USA > Illinois > Ford County > History of Ford County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 1
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ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY
.
HISTORY
OF
FORD COUNTY ILLINOIS
FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1908
BY E. A. GARDNER
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND VIEWS
With Biographical Sketches of some Prominent Citizens of the County.
CHICAGO : THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. 1908
977,502
300. 9
1
PREFACE.
In presenting this history of Ford county to the public I desire to return my thanks to the many citizens of the county who have so willingly contributed valuable data for this work. I also wish to give due acknowledgment to the his- torical matter contained in the Atlas of Ford County published in 1884, from which a large portion of the pioneer facts has been compiled. Dne acknowledg- ment is also made for the valnable pioneer data contained in "Remembrances of a Pioneer," by Mrs. Jane Patton, of Button township, and published by her in 1904. Much of the data has been compiled directly from the files and records of the county clerk and circuit clerk's offices.
E. A. G.
55 MM VACI
E A. GARDNER
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY, ILLINOIS
THE ABORIGINES.
It is clearly demonstrated by the numerous and well authenticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of this county that a people civilized, and considerably cultivated, at least as compared with the Indian, occupied this great land before its possession by the red man of later history, but their "day and generation" lie buried in the deepest obseurity.
Nature, at the time of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, had asserted her original dominion over the land; the forests were in their full luxuriance-the growth of many centuries, and nothing remained to point out who and what they were who once lived and loved, labored and died on the continent of America.
This race with an unwritten history is known as the Mound-Builders. The remains of the works of this people form the most interesting class of antiqui- ties discovered in the United States.
These mounds consist of what onee apparently were villages, altars, tem- ples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc.
Were the Mound-Builders the ancestors of the Indians or who were they ? What were their customs? Whenee came they? What is their history? The oblivion which has closed over them is complete, and only conjecture ean be given in answer to these questions.
Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the western country in 1817, says : "The great number and extremely large size of some of them may be regarded as furnishing, with other eireumstanees, evidences of their antiquity. I have sometimes been indneed to think that during the period when they were constructed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates or of Mexico. The most numerous, as well as considerable, of these remains are found in precisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the mouth of the Ohio on the east side of the Missis-
12
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
sippi to the Illinois river, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."
To describe these mound-builders is now impossible. We only know the red men, who occupied this country when the French, English and Spanish came to visit the land and trade for peltries, and had not even a tradition of them.
It is generally eoneeded that whatever the uses of these mounds-whether for homes for the living or burial places for the dead-these voieeless land- marks of the silent past were built, and the race who built them disappeared from the face of the earth ages before the Indians occupied the land, but their date must probably remain as a sealed volume of history. The names of their mighty chieftains, their deeds of valor, their marches with faithful followers to a
"Glory bed, Or to glorious victory,"
have not been preserved by the historian and tradition is silent.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
ยท In October, 1665, Father Claude Allouez landed on the southwestern shore of Lake Superior, at a place called by the Indians Chegoimegon.
Here he found a number of the Algonquin tribes assembled preparatory to an incursion into the territory of the Sioux.
The good father persuaded them to abandon their preparations for war. He then erected the chapel which he named the "Mission of the Holy Ghost," at the place since called "Lapointe du Saint Esperit," and began his work as missionary.
To this spot came the roving Pottawattamies, Sacs, Foxes, the Kickapoos, the Illinois and Miamis, prompted by curiosity, and here they first heard the preaching of Christianity.
In Father Allouez, they beheld a champion of human rights, and to him they narrated their griefs by first speaking of their former grandeur, and then of their diminished numbers from hostile visitations from the Sioux on the west and the Iroquois on the east. The gentle and pious Marquette three years later took the place of Allonez.
Just previous to this time, however, possession of the country was taken in the name of the French goverment. For this event Allouez and Joliet summoned the chiefs of no less than fourteen tribes and bands at St. Mary's
13
IHISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
It was well known that a great river crossed southward through the coun- try. 3 The first white man who set foot on the soil of this state was Nicholas Perrot, a Frenchman. He was sent to Chicago in the year 1671. for the pur- pose of inviting the western Indians to a peace convention at Green Bay. One object of this meeting was to form a plan for the discovery of the Mississippi river. This river had been discovered by De Sota nearly one hundred and thirty years before, but his nation left it without further explorations.
Father Marquette and Joliet obtained leave to start on an expedition for the purpose of bringing to light the mysteries of this river.
These two distinguished men started from St. Ignace, a small missionary station on the north shore of the straits of Mackinaw.
