USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123
NORTHWEST TERRITORY ORGANIZED .- Under the Ordinance of 1787, organizing the Northwest Territory, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, who had been a soldier of the Revolution, was appointed the first Governor on Feb. 1, 1788, with Winthrop Sargent, Secretary, and Samuel Holden Parsons,
254
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
James Mitchell Varnum and John Cleves Symmes, Judges. All these were reappointed by President Washington in 1789. The new Terri- torial Government was organized at Marietta, a settlement on the Ohio, July 15, 1788, but it was nearly two years later before Governor St. Clair visited Illinois, arriving at Kaskaskia, March 5, 1790. The County of St. Clair (named after him) was organized at this time, embracing all the settlements between the Wabash and the Missis- sippi. (See St. Clair County.) He found the inhabitants generally in a deplorable condition, neglected by the Government, the courts of jus- tice practically abolished and many of the citizens sadly in need of the obligations due them from the Government for supplies furnished to Colonel Clark twelve years before. After a stay of three months, the Governor returned east. In 1795, Judge Turner held the first court in St. Clair County, at Cahokia, as tlie county-seat, although both Cahokia and Kaskaskia had been named as county-seats by Governor St. Clair. Out of the disposition of the local authorities to retain the official records at Cahokia, and consequent dis- agreement over the county-seat question, at least in part, grew the order of 1795 organizing the second county (Randolph), and Kaskaskia became its county-seat. In 1796 Governor St. Clair paid a second visit to Illinois, accompanied by Judge Symmes, who held court at both county-seats. On Nov. 4, 1791, occurred the defeat of Gov- ernor St. Clair, in the western part of the present State of Ohio, by a force of Indians under com- mand of Little Turtle, in which the whites sus- tained a heavy loss of both men and property- an event which had an unfavorable effect upon conditions throughout the Northwest Territory generally. St. Clair, having resigned his com- mand of the army, was succeeded by Gen. Anthony Wayne, who, in a vigorous campaign, overwhelmed the Indians with defeat. This resulted in the treaty with the Western tribes at Greenville, August 3, 1795, which was the begin- ning of a period of comparative peace with the Indians all over the Western Country. (See Wayne, (Gen.) Anthony.)
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATION .- In 1798, the Territory having gained the requisite population, an election of members of a Legislative Council and House of Representatives was held in accord- ance with the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787. This was the first Territorial Legislature organized in the history of the Republic. It met at Cincin- nati, Feb. 4, 1799, Shadrach Bond being the Delegate from St. Clair County and John Edgar
from Randolph. Gen. William Henry Harrison, who had succeeded Sargent as Secretary of the Territory, June 26, 1798, was elected Delegate to Congress, receiving a majority of one vote over Arthur St. Clair, Jr., son of the Governor.
OHIO AND INDIANA TERRITORIES .- By act of Congress, May 7, 1800, the Northwest Territory was divided into Ohio and Indiana Territories; the latter embracing the region west of the pres- ent State of Ohio, and having its capital at "Saint Vincent" (Vincennes). May 13, William Henry Harrison, who had been the first Delegate in Con- gress from the Northwest Territory, was ap- pointed Governor of Indiana Territory, which at first consisted of three counties: Knox, St. Clair and Randolph-the two latter being within the boundaries of the present State of Illinois. Their aggregate population at this time was estimated at less than 5,000. During his administration Governor Harrison concluded thirteen treaties with the Indians, of which six related to the ces- sion of lands in Illinois. The first treaty relating to lands in Illinois was that of Greenville, con- cluded by General Wayne in 1795. By this the Government acquired six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River; twelve miles square at the mouth of the Illinois; six miles square at the old Peoria fort; the post of Fort Massac; and 150,000 acres assigned to General Clark and his soldiers, besides all other lands "in possession of the French people and all other white settlers among them, the Indian title to which had been thus extinguished." (See Indian Treaties; also, Greenville, Treaty of.)
During the year 1803, the treaty with France for the purchase of Louisiana and West Florida was concluded, and on March 26, 1804, an act was passed by Congress attaching all that portion of Louisiana lying north of the thirty-third parallel of latitude and west of the Mississippi to Indiana Territory for governmental purposes. This in- cluded the present States of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, the two Dakotas and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Mon- tana. This arrangement continued only until the following March, when Louisiana was placed under a separate Territorial organization.
