The Daily Chronicle from De Kalb, Illinois • Page 33

From Gurler Chronicles Industry transition followed Civil War W. C. Garrard, secretary Judge Ft. S. Farrand 7 I The increased production of new equipment and manufactured products was matched by the spread of sales from the local area to a national and in some cases international market.

The individual inventors and entrepreneurs received wide recognition for the contributions to agriculture. In 1870 Charles W. Marsh demonstrated three harvesters in Europe and won in a competition among ten machines. Henry Gurler was asked the by the' United States Department of Agriculture to send samples of certified milk to a Paris Exposition. To the amzement of all, the milk arrived in good condition without refrigeration.

Gurler was awarded a gold medal. He also became a leader in establishing departmentsof agriculture in several universities. George Gurler, his brother, was active in the State Dairy Association, on which he served a term as president. Glidden, Ellwood and Haish were widely acclaimed for their successful invention of barbed wire. These industrial enterprises that changed the dominant occupations and social relationships in prairie towns were themselves subject to change.

Some were unsuccessful as in the failure of the Marsh plant in Sycamore. Some were sold to outside corporations, as with the Glidden and Ellwood manufac-. turing company. Some moved to other locations or were replaced by more improved products. Nevertheless the manufacturing boom of the 1860s and later.resulted in numerous changes in DeKalb and other small cities.

None became great metropolitan centers but none remained strictly local agricultural villages. New industries some Continued on page 16 vention was barbed wire. Jacob Haish used the second floor of his lumber shop to make barbed wire. Joseph Glidden devised barbed wire and the method of making it in his farm kitchen and thought of the wire only for use on his own farm. When Isaac Ellwood bought part of Glidden's enterprise the partners at first rented a building in DeKalb, but within a year sales enabled them to construct a brick factory.

Not only the size of the factory but the number of workmen increased, from a hundred to a hundred and fifty, working around the clock. Another agricultural-related industry was the expansion and diversafica-tion of the dairy business with inventions that converted milk into products that could be kept longer and shipped further than milk. Butter and cheese were early made on the farm and sold locally through village stores. The railroad increased the distance that dairy products could be shipped and the growth of cities stimulated new industries and moved the manufacture of butter and cheese from the farm to the factory. The first cheese factory in Illinois was opened in 1863 in Elgin.

Unfortunately the quality of cheese was reduced as the market expanded and in consequence the industry declined. In 1865 Gail Borden began the manufacture of condensed milk in Elgin. Creameries collected milk from farmers and made it available to urban users and to factories. In DeKalb County, Henry and George Gurler owned a string of creameries. Later Henry Gurler gave his full attention to production of certified milk, produced under extremely sanitary conditions on his farm and in demand in Chicago for infants and invalids.

In time it was replaced by pasteurized milk. i Judge A. A. Goodrich, president Alfred Baylis, state superintendent These members ol the board of trustees, Northern Illinois State Normal School, were pictured in the Dec. Charles E.

Deere 23, 1899, edition of the "DeKalb Chronicle Illustrated Souvenir." 1 3th system in state Transition To Industry ThoPost-Ovil War Ytors The 1860s and 1870s were marked by the transition from emphasis on agriculture to the develop-ment of the urban-industrial organization of the United States. Chicago and other midwestern cities recognized that future prosperity lay, not in trade as in the past, but in manufacturing. Large sums of capital were invested, power-driven tools replaced hand tools, and factories brought mass production. Products previously made at home or in the artisan's shop were made in factories. The family or craftsman with his assitant gave way to workingmen bound to their jobs by economic agreements, working under the direction of foremen and managers.

As industry grew in economic importance and population began to shift toward cities, the importance of farming for the economy and as mode of life declined but not without a struggle. Advocates of farming extolled the virtues of the farm as the ideal place to live and rear children. The Grange urged the superiority of agriculture over industry. Nevertheless, industry and city life gained in prestige, popular appeal, and economic value and by 1900 the transition had Village Industries Small cities shared in the industrial development. Gross wrote: "The year 1867 was noted as one in which manufacturing establishments were first erected in the county.

