USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 17
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COL. FRANCIS VIGO
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
soldierly bearing and gentlemanly deportment, he sought and received an honorable discharge, quitting the service to engage in the Indian trade on the Arkansas river and its tributaries. Not a great while after leaving the Spanish army, his energetic, resourceful commercial mind led him, in 1772, to change the scenes of his earlier operations as a trader on the Arkansas river to St. Louis, which was then the seat of the government of Louisiana. Here he formed the acquaintance, won the friendship and became asso- ciated in business with Don Francisco de Luba, the governor of Louisiana, whose official residence was St. Louis. A strong attachment, signalized by confidence and esteem, was soon formed between the two. The governor was a haughty personage, a polished gentleman of refinement and educa- tion, and commander-in-chief of the military forces. Vigo was a private soldier, unlearned in letters, without the rudiments of an education, able only at that time to write his own name, but withal he was one of the most successful and enterprising traders that ever came into the Northwest Territory. That these two men, occupying such vastly different stations in life, should become cemented in the most endearing ties of friendship and associated in business enterprises involving immense sums of money, was singular indeed, and only shows that the absence of caste governed the social as well as the commercial conditions of the earlier days. Vigo, while ignorant, was the embodiment of honor and honesty, and had absorbed, despite his daily contact with savages and uncouth adventurers, the man- ners of a cultured gentleman, which made his presence always agreeable to those moving in the higher circles of society. His straightforwardness was the foundation upon which he builded business enterprises that made liim rich ; it was the key that unlocked the hearts of the people with whom he came in contact, and gave him their confidence, love and esteem, treas- ures which he carried with him down to the grave. Gentleness, combined with loftiness of thought, "purity of mind, a high, honorable and chivalric bearing" were strong qualities in his character. Col. Clark first met Vigo at Kaskaskia, where the latter was temporarily residing, his business fre- quently calling him away, in all directions, from his permanent residence in St. Louis. Clark had recently received word from Capt. Helm, in com- mand of Virginia troops at Vincennes, that he was destitute of provisions and ammunition, and learning that Vigo was well acquainted with the in- habitants at this post, sent him (December 18, 1778) for the purpose of supplying these wants. It* has been erroneously stated by quite a number of writers that Vigo came here as a spy from Kaskaskia, at the behest of Clark, to ascertain the number and condition of Hamilton's forces. As a matter of fact, neither Clark nor Vigo knew that Hamilton was really here at that time. Clark, having heard nothing to the contrary, naturally supposed that Helm was still "holding the fort." Vigo was accompanied on his pilgrimage from Kaskaskia by a single body-guard. Having hitherto
* W. H. English, The Conquest of the Northwest.
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experienced little or no trouble with the Indians, and being lionized by the French of this locality, he had little to fear. Great was his surprise when, on reaching the Embarrass river, he was set upon by a band of Indians who confiscated all of his possessions and led him, an unwilling captive, be- fore General Hamilton, then in full charge of the fort at Vincennes. He pleaded that he was a subject of the king of Spain, and therefore a non- participant in any conspiracies against the British crown. While eyeing the prisoner with many misgivings and suspecting him of all manner of ulterior motives, Hamilton did not deem it prudent to place him in durance vile ; admitting him instead to parole, conditioned that he should make daily reports of his conduct at the fort, which he did, and by so doing was enabled to make a mental diagram of the garrison, its defenses, and numeri- cal strength-his keen eye, active brain and retentive memory serving as instruments by which he was afterwards capable of presenting to Clark a true picture of the situation. The love which the inhabitants of the Old Post had for Vigo was shown in the persistency with which they* impor- tuned Hamilton to release him, making his detention, to the commandant, a source of great embarrassment and annoyance. Hamilton, unable to longer withstand these manifestations of indignation and disapproval, which were finally accompanied with a threat to refuse to furnish the garrison with everyday necessities, yielded, and released the prisoner ; not, however, before making a futile attempt to have him sign articles of agreement, con- ditioned "not to do any act during the war injurious to British interests." This compact Vigo positively and emphatically refused to sign, at the same time displaying much indignation. As a compromise, submitted for final adjustment of the matter, after much parleying, Colonel Vigo signed an agreement "not to do anything injurious to the British interests on his way to St. Louis." On the following day he took his departure for St. Louis in the same pirogue in which he was captured, accompanied by two voy- ageurs, coursing down the Wabash to the Ohio, thence up the Mississippi to the place of destination. With faithfulness and fidelity he sacredly kept his word to every letter in the agreement, and in all of the long journey was careful not to do a single act derogatory to anything that was English. He had no sooner landed in St. Louis, however, until he hurriedly provided for a trip, in the same pirogue, to Kaskaskia, to apprise Clark of the true condition of affairs at Vincennes, which he had learned by heart. It was at this time (January 29, 1779), without any solicitation from Clark, that Vigo, a Spaniard by birth, and consequently owing allegiance to Spain, volunteered to aid Clark in the capture of Vincennes, without in the least being obligated to become a party to such an undertaking, and with a full knowledge of the peaceful relations then existing between Spain and Eng- land, and cognizant of the fact that he was committing a breach of neu-
* Father Gibault was instigator of the movement and the leader of the remon- strators. It is said that it was really through the personal efforts of the priest that Vigo's release was secured.
