871 to 1873.

In 1872 Prof. C. Zimmerman returned to Milwaukee, where he has for the last three years been superintendent of drawing in the public schools of Milwaukee. In 1873 Prof. J. Wernli resigned and was succeeded as principal by Professor B. F. Merton, who had been professor of mathematics, and who still holds the position of principal. Rev. B. Lampert and Miss Annie Tomlin taught from 1873 to 1875. Mrs. C. E. Anderson was connected with the school as teacher of instrumental music for six years. Since 1875 Jacob Boss, A. B., has assisted as instructor.

The school has done a valuable work for the educational development of this an'd other counties. Most of the schools of this county are taught by its graduates, of whom there have been forty-one. The school has a beautiful building and surroundings and excellent facilities for thorough education.

Old Settlers' Association

Three quarters of a century has passed since white men first entered upon the occupancy of the fertile valleys and mineral lands of the extreme northwestern part of the great country of the Illini - erst the home of the Sacs, the Foxes, the Winnebagoes, the Menominees and kindred tribes of people native to American wilds. Since the time when the cabins of white men began to be reared upon the hillsides and within the valleys of the numerous streams that find their source in hill-side springs, and, flowing to the southwest, unite their waters with the mighty Mississippi, the Father of Waters, the years have been so full of changes that the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past, could scarcely be made to realize that during these years a population of 28,000 has grown up within the limits of the county whose history we are writing. From a savage wild, marked only by bloody conflicts of Indian tribes and recorded only on rude, unspeaking tablets and dumb mounds of earth, the galena section has become a centre of civilization - the home and school of soldiers, great war ministers, congressmen, governors, grave senators, solemn judges, foreign ministers, presidents - men known and honored, not only at home, but among the crowned head's and titled courts of the old world. Schools, churches, colleges, busy manufactories, highly cultivated and remunerative farms, with their palatial-like dwellings, mark the camping places and battle-grounds of the wild men who once held dominion over these prairie-plains and forest-covered and mineral-filled hills. Cities, towns and villages occupy the places once dotted over with Indian wigwams. Iron bridges span the rivers where once bark canoes served as ferries for the wild men, their women and children, and railroads and telegraph lines - adjuncts and agencies of the highest type of civilization known to the world's history - mark the course of the trails they made when traveling from one part of the country to another. Of the land-marks of the " long ago," but few are left as the children of the forest and prairie wilds left them, except the prehistoric mounds to be found in almost every part of the county, and they were fashioned by whom?

It is not strange that among the pioneer settlers of any new country a deep-seated and sincere friendship should spring up, that would grow and strengthen with their years. The incidents peculiar to life in a new country - the trials and hardships, privations and destitutions - are well calculated to test not only the physical powers of endurance, but the moral, kindly, generous attributes of manhood and womanhood. They are times that try men's souls and bring to the surface all that there may be in them of either good or bad. As a rule, there is an equality of conditions that recognizes no distinctions. All occupy a common level, and as a natural consequence, a brotherly and sisterly feeling grows up that is as lasting as time, for -' a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." With such a community, there is a hospitality, a kindness, a benevolence and a charity unknown and unpracticed among the older, richer and more densely populated commonwealths. The very nature of their surroundings teaches them to " feel each other's woe, to share each other's joy." An injury or a wrong may be ignored, but a kindly, generous, charitable act is never forgotten. The memory of old associations and kindly deeds is always fresh. Kaven locks may bleach and whiten; full, round cheeks wither and waste away; the fires of intelligence vanish from the organs of vision; the brow become wrinkled with care and age, and the erect form bowed with accumulating years, but the true friends of the " long ago " will be remembered as long as life and reason endure.

The surroundings of pioneer life are well calculated to test the " true inwardness" of the human heart. As a rule, the men and women who first occupy a new country - who go in advance to spy out the land and prepare it for the coming of a future people - are bold, fearless, self-reliant and industrious. In these respects, no matter from what remote sections or countries they may come, there is a similarity of character. In birth, education, religion and language, there may be a vast difference, but imbued with a common purpose - the founding and building of homes - these differences are soon lost by association, and thus they become one people, united by a common interest, and no matter what changes may corne in after years, the associations thus formed are never buried out of memory. In pioneer life there are always incidents of peculiar interest, not only to the pioneers themselves, but which, if properly preserved, would be of interest to posterity, and it is a matter to be regretted that the formation of " Old Settlers' Associations " has been neglected in so many parts of the country. The presence of such associations in all the counties of our common country, with well kept records of the more important events, such as dates of arrivals, births, marriages, deaths, removals, nativity, etc., as any one can readily see, would be the direct means of preserving to the literature of the country the history of every community, that, to future generations, would be invaluable as a record of reference, and a ready method of settling important questions of controversy. As important as these associations are admitted to be, their formation has not yet become genernl, and there are many counties in the Western country whose early history is entirely lost because of such neglect and indifference. Such organizations would possess facts and figures that could not be had from any other source. Aside from their historic importance, they would serve as a means of keeping alive and further cementing old friendships, and renewing among the members associations that were necessarily interrupted by the innovations of increasing population, cultivating social intercourse, and creating a charitable fund for such of their members as were victims of misfortune and adversity.

