History of Du Page County, Illinois (Historical, Biographical), Part 6

Author: Blanchard, Rufus, 1821-1904
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & co.
Number of Pages: 544

USA > Illinois > DuPage County > History of Du Page County, Illinois (Historical, Biographical) > Part 6

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HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

with port-holes so as to command the prairie in every direction. While constructing the block-house, " shakes " (clapboards or shingles) had to be used for covering. A quantity of these had already been riven out from oak tim- ber in Sweet's Grove, two and one-half miles dis- tant, and Capt. Paine detached two men with a team to haul them to the ground. It was driven by James Brown, and a young man named Buckley accompanied him to assist in loading. Arriving at the grove, they had to pass through a pair of bars, and Buckley jumped from the wagon to take them away, proceeding thence directly toward the pile of shakes. Brown drove on toward the spot, when, on entering the grove, lie was fired on by a party of Indians who laid in ambush for the purpose of cutting off any one who might be so unfortunate as to cross their path. Three balls pierced his breast, and he fell. The horses, which were spirited animals, took fright, and, running, with great force thrust the end of the tongue of the wagon two or three inches into an oak tree. The three Indians who did this dastardly work now came up, scalped their victim, cut the horses loose from their confined position, mounted them and fled, two of them on one horse and the third on the other.

Judge Drummond. Night overtook them here, and while the pursued could flee, the pursuers could not follow their tracks. Thus balked of their purpose, the party returned, taking up the body of Brown on their way and conveying it to the fort. He was buried with the honors of war on a rise of ground about twenty rods from the fort, and subsequently his remains were re- moved to the cemetery at Naperville, where a monument perpetuates his memory. He was one of the Danville volunteers.

The night after this unfortunate occurrence, under the impression that a large force of hos- tile Sauks must be not far distant, Capt. Naper and Alanson Sweet started for Fort Dearborn at Chicago to get a re-enforcement ; but Gen. Williams, who held command there, after con- ferring with his subordinate officers, instead of granting him the men refused, on the ground that he deemed it unsafe-a reply illy calcu- lated to re-assure the little band already there, and especially the two scouts who had alone ventured through a country supposed to be beset with foes. The two scouts returned to Fort Paine, and no further move was made till the 4th of July, when a scouting party, under command of Capt. Boardman, consisting of about twenty well-mounted men, started out on a reconnoissance to Ament's Grove, eight miles below Oswego. There they encamped at the deserted house of Mr. Ament, who, with his family, had taken refuge within the walls of Fort Dearborn.

Young Buckley, who witnessed the cruel fate of his companion, fled to the fort, breathless - and stupefied with terror. On his arrival, it was several minutes before he could speak, but his blanched face and protruding tongue told his story in advance, all but the detail. His During the night, rain had fallen, making a mold for footprints in the well-frequented trail that led past the place, and careful exami- nation the next morning revealed the tracks of two Indians. Of course, in the distempered imaginations of the raiders they must be Sauks, and they followed them about fifteen miles to the village of a friendly Potta- watomie chief. While yet a mile distant from the village, the figure of an Indian on top feet were bare, but he could not remember hay- ing pulled off his boots, which he must have done to lend speed to his flight. As soon as he could give an account of the affair, a com- pany of ten or twelve men well mounted started in pursuit. Passing by the spot where the un- fortunate young soldier laid still warm, but a lifeless corpse, they kept on the track of the vagabonds who had slain him, and followed them to a grove near the present residence of , of one of the tents was plainly discernible,

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

evidently on the watch for his pursuers. The place was soon gained, but all was silent as the grave in the deserted place. Careful exami- nation now traced the fugitives to the river bank opposite an island. Had the harm- less but unlucky fleers been found, they would have been shot at sight. This they well knew; and, instead of either attempting to hold a parley with the scouts or to run away before their fleet horses, stealthily climbed a tree on the island and concealed themselves amid its foliage.

In vain their pursuers searched for their tracks along river bank and trail. No trace of them could be found, and the party returned to Fort Paine. Some weeks afterward, two friendly Pottawatomies told the story to Alex- ander Robinson, giving point to the recital by describing the astonishment of their pursuers as to the mysterious way by which their tracks had been concealed.

They had circumvented White Eagle, as they called Mr. Seott, and that was glory enough for them.

