USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Sandwich > History of the Somonauk United Presbyterian church near Sandwich, De Kalb County, Illinois : with ancestral lines of the early members > Part 16
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Mr. Stewart married second, Mrs. Julia A. (Truesdale) Bigham, of Wooster, Ohio.
ALEXANDER McGAUGHEY (7) STEWART, the eld- est child of Elijah and Agnes (McGaughey) Stewart; born January 27, 1827, at Coitsville, Ohio; married December 26, 1849, Jane Collins; born October 26, 1825, in Jefferson County, Ohio. Soon after their marriage they removed to Mer- cer County, Illinois.
In 1856 they came to Somonauk and bought eighty acres in Victor township, where they settled. Mr. Stewart became a prosperous farmer, and in a few years bought another eighty
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THE STEWART FAMILY
acres adjoining. Of their six children only one lived to ma- turity.
Children:
i. John Collins (8).
ii. Samuel Russell.
iii. Albert Elijah.
iv. Ella Anne.
v. William Moffett.
vi. Elizabeth Mary, lived to her twenty-ninth year. She married Andrew (3) Gilchrist, and died when her only child was an infant. (See page 126.)
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander McGaughey Stewart and their six 2 children are all buried in Oak Mound Cemetery.
WILLIAM (7) STEWART was born in Coitsville, Ohio, October 11, 1828. Though he never lived at Somonauk, where his father's family was so long identified, his short career is full of interest. Graduated from Washington College, Penn- sylvania, in 1849, he began the study of theology, but a severe illness made it evident that he could not endure the northern climate. He went south in 1852 and was private tutor in a family at Sidon, Mississippi, for a time. He studied medi- cine and practiced at Vaiden, Mississippi, where he married Mary Frances Pleasants.
Children:
i. Frances (8).
ii. Ernest William.
William Stewart was a Union man and cast the only vote in his county against secession. When the war began he made an effort to escape with his family by way of Mexico, but did not succeed. He then entered the rebel army as captain (we have only rebel authority for this), but resigned in a short time, ostensibly on account of ill health. Thinking to be safe from raids, he concluded to leave town and live on his plantation in
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SOMONAUK CHURCH
the timber. He found a man whom he had often befriended, a Mr. Stokes, living in the house. Stokes agreed to leave but kept delaying. Finally, William ordered him out. The man went into the house and through the opening of the nearly closed door shot William in the back with buckshot. After lingering nineteen days in great suffering he died. There being no communcation between the North and the South at that time, his father's family did not hear of his death for two years. His murderer escaped justice.
The Thompson Family
JOSEPH A. (1) THOMPSON with his children immigrated to Somonauk from Washington County, New York, in 1849. Mr. Thompson had been a ruling elder in the Putnam Asso- ciate Church in Washington County and united with the Som- onauk church on his arrival in 1849. He was elected ruling elder in 1850 and the same year went east, where he married Miss Margaret Stott, of Argyle, New York.
He purchased from the government a piece of prairie land, the southwest quarter of Section 2, in Victor township, sur- veyed in 1853. There Mr. Thompson spent the rest of his life. He is remembered as a quiet, rather stern man, but of a tender heart, and a good neighbor. He was unswerving in his convic- tions of the right. He is buried in Oak Mound Cemetery. The Thompson and More records, we are told, were destroyed by fire.
Children:
i. Marie P. (2), born Oct. 20, 1820; died Dec. 3, 1906, near Viola, Kan .; married James More. (See page 203.)
ii. Eliza; married Alexander (7) French, September, 1850. (See page 120.)
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THE WALKER FAMILY
The Walker Family
JOHN (1) WALKER was the grandson of James Walker who came from near Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the head of a family in Hebron, Washington County, New York, in 1790.
Child:
i. James (2), born 1778.
JAMES (2) WALKER, born near Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1778; came to America, probably with his parents; died in Clinton township, De Kalb County, Illinois, in 1856, in the home of his son, John Walker, at the age of seventy-eight years; married Helen Oliver. He was a charter member.
