The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1871-08-26

Alse large assortment Of Confectionery constantly
hand. Orders respectfully solicited.
Ottawa, Jan. IS. 1863 2l.f. L. HESS.
u NEW YORK Il. [Cheers.l Hc might
| speak for hours to an audience such a. this, and
after all tell them nothing but what they knew :;
he would therefore close by thanking them for
their attention. [Ceersl
Music BY the band
Hon. T. L. Dickey next addressed the meeting
He said addresses and long speeches on such 90.
casons did not contribute TO the social aspect Of
affairs; therefore his remarks would be few,
This scene brought to his mind the time when
thirty.two years ago he drove up the Illinois
valley in horse and buggy, coming to the court
here He was delighted by the view of these
bluffs, and thought the Ian escapes as seen from
the north bluff was the finest he had ever seen.
He had travelled more since than he had before
he had looked upon the celebrated landscape Of
the Hudson, and Of Virginia, but none OF them
in his spinion were equal to the beauty Of that
which I.y within half mile of this blaH. At
that time all th,s plain from Ottawa to Troy
Grove was wild unbroksn prairie with great
many more rattlesnakes than people on it, and
nothing but bride path over it. Now, it was
solid block Of farms tor eighteen miles He
Wa vary young man then, and did not feel
very much older now. He found men here that
he had known for half century. They had
been blessed with healthy climate, fertile
country, aud above all, an energetic and indus
trious population. he was pleased with the or.
ganization Of these old settlers meetings. This
was the first he had attended, but he hoped 70
have the pleasure Of being at them for years to
come. ECheers.
Mr.. ]. S. Armstrong made few remarks. He
,ecollectsd the time when the surveyors in 1881
were surveying the canal, aud wondered whsth.
er he should ever see, at the mouth of the Fox
river, town % large as Newark, Ohio, where
no came from. Now Ottawa was as big % half
. dozen Of it. He remembered the time when
Chicago was not as big ss Ottawa il now. At ono
time he knew every farmer between this and
Peoria. When they met ON the pralrie, they did
not merely nod and pass on, a. they do now, but
stopped and talked and inquired about each
other.
Mr.. Taylor, of Massachusetts, related some
"reminiscences of the early settlement of Massa-
chusetts notwithstanding pathetic appeal from
Brother Batohelles to "be short"
Mr.. Perry A. Armstrong said he knew most of
tho people assembled around him for about for
ty years. he remembered when their nearest
neighsors we're four miles of, when railroads
were unknown and unheard of, when the Rrst
stern wheel boat that came up the Hin Dis river
was thing Of wonder and when, if they want
cd to go to Chicago, they must either go ON
horseback or by the stage at the rate at six cens
q mile. 1t was thought great improvement
when the packets on the canal took them from
Ottawa in the afternoon, and they could wake
up in Chicago in the morning. At that time,
farmers were generally afraid of the prairie, and
preferred to settle in the vicinity Of timber land,
but now, everybody knows that the best farms
are on the prairie land and away from the tim.
Der.
Deacon Gum, Of La Sale, was called upon
but declined to make any remarks as he was 40
full Of "reminiscences of the Black Hawk war that
if he began he would not be able to close until
after the hour fixed for adjournment.
Rev. Mr.. Batcheller then said there was ono
old settler present whose children and gradchii.
dren now living numbered 50. The great pros.
perity of this State was owning to the moral
and intellectual character Of its citizens, and IL
there was any country worth having, it must
be a moral country. He thanked the meeting
for the attention they had given to all the
speakers.
Mr.. A. NJ. Ebersol, Secretary Of the Society,
reported that during the past yeat the following
members had died /:
Sylvanus Crook, q South Ottawa, settled In
the county In 1885,, died In July, 1871 age 0S