Association

Actuated by the purposes suggested in the preceding paragraph, the pioneers of Jo Daviess County organized a society in 1872, that was known as the Jo DAVIESS COUNTY OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION, which title was changed, in a meeting held June 14, 1873, to Jo DAVIESS EAKLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.

The first formal meeting was held at the office of the Gas Light Company at Galena, November 2, 1872, and a permanent organization effected at a subsequent meeting held at the County Court House two weeks later (on the 16th) when the following officers were elected:

A residence in the county of thirty }7ears, and the payment of one dollar fee, were the qualifications for membership, until October, 1874, when the Constitution was so modified that a residence in the lead mine region of thirty years, prior to application for membership, was required. The object of the society is thus defined by the Constitution :

Feeling and knowing that many of our early settlers have passed away, and with them much valuable informtion lias been lost, and now wishing to preserve, as much as possible, the early incidents attending the first settlement of Jo Daviess County, by gathering together her pioneer fathers; forming them into an association; cementing and renewing old friends 1 1 ips ; bringing to light and recording old, aud, in many cases, almost forgotten, reminiscences; thereby perpetuating and giving to our children and the world a true and reliable history of the first settlement of the northwest corner of the now great State of Illinois, do this day form ourselves into a permanent organization.

At a meeting held at the court house, June 14, 1873, Mr. D. S. Harris, the oldest pioneer settler in the county, was made President of the Association, vice J. G. Soulard, resigned, after which the following other officers were elected for the ensuing year:

October 2, 1873, by invitation of the officers of Jo Daviess County Agricultural Association, the Association held a reunion on the Fair Ground, marching thereto in a bod}7, with a flag, inscribed with their society name, floating above them, each member bearing a rosette of the National colors. Wm. R. Rowley was acting Marshal, and I. P. Stevens, Speaker of the day.

"Resolved, That we each of us deeply sympathize with his bereaved family and many friends, knowing his sterling worth as an honest, upright and unimpeachable gentleman and citizen. As we honored him in life, we sincerely mourn him in death." .

October 1, 1874, the Society visited the County Fair, under similar invitation to that of the year previous. Marshal, Thomas McNulty; Orator of the day, I. P. Stevens; Flag Bearer, P. M. McNulty.

The procession formed at the court house and marched to the ground. It was met by the Fair Marshal with the band, and by them escorted to the stand, where they were welcomed in the name of the society by Mr. R. Barrett. After music by the band, D. S. Harris, President, introduced I. P. Stevens, Orator of the day. After his address, in which he briefly spoke of the early local history, " Auld Lang Syne " was sung by the Association (standing). The band then rendered " The Star Spangled Banner," after which followed a general hand-shaking and reunion.

[The records of the association do not show that any meeting of the Society was held in 1875. There is, however, a long .printed letter from Hon. E. B. Washburne to Captain Daniel Smith Harris, dated Paris, January 15, 1875, on the death of Mr. Charles S. Hempstead, that is preserved in the record in an appropriate place. In this letter Mr. Washburne pays a golden tribute of respect to the late Mr. Hempstead, as well as a general review of many of the incidents in which they (Washburne and Hempstead) were prominent actors.]

On the Fourth of July of the Centennial year (1876) the early settlers met in reunion, for which occasion a condensed paper was written by John Lorrain, on the History of Jo Daviess County, from which we have frequently quoted.

The next meeting of the Early Settlers was held at the court house on the 28th of October, 1876. This was a business meeting, for the election of officers, etc. Captain Daniel Smith Harris was chosen President, and- Harvey Mann, A. M. Haines, G. H. Mars, I. P. Stevens, and G. W. Girdon Yice Presidents; John Lorrain, Secretary and Treasurer.

That we, the undersigned early settlers of Jo Daviess County, agree and obligate ourselves to form a permanent organization of the early settlers of said county, under articles and by-laws, etc., and, to make said organization binding, will pay to the treasurer of said association twenty-five cents per month, the fund so created to be used for sustaining the organization, and the burial of our dead.

June 16, 1877, a meeting of the Association was held (at the call of the President) to make arrangements to celebrate the Fourth of July, 1877. At this meeting it was resolved to make a picnic excursion over the Narrow Gauge railroad to Benton, or vicinity, in Wisconsin.

In pursuance of the resolution, the Old Settlers and their families to the number of 130 met at the Narrow Gauge depot in Galena, on the morning of the Fourth of July, 1877, where they were greeted by a very large concourse of citizens. Taking passage on the cars of the Narrow Gauge, they were soon carried to their place of destination, where the following order of exercises were observed:

After dinner the excursionists and their Benton friends re-assembled at the speaker's stand, where the programme of the day was completed in the following order:

An Address by Mrs. Sarah 0. Harris, on Woman Suffrage. She maintained that, while the Declaration of American Independence was broad and magnanimous, it was still unjust in its operations, as one half the people, the women, were not represented in the workings of the government. Soon after the delivery of this address, which is said to have been a most dignified and queenly effort, the excursionists adjourned to the cars that were in waiting to convey them back to Galena, whence they repaired to their respective homes.

