Old Settlers Association Of Rock Island County
Preliminary proceedings for the organization of an Old Settlers
Association were commenced on the 11th day of December, 1865, by notices
published in the Rock Island Argus and the Rock Island Union, calling a
meeting at Jacob Norris and Company's book store on the evening of
Wednesday, December 13, 1865, On that evening ten or twelve old settlers
assembled. Charles H. Case, esquire, was appointed chairman, and Major
Frazer Wilson, secretary. A committee on organization was appointed,
consisting of Jacob Norris, Doctor P. Gregg, William Bell, John H. Eby and
Daniel Beals.
January 10, 1866, the association was formed and named the Old Settlers
Association of Rock Island County. The meeting was held at the Court
House, and a constitution and by-laws adopted. An annual festival and
gathering was also ordered to be held, and all persons who were residents
of Rock Island County prior to December 31, 1845, or who married wives who
were in the County at that time, were eligible to membership, together
with their children or descendants. At this meeting thirty-four members
were enrolled. The first annual festival was held in Babcock's Hall in the
City of Rock Island, on Thursday, February 22, 1866. August 29, 1890, the
eligibility to membership was advanced from 1845 to 1850. August 27, 1895,
the association adopted a resolution advancing the eligibility to
membership from 1850 to 1855.
August 30, 1906, the constitution of the association was amended so that
all old settlers prior to December 31, 1845, should be eligible to
membership as "pioneers," and to so remain. As to the eligibility of an
"old settler," the time was extended to a date prior to December 31, 1860,
and be brought down one year each year thereafter. All actual members of
the Old Settlers Association prior to 1846 are considered as "pioneers,"
and only those are eligible to the presidency of the association.
The annual meetings for the election of officers were formerly held on the
first Mon-day in February of each year, and a social reunion and picnic on
each Fourth of July, and an annual supper on the 22nd of February -
Washington's Birthday. But later years the business meetings and reunions
are held in the Fall of the year, and at Black Hawk's Watch Tower. These
occasions are usually fraught with good cheer on the part of the old
settlers who assemble to renew their fellowships of "Auld Lang Syne," and
recall recollections of forty, fifty and sixty years ago, when Indians'
wigwams were more plentiful in this region than the cabins of white
settlers. There are few living, who remember those earliest days, as most
of the "pioneers" have passed away.
Early Settlements of Rock County
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908