History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698

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Heckewelder, daughter of the widely known Moravian Mis- sionary, whose band of Christian Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity, a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1781 and 1782 in the his- tory of the North-west. During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyandots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practiced on the captives, many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of fron- tier outlaws. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio Valleys. Contemporary with them were several engagements in Ken- tucky, in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruction. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her unconquerable colonies ; Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the lib- erty of America was assured. On the 19th of April follow- ing, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was proclaimed to the Army of the United States, and on the 3d of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the centre of the Great Lakes; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake, thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi River ; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line east to the head of the Appalach- icola River; down its center to its junction with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.

Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements with the Indians through- out Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whose lands adventur- ous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by the proper treaty. To remedy this evil, Congress appointed Commissioners to treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the settlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the year another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however, not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the North-west she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of December preceding, authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and the North- west Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion. To General Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situ- ated anywhere north of the Ohio wherever they chose to

locate them. They selected the region opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the village of Clarksville, about mid- way between the cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville, Indiana.

While the frontier remained thus, and General Haldi- mand at Detroit refused to evacuate, alleging that he had no orders from his king to do so, settlers were rapidly gather- ing about the inland forts. Iu the spring of 1784, Pittsburg was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian council at Fort McIntosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in appearance. He says, "Pittsburg is in- habited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the North of Ireland, or even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being brought at the vast expense of forty five shillings per hundred lbs. from Philadelphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and money. There are in the town, four attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."

Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabi- tants, and was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A land office was opened at Lonisville, and measures were adopted to take defensive precaution against the Indians, who were yet, in some instances, incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year, 1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although no entries were recorded until 1787. The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished, they held large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Con- gress adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the surveys of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of the Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made in 1784, that at Fort McIntosh in 1785, and through these vast tracts of land were gained. The Wabash Indians, how- ever, afterwards refused to comply with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel their adherence to its provisions, force was used.

During the year 1786, the free navigation of the Mis- sissippi came up in Congress, and caused various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to excite speculation in regard to the Western lands. Congress had promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its navigation, and the trade of the Northwest, that body, had in 1783 declared its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded be- tween the two governments. Before the close of the year, 1786, however, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some grants and settlements thereon, and on the 14th of September Connecticut ceded to the general government the tract of land known as the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the year a large tract of land was sold to a company, who at once took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a de- 21

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

duction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies, they received 750,000 acres bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the Seventh range of townships, on the west by the Sixteenth range, and on the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without the reservation. In addition to this Congress afterward granted 100,000 acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the resolutions of 1789 and 1790. While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the cession was made by Virginia, 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected. A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery, which prevail- ed. The plan was then discussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina. By this proposition the Territory was to have been divided into ten States by parallels and meridian lines. There were, however, serious objections to this plan ; the root of the diffi- culty was in the resolution of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir- ginia and Massachusetts they desired a change, and in July 1786, the subject was taken up in Congress and changed to favor a division into not more than five States, and not less than three; this was approved by the Legislature of Virginia. The subject was again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year, and until July 1787 when the famous " compact of 1787 " was passed, and the founda- tion of the government of the Northwest laid. This compact is fully discussed and explained in the sketch on Illinois in this book, and to it the reader is referred. The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of land between the Miamis. This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the follow- ing year. During the autumn the directors of the New England Company were preparing to occupy their grant the following spring, and upon the 23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men, under the superintendency of General Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the surveyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hartford and proceed on their journey westward, the remainder to follow as soon as possi- ble. Congress in the meantime, upon the 3d of October, had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions, and two days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Ter- ritory of the Northwest.

AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.

The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now complete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of In- 22

dian affairs, settlers from the east began to come into the country rapidly. The New England Company sent their men during the winter of 1787-8, pressing on over the Alle- ghenics by the old Indian path which had been opened into Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike from Cumberland, westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled on, and by April were all gathered on the Youghiogheny, where boats had been built, and a once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.

General St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the North west not having yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, writ- ten out, and published by being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed to administer them. Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the Northwest said : " No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable au spices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum. I know many of its set- tlers personally, and there were never men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community." On the 2.1 of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the " Muskingum," but was afterwards changed to the name, Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette. Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Var- num, who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October 1787. On July 9, Governor St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act of 1787 pro- vided two distinct grades of government for the Northwest, under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed on the governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th of July : these provid- ed for the organization of the militia, and on the next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the county of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the second of September the first court was held with imposing ceremonies.

The emigration westward at this time was very great. The commander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Musk- ingum reported four thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between February and June 1788, many of whom would have purchased of the " Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been ready to receive them. On the 26th of November 1787 Symmes issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In January 1788, Mat- thias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sec- tions upon which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining ouc- third of this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the three about August

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

commeneed to lay out a town on the spot, which was desig- nated as being Lieking River, to the mouth of which they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington ; these settle- ments prospered but suffered greatly from the flood of 1789.

