USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 > Part 25
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ECKELS, James H., ex-Comptroller of the Currency, was born of Scotch-Irish parentage at Princeton, Ill., Nov. 22, 1858, was educated in the common schools and the high school of his native town, graduated from the Law School at Albany, N. Y., in Iss1, and the following year began practice at Ottawa, 11. Here he con- tinued in active practice until 1893, when he was appointed by President Cleveland Comptroller of the Currency, serving until May 1, 1895, when he resignel to accept the presidency of the Com- mercial National Bank of Chicago. Mr. Eckels manifested such distinguished ability in the dis- charge of his duties as Comptroller that lie received the notable compliment of being retained in office by a Republican administration more than a year after the retirement of Presi-
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dent Cleveland, while his selection for a place at the head of one of the leading banking institu- tions of Chicago was a no less marked recognition of his abilities as a financier. He was a Delegate from the Eleventh District to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago in 1892, and represented the same district in the Gold Deno- cratic Convention at Indianapolis in 1896, and assisted in framing the platform there adopted- which indicated his views on the financial ques- tions involved in the campaign of that year.
FIELD, Daniel, early merchant, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Nov. 30, 1790, and settled at Golconda, Ill., in 1818, dying there in 1855. He was a man of great enterprise, engaged in merchandising, and became a large land- holder, farmer and stock-grower, and an extensive shipper of stock and produce to lower Mississippi markets. He married Elizabeth Dailey of Charleston, Ind., and raised a large family of children, one of whom, Philip D., became Sheriff, while another, John, was County Judge of Pope County. His daughter, Maria, married Gen. Green B. Raum, who became prominent as a soldier during the Civil War and, later, as a mem- ber of Congress and Commissioner of Internal Revenue and Pension Commissioner in Waslı- ington.
FIELD, Green B., member of a pioneer family, was born within the present limits of the State of Indiana in 1787, served as a Lieutenant in the War of 1812, was married in Bourbon County, Kentucky, to Miss Mary E. Cogswell, the daughter of Dr. Joseph Cogswell, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and, in 1817, removed to Pope County, Illinois, where he laid off the town of Golconda, which became the county-seat. He served as a Representative from Pope County in the First General Assembly (1818-20), and was the father of Juliet C. Field, who became the wife of John Raum; of Edna Field, the wife of Dr. Tarlton Dunn, and of Green B. Field, who was a Lieutenant in Third Regiment Illinois Volunteers during the Mexican War. Mr. Field was the grandfather of Gen. Green B. Raum, mentioned in the preceding paragraph. IIe died of yellow fever in Louisiana in 1823.
GALE, Stephen Francis, first Chicago book- seller and a railway promoter, was born at Exeter, N. H., March 8, 1812; at 15 years of age became clerk in a leading book-store in Boston; came to Chicago in 195, and soon afterwards opened the first book and stationery establish- ment in that city, which. in after years, gained an extensive trade. In 1842 the firm of S. F.
Gale & Co. was organized, but Mr. Gale, having become head of the Chicago Fire Department, retired from business in 1845 As early as 1846 he was associated with W m. B. Ogden and John B. Turner in the steps then being taken to revive the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern), and, in conjunction with these gentlemen, became responsible for the means to purchase the charter and assets of the road from the Eastern bond- . holders. Later, he engaged in the construction of the branch road from Turner Junction to Aurora, became President of the line and ex- tended it to Mendota to connect with the Illinois Central at that Point. These roads afterwards became a part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line. A number of years ago Mr. Gale returned to his old home in New Hampshire, where he has since resided.
HAY, John, early settler, came to the region of Kaskaskia between 1790 and 1800, and became a prominent citizen of St. Clair County. Ile was selected as a member of the First Legislative Council of Indiana Territory for St. Clair County in 1805. In 1809 he was appointed Clerk of the Common Pleas Court of St. Clair County, and was continued in office after the organization of the State Government, serving until his death at Belleville in 1845.
HAYS, John, pioneer settler of Northwest Ter. mitory, was a native of New York, who came to Cahokia, in the "Illinois Country," in 1993, and lived there the remainder of his life. His early life had been spent in the fur-trade about Macki- nac, in the Lake of the Woods region and about the sources of the Mississippi. During the War of 1813 he was able to furnish Governor Edwards valuable information in reference to the Indians in the Northwest. He filled the office of Post- master at Cahokia for a number of years, and was Sheriff of St. Clair County from 1798 to 1818.