Two birch bark canoes, five men, a bag of corn meal, some dried beef and a blanket for each constituted their outfit.
Their route late along the north shore of Lake Michigan, and the west bank of Green Bay. They passed through the waters of Lake Winnebago and thence accompanied by Indian guides, continued up the Fox river to the carry- ing place across to the Wisconsin. IIere their Indian guides refused to go farther, and returned whence they came. Down this stream they passed amid the silent grandeur of its forests, and under the cedar-crested precipices of solid rock. No mark of human life was apparent along its shores.
On the 17th of June, 1673, they found themselves on the broad surface of the Mississippi. The banks were less precipitous than the bold headlines of the Wisconsin, and as they passed down the stream, the country looked more promising. HIerds of buffalo were seen grazing on the open prairies.
Not until they neared the mouth of the Des Moines did they discover any evidence of human beings. Noticing footprints on the river's banks they left the canoes in charge of the five men. Marquette and Joliet fearlessly took the Indian path, and after two leagues' travel, came in sight of their villages. The meeting proved a friendly one. The Indians were of the Illinois tribe. They gave the missionaries a dinner of fish, roast buffalo and hominy. They resumed their journey but did not meet with any more Indians until reaching what is now the state of Kentucky. Landing on the left bank of the river, just below the mouth of the Ohio, they met with what was evidently a roving band of warriors from the far distant borders of civilization on the Atlantic coast. They were armed with guns, but were peaceably disposed, and received the voyagers kindly. The adventurers passed down the river till the mouth of the Arkansas was reached. Here again they met Indians, savage as nature could make them. The young men showed a disposition to take the lives of
.
14
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
our little party of travelers at once, but were restrained by the older men of the tribe. Finally a friendly meeting was had. From their new hosts, they aseertained that the mouth of the Mississippi was but ten days' travel distant. The intense heat of the month of July and fears of being picked up by Spanish adventurers caused them to conclude their explorations at this point. They had passed below where De Sota had discovered and crossed the Mississippi in 1541, which was one hundred and thirty-two years previous. No trace, not even a tradition of De Sota's work remained. The object of Marquette and Joliet's expedition had been fulfilled. They had discovered the great river and determined whether it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean.
On the 17th of July they took leave of their doubtful friends and turned their eanoes up stream. It is difficult for any person not familiar with the current of a great river to comprehend the task before them. Patient toiling at the oar finally brought them to the mouth of the Illinois river. Here they met with the Kaskaskias, who offered to conduct them by a more convenient route, which proved to be by the Illinois, the Des Plaines, and the Chicago rivers.
On the Illinois river, especially along the shores of Peoria lake, were the principal villages of the Illinois. There were also bands of the same tribe in the vicinity of Starved Rock, near the present site of Utica.
Marquette preached to these warriors, who manifested a commendable interest in what he had to say to them. When the little company of adven- turers passed on to Chicago, a large delegation of the Indians accompanied them, where they arrived in September. The Indians attached mueh import- ance to the little inlet stream called Chicago, and these French voyagers were eager to see the river, and still more eager to look upon the lake whose waters would afford a new route to their friends in northern Wisconsin.
On the marshy banks of the little stream where now stands the city of Chicago these two bands bade each other adieu.
The Frenchmen took their course along the western shore of the lake and soon arrived at the Mission of Green Bay.
On the 25th of October, of the following year, Marquette, with two com- panions, Perre and Jasques, and a band of Indians, started on their mission to preach the gospel to the Illinois. Accomplishing his mission he started on his return to Canada in the spring of 1675, his health having failed because of exposure to the winter storms. Arriving at Sleeping Bear Point on the eastern shore of the lake, he had become too much prostrated to proceed far- ther. His two companions built a hut of bark and did all they could to make
15
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
him comfortable. HIere he died and was buried, a large wooden cross mark- ing his resting place.
In 1679, La Salle, a French explorer, sailed to Green Bay and from there his party proceeded in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Here he established a trading-post with the Miamis. He then aseended the St. Joseph, crossed to the Kankakee and sailed down until he reached an Illinois village.
He formed an alliance with the tribe, and early in 1680 began near the present Peoria a post which he called Fort Crevecoeur. His chief object was to trade in furs. Accompanying him were several priests, and among them was Father Hennepin, who, with two companions, started to explore the upper Mississippi, and were taken prisoners by the Sioux. After an extended exper- ienee with the Indians, he was permitted to return to Green Bay. La Salle was finally assassinated after his second visit to Illinois, while exploring the lower Mississippi. The first mission in Illinois, as we have already seen, was established by Marquette. The first military occupation of the state was at Fort Crevecoeur, by La Salle. There is, however, no evidence that a settle- ment was commenced at those early dates.