- With the Old Settlers of Jo Daviess County thus passed away the 4th day of July, 1877. That all of those who participated in this last reunion will be permitted to join in a similar meeting in 1878 is not to be expected, for one by one they are passing away - going to the everlasting shores of the Great Beyond - to join in an eternal reunion and pleasures and joys more perfect than any ever conceived in the mind of man.

It is a matter of regret that a complete registry of the names of the first settlers of every new county has not been kept. It would be an invaluable record - connecting and completing links in a country's history. Only in late years, however, has the importance of such a record suggested itself to the minds of men, and it is to be hoped that the spirit of the constitution of the Old Settlers Association of Jo Daviess will be carried out to the letter, and that the names, date of birth, date of arrival, etc., will be religiously preserved and handed down to those who will come in the not far distant by-and-by to fill the places now gladdened by the remaining pioneer fathers and mothers. Had this record been commenced when white men and white women first came to develop the great wealth that nature stored away in the galena hills, volumes of historical information would have been preserved, the want of which is now seriously experienced.

Many of the courageous men and women who were here from 1823. and up to and during the period of the Black Hawk War, have either passed from earth to brighter and happier existences, or removed to other scenes of labor and business conflict. Of those who remain, one hundred and fifteen names are entered of record on the Old Settlers' journal, and are herewith remitted to the descendants of those whose industry, enterprise, intelligence and patriotism have made for Jo Daviess County not only a national, but a world-wide, reputation.

History Of

Patrick McQullen, Ireland, April 10, 1825. Arrived in May, 1833. Hiram DeGraff, Montgomery Co., N. Y., April 20, 1817. Arrived in December, 1836.

War Record

If there is any one thing more than another of which the people of the Northern States have reason to be proud, it is of the record they made during the dark and bloody days of the War of the Rebellion. When the war was forced upon the country, the people were quietly pursuing the even tenor of their ways, doing whatever their hands found to do - working the mines, making farms or cultivating those already made, erecting homes, founding cities and towns, building shops and manufactories - in short, the country was alive with industry and hopes for the future. The people were just recovering from the depression and losses incident to the financial panic of 1857. The future looked bright and promising, and the industrious and patriotic sons and daughters of the Free States were buoyant with hope - looking forward to the perfecting of new plans for the ensurement of comfort and competence in their declining years, the}' little heeded the mutterings and threatenings of treason's children in the Slave States of the South. True sons and descendants of the heroes of the " times that tried men's souls " - the struggle for American independence - they never dreamed that there was even one so base as to dare attempt the destruction of the Union of their fathers - a government baptized with the best blood the world ever knew. While immediately surrounded with peace and tranquility, they paid but little attention to the rumored plots and plans of those who lived and grew rich from the sweat and toil, blood and flesh of others - aye, even trafficked in the offspring of their own loins. Nevertheless, the war came with all its attendant horrors.

April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, Major Anderson, U. S. A., commandant, was fired upon by rebels in arms. Although basest treason, this first act in the bloody reality that followed was looked upon as a mere bravado of a few hot-heads - the act of a few fireeaters whose sectional bias and freedom hatred was crazed by the excessive indulgence in intoxicating potations. When, a day later, the news was borne along the telegraph wires that Major Anderson had been forced to surrender to what had first been regarded as a drunken mob, the patriotic people of the North were startled from their dreams of the future - from undertakings half completed - and made to realize that behind that mob there was a dark, deep and well organized purpose to destroy the government, rend the Union in twain, and out of its ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would dare question their right to hold in bondage the sons and daughters of men whose skins were black, or who, perchance, through practices of lustful natures, were half or quarter removed from the color that God, for His own purposes, had given them. But they " reckoned without their host." Their dreams of the future - their plans for the establishment of an independent confederacy - were doomed from their inception to sad and bitter disappointment.

America's martyr President - who, but a few short weeks before, had taken the oath of office as the nation's chief executive, issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months. The last word of that proclamation had scarcely been taken from the electric wires before the call was filled. Men and money were counted out by hundreds and thousands. The people who loved their whole government could not give enough. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart. The farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college, the schoolhouse - every calling offered its best men, their lives and fortunes in defense of the government's honor and unity. Party lines were, for the time, ignored. Bitter words, spoken in moments of political heat, were forgotten and forgiven, and, joining hands in a common cause, they repeated the path of America's soldier statesman : " By the Great Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved/"

Seventy -five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion. Nor were ten times that number. The war went on, and call followed call, until it began to look as if there would not be men enough in all the Free States to crush out and subdue the monstrous war traitors had inaugurated. But to every call, for either men or money, there was a willing and a ready response. And it is a boast of the people that, had the supply of men fallen short, there were women brave enough, daring enough, patriotic enough, to have offered themselves as sacrifices on their country's altar. Such were the impulses, motives and actions of the patriotic men of the North, among whom t;he sons of Jo Daviess made a conspicuous and praiseworthy record. Of the offerings made by this people during the great and final struggle between freedom and slavery, it is the purpose now to write.