MOULTON, (Col.) George M., soldier and building contractor, was born at Readsburg, Vt., March 15, 1851, came early in life to Chicago, and was educated in the schools of that city. By pro- fession he is a contractor and builder, the firm of which he is a member having been connected with the construction of a number of large build- ings, including some extensive grain elevators. Colonel Moulton became a member of the Second Regiment Illinois National Guard in June, 1884, being elected to the office of Major, which he retained until Jannary, 1893, when he was appointed Inspector of Rifle Practice on the staff of General Wheeler, A year later he was com
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missioned Colonel of the regiment, a position which he occupied at the time of the call by the President for troops to serve in the Spanish- American War in April, 1808. He promptly answered the call, and was sworn into the United States service at the head of his regiment early in May. The regiment was almost immediately ordered to Jacksonville, Fla., remaining there and at Savannah, Ga., until early in December, when it was transferred to Havana, Cuba. Here he was soon after appointed Chief of Police for the city of Havana, remaining in office until the middle of January, 1899, when he returned to his regiment, then stationed at Camp Columbia, near the city of Havana. In the latter part of March he returned with his regiment to Augusta, Ga., where it was mustered out, April 26, 1899, one year from the date of its arrival at Springfield. After leaving the service Colonel Moulton resumed his business as a contractor.
SHERMAN, Lawrence Y., legislator and Speaker of the Forty-first General Assembly, was born in Miami County, Ohio, Nov. 6, 1858; at 3 years of age came to Illinois, his parents settling at Industry, McDonough County. When he had reached the age of 10 years he went to Jasper County, where he grew to manhood, received his education in the common schools and in the law
department of MeKendree College, graduating from the latter, and, in 1881, located at Macomb, MeDonough County. Here he began his career by driving a team upon the street in order to accumulate means enabling him to devote his entire attention to his chosen profession of law. He soon took an active interest in politics, was elected County Judge in 1SS6, and, at the expira- tion of his term, formed a partnership with George D. Tunnicliffe and D. G. Tunnicliffe, ex-Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1894 he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Representative in the General Assembly, but withdrew to prevent a split in the party; was nominated and elected in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, and, at the succeeding session of the Forty-first General Assembly, was nominated by the Republican caucus and elected Speaker, as he was again of the Forty-second in 1901.
VINYARD, Philip, early legislator, was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, came to Illinois at an early day, and settled in Pope County, which he represented in the lower branch of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth General Assemblies. He married Miss Matilda McCoy, the daughter of a prominent Illinois pioneer, and served as Sheriff of Pope County for a number of years. Died, at Gol- conda, in 1862.
SUPPLEMENT NO. II.
BLACK HAWK WAR, THE. The episode known in history under the name of "The Black Hawk War," was the most formidable conflict between the whites and Indians, as well as the most far-reaching in its results, that ever oc- curred upon the soil of Illinois. It takes its name from the Indian Chief, of the Sac tribe, Black Hawk (Indian name, Makatai Meshekia- kiak, meaning "Black Sparrow Hawk"), who was the leader of the hostile Indian band and a principal factor in the struggle. Black Hawk had been an ally of the British during the War of 1812-15, served with Tecumseh when the lat- ter fell at the battle of the Thames in IS13, and, After the war, continued to maintain friendly re- lations with his "British father." The outbreak
in Illinois had its origin in the construction put upon the treaty negotiated by Gen. William Henry Harrison with the Sac and Fox Indians on behalf of the United States Government, No- vember 3, 1804. under which the Indians trans- ferred to the Government nearly 15,000,000 acres of land comprising the region lying between the Wisconsin River ou the north, Fox River of Illi- nois on the cast and southeast, and the Mississippi on the west, for which the Government agreed to pay to the confederated tribes less than $2,500 in goods and the insignificant sum of $1,000 per an- num in perpetuity. While the validity of the treaty was denied on the part of the Indians on the ground that it had originally been entered into by their chiefs under duress, while held as prisoners
