USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago : historical and commercial statistics, sketches, facts and figures, republished from the "Daily Democratic press" ; What I remember of early Chicago, a lecture, delivered in McCormick's hall, January 23, 1876 (Tribune, January 24th) > Part 2
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along the Illinois gave the French explo- rers to understand that they were real men. They said 'leno,' or 'leni.'"' The termi- nation "ois" is undoubtedly of French origin. As all strange and uncouth sounds are liable to be mis-spelled, it is very easy to see from the above how the beautiful name which our State bears was formed from the language of the first monarchs of the soil.
The "Illini," or Illinois Indians, occu- pied all the territory north of a line drawn. northeast and southwest through the city of Ottawa, extending east to the Wabash, and west to the Mississippi river. The term was also applied to an indefinite ter- ritory west of the Mississippi.
The first white men who ever visited this region were Marquette and Joliet, two Jesuit missionaries, who explored this section of the Mississippi Valley in the years 1662-3. Hennepin and La Salle fol- lowed a few years later, and as a conse- quence of these several explorations and discoveries, a magnificent scheme was formed by France to extend her posses- sions from Canada to New Orleans, and thus having embraced the entire inhabited portion of the Western Continent, to ad- vance eastward, and secure the authority over the vast empire which her eminent statesmen even then foresaw must ere long occupy this magnificent country. The plan was well arranged, and its ac- complishment constantly kept in view for nearly a hundred years by the adventurous sons of La Belle France, but it was com- pletely overthrown by the gallant Wolfe on the plains of Abraham, on the 13th of September, 1759. As a consequence of that victory, Canada fell into the hands of the English. The war of the Revolu-' tion transferred the northwestern posses- sions of the British to the United States,
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
and the purchase of Louisiana by Mr. Jefferson from the French in 1803, gave us the possession of the entire Mississippi Valley. The wisdom of that purchase, though strenuously opposed at the time, is acknowledged by all parties.
Early in the Revolutionary war, Col. G. R. Clark had formed the design of attack- ing the forts of the British at Detroit and in Southern Illinois, and laid his plans be- fore the Virginia Legislature. On the 2d of January, 1778, he received authority from Patrick Henry, then . Governor of that State, to raise troops and to march west- ward on his bold and hazardous enterprise. This expedition was successful, and as a consequence, Virginia laid claim to the territory north and west of the Ohio river. This claim was acknowledged by the other States, and Illinois was organized as a county of Virginia in October, 1778. The act was practically inoperative, as we can not find that any one in behalf of that State carried the law into effect. From that time till 1784 there was no legal au- thority in the State. The people were " a law unto themselves," and to the credit of the earlier settlers, the annalist adds, that " good feelings, harmony and fidelity to engagements prevailed."
In March, 1784, Virginia ceded to the United States all her claim to the territory northwest of the Ohio; and in 1790 Gov. St. Clair organized the county which bears his name. From the year 1800 to 1809 Illinois was attached to the Territory of Indiana. In February of the latter year Congress passed an act establishing the Territory of Illinois, and appointed the Hon. Ninian Edwards, then Chief Justice of Kentucky, Governor of the Territory, and Nathaniel Pope, Esq., of Kaskaskia, Secretary. The Territory was organized by Judge Pope, in March, and Gov. Ed- wards arrived in June, and assumed the duties of his office.
The first Territorial Legislature con- vened at Kaskaskia on the 25th of Novem- ber, 1812 ; the Council, or Upper House, consisting of five, and the Assembly of seven members. The author of the " Western Annals" says of this body : "They did their work like men devoted to
businessmatters. Not a lawyer nor an attor- ney is found on the list of names. They deliberated like sensible men-passed such laws as they deemed the country needed; made no speeches, had no contention, and after a brief session of some ten or twelve days, adjourned." We are sorry to say, that this good example has had too little influence upon succeeding Legislatures.
In 1815, Hon. Nathaniel Pope was elect- ed as Representative of the Territory in Congress. The north line of the Territory, as originally defined, ran due west from the south bend of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi. Judge Pope, seeing the im- portance of having a lake front in the future State of Illinois, procured the pas- sage of an act extending that line north to the parallel of 42 degrees and 30 minutes, thus securing a most important portion of territory from our sister State of Wisconsin.
