First Marriages
The first marriage solemnized in the County, so far as the records
show, was by John W. Spencer, one of the County Commissioners, the parties
being James L. Burtis and Angeline Beardsley. The license was issued July
13, 1833, and the marriage ceremony immediately followed. The second
license was issued to Benjamin Goble and Barbary Vandruff, August 22,
1833. The third was issued April 1, 1834, to Adrian H. Davenport and
Harriet Sibley, who were married the same day by Colonel Davenport, County
Commissioner.
The first seven years of the County's legal existence, the issue of
marriage licenses stood as follows: In 1833, two; in 1834, three; in 1835,
six; in 1836, twenty-one; in 1837, eleven; in 1838, twenty-three; in 1839,
twenty-eight ; in 1840, thirty-three.
George L. Davenport was the first white child born in this section of the
country. He was-born on the island in 1817, and was the eldest son of
Colonel George Davenport.
Early Settlements of Rock County
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908