History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 6

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > History of La Salle County, Illinois > Part 6

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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

thing about his religion. I know he is a brave man, and a clever fellow; and though he is a great fool to think his religion could do you any good, yet he wants to preach, and he shall do so, and you must hear him. And now, the first man that interrupts him goes from this place a dead man.' Then turning to the preacher, he said : 'Walker, now give them hell-fire and damnation, for they deserve it.' Mr. Walker set his rifle down, mounted a stump, sang and prayed, and feeling that God had made the wicked his pro- tection, and having a sense that God was with him, he preached with power. A revival broke out and great reformation followed, the fruits of which remain to this day."

In 1824 Jesse Walker opened a school for the Indians at Fort Clark, where Peoria now stands. In the spring of 1825, finding that the Potto- watomie Indians were settled principally farther north toward Chicago, he decided to go to the mouth of the Fox River. Five families came with him and built cabins on the south bluff where the city of Ottawa now stands.

When the cabins were built, Mr. Walker found that he had made a mistake. The land was not Indian land. Being perplexed and in trouble, he went off into a grove to pray for guidance. This is what Rev. Field says happened :

"While at prayer he was disturbed by the sound of footsteps, and looking up, he saw a nobly formed Indian standing near, with a smile of welcome on his face. This was Shabbonee, the friend of the white man. The chief intro- duced himself with the expression, 'Me Shabbon- nee', at the same time giving Brother Walker a warm shake of the hand. Jesse Walker could speak no Indian, and Shabbonee little Eng- lish. So there was little conversation, but enough to give Walker to understand that he had found a friend. Shabbonee soon disap- peared. He went to his own camp, about a mile distant, from which he soon returned, bearing on his shoulders a quarter of venison and a wild turkey. He was accompanied by a half- breed, who became interpreter. The next day, under the guidance of Shabbonee and Furkee (or Furque), the missionary explored the country up the east side of the Fox River until he came to a beautiful spot twenty miles above the mouth of the river, where was a spring in a beau- tiful grove. Here Jesse Walker drove his stake, and established Salem Mission, the first Metho- dist appointment in the bounds of the Rock River Conference. This location was on section 15, township 35, range 5, now in the town of Mission, in La Salle county."

In October of 1825 Jesse Walker reports : "The place (of the Mission) is about one hundred miles

above Fort Clark, about twenty miles north of the mouth of the Fox River. The soil is very good. timber plenty, and the spot well watered." In the spring of 1826 some of his relatives joined him. His brother, Dr. David Walker, entered the section of land on which Ottawa now stands. Dr. David Walker's son, George E. Walker, be- came the first sheriff of La Salle County. James Walker, nephew and son-in-law of Jesse Walker came to help in the mission. His wife, Jane, was the daughter of Susannah, whom we recall was well educated, and who had entire care of the family, while her husband was away on his mis- sionary campaign. She saw to it that her daugh- ter was as well brought up as the home and the best schools of the day made possible. She be- came the principal teacher of the Indians in the mission school. James brought with him a horse-mill, a mill for grinding grain by horse- power. This was set up at the mission and aft- erward at Plainfield. It became a great con- venience to the Indians and helped to make them friendly.

James Walker had been a soldier in General Jackson's army and was present at the battle of New Orleans. He told this incident which is reported by Rev. Field : "Among the young men from Tennessee were many zealous Methodists; for by that time the Methodist societies were found in almost every neighborhood of that state. In the haversacks of these were carried their Bibles and hymn books, and it was their invaria- ble custom to gather for evening prayer meetings. At last the army was found lying in camp near New Orleans. The near approach of battle in- creased greatly the fervor of the praying soldiers. They were getting ready to die bravely, if they must. 'At times,' says James Walker, 'I was led to think the portals of heaven were thrown open, and a stream of light and glory poured out upon our souls.' They became, no doubt, a lit- tle noisy. At any rate, a very officious young officer made a serious complaint to General Jack- son about the noise, calling it a nuisance. The general asked what they were doing. 'Well, they sing, exhort, pray and shout, and call it a prayer meeting,' was the officer's reply. 'Old Hickory' answered thus: 'Young man, go back and join the meeting ; and tell them to remember me in their prayers. May God forbid that a prayer meeting should ever be considered a nuis- ance in my camp!"

