USA > Illinois > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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Among the most celebrated of the early residents of Cahokia was Mrs. La Compt, who died at Cahokia, in the year 1843, at the age of one hundred and nine. She came to Cahokia in 1770. After the death of La Compt, her second husband. she married Thomas Brady, and after his death was again known by her former name. She possessed many strong traits of character and was blessed withı un extraordinary constitution. She was familiar with the Indian
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
language and possessed great influence among the Pottawatamies, Kickapoos, and other tribes. During the early American settle- ments in Monroe and Randolph counties, from 1771 to 1795, she prevented many Indian attacks on the white population. On many occasions she was awakened in the night by her Indian friends who would inform her of a proposed Indian attack and warn her to leave Cahokia. She started often to meet some hundreds of war- riors camped near the Quentine mound, at the foot of the bluff, near the present French village, with the purpose of persuading them to dismiss their hostile intentions. She knew that a female approach- ing on foot would excite sympathy among the Indians, and then she trusted to her influence and her arguments to appease their anger and avert bloodshed. She never failed. The inhabitants of Caho- kia were often waiting, with arms in their hands, ready for defence, when they would see this extraordinary woman escorting to the village a great band of warriors changed in their motives from war to peace. The Indians were then feasted for days, and would remain in peace for some time after the reconciliation.
Another remarkable woman who lived at Cahokia at an early period was Madame Beaulieu. She was born in the village of St. Phillippe, a few miles above Fort Chartres, in the year 1742, and was educated at Quebec, Canada. Her father, whose name was Chouvin, came to Fort Chartres, as an officer in the French troops, and afterward settled at Cahokia, where his daughter married. This lady is said to have possessed a strong, active mind and a superior education. She was a pattern of morality and virtue. She understood medicine, and her attainments in this science were often called into requisition. She was extremely devout, and an exempla- ry member of the Roman Catholic Church.
John De Moulin, a native of Switzerland, settled in Cahokia and became a conspicuous and influential citizen. He was made chief justice of the court of Common Pleas of the Cahokia District of St. Clair county in 1790. For a long series of years he served as jus- tice of the peace and also judge of the probate court. He was a large trader in lands, and among the early records of land transfers his name appears with nearly as much frequency as that of any other person in the county. He was a gentleman of intelligence and education, understood legal principles, and had a thorough understanding of the value of the titles of the lands in market at that day. He was very popular, and was elected colonel of the militia for St. Clair county. He had a large and portly figure, and on parade days made a fine appearance. Under his command the militia of the county was well trained and efficient. He was a single man during his residence in Illinois, and died without wife, children, or relative of any degree in this country.
Nicholas Jarrot, a native of Franche Compte, in France, emigra- ted from his native country in 1790, and reached Cahokia in 1794, where he resided during the remainder of his life. He was a man of intense activity, energy and industry. He came to Cahokia without means, but obtained a small supply of Indian goods and became an Indian trader. He succeeded in amassing a large for- tune. Every year he dispatched a boat-load of goods to the upper Mississippi, Prairie du Chien, or the Falls of St. Anthony, where such articles as the natives needed were bartered off for furs and peltries. In early times the Indian trade was very lucrative, and two and three hundred per cent. was commonly realized on the goods sold to the Indians. He also kept a small retail store at Cahokia. He erected a horse-mill at Cahokia which was in operation before and during the war of 1812, and assisted much in providing the supplies for the troops engaged in the war. By purchasing land claims he acquired immense bodies of land, some of which was the choicest in the country. He owned considerable land on the river opposite
St. Louis. For many years he held the positions of justice of the peace and judge of the county court. His name often appears on the early court records. He erected in Cahokia a brick house, which, when built, was one of the finest in Illinois. It is still stand- ing. His first wife was a Miss Barbeau of Prairie du Rocher, and his next a Miss Beauvais of St. Genevieve, Mo. He seems to have had a mania for mills, and wasted large sums of money in building and maintaining a water-mill on Cahokia creek. His mill was situated a few miles west of East St. Louis. The exposure, fatigue and sickness he experienced while at work on this mill is said to have been the cause of his death. He was a strict and zealous mem- ber of the Roman Catholic Church. He died in 1823, and was buried in the old grave-yard of Cahokia.
