BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF 
 THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE CITY OF 
 CHICAGO. 
 
DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
— 
 
 OOOOOOOOOQOO c» o o o o o o 
 
 fllttltlin i.v j U C ° _s 00 °o°oo°°ooc.«> 
 
 -y y t- t v t ▼ 
 
 ,&>.-£V-4l. -&» -<4±*Atb ^L.-JL. Jk. aL.A 
 
 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 
 
 jL^farf 1. 
 
 0000000000000000000 
 
 I. LISLE SMITH, 
 J. BROWN, 
 
 II P. HARRIS, 
 
 GEORGE DAVIS, Dr. PHILIP MAXWELL, 
 
 RICHARD L. WILSON, Col. LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL, 
 HENRY B. CLARKE, Sheriff SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 

 
 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Biographical Sketches 
 
 OF SOME OF THE 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 
 PART . 
 
 S. LISLE SMITH. 
 
 Dk. PHILIP MAXWELL, 
 RICHARD L. WILSON, 
 URIAH P. HARRIS, 
 
 SAMUEL 
 
 GEORGE DAVIS, 
 
 JOHN J. BROWN, 
 
 Col. LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL 
 HENRY J. CLARKE, 
 
 J. LOWE. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 
 244-8 Illinois Street, 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 
 Fergus Printing Company, 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
I 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 _ . S' 7 
 
 The following pages are intended merely as sketches of 
 character—not labored biographies. In the inception, the 
 object was simply to prepare a few newspaper articles, to 
 be read and thrown aside, as other ephemeral literature. 
 But partial, very likely over-partial, friends, who saw the 
 earlier manuscripts, believed them worthy of a better fate— 
 believed them (how could I question the verdict?) to be 
 recollections of the fast-growing dim past, that should be 
 garnered, and would be cordially received and valued by 
 the olden-time citizens of Chicago. This being the case, 
 and my friend of “auld lang syne”, Mr. Robert Fergus, 
 having determined to give them the dignity of a book, no 
 one can regret more sincerely than the writer that greater 
 care was not taken in the preparation—that they were not 
 given more at length—that more of birth and family had 
 not been gathered. That would have made them interest¬ 
 ing—to their descendants. 
 
 The general public, however, may fancy them as well in 
 the present form. They, at least, care little or nothing 
 where the accident of birth occurred, or whether the name 
 of the father was John or Jehosaphat, and that of the 
 mother Mary or Jerusha! They simply require a mental 
 photograph of those who walked the streets when Chicago 
 was a terra incognita ,—who filled the places they now fill, 
 —who passed through the same trials and had the same 
 hopes and fears—the same clothing and passions of mor¬ 
 tality. Birth or nation, we take it, has little to do with 
 how each “acts his part.” It is the man only that sur- 
 vives^save with the loving hearts of kindred. 
 
 Of the knowledge of what I have feebly attempted, I 
 was part of all. Though not among the earliest, yet I 
 was an early citizen of the now famous “Garden City,” 
 and my business was such as to throw me into intimate 
 association with all classes, more than was generally the 
 case, and the lines written upon the memory of the boy 
 have not been obliterated from that of the gray-headed 
 man any more than the city can be blotted from the map 
 of the world,—such a thing could never be. Love for 
 
 9 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 those still living, and graves (may they be ever green ones) 
 by the lake side forbid such a thing. 
 
 Of my ability to do justice to those who “have gone 
 on before,” I feel its want to the extreme, and, had I 
 known what was to follow, would have* burned the first 
 pages of manuscript and shrank from the task,—what it 
 was I realized too late. But one thing I do know — 
 nothing untruthful, no single word of bitterness (no matter 
 what might have occurred in other days, when hearts beat 
 high and passions ran strong,) has been permitted to be 
 here set down. Indeed, I can say—and that with my 
 hand upon my heart—that nothing of the kind remains. 
 Looking backward, one almost shudders as he learns that 
 what he considered the fault of another was his own, and 
 the blame rests upon his shoulders alone! 
 
 Chicago, it must be remembered, was a very different 
 affair thirty and forty years ago from what it is now. Then 
 everybody knew everybody, as in village society. Conse¬ 
 quently, one could not but be familiar with the men who 
 stood the highest in the community—with their acts as 
 their faces — could not but be interwoven with them in 
 daily life—could not but have stamped upon memory their 
 individuality. Then, there were comparatively few who 
 marked themselves above their fellows, and to forget them 
 would be to forget, almost, one’s self — and writing of them 
 is as turning open the book of your own life. 
 
 It would be impossible for any to write of so long ago 
 without having their statements questioned, and I do not 
 expect to escape. Human memory at best is treacherous, 
 and the same witnesses often look at the same transaction 
 from a different standpoint. To anyone in the least familiar 
 with courts of justice this explanation will be sufficient. 
 To any others who may quibble, I can say, in all honesty, 
 that any statement of fact made in these pages is a fact 
 “according to the best of my information and belief,” and 
 that we may have looked at the same object at a different 
 time or from an opposite side. 
 
 As to opinions of character , they are my own. Not a 
 single person has made any suggestion — not one attempted 
 the slightest influence. If I have erred in my judgment 
 of men, I am alone responsible. My study of character 
 may be wrong, but, as I have judged others, I am willing 
 to be judged. 
 
HON. S. LISLE SMITH. 
 
 '['here was no one better known to the “old citizens” 
 of Chicago, nor justly more famous for brilliancy and 
 innate kindness of heart, than Samuel Lisle Smith— or. 
 as he was familiarly called, “Lisle.” 
 
 (lifted by nature far above the great majority of his- 
 fellows, with a rare education, striking ideality, and love 
 and appreciation of the poetic and beautiful, with the 
 most retentive of memories—one so marvelously perfect 
 that he could quote the words, section, page, and book 
 of almost anything he had ever read, and his simple ipse 
 dixit would be taken as law in any court in the city—a 
 natural as well as finely cultivated orator,, he was, indeed, 
 at the head of his compeers at least in that respect. 
 
 In stature, Mr. Smith was about medium size, with a 
 slightly florid complexion, rather light hair, active in his 
 movements, rapid as forcible in speech, graceful in every 
 gesture, wonderful in imagery, the very soul of pathos, 
 and could hold an audience spell-bound for any length 
 of time, as was proven again and'again. 
 
 As to his eloquence, the entire wisdom and the selected 
 “best speakers” of the nation bowed unanimously to it, 
 at the famous “ Harbor and River Convention.” Horace 
 Greeley said he was “the star speaker of the vast assem¬ 
 bly—stood without a rival,” and the writer of this has often 
 seen a letter from Henry Clay, avowing that he “was the 
 best orator he had ever heard.” Could better testimony 
 be required to prove a fact? In short, Mr. Smith stood 
 head and front above all he met at that time (as, indeed 
 
 n n r; n A ' 
 
 I 
 
S. LISLK SMITH. 
 
 2 
 
 at any other) for magnetic influence over the masses, for 
 flow of language, for all that goes to make up the orator 
 -—stood without the approach of a rival—without it might 
 have been S. S. Prentiss. 
 
 When I-isle Smith spoke, the house was certain to be 
 crowded, no matter what its size or what the occasion. 
 All who resided in the “(harden City” (“Urbs in Junto." 
 as the motto upon the Corporate Seal has it) at the time, 
 and were fortunate enough to hear him, will remember 
 with pleasure his eulogy upon John Quincy Adams, when 
 the Methodist Church (then standing on the corner of 
 Washington and Clark Streets) was so jammed that the 
 speaker had to be taken in at a window and carried over 
 the heads of the audience to the pulpit; also his famous 
 oration before the “Sons of Penn,” at the little wooden 
 church of the Second Presbyterian Society (situate on 
 Randolph Street, midway between Clark and Dearborn), 
 and, also, his address at the “ Irish Relief Meeting,” at 
 the Baptist Church on the corner of Washington and 
 LaSalle Streets. 
 
 Of the “ Penn ” oration, 1 remember well the incidents 
 preceding it. It was delivered upon the afternoon of 
 the funeral of Judge Jesse B. Thomas. After the ser¬ 
 vices, Mr. Smith and myself left together—he to keep his 
 appointment and I to listen. Benjamin F. Tayloq the 
 poet of the day, had finished, and the large audience was 
 anxiously waiting. Mr. Smith entered, walked rapidly to 
 the pulpit, and prefaced his oration with the following 
 fitly-chosen words, and in a voice tremulous with emo¬ 
 tion :— 
 
 “ Returning from the funeral obsequies of a dear, tried, 
 and trusted friend, I appear before you with a mournful 
 
 heart and sorrowing spirit to perform the duty allotted to 
 
 ” 
 
 he plunged, in media res, into the subject, by 
 “Saint John upon the Isle of Patmos, said: write 
 
S. LISLE SMITH. 
 
 3 
 
 to my friends in Philadelphia,” and for an hour not a 
 sound was to be heard save his own voice, unless when 
 the pent-up enthusiasm could no longer be restrained, and 
 applause caused the very roof to vibrate. 
 
 His power over an audience was wonderful—matchless 
 —his flights of fancy sublime, and have never, I think, 
 been surpassed. He was bitterly severe when he chose 
 to indulge in invective, as shown in his numerous politi¬ 
 cal speeches, but it was the keen cutting of the razor 
 rather than the dulled edge of the sword ; and he had no 
 equal in pathos, as the not-to-be-checked tears of the 
 multitude at the “Irish Relief Meeting” most faithfully 
 attested. Not one there, I venture to assert, has forgot¬ 
 ten, or ever can forget, his vividly terrible description of 
 the approach of gaunt, skeleton famine, of hollow-eyed 
 starvation, as it stalked resistlessly through the land, touch¬ 
 ing first the finger tips, and then creeping slowly on until 
 it reached and fastened upon the heart—the wildly fear¬ 
 ful Nemesis that bowed strong men and loving women 
 and innocent childhood, and turned the “Green Isle of 
 the sea” into a horrible graveyard! It was too living a 
 reality—too minutely faithful and eloquently voiced a 
 description ever to be effaced from memory. 
 
 There was, also, a vast fund of humor in the character 
 of Mr. Smith, though permitted to show itself more in 
 private than public — not broad, Falstaffian, grotesque 
 humor, but a subtle, delicate appreciation of mirth, which 
 his power of mimicry made irresistible, and of which many 
 instances might be adduced. This, with a charity that was 
 as unostentatious as it was lavish, underlaid all his actions 
 and assisted much in giving the magnetism that instantly 
 made him en rapport with any audience. 
 
 But notwithstanding his powers of oratory—his brilliant 
 flow of language, that was always chosen from the inevi¬ 
 tably best words, and always poetic in imagery as pure 
 in diction and logical in argument, nothing—literally noth- 
 
4 
 
 S. I.1SLE SMITH. 
 
 ing—remains of his speeches save a glowing, though sad., 
 memory. The perfume of the rose lingers around the 
 broken vase, but, alas! that is all, 
 
 “Appealing by the magic of Ah name, 
 
 To gentle feelings, anti affections kept 
 Within the heart, like gold." 
 
 Shortly after his death, his lifetime friend, Richard L. 
 Wilson, (of the Evening Journal ,)—another brave heart 
 and true,—and others endeavored to obtain data for their 
 publication, but nothing could be found. He never wrote 
 a single word even of his greatest efforts. It was his 
 custom, when preparing a speech, to walk up and down 
 the shore of the lake, talking to himself—shaping the crude 
 material into form, and, with the matter once fluxed in 
 the subtle crucible of his brain, it was never forgotten. 
 
 In political life, he stood among the foremost, ever in 
 the van; though never either asking or accepting an office 
 when proffered, while working devotedly for his party and 
 his friends. Of this let me give a single instance out of 
 the multitude, one that will show more clearly the man 
 than any words of my own could do. He was—could 
 not conceal the fact—disappointed in the nomination of 
 General Taylor, but when the old warrior was fairly in 
 the field for the Presidency, he threw all his influence in 
 his favor and did much towards securing his election. 
 That accomplished, and the inauguration over, he visited 
 Washington and paid his respects to the Chief Magistrate. 
 Again and again he called, chatting interestingly, as he so 
 well could do. and left without a word of business. Then 
 he called yet once more, to say farewell, and as he was 
 about leaving, the old war horse said, in his bluff and 
 hearty way, 
 
 “Mr. Smith, I like you. " 
 
 “The admiration is more than mutual." replied Lisle: 
 “but why, General?” 
 
 “Because you are very different from anyone who has 
 
S. LISLE SMITH. 5 
 
 •called upon me. Everybody wants an office, and you have 
 asked for nothing." 
 
 “And would not accept the highest in your gift." 
 
 “But can I do nothing for you, sir?" 
 
 “Nothing personally, but, if you please, General, it would 
 
 be a great pleasure to me if you would appoint - 
 
 Post Master at Chicago;’' and he eloquently presented the 
 claims of the candidate. 
 
 Need I say the appointment was made? 
 
 Were space permitted, I could fill pages with such pleas- 
 .ant memories of the man—memories that deserve to be 
 perpetuated; but a brief notice is all that is permitted. 
 
 His political speeches were, truly, a power in the land. 
 An old-line Whig of the strictest school, he loved—wor¬ 
 shipped were, perhaps, the more fitting term — “Harry of 
 the West." as he delighted to call Clay; and, probably, did 
 more for his party than any of his time in Illinois. Right 
 or wrong he carried his hearers with him, and spent his 
 money freely in the cause. So much was he interested in 
 the political struggles of the country that he gave up the 
 practice of his profession (law) at an early day, though, had 
 he been so disposed, he would have been without a rival as 
 a jury lawyer—would have occupied the place at the Chi¬ 
 cago Bar that James T. Brady occupied in New York. 
 
 In social intercourse, no man was (or is) to be found 
 who could more charm or hold fast the attention. That 
 this was the case, all who ever shared his open-handed 
 hospitality, and that of his beautiful and accomplished wife, 
 will attest. His conversation was of the character that 
 made one a willing listener, and compelled regret when he 
 had finished, for— 
 
 “On every point, in earnest or in jest, 
 
 His judgment, and his prudence, and his wit, 
 
 Were deemed the very touchstone and the test 
 Of what was proper, graceful, just, and fit.” 
 
 This I saw proven again and again, even among strangers. 
 
6 
 
 S. LISLE SMITH. 
 
 When the first “Sherman House’’ (created from the “City 
 Hotel”) was standing, Mr. Smith entered, one evening, with 
 a friend, and their conversation drifted upon the life and 
 character of Henry Clay. The reading-room was filled 
 with men engaged with their own particular topics, but, as 
 he enlarged upon his idea, everyone became silent, and 
 remained so until a very late hour. ()f that night I have 
 a perfectly distinct recollection, and especially of the con¬ 
 clusion. The dust of the years that have fallen have failed 
 to- dim its individuality. 
 
 “ 1 tell you,” said the enthusiastic orator, “that Harry 
 Clay will never die, but will be translated, like Elijah of 
 old. When the Lord wants him, he will send down angels 
 with a golden chariot, and one of them will tell his errand. 
 •Wait a moment,’ will be the courteous reply, ‘I must bid 
 my wife farewell.’ Entering the house, he will tell of the 
 kingly summons, and say, ‘Mary. 1 must go—farewell. Tell 
 everyone that the Union must and shall be preserved.’ and 
 stepping into the heavenly car will be borne aloft from 
 glory unto glory!” 
 
 I feel that I have failed in giving the beauty of his 
 words—the sublimity of his imagery,—indeed I might as well 
 attempt to chain a sunbeam. The hour and the “ man 
 eloquent," the burning eye, the wrapt face, the impassioned 
 gestures—all are wanting—can never be reproduced. But 
 this may give a feeble conception of the reality. 
 
 I think I am perfectly safe in asserting that Lisle Smith 
 never had an enemy, even though far from faultless. But 
 his errors never injured others. He was loved by the high 
 and low, and the cold-blooded, cynical, and fault-finding 
 dared not deny his greatness as an orator and his large- 
 hearted and sympathetic liberality as a man. At his death 
 one of the old and most striking landmarks was blotted 
 out. He was a member of the “Old Settlers’” and many 
 other societies, and was universally regretted. As far as I 
 know his place has never been filled, and he who is worthy 
 
S. LISLE SMITH. 
 
 7 
 
 to step in his shoes will, indeed, have a proud record. Ah! 
 how many hearts beat sadly as the bell tolled for him, and 
 how many trembling lips whispered, “Brave heart, true 
 friend, hail and farewell.” 
 
 GEORGE DAVIS. 
 
 The musical population of Chicago —id csr, old Chicago 
 will remember, with feelings of pleasure as well as regret, 
 the man whose name stands at the head of this brief 
 biography. 
 
 Though English by the accident of birth, Mr. Davis 
 came early to this country—was a thorough and patriotic 
 American at heart, and his popularity enabled him to secure 
 and long retain the office of County Clerk. 
 
 A “fellow of infinite jest,” with a kind word and smile 
 for everyone who approached him, he had troops of friends, 
 who remained firm until the very last, and sorrowed truly 
 when death called him hence;—but it could not have been 
 to the land of silence, for from the choir of earth he must 
 have been welcomed by the sweet singers above. 
 
 Mr. Davis was the prime mover in all charitable con¬ 
 certs, as he was the most noted leader of his time in the 
 Episcopal Church (first Saint James’, and, subsequently, 
 Trinity), of which he was a member, and no entertainment 
 of which vocal music was a part was complete without 
 him. Though gifted with uncommon powers in rendering 
 the plaintive (who does not remember the “Surf”? and 
 how he would have given expression to “Annie Laurie”!) 
 yet it was in the grotesque—the serio-comic—the broadly 
 humorous — that his rare mimicry could best be brought 
 
8 
 
 (;i;or(;h davis. 
 
 into play, and his facial expression used — that he most ex¬ 
 celled, and will, perhaps, be the best remembered. There 
 he stood, without a rival- if. indeed, any could be found 
 in the “(harden City" at the present time. 
 
 Of this, I need but mention “The Croat Mogul"—sung 
 as it was by him—acted as it was by him—I think it has 
 never been equalled upon the stage, and certainly not 
 surpassed. ()t course, there were many others, the words 
 of which he himselt set to music, that ever caused laughter, 
 and never failed to “bring down the house," but the song 
 1 have mentioned was the most riotous in expression, 
 although 
 
 “A merrier man, 
 
 AN ithin I lie limits of becoming mirth, 
 
 I never spent an hour’s talk withal.” 
 
 Of the power exercised by his singing, 1 mention one 
 striking instance, showing, as it does, not alone the charm 
 ot a rich and cultivated voice, but the respect and love 
 in which he was held by the citizens—one so great as to 
 subdue even the wild waves of land speculation and ever- 
 grasping avarice—to make the might of ()rpheus no fable 
 and the lures of the Sirens no myth. 
 
 At the time of the sale of Canal lands and lots in Sep¬ 
 tember, 1848, Mr. Davis lived upon Canal Street, betweep 
 Randolph arid Madison, holding a /nasi preemption upon 
 the lot on which his house was budded. The property 
 was even then valuable, though the fabulous prices at which 
 it has since been sold were never dreamed of, and many 
 were anxious to purchase. The adjoining property had 
 been disposed of at an extreme figure, and when the auc¬ 
 tioneer (fames A. Marshall) put up that particular lot. 
 "Ceorge trembled, for fear it would lie run up beyond 
 his ability to purchase. It was well known that he was 
 not the possessor of a very bountiful supply of this world’s 
 goods (so liberal, so open-handed and open-hearted a man 
 never could be), and he whispered his trouble to some of 
 
GEORGE DAVIS. 
 
 9 
 
 his friends, and it instantly became known to the crowd, 
 whose sympathy was not slow in being aroused. His bid 
 (the valuation) was made and then a song was called for, 
 and, mounting upon the top of an omnibus, he sang as, 
 perhaps, he never did before, or after, in his life—sang 
 with his whole heart, and eyes misty with gratitude. There 
 was no bid against him—music carried the day, and, though 
 David Leavitt (the President of the Canal Board) fumed, 
 he was powerless to stem the tide of popular feeling, and 
 was forced to see a valuable lot sacrificed for a merely 
 nominal sum—in fact, sold for a song! 
 
 It may be urged that Chicago w'as young at that time 
 —the people uncultivated, and not competent judges ot 
 music; but those who assert such a thing know' little of 
 what the}' are talking about, and are overwise in their own 
 conceit. Ask anyone who lived then and is living now, 
 and he will tell you that the amateur concerts of those days 
 shame many of the professionals now'that Mrs. Harring¬ 
 ton, Mrs. Dr. J. Jay Stuart, Henry Tucker, George Davis, 
 “the sweet girl singer of St. James’,” and others,* have never 
 been surpassed for purity of voices and skill of execution. 
 Ah! what a bright galaxy have passed away, and what an 
 addition »has been made to that matchless choir “whose 
 strains are immortal and whose vibrations are eternal." 
 
 Mr. Davis was essentially a social man, and one whose 
 presence w'as ever felt, or missed. This was owing to his 
 genial face, his ever-bubbling wit, and suave manners, hs 
 much as to his great musical ability, liberal charities, and 
 warm friendship. No sorrow' or want ever appealed to him 
 in vain, and if it was litt-le he could bestow, that little 
 seemed to carry with it a blessing and a benediction. With 
 his leaving Chicago (to settle in Detroit) one of the olden 
 links was broken—one of the most familiar of the old faces 
 
 * Wm. M. Larrabee, Moss Botsford, Charles Collier, Augustus H. 
 Burley, and Charles Burley. 
 
IO 
 
 GEORGE DAVIS. 
 
 gone; but those who remember the little, two-story brick 
 building that stood upon the North-East corner of the 
 Public Square, and was dignified with the title of “Court 
 House,” will rarely think of it without associating him with 
 it—forming, as he did, the attraction for so many years. 
 
 Mr. Davis was, in the strongest meaning of the term, a 
 friend; and, as far as my recollection serves, never had an 
 enemy—save such as might have grown up from his fer¬ 
 vent espousal of the case of the Rev. William F. Walker, 
 in the then celebrated church trial, and of which it may be 
 said, en passant , was bitter in the extreme,—long : contin- 
 ued — argued with great eloquence, but which left a bale¬ 
 ful shadow over the congregation for a long time.* 
 
 He was of fine physique and presence and carriage, 
 something of a bon vivant in his manner of living, and 
 it was a matter of wonder that he did not take a place 
 as speaker as well as singer, for certainly he had all the 
 requisites—except, perhaps, assurance. But he loved 
 “sweet melodies married to words,” better than all else, 
 and though there was much of the artist in his nature, 
 and he sketched well, yet music absorbed all his spare 
 time, and even trespassed upon the hours of business. 
 
 His name — the few thoughts here jotted c]pvvn will 
 re-open the pages of the past to those of the olden time, 
 and his friends (and who were not?) will drop another 
 tear upon his grave, and kindly brush the moss from the 
 marble above it. 
 
 * The array of legal learning present it would be difficult to dupli¬ 
 cate now, for in it were interested such men as Justin Butterfield, 
 General James A. McDougall, Isaac N. Arnold, John J. Brown, and 
 Patrick Ballingall. 
 
PHILIP MAXWELL, M.D. 
 
 The Medical Faculty of Chicago would, and justly, deem 
 themselves neglected if no mention was made of the Fal- 
 staff of the Profession who, to use one - of his own argu¬ 
 ments why he should be elected to the Legislature, “carried 
 weight with him!” 
 
 In physique , at least, this was true. Dr. Maxwell was a 
 man of more than ordinary stature and unctuousness; yet 
 barely approximating to the gross. He carried his two 
 hundred and eighty pounds very easily and gracefully,, 
 though that is more than could have been truly said of the 
 favorite grey horse upon which he was accustomed to dash 
 through the streets with all the chic and erectness of a sol¬ 
 dier and the abandon and insouciance of an Indian. In¬ 
 deed, so active and light were his movements, for one of 
 his figure, that it was always a subject of remark, especially 
 when mounting and dismounting. So, too, was it when he 
 trippingly danced in those “good old days" when Chicago 
 Society was a unit and unbroken by cliques—by the with¬ 
 drawal of the creme de la creme from the “promiscous gath¬ 
 erings,” and the setting up for themselves of a standard 
 blazened with the motto “I am better than thou,’’—a most 
 sublime piece of egotism. 
 
 Of this permit a word. 
 
 The last general, free, and genial reunion of the votaries 
 of Terpsichore was held at the “Sherman House,” and (I 
 think) known as the “Mechanics Ball." It was gotten up 
 as an offset to that of the “Young Bachelors,” a very select 
 and (supposed to bel recherche affair, and the tickets placed 
 at the merely nominal sum of one dollar, including car- 
 
I 2 
 
 PHILIP MAXWELL, M.I). 
 
 riages and refreshments. To carry out the intention of the 
 originators (and who, by the way, had a large deficiency of 
 funds to make up)—all prominent citizens were enlisted as 
 managers, and a difficulty arose as to how they could be 
 classed as Mechanics. 
 
 “Put down Doctor Maxwell as a Butcher,” quoth Col 
 Swift. 
 
 “And Dick Swift as a Barber!" (/. <\, Money-lender— 
 shaver) was the ready retort of the Physician. 
 
 In this way all trouble was overcome and the ball was 
 large—immense, enthusiastic, and enjoyable. It was, how- 
 ever, the final gasp of general sociability, and the united 
 Chicago of the old was known nevermore. But to return 
 to the subject proper. 
 
 1'he face of Doctor Maxwell was in keeping with his 
 ponderous frame. It was broad, massive, pleasant, and 
 beaming with mirth — the last being, the key-note of his 
 character. It had. like his person Falstaffian breadth, and 
 depth, and proportion. He was constantly upon the qui 
 rive for objects of merriment, was a 
 
 “Rare compound of oddity, frolic, and fun, 
 
 Who relished a joke and rejoiced in a pun.” 
 
 Even at the most solemn times it was next to impossible 
 for him to keep the bubbles from rising to the surface—the 
 gas of frivolity from escaping. Nature had cast him in the 
 mould of “Sir John,” and study and love of the character 
 had perhaps tinged his own until it had grown to resemble 
 the would-be lover of Madame Ford and “sweet Mistress 
 Page.” 
 
 I know such was the charge against him—that he ever 
 aped the burly guzzler of sack and fancied himself the suc¬ 
 cessful rival of the wonderful creation of Shakespeare. 
 Granted that the charge was true, the idiosyncrasy was 
 perfectly harmless. But the Doctor cared little for such 
 insinuations, though he could be “ testy ” at times and 
 
PI II LIT MAXWELL, M.D. 
 
 13 
 
 pour out the vials of his wrath like the bursting forth of a 
 volcano. He was contented to go along “larding the lean 
 earth, - ’ enjoying a laugh, no matter at whose expense, and 
 making merry at life, come in what shape it might, though 
 the sunshine and shadows in such lives are very marked. 
 But, for the most part, he was remarkably genial,—feeling 
 his own weaknesses as well as those of others; and, in his 
 limited sphere, was a very “king of misrule." If he had 
 made the “peculiarities of Falstaff a study, and reproduced 
 them in his daily walk and conversation, it was without 
 malice to others—on the contrary, for their amusement. 
 
 As a rule, he carried sunshine in his face and heart and 
 a quilp upon the end of his tongue—was at his richest, 
 when he could get a good joke upon his brother professors 
 of the curative art —Stuart, Egan, and Eldridge— when 
 firing double shotted guns and entire batteries at a time at 
 the Faculty of Rush Medical College—and what stories 
 the old wooden office in Clark Street could tell were speech 
 given and had it not long since been dust and ashes. 
 
 Perhaps the highest relish of the Doctor was humbug¬ 
 ging the credulous with Munchausen stories, equalling any 
 of the “Fat Knight." Instances of this rise thickly as 
 memory turns back to the man and the past is vividly pict¬ 
 ured again. But one must suffice, though the temptation 
 to fill pages is great: 
 
 On a bitter morning in early winter, he entered a hotel, 
 drank a glass of water (he was habitually temperate), rub¬ 
 bed his hands complacently and discoursed pompously 
 upon the merits of bathing. 
 
 “Surely," exclaimed one of the loungers around the 
 glowing stove, “you have not been bathing this cold morn¬ 
 ing?" 
 
 “Of course I have — swimming, Sir, swimming," was the 
 answer. 
 
 “Where Doctor?” 
 
 “ In the lake." 
 
14 PHILIP MAXWELL, M.D. 
 
 “The lake? Impossible! It must be frozen along the 
 shores.” 
 
 “Yes—certainly—yes, but 1 make it a practice of going 
 in every morning as long as my weight will break the ice;" 
 and he departed leaving his hearers puzzled as to the truth 
 of the story—and which did not contain a particle of it. 
 
 It was Doctor Maxwell who made the sweeping and far 
 from complimentary criticism upon the late Edwin Forrest. 
 Although already published let me introduce It here in 
 brief: 
 
 The “great tragedian” was playing his first engagement 
 in Chicago, had finished for the night, was going to his 
 hotel down the street immediately preceded by the Doc¬ 
 tor and his party. His opinion was asked and the answer 
 given in such boisterous tones that Forrest could not fail 
 to have heard it—-“A brute force and native stupidity 
 actor!" Whether just or not, it was his opinion, and the 
 world was never kept in doubt as to what he thought. 
 
 There was much in the character and mannerism of Dr. 
 Maxwell that reminds me very forcibly of the Lawrence 
 Baythorn of Dicken’s “Bleak House” more than Falstafif. 
 There was the same bluff, hearty, brusque fashion of greet¬ 
 ing—the same noisy explosions—the same extravagant ex¬ 
 pressions and denunciations—the same tremendous bursts 
 of laughter—the same ferocious threatening—and the same 
 tender heart breathing within the massive breast that would 
 turn aside for fear of trampling on a worm, even while 
 breathing tornadoes of wordy wrath and hurling wordy 
 thunderbolts of wholesale destruction. But these things 
 (when not uttered and acted in jest, as was frequently the 
 case, served the more to clear the sky; and the man-—whom 
 a stranger might have looked upon as bloodthirsty—was as 
 kind in reality, as incapable of doing harm as a child—a 
 singular combination of Baythorn and Falstaff. 
 
i5 
 
 JOHN J. BROWN. 
 
 My introduction to the subject of this brief memoir was 
 so peculiar and striking that it could not be forgotten, par¬ 
 ticularly when taken in connection with the man—one al¬ 
 most sui generis. It must have occurred very soon after his 
 advent in the Garden City, for I had never seen or even 
 heard of him. 
 
 I was returning late one evening from a visit to a sick 
 friend. There was a wild storm abroad. Clouds were 
 flying in tumultuous confusion, driven by the fierce North- 
 wind; rain was falling heavily; the lake was lashed into 
 foam and tossing in great billows upon the shore; the thun¬ 
 der was booming and crashing, and ever and anon the light¬ 
 ning played around with dazzling and fitful fury. It was 
 not such a night as one would willingly be abroad, and I 
 was breasting' and struggling against the elemental war up 
 Michigan Avenue, in the vicinity of Randolph Street, when 
 a more than usually terrific burst of thunder caused me to 
 pause—a vivid flash of lightning to glance anxiously around 
 and I saw a man standing upon the lake-side of the Avenue 
 gesticulating fiercely, and in the lull that followed, I could 
 distinctly hear him talking to himself. 
 
 Curiosity could not be repressed. I fancied it must be 
 one insane; and, forgetting the storm and darkness, the 
 fearful pealing of the thunder, the rain, and the dangerous 
 play of the lightning, I crossed and drew near to his side. 
 And as I did so, there came to my ears the well-known 
 words of Byron : 
 
16 
 
 JOHN J. BROWN. 
 
 “The sky is changed ! and such a change! Oh! night, 
 
 And storm and darkness, ye are wondrous strong, 
 
 Yet lovely in your strength, as in the light 
 Of a dark eye is woman ! Far along, 
 
 From peak to peak, the rattling crag-, among 
 Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lone cloud, 
 
 But every mountain now hath found a tongue, 
 
 And Jura answers, through her misty shroud, 
 
 Back to the joyous Alps, who called to her aloud!” 
 
