Rock Island

Indian Wars In the spring of 1831, when Black Hawk and his people returned from their winter hunt, they found the few white settlers whom they had left the fall before increased by many new comers. They found the Indian homes occupied by pale faces, and among their corn hills they found the white man’s wagon. But more aggravating yet, they found the bones of their ancestors disturbed and laid bare upon the ground by the white man’s plow. Black Hawk and his people had borne much the past few years but this seemed too much. He protested, and was … Read more

J. M. Gould Oration Mr. Chairman, Friends and Fellow Citizens; Having been informed that the board of supervisors had requested that the ceremony and laying of the corner stone of the new court house should be by the Old Settlers’ Association of the county, and that I had been requested to make some remarks upon the occasion, I deem it will be proper to do so in a sort of historical line, and will say that I will not trespass upon your time with a long harangue. This county was in early times a part of the present County of … Read more

Letter from Felix St. Vrain “St. Louis, May 28, 1831. “Respected Sir: Since my last of the 15th inst. on the subject of the band of Sac Indians, etc., the Indian village on Rock River near Rock Island, I have heard from the Indians and some of the whites that a house had been unroofed instead of pulled down and burned, and that the fence had caught fire by accident. As regards the destroying of the wheat, etc., the Indians say that a white man hauled some timber through a field and left the fence down by which means their … Read more

The Indian Agent Reports “Rock Island, May 15, 1831. “Respected Sir: I have again to mention to you that the Black Hawk (a Sac chief) and his party are now at their old village on Rock River. They have commenced planting corn and say they will keep possession. I have been informed that they have pulled down a house and some fences which they have burned. They have also turned their horses in wheat fields and say they will destroy the wheat so that the white people shall not re-main among them. “This is what I expected from their manner … Read more

Rock Island County, Illinois History and Genealogy Rock Island County was formed in 1831 from the county of Jo Daviess. It was named after an island in the Mississippi River. In 1833 early pioneers approved formation of a county government with the first county election held on July 5th of that year. In 1856 petitions were submitted to the County Board requesting the formation of townships during the next election in November. In this election Col. George Davenport, John W. Spencer and George W. Harlan were the first County Commissioners elected along with Benjamin Axe being chosen first Sheriff and … Read more

The Illinois Militia Governor Reynolds in defending his position in calling out the militia said: “If I did not act, and the inhabitants were murdered after being informed of their situation, I would be condemned from Dan to Beersheba; and if I levied by raising troops, when there was no necessity for it, I would also be responsible.” Governor Reynolds knew that the settlers had applied to the Indian agent and the military officers of the United States and had obtained no relief, and he says: “I considered it my duty to call on the volunteers to move the Indians … Read more

Illinois Western Hospital for the Insane, Watertown, Illinois The Illinois Western Hospital for the Insane was established by an act of the Legislature approved May 22, 1895, by which act the usual board of three trustees was created and $100,000 appropriated for the construction, furnishing and maintenance. After considering various propositions, the trustees finally selected a site near the village of Watertown, in Rock Island County,. on an elevation about a quarter of a mile from the Mississippi River and five miles above Moline. The corner stone was laid September 5, 1896, Governor Altgeld delivering the dedicatory address. Owing to … Read more

The Homes of the Sacs The Sacs’ house or wigwam was made by setting posts in the ground and siding it with bark. On top of the posts small poles were laid for rafters upon which strips of bark were laid. These wigwams were about eighteen feet wide and from twenty to sixty feet long. West of the Rock River village the Indians cultivated about one thousand acres, raising corn, beans, squashes and melons. The Sacs and Foxes planted their corn in the same hill year after year. They would dig up the hill each year and plant the corn … Read more

Illinois and Mississippi Canal The object of the improvement is to furnish a link in a navigable waterway from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River at the mouth of Rock River, Illinois. The canal has been located on the Rock Island route, approved by the Secretary of War October 27, 1888, as directed in the act of Congress of August 11, 1888. It proceeds from the Illinois River at its great bend. one and three-quarters miles above the town of Hennepin, Illinois; thence via Bureau Creek Valley and over the summit to Rock River at the mouth of Green River: … Read more

Hampton Township, Illinois This township is situated north and east of Moline Township, the Mississippi River forming the northwestern boundary, and the Rock River the southern. The township consists of bluffs along its northern and southern boundaries, with wide rich bottoms along the rivers and a broad valley running east and west through its center, extending from the Mississippi River to Rock River. Martin Culver made the first land claim in 1826. Rev. John Kinney and two brothers made the next claims in 1827. During 1828 Henry McNeal, Joel Thompson, Michael Bartlett, Asaph Wells and Joel Wells, Jr., settled in … Read more