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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 HISTORICAL SURi/EV 
 
 L161 O-1096
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 
 
 Being Some Chapters in the History 
 
 of the Early Days in Lee County, 
 
 Illinois 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM D. BARGE 
 
 CHICAGO 
 1913
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This is not an effort to write a history of any man or 
 ^ any locality. The sole purpose of the work is the collec- 
 jKtion and preservation of the scarce and almost inaccessi- 
 ble evidence of some of the men and events prominent in 
 --. the early days of Lee County. It was not prepared to 
 sustain any theory or tradition, but every effort within 
 my power has been made to learn all the facts concerning 
 these men and events and state them correctly. 
 
 Some old traditions have been shattered, but they were 
 ^P> not sustained by the facts, and many of them had no foun- 
 dation except the loose talk of persons who were ignorant 
 of the matters of which they spoke. Some of my old 
 beliefs, held and cherished since early childhood, have 
 been dispelled, but they were founded upon misinforma- 
 tion. 
 
 Reference is made to some public record, report or 
 document whenever one could be found. When such evi- 
 dence could not be had, my resort was to newspapers, pri- 
 vate letters or records or books written or published 
 about that time, in the belief that such contemporaneous 
 statements are more likely to be free from error than 
 those made years afterwards. In some instances the 
 ^private records and the public records differ, and the lat- 
 ter are followed, the entries being contemporaneous with 
 the event. Every statement of fact is based on evidence 
 of one of the kinds mentioned, though references have 
 been omitted in some places. 
 
 All Indian words appearing on John Dixon's account 
 books are given in the form used there. Other Indian 
 words are given as shown in the Eighteenth Annual Re-
 
 11 
 
 port of the Bureau of American Ethnology, except when 
 in quotations. 
 
 I acknowledge my indebtedness to Mrs. Caroline 
 M. Newberry, Pontiac, Michigan, the only living child of 
 Stephen Mack; Henry S. Dixon and George C. Dixon of 
 Dixon, Illinois; William C. Andrus, Grand Detour, Illi- 
 nois, and John Blackhawk, Black River Palls, Wisconsin, 
 for assistance without which this work could not have 
 been finished. 
 
 WILLIAM D. BARGE. 
 
 Chicago, June, 1918.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 La Sallier 1 
 
 Stephen Mack 11 
 
 Fur Trade at Grand Detour 31 
 
 Joseph Ogee and his Ferry 40 
 
 Old Account Books 69 
 
 Kinzies at Dixon 78 
 
 Old Central Railroad 82 
 
 John Dixon v. Oron Hamlin 95 
 
 Dixon Hotel Company 103 
 
 Illinois and Bock River R. R. Co 105 
 
 First Baptist Church Ill 
 
 Lee County's First Physician 112 
 
 Early Politics 114 
 
 Amboy 124 
 
 Genesis of Lee County 130
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 
 
 LA SALLIER. 
 
 In 1835, Joseph Crawford found some decaying logs 
 and other ruins of an old habitation at the Grand Detour 
 on the bank of Franklin Creek, about thirty-five rods 
 from Rock river. There was plainly visible an excavation 
 as though made for use as a cellar, and other evidences 
 of the existence, at an earlier date, of a log cabin. 
 
 On the authority of a statement made to him by Gurdon 
 S. Hubbard, Eufus Blanchard told the writer that one 
 La Sallier, a Frenchman, built a trading post on the south 
 side of the river, near Grand Detour, in 1822, and occu- 
 pied it for some time. The location is shown on Blanch- 
 ard 's Historical Map of Illinois. The writer called Mr. 
 Crawford's attention to this statement of Blanchard, and 
 it was then that Mr. Crawford told me of his discovery. 
 
 That there was a trading post on Eock river in the win- 
 ter of 1802-1803 is clearly shown by the Personal Narra- 
 tive of Capt. Thomas G. Anderson, who says he spent that 
 winter "with the Winnebagoes on Bock river. They were 
 the most filthy, most obstinate and the bravest people of 
 any Indian tribe I have met with. Here I had a half- 
 breed in opposition in the trade. Our houses were about 
 half a mile apart, and between us was a very high hill, 
 over which we had to pass by a little path through the 
 bushes." (Wis. His. Coll., vol. 9, pp. 137,152.) He does 
 not state at what point on the river this post was lo- 
 cated, but we know it was not at the site of La Sallier 's 
 house, for he says the hill stood at least three hundred 
 feet above the water in the river. He does not give the 
 name of his competitor. 
 
 The house mentioned by Anderson was not the cabin 
 at Crabapple Point, on the northwesterly shore of Lake 
 Koshkonong, that is said (American Archeologist, v. 7,
 
 2 ON ROCK RIVER 
 
 p. 78; Peet, Prehistoric America, v. 2, p. 269) to have 
 been occupied, at a time that is not stated, by "Le Sel- 
 lier"; for the ground there was only twenty to sixty feet 
 above the water. That cabin was in ruins in 1839. 
 
 The Archeologist says, without mentioning the time, 
 that Thiebeau, who was employed by Juneau of Milwau- 
 kee, occupied a cabin on the southeasterly shore of this 
 lake, and that is said have disappeared in 1838. 
 
 In Waubim, Mrs. Kinzie says that John Kinzie arrived 
 in Chicago in 1804, and later established trading posts 
 "at Rock River with the Winnebagoes and the Pottawa- 
 tamies," and that these posts contributed to that at Chi- 
 cago, but she does not say at what particular places or 
 in what year these posts were established. 
 
 Kinzie evidently had many trading posts, as he had 
 twenty trading licenses in 1803 (Letter of September 10, 
 1803, from William Burnett to Gov. W. H. Harrison of 
 Indiana Territory; Hurlbut's Chicago Antiquities, p. 
 70), and some of them appear to have been used at trad- 
 ing posts in Illinois. Though so extensively engaged in 
 the fur trade, he was an independent trader, and had no 
 connection with the American Fur Company until 1825, 
 when he succeeded John Crafts as its representative at 
 Chicago. (Andreas History of Chicago, vol. 1, p. 96.) He 
 was Indian sub-agent at Chicago, 1820-1822, and his son, 
 John H., was in the fur trade at Milwaukee in 1821 when 
 he was ordered to close his concern and leave the place, 
 having been detected selling whiskey to the Indians. (Am. 
 State Papers, Indian Affairs, v. 2, p. 360.) 
 
 La Sallier was in the service of this company as early 
 as 1813, and was on Rock River in 1822. The fact that 
 La Sallier was occupying this post in 1822 is some evi- 
 dence that it was established by the American Fur Com- 
 pany. While this is but slight evidence, it is stronger 
 than any evidence supporting any other theory. 
 
 The account books kept by John Kinzie were delivered
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 3 
 
 to the Chicago Historical Society many years ago. The 
 secretary of the society persuaded James Grant Wilson 
 to undertake the writing of a history of Chicago. Wil- 
 son thought it would be well to at least make mention of 
 some of those with whom Kinzie had dealt. To do this, 
 the secretary of the society made a careful examination 
 of the books and took from them all the names of persons 
 appearing therein. That list is now in the archives of 
 the society, but the books were burned in the great fire 
 of 1871. It gives names and a few addresses, nothing 
 else. From it we learn that Kinzie had dealings with 
 Pierre La Salliere September 27, 1804, and September 3, 
 1806; with LaSallierre at Milwaukee February 1, 1807; 
 with Mr. Lasellier January 12, 1817. 
 
 In Hurlbut 's Chicago Antiquities, p. 31, Gurdon S. Hub- 
 bard says that John Crafts was sent to Chicago by a 
 Mr. Conant of Detroit, the date not being given, and that 
 he "had, up to 1819, full control of this section, without 
 opposition from the American Fur Company, sending out- 
 fits to Rock River and other points within a range say of 
 a hundred miles of Chicago," but he fails to locate the 
 particular place on Rock river, and does not tell when it 
 was established or who had charge of it. 
 
 Hubbard is slightly in error. Crafts was not sent to 
 Chicago by "Mr. Conant," but by the firm of Mack & 
 Conant, who were very extensively engaged in the fur 
 trade, and were strong competitors of the American Fur 
 Company from its organization until their failure in 1821, 
 when their fur business was taken over by that company. 
 They established an agency at Lee's Place, or Hard- 
 scrabble (Chicago) in 1816, putting Crafts in charge. He 
 remained there with the firm until its end, when he en- 
 tered the service of the American Fur Company, being its 
 Chicago agent until his death in 1825. (Andreas History 
 of Chicago, vol. 1, p. 93; Hurlbut 's Chicago Antiquities, 
 31.)
 
 4 WEBB'S ROUTE 
 
 On the authority of a statement made by Hubbard, 
 Baldwin, in his History of La Salle County, says that the 
 American Fur Company had three or four trading posts 
 on Rock river from 1813- '14 to 1826- '33, but he does not 
 say at what places they were located. 
 
 A letter written by Robert Dickson, the British Agent, 
 December 20, 1813, indicates that Lesaliers was then lo- 
 cated at Milwaukee. Thwaites, in a note to this letter, 
 says this is the LeSellier who acted as guide for Maj. 
 Long. (Wis. His. Coll. v. 11, p. 281.) 
 
 Another letter written by Dickson March 9, 1814, men- 
 tions "a letter from La Salieres of the 3d hist.," but does 
 not state where he was. 
 
 Niles' Register of July 10, 1815, says that "La Sallier 
 of Milwaukee" was one of the Indian traders who cast 
 their lot with the British in the War of 1812. 
 
 While the records of the American Fur Company show 
 that one La Sallier was in that company's service in July 
 and September, 1817, they do not show where he was sta- 
 tioned. 
 
 That Company had a trader named " Pierre Lassal- 
 lier" at Masquognon in 1818. (Wis His. Coll. v. 12, p. 
 164.) 
 
 Pierre Lasallier acted as interpreter at a council held 
 at Michilimackinac October 24, 1824, with the Potawata- 
 mies. (Mich. Pion. Coll. v. 23, p. 453.) 
 
 Blanchard's Map shows the route said to have been 
 taken by James Watson Webb in going from Fort Dear- 
 born to Fort Armstrong in 1822, but that, evidently, is 
 conjectural, for Webb does not describe his route, except 
 to say he went to La Sallier 's and thence across the prai- 
 rie to the Mississippi. As he was at La Sallier 's early in 
 February, 1822, it is quite certain that La Sallier had 
 located and built his cabin there before that year, but it 
 is not now known just when he did that, or when he left.
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 5 
 
 In May, 1822, Congress enacted a statute requiring the 
 Secretary of War to report annually an abstract of all 
 of the licenses granted to trade with the Indians. Prior 
 to that time there was no such requirement. While these 
 reports show that several licenses were granted after 
 1820 to persons who desired to trade with the Indians 
 at Grand Detour, none was issued to La Sallier. The 
 reports state that on October 13, 1821, Alexander Wol- 
 cott, Jr., Indian Agent at Chicago, issued a license to 
 Maurice Lauzon to trade on " Rocky river" for one year. 
 No other license to trade on Rock river was issued until 
 October 20, 1823, when Wolcott granted one to Stephen 
 Mack, Jr., to trade one year on " Rocky river." 
 
 It is stated in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, v. 
 10, p. 72, that "Le Sellier" was enlisted by Maj. Long, as 
 a guide, on his journey from Chicago to Prairie du Chien 
 in 1823, " because he had lived over thirty years with the 
 Indians, had taken a Winnebago wife, and settled on the 
 head waters of Rock river." Long crossed Rock river 
 just above the mouth of the Kishwaukee, and farther 
 from the "head waters of Rock river" than from Grand 
 Detour. "Le Sellier" took the party to an Indian village 
 on the Pecatonica, (probably that of Winnesheik, where 
 Freeport now stands), and there obtained another guide, 
 as he did not know the way from that place to Prairie du 
 Chien. (Keating, Narrative of an Expedition to the 
 sources of St. Peter's River.) 
 
 It is apparent that the compilers of the index to the 
 Wisconsin Historical Collections considered Lassaliere, 
 Lasaliere, Le Sallien and Le Sellier to be different forms 
 of the names of one person. Some of their references are 
 to the La Sallier who w r as at Grand Detour, while others 
 are to the Pierre La Saliere whose widow married George 
 Schindler. These Collections also mention La Salieres, 
 Lassalier, La Saliere, Le Saliers and Salieres. The Michi- 
 gan Pioneer Collections mention Pierre Lasallier. It is
 
 6 ALTOWAN 
 
 difficult to gather the real facts from this confused mass, 
 but it is believed that all that has been printed about La 
 Sallier is set forth herein. 
 
 The records of the parish of Michilimackinac, as print- 
 ed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections (v. 19, p. 86), 
 show the baptism, August 1, 1786, of l ' Therese, about ten 
 years old, daughter of Sieur Jean Baptiste Marcot and of 
 Thimotee, of the Outaois nation, his lawful wife." To 
 this entry Thwaites has added a note saying that Therese 
 became the wife, first of Pierre La Saliere, and, later, of 
 George Schindler. As Therese was baptized in the Catho- 
 lic faith, and it is reasonable to suppose that her husband 
 was of that faith, it is not probable that they ever were 
 divorced. As she married Schindler July 12, 1804 (Wis. 
 His. Coll. v. 18, p. 508), it is fairly certain that her first 
 husband was not the La Sallier who was at Grand De- 
 tour in 1822. 
 
 In his dedication of "Altowan, or Incidents of Life and 
 Adventure in the Rocky Mountains," published in 1846, 
 J. Watson Webb says that early in February, 1822, the 
 principal chief of the Potawatamies reported to the Indi- 
 an agent at Fort Dearborn that his tribe had been in- 
 vited by the Sioux to unite with them to cut off the garri- 
 son at "St. Peters, at the Falls of St. Anthony," where 
 Col. Snelling was then stationed with the Fifth Infantry. 
 The commanding officer at Fort Dearborn desired to con- 
 vey this intelligence to the officer at Fort Armstrong, to 
 be thence carried to Col. Snelling, but the voyageurs re- 
 fused to go, and thereupon the task of conveying the 
 message fell upon Webb, who was an adjutant and he de- 
 cided that he would make the trip himself. He set out 
 accompanied by a sergeant and a Potawatomi Indian. 
 
 "Altowan" contains nothing relating to Illinois, ex- 
 cept that in his dedication Webb says: 
 
 "My instructions were to employ the Pottawatamie as 
 a guide to the Rock river, where the country of the Wine-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 7 
 
 bagoes commenced, and then take a Winebago as a guide 
 to Fort Armstrong the leading object being so to ar- 
 range our line of travel as to avoid the prairies, upon 
 which we would necessarily suffer from the cold. I had 
 been apprised that I would find an old Canadian voya- 
 guer residing with his Indian family in a trading hut on 
 Rock river, and it was to him my Pottawatamie was to 
 guide me. 
 
 Toward evening on the fifth day, we reached our place 
 of destination ; and old La Sailer, recognizing us as whites 
 intimated by signs, as he conducted us to the loft of 
 his hut, that we were to preserve a profound silence. All 
 who live in the Indian country learn to observe signs; 
 and it is wonderful how soon we almost forget to ask 
 questions. I knew that something was wrong, but it 
 never entered my head to enquire what it was, Indian- 
 like, quite willing to abide my time, even if the finger 
 closely pressed upon the lips of the old man had not 
 apprised me that I should get no answer until it suited 
 his discretion to make a communication. 
 
 It was nearly dark when we were consigned to the loft 
 of the good old man ; and for three long hours we saw him 
 not. During this period there was abundant time for 
 meditation upon our position; when all at once the pro- 
 found stillness which reigned in and around the hut was 
 broken by the startling sound of a Winebago war-dance 
 in our immediate vicinity. This, as you may imagine, 
 was no very agreeable sound for my sergeant or myself, 
 but it was perfectly horrifying to my Pottawatamie; all 
 of which tribe, as also their neighbours, were as much in 
 awe of a Winebago, as is a flying-fish of a dolphin. But 
 all surprise has its end; and at length the war-dance 
 ceased music of which, at times, could only be likened 
 to the shrieks of the damned and then, again, partake of 
 the character of the recitative in an Italian opera, until, at 
 length, it died away, and all was silence. 
 
 Then came old La Sailer, whose head, whitened by the
 
 8 WINNEBAGOES BREAK JAIL 
 
 snows of eighty winters, as it showed itself through the 
 trap in the floor, was a far more acceptable sight than I 
 could have anticipated it would be when I left the fort. 
 Having been informed ',vho we were, and my desire to 
 procure a Winebago to guide me to Fort Armstrong, he 
 inquired whether we had not heard the war-dance, and if 
 we could not conjecture its object! He then proceeded 
 to state that two Winebagoes, who had been tried and 
 sentenced to be executed for the murder of a soldier at 
 Fort Armstrong, had tscaped from the jail at Kaskaskia, 
 and arrived on the river a few days previous ; that in con- 
 sequence, the whole nation was in a state of extraordinary 
 excitement and that the war-dance to which we had list- 
 ened, was preparatory to the starting of a war party for 
 Fort Armstrong to attack it, or destroy such of the garri- 
 son as they could meet with beyond its palisades; and 
 that of course our only safety was in making an early 
 start homeward. I inquired whether I could not avoid the 
 Indians by crossing the Great Prairie, and thus striking 
 the Mississippi above the fort. He answered, that by 
 such a route I would certainly avoid the Indians until I 
 reached the vicinity of the Mississippi ; but that we would 
 as certainly perish with the cold, as there was no wood 
 to furnish fire at night. The mercury in the thermometer, 
 as I well knew, had stood at five degrees below zero when 
 I left the garrison, and it had certainly been growing 
 colder each day; and therefore I apparently acquiesced 
 in his advice, and requested to be called some three hours 
 before daylight, which would give us a fair start of any 
 pursuing party and bade him good night. 
 
 But the old man doubted my intention to return to the 
 fort ; and shortly after paid us another visit, accompanied 
 by a very old Winebago, who avowed himself the friend 
 of the whites, and proceeded to point out the folly of any 
 attempt to proceed in my expedition. He inquired its 
 purport; and when I told him it was to visit a dying 
 friend, he said I had better postpone the meeting until
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 9 
 
 after death, when we would doubtless meet in the Para- 
 dise of the white man! but at the same time gave me to 
 understand that he did not believe such was the object of 
 my visit to the banks of the Mississippi. Indian-like, he 
 sought not to pry farther into my affairs, but expressed 
 his respect for all who knew how to keep their own coun- 
 sels and the counsels of their government. His remarks 
 were kind, and in the nature of approbation of the past 
 and advice for the future, and coming from such a source, 
 made a lasting impression. 
 
 Again we were left to ourselves; and then, doubtless, 
 I wished myself safe in the garrison. But to return, and 
 that too, from fear, and the object of my journey unac- 
 complished, was inevitable disgrace. But what was still 
 more important, was the consequence to others of my re- 
 turn. I could not but think there was an understanding 
 between the Winebagoes and the Sioux; and if there had 
 lingered on my mind a doubt of the story of the Potta- 
 watamie chief, that doubt was now at an end; and, of 
 course, a sense of duty to a whole regiment of officers and 
 men, their wives and children, was as imperative in re- 
 quiring my advance, as was the fear of disgrace in for- 
 bidding my return. With two such motives for a right 
 decision, there could be no doubt as to my course. It re- 
 quired more courage to retreat than to advance; and I 
 determined upon the latter. 
 
 Some hours before the dawn of day, we started, appar- 
 ently for the garrison; but once out of sight of old La 
 Sailer, we knocked the shoes off our horses to avoid being 
 traced by them in crossing the river, threw away our 
 caps, tore up a blanket to make the hood worn by Indians 
 in extreme cold weather, and took a course by the stars 
 directly west." 
 
 As there? is no other mention of La Sailer in the dedi- 
 cation, our quotation ends here. After many troubles 
 Webb reached Fort Armstrong and delivered his message 
 and the uprising was suppressed.
 
 10 TRIAL OF WINNEBAGOES 
 
 Webb was then a lieutenant in the Third Infantry. He 
 left the army in 1827, after serving eight years. In his 
 later years (he died June 7, 1884) he was one of the great 
 newspaper men in New York. In a letter written in 1882 
 he says he left Fort Dearborn February 4, reaching La 
 Sallier's place the evening of the seventh, and leaving 
 there at two o'clock in the morning of the eighth when 
 the thermometer, as recorded at Fort Armstrong, regis- 
 tered twenty-seven below zero. 
 
 Dr. Everett believed that Joseph Ogee married a 
 daughter of La Sallier. 
 
 In the Illinois Spectator (Edwardsville) October 31, 
 1820, there is an article taken from the St. Louis Enquirer 
 saying that on the twenty-seventh of September John 
 Harris, a soldier at Fort Armstrong, went out hunting, 
 and on the fifth of October his body was found shot 
 and scalped. Two Winnebagoes left Rock Island on the 
 morning of September 27 and there were no other Indians 
 in the neighborhood at the time. Afterwards, six or 
 seven Winnebagoes visited Fort Armstrong and were 
 admitted. Major Marston, then in command of the fort, 
 held three of the Winnebago chiefs as hostages until they 
 delivered the two Winnebagoes who were said to have 
 committed the murder. The Spectator adds there were 
 two Indians then confined in jail at Edwardsville who 
 were charged with having committed that murder. 
 
 The report made by William Clark, Superintendent of 
 Indian Affairs, of his expenditures in May, June and 
 July, 1821, shows several items on account of the trial at 
 Kaskaskia of two ' Winnebagoes who were indicted for 
 murder, and indicates that the prisoners and witnesses 
 traveled great distances to attend the trial. The report 
 does not state who the Indians were, where the crime was 
 committed, who was the victim, or the result of the trial. 
 (Am. State Papers, Indian Affairs, v. 2, pp. 297, et seq.)
 
 STEPHEN MACK. 
 
 The first white man to make his home in the Rock river 
 valley was Stephen Mack. It is quite certain that he 
 lived in the house he bought from La Sallier near Grand 
 Detour some time before 1830. Apparently, this makes 
 him the first white settler. But, if we mean by settler 
 one who established his permanent abode in a certain 
 place, Mack was not the first settler in Lee county. 
 
 When his remains were removed, in 1880, from the 
 place of their first interment on his farm to the Phillips 
 cemetery, near Harrison, in Winnebago County, by his 
 old friends, they placed in a bottle, buried there with 
 the remains, a paper reading thus : 
 
 "If in the course of time this paper should meet 
 the eye of any person, be it known that the remains 
 buried here are those of Stephen Mack and his Indian 
 wife, Ho-no-ne-gah. 
 
 Stephen Mack was born in Poultney, Vermont, 
 February, 1799, and settled in this county about 1822 
 as an Indian trader, and continued as a resident 
 until his death in 1850, Mrs. Mack having previously 
 died. 
 
 At the time of Mack's death he owned all of sec- 
 tion twenty-three in this township south of the Peca- 
 tonica River, and resided thereon at the time of his 
 death. He was buried not far from where he lived 
 by the side of his wife on his own land. Soon after 
 his death, his children sold the land and went to 
 Minnesota with their mother's friends, and at this 
 time there are no relatives of Mack here. 
 
 The place where he was first buried being in a large 
 field, and the land under cultivation over his remains, 
 the undersigned friends of Mack and his wife in 
 their lifetime, have moved the remains to this place, 
 and placed a tombstone over the same. This is done 
 out of respect and friendship for our departed 
 friends. 
 
 Stephen Mack was the first permanent white in- 
 habitant of Rock River valley. He was a good citi- 
 
 (ii)
 
 12 DATE OF BIRTH 
 
 zen, a generous friend t a gentleman in deportment 
 
 and an honest man. 
 
 J. B. JEWETT, 
 WILIAM HALLEY, 
 R. H. COMSTOCK. 
 Eockton, May 19th, 1880. 
 
 In his History of Rockton, Carr, referring to the date 
 of Mack's birth, adds to the foregoing this note: 
 
 "Some think this is not correct, for he must have 
 been from ten to fifteen years older when he died 
 than this date would make him." 
 
 In his list of births, marriages and deaths in Rockton, 
 Carr says Mack was born in 1799. It may be that in the 
 time passing between the writing of the note and this list 
 of births Carr found evidence justifying the statement 
 that Mack was born in 1799, but he does not show any, 
 or he may have followed that statement because he was 
 unable to learn the exact date. 
 
 The family history recorded in the bible of his daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. Mary Stocker-Terrill, says Mack was born in 
 Tunbridge, Orange County, Vermont, February 20, 1798. 
 
 Carr says Mack " came west to Detroit with his father's 
 family, soon after the close of the war of 1812, where his 
 father held some position under the government, and 
 might have had some connection with the fur business." 
 
 In a History of Rock County, Wisconsin, published in 
 1879, it is said, apparently upon the strength of state- 
 ments made by E. P. Crane and O. P. Bicknell as to con- 
 versations with Mack, that he was a native of Keene, New 
 Hampshire, and was living at Eockton in the spring of 
 1837, and that he then said that he "had been living with 
 the Indians for more than sixteen years," and had been 
 adopted by the Winnebagoes after he married the daugh- 
 ter of their chief. 
 
 A History of Oakland County, Michigan, (1887) based 
 chiefly upon statements made by Almon Mack, a son of
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 13 
 
 the elder Stephen, says that while the latter settled in 
 Detroit in 1807, he left his family in Vermont where the 
 educational facilities were far better than those Michigan 
 then had, and that his family, except one daughter, Lovicy, 
 who joined him about 1818, did not come west until 1822. 
 
 The family history says the younger Mack bought the 
 La Sallier cabin shortly after his marriage in February, 
 1829. 
 
 From the Michigan Pioneer Collections it appears that 
 Stephen Mack, father of the Stephen Mack who lived at 
 Grand Detour, was the first Yankee to open a store in De- 
 troit where he began business in 1807, dealing in dry 
 goods, groceries, crockery, hardware, etc. He was a mem- 
 ber of the firm of Mack & Conant. That firm engaged in 
 the fur business as early as 1816, and there is abundant 
 evidence that it prosecuted that business so actively and 
 energetically that it was a very lively competitor of the 
 American Fur Company. They established an agency, 
 for their fur business, in Chicago as early as 1816, and op- 
 erated it until about the time of their failure in 1821, when 
 that part of their business was taken over by the Ameri- 
 can Fur Company. John Crafts represented them at 
 Chicago all the time they maintained their agency there. 
 After that he joined the Fur Company. 
 
 The elder Mack was a member of the first legislative 
 council of the territory of Michigan. With others he 
 founded the town of Pontiac, Michigan, where he died in 
 1826. 
 
 Carr says the younger Stephen Mack " attended Dart- 
 mouth College, in New Hampshire, for a time, but seemed 
 to have left college before he graduated." This is an 
 error, as the secretary of that college states that "the 
 name of Stephen Mack does not appear on our records." 
 
 Carr's book purports to be a history of Rockton from 
 "1820 to 1898," and this may give the impression that 
 Mack settled at Macktown in 1820, but the text of the 
 book does not support such an idea.
 
 14 MACK REACHES GRAND DETOUR 
 
 From Carr's History it appears that the younger Mack 
 joined a government expedition around the lakes, and 
 while at Green Bay met some traders who told him that 
 the Rock river country was a good place for one 10 es- 
 tablish a trading post. He promptly started for Rock 
 river, reaching it near where Janesville stands. Thence 
 he followed down the river until he reached the Indian 
 settlement known as Turtle village, near Beloit Junction. 
 There he learned of an Indian camp at Bird's Grove, 
 about two miles down the river from Rockton, at the 
 mouth of Dry Run Creek, and he started for it only to 
 lose his way and wander about until he reached the 
 Potawatamie village at Grand Detour, and for two or 
 three years traded with the Indians there, taking their 
 furs in exchange for his articles of traffic, and carrying 
 his merchandise to and from Chicago on the backs of 
 Indian ponies. 
 
 The law permitted the Indian Agents to issue licenses 
 to trade with the Indians to such persons as they thought 
 proper, and at such places as the agents designated in 
 the licenses, and it required the Secretary of War to re- 
 port to Congress each year an abstract of the licenses is- 
 sued. The reports made under this requirement show 
 that on October 20, 1823, Alexander Wolcott, Jr., Indian 
 Agent at Chicago, issued to Stephen Mack, Jr., a license 
 to trade on Rock river with the Indians for one year 
 with a capital of two thousand dollars, (18th Cong., 2d 
 Sess.; Ho. Doc. 54) and on September 6, 1824, Wolcott 
 issued a license to Mack to trade on Rock river with the 
 Indians for one year with a capital of one thousand dol- 
 lars. (19th Cong., 1st Sess.; Ho. Doc. 118.} 
 
 There is no report of the issue of any other license to 
 Mack until October 5, 1826, when Wolcott granted him a 
 license to trade with the Indians for one year on "Rocky 
 River" with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars. 
 (20th Cong.; 1st Sess.; Ho. Doc. 140.) Nothing has been
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 15 
 
 found that shows what Mack was doing in the interval 
 between the second and third licenses, except that he 
 served as clerk and voted at an election of a constable 
 held in the Chicago precinct May 11, 1826. (Address by 
 Judge David McCulloch on Early Days of Peoria and 
 Chicago, delivered before the Chicago Historical Society, 
 January 19, 1904.) 
 
 The Reports of the. Secretary of War do not show that 
 any other licenses were issued to Mack, yet he continued 
 to trade with the Indians as long as any of them remained 
 in his neighborhood, and it is known that they were trad- 
 ing with him in June, 1835, at Bird's Grove. As John 
 Dixon traded with the Indians at Dixon's Ferry from 
 1830 until they left the state, and never had a license to 
 do so, and as no trading licenses were issued for any 
 places on Bock river above Prophetstown after 1827, it 
 would seem the general belief then was that such licenses 
 were not then required for that territoiy, although as late 
 as February, 1829, the Secretary of War reported that 
 trading posts were then established at "Grand Detour 
 on Rocky river * * and on Rock river." (20th 
 Cong., 2d Sess.; Ho. Doc. 117.) 
 
 "Mack's relation with this tribe was not produc- 
 tive of the best of feeling ; and although he had taken 
 the chief 's daughter, Ho-no-ne-gah, for his wife, still 
 his life was in danger, because he refused to sell 
 firearms and liquor to the tribe. During one of his 
 trips to Chicago w r ith three of his ponies, a plan was 
 fully matured to dispose of him on his return, and 
 take possession of his effects. His Indian wife, learn- 
 ing of their intentions, was on the lookout for her 
 husband's return, and meeting him far out from 
 camp, apprised him of his danger. It was quick 
 work for her to mount one of the ponies, and to- 
 gether they started out for the Winnebago tribe at 
 Bird's grove, where they were gladly welcomed and 
 promised protection. It became their future home 
 for a number of years." (Carr.)
 
 16 VOTES IN CHICAGO 
 
 It is to be noted that Carr does not state the year in 
 which Mack located at Grand Detour, or the year he 
 joined the Winnebagoes at Bird's Grove and no evidence 
 has been found that will enable one to fix either date. 
 
 In his "Politics and Politicians of Chicago," published 
 in 1886, Bennett says Stephen Mack was a clerk em- 
 ployed by the American Fur Company, and a son of 
 Major Mack of Detroit, and that he voted "in the Chi- 
 cago precinct of Peoria county," at an election in Chi- 
 cago, for a justice of the peace and a constable, held July 
 24, 1830 ; that he married an Indian woman and * ' finally 
 settled in Pecatonica, Winnebago county." Bennett and 
 John Wentworth, in his lecture on Early Chicago (Fergus 
 Historical Series, v. 8, p. 55) give a list of those voting 
 at a special election held in the Chicago precinct No- 
 vember 25, 1830, but Mack's name is not there. Nor is 
 it in the list Bennett gives of those voting at the state 
 election August 7, 1826. 
 
 Andreas in his "History of Chicago," says that Mack 
 voted at the election held in the Chicago precinct August 
 2, 1830, and describes him as a 1 1 Clerk of American Fur 
 Company. 
 
 In this connection it is well to remember that these elec- 
 tions were held in Chicago and that no part of what is 
 now "Winnebago county ever was in the "Chicago pre- 
 cinct" of Peoria county. 
 
 It appears from his letters that he made his home on 
 Rock river during the winter months. The fact that he 
 voted in Chicago indicates that he considered that place 
 his home. 
 
 Andreas also says that Stephen Mack bought lots seven 
 and eight, in block forty-three, in the original town of 
 Chicago, September 29, 1830, for $53. This block is bound- 
 ed by West Randolph, North Market and West Washing- 
 ton streets and, on the west, by the old East Water street 
 (now vacated).
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 17 
 
 In his later years Mack visited Grand Detour several 
 times, and from what he said on those visits, as it was re- 
 peated by Charles Throop to others, it is known that Mack 
 bought La Sallier's cabin and occupied it until he moved 
 to Bird's Grove. He was living at Bird's Grove in 
 May, 1832. If the family history is correct in saying that 
 he bought the cabin soon after his marriage in 1829, it is 
 clear he did not occupy the cabin for any great length of 
 time. 
 
 Kett's History of Winnebago County (1877) says Mack 
 was living in that county as early as 1829. 
 
 In their Atlas of Illinois, published in 1876, Warner 
 and Beers say Mack was living at Bird's Grove in 1829. 
 
 Jefferson Davis, a Lieutenant in the First Infantry, 
 was stationed at Fort Winnebago in the fall of 1829 and 
 remained there until 1831. He said, "When sent on vari- 
 ous expeditions I crossed Rock River at different points, 
 but saw no sign of settlement above Dixon's Ferry." 
 (Jefferson Davis, A Memoir, by Varina Davis.) 
 
 "Mack was living in peace and quietude with the 
 Indians at the breaking out of the Black Hawk war. 
 After the battle of Stillman Valley, when that re- 
 nowned chief visited this tribe to induce them to fol- 
 low him on his journey northward, Mack used his in- 
 fluence against such a movement ; and although Black 
 Hawk was very angry with the white trader, the little 
 tribe remained on their old camping ground, and the 
 great chief marched on without them. 
 
 It is said that the feeling was so strong against 
 Mack during the visit of Black Hawk, that the chief 
 of the tribe advised him to go away for a time for 
 personal safety. Accordingly he privately went to 
 an island in the river, now known as Webber 's island, 
 where he was supplied with food by his faithful wife 
 until it was safe for him to return. This may be an 
 actual fact or a romance, but it is given for what it is 
 worth." (Carr.)
 
 18 BLACK HAWK WAR 
 
 Both fact and romance are in this statement. Black 
 Hawk did visit the Indians near Bird's Grove to persuade 
 them to join him, and Mack did leave his home ; but both 
 these events occurred before the battle of Stillman Valley. 
 Mack may have stayed at Webber's island, but if so it 
 was only for a short time. 
 
 That Mack took part in the Black Hawk War is evi- 
 dent from his letters to his sister, Mrs. Lovicy Cooper, 
 reading as follows : 
 
 Chicago, May 30, 1832. 
 DEAR SISTER : 
 
 I am happy in having an opportunity of informing 
 you and the rest of my relations at Detroit and Pon- 
 . tiac that I am still alive and well. We are at war at 
 present with the Socks Indians. 
 
 I left my wintering ground or trading station on 
 the 9th inst. and as I left it the Socks took possession 
 of my house but were prevented from injuring me 
 or my men by the Winabagoe Indians who claimed 
 me as their friend and trader. Immediately on my 
 arrival at this place I joined with the Inhabitants of 
 this place, took up arms and garrisoned fort Dear- 
 bourn, and we have been able by that means to afford 
 protection to all of the inhabitants of the surrounding 
 country that could get in in season, but I am sorry 
 to say that our force was too small to enable us to go 
 to the assistance of such as could not get in in season 
 to serve themselves and in consequence three fam- 
 ilies consisting of 14 persons were killed and several 
 houses burned. After being reinforced by those who 
 got in from the outer settlements, we went out in pur- 
 suit of the murderers, but could not find them and 
 after burying the dead we came back to wait for 
 reinforcements to enable us to fight our way through 
 to the main army (which was last heard from near 
 my trading post on Rocky Elver) and assist in pun- 
 ishing the marauders. 
 
