History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 31

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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* Shawhonee was an Ottawa by birth, and became a chief of a Pottawato- mie band. See his bingraphy.

t The exact date of this council is not known-it was probably about June 1.

Owen, who represented the Government, decided the council in favor of peace, much to the chagrin of Big Foot and his immediate followers. Subsequent to this council many of the Pottawatomies did good and faith- ful service as spies and scouts, in watching and report- ing the whereabouts of the enemy, and in protecting the growing crops which the fleeing settlers had left behind.

The few residents of Chicago labored to their ut- most to feed and shelter the fugitives. Shelter, such as it was, was provided once for all, but the food had to be replenished daily. Archibald Clybourne, the only butcher, found it impossible to furnish the meat for a community suddenly increased five-fold beyond that usually looking to him for supplies. He did his best, but short rations on meat would have been declared, had not the Noble boys ( John and Mark ) have driven in their stock which they had been raising in the San- gamon district-some one hundred and fifty head. Their timely arrival averted a meat famine. An early chron- icler says :

" In this emergency, it was fortunate that the Nobles had con- cluded to go into stock-raising. Archibald Clybourne was the Government butcher for the Pottawatomies, and used to do a little in the same line for settlement, but he had no adequate supply for the population that he now found suddenly on his hands,* and, as soon as the one hundred and fifty head arrived from the south, the Nobles turned butchers and fed the population and the troops until the last steer had bit the dust."

The following extracts from a letter, written by George W. Hoffman, a member of the company of Michigan volunteers, gives some light on the subject :

" DETROIT, 5th April, 1879.

" My Dear Sister: I received your letter three or four days ago and was real glad to hear from you, as I always am, and I should have answered sooner but I have been looking out for our Adjutant- General to get from him some dates relating to the Black Hawk War, and only met him yesterday and was surprised to find that he has nothing in his office relating to the subject.

" My recollection is that in May, 1832, there was received at Niles a letter from Major Owen (Indian Agent at Chicago whose name I cannot call to mind), calling for help on account of the ap- proach towards Chicago of Black Hawk and his warriors, who were killing and plundering all in the way of their march through Illi- nnis and Michigan to Canada, their destination. As northern Indi- ana and southwestern Michigan were then but sparsely settled, there was great fear and a panic among the farmers and in the small villages along the supposed route of the Indians.

"Colonel Haston, of the regiment (24th, I think), including Bemin and Cass counties, immediately called them into service and in the course of two or three days had three or four hundred men at Niles, very poorly equipped for such an emergency. Indeed they had only such rifles and shotguns as they happened to have for hunting purposes, with but very little ammunition of any kind. Some had powder-horns with a few bullets, and some had neither. " Volunteers were called for to be hurried to Chicago, and after a day or two some fifty or sixty men, some on foot and some on horseback started, for Chicago, and got some five or six miles in the woods north from the Door Prairie, in Indiana, and toward J'aillezs (Baze), who lived on the Calumet River on the route towards Lake Michigan, and the shore of which was the only road to Chicago. Early in the morning, when about to have a camp, a carrier from Chicago arrived announcing that no danger was now apprehended at Chicago. We at once started on a return to Niles, and on the next day had arrived at Tenecoope I'rairie, about twelve miles from Niles, when we were again overtaken by a carrier, with more alarm- ing reports than before, and the officers determined to turn and faire again toward the enemy ; but most of the men became mutinnus, and we proceeded toward Niles, and when within four or five miles were met hy an officer sent by General 1. K. Williams, who had ar- rived at Niles with a company of minute-men from Detroit, with orders for us to turn back towards Chicago. Here again our men were disposed to disobey, but as General Williams had quite a large number of men at Niles, one or two other regiments from as far east as Tecumseh and other towns having arrived, our boys con-

* During the early part of May. so soon as rumors of danger reached Michigan, a company of volunteers was went to Chicago to help defend the place, the fort at that une being ungarrisoned by United States troops. They were quartered in the fort with the fugitives, and did patrol duty while there.

