USA > Illinois > Perry County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 90
USA > Illinois > Randolph County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 90
USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 90
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Judge Brackenridge, of the United States Court of the District of Louisiana, writes in 1817, " Fort de Chartres is a
noble ruin, and is visited by strangers as a great curiosity. I was one of a party of ladies and gentlemen who ascended in a barge from St. Genevieve, nine miles below. The out- ward wall, barracks, and magazine are still standing. There are a number of cannon lying half buried in the earth with their trunnions broken off. In visiting the various parts, we started a flock of wild turkeys, which had concealed themselves in this hiding place. I remarked a kind of enclosure near, which, according to tradition, was fitted up by the officers as a kind of arbor where they could sit and converse in the heat of the day."
Congress, in 1788, reserved from settlement a tract of land surrounding the fort, between the old French grants and the river. In 1849 this was opened to purchasers. The land was taken up by settlers, a cabin built within the walls, and the trees cleared away. The visitor of to-day can see the ridges of earth and stone which mark the location of the ancient walls. Farm buildings are within the enclosure.
Pierre Laclede, the founder of St. Louis, spent the winter of 1763-64 at Fort Chartres. His company had been granted the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians of the Missouri, and those west of the Mississippi, above the Missouri. Leaving New Orleans in August, 1763, we reached St. Genevieve on the third of November, and from there came to Fort Chartres. Learning of the cession of Illinois to Eugland, he decided to establish a fort on the west of the Mississipppi. His goods were stored, and his company quartered, at the fort, until February, 1764, when he began the settlement of St. Louis.
FORT CHARTRES VILLAGE.
On the building of Fort Chartres a village began to grow up outside its walls in which the Jesuits built the church of St. Anne de Fort Chartres. Under the jurisdiction of the priest of this church, chapels were subsequently erected at St. Phillips and Prairie du Rocher. After the rebuilding of the fort in 1750, the village was called New Chartres. Part of the records of the parish of St. Anne have been pre- served. The marriage register notes at great length the weddings of the officers of the fort and of the Royal India Company, among which are those of Jean la Freile de Vidrinne, officer of a company, to the daughter of Jean François Liverson de Moncharveaux, a captain in the Freuch garrison, and of Monsieur André Chevalier, royal solicitor and treasurer for the King at the country of the Illinois, to Madeline Loisel. In 1764, the village is said to have contained forty families. The following year witnessed the surrender of the fort to the English forces. With the the departure of the French soldiers the village died out. The inhabitants moved away, many to St. Louis, which had been founded the year before.
PRAIRIE DU ROCHER.
The date of the founding of the village of Prairie du Rocher is commonly fixed at 1722, a short time after the building of Fort Chartres. Its siteis in a tract of land granted by the Royal India Company to Pierre Duque Boisbriant, the French commandant at the Illinois, and the builder of
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Fort Chartres, and by him transferred to his nephew, Jean St. Therese Langlois, some time before the year 1834 Lan- gicis was an officer of the French troops. He divided out the tract in allotments to actual settlers, reserving certain seigneurial rights according to the custom of Paris. A tract of land for Commons was granted to the inhabitants by Delaloire Flancourt, the civil judge at Fort Chartres, on the seventh of May, 1743. Among residents of the village in the latter part of the last century were Etienne Langlois, Jean Baptiste Blais, Jean Baptiste Barbeau, Antoine Lou- vier and the La Compte and other families.
The grant to Boisbriant extended from. the bluffs to the river. Surveys made in 1737, show that Antonie Bienvenu, M. Rosally, M. Malis, M. Buchet, Antonie Ple dit Laplume, Pierre Pille dit Lasond, François Bastien, Mathurin Char- rean, Sanshayrin, Ignace Legras, Antoine Revierre, Charles Henean, Urbain Garvais, René Grnde, Charles Gosseaux, François Corset, Auguste Langlois, Legras dit Groce Jean and Ambrose Morean were then among the proprietors. The lines of this same tract were again run in 1810, the United States surveyor, William Rector, certifying that the survey was made by the consent and under the superintend- ence of many of the citizens of Prairie du Rocher, and that he found " many antient boundaries " which governed the surveys.
The ancestor of the Blais family in Prairie du Rocher was Jean Baptiste Blais, who came from Canada, and was a leading man in the village. He died, at an extreme old age, in the year 1783. He had four sons, Antoine, Joseph, Charles, and Louis. The two oldest died in 1823, Charles in 1831, and Louis in early life. Antoine married Terese De Coche, daughter of Gabriel De Coche, a native of France, and an old resident of Prairie du Rocher. The next to the oldest of the children by this marriage, born in the year 1809, was Antoine Blais, who for a long number of years has been engaged in the mercantile business in the village.
