Celebrating the Fourth of July

Waukegan Weekly Gazette, July 7, 1877. 

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted for independence from Great Britain. The vote was publicly announced two days later on July 4, prompting celebrations and fireworks. The first organized observance of the Fourth took place a year later in Philadelphia, and the custom of celebrating Independence Day and our democracy quickly spread to other towns. 

The tradition was brought to Lake County, Illinois by non-Native settlers from the northeastern United States. Many of those settlers had fathers, uncles and older brothers who had fought in the Revolutionary War.

Lake County became home to two Revolutionary War veterans—Henry Collins of Massachusetts and Reuben Hill of Connecticut.

Henry Collins marker, Mount Rest Cemetery. Photo: CVal 2021. Reuben Hill marker, Wauconda Cemetery. Photo: Cindy Graff 2015. 

Collins (1763–1847) enlisted at the age of 13 and served in Captain Newton’s Company and Colonel Cushing’s Regiment. He moved to British Columbia, Canada, and then came to Lake County with his son, Edward Henry Collins and his family, settling in Rosecrans. Reuben Hill (1765–1858) came west with his son, Seth Hill and his family in 1844 and settled in Wauconda by 1845. Hill served from 1780–1783 with the 4^th New York Regiment and fought at the Battle Yorktown (September–October 1781). From 1926–1928, the Daughters of the American Revolution marked the veterans’ graves to ensure their service to the nation would be remembered.

Waukegan Weekly Gazette, July 1, 1882.

The first recorded Fourth of July celebration in Lake County took place in Vardin's Grove (today's Libertyville) in 1836—sixty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. A handful of settlers gathered to celebrate the day, and erected a tall wooden pole known as a "liberty pole" and named their community, Independence Grove. 

In 1840, Antioch celebrated their first Fourth. At the time, Lake County was home to just 2,634 residents. 

Hiram Butrick (1811–1886) of Massachusetts was given the honor of reading the Declaration. He was likely chosen because he built a sawmill on Sequoit Creek in 1839, which helped the community prosper.

Elijah M. Haines (1822–1889), politician, historian, and founder of Hainesville, also attended the Antioch celebration. He wrote that the day was celebrated “with a barbeque” and that “a good band of martial music was in attendance to give life and spirit to the occasion.”

Recollections of July 4, 1844, Waukegan Daily Sun, July 3, 1918.

In 1844, a Fourth of July picnic was held between Third Lake and Druce Lake west of today’s Route 45. About 100 people attended, including the county’s first African American settler, Amos Bennett, and his family. The celebratory picnic dinner featured fish chowder and pumpkin pie. Also in attendance was a 13-year old Benjamin Franklin Shepard (1831–1920) of Massachusetts, whose parents proudly named him for one of the nation’s founders.

A log wagon festooned with American flags provided a decorative and patriotic speakers’ stand. Reverend William B. Dodge (1782–1869) of the Millburn Congregational Church offered a prayer for the freedom of the enslaved men and women in this “free and enlightened” nation. Nathaniel P. Dowst (1817–1854) of Waukegan read the Declaration of Independence.

For more on Rev. Dodge see my post: Reverend Dodge and the Anti-Slavery Movement

Fourth of July celebration announcement. Waukegan Weekly Gazette, July 29, 1861.

The start of the American Civil War in April 1861 magnified Lake County’s patriotism. That year the Fourth was celebrated with exuberance in Waukegan “as never celebrated before.” An advertisement for the event noted that “The bells of the city will be rung.”

Since the Fourth landed on a Thursday, the organizers announced that “everybody in the county is invited and particularly the Public Schools, accompanied by their teachers.” 

There was a large procession from the courthouse at 9 am, and all those on horseback and in carriages were invited to join. Merchants also agreed to close their shops so everyone could attend the festivities.

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, a large Fourth of July gathering was held at Druce Lake. Susie Smith (1839-1914) of Millburn noted in her diary, “Hurrah: What a 4th of July we are going to have to day.” Coincidentally, the celebration took place near the site where Amos Bennett and Rev. Dodge had gathered with their neighbors over two decades before.

Announcement for the Fourth of July gathering at Druce Lake. Waukegan Weekly Gazette, June 24, 1865.

For Smith this gathering was much more than a commemoration of the nation’s birth. It was a community celebration for the return of the soldiers, including her brother, George. She wrote: “O, so thankfully … by our sides sat those brave hero boys who, one year ago, were engaged amid the din and cloud of battle fighting for their much-loved country … [they] sang with us again beneath our own ‘Star Spangled Banner.’"

Susie Smith's handwritten account of the 4th of July gathering at Druce Lake in 1865. Dunn Museum 93.45.290.

"The Rays" newsletter masthead for July, 1943. Ray Brothers Resort, Diamond Lake. Dunn Museum, 96.1.50

Celebrate America's 250th at the Lake County Forest Preserves: www.LCFPD.org/250

D. Dretske, Curator, ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources:
Lake County History Archives, Bess Bower Dunn Museum, Libertyville, Illinois www.LCFPD.org/museum
Ancestry.com

Newspapers.com
“Only Revolution Soldier Buried in Lake County Joined When 13 Years Old,” Waukegan Daily Sun, August 17, 1911.
“Grave of Hero of 1776 Found in Lake County,” Waukegan Daily Sun, June 1, 1926.
“Another Grave of Revolutionary Veteran Located,” Waukegan Daily Sun, June 3, 1926.
“To Unveil Marker, Henry Collins’ Grave,” Waukegan Daily Sun, June 9, 1928.
Haines, Elijah M. Historical and Statistical Sketches, of Lake County, State of Illinois. Waukegan: E.G. Howe, 1852.
“Tells of First 4^th Celebration Here 74 Years Ago,” Waukegan Daily Sun, July 3, 1918.
“The Day We Celebrate! The Fourth at Waukegan,” Waukegan Weekly Gazette, June 29, 1861.
“4^th of July at Druce’s Lake,” Waukegan Weekly Gazette, June 24, 1865.
Susannah “Susie” Smith Diary, Bess Bower Dunn Museum.

