LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
$977.37
D14C
111. Hist. Surv.
1682.
COMBINED HISTORY
EDWARDS, LAWRENCE WABASH
/
COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
DESCRIPTIVE OF THEIR SCENERY
ir llroramenl l^n anh
PUBLISHED BY
J. L. McDONOTJGH & CO.,
PHILADELPHIA.
CORRESPONDING OFFICE, EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.
1883.
*<
PREFACE.
\HE publishers desire to return their sin-
cere thanks to those who have aided in
making this ^vork thorough and com- \
plete. For the incidents relative to the early settle-
ment of these counties, we are indebted to a few
early pioneers, who have seen a wild frontier
country develop into a wealthy and populous com-
munity; especially are we under obligations to the
writings of George Flower and Morris Birkbeck,
whose graphic articles shed much light on the
early settlements in this section of the state. For
other facts we are under obligations to a class
of intelligent men, who, amid the ordinary pur-
suits of life, have taken pains to thoroughly in-
form themselves in regard to the past history
and resources of their county. Among those who
have specially contributed to the history of Ed-
wards county are: Charles Churchill, Alexander
Stewart, Jesse Emmersott, John Woods, John Tribe,
Philander Gould, Ansel A. Gould, George Lapp,
Enoch Greathouse, Benjamin Ulm, Francis Great-
house, Thomas Coad, George Michcls, Elisha Chism,
and Dr. F. B. Thompson.
The gentlemen who have assisted us in Law-
rence county are :J W. Crews, David D. Lantcr-
man, J. M, Miller, Samuel Sumner, A. I. Judy,
George Me Cleave, Dr. W. M. Garrard, Richard
King, Francis Tongas, Renick Heath and William
Laws.
In the preparation of the history of Wabash coun-
ty we have been materially assisted by Judge Robert
Bell, James M. Sharp, Judge E. B. Green, Dr. Jacob
Schneck, Joseph Compton, Dr. James Harvey, John
Dyar, E B. Keen, Thompson Blackford, Henry Lov-
ellette, Dr. A. J. Mclntosh, J. J. Smith, Win. Ulm,
Thomas A'. Armstrong, Ira Keen, John Kigg, D. L.
Tillon, A. B. Cory, J. Zimmerman, Mrs. Elizabeth
Litherland, John } \ 'ood and John Higgins.
To the county officials of the respective counties we
extend our thanks for the many courtesies extended,
during the compilation of this work.
Among the chapters most fruitful in interest to
a great number of our readers, will be found
those which treat of the early history of the
churches. Many persons are now living whose
fathers and grandfathers, in the humble log cabin,
which was then the only house of worship, assisted
in founding organizations which have been of the
greatest good to subsequent generations. To the
clergymen of the different denominations, and to
many of the older members of these societies, we
are indebted for much valuable information. The
editors of the several newspapers have also rendered
assistance in that prompt and cheerfid manner so
characteristic of the journalistic profession.
We have endeavored, with all diligence and care-
fulness, to make the best of the material at our
command. We have confined ourselves, as nearly
as possible, to the original data furnished. The sub-
ject matter has been carefully classified, and will be
a great help to the public as a book of reference con-
cerning the past history of the county. The facts
were gathered from many different sources, and de-
pend largely, not on exact written records, but on the
uncertain and conflicting recollections of different
individuals! We have tried to preserve the inci-
dents of pioneer history, to accurately present the
natural features and material resources of this por-
tion of the state, and to gather the facts likely
to be of most interest to our present readers, and
of greatest importance to coming generations. If
our readers will take into consideration the diffi-
culties of the task, we feel assured of a favorable
verdict on our undertaking.
THE PUBLISHERS.
206789
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE NORTH-WEST
TERRITORY.
PAGE
Geographical Position, 9 ; Early Explora-
tions, 9 ; Discovery of the Ohio, 15 ;
English Explorations and Settle-
ments, 16; American Settlements, 22;
Division of the North- West Territory,
23 ; Present Condition of the North-
West, 24 9-25
CHAPTER II.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ILLINOIS.
French Possessions, 25 ; The first Settle-
ments in Illinois, 26; Founding of
Kaskaskia, 27; As a part of Louisi-
ana, 27 ; Fort Chartres, 28 ; Under
French rule, 29 ; Character of the Early
French Settlers, 30; A Possession of
Great Britain, 30 ; Conquest by Clark,
32; The "Compact of 1787," 32; Land
Tenures, 34 ; Physical Features of the
State, 35 ; Progress and Development,
35; Material Resources of the State,
36 ; Annual Products, 36 ; The War
Record, 38; Civil Government, 39;
Territorial and State Officers, 40 ; Mis-
cellaneous Information 25-45
CHAPTER III.
RAILROAD FACILITIES.
EDWARDS COUNTY, 46 ; LAWRENCE COUNTY,
46 ; WABASH COUNTY, 47. Railroads,
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, 48;
Ohio and Mississippi, 49; Louisville,
Evansville and St. Louis, 49 ; Peoria,
Decatur and Evansville, 49 ;. . . 46-50
CHAPTER IV.
UEOLOQY.
EDWARDS COUNTY, 50; WABASH COUNTY,
51 ; LAWRENCE COUNTY, 53. . . . 50-54
CHAPTER V.
FLORA.
List of Native Woody Plants, Grasses,
etc., etc 56, 56
CHAPTER VI.
FAUNA.
Treating of the Various Families of Ani-
mals and Birds that have existed in
these counties 56-58
CHAPTER VII.
PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.
HOWARDS COUNTY, First Settlers, 58 ; Early
Marriages, 66 ; The Deep Snow, 67 ;
The Sudden Freeze, 67. LAWRENCE
COUNTY, First Settlers, 68 ; WABASH
COUNTY, First Settlers, 73 ; Pioneer
Mills, 77 ; The Cannon Massacre, 78 ;
Habits and Modes of living in Pioneer
times, 78 58-80
CHAPTER VIII.
CIVIL HISTORY.
CDWARDS COUNTY, Act creating the Coun-
ty, 80 ; County Government at Pal-
myra, 81 ; Second Court, Third Court,
Justice's Court, 84 ; First and Second
Commissioner's Court, 85 ; County
Government at Albion, County Com-
missioner's Court from First to Four-
teenth, 86-88 ; County Courts, from
First to Seventh, 89, 90 ; Boards of
County Commissioners, 90, 91 ; Pub-
lic Buildings, 91 ; Taxable Property,
92 ; Circuit Courts, First Murder Trial,
93; Second Murder Case, 94; First
Naturalization, Judges of Circuit
Court, First Probate Business, The
First Will, Probate Judges, 95 ; First
Deed Recorded, Delegates to Constitu-
tional Convention, The County in the
General Assembly 96 ; County Officers 97.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, 97; County Gov-
ernment, 100; Militia Districts, 101 ;
Public Buildings, The First Court-
house, 102; Early Ferries, Early
Revenue, Fiscal Statement of De-
cember 6, 1827, 105; Election Pre-
cincts, 104-106 ; County Finance since
1827, 106-108 ; Circuit Courts, 1821 to
1848, 108-110; United States Census
1850, County Government from 1849
to 1883, Swamp Lands, 110 ; Finan-
cial Notes 1849 to 1883, 111 ; Officers
Representing and Serving Lawrence
County, 111-115.
WABASH COUNTY, Organization, etc., 115-
120 ; Public Buildings, 120-123 ; Tax-
es and Debts, 1825 to 1850, 123, 124 ;
Railroad Debts, 124 ; Officers Repre-
senting and Serving the county, 125-
127 80-127.
CHAPTER IX.
THE BENCH ASD BAR.
Circuit Judges & Non-resident lawyers, 128.
EDWARDS COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, 129; Present Bar, 129. LAW-
BENCE COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, 130; Present Bar, 130; WA-
BASH COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, and Present Bar, 132. ; . . 127-133
CHAPTER X.
THE PRESS.
Giving the Names of all the News-
papers that have been printed in each
of the Counties 133-137.
CHAPTER XI.
PATEIOTISM.
Black Hawk War, 137-141 ; War of
the Rebellion, 141 ; A List of Names
of the volunteers from each of the
Counties, with a short historical
Sketch of the Regiments to which
they belonged 137-156
TABLE OF CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER XII.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
The School Systems of the State their
Growth, Resources and Management
etc., 150 ; EDWARDS COUNTY, 159 ;
LAWKEXCK CorxTY, 1G1 ; WAIIASH
CDI-VTY It! lot) lb'3
Foster Blashel
PAGE
315
Rice Cyrus
PAGE
. . 220
. . 323
. .260
. . 309
. . 218
. . 257
. . 310
. . 256
. .245
. . 244
. . 310
. . 258
. . 222
. . 306
. . 297
. .218
. . 255
. . 309
. .307
. .324
216
Foster, William F
Fox Jeremiah
.... 224
99
Rigg, Henry H
Rigg James W
Frazcr, Dr. Milton D
Freeman, Samuel
French, Dr. Zeba D
Friend, Dr. William
Frost, James P
.... 330
.... 324
.... 21)!!
.... 310
.... 275
.... 274
.... 225
.... 262
.... 314
.... 314
.... 300
.... 249
.... 322
.... 224
. . . .217
. ... 261
.... 253
. ... 308
. ... 267
253
Rodgers, Augustine J
Rude, David S
Samoniel Brothers
Schaefer, Dr. H. M
Schneck, Dr. J
Schrodt, John
Sears, Dr. Paul
Seibert. Charles
Scitz, Jr., William
Sentance, John
Shearer, Joseph B
Smith, Dr. James E
Smith, John
Smith, Valentine
Smith, Rozander
Stewart, Alexander
Stoltz, George
Strahan, John (deceased)
Tribe William B
CHAPTER XIII.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
EDWARDS COUSTT. Methodist Church, 163 ;
Protestai.t Episcopal, 165; Baptist, 167;
ChurcU of Christ, 268; Cumberland
Presbyterian, 172; United Brethren,
176; Evangelical Association, 179;
LAWRENCE C o u N T Y .-Presbyterian
Church, 181 ; Christian Church, 182;
United Brethren, 200; Disciples of
Christ, 183; Methodist Protestant,
184 ; Methodist Episcopal, 185. WA-
BASH COUNTY. Christian Church, 186;
M. E. Church, 189; Presbyterian, 192;
Evangelical, 195 ; Catholic, 198 ; Ger-
man Lutheran, 198 ; Evangelical As-
sociation of N. A., 199 ; United Breth-
ren in Christ, 200 163-202
Glaubensklee, Henry
Gordon, Robert S
Gould, Ansel A
Gould, Philander
Gray, Dr. F. S
Green, Hon. Edward B
Groff, Hon. John
Hallam, John
Harris, Gibson
Harrison, John M
Havill, Frank W
Higgins, John
Hoopes Caleb
Ulm, Captain William
Utter, Abraham (deceased)
. . 246
. .288
. . 309
. .283
. .284
Joy, Thomas L
Kamp, Louis
Keen, Hon. E. B
Keen, George W
. . . .261
. ... 263
.... 335
. ... 306
. ... 258
. ... 299
Vandermark, Simon
Vandermark, Cyr,us
Waller, Dr Fay K
Wilkinson, Thomas
Wilkinson, Hon. William R
BIOGRAPHIES.
Adams, David 300
Keniepp, Captain G. M
King, Henry (deceased) ....
Landes Hon Silas Z
Armstrong, Thomas N 298
Armstrong, Berkley (deceased) 297
Bear, James 220
Bell, Hon. Robert 247
Lescher, Dr. Jacob
Lewis, Harlie V
. ... 259
329
Woods, Thomas T."
