A PLACE CALLED HARMON
Many stories have been told of the settling of what today is
called Lee County in Illinois. The homestead laws of our developed a
class of people which were often referred as gypsies. A man could
call himself John Smith in Nebraska and Tom Brown in Kansas. When the
real settler followed and bought him out he merely moved on to
another place, "squatting" for gain, and devoid of the homing
instinct.
Lee County was settled before the enactment of the homestead laws
and by people who came west to obtain lands to live on and to make
homes of. These people were regarded as sturdy and law-abiding
citizens, bringing their religious and conscientious practices of
right and wrong with them.
Both the early settler and the homesteader were great civilizers,
who endured many hardships. Those people who followed in their path
would have no conception and would later wonder why the pioneers were
often called the "salt of the earth."
An area in the southwest part of Lee County, known today as
Harmon, was settled in 1853. While many other areas of the county had
already been inhabited long before and much of these lands also had
established communities, what would become Harmon Township was still
"unbroken ground." It was in this year that John D. Rosbrook, with
three sons, came from Niagara County, New York, and settled at an
area called the "Lake," a clear body of sparkling water covering
nearly forty acres on quite a rise of ground. in what has since been
known as Harmon Township.
For nearly a year there was not a neighbor in sight, the nearest
dwelling was eight miles away, and for years this Rosbrook place at
the lake was known as the center of the settlement. The following
spring the two remaining sons came. At that time there were no
traveled highways, but simply a trail across the prairie, crooked and
deviating as it wound around the sloughs.
By late 1854, Mitchell Rosbrook had settled in the area coming
from New Hampshire with his wife and six children. Soon to follow in
settling near by were Louisa Tuttle, a widow of Robert Tuttle who had
died of typhoid fever while enroute to Dixon from Knox County, 200
miles south of Lee County. Mrs. Tuttle was a sister to Mitchelle
Rosbrook and along with her five children moved into the Lake area
and erected the first permanent home in Harmon, with lumber hauled
from Mendota.
Soon to follow were also the Perkins family and the Sutton
family. Thomas Sutton arrived in Harmon on Oct. 10, 1854. With him
came his father, Joseph Sutton and his brother, William Sutton. Two
years later his brother-in-law, Patrick Grogan also moved into
Harmon.
The Suttons purchased land and settled about one mile south of
the Lake. With their first dwellings made partly of logs, the rest of
the lumber had been hauled in from LaSalle. It was said of Sutton
that there were 19 children in his family and he often lamented
because there were not 20.
Among other early settlers you can find the names of Henry Brill,
Siefkin, William Smith, Lewis Huffinger, John D. Long, James Porter
Jr., A. T. Curtis, Joseph B. Smith, Austin Batch, Solomon McKeel, W.
H. Kimball and the Frizzells. John D. Rosbrook, driving a string of
oxen, did the first breaking of the tough prairie sod in Harmon and
L. D. Rosbrook had the honor of naming the town Harmon, after the
name of a friend.
In 1856, the first Sunday school was held in John D. Rosbrook's
granary. During the winter of that year and in 1857, Miss Vianna
Tuttle taught the first school which was a private one, in her
mother's large house. During the fall of 1857, a public school house
was built without windows or doors. Wooden blinds which were movable
were used to keep out the rains. The first teacher for this public
school was Miss Jane Putnam. After 1861, other school districts were
eventually organized.
The first marriage in Harmon was that of Eliza Jane Perkins to
John S. Tuttle in 1857. The first birth being that of Emma Rosbrook
in 1856, and the first birth after the township was organized was
Ella Tuttle in 1858.
The vast expanse of prairie furnished summer grazing for
thousands of cattle and sheep in Harmon's early days. The record
contains some 15 names of professional herders. A few of these were
Rogers, Porter, Shelhamer, Curtis, Woodard, Smith and Mekeel. The
herding grounds were by no means confined to Harmon, but extended
south, east and west to the Green River country. The practice was to
round up the animals from different farms in the spring time, herd
and care for them and return in autumn with a small charge being made
for the service.
The once beautiful area known and refered to as the "Lake," where
wildlife were always observed in abundance was changed forever when
the body of water was removed by tile drainage around 1896 and the
land has since been used in producing grain crops.
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