For four years Indiana Territory was governed under laws framed by the Governor and Judges, but, the population having increased to the re- quired number, an election was held, Sept. 11, 1804, on the proposition to advance the gov- ernment to the "second grade" by the election of a Territorial Legislature. The smallness of the vote indicated the indifference of the people on
255
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
the subject Out of 400 votes cast, the proposition received a majority of 138. The two Illinois counties cast a total of 142 votes, of which St. Clair furnished 81 and Randolplı 61. The former gave a majority of 37 against the measure and the latter 19 in its favor, showing a net negative majority of 18. The adoption of the proposition was due, therefore, to the affirmative vote in the other counties. There were in the Territory at this time six counties; one of these (Wayne) was in Michigan, which was set off, in 1805, as a sep- arate Territory. At the election of Delegates to a Territorial Legislature, held Jan. 3, 1805, Shad- rach Bond, Sr., and William Biggs were elected for St. Clair County and George Fisher for Ran- dolph. Bond having meanwhile become a mem- ber of the Legislative Council, Shadrach Bond, Jr., was chosen his successor. The Legislature convened at Vincennes, Feb. 7, 1805, but only to recommend a list of persons from whom it was the duty of Congress to select a Legislative Council. In addition to Bond, Pierre Menard was chosen for Randolph and John Hay for St. Clair.
ILLINOIS TERRITORY ORGANIZED .- The Illinois counties were represented in two regular and one special session of the Territorial Legislature dur- ing the time they were a part of Indiana Terri- tory. By act of Congress, which became a law Feb. 3, 1809, the Territory was divided, the west- ern part being named Illinois.
At this point the history of Illinois, as a sepa- rate political division, begins. While its bounda- ries in all other directions were as now, on the north it extended to the Canada line. From what has already been said, it appears that the earliest white settlements were established by French Canadians, chiefly at Kaskaskia, Cahokia and the other villages in the southern part of the American Bottom. At the time of Clark's in- vasion, there were not known to have been more than two Americans among these people, except such hunters and trappers as paid them occasional visits. One of the earliest American settlers in Southern Illinois was Capt. Nathan Hull, who came from Massachusetts and settled at an early day on the Ohio, near where Golconda now stands, afterward removing to the vicinity of Kaskaskia, where he died in 1806. In 1781, a company of immigrants, consisting (with one or two exceptions) of members of Clark's command in 1778, arrived with their families from Mary- land and Virginia and established themselves on the American Bottom. The "New Design" set- tlement, on the boundary line between St. Clair
and Monroe Counties, and the first distinctively American colony in the "Illinois Country," was established by this party. Some of its members afterward became prominent in the history of the Territory and the State. William Biggs, a mem- ber of the first Territorial Legislature, with others, settled in or near Kaskaskia about 1783, and William Arundel, the first American mer- chant at Cahokia, came there from Peoria during the same year. Gen. John Edgar, for many years a leading citizen and merchant at the capital, arrived at Kaskaskia in 1784, and William Mor- rison, Kaskaskia's principal merchant, came from Philadelphia as early as 1790, followed some years afterward by several brothers. James Lemen came before the beginning of the present cen- tury, and was the founder of a large and influ- ential family in the vicinity of Shiloh, St. Clair County, and Rev. David Badgley headed a colony of 154 from Virginia, who arrived in 1797. Among other prominent arrivals of this period were John Rice Jones, Pierre Menard (first Lieutenant-Governor of the State), Shadrach Bond, Jr. (first Governor), John Hay, John Messinger, William Kinney, Capt. Joseph Ogle; and of a later date, Nathaniel Pope (afterward Secretary of the Territory, Delegate to Congress, Justice of the United States Court and father of the late Maj .- Gen. John Pope), Elias Kent Kane (first Secretary of State and afterward United States Senator), Daniel P. Cook (first Attorney- General and second Representative in Congress), George Forquer (at one time Secretary of State), and Dr. George Fisher-all prominent in Terri- torial or State history. (See biographical sketches of these early settlers under their re- spective names.)
