Boone County IL Archives History - Books .....1877 Past & Present Of Boone Co IL - Part 1 1877
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Book Title: Past & Present Of Boone Co IL 1877

Preface.

We herewith present to the public The Past and Present of Boone County, in 
historical form. That this volume will be closely criticised by some, approved 
by others, and read by all, we entertain no doubt. The first we expect, the 
second we ardently hope for, and the last we earnestly request. It has been 
our purpose to collect in detail all the incidents relating to the early 
history of the county, as well as the later events, and to arrange them in 
such order as to make them not only readable, but interesting, and thus 
preserve the annals pertinent to pioneer life on the beautiful prairies of the 
Kishwaukee—on the old council grounds—the favorite resort of the 
Pottawatomies. Only in book form could they be thus preserved and handed down 
to those who will come to succeed the present population in the not far 
distant "by and by."

The time and labor necessary to the accomplishment of this undertaking, has 
been an arduous, although not an unpleasant duty. It has been full of interest 
to us, as well as pleasure, by having brought us in contact and acquaintance 
with a people whom it is an honor to know, from all of whom we received 
valuable information, and to all of whom we acknowledge our obligations for 
words of encouragement, courtesy and uniform kindness.

In this work we present a feature that is new in works of this character—the 
compilation of, a list of the county officers, the Judiciary, representatives 
and senators in the State Legislature, etc., their names, when elected, and 
all the other minutiae pertaining to a complete record of the civil officers 
chosen from time to time by the people, and extending over a period of forty 
years. This department will be invaluable as a source of reference in time to 
come, and is a feature that we feel assured will be appreciated by the people 
in whose interest this book is published. This record will date back to the 
first election for county officers, on the first Monday in May, 1837, and will 
extend up to and include the last regular election in November, 1870.

That some inaccuracies will be noted must be expected, but we trust they will 
prove to be few and of minor importance. We have sought to avoid such subjects 
or objection and criticism by every possible means, and wherever such errors 
may be delected, we hope they will be attributed to the proper cause. In some 
instances no records could be found relating to certain facts that we desired 
to incorporate. In seeking to obtain them by "interviewing" the "oldest living 
settlers," we would sometimes receive conflicting, though honest statements, 
from different individuals. To sift these statements and arrive at the most 
reasonable conclusions has been a delicate task, but we have tried to 
discharge that duty with the single purpose to write of things as they 
actually transpired. The passage of forty years in the onward flight of time 
wastes the energy and vigor of men's minds, as well as the strength and vigor 
of their physical organizations. Circumstances that were fresh in their 
memories ten and twenty years after their occurrence, are almost forgotten 
when forty years have gone; and when attention is directed to them, their 
memory recalls them as more like a midnight dream than actual occurrences in 
which they were partial, if not full participants. The footprint of time 
leaves its impression on everything.

In some instances the reader will observe that we seem to get ahead of 
incidents as they occurred in the regular order of time and the official 
records of the county, but this was necessary in order to follow out and 
dispose of a particular subject. The seeming falling back in such instances as 
those to which we refer, is only taking up the date or subject from where we 
digressed. In other words, "resuming when we got ready to resume."

The incidents related under the caption of POLITICAL AND PERSONAL 
RECOLLECTIONS, are gathered from Old Settlers and a series of letters written 
by Dr. Daniel H. Whitney, and published by Belvidere press a few years ago.

Our undertaking to preserve the PAST AND PRESENT OF BOONE COUNTY is complted, 
and it only remains for us to return our thanks to the intelligent, kind and 
courteous people of "Little Boone" for their words of approval, the 
information they have given us, as well as their generous and liberal 
patronage, and to assure them that whatever of merit this offering may 
deserve, is due some measure to them and the interest they have manifested in 
a desire to perpetuate in this form the annals of a county which their 
enterprise and energy has made to rank second to no other county in the state 
in all that goes to make a community prosperous, dignified and refined.

Respectfully,

H. F. KETT & Co., Publishers
October, 1877




Index to the short biographies in the 1877 past & present of Boone Co. Ill. by 
Kett. Only biographies in township directory section are in index. Other land 
owners or residents are not in index (see back). Biographies are listed by 
township & in alphabetical order in each township, pages 341 - 414. See prior 
pages in Boone Co. section for other good information about early settlers. 
Parents, Brother & sister in-laws, Children, etc. were not indexed.

Belvidere township directory (biographies only).

Abbee, Amzi & wives Sybil Bates & Susan Collins. 
Allen, D.W. & wives Mary Rix & Ruth F. Foster. 
Ames, George B. & wife Eva S. Watson. 
Angell, Abner M.D. & wife L. Augusta Caulkins. 
Ballard, Edward & wife S. E. Sheldon. 
Balliet, J. R. & wife Mary L. Detrick. 
Barker, S. G. & wives Louisa Spencer & Mrs. Mc Michael. 
Barnes, John & wife Jessie Wrate. 
Barringer, Martin & wives Mary Ann Ives & Lunah Sage. 
Bennett, Mrs. Mary S. & husband James Bennett. 
Bennett Willis H.
Bentley, Martin C. & wife Sallie Woodruff. 
Bogardus, ELi & wife Maria Griffin. 
Bowley, Henry F. & wife Hannah Rider. 
Bush, A.C. & wife Laura E. Hall. 
Campbell, George W. & wife Cornelia Marsh. 
Case, E.W.
Covey, Simeon L. & wife Elizabeth Porter. 
Conger, Jefferson
Coon, R.W. & wives Susan Bacon & Mary A. Keeler. 
Crandall, Lucian L. & wife Serena C. Stevens. 
Cronk, Enoch & wife Mary Denny.
Dean, George & wives Matilda J. Willis & Elizabeth Smith.
De Munn, Horation C. & wife Abagail A. Stackpole.
Derthick, Dudley & wife Martha Sisk.
Doolittle, Mrs. Mary & husband Rival Doolittle.
Doty, Simon P. & wives Elizabeth Brewster & Matilda Stiles.
Du Bois, Cornelius & wives Mary Sheldon & Mrs. Julia (Brink) Watkins.
Du Bois, Fred S. & wife Celetia M. Gleason.
Eissfeldt, Rev. Charles F. TH.
Farrar, J.H. & wife S.J. Decosta.
Foote, Hon. John J.
Foster, Leighton & wife Clarissa Ricker.
Francis, James & wife Sallie E. Moore.
Freeman, John D. & wife Pollie Northrup.
Froom, Elijah G. & wife Mrs. Rhoda (Eggleston) Cross.
Fuller, Gen. Allen C.
Fuller, Charles F. & wife Sadie A. Mackey. 
Gardner, Cephas & wife Pamelia Bedwell. 
Gilman, Col. L.O. & wife Elotia I. Garland. 
Gilson, George & wife Elizabeth Hurst. 
Goodrich, Joseph & wife Mrs. Harriet L. (Luce) Ticknor. 
Googh, Thomas & wife Carrie Shippey. 
Hammond, D.H. & wife Elizabeth M. Shanks. 
Hartwell, George H. & wife Alice M. Rix.
Haynes, John & wife Lucy A. Bonbright. 
Haywood, Wm. & wife Lydia E. Rix. 
Haywood, Jonathan & wife Jane Worthington. 
Hildrup, Jesse S. & wife Nellie Brinkerhoff. 
Hill, Ira D. & wife Mrs. Phoebe (---) Miller/Case. 
Hollenshead, G.C. & wife Sophronia Johnson.
Hollister, Luther & wife Jane Onderdonk. 
Horan, Andrew & wife Catherine Johnston. 
Hopkins, D. & wife Frank ? A. Smiley. 
Hull, H. & wife Calista M. Stockwell. 
Humphrey, J.M. & wife Rosira Newton. 
Hurlbut, Stephen A. & wife Sophronia Stevens. 
Jenner, Asher S. & wives Mary J. Cook & Emmerey E. Lyon. 
Jones, A. & wife Mary A. Vanatten. 
Keeler, Warren & wife Delotia Keeney. 
Kelsey, C.E. & wife Ellen E. Tompkins. 
King, Francis & wife Anna Dean. 
King, Fred H.E. & wife Frances W. Mask. 
Kinyon, Job & wife Hannah Ellis. 
Knight C.C. & wife Mary Rosencrans. 
Lake, Leonard L., M.D. & wife Asenath Marvin. 
Lambert, Stephen & wife Lydia Crewell. 
Leach, E.J. & wife Martha C. Campbell. 
Linnell, Thomas J. & wife Mary Thorn. 
Livingston, Alex L. & wife Maggie L. Cunningham. 
Longcor, Samuel & wife Malinda Smith. 
Longcor, Addison
Longcor, Leonard S. & wife Juliet G. Ticknor.
Longcor, John C.
Loop, Charles B. & wife Maria J. Pierce.
Lovejoy, Samuel & wife Clara R. Perry.
Loveless, S. & wife Hannah M. Russell.
Luce, A.R. & wives Mary French & Emily V. Baker.
Mc Bride, Wm. & wives Elizabeth Reynolds & Mrs. Sarah Height.
Mc Dougall, Charles & wife Fanny Terry.
Marean, Marvin Clark & wife Olive Howard.
Martyn, James B. & wives Elizabeth Brewer & Eliz. Rightor.
Masen, John & wife Caroline Owen.
May, Ezra & wife Louisa N. May.
May, Hugh & wives Caroline Hart & Julia Harper.
Meyer, J. George & wife Theodora Zimmerman.
Morse, F. & wife Cordelia Knowlton.
Moss, Asa & wife Alvira Stewart.
Moss, Charles S. & wife Mary C. A. Brown.
Moss, Edward E. & wife Sarah Cates.
Moss, W.S.A. & wife Eliza Cady.
Osgood, Major R. E. & wife Eliza J. Russell.
Pepper, Samuel & wife Mary Jane Powell.
Pettit, Daniel B. & wife Mary E. Doyle.
Porter, Thomas W. & wife Charlotte Lane.
Quackenboss, A. & wife Julia Martin.
Roberts, R. & wife P. L. Cowrey.
Robinson, Wm. H.
Rollins, John A.
Rowen, W. C. & wife Lovina Caswell.
Sawyer, James W. & Wife Ruie D. Fisher.
Saxton, Joy H. & wife Matilda Herbert.
Scott, Charles, M.D. & wife Clara E. Towsley.
Sewell, Isaac & wife Mary Godwin.
Seymour, C.H., M.D. & wife Mary A. Rogers.
Sherrill, Prof. Henry J. & wives Jennie A. Briggs & Mrs. Alice J. (Bentley) 
Seaver.
Stephenson, John & wives Eliz. Tyson & Martha Telford.
Swasey, Samuel & wife Edith Holmes.
Taylor, Mrs. Electa & husbands Dr. C. Van Brunt & Rev. Hutchins Taylor.
Terwilliger, James S. & wife Emily Mitchell.
Thomas, Dexter S. & wife Ellen Blake. 
Tomkins, Enos & wife Rebecca Newell. 
Teusley, R.J. & wife Augusta Traver.
Truesdell, Eugene E. P. & wife Mrs. Fannie T. (__) Page.
Tuthill, Isaac W. & wife Lizzie O. Wallace.
Waldeck, John & wife Eliza Dupay.
Walker, Houghton C. & wife Emeline A. Frost.
Walker, Thomas D. & wife Sarah Smith.
Wallace, John & wives Eliza. Gibb & Agnes Ray.
Warren, Henry & wife Rebecca Roach.
Watson, Elijah & wife Eliza. Palmer.
Welsher, Rev. Willard & wife Sarah J. Wood.
Wheeler, Lewis E. & wives Sarah Sheffield & Margaret Saxton & Mary Ames.
Whitehead, Rev. J.M. & wife Mary J. Patterson.
Whitman, Charles S. & wives Mary Ann Jakway & Mrs. Diana Hartwell.
Wilcox, Daniel & wife Sarah A. Rix.
Williams, Joseph R. & wife Tabatha Doolittle.
Williamson, G., M.D. & wife Susie Bunker.
Wing, Joseph V. & wife Sarah A. Johnson.
Winne, Francis I. & wife Kesiah Sager.
Witbeck, Isaac T. wife Miranda Onderdonk.
Wood, Samuel & wife Lucy A. Stiles.
Wood, Wales W. & wife Alice E. Humphrey.
Wranch, Josiah & wife Amelia L. Benjamin.
Wrate, F.S. & wife Jane Jackson.
Wright, Omar H. & wife Helen M. Williams.
Wyman, Charles (deceased) & wife Matilda Steele.


Boone Township directory (Biographies only).

