SUBLETTE
One of the richest and most prosperous little
villages of Lee County, in Northern Illinois, located about eight
miles southeast of Amboy and nine miles northwest of Mendota, is
Sublette. It is situated in the center of an exceptionally well-to-do
and thrifty farming community, and has been celebrated over the years
because of the great amount of grain shipped from its
township.
Like many other early settlements around here, it
was started before the middle of the nineteenth century. In the
vicinity of Knox Grove settlers had rounded homesteads in the late
1830s, and log cabins broke the monotonous expanse of the prairie
around the present little community in the early 1840s.
As one more township carved out of Old Inlet,
Sublette joins Lee Center to the North. Bureau County bounds it to
the South, with LaSalle County forming half of the eastern boundary.
The township is that part of Lee County, formally known as number 19,
north of range 11, east of the fourth meridian p.m. Soon after the
organization of Lee County in 1839, the west half of the township,
then known as Hanno, was put with what was called May Township. This
was known as the Bureau precinct, the pollsbeing at the home of
Daniel Baird. The east part of the township was incorporated with
part of what is now Brooklyn, with voting at Knox Grove. The
inhabitants of Bureau precinct were eager to have the boundaries of
the town correspond with those of the precinct. The commissioners
decided that the law would not allow it.
Sublette, as a Village, however, was not
established until 1854 when the Illinois Central Railroad came
through, on the Main Line of Mid-America from South to North. It was
made a station. The railroad, besides being a boon to the settlers in
the way of freight, mail, and so forth, was held in considerable
reverence by them, many never having seensteam cars or the roadbed on
which they were drawn until the Illinois Central arrived.
In 1909, Jacob Barton, the oldest living resident
at that time, told this amusing incident: “At the time the railroad
was being built, I was residing at the home of my father at Knox
Grove. A neighbor of ours expected a hired girl to arrive over the
new railroad from LaMoille and asked if I wouldn’t drive to the
station and meet her. Although being naturally of a rather bashful
disposition at that time, I agreed to and drove to the station. The
depot was across the track, and never having seen a railroad before,
I thought it might be dangerous to cross over, so waited until
another fellow, who also wanted to meet the train, drove up, and
asked him if he thought it dangerous to cross the steel rails of the
track. We finally decided it was not, and not without a few qualms
drove across the rails.”
The original name of the township was Hanno; it
was officially organized and christened in 1849. When the railroad
came in 1854, the depot was named Soublette, and the Village was also
plotted by this name, later being changed to Sublette. Down through
the years many have thought it took its name from the circumstances
that this particular section of the railroad was “sublet” in part by
its original contractor. This suggestion, however, should have no
consideration, since this road was not sublet by the Illinois Central
Railroad. Hence, it seems most likely that the name “Soublette,”
refers to a person rather than to an act. But as to who the
individual this “Soublette” may have been, from whom the I. C. R. R.
adopted the name for the new Village, there has been a great deal of
speculation.
One conjecture, confirmed by Clem Thompson of
Freeport, is that the Village was named after a certain “Sublett”
cited for bravery in the Black Hawk War. In casting about for
uncommon names for their new stations, the Railroad settled upon this
name. Clem Thompson stated that this man is buried in a cemetery west
of Freeport, at Kel1ogg’s Grove, in Stephenson County where a
national monument has been erected to certain individuals killed in a
skirmish in this Indian war.
In an article appearing in The Mendota Reporter,
July 4, 1940, John Barton not only confirms Thompson but becomes even
more specific on the naming of Sublette. He stated that it was named
after Thomas Sublett, who fought under Col. John Dement in Capt.
Enoch Duncan's company against the Black Hawk Indians in the Battle
of Kellogg’s Grove on June 23, 1832. In this battle 23 white soldiers
were killed and among them was Thomas Sublett. The following week,
however, Ed Kreiter refuted this claim, but Mr. Barton followed it
with more substantiating arguments the next issue.
Another supposition is that it was named from one
of the individuals at the time of high esteem in the employ of the
Railroad. However that may be, it is quite certain that this
“Soublette” was never a resident of the township. There are various
towns and villages throughout the United States by the same name.
Especially of note are the ones of Kansas and Virginia, which are
definitely derived from a family name.
And almost as variant are the spellings of this
family name: Sublet, Sublett, Soublette and Soblet. Since we shall
never know with absolute certainty the origin of this Village’s
title, let us remain content in believing that its name has both an
honorable and an heroic background and has been deservedly applied to
this community.
