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CHAPTER XII.

LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT AT WINNEBAGO.

HE law establishing Winnebago county designated Robert Stephens and Rezin Zarley, of Cook county, and John Phelps, of Jo Daviess, as commissioners, to locate the permanent seat of justice. These commissioners, or a majority of them, were authorized to meet on the first Monday in May, 1836, or as soon thereafter as may be, at the house of Daniel S. Haight, for the discharge of their duty. John Phelps never made his appearance. The other two commissioners met July 14th, at the place specified by law, for the selection of a site for the county buildings.

At the county commissioners' court on Thursday, August 4, 1836, the report of the special commissioners was presented. The reader will avoid confusion by noting the distinction between the three county commissioners elected by popular vote, and the special commissioners designated by the statute to locate the county seat. The latter reported that on the 14th day of July they had met at the house of Daniel S. Haight, and that two days later they had selected a site on lands owned by Nicholas Boilvin & Co., on condition that the proprietors should execute a warranty deed to the county of thirty acres of land, so long as it should remain the seat of justice. On the same day Charles Reed presented to the county commissioners a deed of twelve blocks, containing two and one-half acres each, situated about two miles up the river from the ferry crossing.

The law was very specific concerning the location of a site. It provided that if the site chosen should be the property of individuals, instead of government land, the owners thereof should make a deed in fee simple of not less than twenty acres of said tract to the county; or in lieu thereof they should pay the county three thousand dollars, to be used in the erection of county buildings. Mr. Reed may have presented his deed in

THE FIRST CONVEYANCE OF LAND.

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good faith, but it was not accepted because it contained an objectionable clause to the effect that the county should hold the property "so long as it should remain the seat of justice." This reservation defeated his scheme.

This tract of land came into possession of Nicholas Boilvin about one year previous. Mr. Boilvin was at one time a government agent for the Winnebago Indians. The several transfers of this property form an interesting chapter of local history. It was noted in Chapter III. that by the treaty negotiated at Prairie du Chien, August 1, 1829, between the United States and the Winnebagoes, grants of land were made to certain descendants of this tribe. Catherine Myott, a half-breed Indian woman, was one of the two who had received two sections each. Previous to this contest over the county seat, one of these two unlocated sections had been sold to Henry Gratiot. By a deed executed August 25, 1835, Catherine Myott conveyed the other unlocated section to Nicholas Boilvin for eight hundred dollars. This was the first individual conveyance of land in Winnebago county. This deed was filed for record in Cook county, September 3, 1835, and recorded by Daniel H. Whitney, recorder of Winnebago county, September 8, 1836. This instrument was the first filed for record in this county. The tract located for Mr. Boilvin, by virtue of the treaty of 1829, is the east half of section fourteen and all that part of section thirteen west of Rock river, in Rockford township, and contains six hundred and thirty-seven acres. At the time Mr. Reed made the offer of his deed to the county commissioners, the property belonged to Nicholas Boilvin, of Chicago, Charles Reed, of Joliet, and Major Campbell.

As soon as the organization of the county began to be agitated, Boilvin and his associates determined to secure the location of the county seat on their site. The entire tract was platted September 14, 1836. It was known as Nicholas Boilvin's plat of the town of Winnebago, and the plat was filed for record September 17, 1836. Reed appeared as the principal manager. There were two hundred and fifty-one blocks, and these were subdivided into two thousand four hundred and thirty-six lots. The streets were uniformly eighty-two and one-half feet wide, and bore north and south, east and west. The lots were fortynine and one-half feet front, and one hundred and thirteen feet and nine inches deep, except the lots in the water blocks, which ran back from Water street to low-water mark. The alleys

were twenty feet wide. The town was christened Winnebago. Reed built a two-story house, to be used as a hotel and store, which is still standing a few rods above John H. Sherratt's new residence. A free ferry was established; a lime-kiln and a blacksmith shop were built; and a road opened through the timber east from Winnebago, to meet the state road from Chicago to Galena, at a point on Beaver creek. Nothing was left undone to secure the county seat; but the decision of the commissioners, like the law of the Medes and Persians, could not be changed.