Children:
i. Mary (3), born Mar. 1805; died unmarried at her brother John's home in 1895.
ii. Janet, born in 1806; died Jan. 10, 1839; married Martin Coon.
iii. Helen, born in June, 1807; died in New York City in 1864; married Asa Miller.
iv. Thomas, born in September, 1808; went to sea and was never heard from afterward.
v. Euphemia, born and died in 1811.
vi. James, born Apr. 1, 1812; died May 23, 1850, at Lone Tree, Wyo., while on an overland trip to California. Married Mary Rich in 1845.
vii. George, born Feb. 4, 1816; married Eleanor Liv- ingston Dobbin, Mar. 23, 1838.
viii. John, born Apr. 15, 1818; died at his home in Sand- wich, Ill., Jan. 2, 1910, at the age of ninety-two.
ix. Robert, born in September, 1820; died in New York City in 1885; married Sophronia Storrs.
x. William, died aged fifteen months.
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SOMONAUK CHURCH
JOHN (3) WALKER, born in Hebron, Washington County, New York, April 15, 1818; died January 2, 1910, in Sandwich, Illinois; married September 15, 1839, Nancy Walls; born in County Antrim, Ireland, December 12, 1820; died in Clinton township, De Kalb County, Illinois, May 10, 1859.
They came to Somonauk in the summer of 1842 and secured a half section of prairie land from the government in Clinton township. They were both charter members of the Associate Church.
Children:
i. William James (4), born Aug. 1, 1840; married first, Nov. 24, 1859, Albina, a daughter of Richard and Julia Ann Kirkpatrick; second, Mrs. Mary Jane Howison, Nov. 7, 1915.
ii. Helen, born in April, 1842; died in 1869; married Wallace Olmstead.
iii. Robert, born Feb. 26, 1844; died June 7, 1927; married, Jan. 24, 1867, Julia Ann, a daughter of Richard and Julia Ann Kirkpatrick. He is said to have been the first white child born in Clinton township. He and Mary, daughter of Robert Pat- ten, were the first children baptized in the Somon- auk church, which then was a mission.
iv. John, born July 26, 1846; died Dec. 18, 1916; mar- ried Nov. 28, 1867, Rebecca, a daughter of Rich- ard and Julia Ann Kirkpatrick.
v. Henry, born Feb. 20, 1849; married Mary Huston, Jan. 12, 1871; died June 11, 1926.
vi. Oliver, born Jan. 2, 1851; married July 1, 1874, Mary Tragar; died Nov. 7, 188.4.
vii. Roseanna, born Nov. - , 1852; married John Dougal. viii. Mary, born Feb. - , 1855.
ix. Janet, born Feb. - , 1857; married Charles Hay.
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John Walker Charter Member
Mrs. John Walker (Nancy W'alls ) Charter Member
Daniel Nelson Boyd First Member
William Robertson Charter Member
THE WHITE FAMILY
John Walker married second, February 2, 1860, Margaret Dobbin, a daughter of Samuel (3) Dobbin; born in Green- wich Township, Washington County, New York, March 24, 1824; died near Somonauk church, April 4, 1899.
Children : i. Edward (4). ii. Elizabeth.
The White Family
The paternal ancestor of this family is believed to have been Thomas White, one of the grantees of the Turner Patent, in Washington County, New York, 1764.
THOMAS (3) WHITE was the son of Robert (2) and Elizabeth (Hung) White; born in Argyle, New York, Feb- ruary 15, 1815; died at Somonauk, Illinois, February 18, 1882; married February 22, 1837, Ann Eliza Tucker; born June 28, 1815; died at Somonauk, Illinois, September 4, 1883; daughter of Nathan and Marcy (Clark) Tucker. Mr. and Mrs. White came to Somonauk in 1857; both were mem- bers of the Somonauk church, and they are buried in Oak Mound Cemetery.