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under a charge of murder at Jefferson Barracks, during which they had been kept in a state of con- stant intoxication, it had been repeatedly reat- firmed by parts or all of the tribe, especially in 1815, in 1816, in 1822 and in 1823, and finally recog- nized by Black Hawk himself in 1831. The part of the treaty of 1804 which was the immediate cause of the disagreement was that which stipulated that, so long as the lands ceded under it remained the property of the United States (that is, should not be transferred to private owners), "the Indians belonging to the said tribes shall enjoy the priv- ilege of living or hunting upon them." Al- though these lands had not been put upon the market, or even surveyed, as "squatters" multi- plied in this region little respect was paid to the treaty rights of the Indians, particularly with reference to those localities where, by reason of fertility of the soil or some other natural advan- tage, the Indians had established something like permanent homes and introduced a sort of crude cultivation. This was especially the case with reference to the Sac village of "Saukenuk" on the north bank of Rock' River near its mouth, where the Indians, when not absent on the chase, had lived for over a century, had cultivated fields of corn and vegetables and had buried their dead. In the early part of the last century, it is estimated that some five hundred families had been accustomed to congregate here, making it the largest Indian village in the West. As early as 1823 the encroachments of squatters on the rights claimed by the Indians under the treaty of 1804 began; their fields were taken possession of by the intruders, their lodges burned and their women and children whipped and driven away during the absence of the men on their annual hunts. The dangers resulting from these con- flicts led Governor Edwards, as early as 1828, to demand of the General Government the expul- sion of the Indians from Illinois, which resulted in an order from President Jackson in 1829 for their removal west of the Mississippi. On appli- cation of Col. George Davenport, a trader of much influence with the Indians, the time was extended to April 1, 1830. During the preceding year Colonel Davenport and the firm of Davenport and Farnham bought from the United States Gov- ernment most of the lands on Rock River occupied by Black Hawk's band, with the intention, as has been claimed, of permitting the Indians to remain. This was not so understood by Black Hawk, who was greatly incensed, although Davenport offered to take other lands from the Government in ex- change or cancel the sale- an arrangement to
which President Jackson would not consent. On their return in the spring of 1$30, the Indians found whites in possession of their village. Pre- vented from cultivating their fields, and their annual hunt proving unsuccessful the following winter proved for them one of great hardship. Black Hawk, having made a visit to his " British father " (the British Agent) at Malden, Canada, claimed to have received words of sympathy and encouragement, which induced him to determine to regain possession of their fields. In this he was encouraged by Neapope, his second in com- mand, and by assurance of support from White Cloud, a half Sac and half Winnebago -known also as " The Prophet " - whose village (Prophet's Town) was some forty miles from the mouth of Rock River, and through whom Black Hawk claimed to have received promises of aid in guns, ammunition and provisions from the British. The reappearance of Black Hawk's band in the vicinity of his old haunts, in the spring of 1831, produced a wild panic among the frontier settlers. Messages were hurried to Governor Reynolds, who had succeeded Governor Edwards in De- cember previous, appealing for protection against the savages. The Governor issued a call for 700 volunteers "to remove the band of Sac Indians " at Rock Island beyond the Mississippi. Al- though Gen. E. P. Gaines of the regular army, commanding the military district, thought the regulars sufficiently strong to cope with the situa- tion, the Governor's proclamation was responded to by more than twice the number called for The volunteers assembled early in June, 1831, at Beardstown, the place of rendezvous named in the call, and having been organized into tworegi- ments under command of Col. James D. Henry and Col. Daniel Lieb. with a spy battalion under Gen. Joseph Duncan, marched across the country and, after effecting a junction with General Gaines' regulars, appeared before Black Hawk's village on the 25th of June. In the meantinie General Gaines, having learned that the Pottawatomies, Winnebagos and Kickapoos had promised to join the Sacs in their uprising, asked the assistance of the battalion of mounted men previously offered by Governor Reynolds. The combined armies amounted to 2.500 men, while the fighting force of the Indians was 300. Finding himself over- whelmingly outnumbered, Black Hawk withdrew under cover of night to the west side of the Missis- sippi. After burning the village, General Gaines notified Black Hawk of his intention to pursue and attack his band, which had the effect to bring the fugitive chief to the General's head-
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quarters, where, on June 30, a new treaty was entered into by which he bound himself and his people to remain west of the Mississippi unless permitted to return by the United States. This ended the campaign, and the volunteers returned to their homes, although the affair had produced an intense excitement along the whole frontier, and involved a heavy expense.