Wood Hon William (deceased)
. .227
259
Low, Dr. Lyman W
Manley, Alfred P
Manley Frank C k
. ... 219
. ... 257
3''5
Zimmerman, Hon. Jacob
TOWNSHIPS.
Allison
H^ellmont
Bond
. . 248
. .276
. . 319
342
Belles, Philip 330
Berninger, Isaiah 307
Blood, John M. (deceased) 276
Bockhouse, William 325
Bower, George . ^ . . 228
Brause, August 302
Briggs, Jonathan 216
Burkett, JohnT 262
Campbell, Joseph M. , 226
Churchill, Joel 215
Colyer, Walter . . 26
Manley, Dr. Paul G
Mayo, Walter L
Marx, Samuel
Marx, Philip H
McClane, Dr. C. T
McClurkin, Dr. John C
McDowell, Dr. James
Mclntosh, Dr. Andrew J
McJilton, Dr. Edward L
Medler, William H
Michels, George
Miller, Edward
. ... 336
. ... 221
. . . . 307
. ... 308
.... 324
225
.... 268
.... 296
.... 308
.... 225
.... 214
.... 254
Bridgeport
City and Precinct of Albion
City and Township of Lawrenceville .
b/City and Precinct of Mt Carmel
. .327
. . 203
. . 228
235
Christy
. . 264
331
Dennison
. . >:.
89
Compton, Van Bureu 298
Curdling, Robert W ........ 227
Dalby, Samuel Nelson 214-n
Dickson, Dr. Henry I, 224
Edwards, Eld. Caleb 227
Emmerson, Morris 226
Kw:iM, George C 323
HIM, Id-. Chesterfield 22ti
Flower, George 212
Kluwci-. Mrs. Eliza Julia -j] | v
"owe-.'. R.C 224- A
French Creek
. . 337
Morgan, Maxwell W
Murphy, Dr. Hugh A
Parkinson, Robert (deceased) . .
Parmenter, Henry
Petty, G. \V
Pixley, Asa (deceased)
Price, Isaac K
Putnam, Samuel R
.... 218
.... 267
.... 260
.... 326
. ... 208
. ... 316
. . . . 2"iii
. . . . .V,
^Lancaster
/Lick Prairie
Lukin
Petty
Russell
Salem
Sh.'ll.y
,/Walmsh
. . 303
. . 340
. . 301
. . :;i7
. . m
. . 311
. . 272
. . 2!1
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vii
PORTRAITS.
ILLUSTRATIONS
I'AGK
Landes Mrs lietw
en IMS -IMH
PAGE
Mauley, Dr. P. G
Facing 332
Armstrong, Berkley
. Facing 290
Adams, David (deceased)
Facing 808
Map ot Counties
Facing ',
Blood, John M. (dec'd) ....
Facing 270
Armstrong, Berkley
Facing 2'JO
Medler, Win. H
Facing 272
Churchill, Joel
... .216
Bear, James W
Facing 342
Miller, Edward
|-:u-i,, K 888
Flower, George
.... 212
Blood, Mrs. A
Facing 204
Parmenter, Henry
Facing 336
Flower, Mrs. Eliza Julia . . . .
. . . 214-A
Bond, L. C
Facing 226
Pixley, A., Jr
Facing 310
Flower, K.C
. . . 224-A
Buxton, Dr. W. E
Facing 204
Public Buildings, Edwards County .
Facing 84
Foster, Blashel
.... :!!,")
Churchill Bros.' Business Block . .
Facing 208
Public Buildings, Lawreuceville . .
Facing 232
Frost, James P
. . . . 276
Churchill, James, Residence . . .
Facing 20
Rigg, H. H
Facing 280
Gill, Thomas
. . . .274
Churchill, Mrs. Joel, Residence . .
Facing 208
Kigg, J. W
Facing 256
Gould, Philander,
. Facing 314
Couit-House, Mt. Carmel . . . .
Facing 120
Sears, Dr. Paul Betw<
en 248-249
Gould, Martha L
. Facing 314
Curtis, John
Facing 268
Seibert, Charles
Facing 304
liouM, Mrs. Sarah (dec'd) . . .
. Facing 314
Dreibelbis, F. and J. Mill ....
Facing 232
Seller, Jacob
Facing 236
Gould, Ansel A
Facing 314
Ewald, George C
Facing 284
Sentance, J. and Son
Facing 226
Gould, Chloe S
. Facing 314
Foster, Blashel
Facing 326
Smith, Rozander
Facing 308
Groff, John and Wife
. Facing 322
Frost, James P
Facing 272
Smith, James N
Facing 274
Harris Gibson
.... 217
Th
Facing 284
Tribe, R. M
Facing 2bO
Lescher, Dr. Jacob
.... 269
Gill, Thomas
Facing 274
Tribe, W. B
Facing 226
Low, Dr. Lyman W
.... 219
Glaubensklee, Henry and Sanih .
Facing 220
Utter, Abraham (deceased) . . . .
Facing 247
Mayo, Walter L
.... 221
Gould, Deuel
Facing 204
Wood Joseph
Facing 216
Pixley, Asa (dec'd,)
. Facing 316
Gould, Ansel, Jr
Facing 288
Wood, Oliver II
Facing 280
Rice, Cyrus
. Facing 220
Gould, Philander Betwe
en 312-313
Wood, Thomas
Facing 342
Rude, David S. (dec'd) ....
. Facing 218
Gould, Ansel A Betwe
en 318-319
Wright, David P
Facing 256
Sears, Dr. Paul
.... 244
Groff, John Betwe
en 320-321
Stewart, Alexander
Utter, Abraham (deceased) .
. . . .223
.... 240
Kamp's Mill
Keen E B
Facing 240
Facing 298
Partial List of Patrons
Constitution of Illinois
. . . 345
. 360
Utter, Mrs. Elizabeth
.... 246
Keen, G. W
Facing 308
Declaration of Independence . .
. . . 872
Wood, Hon. William (dec'd) . .
. Facing 250
Keen, W. E
Facing 332 Constitution of the United States
. ... 373
Wood, Joseph (dec'd)
. Facing 210
King Henry (deceased)
Facing 300
Amendments to Constitution of U.
5. ... 376
LIBRARY
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HISTORY
EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILL
CHAPTER I.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
,N 1784 the North Western Territory was
ceded to the United States by Virginia.
It embraced only the territory lying be-
tween the Ohio and Mississippi rivers;
and north, to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area
now embraced in the states of Wisconsin,
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and
that portion of Minnesota lying on the
east side of the Mississippi river. On the first day of March,
1784, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and
James Monroe, delegates in Congress on the part of Vir-
ginia, executed a deed of cession, by which they transferred
to the United States, on certain conditions, all right, title
and claim of Virginia to the country known as the North-
western Territory. But by the purchase of Louisiana in
1803, the western boundary of the United States was ex-
tended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific
Ocean. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles,
beiug greater than the united areas of the Middle and
Southern states, including Texas. Out of this magnificent
territory have been erected eleven sovereign states and eight
territories, with an aggregate population at the present time
of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one-third of the entire
population of the United States.
Its rivers are the largest on the continent, flowing thous-
ands of miles through its rich alluvial valleys and broad,
fertile prairies.
Its lakes arc fresh-water seas, upon whose bosom floats
the commerce of many states. Its far-stretching prairies
have more acres that are arable and productive than any
other area of like extent on the globe.
For the last quarter of a century the increase of popula-
tion and wealth in the north-west has been about as three to
one in any other portion of the United States.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1512, on Easter Sunday, the Spanish name
for which is Pascua Florida,* Juan Ponce de Leon, an old
comrade of Columbus, discovered the coast of the American
continent, near St. Augustine, and in honor of the day and
of the blossoms which covered the trees along the shore,
named the new-found country Florida. Juan had been led
to undertake the discovery of strange lands partly by the
hope of finding endless stores of gold, and partly by the
wish to reach a fountain that was said to exist deep within
the forests of North America, which possessed the power of
renovating the life of those who drank of or bathed in its
waters. He was made governor of the region he had visited
but circumstances prevented his return thither until 1521 ;
and then he went only to meet death at the hands of" the
Indians.
In the meantime, in 1516, a Spanish sea-captain, Diego
Miruelo, had visited the coast first reached by Ponce de
Leon, and in his barters with the natives had received con-
siderable quantities of gold, with which he returned home
and spread abroad new stories ^f the wealth hidden in the
interior.
Ten years, however, passed before Pamphilo de Narvaei
undertook to prosecute the examination of the lands north
of the Gulf of Mexico. Narvaez was excited to action by
the late astonishing success of the conqueror of Montezuma,
but he found the gold for which he sought constantly flying
before him ; each tribe of Indians referred him to . those
living farther in the interior. And from tribe to tribe he
and his companions wandered. They suffered untold priva-
tions in the swamps and forests ; and out of three hundred
followers only four or five at length reached Mexico. And
still these disappointed wanderers persisted in their original
fancy, that Florida was as wealthy as Mexico or Peru.
Pascum, the old English "Pash" or Passover; " Pascua Florida"
is the " Holyday of Flowers."
10
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Among those who had faith in that report was Ferdinand
de Soto, who had been with Pizarro in the conquests of Peru.
He asked and obtained leave of the King of Spain to con-
quer Florida at his own cost. It was given in the year 1538.
With a brilliant and noble band of followers he left Europe
and in May, 1538, after a stay in Cuba, anchored his vessels
near the coast of the Peninsula of Florida, in the bay of
Spiritu Santa, or Tampa bay.
De Soto entered upon his march into the interior with a
determination to succeed. From June till November of
1539, the Spaniards toiled along until they reached the
neighborhood of Appalachee bay. During the next season,
1540, they followed the course suggested by the Florida
Indians, who wished them out of their country, and going
to the north-east, crossed the rivers and climbed the moun-
tains of Georgia. De Soto was a stern, severe man, and
none dared to murmur. De Soto passed the winter with his
little band near the Yazoo. In April, 1541, thfc resolute
Spaniard set forward, and upon the first of May reached
the banks of the great river of the West, not far from the
35th parallel of latitude.*
A month was spent in preparing barges to convey the
horses, many of which still lived, across the rapid stream.
Having successfully passed it, the explorers pursued their
way northward, into the neighborhood of New Madrid ;
then turning westward again, marched more than two hun-
dred miles from the Mississippi to the highlands of White
river; and still no gold, no gems, no cities only bare prai-
rie?, and tangled forests, and deep morasses To the south
again they toiled on, and passed their third winter of wander-
ing upon the Washita. In the following spring (1542), De
Soto, weary with hope long deferred, descended the Washita
to its junction with the Mississippi. He heard, when he
reached the mighty stream of the west, that its lower portion
flowed through endless and uninhabitable swamps.
The news sank deep into the stout heart of the disap-
pointed warrior. His health yielded to the contests of his
miud and the influence of the climate. He appointed a
successor, and on the 21st of May died. His body was sunk
in the stream of the Mississippi. Deprived of their ener-
gatic leader, the Spaniards determined to try to reach Mexico
by land. After some time spent in wandering through the
forests, despairing of success in the attempt to rescue them-
selves by land, they proceeded to prepare such vessels as
they could to take them to sea. From January to July
1543, the weak, sickly band of gold-seekers labored at the
doleful task, and in July reached, in the vessels thus built,
the Gulf of Mexico, and by September entered the river
Paunco. Ode-half of the six hundred f who had disem-
barked with De Soto, so gay in steel and silk, left their bones
among the mountains and in the morasses of the South, from
Georgia to Arkansas.
De Soto founded no settlements, produced no results, and
left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility
of the red man against the white man, and disheartened
* De Soto probably was at the lower Chickasaw bluffs. The Spaniards
called the Mississippi Rio Grande, Great River, which is the literal
meaning of the aboriginal name.