Children :
i. Elizabeth (4), died young.
ii. William, died young.
iii. Puella, born June 11, 1846; married John A. Arm- strong. (See page 81.)
iv. Robert, born August 31, 1848; died March 7, 1880; married Feb. 11, 1875, Emma Manly.
v. Emily, born Feb. 19, 1851; married William John Randles. (See page 226.)
vi. Julia.
vii. Martha, born Apr. 14, 1855.
viii. Mary, born Apr. 14, 1855; died young.
ix. Hampton, born Dec. 9, 1857.
x. Charles H., born July 2, 1859.
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SOMONAUK CHURCH
HAMPTON (4) WHITE, born December 9, 1857; died November 15, 1927; married January 31, 1884, Margaret Elizabeth (4) Henry; born April 1, 1857, a daughter of James (3) Henry and Jennett (Beveridge).
Children:
i. Mary E. (5), born Mar. 27, 1885.
ii. Henry J., born Mar. 20, 1887.
iii. William W., born Feb. 12, 1892.
iv. Robert E., born Nov. 2, 1893.
v. Jannette K., born Nov. 7, 1895.
vi. Eugene T., born Aug. 13, 1897.
CHARLES H. (4) WHITE, born July 2, 1859; married January 3, 1883, Cornelia Marshall; born August 17, 1861. Mr. White is a banker in the village of Somonauk and owns the homestead farm one mile north of the town.
Children:
i. Emma (5), died when a young woman.
ii. Thomas, married Lucy Scales and is employed in a bank in Sycamore, Ill.
ALEXANDER (3) WHITE, son of Robert (2) and Eliza- beth (Hung) White; born in Argyle, Washington County, New York, January 19, 1817; died at his farm home in Som- onauk township, De Kalb County, Illinois, January 10, 1889; married first, April 5, 1849, in Coila, New York, Mary Jane Robertson, eldest daughter of John and Ann (Small) Robert- son; born May 25, 1825, in Coila, New York; died September 26, 1850, at Wheatland, Will County, Illinois.
Child:
i. John Robertson (4), born Sept. 18, 1850; died at Santa Ana, Cal., in December, 1905, or 1906; married Sept. 5, 1877, at Waterloo, Iowa, Jennie Williams.
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THE WHITE FAMILY
Children:
i. Ella J. (5).
ii. Effie D.
iii. Frank M.
In May, 1849, Alexander White with his young wife came to Wheatland, Illinois. In 1851, after his wife's death, he purchased a farm one mile south of the Somonauk church, of which he and his son became members.
September 18, 1858, Mr. White married in Squaw Grove township, De Kalb County, Illinois, as his second wife, Eliza, a daughter of George and Margaret Brown Howison; born August, 1825, in Smailholm, Roxburyshire, Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. White, living alone on the farm, were both asphyxiated by a leaking gas stove, January 10, 1899. The funeral services of Mr. and Mrs. White were conducted by Dr. G. H. Robertson at their home, and they were buried in Oak Mound Cemetery.
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APPENDIX
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The South Argyle United Presbyterian Church Parent of the Somonauk Church
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THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND and THE NORTH OF IRELAND (ULSTER) SCALE:
MAP OF SCOTLAND AND THE NORTH OF IRELAND
Showing Places Connected svith Church and Family History
SCOTLAND ARGYLESINIRE-The home of most of Laughlin Campbell's colonists,
AUCHTERMUCHTY-The carliest rec- ords of the Beveridges are found here,
AYRSHIRE-The early home of the Putten family.
BLAIR ATHOL-John Robertson came from here,
ISLAY 1stt-From here Laughlin Campbell's colonies sel sail,
MICKLEMOX-The birthplace of Wil- liam Mcclellan.
PETFRIIFAD, ABERDEENSHIRE-From here one branch of the Robertsons emigrated.
SMAILHOLM-The birthplace of James llow ison, STRATHMIGLO-The birthplace of .in- drew Beveridge. T'AY-Loch Tay, the ancient home of the McNaughtons.
IRELAND
ANTRIM Co .- The carly home of the Dobbin family.
RALLINAY-The original seat of Dr. Clark's church.
