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Full text of "The Past and present of Woodford County, Illinois"

^ LIB RA FLY 
OF THL 
U N 1VLR.51TY 
or ILLl NOIS 



L 



IlLINOIS HISTORICAL SUDVEV 



\ 



Jl 



THE 



PAST AND PRESENT 



OF 



WOODFORD COUNTY, 



iLLiisrois, 



CONTAINING 



A History of the County — its Cities, Towns, &c. ; a Directory of its 
Tax-Payers; War Record of its Volunteers in the Late Re- 
bellion; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men ; 
General and Local Statistics; Map of Woodford 
County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; 
History of the Northwest, Illustrated ; 
Constitution of the United States, 
Miscellaneous Matters, 
&c., &c. 



ILXjTJSTia.A.TEID. 



CHICAGO: 
WM. LE BARON, JE., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET. 

1878. 



PREFACE. 



In presenting our History of Woodford County, we deem a few prefatory words 
necessary. We have spared neither pains nor expense to fiilfill our engagement with 
our patrons and make the work as complete as possible. We have acted upon the 
principle that justice to those who have subscribed, be they few or many, requires that 
the work should be as well done as if it was patronized by every citizen in the county. 
We do not claim that our work is entirely free from errors ; such a result could not be 
attained by the utmost care and forsight of ordinary mortals. The County History was 
compiled by our historians, W. H. Perrin and H. H. Hill. Some of the Township His- 
tories are indeed longer than others, as the townships are older, containing larger cities 
and towns, and have been the scenes of more important and interesting events. While 
fully recognizing this important difference, the historians have sought to write up each 
township with equal fidelity to the facts and information within their reach. We take 
this occasion to present our thanks to all our numerous subscribers for their patronage 
and encouragement in the publication of the work. In this confident belief, we submit 
it to the enlightened judgment of those for whose benefit it has been prepared, believing 
that it will be received as a most valuable and complete work. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



Clllf'Afio: 

Cl'LVKR, l-A(iE, IIOYNE * CO., PKl.NTERS, 

118 >n4 13< MonrM Strcrl. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

History Northwest Territory 19 

Geographical ;. 19 

Early Exploration 20 

Discovery of the Ohio 33 

English Explorations and Settle- 
ments 35 

American Settlements 60 

Division of the Northwest Terri- 
tory 66 

fecumseh and the war of 1812 70 

Black Hawk and the Black Hawk 
War 74 



HIJiTORICAIi. 

Page. 

Other Indian Trouhles 79 

Present Condition of the Northwest 87 

Illinois 99 

Indiana 101 

Iowa 102 

Michigan 103 

Wisconsin 104 

Minnesota 106 

Nebraska 107 

History of Illinois 109 

Coal 125 

Compact of 1787 117 



Page. 

History of Chicago 132 

Early Discoveries 109 

Early Settlements •. 115 

Education 129 

First French Occupation 112 

Genius of La Salle 113 

Material Resources 124 

Massacre of Fort Dearborn 141 

Physical Features 121 

Progress of Development 123 

Religion and Morals 128 

War Record of Illinois 130 



IL.IilJSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Source of the Mississippi 21 

Mouth of the Mississippi 21 

Wild Prairie 23 

La Salle Landing on the Shore of 

Green Bay 25 

Buffalo Hunt 27 

Trapping 29 

Hunting 32 

Iroquois Chief. 34 

Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 43 

Indians Attacking Frontiersmen... 56 

A Prairie Storm 59 

A Pioneer Dwelling 61 

Breaking Prairie 63 



Page. 
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain... 69 

Indians Attacking a Stockade 72 

Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain 75 

Big Eagle 80 

Captain Jack, tlie Modoc Chieftain.. 83 

Kinzie House 85 

Village Residence 86 

A Representative Pioneer 87 

Lincoln Monument, Springfield, 111. 88 

A Pioneer School House 89 

Farm View in the Winter 90 

High Bridge and Lake Bluff 94 

Great Iron Bridge of Chicago, Rock 
Island & Pacific Railroad, Cross- 



Paoe. 

ing the River at Davenport. Iowa 96. 

A Western Dwelling 100 

Hunting Prairie Wolves at an 

Early Day 108 

Starved Rock, on the Illinois River, 

La Salle County, 111 110 

An Early Settlement 116 

Chicago in 1833 133 

Old Fort Dearbon in 1830 136 

Present site of Lake Street Bridge, 

Chicago, in 1833 136 

Pioneers' First Winter 142 

View of the City of Chicago 144 

Shabbona 149 



IVOODFORD COUUTY HISTORY. 



Page. 
Qeneral History of Woodford Co. ..223 

Cazenovia Township 351 

Clayton " 375 

Cruger " 310 

El Paso " 409 

Greene " 342 



Page. 

Kansas Township 467 

Linn •' 375 

Metamora " 267 

Minonk " 425 

Montgomery Township 448 

Olio " 318 



Page 

Palestine Township 436 

Panola " 400 

Partridge •' 392 

Roanoke " 333 

Spring Bay " 296 

Worth " 363 



L,lTHO©RAPHIi; PORTRAITS. 



Page. 

Briggs, J. Albert 329 

Cassell, R. T 239 

Cole, Frederick 365 

Cavan, Oliver A 437 

Davison, S. R 419 

Fort, J. M 311 



Page. 

Guibert, Louis A 186 

Hoshor, Jefferson 204 

Jaj'nes, James 401 

Meek, Henry B 168 

Miindell, Abncr ....383 

Page, John 221 



Page. 

Page, Adino 257 

Page, John W 275 

Snyder, John 465 

Willard, P. II 347 

Whitmire, James 8 293 

Wagner, Michael 473 



WOODFORD COITNTY WAR RECORD. 



Infantry.. 



Page. I Page. I 
463 I Cavalry 486 | Artillery 



Page. 
. ...488 



4f^^^ 



("? 



^'^ 



CONTENTS. 



Paoe. 

Cazenovia Township 627 

Cla>ton '• 588 , 

Cruger " 53G 

EI Paso " 515 ' 

Greene " 558 [ 

Kansas " Co8 



TOIVXSIIIP DIRECTORY. 

Page. 

Linn Townsoip 582 

( Metamora " 489 

Mlnonk " 547 

Montgomery Township 010 

Olio " " 594 

Palestine " C52 



Page 

Panola Township 5k8 

I'artridgf* " 647 

Roanoke " 573 

Spring Bay " 532 

Worth " 615 



ABSTRACT OF II^LIXOIS STATE LAWS. 



Page. 

Adoption of Children 16u 

Bills of E.xchange and Promissory , 

Notes 151 I 

County Courts 155 

Conveyances 164 

Church Organizations 189 

Descent 151 

Deeds and Moi gages 157 

Drainage 163 

Damages from Trespass 169 

Definition of Commercial Terms 173 

Exemptions from Forced Sale 156 

Estrays 157 

Fences 168 

Forms: 

Articles of Agreement 175 

Bills of Purchase 174 

Bills of Sale 176 

Bonds 176 



Page. 

Chattel Mortgages 177 

Codicil 189 

Lease of Farm and Build- 
ings 179 

Lease of House 180 

Landlord's Agreement 180 

Notes 174 

Notice Tenant to Quit 181 

Orders 174 

Quit Claim Deed 185 

Receipt 174 

Real Estate Mortgaged to Secure 

Payment of Money 181 

Release 186 

Tenant's Agreement 180 

Tenant's Notice to Quit 181 

Warranty Deed 182 

Will 187 



Paoe. 

Game 1.58 

Interest 151 

Jurisdiction of Courts 154 

Limitation of Action 155 

Landlord and Tenant., 169 

Liens 172 

Married Women 155 

Millers 159 

Marks and Brands 159 

Paupers 164 

Roads and Bridges 161 

Surveyors and Surveys 160 

Suggestions to Persons Purchasing 

Books by Subscription 190 

Taxes 154 

Wills and Estates 152 

Weights and Measures 158 

Wolf Scalps 164 



Page. | 

Map of Woodford County Front | 

Constitution of the U. S 192 I 

Electors of President and Vice Pres- I 

ident 206 \ 

Practical Rules for Every Day Use.207 i 
U. S. Government Land Measure. ..210 
Agricultural Productions of lUi- I 

nois by Counties, 1870 210 ' 

Surveyors" Measure 211 

How to Keep Accounts 211 

Interest Table 212 



MISC£L.IiAXEOUS. 

Page. 

Miscellaneous Tables 212 

Names of the States of the Union 
and their Signification 213 

Population of the United States 214 

Population of Fifty Principal Cities 
of the United States 214 

Population and Area of the United 
States 215 

Population of the Principal Coun- 
tries in the World 215 

Population of Illinois 216-217 



Page. 

State Laws Relating to Interest 218 

State Laws Belrting to Limitations 

of Actions 219 

Productions of Agriculture of Illi- 
nois 220 

Report of Crops in Woodford Co... 462 

Population of Woodford Co 462 

Business Directory 661 

Assessors' Report 668 




The Northwest Territory. 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. 

When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States 
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the 
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the 
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States 
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of 
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United 
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi 
River; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary 
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the 
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National 
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the 
" New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern 
Territory." 

In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast 
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater 
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, 
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected 
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- 
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of 
the entire population of the United States. 

Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent 
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- 
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the 
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent 
on the globe. 

I For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- 

west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United 
States. 

(19) 



20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS. 



In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New 
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel 
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than 
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence 
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto 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 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 
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer 
took advantage of these discoveries. 

In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the 
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- 
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (^Hurons) to the streams which 
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the 
first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from 
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian 
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, 
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent 
result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders 
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, 
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by 
Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude 
Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the 
Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and Jaujes Marquette 
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two 
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- 
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the 
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a 
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were 
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken 
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette establislied a mission at 
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac. 

During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. 
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied 
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's 
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. 
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



21 




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22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOxxY. 

request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his 
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico 
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- 
dition, prepared for the undertaking. 

On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- 
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of 
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were 
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade 
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as 
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of 
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, 
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told thera he 
waS willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region 
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which 
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they 
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the 
adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and 
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- 
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the 
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, 
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to 
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in 
giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to 
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the 
year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed 
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. 
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to 
Joliet, said: " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- 
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths 
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct 
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on 
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to 
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet 
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage, 
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, 
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown 
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck 
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were 
now upon the bosom of th3 Father of Waters. The mystery was about 
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is 
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been 
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



23 



Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand 
" reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of 
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared 
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a 
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab- 
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- 
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors. 




THE WILD PRAIRIE. 



On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon 
the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the 
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a 
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a 
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most 
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. 
After remaining a few daj^s they re-embarked and descended the river to 
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being 
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course 



24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, 
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point 
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, •' did we see 
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, bufifaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, 
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River.*' 
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and 
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of 
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by 
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette 
returned to the Illinois Indians b}' their request, and ministered to them 
until 1G75. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the 
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake ISIichigan — he asked 
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, 
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time 
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found 
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefuU}' passed away .while at 
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place 
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving 
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been 
called Marquette. 

While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in 
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- 
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun 
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin. 

After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see 
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French 
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of 
those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an 
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, 
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind 
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- 
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous 
western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to 
Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, 
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that 
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes b}' a chain of forts with the Gulf 
of ]\Iexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- 
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- 
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized. 

LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who 
warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received 
from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev- 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



25 



alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at 
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on 
these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined 
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He 
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and 
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were 
some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed 
on to Green Bay, the " Bale des Puans " of the French, where he found 
a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with 
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors, 




LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY. 

started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard 
of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- 
ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all his men — thirty working 
men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking. 
By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by 
the Indians, " Theakeke," loolf^ because of the tribes of Indians called 
by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The 
French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee. 
" Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the 
country," about the last of December they reached a village of the 
Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment 



Ub THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuflfs, 
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi- 
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes 
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village 
of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored, 
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening, 
on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have 
been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Fim-i-te-wi, that 
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met 
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent 
some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that 
place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were 
trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men 
were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the ti'avel. 
He called this fort " Crevecoeur"' (broken-heart), a name expressive of the 
very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship. 
Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the 
part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause 
him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was 
placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered. 

While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to 
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to 
return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in 
the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party 
to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour- 
ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and 
was successfully made, though over an almost unknown route, and in a 
bad season of the year. He safely reached Canada, and set out again for 
the object of his search. 

Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February, 
1680. When, LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he" 
found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to 
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven da^'s after 
leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the 
icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River 
by the 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a 
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen- 
nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy- 
age they found several beautiful lakes, and "saw some charming prairies." 
Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux 
nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when 
they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony 



THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 



27 



in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling 
nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages. 
Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their 
captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen, 




BUFFALO HUNT. 



headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene- 
trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow- 
countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the 
borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had 
returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went 
to France, where he published an account of his adventures. 



28 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his 
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring, 
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander- 
ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers, 
reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered 
about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them- 
selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan- 
tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it 
would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of 
Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba. 

They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but, 
being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country, 
and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through. 

To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the 
first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess 
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of 
explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed 
the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February, 
reached the banks of the Mississippi. 

On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they 
pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis- 
covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters 
into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event : 

" We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three 
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle 
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti 
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main 
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river, a 
little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the 
refMih of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about 
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to 
the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription : 

Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, 1682. 

The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, and then, after 
a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi^" the column was erected by M. de 
LaSalle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of 
the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis- 
sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where 
another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two 
succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along 
the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



29 



treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions "was not 
accomplished until 1699, when D"Iberville, under the authority of the 
crown, discovered, on the second of 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, " Za Palissade,'" from the great 



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I 










^^S^^ci^V 



TEAPPING. 

number of trees about its moutli. 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. 
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colon- 
ists. 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 



30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory 
of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the 
charge of the United States. Although LaSalle'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 foundations of more than one 
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu- 
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them 
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,) 
it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were 
peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, tlie first settler of 
the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored." 

The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the 
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois, 
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary 
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil- 
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of 
these missions is learned from a letter written b\' Father Gabriel Marest, 
dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de Tlmmaculate Conception de 
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of 
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while 
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecceur. This must have been 
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river, 
(pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly') was estab- 
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob- 
able that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia 
and Cahokia. In Jul}', 1701, tlie foundations of Fort Ponchartrain 
were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta- 
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to 
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being 
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle- 
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England 
in 1718. This Avas mainly accomplished through the efforts of the 
famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law, 
who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who witli his 
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away. 

From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the 
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis- 
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated 

• There l3 considerable dispute about this date, some asserting it was founded as late as 174.J. When 
the new court house at Vluccniies was erectetl, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and 
yiOi fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court Iiouse. 



THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 31 

injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company 
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened 
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains 
indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of 
the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the 
attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the 
New "World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary 
among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort 
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and 
Indians, to say nothing of 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 Karkadaid 
(Kaskaskias). In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred 
wliites, three hundred blacks and some sixty 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 consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New 
Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and • 
save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were 
found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France 
by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem- 
ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the 
mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low- 
to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially 
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I 
tliink, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all 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, who are kept prisoners 
through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise 
excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas, 
where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river 
traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred 
leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at 
the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the 
Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to 



32 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at 
Vincennesin 1812, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some 
individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada. 
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 should find 
silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also 
in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large 
pieces are found in the streams." 




HUNTING. 



At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the 
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at 
the Maumee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what 
may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest 
they had stations at St. Joseph's on tlie St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, 
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac, 
Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of 
LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of 
this vast realm, basing their claim on discoverv and settlement. Another 
nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country, 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 33 

and hearing of its ■wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for 
securing the great profits arising therefrom. 

The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the . 



DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO. 

This " Beautiful " river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La- 
Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet. 
and Marquette. 

While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found 
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois. 
He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed 
to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident 
soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring expedition. 

While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the 
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a 
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state- 
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream. 
LaSalle 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 
embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to 
the commerce of China and Japan. 

He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov- 
ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant, 
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro- 
vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul- 
pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition, 
and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money, 
the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred 
dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the 
necessary supplies for the outfit. 

()n the 6th of July, 1669, 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. 

The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected 
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After 
waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Lidian 



84 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them 
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence. 

On their wa}' they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they 
heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving 




^"^^.^V<H.U, 



lltOyUOlS CUIKF. 

among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned 
from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks. 
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume 
their journey ; but just 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 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35 

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. 
He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the 
lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in 
that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the 
expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the 
Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet 
with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and 
after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at 
Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers, 
Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field. 

These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted 
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron 
saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June 
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian. 

After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois 
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a 
tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far 
as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the 
persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669. 

The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony- 
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle 
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count 
Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he 
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as 
an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio 
Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent 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 commandant at Quebec 
replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries 
of LaSalle, 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. 

When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters 
and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts 
already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri- 
ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States 
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet 
under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty 



36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as 
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to 
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In 
Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov- 
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces- 
sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, b}' that 
power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain 
to this unexplored wilderness. 

England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a 
discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants 
to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim. 
She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat- 
ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward. Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the 
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the ISIohawks, Onei- 
das, 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 
ITOl, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed 
was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has 
often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was 
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 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 were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel 
William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was 
called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with 
presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa- 
nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings 
regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment, 
and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desixe the 
cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In 
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant 
of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government 
of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun- 
dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of 
June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was 
made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100.000 
acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French 
were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in tlie 
West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37' 

settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain 
possession of the whole country'. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Yaud- 
reuil. Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the 
consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading- 
posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further 
secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel- 
eron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds 
and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which 
were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and 
within the memory of residents now living along the " Oyo," as the 
beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found 
with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and 
a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the 
plate, was sent by DeWitt 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, and 
though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and 
it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the 
frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio 
Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees, 
on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He 
afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down 
the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville, 
and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur- 
ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the 
Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing 
their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party 
of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng- 
lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, 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. 
(They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were 
carried away to Canada, and one account ssljs several were burned. This 
fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the 
king's ministers refers to it as " Fickawillanes, in the center of the terri- 
tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is i3robably some 
variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones 
Pickaweke." 

■• The following is a translation of the inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV., 
King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com- 
mander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have 
buried tliis plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty- ninth of JiUy, near the river Ohio, otherwise 
Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all Us 
tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and 
treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle." 



88 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and 
occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about 
forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter- 
ested in tlie progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter- 
mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to 
occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing- 
ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and 
Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the 
natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan- 
caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June, 
these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the 
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts- 
burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban- 
doned 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 Catharine Montour, and a 
chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their 
favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing 
a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a 
settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should 
not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first 
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. 

Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre 
each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally 
outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con- 
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further 
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni- 
tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio 
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were 
coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The 
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The 
Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when 
we wanted help, forsook us." 

At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by 
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon 
and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng- 
lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until 
the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans 
of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them 
away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts 
already begun, and would not abandon the field. 

Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard- 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39 

ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of 
Virginia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from 
them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young 
man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank 
of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This 
personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then 
held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just 
twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied 
by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's 
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon- 
gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to 
Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of 
the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and 
also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol- 
lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to 
turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral. 
Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to 
Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the 
French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery 
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing 
of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the 
11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here 
he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, received his answer, took his 
observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one 
but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him, 
notwithstandino- the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their 
homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet 
they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754. 

From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by 
Washin2:ton to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would 
not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made 
in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French 
finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications, 
and o-athered their forces to be in readiness. 

The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great 
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring 
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac 
men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised 
two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were 
^fathering 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 



40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

working away in hunger and want, to fortify tliat point at the fork of 
the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest. 

" The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift 
river rolled l)y the Allegh'eny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of 
Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian 
scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet, 
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent 
in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten 
miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder- 
ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and 
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon 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. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecoeur, 
and the next day he 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 narrated show the 
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi 
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue 
of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New- 
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The 
first decisive blow had now 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, Avhich they had so easily captured, 
and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. 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 him- 
self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called 
by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of 
French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked 
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the 
morning of July 4tli. He \vas allowed to return to Virginia. 

The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one 
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; 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 DuQuesne was led by the famous General 
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41 

acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This 
occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as tlie battle 
of Monongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with 
various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence- 
ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre- 
tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations 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 DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a 
desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the 
Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie 
captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne, 
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 illustrious statesman, changed the 
name to Fort Pitt. 

The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction 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 in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor- 
able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated 
Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement 
Montcolm and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm'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 
fouoht 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 Montreal. 
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 Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same 
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain. 

On the loth of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent 
from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post 
in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum- 
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post, 
Beletre- refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the 



42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

French aims, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d 
under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom, 
no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the 
purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was 
assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not 
desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much 
to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while 
on their journey home. 

Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one 
month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence 
across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com- 
mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of 
the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is, 
crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon 
John's Town " on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White 
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town 
on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one 
hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of 
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across 
Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork. 

The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule. 
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large 
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises 
with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe- 
trated, and the country would have been spared their recital. 

The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these 
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading 
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this 
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named 
Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as 
far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French, 
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his 
hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian 
to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached 
him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He 
declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no presents sent 
them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation. 
He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was 
civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies. 

The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina, 
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified 
February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



13 




PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN. 



44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead. 
Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander 
of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares 
and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unite 
in this enterprise. 

The blow came, as near as can now be' ascertained, on May 7, 176^. 
Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, '"• scooped up in the hollow 
of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton. 

Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit. 
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing 
the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out, 
however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when 
Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian 
chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed 
musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He 
saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He 
endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt 
was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe 
reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post. 

Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace 
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764, 
continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He org-anized a reo-ular 
commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark, 
which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At 
the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went 
further south, living many years among the Illinois. 

He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a 
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis 
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and onh' ended in a 
quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon 
afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern 
Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed. 

Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan 
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly 
have been carried out. 

It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex- 
ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest 
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and 
were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met Ihe chief, 
Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their 
French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said : 
*' Englishman, although you have conquered the French, 'you have not 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45 

yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves ! These lakes, these woods, 
these mountains, were left us by our ancestors'. They are our inheritance, 
and we will part with tliem to none. Your nation supposes that we, like 
the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you 
ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided 
food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains." 

He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them, 
no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war. 
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after 
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no 
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the 
French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the 
English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going 
on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments. 

In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre- 
vent 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 Fon- 
tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in 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, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these 
sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and 
twenty. years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to 
France, and by France sold to the United States. 

In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by 
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set- 
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been 
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia, 
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large ti'act 
of rich alluvial soil in" Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St. 
Louis. 

By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including 
all these and other towns of the Northwest, 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 of England, established him- 
self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage, 
dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath- 
olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their 
effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen. 
It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the 
war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that 
chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle- 



46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year 
17G4, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed- 
eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French. Pon- 
tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom 
he afterward lost his life. 

As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began 
rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the 
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces 
explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga- 
hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This 
was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing- 
ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford 
and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts- 
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen, 
miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which 
were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort. 

Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus- 
tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This 
same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages. 
He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only 
forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and 
at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year 
or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally 
Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main- 
tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts 
was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and 
flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the 
policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension 
of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal 
proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the 
sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance 
of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement 
without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy 
reach of Great Britain. 

The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the 
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they 
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for 
themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother 
country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow." 

In accordance with this policy, Gov. Gage issued a proclamation 
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set- 
tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To tMs thej 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47 

strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were allowed to 
remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its 
change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French 
population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned 
the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which 
was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend- 
ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the j)i'esent 
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. 

In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern- 
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor 
that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the 
early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side 
of the war for independence. 

In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration 
to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the 
pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth. 
One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the 
Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it 
Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for 
settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed 
portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the 
famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and 
driven across the Ohio. 

During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies 
and the perseveranceof individuals, several settlements were firmly estab- 
lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land 
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held 
in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling 
themselves the " Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the 
Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on 
the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer- 
chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes 
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 Vincennes, and afterward recorded in 
the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com- 
panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all 
were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of 
April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the 
" United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made 



48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all 
sionallv failed. 

When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor- 
ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders. 

In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at that time 
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in- 
habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con- 
tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were 
east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa- 
tions were made — " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230 
negroes." 

From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and 
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in 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 families from the beginning of 
the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la 
Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There 
are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five 
miles further up the river." 

St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con- 
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one 
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country 
west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until 
ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the 
country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there 
were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to 
1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more 
than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated— the people being engaged 
in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will liere 
relate. 

It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by 
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an 
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width. 
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent 
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space 
between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house 
(near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn, 
and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by 
oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had 
four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first three of these 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49 

gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six- 
pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a. 
parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running 
east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen 
feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten 
to fifteen feet in width. 

At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the 
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present, 
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was 
inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two 
stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient 
to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The 
citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of 
Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story, 
with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some 
hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance, 
called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east 
gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned 
by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and 
the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of 
twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning 
between nine and ten o'clock. Each furnished four sentinels, who were 
relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who per- 
formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset; 
even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were 
delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened 
in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter 
town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand- 
ino- order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of 
every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were 
restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were 
allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only 
at the east and. west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the 
Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house 
near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians. 
The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two 
hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by 
fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present '' new " 
town was laid out. 

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, 



60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in 
this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those 
within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their 
civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway, 
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state. 
Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held 
in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived 
in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which 
had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty 
was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented 
her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move 
unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the 
British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. Ht, 
saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy 
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British 
intended to penetrate the country from the north and south, and annihi- 
late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel, 
afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. Ho knew the Indians were not 
unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could 
the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives 
might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose, 
he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements 
might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the 
project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on 
November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th, 
Burg03'ne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly 
encouraged thereby. 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 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret, 
the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven 
companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three 
months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him 
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand 
at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country. 

With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather 
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed 
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi- 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51 

stou for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required 
number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their 
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to 
join the proposed expedition. With 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, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville, 
Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may 
yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him 
with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and 
as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to 
the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements, 
and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the 
24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured 
no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with 
his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as 
far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia. 
Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to 
Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he 
intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the 
Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor- 
mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the 
United States ; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois 
country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to 
believe by the British that the ^ Long Knives" or Virginians, were the 
most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With 
this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would 
cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati- 
tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency. 

The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun, 
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, and without 
the loss of a single man or b}^ killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently 
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per- 
fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the 
great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity 
from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab- 
itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked 
for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and 
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom- 
panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place 
surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus 



52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English 
into the possession of Virginia. 

In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a 
powerful allv and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession 
of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its ln)un- 
daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken. 
St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit,remained yet to be taken 
before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that 
he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection 
with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July, 
in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of 
peace, and on the 1st of August returned Avith the cheerful intelligence 
that the post on the "Oubache"' had taken the oath of allegiance to 
the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts, 
placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his 
men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville, 
erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who 
had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond. 
In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature 
of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor, 
and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of 
the Old Dominion through their Legislature. 

In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the 
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle- 
giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton, 
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down 
the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing 
the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the 
rebels from the West. Gen. Chirk had, on the return of M. Gibault, 
dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend- 
ant named Heniy, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort. 
Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly 
surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at 
the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail- 
ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of tha 
fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to 
the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the 
force in the garrison. 

Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was 
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four 
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio, 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53 

and to annoy the Americans in oil ways, and sat quietly down to pass the 
Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he 
saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless 
he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the 
news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi- 
ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi 
a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and 
Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray. 

On the next day, Clark,. with his little force of one hundred and 
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching 
thiough much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring 
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at 
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back- 
woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the 
intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind- 
ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton w^as 
sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement. 
During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes 
to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him, 
and had earned in consequence thereof the title "• Hair-buyer General," 
by which he was ever afterward known. 

Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising 
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being 
apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con- 
cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts. 
Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in 
uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West 
would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny 
Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from 
the commencement, by the British. 

" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the 
union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might 
have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed." 

At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern- 
ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the 
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in- 
Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde- 
pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the 
Ohio frontier. Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders, 
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These 
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled 
to sue for peace. 



54 THE NORTHWEST TERKITORY. 

During this same year (1779) the famous " Land Laws" of Virginia 
were passed. The passage of these hiws was of more consequence to the 
pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian 
conflicts. These hiws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed 
to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the 
settlers, the laws provided for selling 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. These 
gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and 
continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided 
three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who 
came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the 
10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the 
next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis- 
sippi commenced. The Spanish Government 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. The settle- 
ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur- 
ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the 
West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth. 

The settlers here did not look upon the building of this 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 appeared 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 unusually severe ones 
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred 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 possession of it 
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting 
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 contest. They also made an attack on the 
settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable 
manner, they fled the country in great haste. 

About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con- 
cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55 

and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New 
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele- 
gates 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 Sep- 
tember 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 
have easily 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 Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture 
and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the 
territory. 

Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun- 
ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town 
of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of 
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the 
United States. 

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 Heckewelder, daughter 
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band 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 1771 and 
1772 in the history of the Northwest. 

During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and 
frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan- 
dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives, 
many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious 



56 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his hrothere, 
was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefl\' in the Ohio 
valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky, 
in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill 
and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc- 



<^. 













INDIANS ATTAiKINc; Ki;( ).\TIi:i:S.MEX. 

tion. 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 Ijetween the Commissioners of England and her uncon- 
querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October 
preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th ol 
April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was 



THE NORTHWEST TEREITORY. 57 

proclaimed to the arni}^ of the United States, and on the 2d of the next 
September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle 
was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West 
were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of 
the Great La,kes ; 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 Appalachicola River ; down its center to its junc- 
tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and 
thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts 
were still occuj^ied by the British in the North and West. Among these 
was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements 
with the Indians throughout Ohio and Lidiana occurred, upon whose 
lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by 
the proper treaty. 

To remedy this latter evil. Congress appointed commissioners to 
treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the set- 
tlement 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 Northwest 
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 followino-, and 
the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion. 
To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred 
and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the 
Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region 
opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of 
Clarksville, about midway between the Cities of New Albany and Jeffer- 
son ville, Indiana. 

While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit 
refused to evacuate alleging that he had no orders from his King to do 
so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the Spring 
of 1784, Pittsburgh 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 Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in 
appearance. He says : 

" Pittsburgh is inhabited 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 
bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila- 



68 THE NORTHWEST TEKKITORY. 

delphia 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 inhabitants, 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 Congress 
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 1784. That at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, and through these much land 
was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused 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 Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused 
various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to 
excite speculation in regard to the western lauds. 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 naviga- 
tion, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared 
its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded 
between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, how- 
ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some 
grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con- 
necticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as 
the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a 
large tract of land north of the Ohio 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 deduction 
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 reservations. 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. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



69 



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, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected. 
A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition 
of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered, 
and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina. 
By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states 




'^^.^^'«~-'^^• 



A PRAIRIE STORM. 



by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten 
states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the 
northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher- 
sonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly- 
potamia and Pelisipia. 

There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of 
names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu- 
tion 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 



60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

square. These resolutions bein^ presented to the Legislatures of Vir- 
ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the 
sub ect was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into 
not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by 
the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was 
again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year 
and until July, 1787, when the famous "Compact of 1787" was passed, 
and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com- 
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of 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 b}- John Cleves 
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis. 
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1780, and. 
being greath- pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the 
New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasurv 
Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following 
year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Companv 
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 Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six 
boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur- 
veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart- 
ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as 
soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the od 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 Territory of the Northwest. 

AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS. 

The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now couk 
plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from 
the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New Ens-land 
Company sent their men during the Winter of 17S7-S pressing on over 
the AUeghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into 
Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike 
from Cuml)erland westward. Through the wearv winter davs thev toiled 
on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had 
been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here thev arrived 
on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded 
as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



61 



Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not having 
yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published hy 
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. 
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know 
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu- 
lated to promote the welfare of such a community.'" 










m:'m 



v^'^l^^^^^^^^^ 



^^^'^^ 



A PIONEER DAVELLING. 



On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held 
on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purjiose of naming the new- 
born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the 
*'Muskingura," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor 
of Marie Antoinette. The square uj)on which the block -houses stood 
was called ^'■Campus Martins ;'' square number 19, ^'- Capitoli.um ;"" square 
number 61, ^'•Cecilia;'' and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra 
Via.'' Two days after, art oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, 
who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the 
judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of Octol)er, 1787. On July 9, 
Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act 
of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest, 



02 THE NORTRWEST TERRITORY. 

under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a 
governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon 
the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th 
of July. These provided 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 
2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing 
ceremonies. 

The emiirration westward at this time was verv crreat. The com- 
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four 
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb- 
ruary 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 intended to adopt. In 
January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest 
in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections 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, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which 
was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the mouih of which 
they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the 
town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : — " Mr. Filson, who had 
been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to 
its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of the mixed race that 
were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being 
interpreted, means : ville. the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os. the 
mouth ; L. of Licking." 

Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse 
teams under Avav for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mavs- 
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here 
Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789 
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under 
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers 
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left 
the " Point." two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first 
was by ^Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a 
colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami, 
whither Svmmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



63 



been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr. 
Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788, 
with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain 
through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they 
were kindly treated by the Indians, 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 30, George Washington was inaug- 
urated President of the American people, 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 







BREAKING PRAIRIE. 



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 the loss of six hundred men. 

General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794, 
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete 
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the 
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following j-ear, 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 narrative, we will pause to notice Fort 
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati. 
Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the 



64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOKY. 

whole country, have had their nuclei in tho>e rude pioneer struct ures» 
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon- 
ehartrain, 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 number of 
strongly-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 were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an 
acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles. 

The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the cround 
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets 
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row. now 
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of 
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river, 
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the 
Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by 
small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of 
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house, 
familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of 
the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished 
and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was 
for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments 
of the Northwestern Territory. 

Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec- 
ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain 
from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands. 
These Avere generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous 
schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war. 
On October 27. 170."), the treaty between the United States and Spain 
was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured. 

No sooner had the treat}' of 1795 been ratified than settlements began 
to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the 
occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was 
this year, under the provisions of the treat}', 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 Detioit 
and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were 
called 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 head- 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65 

quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after 
him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan, 
and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were 
formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle- 
town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators 
began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland 
was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and 
Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red- 
stone Paper Mill" — 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 Northwest. 

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, liaving 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. Tliis nomination being made, the Assembly 
adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named 
the President selected as members of the council, Henrv Vandenburo;, 
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob 
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th 
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two 
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President 
of the Council. 

The message of Gov. St. Clair Avas addressed to the Legislature 
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to 
Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes 
cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of 
Gen. 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 19th of December this pro- 
tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the 
30th of December the President nominated Charles Willins: Brvd to tlie 
office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to 
Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day. 



66 THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 



DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain, 
and the inconvenient modes of travel, 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. Congress, in 1800, appointed a 
committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution. 
This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that : 

"In the three western countries there has been but one court havinsr 
cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders 
experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim- 
inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements 
in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist- 
ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To 
minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee 
that it is expedient that a division of said territor}- into two distinct and 
separate governments should be made : and that such division l)e made 
b}^ a line 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 Northwest Terri- 
tory, which Act was approved May 7. Amdng its provisions were these : 

" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of 
the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward 
of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the 
Kentuckv 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 Indiana Territory." 

After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of 
the territories, and other provisions, the Act fiirtlier provides : 

" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the 
said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the 
seat of government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the 
Ohio River; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the 
seat of government for the Indiana Territory." 

Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana 
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut 
also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67 

was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made upon 
thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven 
hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of November 
the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year, 
the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no 
township containing- more than eleven families. It was upon the first of 
October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the 
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province 
of Louisiana. 

In Januar}^ 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char- 
tered the colleo-e at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western 
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787, 
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read 
throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the 
Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern 
territory the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of 
the " compact of 1787 " provided that whenever the number of inhabit- 
ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to 
a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a 
census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number, 
and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits, 
and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio, 
so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundary, came 
into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known, 
but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly 
within the territory of Indiana. 

Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties 
with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is 
memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from 
France by the United States for $15,000,000. Thus by a peaceful mode, 
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 Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early 
part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits 
of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year 
large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of 
Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill respecting the 
College Township in the district of Cincinnati. 

Before the close of the year. Gen. Harrison obtained additional 
grants of lands 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 lands were obtained from the 



68 THE NORTHWEST TEKKITORY. 

aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in 
and about Detroit. 

C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri- 
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post : 

" The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles 
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now, 
from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those 
two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town 
and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four 
acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm. 
Macomb. * * * A stoctade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The 
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a. state of gradual decay. The 
streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right 
angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant." 

During this year. Congress granted a township of land for the sup- 
port 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 3'ear, also, 
a law Avas passed organizing the Southwest 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 of Gen. Harrison. 

On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed, 
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the 
change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fire 
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed almost 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 country. Rebuild- 
ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more 
houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built. 

While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade 
of government, and through her General Assembly 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. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the 
British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Techjmseh at 
the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest, 
we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life, 
and his connection with this conflict. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



6v 




TECUMSEH, THE SHAWAXOE CHIEFTAIN. 



(0 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



TECUMSEH. AND THE WAR OF 1812. 

This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from 
the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa, 
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his 
mother, ]Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same 
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century 
to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be 
chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum- 
seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was 
declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the 
present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he 
returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River, Indiana. In 
1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced 
himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given 
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chief 
comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age, 
was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of 
enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas- 
ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed 
by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi- 
dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who 
afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first 
house built on the site of Chicago. At this time, Tecumseh entered 
upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of 
land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the 
Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land 
could be made save by the consent of this confederation. 

He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south 
to the north, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a 
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect. 

Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move- 
ments of the Indians, became convinced that a grand coaispiracy was 
forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's 
plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning 
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity. 

During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre- 
paring for the work. In that year. Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty 
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians 
and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon 
the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter protest, averring 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 71 

as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any 
lands north and west of the Ohio River. 

Tecumseh, in August, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and 
held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly 
angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after 
departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict. 

Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at 
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the 
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the 
prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten- 
tions, provided tliey were true to the existing treaties. He encamped 
near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he 
was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of 
Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their toAvn broken 
up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his 
brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating 
the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans. 

Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned 
from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time 
previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go 
as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never 

made. * 

In June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at 
Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against 
the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his 
people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif- 
ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew 
his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai- 
den, in Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard. 

He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the 
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was, 
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow- 
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan- 
tonly murder the captive. 

In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victory on Lake Erie occurred, and 
shortly after active preparations were made to capture Maiden. On the 
27th of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for 
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai- 
den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand- 
wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of 
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen. 
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan. 



72 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor, 
whom they overtook on the otli, and the battle of the Thames followed. 
Earlv in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column 
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief- 
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the war in 
the Northwest. 




INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADI,. 



Jiist who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ; 
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson, 
who, fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal. 

In I8O0 occurred Burr's Insurrection. He took possession of a 
l)eautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged 
by many with attempting to set up an indei)endent government. His 
plans were frustrated by the general government, his j^roperty confiscated 
and he Avas compelled to flee the country for safety. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73 

In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a 
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the 
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about 
Detroit. It was also daring this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored 
to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby 
slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts, 
however, all signally failed. 

In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory. 
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western 
part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year, 
the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and 
then began the events already narrated. 

While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with 
surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the 
first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of 
the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the 
*' monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the 
close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being 
nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its 
downward trip. 

The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It 
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not 
fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green- 
ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States 
and the Indian tribes, in which it was stipulated that the Indians should 
cease hostilities aoainst the Americans if the war were continued. Such, 
happily, was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty 
of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United 
States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various 
Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again 
restored in this part of the new world. 

On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city. 
It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its 
manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed 
to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties 
organized, containing about sixty -three thousand inhabitants. The first 
election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings 
was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and 
on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For 
some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central 
location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana), 
vras laid out January 1, 1825. 



74 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

On the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was 
chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were 
under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish branches 
at different convenient points. 

Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati liad in turn enjoyed the 
privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the 
northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a 
more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col- 
umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State. 
Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was 
chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state 
the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable 
to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend. 

In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her 
northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich- 
igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes 
was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of 
revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that 
the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to 
navigate the bosom of that inland sea. 

Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War, 
but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were 
opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab- 
lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan 
University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were 
becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended, 
and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the 
record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros- 
perity. 

BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 

This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in 
the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part 
of the United States. 

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal 
Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the 
Mississippi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ; 
his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early 
distinguished himself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted 
to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he 
went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, one 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



76 




BLACK ITAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN. 



76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian braver}^ he was 
permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the 
head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the 
Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to 
his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce 
battle ensued, in which the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The 
Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees 
for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City 
of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of 
the " Medicine Bag,"' at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation. 
He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the 
liead of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged 
war against the Osage nation and subdued it. For two years he battled 
successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered. 

Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to 
the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish 
Father," he declined to see an}'- of the Americans, alleging, as a reason, 
he did not want two fathers. 