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cluded at least to halt and wait further developments. One officer and myself rode on to Niles, and when we arrived at the river (St. Joseph) were confronted by a sentinel, who said he had orders to prevent any one from returning to the east side of the river. We said all right, and turned back and rode down to the ford and crossed over and reported to General Williams. The next day we again started for the seat of war, General Williams and his minute- men only going with us. The other militia were sent back to their homes. When we arrived at the Door Prairie, four miles west of the now city of LaPorte, we took possession of a stockade that the farmers had thrown up, and remained there a week or ten days, but I cannot remember why, unless that we were waiting for further news from Chicago. The farmers about the region of the Door had all left their homes and fled to the more southern settlements. From the Door we went to Chicago, in June * (I think), and took posses- sion of old Fort Dearborn. The few inhabitants of Chicago had, before our arrival, felt their heads every morning to make sure that their scalp-locks were still there ; but there were not many there then, and the Indians would have obtained but few trophies of that kind, had they taken then all. Besides the fort there were two frame houses on the North Side, and the old Kinzie house, which stood close by the river and almost directly opposite the fort. On the South Side were two or three small farm houses ; and on the West, the Kinzie store at the forks, as we then called the North and South branches, and there was Mark Beaubien's tavern on what is now Michigan Avenue, about where the Exposition building now stands.t There a few officers lived. I myself 'put up' with Mark, and some of the refugees from the country who were in the fort thought we were a reckless set of fellows who deserved to be scalped, because while there was so much danger from the dreadful Indians, Mark would play his fiddle and we boys would dance. One day there came a report from Naper's settlement that the Indians had been seen in that region, and the inhabitants were in great alarm, and wanted trooos sent from Chicago to escort them safely from their homes to the fort. Volunteers were called for, and some sixty or seventy of us, well mounted, left Chicago in the afternoon and rode all night, arriving at Naper's the next morning, and went into camp, as our commander, Colonel Edward Brooks (formerly of the army), had particular orders from General Williams not to look after the Indians, as our force was so small : but to offer escort to all who were disposed to flee to Chicago. We remained in camp that day and night, and as there was no one needing our attention and the alarm of a day or two previous having passed away, we started on nur march back to Chicago. On the afternoon of the day we left them, three men went out with a wagon and pair of horses to a grove of timber to get long shingles to cover a block- house, and as they entered the woods, Indians rose up and fired at them, killing two of the men. and taking with them the horses. One of the men escaped, and on his giving the alarm, the Indians were followed, but not seen nor overtaken. In the early morning before our arrival at Naper's, Robert Kinzie called the attention of Dr. Winslow, H. Redfield and myself to objects near this same grove, and said he believed they were Indians ; and if we stopped and turned our horses toward them, if they were Indians they would disappear, as they were no doubt watching us. We dropped to the rear of the command, and were hardly separated from them before they were gone out of sight; Kinzie reported to Colonel Brooks, and we proposed to take ten or fifteen men and go to the grove to see whether they were Indians or not, but the Colonel said he had strict orders not to leave the road or divide his small force. After hearing of the killing of the two men, we had no doubt the Indians had seen us and watched our return toward Chicago. We remained in the fort until the arrival of a part of the second divi- sion, under Colonel William Whistler, when your good hus- band found me at battalion drill, to which duty I had been as- signed, being the only one (except Colonel Brooks) who knew any- thing about such matters. You will very well remember the arrival of General Scott, with troops, soon after (in July), on board of steamer boats, when the startling news (much more alarming than Indian depredations) came on shore, that the Asiatic cholera was aboard, when you and other ladies and children ran to the open prairie and at last found shelter under some boards in the fence corners, to get rid of exposure to that terrible disease.

" When in Chicago, now I can hardly realize that my horse, with fifty or a hundred others, found wild, uncultivated pasture where now stands the court-house; in the midst of a great and beautiful city, once destroyed, but now more grand and beautiful than in its former greatness : when there was not a house between the fort and the woods, as we then said, a distance of three or four miles, except Mark Beaubien's tavern, where now are such splendid streets and magnificent buildings. So much for the Black Hawk War. 1 have often wished I had kept a diary of events then, with reference not only to the war but the Western country, as we then called it."

. It was in May.

