USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 35
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"In addition to this modification of the sixth article of the compact, the petitioners asked the extinction of the Indian title to the greater part of southern Illinois, which was held by the little remnant of the Kaskaskia tribe; the granting of tracts of land to persons who would open roads through the unsettled parts of the country and maintain taverns along the same; and the establishment of one or two garrisons of troops-all these being in anticipation of rapid settlement of the country when the slavery restriction should be removed. This petition had two hundred and seventy signatures, chiefly French. Among the more prominent English and Amer- ican signers were John Edgar, John Rice Jones, William Morrison, Robert Morrison and Shadrach Bond. It does not appear to have been circulated at Vincennes .* It was forwarded to congress, but did not receive the con- sideration which its philanthropic professions might seem to demand. It was not presented to the house, thoughi addressed to both house and senate ; at least there is no mention of it in the house records, and no copy of it on the house files. It was presented to the senate on January 23, 1801, and at once laid on the table, whence it was not removed.
"The Illinois people soon learned that their petition would avail noth- ing, but they were not at all disheartened. The first result of the failure was a determination to have a representative in congress to urge their wishes. This they could not do without advancing to the second grade of territorial government; but as the law establishing the territory had fixed on a minimum of population for this advance, there was no reason why it could not be made at once if Governor Harrison was willing. On April II, 1801, John Edgar wrote to Governor St. Clair: 'During a few weeks past we have put into circulation petitions addressed to Governor Harrison, for
* John Rice Jones, however, one of the petitioners, was a resident of Vincennes.
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a general assembly, and we have had the satisfaction to find that about nine- tenths of the inhabitants of the counties of St. Clair and Randolph approve of the measure, a great proportion of whom have already put their signa- tures to the petition. I have written to Judge Clark of Clark County, to Mr. Buntin and Mr. Small of Post Vincennes, urging them to be active in the business. I have no doubt but that the undertaking will meet with early success so as to admit of the house of representatives meeting early in the fall.'
"It is possible that Mr. Edgar's confidence was based on a belief that the governor was, like himself, a federalist, for Mr. Harrison had made no parade of his republicanism since coming to Indiana. He afterwards de- clared that his appointment as governor by Mr. Adams was not a favor from a political friend ; that 'it was necessary to get me out of the way' in Ohio to secure a federal state there; and that he refused the appointment until convinced by his friends that 'there was no doubt of Mr. Jefferson's election in the ensuing November, and that I would be continued governor of Indiana, and some republican would succeed Governor St. Clair in the northwest territory.'t In the same letter, however, he says: 'I therefore accepted the appointment with a determination, as Indiana had no voice in the choice of a president, that I would take no part in the contest.' The closeness of his adherence to this resolve produced in 1805 the charge : 'No sooner was Mr. Jefferson elevated to the presidency than you began to apprehend danger. . . From the firmest federalist, you wheeled about like the cock on a steeple, and declared yourself a republican.'* On the other hand, while Edgar may have counted on Harrison's federalism, it is possible that he counted on the governor's not daring to put himself in opposition to the known wishes of the people, or even that he supposed the governor to have no discretion in the matter, for the division act provided that the second grade 'shall be in force and operate in the Indiana terri- tory whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the governor thereof that such is the wish of a majority of the freeholders.'
"Whatever may have been their theories, Edgar, Morrison, and their friends secured and submitted the requisite petitions and left the governor confronted by a serious political problem. A republican himself, and an- ticipating a continued ascendency of his party in the nation, he still knew that the people of Indiana were mostly federalists; and he had before him the task of winning their favor and political friendship. If a legislature were established, the members would exercise an influence which would weaken his own; would pass acts for political purposes ; would probably be enabled to maintain their political ascendency in the territory. True, he would still have an absolute veto, but he knew from St. Clair's experience that a resort to the veto would speedily make him an object of popular
t Harrison to Lyons, June 1, 1840.
* Letters of Decius, p. 25.
