Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 50

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388

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Thus the "Illinois Country" fell into the hands of the British, although the actual transfer of Fort Chartres and the country dependent upon it did not take place until Oct. 10, 1765, when its veteran commandant, St. Ange-who had come from Vincennes to assume command on the retirement of Villiers, and who held it faithfully for the conqueror - surrendered it to Capt.

Thomas Stirling as the representative of the Eng- lish Government. It is worthy of note that this was the last place on the North American con- tinent to lower the French flag.

BRITISH OCCUPATION .- The delay of the British in taking possession of the "Illinois Country," after the defeat of the French at Quebec and the surrender of their possessions in America by the treaty of 1763, was due to its isolated position and the difficulty of reaching it with sufficient force to establish the British authority. The first attempt was made in the spring of 1764, when Maj. Arthur Loftus, starting from Pensa- cola, attempted to ascend the Mississippi with a force of four hundred regulars, but, being met by a superior Indian force, was compelled to retreat. In August of the same year, Capt Thomas Morris was dispatched from Western Pennsylvania with a small force "to take posses- sion of the Illinois Country." This expedition got as far as Fort Miami on the Maumee, when its progress was arrested, and its commander nar- rowly escaped death. The next attempt was made in 1765, when Maj. George Croghan, a Dep- uty Superintendent of Indian affairs whose name has been made historical by the celebrated speech of the Indian Chief Logan, was detailed from Fort Pitt, to visit Illinois. Croghan being detained, Lieut. Alexander Frazer, who was to accompany him, proceeded alone. Frazer reached Kaskas- kia, but met with so rough a reception from both the French and Indians, that he thought it advisable to leave in disguise, and escaped by descending the Mississippi to New Orleans. Croghan started on his journey on the fifteenth of May, proceeding down the Ohio, accompanied by a party of friendly Indians, but having been captured near the mouth of the Wabash, he finally returned to Detroit without reaching his destination. The first British official to reach Fort Chartres was Capt. Thomas Stirling. De- scending the Ohio with a force of one hundred men, he reached Fort Chartres, Oct. 10, 1765, and received the surrender of the fort from the faith- ful and courteous St. Ange. It is estimated that at least one-third of the French citizens, includ- ing the more wealthy, left rather than become British subjects. Those about Fort Chartres left almost in a body. Some joined the French colonies on the lower Mississippi, while others, crossing the river, settled in St. Genevieve, then in Spanish territory. Much the larger number followed St. Ange to St. Louis, which had been established as a trading post by Pierre La Clede, during the previous year, and which now received

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what, in these later days, would be called a great "boom."

Captain Stirling was relieved of his command at Fort Chartres, Dec. 4, by Maj. Robert Farmer. Other British Commandants at Fort Chartres were Col. Edward Cole, Col. John Reed, Colonel Wilkins, Capt. Hugh Lord and Francois de Ras- tel, Chevalier de Rocheblave. The last had been an officer in the French army, and, having resided at Kaskaskia, transferred his allegiance on occu- pation of the country by the British. He was the last official representative of the British Govern- ment in Illinois.

The total population of the French villages in Illinois, at the time of their transfer to England, has been estimated at about 1,600, of which 700 were about Kaskaskia and 450 in the vicinity of Cahokia. Captain Pittman estimated the popu- lation of all the French villages in Illinois and on the Wabash, at the time of his visit in 1770, at about 2,000. Of St. Louis-or "Paincourt, " as it was called-Captain Pittman said: "There are about forty private houses and as many families." Most of these, if not all, had emigrated from the French villages. In fact, although nominally in Spanish territory, it was essentially a French town, protected, as Pittman said, by "a French garrison" consisting of "a Captain-Commandant, two Lieutenants, a Fort Major, one Sergeant. one Corporal and twenty men."

ACTION OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS .- The first official notice taken of the "Illinois Country" by the Continental Congress, was the adoption by that body, July 13, 1775, of an act creating three Indian Departments-a Northern, Middle and Southern. Illinois was assigned to the second, with Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, and Patrick Henry, of Virginia, as Commissioners. In April, 1776, Col. George Morgan, who had been a trader at Kaskaskia, was appointed agent and successor to these Commis- sioners, with headquarters at Fort Pitt. The promulgation of the Declaration of Independence, on the Fourth of July, 1776, and the events im- mediately preceding and following that event, directed attention to the colonies on the Atlantic coast; yet the frontiersmen of Virginia were watching an opportunity to deliver a blow to the Government of King George in a quarter where it was least expected, and where it was destined to have an immense influence upon the future of the new nation, as well as that of the American continent.

