with malaria and ruins), glanced at the great pastures of Belgium, and ridden across the prairies of central and northern Indiana by daylight, lamplight, and moonlight; but still I was nowhere in a discussion of the value and attractiveness of prairies for I had never been on Rock river. But now, gentlemen! I give you fair warning that I take a back seat no longer when the felicities of western life and the genial fertility and Eden-like character of the prairies is under discussion—for I have been on Rock river! I should like more springs, more

running streams, and less lime in the water; but then Paradise is beyond Jordan, or some other stream, and is not wisely sought even on Rock river."

The next speaker was Prof. Joseph Emerson, of Beloit, who spoke on Greek Civilization. W. H. Channing was announced for January 27th, but no reference to the lecture is found.

Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered the seventh lecture in the course February 3, 1854, in Warner's Hall. "Emerson's lecture," says H. H. Waldo, "was not without its comical features. His subject was History. I believe it was the same as his essay with that title. One scintillation was this: 'Time vanishes to shining ether the solid angularity of facts. Carthage was, but is not.' This was only saying there was nothing permanent. He gave this thought in a matter-of-fact style. The hall was packed, but half the audience were sleepy. The lecture was pronounced by some to be a failure."

Lectures were given during this season by Bishop Potter, Chancellor Lathrop; Judge Doolittle, of Wisconsin, on The Character of Washington; Bayard Taylor, two lectures, on the Arabs, and Japan and the Japanese. March 27, 1854, Ole Bull and Patti were in Rockford.

The course for 1854-55 included Rev. E. H. Chapin, Josiah Quincy, John G. Saxe, John Pierpont, James Russell Lowell, and Bayard Taylor. Dr. Chapin spoke on Modern Chivalry; Mr. Saxe gave a poem-lecture on Yankee Land; John Pierpont's theme was The Golden Calf; Lowell spoke on English Ballads, and Bayard Taylor, on India.

The course of 1855-56 was opened by Henry Ward Beecher, who spoke on Patriotism. He was followed by Wendell Phillips. T. Sarr King and Dr. Chapin were engaged for this course.

During the next few years Rockford was favored with P. A. Shillaber, Park Goodwin, John B. Gough, and Prof. Youmans. In 1860 the Young Men's Association ceased to exist.

CHAPTER LXIV.

A FRAGMENT OF POLITICAL HISTORY.—ROCKFORD BANKS.—NOTES.

ROCKFORD

OCKFORD has claimed the honor of the birthplace of the Republican party, so far as a congressional nomination under that name is concerned. "Seven cities fought for Homer dead;" likewise many places have contended for the honor of the first party organization. Rockford's claim to the first congressional nomination is certainly not unreasonable; and even if it cannot be sustained, it will at least call attention to a notable political event.

When the Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed by congress in May, 1854, there was a general feeling in the old Whig and Democratic parties that the encroachments of the slave-power demanded more vigorous resistance. With this end in view, a call was issued August 8th, to the voters of the First Congressional district, for a mass meeting to be held in Rockford on the 30th instant. This call was signed by forty-six citizens of Rockford, only five of whom are now living. The meeting was called to order in the court house, and from there adjourned to the grove west of the Baptist church, between Court and Winnebago streets. E. B. Washburne had been elected a member of congress as a Whig two years before, and was of course a candidate for re-election. There were other Richmonds in the field: Turner and Sweet, of Freeport; Loop, of Rockford; and Hurlbut, of Belvidere. None of these were openly avowed candidates; but each was anxious for the prize. A committee on resolutions of one from each county was nominated. There was ambition mixed with patriotism. It was a time of breaking up of old parties, and the future was uncertain. How far would it be safe to declare against the action of congress? This was a serious question. The leaders were against Washburne, but the people were with him. There is a tradition that the committee on resolutions was directed somewhat by the suggestions of Stephen A. Hurlbut, in preparing anti-slavery resolutions so radical that Mr. Washburne, it was thought, could not accept a nomination upon them. But Mr. Washburne was equal to

the occasion. He declared that the resolutions met his most hearty approval; whereupon James Loop remarked, in language more emphatic than pious, that Washburne would swal low anything. Mr. Washburne was thereupon nominated as a Republican by this mass convention.

The regular Whig convention for the district was held September 6th, and Mr. Washburne was also made the nominee. His nomination was opposed by Mr. Hurlbut, who on the day of the convention is reported to have said: "When you say that E. B. Washburne is a good man, I agree with you. But when you say he is a wise man and a statesman, there is a chance for an argument. It has been said Mr. Washburne is a man of learning. But I say that as a man of learning, E. B. Washburne, of Fever river, Galena, possesses frightful limitations." Mr. Hurlbut was a consummate master of sarcasm, which he often used without mercy. But it has been said that while Hurlbut could make the better speech, Washburne won the votes; and on the whole, he was the more successful politician.