Congress passed an act in 1818, approved by James Monroe, April 18th, authorizing the people to form a State Government provided it should be ascertained that it contained 40,000 inhabitants. All ac- counts agree in estimating the total number of people at about 30,000 ; but the different marshals, by accidentally counting the emigrants, who were coming in or passing through the State several times, made out the full number. Dele- gates to form a constitution were elected, who met at Kaskaskia in July, 1818, and having completed their labors, they signed the constitution, and adjourned on the 26th day of August. The constitution was adopted by the people, and the first Legis- lature convened at Kaskaskia, on the first Monday in October following. Shadrach Bond, of Kaskaskia, was elected Governor, and Pierre Menard, of the same place, Lieut. Governor.
It will be seen from the above, that it is not yet thirty-six years since our State Government was formed; a State which has now more than a million of inhab- itants, and whose principal commercial city has more than 60,000 inhabitants, and 1,785 miles of railroad completed, con- tributing to its prosperity. By the first of January next it will have 3,000 miles fin- ished and in operation.
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
We have found a great deal that is both instructive and amusing in the early legis- lation of the State, but we have room for only a single incident. It must be borne in mind, that the first settlements were made in the southern parts of the State, by emigrants principally from Virginia, Kentucky, and some of the other Southern States. Many of them had a sort of "holy horror" for that ubiquitous, ever-trading sharper, " the live Yankee." To guard against his depredations, a law was passed, February 14th, 1823, duly enacting, that " No person shall bring in and peddle, or sell, wooden clocks in this State, unless they first take out an extra license ;" for which the price was $50. The penalty for violating the law was fixed at the same sum. This "said sum" would make a sad inroad upon Jonathan's profits, and hence, under the impulses of his " higher law " notions of the value of money, he pursued his " chosen calling" without any regard to the majesty of the law in " such case made and provided." He was of course arrested, and in due form ar- raigned before the court of Fayette county. The fact of "selling" was not denied, but it appeared in evidence that one Yan- kee brought them "in " across the river at St. Louis-and another " sold" them. The counsel for the prisoner-our fellow- citizen, Wm. H. Brown, Esq .- contended that it must be shown that the prisoner did both "bring in and peddle or sell." Jonathan, as usual, escaped, and went on his way "peddling " and "selling" his wooden wares. We believe his "Yankee- ship" has always, since the failure of that law to "head him off" been permitted to exercise his peculiar habits without " let or hindrance."
The history of our city is very intimate- ly connected with that of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The idea of a canal connecting the waters of the Lakes with those of the Mississippi, was suggested as early as 1814. In Niles' Register of Au -. gust 6th the following paragraph may be found :
" By the Illinois river it is probable that Buffalo, in New York, may be united with New Orleans by inland navigation, through
Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and down that river to the Mississippi. What a route ! How stupendous the idea ! How dwindles the importance of the arti- ficial canals of Europe compared to this water communication. If it should ever take place-and it is said the opening may be easily made-the Territory (of Illinois) will become the seat of an immense com- merce, and a market for the commodities of all regions."
How strange to us appear some of the expressions in this paragraph. Then, all west of Ohio was an unbroken wilderness inhabited only by savages, with here and there a fort or trading post, and a few small French settlements along the Miss- issippi. Little did the writer think that in only thirty-four years his "stupendous idea" would become a common-place reality, and that in less than forty years a city of more than sixty thousand people would be reposing in quiet dignity at the northern terminus of that canal ! What an "immense commerce " that city has en- joyed the past year, the sequel of this article is designed to show.
At the first session of the Illinois Legis- lature in 1818, Gov. Bond brought the subject of a canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river prominently before that body, and his successor, Gov. Coles, in 1822 devoted a large space in his mes- sage to the elucidation of the same topic. By an act passed February 14th, 1823, a Board of Canal Commissioners was ap- pointed, and in the autumn of that year a portion of the Board, with Col. J. Post, of Missouri, as Chief Engineer, made a tour of reconnoisance; and in the autumn of 1824, Col. R. Paul, an able engineer, residing at St. Louis, was also employed. Five different routes were surveyed, and estimates made of the cost of the canal. The highest estimate was $716,110.
