USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time > Part 79
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The army that went to Mexico consisted of a trifle more than 100,000 regulars and volunteers. To have belonged to that great army in those perilous times and on the distant soil of a foreign and treacherous foe, to have accomplished so much for our common country, should be cherished as honor enough for any American citizen who participated in that national conflict.
LOCAL MILITARY COMPANIES.
REGISTER OF REGIMENTS .- After the close of the Mexican War a long season of peace ensued. Not again, until the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, was the militia called into requisition for any work more serious than to quell some local disturbance. or to add to the impressiveness of some holiday parade. For two years after the close of the war there was hardly suffi- cient military enthusiasmn to keep alive any military organization in the city. In 1850, sufficient interest was evolved in military matters to result in the organization of a few new companies. The old Sixtieth Regiment still held its position on the records of the State Ad- jutant-General, and in 1854 was supplemented by the Washington Independent Regiment. Some of the companies attached to these regiments did not survive long enough to be tried by the stern test of actual war ; others-indeed nearly all-were practically extinct by the close of 1860, but all those retaining even a nomi- nal organization, aroused by the peril that threatened the country, and drawing fresh vitality from the great flood of patriotism that swept over the country, answered to its call, and, with solid ranks, marched with more en- thusiasm to the battle field, than ever in the listless days of peace to the holiday parade or drill.
Following are the rosters of these regiments, and all military companies which had a recognized existence in Chicago, from 1848 to the close of 1860, so far as these records are to be obtained :
SIXTIETH REGIMENT-Second Brigade, I. S. M .. General J. B. Beaubien.
(IS48-49.)
Colonel, J. B. F. Russell : Major, William L. Church : Adju- tant, George Raymond ; Quartermaster, George A. Rumsey ; Sur- geon. W. B. Herrick.
11850-51.) Colonel, J. B. F. Russell ; Lieutenant-Colonel, D. S. Cady ; Major, William L. Church.
(1852.)
Colonel, William H. Davis; Major, James MI. Donnelly. (1853.)
Colonel, James M. Donnelly ; Major, Matthew Conley ; Adju- tant, Rudolph Wehrli ; Quartermaster, William S. Davis ; Pay- master, Thomas Shirley.
(1854.)
Colonel, James M. Donnelly ; Major, Matthew Conley ; Adju- tant, Thomas Shirley ; Paymaster, Theodore O. Wilson.
(IS55-5S.)
Colonel, James M. Donnelly : Lieutenant-Colonel, Matthew Conley ; Major, John E. Kimberly ; Adjutant, Joel 11. Dix ; com- missary, Joseph H. Martin.
(1359-61.)
Colonel, Ezra Tavlor; Lieutenant-Colonel, Herman I). Booth; Senior Major, Frederick J. Hurlburt ; Junior Major, Elijah W. Hadley ; Adjutant, Joel H. Dix ; commissary, Joseph H. Mar- tin.
COMPANIES OF SIXTIETH REGIMENT.
Montgomery Guards (Organized in spring of 1842, by Captain l'atrick Kelly).
(1S4S.)
Captain, W. B. Snowhook ; Ist Lieut., Michael O'Brien ; 2d Lieut., John O'Neill ; 3d Lieut .. Eugene O'Sullivan.
( 1849.)
Captain. T. J. Kinsella : ist Lieut., Michael Gileeson ; 2d Lieut., Eugene O'Sullivan ; 3d I ieut., M. Cooney ; ensign, l'at- rick O'Mally.
(1950-52.)
Captain. Michael Gleeson : Ist Lieut., Bernard Curran ; zd Lient., Patrick Coffey: 3d Lieut., Michael Cooney.
(1853.]
Captain. Michael Cileeson : Ist Lieut., Patrick Coffee : 2d Lieut., Daniel Meshellop : 3d Lieut., James McMullen.
(No record 1854-56. Officers in 1857.)
Captain, Michael Gleeson ; Ist Lieut., Patrick Coffee ; 2d
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285
EARLY MILITARY HISTORY.