 Who could be quoting poetry at such a time and in such 
 a situation? If curiosity had been aroused before, it stood 
 toptoed now. I drew back, thrilling with a strange fear, 
 and waited for the next dash to reveal form and feature. 
 When it came, I looked upon a stranger who would have 
 impressed himself upon any assembly. The picture rises 
 before me now, weird almost as then, when the background 
 was foaming and hissing waters, and black chaos of sky, 
 and the shadows following the flashes eeine ones.. 
 
 The figure was tall, angular, slightly bent, and wrapped 
 in a cloak ; the face sallow, somewhat hollow, with high 
 cheek bones, and eyes deep set, heavily browed and lashed, 
 and with more than usual power of focusing and penetrat¬ 
 ing. 'The head was held firmly, straight, defiantly, and 
 covered with long, leonine hair, blown fitfully about by the 
 wind. The voice sonorous and emphatic. 
 
 That man was John J. Brown, a newly arrived lawyer, as 
 1 came later to know, and the impression of him then re¬ 
 ceived (almost boy as 1 was) without doubt ever after 
 colored my view of his character, and something of it may 
 linger even now, despite the dust and iconoclastic power of 
 so many years. 
 
 John J. Brown was naturally a retiring, misanthropic man. 
 The lenses through which he looked at life seemed to be 
 ever clouded—the glimpses of sunshine rare. Whether his 
 nature was naturally morbid — whether untoward circum¬ 
 stances had made it so, I never had the means of knowing: 
 but that he was uncommonly shy and sensitive, and ever 
 
JOHN J. BROWN. 
 
 17 
 
 looked at the darkest side, I am of opinion will not be 
 questioned. He lacked, perhaps, the rebound, the recu¬ 
 perative power to recover from a blow or loss; and he made 
 its sting deeper by brooding upon it. As a boy, 1 think this 
 must have been the case—as a man, standing breast-high 
 and proud-headed in genius, learning, and eloquence' 
 among his fellows it certainly was so; and none who knew 
 him will deny the assertion. “Knew him!" I have said; 
 but were there any who did so? I doubt it very much— 
 doubt if he ever had any intimate associates—any to whom 
 he fully unbosomed himself—to whom he revealed his 
 inner heart and the motives that were the mainspring of 
 his actions. And if the olden mythological fables had in 
 them aught of truth, it was Pluto that hovered about his 
 cradle, and Niobe and Melpomene that were his attendant 
 spirits through life. 
 
 This gave a sombre coloring to almost his every act and 
 thought. The shadows were so dense behind - the sunrays 
 that they could never be entirely hidden—the gold not suf¬ 
 ficiently bright to effectually curtain the gloom. In all his 
 forensic efforts this was apparent (at least to my mind), and 
 the highest flights of fancy seemed to be made with wings 
 against which beat the rain. But, notwithstanding this, 
 they were of great power, legal acumen, and sound law. 
 His mind in this respect was singularly critical and analyti¬ 
 cal. The very things that militated against general socia¬ 
 bility and the power of self-forgetfulness—in drinking in 
 the perfume of the flower, unmindful of the cruel thorn and 
 poisoned root, gave him the more taste and ability for 
 research- -more concentration of mind upon the salient 
 points he intuitively and keenly appreciated, and ever after 
 retained ; and this was so, not alone in the law, but in all 
 he read—history, poetry, philosophy, theology—and the 
 most apropos quotations were ever at his command. 
 
 I have spoken of his hair being long and tawny as the 
 mane of a lion. It was so in fact, was very noticable and 
 
i8 
 
 JOHN J. BROWN. 
 
 first called attention. But it was his eyes that unwaveringly 
 fixed it, for, at times, when his soul was fully aroused, they 
 literally appeared to burn. I use the term advisedly, and 
 can find none more appropriate. When indulging in his 
 wonderful and bitter powers of sarcasm; when forgetful of 
 self, and the ebb and flood of sorrowful waves, in the mas¬ 
 tery of his subject—when all the shadows were exorcised, 
 his eyes gleamed with a strange phosphorescent light and 
 exerted a strong, subtle, magnetic power that was not to be 
 resisted. In that respect, he was very like Rufus Choate, 
 of whom it has been said, 11 no one could report if they looked 
 ut him!” The same thing was, in a great measure, true of 
 John J. Brown, as I learned by experience when attempt¬ 
 ing to reproduce his words upon paper, during a celebrated 
 trial. I watched the speaker and forgot pencil and paper 1 
 
 Looking calmly back now, after a decade and more have 
 • passed, I am inclined to believe his greatest power was in 
 scathing denunciation and intense bitterness. I would not 
 be understood that such was the natural status of his mind, 
 for I do not believe it. On the contrary, I had occasion to 
 know that the milk of human kindness had not soured 
 within his veins, and there was much of the gentleness and 
 tenderness of woman in his composition. But he was un¬ 
 doubtedly the great master of withering and remorseless 
 irony when aroused, of satirical and scornful gibe then at 
 the Chicago Bar—of sarcasm that when given full rein had 
 something almost sardonic in it. To this end, his vehe¬ 
 ment gestures, his eyes, his tall, flexible person, and his 
 leonine hair, all added emphasis, and woe to those upon 
 whom the razorlike edge of his tongue fell when unbridled. 
 
 Two particular instances drift up from the depths of 
 memory. The first is that of the trial of Rev. Wm. F. 
 Walker, elsewhere mentioned : 
 
 The opening of his speech was calm, graceful, even beau¬ 
 tiful. He said, “ I did not expect to be present at this 
 trial. 1 thought the blue waves of the lake would have 
 
JOHN ]. BROWN. 
 
 19 
 
 rolled and sparkled between me and it.” But as he pro¬ 
 gressed, as he fully gave himself up to the subject he 
 warmed, grew deeper, stronger in thought, more forcible in 
 imagery, his nerves quivered, his hair was disordered, and 
 his eyes flashed as burning steel. Any looker on must 
 have been reminded of the gathering and bursting of a 
 storm. And when at its height it was terrible. When he 
 pictured the manufacturing of the “patchwork slanders”— 
 of those professing the broadest humanity and Christianity, 
 coming “to the altar with the word of God in their hands 
 and the devil in their hearts”—when he hurled wholesale 
 scorn and infamy upon their heads—when he spoke of 
 their “ supreme and besotted ignorance and worse than 
 heathenish bigotry” he rose to such an altitude of invective 
 that few who had awakened his wrath could remain, and 
 even the ordinary listener felt a shivering awe and dread. 
 
 The second time was in a strictly legal encounter, and 
 with foemen worthy of his steel: 
 
 One of his antagonists he (figuratively) held up by his 
 long hair, so that all could see him, and painted him in 
 such colors as made even the fiends appear more just and 
 pure—made him act the most vile monster possible with 
 humanity—cut so deeply that the audience could not but 
 pity. Turning from the fierce wirlwind of denunciation, he 
 addressed the other in low and measured tones—reminded 
 him of his position in the Church, and saying: “I have no 
 words for him. The reproof must come from a higher 
 source, even from the God he pretends to worship,” he 
 fixed him with his eyes, and opening a bible read the most 
 bitterly appropriate chapter contained between its lids. 
 
 They had raised the lion, and having felt the full weight 
 of his claws and power of his teeth, paid dearly for their 
 attack. 
 
 I know it was customary to compare John J. Brown with 
 Justin Butterfield in this respect, but I never thought the 
 comparison tenable. Butterfield was a man of undoubted 
 
20 
 
 JOHN J. BROWN. 
 
 power of retaliation, and legal knowledge, but he lacked' 
 (in my judgment) the keenness of Brown. Were I to in¬ 
 dulge in a simile, I should say, that, while from his heavy 
 blows he might have been Richard, his rival was the Sala- 
 din—-the one would crush with a gigantic battle-axe, the 
 other cut to the heart with a blade of Toledo temper. 
 
 As to legal requirements, John J. Brown stood high. 
 His mind was a treasure-house as was shown during the 
 brief time he taught a law school. Had his natural tem¬ 
 perament been different—had his health been better—had 
 life been more roseate, he would, as the years rolled on, have 
 made for himself a high and honored name. But he never 
 mingled much with his fellows; and it was only when inter¬ 
 ested and awakened in the argument of a case that he re¬ 
 vealed what he truly was—only then that the shadow was 
 ever lifted from heart and brain. 
 
 The particulars of his death were not familiar to me. 1 
 have a faint recollection of some mystery shrouding it— 
 that his soul found the Nepenthe, the “surcease from sor¬ 
 row” otherwise than surrounded by loving hearts. Be that 
 as it might, his life appeared to be a fitful one, and May he 
 sleep well 1 More sunny natures have gone before, and 
 have followed him, but no stronger, no more legal, none 
 more intense have taken their places in the green tent 
 “whose curtains never outward swing." Aye, and in the 
 younger ranks of his profession who can claim the place he 
 left vacant? When some one shall write at length the his¬ 
 tory of the Bar of Chicago, upon its highest page will be 
 found the name of John J. Brown. Peace, eternal peace 
 to his ashes. 
 
21 
 
 RICHARD L. WILSON. 
 
 The name of Richard L. Wilson was so long and inti¬ 
 mately connected with the Chicago Journal that it is 
 familiar as “household words”, not only to the olden time 
 readers of that paper, but to all who dwelt in the City, 
 County, and it might almost be said, State. 
 
 His personal popularity, as well as his political influence, 
 was widespread and universally admitted, although it was 
 an impossibility for any one occupying the position he held 
 to be without enemies. Yet these came from tilts in the 
 arena of politics far more (if not entirely) than any other 
 cause. For what he thought right he labored manfully— 
 wielded a caustic pen, and threw hot-shot directly into the 
 camp of the enemy, regardless of the consequences. But 
 it was the cause, not the individual, he would cripple—the 
 batteries he would unmask and silence—the rifle-pits he 
 would cause to surrender, not the men of which they were 
 composed. He believed the salvation of the country de¬ 
 pended upon Henry Clay and the Whig Party; and it 
 would have been very difficult for a “ trumpet-tongued 
 angel” to have convinced him to the contrary, for his was 
 a positive nature. 
 
 To those who stood out of the reach of the flying splin¬ 
 ters and de'bris, it was amusing to see how he would de¬ 
 molish the long “ leaders ” of his antagonists with a few 
 words. As a writer of short, pithy, pointed paragraphs I 
 never knew his equal among the Chicago editorial fraterni¬ 
 ty. This was his forte, and in it he resembled Prentice, 
 of the Louisville Journal , more than any other of his day. 
 
"> "> 
 
 RICHARD I.. WILSON! 
 
 If grape-shot, and canister, and shrapnel were fired by 
 broadsides, he answered with a single shot from a well- 
 aimed rifled gun, which caused more havoc than all their 
 noise and wholesale missiles. “Grandpa Dutch” might fire 
 column after column of “double-leaded” matter at his 
 head, and “ Dick " would send back three lines that would 
 drive even '■'•Banks! Basics! BANKS!” from the brain of 
 the old gentleman, for a time at least. 
 
 In this, more than any other way, he made his editorial 
 power felt, though he was sometimes tempted to indulge in 
 it to excess, with regard to the Democrat , and its elongated' 
 proprietor, and laughingly own that he might as well have 
 attempted to perforate the thick skin of a rhinoceros with 
 mustard seed. It was, however, a favorite pastime with all 
 the knights of the quill of the day—did no harm—served 
 as a'"safety valve, and “Long John” continued to wax fat 
 and rich and carry the Congressional district in his breeches 
 pocket the same as before. 
 
 Save for these pointed squibs that generally pierced 
 through the armor of his antagonist as if it had been but 
 silken folds, Mr. Wilson (to the best of my knowledge) 
 indulged but little in authorship, though famous for writ¬ 
 ing toasts, and good ones, for public dinners. The only 
 instance of his “book making” that came under my obser¬ 
 vation was “ Short Rave/ings from a Long Yarti ”—a story 
 of Spanish life and adventure, and even that, I believe, 
 was “licked into shape” by another. But Mr. Wilson 
 furnished the data, supervised, and was entitled to the lion's 
 share of the credit. 
 
 As 1 have already stated, long articles were not either 
 his forte or his propensity. His spirit was too restless for 
 such drudgery. It was with him aim and fire. He could 
 not patiently still-hunt—could not follow a long trail Ind¬ 
 ian-like to secure a scalp. His nature was too ardent—he 
 leaped over boundaries too rapidly for any such plodding, 
 and if an enemy he was an open one. Every fibre of his 
 
RICHARD I- WILSON. 23 
 
 soul would have scorned lurking in ambush, striking with¬ 
 out giving an opportunity of defense, stabbing from behind 
 the back in the dark. Such things were altogether foreign 
 to his nature. If impulsive he was honorable; if prone to 
 criticise, just. 
 
 Of what his position would have been in the late un¬ 
 happy fratricidal struggle no one who knew him will for a 
 moment question. It could have been but one thing, and 
 into the side he espoused he would have thrown himself 
 body and soul. A divided country would never have been 
 tolerated by him, even in thought. The Union, as he 
 looked upon it, was ever to be a unit, and rested upon a 
 foundation as lasting as time. 
 
 His patriotism was shown in the fatal rejoicing that crip - 
 pled him for the remainder of his life. The news of the 
 battle of Buena Vista, that sent an electric thrill through 
 the land, stirred his breast to its lowest depths. He threw 
 himself into the ranks of those who celebrated the victory 
 -was the moving and master-spirit; but the premature 
 explosion of the cannon used left a terrible personal record. 
 And it showed, too, the iron nerve of the man—a will 
 almost matchless in firmness—a scorn of physical suffering 
 unparalelled—a power to endure that was beyond belief. 
 
 1 was among the first to reach him, after the accident, 
 having been a looker on at but a little distance. I helped 
 to carry him into the Sherman House, and, consequently, 
 know of what I write. To describe his injuries here would 
 not only be useless, but create doubt. No one, who did 
 not see him, would believe a man could be so mangled and 
 live. It was a sight that made many a heart sick, and 
 many a strong nature grow faint. This was the case with 
 his regular physician. He attempted the necessary surgery, 
 shook like an aspen, and was forced to give up the task to 
 another. And during the lengthy ordeal, one of most 
 terrible suffering, Mr. Wilson lay, with compressed lips 
 — uttered no groan — never spoke of what he was so hero- 
 
-’4 
 
 RICHARD L. WILSON. 
 
 jcally enduring, save once. As a large, ragged Splinter 
 ot the ramrod was being removed from its place under and 
 intertwisted with the biceps muscles of the right arm, he 
 said, in answer to a question of a friend: “Yes, that hurts.” 
 1 hat was all; and. taken as a whole, it was a masterly in¬ 
 stance of patient endurance- a literal triumph of mind over 
 matter. And this same indomitable will and nerve enabled 
 him to soon again resume his duties; but the injuries ever 
 after affected him and sapped his life. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was a genial companion and a true friend, 
 was liberal beyond his means when his sympathies were 
 enlisted, and never stopped to coldly count the cost of a 
 favor. 1 here was nothing selfish or phlegmatic about him. 
 Every action sprang from the dictates of a manly-beating 
 heart, and the faults (if they can justly so be called) that 
 always cling to such men were attributable to the mental 
 combination — to the actual necessity of excitement and ac¬ 
 tion—to the never letting “I dare not wait upon I would,” 
 to (in practical life at least) the Napoleonic motto that 
 —"the end justifies the means”— to the more than usual 
 social element—to a remarkably vivid appreciation of the 
 humorous—to his peculiar surroundings—to the association 
 into which he was forced- to the age in which he lived. 
 
 Sportsmen of the days of Richard I,. Wilson will remem¬ 
 ber him with pleasure. He was a keen lover of the gun 
 and skilful in its use. If prairie chickens arose within rea¬ 
 sonable distance, it was bad for the chickens! Had his 
 early life been different, he would have enjoyed, as only 
 such enthusiasts can enjoy, living with nature in her wildest 
 moods and made his mark as hunter, pioneer, even “Indian 
 fighter, tor fear was not a component part of his being. 
 He was the life of the camp fire as he was foremost in 
 quest of game, and though he never “strung rhymes” had 
 much of the poetic, and saw all that was beautiful in sky, 
 water, woodland, and treeless plain. Glimmerings of this 
 crop out in the little book I have mentioned, and it was 
 
RICHARD L. WILSON. 
 
 when afar from the haunts of men that it shone the bright¬ 
 est. sparkled the most brilliantly, rather than when weary 
 and chafed by the editorial harness. Then he gave loose 
 rein to his thoughts, flung aside the rare power of conden¬ 
 sation that made his newspaper paragraphs mosaics of 
 terse pointedness—indulged freely in anecdote, and jest, 
 and repartee — gave graphic descriptions of hunter’s life 
 that spiced to perfection the birds broiling upon the glow¬ 
 ing coals. Then, also, he showed as he never did at 
 any other time, the wealth of'his imagination, the power (if 
 trained) to throw off page after page of brilliant matter—to 
 make a remarkably readable book. That he never did was 
 often a wonder to his friends. It might have come with 
 his years (if spared) had it not been for the accident that 
 made penmanship severe labor, and despite his buoyant 
 heart and resolute will must have left a legacy of shadows. 
 That he did not is to be regretted. It could not have been 
 otherwise than valuable and interesting. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was an ardent admirer of and believer in the 
 destiny of Chicago. He always predicted for it a bright 
 and glorious future, and he foresaw something of its great¬ 
 ness. Not all — perhaps not one tithe. Who could? 
 There was no prophetic ken keen enough, no imagination 
 sufficiently vivid to grasp the possibilities when the terrible 
 baptism and purification of fire should have been perfect. 
 
 Any who foretold what would arise from the ashes would 
 have been deemed insane. But the mind of Richard L. 
 AVilson grasped much of what has been—what will yet be. 
 He realized the importance of its geographical position— 
 its immense business resources and activity, and that, sitting 
 as it did, drinking in the commerce of the chain of lakes 
 upon one side, and stretching but its broad arms of prairie 
 upon the other, it must become great. And in every way 
 he assisted to its present. This his paper enabled him to 
 do—for this he labored in season and out of season—for 
 this he created friends by his personal attractiveness—and 
 
26 
 
 RICHARD L. WILSON. 
 
 for this, if the departed have power to return to the earth 
 and minister to the wants of the living, his loyal spirit yet 
 lingers over the city of his love and haunts the inner shrine 
 of the Chicago Journal. 
 
 LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL. 
 
 Probably, very few of the younger generation in Chicago 
 have any distinct remembrance of Lewis C. Kerchival. 
 Hut such as do must have been impressed by the striking 
 points in a character that stood out strongly from his fel¬ 
 lows. 
 
 The elder citizens—those who still linger in green old 
 age and ripe usefulness, and it is to be hoped with plenty 
 ot this world’s goods, after the great majority of their associ¬ 
 ates have passed away, will recall him as “Inspector of the 
 Port (with commerce that was a laughable burlesque upon 
 the present), and later as Justice of the Peace, with an of¬ 
 fice in the second story of the tumble-down wooden tene¬ 
 ment (Clark's Hardware Store), on the north-east corner of 
 Take and Clark Streets, and directly facing the famous 
 “Saloon Building,’ - a history of which would be a history of 
 almost all the public meetings, and gatherings, and socie¬ 
 ties of early Chicago. 
 
 Lewis C. Kerchival rises before me to-day as distinct as 
 when I used to meet him in the streets, straight as a pine, 
 unbending as an oak, defiant and tough as a hickory; with 
 his tall, muscular form, his grizzled hair, blue, brass-but¬ 
 toned coat, and his soldier-like bearing, proud as Julius 
 Ctesar and imperious as the Czar; always neatly dressed, 
 with cleanly-shaved lace and—a rara avis in those muddy 
 times—well-polished boots. 
 
LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL. 
 
 2 7 
 
 Should I compare him with any other well-known char¬ 
 acter it would be Andrew Jackson. The mental calibre of 
 the men, as well as their physique, was much the same. 
 Each knew and did not shrink from “taking the responsi¬ 
 bility” of any act they thought right—had no dread of, per¬ 
 haps never even gave a thought to the consequences. The 
 “by the Eternal” of the President was the animus of the 
 citizen, and I often fancied (as did others) that they were 
 very alike in looks. 
 
 Tire hair of Col. Iverchival was a true index of his charac¬ 
 ter. It was kept cut short, and every “particular one” of 
 the dense growth stood stiffly, savagely erect, without de¬ 
 pending upon, and as if scorning the support of, the others; 
 and had an individuality of its own—had a gladiatorial 
 presence and a challenge to combat. So, too, was it with 
 the man. He appeared to snuff the battle from afar, like 
 an old war-horse, and had the most sublime contempt for 
 those who did not agree with him. There was something 
 grand in his attitude, whether right or wrong, though it is 
 very much to be doubted if he ever admitted the possibility 
 of the latter. That would have been a human weakness, 
 of which he could never have believed himself guilty. What 
 he thought and said must be right, and it was impudence of 
 * the most gross character in any to question. And if the 
 disputant happened to be young 1 Ah ! then Lear was 
 rivalled. But his passion was like 
 
 PA full hot horse, who being allowed his way, 
 
 Self-mettle tires him.” 
 
 And he soon became the calm gentleman again; for under 
 all the heat there was a tender, almost womanly heart, and 
 the eyes that one moment flashed baleful lightnings would 
 the next be misty with genuine tears. 
 
 Of the more than iron will, memory will reproduce many 
 examples to the minds of those no longer young, whose 
 eyes kindly rest upon these pages. A few are so strikingly 
 
28 
 
 LKWIS C. KERCHIVAL. 
 
 characteristic of the man that I cannot refrain from giving 
 them place. And I do so the more willingly as one in¬ 
 stance proves beyond all cavil his inward, native goodness, 
 no matter how warped at times, and a determination for 
 the right. 
 
 The habits of Mr. Kerchival, in the matter of drinking, 
 had not been good. It was the crying sin of the era—the 
 most serious blight upon the escutcheon of the fair young 
 City. His indulgences had grown upon him. Inebriety 
 became the rule rather than the exception, and a speedy 
 and dishonored grave appeared to be his inevitable doom, 
 unless there was a radical change. And it came when least 
 expected by his friends. He decided to drink no more— 
 and instantly stopped. Severe sickness followed, as a natu¬ 
 ral sequence to the sudden lack of stimulant; and when a 
 physician prescribed and held the “poisoned cup” to his 
 lips, and told him he must drink if he would live, the old 
 Roman dashed it aside, and vowed “he would die before he 
 tasted a single drop”—and he kept his word. 
 
 Subsequently he became the president of the Temperance 
 Society, and one night, when a meeting was in progress, 
 some one brought forward a negro to sign the pledge, his 
 face flamed with indignation, he declared the meeting ad¬ 
 journed, and rushed from the room. It was touching him* 
 in a very tender spot. His hatred for a colored person was 
 too intense for him to admit the slightest association. In¬ 
 deed, it was laughable how peculiarly sensitive he was upon 
 the subject, and his loathing was so great that had he then 
 (his views became somewhat softened at a later date) been 
 convinced that that particular race would have been ad¬ 
 mitted into heaven, he would have considered it a good 
 and sufficient reason and ample justification for going in 
 the contrary direction. 
 
 The same imperative will—the same strong, overmaster¬ 
 ing prejudice controlled his judicial acts and legal decisions, 
 even more than he was himself aware. Though I believe 
 
LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL. 
 
 29 
 
 him to have been honest to his heart’s core, yet there was 
 an irresistible bias that sometimes ran away with his better 
 judgment, and bordered upon the ludicrous, and he made 
 law quite a different affair from that laid down in the stat¬ 
 ute book and held to be sound by higher authority. I give 
 an instance: 
 
 It was claimed, and justly, that active firemen were ex¬ 
 empt from street tax, and custom, at least, had made it 
 binding, but “Squire Kerchival” argued otherwise. He 
 permitted a suit to be brought against one of the “fire fight- 
 ters" for the amount, and sternly overruled the exemption. 
 Then the defense produced three of the most prominent 
 physicians, who swore point blank, that on account of bod¬ 
 ily injuries, the defendant was not able to work upon the 
 streets and consequently not liable. There was nothing in 
 rebuttal. Hut “the Squire" ignored the testimony entirely. 
 He had made up his mind and that was sufficient—said 
 “he had seen the defendant dance half the night, and any 
 one who was able to dance was able to work on the streets, 
 and he’d be (well, say blessed!) if he shouldn’t either do it 
 or pay!”—vowed he wouldn't permit an appeal, and forth¬ 
 with issued an execution. 
 
 But nothing came of it; and his books, if now to be 
 found, will reveal the judgment unsatisfied. Sober second- 
 thought had shown him the impracticability and absurdity 
 of his course, and I presume he laughed as heartily as did 
 others at his high-handed defiance of law and testimony. 
 It was simply one of the furious storms that the soonest 
 clear the sky. 
 
 Next to, if not equal with his hatred of “our brothers 
 carved in ebony” was that of dogs. He had the most mor¬ 
 tal antipathy to them. They never entered into his con¬ 
 ception of Paradise. In that particular, if in no other, he 
 was “close communion,” and would have cut off the best of 
 his friends among the Red Men from the happy hunting- 
 grounds, for their love of and close intimacy with their use- 
 
LEWIS C. KERCHIYAL. 
 
 30 
 
 fill four-footed companions. This feeling was no secret, 
 and it was made use of to annoy the old gentleman, though 
 truth to tell more from the fun that would arise out of it 
 than malice. 
 
 The prime mover was Doctor-(he might not fancy 
 
 having his name given to the public, so I'll e’en whisper it 
 very lowly and confidentially upon the solemn pledge that 
 you'll “never tell nobody") — Doctor Max Myers. He 
 caused an advertisement to be inserted in one of the 
 papers, that Squire Kerchival was very anxious to purchase 
 a good dog, and requested any who had one for sale to 
 bring it to his office between the hours of nine and twelve 
 upon the following day. • And such a collection as ap¬ 
 peared, mirabile dictu! Dutch men, and dutch women, 
 and dutch girls, and dutch boys from the neighborhood of 
 “Dili’s Brewery"; Milesian men, women, girls, and boys 
 from the North, South, East, and West, and ragged juve¬ 
 niles from every alley. And dogs? No race appeared 
 unrepresented. The “School Section” (old settlers will 
 understand the meaning of the term) were in full force, 
 terriers, Newfoundland, pointers, setters, hounds, bulldogs. 
 “Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart,” big, little, useful, worth¬ 
 less were all there, and the office was taken by storm, and 
 the street crowded, and a human and canine Babel reigned 
 and Bedlam was outdone 1 
 
 But the reception they received ! It beggars all the power 
 of description, let imagination run riot ever so madly; the 
 motley crowd was hurried, driven, hustled, not-very gently, 
 down the stairs amid the wildest jargon and carnival of 
 denunciation, and curses, and vows of vengence from Teu¬ 
 tonic, irish and—that was the feather that crushed the 
 spine of the camel—colored lips; the door locked, and the 
 scales of Justice that day left untended. And “wratliy" 
 indeed was the Squire when he found it was a practical 
 joke—blew hot and blew cold—but when the waves had 
 lashed their fury out he bore no malice. 
 
LEWIS C. KERCHIVAL. 
 
 31 
 
 Despite his peppery temper, Lewis C. Kerchival—Colonel 
 Kerchival—was a man to be respected. None of us are 
 without faults, and his came from natural organization— 
 from the want perhaps of proper training when young— 
 from his head rather than heart. He was of the ancient 
 regime — had the manners of a “gentleman of the old 
 school”—the will that would have caused him to march 
 triumphantly to the stake for a principle, and the nerve to 
 endure torture without a groan. He was as much a part of 
 his times as the buildings—has left a name that is indis- 
 solutly connected with Chicago—was true as steel in his 
 friendships and when the sod was placed over him, many 
 of what the world called “better men” would have been 
 less missed. 
 
 URIAH P. HARRIS. 
 
 Nature created Uriah P. Harris, for a fireman, and I am 
 inclined to the belief that his playthings in the cradle must 
 have been miniature trumpets, spanners, and wrenches, and 
 that the first use he made of his limbs was to “run with the 
 machine,” and of his hands, to hold a pipe and a butt 1 
 This may seem an idle delusion of the fancy, but the after¬ 
 life of the man would appear to prove the theory. 
 
 Mr. Harris, I am quite confident, owed his nativity to 
 New York City. During his younger days he was a mem¬ 
 ber, and we may be certain an active one, of engine number 
 27 , “Old North River,” and in the rough school of the Vol¬ 
 unteer department, the constant calls for energy and cour¬ 
 age, and the not unfrequent difficulties with rival companies, 
 he learned, and learned well, the stern lessons that fitted 
 him for his after career. 
 
URIAH I*. HARRIS. 
 
 Upon his arrival in Chicago, he joined “Osceola, num¬ 
 ber 3 ," then having a house upon the river bank on the 
 north side, at the foot of Dearborn Street—the “Kid (Move 
 Company, as its enemies dubbed it. It was composed for 
 the most part of the “solid men” of the North Division 
 (with a few from the South side), and represented much 
 wealth, and the very first of social standing; a distinctive 
 feature it retained in a great degree to the very last, al¬ 
 though the first members bore away the palm in these re¬ 
 spects, and the names to be found niton its (then) roll stood 
 and stand to-day as high as any in the city, and the paid 
 department do no more severe work than was done by the 
 “hand engines'’ then—if they equal it. 
 
 The coolness, the power to control and direct others, the 
 far-sightedness, the quickness of decision, the knowledge of 
 the fantastic moods of the flames, the scope and force of 
 water, the best point of attack, the surest way to defeat, all 
 belonged to Mr. Harris, and he was dowered with the 
 strength and stamina to defy the excesses of heat, and cold, 
 and exposure, inseparable to such a life. 
 
 All will remember him, for he was a part of the new as 
 well as the old Chicago. His figure was tall and presence 
 commanding—a shade too heavy in his later years for the 
 arduous duty, but never shirking it. The strongest, the ab¬ 
 sorbing passion of his life was to be a fireman. It was his 
 beau ideal of perfect manhood the achme of human bliss— 
 the highest aim of his ambition. No general ever felt more 
 happy than he in marshalling his forces against the “de¬ 
 vouring element "—none were more jubilant in victory. 
 
 Hut it must be remembered that his was no common 
 conception of what constituted a true fireman. It had 
 been the study of his lifetime—he had consecrated himself 
 to it, as it were, and the one who reached his mark had to 
 combine all the elements of daring, even to recklessness, 
 coolness, amid the most trying circumstances, trained judg¬ 
 ment, a quick eye, a firm hand, untiring muscle, an iron 
 
URIAH P. HARRIS. 
 
 33 
 
 constitution, to know by intuition what was right, and the 
 nerve to carry it out, unheeding the clamor of the populace 
 or the intermeddling of those who held quasi power in 
 municipal affairs. 
 
 That Uriah P. Harris combined in a remarkable degree 
 these rare qualities, his repeated election to the office of 
 Chief Engineer (and no more important one can be ad¬ 
 duced), I think, conclusively proves. In this even the 
 outcry of party was strangled, and though there were plenty 
 of seekers after the “loaves and fishes” connected with it, 
 yet to the praise of Chicago be it recorded, the better judg¬ 
 ment permitted no swelling and fury of political waves to 
 turn them from what was believed their best interests and 
 the most certain means of safety. The fiat was then, what¬ 
 ever it may be now, that life and property, when weighed 
 against fire, was above and paramount to all party feeling. 
 
 I think, none will question the ability with which Mr. 
 Harris managed fires. And it must be taken into consider¬ 
 ation, how often and much he was crippled for want of nec¬ 
 essary machines and an adequate supply of water. Human 
 muscle is not as tireless as steam, human nature not as reli¬ 
 able as steel, human passions have no safety-valve that can 
 be chained down and control them, humanity is ever subject 
 to the overthrowing powers of jealousy, envy, malice, and in¬ 
 subordination. And all these were against him, at least in 
 the early part of his career, and I remember well a remark 
 from his lips, when the change came from the Volunteer de¬ 
 partment and breath of fire, lungs of steam and sinews of 
 iron were substituted; when horses did the heavy labor of 
 drawing and machinery of working — when men arrived at 
 the scene of destruction without being already tired out. 
 