 Chicago, June 13, 1832. 
 DEAR SISTER: 
 
 I have been out on one expedition against the Sauke 
 Indians since my last letter, but we could not find
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 19 
 
 them where we expected, and were obliged to return 
 and wait for reinforcements to enable us to penetrate 
 further into the country. General Atkinson will be 
 on the move again in a few days, and General J. B. 
 Williams, (now at this place) will probably move on 
 to his assistance. In that case I shall join him with 
 a few volunteer mounted riflemen from this place. 
 You need be under no apprehension on my account 
 for I can assure you that all of the accounts that 
 you receive from the seat of war are very much ex- 
 aggerated. It is really amusing to me who see all 
 the operation and know perhaps better than almost 
 any one the real danger, to read the accounts of ma- 
 neuvers of the enemy never thought of by them, and 
 of battles never fought. And then to sit down and 
 listen to the remarks of the raw Yankees who have 
 lately emigrated to this country, one would think 
 that Napoleon Bonaparte had risen from the grave 
 and presented himself in the person of the Black- 
 hawk and that the spirit of his millions of heroes 
 were concentrated in the 5 or 600 warriors led by that 
 chief. I by no means wish to undervalue our enemies, 
 they are brave and subtle and it may be dangerous 
 to encounter them without an overwhelming force, 
 but I can by no means approve of the tardy opera- 
 tions of our chief officers, for it gives time to the 
 nimble footed Indians to ravage our frontier settle- 
 ments and bathe their hands in the blood of helpless 
 women and unsuspecting infants. Had more prompt 
 measures been pursued in the commencement, I have 
 no doubt but many lives would have been spared and 
 we should have been at this moment in the full en- 
 joyment of peace." 
 
 Mack's reference to the burial of those killed by the 
 Indians undoubtedly is to the massacre at Indian Creek, 
 La Salle county, May 20, 1832, and aids us in determining 
 the command of which he was a part. 
 
 Five companies of volunteers were raised in Cook 
 county for service in the Black Hawk war. One of them, 
 raised in the immediate vicinity of Chicago, was organ- 
 ized May 3, 1832, and commanded by Captain Gholsori
 
 20 CAPT. BROWN'S COMPANY 
 
 Kercheval. Captain James Walker commanded a com- 
 pany raised in the neighborhood of Plainfield and en- 
 rolled June 19. Captain Joseph Naper 's company was 
 organized July 19, nearly all of its members living in the 
 vicinity of Naperville. A company commanded by Cap- 
 tain Holden Scission was organized July 23. The muster 
 rolls of four of these companies have been preserved, but 
 the name of Stephen Mack does not appear on any of 
 them. 
 
 Andreas, in his History of Chicago, v. 1, p. 269, says 
 that some thirty of those in Kercheval 's company also 
 enrolled in a company commanded by Captains Jesse B. 
 Brown and Richard J. Hamilton, and that this company 
 Joseph Naper being a member made a scouting tour 
 through the country as far as Holderman's Grove, Plain- 
 field and Ottawa, and that the remains of those massa- 
 cred at Indian Creek were buried by the men of this 
 company. The muster roll of this company was not 
 preserved. 
 
 In the chapter of his History of Chicago that was 
 written in February, 1854, Bross says that "late in the 
 month of May, 1832, a small force consisting of twenty- 
 five men, was organized in the fort under the command of 
 Capt. J. B. Brown, with Capt. Joseph Naper and Col. 
 R. J. Hamilton," and that this command buried the 
 bodies of those killed in the massacre, and then went to 
 Ottawa where it joined a part of a company from Taze- 
 well county under Major Bailey, and the whole detach- 
 ment then proceeded to Chicago under the command of 
 Major Bailey. 
 
 A History of Du Page County, by C. W. Richmond and 
 H. F. Vallette (1857), says that members of a 
 company raised in Chicago and commanded by Captain 
 Brown and Colonel Hamilton assisted the men of Still- 
 man's command, under Colonel Johnson, in burying the
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 21 
 
 bodies of those massacred at Indian Creek. (Baskin's 
 History of Du Page County, p. 37.) 
 
 In his Memories of Shaubena, Matson says the burial 
 was by ' ' a company of rangers, under Captain Naper, or 
 Brown, from Chicago ' ' and a party from Putnam county. 
 
 In a letter written May 26, 1832, T. J. V. Owen, then 
 Indian Agent at Chicago, says "The party of mounted 
 men who left here some days since upon an Indian excur- 
 sion has this moment returned" after burying the bodies 
 of those slain in this massacre. (Mich. Pioneer Coll., 
 v. 21, p. 368.) 
 
 Bearing in mind the fact that the letters of Mack and 
 Owen were written when the facts they mention were 
 fresh in the mind, it seems clear that Mack was in Cap- 
 tain Brown's company, and that he did assist in the 
 burial of the victims of the massacre. 
 
 After the capture of Black Hawk he returned to Bird's 
 Grove and spent the winter there, going back to Chicago 
 in the early part of May, 1833. 
 
 In a letter to his sister, written at Chicago, August 24, 
 1833, he said: "We are preparing for the Indian Treaty 
 which is to take place next month. After the payment 
 of the Indian annuities I shall take my departure for 
 my winter quarters in the west as usual." 
 
 In the treaty made at Chicago, September 26, 1833, with 
 the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians, provi- 
 sion was made for the payment of six hundred dollars 
 to Eosa and Mary, children of * * Hoo-mo-ni gah, ' ' wife of 
 Stephen Mack ; five hundred dollars to Stephen Mack, ' * in 
 trust for the heirs of Stephen Mack, deceased, ' ' and three 
 hundred and fifty dollars to Stephen Mack, Jr. This pro- 
 'dsion for "the heirs of Stephen Mack, deceased," is puz- 
 zling, unless it was intended to pay some old debt the 
 Indians owed the elder Mack. 
 
 With the exception of Stephen Mack, the first perma- 
 nent white settlers in Rockton were William Talcott and
 
 22 MACKTOWN 
 
 his son Thomas B. Talcott. The latter kept a journal in 
 which he wrote the events of the various days passing as 
 they went about northern Illinois looking for a desirable 
 place to make a home. Under date of Saturday, July 25, 
 1835, he says they forded a river, ' * crossed a small prairie, 
 went into the woods and came to Stephen Mack's Indian 
 trading establishment, and once more put up with a white 
 man who had a squaw wife. Found we were on the bank 
 of Rock river, two miles below the mouth of the Peca- 
 tonica and six miles south of the line of Wisconsin ter- 
 ritory." On the next day he wrote: "Shall stay with 
 our friend Mack today. There are no inhabitants in sev- 
 eral miles except the Indians, who come around and Mack 
 trades with them today as much as any day. All days are 
 alike to the children of the forest. Mack is in the employ 
 of the American Fur Company, and has been all his life. 
 The Indians have confidence in him and he has no 
 trouble." 
 
 Mack thought that the bluff at the mouth of the Peca- 
 tonica river 
 
 "would be a good place to locate a town in view of 
 river navigation, and was in correspondence with a 
 Mr. Bradstreet, of Albany, .N. Y., on the advent of 
 the first white settlers in 1835. It was then consid- 
 ered that the Pecatonica was a navigable stream for 
 one hundred miles from its mouth, and Rock River 
 one hundred and fifty miles up into the territory of 
 Wisconsin. With this large prospect in view, the 
 mouth of the Pecatonica River was a very desirable 
 location for a town. Accordingly Mack took posses- 
 sion of this tract of land in the fall of 1835, and per- 
 manently resided there until his death. The 
 place took the name of Macktown, which it still re- 
 tains, although the once flourishing settlement has 
 entirely disappeared, save the substantial farm house 
 which he built there. * * Mack had his town 
 platted, as he owned all of section twenty- three south 
 of Pecatonica River and sold many lots. In the 
 height of his prosperity he valued a corner lot near
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 23 
 
 his store at $1,000. When told that his land was 
 too uneven for a town, he said 'it is far better than 
 Milwaukee.'" (Carr.) 
 
 In 1834, Congress enacted a law granting to Lewis 
 Banezakiewitz, and his associates, being two hundred 
 thirty-five exiles from Poland, who were transported to 
 the United States by the order of the Emperor of Austria, 
 the right to purchase, at the minimum price, thirty-six 
 sections of land, to be selected by them under the direc- 
 tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, in any three ad- 
 jacent townships in Illinois or Michigan. Baron Louis 
 Chlopicki and John Prehal were authorized to act as 
 the agents of these exiles in selecting the land, and 
 Chlopicki selected two large tracts of land in Winnebago 
 county that were not connected with each other. One 
 of them contained ten thousand, nine hundred and sev- 
 enty acres and included practically all the land within 
 the present city of Rockford, and the other contained 
 twelve thousand acres in the present town of Rockton, in- 
 cluding, with other lands, sections twenty -three and twen- 
 ty-six. As soon as this was knowTi in the neighborhood, 
 the men who had settled in that territory and made claim 
 to the lands they occupied, and who had organized a 
 claim protective association, appointed a committee to 
 resist this selection. Mack, a member of the claim asso- 
 ciation, was made chairman of this special committee, as 
 he had made claim to the west half of section twenty-six 
 and that part of section twenty-three south of the river 
 in the present town of Rockton. In October, 1837, this 
 committee sent a petition to William L. May, Congress- 
 man of that district, and Richard M. Young, one of our 
 United States Senators, stating that the petitioners were 
 actual residents upon the land they occupied prior to 
 the fall of 1835, and some of them in 1834; that Chlo- 
 picki, knowing that they were in possession of these lands, 
 had promised them that they would not be disturbed ; yet, 
 disregarding his promise, he had selected twenty sections,
 
 24 WINNEBAGO PAYMENT 
 
 sixteen of which were then occupied by the petitioners, 
 who felt aggrieved because, following the custom of the 
 country, they had entered upon the land in good faith and 
 made improvements thereon, intending to buy the land 
 as soon as it was put upon the market. They expressed 
 a willingness to buy their peace by making a fair com- 
 promise with Chlopicki, and asked for legislation that 
 would enable them to secure the lands they occupied and 
 thus save the cost of their improvements and labor. (25th 
 Cong.; 3d Sess.; Sen. Doc. 161.) The result was the 
 passage of the Act of April 14, 1842, which declared that 
 Chlopicki 's selections had not been made lawfully, and 
 it specifically gave the residents an opportunity to per- 
 fect their claims, and permitted the exiles to select other 
 lands. 
 
 By the treaty made at Washington November 1, 1837, 
 the Winnebagoes ceded all their land east of the Mis- 
 sissippi and agreed to remove therefrom within eight 
 months after the ratification of the treaty. The treaty 
 provided for the payment of various sums, aggregating 
 $38,000, to certain persons named, out of the sum of 
 $200,000, and that the balance " shall be applied to the 
 debts of the nation, which may be ascertained to be justly 
 due, and which may be admitted by the Indians, pro- 
 vided, that if all their debts shall amount to more than 
 this balance, their creditors shall be paid pro rota, upon 
 their giving receipts in full, ' ' and that no claim for depre- 
 dations should be allowed. Provision was also made for 
 the payment, under the direction of the President, to the 
 relations and friends of the Winnebagoes "having not 
 less than one-quarter of Winnebago blood" of the sum 
 of $100,000. The commissioners appointed to adjust these 
 claims proceeded to Prairie du Chien where they met the 
 Indians and the various claimants in 1838. The report of 
 the Secretary of War shows that Stephen Mack presented 
 a claim for $6,500 for merchandise sold the Winnebagoes
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 25 
 
 which the commissioners allowed at $2,500 and, the claims 
 exceeding the balance, paid him his proportion, $2,- 
 329.50. The commissioners also paid to him the sum of 
 one thousand dollars for each of his five children, Rosa, 
 age eight ; Mary, age six ; William, age four ; Louisa, age 
 two and one-half, and Thomas H., one year, "for valuable 
 services the father and mother rendered, and the dis- 
 position and ability of the children to do so." 
 
 When the pioneer steamboat "Gypsy" made her mem- 
 orable voyage up Rock river in 1838, "Mack heard the 
 steamer's whistle as she came around the bend in the 
 river and hurried down to the shore to drive a stake 
 for them to tie up to on his side of the river, ' ' but he was 
 disappointed, as she tied to a stake on the other side of 
 the river. (Carr.) 
 
 "In 1839 Mack built the large two story house 
 which is now (1898) the sole survivor of that early 
 settlement. At the time of its erection, it was the best 
 house west of the lake, and but few equaled it in Chi- 
 cago. It was built on a good stone foundation, the 
 first in the place, and when completed was painted, 
 which was a luxury rarely indulged in during those 
 early times. He occupied this house until his death. 
 He built other houses, but they did not involve such 
 an outlay of money. * The first one built west 
 
 of Mack's house was a frame structure, and a story 
 and a half high. The lower part was occupied for 
 several years by Sylvester Stevens, as a furniture 
 room and work shop. The upper story was reached 
 by stairs on the outside, and was first used for a 
 school house for Mack's children and such others as 
 lived in the vicinity. Some Indian children were in- 
 duced to attend for a time, but all the effort put forth 
 to educate them was comparatively labor lost. The 
 different teachers were paid almost wholly by Mr. 
 Mack. This school was kept up until he built his 
 school house in another part of the place, about 
 1846. (Carr.)
 
 26 MACK'S FERRY 
 
 He established a ferry across Rock river about 1838 
 and ran it for some time. It was operated until 1843 
 when he, and his associates, David Jewett and Merrill 
 E. Mack, a cousin, under a charter granted by the state, 
 built what was commonly called Mack's bridge, the first 
 to span Rock river in Illinois. Mack furnished the 
 greater part of the money for this venture. The bridge 
 had a draw span that gave a clear channel thirty-six 
 feet wide. It was entirely destroyed by a freshet June 1, 
 1851, and never rebuilt. 
 
 Carr says, " George Stevens' family came in '38. He 
 was postmaster about 1840, following after Mack in the 
 office." He does not state when Mack was appointed. 
 
 Mack conducted a store for several years, being as- 
 sisted for some time by his cousin Merrill E. Mack, but 
 this venture proved to be disastrous, as appears from 
 his letter of August 26, 1847, to his sister, in which he 
 says : 
 
 * * *"You inquire about my circumstances. I 
 will answer. I lost from $4000 to $5000 by our late 
 Cousin Merrel E. Mack. I furnished him cash to 
 carry on business, and when he died his estate proved 
 insolvent and all I got was in old goods or other 
 worthless trash. This has reduced my means so 
 that I have given up trade and am now working one 
 or two good farms which I own. I hold two or three 
 small offices which occupies a portion of my time, but 
 does not add much to my income. I owe no man a 
 Dollar and never will. I pride myself in maintaining 
 a character far above the possibility of reproach in 
 pecuniary matters, and the result is I am burdened 
 with every petty office of trust that has no compen- 
 sating salary, in my neighborhood." 
 
 After the collapse of the State Internal Improvement 
 scheme he took an active part in the effort to induce Con- 
 gress to donate 150,000 acres for the improvement of the 
 navigation of Rock river from its mouth to the terminus 
 of the proposed Milwaukee and Rock River canal, and,
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 27 
 
 acting upon a resolution adopted at a meeting held in 
 Rockford in January, 1840, joined with several hundred 
 others in a memorial to Congress for that purpose. Noth- 
 ing came of the effort except the printing of the memo- 
 rial by order of the Senate in May, 1840. Many of the 
 signers of this memorial were active in public affairs in 
 the valley in later years, among them being John Deere, 
 W. A. House, Solon Cumins, Charles Throop, Chester 
 Badger, Abram Brown, Joseph Crawford, T. D. Board- 
 man, I. S. Boardman, A. L. Porter, M. Fellows, 0. F. 
 Ayers, E. Southwick, N. G. H. Morrill, B. B. Loveland, 
 D. B. McKenny and Carlton Bailey. 
 
 He was appointed and served as a delegate from Win- 
 nebago county to the convention held at Rockford Jan- 
 uary 7, 1846, for the purpose of taking measures to secure 
 the construction of a railroad from Galena to Chicago. 
 (Stennett, History of the Chicago & Northwestern Ry. 
 Co.) 
 
 He took an active interest in the public affairs of his 
 community, serving as school treasurer and postmaster. 
 In March, 1847, he was appointed one of the ''special 
 commissioners" who were, by the statute incorporating 
 the Rockford Hydraulic and Manufacturing Company, 
 charged with the duty of determining * * the size and loca- 
 tion of the lock or locks ' ' that company might be required 
 to construct in its dam at Rockford. He was a justice of 
 the peace ; elected in the district in which he lived. 
 
 Carr's History of Rockton says "Mack was elected 
 associate justice of the peace in 1849, and held the office 
 as long as he lived." The History of Winnebago Comity 
 published by Kett, in 1877, says Mack was an associate 
 justice in 1849-1850. That office would have made Mack 
 a member of the County Court, but his name does not 
 appear on the records of that court as a member. It does 
 not appear, as that of a member of the court, on the rec- 
 ords of the County Commissioner's Court which went 
 out of existence in that county in November, 1849.
 
 28 HO-NO-NE-GAH 
 
 At the first election in Winnebago county after the 
 adoption of the township organization, April 2, 1850, he 
 was a candidate for supervisor, but was defeated by 
 Sylvester Talcott by a vote of 58 to 45. 
 
 The statement in the family history that he married in 
 February, 1829, undoubtedly refers to his marriage to 
 Ho-no-ne-gah. He remarried her, Carr says, September 
 14, 1840, according to the rites and customs of the white 
 man. She died in July, 1847. Her white neighbors con- 
 sidered her a faithful and devoted wife, a woman of more 
 than ordinary ability and one who cheerfully aided all 
 whenever opportunity offered. Carr says she was 
 "largely absorbed in the care of her home and children, 
 save when sickness of the early settlers called for her 
 kind and skillful care and attention. Then with her 
 supply of nature's remedies which the Great Spirit had 
 so kindly spread out all around her, she would seek out 
 the afflicted and bring sunshine and relief to many a 
 suffering one who fell a prey to the ills of a new country. 
 The high tribute of respect to Mack's Indian wife was 
 genuine and sincere, and although of a dusky hue, she 
 possessed a noble soul and did all she could to make those 
 around her comfortable and happy. 
 
 Not only in sickness were her many virtues shown in a 
 marked degree, but the poor and destitute around her 
 incident to the struggles of many an early settler, shared 
 of her provisions in a generous manner. She delighted 
 in doing good. Only once was she known to assume the 
 garb of her pale-face sisters, and then it was by great 
 solicitation ; but she felt so ill at ease, and afraid to make 
 herself conspicuous, she soon laid it aside and forever 
 after was content with the costume of her tribe. Mrs. 
 Jesse Blinn who was a near neighbor says of her : ' l She 
 was very skillful in ornamenting her clothing. She made 
 herself for extra occasions an Indian dress of fine blue 
 broadcloth, with a border five inches deep all around it, 
 worked with various colored ribbons ; her taste in blend-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 29 
 
 ing colors to have a pleasing effect was very fine, and 
 her needle work almost perfect. Many articles about 
 her home bore witness of her skillful handiwork. Being 
 a Pottawatomie, she like her tribe, felt above the Winne- 
 bago as in skill, and showed much ability in fashioning 
 many articles of merchandise. ' ' 
 
 John Blackhawk, an intelligent and well-educated Win- 
 nebago says that Ho-no-ne-gah is a Winnebago word 
 meaning "dear little one," and is the name given the 
 first girl born in a Winnebago family. 
 
 In a letter to his sister, after the death of Ho-no-ne-gah, 
 Mack said : 
 
 "You say you perceive by the notice in the paper 
 that my wife died a Christian. Lovicy, if I know 
 what a Christian is, she was one. She not only died 
 a Christian, but she lived one. Not by profession, 
 but by her every act. Her every deed proclaimed 
 her a follower of Christ. In her the hungry and 
 naked have lost a benefactor, the sick a nurse, and I 
 have lost a friend who taught me to reverence God 
 by doing good to his creatures." 
 
 Mack had no children by his second wife, but Ho-no-ne- 
 gah bore him eleven, two of whom died in infancy. The 
 others were: 
 
 Rose (so named in his will, though sometimes 
 called Eosa), born November 14, 1830. In conse- 
 quence of illness she was a mute ; attended school at 
 the Illinois Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb at Jack- 
 sonville; married and became a teacher there. 
 
 Mary, born July 15, 1832, was married twice first 
 to Charles Stocker, and then to Terrill. 
 
 William H., born July 17, 1834. Married his sister- 
 in-law, Julia Stocker. Was a soldier in the Union 
 army during the Rebellion. 
 
 Louisa, born May 6, 1836. Married L. L. Curtiss. 
 
 Thomas H., born February 8, 1838. Soldier in the 
 Union army during the Rebellion. 
 
 Henry C., born December 1, 1839 ; died January 1, 
 1849.
 
 30 DEATH 
 
 Edward, born December 3, 1841. Soldier in the 
 Union army in the Rebellion, dying from injuries 
 received in that service. 
 
 Matilda, born November 26, 1843. Married Ed. 
 Drake. 
 
 Caroline, born October 16, 1845. Married Arthur 
 F. Newberry. Now (1918) living in Pontiac, Michi- 
 gan. She is the only one of his children living now. 
 
 On February 24, 1848, Mack married Mrs. Isabelle Dan- 
 iels, of Harrison, Illinois. He died, very suddenly, April 
 10j 1850. Soon after his estate was settled all his chil- 
 dren, except Caroline, who went to live with her father's 
 brother Almon, left for Minnesota or Wisconsin, to join 
 the friends of their mother. At the time of his death he 
 owned about one thousand acres of land around Mack- 
 town. 
 
 He was a good man, a good citizen and a great force 
 for good in the development of the new country. 
 
 Kett's History of Winnebago County says he was tall, 
 erect as an Indian, dignified and manly in his bearing. 
 
 These facts conclusively show that Mack regarded his 
 place at Bird's Grove merely as a winter trading sta- 
 tion, and that he did not consider it his home until after 
 August, 1833. This being the case, it is evident that he 
 was not the first permanent white settler in the Rock 
 river valley, for in April, 1830, John Dixon settled at 
 Ogee's Ferry, where the city of Dixon grew up around 
 him, and remained there until his death in July, 1876.
 
 THE FUR TRADE AT GRAND DETOUR. 
 
 It is a singular fact that of all those writing upon the 
 history of Lee or Ogle counties not one has mentioned the 
 fur trade that was carried on at Grand Detour for many 
 years. 
 
 There is an abundance of convincing evidence that the 
 Rock river country was a rich field for the fur buyers 
 and that Grand Detour was considered to be a very good 
 location for one engaged in that trade. 
 
 The Indian was improvident, giving little thought to 
 the future, and making but scant provision for it. When 
 the early frosts reminded him of the coming of the winter 
 with its hardships he appealed to the white men for food, 
 blankets, powder, bullets and shot. These were given 
 him cheerfully and in abundance by the licensed trader 
 whose security was the Indian's promise to pay by de- 
 livering furs. 
 
 There are still living persons who have heard John 
 Dixon say that the only money he lost by trusting an 
 Indian was due from one who was killed on a hunting trip. 
 Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan and Gen. William 
 Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis, and 
 no others had a better knowledge of the Indians than 
 they possessed, said that the Indian was honest and did 
 pay as he promised, unless he was beguiled by some 
 rival trader who offered more. (20th Cong.; 2nd Sess. ; 
 Sen. Doc. 67.) 
 
 The red man was governed by his own law, and that 
 was if, by the fortunes of the hunt, he was unable to 
 pay from the proceeds of the season following the day 
 he was given credit, he was under no obligation to pay 
 at any time, the debt was satisfied. But the trader was 
 persistent and the next time his debtor's tribe entered 
 into a treaty with the United States for the sale of land, 
 the trader was present, and all accounts of that char-
 
 32 TRADING POSTS 
 
 acter were provided for in that treaty and paid by the 
 United States. There is good reason for the belief that 
 some of the treaties .by which the Indian parted with his 
 land were instigated by the traders who had bills to 
 collect. 
 
 Under the Treaty of November 1, 1837, with the Winne- 
 bagoes, commissioners were appointed to adjust the 
 claims against that tribe, and they reported that the ' l Win- 
 nebagoes were known to be generally honest, ' ' and that it 
 was the general belief of the Winnebagoes that if they 
 were unable to pay their debts in two years, some said 
 in one year, then, the debt became one of the nation or 
 tribe and the individual was absolved from all obliga- 
 tion to pay it, but it should be paid out of moneys pro- 
 vided for that purpose by the United States. (25th 
 Cong.; 3d Sess.; Ho. Doc. 229.} 
 
 In 1796 Congress enacted a law authorizing the presi- 
 dent to establish trading houses at such posts and places 
 as he should judge most convenient for trade with the 
 Indians, and empowered him to appoint an agent for each 
 house, whose duty it should be to dispose of, in trade 
 with the Indians, such goods as the president should 
 direct him to receive. In 1806 the president was author- 
 ized to appoint a superintendent of Indian trade who 
 should purchase the goods required and transmit them to 
 the place designated as trading houses (commonly called 
 factories) and also to appoint an agent for each trading 
 house and he was known as the factor. By the Act passed 
 in 1822 the factory system was abolished, and the presi- 
 dent was required to close up the trading houses and 
 was authorized to appoint a Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs to reside at St. Louis, and this superintendent and 
 the Indian Agents were given authority to issue licenses 
 to trade with the Indians at places designated in the 
 license. Another act of that year required the Super- 
 intendents of Indian Affairs, who were the governors of
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 33 
 
 the territories, and the Superintendent at St. Louis, and 
 all Indian Agents, to report to the Secretary of War, 
 each year, "an abstract of all licenses granted, showing 
 by and to whom, when and where granted, with the 
 amount of the bonds and capital employed, to be laid 
 before Congress, at the next session thereof." Prior to 
 the enactment of this statute there was no regulation 
 requiring any report of the licenses issued. 
 
 The law made it the duty of the Indian Agents "from 
 time to time to designate certain convenient and suitable 
 places for carrying on trade with the different tribes, 
 and to require traders to transact their business at the 
 places thus designated, and at no other place or places." 
 Those charged with the administration of the law often 
 complained that the Indian Agents were compelled to 
 issue a license to every applicant, and the consequence 
 was that there were many irresponsible and dishonest 
 traders, as any man who was able to give the required 
 security could obtain a license to trade for one year with 
 the Indians at any place so designated that he chose to 
 name in his application. He was required to give a bond, 
 the penalty ranging upwards from one thousand dollars, 
 conditioned that he would obey all the laws and rules 
 regulating the trade. He was allowed to trade at the 
 place chosen by himself and named in the license, and 
 was prohibited from trading at any other place under 
 that license, but was allowed to go to other places solely 
 for the purpose of collecting what was due him when he 
 obtained special permission to do so. 
 
 He could have as many licenses as he chose, there being 
 instances in which the records show as many as five li- 
 censes issued to one man in the same year, and William 
 Burnett, who owned a house in Chicago as early as 1798 
 and was in the Indian trade many years, writing to 
 Governor Harrison of Indiana Territory, September 10. 
 1803, says that in regulating the Indian trade Harrison
 
 34 TRADING LICENSES 
 
 decided that one trader was sufficient for a place produc- 
 ing less than fifty packs of furs in a year each pack 
 weighing from ninety to one hundred pounds and that 
 "no man should have more than four licenses," but Har- 
 rison disregarded his own regulation and issued twenty 
 licenses to John Kinzie in 1802. (Hurlbut, Chicago An- 
 tiquities.) 
 
 Experience taught the trader that he needed the serv- 
 ices of three to six men at his post, and he was allowed 
 to have them if their names were endorsed on the license. 
 He was required, before obtaining a license, to lay before 
 the Indian agent an invoice showing the quantity and 
 value of the goods he had for sale, and the capital he 
 had invested in that venture. 
 
 The Indian agent had no authority to issue a license to 
 trade at any place or with any tribe beyond his district, 
 but this law was not always respected by the agents. 
 
 For convenience of administration the country was 
 divided, arbitrarily, into districts. Generally, the gov- 
 ernors of a territory had charge of the trade in that ter- 
 ritory, but there were exceptions. The governor of Michi- 
 gan had jurisdiction over Michigan and part of Wis- 
 consin and that part of Illinois north of the Illinois river 
 and east of Bock river. General William Clark, who was 
 stationed at St. Louis, had jurisdiction over the part of 
 Illinois and Wisconsin west of Bock river. 
 
 The territory within the jurisdiction of the Indian 
 Agency at Chicago extended as far north as Grand river 
 on the east side of Lake Michigan, as far south of the lake 
 as the Kankakee river and on the west side of the lake 
 as far north as the "Milwaukee, including the Indians 
 on that river, and to the lower bands of the Pattawata- 
 mies on Bock river." The Ottawas, Chippewas and Pot- 
 awatomies, always closely related, had a joint interest in 
 a claim recognized by the United States as a just and 
 valid one to northern Illinois, and * ' a part of the mineral
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 35 
 
 region on the Mississippi, and a considerable 
 
 band of them, * * resided in Illinois, and another 
 band up the Bock River." (20th Cong.; 3d Sess.; Ho. 
 Doc. 117.) 
 
 The sub-agency at Fort Winnebago had control of the 
 Indians Winnebagoes and Menominees who frequent- 
 ed that place and those who resided in that vicinity. The 
 agency at Prairie du Chien had control of the upper 
 Bock Biver country, but was not to interfere with trade at 
 Fort Winnebago. The sub-agency at Peoria included the 
 "Ottawas, Chippewas and Pattawatimas of the Illinois 
 living on Fox Biver and west of it. ' ' The agency at Fort 
 Armstrong controlled the Sauks and Foxes. 
 
 In a letter to the Secretary of War, October 17, 1821, 
 Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory and Super- 
 intendent of Indian Affairs in that territory, speaking of 
 the conditions in Michigan during and the two years fol- 
 lowing the War of 1812, says "During a part of that 
 time we had no agent at Michilimacknac, Green Bay, 
 Prairie du Chien, St. Peters, Bocky Biver, Chicago, Fort 
 Wayne and Upper Sandusky." (Am. State Papers; In- 
 dian Affairs, vol. 2, p. 314.) Is it justifiable to infer that 
 there was an agent or trader at " Bocky Biver" during 
 that war or before it began? 
 
 That there was a trading post on Bock Biver in the 
 winter of 1802-1803, is shown by the Personal Narrative 
 of Capt. Thomas G. Anderson, who says he spent that 
 winter ''with the Winnebagoes on Bock Biver. They were 
 the most filthy, most obstinate and the bravest people of 
 any Indian tribe I have met with. Here I had a half-breed 
 in opposition in the trade. Our houses were about half a 
 mile apart, and between us was a very high hill, over 
 which we had to pass by a little path through the bushes. ' ' 
 (Wis. His. Coll. vol. 9, pp. 137, 152.) He does not state 
 at what point on the river this post was located, but as 
 he says the hill was at least three hundred feet above the
 
 36 JOHN CRAFTS 
 
 water in the river we know he was not near Grand Detour, 
 unless he is in error as to the height of Castle Rock. 
 
 John Kinzie became a resident of Chicago in 1804. In 
 Waiibun, Mrs. John H. Kinzie, says that he " later" es- 
 tablished trading posts "at Rock river with the Winne- 
 bagoes and the Pottawatamies, ' ' but that leaves date and 
 place unknown. There is an abundance of evidence that 
 John Kinzie had been engaged in the Indian trade in 
 Michigan for several years before locating at Chicago, 
 but he was then known as McKenzie as well as Kinzie. 
 
 Gurdon S. Hubbard, who entered the service of the 
 American Fur Company in 1818, says that company had 
 three or four trading posts on Rock River from 1813 to 
 1833 (Baldwin, History of La Salle County), but he does 
 not name or describe the exact locations. 
 
 Speaking of John Crafts, who was the Chicago repre- 
 sentative of Mack & Conant of Detroit, Hubbard said he 
 "had, up to 1819, full control of this section, without 
 opposition from the American Fur Company, sending 
 outfits to Rock river and other points within a range 
 say of a hundred miles of Chicago." (Hurlbut, Chicago 
 Antiquities.} 
 
 In his introduction to " Altowan, or Incidents of Life 
 and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains," James Watson 
 Webb gives a thrilling account of the night he passed in 
 La Sallier's cabin, on Franklin Creek, about thirty-five 
 rods from Rock River, in February, 1822, and it shows 
 there was a trader there then who lived in a cabin so 
 old that in 1835 it was nothing but a mass of rotten logs. 
 It is self-evident there was no reason for the existence 
 of a house there in that period, unless it was for the com- 
 fort and convenience of one engaged in the fur trade. 
 
 Writing from Michilimackinac on August 26, 1824, to 
 Alexander Wolcott, Indian Agent at Chicago, Robert 
 Stuart, the manager of the American Fur Company, says : 
 "I have just received a letter from Mr. Crafts wherein
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 37 
 
 he states that you had designated Chicago, St. Joseph, 
 Milwalka and Rock River as the places you consider most 
 proper to be established for Indian trade within your 
 district, and that you will grant him no licenses for any 
 other posts." (Am. Fur Co. Letter Book, in Chi. His. 
 Soc. Library. Crafts was then that company's repre- 
 sentative in Chicago.) 
 
 The Report of the Secretary of War, December, 1823, 
 has an abstract of all licenses to trade with the Indians 
 that were issued in 1821, 1822, and up to the first of Sep- 
 tember, 1823, and it shows that on October 13, 1821, Alex- 
 ander Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent at Chicago, gave a li- 
 cense to Maurice Lauzon to trade one year on "Rock 
 river, ' ' with nothing to show the particular place on that 
 river, and it does not state the amount of capital Lauzon 
 employed in that venture. The report does not show 
 that any license to trade on Rock river was issued in 
 1822 or that part of 1823 covered by the report. ( 18th 
 Cong.; 1st 8 ess.; Ho. Doc. 7.) 
 
 The Report made by the Secretary of War in January, 
 1825, shows that on October 20, 1823, Wolcott gave a 
 license to Stephen Mack, Jr., to trade on "Rock river," 
 with a capital of two thousand dollars. (18th Cong.; 2d 
 Sess.; Ho. Doc. 54.) While this does not show the par- 
 ticular place Mack was authorized to trade, it would seem 
 but fair to say he was at Grand Detour, because he was 
 there other years and his family bible says he bought the 
 cabin in which La Sallier had lived in 1822. 
 
 In his testimony before the commissioners appointed, 
 under the treaty of November, 1837, to adjust the claims 
 against the Winnebagoes, John H. Kinzie said that the 
 fur trade along Rock River, in 1823-4, was good, there 
 being many muskrats there at that time and the price 
 being good. 
 
 Wolcott, on September 6, 1824, issued a license to 
 Stephen Mack, Jr., to trade one year on Rock river, with
 
 38 TRADERS AT GRAND DETOUR 
 
 a capital of one thousand dollars; and on October 23, 
 1824, he issued a license to Cole Weeks to trade one year 
 on "Rocky river," with a capital of fifteen hundred dol- 
 lars. (19th Cong.; 1st Sess.; Ho. Doc. 118.) 
 
 Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan and Superintendent 
 of Indian Affairs, on August 17, 1825, issued a license to 
 Bernard Laughton to trade one year at "Grand Detour, 
 on Rocky River, ' ' with a capital of five hundred dollars ; 
 and Wolcott, September 27, 1825, issued a license to 
 Laughton to trade one year on "Rocky River," with a 
 capital of twenty-five hundred dollars. (19th Cong.; 2d 
 Sess.; Ho. Doc. 86.) 
 
 By this time it had become quite generally known that 
 Grand Detour was a very good place for the fur trader, 
 and the Report made by the Secretary of War in Febru- 
 ary, 1828, shows that on September 1, 1826, Governor 
 Cass issued a license to Morice Lozon to trade one year 
 at "Grand Detour, on Rocky River" with a capital of 
 five hundred dollars ; that on October 13, 1826, Henry B. 
 Brevoort, Indian Agent at Green Bay, issued a license 
 to Bernard Grignon to trade one year at ' ' Grand Detour 
 on Rock river" with a capital of seven hundred fifty dol- 
 lars and sixty-three cents ; and on the next day he issued 
 a license to Perish Grignon and S. Chapua to trade one 
 year at * ' Grand Detour on Rock river and Cheboiegon of 
 Lake Michigan, ' ' with a capital of twelve hundred thirty 
 dollars and thirty-one cents; that on October 5, 1826, 
 Wolcott issued to Stephen Mack a license to trade one 
 year on "Rocky River," with a capital of twenty-five 
 hundred dollars; and on the next day he issued a license 
 to Archibald Clybourn to trade one year on "Rocky 
 River," with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars; 
 and on October 17, 1826, he issued a license to George 
 Hunt to trade one year on * ' Rocky River, ' ' with a capital 
 of thirty -five hundred dollars ; that on November 2, 1826, 
 Brevoort issued a license to H. B. McGulpin to trade 
 one year at ' ' Foil du Lac and Grand Detour, ' ' with a cap-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 39 
 
 ital of seven hundred ninety-two dollars and fourteen 
 cents. (20th Cong.; 1st Sess.; Ho. Doc. 140.) 
 