Alexander, James & wife Sarah Mitchell. 
Bates, Isaac & wife Phoebe A. Tongue. 
Briggs, M.C. & wife Mary J. Weld. 
Burnalde, Edward
Caddick, Isaac & wife Catherine J. Bewder.
Champlin, I.H. 4 wife Lavina Gifford.
Colvin, J.V. & wife E. M. Williams.
Cornwell, Barney & wife Margaret Ann Day.
Cornwell, Mrs. Phoebe (Coleman) 4 husband Gabriel Cornwell (deceased).
Goodsell, Lewis & wife Elizabeth Bean.
Hansen, Oliver K. & wife Tena Edward.
Heath, C. W. & wives Jane Miller & Cynthia Stevenson.
Helgeson, Ole & wife Christina Olson.
Hinman, Stephen & wife Phylinda Goodell.
Iversen, John & wife Christie Nelson.
Kellogg, J. E. & E.A. Crawford.
Kimble, John & wife Caroline Bucker.
Loing, Walter & wife Orpha Curtis.
Mc Intyre, Donald & Peter's wife Mary Sillars.
Milliken, James S. & wife Rachel Mitchell.
Nesmith, M.S. & wife Mary A. Steele.
Nichols, F.A., M.D. & wife S. Deette Hoyt.
Olson, Thor & wives Rosa T. Olson & Margie Olson & Anne Olson.
Reid, Anne widow of Thomas Reid.
Sands, George & wife Betsy Sands.
Sands, Wm. & wife Helen Milne.
Scougall, Laughlin & wives Mary Anne Cornwell & Nancy Jane Wagner.
Stevenson, Edward & wife Sarah Watson.
Stevenson, H. B.
Stevenson, James & wife Belle Nelson.
Stevenson, Silas R. & wife Eliza. J. Penwell.
Stevenson, Wm. R. & wife Emma J. Whipple.
Tripp, G.I. & wife E. J. Stowe.
Wagner, David & wife Hanah Gurnea.
Wheeler, Mrs. Eliza. E. (Wolcott) widow of Obediah Wheeler.
Willard, H. R. & wife C. M. Morse.
Wooster, N. H. & wife Abigail A. Hevey.
Worthington, George W. & wife Lizzie Van Valkenburg.
Tates, A.E. & wife Alice Tripp.


Bonus Township directory (Biographies only).
Andrews, Warren & wife Louisa Keeler.
Avery, Myron K. & wife Abigail M. Tongue.
Bailey, Theodore & wife E. Powers.
Barton, Fred L.
Bennett, George W. & wife Hattie Baxter. 
Bicknell, B.R. & wife Rebecca Hawes.
Bills, 0. & wife M. Winegar.
Boyce, Hugh & wife Maria Post.
Burton, Thomas & wife M. Walker.
Conger, Enouch & wife Eleanor F. Martin.
Decker, Lewis & wife Betsy Williams.
Fassett, A.C. & wife A. Hopkins.
Rosekrans, J.D. & wife H. A. Simpkins.
Feeley, Abigail C. & husbands Tilden Jones & C. Feeley.
Hale, A.D. & wife Mary Hull.
Haskins, Alonzo & wife Lorina Mc Kinney.
Hyde, F.D. & wife Mary A. Bennett.
Hyde,.Mrs. Parmella - widow of 0. Hyde.
Jackson, Charles D. & wife Mary A. Stowe.
Keeler, Milton K. & wife Louisa Owens.
Keeler, Wm. & wife Viola Stockwell.
Kelly, Thomas & wife Mary A. Keys.
Kipp, A. & wife C. Hill.
Lawrence, Franklin & wife Anna Blood.
Lawrence, John (deceased) & wife Lydia Sweet (deceased).
Lawrence, Luther W. & wife Elvira Chamberlain.
Mabie, Aaron & wife Amy Turneaure.
Miller, Alfred J. & wife Arletta Stevens.
Miller, I.D. & wife Caroline Akin.
Moan, Dennis & wife Margaret Ryan.
Newman, James A. & wives Betsey Andrews & Sarah A. Cook. 
Nichols, O.S. & wife Emma Koen. 
Payne, D.R. & wife Mahala Sweet. 
Pettis, Thomas T.
Porter, Henry & wife Anna E. Roper. 
Porter, James W. & wife Martha J. Keith. 
Pryor, Roger & wife Lizzie Burchell. 
Randall, J. W. F. & wife C. 0. Sutherland. 
Roper, Sion & wife Mary C. Clark. 
Rulisen, Ralph & wife Maria Passage. 
Sacket, Clarence E.
Sacket, Daniel H. & wife Caroline Ames. 
Sands, Fred & wife Henrietta Brooks. 
Sears, H.O & wife Harriet A. Ames.
Stapleton, Edward & wife Mary Frier.
Stockwell, Frank S. & wife ____ Fuller.
Stone, A. & wife E. H. Ellis. 
Tripp, James D. & wife Angelina Maxem. 
Turnare, Uriah B. & wife Laura Cline. 
Watkins, A.L. & wife Eliza. A. Swain. 
Winigar, James G. & wife Sarah A. Heaton. 
Vixen, Ancil & wife Juia Hart. 
Woodruff, John & wife Lucinda Dimmick. 


Caledonia township directory (Biographies only). 

Brooks, W. H. & wife Harriet Strong. 
Drake, Abram & wife Sophia Storey. 
Dymond, Robert & wife Elizabeth Clark. 
Grinnell, H. S. & wife Harriet A. Pier. 
Hammond, H.A. & wife Melvina Stevens. 
Hazlewood, Wm. & wife Elizabeth Brown. 
Leach, C. C. & Wife Cynthia Smith. 
Mc Nair, Alexander & wife Mary Armour. 
Montanye, J.D. & wife Parmelia Brown. 
Moore, Wm. & wife Mary J. Atkinson. 
Ralston, Jonathen & wife Elizabeth Picken. 
Ralston, A. J. & wife Margaret Mc Kerrell. 
Reid, W. H. & wife Mary Andrew. Sewell, Sutton & wife Maryette Linnell. 
Tefflemire, J.J. & wife Amy A. Little. 
Whiting, Andrew & wife Mary A. Kyes (Keys). 
Whiting, Luther & wife Mary S. Sabin. 

Flora township directory (Biographies only). 

Allen, Bernard B. & wife Mary C. De Costa. 
Allen, W.W. & wife Mary A. Bonney. 
Atkins, Michael H. & wife Charlotte Atkins. 
Avery, Henry W. Jr. & wives Lydia J. Avery, & Rachel P. Mc Cord.
Banks, Sebastian S. & wife Jeannette Bucklin. 
Bennett, Charles & wife Ellen C. Reynolds. 
Blake, William & wife Susan Hucknen. 
Case, David L. & wife Emma A. Wheeler. 
Chamberlain, Daniel S. $ wife Ella M. Lawson. 
Chena, Charles E. & wife Jane Clark.
Clinite, Jacob & wife Caroline Ernst.
Cee, George W. & wife Mary Mc Kee.
Ceheen, Orvill S. & wife A. F. Field.
Compton, Henry P. & wife Harriet N. Pike.
Craig, George & wife Martha Gibson.
Cunningham, Bradford & wife Ellen Newton.
Dean, Edwin & wife Rebecca B. Low.
Dean, Orville E. & wife Huldah L. Crosby.
Decosta, Jacob & wife Selina Record.
Delavergne, George W. & wife Roxey A. Clark.
Fancher, G. W. & wife Maria R. Edsen.
Feote, Eli & wife Mrs. Julia A. (Bentley) Milmine.
Fuller, S. & wife Eliza. A. Merdoff.
Graves, Andrew J. & wife Lydia Rice.
Graves, Samuel S. & wife Hannah Young.
Griggs, Calvin & wife Hannah Smith.
Griggs, Horace
Griggs, Landen & wife Martha Smith.
Hall, F.I. & wife Abbie M. Lovett.
Howard, A. & wife Lavina Sexton.
Jenks, Alonzo M. & wives Mary M. White & Abbie Ann Fuller.
Johansson, C. & wife Hannah Johansson.
Keater, George T. & wife Emma P. Dodge.
Keith, Lewis & wives Catherine Brown & Louisa M. Farley.
King, Origin & wives ? Hannah A. Loring & Amanda Hastings.
Kingsbury, Daniel B. & wives Elvira Dean & Laura Young.
Leaman, George & wife Deborah Bennett.
Leo, William & wives Rebecca Mc Kee & Harriet Taylor.
Lincoln, Jedediah & wives Mary Bolden & Mary Nichols.
Lucas, O.F. & wife Almira Lawton.
Lucas, Walter & wife Edna Cushman.
Mc Cartney, Addisen S.
Mc Kee, Samuel & wife Elizabeth Neff.
Mac Connoughey, Otis & Wife Laura A. Stevens.
Magee, Garret & wife Ardelia Hersey.
Marean, Alonzo & wife Statira Robinson.
Morehead, Wm. & wife Margaret Gibson.
Munn, Alfred & wives Alvira Knapp & Rhoda Spinning.
Munn, Frank E. & wife Julia Spinning.
Neff, Martin B. & wife Martha Mc Kee.
Horton, E.C. & wife Abbie J. Egglesten.
Oaks, ELdridge G. & wife Liberty Leighton.
Oaks, John F. & wives Olivia Wattles & Maria H. Lans.
Paine, B.F. & wife Amanda M. Hevey.
Partlow, Daniel & wife Delia Norcross.
Pike, Charles W.
Priest, George W. & wife Florence Mackey.
Roach, William & wife Ella E. Witter.
Robinson, A. M. & wives Zephira Cochran & Susan Whitney.
Robinson, A.W. & wife Mary Russell.
Royal, Allen S. & wife Lucy J. Robinson.
Shattuck, H. A. & wife Maria Stone.
Shirley, Lewis & wife Lucinda Keith.
Shirley, Lewis Jr. & wife Leah Reams.
Silvius, Henry & wife Melissa S. Dimmick.
Spencer, Jabez I. & wife Loraine Thompson.
Swail, Robert & wife Harriet Feakins.
Tanner, Franklin & wife Julia Wilcox.
Thompson, Jonathan  C. Jr. & wife Elizabeth D. Avery.
Webber, F.S. & wife Francis Arvilla Watkins.
Weed, W. H. & wife Abigail Terry.
Whipple, W. & wife Elizabeth M. Brown.
Wilcox, Henry A. & wife Susan Oaks.
Williams, James & wife Emma Royce.
Witter, William & wife Julia Ann Shirley.


Leroy township directory (Biographies only).

De Munn, Silas & wife Miranda Palmer.
Hammond, Henry & wives Elizabeth Keating & Sarah Armstrong. 
Nelson, N. J. & wife Anna Newton. 


Manchester township directory (Biographies only). 

Adams, David & wife Mary Mapes. 
Brayton, R. C. & wife S. Gernee. 
Cass, Luke & wives Lucy Fisher & Abigail A. Blinn.
Ellsworth, S.A. & wives M. Steel & S. J. Sherman. 
Erwin, R. A.
Linderman, L. D. & wife Sarah A. Olmstead. 
Livingston, Arthur & wife M. Gibbs.
Manley, A.H. & wife Jane E. Brookins. 
Nash, Charles A. & wife M.J. Wright. 
Peters, Wm. & wife Eliza. Daniels. 
Robardez, C.J.
Stoll, Rudolf & wife Christina Zilley. 

Spring township directory (Biographies only). 

Albright, N.J.C. & wife Adeliza Jayne. 
Ashcraft, J.C.
Atkinson, James & wife Margaret Mc Latchie. 
Barringer, Lawrence & wife Theresa Keeler. 
Baxter, John & wife H. Smith. 
Bishop, D.W.C. & wife L. Crittenden. 
Blackford, Francis & wife Jane Atkinson.
Blackford, James & wives ____ Abbott & Louisa Morey.
Cates, George S. & wife Marilla Heaton.
Chaffee, George & wife Anita Smith.
Chamberlin, Mrs. Sarah & husband Wm. H. Chamberlin.
Cooper, John
Colvin, Jefferson & wife Mrs. Parks. 
Curtis, Charles & wife Mary Ann Mounsey.
Curtis, Henry & wife Mrs. ____ (Atkinson) Mounsey.
Davis, Joel Sr. & wife Eleanor Howell.
De Wolf, Miron & wife Matilda Taylor.
De Wolf, W.C. & wife Huldah J. Strong.
Dunham, Mrs. N. M. wife of Daniel H. Dunham.
Feord, John & wives Hannah G. Martin & Mrs. Gould.
Gleason, E. L. & wife P.A. Spink.
Gould, J.B. & wife Charlotte Blackford.
Gretton, Samson & wife Sarah Lawman.
Hakes, Harrison H. & wife Ann Davis.
Hewer, Joseph & wife Martha Pinegar.
Hollembeck, Wm. L. & wife Myra Shattuck.
Hughes, H. C. & wife Sarah A. Britt.
Hughes, Lewis & wife Mrs. Murrin.
Johnson, Theodore & wife Nena Johnson.
Kahoy, Thomas
King, William B. & wife Matilda Huline. 
Lander, Edwin & wife Mary Skittery.
Lane, T.E. & wife Celinda Sargent.
Lanning, A.B. & wife ____ Stroud.
Lanning, John S. & wife Mary Rich.
Lanning, U.R. & wife Enretta Lawrence.
Mack, Wm. M. & wife Susana Reed.
Mayburry, J. wife Desdemena Wells.
Moore, Richard & wife Maggie Gordon.
Page, Thomas & wife Jane E. Hammond.
Payn, Jira & wife Elizabeth Arnold.
Peters, George & wife Martha Davis.
Pratt, M.K. & wife Louisa Dagget.
Reed, George & wife Eliza A. Wait.
Rogers, John Jr. & wife Carrie Peninger.
Scriven, James & wife Elizabeth Scriven.
Shattuck, F. H. & wife Harriet Britt.
Shattuck, Harlyn & wives Ruth E. Murray & Mrs. Lucretia (Orton) Hall.
Shattuck, Loomis & wife Lydia Brown.
Smith, Mason & wife Philemelia Bartlett.
Smithson, Benjamin & wife Jane Blackford.
Stevens, T. M.
Stockwell, P.R. & wife Caroline P. Arnold.
White, J.M. & wife ____ Stanley.
Wiffin, Robert & wife ____ Lawson.
Williams, Mrs. Elizabeth wife of George Williams.
Winne, G. F. & wife Esther Kendall. 
Witt, C. F. & wife Eliza. A. Brown. 
Wolcott, Wm. & wife Pluma L. Barton.