 “I tell you,” he said, “steamers don’t get exhausted or 
 drunk, and can be depended on every time.” 
 
 This was immediately after what was then termed “a 
 great fire” (ah! how fearfully the memory of it was blotted 
 out at a later day, when a second Sodom swept away acres 
 
 n 
 
 O 
 
34 
 
 URIAH I>. HARRIS. 
 
 of buildings, and in a breath crumbled even the most sub¬ 
 stantial to ashes or melted them as wax in a thrice-heated 
 furnace!) in Lake street (on the north side of the street 
 between Clark and Dearborn), when tired nature strove to 
 sustain itself by stimulants, and there was left behind a sad, 
 sad record of destruction and death — heavy pecuniary 
 losses and monumental marbles in the graveyard. 
 
 Mr. Harris was a man of intense feelings and strong pas¬ 
 sions. They were the requisite fuel to drive him on in his 
 chosen career, just as much as coal and wood are to the 
 locomotive. Without them he could never have been what 
 he was. But passion with him was no long-lingering feel¬ 
 ing. It would have been impossible for him to have 
 “nursed wrath to keep it warm.” He was too great¬ 
 hearted for that. Beside his inherent love of mirth — his 
 rollicking nature would never have permitted such a thing. 
 His laugh was most hearty and contagious; his play bois¬ 
 terous, and the very corner-stone of his being was socia¬ 
 bility. Condemned to a hermit life—sundered from genial 
 ■companionship, he would have been the most unhappy of 
 mortals and not long known to the living. As a Crusoe, 
 he would not have survived to see a “Friday,” whether 
 day or man! Generous he was to a fault — far too much 
 so for his own good in a pecuniary point, and was some¬ 
 thing of a gourmand in eating, while exceedingly dainty in 
 taste and not to be charged with gluttony. Like many 
 men of his mould, he was tender-hearted — unusually so. 
 Charity with him was more than a name—was not simply 
 a spasm, but an ever-living and breathing reality, and tears 
 in the eyes of woman, no matter who she might be, ever 
 caused his own to flow. 
 
 Mr. Harris was perhaps too much of the order of Sans 
 Souci , to have claimed the motto of Bayard, but to that can 
 be attributed much of the personal popularity which, in 
 connection with his ability in his chosen profession, en¬ 
 abled him so long to retain his high position as Chief. 
 
URIAH P. HARRIS. 
 
 35 
 
 His friends were very warm and lasting ones. He threw 
 his whole soul into his intercourse, as indeed he did into 
 everything else—was fond even to extremes of ihe amuse¬ 
 ments that go very far toward relieving the dullness of life 
 —to compensate for its trials. A good horse had in him a 
 good friend and protector, and the drama an ardent ad¬ 
 mirer. Indeed he was enthusiastic concerning it, and 
 chess might almost have been called a passion. And, 
 though the fact is probably not widely known, he was quite 
 literary in his tastes. 
 
 His faults, whatever they may have been, sprang from 
 an excess of warmth in his nature, from too much carbonic 
 acid, I might say, in his organization, from impulse not to 
 be resisted, from the whip and spur of too rapidly bound¬ 
 ing blood — never from premeditated wrong. No one ever 
 yet heard so hearty and spontaneous a laugh come from a 
 villian’s throat. 
 
 But whatever his errors, the mantle of that broad charity, 
 with which he ever so liberally shrouded others, should be 
 extended to him. His virtues counterbalance them, and it 
 has been well written, “none are perfect, no not one.” He 
 has passed “beneath the veil,” but will not soon be for¬ 
 gotten—cannot be. As long as there is a Chicago Fire 
 Department, he will be remembered with] pleasure. What 
 it now is (without detracting one iota from the fame of 
 others), he assisted greatly to make it, and no true fireman 
 will hesitate to lay a wreath of asphodel upon his resting 
 place. 
 
36 
 
 • HENRY B. CLARKE. 
 
 Xo one among the olden time hunters will ever pass the 
 grave of Henry B. Clarke save reverently and with uncov¬ 
 ered head 
 
 Mr. Clarke was, de facto, one of the “old settlers.” About 
 forty years ago he erected his (then) famous mansion, 
 dwarfing all others, on the South side of the river, and 
 equalled only by that of William B. Ogden on the north— 
 of which it was the rival. Its cost was some ten thousand 
 dollars—a mere bagatelle now, but at the time was looked 
 upon with alarm, and designated by many names, the most 
 gentle of which was, perhaps, “folly.” The building was 
 fashioned after, and to a great degree a reproduction of, 
 that of the first Mayor of Chicago (William B. Ogden, 
 A.D. 1837 ), with broad, pillared porch; inviting, comfort¬ 
 able, substantial, and a marked object in the almost wilder¬ 
 ness of prairie. 
 
 One can scarcely conceive, at this day, the enterprise 
 and energy necessary to successfully carry out such an 
 undertaking, when the city was yet in its swaddling clothes 
 (with only about two thousand inhabitants), the country 
 unsettled, the trail of the Indians yet unobliterated, their 
 corn growing at “Wolf’s Point,” their camp fires nightly 
 burning, and their war cry scarcely stilled; when skilled 
 labor was difficult to command, and when much of the 
 interior wood-work had to be transported from the State of 
 New York. Indeed, everything taken into consideration, 
 it might well have been looked upon as Herculanean labor, 
 and one bordering even upon insanity. But the South side 
 
HENRY B. CLARKE. 
 
 37 
 
 gloried in it, as they did in everything that tended, in the 
 least, to break the somewhat arrogant power of the North, 
 and lessen its prestige. 
 
 When Mr. Clarke builded his home it fronted to the 
 East, and was sentinelled by tall Lombardy poplars — strik¬ 
 ing objects amid such surroundings. It was distant a mile 
 and one-half from the nearest neighbor, was in a streetless 
 plain, and to be reached only by the road along the lake 
 shore — the highway from the Wabash. And it is recorded 
 as an instance of his goodness of heart, and thoughtfulness 
 for the welfare of others, that he every night hung out a 
 lantern to guide belated and perplexed travellers, and save 
 them from the treacherous and almost bottomless sloughs. 
 
 The location of the house was near the scene—a trifle to 
 the south, if I remember correctly- — of the massacre of 
 1812, and amid the mimic mountains of ever-shifting sand 
 rested the bones of the soldiers ruthlessly slain by Indian 
 treachery and — why should it not be written? — by the 
 ■obstinacy and incompetency of white leaders. 
 
 Not here, perhaps, is the proper place to discuss the 
 merits of that fatal evacuation of Fort Dearborn; but a 
 decade and a half of years since investigation of the facts 
 (after gathering the most authentic information possible) 
 forced this conclusion: the massacre was the result of self¬ 
 opinion, suspicion, and jealousy of inferiors, the destruction 
 of stores, the want of knowledge of the Indian character 
 and contempt of their power. But whatever the cause, its 
 history was written in blood. 
 
 Mr. Clarke combined shrewdness with energy of char¬ 
 acter. He was a partner of William Jones and Byram 
 King (notable names in the early history of the Garden 
 City) in the Hardware business (on South Water Street), 
 and a director in the Chicago Branch of the State Bank. 
 In his later years he Avithdrew from active business associa¬ 
 tions, and devoted his time to the cultivation of the soil and 
 to the sport his very soul loved—that of hunting; having 
 
38 
 
 HENRY 15. CLARKE. 
 
 for companions such men as 1). L). Stanton, Harvey 
 Blakesley, L. C. Hugunin (“Len”), Ashley Gilbert, and 
 others. 
 
 Judging from his treatment of me, and from what I heard 
 from others, Mr. Clarke must have been a remarkably 
 genial companion — one with command of self and one 
 possessing the traits of character that make men loved 
 while living, and when gone, remembered with tender re¬ 
 gret. Certainly his friends were warm ones, though I fancy 
 the number admitted to the very hearth-stone of his heart 
 was not large. But those who enjoyed the privilege re¬ 
 mained firm to the last—till, in 1849, the blight and mil¬ 
 dew and doom of cholera fell upon the the City and swept 
 him away. 
 
 He was a man of strong feelings, and remembered injus¬ 
 tice very keenly. His early life had been passed amid the 
 scenes that most truly “tried men’s souls,” for the business 
 battle of those years was not what it is now—the means of 
 transportation but as a pony express to the countless rail¬ 
 way cars — or, as the speed of a tortoise to that of a grey¬ 
 hound. Money was scarce and hard to command; credit 
 sat weeping amid the ruined altars of speculation, and 
 when the crash of 1837 came, Mr. Clarke did not escape 
 being crippled. This, and subsequent struggles, I think, 
 must have somewhat distilled the gall of bitterness into his 
 cup of life, and ever after shadowed it. But he was the 
 possessor of a brave heart and high moral courage. The 
 latter was shown upon his death-bed. He calmly faced 
 the inevitable, gave minute directions about his temporal 
 affairs, and designated the spot of his burial — that he 
 should be placed beneath a spreading tree upon his own 
 ground, and not consigned to the cheerless graveyard where 
 the drifting sand lud all trace one day, and the next per¬ 
 mitted the wind to blow upon the unearthed coffin! 
 
 I know not if tree or grave remains now, so completely 
 has the city swallowed up the surroundings — so much has 
 
HENRY 13. CLARKE. 
 
 39 
 
 the vandal hand of “ improvement ” obliterated old and 
 cherished land-marks. But I do know that in former days 
 the grave of Henry B, Clarke was held in reverence by 
 old settlers and huntsmen, and each in passing laid (at least 
 mentally) a flower upon the grassy mound. 
 
 No man in whom the love of dogs and horses is as 
 strongly developed, as was the case in Mr. Clarke, can ever 
 be otherwise than warm-hearted and full of tenderness; 
 but if, at times, bitterness fell from his lips, it was but the 
 natural out-cropping of the trials through which he had 
 passed. But it was a growth of tares that could never up¬ 
 root the wheat—of weeds that were held in check by blos¬ 
 soms of humanity. Had he been thrown upon the extreme 
 frontier he would have been foremost in the ranks of pio¬ 
 neers ; had he been with Boone and Simon Kenton they 
 would have had a brother who would have won an equal 
 name, and never shirked trial or flinched danger. If more 
 lapped in City life he would have sighed for gun and for 
 freedom, and the leaves of the ledger would be irksome, 
 no matter what the profits. As it was, his later life was a 
 happy medium between the two extremes. He lived upon 
 ■neutral ground between civilization and tvilderness — could 
 turn in a moment from one to the other, and when not 
 actually engaged in agriculture his face was more often seen 
 at the Calumet and the O’Plain than in Lake Street, and 
 his gun more often heard on prairie and river than his voice 
 upon the public square. For all his ambition in house¬ 
 building he loved nature, primeval, better than right-angled 
 streets and piles of brick and mortar; and believing, to the 
 full, in the creed that “God made the country and man 
 made the town,” he gladly turned his back upon 
 
 “The cold, heartless city, with its forms 
 'And dull routine; its artificial manners, 
 
 And arbitrary rules; its cheerless pleasures, 
 
 And mirthless masqueing.” 
 
40 
 
 IIKNKY B. CLARKK. 
 
 Air. Clarke belonged to the “old stock” that are rapidly 
 fading away from the sight of men— but not to be forgotten. 
 That can never be. Their names are written as with pen¬ 
 cils of steel upon tablets of marble— written upon all of 
 Chicago as indelibly as those of the Indians are upon head¬ 
 land, river, prairie, and waterfall. Every thought of the 
 past brings them back — repeoples the earth again with the 
 forms long since laid down to their silent rest. A few —a 
 very few remain, with the furrows plowed by years upon 
 their faces, and “the snow that falls but never melts” 
 lodged in their scant hair; and it is a duty, as it should be 
 a pleasure, not only for their children and children’s chil¬ 
 dren, but of all in Chicago to gather and garner all possi¬ 
 ble reminiscences against the time when their history will 
 be more valuable than letters of gold. 
 
 There was a manliness about these old Argonauts —a 
 self-dependence, an iron nerve, and unbending front of 
 which we see but little now. Perhaps it is not called out. 
 They were men to be relied on in every emergency, and 
 among them Henry B. Clarke stood high-placed, and, as for 
 as I ever knew, with unsullied character. He never (to the 
 best of my recollection) sought or held public office— a 
 striking commentary upon some that might be named, and 
 on that very account left a purer record. He never could 
 have been a sycophant for place or power — a Janus for 
 loaves and fishes; and while he might, by so doing, have 
 left more property, what he did was unmortgaged to politi¬ 
 cal corruption and broken promises. From his life and 
 those who stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the ranks, 
 the “rings" of to-day may learn a lesson it would be for 
 their benefit to ponder and remember, if they aim for a 
 higher and nobler manhood. Aye, it would be well for the 
 younger business men of Chicago to go to such graves as 
 that of Henry B. Clarke and learn wisdom from their dust 
 and ashes. 
 
4i 
 
 SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 In the first Directory of Chicago (Robert Fergus , Compiler 
 and Publisher, A.D. 1839), can be found the name of Sam¬ 
 uel J. Lowe, “High Constable and Deputy-Sheriff,” show¬ 
 ing that he was a resident at an early day, but I have no 
 means of deciding the exact time. He was twice elected 
 Sheriff (1842 and 1844), and subsequently Justice of the 
 Peace, an office, I think, he held at the time of his decease. 
 He was twice married, and a number of his children still 
 survive. 
 
 Mr. Lowe was of English parentage — and he was born, if 
 recollection serves me rightly, in the mother country; and, 
 though thoroughly Americanized in feelings, retained some 
 of the traits that mark the subjects of Queen Victoria to 
 the end. This, however, was only in manner, accent, and 
 idiom. There was nothing of worship for the crown re¬ 
 maining. And — if indeed he had ever been much tinct¬ 
 ured in that direction, which is exceedingly doubtful in my 
 mind—all of early prejudice, and love, and reverence for 
 royalty had been obliterated. He was a democrat at heart 
 as well as in name — a strong partisan; and the “divine 
 right,” according to his belief, was vested in the people 
 and not in kings—the vox populi paramount to the,single 
 will of man or woman. In fact he had little patience with 
 any who boasted the superiority of England in any respect, 
 and could scarcely tolerate them at his own table, although 
 one of the most hospitable of men. 
 
 One instance of this came under my own immediate 
 observation. 
 
42 
 
 SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 He, like all Englishmen (and are not. “Yankees” the 
 same if blessed with the slightest epicurean taste?) was 
 fond of roast beef, and he was a good judge of the article 
 in its primitive state, and knew when it was properly 
 cooked. At dinner one day, at his house, were some gen¬ 
 uine specimens of the newly arrived John Bull—sex, mascu¬ 
 line; species, cockney—who, ignoring the etiquette and po¬ 
 liteness of the occasion, indulged in egotistical bombast'as 
 to their native country, and were loud in condemnation of 
 everything this side of the water. Mr. Lowe heard them 
 in silence, though rising color told how unpalatable was 
 the theme to him. Under other circumstances he might 
 not have borne so patiently. In the role of host he was 
 fettered, and endeavored again and again to turn the tide 
 of conversation, but without success. And everything 
 came in for censure, from the President and Cabinet down 
 even to food, and the wholesale declaration was made (and 
 that in the face of as prime a piece of beef as Straun ever 
 fed and “Bill Gallagher” ever butchered, and which it 
 would have been very difficult to duplicate in any market 
 in the world) “that there was nothing fit to heat in this ’ere 
 blarsted country,” or words to that effect. 
 
 Quick almost as a lightning flash the hot blood surged to- 
 the very temples of Mr. Lowe. Not only his adopted 
 country, but himself and his table, had been insulted, and 
 by those partaking of his kindly proffered hospitality; and 
 before second-thought came to his rescue he answered and 
 asked: “Why, then, in the name of heaven, didn’t you stay 
 in England?” 
 
 That he regretted it afterward I know, although the re¬ 
 proof was richly merited, and he felt he had lowered himself 
 to their level. However it mattered little. They were too 
 thick-skinned to feel his virtuous indignation, and if the 
 shaft was felt at all, consoled themselves with a double 
 allowance of the beef that “was not fit to eat,” and which 
 was such a toothsome morsel as they had, probably, never 
 e asted unon before in their lives. 
 
SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 43 
 
 And here (though out of place) I cannot refrain from in¬ 
 troducing an anecdote of Henry G. Hubbard, as it bears 
 directly upon the subject — he sharing with Mr. Lowe his 
 disgust of such ill-breeding and ignorant assumption, and 
 especially as it was first told me by the latter. 
 
 Mr. H. G. Hubbard was dining at the City Hotel (trans¬ 
 formed from stores by the Hon. Francis C. Sherman “be¬ 
 cause they were built too far from trade!” and subsequently 
 rebuilded and rebaptised as the “Sherman House’’) with 
 some of his friends, when a party of English (not English 
 gentlemen and ladies—very far from it) who were seated 
 opposite indulged in loud-mouthed vituperation of all things 
 American. Mr. Hubbard listened quietly for a time and 
 then with straight face, but eyes twinkling with mischief, 
 began to describe to one of his friends (but intended 
 for other ears) the severe trials of the early settlers of Chi¬ 
 cago— how they had to go out upon the prairie, and dig 
 under the snow for old buffalo bones, left by the Indians 
 the previous summer, to make soup to sustain their lives, 
 and much more to the same effect. 
 
 “Orrible! ’orrible!” was the comment of the foreigners. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard seeing that the bait had-been swallowed,' 
 enlarged his stories, and as the vulgarity of “Western peo¬ 
 ple” had been harped upon, wound up by calling aloud to 
 the waiter who was serving pudding: 
 
 “Here, bring me about a quart of that poultice and put 
 on plenty of the ointment!” 
 
 That was enough for John Bull. They left in a hurry, 
 and Chicago, as reported by them, must have had a hard 
 name. But could they have heard the explosions of laugh¬ 
 ter that followed, and have known Henry G. Hubbard as 
 did the others at the table, they might have been a trifle 
 sceptical as to the information they had put down as “per¬ 
 fectly reliable! ” 
 
 That Mr. Lowe possessed more than usual qualifications 
 for Sheriff will not be questioned by any one familiar with. 
 
44 
 
 SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 his character. He had firmness, coolness under the most 
 trying circumstances, a quick, working, and decisive mind; 
 was fertile in expedients and endowed with honesty that 
 nothing could shake. 
 
 If specific proof of the latter were needed it could be 
 found in his being among the first, if not the very first, 
 selected to guard the specie while in transitu from the 
 Government Land Office at Chicago to St. Louis. Of the 
 danger, as well as the responsibility of the undertaking, at 
 such an early day, when the means of conveyance was 
 simply stage coaches, often floundering through muddy 
 prairie and “stuck” in muddy sloughs, those living in 
 Illinois at the time will need no testimony. Organized 
 bands of counterfeiters, horse thieves, and desperate men, 
 versed in crime of every character, abounded.. The “Reg¬ 
 ulators” had at best been only “scotched,” not killed. For 
 every head of the serpent crushed another was reared. 
 The “Davenport murderers” were in their glory — the 
 “ Driscolls ” flourishing and banded for evil with their 
 brothers in infamy throughout the wide west. Every grove 
 from Inlet and Paw Paw to the Wabash might have been 
 said to contain caches of stolen goods and horses, the 
 cellar of many a tavern, the bones of murdered men, and 
 the “Hubbard Trail” was not unmarked by blood. In 
 every respect it needed men of inflexible nerve and the 
 most sterling honesty, for such an undertaking as the trans¬ 
 portation of such a tempting lure, and to be among the 
 number chosen was “proof as strong as holy writ” that the 
 man was looked upon by his fellows as the right one in the 
 right place. 
 
 And so it was with Samuel J. Lowe in all his business 
 transactions, whether public or private. If as Justice of the 
 Peace he ever erred in giving judgment, the fault arose not 
 from a want of determination to do right at what ever cost 
 —no matter who was to be mulcted, but from a failure to 
 comprehend the intricate manipulation of keen-witted law- 
 
SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 45 
 
 vers, the wilful perversion of evidence, the almost impossi¬ 
 bility to draw the line of demarkation between truth and 
 falsehood. But he never was blinded by gold. Had he 
 been, he would have died a richer man — have left per¬ 
 chance a more towering marble above his grave, but a less 
 shining record upon it. 
 
 At the time he was Sheriff the office was the reverse of a 
 bed of roses. It was not a very lucrative one — the jail was 
 an old log building — eternal vigilance was truly the price 
 of the safety of the prisoners—the city had police that were 
 little better than a farce — was a chosen refuge for scamps 
 —rail-roads were in their infancy — the State Prison was at 
 Alton, and sentenced men had to be taken thither by 
 stage, with daring confederates watchful and ever ready to 
 aid them to escape, even at the cost of bloodshed; the 
 journey was long—the roads (spring and fall) muddy, run¬ 
 ning through a sparcely settled country, and the price for 
 their transportation did not admit a plethora of guards. 
 But the record of Samuel J. Lowe challenges the assertion 
 that he did not ever-faithfully keep watch and ward — that 
 he failed to safely deliver, within the grim walls of Alton, 
 every one entrusted to his care. 
 
 The starting of a lot of prisoners for State’s Prison, as 
 then manipulated, would be a curiosity in the Garden City 
 now. Nearly opposite the jail (on Randolph Street, be¬ 
 tween Clark and LaSalle) stood the old, smoke and dirt 
 begrimmed shop of “Jake Lower, Blacksmith.” (I give 
 the name from memory and spell it phonetically, and may 
 be wrong in both, though I think not.) AVheii the time 
 came for departure, the stages of Frink and Walker were 
 drawn up before the apology for a prison, the doomed men 
 brought out handcuffed and with heavy sackles upon their 
 ancles. Then “Jake” appeared upon the scene and rivetted 
 a bar of iron from one of the double fastenings to the 
 other, and the men were bundled into the stage &nd whirled 
 away to punishment under the care of keepers, the crack- 
 
46 SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 ing of the driver’s whip and the shouts and cheers of the 
 gamins. 
 
 In this connection, I might add that his official duty 
 forced him to be present at and take part in the execution 
 of John Stone for the murder of Mrs. Thompson (July io, 
 1S40), and, that, though the circumstances were particu¬ 
 larly atrocious—the doom a just one—the culprit hardened 
 and ribald — yet the inner heart of Mr. Lowe would gladly 
 have turned him aside from seeing the death agony, even 
 while his high sense of duty led to unflinchingly stand upon 
 the scaffold. 
 
 The love of his adopted country was very strong in Mr. 
 Lowe. It was shadowed forth during the Mexican war, 
 and had he lived at the time of the “late unpleasantness” 
 he would have thrown all his influence into the scale for 
 the Union, and given liberally of his means. At one time 
 (in the City of New York) I believe he was a member of a 
 military organization, and his tastes ran strongly in that 
 direction. 
 
 Circumstances that could not be avoided, duties and 
 family cares that must ever be paramount in the heart of 
 any true man, kept him from following the bent of his 
 inclination, and going to the Mexican war. But he could 
 compensate for his absence by giving of his children, and 
 there was no mawkish sensibility about his so doing. Two 
 at least of them burned to “revel in the halls of the Mont- 
 ezumas,” and he bade them go and furnished the means for 
 horses and all “the pomp and glory of war.” 
 
 “But,” said one, “in case our army should be beaten, 
 driven back, and we forced to retreat, what then?” 
 
 “Then,” was the reply, and, though jokingly uttered, 
 intended in all its soundness, “then, if you come to Chi¬ 
 cago, ride through it as fast as you can run your horse, and 
 don’t ever stop where I will see you again !” 
 
 And such words were not idle from his lips. With Jack- 
 son, I take it, he would have indeed stood as a “stone 
 
SAMUEL J. LOWE. 
 
 47 
 
 wall”—with his countrymen at Waterloo, he would have 
 been among the last Wellington would ever have been 
 called to blush for. 
 
 I have spoken of his being a man of nerve, firmness, and 
 coolness, and am confident he would have walked to the 
 ■scaffold rather than given up a principle. Though far from 
 being an athlete—not being above the medium size, and 
 ungifted with any remarkable physical power, yet he never 
 shrank from an encounter, if necessary, and in more than 
 one instance, to my knowledge, arrested breakers of the law 
 who had “whipped out’' and defied others. This his own 
 self-command and the rare faculty of controlling and intim¬ 
 idating others enabled him to do, and looking back through 
 the data of memory, I fail to find a single instance where 
 he resorted to weapons, though the necessities of his situa¬ 
 tion sometimes made it obligatory upon him to carry them. 
 Indeed, I remember to have frequently heard him speak 
 scornfully of others who did so and made a boast of it, 
 and no more humane man in the treatment of prisoners 
 could have been found, even while exercising all of firmness 
 and permitting nothing “but what the law allowed and the 
 court adjudged.” 
 
 Of these things peculiar family associations, and the 
 entree of his house at all times and at all hours gave me a 
 better opportunity than another to judge, for Mr. Lowe was 
 a modest, reticent man, quiet in his speech and manner, 
 and I never heard anything boastful fall from his lips. To 
 know him, one must have been with him—to have read his 
 character aright, have watched the details of his actions, 
 and sought the mainspring of his motives—have looked at 
 that which was hidden rather than at that which was re¬ 
 vealed. Perhaps—and there are many who so judge of 
 men—his penmanship was a true index to his character. 
 It was rather stiff than graceful—precise to Quakerism— 
 neat to a fault and legible as the cleanest cut type—was, as 
 might be said, without a blot—was in perfect keeping with 
 
48 
 
 SAMUEL J. LOWK. 
 
 the man. To compare it with the fashionable handwriting 
 of the present would be to compare the beautiful Roman 
 simplicity of these pages with the fanciful fonts that are 
 elaborated almost to unintelligibility — and, if anything Mr. 
 Lowe detested, it was “flourish.” 
 
 In the circle of his associates Mr. I.owe was noted for 
 his hospitality. A courteous and genial welcome met all 
 who visited him, and though naturally somewhat retiring, 
 yet when business cares were thrown aside there were few 
 more companionable men to be found. L?e was a mem¬ 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, and was always a welcome 
 guest at the St. George and Yorkshire dinners. He was a 
 regular attendant, if not a member, of the Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 Death came in the midst of his usefulness, and while he 
 was still a young man—came at a time when he could but 
 illy be spared by his family—came in a terribly painful 
 manner. He bore all patiently and bravely, and left 
 behind a name that will be remembered and honored. 
 
 Save his own immediate family no one saw his eyes 
 close, save Darius Knights and myself. It was a trying, 
 terribly painful scene. His disease was said to have been 
 the same as that of Napoleon, and the “Hero of St. Helena” 
 could not have more bravely faced the Destroyer, and, as 
 far as mortal eyes could judge, with a more trustful heart 
 and firm belief that for his soul the golden gates were al¬ 
 ready ajar. 
 
 May we sleep as well when for us the summons comes. 
 

 V 
 
F E RGU S’ 
 
 POPULAR PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 1 ANNALS OF CHICAGO: A Lecture delivered 
 
 before the Chicago Lyceum, January'21, 1S40, by Jos. N. Balestier. 
 Republished from the original edition of 1S40, with an Introduction, 
 written by the author in 1876, and, also, a Review of the Lecture, 
 published in the Chicago Tribune in 1872. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 2 FERGUS’ DIRECTORY OF THE CITY OF 
 
 CHICAGO, 1839; with City and County Officers, Churches, Public 
 Buildings, Hotels, etc., also, list of Sheriffs of Cool; County and 
 Mayors of the City since their organization; together with Poll-List 
 of the First City Flection (Tuesday, May 2d, 1837); and, also, List 
 of Purchasers of Lots in Fort Dearborn Addition, the No. of the 
 Lots, and the Prices Paid (1S39). Compiled by Robert Fergus. 
 Price, 50 cents. 
 
 3 THE LAST OF THE ILLINOIS, and a Sketch 
 
 of the Pottawatomies: Re id before the Chicago Historical Society, 
 December 13th, 1870; also, 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES: Read before the Ottawa 
 Academy of Natural Sciences, December 30th, JS69, by Hon. John 
 Dean Caton, LL.D., late Chief-Justice of Illinois. Price, '25 cents. 
 
 4 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE EARLY 
 
 MOYFMENT IN ILLINOIS FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF 
 SLAVFRY: Read at the Annual Meeting of the Chicago Historical 
 Society, December 5, 1864, by Hon. Win. H. Brown, Ex-President 
 
 of the Society. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF 
 
 THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 To he issued in monthly parts. Part 1 . contains Sketches of Hon. 
 S. Lisle Smith, George Davis, Dr. Philip Maxwell, John J. Brown, 
 Richard L. Wilson, Colonel Lewis C. Kercbival, Uriah P. Harris, 
 Henry B. Clarke, and Sheriff Samuel J. Lowe. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF 
 
 TIIE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 To lie issued in monthly parts. Part II. will contain Sketches of \Y. 
 II. Brown, Esq., l>. \Y. Raymond, Esq., J. Y. Scamnion, Esq., Chas. 
 Walker, Esq., Thomas Church, Esq. Price, 25 cents. a 
 
 7 EARLY CHICAGO: A LECTURE DELIVERED 
 
 in the Sunday Course, at McCormick’s Hall, May 7th, 1S76. By 
 Hon. John Wentworth. Price, 25 cent-. 
 
 Sent on receipt of Price , by the Publishers. 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING CO., 
 
 244-8 Illinois Street, - Chicago. 
 
oooooooo 
 
 |opf ^iogpap|iraI pfeFfrljFS 
 o"oof some of {^Ijirago’s J£aplg |§fMfps:°. 
 
 < ± a. 
 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 :_> o o o o oooooooooo ooo opoo 
 
 ^mf 2. 
 
 O O O O O O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOP ooo « 
 
 WM. H. BROWN, B. W. RAYMOND, Esq., Hon. J. YOUNG SCAMMON, 
 CHARLES WALKER, Esq., / THOMAS CHURCH, Esq. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 OF SOME OF THE 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND. 
 J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 CHARLES WALKER. 
 THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 C H IC AGO : 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 244-S ILLINOIS STREET. 
 
 1 876. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HON. WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 [ From the Chicago Magazine, March, 1857.] 
 
 To write a sketcli of some living men which would be truth¬ 
 ful and at the same time readable, which shall present their 
 virtues in due relation to their faults, and as relieved by them, 
 without injustice to the feelings of the parties concerned, is not 
 an easy matter. 
 
 Some men are, like the head of a certain statesman, of which 
 the phrenologist could make nothing, because he could tind no 
 “bump” about it—it was symmetrically smooth in every part— 
 while others exhibit such decided traits of character, that in¬ 
 equalities are a matter of necessity. • Their virtues and their 
 failings alike exhibit themselves decidedly, and in natural cor¬ 
 respondence with each other. 
 
 Mr. Brown, the subject of this sketch, is a man of marked and 
 decided traits. What he knows, he knows; what he says, he 
 means; and whatever subject comes before him elicits, without 
 delay, a plump and square opinion. Such men must of neces¬ 
 sity cross somebody’s track, in the course of their lives, and will 
 come to be somewhat differently regarded by different classes of 
 people. 
 
 While, therefore, this sketch will endeavor to set forth Mr. 
 Brown as he is, as far as it goes, it cannot of course enter upon 
 such a discussion as would be called for were he not yet moving 
 among us. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a native of the State of Connecticut, and was 
 born about the beginning of the nineteenth century. His father 
 was a native of Rhode Island; his profession was that of the 
 law, which he practiced for some twenty-five years, at Auburn, 
 N.Y., with decided talent and success, and then removed to the 
 City of New York, where, a few years since, he died. 
 
 The son William, gained his education, as many young men 
 of his time were accustomed to do, while the country was not 
 as well supplied with schools of a high grade as at present, 
 partly in the office of his father, and at various schools; but not 
 extending it in youth, far beyond what are considered good 
 business acquirements. He studied law with his father, and 
 then engaged in its practice with him. 
 
