October 18 & 21, 1911 - DeKalb County Superintendent of Schools Report of the Schools of DeKalb County.

For the school year July 1, 1910 - June 30, 1911 the True Republican printed the results from the Superintendent of Schools report.      The report was published in two parts.    Part one appeared at the end of the supervisors proceedings of DeKalb county in the October 18, 1911 edition of the paper on page 6.

The final portion of the report appeared in The True Republican October 21, 1911 edition on page 6.

October 30, 1897 - Browne school north DeKalb county bible society

The north DeKalb county bible society meeting at the Browne school was announced on the front page of the October 30, 1896 edition of The True Republican.

November 14th at 2:30pm was the scheduled time for the meeting.

1876 - DeKalb county map, Illinois school attendance and the educational system

In 1876, Warner and Beers published "Atlas of the State of Illinois, to which are added various general maps, history, statistics and illustrations".

Below is Milan township taken from the larger map of DeKalb county.   The Browne school is located in the upper right hand corner in Section 1.     William Browne's home is located in Section 11.     

Below is the map of DeKalb county, including the towns of Sycamore and Sandwich.   Yorkville and Bristol are communities located in Kendall county.

The 1876 atlas included statistics for school attendance and literacy rates in the United States and its territories taken from the 1870 US Census.    Unfortunately a breakdown of rural schools was not included.

Below is a biennial report from the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Honorable Newton Bateman.  The report is broken down into Territorial Divisions, The Schools, The Teachers, The Pupils and The School Funds.    Also included are the other areas of education:   Universities and other institutions where education is available.

Below is an overlay of the 1876 DeKalb county map with a current map of the area.

The population of Milan township in 1860 was 262, three years after the founding of the township in 1857.   The population had grown to 857 by 1870.

1871 - Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map

The plat maps for the county of DeKalb, Illinois were updated in 1871.    

The lower portion of the Table of Contents lists the symbols which helps differentiate between churches and schools. 

The list of county officers and supervisors lists Milan township's first supervisor, Lewis McEwen who began his position in 1857.

The county map shows all 18 townships in existence as of 1871.

The Milan township plat map lists the rural schools numbered from 1 - 9.   The Browne school, Milan Township District #1 is located in Section 1 in the upper right hand corner of the map.

As you can see, Richard Pearse (R Pierce) owned the property surrounding the Browne school, which he had sold, then repurchased.   The portion owned by Benjamin Gould (B.S. Gould) had been sold by the Lock family to Lyman Truman on February 3, 1870, the same day as Richard Pearse had repurchased the area surrounding the Browne school.    

On March 1, 1870, Lyman Truman signed a contract with Benjamin Gould which is why (B.S. Gould) shows as the landowner north of Richard Pearse.

I do not know the reason the Milan Township District #1 received the name Browne School but it may have been for two reasons:

1) Richard Pearse and William Browne were the only original* owners of the properties around the Browne School in 1871.    William purchased his property September 26, 1853; the property in section 11 owned by Nathaniel Browne was transferred to him from his brother sometime between 1853 and 1871.

2) William Browne had school age children living near the school at the time, John, Grace and Elizabeth.

Richard Pearse, wife Mary and their son Charles moved to Malta after having sold the portion of the land that contained a residence.   Charles would have attended a school in Milan township.   The other landowners surrounding the Browne school, Russell Huntley, Simon Duryee and James A. Hodge were not living on their respective properties in 1871 and would not have had children attending the Browne school.

1871 was also the year of the Great Chicago Fire.

1868 - Milan township and DeKalb County, Illinois: Plat Maps

I had previously posted plat maps for Milan township in DeKalb county, Illinois:

-July 24, 1843    This map shows the plots for Milan township, however it would not become a recognized township until 1857.

-1850 DeKalb County townships and the 1860 Milan township plat map

The next township I have been able to locate was from 1868.

1868 Milan township plat map

The Browne school would be built in the upper right corner in the southwest corner of section 1.  This map was produced 3 years after the purchase of the lot by The School Trustees of the town of Milan, County of DeKalb and State of Illinois.    I still have not been able to confirm the date of construction for the rural schoolhouse and this plat map does not include any of the schools that had been built by 1868.