The first of the Barbeau family, whose name appears in connection with the history of Prairie du Rocher, was Jean Baptiste Barbeau, like the others an emigrant from Canada. His four sons were Andrew, Antoine, Baptiste, and Henry. Andrew lived to be a very old man, and died suddenly, while walking on the bluffs, in the year 1858. Antoine died in 1845. Barbeau creek, below Prairie du Rocher, received its name from the Barbeau family.
Antoine Louvier was the first of the Louvier family to settle in the village, the date of his arrival being about the year 1780. His son, Antoine, became a prominent citizen, and died in 1836. John N. Lonvier, the son of the Antoine last mentioned, is now the oldest representative of the French settlers in the vicinity of Prairie du Rocher. He was born in March, 1802. His mother was Louise Langlois. When the Fort Chartres reserve was opened for settlement, he made the first entry of land in the reserve, and on this land he is now living. His patents bear date of the year 1850. About one half of the ruins of old Fort Chartres is included in his farm. The house in which he lives is the oldest on the reserve, and was built by Ralph McNabb. 48
Major Pierre La Compte was one of the leading men in the village. He carried on a store for a number of years, and subsequently moved to St. Genevieve, Mo.
In the last century, Prairie du Rocher was wholly French. About the year 1800, American settlers began to make their appearance. Among them was Archibald McNabb, who came to Illinois from Kentucky. He established a tan yard, which he carried on till his death in 1821. He had two brothers, Charles and Alexander. Charles was an un- married man. He taught school for several years in Prairie du Rocher, and probably was the teacher of the first Eng- lish school in the village.
Clement Drury, a native of Maryland, settled in Prairie du Rocher as early, perhaps, as the year 1795. He built a horse mill. He died in 1812. His four sons were John, William, Clement, and Raphael. IIenry Conner, who at one time was a resident of Prairie du Rocher, and the pro- prietor of a store, was born in Maryland in 1785; in 1795, went to Kentucky ; and in 1807, came to Illinois. He first settled in Kaskaskia, then moved to a farm in Monroe county, and in 1812 returned to Randolph county. He was sheriff of the county from 1814 to 1821, and United States marshal for some years between 1825 and 1830. Barnet William, and Edward Conner were his sons.
Henry Ker, who settled in the village in 1816, and prac- ticed medicine and kept a store, was one of the most remark- able men who ever resided in the place. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, while his parents who were English people, were temporary residents of that city. The family moved back to London, where he received his education. In 1808, he began his travels, which lasted for eight years, and are described in a book which he published at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1816. From Charleston, South Carolina, he journeyed through the interior of the country to New Orleans. In 1809 he visited the West India islands, and experienced a shipwreck. Soon after coming to Prairie du Rocher, he married Felicite Fascair. He died at St. Genevieve in 1828.
Of Prairie du Rocher in 1766, Captain Philip Pitman writes: "It is a small village, consisting of twenty-two dwell- ing-houses, all of which are inhabited by as many families. There is a little chapel, formerly a chapel of ease to the church at Fort Chartres. The inhabitants are very indus- trious."
Up to 1840 there was only one store in the place. In Major La Compte's time this store was kept in a log build- ing. On the death of La Compte, Henry Conner carried on a store in a stone house. which stood just below the present church Antoine Blais opened a store in 1839, and a year or two after Ili C. Hausborough embarked in the mercan- tile business. There was a post office from an early date, but it had been kept continuonsly. About the year 1825, Dr. Ichabod Sargent was postmaster. He also acted as jus- tice of the peace. In early times a horse mill was operated here by La Compte. It stood on the opposite side of the street from the church, and subsequently passed into the possession of Clement Drury. Andrew Barbeau built a mill two miles below the village in 1824, on Prairie du Ro- cher creek.
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
William Henry began building a water mill on Prairie du Rocher creek about the year 1833, but the project was never finished. In 1840 he built a steam mill at the spot where now stands Brickey's mill. It was first a flour mill, and was afterward turned into a saw mill. It was operated only at in- tervals, and in 1858 gave place to the present Brickey's mill, erected by Frank W. Brickey and Abraham H. Lee.