James Walker's conversion caused him to free all his slaves and move to a free soil. He was captain of a company in the Black Hawk war. Afterward he was several times a member of the General Assembly and a most useful and ex- emplary citizen. His wife, who also taught at

PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

the Indian mission, is spoken of in the records as a woman of exalted character. Her grand- daughter, Mrs. Searles, of Joliet, says of her : "She never complained ; never looked back. God's work was her work and her husband's cares were her cares. Tall, slender, dark hair and eyes, with a remarkable memory was her description."

In December, 1826, Jesse Walker reports to his conference : "I have now closed the business of Salem Mission for the present year, and beg leave to report, that, in accordance with the in- structions of Bishop Roberts, I went as soon as possible to the Indian country, and have made an agreement with the Pottawatomies, through their chiefs, for a section of land in conformity with the articles adopted by the Illinois Conference, and have obtained the best titles which could be obtained from a rude and uncultivated nation, signed by the interpreter as a mutual friend, which instrument accompanies this report. I have built a house for the accommodation of the family, which consists of eighteen persons. The house is fifty by twenty, two stories high, with apartments. It is built of hewed logs, and roofed with shingles. We have a smith-shop, a con- venience I could not dispense with-a poultry- house, spring-house, and other conveniences. I have forty acres of land in cultivation, seven acres inclosed for pasture, and one acre for garden. All has cost $2,400. Our crops are good-I suppose worth $200, when secured. . . . I have talked with eight chiefs, all of whom are highly gratified with the mission, and have pledged themselves to use their influence to support it in its religious char- acter, but can not legislate upon the subject of religion. That, they say, is a matter between the Great Spirit and the hearts of their people ; but they will defend and protect the mission fam- ily, and if the Indians will give up their children to the care and tuition of missionaries, they will be glad of it, but they can not use coercion. The school consists of fifteen native children, seven males, eight females, and two teachers. I would here state that I have built a horse-mill, and have it in operation. A door of communication to the hearts of these poor, neglected, persecuted sons of men must be opened before we can ex- pect among them the exercises of an evangelical faith.'

In 1827 Jesse Walker reported twenty-five members of the church, among them one Indian. Yet he was hopeful. But in 1828 he had to close up the mission. The government was moving the Indians west. Their lands about the mis- sion had been ceded to the government and the few Indians that remained went from place to place leaving no work for the mission to do. He then went to Chicago. But there he found it

about as hard to get a foot-hold as in St. Louis. He wrote to his conference : "I still have some hope that Chicago will some day receive the gos- pel. Please send me some instruction." He succeeded. In 1832 he was presiding elder of the Chicago District and in charge of Chicago Mission. His district had four charges, Chi- cago, Des Plaines, Peoria and Pekin. This gives us an idea of the territory he had to travel. His, the first church of any kind in Chicago, was a double log house, near the point of meeting of the two branches of the Chicago River. There was a door at each end and one in the partition separating the two parts. Susannah, Jesse Walker's wife, had died and he fitted up one of the rooms for a living room for himself and the other for a place for meetings. This is what John Watkins, the first school teacher, says of the house : "I commenced teaching in the fall after the Black Hawk war of 1832. My first school- house was situated on the North Side, about half way between the lake and the forks of the river, then known as Wolf's Point. The building was owned by R. J. Hamilton ; was erected as a stable. It was twelve feet square. After the first quar- ter I moved my school into a double log house on the West Side. It was owned by Rev. Jesse Walker, and was located near the bank of the river where the north and south branches meet. He resided in one end of the house, and I taught in the other. On Sundays Father Walker preached in the the room where I taught."

"Jesse Walker was my successor in 1832," writes S. R. Beggs. "Myself and wife attended his first quarterly meeting. The meeting house, parsonage, parlor and kitchen were all the same log house that we formed the first class in in 1831. Mrs. Beggs and myself were permitted to dine with the old hero. His stove was one of the box kind, with one griddle hole. Here he boiled the tea kettle, fried the meat, and broiled the scanty vegetables, each in its turn. He had for his table a large chest, and when dinner was served we surrounded the chest, and having good appetites, the dinner was refreshing."