COL. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK'S EXPEDITION. -During the year 1777, Col. George Rogers Clark,

a native of Virginia, then scarcely twenty-five years of age, having conceived a plan of seizing the settlements in the Mississippi Valley, sent trusty spies to learn the sentiments of the people and the condition of affairs at Kaskaskia. The report brought to him gave him encouragement, and, in December of the same year, he laid before Gov. Patrick Henry, of Virginia, his plans for the reduction of the posts in Illinois. These were approved, and, on Jan. 2, 1778, Clark received authority to recruit seven companies of fifty men each for three months' service, and Governor Henry gave him $6,000 for expenses. Proceeding to Fort Pitt, he succeeded in recruiting three companies, who were directed to rendezvous at Corn Island, opposite the present city of Louis- ville. It has been claimed that, in order to deceive the British as to his real destination, Clark authorized the announcement that the object of the expedition was to protect the settle- ments in Kentucky from the Indians. At Corn Island another company was organized, making four in all, under the command of Captains Bow- man, Montgomery, Helm and Harrod, and having embarked on keel-boats, they passed the Falls of the Ohio, June 24. Reaching the island at the mouth of the Tennessee on the 28th, he was met by a party of eight American hunters, who had left Kaskaskia a few days before, and who, join- ing his command, rendered good service as guides. He disembarked his force at the mouth of a small creek one mile above Fort Massac, June 29, and, directing his course across the country, on the evening of the sixth day (July 4, 1778) arrived within three miles of Kaskaskia. The surprise of the unsuspecting citizens of Kas- kaskia and its small garrison was complete. His force having, under cover of darkness, been ferried across the Kaskaskia River, about a mile above the town, one detachment surrounded the town, while the other seized the fort, capturing Rocheblave and his little command without fir- ing a gun. The famous Indian fighter and hunter, Simon Kenton, led the way to the fort. This is supposed to have been what Captain Pitt- man called the "Jesuits' house," which had been sold by the French Government after the country was ceded to England, the Jesuit order having been suppressed. A wooden fort, erected in 1736, and known afterward by the British as Fort Gage, had stood on the bluff opposite the town, but, according to Pittman, this was burnt in 1766, and there is no evidence that it was ever rebuilt.

Clark's expedition was thus far a complete suc- cess. Rocheblave, proving recalcitrant, was

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placed in irons and sent as a prisoner of war to Williamsburg, while his slaves were confiscated, the proceeds of their sale being divided among Clark's troops. The inhabitants were easily conciliated, and Cahokia having been captured without bloodshed, Clark turned his attention to Vincennes. Through the influence of Pierre Gibault-the Vicar-General in charge at Kaskas- kia-the people of Vincennes were induced to swear allegiance to the United States, and, although the place was afterward captured by a British force from Detroit, it was, on Feb. 24, 1779, recaptured by Colonel Clark, together with a body of prisoners but little smaller than the attacking force, and $50,000 worth of prop- erty. (See Clark, Col. George Rogers.)

UNDER GOVERNMENT OF VIRGINIA .- Seldom in the history of the world have such important results been achieved by such insignificant instru- mentalities and with so little sacrifice of life, as in this almost bloodless campaign of the youthful conqueror of Illinois. Having been won largely through Virginia enterprise and valor and by material aid furnished through Governor Henry, the Virginia House of Delegates, in October, 1778, proceeded to assert the jurisdiction of that commonwealth over the settlements of the North- west, by organizing all the country west and north of the Ohio River into a county to be called "Illinois," (see Illinois County), and empowering the Governor to appoint a "County-Lieutenant or Commandant-in-Chief" to exercise civil author- ity during the pleasure of the appointing power. Thus "Illinois County" was older than the States of Ohio or Indiana, while Patrick Henry, the elo- quent orator of the Revolution, became ex-officio its first Governor. Col. John Todd, a citizen of Kentucky, was appointed "County-Lieutenant," Dec. 12, 1778, entering upon his duties in May following. The militia was organized, Deputy-Commandants for Kaskaskia and Cahokia appointed, and the first election of civil officers ever had in Illinois, was held under Colonel Todd's direction. His record-book, now in posses- sion of the Chicago Historical Society, shows that he was accustomed to exercise powers scarcely inferior to those of a State Executive. (See Todd, Col. John.)

In 1782 one "Thimothe Demunbrunt" sub- scribed himself as "Lt. comd'g par interim, etc." -but the origin of his authority is not clearly understood. He assumed to act as Commandant until the arrival of Gov. Arthur St. Clair, first Territorial Governor of the Northwest Territory, in 1790. After the close of the Revolution, courts

ceased to be held and civil affairs fell into great disorder. "In effect, there was neither law nor order in the 'Illinois Country' for the seven years from 1783 to 1790."