 The Secretary of War reported, in February, 1829, an 
 abstract of the licenses to trade with the Indians that had 
 been issued since September 1, 1827, but it does not show 
 that any license to trade at Grand Detour or on Rock 
 river above Prophetstown had been issued since that 
 day. Nor is any mention of the issue of a license to trade 
 there made in his subsequent reports, so it is fair to con- 
 clude none were issued since November, 1826, although 
 he did report, February, 1829, that "the following are 
 the trading posts now established * * Chicago * 
 Fever river * * Forks of the river Iroquois * 
 Grand Detour on Rocky river * * Rock river * 
 among the Winnebagoes fifty miles from the mouth of 
 Rock river." (20th Cong.; 2nd Sess.; Ho. Doc. 117.) 
 
 Mrs. Kinzie tells us, in Wcuubun, that after they left 
 Dixon, on their journey from Fort Winnebago to Chi- 
 cago, in 1831, their guide lost the way and led them along 
 a trail that ".brought us to the great bend of the river 
 with its bold rocky bluff," and it is common knowledge 
 that every Indian trail led to an Indian village. 
 
 It is incomprehensible that so many men would, of 
 their own volition, choose Grand Detour as the site of 
 their trading posts, unless there were Indians there with 
 whom they could trade. 
 
 We know, from the great number of arrow heads, 
 flints and other things evidencing the prior existence of 
 an Indian village, that have been found north of Rock 
 River, and a little west of the road leading to the bridge 
 at Grand Detour, that there once was an Indian village 
 across the river from the bold rocky bluff Mrs. Kinzie 
 mentions.
 
 JOSEPH OGEE AND HIS FERRY. 
 
 It is quite common knowledge in Dixon that its first 
 permanent white inhabitant was Joseph Ogee. Very lit- 
 tle is known of him, and that is so scattered it may be well 
 to gather the fragments and present them so that they 
 may be found easily. 
 
 Dr. Oliver Everett, who lived in Dixon for a period of 
 more than fifty years, beginning in September, 1836, told 
 the writer hereof that the name Ogee was pronounced as 
 if spelled Ozhya, though Judge McCulloch, in his History 
 of Peoria County, says the name is said to be Ozier and 
 Ogee but a nickname. In Waubun, Mrs. Kinzie calls him 
 ' ' Ogie. ' ' That Ogee is the correct spelling will be shown 
 later. 
 
 Ogee represented the American Fur Company at Pe- 
 oria as early as 1818 (McCulloch, History of Peoria 
 County), and at a later day he also had charge of its trad- 
 ing station where Wesley City, Tazewell county, now 
 stands. 
 
 Ethelbert Stewart, of the United States Department 
 of Labor, in his "Feiv notes for an Industrial History of 
 Illinois," says that the pay rolls of the American Fur 
 Company show that the company paid its " trader" in 
 Illinois three thousand dollars per year because of the 
 fierce competition in that territory. This indicates that 
 Ogee was a man of greater ability that the term "half- 
 breed" would imply, and that the company considered 
 him to be a valuable man. (Publications Illinois State 
 Historical Society, no. 8, p. 119.) Stewart's statement is 
 fully sustained by the books of the Fur Company. 
 
 He was living in Fulton county when that county and 
 its attached territory included all the state that was east 
 of the fourth principal meridian and north of the Illinois 
 and Kankakee rivers, and the county commissioners of 
 that county, June 4, 1823, ordered
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 41 
 
 "that Joseph Ogee have License to keep an Inn or 
 Tavern in the house where he now resides at the Vil- 
 lage of Peoria in Said County, by paying the Sum of 
 Ten Dollars in State papers. 
 
 1 1 By motion it was ordered the following be the list 
 of Tavern Bates for said Tavern, towit : 
 
 Victuals, pr meal $ .25 
 
 Horsekeeping, pr night , 
 
 Lodgeing pr. night 
 Whiskey pr. half pint 
 
 Bum & Gin pr. half pint 25 
 
 French Brandy Do 50 
 
 Wine pr. half pint 37| 
 
 and all other Liquors be in proportion." 
 
 He was summoned to serve on the grand jury at a term 
 of the circuit court of Fulton county to be held in Octo- 
 ber, 1823, but, for some reason now unknown, that term 
 of court was not held. 
 
 Peoria county was created by an act approved Janu- 
 ary 13, 1825, and given its present area (except a 
 small fragment taken from Fulton in exchange, to cure 
 a blunder in surveying), and there was attached to it all 
 the state north of it and the Illinois and Kankakee rivers 
 and some territory east of the Illinois. The first meeting 
 of the county commissioners ' court of the new county was 
 held in March, 1825, in Ogee's house at Peoria which, 
 Judge McCulloch says, was made of hewn logs and was 
 the best in the town. The first term of the circuit court 
 held in the county was held in this house in November, 
 1825, with John York Sawyer as judge and John Dixon 
 as clerk. It was at this term of court that the Indian 
 Nomaque was indicted, tried and convicted upon a charge 
 of murder, and sentenced to death. Ogee acted as inter- 
 preter at that trial and served as petit juror for that 
 term, and he and one Jacob Frank were indicted then for 
 an affray. At that trial Nomaque, it is said, was de- 
 fended by William S. Hamilton, the life time friend of
 
 42 OGEE'S ASSESSMENT 
 
 Mr. Dixon. A new trial was granted by the Supreme 
 Court, and ultimately, Nomaque went without punish- 
 ment. 
 
 A methodist church was organized in Peoria in 1824, 
 and Mrs. Ogee became a member of it the following win- 
 ter. Ogee was a patron of Peoria 's first school upon its 
 establishment in 1826, its sole support being subscrip- 
 tions by its patrons. After its first week, the school was 
 taught in his log cabin. 
 
 In July, 1826, Ogee was allowed and paid three dollars 
 by the county commissioners' court for the use of his 
 house by the circuit court and one dollar for its use by 
 the county commissioners ' court. That same month, 
 when the county sold the land it had caused to be subdi- 
 vided, he bought two lots in that subdivision, the town of 
 Peoria, for $96.25. 
 
 An assessment of two hundred dollars was made 
 against his personal property in 1825, but it was located 
 in the "Illinois prairie," which was the local name given 
 the attached territory east of the Illinois. The assessor 
 was the same John L. Bogardus who built a shanty at 
 Dixon in 1827, and whose partially built ferry boat was 
 burned by the Indians that summer. (Kett, History of 
 Ogle County.) It is quite probable that the property so 
 assessed belonged to the Fur Company, as its property 
 in Chicago was assessed in the name of its agent there. 
 
 In his History of Ogle County, p. 50, Boss quotes the 
 following from a letter written by Judge Joseph Gillespie 
 of Edwardsville : 
 
 "It was about the 5th day of March, 1827, that 
 thirteen of us who had met together at different 
 places and formed a traveling company for the lead 
 mines, reached the banks of Rock River at the point 
 where, according to my recollection, Dixon now 
 stands. It was naked prairie on the south side, but 
 there was excellent hickory timber on the opposite 
 side of the river. A band of Winnebagoes were en-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 43 
 
 camped on the south side. It became necessary for 
 a portion of our party to cross the river and prepare 
 our encampment, and make fires in advance of the 
 rest, and a Mr. Reed, my brother and myself were 
 selected for that purpose. We had previously bar- 
 gained with the Indians for the use of their canoes to 
 ferry us and our wagon over, and had given a large 
 amount of bacon and corn meal in payment. The 
 Indians, without any reluctakice, took Red, my 
 brother and myself across the river with our oxen, 
 and as soon as we were separated from our compan- 
 ions, they started down the river with their canoes. 
 This operation was likely to be attended with much 
 inconvenience, and some suffering and exposure to 
 us who had crossed the river and were without pro- 
 visions or bed-clothes. Our friends followed down 
 after the Indians, who pretended that they under- 
 stood the contract on their part to have been fulfilled. 
 We knew that they were endeavoring to fleece us. 
 It was found impossible to bring them to agree to our 
 understanding of the bargain, and nothing was left 
 for our side but to make the best terms we could. 
 They would not agree on any condition we could pro- 
 pose, to ferry our wagon over, pretending to believe 
 it would sink their canoes. There was in our com- 
 pany a negro, named Frank, from Kaskasia, who had 
 joined us when the company consisted of but four 
 persons old Mr. Reed, his son, my brother and my- 
 self; the rest of the company we picked up after- 
 wards. We rather took care of Frank, and protected 
 him when attempts were made to impose upon him, 
 for which he was very grateful. Frank was in great 
 distress when he found that three of his friends were 
 separated from the company, and were without food 
 or bed-clothes. He had a black overcoat, the body of 
 which was about of the texture of an old sleazy 
 blanket, but the capes were really of first rate ma- 
 terial, and were fastened to the body with hooks and 
 eyes. One of the Indians took a great liking to 
 Frank's coat, and a bargain was struck on about 
 these terms : Frank was to give the Indian his coat 
 and they were to allow him to bring us over bed- 
 clothing and food, and also to ferry the wagon over
 
 44 WILLIAM THOMAS 
 
 the next morning, upon terms to be agreed on. Frank 
 rolled up an auger in the blanket to enable us to 
 build a raft in case it should become necessary, but 
 the Indians were too sharp for that. They unrolled 
 the blanket and contended that taking over an auger 
 was not in the bargain, and so Frank came over with- 
 out it. When they arrived a great controversy arose 
 between him and the Indians. Frank contended that 
 he was to give only his coat, and they contended that 
 he was to give the cape also. We had by this time 
 become so incensed at the Indians that we felt very 
 little like obeying the scriptural requirement 'If 
 any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy 
 coat, let him have thy cloak also.' So we decided 
 in Frank's favor, and he kept his capes. The Indians 
 were very indignant at Frank's strict construction, 
 and we might have had trouble with them; but that 
 night it turned intensely cold, and by the next morn- 
 ing the Indians were as torpid as snakes in winter. 
 They could not get out of their wigwams, and our 
 men helped themselves to the canoes, and everything 
 was pushed across early in the day. Lest 
 
 what I have stated might lead persons to believe 
 that all the Indians were thus knavishly inclined, I 
 would remark that in crossing the Winnebago 
 swamps, some ten or fifteen miles south of Kock 
 River, we had great difficulty, and would have had 
 more but for some Winnebago Indians who were en- 
 camped by the swamps, and who were exceedingly 
 kind and generous to us, and rendered us every as- 
 sistance in their power." 
 
 In his "Recollections of Early Illinois/' delivered be- 
 fore the Chicago Historical Society, March 16, 1880, 
 Judge Gillespie, speaking of the trip just mentioned, says 
 they crossed Rock river at Dixon. 
 
 When Governor Edwards issued his call for volunteers 
 for the Winnebago War in 1827, one of the first to offer 
 his services was William Thomas of Jacksonville, for 
 many years thereafter honored and revered by the people 
 of Illinois. The command of which he was a member 
 marched to Gratiot's Grove. Speaking of this, in an ar-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 45 
 
 ticle published first in the Jacksonville Journal of Au- 
 gust 21, 1871, and later in the Publications of the Illinois 
 State Historical Society, no. 12, p. 265, Thomas says : 
 
 ' ' The heavy rains had extended to Rock river, and 
 the prairies were so saturated with water that we 
 could travel only in a walk, our horses onbreaking 
 the sod at every step. Following a trail made by the 
 Indians and persons going to the lead mines, on the 
 fifth day from Pepria we reached Rock river at Dix- 
 on 's Ferry. During the march we had to drink the 
 water standing in swamps, pools and holes in the 
 prairie. Upon reaching Rock river, seeing that it 
 was a beautiful clear stream with gentle current, we 
 expected a good drink of water, but, to our sur- 
 prise, we found that no better than the water of the 
 swamps through which we had passed. Dozens were 
 made sick by swallowing the water before testing it. 
 We forded the river in the afternoon on a Sunday, 
 those riding small horses swimming, and encamped 
 on the bank until next day. ' ' 
 
 He does not give any information as to the day or 
 month he crossed Rock river. As the call for volunteers 
 was issued in the middle of July it is probable that he 
 reached the river some time in August. Of course that 
 place was not then known as Dixon 's Ferry, as there was 
 no ferry of any kind there then. 
 
 In his "Early Times at Dixon' s Ferry," published in 
 Kurtz's History of Dixon and Palmyra, John K. Rob- 
 inson says : 
 
 "The method of crossing the river with teams be- 
 fore the establishment of a ferry was primitive and 
 simple. On arriving at the place of crossing, the 
 wagons were unloaded and the loads carried over 
 in canoes by the Indians, the wagon was then driven 
 with the side to the stream, two wheels lifted into 
 a canoe then shoved a little out into the river, and 
 another canoe received the other wheels, when the 
 double boat was paddled or poled to the other side; 
 the horses were taken by the bridle and made to swim 
 by the side of the canoe, cattle swam loose ; then com-
 
 46 THE BOGARDUS FERRY 
 
 menced the lifting out of the wagons and reloading, 
 and the journey was renewed, all hands happy that 
 the task of crossing the river was completed. Once 
 James P. Dixon, well acquainted with the hardships 
 of crossing, arriving on the banks of the river with 
 the mail wagon, called for the Indians for their as- 
 sistance but received no answer ; vexed at their delay 
 and their arrogance when they did assist, he boldly 
 unchecked his horses, so as to give them a chance 
 to swim, and crossed the river with the mail and 
 wagon in safety. ' ' 
 
 Speaking of the travel at this place, Kett's History of 
 Ogle County, p. 266, says : 
 
 1 'In the winter time there was but very little 
 travel, probably from the fact that there was but lit- 
 tle or nothing doing in the mines, and may be be- 
 cause of the exposure necessarily incident to the 
 trip. In March, 1827, however, a heavy tide of travel 
 set in from Fort Clark, and other parts of the state 
 below there. 
 
 "Among the first to come up that season and cross 
 Rock River at the Boles trail (now Dixon) was Elisha 
 Doty, who subsequently settled at Polo. When he 
 arrived at the river it was still covered with ice, over 
 which he essayed to cross, but before he had pro- 
 ceeded far the ice began to give way, and he was 
 obliged to abandon the attempt. 'While waiting on 
 the bank' (says Boss' Sketches of the History of Ogle 
 County, published in 1859), 'just before starting on 
 his return, about two hundred teams collected there, 
 all on their way to Galena.' 
 
 "In 1827 Dixon had become a fixed place for trav- 
 elers to cross the river, but crossing was often at- 
 tended with a great deal of inconvenience, as up to 
 this time, and until 1828, there was no ferry other 
 than the kind of canoe ferry already described, and 
 the Indians were not always present and in readiness 
 with their canoes. When the water was low, the 
 river could be forded without difficulty, but this was 
 not always the case. The establishment of a ferry at 
 that point was first undertaken by a man named J. L. 
 Begordis (Bogardus), of Peoria, who sent a man up
 
 47 
 
 in the early summer of 1827 to build a shanty 8 by 10, 
 on the bank, and to live there and 'hold the fort', or 
 ferry, until Begordis (Bogardus) could find and for- 
 ward the necessary workmen, carpenters, etc., to build 
 the ferry boat. Soon after the shanty was completed, 
 Mr. Doty (the father of Elisha Doty already men- 
 tioned), a carpenter, came and work on the boat was 
 commenced and vigorously prosecuted. When the 
 boat was about half completed, the Indians set fire to 
 it, and informed its builders that they should not 
 build a boat there, and told them to 'go to Peoria,' 
 Doty and his assistant did not stand upon the order 
 of their going, but went at once, for the command was 
 imperative, if not threatening. In the spring of 
 1828, Joe Ogee, a Frenchman and an Indian inter- 
 preter, whose wife was a Pottawattomie woman, 
 settled there, built a house and established a ferry." 
 
 "The (Ogee) ferry boat was propelled by the old fash- 
 ioned 'setting pole,' ' and landed at any convenient 
 point. It was not until 1835 that the rope ferry was 
 installed. That ferry was at Galena avenue. (Kurtz, 
 History of Dixon and Palmyra.) 
 
 John K. Robinson, who taught the children of Father 
 Dixon in the winter of 1833- '34, says that Ogee built his 
 cabin and established his ferry where Dixon stands in 
 the spring of 1828. Boss, in his history of Ogle County, 
 published in 1859, and Frank Kurtz, who compiled the 
 History of Dixon and Palymra that was published in 
 1880, say the ferry was established in 1828. Rufus 
 Blanchard, in his Historical Map of Illinois, published in 
 1883, says it was established in 1825, but he is wrong. 
 
 It has been stated many times that John Dixon induced 
 Ogee to establish the ferry, or that he took Ogee with him 
 when he moved from Peoria, and some have said that Mr. 
 Dixon really established the ferry and put Ogee in charge 
 of it. All these statements are erroneous. 
 
 In the History of Dixon and Lee County compiled by 
 Frank Kurtz, and published in 1880, it is said that "Jo-
 
 48 JOHN DIXON AT BOYD'S GROVE 
 
 seph Ogee was induced to come here (Dixon) and estab- 
 lish a ferry by Father Dixon, who at the time was Gov- 
 ernment mail contractor between Galena and Peoria." 
 Kurtz reprints the article on Mr. Dixon that appeared in 
 the Dixon Telegraph, July, 1876, which says "while Mr. 
 Dixon was at Peoria, the Government established a mail 
 route from Peoria to Galena, crossing Bock River at the 
 present site of our city * * * mail to be carried once 
 in two weeks on horse back. Mr. Dixon threw in a bid 
 for the contract which was accepted. * * * he in- 
 duced * Ogee * * * to establish a ferry at 
 the point of crossing the river." 
 
 The History of Lee County published by H. H. Hill & 
 Co., in 1881, says "Mr. Dixon had induced Ogee to build 
 the ferry to accommodate the United States mail which 
 he was carrying from Peoria to Galena." 
 
 In Bardwell's History of Lee County it is said that in 
 1828 ' ' John Dixon had, at this time, a contract for carry- 
 ing the mail between Galena and Peoria, and induced 
 Ogee to establish the ferry here (Dixon) on the mail 
 route." 
 
 In his "Black Hawk War," Stevens says "in 1828, 
 when Father Dixon received the contract for carrying 
 the mails from Peoria to Galena and Gratiot's Grove he 
 took with him a half breed named Joseph Ogee, who es- 
 tablished a permanent, though unlicensed ferry." 
 
 Mr. Dixon did not move to Bock river from Peoria. 
 On the contrary, he moved from Peoria to what is known 
 as Boyd's Grove, in the present town of Milo, Bureau 
 County, in the spring of 1828. 
 
 John K. Bobinson says, "Father Dixon 's object for 
 changing his home from Boyd's Grove, where he had a 
 short time before taken up his abode, was to occupy a 
 more central position for his mail contract." 
 
 In his Reminiscences of Bureau County, published in 
 1872, Nehemiah Matson says that when the Ament broth-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 49 
 
 ers passed Boyd's Grove in the spring of 1828, in their 
 search for a desirable location, they found John Dixon 
 building a cabin in which he and his family lived until 
 1830, when he sold it to his brother-in-law Charles S. 
 Boyd. 
 
 In his History of Bureau County, 1885, Bradsby says, 
 "In the year 1828 there were five families in Bureau 
 County, coming here in the order named : Bulbona, John 
 Dixon, Henry Thomas, Reason B. Hall and John and 
 Justus Ament," and that, except Bulbona (the name 
 really was Bourbonnais), a French Canadian Indian 
 trader, Dixon 's settlement "was the first real settlement 
 in what is now Bureau County. Dixon lived at the grove 
 until 1830, when he sold his improvement to Charles S. 
 Boyd and removed to Dixon. ' ' 
 
 A reading of Bradsby 's book convinces one that he re- 
 lied, for his information on this point, upon statements 
 made by Alexander S. Boyd, a son of Charles S. Boyd, 
 and that makes it the best evidence now obtainable on 
 the subject, and it proves that Mr. Dixon did not move 
 to Rock river from Peoria. 
 
 Kett's History of Jo Daviess County contains a letter 
 written December 7, 1827, by Dr. Horatio Newhall, who 
 settled in Galena that year, saying, "We have no mail as 
 yet, but shall have a mail once in two weeks to commence 
 the 1st of January next. ' ' 
 
 Postmaster General John McLean, in April, 1828, 
 transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
 tives a statement of the contracts made the preceding 
 year for carrying the mails in Illinois, and this shows 
 that the contract for carrying the mail from "Peoria to 
 Galena" for a term beginning January 1, 1828, and end- 
 ing December 31, 1829, was let to E. B. Clemson, the con- 
 sideration being $580 each year. This statement shows 
 that Clemson also had the contracts, for the same period, 
 for carrying the mails between Kaskaskia and Vandalia ;
 
 50 GALENA AND ST. LOUIS STAGE LINE 
 
 Carlisle and Shawneetown; Salem and Cole's Grove; 
 Springfield and Peoria; Springfield and Lewistown; 
 Jacksonville and Eushville. (20th Cong. 1st 8 ess.; Ho. 
 Doc. 258.) 
 
 In 1828 only three contracts were made for carrying 
 the mail in Illinois, Moore's Prairie to New Harmony; 
 Paris to Vandalia, and Danville to Fort Clark, the last 
 being let to E. B. Clemson. Each contract was for a term 
 of one year, beginning January first, 1829. (Letter of 
 Post Master General John McLean; 20th Cong.; 2d Sess.; 
 Ho. Doc. 135.) 
 
 In the Miners' Journal (Galena), beginning December 
 6, 1828, and running to April 11, 1829, appears this ad- 
 vertisement : 
 
 "The U. S. Mail Stage from Galena to St. Louis 
 will hereafter leave Galena every Monday and St. 
 Louis every Friday. Fare, $8 from Galena to Peoria ; 
 $3 from Peoria to Springfield; $4 from Springfield 
 to St. Louis. 
 
 John Dixon, Proprietor of the line from Galena 
 to Springfield. ' ' 
 
 The Miners' Journal of February 7, 1829, says that 
 the mail contractor, whose name is not given in that ar- 
 ticle, has informed the postmaster that he had seen it 
 stated in some newspaper that a weekly route was estab- 
 lished, and, presuming that he would shortly receive no- 
 tice to that effect from the Postmaster General, made 
 preparations accordingly, "and has been carrying a 
 weekly mail, regularly, since the 15th of October. In 
 December last he was informed by the Post Master here 
 that the department could not pay for carrying a weekly 
 mail 'under present circumstances, as the cost' would be 
 $1,160, ' ' and the contractor replied that he would continue 
 the weekly service, hoping he would be allowed adequate 
 compensation for his services. 
 
 Another article in the same issue of the Journal speaks
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 51 
 
 of "Mr. Dixon, the Mail Contractor, for carrying the 
 same between this place and Peoria." 
 
 The Journal of March 21, 1829, says that "Mr. Dixon, 
 the proprietor of the Mail Stage, ' ' which has run between 
 Galena and Peoria advises the postmaster that "owing 
 to the badness of the roads ' ' the stage will not run again 
 until further notice, but the mail will be carried weekly 
 "by two riders, at an additional expense to that which 
 is already exorbitant." 
 
 There is still in existence a statement signed January 
 23, 1830, by E. B. Clemson, of the account between him- 
 self and John Dixon which shows that Dixon carried the 
 mail from Peoria to Galena during the quarter year end- 
 ing September 30, 1829, and for that service Clemson paid 
 him $225. 
 
 In the Miners' Journal of August 15, 1829, Post Mas- 
 ter General William Barry calls for bids, to be opened 
 October 10th, for carrying the mail from Peoria, by way 
 of Gratiot's Grove, to Galena weekly, leaving Peoria 
 Thursday at 6 a. m., arriving at Galena Saturday by 8 
 p. m. ; leaving Galena Monday 6 a. m., arriving at Peoria 
 Wednesday by 7 p. m. ; service to begin the first of Jan- 
 uary and the contract to run for four years. 
 
 In a letter addressed to the House of Representatives, 
 March, 1830, Post Master General Barry transmits a list 
 of the contracts let the proceeding year for carrying mail 
 in Illinois, saying that the letting of the contracts was 
 advertised in June, 1829; the contracts were "decided 
 upon" October 16, 1829, and the term of the contracts 
 began January 1, 1830, and will end December 31, 1833. 
 It shows the contract for carrying the mail between 
 Peoria and Galena, once a week, was let to John D. 
 Winters, the compensation being $800 per year. The 
 name of John Dixon does not appear in this document. 
 Charles Boyd had the contract to carry the mail between 
 Vandalia and Peoria, once a week, at $550 per year. The
 
 52 TRAVEL AT THE FERRY 
 
 contract to carry the mail between Springfield and Pe- 
 oria, once a week, was let to William Dillard and R. L. 
 Cobb, who had been paid $200, the contract price not 
 being shown. (21st Cong.; 1st Sess.; Ho. of Rep.; Doc. 
 77.) 
 
 Inasmuch as the records of the Post Office department 
 for that period were destroyed by fire in 1836, the au- 
 thorities just cited appear to be the best evidence that can 
 be obtained now. 
 
 The known facts do not justify the statement that Ogee 
 was taken to Rock river by Mr. Dixon. It is far more 
 probable that he went there upon his own initiative, be- 
 cause he saw a chance to make money by so doing and 
 the increasing flow of immigration and settlement fore- 
 told the end of the fur business. Moreover, the records 
 show that when Mr. Dixon reached the place, it was to 
 become Ogee's tenant, not to establish or own a ferry. 
 
 In 1870 the Telegraph and Herald Company published 
 a "History of Dixon and Lee County," (without giving 
 the name of the author), and it is the first history of 
 either Dixon or the county that was written or published. 
 From it we quote : 
 
 "Forty-four years ago the first log cabin was 
 erected on the site of Dixon. It w r as the first, and 
 at that time the only habitation after the manner of 
 white men for many miles, in any direction, and, in 
 fact, this was not a white man 's house. A half-breed 
 Indian had come to this point to establish a ferry, 
 and was attracted by the tide of emigration that had 
 set in, in the spring of the above year, from the south- 
 ern part of the state, to Galena, where rich lead 
 mines had been discovered. This man's name was 
 O'Gee, and he showed great forethought and a 'long 
 head' in opening his ferry at this point, as it was 
 just here that the greatest amount of travel appeared 
 to undertake the crossing of Rock river, and as soon 
 as it was known that there was a ferry and station 
 here the business that O'Gee did was enormous."
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 53 
 
 (The reader, doubtless, will note the errors as to date 
 
 and name.) 
 
 Ogee was a man of influence with the Indians, especially 
 so with the Potawatomies, who occupied the country 
 south of the river there. He was possessed of some prop- 
 erty and had the ability to manage it. It is incredible 
 that he would have been entrusted so long in charge of 
 the affairs and property of the American Fur Company, 
 some seven years or more, unless he was capable of man- 
 aging it. He started the ferry and operated it so suc- 
 cessfully that a half interest was sold by him for seven 
 hundred dollars in November, 1829, and Father Dixon 
 had no interest in the business then. * 
 
 Ogee was at Green Bay, Wisconsin, August 25, 1828, 
 acting as interpreter for the Potawatomies in the making 
 of the treaty the United States made that day with the 
 Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. 
 
 John L. Bogardus published notice in the Miners' Jour- 
 nal, dated October 18, 1828, that he would apply to the 
 county commissioners' court for a "license to establish a 
 ferry across Rock river on each side thereof, at the upper 
 crossing, where the United States' mail now passes from 
 Peoria to Galena." In the Journal of November 1, Alex- 
 ander McNair and G. H. McNair gave notice, dated Oc- 
 tober 25, % that they would apply for a "license for the 
 upper ferry on both sides of Bock river." The court did 
 not act upon either of these applications. 
 
 It is to be remembered that when Ogee started his 
 ferry the territory north and west of Bock river at this 
 place was Winnebago country, and that south and east of 
 the river was the country of the Chippewa, Ottawa and 
 Potawatomi Indians of the Illinois. The country south 
 of the river was ceded to the United States by the treaty 
 of July 29, 1829, and that north of the river by the 
 treaty of August 1, 1829. The treaty of Green Bay, 
 already mentioned, reads: "It is also agreed by the
 
 54 OGEE SEEKS A LICENSE 
 
 Indians that a ferry may be established over the Rock 
 River where the Fort Clark road crosses the same. ' ' This 
 may explain what apparently was Ogee 's belief, that he 
 did not need any other license. 
 
 His good friend, John Turney, Galena's first lawyer, 
 who was a member of the house of representatives in 
 the Sixth General Assembly, 1828- '9, for the Jo Daviess 
 district, introduced in the house the petition of Joseph 
 Ogee praying that he be given the l i privilege of building 
 houses and establishing a Ferry on Rock River at the 
 common crossing place upon the road leading from Fort 
 Clark to the Fever River lead mines," and the committee 
 to which it was sent reported a bill for "An Act authoriz- 
 ing Joseph Ogee to establish a ferry on Rock River." It 
 passed the house December 12, 1828, but the senate killed 
 it by adjourning in January after postponing considera- 
 tion of the bill until the fourth of July following. At 
 this same session of the legislature, the senate amended 
 the house bill for "An Act authorizing James R. Vine- 
 yard to establish a ferry on Rock River," but the house 
 refused to concur in those amendments, and that bill 
 failed. (The Galena Advertiser of February 22, 1830, 
 gives the name of J. R. Vineyard as a member of Galena 's 
 volunteer fire department assigned to the third ward. 
 Kett, History of Jo Daviess County, 457. He afterwards 
 moved to Wisconsin, becoming a member, for Iowa 
 County, of the first, second and third councils in the terri- 
 torial legislature, and being expelled from the last for the 
 murder of a fellow member of the council in February. 
 1842. Wis. His. Coll. v. 11, p. 408.) 
 
 In the Journal of January 10, 1829, and other issues 
 following, is the following: 
 
 "Notice. I shall apply to the county commission- 
 ers' court of Jo Daviess county at their March term 
 to obtain a license for a ferry on Rock river at the 
 upper crossing embracing a landing on both sides. 
 Joseph Ogee, Resident, Jan. 3."
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 55 
 
 The court did not pass upon this application. 
 
 The Galena Advertiser of July 27, 1829, says a band of 
 about one hundred and fifty Winnebagoes, from the 
 Spotted Arms village, on their way to Rock Island, the 
 place appointed for the making of a treaty, reached 
 Ogee 's Ferry and there learned the treaty would be made 
 at Prairie du Chien. This so enraged them that they 
 declared they would not participate in or respect any 
 treaty made at the latter place. They did go, however, 
 and join in the treaty. 
 
 If the treaty made at Prairie du Chien July 29, 
 1829, with the "Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi In- 
 dians of the Illinois", and the treaty made there August 
 1, 1829, with the Winnebago Indians are correctly printed 
 in the official edition of the United States Statutes, the 
 execution of the former was witnessed by ' ' Sogee ' ', and 
 that of the latter by ' ' Joge ' ', but it is fairly probable from 
 his signatures that still exist that these are errors of 
 transcription, and that the witness was Joseph Ogee. 
 
 The report of the auditor of the War Department, 
 sent to the House February 23, 1830, by the Secretary of 
 War, shows that among the disbursements made .by 
 Peter Menard, Jr., Indian sub-agent at Peoria, were 
 items aggregating $433.33 paid to Joseph Ogee for his 
 services as '-'interpreter of the Potowatamies " from 
 September 1, 1828, to September 30, 1829, and $15 paid to 
 John Dixon November 30, 1828, for "provisions fur- 
 nished the Indians." (21st Cong.; 1st Sess.; Ho. Doc. 
 87.) 
 
 A "Map of the United States Lead Mines on the upper 
 Mississippi River", drawn and published by R. W. Chand- 
 ler of Galena, in 1829, shows "Ogee's Ferry and Tavern". 
 
 It appears that he had some knowledge of the law con- 
 cerning stray animals, as he advertised in the Miners' 
 Journal for four successive weeks during July and Au- 
 gust, 1829, that he had an estray horse taken from the
 
 56 OGEE'S FERRY P. O. 
 
 Indians near the Henderson river, on the road from Ga- 
 lena to Beard's Ferry, and was holding it for the owner 
 at his ferry on Rock river "on the Fort Clark road." 
 
 Caleb Atwater's "Remarks made on a tour to Prairie 
 du Chien" was first published in 1831, and it is the first 
 book to mention Ogee 's ferry. It says : 
 
 "When I crossed Rock river at Ogee's ferry, Sep- 
 tember 1, 1829, there was a lodge of Indians there, 
 consisting of an old man, his son-in-law, daughter 
 and several children. They waited on me, as soon 
 as I stopped for the night, at the house of Ogee, who 
 had married a half-breed and owned the ferry." 
 
 On another page he says: 
 
 "Rock River, where I crossed it, on the first day of 
 September, 1829, at Ogee's ferry, ninety miles by 
 water from its mouth, was twenty rods wide, four feet 
 deep, and run at the rate of five or six miles an 
 hour. ' ' 
 
 In the Galena Advertiser of September 7, 1829, this 
 item appeared:; 
 
 "A new Post Office is established at Ogee's Ferry 
 on Rock River, in this county, of which John M. Gay, 
 Esq., is appointed Postmaster. Ogee's Ferry is on 
 the mail route, and is the principal crossing place 
 for travellers by land from the Mines to the lower 
 country. This office has been established chiefly for 
 the accommodation of the settlement at the Rapids of 
 the Illinois River, from which it is distant about thir- 
 ty-five miles. Heretofore the people of that settle- 
 ment were dependent upon the post office at Peoria, 
 distant between seventy and eighty miles." 
 
 "An Old Timer," who was J. K. C. Forrest, writing in 
 the Chicago Record, July 26, 1894, says Gay was "an em- 
 ploye of Ogee." He moved to Princeton, Illinois, and 
 served as postmaster there. 
 
 The Galena Advertiser of September 14, 1829, says 
 the first wagon that ever passed from the Mississippi to
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 57 
 
 Chicago went in August, 1829, from Galena by way of 
 1 ' Ogees Ferry on Rock River", thence to the Missionary 
 establishment on Fox River and thence to Chicago. 
 (Kett, History of Jo Daviess County, 456; Burgess, Set- 
 tlement of Illinois, 152.} 
 
 In the Galena Advertiser of October 19, 1829, and the 
 four succeeding issues, Joseph Ogee gives notice, dated 
 October 19, that he will apply to the county commission- 
 ers' court, at the next term, to be held the first Monday in 
 December, for a license to keep a ferry across Rock river 
 * ' at the place where the road now crosses said river from 
 Galena to Peoria. ' ' 
 
 The record of the county commissioners' court of Jo 
 Daviess County of December 7, 1829, reads, 
 
 "On the application of Joseph Ogee it is ordered 
 that a license be granted him to keep a tavern at his 
 house on Rock River by his paying into the County 
 Treasury the sum of twelve dollars and the fees of 
 the clerk and entering into bond in the penal sum 
 of three hundred dollars with J. M. Strode and Regis 
 Laurent 'Sect'. 
 
 "On application of Joseph Ogee it is ordered that 
 a License be granted him to keep a ferry on Rock 
 River where he at present resides by giving bond 
 with James M. Strode and Regis Laurent his security 
 conditioned as the law directs and paying into the 
 Treasury of the County the sum of ten dollars and 
 the fees of the clerk." 
 
 Those familiar with the events of the Black Hawk War 
 know considerable of James M. Strode, and we will only 
 add that he appears on the account books of Mr. Dixon as 
 a frequent borrower of cash. 
 
