History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 4

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704

USA > Illinois > Clay County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 4

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La Salle is received at the French court with enthusiam. The King of France orders four vessels well equipped to serve him, un- der Beangerr, commander of the fleet, to proceed to the Gulf of Mexico to discover the Balize. Unfortunately for La Salle, he fails in discovering it, and they are thrown into the Bay of Matagorda, Texas, where La Salle, with his 280 persons, are abandoned by Beaugerr, the commander of the fleet. La

This terminated La Salle's wonderful ex- plorations over our vast lakes, great rivers and territory of Texas. He was a man of stern integrity, of undoubted activity and boldness of character, of an iron constitution, entertaining broad views and a chivalry un- surpassed in the Old or New World.

France, as early as possible," established along the lakes permanent settlements. One was that of Detroit, which was one of the most interesting and loveliest positions, which was settled in 1701 by Lamotte de Cardillac with 100 Frenchmen.

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

The discovery and possession of Mobile, Biloxi and Dauphin Islands induced the French to search for the mouth of the Mis- sissippi River, formerly discovered by La Salle. Lemoine D'Iberville, a naval officer of talent and great experience, discovered the Balize, on the 2d of March, 1699 ; proceeded up this river and took possession of the coun- try known as Louisiana. D'Iberville re- turned immediately to France to announce this glorions news. Bienville, his brother, was left to take charge of Louisiana during his absence. D'Iberville returned, when Bien- ville and St. Denis, with a force, was or- dered to explore Red River, and thence to the borders of Mexico. La Harpe also as- cended Red River in 1719 ; built a fort called Carlotte : also took possession of the Arkan- sas River ; afterward floated down this river in pirogues, finding on its banks many thriv- ing Indian villages. France, in September, 1712, by letters patent, granted Louisiana to Crozas. a wealthy Frenchman, who relin- quished his rights and power in 1717 to the Company of the West, established by the no- torious banker, John Law. Under a fever of great speculations, great efforts were made to advance the population and wealth of Louis- iana. New Orleans was mapped out in 1718, and became the important city of Lower and Upper Louisiana. The charter and privileges of "Company of the West," after its total failure, was resigned to the crown of France in 1731. The country embracing Louisiana was populated by numerous tribes of savages. One of these tribes was known as the Natchez, located on a high bluff, in the midst of a glorious climate, about three hundred miles above New Orleans on the river bank. The Natchez had erected a remarkable temple, where they invoked the " Great Spirit," which was decorated with various idols molded from clay baked in the sun. In this temple burned

a living fire, where the bones of the brave were burned. Near it, on a high mound, the chief of the nation, called the Sun, re- sided, where the warriors chanted their war songs and held their great council fires. The Natchez had shown great hospitality to the French. The Governor of Louisiana built a fort near them in 1714, called Fort Rosalie. Chopart, afterward commander of this fort, ill-treated them, and unjustly demanded a part of their villages. This unjust demand so outraged their feelings, that the Natchez, in their anger, lifted up the bloody tomahawk, headed by the "Great Sun," attacked Fort Rosalie November 28, 1729, and massacred every Frenchman in the fort and the vicinity. During these bloody scenes, the chief, amid this carnage, stood calm and unmoved, while Chopart's head and that of his officers and soldiers were thrown at his feet, forming a pyramid of human heads. This caused a bloody war, which, after many battles fonght, terminated in the total destruction of the Natchez nation. In these struggles, the chief and his four hundred braves were made prison- ers, and afterward inhumanly sold as slaves in St. Domingo.

The French declared war in 1736 against the Chickasaws, a war-like tribe that inhab- ited the Southern States. Bienville, com- mander of the French, ordered a re-union of the troops to assemble on the 10th of May, 1736, on the Tombigbee River. The gallant D'Artaquette, from Fort Chartres, and the brave Vincennes from the Wabash River, with a thousand warriors, were at their post in time, but were forced into battle on the 20th of May without the assistance of the other troops, were defeated and massacred. Bienville shortly afterward, on the 27th of May, 1736, failed in his assault upon the Chickasaw forts on the Tombigbee, where the English flag waved, and was forced to

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

retreat with the loss of his cannons, which forced him to return to New Orleans. In 1740, the French built a fort at the month of the St. François River, and moved their troops in Fort Assumption, near Memphis, where peace was concluded with the Chicka- saws.

The oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi was Kaskaskia, first visited by Father Gravier, date unknown: but he was in Illinois in 1693. He was succeeded by Fathers Pinet and Binetan. Pinet became the founder of Cahokia, where he erected a chapel, and a goodly number of savages as- sembled to attend the great feast. Father Gabriel, who had chanted mass through Canada, officiated at Cahokia and Kaskaskia in 1711. The missionaries in 1721 established a college and monastery at Kaskaskia; Fort Chartres, in Illinois, was built in 1720, be- came an important post for the security of the French, and a great protection for the commerce on the Mississippi. " The Com- pany of the West " sent an expedition under Le Sieur to Upper Louisiana about 1720 in search of precious metals, and proceeded up as far as St. Croix and St. Peter's Rivers, where a fort was built. which had to be abandoned owing to the hostilities of the savages.

The French as early as 1705, ascended the Missouri River to open traffic with the Mis- souris and to take possession of the country. M. Dutism, from New Orleans, with a force, arrived in Saline River, below Ste. Gene- vieve, moved westward to the Osage River, then beyond this about 150 miles, where he found two large villages located in fino prai- ries abounding with wild game and buffalo.

France and Spain in 1719 were contending for dominion west of the Mississippi. Spain in 1720 sent from Sante Fé a large caravan to make a settlement on the Missouri River.

the design being to destroy the Missouris, a tribe at peace with France. This caravan, after traveling and wandering, lost their way, and marched into the camp of the Missouris, their enemies, where they were all massacred except a priest, who, from his dress, was considered no warrior. After this expedition from Sante Fé upon Missouri, France, under M. DeBourgment, with a force, in 1724 as- cended the Missouri, established a fort on an island above the Osage River, named Fort Orleans. This fort was afterward at- tacked and its defenders destroyed, and by whom was never ascertained.

The town of St. Genevieve was the first settlement west of the Mississippi River, by emigrants from France and Canada, in the year 1735.

The wars between England and France more or less affected the growth of this continent. The war in 1689, known as "King William's war," was concluded by the treaty of Rys- wick, 1697; " Queen Anne's war" termin- ated by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713; " King George's war " concluded by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle in 1748. These wars gave England supremacy in the fisheries, the pos- session of the bay of Hudson, of Newfound- land and all of Nova Scotia.

The French and Indian wars, between 1754 and 1763-the struggle between En- gland and France as to their dominion in America- - commenced at this period. It was a disastrous and bloody war, where both parties enlisted hordes of savages to participate in a warfare conducted in a disgraceful manner to humanity. France at this time had erected a chain of forts from Canada to the great lakes and along the Mississippi Valley. The English controlled the territory occupied by her English colonies. The English claimed beyond the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River. The French deemed her right to this

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

river indisputable. Virginia had granted to the " Ohio Company " an extensive territory reaching to the Ohio. Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, through George Washington, remonstrated against the encroachment of the French. St. Pierre, the French com- mander, received Washington with kindness, returned an answer claiming the territory which France occupied. The "Ohio Com- pany " sent out a party of men to erect a fort at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. These men had hard- ly commenced work on this fort when they were driven away by the French, who took possession and established "Fort du Quesne."

Washington, with a body of provincials from Virginia, marched to the disputed ter- ritory, when a party of French under Jumon- ville was attacked, and all either killed or made prisoners. Washington after this erected a fort called Fort Necessity. From thence Washington proceeded with 400 men toward Fort du Quesne, where, hearing of the advance of M. De Villiers with a large force, he returned to Fort Necessity, where, after a short defense, Washington had to capitulate, with the honorable terms of re- turning to Virginia.

On the 4th of July, 1754, the day that Fort Necessity surrendered, a convention of colonies was held at Albany, N. Y., for a union of the colonies proposed by Dr. Ben Franklin, adopted by the delegates, but de- feated by the English Government How- ever, at this convention, a treaty was made between the colonies and the " Five Nations," which proved to be of great advantage to En- gland. Gen. Braddock, with a force of 2,000 soldiers, marched against Fort du Quesne. Within seven miles of this fort, he was attacked by the French and Indian allies and disastrously defeated, when Washington covered the retreat, and saved the army from total destruction.