In 1834, being then sixty-eight years old, he retired from the active ministry and settled on a farm on the Des Plaines River. Quoting again from "Worthies of the Rock River Conference :" "An incident here will illustrate what frequently happened when the backwoods preacher of Illi- nois and Missouri went down into the more cul- tured regions of Tennessee or Kentucky. The

following is from Peter Cartwright: 'I think it was in the fall of 1819 our beloved old Brother Walker came over to our Tennesee Conference. which sat at Nashville, to see us. But Oh, how weather-beaten and war-worn was he, almost, if

PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

not altogether, without decent apparel to appear among us ! We soon made a collection, and had him a decent suit of clothes to put on ; and never shall I forget the blushing modesty and thankfulness with which he accepted that suit.'"

"As to his mental endowments," says Bishop Morris, "he was without education, except the elementary branches of English imperfectly ac- quired. But favored with a good share of com- mon sense, cultivated by some reading, but much more by practical intercourse with society, and enriched with a vast fund of incidents peculiar to a frontier life, which he communicated with much ease and force, his conversational talent, his tact in narrative, his spicy manner, and al- most endless variety of religious anecdotes, ren- dered him an object of attraction in social life. Unaccustomed to expressing his thoughts on paper, he kept his journal in his mind, by which means his memory, naturally retentive, was much strengthened, and his resources for the enter- tainment of his friends increased. He intro- duced himself among strangers with much facili- ty, and so soon as they became acquainted with him, his social habits, good temper, unaffected simplicity, and great ease of manners for a back- woodsman, made them fast friends. As a pulpit orator he was not above mediocrity, if up to it ; but his zeal was ardent, his moral courage firm. his piety exemplary, and his perseverance in whatever he undertook was undaunted. Con- sequently, by the blessing of God upon his la- bors, he was enabled in the third of a century to accomplish untold good."

In 1835 he was called from his labors to the reward for which he hoped himself and which he labored all his life to bring to others. The rec- ord is one that the people of La Salle County may cherish, the record of toil and suffering and sac- rifice, that the greatest good as he conceived it, might come to his fellowmen. Like Father Marquette, in the narrower sense, he failed. In the larger sense he succeeded triumphantly. The beginnings which he made the inspiration of his humble but heroic life spread blessings over a prosperous land and a people that enjoy the fruits of his labor.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

DR. DAVIDSON.

After the establishment of Fort Dearborn in 1804 as a western trading post, fur traders in the employ of the American Fur Company trav- eled up and down the Illinois River, plying their

trade, but none of these seem to have made a permanent settlement.

In 1823 Dr. Davidson, a physician and a man of education, built a cabin on the south bank of the Illinois River opposite the west end of Buffalo Rock. He lived alone, traded with the Indians and did some trapping himself. Why he came thus alone to dwell in the wilderness among savage men is not known. He had little inter- course with white men when they came. In 1826 he was found dead in his cabin. As he wished to live, so he died, alone. He had books and papers which, had they been preserved, would be of great interest now.

JOEL HODGSON.

The following is from Baldwin's History of La Salle County and gives a vivid idea of the early times :

Mr. Eli Hodgson, of Farm Ridge, has fur- nished the facts for the following narrative of a trip through this region by his father. Joel Hodgson, in 1821, two years before the first white settler came in. Joel Hodgson was not an early settler here, but he settled in 1828 in Tazewell County, with a large family. Four of his sons and his widow removed to Farm Ridge, in this county, in 1853. Two of them, Aaron and Eli Hodgson, large farmers and stock breed- ers, became residents here, and the narrative is worthy a place in our pioneer history.

In the autumn of 1821 a number of families of Clinton County, Ohio, proposed to emigrate to a western location, in sufficient numbers to support a school, church, etc .. and deputed Joel Hodgson and another person to explore the then wild and unoccupied Northwest, and select a loca- tion for the colony. His colleague having been taken sick, Mr. Hodgson resolutely started alone, on horseback. He equipped himself with a good horse, saddle and bridle, a packing wapello well filled with dried beef, crackers, and hard tack ; his other equipments were the best map he could then get of the western territories, a pocket com- pass, flint and steel and punk-wood, with which to kindle a fire, as matches were not then known. He carried no weapon, often remarking that an honest face was the best weapon among civilized or savage men.