At this time, 1823, only thirty-one years ago, the Sangamon river and Fulton county were the northern boundaries of civilization, and in that region there were only a very few inhabitants. The whole northern portion of the State was still under the dominion of the wolf and the savage, with no prospect of its settlement
-
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
for an indefinite time to come. The lead- ing idea of the citizens of the south half of the State, where the population was then concentrated, was to open a water communication for them by the Lakes and the Erie Canal with New York City.
On January 18th, 1825, an act was passed to "incorporate the Illinois and Michigan Canal Company, with a capital of $1,000,000." As the stock was not tak- en, a subsequent Legislature repealed the charter. In the meantime, our Senators and Representatives in Congress were urging upon that body the passage of an act granting to this State lands to aid in the construction of the proposed canal. The Hon. Daniel P. Cook, from whom . this county is named, has the credit of leading in this movement. Accordingly, on the 2d of March, 1827, Congress grant- ed to the State of Illinois every alternate section in a belt of country extending six miles on each side of the canal. Owing to financial embarrassment, nothing effec- tual was done till January 22d, 1829, when the Legislature passed a law organizing a Canal Board, and appointed Dr. Jayne, of Springfield, Edmund Roberts, of Kaskas- kia, and Charles Dunn, Commissioners. These Commissioners were empowered. among other things, to locate the canal, lay out towns, to sell lots, and to apply the proceeds to the construction of the canal.
In the autumn of 1829 the Commission- ers came to Chicago, having employed James Thompson to survey and lay off the town. His first map bears date Au- gust 4th, 1830. It is in the Recorder's office.
Hon. S. D. Lockwood, now a resident of Batavia, Kane county, came up with the Commissioners in the autumn of 1829. We are indebted to him and to Wm. H. Brown, Esq., for much valuable informa- tion in reference to the early history of the State. Both these gentlemen are among the oldest citizens in Illinois, as they landed at Shawneetown in 1818, the same year the Constitution was adopted. We have the men among us who have seen the State in her infancy, and now look upon her with pride, assuming a
commanding position among the oldest States of the Union.
The list of families residing here in the autumn of 1829, as given by Judge Lock- wood, is as follows: John Kinzie, the father of our present excellent Alderman, John H. Kinzie, resided on the north side, a little west of McCormick's factory. West of Mr. Kinzie's, near the site of the Galena Railroad's freight depot, east of .Clark street, lived Dr. Wolcott, son-in-law of Mr. Kinzie ; Dr. Wolcott was, at the time, Indian Agent. Near the forks of the river, a little west of where Steele's warehouse now stands, John Miller kept a "log tavern." On the south side, near the present residence of James H Collins, Esq., a little south of the old fort, was the house of John B. Beaubien. Besides these, there were some three or four Indi . an traders living in log cabins on the west side.
There were, of course, the officers and men connected with Fort Dearborn. Per. haps we may as well pause here and notice the building of the fort, and some other facts connected with our earlier history. It was built by the Government in 1804, and manned with a company of about fifty men and three pieces of artil lery. Everything remained quiet till 1812, when the war broke out with Great Brit ain, and our Government, apprehensive that so distant a post among the savages could not be maintained, ordered it to be evacuated. The commander was required to distribute the government property among the Indians, and to march with his troops to Fort Wayne.
The fort was at that time well sunplied with provisions and military stores, and might have maintained a siege for a long time against any force that the Indians could have brought against it ; and nearly all the officers remonstrated against carry- ing out the instructions ; but Capt. Heald determined to obey to the letter the orders of his superiors. The Pottawatomies were well known to be liostile, but Capt. Heald called a council on the 12th of August, 1812, and laid the propositions of the Government before them, asking in return, an escort to Fort Wayne. This
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
the Indians promised to give. The distri- bution was to be made the next day. During the night, lest the guns and ammu- nition which they would necessarily be forced to leave, might prove a dangerous gift to the savages, the powder was thrown into the well, and the guns were broken and destroyed. The liquor shared the same fate. The cannon were thrown into the river.