The government of the new Territory was organized by the appointment of Ninian Ed- wards, Governor; Nathaniel Pope, Secretary, and Alexander Stuart, Obadiah Jones and Jesse B. Thomas, Territorial Judges. (See Edwards, Ninian.) Stuart having been transferred to Missouri, Stanley Griswold was appointed in his stead. Governor Edwards arrived at Kas- kaskia, the capital, in June, 1809. At that time the two counties of St. Clair and Randolph comprised the settled portion of the Territory, with a white population estimated at about 9,000. The Governor and Judges immediately proceeded to formulate a code of laws, and the appoint- ments made by Secretary Pope, who had preceded the Governor in his arrival in the Territory, were confirmed. Benjamin H. Doyle was the first Attorney-General, but he resigned in a few
256
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
months, when the place was offered to John J. Crittenden-the well-known United States Sen- ator from Kentucky at the beginning of the Civil War-but by him declined. Thomas T. Crittenden was then appointed.
An incident of the year 1811 was the battle of Tippecanoe, resulting in the defeat of Tecumseh, the great chief of the Shawnees, by Gen. Williamn Henry Harrison. Four companies of mounted rangers were raised in Illinois this year under direction of Col. William Russell, of Kentucky, who built Camp Russell near Edwardsville the following year. They were commanded by Cap- tains Samuel Whiteside, William B. Whiteside, James B. Moore and Jacob Short. The memo- rable earthquake which had its center about New Madrid, Mo., occurred in December of this year, and was quite violent in some portions of Southern Illinois. (See Earthquake of 1811.)
WAR OF 1812 .- During the following year the second war with England began, but no serious outbreak occurred in Illinois until August, 1812, when the massacre at Fort Dearborn, where Chicago now stands, took place. This had long been a favorite trading post of the Indians, at first under French occupation and afterward under the Americans. Sometime during 1803-04, a fort had been built near the mouth of Chicago River on the south side, on land acquired from the Indians by the treaty of Greenville in 1795. (See Fort Dearborn.) In the spring of 1812 some alarm had been caused by outrages committed by Indians in the vicinity, and in the early part of August, Capt. Nathan Heald, commanding the garrison of less than seventy-five men, received instructions from General Hull, in command at Detroit, to evacuate the fort, disposing of the public property as he might see fit. Friendly Indians advised Heald either to make prepara- tions for a vigorous defense, or evacuate at once. Instead of this, he notified the Indians of his in- tention to retire and divide the stores among them, with the conditions subsequently agreed upon in council, that liis garrison should be afforded an escort and safe passage to Fort Wayne. On the 14th of August he proceeded to distribute the bulk of the goods as promised, but the ammunition, guns and liquors were de- stroyed. This he justified on the ground that a bad use would be made of them, while the Indians construed it as a violation of the agree- ment. The tragedy which followed, is thus de- scribed in Moses' "History of Illinois:"
"Black Partridge, a Pottawatomie Chief, who had been on terms of friendship with the whites,
appeared before Captain Heald and informed him plainly that his young men intended to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites; that he was no longer able to restrain them, and, surrendering a medal he had worn in token of amity, closed by saying: 'I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy.' In the meantime the Indians were riot- ing upon the provisions, and becoming so aggres- sive in their bearing that it was resolved to march out the next day. The fatal fifteenth arrived. To each soldier was distributed twenty-five rounds of reserved ammunition. The baggage and ambulance wagons were laden, and the gar- rison slowly wended its way outside the protect- ing walls of the fort-the Indian escort of 500 following in the rear. What next occurred in this disastrous movement is narrated by Captain Heald in his report, as follows: 'The situation of the country rendered it necessary for us to take the beach, with the lake on our left, and a high sand bank on our right at about three hundred yards distance. We had proceeded about a mile and a half, when it was discovered (by Captain Wells) that the Indians were prepared to attack us from behind the bank. I immediately marched up with the company to the top of the bank, when the action commenced; after firing one round, we charged, and the Indians gave way in front and joined those on our flanks. In about fif- teen minutes they got possession of all our horses, provisions and baggage of every description, and finding the Miamis (who had come from Fort Wayne with Captain Wells to act as an escort) did not assist us, I drew off the few men I had left and took possession of a small elevation in the open prairie out of shot of the bank, or any other cover. The Indians did not follow me but assembled in a body on top of the bank, and after some consultation among themselves, made signs for me to approach them. I advanced toward them alone, and was met by one of the Potta- watomie chiefs called Black Bird, with an inter- preter. After shaking hands, he requested me to surrender, promising to spare the lives of all the prisoners. On a few moments' consideration I concluded it would be most prudent to comply with this request, although I did not put entire confidence in his promise. The troops had made a brave defense, but what could so small a force do against such overwhelming numbers? It was evident with over half their number dead upon the field, or wounded, further resistance would be hopeless. Twenty-six regulars and twelve militia, witlı two women and twelve children, were killed. Among the slain were Captain Wells, Dr. Van Voorhis and Ensign George Ronan. (Captain Wells, when young, had been captured by Indians and had married among them.) He (Wells) was familiar with all the wiles, stratagems, as well as the vindictiveness of the Indian character, and when the conflict began, he said to his niece (Mrs. Heald), by whose side he was standing, 'We have not the slightest chance for life; we must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you.' With these words he dashed forward into the thickest of the fight. He refused to be taken prisoner, knowing what his fate would be, when a young
257
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
red-skin cut him down with his tomahawk, jumped upon his body, cut out his heart and ate a portion of it with savage delight.