The church of St. Joseph was built in 1734. The corner- stone of the present church was laid July 19th, 1858. The front was rebuilt and steeple constructed in 1881. The old tabernacle brought from France, and in use in the church of St. Anne at Fort Chartres village, is still preserved, as also are the old chalices. Among the other property of the par- ish is a silver castor marked 1680. Of the congregation two-thirds is made up of French families. The rest are Americans and Germans. Services are held in the French, German and English languages. The Rev Charles Krewet is the priest in charge of the parish.
The population of Prairie du Rocher by the census of 1880 was about three hundred. More than one-half of the fami- lies are French, the descendants of the early settlers of the vicinity. Some few of the old ladies can speak nothing but the French language, though of late years the English has come into general use. The village wears a thrifty and prosperous look, and numerous improvements have lately been made.
The town was incorporated in 1825, but the organization was soon abandoned. The town government was renewed in 1835, but was again allowed to die out. In 1871 the town organization was again revived, and trustees elected. In March, 1873, the inhabitants voted to organize as a village under the general law. The board of trustees for 1882 is composed of Franklin W. Brickey, President, Philip W. Unger, Dr. James Sloey, Frank Gladd, Louis Chaudet, and William D. Ames.
There are three general stores, carried on by Franklin W. Brickey, Philip W. Unger & Co. (Philip W. Unger, Antoine Blais and William H. Conner) and Stephen Chaudet & Co (Stephen and Louis Chaudet). William D. Amet has a grocery store. Martin Becker and Ernest Girard have blacksmith shops, and Johu Schott and Joseph Seecleger follow shoe making. Dr. James Sloey, Albert L. Brands and Dennis F. Cecil practice medicine. William A. Gibbs is police magistrate, and Jacob R. Duclos postmaster. The post office is supplied by a tri-weekly mail by the route from Brewerville by Prairie du Rocher and Renault to Burksville stations. The most important factor in the prosperity of the village is the mill of Franklin W. Brickey, built by Mr. Brickey and Abraham H. Lee in 1858. The present proprietor has been absolute owner since 1868. The mill has a capacity of two hundred harrels per day. The product is shipped to the New Orleans market. A cooper shop is now in connection with the mill. The least amount of wheat ground at this mill since its establishment was 30,661 bushels in 1860, and the highest 118,062 bushels iu 1879 The lowest price paid per bushel for wheat was
seventy-six cents in 1878, and the highest two dollars and thirty-five cents in 1867. Mr. Brickey is a native of Wash- ington county, Missouri, and has been a resident of the county since 1844, in which year he began business at Fort Chartres landing,
PRAIRIE DU ROCHER COMMONS.
A grant of upland more than three miles square, was made to the inhabitants of Prairie du Rocher for commons on the 7th of May, 1743. The grant is signed by Delaloire Flancourt, civil judge at the Illinois, residing at Fort Chartres. The land was used in common by the residents of the village for more thau a hundred years without restric- tion. A special act in force February 8th, 1851, was passed by the State Legislature, which constituted Andrew Bar- beau, Leon Vion, Antoine Albert, Joseph Blais and Ambrose Ker, and their successors, a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of "The President and Trustees of the Commons of Prairie du Rocher." It was provided that an election for trustees should be held in April, 1853, and every two years subsequently. The trustees were given power to sell or lease the land, the pro- ceeds to be applied to the education of the children of the inhabitants of Prairie du Rocher, and of such residents as by immemorial custom had been commoners on said common, and the children of the lessees of said land or lots. No lease of land should be made to extend beyond ninety- nine years. To carry out the provisions of the act the trustees were authorized to establish not more than two elementary schools in the village of Prairie du Rocher. Under the provisions of this act one half of the commons was sold at public sale in the year 1852. The land brought from one dollar and fifty cents to four dollars an acre. The balance has since been sold at private sale. The money has been used for the support of the public schools, so that no money for school purposes is raised by taxation in the Prairie du Rocher district. On the 21st of May, 1859, the commons fund amounted to $11,856.40, and on 10th of April, 1882, to $15,286.64. The fund is in the hands of Franklin W. Brickey as treasurer. The present trustees are Philip W. Unger, president ; Joseph Bessen, Henry Barbeau, Vincent Mudd and Thomas L. Mudd.
