A Widow's Justice: The High Cost of the Saloon

After a liquor-fueled murder left a young mother destitute, a Rockford jury issued a landmark verdict holding the saloon keeper financially responsible for the tragedy.

“Annie Boyd... sued Christopher Post, a saloon keeper of Rockford, for $30,000, claiming the saloon keeper had sold her husband the liquor that led to the act.”

Blood on the Diamond: A Baseball Riot Stabs Two Men in Rockford

When a local baseball game between Tekoa and Rockford turned violent, knives, bats, and bricks flew. Two men were stabbed, several beaten insensible, and the town was left reeling from a brawl that started on the field and ended with arrests.

The Lynching of Aldy Neal: A Mob’s Midnight Justice in Rockford

After escaping custody for horse theft and returning to his hometown under the guise of visiting his sister, a young man named Aldy Neal was intercepted by an armed mob north of Rockford and hanged from a tree limb.