Otto’s Column

Editor’s note: Otto Dick, Oregon has researched the people, places and events important in the Oregon area’s history for the Ogle County Historical Society. The following is one of a series of the articles he has written.

BY OTTO DICK

Lafayette Township is one of the six half-size townships with approximately 18 square miles in Ogle County.

Lafayette Township borders Taylor, Flagg and Pine Rock Townships. The 1910 Census showed a population of 170 and 72 housing units.

Lafayette takes its name from the grove which lies near its center. Lafayette Grove located in the center of Lafayette Township was given its name as was Washington Grove, which is across the road in Pine Rock after two early leaders of our country.

The first settlers arrived at Lafayette Grove in the spring of 1835 taking advantage of its spring fed creek and the native hardwood trees. This is a rural township where most residents own their homes and tend to be conservative.

In the early days Flagg Road was known as the State Road between Chicago, Grand Detour and Clinton, Iowa on to the far West. This early State Road crossed east to west through Lafayette Township from Chicago and crossed the Rock River at Grand Detour at the Upper Ferry.

There were two ferries in Grand Detour. The lower ferry was on the route from Oregon to Dixon.

Many Ogle County Townships contained one or more small towns with a grocery store, post office, blacksmith shop, etc. The residents of Lafayette Township mainly did their shopping etc. at Ashton located in Lee County.

At his home located on Flagg Road Russell Tanner added a room to his home which served as a small grocery store and post office.

The stagecoach from Chicago to Grand Detour supplied the groceries and mail. He came to Illinois in 1855. He married Patty Phillips in 1834.

Lafayette had three one room schools. The first school was located on the Chicago to Grand Detour Road later used as a stagecoach route.

This school named Lafayette Grove School was built in 1836. It was the first log cabin school building erected for the purpose in Ogle County.

Chloe J. Benedict was the first teacher and continued to teach there

ABOVE: This map of Lafayette Township shows who owned parcels of land. BELOW LEFT: Fred Kurth was a member of the Lafayette Band. BELOW RIGHT: This old photo shows the dedication of the stone for the first school building in Ogle County. Supreme Court

Judge Cartwright was at this dedication. He is the third person from the left. Images supplied by Otto Dick

until her marriage to Barton H. Cartwright who was a Methodist Circuit Rider in 1839.

Barton Cartwright was the father of Judge James Henry Cartwright from Oregon , who served on the Illinois Supreme court for 19 years.

In 1861 the Lafayette Grove School was replaced by a school located one mile west on Prairie Road, named Prairie Star School. Today a large stone school marker marks the location of Ogle County’s first school building.

This stone is located in Lafayette Grove. The first school teacher

Chloe Benedict’s son Judge Cartwright attended the dedication of this stone on August 14, 1941.

Laura C. Vogt wrote “Readin’, Ritin’, Rithmetic and the Regulators, the four R’s, dominated the lives of the settlers in southern Ogle County during the 1830’s and 1840’s.

John Weatherington from Lafayette Township was one of the Regulators who visited the suspected Banditti Outlaws with a long thorny stick evicting many of them following his first visit.”

Fred Kurth’s Lafayette Band Uniform and his bugle are located at

the Ogle County Historical Museum. Fred passed away at the Rochelle Hospital at age 78, 1966 and is buried at the Ashton Cemetery.

John Sanford operated a 15 acre tree farm. The yoke carrying a replica of the Liberty Bell at Knott’s Berry Resort in California came from a red elm tree from his tree farm.

The log was sawed at the Sinnissippi Sawmill and shipped to California. This one-half township has an interesting history and today two heavily traveled roads are Flagg Road and State Route 38.