After safely crossing the state of Indiana, then a wilderness, he entered Illinois where Dan- ville now is, where he found a small settlement and some friends. Here he made a short stay. and then took a northwest course, to strike the Illinois River, his map and compass his only guide.

MANSION HOUSE

LIL

MANSION HOUSE-OTTAWA-1860.

SHOWING ROBINSON'S CIRCUS.

PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

He put up, usually, where night found him. Striking a fire with his flint, steel and punk, wrapped in his blanket, and with the broad earth for a bed, he slept soundly. He stated that his horse became very cowardly, so that he would scarcely crop grass, which was his only suste- nance ; he would keep close to his master, follow- ing him wherever he went, and sleeping at night by his side, and would not leave him at any time. With no roads but an occasional Indian trail, through high grass and bushes, over the broad, limitless prairie, or along the timber .belts, occa- sionally meeting a party of Indians, with whom he conversed only by signs, it is not surprising that horse or rider should be lonely, suspicious and fearful. The Indians were friendly, offer- ing to pilot him wherever he wished to go, but were importunate for tobacco and whisky-in vain, however, for he carried neither.

He reached the Illinois, he supposed, just be- low the mouth of the Kankakee, and followed down on the south side till he reached the mouth of Fox River, and recognized it on his map- the first time he had been certain of his locality since he left Danville.

He explored each of the southern branches of the Illinois for several miles from their mouths, going up one side and down the other. He thus worked his way to Dillon's Grove, in Tazewell County ; there, as he expected, he met a few settlers, old neighbors of his, from Ohio, the first white men he had seen since leaving Danville. He then returned by way of Springfield and Van- dalia to Danville, where he made a claim on gov- ernment land, which he afterwards purchased. He returned to Ohio and reported that he found no suitable location for the proposed colony. Some might think it rather singular that a man of his resolution and sound judgment should pass through the best part of the state of Illi- nois-the best portion of the west, and as good a country as the sun shines on, and then make such a report ; but those who saw it as he saw it can properly appreciate his decision, and the fact that he made such a decision, is significant of the immeasurable difference between then and now. Surrounded by the solitude, which even his horse felt so keenly, he was not in a mood to take in the full value of a prairie farm, and the prairie region was not then understood ; there was supposed to be an almost fatal deficiency of timber, and the coal fields were hid in the bowels of the earth. The prairie was supposed to be so cold and bleak in winter as to be unin- habitable, and that not more than a tenth of the country could ever be utilized. The railroads which now connect us with either ocean, and the telegraph which annihilates distance, and con-

verses with all the world, were neither of them invented. The slower mail and post coach had not then crossed the prairie region, and puffing steamer had never reached the Upper Illinois. There was no civilization here. The deer, the wolf and the Indian held a divided empire, and to the solitary traveler it seemed that generations must pass before this immense solitude could be made vocal with converse and business of a civilized people. Even of those who came ten years later, many were of that opinion, and for several years later still, never expected to live to see the large prairies occu- pied. Our explorer eventually changed his opin- ion, for in 1828 he purchased a farm in Taze- well County, and removed there three years later, having, in the autumnof 1828, taken a trip through the country similar to that of 1821, when some few settlements and more experience softened the as- pect of the then changing wilderness, and con- vinced him of the feasibility of settling the prairie region. He remained on his purchase, near Pekin, until his death in the autumn of 1836, leaving a widow and nine children. The eldest son, Isaac, settled at Long Point, Livingston County, in 1834, twelve miles from the nearest neighbor, and in 1848 moved to South Ottawa, where he died in 1851. In 1853, four more of the brothers-Eli, Aaron, Abner and Isaiah, set- tled in Farm Ridge, and soon after, their mother, the widow of Joel Hodgson, removed there, where she died in 1875.

SETTLERS OF 1825.

The histories do not agree on the year of the first comers after Dr. Davidson. Rev. Jesse Walker, a detailed account of whose life is given elsewhere in this history, is said to have come in 1823 and in 1824. The records of the Methodist Conference show that he established his mission in 1825. He probably did make a trip to the country in 1824, for that year he was engaged in missionary work at Peoria. Thomas E. Covell settled on the creek which now bears his name and established a mill where the creek emerges from the bluff.