Lieut., Michael Hickey; Ensign, Matthew Lynch : Sergeant, Will- iam Lewis.
(1858.)
Captain, Michael Gleeson : Ist Lient., Michael Hickey ; 2d Lieut., James Stenson ; 3d Lieut., Patrick Nugent.
(No farther record until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when the company was reorganized and entered the United States service as Company 1, 23d Illinois Infantry.)
CHICAGO HUSSARS AND LIGHT ARTILLERY. (Organized November, 1847.)
Captain, R. K. Swift : Ist Lieut., James Smith : 2d Lieut., Nelson Buchanan ; 3d Lieut., C. F. Howe ; cornet, John A. Rei- chart.
(1849-51.)
Captain, R. K. Swift ; Ist Lieut., Nelson Buchanan ; 2d Lieut., C. B. Welsh ; 3d Lieut., John .1. Reichart ; cornet, Ru- dolph Wehrli.
( IS52-1853.)
Captain, R. K. Swift ; Ist Lieut., Nelson Buchanan ; 2d Lieut., C. B. Welsh.
CHICAGO LIGHT ARTILLERY.
( Organized May 5, 1854.)
Captain, James Smith : Ist Lieut., Ezra Taylor ; 2d Lieut., E. W. Iladley ; commissary, H. S. Spears.
( 1856-1857.)
Captain, James Smith ; Ist Lieut., Ezra Taylor ; 2d Lieut., Amos Grannis : 3d Lieut., Darius Knights ; Sergeant, C. T. Brad- ley ; 2d Sergeant, Alex. Davidson ; secretary, T. A. lloyne ; treasurer, John R. Botsford ; commissary, David Horen.
( 1858-1860.)
Captain, James Smith ; Ist Lieut., Amos Grannis ; 2d Lieut., Darius Knights ; 3d Lieut., C. T. Bradley ; Orderly Sergeant, C. J. Stalbrand ; secretary, Charles HInren ; treasurer, John R. Bots- lord ; commissary, David Horen.
( The "Chicago Light Artillery " was re-organized by Ezra Taylor in the spring of 1861, and was afterward known as " Old Battery A " and " Old Battery B ".)
WASHINGTON JÆGERS, GERMAN. ( Organized in 1847.)
Captain, Frederick Schaefer : Ist Lieut., R. P. Denker ; 2d Lieut., Christian Kotz ; 3d Lieut., Jacob Eich ; Surgeon, F. C. Ilageman.
CHICAGO LÆGERS. (Organized September 7, 1847.)
Captain, Michael Diversey ; Ist Lieut., Jacob Eich ; 2d Lieut., Anthony Huck ; 3d Lieut., F. Manch ; 4th Lieut., M. Best.
In November, 1849, these German companies or- ganized in two battalions, each made up of "Grena- diers " and " Jægers," and known as the Chicago Bat- talion and the Washington Battalion-the two form- ing the "Chicago German Odd Battalion" 20th , which remained attached to the Sixtieth Regiment until 1854, when it was transferred to the newly formed " Washington Independent Regiment No. I.")
CHICAGO GERMAN ODD BATTALION. (1850.)
Major, Michael Diversey; Adjutant, Arno Voss; Surgeon, C. A. Helmuth; Quartermaster, Jacob Eich; l'aymaster, P. Schut- - tler.
CHICAGO BATTALION. (1850.)
Captain of Grenadiers, Frederick Schaefer; Ist Lieut., Joseph N. Becker: 2d I.ient., Henry Lutzi; 3d Lieut., Nicholas Barth. Captain of Jægers, Jacob Eich ; Ist Lieut., Anthony Huck ; 2d Lieut., Dietrich Moench; 3d Lient., Martin Best.
WASHINGTON BATTALION. (1850.)
Captain of Grenadiers, Theodore Weiler; ist lieut., John F .. Webber: 2d Lieut., Louis Bacher. Captain of Jaggers, Christian Kotz; ist Lieut., George Feiler; 2d Lieut., Louis Horn.
CHICAGO BATTALION. ( IS52.)