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odium. His only safe course was to prevent the advance to the second grade. He accordingly prepared a 'letter to a friend' which at once found its way into print. Its effect is thus stated by one of his bitterest enemies : 'Previous to this famous letter of the governor against the second grade of government, the people, whether right or wrong, had generally petitioned the governor to adopt the meastire. A declaration of his own opinion, ac- companied with an exaggerated calculation of the expenses incident to this form of government, alarmed the people by a representation of heavy taxes ; and they immediately changed their opinions for no other reason than those stated by the governor.' "+
There was no legislature in the Indiana territory till after the separa- tion of Michigan, which occurred June 30, 1805, pursuant to an act of con- gress approved on the 11th of January preceding. On September 11, 1804, a vote had been taken and a majority of one hundred and thirty-eight free- holders of the territory had voted in favor of organizing a general assem- bly ; whereupon Governor Harrison issued a proclamation calling for an election of members of a house of representatives, to be held on Thursday, January 3, 1805, and citing the members elect to meet at Vincennes on the ist of February, to take measures for the organization of a territorial coun- cil. In compliance with this order the members convened on the day and date set, and on February 7, 1805, proceeded to select by ballot the names of ten residents of the territory, to be forwarded to the President of the United States, five of whom the President was authorized by congress to appoint and commission as members of the legislative council of Indiana territory. The names of the ten persons sent to the President were: John Rice Jones and Jacob Kuykendall, of Knox County ; Samuel Gwathney and Marston Green Clark, of Clark County; Benjamin Chambers of Dearborn County ; Jean Francois Perrey and John Hay. of St. Clair County ; Pierre Menard, of Randolph County; James May and James Henry, of Detroit, Wayne County-the latter being in Indiana territory at the time of the election, but being set off to Michigan prior to the meeting of the legisla- ture, on the 29th of July following.
President Jefferson refused to make a selection of five from the ten names forwarded to him as members of the legislative council for the reason that the men were all strangers to him; but forwarded to Governor Harri- son a blank for him to fill with the names most suitable, rejecting "land- jobbers, dishonest men, and those who, though honest, might suffer them- selves to be warped by party prejudices."
The first general assembly of Indiana territory convened at Vincennes, July 29, 1805, pursuant to a proclamation issued by General Harrison June 7th. The members of the house of representatives were: Benjamin Parke and John Johnson, of Knox County ; Jesse B. Thomas, of Dearborn County ; David Floyd, of Clark County; Shadrach Bond and William Biggs, of St.
+ Ibid., p. 7.
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Clair County ; George Fisher of Randolph County. On July 30th Gover- nor Harrison delivered his message. Several days later the council and house of representatives, by joint ballot, elected Benjamin Parke the first delegate to congress from Indiana territory.
The building in which the first general assembly convened and which was headquarters for the governmental officials, was located on the south- east side of Main street about midway between Second and Third streets. More than a half century ago the house was removed to the southeast side of Third street, about a half block below Harrison park. It is standing today in a very good state of preservation, as will be seen by a glance at the accompanying illustration.
Benjamin Parke was a native of New Jersey, and was born in the year 1777. He and his accomplished wife came to Vincennes in 1801 and took up their residence. Several years after his arrival, he built a handsome resi- dence on First street, near the river, on a wooded plat of ground, occupying a whole block between Shelby and Scott streets. It was subsequently pur- chased and occupied as a homestead by the late John Wise, and always bore the name of Parke place, until a few years ago, when the house was rele- gated to the rear of the lot and the remainder of the premises, originally supplied with stately shade trees and ornamented with flower gardens, cleared to make room for a lumber yard and green-house. In 1808 Presi- dent Jefferson appointed Mr. Parke a territorial judge, which office he faith- fully filled until Indiana became a state. He was a member of the conven- tion that met at Corydon on the Ioth day of June, 1816, to form a state constitution, and took a leading part in its deliberations. After the admis- sion of Indiana to the union, President Madison appointed him a United States district judge, which position he held until his death, which oc- curred at Salem, Ind., July 12, 1835. Always a wise legislator and just and honorable judge, Benjamin Parke achieved distinction and won the hearts of the people by the display of honor, bravery and skill in the dis- charge of other duties that devolved on him. When the hostile redskins had organized for a raid on the white settlers, Judge Parke raised a com- pany of dragoons and went to their rescue. He was an active participant in the bloody battle of Tippecanoe, where he distinguished himself for brav- ery and valor; and when that gallant soldier, Major Daviess, fell he was promoted to the majority and assumed command of the cavalry. Of his military conduct, General Harrison thus speaks: "He was in every respect equal to any cavalry officer I have ever seen. As in everything else which he undertook, he made himself acquainted with the tactics of that arm, and succeeded in bringing his troops, both as regards field maneuvering and the use of the saber, to as great perfection as I have ever known." While the territorial government was operative. Judge Parke for several years acted in the capacity of Indian agent. His knowledge of the Indian, by
TERRITORIAL LEGISLATIVE HALL
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actual contact with the savage in his forest home, his patience and bravery, made him a very desirable man in that position, and he affected many hon- orable and advantageous treaties with the savages.