> t De Biedna says there landed G20 men.
such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for
better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready
to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and
were the first to profit by De Solo's defeat. As it was, for
more than a century after the expedition, the west remained
utterly unknown to the whites.
The French were the first Europeans to make settlements
on the St. Lawrence river and along the great lakes. Quebec
was founded by Sir Samuel Champlain in 1608,* and in 1609
when Sir Henry Hudson was exploring the noble river
which bears his name, Champlain ascended the Sorrelle
river, and discovered, embosomed between the Green moun-
tains, or " Verdmont," as the chivalrous and poetic French-
man called them, and the Adirondacks, the beautiful sheet
of water to which his name is indissolubly attached. In
1613 he founded Montreal.
During the period elapsing between the years 1607 and
1664, the English, Dutch, and Swedes alternately held pos-
session of portions of the Atlantic coast, jealously watching
one another, and often involved in bitter controversy, and
not seldom in open battle, until, in the latter year, the
English became the sole rulers, and maintained their rights
until the era of the Revolution, when they in turn were
compelled to yield to the growing power of their colonies,
and retire from the field.
The French movements, from the first settlement at
Quebec, and thence westward, were led by the Catholic
missionaries. Le Caron, a Franciscan friar, who had been
the companion and friend of Champlain, was the first to
penetrate the western wilds, which he did in 1616* in a
birch canoe, exploring lake Huron and its tributaries.
This was four years before the Pilgrims
"Moored their bark on the wild New England shore."
Under the patronage of Louis XIII, the Jesuits took the
advance, and began vigorously the work of Christianizing
the savages in 1632.
In 1634, three Jesuit missionaries, Brebeuf, Daniel, and
Lallemand, planted a mission on the shores of the lake of
the Iroquois, (probably the modern Lake Simcoe), and also
established others along the eastern border of Lake Huron.
From a map published in 1660, it would appear that the
French had at that date, become quite familiar with the
region from Niagara to the head of Lake Superior, includ-
ing considerable portions of Lake Michigan.
In 1641, Fathers Jogues and Raymbault embarked on
the Penetanguishine Bay for the Sault St. Marie, where
they arrived after a passage of seventeen days. A crowd
of two thousand natives met them, and a great council was
held. At this meeting the French first heard of many
nations dwelling beyond the great lakes.
Father Raymbault died in the wilderness in 1642, while
enthusiastically pursuing his discoveries. The same year,
Jogues and Bressani were captured by the Indians and
tortured, and in 1648 the mission which had been founded
at St. Joseph was taken and destroyed, and Father Daniel
slain. In 1649, the missions St Louis and St. Ignatius
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASU COUM1ES, ILLINOIS.
were also destroyed, and Fathers Brebeuf and Lallemand
barbarously tortuivd by the same terrible and unrelenting
enemy. Literally did those zealous missionaries of the
Romish Church "take their lives in their hands," and lay
them a willing sacrifice on the altar of their faith.
It is stated by some writer that, in 1G54, two fur traders
accompanied a band of Ottawas on a journey of five hun-
dred leagues to the west. They were absent two years, and
on their return brought with them fifty canoes and two
hundred and fifty Indians to the French trading posts.
They related wonderful tales of the countries they had
Been, and the various red nations they had visited, and
described the lofty mountains and mighty rivers in glowing
terms. A new impulse was given to the spirit of adventure,
and tcouts and traders swarmed the frontiers and explored
the great lakes and adjacent country, and a party wintered
in IGoO-GO on the south shore of Lake Superior.
In 1GGO Father Mesnard was sent out by the Bishop of
Quebec, and visited Lake Superior in October of that year.
While crossing the Kecweenaw Point he was lost in the wilder-
ness and never afterwards heard from, though his cassock
and breviary were found long afterwards among the Sioux.
A change was made in the government of New France in
1G65. The Company of the Hundred Associates, who had
ruled it since 1632, resigned its charter. Tracy was made
Viceroy, Courcclles Governor, and Talon Intendent.* This
was called the Government of the West Indies.
The Jesuit missions were taken under the care of the new
govcnmcnt, and thenceforward became the leaders in the
movement to Christianize the savages.
In the same year (1GG5) Pierre Claude Allouez was sent
out by way of the Ottawa river to the far west, via the Sault
St. Marie and the south shore of Lake Superior, where he
landed at the bay of Chegoimegon. Here he found the
chief village of the Chippcwas, and established a mission.
He also made an alliance with them and the Sacs, Foxes and
Illinois,^ against the formidable Iroquois. Allouez, the next
year (1GGG) visited the western end of the great lake, where
he met the Sioux, and from them first learned of the Missis-
sippi river which they called "Mcssipi." From thence he
returned to Quebec.
In 1GG8 Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquctte estab-
lished the mission at the Sault called St. Marie, and during
the next five years Alloiicz, Dablon and Marquette explored
the region of Lake Superior on the south shore, and ex-
tending to Lake Michigan. They also established the mis-
sions of Chegoimegon, St. Marie, Mackinaw and Green Bay.
The plan of exploring the Mississippi probably originated
with Marquctte. It was at once sanctioned by the Inten-
dent, Talon, who was ambitious to extend the dominion of
France over the whole West.
In 1G70 Nicholas Perot was sent to the West to propose a
congress of all the nations and tribes living in the vicinity
of the lakes ; and, in 1G71, a great council was held at Sault
St. Marie, ct which the Cross was set up, and the nations of
* The duties of Intcmlent included a supervision cf t'.ic policy, justice,
taj finance of the province.
| The meaning of this word b said to be " Men."
the great North-west were taken into an alliance, with much
pomp and ceremony.
On the 13th of May, 1G73, Marquctte, Joliet, and five
voyageurs, embarked in two birch canoes at Mackinaw and
entered Lake Michigan. The first nation they visited was
the " Folles-Avoines," or nation of Wild Oats, since known
as the Menomonies, living around the " Baie des Puans," or
Green Bay. These people, with whom Marquette was some-
what acquainted, endeavored to persuade the adventurers
from visiting the Mississippi. They represented the Indians
on the great river as being blood-thirsty and savage in the
extreme, and the river itself as being inhabited by monsters
which would devour them and their canoes together.*
Marquctte thanked them for their advice, but declined to
be guided by it. Passing through Green Bay, they ascended
the Fox River, dragging their canoes over the strong rapids
and visited the village, where they found living in l.armony
together tribes of the Miamis, Mascoutens f tMilKika.bea.ux
or Kickapoos. Leaving this point on the 10th of June, they
made the portage to the " Ouisconsin," and descended that
stream to the Mississippi, which they entered on the 17th
with a joy, as Marquette says, which he could not express."!
Sailing down the Mississippi, the party reached the Des
Moines River, and, according to some, visited an Indian
village some two leagues up the stream. Here the people
again tried to persuade them from prosecuting their voyage
down the river. After a great feast and a dance, and a
night passed with this hospitable people, they proceeded on
their way, escorted by six hundred persons to their canoes.
These people called themselves Illinois, or Illini. The name
of their tribe was Peruaca, and their language a dialect of
the Algonquin.
Leaving these savages, they proceeded down the river.
Passing the wonderful rocks, which still excite the admira-
tion of the traveller, they arrived at the mouth of another
great river, the Pekilan"ni, or Missouri of the present day.
They noticed the condition of its waters, which they described
as " muddy, rushing and noisy."
Passing a great rock, they came to the Ouabouskigon, or
Ohio. Marquette shows this river very small, even as com-
pared with the Illinois. From the Ohio they passed as far
down as the Akamsca, or Arkansas, where they came very
near being destroyed by the natives; but they finally paci-
fied them, and, on the 1 7th of July, they commenced their
return voyage.
The party reached Green Bay in September without loss
or injury, and reported their discoveries, which were among
the most important of that age. Marquctte afterwards
returned to Illinois, and preached to the natives until L<75.
On the 18th of May of that year, while cruising up the
eastern coast of Lake Michigan with a par!y of boatmen,
he landed at the mouth of a stream putting into the lake
from the east, since known as the river Marquette. He
performed mass, and went a little apart to pruy, and being
* See hgend of the p-eat bird, the terrible " Plata," t.'iru devoured men
and was only overcome by the sacrl5ec cf a bruvi.youn ; chief. The
rocks above Alton, Ill.aois, have como rude rci>SB^gU.or. i ci" this
monster.
| Prair'c
II
* XIarquctte's journal. { The ^rand tD
12
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
gone longer than his companions deemed necessary, they j
went in search of him, and found him dead where he had j
knelt. Thefburied him in the sand.
While this distinguished adventurer was pursuing his
labors, two other men were preparing to follow in his foot- i
step, and make still further explorations, and, if possible, |
more important discoveries. These were the Chevalier |
Robert de la Salle and Louis Hennepin.
La Salle was a native of Rouen, in Normandy. He was
educated at a seminary of the Jesuits, and designed for the
ministry, but, for reasons unknown, he left the seuiinary and
came to Canada, in 1GG7, where he engaged in the fur trade.
Like nearly every intelligent man, he became intensely
interested in the new discoveries of the West, and conceived
the idea of exploring the passage to the great South Sea,
which by many was believed to exist. He made known his
ideas to the Governor-General, Count Frontenac, and de-
sired his co-operation. The Governor at once fell in with
his views, which were strengthened by the reports brought
back by Marquette and Joliet, and advised La Salle to
apply to the King of France in person, and gave him letters
of introduction to the great Colbert, then Minister of
Finance and Marine. Accordingly, in 1675, he returned
to France, where he was warmly received by the King and
nobility, and his ideas were at once listened to, and every
possible favor shown to him.
He was made a Chevalier, and invested with the seigniory
of Fort Catarocouy, or Frontenac (now known as Kingston)
upon condition that he would rebuild it, as he proposed, -of
stone.
Returning to Canada, he wrought diligently upon the fort
until 1677, when he again visited France to report progress.
He was received, as before, with favor, and, at the instance
of Colbert and his son, the King granted him new letters
patent and new privileges. On the 14th of July, 1678, he
sailed from Rochelle, accompanied by thirty men, and with
Tonti, an Italian, for his lieutenant. They arrived at
Quebec on the 13th of September, and after a few days'
delay, proceeded to Frontenac. Father Lewis Henuepin, a
Franciscan friar, of the Recollet sect, was quietly working
in Canada on La Salle's arrival. He was a man of great
ambition, and much interested in the discoveries of the day.
He was appointed by his religious superiors to accompany
the expedition fitting out for La Salle.
Sending agents forward to prepare the Indians for his
coming, and to open trade with them, La Salle himself era-
barked, on the 18th of November, in a little brigantine of
ten tons, to cross Lake Ontario. This was the first ship of
European build that ever sailed upon this fresh-water sea.
Contrary winds made the voyage long and troublesome, and
a month was consumed in beating up the lake to the Niagara
River. Near the mouth of this river the Iroquois had a
village, and here La Salle constructed the first fortification,
which afterwards grew into the famous Fort Niagara. On
the 2Cth of January, 1G79, the keel of the first vessel built
on Luke Erie was laid at the mouth of the Cayuga Creek,
on the American side, about six miles above the falls.
In the meantime La Salle had returned to Fort Frontenac
to forward supplies for his forthcoming vessel. The little
barque on Lake Ontario was wrecked by carelessness, and a
large amount of the supplies she carried was lost. On the
7th of August, the new vessel was launched, and made ready
to sail. She was about seven tons' burden.
La Salle christened his vessel the " Griffin," in honor of
the arms of Count Frontenac. Passing across Lake Erie,
and into the small lake, which they named St. Clair, they
entered the broad waters of Lake Huron. Here they en-
countered heavy storms, as dreadful as those upon the ocean
and after a most tempestuous passage they took refuge in
the roadstead of Michillimackinac (Mackinaw), on the 27th
of August La Salle remained at this point until the middle
of September, busy in founding a fort and constructing a
trading-house, when he went forward upon the deep waters
of Lake Michigan, and soon after cast anchor in Green Bay.