 On the same day there was entered by the court an 
 order fixing the rates at this ferry as follows : 
 
 Crossing footman $ .12| 
 
 Man and horse 25 
 
 Horses or cattle per head, other than cattle 
 
 yoked 25 
 
 Each yoke of cattle
 
 58 TAVERN RATES 
 
 Eoad wagon 1.00 
 
 For each horse hitched to said wagon 25 
 
 Each two-horse wagon 75 
 
 Each two-wheeled carriage or cart 1.00 
 
 One-horse wagon 75 
 
 Each hundred weight of Merchandise, etc. .06 
 
 There was in force at that time a general order fixing 
 all tavern rates in the county as follows : 
 
 Each meal 37^ 
 
 Horse feed 25 
 
 Horse per night at corn and hay 62 
 
 Man per night 12| 
 
 Each half pint of French brandy or wine. . .25 
 Each half pint or whiskey or other domes- 
 tic liquors 12 
 
 Each half pint of Holland gin 25 
 
 Each quart of porter, cider or ale 25 
 
 By an agreement dated at * ' Ogee 's Ferry Joe Davies 
 County," November 21, 1829, filed for record Febru- 
 ary 18, 1830, Ogee sold to George "Skillinger" a 
 half interest in the establishment, including the ferry 
 and the farm, for seven hundred dollars, the wagon 
 and five horses already furnished by ' ' Skillinger, " which 
 were declared to be firm property, being taken at five hun- 
 dred dollars. From a mortgage dated January 29, 
 1830, it appears that the firm had been dissolved, 
 Ogee keeping all the property and agreeing to pay 
 1 1 Schellinger " one thousand and sixty dollars for his in- 
 terest, thus showing a very substantial increase in the 
 value of a half interest, and indicating that the ferry was 
 doing a very good business. February 10, 1830, "Schel- 
 linger" assigned this mortgage to Lawrent Bolette 
 by an instrument that was not acknowledged, but its 
 execution was witnessed by John M. Gay and "Paskal 
 Pinsonault," the latter signing by making his mark. 
 (Possibly this John M. Gay is the Gay who was the first 
 postmaster at Ogee's Ferry. "Paskal Penseno" appears
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 59 
 
 on the account books of Mr. Dixon as a debtor May 21, 
 1830.) 
 
 The Galena Advertiser of January 4, -1830, says that, 
 pursuant to the order of the county commissioners ' court, 
 a road had just been laid out and marked from St. Vrains 
 furnace on Apple river, near Woodbine, ' ' to Ogee 's Ferry 
 on Eock river," lessening the distance about thirty miles 
 and making the road from Galena to Ogee 's Ferry about 
 fifty-five miles. "The mail stage came this way the last 
 trip." 
 
 On October 28, 1830 Laurent Rolette assigned to 
 Joseph Rolette of Prairie du Chien whatever inter- 
 est he had "in and to certain ferry privileges origin- 
 ally granted by the General Assembly of the State of 
 Illinois to Joseph Ogee to keep up and maintain a ferry 
 across Rock River at the place where the public road 
 from Fort Clark to Galena Crosses," reciting that his 
 interest was acquired through a mortgage to "Schillin- 
 ger." (The spelling of these names is in strict accord 
 with the record. The account books of Mr. Dixon show 
 charges against "Skelinger.") 
 
 Joseph Rolette settled in Prairie du Chien as early as 
 1804, remaining there until his death in 1842. For many 
 years he represented the American Fur Company ' ' on the 
 upper Mississippi river." He acted as justice of the 
 peace and was one of Wisconsin's quaint characters. 
 (Hurlbut, Chicago Antiquities; Durrie, Annals of Prairie 
 du Chien.) Laurent (improperly spelled Lawrent) Ro- 
 lette was with the American Fur Company as early as 
 1824, being then, and for several years thereafter sta- 
 tioned at Drummond's Island in Lake Huron. (Ameri- 
 can Fur Co. letter book.) He and Skellinger were living 
 in or near Galena at the time of these transactions with 
 Ogee. 
 
 Jefferson Davis, then a Lieutenant in the First In- 
 fantry, was at Dixon in 1831. In "Jefferson Davis, A
 
 60 FIRST ROCK RIVER BRIDGE 
 
 Memoir/' Mrs. Davis states that he said he was going 
 through Illinois that year with his scouts, and, upon 
 reaching Rock River, "found the mail coach, and num- 
 bers of wagons with persons going to the lead mines 
 detained at the river. There was no bridge. The water 
 was frozen, yet not sufficiently so for them to pass over. 
 No house except that of the ferryman, whose name was 
 Dixon. His log cabin was near. The whole party put 
 themselves at his command. He told them to keep a 
 good fire in the cabin, and set the men to hewing blocks 
 of ice. They worked faithfully and ere long the struc- 
 ture began to assume shape. As each was set in posi- 
 tion, water was poured over, which froze it in its place. 
 Sometimes a workman would fall overboard, and he was 
 ordered to run into the cabin and turn round and round 
 before the blazing log fire until dry. Soon the bridge 
 was pronounced safe, and the w r hole party of men, 
 women, children and vehicles passed safely over. The 
 ferryman, Dixon, remembered the young army officer 
 ever afterward, and some years ago when Mr. Davis 
 was invited to Illinois, a letter came from the old man, 
 expressing his happy anticipation of meeting him once 
 more on earth. Mr. Davis could not then accept the in- 
 vitation, and not long since Mr. Dixon died." 
 
 On the first of March, 1832, there was filed for record 
 in Jo Daviess County an instrument reading as follows : 
 
 "Know all men by these presents that I, Joseph 
 Ogee of the county of Jo Daviess & State of Illinois 
 have this day sold and by these presents do bargain 
 and sell to John Dixon of the County and State 
 aforesaid all my right title interest and claim of, 
 in and to the improvement ferry and apper- 
 tainances at or near the place usually known as 
 Ogees Ferry on Rock River in the County 
 and State aforesaid with all the priviledges an- 
 nuities and property belonging to or pertaining 
 to me at or near said place to have and to hold
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 
 
 61 
 
 the same without molestation forever except the 
 mortgage given to George Skelenger on part of said 
 property, which I do not bind myself to prevent the 
 opperation of and to release the said Dixon from all 
 rents and undertakings by virtue of his renting the 
 said premises by an article of agreement entered into 
 in March 1830. In consideration of the foregoing 
 the said Dixon has given me his two several notes one 
 for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars and/' 
 one for the sum of four hundred dollars payable jii 
 four months after this date. 
 
 In testimony whereof I 
 have hereunto set my hand 
 and seal this twenty-seventh 
 day of 
 
 JOHN M. SMITH. witness 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS, 
 COUNTY OP Jo DAVIESS. 
 
 Be it known that on this thirtieth day of January 
 A. D. 1832 before me William Smith a justice of the 
 peace in and for said county came John M. Smith 
 proved by the oath of John R. Coons a credible wit- 
 ness to be the person whose name appears subscribed 
 to the above deed as a witness to the execution there- 
 of, and made oath that J. Ogee the person whose 
 name appears subscribed to said deed is the real 
 person who executed the same, and that he the said 
 John M. Smith subscribed his name thereto as wit- 
 ness in presence of said J. Ogee and at his request.
 
 62 DIXON'S FERRY 
 
 Given under my hand & seal at the county aforesaid 
 the day & year above written. 
 
 WILLIAM SMITH, J. P. (Seal.)" 
 
 Mr. Dixon's account books do not show the state of his 
 account with Ogee at the date of this instrument, and 
 it is impossible to tell exactly what Mr. Dixon paid for 
 the ferry. He assumed the payment of a mortgage 
 indebtedness of one thousand sixty dollars and gave 
 his own notes for five hundred fifty dollars, so the pur- 
 chase price may have been sixteen hundred ten dol- 
 lars. There is nothing remaining now from which we 
 can know how much rent Mr. Dixon paid for the ferry. 
 
 There are many charges for merchandise and several 
 for payments of cash against Ogee, and several credits in 
 Mr. Dixon's account books, one of the latter being an item 
 of two hundred dollars, January 24, 1831, for "Rent." 
 There is, also, another credit in Ogee's favor of one 
 hundred dollars for "rent," but it is not dated. 
 
 He is charged with the county ferry tax of fifteen dol- 
 lars for the year 1831, but the date of the payment is not 
 shown. 
 
 The first printed mention of Dixon's Ferry that has 
 been found is a statement in the Galenian of May 16, 
 
 1832, that "An express has just arrived from Dixon's 
 Ferry across Rock River." 
 
 This incident may serve to give some idea of the busi- 
 ness done at the ferry. Frank H. Funk, member of the 
 State Public Utilities Commission of Illinois, is a grand- 
 son of Isaac Funk, who settled at what is now Funk's 
 Grove, McLean county, in 1823, and who acquired a large 
 fortune by raising and selling cattle and hogs. Isaac 
 Funk had a brother named Absalom. Frank H. Funk 
 says that there is in his family a tradition that Absalom 
 Funk, finding that there was no market for hogs in Chi- 
 cago, once drove three thousand hogs from Funk's Grove
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 63 
 
 to Galena, as there were about five thousand people in 
 and around Galena and he thought that would be a good 
 market. In examining the old account books kept by 
 Mr. Dixon we find these items that sustain this tradi- 
 tion : 
 
 1830. Mr. Funk, Dr. 
 
 Apl. 30 to' dinner for two .50 
 
 ferriage of cattle, Dear- 
 bourn horse & 2 men 1.25 
 
 1830. Absalom Funk, Dr. 
 
 Deer. 20. To 10 meals 1.87 
 
 to 4 horses 1 night 1.50 
 
 Lodging for 5 0.62 
 
 3.99| 
 
 By the treaty of Fort Armstrong, September 15, 
 1832, with the Winnebagoes, provision was made, at their 
 request, for the payment of two hundred two dollars and 
 fifty cents to Ogee in satisfaction of his claims against 
 them. There is a provision in the treaty of Chicago, Sep- 
 tember 26, 1833, with the Chippewa, Ottawa and Pota- 
 watomi Indians for the payment of two hundred dollars 
 to * * Joseph Ogie. ' ' 
 
 James Simons published notice in the Galenian of Oc- 
 tober 24, 1832, that he held, at his place on the East Fork 
 of Fever river, a horse "recently given up to Joseph 
 'Gee, by the Winnebago Indians, ' ' from which it seems 
 Ogee had not left the country at that time, though the 
 notice does not tell where he was. 
 
 The old account books show charges against him for 
 "mockasins," caps and shoes furnished his sons John 
 and Louis (sometimes spelled Lewis), and a charge May 
 15, 1830, for cash "to Margaret to go to Fort." The 
 last item indicates that Ogee had a daughter, but no 
 other trace of her has been found. There are three charges 
 against him for postage on letters, one being for ten 
 cents July 26, 1831, one for twelve and one-half cents
 
 64 THE OGEE SECTION 
 
 August 5, 1831, and one for ten cents that is not dated, 
 though it evidently is later than the others. 
 
 The last entry on the account books that mentions 
 Ogee is a charge of one dollar for "tin beeswax and 
 nails to mend canoe," June third, 1832. 
 
 The Potawatomies, says Judge Caton, in The Last of 
 the Illinois, were removed to a reservation in Clay County, 
 Missouri, in 1837. About two years later they were re- 
 moved to a place near Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they 
 remained a short time, then being placed on a reserva- 
 tion in Kansas, where they lived about thirty years. 
 Then they were taken to the Indian Territory, now Okla- 
 homa. 
 
 One of the Potawatomi chiefs signing the treaty of 
 November 15, 1861, made in Kansas, was L. H. Ogee. 
 Perhaps he was a son of Joseph Ogee. 
 
 By the terms of the Prairie du Chien treaty of July 
 29, 1829, there was granted to "Madeline Ogee, a 
 Potawatomie woman, wife of Joseph Ogee, one section 
 west of and adjoining the tract herein granted to Pierre 
 Leclerc, ' ' which was at the village of As-sim-in-eh-kon, or 
 Paw Paw Grove. It is not difficult for one to believe that 
 Ogee had a part in securing this grant for his wife. 
 
 The next mention of him that we have found is by Mrs. 
 Kinzie in Waubun. Speaking of her visit at John Dixon's, 
 March 13, 1831, on her memorable journey to Chi- 
 cago, she says she saw there a boy dressed in the full 
 Indian costume, and was told, in response to her inquiries, 
 that he was John Ogee, a son of the old ferryman, and 
 that his mother, "unable to endure the continued ill-treat- 
 ment of her husband, a surly, intemperate Canadian, 
 (she) had left him, and returned to his (sic) family 
 among the Pottowattamies. Years after, this boy and a 
 brother who had also been left behind with their father, 
 found their way to the Upper Missouri, to join their 
 mother, who, with the others of her tribe, had been re-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 65 
 
 moved by the Government from the shores of Lake 
 Michigan. ' ' 
 
 Dr. Everett told the writer that he never knew what 
 caused the separation of the Ogees. Mrs. Ogee married 
 Job P. Alcott on or before November 14, 1842. It is 
 quite probable that Ogee was then dead for while the 
 Potawatomi and other Indian tribes had a custom where- 
 by the man could divorce his wife (Haines, American 
 Indians, p. 288; Meese Early Rock Island, p. 15, and 
 Gurdon S. Hubbard so divorced his Indian wife Watseka ; 
 Fergus Historical Series, no. 31, p. 50), the wife could not 
 obtain such a divorce. 
 
 Boss says that Ogee and "his wife were not without 
 their share of domestic difficulties. As they had no neigh- 
 bors near enough to quarrel with, they managed to stir up 
 a quarrel between themselves, which resulted in the sep- 
 aration of the family, and Joe was left to run his boat 
 and .broil his broth alone. * Ogee had been run- 
 
 ning the ferry nearly two years; his wife had forsaken 
 him, and withal he was much disposed to change his 
 course of life," when Mr. Dixon came and took charge 
 of the ferry in April, 1830. 
 
 Whatever the cause of the separation may have been, 
 it is to be noted that the wife left both husband and chil- 
 dren behind when she went away. 
 
 It is said that Ogee died in Dixon and was buried 
 there, first at the corner of Peoria avenue and First street 
 and then in the cemetery, but we have not been able to 
 verify this. There is no record of his burial in the ceme- 
 tery, but no record of burials there was kept prior to 
 1880, so that fact does not aid us. 
 
 Kurtz says that a man named Lafferty died in the fall 
 of 1836, "and this was the first interment in the ceme- 
 tery. " If he is right, and Ogee was buried at the corner 
 of First street and Peoria avenue, it is reasonably certain 
 that Ogee died before 1836.
 
 66 DAD JOE 
 
 No evidence of the date or place of his birth has been 
 found. 
 
 November 14, 1842, when the Potawatomies were living 
 on a reservation in Iowa, Mrs. Madeline Alcott, "of the 
 territory of Iowa, upper Missouri, within the Council 
 Bluffs sub-agency," and her husband Job, executed the 
 first of the deeds by which she parted with her land in this 
 county. In Captain Enoch Duncan's Company of Mount- 
 ed Riflemen enlisted for the Black Hawk War, there was 
 a sergeant Job Alcott of Galena, who was enrolled May 
 19 and discharged September 14, 1832. A man of that 
 name settled in the town of Wyoming in 1836. (Hill, 
 History of Lee County, p. 648.) 
 
 Dr. Everett believed that Mrs. Ogee was the daughter 
 of La Sallier, the Frenchman who lived in the cabin near 
 Grand Detour in 1822, whose wife was an Indian woman. 
 Keating had La Sallier for a guide from Fort Dearborn 
 to the Pecatonica in 1823, and in his Narrative of An Ex- 
 pedition to the Sources of St. Peter's River, published in 
 1824, says La Sallier "had taken a wife among the Win- 
 nebagoes." 
 
 That Mrs. Ogee was a Potawatomi is shown by the 
 fact that she is so called in the treaty of Prairie du Chien, 
 and it is reasonable to believe that the man who wrote the 
 treaty obtained his information as to her nativity from 
 the Potawatomi interpreter her husband. John K. 
 Robinson says she was a Potawatomi, and so do Judge 
 McCulloch and Kett's History of Ogle County. 
 
 Dad Joe's Grove, in the northern part of Bureau 
 County, took its name from the first settler there. In 
 speaking of him, Brads.by's History of Bureau County 
 says: "He got his name of Dad Joe from the trader 
 Ogee, who spoke very broken English, who found no other 
 way of designating Joe Smith, Sr., from his son Joe." 
 
 At a reception given by the Calumet Club to the old 
 settlers, May 19, 1881, John Wentworth said that the first
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 67 
 
 piano in Chicago was brought by Gen. Jean Baptiste 
 Beaubien, and that "it is now doing service in the family 
 of his granddaughter, Mrs. Sophia (Beaubien) Ogee, at 
 Silver Lake, Kansas, daughter of the late Charles Beau- 
 bien." 
 
 In an article in the Journal of the Illinois State His- 
 torical Society, vol. 5, p. 246, upon the trial of the Indian, 
 Nomaque, who was the first man indicted for murder in 
 Peoria county, Bill Moon says that the complaint upon 
 which Nomaque was arrested was made by Ogee and 
 signed by his mark. 
 
 A careful and thorough search of the files in the case re- 
 sulted in a failure to find any such complaint, and the 
 clerk of the court says there never was any complaint 
 made, and that there is nothing in the files signed by 
 Ogee in any manner. It has already been shown that 
 Ogee wrote his name in signing the instrument convey- 
 ing the ferry to Mr. Dixon. He signed the mortgage to 
 Rolette and his agreement with Skellinger in the same 
 manner, and an expert would have to say the three signa- 
 tures were written by the same man. This shows very 
 clearly that Moon is wrong, and he is so sharply criticized, 
 in the succeeding number of the Journal, for one error 
 in his article that reliance cannot be had in his state- 
 ments. 
 
 John L. Bogardus, a justice of the peace of Peoria 
 County, under the date of May 19, 1826, certified that he 
 had on that day married Francis Bourbonne, Jr., to 
 Josette Alscum. The certificate bears the names of sev- 
 eral witnesses. Among them are Joseph Ogee, who wrote 
 his name, and Madeline Ogee, who signed by making her 
 mark. 
 
 Charles Jouett was twice appointed Indian Agent at 
 Chicago, his second term of office beginning in 1815 and 
 ending in 1818 or 1819. His daughter, Mrs. Susan M. 
 Callis, says her mother's nurse was a half breed French
 
 68 JOSEPH OZIER 
 
 and Indian woman named " Madeline Alscum or Olscum," 
 who married "Joseph Ozier, a soldier from the garrison" 
 the "day we left Chicago for the last time." (Andreas, 
 History of Chicago.} That would place the wedding in 
 1818 or 1819. It is hardly probable that this was the Ogee 
 of our story, as he was, as shown, stationed on the Illi- 
 nois River in 1818. Mrs. Callis' statement tends to sup- 
 port the theory of Judge McCulloch that the real name 
 was Ozier and Ogee merely a nickname, but that theory 
 is overcome by the fact that Mr. Dixon's account books 
 uniformly give the name as Ogee, and he wrote it that 
 way. 
 
 The American Fur Company had an interpreter named 
 Antoine Oscum on the Illinois river in 1818, and agent 
 named Antoine Alscum at its trading post in the Illinois 
 prairie in 1826.
 
 THE OLD ACCOUNT BOOKS. 
 
 John Dixon kept books of account for many years after 
 taking charge of the ferry, but only two of them survive. 
 Fortunately, these are the first and second and they cover 
 the period from April, 1830, to October, 1835. The en- 
 tries were made by different persons who were not expert 
 accountants, and, the ink being poor and the penmanship 
 poorer, many of them are now illegible. Very few credits 
 are shown, and there are fewer balances. The account 
 with Ogee is scattered over many different pages, seem- 
 ingly without any attempt at order, and it is impossible 
 for one to tell just how that account stood. But with all 
 their many faults the books are very interesting and they 
 throw some light upon the life of those days. 
 
 They give prices of many of the commodities the pio- 
 neers needed and give us an insight into the cost of living 
 in those days. 
 
 Corn sold at from twenty-five cents to one dollar per 
 bushel. Oats brought fifty cents per bushel. Corn meal 
 cost one dollar per bushel. Live hogs sold at three to 
 four cents a pound, and pork cost four to nine cents a 
 pound, and there was a sale of a barrel of pork at $11.75. 
 Bacon was eight to ten cents a pound. Beef cost three to 
 four cents. Salt cost two dollars a bushel, and there is 
 a charge of forty cents for thirteen pounds. 
 
 The nearest grist mill was at Dayton, and flour cost 
 three to five cents a pound, and six to nine and a half 
 dollars per barrel. Butter was worth twelve to eighteen 
 cents ; sugar ranged from four and a half to fifteen cents ; 
 tea from seventy-five cents to two dollars. Potatoes sold 
 at fifty cents a bushel. Coffee was twenty to twenty-five 
 cents. Candles were thirty-one and a quarter cents per 
 dozen. 
 
 A man paid a dollar and a half to two dollars for his 
 shoes; four dollars for his "thick boots"; from two dol- 
 
 (69)
 
 70 WAGES 
 
 lars to two dollars and a half for "boots," one dollar 
 seventy-five for his wife's shoes, and a dollar for those 
 his boy wore. His smoking tobacco cost him twenty-five 
 to fifty cents per pound, there is no record of the sale 
 of any cigars or cigarettes; his chewing tobacco was 
 twenty-five cents a "large plug," and his whiskey fifty 
 cents a gallon. His flannel shirt cost one dollar and a 
 half; his pantaloons three and a half; his socks thirty- 
 seven and one-half cents; his hat one dollar and a shil- 
 ling. He paid two dollars a week for his board and lodg- 
 ing. One man paid $3.75 for four shirts, and another had 
 three made for $2.25. 0. W. Kellogg was charged with 
 one dollar for two shirts furnished to Jarro, and with 
 another dollar for t\vo shirts furnished to Pashepayou. 
 The last charge shows that Pashepayou, the Sac chief 
 who refused to aid Black Hawk in his war, traded at 
 Dixon. The nearest Sac town was Saukenuk, on Rock 
 river, commonly called Black Hawk's town. 
 
 The housewife had her bargain days bed ticking 
 thirty-one and a quarter cents a yard; muslin at fifteen 
 cents; calico at twenty-five to forty cents; cotton hand- 
 kerchief thirty-seven and one-half cents ; red flannel eight 
 yards for five dollars; striped shirting twenty cents. 
 Blankets sold for from two to five dollars. Thread, both 
 linen and cotton, was seventy-five cents per half pound. 
 
 Edward Penseno is the first to be named as working 
 for Mr. Dixon and he earned $42 working three and one 
 half months from April 25, 1830. Paskal Penseno worked 
 from April 29, 1830, to May 21 and is credited with $9. 
 George Elinger worked from May 1, 1830, to July 4, but 
 lost one day w r hile sick and two while working for others 
 at forty cents per day, and his earnings were $25.20. 
 George Butterfield was credited with $27.60 for \vork 
 from August 22, 1832, to October 31, and with $76.80 for 
 eight months and twelve days' work beginning Novem- 
 ber 1.
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 71 
 
 Rebeckah Merrill worked two and one half weeks at 
 $2.00 and another period of five weeks at $1.50. 
 
 Others working for Mr. Dixon were James V. Wagner, 
 John Doyle, P. Grover, Nancy Walker, George Powers, 
 Patrick McCormack, Thomas Spicer, Charles Lane, Isaac 
 
 Morgan, William , - - Brownfield, Murphy, 
 
 Brink, Siner, Joseph , Me Clure, 
 
 Grant, McClure must have been considered an exception- 
 ally good worker, as he earned $1.12^ a. day for part of 
 the time. The usual pay was from twelve to sixteen dol- 
 lars per month. 
 
 There always has been a belief in the family that a col- 
 ored man worked some time for Mr. Dixon, and this 
 seems to be sustained by entries dated May 10, 1830, 
 giving credit to Eneous for work. 
 
 That the fur trade had not disappeared entirely is 
 clearly shown by these books. Some of the items in the 
 books are not dated, and others do not state the prices. 
 There was but little fluctuation in the prices. Coon skins 
 brought from fifteen to thirty-five cents. Muskrats sold 
 from twenty to twenty-three cents; mink at thirty-three 
 to thirty-five ; wolf from twenty-five to thirty-three ; wild 
 cat at twenty <five ; deer and fawn at twenty-five cents, and 
 otter at five dollars. The deer had become very scarce, 
 there being, in five years, sales of only nineteen fawn and 
 deer. There were sold 284 coon; 50 wolf; 101 mink; 15 
 otter ; 9 wild cat ; 10,888 muskrats. 
 
 H. B. Stillman and P. Menard, Jr.,, were the best cus- 
 tomers, sometimes in the firm name Menard and Still- 
 man and again in their individual names. Their prin- 
 cipal place of business was in Pekin. 
 
 P. A. Lorimere, or Lorimier, was a good customer. As 
 some of his purchases were sent to J. P. B. Gratiot for 
 him, it would seem that his business was conducted in 
 Galena. Henry Gratiot and H. B. Soulard, both of Galena
 
 72 COL. Z. TAYLOR 
 
 were good patrons. Thomas Hartzell of Bureau County 
 and J. Demun were the only other buyers. 
 
 The first sale shown on the books was to H. B. Stillman 
 on June 28, 1830, and the last was to P. A. Lorimere, 
 June 16, 1835. 
 
 There are charges against S. Sacket for the Sangamo 
 Journal from September 3, 1834, to June 1, 1835, and they 
 were paid. Other charges for newspapers were made 
 against "Mr. Anclrus" for the Monroe Democrat and 
 the Knickerbocker; "Mr. Fellows" for the Christian Ad- 
 vocate and Journal; "Mrs. Fellows" for the Sangamo 
 Journal, G. A. Martin for the Galena Gazette, and one, 
 probably in 1834, against Isaac Morgan ' ' May 30, Cash 
 sent for Saturday Evening Post $2.00. ' ' 
 
 There are many charges for the unpaid postage on let- 
 ters, ranging from ten to thirty seven and one half cents. 
 
 Many of the items indicate that Mr. Dixon was quite 
 willing to accommodate his friends by making small loans 
 of cash. John D. Winters, the stage coach man, was a 
 frequent borrower. William S. Hamilton, "Dad Jo" 
 Smith, Henry Gratiot, John K. Robinson, Dr. Forrest, 
 Zachariah Malugin and Asa Crook were some of the 
 debtors. James M. Strode borrowed several times, once 
 "on his way to Galena from court." Colonel Zachary 
 Taylor obtained two loans of fifty cents each, two of sev- 
 enty-five cents each, s one of two dollars and fifty cents. 
 Adding these to a charge of one dollar fifty cents for a 
 pair of shoes for his man, made his indebtedness six dol- 
 lars and fifty cents, and the book says this was "settled 
 by note." Perhaps the note was paid in due time; the 
 book does not tell. 
 
 There are charges against the United States for flour, 
 bacon and pork supplied to the Indians, for flour and 
 bacon furnished the men of the Sixth Regiment ; for ra- 
 tions "to Colbert the express man;" for bacon and flour 
 furnished the men of the First Regiment who were sent
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 73 
 
 to Prairie du Chien; for bacon and flour supplied the 
 men of the Sixth Regiment who were sent to the Jefferson 
 Barracks. "Col. Johnson for U. S." is charged $360.50 
 for blankets, guns and a rifle. "U. S. Gen. Atkinson's Q. 
 M. " is charged for double and single trees, breast chains, 
 augers, the use of oxen, iron, steel and blacksmith's tools 
 and "accommodation and sustainance of the sick of the 
 Army," but the amount is not stated. 
 
 It is not possible for one to decipher all the names ap- 
 pearing in the accounts with the Indians. The books do 
 not give any idea of the value of the goods sold. The first 
 of the Indian items charges "Haucock Honesty" with 
 beads, a shirt and some paint. Later with "wacoodshun," 
 "nobra skelehera," "wawatchera," In the account 
 against Scar on His Brow there is this notation Jarro 
 went with me to his camp. The items charged are a bridle, 
 two strouds, five traps, one ax r powder, handkerchief, 
 spear and flour. The Long Yellow Man is noted as 
 "good pay." 
 
 There are charges against Old Blue Coat's son, one of 
 them for "wy Parisable." An "Old grey head Potawa- 
 mie" is charged with "ferretin," while his "fat Son" is 
 charged with "1 wapamoon." Plump Face bought "wa 
 sarah" and "my sherry." Just preceding the charges 
 against "Sack, old man" is this entry "Ogee says he is 
 good." "Fat Squaw, with many beads" owes a balance 
 "due on shirt." Plump Face bought a blanket for Thin 
 Face, and it was charged to the latter. There is an item 
 of "wacodghun" against American Woman and one 
 against the "Man that has a sick squaw," for a shirt. 
 ' ' Crane 's Son ' ' bought a blanket, handkerchief, knife and 
 "nobra skelehera." There are charges against "Tall Pot- 
 awatamie, Mrs. O's ant's husband," Great Dancer, Wa- 
 wacockera, Wakongonie; "Daddy Walker, Hanuzeka," 
 Limpy, Old Quaker, Sour Eads, Corngather, "Sin au 
 buck, old white head Potawatamie's son," Moneah, No
 
 74 INDIAN DEBTORS 
 
 Nose, Good Singer, "Dr.'s Husband," ''Preacher long 
 Sober man" " Blinkey 's brother," " Jarro's oldest son." 
 Plump Face is charged with "massagran," "wa sarah," 
 * * my sherry ' ' and ' * ohanena. ' ' Chief Jarro bought some 
 "ohenena," and some "pageuna." Howekah, the "One 
 eye old man that came with Crane & Orenduff," bought 
 "torah," "Pashcnunk, Chief Crane" bought "wawatch- 
 era." Squirrel Cheeks bought "oats netega." The 
 "woman that came with Mother Flat Face" bought "fer- 
 ritin." There was a sale of "wacoodshun" to the 
 Preacher. Chief Crane's brother, "Blue Coat" had an 
 item of "edah skelehera." Many of the charges against 
 Blinkey are crossed out. 
 
 In the account against the United States are charges 
 for supplies furnished to Hau cau shereck, Asherrekerry, 
 Hanaracerashak, Dash, Hounch hutie, Chaw shep hutie, 
 White Crow, "Dash's oldest son Hoonk Cheekah," Coca- 
 sarretch, Blinkey, Laugher, Comeah, Nah he kah, Little 
 Beaver, Hanupe Kah, Wauconjackpanke, Hoketchoke, 
 Mass cheeka, On cah ce nech, Whirling Thunder, Pau he 
 saw, Hanusee and many others. These items appear to 
 have been furnished between September, 1832, and March 
 23, 1833, and were for flour, pork, bacon and corn. No 
 prices are given and in many instances the quantity is 
 not stated. 
 
 By the treaty made at Washington November 1, 1837, 
 the Winnebagoes ceded all their land east of the Mis- 
 sissippi and agreed to remove therefrom within eight 
 months after the ratification of the treaty. The treaty 
 provided for the payment of various sums, aggregating 
 $38,000, to certain persons named, out of the sum of 
 $200,000, and that the balance "shall be applied to the 
 debts of the nation, which may be ascertained to be justly 
 due, and which may be admitted by the Indians, pro- 
 vided, that if all their debts shall amount to more than 
 this balance, their creditors shall be paid pro rata, upon
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 75 
 
 their giving receipts in full," and that no claim for dep- 
 redations should be allowed. Provision was also made 
 for the payment, under the direction of the President, 
 to the relations and friends of the Winnebagoes "having 
 not less than one-quarter of Winebago blood" of the sum 
 of $100,000. James Murray of Maryland and Simon 
 Cameron of Pennsylvania were appointed commissioners 
 to adjust these claims, and they proceeded to Prairie du 
 Chien, where they met the Indians and the various claim- 
 ants in 1838. The report of the Secretary of War shows 
 that John Dixon presented a claim for $2,298.25 for mer- 
 chandise sold to the Indians, and, it being one of the five 
 that were allowed in full, the commissioners paid him 
 his proportion, $1,876.28, the payment being made to his 
 attorney in fact, James P. Dixon. 
 
 Writing to Gen. Clark in October, 1831, of the Indian 
 trade on the Mississippi and lower Rock river, Thomas 
 Forsyth said that the prices charged by the traders in 
 that region about that time were higher in the fall than 
 in the spring and ranged as follows : a three point blan- 
 ket was sold for $10, a "rifle gun" for $30, a pound of 
 powder for $4, a total of $44. He said that these arti- 
 cles cost the trader the blanket $3.52, the rifle $12 to 
 $13, the powder twenty cents, "I know this to be cor- 
 rect." 
 
 The trader accepted for his dollar a large buckskin, or 
 one doe skin, or four muskrats, or four or five raccoons. 
 An otter skin was worth $3 and beaver $2 a pound. 
 
 A treaty made at Green Bay August 25, 1828, with the 
 Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes were signed 
 by Kau-ree-kau-saw-kaw or White Crow. The treaty of 
 August 1, 1829, made at Prairie du Chien with the Winne- 
 bagoes, was signed by Wau-kun-tshaw-way-kee-wen-kaw 
 or Whirling Thunder, Pey-tshun-kaw ? or the Crane, and 
 Jarot for the Indians. 
 
 The treaty made at Fort Armstrong in September,
 
 76 JARRO 
 
 1832, was signed by Kau-ree-kaw-see-kaw or White Crow; 
 Wau-kaun-wee-kaw or Whirling Thunder, and Wee- 
 tshun-kaw or Goose, for the Rock river deputation of 
 Winnebagoes, and by Wau-kaun-tshah-ween-kaw or 
 Whirling Thunder for the Winnebagoes of Fort Winne- 
 bago. It is more than probable that the third signature 
 should read Pey-tshun kaw, or the Crane. 
 
 John Blackhawk, an intelligent and well educated Win- 
 nebago, furnishes the following translations of these 
 Indian words: 
 
 wy parisable black cloth ; wacodghun moccasins ; 
 
 w r acoodshun leggins ; nobra skelehera finger 
 
 massagran lead ; rings ; 
 
 my sherry flint stone ; wa sarah grease ; 
 
 torah potatoes ; pageuna ' ' for making 
 
 edah skelehera bridle; fire"; 
 
 Hanuzeka Yellow Boy; wawatchera blue broad 
 
 Moneah Arrow ; cloth ; 
 
 Asherrekerry Fox ; Wakongonie Snake ; 
 
 Paschunka Crane; Hau cau shereck Name of 
 
 Hoonk Cheekah the third boy in the fam- 
 
 New Chief; ily; 
 
 Wauconjackpanke Good Hounch hutie Big Bear; 
 
 Thunder ; Hanupe Kah Day ; 
 
 Mass Cheeka New Iron ; Hoketchoke Green or Blue 
 Pau he saw Sharp or who Chief ; 
 
 is sharp ; On cah ce nech Tall Man ; 
 
 Although he was a Winnebago chief, Jarro had a 
 French name which he acquired in a rather peculiar man- 
 ner. Nicholas Jarrot, a native of France, lived in Caho- 
 kia from 1794 to 1823, and traded with the Indians on an 
 extensive scale. On one of his visits to an Indian camp 
 near Prairie du Chien, about 1812, the Indians were so 
 enraged against him that they determined to kill him. 
 They raised "the warwhoop and brandished their spears 
 and tomahawks in the air. It was approaching an alarm- 
 ing crisis. Jarrot and men seemed to be doomed to des- 
 truction. The furious savages would not permit a par-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 77 
 
 ley; but at last, when the warriers were so near Jarrot 
 that it might .be fatal with him, one of his old friends, a 
 Winnebago Indian, stepped before the crowd of warriors 
 and raised a terrific war-whoop, such as the Indians use 
 in a battle where they are sure to be destroyed. It is a 
 kind of a death-cry, so-called by them. The Indian was 
 armed with all the weapons used by the infuriated sav- 
 ages in mortal conflict. The warriors saw the danger 
 they were in. One or more of them must be slain by the 
 friend of Jarrot, if they persisted in the attempt to 
 murder him and party. The bravery of the Winnebago 
 made them reflect, and they desisted from the cowardly 
 act to assassinate the trader. Jarrot and men were saved 
 by the noble daring of this wild savage. The Indians 
 changed his former name to that of Jarrot, and he was 
 always known by that name afterward. I saw this In- 
 dian, who was called Jarrot, at Galena, in 1829." (Reyn- 
 olds, Pioneer History of Illinois; Fergus Ed., p. 211.)
 
 THE KINZIES AT DIXON. 
 
