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.

Return to the Lee County map.

All pictures and articles found on this page are copyrighted by the Lee County Historical Society. They are not to be reproduced, redistributed, sold, or otherwise altered. These pictures and articles are for the sole private, non-commercial use for research and education. These pictures may not be used without the expressed written permission of the Lee County Historical Society.