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trality that might trail his good name in the dust, entail the loss of his property, and cause to be heaped upon him all the indignities, contumely and vengeance British power in the Wabash and Illinois countries could invent or inflict. But he could not stifle a feeling that burned within his breast, a sentiment akin to that which caused American arms to be taken up against British oppression; and filled with a love for humanity and a desire for the liberty of a nation's people, and a knowledge of the blessings that could come to them from a republican form of government, he cast aside all fears of personal consequences, and tendered not only his serv- ices, but promised to give to the enterprise every financial aid, which he did. And through the money alone contributed by Vigo was Clark en- abled to undertake that ever memorable march from Kaskaskia and carry out successfully his conquest against Vincennes. Colonel Vigo and General Clark became the truest and most devoted of friends, and it was because of this attachment that Vigo transferred his residence from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. There never was a demand made by Clark on Vigo to which the latter did not respond. As a matter of fact, Vigo seemed to take a livelier interest in maintaining the credit of Virginia than did Clark. When- ever the latter failed to receive funds from the Old Dominion with which to pay her soldiery, Vigo supplied them. Whenever Clark presented a voucher for money to pay soldiers, buy supplies for the commissary, or for any other expenses or incidentals, Vigo honored them, thus keeping the credit of Virginia at par and sparing her the shame and humiliation of repudiating her obligations. And what did Virginia offer Vigo in consid- eration of his generosity and patriotism, through which untold blessings subsequently came to her and the nation? Be it said, to the everlasting shame of the Old Dominion, that she never as much as tendered a vote of thanks to her liberal and patriotic benefactor. Several years after removing to Vincennes Colonel Vigo married Miss Elizabeth Shannon, a comely lass. and native of the Old Post, who died shortly after marriage, without is- sue. From the wealth accumulated through his dealings with the Indians and settlers he invested heavily in real estate in Knox County, as evidenced by many of the earlier deeds bearing his name, but he seemed incompetent to grapple with the more advanced methods of commercialism, and his large fortune eventually slipped from his grasp. About the year 1800 lie built a residence that was considered palatial for those days. It stood on a lot at the southwest corner of Broadway and Second streets, its magnifi- cent proportions being greatly admired by the populace. The builder of the house, it is said, was given twenty guineas for completing it in time to enable its hospitable owner to tender it for occupancy to William Henry Harrison, who had just been appointed governor of the Indiana Territory, upon his arrival. The governor, however, declined to occupy more than one room, and was assigned the parlor, the floor of which was laid in square blocks of white oak and black walnut, in alternating rows. The furnishings of the parlor (as did those of other rooms) harmonized with the elegance
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and beauty of the floor, and comprised, among the few pictures that hung upon the walls, a handsome oil painting of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Vigo doted on fine furniture, linens and tableware, articles with which he kept both his house and boat supplied. About the time the governmental reins of the Northwest Territory were placed in the hands of Arthur St. Clair, Dr. Manasseh Cutler,* who was one of the founders of an early colony near Marietta, Ohio, had occasion to meet Vigo when the latter was making his way up the Ohio in a large keel boat, propelled by ten oars and a square sail. The boat, the Doctor found, was also provided with a cabin and an awning top, making the surroundings very pleasant, and he gladly con- sented to become a passenger during part of the journey. He remained aboard several days and nights, which led him to observe that the boat was amply supplied with comforts and even luxuries, and its lockers con- tained silver-handled knives and forks, and flasks of spirits, while its beds were luxurious for the frontier, and were provided with sheets, articles comparatively unknown to the average pioneer.t Colonel Vigo acquired his