In the year 1793 John Hays became a citizen of Cahokia. He was born in the city of New York in 1770, and when very young entered the Indian trade in the North-west as clerk to a wealthy house in Canada. At one time, near the head waters of the Red river, he and two Canadians were caught in a severe snow storm on the prairie and were compelled to lie under the snow for three days and nights, being unable to travel, and with only a scanty supply of dried meat and their blankets. They suffered most from want of water. On settling at Cahokia he embarked in trade with the In- dians on his own account. He afterward turned his attention to agriculture. For a long number of years he held the office of post- master at Cahokia, with no profit to himself, but for the accommo- dation of his neighbors. Governor St. Clair in 1798 appointed him sheriff of St. Clair county, and he continued to exercise the duties of this position till 1818, when the state government was organized. For several years subsequent to 1822 he was stationed at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he acted as Indian agent for the Pottawata- mies and Miami tribes. He returned to Cahokia, where he spent the balance of his days, and where, in old age, he died.
Another prominent citizen of Cahokia was John Hay. He filled several of the county offices, and many of the county records are in his hand. He was born in Detroit in 1769, and came to Cahokia in 1793. His father, John Hay, was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and was the last British Governor of Upper Canada. His mother was a lady of French descent, a native of Detroit. His father died when Mr. Hay was seventeen years old. After making a venture at the Indian trade in the North-west, he came to Caho- kia in 1793, and for a while was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness. Iu 1797 he married Miss Margaret Pouport, an amiable and beautiful young Creole of Cahokin. ' He possessed a liberal educa- tion, and he was frequently employed to do writing by the mer- chants of St. Louis and other places. Arthur St. Clair, then Gov- ernor of the North-western territory, on the 15th of February, 1799, commissioned him clerk of the court of Quarter Sessions, clerk of court of Common Pleas, clerk of the Orphans' Court, and treasurer of the county of St. Clair. He held these four positions at the same time, and also during his life occupied other offices of trust and honor. He was notary public, justice of the peace, judge of pro. bate, and recorder. He was also appointed by the commissioners at Kaskaskia to take depositions in support of land claims in the Kaskaskia district-a very delicate and responsible trust. He re- tained the confidence of the people to a rare degree, and remained in office through successive changes of administration till his death. When the county seat was removed to Belleville, in 1814, it was a severe blow to Mr. Hay and his family. His duties demanded his presence at the county seat, and yet he was reluctant to leave the French society at Cahokia, to which he had become devotedly at- tached. For several years he came to Belleville each Monday morning, returning on Saturday to Cahokia, where his family still
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
continued to reside. At last he sold his house in Cahokia, and became a permanent resident of Belleville, where he died in 1843. He was well fitted to fill the county offices in the early history of the county, when the population was of a mixed character. He was educated both in the English and French languages, and thus was qualified to transact business with both classes of the people. He acted as interpreter and assistant secretary at the treaty with the Indians at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, in 1815.
Louison, Etienne and Louis Pensoneau, three brothers, emigrated from Canada and settled in Cahokia in 1798. The youngest was then twenty-two and the oldest twenty-six. They all married in Cahokia and made excellent citizens. Louis Pensoneau for many years carried on the ferry between St. Louis and Cahokia which then crossed the river from below the mouth of the old Cahokia creek. Etienne Pensoneau built the first brick house in Illinoistown, now East St. Louis. From George Blair he purchased the site of Belleville and afterward sold it to Governor Ninian Edwards. He subsequently bought property in St. Louis, removed to that place, and died there in 1822. Louison Personeau embarked in the In- dian trade on the Illinois river, principally among the Kickapoo Indians. His main depot was at Peoria. He was influential in securing the adjustment of the old Peoria land claims. He died in 1831.