Proclamation

WHEREAS, The laws of the United States have been, and now are, violently opposed in several states by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary way, I therefore call for the militia of the several states of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress said combination and execute the laws. I appeal to all loyal citizens to facilitate and aid in this eftort to maintain the laws and the integrity of the perpetuity of the popular government, and redress wrongs long enough endured. The first service assigned to the forces, probably, will be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union. Let the utmost care be taken, consistent with the object, to avoid devastation, destruction, interference with the property of peaceful citizens in any part of the country; and I hereby command persons composing the aforesaid combination to disperse within twenty days from date.

I hereby convene both houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next, to determine upon measures for public safety which the interest of the subject demands.

Abraham Lincoln

The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South was accepted - not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence - but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President was plain under the constitution and the laws, and above and beyond all, the people from whom all political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority of their representatives and executive officers.

Charles Hempstead, on whose motion Major Robert Brand was chosen chairman. On taking the chair and acknowledging the honor conferred upon him, Mr. Brand said: "I am in favor of any honorable compromise that will again unite our whole country. I am in favor of sustaining the president so long as his efforts are for the peace and harmony of our whole country. I am in favor of a convention of the people, that an adjustment might be made, sustaining alike the honor, interest and safety of both sections of our country. I am in favor of sustaining our flag, our constitution and our laws, right or wrong. Yet I am opposed to warring on any portion of our beloved country, if a compromise can be effected."

The sentiments thus expressed, it seems from the Courier of the following evening (Wednesday, April 17) did not meet the views of Mr. E. B. Washburne then member of Congress from this district, and he immediately arose and denounced the address of the mayor, and moved that he vacate the chair, and that George W. Campbell, Esq., preside over the meeting. Mr. Brand put the motion, stating that as his sentiments did not appear to be to the taste of Mr. "Washburne, he desired to withdraw. There was a slight response in the affirmative, and Mr. Brand was about leaving his chair, when he was called upon to put the negative. He did so, and the loud response which came from every part of the building was a significant rebuke to the gentleman who made the motion. The motion was renewed, and was again voted down by a large majority.

Hon. Frederick Stahl made some remarks to the effect that he had feared some such trouble would occur, regretting the exhibition of partisan feeling, and advising, if the meeting could not proceed harmoniously, an adjournment. * * * The remarks of Mr. Stahl had a happy effect, and Mr. Washburne seeing that his course was not sustained by the meeting, withdrew his motion (it had previously been twice voted down) and quiet was restored.

Resolved, 1. That we will support the government of the United States in the performance of all its constitutional duties in this great crisis, and will assist it to maintain the integrity of the American flag, and to defend it whenever and wherever assailed.

2. That we recommend the immediate formation of two military companies in this city to respond to any call that may be made by the governor of the state.

3. That we call on the Legislature, which is to assemble in extraordinary session on the 23d instant, to make the most ample provisions to respond to the call for troops now made, or that may hereafter be made, by the president of the United States.

"Speeches were then made," continued the Courier, "by E. B. Washburne, Charles S. Hempstead, B. B. Howard, John A. Rawlins, Judge Platt, J. M. Shaw and I. P. Stevens, all of the gentlemen avowing their determination and calling upon all good citizens to rally around the flag, and to sustain the government of their country."

The first meeting to organize a military company was held at the court house on Thursday evening, April 18, and twenty men enrolled their names. A movement was also on foot at the same time to organize a cavalry company, and some thirty names had been enrolled. We quote from the Courier of Saturday evening, April 20: nearly full. Adjutant General Mather has signified his acceptance of the company, and requests that they report themselves at once. It is believed the company will be ready to leave here for Springfield on Monday evening next. The following persons have enrolled themselves as members of the company, the list including all that had enlisted up to four o'clock this afternoon :

This additional twenty-five increased the number to 103 men, good and true, of whom ninety-five, including the officers and two musicians, were uniformed and mustered into the service. An election for officers had been held on the Saturday evening previous, with the following result:

Thus officered, the first company raised in Jo Daviess in response to the country's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion, were ready to inarch away to the field of battle. Saturday evening (the 20th), advices were received from the Adjutant-General's Office that the company should be uniformed at home. The uniform consisted of blue frock coat, dark gray pants, with blue cords. N. Corwith & Co., bankers, offered to make the necessary advances to fit out the company, and Messrs. Eberhardt & Klett and H. P. Corwith undertook the contract of having the uniforms ready by Wednesday (the 24th) at noon. The ladies of the city, in the meantime, were not idle, but were visiting among the business men, soliciting subscriptions of money to purchase a suitable flag, etc.