No early settlements were made in the commons, it being possible to acquire no fee simple title to the land till after the sales in 1852. John Mudd, now a resident of the Com- mons, is one of the oldest citizens of the county. He was born in Washington county, Kentucky, in February, 1802, and came with his father, Thomas Mudd, to Randolph county in 1816, the family settling in section twenty, of township five south, range eight west. His wife, with whom he has lived since 1830 (they having been married longer than any other couple in Prairie du Rocher precinct) was Mary Brewer, daughter of John Brewer, who settled in section twenty-four, township five south, range nine west, adjoining the Commons, in the spring of 1822.
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
379
BIOGRAPHIES.
Antoine Blaus
PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, a charming village, located early in the past century, for the last twenty-five years has recognized Antoine Blais as its leading merchant. Here he was born August 27, 1809. His ancestors for three generations before him, lived in the same village. Antoine received his early education in the subscription schools in his native town. At the age of seventeen he went to St. Genevieve, Mo., where he learned the trade of a blacksmith. Two years thercafter found him in St. Louis driving his trade. In 1832 he re- turned to Prairie du Rocher, where he prosecuted the same business.
In July, of the same year, he married Luey Conver, who died in 1846. In 1849, he, in company with others, went to California, returning in 1857, with considerable means, acquired during his stay. At that time he entered upon his mercantile career. A few months after his return he was married to Mary M. Phegley, the daughter of Abra- ham Phegley, a native of Kentucky. Mr. Blais is favorably known throughout the county as a business man of reliabil- ity and enterprise. Ile commenced his career without a dollar, and his accumulations have been the result of his in- dividual efforts.
380
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
ABRAHAM H. LEE ( DECEASED).
A STRANGER entering the pretty little village of Prairie du Rocher, from the east, perceives while yet descending the steep hill leading to the great American Bottom, the quaint old mill of Franklin W. Briekey, formerly built and owned by Abraham H. Lee, in connection with its present proprietor. Close by the mill the eye catches the sight of the beautiful Lee mansion, now occupied by Mr. F. W. Brickey. The history of Mr. A. H. Lee, whose portrait heads this sketch, is indeed a very interesting one, and well deserves to be perpetuated in the annals of Randolph county. He was a native of Centreville, Ohio, born on the 26th day of Sep- tember, 1819. Coming to St. Louis when yet a young man, he was there engaged as commission merchant and steam- boat clerk ; he afterward founded the firm of David Tatum & Co., in St. Louis, on Second street, between Washington and Christy avenues, which house did a lucrative commis-
sion business. In 1857 he came to Prairie du Rocher, Ill., where he, in company with Mr. Brickey, entered the milling business, at which he continued until the year 1867. On the 22d day of January, 1846, Mr. Lee was married to Miss Marie Josephine Henry, at Prairie du Rocher. Mrs. Lee was born at Ross Town, New York, December 13, 1826. Her parents were William and Mary Henry. Their child- ren, in the order of their birth, are: Roger S. Lee, born Nov. 26, 1846. He married Miss Martha Johnson, in 1870. They have four children, and reside near St. Joseph, Bu- chanan county., Mo., where Mr. Lee is engaged in farming. Mary Lee, born Nov. 24, 1848; died August 18, 1850. William H. Lee, born Dec. 10, 1852; was married to Miss Matilda McCartney, Feb. 5, 1875. They had three child- dren, two living and one dead. Wm. H. Lee is engaged in the wholesale liquor trade at 212 Waluut street, St. Louis, Mo. Louis H. Lee, born March 24, 1854; Charles H. Lee,
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
horn April 9, 1856; Angelica G. Lee, born June 7, 1858, died March 10, 1863. Elmira Lee, horn March 16, 1860. Miss Elmira was married to Mr. H. Benoist, on Feb. 10, 1878. They have three children. Mr. Benoist carries on a wholesale saddlery store at 425 North Main street, St. Louis, Mo. J. Perry Lee, born Aug. 5, 1862; Grace Lee, born July 4, 1864, died April 15, 1866.
Mr. A. H. Lee was postmaster of Prairie du Rocher for three years. An amusing feature of his official career in that capacity is his collection of the different styles of spell- ing the name of " Prairie du Rocher " which came under his observation. There are only twenty-four various ways. The list was originally published in the " Missouri Republican ":
Perry Deruth, peredrush, Prairie du Roncher, Perider- oosh, Piere Deroncher, Praridruch, Pirairie de rocher, Praria Der Rocher, Prairn du Rusher, Praire du Rocher, Prairie du Roocher, Pery doroch, Prairie De Rushar, Prarie Du Rush, Praery du Rucher, Praree Roodichard, prair ‹leuerse, Prerie darcher, Prarie duche, Prairie du Rocheis Perraerie Daroushe, Prei Durusya, Pary Jeruse Praiue du Roche.
