USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > Historical sketches of Old Vincennes, founded in 1732 : its institutions and churches, embracing collateral incidents and biographical sketches of many persons and events connected therewith > Part 10
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OLD VINCENNES. 153
pany did, but was ambuscaded and destroyed. This disaster had such a discouraging effect upon both Clark and his troops that the advance was abandoned. After returning to the Falls he had some gunboats made at his own expense for the purpose of plying the waters between that place and Cincinnati, which materially aided in preventing Indian raids both on land and on water. The Miamis still con- tinning to cross into Kentucky, he headed another army and marched on their settlements at Chillicothe and Piqua, in November, killing many savages, burning their houses and destroying their crops, leaving their women and chil- dren unsheltered, with winter coming on and nothing to cat. The demoralizing effect of the loss of their property resulted in keeping the Indians on the north side of the Ohio river. A cessation of hostilities occurred between the Colonies and England, September 3, 1783, and Congress ratified the treaty of peace on January 14, 1784. On March 1, 1784, Congress accepted the gift of the Territory from Virginia, and Clark, seeing no future for him, as he was a State officer, sent in his resignation and he was re- leased from his command. After Virginia had ceased to care for the Northwest Territory and the United States becoming neglectful of their interests in their new pos- sessions, things began to be badly managed, mostly on ac- count of the nonpayment of troops and failure to provide them with sufficient provisions and the existence of worth- less scrip, which the people had at first taken at par and which fell to 1,000 per cent. discount. The murmurs of discontent became so loud that there existed great danger of the loss of the prestige gained by Clark only a few years before. The people petitioned the Kentuckians for the
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return of Clark, and in 1786, by authority of the Ken- tucky Council, assembled at Danville, and under sanction of Governor Henry, Clark congregated his troops at the falls and started for the Wabash region. Upon his arrival at Vincennes he was hampered by the nonarrival of stores, which had been spoiled and delayed by river transporta- tion. Finally he marched up as far as Ouiatenon. The Indians had retreated. About this time mutiny was rife in the camp; pleadings by Clark, even to tears, availed nothing, and several hundred deserted. Desertions and lack of provisions caused him to return to Vincennes, when he detailed 130 men for the garrison. This act, although sanctioned by a council of officers, for the protection of the local and general interests of the country, was misjudged and criticised by his enemies, and when he returned to Kentucky he was relieved of all authority. About this time the United States Government assumed command and garrisoned Vincennes, by sending Major Hamtramck with a company of soldiers here.
General Clark being relieved of military authority, unfortunately for his reputation, accepted a Major-Gen- eralship in the French service against Spain. That country held possession of the Mississippi river to the great detri- ment of the American trade, and Clark thought it would be a great benefit to the States if he could break the power of Spain by the capture of New Orleans, and made a propo- sition to raise 2,000 men to accomplish this. His enemies immediately reported this item to the Washington Govern- ment and steps were taken to stop the contemplated raid against a friendly ( ?) government. Clark, finding his mo- tives being misconstrued and obstacles placed in his way,
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abandoned the enterprise and permanently retired to civic pursuits in Indiana, and settled at Clarksville, a town laid off where Jeffersonville now stands, on a thousand-acre traet reserved from the "Clark Grant" for that purpose by the United States Government. Here he lived in quiet re- tirement and finally became paralyzed in 1809; and one day, being alone, he fell into an open fireplace, when one of his limbs was frightfully burned before assistance came. After this accident he was removed to the residence of his brother-in-law, Major William Croghan, near Louis- ville, Ky., where he remained during the balance of his life. He never married. In 1812 Virginia voted him a sword and a pension of $400 per annum. He died Feb- ruary 13, 1818, and was buried at Loenst Grove, a private burial ground at the country seat of his brother-in-law, Major Croghan, situated a few miles above the city of Louisville, Ky. The court in Louisville adjourned upon hearing of his death, and the bar appointed Honorable John Rowan to deliver an eulogy upon his life and services, and passed resolutions of condolence and resolved that the members should wear crepe for thirty days as a token of respect for the departed. Thus ended the eventful and grand career of one of the most remarkable characters in American history ; one who deserved more and received less than any public man, measured by the results obtained through his patriotism, energy, foresight and skill. Had he received the encouragement and aid to enable him to have consummated his advance on Detroit, as proposed and urged by him, especially soon after the capture of Vin- cennes, the mainstay of English influence would have been stricken down, which was the feeder and energizer of the
REVEREND PIERRE GIBAULT.
