USA > Illinois > Lee County > Early Lee County, being some chapters in the history of the early days in Lee County, Illinois > Part 6
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Dad Joe's Grove, in the northern part of Bureau County, took its name from the first settler there. In speaking of him, Bradsby's History of Bureau County says: "He got his name of Dad Joe from the trader Ogee, who spoke very broken English, who found no other way of designating Joe Smith, Sr., from his son Joe."
At a reception given by the Calumet Club to the old settlers, May 19, 1881, John Wentworth said that the first
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piano in Chicago was brought by Gen. Jean Baptiste Beaubien, and that "it is now doing service in the family of his granddaughter, Mrs. Sophia (Beaubien) Ogee. at Silver Lake, Kansas, daughter of the late Charles Beau- bien."
In an article in the Journal of the Illinois State His- torical Society, vol. 5, p. 246, upon the trial of the Indian, Nomaque, who was the first man indieted for murder in Peoria county, Bill Moon says that the complaint upon which Nomaque was arrested was made by Ogee and signed by his mark.
A careful and thorough search of the files in the case re- sulted in a failure to find any such complaint, and the clerk of the court says there never was any complaint made, and that there is nothing in the files signed by Ogee in any manner. It has already been shown that Ogee wrote his name in signing the instrument convey- ing the ferry to Mr. Dixon. He signed the mortgage to Rolette and his agreement with Skellinger in the same manner, and an expert would have to say the three signa- tures were written by the same man. This shows very clearly that Moon is wrong, and he is so sharply criticized, in the succeeding number of the Journal, for one error in his article that reliance cannot be had in his state- ments.
John L. Bogardus, a justice of the peace of Peoria County, under the date of May 19, 1826, certified that he had on that day married Francis Bourbonne, Jr., to Josette Alscum. The certificate bears the names of sev- eral witnesses. Among them are Joseph Ogee, who wrote his name, and Madeline Ogee, who signed by making her mark.
Charles Jouett was twice appointed Indian Agent at Chicago, his second term of office beginning in 1815 and ending in 1818 or 1819. His daughter, Mrs. Susan M. Callis, says her mother's nurse was a half breed French
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ยท JOSEPH OZIER
and Indian woman named "Madeline Alscum or Olscum," who married "Joseph Ozier, a soldier from the garrison" the "day we left Chicago for the last time." (Andreas, History of Chicago.) That would place the wedding in 1818 or 1819. It is hardly probable that this was the Ogee of our story, as he was, as shown, stationed on the Illi- nois River in 1818. Mrs. Callis' statement tends to sup- port the theory of Judge McCulloch that the real name was Ozier and Ogee merely a nickname, but that theory is overcome by the fact that Mr. Dixon's account books uniformly give the name as Ogee, and he wrote it that way.
The American Fur Company had an interpreter named Antoine Oseum on the Illinois river in 1818, and agent named Antoine Alscum at its trading post in the Illinois prairie in 1826.
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THE OLD ACCOUNT BOOKS.
John Dixon kept books of account for many years after taking charge of the ferry, but only two of them survive. Fortunately, these are the first and second and they cover the period from April, 1830, to October, 1835. The en- tries were made by different persons who were not expert accountants, and, the ink being poor and the penmanship poorer, many of them are now illegible. Very few credits are shown, and there are fewer balances. The account with Ogee is scattered over many different pages, seem- ingly without any attempt at order, and it is impossible for one to tell just how that account stood. But with all their many faults the books are very interesting and they throw some light upon the life of those days.
They give prices of many of the commodities the pio- neers needed and give us an insight into the cost of living in those days.
Corn sold at from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel. Oats brought fifty cents per bushel. Corn meal cost one dollar per bushel. Live hogs sold at three to four cents a pound, and pork cost four to nine cents a pound, and there was a sale of a barrel of pork at $11.75. Bacon was eight to ten cents a pound. Beef cost three to four cents. Salt cost two dollars a bushel, and there is a charge of forty cents for thirteen pounds.