The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the 
United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines 
Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who 
at once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of 
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was 
garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties 
with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812 
■followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by 
giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the 
Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, at the head of al)Out five 
hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on 
his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre 
had a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British 
Government but little is kno\yn. In 1813 he with his little band descended 
the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard 
was defeated. 

In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi 
were notified that peace had been declared between the United States 
and England, and nearly all hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not 
sign any treaty, however, until May of the following year. He then recog- 
nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. Ffrom the time of 
signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he 
and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life. 

Ten years before the commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77 

Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of 
Waters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of 
which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal, 
and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of 
the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set- 
tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of his 
native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and 
his actions were undoubtedly misunderstood, and had his wishes been 
acquiesced in at the beginning of tlie struggle, much bloodshed would 
have been prevented. 

Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted 
warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearl}^ three 
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived 
many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them, 
they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their 
time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village 
and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who 
from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From 
one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white 
men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice they obtained 
deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were 
finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the 
lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, l)ut as the 
authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he 
was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged 
the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty 
made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to 
enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the 
river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On 
the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a 
band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were 
defeated. 

This attack and its result aroused the whites. A large force of men 
was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the 
lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of 
the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was 
repulsed by Major Demont between Rock River and Galena. The Ameri- 
can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of 
the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band, 
and defeated them near the Blue Mounds. 

Before this action. Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main 
armv by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the whole crossed the 



78 THE NORTHWEST TEKRITORY. 

"Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the 
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the ild of August, and in the battle 
which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He 
fled, but was seized by the Winnebasroes and delivered to the whites. 

On the 21st of September, 18-32, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con- 
cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes b}- which they 
ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain 
peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi- 
sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that 
Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs 
of the hostile band>^ should be retained as hostages during the pleasure 
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons. 

The next Spring, by order of the Secretary of War. they were taken 
to "Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress ^lonroe, 
"there to remain until the conduct of their nation was such as to justify 
their being set at libert}-." They were retained here until the 4th of 
June, Avhen the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal 
cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white 
people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the 
old chief being e<tensively known. By the middle of August they 
reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon 
after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth- 
place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village 
where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had 
hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer. 

On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and 
his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder 
of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re- 
mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among 
the Indians, living with her upward of forty years. 

Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel- 
ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all 
times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten- 
tion. He was an honored ofuest at the old settlers" reunion in Lee County, 
Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem. 
In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his 
annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted 
in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3. 
His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply 
during his sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre- 
sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried in 
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. " The 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 79 

body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a 
seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him 
by Henry Clay, was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it. 
Many of the old Avarrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some 
Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons." 

No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began 
rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin, 
now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, from a trading post, had 
grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence. 
In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed, 
but did not take active form until two years later, when the State became 
a part of the Federal Union. 

The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of 
Lake Michigan, now included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial 
wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this 
region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 183() was 
made a territory, then including Minnesota and Iowa. The latter State 
was detached two years later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a 
State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various 
divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from 
the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances 
compelled its present division. 

OTHER INDIAN TROUBLES. 

Before, leaving this part of the narrative, we will narrate briefly the 
Indian troubles in Minnesota and elsewhere by the Sioux Indians. 

In August, 1862, the Sioux Indians living on the western borders of 
Minnesota fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, and in a few hours mas- 
sacred ten or twelve hundred persons. A distressful panic was the 
immediate result, fully thirty thousand persons fleeing from their homes 
to districts supposed to be better protected. The military authorities 
at once took active measures to punish the savages, and a large number 
were killed and captured. About a year after, Little Crow, the chief, 
was killed by a Mr. Lampson near Scattered Lake. Of those captured, 
thirty were hung at Mankato, and the remainder, through fears of mob 
violence, were removed to Camp McClellan, on the outskirts of the City 
of Davenport. It was here that Big Eagle came into prominence and 
secured his release by the following order : 



80 



THE N'OKTFfWKST TERRITORY. 







»^^ 



BIG EAGLE. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 8X 

"Special Ordei\ No. 430. '^ War Department, 

"■ Adjutant General's (Jffice, Washington, Dec. 3, 1864. 

'• Big Eagle, an Indian now in confinement at Davenport, Iowa, 
will, upon the receipt of this order, be immediately released from confine- 
ment and set at liberty. 

•' B}^ order of the President of the United States. 
" Official : " E. D. Townsend, AssH Adft Gen. 

" Capt. James Vanderventer, Corny Sub. Vols. 
^' Through Com'g Gen'l, Washington, D. C." 

Another Indian who figures more prominently than Big Eagle, and. 
who was more cowardly in his nature, with his band of Modoc Indians, 
is noted in the annals of the New Northwest: we refer to Captain Jack. 
This distinguished Indian, noted for his cowardly murder of Gen. Canby^ 
was a chief of a Modoc tribe of Indians inhabiting the border lands 
between California and Oregon. This region of country comprises what 
is known as the " Lava Beds," a tract of land described as utterly impenc' 
trable, save by those savages who had made it their home. 

The Modocs are known as an exceedingly fierce and treacherous 
race. They had, according to their own traditions, resided here for many 
generations, and at one time were exceedingly numerous and powerful. 
A famine carried off nearly half their numbers, and disease, indolence 
and the vices of the white man have reduced them to a poor, weak and 
insignificant tribe. 

Soon after the settlement of California and Oregon, complaints began 
to be heard of massacres of emigrant trains passing through the Modoc 
country. In 1847, an emigrant train, comprising eighteen souls, was en- 
tirely destroyed at a place since known as " Bloody Point." These occur- 
rences caused the United States Government to appoint a peace commission, 
who, after repeated attempts, in 1864, made a treaty with the Modocs, 
Snakes and Klamaths, in whicli it was agreed on their part to remove to 
a reservation set apart for them in the southern part of Oregon. 

With the exception of Captain Jack and a band of his followers, who 
remained at Clear Lake, about six miles from Klamath, all the Indians 
complied. The Modocs who went to the reservation were under chief 
Schonchin. Captain Jack remained at the lake without disturbance 
until 1869, when he was also induced to remove to the reservation. The 
Modocs and the Klamaths soon became involved in a quarrel, and Captain 
Jack and his band returned to the Lava Beds. 

Several attempts were made by the Indian Commissioners to induce 
them to return to the reservation, and finally becoming involved in a 



82 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

difficulty with the commissioner and his military escort, a fight ensued, 
in whicli tlie chief and his hand were routed. They were greatly enraged, 
and on their retreat, before the day closed, killed eleven inoffensive wliites. 

The nation was aroused and immediate action demanded. A com- 
mission was at once appointed by the Government to see what could be 
done. It comprised the following persons : Gen. E. R. S. Canby, Rev. 
Dr. E. Thomas, a leading Methodist divine of California ; Mr. A. B. 
Meacham, Judge Rosborough, of California, and a Mr. Dyer, of Oregon. 
After several interviews, in whicli the savages were always aggressive, 
often appearing with scalj)s in their belts. Bogus Charley came to the 
commission on the evening of April 10, 1873, and informed them that 
Capt. Jack and his band would have a " talk '' to-morrow at a place near 
Clear Lake, about three miles distant. Here the Commissioners, accom- 
panied by Charley, Riddle, the interpreter, and Boston Charley repaired. 
After the usual greeting the council proceedings commenced. On behalf 
of the Indians there were present : Capt. Jack, Black Jim, Schnac Nasty 
Jim, Ellen's Man, and Hooker Jim. They had no guns, but carried pis- 
tols. After short speeches by Mr. Meacham, Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas, 
Chief Schonchin arose to speak. He had scarcely proceeded when, 
as if by a preconcerted arrangement, Capt. Jack drew his pistol and shot 
Gen. Canby dead. In less than a minute a dozen shots were fired by the 
savages, and the massacre completed. Mr. Meacham was shot by Schon- 
chin, and Dr. Thomas by Boston Charley. Mr. Dyer barely escaped, being 
fired at twice. Riddle, the interpreter, and his squaw escaped. The 
troops rushed to the spot where they found Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas 
dead, and Mr. Meacham badly wounded. The savages had escaped to 
their impenetrable fastnesses and could not be pursued. 

The whole country was aroused by this brutal massacre ; but it was 
not until the following May that the murderers were brought to justice. 
At that time Boston Charley gave himself up, and offered to guide the 
troops to Capt. Jack's stronghold. This led to the capture of his entire 
gang, a number of whom were murdered by Oregon volunteers while on 
their way to trial. The remaining Indians were held as prisoners until 
July when their trial occurred, which led to the conviction of Capt. 
Jack, Schonchin, Boston Charley, Hooker Jim, Broncho, alias One-Eyed 
Jim, and Slotuck, who were sentenced to be hanged. These sentences 
were approved by the President, save in the case of Slotuck and Broncho 
whose sentences were commuted to imprisonment for life. The others 
were executed at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873. 

These closed the Indian troubles for a time in the Northwest, and for 
several years the borders of civilization remained in peace. They were 
again involved in a conflict with the savages about the country of the 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



S-3 




CAPTAIN JACK, THE MODOC CHIEFTAIN. 



84 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

Black Hills, in which war the gallant Gen. Custer lost his life. Just 
now the borders of Oregon and California are again in fear of hostilities ; 
but as the Government has learned how to deal with the Indians, they 
will be of short duration. The red man is fast passing away before the 
march of the white man, and a few more generations will read of the 
Indians as one of the nations of the past. 

The Northwest abounds in memorable places. We have generally 
noticed them in the narrative, but our space forbids their description in 
detail, save of the most important places. Detroit, Cincinnati, Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia and their kindred towns have all been described. But ere we 
leave the narrative we will present our readers with an account of the 
Kinzie house, the old landmark of Chicago, and the discovery of the 
source of the Mississippi River, each of which may well find a place in 
the annals of the Northwest. 

Mr. John Kinzie, of the Kinzia house, represented in the illustra- 
tion, established a trading house at Fort Dearborn in 1804. The stockade 
had been erected the year previous, and named Fort Dearborn in honor 
of the Secretary of War. It had a block house at each of the two angles, 
on the southern side a sallyport, a covered way on the north side, that led 
down to the river, for the double purpose of providing means of escape, 
and of procuring water in the event of a siege. 

Fort Dearborn stood on the south bank of the Chicago River, about 
half a mile from its mouth. When Major Whistler built it, his soldiers 
hauled all the timber, for he had no oxen, and so economically did he 
work that the fort cost the Government only fifty dollars. For a while 
the garrison could get no grain, and Whistler and his men subsisted on 
acorns. Now Chicago is the greatest grain center in the world. 

Mr. Kinzie bought the hut of the first settler, Jean Baptiste Point au 
Sable, on the site of which he erected his mansion. Within an inclosure 
in front he planted some Lombardy poplars, seen in the engraving, and in 
the rear he soon had a fine garden and growing orchard. 

In 1812 the Kinzie house and its surroundings became the theater 
of stirring events. The garrison of Fort Dearborn consisted of fifty-four 
men, under the charge of Capt. Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant 
Lenai T. Helm (son-in-law to Mrs. Kinzie), and Ensign Ronan. The 
surgeon was Dr. Voorhees. The only residents at the post at that time 
were the wives of Capt. Heald and Lieutenant Helm and a few of the 
soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and a few Canadian voyagers with their 
wives and children. The soldiers and Mr. Kinzie were on the most 
friendly terms with the Pottawatomies and the Winnebagoes, the prin- 
cipal tribes ai-ound them, but they could not win them from their attach- 
ment to the British. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



85 



After the battle of Tippecanoe it was observed that some of the lead- 
ing chiefs became sullen, for some of their people had perished in that 
conflict with American troops. 

One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing his violin and his 
children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing into 
the house pale with terror, and exclaiming, " The Indians ! the Indians ! " 
" What? Where? " eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. " Up at Lee's, killino- 
and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who, when the alarm was 
given, was attending Mrs. Burns, a newly-made mother, living not far off. 




KTNZIE HOUSE. 

Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river in boats, and took refuge in 
the fort, to which place Mrs. Burns and her infant, not a day old, were 
conveyed in safety to the shelter of the guns of Fort Dearborn, and the 
rest of the white inhabitants fled. The Indians were a scalping party of 
Winnebagoes, who hovered around the fort some days, when they dis- 
appeared, and for several weeks the inhabitants were not disturbed by 
alarms. 

Chicago was then so deep in the wilderness, that the news of the 
declaration of war against Great Britain, made on the 19th of June, 1812, 
did not reach the commander of the garrison at Fort Dearborn till the 7th 
of August. Now the fast mail train will carry a man from New York to 
Chicago in twenty-seven hours, and such a declaration might be sent, 
every word, by the telegraph in less than the same number of minutes. 



M' 




THE ITOETHWEST TERRITORY. 



87 



PRESENT CONDITIOX OF THE NORTHWEST 

Preceding- chapters have brought us to the close of the Black Hawk 
war, and we now turn to the contempLation of the growth and prosperity 
of the Northwest under the smile of peace and the blessings of our civili- 
zation. The pioneers of this region date events back to the deep snow 




- s^ /;)}' 



A REPKESKKTATIVE PIOXEER. 



of 1831, no one arriving here since that date taking first honors. The 
inciting cause of the immigration wliich overflowed the prairies early in 
the '30s was the reports of the marvelous beauty and fertility of the 
region distributed through the East by those who had participated in the 
Black Hawk campaign with Gen. Scott. (^'hicago and Milwaukee then 
had a few hundred inhabitants, and Gurdon S. Hubbard's trail from the 
former c!ty to Kaskaskia led almost through a wilderness. Vegetables 
and clothing were largely distributed through the regions adjoining the 



88 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



lakes by steamers from the Ohio towns. There are men now living in 
Illinois who came to the state when barely an acre was in cultivation, 
and a man now prominent in the business circles of Chicago looked over 
the swampy, cheerless site of that metropolis in 1818 and Avent south- 
ward into civilization. Emigrants; from Pennsvlvania in 1830 left behind 




LINCOLN ^lONUMENT, srillNGFlELD, ILLINOIS. 

them but one small railway in tlie coal regions, thirty miles in length, 
and made their way to the Northwest mostly with ox teams, finding in 
Northern Illinois petty settlements scores of miles apart, although the 
southern portion of the state was fairly dotted with farms. The 
water courses of the lakes and rivers furnished transportation to the 
second crreat armv of immigrants, and about 1850 railroads were 
pushed to that extent that the crisis of 1837 was precipitated upon us, 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



89 



from the effects of which the "Western country had not fully recovered 
at the outbreak of the war. Hostilities found the colonists of the prairies 
fuUv alive to the demands of the occasion, and the honor of recruiting 



IL 








o 



o 
o 
a 

■fl 



"A 

O 



the vast armies of the Union fell larofelv to Gov. Yates, of Illinois, and 
Gov. Morton, of Indiana. To recount the share of the glories of the 
campaign won hf cv- Western troops is a needless task, except to 
mention the fact that Illinois g-ave co the nation the President who saved 



90 



THE NORTHWEST TEltltlTOBY. 



it, and sent out at the head of one of its regiments tne general Avho led 
its armies to the final victory at Apiiomattox. The struggle, on the 




FAKM VlJiW IX AVINTER. 



whole, had a marked effect for the better on the new Northwest, g dng 
it an impetus which twenty years of peace would not have produced. 
In a large degree this prosperity was an inflated one, and with the rest 
of the Union we have since been compelled to atone therefor by four 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 9S 

years of depression of values, of scarcity of employment, and loss of 
fortune. To a less degree, however, than the manufacturing or mining 
regions has the West suffered during the prolonged panic now so near its 
end. Agriculture, still the leading feature in our industries, has -been 
quite prosperous through all these dark years, and the farmers liave 
cleared away many incumbrances resting over them from the period of 
fictitious values. The population has steadily increased, the arts and 
sciences are gaining a stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is 
becoming daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from 
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked communities on the 
seaboard dependent wholly on foreign commerce or domestic manufacture. 

At the present period there are no great schemes broached for the 
Northwest, no propositions for government subsidies or national works 
of improvement, but the capital of the world is attracted hither for the 
purchase of our products or the expansion of our capacity for serving the 
nation at large. A new era is dawning as to transportation, and we bid 
fair to deal almost exclusively with the increasing and expanding lines 
of steel rail running through every few miles of territory on the prairies. 
The lake marine will no doubt continue to be useful in the warmer 
season, and to serve as a regulator of freight rates; but experienced 
navigators forecast the decay of the system in moving to the seaboard 
the enormous crops of the West. Within the past five years it has 
become quite common to see direct shipments to Europe and the West 
Indies going through from the second-class towns along the Mississippi 
and Missouri. 

As to popular education, the standard has of late risen very greatly, 
and our schools would be creditable to any section of the Union. 

More and more as the events of the war pass into obscurity will the 
fate of the Northwest be linked with that of the Southwest, and the 
next Congressional apportionment will give the valley of the Mississippi 
absolute control of the legislation of the nation, and do much toward 
securing the removal of the Federal capitol to some more central location. 

Our public men continue to wield the full share of influence pertain- 
ing to their rank in the national autonomy, and seem not to forget that 
for the past sixteen years they and their constituents have dictated the 
principles which should govern the country. 

In a work like this, destined to lie on the shelves of the library for 
generations, and not doomed to daily destruction like a newspaper, one 
can not indulge in the same glowing predictions, the sanguine statements 
of actualities that fill the columns of ephemeral publications. Time may 
bring grief to the pet projects of a writer, and explode castles erected on 
a pedestal of facts. Yet there are unmistakable indications before us of 



94 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 




LAKE BLUFF. 
The .''rontage of Lake Bluff Grounds on Lake Michigan, with one hnndied and seventj feet of gradual ascent 







IIIOII BRIDGE, LAKE BLUFF, LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 95 

the same radical change in our great Northwest which characterizes its 
history for the past thirty years. Our domain has a sort of natural 
geographical border, save where it melts away to the southward in the 
cattle raising districts of the southwest. 

Our prime interest will for some years doubtless be the growth of 
the food of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all 
competitors, and our great rival in this duty will naturally be the fertile 
plains of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, to say nothing of the new 
empire so rapidly growing up in Texas. Over these regions there is a 
continued progress in agriculture and in railway building, and we must 
look to our laurels. Intelligent observers of events are fully aware of 
the strides made in the way of shipments of fresh meats to Europe, 
many of these ocean cargoes being actually slaughtered in the West and 
transported on ice to the wharves of the seaboard cities. That this new 
enterprise will continue there is no reason to doubt. There are in 
Chicago several factories for the canning of prepared meats for European 
consumption, and the orders for this class of goods are already immense. 
English capital is becoming daily more and more dissatisfied with railway 
loans and investments, and is gradually seeking mammoth outlays in 
lands and live stock. The stock yards in Chicago, Indianapolis and East 
St. Louis are yearly increasing their facilities, and their plant steadily 
grows more valuable. Importations of blooded animals from the pro- 
gressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality 
of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing 
display in this line than at our state and county fairs, and the interest 
in the matter is on the increase. 

To attempt to give statistics of our grain production for 1877 would 
be useless, so far have we surpassed ourselves in the quantity and 
quality of our product. We are too liable to forget that we are giving 
the world its first article of necessity — its food supply. An opportunity 
to learn this fact so it never can be forgotten was afforded at Chicago at 
the outbreak of the great panic of 1873, when Canadian purchasers, 
fearing the prostration of business mightbring about an anarchical condition 
of affairs, went to that city with coin in bulk and foreign drafts to secure 
their supplies in their own currency at first hands. It may be justly 
claimed by the agricultural community that their combined efforts gave 
the nation its first impetus toward a restoration of its crippled industries, 
and their labor brought the gold premium to a lower depth than the 
government was able to reach by its most intense efforts of legislation 
and compulsion. The hundreds of millions about to be disbursed for 
farm products have already, by the anticipation common to all commercial 



96 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY, 



nations, set the wheels in motion, and will relieve us from the perils so 
long shadowing our efforts to return to a healthy tone. 

Manufacturing has attained in the chief cities a foothold which bids 
fair to render the Nortliwest independent of the outside world. Nearly 




o 



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'Ji 



-J 

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o 



3 






< 

-J 



our whole region has a distribution of coal measures Avhich will in time 
support the manufactures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As 
to transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles excep"" 
food, )io section is so magnificently endowed, and our facilities are yearly 
increasing beyond those of any other region. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 97 

The period from a central point of the war to the outbreak of the 
panic was marked by a tremendous growth in our railway lines, but the 
depression of the times caused almost a total suspension of operations. 
Now that prosperity is returning to our stricken country we witness its 
anticipation by the railroad interest in a series of projects, extensions, 
and leases which bid fair to largely increase our transportation facilities. 
The process of foreclosure and sale of incumbered lines is another matter 
to be considered. In the case of the Illinois Central road, which formerl}- 
transferred to other lines at Cairo the vast burden of freight destined for 
the Gulf region, we now see the incorporation of the tracks connecting 
through to New Orleans, every mile co-operating in turning toward the 
northwestern metropolis the weight of the inter-state commerce of a 
thousand miles or more of fertile plantations. Three competing routes 
to Texas have established in Chicago their general freight and passenger 
agencies. Four or five lines compete for all Pacific freights to a point as 
as far as the interior of Nebraska. Half a dozen or more splendid bridge 
structures have been thrown across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by 
the railways. The Chicago and Northwestern line has become an aggre- 
gation of over two thousand miles of rail, and the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul is its close rival in extent and importance. The three lines 
running to Cairo via Vincennes form a through route for all traffic with 
the states to the southward. The chief projects now under discussion 
are the Chicago and Atlantic, which is to unite with lines now built to 
Charleston, and the Chicago and Canada Southern, which line will con- 
nect with all the various branches of that Canadian enterprise. Our 
latest new road is the Chicago and Lake Huron, formed of three lines, 
and entering the city from Valparaiso on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne 
and Chicago track. The trunk lines being mainly in operation, the 
progress made in the way of shortening tracks, making air-line branches, 
and running extensions does not show to the advantage it deserves, as 
this process is constantly adding new facilities to the established order 
of things. The panic reduced the price of steel to a point where the 
railways could hardly afford to use iron rails, and all our northwestern 
lines report large relays of Bessemer track. The immense crops now 
being moved have given a great rise to the value of railway stocks, and 
their transportation must result in heavy pecuniary advantages. 

Few are aware of the importance of the wholesale and jobbing trade 
of Chicago. One leading firm has since the panic sold i|24,000,000 of 
dry goods in one year, and they now expect most confidently to add 
seventy per cent, to the figures of their last year's business. In boots 
and shoes and in clothing, twenty or more great firms from the east have 
placed here their distributing agents or their factories ; and in groceries 



98 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



Chicago supplies the entire Northwest at rates presenting advantages 
over New York. 

Chicago has stepped in between New York and the rural banks as a 
financial center, and scarcely a banking institution in the grain or cattle 
regions but keeps its reserve funds in the vaults of our commercial insti- 
tutions. Accumulating here throughout the spring and summer months, 
they are summoned home at pleasure to move the products of the 
prairies. This process greatly strengthens the northwest in its financial 
operations, leaving home capital to supplement local operations on 
behalf of home interests. 

It is impossible to forecast the destiny of this grand and growing 
section of the Union. Figures and predictions made at this date might 
seem ten years hence so ludicrously small as to excite only derision. 







ILLINOIS. 

Length, 380 miles, mean width about 156 miles. Area, 55,410 square 
miles, or 35,462,400 acres. Illinois, as regards its surface, constitutes a 
table-land at a varying elevation ranging between 350 and 800 feet above 
the sea level ; composed of extensive and highly fertile prairies and plains. 
Much of the south division of the State, especially the river-bottoms, are 
thickly wooded. The prairies, too, have oasis-like clumps of trees 
scattered here and there at intervals. The chief rivers irrigating the 
State are the Mississippi — dividing it from Iowa and Missouri — the Ohio 
(forming its south barrier), the Illinois, Wabash, Kaskaskia, and San- 
gamon, with their numerous affluents. The total extent of navigable 
streams is calculated at 4,000 miles. Small lakes are scattered over vari- 
ous parts of the State. Illinois is extremely prolific in minerals, chiefly 
coal, iron, copper, and zinc ores, sulphur and limestone. The coal-field 
alone is estimated to absorb a full third of the entire coal-deposit of North 
America. Climate tolerably equable and healthy ; the mean temperature 
standing at about 51° Fahrenheit As an agricultural region, Illinois takes 
a competitive rank with neighboring States, the cereals, fruits, and root- 
crops yielding plentiful returns ; in fact, as a grain-growing State, Illinois 
may be deemed, in proportion to her size, to possess a greater area of 
lands suitable for its production than any other State in the Union. Stock- 
raising is also largely carried on, while her manufacturing interests in 
regard of woolen fabrics, etc., are on a very extensive and yearly expand- 
ing scale. The lines of railroad in the State are among the most exten- 
sive of the Union. Inland water-carriage is facilitated by a canal 
connecting the Illinois River with Lake Michigan, and thence with the 
St. Lawrence and Atlantic. Illinois is divided into 102 counties ; the 
chief towns being Chicago, Springfield (capital), Alton, Quincy, Peoria, 
Galena, Bloomington, Eock Island, Vandalia, etc. By the new Consti- 
tution, established in 1870, the State Legislature consists of 51 Senators, 
elected for four years, and 153 Representatives, for two years ; which 
numbers were to be decennially increased thereafter to the number of 
six per every additional half-million of inhabitants. Religious and 
educational institutions are largely diffused throughout, and are in a very 
flourishing condition. Illinois has a State Lunatic and a Deaf and Dumb 
Asylum at Jacksonville ; a State Penitentiary at Joliet ; and a Home for 

(99) 



100 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



Soldiers' Orphans at Normal. On November 30, 1870, the public debt of 
the State was returned at $4,870,937, with a balance of $1,808,833 
unprovided for. At the same period the value of assessed and equalized 
property presented the following totals: assessed, 8840,031,703 ; equal- 
ized -"^480, 064,058. The name of Illinois, through nearly the whole of 
the eighteenth century, embraced most of the known regions north and 
west of Ohio. French colonists established themselves in 1673, at 
Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and the territory of which these settlements 
formed the nucleus was, in 1763, ceded to Great Britain in conjunction 
with Canada, and ultimately resigned to the United States in 1787. 
Illinois entered the Union as a State, December 3, 1818; and now sends 
19 Representatives to Congress. Population, 2,539,891, in 1870. 




JS^Lj/J^!^ 






&',~..'^ *-'-'' 



A WESTERX DA\T2LL1NG. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. lUl 



INDIANA 



The profile of Indiana forms a nearly exact parallelogram, occupy- 
ing one of the most fertile portions of the great Mississippi Valley. The 
greater extent of the surface embraced within its limits consists of gentle 
undulations rising into hilly tracts toward the Ohio bottom. The chief 
rivers of the State are the Ohio and Wabash, with their numerous 
affluents. The soil is highly productive of the cereals and grasses — most 
particularly so in the valleys of the Ohio, Wabash, Whitewater, and 
White Rivers. The northeast and central portions are well timbered 
with virgin forests, and the west section is notq.bly rich in coal, constitut- 
ing an offshoot of the great Illinois carboniferous field. Iron, copper, 
marble, slate, gypsum, and various clays are also abundant. From an 
agricultural point of view, the staple products are maize and wheat, with 
the other cereals in lesser yields ; and besides these, flax, hemp, sorghum, 
hops, etc., are extensively raised. Indiana is divided into 92 counties, 
and counts among her principal cities and towns, those of Indianapolis 
(the capital), Fort Wayne, Evansville, Terre Haute, Madison, Jefferson- 
ville, Columbus, Vincennes, South Bend, etc. The public institutions of 
the State are many and various, and on a scale of magnitude and 
efficiency commensurate with her important political and industrial status. 
Upward of two thousand miles of railroads permeate the State in all 
directions, and greatly conduce to the development of her expanding 
manufacturing interests. Statistics for the fiscal year terminating 
October 31, 1870, exhibited a total of receipts, -$3, 896,541 as against dis- 
bursements, $3,532,406, leaving a balance, 1364,135 in favor of the State 
Treasury. The entire public debt, January 5, 1871, $3,971,000. This 
State was first settled by Canadian voyageurs in 1702, who erected a fort 
at Vincennes ; in 1763 it passed into the hands of the English, and was 
by the latter ceded to the United States in 1783. From 1788 till 1791, 
an Indian ware fare prevailed. In 1800, all the region west and north of 
Ohio (then formed into a distinct territory) became merged in Indiana. 
In 1809, the present limits of the State were defined, Michigan and 
Illinois having previously been withdrawn. In 1811, Indiana was the 
theater of the Indian War of Tecumseh, ending with the decisive battle 
of Tippecanoe. In 1816 (December 11), Indiana became enrolled among 
the States of the American Union. In 1834, the State passed through a 
monetary crisis owing to its having become mixed up with railroad, 
Qanal, and other speculations on a gigantic scale, which ended, for the 
time being, in a general collapse of public credit, and consequent bank- 
ruptcy. Since that time, however, the greater number of the public 



102 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 

works which had brought about that imbroglio — especially the great 
Wabash aud Erie Canal — have been completed, to the great benefit of 
the State, whose subsequent progress has year by year been marked by 
rapid strides in the paths of wealth, commerce, and general social and 
political prosperity. The constitution now in force was adopted in 1851. 
Population, 1,680,637. 



IOWA. 

In shape, Iowa presents an almost perfect parallelogram ; has a 
length, north to south, of about 300 miles, by a pretty even width of 208 
miles, and embraces an area of 55,045 square miles, or 35,228,800 acres. 
The surface of the State is generally undulating, rising toward the 
middle into an elevated plateau which forms the " divide " of the 
Missouri and Mississippi basins. Rolling prairies, especially in the south 
section, constitute a regnant feature, and the river bottoms, belted with 
woodlands, present a soil of the richest alluvion. Iowa is well watered ; 
the principal rivers being the Mississippi and Missouri, which form 
respectively its east and west limits, and the Cedar, Iowa, and Des 
Moines, affluents of the first named. Mineralogically, Iowa is important 
as occupying a section of the great Northwest coal field, to the extent of 
an area estimated at 25,000 square miles. Lead, copper, zinc, and iron, 
are also mined in considerable quantities. The soil is well adapted to 
the production of wheat, maize, and the other cereals ; fruits, vegetables, 
and esculent roots ; maize, wheat, and oats forming the chief staples. 
Wine, tobacco, hops, and wax, are other noticeable items of the agricul- 
tural yield. Cattle-raising, too, is a branch of rural industry largely 
engaged in. The climate is healthy, although liable to extremes of heat 
and cold. The annual gross product of the various manufactures carried 
on in this State approximate, in round numbers, a sum of $20,000,000. 
Iowa has an immense railroad system, besides over 500 miles of water- 
communication by means of its navigable rivers. The State is politically 
divided into 99 counties, with the following centers of population : Des 
Moines (capital), Iowa City (former capital), Dubuque, Davenport, Bur- 
lington, Council Bluffs, Keokuk, Muscatine, and Cedar Rapids. The 
State institutions of Iowa — religious, scholastic, aud philanthropic — are 
on a par, as regards number and perfection of organization and operation, 
with those of her Northwest sister States, aud education is especially 
well cared for, and largely diffused. Iowa formed a portion of the 
American territorial acquisitions from France, by the so-called Louisiana 
purchase in 1803, and was politically identified with Louisiana till 1812, 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 103 

when it merged into the Missouri Territor}-; in 1834 it came under the 
Michigan organization, and, in 1836, under that of Wisconsin. Finally, 
after being constituted an independent Territory, it became a State of 
the Union, December 28, 1846. Population in 1860, 674,913 ; in 1870, 
1,191,792, and in 1875, 1,353,118. 



MICHIGAN. 

United area, 56,243 square miles, or 35,995,520 acres. Extent of the 
Upper and smaller Peninsula — length, 316 miles; breadth, fluctuating 
between 36 and 120 miles. The south division is 416 miles long, by from 
50 to 300 miles wide. Aggregate lake-shore line, .1,400 miles. The 
Upper, or North, Peninsula consists chiefly of an elevated plateau, 
expanding into the Porcupine mountain-system, attaining a maximum 
height of some 2,000 feet. Its shores along Lake Superior are eminently 
bold and picturesque, and its area is rich in minerals, its product of 
copper constituting an important source of industry. Both divisions are 
heavily wooded, and the South one, in addition, boasts of a deep, rich, 
loamy soil, throwing up excellent crops of cereals and other agricultural 
produce. The climate is generally mild and humid, though the Winter 
colds are severe. The chief staples of farm husbandry include the cereals, 
grasses, maple sugar, sorghum, tobacco, fruits, and dairy-stuffs. In 1870, 
the acres of land in farms were : improved, 5,096,939 ; unimproved 
woodland, 4,080,146 ; other unimproved land, 842,057. The cash value 
of land was $398,240,578 ; of farming implements and machinery, 
$13,711,979. In 1869, there were shipped from the Lake Superior ports, 
874,582 tons of iron ore, and 45,762 of smelted pig, along with 14,188 
tons of copper (ore and ingot). Coal is another article largely mined. 
Inland communication is provided for by an admirably organized railroad 
system, and by the St. Mary's Ship Canal, connecting Lakes Huron and 
Superior. Michigan is politically divided into 78 counties ; its chief 
urban centers are Detroit, Lansing (capital), Ann Arbor, Marquette, 
Bay City, Niles, Ypsilanti, Grand Haven, etc. The Governor of the 
State is elected biennially. On November 30, 1870, the aggregate l)onded 
debt of Michigan amounted to $2,385,028, and the assessed valuation of 
land to $266,929,278, representing an estimated cash value of $800,000,000. 
Education is largely diffused and most excellently conducted and pro- 
vided for. The State University at Ann Arbor, the colleges of Detroit 
and Kalamazoo, the Albion Female College, the State Normal School at 
Ypsilanti, and the State Agricultural College at Lansing, are chief among 
the academic institutions. Michigan (a term of Chippeway origin, and 



104 THE NORTHWEST TEUKITORY. 

signifying "Great Lake), was discovered and first settled by French 
Canadians, who, in 1670, founded Detroit, the pioneer of a series of trad- 
ing-posts on the Indian frontier. During the " Conspiracy of Pouitiac," 
following the French loss of Canada, Michigan became the scene of a 
sanguinary struggle between the whites and aborigines. In 1796, it 
became annexed to the United States, which incorporated this region 
with the Northwest Territory, and then with Indiana Territory, till 1803, 
when it became territorially independent. Michigan was the theater of 
warlike operations during the war of 1812 with Great Britain, and in 
1819 was authorized to be represented by one delegate in Congress ; in 
1837 she was admitted into the Union as a State, and in 1869 ratified the 
IStli Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Population, 1,184,059. 



WISCONSIN. 

It has a mean length of 260 miles, and a maximum breadth of 215. 
Land area, 53,924 square miles, or 34,511,360 acres. Wisconsin lies at a 
considerable altitude above sea-level, and consists for the most part of an 
upland plateau, the surface of which is undulating and very generally 
diversified. Numerous local eminences called mounds are interspersed 
over the State, and the Lake Michigan coast-line is in many parts char- 
acterized by lofty escarped cliffs, even as on the west side the banks of 
the Mississippi form a series of high and picturesque bluffs. A group of 
islands known as The Apostles lie off the extreme north point of the 
State in Lake Superior, and the great estuary of Green Bay, running far 
inland, gives formation to a long, narrow peninsula between its waters 
and those of Lake Michigan. The river-system of Wisconsin has tlu'ee 
outlets — those of Lake Superior, Green Bay, and the Mississippi, which 
latter stream forms the entire southwest frontier, widening at one point 
into the large watery expanse called Lake Pepin. Lake Superior receives 
the St. Louis, Burnt Wood, and Montreal Rivers ; Green Bay, the 
Menomonee, Peshtigo, Oconto, and Fox ; while into the Mississippi 
empty the St. Croix, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, and Rock Rivers. 
The chief interior lakes are those of Winnebago, Horicon, and Court 
Oreilles, and smaller sheets of water stud a great part of the surface. 
The climate is healthful, with cold Winters and brief but very warm 
Summers. Mean annual rainfall 31 inches. The geological system 
represented b}' the State, embraces those rocks included between the 
primary and the Devonian series, the former containing extensive 
deposits of copper and iron ore. Besides these minerals, lead and zinc 
are found in great quantities, together with kaolin, plumbago, gypsum. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 105 

and various clays. Mining, consequently, forms a prominent industry, 
and one of yearly increasing dimensions. The soil of Wisconsin is of 
varying quality, but fertile on the whole, and in the north parts of the 
State heavily timbered. The agricultural yield comprises the cereals, 
together with flax, hemp, tobacco, pulse, sorgum, and all kinds of vege- 
tables, and of the hardier fruits. In 1870, the State had a total number 
of 102,904 farms, occupying 11,715,321 acres, of which 5,899,343 con- 
sisted of improved land, and 3,437,442 were timbered. Cash value of 
farms, $300,414,064 ; of farm implements and machinery, $14,239,364. 
Total estimated value of all farm products, including betterments and 
additions to stock, $78,027,032 ; of orchard and dairy stuffs, $1,045,933 ; 
of lumber, $1,327,618 ; of home manufactures, $338,423 ; of all live-stock, 
$45,310,882. Number of manufacturing establishments, 7,136, employ- 
ing 39,055 hands, and turning out productions valued at $85,624,966. 
The political divisions of the State form 61 counties, and the chief places 
of wealth, trade, and population, are Madison (the capital), Milwaukee, 
Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Prairie du Chien, Janesville, Portage City, 
Racine, Kenosha, and La Crosse. In 1870, the total assessed valuation 
reached $333,209,838, as against a true valuation of both real and personal 
estate aggregating $602,207,329. Treasury receipts during 1870, $886,- 
696 ; disbursements, $906,329. Value of church property, $4,749,983. 
Education is amply provided for. Independently of the State University 
at Madison, and those of Galesville and of Lawrence at Appleton, and 
the colleges of Beloit, Racine, and Milton, there are Normal Schools at 
Platteville and Whitewater. The State is divided into 4,802 common 
school districts, maintained at a cost, in 1870, of $2,094,160. The chari- 
table institutions of Wisconsin include a Deaf and Dumb Asylum, an 
Institute for the Education of the Blind, and a Soldiers' Orphans' School. 
In January, 1870, the railroad system ramified throughout the State 
totalized 2,779 miles of track, including several lines far advanced toward 
completion. Immigration is successfully encouraged by the State author- 
ities, the larger number of yearly new-comers being of Scandinavian and 
German origin. The territory now occupied within the limits of the 
State of Wisconsin was explored by French missionaries and traders in 
1639, and it remained under French jurisdiction until 1703, when it 
became annexed to the British North American possessions. In 1796, it 
reverted to the United States, the government of which latter admitted 
it within the limits of the Northwest Territory, and in 1809, attached it 
to that of Illinois, and to Michigan in 1818. Wisconsin became independ- 
ently territorially organized in 1836, and became, a State of the Union, 
March 3, 1847. Population in 1870, 1,064,985, of which 2,113 were of 
the colored race, and 11,521 Indians, 1,206 of thfe latter being out of 
tribal relations. 



106 THE NORTHWEST TERHITORY. 



MINNESOTA 



Its length, north to south, embraces an extent of 380 miles ; its 
breadth one of 250 miles at a maximum. Area, 84,000 square miles, or 
54.760,000 acres. The surface of Minnesota, generally speaking, con- 
sists of a succession of gently undulating plains and prairies, drained by 
an admirable water-system, and with here and there heavily- timbered 
bottoms and belts of virgin forest. The soil, corresponding with such a 
superfices, is exceptionally rich, consisting for the most part of a dark, 
calcareous sandy drift intermixed with loam. A distinguishing physical 
feature of this State is its riverine ramifications, expanding in nearly 
every part of it into almost innumerable lakes — the whole presenting an 
aggregate of water-power having hardly a rival in the Union. Besides 
the Mississippi — which here has its rise, and drains a basin of 800 miles 
of country — the principal streams are the Minnesota (334 miles long), 
the Red River of the North, the St. Croix, St. Louis, and many others of 
lesser importance ; the chief lakes are those called Red, Cass, Leech, 
Mille Lacs, Vermillion, and Winibigosh. Quite a concatenation of sheets 
of water fringe the frontier line where Minnesota joins British America, 
culminating in the Lake of the Woods. It has been estimated, that of 
an area of 1,200,000 acres of surface between the St. Croix and Mis- 
sissippi Rivers, not less than 73,000 acres are of lacustrine formation. In 
point of minerals, the resources of Minnesota have as yet been very 
imperfectly developed; iron, copper, coal, lead — all these are known to 
exist in considerable deposits ; together with salt, limestone, and potter's 
clay. The agricultural outlook of the State is in a high degree satis- 
factory ; wheat constitutes the leading cereal in cultivation, with Indian 
corn and oats in next order. Fruits and vegetables are grown in great 
plenty and of excellent quality. The lumber resources of Minnesota are 
important ; the pine forests in the north legion alone occupying an area 
of some 21,000 square miles, which in 1870 produced a return of scaled 
logs amounting to 313,116,416 feet. The natural industrial advantasres 
possessed by Minnesota are largely improved upon by a railroad system. 
The political divisions of this State number 78 counties ; of which tlie 
chief cities and towns are : St. Paul (the capital), Stillwater, Red Wing, 
St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Mankato. Minnesota has 
already assumed an attitude of high importance as a manufacturing State ; 
this is mainly due to the wonderful command of water-power she pos- 
sesses, as before spoken of. Besides her timber-trade, the milling of 
flour, the distillation of whisky, and the tanning of leather, are prominent 
interests, which, in 1869, gave returns to the amount of 814,831,043. 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 107 

Education is notably provided for on a broad and catholic scale, the 
entire amount expended scholastically during the year 1870 being $857,- 
816 ; while on November 30 of the preceding year the permanent school 
fund stood at -$2,476,222. Besides a University and Agricultural College, 
Normal and Reform Schools flourish, and with these may be mentioned 
such various philanthropic and religious institutions as befit the needs of 
an intelligent and prosperous community. The finances of the State for 
the fiscal year terminating December 1, 1870, exhibited a balance on the 
right side to the amount of $136,164, being a gain of $44,000 over the 
previous year's figures. The earliest exploration of Minnesota by the 
whites was made in 1680 by a French Franciscan, Father Hennepin, who 
gave the name of St. Antony to the Great Falls on the Upper Missisippi. 
In 1763, the Treatv of Versailles ceded this region to Enoland. 
Twenty years later, Minnesota formed part of the Northwest Territory 
transferred to the United States, and became herself territorialized inde- 
pendently in 1849. Indian cessions in 1851 enlarged her boundaries, and. 
May 11, 1857, Minnesota became a unit of the great American federation 
of States. Population, 439,706. 