Indexed by Martin Wm. Johnson

-----------------------------


History of Boone County.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

The physical geography of Boone County is not remarkable, the general face of 
its surface being not dissimilar to that of the counties by which it is 
immediately surrounded. The townships of Spring and Flora, and all that part 
of the county south of the Kishwaukee is, properly speaking, (Shattuck's Grove 
excepted,) a treeless prairie—not level, however, but a series of long, low, 
undulating rolls, and low ranges of hills and ridges. In some places there are 
swales and sloughs of limited extent, between moist marshes and black, fat 
meadow lands. A few trees skirt along Coon creek in the southwest part of the 
county, and scattered patches of timber in one or two other places relieve the 
level landscape. A broad, rich comparatively level prairie, these sections 
still preserve some of that primitive beauty from which Spring and Flora 
townships derived their names. In the report of Prof. A. H. Worthen, State 
Geologist, published in 1873, he says of this section: "Before the busy, 
teeming millions of the sons of toil swarmed over the fertile West, prairie 
flowers, in spring-like beauty and autumnal glory, bloomed where now the 
glancing plow-share turns the spring furrow, and the golden-ripened wheat 
fields dally with the fugitive winds. The purple and golden clouds of flowers 
that used to lie on these prairies are now no more; but in their place, the 
tasselled Indian corn waves its head, and men are growing rich from the 
cultivation in useful crops of these old flower-beds of nature."

North of the Kishwaukee the country changes in appearance, becoming, more 
rolling; and, although still good for agricultural purposes, the soil becomes 
thinner and lighter colored. More streams are found. These are margined with 
hills, to some extent, and hilly barrens. There are wide stretches of rather 
light timber and brushwood that extend for miles along these streams and over 
the intervening highlands. Occasionally a better grove of timber may be found. 
Small prairies, prairie openings, and long stretches of prairie still exist in 
every direction. The same general remarks apply to this portion of the county, 
except that wet and swampy land, in which many of the streams of the county 
take their origin. The northwestern part of the county has considerable 
prairie, as well as much wet land; the northeastern has more timber, and is 
higher and dryer, and on towards the "Big Foot" prairie, in Wisconsin, 
contains good farming lands.

The timber for the most part consists of black, white, burr, red, yellow and 
some other rarer varieties of the oak, black walnut and butternut, shell bark 
and common hickory, cottonwood, sugar maple, honey locust, sycamore, water and 
slippery elm, haw, dogwood, common poplar, white and red ash, red cedar, white 
pine, linden or basswood, common swamp willow, and a few other shrubs and 
plants. The groves in this part of the county are made up principally of the 
common black and white oaks to be met with in the poorer-timbered regions of 
northern Illinois. The alluvial lands skirting the larger streams are the only 
places where many of the above species of trees, are to be found.

For the most part the county is well watered, and most admirably adapted to 
stock raising and agricultural purposes, for which it has become so noted, her 
products being second to no county in the northwest in proportion to her size. 
The Kishwaukee enters it on the east, not far from the centre of the eastern 
line of Bonus township, and crosses in long, easy-flowing curves, entering 
Winnebago County at the village of Cherry Valley. The water is reasonably 
clear and of moderate current. Coon Creek comes in from the southeast, and 
falls into it near the centre of Bonus township. On the north is the Piscasaw, 
which discharges its waters into the Kishwaukee above the Big Thunder Mills, a 
short distance east of Belvidere. Beaver Creek comes in at the northeastern 
corner of the county, flows in a direction west of south, and joins the 
Kishwaukee a short distance above the village of Cherry Valley. Some smaller 
streams, having their sources in the township of Manchester, find their way 
towards Rock river.


GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
[Compiled, from the Geological Survey of Illinois.]

The Cincinnati group and the upper division of the Trenton limestones are the 
only rocks which outcrop, or in any manner show themselves, in this county. 
About the northwestern corner, extending to even some distance within its 
borders, the middle and lower Trenton limestones doubtless are the underlying 
rocks; but they nowhere outcrop, that could be noticed by the surveyor. The 
deposits of the Quaternary system are extensive in the county, covering it 
over in many places to a great depth. It will thus be seen that the geological 
formations of Boone County are few, and its geology comparatively simple. The 
following sections of the rocks exposed-and the superficial deposits, is 
comparatively correct, although nothing but an approximation to the thickneBB 
of the latter can be given:

SECTION OF FORMATION IN BOONE COUNTY.

Alluvial, principally partially stratified clays, sands and fine gravels, 
along the Kishwaukee, with loams and surface soils—20 feet. Light-colored, 
velvety, tough, tenacious, impervious potter's clay-30 feet. Ordinary drift 
deposits, consisting of the usual sands, gravels, hard pan and clays—30 feet 
Cincinnati shales; the formation much deeper, but worked to a depth of—18 
feet. The Galena limestone, worked—35 feet Lower Trenton limestones—unknown.

SURFACE GEOLOGY.

The surface geology consists of the usual Quaternary deposits, except that the 
loess is perhaps entirely wanting. The alluvial deposits along the small, 
streams are narrow, rich and black. On the Kishwaukee they are wider and 
deeper, intermingled with sands and fine gravels, and bear, in places, a heavy 
growth of bottom timber. The usual thin prairie soils, swamp macks ana peats 
of various degrees of purity and ripeness, make up the rest.

The drift proper is a heavy body of abraded and transported materials. Over 
that part of the county underlaid by the Cincinnati shales, there is a thinner 
superficial deposit, of a fine, laminated, comminuted clay, of a light ashy or 
blue color, bearing mingled evidence of deposition in still waters and the 
dissolving in situ of the underlying clayey shale rocks. No extensive gravel 
beds exist; but occasional large boulders may be noticed, more especially 
lying about the low, springy places.

But leaving the gently rolling prairies, and going northward to the region 
underlaid by the Galena limestone, the reddish clays, hard-pan and coarse 
gravel beds of the upper members of the drift largely predominate. A few miles 
west of Capron are localities where boulders of the average size of a man's 
head lay thickly strewn over the ground. These were noticed to lie thickest 
where boggy and springy places were met with, surrounded by rougher and more 
rolling land. The boulders are all from the metaphoric regions of the north, 
and consist of granite, gneiss, hornblende, trap, and some other varieties, 
with their various combinations. Across the whole northern part of the county, 
these boulders were noticed in greater or less abundance, associated with 
clays, and sometimes clayey sands. Across the central part of the county the 
coarse gravel beds, unstratified hard-pan and partially stratified clays, 
makeup the surface coverings of the rocks. Under these, all over this region, 
laminated clays rest upon the indurated rocks below. Some of the gravel beds 
northwest of Caledonia are almost a mile long, and several feet deep. They are 
made up of materials very much rounded and abraded, are partially stratified 
and the gravel is of all sizes, intermingled with clean sand. A low drift hill 
of gravelly clay lies close to Belvidere, on which the court-house stands. In 
the banks of the Kishwaukee, a short distance below the bridge between the 
north and south parts of the city, on the north side of the stream, are 
outcrops of the bank of tenacious potter's clay, before referred to. It runs 
under at least a part of the city, and in one place, borings for some public 
work showed it to be some seventy feet in thickness. At another locality, some 
workmen were sinking a well, when after going through this deposit, which was 
there much thinner, water rushed into the well so fast that the men could 
hardly get out in safety.

The traditional stories of nuggets of copper having been found among the 
gravel and boulders were not confirmed by the survey. In prosecuting his work, 
Prof. Worthen, the geologist, says that in connection with his observations 
upon the drift, he watched closely in order to detect indications of glacial 
action, but that he was forced, somewhat reluctantly, to admit that 
atmospheric and chemical agencies and aqueous forces probably explained most 
of the phenomena connected with these superficial deposits. In the morraine-
like hillocks of Ogle county, in his opinion, glacial action was more manifest.

The Cincinnati Shales—The shaley rocks of this deposit underlie nearly all 
that part of the county south of the Kishwaukee. Coon Creek, doubtless, cuts 
down to the Galena; but all the prairie ridges show the out-croppings of the 
former rocks, although worked exposures are rare. In fact, says the report, 
there are but two good stone quarries in Boone County: one in the Cincinnati 
shales, five or six miles south of Belvidere, and one in the Galena limestone, 
three or four miles northwest of the city. The former of these is opened in 
the brow of a low hill. A few feet of clay and subsoil is stripped from the 
surface of the shingly rocks. The formation is quarried into about eighteen 
feet in depth, and great quantities of stone have been removed and hauled for 
many miles over the surrounding country, and into the city of Belvidere. The 
quarry, or rather serirs of quarries, is a source of profit, not so much on 
account of the valuable properties of the stone, as on account of the ease 
with which they can be quarried and the scarcity of all kinds of stone in the 
county. We noticed here flagging stones twelve by twenty-one feet and three or 
four inches thick, without an apparent crack. In some parts of the rocky 
walls, where exposed to the air, the rock is crumbling and decaying rapidly. 
About Garden Prairie, this formation is quarried and hauled north and 
northwest for a distance of seven and eight miles, for purposes of ordinary 
stone masonry. It is not worked at any other place in the county. No natural 
outcrops exist, on account of the ease with which it disintegrates and covers 
up its natural outcrops; but it is not difficult to trace its boundaries by 
the gently undulating elevations, the marshy springs along their base, the 
color of the waters that trickle down the slopes, and the nature of the 
overlying clays themselves.

The formation here is unfossiliferous to a high degree. Nothing but a few 
indistinct tracings of fucoids or sea weeds were noticed.

The Galena Limestone.—Two-thirds of the county, perhaps, is underlaid by the 
lead-bearing rocks of the Trenton limestone. And yet in all this extent of 
superficial area, there is but one good outcrop, and one place where the 
Galena is worked to any extent or advantage. This is at the exposure on Beaver 
Creek, three and a half miles west of Belvidere. The quarry is worked to a 
depth of thirty-five feet. The stone is massive and solid. Some of the bottom 
layers are from six io eight feet in thickness. Much stone has been quarried 
for the railroad bridge at Belvidere, and for building purposes in the 
surrounding country.

The country round the quarry is barrens and oak openings, with brushwood and a 
thin, whitish soil. The upper strata of this outcrop are thin enough to be 
readily removed with pick and wedge and crowbar; but the lower ones can only 
be displaced by patient blasting. Here Prof. Worthen found many of the 
characteristic fossils, such, as Receptaculites sulcata, Murchisonia gracilis, 
M. gigas, Pleurotomaria angulata, Ambonychia, Bellerophon, and fragments of 
Orthocera.

"My examinations," continues Prof. Worthen, "indicate that both Beaver Creek 
and the Piscasaw, for their whole length in this county, are underlaid by the 
Galena limestone. From Belvidere, on a line east of north, in the townships of 
Bonus, Boone and Leroy to Capron, and on nearly to the State line; thence west 
a few miles; thence south along the center township line of the county through 
Poplar Grove, to the starting point; thence northwest to Caledonia, and a few 
miles north of the same; thence back on any convenient road to the starting 
point; thence west on the North Rockford road to the county line, aud on all 
this extent of country gone over, I only saw indications of this limestone. 
Only a few imperfect, crumbly outcrops were, seen in the faces of some of the 
little hills—not such as would pay to work."

On the Upper Beaver and round the feeding springs of one of the Kinnikinniks, 
some poor specimens of stone are quarried, such as are used for the 
foundations of houses about Capron and in that part of the county. 

Blue Limestone.—In the northwestern part of the county were found indications 
of the existence of the lower divisions of the Trenton formation. Its close 
proximity to Roscoe and Beloit, with some surface indications, lead to the 
opinion that these would be the surface rocks if the superincumbent clays were 
removed.

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.

Building Stone.—Building stones are scarce in Boone County. The quarry on 
Beaver Creek furnishes a solid, massive, hard stone, very suitable for bridge 
piers, culverts and other solid work, but requires a good deal of labor to 
adapt it to the lighter kinds of masonry. Most of the heavy building stones 
UBed in Belvidere, such as church foundations, and other like work, are 
obtained at this quarry. For the lighter kinds of work, the quarry in the 
Cincinnati shales, south of Belvidere, furnishes most of the stone used, and 
enters largely into cellar walls, foundations of ordinary houses, etc., etc. 
The stone is easily quarried and broken into blocks of any required 
superficial area, and are consequently well adapted to the uses named. At Gen. 
Hurlbut's residence in Belvidere, some of the stone from this quarry have been 
in use for over twenty years, and are but little disturbed by the action of 
time. For flagging stone they can be quarried of any desired size and shape. 
They are used for this purpose in some instances in Belvidere, and serve the 
purpose admirably. For solid work the stone from this quarry is not 
recommended.