 In December, 1818, about the time of his majority, as we infer, 
 he came to seek his fortune in the farther or extreme West, as it 
 
4 
 
 WILLIAM II. BROWN. 
 
 then was; and opened a law office in the old French town of 
 Kaskaskia, in this State. Ilis inducement to select Illinois as 
 the State of his residence, he declared to be, that it had, in the 
 summer of that year, adopted a free Constitution; without which 
 lie would by no means have taken a residence in it. In the 
 spring of 1819, he was appointed a Clerk of the United States 
 Court, which office he field for the period of sixteen years. 
 The seat of government Oeing removed to Vandalia, and the 
 law requiring the Clerk of the Court to keep his office at the 
 Capitol ol the State, Mr. Brown followed it thither in Decem¬ 
 ber, 1S20. lie immediately purchased one-half the proprietary 
 interest in a newspaper then published,and called "TheIllinois 
 Intelligencer." This paper dated back to 1815, and was the first 
 newspaper ever established in the Territory. Mr. Brown entered 
 upon its editorial duties, and continued in that connection until 
 February, 1828. His partner in the paper was Mr. Wm. Berry, 
 who was a member of the legislature of 1823; which legislature 
 passed a resolution for a convention to alter the Constitution of 
 the State, with a view to the introduction of slavery. The 
 means, by which this resolution went through the legislature, 
 were of a very high-handed character, which the reader will 
 find somewhat illustrated on pages 52-3 of Ford’s History of 
 Illinois; and in a lecture delivered before the Historical Society 
 of Chicago, by Mr. Brown. 
 
 Mr. Berry voted for this resolution, while Mr. Brown the edi¬ 
 tor was against it, and denounced it in such teims as he thought 
 applicable to the case. Having prepared an article for the next 
 paper, which exposed the scandalous measures by which the 
 resolution had been carried through the House of Representa¬ 
 tives, and having taken proofs of it, preparatory to its insertion, 
 these proofs were surreptitiously taken from the office; and 
 being read by the parties implicated, a storm was at once raised, 
 such as is not uncommon, even in our day, when this same ques¬ 
 tion of slavery is at stake. The usual remedy for such imperti¬ 
 nent boldness was at once proposed, viz.: a mob, which should 
 demolish the office, and send Mr. Brown about other business. 
 Luckily, Mr. Brown had friends, and his friends had pluck; and 
 their rally saved the office. The paper containing the awful 
 exposition appeared; and was deemed such an indignity to the 
 august body whose doings had been censured, that a resolution 
 was adopted citing the author to their bar. To this citation 
 Mr. Brown declined to answer; giving as his reason, that the 
 Constitution secured the liberty of the Press: and so the resolu¬ 
 tion went over as unfinished business, and the wounded honor 
 of the House was committed to the tender mercies of the time 
 for its healing. 
 
 The partnership in the Illinois Intelligencer came to an end, 
 by the sale of Mr. Brown’s interest; and the paper advocated 
 the convention—or in other words, the introduction of slavery 
 
WILLIAM II. BROWN. 
 
 5 
 
 —for the next year. By some reasons, nevertheless, not made 
 public, the paper was given into other editorial hands, some 
 eight months before the vote was taken, and, during that time, 
 did good service in the canvass for freedom. 
 
 As Mr. Brown had embarked in the cause of freedom in the 
 State, and had determined to leave it, should the folly of re¬ 
 introducing slavery prevail, he now gave most of his time to 
 writing and working against that policy; and did much toward 
 securing the verdict rendered in the 2000 majority which forbid 
 its establishment; for which we who now dwell here, and our 
 posterity, will owe him a debt of gratitude and honor. 
 
 In December, 1822, the subject of this sketch was married to 
 Miss Harriet C. Seward, daughter of Col. John Seward, deceased, 
 then of Montgomery Co., Ill. Mrs. Brown is the mother of four 
 living sons and one daughter; of whom three are now in active 
 business, and two in the course of their education. 
 
 Mr. Brown removed with his family to Chicago, in October, 
 1885, having been appointed cashier of a branch of the State 
 Bank of Illinois, which had been created here in the winter of 
 1834. This position he had accepted with some reluctance, 
 under the impression that his previous pursuits had not been of 
 a kind to give him that knowledge of financial matters required 
 in the charge of such an institution. In urging upon him the 
 appointment, one of the principal stockholders remarked, that 
 he possessed one qualification very necessary; in that he could 
 say no, as easily as most men could say yes. As soon as the 
 proper arrangements could be completed, the bank commenced 
 operations, and continued as the only institution of the kind till 
 the year 1843. 
 
 The Bank prospered well under Mr. Brown’s management, 
 and might, perhaps, have been prospering yet, had the state of 
 the country been anywise settled and healthy. But the serious 
 derangements commencing in 1836, or rather bade of that 
 period, in the financial affairs of the nation, carried away bank, 
 and business, East and West; and the Illinois State Bank did 
 not escape. It suffered great losses, and these, with adverse 
 legislation, induced the stockholders to wind it up. The Chi¬ 
 cago branch suffered with the rest; for real estate was forced 
 upon it in place of money. Yet, in the aggregate, it was so 
 managed that the profit and loss would have shown a balance 
 on the right side. 
 
 At the time of Mr. Brown’s arrival in the State, its population 
 was not over 40,000; and none, or next to none, of them lived 
 north of the present limits of Bond County. When he came to 
 Chicago, it was a village of about two years’ growth, aDd con¬ 
 tained about 2000 people. All Northern Illinois was a wilder¬ 
 ness; and, two years later, the whole north half of the State was 
 included in one congressional district; and sent Hon. John T. 
 Stuart, of Springfield, to Congress; electing him over his com- 
 
6 
 
 WILLIAM II. BROWN. 
 
 petitor, Stephen A. Douglas, who, on that occasion, made his 
 first appearance on the stage in pursuit of political honors. The 
 writer of this sketch cast his first vote in Illinois against Mr. 
 Douglas, at that time, and made one of the five majority which 
 defeated him. 
 
 In the conduct of such an institution, through times such as 
 these, there were two things which it were impossible to secure 
 together. One was the safety of the institution, and the other, 
 the good-will of all the community. Everybody was in a con¬ 
 dition of suffering, and wanted money, with an intensity that 
 could take no denial; and the very urgency of the want, point¬ 
 ed, in no inconsiderable number of cases, to the very reason 
 which made it unsafe to accommodate them. The Cashier of 
 a bank must of necessity look to the safety of his trust. If he 
 is faithful to that, no matter whether no is an easy word to 
 him or not; he is forced to make the two letters which com¬ 
 pose it, current in his institution. _ZV r o, is not a popular word, 
 with men who wish to borrow money, especially if they wish 
 to borrow it very much; as those then did, who wanted to 
 borrow it at all. Air. Brown’s peculiar qualification already 
 mentioned perhaps conduced more to the safety of his trust, 
 than to his popularity for the time being. But integrity and 
 decision vindicate themselves sooner or later, and he has lost 
 little in the long run. Indeed the men who supposed them¬ 
 selves to suffer from lack of a decision in their favor, would 
 now often choose him as the very man to take charge of a trust 
 of their own, had they one, requiring sagacity and decision 
 united with integrity in its management. 
 
 The building, in which the bank was kept, stood at the S.-W. 
 cor. of LaSalle and South Water Sts.; and is well remembered 
 by all the oldest residents of the city. It has only disappeared 
 within the last four or five years. 
 
 While the bank was in operation, Chicago was confined prin¬ 
 cipally to the vicinity of the river. The dwellings even, did 
 not stretch far away from the centre. In the spring of 1835, 
 a three story brick building, probably 117 Lake street, was 
 erected, and finished in the fall, and then filled with goods 
 by Breese and Shepherd. It was the general impression that 
 the stand was too far from the centre of business, and would 
 prove a bad speculation. 
 
 Mr. Brown has been a professor of religion in connection 
 with the Presbyterian Church for many years, lie sustained 
 the office of ruling elder in that connection in Vandalia, and 
 has held the office from 1835, or nearly the entire period of 
 his residence in this city; and is as well acquainted with eccle¬ 
 siastical, as with legal business. He has constantly been a 
 stanch supporter of his own branch of the church; and a reli¬ 
 able helper in any thing properly claiming his aid in any other 
 connection. 
 
WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 '7 
 
 \ 
 
 The first church edifice of the Presbyterian connection was 
 ■erected upon the alley on Clark Street; between Lake and 
 Randolph, on the West side of the street, (54 Clark street,) 
 where the firm of S. H. Kerfoot c% Co. are now situated. The 
 building fronted towards Lake St.; and a large slough run 
 diagonally through the lot in front of the Church, which, on 
 rainy Sabbaths, and in wet times, was bridged by benches 
 from the Church. The writer of this, has a distinct recollection 
 of thus reaching the interior of this place of worship. This 
 church, was at the time, the only one erected by any denomina¬ 
 tion; though the Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians, all 
 had a church organization; and the Catholics had a small 
 Chapel near the corner of Washington Street and Michigan 
 Avenue. A few families lived on the north side of the river, 
 and a few stores of goods had been opened there. The town 
 had no sidewalks; and mud of no very certain depth, was 
 plenty, and easily reached. Nothing like a harbor existed; 
 and vessels were accustomed to lie outside, and unload by 
 lighters. 
 
 In 1840, Mr. Brown was appointed School Agent; an office 
 which involved the care of the funds for School purposes in 
 this city. His election was almost accidental; being by a 
 majority of one only of the Whig party, with which he always 
 acted. His acceptance was on the condition, that his services 
 should be gratuitous; and this very likely contributed to keep 
 him in the office, at a time when party greed watched for every 
 post of profit, however small, very much as hungry dogs watched 
 for bones, without regard to their size, or the sort of animals 
 to which they belong. Perhaps the city never made a more 
 fortunate hit, either by blunder or design; for the state of our 
 Schools hitherto had been most deplorable. The School Fund 
 was all unproductive; having been let, for the most part, to 
 parties who had failed to jaay, either principal or interests. 
 There were no school-houses fit for use, and the whole matter 
 of Schools was in a decidedly helter-skelter condition. The 
 real era of a change dates with the election of Mr. Brown to 
 this office of School Agent. Confidence began at once to re¬ 
 vive ; for all parties, even the hungry ones, felt that the fund 
 was now safe. ■ 
 
 It was no small labor to collect the scattered fragments of 
 the fuud, and put them in shape to be productive; but it was 
 accomplished: and though Mr. B. devoted twelve or thirteen 
 years to this business, in connection with his other affairs; 
 loaning it out as it was collected, lie never made an uncollect¬ 
 able debt. The Schools gradually assumed tone and character; 
 suitable houses were built, and the system, as it now is, gained 
 shape and consistency. 
 
 At the time of his resignation of the office of School Agent, 
 
8 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 in view of his gratuitous services, the Common Council of the 
 city passed the following resolutions: 
 
 “ IFherecis, In the resignation of Wm. II. Brown, late School 
 Agent, the community have lost the services of a faithful, dili¬ 
 gent, and meritorious officer; one who for the long period of 
 thirteen years has bestowed a paternal care—to the fostering 
 and judicious management of that sacred trust — the School 
 Fund; and 
 
 Whereas, Although the unsolicited expression of public ap¬ 
 probation may not add one iota to the already established 
 character of the individual, who is the object of it; yet we 
 believe that a testimonial, of this nature, may afford to any 
 honorable mind a feeling of pleasure and gratification on retir¬ 
 ing from office, with the unbiased verdict of well done thou' 
 good and faithful servant. 
 
 Thereupon be it resolved by the Mayor and Aldermen of the 
 City of Chicago in Common Council assembled. 
 
 That we tender to Wm. H. Brown, late School Agent, our 
 fullest expression of respect and approbation, for the correct 
 and judicious manner in which, for such a long period of 
 years, he has fulfilled the duties appertainting to his late 
 position. 
 
 Resolved, That in the economical execution and careful at¬ 
 tention, with which the late agent has performed his official 
 requirements, we have presented, for the future guidance of 
 his successor, an example well worthy of imitation; and in 
 which we discern the very unusual occurrence of a public 
 office being held by one individual for so long a period, more 
 for the promotion of a laudable and praisworthy object, than 
 for the emoluments attached to it. 
 
 Resolved, That for the more fully carrying out the intention 
 of this Preamble and Resolutions, they be entered on record, 
 and a copy presented to the subject of them.” 
 
 Mr. B. was one of the first Inspectors of Common Schools, 
 elected under the city charter; and was in that Board for 
 twelve or thirteen consecutive years. This Board of inspectors 
 lias been the instrument and agency, and in good degree the 
 cause of our present School System. He was a constant and 
 punctual attendant at its sittings, and a leading and influential 
 member of it; and is entitled to his share of the credit of what 
 it has done. 
 
 In the winter of 1846, in connection with a few others, Mr. 
 Brown purchased the original charter of the Galena and Chi¬ 
 cago Union Rail Road, from the Estate of E. K. Hubbard, Esq., 
 then lately deceased. Measures ■were immediately taken to put 
 on foot a working Railroad in the Northwest. A little piece 
 of road had been built before Mr. Hubbard’s death, but it was 
 never worked, and went to decay. To start this Galena Road 
 
WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 9 
 
 was an undertaking of no small labor. The country was poor: 
 there were no Rail Roads anywhere in the West; and nobody 
 had much faith in them, nor in fact in anything else. So com¬ 
 pletely had all confidence been wrecked, in the great revulsions 
 of 1836, and onward, that nobody was willing to embark in any 
 new scheme, either with effort or capital. The extent to which 
 this was then true, cannot be conceived of now, by those who 
 have no experience in that chapter of our history. This Galena 
 Road was therefore looked upon as a very doubtful affair; and 
 any amount of writing and cyphering, conventioning and speech¬ 
 making, was necessary to get it started. The farmers in the 
 country, who had felt in all their bones, as well as pockets, 
 the need of some means of getting to market with their crops, 
 were much more alive to it than our city property holders; 
 who had saved what little they had out of the fire, so to speak; 
 and who did not like to risk it again beyond their fingers’ ends. 
 But the farmers were poor and able to take but little stock; 
 and as the citizens would not risk much, the road was begun 
 on a rather small scale. Mr. B. became one of the largest sub¬ 
 scribers to the stock, and is yet one of the most extensive of 
 its stockholders. Ho has always been a Director of the Road, 
 and is now its Vice-President. He has therefore had ample 
 opportunity to aid in giving shape to the policy under which 
 that Road has been managed. 
 
 Mr. Brown was the very man to have a hand in that under¬ 
 taking. Cautious to a degree verging on excess: knowing the 
 full value of every dollar that passes through his hands: and 
 constitutionally determined that every dime shall do its own 
 duty, he was the very man to aid in the beginning of a road, 
 without adequate means and without confidence, and carry it 
 forward, step by step, to successs. The first twelve miles of 
 the road only cost about $6000 per mile; but the first twelve 
 miles told the story, for they showed that the road could be 
 built, and would pay. This road has been the goose that has 
 laid our golden eggs. It is the mother of all the rest in our 
 Northwest. 
 
 Mr. B. is a man of capital. He had acquired a competency 
 before his removal to this city, and since that time, with the 
 exception of the perilous years succeeding 1836, has been con¬ 
 stantly adding to the amount. He early became possessed of 
 considerable tracts of real estate, which has of late, very rapidly 
 enhanced in value. He has entered into no rash speculations, 
 nor made any desperate pushes for fortune. He takes care of 
 what he has; and adds to it when he can do so with safety. 
 He has never entered so largely upon building as have some 
 others, but has expended considerable sums in that way at one 
 time and another. His late residence, at the N -W. cor. of Pine 
 and Illinois Streets, North Side, he erected at a cost of ten 
 thousand dollars, in 1836; and it was, at that time, considered 
 
io 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 the best house in the city. He is now building a residence, 
 with front of Athens marble, on Michigan Avenue, to cost about 
 thirty thousand dollars. As to his i/resent possessions, he is 
 not a man who makes any exhibition of his property. His 
 answer to a question regarding it, was, that the inquirer would 
 have “to guess as to the amount.” Our guess therefore is, that 
 it will not foil below $500,000, and may go to twice that sum, 
 or even above that. 
 
 Mr. Brown is personally a tall, well-formed man, with a 
 slight stoop of the shoulders; with a keen dark eye, and hair 
 once black as the raven, but now inclining to iron gray. When 
 young, he is said to have been a very fine-looking man, and we 
 can well believe it, for he holds his honors very well as yet. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a giving man; being applied to. perhaps, in 
 aid of more charities than any one man in the city; and perhaps 
 he answers to as many, or more, than any man. But he is not 
 naturally a giver, for his motto is, to keep what he has: and 
 his native answer to all applications, when that answer does 
 not flow through the channel of his Christian principles, would 
 very likely be his easy No! His manner is often brusque / but 
 his heart is kindly; and though he who comes to him for an 
 object not wholly explained, may be chilled by the perpendicu¬ 
 larities of a nervous impatience, which explodes suddenly: he 
 has only to wait for the flow of kindness and good sense, which 
 is sure to come, to be reassured. 
 
 Mr. Brown has the talent of good common sense; one most 
 certainly of which the world lias need, as fully as of any other; 
 this, with his inflexible integrity, gives him a position in regard 
 to trusts, both public and private, held by few men in our 
 city.- He is now in the midst of well ripened middle life, and 
 yet in active duty—a large part of it connected with these 
 trusts, of various kinds, put into liis hands. We say of him, 
 as Horace said of Augustus—we forget the Latin of it — but 
 the meaning of it is, “ Late may he go hence.” 
 
 Mr. Brown died in Amsterdam. Holland. June 17. 1867. aged 
 72 years. 
 
HON. WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 By R. W. PATTERSON, D. D. 
 
 The present writer has been requested to add to the fore¬ 
 going sketch of Mr. Brown’s life such facts as may be within 
 his knowledge. Being obliged to depend solely on his own 
 memory, he cannot hope to give such interesting particulars as 
 may probably be known to other parties. 
 
 During the financial troubles of 1857-1860, Mr. Brown care¬ 
 fully managed his affairs, and escaped serious embarrassment, 
 having, as usual, kept out of debt, and taken good care of his 
 property. In the year 1860, he was elected a member of the 
 House of Representatives in the State Legislature. In this po¬ 
 sition he acquitted himself honorably and usefully, being 
 among the most industrious, judicious, and influential members 
 of the body. 
 
 In the great struggle for the preservation of our government, 
 which may be said to have commenced in a decided form in 
 1856, and which culminated in the memorable rebellion in 
 1861, Mr. Brown, as might have been expected, was deeply en¬ 
 listed for the cause of liberty and the Union. During the 
 Presidential canvass of 1860, he took an active part in support 
 of Mr. Lincoln, and was as much elated, perhaps, as any man by 
 the success of the Republicans. When, however, the rebellion 
 of the Southern States became a certain fact, and internal war 
 was inevitable, he was very much depressed, feeling, as he often 
 said to the writer, that no one could predict the end. But he 
 had faith in God, and had no doubt that it was the duty of 
 every good citizen to stand for the defence of the right and the 
 support of good government at whatever sacrifice. He cheer- 
 
 i a 
 
XII 
 
 WILLIAM II. BROWN. 
 
 fully paid his taxes to the Government, incurred by the war, and 
 gave up his sons to the service of his country without a 
 murmur. 
 
 After the war, as age was advancing upon him, Mr. Brown 
 retired, in part, from business; devoting himself, chiefly, to the 
 management of his own property. But he never lost his inter¬ 
 est in the public welfare, and never gave up his positions in the 
 several Boards of trust with which he was connected, such as 
 those of the Chicago Orphan Asylum, and the Insane Asylum 
 at Jacksonville. He continued to be active and faithful as a 
 member and an elder of the Second Presbyterian Church until 
 his departure for Europe, shortly before his death. lie several 
 times represented the Presbytery of Chicago in the General As¬ 
 sembly as a Ruling Elder, and was widely known in the deno¬ 
 mination as among the most reliable friends of its enterprises. 
 For many years, he was a corporate member of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, to whose funds 
 he was a large contributor during his life, and by a handsome 
 provision in his will. And the cause of Home Missions had 
 few, if any, more generous helpers. He was deeply interested, 
 also, during all his later years, in the Mission Sunday School 
 work, and in the Bethel cause, while in his own particular 
 church he was always among the foremost givers, and the most 
 devoted and steadfast supporters, being uniformly in his place 
 on the Sabbath and in the weekly prayer meeting, as well as on 
 special occasions. 
 
 In the summer of the year I860, Mr. and Mrs. Brown left 
 Chicago on a tour to Europe, partly for pleasure and partly on 
 account of his failing health. During this trip, his keen relish 
 for new scenes, and his habit of activity, led him to exert him¬ 
 self beyond his strength. After traveling through Great Bri¬ 
 tain and extensively through the countries of Europe, he occa¬ 
 sionally exhibited signs of exhaustion, and in Amsterdam, 
 Holland, he was taken with the small-pox. When he seemed 
 almost recovered from this distressing disease, and was prepar¬ 
 ing to resume his travels, he was suddenly seized with paralysis, 
 and shortly sank under it, dying peacefully on the 17th of 
 June, 1867, at the age of 72 year's. In the early part of August, 
 following, the writer visited the old Bible House and the room 
 
WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 XIII 
 
 in which Mr. Brown's spirit took its flight, went to his grave,, 
 and saw the coffin that contained all of him that was mortal. 
 
 In the autumn of that year, his remains were transferred to 
 their final resting-place in Graceland Cemetery. 
 
 His widow, Mrs. Harriet C. Brown; his four sons, S. Lock- 
 wood, Charles B., Theodore F., and Frederick, and his daugh¬ 
 ter, Mrs. Mary Tyler, survive him, and are still residents of 
 Chicago. 
 
 I trust I shall be pardoned if I now add some of my own 
 personal recollections and impressions of Mr. Brown, as I knew 
 him in his public and private relations. 
 
 It was my privilege to become acquainted with Mr. Brown 
 in the year 1833, when I was a student in Illinois College, 
 although I had known him, by reputation, for a considerable 
 time before. For he was a prominent citizen of this State 
 almost from its admission into the Union, having become a 
 citizen in the Territory while he was yet a very young man, and 
 having risen to a position of distinction and public usefulness 
 before he had reached the age of twenty-five years. Being, 
 when I first saw him, among the more noted friends of church 
 music in the State, he was invited to attend a musical conven¬ 
 tion at Jacksonville, which was held immediately after the an¬ 
 nual commencement in the College. In this way I was first 
 drawn to him as being interested in a subject that always en¬ 
 grossed a share of my own thought and attention. After that 
 occasion, I kept up a knowledge of his movements until the 
 year 1840, when I met him again in Chicago, where he had al¬ 
 ready resided for some years, and was an officer in the First 
 Presbyterian Church. During the summer of that year, I 
 learned more of his personal traits and peculiarities than I had 
 known before, and was more than ever attracted to him. From 
 that time onward until his death, I knew him intimately as a 
 friend and as an Elder in the church of which I was Pastor 
 from its organization in 1842, till the year 1873, six years after 
 his decease in Europe. It will thus be seen that I had an op¬ 
 portunity of special acquaintance with Mr. Brown, such as few 
 others enjoyed. And still cherishing his memory with the 
 warmest regard, I take pleasure in adding this small contribu¬ 
 tion to the memorial of him, which it is the desire of his 
 
XIV 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 family and friends to put on permanent record in this volume. 
 
 I have known well and long many of Mr. Brown’s attached 
 friends, among whom were Joseph Eccles, Esq., of Hillsbor¬ 
 ough, Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, formerly of Jacksonville, and 
 who died two years ago at Batavia; Hon. Thos. Mather, Hon. 
 John T. Stuart, John Todd, M.D., and Rev. John G. Bergen, D. 
 D., of Springfield; President Abraham Lincoln; Rev. William 
 K. Stewart, of Vandalia; and Rev. Thuron Baldwin, D.D., late 
 of New Jersey. A man who commanded the confidence of such 
 gentlemen must have possessed excellences of no ordinary 
 class. Especially deserving of mention w r as the life-long inti¬ 
 macy between him and Judge Lockwood, one of the purest and 
 noblest men Illinois ever numbered among her jurists and citi¬ 
 zens. Only a year before Judge Lockwood’s death, in conver¬ 
 sation with the writer, he referred in the most affectionate 
 terms to his lamented friend, Mr. Brown, whom he was accus¬ 
 tomed to visit every month during all the later years of his 
 life. I well remember the estimation in which Mr. Brown was 
 held by the older citizens of the State—lawyers, physicians, 
 clergymen, and others, such as Judge Pope, Benj. Mills, Esq., 
 Dr. Newhall, Hon. David A. Smith, and Rev. John M. Peck, 
 D.D. 
 
 Among the notable traits of Mr. Brown’s character were the 
 following: 
 
 1. He was fair and conscientious in his political commitments 
 and action. He was decided in his convictions, first as a Whig 
 and then as a Republican, but never did I know or hear of his 
 espousing the cause of a notoriously bad man of his own party. 
 He may on some occasions have quietly voted for one man of 
 questionable character, but of good principles, in preference to 
 another worse man whose principles he deemed erroneous and 
 mischievous. But he never warmly supported a corrupt man 
 of any party. And he always urged the nomination of good 
 men. lie was not a political partisan, but a true, generous 
 patriot. 
 
 2 . Mr. Brown was a sincere philanthropist. He abhorred 
 those levelling ideas of equality that would destroy all the 
 rights of property, and break up family and social ties as es¬ 
 tablished at present in civilized communities. But he earnestly 
 
WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 XV 
 
 contended for individual and political liberty, and while he 
 never favored what seemed to him impracticable schemes for 
 the emancipation of the enslaved, he firmly resisted the efforts 
 that were made for the introduction of slavery into this State, 
 and did more, perhaps, than any other man to avert that great 
 curse from Illinois, when parties were nearly equally balanced; 
 thus saving the State for the cause of freedom—an event, that, 
 in its consequences, probably turned the scale in favor of our 
 national government in the recent bloody strife between the 
 North and the South. Mr. Brown was not a sentimental phil¬ 
 anthropist; he carefully inquired how he could do the most for 
 humanity at large, instead of yielding to every momentary im¬ 
 pulse on the presentation of distress. Thus he co-operated 
 with every well-devised endeavor to provide for the needy and 
 the suffering, while he sometimes turned away the improvident 
 beggar. He was a foremost friend of orphan asylums, hospitals, 
 and other kindred institutions established by the State or by 
 private beneficence, doing always his full share to help them. 
 He was philanthropic on principle, and not from mere impulse. 
 
 3. He was, in general, a liberal and useful member of society. 
 He gave generously to every cause that commended itself to his 
 judgment, while at times he firmly rejected applications that 
 seemed to him unworthy of patronage. It would be difficult to 
 name a good enterprise begun in Chicago, during his residence 
 in the city, for which he did not contribute. And he was an 
 active helper in a great number of patriotic endeavors. I used 
 to think there was scarcely another man in Chicago whose name 
 was found high up on more subscription papers, or who was a 
 member of more committees and boards organized for benefi¬ 
 cent purposes. 
 
 4. Mr. Brown was scrupulously honest and trustful in every 
 relation of life. I never knew him to be accused of unfairness 
 or deception in any business transaction. I never heard a sus¬ 
 picion breathed against his integrity. I never met with a per¬ 
 son who ventured to charge him with untruthfulness or prevari¬ 
 cation. He always seemed to me unusually fair and candid in 
 his statements of facts. I am sure I express the judgment of 
 all those who knew him best when I say that he was extraordi¬ 
 narily exact in his adherence to the requirements of truth and 
 
XVI 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 justice, both in speech and conduct. This would hardly have 
 been denied by his bitterest enemy. 
 
 5. He was naturally conservative, but never seemed to re¬ 
 gard public opinion, when his duty required him to assume 
 unpopular ground. lie never betrayed any cause to which he 
 had pledged his support, however misrepresented and misun¬ 
 derstood it may have become. And yet he was open to convic¬ 
 tion in regard to the wisdom of any measure that he might 
 have formerly sustained or refused to further by his money or 
 jiersonal influence. He was not vacillating in his judgments, 
 for he usually considered every subject carefully before he 
 formed his opinions respecting it. But I always expected to 
 obtain a fair hearing when I undertook to present reasons for 
 any view of a subject which I knew' he did not favor; and in 
 several instances he changed his grounds sooner than I had 
 hoped for. In business matters, he was. perhaps, too conserva¬ 
 tive for such a city as Chicago; but, on the w T hole, his slowness 
 to fall in with the prevailing estimates of property was, it may 
 be, a good safeguard to his financial interests, and it tended to 
 moderate the enthusiasm of the speculative spirit in times of 
 dangerous inflation. Had he lived, he would, no doubt, have 
 passed through this present trying crisis without disaster to his 
 private fortunes. 
 
 6. Though not a man of brilliant mental powers. Mr. Brown 
 was possessed of excellent practical judgment. He was not 
 liberally educated, but he was not ignorant of books, and knew 
 much more of the world than most men of more varied learn¬ 
 ing. Ilis opinion in regard to matters of Church, State, or busi¬ 
 ness, was always worthy of consideration. In fact, he seldom 
 made a great mistake. I relied on his practical judgment, es¬ 
 pecially in trying situations, as on that of few r other men; for 
 he was scarcely ever carried away by temporary excitement, and 
 he never lost sight of the main interests involved in any ques¬ 
 tion, personal or public. Hence his counsel was often sought 
 in relation to practical difficulties, both in church and in pri¬ 
 vate affairs. 
 
 7. He was a most agreeable gentleman in social intercourse, 
 and "was warmly regarded as a personal friend. Those who 
 knew him only slightly had but little idea of his pow'er of 
 
WILLIAM H. BROWN. 
 
 XVII 
 
 imparting interest to a social circle. His conversation was al¬ 
 ways entertaining, and hence his presence was sought and 
 valued in general society. His house was the favorite resort of 
 many gentlemen and families, who were attracted by his gen¬ 
 erous hospitality and the cordiality of his excellent lady. 
 
 As a friend, Mr. Brown could be safely trusted in all emer¬ 
 gencies. He never flattered, and at times seemed cold and un¬ 
 sympathetic ; but in the season of need he was uniformly a 
 ready helper, and he could be relied on to speak kindly of you 
 behind your back, if he professed friendship to your face. He 
 could disagree with you without any breach of friendship. 
 For he knew how to distinguish between great and little 
 things. I sometimes thought it my duty to dissent from his 
 opinion and to contend with him in regard to points of differ¬ 
 ence. But I could never see that it made any change in his 
 subsequent deportment towards me. As a friend he was not 
 demonstrative, but he was eminently true. 
 
 8. Mr. Brown was a man of positive opinions in regard to the 
 character of others, but his judgments were, on the whole, 
 charitable. lie sometimes spoke severely of others, but not 
 without apparent reason. He was, for the most part, careful iu 
 his utterances respecting his neighbors, and if he said anything 
 unfavorable, it was usually qualified by some kinder expression. 
 He was, by no means, guilty of double-dealing in his inter¬ 
 course with men. If he was not always exactly tender of the 
 reputation of others, he was usually reserved in the expression 
 of adverse judgments, and almost uniformly he spoke kindly 
 and commendingly of his neighbors and fellow-citizens. He 
 was not a mischief-maker, and frequently merited the name of a 
 peace-maker. 
 
 9. From intimate knowledge of Mr. Brown’s principles, con¬ 
 victions, feelings, and conduct in a great variety of relations, I 
 can truly say that I believe him to have been a sincerely and 
 thoroughly Christian man. His religion was not impulsive, 
 and he made no loud professions of zeal and*spirituality. But 
 I was always impressed with his evident depth of conviction in 
 regard to.the truth and claims of the Gospel, the purity of his 
 Christian aims, the honesty and simplicity of his devotions, and 
 his unfeigned and practical consecration to the service of the 
 
XVIII 
 
 WILLIAM II. BROWN. 
 
 Church aud of his Lord. Few men have led more consistent 
 Christian lives. His dying breath was one of prayer, and un¬ 
 doubtedly “he entered heaven with prayer.” 
 
 In all that has been said, it has not been designed to assert or 
 imply that Mr. Brown was, in the ordinary sense, a popular 
 man. He had a certain severity of manner, in his intercourse 
 with strangers, and sometimes with friends, that caused him to 
 be misunderstood and misjudged. He did not sufficiently 
 study the amenities of life, and he paid the temporal penalty 
 of this neglect. Contrary to the common rule, he was most es¬ 
 teemed and loved by those who best knew his inner life. It 
 was necessary to get through the outer shell to the real man to 
 appreciate the nobleness of his character. Those persons who 
 did this, will fully justify all that I have said of him. 
 
