Places

Elgin Township, Illinois

Elgin Township is a civil township in Kane County, Illinois, lying to the south and west of Dundee Township, Illinois. By the 1840s it had attracted settlers who had first put down roots in neighboring townships, and by the time of the 1878 county history it was home to established farming families with substantial landholdings.

History

The broader Kane County region, including Elgin Township, was settled largely by families migrating from the northeastern United States during the 1830s and 1840s. Many early arrivals entered the county through Dundee Township, Illinois before relocating to adjacent areas. Elgin Township appears to have received some of this secondary migration; according to The Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878), at least one Dundee Township settler, Cyrus H. Larkin, had moved to Elgin Township as early as 1841, just a few years after his family's initial arrival in Kane County in October 1837. (Source: Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878))

By the latter half of the nineteenth century, agricultural land in Elgin Township had grown considerably in value. The 1878 county history records landholdings of 500 acres or more among prominent residents, with such parcels valued at figures reaching $40,000 — a reflection of the township's developed agricultural character by the Gilded Age. (Source: Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878))

Notable Associations

Cyrus H. Larkin

Cyrus H. Larkin is among the earliest documented residents of Elgin Township with direct ties to Dundee Township, Illinois. Born May 20, 1830, in Waterville, Franklin County, Vermont, he came to Illinois with his parents in early childhood, the family settling in Dundee Township in October 1837. They removed to Elgin Township in 1841. By 1878 Larkin owned approximately 500 acres of land valued at $40,000 and had served two terms as a member of the Board of Supervisors for Elgin Township. He married Jane E. Johnson in 1854 (born January 1829; died May 2, 1874), and the couple had two children, May and Fred A. (Source: Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878))

David Longley

David Longley, farmer, wagon maker, and wheelwright, is mentioned in the 1878 county history in connection with the Elgin Township area. Born May 27, 1813, in the County of Kent, England, he came to Canada in 1828 and reportedly arrived in the Troy area approximately one year later. Further details of his connection to Elgin Township are not fully recorded in the available source. (Source: Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878))

Sources

  • The Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois (1878), available at archive.org. Cited as: past-and-present-of-kane-county-1878