Captain of Grenadiers, Anthony Iluck; Ist Lieut., John Di- versey; 2d Lieut., Henry Lutzi; 3d 1.ient .. Nicholas Barth. Cap- tain of Jugers, F. Manch ; Ist Lieut., Fred Kurth ; 2d Lieut .. llenry Stupp; 3d Lieut., J. Barbien.
WASHINGTON BATTALION.
(1852.)
Captain of Grenadiers, Theodore Weiler; Ist Lieut., John Schneider; 2d Lieut., Jacob Tull. Captain of Jegers, George Feiler; Ist Lient., Louis Horn; 2d Lieut., Fred Mattera.
RINGGOLD GUARDS. ( Organized in 1847.)
Captain, William H. Davis ; Ist Lieut., J. J. Russell ; 2d Lieut .. J. Sherman ; 4th Lieut., George Davis.
( This company was short-lived.) GARDEN CITY GUARDS. (Organized Angust, 1853.)
Captain, Thomas Shirfeey ; Ist Lieut., David R. Crego; 2d Lieut., Elijah l.eran ; 3d lieut., M. 11. Baker.
( James Beldin was the second Captain of the Company. No further record.)
JACKSON GUARDS. ( IRISH.) ( Organized March 7, 1853.)
Captain, Francis McMurray ; Ist Lieut., John Dunlap ; 2d Lieut., William Ileffron ; 3d Lieut., George Stewart.
( No farther record of this company until the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion. It was then re-organized and entered the service under Captain McMurray, as Company C. 23d Illinois Volunteer Infantry.)
CHICAGO LIGHT GUARD. ( Organized February 22, 1854.)
Captain, John B. Wyman ; Ist Lieut., Frederick Harding : 2d Lieut., H. H. Loring ; 3d Lient., 11. D). Booth : 4th Lieut., William H. Rass ; Orderly Sergeant, J. E. Kimberly ; Surgeon, W. B. Herrick.
(1856-1857.)'
Captain, John B. Wyman : Ist Lieut., Herman D. Booth ; 2d Lieut., George W. Gage : 3d Lieut., F. Sherman.
( 1858.)
Captain, Herman D. Booth : Ist Lieut., George W. Gage ; 2d Lieut., F. Sherman : 3d Lient., Philip Wadsworth ; 4th Lieut., J. IT. Dix : secretary, H. M. Flint ; treasurer, G. S. Thurston ; Surgeon, William B. Egan ; commissary, William R. King.
( 1800 )
Ist Lieut., George W. Gage ; Commanding Orderly Sergeant, Frederick !Iarding.
EMMET GUARDS. (Organized May 15. 1854.)
Captain, Patrick O'Connor ; Ist Lieut., John Murphy ; 2d Lieut., Daniel M. Ward ; 3d Lieut., Thomas Dolen.
(1855.)
Captain, James A. Collins ; Ist Lieut., Michael Kelly. (1856.)
Captain, D. C. Skelly ; Ist Lieut., Michael Kelly : 2d Lieut., John Clary : 3d Lieut., Patrick McGuinness.
(1858.)
Captain, D. C. Skelly ; Ist Lieut., O. Stuart ; 2d Lieut., Patrick McGuinness ; 3d Lieut., A. E. Skelly ; ensign, P. Cor- coran ; Orderly Sergeant, P. J. Holohan.
( No farther record of the company.)
NATIONAL GUARDS. (Organized April 25, 1854.)
John Lewis Peyton, Major ; E. B. Stevens, Sergeant-Major : W. W. Danenhower, Sergeant ; J. C. Morfit, M. D., Surgeon ; E. C. Henderson, color-bearer ; E. R. Smith, Adjutant ; W. D. Wilson, Quartermaster ; J. A. Thompson, Paymaster ; C. W. Hunt, M. D., Surgeon's-mate.
Company A. Thomas Shirley, Capt .: G. S. Wright, Ist I.jeut .; J. T. Baker, 2d Lieut .; M. P. Roberts, 3d Lieut .: W. W. Kennedy, 4th Lieut.