Let us now return to Fort Dearborn. Here fugitives from the Hickory Creek, Naper, Scott and Walker's Grove settlements had gathered into close quarters, and nearly all of them des- titute of food and a change of clothing. This would have been no especial grievance to sav- ages, but to the people here assembled, who had been bred in the midst of plenty, nothing but the value which a cultured citizen places on life could make it endurable.

While these fugitives were amusing them- selves as best they could to kill the long day's of July, the sound of a cannon broke the si- lence of the morning. All eyes turned toward the lake, and there was an approaching sail. Succeeding puffs of smoke, with a corresponding number of reports, after brief intervals, threw the town into transports, and almost everybody flew to the beach. The vessel approached the month of the river, cast her anchor and low-

ered her boats. Into these the soldiers leaped, and soon came rowing up Chicago River amidst the liuzzas of the assembled spectators.

This was a small command under Maj. Will- iam Whistler, the son of the same who had built the first Fort Dearborn in 1803-04. He came as an advance to Gen. Scott to make prep- arations for his arrival. Those who were shel- tered in the fort were required to leave it.

For a short time, some still lingered around outside, but most of them returned to their homes, and the Naper settlement began to as- sume its former appearance again. Capt. Paine's company of volunteers left Fort Paine on the 10th of July, as the danger by this time was considered past, as it had been in reality long before, for Black Hawk for many days with his whole army had been in full retreat northwestwardly in Wisconsin.

'Twas on the 8th of July, at 2 o'clock. dur- ing the small hours of morning, that the inhab- itants of Chicago were awakened by an outcry in the streets. Gen. Scott's army had arrived at the place and his soldiers were dying with the cholera. When the broad light of morning came, says an eye-witness, hardly a resident was to be seen in the streets for nearly all had fled. Dr. De Camp, the army physician, prompt- ly called on those who had the courage to re- main to allay their fears, and to assure them that the disease would be confined to the garri- son. Indian Robinson (chief of the Pottawat- omies), John Miller (a tavern-keeper at the fort) and Benjamin Hall, at present residents of Wheaton, Ill., remained at their respective posts, but the town, so recently the scene of bustle and confusion, presented the solemnity of a graveyard.

In a few days the fleers began to return, but kept aloof from the fort where the disease was making such havoc that there were scarcely well ones enough to take care of the sick and bury the dead. Ninety of the soldiers fell vic- tims ere the contagion had spent its force, and

A. I. Thatcher

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

were buried just outside of the fort without the usual military honors of a soldier or even the civil usages of a coffin. When the last spark of life was supposed to be gone out, the corpse was hastened to the grave which was ever ready to receive the victim, where stood two grave- diggers with immobility in their faces and spades in their hands to interpose a few feet of earth between the decaying mass of contagion and the living world above ground. While this decimating process was going on, Gen. Scott was in no condition to take the offensive, but soon the disease exhausted all the material on which it could work, and abated. A eamp was then established on the Desplaines River, where such soldiers as were still suffering from the effects of cholera could recruit their strength preparatory to a mareh across the country to the Mississippi River. This done, Gen. Scott. with twelve men as a body guard, and two wagons drawn by horses, started across the country for Fort Armstrong on Rock Island ; Fort Paine, on the Du Page, lay on his route, and here he arrived on the 20th of July, about the middle of the afternoon, and spent the first night on his journey.

He conversed very agreeably with the citi- zen soldiers at the fort. and started on his way carly the next morning, taking a straight course for Dixon, across the open prairie, which led him directly across Du Page County. It is worthy of notice here that Luther Nichols, a well-known resident of Chicago till his death in 1SS1, was one of the soldiers who accom- panied him. Mr. Nichols was also the last surviving soldier of Fort Dearborn who went through that fearful ordeal. The writer called on him but a few months before his death, and the following is the substance of his story, which verifies what has already been stated. He came to Chicago, with his wife and one child (as a soldier), in the service of the United States Infantry, under the immediate charge of Maj. Whistler. On their arrival, they found

Fort Dearborn crowded with fugitives from the adjoining country, who had fled to the place for refuge from the Black Hawk Indians. They were ordered to leave at once, and obeyed the summons with reluctance, as their fears were not yet allayed from the danger of Indian scalp- ing parties. A few days after their arrival, Gen. Scott came and brought the cholera. Maj. Whistler then left the fort and built bar- racks for his men at the foot of the present site of Madison street. Here they remained during the prevalence of cholera, and assisted in burying the dead of Scott's army. Soon after Gen. Scott's arrival, several of the dead bodies of such soldiers as had died on the pas- sage (of which eighteen had been thrown into the lake), were driven by the winds ashore on the beach south of Chicago, where he (Mr. Nichols) with six of the company. were ordered to go and bury them. It was a loathsome task, but quickly done. Their graves were soon dug in the soft sands of the shore, into which their bodies were tumbled and hastily covered, from which place they have never been resurrected.

