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Geneseo 1836

     To prepare for their new colony, eight families sent an exploring committee to Illinois to a chosen area. The committee of John C. Ward, Cromwell K. Bartlett and Roderick R. Stewart left May of 1836. In Chicago they met Judge Ford, Later to become Illinois' Governor, who advised them to come to this tract of land where the soil was good and the price cheap. The men that came to brandenburg's Tavern, later named the town of Dayton, in what is now Colona Township. There they met a young southerner, James Allen, who had come north to buy land. He was interested in the New York Committee and asked to join the colony.
     Early in June the three men, joined by Mr. Allen and a surveyor rode eastward across the prairie along the Green River, and then southward to this spot.
     They surveyed and decided to buy forty acres for the village. the first stake was driven in about one hundred feet south of the new city park. The men set apart a block for the "public square" (our city park) and lots for the school, church and parsonage. Later at Brandenburg's Tavern they made arrangements with some men to build two cabins, turn some prairie sod and cut hay in preparation for the colonists' arrival in the fall. Next they went to the land office in Galena and June 14th entered the sections of land they had chosen. They then returned to New York and made their report. The move would be made in the fall.
     Geneseo's present Congregational Church was organized in South Bergen on September 13th, 1836. They had decided that they should covenant with God and with one another before going forth on their journey. They were organized into a Free Congregational Church to be located in the place chosen by the committee. The Roderick Stewarts living in Geneseo New York some distance from Bergen were unable to attend the meeting, but they virtually formed a part of the original church. "Free Congregational Church" meant everyone was welcome and no one had to pay to sit in a pew for services.

MOVING WEST!

     The next day, after organizing, preparations for moving began, and six days later five of the families started on the journey west. Thy were the Elisha Cones, the Rueben Cones, the Cromwell K. Bartletts, the Wm Culver Bartletts and the Roderick R. Stewarts - 38 in all. The Wards, the Manvilles and the Rev. Wilcox came with the next year or two.
     The group started out on September 19th with four horse drawn covered wagons and one carriage. They went by way of Niagara Falls and Canada. Sundays were always used for rest and church. The roads were bad and the weather poor. They would set their bread on the foot warmer under the feather beds to rise if the warmer wasn't needed to keep the children warm. The foot warmer is on display at the museum.
     After they entered Michigan and Detroit, the roads were extremely poor. The axle tree on the Stewart wagon broke. Since it would take quite a while to fix, the two Bartlett families decided to go on to Illinois. They went by way of Joliet, Princeton and Wethersfield, and then to Brandenburg's Tavern where they arrived November 3rd. The cabins they had arranged for the previous summer had not been built do to the illness of the men who had been hired. Undismayed the Bartlett men and one of the women proceeded to the new town location and pitched tents in the grove to the south near what we call the Geneseo Creek. Because the winter was near, they decided to build their cabins by the grove where logs were available. Far away neighbors came to help. A D.A.R. marker today is near the site of those first two cabins.
     Pack in Michigan the rest of the party made their wagon repairs and continued westward. They had a difficult time in the swamps of northern Indiana. The children clung with fear to their mothers, but at last dry land was reached. This group also came by way of Princeton, a small village. It was decided to leave the women and children there with some settlers while the men came on to prepare the cabins.
     When This Group wit Mr. Stewart's daughter, Narcissa Arrived here on December 19th, they found the Bartletts finishing their cabins near the creek. The men immediately set to work building the first cabin on town lots for the Elisha Cones. This cabin was finished January 28th, 1837 in very cold, snowy weather. They had not returned by dark, and Narcissa became worried. She climbed a ladder to the roof and swung a lantern that guided the party to their new home. The whole group was together again four months and four days after leaving New York.