military title by being a commissioned officer in the First Regiment of the Territorial Militia, of which he was a major commandant in 1790, and continued to do military duty until May 5, 1810, when he resigned. With the exception of four or five years, when he moved to his country seat (McKee farm) southeast of the city, Colonel Vigo had cast his lot for nearly a half century with the good people of Vincennes, his honesty and probity in all his dealings receiving and meriting their good will and ap- probation. As a testimonial of the esteem in which the people of city and county held him, Vincennes named a street, and Knox County a township, in his honor, to perpetuate his memory-gracious acts that were performed during his lifetime. During the closing days of his life he lived in a humble cottage on the south side of Main, between Fourth and Fifth streets. Governor St. Clair, in a report to the secretary of war, in 1790, tersely says: "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."
The engraving presented below is made from a photograph of an oil painting of the heroic and patriotic subject of this sketch, which adorns the walls of the auditorium of the Vincennes University, and is probably the only picture extant of the man. Vigo could never be persuaded to sit for a photograph, and how it ever happened, if it really did, that the first paper money of the State Bank bore an engraved reproduction of his
* Dr. Cutler is credited with having been the author of quite a number of pro- visions in the ordinance of 1787. He was a very wily politician, and as an officer of the Ohio Company, which he helped to organize, was deemed guilty of many transac- tions alleged to have been neither legitimate nor honest.
t Mr. Roosevelt, The Winning of the West, vol. V, p. 49.
FRANCIS VIGO
PATRIOT.
WHOSE DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY MADE POSSIBLE THE
CAPTURE OF FORT SAENVILLE FEB. 25, 1779. Bomy In MONDOVi, SARDINA 740 DIED ON VINCENNES, IND. MAR. 22, 1836 ERECTED OCT 18, 1909 S BY THE FRANCIS VICH CHAPTER D.A.R.
FRANCIS VIGO MONUMENT
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physiognomy, has never been fully explained. Vigo County, of which Terre Haute is the seat, was named in honor of Col. Vigo, and in his will, dated December 9, 1834, he provides that the contract, made by him with John Law, Abner T. Ellis and Luther H. Reed for the prosecution of his claim against Virginia for supplies furnished Gen. George Rogers Clark in the Illinois campaign, shall be faithfully observed and carried out. He also requested that out of the money that may be recovered on his claim a sufficient sum be appropriated to buy a bell for the court house of Vigo County. He died in 1836, and for a long time his grave, marked by a crumbling slab of sandstone, bearing the simple inscriptiont-
Colonel Francis Vigo, Died 22d Day March, 1835, Aged 96.
-gave no evidence of care or attention until 1908, when the Daughters of the American Revolution formed a Francis Vigo chapter, and reared above the ashes of the dead patriot a more pretentious monument, from which the photographic view presented below was obtained.
His funeral expenses (amounting to forty-two dollars) remained as an unpaid item on the books of Andrew Gardner (great grandfather of George E. Gardner, who conducted an undertaking establishment in 1816, and whose successors to the business have been the representatives of four gen- erations of the Gardner family) until 1876, when it was paid, without in- terest. Vigo's advances and credits made for the maintenance of the Amer- ican army in the northwestern wilderness eventually reduced him to a state of penury, and the dilatoriness of the federal government in recognizing his claim, while furnishing a shameful illustration of the ingratitude of republics, filled the declining years of his life with misery and humiliation. Years after this self-sacrificing man had been gathered to his fathers, the nation he had so faithfully served began to evince some knowledge of its indebtedness to him. In June, 1872, congress referred the claim of the executors of Vigo's estate to the court of claims "with full jurisdiction and power to act," and in 1875 the court rendered judgment on a bill of ex- change drawn by George Rogers Clark in favor of Vigo for army supplies for $8,616 of principal and $41,282.60 interest, being the interest at five per cent from March 20, 1779, to January 18, 1875, making a total of
* 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 .- H. M. Smith, Historical Sketches Old Vincennes, p. 165.