Mr. Nichols witnessed Gen. Scott's treaty with the Sauks, at Rock Island, where their miserable remnant made their signs to relin- quish their homes forever. They were subdued, humbled, and so emaciated by hunger and hard marching as to look like skeletons with leath- ern sacks drawn over them. There was much carousing and hilarity among the soldiers. Mr. Davenport, after whom the city opposite was named, kept a grocery and drinking saloon in Rock Island, half a mile above Fort Armstrong, where both officers and soldiers made them- selves merrý on whisky, which was said to be of a good brand, but of its quality Mr. Nichols could not judge from his own knowledge.

These simple facts from the lips of this hon- est old man have not only an historic but a moral force. Had he been intemperate, like some of his comrades, he would not have been the last survivor of Fort Dearborn. Ile was

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

born in Otsego County, N. Y., in 1805 ; enlist- ed in the regular service in 1828 ; was honora- bly discharged at Fort Dearborn in the fall of 1833, and remained in Chicago till his death, in 1881. After the departure of Gen. Scott on his way to Rock Island, the command of the main body of the army devolved on Col. Cum- mings. Many of the men still lay in a feeble condition, encamped at the present site of Riv- erside on the Desplaines. In a few days, they were ready to take up their march, all but four or five soldiers. These were carried in the wagons, and the army started up the Desplaines River to the present site of Maywood ; thence in a direct line through Gilbert's Grove on the Du Page. They crossed the Fox River three miles below where Elgin now stands. Thence through a Winnebago village where Beloit, Wis., now is. The track they made has since been used as a highway, and called the army trail, but the same trail was a well-known route before Scott's army traveled it. It was an old Indian trail from Chicago to the Winne- bago village where Beloit now stands, from time immemorial. Scott's army were ordered to follow it, and they obeyed to the letter, cut- ting a wagon road through groves where it led that they could easily have gone around.

The train waited a week for dispatches at the Indian village, and, after these came, they bent their course down the Rock River to Rock Island. It was probably the result of the bat. tle of Bad Ax that turned the course of the army toward Rock Island instead of toward the locality where Black Hawk's army were fighting like wild beasts at bay. At the battle of Bad Ax, most of his men were dispatched to the happy hunting grounds, and many of their squaws and papooses also went with them, embarking from the fatal island in the Mississippi River where, from the steamer Black Warrior, and from the company of Capt. Taylor (afterward President of the United States), a deadly fire was kept up on them till

the last wretch who had taken refuge there was killed, of whatever sex or age they might be.

Robert N. Murray had enlisted in the serv- ice of Col. Cummings as teamster, to sit in one of the fifty wagons of which the train was composed and hold the ribbons. After the first day's ride, he run over a hornets' nest, which gave the teams that immediately fol- lowed any benefits that might result.

The retaliation for this disturbance of their home was prompt and decisive, as it was indis- criminate, for it fell not on the teams that had run over them, but on those that followed.

Maddened into fury by their stings, the horses ran away and broke several wagons, and two days' detention to make repairs was the result, all of which was charged to accident (?). Far- ther along, young Murray was promoted from driving the baggage wagon, to which he had first been assigned, to driving the carriage of the Colonel himself, who held command of the whole train. This promotion could not have been the result of Murray's bold charge on the hornets nest, for his modesty forbade that he should plume himself, and he said nothing about it to any one till he became County Judge, when he revealed the reminiscence to the writ- er, which is hereby transferred to these columns as a fresh bit of history to illustrate the jocular spirit of the times that then prevailed.

In the summer of 1836, Dr. Teffts, of Elgin, was passing the spot where this event occurred, and there lay in the prairie grass, the bones of a skeleton beside the army trail. Without doubt they were those of a soldier buried here during the detention, and dug up by the wolves after the train was out of sight, who, hyena-like, had made a hideous repast from his diseased flesh. These relics may now be seen in Dr. Teffts' of- fice.