NEWRY-From here Dr. Clark's colony sci sail May 10, 1764. STONEBRIDGE-The birthplace of Wil- liam Patten.
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NORTH CHANNEL
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OCEAN
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ARFAN
LUCI. BAY
DUNNI.GAI RAY 1
LINKS WITH THE PAST
The authors feel that the time will come when many whose youth was spent in and around old Somonauk will take pride in passing on to their children the facts which constitute the historical background of the community centering about the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church, and therefore append a brief summary of events, together with copies of letters and documents that carry the story back to the first settlements on American soil, and still farther back to the origins of these in Scottish and Irish soil.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
The Scots, noted for their love of justice, their bravery, their powers of endurance, their industry, their perseverance, their antipathy to popery, and their veneration for the things of the spirit, are called clannish, and rightly so. Their ability to hold steadfast to a principle and thereby to retain solidarity has made their leavening influence appreciable with whatever community they cast their lot.
The exodus of the three Argyleshire colonies brought to the new world by Laughlin Campbell between 1738 and 1740, and that of the Cahans from County Monaghan, Ireland, under the clergyman-physician Dr. Thomas Clark in 1764; their selection of a common home in the high- lands of the Hudson where the names of places dear to them were per- petuated; the drawing to them of the Scotch Presbyterians from Massa- chusetts Colony; the migration westward of the Washington County pioneers in the next century, the successful planting of the church of their fathers on prairie soil and the vigorous community life that after eighty years still flourishes there-these are proof of the vitality of the faith that still binds these people together, and that makes them a valued element to-day.
Those who would pass on to their children the true story of the three colonies "imported" by Laughlin Campbell and administered by Alex- ander McNaughton will want to read "The Fort Edward Book" by Robert O. Bascom, published in Fort Edward in 1903. And they will follow that with the narrative of persecutions, imprisonments and pil- grimages of Dr. Clark's congregation in Ireland and of the foundation of the mother church, the Old White Church at Salem, New York, charmingly told in "The Salem Book," published by the Salem Historical Committee in 1895.
The transcripts of letters, petitions, and memorials, the Argyle Patent and the lists of early church members that form the body of this Ap- pendix have been gathered as a labor of love that covers more than fifty
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APPENDIX
years and are now offered to the younger generations as a valuable legacy to hand down to their children.
Though distant from her rugged shores, Still memory fondly turns To Scotia's bonnie heatherey hills, Her corries, lochs and burns.
For ne'er shall I find hearts so warm, Though distant far I roam, As gathered round the old hearthstone, My own loved Highland home.
Neil Macleod.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, NEW YORK
On November 1, 1683, the Province of New York was ordered divided into counties, the most northeasterly being named Albany, which has been subdivided to make forty-eight counties. On March 12, 1772, Charlotte County was set off from Albany County and named for Queen Charlotte, in honor of the consort of George III, King of England. On April 2, 1784, by special act of the New York legislature, the name was changed to Washington County in honor of the first president of the United States. The history of the Scotch Presbyterian colonies that settled in New York state having been told at the beginning of this work, the following list of names of ancestors or brothers of ancestors of the United Presbyterians in Somonauk, who were ruling elders in the con- gregations in Washington County, taken from the "History of the Argyle Presbytery" by Rev. James Schuller, may appropriately find a place here.
West Hebron: Andrew Beveridge, William McClellan, James Cum- mings, John McClellan, John Beveridge, Peter Mcclellan, James Bev- eridge.
Hebron: David Armstrong, Sr.
South Argyle: James Shaw, Gilbert Robertson, John Stott, Alexander Skinner, Peter McEachron, Moses Robertson, Samuel Dobbin, Alexan- der Beveridge, John Bishop, John Henry, Isaac Shaw, George Lendrum, William Lendrum, Duncan Robertson.
Twelve of the twenty-four original and first members of the church in Somonauk, DeKalb County, Illinois, were either members of the South Argyle church or attended it as children, therefore this church may appropriately be called the parent of the Somonauk church. (Page 296.)
Salem: William Thompson, David Hanna, John Beattie, Hugh Thompson.
