Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-06-04
"REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DA


in regard to the early life leading up
to the first settlement OF Andalusia,
l am. from the necessity OF the case,
compelled to be more or less personal,
am fully pursuaded that, not only
from the essential facts, but from the
generosity of your hearts, none OF
you will be inclined to impute to me
egotism. But, should you do so, upon
reflection it will be seen that the i'm
putation is not merited, as 1t is i'm
possible TO connote the facts-to treat
the subject of my discourse denotively
without adverting to my own personal
history and experiences; and this will
be apparent when you realize that your
speaker was, as tradition and family
history has 1T, the first white child
born in Andalusia. But, should other
justification be needed, it should be
remembered and cogniZed that my
father and mother not only founded
this village, but spent their life and
energies and their fortune here; that
both died in the village they founded;
they never gave up the ship" nor
abandoned the enterprise.
My friends, when we were school
boys and girls and commenced the
study of Caesars Commentaries, the
very first thing we learned was that
all Gaul is divided into three parts, -
so, today my subject in its diversion
is like Gaul and is divided into three
parts, viz:
1. A biographical sketch OF the
| founders of Andalusia.
| 10 ~
the time under consideration; and,
8. Incidents in the life of Andalusia
prior to 1855.
Naming OF village.
Andalusia was so named by Napo-
leon B. Buford of Stephenson, now
Rock Island, and after a province in
Spain. It was laid out, as a town, by
eastern people. at the same time DAN
lei Webster laid out Rock Island city,
in what is now South Rock Island
township The original name of Anda-
lusia was Rockport.
| The founder of Andalusia, Samuel
Kenworthy, my father. was born Dec.
81, 1912. He left England, as near as
I am advised as to dates, in 1910 in
company with younger brother. John
! (for whom l am named). They were
from the wooden manufacturing dis
trict. near Manchester, and both were,
and their ancestors for many genera
tions had been, wooden weavers by
trade. They came to Philadelphia and
from there they went to Beaver Dam,
Pa, and engaged, or attempted to
start, in a small way, in the wooden
trade. They established a carding
mill and were contemplating installing
a spinning and weaving plant there,
when the news of the glorious oppor-
tunities and advantages of the Illinois
country came to their ears. They
were both restless and adventurous
spirits and, being as free as the winds,
with health and youth before them, and
the tide of emigration being then
strongly set for what was then called
the west. meaning then Ohio, Indiana
and Illinois. they crossed the Allie
ghanies to what was then Fort Pitt,
now Pittsburg, and thence down the
Ohio river to a town called Liverpool,
a place then and since known for it's
potteries. There they became &C
quainted with Jerry and Elijah Sim
mon, who were potters at that place,
and who in few years, followed them
to Andalusia- Leaving Liverpool, they
passed down the Ohio, stopping at Gin
cinnati for some time, and thence down
the Ohio to it's confluence with and
up the Mississippi river to st. Louis,
! where the fame and fortune of the
lead mines at Galena, ILL.,, were being
sounded. Taking a steamer for the
! /
called, they came to Rockingham. In
passing this place and what is now
called Buffalo, Iowa. they were great
~ impressed with the view and sur
roundings, and what they then thought
were the natural advantages of this
place. After visiting Stephenson they
went to Illinois City, then the metrop-
oils of the lower end of the county.
! Illinois City, as I remember 1t in the
early SOS, was a busy place and COM
pared favorably with Andalusia in it's
balmy days. 1t had several stores, a
lumber yard, potteries, hardware, sad
dlery and grocery stores, a large hotel
kept by one Daniel G.. Moore, and It
drew all it's supplies from ST Louis
to which place it shipped its products.
Death stops Enterprise.
In looking over the situation, our
founder determined to dam big slough
and utilizing it's water power to drive
the machinery for a carding mill and
other wooden manufacturing machin-
cry. Hardly had they more than
started operations when both father
and his brother we're stricken with
typhoid fever. John died. This event
terminated the enterprise at that point
and father drifted back to Illinois City
and from there to Big Copperas creek
in Buffalo Prairie, where he, in COM
pany with my grandfather, on my
mothers side. Mrs. Joseph Ely, con-
templated and 1 believe did dam and
erect a sawmill and wooden carding
mill at point about where that creek
passed through section 81 in township
i 16, west. But this enterprise fail
ing, he came to the old Smell home
stead and there started and kept a
| or