The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 4

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 4

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"ART. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said ter- ritory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall be duly con- victed ; provided, always, that any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid."

These articles, sometimes known as the " Compact of 1787," form the basis of the organization of the Northwestern Territory and of the several States into which it was subsequently divided. Although the original act of cession was ndopted by Virginia in 1784, it will be seen that it was three years later before Congress agreed upon a plan of government. The subject was one of serious and earnest discussion at various times. At one time a motion prevailed to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery. Another proposition was agreed to by which the territory was to be divided into States by parallels and meridian lines, making ten States which were to be ummed as follows : Sylvania, Michigania, Chersonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Ilenoia, Saratoga, Wash- ington, Polypotamia and Pelisipia. When this plan was submitted to the legislatures of the States there were serious objections made, especially by Massachusetts und Virginia. There were objections to the category of names, but the chief difficulty was the resolus- tion of Congress of October 10th, 1780. which fixed the extent of each State at not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances might admit. So the subject was again taken up in 1786, and discussed

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during that year and until July 12th, 1787, when the ordinance finally passed, as stated above.

An act of territorial organization was approved August 7th, 1789. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed Governor, and William H. Harrison Secretary. In 1788 a town had been laid out by John Cleves Symmes at Fort Washington, and was named Losantiville, but afterward Cincinnati. The place was settled by persons from the New England States and from New Jersey, but did not extensively improve until after Gen. Wayne's defeat of the Indians in 1794. This became the seat of the new territorial government. The election of representatives for the territory was held February 4th, 1799. As required by the ordinance of 1787, these representatives met at the seat of the territorial govern- ment to nominate ten persons, out of which Congress was to appoint five to serve as the territorial council. The following persons were commissioned : Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes ; Robert Oliver, of Marietta : James Findlay and Jacob Burnett, of Cincin- nati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. The first Territorial Legislature met September 16th, 1799, and on the 24th both houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected president of the council. On the 13th of October the legislature elected Wm. Henry Harrison as a delegate to Congress. He received eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of the Governor. At this ses- sion thirty-seven acts were passed and approved. Eleven other acts were passed which the Governor vetoed. The greater part of the legislation of the session related to the organization of the militia and to revenue matters. The session closed December 19th, 1799. President Adams appointed Charles Willing Bryd as secretary of the territory to succeed William Henry Harrison, elected to Congress, and the senate confirmed the nomi- nation. James N. Varnum, S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong were appointed to the judi- cial bench of the territory in October, 1787.

Having briefly outlined the legislation which resulted in the formation of a territo- rial government, we return to notice some of the earlier American settlements in the territory. As elsewhere stated, a few French settlements had been made by emigrants from Canada and Louisiana, on the Ohio river and in the region known as the Illinois country, but it was not until after the Virginia cession that any permanent American set- tlements were made. Then several treaties were made with the Indians, in which they relinquished their title to large portions of the territory. The government made several large grants to companies and individuals, for the purpose of colonizing the country. One of these was to a company from Massachusetts and Connecticut, called the New England Company, of a tract lying along the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, embracing 1,500,000 acres. Here the town of Marietta was laid out, in August, 1787, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers. Fort Harmar was built on the opposite, or west bank of the Muskingum, the year before. The New England Company sent its first party of settlers in the Spring of 1788. They consisted of eight families, and some other persons, and all under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam. The party, after a long and weary journey over the Alleghanies, and down the Ohio, arrived at Marietta on the 7th of April, 1788. This little band had the honor of being the pioneers of Ohio, unless the Moravian missionaries may be so regarded. The settlement was first known as the " Mus- kingum," but on the 2d day of July, 1788, at a meeting of the directors and agents of the company, the name was changed to Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette.

In 1786, John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, visited the country between the Miamies, and being pleased with its appearance, made application to the government for the purchase of a large tract of land, to be settled on similar conditions with those of the New England Company. The grant was made to Symmes and his associates the follow- ing year. Associated with Symmes, was Matthias Denman, also of New Jersey, who located, among other tracts in the Symmes purchase, the section upon which Cincinnati was laid out. Denman sold to Robert Patterson and John Filson, each one-third of his

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location, retaining the other third himself. In August, 1788, they laid out the first por- tion of what. in a few years, became one of the great cities of the West. Fort Washing- ton was erected here in 1790, and was for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments of the Northwestern Territory. There were but few settlers here until after 1794, when settlers began to arrive rapidly. In July, 1815, the popula- tion was 6,500.

