Mchenry County history

McHenry County History

The first people known to have come to the Harvard area were nomadic
Amerindians of the Paleo era who arrived more than 7,000 years ago. They were
hunters and roamed the land. About 5,000 years ago, hunters of the Archair
ear created the first community life style similar to the present one. They
became villagers, and they developed industry through the manufacture of
pottery, bows and arrows, and farming through the cultivation of squash,
pumpkin and corn.
In the year that the first white settler, established his trading posts here,
the year of 1829, Winnebago Indians deeded Illinois to the white man. In
1832, the legendary Chief Black Hawk surrendered to the white armies.
>From that time on, settlement came fast to this area. It was not entirely a
peaceful transition, for while the Indian wars were largely over in the
Midwest, immigrants of different nationalities had their confrontations, too.
The early days were not easy ones for the Germans, Norwegians, Swedes and
particularly the Irish who settled these communities.
There was even inter-village rivalries. At one time, the village of Lawrence
had three doctors, three grocery stores and a hotel, but when the village of
Harvard won an intense competition with Lawrence to become the area's
railroad center, many buildings, businesses and homes were moved from
Lawrence to Harvard. There was even a bit of horse thievery hereabouts, and a
group of citizens got together to put a stop to it.