The first settlement of which there is any authentic account was commeneed with the building of Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois river, in 1682, but this was soon abandoned. The oldest permanent settlement, not only in Illinois, but in the valley of the Mississippi, is at Kaskaskia, situated six miles above the mouth of the Kaskaskia river. This was settled in 1690. by the removal of the mission from old Kaskaskia, or Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois river. Caho- kia was settled about the same time.
Illinois came into full possession of the French in 1682, and was a depend- ency of Canada and a part of Louisiana. During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population probably never exceeded ten thousand.
To the year 1730 the following five distinct settlements were made in the territory of Illinois, numbering in population one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred "converted" Indians, and many traders : 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; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia; Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia river, six miles above its confluence with the Mississippi; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres. Fort Chartres was built in 1718, and was for a time the headquarters of the military commandants of the district of Illinois, and the most impregnable fortress in North America. For about eighty years the French retained peaceable possession of Illinois. For more than a hundred
16
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
years peace between the white man and the red man was unbroken, and when at last this reign of harmony terminated, it was not caused by the conciliatory Frenchman, but by the blunt and sturdy Anglo-Saxon. During the century now under consideration, no regular court was held by the French occupants. In 1765, the country passed into the hands of the English. As early as 1750, there could be perceived the first thrces of the Revolution, which gave a new master and new institutions to Illinois.
THE INDIANS.
The opinion prevails that the inhabitants of North America who followed the mound-builders were those who reared the great cities, the ruins of which are found in Central America. It is undoubtedly true that this people was far more civilized and advanced in arts than were the mound-builders. If we are to judge of these eities by their ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places bestrew the ground, they must have been cities of great extent, magnificent and very populous. Then to consider the time required to bring them to their present ruined condition we must conclude that the date of their building was far in the past.
The Indians, believed to be the third race inhabiting North America, are distinet in every particular from the former two. Their origin is also envel- oped in mystery. Neither had they any traditions respecting their predeces- sors. They knew absolutely nothing about them, consequently they must have been successors of a race which had entirely passed away before the Indian made his appearance on this continent. There are several widely different opinions expressed at length in the various histories of the North American Indian as to their origin, but as already stated, mystery surrounds their begin- ning as a race, and the opinions expressed are largely a matter of speculation. A quite common supposition, well expressed in Chapman's history, is that "they are a derivative race and sprang from one or more of the ancient peo- ples of Asia.
"In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is want- ing, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exact place of origin may never be known, vet the striking eoineidence of physical organization between the oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whenee they emigrated, which was originally peopled to a great extent by the children of Shem. In this connection, it has been claimed that a meeting of
17
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
the Europeans, Indians and Africans on the continent of America, is the ful- fillment of a prophecy as recorded in Genesis, ix, 27: 'God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his ser- vant.' Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japh- ethie race, after the two stocks had passed around the globe by directly differ- ent routes. A few years afterward the Hamatic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa.
"During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not volun- tary sons of Ilam have endured a servitude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem."
Ridpath, in his history of the United States, says : "The origin of the North American Indian is involved in complete obscurity. That they are one of the older races of mankind cannot be doubted. But at what date or by what route they came to the western continent is an unsolved problem. The notion that the Indians are the descendants of the Israelites is absurd. That half-civilized tribes wandering from beyond the Euphrates should reach North America, surpasses lmuman credulity."
No doubt all of us, having in our school days read the stories of Indian wars, were under the impression that the various tribes peopled this country quite densely, so that wherever the pioneer might travel in this newly discov- ered land, the red man with bow and arrow, tomahawk and scalping knife, glared upon him from every thicket and steathily glided through the tall grasses of the prairie watching the white man's course.
But it is the opinion of the best authorities that when America was dis- covered in 1492, the whole continent was thinly populated, as compared with the present time, by roving bands or tribes of Indians.
In some few regions, a considerable degree of civilization and skill in agri- culture had been obtained in Mexico and Peru.
The number of Indians in this country, when permanent settlements began to be made, is not known, but probably amounted in all the vast territory, as estimated by well informed writers, to only a few millions-perhaps two or three.
As almost every one knows, these were called Indians by the Europeans from the erroneous idea of Columbus and the men of that age, that there was only one continent; and that they had reached the eastern shore of Asia when America was discovered.
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HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
The whole region comprising our country was in the possession of a great number of these tribes. They divided the country between them in an indefi- nite way, war and hunting being their chief occupations. They, generally speaking, attempted a very little cultivation of the soil.