In October, 1795, the treaty was signed between the United States and Spain, which secured to the former the free navigation of the Mississippi. After this the Northwest began to settle rapidly. During the next year settlements were made at various points along the Miami and Scioto rivers, including those at Piqua and Chillicothe. In Septem- ber, of the same year, the city of Cleveland was laid out.

The great extent of the Northwestern Territory, and the rapid increase of population at the beginning of the new century, began to render the efficient action of the courts impossible ; and to remedy this evil a division of the Territory was proposed. A com- mittee in Congress, to whom the matter had been referred. on the Ed of March, 1800, reported in favor of two distinct territorial governments, and that the division be made by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running directly to the boundary line between the United States and Canada. The report was accepted, and an act passed, which was approved May 7th, of the same year, making the division. It pro- vided, among other things, that from and after the next 4th day of July, " all that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, which lies to the northward of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky river. and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall interseet the terri- torial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory." The same act provided, that until the Legislatures of the Territories, respectively, otherwise ordered, Chillicothe, on the Scioto river, should be the seat of government of the Terri- tory east of the line of division ; and that Vincennes, on the Wabash river, should be the seat of government of the Indiana Territory. On the 3d of November, of that year, the Territorial Legislature met at Chillicothe. William Henry Harrison was appointed Gov- ernor of Indiana Territory, and entered upon his duties in 1801. The new Territory then embraced all that region now comprising the States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- consin, and that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi river. Nearly the whole of it was at that time in the possession of the Indians. Soon after the arrival of Governor Harrison at Vincennes, he concluded several treaties with the Indians, whereby large grants of land were obtained from the various tribes. By a treaty made at St. Louis. August 18th, 1801, he obtained a relinquishment of Indian title to over 51,000,000 of acres. The year before, the government had obtained Louisiana from France, by pur- chase, and that being divided, the " District of Louisiana " (the " New Northwest ") was annexed to Indiana Territory, thus extending Gov. Harrison's authority over a vast domain, occupied chiefly by savage tribes.

By au act of Congress, of January 11th, 1805, Indiana Territory was divided into two separate governments, and the new Territory of Michigan formed. William Hull was appointed Governor of the new Territory, and Detroit was designated as the seat of gov- ernment. On the 30th of June the Territorial government of Michigan was to go into operation. When Gov. Hull, and the other Territorial officers, reached Detroit, they found the place in ruins and the inhabitants scattered. On the 11th of that month a fire had destroyed almost every building in the place. Gov. Hull adopted a new plan for rebuilding the town, and in population and importance it soon regained all it had lost by the fire.

Other changes were subsequently made in the boundaries of the Western Territories, as new States were from time to time admitted into the Union, until finally, all that vast domain originally designated as the " Northwestern Territory " became sovereign States.

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CHAPTER IV.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

Discovery of the Mouth of the Mississippi - Founding of New Orleans French Grant - John Law - The " Mis- sissippi Bubble "- Territory West of the Mississippi - France Cedes to Spain - Spain Cedes Back to France - France Cedes to the United States - Right to Navigate the Mississippi -Particulars of the Negotiations With France - Extent of the Territory - Possession Taken by the United States -Division of the Territory.

That vast region of territory once known as Louisiana, came under the jurisdiction of civilized men by the right of discovery -a right which has long been known and recognized among civilized nations, though often necessarily followed by conquest to ren- der it effective. For two centuries the Spaniards had navigated the Gulf of Mexico, so far as we know, ignorant of the fact that it received the waters of one of the largest rivers of the world. About the year 1660 the French, who had re-established them- selves in Canada, received some information of this great river, but did not discover its mouth until 1691, when, according to some authorities, La Salle succeeded in reach- ing it. Iberville founded his first colony in 1699, but it did not assume importance until 1717, when the city of New Orleans was founded. In 1712 Louis XIV of France granted to M. Crozart a charter to the whole territory of Louisiana, which was so named in honor of the king. Under the leadership of John Law, in 1716, a company was formed in Paris and incorporated as the " Mississippi Company," which purchased Louisiana from the crown. The financial disasters in France caused by Law brought about the failure of his Missis- sippi scheme, and the explosion of what is known in history as the " Mississippi bubble." Louisiana was then resumed by the crown, and the commerce of the Mississippi was declared free. The French retained possession until 1762, when they ceded it to Spain, including the whole country to the head waters of the great river and west to the Rocky Mountains. The jurisdiction of France, which had continued for nearly a century, thus ended, until in 1800 Bonaparte, then first consul, induced the Spanish government to cede it back to France. During the time that Louisiana remained a Spanish dependency, that government claimed the exclusive right of navigating the Mississippi river. The free navigation of that river was essential to the prosperity and commerce of the United States. Spain then having jurisdiction also over the Floridas east of the great river, and that river for several hundred miles flowing wholly through the Spanish diminions, the question of its navigation south of the southern boundary of the United States became a serious one to our government and people. The people in the western part of the United States especially demanded the free navigation of the river as a right. But . Spanish military posts enforced the collection of duties on imports by way of the river for the upper region. Boats descending were forced to submit to revenue exactions by Spanish authorities. These exactions were a constant source of trouble and disaffection, and led to a threatening state of affairs between the United States and Spain. Spain, however, by the treaty of Madrid, October 20, 1795, conceded to the United States the free navigation of the river from its source to the Gulf, and also the free use of the port of New Orleans for three years as a port of deposit.