t The date 1835 is an error ; it was 1836, as the record of the undertakers, Andrew Gardner & Son, shows. The junior member of this firm, Mr. Elbridge Gardner, who is yet living, remembers all the circumsatnces connected 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. Col. Vigo was born about 1740, and calculating from this he would have been ninety-six years old at the time of his death. [H. M. Smith, Historical Notes Old Vincennes, p. 164.]
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$49,898.60. How much of this amount found its way into the hands of the executors, after claim agents and lobbyists got through with it, is not known, but there is a strong probability that its volume, in passing through these channels, was greatly diminished. By the will, Archibald McKee and Francis Vigo McKee, nephews, and children of a sister of testator's wife, were made residuary legatees; but, singular as it may seem, the estate was never settled in court,* and hence its exact proportions will never be known.
At the close of Clark's conquest of the Northwest Territory, Colonel Vigo renounced allegiance to the king of Spain, and was energetic in a movement inaugurated at Vincennes to resist the interference of the Span- ish government on the Mississippi with the commerce of the Old Post. While the dominion of Spain was never extended over the Wabash coun- try, and this section was never considered in her treatment of interna- tional affairs, her domination of the Father of Waters visibly affected the people of Vincennes. In October, 1786, when the controversies between this country and Spain, growing out of the prohibition of navigation of the Mississippi by the latter government, were becoming frequent and heated, it is said that George Rogers Clark harangued the populace, declaring that Spain contemplated extending her possessions further into the western country, which meant that Vincennes would be included in her territory ; that Jolin Jay, United States Minister to Spain, had permitted the latter country to say who should or should not navigate the waters of the Missis- sippi ; that Jay had acquiesced in Spain's plan of drawing her boundary line far enough west to include Vincennes in her territory. There probably has been a little false coloring given to the picture that was actually presented, if any credence is to be placed in Clark's version of the affair, which appears in a subsequent chapter. However, there was great excitement at the Old Post, and it has been related that the occasion called for a mass meeting, at which it was resolved to garrison the town, raise an army by recruiting and obtain supplies with which to provide the soldiers by impressment. That part of the story, so far as it relates to raising troops, establishing a garri- son, and obtaining supplies therefor by impressment is true; but the real object in raising troops was for the purpose of fighting Indians in the Wa- bash country instead of Spaniards in Louisiana. There is, however, more humor than pathos in the acts of the good people of Vincennes growing out of their indignation of Spain's prohibition of navigation on the Missis- sippi, and to portray them as they appeared to a local historian of that period can possibly do no harm. The historian, referring to the conduct of some of the citizens, says :t "They actually took steps to raise an army, seize
* Mr. Cauthorn, who is quoted in English's Conquest of the Northwest (pp. 269, 270) says: "I have carefully examined the records and files in the clerk's office, and find his estate was never settled in court, and all the papers have been taken from the files.""
t Vincennes Western Sun, July 4, 1904.
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upon the property of Spanish citizens here, and at other places, as a hostile measure, and openly declared their intentions of driving the Spaniards out of the west, possessing themselves of the vast territories and bid defiance to their own government. This was all done in consequence of erroneous information that congress had sanctioned Spain's action. So they began to marshal their forces for war. Soon after, however, a letter from one of these patriots to the governor of Georgia was dispatched, informing him that 'they had taken all the goods belonging to the Spanish merchants at Post Vincennes and the Illinois and that preparations are now making here to drive the Spaniards from their settlements at the mouth of the Mississippi. In case we are not countenanced and succored by the United States (if we need it) our allegiance will be thrown off and some other power applied.' The messenger hearing this letter took too much 'burbon' at Danville, Ky., and gave the scheme away, showing the letter, and a copy of it was sent to Washington, D. C. Congress investigated and informed General Clark that his actions were disavowed by the United States government, and troops were ordered out to Vincennes to dispossess the unauthorized intruders who had taken possession of the post. The affair was finally adjusted amicably and the war between Vincennes and Spain was over."