Judge Parke's wife's maiden name was Eliza Barton. They were mar- ried in Lexington, where the judge formed the acquaintance of Henry Clay and became one of the stanchest friends of the Kentucky statesman. Two children were born to Judge and Mrs. Parke-a son and daughter. The daughter became the wife of Abraham Hite, a prominent Louisville mer- chant. She died young, leaving a son whom the grandmother claimed, and took to her Salem home. The son's name was Barton. He was a deli- cate child, but talented, and had made fine progress in his college course when, in 1833, at Salem, one-twentieth of the population were stricken with cholera and died. Both Barton and his sister's little boy were carried away by the pestilence, rendering Benjamin and Eliza Parke childless .*
While living at Vincennes Judge Parke was one of the instigators of a plan for the formation of a public library, which he aided with his means. The institution prospered, and in the early part of the nineteenth century contained more than 1,500 choice books, embracing standard works in many branches of science and departments of literature. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the Vincennes University, and consequently as- sisted in the establishment of the institution. He was the author of the movement by which the law library at Indianapolis was established and subsequently became a noted institution throughout the country ; and he also took the initiatory for the formation of the Indiana Historical Society, an organization which has recently taken a new lease on life.
On assuming the office of governor of Indiana territory, General Har- rison was invested by the government of the United States with authority to make further treaties with the Indians, with a view to the extinguish- ment of the titles of the red men lying within the boundaries of the terri- tory; and, in the exercise of such authority, he made treaties in the fol- lowing order :
At Vincennes, September 17, 1802, certain chiefs and head men of the Pottawattomie, Eel River, Piankeshaw, Wea, Kaskaskia and Kickapoo tribes, nominated and appointed the Miami chiefs Little Turtle and Rich- ardville, and the Pottawattomie chiefs, Winamac and Topinepik, to settle the terms of treaty for the extinguishment of Indian claims to certain lands on the borders of the Wabash in the vicinity of Vincennes.
At Fort Wayne, June 7, 1803, certain chiefs and head men of the Dele- ware, Shawnee, Pottawattomie, Eel River, Kickapoo, Piankeshaw and Kas- kaskia tribes ceded to the United States about 1,600,000 acres of land.
By the provisions of a treaty concluded at Vincennes, August 13, 1803. certain chiefs and warriors of the Kaskaskia tribe ceded to the United States
* Woollen, Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana, p. 389.
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about 8,600,000 acres of land lying on the borders of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
At Vincennes, August 18, 1804, the chiefs and head men of the Dele- ware tribe ceded to the United States their claims to the tract of land lying between the Wabash and Ohio rivers and south of the road which extended from Vincennes to the falls of the Ohio. The Piankeshaws relinquished their claims to the same territory by a treaty concluded at Vincennes, August 27, 1804.
By a treaty made at St. Louis, November 3, 1804, several chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribes ceded to the United States a vast extent of territory lying principally on the east side of the Mississippi, between the Illinois and Wisconsin rivers. The dispute over these lands, including the Sac villages, near Rock Island, brought on the Black Hawk war in 1832.
At a treaty concluded at Grouseland near Vincennes August 21, 1805, certain chiefs and warriors of the Deleware, Pottawattomie, Miami, Eel River and Wea tribes ceded to the United States their territory lying south- east of the line running northeasterly from a point about fifty-seven miles due east from Vincennes, so as to strike the general boundary line ( running from a point opposite the Kentucky river to Fort Recovery) at a distance of fifty miles from the commencement on the Ohio.