NEBRASKA. 

Maximum length, 412 miles ; extreme breadth, 208 miles. Area, 
75,905 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres. The surface of tliis State is 
almost entirely undulating prairie, and forms part of the west slope of 
the great central basin of the North American Continent. In its west 
division, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, is a sandy belt of 
country, irregularly defined. In this part, too, are the " dunes," resem- 
bling a wavy sea of sandy billows, as well as the Mauvaises Terres. a tract 
of singular formation, produced by eccentric disintegrations and denuda- 
tions of the land. The chief rivers are the Missouri, constituting its en- 
tire east line of demarcation ; the Nebraska or Platte, the Niobrara, the 
Republican Fork of the Kansas, the Elkhorn, and the Loup Fork of the 
Platte. The soil is very various, but consisting chiefly of rich, bottomy 
loam, admirably adapted to the raising of heavy crops of cereals. All 
the vegetables and fruits of the temperate zone are produced in great 
size and plenty. For grazing purposes Nebraska is a State exceptionally 
well fitted, a region of not less than 23,000,000 acres being adaptable to 
this branch of husbandry. It is believed that the, as yet, comparatively 
infertile tracts of land found in various parts of the State are susceptible 
of productivity by means of a properly conducted system of irrigation. 
Few minerals of moment have so far been found witliin the limits of 



108 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



Nebraska, if we may except important saline deposits at the head of Salt 
Creek [n ics southeast section. Tlie State is divided into 57 counties, 
independent of the Pawnee and Winnebago Indians, and of unorganized 
territory in the northwest part. The principal towns are Omaha, Lincoln 
(State capital), Nebraska City, Columbus, Grand Island, etc. In 1870, 
the total assessed value of property amounted to 853,000,000, being an 
increase of $11,000,000 over the previous year's returns. The total 
amount received from the school-fund during the j'ear 1869-70 was 
$77,999. Education is making great onward strides, the State University 
and an Agricultural College being far advanced toward eompletion. In 
the matter of railroad communication, Nebraska bids fair to soon place 
herself on a par with her neighbors to the east. Besides being inter- 
sected by the Union Pacific line, with its off-shoot, the Fremont and Blair, 
other tracks are in course of rapid construction. Organized by Con- 
gressional Act into a Territory, May 30, 1854, Nebraska entered the 
Union as a full State, March 1, 1867. Population, 122,993. 




TirXTTXc; PKATEIE WOLVES IX AX KAKI.V DAY. 



Early History of Illinois. 



The name of this beautiful Prairie State is derived from Illini, a 
Delaware word signifying Superior Men. It has a French termination^ 
and is a symbol of how the two races — the French and the Indians — 
were intermixed during the early history of the country. 

The appellation was no doubt well applied to the primitive inhabit- 
ants of the soil whose prowess in savage warfare long withstood the 
combined attacks of the fierce Iroquois on the one side, and the no less, 
savage and relentless Sacs and Foxes on the other. The Illinois were 
once a powerful confederacy, occupying the most beautiful and fertile 
region in the great Valle}^ of the Mississippi, which their enemies coveted 
and struggled long and hard to wrest from them. By the fortunes of 
war they were diminished in numbers, and finally destroyed. " Starved 
Rock," on the Illinois River, according to tradition, commemorates their 
last tragedy, where, it is said, the entii-e tribe starved rather than sur- 
render. 

EARLY DISCOVERIES. 

The first European discoveries in Illinois date back over two hun- 
dred years. They are a part of that movement which, from the begin- 
ning to the middle of the seventeenth century, brought the French 
Canadian missionaries and fur traders into the Valley of the Mississippi,, 
and which, at a later period, established the civil and ecclesiastical 
authority of France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and from the foot-hills of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains. 

The great river of the West had been discovered by DeSoto, the 
Spanish .conqueror of Florida, three quarters of a century before the 
French founded Quebec in 1608, but the Spanish left the country a wil- 
derness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in 
which condition it remained until the Mississippi was discovered b}' the 
agents of the French Canadian government, Jolietand Marquette, in 1673. 
These renowned explorers were not the first white visitors to Illinois. 
In 1671 — two years in advance of them — came Nicholas Perrot to Chicago, 
He had been sent by Talon as an agent of the Canadian government to 

rog 



110 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 




HISTORY OF THE STATE OP nJLlNOIS. HI 

call a great peace convention of "Western Indians at Green Bay, prepara- 
tory to the movement for the discovery of the Mississippi. It was 
deemed a good stroke of policy to secure, as far as possible, the friend- 
ship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing upon 
an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous, and which 
their friendsliip and assistance would do so much to make successful ; 
and to this end Perrot was sent to call too-ether in council the tribes 
throughout the Northwest, and to promise them the commerce and pro- 
tection of the French government. He accordingly arrived at Green 
Bay in 1671, and procuring an escort of Pottawattamies, proceeded in a 
bark canoe upon a visit to the Miamis, at Chicago. Perrot was there- 
fore the first European to set foot upon the soil of Illinois. 

Still there were others before Marquette. In 1672, the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries. Fathers Claude AUouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard 
of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin 
and northern Illinois, visiting the Foxes on Fox River, and the Masquo- 
tiiies and Kickapoos at the mouth of the Milwaukee. These missionaries 
penetrated on the route afterwards followed by Marquette as far as the 
Kickapoo village at the head of Lake Winnebago, where Marquette, in 
his journey, secured guides across the portage to the Wisconsin. 

The oft-repeated story of Marquette and Joliet is well known. 
They were the agents employed by the Canadian government to discover 
the Mississippi. Marquette was a native of France, born in 1637, a 
Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and of great zeal and 
devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the Indians. 
Arriving in Canada in 1666, he was sent as a missionary to the far 
Northwest, and, in 1668, founded a mission at Sault Ste. Marie. The 
following year he moved to La Pointe, in Lake Superior, where he 
instructed a branch of the Hurons till 1670, when he removed south, and 
founded the mission at St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. Here 
he remained, devoting a portion of his time to the study of the Illinois 
language under a native teacher who had accompanied him to the mission 
from La Pointe, till he was joined by Joliet in the Spring of 1673. By 
the way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, they entered 
the Mississippi, which they explored to the mouth of the Arkansas, and 
returned by the way of the Illinois and Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan. 

On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the great village of 
the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in the county of LaSalle. The 
following year he returned and established among them the mission of 
the Immaculate Virgin Mary, which was the first Jesuit mission founded 
in Illinois and in the Mississippi Valley. The intervening winter he 
had spent in a hut which his companions erected on the Chicago River, a 
few leagues from its mouth. The founding of this mission was the last 



112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

act of Marquette's life. He died in Michigan, on his way back to Green 
Bay, May 18, 1675. 

FIRST FRENCH OCCUPATION. 

The first French occupation of the territory now embraced in Illi- 
nois was effected by LaSalle in 1680, seven years after the time of Mar- 
quette and Joliet. LaSalle, having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin," 
above the falls of Niagara, which he sailed to Green Bay, and having 
passed thence in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by which 
and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois, in January, 1680, erected Fort 
.Crevecoeur^ at the lower end of Peoria Lake, where the cit}' of Peoria is 
now situated. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen 
just below the outlet of Peoria Lake. It was destined, however, to a 
temporary existence. From this point, LaSalle determined to descend 
the Mississippi to its mouth, but did not accomplish this purpose till two 
years later — in 1682. Returning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of 
getting materials with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort in charge of 
Touti, his lieutenant, who during his absence was driven off by the Iro- 
quois Indians. These savages had made a raid upon the settlement of 
the Illinois, and had left nothing in their track but ruin and desolation. 
Mr. Davidson, in his History of Illinois, gives the following graphic 
account of the picture that met the eyes of LaSalle and his companions 
on their return : ' 

" At the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene 
which opened to their view. No hunter appeared to break its death-like 
silence with a salutatory whoop ot welcome. The plain on which the 
town had stood was now strewn with charred fragments of lodges, which 
had so recently swarmed with savage life and hilarity. To render more 
hideous the picture of desolation, large numbers of skulls had been 
placed on the upper extremities of lodge-poles which had escaped the 
devouring flames. In the midst of these horrors was the rude fort of 
the spoilers, rendered frightful by the same ghastly relics. A near 
approach showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and 
swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting: their loathsome stomachs 
on the reeking corruption. To complete the work of destruction, the 
growing corn of the village had been cut down and burned, while the 
pits containing the products of previous years, had been rifled and their 
contents scattered with wanton waste. It was evident the suspected 
blow of the Iroquois had fallen with relentless fury."' 

Tonti had escaped LaSalle knew not whither. Passing down the 
lake in search of him and his men, LaSalle discovered that the fort had 
been destroyed, but the vessel which he had partly constructed was still 



*a. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 118 

on the stocks, and but slightly injured. After further fruitless search, 
failing to find Tonti, he fastened to a tree a painting representing himself 
and party sitting in a canoe and bearing a pipe of peace, and to the paint- 
ing attached a letter addressed to Tonti. 

Tonti had escaped, and, after untold privations, taken shelter among 
the Pottawattamies near Green Bay. These were friendly to the French. 
One of their old chiefs used to say, " There were but three great cap- 
tains in the world, himself, Tonti and LaSalle." 

GENIUS OF LaSALLE. 

We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in such 
bold relief. He was born in Rouen, France, in 1643. His father was 
wealth}^ but he renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the 
Jesuits, from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man in 1666. 
The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a brother, were then the 
proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus of which was a seminary or con- 
vent founded by that order. The Superior granted to LaSalle a large 
tract of land at LaChine, where he established himself in the fur trade. 
He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his competitors in 
exploits of travel and commerce with the Indians. In 1669, he visited 
the headquarters of the great Iroquois Confederacy, at Onondaga, in the 
heart of New York, and, obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to 
the falls at Louisville. 

In order to understand the genius of LaSalle, it must be remembered 
that for many years prior to his time the missionaries and traders were 
obliged to make their way to the Northwest by the Ottawa River (of 
Canada) on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the lower 
lakes and Niagara River, which entirely closed this latter route to the 
Upper Lakes. They carried on their commerce chiefly b}^ canoes, pad- 
dling them through the Ottawa to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across 
the portage to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron. This 
being the route by which they reached the Northwest, accounts for the 
fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions were established in the neighbor- 
hood of the Upper Lakes. LaSalle conceived the grand idea of opening 
the route by Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce 
by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the Mississippi, and 
thus opening a magnificent water communication from the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. This truly grand and comprehensive 
purpose seems to have animated him in all his wonderful achievements 
and the matchless difficulties and hardships he surmounted. As the first 
step in the accomplishment of this object he established himself on Lake 
Ontario, and built and garrisoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present 



114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

city of Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from the 
French crown and a body of troops b}^ which he beat back the invading 
Iroquois and cleared the passage to Niagara Falls. Having by this mas- 
terly stroke made it safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his 
next step, as we have seen, was to advance to the Falls with all his 
outfit for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He was success- 
ful in this undertaking, though his ultimate purpose was defeated by a 
strange combination of untoward circumstances. Tlie Jesuits evidently 
hated LaSalle and plotted against him, because he had abandoned them 
and co-operated with a rival order. The fur traders were also jealous of 
his superior success in opening new channels of commerce. At LaChine 
he had taken the trade of Lake Ontario, which but for his presence tliere 
would have gone to Quebec. While they were plodding with their barK 
canoes through the Ottawa he was constructing sailing vessels to com- 
mand the trade of the lakes and tlie Mississippi. These great plans 
excited the jealousy and envy of the small traders, introduced treason and 
revolt into the ranks of his own companions, and finally led to the foul 
assassination by which his great achievements were prematurely ended. 

In 1682, LaSalle, having completed his vessel at Peoria, descended 
the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. Erecting a 
standard on which he inscribed the arms of France, he took formal pos- 
session of the whole valley of the mighty river, in the name of Louis 
XIV., then reigning, in honor of whom he named the country Louisiana. 

LaSalle then went to France, was appointed Governor, and returned 
with a fleet and immigrants, for the purpose of planting a colony in Illi- 
nois. They arrived in due time in the Gulf of Mexico, but failing to 
find the mouth of the Mississippi, up which LaSalle intended to sail, his 
supply ship, with the immigrants, was driven ashore and wrecked on 
^Matagorda Bay. With the fragments of the vessel he constructed a 
stockade and rude huts on the shore for the protection of the immigrants, 
calling the post Fort St. Louis. He then made a trip into New Mexico, 
in search of silver mines, but, meeting with disappointment, returned to 
find his little colony reduced to forty souls. He then resolved to travel 
on foot to Illinois, and, starting with his companions, had reached the 
valley of the Colorado, near the mouth of Trinity river, when he was 
shot by one of his men. This occurred on the 19th of March, 1687. 

Dr. J. W. Foster remarks of him : " Thus fell, not far from the banks 
of the Trinity, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, one of the grandest charac- 
ters that ever figured in American history — a man capable of originating 
the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment capable of 
carrying them to successful results. Had ample facilities been placed by 
the King of France at his disposal, the result of the colonization of this 
continent might have been far different from what we now behold." 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 115 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

A temporarr settlement was made at Fort St. Louis, or the old Kas- 
kaskia village, on the Illinois River, in what is now LaSalle County, in 
1682. In 1690, this was removed, with the mission connected with it, to 
Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, emptying into the lower Mississippi 
in St. Clair County. Cahokia was settled about the same time, or at 
least, both of these settlements began in the year 1690, though it is now 
pretty well settled that Cahokia is the okler place, and ranks as the oldest 
permanent settlement in lUinuib', as well as in the Mississippi Valley. 
The reason for the removal of the old Kaskaskia settlement and mission, 
was probably because the dangerous and difficult route by Lake Michigan 
and the Chicago portage had been almost abandoned, and travelers and 
traders passed down and up the Mississippi by the Fox and Wisconsin 
River route. They removed to the vicinity of the Mississippi in order 
to be in the line of travel from Canada to Louisiana, that is, the lower 
part of it, for it was all Louisiana then south of the lakes. 

During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population prob- 
ably never exceeded ten thousand, including whites and blacks. Within 
that portion of it now included in Indiana, trading posts were established 
at the principal Miami villages which stood on the head waters of the 
Maumee, the Wea villages situated at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and 
the Piankeshaw villages at Post Vincennes ; all of which were probably 
visited by French traders and missionaries before the close of the seven- 
teenth century. 

In the vast territory claimed by the French, many settlements of 
considerable importance had sprung up. Biloxi, on Mobile Bay, had 
been founded by DTberville, in 1699; Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac had 
founded Detroit in 1701 ; and New Orleans had been founded by Bien- 
ville, under the auspices of the Mississippi Company, in 1718. In Illi- 
nois also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they 
embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred " con- 
verted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In that portion of the 
country, on the east side of the Mississippi, there were five distinct set- 
tlements, with their respective villages, viz. : Cahokia, near the mouth 
of Cahokia Creek and about five miles below the present city of St. 
Louis ; St. Philip, about forty-five miles below Cahokia, and four miles 
above Fort Chartres ; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia ; 
Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its conflu- 
, ence with the Mississippi ; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres. 
To these must be added St. Genevieve and St. Louis, on the west side 
of the Mississippi. These, with the exception of St. Louis, are among 



116 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF LLIJLNOIS. 










K 






t^ 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 117 

the oldest French towns in the Mississippi Valley. Kaskaskia, in its best 
days, was a town of some two or three thousand inhabitants. After it 
passed from the crown of France its population for many years did not 
exceed fifteen hundred. Under British rule, in 1773, the population had 
decreased to four hundred and fifty. As early as 1721, the Jesuits had 
established a college and a monaster}- in Kaskaskia. 

Fort Chartres was first built under the direction of the Mississippi 
Company, in 1718, by M. de Boisbraint, a military officer, under command 
of Bienville. It stood on the east bank of the Mississippi, about eighteen 
miles below Kaskaskia, aitd was for some time the headquarters of the 
military commandants of the district of Illinois. 

In the Centennial Oration of Dr. Fowler, delivered at Philadelphia, 
by appointment of Gov. Beveridge, we find some interesting facts with 
regard to the State of Illinois, which we appropriate in this history : 

In 1682 Illinois became a possession of the French crown, a depend- 
ency of Canada, and a part of Louisiana. In 1765 the English flag was 
run up on old Fort Chartres, and Illinois was counted among the treas- 
ures of Great Britain. / 

In 1779 it was taken from the English by Col. George Rogers Clark. 
This man was resolute in nature, wise in council, prudent in policy, bold 
in action, and heroic in danger. Few men who have figured in the his- 
tory of America are more deserving than this colonel. Nothing short of 
first-class ability could have rescued Vincens and all Illinois from the 
English. And it is not possible to over-estimate the influence of this 
achievement upon the republic. In 1779 Illinois became a part of Vir- 
ginia. It was soon known as Illinois County. In 1784 Virginia ceded 
all this territory to the general government, to be cut into States, to be 
republican in form, with " the same right of sovereignty, freedom, and 
independence as the other States." 

In 1787 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legislation found 
in any merely human records. No man can study the secret history of 

THE "COMPACT OF 1787," 

and not feel that Providence was guiding with sleepless eye these unborn 
States. The ordinance that on July 13, 1787, finally became the incor- 
porating act, has a most marvelous history. Jefferson had vainly tried 
to secure a system of government for the northwestern territory. He 
was an emancipationist of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery 
from the territory Virginia had ceded to the general government ; but 
the South voted him down as often as it came up. In 1787, as late as 
July 10, an organizing act without the anti-slavery clause was pending. 
This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in 



118 HISTORY OF TPTE STATE OP ILLINOIS. 

session in New York City. On July 5, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of 
Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the northwestern terri- 
tory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe. 

The state of the public credit, the growing of Southern prejudice, 
the basis of his mission, his personal character, all combined to complete 
one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that 
once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the 
breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a graduate of Yale — received his 
A.M. from Harvard, and his D.D. from Yale. He had studied and taken 
degrees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He 
had thus America's best indorsement. He had published a scientific 
examination of the plants of New England. His name stood second only 
to that of Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly gentle- 
man of the old style, a man of commanding presence, and of inviting 
face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman 
in the North. He came representing a company that desired to purchase 
a tract of land now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony. 
It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on 
the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected enough to pur- 
chase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made 
Dr. Cutler their agent (lobbyist). On the 12th he represented a demand 
for 5,500,000 acres. This would reduce the national debt. Jefferson 
and Virginia were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia 
had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the public credit, 
and this was a good opportunity to do something. 

Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was 
crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the northwestern 
region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspira- 
tion, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The English minister invited liim to 
dine with some of the Southern gentlemen. He was the center of interest. 

The entire South rallied round him. Massachusetts could not vote 
against him, because many of the constituents of her members were 
interested personally in the western speculation. Thus Cutler, making 
friends with the South, and, doubtless, using all the arts of the lobb}-, 
was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convictions, he 
dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise states- 
manship that has ever adorned any human law book. He borrowed from 
Jefferson the term " Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal 
constitution, rose into the most sacred character. He then followed very 
closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before. 
Its most marked points were : 

1. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever. 

2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary, 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 119 

and every section numbered 16 in each township ; that is, one-thirty-sixth 
of all the land, for public schools. 

3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the 
enactment of any law that should nullify pre-existing contracts. 

Be it forever remembered that this compact declared that " Religion, 
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the 
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always 
be encouraged." 

Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield. 
Griving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing — that unless 
they could make the land desirable they did not want it — he took his 
horse and buggy, and started for the constitutional convention in Phila- 
delphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was 
unanimously adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one 
man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voting against it. But as the States voted 
as States, Yates lost his vote, and the compact was put beyond repeal. 

Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis- 
consin — a vast empire, the heart of the great valley — were consecrated 
to freedom, intelligence, and honesty. Thus the great heart of the nation 
was prepared for a year and a day and an hour. In the light of these eighty- 
nine years I affirm that this act was the salvation of the republic and the 
destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder, and 
tried to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee 
of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance 
was a compact, and opposed repeal. Thus it stood a rock, in the way 
of the on-rushing sea of slavery. 

With all this timely aid it was, after all, a most desperate and pro- 
tracted struggle to keep the soil of Illinois sacred to freedom. It was 
the natural battle-field for the irrepressible conflict. In the southern end 
of the State slavery preceded the compact. It existed among the old 
French settlers, and was hard to eradicate. The southern part of the 
State was settled from the slave States, and this population brought their 
laws, customs, and institutions with them. A stream of population from 
the North poured into the northern part of the State. These sections 
misunderstood and hated each other perfectly. The Southerners regarded 
the Yankees as a skinning, tricky, penurious race of peddlers, filling the 
country with tinware, brass clocks, and wooden nutmegs. The North- 
erner thought of the Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy creature, burrowing 
in a hut, and rioting in whisky, dirt and ignorance. These causes aided 
in making the struggle long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy 
with slavery that, in spite of the ordinance of 1787, and in spite of the 
deed of cession, it was determined to allow the old French settlers to 
retain their slaves. Planters from the slave States mi^ht bring their 



120 HISTORY OF TETE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

slaves, if they would give them a chance to choose freedom or years 
of service and bondage for their children till they should become 
thirty years of age. If they chose freedom the}^ must leave the State 
in sixt}^ days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for offenses 
for which white men are fined. Each lash paid forty cents of the fine. A 
negro ten miles from home without a pass was whipped. These famous 
laws were imported from the slave States just as they imported laws foi" 
the inspection of flax and wool when there was neither in the State. 

These Black Laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was made 
to protect slavery in the State Constitution of 1817. It barely failed. 
It was renewed in 1825, when a convention was asked to make a new 
constitution. After a hard fight the convention was defeated. But 
slaves did not disappear from the census of the State until 1850. There 
were mobs and murders in the interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added 
to the list of mart3a's — a sort of first-fruits of that long life of immortal 
heroes who saw freedom as the one supreme desire of their souls, and 
were so enamored of her that they preferred to die rather than survive her. 

The population of 12,282 that occupied the territory in A.D. 1800, 
increased to 45,000 in A.D. 1818, when the State Constitution was 
adopted, and Illinois took her place in the Union, with a star on the flag 
and two votes in the Senate. 

Shadrach Bond was the first Governor, and in his first message he 
recommended the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 

The simple economy in those daj's is seen in the fact that the entire 
bill for stationery for the first Legislature was only il3.50. Yet this 
simple body actually enacted a very superior code. 

There was no money in the territory before the war of 1812. Deer 
skins and coon skins were the circulating medium. In 1821, the Legis- 
lature ordained a State Bank on the credit of the State. It issued notes 
in the likeness of bank bills. These notes were made a legal tender for 
every thing, and the bank was ordered to loan to the people 8100 on per- 
sonal security, and more on mortgages. They actunlly passed a resolu- 
tion requesting the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to 
receive these notes for land. The old French Lieutenant Governor, Col. 

Menard, put the resolution as folloAvs: '' Gentlemen of the Senate : It is 
moved and seconded dat de notes of dis hank be made land-office money. 
All in favor of dat motion say aye ; all against it say no. It is decided 
in de affirmative. Now, gentlemen, I bet you one hundred dollar he 
never be land-office money ! " Hard sense, like hard money, is always 
above par. 

This old Frenchman presents a fine figure up against the dark l)ack- 
ground of most of his nation. They made no progress. They clung to 
their earliest and simplest implements. Tliey never wore hats or caps* 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF TLLINOIS. 121 

They pulled their blankets over their heads in the winter like the Indians, 
with whom they freely intermingled. 

Demagogism had an early development. One John Grammar (only 
in name), elected to the Territorial and State Legislatures of 1816 and 
1836, invented the policy of opposing every new thing, saying, " If it 
succeeds, no one will ask who voted against it. If it proves a failure, he 
could quote its record." In sharp contrast with Grammar was the char- 
acter of D. P. Cook, after whom the county containing Chicago was 
named. Such was his transparent integrity and remarkable ability that 
his will was almost the law of the State. In Congress, a young man, 
and from a poor State, he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee. He was pre-eminent for standing by his committee, regard- 
less of consequences. It was his integrity that elected John Quincy 
Adams to the Presidency. There were four candidates in 1824, Jackson, 
Clay, Crawford, and John Quincy Adams. There being no choice by the 
people, the election was thrown into the House. It was so balanced that 
it turned on his vote, and that he cast for Adams, electing him ; then 
went home to face the wrath of the Jackson party in Illinois. It cost 
him all but character and greatness. It is a suggestive comment on the 
times, that there was no legal interest till 1830. It often reached 150 
per cent., usually 50 per cent. Then it was reduced to 12, and now to 
10 per cent. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE PRAIRIE STATE. 

In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about 
150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to 
North Carolina. It embraces wide variety of climate. It is tempered 
on the north by the great inland, saltless, tideless sea, which keeps the 
thermometer from either extreme. Being a table land, from 600 to 1,600 
feet above the level of the sea, one is prepared to find on the health 
maps, prepared by the general government, an almost clean and perfect 
record. In freedom from fever and malarial diseases and consumptions, 
the three deadly enemies of the American Saxon, Illinois, as a State, 
stands without a superior. She furnishes one of the essential conditions 
of a great people — sound bodies. I suspect that this fact lies back of 
that old Delaware word, lUini, superior men. 

The great battles of history that have been determinative of dynas- 
ties and destinies have been strategical battles, chiefly the question of 
position. Thermopylae has been the war-cry of freemen for twenty-four 
centuries. It only tells how much there may be in position. All this 
advantage belongs to Illinois. It is in the heart of the greatest valley in 
the world, the vast region between the mountains — a valley that could 



122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

feed mankind for one thousand years. It is well on toward the center of 
tlie continent. It is in the great temperate belt, in which have been 
found nearly all the aggressive civilizations of history. It has sixty-five 
miles of frontage on the head of the lake. With the Mississippi forming 
the western and southern boundary, with the Ohio running along the 
southeastern line, witli the Illinois River and Canal dividing the State 
diagonally from the lake to the Lower Mississippi, and with the Rock and 
Wabash Rivers furnishing altogether 2,000 miles of water-front, con- 
necting with, and running through, in all about 12,000 miles of navi- 
gable Avater. 

But this is not all. These waters are made most available by the 
fact that the lake and the State lie on the ridge running into the great 
valley from the east. Within cannon-shot of the lake the water runs 
away from the lake to the Gulf. The lake now empties at both ends, 
one into the Atlantic and one into the Gulf of Mexico. Tlie lake thus 
seems to hang over the land. This makes the dockage most serviceable ; 
there are no steep banks to damage it. Both lake and river are made 
for use. 

The climate varies from Portland to Richmond ; it favors every pro- 
duct of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen 
exceptions. It produces every great nutriment of the world except ban- 
anas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive 
spot known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full 
of minerals ; with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel ; 
with perfect natural drainage, and abundant springs and streams and 
navigable rivers ; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits 
of the South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, cop- 
per, lead, and zinc ; containing and controlling the great grain, cattle, 
pork, and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has 
the advantage of position. 

This advantage has been supplemented by the character of the popu- 
lation. In the early days when Illinois was first admitted to the Union, 
her population were cliiefly from Kentucky and Virginia. But, in the 
conflict of ideas concerning slavery, a strong tide of emigration came in 
from the East, and soon changed this composition. In 1870 her non- 
native population were from colder soils. New York furnished 133,290 ; 
Ohio gave 162,623; Pennsylvania sent on 98,352; the entire South gave 
us only 206,734. In all her cities, and in all her German and Scandina- 
vian and other foreign colonies, Illinois has only about one-fifth of her 
people of foreign birth. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLtNOIS. 123 



PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT. 

One of the greatest elements in the early development of Illinois is 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the Illinois and Mississippi 
Rivers with the lakes. It was of the utmost importance to the State. 
It was recommended by Gov. Bond, the first governor, in his first message. 
In 1821, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 for surveying the route. 
Two bright young engineers surveyed it, and estimated the cost at 
1600,000 or $700,000. It finally cost $8,000,000. In 1825, a law was 
passed to incorporate the Canal Company, but no stock was sold. In 
1826, upon the solicitation of Cook, Congress gave 800,000 acres of land 
on the line of the work. In 1828, another law — commissioners appointed, 
and work commenced with new survey and new estimates. In 1834-35, 
George Farquhar made an able report on the whole matter. This was, 
doubtless, the ablest report ever made to a western legislature, and it 
became the model for subsequent reports and action. From this the 
work went on till it was finished in 1848. It cost the State a large 
amount of money ; but it gave to the industries of the State an impetus 
that pushed it up into the first rank of greatness. It was not built as a 
speculation any more than a doctor is employed on a speculation. But 
it has paid into the Treasary of the State an average annual net sum of 
over $111,000. 

Pending the construction of the canal, the land and town-lot fever 
broke out in the State, in 1834—35. It took on the malignant type in 
Chicago, lifting the town up into a city. The disease spread over the 
entire State and adjoining States. It was epidemic. It cut up men's 
farms without regard to locality, aiid ^ut up the purses of the purchasers 
without regard to consequences. It is estimated that building lots enough 
were sold in Indiana alone to accommodate every citizen then in the 
United States. 

Towns and cities were exported to the Eastern market by the ship- 
load. There was no lack of buyers. Ever/ up-ship came freighted with 
speculators and their money. 

This distemper seized upon the Legislature in 1836-37, and left not 
one to tell the tale. They enacted a system of internal improvement 
without a parallel in the grandeur of its conception. They ordered the 
construction of 1,300 miles of railroad, crossing the State in all direc- 
tions. This was surpassed by the river and canal improvements. 
There were a few counties not touched by either railroad or river or 
canal, and those were to be comforted and compensated by the free dis- 
tribution of $200,000 among them. To inflate this balloon beyond cre- 
dence it was ordered that work should be commenced on both ejids of 



124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

each of these railroads and rivers, and at each river-crossing, all at the 
same time. The appropriations for these vast improvements were over 
$12,000,000. and commissioners were appointed to borrow the money on 
the credit of the State. Remember that all this was in the earh' days of 
railroading, when railroads were luxuries ; that the State had whole 
counties with scarcely a cabin ; and that the population of the State was 
less than 400,000, and you can form some idea of the vigor with which 
these brave men undertook the work of making: a oreat State. In the 
light of history I am compelled to say that this was only a premature 
throb of the power that actually slumbered in the soil of the State. It 
was Hercules in the cradle. 

At this juncture the State Bank loaned its funds largely to Godfrey 
Gilman & Co., and to other leading houses, for the purpose of drawing 
trade from St. Louis to Alton. Soon they failed, and took down the 
bank with them. 

In 1840, all hope seemed gone. A population of 480,000 were loaded 
with a debt of $14,000,000. It had only six small cities, really only 
towns, namely : Chicago, Alton, Springfield, Quincy, Galena, Nauvoo. 
This debt was to be cared for when there was not a dollar in the treas- 
ury, and when the State had borrowed itself out of all credit, and when 
there was not good money enough in the hands of all the people to pay 
the interest of the debt for a single year. Yet, in the presence of all 
these difficulties, the young State steadily refused to repudiate. Gov. 
Ford took hold of the problem and solved it, bringing the State through 
in triumph. 

Having touched lightly upon some of the more distinctive points in 
the history of the development of Illinois, let us next briefly consider the 

MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE. 

It is a garden four hundred miles long and one hundred and fifty 
miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black sandy loam, from six inches to 
sixty feet thick. On the American bottoms it has been cultivated for 
one hundred and fifty years without renewal. About the old French 
towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help. 
It produces nearly everything green in the temperate and tropical zones. 
She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow. 
Her products from 25,000,000 of acres are incalculable. Her mineral 
wealth is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal, iron, 
lead, copper, zinc, many varieties of building stone, fire clay, cuma clay, 
common brick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint — every thing 
needed for a high civilization. Left to herself, she has the elements of 
all greatness. The single item of coal is too vast for an appreciative 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 125 

handling in figures. We can handle it in general terms like algebraical 
signs, but long before we get up into the millions and billions the human 
mind drops down from comprehension to mere symbolic apprehension. 

When I tell you that nearly four-fifths of the entire State is under- 
laid with a deposit of coal more than forty feet thick on the average (now 
estimated, by recent surveys, at seventy feet thick), you can get some 
idea of its amount, as you do of the amount of the national debt. There 
it is ! 41,000 square miles — one vast mine into which you could put 
any of the States ; in which you could bury scores of European and 
ancient empires, and have room enough all round to work without know- 
ing that they had been sepulchered there. 

Put this vast coal-bed down by the other great coal deposits of the 
world, and its importance becomes manifest. Great Britain has 12,000 
square miles of coal; Spain, 3,000; France, 1,719 ; Belgium, 578 ; Illinois 
about twice as many square miles as all combined. Virginia has 20,000 
square miles ; Pennsylvania, 16,000 ; Ohio, 12,000. Illinois has 41,000 
square miles. One-seventh of all the known coal on this continent is in 
Illinois. 

Could we sell the coal in this sins^le State for one-seventh of one cent 
a ton it would pay the national debt. Converted into power, even with 
the wastage in our common engines, it would do more work than could 
be done by the entire race, beginning at Adam's wedding and working 
ten hours a day through all the centuries till the present time, and right 
on into the future at the same rate for the next 600,000 years. 

Great Britain uses enough mechanical power to-day to give to each 
man, woman, and child in the kingdom the help and service of nineteen 
untiring servants. No wonder she has leisure and luxuries. No wonder 
the home of the common artisan has in it more luxuries than could be 
found in the palace of good old King Arthur. Think, if you can conceive 
of it, of the vast armv of servants that slumber in the soil of Illinois, 
impatiently awaiting the call of Genius to come forth to minister to our 
comfort. 

At the present rate of consumption England's coal supply will be 
exhausted in 250 years. When this is gone she must transfer her dominion 
either to the Indies, or to British America, which I would not resist ; or 
to some other people, which I would regret as a loss to civilization. 

COAL IS KING. 

At the same rate of consumption (which far exceeds our own) the 
deposit of coal in Illinois will last 120,000 years. And her kingdom shall 
be an everlasting kingdom. 

Let us turn now from this reserve power to the annual products of 



126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

the State. We shall not be humiliated in this field. Here we strike the 
secret of our national credit. Nature ^jrovides a market in the constant 
appetite of the race. Men must eat, and if we can furnish the provisions 
we can command the treasure. All that a man hath will he give for his 
Hfe. 

According to the last census Illinois produced 30,000,000 of bushels 
of wheat. That is more wheat than was raised by any other State in the 
Union. She raised In 1875, 130,000,000 of bushels of corn — twice as 
much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United 
States. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearly one-tenth of all the 
hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that 
the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The 
hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana. Go to Charleston, S. C, 
and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity, 
as we regard Chinese gods or the cryolite of Greenland ; drink your 
coffee and condensed milk ; and walk back from the coast for many a 
league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmos- 
phere of the mountains, without seeing a waving meadow or a grazing 
herd ; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State, 
where the grass often grows sixteen feet high. 

The value of her farm implements is $211,000,000, and the value of 
her live stock is onl}' second to the great State of New York. in 1875 
she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that 
were packed in the United States. This is no insignificant item. Pork 
is a growing demand of the old world. Since the laborers of Europe 
have gotten a taste of our bacon, and we have learned how to pack it dry 
in boxes, like dry goods, the world has become the market. 

The hog is on the march into the future. His nose is ordained to 
uncover the secrets of dominion, and his feet shall be guided by the star 
of empire. 

Illinois marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals — more 
than any other State, and a seventh of all the States. 

Be patient with me, and pardon my pride, and I will give j'ou a list 
of some of the things in which Illinois excels all other States. 

Depth and richness of soil ; per cent, of good ground ; acres of 
improved land ; large farms — some farms contain from 40,000 to 60,000 
acres of cultivated land, 40,000 acres of corn on a single farm ; number of 
farmers ; amount of wheat, corn, oats and honey produced ; value of ani- 
mals for slaughter; number of hogs; amount of pork; number of horses 
— three times as many as Kentucky, the horse State. 

Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of 
postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of 
lumber sold in her markets. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 127 

Illinois is only second in many important matters. This sample list 
comprises a few of the more important : Permanent school fund (good 
for a young state) ; total income for educational purposes ; number of pub- 
lishers of books, maps, papers, etc.; value of farm products and imple- 
ments, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined. 

The shipping of Illinois is only second to New York. Out of one 
port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sends forth 
a vessel every ten minutes. This does not include canal boats, which go 
one every five minutes. No wonder she is only second in number of 
bankers and brokers or in physicians and surgeons. 

She is third in colleges, teachers and schools ; cattle, lead, hay, 
flax, sorghum and beeswax. 

She is fourth in population, in children enrolled in public schools, in 
law schools, in butter, potatoes and carriages. 

She is fifth in value of real and personal property, in theological 
seminaries and colleges exclusively for women, in milk sold, and in boots 
and shoes manufactured, and in book-binding. 

She is only seventh in the production of wood, while she is the 
twelfth in area. Surely that is well done for the Prairie State. She now 
has much more wood and growing timber than she had thirty years ago. 

A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She manufactures 
1205,000,000 worth of goods, which places her well up toward New York 
and Pennsylvania. The number of her manufa:cturing establishments 
increased from 1860 to 1870, 300 per cent.; capital employed increased 350 
per cent., and the amount of product hicreased 400 per cent. She issued 
5,500,000 copies of commercial and financial newspapers — only second to 
New York. She has 6,759 miles of railroad, thus leading all other States, 
worth $636,458,000, using 3,245 engines, and 67,712 cars, making a train 
long enough to cover one-tenth of the entire roads of the State. Her 
stations are only five miles apart. She carried last year 15,795,000 passen- 
gers, an average of 36^ miles, or equal to taking her entire population twice 
across the State. More than two-thirds of her land is within five miles of 
a railroad, and less than two per cent, is more than fifteen miles away. 

The State has a large financial interest in the Illinois Central railroad. 
The road was incorporated in 1850, and the State gave each alternate sec- 
tion for six miles on each side, and doubled the price of the remaining 
land, so keeping herself good. The road received 2,595,000 acres of land, 
and pays to the State one-seventh of the gross receipts. The State 
receives this year $350,000, and has received in all about 17,000,000. It 
is practically the people's road, and it has a most able and gentlemanly 
management. Add to this the annual receipts from the canal, #111,000, 
and a large per cent, of the State tax is provided for. 



128 fflSTORY OF THE STATE OP ILLTNOiS. 



THE RELIGION AND MORALS 

of the State keep step with her productions and growth. She was born 
of the missionary spirit. It was a minister who secured for her the ordi- 
nance of 1787, by which she has been saved from slavery, ignorance, and 
dishonesty. Rev. Mr. Wile\', pastor of a Scotch congregation in Randolph 
County, petitioned the Constitutional Convention of 1818 to recognize 
Jesus Christ as king, and the Scriptures as the only necessary guide and 
book of law. The convention did not act in the case, and the old Cove- 
nanters refused to accept citizenship. They never voted until 1824, when 
the slavery question was submitted to the people; then they all voted 
against it and cast the determining votes. Conscience has predominated 
whenever a great moral question has been submitted to the people. 