"The prisoners taken were Captain Heald and wife, both wounded, Lieutenant Helm, also wounded, and wife, with twenty-five non-com- missioned officers and privates, and eleven women and children. The loss of the Indians was fifteen killed. Mr. Kinzie's family had been entrusted to the care of some friendly Indians and were not with the retiring garrison. The Indians engaged in this outrage were principally Pottawatomies, with a few Chippewas, Ottawas, Winnebagoes, and Kickapoos. Fort Dearborn was plundered and burned on the next morning." (See Fort Dearborn; also War of 1812.)
Thus ended the most bloody tragedy that ever occurred on the soil of Illinois with Americans as victims. The place where this affair occurred, as described by Captain Heald, was on the lake shore about the foot of Eighteenth Street in the present city of Chicago. After the destruction of the fort, the site of the present city of Chicago remained unoccupied until 1816, when the fort was rebuilt. At that time the bones of the vic- tims of the massacre of 1812 still lay bleaching upon the sands near the lake shore, but they were gathered up a few years later and buried. The new fort continued to be occupied somewhat irregularly until 1837, when it was finally aban- doned, there being no longer any reason for maintaining it as a defense against the Indians.
OTHER EVENTS OF THE WAR .- The part played by Illinois in the War of 1812, consisted chiefly in looking after the large Indian population within and near its borders. Two expeditions were undertaken to Peoria Lake in the Fall of 1812; the first of these, under the direction of Governor Edwards, burned two Kickapoo vil- lages, one of them being that of "Black Part- ridge," who had befriended the whites at Fort Dearborn. A few weeks later Capt. Thomas E. Craig, at the head of a company of militia, made a descent upon the ancient French village of Peoria, on the pretext that the inhabitants had har- bored hostile Indians and fired on his boats. He burned a part of the town and, taking the people as prisoners down the river, put them ashore below Alton, in the beginning of winter. Both these affairs were severely censured.
There were expeditions against the Indians on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi in 1813 and 1814. In the latter year, Illinois troops took part with credit in two engagements at Rock Island- the last of these being in co-operation with regu- lars, under command of Maj. Zachary Taylor, afterwards President, against a force of Indians supported by the British. Fort Clark at Peoria
was erected in 1813, and Fort Edwards at War- saw, opposite the mouth of the Des Moines, at the close of the campaign of 1814. A council with the Indians, conducted by Governors Edwards of Illinois and Clarke of Missouri, and Auguste Chouteau, a merchant of St. Louis, as Government Commissioners, on the Mississippi just below Alton, in July, 1815, concluded a treaty of peace with the principal Northwestern tribes, thus ending the war.
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE .- By act of Congress, adopted May 21, 1812, the Territory of Illinois was raised to the second grade-i. e., em- powered to elect a Territorial Legislature. In September, three additional counties-Madison, Gallatin and Johnson-were organized, making five in all, and, in October, an election for the choice of five members of the Council and seven Representatives was held, resulting as follows: Councilmen-Pierre Menard of Randolph County ; William Biggs of St. Clair; Samuel Judy of Madison; Thomas Ferguson of Johnson, and Benjamin Talbot of Gallatin. Representatives- George Fisher of Randolph; Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short of St. Clair; William Jones of Madi- son; Philip Trammel and Alexander Wilson of Gallatin, and John Grammar of Johnson. The Legislature met at Kaskaskia, Nov. 25, the Coun- cil organizing with Pierre Menard as President and John Thomas, Secretary; and the House, with George Fisher as Speaker and William C. Greenup, Clerk. Shadrach Bond was elected the first Delegate to Congress.