Coila: James Small, Thomas Cummings, Robert , William Gra- ham, John Maxwell, Edward Cook, John Dobbin, James Lourie, John Robertson, Robert McClellan.
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LINKS WITH THE PAST
Argyle: Neil (Cornelius) McEachron, Philip McEachron. (This list is incomplete.)
East Greenwich: Samuel Dobbin and William McNeil (previously installed in South Argyle), Andrew Randles, John Beveridge, Archibald Lendrum.
ILLINOIS
It now remains to speak of the western state that has been the home of the later generations. Only one year before the division of New York into counties the first colony of white men was planted in the Mississippi Valley. This colony was the nucleus of the future state of Illinois.
Illinois was admitted to the Union as a state on December 3, 1818, having passed through all the stages from Indian country to statehood. As the Illini country, this region was first explored by the fur-trader, Louis Joliet, accompanied by the Jesuit priest, Jacques Marquette, in 1673, the latter returning the next year to organize his converts among the red men into a mission at Kaskaskia. The first white colony was that founded by Robert de La Salle on the Illinois River in 1682, at the point now known as Starved Rock but christened by him Fort St. Louis in honor of Louis IX of France. The flag of the Bourbons was flown over this fort until the British conquest in 1763 ended the French regime in the Mississippi Valley. In 1778, permission having been granted to young George Rogers Clark by Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, to attempt the taking of this region from the British, the Illini country became a county of Virginia at the close of his successful campaign and so remained until ceded to the territory northwest of the Ohio River in 1784. Set off from the Northwest Territory as part of Indiana Ter- ritory in 1800, Illinois in 1809 obtained her own territorial status, and so remained until 1818, when, on December 3, she was admitted as a state, having been declared to have the requisite number of inhabitants.
The first influx of settlers to Illinois County coming from the mother colony-the Old Dominion-at the close of the Revolution, as was natural, settled in the southern half of the new county, while the portion north of the Illinois River remained Indian country until the Black Hawk War and somewhat after. It was the beautiful stretch of high rolling prairie, now De Kalb County, between the Rock and Fox rivers, not then fully cleared of its aboriginal inhabitants, which was selected by the more progressive members of the United Presbyterian colonies in Washington County, New York, to be the home of themselves and their children's children.
DE KALB COUNTY, ILLINOIS First Things
De Kalb County, so named in honor of Baron De Kalb, one of the heroes of the American Revolution, was set off from Kane County on May 1, 1837.
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APPENDIX
The first election was held in the new county July 3, 1837, the com- missioners then elected selecting Sycamore as the county seat.
The first white man's dwelling in the county was built in the summer of 1834 by an unknown trapper on Somonauk Creek, on the land that later became the George Beveridge farm, five miles north and two miles west of Sandwich. Abandoned in the fall it was used that winter by one Robinson, and in 1835 was opened as a tavern by Reuben Root who thus became the first permanent settler of Somonauk township.
The first permanent settlement in De Kalb County was begun by Willliam Sebree, a Virginian, in September, 1834, at Squaw Grove. This place had been so named in that year by Mr. Hollenbeck, of La Salle County, because he found a large number of squaws encamped at this point when he passed through prospecting in the spring.
Other settlers who came to Somonauk township in 1835 were: Captain William Davis, John Eastabrooks, Dr. Arnold, William Poplin, Simon Price, William and Joseph Sly, Amos Harmon, and William and Thomas Brook.
The first sod-breaking in Somonauk township was done by Amos Harmon in the spring of 1835. The first crops that year were raised by Simon Price and William and Joseph Sly.
The first birth in the township was Harriet, daughter of William Poplin, born January 25, 1836. The first male child born was Luther, son of Burrage and Mary Hough.
In the winter of 1836-7 the first school was taught by Lucius Frisbee.
The first post-office was established at Freeland Corners, on the Galena road, in 1837, the first postmaster being Reuben Root, who was succeeded by John Eastabrooks. Next, David Merritt served, and he was succeeded by Alexander R. Patten.