During the progress of the Revolution, there were the usual rumors and alarms in the "Illinois Country" peculiar to frontier life in time of war. The country, however, was singularly exempt from any serious calamity such as a general massacre. One reason for this was the friendly relations which had existed between the French and their Indian neighbors previous to the con- quest, and which the new masters, after the cap- ture of Kaskaskia, took pains to perpetuate. Several movements were projected by the British and their Indian allies about Detroit and in Can- ada, but they were kept so busy elsewhere that they had little time to put their plans into execu- tion. One of these was a proposed movement from Pensacola against the Spanish posts on the lower Mississippi, to punish Spain for having engaged in the war of 1779, but the promptness with which the Spanish Governor of New Orleans proceeded to capture Fort Manchac, Baton Rouge and Natchez from their British possessors, con- vinced the latter that this was a "game at which two could play." In ignorance of these results, an expedition, 750 strong, composed largely of Indians, fitted out at Mackinaw under command of Capt. Patrick St. Clair, started in the early part of May, 1780, to co-operate with the expedition on the lower Mississippi, but intending to deal a destructive blow to the Illinois villages and the Spanish towns of St. Louis and St. Genevieve on the way. This expedition reached St. Louis, May 26, but Col. George Rogers Clark, having arrived at Cahokia with a small force twenty-four hours earlier, prepared to co-operate with the Spaniards on the western shore of the Mississippi, and the invading force confined their depredations to kill- ing seven or eight villagers, and then beat a hasty retreat in the direction they had come. These were the last expeditions organized to regain the "Country of the Illinois" or capture Spanish posts on the Mississippi.

EXPEDITIONS AGAINST FORT ST. JOSEPH .- An expedition of a different sort is worthy of mention in this connection, as it originated in Illinois. This consisted of a company of seventeen men, led by one Thomas Brady, a citizen of Cahokia, who, marching across the country, in the month of October, 1780, after the retreat of Sinclair, from St. Louis, succeeded in surprising and cap- turing Fort St. Joseph about where La Salle had erected Fort Miami, near the mouth of the St.

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Joseph River, a hundred years before. Brady and his party captured a few British prisoners, and a large quantity of goods. On their return, while encamped on the Calumet, they were attacked by a band of Pottawatomies, and all were killed, wounded or taken prisoners except Brady and two others, who escaped. Early in January, 1781, a party consisting of sixty-five whites, organized from St. Louis and Cahokia, with some 200 Indians, and headed by Don Eugenio Pourre, a Spaniard, started on a second expedition against Fort St. Joseph. By silencing the Indians, whom they met on their way, with promises of plunder, they were able to reach the fort without discovery, captured it and, raising the Spanish flag, formally took possession in the name of the King of Spain. After retaining pos- session for a few days, the party returned to St. Louis, but in negotiating the treaty of peace at Paris, in 1783, this incident was made the basis of a claim put forth by Spain to ownership of the "Illinois Country" "by right of conquest."

THE TERRITORIAL PERIOD .- At the very outset of its existence, the new Government of the United States was confronted with an embarrass- ing question which deeply affected the interests of the territory of which Illinois formed a part. This was the claim of certain States to lands lying between their western boundaries and the Mississippi River, then the western boundary of the Republic. These claims were based either upon the terms of their original charters or upon the cession of lands by the Indians, and it was under a claim of the former character, as well as by right of conquest, that Virginia assumed to ex- ercise authority over the "Illinois Country" after its capture by the Clark expedition. This con- struction was opposed by the States which, from their geographical position or other cause, had no claim to lands beyond their own boundaries, and the controversy was waged with considerable bitterness for several years, proving a formidable obstacle to the ratification of the Articles of Con- federation. As early as 1779 the subject received the attention of Congress in the adoption of a resolution requesting the States having such claims to "forbear settling or issuing warrants for unappropriated lands or granting the same during the continuance of the present (Revolu- tionary) War." In the following year, New York authorized her Delegates in Congress to limit its boundaries in such manner as they might think expedient. and to cede to the Government its claim to western lands. The case was further com- plicated by the claims of certain land companies

which had been previously organized. New York filed her cession to the General Government of lands claimed by her in October, 1782, followed by Virginia nearly a year later, and by Massa- chusetts and Connecticut in 1785 and 1786. Other States followed somewhat tardily, Georgia being the last, in 1802. The only claims of this charac- ter affecting lands in Illinois were those of Vir- ginia covering the southern part of the State, and Connecticut and Massachusetts applying to the northern portion. It was from the splendid domain north and west of the Ohio thus acquired from Virginia and other States, that the North- west Territory was finally organized.

ORDINANCE OF 1787. - The first step was taken in the passage by Congress, in 1784, of a resolution" providing for the temporary government of the Western Territory, and this was followed three years later by the enactment of the celebrated Ordinance of 1787. While this latter document contained numerous provisions which marked a new departure in the science of free government -as, for instance, that declaring that "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged"-its crowning feature was the sixth article, as follows: "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

Although there has been considerable contro- versy as to the authorship of the above and other provisions of this immortal document, it is worthy of note that substantially the same Jan- guage was introduced in the resolutions of 1784, by a Delegate from a slave State-Thomas Jeffer- son, of Virginia -though not, at that time, adopted. Jefferson was not a member of the Congress of 1787 (being then Minister to France), and could have had nothing directly to do with the later Ordinance; yet it is evident that the principle which he had advocated finally received the approval of eight out of the thirteen States,- all that were represented in that Congress-includ- ing the slave States of Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. (See Ordinance of 1787.)

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,

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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, Marclı 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 the 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.

F'or 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

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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 Randolph 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.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 50

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1388

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388