But little mob violence has ever been felt in the State. In 1817 
regulators disposed of a band of horse-thieves that infested the territory. 
The Mormon indignities finally awoke the same spirit. Alton was also 
the scene of a pro-slavery mob, in which Lovejoy was added to the list of 
martyrs. The moral sense of the people makes the law supreme, and gives 
to the State unruffled peace. 

With 822,300,000 in church property, and 4,298 church organizations, 
the State has that divine police, the sleepless patrol of moral ideas, that 
alone is able to secure perfect safety. Conscience takes the knife from 
the assassin's hand and the bludgeon from the grasp of the highwa\Tnan. 
We sleep in safety, not because we are behind bolts and bars — these only 
fence against the innocent ; not because a lone officer drowses on a distant 
corner of a street; not because a sheriff may call his posse from a remote 
part of the county : but because conscience guards the very portals of the 
air and stirs in the deepest recesses of the public mind. This spirit issues 
within the State 9,500,000 copies of religious papers annually, and receives 
still more from without. Thus the crime of the State is only one-fourth 
that of New York and one-half that of Pennsvlvania. 

Illinois never had but one duel between her own citizens. In Belle- 
ville, in 1820, Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett arranged to vindi- 
cate injured honor. The seconds agreed to make it a sham, and make 
them shoot blanks. Stewart was in the secret. Bennett mistrusted some- 
thing, and, unobserved, slipped a bullet into his gun and killed Stewart. 
He then fled the State. After two years he was caught, tried, convicted, 
and. in spite of friends and political aid, was hung. This fixed the code 
of honor on a Christian basis, and terminated its use in Illinois. 

The early preachers were ignorant men, who were accounted eloquent 
according to the strength of their voices. But tliey set the style for all 
public speakers. Lawyers and political speakers followed this rule. Gov. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 129 

Ford says: "Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable 
benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality. To them 
are we indebted for the first Christian character of the Protestant portion 
of the people." 

In education Illinois surpasses her material resources. The ordinance 
of 1787 consecrated one thirty-sixth of her soil to common schools, and 
the law of 1818, the first law that went upon her statutes, gave three per 
cent, of all the rest to 

EDUCATION. 

The old compact secures this interest forever, and by its yoking 
moralit}^ and intelligence it precludes the legal interference with the Bible 
in the public schools. With such a start it is natural that we should have 
11,050 schools, and that our illiteracy should be less than New York or 
Pennsylvania, and only about one-half of Massachusetts. We are not to 
blame for not having more than one-half as many idiots as the great 
States. These public schools soon made colleges inevitable. The first 
college, still flourishing, was started in Lebanon in 1828, by the M. E. 
church, and named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois College, at Jackson- 
ville, supported by the Presbyterians, followed in 1830. In 1832 the Bap- 
tists built Shurtleff College, at Alton. Then the Presbyterians built Knox 
College, at Galesburg, in 1838, and the Episcopalians built Jubilee College, 
at Peoria, in 1847. After these early years colleges have rained down. 
A settler could hardly encamp on the prairie but a college would spring 
up by his wagon. The State now has one very well endowed and equipped 
university, namely, the Northwestern University, at Evanston, with six 
colleges, ninety instructors, over 1,000 students, and $1,500,000 endow- 
ment. 

Rev. J. M. Peck was the first educated Protestant minister in tne 
State. He settled at Rock Spring, in St. Clair County, 1820, and left his 
impress on the State. Before 1837 only party papers were published, but 
Mr. Peck published a Gazetteer of Illinois. Soon after John Russell, of 
Bluffdale, published essays and tales showing genius. Judge James Hall 
published The Illinois Monthly Magazine with great ability, and an annual 
called The Western Souvenir^ which gave him an enviable fame all over the 
United States. From these beginnings Illinois has gone on till she has 
more volumes in public libaaries even than Massachusetts, and of the 
44,500,000 volumes in all the public libraries of the United States, she 
has one-thirteenth. In newspapers she stands fourth. Her increase is 
marvelous. In 1850 she issued 5,000,000 copies ; in 1860, 27,590,000 ; in 
1870, 113,140,000. In 1860 she had eighteen colleges and seminaries ; in 
1870 she had eighty. That is a grand advance for the war decade. 

This brings us to a record unsurpassed in the history of any age, 



130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



THE WAR RECORD OF ILLINOIS. 

I hardly know where to begin, or how to advance, or what to say. I 
can at best give you only a broken synopsis of her deeds, and you must 
put them in the order of glory for yourself. Her sons have always been 
foremost on fields of danger. In 1832-33, at the call of Gov. Reynolds, 
her sons drove Blackhawk over the Mississippi. 

When the Mexican war came, in May, 1846, 8,370 men offered them- 
selves when only 3,720 could be accepted. The fields of Buena Vista and 
Vera Cruz, and the storming of Cerro Gordo, will carry the glory of Illinois 
soldiers along after the infamy of the cause they served has been forgotten. 
But it was reserved till our day for her sons to find a field and cause and 
foemen that could fitly illustrate their spirit and heroism. Illinois put 
into her own regiments for the United States government 256,000 men, 
and into the army through other States enough to swell the number to 
290,000. This far exceeds all the soldiers of' the federal government in 
all the war of the revolution. Her total years of service were over 600,000. 
She enrolled men from eighteen to forty -five years of age when the law 
of Congress in 1864 — the test time — only asked for those from twenty to 
forty-five. Her enrollment was otherwise excessive. Her people wanted 
to go, and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment. Thus the 
basis of fixing the quota was too great, and then the quota itself, at least 
in the trying time, was far above any other State. 

Thus the demand on some counties, as Monroe, for example, took every 
able-bodied man in the county, and then did not have enough to fill the 
quota. Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for ninety or one hundred days, 
for whom no credit was asked. When Mr. Lincoln's attention was called 
to the inequality of the quota compared with other States, he replied, 
" The country needs the sacrifice. We must put the whip on the free 
horse." In spite of all these disadvantages Illinois gave to the country 
73,000 years of service above all calls. With one-thirteenth of the popu- 
lation of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-tenth of all the soldiers, 
and in the peril of the closing calls, when patriots were few and weary, 
she then sent one-eighth of all that were called for by her loved and hon- 
ored son in the white house. Her mothers and daughters went into the 
fields to raise the grain and keep the children together, while the fathers 
and older sons went to the harvest fields of the world. I knew a father 
• and four sons who agreed that one of them must stay at home ; and they 
pulled straws from a stack to see who might go. The father was left. 
The next day he came into the camp, saying : " Mother says she can get 
the crops in, and I am going, too." I know large Methodist churches 
from which every male member went to the army. Do you want to know 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 131 

what these heroes from Illinois did in the field ? Ask any soldier with a 
good record of his own, who is thus able to judge, and he will tell you 
that the Illinois men went in to win. It is common history that the greater 
victories were won in the West. When everything else looked dark Illi- 
nois was gaining victories all down the river, and dividing the confederacy. 
Sherman took with him on his great march forty-five regiments of Illinois 
infantry, three companies of artillery, and one company of cavalry. He 
could not avoid 

GOING TO THE SEA. 

If he had •been killed, I doubt not the men would have gone right on. 
Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with, " It is impossible ; 
there is a mighty sight of fight in 100,000 Western men." Illinois soldiers 
brought home 300 battle-flags. The first United States flag that floated 
over Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and nurses to 
every field and hospital, to care for her sick and wounded sons. She said, 
" These suffering ones are my sons, and I will care for them." 

When individuals had given all, then cities and towns came forward 
with their credit to the extent of many millions, to aid these men and 
their families. 

Illinois gave the country the great general of the war — Ulysses S. 
Grant — since honored with two terms of the Presidency of the United 
States. 

One other name from Illinois comes up in all minds, embalmed in all 
hearts, that must have the supreme place in this story of our glory and 
of our nation's honor ; that name is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois. 

The analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character is difficult on account of its 
symmetry. 

In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising honesty. 
And well we may, for this saved us. Thousands throughout the length 
and breadth of our country who knew him only as " Honest Old Abe," 
voted for him on that account ; and wisely did they choose, for no other 
man could have carried us through the fearful night of the war. When 
his plans were too vast for our comprehension, and his faith in the cause 
too sublime for our participation ; when it was all night about us, and all 
dread before us, and all sad and desolate behind us ; when not one ray 
shone upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant at the 
South, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ; when the loyal men here 
seemed almost in the minority ; when the stovitest heart quailed, the bravest 
cheek paled ; when generals were defeating each other for place, and 
contractors were leeching out the very heart's blood of the prostrate 
republic : when every thing else had failed us, we looked at this calm, 
patient man standing like a rock in the storm, and said : " Mr. Lincoln 



132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

is honest, and we can trust him still." Holding to this single point with 
the energy of faith and despair we held together, and, under God, he 
brought us through to victory. 

His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. "With such 
certainty did Mr. Lincoln follow causes to their ultimate effects, that his 
foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic. 

He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory shall shed a 
glory upon this age that shall fill the eyes of men as they look into his- 
tory-. Other men have excelled him in some point, but, taken at all 
points, all in all, he stands head and shoulders above every other man of 
6,000 years. An administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of 
unparalleled civil war. A statesman, he justified his measures by their 
success. A philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and salvation to 
another. A moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the 
foot of tl\e Cross, and became a Christian. A mediator, he exercised mercy 
under the most absolute abeyance to law. A leader, he was no partisan. 
A commander, he was untainted with blood. A ruler in desperate times, 
he was unsullied with crime. A man, he has left no word of passion, no 
thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no purpose of 
selfish ambition. Thus perfected, without a model, and without a peer, 
he was dropped into these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that 
is good and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all coming 
time the representative of the divine idea of free government. 

It is not too much to say that away down in the future, when the 
republic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time ; when the great 
war itself shall have faded out in the distance like a mist on the horizon ; 
when the Anglo-Saxon language shall be spoken only by the tongue of 
the stranger ; then the generations looking this way shall see the great 
president as the supreme figure in this vortex of historv 

CHICAGO. 

It is impossible in our brief space to give more than a meager sketch 
of such a city as Chicago, which is in itself the greatest marvel of the 
Prairie State. This mysterious, majestic, mighty city, born first of water, 
and next of fire ; sown in weakness, and raised in power ; planted among 
the willows of the marsh, and crowned with the glory of the mountains ; 
sleeping on the Ijosom of the prairie, and rocked on the bosom of the sea , 
the youngest city of the world, and still the eye of the prairie, as Damas- 
cus, the oldest city of the world, is the eye of the desert. AVith a com- 
merce far exceeding that of Corinth on her isthmus, in the highway to 
the East ; with the defenses of a continent piled around her by the thou- 
sand miles, making her far safer than Rome on the banks of the Tiber ; 



HISTORY OP THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



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134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

with schools eclipsing Alexandria and Athens : with liberties more con- 
spicuous than those of the old republics ; with a heroism equal to the first 
C-arthage, and with a sanctity scarcely second to that of Jerusalem — set 
your thoughts on all this, lifted into the eyes of all men by the miracle of 
its growth, illuminated by tjie flame of its fall, and transfigured by the 
divinity of its resurrection, and you will feel, as I do, the utter impossi- 
bility of compassing this subject as it deserves. Some impression of her 
importance is received from the shock her burning gave to the civilized 
world. 

When the doubt of her calamity was removed, and the horrid fact 
was accepted, there went a shudder over all cities, and a quiver over all 
lands. There was scarcely a town in the civilized world that did not 
shake on the brink of this opening chasm. The flames of our homes red- 
dened all skies. The city was set upon a hill, and could not be hid. All 
eyes were turned upon it. To have struggled and suffered amid the 
scenes of its fall is as distinguishing as to have fought at Thermopylae, or 
Salamis, or Hastings, or Waterloo, or Bunker Hill. 

Its calamity amazed the world, because it was felt to be the common 
property of mankind. 

The early history of the city is full of interest, just as the early his- 
tory of such a man as Washington or Lincoln becomes public property, 
and is cherished by every patriot. 

Starting with 560 acres in 1833, it embraced and occupied 23,000 
acres in 1869, and, having now a population of more than 500,000, it com- 
mands general attention. 

The first settler — Jean Baptiste Pointe au Sable, a mulatto from the 
West Indies — came and began trade with the Indians in 1796. John 
Kinzie became his successor in 1804, in which year Fort Dearborn was 
erected. 

A mere trading-post was kept here from that time till about the time 
of the Blackhawk war, in 1832. It was not the city. It was merely a 
cock crowing at midnight. The morning was not yet. In 1833 the set- 
tlement about the fort was incorporated as a town. The voters were ' 
divided on the propriety of such corporation, twelve voting for it and one 
against it. Four years later it was incorporated as a city, and embraced 
560 acres. 

The produce handled in this city is an indication of its power. Grain 
and flour were imported from the East till as late as 1837. The first 
exportation by way of experiment was in 1839. Exports exceeded imports 
first in 1842. The Board of Trade was organized in 1848, but it was so 
weak that it needed nursing till 1855. Grain was purchased by the 
wagon-load in the street. 

I remember sitting with my father on a load of wheat, in the long 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 135 

line of wagons along Lake street, while the buyers came and untied the 
bags, and examined the grain, and made their bids. That manner of 
business had to cease with the day of small things. Now our elevators 
will hold 15,000,000 bushels of grain. The cash value of the produce 
handled in a year is $215,000,000, and the produce weighs 7,000,000 
tons or 700,000 car loads. This handles thirteen and a half ton each 
minute, all the year round. One tenth of all the wheat in the United 
States is handled in Chicago. Even as long ago as 1853 the receipts of 
grain in Chicago exceeded those of the goodly city of St. Louis, and in 
1854 the exports of grain from Chicago exceeded those of New York and 
doubled those of St. Petersburg, Archangel, or Odessa, the largest grain 
markets in Europe. 

The manufacturing interests of the city are not contemptible. In 
1873 manufactories employed 45,000 operatives ; in 1876, 60,000. The 
manufactured product in 1875 was worth 1177,000,000. 

No estimate of the size and power of Chicago would be adequate 
that did not put large emphasis on the railroads. Before they came 
thundering along our streets canals were the hope of our country. But 
who ever thinks now of traveling by canal packets ? In June, 1852, 
there were only forty miles of railroad connected with the city. The 
old Galena division of the Northwestern ran out to Elgin. But now, 
who can count the trains and measure the roads that seek a terminus or 
conneption in this city ? The lake stretches away to the north, gathering 
in to this center all the harvests that might otherwise pass to the north 
of us. If you will take a map and look at the adjustment of railroads, 
you will see, first, that Chicago is the great railroad center of the world, 
as New York is the commercial city of this continent ; and, second, that 
the railroad lines form the iron spokes of a great wheel whose hub is 
this city. The lake furnishes the only break in the spokes, and this 
seems simply to have pushed a few spokes together on each shore. See 
the eighteen trunk lines, exclusive of eastern connections. 

Pass round the circle, and view their numbers and extent. There 
is the great Northwestern, with all its branches, one branch creeping 
along the lake shore, and so reaching to the north, into the Lake Superior 
regions, away to the right, and on to the Northern Pacific on the left, 
swinging around Green Bay for iron and copper and silver, twelve months 
in the year, and reaching out for the wealth of the great agricultural 
belt and isothermal line traversed by the Northern Pacific. Another 
branch, not so far north, feeling for the heart of the Badger State. 
Another pushing lower down the Mississippi — all these make many con- 
nections, and tapping all the vast wheat regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
Iowa, and all the regions this side of sunset. There is that elegant road, 
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, running out a goodly number of 



136 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 




OLD FOKT DEARBORN, 1830. 




PRESENT SITE OF LAKE STREET BRIDGE, CHICAGO, IX 1833. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 137 

branches, and reaping the great fields this side of the Missouri River. 
I can only mention the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, our Illinois Central, 
described elsewhere, and the Chicago & Rock Island. Further around 
we come to the lines connecting us with all the eastern cities. The 
Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & 
Chicago, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Cen- 
tral and Great Western, give us many highwaj^s to the seaboard. Thus we 
reach the Mississippi at five points, from St. Paul to Cairo and the Gulf 
itself by two routes. We also reach Cincinnati and Baltimore, and Pitts- 
burgh and Philadelphia, and New York. North and south run the water 
courses of the lakes and the rivers, broken just enough at this point to 
make a pass. Through this, from east to west, run the long lines that 
stretch from ocean to ocean. 

This is the neck of the glass, and the golden sands of commerce 
must pass into" our hands. Altogether we have more than 10,000 miles 
of railroad, directly tributary to this city, seeking to unload their wealth 
in our coffers. All these roads have come themselves by the infallible 
instinct of capital. Not a dollar was ever given by the city to secure 
one of them, and only a small per cent, of stock taken originally by her 
citizens, and that taken simply as an investment. Coming in the natural 
order of events, they will not be easily diverted. 

There is still another showing to all this. The connection between 
New York and San Francisco is by the middle route. This passes inevit- 
ably through Chicago. St. Louis wants the Southern Pacific or Kansas 
Pacific, and pushes it out through Denver, and so on up to Cheyenne. 
But before the road is fairly under way, the Chicago roads shove out to 
Kansas City, making even the Kansas Pacific a feeder, and actually leav- 
ing St. Louis out in the cold. It is not too much to expect that Dakota, 
Montana, and Washington Territory will find their great market in Chi- 
cago. 

But these are not all. Perhaps I had better notice here the ten or 
fifteen new roads that have just entered, or are just entering, our city. 
Their names are all that is necessary to give. Chicago & St. Paul, look- 
ing up the Red River country to the British possessions ; the Chicago, 
Atlantic & Pacific ; the Chicago, Decatur & State Line ; the Baltimore & 
Ohio ; the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes ; the Chicago & LaSalle Rail- 
road ; the Chicago, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati ; the Chicago and Canada 
Southern ; the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad. These, with their 
connections, and with the new connections of the old roads, already in 
process of erection, give to Chicago not less than 10,000 miles of new 
tributaries from the richest land on the continent. Thus there will be 
added to the reserve power, to the capital within reach of this city, not 
less than $1,000,000,000. 



138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

Add to all this tninsporting power the ships that sail one every nine 
minutes of the business hours of the season of navigation ; add, also, the 
canal boats that leave one every five minutes during the same time — and 
you will see something of the business of the city. 

THE COMMERCE OF THIS CITY 

has been leaping along to keep pace with the growth of the country 
around us. In 1852, our commerce reached the hopeful sum of 
820,000,000. In 1870 it reached 1400,000,000. In 1871 it was pushed 
up above $450,000,000. And in 1875 it touched nearly double that. 

One-half of our imported goods come directly to Chicago. Grain 
enough -is exported directly from our docks to the old world to employ a 
semi-weekly line of steamers of 3,000 tons capacity. This branch is 
not likely to be greatly developed. Even after the great Welland Canal 
is completed we shall have only fourteen feet of water. The great ocean 
vessels will continue to control the trade. 

The banking capital of Chicago is $24,431,000. Total exchange in 
1875, $659,000,000. Her wholesale business in 1875 was $294,000,000. 
The rate of taxes is less than in any other great city. 

The schools of Chicago are unsurpassed in America. Out of a popu- 
lation of 300,000 there were only 186 persons between the ages of six 
and twenty-one unable to read. This is the best known record. 

In 1831 the mail system was condensed into a half-breed, who went 
on foot to Niles, Mich., once in two weeks, and brought back what papers 
and news he could find. As late as 1846 there was often only one mail 
a week. A post-office was established in Chicago in 1833, and the post- 
master nailed up old boot-legs on one side of his shop to serve as boxes 
for the nabobs and literary men. 

It is an interesting fact in the growth of the young city that in the 
active life of the business men of that day the mail matter has grown to 
a daily average of over 6,500 pounds. It speaks equally well for the 
intelligence of the people and the commercial importance of the place, 
that the mail matter distributed to the territory immediately tributary to 
Chicago is seven times greater than that distributed to the territory 
immediately tributary to St. Louis. 

The improvements that have characterized the city are as startling 
as the city itself. In 1831, Mark Beaubien established a ferry over the 
river, and put himself under bonds to carry all the citizens free for the 
privilege of charging strangers. Now there are twenty-four large bridges 
and two tunnels. 

In 1833 the government expended $30,000 on the harbor. Then 
commenced that series of manoeuvers with the river that has made it one 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. l'6\i 

of the world's curiosities. It used to wind around in the lower end of 
the town, and make its way rippling oVer the sand into the lake at the 
foot of Madison street. They took it up and put it down where it now 
is. It was a narrow stream, so narrow that even moderately small crafts 
had to go up through the willows and cat's tails to the point near Lake 
street bridge, and back up one of the branches to get room enough in 
which to turn around. 

In 1844 the quagmires in the streets were first pontooned by plank 
roads, which acted in wet weather as public squirt-guns. Keeping you 
out of the mud, they compromised by squirting the mud over you. The 
wooden-block j)avements came to Chicago in 1857. In 1840 water was 
delivered by peddlers in carts or by hand. Then a twenty-five horse- 
power engine pushed it through hollow or bored logs along the streets 
till 1854, when it was introduced into the houses by new works. The 
first fire-engine was used in 1835, and the first steam fire-engine in 1859. 
Gas was utilized for lighting the city in 1850. The Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association was organized in 1858, and horse railroads carried them 
to their work in 1859. The museum was opened in 1863. The alarm 
telegraph adopted in 1864. The opera-house built in 1865. The city 
grew from 560 acres in 1833 to 23,000 in 1869. In 1834, the taxes 
amounted to $48.90, and the trustees of the town borrowed |60 more for 
opening and improving streets. In 1835, the legislature authorized a loan 
of $2,000, and the treasurer and street commissioners resigned rather than 
plunge the town into such a gulf. 

Now the city embraces 36 square miles of territory, and has 30 miles 
of water front, besides the outside harbor of refuge, of 400 acres, inclosed 
by a crib sea-wall. One-third of the city has been raised up an average 
of eight feet, giving good pitch to the 263 miles of sewerage. The water 
of the city is above all competition. It is received through two tunnels 
extending to a crib in the lake two miles from shore. The closest analy- 
sis fails to detect any impurities, and, received 35 feet below the surface, 
it is always clear and cold. The first tunnel is five feet two inches in 
diameter and two miles long, and can deliver 50,000,000 of gallons per 
day. The second tunnel is seven feet in diameter and six miles long, 
running four miles under the city, and can deliver 100,000,000 of gal- 
lons per day. This water is distributed through 410 miles of water- 
mains. 

The three grand engineering exploits of the city are : First, lifting 
the city up on jack-screws, whole squares at a time, without interrupting 
the business, thus giving us good drainage ; second, running the tunnels 
under the lake, giving us the best water in the world ; and third, the 
turning the current of the river in its own channel, delivering us from the 
old abominations, and making decency possible. They redound about 



140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

equally to the credit of the engineering, to the energy of the people, and 
to the health of the city. 

That which really constitutes the city, its indescribable spirit, its soul, 
the way it lights up in every feature in the hour of action, has not been 
touched. In meeting strangers, one is often surprised how some homely 
women marry so well. Their forms are bad, their gait uneven and awk- 
ward, their complexion is dull, their features are misshapen and mismatch- 
ed, and when we see them there is no beauty that we should desire them. 
But when once they are aroused on some subject, they put on new pro- 
portions. They light up into great power. The real person comes out 
from its unseemly ambush, and captures us at will. They have power. 
They have ability to cause things to come to pass. We no longer wonder 
why they are in such high demand. So it is with our city. 

There is no grand scenery except the two seas, one of water, the 
other of prairie. Nevertheless, there is a spirit about it, a push, a breadth, 
a power, that soon makes it a place never to be forsaken. One soon 
ceases to believe in impossibilities. Balaams are the only prophets that are 
disappointed. The bottom that has been on the point of falling out has 
been there so long that it has grown fast. It can not fall out. It has all 
the capital of the world itching to get inside the corporation. 

The two great laws that govern the growth and size of cities are, 
first, the amount of territory for which they are the distributing and 
receiving points ; second, the number of medium or moderate dealers that 
do this distributing. Monopolists build up themselves, not the cities. 
They neither eat, wear, nor live in proportion to their business. Both 
these laws help Chicago. 

The tide of trade is eastward — not up or down the map, but across 
the map. The lake runs up a wingdam for 500 miles to gather in the 
business. Commerce can not ferry up there for seven months in the year, 
and the facilities for seven months can do the work for twelve. Then the 
great region west of us is nearly all good, productive land. Dropping 
south into the trail of St. Louis, you fall into vast deserts and rocky dis- 
tricts, useful in holding the world together. St. Louis and Cincinnati, 
instead of rivaling and hurting Chicago, are her greatest sureties of 
dominion. They are far enough away to give sea-room, — farther off than 
Paris is from London, — and yet they are near enough to prevent the 
springing up of any other great city between them. 

St. Louis will be helped by the opening of the Mississippi, but also 
hurt. That will put New Orleans on her feet, and with a railroad running 
over into Texas and so West, she will tap the streams that now crawl up 
the Texas and Missouri road. The current is East, not North, and a sea- 
port at New Orleans can not permanently help St. Louis. 

Chicago is in the field almost alone, to handle the wealth of one- 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 141 

fourth of the territory of this great republic. This strip of seacoast 
divides its margins between Portland, Boston, New York, Philadelpliia, 
Baltimore and Savannah, or some other great port to be created for the 
South in the next decade. But Chicago has a dozen empires casting their 
treasures into her lap. On a bed of coal that can run all the machinery 
of the world for 500 centuries ; in a garden that can feed the race by the 
thousand years; at the head of the lakes that give her a temperature as a 
summer resort equaled by no great city in the land ; with a climate that 
insures the health of her citizens ; surrounded by all the great deposits 
of natural wealth in mines aud forests and herds, Chicago is the wonder 
of to-day, and will be the city of the future. 

MASSACRE AT FORT DEARBORN. 

During the war of 1812, Fort Dearborn became the theater of stirring 
events. The garrison consisted of fifty-four men under command of 
Captain Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant Helm (son-in-law of Mrs. 
Kinzie) and Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees was surgeon. The only resi- 
dents at the post at that time were the wives of Captain Heald and Lieu- 
tenant Helm, and a few of the soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and 
a few Canadian voyageurs, with their wives and cliildren. The soldiers 
and Mr. Kinzie were on most friendly terms with the Pottawattamies 
and Winnebagos, the principal tribes around them, but they could not 
win them from their attachment to the British. 

One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing on his violin and 
his children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing 
into the house, pale with terror, and exclaiming: "The Indians! the 
Indians!" "What? Where?" eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. "Up 
at Lee's, killing and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who, 
when the alarm was given, was attending Mrs. Barnes (just confined) 
living not far off. Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river and took 
refuge in the fort, to which place Mrs. Barnes and her infant not a day 
old were safely conveyed. The rest of the inhabitants took shelter in the 
fort. This alarm was caused by a scalping party of Winnebagos, who 
hovered about the fort several days, when they disappeared, and for several 
weeks the inhabitants were undisturbed. 

On the 7th of August, 1812, General Hull, at Detroit, sent orders to 
Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and to distribute all the United 
States property to the Indians in the neighborhood — a most insane order. 
The Pottawattamie chief, who brought the dispatch, had more wisdom 
than the commanding general. He advised Captain Heald not to make 
the distribution. Said he : " Leave the fort and stores as they are, and 
let the Indians make distribution for themselves ; and while they are 
engaged in the business, the white people may escape to Fort Wayne." 



M' 







(4 

p 






O 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 143 

Captain Heald held a council with the Indians on the afternoon ot 
the 12th, in which his officers refused to join, for they had been informed 
that treachery was designed — that the Indians intended to murder the 
white people in the council, and then destroy those in the fort. Captain 
Heald, however, took the precaution to open a port-hole displaying a 
cannon pointing directly upon the council, and by that means saved 
his life. 

Mr. Kinzie, who knew the Indians well, begged Captain Heald not 
to confide in their promises, nor distribute the arms and munitions among 
them, for it would only put power into their hands to destroy the whites. 
Acting upon this advice, Heald resolved to withhold the munitions of 
war ; and on the night of the 13th, after the distribution of the otlier 
property had been made, the powder, ball and liquors were thrown into 
the river, the muskets broken up and destroyed. 

Black Partridge, a friendly chief, came to Captain Heald, and said : 
" Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day: be careful on the 
march you are going to take." On that dark night vigilant Indians had 
crept near the fort and discovered the destruction of their promised booty 
going on within. The next morning the powder was seen floating on the 
surface of the river. The savages were exasperated and made loud com- 
plaints and threats. 

On the following day when preparations were making to leave the 
fort, and all the inmates were deeply impressed with a sense of impend- 
ing danger, Capt. Wells, an uncle of Mrs. Heald, was discovered upon 
the Indian trail among the sand-hills on the borders of the lake, not far 
distant, with a band of mounted Miamis, of whose tribe he was chief, 
having been adopted by the famous Miami warrior. Little Turtle. When 
news of Hull's surrender reached Fort Wayne, he had started with this 
force to assist Heald in defending Fort Dearborn. He was too late. 
Every means for its defense had been destroyed the night before, and 
arrangements were made for leaving the fort on the morning of the loth. 

It was a warm bright morning in the middle of August. Indications 
were positive that the savages intended to murder the white people ; and 
when they moved out of the southern gate of the fort, the march was 
like a funeral procession. The band, feeling the solemnity of the occa- 
sion, struck up the Dead March in Saul. 

Capt. Wells, who had blackened his face with gun-powder in token 
of his fate, took the lead with his band of Miamis, followed by Capt. 
Heald, with his wife by his side on horseback. Mr. Kinzie hoped by his 
personal influence to avert the impending blow, and therefore accompanied 
them, leaving his family in a boat in charge of a friendly Indian, to be 
taken to his trading station at the site of Niles, Michigan, in the event oi 
his death. 



14t 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



■ " "'''il,ll?liPniF"""*"""''^"7n"TT':^iii| 




HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLESTOIS. 145 

The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached 
the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawattamie 
escort, under the leadership of Blackbird, filed to the right, placing those 
hills between them and the white people. Wells, with his Miarais, had 
kept in the advance. They suddenly came rushing back. Wells exclaim- 
ing, " They are about to attack us ; form instantly." These words were 
quickly followed by a storm of bullets, which came whistling over the 
little hills which the treacherous savages had made the covert for their 
murderous attack. The white troops charged upon the Indians, drove 
them back to the prairie, and then the battle was waged between fifty- 
four soldiers, twelve civilians and three or four women (the cowardly 
Miamis having fled at the outset) against five hundred Indian warriors. 
The white people, hopeless, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as j)ossible. 
Ensign Ronan wielded his weapon vigorously, even after falling upon his 
knees weak from the loss of blood. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of 
his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest 
coolness and courage. He said to her, " We have not the slightest chance 
for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you." 
And then he dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a 
demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve children, and tomahawk 
them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, " If that is your 
game, butchering women aAd children, I will kill too." He spurred his 
horse towards the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and 
papooses, hotly pursued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent bullets 
whistling after him. One of these killed his horse and wounded him 
severely in the leg. With a yell the young braves rushed to make him 
their prisoner and reserve him for torture. He resolved not to be made 
a captive, and by the use of the most provoking epithets tried to induce 
them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a squaiv, when 
the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his tomahawk, jumped 
upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm morsel 
with savage delight ! 

In this fearful combat women bore a conspicuous part. Mrs. Heald 
was an excellent equestrian and an expert in the use of the rifle. She 
fought the savages bravely, receiving several severe wounds. Though 
faint from the loss of blood, she managed to keep her saddle. A savage 
raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face, 
and with a sweet smile and in a gentle voice said, in his own language, 
" Surely you will not kill a squaw ! " The arm of the savage fell, and 
the life of the heroic woman was saved. 

Mrs. Helm, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had an encounter with 
a stout Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. Springing to one side, 
she received the glancing blow on her shoulder, and at the same instant 



14(3 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

seized the savaq:e round the neck with her arms and endeavored to jjet 
hold of his scalping knife, which hung in a sheath at his breast. While 
she was tlius struggling she was dragged from her antagonist by anothei 
powerful Indian, who bore her, in spite of her struggles, to the margin 
of the lake and plunged her in. To her astonishment she was held by 
him so that she would not drown, and she soon perceived that she was 
in the hands of the friendly Black Partridge, who had saved her life. 

The wife of Sergeant Holt, a large and powerful woman, behaved as 
bravely as au Amazon. She rode a fine, high-spirited horse, which the 
Indians coveted, and several of them attacked her with the butts of their 
guns, for the purpose of dismounting her ; but she used the sword which 
she had snatched from her disabled husband so skillfully that she foiled 
them ; and, suddenly wheeling her horse, she dashed over the prairie, 
followed by the savages shouting, " The brave woman ! the brave woman ! 
Don't hurt her ! " They finally overtook her, and while she was fighting 
them in front, a powerful savage came up behind her, seized her by the 
neck and dragged her to the ground. Horse and woman were made 
captives. Mrs. Holt was a long time a captive among the Indians, but 
was afterwards ransomed. 

In this sharp conflict two-thirds of the white people were slain and 
wounded, and all their horses, baggage and provision were lost. Only 
twenty-eight straggling men now remained to fight five hundred Indians 
rendered furious b}'- the sight of blood. They succeeded in breaking 
through the ranks of the murderers and gaining a slight eminence on the 
prairie near the Oak Woods. The Indians did not pursue, but gathered 
on their flanks, while the chiefs held a consultation on the sand-hills, and 
showed signs of willingness to parley. It would have been madness on 
the part of the whites to renew the fight ; and so Capt. Heald went for- 
ward and met Blackbird on the open prairie, where terms of surrender 
were soon agreed upon. It was arranged that the white people should 
give up their arms to Blackbird, and that the survivors should become 
prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable. 
With this understanding captives and captors started for the Indian 
camp near the fort, to which Mrs. Helm had been taken bleeding and 
suffering by Black Partridge, and had met her step-father and learned 
that her husband was safe. 

A new scene of horror was now opened at the Indian camp. The 
wounded, not being included in the terms of surrender, as it was inter- 
preted by the Indians, and the British general, Proctor, having offered a 
liberal bounty for American scalps, delivered at Maiden, nearly all the 
wounded men were killed and scalped, and the price of the trophies was 
afterwards paid by the British government. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



149 




SHABBONA. 



[This was engraved from a daguerreotype, taken when Shabbona was 83 years old.] 



This celebrated Indian chief, whose portrait appears in this work, deserves 
more than a passing notice. Although Shabbona was not so conspicuous as 
Tecumseh or Black Hawk, yet in point of merit he was superior to either 
of them. 

Shabbona was born at an Indian village on the Kankakee River, now in 
Will County, about the year 1775. While young he was made chief of the 
band, and went to Shabbona Grove, now DeKalb County, where they were 
found in the early settlement of the county. 

In the war of 1812, Shabbona, with his warriors, joined Tecumseh, was 



loO HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

aid to that grcit chief, and stood by his side when he fell at the battle of 
the Thames. At the time of the Winnebago war, in 1827, he visited almost 
every village among the Pottawatomies, and bj' his persuasive arguments 
prevented them from taking part in the war. By request of the citizens 
of Chicago, Sliabbona,.accompanied by Billy Caldwell (Sauganash), visited 
Big Foot's village at Geneva Lake, in order to pacify the warriors, as fears 
were entertained that they were about to raise the tomahawk against the 
whites. Here Shabbona was taken prisoner by Big Foot, and his life 
threatened, but on the following day was set at liberty. From that time 
the Indians (through reproach) styled him " the white man's friend," 
and many times his life was endangered. 

Before the Black Hawk war, Shabbona met in council at two differ- 
ent times, and by h.is influence prevented his people from taking part with 
the Sacs and Foxes. After the death of Black Partridge and Senachwine, 
no chief amonsf the Pottawatomies exerted so much influence as Shabbona. 
Black Hawk, aware of this influence, visited him at two different times, in 
order to enlist him in his cause, but was unsuccessful. While Black Hawk 
was a prisoner at Jefferson Barracks, he said, had it not been for Shabbona 
the whole Pottawatomie nation would have joined his standard, and he 
could have continued the war for years. 

To Shabbona many of the early settlers of Illinois owe the pres- 
ervation of their lives, for it is a well-known fact, had he not notified the 
people of their danger, a large portion of them would have fallen victims 
to the tomahawk of savages. By saving the lives of whites he endangered 
his OAvn, for the Sacs and Foxes threatened to kill him, and made two 
attempts to execute tlieir threats. They killed Pypeogee, his son, and 
Pyps, his nephew, and hunted him down as though he was a wild beast. 

Shabbona had a reservation of two sections of land at his Grove, but 
by leaving it and going west for a short time, the Government declared 
the reservation forfeited, and sold it the same as other vacant land. On 
Shabbona's return, and finding his possessions gone, he was very sad and 
broken down in spirit, and left the Grove for ever. The citizens of Ottawa 
raised money and bought him a tract of land on the Illinois River, above 
Seneca, in Grundy County, on which they built a house, and supplied 
him with means to live on. He lived here until his death, which occurred 
on the ITth of July, ISoO, in tlie eighty-fourth year of his age, and Avas 
buried with great pomp in the cemetery at Morris. His squaw, Pokanoka, 
was drowned in Mazen Creek, Grundy County, on the 30th of November, 
18G4, and was buried by his side. 

In 1861 subscriptions were taken up in many of the river towns, to 
erect a monument over the remains of Shabbona, but the war breaking 
out, the enterprise was abandoned. Only a plain marble slab marks the 
resting-place of this friend of the white man. 



Abstract of Illinois State Laws. 



BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES. 

No promissory note, check, draft, hill of exchange, order, or note, nego- 
tiable instrument payable at sight, or on demand, or on presentment, shall 
be entitled to days of grace. All other bills of exchange, drafts or notes are 
entitled to three days of grace. All the above mentioned paper falling 
due on Sunday, New Years' Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or any 
d^y appointed or recommended by the President of the United States or 
the Grovernor of the State as a day of fast or thanksgiving, shall be deemed 
as due on the day previous, and should two or more of these days come 
together, then such instrument shall be treated as due on the (\.?ij pirevious 
to the first of said days. No defense can be made against a negotiable 
instrument (^assigned before due') in the hands of the assignee without 
notice, except fraud was used in obtaining the same. To hold an indorser, 
due diligence must be used by suit, in collecting of the maker, unless suit 
would have been unavailing. Notes payable to person named or to order, 
in order to absolutely transfer title, must be indorsed by the payee. Notes 
payable to bearer may be transferred by delivery, and when so payable 
every indorser thereon is held as a guarantor of payment unless otherwise 
expressed. 

In computing interest or discount on negotiable instruments, a month 
shall be considered a calendar month or tivelfth of a year, and for less 
than a month, a day shall be figured a thirtieth part of a month. Notes 
only bear interest when so expressed, but after due they draw the legal 
interest, even if not stated. 

INTEREST. 

The legal rate of interest is six per cent. Parties may agree in writ- 
ing on a rate not exceeding ten per cent. If a rate of interest greater 
than ten per cent, is contracted for, it works a forfeiture of the whole of 
said interest, and only the principal can be recovered. 

DESCENT. 

When no ivill is made, the property of a deceased person is distrib- 
uted as follows : 

T5I 



152 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

First. To his or her children and their descendants in equal parts ; 
the descendaiics of the deceased child or grandchild taking the share of 
their deceased parents in equal parts among them. 

Second. Wliere there is no child, nor descendant of such child, and 
no widow or surviving husband, then to the parents, brothers and sisters 
of the deceased, and their descendants, in equal parts, the surviving 
parent, if either be dead, taking a double portion ; and if there is no 
parent living, then to the brothers and sisters of the intestate and their 
descendants. 

Third. When there is a widow or surviving husband^ and no child or 
childreti^ or descendants of the same, then one-half of the real estate and 
the whole of the personal estate shall descend to such widow or surviving 
husband, absolutely, and the other half of the real estate shall descend as 
in other cases where there is no child or children or descendants of the 
same. 

Fourth. When there is a ividoio or surviving husband and also a child 
or children., or descendants of the latter, then one third of all the personal 
estate to the widotv or surviving husband absolutely. 

Fifth. If there is no child., parent., brother or sister, or descendants of 
either of them, and no widow or surviving husband, then in equal parts 
to the next of kin to the intestate in equal degree. Collaterals shall not 
be represented except with the descendants of brothers and sisters of the 
intestate, and there shall be no distinction between kindred of the whole 
and the half blood. 

Sixth. If any intestate leaves a ividoiv or surviving husband and no 
kindred^ then to such widow or surviving husband ; and if there is no such 
widow or surviving husband, it shall escheat to and vest in the county 
where the same, or the greater portion thereof, is situated. 

WILLS AND ESTATES OF DECEASED PERSONS. 