The list goes to show that the efficiency of our postal ser- vice, as far as reading of names is concerned, approaches perfection rather closely.
Mr. Lee also served for a number of years as a notary public. The most notable event of his life occurred on the 21st of January, 1867, on which day he was the fortunate winner of the "Crosby Opera House," at Chicago. This magnificent structure had been erected by Mr. U. H. Crosby, at a cost of $600,000. Owing to the great excess of this expense over the original estimates, resulting from many unforeseen causes originated by the war and its accom- panying disasters, Mr. Crosby became financially embar- rassed, which made the sale of the property a necessity. It was determined to arrange a grand drawing, the opera house being offered as first premium. The price of tickets was fixed at five dollars each. Mr. Lee bought only one ticket, No. 58,600.
The subsequent history of the matter will be shown to better advantage by newspaper clippings preserved in Mr. Lee's scrap-book, which are given below :
"The following letter written by Mr. Lee to a friend in Chicago on the day after he first was notified of his good luek. It explains more than aught else what kind of a man Mr. Lec was, and shows that fortune in awarding the magnifi- cent prize exercised a commendable discretion in the selection of her favorite :
PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, January 22, 1867.
Dear Daniel :- I was very much astonished last evening at about seven o'clock, by the sudden appearance of two men in our bed room, where I sat reading by the side of my wife's bed, with the sudden announcement that I had drawn the opera house at Chicago. I don't think that I was at all excited by the report. I had a slight acquaintance with Mr. Burroughs, one of the men ; the other, from Waterloo, was an entire stranger. The only document they brought was a copy of the Republican of the 22d inst., which had so many accounts of the matter that I hardly dared believe
any of them. However, I bore the congratulations of my new friends with commendable fortitude, and dismissed them with suitable acknowledgements.
After the lapse of half an hour I was the recipient of sundry calls from neighbors and friends in the village, all highly excited. The report had spread like lightning, and the whole neighborhood was in an uproar. I bore a hand at receiving the company, answered their questions with as much dignity as I could assume, and, in a state of semi-con- sciousness of what it all meant, started off to commune with Frank (F. W. Brickey) on the curious appearance of things. I had been there but a few minutes when a halloo was made at the door for Mr. Lee. " Is Mr. Lec here ?" Well, I went to the door and acknowledged that I was that person and went at him with the question of " What do you want ?" " Why, said the poor frozen fellow, " I have a dispatch for you from Belleville. You have drawn the opera house." I received the document and after asking Sallie (Mrs. F. W. Brickey) the privilege of reading it by the light of her lamp, I read as follows :
A. H. Lee, Prairie du Rocher, Illinois. Crosby's Opera- house yours. Hold your ticket.
J. B. CHAMBERLAIN.
I mentally returned thanks to my new friend, Chamber- Jain, and returned home considerably perplexed and not yet fully conscious of the reason of my being in the hands of so many new friends, who all seemed to show so strong a desire to favor me. But a happy thought struck me. " I will look at my ticket and see if there is anything in it." Well, Daniel, when I found it, there stood the figures as plain as day, 58,600, and no mistake. In the meantime, Joe and Ma had got hold of the matter, and to my unbounded aston. ishment, they received it at once as a fact. I had undressed myself, for it was getting late, and was sitting in my long- tailed night-shirt, discussing the events of the evening, when a thundering knock at the door announced that all was not over yet. Ma went to the door, and quickly returned with the intelligence that "a man " wished to see me, and that he said I had drawn " Crosby's Opera-house." " The devil," said I, " I wish they had to swallow the opera-house ; " and, after dressing myself, went down to receive the new messen- ger. He bowed to me, I thought, as though I was a man of property, and in suitable style delivered his credentials. I looked carefully over a well-written letter of six lines, and derived such information as induced me to believe that the lucky holder of 58,600 was actually to become a man of property, sure enough ; for this letter came from Messrs. Pettes & Leathe, "sent," as they say, by instructions of Mr. Crosby himself. I found this last meseenger pretty well informed about the matter, and, after seeing him eat a hearty supper and arrive at that condition when people generally hecome confidential and good-natured, took him aside and asked him, "if it were a fact, and no mistake." He gave me most solemn assurance that there was no mis- take about it, and that " John Meyer, of somewhere, Ran- dolph street, Chicago, was a humbug."
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