Lime-A limekiln has been successfully operated at the Galena quarry 
(heretofore mentioned) for some years. The lime made at this kiln is of good 
quality, but builders at Belvidere find it more economical to use lime shipped 
by railroad. A perpetual limekiln at the Beaver quarry would be a good 
investment.

Minerals.—There are no mineral deposits in the county, although bog iron ore 
has been noticed in considerable abundance in some of the bogs west of Capron. 
Pieces of float copper are said to have been found in the gravels of the 
drift. A few traces of lead have been found in the Galena limestone. Springs 
of chalybeate water exist in places. These are matters of curiosity and 
interest, rather than sources of economical value.

Sands and Clays.—From the ordinary clay and sand banks almost everywhere 
abounding in more or less purity, sand for building purposes, and clay for 
ordinary red brick, may be obtained in great abundance. The subsoil over most 
of the Galena rocks makes a good common brick. The bed of potters' clay, 
heretofore mentioned, deserves more than a passing notice. When ground and 
mixed with sand, it makes a hard, handsome, cream-colored brick, quite as 
beautiful, and, as is generally believed, more enduring than the far-famed 
Milwaukee brick. For this purpose alone this bed of clay is valuable. For any 
article of common crockery it would also be very valuable, and even queensware 
of fair quality might be made from this deposit. When first dug this clay is 
tough and tenacious. The color is between a milk-white and chocolate brown. 
When dry it breaks with a somewhat conchoidal fracture; has a fat, unctious 
feel to the fingers, and becomes lighter in color. Its chemical composition is 
not given in the report from which we quote.

Peat.—In the township of Bonus, near the residence of Mr. Dan'l Chapman, and 
partly owned by him, there is a peat bog of about twenty acres in extent. 
Messrs. Brown and Dana also own peat land in the same slough. In all, there is 
about forty acres. This deposit is located in a swale running down into the 
Piscasaw creek in an east and west direction, and is susceptible of easy 
drainage. It is covered with a dense growth of sedgy grass, and quakes and 
shakes as one walks over it. Beneath its carpet of sphagnum mosses, it seems 
soft and easy of penetration. A common pole can be easily forced down to a 
depth of seven and eight feet. The quality of the peat is a little fibrous, 
and is recognized as grass peat rather than moss peat, but both grass and moss 
enter into its composition, but when the report was made pronounced to be in 
its formative stage, consequently unripe, good for purposes of fertilization, 
but hardly adapted to a successful fuel. Peat deposits of good quality are 
also said to exist in the towns of Manchester and Leroy.


GENERAL HISTORY.

Although the territory embraced in the State of Illinois was occupied by the 
French under LaSalle as early as 1680, nearly three hundred years ago, but 
little progress towards the occupancy of the country by white people was made 
until about the beginning of the present century. About that time public 
attention and the attention of the people of the older states began to be 
attracted to the rich prairies and fertile valleys of the territory, and 
immigrants from the states of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North 
Carolina—the largest proportion from the latter state—began coming in and 
settling down to the work of making farms. These settlements were confined, as 
a general rule, to the lands along the rivers—the Ohio, above Cairo, the 
Wabash, the Mississippi, and to some extent along the Illinois. Growing year 
by year, immigration gradually increasing, every accession made another 
innovation upon the uncultivated domain, and so, still pushing onward and 
outward, the southern part of the state came to be settled first.

As the great natural fertility and productiveness of the soil became known, 
its easy subjection to cultivation to be understood, Illini came to be looked 
upon from one end of our common country to the other as a very paradise—as a 
land where, with common industry, prudence, and ordinary economy, any man 
might grow rich in a very few years, as compared with life in the older and 
timbered states.

For many years the settlements in Illinois were thus confined to the more 
southern part of the state, but about the years 1832-3, the beautiful valleys 
of Fox and Rock Rivers and their tributaries began to attract attention in the 
New England and more northerly of the Middle States, and a tide of immigration 
set in from that direction. These immigrants brought with them that thrift and 
economy, enterprise and judgment, that had enabled them and their fathers by 
closest industry to make an humble living among the rocks and timber, the 
hillsides and mountain tops of their native states. Here, on these rich 
prairies—lands free from rocks and boulders, already cleared and waiting for 
the plow, with half the toil expended, would produce fourfold more than could 
ever be realized in the lands left behind. Thrift, prosperity, and 
independence have followed their steps and rewarded their energy. Almost every 
house is a palace in finish and surroundings. The wild prairies of less than 
half a century ago have been reduced to a garden of beauty and made to blossom 
with the rose. Want is comparatively unknown, and intelligence and refinement 
prevail.

Less than half a century ago, the eight townships composing the county of 
Boone were a part of the unbroken wild of which we have written. But naturally 
grand and rich, the territory it embraces could not long fail to attract the 
attention of immigrants, and in 1835 a few settlers, found their way 
hitherwards, and settled down in the immediate vicinity of the town of 
Belvidere. At that time there were but two organized counties in this part of 
the state, Jo Daviess and Cook. They extended from the Lake on the east to the 
Mississippi on the west.

In this part of Illinois, as in all other parts of the state, and, in fact, as 
is always the practice in the settlement of new territories (unless there are 
peculiar local considerations), the first settlements were invariably made 
along the rivers or creeks, or in groves of timber. Rock River, a stream of 
attractive beauty and great power (if fully developed) for manufacturing 
purposes, had drawn to its rich lands a sufficient number of settlers anterior 
to this date (1835) to render them ambitious for a county organization, and at 
the session of the legislature at Vandalia, in 1835-6, an act was passed 
creating the county of Winnebago, and defining the boundaries as., follows:

Commencing at the southeast corner of township number 43, range number 4, east 
Of the third principal meridian, and running thence west to the said meridian; 
thence north along the line of said meridian to the southeast corner of 
township number 46, in range number 11, east of the fourth principal meridian; 
thence west to the dividing line between ranges numbers 7 and 8; thence north 
along said dividing line to the northern boundary line of the state; thence 
east along said boundary line to the northeast corner of range number 4, east 
of the third principal meridian; thence south to the place of beginning.— 
Approved Jan. 16, 1836.

After the passage of the act creating the county of Winnebago, and sometime 
previous to the organization, Charles Reed had occupied a tract of land on the 
west side of Rock river, and about two miles above the present site of the 
city of Rockford, by covering it with an Indian -"float." He named his place 
Winnebago, and sought to have it made the county seat. About the same time 
Germanicus Kent, Dr. Haskell, Selden M. Church and Daniel S. Haight, and some 
others, had also taken claims where the city of Rockford has since grown up. 
They, also, had county seat aspirations, and between them and Mr. Reed a 
rivalry sprang up that, suffice it to say without entering into details, 
resulted finally in fixing their county seat at Rockford and establishing the 
county of Boone.

At the first election in Winnebago county, Aug. 1, 1836 (before the erection 
of Boone), Simon P. Doty was elected County Commissioner for the Belvidere 
district, and William E. Dunbar and Thomas B. Talcott for the other two 
districts into which the county had been divided. The first meeting of the 
County Commissioners' Court was held at the house of Daniel S. Haight (called 
the Rockford Hotel). Don Alonzo Spaulding was appointed as Clerk of their 
court. At that session of their court the Belvidere precinct was established, 
and an order entered providing for the election of two Justices of the Peace 
and two Constables therein. James Sayne, John K. Towner, and Charles Payne 
were appointed to be judges or inspectors of the election. The time of holding 
the election was set for Saturday, Aug. 27, 1836, and the house of Simon P. 
Doty named as the place of holding the election, which, for a number of years, 
continued to be the voting place in the Belvidere precinct. At that election, 
John K. Towner and John S. King were elected Justices of the Peace, and Mason 
Sherburne and Abel Thurston, chosen as Constables. These were the first civil 
officers elected in what is now Boone County.

During the session of the legislature of 1836-7, an act was passed providing 
for the erection of the county of Boone, and defining its boundaries as 
follows:

Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the 
General Assembly, That all that tract of country beginning at the northeast 
corner of township 46 north, range 4 east; thence south with the line dividing 
ranges 4 and 5 east, to the southwest corner of township 43 north; thence west 
on said line to the southeast corner of Winnebago County; thence north to the 
place of beginning on the north boundary of the state, shall form a county to 
be called Boone, in honor of Col. Daniel Boone, the first settler of the State 
of Kentucky.—Approved March 4, 1837.

The following winter Legislative attention was directed to the matter, and an 
act was passed correcting the boundary lines and defining them as follows:

That the boundary lines of Boone County shall be as follows, to-wit: Beginning 
at the northeast corner of Winnebago County, and running thence east on the 
State line to the northeast corner of township forty-six north, range five, 
east of the third principal meridian; thence south on the range line to the 
line dividing townships forty-two and forty-three north; thence west on said 
line to the southeast corner of Winnebago County; thence north with the line 
of Winnebago to the place of beginning; Provided, however, that if a majority 
of the legal voters residing within the limits of townships forty-three, forty-
four, forty-five, and forty-six, north of range five east of the third 
principal meridian, shall, on the first Monday in August next, vote against 
the above named townships forming a part of the County of Boone, then the line 
dividing ranges four and five east shall continue to form the eastern boundary 
of Boone County.—Approved March 2, 1839, p. 242, Acts '38-9.

Thus established, Boone County was eleven miles wide and twenty-four miles 
long, leaving a strip one mile in width, including sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30, 
and 31, in town 46, range 3, and the same number of sections each in towns 45, 
44, and 43, that, under Government survey, clearly belonged to Boone County. 
But this was a measure of compromise to conciliate and reconcile the 
conflicting interests in Winnebago County. At a later period, the question of 
annexing the western tier of sections in range 3, to Boone County, began to be 
agitated, and finally culminated in the passage of an enabling act by the 
Legislature of 1842-3, to allow the settlers on the "strip" to elect to which 
county they would belong. No one but those immediately interested as settlers 
were allowed to vote. The interest became warm. As a natural consequence, the 
people of Boone County favored the scheme. They could not vote, but they could 
talk, and their best talkers were set to work "where they could do the most 
good," and they worked earnestly. None were more interested than the people of 
Belvidere. The eastern part of Winnebago County, the settlers on the strip 
excepted, opposed the scheme, for, if it prevailed, it would involve the 
establishment of their county seat in some doubt, and weaken their chances of 
securing the seat of justice at East Rockford. The people of the western part 
of Winnebago County favored the scheme, because, if successful, it would 
strengthen their chances for securing the county seat at West Rockford, or on 
the west side of Rock River.

During the session of the Legislature in the winter of 1843, an act 
entitled "An Act to define the bounds of Boone County," was passed, providing 
as follows:

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in General 
Assembly, That sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30, and 31, in each of the townships 43, 
44, 45, and 46, in range 3 east of the 3d principal meridian, are hereby 
attached to and shall form a part of the county of Boone; Provided, an 
election shall be held at the house of Samuel Keith, in the village of 
Newburg, in Winnebago County, on the fourth day of May next (1843), under the 
inspection of Benjamin Hoyt and Samuel Keith, as judges, and A. W. Caufield, 
as clerk of said election, whose duty it shall be to attend at the time and 
place aforesaid and hold said election. A poll book shall be opened with 
columns headed "for "and "against" being attached to the County of Boone, and 
the legal voters residing on the aforesaid sections shall be permitted to vote 
for or against being so attached. The poll shall be kept open from 10 o'clock 
a. m. to 5 o'clock P. M., of said day, and, upon closing the poll, the judges 
and clerk shall certify the result on the poll book and seal up and deliver 
the same to the clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of Winnebago County 
within five days thereafter, and the clerk of said court shall, within two 
days, in the presence of two Justices of the Peace of his county, open and 
examine said poll book, and compare the certificate with the votes given, and 
thereupon make out a certificate of the result of said election, which shall 
be signed by said clerk and justices, and the same shall be entered upon the 
records of the Commissioners' Court for Winnebago County; and if it shall 
appear, by the result of said election, that a majority of said voters are in 
favor of being attached to the county of Boone, then and in that case, the 
aforesaid sections shall be and remain a part of Boone County, otherwise, they 
shall remain as heretofore; Provided, further, that if either of said judges 
or clerk shall fail to attend and act at said election, then the voters 
present shall choose others to act in their place, who shall be governed by 
the provisions of this act.—Approved Feb. 28, 1843, p. 92 Laws of '42-3.