Among the physicians who made Cahokia their home, was Dr. Truman Tuttle, who came to Kaskaskia in the year 1802, as a sur- geon in the United States army. After resigning his position in the army, he practiced medicine for a time at Kaskaskia, and then came to Cahokia. He was appointed judge of the court of common pleas of St. Clair county, and justice of the peace. Dr. Lyle resided at Cahokia in early times. He was considered a good phy- sician. Dr. William L. Reynolds emigrated from Bracken county, Ky., to Kaskaskia in the year 1809, and after practicing his profes- sion there for some years, removed to Cahokia. He possessed talents of a high order, was an industrious student, and met with great professional success. He returned to Kaskaskia, and died of con- sumption in the year 1823.
PRAIRIE DU PONT.
After Cahokia the next permanent settlement in the county was the village of Prairie du Pont. This village had its start from a water-mill which was erected on Prairie du Pont creek by the Mission of St. Sulpice, about the year 1754. This was the first water-mill in St. Clair county. The village was founded in 1760 by residents of the other French villages, and in 1765 was said to contain fourteen families. It was only one mile south of Cahokia, and may be considered to have been a kind of a suburb of that village.
Jean Francois Perry was one of the most prominent citizens who ever lived at Prairie du Pont. He was born at Lyons, France, of a wealthy and aristocratic family, received a liberal, classic education, and studied and practiced law in his native country. The French revolution caused his emigration to America. He formed a partnership with another Frenchman, M. Claudius, to carry on the mercantile business, and the two started from Phila- delphia for the West. They reached Cahokia with a sınall stock of goods, and soon afterward settled at Prairie du Pont. A few years afterward Claudius went to Philadelphia to purchase goods, and was thrown from a horse and killed in the streets of that city. His foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged and torn to deatlı on the pavements. Perry purchased the old mill site on Prairie du Pont creek and built a new mill, which he carried on with profit. Near the mill was his dwelling. In the year 1794 he married the
beautiful daughter of Jean B. Saucier, of Cahokia. In a few years he amassed a large fortune; he carried on both the mill and the store, but the greater part of his wealth was gained by profitable land speculations. He possessed a sound knowledge of law and a kcen and vigorous mind, so that he was well able to enter into the traffic in land claims, which at that time engrossed the attention of inen of means. At the time of his death he owned large bodies of choice lands. He was a man of plain, unostentatious manners, and lived and dressed in the true Republican style. He paid due regard to economy, and yet displayed much hospitality in the entertain- ment of all classes of people. He was held in great popularity and high esteem. For many years he was judge of the court of common pleas; he acted as a justice of the peace during almost the whole period of his life after coming to Illinois. He was proficient in the French and English languages ; he served as a member of the legislature of Indiana Territory, which convened at Vincennes ; he employed great energy and activity in his business operations. He died in the year 1812.
Philip Creamer, a noted gunsmith, settled a short distance east of Prairie du Pont, in the year 1805. He was born at Taneytown, Maryland, and learned the trade of a gunsmith at Harper's Ferry. He had great genius as a mechanic. Anything that it was possible to do with metal he could do. But he was best in making a gun, the various parts of which he perfected and put together in a very superior manner. His gun-locks scarcely ever missed fire. In olden times it was a proverb, " He is as sure as a Creamer lock." His services were of great value in the war of 1812, and his time was fully employed in making and repairing guns for the troops defending the frontiers. It is said that some of his friends induced him to make a pistol for John C. Calhoun, at that time secretary of war. The workmanship so surprised Calhoun that he wrote Creamer a letter requesting to know some particulars of his life, and where he had learned his trade. Creamer was very singular and modest, and would not reply to the letter. He said, "I am no showman, to be advertised." He lived to an old age.
The French settlements known as French village and Quentine village, (Canteen, in Madison county,) were begun about the year 1805, and for a time enjoyed considerable prosperity. A Frenchman from Cahokia, named Delorm, settled at the edge of the timber, east of the Big Monnd, near Quentine (Canteen) creek, in 1804, and soon after the Quentine village began its existence. Its inhabitants were mostly emigrants from Prairie du Pont. The earliest settlers at French village were Nicholas Turgion, August Trotier and Dennis Valentine. The latter built a horse-mill.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS.
