USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 9
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On the morning of the 5th, the principal citizens were put in irons. Shortly after this Father Gibault and a few aged men came to Clark and begged the privilege of holding services in the church, that they might bid one another goodbye before they were separated. Clark gave his permission in a very crabbed way. The church bell rang out over the quiet but sad village, and immediately every one who could get to church did so. At the close of the service Father Gibault came again with some old men to beg that families might not be separated and that they might be privileged to take some of their personal effects with them for their support. Clark then explained to the priest that Ameri- cans did not make war on women and children, but that it was only to protect their own wives and children that they had come to this strong- hold of British and Indian barbarity. He went further and told them that the French king and the Americans had just made a treaty of alli- ance and that it was the desire of their French father that they should join their interests with the Americans. This had a wonderfully con- ciliatory effect upon the French. And now Clark told them they were at perfect liberty to conduct themselves as usual. His influence had been so powerful that they were all induced to take the oath of allegiance to the state of Virginia. Their arms were given back to them and a volunteer company of French militiamen was formed.
Kaskaskia was captured on July 4, 1778. On the morning of the
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5th occurred the incident previously referred to, relative to the conduct of the priest. Evidently very early in the day, quiet was restored and better relations were established between captors and captives. The treaty of alliance between France and the United States was explained, and immediately the oath of allegiance to Virginia was taken by the people. On the same 5th of July an expedition was planned for the capture of Cahokia. Captain Bowman with his company, or probably a portion of it, and a detachment of the French militia under French officers, together with a number of Kaskaskia citizens, made up the army. Reynolds says they rode French ponies. The distance was sixty miles and the trip was made by the afternoon of the 6th. At first the people of Cahokia were greatly agitated and cried "Long Knives!" "Long Knives !" But the Kaskaskia citizens soon quieted them and explained what had happened at Kaskaskia only two days before. The fort at Cahokia may have contained a few British soldiers or some French militia. In either case they quietly surrendered. The oath of alle- giance was administered to the people and the citizens returned to Kaskaskia.
BLOODLESS CAPTURE OF VINCENNES
For the first few days of Clark's stay in Kaskaskia he and his men talked about the fort at the falls of Ohio and of a detachment of soldiers they were expecting from there every day. This was done for the purpose of making an impression upon the people of Kaskaskia. Clark was a shrewd diplomatist, as well as a good soldier, and he suspected that Father Gibault was at heart on the side of the Americans. By conversation Clark learned that the priest was the regular shepherd of the flock at Vincennes, and evidently had very great influence with the people there. Clark therefore talked of his expedition against Vincennes from the fort at the falls of the Ohio. Father Gibault then told Clark that while the post at Vincennes was a very strong one and that there were usually many Indians about that place, just at this time, the lieutenant governor or commandant, Edward Abbot, was not at Vin- cennes but was in Detroit. He also told Clark that there were no soldiers there except probably a few citizen-officers and that he had no doubt, if the people there knew the real nature of the conflict between England and the colonies and that France had joined against the hated British, there would be no opposition to Clark and his purposes. The priest further suggested that he himself would head an embassy to Post Vincennes for the purpose of attempting to secure the allegiance of the people there to the American cause.
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This was the most cheering word that had come to Clark in all his first days at Kaskaskia. An expedition was immediately plauned. The priest should be accompanied by a citizen of Kaskaskia, Doctor John Baptiste Lafont. The two gentlemen were accompanied by several attendants, among whom was a spy who had secret instructions from Clark.
They departed the 14th of July, and reached Vincennes safely. The priest had no difficulty in making it clear to the people that France was on the side of the Americans. The commander, Governor Abbot, had recently gone to Detroit, and there was no one in military com- mand. They all took the oath of allegiance to Virginia. They also organized a militia company and took possession of the fort, over which the flag of Virginia floated, much to the wonder of the Indians. The Indians were told that the old French king, their father, had come to life, and if they did not want the land to be bloody with war they must make peace with the Americans.
August 1st Father Gibault and his companions returned to Kaskaskia and reported the success of their mission.
Clark was busy just then reorganizing his little army. The term of enlistment of the soldiers was drawing to a close, and he saw that unless he could re-enlist his men, all the good that had been accom- plished would go for naught. Clark succeeded in re-enlisting about a hundred of his little army while the rest were to be mustered out at the falls of the Ohio, their places being filled with enlistments from the French militia. Captain Bowman was made military commandant at Cahokia, Captain Williams had charge at Kaskaskia, Captain Helm was sent to Vincennes to take charge, Captain Linn was sent with the soldiers who did not re-enlist to the falls of the Ohio, and Captain Montgomery was sent with Chevalier de Rocheblave and dispatches, to Williamsburg. It had been Colonel Clark's intention to treat with great consideration his distinguished captive, but M. Rocheblave behaved so rudely that he was sent a prisoner to Virginia, his slaves were confiscated and sold for 500 pounds sterling and the money distributed among the soldiers.