 Early in 1831 the Kinzies decided to visit Chicago. The 
 distance from Fort Winnebago (Portage) was not con- 
 sidered too great, if a direct route were taken. The 
 winter, however, had been a severe one and the snow 
 was deep. While making their preparations for the 
 journey they learned that the route by Kosh-ko-nong 
 was out of the question, as the Indians were absent 
 from their villages, and, the ice being gone, there was 
 no means of crossing Rock river except at "Dixon, or, 
 as it was then called, Ogie's Ferry." Finishing their 
 preparations, they started on the morning of the eighth 
 of March, the party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Kinzie, 
 Plante, their ' ' guide, on the assurance that he knew every 
 mile of the way from the Portage to Ogie's Ferry, and 
 from Ogie's Ferry to Chicago," and Pierre Roy. They 
 spent a night at Hamilton's; the next at Kellogg 's, and 
 on the thirteenth "just at sunset we reached the dark, 
 rapid waters of the Rock River. The 'ferry' which we 
 had traveled so far out of our way to take advantage of, 
 proved to be merely a small boat or skiff, the larger one 
 having been swept into the stream, and carried down in 
 the breaking up of the ice the week previous." 
 
 They crossed on the ferry and were soon in Mr. Dixon's 
 house. Mrs. Kinzie then saw young John "Ogie," and 
 heard of the separation of his parents. 
 
 After doing ample justice to "a most savory supper 
 of ducks and venison, with their accompaniements," Mr. 
 Dixon gave the travelers an account of the way still be- 
 fore them. 
 
 "There is no difficulty," said he, "if you keep a little 
 to the north, and strike the great Sank trail. If you get 
 too far to the south, you will come upon the Winnebago 
 Swamp, and once in that, there is no telling when you 
 will ever get out again. As for the distance, it is noth- 
 
 (78)
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 79 
 
 ing at all to speak of. Two young men came out here from 
 Chicago, on foot, last fall. They got here in the evening 
 of the second day; and even with a lady in your party, 
 you could go on horseback in less time than that. The 
 only thing is to be sure and get on the great track that 
 the Sauks have made, in going every year from the Mis- 
 sissippi to Canada, to receive their presents from the 
 British Indian Agent." 
 
 ' l The following morning, which was a bright and lovely 
 one for that season of the year, we took leave of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Dixon, in high spirits. We traveled for the first few 
 miles along the beautiful, undulating banks of the Bock 
 River, always in an easterly direction, keeping the beaten 
 path, or rather road, which led to Fort Clark or Peoria. 
 The Sauk trail, we had been told, would cross this road, 
 at the distance of about six miles. 
 
 After traveling, as we judged, fully that distance, we 
 came upon a trail, bearing northeast, and a consultation 
 was held as to the probability of its being the one we 
 were in search of. 
 
 Mr. Kinzie was of opinion that it tended too much to 
 the north, and was, moreover, too faint and obscure for 
 a trail so much used, and by so large a body of Indians 
 in their annual journeys. 
 
 Plante was positive as to its being the very spot where 
 he and 'Piche' in their journey to Fort Winnebago, the 
 year before, struck into the great road. 'On that very 
 rising ground at the point of the woods, he remembered 
 perfectly stopping to shoot ducks, which they ate for their 
 supper. ' 
 
 Mr. Kellogg was noncommittal, but sided alternately 
 with each speaker. 
 
 As Plante was the 'guide,' and withal so confident of 
 being right, it was decided to follow him, not without 
 some demurring, however, on the part of the bour- 
 geois, who every now and then called a halt, to discuss 
 the state of affairs.
 
 80 AT GRAND DETOUR 
 
 ' Now Plante, ' he would say, ' I am sure you are leading 
 us too far north. Why, man, if we keep on in this direc- 
 tion, following the course of the river, we shall bring up 
 at Kosh-ko-nong, instead of Chicago.' 
 
 i Ah! mon bourgeois,' would the light-hearted Canadian 
 reply, 'would I tell you this is the road if I were not quite 
 certain? Only one year ago I traveled it, and can I for- 
 get so soon? Oh! no I remember every foot of it.' 
 
 But Monsieur Plante was convinced of his mistake 
 when the trail brought us to the great bend of the river 
 with its bold rocky bluffs." 
 
 Mr. Kinzie then took command and they proceeded in 
 a direction "as nearly east as possible." Other misfor- 
 tunes befell them before they reached Chicago, but we 
 are not concerned in them now. 
 
 It is impossible for one acquainted with that territory 
 to understand why the Kinzie party traveled from 
 Dixon's as they did, unless it be that they misunderstood 
 what Mr. Dixon told them, and Kellogg was so confused 
 that he was lost at the start. 
 
 Mr. Dixon knew, and Kellogg must have known, that 
 the road to Chicago did not run along the river. Dixon 
 and Kellogg well knew that the crossing of the Sauk 
 trail was south of Dixon's. Kinzie certainly must have 
 misunderstood what Dixon said about the Indian trails, 
 for Dixon knew that the "Great Sauk" trail from the 
 Mississippi to Canada did not touch Chicago, and it was 
 far south of another trail that did go from the Mississippi 
 to Chicago. It is more than probable that Dixon told 
 them to go south until they reached the first trail and 
 then to follow that to Chicago. He could not have told 
 them that that trail, or the Great Sauk trail was about 
 six miles from Dixon's, for he knew it was farther. 
 
 It is very clear that Mr. Dixon did not see the party 
 start out, for he would not have permitted them to travel 
 "the first few miles along the beautiful, undulating banks
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 81 
 
 of the Rock River," as that course would have taken 
 them back to Fort Winnebago. They did not keep "the 
 beaten path, or rather road, which led to Fort Clark or 
 Peoria, ' ' for that did not follow the river bank.
 
 THE OLD CENTRAL RAILROAD AT DIXON. 
 
 The "Act to establish and maintain a general system 
 of internal improvement," approved February 27, 1837, 
 appropriated three and one-half million dollars for the 
 purpose of building a railroad from Cairo to Galena, by 
 way of Savanna. 
 
 The act created a Board of Fund Commissioners and 
 authorized it borrow money on the faith and credit of 
 the state and pay out this money on warrants drawn by 
 the commissioners of public works. It created also, a 
 Board of Commissioners of Public Works of seven mem- 
 bers, to be elected by the legislature biennially, one from 
 each of the judicial districts into which the State was 
 then divided. The first board was composed of William 
 Kinney, whom the Board elected its president, Murray 
 McConnell, Elijah Willard, Milton K. Alexander, Joel 
 Wright, James W. Stephenson and Ebenezer Peck. Judge 
 Moses, in his History of Illinois, p. 400, says that John 
 Dixon was a member of the first board, but the legisla- 
 tive records show that he is wrong. Stephenson, who 
 lived at Galena, was the member for the sixth district. He 
 resigned in the summer of 1838 because of ill health that 
 soon resulted in his death. Soon after his resignation 
 there was presented to the Governor a petition reading 
 as follows : 
 
 To His Excellency, Joseph Duncan 
 
 Governor of the State of Illinois, Sir 
 The undersigned citizens of the sixth judicial Cir- 
 cuit in the State of Illinois, have recently understood 
 that a vacancy has occurred in the office of Commis- 
 sioner of Public Works for this Circuit, by the resig- 
 nation of Col. James W. Stephenson. 
 
 They would therefore respectfully recommend 
 John Dixon of Ogle County to your favorable consid- 
 eration, under a thorough conviction that his charac- 
 ter qualification and standing in society would ren- 
 
 (82)
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 
 
 83 
 
 der his appointment more acceptable to the people 
 of this Circuit than that of any other individual. 
 
 S. M. Bowman 
 
 Isaac S. Boardman, Jr. 
 
 James Davy 
 
 A. W. Hughes 
 
 S. G. Holbrook 
 
 Wm. G. Elder 
 
 John Young 
 
 G. B. Dills 
 
 Stephen Fuller 
 
 Jos. Crawford 
 
 A. D. Moon 
 
 Horace Thompson 
 
 Wm. Thompson 
 
 Carleton Bayley 
 
 C. H. Chapman 
 
 G. L. Chapman by C. H. C. 
 
 C. Woodruff 
 Elias Dement 
 J. G. Dement 
 G. Wetzlar 
 Hiram F. Parks 
 Lewis Davis 
 Wm. Reed 
 Denison Spooner 
 Grin Bennett 
 Robert Averil 
 J. W. Hamilton 
 
 D. C. Stevens 
 Hugh McBride 
 Saml. J. Charters 
 John "W. Stoklager 
 Asa Crooks 
 
 A. Charters 
 
 Wilson 
 
 Austin L. Bull 
 Isaac T. Thomas 
 
 Robert 
 
 Kemp 
 
 James Benjamin 
 Horace S. Benjamin 
 
 Wm. Martin 
 David Hill 
 Harvey Morgan 
 B. H. Harris 
 
 B. H. Stewart 
 Wm. Fellows 
 Natt. G. H. Morrill 
 
 C. W. & M. P. Bartlett 
 Jacob M. Morrill 
 Harvey Woodle 
 
 Orin Skeel 
 
 Peter 
 
 L. S. Huff 
 
 D. Bates McKenney 
 Daniel W. McKenney 
 Lewis Lovel 
 Coridon Deland 
 James Hambleton 
 
 E. E. Gardner 
 John Cutshaw 
 James Douglas 
 M. Falvy 
 
 John G. Bellaragee 
 A. T. Wilson 
 David Brown 
 
 Henry 
 
 M. Fellows 
 Geo. W. Chase 
 A. Robinson 
 John Saunders 
 James Kellers 
 J. N. Calmes 
 S. Matthews 
 H. P. Darrow 
 E. W. Hine 
 G. D. Latham 
 N. W. Brown 
 Wm. Jones 
 J. K. Cutshaw 
 John Cutshaw
 
 84 A. LINCOLN 
 
 Harrison Barnes Alex Evans 
 
 Elijah Bowman G. A. Martin 
 
 Thomas McCabe R. B. Loveland 
 
 Nemehiah Hutton Otis Loveland 
 
 Daniel Roony Roswell Streeter 
 
 C. S. Lunt Jarod Martin 
 
 Chas. Fred Hubbard Simon T. Martin 
 
 H. Gates Hewlett Isaac Morgan 
 
 John Caldwell Thos. I. Harris 
 
 Win. A. Fraser Nathan Morehouse 
 
 E. Southwick, Jr. Oliver A. Hubbard 
 
 W. P. Burroughs Simon Fellows 
 
 M. T. Crowell P. M. Alexander 
 
 James Power M. M. De Long 
 
 W. T. Chapman John Low 
 
 John M. Thompson E. C. Cothral 
 
 Henry A. Coe James McKenney 
 
 Augustus Hawley Richard McKenney 
 
 John Wilson F. C. McKenney 
 
 Theodore Jaques Wm. McKenney 
 
 A. L. Porter Seth Preston 
 
 John Brandon John Maynard 
 
 Noah Beede R. L. McKenney 
 (Two other names appear but they are totally illegible.) 
 
 At the same time there was presented to the Governor 
 the following : 
 
 Springfield, July 25. 
 To His Excellency Jo Duncan 
 
 Having been informed that a vacancy has occured 
 in the board of Com. of Public Works by the resig- 
 nation of J. W. Stephenson we take much pleasure in 
 recommending to your favorable consideration for 
 the vacancy thus created our ried- fellow citizen 
 John Dixon of Ogle County whom we consider in 
 every way qualified to discharge the duties of said 
 office. 
 
 JESSE B. THOMAS, JR. SIMON FRANCIS 
 
 JOEL WRIGHT Comr. Pub. Works. J. R. SPEED 
 G. ELKIN THO. C. BROWN 
 
 C. R. MATHENY A. G. HERNDON 
 
 N. W. EDWARDS WM. BUTLER 
 
 A. LINCOLN A. G. HENRY
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 85 
 
 Upon receiving these petitions, the Governor sent this 
 letter to Mr. Dixon at "Dixonville or Dixon's Ferry, Ogle 
 County": 
 
 Jacksonville Aug. 2nd. 1838. 
 Dear Sir 
 
 You are hereby appointed Commissioner of the 
 Board of Public Works for the Sixth Judicial Cir- 
 cuit, in the place of Col. J. W. Stephenson, resigned. 
 I will direct the Sec. of State to forward your 
 commission, with despatch. 
 
 Your appointment should have been attended to 
 sooner, but my little son has been dangerously ill, and 
 has absorbed all my attention. 
 
 Your Friend & 
 Obt. Servant, 
 
 JOSEPH DUNCAN 
 Gov . of the State of Illinois 
 To 
 
 JOHN DIXON, ESQ. 
 Ogle County 
 Illinois 
 
 His commission is dated at Vandalia, August 8, 1838, 
 and he began the performance of his duties on the four- 
 teenth of that month, after the contract for the construc- 
 tion of part of the railroad between Galena and Savanna 
 had been let by his predecessor. 
 
 The sixth judicial circuit then included the present 
 counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Ogle, 
 Carroll, Whiteside, Rock Island and Lee. La Salle was in 
 the seventh circuit of which Ebenezer Peck of Chicago 
 was the member of the board. 
 
 February 19, 1839, the two houses of the legislature 
 met in joint session and elected- Mr. Dixon Commis- 
 sioner of Public Works for the sixth circuit, he receiv- 
 ing sixty-six votes, William C. Enos thirty, John Turney 
 seventeen, Hunt ten, and four votes were scattered. 
 Among those voting for Mr. Dixon were Orville H. 
 Browning, afterwards United States Senator and Sec-
 
 86 SURVEYS FROM LA SALLB NORTH 
 
 retary of the Interior, John S. Hacker, later Colonel 
 of one of Illinois' most famous regiments in the civil 
 war, John Hamlin, his old Peoria friend, Edward D. 
 Baker, who was killed in battle in the civil war while 
 United States Senator as well as Colonel, Jesse K. Du- 
 bois, afterwards Auditor of Public Accounts of the State, 
 John J. Hardin, who was killed in battle in the Mexican 
 war, and Abraham Lincoln. At this election Jesse B. 
 Thomas was chosen to succeed McConnell, John Hogan to 
 succeed Kinney, and Hart Fellows to succeed Wright. 
 Peck, Willard and Alexander were re-elected. 
 
 Following this election, Mr. Dixon took the oath of 
 office at Vandalia February 28, 1839, before Theophilus 
 W. Smith, one of the judges of the Supreme Court. His 
 commission, dated February 22, 1839, is signed by 
 Thomas Carlin, Governor. 
 
 Under date of Omaha, Nebraska, June 15, 1881, 
 Frederick A. Nash wrote John Wentworth that he ar- 
 rived at Chicago February 11, 1837, under promise of 
 a situation with James Seymour, who had been selected 
 by Edmund D. Taylor and William B. Ogden to survey 
 and locate the Galena and Chicago Union Railway; "we 
 were paid off, and June 1st, left for Peru, then a prom- 
 ising city on paper and prairie bluffs, to enter upon the 
 surveys north and south of the Illinois river, under the 
 old Illinois Internal Improvement scheme. * James 
 
 Seymour was chief; his brother, William H. Seymour, 
 was assistant ; P. H. Ogilvie, draughtsman, a lively little 
 Scot, and a graduate of Edinboro; Geo. Howel, rodman, 
 and myself, axeman and chainman. From Peru, 
 
 or La Salle, our surveys extended up the Vermillion to 
 Dixon and Galena, from the south side of the river in 
 the direction of Bloomington, running 60 miles without 
 a tree or any stream to check our progress. In 
 
 1840, Ogilvie, myself and others listened to a four hour 
 speech from Stephen A. Douglas, at Dixon 's Ferry, and
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 87 
 
 to a shorter and spicy address from "Long John" Went- 
 worth, then in the bloom of manhood. In 1840 I was 
 junior assistant engineer, and had charge of construction 
 from La Salle to the Bureau river, near Inlet Grove, Lee 
 County, and a small prairie town called Greenfield, in Bu- 
 reau county." (Greenfield is now La Moille.) 
 
 Nash, evidently writing from recollection, is slightly 
 in error. The division he joined was organized May 8, 
 1837. (See report of Seymour in Northwestern Gazette 
 <& Galena Advertiser, February 24, 1838.) 
 
 Ogilvie later surveyed and made a plat of a town, and 
 when the owners of the site were trying to find a name 
 for the place, he suggested Moulin, as they thought it 
 would be a manufacturing town. After some discussion 
 his suggestion was modified and the name made Moline. 
 (Moline Dispatch, August 24, 1898.) 
 
 In June, 1837, a party of engineers was formed at Ga- 
 lena, with William B. Gilbert at its head, and given 
 charge of the work between Galena and Rock river. In 
 the same month a, fourth corps of engineers was organ- 
 ized at Dixon 's Ferry, with Amedee Blanc in charge un- 
 til the arrival of Ogilvie who continued the surveys until 
 his health failed. Blanc, whose work had been confined 
 to the Rock river improvement up to that time, then 
 took up the railroad surveys. This party was disbanded 
 in the fall of that year. (25th Cong., 2d Sess.: Sen. Doc. 
 259.) 
 
 The division engineer's office was located at Dixon in 
 a building erected by "Granny" John Wilson on the 
 south side of East First Street between Galena and 
 Ottawa avenues. The first term of the Circuit Court of 
 Ogle County was held in that building in 1837. (Kurtz, 
 History of Dixon and Palmyra; Hill, History of Lee 
 County.} 
 
 Stephenson advertised for bids for the construction of 
 the railroad from Galena to the south, the bids to be
 
 88 LA SALLE TO INLET 
 
 opened at Dixon's Ferry, Ogle County, May 12, 1838, 
 and it appears that they were opened and the contracts 
 awarded that day. The law required the concurrence 
 of "the acting commissioner on the line, and at least 
 one other member of the board," together with the rec- 
 ommendation of "the principal engineer in charge of the 
 work, ' ' in the letting of contracts. 
 
 Attached to the Report of Joel Wright, Commissioner 
 of Public Works for the Fifth Circuit, is a report of 
 Hiram P. Woodworth, Chief Engineer, dated at the Rail- 
 road Office, La Salle County, November 27, 1838, stat- 
 ing that contracts for the construction of that part of the 
 Central Railroad extending southerly from Galena twenty 
 miles had been let "last May ; " that the work was delayed 
 because although some of the contractors had labored 
 faithfully others had abandoned their jobs and absconded, 
 and, also, by reason of the "protracted and painful ill- 
 ness of our late and much lamented" commissioner Col. 
 Stephenson. He also said that he had had thorough sur- 
 veys made on every possible route between Savanna and 
 Rock river, owing to the feeling exhibited. 
 
 From the report of T. B. Ransom, engineer, November 
 28, 1838, attached to the report of Commissioner Peck, 
 it appears that the line of the Central Railroad north 
 of the Illinois river had been located so that it would 
 cross Bureau creek about eighteen and a quarter miles 
 from La Salle and Inlet creek about twenty-eight and 
 two-thirds miles from La Salle; that one line had been 
 considered that would cross Rock river about two miles 
 above Dixon's Ferry. 
 
 Ransom further says that the contract for the construc- 
 tion of the first eleven miles north of La Salle was let 
 to Kennedy & Brookin, with H. K. Curtis in charge as 
 engineer. 
 
 A petition of citizens residing "in the Rock river coun- 
 try" was presented to the Legislature in 1838 soon after
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 89 
 
 it was reported that the Board of Public works had so 
 located the line of the Central Railroad that it would pass 
 through Dixon, and in it these worthy citizens complained 
 that the road from '"Rocky Ford on the Inlet" to a point 
 on the Mississippi near Savanna had been ' ' located to suit 
 personal interests rather than those of the State;" that 
 it had been located on "very uneven ground" and on a 
 route longer than other routes ; that it would cross Rock 
 river where the banks are so low and the bluffs recede so 
 far as to cause the "construction of immense embank- 
 ments to reach a viaduct of sufficient elevation to permit 
 the passage of steamboats," "besides," the water is deep 
 and the bottom sand and clay. To show that they were 
 moved solely by public spirit, they invited attention to 
 the facts that the ground from Rocky Ford to Sterling is 
 quite level, that the banks of Rock river at Sterling are 
 close to the water's edge and but about twenty feet 
 higher; that the river bed there is a mass of solid rock 
 and the water so low that the State had already begun 
 the work of excavating a boat channel through this rock, 
 and that it would be good policy to have the railroad 
 cross Rock river at the place already selected for the im- 
 provement of the river. The petition was signed by Hugh 
 Wallace, Lot S. Pennjngton, Nelson Mason and some 
 twenty others, showing, quite conclusively, that it eman- 
 ated from Sterling. 
 
 To overcome this petition there was presented to the 
 Legislature a protest signed by some one hundred and 
 thirty "Citizens on Rock River and vicinity," asserting 
 that the railroad between Rockyford and Savannah "has 
 been judiciously located," and referring to the reports 
 of the engineers. 
 
 Upon consideration of the petition and protest, on Jan- 
 uary 14, 1839, on motion of James Craig of Jo Daviess, 
 the House 
 
 "Resolved That the Board of Public Works be
 
 90 SAVANNA TO DIXON 
 
 requested to communicate to this House at as early 
 a day as practicable. * * * 
 
 "3d. At what place on Eock river the said Board 
 of Public Works have determined that the Central 
 railroad shall cross, and their reasons why a more 
 direct route from Peru, on the Illinois river, to Sa- 
 vannah, on the Mississippi river, has not been 
 adopted. * * * 
 
 "6th. Whether the line of the Central Eailroad 
 adopted is longer or shorter than another line from 
 Peru, on the Illinois river, via the rapids on Bock 
 river, to Savannah, on the Mississippi river, and the 
 comparative cost of construction of the two routes. 
 
 "7th. And that they report to this House their 
 reasons for leaving an interval of ten or twenty miles 
 between that part of the Central railroad already put 
 under contract from Galena south, and that part pro- 
 posed by the Board of Public Works to be put under 
 contract, during the ensuing six months, east from 
 Savannah towards Rock river." 
 
 To this resolution the Board of Public Works answered, 
 January 29, 1839, by letter to the Speaker of the House, 
 saying "The Board have to state that they have not yet 
 determined where the Central Railroad shall cross Rock 
 river the line not having been definitely located from 
 Rocky ford, or inlet, to Savanna. ' ' 
 
 Attached to this letter was a report, under oath, of 
 W. B. Gilbert, the engineer, dated at Dixon, December 
 4, 1838, stating that the line from Galena south for 
 twenty miles was put under contract "May last;" that 
 the line had not been definitely located from the south 
 end of the part under contract to Savanna; that a line 
 could be run from Savanna to the Winnebago swamp by 
 running down the Mississippi eighteen or twenty miles, 
 thence through the Cat-tail swamp to Rock river, but 
 such a line would not be of benefit to the country; that 
 an examination had been made of a line from about eight 
 miles south of Savanna up the valley of Johnson's creek 
 to the ridge between that creek and little Rock creek, and
 
 91 
 
 thence to the Upper Rapids of Rock river, (at Sterling), 
 over an undulating surface with a maximum grade of 
 seventy one and one-half feet per mile. Attached to this 
 report is one made by George W. Clarke, assistant engin- 
 eer, saying that he found that the most favorable point 
 for crossing the Winnebago swamp was at Rocky ford; 
 that he had selected the line that was found least expen- 
 sive and best suited to the wants of the country, a route 
 that passes through "the most beautiful and fertile sec- 
 tion of country to be found between the Mississippi and 
 Rock rivers," and the rapidity with which this portion 
 of the country is settling and. " the evident prosperity of 
 the town of Dixon, Buffalo Grove, the Elkhorn and Pres- 
 tonville settlements furnish sufficient evidence that that 
 location, as here recommended, is decidedly best calcu- 
 lated to promote the interest of the work." 
 
 Clarke says that he had divided the work between Sa- 
 vanna and Rocky ford into five divisions, the first, eleven 
 and a quarter miles long, had a maximum grade of sixty 
 four feet to the mile for a short distance; the second, 
 thirteen and ninety seven hundredths miles long, had a 
 maximum grade of thirty-one feet to the mile for a dis- 
 tance of nine-tenths of a mile, all the rest being under 
 twenty-five feet; the third division, sixteen and forty- 
 seven hundredths miles, running along Elkhorn creek, 
 from the mouth of Middle creek, to Chambers ' mill, thence 
 to Buffalo Grove (this is the line he preferred but there 
 were other lines to be further examined) ; the fourth 
 division, twelve and sixty-seven hundredths miles, ran 
 from the * * flourishing little village of St. Marion, in Buf- 
 falo Grove," and extended to Dixon where it crossed 
 Rock river; the fifth division, twelve and six hundredths 
 miles, ran from Dixon to Rocky ford. He, further, states 
 that another line had been partly examined from the end 
 of the second division having a maximum grade of fifty- 
 six feet to the mile which passed "near Thomas Wardin's 
 house" to and across '"the valley of Buffalo creek, over
 
 92 BRIDGE AT DIXON 
 
 a gently undulating plain, to the Hamilton Mounds; 
 thence across the valleys of Sugar creek and Dry run by 
 the claims of Mr. Fellows and Col. Stephenson to Rock 
 river." 
 
 The Chambers mill was on the Elkhorn creek, near 
 Brookville, and was later known as Herb's mill. The 
 name of the town of St. Marion was changed to Buffalo, 
 and later the town became, as it now is, that part of Polo 
 called "Old Town." Thomas Worden (not Wardin) 
 lived on section twenty-two, in the town of Eagle Point, 
 near Hazelhurst. Stephenson 's claim was about a mile 
 and a quarter west of Polo. 
 
 A table attached to Clarke 's report shows that the pro- 
 posed line, after leaving St. Marion, climbs a heavy hill 
 to Kellogg 's claim, thence across a prairie, and with a 
 descending grade to Gee's farm; thence over another 
 prairie, and an undulating country to Charters' farm, 
 thence, descending a steep hill, to Dixon. The heaviest 
 grade on this line was sixty-six feet to the mile, and about 
 thirteen hundred and twenty feet long. For a distance 
 of about twenty-three hundred feet out of Dixon there 
 was a grade of fifty-eight feet to the mile, going south. 
 
 Speaking of the bridge needed at Dixon, Clarke says : 
 
 "A bridge will be required to cross Rock river of 
 the following dimensions: 630 feet in length; three 
 arches 210 feet square; two piers sixteen feet thick 
 and thirty-five feet wide at the foundation, tapering 
 to eleven feet thick and thirty-one feet wide at the 
 springing of the arch; the bridge must have an ele- 
 vation of thirty-five feet above the common stage of 
 water so as not to interfere with the steamboat navi- 
 gation of Rock river; the width of the bridge to be 
 thirty-one feet so as to furnish a roadway for teams 
 and the viaduct for the railroad, agreeably to the pro- 
 visions of the state law." 
 
 After this description Clarke continues : 
 
 "After a careful examination of the country be-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 93 
 
 tween the Mississippi and Eock rivers, and consider- 
 ing that twenty miles below Dixon these rivers ap- 
 proach within fifteen miles of each other, thereby in 
 a measure superceding the necessity of connection 
 by a railroad, I must express my decided opinion in 
 favor of Dixon as a crossing place. This flourishing 
 town, beautifully situated on the banks of Bock river, 
 becomes a point necessarily independent of any local 
 consideration, for it is but two miles north of a 
 straight line drawn from Savanna to Rocky ford; 
 and in that distance, either above or below the town 
 it would be impossible to find so favorable a cross- 
 ing place. The water here is never known to overflow 
 its banks, and abundance of stone is found on the 
 margin of the river." 
 
 Clarke compliments his assistants, George H. Hubbell 
 and Henry Wing upon their work. 
 
 Clarke's estimate of the cost of the railroad from Sa- 
 vanna to Dixon was $283,791.49, including the bridge at 
 $36,750. 
 
 The plat of the town of Dixon, as recorded in the Re- 
 corder's office, shows the proposed right of way through 
 the town, beginning at the old Chicago road and terminat- 
 ing on the south bank of the river at the foot of Hennepin 
 avenue. The road bed was graded practically all the way 
 from Dixon to the Illinois river at La Salle, but the rail- 
 road never was completed. So far as we are advised no 
 work was done between Savanna and Dixon. No grading 
 was done on Hennepin avenue. The bridge never got 
 any further than sketches and plans by the engineers. 
 The scheme failed. The state was plunged into an indebt- 
 edness that staggered her people and prompted them to 
 talk of repudiation. Fortunately, the Governor, Thomas 
 Ford, was a man and he effectively stamped out all efforts 
 at repudiation. When the collapse came auditor's war- 
 rants on the treasury were selling at fifty cents on the 
 dollar, there was not enough money in the treasury to pay 
 postage on the state's official letters. Nobody profited by
 
 94 
 
 WARRANT ON FUND COMMISSIONER 
 
 it except the officers who drew their salaries, the con- 
 tractors who were fortunate enough to get their estimates 
 cashed, and the inhabitants of Springfield who succeeded 
 in their plan to have their town made the capital. 
 
 Whenever any of Commissioners needed money to pay 
 for work or supplies, he obtained from the Board of Pub- 
 lic Works a draft on the Fund Commissioners (or Com- 
 missioner, there being but one after 1839). A copy of 
 such a draft is shown here. The John Hogan who signed 
 this one as President of the Board was Register of the 
 Land Office at Dixon from 1841 to 1845. All efforts to 
 find a warrant payable to Mr. Dixon failed. 
 
 Fund Commis sioner of (ho State of ] 
 
 ft/// 
 y /;,// 
 
 ///6/f.>/ // , 
 
 ***. .'jrr Y.P&0 , 
 
 '/ //- x^/ 7 / / /// //fS f ////////// r///// fW/// 
 
 < 3&&J*ff,etaj~ 
 
 / '/ 
 
 The round hole and the slashes to its left show that 
 this draft was " Cancelled and cut." On the back are 
 these endorsements: "Pay bearer, J. Beall, Comr.," and 
 "Paid on the principal of this Scrip Seventy 40/100 
 dollars, being the dividend of the State debt fund declared 
 January 1st, 1851. $70.00 40/100. Thos. H. Campbell, 
 Audr."
 
 JOHN DIXON v. ORIN HAMLIN. 
 
 After the Board of Public Works had finally located 
 the line of that part of the Central Railroad that was to 
 be constructed between Galena and Savanna, John Dixon, 
 he then being the Commissioner for the Sixth Judicial 
 Circuit, advertised in the Northwestern Gazette & Galena, 
 Advertiser that bids for the construction of that part 
 of the road would be received by him at Dixon 's Ferry 
 May 20, 1839. Subsequently he changed the time and 
 place to Savanna June 20, and at that time and place the 
 bids were received and the awards made, Orin Hamlin 
 being the successful bidder for two of the sections six 
 and sixteen into which the work was divided. Ham- 
 lin began his work, and carried it on in such manner that 
 he won the confidence of Mr. Dixon. 
 
 In due course of time vouchers for work done on the 
 railroad were prepared. To pay them Mr. Dixon had 
 to obtain the money from Vandalia, then the State Capi- 
 tal. Hamlin represented that he had some matters of his 
 own that required him to go to Vandalia and persuaded 
 Mr. Dixon to let him have the draft. In the Northwest- 
 ern Gazette & Galena Advertiser of August 3, 1839, is 
 the following: 
 
 "Messrs. Kougliton S Stevens: 
 
 I have just returned from Rock River. Mr. Ham- 
 lin has made his elopement with $11,500 of the pub- 
 lic money, being the amount drawn for by Mr. John 
 Dixon, Rail Road Commissioner. This will make 
 a temporary derangement of the Rail Road. But 
 prompt measures are being used to replace the 
 money, so that in a very short time the contractors 
 will be paid. 
 
 Yours in haste, 
 
 JAMES CRAIG, 
 July 30, 1839." 
 
 (95)
 
 96 SUIT IN ATTACHMENT 
 
 Houghton & Stevens were then the owners of the Gaz- 
 ette. Craig was a surveyor, and a member of the House 
 of Representatives from that district at that time. He 
 lived at Craig's Mills, or Hanover, near Galena, 
 
 While Craig puts the amount stolen at $11,500, Mr. 
 Dixon, in his account with the state, charges himself with 
 $11,600 as of June 13, and that is the amount he sought to 
 recover by attaching Hamlin's property. 
 
 In the Galena Gazette of August 10, 1839, appeared 
 a notice, signed by Samuel Smoker, then clerk of the Cir- 
 cuit Court of Jo Daviess County, that John Dixon had 
 sued out of that court a writ of attachment, dated July 
 20, 1839, against Orin Hamlin in a suit to recover $11,- 
 600, the writ being returnable to the then next October 
 term of the court, and that there had been attached, as 
 the property of Hamlin, tAvo horses, some wheelbarrows, 
 spades, shovels, picks, etc. Thomas Drummond, after- 
 wards judge of the United States Courts in Illinois for 
 many years, acted a.s the attorney for Mr. Dixon. 
 
 The Galena Gazette of August 31, 1839, contains an 
 item, taken from the Chicago American of August 23, 
 saying that James P. Dixon had just passed through Chi- 
 cago on his way home after an unsuccessful search for 
 Hamlin ; that he went to Louisville, thence to Portsmouth, 
 thence through Ohio towards Canada until business com- 
 pelled him to return home, and that he found no trace 
 of Hamlin after the latter had left Louisville. 
 
 In the "Biography of John Dixon," in the Dixon Tele- 
 graph of July, 1876, and reprinted by Kurtz in his His- 
 tory of Dixon and Palmyra, in speaking of this matter, 
 appears this: "James P. Dixon and Smith Gilbraith 
 started in pursuit, traveling by stage coach through many 
 of the Eastern States, but they returned without success. 
 Soon after James and Elijah Dixon renewed the search, 
 traveling in Canada and the Eastern and New England 
 States, striking his trail once in Connecticut, but again
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 97 
 
 losing it, they returned to Dixon without recovering any- 
 thing. In the meantime Mr. Dixon had raised the money 
 and paid the amount to the State. Sometime afterwards 
 Hamlin drew a prize of $25,000 in a lottery. With this 
 and his other ill-gotten gains, he returned boldly to Ga- 
 lena, and opened a store. Mr. Dixon at once instituted 
 suit and recovered judgment for the $11,500 and interest. 
 The sheriff closed out all of Hamlin 's goods that he 
 could get possession of, which paid the costs and expenses 
 of the search for Hamlin, and a few hundred dollars of 
 the stolen money. ' ' 
 
 This is inaccurate in some respects. Mr. Dixon com- 
 menced his suit, as already shown, July 20, 1839, which 
 must have been before James P. Dixon made his first 
 trip and long before Hamlin opened a store in Galena. 
 That suit, being, as it was, prosecuted to a judgment, 
 would bar any other suit, and Judge Drummond would 
 have so advised Mr. Dixon, and it is not at all probable 
 that the suit mentioned in the quoted matter was brought. 
 
 In the files of the estate of Smith Gilbraith in the 
 County Court of Lee County is a paper purporting to 
 be a statement of cash paid to Smith Gilbraith and others 
 by John Dixon. One item reads thus : 
 
 ''July 26, 1839. Paid S. Gilbraith to go after Hamlin 
 $170." 
 
 The Dixon Telegraph of July 27, 1876, has a letter from 
 Thomas S. Hubbard, Monticello, Iowa, saying that he was 
 employed in the division engineer's office at Dixon at the 
 time Hamlin took this money, and that James P. Dixon 
 caught Hamlin in Baltimore where he had just drawn 
 a prize in a lottery and then and there collected the 
 amount stolen, "but Mr. Dixon had already paid us all 
 up." For the reasons already stated, it is apparent that 
 Hubbard is wrong so far as the payment by Hamlin is 
 concerned. 
 