Thursday, the 25th, this company left for Springfield, escorted to the depot by the fire companies, the German Benevol-ent Society and citizens en masse, the procession forming in the following order:

At the depot a flag was presented to the company by E. A. Small, on behalf of the ladies, accompanied by an appropriate speech. He also presented to Captain Chetlain a package containing $70, the surplus of the money subscribed for the purchase of the flag, to be expended as the company desired. The flag presentation was made in the presence of a crowd of 5,000 people, and was received by Captain Chetlain with appropriate thanks and fitting remarks. After these exercises, and when the guards had formed in front of the depot, Mayor Brand presented the ensign bearer with a beautiful revolver (Colt's pattern), accompanied with the following remarks :

Friends and Soldiers : - The last links on which hung all my hopes. of a reconciliation without a resort to arms is now broken. Virginia, dear old Virginia! the land of my father, has deserted, us in this trying hour. We have nothing now left but to unfurl the " Star-Spangled. Banner," and to defend it with our lives. Soldiers ! our Union is in danger ! Let no one falter now - that " Star-Span srlecl Banner " must wave in triumph over the whole Union as long as there is one drop of blood in our veins to protect it. Soldiers! Go - your country calls you to duty, and in the hour of battle let your war-cry be, " The Union, the whole Union, now and forever! "

Standard Bearer! On you all eyes will be turned, to see that " our flag is still there." Take this ; it is all I have. Use it in defense of that noble flag you have the honor to bear."

Rev. J. H. Yincent followed in an affecting, eloquent and patriotic address. The cars soon drew up, and but a short time was left " to sever the ties that bound the members of the Guards to the hearts and hearth-stones of near and dear friends. Many a mother parted from a dear son - -many a wife from her beloved husband - many a sister from a fond brother. Then came the train, the hurried ' Good-byes,' the shaking of hands, the filling of the cars, and, although many hearts were sad, as the whistle sounded the moment of departure and the train moved off, thousands of hats and 'kerchiefs waved, and cheer upon cheer for the Guards and the Union they went to uphold, rang out on the evening air."

While this lirst company was being organized, uniformed and sent out to join in freedom's battle against treason and slavery, others were forming. In the Galena papers of the 20th of April, there appeared the following call :

Attention, Company! All those that are willing to volunteer, and are in favor of the Union, the enforcement of the laws, protection to our flag, and of responding to the call of the President of the United States, in suppressing rebellion, repressing invasions, dispersing mobs, and in re-capturing and protecting government forts, property, etc., to form a company tor that purpose, and will hold themselves in readiness subject to a call by the Governor, are requested to enroll their names at my office. Said company, when formed, may elect its own officers. B. B. HOWARD.

April 24, the Courier had the following: " Captain* Howard's Company - Capt. Howard received a dispatch from the Adjutant-General at Springfield, last evening, informing him that they were full under the first call, but advising him to keep up his organization, as he thinks another call will be made soon."

Attention, Anti-Beaure Guards! - You will report at headquarters (Jackson Hall), at 9 o'clock A. M. and 4 o'clock P. M., of each and every day, until further orders.

Thus it will be seen that Captain Howard and his " boys in blue " were not only ready but waiting for the summons to march against the enemy. They were soon ordered to march, and were escorted to the depot, as the first company had been, with music, banners, and thousands of citizens.

The people of Morseville assembled at their school-house on Friday evening, the 19th of April, to take counsel together, and give expression to their sentiments. S. Tyrrell, Esq., was called to the chair, and S. Church chosen as secretary. A committee on resolutions was appointed, who reported the following: :

WHEREAS, It becomes American citizens to know no political law but their country's welfare; and whereas, the flag of our country has been insulted, and the laws set at defiance by formidably organized bands of lawless men whose avowed purpose and overt acts are high treason against the government, therefore,

Rexohed, That in the present endangered state of our country we will ignore all party differences and distinctions and will unite in rendering all the aid within our power, to the Federal Executive in executing the laws and defending the honor of our national flag.

2. That we recognize the form of government formed by our fathers - and baptized in their blood - as the best in the world; the birthright of American citizens, and to be given up but with our lives.

4. That the Secretary of this meeting forward a copy of these proceedings and resolutions to be published in the Warren Independent, Galena Courier and Galena Gazette.

" On Sunday, in our church, the state of our country was presented. A telegraphic report at noon that Washington was actually attacked raised the feeling to the highest pitch of excitement; men, women and children were ready to enlist all their energies, in any form possible, to save our country. Never before have I seen such an outbreak of enthusiasm.

"A call was made on Monday evening to form a body for home protection, or to be ready to repel invasion. Mr. Lucius Blackman was chosen chairman. Patriotic speeches were made by G. F. Bennett, J. P. Harriman, Rev. Mr. Luke, Rev. Mr. Coolly, Lucius Blackman and others. A committee of three, Captain Stanchfield, Rev. O. W. Coolly and L. Blackman, was chosen to draft a constitution and by-laws for the company, and report on the next evening.