Colonel Clark by early fall restored order and obedience in all the Illinois country. He soon found the need of civil courts. The courts established by Wilkins under the British occupation had not been put in operation. Rocheblave had given little if any attention to civil administration. Colonel Clark made inquiry as to the customs and usages of the people and decided to organize courts for the adjustment of claims and disputes. Accordingly Captain Bowman held an election in Cahokia at which the citizens voted and elected judges, one of whom
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was Captain Bowman. Later, judges were elected at Kaskaskia and at Vincennes. Colonel Clark himself constituted the appellate court, and from a letter afterward written to Jefferson he must have been quite busy in this line of work, for he says, referring to this matter of being relieved from civil duties: "The civil department of the Illinois had heretofore robbed me of too much of my time that ought to be spent in military reflection. I was now likely to be relieved by Col. John Todd. I was anxious for his arrival and happy in his appointment, as the greatest intimacy and friendship has subsisted between us. I now saw myself rid of a piece of trouble that I had no delight in." This extract is from a letter written by Clark to Jefferson when he heard that Col. John Todd had been selected to administer civil government in the Illinois country.
VIRGINIA CREATES COUNTY OF ILLINOIS
The people of Virginia were soon aware of the success of the Clark expedition. The common people were, of course, greatly surprised, and the officials who had stood back of the enterprise were greatly relieved and delighted. The legislature in session in October took steps to extend civil government over the newly conquered country.
In October, 1778, the legislature of Virginia took the following action creating the county of Illinois: "All the citizens of the com- monwealth of Virginia who are already settled or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois County; and the governor of this common- wealth with the advice of the council may appoint a county lieutenant or commander-in-chief, during pleasure, who shall appoint and com- mission as many deputy commandants, militia officers, and commissaries, as he shall think proper in the different districts, during pleasure; all of whom, before they enter into office shall take the oath of fidelity to this commonwealth and the oath of office, according to the form of their own religion.
"And all civil officers to which the inhabitants have been accustomed necessary for the preservation of the peace, and the administration of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their respective districts to be convened for that purpose by the county lieutenant or commandant, or his deputy, and shall be commissioned by the said county lieutenant or commander-in-chief."
In accordance with the provisions of. the law creating the county of Illinois west of the Ohio River, the governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry,
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appointed John Todd, Esq., a judge of the Kentucky court, as county lieutenant or commander-in-chief of the newly created county.
His commission bears date of December 12, 1778, but he did not arrive in Illinois County until May, 1779. Clark had returned from his campaign, and capture of Vincennes. It is stated that Colonel Todd was received with great joy by the citizens of Kaskaskia. He was no stranger to many about the village, for he had come with Clark in the campaign of 1778, when the Illinois country was captured from the British. He is said to have been a soldier with Clark and to have been the first to enter the fort which Rocheblave surrendered. Be that as it may, he arrived now with the authority of the commonwealth of Virginia behind him. On June 15, 1779, he issued a proclamation which provided that no more settlements should be made in the bottom lands, and further that each person to whom grants had been made must report his claim to the proper officer and have his land recorded. If his land had come to him through transfers, then all such transfers must be recorded and certified to. This was done to prevent those adventurers who would shortly come into the country from dispossessing the rightful owners of those lands.
CONDITION OF ILLINOIS WHEN TODD ARRIVED
The country to which Colonel John Todd came as county-lieutenant was in a very discouraging condition. It had reached the maximum of prosperity about the time the French turned it over to the English in 1765. Very many of the French went to New Orleans or to St. Louis during the British regime. The English king had attempted to keep out the immigrant. The cultivation of the soil was sadly neglected. The few French who remained were engaged in trading with the Indians. Many came to be expert boatmen. Trade was brisk between the French settlements in the Illinois country and New Orleans.
Previous to the coming of Clark and the French gentlemen, Chevalier de Rocheblave, who was holding the country in the name of the British government, had been not only neglectful but really very obstinate and self-willed about carrying on civil affairs. He allowed the courts, organized by Colonel Wilkins, to fall into disuse. The merchants and others who had need for courts found little satisfaction in attempts to secure justice. During the time between the coming of Clark and of Todd, there were courts organized, but the military operations were so overshadowing that probably little use was made of them.
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MILITARY AND CIVIL PERSONNEL
It appears from the records of Colonel Todd that on the 14th of May, 1779, he organized the military department of his work, by appoint- ing the officers of the militia at Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia. Richard Winston, Jean B. Barbeau, and Francois Trotier were made commandants and captains in the three villages respectively.