The nearest grist mill was at Dayton, and flour cost three to five cents a pound, and six to nine and a half dollars per barrel. Butter was worth twelve to eighteen cents ; sugar ranged from four and a half to fifteen cents ; tea from seventy-five cents to two dollars. Potatoes sold at fifty cents a bushel. Coffee was twenty to twenty-five cents. Candles were thirty-one and a quarter cents per dozen.
A man paid a dollar and a half to two dollars for his shoes; four dollars for his "thick boots"; from two dol-
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lars to two dollars and a half for "boots," one dollar seventy-five for his wife's shoes, and a dollar for those his boy wore. His smoking tobacco cost him twenty-five to fifty cents per pound,-there is no record of the sale of any cigars or cigarettes; his chewing tobacco was twenty-five cents a "large plug," and his whiskey fifty cents a gallon. His flannel shirt cost one dollar and a half; his pantaloons three and a half; his socks thirty- seven and one-half cents; his hat one dollar and a shil- ling. He paid two dollars a week for his board and lodg- ing. One man paid $3.75 for four shirts, and another had three made for $2.25. O. W. Kellogg was charged with one dollar for two shirts furnished to Jarro, and with another dollar for two shirts furnished to Pashepayou. The last charge shows that Pashepayou, the Sac chief who refused to aid Black Hawk in his war, traded at Dixon. The nearest Sac town was Saukenuk, on Rock river, commonly called Black Hawk's town.
The housewife had her bargain days-bed ticking thirty-one and a quarter cents a yard; muslin at fifteen cents; calico at twenty-five to forty cents; cotton hand- kerchief thirty-seven and one-half cents; red flannel eight vards for five dollars; striped shirting twenty cents. Blankets sold for from two to five dollars. Thread, both linen and cotton, was seventy-five cents per half pound.
Edward Penseno is the first to be named as working for Mr. Dixon and he earned $42 working three and one half months from April 25, 1830. Paskal Penseno worked from April 29, 1830, to May 21 and is credited with $9. George Elinger worked from May 1, 1830, to July 4, but lost one day while sick and two while working for others at forty cents per day, and his earnings were $25.20. George Butterfield was credited with $27.60 for work from August 22, 1832, to October 31, and with $76.80 for eight months and twelve days' work beginning Novem- ber 1.
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Rebeckah Merrill worked two and one half weeks at $2.00 and another period of five weeks at $1.50.
Others working for Mr. Dixon were James V. Wagner, John Doyle, P. Grover, Naney Walker, George Powers, Patrick McCormack, Thomas Spicer, Charles Lane, Isaac Morgan, William Brownfield, - Murphy, Brink, - Siner, Joseph -- , - Me Clure, -- Grant. McClure must have been considered an exception- ally good worker, as he earned $1.123 a day for part of the time. The usual pay was from twelve to sixteen dol- lars per month.
There always has been a belief in the family that a col- ored man worked some time for Mr. Dixon, and this seems to be sustained by entries dated May 10, 1830, giving credit to Eneous for work.
That the fur trade had not disappeared entirely is clearly shown by these books. Some of the items in the books are not dated, and others do not state the prices. There was but little fluctuation in the prices. Coon skins brought from fifteen to thirty-five cents. Muskrats sold from twenty to twenty-three cents; mink at thirty-three to thirty-five; wolf from twenty-five to thirty-three; wild cat at twenty-five ; deer and fawn at twenty-five cents, and otter at five dollars. The deer had become very searce, there being, in five years, sales of only nineteen fawn and deer. There were sold 284 coon; 50 wolf; 101 mink; 15 otter; 9 wild cat; 10,888 muskrats.
H. B. Stillman and P. Menard, Jr., were the best cus- tomers, sometimes in the firm name-Menard and Still- man-and again in their individual names. Their prin- cipal place of business was in Pekin.