Company B. Sylvester Sexton, Capt .; William McMillan, Ist Lient. ; George Glasner, 2d Lieut. ; W. D. Lawyer, 3d Lieut. (No farther record.)
SHIELDS GUARDS. (Organized November 25, IS54. )
Captain, Charles E. Moore; Ist Lieut .; James A. Mulligan; 2d Lieut., James Quirk ; 3d Lieut., I. S. Dolan.
(IS58.)
Captain, Charles E. Moore ; Ist I.ieut., James .\. Mulligan ; 2d Lieut., John Reiley ; 3d Lieut., John S. Quin ; ensign, Daniel Harrington; Quartermaster, William II. Savage ; Surgeon, Martin J. Bray; commissary, Jamies Barry; paymaster, Charles O'Connor.
Civil Officers-President, J. J. Sullivan : vice-president, John Sweenie ; recording secretary, John Hickey ; corresponding serre- tary, James A. Mulligan.
(Organized in Iwn companies in 1861-I and K 23d Illinoi- Volunteer Infantry.)
NATIONAL. GUARDS CADETS. (Organized March 19. 1856.)
Captain, S. W. Stryker : Ist Lieut., W. B. Smith ; 2d Lieut .. (i. I .. Sanborne ; 3d Lieut .. 11. Turner ; Color Sergeant, B. But -- ford ; Orderly Sergeant ; J. R. Sentt ; 2d Sergeant, J. R. Hay-
.
286
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
den ; 3d Sergeant, E. B. Knox ; 4th Sergeant, J. A. Clybourne ; Corporal, B. Forseth; 2d Corporal, A. G. Comstock. Staff Officers, Quartermaster, A. D. Wass ; paymaster, W. T. Roath ; Surgeon, Dr. J. A. Collins ; commissary, S. G. Myers. Civil Officers- President, R. Ross ; vice-president, J. R. Floyd ; secretary, E. B. Knox ; treasurer, H. Turner. Drill every Tuesday and Fri- day evenings, at their armory, 16 and 18 South Dearborn Street. (Merged in the Zouave Cadets-a sketch of which organization appears in the following volume.)
CHICAGO DRAGOONS. (Organized April, 1856.)
Captain, C. W. Barker. (1860.)
Captain, C. W. Barker ; rst Lient., S. H. Turrill ; 2d Lieut., E. D. Osband ; Orderly Sergeant, J. C. Kelley ; surgeon, JI. B. Pike ; president, W. H. Eddy ; vice-president, A. T. Gage : sec- retary, J. F. Dutch ; treasurer, S. H. Turrill. (Entered United States service in 1861. The above were all attached to the 60th Regiment.)
WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REGIMENT, NO. I. (Organized September 29, 1854.)
Colonel, William H1. Davis; Lieutenant-Colonel, Michael Diversy; Major, John L. Peyton; Adjutant, Arno Voss; Quarter- master, William S. Davis; Paymaster, O. J. Rose; Surgeon, C. A. Helmuth.
Composed of the following companies:
. WILLIAM TELL GUARDS (Bohemian). (Organized February 1, 1855.) Captain, Anton Sten; Ist Lieut., John Korber; 2d Lieut., Christoff Demon; 3d Lieut., Simon Eichenscher.
CHICAGO GUARDS OF LIBERTY. (Organized May 3, 1855.)
Captain, George W. I. Cone; Ist Lieut., John Short; 2d Lient., W. H. Read.
CHICAGO HIGHLAND GUARDS. (Organized August 10, 1855.)
Captain, John McKay; Ist Lieut., A. B. McLean; 2d Lieut., William Lochart; 3d Lieut., John McArthur; ensign, Alexander Raffen.
(1856-1857.)
Captain, John McKay; Ist Lieut., John McArthur; 2d Lieut., Alexander W. Raffen; 3d Lieut., John Wood.
(1858.)
Captain, John McArthur; Ist Lieut., Alexander W. Raffen; 2d Lieut., John Wood; 3d Lieut., John T. Raffen.
(1859-1860.)