Sir William Johnson, with a large force, took command of the army at Fort Edward. Near this fort, Baron Dieskan and St. Pierre attacked Col. Williams and troop, where the English were defeated, but Sir Johnson, com- ing to the rescue, defeated the French, who lost in this battle Dieskan and St. Pierre.

On August 12, 1756, Marquis Montcalm, commander of the French army, attacked Fort Ontario, garrisoned by 1,400 troops, who capitulated as prisoners of war, with 134 cannon, several vessels, and a large amount of military stores. Montcalm, destroying this fort, returned to Canada.

By the treaty of peace of Aix la Chapelle : of October, 1748, Arcadia, known as Nova Scotia, and Brunswick had been ceded by France to England. When the war of 1754 broke out, this territory was occupied by numerous French families. England, fear- ing their sympathy for France, cruelly con- fiscated their property, destroyed their hum- ble homes and exiled them to their colonies in the utmost poverty and distress.

In August, 1857, Marquis Montcalm, with a large army, marched on Fort William Henry, defended by 3,000 English troops. The English were defeated and surrendered on condition that they might march out of the fort with their arms. The savage allies, as they marched out in an outrageous man- ner, plundered them and massacred some in cold blood, notwithstanding the efforts of the French officers to prevent them. The mili- tary campaign so far had been very disas- trous to the English, which created quite a sensation in the colonies and in England. At this critical period the illustrons Mr. Pitt, known as Lord Chatham, was placed at the helm of state on account of his talent and statesmanship, and he sent a large naval ar- mament and numerous troops to protect the colonies.

July S, 1758, Gen. Abercombie, with an

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

army of 15,000, moved on Ticonderoga, de- fended Marquis Montcalm. After a great struggle the English were defeated with a loss of 2,000 dead and wounded.

August 27, 1758, Col. Bradstreet with a force attacked the French fort, Fort Fronte- nac, on Lake Ontario, took it with nine armed vessels, sixty cannon and a quantity of military stores, whilst Gen. Forbes moved on Fort du Quesne, and took it, which fort was afterward called Pittsburgh, in honor of Mr. Pitt.

In 1759, the : French this year evacuated Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Niagara. Gen. Wolf advanced against Quebec, then defended by the gallant Montcalm, where a terrible and bloody battle took place between the two armies. Gen. Wolf was killed and a great number of English officers. When the brave Wolf was toll the English were victorious, he said, "He died contented." Montcalm, when told his wounds were mortal, he said, "So much the better, I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec," which city surrendered September 18, 1759.

In 1760, another battle was fought near Quebec, which drove the English into their fortifications, and were only relieved by the English squadron. Montreal still contended to the last, when she was compelled to sur- render, which gave Canada to the English.

Treaty of peace, February 10, 1763. By this France ceded to England all her posses- sions on the St. Lawrence River, all east of the Mississippi River, except that portion south of Iberville River and west of the Mis- sissippi. At the same time all the territory here reserved being west of the Mississippi, and the Orleans territory was transferred to Spain. France, after all her labors, toil and expenditures, and great loss of life, surren - dered to England and Spain her great domain in North America. The history of France,

embracing a term of 228 years, is replete with interest and with thrilling events in this country up to 1763.

The defeats of the French in North Amer- ica greatly led to the establishment of the United States Government. The aecom. plishment of such a glorious end was largely due to the gallant Frenehmen. As long as the anniversary of the American Independ ence shall be celebrated, the names of Wash ington and Lafayette will ever be remem bered by a grateful people. We can but con- gratulate ourselves, as citizens of this great valley, that owing to the sympathy of France and her people under the great Napoleon and the immortal Jefferson, that we to-day are a portion of this grand republic.