+ A mistake in location.

Mrs. Mary A. Penrose, wife of the then Second Lieutenant James W. Penrose, to whom the above letter was written, was one of the women who came with Whistler's command with her husband. Her reminis- cences of those times were given to Rev. H. C. Ken- ney, February 28, 1879, and are here published for the first time:

"In the year 1832, probably in May, my husband, Lieutenant James W. Penrose, who was then Lieutenant of the ad Infantry Regular Army, was ordered from Sackett's Harbor to Chicago, with several other companies of the same regiment, under Colonel Whistler, At what point we took the sailing vessel I do not remember, but it was probably at Buffalo. On arriving at Chica- go, the troops were first landed in little boats. Then the officers' families were sent on shore. A storm having arisen, it was three days before Colonel Whistler's family and the wife of Major Kings- bury were able to land.

" There were in Chicago at that time about twelve houses. I think that all of these were made of logs. Our quarters were in the fort. The troops took possession of the fort, relieving a com- pany of militia from Michigan. About six weeks after our arrival, our little company was increased by the arrival, on a steamer, of General Scott, with several other companies. These had been sent to Chicago to proceed to Rock Island to fight the Indians there.

" The boat brought not only the troops but also the cholera. At twelve o'clock A. M., Lieutenant Summer ( afterwards General Summer of the War of the Rebellion) came to the fort and ordered all the families in the fort to leave before sunrise, stating that at that time the troops down with the cholera would be moved into the fortification.

" I had then a little babe who is now Brevet Brigadier-General William H. Pedrose of the 3d Infantry U. S. A.

" I remember the names of the members of the following families : Colonel Whistler, Major Kingsbury, Captain Johnson, Lieutenant Day. Lieutenant Long, and my own. In my own family was, besides the before-mentioned babe, my husband's mother and two sisters. Four of these families, finding the house of Mark Beaubien vacant (its owner having left an hour before, without taking anything with him), with joy went into that build- ing. Mrs. Johnson and I, with my family were, however, not so fortunate, for even the four-roomed house of Mr. Beaubien could only hold four families. Going on about a mile we came to the house of a butcher, containing but one room. Exhausted, I threw myself on my mattress, which the soldiers had carried down from the fort, and there I laid during the night.

" The next morning in vain did we seek for a house. A rail fence was, however, in sight. Into one corner I moved. A few boards made the floor. A carpet kept off the wind from our heads and backs. Other boards formed a far from water-proof roof. Here we remained three days and three nights, cooking on the ground. My companions in misery were Mrs. Johnson and family.

" After three days Captain Johnson and my husband secured a lot of green lumber. In sight of our fence stood the frame of a house. To this the green boards were soon nailed and a temporary partition put io. Here our two families moved. Mr. Penrose's mother and sister nightly crawled up a ladder to their beds.

" General Scott, who from the steamer had gone to the hotel at the Point, after five days made his appearance. Every day he would ride up to our house and, looking up to the open end of the frame, would talk with the ladies, invariably dwelling upon the fact that they were in more comfortable quarters than Mrs. General Scott, who was then at West Point. Our cooking had to be done in the open air. Generally we got more sand than salt in our food.

" After remaining in these quarters, the house of the Indian Agent, Colonel Owen, having been vacated through fear of the before-mentioned disease, we obtained permission to move into it, on the condition of permitting the Colonel to remain with us. This house stood on the North Side, and contained four or five roomis on a floor. The family of the Colonel had left even their dishes, and had gone to Springfield.

" I should have stated that on the same night that General Scott arrived, the troops that were in the fort before the arrival of the steamer were marched along the lake shore and were encamped in tents about eight miles from the fort. There they had remained from that time. Several of their number, as well as many of the later arrived officers and soldiers, took the cholera and died. As soon as the disease ahated the rest of the soldiers, excepting a small garrison, were ordered to Rock Island.

" I remained in the house of the Indian Agent, until Colonel Owen's family returned. I then had to seek for other quarters. My sister and myself got into a log canoe and, paddling across the Chicago Kiver, called on the officer in charge (Colonel Whistler) and requested from him permission to again take up our abode in

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the fort. After a little perseverance we succeeded in ohtaining two rooms. About six weeks afterward the troops that had been in Rock Island returned to Chicago, and from thence were sent to the posts from which they had been collected. In all I remained in Chicago about eighteen months."

