USA > Illinois > Kane County > The past and present of Kane County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion statistics history of the Northwest etc., etc > Part 1
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HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH
-
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Brigham Young University
http://www.archive.org/details/pastpresentofkan00peir
977,323 KI31Pg
THE
PAST AND PRESENT
01
1
KANE COUNTY, ILLINOIS,
CONTAINING
A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY-ITS CITIES, TOWNS, &C., A DIRECTORY OF ITS CITIZENS, WAR RECORD OF ITS VOLUNTEERS IN THE LATE REBELLION, PORTRAITS OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT MEN, GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS, MAP OF KANE COUNTY, HISTORY OF ILLINOIS, ILLUSTRATED, HIS- TORY OF THE NORTHWEST, ILLUSTRATED, CON- STITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, MIS- CELLANEOUS MATTERS, ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAG(): WM. LE BARON, JR., .& CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET.
1878.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by
WM. LE BARON, Jr., & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C:
ulver Hage Hoyne PRINTERS 18 &120 MONROE SI CHICAGO
THE LIBRARY BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH
PREFACE.
In presenting our Past and Present of Kane County in historical form, 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. Almost the entire matter contained in the first fifty pages of the County History was obtained from Henry B. Peirce, and the remainder was compiled by our historians, Arthur Merrill and W. H. Perrin. Some of the Township 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 differ- ence, 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.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAEG.
History Northwest Territory. 19
Other Indian Troubles 79
History of Chicago
132
Geographical 19
Present Condition of the Northwest 87
Early Discoveries.
109
Early Exploration 20 Illinois 99
Early Settlements. 115
Discovery of the Ohio. 33 Indiana
101
Education
129
English Explorations and Settle- Iowa ments 35 Michigan.
103
Genius of La Salle. 113
American Settlements 60 Wisconsin
104
Material Resources. 124
Division of the Northwest Terri-
Minnesota
106
tory 66
Nebraska
107
Physical Features. .121
Tecumseh and the war of 1812 70
109
Progress of Development ..
123
Black Hawk and the Black Hawk
Coal. 125
Religion and Morals
.128
War Record of Illinois
130
War
74
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Source of the Mississippi. 21
Great Iron Bridge of Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Railroad, Cross- ing the River at Davenport, Iowa 96
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain ..... 75
Big Eagle. 80 A Western Dwelling. .. 100
Hunting Prairie
Wolves at an
Village Residence. 86
A Representative Pioneer.
87
Iroquois Chief. 34
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain. 43
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen 56
A Prairie Storm. 59
A Pioneer Dwelling.
61
Pioneers' First Winter. 92
View of the City of Chicago 144
High Bridge and Lake Bluff.
94
Shabbona.
.149
KANE COUNTY HISTORY.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
General History of Kane Co. 221
Campton Township
465
Plato Township .449
Aurora Township.
.270
Dundee
396
Rutland 442
Batavia
296
Elgin 357
St. Charles " .. 329
Blackberry
473
Geneva 311
Burlington
.480
Hampshire ¥
457
Virgil 430
LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
Browning, S. W. .183
Kelley, L. M ..
.381
Pingree, Andrew 363
Borden, Gail.
237
Ketchum, E. G.
.489
Starks, E. R. 543
Burlingame, D. E
.525
Mann, S. S .219
TOWA, MI. C .. 291
Barrows, M. T. .550
Minard, Ira .. .309
Tabor, Mervin 399
Crabtree, L. A 201
Mann, James. 345
Tefft, Dr. Jos. 417
Chisholm, R. B. 471
Mixer. Chas. S. 435
Farnsworth, A. P 165
Merrill, Arthur H .. 567
Wheeler, A. R 507
Gillett, L. H. .147
Manu, A. J. 453
Herrington, A. M .255 Pingree, Daniel. 327
KANE COUNTY WAR RECORD.
Infantry
497 |Cavalry
....