No exact form of ivords are necessarv in order to make a will good at 
law. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, and eyevy feiuale 
of the age of eighteen years, of sound mind and memory, can make a valid 
will ; it must be in writing, signed by the testator or by some one in his 
or her presence and by his or her direction, and attested by tivo or more 
credible witnesses. Care should be taken that the witnesses are not inter- 
ested in the will. Persons knoiving themselves to have been named in the 
will or appointed executor, must within thirty days of the death of 
deceased cause the will to be proved and recorded in tlie proper county, 
or present it, and refuse to accept ; on failure to do so are liable to forfeit 
the sum of twenty dollars per motith. Inventory to be made by executor 
or administrator within three months from date of letters testamentary or 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 153 

of administration. Executors' and administrators' compensation not to 
exceed six per cent, on amount of personal estate, and three per cent, 
on money realized from real estate, with such additional allowance as 
shall be reasonable for extra services. Appraisers' compensation $2 pei 
day. 

Notice requiring all claims to be presented against the estate shall b^ 
given by the executor or administrator within six months of being quali- 
fied. Any person having a claim and not presenting it at the time fixed 
by said notice is required to have summons issued notifying the executor 
or administrator of his having filed his claim in court ; in such cases the 
costs have to be paid by the claimant. Qlaims should be filed within tivo 
years from the time administration is granted on an estate, as after that 
time they 2(,vq forever barred, unless other estate is found that was not in- 
ventoried. Married women, infants, persons insane, imprisoned or without 
the United States, in the employment of the United States, or of this 
State, have two years after their disabilities are removed to file claims. 

Claims are classified and paid out of the estate in the following manner: 

First. Funeral expenses. 

Second. The widow's award, if there is a widow ; or children if there 
are children, and no ividoiv. 

Third. Expenses attending the last illness, not including physician's 
bill. 

Fourth. Debts due the common school or township fund . 

Fifth. All expenses of proving the will and taking out letters testa- 
mentary or administration, and settlement of the estate, and the physi- 
cian's bill in the last illness of deceased. 

Sixth. Where the deceased has received money in trust for any pur- 
pose, his executor or administrator shall pay out of his estate the amount 
feceived and not accounted for. 

Seventh. All other debts and demands of whatsoever kind, without 
regard to quality or dignity, which shall be exhibited to the court within 
two years from the granting of letters. 

Award to Widow and Children, exclusive of debts and legacies or be- 
quests, except funeral expenses : 

First. The family pictures and tvearing apparel, jewels and ornaments 
of herself and minor children. 

Second. School books and the family library of the value of $100. 

Third. One sewing machine. 

Fourth. Necessary beds, bedsteads and bedding for herself and family. 
Fifth. The stoves and pipe used in the family, with the necessary 
cooking utensils, or in case they have none, $50 in money. 

Sixth. Household and kitchen furniture to the value of $100. 

Seventh. One milch cow and calf for every four members of her family. 



154 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

Eighth. Two sheep for each member of her family, and the fleeces 
taken from the same, and one horse, saddle and bridle. 

Ninth. Provisions for herself and family for one year. 

Tenth. Food for the stock above specified for six months. 

Eleventh. Fuel for herself and family for three months. 

Twelfth. One hundred dollars worth of other property suited to her 
condition in life, to be selected by the widow. 

The loidoiv if she elects may have in lieu of the said award, the same 
personal property or money in place thereof as isDr may be exempt from 
execution or attachment against the head of a family. 

TAXES. 

The owners of real and personal property,- on the first day of May in 
each year, are liable for the taxes thereon. 

Assessments should be completed before the fourth Monday in June., 
at which time the town board of review meets to examine assessments, 
hear objections., and make such changes as ought to be made. The county 
board have also power to correct or change assessments. 

The tax books are placed in the hands of the town collector on or 
before tl.e tenth day of December, who retains them until the tenth day 
of March following, when he is required to return them to the county 
treasurer, who then collects all delinquent taxes. 

No costs accrue on real estate taxes till advertised., which takes place 
the first day of April, when three weeks' notice is requu*ed before judg- 
ment. Cost of advertising, twenty cents each tract of land, and ten cents 
each lot. 

Judgment is usually obtained at May term of County Court. Costs 
six cents each tract of land, and five cents each lot. Sale takes place in 
June. Costs in addition to those before mentioned, twenty-eight cents 
each tract of land, and twenty-seven cents each town lot. 

Real estate sold for taxes may be redeemed any time before the expi- 
ration of two years from the date of sale, by payment to the County Clerk 
of the amount for which it was sold and twenty-five per cent, thereon if 
redeemed within six months, fifty per cent, if between six and twelve 
months, if between twelve and eighteen months seventy-five per cent., 
and if between eighteen months and two years one hundred per cent., 
and in addition, all subsequent taxes paid by the purchaser, with ten per 
cent, interest thereon, also one dollar each tract if notice is given by the 
purchaser of the sale, and a fee of twenty-five cents to the clerk for his 
certificate. 

JURISDICTION OF COURTS. 

Justices have jurisdiction in all civil cases on contracts iov the recovery 
of moneys for damages for injury to real property., or taking, detaining, or 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 155 

injuring personal property ; for rent; for all cases to recover damages done 
real or personal property by railroad companies, in actions of replevin, and 
in actions for damages for fraud in the sale, purchase, or exchange of per- 
sonal property, when the amount claimed as due is not over $200. They 
have also jurisdiction in all cases for violation of the ordinances of cities, 
towns or villages. A justice of the peace may orally order an officer or a 
private person to arrest any one committing or attempting to commit a 
criminal offense. He also upon complaint can issue his warrant for the 
arrest of any person ac-used of having committed a crime, and have him 
brought before him for examination. 

COUNTY COURTS 

Have jurisdiction in all matters of probate (except in counties having a 
population of one hundred thousand or over), settlement of estates of 
deceased persons, appointment of guardians and conservators, and settle- 
ment of their accounts ; all matters relating to apprentices ; proceedings 
for the collection of taxes and assessments, and in proceedings of executors, 
administrators, guardians and conservators for the sale of real estate. In 
law cases they have concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Courts in all 
cases where justices of the peace now have, or hereafter may have, 
jurisdiction when the amount claimed shall not exceed $1,000, and in all 
criminal offenses where the punishment is not imprisonment in the peni- 
tentiary, or death, and in all cases of appeals from justices of the peace 
and police magistrates ; excepting when the county judge is sitting as a 
justice of the peace. Circuit Courts have unlimited jurisdiction. 

LIMITATION OF ACTION. 

Accounts jive years. Notes and written contracts ten years. Judg- 
ments twenty years. Partial payments or new promise in writing, within 
or after said period, will revive the debt. Absence from the State deducted, 
and when the cause of action is barred by the law of another State, it has 
the same effect here. Slander and libel, one year. Personal injuries, tioo 
years. To recover land or make entry thereon, twenty years. Action to 
foreclose mortgage or trust deed, or make a sale, ivithin ten years. 

All persons in possession of land, and payiiig taxes for seven consecu- 
tive years, with color of title, and all persons paying taxes for seven con- 
secutive years, with color of title, on vacant land, shall be held to be the 
legal owners to the extent of their paper title. 

MARRIED WOMEN 

May sue and be sued. Husband and wife not liable for each other's debts, 
either before or after marriage, but both are liable for expenses and edu- 
cation of the family. 

4 



156 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

She may contract the same as if unmarried^ except that in a partner- 
ship business she can not, without consent of her husband, unless he has 
abandoned or deserted her, or is idiotic or insane, or confined in peniten- 
tiary ; she is entitled and can recover her own earnings, but neither hus- 
band nor wife is entitled to compensation for any services rendered for the 
other. At the death of the husband, in addition to widow's award, a 
married woman has a dower interest (one-third) in all real estate owned 
by her husband after their marriage, and which has not been released by 
her, and the husband has the same interest in the real estate of the wife 
at her death. 

EXEMPTIONS FROM FORCED SALE. 

Some tvorth f 1,000, and the following Personal Property : Lot of ground 
and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence by the debtor, being a house- 
holder and having a family, to the value of $1,000. Uxonption continues 
after the death of the householder for the benefit of widow and family, some 
one of them occupying the homestead until youngest child shall become 
twenty-one years of age, and until death of ividow. There is no exemption 
from sale for taxes, assessments, debt or liability incurred for the purchase 
or improvement of said homestead. No release or waiver of exemption is 
valid, unless in writing, and subscribed by such householder and wife (if 
he have one), and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate are required 
to be acknowledged. The following articles of personal property owned 
by the debtor, are exempt from execution, ivrit of attachment, and distress 
for rent : The necessary wearing apparel, Bibles, school books and family 
pictures of every person ; and, 2d, one hundred dollars worth of other 
property to be selected by the debtor, and, in addition, when the debtor 
is the head of a family and resides with the same, three hundred dollars 
worth of other property to be selected by the debtor ; provided that such 
selection and exemption shall not be made by the debtor or allowed to 
him or her from any money, salary or wages due him or her from any 
person or persons or corporations whatever. 

When the head of a family shall die, desert or not reside with the 
same, the family shall be entitled to and receive all the benefit and priv- 
ileges which are by this act conferred upon the hfead of a family residing 
with the same. No personal property is exempt from execution when 
judgment is obtained for the wages of laborers or servants. Wages of a 
laborer who is the head of a family can not be garnisheed, except the sum 
due him be in excess of $25. 



ABSTRACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 157 

DEEDS AND MORTGAGES. 

To he valid there must he a valid consideration. Special care should 
be taken to have them signed, sealed, delivered, and properly acknowl- 
edged, with the proper seal attached. Witnesses are not required. The 
acknoivledgement must be made in this state, before Master in Chancery, 
Notary Puhlic, United States Commissioner, Circuit or County Clerk, Justice 
of Peace, or any Court of Record having a seal, or any Judge, Justice, or 
Clerk of any such Court. When taken before a Notary Public, or United 
States Commissioner, the same shall be attested by his official seal, when 
taken before a Court or the Clerk thereof, the same shall be attested by 
the seal of such Court, and -vvhen taken before a Justice of the Peace resid- 
ing out of the county where the real estate to be conveyed lies, there shall 
be added a certificate of the County Clerk under his seal of office, that he 
was a Justice of the Peace in the county at the time of taking the same. 
A deed is good without such certificate attached, but can not be used in 
evidence unless such a certificate is produced or other competent evidence 
introduced. Acknowledgements made out of the state must either be 
executed according to the laws of this state, or there should be attached 
a certificate that it is in conformity with the laws of the state or country 
where executed. Where this is not done the same may be proved by any 
other legal way. Acknowledgments where the Homestead rights are to 
be waived must state as follows : " Including the release and waiver of 
tlie right of homestead." 

Notaries Public can take acknowledgements any where in the state. 

Sheriffs, if authorized by the mortgagor of real or personal property 
in his mortgage, may sell the property mortgaged. 

In the case of the death of grantor or holder of the equity of redemp- 
tion of real estate mortgaged, or conveyed by deed of trust where equit}' 
of redemption is waived, and it contains power of sale, must be foreclosed 
in the same manner as a common mortgage in court. 

ESTRAYS. 

Horses, mules, asses, neat cattle, swine, sheep, or goats found straying 
at any time during the year, in counties where such animals are not allowed 
to run at large, or between the last day of October and the 15th day of 
April in other counties, the owner thereof being unknown, may he taken up 
as estrays. 

No person not a householder in the county where estray is found can 
laufully take up an estray, and then only upon or about his farm or place 
of residence. Estrays should not he used before advertised, except animalg 
giving milk, which may be milked for their benefit. 



158 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

Notices must be posted up witliin five (5) days in three (3) of the 
most public places in the town or precinct in which estray was found, giv- 
ing the residence of the taker up, and a particular description of the 
estra}', its age, color, and marks natural and artificial, and stating before 
what justice of the peace in such town or precinct, and at what time, not 
less than ten (10) nor more than fifteen (15) days from the time of post- 
ing sucii notices, he will apply to have the estray appraised. 

A copy of such notice should be filed by the taker up with the totvn 
clerk, whose duty it is to enter the same at large, in a book kept by him 
for that purpose. 

If the owner of estray shall not have appeared and proved ownership, 
and taken the same away, first paying the taker up his reasonable charges 
for taking up, keeping, and advertising the same, the taker up shall appear 
before the justice of the peace mentioned in above mentioned notice, and 
make an affidavit as required by law. 

As the affidavit has to be made before the Justice, and all other steps as 
to appraisement, etc., are before him, who is familiar therewith, they are 
therefore omitted here. 

Any person taking up an estray at any other place than about or 
upon his farm or residence, or without complying tvith the laiv, shall forfeit 
and pay a fine of ten dollars with costs. 

Ordinary diligence is required in taking care of estrays, but in case 
they die or get away the taker is not liable for the same. 

GAME. 

It is unlaivful for any person to kill, or attempt to kill or destroy, in 
any manner, any prairie hen or chicken or woodcock between the 15th day 
of January and the 1st day of September ; or any deer, fawn, ivild-turkey, 
partridge or pheasant between the 1st day of February and the 1st day 
of October ; or any quail between the 1st day of February and 1st day of 
November ; or any wild goose, duck, snipe, brant or otlier water fowl 
between the 1st day of May and 15th day of August in each year. 
Penalty : Fine not less than $5 nor more than $25, for each bird or 
animal, and costs of suit, and stand committed to county jail until fine is 
paid, but not exceeding ten days. It is unlawful to hunt with gun, dog 
or net within the inclosed grounds or lands of another without permission. 
Penalty: Fine not less than 83 nor more than $100, to be paid into 
school fund. 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

Whenever any of the following articles shall be contracted for, or 
sold or delivered, and no special contract or agreement shall be made to 
the contrary, the weight per bushel shall be as follows, to-wit : 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 159 





Pounds. 




Pounds. 


Stone Coal, 


- 80 


Buckwheat, - 


- 52 


Unslacked Lime, 


- 80 


Coarse Salt, 


- 50 


Corn ill the ear. 


- 70 


Barley, - - - 


- 48 


Wheat, - -. - 


- 60 


Corn Meal, 


- 48 


Irish Potatoes, 


- 60 


Castor Beans, 


- 46 


"White Beans, 


- 60 


Timothy Seed, - 


- 45 


Clover Seed, - 


- 60 


Hemp Seed, - 


- 44 


Onions, _ ~ - 


57 


Malt, - - - - 


- 38 


Shelled Corn, 


- 56 


Dried Peaches, 


- 33 


Rye, - - - - 


- 56 


Oats, - - - - 


- 32 


Flax Seed, - 


- 56 


Dried Apples, 


- 24 


Sweet Potatoes, - 


55 


Bran, - - - - 


- 20 


Turnips, 


- 55 


Blue Grass Seed, - 


- 14 


Fine Salt, - 


- 55 


Hair (plastering). 


8 



Penalty for giving less than the above standard is double the amount 
of property wrongfully not given, and ten dollars addition thereto. 

MILLERS. 

The owner or occupant of every public grist mill in this state shall 
grind all grain brought to his mill in its turn. The toll for both steam 
and ivater mills, is, for grinding and bolting wheat., rye., or other grain, one 
eighth part; for grinding Indian corn., oats., barley and huckivheat not 
required to be bolted, one seventh part; for grinding malt, and chopping all 
kinds of grain, one eighth part. It is the duty of every miller when his 
mill is in repair, to aid and assist in loading and unloading all grain brought 
to him to be ground, and he is also required to keep an accurate half 
bushel measure, and an accurate set of toll dishes or scales^ for weighing 
the grain. The penalty for neglect or refusal to comply with the law is 
$5, to the use of any person to sue for the same, to be recovered before 
any justice of the peace of the county where penalty is incurred. Millers 
are accountable for the safe keeping of all grain left in his mill for the 
purpose of being ground, with bags or casks containii^ same (except it 
results from unavoidable accidents), provided that such bags or casks are 
distinctly marked with the initial letters of the owner's name. 

MARKS AND BRANDS. 

Owners of cattle, horses, hogs, sheep or goats may have one earmark 
and one brand, but which shall be different from his neighbor's, and iiiay 
be recorded by the count}^ clerk of the county in which such property is 
kept. The fee for such record is fifteen cents. The record of such shall 
be open to examination free of charge. In cases of disputes as to marks 
or brands, such record is vrima facie evidence. Owners of cattle, horses, 
hogs, sheep or goats that may liave been branded by the former owner, 



lOU ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

may be re-bianded iu presence of one or more of his neighbors, wlio shall 
certify to the facts of the marking or branding being done, when done, 
and in what brand or mark they were re-branded or re-marked, which 
certificate may also be recorded as before stated. 

ADOPTION OF CHILDREN. 

Children may be adopted by any resident of this state, by filing a 
petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which he resides, 
asking leave to do so, and if desired may ask that the name of the child 
be changed. Such petition, if made by a person having a husband or 
wife, will not be granted, unless the husband or wife joins therein, as the 
adoption must be by them jointly. 

The petition shall state name, sex, and age of the child, and the new 
name, if it is desired to change the name. Also the name and residence 
of the parents of the child, if known, and of the guardian, if any, and 
whether the parents or guardians consent to the adoption. 

The court must find, before granting decree, that the parents of the 
child, or the survivors of them, have deserted his or her family or such 
child for one year next preceding the application, or if neither are living, 
the guardian ; if no guardian, the next of kin in this state capable of giving 
consent, has had notice of the presentation of the petition and consents 
to such adoption. If the child is of the age of fourteen years or upwards^ 
the adoption can not be made without its consent. 

SURVEYORS AND SURVEYS. 

There is in every county elected a surveyor known as county sur- 
veyor, who has power to appoint deputies, for whose official acts he is 
responsible. It is the duty of the county surveyor, either by himself or 
his deputy, to make all surveys that he may be called upon to make within 
his county as soon as may be after application is made. The necessary 
chainmen and other assistance must be employed by the person requiring 
the same to be done, and to be by him paid, unless otherwise agreed ; but 
the chainmen must be disinterested persons and approved by the surveyor 
and sworn by him to measure justly and impartially. 

The County Board in each county is required by law to provide a copy 
of the United States field notes and plats of their surveys of the lands 
in the county to be kept in the recorder's office subject to examination 
by the public, and the county surveyor is required to make his surveys 
in conformity to said notes, plats and the laws of the United States gov- 
erning such matters. The surveyor is also required to keep a record 
of all surveys made by him, which shall be subject to inspection by any 
one interested, and shall be delivered up to his successor in office. A. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 161 

certified copy of the said surveyor's record shall be prima facie evidence 
of its contents. 

The fees of county surveyors are six dollars per day. The county 
surveyor is also ex officio inspector of mines, and as such, assisted by some 
practical miner selected by him, shall once each year inspect all the 
mines in the county, for which they shall each receive such compensa- 
tion as may be fixed by the County Board, not exceeding $5 a day, to 
be paid out of the county treasury. 

ROADS AND BRIDGES. 

Where practicable from the nature of the ground, persons traveling 
in any kind of vehicle, 7nust turn to the right of the center of the road, so 
as to permit each carriage to pass without interfering with each other. 
The j^'^nalti/ for a violation of this provision is $5 for every offense, to 
be recovered by the parti/ injured ; but to recover, there must have 
occurred some injury to person or property resulting from the violation. 
The owners of any carriage traveling upon any road in this State for the 
conveyance of passengers who shall employ or continue in his employment 
as driver any person who is addicted to drunkenness, or the excessive use of 
spiritous liquors, after he has had notice of the same, shall forfeit, at the 
rate of |5 per day, and if any driver while actually engaged in driving 
any such carriage, shall be guilty of intoxicatio7i to such a degree as to. 
endanger tjie safety of passengers, it shall be the duty of the owner, on 
receiving written notice of the fact, signed by one of the passengers, and 
certified by him on oath, forthwith to discharge such driver. If such owner 
shall have such driver in his employ withiii three months after such notice, 
he is liable for $5 per day for the time he shall keep said driver in his 
employment after receiving such notice. 

Persons driving any carriage on any public highway are prohibited 
from running their horses upon any occasion under a penalty of a fine not 
exceeding $10, or imprisonment not exceeding sixty .days, at the discre- 
tion of the court. Horses attached to any carriage used to convey passen- 
gers for hire must be properly hitched or the lines placed in the hands of 
some other person before the driver leaves them for any purpose. For 
violation of this provision each driver shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be 
recovered by action, to be commenced within six^ months. It is under- 
stood by the term carriage herein to mean any carriage or vehicle used 
for the transportation of passengers or goods or either of them. 

The commissioners of highways in the different tov/ns have the care 
and superintendence of highways and bridges therein. They have all 
the powers necessary to lay out, vacate, regulate and repair all roads* 
build and repair bridges. In addition to the above, it is their duty to 
erect and keep in repair at the forks or crossing-place of the most. 



162 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

important roads post and guide boards with plain inscriptions, giving 
directions and distances to the most noted phices to which such road may 
lead ; also to make provisions to prevent thistles, burdock, and cockle 
burrs, mustard, yellow dock, Indian mallow and jimson weed from 
seeding, and to extirpate the same as far as practicable, and to prevent 
all rank growth of vegetation on the public highways so far as the same 
may obstruct public travel, and it is in their discretion to erect watering 
places for public use for watering teams at such points as may be deemed 
advisable. 

The Commissioners, on or before the 1st day of May of each year, 
shall make out and deliver to their treasurer a list of all able-bodied men 
in their town, excepting paupers, idiots, lunatics, and such others as are 
exempt by law, and assess against each the sum of two dollars as a poll 
tax for highway purposes. Within thirty days after such list is delivered 
they shall cause a written or printed notice to be given to each person so 
assessed, notifying him of the time when and place where such tax must 
be paid, or its equivalent in labor performed ; they may contract with 
persons owing such poll tax to perform a certain amount of labor on any 
road or bridge in payment of the same, and if such tax is not paid nor 
labor performed by the first Monday of July of such year, or within ten 
days after notice is given after that time, they shall bring suit therefor 
against such person before a justice of the peace, who shall hear and 
determine the case according to law for the offense complained of, and 
shall forthwith issue an execution, directed to any constable of the county 
where the delinquent shall reside, who shall forthwith collect the moneys 
therein mentioned. 

The Commissioners of Highways of each town shall annually ascer- 
tain, as near as practicable, how much money must be raised b}^ tax on real 
and personal property for the making and repairing of roads, only, to any 
amount they may deem necessary, not exceeding forty cents on each one 
hundred dollars' wortli, as valued on the assessment roll of the previous 
year. The tax so levied on property lying within an incorporated village, 
town or city, shall be paid over to the corporate authorities of such town, 
village or city. Commissioners shall receive $1.50 for each day neces- 
sarily employed in the discharge of their duty. 

Overseers. At the first meeting the Commissioners shall choose one 
of their number to act General Overseer of Highways in their township, 
whose duty it shall be to take charge of and safely keep all tools, imple- 
ments and machinery belonging to said town, and shall, by the direction 
of the Board, have general supervision of all roads and bridges in their 
town. 



ABSTRACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 163 

As all township and county officers are familiar with their duties, it 
is only intended to give the points of the law that the public should be 
familiar with. The manner of laying out, altering or vacating roads, etc., 
will not be here stated, as it would require more space than is contem- 
plated in a work of this kind. It is sufficient to state that, the first step 
is by petition, addressed to the Commissioners, setting out what is prayed 
for, giving the names of the owners of lands if known, if not known so 
state, over which the road is to pass, giving the general course, its place 
of beginning, and where it terminates. It requires not less than twelve 
freeholders residing within three miles of the road who shall sign the 
petition. PubHc roads must not be less than fifty feet wide, nor more 
than sixty feet wide. Roads not exceeding two miles in length, if peti- 
tioned for, may be laid out, not less than forty feet. Private roads 
for private and public use, may be laid out of the width of three rods, on 
petition of the person directly interested ; the damage occasioned thereby 
shall be paid by the premises benefited thereby, and before the road is 
opened. If not opened in two years, the order shall be considered 
rescinded. Commissionerrs in their discretion may permit persons who 
live on or have private roads, to work out their road tax thereon. Public 
roads must be opened in five days from date of filing order of location, 
or be deemed vacated. 

DRAINAGE. 

Whenever one or more owners or occupants of land desire to construct 
I drain or ditch across the land of others for agricultural, sanitary or 
mining purposes, the proceedings are as follows : 

File a petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which 
the proposed ditch or drain is to be constructed, setting forth the neces- 
sity for the same, with a description of its proposed starting point, route 
and terminus, and if it shall be necessary for the drainage of the land or 
coal mines or for sanitary purposes, that a drain, ditch, levee or similar 
work be constructed, a description of the same. It shall also set forth 
the names of all persons owning the land over which such drain or ditch 
shall be constructed, or if unknown stating that fact. 

No private property shall be taken or damaged for the purpose of 
constructing a ditch, drain or levee, without compensation, if claimed by 
the owner, the same to be ascertained by a jury; but if the construction 
of such ditch, drain or levee shall be a benefit to the owner, the same 
shall be a set off against such compensation. 

If the proceedings seek to affect the property of a minor, lunatic or 
married woman, the guardian, conservator or husband of the same shall 
be made party defendant. The petition may be amended and parties 
made defendants at any time when it is necessary to a fair trial. 



164 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

When the petition is presented to the judge, he shall note therein 
when he will hear the same, and order the issuance of summonses and 
the publication of notice to each non-resident or unknown defendant. 

The petition may be heard by such judge in vacation as well as in 
term time. Upon the trial, the jury shall ascertain the just compensation 
to each owner of the property sought to be damaged by the construction 
of such ditch, drain or levee, and truly report the same. 

As it is only contemplated in a work of this kind to give an abstract 
of the laws, and as the parties who have in charge the execution of the 
further proceedings are likely to be familiar with the requirements of the 
statute, the necessary details are not here inserted. 

WOLF SCALPS. 

The County Board of any county in this State may hereafter alliiW 
such bounty on wolf scalps as the board may deem reasonable. 

Any person claiming a bounty shall produce the scalp or scalps with 
the ears thereon, within sixty days after the wolf or wolves shall have 
been caught, to the Clerk of the County Board, who shall administer to 
said person the following oath or affirmation, to-wit: "You do solemnly 
swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that the scalp or scalps here pro- 
duced b}' you was taken from a wolf or wolves killed and first captured 
by yourself within the limits of this county, and within the sixty days 
last past." 

CONVEYANCES. 

When the reversion expectant on a lease of any tenements or here- 
ditaments of any tenure shall be surrendered or merged, the estate which 
shall for the time being confer as against the tenant under the same lease 
the next vested right to the same tenements or hereditaments, shall, to 
the extent and for the purpose of preserving such incidents to and obli- 
gations on the same reversion, as but for the surrender or merger thereof, 
would have subsisted, be deemed the reversion expectant on the same 
lease. 

PAUPERS. 

Every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in conse- 
quence ot any bodily infirmity, idiocy, lunacy or unavoidable cause, shall 
be supported by the father, grand-father, mother, grand-mother, children, 
grand-children, brothers or sisters of such poor person, if they or either 
of them be of sufficient ability ; but if any of such dependent class shall 
have become so from intemperance or other bad conduct, they shall not be 
entitled to support from any relation except parent or child. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 167 

The children shall first be called on to support their parents, if they 
are able ; but if not, the parents of such poor person shall then be called 
on, if of sufficient ability ; and if there be no parents or children able, 
then the brothers and sisters of such dependent person shall be called 
upon ; and if there be no brothers or sisters of sufficient ability, the 
grand-children of such person shall next be called on ; and if they are 
not able, then the grand-parents. Married females, while their husbands 
live, shall not be liable to contribute for the support of their poor relations 
except out of their separate property. It is the duty of the state's 
(county) attorney, to make complaint to the County Court of his county 
against all the relatives of such paupers in this state liable to his support 
and prosecute the same. In case the state's attorney neglects, or refuses, to 
complain in such cases, then it is the duty of the overseer of the poor to 
do so. The person called upon to contribute shall have at least ten days' 
notice of such application by summons. The court has the power to 
determine the kind of support, depending upon the circumstances of the 
parties, and may also order two or more of the different degrees to main- 
tain such poor person, and prescribe the proportion of each, according to 
their ability. The court may specify the time for which the relative shall 
contribute — in fact has control over the entire subject matter, with power 
to enforce its orders. Every county (except those in which the poor are 
supported by the towns, and in such cases the towns are liable) is required 
to relieve and support all poor and indigent persons latvfuUy resident 
therein. Residence means the actual residence of the party, or the place 
where he was employed ; or in case he was in no employment, then it 
shall be the place where he made his home. When any person becomes 
chargeable as a pauper in any county or town who did not reside at the 
commencement of six months immediately preceding his becoming so, 
but did at that time reside in some other county or town in this state, 
then the county or town, as the case may be, becomes liable for the expense 
of taking care of such person until removed, and it is the duty of the 
overseer to notify the proper authorities of the fact. If any person shall 
bring and leave any pauper in any county in this state where such pauper 
had no legal residence, knowing him to be such, he is liable to a fine of 
$100. In counties under township organization, the supervisors in each 
town are ex-officio overseers of the poor. The overseers of the poor act 
under the directions of the County Board in taking care of the poor and 
granting of temporary relief; also, providing for non-resident persons not 
paupers who may be taken sick and not able to pay their way, and in case 
of death cause such person to be decently buried. 

The residence of the inmates of poorhouses and other charitable 
institutions for voting purposes is their former place of abode. 



168 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

FENCES. 

In counties under township organization, the toivn assessor and com- 
missioner of highways are the fence-viewers in their respective towns. 
In other counties the County Board appoints three in each precinct annu- 
ally. A lau'ful fence is four and one-half feet high, in good repair, con- 
sisting of rails, timber, boards, stone, hedges, or whatever the fence- 
viewers of the town or precinct where the same shall lie, shall consider 
equivalent thereto, but in counties under township organization the annual 
town meeting may establish any other kind of fence as such, or the County 
Board in other counties may do the same. Division fences shall be made 
and maintained in just proportion by the adjoining owners, except when 
the owner shall choose to let his land lie open, but after a division fence is 
built by agreement or otherwise, neither party can remove his part of such 
fence so long as he may crop or use such land for farm purposes, or without 
giving the other part}* one year's notice in writing of his intention to remove 
his portion. When any person shall enclose his land upon the enclosure 
of another, he shall refund the owner of the adjoining lands a just pro- 
portion of the value at that time of such fence. The value of fence and 
the just proportion to be paid or built and maintained by each is to be 
ascertained by two fence-viewers in the town or precinct. Such fence- 
viewers have power to settle all disputes between different owners as to 
fences built or to be built, as well as to repairs to be made. Each party 
chooses one of the viewers, but if the other party neglects, after eight 
days" notice in writing, to make his choice, then the other party may 
select both. It is sufficient to notify the tenant or part}' in possession, 
when the owner is not a resident of the town or precinct. The two 
fence-viewers chosen, after viewing the premises, shall hear the state- 
ments of the parties , in case they can't agree, they shall select another 
fence-viewer to act with them, and the decision of any two of them is 
final. The decision must be reduced to writing, and should plainly set 
out description of fence and all matters settled by them, and must be 
filed in the office of the town clerk in counties under township organiza- 
tion, and in other counties with the countv clerk. 

Where any person is liable to contribute to the erection or the 
repairing of a division fence, neglects or refuses so to do, the party 
injured, after giving sixty days notice in writing when a fence is to be 
erected, or ten days when it is only repairs, may proceed to have the 
work done at the expense of the party whose duty it is to do it, to be 
recovered from him with costs of suit, and the party so neglecting shall 
also be liable to the party injured for all damages accruing from such 
neglect or refusal, to be determined bv anv two fence-viewers selected 
as before provided, the appraisement to be reduced to writing and signed. 








CRU6«T0WNSHIP 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 169 

Where a person shall conclude to remove his part of a division fence, 
and let his land lie open, and having given the year's notice required, the 
adjoining owner may -cause the value of said fence to be ascertained by 
fence-viewers as before provided, and on payment or tender of the 
amount of such valuation to the owner, it shall prevent the removal. A 
party removing a division fence without notice is liable for the»damages 
accruing thereby. 

Where a fence has been built on the land of another through mis- 
take, the owner may enter upon such premises and remove his fence and 
material within oix months after the division line has been ascertained. 
Where the material to build such a fence has been taken from the land 
on which it was built, then before it can be removed, the person claiming 
must first pay for such material to the owner of the land from which it 
was taken, nor shall such a fence be removed at a time when the removal 
will throw open or expose the crops of the other party ; a reasonable 
time must be given beyond the .six months to remove crops. 

The compensation ^i fence-viewers is one dollar and fifty cents a 
day each, to be paid in the first instance by the party calling them, but 
in the end all expenses, including amount charged by the fence-viewers, 
must be paid equally by the parties, except in cases where a party neglects 
or refuses to make or maiiktain a just proportion of a division fence, when 
the party in default shall pay them. 

DAMAGES FROM TRESPASS. 

Where stock of any kind breaks into any person's enclosure, the 
fence being good and sufficient, the owner is liable for the damage done ; 
btit where the damage is done by stock runyiing at large, contrary to law, 
the owner is liable where thore is not such a fence. Where stock is 
found trespassing on the enclosure of another as aforesaid, the owner oi 
occupier of the premises may take possession of such stock and keep the 
same until damages, with reasonable charges for keeping and feeding and 
all costs of suit, are paid. Any person taking or rescuing such stock so 
held without his consent, shall be liable to a fine of not less than three 
nor more than five dollars for each animal rescued, to be recovered by 
suit before a justice of the peace for the use of the school fund. Within 
twenty-four hours after taking such animal into his possession, the per- 
son taking it up must give notice of the fact to the owner, if known, or 
if unknown, notices must be posted in some ptiblic place near the premises. 

LANDLORD AND TENANT. 

The owner of lands, or his legal representatives, can sue for and 
recover rent therefor, in any of the following cases : 

First. When rent is due and in arrears on a lease for life or lives. 



170 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS, 

Second. When lands are held and occupied by any person without 
any special agreement for rent. 

Third. When possession is obtained under an agreement, written 
or verbal, for the purchase of the premises and before deed given, the 
right to possession is terminated by forfeiture on con-compliance with the 
agreement, and possession is wrongfully refused or neglected to be giver, 
upon demand made in writing by the party entitled thereto. Provided 
that all payments made by the vendee or his representatives or assigns, 
mav be set off aoainst the rent. 

Fourth. When land has been sold upon a judgment or a decree of 
court, when the party to such judgment or decree, or person holding under 
him, wrongfully refuses, or neglects, to surrender possession of the same, 
after demand in writing by the person entitled to the possession. 

Fifth. When the lands have been sold upon a mortgage or trust 
deed, and the mortgagor or grantor or person holding under him, wrong- 
fully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand 
in writing by the person entitled to the possession. 

If any tenant, or any person who shall come into possession from or 
under or by collusion with such tenant, shall willfully hold over any lands, 
etc., after the expiration the term of their lease, and after demand made 
in icriting for the possession thereof, is liable to pay double rent. A 
tenancy from year to 3^ear requires sixty days notice in writing, to termi- 
nate the same at the end of the 3'ear ; such notice can be given at any 
time within four months preceding the last sixty days of the year. 

A tenancy by the month, or less than a year, where the tenant holds 
over without any special agreement, the landlord may terminate the 
tenancy, by thirty days notice in writing. 

When rent is due, the landlord may serve a notice upon the tenant, 
stating that unless the rent is paid within not less than five days, his lease 
will be terminated ; if the rent is not paid, the landlord may consider the 
lease ended. When default is made in any of the terms of a lease, it 
shall not be necessary to give more than ten days notice to quit or of the 
termination of such tenancy ; and the same may be terminated on giving 
such notice to quit, at any time after such default in any of the terms of 
such lease ; which notice may be substantially in the following form, viz: 

To , You are hereby notified that, in consequence of your default 

in (^here insert the character of the default), of the premises now occupied 
by you, being etc. (here describe the premises), I have elected to deter- 
mine your lease, and you are hereby notified to quit and deliver up pos- 
session of the same to me within ten days of this date (dated, etc.) 

The above to be signed by the lessor or his agent, and no other notice 
or demand of possession or termination of such tenancy is necessary. 

Demand may be made, or notice served, by delivering a written or 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. . 171 

pnflted, or partly either, copy thereof to the tenant, or leaving the same 
with some person above the age of twelve years residing on or in posses- 
sion of the premises ; and in case no one is in the actual possession of the 
said premises, then by posting the same on the premises. When the 
tenancy is for a certain time, and the term expires by the terms of the 
lease, the tenant is then bound to surrender possession, and no notice 
to quit or demand of possession is necessarj^ 

Distress for rent. — In all cases of distress for rent, the landlord, by 
himself, his agent or attorney, may seize for rent any personal property of 
his tenant that may be found in the county where the tenant resides ; the 
property of an}^ other person, even if found on the premises, is not 
liable. 

An inventory of the property levied upon, with a statement of the 
amount of rent claimed, should be at once filed with some justice of the 
peace, if not over $200 ; and if above that sum, with the clerk of a court 
of record of competent jurisdiction. Property may be released, by the 
party executing a satisfactory bond for double the amount. 

The landlord may distrain for rent, any time within six months after 
the expiration of the term of the lease, or when terminated. 

In all cases where the premises rented shall be sub-let, or the lease 
assigned, the landlord shall have the same right to enforce lien against 
such lessee or assignee, that he has against the tenant to whom the pre- 
mises were rented. 

When a tenant abandons or removes from the premises or any part 
thereof, the landlord, or his agent or attorney, may seize upon any grain 
or other crops grown or growing upon the premises, or part thereof so 
abandoned, whether the rent is due or not. If such grain, or other crops, 
or any part thereof, is not fully grown or matured, the landlord, or his 
agent or attorney, shall cause the same to be properly cultivated, harvested 
or gathered, and may sell the same, and from the proceeds pay all his 
labor, expenses and rent. The tenant may, before the sale of such pro- 
perty, redeem the same by tendering the rent and reasonable compensation 
for work done, or he may replevy the same. 

Exemption. — The same articles of personal property which are bylaw 
exempt from execution, except the crops as above stated, is also exempt 
from distress for rent. 

If any tenant is about to or shall permit or attempt to sell and 
remove from the premises, without the consent of his landlord, such 
portion of the crops raised thereon as will endanger the lien of the land- 
lord upon such crops, for the rent, it shall be lawful for the landlord to 
distress before rent is due. 



172 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

LIENS. 

Any person who shall by contract^ express or implied, or partly lioth, 
with the owner of any lot or tract of land, furnish labor or material, or 
services as an architect or superintendent, in l)uilding, altering, repairing 
or ornamenting any house or other building or appurtenance thereto on 
such lot, or upon any street or alley, and connected with such improve' 
ments, shall have a lien upon the whole of such lot or tract of land, and 
upon such house or building and appurtenances, for the amount due to 
him for such labor, material or services. If the contract is expressed, and 
the time for the completion of the work is beyond three years from the com- 
mencement thereof; or, if the time of payment is beyond one year from 
the time stipulated for the completion of the work, then no lien exists. 
If the contract is implied, then no lien exists, unless the work be done or 
material is furnished within one year from the commencement of the work 
or delivery of the materials. As between different creditors having liens, 
no preference is given to the one whose contract was first made ; but each 
shares pro-rata. Incumbrances existing on the lot or tract of the land at 
the time the contract is made, do not operate on the improvements, and 
are only preferred to the extent of the value of the land at the time of 
making the contract. The above lien can not be enforced unless suit is 
commenced within six months after the last payment for labor or materials 
shall have become due and payable. Sub-contractors, mechanics, workmen 
and other persons furnishing any material, or performing any labor for a 
contractor as before specified, have a lien to the extent of the amount due 
the contractor at the time the following notice is served upon the owner 
of the land who made the contract : 

To , You are hereby notified, that I have been employed by 



(here state whether to labor- or furnish material, and substantially the 
nature of the demand) upon your (here state in general terms description 
and situation of building), and that I shall hold the (building,- or as the 
case may be), and your interest in the ground, liable for the amount that 

ma}^ (is or may become) due me on account thereof. Signature, 

Date, 

If there is a contract in writing between contractor and sub-x;ontractor, 
a copy of it should be served with above notice, and said notice must be 
served within forty days from the completion of such sub-contract, if there 
is one ; if not, then from the time payment should have been made to the 
person performing the labor or furnishing the material. If the owner is 
not a resident of the county, or can not be found therein, then the above 
notice must be filed with the clerk of the Circuit Court, with his fee, fifty 
cents, and a copy of said notice must be published in a newspaper pub- 
lished in the county, for four successive weeks. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 173 

When the owner or agent is notified as above, he can retain any 
money due the contractor sufficient to pay such claim ; if more than one 
claim, and not enough to pay all, they are to be paid pro rata. 

The owner has the right to demand in writing, a statement of the 
contractor, of what he owes for labor, etc., from time to time as the work 
progresses, and on his failure to comply, forfeits to the owner $50 for 
every offense. 

The liens referred to cover any and all estates, whether in fee for 
life, for years, or any other interest which the owner may have. 

To enforce the lien of sub-contractors, suit must be commenced within 
three months from the time of the performance of the sub-contract, or 
during the work or furnishing materials. 

