THE STORY OF 'GOVERNOR' CHARTERS
Alexander Charters was born in the County Antrim, near Belfast,
Ireland on July 7, 1800. He was fifth in a family of eleven children,
all of whom he survived. In person he was a man of commanding
appearance and stood six feet two inches high and weighed nearly 240
pounds.
In 1816 he sailed for New York, where for a time he clerked in
the store of a friend and afterwards formed a partnership with his
brother John and engaged in business as an importer of linen. The
firm was named J. & A. Charters.
He was married in 1827 to Ellen Boomer of Belfast, who died in
New York in 1882. Judge James B. Charters of Dixon was the only child
of this union.
The panic of 1837 interfered with the success of his business in
New York, and in 1838 he retired and moved to Illinois and purchased
a section of land which had been pre-empted for him by a nephew,
north of the place now known as Dixon, where he resided up to the
time of his death. He called the place "Hazelwood" on account of the
profuse growth of hazel brush on it.
Alexander Charters crossed the ocean eleven times, and only once,
in 1853, in a steamer. He often crossed with Capt. Hugh Graham,
master of a ship on the Black & Ball line, through whose
influence mainly it was that he afterwards decided to come and live
in Dixon. Alexander Charters and his party of eight or ten, left New
York for the famous Rock River country in March of 1838, and it took
them six months to make the journey.
At the time when Mr. Charters and his party arrived in Dixon, it
was a place of modest pretension, and consisted in the way of
improvement, mainly in a ferry and fort. The fort was on the north
side, and it had been turned into a hotel, and was known by the
gilded name of the "Astor House."
Nearby where Mr. J.T. Little's brick residence on the north side
stood, was erected a large frame for a hotel. This frame was
purchased by Alexander Charters and removed to Hazelwood and this
formed the residence where he lived and died.
In early times it was known as the social kingdom. Many gala and
social events were held at his home. The grounds of Hazelwood were
made available for the Rock River Assembly to use when first
organizing in the Dixon area and the home was also frequented by
Abraham Lincoln.
Alexander Charters belonged to and attended no church, although
he contributed liberally to the erection of every church in the city
of Dixon. He was always willing to give, and was ever ready to extend
a helping hand. In an early day his money was at the bottom of many
of the most enterprises undertaken in this city. It was his money
that started and encouraged the erection of the Nachusa House,
Exchange block, Union block, and Tillson's block. His son, Judge
James B. Charters had also spent a fortune of ready cash, when ready
cash was a rarity, and mostly in improvements that were beneficial to
the place and the people.
How He Came To Be Called "Governor"
In early days Mr. Charters had working for him, an Englishman who
was an enthusiastic admirer of his. According to an English custom it
was his habit to call his employer, Governor. Some time after leaving
his employ there was a state election. The Englishman had purchased a
barrel of whiskey, which was a cheap article in those days and
insisted on treating at the polls every one who would vote for his
"Governor."
When the official report was published it was recorded that
Alexander Charters had received a number of votes for Governor, and
from that day to his death the title had stuck to him. "Governor"
Charters died of dropsy of the heart, on Wednesday, September 18,
1878, and he died in peace after a brief illness.
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