The downfall of Quebec was the over- throw of French power in North America. The French supremacy was only overthrown after a long and bloody struggle, and the re- coil of the blow that had smitten it down was the cause of another struggle more desolat- ing and widely extended than the first, but ended without accomplishing any political results. In this fierce conflict the red man became the principal actor, and exhibited a degree of sagaeity and constancy of purpose never before witnessed in the history of his warfare. The English sent Maj. Robert Clark to take possession of the frontier out- posts. The approach of Maj. Clark aroused Pontiac, and he boldly demanded to know their mission. Pontiac was the Napoleon of his race, and suffice it to say here that this movement of the British troops resulted in his great conspiraey, and the destruction of British settlements, and the attack upon De- troit.

On the 13th of August, 1803, the treaty of Vineennes, and the additional treaty of December 30, 1805, was concluded with the Kaskaskias, by which they ceded to the

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

United States, all that tract included within a line beginning below the mouth of the Illi- nois River, and descending the ,Mississippi to its junction with the Ohio, ascending the latter to the Wabash, and from a certain point up the Wabash west to the Mississippi, embracing the greater part of Southern Illi- nois, and including Wayne County. This was the act that divested the Indians of their title to the lands the people of the county now possess. *

By act of Congress, February 3, 1809, all that part of the Indian Territory lying "west of the Wabash River, and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash River and Post Vin- cennes, due north to the territorial line be- tween the United States and Canada, should constitute Illinois. This, it will be noticed, included . Wisconsin. It was the separation of Illinois from Indiana. This act of separ- ating Illinois from Indiana. found a hot anti-separation party in Vincennes, the cap- ital, and the villages and settlements east of that place. The excitement culminated in bloodshed; one of the leading men in favor of the measure was assassinated in the streets of Kaskaskia. The question of separation turned upon the ability of the Illinois mem- bers of the Legislature, in session in Vin- cennes in October, 1808, to elect a Delegate to Congress in place of Benjamin Park, resigned, who should be favorable to the division. The Illinoisans found a suitable candidate in an Indiana member of the House, who was

*The important historical facts that give an account of the acts of Gen. George Rogers Clark, by which all this vast ter- ritory was secured to the United States, and wrested from the British crown, are given in the Clay County history, and to which the reader is referred. The reader will there see that the territory of Wayne and {'lay Counties are historical grounds, were the scenes of most important events of the Revolution, and that (ien. Clark was here fighting out that great war for human liberty ; that he was one of the greatest men America has pro- duced, and that the territory of those counties may honor him as among their first visitors.

also Speaker, by the name of Jesse B. Thom- as, who, for the sake of going to Congress, was ready to violate the sentiments of his constituents upon this question. Thomas gave a bond that he would procure from Con- gress a separation, and he was triumphantly elected by a majority of one vote-he voted for himself. He was hung in effigy in Vin- cennes, but he went to Congress and kept his bond and faith with Illinois, and came from Congress with a commission in his pocket for a federal judgeship in Illinois, and he re- moved to the new State, and thus was secured our great State and an eminent citizen.

William Edwards, at the time Chief Jus- tice of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, became Governor of the new Territory. John Bogle, of the same State, at first received the appointment of Governor, but declined the office and accepted that of Associate Justice of the same court whereof Edwards was Chief Justice.

This brief outline of the history leading up to the final organization of the country that eventually made us what we are, is given for the double purpose of correcting many ma- terial facts that have heretofore either not been truly set forth or were deliberately falsified, and to call the attention of the reader to the fact that we are upon grounds that are full of history-history more interesting than any romance-and that every day is growing in interest and importance.

To some extent we prefer to resume the story of the part this locality played in the Revolutionary war in our history of Clay County, because it was through that county the old Vincennes trace was located and it was over this route a portion of the Revolu- tionary army traveled on its way from Kas- kaskia to Vincennes.

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

CHAPTER III.

THE OLD SETTLERS, WHERE THEY WERE FROM, TOGETHER WITH MANY INTERESTING FACTS CON- CERNING THEM-ISAAC HARRIS, MRS. GOODWIN, COL. SAMUEL LEECH, GEORGE MERRITT,

"JACKY" JONES, GEORGE MCCOWN, AND MANY OTHERS-RANGERS-JOE BOLTING-

HOUSE'S AVENGERS-WAYNE COUNTY ORGANIZED MARCH 26, 1819, ETC.