The next step was to elect judges provided for in the act creating the county of Illinois. Judges were elected at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and at Vincennes, and court was held monthly. There seems to have been a scarcity of properly qualified men for the places as in many instances militia officers were elected judges, and in one case the "deputy-com- mandant at Kaskaskia filled also the office of sheriff."
Todd issued permits or charters of trade and encouraged those about him to engage in business. He also gave attention to the subject of land-claims. No new claims were to be recognized except such as were made according to the custom of the French and inhabitants.
Colonel Todd found enough work to keep him busy and it is doubt- ful if it was all as pleasant as he might have wished. The records which he kept, and which are now in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society, show that severe penalties were inflicted in those days.
Colonel Todd held this position of county-lieutenant for about three years. During that time he established courts, held popular elections, and executed the law with vigor.
There was a deputy county-lieutenant or deputy-commandant in each village, and when Colonel Todd was absent, the reins of government were in the hands of one of these deputies. On the occasion of his absence at the time of his death he had left, it seems, Timothy Demount- brun as county lieutenant. This man seems to have been the only one authorized to rule, until the coming of St. Clair in 1790.
AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO
Virginia ceded her western lands in 1783, in the following year Congress passed an ordinance which established a preliminary form of civil government north of the Ohio; in 1785 a national system of surveys was adopted, and in 1787 was passed the famous Ordinance of 1787 by which the territory northwest of the Ohio was "made one district for temporary government and provision made for a definite form of gov- ernment." The first county created by Governor St. Clair, in July of that year, was Washington, with Marietta the seat of government. In
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January, 1788, the governor and the newly appointed judges visited Losantiville (Cincinnati) and created the county of Hamilton, with that place as the seat of government. Then the governor and secretary proceeded westward and, reaching Kaskaskia on March 5, 1790, erected the county of St. Clair, with Cahokia as the county seat. On their return to Marietta, Knox County was organized, with Vincennes as the county seat.
OLD ST. CLAIR COUNTY
The St. Clair County thus established included all the territory north and east of the Ohio and the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and west of a line running from Fort Massac through the mouth of the Mackinaw Creek a short distance below the city of Peoria. The county was divided into three districts, with Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia as centers of administration. Before leaving, Governor St. Clair created the offices of sheriff, judges of the court, probate judge, justice of the peace, coroner, notary, clerk and recorder, surveyor and various military officers, and named the appointees.
THE COUNTY DIVIDED
In 1795, Judge Turner, one of the three Federal judges, came to hold court, and from a contention which he had with the governor, St. Clair County was divided by a line running east and west through New Design. Cahokia was established as the county seat of the north half, or St. Clair County, and Kaskaskia, the seat of government of the south half, Randolph County.
LEGISLATURE OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY
The Ordinance of 1787 provided that when there should be 5,000 free male whites of the age of twenty-one years in the Northwest Terri- tory they might organize a legislature on the basis of one representative for each 500 whites of the age of twenty-one. This was done in the year 1798. Shadrach Bond was elected to represent St. Clair County and John Edgar, Randolph County. The legislature met at Cincinnati on the 4th of February, 1799. There were twenty-two members in the lower house, representing eleven counties. William H. Harrison, who had succeeded Sargent as secretary of the Northwest Territory, was elected a delegate to congress.
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DIVISION INTO TWO TERRITORIES
In the session of congress in the winter of 1799-1800, the proposition to divide the Northwest Territory into two territories was referred to a committee of which Harrison was chairman. The report was favorably received by congress and on the 7th of May, 1800, an act was passed dividing the Northwest Territory by a line runing from the Ohio to Fort Recovery and thence to the line separating the territory from Canada.
The western part was to be known as the Indiana Territory and its government was to be of the first class. Its capital was located at Vincennes and the governor was William Henry Harrison. The eastern division was called the Northwest Territory, its capital was Chillicothe, and Governor St. Clair was still the chief executive. The east division was admitted as a state February 19, 1802. Illinois, Indiana, Wis- consin, and Michigan now became the Indiana Territory.
ILLINOIS TERRITORY CREATED
Illinois remained a portion of Indiana Territory from February, 1802, until February, 1809. During that period Vincennes was the capital. The congressional act of February 3, 1809, set off the territory of Illinois from Indiana by a dividing line running north from Vincennes to Canada. A prominent argument in favor of the division was that the people in the Illinois region were favorable to slavery, while the Indiana people were indifferent to the subject. Several efforts had been made to either strike out the clause in the Ordinance of 1787 forbidding slavery within the Northwest Territory, or suspend its operation for a stated period.
By the creative act, Illinois was made a territory of the first class, and thus remained until May, 1812, when, under authority of the Ordinance of 1787, it entered the second class, thus enfranchising all males over twenty-one years of age instead of allowing only freeholders to vote. Ninian Edwards, formerly a Kentucky judge, was appointed governor of the new territory, and Nathaniel Pope secretary, on April 24, 1809. Mr. Pope was a resident of St. Genevieve, Missouri, but prac- ticed law in Illinois.
