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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
977.325 H629
IDL. HISTORY SUR.
THE
HISTORY
OF
WILL COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
CONTAINING
A History of the County-its Cities, Towns, &c .; a Directory of its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Promi- nent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Will County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; His- tory of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c.
ILLUSTRATED .
CHICAGO : WM. LE BARON, JR., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET. 1878.
PREFACE. 1
TN presenting our History of Will 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 care and foresight of ordinary mortals. The General History of the County was compiled by Hon. Geo. H. Woodruff, of Joliet, and the Township Histories by our historians, W. H. Perrin and H. H. Hill. Some of the Town- ship Histories are indeed longer than others, as the townships arc 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 cach 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: CULVER, PAGE, HOYNE & CO., PRINTERS, 118 and 120 Monroe Street.
Towner
WILL COUNTY HISTORY.
PAGE.
General History of Will County .... 223
Channahon Township ...
Crete
66
553
Custer 66
.606
Du Page .525 Monee .. 567
Frankfort "
506
Florence
.. 575
Greengarden
583
Homer
.516
LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
Allen, B. F.
509
Braidwood, J.
869
Beggs, S. R ... 797
Boyer, Charles E .689
Cagwin, Abijah ... 491
Hagar, Jonathan 743
Harwood, E. .. 419
Henderson, Hugh .. .329
Higinbothanı, H. D. .383
Knapp, Ira O. 815
Leach, Alonzo ..
.. 311
Steel, W. A.
186
Stevens, Robert. 257
Little, W. E. 365 Erhard, George. .725 Elwood, N. D. 347 Miller, T. L. 635 Maltby, William 88℃ Tryon, George. 833 Thornton, Cary. .797
McGovney, O .. 797
Thomas, William
132
Francis, Abraham .761 Foster, Lyman .. 150 Mack, Firman .437 Wood, Willard 66
Flack, J. J ..
473
Gongar, John .797 Osgood, Uri. .293
Gooding, William .653
Holden, P. H. .527
Holden, Betsy P.
.. 545
Preston, J. B .. .707
Preston, Isaac. .725
Reynolds, I. N. .599
Holmes, A .. 725 Reynolds, J. S. .. 617
Rowley, Hiram. .311
Runyon, A. 671
Smith, C. C. 851
Sutphen, C. H. .401
Sanger, L. P. 168
Doolittle, R. 491 Daggett, John F. .725
Joliet Township.
367
Recd Township .464
Troy
610
Lockport .414
Manhattan Township .. .634
66
Wesley
.598
...
New Lenox .494
Washington 66
....
.. 641
Plainfield .477
Wilton
..........
.625
Peotone 616
PAGE. ing the River at Davenport, Iowa 96 A Western Dwelling. .109 Hnuting Prairie Wolves at all
Big Eagle.
80
Early Day ...
108
83 Starved Rock, on the Hlinois River, La Salle County, Ill .. 110
Village Residence .. 86 An Early Settlement. 116
A Representative Pioneer. 87
Lincoln Momment, Springfield, Ill. 88
A Pioneer School House ..
...
89
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen ... 56
A Prairie Storm
59
A Pioneer Dwelling.
61
Breaking Prairie.
63
· ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain ... 69
Indians Attacking a Stockade ..... 72 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
Present site of Lake Street Bridge,
Chicago. in 1833 ..
136
Farm View in the Winter 90
High Bridge and Lake Bluff.
Great Iron Bridge of Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Railroad, Cross-
History of Chicago ..
.132
Early Discoveries.
109
Early Settlements
115
Education
129
English Explorations and Settle-
Iowa
102
First French Occupation.
112
ments
35
Michigan
103
Genins of La Salle ..
[13
American Settlements.
60
Wisconsin
104
Minnesota
.106
Material Resources.
124
Massacre of Fort Dearborn .... .141
Nebraska.
107
Physical Features ..
121
History of Illinois
109
Coal ..
.125
Compact of 1787.
.117
L
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Other Indian Troubles. 79
History North west Territory 19 Geographical. 19 Present Condition of the Northwest 87
Early Exploration. 20 Illinois 99
Discovery of the Ohio ..
33
Indiana
101
Division of the Northwest Terri-
tory
66
Tecumseh and the war of 1812 ..
...