T THE " simple annals " of the brave and hardy pioneers who came to this portion of Illinois to carve out new homes for them- selves, and fight it out with the bloody savages, the wild beasts and the deadly malaria, dates back only seventy years, the allotted span of extreme human life, and the fleeting years are fast carrying away all liv- ing testimony of the earliest settlers, and unless we now catch the shadow ere the sub- stance wholly fades, and tell the story of the most interesting people the country has pro. duced, it will soon be forgotten, and the world will thus lose a lesson that is worth more if fully told than any heritage that we can possess. To gather up the threads of their eventful lives-mostly broken threads now-is both a labor of love, and already a difficult task in many respects. The pleasure consists in listening to the story of the very few now left of those early comers, all of whom are venerable men and women now, and who were infants then, and the difficulty consists in the fact that no person is now alive who was then old enough to know and see and remember for themselves. Thus we are driven to their recollections of the tales that were told to them, and to those tradi- tions that have here and there been preserved from the fathers.

Next in interest to the story of the lives of these pioneers is the study of their charac- ters. Man's nature is such that he is deeply

interested in the movements, purposes, great actions, heroic deeds, sublime sacrifices. the loves, the sports and pastimes of those who have gone before him. Whether his fore- fathers were wise or foolish, great and strong, or pnerile and weak, he wants to learn all he can about them. How they thought and what they did-acts and doings that, discon- nected from their story, might not only seem idle but foolish, are clothed with immense interests when they are told of those we love and respect -- those whose lives were a long sacrifice which have produced the ripened fruits we now enjoy; and while even one or two are yet living who were here and parti- cipated to some extent in the stirring long ago, the task, so far as they can go in memory, is both easy and pleasant, but in a moment, and before we have had time to reflect upon the loss. they are all gone, and the places that knew them so well will know them no more forever. Hence the chronicler, who puts in a permanent form all these once sup- posed trifling details, has performed an in- valuable, if not an imperishable service. For the proper study of mankind is man. It is the great and inexhaustible fountain of knowledge, and the "man " that is or should be best studied is your own immediate fore. fathers or predecessors. To know them well is to master all you can really learn of the human family. To peer into the complex problem of the human race does not so much

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

consist in trying to study all of the living and the dead, as in mastering, in so far as it is possible, the chosen few.

Gov. Reynolds gives this quaint account of himself and the early pioneers: "All spe- cies of amusements were indulged in by the original inhabitants of Illinois. I do not pretend to say that every person was devoted to gaming; but it was considered at that day both fashionable and honorable to game for money; but, as gentlemen, for amusement and high and chivalrous sports. In this manner a great many gambled. Card play- ing was sustained by the highest classes as well as the lowest in the country. A person who could not or would not play at cards was scarcely fit for genteel society. The French delighted much in this amusement, which gave the card parties much standing and popularity with the Americans. The French at that time had the ascendency in the coun- try, and their manners and habits gave tone and character to many such transactions. The French masses in early times played cards incessantly in the shade of the galleries of their houses in the hot summer months. They frequently played without betting, but at times wagered heavily. Card playing was mostly the only gaming the French indulged in. The ladies of that day amused them- selves often in these games, and as they do at this day. At times the Americans, as well as the French, bet heavily at cards, although they were not considered gamblers.

Shooting matches, with the Americans, were great sport. Almost every Saturday in the summer, a beef or some other article would be shot for in the rural districts, and the beef killed and parceled out the same night. A keg of whisky was generally packed to the shooting match on horseback. Sometimes a violin appeared, and stag dances, as they were termed, occupied the crowd for hours

"In 1804, I witnessed a match of shooting in the orchard of Gen. Edgar, a short dis- tance west of Kaskaskia. It was a match between John Smith and Thomas Stublefield, and the bet was $100. Smith won the wager. A small tricky game for whisky was often played in these keg groceries, which was called 'finger in danger.' Every one that pleased, put his finger down in a ring, and then some knowing one counted the fin- gers until they counted some number agreed on, and the finger at that number when it was touched was withdrawn, and so on until the last finger in the ring was left, and then it had to pay the treat.

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History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 4

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 704

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704