The treaty of Madrid, however, did not quiet all troubles between the United States and Spain. In 1802, during the administration of President Jefferson, there was some apprehension of a war growing out of the continued disputes respecting the southwestern boundary. These disputes had led to many difficulties between the people of the United States and the Spanish authorities. These affairs, however, assumed a new aspect, when

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in the Spring of 1802 the Government of the United States received intelligence that, by a secret treaty made in October, 1800, Spain had ceded Louisiana to France. At this time Mr. Livingston was the United States Minister to France, and President Jefferson, soon after learning of the Spanish cession to France, wrote to Mr. Livingston in refer- ence to acquiring the right to deposit at the port of New Orleans, and other matters which had been in dispute between the United States and Spain. In his annual message to Congress, in December of the same year, the President alluded to the subject of tlie Spanish cession to France. Congress passed resolutions asserting the right of navigating the Mississippi, and insisting upon the right to the use of a port or a place of deposit. At that time it was understood in the United States that the Spanish cession to France included the Floridas, which, however, was not the case. The policy of the President was to enter into a treaty with France for the purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas, and with this view, on the 10th of January, 1803, he appointed James Monroe minister plenipotentiary to France to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston. Mr. Monroe's nomination was confirmed by the Senate. The instructions to the American ministers only asked for the cession of the city of New Orleans and the Floridas, together with the free navigation of the Mississippi. The cession at this time of the entire Territory of Louisiana was not a subject of discussion. Mr. Monroc sailed from New York March 8, 1803, and arrived in Paris April 1.

Bonaparte was then first consul, and France was on the eve of a war with England. He supposed the American ministers were authorized to enter into more extended stipu- lations than they really were. Marquis de Marbois was directed to negotiate with the American ministers. Said the first consul to his minister, as recorded by the latter :

" Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede ; it is the whole colony, without any reserva- tion. I know the price of what I abandon, and I have sufficiently proved the importance that I attach to this province, since my first diplomatic act with Spain had for its object the recovery of it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To attempt to retain it would be folly. I direct you to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not even await the arrival of Mr. Monroe ; have an interview this day with Mr. Livingston. But I require a great deal of money for this war, and I would not like to commence with new contributions. If I should regulate my terms, according to the value of these vast regions to the United States, the indemnity would have no limits. I will be moderate, in consideration of the necessity in which I am of making a sale. But keep this to yourself. I want fifty millions francs, and for less than that sum I will not treat ; I would rather make a desperate attempt to keep those fine countries. To- morrow you shall have full powers. Mr. Monroe is on the point of arriving. To this minister the President must have given secret instructions, more extensive than the ostensible authorization of Congress, for the stipulation of the payments to be made. Neither this minister nor his colleague is prepared for a decision which goes infinitely beyond any thing that they are about to ask of us. Begin by making them the overture without any subterfuge. You will acquaint me, day by day, hour by hour, of your progress. The cabinet of London is informed of the measures adopted at Washington, but it can have no suspicion of those which I am now taking. Observe the greatest secrecy, and recommend it to the American ministers ; they have not a less interest than yourself in conforming to this counsel. You will correspond with M. de Talleyrand, who alone knows my intentions. If I attended to his advice, France would confine her ambition to the left bank of the Rhine, and would only make war to protect any dismem- berment of her possessions. But he also admits that the cession of Louisiana is not a dismemberment of France. Keep him informed of the progress of this affair."