"On Tuesday evening the committee reported. The constitution was adopted, and sixty men immediately responded with their names. They proceeded to organize under the name of the " Nora Home Guards." This company was officered as follows :

Wednesday evening, the 24th (April), the people of Elizabeth and vicinity assembled at the school-house to discuss the situation. The meeting was called to order by Dr. W. A. Little, on whose motion Stephen R. Elwell was made chairman. H. Green was chosen secretary. Mr. Elwell stated the object of the meeting, after which short, sharp, stirring speeches were made by Messrs. Cummings and Hicks, of Galena, which elicited hearty responses from the audience. As expressive of the sense of the people of that vicinity, the following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved, 1. That we, the people of Elizabeth, in view of the contest now pending in our country, involving our existence as a nation, and the existence of constitutional freedom, will hereafter know no party save that of patriot and of traitor.

2. That we will, as one man, give our support to the national administration in its endeavors to defend the national honor, execute the laws and maintain the perpetuity of the Union.

3. That the policy of the administration in the endeavor to maintain the integrity of the government, the possession of the forts and public property of the United States, meets with our hearty approval.

4. That we are filled with indignation when we think that the flag of our country has been torn down and trampled under the feet of traitors; and we pledge our lives and fortunes to the service of our country to vindicate that flag.

fovernor had reported themselves ready for orders, and that no more could e received at that time, it was resolved to .form a company for drill practice, in order to be prepared to respond to any future call. A call was made for volunteers for such company, and forty-four persons immediately responded.

At Millville, on the 28th, the people held a meeting to receive a flag from the ladies of that hamlet and neighborhood - an emblem of loyalty and devotion to the whole Union. A flag staff eighty-seven feet in height was raised, from the top of which the flag was unfurled. Guns were fired - one for each state and territory, after which the following sentiments were read:

At Warren, Scales Mound, Apple River, Dunleith, Hanover - in fact, in almost every school-house and church building in the county - meetings were held, resolutions of patriotism adopted, and measures inaugurated for the enlistment of volunteers. The people spoke as if with one voice. There was no halting between two opinions, but all " rallied around the flag," and solemnly declared, as Andrew Jackson, America's soldier president declared - " The Union must and shall be preserved."

This company was accepted under the second call for volunteers, and went into camp at Freeport a few days after its election of officers. On the morning of their departure for Freeport, they were escorted to the depot by a large concourse of citizens, where, on behalf of the ladies of Warren, Rev. Mr. Probst presented the company with a very handsome flag, accompanied by an appropriate address. The flag was received for the company by Dr. Marvin, who responded to the remarks of Mr. Probst in an easy, graceful manner, and pledged the men of the company to return the flag unsullied and unstained by any act of cowardice or dishonor to the fair hands of the ladies who made it, or to die in its defense. Soon the train bore them away to the camp of Freeport, and from thence they were soon assigned to regiments and ordered forward to meet the enemy at the outposts of danger.

Our pen could be employed for months in sketching the uprising of the people, the formation of companies, and telling of the deeds of valor and heroism of the " Boys in Blue " from Jo Daviess County. There is material here for volumes upon volumes, and it would be a pleasing task to collect and arrange it, but no words our pen could employ would add a single laurel to their brave and heroic deeds. Acts speak louder than words, and their acts have spoken - are recorded in pages already written. The people of no county in any of the states of the freedom and Union-loving l^orth made a better record during the dark and trying times of the great and final struggle between freedom and slavery - patriotism and treason - than the people of Jo Daviess. Monuments may crumble; cities may fall into decay; the tooth of time leave its impress on all the works of man. but the memory of the gallant deeds of the army of the Union in the war of the great rebellion, in which the sons of this county bore so conspicuous a part, will live in the minds of men so long as time and civilized governments endure.

Leaving these companies and others organizing and to be organized, to follow to the tield of danger, we turn back to take up some other matters of local importance as forming a part of the war record we are seeking to preserve.

Thursday, April 25, there was a great powder excitement at Galena. On that day the steamboat " La Crosse," bound for St. Louis, had an order to ship 224 kegs of blasting powder from the Platteville Powder Mills, ostensibly for Pike's Peak. A number of Galenians, fearing the powder might fall into the hands of the secessionists, either at Hannibal or St. Louis, requested Mayor Brand to forbid the captain of the " La Crosse " from taking it. The mayor complied with their request, and also telegraphed to the governor to know if he should allow the powder to be shipped, to which Governor Yates replied, '-'-Detain it by all means." The powder was thereupon taken back to the powder house, and the Pike's Peakers never saw it, nor did it fall into the hands of those who would have used it to blast the union. Plattsville powder was not made for such purposes.