As the day of the election drew nigh, the interest, especially among the 
people of Belvidere, grew in intensity. Every man of influence, character and 
intelligence, that could be made available in any way, was sent over to work 
among the settlers on the strip. Those of the Winnebago people who were 
unfriendly to the "annexation" scheme were equally earnest in their 
efforts. "Noses were counted," and so equally divided did the settlers seem to 
be that neither party felt assured of success. The drift of public sentiment 
among the settlers on the strip, however, seemed to settle towards Boone 
County, and this imbued the Belvidere people, with renewed energy. Argument, 
entreaty, figures, advantages, and every sort of inducement were held out to 
the settlers. Finally the day that was to decide the issue came. Every settler 
entitled to a vote was brought out. When the polls were declared closed and 
the ballots counted, the tally sheet showed that 95 votes had been cast, of 
which 51 votes were, "for" annexation to Boone County, and 44 votes "against"—
a majority of 7 in favor of annexation.

This elaction and its result settled the status of Boone County and quieted 
all agitation incident to the organization of all new counties. It added 
twenty-five sections of valuable land, capable of supporting a thousand 
people, to the domain, and increasing the taxable property many thousands of 
dollars.

In section 10 of an act entitled'"An Act to create certain counties therein 
named," passed by the Legislature of 1837, it was provided that elections for 
county officers should he held in Boone and DeKalb Counties on the first 
Monday of the following May.

Section 11 of the same act provided that it should be the duty of the clerks 
of the Commissioners' Courts of the counties thereby organized to give notice 
at least ten days previous to the elections to be held "as is above provided 
in said counties, and in case there shall be no clerk in said counties, it 
shall be the duty of the clerk of the Commissioners' Court of Winnebago County 
to give notice of the elections to be held in the counties of Boone and 
DeKalb."

Section 13 provided that the counties of Stephenson and Boone should continue 
to form a part of the county of Jo Daviess, until organized, and "when 
organized according to this act, shall continue attached to the county of Jo 
Daviess in all general elections, until otherwise provided by law."

In pursuance of the provisions of section 11, above quoted, there being no 
clerk of the Commissioners' Court in Boone County, the county not yet having 
been fully organized, a warrant for the election provided for in section 10, 
issued from the clerk of the Commissioners' Court of Winnebago County.

The law providing for this election also provided that it should be held at 
the house of Simon P. Doty in the Belvidere precinct, which af that time 
included all of Boone County.

The first Monday of May, A. D. 1837, was a day of interest to the people 
of "Belvidere precinct." The county of Boone had been established, and by the 
election of county officers they were to be enrolled among the other fully 
organized counties of the State and clothed with "all the riguts and 
privileges" of the other counties. In those days printed or written ballots 
were not in use, but citizens voted viva voce. The polls were opened with 
great eclat, and midst jest and good nature, the election continued until the 
hour provided by law for closing the polls in the evening. Milton S. Mason, 
Cornelius Cline, and John Q. A. Rollins were elected County Commissioners, 
Simon P. Doty, Sheriff, and John Handy, Coroner. On the 3d of May, the County 
Commissioners elect met, and organized the first Commissioners' Court held in 
Boone County. Milton S. Mason administered the oath of office to Cornelius 
Cline and John Q. A. Rollins, and Mr. Rollins, administered the oath of office 
to Milton S. Mason. Dr. Daniel H. Whitney was appointed and qualified as clerk 
of the Commissioners' Court, and the transaction of county business commenced. 
Belvidere precinct was divided, and an additional precinct established, called 
the Lambertsburg precinct, taking in all the territory embraced in the four 
north townships of the county, and so named in honor of two brothers, James B. 
and Jeremiah Lambert, who had taken claims in what is now Leroy township. At 
this session it was also "ordered that John K. Towner be and he is hereby 
appointed County Treasurer for the county of Boone, (no Treasurer having been 
elected). Benjamin Sweet was appointed School Commissioner and Agent for the 
inhabitants of Boone, and Erastus A. Nixon, David Caswell, and George D. 
Hicks, were appointed trustees of the school lands in Congressional township 
44 north, range 3 east of the third principal meridian, and William Dresser, 
John K. Towner, and Milton S. Mason, were appointed judges of all elections to 
be held in Belvidere precinct.

The erection of road districts and appointment of road supervisors appears 
next on record, and a further order providing that all county roads should 
be "opened fifty feet in the clear, and that each able-bodied man should work 
on some road five days in each year." This constituted one day's work for the 
court, when it adjourned without day.

Thus it may be assumed that the history of Boone County, as an organized body, 
dates from May 3, 1837—the date of the first meeting of the County 
Commissioners' Court, or in less than two years from the time when the first 
white settlements were made at Belvidere and Shattuck's Grove, in what is now 
Spring township, in 1835. If previous to that time there were any white 
settlers here, their identity is lost. No records are to be found of their 
presence, and hence it is concluded that the first settlements date from June 
or July of that year. When Simon P. Doty and Dr. Daniel H. Whitney arrived 
here, in August, 1835, they found Archibald Metcalf and David Dunham, encamped 
in a shanty on the west bank of the Kishwaukee (Indian for Sycamore), about 
eighty rods below where the State street bridge in Belvidere spans that stream.

A note on a county map, published by Messrs. William McVickar and D. Kelsey, 
in 1858, under the heading of "First Settlers of Boone County, A. D. 1835," 
gives a list of the settlers at that period, saying that "Oliver Robbins and 
Brothers made the first claims in Boone County. Archibald Metcalf, David 
Dunham, Timothy Caswell and family, Charles H. Payne and family, John K. 
Towner and family, Cornelius Cline, Erastus A. Nixon, Erastus Shattuck and 
family, John Handy and family, Simon P. Doty and wife, Dr. Daniel H. Whitney, 
Charles Watkins, Abel Thurston, Milton S. Mason and family, David Elliott, 
Asahel Daggett and family."

The same authority gives the population of the county in 1858 at 12,860. 
Oliver Hale, of Bonus township, who settled at his present residence Oct. 1, 
1836, is of the opinion that the list of settlers here in 1835, as quoted 
above, is not fully correct. He cites Christopher Payne and family as an 
addition that ought to be made. When Mr. Hale came, he found Mr. Payne 
occupying a claim of several thousand acres on Squaw Prairie, of whom he 
bought one claim of 400 acres. Payne had settled there in the fall of 1835. 
Mr. Andrew F. Moss who came in May, 1836, makes a further correction by adding 
the names of David Caswell and family and Moses Blood and family. Mr. Hale is 
now a man of nearly eighty years, but is remarkably well preserved, 
intellectually and physically, and has a clear memory of the scenes and 
incidents of those early days, and his statements may be taken as conclusively 
correct. Mr. Moss, while a younger man by some years, has always been a close 
observer, and carries in his mind the names of all the pioneers he found here 
on his coming, in 1836, so that at least two families are added by their 
corrections. These families represented a population all told of only thirty-
seven persons, as reported by a census-taker in the latter part of October of 
that year. In 1840, the population had increased to 1,705; in 1850, to 7,624; 
in 1860, to 11,678; in 1870, to 12,942; and is now estimated at 14,000. Real 
estate at that date was not taxable, by reason of the non-expiration of the 
three years' exemption from taxation after purchase or entry. In 1850, the 
assessed valuation of real and personal property was $828,714; in 1860, 
$1,511,376; in 1870, $1,790,218.

Until about 1840, the increase by immigration was comparatively slow. After 
that period, until the government land was all taken, the immigration was 
large and rapid. In September, 1836, the government surveyors established the 
township lines, and during the following winter subdivided them into sections. 
The lands were not open to sale or entry, however, until October, 1839. The 
lands in Boone county were divided between the Galena and Chicago land 
districts. The lands in range 3 comprised a part of the Galena district, while 
those in range 4 belonged to the Chicago district, and were subject to 
purchase or entry at that office. From the time the lands were opened to 
purchase and entry, claims were rapidly confirmed.

Who made the first purchase or first entry, has long since been forgotten, and 
there are no records immediately accessible that will supply the data to 
justify an opinion on this subject.

Between 1835 and October, 1839, when the land in this district was opened to 
sale, claims had been taken in almost all parts of the county. In this time a 
good commencement had been made towards reducing their wild sward to farm 
tillage, and in most cases they were yielding large enough returns to maintain 
the families occupying them, in comparative comfort, and in some instances 
they had Deen so productive and remunerative as to yield a sufficient surplus 
to enable their owners to provide against the day of purchase or entry, thus 
making their claims pay for themselves. From 1835 to 1840-41, might justly be 
called the "log cabin" age. But after the latter date the log cabins and 
shanties began to give way to a better class of houses, and prairie barns, 
with their grassy coverings, went down, to make room for more pretentions and 
convenient structures. Now, in 1877, there is scarcely a quarter section of 
land in the county that does not boast its large and handsome brick or frame 
residence, with tastefully arranged grounds, fine large barns and substantial 
fencings. The ox-wagon has given place to more modern vehicles, and fine 
carriages and well-trained horses are among the possessions of a large 
majority of the citizens. But little land, as compared with many other western 
counties, was entered for speculative purposes. The largest, and it may be 
said the only lands so
purchased, was by William Taylor, as agent for the Aberdeen Bank of Scotland, 
in 1839. That ageney purchased very largely in the counties of Winnebago, 
McHenry and Boone, 4,640 acres of it being selected, in different sections, in 
Boone. But that and all other lands so purchased long since passed into the 
hands of actual settlers and sturdy farmers, who, by cheerful industry and 
prudent economy, have made homes of which any people might be justly proud. 
Taylor, the agent referred to, some time after he made the entry, was going 
down the Mississippi river on the steamboat "War Eagle," and when near St. 
Louis was drowned from the boat. It has been said he jumped into the river, 
but there were no reasons to justify a suspicion of suicide.

In 1835, when the first settlers came, post-offices were unknown in the bounds 
of what is now Boone county, and for a large district of country outside. That 
was long before the days of cheap postage or the prepaid system, and for many 
months when a settler went to Chicago, the nearest post-office, his pockets 
were filled with quarters to pay the postage on letters from friends and 
relatives in the "old homes." Ottawa was the nearest point for milling 
purposes until a mill was built at the Napier settlement, now Napierville. 
Later, a mill was built at Belvidere, stores and trading places were licensed, 
and gradually the hardships of pioneer life gave way before the advancement of 
civilization and the better things of more modern achievements. Indians had 
never been troublesome to the settlers, except as beggars, and soon after were 
all removed to new hunting grounds on the plains and prairies of the further 
west—to Iowa, and afterwards to Kansas, and a future opened out before this 
people that has grown brighter and brighter, until the brightest hopes of the 
hardy and sturdy pioneers of 1835 are left deeply shaded. Many of these early 
settlers have been gathered with their fathers on the brighter shores of the 
Great Beyond. A few are left awaiting the summons to join those who have gone 
before, but who shared with them the hardships and privations incident to 
pioneer life in this country of the Kish-wau-kee, erst the home of the 
Pottawatomie chief, Big Thunder, and his people. But all those who have gone 
before and all those who are waiting the summons to follow, made noble records 
for honesty, morality, industry, and all else that goes to make up noble 
lives. A record is left their descendants that will serve as a beacon light to 
guide them in paths of peace, pleasantness, happiness, and prosperity.

Before resuming the history proper of Boone county from where we left the 
organization of the county and the proceedings of the County Commissioners' 
Court in May, 1837, we may be pardoned by the reader for a slight digression 
relative to Big Thunder and his burial, and incidents relative thereto. Big 
Thunder was a noted character among his people, not from his stature, however, 
which was rather under the medium average of his race, but from his influence 
among them. His voice, perhaps, gave him the name he bore, as it is a 
prevailing practice with nearly all Indian tribes to name any object after 
that of which it most reminds them. Big Thunder, no doubt, when he laid aside 
the bow and arrow for the more effective rifle, tomahawk and scalping knife, 
was possessed of a strong, stentorian voice that in councils or giving words 
of command reminded his tribe or followers of a deep, distant thunder, and 
hence the name. But be this as it may, some time previous to the removal of 
his tribe to the west, he sickened and was taken over to the "happy hunting 
grounds." His burial place was selected on the highest point of ground on the 
mound where the court house has since been built. As was their custom no grave 
was dug, but wrapped in his blankets, and seated in a rude stool or bench, 
with his feet placed on an Indian-made rug, with his face turned towards the 
West, a direction in which a battle was expected to take place between his 
tribe and another, a structure made of split white ash logs, from which the 
bark was pealed, was erected around his body and covered with bark. The 
expected battle never came off, and consequently the war spirit of Big Thunder 
did not re-enter his mouldering body and join the victorious "whoops" of his 
braves as their vanquished foes fell beneath their tomahawks and scalping 
knives. In those days Belvidere was on a stage route from Chicago to Galena. 
The travel was heavy, and here the horses were changed, and sometimes for 
other causes a delay of from half an hour to an hour would occur. For many 
miles in all directions, the Indian "sarcophagus" that surrounded the body of 
Big Thunder could be distinctly seen. The logs or slabs from which the bark 
had been pealed had bleached and whitened in the sun, until they were almost 
as white as snow. To travelers and land hunters from the East, those who had 
never seen an Indian or an Indian grave, this "last abode" of Big Thunder was 
an object of curiosity. And while the stage would be delayed, passengers would 
betake themselves to the mound on which he was buried to view his "coop" and 
perhaps scratch their names and date of their visit on the logs, or may be, 
when the flesh had mouldered and fallen from the bones, leaving only a dried 
skeleton, a gather up a bone and carry it home as a trophy of their visit out 
in the "Indian country." His head was the first part of his anatomy to be 
carried away. That was taken to Chicago, and finally found its way into the 
possession of a noted phrenologist. Next another bone would be taken, and then 
another and another, until the bones composing the human frame were nearly all 
gone. Appreciating and wishing to gratify the curiosity of travelers some of 
the "wags" of Belvidere would secretly gather up the dried bones of hogs and 
as secretly throw them into Big Thunder's "coop." None the wiser of this 
little trick, travelers and curiosity gatherers would stop and pick out such 
bones as their fancy liked, pocket them and carry them away. This little joke 
of the "boys" of Belvidere was kept up as long as the grounds around 
the "coop" were left open, and it is pretty safe to assume that many a museum 
of curiosities in the eastern states has hog bones labeled "Thigh bone of Big 
Thunder, an Indian chief of the Pottawatomie Indians, buried at Belvidere, 
Illinois;" or a "forearm," a "middle finger," a "rib," a "spinal joint," or 
something else.

