t).'. •> '^^M'^^. B 3 t,5S DIS 'f^m'^M |jiMiMlM«itMl(Mil>l^^ ft'X''!*.'t'/yi'*;^\'ir^/f,'*^^''^^''.u>.*,'.'ifJV/U',wiv.^ur' ^:^: t"C?''"|^n H Y Luinui 5 3 1 1 }j^m't<. mV'fif^^^^': O /f77 The Histoet OF Winnebago Couhty, III. ITS PAST AND PRESENT, CONTAINING A History of the County — Its Cities, Towns, Etc., A Biographical Directory of its Citizens, War Record o^ its Yolunteers in THE late Rebellion, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, General and Local Statistics, History of the IS^orthwest, History of Illinois, Constitution of the United States, Map of Winnebago County, Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc. IIjIjXJST:Ei-A.TEnD. CHICAGO : H. F. KETT & CO., Cor. 5th Ave. and Washington St. 1877. Preface. Less than fifty j'cars ago, the Rock River countrj'-, now so replete with all the more advanced accomplishments of civilization and intelligence, was an unbroken and undis- turbed Indian wild — the hunting grounds of that tribe of red men from whom the County of Winnebago derives its name. The only white man known to have had a home here, previous to the Fall of 1834, was Stephen Mack, a son of Vermont, who, with that spirit and love of adventure peculiarly characteristic of the pioneers of the Great West, appears to have drifted into the valley of Rock River, and found a home within the limits of the County of Winnebago, as early as 1829. Five years later, in the month of August, 1834, two other sons of the Eastern States, GEUM.\Nicrs Kent and Thatcher Blake, born and raised in almost adjoining states — Connecticut and Maine — but never knowing each other until they met at Galena, both en route for the same objective point, anchored tlieir light canoe at the mouth of a small creek that now bears the name of one of these men, (Kent,) and stepped ashore to consecrate the grove-besprinkled and flower-bedecked prairies to the uses of the white man. The lapse of time in the intervening years since the date of these events, the changes that have followed, have not been without their history: a history full of important events, and fraught with interest to the sons and daughters of those who followed in the footsteps of Stephen. Mack, Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake from the old homes in the New England States to the haunts of the Winnebagoes, and whose energy, enterprise and industry have made tlie fertile valleys, prairies and grove-covered hillsides of half a century ago to abound with modern acquirements, intelligence, wealth and prosperity. To preserve this history to the literature of the county, and thus hand it down to posterity as a completing lipk in the history of that great country of which AVinnebago County is an integral part, has been the object of this undertaking. And while the pub- lishers do not arrogate to themselves a degree of accuracy beyond criticism, they hope to be found measurably correct in their compilation and arrangement of the almost inuumer able incidents that have been swallowed up in the Past, and that enter so largely into the Pkesp:nt of the community i-n whose interest this volume is written. Without the aid and assistance of the survivors of the pioneers of 1834-5, or of tlieii immediate descendants, and numerous notes from their carefully written and well preserved diaries, our task would have been far more arduous and difficult. To the patriarchs of the Past, who have so favored us, as well as to the representative men of the Present, we tender our grateful acknowledgements. Among these we take especial pleasure in men- tioning the names of Thatcher Blake (the only male survivor of the settlers of 1834), James B. Martyn (of Belvidere), Thomas D. Robertson, Selden M. Church, Goodyear A. Sanford, II. R. Enoch, Esq., Editor of the Rockford Journal, John H. Thurston and A. I. Enoch, whose retentive memories have added largely to whatever of interest may be accredited to this volume. The undertaking of the publishers completed, it only remains for them to tender to the people of Winnebago County in general their obligations and acknowledgements for the uniform kindness and courtesy extended to them, and their representatives and agents, during the preparation of these annals, as well as for their liberal patronage, without which this history would have been left buried beneath the debris of time, unwritten and unpre- served. Respectfully, II. F. Kett & Co., Chicago, November, 1877. Publishers. (ys^ W ^ ^ ^'- c ONTENTS. HISTORirAI.. Page. History Northwest Territory.. 19 Geo'jr-.phical Ptisiiioii 19 Early Explonitons 20 Discovcrv of the Ohio '6i Eniilish Exploratious and SeltUnuMits -... 35 Anieriiau St'ttlenieuts 60 Division of the Morthwest Territory ()6 Teciuuseh and the War of 1812 ro Black Hawk and the Black IlMwk War :.. 74 Other Indian Troubles .... 79 Present Condition of the Northwest 87 Illinois 99 Indiana. 101 Iowa - 102 Michigan 103 Wisconsin. 104 Minnesota 106 Nebraska 107 Page. History of Illinois 109 Coal - 125 Compact of 1787 117 Chicago 13^ Early Discoveries 109 EarlV Settlements 115 Edncation 129 French Occupation 1)2 Genius of La Salle 113 Material Resources 124 ;Ma>sacre-at Ft. Dearborn, 141 Physical Features 121 Pri"iL;regs of Development. 123 Relii.'ion and Morals 128 War Record 130 History of Winneba