Finding here a large quantity of furs and peltries, he deter-
mined to load his vessel and send her back to Niagara. On
the 18th of September, she was sent under charge of a pilot
while La Salle himself, with fourteen men,* proceeded up
Lake Michigan, leisurely examining its shores and noting
everything of interest. Tonti, who had been sent to look
after stragglers, was to join him at the head of the lake.
From the 19ih of September to the 1st of November, the
time was occupied in the voyage up this inland sea. On the
last-named day, La Salle arrived at the mouth of the river
Miamis, now St. Joseph. Here he constructed a fort, and
remained nearly a month waiting for tidings of his vessel;
but, hearing nothing, he determined to push on before the
winter should preventhim. On the 3d of December, leaving
ten men to garrison the fort, he started overland towards the
head-waters of the Illinois, accompanied by three monks
and twenty men. Ascending the St. Joseph River, he
crossed a short portage and reached the The-a-ki-ki, since
corrupted into Kankakee. Embarking on this sluggish
stream, they came shortly to the Illinois, and soon after
found a village of the Illinois Indians, probably in the
vicinity of the rocky bluffs, a few miles above the present
city of La Salle, Illinois. They found it deserted, but the
Indians had quite a quantity of maize stored here, and La
Salle, being short of provisions, helped himself to what he
required. Passing down the stream, the party, on the 4th of
January, came to a lake, probably the Lake Peoria, as there
is no other upon this stream. Here they found a great
number of natives, who were gentle and kind, and La Salle
determined to construct a fort. It stood on a rise of ground
near the river, and was named Oreve- Cceur f (broken-heart),
most probably on account of the low spirits of the com-
mander, from anxiety for his vessel and the uncertainty of
the future. Possibly he had heard of the loss of the " Griffin,"
which occurred on her downward trip from Green Bay ;
most probably on Lake Huron. He remained at the Lake
Peoria through the winter, but no good tidings came, and
no supplies. His men were discontented, but the brave
adventurer never gave up hope. He resolved to send a
party on a voyage of exploration up the Mississippi, under
* Annals of the West.
t Th site of the work is at present unknown.
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
the lead of Father Hennepin, and he himself would proceed
on foot to Niagara and "Froutenac, to raise more means and
enlist new men ; while Tonti, his lieutenant, should stay at
the fort, which they were to strengthen in the meantime, and
extend their intercourse with the Indians.
Hennepin started "on his voyage on the last day of Febru-
ary, 16SO, and La Salle soon after, with a few attendants,
started on his perilous journey of twelve hundred miles by
the way of the Illinois River, the Miami, and Lakes Erie
ind Ontario, to Frontenac, which he finally reached in
safety. lie found his worst fears realized. The "Griffin"
was lost, his agents had taken advantage of his absence, and
his creditors had seized his goods. But he knew no such
word as fail, and by the middle of summer he was again on
his way with men and supplies for his band in Illinois. A
sad disappointment awaited him. He found his fort deserted
and no tidings of Tonti and his men. During La Salle'a
absence the Indians had become jealous of the French, and
they had been attacked and harassed even by the Iroquois,
who came the long distance between the shores of Lake
Ontario and the Illinois River to make war upon the more
peaceable tribes dwelling on the prairies. JJncertain of any
assistance from La Salle, and apprehensive of a general
war with the savages, Tonli, in September, 1G80, abandoned
his position and returned to the shores of the lakes. La
Salle reached the post on the Illinois in December, 1C80, or
January, 1681. Again bitterly disappointed, La Salle did
not succumb, but resolved to return to Canada and start
anew. This he did, and in June met his lieutenant, Tonti,
at Mackinaw.
Hennepin in the meanwhile had met with strange adven-
tures. After leaving Creve-Cceur, he reached the Missis-
sippi in seven days ; but his way was so obstructed by ice
that he was until the llth of April reaching the Wisconsin
line. Here he was taken prisoner by some northern Indians,
who, however, treated him kindly and took him and his
companions to the falls of St. Anthony, which they reached
on the first of May. These falls Hennepin named in honor
of his patron saint. Hennepin and his companions remained
here for three months, treated very kindly by their captors.
At the end of this time they met with a band of French,
led by one Sieur de Luth,* who, in pursuit of game and
trade, had penetrated to this country by way of Lake Su-
perior. With his band Hennepin and his companions re-
turned to the borders of civilized life in November, 1G80,
just after La Salle had gone back to the wilderness. Ilen-
nepin returned to France,' where, ia 1684, he published a
narrative of his wonderful adventures.
Robert De La Salle, whose name is more "closely connected
with the explorations of the Mississippi than that of any
other, was the next to descend the river in the year 1682.
Formal possession was taken of the great river and all the
countries bordering upon it or its tributaries in the name of
the King.
La Salle and his party now retraced their steps towards
the north. They met with no serious trouble until they
reached the Chickasaw Bluffs, where they had erected a fort
From this man undoubtedly come: the name of Eruluth.
on their downward voyage, and named it Frudhomme.
Here La Salle was taken violently sick. Unable to proceed,
he sent forward Toiiti to communicate with Count Fronte-
nac. La Salle himself reached the mouth of the St. Joseph
the latter part of September. From that point he sent
Father Zenobe with his dispatches to represent him at court,
while he turned his attention to the fur trade and to the
project of completing a fort, which he named St Louis,
upon the Illinois River. The precise location of this work
is not known. It was said to be upon a rocky bluff two
hundred and fifty feet hi^h, and only accessible upon one
side. There are no bluffs of such a height on the Illinois
River answering the description. It may have been on
the rocky bluff above La Salle, where the rocks are perhaps
one hundred feet in height.
Upon the completion of this work La Salle again sailed
for France, which he reached on the 13th of December,
1683. A new man, La Barre, had now succeeded Fronte-
nac as Governor of Canada. This man was unfriendly
towards La Salle, and this, with other untoward circum-
stances, no doubt led him to attempt the colonization of the
Mississippi country by way of the mouth of the river. Not-
withstanding many obstacles were in his path, he succeeded
in obtaining/ the grant of a fleet from the King, and on the
24th of July, 1684, a fleet of twenty-four vessels sailed from
Rochelle to America, four of which were destined for Lou-
isiana, and carried a body of two hundred and eighty
people, including the crews. There were soldiers, artificers,
and volunteers, and also " some youisg women." Discord
soon broke out between M. de Beaujcu and La Salle, and
grew from bad to worse. On the 20th of December they
reached the island cf St. Domingo.
Joutel* was sent out with this party, which left oa the
5ih of February, and traveled eastward three clays, when
they came to a great stream which they could not cross.
Here they made signals by building great fires, and on the
13th two of the vessels came in sight. The stream was
sounded and the vessels were anchored under shelter. But
again misfortume overtook La Salle, and the vessel was
wrecked, and the bulk of supplies was lost. At this junc-
ture M. de Beaujeu, his second in command, set sail and
returned to France. La Salle now constructed a rude
shelter from the timbers of his wrecked vessel, placed his
people inside of it, and set out to explore the surrounding
country in hope of .finding the Mississippi. He was, of
course, disappointed : but found on a stream, which is,
named the Yachcs, a- good site for a fort. He at once re-
moved his camp, and, after incredible exertions, constructed
a fortification sufficient to protect them from the Indians.
This fort was situated on Matagorda Bay, within the present
limits of Texas, and was called by La Salle Fort St. Louis.
Leaving Joutel to complete the work with one hundred
men, La Salle took the remainder of the company and em-
barked on the river, with the intention of proceeding as far
up as he could. The savages toon became troublesome, and
sjoutcl, historian of the voyage, accompanied La Salle, and subse-
quently wrote h;s " Journal Historique," which was published in Paris,
1713.
u
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
on the 14th of July La Salic ordered Joutel to join him
with his whole force. They had already lost several of their
best men, and dangers threatened them on every side. It
would seem from the historian's account of the expedition
that La Salle began to erect another fort, and also that he
became morose and severe in his discipline, so much so as to
get the ill will of many of his people. He finally resolved
to advance into the country, but whether with the view of
returning to Canada by way of Illinois, or only for the pur-
pose of makiiig further discoveries, Joutel leives in doubt.
Giving his last instructions, he left the fort en the 12th day
of January, 1687, with a company of about a dozen men,
including his brother, two nephews, Father Ana&tasius, a
Franciscan friar, Joutel, and others, and moved north-east-
ward, as is supposed, until the 17th of March, when some
of his men, who had been cherishing revengeful feelings for
some time, waylaid the Chevalier and shot him dead.
They also slew one of his nephews and two of his servants.
This deed occurred on the 20th of March, on a stream
called Cenis.
In 1C87, France was involved in a long and bloody war.
The League of Augsburg was formed by the Princes of the
Empire against Louis XIV., and England, Spain, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, and Savoy took up arms, and Louis
found himself battling with nearly the whole of Europe, and
only Turkey for an ally. This war ended with the peace of
Ryswick in 1697.
No material change took place in America, but the colo-
nists were harassed and many of their people killed or car-
ried captives to the Canadas. In 1688, the French posses-
sions in North America included nearly the whole of the
continent north of the St. Lawrence, and the entire valley
of the Mississippi ; and they had begun to establish a line
of fortifications extending from Quebec to the mouth of the
Mississippi, between which points they had three great lines
of communication, to wit : by way of Mackinaw, Green
Bay, and the Wisconsin Eiver ; by way of Lake Michigan,
tlie Kankakee and Illinois Rivers ; and by way of Lake
Erie, the Maumee and Wabash Rivers, and were preparing
to explore the Ohio as a fourth route.
In 1699, D'Iberville, under the authority of the crown,
discovered, on the second c f March, by way of the sea, the
mouth of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was
called by the natives " Malbouchia," and by the Spaniards,
' La Palissade," from the great number of trees about its
mouth. After traversing the several outlets, and satisfying
himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its western
outlet, and returned to France. An avenue of trade was
now opened out, which was fully improved.
At this time a census of -New France showed a total
population of eleven thousand two hundred and forty-nine
Europeans. War again broke out in 1701, and extended
over a period of twelve years, ending with the treaty of
Utrecht, in 1713. This also extended to the American Colo-
nits, and its close left everything as before, with the excep-
tion that Nova Scotia was captured in 1710.
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some
European colonists. In 1762, the colony was made over to
Spain, to be regained by France, under the consulate of
Napoleon.
In 1803, it was purchased by the United States, for the
sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory of Louisiana
and the commerce of the Mississippi river, came under the
charge of the United States. Although La Salle's labors
ended in defeat and death, he had not worked and suffered
in vain. He had thrown open to France and the world an
immense and most valuable country. Had established
several ports, and laid the foundation of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia arc to
this day monuments of La Salle's labors; for, th-ugh he
had founded neither of them (unless Peoria, which was built
nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur), it was by those he
led into the west that these places were peopled and civil-
ized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the
Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and
honored."*
The French early improved the opening made for them,
and before 1693, the Reverend Father Gravier began a
mission among the Illinois, and became the founder of Kas-
kaskia. For some time it was merely a missionary station,
and the inhabitants of the village consisted entirely of
natives ; it being one of three such villages, the other two
being Cahokia and Peoria. This we learn from a letttr
written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated " Aux Cascaskias,
Autrement dit de I'lmmaculee concepcion de la Saiute
Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." In this letter, the writer
tells us that Gravier must be regarded as the founder of the
Illinois mi sions. Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, the
missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia.f while
Peoria arose near the remains of Fort Crevecreur J
An unsuccessful attempt was also made to found a colony
on the Ohio. It failed in consequence of sickness.