On the 4th of March 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into operation, and on April 30th, George Washington was inaugurated President, and during the next summer an Indian war was commeneed by the tribes north of the Ohio. The President at first used pacific means, but these failing, he sent General Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but was defeated in two battles, near the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while he was encamped on a stream, the St Mary, a branch of the Manmee, he was attacked and defeated with a loss of six hundred meu. General Wayne was then sent against the savages. In August, 1794, he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, com- pelled the Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large tract of country was ceded to the United States. Before proceeding in our nar- ra.ive, we will pause to notice Fort Washington, ereeted in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati. Nearly all the great eities of the North-west, and indeed of the whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer struc- tures, known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Ponchartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud cities of Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities ea t and west of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a num- ber of strong'y-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barraeks were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers' quarters were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished. The whole was so placed as to form a hollow square, enelosing about au aere of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles. Fort Washington was for some time the headquarters of both the Civil and Military governments of the North-western Territory. Following the consummation of the treaty vari- ous gigantic land speeulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large traets of lands. These were generally discovered in time to prevent the schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war. On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured. No sooner had the treaty of 1795 been ratified than settlers began to pour rapidly into the west. The great event of the year 1796, was the occupation of that part of the North-west including Michigan, which was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British forces. The United States owing to certain conditions, did not feel justified in addressing the authorities

in Canada in relation to Detroit and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were called upon to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne who had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who before the year's close, siekened and died near Erie, transferred his headquarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after him was formed, which included the north-west of Ohio, all of Michigan, and the north-east of Indiana. During this same year settlements were formed at the present eity of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middletowu to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators began to appear in great numbers. In Sep- tember the eity of Cleveland was laid out, and during the summer and autumn, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharp- less, ereeted the first manufactory of paper-the " Redstone Paper Mills" -- in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly Freneh Canadians, Indians and half- breeds, searcely any Americans venturing yet into that part of the North-west. The election of representatives for the territory had taken place, and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville-now known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and considered the capital of the territory,-to nominate persons from whom the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly adjourned until the 16.h of the following Sep- tember. From those named the President selected as mem- bers of the council, IIenry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findley, and Jacob Burnett, of Cineinnati, and David Vanee, of Vaneeville. On the 16th of September, the Territorial Legislature met, and ou the 24th, the two houses were duly organized, Henry Vanden- burg being elected President of the Council. The message of Gov. St. Clair, was addressed to the Legislature Septem- ber 20th, and on October 13th, that body elected as a dele- gate to Congress, General Wm. Henry Harrison, who re- eeived eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of General St. Clair. The whole number of acts passed at this session and approved by the Governor, were thirty-seven-eleven others were passed but received his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this protracted session of the first Legislature in the West elosed, and on the 30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Byrd, to the office of secretary of the Territory, rice Wm. IIenry Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day.

DIVISION OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY.

The increased emigration to the north-west, and extent of the domain, made it very difficult to conduct the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action of eourts almost impossible ; to remedy this it was deemed advisable to divide the territory for civil purposes. Con-

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

gress, in 1800, appointed a committee to examine the ques- tion and report some means for its solution.

This committee on the 3d of March reported : " In the western countries there had been but one court having cog- nizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * To remedy this evil it is expedient to the committee that a division of said territory into two distinct and separate governments should be made, and that such division be made by beginning at the month of the Great Miami river, running directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States and Canada."

The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its suggestions, that body passed an act extinguishing the north-west territory, which act was approved May 7th. Among its provisions were these :

" That from and after July 4 next all that part of the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence North until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory and be called the Indian Territory."

Gen. Harrison (afterwards President), was appointed governor of the Indiana Territory, and during his residence at Vincennes, he made several important treaties with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of land. The next year is memorable in the history of the west for the purchase of Louisiana from France by the United States for $15,000,- 000. Thus by a peaceful manner the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction of the north-western government. The next year Gen. Harri- son obtained additional grants of land from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of land were obtained.

During this year, Congress granted a township of land for the support of a college and began to offer inducements for settlers in these wilds, and the country now comprising the state of Michigan began to fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year a law was passed organizing the south-west territory, dividing it into two portions,-the territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of government, and the district of Louisiana, which was annexed to the domain by General Harrison.

On the 11th of January, 1805, the territory of Michigan was formed, and Wm. Hull appointed governor, with head- quarters at Detroit, the change to take effect June 30th. On the 11th of that month, a fire occurred at Detroit, which destroyed most every building in the place. When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it

in ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the coun- try. Rebuilding, however, was commenced at once. While this was being done, Indiana passed to the second grade of government. In 1809, Indiana territory was divided, and the territory of Illinois was formed, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia, and through her General Assem- bly had obtained large tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, vigorously protested,* and it was the main cause of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the settlers. He visited the principal tribes, and succeeded in forming an alliance with most of the tribes, and then joined the cause of the British in the memorable war of 1812. Tecumseh was killed at the battle of the Thames. Tecum- seh was, in many respects, a noble character,-frank and honest in his intercourse with General Harrison and the settlers ; in war, brave and chivalrous. His treatment of prisoners was humane. In the summer of 1812, Perry's vic- tory on Lake Erie occurred, and shortly after, active pre- parations were made to capture Fort Malden. On the 27th of September, the American army under command of General Harrison, set sail for the shores of Canada, and, in a few hours, stood around the ruins of Malden, from which the British army under Proctor had retreated to Sandwich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the valley of the Thames. On the 29th, General Harrison was at Sandwich, and General McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan. On the 2d of Octo- ber following, the American army began their pursuit of Proctor, whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of the Thames followed. The victory was decisive, and practi- cally closed the war in the north-west. In 1806, occurred Burr's insurrection. He took possession of an island in the Ohio, and was charged with treasonable intentions against the Federal government. IIis capture was effected by General Wilkinson, acting under instruction of President Jefferson. Burr was brought to trial on a charge of treason, and, after a prolonged trial, during which he defended him- self with great ability, he was acquitted of the charge of treason. His subsequent. career was obscure, and he died in 1836. Had his scheme succeeded, it would be interesting to know what effect it would have had on the north-we tern territory. The battle of the Thames was fought October 6th, 1813. It effectually closed hostilities in the north-west, although peace was not restored until July 22.1, 1814, when a treaty was made at Greenville, by General Harrison, be- tween the United States and the Indian tribes. On the 24th of December, the treaty of Ghent was signed by the repre- sentatives of England and the United States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various Indian tribes throughout the north-west, and quiet was again restored.

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698