Hotel, inn and hoarding-house keepers, have a lien upon the baggage 
and other valuables of their guests or boarders, brought into such hotel, 
inn or boarding-house, by their guests or boarders, for the proper charges 
due from such guests or boarders for their accommodation, board and 
lodgings, and such extras as are furnished at their request. 

Stable-keepers and other persons have a lien upon the horses, car- 
riages and harness kept by them, for the proper charges due for the keep- 
ing thereof and expenses bestowed thereon at the request of the owner 
or the person having the possession of the same. 

Agisters (persons who take care of cattle belonging to others), and 
persons keeping, yarding, feeding or pasturing domestic animals, shall 
have a lien upon the animals agistered, kept, yarded or fed, for the proper 
charges due for such service. 

All persons who may furnish any railroad corporation in this state 
with fuel, ties, material, supplies or any other article or thing necessary 
for the construction, maintenance, operation or repair of its road by con- 
tra.ct, or may perform work or labor on the same, is entitled to be paid as 
part of the current expenses of the road, and have a lien upon all its pro- 
perty. Sub-contractors or laborers have also a lien. The conditions and 
limitations both as to contractors and sub-contractors, are about the same 
as herein stated as to general liens. 

DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TERMS. 

$ means dollars, being a' contraction of U. S., which was formerly 

placed before any denomination of money, and meant, as it means now, 
United States Currency. 

£ means pounds, English money. 

@ stands for at or to. Ih ioT pound, and bbl. for barrel; "^ iov per or 
hy the. Thus, Butter sells at 20@30c f lb, and Flour at |8@12 f bbl. 

fo for per cent and # for number. 

May 1. — Wheat sells at $1.20@1.25, "seller June." Seller Jane 



i;4 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

means that the person who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering 
it at any time during the month of June. 

Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or 
stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller 
has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling 
''short," to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may 
buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts " are termed 
" bears." 

Buying long^ is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or 
shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stipulated time, 
expecting to make a profit by the rise of prices. The "longs" are 
termed '• bulls," as it is for their interest to " operate " so as to " toss " 
the prices upward as much as possible. 

NOTES. 

Form of note is legal, worded in the simplest way, so that the 
amount and time of payment are mentioned. 

$100. Chicago, 111., Sept. 15, 1876. 

Sixty days from date I promise to pay to E. F. Brown, 
or order, One Hundred dollars, for value received. 

L. D. LowRY. 

A note to be payable in any thing else than money needs only the 

facts substituted for money in the above form. 

ORDERS. 

Orders should be worded simply, thus : 

Mr. F. H. Coats: Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876. 

Please pay to H. Birdsall, Twenty-five dollars, and charge to 

F. D. SiLVA. 

RECEIPTS. 

Receipts should always state when received and what for, thus : 

$100. Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876. 

Received of J. W. Davis, One Hundred dollars, for services 
rendered in grading his lot in Fort Madison, on account. 

Thomas Brady. 

If receipt is in full it should be so stated. 

BILLS OF PURCHASE. 

W. N. Mason, Salem, Illinois, Sept. 15, 1876. 

Bought of A. A. Graham. 
4 Bushels of Seed Wheati at 81.50 ... - $6.00 

2 Seamless Sacks " .30 - - .60 



Received payment. $6.60 

A. A. Graham. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 176 

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT. 

An agreement is where one party promises to another to do a certain 
thing in a certain time for a stipulated sum. Good business men always 
reduce an agreement to writing, which nearly always saves misunder- 
standings and trouble. No particular form is necessary, but the facts must 
be clearly and explicitly stated, and there must, to make it valid, be a 
reasonable consideration. 

GENERAL FORM OF AGREEMENT. 

This Agreement, made the Second day of October, 1876, between 
John Jones, of Aurora, County of Kane, State of Illinois, of the first part, 
and Thomas Whiteside, of the same place, of the second part — 

WITNESSETH, that the said John Jones, in consideration of the agree- 
ment of the party of the second part, hereinafter contained, contracts and 
agrees to and with the said Thomas Whiteside, that he will deliver, in 
good and marketable condition, at the Village of Batavia, 111., during the 
month of November, of this year, One Hundred Tons of Prairie Hay, in 
the following lots, and at the following specified times ; namely, twenty- 
five tons by the seventh of November, twenty-five tons additional by the 
fourteenth of the month, twenty-five tons more by the twenty -first, and 
the entire one hundred tons to be all delivered by the thirtieth of 
November. 

And the said Thomas Whiteside, in consideration of the prompt 
fulfillment of this contract, on the. part of the party of the first part, 
contracts to and agrees with the said John Jones, to pay for said hay five 
dollars per ton, for each ton as soon as delivered. 

In case of failure of agreement by either of the parties hereto, it is 
hereby stipulated and agreed that the party so failing shall pay to the 
other. One Hundred Dollars, as fixed and settled damages. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands the da}^ and 
year first above written. John Jones, 

Thomas Whiteside. 

AGREEMENT WITH CLERK FOR SERVICES. 

This Agreement, made the first day of May, one thousand eight 
hundred and seventy-six, between Reuben Stone, of Chicago, County 
of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the first part, and George Barclay, of 
Englewood, County of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the second part — 

WITNESSETH, that Said George Barclay agrees faithfully and dili- 
gently to work as clerk and salesman for the said Reuben Stone, for 
and during the space of one year from the date hereof, should both 
live such length of time, without absenting himself from his occupation ; 



176 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

during- which time he, the said Barchiy, in the store of said Stone, of 
Chicago, will carefully and honestly attend, doing and performing all 
duties as clerk and salesman aforesaid, in accordance and in all respects 
as directed and desired by the said Stone. 

In consideration of which services, so to be rendered by the said 
Barclay, the said Stone agrees to pay to said Barclay the annual sum of 
one thousand dollars, payable in twelve equal monthly payments, each 
upon the last day of each month ; provided that all dues for days of 
absence from business b}- said Barclay, shall be deducted from the sum 
otherwise by the agreement due and payable by the said Stone to the said 
Barclay. 

Witness our hands. Reuben Stone. 

George Barclay. 

BILLS OF SALE. 

A bill of sale is a written agreement to another party, for a consider- 
ation to convey his right and interest in the personal property. The 
purchaser must take actual possession of the property. Juries have' 
power to determine upon the fairness or unfairness of a bill of sale. 

COMMON FORM OF BILL OF SALE. 

Know all Men by this instrument, that I, Louis Clay, of Princeton, 
Illinois, of the first part, for and in consideration of Five Hundred 
and Ten dollars, to me paid by John Floyd, of the same place, of the 
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have sold, and 
by this instrument do convey unto the said Floyd, party of the second 
part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, my undivided half of 
.ten acres of corn, now growing on the farm of Thomas Tyrrell, in the 
town above mentioned ; one pair of horses, sixteen sheep, and five cows, 
belonging to me, and in my possession at the farm aforesaid ; to have and 
to hold the same unto the party of the second part, his executors and 
assigns, forever. And I do, for myself and legal representatives, agree 
with the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives, to 
warrant and defend the sale of the afore-mentioned property and chattels 
unto the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives, 
against all and every person whatsoever. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand, this tenth day 
of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six. 

Louis Clay. 

BONDS. 

A bond is a written admission on the part of the maker in which h« 
pledges a certain sum to another, at a certain time. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 177 

COMMON FORM OF BOND. 

Know all Men by this instrument, that I, George Edgerton, of 
Watseka, IrocLUois Count}', State of Illinois, am firmly bound unto Peter 
Kirchoff, of the place aforesaid, in the sum of five hundred dollars, to be 
paid to the said Peter Kirchoff, or his legal representatives ; to which 
payment, to be made, I bind myself, or my legal representatives, by this 
instrument. 

Sealed with my seal, and dated this second day of November, one 
thousand eight hundred and sixtv-four. 

The condition of this bond is such that if I, George Edgerton, m}' 
heirs, administrators, or executors, shall promptly pay the sum of two 
hundred and fifty dollars in three equal annual payments from the date 
hereof, with annual interest, then the above obligation to be of no effect; 
otherwise to be in full force and valid. 
Scfiled and delivered in 

presence of George Edgerton. [l.s.] 

William Turner. 

CHATTEL MORTGAGES. 

A chattel mortgage is a mortgage on personal property for paj^ment 
of a certain sum of money, to hold the property against debts of other 
creditors. The mortgage must describe the property, and must be 
acknowledged before a justice of the peace in the township or precinct 
where the mortgagee resides, and entered upon his docket, and must be 
recorded in the recorder's office of the county. 

GENERAL FORM OF CHATTEL MORTGAGE. 

This Indenture, made and entered into this first day of January, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, 
between Theodore Lottinville, of the town of Geneseo in the County 
of Henry, and State of Illinois, party of the first part, and Paul Henshaw, 
of the same town, county, and State, party of the second part. 
^ Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consider- 
ation of the sum of one thousand dollars, in hand paid, the receipt whereof 
is hereby acknowledged, does hereby grant, sell, convey, and confirm unto 
the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever, all and 
singular the followino- descriljed goods and chattels, to wit: 

Two three-year old roan-colored horses, one Burdett organ. No. 987, 
one Brussels carpet, 15x20 feet in size, one marble-top center table, one 
Home Comfort cooking stove. No. 8, one black walnut bureau with mirror 
attached, one set of parlor chairs (six in number), upholstered in green 
rep, with lounge corresponding with same in style and color of upholstery, 
now in possession of said Lottinville, at No. 4 Prairie Ave., Geneseo, 111. ; 



178 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

Together with all and singular, the appurtenances thereunto "belong- 
ing, or in any wise appertaining ; to have and to hold the above described 
goods and chattels, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and 
assigns, forever. 

Provided, always, and these presents are upon this express condition, 
that if the said Theodore Lottinville, his heirs, executors, administrators, 
or assigns, shall, on or before the first day of January, A.D., one thousand 
eight hundred and seventy-six, pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Paul 
Ranslow, or his lawful attorney or attorneys, heirs, executors, adminis- 
trators, or assigns, the sum of One Thousand dollars, together with the 
interest that ma}' accrue thereon, at the rate of ten per cent, per annum, 
from the first day of January, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and 
seventj^-five, until paid, according to the tenor of one promissory note 
bearing even date herewith for the payment of said sum of money, that 
then and from thenceforth, these presents, and everything herein con- 
tained, shall cease, and be null and void, anything herein contained to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

Provided, also, that the said Theodore Lottinville may retain the 
possession of and have the use of said goods and chattels until the day 
of payment aforesaid ; and also, at his own expense, shall keep said goods 
and chattels; and also at the expiration of said time of payment, if said 
sum of money, together with the interest as aforesaid, shall not be paid, 
shall deliver up said goods and chattels, in good condition, to said Paul 
Ranslow, or his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns. 

And provided, also, that if default in paj'ment as aforesaid, by said 
party of the first part, shall be made, or if said party of the second part 
shall at any time before said promissory note becomes due, feel himself 
unsafe or insecure, that then the said party of the second part, or his 
attorney, agent, assigns, or heirs, executors, or administrators, shall have 
the right to take possession of said goods and chattels, wherever they 
may or can be found, and sell the same at public or private sale, to the 
highest bidder for cash in hand, after oiving ten davs' notice of the time 
and place of said sale, together with a description of the goods and chat- 
tels to be sold, by at least four advertisements, posted up in ptiblic places 
in the vicinity where said sale is to take place, and proceed to make the 
sum of money and interest promised as aforesaid, together with all reason- 
able costs, charges, and expenses in so doing ; and if there shall be any 
overplus, shall pay the same without delay to the said party of the first 
part, or his legal representatives. 

In testimony whereof, the said party of the first part has hereunto 
set his hand and affixed his seal, the day and year first above written. 
Signed, sealed and delivered in 

presence of Theodore Lottinville. [l.s.] 

Samuel J. Tilden. 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 179 



LEASE OF FARM AND BUILDINGS THEREON. 

This Indenture, made this second day of June, 1875, between David 
Patton of the Town of Bisbee, State of Illinois, of the first part, and John 
Doyle of the same place, of the second part, 

Witnesseth, that the said David Patton, for and in consideration of 
the covenants hereinafter mentioned and reserved, on the part of the said 
John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to be paid, kept, 
and performed, hath let, and by these presents doth grant, demise, and 
let, unto the said John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, 
all that parcel of land situate in Bisbee aforesaid, bounded and described 
as follows, to wit : 

\_nere describe the land.~\ 

Together with all the appurtenances appertaining thereto. To have 
and to hold the said premises, with appurtenances thereto belonging, unto 
the said Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for the term of 
five years, from the first day of October next following, at a yearly rent 
of Six Hundred dollars, to be paid in equal payments, semi-annually, as 
lonsr as said buildinQ^s are in oood tenantable condition. 

.And the said Doyle, by these presents, covenants and agrees to pay 
all taxes and assessments,, and keep in repair all hedges, ditches, rail, and 
other fences ; (the said David Patton, his heirs, assigns and administra- 
tors, to furnish all timber, brick, tile, and other materials necessary for 
such repairs.) 

Said Doyle further covenants and agrees to apply to said land, in a 
farmer-like manner, all manure and compost accumulating upon said 
farm, and cultivate all the arable land in a husbandlike manner, accord- 
ing to the usual custom among farmers in the neighborhood ; he also 
agrees to trim the hedges at a seasonable time, preventing injury from 
cattle to such hedges, and to all fruit and other trees on the said premises. 
That he will seed down with clover and timothy seed twenty acres yearly 
of arable land, ploughing the same number of acres each Spring of land 
now in grass, and hitherto unbroken. 

It is further agreed, that if the said Doyle shall fail to perform the 
whole or any one of the above mentioned covenants, then and in that 
case the said David Patton may declare this lease terminated, by giving 
three months' notice of the same, prior to the first of October of any 
year, and may distrain any part of the stock, goods, or chattels, or other 
property in possession of said Doyle, for sufficient to compensate for the 
non-performance of the above written covenants, the same to be deter- 
mined, and amounts so to be paid to be determined, by three arbitrators^ 
chosen as follows : Each of the parties to this instrument to choose one, 



180 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

and the two so chosen to select a third ; the decision of said arbitrators 
to be tinal. 

In witness whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals. 
Signed, sealed, and delivered 

in presence of David Patton. [l.s.] 

James Waldron. John Doyle. [l.s.] 

FORM OF LEASE OF A HOUSE. 

This Instrument, made the first day of October, 1875, witnesseth 
that Amos Griest of Yorkville, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, hath 
rented from Aaron Young of Logansport aforesaid, the dwelling and lot 
No. 13 Ohio Street, situated in said City of Yorkville, for five years 
from the above date, at the yearly rental of Three Hundred dollars, pay- 
able monthly, on the first day of each month, in advance, at the residence 
of said Aaron Young. 

At the expiration of said above mentioned term, the said Griest 
agrees to give the said Young peaceable possession of the said dwelling, 
in as good condition as when taken, ordinary wear and casualties excepted. 

In witness whereof, we place our hands and seals the day and year 
aforesaid. 

Signed, sealed and delivered Amos Griest. [l.s.] 

in presence of 

Nickolas Schutz, Aaron Young, [l.s.] 

Notary Public. 

LANDLORD'S AGREEMENT. 

This certifies that I have let and rented, this first day of January, 
1876, unto Jacob Schmidt, my house and lot, No. 15 Erie Street, in the 
City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and its appurtenances ; he to have the 
free and uninterrupted occupation thereof for one year from this date, at 
the yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly in advance ; 
rent to cease if destroyed by fire, or otherwise made untenantable. 

Peter Funk. 
TENANT'S AGREEMENT. 

This certifies that I have hired and taken from Peter Funk, his 
house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the City of Chicago, State of Illi- 
nois, with appurtenances thereto belonging, for one year, to commence 
this day, at a yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly 
in advance ; unless said house becomes untenantable from fire or other 
causes, in which case rent ceases ; and I further agree to give and ^-ield 
said premises one year from this first day of January 1876, in as good 
condition as now, ordinary wear and damage by the elements excepted. 

Given under my hand this day. Jacob Schmidt. 



• ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 181 

NOTICE TO QUIT. 

To F. W. Arlen, 

Sir : Please observe that the term of one year, for which the house 
and land, situated at No, 6 Indiana Street, and now occupied by you, 
were rented to you, expired on the first day of October, 1875, and as I 
desire to repossess said premises, you are hereby requested and required 
to vacate the same. Respectfully Yours, 

P. T. Barnum. 

Lincoln, ISeb., October 4, 1875. 

TENANT'S NOTICE OF LEAVING. 

Dear Sir: 

The premises I now occupy as your tenant, at No. 6 Indiana Street, 
I shall vacate on the first day of November, 1875. You will please take 
notice accordingly. 

Dated this tenth day of October, 1875. F. W. Arlen. 

To P, T. Barnum, Esq. 

REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE TO SECURE PAYMENT OF MONEY. 

This Indenture, made this sixteenth day of May, in the year of 
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between William 
Stocker, of Peoria, County of Peoria, and State of Illinois, and 011a, his 
wife, party of the first part, and Edward Singer, party of the second part. 

Whereas, the said party of the first part is justly indebted to the said 
party of the second part, in the sum of Two Thousand dollars, secured 
to be paid by two certain promissory notes (bearing even date herewith) 
the one due and payable at the Second National Bank in Peoria, Illinois, 
with interest, on the sixteenth day of May, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and seventy-three ; the other due and payable at the Second 
National Bank at Peoria, 111., with interest, on the sixteenth day of May, 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. 

Now, therefore, this indenture witnesseth, that the said party of the 
first part, for the better securing the payment of the money aforesaid, 
with interest thereon, according to the tenor and effect of the said two 
promissory notes above mentioned ; and, also in consideration of the fur- 
ther sum of one dollar to them in hand paid by the said party of the sec- 
ond part, at the delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby 
acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, and conveyed, and by these 
presents do grant, bargain, sell, and convey, unto the said party of the 
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain parcel of land, 
situate, etc. 

\^Descrihing the premises.^ 

To have and to hold the same, together with all and singular the 
Tenements, Hereditaments, Privileges and Appurtenances thereunto 



182 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

belonoing or in any wise appertaining. And also, all the estate, interest, 
anil claim whatsoever, in law as well as in equity which the party of 
the first part have in and to the premises hereby conveyed unto the said 
party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, and to their only proper 
use, benefit and behoof. And the said William Stocker, and 011a, hip 
wife, party of the first part, hereby expressly waive, relinquish, release, 
and convey unto the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, 
administrators, and assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit 
whatever, in and to the above described premises, and each and every 
part thereof, which is given by or results from all laws of this state per- 
taining to the exemption of homesteads. 

Provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition, 
that if the said party of the first part, their heirs, executors, or adminis- 
trators, shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, to the said part}^ of 
the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the afore- 
said sums of money, with such interest thereon, at the time and in the 
manner specified in the above mentioned promissory notes, according to 
the true intent and meaning thereof, then in that case, these presents and 
every thing herein expressed, shall be absolutely null and void. 

Iji witness whereof, the said party of the first part hereunto set their 
hands and seals the day and year first above written. 
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of 

James Whitehead, William Stocker. [l.s.] 

Fred. Samuels. Olla Stocker. [l.s.] 

WARRANTY DEED WITH COVENANTS. 

This Indenture, made this sixth day of April, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between Henry Best 
of Lawrence, County of Lawrence, State of Illinois, and Belle, his wife, 
of the first part, and Charles Pearson of the same place, of the second part, 

Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration 
of the sura of Six Thousand dollars in hand paid by the said party of the 
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted, 
bargained, and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell, 
unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, all the fol- 
lowing described lot, piece, or parcel of land, situated in the City of Law- 
rence, in the County of Lawrence, and State of Illinois, to wit : 

\_Ht're describe the property.'] 

Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances 
thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining, and the reversion and 
reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof; 
and all the estate, rignt, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever, of 
the said party of the nrst part, either in law or equity, of, in, and to the 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 185 

above bargained premises, with the hereditaments and appurtenances. 
To have and to hold the said premises above bargained and described, 
with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs 
and assigns, forever. And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, par- 
ties of the first part, hereby expressly waive, release, and relinquish unto 
the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, and 
assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit whatever, in and to the 
above described premises, and each and every part thereof, which is given 
by or results from all laws of this state pertaining to the exemption of 
homesteads. 

And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, party of the first 
part, for themselves and their heirs, executors, and administrators, do 
covenant, grant, bargain, and agree, to and Avith the said party of the 
second part, his heirs and assigns, that at the time of the ensealing and 
delivery of these presents they were well seized of the premises above 
conveyed, as of a good, sure, perfect, absolute, and indefeasible estate of 
inheritance in law, and in fee simple, and have good right, full power, 
and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey the same, in 
manner and form aforesaid, and that the same are free and clear from all 
former and other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments, and 
encumbrances of what kind or nature soever ; and the above bargained 
premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the 
second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person or persons 
lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, the said party 
of the first part shall and will warrant and forever defend. 

In testimony whereof, the said parties of the first part have hereunto 
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written. 
Signed, sealed and delivered 

in presence of Henry Best, [l.s.] 

Jerry Linklater. Belle Best. [l.s.] 

- QUIT-CLAIM DEED. 

This Indenture, made the eighth day of June, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between David Tour, 
of Piano, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, party of the first part, 
and Larry O'Brien, of the same place, party of the second part, 

Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in considera- 
tion of Nine Hundred dollars in hand paid by the said party of the sec- 
ond part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and the said party 
of the second part forever released and discharged therefrom, has remised, 
released, sold, conveyed, and quit-claimed, and by these presents does 
remise, release, sell, convey, and quit-claim, unto the said party of the 
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all the right, title, interest, 



180 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

claim, and demand, which the said party of the first part has in and to 
tlie following described lot, piece, or parcel of land, to wit : 

\^Here describe the land.~\ 

To have and to hold the same, together Avith all and singular the 
appurtenances and privileges thereunto belonging, or in any wise there- 
unto appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, interest, and claim 
whatever, of the said party of the first part, either in law or equity, to 
the only proper use, benefit, and behoof of the said party of the second 
part, his heirs and assigns forever. 

In witness whereof the said party of the first part hereunto set his 
hand and seal the day and year above written. 

Signed, sealed and delivered David Tour, [l.s.]^ 

in presence of 
Thomas Ashley. 

The above forms of Deeds and Mortgage are such as have heretofore 
been generally used, but the following are much shorter, and are made 
equally valid by the laws of this state. 

WARRANTY DEED. 

The grantor (here insert name or names and place of residence), for 
and in consideration of (here insert consideration) in hand paid, ijonveys 
and Avarrants to (here insert the grantee's name or names) the following 
described real estate (here insert description), situated in the County of 
in the State of Illinois. 

Dated this day of A. D. 18 . 

QUIT CLAIM DEED. 

The grantor (here insert grantor's name or names and place of resi- 
dence), for the consideration of (here insert consideration) convey and 
quit-claim to (here insert grantee's name or names) all interest in the 
following described real estate (here insert description), situated in the 
County of in the State of Illinois. 

Dated this day of A. D. 18 . 

MORTGAGE. 

The mortgagor (here insert name or names) mortgages and warrants 
to (here insert name or names of mortgagee or mortgagees), to secure the 
payment of (here recite the nature and amount of indebtedness, showing 
when due and tlie rate of interest, and whether secured by note or other- 
wise), the following described real estate (here insert description thereof), 
situated in the County of in the State of Illinois. 

Dated this day of A. D. 18 . 

RELEASE. 

Know all Men by these presents, that I, Peter Ahlund, of Chicago, 
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, for and in consideration of 
One dollar, to me in hand paid, and for other good and valuable considera- 



■■■■^. 








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V 







■■■■. jSi--">?'"^';^ 




PARTRIDGE TOWNSHIP 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 187 

tions, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed, do hereby grant, bargain, 
remise, convey, release, and quit-claim unto Joseph Carlin of Chicago, 
of th^ County of Cook, and State of Illinois, all the right, title, interest, 
claim, or demand whatsoever, I may have acquired in, through, or by a 
certain Indenture or Mortgage Deed, bearing date the second day of Jan- 
uary, A. D. 1871, and recorded in the Recorder's office of said county, 
in book A of Deeds, page 46, to the premises therein described, and which 
said Deed was made to secure one certain promissory note, bearing even 
date with said deed, for the sum of Three Hundred dollars. 

Witness my hand and seal, this second day of November, A. D. 1874. 

Peter Ahlund. [l.s.] 
State of Illinois, ) 
Cook County. ) ' I, George Saxton, a Notary Public in 

and for said county, in the state aforesaid, do hereby 

certify that Peter Ahlund, personally known to me 

as the same person whose name is subscribed to the 

foregoing Release, appeared before me this day in 

[ "^seII^^" ] person, and acknowledged that he signed, sealed, and 

delivered the said instrument of writing as his free 

a.id voluntary act, for the uses and purposes therein 

set forth. 

Giv^n under my hand and seal, this second day of 

November, A. D. 1874. 

George Saxton, N. P. 

6ENERAL FOItM OF WILL FOR REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. 

I, Charles Mansfield, of the Town of Salem, County of Jackson, 
Srate of Illinois, being aware of the uncertainty of life, and in failing- 
health, but of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this to be 
my last will and testament, in manner folio iving, to wit: 

First. I give, devise and bequeath unto my oldest son, Sidney H. 
Mansfield, the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, cf bank stock, now in the 
Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the farm owned by myself 
in the Town of Buskirk, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, with 
all the houses, tenements, and improvements thereunto belonging ; to 
have and to hold unto my said son, his heirs and assiguv, forever. 

Second. I give, devise and bequeath to each of my daughters, Anna 
Louise Mansfield and Ida Clara Mansfield, each Two ThouSvind dollars in 
bank stock, in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and also each 
one quarter section of land, owned by myself, situated in the Town of 
Lake, Illinois, and recorded in my name in the Recorder's officvi in the 
county where such land is located. The north one hundred and sixty 
acres of said half section is devised to my eldest daughter, Anna Louise. 
6 



188 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

Third. I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Frank Alfred Mans- 
field, Five shares of Railroad stock in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 
and my one hundred and sixty acres of land and saw mill thereon, situ- 
ated in Manistee, Michigan, with all the improvements and appurtenances 
thereunto belonging, which said real estate is recorded in my name in the 
county where situated. 

Fourth. I give to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, all my 
household furniture, goods, chattels, and personal property, about my 
home, not hitherto disposed of, including Eight Thousand dollars of bank 
stock in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifteen shares in 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the free and unrestricted use, pos- 
session, and benefit of the home farm, so long as she may live, in lieu of 
dower, to which she is entitled by law ; said farm being my present place 
of residence. 

Fifth. I bequeath to my invalid father, Elijah H. Mansfield, the 
income from rents of my store building at 145 Jackson Street, Chicago, 
Illinois, during the term of his natural life. Said building and land there- 
with to revert to my said sons and daughters in equal proportion, upon 
the demise of my said father. 

Sixth. It is also my will and desire that, at the death of my wife, 
Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, or at any time when she may arrange to 
relinquish her life interest in the above mentioned homestead, the same 
may revert to my above named children, or to the lawful heirs of each. 

And lastly. I nominate and appoint as executors of this my last will 
and testament, my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, and my eldest son, 
Sidney H. Mansfield. 

I further direct that my debts and necessary funeral expenses shaJ 
be paid from moneys now on deposit in the Savings Bank of Salem, the 
residue of such moneys to revert to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, 
for her use forever. 

In witness whereof, I, Charles Mansfield, to this my last will and 
testament, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourth day of April, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

Signed, sealed, and declared by Charles 

Mansfield, as and for his last will and 

testament, in the presence of us, who, 

at his request, and in his presence, and 

in the presence of each other, have sub- > 

scribed our .names hereunto as witnesses 

thereof. 
Peter A. Schenck, Sycamore, Ills. 
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills. 



Charles Mansfield, [l.s.] 



Charles Mansfield, [l.s.] 



> 



ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 18U 

CODICIL 

Whereas I, Charles Mansfield, did, on the fourth d^y of April, one 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, make my last will and testa- 
ment, I do now, by this writing, add this codicil to my said will, to be 
taken as a part thereof. 

Whereas, by the dispensation of Providence, my daughter, Anna 
Louise, has deceased November fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, 
and whereas, a aon has been born to me, which son is now christened 
Richard Albert Mansfield, I give and bequeath unto him my gold watch, 
and all right, interest, and title in lands and bank stock and chattels 
bequeathed to my deceased daughter, Anna Louise, in the body of this will. 

In witness whereof, I hereunto place my hand and seal, this tenth 
day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-five. 

Signed, sealed, published, and declared to~ 

us by the testator, Charles Mansfield, as 

and for a codicil to be annexed to his 

last will and testament. And we, at 

his request, and in his presence, and in 

the presence of each other, have sub- 
scribed our names as witnesses thereto, 

at the date hereof. 
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills. 
John C. Shay, Salem, Ills. 

CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS 

May be legally made by electing or appointing, according to the usages 
or customs of the body of which it is a part, at any meeting held for that 
purpose, two or more of its members as trustees, wardens or vestrymen, and 
may adopt a corporate name. The chairman or secretary of such meeting 
shall, as soon as possible, make and file in the office of the recorder of 
deeds of the county, an affidavit substantially in the following form : 

State of Illinois, / 

County. i| 

I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be), 

that at a meeting of the members of the (here insert the name of the 
church, society or congregation as known before organization), held at 

(here insert place of meeting), in the County of , and State of 

Illinois, on the day of , A.D. 18 — , for that purpose, the fol- 
lowing persons were elected (or appointed) [here insert their names'] 
trustees, wardens, vestrymen, (or officers by whatever name they may 
choose to adopt, with powers similar to trustees) according to the rules 
and usages of sucih Tchurch, society or congregation), and said 



y 



190 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 

adopted as its corporate name (here insert name), and at said meeting] 
tliis affiant acted as (chairman or secretary, as the case may be). 

Subscribed and sworn to before me. this day of , A.D, 

18^ — -, Name of Affiant 

which affidavit must be recorded by the recorder, and shall be, or a certi- 
fied cop3' made by the recorder, received as evidence of such an incorpo- 
ration. 

JVb certificate of election after the first need he filed for record. 

The term of office of the trustees and the general government of the 
society can be determined by the rules or by-laws adopted. Failure to 
elect trustees at the time provided does not work a dissolution, but the 
old trustees hold over. A trustee or trustees may be removed, in thi- 
same manner by the society as elections are held by a meeting called for 
that purpose. The property of the society vests in the corporation. The 
corporation may hold, or acquire b}' purchase or otherwise, land not 
exceeding ten acres, for the purpose of the society. The trustees have 
the care, custody and control of the property of the corporation, and can, 
when directed by the society, erect houses or improvements, and repair 
and alter the same, and may also when so directed by the society, 
mortgage, encumber, sell and convey any real or personal estate belonging 
to the corporation, and make all proper contracts in the name of such 
corporation. But they are prohibited by law from encumbering or inter- 
fering with any property so as to destroy the effect of any gift, grant, 
devise or bequest to the corporation ; but such gifts, grants, devises oi 
bequests, must in all cases be used so as to carrj' out the object intended 
by the persons making the same. Existing societies may organize in the 
manner herein set forth, and have all the advantages thereof. 

SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE PURCHASING BOOKS BY SUBSCRIPTION. 

The business of puhUshing hooks hy suhscription having so often been 
brought into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations 
not authorized hy the puhlisher ; in order to prevent that as much as possi- 
ble, and that there may be more general knowledge of the relation such 
agents bear to tbeir principal, and the law governing such cases, the fol- 
lowing statement is made : 

A suhscription is in the nature of a contract of mutual promises, by 
which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ; 
the consideration is concurrent that the publisher shall puhlish the ho'Jc 
named, and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price 
named. The nature and character of the work is described in the prospectus 
and hy the sample shoivn. lihesQ ^\\o\\\i\. he carefully examined hefore syh. 
scribing, as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pav, 



t 



ABSTRACT OF Il^LTNOIS STATE LAWS. 191 

and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agents who is merely 
employed to solicit subscriptions, for which he is usually paid a commission 
i for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions 
j upon which the subscriptions are authorized to be made by the publisher. 
I Should the agent assume to agree to make the subscription conditional or 
j modify or change the agreement of the publisher, as set out by prospectus 
Q^nA )i,^ra^\Q, \n oxdiev to bind the p)rincipal, the subscriber should see that 
sucli conditions or changes are stated over or in connection with his signa- 
ture, so that the publisher may have notice of the same. 

All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or 
any other business, should remember that the laiv as to written contracts is, 
that thev can not be varied, altered or rescinded verbally, but if done at all, 
must be done in tvriting. It is therefore important that all persons contem- 
plating subscribing should distinctly understand that all talk before or after 
the subscription is made, is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the 
contract. 

Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known to the trade as 
canvassers. They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a 
prescribed mode, and have no authority to do it in any other way to the 
prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in any other 
matter. They cannot collect money, or agree that payment may be made 
in anything else but money. They can not extend the time of payment 
' beyond the time of delivery, nor bind their principal for the payment of 
expenses incurred in their buisness. 

It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons, 
before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instru- 
ment, would examine carefully ivhatit is ; if they can not read themselves, 
should call on some one disinterested who can. 

6 



192 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
defense', promote the general ivelfare, and secioe the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 

Article I. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in 
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem- 
bers chosen ever}- second j^ear b}' the people of the several states, and the 
lectors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in 
which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. 
The actual enumeration shall be made within three j-ears after the first 
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse- 
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, 
but each state shall have at least one Representative ; and until such 
enumeration shall be made the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled 
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New Jerse}' four, Penns^lva- 
nia eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five, 
and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the 
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other 
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years ; 
and each Senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, the}- shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. 
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- 



AiTD ITS AMENDMENTS. 193 

tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth 
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that 
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by 
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state, 
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next 
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacaxicies. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age 
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he 
shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise 
the office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the 
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside. 
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the members present. 

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, 
and punishment according to law. 

Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen- 
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legis- 
lature thereof; but the Congress ma}^ at any time by law make or alter 
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by 
law appoint a different day. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute 
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members 
in such manner and under such penalties as each liouse may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, 
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house 
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered 
on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen- 
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the 
treasury of the United States. They shall in ail cases, except treason, 



194 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil ofiBce under the authority of the United 
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall 
have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office 
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his 
continuance in office. 

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments 
as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President 
the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it ; but if not he shall 
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi- 
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by } eas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he 
had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its 
return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Rei>resentatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the 
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by 
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and lim- 
itations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power — 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts, 
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United 
Jtates ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States ; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
Str.tes, and with the Indian tribes ; 

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and 
fix the standard 5f weights and measures ; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States; 

To establish post offices and post roads ; 



AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 195 

To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing, 
for ^'mited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries ; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offenses against the law of nations ; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water ; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that 
use shall be for n longer term than two years ; 

To provide and maintain a navy ; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the 
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and 
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the 
United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the 
ofScers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disci' 
pline prescribed by Congress ; 

To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not 
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the 
consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for 
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful 
buildings ; and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
intc execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this 
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart- 
ment or officer thereof. 

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion 
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev- 
enue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels 
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of 
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of 
the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from 
time to time. 



196 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, M'ithout the 
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title 
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder- 
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts 
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary 
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and 
imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the 
Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the 
revision and control of the Congress. 

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on 
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as wiU 
not admit of delay. 

Article II. 

Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same 
term, be elected as follows : 

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators 
and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ; 
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

[*The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of 
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the 
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres- 
ident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. 
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; 
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal 
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a ma- 
jority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like 
manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote 
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be 
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, 

• This clause between, brackets bas been superseded and annulled by the Twelfth amendment. 



AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 197 

the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be 
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have 
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-Presi- 
dent.] 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and 
the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that 
of&ce who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been 
fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, 
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said 
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Pi^esident, and the Congress 
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabil- 
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what oflScer shall 
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the dis- 
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com^ 
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of 
them. 

Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the fol- 
lowing oath or affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the 
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when 
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive 
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses 
against the United States, ex<iept in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con- 
cur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate, 
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of 
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose 
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be 
established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment 
of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in 
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which 
shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information 
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea- 
sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary 



"198 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree- 
ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he maj 
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United 
States. 

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- 
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

Article III. 

Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested 
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from 
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and 
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at 
stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be 
diminished during their continuance in office. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases 
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of 
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United 
States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ; 
between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of differ- 
ent states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants 
of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign 
states, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, 
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have 
■original jurisdiction. 

In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall 
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions 
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by 
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed within an}^ state, the 
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have 
directed. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy- 
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the tes- 
timony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, 
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, 
except during the life of the person attainted. 

Article IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And 



AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 199 

the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, 
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand 
of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered 
up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiclon of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered 
up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; 
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any 
other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, 
or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states 
concerned, as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging 
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed 
as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state. 

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Execu- 
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic vio- 
lence. 

Article V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessar}^ shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ap- 
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call 
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati- 
fied by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by con- 
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifi- 
cation may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment 
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth 
section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall 
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

Akticle VL 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop- 
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under 
this Constitution as under the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be 
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in 
the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mera-> 

7 



200 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 



bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi- 
cers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound 
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test 
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
the United States. 

Article VII. 

The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient 
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying 
the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the 
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have 
hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEO. WASHINGTON, 
President and Deputy from Virginia. 



New ffanipshire. 
John Langdon, 
Nicholas Oilman. 

Massachusetts. 
Nathaniel Gorham, 
RuFus King. 

Connecticut. 
Wm. Sam'l Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 



Delaware. 
Geo. Read, 
John Dickinson, 
Jaco. BroOxM, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
Richard Bassett. 

Maryland. 
James M' Henry, 
Danl. Carroll, 
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer. 



New York. 
Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. 
WiL. Livingston, 
Wm. Paterson, 
David Brearley, 
JoNA. Dayton. 



Virginia. 
John Blair, 
James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina. 
Wm. Blount, 
Hu. Williamson, 
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight. 



Pennsylvania. 
B. Franklin, 
Robt. Morris, 
Thos. Fitzsimons, 
James Wilson, 
Thos. Mifflin, 
Geo. Clymer, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
Gouv. Morris. 



South Carolina. 
J. Rutledge, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. 
William Few, 
Abr. Baldwin. 

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 



AJSTD ITS AMENDMENTS. 203 



Articles in Addition to and Amendatory of the Constitution 
OF THE United States of America. 

Proposed hy Congress and ratified by the Legislatures of the several statei, 
pursuant to the fifth article of the origiyial Constitution. 

Article I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

Article II. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Article III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without 
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be pre- 
scribed by law. 

Article IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
lated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in 
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual 
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject 
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall 
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor 
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

Article VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have 
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; 
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to 
have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

Article VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the riarht of trial bv lurv shall be preserved, and no fact 



204 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United 
States than according to the rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. 

The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, 
or to the people. 

Article XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one 
of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub- 
jects of any foreign state. 

Article XII. 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot 
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their 
ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the 
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of 
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- 
President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in presence pf the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; 
and if no person have such majorit3',*then from the persons having the 
highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- 
thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to 
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi- 
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of 
the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority 
of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majo] -- 





(deceased) ^ 

partridge: TOWNSHIP 



AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 205 

ity, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose 
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds 
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number 
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible 
to the ofBce of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the 
United States. 

Article XIII. 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris- 
diction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

Article XIV. 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in tlie United States and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and 
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction 
the equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per- 
sons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to 
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice- 
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu- 
tive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being 
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the num- 
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one years of age in such state. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, 
or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or 
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previ- 
ously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the 
United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an execu- 
tive or judicial officer of any. state to support the Constitution of the 
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress mav 
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author- 
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and boun- 
ties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques- 
tioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 



206 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this act. 

Article XV. 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on 
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 



ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT. 

November 7, 1876. 



COUNTIES. 


Haves and 

Wheeler, 
Republican. 


'" ^ n 

-B ° 

S 3 2 


c — 

03 

|5 


- ? 

■2c^ 


!J 

il 

1 


COUNTIES. 


Hayes and 

Wheeler, 
Republican. 


Tilden and 
Hendrick.s, 
Democrat. 


PeterCooper 
Greenback. 