 The Board of Public Works held a meeting August
 
 98 HAMLIN'S CONFESSION 
 
 27, 1839, and the record of that meeting, in part, reads 
 as follows: 
 
 "Mr. Peck presented the following communication 
 from Orrin Hamlin to John Dixon, Esq. to wit: 
 
 Louisville, July 15, 1839. 
 Mr. Dixon, 
 
 DEAR SIR : 
 
 I take my pen in hand to inform you of an event 
 that you little expect. I preceded in relation to the 
 draft as you directed me ; deposited it and took a cer- 
 tificate of the same, and called on my return and 
 got the money. After drawing the money it struck 
 me that I could make a first rate speculation by go- 
 ing back to Louisville and buying up Mineral Point 
 money, Cairo and Dubuque, which was selling at a 
 discount of 4, 5 and 10 per cent, discount. Accord- 
 ingly I started on a boat up the river (forever to my 
 shame be it spoken), and on my way there I got en- 
 gaged in playing poker for the first and last time 
 in my life for money. I got a hand I supposed to be 
 the best in the pack, and I commenced betting, and my 
 opponent backed me up, until he got up to eight thou- 
 sand dollars, and then called me, and to my astonish- 
 ment and ruin he held the best hand, whereas mine 
 was but the second best. Judge of my feelings at the 
 time it nearly turned me mad. I resolved in my 
 mind during the night what was to be done return 
 I could not, so I resolved to send for my family and 
 leave the country, until by the means of the balance I 
 could return and pay you, which if the Lord lives, 
 and my soul lives, shall be done as soon as any honest 
 business will enable me to do so. I hope you will let 
 my work all be measured and give me credit for per 
 cent, and all, and let my brother know to what extent 
 T am deficient it is better for laborers to lose a 
 part than you all. I intend leaving this country al- 
 together for some length of time but you need not 
 be afraid but what you will get the money some time 
 not far distant, for I swear by the holy Evangelist 
 that if I am permitted to live, I will earn the money 
 and pay you every farthing : but for the sake of my 
 connections, do not be harsher with character than
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 99 
 
 you can help to sustain yours, for I do believe I am 
 still honest (but been very imprudent) and you shall 
 yet say so if I live. It will be useless to follow me, 
 for my plan of leaving is so well executed I shall leave 
 no traces behind, for I could not look ah acquaintance 
 in the face again until all things are righted again. 
 I have sent for my family, but have concealed all 
 this affair from them. They will be here today or 
 tomorrow. My business is all arranged in regard to 
 my private affairs, which is not in a very prosperous 
 condition, nearly all mortgaged for about half its 
 worth, which I expect will have to be sacrificed. I 
 am afraid you will lose your office by my imprudence, 
 but if you do I will try and make amends for it; for 
 the works are short lived, for there is eight millions 
 of Illinois bonds thrown in market in Europe with- 
 out a prospect of getting a dollar. With regret I 
 bid you adieu, and when we meet again I am in hopes 
 you will have good reason for a return of your friend- 
 ship, which has been so grossly abused by your 
 
 I do not know what to say 
 
 OKIN HAMLIN. 
 John Dixon, Esq. 
 
 We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we 
 have examined the original as written by Orin Ham- 
 lin, that we are acquainted with his handwriting, and 
 that the within is a true copy thereof. 
 
 A. M. HUNT, 
 H. B. STILLMAN, 
 RUDOLPHUS ROUSE. 
 Peoria, July 28, 1839. 
 
 Which was read and ordered to be filed. On motion of 
 Mr. Peck the following preamble and order was adopted, 
 to wit: 
 
 Whereas, proof has been made to the satisfaction of 
 this Board, that Orin Hamlin a contractor on the Central 
 railroad in the 6th Judicial Circuit, has received from 
 the Commissioner a large amount of money over and 
 above the sum due him ; and whereas said Commissioner 
 has no means of obtaining the receipt of said Hamlin to 
 his estimates;
 
 100 JUDGMENT 
 
 Therefore ordered that the Secretary of this Board cer- 
 tify on the estimate of the Engineer that the amount of 
 said estimate should be properly credited to John Dixon, 
 Commissioner of the 6th Judicial Circuit. ' ' 
 
 When he made his final settlement with the State, Mr. 
 Dixon was credited with payments to Hamlin aggregat- 
 ing $4,923.44 as though made in August, 1839, and it is 
 reasonably safe to assume that these payments were made 
 pursuant to the action of the Board of Public Works, and 
 that Mr. Dixon charged this amount against Hamlin. 
 
 The attachment suit brought by Mr. Dixon was allowed 
 to slumber until June 18, 1841, when, as appears from 
 the Jo Daviess County records, he obtained a judgment 
 in the case against Hamlin for $3,055, and costs. On 
 December 14, 1841, Alexander Young, then Sheriff of 
 that county, reported the judgment ''satisfied in full." 
 This clearly disproves the statement that Mr. Dixon "re- 
 covered judgment for the $11,500 and interest," and there 
 is no record of any suit by Mr. Dixon against Hamlin in 
 Jo Daviess County, except this attachment suit. 
 
 That Hamlin did return to Galena is shown by a letter 
 written, October 7, 1840, by Smith Gilbraith to Major 
 James Sterling in which Gilbraith, speaking of this mat- 
 ter, says ' ' I am going to Galena this week to see Hamlin 
 who owes him (Dixon) yet $5,000." Considering this 
 in connection with the fact that judgment was taken for 
 but a small part of the claim, it seems very clear that 
 Hamlin must have paid a good part of the debt before 
 the judgment was rendered. 
 
 That there was difficulty in collecting this judgment 
 is evident from the sworn statement of plaintiff's attor- 
 ney, which reads as follows: 
 
 "On the 18th day of June A. D. 1841, 1 obtained a 
 judgment in favor of John Dixon vs. Orin Hamlin 
 before the Jo Daviess Circuit Court for the sum of 
 three thousand and fifty five Dollars ($3055). On 
 this judgment an execution issued & a levy w r as made
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 101 
 
 & some property sold by the sheriff. I find by my 
 memorandum book that on the 27 day of September 
 1841 the sum of two thousand six hundred 31/100 
 Dollars were paid to me by the sheriff which sum 
 ($2600. 31/100) I paid to Mr. Gilbraith on the 14th 
 day of October 1841 as by the order of Mr. Dixon 
 which I think I still have in my possession. Of 
 course this amount of $2600.31 did not pay up the 
 judgment and there was a stable sold & bought 
 in in the name of Mr. Gilbraith to whom Mr. Dixon 
 had committed the whole business. This stable was 
 afterwards sold by Mr. Gilbraith at auction I think 
 some time in April 1842. The stable brought $405. 
 Mr. Montgomery was the auctioneer. Out of this 
 sum of $405 Mr. Montgomery paid me one hundred 
 Dollars ($100) on the 2d day of May 1842. There 
 was something paid out of this sum of ($405) for 
 ground rent & for the expenses of sale. It appears 
 by the receipt of Mr. Gilbraith which I have seen 
 that on the 16th day of May 1842 Mr. Montgomery 
 paid to Mr. Gilbraith the sum of ($254.77) two hun- 
 dred fifty four 77/100 Dollars which I suppose was 
 the proceeds of the sale after deducting the $100 
 paid me and the expenses of sale & the ground rent. 
 It seems that Mr. Gilbraith received on this judgment 
 of Mr. Dixon vs. Hamlin $2855.08 being the amount 
 paid him by me and Mr. Montgomery as above stated 
 I paying him $2600.31 & Mr Montgomery $254.77. 
 All of which is true to the best of my knowledge, 
 recollection & belief. 
 
 THOMAS DRUMMOND. 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS 
 Jo DAVIESS COUNTY 
 
 Sworn to & subscribed before me this 3d day of 
 August A. D. 1843, as witness my hand & the official 
 seal of the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess County. 
 (Seal.) Attest WM. H. BRADLEY 
 
 Clerk of Circuit Court 
 
 of Jo Daviess County." 
 
 Hamlin was elected sheriff of Peoria County in Aug- 
 ust, 1828, and county commissioner in 1834. In 1833 the
 
 102 HAMLIN AT PEORIA 
 
 county court of Peoria County granted a permit to Alvah 
 Moffat, Aquila Moffatt and Hamlin to erect a mill dam 
 across Kickapoo creek, in what afterwards became Lime- 
 stone township, and they built what was long known as 
 the Monroe mill. In 1836 Robert Little, Augustus Lang- 
 worthy and Hamlin laid out the town of Detroit, on the 
 bank of the Illinois about six miles above Peoria. In 
 1843 he built in Peoria the county's first steam flouring 
 mill. It would appear that Hamlin did not remain in hid- 
 ing very long, for on December 8, 1840, Hart Fellows, 
 Commissioner of Public Works for the 5th Judicial Cir- 
 cuit, paid him $2,177.91 for construction work, but the 
 report does not disclose anything more of the matter and 
 we do not know where the work was performed. The 
 reference, in his letter, to his brother prompts the thought 
 that he may have been a brother of John Hamlin of 
 Peoria.
 
 THE DIXON HOTEL COMPANY. 
 
 In 1837 the people of Dixon felt the need of a hotel that 
 would be more in keeping with the town. Some of her 
 enterprising business men conceived the idea of forming 
 a corporation that would build and operate a modern, up- 
 to-date hotel. They prepared and sent to Vandalia, then 
 the capital of the State, a bill for "An Act incorporating 
 the Dixon Hotel Company," which, having passed both 
 houses of the legislature, received the Governor's ap- 
 proval March 2, 1837. 
 
 This Act declares John Atchison, James Evans, Charles 
 S. Boyd, John Dixon, William C. Bostwick, Smith "Gal- 
 breath," James P. Dixon, L. S. Huff, John Brown, and 
 their associates and successors, a corporation for the 
 term of twenty years, under the name of the ' l Dixon Ho- 
 tel Company." It placed the capital stock at twenty 
 thousand dollars, appointed Evans, Boyd, * ' Ga*lbreath " 
 and James P. Dixon commissioners, to receive subscrip- 
 tions for the capital stock, and empowered the company 
 to purchase and hold land on which it could build and 
 operate a hotel during the term of the corporation's life. 
 
 Boyd lived in Bureau county and was a brother-in-law 
 of John Dixon. Atchison and Bostwick lived in Galena, 
 the former being a director and the latter cashier of the 
 Galena branch of the State Bank. Bostwick afterwards 
 studied law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1842. 
 Possibly the company thought it could obtain funds from 
 the State Bank, as that seems to have been an easy thing 
 to do. 
 
 This Act does not, either by express grant or by im- 
 plication, authorize the company to issue any notes or 
 bills with the intent of circulating them as money. An 
 examination of the original bill, which still remains on 
 file in the office of the Secretary of State, shows that when 
 the bill was presented to the legislature it contained a 
 
 (103)
 
 104 
 
 ISSUED BILLS 
 
 section, numbered two, specifically giving the corporation 
 power to issue such bills, but that section was stricken out, 
 and the bill was passed without any such provision. 
 
 The fact that the movers in the enterprise asked for a 
 grant of such power may have prompted in their minds 
 the thought that as the bill passed it did give that au- 
 thority. At all events, whatever the reasoning may have 
 been, the company did issue such bills and some of them 
 are still in existence. The bills that have survived are 
 in the denominations of one, three and five dollars. One 
 of them is shown here. These notes had nothing what- 
 ever to do \vith the work on the old central railroad. 
 
 All of them that have come to our knowledge were pay- 
 able to * ' N. Biddle or bearer ' '. Students of United States 
 history need not be told that this fictitious payee was the 
 head of the Bank of the United States. 
 
 The company built the foundations for the original 
 part of wfcat is now the Nachusa Tavern, and then stop- 
 ped work, its money being spent, and its energies ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 In 1853 another corporation, with a capital of ten 
 thousand dollars, built the original Nachusa House on 
 these foundations, the house being opened to the public 
 for business December 10, of that year.
 
 THE ILLINOIS AND ROCK RIVER RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 The complete failure of the state's internal improve- 
 ment scheme was a hard blow to Dixon, but her enter- 
 prising business men were resourceful and soon, evolved 
 a plan that they fondly believed would secure to them 
 some of the advantages they hoped to secure from the 
 construction of the Central Rail Road. They appealed 
 to the legislature and secured the passage of "An Act 
 to provide for the construction of a railroad from La 
 Salle to Dixon, ' ' which was approved February 27, 1841. 
 
 This act created a corporation to be known as the Illi- 
 nois and Rock River Rail Road Company, to exist for 
 a term of fifty years, with a capital stock of five hundred 
 thousand dollars, divided into fifty dollar shares, and 
 authorized it to construct and operate a railroad from 
 La Salle * ' to the village of Dixon, in the county of Lee, ' ' 
 terminating at such points on the Illinois and Rock Riv- 
 ers as the company might select. 
 
 It appointed Horatio Newhall of Galena, Michael Ken- 
 nedy of La Salle county, William Wilkinson and Dr. Oli- 
 ver Everett of Dixon, commissioners to receive subscrip- 
 tions for the capital stock. 
 
 The act empowered this company to take possession 
 of such roads or parts of railroad as had been constructed 
 by the state, and to use them, and all materials of the 
 state thereon, in the construction of the proposed railroad, 
 but carefully provided that such possession was not to 
 be taken until all the improvements made by the state 
 and all the materials of the state had been valued by 
 some competent enginegr, and the amount so found by 
 the engineer to be their value should be considered as 
 so much capital stock of the company owned by the state. 
 The state agreed, by the terms of the act, to furnish 
 such necessary iron for a single track railroad as it had 
 on hand.
 
 106 STOCK SUBSCRIPTIONS 
 
 It was further provided by the act that if the company 
 did not complete its line within five years, or did not 
 expend at least ten thousand dollars in twelve months 
 after its organization, and at least ten thousand dollars 
 in each twelve months thereafter, then the railroad and 
 all the property of the company should revert to and 
 become the property of the state. 
 
 The commissioners opened subscription books and re- 
 ceived some subscriptions, and caused receipts to be is- 
 sued to the subscribers, one of them being shown here. 
 Having obtained some money by this method, the com- 
 pany undertook to complete the railroad, but was unable 
 to do this, as it could not obtain the necessary capital. 
 
 Enough of receipt No. 1 remains to show that it was 
 for $10, paid by Harrison, was dated the same day and 
 was signed by Keeler. The ornamental work at the left 
 end varies from that shown above. 
 
 - 
 
 Illinois and Rock River Rail-road Company. 
 
 Nearer. 
 
 SSliS GevtiflCSi that U^^2^..ff^&^^!^^yi^\ VP bearer 
 
 is entitled to a credit en the 'purchase of stock in. the, !i,j.;.\ r m.s \.\r> MOCK RIVER' 
 f RAIL-IiOAl) COMPANY, to the amount. of-\ 
 
 By or;';?r of tlic rrcsiUcm an. 1 . Dhxv.-ior?, 
 
 , Trt.isvr-r. 
 
 
 In its chapter on the town of Amboy, Hill's History 
 of Lee County, p. 304, in speaking of the old Central Rail- 
 road, says: 
 
 "Dr. Harrison, of Peru, took a contract to build 
 part of the line, and sent a force of laborers here 
 in the fall of 1841 to renew the grading which had 
 been begun four or five years before and w r orked upon 
 at intervals afterward. He started a bank in Peru 
 and issued circulation; but one day somebody went 
 down and demanded specie for his paper, and was
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 107 
 
 refused. When news of this reached the gang of 
 men up here they dropped their tools, and the sun 
 never rose on a resumption of the work. Harrison's 
 paper was in the hands of the people in this section, 
 where it has remained so long that its ' staying qual- 
 ities ' are fully and forever established. It was known 
 as 'Bangs' railroad money', and is a reminiscence 
 of 'wildcat' banking, and of the old Central 'wild- 
 cat ' improvement. ' ' 
 
 On page 471 of the same work, in the chapter on the 
 town of May, speaking of John Darcy, who settled in 
 that town in 1840, we find this : 
 
 "About this time Mr. Darcy worked a few weeks 
 on the old State railroad, then being graded through 
 May. Mr. Darcy, like many others, received nothing 
 for his labor but some worthless paper issued by 
 a certain A. H. Bongs (Bangs) of La Salle, who had 
 started a bank there." 
 
 When the company suspended work the laborers be- 
 came very indignant, and in their rage seized Bangs and 
 dragged him through the streets. Serious injury would 
 have been done to him but for the intervention of others 
 who put him in a skiff and sent him down the river. 
 (Beebe, History of Peru.) 
 
 A reading of Beebe 's History of Peru induces the be- 
 lief that the author thought "Dr. Harrison" was an 
 unscrupulous quack. 
 
 Anson H. Bangs was president of the Bank of the 
 United States at Syracuse, New York, as well as of the 
 Farmers & Mechanics' Bank of Onondaga, at Fayette- 
 ville, New York. 
 
 From the report made to the legislature, in 1840, by 
 Governor Carlin, it appears that the State had sold its 
 internal improvement bonds, to the amount of fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, to A. H. Bangs & Co., who were connected 
 with the Onondaga Bank, and who obtained possession 
 of these bonds without making any payment for them, 
 and then sold them or some of them, to third persons,
 
 108 TIME EXTENDED 
 
 whose names the Governor was unable to learn. He 
 advised that suit be brought against Bangs to restrain 
 the sale of the bonds, so far as that could be done, and 
 to compel payment for them. 
 
 There was presented to the Thirteenth General As- 
 sembly a petition reciting that under the act providing 
 for the incorporation of the Illinois and Rock River 
 Rail Road Company, the commissioners named in that 
 act opened books for stock subscriptions and it was all 
 taken by A. H. Bangs, who thereafter acted and was 
 recognized as the president of that company; that the 
 company, through Bangs, let contracts for the construc- 
 tion of the road and that work to the amount of ten 
 thousand dollars was done thereon by the petitioners; 
 that "the company did not pay a single cent to any 
 contractor or workman" and that both the company and 
 Bangs had absconded and disappeared. The prayer of 
 the petition was that the state estimate the work the 
 petitioners had done and charge it to the amount ex- 
 pended by the state on that part of the Central Rail Road. 
 The petition was sent to the committee on internal im- 
 provements, and, on February 27, 1843, laid on the table. 
 
 All the signers of this petition were residents of La 
 Salle county. The petition does not show in what locality 
 the work mentioned was done. 
 
 The legislature passed, and there was approved on 
 March 6, 1843, "An Act to extend the time for the 
 completion of the Illinois and Rock River Rail Road," 
 which provides that the time for the construction of the 
 road shall be extended until five years after the final 
 completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and it 
 authorizes the company to extend its line beyond "the 
 village of Dixon" and to terminate it at some point on 
 the Mississippi River. 
 
 On May 16, 1843, Governor Thomas Ford wrote D. H. 
 T. Moss, Esq. : 
 
 * ' I am obliged to you for the information contained
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 109 
 
 in your letter of the twelfth instant; and I accord- 
 ingly empower you to sell any of the timber or stone 
 or other materials, on or near the line of the railroad 
 between La Salle and Dixon, either at public or pri- 
 vate sale, according to your best judgment; also to 
 change the places of the public sales heretofore di- 
 rected. I also authorize you to settle with any and 
 all persons who may have used any such materials ; 
 and to sue for the same, in case they refuse to ac- 
 count, at fair and reasonable prices, and pay for the 
 same." 
 
 June 16, 1843, Governor Thomas Ford wrote to George 
 W. Gil son, Esq., as follows : 
 
 "In answer to your letter I beg leave to state 
 that I have been informed that the officers and agents 
 of the Rock River Rail Road Company have been 
 selling the materials of the road for their own use 
 and without intending to make the road. This, if 
 true, is a fraud on the State and of a piece with the 
 villainy practiced everywhere upon the public inter- 
 ests. I desire you to inform the president of that 
 company and all others interested that it is my in- 
 tention to have actions at law commenced here in 
 Sangamon county against all persons found commit- 
 ting those frauds." 
 
 Gilson had been an engineer in the employment of the 
 state and in November, 1838, had charge of the construc- 
 tion of the old Central Railroad south of La Salle. 
 
 This letter was evidently written when the Governor 
 was not fully advised as to the facts in the case. It brought 
 a letter from H. P. Woodworth, writing in behalf of the 
 company. 
 
 June 23, 1843, Governor Ford wrote to Woodworth as 
 follows : 
 
 "I received your letter of the 20th instant and 
 am much gratified that the Illinois and Rock River 
 Railroad Co. has been organized in good faith and 
 with the intention of making the road. I heartily wish 
 you success. It appears from your letter that this 
 is the day which has been appointed by Mr. Moss 
 for the sale of the timber, stone, &c.
 
 110 SCHEME ABANDONED 
 
 "I am sorry that you or some other person did 
 not write me sooner. I did not know who the com- 
 pany were, and from my advices I could not but be- 
 lieve that a pretended company existed who were 
 about to commit great frauds on the State. If, how- 
 ever, I could have been furnished with the informa- 
 tion contained in your letter in time I would have 
 ordered Mr. Moss to delay proceedings until the 
 matter could have been inquired into. If you see 
 Mr. Moss, and he has not yet sold, show him this let- 
 ter and request him to desist until I can further in- 
 quire into the matter." 
 
 Woodworth had been principal engineer of the state 
 on the northern division of the old Central Railroad. 
 From this letter it would seem that he had become con- 
 nected, in some capacity, with the Illinois and Bock River 
 Rail Road Company. 
 
 We have found no evidence indicating that the Gov- 
 ernor made further " enquiry," or that anything more 
 was done in the matter. It is common knowledge that 
 the road was not built.
 
 THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 Kurtz's History of Dixon and Palmyra, p. 6, says: 
 
 "May 28, 1838, 'The First Regular Baptist Church 
 of Dixon and Buffalo Grove was organized at Buffalo 
 Grove, Thomas Powell moderator, the following 
 named persons were the original members : Houland 
 Bicknell, Rebecca Dixon, Elizabeth Bellows, Jerusha 
 Hammond, Sarah Kellogg, Martha Parks and Ann 
 Clarley." 
 
 The "History of the Illinois River Baptist Associa- 
 tion," prepared by Gilbert S. Bailey for and published 
 by the Association in 1857, says that the annual meeting 
 of the association was held in Princeton in 1838 and ad- 
 mitted to membership "Dixon and Buffalo Grove in Lee 
 County with fourteen members. ' ' At this meeting a com- 
 mittee was appointed to prepare sketches of the origin 
 of the churches, and its report, in part, reads as follows : 
 "Dixon and Buffalo Grove. Two Baptist sisters 
 from the Mulberry street church, in New York, set- 
 tled with their families in these places some years 
 before the removal of the Indians, and continued 
 alone until the commencement of the white settle- 
 ments introduced a few Baptist brethren around 
 them. In the latter part of May, they were visited 
 and gathered into a church by elder Thomas Powell. 
 Three were received and baptized into the fellowship 
 of the church at that time." 
 
 It appears from this authority that the annual meeting 
 of the association was held in Dixon in June, 1842, when 
 the Dixon church had forty members, and that Dixon and 
 Buffalo Grove were dismissed the following year, to 
 unite with the Rock River Association. 
 
 (in)
 
 LEE COUNTY'S FIRST PHYSICIAN. 
 
 Dr. Green Forrest, a Kentuckian, announced in the 
 Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser of April 
 25, 1835, and the subsequent numbers for six months, 
 that he had "located, permanently, one mile northeast 
 of Dixon's Ferry, where he can be found at all times 
 when not absent on professional business." 
 
 That he was there before the day of the first advertise- 
 ment is shown by John Dixon's account books, which 
 contain undated charges of a dollar for "11 light sash," 
 and seventy-five cents for "12 glass," and a load of hay, 
 price not stated, and these precede a charge of one dollar 
 and a quarter for shoeing a horse "Mar. 5," and a 
 charge, "Apl. 1," for a load of hay, price not stated, and 
 a credit dated "Mar. 9, 1835." The last dated charge 
 against him on these books is that of August 21, 1835. 
 
 Dr. Forrest lived on what was known for years as the 
 Woodford farm, above the Assembly grounds. Later he 
 built and lived in a log house that stood at the southwest 
 corner of East River street and Ottawa avenue. It is 
 stated by John K. Robinson, in Kurtz's History of Dixon 
 and Palmyra, that Dr. Forrest went back to Kentucky, 
 but the time of his departure is not known now. There 
 are circumstances, however, that make it reasonably 
 certain that he left Dixon in 1835. 
 
 A Dr. Spencer, son of John C. Spencer of New York, 
 once Secretary of War and later Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury, was living in Dixon in September, 1836, when Dr. 
 Oliver Everett arrived there in his search for a location. 
 Spencer immediately importuned Everett to stay so that 
 he might return to New York, saying he did not want to 
 live so far from his old home and friends, but had prom- 
 ised Mr. Dixon he would stay until a successor appeared. 
 When Everett decided to locate there Spencer gave him
 
 DRS. RUTLIDG AND EVANS 113 
 
 several books, one being a copy of Byron's Poems. Long 
 afterwards Everett found those parts of Don Juan de- 
 scribing the mutiny of the ship's crew were underscored 
 by pencil marks. Later there was a mutiny on one of 
 the vessels of our navy, and the leaders of the crew seem 
 to have followed the conduct described by Byron. One 
 of that mutinous crew was Dr. Spencer's brother, and 
 for his participation in the mutiny he was hanged at the 
 yard arm. These facts were related to the writer on 
 several occasions by Dr. Everett. 
 
 In the account books kept by John Dixon there is an 
 account reading "Doctor Rutlidg" "1832, May 91, 
 commenced, ' ' but there is nothing showing what was 
 commenced or how long it was continued, nor is there 
 any amount charged. Following this is the last entry 
 "Dinner for six men $1.50," but it is without date. There 
 are several charges, beginning December 25, 1834, and 
 ending March 30, 1835, against "Dr. Evans," for letters, 
 evidently meaning the postage on letters. The books 
 give no other information of these men, or either of them. 
 
 As Dr. Everett made his home in Dixon in 1836 and 
 remained there for more than fifty years, the rest of his 
 life, he is entitled to be called the first physician in Lee 
 county.
 
 EARLY POLITICS. 
 
 The Northwestern Gazette & Galena Advertiser says 
 that at an election in August, 1836, the vote in the Dixon 
 precinct of Ogle county for members of the House of 
 Representatives was, Elijah Charles (elected), 10; Lu- 
 ther H. Bowen of Savanna, 10; John Turney of Galena, 
 10; James Craig (elected), 8, and Bennett, 1. 
 
 At the congressional election in 1838 the Third district, 
 containing the thriving towns of Decatur, Springfield, 
 Quincy, Bloomington, Galena and Chicago, had two candi- 
 dates John T. Stuart, Whig, and Stephen A. Douglas, 
 Democrat. Andreas' History of Chicago says Douglas 
 received 18,337, Stuart 18,405. C. C. Brown, vol. 7, p. 
 110, Publications, Illinois Historical Library, says the 
 total vote was 36,461, and Stuart's majority 14. Dr. J. F. 
 Snyder, in his article upon James H. Ralston (Publica- 
 tions 111. State His. Soc., v. 13, p. 223) says Douglas had 
 18,213 votes and Stuart 18,248. 
 
 The Sangamon Journal (Springfield) of September 8, 
 1838, says the official vote was Douglas 17730, Stuart 
 17807. 
 
 The Illinois State Register and People's Advocate 
 (Vandalia) of October 12, 1838, says the official vote, "as 
 corrected," was Douglas 18242, Stuart 18247, and that 
 the vote in Ogle county was Douglas 273, Stuart 532. 
 
 In a letter dated November 10, 1884, J. Young Scam- 
 mon writes to the Inter Ocean that " Douglas was in- 
 Chicago on the day of the election, and he received so 
 large a vote in Cook County that he had no doubt of his 
 election. He was so elated that when he started for 
 Jacksonville, where he then resided, he took his seat on 
 the front of the stage with the driver, and traveled on 
 down to Lockport, receiving the congratulations of his 
 
 (114)
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 115 
 
 friends on the way. When he got to the latter place 
 he found that the canal men and hands had voted against 
 him because in the Legislature he was in favor of the 
 'shallow cut,' and opposed to a deep canal. Mr. E. B. 
 Talcott was then an assistant engineer on the canal 
 works and resided in Lockport, He engineered the bolt 
 and induced the scratching of Douglas' name from Dem- 
 ocratic tickets and substituting Stuart's. This was a 
 discouraging aspect of the case, but as Douglas pro- 
 ceeded southward on his journey he found that this de- 
 fection did not extend far below Lockport, and that 
 Ottawa and Peru and the residue of the canal regions 
 had given him the usual democratic majorities. But 
 when he arrived at Peoria, which was then the central 
 point whence the stages converged, he found that the 
 military tract was less favorable to him than he had ex- 
 pected, and the belief was there that Stuart was elected 
 by a small majority. It was so close, however, that the 
 result was claimed by both parties, and doubt was not 
 removed until the official returns reached the office of 
 the Secretary of State, which showed that Douglas was 
 elected by 8 majority. Mr. James Matheny, who was 
 at that time a young and very ardent Whig, said he 
 believed 'the Democrats had been cheating us,' and if 
 any one would pay his expenses he would saddle his 
 horse in the morning and go to every county-seat and 
 examine the poll-books. Mr. Stuart paid his expenses 
 and he made the examination, traveling over the whole 
 district and examining all the poll-books. He found 
 quite a number of errors, but they all canceled each other, 
 except in one precinct, where the poll-book showed that 
 in carrying over Stuart's vote from one page where he 
 had a majority his votes were put in the Douglas column 
 on the next page, and Douglas' into his. Correcting this 
 mistake the decision of the returns was reversed, and 
 Stuart elected by twelve or thirteen votes. This was
 
 116 S. A. DOUGLASS 
 
 done and the facts certified to the Secretary of State, 
 and Stuart got the certificate." 
 
 Scammon says that the voting was viva voce, and that 
 is the fact, no ballots being cast, and no ballot box .being 
 used, so his reference to scratched tickets is incompre- 
 hensible. 
 
 Frederick R. Dutcher, who was then living in Dixon, 
 discovered an error in the addition of the votes in the 
 precincts in Lee county, and he promptly made his 
 discovery known to John S. Roberts of Springfield, who, 
 in turn, laid the matter before Douglas. In a few days 
 Dutcher received the following letter: 
 
 Springfield, Oct. 2d, 1839. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 Mr. Roberts has just placed in my hands a letter 
 from you show a mistake in the Poll Book of your 
 precinct of 3 votes. Every vote is importan at this 
 crisis. You have my grateful acknowledgements for 
 the kindness you have already shown. But I must 
 ask of you the favor to carefully add up the votes 
 in each of the other precincts and see if there have 
 been no mistakes in the addition of them by the 
 Clerks & Judges. This can all be done at the Clerk's 
 office where you will find all the Poll Books of the 
 county. When you shall have examined all the Poll 
 Books I wish you would get the Clerk of the Co 
 Comrs Court to call to his assistance two Justices 
 of the Peace & to make a new return correcting the 
 mistakes, This has been done in many other coun- 
 ties and will be in all soon. It is important that this 
 should be attended to immediately as the time is fast 
 approaching when I must leave for Washington. 
 Please send the names of the illegal voters and also 
 the witness by whom they can be proven to be 
 illegal. I am with great respect 
 
 your friend, 
 
 S. A. DOUGLASS. 
 F. R. Dutcher, Esq., 
 Dixon, Lee Co., 
 111.
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 117 
 
 Butcher immediately re-examined the Lee county books 
 and then carefully examined the books in Ogle, White- 
 side and Carroll, only to find that the errors there coun- 
 terbalanced. 
 
 The great majority of the electors in the Dixon pre : 
 cinct voted for Stuart, in retaliation upon Douglas for 
 his support of John Phelps in the fight for the county 
 seat. 
 
 The first political convention held in Lee county con- 
 vened in November, 1839, and was due to the activities 
 of Frederick R. Dutcher. He received the following let- 
 ter in October of that year: 
 
 SIR: 
 
 The State Central Corresponding Committee have 
 deemed it advisable to call a State Convention of the 
 Democratic Party, at Springfield, on the 2d Monday 
 in December next, for the purpose of adopting a 
 more efficient system of organization, and also to 
 nominate candidates for Presidential Electors. The 
 propriety of this measure has been pressed upon 
 the consideration of the Committee by many of our 
 friends from different parts of the State, and its 
 necessity is rendered the more urgent by the zealous, 
 energetic, concerted movements of the Federal party 
 in this State. That Party has recently held a State 
 Convention in this place; has adopted an efficient 
 system of organization, with their State, County 
 and Precinct Committees ; have nominated their Can- 
 didates for Presidential Electors ; and have instruct- 
 ed those Candidates to mount the stump, and har- 
 rangue the people wherever they can find them as- 
 sembled; and, in short, are prepared for and have 
 avowed their determination to make a vigorous and 
 determined effort for the prostration of Democratic 
 principles, and the ascendancy of Federal Whiggery, 
 in this State, and the Nation. The result of such 
 an issue we do not doubt or fear. We are willing 
 and ought to be prepared to meet them boldly and
 
 118 CALL FOR STATE CONVENTION 
 
 fearlessly upon their own ground, and fight them 
 in the manner, and upon the issue they have formed. 
 For the purpose of being fully prepared for the 
 contest, equally well organized, and upon an equal 
 footing at the opening of the campaign, you are re- 
 quested to immediately consult with our friends, and 
 call a meeting in your county, and appoint delegates 
 to the proposed Convention. 
 
 Each County is requested to send a number of 
 Delegates at least double the number of their Sena- 
 tors and Representatives in the General Assembly; 
 and each County, no matter how small, two Dele- 
 gates, and as many more as it chooses. 
 
 As our Government is emphatically a Government 
 of the People, deriving its existence from them, we 
 would recommend an expression of opinion in your 
 Resolutions upon the subjects that agitate the coun- 
 try, and upon the following, particularly: 
 
 1st, The Constitutional Treasury Bill, as rec- 
 ommended by President Van Buren. 
 2d. A National Bank, as recommended by Mr. 
 
 Clay. 
 
 3d. The GAG BILL, depriving officers of the 
 right of speech, as introduced by Mr. Crit- 
 tenden, in the U. S. Senate, and by Mr. Otwell, 
 in the Illinois Legislature. 
 
 4th. The Repeal of the Salt Tax and the sup- 
 pression of the Salt Monopoly, as recommend- 
 ed by Mr. Benton, Mr. Woodbury, and other 
 distinguished Democrats in Congress. 
 5th. The right of the Governor to nominate a 
 Secretary of State, as provided by the Con- 
 stitution, and exercised by Gov. Carlin. 
 6th. The decision of the Supreme Court in- 
 stalling A. P. Field in office for life. 
 
 An expression of opinion upon the above, and 
 such other subjects as shall occur to you as import- 
 ant to the country, is desired in order that the Dele- 
 gates may bring with them the sentiments of the 
 people upon these interesting questions. 
 
 We would further recommend that at your meet-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 119 
 
 ings you appoint a Corresponding Committee for 
 your County, at or near the County Seat, to consist 
 of three persons, and also 9. Committee of Vigilance 
 of three persons in each Justice's Precinct of your 
 County, to continue as permanent Committees until 
 others shall be appointed, and to be composed of 
 sound and efficient Democrats, who will use all fair 
 and honorable means to sustain the Principles and 
 Candidates of the Democratic Party. You will 
 please forward the proceedings of your meeting to 
 the State Register, at this place, and to the other 
 nearest Democratic paper, for publication. We are 
 very respectfully your fellow citizens. 
 
 VIRGIL HICKOX, 
 JOHN TAYLOR, 
 ROBERT ALLEN, 
 JOHN CALHOUN, 
 CHARLES R. HURST, 
 JOHN S. ROBERTS, 
 DAVID PRICKETT, 
 Corresponding Committee. 
 
 Springfield, October 10, 1839. 
 
 Butcher consulted with some of his fellow Democrats 
 and formed a committee that called a county convention 
 and then organized a precinct committee that issued the 
 following : 
 
 ''NOTICE 
 
 A meeting of the democratic party of the Dixon 
 precinct will be held at the Western Hotel on Friday 
 15th inst at 6 o'clock P M for the purpose of ap- 
 pointing four delegates to meet at the same place on 
 the 16th inst at 12 o'clock to meet delegates from 
 the different precincts of this County to appoint del- 
 agates to meet the State Convention to be held at 
 Springfield on the 2nd Monday in December next for 
 the purpose of nominating Candidates for the Pres- 
 idential Electors and such other business as may 
 be deamed necessary for the better organising the 
 Democratic .party of this County also pass resilu-
 
 120 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION 
 
 tions reliteve to the Questions in a certain letter 
 reed from the State Corresponding Committee. 
 . FREDERICK B. DUTCHER, 
 HARVEY MORGAN, 
 DANIEL FROST, 
 
 Corresponding Committee. 
 Dixon Nov 14th 1839." 
 
