purse. Mr. Starr was a Unitarian. He was a communicant of of that church until its membership disbanded, when he became a regular attendant at the Church of the Christian Union. Mr. Starr died, universally esteemed, November 29, 1885.

John Edwards was born at Acton, Massachusetts, August 18, 1800. He was in business in Lowell before his removal to the west. Mr. Edwards was living at Alton, Illinois, during the excitement which resulted in the death of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, America's martyr to free soil and free speech. On that occasion Mr. Edwards took an honorable and decided position in favor of the freedom of the press; and stood on guard at Mr. Lovejoy's bed, with a loaded musket in his hand, the night before that brave Abolitionist was murdered by the proslavery mob. Mr. Edwards came to Rockford in 1850. He was the first dealer in pine lumber in the city. His first yard was near Peter Sames' wagon factory, near the Northwestern railroad track. Most of his lumber at this yard came by team. from St. Charles, and the amount of stock on hand at one time was from ten to twelve thousand feet. His second yard was on the northwest corner of Church and State streets, and the lumber was hauled from Elgin. At times he had difficulty in getting the lumber from the terminus of the railroad at Elgin. The teamsters who hauled wheat to that place would throw off a portion of the load when stalled in the mud at Pigeon Woods, and leave it there. Mr. Edwards encouraged the development of the Rockford water-power; was interested in the work of the seminary, and during his last years he was its agent. Mr. Edwards was an upright, worthy gentleman, of New England stock. His home was the present residence of George R. Forbes. His death occurred June 14, 1871. Mrs. Edwards was a woman of fine presence and force of character. She spent her last years with her daughter in Chicago, and died at about ninety years of age. Their three children are: Mrs. A. L. Chetlain, of Chicago, formerly Mrs. Melancthon Smith; Mrs. Julia Clemens, of Rockford; and the Rev. John Edwards, a retired Presbyterian clergyman. His wife was a sister of the late Melancthon Starr.

CHAPTER LIV.

DEPARTURE OF MR. HAIGHT.—LOCAL STATISTICS.—OTHER NOTES.

ANIEL S. HAIGHT, the founder of East Rockford, like his

ition of his early settlement. Mr. Haight removed from the village in the winter of 1847-48, and settled in Texas, near Shreveport, Louisiana. He revisited Rockford in 1857. The date of his death is unknown to his old friends in Rockford. There is a tradition, which is commonly accepted, that he was a soldier in the Confederate army, and that he died after the civil war at Fort Worth, Texas. No worthy record of his life and work has been preserved; but next to Mr. Kent, his name is most prominent in early history.

In the autumn of 1845 an eccentric character, who gloried in the name of Julius P. Bolivar McCabe, made his appearance in Rockford. He prepared a historical sketch of the village, which was published in the Forum of December 3, 1845, which gave a statistical resume of Rockford, which the writer called "one of the most tastefully built towns in Illinois." There were six congregations: Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Universalists and Unitarians; a branch of the American Bible Society; one classical and three select schools, with one hundred and fifty-eight pupils; eleven dry goods stores, with a winter stock which aggregated sixty-five thousand dollars; a printing office; three hotels; fourteen lawyers; six physicians; three justices of the peace; two drug stores; two jewelry stores; two harness shops; one iron foundry; two sawmills; one fanning-mill factory; one furnace and machine shop; a distinguished portrait and landscape painter; two land agencies; two wagon shops; three groceries; one edge-tool maker; two dentists; two meat markets; four tailor shops; one bakery; five shoe shops; two cabinet shops; one copper and tinsmith shop; five blacksmith shops; two cooper shops; two paint shops; one livery stable, and one fashionable barber shop. The population of the East side was six hundred and eighty; West side, five hundred and ninety-eight; total in village, twelve hundred and seventy-eight. Of this population, four hundred and seventy

were natives of New York; two hundred and thirty-seven of the six New England states; one hundred and sixty-two of Illinois, including one hundred and nineteen who were born in Rockford. Luther Miller, father of Anson S. and Cyrus F. Miller, then in his seventy-fifth year, was the oldest man in the village. Mrs. Elizabeth McKinney, aged seventy-six years, was the oldest woman. There were only two colored persons in the town. On the East side there were one hundred and fifty-one houses; on the West side, one hundred and twenty-six; total, two hundred and seventy-seven. In describing the court house, this statistician said: "It is crowned with a beautiful and well-proportioned cupola, which rises fifteen feet above the roof of the building."