In 1837 Peter Hummel, a son-in-law of Mr, Eastabrooks, arrived with his family from Pennsylvania.
In 1838 George Beveridge traded a quantity of woolen cloth for the Eastabrooks farm on Somonauk Creek and returned to Washington County the following year. Four years later he brought his family to live in the cabin built in 1834.
The original ground occupied by the Oak Mound Cemetery was donated by Lucius Frisbee. The children of Mr. Frisbee, and a stranger, were the first bodies buried in the cemetery.
In 1842 the United Presbyterians began holding religious services in the home of George Beveridge, but the church was not organized until March 18, 1846. "No more devoted Christians than those who worship here can be found anywhere."-Boies, "History of De Kalb County."
The first children baptized were Robert, son of John Walker, born in 1844, and Mary C. Patten, born in 1846, eldest daughter of Robert Patten.
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LINKS WITH THE PAST
The first temperance society in De Kalb County was organized at School House No. 3, in Upper Somonauk, March 9, 1847. Extracts from the records of the organization follow.
About 1848 William H. Beaver opened a store at Freeland Corners. He sold to David Merritt and the latter to James H. Beveridge and Alexander R. Patten. Later, Mr. Beveridge sold his interest in the store to Mr. Patten, who, in the autumn of 1854, removed the store to Sandwich.
In 1853 the Chicago and Aurora Railroad extended its line from Aurora to Mendota, the material to lay the track being hauled through Sandwich. It is recalled that the name of the engine used on this con- struction train was "Lightning." At that date the engines were all named. The first four engines that drew the first passenger trains through Sand- wich-two each way-were the "North Wind," the "South Wind," the "East Wind" and the "West Wind."
In 1858, what is now known as the United Presbyterian Church, was formed by the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches. The Somonauk United Presbyterian Church formerly belonged to the Associate branch of the Presbyterian Church in America.
The principal Indian settlements in De Kalb County were at Squaw Grove, at Coltonville in De Kalb township, in Kingston, and at Shabbona Grove, a beautiful plot of dense woodland, where lived the Indian chief Shabbona, known as the "White Man's Friend."
Chief Shabbona-"The White Man's Friend"
American history cannot be properly considered without reference to the original Americans, and certainly no history dealing with northern Illinois is complete without mention of Shabbona, whose name (pro- nounced Shaw'-be-neh) was a loved household word in the homes of everyone of our forebears. It is acknowledged that, had not this great Indian espoused the white man's cause at the outbreak of the War of 1812, settlement in this region might have been retarded for years; for it is certain that hundreds of the pioneers of this territory, who lived to build up communities, would have been sacrificed. By his early rec- ognition of the advent of a new civilization, by astounding acts of per- sonal bravery, by the example he set for other red men and by self- effacing loyalty to his white friends, Shabbona wrote himself into our annals as one of nature's noblemen and set a standard of manhood rarely attained by people of any nationality. Recognized as a great man by three generations of his white contemporaries, he nevertheless suffered unbelievable humiliation and hardship at the hands of the white man's government. No opportunity should be lost to acquaint the rising gen- eration with this splendid specimen of the Indian race, who was per- sonally known to our forebears.
Although Shabbona, who was born about 1795, was an Ottawa of the same stock as the fierce Tecumseh, and was himself cast in gigantic
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APPENDIX
mold, he early decided that in peace lay the Indian's hope of perpetuity. He took no part in the Fort Dearborn massacre, but assisted in rescuing from torture and delivering into the hands of the British several persons taken captive by the Indians. He refused all of Black Hawk's efforts to draw him into his confederacy in 1832, thus keeping the Ottawas, and all but one tribe of the Pottawattomies, from allying themselves with the great Fox commander, whom he had long tried to convert to a policy of peace.
Realizing that he had lost caste with Black Hawk, who had put a price upon his head, a price that he might pay at any hour, Shabbona determined to attempt to save the lives of the settlers from Bureau County eastward, by giving them timely warning to seek refuge in Fort Dearborn.
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