Marshal Stark

The recent Sycamore Chamber of Commerce annual meeting heard a progression of speakers sounding a clarion call.  The message (coincidentally, it turned out, since none of the speakers had planned their remarks knowing what others were going to say) revolved around a common theme:  it’s important (and valuable) for people to pay attention to their local history.

And it is.  Learning about your forebears in the community you call home is more than just an exercise in nostalgia.  It’s actually a strange kind of alchemy; uncovering the stories of the people who once walked the ground that you now walk involves an important communion with those long vanished who impacted your life, whether you realize it or not.   Learning about them is both instructive and illuminating.  And when their stories become your stories, you truly -- and justly -- inherit their earth. Their stories shape yours – give you a place—that very ground—to walk.

So in that spirit, we have a story to tell you of one of Sycamore’s earliest pioneers.  Let’s put you in the moment.

We’re in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, and we’re watching a conversation between a newlywed couple.  It’s 1840, only three years after DeKalb County was first organized. The new husband is restless, talking about his travels “out west” to the wilderness of northern Illinois where he’d been engaged during the previous five or six years.  He’s telling his bride that he’s seen much in that territory that’s calling them.  He’s seen enough to know they can make a life there in a place that one day will be called “Sycamore.” 

But how do they get there?  A pamphlet published earlier that year, An Immigrant’s Guide to Travel, warned that the journey won’t be easy.  They can go one of two ways, using a variety of transportation. 

The northern route involves jumping on a canal boat at Elmira, NY to follow the Chemung Canal up to Watkins Glen.  Then, the Erie Canal will lead them out into the Great Lakes on a circuitous, thousand-mile journey.  Eventually they can get to Detroit and find a stagecoach to travel the Chicago Road heading west.  Once they make it to Chicago, they can choose either river portaging upon the Chicago and Des Plaines rivers, or sticking to dry land along the State Road running from Chicago through Elgin to Rockford, on its way to Galena. 

Or, there is the southern route.  Beginning by floating down the Susquehanna River, south to Harrisburg, they’ll then have to transfer all their worldly goods onto a Conestoga wagon or a stagecoach.  From there, they’ll set out across south central Pennsylvania via the Old State Road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, where they would load onto a boat to float or steam down the Ohio River.   Near Cairo, Illinois, they can swing up to the mighty Mississippi and take advantage of the new regular service running from St. Louis.  They can disembark in either Savannah or Galena.  Then it’s horseback riding through wilderness to arrive in their future home—the newly christened DeKalb County, Illinois, —and their future.

Which way would you choose? 

This young couple, Marshal and Louisa Stark, arrived on horseback, though we don’t know which route they took.  They built a life and a family (of ten children) on their farm north of town.  You are familiar with this farm; when you visit the DeKalb County History Museum you are standing on ground Marshal Stark assembled through land patent purchases from the federal government in the ensuing years between 1843 and 1850.  This farm has endured over the years, owned only by Stark’s family and one other (the Engh family) prior to its present public ownership.

We think it’s important (and valuable) for you to know about this local history, but we can only tease it here.  When you learn about Marshal Stark, you’ll find that he was probably DeKalb County’s first Sheriff.  You’ll learn he was an early member of the DeKalb County Board of Supervisors, served as County Assessor, County School Commissioner, and Sycamore Township Supervisor—all while running a lumber business and building a hotel. He shaped these important public positions without the benefit of footsteps to follow in or guide him.  Like a George Washington, he had to draw on his own skills, integrity, and insights in forging these roles, setting the example for those to follow. 

Stark was well recognized when his time was done.  “Few men will be more missed than he, or be more kindly remembered.  He was earnest, public spirited, liberal, and always thoughtful of the public welfare,” read his obituary.  When you walk in his footsteps, on the very ground he trod upon, may the alchemy work its magic to help you commune with history and claim your rightful inheritance.