It may want explanation how Gen. Scott, while at Chicago, learned of the progress of the war, and the locality of the erratic combatants engaged in it-a knowledge so essential to him

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

(the Commander-in-Chief), before any steps could be taken from his position at Fort Dear- born. To get this information, he employed a man acquainted with the country to go to Dix- on, on Rock River, which was supposed to be Gen. Atkinson's base.

mother was a captive, who had been taken in childhood by the Shawnees from the Virginia frontier during Dunmore's war in 1774, and subsequently became the wife (after the Indian fashion) of John Kinzie, the founder of the city of Chicago (in the American sense). Clark was the oldest son of this discarded wife after her marriage to a worthy Scotch gentleman. He executed the mission of Gen. Scott with fidelity, taking along with him two half-breeds, equally courageous, to assist in any emergency that might befall him on the way. Stealthily he traversed the open prairie which intervened between Chicago and Dixon, passing through the northern part of the present county of Du Page, avoiding all trails and Indian lodges lest he might be captured by emissaries of Black Hawk, who were then supposed to be prowling about for stragglers. When he re- turned with a message from Gen. Atkinson and presented it to Gen. Scott, he with his comrades received a liberal reward, but the two half- breeds tarnished their laurels by a carousal, and, before they recovered from the effects of it, died with cholera. Mr. Benjamin Hall, now living in Wheaton, saw them but a few minutes before they were taken down.

After the arrival of Gen. Scott's army at Fort Armstrong, the fifty teams accompanying it were sent back to Chicago, young Murray being one of the drivers. They had been pur- chase 1 at Milan, Ohio, but were sold at Chi- cago on Government account for the most they would bring. The Indian prisoners were sent | the war and an eye witness, it appears that the

to Jefferson barraeks just below St. Louis on the 9th of September. Here Black Hawk, who was among them, remained till April 26, 1833, when he was sent to Fortress Monroe, since which time worse men than he have been con- fined there. On the 4th of June following, he was sent back to the small relic of his tribe, then removed west of the Mississippi River. On his way, he was received with ovations in all the large cities through which he passed.

The name of the intrepid scout thus employed to communicate with Gen. Atkinson was John K. Clark, an early " habitant " of Chicago, still remembered by a few of its early settlers. His i Ladies of high rank flattered him with compli- ments, which, if anything could astonish an In- dian, must have been a surprise to this old weather-beaten warrior at the contrast pre- sented between the treatment he had received at the hands of the white men who first drove him from his village with no provocation, and the kind sympathy of these elegant ladies. Not to be outdone by them in courtesy, he re- -- sponded to their pleasant words and smiles in as good English as he could : " Pretty Squaw, Pretty squaw."

On returning to his country, he was restored to his tribe as a chief subordinate to Keokuk. His last days were spent in quietude, where his good squaw attended to his wants till death caused him to be

Admitted to that equal sky To which his faithful dog shall bear him company." This was October 3, 1838. He was buried in a sitting posture, near the present village of Towaville, in Wapello County. A mound six feet high was raised over the grave of this ill- starred chieftain who must ever stand recorded as the last native defender of the soil of the Northwest. Thus ended all danger from Indian troubles, for no fears were entertained on ac- count of the Pottawatomies, though still more numerous than the whites throughout Northern Illinois.

In justice to the memory of Black Hawk, it should not be omitted here that according to the testimony of Gov. Reynolds, who was in .

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

first hostile shot was fired at one of Black Hawk's men, who was one of five to convey a flag of truce to the camp of the Americans. Two of these white-flag bearers were captured and killed by the volunteers, and Stillman's disgraceful defeat was the result of this affair, on which occasion a little handful of Indians gave chase to 240 volunteers, and killed 11 of them in revenge for their attack upon the five truce-bearers.

The massacre at Indian Creek soon followed, which for hellish cruelty has never been ex- ceeded in the annals of Indian warfare. Two of the Indians engaged in it were supposed to be, and probably were veritably identified after- ward, and a bill for murder against them was found in the Court of the Grand Jury at Ottawa. The criminals were placed in the hands of George E. Walker, then County Sheriff of La Salle County ; but as their trial was postponed six months, and, in the meantime, the tribe to which the two criminals belonged had been re- removed beyond the Mississippi River, Mr. Walker released them on their own pledge that they would return at the next term of court, he himself signing their bail.