70
Black Hawk aud the Black Hawk
War Record of Illinois ..
130
War
74
PAGE.
Source of the Mississippi. 21 Mouth of the Mississippi. 21
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain ..... 75
Captain Jack, the Modoc Chieftain .. Kinzie House 85
Chicago in 1833 .. 133 Old Fort Dearbron in 1830 .. .136
94
Pionecrs' First Winter.
142
View of the City of Chicago.
144
Shabbona.
.149
5261.2011/ 8
J
977. 325 H629
1
-
Patterson, Anson. 491
PAGE.
PAGE.
Holden, C. C. P. .. 563
Holdeu, Sarah J 581
Cook, M. H. 82
Casseday, G. W 455 Cutter, N. H. 491 Demmond, M. H. 275
PAGE.
PAGE.
591 Jackson Township. .. 540
Wilmington Township. .. 443
Wheatland .536
Will
650
........
Norton, Jesse O 311 Woodruff, George H. 221
Young, John.
.204
Zarley, Reason 239
Paige, J. D ...
.. 311
.123
Progress of Development ......
Religion and Morals ..
128
iv
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Channahon Township .. .. 832
C'rete
.. 889
Jackson
...
.....
.730
Wilmington Township. .. 801
Du Page
.. 895
Manhattan Township. 66
799
Wheatland 814 ...
Frankfort
.838
Monee
900
Wesley
786
Florence
....
.791
New Lenox
..
.. 778
Wilton
.902
Greengarden
865
Plainfield
..
855
Washington
905
Homer
...
765
Peotone
..
877
Will
...
906
DIRECTORY OF REAL ESTATE OWNERS,
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Channahon Township. 971
Joliet Township.
.. 909
Reed Township.
.929
Crete
.. 968
Jackson 66
945
Troy
966
Custer
.....
.. 965
Lockport
...
934
Wilmington Township. 924
Du Page
.. 950
Manhattan Township 972
Wheatland
954
Frankfort
.947
Monee .941
Wesley 964
Florence
.. 963
New Lenox
.955
Wilton
.. 960
Greengarden
.957
Plainfield
.938
Washington
........
.973
Homer
952
Peotone
.958
Will
975
.€
...
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children .. .. 160
Chattel Mortgages ..
.. 177
Codicil. .. 189
Interest
155
Jurisdiction of Courts 151
Limitation of Action 154
Conveyances. 164 Lease of House 180 Landlord and Tenant. 165
Church Organizations. 189
Landlord's Agreement.
180
Liens
179
Married Women 152
Millers
159
Drainage .163 Orders .174 Marks and Brands 159
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 Purchasc .. 174
Bills of Sale .. .176
Bonds.
.. 176
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Interest Table 212
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
Agricultural Productions of Illi- nois by Counties, 1870 ....... .. 210 States ... 215 Surveyors' Measure .... 211 Population of the Principal Coun- How to Keep Accounts. .211 tries in the World .. .. 215
PAGE. Population of Illinois .216-217 State Laws Relating to Interest ..... 218 State Laws Relating to Limitations of Actions ... .219
Productions of Agriculture of. Illi-
nois ..
.220
Population of Will Co.
.996
Assessors' Report ...
.999
Business Directory.
.. 977
Errata
.1003
.884
Custer
872 Lockport
Joliet Township.
659
Reed Township ..
.751
Troy
Will
.187
Game
158
Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes ... .151 County Courts 155
Lease of Farm and Build- ings 179
Notes.
174
Notice Tenant to Quit. .181
Quit Claim Deed
.185
Paupers
164
Receipt
.174
Real Estate Mortgaged to Secure Payment of Money. 181
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
Map of Will County. Front Constitution of the U. S. 192
Electors of President and Vice Pres- ident 206 Practical Rules for Every Day Usc.207 U. S. Government Land Measure ... 210
Release
186
Tenant's Agreement
.180
Tenant's Notice to Quit
181
Warranty Deed
182
Roads and Bridges
161
Descent ..
151
Deeds and Mortgages. 157
...
.....
... 823
66
THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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MAP OF WILL COUNTY ILL.
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THE LẠI NY -
7500 - 9
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.
BRIGHAM
MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
1101
-
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
22
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 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 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 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 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
23
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.
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 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
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, 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 thie 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 tlie 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 ..
25
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
26
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.
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