Month: January 2021

Dayton Had Plenty of Water Power

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  • view of the feeder
  • the old dam, maintained by the state

January 27, 1855, 166 years ago today, the following notice appeared on page 4 of the Ottawa Free Trader.

Water Power To Lease

            The undersigned offer great inducements to capitalists and manufacturers, as they have decidedly the best water power in the state, having over 25 feet head and fall, and situated in Dayton, 4 miles above Ottawa, and drawn from the Fox river Feeder, which is kept in repair by the state, without any cost to the undersigned. They have water to lease for a term of years sufficient to drive 20 run of 4 ½ feet burrs, and will lease on very liberal terms to any good, responsible company.

            This is a rare chance for men of capital who may wish to go into the manufacturing business. The location is very healthy and admirably situated; as it is on a navigable feeder, within 4 miles of the contemplated Rock Island railroad, and the head of steamboat navigation. For further information, address Dayton Jny 31.

                                                                                                            John Green & Sons

When John Green bought the west side of the Fox river at the rapids, he became the owner of one half of the water power the river provided. (The other half belonged to the owner of the east bank of the river.) Green deeded one fourth of the power he owned to William Stadden. Green and Stadden then deeded one half of their water right to the Canal Commissioners for the Illinois-Michigan canal. Therefore, John Green’s share was 1/2 of 3/4 of 1/2 or 3/16 of the power of the river. He then deeded to Jesse and David Green one half of the power owned by him or 3/32 of the whole river. A government survey of the river in 1869 calculated the volume of the river was 40,000 cubic feet per minute at or near the mouth of Indian Creek. 3/32 of 40,000 equals 3750 cubic feet per minute and this is equal to 142 horse power. The use of the best wheels and machinery at the Green mills would equal 114 horse power, so John Green & Sons had excess power to lease.

Mrs. Barbara Jackson

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  • Barbara Trumbo Jackson

JACKSON RITES AT GREEN HOME AT 1 TOMORROW

Funeral services for Mrs. Barbara T. Jackson will be held at the home of L. A. Green in Dayton at 1 o’clock tomorrow afternoon, conducted by Rev. Hugh MacKenzie, pastor of the Congregational church. Interment will be in the family burying lot in Millington cemetery.

The death of Mrs. Jackson marks the passing of another of the county’s pioneers. She came to La Salle county with her parents from Ohio, where she was born almost a century ago. She knew La Salle county when Ottawa was only a settlement in a wilderness, long before the day of the railroads or the canal.

Mrs. Jackson was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mathias Trumbo, who came to La Salle county when there were less than a dozen houses in Ottawa, and who shortly afterwards went to Dayton, four miles northeast of Ottawa to reside.

The pall bearers at tomorrow’s funeral will be L. A. Green, Roy Grove, Frank Brown, Elias Trumbo, Glenn Matlock and Benton Harris.

Mrs. Jackson died at 11:15 yesterday morning.

[Barbara Jackson died February 21, 1927. Her obituary appeared the following day in one of the Ottawa newspapers.]

Derailment in Dayton

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These pictures of a train derailment in Dayton were taken about 1958-59. I need to get back to reading the newspaper to see if I can find the exact date. Maybe someone seeing this will know exactly when it happened. If so, please leave the date in the comments.

In any case, you may recognize some of the bystanders, even if you can only see their backs. Click on the picture to see the full size version.

Baldwin Didn’t Get Everything Right

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The bible of early Dayton history is Elmer Baldwin’s History of La Salle County, which attempted to give a sketch of the pioneer settlers of each town up to 1840. In a comprehensive work of this nature, it is no surprise that occasional errors crept in. I have my great-aunt’s copy of Baldwin’s book where she handwrote corrections into the Dayton-Rutland sections. She was writing about her family and neighbors, correcting errors that she saw.

Here are two paragraphs from the account of Dayton, with her additions and corrections in italics:

William Stadden* and wife, Elizabeth Hoadley [Judith Daniels], from Licking County, Ohio, in May 1830, settled on S. 33, T. 34, R. 4; sold to Jonathan Daniels, and moved to Dayton in 1831; built a flouring mill; was twice elected Sheriff of La Salle County, and twice to the State Senate. He was a prominent and useful citizen, and died in 1848. Children: Jonathan, married Elizabeth Long, in Rutland; Mary, married David Green; William; Elizabeth, married Horace B. George; Richard, married Sally Sevant [Swank].
[*His son William Stadden Jr. married Elizabeth Hoadley.]

Nathan Proctor bought the store and goods of David* Letts, [David Letts bought this store from Jas. McFadden who was shot through the ankle by Indians on Indian Creek when Robert Beresford was killed]. in the spring of 1836; he had a very interesting family, and was himself a genial, able and popular man, and did a prosperous business for about one year and was noted for his honorable and upright business habits. On his way to St. Louis to purchase goods, he was detected in passing counterfeit money. He avoided arrest, but never returned. He was found to be a member of the notorious band that then infested the country from the Illinois to Wisconsin, called the Bandits of the Prairies, who were horse thieves, counterfeiters, robbers, burglars, and murderers. Dies, and plates for counterfeiting, were found in his store, and years after, when the building was torn down, a copperplate engraving was found behind the plastering. If his former or subsequent history should be written, it is probable the name of Nathan Procter would not appear.
[*David Letts had one child – Rhoda Ann Miller – (went to Utah). 2nd wife’s children: Madison, Noah, Amanda & James.]