COLONEL EDWARD D. BAKER.

207

was elected state senator as a Whig; Robert J. Cross, representative; Hiram R. Maynard, sheriff; and Artemas Hitchcock,

coroner.

After the Mormons removed from Hancock county the district again became Whig, and in 1848 the party elected Edward D. Baker, of Galena, member of congress. Colonel Baker was born in London, England, February 24, 1811. He came to the United States at the age of five years, with his father, who died in Philadelphia. The son removed to Springfield, Illinois. He arose rapidly to distinction, and in 1844 he was elected a member of congress. He served his adopted country with signal ability in the Mexican war; and upon his return to Illinois he settled at Galena. After serving one term in congress, he settled in San Francisco, California, in 1852. Colonel Baker was a brilliant orator. His speech on the death of Senator Broderick, of California, who fell in a duel with Judge Terry, in 1859, is one of the masterpieces of American oratory. For an hour the homage of tears was paid to Baker's genius and to Broderick's memory. His closing words are remarkable for their noble pathos: "The last word must be spoken, and the imperious mandate of death must be fulfilled. Thus, O brave heart! we lay thee to thy rest. Thus, surrounded by tens of thousands, we leave thee to thy equal grave. As in life no other voice among us so rang its trumpet blast upon the ears of freemen, so in death its echoes will reverberate amidst our mountains and our valleys until truth and valor cease to appeal to the human heart. Good friend! true hero! hail and farewell!"

Colonel Baker was subsequently elected United States senator from Oregon. His debate with Breckinridge in the senate in 1861 attracted national attention. "In the history of the senate," says Mr. Blaine, "no more thrilling speech was ever delivered. The striking appearance of the speaker, in the uniform of a soldier, his superb voice, his graceful manner, all united to give to the occasion an extraordinary interest and attraction." Colonel Baker left his seat in the senate and entered military service. He was killed while commanding a brigade at the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861.

In 1850, Thompson Campbell, of Galena, was elected member of congress. At the same time Richard S. Molony, of Belvidere, was elected to represent the adjoining eastern district, which then included Chicago.

THE

CHAPTER XL.

LEWIS KENT: THE ONLY SLAVE IN THE COUNTY.

HE Northwest Territory had been consecrated to freedom by the Ordinance of 1787. This principle was reaffirmed by the first constitution of Illinois. When the state had become a member of the union, however, and was thus given control over its own internal affairs, a desperate effort was made to introduce slavery. This effort was partially successful, and the famous "Black Laws" gave the commonwealth an odious reputation at one time.

Only one man ever lived in Winnebago county as a slave. His name was Lewis Kent, although he was more familiarly known as Lewis Lemon. In 1829, when Germanicus Kent was a citizen of Alabama, he purchased of Orrin Lemon a colored boy named Lewis. He was born in North Carolina, and had been taken by his master to Alabama. He was about seventeen years old at the time he was sold to Mr. Kent for four hundred and fifty dollars in cash. When Mr. Kent decided to remove north, he proposed to sell Lewis; but the colored man preferred his old master. Mr. Kent made an agreement with Lewis when they arrived at St. Louis. It was in substance that Lewis should pay him for his freedom at the expiration of six years and seven months, the sum of eight hundred dollars, with ten per cent. interest. Lewis obtained his freedom, however, in four years and four months. On the 6th of September, 1839, Mr. Kent executed and placed in the hands of Lewis a deed of manumission. At a session of the county commissioners' court held in March, 1842, Mr. Kent filed for record the instrument which officially proclaimed Lewis Kent a free man. The transcript of this document, which is on file in the county clerk's office, is the only evidence in Rockford of the existence of slavery, and that one of its victims here found freedom and a home. The following is the text of this document:

Be it remembered that at the present term, March, A. D. 1842, of the county of Winnebago, state of Illinois, Lewis Lemon, a free man of color, presented the evidence of his being

DEED OF MANUMISSION.

209

a free man by the following writing of Germanicus Kent, of said county, which being duly acknowledged by him, is ordered to be filed and entered on record:

To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: That whereas the undersigned, Germanicus Kent, of Rockford, Illinois, did in the year A. D. 1829, being then a resident of the state of Alabama, purchase of Orrin D. Lemon, since deceased, a colored boy named Lewis, then about seventeen years of age, as a slave for life; and whereas, upon the removal of the undersigned, from said state of Alabama, to said state of Illinois; now this is to certify that said Lewis by my removing him to said state of Illinois, and his residence there ever since, did become free and emancipated from all services due to me as a slave, and that he is, and by right ought to be, free forever hereafter. And this is to further certify that said Lewis was born a slave of said Orrin D. Lemon, then residing in Wake county (N. C.) from whence he removed to Madison county, Alabama, where I purchased said Lewis of him. The said Lewis is aged about twenty-seven years; in person he is five feet, eight inches high, well built, rather stout, and weighs about one hundred and seventy pounds; his features are good, dark yellow complexion, open and frank countenance, mouth prominent and large lips.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Rockford, Illinois, this sixth day of September, A. D. 1839. [seal.] Germanicus Kent.