At a treaty concluded at Vincennes, December 30, 1805, the chiefs and head men of the Piankeshaw tribe ceded about 2,000,000 acres lying west of the Wabash river.
At Fort Wayne, September 30, 1809, the chiefs of the Delaware, Eel River, Pottawattomie and Miami tribes ceded to the United States about 2,000,000 acres of land lying principally on the southeastern side of the Wabash, below the mouth of Raccoon creek. The chiefs and leading men of the Wea tribe met Governor Harrison at Vincennes on October 26, 1809, and acknowledged the validity of the above treaty of Fort Wayne. The same treaty was also confirmed by the sachems and war chiefs of the Kicka- poos December 9, 1809, and the Kickapoos ceded to the United States about 113,000 acres of land.
Up to the date last named Harrison had procured for the United States, through treaties, land equal in extent to 29,719.530 acres.
As has already been stated in a preceding chapter, by an act of congress approved March 26, 1804. a land office was established at Vincennes for the sale of these lands. About the same time a similar office was installed at Detroit and another at Kaskaskia. A fourth one was established at Jef- fersonville by an act of congress approved March 3, 1807. At this period Jeffersonville was a town five years old, it having been laid out in 1802 in conformity with a plan proposed by Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States.
The white population of Indiana territory in 1808 was about 28,000 souls, of whom about 11,000 lived west of the Wabash. This was the same year that Benjamin Parke was appointed to a seat on the supreme bench
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of the territory, and when the legislature elected Jesse B. Thomas speaker of the house, to succeed Parke as a delegate in congress.
In 1809 congress passed an act declaring that "all that part of Indiana territory lying west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, should constitute a separate territory and be called Illinois." By this division, the only counties remaining in Indiana territory having organization were Knox, Harrison, Clark and Dearborn; and in the election for delegate to congress, on the 22d of May, 911 votes were polled, of which Jonathan Jennings received 428, Thomas Randolph 402 and John Johnson 81. The year following (1810) a census was taken, showing the population of Indiana territory to be 24,520. There were in the territory thirty-three gristmills, fourteen sawmills, three horse mills, eighteen tanneries, twenty-eight distilleries, three powder mills, 1,256 looms and 1,350 spinning wheels. The valuation placed on manufactured prod- ucts was as follows: Woolen, cotton, hempen and flaxen cloths, and mix- tures, $159,052; cotton and wool spun in mills, $150; nails (20,000 lbs.), $4,000 ; leather, tanned, $9.300; products of distilleries (35,950 gallons), $16,230; gunpowder (3,600 lbs.), $1,800; wine from grapes (96 bbls.), $6,000 ; maple sugar, (50,000 lbs.), value not given.
When General William Henry Harrison first came to Vincennes as the governor of Indiana territory, he accepted the hospitality of Colonel Vigo, and occupied the parlor of the Colonel's elegant home as a temporary resi- dence. How long he made this pretentious dwelling an abode is not stated. However, in 1804, the governor was ensconced in a mansion of his own- the first brick house to be erected in the city, if not in the territory. The original cost of the building is said to have been $20,000, which does not seem to be excessive, even for territorial times, when one considers the nice material and superior workmanship entering into its construction, traces of which the ravages of time and the hand of the vandal have left intact. The old house is truly one of the few remaining land-marks of the Old Post, possessing historic interest of an unusual character. It has for many years furnished themes for the rankest romancers, whose fictitious recitals about an underground passage leading from the house to the river, intended as an avenue of escape when the inmates were threatened by a visitation from hostile savages, powder magazines, etc., have been given so often that they fail to attract even the attention of lovers of the mythical. Here in this old homestead Governor Harrison has received many distinguished visitors. The old house has been the scene of many important gatherings at which weighty affairs of state have been discussed. Its spacious chambers have gathered within their walls the wealth, youth and beauty of colonial days, whose functions were always notably brilliant affairs. It was almost under the eaves of this grand old mansion that the wonderfully dramatic con- troversy between Harrison and Tecumseh occurred. For more than a hun- dred years this ancient dwelling, which retains its lines of architectural Vol. 1-19