February 23, 1844, Charles Latimer, a former lawyer and well known citizen of Rockford, was shot at Potoski, Wisconsin. A few days previous to the fatal affray, Latimer became involved in a quarrel with a Mr. Gloster and another gentleman, which arose from a discussion of the right of foreigners to vote. It was proposed to settle the difficulty by a duel; but by the interposition of friends, it was thought that the matter had been amicably adjusted. On Friday morning, however, as Gloster was passing along the street, Latimer accosted him, drew a pistol and fired. The wadding lodged on Gloster's breast, but the ball passed over his shoulder. So heavy was the charge that the stock of the pistol was shattered by the discharge. Gloster immediately retreated, but was followed by Latimer, who had armed himself with two loaded pistols and a bowieknife. As Latimer advanced to Gloster, he said: "Are you ready? One or the other of us must die today" Gloster replied that he was not, and went to procure a double-barreled shotgun loaded with shot. On Latimer's approach Gloster warned him to keep back; but Latimer still advanced, and raised his pistol, which missed fire. At this juncture Gloster fired, and most of the charge took effect in Latimer's breast. As he fell, he tried to fire again, but failed. He expired almost instantly. Gloster immediately delivered himself to the authorities, and after a preliminary hearing he was discharged. Mr. Latimer, who had been rather intemperate in his habits, was said to have been perfectly sober at the time of the affray.

At the April term of the circuit court, in 1844, a case was tried which involved the liability of stage proprietors. Samuel

B. Hall recovered against Messrs. Frink, Walker & Co. a verdict for one hundred and seventy-five dollars, for a trunk which was stolen from a stage belonging to the defendants, in which the plaintiff had taken passage. It appeared conclusively that the plaintiff was a passenger in defendant's stage while enroute. from Rockford to Chicago, and put his trunk on board, and that the same was stolen before it arrived at Newburg, without any fault or negligence of the defendants. The jury, however, were satisfied that they were liable as common carriers, without any default.

February 17, 1846, a convention of physicians of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin was held in Rockford, when the organization of the Rock River Medical Association was perfected. Its object was mutual protection and improvement in professional knowledge. Dr. Goodhue was elected president; G. Hulett and George Haskell, vice-presidents; S. G. Armor, secretary and treasurer; censors, Lucius Clark, A. M. Catlin, A. Thomas. The first annual meeting of the society was held in Rockford the 19th of May following.

The gold excitement drew many to California in 1849-50. Among those who went from Rockford were Giles C. Hard, A. C. Spafford, D. K. Lyon, H. B. Potter, Dexter Clark, William Hamilton, H. H. Silsby, Isaac Rowley, Obadiah E. Lamb, a Mr. Smith, a Mr. Lewis, Sylvester Robinson, and Henry L. Simpson. Mr. Robinson died at Mud Springs, forty-five miles east of Sacramento, a few days after his arrival. Mr. Robinson was a native of Connecticut, and came to Rockford in 1847. He was father of Mrs. E. P. Catlin and H. H. and N. S. Robinson. Mr. Simpson died while on his return home, at Peru, Illinois, in March, 1851. His remains were brought to Rockford for burial. Mr. Simpson was father of E. L. Simpson and Mrs. Z. B. Sturtevant. He came to Rockford about 1839. He built a brick house which still stands on Leonard Schmauss' lot on North Second street; and part of another brick house on the southwest corner of First and Market streets. Mr. Simpson was engaged in the business of blacksmith. He owned a one-half interest in a grist mill at Cherry Valley, and property in Rockford. Mr. Lamb died in California. As in all similar ventures, some were successful; while others received no adequate returns for their journey into the far country.

THER

CHAPTER LV.

EMMANUEL CHURCH. (EPISCOPAL.)

HERE are no early official records of this church; and the writer is indebted to Levi Moulthrop, one of the oldest resident churchmen, for the facts given in this chapter. The Rt. Rev. Philander Chase, D. D., first bishop of the diocese of Illinois, made his first episcopal visitation to Rockford, August 28, 1841. Prior to this time there had been no public services of the Episcopal church held in the county. There had been only a very few families of the faith who had settled in Rockford. Levi Moulthrop, M. D., was the first churchman who came into this county. Dr. Moulthrop arrived in the autumn of 1835. He brought the first American Prayer Book, which is now in the possession of his son, Levi Moulthrop, the dry goods merchant.

The first church family who settled in the county was that of Sampson George, who came from Yorkshire, England. They arrived in the settlement of Rockford September 24, 1836. The family consisted of Mr. George, his wife, Ann, and five children, two daughters and three sons. The children had received baptism in England. Mr. George brought a letter from their parish priest, commending the family to the spiritual care of any clergyman of the American church into whose jurisdiction they might come. They also brought two English Prayer Books. The death of Mr. George occurred five weeks after the arrival of the family in Rockford. There was no priest nearer than the missionary at Galena, and he could not be definitely located, owing to the extent of territory under his charge. Thus the first churchman was buried without the offices of the church.

During the next few years several other families of the church settled in the county. Among these were Jonathan Weldon, Chauncy Ray, and John W. Taylor. The former two settled on farms about six miles southwest of the town, and the latter remained in the village, and engaged in the dry goods business.

At the Bishop's first visitation the services were held in the old court house building on North First street, which served a similar purpose for other households of the faith. The holy