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The next winter was spent by Black Hawk and his band on the site of old Fort Madison, in the present State of Iowa. Dissatisfied and humil- iated by his repulse of the previous year, in disre- gard of his pledge to General Games. on April 6, 1832, at the head of 500 warriors and their fam- ilies, he again crossed the Mississippi at Yel- low Banks about the site of the present city of Oquawka, fifty miles below Rock Island. with the intention, as claimed, if not permitted to stop at his old village, to proceed to the Prophet's Town and raise a crop with the Winnebagoes. Here he was met by The Prophet with renewel assurances of aid from the Winnebagoes, which was still further strengthened by promises from the Brit- ish Agent received through a visit by Neapope to Malden the previous autumn. An incident of this invasion was the effective warning given to the white settlers by Shabona, a friendly Ottawa chief, which probably had the effect to prevent a widespread massacre. Besides the towns of Galena and Chicago, the settlements in Illinois north of Fort Clark (Peoria) were limited to some thirty families on Bureau Creek with a few cabins at Hennepin. Peru, LaSalle. Ottawa, In- dian Creek, Dixon, Kellogg's Grove, Apple Creek, and a few other points. Gen. Henry Atkinson, commanding the regulars at Fort Armstrong (Rock Island), having learned of the arrival of Black Hawk a week after he crossed the Missis- sippi, at once took steps to notify (Governor Rey- nolds of the situation with a requisition for an adequate force of militia to cooperate with the regulars. Under date of April 16, 1532, the Gov- ernor issued his call for "a strong detach ment of militia." to meet by ipril 22. Beardstown again being named as a place of rendezvous, The call resulted in the assembling of a force which was organized into four regiments under command of Cols. John De Witt, Jacob Fry. John Thomas and Samuel M. Thompson, together with a spy bat- talion under Maj. James D. Henry, an odd bat- talion under Maj. Thomas James and a tout battalion under Maj. Thomas Long. To these were subsequently added two independent battalions of mounted inen. under command of Majors Isaiah Stillman and David Bailey, which were
finally consolidated as the Fifth Regiment under command of Col. James Jolinson. The organiza- tion of the first four regiments at Beardstown was completed by April 27, and the force under command of Brigadier-General Whiteside (but accompanied by Governor Reynolds, who was allowed pay as Major General by the General Government) began its march to Fort Armstrong, arriving there May 7 and being mustered into the United States service. Among others accompany- ing the expedition who were then, or afterwards became. noted citizens of the State, were Vital Jarrot, Adjutant-General: Cyrus Edwards, Ord- nance Officer; Murray McConnel, Staff Officer, and Abraham Lincoln, Captain of a company of volunteers from Sangamon County in the Fourth Regiment. Col. Zachary Taylor, then commander of a regiment of regulars, arrived at Fort Arm- strong about the same time with reinforcements from Fort Leavenworth and Fort Crawford. The total force of militia amounted to 1,935 men, and of regulars about 1,000. An interesting story is told concerning a speech delivered to the volun- teers by Colonel Taylor about this time. After reminding them of their duty to obey an order promptly, the future hero of the Mexican War added: "The safety of all depends upon the obe- dience and courage of all. You are citizen sol- diers; some of you may fill high offices, or even be Presidents some day-but not if you refuse to do your duty. Forward, march!" A curious com- mentary upon this speech is furnished in the fact that, while Taylor himself afterwards became President, at least one of his hearers-a volunteer who probably then had no aspiration to that dis- tinction (Abraham Lincoln)-reached the same position during the most dramatic period in the nation's history.