"The Rays," newsletter, July 1943. Bess Bower Dunn Museum. 

Revolutionary War Veterans

In 1928, the Daughters of the American Revolution designated two Revolutionary War veterans buried in Lake County–Henry Collins and Reuben Hill.

"Battle of Lexington" April 19, 1775.
Postcard circa 1910, Curt Teich Postcard Archives G1274.

The American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) was the culmination of a political revolution in which the thirteen united former British colonies rejected the right of Great Britain’s Parliament to govern them and formed a Continental Army to fight for independence.

Henry Collins (1763 – 1847) was born in Southborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He enlisted from Southborough on March 3, 1781, at the age of 16 years and 10 months, when a levy was placed on the town to supply a number of men for the army.

These men were mustered in at Sutton, Massachusetts. Henry served in a company commanded by Captain Sewall in the regiment commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Sprout (1752–1805). From Sutton the regiment was marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and from there to West Point.

Portrait of Ebenezer Sproat (aka Sprout), from "History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts," by Thomas Weston, 1906.

Henry Collins served his two year enlistment in the same regiment, and was discharged at West Point in December 1783 at the end of the war. Collins' discharge was signed by General Henry Knox.

After the war, Collins lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Canada. In 1832, he returned from Canada to Vermont where he applied for a war pension. He was placed on the pension rolls of Vermont at the rate of $80 per year.

In 1844, Collins moved to Lake County, Illinois with his son Joseph H. Collins. They settled on land in Newport Township along Edwards Road east of Hunt Club Road.

On April 10, 1847, Henry Collins died and became the first burial at Mount Rest Cemetery. The cemetery is located just south of the State Line on the Skokie Road. His son Joseph left Lake County in 1855 and re-settled in Iowa.

In 1964, the American Legion Post of Gurnee added a new marker to his grave which mistakenly stated that Collins was the “only American Revolutionary Service Man buried in Lake County.”

Reuben Hill (1765 - 1858) was born in Goshen, Connecticut. While living in New York State, he enlisted in the fall of 1780, at the age of fifteen, with Captain Shaw’s Company. He enlisted twice more with different companies and was discharged as a private on January 1, 1783. In 1834, he successfully applied for a military pension.

About 1840, Reuben's son, Seth Hill, purchased property in Wauconda Township, Lake County. It is probable that the entire family, including Reuben and his wife Patience, came west at that time. In the 1850 census, Reuben and Patience, both aged 85, are living with their son's family. The family farm was in Section 25, along Route 176, south of Bangs Lake.

The Hills are buried at the Wauconda Cemetery.

I came across one more mention of a Revolutionary War veteran. The Biddlecome School History (Newport Township), written in 1918 by students, lists Oded Eddy as a veteran having "served seven years" in the war. However, Oded never lived in Lake County.

Elijah Eddy, grandson of Revolutionary War veteran, Oded Eddy.

Oded Eddy (senior) was the grandfather of Newport Township settler, road commissioner, and Biddlecome School director, Elijah Eddy (1821-1902). I believe the children mentioned Oded on their list of veterans, simply because of the connection to their school's former director.

Oded served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army from 1776 to 1778 (and not for seven years as the children stated). He died in Oneida, NY in 1825.

The Great Anniversary Festival

John Adams, the second president of the United States, declared, “I believe that [the Fourth] will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

This postcard (circa 1930) is a view of the Battle of Concord, April 19, 1775 diorama once featured at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) was the culmination of a political revolution in which the thirteen united former British colonies rejected the right of Great Britain’s Parliament to govern them and formed a Continental Army to fight for independence.

Though the war began in 1775, our nation's independence is dated to July 4, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

In 1776, small celebrations, including toasts to the new nation were made, but the first official celebration was held July 4, 1777 in Philadelphia. The custom spread to other towns quickly and included parades, games, military displays, and fireworks.

The first Fourth of July celebration in Lake County, Illinois, was held in 1844 at the confluence of Second and Third Lakes, in today’s Village of Third Lake. Nearly 100 people gathered from neighboring communities, including Nathaniel Vose, who acted as the celebration’s “marshal,” Amos Bennett and his family who were the first African American settlers in the county, and Reverend Dodge of the Millburn Congregational Church.

David Gilmore, a settler from Massachusetts, made chowder, and other families brought pumpkin pie (made from pumpkins harvested and dried the previous fall), sorrel pies, and seed cakes.

After the meal was eaten, Reverend Dodge gave a prayer for the freedom of the slaves in the South, and Nat Doust read a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Since there were no fire crackers or fireworks, but people wanted a bit of noise to celebrate, B.F. Shepherd said, several boys “got hold of a little powder, wet it and filled some wild goose quills… when they were touched with a live coal they would go around in all directions.”

Two Revolutionary War veterans are buried in Lake County. Henry Collins (1763-1847) served in Massachusetts from 1781 to 1783, and is buried in the Mount Rest Cemetery in Newport Township. Reuben Hill (1765-1858) served in New York State from 1780 to 1783, and is buried in the Wauconda Cemetery.

(Postcards in this post, unless otherwise noted, are circa 1905 - 1915)