P. A. Lorimere, or Lorimier, was a good customer. As some of his purchases were sent to J. P. B. Gratiot for him, it would seem that his business was conducted in Galena. Henry Gratiot and H. B. Soulard, both of Galena
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COL. Z. TAYLOR
were good patrons. Thomas Hartzell of Bureau County and J. Demun were the only other buyers.
The first sale shown on the books was to H. B. Stillman on June 28, 1830, and the last was to P. A. Lorimere, June 16, 1835.
There are charges against S. Sacket for the Sangamo Journal from September 3, 1834, to June 1, 1835, and they were paid. Other charges for newspapers were made against "Mr. Andrus" for the Monroe Democrat and the Knickerbocker; "Mr. Fellows" for the Christian Ad- vocate and Journal; "Mrs. Fellows" for the Sangamo Journal, G. A. Martin for the Galena Gazette, and one, probably in 1834, against Isaac Morgan-"May 30, Cash sent for Saturday Evening Post $2.00."
There are many charges for the unpaid postage on let- ters, ranging from ten to thirty seven and one half cents.
Many of the items indicate that Mr. Dixon was quite willing to accommodate his friends by making small loans of cash. John D. Winters, the stage coach man, was a frequent borrower. William S. Hamilton, "Dad Jo" Smith, Henry Gratiot, John K. Robinson, Dr. Forrest, Zachariah Malugin and Asa Crook were some of the debtors. James M. Strode borrowed several times, once "on his way to Galena from court." Colonel Zachary Taylor obtained two loans of fifty cents each, two of sev- enty-five cents each, one of two dollars and fifty cents. Adding these to a charge of one dollar fifty cents for a pair of shoes for his man, made his indebtedness six dol- lars and fifty cents, and the book says this was "settled by note." Perhaps the note was paid in due time; the book does not tell.
There are charges against the United States for flour, bacon and pork supplied to the Indians, for flour and bacon furnished the men of the Sixth Regiment; for ra- tions "to Colbert the express man;" for bacon and flour furnished the men of the First Regiment who were sent
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to Prairie du Chien; for bacon and flour supplied the men of the Sixth Regiment who were sent to the Jefferson Barracks. "Col. Johnson for U. S." is charged $360.50 for blankets, guns and a rifle. "U. S. Gen. Atkinson's Q. M." is charged for double and single trees, breast chains, augers, the use of oxen, iron, steel and blacksmith's tools and "accommodation and sustainance of the sick of the Army," but the amount is not stated.
It is not possible for one to decipher all the names ap- pearing in the accounts with the Indians. The books do not give any idea of the value of the goods sold. The first of the Indian items charges "Haucock Honesty" with beads, a shirt and some paint. Later with "wacoodshun," "nobra skelehera," "wawatchera." In the account against Scar on His Brow there is this notation-Jarro went with me to his camp. The items charged are a bridle, two strouds, five traps, one ax, powder, handkerchief, spear and flour. The Long Yellow Man is noted as "good pay."
There are charges against Old Blue Coat's son, one of them for "wy Parisable." An "Old grey head Potawa- mie" is charged with "ferretin," while his "fat Son" is charged with "1 wapamoon." Plump Face bought "wa sarah" and "my sherry." Just preceding the charges against "Sack, old man" is this entry "Ogee says he is good." "Fat Squaw, with many beads" owes a balance "due on shirt." Plump Face bought a blanket for Thin Face, and it was charged to the latter. There is an item of "wacodghun" against American Woman and one against the "Man that has a sick squaw," for a shirt. "Crane's Son" bought a blanket, handkerchief, knife and "nobra skelehera." There are charges against "Tall Pot- awatamie, Mrs. O's ant's husband," Great Dancer, Wa- wacockera, Wakongonie; "Daddy Walker, Hanuzeka," Limpy, Old Quaker, Sour Eads, Corngather, "Sin au buck, old white head Potawatamie's son," Moneah, No
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INDIAN DEBTORS
Nose, Good Singer, "Dr.'s Husband,", "Preacher long Sober man" "Blinkey's brother," "Jarro's oldest son." Plump Face is charged with "massagran," " "wa sarah," "my sherry" and "ohanena." Chief Jarro bought some "ohenena," and some "pageuna." Howekah, the "One eye old man that came with Crane & Orenduff," bought "torah," "Pashchunk, Chief Crane" bought "wawatch- era." Squirrel Cheeks bought "oats netega." The "woman that came with Mother Flat Face" bought "fer- ritin." There was a sale of "wacoodshun" to the Preacher. Chief Crane's brother, "Blue Coat" had an item of "edah skelehera." Many of the charges against Blinkey are crossed out.