A second Legislature was elected in 1814, con- vening at Kaskaskia, Nov. 14. Menard was con- tinued President of the Council during the whole Territorial period; while George Fisher was Speaker of each House, except the Second. The county of Edwards was organized in 1814, and White in 1815. Other counties organized under the Territorial Government were Jackson, Mon- roe, Crawford and Pope in 1816; Bond in 1817, and Franklin, Union and Washington in 1818, making fifteen in all. Of these all but the three last-named were organized previous to the passage by Congress of the enabling act author- izing the Territory of Illinois to organize a State government. In 1816 the Bank of Illinois was established at Shawneetown, with branches at Edwardsville and Kaskaskia.
EARLY TOWNS .- Besides the French villages in the American Bottom, there is said to have been a French and Indian village on the west bank of Peoria Lake, as early as 1711. This site appears to have been abandoned about 1775 and a new
258
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
village established on the present site of Peoria soon after, which was maintained until 1812, when it was broken up by Captain Craig. Other early towns were Shawneetown, laid out in 1808; Belleville, established as the county-seat of St. Clair County, in 1814; Edwardsville, founded in 1815; Upper Alton, in 1816, and Alton, in 1818. Carmi, Fairfield, Waterloo, Golconda, Lawrence- ville, Mount Carmel and Vienna also belonged to this period; while Jacksonville, Springfield and Galena were settled a few years later. Chicago is mentioned in "Beck's Gazetteer" of 1823, as "a village of Pike County."
ADMISSION AS A STATE .- The preliminary steps for the admission of Illinois as a State, were taken in the passage of an Enabling Act by Congress, April 13, 1818. An important incident in this connection was the amendment of the act, mak- ing the parallel of 42° 30' from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River the northern boundary, instead of a line extending from the southern extremity of the Lake. This was obtained through the influence of Hon. Nathaniel Pope, then Delegate from Illinois, and by it the State secured a strip of country fifty-one miles in width, from the Lake to the Mississippi, embrac- ing what have since become fourteen of the most populous counties of the State, including the city of Chicago. The political, material and moral results which have followed this important act, have been the subject of much interesting dis- cussion and cannot be easily over-estimated. (See Northern Boundary Question; also Pope, Nathaniel.)
Another measure of great importance, which Mr. Pope secured, was a modification of the provision of the Enabling Act requiring the appropriation of five per cent of the proceeds from the sale of pub- lic lands within the State, to the construction of roads and canals. The amendment which he secured authorizes the application of two-fifths of this fund to the making of roads leading to the State, but requires "the residue to be appropri- ated by the Legislature of the State for the encouragement of learning, of which one-sixth part shall be exclusively bestowed on a college or university." This was the beginning of that system of liberal encouragement of education by the General Government, which has been at- tended with such beneficent results in the younger States, and has reflected so much honor upon the Nation. (See Education; Railroads, and Illinois & Michigan Canal.)
The Enabling Act required as a precedent con- dition that a census of the Territory, to be taken
that year, should show a population of 40,000. Such a result was shown, but it is now confessed that the number was greatly exaggerated, the true population, asafterwardsgiven, being 34, 020. According to the decennial census of 1820, the population of the State at that time was 55,162. If there was any short-coming in this respect in 1818, the State has fully compensated for it by its unexampled growth in later years.
An election of Delegates to a Convention to frame a State Constitution was held July 6 to 8, 1818 (extending through three days), thirty-three Delegates being chosen from the fifteen counties of the State. The Convention met at Kaskaskia, August 3, and organized by the election of Jesse B. Thomas, President, and William C. Greenup, Secretary, closing its labors, August 26. The Constitution, which was modeled largely upon the Constitutions of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, was not submitted to a vote of the people. (See Constitutional Conventions, especially Conven- tion of 1818.) Objection was made to its accept- ance by Congress on the ground that the population of the Territory was insufficient and that the prohibition of slavery was not as ex- plicit as required by the Ordinance of 1787; but these arguments were overcome and the docu- ment accepted by a vote of 117 yeas to 34 nays. The only officers whose election was provided for by popular vote, were the Governor, Lieutenant- Governor, Sheriffs, Coroners and County Commis- sioners. The Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Public Printer and Supreme and Circuit Judges were all appointive either by the Governor or General Assembly. The elective franchise was granted to all white male inhabitants, above the age of 21 years, who had resided in the State six months.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.