PAGE. 537 Artillery
PAGE. .. 545
La Salle Landing on the Shore of Green Bay 25 Buffalo Hunt 27 Trapping 29 Hunting .. 32
Captain Jack, the Modoc Chieftain .. 83 Kinzie House 85 Early Day. 108 Starved Rock, on the Illinois River, La Salle County, Ill. 110
Lincoln Monument, Springfield, Il1. 88 An Early Settlement .. 116 A Pioneer School House .. 89 Chicago in 1833 133
Farm View in the Winter. 90 Old Fort Dearborn in 1830 .136 Ruins of Chicago ... 142 Spring Scene. 91
Sugar Grove Township 411
Big Rock
488 | Kaneville =
422
PAGE.
PAGE.
Breaking Prairie. 63
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain ... 69 Mouth of the Mississippi. 21 Indians Attacking a Stockade. 72 Wild Prairie .. 23
102
First French Occupation 112
Massacre of Fort Dearborn. .141
History of Illinois
Compact of 1787
117
Wheeler. H. N. 273
PAGE.
8
CONTENTS.
TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
Aurora Township 737
Batavia
591
Elgin
Blackberry ‘
Burlington
661
Hampshire " 559
Big Rock :
715
Kaneville
625
Virgil
.706
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children. 160
Chattel Mortgages.
.177
Codicil ...
.. 189
Jurisdiction of Courts 154 Lease of Farm and Build- ings. .179 Limitation of Action 155
Conveyances.
164
Lease of House.
180
Landlord and Tenant
169
Church Organizations.
189
Landlord's Agreement.
.180
Notes.
174
Notice Tenant to Quit. 181
Orders .
174
Quit Claim Deed
185
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
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Interest Table
212
Miscellaneous Tables ..
.212
Names of the States of the Union
and their Signification ..
213
Aurora Light Guards.
548
Errata.
550
Business Directory. .810
Population and Area of the United
Population of the Principal Coun-
tries in the World .. 215 Population of Illinois. 216-217 Elgin National Guards. .548
Electors of President and Vice Pres- ident .. .206 Practical Rules for Every Day Use.207 U. S. Government Land Measure ... 210 Agricultural Productions of Illi- nois by Counties, 1870 210
Surveyors' Measure.
.211
How to Keep Accounts.
211
Game ..
158
Interest
.151
County Courts.
155
Descent.
151
Deeds and Mortgages. 157
Drainage 163
Damages from Trespass
169
Definition of Commercial Terms.
173
Exemptions from Forced Sale. 156
Estrays.
157
Real Estate Mortgaged to Secure Payment of Money .181
Fences.
.168
Release
.186
Forms :
Articles of Agreement 175
Bills of Purchase ... 174
Bills of Sale ..
176
Will
.187
Bonds.
176
PAGE.
Dundee Township.
566
Plato Township
732
Rutland
66
722
608
Geneva
551
St. Charles
.637
Sugar Grove " .654
Campton
619
Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. 151
Receipt
174
Liens.
172
Married Women 155
Millers
159
Marks and Brands
159
Tenant's Agreement .180
Tenant's Notice to Quit. .181
Warranty Deed
182
Assessors' Report.
822
States.
215
Population of Kane County
.826
PAGE.
Map of Kane County .... Front Constitution of the U. S. .192
Population of the United States ..... 214 Population of Fifty Principal Cities of the United States .. 214
.668
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KANE COUNTY
ILLINOIS 1878.
REFERENCE
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AR
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
GRAND SUMMARY.
PERSONAL PROPERTY.
ITEMS.
No.
Av. Val.
Assessed Val.
1 Horses of all ages.
10596
$34 73
$367993
2 Cattle of all ages.
40447
13 21
534215
3 Mules and Asses of all ages.
206
42 04
8661
4 Sheep of all ages.
15306
1 62
24827
5 Hogs of all ages.
26730
2 64
70530
6 Steam Engines, including Boilers
46
348 76
16043
7 Fire or Burglar-Proof Safes.
125
39 66
4958
8 Billiard, Pigeon Hole, Bagatelle. or other similar Tables
56
40 28
2256
9 Carriages and Wagons of whatsoever kind.
5521
22 73
125498
10 Watches and Clocks.
4968
5 56
27616
11 Sewing or Knitting Machines
2724
13 55
39910
12 Piano Fortes.
564
79 24
44694
13
Melodeons and Organs.