Here is the full plat map for all townships located in DeKalb county as of 1868:

Northern Portion - Milan township

Southern Portion - Milan township

The above maps were included in the original printing of 'History of DeKalb County, Illinois' by Boies, Henry L. (Henry Lamson), 1830-1887, published in 1868.   Subsequent printings of the book did not include the county plat maps.

1857 - Milan township is born

In 1868, Henry L. Boies wrote 'History of DeKalb County, Illinois' published by O.P. Bassett, Chicago, Illinois.     This history was written 11 years after Milan township was formed from the southern portion of Malta township and the northern portion of Shabbona township.   

Town Histories:   Milan  

I mentioned the date the township was formed in my second entry.    This account written in 1868 is more credible than the Wikipedia entry for the township having been formed February 23, 1858, which lacked substantiating evidence.     

If you are interested in reading Henry Boies' book, you may find a copy here and even have the option to choose what format you wish to download if you would like a copy.

December 15, 1855 - Warranty Deed

The first document I have encountered transferring the portion of the property where the Browne school would eventually be built was dated December 15, 1855.   This warranty deed transferred the property from Edwin Pearse to his father, Richard Pearse.

The property was purchased by Richard for $355.77 transferring 3 plots of Section 1 of Township 39, Range 3 east:

- 163 28/100 acres of the southwest 1/4
- 80 50/100 acres of the east 1/2 of the northwest 1/4 
- 40 83/100 acres of the west 1/2 of the northeast 1/4

The southwest corner of the first plot listed above would be carved out for the Browne school.   The legal description of that portion of land would be defined as:

The West 12 rods of the South 10 rods of the Southwest Quarter of Section 1, Township 39 North, Range 3, East of the Third Principal Meridian in DeKalb County, Illinois, also described as follows:  Commencing at the corner stone of the Southwest corner of Section 1, Township 39 North, Range 3 East of the Third Principal Meridian, and running thence East 12 rods; thence North 10 rods; thence West 12 rods; thence South 10 rods; to the place of beginning, situated in the County of DeKalb and State of Illinois.

July 13, 1787 - The Northwest Ordinance

Following the American Revolution, the Congress of the Confederation of the United States established the Northwest Territory on July 13, 1787.       Prior to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Northwest Territory includes what is now often referred to as the upper midwest.

Known as 'An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio', the newly founded government's action opened the door for settlement of the territory encompassed by the area that would eventually become the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and the eastern portion of Minnesota.

Page 1

Page 2

The 3rd article (page 2) provided a guideline for establishing education and religion in the new territory.

Two years earlier, the Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for a grid system of townships to divide up the territory.   A plat map for DeKalb county, Illinois from July 24, 1843 can be found on the Federal Township Plats of Illinois (1804 - 1891) by clicking here. 

In 1850, the grid system provided DeKalb county with 13 townships.

1850 - DeKalb county, Illinois township map

By 1860 the plat map for DeKalb county shows the county had grown from 13 to 18 townships.  Sandwich township would eventually be split in two, creating a 19th township, Somonauk.

1860 - DeKalb county, Illinois township map

This grid system explains why the area is broken into one square mile blocks as shown on a plat map.

1860 - Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map

The Browne school, yet to be built, would eventually be located in the southwest corner of section 1, owned by Richard Pearse.    The plat map spelled Richard's last name as Pierce; according to his descendants the last name was legally changed to Pierce after arriving in the United States from England.   William Browne, for whom the Browne school would be named, owned property as indicated in section 11, southwest of section 1.

Section 1 of Milan township contains 650.13 acres.    The southwest 1/4 portion of section 1 contained 163 28/100 acres.    The Browne school would occupy 1/4 acre of the southwest corner of this portion of land.

This is one of the first plat maps for Milan township which was founded in 1857 unless you read Wikipedia which states it was founded on February 23, 1858 from portions of the townships of Malta and Shabbona.

Additional information regarding public lands history can be found at the Bureau of Land Management.