The people of Sandwich established a stock company with a capital of 875,000, which in the following year was increased to $150,000, for the manufacture of agricultural A flax mill, foundry and cheese factory were started at Sycamore; a planing mill and manufactory for doors, sash, and blinds at DeKalb, and a large flouring mill at the rapidly growing village of Malta." Similar small factories dotted all the counties. The National Market Inventive men were devising new equipment to solve problems peculiar to prairie agriculture. Some of the equipment was for local use. In time, major inventions, perhaps built on earlier ones, were nationally accepted. The inventors were not trained engineers, but local men who in their daily work had confronted the stubborn obstacles to efficient farming the tough sod, the large acreage to be planted and harvested, and the destruction wrought by roving live stock.

John Deere who invented the improved plow was a blacksmith whose work included reaDirs to farm machinery. Among later inventors, the Marsh brothers who invented an improved harvester were farmers. Three men invented a usable barbed wire: Jacob Haish ran a lumber yard and was well aware of the ease with which cattle could break down rail fences; Joseph Glidden was a farmer; and Isaac Ellwood was a merchant serving the farm community. The early stages of invention and testing were carried out individually by the inventor, who moved in a few years from artisan to executive of a large manufacturing plant. Deere, who began work in bis balcksmith shop, later moved his work to a large factory in Moline.

Charles and William Marsh as young farmers greatly im- roved the reaper; they uilt their first harvester in 1858 with the help of a blacksmith and tried it on their farm. It came into general use only in the War period, heir first factory was in Piano, with a later one (1869) in Sycamore, a controlling interest in which was sold in 1876 and which failed in 1884. Another spectacular in i Waterworks installed in 1 870's The Sensible Solution The sensible solution to the problem of cure for the elderly and the chronically ill is Pine Acres Retirement where interests und needs ure given special attention. The dedicated staff work together to provide quality care, meaningful activities, balanced meals, safe surroundings, and professional medical care. A system of waterworks was installed early in the history of DeKalb.

In about 1872 or 1875 a well was dug in Huntley Park and a system of mains was laid. This water-works system is said to be the 13th svstem to be installed in the state of Illinois. A windmill was used tor pumping and a round tank on stilts was built for a reservoir. This equipment served until a steam pump was installed and the windmill sold in September, 1886. Due to the demand for water for a growing population, a standpipe was authorized to be erected in Huntley Park on Feb.

12, 1889. This measure and all of the following ordinances of the city council pertaining to the standpipe passed by a majority of one The standpipe was finished on Sept. 20, 1889, and the opposition claimed it could not be filled. The city engineer turned on the pumps and after six days had the 242,000 gallon tank overflowing. It served its time and was replaced by a new elevated tank on July 2, 1952.

The Huntley Park tank was drained Oct. 30, 1952, 61 years after its completion. In 1951 and 1952 extensions to the system were made costing $550,000. Pine Acres Retirement Center 1 2 1 2 South Second Street DeKalb, IllinoU 601 15 Medicare Certified City water works (From the Dec. 22, 1894 "DeKalb Chronicle Illustrated Souvenir" edition) WurliTzer-Pianos Organs We Salute the City of DeKalb on its 125 th fi4 lit! fe Janssen Greene Music Phone: 815756-2829 124 South 4th St.

Downtown DeKalb Anniversary. IIP Sfer from The DeKalb County Building Trades PIANO TUNING SHEET MUSIC BAND ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENT SALES 4 RENTALS SELMER BACH SERVICE ir di I UP VIUSUI DLJU1 I HITInnn CALL- LUDWIG-SLImGERLO ARMSTR0NG-H0LTGN FREE ADULT GROUP ORGAN LESSONS COMPLETE UNE OF ACCESSORIES 756-2829 124S.4THST. DEKALB 758-8583 DeKalb 125 Years with Wurlitzer, now breaking tradition with Wurlitjer's New Vertical Grand! 306 E. LOCUST DEKALB, ILL..