-
Mr. Roosevelt, in The Winning of the West, relates that, in 1787, a Cre- ole, living at Vincennes, loaded a pirogue with goods valued at two thousand dollars, and went down to trade with the Indians near the Chickasaw Bluffs, when the commandant of the Spanish port at the Arkansas-who was also a Creole-seized the boat, confiscated the goods and imprisoned the crew. All appeals made by the Vincennes merchant to the commandant were in vain, the latter insisting that he had been ordered by Spanish authorities to seize all persons who trafficked on the Mississippi below the mouth of the Ohio, inasmuch as Spain claimed both banks of the river; and when the merchant made a final appeal to Miro, he was coldly received, and dismissed with a warning to never again attempt the offense of conducting traffic on the Mississippi at the risk of being sent to the mines of Brazil. It has been said that the man intercepted was either a representative of Colonel Vigo, or that Vigo had a monetary interest in the cargo that was seized, both of which claims are sustained only by badly manufactured tradition .*
Judge John Law, the pioneer jurist and historian of Vincennes, who was greatly beloved by all her citizens, was a personal friend of Colonel Vigo. In his Colonial History of Vincennes, in a beautifully written biographical sketch of Vigo, recounting the sacrifices that loyal Spaniard made for the success of American arms and the establishment of American liberty and independence, concludes with the following paragraph : " . . . Spirit of the illustrious dead, let others judge of this matter as they may, we who
* It is recorded in the Executive Journal of the Territory that Colonel Vigo ap- plied for and was granted a license to run a ferry-boat from the Illinois side of the Wabash river (where he owned a large tract of land) to the Indiana shore-indicating that his penchant for pursuing an avocation on or along waterways never deserted him.
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have lived to see the immense advantages of that conquest to our beloved country-so little known and so little appreciated when made-will do you justice, and we will also teach our children, and our children's children, who are to occupy our places when we are gone, to read and remember among the earliest lessons of the history of that portion of the country which is to be also their abiding place-our own lovely valley-that its conquest, and subsequent attachment to the union, was as much owing to the councils and services of Vigo as to the bravery and enterprise of Clark."
The late Honorable Henry S. Cauthorn, in his History of the City of Vincennes, devotes many pages to a biography of Colonel Vigo, who, says this biographer, was induced to locate in Vincennes in consequence of the land grants of congress to the French inhabitants, by which, and through shrewd trading with the "red savages or ignorant Frenchmen he became the largest land owner in the community ; but when he came in contact with the educated class who came here when the territory was organized, this vast estate disappeared as the morning mist is dissipated by the rising sun, and he died in 1836 an object of charity. ... When he came, and long before, he was a devout Catholic. It was through his influence that many priests were sent here by Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, before and after 1796. He was a very zealous Catholic in all church functions and his name appears on the church register as godfather at many baptisms and as witness to many marriages. When the church here was incorporated in 1807, he was elected one of the trustees and so continued until 1822, yet his body after his death was buried in a Protestant cemetery. He was poor and wanting the necessaries of life at the time of his death. . .. When the branch of the state bank of Indiana was organized here in 1834, the first five dollar bill issued by the branch was made payable to Colonel Vigo. He would not use this money, although in distress, but deposited the bill in the archives of the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society as a relic, and it remained there for many years after his death. It was abstracted from the archives of that society and put in circulation by one John Decker. Efforts were made to secure its return, but with what success is not known. In relation to his claim against the government on account of advances of money he had furnished General Clark, he frequently stated that the gov- ernment was slow in allowing it, and that he had become too old for it to be of any use to him, and that if ever paid, the Catholic church should have it. He made this statement to Bishop Brute when on his death bed at the house of Betsy La Plante. But the claim was not paid until forty years after his death and the church got nothing out of the appropriation made by congress. In 1834 he executed what purported to be his last will. But this document, on account of remarkable provisions in it, was thought by his friends to have been executed when he was 'non compos.' When Mr. English was here looking up data for his history, he requested the author to accompany him to the Catholic cemetery and show him the grave of Col- onel Vigo. When informed Colonel Vigo was not in the Catholic, but in
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