Another incident connected with Big Thunder's "coop" may not be amiss in this 
connection. It is told of Simon P. Doty. He does not deny it, but laughs over 
it when the matter is spoken of, as heartily as any one. Like hundreds of 
other people, especially sailors (of whom he was one in his earlier years), 
Mr. Doty likes tobacco. Very often in the early settlement of Boone County, 
the supply of tobacco hereabouts would give out, and "chewers of the weed" 
would, per force of circumstance, be compelled to go without for days at a 
time, sometimes for a week or more. Indians are proverbial for their use of 
tobacco, and whenever they chanced to pass by the "coop" of Big Thunder, they 
would throw a piece of chewing, or pouch of smoking tobacco at his feet or 
into his lap. On one of the occasions when tobacco among the white settlers 
had given out, Mr. Doty and Erastus A. Nixon were engaged in scoring and 
hewing timber. Doty had suffered and agonized for some time for a "chew." 
Finally he could endure it no longer, and passing up to Big Thunder's "coop," 
he reached in and abstracted a small supply. Mr. Nixon was equally suffering 
and longing for some tobacco. To his requests of Mr. Doty for a "chew,"' the 
latter protested that he had none. This, however, was before Doty had visited 
the "coop" on the mound, and of course he was honest and truthful when he 
protested he "was out." After that visit, his friend and co-laborer noticed 
him expectorate, and his suspicions were aroused. He picked up the chip upon 
which the spittle had fallen, and exclaimed, "Doty, you have tobacco!" Doty 
had to own up—to acknowledge the truth of the charge, and pledging Mr. Nixon 
to secrecy, he told him where and how he obtained it. But it was too good to 
keep—the joke, and not the tobacco—and it had to be told. It has been the 
occasion of many a laugh at Doty's expense, but he takes it in good part, and 
in speaking of it even at this day, in his eighty-first year, will laugh as 
heartily over it as any of the "boys," who always know where and how to get 
tobacco without going to the "coop" of a dead Indian chieftain for it.

Turning back to the proceedings of the County Commissioners' Court, May 3, 
1837, and resuming a review of the record, we find that Charles McDougal was 
appointed Supervisor of Road, district No. 1; Ira Haskins of No. 2; David 
Caswell of No. 3, and Cornelius Cline of No. 4. These, then, were the first 
Road Supervisors appointed in Boone County, and divided into four districts, 
it may be assumed that the increase of population from the number of settlers 
in 1835, as already stated, had been pretty large. The wild lands bad been 
surveyed, township and section lines defined, and the country mapped out and 
started on the high road to wealth and opulence.

On the 4th day of May, 1837, D. H. Whitney, Clerk of the County Commissioners' 
Court, made a transcript of the returns of the election held on the Monday 
previous, which transcript we copy from the records:

Made a transcript of the returns of the election in which Simon P. Doty waa 
declared duly elected to the office of sheriff.
John Handy was declared duly elected to the office of coroner.
Seth S. Whitman was declared duly elected to the office of recorder.
And S. P. Hyde was declared duly elected to the office of county surveyor, and 
transmitted the same to the Secretary of State, this 4th day of May, A. D. 
1837.
D. H. Whitney, Clerk C. C. C. Boone County.

The same day he "made out and delivered to the sheriff elect, certificates of 
appointment to Erastus A. Nixon, George D. Hicks and David Caswell, trustees 
of school land in T. 44, N. R. 3 E. 3 P. M. (3d. principal meridian), and to 
Charles McDougal, as Supervisor of Road, district No. 1; David Caswell, 
Supervisor of Road, district No. 2, and Cornelius Cline, as Supervisor of 
Road, district No. 4." Mr. Whitney also recorded his appointment of William 
Dresser as "deputy clerk of the County Commissioners' Court."

The first session of the County Commissioners' Court was held at the house of 
Simon P. Doty. The next session convened at the same place, on the 5th of June 
following, when S. P. Doty sheriff-elect, reported to the court that he had 
served notices of appointment on the several appointees of the previous 
session of the court, and that they all accepted.

John K. Towner, a Justice of the Peace in and for the County of Boone, 
reported the assessment of fines on his docket, to-wit:

"State of Illinois vs. Uriah Payne, $18.46 1/4, fine and cost, May 30, 1837. 
Execution issued to Abel Thurston, constable, returnable in 70 days." "State 
of Illinois vs. John Q. A. Rollins $16.69, fine and costs, May 30, 1837. 
Execution issued to Abel Thurston, constable, returnable in 70 days."

The collection of these fines was the first money ever paid into the county 
treasury.

This term of the court adjourned on the 5th of June. On the 6th the clerk 
granted permission to Simon P. Doty and Charles F. H. Goodhue to "retail 
ardent spirits by the small measure," for which they were each charged the sum 
of $5. These were the first places licensed in Boone County for such purposes. 
In those days all business houses, of whatever character, had to secure 
license or permission from the county court, before they could commence 
operations. In almost every part of the county where settlements were made, 
some one would take out license for keeping a tavern or hotel, for which the 
charges ranged from $5 to $25. This was one source of revenue, but sometimes 
applicants for such permission being short of funds, would give their notes, 
and in some instances would afterwards take them up in full or in part, with 
county warrants issued to them for some kind of services rendered the county. 
The court also regulated the prices such hotels were allowed to charge for the 
entertainment of man and horse. At the September term, 1837, the court ordered 
that tavern rates for Boone County shall be:

Per meal, thirty-seven and a half cents.
For lodging per night, twelve and a half cents.
For horse to hay, eighteen and three-fourths cents.
Oats per peck, fifty cents.
All kinds of liquors, per drink, six cents.

In September, 1838, these rates were revised, and the following prices 
established:

Ordered that tavern rates for the ensuing year shall be as follows, viz.: Per 
meal, thirty-seven and a half cents; night's lodging twelve and a half cents; 
oats per peck, twenty-five cents; span of horses to hay over night, thirty-
seven and a half cents; good brandy, rum, gin and wine, twelve and a half 
cents per drink; poor do, and whiskey, six and a fourth cents; per meal for 
stage passengers, fifty cents.

At the beginning of the September term of the court, the available means of 
the county amounted to $40, and the liabilities to $41.84. The clerk was 
allowed one dollar and fifty cents per day for his services, and the 
commissioners the same sum.

In November of that year, a special term of the Commissioners' Court was held, 
continuing only one day, the 6th. The act of the Legislature providing tor the 
location of the county seat of Boone County, also appointed commissioners for 
that purpose, naming John M. Wilson, of Will County; James Day, of LaSalle 
County, and James H. Woodworth, of Cook County, as such commissioners. 
Pursuant to appointment, two of these commissioners, John M. Wilson and James 
H. Woodworth, visited Belvidere on the 30th of October to discharge the trust 
imposed upon them. When the Commissioners' Court met in special session on the 
6th of November, and opened for business, the clerk submitted the following 
documents and vouchers:

Oct. 31st, 1837.   )
County of Boone,   )

To James H. Woodworth and John M. Wilson. 
Dr. To services in locating county seat of said county, 10 days each—20 days—
at $2..$40.00.

Received payment.
James H. Woodworth. 
John M. Wilson.

The court "ordered that the communication from the clerk and the accompanying 
documents be spread on record." The documents referred to were the following 
oaths, which were administered to Messrs. James H. Woodworth and John M. 
Wilson. Although the oaths were administered separately, the record shows that 
they were administered the same day (Oct. 30, 1837,) and in the same words, so 
that a copy of one will serve for both, excepting a change of name, to-wit:

State of Illinois,   ) 
Boone County,        )

I, James H. Woodworth, do swear upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, 
that I will proceed to examine and determine on a place for the permanent seat 
of justice for Boone County, faithfully taking into consideration the 
convenience of the people, the situation of the settlements, with an eye to 
future population, and designate the same according to law, so help me God.

(Signed) Jas. H. Woodworth.

Sworn and subscribed before me this 30th day of October, Anno Domini, 1837.
D. H. Whitney, Justice of the Peace for Boone Co., Ill.

The report of the locating commissioners follows next of record, and is in 
these words:

Be it known, that we, James H. Woodworth and John M. Wilson, commissioners 
appointed to locate the County Seat of Boone county in the State of Illinois, 
under an act entitled an Act to create certain counties therein named, 
approved 4th March, A. D., 1837, being duly sworn, did on the (31) thirty-
first day of October, A.D., 1837, proceed to examine and determine on a place 
for the permanent seat of justice for said county, and taking into view the 
convenience of the inhabitants, the situation of the settlements, the probable 
future population and eligibility of location, have and do locate said county 
seat upon the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, in township forty-four 
north, range three east of the third principal meridian, being in the Galena 
land district.

Given under our hands, this thirty-first day of October, A. D. 1837.

(Signed) Jas. H. Woodworth,
John M. Wilson.

The commissioners then ordered that the draft of the clerk in favor of Mr. 
Cephas Gardner for forty dollars borrowed money for the payment of the 
commissioners for locating the seat of justice of this county, be paid out of 
the first money in the county treasury; and that eight dollars, the bill of S. 
P. Doty, made by said commissioners while performing said service for the 
county, be assumed, and that the clerk issue his draft on the treasury for the 
same.

The first claim made in Boone county was taken by Oliver Robbins and brothers, 
and included the southeast quarter of section twenty-six, township forty-four 
north, range three east, divided nearly equally by the Kishwaukee river, and 
was made early in the summer of 1835. These brothers subsequently sold their 
claim to Archibald Metcalf and David Dunham, who at a later period sold out to 
Dr. Goodhue, Charles Peck and Nathaniel Crosby, forming a part of what was 
subsequently known as the Belvidere Company. The Robbins Bros. pushed on West, 
probably taking other claims, selling out again as immigration followed them, 
and pushing on again. One of them afterwards returned to Boone county and made 
his home at Blood's Point, in Flora township. When the war of the rebellion 
came on, he enlisted in one of the companies formed in Boone county and was 
killed at the battle of Shiloh. Of the other brothers all trace has been lost.

The parties purchasing this claim of Dunham and Metcalf, afterwards, by 
purchase or otherwise, secured control of a large tract of land in the 
vicinity, including the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, and when the 
county seat question began to be agitated, proposed to relinquish to the 
county their claim to that particular quarter section on condition that the 
county seat should be located thereon. The agreement was kept, and when the 
land came into market in 1839, it was bid in in the name of the county 
commissioners, John K. Towner, Moses Blood and Robert B. Hurd. The date of 
purchase was October 17, 1839. November 10, 1841, a United States patent 
issued to them "as commissioners of Boone county, and to their successors in 
office forever."

The Belvidere Company, already referred to, was enlarged by the admission of 
other members to the number of ten, and the claims were parceled out in shares 
representing one thousand dollars each, and when put on the market in October, 
1839, the land was purchased for and managed in the interests of the company. 
The company was made up of Charles Peck, Dr. Goodhue, Nathaniel Crosby, of 
Fredonia, N. Y., Prof. S. S. Whitman, Dr. John S. King, Jacob Whitman and 
others, to the number of ten.

In 1836" the town site, that part of it on the southeast quarter of section 
twenty-six, was partially laid off into town lots, by establishing the corners 
of State and Mechanic streets with an old iron carpenter's square. Lots were 
given to mechanics who would build on and occupy them. The first lot given 
away was to Simon P. Doty. His lot was at the corner of State and Mechanic 
streets—on the West side of State street and south of Mechanic street to the 
Kishwaukee. Having previously built a house a short distance west of the town 
site, he moved it up on to his lot, where he soon afterwards opened a hotel, 
calling it the "Belvidere House."

