Arlington Hts. first family sought shelter in Deer Grove

Arlington Heights’ first family didn’t spend its first Christmas on the new homestead they had chosen when they came into this area in March 1836.

According to village historian Daisy Daniels, the Dunton family found their claim on the prairie too exposed to the elements their first winter. They were forced by heavy weather to bundle up the necessities they had brought with them from Oswego, N.Y., and cozy up in Deer Grove.

“Cozy” is probably too much of an exaggeration for a winter in any cabin. But at least, protected from the elements by Deer Grove’s trees, they had refuge from wintry winds. And they could put their hands on a generous supply of fallen timber to burn for warmth.

It was too cold to stay on their claim precisely because they had chosen land with no trees. Earlier settlers had chosen to live in the wooded areas of Wheeling and Elk Grove, but, according to Daisy Daniels, Asa Dunton opted for the excellent soil and the advantage of well-drained higher ground on the open prairie.

So he filed three claims on high ground, 160 acres for himself, 160 acres for his son William, and 160 acres for his son James. The cost was $1.25 an acre.

People who could live on open prairie or in dense woods with few tools or machines had to be resourceful. Early settlers found that the fertile land of northeast Illinois was tough to penetrate. When they couldn’t dig holes to plant their corn, or even breach the soil with their primitive plows, they used hatchets to make holes for the seed corn.

A story that William Dunton’s wife Almeda told at the 1885 Old Settlers’ Reunion illustrates resourcefulness as well as any I know. She described their wedding at her parents’ small cabin in Plum Grove and their move into the house of dressed lumber that William had built for the newlyweds.

When they decided that they wanted to visit William’s family in DuPage County, 35 or 40 miles south of William’s claim in what would be Arlington Heights, Almeda and William had a horse, but no carriage.

As she told the old settlers gathered to hear the stories, “My husband went to the grove and cut two long poles, hewed them off, bent up one end in the shape of a sled runner and fastened them some way.”

He had made what was called a “jumper.”

“But,” Almeda continued, “we had no box. We took a dry goods box, fastened it to the jumper, made a seat inside, so it was quite nice.”

The weather being pleasant, they made the trip to the elder Duntons in one long day.

Returning, they ran into mist and then a hard rain. “So the first house we came to we asked if we could stay the night.” Dinner was corn cake and coffee, with popcorn for dessert.

“We started early the next morning. Oh, how rough the roads, or rather the prairie was — there were no roads to speak of. We got home the same night, cold and tired and hungry.”