The people were liberal, as well as patriotic, and while the men were busy enlisting, organizing and equipping companies, the ladies were active in taking up subscriptions and making arrangements to secure the families of volunteers against want. Committees were appointed, and right nobly did they do their duty. The first fund raised was in the interest of the Jo Daviess Guards - Captain Chetlain's company. Friday evening, April 27, the sum of f 1,600 was reported subscribed and subject to the order of the relief committee, and, it having been ascertained that some of the families were in need, an assessment of ten per cent was immediately made, and promptly paid and distributed " where it would do the most good." And so the good work went on. As the war continued, and more volunteers were needed, the county authorities came to the assistance of the people. The several townships were equally generous, and in most of them large sums were raised - not only by taxation, but by voluntary contributions. What these sums were, as provided l.»y the authorities of the several townships, we could not ascertain. Each one of the town clerks was written to for information upon this subject, but for some cause unexplained, only a very few of them responded, much to our regret.

As an evidence of the liberality of the Galenians, the following incident was related to the writer, by Captain D. S. Harris: When a company of one-hundred-day men was being raised, Captain Harris started out to raise some money for the benefit of the company. He went up on one side of Main Street, and down on the other, and in one hour's time secured in cash a sum equal to $50 to each man of the company. When the company was ordered to Dixon, he and Mr. John Lorrain accompanied it to ca'mp, and as soon as the men were all mustered in, paid over to each of them fifty dollars as the patriotic offering of the business men along Main Street, Galena.

" AT SPRINGFIELD. - Capt. U. S. Grant, of this city, a graduate of West Point, and a Captain in the regular U. S. Army at the time of the Mexican War, is now absent at Springfield, where, it is understood, he will act as a drill officer for the soldiers at Camp Yates. Captain G. is said to be an excellent tactician, and the Governor, no doubt, considers himself fortunate in securing the aid of such an experienced mftn to assist in drilling the forces of the state."

" CAPT. GRANT. - Capt. U. S. Grant, of this city, who has been detailed by Governor Yates 1o muster the regiment for the Seventh Congressional into camp, was at Mattoon on the 9th inst., engaged in that service."

It was not supposed at this time that the war between the states would last long - not more than a few months, at the longest; and no one dreamed that the retiring, unassuming Captain U. S. Grant, assigned to drill service by order of Governor Yates, would, in less than two years' time, be made Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, or that in less than ten years he would rise to a distinction and confidence that would command the highest office within the gift of the American people; or that in less than twenty years he would be the honored and courted guest of the crowned heads and titled courts of the Old World. Yet time has brought all these things about. No man in all the world has now brighter honors, or is more honored and respected than Captain Grant, once an humble leather dealer of Galena.

Official Notice

Notice is hereby given, to all whom it may concern, that under instructions received at this office, under date of May 2, 1861, in relation to the proclamations of the President of the United States, of the 19th and 27th of April, A. D. 1861, declaring the ports of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina under blockade, a careful examination of the manifests of all steamers or other vessels arriving and departing from this port with cargoes whose destination I have reason to believe is for any port or place in control of insurrectionary persons or parties, will be made by me and compared with the cargoes on board. I will also make a careful examination of all flat boats, and other water craft without manifest, and of railroad cars, and other vehicles arriving at or leaving this port loaded with merchandise, the ultimate destination of which I may have satisfactory reason to believe is for any port or place under the control of insurrectionary parties now opposing the constituted authorities of the United States; and that if any arms, munitions of war, provisions, or other supplies are found on board such vessel, railroad car, or vehicle, having such destination, the- same will be sci/.cd and detained, to await the proper legal proceedings for confiscation or forfeiture.

All persons are cautioned against furnishing arms, munitions of war, provisions, or other supplies to persons or parties now in insurrection to the constituted authorities of the United States, and are hereby nofified that I will use all diligence to prevent the shipment of such arms, munitions of war, provisions, or other supplies to any port or place under the control of such insurrectionary parties, and that I shall use all the care and diligence in my power to bring to punishment any person or persons engaged in furnishing arms, munitions of war, provisions, or supplies, to parties now in open insurrection against the government of the United States.

In carrying out my instructions, I shall endeavor to make as little interruption or delay as possible of the lawful commerce of the country from this port.

history of Jo Daviess County. There were others, but, as previously stated, they can not all be taken up in detail. It has only been our purpose to do justice to the spirit and patriotism of this people, by showing the spirit that prompted them to action in the early days of America's great and bloody internecine conflict. It is a proud record - a record rendered doubly proud by reason of the fact that from their midst great leaders and militar}7 chieftains, like Grant and Rawlins, went out to lead the patriot hosts on to victory and the maintenance and perpetuity of the Union.

As we have before remarked, when the first companies were being raised measures were inaugurated and carried out to raise money by subscription for the support of the families of volunteers. But there were so many calls for men, that the needs of families increased so rapidly it became an impossibility for private purses, however willing their holders, to supply the demand, and at last the county authorities were petitioned to make an appropriation for the support of such of the families of the volunteers as needed help. The petition was granted, and the sum of $6,000 appropriated for that purpose. Some of the townships were equally liberal, and besides large sums raised for bounty purposes, sundry amounts were raised and applied to the support of wives and little ones whose husbands and fathers were in the army fighting for their homes. This money was raised in the midst of the war excitement, when the exigencies of the times demanded it, and the people never took the thought to inquire how much they were giving. Nor will it ever be known how much was given. Aside from the sums appropriated by county and township authority, no account was ever kept. Had there been, the sums would now seem almost fabulous.