On the appointed day, in stalked the two In- dians with the air of their brethren when they sing their death song ; but, owing to the lloods, the judge could not appear, and the court again adjourned over to another term. The two In- dians again returned to their tribe, supposing the matter done with. In this they were mis- taken. Mr. Walker was called upon to produce them at the next session of court, and he started immediately and alone across the country, reached the tribe, and the two criminals re- turned without hesitation with him ; were tried and acquitted for want of identification satis- factory to the jury.

Mr. Walker died in 1874, at No. 34 Indiana avenue, Chicago, greatly esteemed by all who knew him. This information was direct from his truthful lips before he died.

During the absence of the settlers at Naper's colony, they had disturbed nothing which had been left behind, and when the fleers returned they found the warm meals that some of them had left on the table untasted, now worse than cold hash.

The sacrifices that had been made by the hasty stampede into Fort Dearborn of the Naper settlers, were more than offset by the widespread fame and notoriety which the affair had given throughout the country, which soon began to induce emigration not only into the entire northern portion of the State ; and among the other wonders that first surprised new comers, was the wonder that so fertile a coun- try accessible as it was to the world outside, had so long remained unnoticed.

The following poll lists are copied from the original documents, which are now in the hands of William Naper, son of Joseph Naper. They are authentic records of the names of settlers then in and contiguous to the Naper settle- ment :

A poll book of an election held in the Scott Gen- eral Precinct in Cook County, Ill., on Monday the 6th day of August, 1832.

VOTERS' NAMES.

Joseph Naper, P. F. W. Peck,

Harry Boardman, Israel P. Blodgett,

Stephen M. Salesbury,

Robert Strong,

John Manning,

Walter Stowell,

Seth Wescott, R. M Sweet,

John Naper, Harry T. Willson,

Pierce Hawley,

Peter Wycoff,

Willard Scott,

Bailey Hobson.

Isaac Scarritt,

At an election held at the house of Joseph Naper in the Scott Precinct, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, on the 6th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, the following-named persons received the number of votes annexed to their respective names, for the following described offices to wit:

Joseph Duncan had 14 votes for Representative to Congress.

Jonathan H. Pugh had 2 votes for Representative to Congress. James N. Strode had 13 votes for Senator.

HISTORY OF DU PAGE COUNTY.

James W. Stephenson had 3 votes for Senator. Benjamin I. Mills had 16 votes for Representative. Stephen B. Forbes had 17 votes for Sheriff.

Elijah Wentworth, Jr., had 16 votes for Coroner. Rnfns Brown had 17 votes for County Commissioner. Harry Boardman had 16 votes for County Commis- sioner.

Holder Sisson had 16 votes for County Commis- sioner.

James Walker had 1 vote for County Commissioner. Certified by us,

JOSEPHI NAPER. HARRY BOARDMAN, STEPHEN M. SALESBURY. Judges of Election.

Attest:

JOIIN MANNING,

Clerks of Election.

SETHI WESCOTT.

A poll book of an election in the Scott General Precinct in Cook County, Ill., on Saturday the 6th of October, 1832.

VOTERS' NAMES.

Daniel Landon, Lyman Butterfield,

Joseph Naper.

Jolın Manning,

Harry Boardman, Christopher Payne.

John Murray, Peter Wycoff,

Alanson Sweet,

Caleb Foster,

Asahel Buckley, Jolın Naper,

Sherman King, S. M. Salesbury,

Pierce Hawley.

At an election held at the house of Joseph Naper in the Scott General Election Precinet in the Flag Creek Distriet, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, on the 6th day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty- two, the following-named persons received the number of votes annexed to their respective names, for the following described offices to wit:

Stephen M. Sallsbury had 10 votes for Justice of the Peace.

John Murray had 2 votes for Justice of the Peace. John Manning had 1 vote for Justice of the Peace. Sherman King had 1 vote for Justice of the Peace. Willard Scott had 14 votes for Constable.

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History of Du Page County, Illinois (Historical, Biographical), Part 6

Author: Blanchard, Rufus, 1821-1904 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & co. Number of Pages: 544

Author: Blanchard, Rufus, 1821-1904
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & co.
Number of Pages: 544