In the account against the United States are charges for supplies furnished to Han cau shereck, Asherrekerry, Hanaracerashak, Dash, Hounch hutie, Chaw shep hutie, White Crow, "Dash's oldest son Hoonk Cheekah," Coca- sarretch, Blinkey, Laugher, Comeah, Nah he kah, Little Beaver, Hanupe Kah, Wauconjackpanke, Hoketchoke, Mass cheeka, On cah ce nech, Whirling Thunder, Pau he saw, Hanusee and many others. These items appear to have been furnished between September, 1832, and March 23, 1833, and were for flour, pork, bacon and corn. No prices are given and in many instances the quantity is not stated.
By the treaty made at Washington November 1, 1837, the Winnebagoes ceded all their land east of the Mis- sissippi and agreed to remove therefrom within eight months after the ratification of the treaty. The treaty provided for the payment of various sums, aggregating $38,000, to certain persons named, out of the sum of $200,000, and that the balance "shall be applied to the debts of the nation, which may be ascertained to be justly due, and which may be admitted by the Indians, pro- vided, that if all their debts shall amount to more than this balance, their creditors shall be paid pro rata, upon
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their giving receipts in full," and that no claim for dep- redations should be allowed. Provision was also made for the payment, under the direction of the President, to the relations and friends of the Winnebagoes "having not less than one-quarter of Winebago blood" of the sum of $100,000. James Murray of Maryland and Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania were appointed commissioners to adjust these claims, and they proceeded to Prairie du Chien, where they met the Indians and the various claim- ants in 1838. The report of the Secretary of War shows that John Dixon presented a claim for $2,298.25 for mer- chandise sold to the Indians, and, it being one of the five that were allowed in full, the commissioners paid him his proportion, $1,876.28, the payment being made to his attorney in fact, James P. Dixon.
Writing to Gen. Clark in October, 1831, of the Indian trade on the Mississippi and lower Rock river, Thomas Forsyth said that the prices charged by the traders in that region about that time were higher in the fall than in the spring and ranged as follows: a three point blan- ket was sold for $10, a "rifle gun" for $30, a pound of powder for $4,-a total of $44. He said that these arti- cles cost the trader-the blanket $3.52, the rifle $12 to $13, the powder twenty cents,-"I know this to be cor- rect."
The trader accepted for his dollar a large buckskin, or one doe skin, or four muskrats, or four or five raccoons. An otter skin was worth $3 and beaver $2 a pound.
A treaty made at Green Bay August 25, 1828, with the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes were signed by Kau-ree-kau-saw-kaw or White Crow. The treaty of August 1, 1829, made at Prairie du Chien with the Winne- bagoes, was signed by Wau-kun-tshaw-way-kee-wen-kaw or Whirling Thunder, Pey-tshun-kaw, or the Crane, and Jarot for the Indians.
The treaty made at Fort Armstrong in September,
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JARRO
1832, was signed by Kau-ree-kaw-see-kaw or White Crow; Wau-kaun-wee-kaw or Whirling Thunder, and Wee- tshun-kaw or Goose, for the Rock river deputation of Winnebagoes, and by Wau-kaun-tshah-ween-kaw or Whirling Thunder for the Winnebagoes of Fort Winne- bago. It is more than probable that the third signature should read-Pey-tshun-kaw, or the Crane.
