USA > Illinois > McLean County > The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 1
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HISTORY
OF
MC LEAN COUNTY
1879 ILLINOIS
FROM Raymer's "Old Bock" STORE. "· Ye Olde Booke Shoppe" 834 15th St., Denver, Colo.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY
Class
977.359
H62
Book
Volume
ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY
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THE
:
HISTORY
OF
MCLEAN COUNTY,
ILLINOIS,
CONTAINING
A History of the County-its Cities, Towns, &c .; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General Statistics; Map of McLean County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c.
ILLUSTRATED.
·
CHICAGO : WM. LE BARON, JR., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET. 1879.
8
T
PREFACE
TN presenting our History of McLean County, we deem a few prefatory words necessary. We have spared neither pains nor expense to fulfill 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 eare and foresight of ordinary mortals. The General History of the County was compiled by Prof. Merriman, of Bloomington, and the Township His- tories of Bloomington. Normal and White Oak, by Capt. J. H. Burnham, and the balance of the Townships by our historians, H. H. Hill and A. W. Kellogg. Some of the Town- shu Histories 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.
CHICAGO:
( U'LVER. PAGE, HOYNE & CO., PRINTERS. 118 and 120 Monroe Street.
977 359 H62
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Ilistory North west Territory 19
War 73 Early Exploration .. 20
Black Hawk and the Black Hawk
Present Condition of the Northi-
Discovery of the Ohio. 32 west ... 79
History of Illinois.
88
Massacre ot Fort Dearborn
Physical Features 99
History of Chicago ..
Early Discoveries
88
Early Settlements.
94
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Suurce of the Mississippi 22
Lake Bluff.
PAGE. I 62 . Hunting Prairie Wolves at an
Early Day .. 85
Starved Rock, on the Illinois River,
La Salle County, 11 .. 89
Buffalo Hunt 26
Kinzie House ... 87 Chicago in 1833. 82
Lincoln Monument, Springfield, 11. 80
Old Fort Dearbron in 1830. 79
Present site of Lake Street Bridge, Chicago, in 1833. 5%
Shabbona.
MCLEAN COUNTY HISTORY.
PAGE.
General History of McLean County.189
Danvers Township.
PAGE. 564
Mount Hope Township. 57
Arrowsmith Township
671
Dry Grove
686
Money Creek
Allin
716
Dale
610
Normal .425
Anchor
7.17
Empire .
515
Old Town ..
.628
Bloomington
299
Funk's Grove "
618
Padoa. GI:
Belleflower
735
Gridley
552
Randolph
.459
Blue Mound 723
Hudson
.599
Towanda ..
589
Cropsey 739
Lawndale
63G
White Oak 680
Cheney's Grove
Chenoa
Downs
701
LITHOGRAPHUIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
PAL,E.
Adams, W. H. HI
5.47
Gregory, John.
457
Rogers, Thomas P .. 439
Bishop, James
781
Greenman, E. E.
763
Riebsame, C .... 1051
Barnum, S. F.
871
Gildersleeve, James T. 961
Smith, Giles A .. 331
Barnett, T. J.
799
llayes, James W .: 67
Stetson, Albert.
Benjamin, D. C. 979
Hewett, E. C.
565 Schroeder, Il ..
Carlyl, John ... 98
Havens II
997 'Soldiers' Monument 187
Cheney, W. 11. 691
Keenan, J
Lewis, Samuel H
945
Trimmer, Jesse ... 673
Dimmitt, Wm.
205
Moore, A. II
619
Tipton, Thomas F
Elder. W. A ..
511
Maban, J. ( .. 712
Van Schoick, Wni. .599
Ewins, John A
835
Mitchell, T. F
175 | Van Dolah, D. H 727
Flagg, W. F
2223
Mccullough, William 295
Withers, Allen 319
Funk, Isaac .. 637
Ogden, B .. 655
Orme, W. W 313
Whitmer, P ..
Franklin, Noah 745
Parke, Charles R. .493
West, Henry.
817
Fisher, T. D.
589
Parke, George W. 103
Weedman, John 907
Freeman, G. W
50
Parkhurst, HI 853
Wheeler, G. W
Gridley, A
277
Rogers, Elihu ..