The next day the Indians came together to receive the presents, but their counte- nances betokened anger and deep-seated revenge when only the goods of the Unit- ed States factory were distributed among them. They charged the whites with bad faith, and left with feelings aroused to the highest pitch of resentment. In the afternoon Capt. Wells, the brother of Mrs. Heald, arrived from Fort Wayne with fif- teen friendly Miami Indians, to act as a guard in the retreat that was to follow. On the morning of the 15th of August the troops took up their line of march for Fort Wayne. Capt. Wells, with the friendly Miamis, acted as the advance guard ; and a band of Pottawatomies, according to the stipulations made three days previous, followed at a short distance in the rear. They had proceeded in this order along the Lake shore about a mile and a half, to a point near the residence of Mrs. Clarke, when they were suddenly attacked by a party of Pottawatomies, who lay in ambush behind the sand hills upon the right of their line of march. Capt. Heald immediately ordered his men to form and charge the enemy, which movement was scarcely effected before they received a volley of balls from their savage foe. The troops did not flinch for a moment, but charged and dislodged the Indians in front ; but their great numbers enabled them at once to turn the flanks of the troops, and to gain possession of the horses and baggage. At the first fire the Miamis galloped off, and could not be in- duced to join in the action. Capt. Heald, confident that further resistance was en- tirely vain, withdrew his troops to a small elevation, and awaited the movements of the enemy. They held a council, and soon their chiefs, of whom Black Partridge
was the leader, motioned Capt. Heald to approach. They met, and Capt. Heald agreed to surrender, on condition that the lives of the prisoners should be spared. The troops delivered up their arms, and were marched back to the fort. The loss in the action, and in the subsequent mas- sacre-for the Indians did not fully com- ply with their agreement-was twenty-six of the regular troops, twelve-being the entire number of the militia-two women and twelve children-in all, fifty-two. The children were placed in a baggage wagon, and fell victims to the tomahawk of a single merciless savage, after the troops had surrendered. Capt. Wells was among the slain. Capt. Heald and his wife were also wounded, as also were Lieut. and Mrs. Helm.
The next day the fort was plundered and burnt, and the prisoners were distrib - uted in various directions, The family of Mr. Kinzie were taken across to St. Joseph in a Mackinaw boat, and subse- quently to Detroit. In due time the pris- oners were ransomed, and found their way to their Eastern friends. No effort was made to re-establish the fort during the war. In 1816 it was rebuilt under the direction of Capt. Bradley. It continued to be occupied by a company of troops till 1837, when, the Indians hav- ing left the country for a long distance west of us, it was abandoned. On a part of the grounds of the fort our magnificent Marine Hospital now stands. The build - ings occupied by the officers are most of them standing. To usthe object of great- est interest is the old block house, and we wish here to put in an earnest plea that it may be preserved as long as one log will "lie upon the other." It is about the only relic of "hoary antiquity " in our city worth preserving. It was built thirty-eight years ago, when the whole country was filled with savages. Let it be surrounded with a neat iron fence, that we may be able to illustrate to our children the nature of the defenses which the early settlers of Chi- cago were obliged to adopt. Let the giant arm of modern improvement, if necessary, sweep away every other vestige of Fort Dearborn, but let the shrill scream of the
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
locomotive, as it brings up its long train of cars from the Gulf of Mexico, or rests from its labors after the mighty race of a thousand miles from the Atlantic seaboard, age after age, echo around this humble, but significant monument of the past.
Our " oldest inhabitant," at least in one view of the subject, is our excellent fel- low citizen, Alderman John H. Kinzie. He was born in Canada, nearly opposite Detroit, and when an infant only a few months old, was brought to this city by his parents in 1804. He is a son of John Kinzie, mentioned above as an Indian trader. Mr. Kinzie settled here in that capacity in 1804, when the fort was first built. Our fellow citizen, Gurdon S. Hub- bard, Esq., came here in 1818, and was then in the employ of the American Fur Com- pany, at the head of which was John Jacob Astor. He frequently was in the town for several days or weeks at a time, but neither Mr. Kinzie nor Mr. Hubbard were settled here permanently till 1833 or 1834. Mr. Kinzie spent his boyhood here, but was afterwards located at Mackinaw and on the Upper Mississippi for many years.
Our oldest permanent resident in the city is Col. R. J. Hamilton. In this view of the case, he is certainly entitled to the honor of being the " OLDEST INHABITANT." He came here April 9th, 1831, and this has been his home ever since. G. W. Dole, Esq., came here May 4th, 1831, and P. F. W. Peck, Esq., July 15th of the same year. But though not living in the city limits, A. Clybourne, Esq., has been identified with it, or rather with the place that be- came Chicago, since August 5th, 1823. He has resided since that time on the west side of the North Branch, about three miles from Lake street bridge. The city limits extend north of his residence on the east side of the river. We have given the dates when each of these gentlemen came to Chicago, and some of the cir- cumstances connected with the claims of each to the important distinction of being the "oldest inhabitant," and here we leave the decision to our readers, satisfied that neither of them would have dared to predict even ten years ago what Chicago would be in the year 1854.