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Indians, and thousands of lives would have been spared, millions of money saved, and Canada swallowed up by the Union, and English prestige forever driven from the Western Continent. The debt of gratitude and honor that is yet due him by America has still to be paid, and his memory fittingly embalmed on the roll of honor as one de- serving immortal fame. To George Rogers Clark, next to George Washington, the father of his country, is due the greatness of the Union.
REVEREND PIERRE GIBAULT.
In the history of Nations we find generally that heroic deeds of valor are awarded to military actors in the great drama of life, as it passes in review before the gaze of the people, but civic actors have achieved victories no less worthy of renown gained in quieter ways than amid the din of battle, through life's duties well performed.
The subject of this brief sketch, Reverend Pierre Gibault, was born in April, 1737, in the Dominion of Canada, and was educated for the priesthood, and in early manhood evinced a desire to give his services to the church in the western wilds, as a missionary to the pioneers and Indians, who were without the light of the Gospel which leads to higher life and civilization. As soon as he was ordained, in 1768, he started for the West along the Can- adian border to his objective point, Kaskaskia, where he arrived the latter part of the year, and it is said that he dedicated the first church erected in the city of St. Louis, in 1769. His mission was to the "Illinois Country" and hence his labors were confined not alone to Kaskaskia. In
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the year 1770 he visited the village of Vincennes. He was no ordinary man, and wherever his mission took him he very soon, by his intuition of human character, affability, simplicity and sweetness of manners, gained the confidence of the settlers and Indians. During his first visit to Vin- cennes he was received with the utmost cordiality and he soon became a favorite with all classes. In March he re- turned to Kaskaskia, his usual place of residence, but for several years he continued to pay occasional visits to the "Post." He was for a time the only priest in Indiana. His zeal and energy were wonderful, his labors almost sur- passing belief .* We find from the records of the church that, in July, 1778, he was at Vincennes (having been won over to the American cause at Kaskaskia by Colonel Clark), exerting himself successfully in inducing the French inhabitants to declare in favor of the United States against Great Britain. At this time he had gone to Vin- cennes at the instance of Colonel George Rogers Clark, in company with Doctor La Fonte as civil magistrate, Cap- tain Leonard Heh representing the military of Virginia, and Moses Henry, interpreter and envoy to the Indians. At Reverend Gibault's request a meeting was called at the church-the English commandant, Governor Abbot, hav- ing gone to Detroit and left the garrison of French militia under St. Maria Racine-and, through the Reverend Father's persuasive eloquence, the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance to the American cause and the garrison and fort were delivered over to Captain Helm. Thus it was that the first capture of "Fort Sackville" (and the village of Vincennes) was without bloodshed, and wholly
* Law's Hist. Vincennes, p. 146.
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through the instrumentality of the patriot priest-ally, that hero of astute diplomacy-Pierre Gibault. Clark, not having troops to maintain the advantage gained, and being rendered thereby incapable of garnering the fruits of this glorious victory of Father Gibault, the village and fort were soon retaken by the English commander, Governor Henry Hamilton. But the seed of liberty had been sown and had taken deep root, and as soon as opportunity under the protection of Clark's little army offered, the plant sent forth its flowers in perpetual bloom, to bless the people in all time with their fragrance. The influence of Father Gibault's labors were more than local and his name should be cherished by American citizens with an ardor fully equal to that displayed for La Fayette or Rochambeau, for the beneficent results following Gibault's patriotic zeal, his tenacious fidelity to the American cause of liberty, will give measure for measure with those great French Gen- erals.
Following the capture of Vincennes Reverend Gibault became pastor of St. Xavier's church here in 1785 and remained until 1789.