In the north, De La Motte Cadillac, in June, 1701, laid
the foundation of Fort Poutchartrain, on the strait, (le De-
troit), || while in the southwest efforts were making to realize
the dreams of La Salle. The leader in the last named en-
terprise was Lemoine D'Iberville, a Canadian officer, who
from 1694 to 1697 distinguished himself not a little by
battles and conquests among the icebergs of the " Baye
D'Udson or Hudson Bay."
The post at Vincennes, on theOubaehe river, (pronounced
Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly), was estab-
lished in 1702. It is quite probable that on La Salle's last
trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia and Cahokia.
Until the year 17.30, but little is known of the settlements
in the northwest, as it was not until this time that the atten-
The authorities m relation to La Salle are Hennepin : a narrative pub-
lished in the name of Tonti, in 1697, but disclaimed by him (Charlevoix
III, 365. Lettres Edifiantes.
t Bancroft, iii. 196.
J There was an Old Peoria on the northwest shore of the lake of that
name, a mile and a half above the outlet. From 1778 to 1796 the inhabi-
tants left this for New Peoria, (Fort Clark) at the outlet. American
State Papers, xviii. 476.
I Western Annals.
Chnrlevoix, ii. 284. Le Detroit was the whole strait from Erie to
Huron. The first grants of land at Detroit, t. ., Fort Pontchartrain,
were made in 1707.
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
15
tion of the English was called to the occupation of this por-
tion of the new world, which they then supposed they
owned. Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, writing
" Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8th,
1750, says : " We have here whites, negroes, and Indians, to
say nothing of the cross-breeds. There are five French
villages, and three villages of the natives within a space of
twenty-one leagues, situated between the Mississippi and
another river, called the Karkadiad, (Kaskaskia). In the
five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites,
three hundred blacks, and some tixty red slaves or savages.
The three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight
hundred souls all told.* Most of the French till the soil.
They raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like
princes. Three times as much is produced as can be con-
sumed, and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to
New Orleans."
Again, in an epistle dated November 17th, 1750, Vivier
says : " For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, one sees no dwellings * * * * New Orleans contains
black, white and red, not more, I think, than twelve hun-
dred persons. To this point come all kinds of lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins, and bear's grease ; and
above all pork and flour from the Illinois. These things
create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come
hither this year. Above New Orleans plantations are again
met with ; the most considerable is a colony of Germans,
some ten leagues up the river. At point Coupee, thirty-five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here,
within five or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations.
Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have
a garrison."
Father Marest, witing from the post at Vincennes, makes
the same observation. Vivier also says, " Some individuals
dig lead near the surface, and supply the Indians and Can-
ada. Two Spaniards, now here, who claim to be adepts,
say that our mines are like those of Mexico, and that if we
would dig deeper we would find silver under the lead ; at
any rate the lead is excellent. There are also in this coun-
try, beyond doubt, copper mines, as from time to time, large
pieces have been found in the streams."f
At the close of the year- 1750, the French occupied in ad-
dition to the lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois,
one at Du Quesne, one at the Maumee, in the country of the
^lamis, and one at Sandusky, in what may be termed the
Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the north-west, they j
had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake
Michigan, at Fort Pontehartrain (Detroit), at Michilli- j
mackinac or Massillimacinac, Fox River of Green Bay, and \
at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of La Salle were I
now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of |
this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settle- |
ment. Another nation, however, was now turning its
attention to this extensive country, and learning of its
wealth began to lay plans for occupying it and for securing
the great profits arising therefrom.
c Letlrcs Ediffantcs (Paris, 1731), vii. 97-106.
t Western Annals.
The French, however, had another claim to this country,
namely, the
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.
The largest branch of the Mississippi river from the east,
known to the early French settlers as la belle riviere, called
"beautiful" river, was discovered by Robert Cavalier de
La Salle, in 1669. While La Salle was at his trading-post
on the St. Lawrence, he found leisure to study nine Indian
dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois. While con-
versing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea.
In this statement the Mississippi and its tributaries were
considered as one stream. La Salle, believing as most of
the French at that period did, that the great rivers flowing
west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to em-
bark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the
continent. He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the
approval of the Governor and the Intendent, Talon. They
issued letters patent, authorizing the enterprise, but made
no provisions to defray the expenses.
At this juncture the seminary St. Sulpice decided to send
out missionaries in connection with the expedition, and La
Salle offering to sell his improvements at La Chive to raise
the money, the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two
thousand eight hundred dollars were raised, with which La
Salle purchased four canoes and the necessary supplies for
the outfit.
On the 6th of July, 1689, the party, numbering twenty-
four persons, embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence.
Two additional canoes carried the Indian guides.
In three days they were gliding over the bosom of Lake
Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity
of the present city of Rochester, New York. Here they
expected to procure guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but
in this they were disappointed. After waiting a month in
the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian from the
Iroquois colony, at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured
them they could find guides, and offered to conduct them
thence. On their way they passed the mouth of Niagara
river, when they heard for the first time the distant thunder
of the cataract. Arriving among the Iroquois they met
with a friendly reception, and learned from a Shawnee
prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.- - De-
lighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready
to resume their journey, and as they were about to start they
heard of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring
village. One of them proved to be Louis Joliet, afterwards
famous as an explorer in the west. He had been sent by
the Canadian government to explore the copper mines on
Lake Superior, but had failed and was on his way back to
Quebec.
On arriving at Lake Superior, they found, as La Salle
had predicted, the Jesuit fathers, Marquette and Dablo;:,
occupying the field. After parting with the priests, I ,-\
Salle went to the chief Iroquois village at Onondago, ivhrre
he obtained guides and passing thence to a tributary of the
Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far as
16
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
the falls of Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by
La Salle, the persevering and successful French explorer of
the west in 1069.
When Washington was sent out by the colony of Virginia
in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty com-
mandant at Quebec replied : " We claim the country on the
Ohio by virtue of the discoveries of La Salle, and will not
give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners
of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
We have sketched the progress of French discovery in
the valley of the Mississippi. The first travelers reached
tha* river iu 1G73, and when the year 1750 broke in upon
the father of waters and the great north-west, all was still
except those little spots upon the prairies of Illinois and
among the marshes of Louisiana.
Volney, by conjecture, fixes the settlement of Vincennes
about 1735.* Bishop Brute, of Indiana, speaks of a mis-
sionary station there in 1700, and adds: "The friendly
tribes and traders called to Canada for protection, and then
M. De Vincennes came with a detachment, I think, of
Cariguan, and was killed in 1735. ''f Bancroft says a mili-
tary establishment was formed there in 1716, and in 1742 a
settlement of herdsmen took place.J In a petition of the
old inhabitants at Vincennes, dated in November, 1793, we
find the settlement spoken of as having been made before
1742. And such is the general voice of tradition. On the
other hand, Charlevoix, who records the death of Vincennes,
which took place among the Chickasaws, in 1736, makes no
mention of any post on the Wabash, or any missionary
station there. Neither does he mark any upon his map,
although he gives even the British forts upon the Tennessee
and elsewhere. Such is the character of the proof relative
to the settlement of Vincennes.
Hennepin, in 1663-4, had heard of the " Hohio." The
route from the lakes to the Mississippi, by the Wabash, was
explored 1676,|| and in Hennepin's volume of 1698, is a
journal, said to be that sent by La Salle to Count Frontenac
in 1682 or '83, which mentions the route by the Maumee^f
and Wabash as the most direct to the great western river.
In 1749, when the English first began to think seriously
of sending men into the west, the greater portions of the
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota were yet under the dominion of the red men.
The English knew, however, of the nature of the vast
wealth of these wilds.
In the year 1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had
matured a plan and commenced movements, the object of
which was to secure the country beyond the Alleghenics to
the English crown. In Pennsylvania, also, Governor Keith
and James Logan, Secretary of the Province from 1719 to
Volney's View, p. 336.
t Butler's Kentucky.
J History XJ. S. iii. 340.
\ American State Papers, xvi. 32.
| Histoire General Des Voyages iiv., 758.
TNow called Miami.
1731, represented to the powers of England the necessity of
taking steps to secure the western lands. Nothing, however/
was done by the mother country, except to take certain
diplomatic steps to secure the claim of Britain to this unex-
plored wilderness. England had from the outset claimed
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the ground that the dis-
covery and possession of the sea coast was a discovery and
possession of the country ; and as is well known, her grants
to Virginia, Connecticut, and other colonies, were through
from " sea to sea." This was not all her claims ; she had
purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of laud. Thij
was also a strong argument.
In the year 1684, Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia,
held a treaty with the five nations at Albany. These wero
the great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.
Afterward the Tuscaroras were taken into the confederacy,
and it became known as the six nations. They came under
the protection of the mother country, and again in 1701 they
repeated the agreement. Another formal deed was drawn
up and signed by the chiefs of the National Confederacy in
1726, by which their lands were conveyed in trust to Eng-
land, " to be protected and defended by his majesty, to and
for the use of the grantors and their heirs." The validity
of this claim has often been disputed, but never successfully.
In 1774, a purchase was made at Lancaster of certain lands
within the " colony of Virginia-," for which the Indians
received 200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with a
promise that as settlements increased, more should be paid.
The commissioners from Virginia at the treaty were Col.
Thomas Lee and Col. William Beverly.
As settlements extended, and the Indians ./egan to com-
plain, the promise of further pay was called to mind, and
Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the Alleghenies to Logs'
town. In 1784, * Col. Lee and some Virginians accom-
panied him, with the intention of ascertaining the feelings
of the Indians with regard to further settlements in the west,
which Col. Lee and others were contemplating. The object
of these proposed settlements was not the cultivation of the
soil, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. Accordingly
aftef Weiser's conference with the Indians at Logstown,
which was favorable to their views, Thomas Lee, with
twelve other Virginians, among whom were Lawrence and
Augustine, brothers of George Washington, and also Mr.
Hanbury, of London, formed an association whLh they
called the "Ohio Company," and in 1748 petitioned the
king for a grant beyond the mountains. This petition was
approved by the English government, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to the petitioners half a
million of acres within the bounds of that colony beyond
the Alleghenies, two hundred thousand of which were to be
located at once. This portion was to be held for ten years
free of quit-rent, provided the company would put there one
hundred families within seven years, and build a fort suffi-
cient to protect the settlement. The company accepted the
proposition, and sent to London for a cargo suited to tho
Indian trade, which should arrive in November, 1749.
* Plain Facts, pp. 40, 120.
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Other companies were also formed about this time in Vir-
ginia to colonize the west. On the 12th of June, 1749, a
grant of 800,000 acres from the line of Canada, on the
north and west, was made to the Loyal Company, and on
the 29th of October, 1751, another of 100,000 acres to the
Greenbriar Company. *
The French were not blind all this time. They saw that
if the British once obtained a stronghold upon the Ohio,
they might not only prevent their settlements upon it, but
in time would come to the lower posts, and so gain posses-
sion of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1744,
Vandreuil, the French governor, well knowing the conse-
quences that must arise from allowing the English to build
trading posts in the north- .vest, seized some of their frontier
posts, to further secure the claims of the French to the
west. Having these fears, and seeing the danger of the
late movements of the British, Gallisouiere, then Governor
of Canada, determined to place along the Ohio evidences of
the French claim to, and possession of, the country. For
that purpose he sent, in the summer of 1749, Louis Celeron,
with a party of soldiers, to place plates of lead, on which
were written out the claims of the French, in the mounds
and at the mouths of the rivers. These were heard of by
Willliam Trent, an Indian commissioner, sent out by Vir-
ginia in 1752, to treat with and conciliate the Indians,
while upon the Ohio, and mentioned in his journal. One of
these plates was found with the inscription partly defaced.
