The history of Mount Carroll dates back to the Fall of 1841, when Emmert,
Halderman & Co. commenced the erection of the flouring mills at this point.
However, nothing was done towards "laying off" a town site until it became a
settled fact, that a majority of the people of the county were in favor of removing the county offices from Savanna. In August, 1843, the people voted
upon the question of removal. Four hundred and twenty-one votes were
polled, of which 231 were for the removal of the county seat to Mount Carroll,
and 190 in favor of retaining the county offices at Savanna, a majority of 41 in favor of Mount Carroll. A full history of the removal question, selection of
a site for the new county seat, etc., already appears in these pages, so that further reference to the subject here is unnecessary. The names of the first settlers, a reference to the first houses built, etc., have likewise been written, so
that but little remains to be written of the "county seat." The history of the
county and of Mount Carroll are so intimately blended since the relocation of
the county seat, in 1843, that it would be a work of surerogation to attempt any
thing like an extended separate history.
The building of the mill was followed by the erection of a few scattered
houses. Then came the building of the old court house, in 1844, and the
removal of the county offices and records from Savanna. This necessitated the
removal of the county officers here as well, who, with their families and the
few families of men engaged in building the mill, may be regarded as the
beginning of a population that, on the 1st day of January, 1878, numbers very
nearly 2,500. The growth of the town has not been rapid, neither in wealth nor
population, but in both respects it has been solid and substantial.
The first store or trading place opened here was by the Mill Company soon
after they commenced operations, probably in 1842. The company had built
a kind of three-tier log house on "Stag's Point," now occupied by the residence of I. P. Sheldon, for the accommodation of the mill hands, and one of
these rooms was converted into a store room.
The first house built exclusively for hotel purposes, was the stone house now
occupied by J. F. Chapman, which was erected in 1844, and has been so used
without Interruption up to the present writing.
The first saloon building was the middle part of what is now the Daniel
Palmer Building. This old "rum mill" was built in somewhat of a hurry.
The materials out of which it was made were standing in Arnold's Grove in the
morning, were cut down, hauled to town, and reduced to proper dimensions,
and, plastering excepted, the building was completed before sundown.
Joe Miles was the first lawyer to "hang out a shingle." He came in 1844,
and for a while worked at his trade, that of a carpenter, on the old court house.
Anna Mary, daughter of Jesse Rapp, was Mount Carroll's first-born, and
Milford Kennedy was the second.
The first teachers of common schools were Anderson, Paul, Turner, J. P.
Emmert, arid some others, whose names have escaped the memory of the "oldest inhabitants." The last one before the free school system was adopted, was
H. Bitner. These schools were supported by subscriptions at so much per scholar.
The completion of the mill here made quite a home demand for wheat, and during the years 1844 and 1845, it was not only the wheat market for Carroll County, but for Stephenson and other adjacent districts, where a surplus
was raised. Throngs of teams lined the streets, and the mills were kept busy
night and day, and a number of teams were constantly employed in hauling
flour to Savanna for shipment to St. Louis.
The next stores to be opened after the Company store, were by William Halderman, R. R. Brush, R. J. Tomkins, Thorp & Lull, Nathan Blair, John Irvine & Son, etc.
The first physician to open an office was Dr. Judd, a brother of Norman B. Judd, of Chicago. Soon after, Dr. Hostetter and Dr. White came, and in 1852 or 1853, Dr. B. P. Miller located here and hung out his sign.
The next lawyers after Joe Miles, already mentioned, were Barker, John Wilson and William T. Miller.
History of Carroll County Pg 336
The post-office was established in 1844 with John Wilson as the first postmaster.
The mail was supplied from Cherry Grove by carrier until the Fall of
1846, when the tn-weekly stage coach, which had plied between Galena and
Dixon via Cherry Grove for a number of years, was taken from the old route
and a new one established through Mount Carroll. When the first "stage
coach and four" made its appearance in Mount Carroll, it was made an occasion
of general rejoicing. The people went wild with enthusiasm, and the old
"Concord" was received with as much glee and good feeling as the first train
of cars that put in an appearance on the Western Union Railroad, some thirty or more years later.
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