The commissioners locating the seat of justice designated where the county 
seat should be on the land selected by driving a stake in the ground on the 
mound Where the court-house has since been built, within one-fourth of a miie 
of which, by the then existing laws, the county offices should be kept. At a 
later period in the progress of events (December, 1838,) it was discovered 
that Daniel H. Whitney, the county clerk, kept his office more than a quarter 
of a mile from the point so designated, and the commissioners declared the 
office vacant, and proceeded to appoint James L. Loop as clerk to fill the 
vacancy. Mr. Loop gave bonds in the sum of one thousand dollars and entered 
upon the discharge of his duties. Mr. Whitney's deputy had, as the court 
expressed i___ an order of record, "contemptiously" taken from the table the 
records of the court. It was ordered and adjudged by the court that he pay a 
fine of twenty-five dollars, and stand committed until the fine was paid. A 
warrant of commitment was made out and placed in in the hands of the sheriff 
to be executed if the fine was not paid. A writ of replevin was also sued out 
to procure the books, papers and, records "contemptiously" carried away, and 
also placed in the hands of the sheriff to be executed. The writ was served, 
and the books, papers, records, etc., recovered and returned to court. On the 
7th of December, Mr. Briggs, the deputy, by Mr. S. P. Doty as representative, 
appeared before the court, and confessed that he was too hasty in committing 
the contempt on the day previous, whereupon the court ordered that one-half of 
the fine be remitted. The other half ($12.50) was paid by Mr. Doty, and thus 
subsided the first little "ripple" in the proceedings of the Commissioners' 
Court for the county of Boone.

The county seat having been located, the claim, donated to the county by the 
Belvidere Company, was surveyed into lots and blocks, a plot of ten acres 
being reserved on the highest point for county buildings. Daniel H. Whitney, 
was appointed commissioner to sell and dispose of lots and blocks on the 
quarter section of land belonging to this county on which the seat of justice 
had been located, and required to enter into bonds in the sum of $2,000 for 
the faithful performance of the duty imposed. He was also required, as clerk, 
to make and transmit to the general land office and to the land office at 
Galena, copies of the report and all other papers received from the 
commissioners in reference to the location of the seat of justice of the 
county, and request from the general land office such information as might be 
necessary touching the perfecting of the title to said land.

At the December meeting of the County Commissioners' Court, Mr. Whitney 
reported that after advertising in the Chicago Democrat and American, and 
posting up written notices at Belvidere and other public places, giving notice 
of such sale, to be held on the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th days of November, 
offering for sale lots on the county lands, he had on the 27th of that month 
sold lots to the amount of $364.75. On the 28th he adjourned the sales without 
day, the sales not meeting his expectations. Before making the above report, 
he had sold another lot at private sale, for $30, making the total of sales 
$394.75.

The sales made were for part cash and balance on time—sometimes one-half cash, 
and sometimes one-third, balance in one and two years, or six and twelve 
months, with mortgage on premises, or other satisfactory security, with 
interest on deferred payments. And thus from time to time, the lots belonging 
to the county continued to be disposed of until all were sold, and proceeds 
applied as conditioned in the donation of the "claim."

From this time forward, the sessions of the Commissioners' Court were 
principally occupied in looking after the interests of the county, managing 
its financial business, granting prayers of petitioners for roads, etc. At the 
March term. A. D. 1838, the first Grand and Petit Jurors were selected. James 
McBride, Israel Stone, Ira Haskins, William Ames, Albert Stone, Levi Hammon, 
Nathan Tripp, John Lawrence, Peter Payne, Thos. O. Davis, John K. Towner, 
Alexander Neely, Alfred Shattuck, Benjamin S. Lawrence, James Shinn, Hiram 
Waterman, Oliver Hale, John Wright, Frederick W. Crosby, Cephas Gardner, 
Edward E. Moss, John Sponable and Milton S. Mason were selected as grand 
jurors.

Erastus A. Nixon, Arthur Blood, James Gooch, Londy Stephenson, Hiram Stow, 
John H. Herbert, Ebenezer Tuttle, DaVid Caswell, James B. Lambert, Pearson B. 
Crosby, Z. H. Sawtell, William Dresser, Thomas Hartwell, Benjamin Sweet, Chas. 
H. Payne, Elias Congdon, William S. Stewart, Frederick Sheldon, Jacob Fisk, A. 
D. Bishop, Joseph Briggs, Cornelius Cline, and John Q. A. Rollins "were the 
petit jurors for the first term of the circuit Court to be held in and for 
said county."

Of the above selection for grand jurors, Albert Stone, Alexander Neely, Oliver 
Hale, John Wright, Cephas Gardner, and Edward E. Moss are still living, and 
all residents of the county except Mr. Neely, who, some years since, moved to 
Waterloo, Iowa. Of the petit jurors, John Q. A. Rollins and John H. Herbert 
are still living. Mr. Herbert resides in Belvidere, and Mr. Rollins at Denver, 
Colorado, where he is extensively engaged in mining operations.

At this term of the Commissioners' Court, Dr. D. H. Whitney resigned his 
position as Commissioner of Sales for Boone County, aud Hiram Waterman was 
appointed to the vacancy.

April 17, 1838, the Commissioners convened in special session, and among other 
things, ordered that the clerk advertise for sealed proposals, to be received 
until the first Monday in June, for the erection of a court house, "forty by 
thirty feet, with a basement story of stone, the basement story to be finished 
one-half for a jail, the other half into a room for a family; the first story 
to be finished with three offices and a hall and one room for a family's 
occupancy; the second story to be finished with a court room and two jury-
rooms; the house when finished to be worth five or six thousand dollars." 
Proposals were also to be "received until the first Monday in June, for the 
purchase of the whole or any part of the county lands, and payment to be made 
by the erection of the court house, or the furnishing of materials for the 
same, or erecting any portion of the same."

At the June term, 1838, it was "ordered that the north room of S. P. Doty's 
house be used for the use and purposes of a county jail until "otherwise 
ordered." Until this time, there had been no place for the imprisonment of 
violators of law and offenders against the peace and dignity of the State. 
Hence it is written on the records of Boone County that the "north room of S. 
P. Doty's house" was the first place "used for the uses and purposes of a 
county jail." At the same session of the Court, however, a contract was made 
and entered into with Simon P. Doty for the erection of a county jail, for 
$250.00, to be completed in four months. The jail so contracted for was 
a "block jail," which was subsequently removed to another location and used 
for other purposes, and finally, in 1877, made into fire wood and fence posts. 
The contract price was paid in full (in notes) at the time, and the jail 
completed within the time specified.

The financial panic of 1837 laid a heavy hand on Boone County and its people, 
and in June, 1838, Mr. Whitney was authorized to negotiate a loan Of one 
thousand dollars "with any individual, or with the Chicago Branch Bank, of the 
State of Illinois, or with any bank in the State of Michigan, on the faith and 
credit of said county of Boone," at such rate of interest as could be had, and 
on such time, not less than six months nor exceeding two years, as could be 
agreed upon.

August 16, 1838, the first tax list or assessment roll, returned or delivered 
by the treasurer, showed the whole amount of taxable personal property (no 
land at that time being taxable) to be valued at $31,204.03. On this 
valuation, a tax of $234.03 had been assessed. The list was delivered to S. P. 
Doty as collector. At the December term of the Court, Mr. Doty made a 
settlement, the entry of the clerk showing the following statement:

Amount charged to sheriff (Aug. 10) on page 97........................$234.03
Amount deducted for errors............................................   1.80
Amount to collect.....................................................$232.14
Deduct sheriff's commission 7 1/2 per cent, on whole..................  17.41
Leaves due county.....................................................$214.73
Credit by amount paid into treasury in orders, as appears by receipts
  filed in the office of the clerk.................................... 190.42
Yet due the county, from which no commission is to be deducted........$ 18.31

The first money paid into the treasury was twenty-five dollars for fines 
assessed and collected by Justice of the Peace Towner, in two assault and 
battery cases, and for licenses collected by the clerk of the Commissioners' 
Court, in September, 1837.

In August, 1838, a new Board of Commissioners was elected. The new board was 
composed of Moses Blood, Orris Crosby and John K. Towner. At the same 
election, Houghton C. Walker (Democrat) and S. P. Doty (Whig) had been pitted 
against each other for sheriff. Walker was elected by a majority of six. John 
Handy was elected coroner. The first meeting of the new Board of Commissioners 
was held in September. Meeting for organization, they drew for terms. Mr. 
Towner, drew the ticket on which three years was written, and was thus chosen 
to serve for three years; Mr. Blood drew the ticket on which "two years" was 
written, and was thereby entitled to serve two years, and Mr. Crosby drew the 
one-year ticket. Taking the oath of office, the new court proceeded to 
business. At their March term, 1839, the second grand and petit jurors were 
selected. The term of court for which the former jurors were selected, for 
some reason was never held, and consequently they were never sworn as jurors. 
The second selection was made and their names entered on record, but, for 
cause not appearing of record, a special term of the Commissioners' Court, 
held on the 23d of the same month, entered an order revoking the selection of 
jurors, as made in order 59 of the regular session, and a third selection 
made, as follows:

Grand Jurors.—James McBride, Israel Stone, Ira Haskins, S. P. Hyde, Albert 
Stow, Levi Hammon, Nathan Tripp, John Lawrence, Peter Payne, William Brett, 
Nathaniel Crosby, Alexander Neely, Alfred E. Ames, Benjamin F. Lawrence, James 
Shinn, Daniel S. Brooks, Oliver Hale, John Wright, John Langdon, Cephas 
Gardner, Edward E. Moss, John Sponable, and Milton S. Mason. The court fixed 
their pay at seventy-five cents per day, and no mileage.

Petit Jurors.—Horace Piersall, Allen Baldwin, Arthur Blood, James C. Gooch, 
Landy Stephenson, John Tinker, John H. Herbert, Ebenezer Tuttle, James B. 
Lambert, Albert Neely, Austin Gardner, Thomas Hartwell, Benjamin Sweet, 
Charles H. Payne, Elias Congdon, William Stewart, Frederick Sheldon, David 
Drake, Robert B. Hurd, Dewey Walker, Stephen M. Jenner, William P. Molony, 
Henry Loop and Daniel Bliss.

Of the grand jurors above selected, Alexander Neely, Oliver Hale, John Wright, 
Cephas Gardner and Edward E. Moss are still living and all residents of the 
county, except Alexander Neely, who is now a citizen of Iowa. Of the petit 
jurors, John H. Herbert and Dewey Walker are still living and citizens of the 
county.

The term of the Circuit Court for which the above named jurors were elected 
was set for the Thursday after the fourth Monday in April, 1839. The place of 
holding the court was designated by the County Commissioners' Court as "the 
Baptist House of worship," and although these jurors were the third selection, 
they were the first to qualify and discharge jurors' duties. The building in 
which the court met had been erected by the Baptist people, on the corner of 
what is now East and Van Buren streets (the lot now being occupied by the 
residence of Mr. E. H. Reynolds), and for a number of years was used as a 
house of worship, school house. Circuit Court room, and a place lor holding 
political and other public meetings. It was afterwards removed to the opposite 
side of Van Buren street, and used as a house of worship by the Universalist 
Society until about 1861, when it was sold to Gray Brothers, and removed to 
another location and used as a paint shop. Later, it was removed to the 
western part of town, and is now occupied as a residence by Mr. Ira D. Hill.

At the first term of the court, commencing on the 25th of April, 1839, that 
being the Thursday after the fourth Monday in that month. Judge Dan. Stone 
presided. Seth S. Whitman,, who had been previously commissioned by Judge 
Stone, served as clerk, and H. C. Walker (now a merchant in Belvidere), was 
the Sheriff. There was but little business, and that nearly all of a civil 
character. The docket for that term only shows four cases of a criminal 
character—assault and battery cases, etc., all appeal cases from the different 
Justices of the Peace. Only forty-one cases had been docketed, and were 
disposed of in three days, the court adjourning on Saturday, the 27th of 
April, until the next term in course, April, 1840. When that term came on, 
Sheldon L. Hall, appeared as prosecutor on the part of the people, Judge Stone 
again presiding. Mr. Walker had resigned the office of Sheriff, and was 
succeeded by B. F. Lawrence. The Sheriff of Winnebago County appeared in open 
court and presented Martin Thompson, who had been indicted by the Grand Jury 
of Winnebago County for passing counterfeit money and sent here for trial. He 
asked for and obtained a continuance. This case was not disposed of until 
April, 1841, when he was found guilty and sentenced to the Penitentiary for 
one year, one month of which was to be spent in solitary confinement. The 
charge upon which he was indicted was for passing a two-dollar counterfeit 
bill. He was not regarded as a bad man, and after his conviction, he was taken 
out to the residence and farm of Albert Stone, who was then Sheriff, where he 
was kept at work some two or three weeks, until Mr. Stone could get ready to 
take him to Alton. He was fully trusted, and allowed to go unattended all 
about the farm. Conversing with Mr. Stone about the case, during the writing 
of this book, he said he had the most implicit confidence in Thompson's faith 
and honesty, and believes if he had told him immediately after his conviction 
to go where he pleased until a certain day, and then meet him at Peru, from 
whence in those days travel to Alton and St. Louis went by boat, his prisoner 
would have been there. Thompson was never manacled or handcuffed, and when he 
was turned over to the Warden of the prison, the Sheriff told that gentleman 
that the prisoner was not a bad man, that he would make no attempt to escape, 
and that he could be fully trusted around the open yard and gates of the 
prison. The Warden expressed surprise to see a convict brought to the doors of 
the prison unfettered by handcuffs and shackles, and remarked that it was the 
first instance of the kind in his experience as Warden. Thompson served out 
his time, and subsequently came back to the county and called to visit the 
Sheriff who had treated him so kindly. That was the first conviction in the 
Circuit Court of Boone County.