5 


■~ a; 
■< 


Adams 


4953 
1219 
1520 
1965 

944 
3719 

441 
2231 
1209 
4530 
2501 
1814 
1416 
1329 
2957 
36548 
1355 
1145 
3679 
1928 
1631 
2129 
2715 

970 
1145 
1881 
1601 

966 
4187 

703 
1695 
1996 

627 
3496 

330 
1315 
4177 
3768 
2040 


6308 
1280 
1142 

363 
1495 
2218 

900 

918 
1618 
3103 
3287 
2197 
1541 
1989 
2822 
39240 
1643 
1407 
1413 
1174 
1.357 
1276 
2883 

466 
2265 
2421 

742 
1302 
4669 
1140 
3160 
1142 
1433 
4207 

611 
1015 
1928 
2578 
2071 


41 


17 




Livingston 


3550 
2788 
3120 
3567 
4554 
2009 
1553 
1566 
1231 
2952 
3465 
6363 
1115 
2209 

845 
2486 
3069 
1245 
3833 
4665 
1319 
1541 
1807 
3055 
1043 

646 
2357 
1410 
3912 

980 
4851 
1522 

910 
2069 
1140 
4708 
3198 
2850 

978 
4372 

650 
2795 
1911 
1570 
1297 
3851 
4770 
1672 
4505 
1733 


2134 
2595 
2782 
4076 
4730 
2444 
1430 
1939 

793 
2811 
1874 
4410 
1657 
1428 
1651 
3013 
3174 
1672 
1921 
5443 

800 
1383 
1316 
4040 

772 

459 
2589 
1552 
2838 
1081 
5847 
1804 
1269 
3553 

786 
5891 
2758 
3171 
2155 
3031 

936 
1984 
1671 
1751 
2066 
2131 
3999 
1644 
1568 
2105 


1170 

37 

268 

114 

39 

209 

135 

86 

20 

347 

34 

518 

10 

90 

201 
109 

28 
104 

95 
5 

48 
117 

35 


16 

""i 
"3 

"8 


•i 


Alexander 


Logan 


Bond 


17 

43 

183 

145 


"2 

1 
2 




li 


Macon 




Boone 


Macoupin 

Madison 




Brown 




Bureau 


Marion 




Calhoun 


Marshall . . 


I 


Carroll . . 


111 

74 

604 

207 

236 

112 

132 

102 

277 

38 

129 

65 

746 

94 

25 

161 

61 

43 

57 

204 

391 

89 

282 

1 

108 

770 


1 
7 

'■'i 
16 

"2 


3 
"i 

6 

9 
■■3 

3 
■'8 

"i 
•■4 


Mason 




Cass 


Massac 

McDonougli 




Champaign 






McHenry 


•} 


Clark 


McLean 


7 


Clay 


Menard 






Mercer 


3 


Coles 


Monroe 


Cook 


Montgomery 




Crawford 


Morgan 


5 


Cumberland 


Moultrie 




DeKalb 


Ogle 





DeWitt . 


Peoria 


' 


Douglas 


Pone 


'"i 




DuPage 


Perry 




Edgar 


Piatt 




Edwards 


Pike 


4 


Effingham 


Pulaski 




FavpJte 


Putnam 


14 
2 

55 

27 

641 

29 

115 

182 

341 

96 

99 

26 

44 

3 

288 

207 

138 

39 

482 

469 

133 

677 

41 

70 

237 






Foru 


R.andolph 




Frnriklin 


Richland 




Fulton 


Rock Island 




Gallatin 


Saline 




Greene 


Sangamon 

Schuyler 

Scott 




Grundv 


"2 

1.3 

1 








Hancock 


Shelby 

Stark 




Hardin 


134 
1 
340 
249 
106 


"a 

14 


"6 

1 




Henderson 


St. Clair 


1 


Henrv 


Stephenson 


3 


Iroquois 


Tazewell 

Union 


9 


Jackson 




Jasper ... 




9 


Jetf erson 


1346 
1345 
2907 
1367 
5398 
2627 
1869 
5235 
2619 
6277 
1198 
3087 


1667 
2166 
2276 

893 
2850 
1363 

524 
2632 
1647 
6001 
1329 
2080 


647 

■■■146 

61 
172 

26 
309 
141 

55 
514 

27 
100 


12 
2 

"■2 


■■■3 

"5 
2 

■■'i 
1 

15 


Wabash 




Jersey 


Warren 


1 


Jo Daviess 




Johnson 

Kane 


Wayne 

White 

Whiteside 


"4 




1 


Kendall 


Will 




Knox 


Williamson 






Winnebago 


9 


LaSalle 


Woodford 


4 




Total 






275958 


257099 


16951 l.'ioll.'i? 













Practical Rules for Every Day Use. 



Soiv to find the gain or loss per cent, when the cost and selling py'ice 
are given. 

Rule. — Find the difference between the cost and selling price, which 
will be the gain or loss. 

Annex two ciphers to the gain or loss, and divide it by the cost 
price ; the result will be the gain or loss per cent. 

Hoiv to change gold into currency. 

Rule. — Multiply the given sura of gold by the price of gold. 

Hoiv to change currency into gold. 

Divide the amount in currency by the price of gold. 

Hoiv to find each partner's share of the gain or loss in a copartnership 
business. 

Rule. — Divide the whole gain or loss by the entire stock, the quo- 
tient will be the gain or loss per cent. 

Multipl}^ each partner's stock by this per cent., the result will be 
each one's share of the gain or loss. 

Hoiv to find gross and net weight and price of hogs. 

A short and simple method for finding the net weight., or price of hogs, 
when the gross iveight or price is given, and vice versa. 

Note.— It is generally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent. 
of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by K or 25 per cent, of itself equals the 
Rross weiglit. 

To find the net iveight or gross price. « * 

Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths.) 

To find the gross iveight or net price. 

Divide the given number by .8 (tenths.) 

How to find the capacity of a granary, bin, or wagon-bed. 

Rule. — Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by 
6308, and point off one decimal place — the result will be the correct 
answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel. 

For only an app)roximate answer, multiply the cubic feet by 8, and 
point off one decimal place. 

Hoiv to find the contents of a corn-crib. 

Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 54, short method, or 

(207) 



208 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 

by 4§ ordinary method, and point off one decimal place — the result will 
be the answer in bushels. 

Note.— In estlraating corn in the ear, the quality and the time it has been cribbed, must be taken 
into consideration, since corn will shrinls considerably during the Winter and Spring. This rule generally holds 
good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is sound and clean. 

Hoiv to find the contents of a cistern or tank. 

Rule. — Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all 
in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off" one 
decimal place — the result will be the contents in barrels of 31^ gallons. 

How to find the contents of a barrel or cask. 

Rule. — Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length 
(all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the 
TENS ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point 
off one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons. 

Jloiv to measure boards. 

Rule. — Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and 
divide the product by 12 — the result will be the contents in square feet. 

IToiv to measure scantlings, joists, planks, sills, etc. 

Rule. — Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together 
(the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide 
the product by 12 — the result will be square feet. 

Soiv to find the number of acres in a body of land. 

Rule. — Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the 
product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is a 
remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths. 

When the opposite sides of a piece of land are of unequal length, 
add them together and take one-half for the mean length or width. 

Hoiv to find the number of square yards in a floor or ivall. 

Rule. — Multiply the length by the width or height (in feet), and 
divide the product by 9, the result will be square yards. 

Hoiv to find the number of bricks required in a building. 

Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 22^. ■ • 

The number of cubic feet is found by multiplying the length, height 
and thickness (in feet) together. 

Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches 
thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar, 
but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space. 

Hoiu to find the number of shingles required in a roof. 

Rule. — Multiply the number of square feet in the roof by 8, if the 
shingles are exposed 4^ inches, or by 7 1-5 if exposed 5 inches. 

To find the number of square feet, multiply the length of the roof by 
twice the length of the rafters. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 209 

To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the 
width of the building by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6 
(tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths) ; at one-half 
pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from 
the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be 
taken into consideration. 

Note.— By K or M pitch is meant that the apex or comb of the roof is to be Ji or J^ the width of the 
building liigrher than the walls or base of the rafters. 

ffoiv to reckon the cost of hay. 

Rule. — Multiply the number of pounds by half the price per ton, 
and remove the decimal point three places to the left. 

How to measure grain. 

Rule. — Level the grain ; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic 
feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to 
the left. 

Note.— Exactness requires the addition to every three hundred bushels of one extra bushel. 

The foregoing rule may be used for finding the number of gallons, by 
multiplying the number of bushels by 8. 

If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find 
the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai 
corn to make 1 of shelled corn. 

Rapid rules for measuring land ivithout instruments. 

In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any 
given plot in square 3^ards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the 
number of rods and acres. 

The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now, 
an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on 
the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes. 

To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to 
walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line 
straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walk- 
ing, keep these objects constantly in line. 

Farmers and others hy adopting the folloiving simple and iiigenious con- 
trivance., may ahvays carry loith them the scale to construct a correct yard 
measure. 

Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of 
the ^ft hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the 
left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink. 

To find hoiv many rods in length will make an acre., the width being given. 
Rule. — Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer. 



210 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 

Holo to find the number of acres in any plot of land, the number of rods 
being given. 

Rule. — Divide the number of rods by 8, multiply the quotient by 5, 

and remove the decimal point two places to the left. 

The diameter being given, to find the circumference. 
Rule. — Multiply the diameter by 3 1-7. 

How to find the diameter, lohen the circumference is given. 
Rule. — Divide the circumference by 3 1-7. 

To find hotv many solid feet a round stick of timber of the same thick- 
ness throughout will contain when squared. 

Rule. — Square half the diameter in inches, multiply by 2, multiply 
by the length in feet, and divide the product by 144. 

General 7'ule for measuring timber, to find the solid contents in feet. 
Rule. — Multiply the depth in inches by the breadth in inches, and 
then multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 144. 

To find the number of feet of timber in trees with the bark on. 

Rule. — Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in 
inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by ]'-44. Deduct 1-10 to 
1-15 according to the thickness of the bark. 

Hoivard' s neiv rule for computi^ig interest. 

Rule. — The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest 
on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal 
point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point 
one place to the left ; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three 
places to the left. 

Increase or diminish the results to suit the time given. 

Note.— The reciprocal of the rate is found by inverting the rate ; thus 3 per cent, per month, in- 
Terted, becomes % of a month, or 10 days. 

When the rate is expressed by one figure, always write it thus : 3-1, 
three ones. 

Rule for converting English into American currency. 

Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals, 
by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by 90. 

U. S. GOVERNMENT LAND MEASURE. 

A township — 36 sections each a mile square. 
A section — 640 acres. 

A quarter section, half a mile square — 160 acres. 
An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter 
of a mile wide — 80 acres. 

A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square — 40 acres. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 211 

The sections are all numbered 1 to 36, commencing at the north-east 
corner. 

The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the 
cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The de- 
scription of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of 
the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west, 
or as the case might be ; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes 
overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain. 

The nautical mile is 795 4-5 feet longer than the common mile. 



^&' 



SURVEYORS' MEASURE. 

7 92-100 inches make 1 link. 

25 links " 1 rod. 

4rods " 1 chain. 

80 chains " 1 mile. 

Note. — A chain is 100 links, equal to 4 rods or 66 feet. 

Shoemakers formerly used a subdivision of the inch called a barley- 
corn ; three of which made an inch. 

Horses are measured directly over the fore feet, and the standard of 
measure is four inches — called a hand. 

In Biblical and other old measurements, the term span is sometimes 
used, which is a ler.gth of nine inches. 

The sacred cubit of the Jews was 24.024 inches in length. 

The common cubit of the Jews was 21.704 inches in length. 

A pace is equal to a yard or 36 inches. 

A fathom is equal to 6 feet. 

A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly 
speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal 
to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said 
to be a league. 

In cloth measure an aune is equal to li yards, or 45 inches. 

An Amsterdam ell is equal to 26.796 inches. 

A Trieste ell is equal to 25.284 inches. 

A Brabant ell is equal to 27.116 inches. 

HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS. 

Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business, 
should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic man- 
ner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of ac- 
quiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here 
present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended, 
and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics 
and laborers. 



212 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



1875. 



A. H. JACKSON. 



Dr. 



Jan. lOlTo 



i(. 


17 


By 


Feb. 


4 


'lo 


u 


4 


To 


March 


8 


Bv 


u 


8 


By 


ii 


13 


By 


li 


27 


To 


April 





To 


'' 





By 


May 


G 


By 


(( 


24 


To 


.Fulv 


4 


Bv 



7 bushels Wheat at $1.25 

shoeing span of Horses 

14 bushels Oats at $ .45 

5 lbs. Butter at .25 

new Harrow 

sharpening 2 Plows 

new Double-Tree _ 

Cow and Calf 

half ton of Hay 

Cash 

repairing Corn-Planter 

one Sow with Pigs 

Cash, to balance account 



$s 


75 


$2 


6 


30 




1 


25 


18 

/<0 


48 


00 




6 


25 


1 

1 25 
4 


17 


50 


35 


188 


05 


888 



50 



00 
40 



00 

iO 

15 
05 



187o. 



CASS A MASON. 



!>:• 



Cr. 



March 21 


By 3 days' labor .. 


. . at $1.25 


m 

8 

10 

2 
2 

20 

18 


00 
10 

00 

75 
70 

00 
20 


$3 

25 

12 

18 
9 

$67 


75 


" 21 

" 23 

May 1 

" 1 


To 2 Shoats 

To 18 bushels Corn 

By 1 month's Labor 


at 3.00 

at .45 


00 


To Cash - _ _ - 




June 19 


By 8 days' Mowing . 


at *1.50 


00 


26 


To 50 lbs. Flour ... 




July 10 
29 

Aug. 12 
12 


To 27 lbs. Meat 

By 9 days' Harvesting 

Bv <j davs' Labor 

To Cash . 


at $ .10 

at 2.00 

at 1.50 


00 

00 


Sept. 1 


To Cash to balance account 






#67 


75 


75 



INTEREST TABLE. 



A Si.MPLK Ru'Lii voii AccuRAxaLr CosiPUTiNG Interest at Axv Give.v Pkii Cent, for Any 

Length op Time. 



byth 
and 



Multiply the principal (amount of money at interest) by the time 
the quotifnJ obtained by dividing 360 (the numljer of days in the 
Ithe quotient thus nhtni'nerl will be the required interest. 



ILLUSTRATION. 



time reduced to days; then divide this product 
*■'" "nterest year) liy the per cent, of interest, 

Solution. 



Requiietheiiiterestof S462.50for one month and eiRhteen days at 6 per cent. An $463.50 

interest mouth is 30 davs; one month and eiKbreen days efjual 48 days. $4b-.J.50 multi- .48 

plied bv .48 ffives $222 0000; 360 divided bv 6 (the per cent, of interest) gives 60, and — 

$222.0600aividedby 60 will give vou the exact interest, which is $.3.70. If the rav of 370000 

interest in the above example were 12 per cent., we would divide the 3222.0000 by 30 6)360 i 185000 

(because 360 <livided l)v 12 gives 30); if 4 per cent., we would divide by 90; if 8 per 

cent., by 45; and in like manner for any other per cent. 60y$222.0000($3.70 

180 

420 
420 

"oo 



MISCELLANEOUS TABLE. 



12 units, or things, 1 Dozen. 
12 dozen, 1 (iross. 
nothings, 1 .Score. 



196 pounds, 1 Barrel of Flour. 

200 pounds. 1 Barrel of Porii. 

56 pounds, 1 Firkin of Butter. 



24 sheets of paper, 1 Quire. 

20 quires paper 1 Ream. 

4 ft. wide, 4 ft. high, and 8 ft. long. 



1 Cord Wood. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 213 

NAMES OF THE STATES OF THE UNION, AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS. 

Virginia. — The oldest of the States, was so called in honor of Queen 
Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made 
his first attempt to colonize that region. 

Florida. — Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter 
Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was 
the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers." 

Louisiana was called after Louis the Fourteenth, who at one time 

owned that section of the country. 

Alabama was so named by the Indians, and signifies '• Here we Rest." 
3Iissis8ippi is likewise an Indian name, meaning " Long River." 
Arkansas, from Kansas, the Indian word for " smoky water." Its 

prefix was really arc, the French word for " bow." 

The Carolinas were originally one tract, and were called "Carolana," 

after Charles the Ninth of France. 

Gieorgia owes its name to George the Second of England, who first 

established a colony there in 1732. 

Te7inessee is the Indian name for the " River of the Bend," i. e., the 
Mississippi which forms its western boundary. 

Kentucky is the Indian name for " at the head of the river." 

Ohio means " beautiful ; " loioa, " drowsy ones ; " Minnesota, " cloudy 
water," and Wisconsin, " wild-rushing channel." 

Illinois is derived from the Indian word illini, men, and the French 
suffix ois, together signifying "tribe of men." 

Michigan was called by the name given the lake, fish-iveir, which was 
so styled from its fancied resemblance to a fish traj). 

Missouri is from the Indian word " muddy," which more properly 
applies to the river that flows through it. 

Oregon owes its Indian name also to its principal river. 

Cortes named California. 

Massachusetts!^ the Indian for "The country around the great hills." 

Connecticut, from the Indian Quon-ch-ta-Cut, signifying "Long 
River." 

Margland, after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles the First, of 
England. 

JVew York was named by the Duke of York. 

Pennsylvania means " Penu's woods," and was so called after Williarp, 
Penn, its orignal owner. 



214 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



Delaware after Lord De La Ware. 

Nciv Jersey^ so called in honor of Sir George Carteret, who was 
Governor of the Island of Jersey, in the British Channel. 

Maine was called after the province of Maine in France, in compli- 
ment of Queen Henrietta of England, who owned that province. 

Vennont, from the French word Vert Mont, signifying Green 
Mountain. 

Neiv Hampshire, from Hampshire county in England. It was 
formerly called Laconia. 

The little State of Rhode Island owes its name to the Island of 
Rhodes in the Mediterranean, which domain it is said to greatly 
resemble. 

Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that 
section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States. 



POPULATION OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



States and Territories. 



Alaliuuia 

Ark;iiisas 

California 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida 

Georgia 

illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts • 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire. . . 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina .... 

Ohio. .. 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 



Total States. 



Arizona 

Colorada 

Dakota 

District of Columbia. 

Idaho 

Montana 

New Mexico 

rtah 

Washington 

Wyoming 



Total Territories 

Total United States 



Total 
Population. 



996.992 
484.471 
560,247 
537,454 
125,015 
187.748 
184,109 
539,891 
680.637 
191,792 
364,399 
,321,011 
726,915 
626,915 
780,894 
457,351 
184,059 
439.706 
827,922 
721,295 
122,993 

42.491 
318.300 
906.096 
,382.759 
071,361 
66,5.260 

90,923 
521,791 
217.353 
705,606 
258,520 
818.579 
330.551 
225.163 
442.014 
054,670 



38.11.3,253 



9,658 
39,864 
14,181 
131.700 
14,999 
20,595 
91,874 
86.786 
23.955 
9.118 

442,730 



POPULATION OF FIFTY 
PRINCIPAL CITIES. 



Cities. 



1 Aggregate 
Population. 



38.555,983 



New York, N. Y.... 
Philadelphia, Pa... 

Brooklyn, N. Y 

St. Louis, Mo 

Cliicago, 111 

Baltimore, Md 

Boston, Mass 

Cincinnati, Ohio... 
New Orleans, La. . 
San Francisco, cal. 

Buffalo, N. Y 

Washington, D. C. . 

Newark, N. J 

Louisville, Ky 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Pittsburg, Pa 

Jersey City, N. J .. 

Detroit, Mich 

Milwaukee, Wis... 

All>any, N. Y 

Providence, K. I... 

Rochester, N. Y 

Allegheny, Pa. 

Richmond, Va 

New Haven, Conn. 
Chirleston, S. C... 
Indianapolis, Ind.. 

Troy, N. Y 

Syracuse, N. Y 

Worcester, Mass... 

Lowell, Mass 

Memphis, Tenn 

Cambridge, Mass.. 

Hartford, Conn 

Scranton, Pa 

Reading, Pa 

Paterson, N. J 

Kansas City, Mo... 

Mobile, Ala 

Toledo. Ohio 

Portland. Me 

Columl)U.s. Ohio 

Wilmington. Del... 

Dayton, Ohio 

Lawrence. Mass 

Utica, N. Y 

Charlestown, Mass 

Savannah, Ga 

Lynn. Mass 

Fall River, Mass... 



942, 

674, 

396, 

310. 

298. 

267, 

250. 

216, 

191, 

149. 

117, 

109, 

105, 

100. 

92, 

86, 

82. 

79. 

71, 

69, 

68, 

62 

53 

51 

50, 

48 

48, 

46, 

43, 

41. 

40 

40 

39, 

37, 

35, 

33 

3.3, 

32 

32 

31, 

31, 

31 

30. 

30. 

28, 

28. 

28, 

28, 

28, 

26 



292 
022 
099 
864 
977 
354 
526 
239 
418 
473 
714 
199 
059 
753 
829 
076 
546 
577 
440 
423 
904 
386 
180 
038 
840 
956 
244 
465 
051 
105 
928 
226 
634 
180 
092 
930 
579 
260 
034 
584 
413 
274 
841 
473 
921 
804 
323 
235 
233 
766 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



21a 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



States and 
Territouiks. 



Staffs. 

Alabama 

Arkansas.. 

California 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts... 

Michigan* 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire. 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina.. 

Ohio 

Oregon 



50, 
52, 

188, 
4 

59^ 
58, 
55, 
33, 
55, 
81, 
37, 
41, 
31, 
11, 

56! 
83, 
47, 
65, 
75, 
ll:i, 
9, 
8, 
47, 
50, 
39, 
95, 
» Last Census of 



Area in 
s<iuare 
Miles. 



198 
981 
.674 
120 
268 
000 
410 
,809 
045 
,318 
600 
,346 
,776 
184 
800 
,451 
531 
,156 
,350 
,995 
,090 
,280 
,320 
000 
,704 
,964 
244 



POPULATIOX. 



1870. 



996, 
484. 
560, 
537, 
125, 
187, 
1,184, 
2,539, 
1,680, 
1.191. 
364, 
1,321, 
726, 
626, 
780, 
1,457, 
1,184, 
439, 
827, 
1,721, 
123, 
42, 
318. 
906, 
4,382, 
1,071. 
2,665, 
90, 
Michigan 



1875. 



1,350,544 
528,349 



857,039 



1,651,912 

1,334,031 

598,429 



246.280 
52,540 



1,026,502 
4,705,208 



992 
471 
247 
454 
015 
748 
109 
891 
637 
792 
399 
Oil 
915 
915 
894 
351 
059 
706 
922 
295 
993 
491 
300 
096 
59 
361 
260 
923 
taken in 1874. 



Miles 
R. R. 

1872. 



671 
25 
013 
820 
227 
466 
108 
904 
529 
ItiO 
760 
123 
539 
871 
820 
606 
235 
612 
990 
580 
828 
593 
790 
265 
470 
190 
740 
lo9 



States and 
Territories. 



Stales. 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina... 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

AMrginia 

West Virginia 

AVisconsin 



Total States. 



Territories. 

Arizona 

Colorado 

Dakota 

Dist. of Columbia. 

Idaho 

Montana 

New Mexico 

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming 



Total Territories. 



Area in 
square 
Mih 



lies. 



46,000 
1,306 
29,385 
45,600 
237,504 
10,212 
40,904 
23,000 
53,924 



1,950,171 



113,916 

104,500 

147,490 

60 

90,9.32 

143.776 

121,201 

80,056 

69,944 

93,107 



965,032 



PoprLATioy 



1870. 



3,521, 
217, 
705, 

1,2.58 
818, 
330, 

1,225, 
442. 

1,054. 



791 
353 
606 
520 
579 
551 
163 
014 
670 



38,113,253 



9,6.58 
39,864 
14,181 
131.700 
14,999 
20,595 
91,874 
86,786 
23,955 

9,118 



442,730 



187 



258,239 
925,145 



1,236,729 



Miles" 
R. R. 

1872. 



5,113 

136 

1.201 

1,520 

865 

675 

1,490 

•485 

1,725 



59,587 



393 



375 
■498 



1,365 



Aggregate of U. S.. 2,915,203 38,555,983 60.853, 

• Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland. 



PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD 
Population and Area. 



Countries. 



Population. 



China 

British Kmpire 

Russia 

United States with Alaska 

France 

Austria and Hungary 

Japan 

Great Britain and Ireland 

German Empire 

Italy 

Spain 

Brazil 

Turkey 

Mexico 

Sweden and Norway 

Persia 

Belgium 

Bavaria 

Portugal 

Holland 

iV ew Grenada 

Chili 

Switzerland 

Peru 

Bolivia 

Argentine Republic 

Wurteniburg 

Dsnmark 

Venezuela 

Baden 

Greece 

Guatemala 

Ecuador 

Paraguay 

Hesse 

Liberia 

San Salvador , 

Hayti 

Nicaragua 

Uruguay 

Honduras 

San Domingo 

('osta Rica 

Hawaii 



446,500.000 

226.817.108 

81.925,400 

38,925,600 

36,469,800 

35,904,400 

34,785,300 

31.817.100 

29,906,092 

27,439,921 

16,642,000 

10.000.000 

16,463,000 

9.173.000 

5, 921.. 500 

5.000.000 

5,021,300 

4,861,400 

3,995,200 

3,688,300 

3,000,000 

2,000,000 

2.669,100 

2.500,000 

2,000,000 

1,812,000 

1,818,500 

1,784.700 

1,500,000 

1,461,400 

1,457.900 

1,180,000 

1.300,000 

1,000,000 

823,138 

718,000 

600,000 

572,000 

3.50.000 

300,000 

350,000 

136,000 

165.000 

62.950 



Date of 
Census. 



1871 
1871 
1871 
1870 
1866 
1869 
1871 
1871 
1871 
1871 
1867 



Area in 
Square 
Miles. 



Inhabitants 

to Square 

Mile. 



1869 
1870 
1870 
1869 
1871 
1868 
1870 
1870 
1869 
1870 
1871 

"1869 

1871 
1870 

■1871 
1870 
1871 

'1871 

isVi 

1871 

1871 
1871 
1871 

1870 



3.741,846 

4,677,432 

8.003.778 

2,603,884 

204,091 

240.348 

149,399 

121,315 

160,207 

118,847 

195,775 

3.2,53,029 

672,621 

761,526 

292,871 

635,964 

11.373 

29.292 

34.494 

12,680 

357,157 

132,616 

15,992 

471,838 

4 9 7, .321 

871,848 

7.533 

14,753 

368,238 

5,912 

19.353 

40.879 

218.928 

63,787 

2,969 

9,576 

7.335 

10.205 

58,171 

66,722 

47,092 

17,827 

21.505 

7,633 



119.3 

48.6 

10.2 

7.78 

178.7 

149.4 

232.8 

262.3 

187. 

230.9 

85. 

3.07 
24.4 



20. 
7.8 
441.5 
165.9 
115.8 
390.9 
8.4 
15.1 
166.9 
5.3 
4. 
2.1 
241.4 
120.9 
4.2 
247. 
75.3 
28.9 
5.9 
15.6 
277. 
74.9 
81.8 
56. 
6. 
6.5 
7.4 
7.6 
7.7 
80. 



Capitals. 



Pekin 

London 

St. Petersburg 

Washington 

Paris 

Vienna 

Yeddo 

London 

Berlin 

Rome 

Madrid 

Rio Janeiro 

Constantiiioiile ... 

Mexico 

Stockholm 

Teheran 

Brussels 

Munich 

Lisbon 

Hague 

Bogota 

Santiago 

Berne 

Lima 

Chuquisaca 

Buenos Ayres 

Stuttgart 

Copenhagen 

Caraccas 

Carlsruhe 

Athens 

Guatemala 

Quito 

Asuncion 

Darmstadt 

Monrovia 

Sal Salvador 

Port an Prince... 

Managua 

Monte Video 

Comayagua 

San Domingo 

San Jose 

Honolulu 



Population, 



648.800 

251.800 

667.000 

109,199 

82,5,300 

833,900 

554,900 

251,800 

825,400 

244,484 

332.000 

420,000 

075,000 

210.300 

136,900 

120,000 

314,100 

169.500 

224.063 

90.100 

45,000 

115,400 

36,000 

160,100 

25.000 

177.800 

91.600 

162.043 

47.000 

36.600 

4.3.400 

40.000 

70,000 

48,000 

30,000 

3,000 

15,000 

20,000 

10,000 

44,500 

12,000 

20,000 

2,000 

7,63a. 



216 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 



POPUL/lTION of ILLINOIS, 

By Counties. 



COUNTIES. 



Adams 

Alexander. . 

Bond 

Boone 

Brown 

Bureau 

Calhoun 

Carroll 

Cass 

Champaign. 
Christian .. 

Clark. 

Clay .- 

Clinton 

Coles 

Cook 

Crawford 

Cumberland 
De Kalb... 
De Witt... 

Douglas 

Du Page 

Edgar 

Edwards 

Effingham.. 

Fayette 

Ford 

Franklin 

Fulton 

Gallatin ' 

Greene 

Grundy 

Hamilton -. 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Henderson . 

Henry 

Iroquois 

Jackson 

Jasper 

Jefferson 

Jersey 

Jo Daviess. 

Johnson 

Kane 

Kankakee. . 

Kendall 

Knox 

Lake 

La Salle 

Lawrence.. 

Lee 

Livingston . 
Logan 



AGGREGATE. 



1870. I860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820. 



56362 
10564 
I3152 
12942 
12205 

32415 

6562 

16705 

II5S0 

32737 
20363 
1S719 

15875 
16285 

25235 
349966 

13889 
12223 
23265 
14768 

I34S4 
16685 
21450 

7565 
15653 
I963S 

9103 
12652 
3S29I 

III34 
20277 

14938 
I3OI4 

35935 

5113 

12582 

35506 

25782 

19634 
11234 
17S64 

15054 
27S20 
1124S 
39091 

24352 
12399 
39522 
21014 
60792 

12533 
27171 

31471 
23053 



41323 

4707, 

9S151 

1167S 

9938 

26426 

5144 

11733 

113251 

14629! 

10492 

14987 

9336 

10941 

14203 

144954 

11551, 
8311 
19086 
10820 
7140 
14701 
16925 

5454 
7816 

111S9 
1979 
9393 

33333 
8055 

16093 

10379 

9915 

29061 

3759 

9501 

20660 

12325 

95S9 
8364 
12965 
12051 
27325 
9342 
30062 
15412 

13074 
28663 
18257 
4S332 
9214 
17651 
11637 
14272 



2650S 
2484 
6144 
7624 
719S 
8841 
3231 
4586 
7253 
2649 
3203 

9532 
4289 

5139 
9335 

43385 



7135 
3718 

7540 
5002 



9290 

10692 

3524 

3799 
8075 



14476 

3313 
5060 

1705 
4183 
3067 
1741 
1023 
2981 

1475 

1878 

7453 
3228 

3718 

9616 

10201 

4422 



5681 

22508 

5448 

12429 

3023 

6362 

14652 

2887 

4612 

3S07, 

4149 
5S621 
3220 
8109! 

7354' 
186041 

4114, 
16703' 



7730'. 

132791 
14226' 

17S15 

6l81| 

5.392' 

1553! 
51281 



16971 
3247 



3535 
8225 
3070 

1675 
6328 



3682 
13142 
10760 
11951 



3945 
9946 

137S 



1260; 

1695! 
3566J 

1472 
5762 

4535I 
6180 
3626 
6501 



7060 
2634' 
9348( 
7092 

2035 

759 

2333 



2186 
1390 
3124 



1090 



3940 

755 
2330 



3117 



4071 
1649 



2704 



4083 
1841 
7405 
7674 



2616 
483 



41 



1828 
2555 



2111 
1596 



274 



3668 



626 
2931 



931 



^23 
2999 



3444 



1763 
3155 



1542 
691 



843 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORjMATION. 



217 



POPULATION OF ILLINOIS— Concluded. 



COUNTIES. 



Macon 

Macoupin 

Madison 

Marion 

Marshall 

Mason 

Massac 

McDonough. 
McHenry .., 

McLean 

Menard 

Mercer 

Monroe 

Montgomery 

Morgan 

Moultrie 

Ogle 

Peoria 

Perry 

Piatt 

Pike 

Pope -. 

Pulaski 

Putnam 

Randolph 

Richland 

Rock Island 

Saline 

Sangamon .. 

Schuyler 

Scott 

Shelby 

Stark- 

St. Clair 

Stephenson.. 

Tazewell 

Union 

Vermilion . . , 
Wabash .... 

Warren 

Washington . 

Wayne 

White 

Whitesides . . 

Will. 

Williamson.. 
Winnebago.. 
Woodford . . . 

Total... 



AGGREGATE. 



1870. 



26481 
3272b 

44131 
20622 
16950 
16184 

95S1 
26509 
23762 

53988 

II735 
18769 

12982 

25314 

2S463 
103S5 
27492 
47540 
13723 

10953 
30708 

II437 

875^ 
6280 
20859 
12803 
29783 
12714 
46352 
17419 
10530 
25476 
IO751 

51068 
3060S 
27903 
16518 
303 88 
8841 
23174 
17599 
19758 
16846 

27503 
43013 
17329 
29301 

18956 



2539891 



1860. 



13738 
24602 
31251 

12739 
13437 
IO931 
6213 
20069 
22089 
28772 

9584 
15042 

12832 

13979 
22II2 

63S5 
22888 
36601 

9552 

6127 

27249 

6742 

3943 

55S7 
17205 

9711 
21005 

9331 
32274 
14684 

9069 
14613 

9004 

37694 
25112 
21470 
11181 
19800 

7313 

18336 

13731 
12223 
12403 

18737 
29321 
12205 
24491 
13282 



1711951 



1850. 



3988 

12355 

20441 

6720 

5180 

5921 

4092 

7616 

14978 

IO163 

6349 

5246 

7679 

6277 

16064 

3234 
10020 

17547 
5278 
1606 

18S19 

3975 
2265 

3924 

1 1079 

4012 

6937 
5588 
19228 
10573 
7914 
7807 
3710 

20180 
1 1666 
12052 

7615 

1 1492 

4690 

8176 

6953 
6825 

8925 

5361 

16703 

7216 

11773 
4415 



851470 



1840. 



i8;jo. 



3039 
7926 

14433 
4742 
1849 



5308 
2578 
6565 
4431 
2352 

4481 

4490 

19547 



3479 
6153 
3222 



11728 
4094 



2131 
7944 



2610 



14716 
6972 
6215 
6659 
1573 

13631 
2800 
7221 
5524 
9303 
4240 

6739 
4810 

5133 
7919 

2514 
10167 

4457 
4609 



476183 



1122 
1990 
6221 
2125 



{b) 



26 

2000 

2953 
12714 



1215 



2396 
3316 



(-1310 

4429 



12960 

^2959 



2972 



7078 



4716 

3239 
5836 
2710' 
308 
1675 
2553 
6091 



I574JL5 



1830. 



13550 



*2I 
1516 



2610 



3492 



5248 



2362 



I517 
III4 

4828 



*49 
55162 



218 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



STATE LAWS 
Relating to Rates of Interest and Penalties for Usury. 



States and Territories. 



I Legal : Rate al- ! 
Rate of lowed by 
Interest. Contract. 



Penalties for Usury. 



per cent 
8 
lO 

6 
lo 



Alabama 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado lo 

Connecticut , 

Dakota 

Delaware 

District of Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 



7 

I 7 

I 6 

6 

; 8 

7 

! lo 

6 

6 

6 

8 

Kentucky 6 



Louisiana. 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts . 

Michigan 

Minnesota 



5 

6 

6 

6 

7 

7 

Mississippi \ 6 



Missouri. 
Montana.. 
Nebraska. 
Nevada.... 



6 
lo 

lO 
lO 



New Hampshire 6 

N e w J e r s e y 

New Mexico 

New York 

North Carolina 

Ohio 

Ontario, Canada 

Oregon 



7 
6 

7 
6 
6 
6 

lO 

Pennsyl vani a 6 

6 
6 

7 
6 
8 

lO 

6 
6 

lO 

6 
7 

12 



Quebec, Canada 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington Territory 

West Virginia 

W^isconsin 

Wyoming 



per cent. 

8 

Any rate. 

lO 

Any rate. 
Any rate. 
7 

12 

6 

lO 

Any rate. 

12 

24 
lO 
lO 
lO 
12 

8 

8 
Any rate. 

6 

Any rate. 

lo 

12 

lo 

lo 

Any rate. 

12 

Any rate. 
6 

7 
Any rate. 

7 
8 
8 
Any rate. 

12 

Any rate 
Any rate. 
Any rate. 
Any rate, 
lo 

12 

Any rate. 
6 
6* 

Any rate. 
6* 
lo 

Any rate. 



Forfeiture of entire interest. 
Forfeiture of principal and interest. 



Forfeiture of excess of interest. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 
Forfeiture of principal. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Fine and imprisonment. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of excess of interest. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 12 per cent. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of excess of interest. 

Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 7 per cent. 
No Usury Law in this State. 
Forfeiture of excess of interest. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of thrice the excess and costs. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of contract. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 
Forfeiture of excess above 6 per cent. 



Forfeiture of excess of interest. 
Forfeiture of excess of interest. 

Forfeiture of excess of interest. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 

Forfeiture of excess of interest. 
Forfeiture of entire interest. 



♦ Except in cases defined by statutes of the State. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



219 



STATE LAWS 

Relating to Limitations of Actions : Showing Limit of Time in which 
Action may be Brought on the following : 



States and Tbrbitories. 



Alabama 

Arkansas — 
California,... 

Colorado 

Connecticut. 

Dakota 

Delaware.... 
District ol 

I'^lorida 

Georgia.... 

Maho 

Illinois 

Indiana.... 



Columbia 



Iowa 

Kansas.... 
Kentucky. 
Louisiana. 
Maine 



Maryland 

Massachusetts . 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri..., ... 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 



New Hampshire. 

New Jersey 

New Mexico 

New York 

North Carolina... 
Ohio 



Ontario (U. Canada). 
Oregc 



Pennsylvania 

Quebec (L. Canada). 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 



Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington Territory. 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 



Assault 

slander, 

&c. 



Years. 
I 
I 
I 
I 

3 

2 



Open 
Accts. 



Notes. 



I 
2 
I 

2 
I 

2 
I 



Years. 

3 
3 

2 

6 
6 
6 



I 


3 


1 


3 


2 


4 


I 


4 


2 


2 


I 
2 


5 
6 


2 


5 


I 


3 


I 


2 


I 

2 


3 
6 


I 

2 


3 
6 


2 


6 


2 


6 


I 


3 


2 


5 


2 


5 


I 


4 


2 


2 


2 


6 


2 


6 


I 


6 


2 


6 


3 
I 


3 
6 


2 


6 


2 


6 


I 


6 


I 

I 


5 
6 


2 


6 


I 


6 


I 


2 



2 

6 

5 

5 
6 
6 



Years. 
6 
5 

4 
6 
6 
6 
6 

5 
6 

4 
lo 

20 
lO 

5 
15 

5 

20 

3 

20 

6 
6 
6 

lO 
lO 

5 
4 
6 
6 

lo 
6 
3 

IS 
6 
6 
6 

5 
6 
6 
6 
4 
4 
4 

5 
6 

lO 

6 
IS 



Judg- 
ments. 



Sealed and 
witnessed 
Instru- 
ments. 



Years. 
20 
lO 

5 
3 

20 
20 
20 
12 
20 
7 

5 

20 

2o 

20 

5 
IS 

lO 
20 
12 
20 
6 
lO 

7 

20 
lO 

S 
5 

20 
20 
lO 
20 
lO 

15 

20 

10 
20 

30 
20 
20 
10 
10 

S 
8 
10 
6 
10 
20 
15 



Years. 
10 
10 

5 

3 
17 
20 
20 
12 
20 
20 

5 

10 
20 
10 

15 

15 
20 

20 

12 

20 

10 

6 

7 

10 
10 
10 

4 
20 
16 
10 
20 
10 

15 
20 
20 
20 
30 
20 
20 
6 

5 
7 

8 
20 

6 
10 
20 

15 



PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES.— 1870. 



;OUNTIES. 



Total. 



AUanib 

Alexaiuler ... 

liotul 

IJooiie 

ISrown 

liureau 

CaUiouii 

Carroll 

Cass 

Champaign.. 

Christian 

Clark 

Clay 

Clinton 

Coles 

Cook 

Crawford 

Cumberland. 

DeKalb 

DeWitt 

Douglas 

DuPage 

Edgar 

Edwards. ... 

Effingham 

Fayette 

Ford 

Franklin 

Fulton 

Gallatin 

Greene 

Grundy 

Hamilton 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Henderson. . 

Henry 

Iroquois 

Jackson 

Jasper .. .. 

Jefferson 

Jersey 

JoDaviess. .. 
Johnson . .. 

Kane 

Kankakee 

Kendall. . 

Knox 

Lake 

LaSalle 

Lawrence ... 
Lee. 



Livingston 

Logan 

Macon 

Macoupin 

Madison 

Marion 

Marshall 

Mason 

Massac 

McDonough... 

McHenry 

McLean 

Menard 

Mercer 

^lonroe 

Montgomery.. 

Morgan 

Moultrie 

Ogle 

Peoria 

Perrv 

Piatt 

Pike 

Pope 

Pulaski 

Putnam 

Randoliih 

Richland 

Rock Island.. . 

.Saline 

.Sangamon 

Schuyler 

Scott" 

Shelby 

.Stark.. 

St. Clair 

Stephenson ... 

TazeweH 

Union 

Vermilion 

\Vab.ash 

Warren 

Washington... 

Wayne 

White 

Whitesides 

Will. 



Improved 
Land. 