 No record of the other proceedings of this precinct 
 committee was preserved. The record of the county con- 
 vention still exists and it reads thus: 
 
 "At a Democratic meeting of Delegates appointed 
 from each precinct pursuant to a call from the Cen- 
 tral Corresponding Committee of Lee county con- 
 vened at the Western Hotel in Dixon the 16th inst 
 at 12 o'clock for the purpose of appointing delegates 
 to attend the State Convention at Springfield on the 
 2d Monday in December next and such other busi- 
 ness as might be deemed necessary. 
 
 Samuel Johnston was called to the chair & Fred- 
 erick B Dutcher appointed secretary 
 
 The object of the meeting having been stated by 
 the chair 
 
 Besolved that a committee of three be appointed 
 by the chair to recommend to this meeting suitable 
 , delegates to attend the State convention at Spring- 
 field and Draft resolutions expressive of the views 
 of this meeting. 
 
 The following persons composed said committee 
 Wm. P Burroughs 
 Daniel Frost 
 
 Jeremiah Whipple 
 
 who after retiring a short time made the following 
 report, which was unanimously adopted 
 
 Whereas a crisis now exists in this nation, which 
 every true republican must feel the Importance of 
 to the Democratic party, and whereas we believe the 
 principles adopted by Martin Van Buren are the 
 true principles of the party and should be supported 
 by every true Democrat, Therefore Besolved that 
 the delegates to Springfield to nominate candidates 
 for presidential electors be instructed to vote for
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 121 
 
 such men as will support the principles of the pres- 
 ent administration 
 
 1st. Kesolved, That the Subtreasury Scheme is 
 the true method of receiving and disbursing the 
 Public Revinue, also that it is the duty of every true 
 Democrat to sustain Martin Van Buren for the next 
 presidency in order that he may more fully carry 
 out the views of the administration Party 
 
 2d. Resolved, That we believe it is the duty of 
 the Democratic party in this State to be more cau- 
 tious in appointing men in office as it appears that a 
 majority of Democratic appointments are conserva- 
 tives and Whigs and that none but true and Tryed 
 Democrats should Receive Important appointments 
 to office from the Democratic Republicans of this 
 State. 
 
 3d. Resolved, that in nominating John A. Mc- 
 Clernand Secretary of State Gov Carlin exercised 
 the right guaranteed him by the constitution of this 
 State, and should be supported by every true Dem- 
 ocrat. 
 
 4th. Resolved, That the decision of the Supreme 
 Court of this State installing A P Field in the office 
 of Secretary of State for life is both unconstitutional 
 and entirely at variance with the principles of Re- 
 publican Institutions. 
 
 5th. Resolved, that the Sistem of plundering and 
 Swindling carried on by the Banks throughout the 
 union has been the means of building up an aristo- 
 cratic party, styling themselves Whigs, and that we 
 predict the downfall of Federal Whigery, and their 
 handmaids, whenever the Political jugling of the 
 one, and the corruption of the other, shall be more 
 apparent to the Honest Yeomanry of the country. 
 
 6th. Resolved, that the transactions of the State 
 Bank of Illinois have become oppressive to the ma- 
 jority of the people, extending discounts to the few 
 for Political effect and agrandisement, also Resolved 
 that we believe the charter should be repealed, and a 
 more equal and efficient sistem of Banking Intro- 
 duced.
 
 122 WHIG CONVENTION 
 
 The following delegates to meet at Springfield the 
 2d Monday in December were then appointed 
 Frederick R Butcher 
 Win. P Burroughs 
 Edward Southwick 
 
 Resolved, that the delegates be empower to fill 
 vacancies should any occur in their number. 
 
 Voted that the proceedings of this meeting be 
 signed by the chairman an Secretary and published 
 in the Chicago & Galena Democrat & State Register. 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSTON, chairman 
 FREDERICK R DUTCHER, Secretary." 
 
 Dutcher was the only Lee county delegate who attended 
 the state convention. 
 
 The Northwestern Gazette & Galena Advertiser says 
 the Whigs held a convention at Dixon May 8, 1840, and 
 nominated Thomas Drummond of Galena, for many 
 years judge of the United States courts, and Hiram W. 
 Thornton of Millersburgh, Mercer county, a land agent 
 and lawyer who had been a blacksmith, for members of 
 the lower house of the legislature. In talking with me of 
 this convention E. B. Washburn laid emphasis on the 
 fact that Thornton was a blacksmith. These nominees 
 were elected. 
 
 The delegates attending from Lee county were Cyrus 
 Chamberlain, Thomas McCabe, Oliver Everett, G. A. 
 Martin, John Cutshaw, H. A. Coe, F. W. Coe, Joseph 
 Crawford, J. B. Cutshaw, Jeremiah Murphy, James M. 
 Santee, W. W. Johnson, John Moss and David Welty. 
 
 The Gazette, of a later day, gives this much of the vote : 
 
 Van 
 
 Drummond Thornton Campbell Valzah 
 Dixon precinct 152 111 
 
 Lee county 254 256 201 212 
 
 Thompson Campbell, a Galena lawyer, afterwards Sec- 
 retary of State, later a member of Congress, and Dr.
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 123 
 
 Van Valzah, one of the first of the Pennsylvanians to 
 settle in Stephenson county, were the Democratic nomi- 
 nees. 
 
 o 
 
 In 1842 the vote in Lee county for governor was Ford, 
 Democrat, 237; Duncan, Whig, 238; Hunter, Free Soil, 
 7; for lieutenant governor, Moore, Democrat, 236; Hen- 
 derson, Whig, 254; Collins, Free Soil, 7. 
 
 In 1844 the vote in Lee county was Polk, 315 ; Clay, 244 ; 
 Birney, 48. 
 
 The Democrats of the Second Congressional district, 
 comprising Cook, De Kalb, Du Page, Kane, Lee, Rock Is- 
 land and Whiteside counties, held their convention in 
 Dixon on the fifteenth of September, 1852, Col. John De- 
 ment being the chairman. The delegates from Lee county 
 were John Dement, John V, Eustace, Richard F. Adams, 
 John Gilmore and Hiram Wood. The nominee was John 
 Wentworth of Chicago, and he was elected, by a vote of 
 7538 to 6437 for Cyrus Aldrich of Lee, the Whig and 2149 
 for James H. Collins of Chicago the Abolition candidates. 
 The vote in Lee county was Wentworth 508, Aldrich 565, 
 Collins 55.
 
 AMBOY. 
 
 From a private letter, written by one of her pioneer 
 business men, the following is quoted to show some inci- 
 dents in Amboy's beginning: 
 
 Greenwich, Mass., Nov. 14th, 1854. 
 ALFRED E. PATTEN, 
 Osceola, Iowa. 
 
 I am writing you sitting in my chair with my port- 
 folio in my lap, as I do not feel able to bend over a 
 
 table. 
 
 ******* 
 
 I will commence at the time we separated at Al- 
 bany. I regret that you had promised to go to 
 Clarke County, Iowa, for I thought you might do 
 just as well in 111., but to my doings. Chann 
 and myself took horse and buggy the next day after 
 you left, in search of a location for the business we 
 talked of and to see the country, likewise we spent 
 about one week in riding and of course saw a good 
 deal of the country between Albany and Chicago. 
 I think I am pretty well posted in the matter. The 
 country a little back and north of Albany is quite 
 rolling, though not quite so much as back of Albany 
 where we went. I presume it would not have been as 
 rolling if we had gone six or eight miles farther to 
 the east. You may depend that the land back of Al- 
 bany in that country to Sterling on Kock River will 
 be the best wheat lands at present of any in Northern 
 Illinois, and still it is not one-tenth part broken or 
 fenced as yet. I tell you the country is most beau- 
 tiful from Albany to Sterling. I crossed it twice. 
 Well, the first night we staid with Hyram Fish. He 
 married Mr. Sprout 's daughter of our place you know. 
 We had a special time of it you may depend. He 
 lives at Gap Grove and has a little bit of a house, 
 nice and cozy though old. You will recollect he is 
 the man that must have a nice horse and buggy. He 
 built the cottage adjoining his father's house, but 
 things are changed. He kicked up his heels in great 
 glee at seeing me, offered such as he had, said that
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 125 
 
 was good enough and would not put himself out a 
 cents worth for us. Well he enjoys himself and no 
 mistake. He lives on the main road from Dixon to 
 Albany, Fulton City, etc. He has 80 acres I think 
 of land. Bought it two years ago for 6 or 8 per acre, 
 now worth $25. to $35. per acre. He lives in plain 
 sight of A. Powers' place. W. Town staid with us 
 at Fish's. He was just starting for Minnesota, bag 
 and baggage. He wants to make a fortune in a day, 
 but don't know how to do it, wants to do it without 
 work. We started next morning for Dixon and so on 
 down the Illinois Central R. R. After traveling some 
 12 miles southeast of Dixon we ran unexpectedly on 
 a place by the name of Amboy. When we first saw 
 it, it struck my fancy, for we were on quite an eleva- 
 tion and looked down upon it, it looked fine. We 
 were on our way for Mendota 17 miles south at the 
 junction of the Military Track and Illinois Central. 
 I told Chan. I would have a lot or so whether or not, 
 before we got there (that is Amboy), and in great 
 glee we decended a slope of one-half mile or so to 
 the tavern and depot. The company have laid out 
 a good deal of expense here already. The tavern 
 which belongs to the company cost some twelve thou- 
 sands. This was finished when I was there the last 
 time and would be opened the next week. It is a 
 fine affair. I went pretty much over it and into the 
 observatory on the top of it. They have a large 
 freight house done, likewise a very large roundhouse 
 capable of holding 23 engines at once with a very 
 large turn-table in the center. The track work is 
 done to this likewise but the top is not on. Their 
 buildings when all done will cover several acres and 
 all of brick. They calculate to employ some three 
 hundred hands. It is said they intend to make this 
 a kind of shifting station for engineers and engines. 
 They will stop for meals also. There are other ex- 
 pectations, though they may not be realized. The 
 greatest is, that the County Seat will be removed 
 from Dixon to Amboy. Dixon is in the edge of Lee 
 County, only one town between it and the two other 
 Counties, and Amboy is within one mile or so of the 
 exact center. The Company has made some offers
 
 126 MENDOTA 
 
 of lands already and the tug of war will soon come, 
 and a tug it will be, as Dixon is quite a large place 
 and plenty of money to spend in such business. But 
 the middle and southern portion of the county is 
 getting quite thickly settled and if true to them- 
 selves, will out-vote the influence of Dixon. They 
 had a trial two or three years ago to get it at a 
 little place five miles from here called Lee Center 
 but could not out-vote Dixon influence, but things 
 are different now. I bought the first day I was there 
 one lot on Main Street about 12 or 15 rods from the 
 Depot. I paid $175. for it, bought it second hand, 
 could have taken $200. for it before I left, size of lot 
 50 feet front 160 back. We went down to Mendota 
 and staid a day. I say down for it is 300 feet lower 
 than Amboy though on pretty much the same kind 
 of land. Well it is one of the places we read of. One 
 year ago there was, I think, not a house in the place, 
 now I should think there was 150 of all shapes and 
 sizes and three taverns. They were all full and I 
 saw that many slept in cars where the seats had been 
 taken out. I saw a large tent full besides, but I 
 think it must be an unhealthy place and awful muddy. 
 Amboy will be muddy enough for that matter. 
 
 The country around both places is much richer 
 than Whiteside County, most too rich for wheat at 
 present, though they raise good spring wheat. 
 Around Dixon it is quite sandy and some of the soil 
 poor. I think I would like a farm here but I do not 
 know but it would come too high. Lands have been 
 offered here or within 5 or 6 miles for $7 and $8 per 
 acre with considerable improvements, but I don't 
 suppose it will be my luck to find any such. Land 
 will be high, very high, within say five years, at least 
 $25 per acre. I did not ride around Amboy as I 
 now wished I had. It lays like this, Binghamton 
 quite a place one mile east on a branch of Green 
 River. It has one flowering mill, school house and 
 a little meeting house. Rockyford is one mile west. 
 Lee Center 5 miles north and the old town of Amboy 
 a few miles northwest. So you will see that the coun- 
 try will soon be thickly settled and now is my time 
 if ever here. Last time, there was in Amboy only two
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 127 
 
 houses and two barns. This time most of the lots 
 are probably sold. There was several little houses 
 up when I was there, one blacksmith shop, three 
 stores and lots ready to build as soon as the -rail- 
 road got in. It is in by this time. When we returned 
 to Amboy we had the refusal of five more lots. For 
 one fortnight I will stay here. We were very for- 
 tunate in coming across a kind of cousin of yours 
 and an own cousin of Chan's. Their names are Clark. 
 Uncle Benj. married their aunt. One of them is boss 
 of the carpenter work and we staid with him while 
 there. Three churches have sites either purchased 
 or given in the place. Now, whether all or half of 
 the things take place is more than I can tell, though 
 all looks well. I do not think it will make so much 
 difference in our business. It is first rate every 
 where I went. In returning we staid one night with 
 A. Powers and went over his farm. He has a good 
 one, 600 acres, worth from $25 to $35 per acre, 
 that's all. The night I was there it rained and when 
 we started next morning the wind blew as no other 
 winds, but these western winds can blow. It was 
 very cold likewise though it had been very warm pre- 
 viously. We rode 40 miles that day and without eat- 
 ing. When we got home we found ourselves pretty 
 badly chilled. I was griped some before we got home. 
 We ate supper and directly after I had an attack 
 of cholic. I started for home in just one week 
 
 from the time I had the cholic for I was very anxious 
 about the lots at Amboy as we had not paid for them 
 and we had concluded to go there. At first I thought 
 it would cost so much for building lots that we could 
 not go there, but after calculating I thought it best. 
 Our business lots 160 front and 160 deep cost us 
 $400, half down, the remainder in one year, and so 
 with all of them. These lots lay directly on the 
 railroad and a switch will come in front. The street 
 is 100 feet wide besides. (Father has just stepped 
 into my room with the news that Pelhem, Prescott, 
 Belchertown, Enfield, You-All-Know-Nothings. In 
 Greenwich K. N. 112, Whig 22, Dem. 8 I think F. S. 
 5.) John Powers carried me to Amboy and I was 
 just on time to save the lots. The next day I started
 
 128 DIFFERENCE IN MARKETS 
 
 for home. I got detained twice by brake downs and 
 in my weak state took cold and come home with fever 
 which has completely prostrated me. I am as weak 
 as a child as yet and I write you but a line or two 
 at a time. I mean to sell at any rate if I can. If I 
 cannot I shall hire a man I think and go out as soon 
 as the boys get ready and stay through the season. 
 ****** 
 
 I have any amount of questions I would like to ask 
 you. You I should think by your letter, think that 
 Iowa is the place for farming because the land is 
 cheap and just as good as 111. though you did not 
 say so. Now I grant that land is as good (doubtful) 
 in Iowa and certainly cheaper than it is in 111. But 
 now I would like to ask you some questions. What 
 is corn worth as a general thing throughout the state ? 
 What is oats worth and wheat, etc. Perhaps emi- 
 gration just now makes a market there or at least 
 helps it considerable but that will not last long. Now 
 I find a difference between Albany market and Pow- 
 ers market, fifteen cents on wheat per bushel and 
 everything in proportion almost. The east is to be 
 the great market for grains most certainly, and the 
 more central, and certainly the nearest to market, will 
 be the most valuable country. 
 
 Now as to going on to a farm not improved I can- 
 not see much gain, especially to a man who has some 
 means. If a man gets a farm in 111. with a little 
 snug house and barn and say 160 acres of land with 
 40 or 50 acres improved, he can break up the re- 
 mainder when it suits his convenience and fence it at 
 odd jobs. Fencing actually costs $1.00 per rod in 
 my opinion everything counted. Iowa market may 
 be good but it can never equal 111. in my opinion. 
 Many have been out from 111. to Iowa and have come 
 back satisfied that land is as high, and most say 
 higher than in 111., with not as good privileges. I 
 am inclined to think so myself. 
 
 There are other things. Society in 111. is improv- 
 ing rapidly and I will tell you now eastern people are 
 coming in with means to buy and the wondering un- 
 easy half civilized population are going west. This
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 129 
 
 is a real fact, it is not imagination. There are many 
 emigrants going from Ind. I do not know how many 
 I asked in my travels where they were from and 
 where going. The answer in every case but one was 
 from Ind. Where bound "To Iowa City." Further 
 than that they did not know. The secret is the Yan- 
 kees are coming in with money and have bought them 
 out. The same thing is taking place in Illinois slowly. 
 The poorest of emigration does not stop in Illinois 
 much now. 
 
 Now as far as your business as concerned, that is 
 money-getting, I do not doubt that Iowa is the place, 
 and if you can get the right place (and there are 
 places enough) you can do better than farming no 
 doubt, and I advise you to go into it, now is your 
 time. Almost any where, one if rightly situated can 
 get rich with your means. I mean in the western 
 country. 
 
 I must close this long letter for I am pretty tired 
 and I guess you will be by the time you wade through 
 it. Write me a good long letter and I will write as 
 long a one in return. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 R. H. MELLEN.
 
 THE GENESIS OF LEE COUNTY. 
 
 Claiming jurisdiction by right of conquest, Virginia, 
 upon the fifth of October, 1778, passed "An Act for 
 establishing the County of Illinois, and for the more ef- 
 fectual protection and defense thereof," which enacted 
 ''that all the citizens of this commonwealth who are 
 already settled, or shall hereafter settle on the western 
 side of the Ohio river, shall be included in a distinct 
 county which shall be called Illinois County." 
 
 When St. Clair county, our first county, was formed, 
 April, 1790, by the proclamation of Arthur St. Clair, 
 Governor of the Territory of the United States North- 
 west of the River Ohio, it included all the country be- 
 tween the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio rivers and a line 
 drawn from the Illinois at the mouth of the Little Macki- 
 naw, a few miles below Pekin, to the Ohio at the mouth 
 of a small stream a short distance above Fort Massac 
 which stood at the eastern edge of Metropolis City. (St. 
 Clair Papers.) 
 
 Knox county, now entirely within Indiana, was estab- 
 lished the twentieth of the following June and embraced, 
 with parts of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, all the terri- 
 tory in our state east of St. Clair and the Illinois river 
 to the confluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines and 
 a line due north from that point. (St. Clair Papers.) 
 
 Randolph was created by proclamation October 5th, 
 1795, and included all the territory south of a line drawn 
 from the Mississippi through Cove Spring (near Water- 
 loo) to the Knox county line; thence along Knox to the 
 Ohio. (St. Clair Papers.) 
 
 On August 25, 1796, Governor St. Clair created the 
 Wayne county that is now wholly within Ohio, giving 
 it, with other territory, all of Illinois north and east of a 
 line running from Fort Wayne, Indiana, "westnortherly 
 to the most southern part of Lake Michigan ; thence along
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 131 
 
 the western shore of the same to the northwest part 
 thereof (including the lands upon the streams emptying 
 into said lake) ; thence by a due north line to the terri- 
 torial boundary in Lake Superior." (Douglass' History 
 of Wayne County, Ohio.) 
 
 On the third of February, 1801, Governor William H. 
 Harrison of Indiana Territory fixed Randolph's bound- 
 aries by a line beginning "on the Ohio river at a place 
 called the Great Cave, below the Saline Lick; thence by 
 a direct north line until it intersects an east and west 
 line running from the Mississippi through the Sink Hole 
 Spring; thence along said line to the Mississippi; thence 
 down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, and up 
 the Ohio to the place of beginning." (Ind. His. Soc. Pub. 
 3, p. 98.) The Great Cave is in Hardin county, and is 
 now known as Cave-in-Bock. The Sink Hole Spring was 
 nearly on the present Randolph-St. Clair line. (Beck- 
 with, History of Vermilion County.) 
 
 January 24, 1803, Governor Harrison, by proclama- 
 tion, created the Wayne county that is now wholly within 
 Michigan, and placed in it all that part of Illinois north 
 and east of lines drawn "through the southerly extreme" 
 and "the most westerly .bend of" Lake Michigan, (hid. 
 His. Soc. Pub. vol. 3, p. 115.) 
 
 On March 25, 1803, he fixed the line between Randolph 
 and St. Clair at one drawn from the Mississippi "four 
 miles and thirty-two chains south of the point where the 
 present division line intersects the Mississippi bottom; 
 thence by a direct line to the Sink Hole Springs; thence 
 by a line north, sixty degrees east, until it intersects a 
 north line running from the Great Cave on the Ohio." 
 This order, however, was not to be effective until the 
 first of the following May. (Ind. His. Soc. Pub. 3, p. 118.) 
 
 This line was adopted and confirmed by an order of 
 Nathaniel Pope, Secretary and Acting Governor of Illi-
 
 132 EDWARDS COUNTY 
 
 nois Territory, April 28, 1809. (III. St. His. Library Pub. 
 3, pp. 3, 4.) 
 
 On the 14th of September, 1812, Governor Ninian 
 Edwards of Illinois Territory issued a proclamation cre- 
 ating three new counties, Madison, Gallatin and Johnson. 
 Madison was given all the territory north of the ' ' second 
 township line above Cahokia," its present south line and 
 its extension east to Indiana. 
 
 The first county formed by legislation in the Territory 
 of Illinois is Edwards, and it was created by "An Act 
 for the division of Gallatin county," passed November 
 28, 1814, which provides "that all that tract of land 
 within the following boundaries (to wit) beginning at the 
 mouth of the Bompas creek on the Big Wabash and run- 
 ning thence due west to the meridian line which runs 
 due north from the mouth of the Ohio river ; thence with 
 said meridian line and due north 'till it strikes the line 
 of Upper Canada ; thence with the line of Upper Canada 
 to the line that separates this territory from the Indiana 
 Territory; and thence with the said dividing line to the 
 beginning shall constitute a separate county to be called 
 Edwards." The south line of Edwards has been short- 
 ened, .but not changed otherwise. 
 
 The "Act for the division of Edwards county," in 
 force December 31, 1816, created Crawford and gave it 
 that part of Edwards north of a line beginning at the 
 mouth of Embarrass river, and running with said river 
 to the intersection of the line dividing townships three 
 and four north, range eleven west of the second principal 
 meridian; thence west with the township line to the 
 meridian. 
 
 The "Act forming a new county out of the county of 
 Madison," approved January 4, 1817, created Bond and 
 gave it the territory north of the St. Clair-Madison line 
 extended to the third principal meridian that is west of
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 133 
 
 the meridian and east of the Mason-Logan line extended 
 from Wisconsin to the southeast corner of Madison. 
 
 That part of Crawford lying north of the line dividing 
 townships eight and nine north was cut off by the "Act 
 forming a new county out of the county of Crawford," 
 approved March 22, 1819, and formed into the county of 
 Clark. 
 
 The "Act establishing the County of Greene," ap- 
 proved January 20, 1821, gave that county the country 
 in the present Greene and Jersey, and attached to it the 
 territory within a line running from the southwest corner 
 of the present Macoupin to the southeast corner of 
 Macoupin; thence north to the northeast corner of that 
 county ; thence west twelve miles ; thence along the prairie 
 between the waters of the Mauvaise Terre and the San- 
 gamon to the head of Balance creek, and down that creek 
 and the Illinois to Greene and along its northern and 
 eastern boundaries to the place of beginning. 
 
 The "Act establishing the County of Sangamon," ap- 
 proved January 30, 1821, gave that county the territory 
 north of township twelve, north, bounded by the Illinois, 
 the third principal meridian and Greene 's attached terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The greater part of the territory south of a line from 
 the Mississippi at the southwest corner of Rock Island 
 County east on the north line of township fifteen, fourth 
 principal meridian, to the Illinois river, near DePue, was 
 set aside for entry under land warrants given to the 
 veterans of our wars, and this circumstance fastened upon 
 it the name of the "Military Tract," or "Bounty Land," 
 which it still bears. 
 
 The "Act to form a new county on the bounty lands," 
 approved January 31, 1821, created Pike and gave it a 
 boundary line beginning at the mouth of the Illinois river 
 and running thence up that river to its forks ; and thence 
 up the south fork to the Indiana line; along that to the
 
 134 FAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 northern boundary of our state, and on that to the west 
 line of the state; and thence down that line to the place 
 of beginning. 
 
 "An act forming a new county out of the parts of 
 counties therein contained," approved February 14, 1821, 
 created Fayette and gave it all of the state north of 
 township two, north, in range one, west, and ranges one, 
 two, three, four, five and six east of the third principal 
 meridian. This gave Fayette the area north of the 
 Madison-St. Clair line extended that is east of the Bond- 
 Fayette line extended and west of the Shelby-Coles line 
 extended. 
 
 Beck's Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri (1821) com- 
 ments on the fact that by the terms of this statute Fay- 
 ette bisects Pike, but concluding that this was an error, 
 shows Pike as a whole, extending entirely across the 
 state. 
 
 In his article on the "Counties of Illinois," in the 
 Illinois Blue Book for 1905, Stephen L. Spear contends 
 that Fayette did not extend north of the Illinois river, 
 and that its west line north of township twelve, was the 
 meridian, and his map supports his contention. His 
 argument is that if this were not so, then Fayette would 
 bisect Pike and take range one, west, north of township 
 tw r elve, from Sangamon, where it had been placed a short 
 time before, and this could not have been intended. 
 
 The answer is, that the statute is a valid expression of 
 the will of the legislature; it is clear and precise in its 
 language and as it merely expresses what the legislature 
 could and might have intended, Fayette must be consid- 
 ered as extending, its entire width, through Pike to the 
 state line. There are other instances in which our coun- 
 ties were composed of disconnected tracts, but that did 
 not invalidate the statutes creating such conditions. 
 
 The "Act defining the boundaries of Pike county, and 
 for other purposes," approved December 30, 1822, pro-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 135 
 
 vides that the county shall be bounded as follows: On 
 the north by the base line; on the east by the Illinois 
 river; and on the west by the Mississippi and all the rest 
 and remainder of the territory composing the county of 
 Pike, before the passing of this act, shall be attached to 
 and form a part of said county until otherwise disposed 
 of by the General Assembly. 
 
 Edgar was created by the "Act forming a new county 
 out of part of Clark," approved January 3, 1823, with 
 its present boundary line, and there was attached to it 
 all the country west of it that was not attached to any 
 other county (and there was none so attached until Fay- 
 ette was reached), and all the territory north of it "to 
 Lake Michigan." 
 
 The first section of the "Act forming a new county out 
 of the attached portion of the county of Pike," approved 
 January 28, 1823, reads thus : ' ' The territory within the 
 following .bounds, beginning at the point where the fourth 
 principal meridian intersects the Illinois river; thence 
 up the middle of said river to where the line between 
 ranges five and six east strikes the said river; thence 
 north with the range line to the line between townships 
 nine and ten north ; thence west with the said line to the 
 said fourth principal meridian; thence south with said 
 line to the place of beginning, shall constitute a separate 
 county to be called Fulton." The Act attached to Fulton 
 all of Pike lying north and east of the new county. 
 
 The * ' Act forming new counties out of Pike and Ful- 
 ton, and the attached parts thereof," approved January 
 13, 3825, created Schuyler, Adams, Hancock, Warren, 
 Mercer, Henry, Putnam and Knox. Mercer was given all 
 that part of the state north of the present south line of 
 that county. Knox was given its present area, except the 
 north tier of towns \vhich was put in Henry with all the 
 country north of that tier. Hancock and Adams were 
 given their present areas. Warren had its present area
 
 136 LUDLOW COUNTY 
 
 and all of Henderson. Schuyler took its present area 
 with that of Brown. The territory now forming Mc- 
 Donough was overlooked and not put in any county, but 
 in the next year it was formed into McDonough. 
 
 Putnam was given the country north of the present 
 Peoria and north of the Illinois and Kankakee rivers, 
 and this included Lee. 
 
 The "Act to form a new county in the vicinity of Fort 
 Clark," approved January 13, 1825, created Peoria with 
 the territory it has today, except for a slight change in 
 the west line that was made necessary by errors in the 
 original surveys. This act attached to Peoria a large 
 area east of the Illinois river, and all the country north of 
 the new Peoria and north of the Illinois and Kankakee 
 rivers, thus attaching Putnam to Peoria. 
 
 The House of the Fifth General Assembly, January 
 15, 1827, on motion of Jonathan H. Pugh of Sanga- 
 mon, adopted a resolution for the appointment of a 
 committee to inquire into and report upon the expediency 
 of establishing a new county on Fever river, and made 
 Pugh, Alfred W. Cavarly of Greene, Henry J. Ross of 
 Pike, David Prickett of Madison and Charles Ives of 
 Clark the members of that committee. They reported 
 a bill for "An Act establishing Ludlow county." After 
 the first reading the bill was amended in committee of 
 the whole and sent to a select committee composed of 
 Pugh, Henry I. Mills of Edwards and John C. Alexander 
 of Crawford who reported it, with some amendments, 
 whereupon it was sent to a committee consisting of Pugh, 
 Cavarly and John Leeper of Morgan, who reported it 
 with amendments, some of which were adopted, while 
 others were rejected. After defeating the motion of John 
 Reynolds of St. Clair that the bill be laid on the table 
 "until the fourth of July next," the bill was sent back to 
 the last committee. It was again reported with amend- 
 ments, some of which were lost and some adopted. Upon 
 motion of Cavarly, February 8, the bill was laid on the
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 137 
 
 table "until the fourth of July next." The difficulties 
 encountered seem to have grown out of the provisions for 
 holding the circuit court and the payment of the judge 's 
 salary. The bill still remains on file, endorsed "An Act 
 establishing Ludlow county." The boundary line pro- 
 posed began at the northwest corner of the state, ran east 
 on the northern line of the state to the northwest corner 
 of the township in range ten, east of the fourth principal 
 meridian, thence south (on the Stephenson-Winnebago 
 line and its extension) to the north line of the military 
 tract, thence west to the Mississippi and up that river 
 to the place of beginning. 
 
 A few days later, on motion of John Reynolds, the 
 House took from the table a bill entitled "An Act estab- 
 lishing Jo Daviess county," though we find no mention 
 in the journal of such a bill until this occurrence, and sent 
 it to a committee composed of Reynolds, Charles Slade of 
 Washington and Francis Prince of Gallatin, who reported 
 the bill with amendments that were adopted. It was read 
 the third time and sent to another committee, Prince, 
 Conrad Will of Jackson, and John Reynolds, w 7 ho re- 
 ported it with amendments that were adopted and the bill 
 passed, the title being "An Act establishing Jo Daviess 
 county." It was approved February 17, 1827, and gave 
 the new county a boundary beginning at the northwest 
 corner of the State, running thence down the Mississippi 
 to the northern line of the military tract, thence east on 
 that line to the Illinois, thence north to the northern 
 boundary of the state, thence west to the place of begin- 
 ning. In those days many bills went without any title 
 until the final reading, except that noted by the clerk in 
 making up the journal, and he changed that at his pleas- 
 ure, so it is quite probable that the bill Reynolds called 
 up from the table was the Ludlow bill as amended. A plat 
 accompanying the Report of the General Land Office, 
 1835-6, makes the north line of the Military Tract touch
 
 138 PINCKNEY COUNTY 
 
 the Illinois in range ten, east, a little west of the present 
 DePue. 
 
 In the sixth General Assembly, 1828-1829, Peter Cart- 
 wright of Sangamon introduced in the House a bill with- 
 out a title, but to which the clerk has given the title of 
 "An Act forming the Counties of Chicago, Pinckney and 
 Brown." After the second reading the bill was sent to 
 the committee of the whole, amended, and then laid upon 
 the table on motion of Jonathan H. Pugh of Sangamon, 
 and there it is today. 
 
 Section one of the bill would have created a county with 
 a boundary line beginning at the northeast corner of 
 township thirty-five north, range four (4), east of the 
 third principal meridian (a point six miles south of the 
 north line, and six miles west of the east line of the 
 present La Salle county); thence "easterly" (an error; 
 it should be westerly) along "the north line of the sur- 
 veys to the northwest corner of fractional township 
 eighteen (18) north, range ten (10), east of the fourth 
 principal meridian" (southwest corner of the town of 
 May) ; thence south on the line between ranges nine and 
 ten (the Stephenson-Winnebago line extended) to the 
 southwest corner of "fractional township" thirteen (13) 
 north, range ten (10) "west aforesaid"; thence east to 
 the main channel of the Illinois river and down the river 
 to the "southwest angle" of fractional township twenty- 
 eight (28) north, range four (4) west of the third prin- 
 cipal meridian; thence east on the line between town- 
 ships twenty-seven (27) and twenty-eight (28) (a line six 
 miles south of the north line of Woodford) to the south- 
 east corner of township twenty-eight (28) north, range 
 four (4) east of the third principal meridian ; thence north 
 on the line between ranges four (4) and five (5) to the 
 place of beginning. The name given is Pinckney. It 
 would have included Bureau, Putnam, Marshall, the 
 greater part of La Salle, with some of Livingston and 
 Woodford.
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 139 
 
 Section two of this Act provided for a county to be 
 called Brown, and gave it the country bounded on the 
 north by an extension of the north line of La Salle, on the 
 west by an extension of the east line of Boone, on the 
 south by an extension of the north line of Woodford, and 
 on the east by a line six miles east of an extension of the 
 east line of Kane. 
 
 Section three would have created Chicago with a bound- 
 ary line beginning on the eastern boundary line of the 
 State at a point in Lake Michigan opposite the line be- 
 tween townships forty-one and forty-two north, range 
 fourteen east of the third principal meridian (near Wil- 
 mette), and running thence west (on a line six miles south 
 of Lake county) to the northwest corner of township 
 forty-one north, range ten east; thence south (on a line 
 six miles east of Kane county) to the northwest corner 
 of township thirty-seven north, range ten east; thence 
 east (six miles) to the northwest corner of township 
 thirty-seven north, range eleven east; thence south (six 
 miles) to the southwest corner of township thirty-five 
 north, range eleven east ; thence east to the eastern bound- 
 ary of the State, and along that line to the place of be- 
 ginning. 
 
 The fourth section of the bill provided that for election 
 and other county purposes all the country lying north of 
 the counties of Chicago, Pinckney and Brown, to the north 
 line of the State, and as far west as the third principal 
 meridian, and the country lying south of these counties 
 so as to include township twenty-eight (28) north, "which 
 is not included in the boundaries of any other county, 
 shall be and the same is hereby attached to the County 
 of Chicago." 
 
 The proposed Chicago would have included the east 
 two-thirds of DuPage, all of Cook, except the north tier 
 of townships and two townships off the north end of the 
 extreme west tier, and a small part of Will. 
 
 The attached territorv included the rest of DuPage and
 
 140 COLUMBIA COUNTY 
 
 Cook, all of Lake, McHenry, Boone, Kane, nearly all of 
 DeKalb, part of Winnebago, Ogle, Lee, and LaSalle. 
 
 During this session John Reynolds of St. Glair for 
 the committee on the revision of the statutes, on Decem- 
 ber 1, 1828, introduced in the House a bill for "An Act 
 ascertaining and defining the boundaries of the several 
 counties in this state, and designating the seats of justice 
 therein respectively. ' ' It was laid on the table after the 
 first reading. The real purpose of the bill seems to have 
 been to create Macon county. The boundary line pro- 
 posed for Putnam by this bill would have given that 
 county the territory west of the Illinois to the Knox- 
 Peoria line extended that is between the north line of 
 Peoria and the south line of Rock Island extended. It 
 made no disposition of that part of Putnam lying east of 
 Jo Daviess and did not change the lines of the latter. 
 