525
33 44
17557
15
Annuities and Royalties
16 Patent Rights.
18 Merchandise on hand.
427352
19 Material and Manufactured Articles on hand.
290956
20 Manufacturers' Tools, Implements and Machinery (other than Engines and Boilers, which are to be listed as such).
172211
22
Gold and Silver Plate and Plated Ware
2329
23 Diamonds and Jewelry
1446
24
Moneys of Bank, Banker, Broker or Stock Jobber.
21728
25
Credits of Bank, Banker Broker, or Stock Jobber
9686
26
27 Moneys of other than Bank, Banker, Broker or Stock Jobber.
259568
Credits of other than Bank, Banker, Broker or Stock Jobber
428655
28 Bonds and Stocks
7650
29
Shares of Capital Stock of Companies and Associations not incorporated by the laws of this State
400
31 Property of Companies and Corporations other than hereinbefore enumerated ..
32 Bridge Property
10
33 Property of Saloons and Eating Houses
5440
34
35 Houshold or Office Furniture and Property.
325
36 All other Personal Property required to be listed
77522
37 Shares of Stock of State or National Banks.
351500
Total Value of Personal Property
$3633736
LANDS.
8.
Av. Val. Per Acre.
Improved Lands.
309028 55
$23 26
$7187542
Unimproved Lands
14678 50
14 16
207839
Total Value of Lands.
$7395381
TOWN AND CITY LOTS.
No. of Lots.
Average Value.
Improved Town and City Lots ..
9153
$475 65
$4353679
Unimproved Town and City Lots.
3105
74 73
232059
Total Value of Town and City Lots
$4585738
PROPERTY BELONGING TO RAILROADS.
Lands other than "Railroad Track"
$ 2899
Lots other than "Railroad Track"
189523
Personal Property other than " Rolling Stock "
208361
Grand Total of all Property as assessed.
$16015638
Acres of Wheat
1461 00
Acres of other Field Products. 4059 18
Acres of Corn.
35983 46
Acres of Enclosed Pasture. 65887 64
Acres of Oats.
21324 04
Acres of Orchard.
1500 94
Acres of Meadow
40823 27
Acres of Wood Land
19653
21 Agricultural Tools, Implements and Machinery.
57222
30 Pawnbroker's Property.
237968
Investments in Real Estate and Improvements thereon (See Sec. 10).
POPULATION OF KANE COUNTY, BY TOWNSHIPS.
1870.
1860.
TOWNS.
Total.
Native.
Foreign.
White.
Colored.
White.
Colored.
Aurora
2033
1274
759
2017
16
1395
Aurora City
11162
8091
3071
11013
149
5999
12
First Ward
760
594
166
748
12
Second
480
380
100
474
Third
1037
873
164
1008
29
Fourth
497
354
143
486
11
Fifth
639
318
321
639
Sixth
1368
833
535
1368
Seventh
929
692
237
922
7
Eighth
1448
1089
359
1444
4
Ninth
1465
1156
309
1403
62
Tenth
1225
786
439
1225
Eleventh "
1314
1016
298
1296
18
3018
2231
787
2972
46
2338
15
Batavia City.
1606
15
Big Rock.
829
645
184
829
911
Blackberry
1173
985
188
1171
2
1080
Burlington
919
687
232
919
886
Campto
957
745
212
956
1
1027
Dundee.
2079
1320
759
2079
1888
1
Elgin ..
1298
997
301
1298
1390
Elgin City.
5441
3989
1452
5360
81
2797
Clinton City
544
Geneva ...
1829
1350
479
1789
40
1505
Geneva City.
997
Hampshire.
1049
815
234
1049
1049
1
Kaneville
999
840
159
998
1
1072
1004
773
231
1002
2
1007
1
Rutland.
960
682
278
960
1013
St. Charles.
2281
1720
561
2261
20
2491
6
St. Charles City.
1816
6
Sugar Grove.
787
667
120
779
8
967
2
Virgil.
1273
944
329
1272
1
120
6
Batavia.
Plato.
1
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
BRIGHAM
MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
21
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 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-
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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,
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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.
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