Captain, John McArthur; Ist Lieut. Alexander W. Raffen; 2d Lieut., J. T. Young: 3d Lieut., Andrew Quade; 4th Lieut., Robert Wilson; Secretary, T. McFarland; Treasurer, John Wood.
(Mustered into the service of Government in 1861, as Com- pany E, 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.)
TWENTIETH ODD BATTALION.
(Transferred to W. I. Regiment February, 1856.)
Major. George W. I. Cone; Adjutant, John Short; Quarter- master, ['. A. Taylor; paymaster, Oliver 1'. Booth.
The COMPANIES of BATTALION were:
"GUARD OF LIBERTY." (Organized May, IS55.)
Captain, George W. I. Cone.
(1856.)
Company A (Rifles)-Captain, William C. Leyburn; Ist Lieut., Judson W. Reed; 2d Lieut., Frederick Lyman.
Company B (Rifles)-Captain, Henry M. Kirke; Ist Lieut .. Charles M. Helliker.
Company C (Dragoons) - Captain, Reuben Cleveland; Ist Lieut., James T. Hoyt; 2d Lieut., William E. Judd; 3d Lieut., E. R. Brown.
No farther record.
WASHINGTON GRENADIERS. (1856.)
Captain, Theodore Weiler; Ist Lieut., George Reifschneider; 2d Lieut., Henry Willin; 3d Lieut., John Schmidt.
WASHINGTON RIFLES. (1856.)
Captain, Antony Sten; Ist Lieut., Frederick Mattern; 2d Lieut., Martin Zieland.
CHICAGO GRENADIERS.
Captain, Augustus Haggerman; Ist Lieut., John Diversy: 2d Lieut., Peter Rink.
WASHINGTON LIGHT GUARDS. (Organized November 30, 1855.)
Captain, John Kerber; Ist Lieut., William Heil; 2d Lieut., John Brown.
(1857.)
Captain, William Heil; Ist Lieut., Ernad Adams; 2d Lieut., John Bolman; 3d Lient., George Rosenbergen.
CHICAGO ARTILLERY COMPANY (German). (Organized December, 1856.)
Captain, Michael Mueller; Ist Lieut., August Freuer; 2d Lieut., Franz Ehlbrucht; 3d Lieut., laios Link.
WASHINGTON LIGHT CAVALRY (German). (Organized July 19, 1858.)
Captain, Frederick Schambeck; Ist Lieut., William T. Stoeber; zd Lieut., Alexander Weite.
(The Washington Independent Regiment was offered entire to Governor Vates at the breaking out of the Rebellion, and ac- cepted-many of the German companies doing service at Cairo.)
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
PRE-CHURCH PERIOD.
The religious zeal of the Jesuits carried their mis- sionaries first to many of the heathen races. They were first to visit the Indians of the great Northwest; but on account of the meagerness of data, it is difficult to de- cide positively with reference to the first missionary or priest who set foot on the soil of the then future city of Chicago. It seems certain, however, that the author of · " Pioneers of Illinois " repeats an error in the sentence: " It is said Father Nicolet, a French Jesuit priest, preached to the Indians at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1640, and in all probability he was the first white man that ever rowed a canoe .on the waters of Lake Michigan, or trod the soil of Illinois." The re- searches of Benjamin Sulté, of Ottawa Canada, prove the inaccuracy of the above quotation, with reference to the time of John Nicolet's visit to the mouth of the Chicago River. Mr. Sulté says:
"Nicolet is at Three Rivers (Canada) again on the 26th of January, 1640. He died two years after that date; and during all that time we trace him month by month in the parish register at Three Rivers. In brief, Nicolet must have traveled to the Mis- sissippi in the year 1634-35, from July to July, because that period is the only one during which we cannot find him on the shore of the St. Lawrence."
But if in 1634-35, Nicolet visited the mouth of the Chicago River, he did not then, nor at any other time or place, preach to the Indians. The following quota- tions from the same author is conclusive on this point:
"At Quebec. 7th of October, 1637, Nieolet marries Margue- rite Couillard. The marriage contract is dated in that city, 22d of October, 1637. .... From that moment his wife is present at church every month in Three Rivers up to 1642, the date of Nico- let's death, as the register shows."
