A couple of weeks ago, I explained how Kendall County came to be established in February 1841.
In order to make up the county’s total of nine townships, the Illinois General Assembly took three of Kane County’s townships – Little Rock, Bristol and Oswego – and combined them with six of LaSalle County’s townships – NaAuSay, Kendall, Fox, Big Grove, Lisbon and Seward.
In Illinois, townships are both geographical and political entities. Geographical townships were created under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, defined as a square area comprised of 36 sections of land, each totaling 640 acres, a square mile. In the late 1830s, teams of U.S. Government surveyors measured northern Illinois, physically marking the corners of every square-mile section. The maps created from the surveyors’ notes and measurements were then used to sell land to newly arriving settlers.
In 1841, Kendall County’s nine townships were not officially named. Township government did not exist. Instead, all of Illinois’ counties were governed by three elected county commissioners, the system used in southern states, where virtually all of Illinois’ earliest American settlers came from. It wasn’t until settlement accelerated in northern Illinois with the arrival of thousands of settlers from New England and Middle States such as New York that residents started to agitate for township-style county government like they’d had in their old homes.
When a new Illinois Constitution was adopted in 1848, it included a provision allowing the General Assembly to pass a law permitting township government. That law was approved by the General Assembly in 1849, and counties all over the northern part of the state started replacing their county commissions with boards of township supervisors. Originally, when Kendall adopted township government as soon as the law allowed in 1849, the County Board was comprised of the elected township supervisors from each of the county’s nine townships.
With the creation of elected township boards came the need to officially name each township. Kendall’s nine townships had been considered voting precincts, each of which had an informal precinct name. Taxpayers built a precinct house in each precinct that was used for a variety of public purposes, from schools to polling places and sometimes churches.
So, elections were held and the townships (mostly) got their present names. Here are the stories behind those names, starting in the northwest corner of the county and working south.
Little Rock Township: Little Rock is named after the creek that runs through the township, as well as for the once-booming hamlet of Little Rock in the extreme northwestern corner of the township, which existed for several years before the city of Plano was created by Marcus Steward.
Bristol Township: Early settler Lyman Bristol gave his name to this township. Originally, the north side of Yorkville was a separate village named after Bristol, as well. And when the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad came through in the early 1850s, a station on the road 2 1/2 miles away from Bristol was called Bristol Station, today’s village of Bristol.
Oswego Township: The village of Oswego originally was named Hudson after the river in New York near where so many of its earliest settlers lived. The village was renamed Oswego (after the New York city) in 1837, and in 1849 gave its name to Oswego Township.
NaAuSay Township: The name for this township was taken from the name of a former Native American village in the township mentioned in the Treaty of 1829. The name, according to the Rev. E.W. Hicks’ 1877 history of the county, means “Headwaters of the Au Sable.”
Kendall Township: Kendall Township, the county’s most central, was named after the county itself. Yorkville, in Kendall Township, was picked as the county seat in 1841. In 1845, voters decided to move it to Oswego, but then voted in 1859 to move it back to Yorkville. The county records were moved to the new county courthouse in June 1864, where they have remained ever since.
Fox Township: When it came time to pick a name, this township’s voters decided to name it after the Fox River that runs through a considerable portion of it.
Big Grove Township: As I’ve noted in previous columns, timber was important to the early settlers as sources of building materials, as well as for firewood, manufacturing maple syrup and other activities. Big Grove, a stand of mixed hardwoods covering about 3 square miles, gave its name to the county. Only remnants of the huge grove still exist today
Lisbon Township: The village of Lisbon was reportedly named by one of its founders, New York native John Moore. Tradition says the name was given to make the village stand out from others in the region, and it’s possible Moore named it after the capital of Portugal. But there’s a Lisbon, New York, located near the St. Lawrence River northeast of Watertown, so that could be the origin of the name. When the township was established, voters chose the name of the existing village.
Seward Township: Another township with a heavy population of native New Yorkers, this township was named Franklin, after Benjamin Franklin. It also was reportedly the name of the voting precinct the new township covered. And, in fact, in the 1850 U.S. Census, the township’s name is given as Franklin. But another Franklin Township with a larger population also existed not far away in DeKalb County. So to avoid confusion, voters decided to change the name to Seward, honoring New York’s popular anti-slavery former governor, William H. Seward. Seward served two, two-year terms as governor and was elected one of New York’s U.S. senators in 1849. As a result, his name was in the news again just at the time when voters were looking to choose a township name to replace Franklin.
Today, township supervisors no longer serve as County Board members. Instead, board members are elected from the county’s two districts. But Kendall’s townships are still with us, their names hearkening back to a time when settlement was fairly new on the prairies along the Fox River.
• Interested in more local history? Visit http://historyonthefox.wordpress.com.