Returning to the September (1840) term of the Circuit Court, we find that the 
first application for citizenship was made at that term. Charles McDougal, now 
living in Belvidere, was the applicant. The application was placed on record, 
and the necessary papers ordered to be issued.

At the same term of court the first divorce case was disposed of, and the 
marriage relations between Rosiel Campbell and his wife, Sally J. Campbell, 
declared to be dissolved.

Since that time to date (September, 1877), a period of thirty-seven years, 
there have only been forty-nine convictions for criminal offenses, as follows:

Forgery, 1; larceny, 32; burglary, 7; rape, 2; manslaughter, 3; 
counterfeiting, 2; mayhem, 1; robbery, 1. Nearly one-half of these convictions 
were for crimes committed in other counties and sent here on a change of 
venue, or for crimes committed by transient persons passing through the 
county. The criminal docket shows fewer cases, perhaps, than any other county 
in the State, or probably in any county of any of the adjoining States—a fact 
that speaks volumes for the intelligence, morality, virtue and honesty Of the 
people.

At a special term of the Commissioners' Court, held on the 15th of April, 
1839, the jail built by Simon P. Doty was inspected and accepted, and the keys 
handed over to the Sheriff, H. C. Walker, who was directed to "procure two 
sets of shackles for hands, and put a ring, bolt and chain for the use of said 
jail." The north room of Simon P. Doty's residence, which had previously been 
designated as a jail, was given up, and the new jail put in order for 
the "reception" of such as might be sentenced to incarceration within its 
walls. The first use made of the new jail for the purposes for which it was 
built seems to have been between April and June of that year, two persons 
having been incarcerated therein, one of them a notorious character and horse-
thief, and the other on a similar charge, but a charge made without sufficient 
grounds on which to sustain an indictment or conviction. The facts in the case 
were that he had hired a horse to ride to Rockford, but went beyond and was 
gone longer than the time he specified, and the owner of the horse, becoming 
uneasy, went in pursuit. He met the man coming back, but preferred a charge of 
horse-stealing against him, and had him arrested and put in jail. When his 
case was called for trial at Rockford, where it had been transferred, and the 
circumstances stated to the court, he was acquitted. The other character, 
giving his name as J. H. Hartwell was taken to Freeport, and thence to Galena, 
for safe keeping, but, a desperado by nature and education, and used to all 
sorts of jails and prisons in all parts of the country, the West Indies 
included, if his story was to be believed, and used to breaking ont of jail as 
often as he was put in, he did not remain long in the Galena prison, but laid 
a plan and carried it out by which himself and some half dozen other 
scapegraces got away. From that day to this, he has never been seen or heard 
of in this part of the country. While confined in jail here he managed to 
break out once, but was soon overhauled and taken back, and in a few days 
thereafter taken to Freeport, and thence to Galena, for "safer keeping." How 
safely he was kept has been shown.

The records of the June (1838) session of the Commissioners' Court do not show 
that any proposals were submitted for building the Court House, as advertised 
for in April, but following the records up to March, 1839, they show that 
Hiram Waterman was appointed commisioner and agent for the County 
Commissioners, for the purpose of letting jobs, making contracts, etc., "for 
the purpose of building a Court House at Belvidere." At the same session of 
the court, in order 58, it was declared that a Court House should be built, 
the order further specifying that it should be 40 feet in length and 30 feet 
in width, posts 25 feet long, with entry for stairs on each side of front 
door; hall five feet wide through lower story, with back door and two rooms on 
each side of the hall—the upper room to be arched overhead and arranged in a 
plain, neat and convenient manner for holding court. In December following, 
the clerk was ordered to "draw a contract with Wm. B. Page for brick for Court 
House, said brick to be ready for delivery on or before the 1st of July next; 
one hundred thousand brick at $1 per thousand." At a special session, in the 
same month, the clerk was directed to contract with "Robert B. Hurd for 
finding all materials excepting the brick, and laying the walls tor the Court 
House, the price agreed upon, $5 per thousand, payable $290 in county bonds 
and the balance, in cash after the job is commenced." The same session the 
clerk was directed to advertise for proposals for the lumber for the Court 
House building—bids to be received on the 6th of January. On James Johnson, 
some time previous, had taken a contract for doing certain work on the Court 
House, to commence work on the 1st of June, 1840, but the lumber not being 
delivered, the time was extended to the time when the lumber would be in 
readiness, etc. In July (1840) the clerk was further directed to contract with 
John Bruce for delivering stone for the foundation, "and that the said Bruce 
be allowed $10 per cord for what stone were necessary, supposed to be about 
nine cords—the stone to be measured after the wall of it is laid up—the stone 
to be delivered before the 1st day of August next." When all was in readiness 
to commence the foundation walls of the Court House, it was found that the 
jail erected by Doty hud been built on the site intended for the Court House, 
and it was ordered to be removed to a site selected for it. The work commenced 
in 1840, progressed slowly, and in February, 1842, the contract between James 
Johnson and the commissioners was decined to have been forfeited on the part 
of Johnson, and was pronounced null and void by the court, and the clerk 
directed to advertise for sealed proposals for "framing and finishing the 
outside of the Court House in Belvidere—the proposals to be handed in one week 
previous to the March term of the Commissioners' Court." Little by little the 
work on the Court House was prosecuted, and it was not until some time in 1843—
six years after the organization of the county—that it was completed and ready 
for occupancy, for a period of ten years it served the purpose for which it 
was erected. But the progress and development of the county was rapid. 
Population had increased, and with the increase of population came an increase 
of county business demanding enlarged and better arranged quarters, and, in 
1853, arrangements were made for tearing down the old structure and erecting a 
new one, which would include a substantial and secure jail, as well. In March, 
1854, an order was passed to borrow $5,000 to aid in the construction, and 
five county bonds of $1,000 each ordered to be issued for that purpose, and 
Allen C. Fuller and Alexander Neely appointed to negotiate the sale of the 
bonds. In 1851, they subject of building a new jail was agitated, but no 
definite action was taken until it was determined to build Court House and 
jail in one, and about May 20, 1854, the County Board entered into a contract 
with Mr. John Higby, as contractor, for the erection of the present Court 
House and jail, for the sum of $9,900, Mr. Higby taking the material in the 
old Court House in part payment. S. W. Smith, architect, of Chicago, was 
employed to furnish the plans and specifications. Isaac Miller, Samuel 
Rockwell and John L. Curtis, had previously been appointed as a building 
committee, to superintend and manage the construction. At the September 
meeting of the Board of Supervisors, they tendered their resignation as such 
committee, which resignation was accepted, and Allen C. Fuller, L. M. Beebe, 
and John M. Vanhoesen, appointed to succeed them. Vanhoesen soon after removed 
from the State, and Messrs. Fuller and Beebe were left to the duty for which 
the committee had been raised. On September 12, 1855, this committee reported 
the Court House finished, and the Board directed the clerk to enter upon the 
record a resolution of thanks to Messrs. Fuller and Beebe for the faithful, 
honest and impartial manner in which they had discharged their duty as a 
building committee. At the same meeting of the Board, Fuller and Beebe were 
instructed to procure furniture for the new temple of county justice and the 
several offices, that would be in keeping with its character, architecture and 
finish. This trust discharged, on the 11th of March, 1856, they were 
discharged from further duty. The Court House had been accepted and occupied, 
since when the debts contracted in the course of its erection have been fully 
paid; and carefully managed, the county is entirely free from debt and its 
county orders considered as good as gold.

In 1845, the Legislature passed an act providing as follows: "That it shall be 
lawful for the County Commissioners' Court of the county of Boone, by an order 
to be entered upon the records of said court, to require the Recorder of the 
county of Winnebago, and the Clerk of the Commissioners' Court of said county, 
to transcribe into a book, to be provided for that purpose by the County 
Commissioners' Court of the said county of Boone, all records of said offices 
relating to the following described territory of land, to-wit: Sections 6, 7, 
8, 19, 30, and 31, in each of the townships of 43, 44, 45, and 46, in range 3 
east of the third principal meridian."

This act related to the lands included in the mile strip, that, when the law 
creating Boone County was passed, had been left as a part of Winnebago County, 
as a compromise measure to conciliate the conflicting interests in that 
county. The provisions of the law were carried out. The Commissioners' Court 
of Boone, for the purpose of perfecting a record of the lands, roads, etc., on 
that strip, provided the necessary books, and required the Recorder and Clerk, 
as aforesaid, to transcribe all records and orders relating to the said lands, 
roads, etc. The transcript was made, and, when completed and properly 
certified, was forwarded to Boone and placed among the recorded proceedings of 
the county, thus perfecting and completing the county's record.

From the date of the organization of the county of Boone, and the election of 
the first board of county officers, in May, 1837, the management of the 
affairs of the county were vested in a board of three county commissioners, as 
provided under the original constitution of the state, adopted A. D. 1818. The 
law under which these commissioners were elected provided that one of them 
should serve for one year, one for two years, and one for three years. Each 
county was divided into three commissioners' districts, and each district 
voted only for its own commissioner. At the first meeting of the Board after 
its election, the members drew for terms—that is, three tickets were prepared, 
on one of which was written "one year," on another, "two years," and on the 
other one, "three years." These tickets were placed in a box, or may be a hat, 
and each commissioner drew out one, the one drawing the ticket with the 
words "three years" upon it was entitled to serve three years; the one drawing 
the "two years'" ticket would serve two years, and the other one would serve 
one year, it being intended by the law that one commissioner should be elected 
every year after the first election for a term of three years. This law 
governed in the election of commissioners in each county in the state up to 
and succeeding the adoption of the constitution of 1847, and its ratification 
by the people, March 6, 1848. After the latter date, and until the township 
organization system was adopted by the people of Boone—among the first in the 
state to adopt it—the management of county affairs was conducted by a county 
judge and two associate justices. A law was passed under and by virtue of the 
constitution of 1847, however, providing that the people of the several 
townships throughout the state should, on the first Monday in April, 1850, 
vote "for" or "against" the township organization system.

While the people of Boone adopted the system, several other counties in the 
state, particularly in the more southern part, voted against it, and are still 
under the old system of management by a board of county commissioners. The 
same constitutional enactments, and the laws thereunder, changed the time of 
holding elections from August to November. In November, 1849, the first 
election after the change was held; Daniel H. Whitney was elected county 
judge, Edward Hawley and Lucius Fuller associate justices, and John Jackson 
clerk of the county court. This court succeeded the county commissioners in 
the management of county affairs until the adoption and carrying into effect 
of the township organization system, in 1850. The first Board of Supervisors 
was elected in April, 1850, and held their first meeting June 11 following, in 
response to a notice issued to them from Hon. D. H. Whitney, county judge. 
They were: Frederick P. Low, Fairfield (now Flora) Township; Nathaniel Crosby, 
Belvidere Township; Henry Jenks, Caledonia Township; Charles W. Libby, 
Manchester Township; William Raymond, Leroy Township; Hiram C. Miller, Boone 
Township: Isaac Miiler, Bonus Township; Charles B. Lord, Concord (now Spring) 
Township.

At that meeting, H. C. Miller, of Boone, was elected chairman pro tem. Allen 
C. Fuller was elected county attorney. After the transaction of some 
unimportant business, the Board adjourned until the 11th of November, the time 
fixed by law for their regular meeting. At that meeting the full management of 
the affairs of the county was turned over to them. Their first transactions 
were a change of voting places in the several townships, etc. Thus commenced a 
new, but perhaps not better, era in the management of the public affairs of 
the county. Soon after this, the subject of building a new jail and court 
house commenced to be discussed, resulting, as already shown, in the erection 
of the present county buildings.

Thus far it has been the purpose to follow as minutely as possible all the 
more important incidents pertinent to the history of the county. They have 
been pretty closely followed from the time the Robbins claim was taken, in May 
or June 1835, to the completion of a second court house, in 1855. Since that 
date the county has steadily grown in population, wealth and importance, and 
public affairs have been so well managed that the faith and credit of the 
county ranks among the first in the state. No bonds in aid of railroad or 
other public enterprises were ever voted by the people, the consequence of 
which is that no debt hangs over the tax payers. Free from debt, with money in 
the treasury, Boone County orders or warrants are good at their face in any 
home market, and as readily taken in business transactions as National Bank 
Notes.

Additional Comments:
THE PAST AND PRESENT of Boone County, Illinois,
containing A History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, &c., A Biographical 
Directory of its Citizens, War Record of its Volunteers in the late Rebellion, 
Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, General and Local Statistics, 
History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, Constitdtion of the United 
States, Map of Boone County, Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc.

ILLUSTRATED;
CHICAGO: H. F. KETT & CO, Cor. 5th Ave. and Washington St.
1877.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/boone/history/1877/pastpres/1877past277gms.txt

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