We have sought by every possible means to arrive at the actual amounts appropriated by the county and its several townships for bounty and other war purposes, but for reasons already stated have failed to obtain the desired information. Only a part of the townships responded to our letters of inquiry. But so far as reports were received, the following is the showing :

The reports from Ward's Grove and Rush Townships are not official, but are believed to be correct. Mr. J. G. Mitchell, clerk of the Township of Ward's Grove, wrote, under date of February 14: " The record in my hands does not show the whole amount paid for bounties to soldiers. It does show $2,454 paid soldiers' bounties, but afterwards there was a tax of one and one half per cent levied for the purpose of liquidating the balance of the war debt. How much that amounted to, my books do not show."

The Union - it must be Preserved. For the purpose of encouraging and assisting in the organization of a new company from Galena, the undersigned offer to contribute the sums attached to our names, to be paid to persons who shall regularly enlist in such company, and be mustered into the service of the United States, under the late call of President Lincoln for volunteers. The sum of $50 is offered to each person who shall enlist from the City of Galena, to be paid when the company is accepted by the Governor of the Stale of Illinois. Provided, That the undersigned shall not pay such subscription should the bounty be provided for by the Board of Supervisors of Jo Daviess County.

The above was not an isolated case of the readiness and willingness of the more affluent people of Jo Daviess County to contribute largely of their means to help carry on the war for the Union. There were many such cases. As long as the war continued, money was ready - men were ready. Men of wealth furnished the former; the less affluent filled the ranks - furnished the brawn, the muscle and the bravery. Sometimes the former furnished not only their share of money, but shouldered their muskets and followed the flag, as well.

Having noticed the financial sacrifices and readiness of the wealthier part of the people to sustain the Union, we come now to the volunteer soldiery. And of these, what can we say ? What words can our pen employ that would do justice to their heroic valor - to their unequalled and unparalleled bravery ? Home and home comforts - wives and little ones - fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers - were given up for life and danger on the tented fields of battle - for exposure, disease and death at the cannon's mouth. But they reckoned none of these, but went out with their lives in their hands to meet and conquer the foes of the Union, maintain its supremacy, and vindicate its honor and integrity. We can offer no more fitting tribute to their patriotic valor than a full and complete record, so far as it is possible to make it, that will embrace the names, the terms of enlistments, the battles in which they engaged and all the minutiae of their soldier lives. It will be a wreath of glory encircling every brow, and a memento which each and every one of them earned in defense of their country.

The Twelfth Infantry was called into the service under the proclamation of the President, April 6, 1861 ; was mustered into the service for three years, August i, 1861. It wasstationed at Cair. , 111., Bird's Point, Mo., Paducah and Smithland, Ky., until February, when it embarked for Fort Henry, being present at its bombardment and surrender. It fought nobly at the memorable battle of Fort Donelson. Loss - 19 killed, 58 woundei, 10 missing. It then moved to Clarksville and Nashville, Tenn., on steamer Glendale, and thence on some boat down Cumberland Kiver. and up Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing, participating in that battle. Loss - 109 killed and wounded, and 7 missing. It was in the siege of Corinth, and October 3 and 4 in the battle of Corinth, where it perlormed a very brilliant part. Total engaged - 225 ; loss - 17 killed, 80 wounded and 15 missing. The Twelfth was constantly doing active duty, but space forbfds us to here follow in detail. It march-d across the country to Pulaski, Tenn.; it was in Sherman's March from Chattanooga to Atlanta ; took an active part in the battle of Allatoona Pass, and was theie commanded by Capt. Robt. Kohler, of Rock Island, although this term of service had expired. In action - 161 ; loss - 57 killed and wounded. The Twelfth was in Sherman's March to the Sea, and up through the Carolinas to Washington, and thence to Louisville, where it was mustered out, July 16, 1865.

Lieutenant Colonel Augustus L. Chetlain, com. captain Co. F, April 7, 1861. Promoted lieutenant colonel May 3, 1861. Re-entered 3 years' service.

Colonel Augustus L. Chetlain, com. lieutenant colonel May 3, 1861. Promoted colonel April i, 1862. Promoted brigadier general Dec. 29, 1863. Brevet major general June, 1864. »

Captain Chas. Mayer, e. as c jrporal Aug. 3, 1861. Reenlisted as veteran Jan. i, 1864. Promoted sergeant, then second lieutenant Dec. 26, 1863. Promoted captain April n, 1865. .Mustered out July 10, 1865.

First Lieutenant Chas. Farr, e. as sergeant Aug. 3, 1861. Promoted second lieutenant June 20, 1862. - Promoted first lieutenant Dec. 26, 1863. Died June 24, 1864.