John Blackhawk, an intelligent and well educated Win- nebago, furnishes the following translations of these Indian words :
wy parisable-black cloth ; wacoodshun-leggins ;
massagran-lead;
my sherry-flint stone;
wa sarah-grease;
torah-potatoes ;
edah skelehera-bridle; Hanuzeka-Yellow Boy;
Moneah-Arrow;
Asherrekerry-Fox;
Paschunka-Crane;
Hoonk Cheekah-
New Chief ;
Wauconjackpanke-Good Thunder ;
Mass Cheeka-New Iron ;
Pau he saw-Sharp or who is sharp;
wacodghun-moccasins ; nobra skelehera-finger rings ;
pageuna-"for making fire"; wawatchera-blue broad cloth ; Wakongonie-Snake;
Hau can shereck-Name of the third boy in the fam- ily; Hounch hutie-Big Bear;
Hanupe Kah-Day;
Hoketchoke-Green or Blue Chief ;
On cah ce nech-Tall Man;
Although he was a Winnebago chief, Jarro had a French name which he acquired in a rather peculiar man- ner. Nicholas Jarrot, a native of France, lived in Caho- kia from 1794 to 1823, and traded with the Indians on an extensive scale. On one of his visits to an Indian camp near Prairie du Chien, about 1812, the Indians were so enraged against him that they determined to kill him. They raised "the warwhoop and brandished their spears and tomahawks in the air. It was approaching an alarm- ing crisis. Jarrot and men seemed to be doomed to des- truction. The furious savages would not permit a par-
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ley ; but at last, when the warriers were so near Jarrot that it might be fatal with him, one of his old friends, a Winnebago Indian, stepped before the crowd of warriors and raised a terrific war-whoop, such as the Indians use in a battle where they are sure to be destroyed. It is a kind of a death-cry, so-called by them. The Indian was armed with all the weapons used by the infuriated sav- ages in mortal conflict. The warriors saw the danger they were in. One or more of them must be slain by the friend of Jarrot, if they persisted in the attempt to murder him and party. The bravery of the Winnebago made them reflect, and they desisted from the cowardly act to assassinate the trader. Jarrot and men were saved by the noble daring of this wild savage. The Indians changed his former name to that of Jarrot, and he was always known by that name afterward. I saw this In- dian, who was called Jarrot, at Galena, in 1829." (Reyn- olds, Pioneer History of Illinois; Fergus Ed., p. 211.)
The first election in Peoris county was held at Peoria in 1825. Josenh (geo and John Dixon voted.
John Blackhawk adviser me that Comenh mey have been intended for Co-co-ka, the first, male child in the family; Na-he-kah is the fourth male child; Chow-shen-hntie is Big Ingle; Nachusa is a Winnebago word menn- ing gray or white haired, and Rock river, in Winnebago, is E-nee-ne-sha- na-grn.
THE KINZIES AT DIXON.
Early in 1831 the Kinzies decided to visit Chicago. The distance from Fort Winnebago (Portage) was not con- sidered too great, if a direct route were taken. The winter, however, had been a severe one and the snow was deep. While making their preparations for the journey they learned that the route by Kosh-ko-nong was out of the question, as the Indians were absent from their villages, and, the ice being gone, there was no means of crossing Rock river except at "Dixon, or, as it was then called, Ogie's Ferry." Finishing their preparations, they started on the morning of the eighth of March, the party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Kinzie, Plante, their "guide, on the assurance that he knew every mile of the way from the Portage to Ogie's Ferry, and from Ogie's Ferry to Chicago," and Pierre Roy. They spent a night at Hamilton's; the next at Kellogg's, and on the thirteenth "just at sunset we reached the dark, rapid waters of the Rock River. The 'ferry' which we had traveled so far out of our way to take advantage of, proved to be merely a small boat or skiff, the larger one having been swept into the stream, and carried down in the breaking up of the ice the week previous."