Two days after the arrival at Fort Armstrong, the advance up Rock River began, the main force of the volunteers proceeding by land under Gen- cral Whiteside, while General Atkinson, with 400 regular and 300 volunteer foot soldiers. pro- ceeded by boat, carrying with him the artillery, provisions and bulk of the baggage. Whiteside, advancing by the east bank of the river, was the first to arrive at the Prophet's Town, which, finding deserted. he pushed on to Dixon's Ferry (now Dixon), where he arrived May 12. Here lie found the independent battalions of Stillman and Bailey with ammunition and supplies of which Whiteside stood in need. The monuted battalions under command of Major Stillman, having been sent forward by Whiteside as a scouting party. lett Dixon on the 13th and, on the afternoon of
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the next day, went into camp in a strong position near the mouth of Sycamore Creek. As soon dis- covered, Black Hawk was in camp at the same time, as he afterwards claimed, with about forty of his braves, on Sycamore Creek, three miles distant, while the greater part of his band were en- camped with the more war-like faction of the Pot- tawatomies some seven miles farther north on the Kishwaukee River. As claimed by Black Hawk in his autobiography, having been disappointed in his expectation of forming an alliance with the Winnebagoes and the Pottawatomies. he had at this juncture determined to return to the west side of the Mississippi. Hearing of the arrival of Stillman's command in the vicinity, and taking it for granted that this was the whole of Atkin- son's command, he sent out three of his young men with a white flag, to arrange a parley and convey to Atkinson his offer to meet the latter in council. These were captured by some of Still- man's band regardless of their flag of truce, while a party of five other braves who followed to ob- serve the treatment received by the flagbearers. were attacked and two of their number killed. the the other three escaping to their eamp. Black Hawk learning the fate of his truce party was aroused to the fiercest indignation. Tearing the flag to pieces with which he had intended to go into council with the whites, and appealing to his followers to avenge the murder of their comrades, he prepared for the attack. The rangers mumm- bered 275 men, while Black Hawk's band has been estimated at less than forty. As the rangers caught sight of the Indians, they rushed forward in pell-mell fashion. Retiring behind a fringe of bushes, the Indians awaited the attack. As the rangers approached, Black Hawk and his party rose up with a war whoop, at the same time opening fire on their assailants. The further history of the affair was as much of a disgrace to Stillman's command as had been their desecra- tion of the flag of truce. Thrown into panic by their reception by Black Hawk's little band. the rangers turned and, without firing a shot, began the retreat, dashing through their own camp and abandoning everything, which fell into the hands of the Indians. An attempt was made by one or two officers and a few of their men to check the retreat, but without success, the bulk of the fn- gitives continuing their mad rush for safety through the night until they reached Dixon, twenty-five miles distant, while many never stopped until they reached their homes, forty or fifty miles distant. The casualties t> the rangers amounted to eleven killed and two
wounded, while the Indian loss consisted of two spies and one of the flag-bearers, treacherously killed near Stillman's camp, puis ill-starred af- fair, which has passed into history as "Stillman's defeat." produced a general panic along the fron- tier by inducing an exaggerated estimate of the strength of the Indian force, while it led Flack Hawk to form a poor opinion of the courage . f the white troops at the same time that it led to an exalted estimate of the prowess of his own little band -- thus becoming an important factor in prolonging the war and in the bloody massacres which followed. Whiteside, with his force of 1,400 men, advanced to the scene of the defeat the next day and buried the dead. while on the 19th, Atkinson, with his force of regulars, pro- ceeded up Rock River, leaving the remnant of Stillman's force to guard the wounded and sup- plies at Dixon. No sooner had he left than the demoralized fugitives of a few days before de- serted their post for their homes, compelling At- kinson to return for the protection of his base of supplies, while Whiteside was ordered to follow the trail of Black Hawk who had started up the Kishwaukee for the swamps about Lake Kosh- konong, nearly west of Milwaukee within the present State of Wisconsin.
At this point the really active stage of the campaign began. Black Hawk, leaving the women and children of his band in the fastnesses of the swamps, divided his followers into two bands, retaining about 200 under his own com- mand, while the notorious half-breed. Mike Girty. leda band of one hundred renegade Pottawatomies. Returning to the vicinity of Rock Island, he gathered some recruits from the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes, and the work of rapine and massacre among the frontier settlers began. One of the most notable of these was the Indian Creek Massacre in LaSalle County, about twelve miles north of Ottawa, on May 21. when sixteen persons were killed at the Home of William Davis, and two young girls-Sylvia and Rachel Hall, aged, respectively. 17 and 15 years-were carried away captives. The girls were subse- quently released. having been ransomed for $2,000 in horses and trinkets through a Winnebago Chief and surrendered to sub-agent Henry Gratiot Great as was the emergency at this juncture, the volunteers began to manifest evi- dence of dissatisfaction and, claiming that they had served out their term of enlistment. refused to follow the Indians into the swamps of Wis consin. As the result of a council of war. the volunteers were ordered to Ottawa, where they
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