66 |
192849
Survey 16\r\\ Pierce 3.50
Trapping. 28
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 42
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen ... 55
A Pioneer Dwelling 60
Education .. 107 Geographical. 19
First French Occupation .. 91
Genius of La Salle. 92 Material Resources. 102
English Explorations and Settle- ments 34
American Settlements .. 59
Division of the Northwest Terri- tory 65
Tecumseh and the war of 1812. 79
PAGE.
Mouth of the Mississippi 31
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain ... 68 Indians Attacking a Stockade. 71
La Salle Landing on the Shore of Green Bay. 2.1
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain .... 74
A Pioneer School House .. 81
High Bridge and Lake Bluff. 33
536 . Lexington 498
483
West
Martin
753
Yates
PAGE.
Carlock, A W 1033
925 | Stokes, George W
Wakefield, C. 259
Ferre, 1 601
111
PAGE.
Coal. 103 Compact of 1787 95
Progress of Development. 101 Religion and Morals. 106
War Record of Illinois
.10a
PAGE.
66
iv
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
PAGE.
Arrowsmith
951
Danvers
1035
Mount Hope ... 934
Allin .. 1008
Dry Grove .1046
Dale. 1027
Normal 831
Bloomington
761
Empire. 869
Old Town 995
Padua 914
Blue Mound. 1023
Gridley. 90€
Randolph
Towanda 989
Cheney's Grove.
S97
Lawndale. 1043
White Oak 1053
Chenoa 859
Downs 957
Martin 1062
Yates
1060
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children
.132
Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes ...
123
County Courts. 127
Conveyances .. 136
Church Organizations. 157 Lease of House 150
Descent ..
123
Deeds and Mortgages .. 129
Drainage 135
Damages from Trespass. 139
Definition of Commercial Terms. 143
Exemptions from Forced Sale .. ... 128
Estrays.
129
Fences
138
Forms :
Articles of Agreement. .145
Bills of Purchase .. 144
Bills of Sale. 146
Bonds ... .146 Will
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Interest Table
178
Miscellaneous Tables .. 178
Names of the States of the Union
and their Signification 179
Population of the Principal Coun- tries in the World. ..... 181 Population of Illinois .. .182-183 State Laws Relating to Interest ..... 184 State Laws Relating to Limitations of Actions. .185 Population of McLean Co ..... .1064 Business Directory. .1065
Practical Rules for Every Day Use.173 Population of the United States ..... 180 Population of Fifty Principal Cities Agricultural Productions of Illi- of the United States .. .. 180 U. S. Government Land Measure ... 176 nois by Counties, 1870 .. .. 186 Population and Area of the United Surveyors' Measure. .177 States 181 Errata $31
How to Keep Accounts .177
Game 130
Chattel Mortgages. 147 Interest 123
Codicil .. 157
Jurisdiction of Courts. .126
Limitation of Action 127
Landlord and Tenant 139
Liens 142
Married Women 127
Millers
131
Marks and Brands 131
Orders
144
Paupers
136
Quit Claim Deed
Receipt .144
Real Estate Mortgaged to Secure Payment of Money. 151 Release .154 Tenant's Agreement 150 Tenant's Notice of Leaving. .151
153
Roads and Bridges.
133
Surveyors and Surveys
132
Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription. 158
Taxes
126
Wills and Estates.
124
Weights and Measures
130
Warranty Deed 152 Wolf Scalps .139
155
PAGE.
Map of McLean County. Front Constitution of the U. S .. .160
Electors of President and Vice Pres- ident .. 172
Formis :
Lease of Farm and Build- ings 149
Landlord's Agreement
.150
Notes. 144
Notice Tenant to Quit. .151
Cropsey
1059
Iludson 942
Lexington 850
West 918
PAGE.
PAGE.
Belleflower
.1014
Funk's Grove 985
Money Creek 1020 Anchor 1056
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.
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 James 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 established 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
21
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
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 eruel, 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 them 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 eross 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 the 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
22
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
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.
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
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 days 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
23
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, buffaloes, 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 by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream-going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan-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 peacefully 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 by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico 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 --
24
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
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 " Baie 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 the 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," wolf, 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 Illi- nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment
25
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs, 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 Pim-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 travel. He called this fort " Crevecœur " (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 Cana da, and set out again for the object of his search.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecœur 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 days 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
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