They crossed on the ferry and were soon in Mr. Dixon's house. Mrs. Kinzie then saw young John "Ogie," and heard of the separation of his parents.
After doing ample justice to "a most savory supper of ducks and venison, with their accompaniements," Mr. Dixon gave the travelers an account of the way still be- fore them.
"There is no difficulty," said he, "if you keep a little to the north, and strike the great Sauk trail. If you get too far to the south, you will come upon the Winnebago Swamp, and once in that, there is no telling when you will ever get out again. As for the distance, it is noth-
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ing at all to speak of. Two young men came out here from Chicago, on foot, last fall. They got here in the evening of the second day; and even with a lady in your party, you could go on horseback in less time than that. The only thing is to be sure and get on the great track that the Sauks have made, in going every year from the Mis- sissippi to Canada, to receive their presents from the British Indian Agent."
"The following morning, which was a bright and lovely one for that season of the year, we took leave of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, in high spirits. We traveled for the first few miles along the beautiful, undulating banks of the Rock River, always in an easterly direction, keeping the beaten path, or rather road, which led to Fort Clark or Peoria. The Sauk trail, we had been told, would cross this road, at the distance of about six miles.
After traveling, as we judged, fully that distance, we came upon a trail, bearing northeast, and a consultation was held as to the probability of its being the one we were in search of.
Mr. Kinzie was of opinion that it tended too much to the north, and was, moreover, too faint and obscure for a trail so much used, and by so large a body of Indians in their annual journeys.
Plante was positive as to its being the very spot where he and 'Piche' in their journey to Fort Winnebago, the year before, struck into the great road. 'On that very rising ground at the point of the woods, he remembered perfectly stopping to shoot ducks, which they ate for their supper.'
Mr. Kellogg was noncommittal, but sided alternately with each speaker.
As Plante was the 'guide,' and withal so confident of being right, it was decided to follow him, not without some demurring, however, on the part of the bour- geois, who every now and then called a halt, to discuss the state of affairs.
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' Now Plante,' he would say, 'I am sure you are leading us too far north. Why, man, if we keep on in this direc- tion, following the course of the river, we shall bring up at Kosh-ko-nong, instead of Chicago.'
'Ah! mon bourgeois,' would the light-hearted Canadian reply, 'would I tell you this is the road if I were not quite certain? Only one year ago I traveled it, and can I for- get so soon ? Oh ! no-I remember every foot of it.'
But Monsieur Plante was convinced of his mistake when the trail brought us to the great bend of the river with its bold rocky bluffs."
Mr. Kinzie then took command and they proceeded in a direction "as nearly east as possible." Other misfor- tunes befell them before they reached Chicago, but we are not concerned in them now.
It is impossible for one acquainted with that territory to understand why the Kinzie party traveled from Dixon's as they did, unless it be that they misunderstood what Mr. Dixon told them, and Kellogg was so confused that he was lost at the start.
Mr. Dixon knew, and Kellogg must have known, that the road to Chicago did not run along the river. Dixon and Kellogg well knew that the crossing of the Sauk trail was south of Dixon's. Kinzie certainly must have misunderstood what Dixon said about the Indian trails, for Dixon knew that the "Great Sauk" trail from the Mississippi to Canada did not touch Chicago, and it was far south of another trail that did go from the Mississippi to Chicago. It is more than probable that Dixon told them to go south until they reached the first trail and then to follow that to Chicago. He could not have told them that that trail, or the Great Sauk trail was about six miles from Dixon's, for he knew it was farther.
It is very clear that Mr. Dixon did not see the party start out, for he would not have permitted them to travel "the first few miles along the beautiful, undulating banks
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of the Rock River," as that course would have taken them back to Fort Winnebago. They did not keep "the beaten path, or rather road, which led to Fort Clark or Peoria," for that did not follow the river bank.
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