 Mr. Brown’s memory will be blessed, not only by his own 
 family, but by many friends, who felt, when he died, that a 
 good and really great man had fallen, aud who will keep his 
 virtues embalmed in their hearts, when the blander traits of 
 many more pliant men who were more widely applauded in life 
 will be forgotten. 
 
' r "> ii iBB$a i } S ^ (2 mtrrSU& 
 
BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND, ESQ. 
 
 [ From the Chicago Magazine, April, 1857. J 
 
 Late in the seventeenth century, a few Huguenots, driven 
 from France by persecution to England, settled afterwards in. 
 New England. The subject of this sketeh is a descendant 
 from these, on his father’s side. He was born in Home, Oneida 
 county, New York, in 1801; and was the son of Benjamin Ray¬ 
 mond, who, as early as 1796, left his birth-place, Richmond, 
 Berkshire county, Mass. His mother was a daughter of Thomas 
 Wright, one of the brothers of that name who, emigrating from 
 Weathersfield, Conn., were among the first settlers of Rome, 
 which was long known as Wright’s Settlement, in the wilder¬ 
 ness of the then West. His father was engaged for some years 
 in connection with the late Judge Wright, (afterwards chief 
 engineer of the Erie canal,) in surveying into townships the 
 northern counties of New York: and which were then all a 
 wilderness, from the Mohawk River northward to the St. Law¬ 
 rence. He selected the site of the town of Potsdam, in St. 
 Lawrence county, where he lived for several years, and where 
 he held the office of Judge for the county. He died in 1824, in 
 the state of Delaware; being then engaged as engineer upon 
 the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. 
 
 The early years of Benjamin W. were spent with an aunt in 
 Wliitestown, New York, having lost his mother at the age of 
 five years. When he had reached the age of ten, he was taken 
 home to pursue his education in an academy which his father 
 had established; having erected, at his own expense, a building 
 to be used for the purpose of a high school and of public wor¬ 
 ship. Here he spent four years, dividing his time between 
 school and the duties of a clerk in a village store. He also 
 spent a good part of a year at school in Montreal, boarding 
 with a French family where no English was spoken.—After¬ 
 wards he resumed his clerkship at his father’s store, in Norfolk, 
 St. Lawrence Co., and wound up his school attendance in the 
 study of practical mathematics, particularly surveying, which 
 he afterwards practiced to some extent. 
 
 His introduction to the more responsible cares of business 
 took place at the age of nineteen, when he was sent down the 
 Ratehett River, into the St. Lawrence, to Montreal, with a large 
 quantity of lumber, which he was to sell and account for, and 
 
I 2 
 
 BENJAMIN \Y. RAYMOND. 
 
 in which lie acquitted himself to the full satisfaction of his 
 employer. About two years after this, he purchased a small 
 stock of goods, and commenced business on his own account: 
 but his father dying soon after, he was left, at the age of 22, the 
 eldest of nine orphan children, without other means of support 
 than his small stock of goods, purchased on credit, and sold, of 
 necessity, under all the disadvantages of a new country without 
 currency, or other means of purchase; and dependant on a bar¬ 
 ter of crude commodities for whatever trade was done. As his 
 eldest brother was but thirteen years of age, he soon saw the 
 impossibility of sustaining the family at Norfolk, and so closed 
 his business at that place, in debt to his largest creditor to the 
 amount of $(500, (which was paid in instalments some years 
 afterwards), and started for Oneida county, once more to try a 
 new tack for his life voyage. Here, a clerkship introduced him 
 to a partnership in business with Mr. Wm. Wright, one of the 
 oldest merchants at Rome, which was continued for three years. 
 A feeling of responsibility on account of his orphan brothers 
 and sisters induced habits of the strictest industry and econ¬ 
 omy, and led him to adopt those principles of temperance to 
 which he has ever since adhered. The circle of young men 
 into which he had been thrown in St. Lawrence county were 
 dissipated, and their gayety was not without a charm for young 
 Raymond. But when returning to Oneida county he firmly 
 resolved to leave all such associates behind, and to seek for the 
 future only the society of the strictly virtuous. Temperance 
 societies were not yet invented; but Mr. Raymond made a 
 pledge for himself, and has kept it to this day. 
 
 It was here, during the great revival of religion, in which 
 Rev. C. G. Finney figured as the chief preacher, that Mr. Ray¬ 
 mond made a profession of religion, early in the year 182(5. 
 
 One of the first Young Mens’ Temperance Societies in the 
 State was formed at Rome, and Mr. Raymond at once relin¬ 
 quished the sale of liquors, though it was a very important 
 source of profit to the merchant at that time. That was in 
 1828 
 
 In 1831, Mr. Raymond formed his first acquaintance with his 
 future friend and partner, Hon. S. N. Dexter; and very soon 
 after turned his steps westward, determined to seek his fortune 
 in what was then the far west; with a promise from Mr. Dexter 
 that if he should find a good place near the western lakes for 
 settlement and trade, he would supply him the capital neces¬ 
 sary for a commencement of business. In this journey he 
 pushed westward through northern Ohio and Michigan, as far 
 as White Pigeon; the last twenty-five miles of which was 
 reached on the back of an Indian pony, guided partly by lead 
 of an Indian trail, and partly by the course of the sun. He 
 found plenty of persons who, like himself, were in search of 
 places lor the sale of goods, but very few who promised to be 
 
BEX JAM IX \Y. RAYMOXI). 
 
 13 
 
 purchasers, and so turned backward as far as the town of East 
 Bloomfield, in Western New York, where he once more com¬ 
 menced business. Here he spent four years in a successful 
 trade, connected with the purchase of wool. Here, also, one of 
 the most important steps of His life was taken, in his entrance 
 into the matrimonial relation with Miss Amelia Porter, of East 
 Bloomfield, his present wife; a step which has probably had as 
 much to do with his success in life, and the position he now 
 occupies, as any other. Mrs. Raymond was the mother of two 
 sons, one only living, and now a professor in Williams College. 
 
 Finding that his business did not allow of much expansion 
 at East Bloomfield, he began, in 1835, to look once more west¬ 
 ward, and Chicago being then somewhat talked about, he at 
 once fixed his attention upon this place, being confirmed in the 
 idea, from its natural position upon the map, that it would at 
 some time be a place of importance; and also from a remark he 
 once heard from Hon. De Witt Clinton; whose sagacity in 
 regard to such matters was seldom at fault. 
 
 In January, 1836, he therefore set out by stage for Chicago, 
 being provided with authority to draw upon his friend Dexter 
 to the amount of $10,000, if he chose to do so, for purposes of 
 joint investment in real estate. After some looking at Mil¬ 
 waukee and elsewhere, and investing his $10,000, he returned, 
 closed up his business in N. Y., and set his stake in Chicago 
 about the 1st of June, 1836; having been preceded by a large 
 stock of goods; which, however, having to go by sail vessels 
 around the Lakes, did not arrive until July. The city w 7 as at 
 that time running over with merchandise, wanting nothing but 
 purchasers. Such a class of merchants, too, as were a portion of 
 them, never seen elsew here: being mere adventurers, who had, 
 by hook or by crook, and commonly by both, got possession of 
 their stocks; their next aim was to get rid of them at whatever 
 price could be had. 
 
 This disheartening and ruinous condition of things, left but a 
 poor chance for him who thought only of a legitimate trade, 
 which should turn his stock into cash.—Mr. R. w r as therefore 
 obliged to look about him for other avenues to hell) off his 
 goods. He established a branch at Milwaukee, one at Geneva, 
 in Kane Co., and another at DesPlaines, on the Canal. 
 
 The disasters of that period, commencing in August, 1836, 
 were under full headway for about three years, and came especi¬ 
 ally upon such as had made purchases of real estate, with notes 
 to mature from time to time. The fall of 1837 found the firm 
 of B. W. Raymond & Co. minus the ability to meet their en¬ 
 gagements by about $15,000, in addition to their loss of capital, 
 amounting to as many more. This was a state of things with a 
 bad look to it, and was fully made known to his partner; but 
 Mr. Dexter w 7 as a man with a back bone in him, and nobly sus¬ 
 tained the house with $20,000, as it w 7 as called for, during the 
 
14 
 
 BEX JAM IN W. RAYMOND. 
 
 years 1837-8-9; so that, by attention to meeting and securing 
 liabilities as they accrued, the credit of the house was unshaken 
 and their business uninterrupted during the whole period of 
 that terrible depression. From the year 1838 to 1843, business 
 was good, and the firm had so far retrieved its condition that 
 Mr. Raymond determined to make an effort to put himself 
 square with the world again. 
 
 For this purpose he sold out his stock of goods, receiving 
 one-half in cash and in paper running six months, and the 
 balance in real estate. This latter consisted of sixty feet on 
 Clark street, including the old Post Office on the alley of the 
 Sherman House Block, which was valued at $5000. By this 
 sale, and by collecting dues, and by turning over all his interest 
 in the real estate owned by the firm, to his partner, who was 
 the largest creditor—Post Office property and all. at its esti¬ 
 mated value, the whole precisely paid the liabilities of B. W. 
 Raymond & Co., with 7 per cent, interest, together with all the 
 private debts of Mr. Raymond; and left him with about $2000 
 for a fresh start. Mr. Dexter rather objected to receiving all 
 the real estate in their hands, as it had begun again to advance, 
 and he was anxious that Mr. Raymond should share in the pro¬ 
 fit. as well as to have borne the -labor. But Sir. R. preferred 
 to have his affairs in a shape to leave his family with some 
 resources in case of his death; and, besides, he wished to have 
 one more clear start in the world. Sir. Dexter would, however, 
 only receive the property on condition that Sir. Raymond 
 should manage it as he had done, and gave him full power of 
 attorney to that effect. After all transfers were made, Sir. D. 
 so arranged matters as that an exact account should be kept of 
 all real estate to him, with 7 per cent, added each year, and 
 then that all profits over the cost and interest should be equally 
 divided between Sir. R. and himself; as his intention, he de¬ 
 clared to be, that Sir. R. should not spend seven of the best 
 years of his life exclusively for his benefit; but that if anything 
 was to be made from real estate, he should share it. 
 
 Previous to the year 1843, Sir. R. purchased, on account of 
 Sir. D. and himself, of the late Jas. T. Gifford, one-half of his 
 interest in the village of Elgin, and in that year commenced 
 the erection of a woolen factory for Sir. Dexter, which was com¬ 
 pleted in 1844. He was also concerned in a store at that place 
 till 1851, and owned considerable real estate in the town. 
 
 In the year 1839, he purchased the lot No. 122, on Lake 
 street, Chicago, and in connection with Slessrs. Straclian & 
 Scott, erected, not the first brick, but the first fireproof stores 
 in the town. In about three weeks after their completion, the 
 great fire of that year swept the whole block on Lake street, 
 from their stores to Dearborn street, including the original 
 Tremont House, standing diagonally across the street from its 
 present position—and northward to the alley. 
 
BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND. 
 
 15 
 
 In March, 1839, Mr. Raymond was put in nomination for 
 Mayor of the city, without any expectation on his part of an 
 election, since party lines were then drawn in regard to city 
 officers, as well as those in the state or nation; and Mr. R. acted 
 with the whigs, while their opponents were largely in the 
 ascendant. He was, however, elected, together with half the 
 Council on the same side, which put upon him the duty of 
 giving a casting vote, whenever the question of office, or ap¬ 
 pointment, or of party advantage should divide that body. Mr. 
 Raymond acknowdedges that for once he was swayed by his- 
 friends, who insisted that he ought to use his power for the 
 party to which he belonged: but that on the next day he 
 formed the resolution to which he has since adhered, of never 
 voting for a man whom he deemed unfit, because he was of a 
 particular party. From that time he has been opposed to bring¬ 
 ing party politics into the arena of our municipal elections. 
 
 During this year the well-known counterfeiting of the Canal 
 checks of $100 occurred. Mr. Raymond gave such attention to 
 the case that three fellows engaged in the business were put 
 into the clutches of justice; of whom two went to Alton, and 
 the other,* by changing venue, got oft' on straw bail, and was 
 seen no more in these parts. He brought up in Sing Sing, 
 however, and may be doing service to the state of New York 
 till this day, for aught known of him. 
 
 The Mayor, at this time, was paid a nominal salary of $1000, 
 which, by depreciation of city orders, in which it was paid, 
 reduced it to about $750. Mr. R. made no money from his 
 office, however; for that year being one of great suffering on 
 the line of the canal, the occupants of the shanties naturally 
 poured into the city for relief; and the salary, drawing after 
 it more of the same sort, went to the aid of the Emeralders, as 
 much more has gone since; not only from the plethoric pockets 
 of Mayors, but from all othpr jackets reachable, by lugubrious 
 jeremiads of want. 
 
 There came on, also, during the year, a great bridge contest. 
 That over the river at Dearborn street being swept away, a 
 strong party arose opposing the erection of another, thinking, 
 either that those who wanted to get from that side of the 
 stream to this, might crawl under; or, that people who would 
 leave the “sunny south” side and banish themselves to those 
 hyperborean regions lying to the northward of the current of 
 mud, ought to stay there, and no more trouble those of so much- 
 better taste, and of better fortunes. So strong was this utter¬ 
 ance of the vox populi that the matter was decided in that com- 
 
 * The genuine scrip was printed in the Chicago American office, and was an ex¬ 
 ceedingly poor job. Only a poor printer could have executed the counterfeit; the 
 type, vignette—a ship—and the paper could be found in any country printing-office. 
 The counterfeiter tried here was the notorious Otis Allen, of Buffalo, N.Y. 
 
16 
 
 BENJAMIN \\. RAYMOND. 
 
 won council by the easting vote of the Mayor, and a bridge 
 obtained on Clark street, on condition that the north-siders 
 should subscribe $3000 of city bonds to put it over. And so 
 the benighted hyperboreans were admitted once more to sun¬ 
 light and the society of “the people.” 
 
 The sale of Fort Dearborn addition to Chicago took place 
 during that year. Mr. R. had the first intimation of it while 
 in New York, in April; and as he knew from the history of 
 like cases, that the people of Chicago expected the lands to be 
 given to the city, as had been customary, he exerted himself 
 for a postponement of the sale, till the matter could be brought 
 before Congress—the sale being advertised by Mr. Van Buren. 
 the President, to take place in June. For this purpose he 
 visited Washington, and saw the President, who put him off 
 with the soft-ambiguities which he knew so well howto use; 
 and as soon as he was gone, hurried on the sale, under the aver¬ 
 ment that the government was “in pressing need of funds.” 
 As the next best thing, Mr. IT, with a committee of the council, 
 put in for a public square, consisting of a block, to be reserved 
 from sale. 
 
 Their success was better than nothing, inasmuch as they got 
 half what they asked for; and Dtarborn Park testifies to-day 
 the result. He also persuaded the Agent of the Government to 
 add 60 feet to the width of State Street, for a market. 
 
 As a sample of celerity of travel in those days. Mr. R. started, 
 in the month of March, 1839. for New York. He left on Tues¬ 
 day morning, by stage; that is. in a lumber wagon with trunks 
 for seats, and after riding day and night, with one night’s ex¬ 
 ception. brought up at Tecumseh, forty miles from Detroit, at 
 three o'clock on the next Sunday morning, the last seven miles 
 being on foot, as the lour horses were sufficiently loaded by the 
 aforesaid trunks and wagon. During one week more of travel, 
 beginning on the following Monday. Buffalo was gained; and 
 one week further still brought them to New York, making 
 three weeks in the transit. Eight years after this voyage of 
 three weeks. Mr. Raymond was laughed at for saying, that in 
 ten years more, he expected to make the same journey in three 
 days. Perhaps the laughers are cachinnating yet. 
 
 In 1842. Mr. Raymond was once more elected Mayor of Chi¬ 
 cago This was about the time of the expiration of the long 
 depression which commenced in 1837. City orders were still 
 hawking about at 70 to 75 cents on the dollar, for goods or 
 truck of some sort; and the people were as poor as the city. 
 Real estate had but little value, and everybody would have 
 been rid of it but that nobody else would take it; and so being 
 obliged to keep what they had, an abundance of people were 
 made rich in time in spite of themselves. 
 
 The city government entered upon a rigid course of economy; 
 their whole expenditures for the year municipal. 1842. were 
 
BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND. 
 
 1 7 
 
 about $9800, and the receipts $13,800, about $4000 more than 
 the expenditures, and before the end of the year, city orders 
 loomed up to par. 
 
 During the year, the late cemetery grounds were selected; 
 the old burying grounds being among the sand hills near Dili’s 
 brewery. Some forty acres of those grounds were bought, sur¬ 
 veyed, and a public sale had. To get means of paying for the 
 forty acres, some $1200 of city script was pledged in a loan of 
 $600 for sixty days! The sale furnished the means to redeem 
 the script. This will, perhaps, seem small business at this day, 
 but a great many large things begin small. 
 
 During the next year, 1843, Mr. R. endeavored to induce 
 some of his creditors to take the lot on Clark street, north of 
 the Sherman House, and including the old Post office, at $5- 
 000 in discharge of liabilities. This idea was scouted, and the 
 property was jmssed over to his partner as already stated. He 
 kept it till it brought him $19,500, and it could not be had 
 to-day, probably, for less than $60,000. 
 
 When the Galena Railroad was started, Mr. R. was fully 
 ready to enter into it, with all the means and influence he could 
 command. As one of its first Board of Directors he pledged 
 almost his entire capital, in connection with other Directors, 
 for the purchase of the first iron to build its track, and in con¬ 
 nection with John B. Turner, Esq., then acting Director, after¬ 
 wards President, negotiated the sale of the first issue of bonds 
 of the Road in eastern cities, which, at that day (1848), was 
 not an easy matter, while Wall street was well supplied with 
 Illinois State Bonds, interest unpaid. The first sales were only 
 made to confidential friends, who relied upon their representa¬ 
 tions, as capitalists generally had no confidence in any western 
 enterprise. 
 
 In consequence of the success of that enterprise, and its bene¬ 
 ficial effects upon the country and city, he entered upon active 
 efforts to build the road known as the Fox River Valley Rail¬ 
 road, now called Elgin and State Line Branch of the North- 
 Western. The construction of this road was somewhat delayed, 
 owing to the great number of such enterprises on foot at once, 
 and the failure of some of the more unimportant ones, but it is 
 now finished, and in operation from Elgin to Geneva Lake. 
 
 Mr. Raymond, though in comfortable circumstances, is not 
 one of the wealthy men of the city; for he has never worship¬ 
 ped the “Golden Calf.” His aim has never been to make the 
 most money. Hence, he has commonly sold out any consider¬ 
 able tracts of real estate in his hands, and used the money to 
 advance objects of public use and benefit. He also gives largely 
 and freely. Perhaps no man in our midst more fully realizes 
 the pleasure of a deed of benevolence which costs something, 
 than he. No man of his long residence and various experi¬ 
 ences with all sorts of men in public and private life, has fewer 
 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND. 
 
 enemies, or more fully commands the public confidence. The 
 trust in his entire integrity of character is full and universal. 
 He has only to believe a thing right to he induced to act ac¬ 
 cordingly, without question or delay. He is a man of about 
 five feet ten inches in height, with light hair and a blonde com¬ 
 plexion. His words are few, in low tones, and his demeanor 
 quiet; the aspect is that of amiability and harmony of character. 
 
 He was a Director of the old Hydraulic company, (which first 
 supplied water to the city,) from its beginning to its close; is 
 now a Director in the Gas & Coke Co., and was for many years 
 a Director of the pioneer railroad of the west, the Galena & Chi¬ 
 cago Union Rail Road. 
 
 He, as President, obtained the Charter for the Old Ladies’ 
 Home, of Chicago, and has been connected with the Board of 
 Trustees, as President or Treasurer, since its organization; and 
 Treasurer of the Old People’s Home. 
 
 He was one of the originators of the City of Lake forest; 
 obtained the Charter tor the Lake Forest University, and was 
 President of the Board of Trustees, for the first twelve years; 
 and still a member of the Board of Trustees; also, a member of 
 the Board of Trustees of Beloit College; and Rockford Female 
 Seminary. In 1864, he, as President, with the aid of a few 
 friends, organized and obtained the Charter for the Elgin Na¬ 
 tional Watch Company, and procured subscriptions to the Stock ; 
 he is still connected with the Company as a Director: having 
 resgned the Presidency in favor of a younger and more active 
 man—T. M. Avery, Esq. 
 
 Elgin is most indebted to Mr. Raymond for its early and later 
 prominence. He made large investments there; and furnished 
 the material for many of the most important enterprises. His 
 contributions for the establishment of their Academy were libe¬ 
 ral ; he was one of the first, and for many years, tlieir leading 
 merchant, having placed there, in 1838, the largest stock of 
 goods west of Chicago. He was a partner in the foundry of 
 Adams & Co., the first manufacturers of corn-shellers in the 
 West; he was chiefly instrumental in the establishment of the 
 woolen factory built by S. N. Dexter, Esq., in 1842—the first 
 woolen factory in the State of Illinois; he assisted in the erec¬ 
 tion of a large tannery; and, lastly, and of greater importance 
 than all the rest, as President of the National Watch Company. 
 
 Mr. R.’s political views are Republican; but he regards strict 
 moral character, integrity, and capability above party consider¬ 
 ation. 
 
 Mr. R. is a consistent member of the second Presbyterian 
 Church, and has held the office of Ruling Elder in it since its 
 organization in 1842. 
 
 His health is pretty uniformly good, and the hope of his 
 friends is to see him useful a long while yet. 
 
HON. J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 [From the Chicago Magazine, March, 1857.] 
 
 The subject of this sketch was bom in Whitfield, Lincoln 
 Co., Maine, in the year 1812. His father was the Hon. Eliakim 
 Scammon, of East Pittston, Kennebec Co., Maine, a man widely 
 known and universally esteemed, and who, for many successive 
 years, represented his town and county in both branches of the 
 Legislature of that State. 
 
 Mr. Scammon’s mother was the daughter of David Young, 
 one of the first settlers, and most wealthy men in East Pittston. 
 Mr. Young was a prominent man in the community in which he 
 lived. As a Jeffersonian Republican, he often represented his 
 town in the General Court of Massachussetts, Maine having 
 formed a part of Massachussetts until the year 1820, when it was 
 admitted into the Union as a separate State. 
 
 Mr. Scammon, from childhood, has had a fondness for agri¬ 
 cultural and horticultural pursuits. He would have been a 
 farmer, were it not that an accident deprived him, at the age of 
 10 years, of the full use of his left hand. Though this probably 
 changed his occupation in life, it did not diminish his natural 
 love for the cultivation of the soil, or destroy his taste for the 
 beautiful and perfect, in all that relates to this truly noble 
 occupation. When he resided at the comer of Michigan Ave. 
 and Randolph Street, he had the finest garden to be seen in the 
 city, at that time; and he now preserves his beautiful garden. 
 
 Mr. Scammon received his literary education at the Maine 
 Wesleyan Seminary, Lincoln Academy, and Waterville College. 
 He read law in Hallowell, in his native State; he was admitted 
 to the bar in Kennebec Co., and immediately after started upon 
 a tour of the States. He arrived at Chicago, in September, 1835, 
 upon a cold and stormy day. He made the tlien somewhat 
 more than unpleasant and haeardous passage of the lakes, in the 
 old steamboat, Pennsylvania, which at that early period made a 
 trip from Buffalo, by the way of Green Bay, to Chicago. On the 
 passage of the steamboat from Green Bay to this city, a furious 
 storm arose, compelling her to put into Washington Harbor, 
 near Death’s Door, at the north end of Lake Michigan. Here 
 she lay until the storm abated; provisions running out, and the 
 passengers being put on a short allowance, in the meantime. 
 Taking a fresh start from Washington Harbor, the storm again 
 
20 
 
 J. YOUNG SC AMMON. 
 
 raged fearfully, and there was great apprehension of shipwreck 
 among the passengers and crew. 
 
 Arrived at Chicago, the steamer was compelled to anchor out¬ 
 side the bar, there being no entrance to the harbor, except for 
 vessels of a very small size. The passengers were landed in a 
 boat, and made their way from the beach up to the old Sauga- 
 nasli Hotel, in a driving rain, through the tall prairie grass and 
 deep mud. They found the hotel crowded, and a very large 
 number of the inmates sick with the bilious fever, in fact, al¬ 
 together, a more dismal and dreary aspect the town could not 
 have presented. Coming from the beautiful hills of New Eng¬ 
 land, and their bracing and healthy air, the town appeared to 
 the new comer to be almost a dismal swamp; and his first im¬ 
 pression was anything but favorable to a location in it. 
 
 Mr. Scammon had letters to Mr. Henry Moore, who was then 
 an attorney in the town, and dejruty of Col. Richard J. Hamil¬ 
 ton, Clerk of the Courts of the County of Cook. In a few days, 
 the weather cleared off, and almost as soon the mud disappeared 
 and there succeeded one of those beautiful Indian summers with 
 which the West is so highly favored. Just as Mr. S. was about 
 to leave town, to continue his journey southward, Mr. Moore 
 called upon him, and stated that the Circuit Court had just 
 commenced its session; that lus own business prevented his 
 giving further assistance to Col. Hamilton, and that the gentle¬ 
 man that Col. Hamilton had employed in his place had been 
 attacked with fever. He asked Mr. S. if he would not assist 
 Col. II. during the term of Court. This was regarded by Mr. S. 
 as a fine opportunity to become acquainted with the mode of 
 practice and the forms of legal proceedings in Illinois, and was 
 at once accepted. He accordingly assisted Col. H. through 
 the term; who finding that he was ready and at home in the 
 performance of the duties of Clerk, proposed to make him his 
 deputy, and, at the same time, allow him to “hang out his 
 shine” in the Clerk’s office. 
 
 In those days, rooms for offices were not plenty in Chicago, 
 and the lawyers, being mostly bachelors, lodged in their offices. 
 Mr. S. had endeavored in vain to find an eligible office, so he 
 accepted Col. H.’s proposal, and established his office in the 
 “North-east Corner” of the Clerk’s office, from which it was 
 separated, not as often in early times in the West, were the 
 places of the Bar, the Court, and'Jury, by chalk or coal lines, 
 but by an imaginary one. 
 
 Col. II. then held about every office in Cook County which 
 he could legally hold. He was Judge of Probate, Clerk of the 
 Circuit Court, Clerk of the County Commissioners’ Court, School 
 Commissioner, Recorder of Deeds, Notary Public, and Bank 
 Commissioner. All these were held in a small Grecian build¬ 
 ing, erected on the north-east corner of the Court House Square, 
 
J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 21 
 
 which was subsequently lengthened, and transformed into a 
 Court House. 
 
 Mr. S.’s days were spent in this room, in the study of his pro¬ 
 fession and attending to the duties of clerk for Col. H. At 
 night, he lodged like other young men, in the same office. As 
 he made acquaintances his business increased, and in 183G, he 
 entered into a copartnership with Buckner S. Morris. They 
 continued together for eighteen months, and did a large and 
 successful business. They then dissolved, and Mr. Scammon 
 practiced alone for a year or more, when he formed a connection 
 with Norman B. Judd, the partnership lasting until 1847, when 
 Mr. Scammon becoming greatly interested in the building of 
 the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, and wishing to give 
 much of his time to railroad matters, he and Mr. Judd dissolved 
 their connection, though they continued to occupy the same 
 office. 
 
 When Mr. Scammon came to Chicago, it. was a time of almost 
 universal speculation. Nearly every one was rich; at least in 
 prospect. He was solicited to speculate, but declined, on the 
 ground that he liked his profession, and should be happier in 
 practicing it than in attempting to make a fortune by speculat¬ 
 ing. He thus was enabled to devote his time faithfully and 
 unremittingly to the practice of his profession. His industry 
 and promptness in paying over to his clients all monies collected 
 —somewhat of a virtue in the early days of Western life—won 
 him the favor of the community, both at home and abroad, and 
 his practice soon became large and commanding. This favor, 
 obtained by faithfulness and probity in the discharge of his 
 business transactions, in the outset of his professional career, 
 has been of great benefit to him in after life, and, no doubt, to 
 it, to a very great extent,' he owes the credit which he now en¬ 
 joys in Chicago, as well as the Eastern cities. 
 
 Indeed, Mr. Scammon has made it a leading principle, in all 
 his business transactions, to promise nothing that he could not 
 perform, and to work with the greatest possible zeal and ardor 
 to secure the completion of that which he promised. His credit 
 as a banker he regards as above every other consideration, both 
 of profit and present standing; and he would sacrifice all he 
 possesses to preserve that untarnished. The business public are 
 aware of this, and hence put great confidence in any monied in¬ 
 stitution with which he is connected. 
 
 Mr. Scammon has made great efforts to obtain a safe and relia¬ 
 ble banking law in this State, which would be the means of 
 preventing a recourse to the system of what is called “Wild 
 Cat Banking,” by which a number of irresponsible institutions 
 are got up in neighboring States and Territories, for the purpose 
 of circulating their irresponsible and irredeemable paper here. 
 The law, as it heretofore stood, restrained and restricted the 
 home banker, while it gave free license to the foreign institu- 
 
22 
 
 J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 tions, which are responsible to no one, and which, at best, de¬ 
 pend wholly upon the ability, or rather inclination, of the 
 owners to redeem their promises. Mr. S. has endeavored to 
 make our banking system of that character which would invite 
 the capital of the best business men of this and other States for 
 investment, at the same time that it would possess such guards 
 and restrictions as would secure the public in the most perfect 
 manner. Mr. S. has worked long and faithfully to this end, and 
 hopes finally to be able to accomplish an object which has been 
 one of the leading purposes of his life. The feeling against 
 banking of all kinds which exists in some portions of the State, 
 and which has been taken advantage of by the advocates of irre¬ 
 sponsible banking in the northern part, has hitherto been the 
 great obstacle with which Mr. S. has had to contend; but he 
 hopes, in time, and by the aid of the growing intelligence and 
 good sense of the people, to succeed in perfecting such a system 
 of banking as will be a credit to the State, and of the utmost 
 advantage to its inhabitants. 
 
 In 1837, without solicitation on his part, Mr. Scammon was 
 selected as the Attorney of the State Bank of Illinois; and in 
 1839, he was appointed Reporter of the Supreme Court of the 
 State, which office he continued to hold till 1845, when he 
 resigned, on account of the press of his business at home. He 
 was the first Reporter in this State that ever published a vol¬ 
 ume, and his books introduced an entirely new era in Western 
 Reports. They were brought out in a style inferior to none, 
 and superior to most of the reports in the Eastern States. 
 
 The writer might here probably state, that Mr. Scammon 
 has ever taken a lively interest in public affairs. While being 
 indefatigably occupied with the management of his private 
 business, he has not allowed himself to be wholly engrossed 
 in the labors necessarily incident to men of large and accumu¬ 
 lative means, but has been, in one way or another, connected 
 with most of the meat leading undertakings associated with 
 the progress of our state and city. He has, in fact, been among 
 the foremost in contributing to the development of the re¬ 
 sources of Illinois, and the advancement of the interests of 
 Chicago and the surrounding country. A New Churchman or 
 Swedenborgian in religion, which includes all great measures 
 of useful and beneficient progress he is himself progressive in 
 sentiment, and conservative in practice. His motto is, and 
 always has been, at least as long as the writer of this lias 
 known him, “Conservative Progress.” Still into whatever un¬ 
 dertaking he enters, he throws himself with his whole soul, 
 and with all his might; and whenever he undertakes a project, 
 he is indefatigable and preserving, until it is accomplished. 
 
