Waddams Township | |
---|---|
Township | |
![]() Location in Stephenson County | |
Coordinates: 42°25′03″N89°45′10″W / 42.41750°N 89.75278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Illinois |
County | Stephenson |
Government | |
• Supervisor | Connie Barrett |
Area | |
• Total | 35.83 sq mi (92.8 km2) |
• Land | 35.81 sq mi (92.7 km2) |
• Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) 0.03% |
Elevation | 801 ft (244 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Estimate (2016) [1] | 773 |
• Density | 22.5/sq mi (8.7/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
FIPS code | 17-177-78318 |
Waddams Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 807 and it contained 360 housing units. [2] The unincorporated communities of McConnell and Damascus are located in the township, and once New Pennsylvania was located here also.
On March 6, 1848 the Illinois State Constitution was adopted and went into effect on April 1, 1848. In the new constitution was an "Act" providing for a county, upon majority vote, to develop township governments. On November 5, 1849 Stephenson County voted on the "Act" and passed it with a vote of 973 to 99. In December three commissioners were appointed to divide the county from its six precinct form of government to sixteen townships. The commissioners were Levi Robey, Robert Forster and Erastus Torrey. On November 5, 1850 the supervisors for the township were elected.
Waddams was one of the original sixteen townships. Michael Lawver was its first supervisor. Some of the areas earliest settlers lived in the vicinity of the newly formed section. The first settlers in the township were Levi Robey and his wife Almira (Waite). He claimed about one half of a section of land in the northwest part of the township. He first arrived in the county with his parents and siblings at Brewster's Ferry in November 1834. After making his claim he proceeded to build a double log cabin on the west side of the river. He cut logs for the cabin on the east side of the river and then pulled them across the frozen river by horse. The family moved into their new home on Valentine's Day of 1835 and lived there for twenty years. The site of his first cabin is at the foot of a hill at the present Robert Kleckler Farm on North Stubbe Road. He later built a new house ½ mile southwest of the first. That house still stands at the northwest corner of Fisher and North Stubbe Roads. When he settled in the area in 1835 his only white neighbors were his family at Brewster's Ferry, William Waddams and John Dixon (living at the present site of Dixon, IL). Also a man named Kent who lived in the area that is now Rockford, Illinois, and a man named "Mack" who married an Indian woman and lived at the mouth of the Pecatonica River.
Many firsts are attributed to Levi Robey. He was the first Justice of the Peace for the county. He conducted the first marriage ceremony in Stephenson County which after its formation required a marriage license. The couple he married were Eunice Waddams, (daughter of William), and George Place, wed on July 4, 1837. Robey was also the first chairman of the Old Settlers Association and on the executive committee for the Soldiers Monument.
Hubbard Graves arrived in 1835 and was also a notable figure in the history of Waddams Township. His wife Cynthia, sister of Levi Robey, accompanied him. Graves was the county's first tax collector. His total tax collected was $96.00. He was also a county sheriff in 1838 and was in state legislation serving Stephenson and Carroll Counties from 1842 - 1844.
Pells Manny came to Waddams Township in 1836 and settled in the west-central portion. He is best noted for the invention of the "Manny Header" and "Manny Reaper". His factory was located at the mouth of Waddams Creek near the mill run by William Soladay and Benjamin Sheckler. The location is approximately one mile south of McConnell. A Post Office was moved to the location in 1840 from Waddams Grove for the convenience of its customers. Manny's son, John Henry Manny, started a plant in Rockford to manufacture the reaper. In 1856 Pells started a plant in Freeport. He later moved to Freeport. The Post Office closed on March 11, 1857. A lawsuit was filed by Cyrus McCormick against Manny's patent right for the reaper. Manny prevailed in the suit, with an opinion by Supreme Court Judge John McLean. [3]
Waddams is township 28 North, Ranges 6 (part) and 7 (part) East of the Fourth Principal Meridian.