The settlements of Indians were as indefinite and movable as their boun- daries, and they attached very little value to land. Territory was acquired from them partly by force and partly by purchase.
The last was usually made for a nominal sum and with little compre- hension, on their part, of the importance and future effects of its alienation. Ilistorians have classified the Indian families or nations as follows :
1. The Esquimaux, inhabiting the country from Labrador to Alaska. The name means the eaters of raw meat.
2. The Algonquins, who occupied the country extending from Nova Sco- tia south of the James river, thence west to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence northward along the east side of the Mississippi and on to Lake Winnipeg, excepting that portion which was occupied by the Huron-Iroquois, as hereafter described.
3. The Huron-Iroquois, a powerful nation, occupied a tract of country within that of the Algonquins. Their borders extended over the country reaching from Georgian bay and Lake Huron to Lakes Erie and Ontario, south of those lakes to the valley of the upper Ohio, and eastward to the river Sorel.
4. The Appalachians inhabited that portion of the country south of the Algonquins, and east of the Mississippi.
5. The Dakotas, called by the French Sioux, occupied a district of coun- try west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri and Platte rivers.
6. The Shoshones, occupying the country south and west of the Dakotas. It will be understood that these nations were again divided into many tribes each, speaking different dialects of the common language, by which the main group was distinguished. As a general rule, Indians, when asked their name, gave the term, Men or Real Men. Each tribe had a name, generally that of the animal or object which was the totem of the tribe. By referring to the foregoing description of the territory occupied by the Algonquins, it will be observed that our state was, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, under the jurisdiction of that nation. The Algonquin tribes occupying the western part of the country thus allotted to this nation, were the several tribes of the Illinois and Miami confederacies, the Pottawattamies, the Kickapoos and scat- tered bands of Shawnees and Delawares.
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IIISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
THE ILLINOIS.
From the accounts, the Illinois seems to have laid elaim to quite an exten- sive tract of country. the eastern boundary thereof being the ridge that divides the waters that flow into the Wabash above the headwaters of Saline creek, from those flowing into the Illinois river, the northern limit being a line from the mouth of the Des Plaines river westward beyond the Mississippi. On the north, the Illinois for a long time contested their boundary line with the Chip- peways, Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes. Afterward, the Sacs, Foxes and Kick- apoos. assisted by the Pottawattamies, became the successful invaders of the land of the Illinois. On the east came the Miamis, who in language and man- ners much resembled the Illinois, with whom they originally bore a close affinity.
General Harrison stated that "the Illinois confederacy was composed of five tribes : The Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Peorians, Michigans and the Tamarois."
It is authoritatively stated that the Algonquin language, as spoken by the Ojibways, was regarded as the court language, so, if a person fell among a strange tribe, whose language he did not understand and spoke this language, they were bound, as a general rule. to furnish some one who could communi- cate with him in that language. It was through this language that Marquette spoke with all the tribes, and so it was with all the early French trav- elers. Of all states in the Union, the following have Indian names: Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentneky, Michigan, Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, the most of these being derived from great rivers or other waters.
The first accounts we have of the Illinois are given by the Jesuit mission- aries. In the "Relations" for the year 1655, it is stated that the Illinois are neighbors of the Winnebagoes; and again, the following year it was reported "that the Illinois nation dwell more than sixty leagues from here, and beyond a great river, which as near as can be conjectured, flows into the sea toward Virginia. These people are warlike. They use the bow, rarely the gun, and never the canoe." At this time the Illinois and Miamis were living west of the Mississippi, the reference being to this river. While the Illinois were like their brethren of a roving nature, they were not so much so as other tribes.
Their favorite portions of the state seemed to be along the Illinois river, and on the Mississippi from the Kaskaskia to where Cairo now stands. Beek- with, in describing them, says: "In form they were tall and lithe. They
22
HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
were noted for their swiftness of foot. They wore moccasins prepared from buffalo hides, and a small covering extending from the waist to the knee. The rest of the body was entirely nude."
The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction.
The male children were early taught the use of the bow and arrow. They were as carefully trained in hunting and Indian warfare as are the boys and girls of our time in the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic.
The dwellings were simple and rude in character. A pleasant spot was selected by the river or near a spring, and here they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed chiefly of the bark of trees. The skins of animals served for beds and wearing apparel. Depending principally on the chase for sub- sistence, this being, somewhat uncertain, they were led to cultivate small patehes of corn.
Commerce or an interchange of articles being almost unknown, every fam- ily did everything necessary within itself to provide food and comfort.
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