" I was born at New York, my maiden name Mary A. Hoff- man, my father was Colonel William Hoffman, 6th Regiment, U. S. A.

" I was married at Sackett's Harbor, to James W. Penrose. For nineteen years I lived in soldiers' garrisons.

" My husband died from disease contracted in the Mexican MRS. MARY A. PENROSE. War.

" Joliet, February 27, 1879."

Under the protection of the fort and the militia, and with the encouraging rumors that Black Hawk's bands were moving up the Rock River toward the Winnebago country, and away from Chicago and the outlying settlements, the panic abated somewhat, al- though a wholesome fear still kept all non-combatants within the crowded precincts of the fort, or within re- treating distance of its protecting inclosure. The men organized scouting parties,* composed in part of friendly Pottawatomies, and made frequent tours of observation to the deserted settlements. No hostile Indians were seen after the raid was over that had caused the first alarm, although signs were not lacking of their presence in the vicinity.

The inconvenience and suffering borne uncomplain- ingly by the fugitives in camp were great. Food, not at all times in good supply, cooking conveniences of the crudest kind, crowded room, added to the entire lack of anything like retirement, privacy, or quiet, rendered what to the well was inconvenient to the sick almost unbearable hardship. Under these unfavorable condi tions the population was increased by the arrival of fifteen who had not fled to Chicago through fear of the Indians. Rev. Stephen R. Beggs, in his book, vouches for the truth of the above. He says:

" The next morning (after a severe tempest. during which the room in which he and his family were quartered was struck by lightning) our first babe was born, and during our stay fifteen ten- der infants were added to the number. One may imagine the con- fusion of the scene-children crying and women were complaining within doors, while without, the tramp of soldiers, the rolling of drums, and the roar of cannon added to the din."

The Wolverine soldiers certainly conducted them- selves in an unhandsome manner if, as the reverend gentleman intimates, they made any unnecessary noise during this protracted series of interesting events.

On June 17 Major Whistler arrived at Fort Dearborn with his command, and, in accordance with his orders proceeded to garrison the fort. He humanely allowed the families to remain in the garrison until quarters could be provided for them outside. The Michigan volunteers were, however, obliged to evacuate, in order to make room for the newcomers; which they did, not without considerable murmuring, and went into camp at Grosse Point, near where Evanston now stands. Major Whistler immediately set about preparing new quarters for the soon-expected arrival of General Scott's forces, and the anxiety of the sojourners as to their future was increased, as it was well known that when they came their quarters would have to be given up. On the even- ing of July 10,t the steamer " Sheldon Thompson," Captain A. Walker, arrived fron Buffalo, having on board General Scott, his staff, and four companies of troops. The news of their arrival was accompanied with the intelligence that the dreaded scourge of Asiatic cholera was on board, in such violent type as to have already decimated the troops on the voyage. It required * See Military History.

t Hlanchard's History. P. 376, puts the date of Scott's arrival on the even- ing of the 8th of July. Captain Walker states positively that it was on the roth.

no direct orders from either General Scott or Major Whistler to make room in the garrison for the newly arrived troops. The sojourners who, a few weeks be- fore, had fled from the Indians, now fled with more precipitate haste and terror from the deadly pestilence that had entered their place of refuge. The residents also, with few exceptions, left with their families. Some went to Laughton's, some to Grosse Point, some to Wentworth's place; anywhere to get away from the plague-stricken garrison. By the 12th the village was virtually depopulated and given over to the sick, the dying, the dead, and those whom duty compelled or humanity urged to remain to minister to them. The garrison became a hospital. There was no thought on the part of General Scott to make any aggressive move or to take any part in the campaign against Black Hawk until the disease should cease its ravages. Eight days later (July 18) the steamer "William Penn" arrived with Government stores, and a further detachment of cholera-stricken soldiers. The flight of the inhabitants and sojourners confined the ravages of the pest to the soldiers and the officers with their families. It is im- possible in words to depict the horror of the time. A few old letters and reminiscences have preserved all that will ever be known of it.