 During the first session of the Seventh General Assem- 
 bly, 1830-1831, there was presented to the House a peti- 
 tion from Jo Daviess, Putnam and the attached parts of 
 Tazewell and Peoria counties, asking the formation of a 
 new county. Then Joel Wright, of the Pike, Adams, Ful- 
 ton, Schuyler, Peoria and Jo Daviess district, presented 
 a petition from the inhabitants in the neighborhood of 
 "Chicago, in the County of Peoria," praying for a new 
 county. On motion of John F. Posey, of the Fayette, 
 Bond, Tazew r ell, Montgomery and Shelby district, it was 
 resolved that a select committee be appointed to lay off 
 all the country on the other side of the Illinois river from 
 Peoria county to Chicago into counties, and to report by 
 bill. The committee was composed of Posey, Wright and 
 Jonathan H. Pugh of Sangamon. To the same committee 
 was sent, on motion of Posey, after its second reading, a 
 bill introduced by Jacob Ogle, of St. Clair, for the com- 
 mittee on petitions upon the petition first mentioned, for 
 an "Act to create and organize the County of Columbia." 
 This select committee reported a bill for "An Act to
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 141 
 
 create and organize the counties therein named" which 
 passed the House. It was amended in the Senate, the 
 House concurring, and became a law January 15, 1831. 
 It created Cook and LaSaJle (with its north boundary as 
 at present), changed the boundaries of Putnam and added 
 some territory to Henry. By the third section of this 
 Act it is provided that Putnam shall comprise the terri- 
 tory within the following boundaries: beginning at the 
 southwest corner of township twelve north, range six east 
 of the fourth principal meridian (on the Stark-Peoria 
 line) ; thence east to the Illinois; thence down the middle 
 of the river to the south line of township twenty-nine 
 north, west of the third principal meridian (Woodford- 
 Mar shall Line) ; thence east to the third principal me- 
 ridian, and north with it forty-two miles (near Mendota) ; 
 thence west to (northwest corner of Bureau) a point six 
 miles due north of the northwest corner of township 
 seventeen, range six east of the fourth principal meridian ; 
 thence south to the starting point. Some provisions of 
 the act are peculiar. It makes "the northern boundary 
 line of the State" the north line of Cook, and then at- 
 taches to that county the territory " north of Cook County 
 and parallel with the lines of the same as far north- 
 wardly as Kock River," the west line of Cook being the 
 line between ranges eight and nine east of the third prin- 
 cipal meridian (the Kane-DuPage line) and that river 
 not being so far east as that in this State. The Act adds 
 to Henry townships twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, 
 sixteen, seventeen and eighteen, range five, while another 
 act approved that day (An Act to establish the permanent 
 seat of justice for Knox county) so described Henry's 
 boundaries that they exclude townships twelve and thir- 
 teen (placing them in Knox) and the north line is Rock 
 river, between the fourth principal meridian and the east 
 line of range five. 
 
 The territory in range eleven (the towns of Sublette, 
 Lee Centre, Bradford, Ashton in Lee county, Lafayette,
 
 142 LA SALLE COUNTY 
 
 Pine Rock, Marion, the east two third of Byron in Ogle ; 
 Winnebago, Burritt, Harrison, and the greater part of 
 Shirland in Winnebago) north of the new Putnam was 
 not put in any county or attached to any. The north line 
 of the new Putnam, as fixed by this Act, is a diagonal one. 
 A due west line from the third principal meridian forty- 
 two miles north of the south line of township twenty-nine, 
 on that meridian, will not go to a point "six miles due 
 north of the northwest corner of township seventeen" 
 north, range six east of the fourth principal meridian, 
 though the legislators may have thought it will. ( This 
 error was corrected in 1839 after Bureau was formed.) 
 
 LaSalle was given the territory bounded by a line be- 
 ginning at the southwest corner of the new Cook the 
 southwest corner of township thirty-four, north, range 
 nine east of the third principal meridian (Shermanville) ; 
 running thence south thirty miles; thence west to the 
 meridian and north along it forty-eight miles (to the 
 northwest corner of La Salle) ; thence east (on the La 
 Salle-Lee and LaSalle-DeKalb line) to Cook (the Ken- 
 dall-Will line) ; thence south to the place of beginning. 
 The act attached to LaSalle all that part of the state lying 
 north of it. The attached territory included the two 
 ranges of townships at the east end of Lee. 
 
 This statute failed to make any disposition of that part 
 of the old Putnam lying north of the Kankakee, south 
 of the new Cook (the south line of township thirty-four), 
 and east of LaSalle. By the l ' Act to establish the county 
 of Will." approved January 12, 1836, this became part 
 of Will. 
 
 The bill for the "Act to create and organize the county 
 of Columbia" proposed the following boundary, begin- 
 ning at the southeast corner of township twenty-nine, 
 north, range four, east of the third principal meridian, 
 thence north (on the Boone-McHenry line extended) to 
 the north line of township thirty-six, thence west to the 
 meridian (on the LaSalle-DeKalb line) and through the
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 143 
 
 center of township nineteen in the ranges east of the 
 fourth principal meridian to the line between ranges nine 
 and ten east of that meridian (through the towns of 
 Sublette and May to the east line of East Grove in Lee 
 county) thence south (on an extension of the east line 
 of Stephenson) to and down the Illinois to the south- 
 west corner of township twenty-nine, north, west of the 
 third principal meridian (the Woodford-Marshall line) 
 thence east to the place of beginning. 
 
 The bill is endorsed, An Act to organize the county of 
 Columbia. 
 
 The "'Act to establish Rock Island County," approved 
 February 9, 1831, gave that county its present area. 
 
 In the Galenian of September 29, 1835, Samuel Allen 
 and Edmund A. Philleo gave notice, dated September 22, 
 1835, that application would be made to the legislature to 
 strike off all that part of Rock Island county that lies 
 east and south of Rock river, and to extend Rock Island 
 county from its then north line to the mouth of Johnson *s 
 creek, thence east to the line between ranges five and six 
 east of the fourth principal meridian, thence south to 
 Rock River, thence down the main channel of that river 
 to its mouth. 
 
 Johnson's creek runs into Otter creek, which flows into 
 the Mississippi about two and one-half miles above 
 Fulton. 
 
 In the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser of 
 October 15, 1836, is an unsigned notice reading thus 
 ' ' To the inhabitants of Rock Island, Henry and White- 
 side counties. Notice is hereby given to the legal voters 
 of the aforesaid counties that a petition will be pre- 
 sented to the General Assembly of this State (Illinois) 
 at their next session, for an alteration of the present 
 boundary lines of said county, and also for a change of 
 the county seat -of Rock Island county. Rock Island 
 County, October 3, 1836." 
 
 In the Gazette and Advertiser of December 3, 1836,
 
 144 THE DIXON AND BOWEN PROJECT 
 
 "Conclusion," writing from Rock Island county, Novem- 
 ber nineteenth, says he understands the proposal is to 
 attach all of Rock Island south of Rock river to Mercer 
 and to extend the northern boundary to include Mere- 
 dosia and Cat Tail swamps, the head of the rapids to be 
 the county seat, that the proposal is by a man who did not 
 get elected recorder after the county seat was located at 
 Stephenson. The \vriter calls attention to the great popu- 
 lation the new county will have if the mosquitos are 
 counted. 
 
 In the Northivestern Gazetteer & Galena Advertiser of 
 October 24, 1835, and other days after that, appeared 
 this : 
 
 " Notice is hereby given that application will be made 
 at the next session of the Legislature of the State of Illi- 
 nois to establish and organize three new counties to be 
 embraced within the limits of Jo Daviess, and bounded as 
 follows : 
 
 1st : Beginning at a point on the Mississippi between 
 townships twenty-five and twenty-six and range two east 
 of the fourth principal meridian ; thence running due east 
 to the line between ranges six and seven east of the fourth 
 principal meridian; thence south to the southern boun- 
 dary of township twenty-five ; thence due west to the line 
 between ranges five and six east of said meridian ; thence 
 south to the center of Rock River ; thence down the main 
 channel of said stream to the N. E. corner of Rock Island 
 County ; thence along the center of the Meridosia, or the 
 northern boundary of said county, to the Mississippi; 
 thence up the main channel of the same to the place of 
 beginning. 
 
 2nd : Also beginning at the corner of townships twenty- 
 four and twenty-four and twenty-five and twenty-five 
 north of ranges five and six east of the fourth principal 
 meridian; thence east to the third principal meridian; 
 thence south with the third principal meridian to the N. 
 E. corner of Putnam County ; thence west along the north-
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 145 
 
 ern boundary of said county to the northwest corner 
 thereof; thence north between ranges four and five to 
 Rock River; thence up the main channel of Rock River 
 to the range line between ranges five and six ; thence north 
 with said range line to the place of beginning. 
 
 3rd : Also leaving all that part of the aforesaid County 
 of Jo Daviess with so much of that portion attached to 
 the County of LaSalle as the Legislature in their wisdom 
 shall see fit to award lying north of the last above de- 
 scribed county and east of range seven of the fourth prin- 
 cipal meridian to constitute the third new county. 
 
 October 24, 1835. 
 
 John Dixon, 
 Luther H. Bowen." 
 
 Luther H. Bowen was one of the surveyors who located 
 the Illinois- Wisconsin line in 1832. In 1835 he bought a 
 claim to the land on which Savanna stands, and in the 
 next year platted that town, conducting a store there from 
 that time until his death, May 5, 1876. He was one of the 
 first three county commissioners of Carroll county. (Kett, 
 History of Carroll County.) 
 
 This notice appears to assume that the west line of 
 Putnam was the line between ranges four and five, east 
 of the fourth principal meridian, while it, in fact, was the 
 line between ranges five and six. The consequence of 
 this error is that the boundaries proposed for the second 
 county would not connect. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that Bowen, who must have 
 been acquainted with the township lines, and who un- 
 doubtedly sought to create a county of which his town 
 would be the capital, placed the north line of the first 
 county at the line between townships twenty-five and 
 twenty-six, barely seven miles north of Savanna. 
 
 A petition praying for the passage of a statute creating 
 counties as outlined by this notice, \vas duly presented to 
 the General Assembly. With other petitions asking the 
 formation of other counties this led to the passage of
 
 146 OGLE COUNTY 
 
 the "Act to establish certain counties," approved Janu- 
 ary 16, 1836, which created McHenry, Winnebago, Kane, 
 Whiteside and Ogle, and recast the boundaries of Jo 
 Daviess. 
 
 Whiteside was given its present area, but it was to re- 
 main a part of Jo Daviess until Ogle was organized and 
 then to be attached to that county until its own organiza- 
 tion. This boundary has not been changed. 
 
 Ogle was given the territory bounded by a line running 
 from the southeast corner of Whiteside, north to the 
 southwest corner of township twenty-six; thence east (on 
 its present north line) to the third principal meridian; 
 thence south on that meridian to the southwest corner of 
 township forty-three, north, range one, east of that me- 
 ridian; thence east (on Winnebago-Ogle line) to range 
 three; thence south on the west line of that range (the 
 DeKalb-Ogle and DeKalb-Lee line) to the southwest cor- 
 ner of township thirty-seven, range three (southwest cor- 
 ner of DeKalb) ; thence west to the meridian (at north- 
 west corner of LaSalle) ; thence south with the meridian 
 to the southeast corner of township nineteen, range eleven 
 east of the fourth principal meridian (northeast corner 
 of Bureau) ; thence west (on the Lee-Bureau line) to the 
 place of beginning. 
 
 There was left unmentioned and unrecognized a tri- 
 angular strip in township eighteen, ranges six, seven, 
 eight, nine, ten and eleven east of the fourth principal 
 meridian, south of Ogle and Whiteside, and north of 
 Putnam, but by this Act completely cut off from Jo 
 Daviess. (It was afterwards placed in Bureau. The 
 present towns of Eagle Point, Brookville and the west 
 half of Forreston were added to Ogle afterwards.) 
 
 The Act creating Ogle provided that the county seat 
 should be located by James L. Kirkpatrick of Jo Daviess, 
 Charles Reed and James B. Campbell of Cook. The lo- 
 cation was made by Reed and Kirkpatrick June 20, 1836,
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 147 
 
 and displeased many of those living in the western part 
 of the county. 
 
 In the Northwestern Gazette and Galena- Advertiser of 
 September 3, 10, 17 and 24, 1836, the following appeared : 
 ' ' Notice. A petition will be presented to the Legis- 
 lature, at their next session, praying that Towns 19, 
 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 of Ranges six and 7 east of the 
 4th Principal Meridian, be attached to and form a 
 part of Ogle County, and that disinterested Commis- 
 sioners be appointed to locate the county seat for 
 said county and that the name of said county be 
 changed from Ogle to that of Carroll. 
 
 John Brookie, 
 I. Chambers. 
 August 29, 1836." 
 
 Brookie and Isaac Chambers settled in or near Buffalo 
 Grove in 1829. (Kett, Ogle County.) They had two ob- 
 jections to the original west line of Ogle, it cut the Buf- 
 falo Grove settlement in two, and they were put under 
 the domination of John Phelps of Oregon. Had their 
 scheme been successful a little more than one third of 
 Whiteside, taken off the east end, and almost one half of 
 the present Carroll, also taken off the east end, would 
 have been added to Ogle. 
 
 Bowen allied himself with William Kirkpatrick, who, 
 with William Baker, W. T. Gilbraith and Smith Gilbraith, 
 held a claim to the land on which Freeport stands, and 
 they gave notice, dated October 14, in the Northwestern 
 Gazette and Galena Advertiser of October 15, 1836, that 
 a petition would be presented to the legislature praying 
 the formation of two counties, 1 beginning on the state 
 line between ranges five and six, east, thence to the line 
 between ranges nine and ten; thence south to the south 
 boundary of township twenty-six; thence west to the line 
 between ranges five and six; thence north to the place of 
 
 beginning, ' ' by the name of " 2 beginning on 
 
 the Mississippi between townships twenty-four and 
 twenty-five; thence east to the line between ranges five
 
 148 FORSYTHE COUNTY 
 
 and six; thence south to the south boundary of township 
 twenty-one ; thence west to the Mississippi, thence up the 
 main channel of the Mississippi to the place of beginning 
 "forming the county of Forsythe." 
 
 The county first proposed would have included all of 
 our Stephenson, except the tier of half towns on the west 
 end. Forsythe would have had parts of the present Car- 
 roll and Whiteside. 
 
 These petitions, with others, led to the passage of the 
 "Act to create certain counties therein named," ap- 
 proved March 4, 1837, by which Stephenson, Boone and 
 DeKalb were formed. Bowen failed in this effort also. 
 
 The fourth section of the original bill for this act, in 
 describing the boundary line of DeKalb (there called 
 Benton), started it at the southwest corner of township 
 thirty-seven, range two, east, putting that range in that 
 county. By amendment the starting point was put at the 
 southeast corner of that township, where it is today. 
 There is nothing left on record to show when, where or 
 by whose efforts this amendment was made. 
 
 Wednesday, January 11, 1837, A. G. S. Wight, member 
 for the Jo Daviess, Bock Island and Mercer counties dis- 
 trict in the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly, pre- 
 sented the petition of many citizens of Ogle, Jo Daviess 
 and Whiteside counties praying an addition to Ogle 
 county, which was, on his motion, referred to a select 
 committee of five, consisting of Wight, Orville H. Brown- 
 ing, William J. Gatewood of Gallatin, William Thomas of 
 Morgan and John D. Whiteside of Monroe. 
 
 The Vandalia correspondent (evidently Senator Wight) 
 of the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, un- 
 der date of January 2, 1837, in the issue of January 15, 
 1837, says "I introduced the petition of the citizens of 
 Ogle county praying the alteration of their boundary and 
 that commissioners be appointed to permanently locate 
 the seat of justice, notwithstanding the great injustice 
 done them by former legislation as regards both, yet I am
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 149 
 
 doubtful of success, because men of influence are con- 
 nected in the speculation. ' ' 
 
 January 13, Thomas presented petitions and remon- 
 strances from Ogle and Whiteside respecting the pro- 
 posed change in their dividing line, and these were sent 
 to the same committee. On the nineteenth Thomas intro- 
 duced the petition of sundry citizens praying for a di- 
 vision of Ogle, and upon his motion, it was referred to 
 the same select committee, to which other petitions on 
 the same subject were referred. 
 
 On the twenty-first Wight moved the adoption of the 
 following: Resolved, that the select commitee to whom 
 was referred the petition of sundry citizens of Ogle 
 county, praying an alteration of boundary lines and the 
 re-location of the seat of justice of said county, together 
 with the remonstrances to the same be authorized to ex- 
 amine persons interested in relation thereto, under oath. 
 This was adopted on motion of Thomas. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth Wight, for the committee, reported 
 that "they had had same under consideration and beg 
 leave to report that the first part of their duty appears to 
 be to ascertain that the petitioners had given the legal 
 notice in such cases ; when satisfied upon this subject they 
 proceeded to examine the respective petitions and re- 
 monstrances with a great deal of minuteness and accur- 
 acy, which enabled them to arrive at the following: 
 
 "The whole number of the citizens of Ogle Coun- 
 ty who had signed one or the other appears to be four 
 hundred and eleven, two hundred and thirty-six of 
 whom have signed the petition, and one hundred and 
 seventy-five the remonstrances. The petition and 
 remonstrances from Whiteside being equal in point 
 of numbers, but from information to be relied on, 
 from citizens residing in that section of the coun- 
 try (now in Vandalia), who appeared before the com- 
 mittee, which information is corroborated by the rep- 
 resentation from that district, it appears that while 
 those whose names are found on the petition were 
 identified, with but one exception, as being bona fide
 
 150 ALTERING OGLE COUNTY 
 
 residents of that part of the county prayed to be at- 
 tached, but three names on the remonstrance could 
 be identified as living in Whiteside County, and they 
 quite remote from the territory in question, the 
 greater part of the balance being identified as citi- 
 zens of Galena and Wisconsin territory. The com- 
 mittee will further state that the principal petition, 
 which the former Senator from that district pre- 
 sented to the Senate for the formation of a county 
 on the Bock river asked for the same boundaries 
 which are now proposed and asked for by the peti- 
 tion, as appears manifest from the original bill as 
 first introduced, creating the county, by the standing 
 committee on petitions. These facts in connection 
 with the circumstance that the present boundary in 
 question cuts in two one of the oldest and decidedly 
 the most populous and dense settlements in that sec- 
 tion of the country, give the petitioners strong claims 
 to legislative interference. As regards the re-loca- 
 tion of the Seat of Justice your committee will state 
 that independent of the 'circumstancial' evidence 
 that the location was made more with an eye to pro- 
 mote the schemes of certain speculators than the in- 
 terests of the citizens of said county upon which the 
 committee, however, do not wish to be understood to 
 give an opinion, that the present location is objec- 
 tionable on account of its remoteness from the cen- 
 ter, being thirty miles from the south boundary, and 
 but twelve miles from the north boundary, twenty- 
 three miles from its east boundary, and fifteen from 
 its west boundary, and as your committee are fur- 
 ther satisfied that great discontent, indeed to an 
 alarming degree, prevails throughout said county 
 upon this subject, we therefore report a bill entitled 
 'An Act for altering the boundaries of Ogle County 
 and other purposes.' " 
 
 In the form in which it was reported to the Senate the 
 first section of this bill provided that all that part of Jo 
 Daviess south of Ogle, east of the third principal merid- 
 ian, and north of Putnam (evidently meaning part of this 
 diagonal strip), and the east half of townships number 
 twenty-one -and twenty-two (in Whiteside), and all of
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 151 
 
 townships number twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty- 
 five, in range seven (then in Jo Daviess) should be made 
 part of Ogle, and that township twenty-three in ranges 
 four, five and six, and fractional township twenty-three, 
 in range three (now the south tier of towns in Carroll) 
 should be placed in Whiteside. It would have put Shan- 
 non, Milledgeville and about one-half of Sterling and 
 Rock Falls in Ogle. The second section provided for 
 the division of Ogle, as thus constituted, into nine elec- 
 tion districts ; the election of a commissioner in each dis- 
 trict, and the location of the county seat by those com- 
 missioners. 
 
 After its second reading the bill was referred to a se- 
 lect committee composed of Wight, George W. P. Max- 
 well of Schuyler, and William O'Rear of Morgan. Janu- 
 ary 28 Maxwell reported the bill with amendments (none 
 of which can be found now), and on his motion they were 
 indefinitely postponed, but, three days later, on motion of 
 Levin Lane of Hamilton, a reconsideration was had, and 
 on motion of Wight the proposed amendments were 
 amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and 
 inserting: 
 
 "That all that part of Jo Daviess County lying 
 south of Ogle County is hereby attached to and made 
 a part of Ogle County, and that for the more perma- 
 nent and satisfactory location of the seat of justice 
 of said Ogle County, the county commissioners there- 
 of are hereby required to order an election to be held 
 in the several precincts of said county to elect five 
 commissioners, which election shall be conducted and 
 the returns thereof made, in the same manner that 
 other county elections are. Said commissioners, or 
 a majority thereof, when thus elected and sworn be- 
 fore a Justice of the Peace to take into consideration 
 the convenience of the people and the situation of 
 the present settlements, with an eye to the future 
 population of the county, shall proceed to examine 
 and determine upon the place for a permanent seat 
 of Justice, giving a preference to the land belonging
 
 152 TO LOCATE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 to the United States. But in case such selection 
 should be made upon land claimed by an individual 
 or individuals, the said commissioners shall secure 
 for the use of the county a quantity not less than 
 forty acres, which land thus acquired shall be laid 
 off into town lots and be disposed of by the county 
 commissioners, and the proceeds thereof applied to 
 the erection of public buildings for said county. Pro- 
 vided, however, that no person residing within the 
 bounds of the attached part of said county shall be 
 allowed to vote for commissioners to locate the Seat 
 of Justice as herein provided for." 
 
 After this amendment was adopted the bill was read 
 the third time and laid on the table, on motion of Max- 
 well, and later, on the motion of Wight, taken from the 
 table and referred to a select committee, consisting of 
 Wight, Maxwell and Benjamin Bond of Clinton. 
 
 On Thursday, February 9, Wight reported the bill 
 with an amendment, which was read and concurred in, 
 and the bill passed in the following form : 
 
 1 'Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illi- 
 nois represented in the General Assembly: 
 
 Sec. 1 
 
 That all of that tract of country laying south of 
 Ogle County formerly of Jo Daviess County be and 
 is hereby attached to and made a part of Ogle Coun- 
 ty. 
 
 Sec. 2d 
 
 The county commissioners' court of Ogle County 
 shall order an election in the several precincts in 
 said county at such time as they may think best. At 
 which election the qualified voters residing in said 
 county may vote for the permanent seat of Justice 
 of said county, which election shall be conducted in 
 every respect and returns thereof made, as other 
 county elections are under the act regulating elec- 
 tions approved Jan. 10, 1829 
 
 Sec. 3d- 
 
 It shall be the duty of the county commissioners 
 of said county to hold a court within thirty days after
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 153 
 
 said election shall have been held at which court it 
 shall be the duty of the clerk to lay before the court 
 complete returns of said election as far as they have 
 been received, and if it shall appear by said returns 
 that the present county seat has received a greater 
 number of votes than any other one place voted for. 
 it shall be and remain the permanent seat of Jus- 
 tice for said county. But in case any other place 
 voted for shall have received at said election a great- 
 er number of votes than the present county seat, or 
 of any other place voted for, and a suitable cite, with 
 not less than forty acres, of land can be obtained by 
 the county commissioners at the place so elected for 
 the use of the county. Said land shall be laid off into 
 Town lots and disposed of by said court, and the 
 proceeds thereof applied to the erection of Public 
 buildings for said county. Which said election so 
 made shall be and remain the county cite seat for 
 said county, any law to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 Providid that if the affore said election be contested 
 the county commissioners may defer their action un- 
 till the result of said contest be known. This act to 
 be in force from and after its Passage." 
 
 The House sent it to a special committee, consisting of 
 James Craig of Jo Daviess, George Scarborough of Ver- 
 million, Elijah Charles of Jo Daviess, Henry Madden of 
 La Salle, and William A. Richardson of Schuyler. 
 
 On March 1 Craig reported the bill to the House with 
 an amendment (now lost), which was read and concurred 
 in, and it was ordered to a third reading, and on motion 
 of Craig, referred to a select committee consisting of 
 Craig, Albert C. Leary and Joseph Naper of Cook. 
 
 On March 3 Craig reported the bill with an amendment 
 which was read (and is now lost). Augustus C. French 
 of Edgar moved to lay the bill on the table until July 
 fourth, and the motion was carried. This was the end of 
 the bill, for the Assembly adjourned March sixth. 
 
 Among those voting against this motion to table were 
 Father Dixon's friends, Elijah Charles and James Craig 
 of Jo Daviess, John Dement, then living in Franklin
 
 154 TO DIVIDE OGLE COUNTY 
 
 county, Jesse K. Dubois, later State Auditor, Ninian W. 
 Edwards, John J. Hardin, who was killed in the battle of 
 Buena Vista, Abraham Lincoln, John Naper, Edwin B. 
 Webb and Robert L. Wilson. 
 
 The commissioners who were appointed to locate the 
 seat of justice of this county placed it at Oregon. This 
 intensified the jealousy between the people of Dixon's 
 Ferry and those of Oregon. Buffalo Grove, long since 
 obliterated by the march of improvements, and Grand 
 De Tour became ambitious, and efforts were made to di- 
 vide the county. John Dixon was the controlling spirit 
 in the south half of the county, while Thomas Ford, then 
 judge of the Circuit Court, and later judge of the Su- 
 preme Court and, still later, Governor, was dominant 
 in and around Oregon. Virgil A. Bogue was the cham- 
 pion of Buffalo Grove. 
 
 In his "Sketches of the History of Ogle County" Henry 
 E. Boss says that John Dixon posted notices in Galena, 
 in 1838, that he would apply to the Legislature "for the 
 formation of a new county, the proposed territory includ- 
 ing Oregon in the north, ' ' and that John Phelps of Oregon 
 chanced to see this notice and he posted one stating his 
 intention of applying for an act dividing Ogle by an east 
 and west line "just including the present town of Dixon" 
 in the north county. (P. 57.) 
 
 In the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, 
 commencing September 8, 1838, and running until Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1839, the following appeared : . 
 
 "NOTICE: A petition will be presented to the 
 Legislature at their next session at Vandalia, for a 
 division of Ogle county at or near the centre by a 
 line from east to west thereby making each county 
 about twenty-one by thirty-six miles. 
 
 Dixon, Sept. 1st, 1838. JOHN DIXON." 
 
 Petitions for a division by an east and west line were 
 prepared, circulated and signed, while the friends of 
 Buffalo Grove and Grand De Tour scoured the county
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 155 
 
 in their efforts to secure signatures to their petition for 
 a division by a north and south line. Phelps, a man of 
 strong passions, had taken offense at something said or 
 done by Dixon, and in his anger denounced the latter 
 with much more force than elegance. Judge Ford, then 
 living in Oregon, realized that Phelps was doing a great 
 injury to that community, so he interceded and induced 
 the latter to make peace with Mr. Dixon and join with 
 him in an effort to divide the county in such a manner 
 that each would have a county seat at his own town. 
 Phelps listened to Ford's suggestions and became Dixon 's 
 ally. A committee was appointed to establish the divid- 
 ing line. Joseph Crawford of Dixon and Cyrus Cham- 
 berlain of "The Kingdom" were two members of that 
 committee. Undoubtedly there were other members of 
 the committee, but our efforts to learn their names failed. 
 
 It was proposed that the north line of the new county 
 should run from the northeast corner of Lee straight to 
 Bock river, but Chamberlain protested so vehemently 
 against this that the line was placed where it is to-day, 
 and this because Chamberlain insisted that his land must 
 be in the south county, for he would not live "in Jack 
 Phelps' county." (This is on the authority of a state- 
 ment by Dr. Oliver Everett.) 
 
 Then they put into circulation petitions to the legisla- 
 ture asking that Ogle be divided upon the line they had 
 chosen. Smith Gilbraith and Frederick R. Dutcher went 
 to Vandalia in behalf of Dixon 's Ferry to see that no 
 point was overlooked. 
 
 Dutcher frequently talked of the work he and Gilbraith 
 did at Vandalia to promote the passage of their bill, and 
 often said that they once heard that Bogue was expect- 
 ing to receive another petition signed by a great number 
 of the inhabitants of Ogle. Fearing that petition would 
 give Bogue a majority of the petitioners, Dutcher and 
 Gilbraith made their plans to keep the new petition from
 
 156 BUTCHER'S TRICK 
 
 Bogue. To do this, Dutcher frequently inquired at the 
 post office if there was any mail for Bogue. His persist- 
 ence was rewarded one day by an affirmative answer, and 
 he promptly asked for the mail. He was given a large 
 package which he soon found was the new petition, and 
 he and Gilbraith carefully concealed it until their bill was 
 passed, and then it was useless. 
 
 Dutcher also said that, in order to reduce the influence 
 of Bogue to the minimum, he and Gilbraith persuaded 
 Bogue to make a speech in favor of the abolition of slav- 
 ery, and such a speech did not make one very popular 
 there in those days. 
 
 While some who claim to know say that Bogue was not 
 in Vandalia during that session, being detained at home 
 by a severe illness, his daughter says he did attend that 
 session, and was confined to his room by illness, but she 
 adds, with sincere regret, she has no further information 
 on the subject, as she was a mere child then and her 
 father would not talk of those events. 
 
 The Eleventh General Assembly convened for its first 
 session on the third of December, 1838. George W. Har- 
 rison of Galena was the Senator for the district com- 
 posed of the counties of Jo Daviess, Rock Island, Steph- 
 enson, Winnebago, Ogle, and Mercer, and James Craig 
 of Jo Daviess, and Germanicus Kent of Eockford 
 were the representatives for the district. On the thir- 
 teenth of January, 1839, there was presented to the House 
 a petition of citizens of Ogle living in township forty 
 two, ranges one and two (Scott and Monroe) asking that 
 those towns be placed in Winnebago. It w r ent to the 
 committee on counties and no report was made upon it. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of January, Craig presented to 
 the House of Representatives several petitions for the 
 division of Ogle, with remonstrances against the division, 
 and the recantations of some persons who had found 
 themselves on the wrong side of the question after they
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 157 
 
 had signed, and all were, upon his motion, referred, with- 
 out reading, to a select committee consisting of himself, 
 William H. Henderson of the Putnam and Bureau dis- 
 trict, and Joseph Naper of Cook, Will and McHenry 
 district, for whom Naperville was named. Two days 
 later Craig presented more petitions and recantations, 
 and they went to the same committee. On the fourth of 
 February, this committee, by Craig, reported favorably 
 a bill for "An Act to create the County of Lee out of 
 Ogle." It was read twice, and then, on his motion, re- 
 ferred to the standing committee on counties, which was 
 composed of John Moore of McLean (afterwards State 
 Treasurer), Henry L. Webb of Alexander, Abraham Lin- 
 coln of Sangamon, Newton Cloud of Morgan, Germanicus 
 Kent, John Houston of the Crawford and Jasper dis- 
 trict, Edward M. Daley of Greene, John H. Murphy of 
 Vermillion and Alden Hull of Tazewell. 
 
 In the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser 
 of February 1, 1839, is part of a letter to the Peoria 
 Register from the latter 's Vandalia correspondent speak- 
 ing of the bill to establish new circuits for the courts in 
 which the writer mentions "the new county that will 
 likely be made out of the south part of Ogle and Henry. ' ' 
 The correspondent erred, as there was no proposal to 
 make such a county. 
 
 On the twelfth of February, Kent presented two peti- 
 tions, one signed by seventy nine, and the other by three 
 hundred and twenty three voters, praying for a removal 
 of the county seat of Ogle, and remonstrating against a 
 division of the county. Without reading, they were sent 
 to the committee on counties. On the nineteenth of Feb- 
 ruary, Moore of that committee and in its behalf, made a 
 favorable report upon the bill with some amendments, 
 which the committee proposed, one of them making the 
 title "An Act to create the county of Lee from the county 
 of Ogle," and it was ordered engrossed for a third read-
 
 158 LEE COUNTY FORMED 
 
 ing. On the twenty-second it passed the House and was 
 sent to the Senate, where it was read the first time Feb- 
 ruary 26 and ordered to a second reading, when, upon 
 motion of Harrison, the rules were dispensed with and 
 the bill read the second time by its title, and then, upon 
 his motion, a further dispensation of the rules was had, 
 and the bill was read the third time by title and passed. 
 It was approved, and went into effect on the twenty- 
 seventh of February. 
 
 The Act provides "that all that part of Ogle County 
 lying south of a line beginning on the western boundary 
 of Ogle County at the northwest corner of section 
 eighteen in township twenty-two, north of range eight, 
 east of the fourth principal meridian; thence on the sec- 
 tion line between sections number seven and eighteen in 
 said township, east to the main channel of Rock River; 
 thence up the center of the main channel of Rock River 
 to the section line between sections twelve and thirteen 
 in township twenty-two north of range nine, east of the 
 fourth principal meridian ; thence east with the last men- 
 tioned line to the northeast corner of section seventeen, 
 in township twenty-two north of range ten, east of the 
 fourth principal meridian; thence south to the southeast 
 corner of the last mentioned section ; and thence east with 
 the section lines to the eastern boundary of the county 
 shall constitute the county of Lee. ' ' 
 
 As passed the bill appointed D. G. Salisbury, "N. 
 Nichols" and L. G. Butler commissioners to locate the 
 county seat. On March second, the House, on motion of 
 Craig, adopted a resolution reciting that "N. Nichols," 
 of Whiteside, should be "E. H. Nichols," and authoriz- 
 ing the Secretary of State to substitute the latter for 
 the former in the enrolled bill, and that was done, the 
 Senate concurring in the passage of the resolution. 
 
 While this bill was pending a bitter fight over the loca- 
 tion of De Kalb's seat of justice brought in a strange 
 element. Joseph W. Churchill of De Kalb introduced
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY 159 
 
 a petition of citizens of that county praying for a divi- 
 sion of Ogle, and a petition from De Kalb asking for the 
 re-location of the seat of justice of that county. Both 
 went to the committee on counties. The latter resulted 
 in the passage of the "Act to re-locate the seat of justice 
 of the county of De Kalb," approved March second, 1839. 
 The first induced the committee to report a bill for "An 
 Act relative to the county of De Kalb," which was read 
 twice in the House. February twentieth it was ordered en- 
 grossed for third reading, and then abandoned, no further 
 action being had upon it. The bill remains on file. The first 
 section is crossed out. The other sections relate to the 
 location of the county seat. The first section, had the bill 
 passed with that in it, would have added to De Kalb, 
 without any vote by the people, all of range two east of 
 the third principal meridian, being townships thirty- 
 seven (Wyoming), thirty-eight (Willow Creek), thirty- 
 nine (Alto) of Lee county, and townships forty (De- 
 ment), forty-one (Lynnville) and forty-two (Monroe) of 
 Ogle. (An erasure and alteration make it uncertain as 
 to the last town.) 
 
 While these bills were pending an effort was made in 
 the House to create a new county out of parts of Winne- 
 bago, Ogle, De Kalb and La Salle, but it failed. 
 
 Citizens of Lee, De Kalb and LaSalle unsuccessfully 
 petitioned the Fourteenth General Assembly, 1844-45, for 
 the formation of a new county out of territory in those 
 counties. 
 
 Silas Noble of Lee introduced in the Senate of the Fif- 
 teenth General Assembly, 1846- '47, the petition of sundry 
 citizens of Lee, La Salle, and De Kalb counties for a 
 new county to be called Eagle, to be composed of town- 
 ships thirty-six, thirty-seven and thirty-eight, in ranges 
 one, two, three and four, east of the fourth principal 
 meridian, and township thirty-nine in ranges one and 
 two east of that meridian. After considering them the
 
 160 NAME 
 
 committee asked to be and was discharged from duty, 
 and Noble obtained leave to withdraw the petition. Had 
 these petitioners succeeded in this effort, Lee would have 
 lost the present towns of Brooklyn, Wyoming, Viola, 
 Willow Creek, Reynolds and Alto, and Paw Paw, in all 
 probability, would have become the county seat. 
 
 William B. Plato of Kane introduced in the Senate of 
 the Eighteenth General Assembly, 1853, a bill for "An 
 Act to establish the County of Eagle, and for other pur- 
 poses therein named," which was read twice and then 
 put to death by a reference to the committee on elec- 
 tions that never reported upon it. 
 
 In the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, W. W. 
 Sedgwick of De Kalb introduced a petition signed by 
 residents of De Kalb, La Salle and Lee counties pray- 
 ing that the new constitution be so framed that a new 
 county could be formed out of those counties whenever 
 two-thirds of the voters in the territory petitioned the 
 General Assembly for such new county. The petition was 
 sent to the committee on counties and no report was 
 made upon it. 
 
 Dutcher claimed the credit of selecting the name of the 
 county, and stated that when he chose it he had in mind 
 General Henry Lee (Light Horse Harry) of the Revo- 
 lutionary Army, and intended, so far as it was in his 
 power, the honor should go to him and no other. The 
 statement in Hill's History of Lee County (1881) that 
 the name was chosen in honor of General Robert E. Lee 
 of the Confederate Army is too ridiculous for any 
 comment.
 
 137
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 EARLY LEE COUNTY, BEING SOME CHAPTERS IN