First Marriages
The first marriage solemnized in the County, so far as the records show, was by John W. Spencer, one of the County Commissioners, the parties being James L. Burtis and Angeline Beardsley. The license was issued July 13, 1833, and the marriage ceremony immediately followed. The second license was issued to Benjamin Goble and Barbary Vandruff, August 22, 1833. The third was issued April 1, 1834, to Adrian H. Davenport and Harriet Sibley, who were married the same day by Colonel Davenport, County Commissioner. The first seven years of the County’s legal existence, the issue of marriage licenses stood as follows: In 1833, two; in 1834, three; in 1835, six; in 1836, twenty-one; in 1837, eleven; in 1838, twenty-three; in 1839, twenty-eight ; in 1840, thirty-three. George L. Davenport was the first white child born in this section of the country. He was-born on the island in 1817, and was the eldest son of Colonel George Davenport.
Early Settlements of Rock County
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908