In the evening Mr. Washburne entertained his friends at a banquet at the City Hotel. Some time after this Whig convention, Mr. Hurlbut met H. H. Waldo, who had supported Mr. Washburne, and complimented him on his splendid fight, and said that, considering the material at hand, he had done well. Thus was made one of the first, if not the very first, Republican nomination for member of congress. The strong antislavery sentiment of both parties had been intensified by the repeal of the Missouri compromise, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, and the passage of the Illinois Black Laws, through the influence of John A. Logan. Like Saul of Tarsus before he saw a great light, Logan was dominated by prejudice; and, like Paul after his change, he bravely befriended those he formerly oppressed. General Logan always had the courage of his convictions; and his political change was sincere.

In 1854 Mr. Hurlbut thought he could take a more radical position on the slavery question than Mr. Washburne. He had left the south because he was in sympathy with northern principles. Stephen A. Hurlbut was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1815, and settled in Belvidere in 1845. He was the son of a Unitarian clergyman, and a brother of William Henry Hurlbut, for many years editor-in-chief of the New York World. He was commissioned a brigadier-general in 1861, commanded the Fourth division at the battle of Shiloh, and for that service

STEPHEN A. HURLBUT-ROCKFORD BANKS.

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he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and assigned to the command of the Department of the Gulf. General Hurlbut was the first commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic; was appointed minister resident to the United States of Columbia, by President Grant. From 1873 to 1877 he represented the Fourth district in congress. In 1881 General Hurlbut was appointed United States minister to Peru, and died at Lima in the spring of the following year. Abraham Lincoln once said that Stephen A. Hurlbut was the ablest orator on the stump that Illinois had ever produced.

Edward D. Baker, E. B. Washburne, John F. Farnsworth, Stephen A. Hurlbut and Robert R. Hitt were men of national reputation who have served the several districts in which Rockford has from time to time been located. This record is scarcely less notable than that of the old Western Reserve district, which was represented by Elisha Whittlesey, Joshua R. Giddings and James A. Garfield, whose terms aggregated fifty-one years.

The banking house of Spafford, Clark & Ellis was founded in November, 1854. The firm consisted of C. H. Spafford, Dr. D. G. Clark, and E. F. W. Ellis. Dr. Clark came to Rockford in 1848. Two years later he went to California, and returned in 1853. Dr. Clark died October 4, 1861. Spafford, Clark & Ellis did business in the stone building on the alley, on the south side of State, between Main and Church, now owned by Hon. E. B. Sumner. This bank went into liquidation, and Mr. Spafford paid its obligations in full.

In 1854 was also established the banking house of Briggs, Spafford, & Penfield, in East Rockford, which became the Third National Bank. The members of the firm were C. C. Briggs, A. C. Spafford, and David Penfield.

January 1, 1855, the banking firm of Dickerman, Wheeler & Company began business on West State street. The firm consisted of W. A. Dickerman, Buel G. Wheeler, G. A. Sanford, R. P. Lane. This house became the Second National Bank.

Fuller & Tomkins began banking business in the Worthingington Block, East Rockford, in 1853. The firm consisted of A. C. and E. L. Fuller, and Enos and N. C. Tomkins, all of Belvidere. The firm was later called E. L. Fuller & Company.

E. H. Potter & Company and Edward N. Kitchel were also in the banking business on the East side. These banks, with Roberson & Holland, founded in 1848, and Mr. Horsman's

bank, established in 1852, and which have been noted in preceding chapters, complete the roster of Rockford banks to 1861. It was a day of unstable currency, when "wild-cat" money was abundant, but worthless. This fact made banking a precarious business as compared with the splendid system of today.

In 1852 the first party of Swedish emigrants arrived in Rockford. They left their native land with no thought of coming to this city. Some were destined for Chicago, but upon arriving there, they were told there were better opportunities in the country. About twenty-five came to Rockford in 1852. Among these were S. A. Johnson, John Nelson, Andrew Hollem, P. G. Hollem, Alexander Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Hokanson, P. A. Peterson, Sr., and wife, P. A. Peterson, Jr., Claus Peterson. John Stibb came in 1854. His son, Frank G., was the first male born in Rockford of Swedish parents, and Mrs. Augusta Lind, daughter of Jonas Anderson, was the first female. Emigrants continued to arrive annually for some years. The cholera in 1853-54 checked emigration, and later the civil war had the same result; and it was not until 1867 that the greatest Swedish emigration was reached in a single year. The Swedish early settlers have a society, whose records are kept in their native language.

In June, 1852, the Rock River Mutual Fire Insurance Company was granted a charter by the legislature. The company did quite a business for a time, but it was finally unsuccessful.

In 1853 the three-story, double-store brick block on the southwest corner of State and First streets, was built by Abraham I. Enoch, and his brother-in-law, Daniel Davis. Mr. Davis was a "forty-niner," and returned from California with quite an amount of ready money.

At the election in November, 1854, Wait Talcott was elected state senator; William Lyman, reprepresentative; John F. Taylor, sheriff; A. A. Chamberlain, sheriff.

Under a statute of February 27, 1854, the judge of the county court of Winnebago county was given jurisdiction in law and chancery, where the amount involved did not exceed one thousand dollars. This law was repealed February 12, 1863.

The earnings of the Galena & Chicago Union railroad for August, 1854, were $103,000. The earnings for the corresponding month the preceding year were $48,000.