In presence of W. E. Dunbar and William Hulin.

State of Illinois, Winnebago county, ss: This day before me, Selden M. Church, clerk of the county commissioners' court of the said county, came Germanicus Kent, known to me to be the real person described, and who executed the within instrument of writing, and acknowledged that he executed the same for the uses and purposes therein expressed.

Given under my hand and private seal (there being no official seal provided) at Rockford, this 11th day of March, A. D. 1842. SELDEN M. CHURCH,

[SEAL.]

Clerk County Commissioners' Court Winnebago Co.

After his manumission Lewis obtained some land, and earned his livelihood by the cultivation of garden produce. He died in September, 1877. His funeral was attended by members of the Old Settlers' Society.

N

CHAPTER XLI.

THE POLISH CLAIMS.—DELAY IN OBTAINING LAND PATENTS.

Εν

VENTS of local interest occasionally have their historic background in national and even international affairs. A notable instance was the celebrated Polish claims made in 1836 to a portion of the territory which now comprises the townships of Rockford and Rockton. It is one of the most interesting chapters in the history of Winnebago county. Local histories have briefly referred to the incident, but no complete statement of the affair has previously been written.

The checkered career of Poland furnishes the historic background. The reader of history will recall the Polish rebellion of 1830-31. Previous to that time her territory had been partitioned between Russia and other powers. The impulse to this uprising of 1830 was given by the French, and was begun by a number of students, who proposed to seize the Grand Duke Constantine in the vicinity of Warsaw. The city and the troops enlisted in the movement, under the command of General Chlopicki, a veteran of the wars of Napoleon. Upon the suppression of this uprising in the following year, the leaders were sent into exile. They naturally sought refuge in this country.

The forlorn condition of these exiles enlisted the sympathy of the American people, and congress rendered them some assistance. An act was approved June 30, 1834, which granted to these Polish exiles, two hundred and thirty-five in number, who had been transported to this country by the order of the emperor of Austria, thirty-six sections of land. These sections. were to be selected by them, under the direction of the secretary of the treasury, in any three adjacent townships of the public lands, surveyed or unsurveyed, in the state of Illinois or the territory of Michigan. After this land had been surveyed, it became the duty of the secretary of the treasury to divide the thirty-six sections into equal parts, and to distribute them by lot among the exiles. They were to reside upon and cultivate these lands for ten years, and at the expiration of this time. they were to obtain their patents upon the payment of the minimum price per acre.

The exiles arrived in America in 1835, and their committee, at the head of whom was Count Chlopicki, arrived in Rockford in the autumn of the following year. The Count was an elderly gentleman, well informed, and apparently an excellent judge of land. Upon his arrival in the Rock river valley, he selected townships forty-four and forty-six, range one east. These are Rockford and Rockton. The intervening township of Owen was not taken, and thus was violated one of the provisions of the grant, which stipulated that the land should be selected in three adjacent townships.

Much of this land was already in possession of American citizens when the Count arrived upon the scene. They had only a squatter's title, inasmuch as there was then no pre-emption law that would apply in this case, and the government had not placed the land upon the market. The settlers had enclosed their farms and made such improvements as they were able. Moreover, the several Indian "floats" in these townships might have precedence over the claims of settlers or exiles. But these facts did not disturb the plans of the doughty Count. He disregarded the squatter rights of the settlers, and made a formal selection of their land, and reported his choice to the secretary of the treasury.

While in this section Count Chlopicki had been a guest of Germanicus Kent. That gentleman explained the situation to his visitor, and the latter declared that the settlers should not be disturbed. He thus set their fears at rest in a measure. But these assurances were not entirely satisfactory, and after the Count's departure a sum of money was raised and Mr. Kent was sent to Washington to make further inquiry. The anxiety of the settlers was increased by the fact, as already stated, that they held no titles to the land upon which they had settled. Upon Mr. Kent's arrival in Washington, he found that his apprehensions were well founded. The Count had not kept his word; he had chosen the very townships he had promised Mr. Kent he would not select. Mr. Kent went directly to the land office and made his complaint before the commissioner; but he was told that every settler in the county was a trespasser, and that he had no legal right to a foot of the land which he had so unceremoniously taken. It is said facts are stubborn things. Mr. Kent and the settlers knew that the commissioner was correct, but they did not become alarmed. Perhaps they thought that in union there was strength. The secretary of the treasury