Accordingly, by an act of the Legislature,
approved February 18, 1857, it was enacted that the name of Hanno
Township, in the County of Lee, be changed to Sublette Township.
Honorable John V. Eustace, who was then a representative in the
Legislature in Illinois, was instrumental in making this alteration
since the petition for such had been sent to him in the winter of
1856-1857.
The only tribe of Indians ever known to the
Sublette people were the Pottawatomies, a branch of the Algonquian
Family, under the leadership of old Shabbona. They used to ride to
and from the swamp near Walnut Grove along the Chicago-Princeton
Road, and so, being seen infrequently, they were never any real
problem for our early settlers. Moreover, Shabbona with his followers
was an annual visitor for several years. He was a noble red man, and
on account of his friendship with the pioneers in the Black Hawk War
in 1832, he was much endeared and respected by the white men.
In its very earliest days Sublette Township was
inhabited by the sturdiest of settlers - all of solid Christian
background. And to this day the sons and daughters of those old
pioneers remain just as strong, industrious, thrifty, intelligent,
and honorable as their forefathers who now lie buried in the
township’s cemeteries.
The first white men on the scene were of New
England stock, but in 1844 with the coming of Jacob Betz, the Germans
in great numbers migrated here directly from the Old World to take up
the business of farming. Even today the nationality of the township
is predominantly German.
The Lee County
Gaurd
An interesting part of the town of Sublette's
study of the past is the military history and the forming of its
famous unit of the Illinois National Guard. During the late 1800s,
the village boasted the largest infantry unit in the state.
On May 5, 1846 the arrival of Bartholomaus Theiss
occurred in what was to become Sublette Township. Along with him were
his wife, two daughters and four sons. Their former home was in
Alsace-Lorraine which was an area in Europe lying between France and
Germany. Throughout many years this area had been claimed by both
countries.
Preceding Mr. Theiss and his family's departure
the area had belonged to France. Theiss had served time in the
military service under Napoleon. He had served so well in fact that
he was made one of the bodyguards for the famous General. Mr. Theiss
had seen service in the campaigns in Italy, Prussia, Austria and
Russia.
In their departure from their homeland, the
Theiss family spent forty-five days on a sailing ship in coming to
America.
Theiss helped set the tone of Sublette as a
military town.
So it was on Sept. 20, 1878 that the State Guard
Unit was mustered into service by Major W. G. Coulter of LaSalle,
with a membership numbering sixty-one men. They were designated as
Company F, 12th Battalion. During the annual inspection and muster
the following year on March 31, 1879, the membership of the unit had
risen to ninty-eight and the following year, in 1880, membership
stood at 103. This was thirty-four more than any other infantry
company in the State of Illinois.
The unit soon became well known and were
frequently asked to participate in many public affairs throughout the
northern region of the state. One such noted event took place on Nov.
5, 1879 when the Guards were given the honor of escorting former
President Grant at a reception given by the citizens of Mendota.
Their distinction became, the first military company to receive and
escort the General in Illinois after his famous world tour
The original commissioned officers of the unit
consisted of Charles H. Ingals, Captain; William Dexter, 1st
Lieutenant and Phillip H. Schwab, as 2nd Lieutenant. Many of the
non-commissioned officers and enlisted men were veterans of the Civil
War.
Frequently the Guards were mistaken for members
of the regular Army as a result of their proficiency and the
excellent discipline of these citizen soldiers. They were rated as
one of the best companies of the Illinois National Guard.
The headquarters for this distinctive unit was
the Sublette Armory which was built during 1879 and located on Main
Street in Sublette. Constructed for a reported cost of $4,000 which
was mainly secured for the land and building without outside
assistance.
An iron roofed and frame building, it consisted
of a drill room, gun room, officers quarters, dining room and
kitchen. This was one of the best and most modern Armory buildings in
the state at the time. The building was of a one and two story design
and measured some 40 by 96 feet.
Equipped with munitions, flags, musical
instruments and the like, the Lee County Guards served well the area
and County of Lee. Additionally the Sublette Armory also served as a
center for community affairs.
The property where the Armory was built had been
purchased by the three commissioned officers, Ingals, Dexter and
Schwab who then deeded the property to the Lee County Military
Association. After the Guards disbanded, the title to the building
and land remained in this name until June of 1901 when the building
became sold for nonpayment of taxes owed.
The building and new owners continued usage for
dances, shows, dinners, parties and social functions for some years
afterwards. By 1939 with the construction of the new Sublette
Community Building, the Armory's purpose and usefulness to the town
had ended and since has only been used as a shop for local
businesses, as a warehouse or remained empty.
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