On the same day that Napoleon thus confided to Marbois his determination, confer- ences began between the latter and Mr. Livingston. The American minister had been

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in Paris about two years, endeavoring to obtain indemnities claimed by American citizens for prizes made by the French during peace, but so far, without result further than vague answers. Mr. Livingston had become distrustful of the French government, and feared the Louisiana overtures were but an artifice to gain still further time. Soon after these preliminary discussions were entered upon, Mr. Monroe arrived in Paris, and the next day began his conferences with Marbois. Rapid progress was made in the negotiations, for both sides had an interest in hastening the matter. Mr. Monroe was surprised to hear the first overtures made so frankly by the French minister, when he proposed to cede to the United States so vast a region of country, with the largest rivers in the world, instead of merely a town and an inconsiderable extent of territory. The offer embraced infinitely more than the American ministers were empowered to ask for, or accept. Their powers only extended to an arrangement respecting the left bank of the Mississippi, including New Orleans. But the moment was a critical one with France, hostilities being about to commence with England. There was not time for further in- structions from the government of the United States before the opportunity would pass, perhaps forever. The American ministers therefore assumed the responsibility of treat- ing for the purchase of the entire colony, or territory of Louisiana - an extent of country sufficient in itself for an empire. The terms were soon agreed upon. The United States was to pay for this vast acquisition the sum of fifteen millions of dollars. In the treaty of October 1, 1800, between France and Spain, the latter had reserved the right of preference in case France should cede this territory to another power ; but here again France could not afford to wait. The treaty was concluded and subsequently submitted to the Spanish cabinet. They complained that no regard had been paid to their reserved right, and for almost a year that court delayed its approbation of the treaty. On the 10th of February, 1804, however, Don Pedro Cavallos, the Spanish minister, wrote to Mr. Pinckney, the American minister, that " His Catholic Majesty had thought fit to re- nounce his opposition to the alienation of Louisiana made by France, notwithstanding the solid reasons on which it is founded, thereby giving a new proof of his benevolence and friendship to the United States." The important treaty that gave to the United States this vast region, with all its wonderful resources, was concluded on the 30th of April, 1803, and four days later the instruments, in French and English, were signed by the ministers. After affixing their signatures, the ministers rose and shook hands, each expressing his satisfaction with the result. Mr. Livingston said : "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. The treaty which we have just signed has not been obtained by art, or dictated by force ; equally advantageous to the two con- tracting parties, it will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts. From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank ; the English lose all exclusive influence in the affairs of America."

The first consul, who had followed the negotiation with a lively interest, acquiesced in the result, and said to Marbois: "It is true, the negotiation does not leave me any- thing to desire. Sixty millions [francs ] for an occupation that will not, perhaps, last for a day ! I would that France should enjoy this unexpected capital, and that it may be employed in works beneficial to the marine. This accession of territory strengthens for- ever the power of the United States ; and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride."

On the 22d day of May, 1803, England commenced hostilities against France by the capture of some of her merchant vessels, and on the same day Bonaparte gave his formal ratification of the Louisiana treaty of cession. In July the treaty was received in the United States, and on the 20th of October, 1803, it was ratified by the Senate, by twenty- four against seven votes. The country ceded by this treaty, as estimated at that time, exceeded a million of square miles, all occupied by savages, except a few sparse settle- ments, aggregating from 80,000 to 90,000 inhabitants, about 40,000 of whom were slaves.

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The whites were chiefly French or descendants of French. Congress, a few days after the ratification of the treaty by the Senate, passed an act making provision for the occu- pation and temporary government of the territory acquired. Eleven millions of dollars were appropriated as payment for the purchase-the remaining four millions being re- served, according to a stipulation in the treaty, to indemnify citizens of the United States who had sustained losses at the hands of the French. The resolution for carrying the treaty into effect was sustained by the House of Representatives by a vote of ninety to twenty-five.

Even before the acquisition of Louisiana, it had been a favorite object of President Jefferson to have an exploring expedition sent across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and in January, 1803, he had recommended an appropriation for that purpose. The ap- propriation was made, and the enterprise was placed under the direction of Captains Lewis and Clarke. The treaty with France, however, was ratified before the exploring expedition was ready to start. On the 14th of May, 1804, Captains Lewis and Clarke, with their companions. consisting in all of thirty persons, left the banks of the Mississippi on their long and perilous voyage of two years and three months, to seek out and give to their country and the world some more accurate knowledge respecting this vast region of country, of which civilization at that time knew so little. The expedition was in every way successful. and the report made by Captains Lewis and Clarke enabled the government and people of the United States to form a better judgment of the immense value of the country acquired.

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 4

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932