"In 1788 Father Gibault had already requested the Bishop of Quebec to recall him from Vincennes, where, at that time, he had taken up his residence. When his peti- tion, addressed to Governor St. Clair, for a piece of land in Cahokia was granted, or seems to have been granted, Bishop Carroll immediately protested against this attempt to alienate church property to an individual clergyman .* 'Apparently, in consequence,' says Shea, 'the Reverend Gibault left the diocese of Baltimore and retired to the
Letter of Father Schmidt, October 15, 1895, English Conquest of Northwest, p. 188.
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Spanish Territory beyond the Mississippi.'" He finally settled in New Madrid, Mo., where he died early in 1804. Of Father Pierre Gibault it may well be said :
For duties well performed, on earth, In measure full he gained renown; Which, but in feeble type, presaged For him, Heaven's glorious crown.
FRANCIS VIGO.
Colonel Francis Vigo was one of the notable and dis- tinguished citizens of the old town the last quarter of the eighteenth and the first third of the nineteenth centuries, and his name should ever be held in grateful remembrance by the country at large. He is spoken of by some writers as of Spanish birth, but others contend that he was a native of Sardinia,* but went into Spain's military service at a very early age; but finally he left the army and drifted into the trade of furs and hides and general merchandis- ing after coming to America. From New Orleans he came to St. Louis about the year 1775. As a trader he became well and favorably known among the Indians and the French inhabitants of all adjacent settlements, and by his friendly demeanor and just treatment of the Indians in his intercourse with them, they became attached to him and trusted him implicitly. "Being asked once by an old citizen whence his great influence with the Indians, he replied : "Because I never deceive an Indian." After Colonel Clark had captured Kaskaskia and through strat- egy had gained possession of Post Vincennes, and Colonel
" It i- more probable that he was of Spanish birth, and came from the city of Vigo, situated on the bay of Vigo, in the south of Spain.
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Hamilton had retaken it, thus making Clark's position at Kaskaskia precarious, if not untenable, with his small army, the expirations of many of the enlistments of his troops occurring at this time, Clark determined to make a bold strike at Hamilton's position. Before doing this, how- ever, it was important to learn, through spies, the situation at the Post. In his dilem- ma, it is related by some writers, Colonel Clark made Colonel Vigo, his diplomat and agent, go to Vincennes and ascertain the strength of Lieutenant- Governor Hamilton, the quality of the defenses, and the feeling of the French citizens, before determining the next step in his cam- paign. And it is said that Vigo was captured while on that duty, at the mouth Lull VICO of the Embarrass river, eight miles below Vin- COLONEL FRANCIS VIGO. cennes, but subsequently re- leased by Hamilton, through the influence of citizens, noth- ing incriminating having been found upon him indicating that he was a spy. The condition of his release was that he was to return directly to his home in St. Louis, which was then a possession of Spain. It is said that he adhered to his promise, but immediately after his arrival he delayed no longer than was necessary to get a relay, before pro-
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ceeding to communicate with Clark at Kaskaskia. That he was the medium of the information to Clark there is no doubt, because the latter alludes to the arrival of Colonel Vigo from Vincennes, bringing the information desired ; whether Vigo was in possession of this information for Clark as special envoy or not is not positively known.
Following in the wake of the capture of Hamilton's forces, Colonel Vigo appears on the scene as Colonel Clark's friend and helper in times of need. He cashed Clark's vouchers for necessary expenses of the army, as the latter had failed to receive funds from Virginia to pay the soldiers, or for his commissary supplies for the army. Colonel Vigo, having accumulated much wealth by trad- ing, he dealt it out with a liberal hand to sustain the credit of the Virginia forces and keep that State's credit at par. And yet, to the shame of that State and the United States Government, which became in a few years afterwards the beneficiary of the whole Northwest Territory, Colonel Vigo died a poor man, not having received a cent's remuneration from either Government for his lavish advances of many thousands of dollars, through his generous and patri- otic impulses in behalf of the American cause. Petitions to Congress for his reimbursement proved futile for many years ; he died March 22, 1836, before the scales of justice had assumed an equilibrium. Colonel Vigo married a Miss Elizabeth Shannon, who was born in Vincennes, March 23, 1770, but she died in early life. So when he died, having no relatives, he left his claim against the Government to his nephews, Archibald B. McKee and Vigo McKee, children of Sarah Shannon, who married Dr. Samuel McKee, Surgeon United States Army at this
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Post, and perhaps to Captain R. Buntin's family, as they were connected through Mary Shannon, wife of the Cap- tain. Those interested continued to proseente the claim, until it was finally referred to a court of claims, which gave judgment in 1875 for $8,616 principal, and interest to the amount of $41,282.60, making a total of $49,898.60.