It bears date August 16th, 1749, and a cop^ of the inscrip-
tion, with particular account, was sent by De Witt Clinton
to the American Antiquarian Society, among whose journals
it may now be found. These measures did not, however,
deter the English from going on with their explorations.
In February, 1751, Christopher Gist was sent by the
Ohio Company to examine its lands. He went to a village
of the Twigtwees, on the Miami, about 150 miles above its
mouth. From there he went down the Ohio River nearly
to the falls, at the present city of Louisville, and in Novem-
ber he commenced a survey of the company's lands. In
17.31, General Andrew Lewis commenced some surveys in
the Greenbrier country, on behalf of the company already
mentioned. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing
their forts for defence, and in opening roads. In 1752
having heard of the trading houses on the Miami River,
they, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked it,
and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives
were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
The traders were carried away to Canada, and one account
gays several were burned. This fort, or trading house was
called by the English writers Pickawillany. A memorial
of the king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawellanes, in the
centre of the territory between Ohio and the Wabash."
This was the first blood shed between the French and
English, and occurred near the present city of Piqua, Ohio.
The English were determined on their part to purchase a
title from the Indians of lands which they wished to occupy,
and in the spring of 1752, Messrs. Fry,f Lomax and Pat on
* Revised Statutes of Virginia.
t Afterwards Commander-in-chief
ment of the French War of 177:,.
Washington, at the commence-
were sent from Virginia to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown, to learn what they objected to in the
treaty at Lancaster, and to settle all difficulties. On the
9th of Juno the commissioners met the red men at Logs-
town. This was a village seventeen miles below Pittsburgh,
upon the north side of the Ohio. Here had been a trading
post for many years, but it was abandoned by the Indians
in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize the
treaty of Lancaster, but the commissioners taking aside
Montour, the interpreter, who was a son of the famous
Catherine Montour, and a chief among the six nations,
being three-fourths of Indian blood, through his influence
an agreement was effected, and upon the 13lh of June they
all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty
in its fullest extent. Mean while the powers beyond the seas
were trying to out-mano3uver each other, and were professing
to be at peace. The English generally outwitted the Indians,
and secured themselves, as they thought, by their polite
conduct. But the French, in this as in all cases, proved that
they knew best how to manage the natives. While these
measures were taken, another treaty with the wild men of
the debatable land was also in contemplation. And in Sep-
tember, 1753, William Fairfax met their deputies at Win-
chester, Virginia, where he concluded a treaty. In the
month following, however, a more satisfactory inter view took
place at Carlisle, between the representatives of the Iroquois,
Delawares, Shawnees, Twigtwees, and Wyandots, and the
commissioners of Pennsylvania, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris,
and Benjamin Franklin. Soon after this, no satisfaction
being obtained from the Ohio, either as to the force, position,
or purposes of the French, Robert Dinwiddie, then Governor
of Virginia, determined to send to them another messenger,
and learn if possible their intentions. For this purpose he
selected a young surveyor, who, at the age of nineteen had
I attained the rank of major, and whose previous life had
inured him to hardships and woodland ways ; while his
courage, cool judgment, and firm will, all fitted him for such
' a mission. This personage was no other than the illustrious
George Washington, who then held considerable interest in
western lands. He was twenty-one years old at the time of
! the appointment.* Taking Gist as a guide, the two, accom-
panied by four servitors, set out on their perilous march.
! They left Will's Creek, where Cumberland now is, on the
15th of November, and on the 22d reached the Monongahela,
| about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to
i Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with
the chiefs of the six nations. Here he learned the position
of the French, and also that they had determined not to come
down the river until the following spring. The Indians were
non-committal, they deeming a neutral position the safest.
Washington, finding nothing could be done, went on to Ve-
nango, an old Indian town at the mouth of the French
Creek. Here the French had a fort called Fort Machault.
On the llth of December he reached the fort at the head of
French Creek. Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's
letter, received his answer, and upon the 16th set out upon
his return journey with no one but Gist, hia guide, and a few
Sparks' Washington, Vol. ii., pp. 42S-447.
18
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLIN CJf.
Indians, who still remained true to him. They reached home
in safety on the Gth of January, 1754. From the letter of
St. Pierre, Commander of the French fort, sent by Washing-
ton to Governor Diuwiddie, it was perfectly clear that the
French would not yield the West without a struggle. Active
preparations were at once made iii all the English colonies
for the coming conflict, while the French finished their fort
at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications to
be in readiness. The Old Dominion was alive. Virginia
was the center of great activities. Volunteers were called
for, and from neighboring colonies men rallied to the conflict,
and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlisting under
Governor's proclamation, which promised two hundred
thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were
gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point,
whither Trent had come for assistance, for his little band of
forty-one men, who were working away in hunger and want,
to fortify that point at the fork of the Ohio, to which both
parties were looking with deep interest. The first birds of
spring filled the fjrest with their songs. The swift river
rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting
snows of spring and April showers. The leaves were appear-
ing, a few Indian Scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed
near at hand, and all was so quiet that Frazier, an old In-
dian trader, who had been left by Trent in command of the
new fort, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek,
ten miles up the Monongahela. But though all was so quiet
in that wilderness, keen eyes had seen the low entrenchment
that was rising at the fork, and swift feet had borne the news
of it up the valley, and on the morning of the 17th of April,
Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw upon the
Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink; sixty batteaux
and three hundred canoes, filled with men, and laden deep
with cannon and stores. The fort was called on to surren-
der : by the advice of the Half-King, Ward tried to evade
the act, but it would not do. Contrecceur, with a thousand
men about him, said ' Evacuate,' and the ensign dared not
refuse. That evening he supped with his captor, and the
next day was bowed off by the Frenchman, and, with his
men and tools, marched up the Monongahela." The French
and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle,
in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narra-
ted show that the French were determined to hold the coun-
try watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries : while the
English laid claim to the country by virtue of the discoveries
by the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New Found-
land to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had been struck, and the first attempt of
the English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these
lands had resulted disastrously to them. The French and
Indians immediately completed the fortifications begun at
the fork, which they had so easily captured, and when com-
pleted gave to the fort the name of Du Quesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek, when the news of the capture of the
fort arrived. He at once departed to recapture it. On his
way he entrenched himself at a place called the " Meadow*,"
where he erected a fort called by him Fort Necessity. From
there he surprised and captured a forco of French and Indi-
ans marching against him, but was soon after attacked by a
much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the morn-
ing of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately planned for cam-
paigns, one against Fort Du Quesne, one against Nova Sco-
tia, one against Fort Niagara, and one against Crown Point.
These occurred during 1755-6, and were not successful in
driving the French from their possessions. The expedition
against Fort Du Quesne was led by the famous Braddock,
who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered an inglorious de-
feat. This occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is gen-
erally known as the battle of Monongahela or " Braddock's
defeat." The war continued through various vicissitudes
through the years 1756-7, when, at the commencement of
1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then
secretary of state, afterwards Lord Chatham, active prepa-
rations were made to carry on the war. Three expeditions
were planned for this year : one under General Amherst,
against Louisburg; another under Abercrombie, against
Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third under General Forbes, against
Fort Du Quesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surren-
dered after a desperate resistance of more than forty days,
and the eastern part of the Canadian possessions foil into the
hands of the British. Abercrombie captu red Fort Fronte-
nac, and when the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, of
which Washington had the active command, arrived there,
it was found in flames and deserted. The English at once
took possession, rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illus-
trious statesman, changed the name to Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduc-
tion of Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ;
Amherst was to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and
General Prideaux was to capture Niagara. This latter place
was taken in July, but the gallant Prideaux lost his life.
Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point, without a
blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memorable ascent to the
plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated Montcalm,
and on the 18th the city capitulated. In this engagement,
Montcalra and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Mont-
calm's successor, marched to Sillery, three miles above the
city, with the purpose of defeating the English, and there,
on the 28th of the following April, was fought one of the
bloodiest battles of the French and Indian war. It resulted
in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the city of Mon-
treal. The Governor signed a capitulation by which the
whole of Canada was surrendered to the English. This
practically concluded the war, but it was not until 1763
that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that
year, and under its provisions all the country east of the
Mississippi and north of the Ibervill river in Louisiana, were
ceded to England. At the same time, Spain ceded Florida
to Great Britain.
On the 13th September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was
sent from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only re-
maining French post in the territory. He arrived there on
HIS TORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
the ( Jth of November, and summoned the place to surrender.
At first the commander of the post, Beletre, refused, but on
the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the French army,
surrendered. The North-west Territory was now entirely
under the English rule. In 1762, France, by a secret treaty,
ceded Louisiana to Spain, to prevent it falling into the hands
of the English, who were becoming masters of the entire
West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fou-
tainbleau, gave to the English the dominion iu question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United
States and England, that part of Canada lying south and
west of the great lakes, comprising a large territory, was
acknowledged to be a portion of the United States. In
1803 Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to France, and by
France sold to the United States, By the treaty of Paris,
the regions east of the Mississippi, including all these and
other towns of the north-west, were given over to England ;
but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until
1765, when Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty in
England, established himself at Fort Chartres, bearing with
him the proclamation of General Gage, dated December
30th, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Catho-
lics who worshiped here and the right to leave the country
with their effects if they wished, or to remain with the priv-
ileges of Englishmen. During the years 1775 s.nd 1776, by
the operations of land companies and the perseverance of
individuals, several settlements were firmly established be-
tween the Alleghenies and the Ohio river, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a
council held in Kaskaskia, on July 5th, 1773, an association
of English traders, calling themselves the " Illinois Land
Company," obtained from the chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Ca-
hokia, and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on the
east side of the Mississippi river south of the Illinois. In
1775 a merchant from the Illinois country, named Viviat,
came to Post Vincenncs as the agent of the association called
the " Wabash Land Company." On the 8th of October he
obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs a deed for 37,497,
600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors,
attested by a number of the inhabitants of Vincenues, and
afterward recorded in the office of a Notary Public at Kas-
kaskia. This and other land companies had extensive
schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all were frus-
trated by the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. On
the 20th of April, 1780, the two companies named consoli-
dated under the name of the " United Illinois and Wabash
Land Company ; " they afterwards made strenuous efforts to
have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all signally
failed. When the war of the Revolution commenced, Ken-
tucky was an unorganized country, though there were several
settlements within her borders.
Iu Ilutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at
that time Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000
white and black inhabitants, the whites being a little the
more numerous. Cahokia contained fifty houses, 300 white
inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were east of the Missis-
sippi river, about the year 1771 when these observations
wcro made" 300 v.hitc men capable of bearing arms, and
233 negroes." From 1775 until the expedition of Clark,
nothing is recorded and nothing known of these settlements,
save what is contained iu a report made by a committee to
Congress in June, 1778. From it the following extract is
made : " Near the mouth of the river Kaskaskia, there is a
village which appears to have contained nearly eighty fam-
ilies from the beginning of the late Revolution ; there are
twelve families at a small village at La Prairie Du Rochers,
and nearly fifty families at the Cahokia village. There aro
also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philip's,
which is five mibs further up the river." St. L >uis had been
settled in February, 1764, and at this time contained, inclu-
ding its neighboring towns, over six hundred white and one
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all
the country west of the Mississippi was under French rule,
and remained so until ceded back to Spain, its original owner,
who afterwards sold it and the country including New Or-
leans to the Uuited States. At De'roit, there were, accord-
ing to Captain Carver, who was in the north-west from 1768
to 1776, more than one hundred houses, and the river was
settled for more than twenty miles, although poorly cultiva-
ted, the people being engaged iu the Indian trade.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held
every post of importance in the West. Kentucky was
formed as a component part of Virginia, and the sturdy
pioneers of the West, alive to their interests, and recog-
nizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the
trade iu this part of the New World, held steadily to their
purposes, and those within the commonwealth of Ken-
tucky proceeded to exercise their civrl privileges of electing
John Todd and Richard Gallaway burgesses, to represent
them in the assembly of the present state. The chief spirit
in this far-out colony, who had represented her the year
previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
of unequalled boldness. He had been watching the move-
ments of the British throughout the north-west, and under-
stood their whole plan. He saw it was through their
possession of the post at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and
other places, which would give them easy access to the vari-
ous Indian tribes in the north-west, that the British intended
to penetrate the country from the north and south, and
annihilate the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic
man was Colonel, afterwards General George Rodgers Clark.