Woodl-Md 



Number. Number. Number. 
19..329.95B 5,061.578 1.491.3.S1 



other un- 
improved 



Spring 
Wheat. 



Winter 
Wheat. 



Hushels. 
10. 133.201 



Rye. 



Indian 
Corn. 



Hushels. Bushels, Hushels. Hushels 
19 99.5.198 2 456.578 129.921.39." 42 780.85! 



Oafs. 



Williamson . 
Winnebago.. 
V.'oodford ... 



287.926 

13.836 

145,045 

137,307 

57,062 

398,611 

37,684 

186,864 

92.902 

419,368 

241,472 

118,594 

146,922 

150.177 

208,337 

348,824 

105,505 

75,342 

334,50-.' 

168.531. 

147,633 

164,874 

.^65,458 

58,912 

120,343 

187,196 

141,228 

80,749 

228.132 

49,572 

175,408 

1,'^3,999 

88,996 

311,517 

28,117 

140,954 

265,904 

322,510 

78,548 

90,86 

118,951 

94,14 

156,51^ 

57,820 

240,120 

312,181! 

164.00J 

330,829 

207, 77;. 

533,724 

87,82b 

322,21 

377,505 

321,70!' 

205,259 

231,059 

257,032 

173,081 

166,057 

209,453 

25,151 

261,635 

230,566 

494,978 

134.173 

222.80S* 

92.81C 

276,682 

293,450 

144,220 

316,883 

170,726 

93,754 

94.454 

233.785 

55,980 

19.319 

37,271 

140,764 

75,079 

155,214 

72,309 

421,748 

96,195 

85,331 

310,179 

138,129 

231,117 

254,857 

229,126 

75,832 

360,251 

54.063 

266.187 

177.592 

147.352 

92,398 

289,809 

419,442 

128,448 

241.373 

22.5,504 



112,57ti 
17.761 
42,613 
29,886 
35,491 
41,866 
63.443 
29,793 
33,493 
16,789 
19,803 

102,201 
80,612 
48,868 
45,214 
19,635 
78,350 
40,334 
17,722 
29.54t< 
11,897 
17,243 
66,803 
57,585 
56.33(1 
93,460 
2,996 
.3,994 

123,823 
68,750 
93,242 
6,256 
93,878 
43,385 
44,771 
34,705 
12,620 
22,478 
87,642 
67,023 
94,88b 
51,427 
82,07t 
3 
34,646 
10,978 
14,244 
41,566 
21,072 
48,in 
72,738 
12,071 
12,462 
17,394 
18,153 
81,224 
89.450 
61,579 
28,261 
31,73fe 
33,39t 
52,54-; 
53.293 
40,36f: 
34.931 
45,977 
83,369 
47.804 
60,217 
24,783 
43,643 
48,666 
68,470 
5,978 

128,953 
87,754 
12,5U 
17,184 

162,274 
50.618 
31,239 
70,393 
51,085 
62,477 
44,633 
74,908 
12.375 
76,591 
43.167 
45,268 
83.606 
53,078 
37,558 
27,294 
55,852 

146,794 
78.167 
21.823 
24.261 

116,949 
37,238 
25,217 



19,370 



1,915 

2,658 

25608 

15.803 

2,754 

33,302 

6,604 

58, .502 

19,173 

5,420 

5,225 

8,722 

3,274 

17,337 

27,185 

5,604 

6,551 

17,633 

7.316' 

3.851 

14,282 

830 ! 

26,206, 

16,7861 

63,976 

86,710 

4,076 

2,565 

29,653 

4,505 

.3,343 

18,480 

107i 

14,243 

31,459 

63,498 

5.991 

12,250 

778 

1,363 

45,779 

79,141 

399 

10,598 

2,283 

25,155 

24,369 

2,.% 6 

3,273 

7,409 

41,788 

408 

9,115 

7,343 

13,675 

4,142 

2,976 

31,013 

30 

14,035 

57,998 

49.087 

13,952 

22,588 

666 

8.495 

1,376 

13,112 

14,913 

2,516 

220 

13,897 

9,302 



16,191 



4.174 
1,170 
2 025 

20,755 
809 

19,932 

21,294 
1.610 
9,314 
2,783 
2.016 

13.701 

14,846 
5,300 

31,122 
509 

14,583 
1,931 

10,486 
869 

37.310 
6,3351 
1.648 

15.237 ! 

23,135|i 



700 

241,042 

13,276 

465,236 

418,073 
12,165 

102.5 
18,360 



1,894 

500 

2,651 

144,296 

60 

550 

398,059 

106,493 

7,683 

106,096 

13,283 



42,571 

365 

193,669 



21,700 

129 

181,378 

13 

161,112 

462,379 

57,160 

890 



282,758 



188,82e 
103,466 
90,681 
267,764 
168,914 
271,181 



450,793 

120,206 

198,056 

55,239 

160 

550 



106.129 
73,261 

"273,871 

401,790 

211,801 

36,152 

289,291 



59 

18,196 

17,128 

497,038 

92,361 



26.382 
130 



28,137 
450 



243,541 

200 

89,304 

56,221 

18 

15,526 

124,630 

2.550 

527,394 

132,417 



44,806 

186; 290 

266 



457.455 
195,286 
176 
408,606 
178.139 



947.616 

42.658 

368,625 

599 

117,502 

724 

221,298 

260 

127,054 

123,091 

504,041 

195.118 

85,737 

610,888 

154,485 

4,904 

212,924 

84,697 

190 

11,695 

65,461 

693 

247,360 

122,703 

195,716 

351,310 

1,008 

111,324 

223,930 

83,093 

577,400 

150 

92.34'; 

232,751 

32,306 

69,062 

445 

10,48(1 

329,036 

87.S08 

100,55-^ 

558,367 

55.'^ 

92.191 

325 

480 

1,249 

7,654 

221 

2.19:5 

264,134 

2.260 

1,339 

40,96a 

196,613 

861, 39h 

1,207,181 

173,652 

90(1 

125.628 

72,316 

36,146 

270 

10,955 

45,793 

13,20.3 

651,767 

744,891 

357,523 

196,43(i 

5,580 

31.843 

350,44ti 

39,762 

1,057,497 

70,457 

44,922 

79(i 

1,031.022 

150,268 

2.279 

83.011 

247.65b' 

165.724 

266.105 

452,015 

1,562.621 

2,118 

72.410 

180.231 

249.558 

202.201 

5,712 

672,486 

164.689 

184,321 

264 

1.996 
170,787 

2.468 
108,307 



20,989 

30 

6,240 

35,871 

4,742 

43,811 

186 

25.721 

2.772 

45,752 

10,722 

7,308 

3,221 

1,619 

8,825 

20,171 

15,497 

14.798 

21,018 

11 540 

9,017 

7,53i 

87,508 

528 

19.759 

25.328 

11,577 

5,195 

131,711 

51-~ 

41£ 

4,93( 

11,672 

133,533 

86,5 

96,43ti 

35.76( 

23.25!- 

524 

9,16,= 

5,93^ 



7,185 

2,46!- 

23,618 

12,93." 

5.16;- 

113.547 

5.87( 

48,30b 

1,121 

14,82!. 

26,16:: 

37,232 

29,22:: 

2.404 

3.68c 

r4,517 

36,135 

49,182 

54.! 

52,401 

29,26-; 

39.824 

4,28:; 

40.77b 

1.42c 

3,29t 

5,53.= 

6,670 

157,504 

99, .502 

1,01( 

9.24b 

25,30:? 

2.306 

222 

7.707 

3,235 

3.401 

20,00:3 

56b 

23,073 

20,841 

930 

23.686 

30,5:34 

1.008 

135.362 

59.027 

1,737 

52,476 



72,212 

2,576 

8,665 

418 

31.658 

8.030 

6,228 

137,985 

20.426 



1,452,905 
244,220 
1,064,0,52 
466,985 
337,769 
3,030.404 
2:34,041 
1,:367 965 
1,146,980 
:3, 924. 720 
1,883,336 
614,582 
1,019,994 
81.3.257 
2,13:3,111 
570,427 
581,964 
40:3,075 
1,023,849 
1,311,635 
1.680,225 
331,981 
2,107.615 
352,371 
620,247 
962,52.T 
565,671 
65:3,206 
1,. 508, 763 
509,491 
1,051,313 
295,971 
735,25- 
1,510,401 
172.651 
1,712.901 
2,541, 68:i 
799,81( 
611,951 
461,34,'; 
887,981 
519,121 
l,286,32t 
34:3,29b 
674,33:: 
637,39! 
681,267 
2.708,316 
517,35:- 
:3,077,02^ 
656,36: 
1,6,56,97!- 
1,182,69( 
4,221,641 
2,214,46!- 
1,051,54-1 
2,127,546 
1.034,057 
l,182,90:i 
2,648.72( 
13:3, 12( 
1,362, 4 9( 
1,145.00." 
:3, 723,376 
1,97:3.88' 
2.054,96> 
54:3,71b 
1,527,89b 
:3,198,835 
1.75:3.141 
1,787.066 
969.224 
384.446 
1,029.725 
1.399,18b 
31.5,95b 
195.735 
3:34,256 
510,08(1 
482.594 
1,459.65:; 
531,516 
4,388,763 
440.975 
752.771 
2.082.578 
1,149 878 
1,423.121 
1,615,679 
2,062.053 
679.753 
2,818.027 
421,361 
2,982,853 
836.115 
1,179,291 
870.521 
2,162,943 
1,131,458 
655,710 
1,237,406 
2,154.185 



759,074 
21,627 
461,097 
579,127 
70,852 
987,426 
26.231 
775,100 
168,784 
721,375 
38:3,821 
212.628 
269.945 
446,324 
315.954 
1,584,225 
136,!i55 
171,880, 
1,087,074 
216,756 
22.5,074 
860,809 
290,679 
129,152 
386,073 
497,395 
154,589 
222.426 
261,390 
27,164 
64.029 
269.332 
20:3.464 
579,599 
26,991 
229,286 
668.367 
430,746 
149,931 
149,214 
28,5.949 
71.770 
874,016 
74,525 
785,608 
772,408 
468.890 
787,952 
699,069 
1.509,642 
131,386 
90:3,197 
659,300 
490,226 
454.648 
459,417 
475,252 
389,446 
362,604 
272,660 
22.097 
280,717 
910.397 
911,127 
235,091 
452,889 
152.251 
668,424 
198,724 
26:3,992 
141,540 
334.892 
338,760 
1:30,610 
161,419 
67,886 
16,511 
86.519 
414,487 
204.634 
276,575 
69.793 
397,718 
119.359 
13,462 
637,812 
316,726 
476,851 
960.620 
505.841 
124,473 
4:36051 
110,793 
601.054 
53:3.398 
404.482 
119,653 
880 8:38 
1,868.682 
180.986 
86.S.903 
744,5«l 





(deceased) 
METAMORA 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 



Woodford County, lying in the central part of the State of Illinois, is 
hounded on the north by Marshall and La Salle Counties ; on the east by 
Livingston and McLean ; on the south by McLean and Tazewell ; and on the 
west by the Illinois River. It is very irregular in its boundaries, and of 
a shape rather difficult to compute its exact area, but it is estimated at about 
five hundred and fifty square miles. At an early period in the history of 
Illinois, a large tract of land in this section, lying east and south of the Illi- 
nois River, was known as Tazewell County, and at a still more remote date, this 
tract was included in the county of Sangamon, with the county seat at Spring- 
field. From the original county of Tazewell, several of the adjacent counties 
have been wholly, or in part created, viz.: Marshall, McLean, Livingston and 
perhaps others. In the formation of Woodford County, Livingston, McLean 
and Tazewell contributed to its territory. That portion lying west of the Third 
Principal Meridian was taken from Tazewell County ; the present Townships of 
Clayton, Minonk, Greene and Panola from Livingston, and the remainder from 
McLean County. It embraces within its territorial limits seventeen civil town- 
ships. The county is well drained by the Illinois River flowing along its western 
boundary, and the Mackinaw, together with their tributaries — Walnut, Panther, 
AVolf, Rock, Ten Mile, Snag, Partridge, Black Partridge and Richland Creeks, 
which meander through it in all directions, watering and draining every portion 
of it. Much of the land is broad rolling prairie, stretching away to the groves 
of timber and bluffs rising from the banks of the rivers, and numerous water 
courses, and as an agricultural region is unsurpassed in the State. The south- 
ern and western portions of the county, supply timber in great abundance, and 
many of the more valuable species are native to these sections. Black and 
white walnut, wild cherry, sugar maple, red and white elm, cottonwood, syca- 
more, mulberry, red bud, hackberry, the different kinds of oak, black and white 
hickory, etc., flourish in these localities, while some of the more common shrubs, 
such as hazel, willow, sumac, elder and prickly-ash, grow in profusion. No 
extensive manufactories nor very large cities exist, but a number of thriving 
towns and villages, together with two or three small cities, have grown up in the 
county, equal in pi-osperity and enterprise to those in any other portion of the 



224 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 

State. Its chief source of wealth is its agricultural products, which have 
increased to a voluminous extext, since the building of the different raib'oads 
through the county. The time, however, is not far distant, when no doubt coal 
mining will be carried on to a much greater extent than it is now. The geo- 
logical deposits of Woodford County are extremely rich, combining many rare 
specimens, and fossils common in other and distant sections of Illinois, and even 
in other States. But as we shall allude to the subject again in this work, 
together with the coal fields, we pass now to 

THE EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

Woodford County has drawn its population from many different sources. 
Half the States in the- Union are here represented, while many of the countries 
of the Old World have contributed their delegations to its settlements. The 
courtly and dignified Englishman, the bonny Scot, the warm-hearted Irishman, 
the genial Frenchman, the good-natured German, with many others from " be- 
yond the seas," are here, and together furnish some of the prosperous and solid 
men of the communitv. Of our own countrymen, we find the New Englander, 
from his cold and sterile hills, and the chivalrous Southerner, from his palm- 
tree groves and " sunny land," dwelling side by side and mingling together,, 
with no sectional lines drawn between them on account of birthplace, or feelings 
of political prejudices engendered by either against the section from which the 
other came. And here, too, like way-marks along a lonely highway, we now 
and then meet with a " wandering son of Ethiopia's fated race," who, since the 
war, has straggled away from the " Sunny South " to the distant prairies to 
find a new home. Many of the first settlers were from Indiana, Virginia and 
Kentucky, with perhaps an occasional family from some other Southern State. 
Coming, as they did, from a land of hills and vales, and creeks and rivers, 
bordered with grand old forests, they very naturally shunned the prairies and 
'• pitched their tents " by the rivers and the "purling brooks," under the broad, 
sheltering branches of the trees. Hence Walnut Grove, as it is still called, and 
what is now Spring Bay, together with kindred regions and localities, were 
settled long before any hardy pioneer became imbued with sufiicient courage to 
venture to rear his cabin far out on the vast prairie, which, to his inexperienced 
eye, appeared at best but a "desert waste." Close in the wake of this early impor- 
tation of " Hoosiers " * came the Yankees, as all Northern and Eastern people 
were called by the Southerners, with their thrift and ingenuity, and both the 
settlements and the population increased slowly at first, perhaps, but at least 
surely. 

From a work entitled " Old Settlers' History of Woodford County," written 
by Prof. Radford, of Eureka College, we take the "historical table" of early 
settlers, given below, who came to the county up to 1835, together with the date 

* The name " Hoosier " was usually applied to everybody along the border, on both sides of the Ohio River, at 
that early day. 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 



225 



of their coming and the place of their location. The only change we have made 

in the table is to so arrange the names as to bring the dates in regular rotation 

Wm. (or Geo.) Blaylock, neai- Spring Bay, 1819 

William Blanchard, near Spring Bay 1822 

Dillon, near Spring Bay 

Horace Crocker, near Spring Bay 



William Philips, near Spring Bay 1828 

William Sowards, Metamora 1823 

Solomon Sowards, Metamora 182o 

George Kingston, Spring Bay 182o 

John Stephenson, Spring Bay 1824 

Joseph Dillon, Walnut Grove 1824 

Austin Crocker, Spring Bay 1824 

George Kingston, Metamora 1825 

Gershom Harvey, on Mackinaw 1825 

Charles Moore, Walnut Grove 182G 

Daniel Meek, Walnut Grove 1826 

Jonathan Baker, Walnut Grove 1826 

Charles Fielder, Spring Bay 1827 

Benjamin Williams, Partridge Creek 1827 

John Bird, Walnut Grove 1^<27 

Wathen, Walnut Grove 1827 

Rowland Crocker, Spring Bay 1828 

Jacob Wilson, Spring Bay 1828 

Amasa Stout, Panther Creek 1828 

Adam Henthorne, Panther Creek 

Bilberry, Panther Creek 1828 



Robert Philips, White Oak Grove 1828 

Samuel Philips, White Oak Grove 1828 

John Harbert, White Oak Grove 1829 

Jesse Dale, Spring Bay 1829 

Richard Williams, Spring Bay 1829 

David Matthews, Spring Bay 1829 

"Widow" Donohue, Spring Bay 1829 

George Hopkins, Spring Bay 1829 

Hiram Curry, Spring Bay 1829 

William Atteberry, Walnut Grove 1829 

John Davidson, Walnut Grove 1829 

John Dowdy, Walnut Grove 1829 

Joseph Martin, Walnut Grove 1829 

Matthew Bracken, Walnut Grove 1829 

James Bird, Walnut Grove 1829 

Robert Bird, AValnut Grove 1829 

Nathan Owen, Walnut Grove 1829 

Eli Patrick, Walnut Grove 1829 

Allen Patrick, Walnut Grove 1829 

John Harbert, White Oak Grove 1829 

William Hoshor, Spring Bay 1830 

John Sharp, Germantown 1830 

John F. Smith, Germantown 1830 

Joseph Meek, Walnut Grove 1830 

Henry Meek, Walnut Grove 1830 

William Bird, Walnut Grove 1830 



Daniel Deweese, Walnut Grove 1830 

Thomas Deweese, Walnut Grove 1830 

Rev. John Oatman, Walnut Grove 1830 

Lewis Stephens, White Oak Grove 1830 

James V. Phillips, White Oak Grove 

Josiah Moore, near Panther Creek 1830 

Campbell Moore, near Panther Creek 1830 

Rev. Amos Watkins, near Panther Creek. .1830 

Warren AVatkins, near Panther Creek 1830 

Thomas A. McCord, near Panther Creek. ..1830 

James S. McCord, near Panther Creek 1830 

Matthew Blair, Walnut Grove 1830 

Joseph Belsley, Spring Bay..^ ...1831 

Phineas Shottenkirk, Spring Bay 1831 

Rev. Joshua AVoosley, Walnut Grove 1831 

Francis Willis, AValnut Grove 1831 

Daniel Travis, Walnut Grove 1831 

Caleb Davidson, Walnut Grove 1831 

John Butcher, AValnut Grove 1831 

Cooley Curtis, Walnut Grove 1831 

Daniel Allison, AValnut Grove 1831 

Isaac Black, Walnut Grove 1831 

Aaron Richardson, Panther Creek 1831 

.James M. Richardson, Panther Creek 1831 

Joseph Wilkerson, Panther Creek 

William McCord, Panther Creek 1831 

Samuel Kirkpatrick, White Oak Grove 1831 

John Benson, White Oak Grove 1831 

AVilliam Benson, AVhite Oak Grove 1831 

James Benson, AVhite Oak Grove 1831 

Daviil Banta, Metamora 1831 

Cornelius Banta, Metamora 1831 

Peter Muler, Germantown 1832 

Thomas Deweese, Walnut Grove 1832 

James Harlan, south of Walnut Grove 1832 

Noel Meek, near Panther Creek 1832 

Basil Meek, near Panther Creek 1832 

John Armstrong, near Panther Creek 

AVilliam C. Moore, near Panther Creek 

Rev. Lewis Stover, White Oak Grove 1832 

Louis Guibert, near Spring Bay 1833 

Gingerich, near Spring Bay 

Rev. Zadock Hall, Germantown 1833 

James Mitchell, AValnut Grove 1833 

Rev. Ben. Major, AValnut Grove 1833 

Thomas Kincade, Walnut Grove 1833 

Jonah Brown, AVhite Oak Grove 1833 

Jacob Ellis, AVhite Oak Grove 

Reubin'Carlock, AVhite Oak Grove 1833 

AVinton Carlock, AVhite Oak Grove 1833 

Peter Engle, Sr., Metamora 1833 



226 HISTORV OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 

John Yerkler, Metamora 1833 William Hunter, Spring Bay 1830 

Christian Smitli, Partridge Point 1833 i Charles Molitor, Germantown 183.'j 

Morgan Bvickingham, Low Point ] Solomon Tucker, Walnut Grove 183") 

John Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 , Rev. Wm. Davenport, Walnut Grove 1834 

Isaac Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Thomas Bullock, Walnut Grove 183') 

Peter Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Elijah Dickinson, Walnut Grove 183-") 

David Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Rev. James Robeson, Panther Creek 183;") 

Samuel Beck, Germantown 1834 James Rayburn, Panther Creek 

Thomas Sunderland, Germantown 1834 James Vance, White Oak Grove 1835 

William R. Willis, Walnut Grove 1834 Rev. Abner Peeler, White Oak Grove 

M. R. Bullock, Walnut Grove 1834 Humphrey Leighton, Metamora 183") 

Benj. J. Radford, Walnut Grove 1834 C. P. Mason, Metamora 183r) 

John Page, Sr., Metamora 1834 F. Dixon, on Mackinaw 183r) 

Thomas Jones, Low Point 1834 Isaac Moulton, Low Point 183r) 

Rev. James Owens, Low Point 1835 Parker Morse, Low Point 1835 

The foregoing dates are doubtless as correct as it is possible to get them, 

after this long lapse of years. 

" Away back in the by-gone time, 
Lost 'mid the rubbish of forgotten things," 

are many dates and events pertaining to the early history of this county. The 
information given above does not agree precisely, in all cases, with what we have 
collected, but the discrepencies are few and of minor importance. From this table, 
as well as from the information we have been able to gather, the first settlement 
in Woodford County was made in what is now Spring Bay Township. The 
man Blaylock, however, whose date is here given, 1819, it seems, never made 
an actual settlement — never built a house or cabin, nor opened and cultivated a 
farm. Neither can any of the old settlers now living give the exact date that 
Blaylock came to the county. That he was "found here," living in "Indian 
style," and "hunting and fishing," by tlie first settlers, is as definite as any- 
thing now to be obtained in regard to him. William Blanchard, of Spring Bay 
Township, while he did not settle in this county, or the territory now comprising 
it, until 1830, yet he was living so near as to be familiar with all the settlers and 
settlements made in this section. Blanchard came to Peoria (then called Fort 
Clarke) in 1819, and stated to us that there was then but one white family in 
sixty miles of that place, and to wander far from the fort was not only impru- 
dent, but extremely hazardous. In the Summer of 1819, Blanchard raised a 
crop of corn, potatoes and pumpkins, just across the river from Fort Clarke, 
which he cultivated entirely with a hoe. In 1822, he made a little clearing, 
on which he put up a cabin, on what is now known as the "Gibson place" 
(which was also in Tazewell), but within a mile or two of the present line of 
Woodford, and but a few miles from where he now lives. This was the first 
cabin built between Peoria and Chicago, and likewise the 

FIRST FARM OPENED. 

As already stated, this was in Tazewell County, but so near to Woodford, 
and the party who made the improvement has been for almost a half of a cen- 
tury living in Woodford County, that to omit its mention would seem like leav- 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 227 

ing out an imporfant part of the county's history. Blanchard states that a 
man named Darby, Avhose first name he had forgotten, and who came from Ver- 
mont, made a clearing and built a cabin in the Spring of 18.23, on land now 
embraced in the Crocker farm, in Spring Bay Township. This is supposed to 
have been the first settlement in Woodford County, and, so far as it is possible 
ro obtain reliable information of events which occurred more than fifty years 
ago, the supposition is a correct one. Other hardy pioneers soon made their 
way to the Spring Bay settlement, and in a few years we find here Austin, 
Horace and Rowland Crocker ; Phineas and I. C. Shottenkirk ; John, Isaac, 
Peter and David Snyder : Richard and Lewis Williams, William and Jefierson 
Hoshor, C. A. Genoways, George Kingt^ton, Joseph Belsley, Louis Guibert, 
George Sommers, Angus McQueen, Elzy and Sampson Bethard, Nicholas 
Henfling, William Hunter, Jolm Stephenson, Jesse Dale, David Mathis, Jacob 

Wilson, Donohue, George Hopkins, Hiram Curry, Charles Fielder, Isaac 

and William Philips, "Red"' Joseph Belsley and Philip Bettelyune. The 
Crockers and Shottenkirks came from the Empire State, and, with all the 
energy and enterprise characteristic of the ''New York Yankees," at once 
took hold and commenced work in earnest. Crockers mill, one of the first 
water mills built in the county, still stands a monument to their enterprise, and 
performs its allotted tasks with as much despatch as it did forty years ago. 
Philip Betteyune and the Snyders were from Pennsylvania, and, like all the 
old "Pennsylvania Dutch,"' of course became the most prosperous farmers. 
They built good barns, on the principle that " barns will soon pay for dwelling 
houses, but dwelling houses never pay for barns." The Williamses, from 
Indiana ; the Hoshors and Genoways, from Ohio, have been active men in their 
day, and those who still survive have lost none of their former energy. Elzy 
and Sampson Bethard came from Maryland ; the Belsleys, George Sommers, 
Louis Guibert, from the vine-clad hills of sunny France ; George Kingston, 
from the "Gem of the Say;" Angus McQueen, from the "banks and braes 
of Bonny Doon," and Nicholas Henfling, from the "Faderland," and from 
Them developed some of the worthy and solid old farmers of the country. Of 
the rest, William Hunter, John Stephenson, Jesse Dale*, David Mathis, Jacob 

Wilson, Donohue, George Hopkins, Hiram Curry, the Philipses and 

Charles Fielder, but little information could be obtained. Although this was 
termed the Spring Bay settlement, many of the parties whose names are given 
above settled in Worth and Partridge Townships. Bettelyune, "Red" Jo 
Belsley, as he was called, the Snyders and Louis Guibert — perhaps others — 
settled in what is now Partridge Township ; while quite a number, of which 
were the Williamses, who first settled there with their father, 'S(iuire Benjamin 
Williams, were in the present town of Worth. The Illinois River, with its 

" Broadening sweep and surge sublime," 
the thick forests on the adjacent hills, and the hundreds of springs of pure 

* Dale lived here but a short time, when he removed into the Metamora settlement. 



228 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 

water bursting from the ground in " crystal floods," were some of the attrac- 
tions that brought the early settlers to this spot. Plenty of timber for building 
and fuel, and water in unlimited quantities, were objects not to be passed by 
in the search for future homes. These unfailing springs they soon utilized by 
building mills to which they supplied the power. Crocker's mill, one of the 
first of its kind in the county ; Hoshor's, built a few years later, and to which 
was added a distillery, in Spring Bay Township, and Guibert's mill, in Part- 
ridge, Avere operated principally by them. If it w^as not 

" A land of corn and wine, or milk and honey," 

it was at least highly productive of the first, and we have the evidence of an old 
settlers, that they " used to raise 100 bushels of corn to the acre,"' in the bottom 
lands. Of course so much corn must be disposed of in some way, and this sug- 
gested the distillery, which became an institution of the settlement at an early 
day, and supplied the "invigorating cordial "' for many a backv/oods frolic. 

Another of the early settlements was made at Walnut Grove — the very 
paradise of Woodford County. • The gentle slopes and sweeping valleys, througli 
which winds Walnut Creek, like a "tangled ribbon," crowned with groves of 
giant trees that had stood the storms and tempests for liundreds of years, ap- 
peared to the new comers a haven of rest. On the confines of this mighty 
forest or within its borders, "whose deep, dark shades" they almost feared to 
enter, soon developed a prosperous settlement, and the petition — " woodman, 
spare that tree " — was forgotten or disregarded, as the huge " monarchs of the 

wood " began to fall. 

" The century living crow. 
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died 
Among their branches." 

and still they had flourished in all their transcendental glory for ages, until the 
coming tide of immigration rolled in that direction, and its Avaves were checked 
against " these fair ranks of trees." 

As early as 1824, it is said that a few bold and daring spirits, more venture- 
some than their kind, wandered this way and erected their cabins in Walnut 
Grove. But the precise date of their settlement is involved in some uncertainty, 
and there are now none left who can give their history with correctness. 

Joseph Dillon, whose coming dates back to the year mentioned above, 1824, 
or thereabouts, Avas probably the first to make a clearing. He opened a little 
place and built a cabin where " Uncle " Jo Meek now lives. 

About 1826, Chas. Moore and Daniel Meek located in Walnut Grove, and in 
a few years more were joined by James and Robert Bird, Matthew Bracken, the 
Davidsons, William P. Attebery and Nathan Owen. This Avas the beginning 
of the settlement of Walnut Grove, Avhich Avas for years, if not still, one of the 
most prosperous communities in the county. In less than ten years from the 
time the germ of a settlement was planted here, in addition to those already 
noticed, it numbered among its inhabitants Joseph and Henry B. Meek ; Fran- 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 229 

cis and William R. Willis, James Harlan, Thomas and M. R. Bullock, Ben. 
Major, Bonj. J. Radford, Rev. Wm. Davenport, Joseph Martin, Rev. John 
Lindsey, David and Thomas Deweese and several others, who came from Old 
Kentucky, "the dark and bloody ground," and have furnished us ^vith men 
of genius and ability, and many of the leading citizens of the county. 

John Darst, Matthew Bracken and A. S. Fisher are Ohioians, and have 
been enterprising men of their neighborhood. Bracken is noted as having been 
one of the first Justices of the Peace, and Fisher, for having taught the first 
Hio-h School in the county. 

Charles Campbell and John A. Moore were from Tennessee, and the last 
two named have the credit of putting up the first mill, with a water power, in 
Woodford County, which was built some two or three years before Crocker's. 

John Dowdy, John and William Bird, brothers of those already mentioned, 
Rev. Joshua Woosley, Jonathan Baker, James Mitchell, Daniel Travis, Solomon 
Tucker, Rev. John Oatman, Thomas Kincade, Isaac Black, Daniel Allison, John 
Butcher, Matthew Blair, Cooley Curtis and Elijah Dickinson were all our own 
countrymen, but from what States they came we are not able to say. 

The names above given constituted the settlement up to about 1835. These 
" worthy scions of a noble stock " have given to the country soldiers who fought 
•on many a fierce-contested field, and never turned their back upon an enemy : 
and lawyers, doctors and ministers of the Gospel of no mean repute may claim 
the same origin. 

The settlers of Walnut Grove were mostly in what is now Olio and Cruger 
Townships, though the Grove extended from the south edge of Metamora down 
into Montgomery Tow^nship, and those living at '• the head of the Grove," if 
not in Metamora Township, were very near the limits, while others perhaps lived 
in ISIontgomery. 

A settlement was made in Metamora Township at a period almost, if not 
quite, as far back as that of Walnut Grove. It is held by many that some of 
the Sowards family settled here as early as 1823. That they were here at an 
early date there can be no doubt, but whether as early as 1823, is a point that 
cannot now be determined. The old ones are all gone, and the younger mem- 
bers of the family, Avhich was a large one scattered to the four corners of the 
earth, so that to fix the exact date of their settlement is attended with some dif- 
ficulty. They were of New England origin and claimed to have descended from 
the genuine old Puritan stock, and to be a branch of the same family of the late 
Wm. H. Seward, notwithstanding the difference in the manner of spelling the 
names. We have no record of any member of this branch of the family holding 
so important a position as that of Secretary of State, or otherwise distin- 
guishing himself by rising above the station of flirmer. It is pretty generally 
conceded, however, that they were the first to erect their wigwams in this 
immediate vicinity. The next after the Sowards, perhaps, was old 'S(|uire Ben 
Williams, as he was called, who settled about half a mile from the present vil- 



230 HISTORY OF WOOUFOIID COUNTY. 

lage of Metamora, where he remained but a short time, when he removed intO' 
what is now Worth Township. Next we have an importation from La Belle 
France, in the families of Peter Engle, Sr., John Brickler, Joseph and John 
Verkler, Francis Bregeard, Pichereau, Rev. Christian Engle and Michael 
loerger. In the " land of the free and the home of the brave," they became 
good and worthy citizens, distinguished alike for their integrity and business 
energy. Some of them still live on their original settlements, and those who 
have gone to rest have left behind them representatives to fill their places. 
Robert T. Cassell, Jacob Banta and his sons, David, Albert J. and Cornelius 
D. Banta, and Wm. H. Delph, came from Kentucky, the land of blue grass, 
pretty women and good whisky, and were of a good old stock. C. D. Banta 
informed us that he went to school, in Kentucky, more than fifty years ago, in 
a little log cabin 10x12 feet, with ex-Governor Beriah Magoffin, who was Gov- 
ernor of Kentucky when the war commenced in 1861, and, it was said, resigned 
the office because Kentucky would not secede with the other Southern States. 
Other members of this delegation will receive further notice in another page. 
The first account we have of anything like a regular New England colony 
were John Page, Sr., and his brother, Ebenezer Page, Nathaniel Wilson, 
Stephen Dudley, John Mason, and their families, who settled in Woodford 
County in 1835. Most of the settlers at that day were from Kentucky and 
other Southern States, and cherished the strongest prejudices against all Yankees. 
They would have welcomed as freely a colony of Hottentots or cannibals, and 
to have these " Yankees " settle in their midst, they say, seemed at the time 
like a judgment sent against them for some mighty transgression. They had 
never before seen the genuine Yankee. They had seen a skinning, trafficking 
and tricky race of peddlers, from New England, who much infested the West 
and South in those early times, with tinware, " wooden nutmegs," clocks and 
other small assortments of goods, and supposed all New England people to be 
like these specimens. They formed the opinion that the genuine Yankee was 
a close, miserly, dishonest, selfish getter of money, void of generosity, hospitality 
or any of the kinder feelings of human nature. But with that sympathetic 
feeling born of the privations endured in a wilderness home, where few of the 
comforts and none of the luxuries of more civilized life are attainable, and the 
polite dignity, and broad and liberal views of these old New England Quakers, 
their antipathy melted away like " frost in the morning sun," and with all the 
chivalrous courtesy, so strongly characteristic of the Southern people, they buried 
their former prejudices, and cultivated a friendship with this hitherto detested 
race, which grew brighter and stronger with advancing years, and which 

" Wanes only within the grave." 

Jacob Reeder was from Virginia, the home of statesmen and the birthplace 

of Presidents, and receives further notice in the history of Metamora Township. 

Joseph Morley came from Maryland, and Thomas Warren from Tennessee. 

Ohio furnished to the settlement Dr. J. S. Whitmire, one of the oldest physi- 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 231 

cians now in it, and George Ray, who has raised a family of stalwart sons, who 
have become worthy men of the county. The old Keystone State contributed 
the first Circuit Court Clerk of Woodford County, in the person of Samuel J. 
Cross, who has held several other important offices, among them that of the first 
Master in Chancery, after the organization of that branch of the courts, and 
James Boys, one of the first Postmasters. From Indiana we have Benjamin 
Williams, and from Connecticut, Amos A. Brown, two of the early Justices of 
the Peace in this section of the county, and whose courts furnished many an 
amusing incident of the backwoods. The great State of New York gave us 
that old Jackson Democrat, Judge W. P. Brown, the first Judge of the Wood- 
ford County Court. "Learned in the law" and the compeer of Douglas and 
Lincoln, and David Davis in the dawning period of Illinois' greatness, the 
Judge's mind is well stored with anecdotes of these great men, some of which 
will be given to embellish the pages of this history. Of Wilson Tucker, Hum- 
phrey Leighton, C. P. Mason and Jesse Dale, not much is known. The latter, 
however, was once known to be Treasurer of Woodford County, and it is said 
tried to bury the funds in the ground for safe-keeping, and that upon one par- 
ticular time he buried them so securely that he had a long search before he 
could find them. 

The Panther Creek settlement was commenced at an early day. As early 
as 1828, there was a cabin or two scattered throu2;h the timber that skirted its 
banks. Amasa Stout and a man named Bilbery Avere among the first to settle 
in this section, but concerning them we could obtain but little information. In 
1829, the Patricks, and in 1830, the Watkinses and the McCords, who were 
followed the next year by the Richardsons and Joseph Wilkerson. Noel and 
Basil Meek settled here in 1832, and Rev. James Robeson and James Rayburn, 
in 1835. Like the other settlements already mentioned, many of these pioneers 
came from Kentucky and Tennessee, and have done their part in building up 
the good old county. Thomas A. McCord is one of the old veterans of this 
little flock, and is verging on to his three score and ten years, but is still vigor- 
ous and hearty for his time of life. This settlement extended into Panola, El 
Paso, Roanoke and Greene Townships, and has furnished some of the live busi- 
ness men of those towns. 

The first settlement at White Oak Grove was made about the time of that 
on Panther Creek, by Robert and Samuel Philips, in 1828. John Harbert 
settled here in 1829, and Lewis Stephens the year following. In 1831, the 
Bensons and Samuel Kirkpatrick arrived, and Jonah Brown, James Vance, 
Rev. Abner Peeler and the Carlocks in 1833. These and their descendants 
have spread over "the Lowlands,' otherwise Montgomery and Kansas Town- 
ships, and on the Mackinaw, in the southern part of the county. Another small 
settlement was made at Low Point, in Cazenovia Township, in 1834-5. The 
Buckinghams, Thomas Jones, James Owen, Isaac Moulton, James G. Bayne 
and Parker Morse and his sons were the first to settle in this place. Some of 



232 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 

these were men of more or less celebrity in their day. Morgan Buckingham 
was one of the first Justices of the Peace in this section : James G. Bavne as an 
orator and politician of the day, and a delegate to the Convention that framed 
the Constitution of the State. The Morses, who first settled here, but soon 
removed into what is now Metamora Township, Avere New England Abolition- 
ists, and if they did not plant the germ of that party in Woodford County, they 
at least were among the first to nurture the tender plant. Being on the direct 
line of the "Underground Railway "' from St. Louis to Detroit, via Chicago, 
they became conductors on this '"line," so much patronized by the "darkies" 
when making a break for freedom. They were, no doubt, sincere in the part 
they enacted, and believed they were discharging a solemn duty in relieving the 
citizen of his legitimate property, recognized by the laws of the land, Avhen they 
thus aided the negro to escape from slavery. Many are the exciting stories 
they tell, as they "fight their battles o'er again,'" of their long and lonely trips 
by night, and through cold and storms of rain and snow, in assisting the fleeing 
fugitives on their way to freedom. But, like Othello, "their occupation is 
gone ; " and one of the results of the war was the accomplishment of the end 
which was the principal dogma of their political creed. 

In 1830, a small settlement was made near what is now Germantown, in 
Worth Township, and in 1885 numbered several families, of which we find 
John Sharpe, Samuel Beck, Thomas Sunderland, Peter Muler, Rev. Zadock 
Hall, Charles Molitor, .John F. Smith, Andrew Cress and Joseph Shertz. 
Many of these are fi'om France and Germany, and rank in thrift and prosperity 
with any citizens in the county. Old " Father"' Hall, as everybody calls him, 
is one of the first Methodist preachers in this section of the country. Thus we 
have endeavored to notice briefly the first permanent settlements made in Wood- 
ford County, and with a short retrospective view of some events connected with 
this early settlement, we will resume our work. 

XOTED CHARACTERS. 

Like every other portion of this great and glorious country of ours. Wood- 
ford County can boast of some rather distinguished people, past and present. 
Of these we Avill mention William H. Delph, an old settler, who came to Illinois 
from Lexington, Kentucky, in 1830, and first located at Jacksonville. He had 
learned the trade of engineer in Kentucky, which vocation he followed after 
coming west, and was the first engineer to run a train of cars on an Illinois 
railroad — a road that extended from Jacksonville to Meredosia on the Illinois 
River, and was known as the " Great Western Railroad." It is quite interest- 
ing to hear Mr. Delph describe this primitive engine, as well as the running of 
the trains on the road. Our descriptive powers are not sufiicient to transfer the 
picture to these pages. He relates how, on a certain occasion, the train over- 
took a man walking on the tack, whom he recognized as a deaf mute living near 
by, and without stopping or checking up his train, he walked round on the 



HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 233 

^' deck " to the front of the engine, and, putting out his hand, pushed the man 
out of the way. Mr. Delph, while living at Lexington, Kentucky, remembers 
very distinctly the visit of General La Fayette to that place, during his tour of 
LTnited States in 1825. He states that he had an introduction to the General, 
and in the evenino- sat in a Masonic Lodge with him. He claims to he one of 
the oldest Masons living in the State of Illinois, having belonged to the Frater- 
nity nearly sixty years. He was made Postmaster at Metamora by Abraham 
Lincoln, an office he held until the inauguration of President Hayes, when he 
resio'ned. 

John Brickler, a native of Lorraine, Fra