During Colonel Vigo's prosperity, in the closing days of the eighteenth century, he built a most elegant residence in the town. It stood on a lot near, or on the site of the present Odd Fellows' hall. It was surrounded by a veran- da painted white, its blinds the purest tint of green. Its large parlors with their high ceilings, imported mantels, its floors inlaid with diamond-shaped pieces of black wal- nut and white oak, highly polished, made it a marvel of beauty in those days. It was this beautiful parlor that Governor William Henry Harrison occupied as his first residence upon his arrival in January, 1801, at the invi- tation of Colonel Vigo, it having been just completed ; and the Governor, not finding a suitable house for a residence, accepting the invitation. Colonel Vigo filled the office of Colonel in the 1st Regiment in the Territorial militia in the early part of the last century ; he resigned May 5, 1810. In 1805, February 16th, he was granted a license to keep a ferry from his land on the northwest side of the Wabash river and opposite to the town of Vincennes across said river .* Some writers have doubted that Colonel Vigo ever resided in Vincennes. Nothing is more susceptible of proof than that he was a resident here for quite fifty years. Ile owned, in addition to his town property (he was pos- sessed of considerable property adjoining town), a farm
" Executive Journal of the Territory, p. 126.
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three miles southeast of the town, the residence of his nephew, the late A. B. McKee, where he resided many years. But, before the close of his life, he resided in town, and died in a frame building on Main street, between Fourth and Fifth streets, adjoining the old W. J. Heberd house, a few doors west of the Bishop block, attended by his faithful friend, who had been his ward in early days, "Aunt" Betsy La Plante. To this faet the writer has had oral testimony of living witnesses, on the Sth day of May. 1902, to wit: Mr. Elbridge Gardner, undertaker; Mr. Vital Bonehie and Mrs. Elizabeth Andre-the latter being now about ninety-three years of age. Colonel Vigo was buried in the city cemetery, where the grave is marked by a simple slab of sandstone, with the inscription :
COLONEL FRANCIS VIGO. DIED 22ND DAY MARCH 1835* AGED 96.
Hle was probably a Catholic in his youth, but according to Z. T. Emerson, in the History of Knox County, p. 70, he did not die in that faith, although a trustee of St. Francis Xavier church from 1818 to 1821. He was loved and honored by his fellow-citizens, as few men have been. The city honored him by naming one of her principal
* NOTE .- The date of 1835 is an error; it was really 1836, as the record of the undertakers, Andrew Gardner & Son, shows. The junior member of this firm, Mr. Eldridge Gardner, who is yet living, remembers all the circumstances con- nected with the death and burial. Mrs. Doctor W. W. Hitt, just across the street, being buried the same day, and the inscription on her grave's shaft bears the date of March 22, 1836. Colonel Vigo was born about 1740, and calculating from this, he would have been ninety-six years old at the time of his death.
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streets after him, and the county has named one of her townships in honor of him to perpetuate his memory. The Vincennes University has the only oil painting of this hero and patriot ; and it is the writer's recollection that one of the first notes of the old State Bank of Indiana, chartered in 1836, had upon it a vignette likeness of him. I think he presented the bill either to the Vincennes Antiquarian Society or to the University. In the lapse of time it has been lost, but may turn up some day as a valued relic in a coming age. When Indiana Territory became a State it named one of the principal northern counties in his honor ; and to show his appreciation of the compliment, a stipula- tion was embodied in his will that a sufficient sum required to purchase a bell for the court house should be paid to Vigo county. This stipulation was complied with and the bell provided thereunder is still in use on the court house at Terre Haute, to call the solons of justice to render jus- tice that was denied its giver during life by his Govern- ment.
No more fitting epitaph need be placed over the tomb of Colonel Francis Vigo than the eulogy passed on his life and character by General St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, in his report to the Secretary of War, in 1790, in which he said :
"To Mr. Vigo, a gentleman of Vincennes, the United States are much indebted, and he is, in truth, the most distinguished person I have almost ever seen."