He knew that the Indians were not unanimously in accord
with the English, and he was convinced that, could the
British be defeated and expelled from the north-west, the
natives might be easily awed into neutrality ; by spies sent for
the purpose, he satisfied himself that the enterprise against
the Illinois settlements might easily succeed. Patrick Henry
was Governor of Virginia, and at once entered heartily into
Clark's plans. The same plan had before been agitated in
the Colonial Assemblies ; but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of
affairs at the scene of action to be able to guide them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility
of his plan, received on the second of January two sets of
instructions: one secret, the other open. The latter authoriz-
ed him to proceed to enlist seven companies to go to Ken-
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
tucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three months from
their arrival in the west. The secret order authorized him
to arm the troops, to procure his powder and lead of General
Hand, at Pittsburg, and to proceed at once to subjugate the
country.
With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburg, choos-
ing rather to raise his men west of the mountains. Here he
raised three companies and several private volunteers.
Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which
he navigated as far as the falls, where he took possession of
and fortified Corn Island, between the present sites of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of
this fortification may yet be found. At this place he ap-
pointed Col. Bowman to meet him with such recruits as had
reached Kentucky by the southern route. Here he an-
nounced to the men their real destination. On the 24th of
June he embarked on the river, his destination being Fort
Massac or Massacre, and then marched direct to Kaskaskia.
The march was accomplished and the town reached on the
evening of July 4. He captured the fort near the village,
and soon after the village itself, by surprise, without the
loss of a single man or killing any of the enemy. Clark
told the natives that they were at perfect liberty to worship
as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the conflict
they would, and he would protect them from any barbarity
from British or Indian foes. This had the desired effect)
and the inhabitants at once swore allegiance to the Amerr
can arms, and when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the
6th of July, they accompanied him, and through their in-
fluence the inhabitants of the place surrendered. Thus two
important posts iu Illinois passed from the hands of the Eng-
Hsh into the possession of Virginia. During the year
(1779) the famous " Land Laws " of Virginia were passed-
The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the north-west than the gaining
of a few Indian conflicts. These grants confirmed in the
main all grants made, and guaranteed to actual settlers their
rights and privileges.
After providing for the settlers, the laws provided for sell-
ing the balance of the public lands at forty cents per acre.
To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature sent
four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims
over many of which great confusion prevailed concerning
their validity vote.* These gentlemen opened their court on
October, 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and continued until April
26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided three thou-
sand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, George
May, who assumed the duties on the 10th day of the month
whose name he bore. With the opening of the next year
(1781) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Government of Spain exacted such
measures in relation to its trade as to cause the overtures
made to the United States to be rejected. The American
Government considered they had a right to navigate its
channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. f
Butler's Kentucky.
t American Stati- Papers.
The settlements in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by
emigrants. It was during this year that the first seminary
of learning was established in the West in this young and
enterprising commonwealth.
The settlers did not look upon the building of the fort in
a friendly manner as it aroused the hostility of the Indians.
Spain had been friendly to the colonies during their struggle
for independence, and though for a while this friendship ap-
peared in danger from the refusal of the free navigation of
the river, yet it was finally settled to the satisfaction of both
nations. The winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusu-
ally severe ones ever experienced in the West. The Indians
always refered to it as the " Great Cold. " Numbers of wild
animals perished, and not a few pioneers lost their lives.
The following summer a party of Canadians and Indians,
attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possesion of it in
consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolt-
ing colonies. They met with such a determined resistance
on the part of the inhabitants, even the women taking part
in the battle, that they were compelled to abandon the con-
test. They also made an attack on the settlements in Ken-
tucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable man-
ner, they fled the country in great haste. About this time
arose the question in the Colonial Congress concerning the
western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachu-
setts and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this sub-
ject finally led New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to
pass a law giving to the delegates of that State in Congress
the power to cede her western lands for the benefit of the
United States. This law was laid before Congress during
the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until
September 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling
upon the states claiming western lands to release their claims
in favor of the whole body. This basis formed the Union,
and was the first after all of those legislative measures,
which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois,Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of
the same year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The
conquest might easily have been effected by Clark, had the
necessary aid been furnished him. Nothing decisive was
done, yet the heads of the Government knew that the safety
of the North- West from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only uuconquered
one in the territory.
Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into
the counties of Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefferson, and the act
eetablishicg the town of Louisville was passed. Virginia in
accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d day
of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the
United States upon certain conditions, which Congress would
not accede to,* and the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old
Dominion, failed, nor was anything farther done until 1783.
During all that time the colonies were busily engaged in the
struggle with the mother country, and in consequence thereof
but little heed was given to the western settlements. Upon
the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio
River of American parentage occurred, being that of Mary/
* AmiT>:m State Papers.
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Heckewelder, daughter of the widely known Moravian Mis-
sionary, whose baud of Christian Indians suffered in after
years a horrible massacre by the hands of the frontier settlers,
who had been exasperated by the murder of several of their
neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to
humanity, a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of
shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on
the part of the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of
cruelty which darken the years of 1781 and 1782 in the his-
tory of the North-west. During the year 1782 a number of
battles among the Indians and frontiersmen occurred, and
between the Moravian Indians and the Wyandots. In these,
horrible acts of cruelty were practiced on the captives, many
of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of fron-
tier outlaws. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio Valleys.
Contemporary with them were several engagements in Ken-
tucky, in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who,
often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved
the outposts from cruel destruction. By the close of the
year victory had perched upon the American banner,
and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of
peace had been arranged between the Commissioners of
England and her unconquerable colonies ; Cornwallis had
been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the lib-
erty of America was assured. On the 19th of April follow-
ing, the anniversary of the' battle of Lexington, peace was
proclaimed to the Army of the United States, and on the 3d
of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our
revolutionary struggle was concluded. By the terms of thai
treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows: On the,
north the line was to extend along the centre of the Great
Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long
Lake, thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of
the Mississippi River ; down its center to the 31st parallel of
latitude, then on that line east to the head of the Appalach-
icola River; down its center to its junction with the Flint ;
thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thencj
clown along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several
posts were still occupied by the British in the North and
West. Among these was Detroit, still in the hands of the
enemy. Numerous engagements with the Indians through-
out Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whrse lands adventur-
ous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by the
proper treaty. To remedy this evil, Congress appointed
Commissioners to treat with the natives and purchase their
lands, and prohibited the settlement of the territory until
this could be done. Before the close of the year another
attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however,
not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in
the North-west she had formerly done, withdrew her troops,
having on the 20th of December preceding, authorized the
whole of her possessions to be deeded to the United States.
This was done on the 1st of March following, and the North-
west Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To General Clark and his soldisrs, however, she gave a tract
of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situ-
ated anywhere north of the Ohio wherever they chose to
locate them. They selected the region opposite the falls of
the Ohio, where is now the village of Clarksville, about mid-
way between the cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville,
Indiana.
While the frontier remained thus, and General Haldi-
mand at Detroit refused to evacuate, alleging that he had no
orders from his king to do so, settlers were rapidly gather-
ing about the inland forts. In the spring of 1784, Pittsburg
was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur Lee,
who passed through the town soon after on his way to the
Indian council at Fort Mclntosh, we suppose it was not very
prepossessing in appearance. He says, " Pittsburg is in-
habited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry
log houses, and are as dirty as if in the North of Ireland, or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on,
the goods being brought at the vast expense of forty-five
shillings per hundred Ibs. from Philadelphia and Baltimore.
They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and money. There
are in the town, four attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest
of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."
Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabi-
tants, and was beginning to discuss measures for a separation
from Virginia. A land office was opened at Louisville, and
measures were adopted to take defensive precaution against
the Indians, who were yet, in some instances, incited to deeds
of violence by the British. Before the close of this year,
1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them,
although no entries were recorded until 1787. The Indian
title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished, they held
large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Con-
gress adopted means for treaties with the original owners
and provided for the surveys of the lands gained thereby, as
well as for those north of the Ohio, now in its possession.
On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made with the Wabash
Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made in
1781, that at Fort Mclntosh in 1785, and through these
vast tracts of land were gained. The Wabash Indians, how-
ever, afterwards rfused to comply with the provisions of
the treaty made with them, and in order to compel their
adherence to its provisions, force was used.
During the year 1786, the free navigation of the Mis-
sissippi came up in Congress, and caused various discussions,
which resulted in no definite action, only serving to excite
speculation in regard to the Western lands. Congress had
promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution,
but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the
Mississippi respecting its navigation, and the trade of the
Northwest, that body, had in 1783 declared its inability to
fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded be-
tween the two governments. Before the close of the year,
1786, however, it was able, through the treaties with the
Indians, to allow some grants and settlements thereon, and
on the 14th of September Connecticut ceded to the general
government the tract of land known as the " Connecticut
Reserve," and before the close of the year a large tract of
hind was sold to a company, who at once took measures to
settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company were to
pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a de-
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
duction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies*,
they received 750,000 acres bounded on the south by the
Ohio, on the east by the Seventh range of townships, on the
west by the Sixteenth range, and on the north by a line so
drawn as to make the grant complete without the reservation.
In addition to this Congress afterward granted 100,000 acres
to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under
the resolutions of 1789 and 1790. While Dr. Cutler, one of
the agents of the company, was pressing its claims before
Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory.
When the cession was made by Virginia, 1784, a plan was
offered, but rejected. A motion had been made to strike from
the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery, which prevail-
ed. The plan was -then discussed and altered, and finally
passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By tliis proposition the Territory was to have been divided
into ten States by parallels and meridian lines. There were,
However, serious objections to this plan ; the root of the diffi-
culty was in 'the resolution of Congress passed in October,
1780, which fixed the boundaries of the ceded lands to be
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square.
These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts they desired a change, and in July
1786, the subjeet was taken up in Congress and changed to
favor a division into not more than five Spates, and not less
than three; this was approved by the Legislature of Virginia.
The subject was again taken up by Congress in 17S6, and
discussed throughout that year, and until July 1787 when
the famous " compact of 1787 " was passed, and the founda-
tion of the government of the Northwest laid. This compact
is fully discussed and explained in the sketch on Illinois in
this book, and to it the reader is referred. The passage of this
act and the grant to the New England Company was soon
followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves
Symtnes, of New Jersey, for a grant of land between the
Miamis. This gentleman had visited these lands soon after
the treaty of 1786, and being greatly pleased with them,
offered similar terms to those given to the New England
Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury Board
with power to act, and a contract was concluded the follow-
ing year. During the autumn the directors of the New
England Company were preparing to occupy their grant
the following spring, and upon the 23d of November made
arrangements for a party of forty-seven men, under the
superintendency of General Rufus Putnam, to set forward.
Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of
January the surveyors and their assistant', twenty-six in
number, were to meet at Hartford and proceed on their
journey westward, the remainder to follow as soon as possi-
ble. Congress in the meantime, upon the 3d of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western
settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions, and two
days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Ter-
ritory of the Northwest.
