Rock Island

First Hotels The records also furnish the following, respecting the first licenses for hotels: To Jonah H. Case, July 1833. His tavern was the first licensed within the corporate limits of Rock Island, though travelers had been kept at Barrell’s house in Farnhamsburg. In June, 1836, Jonathan Buffum was licensed to keep a tavern in Stephenson. At the same session of the Court a tavern license was also granted to Henry Powars and Company, who built the old Rock Island House, which was opened July 4, 1837 with a big ball, and torn down in 1875, to make room for … Read more

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 … Read more

First Settlers of Rock County The first white settler in this county was George Davenport, who came to the Island of Rock Island in the spring of 1816 with Colonel William Lawrence and the Eighth Regiment of United States regulars at the time Fort Armstrong was built. In 1817 Davenport built a double log cabin on the Island of’ Rock Island at the place where the “Old Davenport House” now stands, one part of which he used as a store in which he carried on the business of an Indian trader. The old ruin now standing on the north shore … Read more

First Flag in the Upper Mississippi Valley On August 9, 1805, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, an officer in the United States Army, in command of twenty soldiers, left St. Louis under instructions from the government to trace the sources of the Mississippi River. ascertain the condition of the Indians, create a better feeling between them and the Americans and to select certain sites upon which to erect forts. The party made the voyage in a keel boat seventy feet long, and on August 27, 1805, the party arrived at the mouth of Rock River. Black Hawk in his autobiography says: … Read more

First Entries of Land Colonel George Davenport and Russell Farnham, on October 19, 1829, entered land -section two, seventeen North, two West-which was the first land registered in Rock Island County. The south half of this ground including that land east one mile from the old Fair Grounds was sold to Jonah H. Case. The north half of the Davenport-Farnham land formed a part of the possessions of the late Bailey Davenport. On October 19, 1829, was also entered the north half of section eleven, by William T. Brasher, upon a portion of which land Chippiannock Cemetery is situated. Colonel … Read more

The First Expedition On May 1, 1814, William Clark, governor of Missouri Territory, with a detachment consisting of sixty United States regulars of the Seventh Infantry, and one hundred and forty Illinois and Missouri rangers or volunteers, left Cap au Gris in five fortified keel boats for the mouth of the Wisconsin River. there to erect a United States fort. At the mouth of the Rock River they had a slight skirmish with a party of Sauk (Sac) braves. About the middle of April, Colonel Dickinson left Prairie du Chien, taking with him most of the British forces, together with … Read more

First Ferries In looking over the records, we find that licenses for ferries were granted as follows: To George Davenport and Joshua Vandruff, for a ferry across Rock River, March, 1834; at the same date to George Davenport for a ferry across the Slough, and to Rinnah Wells for a ferry across Rock River. Jonah H. Case, Antoine LeClaire and W. F. Brashar were granted a license to run a ferry across the Mississippi to the Iowa shore in March, 1835. Nathaniel Belcher was granted a license to establish a ferry across the Mississippi at Port Byron in March, 1837. … Read more

Early History – Farnhamsburg And Stephenson, Illinois The City of Rock Island was preceded by the Town of Farnhamsburg, the first settlement on this side of the river within the present City limits. Here the first house was built by Colonel Davenport and Russell Farnham, partners in the Indian trade, in 1826. It stood near the landing from old Fort Armstrong, about a block south of the southern approach to the present railroad bridge over Sylvan Water, and on an elevated lime stone knoll. The county road from the east ran in front of it, and turned from the Moline … Read more

Famous Crimes Of Rock Island County Since the mills of justice have been established in this County there have been numerous murders committed. For most of the cases the guilty parties were punished, six men in all having been hung for four separate crimes. Some served terms in the penitentiary, and one cheated the gallows by committing suicide. Of course there have been a number of mysterious murders for which the guilt was never placed. From an historical standpoint, the most conspicuous crime committed in the County was the murder of Colonel George Davenport, which occurred July 4, 1845, on … Read more

Edward D. Sweeney Oration Mr . Chairman and Fellow Citizens : We celebrate today the laying of the corner stone for the new court house, and the occasion is an event which awakens in us emotions of the deepest interest. While it is true that this vast assemblage of citizens are of divers nationalities, of varied political faiths, and of many religious beliefs, we all stand before this mute block of granite as before the throne of the Eternal on equal footing, no special privilege of nobility or preference places one before the other. The significance of this great gathering … Read more