The fact of Nicolet's. marriage proves that he was not a priest, and Mr. Sulté says he was not a Jesuit. The name " Father Nicolet," is therefore a misnomer. Hence it is necessary to look to later times for the first Chicago priest, or missionary. His visit to the Indian tribes of the Northwest was made in the cause of com- merce, not religion .*
The gentle, earnest and courageous Father Jacques Marquette was the first priest appointed to the Illinois mission. It is probable, however, that he never cele- brated mass, preached or gave religious instruction to the Indians on any portion of the territory now com- prised within the limits of Chicago; but one of his biog- raphers says of him: " Upon returning from his last ex- peditiont he took up his residence and pursued the vocation of a missionary among the Miamis in the neighborhood of Chicago." Supposing this to be authentic, the missionary services of this zealous and pious Jesuit father must have been rendered to the Miami Indians in the fall of 1673, as he started on his return up the Mississippi July 17 of that year. As has been said of him: "It was the lofty aim of Marquette to be of enduring service to his fellow-men; it was his integrity, his unselfishness, his untiring zeal, his gentel
and uncomplaining disposition, and his early self-sacri- fice near akin to martyrdom, that command our sympa- thies, and these are what made him truly great." Mar- quette died May 18, 1675, and Father Claude Allouez succeeded to the Illinois mission. After journeying, in the months of March and April, 1676, seventy-six leagues on Lake Michigan, Allouez, with his Indian companions and guides, entered the Chicago River, probably about the roth of April. Upon landing he was met and hand- somely received by about eighty Indians. The chief of this band advanced to meet him with a fire-brand in one hand and a feathered calumet in the other. He led the reverend father to his cabin and thus addressed him :
"Father ! take pity on me; let me return with thee, to accompa- ny thee and lead thee to my village; my meeting with thee to-day will be fatal to me unless I profit by it. Thou bearest to us the gospel and the prayer; if I lose the occasion of hearing thee, I shall be punished by the loss of my nephews, whom thou seest so num- erous, but who will assuredly be defeated by the enemy. Embark then with us that I may profit by thy coming into our land."
Father Allonez, unfortunately, fails to mention who it was that thus addressed him; and thus the name of the orator who delivered this, the first reception speech in this locality, and the first to allude to "the gospel and prayer" within the limits of Chicago, is lost forever. The father and the chief at once embarked and soon reached the village of the latter.
Father Claudius Dablon, who was Superior-General of the Missions of the Society of Jesus, who founded Sault Ste. Marie and visited Green Bay, came as far as . the Wisconsin with Allouez, but does not appear to have reached Chicago. Of Father Louis Hennepin it may also be said that he probably never visited Chicago, al- though in 1679, in company with LaSalle, he perhaps sailed. along the western shore of the lake on the way to St. Joseph, Mich. It is not easy to determine who was the next after Allouez to visit Chicago, but it seems credible that it was one or both of the Rev. Fathers Pinet and Bineteau. This appears from the journal of Rev. John Francis Buisson de St. Cosme, who was a member of the party which, in 1699, under the leader- ship of M. de Montigny, visited Chicago on their way to the Mississippi. This party disembarked half a league from Chicago, and a few of them, M. de Montigny, St. Cosme and Davion, went by land to the house of the Jesuit fathers. St. Cosme says :
"We found the Rev. Father l'inet and Rev. Father Bineteau, who had recently come in from Illinois, and were slightly sick. ] cannot explain to you, Monseigneur, with what cordiality and marks of esteem these reverend Jesuit fathers received and caressed us during the time that we had the consolation of staying with them. Their house is built on the banks of the small lake, having the lake on one side and a fine large prairie on the other. The In- dian village is of over one hundred and fifty cabins, and one league on the river there is another village almost as large. They are both of the Miamis. Rev. Father Pinet makes it his ordinary residence, except in the winter, when the Indians all go hunting, and which he goes and spends at the Illinois."
