The following article was written by Mrs. James Hopkins and was printed in the Sterling Gazette's Diamond Jubilee edition in 1929. It is a lengthy article so I'm only sharing parts that pertain to Como's history. The article holds a special interest for me because my third great grandfather, Harley Thurber, purchased the inn-tavern from Col. Henry Sampson and ran the establishment until his death in 1859. Prior to his arrival in Como, Harley lived near Grand Detour, Illinois, where a ferry business had been established. He is noted in the book, "The Inside Story of John Deere's Grand Detour: As Found in the Brick Store Journal 1844-1845," as having received wages for running the ferry. I've always wondered if the ferry business was what brought Harley to Como but now I know it was a thriving community with lots of opportunities.
Como Quite A Town Until Railroad Came
Hopkins township is named for Jason Hopkins, who with Isaac H. Brittell were the first settlers. Mr. Hopkins was a veteran of the Black Hawk war, in which he served as a cavalry officer. He was a native of Nashville, Tenn., but came to Belleville, Ill. when he was middle-aged. Later he went to Peoria, but after the Black Hawk war came to what is now Como, in 1835. These two men settled at Como, so named because of the river at the point bearing a resemblance to Lake Como, in Italy.
Mr. Hopkins had noted the spot in 1832 when he was a soldier. He with a party of comrades coasted down the river to Como, and made a "jack knife" claim by marking his initials on the bark of trees, thus claiming a large body of land. Mr. Hopkins used to speak of his tract as the "garden of Eden." In 1835 he returned with his family and Mr. Brittell, surveyed the land and established boundaries by plowing furrows around his acreage with oxen and plow. The claim amounted to 3,600 acres, which he later bought from the government and paid for.
First School In Township
The first school taught in the township was at Round Grove, in 1840, with Miss Higley as teacher. The first school house, however, was built at Como, in 1842. William Tell Hopkins, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Hopkins, was the first birth of a white child in the township, February 22, 1837. It is claimed that he was the first white child born in the county. He died in 1862. Isaac H. Brittell and Miss Jane Scott were the first couple married in Como. The earliest traveled road was the "Dixon and Rock Island stage route."
Como Platted In 1838
The village of Como was laid out and platted in 1838 by a committee of surveyors from Peoria. There were nine blocks, 142 lots. The first street was Front. It ran parallel with Rock river. Second and Third streets were next. Streets running at right angles to these were Grove, State, Court and Walnut. The ferry landing was at the foot of State street. Como post office was established in 1840. Dr. L. Harding was the first postmaster. Smith and Weber erected a grist mill in 1845-46 at a cost of $42,000. It was the first mill in the township or county.
Original proprietors of the village of Como comprised six civil engineers and surveyors, three ship captains, one preacher, an editor, a printer and editor, a physician, a miller, a merchant, three shoe and leather dealers and two farmers.
A bridge was built across the Elkhorn, near the Como cemetery, serving a state road which had been surveyed from Peoria to Savanna. The road was never opened, so the bridge was moved to its present site on the Lyndon road. A ferry also was established there in 1840, being at the time the only one from Dixon to Prophetstown.
The first tavern was conducted by Col. Henry Sampson, in 1839. Simon P. Breed established one of the first nurseries in the state at Como in 1841. Como was at its height of prosperity in 1845. Charles Homes and Lorenzo Hapgood opened an extensive store in 1844, and Smith and Weber also had a large mill store. Como's trade extended over half the county, including customers from Sterling. In 1856, after the railroad now known as the Chicago Northwestern was built, Como began to fade.
1.) "Illinois Digital Archives." Digital images. "Como Ferry, Sterling, Illinois." http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/stpl/id/1470/rec/8 : 2016.
2.) Mrs. James Hopkins, "Como Quite A Town Until Railroad Came," Sterling Daily Gazette Diamond Jubilee Edition, 9 December 1929.
3.) Shiaras, Dan. The Inside Story of John Deere's Grand Detour: As Found in the Brick Store Journal 1844-1845. Grand Detour, Illinois: Dan Shiaras, [Box 66, 61021], 1993.