A. Walker, captain of the "Sheldon Thompson," on which General Scott was embarked at Buffalo and ar- rived at Chicago, July 10, 1832, wrote a long account of the voyage and the ravages of the cholera during the passage. The letter appears in Fergus's Historical Series, No. 16, Appendix (L), pp. 72-76. The letter is addressed to Captain R. C. Bristol, and is dated Buffalo, October 30, 1860. Extracts relevant to the Chicago history are given below:

" It will also be remembered, as stated in my former communica- tion, that four steamers, the 'Henry Clay,' 'Superior,' 'Sheldon Thompson,' and ' William Penn,' were chartered by the United States Government for the purpose of transporting troops, equip- ments, and provisions to Chicago, during the Black Hawk War, but, owing to the fearful ravages, made by the breaking out of the Asiatic cholera among the troops and crews on board, two of those boats were compelled to abandon their voyage, proceeding no fur- ther than Fort Gratiot. The disease became so violent and alarm- ing on board the 'Henry Clay,' that nothing like discipline could be observed, everything in the way of subordination ceased. As soon as the steamer came to the dock, each man sprang on shore, hoping to escape from a scene so terrifying and appalling. Some Aled to the fields, some to the woods, while others lay down in the streets, and under the cover of the river bank, where most of them died, unwept and alone. There were no cases of cholera causing death on board my boat until we passed the Manitou Islands (Lake Michigan). The first person attacked died about four o'clock in the afternoon, some thirty hours before reaching Chicago. As soon as it was ascertained by the surgeon that life was extinct, the deceased was wrapped closely in his blanket, placing within some weights secured by lasning of small cordage around the ankles, knees, waist, and neck, and then committed with but little ceremony, to the deep. This unpleasant though imperative duty was performed by the Orderly Sergeant, with a few privates de- . tailed for that purpose. In like manner twelve others, including this same noble Sergeant, who sickened and died in a few hours. were also thrown overboard before the balance of the troops were landed at Chicago. The sudden and untimely death of this veteran Sergeant and his committal to a watery grave, cansed a deep sensation on board among the soldiers and crews, which I will not here attempt to describe. The effect produced upon General Scott and the other officers, in witnessing the scene, was too visible to be misunderstood, for the dead soldier had been a very valuable man, and evidently a favorite among the officers and soldiers of the regi- ment.

" There was one singular fact-not one of the officers of the army was attacked by the discase, while on board my boat, with such violence as to result in death, or any of the officers belonging to the boat, though nearly one-fourth of the crew fell a prey to the disease on a subsequent trip, while on the passage from Detroit to Buffalo.

" We arrived at Chicago (as stated in the former communic :-

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tion) on the evening of the toth of July, 1832. I sent the yawl- boat on shore soon after with General Scott and a number of the volunteer officers, who accompanied him on his expedition against the hostile tribes, who, with Black Hawk, had committed many depredations (though, perhaps, not without some provocation), compelling the whites to abandon their homes in the country and flee to Chicago, taking refuge in the fort for the time being. Be- fore landing the troops next morning, we were under the painful necessity of committing three more to the deep, who died during the night, making, in all, sixteen who were thus consigned to a watery grave. These three were anchored to the bottom in two- and-a-half fathoms, the water being so clear that their forms could be plainly seen from our decks. This unwelcome sight created such excitement, working upon the superstitious fears of some of the crew, that prudence dictated that we weigh anchor and move a distance sufficient to shut from sight a scene which seemed to haunt the imagination, and influence the mind with thoughts of some por- tentious evil.

" In the course of the day and night following, eighteen others died and were interred not far from the spot where the American Temperance House* has since been erected. The earth that was removed to cover one made a grave to receive the next that died. All were buried without coffins or shrouds, except their blankets, which served for a winding sheet ; there left, as it were, without remembrance or a stone to mark their resting-place. During the four days we remained in Chicago, fifty-four more died, making an aggregate of eighty-eight who paid the debt of nature.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 31

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340