 To the Hon. William B. Ogden and Mr. Scammon are the 
 public specially indebted for the commencement of the Galena 
 & Chicago Railroad. After the railroad enterprises which had 
 
J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 23 
 
 their inception in 1837, had failed, and were abandoned, and 
 all confidence in Illinois was lost by capitalists, when hope 
 was nearly dead in the minds of our people; Messrs. Ogden 
 and Scammon counselled together upon the subject; of railroads, 
 and the Galena Railroad in particular. To induce the Michigan 
 Central Railroad, which then hardly reached New Buffalo, to 
 come to Chicago, and thus aid in extending railroad lines 
 farther West, Messrs. O. and S. went to Indiana, and spent 
 much time in getting hold of and reviving the charter of 
 the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad, which possessed the sole 
 power of building a road from Michigan City to Illinois State 
 Line, in the direction of Chicago. They had previously, on 
 the opening of books for the road, traveled over the entire 
 distance between Chicago and Galena, holding meetings, mak¬ 
 ing speeches, and procuring subscriptions to the stock of the 
 Galena Road. They were themselves among the largest stock¬ 
 holders in the Company, and by their exertions and personal 
 pledges of fidelity to the interests of the stockholders, they 
 obtained stock enough to commence operations in the road; 
 and it is not claiming too much to say, that but for them this 
 great pioneer road in the West would not have been commenced 
 till many years later. 
 
 In the commencement of the building of this road, Mr. Scam- 
 mon devoted a large portion of his time, gratuitously, to the 
 project. He familiarized himself with the details of the trans¬ 
 actions of the Company, and kept a strict watch upon its opera¬ 
 tions. Besides, to sustain the credit of the Company, he bor¬ 
 rowed money more than once upon his individual name, and 
 loaned it to the Treasurer, when the road had not sufficient 
 credit to obtain an additional accommodation from its banker; 
 nor even the confidence of a majority of its Directors, in their 
 ability to go on with their enterprise. But the faith of the 
 subject of our sketch was full and unwavering. Indeed, so 
 great were the difficulties, and so numerous the disappointments 
 in the outset of the operations of this Company, to .which Chi¬ 
 cago is indebted for so much of its material prosperity, that 
 at one time, during the absence of Mr. Ogden, all the Directors, 
 with the exception of Mr. Scammon, the late James H. Collins, 
 Esq., and Charles Walker, Esq., appeared discouraged at the 
 prospect of affairs. 
 
 The labors and difficulties attending the early days of the 
 history of this enterjarise can hardly be realized at the present 
 time. The country was poor; there was no surplus money in 
 it; subscriptions to the stock of the Company could only be 
 ■obtained in very small quantities; of eighteen hundred share¬ 
 holders, the larger number held single, or not more than two or 
 three shares each; while all the shares which were taken were 
 subscribed for, not with a view to profit on the stock, but solely 
 to aid in the enterprise. Mr. S. was one of the largest stock- 
 
-4 
 
 J, YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 holders from the commencement of the undertaking, and when 
 great efforts were requisite to keep up the credit of the Com¬ 
 pany, and to prevent its stock from greatly depreciating, he pur¬ 
 chased freely of it, and was, by this means, at one time its largest 
 stockholder. With a view, also, of procuring Eastern aid, he 
 proceeded in company with Mr. Ogden, to Boston, and had an 
 interview with Eastern capitalists. There was at that period 
 so little confidence in the West or Western enterprises, that 
 they were very cooly told by one of the largest railroad pro¬ 
 prietors in New England, that “Statistics amount to very little 
 in influencing us. You must go home, raise what money you 
 can, and when you can get no farther, come to us. and give us 
 wbat you have done, and we will take hold of your road and 
 complete it. You can afford to do this, the road will be of such 
 immense advantage to your country." Mr 8. determined, upon 
 the instant, that these prophetic wishes should not be fulfilled. 
 He returned home, and by his exertions and caution contribued 
 not a little to that careful management of the mad, which ulti- 
 matod in the success of the enterprise, and in establishing, in 
 the minds of capitalist everywhere, the ability of Illinois men 
 to build and manage railroads. 
 
 The success of tne Galena and Chicago Union Railroad is 
 the parent of all subsequent railroad movements in this State. 
 Had that enterprise failed, Chicago would not now count half 
 its present population. 
 
 In the very momentous matter, to the present and succeeding 
 generations, of establishing the free school system of Illinois, 
 Mr. Scammon bore a very prominent and important part. There 
 was no provision for absolutely free schools in Illinois when 
 Mr. Scammon removed to the State, and for years thereafter. 
 It required a great struggle to get through the Legislature a 
 special law for Chicago, authorizing the establishment of 
 schools by the Town: and the law was only passed on con¬ 
 dition that it would be submitted to a vote of the people, be¬ 
 fore it became operative. When the vote was taken in 1S36, 
 the law was voted down. Its defeat at that time was probably 
 caused by the large number of unmarried men, the greater part 
 of whom were speculators in real estate, who were unwilling 
 to have their property taxed for, as they alleged, the benefit 
 of other people's children. 
 
 Mr. Scammon took an active part in getting up the first char¬ 
 ter of the City of Chicago. It was partly through his efforts 
 that provision for our present free school system was made in 
 it. The schools first established under it were not, however, 
 sustained by public opinion. There were few children in the 
 town, most of its population being young people, and little 
 interest was felt in the subject. The schools had thus but a 
 sickly existence, and were of very little value. 
 
 Mr. Scammon was appointed one of tlie Board of School 
 
J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 25 
 
 Inspectors in 1839. The free schools were then so nearly ex¬ 
 tinct, that it was determined to suspend them, until they could 
 be re-commenced under more favorable auspices, and upon a 
 more stable foundation. Mr. S. took hold of the subject in 
 earnest. He drafted new Ordinances and Laws for the regula¬ 
 tion and government of the school system, which were passed; 
 and through him and his co-laborers in the Board of School 
 Inspectors, the system of Common Schools, which has been so 
 successful, and of such incalculable benefit to our City, was 
 established on a broad and permanent basis. He remained in 
 the Board of School Inspectors till 1845, when he was elected 
 an Alderman for the First Ward. His election to this office 
 was opposed by some citizens, who feared he was in favor of 
 too extensive a system in public schools. The first school-house 
 — the brick edifice Nos. 81—7 Madison street, east of Dearborn 
 street—had been built under the direction of the Board of 
 School Inspectors, in 1844. Much complaint had been made 
 by residents of the North and West Divisions of the City, at 
 the large expenditure; very many persons residing in the South 
 Division, also denounced the cost of the construction of such a 
 building as extravagant. Mr. S. determined to secure as large 
 a vote as possible, in order to satisfy the public that “ big 
 school-houses ” were not unpopular. The consequence was, he 
 received more votes, and was elected by a larger majority, than 
 any Alderman, up to that time, had ever received in the City. 
 
 When the new Council was inaugurated, the Mayor recom¬ 
 mended that the “ big school-house ” should be sold, or con¬ 
 verted into an “Insane Asylum,” and one more suitable to the 
 size and wants of the City be built. It was supposed by the 
 Mayor, that so large a school-house would not be required by 
 the City for a dozen years. Mr. S. was appointed Chairman of 
 the Committee on Schools, in the new Council, and immedi¬ 
 ately brought forward an ordinance for building a large brick 
 school-house on the North side of the river, stating, at the same 
 time, that it was the policy of the Board of School Inspectors 
 to build another, on the West Side, the next year, and to build 
 a new school-house at least every year. The order was adopted 
 by the Council, and the school-house was built. The construc¬ 
 tion of this house was followed by that of the fine school build¬ 
 ing on Madison street, on the West Side. Thus a policy was 
 adopted, which has since been continued and improved upon 
 by the successive Boards of School Inspectors, until our Com¬ 
 mon Schools have reached their present proud position and 
 high state of usefulness. 
 
 In any mention of the Common Schools, however, the name 
 of William Jones, Esq., should not be omitted. For years, in 
 their days of trial, he was one of their most devoted and effi¬ 
 cient friends. He seconded Mr. Scammon’s efforts and labors 
 with great energy and zeal. 
 
2 6 
 
 J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 Mr. Scammon lias always taken a warm and decided interest 
 in politics. He was a Whig during the existence of that party, 
 and for many years chairman of its Congressional, County, and 
 City Committees; and though often solicited, and more than 
 once nominated for office, he was never a candidate before the 
 people, except on two occasions—once when elected Alderman, 
 and in 1848, when he was the Whig candidate for Congress in 
 this District, which at that time was composed of seventeen 
 counties, and overwhelmingly Democratic. Mr. S. received a 
 very flattering vote, carrying the City of Chicago by a consider¬ 
 able majority, although his party in the city must have been in 
 a minority of more than a thousand votes. 
 
 In politics Mr. Scammon also exhibited his progressive nro- 
 clivities, having been always on the side of freedom and pro¬ 
 gress in his party. At the same time he w r as conservative in 
 his action, preferring present good, when he could obtain it, to 
 sacrificing everything to the abstract principles of right. For 
 this reason, though his freesoil sentiments dated back before 
 the great contest between Clay and Polk in 1844, he preferred 
 voting for Mr. Clay, to throwing away his vote. In 1848, also, 
 he advocated the election of General Taylor, knowing there was 
 no probability of the election of a freesoil candidate, and doubt¬ 
 ing the sincerity of purpose of Mr. Van Buren, who was sup¬ 
 ported by that party. In 1852, he voted for General Scott, al¬ 
 though he preferred Judge McLean, who was his choice for 
 President. In the late contest, he supported Colonel Fremont 
 with all the ardor he was capable of, sparing neither his time 
 nor money in the canvass. Mr. S. has always been inflexibly 
 opposed to the extention of slavery into the territories, and he 
 endeavored, in every way in his power, to divorce the Whig 
 Party of this State from the Pro-Slavery measures with which 
 a large number of its friends seemed willing to suffer it to be 
 embarrassed. He contended that his policy in this respect was 
 both just and expedient; and it is due to him to say, that if his 
 advice had been carried out, the Whig Party in the Northern 
 portion of the State, at least, and especially in this city, would 
 not have remained so long in the hopeless minority in w r hich he 
 found it when he came to reside here. Mary who afterwards 
 claimed to be Seward, or freesoil Whigs, had previously to 
 their sudden conversion—subsequently to the election of Gen. 
 Taylor—opposed, with all their strength, the positions which 
 Mr. S. took, and which had they been accepted and carried out 
 by the leaders of the party generally, would have placed the 
 Whig Party in a far better position before the people than it 
 had ever attained. 
 
 Mr. Scammon w r as also among the first to perceive the tend¬ 
 ency to the breaking up of old party lines in the country gener¬ 
 ally, and particularly in this City and State, preparatory to the 
 present fusion of all persons and parties opposed to the spread 
 
J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 27 
 
 of slavery. He suggested and procured the writer, many years 
 ago, to furnish a series of articles on the subject, to a neutral 
 paper then published in this city. These articles, and also 
 other measures taken by him, had no small influence in break¬ 
 ing up party lines in the Chicago City Elections, and in the 
 Northern counties of the State. Although a strict party man 
 himself, as long as he could see any great good which the old 
 Whig Party was capable of performing; still he believed in 
 voting for the best men, and in many instances refused to vote 
 for unworthy or incapable nominees of his own party. It may 
 be proper to state in this connection, that Mr. S. from first to 
 last, has always opposed Native Americanism or Know Noth- 
 idgism, in all its forms and principles. The writer well remem¬ 
 bers the indignation of Mr. S. at an article which appeared in a 
 paper in 1844, of which he was one of the editors. He had a 
 portion of the edition of the paper which contained it sup¬ 
 pressed immediately; the article gave great offense, however, 
 as it appeared in part of the edition, and was made a great 
 handle of by the Democrats at that time to the injury of the 
 Whigs. Mr. S.’s principles of civil and religious polity are of 
 too broad and comprehensive a character to accept for a moment 
 the narrow and bigoted platform of that party, which of late 
 has had, for a short time, such a prominent position in our Na¬ 
 tional and State politics. 
 
 Mr. Scammon, in 1849, re-organized the Chicago Marine and 
 Fire Insurance Company, an institution which had been char¬ 
 tered in 1836, as a monied corporation, but which had sus¬ 
 pended business, although it never had suspended payment. 
 He was one of the chief stockholders under the new organiza¬ 
 tion. and the President of the Company. It commenced with a 
 nominal capital of about $35,000, and an actual cash capital of 
 not exceeding $25,000. Under his auspices, as President, the 
 institution has gradually increased its capital, and extended its 
 business, until it has now an actual cash capital of half a mil¬ 
 lion of dollars, and is the largest monied institution in the 
 State. 
 
 Mr. Scammon likes to be a pioneer, judging from his past 
 life. He was the first Svvedenborgian in Northern Illinois; the 
 first homoeopath; and was among the first and most efficient 
 organizers and supporters of the Galena and Chicago Union 
 Railroad. He also established the first bank under the General 
 Banking Law of this State—the Marine Bank of Chicago. He 
 organized the Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem, when it 
 had only three members, one other beside himself and wife. 
 He also organized, in connection with three other gentlemen, 
 the Illinois Association of the same Church, when there were 
 probably not over a dozen Swedenborgians in the whole State. 
 
 Mr. Scammon possesses excellent business tact and manage¬ 
 ment, which is evinced not only in his own prosperity, in the 
 
28 
 
 J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 accumulation and investment of a large private fortune, hut in 
 the success of the many enterprises in which he was one of the 
 pioneers, lie was one of the original stockholders of the Ga¬ 
 lena; Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, and several other rail¬ 
 roads. Though never a speculator, Mr. S. has become wealthy 
 by judicious and prudent business habits. He is at the present 
 time owner of large and productive real estate in the very cen¬ 
 tre of the business part of our city. His policy has been not to 
 speculate, by running in debt, but to invest his surplus earn¬ 
 ings, and thus reap the advantage of the steady rise of property 
 by the growth of the city. To this policy, together with his 
 industry and economy, he owes his present prosperous position, 
 financially speaking. Mr. 8. is a great advocate for the single¬ 
 ness of employments, nevertheless, his practice does not con¬ 
 form to his theory in this respect, as he is banker, lawyer, real 
 estate owner, and has a large interest in railroads himself. It 
 has been asserted by some—perhaps those too envious of an¬ 
 other’s prosperity—that accommodations from the old Illinois 
 State Bank contributed to Mr. S.’s wealth. This is a mistake; 
 he never borrowed a dollar from the bank, or had any accommo¬ 
 dations from it, or purchased a foot of land, or other property 
 belonging to it, except at public sale, in competition with 
 others. The only favor the bank ever did him was to select 
 him as its attorney. He had no other connection with it. 
 
 In his profession Mr. Scammon has stood deservedly high, 
 and at one time had the most lucrative practice of any lawyer in 
 the city. In fact, he has generally had more business than he 
 could attend to, and of late years, his banking and other mat¬ 
 ters have demanded so much of his attention, that he has for 
 the last two or three years given little time to his profession. 
 In 1849, he took Mr. Ezra B. McCagg, who had been his confi¬ 
 dential law clerk, for two years previously, into partnership, 
 and they have since practiced together. He has always been a 
 friend to young men, and has had a very large number of stu¬ 
 dents in his oifice. These it has ever been his habit to accus¬ 
 tom to the details of practice, thus grounding them well in the 
 most important particulars in the professson. Thus he has been 
 successful, in almost every instance, in making good, practical 
 lawyers of his students. The advantages of the thorough train¬ 
 ing received by students in the office of Mr. S., is fully indi¬ 
 cated by the fact, that of all the young men who have been 
 under his supervision, not more than two nave failed to turn 
 out well. 
 
 Mr. Scammon, like all men of positive principles, is decided 
 in his opinions, still he is liberal and kind to those who disa¬ 
 gree with him. Indeed, a majority of the young men in his 
 office, who have received his assistance, countenance, and sup¬ 
 port, have been, in political opinions, opposite to himself. 
 
 Though Mr. S. has devoted himself for many years so ardu- 
 
J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 29 
 
 ouslv to the law, and also been deeply immersed in business, he 
 has not forgotten his early love for literature and fine arts. He 
 continues still to cultivate it. He writes on political and relig¬ 
 ious subjects, gives public lectures, etc. In conversation he is 
 entertaining, his information being general and varied, and lus 
 desire to impart it, a natural attribute of the man. He reads 
 and speaks several modern languages with liuency, and contin¬ 
 ues his early study of the classics, to which he has always been 
 drawn by his taste for ancient literature. 
 
 Mr. S. is blessed with the companionship of a congenial part¬ 
 ner, a lady eiery way qualified to contribute to his happiness, 
 and an interesting family of children, the oldest grown to a fine- 
 looking young man, who is receiving the benefit of as good an 
 education as Ins father’s means and position can afford. 
 
 Mr. S. still continues to work as Heretofore, though less in 
 his profession. To the question “ Why do you not give up busi¬ 
 ness?” he replied, “I have no right to do so. Use is the cen¬ 
 tral principle of Heaven, and no one can be happy, except in 
 the degree in which he is occupied in some useful employ¬ 
 ment.” 
 
 The foregoing sketch of Mr. Scammon’s life was printed in 
 1857, in which year he went to Europe with his family, where 
 his wife died, and her remains were interred at Soden, in Nas¬ 
 sau, about ten miles from Frankfort on the Main. 
 
 When he returned in 1860, the first intelligence that reached 
 him after his arrival at his home, was that the entire capital of 
 the Chicago Marine and Fire Insurance Company had been 
 squandered by its responsible officers, during his absence. 
 
 He at once resumed its management, and endeavored to ar- • 
 rest still further disasters; but just then the Rebellion broke 
 out, and the Southern Stocks, upon which the circulation of the 
 Illinois banks was based, becoming nearly worthless, the whole 
 banking system of the State went down. Mr. Scammon worked 
 away resolutely, dealing equally and fairly by all his customers, 
 and in a short time had paid off the indebtedness of the institu¬ 
 tion, which had been thus robbed and ruined. He restored 
 capital and credit to the company, and under his management 
 his institution continued to enjoy the public confidence, and to 
 transact a large business, until the losses of the great fire and 
 the panic of 1873 rendered it expedient to wind them up. He 
 was always opposed to illegal and depreciated currency of the 
 “wild-cat” order. The acts of the Legislature, which drove 
 illegal currency from the State were written by him, and passed 
 
30 
 
 J. YOUNG SCAMMON. 
 
 through his exertions. As a member of the Legislature of 1861, 
 he obtained further stringent legislation on the subject of bank¬ 
 ing. At the time of the great fire he occupied an enviable posi¬ 
 tion. He had won celebrity as a lawyer, and unlimited credit in 
 business as a banker, and had become possessed of a vast fortune. 
 But the terrible lire swept away his banks, warehouses, stores, 
 and residence; fully half a million dollar’s worth of property. 
 Iu less than a week he had improvised a building on the site 
 of his late residence and resumed his banking business. He 
 was confident the city would be rebuilt, and the old landmarks 
 restored. Iu fifteen months from the time of the fire, he had 
 expended over a million dollars in rebuilding stores, ware¬ 
 houses, etc. He not only shouldered this enormous work, but 
 he also assisted others to a large extent in their efforts to re¬ 
 build. Just in the midst of these gigantic undertakings oc¬ 
 curred the defection of the Chicago Tribune from the cause of 
 the Republican party, leaving that party without a representa¬ 
 tive morning paper in the city. Through all his eventful pro¬ 
 fessional and business career he had never failed to take a deep 
 and active interest in national politics, and had aided materi¬ 
 ally in establishing both of the Republican newspapers in Chi¬ 
 cago. In view of this defection, and the approaching Presi¬ 
 dential campaign, he decided to found a first-class metropolitan 
 newspaper, that should be a powerful representative and advo¬ 
 cate of the principles of the Republican party. He accordingly 
 constructed a building in the rear of his residence, put in the 
 necessary fixtures, engaged his editorial corps, and on March 
 2oth, 1872. issued the first number of the Inter Ocean. This 
 paper proved a success, and now has a larger weekly circulation 
 than any other political paper west of the Alleghanies. The 
 paper, outgrowing its limited accommodations, was removed to 
 its present commodious quarters, 117 Lake St. But this enter¬ 
 prise brought upon him the most malignant and slanderous 
 attacks from a rival press, which were followed up with such 
 persistence and ferocity, as to injure both his individual credit, 
 and that of the moneyed institutions with which he was con¬ 
 nected. It remains to be said that, after the splendid success 
 of a lifetime. Mr. Scammon has become seriously involved, in 
 consequence of his great losses by tires, his immense expendi- 
 
J. YOUNG SCAM MON. 
 
 31 
 
 ture in rebuilding, and the loans and assistance lie rendered 
 others -who were rebuilding. He has suffered from four con¬ 
 siderable conflagrations within the last four years; and, what is 
 remarkable, his fine residence and surrounding buildings have 
 been twice swept away; first in the great fire of 1871, and again 
 in the great fire of .July, 1874, and in both instances his premises 
 were the last ones burned, while adjoining buildings, that were 
 not so well protected, escaped unharmed. 
 
 He is now quietly engaged in the settlement of his affairs, 
 and in the practice of his profession as a lawyer in Chicago. 
 Mauy of the public institutions of the city owe their origin to 
 him. He was one of the founders of the Chicago Academy of 
 Sciences, and of the Chicago Astronomical Society. He was the 
 first of the Swedenborgian or New Churchman in Chicago, and 
 one of the original founders of the Illinois Association of that 
 Church. He organized the Church of the New Jerusalem in 
 Chicago, lie was the first layman of prominence to favor the 
 practice of homoeopathy in Chicago, and built and conveyed 
 free to the Hahnemann Homoeopathic Society a commodious 
 hospital. The Dearborn Tower of the edifice of the Chicago 
 University, in which is placed one of the largest refracting 
 telescopes in the world, was built at his expense, and the salary 
 of its director paid by him till the great fire of 1871. On his 
 return from Europe in 1860, he was elected one of the trustees 
 of the University, anil has been for many years Vice-President 
 of its Board of Trustees, and the acting President of the same. 
 
 As a lawyer, banker, and editor, he has achieved distinguished 
 success, and is a man of large literary and general culture. His 
 private character has been one of moral and religious worth- 
 Mr. Scammon is an industrious, energetic man, of robust consti¬ 
 tution, and vigorously employing the powers which have in 
 times past reaped wealth for him; and there is still prospect 
 before him of years of honor, usefulness, and fortune. He bears 
 on his shield the words Confide in Domino. 
 
CHARLES WALKER, ESQ. 
 
 [From the Chicago Magazine, March, 1857.] 
 
 The subject of this sketch is a descendent of an old and 
 wealthy English family of some note, who, in Cromwell’s time, 
 were portioned upon the Tweeds and called by the significant 
 name of Borderers; members of which were among the earliest 
 adventurers to this country, for we find mention made of his 
 more immediate ancestors, as settlers in the Eastern part of New 
 England, as early as 1640. 
 
 Col. William W. Walker, the father of Charles, was a native 
 of Massachusetts. His father, who was a noted cattle dealer, 
 at an early day moved his family to Ringe, New Hampshire, 
 from which place Col. Walker emigrated at the age of 21, hav> 
 ing little or no capital, save his trusty axe and that hardy edu¬ 
 cation, which ever characterized the early sons of New England. 
 Admiring the country of Central New York, he located in 
 Plainfield, Otsego County, then but a wilderness. Here he 
 became acquainted with a Miss Lucretia Ferrell, also a native of 
 Massachusetts, whom he subsequently married, and with whom 
 he lived upwards of fifty-five years. Though an Octogenarian, 
 Col. Walker is still in the full enjoyment of all his faculties, 
 having in his life-time filled many important political stations, 
 been prominent and active in the church, ready to lend a help- 
 hand to all worthy benevolent objects, and at the same time 
 secured to himself a competence and the universal respect and 
 esteem of his fellow citizens. 
 
 Charles is the oldest son of William W. and Lucretia Walker, 
 and was born February 2, 1802. The country being new, as we 
 have before stated, his educational advantages were necessarily 
 very limited. To a new log school-house, which a few enter¬ 
 prising farmers had built, the young lad was sent, at the early 
 age of six years, to gain those elementary lessons, which have 
 been turned to such practical account through a long life of 
 usefulness. Inheriting a vigorous constitution, and withal an 
 active and inquiring mind, together with uncommon diligence, 
 he not only performed an unusual amount of manual labor upon 
 his father’s farm, but made most rapid progress in his studies. 
 Improving his advantages to the utmost during three months in 
 the year, he studied with his teacher during the day, and with 
 his parents during the long winter evenings. Though as a boy 
 
CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 33 
 
 among boys in these juvenile days, his vigor of mind and deci¬ 
 sion of purpose was such, that notwithstanding his limited ad¬ 
 vantages, we find he was qualified for, and entered upon, the 
 duties of teacher at the early age of 15 ; and from that time for¬ 
 ward continued in the same vocation during the winter months 
 until he attained his majority, with uncommon success. He 
 may well, we think, look back upon that era of his life, with 
 peculiar pride and pleasure, as he now recognizes the names of 
 many of his old pupils among the distinguished men, of the 
 East and West. While thus engaged, then 18 years of age, he 
 commenced the study of law, but soon found the sedentary 
 habits of that profession not suited to his temperament, with 
 the advice of his physicians lie relinquished that idea and 
 turned his attention to more active pursuits; we next hear of 
 him riding through the country, during the summer months, 
 making purchases of sheep and cattle for his lather. 
 
 At twenty-one, his health being then much impaired, he re¬ 
 solved to enter the mercantile business, and to that end hired 
 himself out to a friend as clerk for a short time, at the very 
 moderate salary of eight dollars per month. It did not, how¬ 
 ever, require a long clerkship for him to become a complete 
 master of that merchant’s method of doing business, and in two 
 months he had fully determined to start in business for himself 
 the following spring. 
 
 In the spring of 1824, with $1350 aggregate capital, compiled 
 of $350 of his own private funds, $500 given him by his father, 
 being in fact his own earnings, and $500 loaned of a neighbor¬ 
 ing farmer, he started for the city of New York, with no letters 
 of credit, reference, or recommendation; and the following 
 May, opened his store upon the economical plan of doing his 
 own work, and soon after made his first purchase of grain. The 
 next spring, when he went East to make liis purchases, he made 
 his first appearance at the Bull’s Head Cattle Yard, New York, 
 where the Bowery Theatre now stands, with a fine drove of fat 
 cattle. By close and judicious management business prospered 
 till 1828. But shipping in the fall of that year a large amount 
 of cheese, butter, and pork, to a southern market, the cheese 
 became damaged at sea. and through the mismanagement of 
 agents, and the misapplication of funds, nearly all the accumu¬ 
 lated fruits of tour years laborious toil were swept away. 
 
 But by attending personally to the sales in New York, and 
 the purchases at home, business nourished till ’32, when a sud¬ 
 den decline in the price of provisions occasioned another heavy 
 loss. But from 1833 to’34, large operations in all the leading 
 products, attended by a steady and gradual rise, brought to a 
 successful termination all his business operations. In the spring 
 of’33, being in New Yift'k, he accidently became a purchaser 
 from a cargo of raw hides from Buenos Ayres, which he was 
 enabled to obtain upon favorable terms; but upon getting them 
 
 n 
 
 o 
 
34 
 
 CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 home, and finding they were somewhat injured and could not 
 be turned into the New York market without serious loss, he 
 hit upon the expedient of manufacturing them into boots and 
 shoes, and disposing of them at the fall Indian payments at 
 Chicago; in the furtherance of which plan, his brother, Mr.. 
 Almond Walker, was in due time sent on, who opened his as¬ 
 sorted stock of guns, boots, shoes, and leather, at Fort Dearborn,, 
 in the autumn of 1834. 
 
 By this adventure his attention was turned toward the West, 
 where he soon saw and appreciated her undeveloped resources; 
 and early the ensuing spring—not twenty-one years ago—he 
 was on his way to this city, with ready means, enlarged and 
 liberal views, an extensive business experience and acquaint¬ 
 ance, in the vigor of manhood, with a widespread and favor¬ 
 able reputation at the East, to unite his fortunes with the desti¬ 
 nies, and contribute his energies to the development of the 
 unknown resources of this then lake shore village. Among his 
 first operations here was the buying of several lots of real es¬ 
 tate, among which was the purchase of John S. Wright, Esq., 
 the corner of Clark and South Water Streets, in connection with 
 Capt. Bigelow, of Boston, and Jones, King & Co., of Chicago, 
 for the sum of $15,000, cash; which was considered by many 
 at that time, a most visionary speculation. Some days subse¬ 
 quent to making this purchase, after reconnoitering in the coun¬ 
 try, he publicly avowed the then bold opinion that Chicago was 
 destined to be the great city of the inland seas, and in test of 
 his faith in this prediction, immediately set about making this 
 city the principal point for his future operations. In May, ’35, 
 while on his way to Chicago, being detained at St. Josephs, 
 there being no regular means of conveyance across the lake at 
 that time, he made several purchases of hides from the flat 
 boats and butchers’ stalls for the Eastern market, to which were 
 subsequently added purchases made in and about Chicago; this 
 shipment, it is believed, is the first ever made from the State of 
 Illinois to any point as far east as Utica or Albany. 
 
 The next year he established business in Chicago with the 
 late E. B. Hurlburt, Esq., under the firm of “Walker & Co.,’ r 
 upon South Water street, for importing implements of hus¬ 
 bandry and household utensils from the East, together with a 
 store of general merchandise, taking in exchange the various 
 products of the West. During this period he was much of the 
 time riding through the country, on horseback, as far north as 
 Green Bay, locating government lands at the Four Lakes (now 
 Madison), Beloit, and other points on the Rock and Milwaukee 
 Rivers. 
 
 The next year came the terrible financial revulsions of '37, 
 when ruin and desolation swept the* whole country, those who 
 sat in the high places of wealth and affluence were drawn irre- 
 sistably into the maelstrom of utter insolvency. Banks, like 
 
CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 35 
 
 business men, came down with a crash, and the depreciation of 
 currency produced ruinous confusion in the mediums of ex¬ 
 change. But Mr. Walker was one of the very few men, exten¬ 
 sively engaged in business, who stood up against the storm; 
 though he had to bring to bear his best energies and most ex¬ 
 pert financial skill, for maturing liabilities pressed hard upon 
 him, and his name was largely endorsed upon the paper of 
 other men; had not his reputation in Eastern commercial circles 
 been of the best character, he would certainly have been 
 swamped with thousands of others. But he found, in this 
 emergency, that the relation he thus held as an important com¬ 
 mercial medium between the merchant and artisan of the East, 
 and the pioneer husbandman of the West, of immeasurable ad¬ 
 vantage. The extensive and favorable business reputation he 
 enjoyed among the leading men and Banks of the East, as well 
 as the confidence of the dealers of the West, enabled him to 
 greatly enlarge his operations. To prevent the necessity of 
 purchasing Eastern drafts at ruinous rates, he adopted the plan 
 of purchasing the products of the country with the depreciated 
 currency of the West, and made his extensive shipments of pro¬ 
 ducts the medium of exchange through which to meet his East¬ 
 ern liabilities. Thus he was enabled to prevent the entire stag¬ 
 nation of business at home, preserve his reputation abroad, and 
 in a few years of almost unprecedented vigilance and activity, to 
 entirely overcome all his embarrassments. 
 
 The next year his firm purchased a few bags of grain of the 
 surrounding farmers, which were sent to his mills in Otsego 
 County, New York; this shipment of wheat, we believe, was 
 the first ever made from Chicago to so Eastern a market. 
 
 During this period, though making Chicago the principal 
 theatre of his labors, he was yet a resident of the State of New 
 York, dividing his time nearly equally between this city, his 
 home in Otsego County; New' York City, and traveling on 
 business. In ’39, the famous struggle between the old Safety 
 Fund, and the so-called Bed Dog, or free banking system, was 
 at its height. As a Representative from his native county he 
 was sent to the Legislature. Carrying with him the same com¬ 
 prehensive and far-seeing views as a legislator, that ever char¬ 
 acterized him as a business man, he was intrumental, in no small 
 degree, in carrying through, though opposed by the grpat pre¬ 
 ponderance of the money power of the State, that deservedly 
 popular system of redemption and exchange, which has since 
 that time been in effect. 
 
 Each succeeding year his business in Chicago continued to 
 increase, so that in 1840, his shipments had so much enlarged, 
 that in the purchase of hides and skins alone, he not only ex¬ 
 hausted his supply of merchandise, but was obliged to bring 
 money from the East. In 1842, he established a partnership 
 with Cyrus Clark, Esq., of Utica, under the firm of Walker & 
 
CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 36 
 
 Clark, for receiving Western produce; to bring himself nearer 
 the chief point of business, he resolved to close out his affars in 
 Otsego County, and in May, 1845, he removed his family to our 
 city. 
 