According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 35.83 square miles (92.8 km2), of which 35.81 square miles (92.7 km2) (or 99.94%) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.026 km2) (or 0.03%) is water. [2]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
2016 (est.) | 773 | [1] | |
U.S. Decennial Census [4] |
Cyrus Hall McCormick was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of the McCormick family became prominent residents of Chicago. McCormick has been simplistically credited as the single inventor of the mechanical reaper. He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced successful models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father Robert McCormick Jr., with the aid of Jo Anderson, who was enslaved by the family. He also successfully developed a modern company, with manufacturing, marketing, and a sales force to market his products.
Winnebago County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 285,350 making it the seventh most populous county in Illinois behind Cook County and its five surrounding collar counties. Its county seat is Rockford. Winnebago County is the central county of the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Stephenson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 44,630. Its county seat is Freeport.
Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858, and as "Pretzel City, USA", due to a popular local German bakery that became well known for its prolific pretzel production after it opened in 1869. Freeport High School's mascot is the Pretzel to honor its heritage.
The Cyrus McCormick Farm and Workshop is on the family farm of inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick known as Walnut Grove. Cyrus Hall McCormick improved and patented the mechanical reaper, which eventually led to the creation of the combine harvester. The farm is near Steele's Tavern and Raphine, close to the northern border of Rockbridge and Augusta counties in the U.S. state of Virginia, and is currently a museum run by the Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station of Virginia Tech. The museum has free admission and covers 5 acres (2.0 ha) of the initial 532-acre (215.3 ha) farm.
Erin Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 410 and it contained 177 housing units. The unincorporated community of Eleroy is located in the township.
Freeport Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 25,638 and it contained 12,396 housing units. Freeport Township is coterminous with City of Freeport. It is one of seventeen coterminous townships in Illinois.
Harlem Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,275 and it contained 981 housing units.
Ridott Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois, USA. At the 2010 census, its population was 1,451 and it contained 612 housing units. The villages of Ridott and German Valley are located in this township.
Rock Run Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,247 and it contained 969 housing units. The villages of Rock City and Davis are located in the township.
Silver Creek Township is a township in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 696 and it contained 332 housing units.
West Point Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,369 and it contained 1,483 housing units. The village of Lena, the unincorporated community of Waddams Grove, and two former communities of Louisa and West Point were all located in this township.
Tremont Township is located in Tazewell County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,641 and it contained 1,043 housing units.
Edgington Township is located in Rock Island County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,508 and it contained 643 housing units.
Avoca Township is located in Livingston County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 405 and it contained 149 housing units.
Sunbury Township is located in Livingston County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 229 and it contained 103 housing units.
Waddams Grove, previously known as Wadam's, Waddam's Grove, and Sada, is an unincorporated community in the Stephenson County township of West Point, Illinois, United States. Waddams Grove was the first settlement in Stephenson County. It is located northwest of Lena. The community is near the site of the Battle of Waddams Grove which took place during the Black Hawk War.
The Galena–Chicago trail was a stagecoach route located in northern Illinois that ran from the mid-to-late 1830s until 1854. As indicated by its name, the route linked Chicago, located in the northeast of the state, with Galena which was located in the lead mining district of the northwest. The Chicago-Galena trail includes the "Stagecoach Trail" that runs between Galena and Lena, Illinois. East of Lena the stage route follows U.S. Route 20 and Business U.S. Route 20 through Eleroy, Freeport and Rockford to Belvidere. This road began as the old State Road number 2 established on 15 January 1836 and laid out by June 1837.
John Henry Manny (1825–1856) was the inventor of the Manny Reaper, one of various makes of reaper used to harvest grain in the 19th century. Cyrus McCormick III, in his Century of the Reaper, called Manny "the most brilliant and successful of all Cyrus McCormick's competitors," a field of many brilliant people.
Robert McConnell was an early settler in Illinois, namesake of McConnell, Illinois. He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1846 to 1848. Earlier, on August 6, 1838, he was elected a County Commissioner in Stephenson County.