LOCAL HISTORY WOODSTOCK & MCHENRY COUNTY
Dorr Township by Kirk Dawdy
After gaining independence from Britian in 1783 the newly formed United States took control of the Northwest Territory (what is now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois) and was under tremendous war debt and in desperate need of funds.
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation, so, the government looked to raise money through the sale of land in the newly acquired Northwest Territory.
As a result, a series of Northwest Ordinances were enacted, establishing orderly and equitable procedures for the settlement and political incorporation of the new territory.
The Ordinance of 1785 provided for the scientific surveying of the Northwest Territory and for the systematic subdivision of the land into a rectangular grid system. The basic unit of land in the grid system is known as a township, a square area, measuring six miles on each side. Townships are then subdivided into a number of smaller rectangular parcels of land which are used to McHenry County Townships identify individual land ownership.
By the early 1830s settlers began pushing their way into northern Illinois by way of the Illinois River, but their advancement was interrupted with the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832. After the defeat of Black Hawk, the subsequent 1833 Chicago Treaty stipulated that the remaining Native Americans in northern Illinois had until 1836 to vacate and that white pioneers were prohibited from settling until after 1836. Not surprisingly, the latter provision was completely ignored and unenforced.
In the fall of 1834, early pioneers began arriving and staking out claims in what would later become McHenry County. One of the first settlements, known as the Virginia Settlement, took root in what is now known as Ridgefield located in Dorr Township, the township in which a majority of Woodstock resides.
Sixteen years later, in 1850, McHenry County was finally divided into townships, as stipulated by the 1785 Northwest Territory Ordinance.
Dorr Township was initially named Center Township. But, as with Woodstock’s original name, Centerville, citizens didn’t much care for the simple, uninspiring name and it was changed.
The name Dorr was adopted in honor Thomas Wilson Dorr, sixteenth governor of Rhode Island. Dorr is best known as the leader of the 1842 Dorr Rebellion against the state government of Rhode Island. Dorr agitated for changes to the state's electoral system which only allowed landowners the right to vote.
Although the rebellion failed, and he was sent to prison, Dorr’s efforts did eventually help bring about a new more democratic constitution for Rhode Island which allowed for free elections for all legal-age male citizens, regardless if they owned land or not.
The Dorr Rebellion is recognized as a cornerstone in the democratization of the United States.
If you are in possession of Woodstock or McHenry County historical documents, images, items or have documented stories and are willing to share with the Woodstock Public Library’s Local History Archives please contact the Library at [email protected]