So far as we have been able to learn, the " oldest inhabitant " born in Chicago, and now living here, is a lady-we beg pardon for saying it-she is an unmarried lady. Be not amazed, ye spruce, anxious bachelors, and if you can count your gray hairs by scores, stand aside, for we are quite sure there is no chance for you. She is not only an unmarried lady, but a YOUNG LADY, only twenty-two years of age, as she was born in Fort Dearborn in the early part of 1832. We have not the pleasure of her acquaintance, and at the peril of incurring her displeasure, we venture to state that the "oldest native inhabitant " of Chicago, a city of more than 60,000 people, is Miss Ellen Hamilton, the daughter of our good friend, Col. R. J. Hamilton.
In 1818, when Gurdon S. Hubbard, Esq., came to Chicago, there were but two white families here. John Kinzie lived on the north side, a little west of where Mc- Cormick's factory now stands. Antoine Oulimette, a French trader, who had mar- ried an Indian woman, lived near the ground now occupied by the Lake House. The fort was occupied by a detachment of troops under the command of Captain Bradley. The American Fur Company had trading posts at convenient distances all through this country. At that time only a single schooner of 30 or 40 tons was sent around from Buffalo with pro- visions for the fort, during the summer season.
In the fall of 1828, the Winnebagoes, who inhabited the territory west of us, became restless, and threatened the de- struction of the fort. Our fellow citizen, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Esq., went alone on horseback to the settlements on the Wabash, and procured reinforcements. He was absent only seven days. The Indians were pacified by the presence of a large force under General Atkinson, and very little mischief was done, beyond the murder of a few travelers.
Col. R. J. Hamilton came to this city, as above stated, in April, 1831. Cook county had been organized the month pre- vious. He soon obtained a high position among his fellow citizens, and at that
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HISTORY OF CHICAGO!
time, young and full of energy and vigor, and not the man to shrink from responsi- bility, we wonder that he was not crushed with the weight of the " blushing honors " that fell to his share of the spoils in the new county of Cook. In the course of the year, he became Judge of Probate, Recorder, County Clerk ; discharged gratuitously the duties of Treasurer, and was Commissioner of Schools. The good Colonel would find his hands full were he to fulfill the duties of all these offices at the present time. We have availed our- selves of his early and accurate knowl- edge of events for most of the facts which are contained in some half dozen of the succeeding paragraphs.
The county of Cook, in 1831, embraced all the territory now included in the counties of Lake, McHenry, Dupage, Will, and Iroquois. At that time Fort Dearborn was occupied by two companies of U. S. Infantry, under the command of Major Fowle. The resident citizens were Mr. Elijah Wentworth and family, occupying a house partly log and partly frame, owned by Mr. James Kinzie, and situated on the ground now occupied by Mr. Nor- ton as a lumber yard. Mr. W. kept a tavern, the best in Chicago. In the vicin- ity of this tavern resided Mr. James Kin- zie and family, Mr. William See and family, Mr. Alexander Robinson and family-now living on the Des Plaines- and Mr. Robert A. Kinzie, who had a store composed of dry goods-a large por- tion of them Indian goods-groceries, etc. Across the North Branch of the Chicago river, and nearly opposite Mr. Went- worth's tavern, resided Mr. Samuel Miller and family, and with them Mr. John Mil- ler, a brother. Mr. Miller also kept tavern. On the east side of the South Branch, and immediately above the junc- tion with the North Branch, resided Mr. Mark Beaubien and family, who also kept tavern ; and a short distance above him on the South Branch resided a Mr. Bour- isso, an Indian trader. Between Mark Beaubien's tavern and Fort Dearborn there were no houses, except a small log cabin, near the foot of Dearborn street, and used as an Indian trading house.
Near the garrison, and immediately south, on the property sold by James H. Collins, Esq., to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, was the residence of J. B. Beaubien and family, who was connected with the American Fur Company in the Indian trade. He had near his residence a store, containing such goods as were suitable to that business. A short distance south of him on the lake was a house, then unoccupied.
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