Enos Pembroke came from New York, died in 1832. His widow, a devout and active Meth- odist, kept a hotel at the foot of the south bluff.

Lewis Bailey came to Ottawa but soon settled just east of the present village of Tonica at the head of what was then called Bailey's Grove.

Others that came to the mouth of the Fox River were Joseph and George Brown, Pierce Hawley, James Beresford, Warner Ramsey, Moses Booth, Christopher Long. George and Horace Sprague, James and David Calvin, Ed-

PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

mond or Edward Weed, Col. Sayers and Mr. Ran- SOM11. These took up claims in different places. One of the Spragues at Marseilles, Long, west of Marseilles.

THE SETTLERS OF 1826.

The new year brought quite a number of new settlers. The relatives of Rev. Jesse Walker from Virginia, Tennessee and southern Illinois, followed him and settled at Ottawa. One of his nephews, James Walker, married his cousin, the daughter of Jesse Walker, and became a part of the mission. There were Dr. David Walker, brother of Jesse, a physician, and three sons, George E., Wilbur F. and David, Jr. James Galloway came to the south side of the river at Marseilles.

JAMES GALLOWAY.

A somewhat detailed account of this pioneer will give a fair idea of the life of those early times. He was born in Pennsylvania but went "west" to Sandusky, Ohio, a small village on Lake Erie. Hearing of the rich prairies of Illi- nois he secured a horse and on his back made his way across Indiana to Chicago in 1824. Here he remained nearly a year hunting and trapping. The American Fur Company, headquarters at Chicago, had its agents out over the country buy- ing the furs of the Indians. Mr. Galloway found a market for the fruit of his labor. In one of his hunting trips he came to the rapids of the Illinois at Marseilles. The location suited him and he bought a claim, on the south bank, of Ephraim Sprague in 1825. He then hurried back to Sandusky for his family.

He was a man well-to-do for those days and decided to take with him a stock of goods for trade among the Indians. He, however, did not take into account the fact that the American Fur Company claimed the exclusive right to that trade.

He purchased twenty barrels of salt. For a handful of this he could get a mink skin which sold for 20 cents. He also took all the bacon and flour that he thought he could transport, and also 200 traps and different kinds of household goods. It was impossible to carry this stock of goods across the country. It had to be taken by boat around the lakes.

Boats did not often make trips to Chicago. He waited until August, 1826, when he learned of a boat that was going to Chicago. But it was the first day of October before the captain was ready to sail. He lay a week at Detroit indulging in a drunken spree. The same was repeated when

they reached Mackinaw. While here a severe storm of wind and sleet set in. While the cap- tain was in no hurry to go when the passengers were anxious to do so, now that they wanted to stay the captain, being in a bad temper, from his debauch, would listen to no warning of the passengers or the inhabitants, but set out in the .face of the storm. When fourteen miles out from the port the captain was obliged to turn back by the violence of the storm. When round- ing the point at St. Helena Island the vessel grounded on a sand bar, the waves dashed over her. In great danger the crew and passengers made their way to the island as it seemed, to meet death from exposure. It was four days before relief came and that was an accident.

A vessel of the American Fur Company made a voyage each spring and fall to Mackinaw and Chicago. Fortunately they were able to hail it as it was passing by. The captain hesitated to take on board a stock of goods that would com- pete with the Fur Company. He sent a mes- senger to Mackinaw for instructions from the agent. His directions were to take the goods on board but to keep them in the company's store- house in Chicago until after the 10th of May when the trading season was over. Mr. Galloway was justly indignant and said he might as well throw the goods into the lake. The captain. feel- ing that this was a dastardly piece of business, hesitated in following instructions, so told Mr. Galloway that he would not hand in the letter of instruction until after the goods had been put into his possession. With this assurance Mr. Galloway loaded the goods. The salt was a total loss and much of the flour also, and the other goods were greatly damaged.

The vessel was crowded to the limit. There were on board James Galloway, his wife, a daughter Mary, aged thirteen, Jane, aged nine, and Susann, aged two, two carpenters, a Mr. Ar- thur and wife and several others. All sympathized with Mr. Galloway and promised to stand by him in case of trouble.

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History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 6

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286