 In 1847, came the great crisis in the grain trade which car¬ 
 ried down the oldest and best houses in the Union. Though 
 not escaping without some most terrible losses that would have 
 intimidated ordinary men; with a courage undaunted by re¬ 
 verses—with a nerve and will, equal to the emergency, his craft 
 was guided to a safe anchorage from the fearful breakers that 
 engulped his less fortunate competitors; and his tirm continued 
 to hold its position as the leading grain and produce house in 
 the West. 
 
 In 1851, it was found that C. "Walker & Son of Chicago, 
 Walker & Kellog of Peoria, and Walker & Clark of Buffalo, 
 were the largest purchasers of grain from ihe farmers, in the 
 United States. So that the few bags of grain, which in 1839 
 were sent on their eastern journey and the few bushels of 1840, 
 had, in 1851, grown to 1,500,000 bushels. 
 
 At this period a severe attack of that malignant disease, the 
 cholera, destroyed his health and compelled him to leave the 
 financial management of the business to his oldest son, who con¬ 
 tinued the same under the firm of C. 'Walker & Son and C. Wal¬ 
 ker & Sons, till 1855, when he retired from the business alto¬ 
 gether, leaving it to his two sons and others, who continue the 
 same under the firm of Walker, Bronson & Co., prosecuting the 
 business with all the vigor of its founder, this firm have duiing 
 the past year, handled over Jive and a quarter millions of 
 bushels of grain, an amount, we think, which will bear compar¬ 
 ison with that of any other establishment in our own country or 
 in Europe. Mr. Walker retires, we understand, the oldest grain 
 merchant in the Union, having steadily remained in one of the 
 most liazardons speculations in the world over thirty-one years. 
 Acting upon the principle that he who can so cheapen and 
 make efficient the avenues of trade, as to bring the productions 
 of the country so much nearer a market, that the farmer can 
 receive but one penny more the bushel for his grain, brings mil¬ 
 lions to his country,"he feels amply repaid for the great risks 
 he has run; and whatever benefit may have accrued to himself, 
 that he has rendered an ample equivalent to those whom he has 
 served. 
 
 While thus engaged as a pioneer in his own peculiar business 
 he has been none the less efficient in promoting works of public 
 utility. Prominent in all those great schemes which do so much 
 towards developing the resources of the country, he has ever 
 been one of the foremost in opening up and turning to account 
 those great thoroughfares which vein our broad prairies, and 
 wind their deep channels through our hills and valleys, and 
 which, with every throb of animated industry, quicken into life 
 
CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 3 7 
 
 new avenues of trade, turning their accumulated wealth to swell 
 the commercial tide that has so strongly set to the heart of our 
 western metropolis. 
 
 When the Galena Rail Road was recuscitated, in 1847, Mr. 
 Walker was chosen one of its Directors. He entered into the 
 project with all his heart. In its gloomiest days, his faith never 
 faltered; his confidence in the ability of the country to build 
 the road never failed. When it was found that more subscrip¬ 
 tions were necessary, he, as one of a Committee for soliciting 
 additional subscriptions, traversed the country westward, and 
 as fixr north as Beloit, His courage never wavered. When, in 
 its darkest days, at a meeting of the Board, all confidence seemed 
 to have departed from a majority of the Directors, he, with two 
 or three others, remained firm in his confidence that the work 
 would go through without failure. "A Committee of the Be¬ 
 lieving” was appointed to take measures to prevent immediate 
 disaster, composed of himself, J. Young Scammon, Esq , and one 
 other. Their measures were successful; and when, on the return 
 of its President, Mr. Ogden, from New York, it became neces¬ 
 sary that the Directors should become individually liable for a 
 large sum of money, to secure the iron to lay the first divison of 
 the Road; Mr. Walker did not hesitate to be among the fiist to 
 do so; and to the credit of the Board be it said. that, all the 
 Chicago Directors, but one, pledged their individual liability 
 for the progress of the work. Mr. Walker remained in the Di¬ 
 rectory from the first, and took an active part in the construction 
 and management of the Road. 
 
 In Feb., 1856, the enterprise of pushing forward, across Iowa, 
 the counterpart of the Galena Railroad, was projected; and the 
 Chicago, Iowa, and Nebraska Railroad was organized, having its 
 eastern termination at the young and growing town of Clinton, 
 on the western bank of the Mississippi. Of this Company Mr. 
 Walker was one of the main directors and its president. 
 
 During the summer of 1856, he, in connection with others, 
 erected and put in operation, at Beloit, Wis., an excellent paper 
 mill, and a large reaper manufactory; and from a very superior 
 quality of clay, upon his farm in Morris, Ill., commenced the 
 manufacture of “ Green Mountain Ware,” expecting, in time, to 
 supply Chicago and the Northwest with a quality of stoneware 
 equal to any in the United States. He also was largely engaged 
 in farming in the interior. 
 
 The conviction, that he who does the most towards opening 
 up the great channels of trade, so that the poor man’s labor 
 will gain a level with the rich man’s capital, is a practical 
 pliilanthrophist, he was in theory and practice a thorough utili¬ 
 tarian. In private life, a plain man and thoroughly democratic; 
 he recited the incidents of his boyhood and early struggles with 
 a degree of well-earned satisfaction, and none more ready, in 
 every consistant way, with kind words or material countenance 
 
38 
 
 CHARLES WALKER. 
 
 and aid, to cheer onward honest and persevering industry. From 
 the first, a faithful and influential member of the church, and a 
 most exemplary man, we think we do no injustice to any other 
 citizen to say, that while we are frank to concede there are 
 others who have added to themselves greater wealth, to none is 
 Chicago more indebted for her unexampled prosperity than to 
 the late Charles Walker. 
 
 In closing this brief notice of one so highly esteemed, we may 
 fitly add the words of another: ‘‘In the internal improvements, 
 which have done so much to develop the exhaustless resources 
 of the State, in Railroad enterprises, which have poured a flood- 
 tide of wealth and business into our commercial metropolis of 
 the Northwest, in every public work, whose intention and effect 
 was to build up and promote the healthful growth of the City, 
 he has ever been in the foremost rank of public-spirited men. 
 In short, taking into consideration the varied incidents of his 
 active life, his indomitable perseverance and industry, and the 
 financial ability he has exhibited, Mr. Charles Walker has had 
 few equals and no superiors, as a skilful business man and a 
 good citizen.” 
 
THOMAS CHURCH, ESQ. 
 
 By JAMES TAYLOR, Ph. D. 
 
 Author of “Moral and Social Manners,” etc. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There is a laudable craving in the human heart, to know the 
 history of those who have become distinguished, whether such 
 ■distinction is the result of personal merit, or of the peculiar cir¬ 
 cumstances by which they are surrounded. It has been said, 
 that “some are born great, some have greatness thrust upon 
 thembut certain it is that, however favorable circumstances 
 may be, it requires an inherent power to seize, at the right mo¬ 
 ment, the advantages which time and circumstances may offer 
 the enterprising and watchful The life of Thomas Church fur¬ 
 nishes interesting material, in connection with the early settle¬ 
 ment of Chicago, and is a very prominent example of what may 
 be accomplished by a steady perseverance in an honorable course 
 •of industry, integrity, and self-reliance. 
 
 The name of Thomas Church will ever be remembered with 
 xespect and affection by those who knew him best, and were 
 •able to appreciate the many estimable qualities which so well 
 ■fitted him to take an active part in the early settlement of Chi¬ 
 cago, with the interests of which he was identified from the year 
 1834, to the time of his death, on the 25th day of June, 1871. 
 
 The honorable and exemplary life of Thomas Church well 
 deserves a record, which will hand his name to posterity, and 
 keep green the memory of his many virtues, his goodness of 
 heart, and noble aspirations. 
 
 On the front page of the “Family Bible,” as is customary in 
 rural homes, the record of the Church family was kept, from 
 ■which it appears, tha,t Thomas Church was born, in the Town 
 and County of Onondago, in the State of New York, on the 
 8th day of December, A. D. 1800. His father died while Thomas 
 was in his infancy. His mother’s maiden name was Olive Raw- 
 son, who had been bereft of her husband, and afterwards, by a 
 second marriage, became the wife of Thomas Yates, a man of 
 moderate means, but industrious, enterprising, and honorable. 
 In the household of his step-father, young Church was brought 
 up. Mr. Yates was the owner of a distillery, and the boy, Thomas, 
 -was employed in such matters as his strength would permit him 
 
40 
 
 THOMAS CIIURCII. 
 
 to perforin. It was his business to carry, on horseback, the ineaf 
 from the mill, and to assist in clearing a small farm, where they 
 raised wheat for the family consumption. They had three cows,, 
 and a span of horses, with which, when the roads were passable, 
 Mr. Yates used to do teaming, from Albany, for the neighboring^ 
 merchants. The family were in good circumstances, compared 
 with their neighbors. They were very temperate, for Thomas 
 never new but of one pint of rum being sent for, and that was 
 on account of sickness, except, on another occasion, when two 
 quarts of whisky were purchased, when they had a ' logging bee.’ 
 
 When Thomas was twelve years old. the father removed to the 
 town of Benton, Ontario County. From this time he used to 
 assist his mother, and, at times, went to school. He occasion¬ 
 ally did little chores for the neighbors, for pay, and one day 
 earned six and a half cents, for gathering stones from a hay 
 meadow. Small as were these earnings, he had a purse of his 
 own. and was anxious to increase his store. When he was four¬ 
 teen years of age, his parents removed to Bennington, Genesee 
 County, on the border of civilization, and there he practiced a 
 pioneer life, helping to clear, with his two younger brothers and 
 his father, as much land as they were able. Here were spent 
 five years, their home a log house, roofed with split-staves and 
 bark, split and hewed logs for the iloor, and stakes set in auger- 
 holes, wkh a board on them for seats; a broad chimney, funnel- 
 shaped, big end down, plastered within with clay and straw. 
 The manufacture of maple sugar formed a part of their employ¬ 
 ment, and very much interrupted the attendance at school. 
 
 And now occurred one of those events which illustrate on 
 what trifles our destinies depend. A disagreement between 
 Thomas and his step-father took place, as to whether he should 
 have the large or the small knife to cut basket wood. His 
 father told him, that “unless you have everything your own 
 way, you will not, do anything.” This charge was denied, and 
 he was then told; “If he did not like to remain at home, he 
 could leave.” The young man replied: “If I thought you were 
 in earnest, I would jump the bars as quick as you tike.” And 
 upon this he let fall the axe, “jumped the bars,” and left his 
 home. That jump—from home into the world—-was ever re¬ 
 membered as a mighty event. 
 
 And now, launened upon the world without knowing where 
 to go—without money — without friends—with only the clothes 
 he had on—no friends to aid or advise! His thoughts turned to 
 those who were better off, who had the advantages of education, 
 wealth, parents, kind friends that would help them. He envied 
 those who had learned a profession or trade. He stood alone— 
 without help—almost without hope! But he had health and 
 youth, and as the first sadness wore away, hope revived, he felt 
 stronger, and resolved that, with an honest purpose, and with 
 the help of God, he would on himself rely; that he would take- 
 
THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 41 
 
 no step backward, and lie hurried on to seek employment. 
 About three miles from his home, he engaged to tend a mason 
 for two weeks, for which he was to receive twelve bushels of 
 wheat and six York shillings in money. The man he had 
 worked for was a miller. There came to the mill a brother of 
 young Church, with a grist. Thomas told him that he had 
 twelve bushels of wheat, for which he could get only thirty- 
 seven and a-half cents a bushel, but he wanted to help pay the 
 clearing, and if his father would send his bags, he could have 
 the wheat. 
 
 The boy soon came back with the bags and got the wheat; 
 but young Church was afraid his father might relent; but he 
 did not. The wheat was gone, and he now had a capital of six 
 York shillings. However, he agreed to work for the same man, 
 Mr. Owen Cotton, for one year, at ten dollars a month, the pay¬ 
 ment to be made as follow's: fifteen dollars in cash, fifteen dol¬ 
 lars in orders on a dry-goods store; half the balance in horn 
 cattle, and the other half in grain, at barter price, viz., fifty 
 cents a bushel, the market price being thirty-seven and a-half 
 cents. In this situation he learned to run a linseed oil mill, a 
 grist mill, and a saw mill; and, as Mr. Cot 1 on was often from 
 home, young Church acted as clerk, sold lumber, grain, and oil, 
 and often went with produce to the neighboring towns and 
 exchanged it for raw material. Thus he gained some knowledge 
 of trade, improved his education, and saw a little of the world. 
 He had now made the acquaintance of Miss Rachel 'Warmer, 
 and this inspired his ambition. Times improved, money became 
 more plenty, and he exchanged his cattle and grain with Mr. 
 Cotton for a little farm. He worked another year, during which 
 time he sold the farm for cash, and, at the end of his term, he 
 again agreed to work for six months for the sum of sixty 
 dollars. 
 
 At the expiration of the two and a-half years, he had $227.00 
 in cash, and a new suit of clothes. Rachel waited, and, in 1823, 
 they were married. 
 
 With new responsibilities, new plans were laid, and often 
 thrown aside; but, ultimately, it was concluded to buy a small 
 farm, and establish a home. With this view, Mr. Church went 
 to Chatauque county, selected and bought a small piece of land, 
 built a cabin on it, and then returned home on foot, by the way 
 of Buffalo. There he was overtaken by a snow-storm, and de¬ 
 tained one whole day. This delay was the cause of a radical 
 change in all his plans. 
 
 Buffalo was then a village of 2500 inhabitants, and Mr. 
 Church did not know any one. He had heard, however, 
 of an acquaintance of his cousin, and this man he sought 
 out. He found him keeping a little store, and as busy as a 
 beaver, notwithstanding the bad weather. While sitting in the 
 store, the idea occurred to him, Why cannot I do something of 
 
42 
 
 THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 this kind? And this thought occupied him during the remain¬ 
 ing walk home of thirty miles. Of course, his wife was con¬ 
 sulted. Her advice was — “Go to Buffalo — if your heart is set 
 upon this enterprise, it will be successful.” To Buffalo accord¬ 
 ingly they went, in February, 1824, leased a spot of ground, 
 and erected on it a small store and dwelling. When a stock 
 of goods had been laid in, their money was exhausted, and 
 customers were anxiously looked for. The first sale amounted 
 to three cents. A one dollar bill was presented, and taken, 
 and ninety-seven cents in silver given in exchange. Woful to 
 relate — the bill proved to be on a broken bank! This mishap 
 was a source of much self-reproach, that he should have taken a 
 young wife to a strange place, locked up all his means in a 
 business he knew nothing about; and here was a pretty begin¬ 
 ning. — He did not tell his wife for some time. A bank note 
 detector was now purchased, and soon matters began 10 mend. 
 The venture proved successful. Trade increased; and the first 
 year Mr. Church cleared $200, This was probably one of the 
 pleasantest years of his life. It was his first venture in business, 
 and the first year of his married life. All things prospered 
 with him; and he had good reason to look forward to a success¬ 
 ful business career, and a happy domestic life. 
 
 They remained ten years, during that time the lot he had 
 ■occupied had grown in value, from $150 to $4000. In fact, 
 Buffalo had become a city, competition came in, and it was this 
 ■suggested a removal further west. 
 
 In the spring of 1834, Mr. Church embarked with his effects 
 on board of a small schooner, bound for Chicago. Ever since 
 1832, when Gen. Scott’s army had returned from the Black 
 Hawk war, reports had been circulating of the great fertility 
 of the soil of Illinois, and of the advantages which Chicago 
 would offer to the adventurous settler. Congress, too, had 
 made an appropriation of land to the State for the purpose of 
 -constructing a canal from Chicago to the Illinois river. 
 
 Far-seeing men discerned in this great enterprise an un¬ 
 broken chain of water communication between the Mississippi 
 and the great lakes, a sure prognostic of the future develop¬ 
 ment of Illinois, and a bright harbinger of the brilliant destiny 
 in store for her. Mr. Church himself was not insensible to 
 these great advantages, although he, in common with the early 
 settlers of Chicago, had no idea of the rapidity of the future 
 growth of the city. It was supposed, too, that Congress would 
 soon make an appropriation for the improvement of the harbor 
 at the mouth of the Chicago river. 
 
 The schooner on which Mr. Church had embarked, arrived 
 at Chicago on the second day of June, 1834, and anchored 
 about three-quarters of a mile outside of the mouth of the river. 
 .No vessel had as yet jiassed over the bar into the river. The 
 passengers came ashore in boats, and landed their goods in the 
 
THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 43 
 
 same way. We may mention here, that the first vessel that 
 entered the Chicago river was the schooner Illinois, Capt. Pick¬ 
 ering. This adventurous officer succeeded in passing the bar 
 in safety in the fall of 1834. It was considered, as indeed 
 it was, quite a feat, and an epocli in the history of the State. 
 That night a jubilee was held in the cabin of the schooner, at 
 which plenty of champagne was drunk, toasts given, and 
 speeches made. 
 
 There were about four hundred people in Chicago on Mr. 
 Church’s arrival, besides the garrison at Fort Dearborn, which 
 embraced 200 U. S. troops. The business of the place was all 
 done on Water street. Mr. Church endeavored to buy a lot 
 there, but was unsuccessful. The land called canal lands was 
 principally owned by the State. Individuals who owned lots 
 would not sell them. Individuals claiming the canal lands by 
 possession, designated their claim by having a stick of timber 
 or an old stove on it, and asked $500 or $600 for their right 
 of possession. But speculation in lands was not what Mr. 
 Church came to Chicago for. He desired to get into business, 
 and wished at least to own the property on which he lived. 
 He succeeded, finally, in purchasing two lots. Nos. Ill and 
 113 Lake street, for $250 each, and immediately erected a 
 store and dwelling house on the property, 20 by 40 feet, and 
 two stories high. There were few or no regularly traveled 
 streets in Chicago at that time. The travel from the Fort to 
 the branching of the river was along the river bank and on 
 some ridges that crossed ravines leading to the stream. Mr. 
 Church’s store was the first one built in Chicago fronting on 
 Lake street. Mr. J. K. Botsford had built a store on Dearborn 
 street a little while before, the end of which reached to Lake 
 street:—but at that time there were not enough houses built 
 to give direction to Lake street. In building his house, Mr. 
 C.’s greatest difficulty was to get assistance enough. After buy¬ 
 ing a raft of timber in the river, he had to get it sawed by hand 
 into joists and rafters, in the same manner that ship-timber 
 is sawed. The frame being prepared, a derrick was rigged, 
 and the frame raised to its place by a pair of oxen. His weather 
 boards were brought from the Wabash country, by what were 
 called “ prairie schoonerswagons drawn by five or six yoke of 
 oxen. This land voyage occupied several days, the crew taking 
 their provisions with them, and camping out at night. After 
 selling out their cargo and part of their oxen at Chicago, they 
 would take on board a return load of salt, groceries, or dry 
 goods, and ‘set sail’ for home again. A great deal of Mr. Church’s 
 early trading was done with the captains of these prairie schoon¬ 
 ers. They continued their trips till the march of civilization 
 rendered them no longer necessary. 
 
 In the spring of 1835, Mr. Church went to Buffalo for a stock 
 of goods. It took five days to get to Detroit by stage. Send- 
 
44 
 
 THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 ing his goods by lake, lie returned by way of Detroit and Mich¬ 
 igan City. There was no regular wagon road, and all vehicles 
 ran along on the beach of the lake. It took two days to come 
 from Michigan City to Chicago. There were fourteen passen¬ 
 gers on this trip. A lady and two gentlemen rode on the top 
 of a wagon loaded with baggage. The other eleven passengers 
 walked on before. The lady was Mrs. John S. C. Hogan, wife 
 of the then postmaster at Chicago. Her husband, and Mr. JonN 
 L. Wilson, afterwards Sheriff of Cook county, were also in the 
 party. 
 
 On arriving home, Mr Church found that his goods had got 
 there before him. During his absence, James Whitlock, Esq.. 
 Register, and Col. E. D. Taylor. Receiver of the General Land 
 Office, had been negotiating with his wife for the preparation 
 of a building for the use of the office, and she had agreed with 
 them that, on his return, Mr. Church would fit up and furnish 
 two rooms, in the upper story of his store, for their purpose. 
 He immediately hired the necessary assistance arid set about the 
 fulfilment of the contract. The rooms were finished by the 
 first day of June, 1835, and the land sales of that year immedi¬ 
 ately commenced. The attendance of buyers was very large 
 and the bidding quite spirited. The purchasers stood out on 
 Lake street in front of the land-office, and the constant tramp¬ 
 ing of such a crowd made the place very muddy. To obviate 
 this, and to give the public a dry place to stand, Mr. Church 
 caused a large quantity of gravel to be brought from the lake 
 shore, and spread daily over the street. 1'he receipts from the 
 sales of land in two weeks were over half a million of dollars. 
 Mr. Church’s profits on the goods sold at the same time and 
 for three weeks thereafter, five weeks in all, was $800. The 
 next spring, Mr. Church built an addition to his store, making 
 it one hundred and eighty by twenty feet, and replenished it 
 with a fresh stock of goods. In the year 1838, his retail sales 
 for cash amounted to over $41,000. That year, and the preced¬ 
 ing, was a hard year with merchants generally. The great com¬ 
 mercial smash up of 1837 had shaken the country to its remot¬ 
 est extremities, and even Chicago felt its disastrous effects. 
 
 There are some very interesting incidents connected with Mr. 
 Churc 's early experience of merchandising in Chicago. In 
 1837, he purchased at one time seventy-five tons of goods, the 
 freight on which, from New York to Buffalo alone, was $1100. 
 Late in the fall of 1837, sugar was very scarce here, and Mr. 
 Church went to St. Louis, bought a large quantity, and had it 
 re packed in barrels. This was necessary, as it had to be trans¬ 
 ported in wagons from Ottawa here, ai d* the roads being none 
 of the best, there was some danger that the teamsters might 
 get stuck in the sloughs. In case this accident should happen, 
 they could roll the barrels to terra, firma. This lot of sugar cost 
 eight and three fourth cents per pound in St. Louis, and it sold 
 
THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 45 
 
 here at the rate of six pounds for a dollar. It was customary to 
 buy everything by the dollar’s worth. The smallest change in 
 money was a half dime. Sixteen of these, or eight dimes, 
 passed for a dollar. 
 
 It was about this time that a change took place in the business 
 of Chicago. Instead of importing all articles of necessity, Chi¬ 
 cago now began to export provisions. Chicago merchants, too, 
 now began to give credit to dealers in the country, to buy their 
 produce, to borrow money on warehouse receipts, and to appoint 
 foreign agents to do their business for them. Mr. Church, 
 however, did not engage in this branch of traffic, but added to 
 his other importations, paints, glass, oils, iron, and domestic dry 
 goods. In 1840, lie moved his old store, and built a forty feet 
 front, fire-proof brick building on Lake street, Nos. Ill and 
 113, and moved his goods into it, taking into partnership his 
 best clerk, Mr. M. L. Satterlee, late of the firm of Satterlee, 
 Cook & Co. 
 
 After a successful business of three years, Mr. Church bought 
 out Mr. Satterlee, and this partnership was dissolved, in 1843, 
 when Mr. Church disposed of his interest in the store, and in¬ 
 vested his means, which were now considerable, in the purchase 
 of real estate. In his transactions in real estate, he was as for¬ 
 tunate as in his mercantile career. One of the predominant 
 traits in his character, though not the ruling one, was caution. 
 He was never disposed to embark in hazardous undertakings; 
 but he has uniformly succeeded in whatever he has undertaken. 
 
 An estimate of Mr. Church's property, on retiring from mer¬ 
 chandising, showed a clear value of $37,000, and this was the 
 result of twenty years’ prudent enterprise, during whioli time 
 he never was embarrassed to meet his engagement, and has 
 always paid one hundred cents on the dollar, and never had a 
 law suit which required the argument of an attorney. 
 
 Mr. Church now invested his means in real estate, having 
 gained, by experience, a knowledge of the rapid rise in value; 
 and so successful were his investments that, in the year 1856, 
 his interest and rents amounted to $10,000; and, in 1857, to 
 double that amount. The property was estimated, January, 
 1857, at $300,000, and his income $32,554.50 per annum. The 
 havoc of panics lias rendered these estimates subject to great 
 vicissitudes; but, like the receding wave of the flood-tide, the 
 rise of the reflux exceeds the depression, and an advance is 
 maintained. 
 
 The rise in the value of land in Chicago, commenced at an 
 early day. In 1830 or 1831, twenty feet ot ground on Lake st., 
 west of, and adjoining No. 113, sold for $7. In 1834, the same 
 ground was sold for $250. In 1836, it was sold for $8000, it 
 having then a building on it not worth over $2000. It is now 
 worth or $1500 per foot, the snug little sum of $30,000. 
 
 In June, 1836, the great Canal sale commenced, and a large 
 
46 
 
 THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 amount of canal lands were sold. The terms were, a quarter 
 down, and the balance in one, two, and three years, with interest 
 on the deferred payments at six per cent, in advance. That 
 was all, however, that was ever paid, as a few years afterwards 
 the State compromised with the purchasers, giving them one- 
 half of the whole quantity of the land for the one-quarter of 
 the price which they had paid. In 1838, the State offered their 
 lands on twenty years time, ten per cent, of the purchase money 
 down, and six per cent, interest for the balance. They took in 
 payment, too, State Stock, which was then depreciated to'such 
 an extent that tliirty dollars of it could be bought for ten dol¬ 
 lars. Such an opportunity to invest money profitably in lands 
 has never occurred since; but at that time nobody wanted to 
 buy, for there was very little money in circulation. In 1839, at 
 the Fort Dearborn sales, lots on Michigan avenue were pur¬ 
 chased at a little over $1 per front foot, lots of 48 feet front 
 selling at $51. The same lots are now worth forty thousand 
 dollars. Since that date, land has been steadily increasing in 
 value. 
 
 In the summer of 1834, the first Tremont House was built on 
 the north-west corner of Lake and Dearborn streets. It was 
 burned down in 1839, that being the first large fire that had 
 ever happened in Chicago. Mr. Ira Couch immediately built 
 the second Tremont House on the site of the present edifice, 
 and kept it till it too, was burned down in 1849. In the fall 
 of 1849, Mr. Couch erected another noble structure. It was 
 called by the croakers at first “Couch’s folly ” in derision, some 
 persons thinking it much too large for a place like Chicago. 
 But immense as it is, it has been thronged with guests, and its 
 popularity is increasing every year. In 1871, the Tremont 
 House was again ravaged by the flames, and is again rebuilt in 
 a style still more magnificent. 
 
 Mr. Church, notwithstanding his close attention to business, 
 his active mind and benevolent disposition has always led 
 him to the discharge of his duty as a citizen; active in the pro¬ 
 motion of whatever would benefit the interests of Chicago, he 
 felt a pride in its rapid progress. For eight or nine years, Mr. 
 Church was city assessor of the south division, and also Com¬ 
 missioner for the opening of streets and alleys, for the partition 
 of real estate, and in awarding widow’s dower; for the planking 
 and paving of streets, and for appraising the damages and bene¬ 
 fits arising from the establishment of lines of wharfage and 
 dockage on the river. In the entire course of his official con¬ 
 duct, requiring the making of maps of subdivisions of the city, 
 and placing the abstract titles on record, we have not heard 
 of a single mistake, or a single complaint of unfairness or 
 partiality. 
 
 In 1849, Mr. Church was nominated for mayor of the City of 
 Chicago, by the Whig party, but w T as defeated. 
 
THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 47 
 
 On the organization of the Fireman’s Insurance Company, Mr. 
 Church was elected president, and filled the office with great 
 credit, commanding the respect and esteem of his brother di¬ 
 rectors. As a token of their respect, in 1863, they presented 
 Mr. Church with a handsome gold watch; value, $250. The 
 character of Mr. Church is too well known to require eulogy, but 
 the object of a biographical sketch is to hand down to posterity 
 the record he has made with his cotempories. 
 
 In 1854, when the cholera raged in our midst with such 
 alarming fatality—when the angel of death held high revel 
 in our streets—when strong men and little children alike 
 were stricken down on every side — when medical skill and 
 the tenderest care were unavailing to stay the progress of 
 the plague or to snatch its victims from its deadly grasp—when 
 all business was paralyzed and when hundreds were fleeing 
 from the pestilence, Mr. Church remained at home, discharged 
 his usual duties, and ministered to the wants of the sick around 
 him. He was not alone in this. Many others of our citizens, 
 like him, devoted themselves to the noble work of alleviating 
 the sufferings they could not prevent. 
 
 Successful in his pecuniary circumstances, Mr. Church was 
 not less prosperous in his domestic relations. He was happy 
 in his first marriage, in the possession of the choice of his heart’s 
 first affections; in whom he found a congenial help in his early 
 struggles, and a companion in his early successes. To her was 
 born five children, two of whom survive and are married to very- 
 estimable gentlemen now living in Chicago. In April, 1839, 
 Mrs. Church died, which was the cause of great affliction to her 
 liusband and family. His two children were deprived of a 
 mother’s fostering care, and his happy home had become deso¬ 
 late. Hired help can not supply the place of parental affection, 
 and, for a time, there was sorrow in that dwelling. 
 
 In the fall of the same year, at the sick-bed of a neighbor, 
 Mr. Church accidentally met Mrs. Rebecca Pruyne; knowing 
 that she had no other interest than a neighborly sympathy, he 
 thought it a manifestation of a kind heart, and btcame favorably 
 impressed. She was a lady of comely appearance, respectably 
 connected, was the widow of the late Peter Pruyne Mr. Pruyne 
 was senator of this State, and Rebecca was daughter of S. W. 
 Sherman, of this city. She had one child. Mr. Church had 
 two children; it was a legal proportion, she was entitled to hex' 
 thirds. This casual meeting ripened into an acquaintance, and, 
 ultimately, into a mutual sympathy and attachment, and, in. 
 November, 1839, they were married. The alliance proved 
 mutually satisfactory, and, as their pecuniary circumstances were 
 ample for their moderate habits, they had only to seek happi¬ 
 ness in the rational enjoyments suited to their tastes. Their 
 quiet of home life, they diversified by travel; they visited the 
 homes of their early youth, and gratified themselves in again 
 
THOMAS CHURCH. 
 
 48 
 
 viewing the scenes with which their affections and memories 
 were entwined. These travels were extended to many places 
 of interest. Mr. Church was, in the meantime, carrying on his 
 enterprises in real estate, building largely, and watching with 
 great interest the progress of the city, until June, 1871, when, 
 after a short illness, lie died, fegretted by a large circle of 
 friends. Obituary notices were published in the daily press, 
 and the directors of the Firemen’s Insurance Company passed 
 the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved -^That the news of the death, on Sunday evening, 
 of our first and only president, Thomas Church, fills our hearts 
 with sorrow, and is an event greatly to be deplored. 
 
 Resolved —That his death is not only a loss to this company, 
 but to the community in which he has so long honorably and 
 exemplarily lived. 
 
 Resolved —That we will, in a body, attend his funeral, and 
 that we extend to his family our sympathies, and that these 
 resolutions be spread upon the records of the company, of which 
 he has so long been an honored and useful president. 
 
 Mr. Church was a large and fine looking man, of plain and un¬ 
 affected manners, and modest and retiring in his deportment. 
 We are not informed whether or not he was connected with any 
 religious society, but from our personal knowledge of his char¬ 
 acter, we should pronounce him to be Christian at heart and in 
 practice, whether he was so in name or not. He was one of our 
 wealthiest citizens, but he was esteemed and respected far more 
 for his estimable qualities, for his sound good sense, for his 
 active usefulness, and for his quiet and unostentatious benevo¬ 
 lence, than for the adventitious glare of mere wealth. 
 