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symmetry, has stood at the corner of Park and Scott streets .* The main building is two stories with an attic and basement. Its walls on three sides are square, the one on the west side facing the river being oval. The house is about two hundred yards inland from the stream, and rests on elevated ground, which recedes gently toward the river. The basement walls are twenty-four inches thick, while their width above is eighteen inches. The bricks used in the construction of the house were manufactured by Samuel Thompson, grandfather of Samuel Thompson of Vincennes, who, with a brother, operated a brick yard several miles east of the city. It is said that Governor Harrison gave the Thompsons two half sections of land for making the brick, to order. The doors, sash, mantels and stairs were made either at Pittsburg, Pa., or Chillicothe, Ohio, it never having been fully es- tablished which place produced them. However, they were manufactured from the best of material, and evidence that they were fashioned by the hands of skilled mechanics whose workmanship especially in the carving and matrixing, approaches the artistic. The glass in the windows was im- ported from England, and it is stated did not arrive in this country until two years after the order for shipment had been given. The joist and studding are double the width and thickness of timbers used in the con- struction of modern and costly houses of today and are hand-whipped sawed. The space between the floors and ceilings of each room is filled with mud and clay, mixed with straw, for the purpose of deadening sounds. The basement is provided with a dining room and kitchen, each supplied with an old-fashioned fireplace, the one in the kitchen being equipped with a crane, very similar to that to be seen in General Washington's old home at Mt. Vernon. The basement also contains apartments for servants, consisting of four living rooms; but its most interesting feature is a dungeon-a win- dowless cell or detention room-which was probably designed for the pun- isliment of disobedient slaves and recalcitrant soldiers. There is a secret shaft, a mysterious sort of an elevator, running between the inner and outer side of the wall, from the first floor to the attic, but closed at the lower end, the only opening being from the attic, the uses of which have never been determined. On the first floor a roomy hallway with high ceiling communi- cates with rooms on either side thereof, and from this a broad stairway, to ascend which creates a pleasing sensation, makes a three-quarter turn and
* The lands on which the Harrison residence was built comprised lots Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Upper Prairie Survey, which embraced all of the river front, from Hickman to Hart street, running back to the Highland foothills, and contained 280 acres. The ground on which the house stands, and that constituting originally the yard, garden and outlots, embraced all of that which is bounded by the river on the west, Scott street on the south, by Park on the east and by what is now called Harrison street on the north, this latter street being known originally as Perry. In September, 1815, the plat of Harrison's addition was made and legalized by an act of the legislature on January 3, 1817. This plat embraced that portion of the land reaching from the river to Seventh street, then called Troiter street. The remaining portion of this land is embraced in Cochran's, Malott's and Shepard's addition to the city of Vincennes .- H. M. Smith.
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HOME OF GEN. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
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reaches a hallway above. The main stairway has no outside supports, yet is solid as a rock. Its construction is considered a wonderful piece of me- chanical skill by architects who have viewed it. It is made of black walnut, finely polished, and very much resembles mahogany. Under one of the staircases on the first floor is a room that until recently had not been opened in seventy years. It is called the secret record room where, tradition says, money and records belonging to the government were kept. It is built be- tween the walls in such a manner that the casual observer would not de- tect its presence. On the first floor to the left of the main hall near the entrance is a room of large dimensions which was used during the gover- nor's day as a parlor, reception room and, no doubt, for the purpose of allowing the graceful dames and their gallants to participate in the measured figures of the minuet. A room about thirty-five feet in length and twenty- five in width at the rear end of the hallway, supposed to have been used as a council chamber, was no doubt frequently used as a ball room. The main building is 60x75, and all of the rooms are spacious, with ceilings of extraordinary height. The woodwork is hand-finished, and what few nails are used in it are hand-forged. The greater quantity of wood employed for the interior furnishings is black walnut, even the inside and outside blinds being wrought of that material. The mantels are all hand-carved. the work combining good taste with mechanical skill. There are twenty- one rooms in the house, exclusive of those in the attic. The main entrances to the building-on the southwest and east side-are approached by steps which lead to the landings of covered verandas. Under the southwest en- trance in the basement the powder magazine (which no doubt is a creation of fiction) was supposed to be located. Every stranger within the city's gates makes the Harrison mansion an objective point, and in the course of a year thousands of people from abroad visit the old homestead.
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