This history of Alba Township, Henry County, Illinois was originally
published in the "Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County
Illinois," written in 1885 and published by The Biographical Publishing
Company of Chicago. This publication is now out of copyright and in the
Public Domain.
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Alba Township was the last township to attract the early, or for that 
matter, also the late comers.  It is traversed by Green River, that
meanders entirely from the east part of it to the west side, mostly in
the northern tier of sections.  And then, just west of the west line is
the mouth of Mud Creek, which enters the township at the south line and
bends around through sections 35, 29, 30, 19 and 20.  These streams
were, it seems, protecting barriers against the settlers, and they
travelled around them, the immigrants from the east striking south of
Mud Creek and the Green River Swamps; and those, of course, which came
by way of the river, stopped among their friends in other parts of the
county, and often, for many years, lived there without seeing any part
of Alba Township.

The name Alba was one of unaccountable inventions of the Commissioners 
selected to give baptismal names to the twenty-four townships in the 
County.  What, if any, meaning there is attached to it we are unable to
ascertain.  It is a case, perhaps, of purely poetic fancy, and will
always remain a reminder to posterity of the oversight of those who gave
names to localities in the county of what an opportunity was
missed--what inadequate ideas the men who shaped the destinies of this
fair portion of our land had of the real benefactors who made the great
sacrifices for our good. (The word "alba" in Latin signifies "white").

There is a tradition, or rather an unverified story, that two brothers,
James and John Sumatro, came into this part of the county in an early
day, about 1836, and put up a pole cabin and made a small truck patch;
but their chief occupation was hunting and trapping.  Their home was
the cheapest and easiest made they could design--simply a poor 
protection from the elements, and indicated they were ready, on short
notice, to follow the game in its migrations from one portion of the
country to another.  They lived their solitary life, it is thought,
wintering here only one winter and spending two summers, and had 
possibly been gone years before the remains of their camping place
were discovered.  Where they were from or where they went is not
known.

It was only after the Winnebago Swamp Land Company had succeeded in 
demonstrating the feasibility of draining these swamp and overflowed
lands that permanent citizens and farmers began to turn their
attention to the township, and now may be seen the tillers of the soil
tickling the ground that braks forth in smiling crops, where once a
good sized steamboat might have easily floated.  These lands, when
once restored to the husbandmen, like all overflow lands, are deeply
covered with the richest soil.  This is true of the Green River
swamp lands, except in spots where there is more or less peat in the
drift deposits.  While Alba Township still only has a sparce 
population, yet the future may transform it into a very rich garden
spot, producing all the cereals and grasses in unexampled quantities.


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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by 
Susie Martin-Rott< rootbound2@geocities.com >
(© 1997 Susie Martin-Rott)
Transcribed by Susie Martin-Rott
rootbound2@geocities.com