The early French settlers were in general ambitious for neither wealth nor knowledge. They were quite content to take the world as it came, and endeavored to extract all the enjoyment possible out of life, and to avoid its cares. All were devout Catholics, and they were punctual in the discharge of their religious duties. They were eminently a social people. They could not be induced to settle on separate farms, like the American pioneers, but they clustered to- gether in villages so that they might have the greatest opportu- nity for social intercourse. Their physical wants were easily sup- plied, and the great part of their lives they gave to pleasure. The young people delighted in the dance, and this cheerful and innocent diversion was usually carried on under the eye of the priest and the aged patriarchs of the village, who fully sympathized with the spirit of the gay assemblage. The excitement and animation of a French ball-room were surprising. Old and young, rich and poor, met together in good feeling, and with hearts overflowing with merri-
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ment. It was the usual custom to dance the old year out and the new year in. The numerous festivals of the Catholic church strongly tended to awaken and develop the social and friendly in- tercourse of the people. On the morning of the Sabbath they were always found at church, but the remainder of the day was devoted to social intercourse and diverting pastimes. Husbands and wives were kind and affectionate, and the children obedient. Hospitality and generosity were marked characteristics of the people. Their costume was peculiar. Blue seemed to have been the favorite color, and handkerchiefs of that hue commonly adorned the heads of both men and women. No genuine Frenchman in those days ever wore a hat, cap, or coat. The capot, made of white blanket, was the universal dress for the laboring class of people. In summer the men wore a coarse blue stuff, and in the winter cloth or buckskin. The women wore deer skin moccasins, and the men a coarser and stronger article, made of thicker leather. With that natural apti- tude for dress, which seems to belong peculiarly to the French, the women caught up the fashions of New Orleans and Paris with great avidity, and adopted them, as far as they were able .*
Notwithstanding their long separation by an immense wilderness from civilized society, they still retained all the suavity and polite- ness of their race. And it is a remarkable fact that the rougliest hunter or boatman among them could at any time appear in a ball room, or other polite or gay assembly, with the carriage and beha- viour of a well-bred gentleman. The French women are remarka- ble for the sprightliness of their conversation, and the ease and ele- gance of their manners. And the whole population lived lives of alternate toil, pleasure, innocent amusement and gayety.
Their horses and cattle, for want of proper care and food for many generations, had degenerated in size, but had acquired addi- tional vigor and toughness ; so that a French pony was a proverb for endurance. These ponies were made to draw, sometimes one alone, sometimes two together, one hitched before the other, to the plow, or to carts made entirely of wood, the bodies of which held about double the contents of a common large wheel-barrow. The oxen were yoked by the horns, instead of the neck, and in this mode were made to draw the plow and cart. Nothing like reins were ever used in driving; the whip of the drive, with a handle about two feet long, and a lash two yards long, stopped or guided the horse as effectually as the strongest reins.
They were on friendly terms with the Indians. The ease with which the French could adapt themselves to circumstances, made them at home by the camp fires of the savage. When with the Indians they adopted their modes of life, dressed like them, and frequently took as wives the dusky squaws.
While not superstitious, the ancient French in Illinois believed that some of the negroes of the West India islands possessed super- natural power to do any one harm, and that they could also look into futurity. In Cahokia, about the year 1790, this superstition got the upper hand of reason, and several poor African slaves suf- fered for this imaginary offence. An African negro, called Moreau, was hung for this crime on a tree not far south-east of the village. It is stated that he said, "he poisoned his master, but his mistress was too strong for his necromancy." Another slave, Emanuel,
was shot at Cahokia for the same reason. An old woman, named Jeanette, was supposed to have power to destroy persons and pro- perty by her incantations. Many grown people, and all the chil- dren, were terrified at her approach.
THE AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
At the beginning of the present century only one settlement of Americans had been made within the present limits of St. Clair county. This colony (at Turkey Hill), numbered about twenty. Soon after the year 1800, the American settlements began rapidly to increase. Ridge prairie attracted a number of families which had previously settled in the present county of Monroe; the log cabin of the frontiersman made its appearance beyond Silver Creek ; and in a few years every part of the county was brought under the domain of the adventurous pioneer.