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was
now complete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of In-
dian affairs, settlers from the east began to come into the
country rapidly. The New England Company sent their
men during the winter of 1787-8, pressing on over the Alle-
ghenics by the old Indian path which had been opened into
Braddock's road, and which has since' been made a national
turnpike from Cumberland, westward. Through the weary
winter days they toiled on, and by April were all gathered
on the Youghiogheny, where boats had been built, and a
once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the
7th of that mouth, and unless the Moravian missionaries be
regarded as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly
claim that honor.
General St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the North
west not having yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, writ-
ten out, and published by being nailed to a tree in the
embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed to administer
them. Washington in writing of this, the first American
settlement in the Northwest said : " No colony in America
was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which
has just commenced at Muskingum. I know many of its set-
tlers personally, and there were never men better calculated
to promote the welfare of such a community." On the 2d
of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on
the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpo.e of naming
the new born city and its squares." As yet the settlement
was known as the " Muskingum," but was afterwards changed
to the name, Marietta, in honor, of Marie Antoinette.
Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Var-
num, who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been
appointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the ICth
of October 1787. On July 9, Governor St. Clair arrived j
and the colony began to assume form. The act of 1787 pro-
vided two distinct grades of government for the Northwest,
under the first of which the whole power was invested in the
hands of a governor and three district judges. This was
immediately formed on the governor's arrival, and the first
laws of the colony passed on the 25th of July : these provid-
ed for the organization of the militia, and on the next day
appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that
country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the
Scioto River into the county of Washington. From that
time forward, notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to
the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the second of
September the first court was held with imposing ceremonies.
The emigration westward at this time was very great.
The commander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Musk-
ingum reported four thousand five hundred persons as having
passed that post between February and June 1788, many of
whom would have purchased of the " Associates," as the
New England Company was called, had they been ready to
receive them. On the 26th of November 1787 Symmes
issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his contract and the
plan of sale he intend.ed to adopt. In January 1788, Mat-
thias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest in
Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sec-
tions upon which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-
third of this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert
Patterson and John Filson, and the three about August
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which was desig-
nated as being Licking River, to the mouth of which they
proposed to have -a road cut from Lexington ; these settle-
ments prospered but suffered greatly from the flood of 1789.
On the 4th of March 1789, the Constitution of the United
States went into operation, and on April 30th, George
Washington was inaugurated President, and during the next
summer an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north
of the Ohio. The President at first used pacific means, but
these failing, he sent General Harmer against the hostile
tribes. He destroyed several villages, but was defeated in
two battles, near the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events
were the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796,
General St. Clair was appointed in command, and marched
against the Indians ; but while he was encamped on a stream,
the St Mary, a branch of the Maumee, he was attacked and
defeated with a loss of six hundred men. General Wayne
was then sent against the savages. In August, 1794, he met
them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a compkte
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, com-
pelled the Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July,
the following year, the treaty of Greenville was signed by
the principal chiefs, by which a large tract of country was
ceded to the United States. Before proceeding in our nar-
rative, we will pause to notice Fort Washington, erected in
the early part of this war. on the site of Cincinnati. Nearly
all the great cities of the-North-west, and indeed of the whole
country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer struc-
tures, known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn,
Washington, Ponchartrain, mark the original sites of the
now proud cities of Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit. So of
most of the flourishing cities east and west of the Mississippi.
Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a rude
but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a num-
ber of strong'y-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for
soldiers' barracks were a story and a half high, while those
composing the officers' quarters were more imposing and more
conveniently arranged and furnished. The whole was so
placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an acre
of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.
Fort Washington was for some time the headquarters of both
the Civil and Military governments of the North-western
Territory. Following the consummation of the treaty vari-
ous gigantic land speculations were entered into by different
persons, who hoped to obtain from the Indians in Michigan
and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands. These were
generally discovered in time to prevent the schemes from
being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States
and Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the
Mississippi was secured. No sooner had the treaty of 1795
been ratified than settlers began to pour rapidly into the
west. The great event of the year 179G, was the occupa'ion
of that part of the North-west including Michigan, which
was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated
by the British forces. The United States owing to certain
conditions, did not feel justified in addressing the authorities
in Canada in relation to Detroit and other frontier posts.
When at last the British authorities were called upon to give
them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne who
had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and
who before the year's close, sickened and died near Erie,
transferred his headquarters to the neighborhood of the lakes,
where a county named after him was formed, which included
the north-west of Ohio, all of Michigan, and the north-east
of Indiana. During this same year settlements were formed
at the present city of Chillicothe, along the Miami from
Middletown to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers
and speculators began to appear in great numbers. In Sep-
tember the city of Cleveland was laid out, and during the
summer and autumn, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharp-
less, erected the first manufactory of paper the " Redstone
Paper Mills" in the West. St. Louis contained some
seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along
the river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand
inhabitants, mostly French Canadians, Indians and half-
breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that part
of the North-west. The election of representatives for the
territory had taken place, and on the 4th of February, 1799,
they convened at Losantiville now known as Cincinnati,
having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and considered the
capital of the territory, to nominate persons from whom the'
members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance
with a previous ordinance. This nomination being made,
the Assembly adjourned until the 16. h of the following Sep-
tember. From those named the President selected as mem-
bers of the council, Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Robert
Oliver, of Marietta, James Findley, and Jacob Burnett, of
Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vance ville. On the 16th
of September, the Territorial Legislature met, and on the
24th, the two houses were duly organized, Henry Vanden-
burg being elected President of the Council. The message
of Gov. St. Clair, was addressed to the Legislature Septem-
ber 20th, and on October 13th, that body elected as a dele-
gate to Congress, General Wm. Henry Harrison, who re-
ceived eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over
his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of General St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at this session and approved
by the Governor, were thirty-seven eleven others were
passed but received his veto. The most important of those
passed related to the militia, to the administration, and to
taxation. On the 1 9th of December this protracted session
of the first Legislature in the West closed, and on the 30lh
of December the President nominated Charles Willing Byid,
to the office of secretary of the Territory, vice Wm. Henry
Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his
nomination the next day.
DIVISION OF THE NORTH- TVEST TEEEITOEY.
The increased emigration to the north-west, and extent of
the domain, made it very difficult to conduct the ordinary
operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible ; to remedy this it was deemed
advisable to divide the territory for civil purposes. Coil-
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
gross, in 1800, appointed a committee to examine the ques-
tion and report some means for its solution.
This committee on the 3d of March reported : " In the
western countries there had been but one court having cog-
nizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which
offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile
and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful
citizens from making settlements in such society. The
extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance is
experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * *
To remedy this evil it is expedient to the committee that a
division of said territory into two distinct and separate
governments should be made, and that such division be
made by beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river,
running directly north until it intersects the boundary
between the United States and Canada."
The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance
with its suggestions, that body passed an act extinguishing
the north-west territory, which act was approved May 7th.
Among its provisions were these :
" That from and after July 4 next all that part of the
territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river,
which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point
opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running
thence to Fort Recovery, and thence North until it shall
intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall for the purpose of temporary government,
constitute a separate territory and be called the Indian
Territory."
Gen. Harrison (afterwards President), was appointed
governor of the Indiana Territory, and during his residence
at Vincennes, he made several important treaties with the
Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of land. The next
year is memorable in the history of the west for the purchase
of Louisiana from France by the United States for 815,000,-
000. Thus by a peaceful manner the domain of the United
States was extended over a large tract of country west of
the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction of
the north-western government. The next year Gen. Harri-
son obtained additi >nal grants of land from the various
Indian nations in Indiana and the present limits of Illinois,
and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at St.
Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of land were obtained.
During this year, Congress granted a township of land
for the support of a college and began to offer inducements
for settlers in these wilds, and the country now comprising
the state of Michigan began to fill rapidly with settlers
along its southern borders. This same year a law was
passed organizing the south-west territory, dividing it into
two portions, the territory of New Orleans, which city was
made the seat of government, and the district of Louisiana,
which was annexed to the domain by General Harrison.
On the llth of January, 1805, the territory of Michigan
was formed, and Wm. Hull appointed governor, with head-
quarters at Detroit, the change to take effect June 30th.
On the llth of that month, a fire occurred at Detroit, which
destroyed most every building in the place. When the
officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it
in ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the coun-
try. Rebuilding, however, was commenced at once. While
this was being done, Indiana passed to the second grade of
government. In 1809, Indiana territory was divided, and
the territory of Illinois was formed, the seat of government
being fixed at Kaskaskia, and through her General Assem-
bly had obtained large tracts of land from the Indian tribes.
To all this the celebrated Indian Tecumthe, or Tecumseh,
vigorously protested,* and it was the main cause of his
attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with
the settlers. He visited the principal tribes, and succeeded
in forming an alliance with most of the tribes, and then
joined the cause of the British in the memorable war of 1812.
Tecumseh was killed at the battle of the Thames. Tecum-
seh was, in many respects, a noble character, frank and
honest in his intercourse with General Harrison and the
settlers ; in war, brave and chivalrous. His treatment of
prisoners was humane. In the summer of 1812, Perry's vic-
tory on Lake Erie occurred, and shortly after, active pre-
parations were made to capture Fort Maiden. On the 27th
of September, the American army- under command of
General Harrison, set sail for the shores of Canada, and, in
a few hours, stood around the ruins of Maiden, from which
the British army under Proctor had retreated to Sandwich,
intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the
valley of the Thames. On the 29th, General Harrison was
at Sandwich, and General McArthur took possession of
Detroit and the territory of Michigan. On the 2d of Octo-
ber following, the American army began their pursuit of
Proctor, whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of
the Thames followed. The victory was decisive, and practi-
cally closed the war in the north-west. In 1806, occurred
Burr's insurrection. He took possession of an island in the
Ohio, and was charged with treasonable intentions against
the Federal government. His capture was effected by
General Wilkinson, acting under instruction of President
Jefferson. Burr was brought to trial on a charge of treason,
and, after a prolonged trial, during which he defended him-
self with great ability, he was acquitted of the charge of
treason. His subsequent career was obscure, and he died
in 1836. Had his scheme succeeded, it would be interesting
to know what effect it would have had on the north-we-tern
territory. The battle of the Thames was fought October
6th, 1813. It effectually closed hostilities in the north-west,
although peace was not restored until July 22d, 1814, when
a treaty was made at Greenville, by General Harrison, be-
tween the United States and the Indian tribes. On the 24th
of December, the treaty of Ghent was signed by the repre-
sentatives of England and the United States. This treaty
was followed the next year by treaties with various Indian
tribes throughout the north-west, and quiet was again
restored.
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NORTH-WEST.
In former chapters we have traced briefly the discoveries,
settlements, wars, and most important events which have
occurred in the large area of country denominated the
* American State Papers
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
28
BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ILLINOIS.
north-west, and we now turn to the contemplation of its
gro\vth and prosperity. Its people are among the most
intelligent and enterprising in the Union. The population
is steadily increasing, the arts and sciences are gaining a i
stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is becoming j
daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked com
munitties on the seaboard, dependent wholly on foreign com-
merce or domestic manufacture. Agriculture is the leading
feature in our industries. This vast domain has a sort of I
natural geographical border, save where it melts away to ;
the southward in the cattle- raising districts of the south- i
west. The leading interests will be the growth of the food
of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival will be the fertile fields of
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico.
To attempt to give statistics of grain productions for 1880
would require more space than our work would permit of.
Manufacturing has now attained in the chief cities a foot-
hold that bids fair to render the north-west independent of
the outside world. Nearly our whole region has a distribu-
tion of coal measure which will in time support the manu-
factures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As to
transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles
except food, no section is so magnificently endowed, and
our facilities are yearly increasing beyond those of any
other region.
The principal trade and manufacturing centres of the great
north-west are 