Notwithstanding the fact that the special commissioners were given full power by the statute to locate the county seat, their selection was arbitrarily set aside by the commissioners' court. This rejection, however, was based upon a reason which would have been considered valid by any court. The question did not again come before the people until 1839. Pending the location of the county seat, the commissioners ordered that the circuit and county commissioners' courts should be held at the house of Mr. Haight.

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CHAPTER XIII.

THE FERRY.—EARLY STATE AND COUNTY ROADS.

HE ferry was the first mode of transit across the river. Ferries were established by special acts of the legislature, with regular charters, in territory not under county organization. The issue of licenses for conducting ferries came under the jurisdiction of the commissioners' courts in organized counties. In 1836, at the September session of this court for Winnebago county, Germanicus Kent was authorized to establish a ferry at Rockford, at what is now State street. He was required to pay a license of ten dollars for one year. Rates of ferriage were established as follows: For each carriage, wagon or cart, drawn by two horses, oxen or mules, sixty-two and one-half cents; the same drawn by one horse, thirty-seven and one-half cents; for each additional horse, twelve and one-half cents; for man and horse, twenty-five cents; each horse, mule, or head of cattle, twelve and one-half cents; hogs, sheep and goats per score, fifty cents; each footman, six and one-quarter cents. These terms were for transients. Farmers were given a yearly rate. Free ferriage was given to the citizens of the county after the village became incorporated. The proprietors were reimbursed from the village treasury.

At the same session of the court Vance & Andrews were authorized to establish a ferry at Winnebago, on the same terms for license and ferriage as given Mr. Kent. C. Doolittle, by his agent, H. M. Wattles, was granted the privilege of establishing a ferry where the line between Rockford and Owen townships crosses Rock river, on the same terms. In the spring of 1836, Harvey Lowe and Nelson H. Salisbury, who had made claims in Howard in the preceding autumn, returned with their families. May 18th they crossed the river at the point now spanned by Trask's bridge. They were the first to cross in the boat which had been launched that day. They had been detained there about a week, and during that time they had assisted in building the boat. This ferry, which was established through the agency of Love and Salisbury, to enable them to cross their

claims, subsequently became the thoroughfare in the direction of Mineral Point, and formed a convenient crossing for all emigrants to the country north of the Pecatonica.

In 1837 the ferry licenses of Kent and Vance were extended another year, at the same rates. Mr. Kent conducted the ferry at Rockford from 1836 to 1838. In the latter year a license was issued to Kent & Brinckerhoff. The rates of ferriage were changed and the license fee raised to twenty dollars. These gentlemen were succeeded by Selden M. Church, who continued the business until the first bridge was built.

Skiffs were used for carrying passengers, and a scow for horses and other property. A scow was made from the halves of large split logs hewn down to proper thickness, and planked in the ordinary manner. A large cable was stretched across the river, supported by posts on either side, which kept it in place. From the ends of the scow smaller ropes ran to pulley blocks running on the cable. By shortening one of these ropes and pushing the boat from the shore so that the current could strike it obliquely, the craft was given the required momentum, and the rapid current propelled it over. The scow could carry two teams at a time. Teams were driven upon the scow, and if any danger was apprehended from frightened horses, the driver would block a wheel to the scow with a chain. A platform at either end of the boat, supported by levers attached to each side, was lowered to the solid landing, and thus formed an easy entrance and exit. A railing at the sides and base at the ends insured perfect safety. The countersign was "Over!" which, with various repetitions and inflections, always preceded the starting of the boat.

There was a ferry-house on either side of the river. The ferryman resided in the one on the West side. It was a frame structure built on the site of the public library building, in 1839, by Allen & Brown, for Kent & Brinckerhoff. Its dimensions were fourteen by fourteen feet, one story, boarded up and down, with shingle roof. James Taylor, a bachelor, was the first ferryman. He was succeeded by Giles C. Hard, and he in turn by John Fisher, after whom Fisher avenue was named. He was a native of New Hampshire, a strong and muscular man, of strict integrity. Mr. Taylor was assisted by Asher Miller. Their combined strength was sometimes severely tested in getting a row-boat, loaded with passengers and mails, across through the ice, when the ferry-boat could not run.

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