Brave patriot, noble, good and wise! Let all who view thy lonely tomb, Remember that beneath there lies One worthy spring's perpetual bloom.
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FRANCIS BUSSERON. THE FOSTER FATHER OF ALICE OF OLD VINCENNES.
Another notable personage who figured most creditably in the early days of Vincennes, was Francis Busseron. He it was who joined Father Gibault in winning over the French people to the American cause, upon the advent of Captain Leonard Helm, Colonel Clark's commissioner to Vincennes on August 6, 1778. When Father Gibault re- turned to Kaskaskia and informed Colonel Clark of the interest and loyalty M. Busseron had displayed in winning over the French from the English, he sent him a commis- sion as Captain, made him district commandant and au- thorized him to raise a company of militia to aid the Americans. When Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Territory in 1790, made inquiry of the citizens and act- ing authorities by what right they had been disposing of the public domain, Captain F. Busseron was chosen at the head of a committee appointed by the citizens, to formulate an answer, which showed that he was considered one of the leading men of the town. It was Captain Busseron who gave shelter to Mary Shannon, whose father it is said had been murdered by the Indians, and who had sought him as a friend of her father. He became her foster father and raised her to womanhood, when she was united in marriage to Captain Robert Buntin, a leading citizen. She is the character, now celebrated as "Alice of Old Vincennes," to whom Maurice Thompson gave the honor of raising the American flag over Sackville upon its capture by Colonel Clark. The anachronism is excusable in the author, as he must have a heroine for the dramatic scene of the sur-
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render. Had she been born a little earlier than May 1, 1777, the event might have been historically correet in all particulars, since Captain Busseron was the officer of the town and a captain of the militia, as the reputed foster father, Gaspard Ronssilon, appeared to have been. His- tory furnishes evidences that the old citizens honored Cap- tain Busseron and the succeeding generations have perpetu- ated his memory by naming one of the principal streets of the city after him, and the county its most northern town- ship in his honor. And many of his descendants have oc- cupied honorable positions, one of whom is Judge Charles Busseron Lasselle, of Logansport, Ind., now an octoge- marian. General Hyacinth Lasselle, who was a resident of Vincennes early in the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury, built the Lasselle Hotel, that stood on the corner of Perry and Second streets, where Bierhaus Brothers' large new building now stands. This hotel was built in 1812, contained fifteen rooms, and was noted as the official "head- quarters" of Gen. Thomas Posey, who succeeded Harrison in 1813. The building was burned October 23, 1871.
Chapter VIII. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES CONTINUED-GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
T HE ninth President of the United States was Will- iam Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, an opulent and distinguished citizen of Berkley, Va., and a close friend of President Washington, and was born February 9, 1773. His father was a member of the Continental Congress and was subsequently Governor of Virginia. Young Harrison had all the educational ad- vantages Hampden Sidney college could impart, and his mind was not slow to reap the wealth of knowledge. After concluding his collegiate course he became a pupil of the celebrated Doctor Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, with the intention of becoming a physician. But his pa- triotic and adventurous disposition caused him to throw down the scalpel and medicines and seek a position in the army, when he received the office of Ensign from Washing- ton. He reported to the commander at Fort Washington and the first duty assigned him was the care of a pack-train bound for Fort Hamilton, on the Miami river, forty miles from Fort Washington.
Although but a youth, and rather delicate in appearance, he performed his duty like a veteran, instilling into his subordinates the value of temperance, which would enable them to bear hardships they otherwise could not. He was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and joined the
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army placed under the command of General Wayne, who was appointed to reclaim the region lost by General Arthur St. Clair.
On the Maumee river the Indians were encountered in large numbers, estimated at 2.000, and the battle ensuing was long and bloody, but they were so badly defeated that they pleaded for peace. Here Harrison's service was so valuable and conspic- uous he was promoted to the rank of Captain and given command at Fort Washington.
The British posts in the Northwest about this time were surren- dered and he was oc- enpied in supplying them. While thus en- gaged he married a Miss Symes, a daugh- ter of John Cleaves Symes, a frontier resi- dent on the Maumee.
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