Rock Island

Moline Water Works Department The City of Moline has an unusually good water works system (the supply coming from the Mississippi River), consisting of a pumping station and filtering plant, and thirty-five miles of street water mains, with three hundred and twenty-five city fire hydrants, fifty private hydrants, and two hundred and. forty-five valves. The number of gallons of water filtered during the year ending April 1, 1908, amounted to 988,419,230 gallons, or 2,700,598 gallons per day. The total number of gallons of water pumped to the City of Moline for the said year was 949,711,378 gallons, being a daily […]

Moline Public Library Next to the public schools of Moline as a popular educative agency, is the Carnegie Public Library and reading rooms. Indeed this latter institution, in the design of its founders, is intended to carry up education to a higher plane than that reached by the public schools, and to lead to a broader and more comprehensive intellectual culture. To this end, its plan comprehends not merely a collection of books, newspapers and magazines, but also an art gallery, a place of amusement and social conversation, a collection of rare curiosities and cabinets of natural history and the

Moline Public Schools The first school house in Moline was built in 1843 on the north west corner of Sixteenth Street and Fourth Avenue, where the Burling-ton freight house now stands. “The people of the new town,” says an old settler, “felt the need of a school, and of some place in which to hold religious meetings.” Accordingly the owners of the town site donated two lots; a subscription was circulated and a brick school house built, which was for several years used also as a place of worship by different denominations. The first teacher, who also served as city

Moline Plow Company The business that eventually grew into the Moline Plow Company was originally started by Henry Candee and R. K. Swan. Associated with them were Mr. L. E. Hemenway, J. B. Wyckoff and others. They manufactured successfully fanning mills and hay-racks, in a wooden building located on the present site of the magnificent plant of the Moline Plow Company. This business was started in 1865, and shortly after Andrew Friburg associated himself with the company, and the manufacture of plows was taken up. In 1866 Mr. George Stephens added enough capital to the business to make him an

Moline Post Office The Moline post office was established in 1844, with David B. Sears as the first post-master. The office was located in the ” Brick Store ” (a building owned by Mr. Sears, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets on Second Avenue.) Following him Dr. Wells had the office in a little room about twelve by sixteen feet on the alley corner of Seventeenth Street between First and Second Avenues. George W. Bell succeeded Wells and moved the office south , to the corner where he had a tailor shop. Joseph J. Jackman was the next postmaster, and he

Moline Health Department On September 11, 1905, an ordinance was passed by the City Council of Moline, creating and establishing a board of health. On January 2, 1906. Dr. R. C. J. Meyer was appointed as the first commissioner, and the first board consisted (as required by ordinance) of the commissioner, Dr. R. C. J. Meyer, chairman; the mayor, Andrew Olsen; the chief of police, Edward Kittleson, secretary. The first meeting of the board was held on January 5, 1906, at which time it was decided that to accomplish the purpose of this department it would be necessary to start

Moline Fire Department According to the recollections of the “oldest inhabitant” the first fire department of Moline was organized in 1852. A hand engine, the “Metamora,” together with a hose cart, and about two thousand feet of hose, constituted the entire fire apparatus of the city. Charles H. Deere was fireman of the hose company, and Doctor Sweetland foreman of the ” Metamora.” L. B. Mapes, M. A. Gould, William Watt, H. E. Mapes, J. A. Holt and Frank Kerns were among the members. The “Metamora” was a mammoth concern, and a regular man-killer; but the boys claim that with

Moline Furniture Works The Moline Furniture Works was incorporated in 1898 with a capital stock of $25,000. Their principal manufacture is wood mantels, office and store fixtures, and special furniture to order. Officers of the company are: George W. Johnson, president and treasurer; F. A. Landee, vice-president; F. A. Johnson, secretary. In 1907 the capital stock was increased to $100,000. Since starting in 1898 they have yearly experienced a very flattering increase in their business.         City of Moline    Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908

Major Taylor’s Battle After the capture of Fort Shelby by the British, Colonel William McKay left for Macinac and Captain Thomas G. Anderson was in command. The British had great influence with the northwest Indians, and it is not to be wondered at as they made the Indians believe that the Americans would drive out the Indian, while the British wanted the Indian to retain his lands. In a letter dated August 21, 1814, Colonel R. McDonall, British commandant, wrote Captain Anderson: “Assure them (Sacs and Foxes) that great efforts are being made by the king in their behalf, and

The Moline Business Men’s Association In response to a petition circulated by Messrs. C. F. Dewend and C. Iver Josephson, a meeting was held in the City Hall on September 13, 1898, which was attended by about one hundred of Moline’s most prominent business, professional and manufacturing men for the purpose of organizing the above association. Temporary officers and committees were appointed on membership, finance, bylaws and incorporation, a preamble was drawn up, the import of which was that the association was organized to subserve and advance all material and legitimate interests of Moline, East Moline and vicinity, and our

Moline City Hospital In 1891 Judge John M. Gould framed a bill and went to Springfield asking the Legislature for a two-mill tax to be levied for hospital purposes for cities under 100,000 inhabitants. After the bill was passed, a home association was formed in 1892 and directors appointed, consisting of Doctor A. H. Arp, Doctor W. K. Sloan and W. B. Inman. The directors looked up a site, and during the time until 1898 the tax accumulation and donations enabled them to build. and open the hospital that year with three patients. Prior to this the ladies had formed

Moline Club Organized December 9, 1895, its object being for the advancement of social inter-course among its members and to promote the civic, business and industrial interests of the City of Moline. The membership consists of three classes: Resident, non-resident and honorary. The resident membership being limited to three hundred members. Any male eighteen years of age or over, living within the City of Moline, shall be eligible to resident membership. Any male adult whose residence is without the limits of Moline shall be eligible to non-resident membership. Any person of public distinction shall be eligible to honorary membership. The

Major Campbell’s Expedition When General Howard, commandant of the American forces in the west, learned of the return of the troops from Prairie du Chien, he immediately organized another expedition to be sent up the river to reinforce Fort Shelby. On July 4, 1814, the second expedition left Cap au Gris. It consisted of three fortified barges, or keel boats, each with a cabin and all having sails. There were thirty-three regular soldiers and sixty-five rangers (militia), some of the latter being Frenchmen from Cahokia. The expedition including the sutlers’ establishment, boatmen, and women and children, making one hundred and

Letter from General William Clark “Superintendency of Indian Affairs. “St. Louis, May 28, 1831. “Sir: I have the honor to inclose you a copy of a letter of 26th inst., just received from the Governor of Illinois, by which you will perceive he has thought it necessary to call out a force of about 700 militia for the protection of the citizens of that state, who reside near Rock River, and for the purpose of removing a band of Sacs which he states are now about Rock Island. “As the commanding general of this division of the army, I have

Letter to Governor Reynolds “Superintendency of Indian Affairs, “St. Louis, May 28, 1831. “Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th inst.. informing me of your having considered it necessary to call out a force of militia of about seven hundred for the protection of the citizens of Illinois who reside near Rock Island invasion and for the purpose of removing a band of Sac Indians who are now about Rock Island, etc. “You intimate that to prevent the necessity of employing this force, perhaps a request from me to those Indians to

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

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