TURKEY HILL.
The only American settlement in the county previous to the year 1800, was at Turkey Hill. The pioneer in this locality was William Scott. Turkey Hill had been an Indian camping ground for ages past, and after the arrival of the French was conspicuous as a trading post. The eminence rises to a considerable height, and from the east can be seen at a distance of thirty or forty miles. The French called it cote de dinde. Tradition says, that the Tamaroas Indians at one time had a large town on Turkey Hill, and that the Great Spirit sent an old Indian, a wise and good man, with the seeds of all good vegetables ; corn, beans, potatoes and peas, and that the old man taught the Indians how to plant and cultivate them. The old man also gave them good advice, to be peaceful, and never to go to war. As long as this counsel was followed, the Tamarois did well, and were a happy and prosperous people; but at last they disregarded the sage instruction, and disaster followed.
William Scott, the first settler at Turkey Hill, was born of Irish parentage, in Bottetourt county, Virginia, in the year 1745. After his marriage he removed from Virginia to Kentucky. He first came to Illinois in the year 1794, but returned to Kentucky. In 1797 he removed with his family to Illinois, and became a perma- nent resident. His children came with him-six sons and one daughter-and also his son-in-law, Franklin Jarvis. His sons were James, William, Samuel, Joseph, John, and Alexander Scott, and his daughter was named Elizabeth : all were born in Virginia. They made the journey by wagon from Fort Massac to the New Design settlement, where they arrived late in the fall. About Christmas they located at Turkey Hill, and made the first settle- ment north-east of Whitesides' station, in the present county of Monroe. Two of the sons, James and Joseph Scott, had come to Illinois the year prior, and raised a crop in the American Bottom, in Monroe county; they then went back to Kentucky, and accom- panied the family to Illinois, as above stated. William Scott had located several claims in the present counties of Monroe and St. Clair, one of which covered Turkey Hill, where he settled. Frank- lin Jarvis, Scott's son-in-law, settled a little north, at the foot of the hill.
At the time the Scotts came to Turkey Hill, the Indians were numerous in the vicinity. They hunted and resided near him the most of the year, but exhibited only a friendly spirit. The Kicka- poos were the nearest neighbors. His large family of sons were of assistance in enabling him to sustain himself in a location so far in advance of the white settlements. His children married and settled in the neighborhood, and the family resided together for many years in that part of the county, in peace and happiness. After the New Design settlement and the colony in the American
" They seldom violated the penal law. Reynolds says : " Very few, or none of the creoles, were ever indicted for the crimes the law-books style malum in se. No one, to my knowledge, was ever in the Penitentiary for a crime. I believe the records of the courts in Illinois do not exhibit an indictment against a creole Frenchman for any crime higher than keeping his grocery open on a prohibited day of the week." Education, however, was neglected. The priests and the old ladies at times taught the children, but there was no regular system of schools.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Bottom, the Turkey Hill settlement became the most conspicuous settlement of Americans in Illinois in pioneer times. Mr. Scott was known far and near as "Turkey Hill Scott." He was a man of moral and honest character. For many years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He possessed a sound judg- ment, and much practical experience, and was ambitious of neither wealth nor worldly distinction. He served some time as justice of the peace. Toward the close of his life he turned his attention to books and study, and passed his advanced years in the pleasures of meditation and reflection. He was intelligent and communicative, and was fond of discoursing on philosophical subjects. He died in Shiloh valley, in the year 1828, at the age of eighty-four. His sons became useful citizens, and many of his descendants still reside in the county.
Joseph Scott, one of the sons of William Scott, began the manu- facture of powder in the year 1809, four miles and a half east of Belleville. For many years he furnished the best powder made in the West. He supplied the Rangers during the war of 1812. The uitre which he used in its manufacture he procured in the caves on the Gasconade river in Missouri, during the winter months, ex- ploring that country, then filled with Indians, with only one con- panion, Joseph Dixon. He also started a distillery, half a mile south of Shiloh, which was probably the first in the county.
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