Illinois as a territory did not participate in the battle of Tippecanoe, or the War of 1812, but Governor Edwards left nothing undone to protect its soil against Indian depredations or British expeditions. Not a few soldiers and officers, however, went from the "American bottom,"
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and it is estimated that fully two thousand Illinoisans participated in this border warfare. The apprehension of the settlers in the valleys of the Mississippi and Illinois were intensified by the Fort Dearborn massacre.
In September, 1812, following the advancement of Illinois to a territory of the second class, Governor Edwards and the judges, acting as a legislative body, created three new counties. The two old ones were St. Clair and Randolph, and the three new ones were Madison, Gallatin, and Johnson. On the same day an election was ordered in these five counties for five members of the legislative council, and for seven members of the house of representatives, and for a delegate in congress. The election was held October 8, 9 and 10. Those chosen were, for the lower house: from Madison, William Jones; St. Clair, Jacob Short and Joshua Oglesby; Randolph, George Fisher ; Jolinson, John Grammar; Gallatin, Philip Trammel and Alexander Wilson. Those chosen for the council were: from Madison, Samuel Judy; St. Clair, William Biggs; Randolph, Pierre Menard; Johnson, Thomas Ferguson ; Gallatin, Benjamin Talbot.
Under the second-class form of government the legislature met biennially. In the summer of 1814 Col. Benjamin Stephenson was elected delegate in congress, and in 1816 Nathaniel Pope, who served till the admission of the state in 1818. Two new counties were added in 1815, White and Edwards, making seven in all. In 1816 four more were added-Monroe, Jackson, Pope and Crawford. In 1817 Bond was added, and in 1818 Franklin, Union and Washington were created, these making fifteen counties at the admission of the state in 1818.
The general assembly of 1812 met at Kaskaskia November 25th, and proceeded to organize by choosing Pierre Menard president of the Council and George Fisher, speaker of the House. It is said the whole of the assembly boarded at one house and slept in one room. The work before this first session was to re-enact the laws for the territory which served while the territory was of the first class, to adopt military measures for the defense of the people against the Indians, and to provide revenue for the maintenance of the Territorial Government. The legislature was in session from the 25th of November to the 26th of December, following.
FIRST ILLINOIS PREEMPTION LAW
This legislature elected Shadrach Bond as delegate to congress. IIe took his seat in the fall of 1812. During his term of office in congress Bond secured the passage of the first preemption law of Illinois. This
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law provided that a man who settled upon a piece of land and made an improvement while it was still government land, should have the right to buy the tract so improved in preference to anyone else. The law prevented persons from buying land which someone else had improved to the detriment of the one who made the improvement.
The wave of immigration often traveled westward faster than the surveyors did. In such cases the settler never knew just where his land would fall when the region was platted. And again, after the surveyor had done his work, it often happened that the surveyed land was not placed on the market for a number of years. The settler usually selected his lands and made improvements with the expectation that he would buy the land when it came on the market. Unprincipled men would watch and would often step in ahead of the settler at the land office and buy the improved land at government prices. This often resulted in violence and bloodshed. So the Bond law was a real peacemaker.
There was a rapid increase in the population of the territory of Illinois from the day it became a territory of the second grade. New counties were added to the five previously named. The new ones were Edwards and White in 1815; Monroe, Crawford, Jackson, Pope, Bond, in 1816; Union, Franklin and Washington in 1818.
FIRST STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The Enabling Act became a law the 18th of April, 1818. The elec- tion of delegates to the constitutional convention was fixed for the first Monday in July, and that body was to convene the first Monday in August. But the first thing to do was to take the census of the terri- tory, and if it did not have the forty thousand then there would be no need for the convention. It was soon evident that the territory did not have the required number. The story is told that the marshal stationed his enumerators on the public highways and counted the travelers and immigrants, regardless of their destination. Not only this, but it is asserted that often the same traveller or immigrant was counted twice or even thrice. At last the enumerators returned forty thousand inhab- itants, but as the returns were afterward footed up there were really only thirty-four thousand six hundred and twenty people in the proposed state. The delegates were duly elected and assembled at Kaskaskia on the first Monday in August.
The convention met August 3, 1818, and finished its labors and adjourned August 26th. Jesse B. Thomas from St. Clair County was elected chairman, and William C. Greenup was made secretary.
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STATE MACHINERY IN MOTION
The constitution was not submitted to the people for ratification and the only officers whom the people might elect were: Governor, lieutenant governor, members of the general assembly, sheriffs and coroners. The offices which were filled by appointment of either the governor or the general assembly were: Judges of the supreme, circuit and probate courts ; prosecuting attorney, county clerk, circuit clerk, recorder, justice of the peace, auditor of public accounts, attorney general and secretary of state.
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