From this extract it would appear that Father Pinet, at least, had been in this part of the country some years, as it had become his custom " to make his ordinary resi-
* Src chapter on Early Explorations.
t His famous expedition of discovery down the Mississippi River in 1673.
237
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288
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
dence " with the Miamis, and " to spend his winters with the Illinois." And, as in 1685, at the time when it is alleged De la Durantaye erected a fort at the mouth of the Chicago River, which became a kind of depot, Father Allouez revisited the place, there can have been no long time when the Indians were without the pres- ence of some zealous Jesuit among them during the lat- ter part of the seventeenth century. Besides those al- ready mentioned as accompanying M. de Montigny on his journey to the Mississippi, there were the Rev. Fathers de la Ribourde, Membre, Gravier and LaSource, all of whom may have ministered to the spiritual necessi- ties of the Indians, though what was the nature of their religious exercises and duties, or how long they were continued, is not known.
There now occurs an hiatus in the religious history of this vicinity of nearly one hundred years. The next name to be found is that of Rev. Stephen 1). Badin, who first visited Chicago in 1796. He was ordained in 1793, at Baltimore, and was the first Catholic priest or- dained in the United States. He does not appear to have become a resident priest. But in 1822 he again visited Chicago, and during his visit baptized Alexander Beaubien, in Fort Dearborn, which was the first baptism in Chicago of which there is any definite knowledge. The above mentioned missionaries were all Catholics.
The next to arrive, and the first Protestant to preach a sermon in Chicago, was the Rev. Isaac McCoy, a Baptist clergyman, who had established and was con- ducting the mission school at Carey, near Niles, Mich. With reference to this first sermon his own language is as follows :
"In the fore part of October I attended, at Chicago, the pay- ment of an annuity by Dr. Wolcott, United States Indian .Agent. and, through his politeness, addressed the Indians on the subject of our mission. On the 9th of October, 1825, I preached in En- glish, which, as I am informed, was the first sermon ever delivered at or near that place."
So far as is known this was the only sermon preached by Mr. McCoy in Chicago.
Rev. Jesse Walker, who was at the time superintend- ent of the Fox River Methodist mission, came up on his boat from Peoria to Chicago, in the spring of 1826, for
Jakie Nakken
the purpose of preaching. It is not known that he preached, but, as he remained some time, it is prohable that he did. On the way up from Peoria, according to the Rev. Stephen R. Beggs,. " He had all the hands on board cease work till they could attend prayers, and all joined in singing, and then a fervent prayer was offered up in their behalf, asking the merciful protection of a divine Providence throughout the day."
In 1828 Rev. Jesse Walker was succeeded as super- intendent by the Rev. Isaac Scarritt. About midsum- mer of that year Mr. Scarritt, as he says in a letterto Mr. Beggs :
"Planned a trip in Chicago, distant some seventy or eighty miles. The next evening we entered Chicago, which. in addition to the buildings constituting Fort Dearborn, contained the okl Kinzie house, a new house of Colonel Hamilton's, with perhaps one or two others in that quarter, and those of J. Kinzie and I. Miller up at the Point. The latter two gentlemen seemed to be upon a strife with each other, which should excel in honor of popul- larity, whereby to promote their individual interests. 1 took up
my residence at Miller's, who, with laudable generosity, undertook to administer to my comfort and further my views. The next day was the Sabbath, and I sent word to the Lieutenant that if it were his wish the superintendent of the Indian mission would preach to the soldiers and others, at such place and hour as he might appoint. Answer was returned that he should not forbid the preaching, but that he should neither authorize nor make any arrangements for it. Not to be outdone by the honorable ILieutenant on the point of in- dependence. I declined going to the garrison under such circum- stances, and made an appointment for preaching at Miller's at night. Most of the citizens and some of the soldiers were present, and gave respectful attention ; but in the matter of congregation we received rather more than we bargained for. During religious services a gang of boatmen, with their vociferous . yo-hes,' com- menced landing and rolling up barrels, etc., near the door. This was a trick of Kinzie's, so Miller said, out of spite to him for hav- ing the honor of entertaining the missionary, and for the agency he took in promoting the religion of the place."
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