 Although part of the present sketch was in type before it was 
 submitted to the present editor, he has been permitted a sight 
 of an autobiography of the late Thomas Church, It is replete 
 with very interesting matter bearing upon the history of Chi¬ 
 cago during nearly forty years of close observation. These 
 observations will form invaluable material in preparing a his¬ 
 tory of Chicago, but are too lengthy to be even glanced at in 
 this sketch we extract the following: ‘-I feel very grateful and 
 thank a divine Providence for the good and kind husbands that 
 our daughters have. They are thrifty, industrious, and good 
 providers for their families. The eldest, Geo. A. Ingalls, is a 
 lawyer; the second, Epliram Ingals, is a doctor; the youngest, 
 S. D. Kimbark, is an iron merchant. Neither of them use pro¬ 
 fane language, or tobacco, and are quite temperate. 1 hey all 
 came home last Thanksgiving-day, each brought their eldest, 
 child, and I believe the arrangement is, that on next Tlianks- 
 giving-day, our extension-table is to be spread so as to admit 
 three more little ones. I feel proud of our boys, and have reason 
 to hope that they will continue in well-doing; remain good 
 men, good husbands, and good fathers!” 
 
FERGUS' 
 
 CHICAGO PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 I . 
 
 ANNALS OF CHICAGO: a Lect¬ 
 ure delivered before the Chicago Lyceum, Jan. 
 21 , 1840. liv Jos i- i>ii X. I!\i kstikr. Esq., 
 Republished from the original edition of 1840, 
 with an Introduction, written by the author in 
 1876; and, also, a Review of the Lecture, pub¬ 
 lished in the Chicago Tribune in 1872. Price, 
 25 cents. 
 
 2 . 
 
 FERGUS’DIRECTORYOFTHE 
 
 CITY OF CII 1 CAOO, 1839; with City and 
 County Officers, Churches, Public Buildings, 
 Hotels, etc.; also, list of Sheriffs of Cook 
 County and Mayors of the City since their or¬ 
 ganization : together w ith Poll-List of the First 
 City Election, (Tuesday. May 2d. 1837); and. 
 also. List of Purchasers of Lots in Fort Dear¬ 
 born Addition, the No. of the Lots and the 
 Prices Paid (1S39). Compiled by Roreri 
 E'KKl: fs. Price, 50 cents. 
 
 3 . 
 
 THE LAST OF THE ILLINOIS, 
 
 AM) A SKETCH OF THE POTTAWA- 
 bOMlES: Read before the Chicago Historical 
 Society. December 13th, 1870; also, 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES: Read before 
 the Ottawa Academy of Natural Sciences. De¬ 
 cember 30th, 1869. by Hon. John Dean 
 Caton, I.L.D., late Chief-Justice of Illinois. 
 Price. 25 cents. 
 
 4 . 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 HIE FARIA MOVEMENT IN ILLI¬ 
 NOIS FOR dill-: LEGALIZATION OF 
 SLAVERY: Read at the Annual Meeting of 
 the Chicago Historical Society, December 5, 
 1S64. Bv lion. Wm. II. Brown, E.\-Presi¬ 
 dent of the Society. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 5 . 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETC) 
 
 OF SOME OF THE EARLY si. Cl 
 OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. I 
 contains Sketches of Hon. S. 1 isle Smitl 
 Davis. Dr. Philip Maxwell, John J. 
 Richard 1 .. Wilson. Col. Lewis C. Ker 
 Uriah P. Harris, Henry’ B. Clarke, and 
 Samuel J. I .owe. By Wm. II. Btsi 
 Price, 25 cents. 
 
 6 . 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETC1 
 
 OF SOME OF THE EARLY SETT 
 OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. P 
 contains Sketches of Wm. II. Brown, F 
 \\. Raymond, Esq., J. Y. Scammon, 
 Chas. Walker, Esq.; Thomas Church 
 Price, 25 cents. 
 
 7 . 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO: A I.ectm 
 
 livered in the Sunday Course, at McCoi 
 Hall, May 7th, 1876. By Hon. John ' 
 worth. With portrait. Price, 35 ccnl 
 
 8 . 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO: A Lectiir 
 
 livered in the Sunday Course, at Met 01 
 Hall, April 11, 1S75. With additional 1 
 never before published. By lion. John \ 
 worth. Price, 35 cents. 
 
 9 . 
 
 PRESENT AND FUTl 
 
 PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO: An 
 delivered before the Chicago Lyceum, J: 
 1846. By Henry Brown, Esq., Am 
 
 “1 listorv of Illinois." 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHIC 
 
 An Address delivered before the CYn 
 Library Association, March 21. 1876: 
 James A. Marshai.e, Esq. ] 
 
 CHICAGO IN 1836: "STRANGE E 
 DAYS.” By Marru r Martini \r, 
 of “Society in America.” Price, 25 o< 
 
 Sent by Mail on receipt of price, by the Publishers, 
 
 Fergus Printing Co., 244-8 Illinois Street, Chic 
 
EARLY CHICAGO 
 
 A LECTURE, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY, 
 
 a t McCormick hall. 
 
 On Sunday Afternoon, May 7 m, 1 S 76 , 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. John IVent worth, 
 
 I.ATE EDI TOR, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR OF THE “CHICAGO 
 DEMOCRAT,” THE FIRST CORPORATION NEWSPAPER; 
 
 MEMBER OF CONGRESS FOR THE CHICAGO 
 DISTRICT FOR TWELVE YEARS; TWO TERMS MAYOR; 
 
 AND A SETTLER OF 1836. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 244-8 ILLINOIS STREET. 
 
 1 87(5. 
 

qn.3i 
 
 to 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 One year ago, I gave a lecture at this place, as I then 
 ■stated to yon, “with a view of exciting among our people 
 a spirit of historical research which would result in recov¬ 
 ering lost newspapers and documents, and placing upon 
 record the experiences of our early settlers.” I had no 
 ambition to figure as a lecturer, or as a historian. I waited 
 until the regular lecture course was finished. The pro¬ 
 ceeds were given with pleasure to the Committee for the 
 employment of men more at home in the lecture field, as 
 the proceeds of this lecture will be,—such men as pass six 
 months in preparing one, two, or three lectures, and pass 
 the next six months in delivering them. As this is their 
 sole means of living, it is right that they should be well 
 paid for them; and it is one of the noble objects of this 
 Association to furnish you, at an hour when you have no 
 worldly pursuits nor religious entertainments, for ten cents, 
 what other people on a week-day pay from fifty cents to 
 a dollar for. 
 
 I can think of no other object that would have brought 
 me before you with a written lecture. I felt that the duty 
 peculiarly devolved upon me, and I performed it with 
 pleasure. There are scarcely half a dozen persons, habit¬ 
 uated to public speaking, who were here before the city 
 Avas incorporated. I was sole conductor of a public press 
 for twenty-five years lacking a few months. It seemed 
 proper that I should lead off in this important matter. 
 
 The Chicago Democrat was commenced on the 26th of 
 November, 1833, by the late John Calhoun, whose Avidow 
 now resides in this city. Augustine D. Taylor, now living 
 in this city, saw the press landed; and Walter Kimball, 
 noAv living in this city, Avas a visitor in the office, and saw 
 the first number printed. That paper fell into my hands 
 in November, 1836, and contained not only a history of 
 current events, but also a vast amount of information 
 touching the early history of the entire Northwest. It is a 
 
4 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 sad reflection that the same fire which swept away my files, 
 also swept away those of everyone else, and all our public 
 records. But there are copies of the Chicago Democrat 
 scattered all over the Northwest, as well as of other papers 
 and documents that will be of service in restoring our lost 
 history. No person should destroy any papers or docu¬ 
 ments of a date prior to the fire. If there is no one who 
 wants them, let them be sent to me, and 1 will take care 
 of them until our Chicago Historical Society becomes 
 reorganized. Our old settlers are first passing away. 
 Some of the few remaining have very retentive memories, 
 l.et them not be discouraged because they do not remem¬ 
 ber dates. It is events that we want; and by comparing 
 them with other events, the dates of which we know, we 
 can in time obtain tire exact dates of all of them. While 
 so many of our old settlers have passed away, there yet 
 may be remaining among their effects old papers whose 
 value their legal representatives do not appreciate. Many 
 old packages have been given to me, with the remark that 
 they did not see of what use they could be to me. One 
 widow sent me some pieces of newspapers, which the 
 mice had kindly spared, with the remark that she was 
 ashamed to be sending such old trash to any one; but from 
 them facts enough were gathered to save another widow 
 from being swindled out of her homestead. When I lec¬ 
 tured before, it was a matter of dispute what was the name 
 of the first steamboat that ever came to Chicago, and who 
 was the person in command. She came to bring the 
 troops for the Black Hawk War in 1832. and brought the 
 cholera with them. All that was known for a certainty 
 was the place where they dug the pit into which they most 
 unceremoniously plunged the dead bodies. That was 
 remembered because it was the site of the old American 
 Temperance House, northwest corner of Lake street and 
 Wabash avenue; and many old settlers remembered that 
 from the tact that they always passed by the Temperance 
 House on the other side, and so could read the sign. The 
 river and lake water, which we had to drink in those days, 
 was considered unhealthy. I made a statement as to the 
 name of that boat, based upon what 1 considered the best 
 authority. But when I had finished, a gentleman came 
 upon the stage and gave me another name, claiming that 
 he helped fit out the very vessel at Cleveland, and I 
 changed my manuscript to correspond. But-some of the 
 reporters published the statement as I delivered it, and 
 
BY 1 ION - . JOHN WKNT WORTH. 
 
 5 
 
 thus two statements were before the public as given by me. 
 'Thus different persons, anxious to assist me in reestablish¬ 
 ing the landmarks of history, had an opportunity, by quot¬ 
 ing the one statement to provoke discussion by insisting 
 that the other statement was true, when they really did not 
 know any more about the matter than I did, and had per¬ 
 haps consulted only one authority, when I had previously 
 •consulted many. But a lady, in looking over her old 
 papers, found, where she least expected it, a Chicago Dcm- 
 ■ocrat dated March 14, 1861, containing a letter from Capt. 
 A. Walker, giving a history of the whole expedition, show¬ 
 ing that both statements were correct. The United States 
 (iovernment chartered four steamers to bring troops and 
 supplies to Chicago, and their names were the Superior, 
 Henry Clay, William PSnn, and Sheldon Thompson; but 
 the Superior and Henry Clay were sent back when the 
 cholera broke out on board. Capt. Walker says, that when 
 he arrived at Chicago, in July, 1832, there were but five 
 •dwelling-houses here, three of which were, made of logs. 
 There are other old newspapers yet to be found settling 
 •questions equally as interesting. t 
 
 All must admit, that there has been more .said about the 
 history of Chicago, and more important publications made, 
 the past year than ever before. Booksellers inform me 
 that they have had within the past year, a greater demand 
 than in all time before for all works appertaining to the 
 history of the Northwest, and that they have had, all the 
 while, standing orders for such works as are out of print. 
 And it is to encourage a still further research that 1 address 
 you to-day. And, if the result of this year's researches is 
 not satisfactory, I shall feel myself in duty bound to ad¬ 
 dress you again in a year from this time. Many ^iged 
 settlers have thanked me for bringing them into a higher 
 appreciation. One octogenarian lady informs me that, 
 for the past fifteen years, when any young company came 
 to the house, she was expected to leave the room. After 
 my lecture, she said she saw a gentleman approaching the 
 house, anil she left the room as usual. But soon her 
 granddaughter came out anil said, “It is you he wants.” 
 And this was the first gentleman caller she had had for 
 fifteen years. When she entered the room, and he told 
 her he wanted to inquire about early Chicago, she felt as 
 if her youth had come again, and she told the others that 
 it was their time to leave the room. .She said, “He has 
 been to see me six times, and has printed nearly all 1 said, 
 
6 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 and there is not another member of our large family who- 
 has ever said a word that was thought of sufficient impor¬ 
 tance to be printed; and now I am thinking over what I 
 know about early Chicago, and letting the newspapers have 
 it." She observed with great force that the young folks were 
 constantly asking her how she used to get along amid early 
 privations, and she insisted that, if I ever lectured again, I 
 should assert that the early settlers of Chicago were the 
 happiest people in the world, as I believe they were. But 
 a strict regard for the real historical purposes of this lec¬ 
 ture will permit me to allude only incidentally to our early 
 sources of entertainment. 
 
 We are apt to speak of Chicago as a new city. But it is 
 not so, compared with the great mass of other cities in the 
 United States. Take out Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, 
 and New Orleans, and what is there older, in the date of 
 its incorporation, in the West, extending to the Pacific ? 
 But when our city was organized we had no Pacific posses¬ 
 sions, save Oregon Territory, which we then owned in com¬ 
 mon with Great Britain. The future historian of America 
 will not, however, take yito consideration the date of our 
 incorporation. The ancient Romans were in the habit of 
 dating events from the foundation of their city. But “ Urbs 
 condita’' or “ Chicago condita’’ will never be a reckoning 
 point in our city's history. Even in this assembly, there are 
 not as many who know in what year our city was incor¬ 
 porated as in one of our public schools there are children 
 who can spell Melchisedec, notwithstanding modern politic¬ 
 ians have kicked from the public schools the Book that 
 contained the eighth commandment. 
 
 From Washington’s inauguration, in 1789, to Chicago’s 
 first ^layor s inauguration, in 1837, we have but forty-eight 
 years, a period of time that the future historian of America, 
 when speaking of Chicago, will not notice. But a resident 
 of Chicago was not elected to Congress until 1843, and 
 yet he became associated not only with men prominent 
 under every Administration of the United States Govern¬ 
 ment, and many of them born before the inauguration of 
 Washington, but with some born even before the Declara¬ 
 tion of Independence, and two, at least, before the tea was 
 thrown overboard in Boston harbor. John Quincy Adams 
 was born in 1767, and he was accustomed to tell us that 
 among his earliest recollections was that of hearing the re¬ 
 port of the guns at the battle of Bunker Hill. - Benjamin 
 Tappan, Senator from Ohio, was born in 1773. Then there 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 7 
 
 was Henry Clay, Secretary of State while John Quincy 
 Adams was President, United States Senator as early as 
 1S06, Speaker of the House in 1811, born in 1777, nine 
 months after the Declaration of Independence, and one 
 who could collect a larger crowd and disperse it quicker 
 and in better humor than any ether man who ever lived in 
 America. 1 shall never forget my last interview with 
 Henry Clay, and its description is appropriate to the his¬ 
 tory of Chicago. Our harbor was suffering for appropria¬ 
 tions. President Polk had vetoed them all. A change of 
 dynasties had been effected. Millard Fillmore was the 
 acting President, and he was a warm friend of our harbor. 
 It was in the spring of 1851. The Harbor bill had passed 
 the House, and was sent to the Senate at a late day, and 
 the controlling spirits had managed to keep it back until a 
 still later day. The Southern Senators, under the lead of 
 Jefferson Davis, spoke against time, declaring the bill 
 unconstitutional. Clay did all that man could do for us, 
 but in vain. Our bill was talked to death. Clay came on 
 with us to New York City, to take a steamer for New 
 Orleans. As the vessel was about to sail, we went on 
 board to take our leave of him, and we all expressed a hope 
 that the next time he returned home he would go around 
 by the lakes. He replied, “ 1 never go where the Consti¬ 
 tution does not go. Hence I must travel by salt water. 
 Make your lakes Constitutional. Keep up the war until 
 your lake harbors get their deserved appropriations, and 
 then I will come out and see you.” We finally got the 
 Constitution out here, but not until after Henry Clay had 
 paid the debt of nature. 
 
 Then there was John C. Calhoun, Vice-President while 
 John Quincy Adams was President in 1825 ; a member of 
 Congress in 1811 ; Secretary of War when the reconstruc¬ 
 tion of our fort was completed in 1817 ; born in 1782, the 
 year before Great Britain acknowledged our independence. 
 He said his name came once very nearly being associated 
 with Chicago, as the new fort had been completed while he 
 was Secretary of War, and it was suggested that it be called 
 Fort Calhoun. But he did not think it right to change the 
 old name which had been given in honor of Gen. Henry 
 Dearborn, who was Secretary of War when the first fort 
 was built, in 1804. Official documents tell us that, in 
 1803, Capt. John Whistler, then a Lieutenant at Detroit, 
 was ordered here to build the fort, that his troops came by 
 land, and that he, with his family and his supplies, came 
 
8 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 round by the lakes in the United States schooner Tracy, 
 with Dorr for Master. t This probably was the first sail- 
 vessel that ever came to Chicago. I can think of no busi¬ 
 ness that could have brought one here before. This Capt. 
 John Whistler was father of Col. William Whistler, who 
 died in 1863, and was so favorably known by our early 
 settlers, and who was father-in-law of the late Robert A. 
 Kinzie, of this city. 
 
 Besides, there was Judge William W’ilkins, of Pennsyl¬ 
 vania, born in 1779 j Daniel W’ebster, of Massachusetts, 
 born in 1782; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, born in 
 1786; and Judge Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, 
 born in 1789. 
 
 Then there were three men whose names are identified 
 with the history of the West. There was Lewis Cass, born 
 in 1782, appointed, in 1813, Governor of the Northwestern 
 Territory, then embracing Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
 Minnesota, and all west. And William W’oodbridge, born 
 in 1780, appointed in 1-814, Secretary of the same Territory. 
 These gentlemen where walking histories of the Northwest. 
 Then there was Thomas H. Benton, born in 1782, Senator 
 when Missouri was admitted in 1821, who made his first 
 trips to Washington on horseback. Add his knowledge to 
 that of Messrs. W’oodbridge and Cass, and we have a com¬ 
 plete history of the entire W est. Many now before me 
 will remember the patriotic lecture he delivered here in the 
 spring of 1857, upon the approaching crisis to this country, 
 about a year before his death, probably the last lecture ot 
 his life. ” Nor should I fail to mention Gen. Henry Dodge, 
 the Anthony Wayne of his period, born also in 1782, one 
 of the first Senators from Wisconsin. 
 
 A single member of Congress, and the first one elected 
 from Chicago, was associated in Congress with two mem¬ 
 bers who served in President Monroe’s Cabinet, one in 
 President J. Q. Adams’, three in President Jackson's, one 
 in President Van Buren's, five in President Harrison s. four 
 in President Tyler's, four in President Polk s, four in Presi¬ 
 dent Taylor’s, seven in President Fillmore’s, four in Presi¬ 
 dent Pierce s, five in President Buchanan s, and six in 
 President Lincoln’s; embracing a period of American 
 official history from 1817; and some of these men were 
 born before the tea was thrown overboard in Boston 
 harbor. 
 
 For some years after Chicago elected her first member 
 of Congress, the widow of President Madison gave recep- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 9 
 
 tions at Washington, and on the first of January her guests 
 were shown apartments where were suspended dresses 
 which she had worn upon all great occasions, including the 
 receptions of Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and 
 her husband. James Madison was not only a member of 
 the Continental Congress, but also a member of the first 
 Congress under the Constitution, and so continued during 
 the terms of Washington’s Presidency; and was Secretary 
 of State under Mr. Jefferson’s Administration. So this 
 lady had had ample opportunity to know the customs of 
 every preceding period of our Governmental history. Now, 
 if her heirs bring out these dresses for the Centennial (she 
 had no children), the public will be astonished at their 
 remarkably small number, she not having had, in over a 
 quarter of a century, what the wife of the average office¬ 
 holder of these days will have in a single year. 
 
 Then there was the widow of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, 
 the confidant of Gen. Washington in the Revolution, and 
 his Secretary of the Treasury, who was killed in a duel by 
 Aaron Burr. She was born in 1757, and died at Washing¬ 
 ton in 1854. She was soliciting Congress to aid her in 
 publishing her husband’s works. She could tell all about 
 her father, Gen. Philip Schuyler, of the American Revolu¬ 
 tion ; the personal appearance of Gen. Washington and his 
 lady ; and of almost all other public persons of the Revolu¬ 
 tionary period. In fact, when you sent your first member 
 of Congress to Washington, all society was redolent with 
 scenes of the Revolutionary period; and here in our midst 
 were several Revolutionary soldiers; and one, Father 
 David Keniston, who claimed to have been one of the 
 party who threw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor. 
 
 You will excuse me for digressing from the direct pur¬ 
 pose of this lecture if I here state to you, that since I com¬ 
 menced writing it, I have received a letter from an old 
 colleague in Congress, who was born the same year Great 
 Britain acknowledged our independence, 1783, — as it will 
 probably be the last opportunity that many of you will ever 
 have of hearing a letter read from a man now living who is 
 older than our Government; I allude to the Hon. Artemas 
 Hale, of Bridgewater, Mass. He is the oldest ex-member 
 of Congress now living, in his 93d year. Do you want to 
 hear what the veteran says ? 
 
 My health, considering my age, is quite good. But my time for 
 taking any active part in public matters is past. Still, however, I feel 
 a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of our beloved country, 
 
to REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 and am pained to hear of the corruption and frauds of so many of 
 our public men. It appears to me that it is of the highest importance 
 that our circulating medium should have a fixed and permanent value, 
 which it cannot have but by a specie basis. I should be very much 
 pleased to receive a letter from you, with your views of public matters. 
 
 I answered his letter in one word, “Amen 1 ” 
 
 Thus you will see that our history laps so closely upon 
 the Revolutionary period that there is no precise point at 
 which we can say that Chicago began, unless it be in 1832, 
 when the marching of the troops of Gen. Scott to Rock 
 Island, on the Mississippi, called attention to the fertility of 
 the soil and the beautiful locations west of us. We often 
 hear of different men who have done much for Chicago, by 
 their writings, their speeches, or their enterprise. But 1 
 have never heard of a man who has done more for Chi¬ 
 cago than Chicago has done for him. God made Lake 
 Michigan and the country to the west of it; and, when 
 we come to estimate who have done the most for Chicago, 
 the glory belongs first to the enterprising farmers who raised 
 a surplus of produce and sent it here for shipment; and 
 second, to the hardy sailors who braved the storms of our 
 harborless lakes to carry it to market. All other classes 
 were the incidents, and not the necessities, of our embryo 
 city. Chicago is but the index of the prosperity of our 
 agricultural classes. And to this day we hear Chicago 
 mercantile failures attributed to the inability of farmers to 
 get their produce fo market, when the .roads are in a bad 
 condition. If we pass by the impetus given to the agri¬ 
 cultural development of the country west of Chicago by 
 the Black Hawk War of 1832, we must admit that we are 
 passing into the bi-centennial period. What did Chicago 
 know of the Declaration of Independence, the Revolution¬ 
 ary War, the Peace of 1783, or the inauguration of Wash¬ 
 ington, until years afterwards? It is probable that Capt. 
 Whistler, when he came here to build the fort of 1804, 
 brought to Chicago the first information on these subjects, 
 and probably had to employ an interpreter to explain it. 
 It was probably his Chaplain that made the first prayer for 
 the President of the United States and all in authority; 
 and his vessel that first floated' the Stars and Stripes on 
 Lake Michigan. But there were prayers here 200 years 
 ago, and a flag that did not denote our national indepen¬ 
 dence, but French territorial aggrandizement. 
 
 I have used my best efforts to find the earliest recog¬ 
 nition of Chicago by any official authority. Charlevoix 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. I I 
 
 and other French writers make mention of the place, but 
 1 cannot find that the French Government in any way 
 recognized it. After the Canadas were ceded to Great 
 Britain, the whole Illinois country was placed under the 
 local administration of Canada by a bill which passed the 
 British Parliament in 1766, known as the “Quebec Bill;” 
 but there is nothing to prove that the Canadian Govern¬ 
 ment took any official notice of this place. It may be 
 interesting to know what was religious liberty in those 
 days. At the period of the change of Government from 
 the French, under the treaty of Paris, in 1763, Thomas 
 Gage was Commander-in-Chief of the British King’s troops 
 in North America; and in 1764, he issued a proclamation 
 . authorizing the Roman Catholics of Illinois to exercise the 
 worship of their religion in the same manner as they did 
 in Canada, and to go wherever they pleased, even to New 
 Orleans. 
 
 In October, 1778, the House of Burgesses of Virginia 
 created the County of Illinois, appointed John Todd, of 
 Kentucky, Civil Commander, and authorized all the civil 
 officers to which the inhabitants had been accustomed, to 
 be chosen by a majority of the citizens of their respective 
 districts. From this we should infer that there were then 
 settlements somewhere in the State. But I can find nothing 
 of Chicago while we belonged to Virginia. The late Wm. 
 H. Brown, of this city, in a lecture before our Historical 
 Society, in 1865, said: “The French inhabitants of Kas- 
 kaskia, in 1818, the year in which I made.my residence 
 there, claimed that that village was founded in 1707. There 
 were evidences at that time (the remains of former edifices, 
 among them the Jesuit College) that their chronology was 
 substantially correct.” 
 
 In 1788, Gen. Arthur St.Clair became Governor of the 
 entire Northwestern Territory, and was the first man to 
 fill that position. The seat of government for Chicago 
 people was then at Marietta, O. In 1790 he came to 
 Kaskaskia (some writers say Cahokia) and organized what 
 is now the entire State of Illinois into a county, which 
 he named for himself. Besides this there were but two 
 counties in the whole Northwestern Territory—the County 
 of Knox, embracing Indiana, and the County of Hamilton, 
 embracing Ohio. But there is nothing to show that Chicago 
 at that time was known to the civil authorities. Besides 
 consulting all the early writers upon the subject, I have 
 corresponded with all the men in the country who I thought 
 
12 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 would know anything concerning it. And I cannot find 
 anyone who has any authority for stating that there was any 
 official recognition of Chicago until Gen. Wayne’s Treaty, 
 made at Greenville in 1795, in which he acquired title from 
 the Indians to a tract of land, six miles square, at the mouth 
 of the Chicago River, where a fort formerly stood. Green¬ 
 ville is in the southwestern part of Ohio, in Dark County, 
 upon the Indiana State line. There is nothing to show 
 that, at that time, Gen. Wayne came* any farther west, not 
 even as far as Fort Wayne, although he appears to have 
 had the same knowledge of the importance of the position 
 of Fort Wayne as he did of that of Chicago. Why the 
 fort at this place, referred to, was built here, and who built 
 it, I have not been able to ascertain. As the French and 
 Indians were always allies, there is no reason why the 
 French should have built such a fort. It may be that it 
 was built by one of the tribes of Indians to defend the 
 place from some other tribe. But offsetting tradition 
 against Gen. Wayne’s official recognition of a fort here, it 
 may be that there was a mere trading and store-house, sur¬ 
 rounded by pickets. The prevailing impression is that 
 such was the character of all those places called forts prior 
 to the abdication of the French authority. Col. Gurdon S. 
 Hubbard, our oldest living settler, who was here in 1818, 
 favors this idea, and has reminded me of an almost for¬ 
 gotten, but at one time extensively received, tradition, that 
 this old fort, or palisaded trading-post, was on the West 
 Side, upon the North Branch, near where Indiana street 
 now crosses it; and it was erected, or at least was at one 
 time occupied, by a Frenchman named Garie, and hence 
 the tradition that our North Branch river was one called 
 “Garie's River.” 
 
 There was a powerful chief of the Illinois named Chi- 
 cagou, who went to France in the year 1725. The Hon. 
 Sidney Breese, who settled at Kaskaskia in 1818, who was 
 in the United States Senate six years during my service in 
 Congress, and who still honors our Supreme Court, is the 
 best informed man in Illinois history now living. He 
 writes me: 
 
 I know of no authorized recognition of Chicago as a place on this 
 globe, anterior to Wayne’s treaty. 1 have a copy of a map, which I 
 made from one in the Congressional Library, which I found among 
 the papers of President Jefferson, made in 1685 ; in which is a place 
 on the lake shore, about where your city is, marked “Chicagou; 
 and Father Louis Vivier, who was a priest at Kaskaskia in 175 2 ’ ' n a 
 letter to his Superior, says: “Chikagou was a celebrated Indian chief. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 13 
 
 who went to Paris, and the Duchess of Orleans, at Versailles, gave 
 him a splendid snuff-box, which he was proud to exhibit, on his 
 return, to his brother redskins.” 
 
 Some have contended that our city was named from him. 
 But Charlevoix, in his History of New France, gives us 
 that name as early as 1671, in which year, he says, a 
 French voyageur, named Nicholas Perrot, went to Chicago, 
 at the lower end of Lake Michigan, where the Mi am is then 
 were. This was before Father James Marquette came here. 
 
 The treaty of Greenville, at the time considered of no 
 other importance than as settling our difficulties with the 
 Indians, afterwards became a matter of very serious impor¬ 
 tance in the settlement of our difficulties with Great Britain, 
 while the treaty of Ghent was being negotiated, 1814. When 
 the Commissioners met, the Americans were surprised by 
 the British Commissioners demanding the recognition of 
 that treaty as the basis of negotiations as to the western 
 boundary of the United States. The British at first refused 
 to negotiate except upon the basis of that treaty, and in¬ 
 sisted upon the entire sovereignty and independence of the 
 Indian Confederacy. They claimed the Indians as their 
 allies, and considered themselves bound to protect them in 
 their treaty. It will be remembered that the Indians had, 
 for a long time, received annuities from the French Govern¬ 
 ment, and that these annuities were continued by Great 
 Britain after the treaty of cession in 1763; and that, after 
 our independence was acknowledged by Great Britain, the 
 Indians annually sent delegations to Canada to receive 
 these annuities. During the pendency of these negotia¬ 
 tions, it was ascertained that there had been an alliance, 
 offensive and defensive, between the celebrated Chief 
 Tecumseh and the British authorities. After discussing 
 the matter, and finding the Americans peremptorily refus¬ 
 ing to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Indians, the 
 British Commissioners proposed that the United States and 
 Great Britain should exercise a joint protectorate over the- 
 Indians, and consider all the territory not acknowledged 
 to belong to the United States by the treaty of Greenville 
 a embraced within that protectorate. This would have 
 left the six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River 
 in a permanently Indian country. The West would have 
 been situated similarly to Oregon, which was so long held 
 under the joint occupation of Great Britain and the United 
 States; and the final result of the joint occupation would 
 have been the same as in Oregon, a division of the territory; 
 
14 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 a part of it, perhaps including Chicago, being attached, in 
 the end, to the Canadian provinces. The British Commis¬ 
 sioners were so pertinacious on this subject that it was 
 thought at one time that negotiations would have to be 
 given up. And when the British Commissioners finally 
 yielded, the British Government received the bitter curses 
 of the Indians. 
 
 Billy Caldwell, better known in Chicago as Sauganash, 
 who lived here several years after I came here, and was 
 well known to me personally, had been the intimate friend 
 of Tecumseh, and declared that if Tecumseh had been liv¬ 
 ing he would have aroused all the Indians in the Northwest 
 in a general warfare upon the Canadian settlements, in 
 retaliation for what he considered the treachery at Ghent. 
 Caldwell, to the day of his death, insisted that Tecumseh, 
 not long before he was killed, predicted that the British in 
 time would abandon them, and seriously meditated, during 
 the war of 1812, upon going over to the Americans with all 
 his forces. Caldwell was the son of an Irish Colonel in the 
 British army, stationed upon the Detroit frontier, whose 
 name he bore. His mother was Tecumseh’s own sister. 
 He ultimately went to his tribe at the Pottawatomie Reser¬ 
 vation in Shawnee County, Kan., and died there. 
 
 When the Illinois territory was a part of Indiana, our 
 seat of government was at Vincennes. When it was set off 
 from Indiana, in 1809, the whole territory was organized 
 into two counties, St. Clair and Randolph. Judge Breese, 
 whose home was in Kaskaskia in 1818, informs me that his 
 home was never in the same county with Chicago, being in 
 the southern County of Randolph. 
 
 From St. Clair County, what is now Cook County, was 
 set off in the new County of Madison; thence in the new 
 County of Crawford; in 1819, in the new County of Clark: 
 and so little was then known of the northern country, that 
 the act creating Clark County extended it to the Canada 
 line. In 1821, we were set off in the new County of Pike ; 
 in 1823, in the new County of Fulton; and in 1825, in the 
 new County of Peoria. I have not only caused the County 
 records of these counties to be examined, but have also 
 corresponded with their earliest settlers, and I can find 
 no official recognition of Chicago until we reach Fulton 
 County. The Clerk of that County writes me, that the 
 earliest mention of Chicago in the records is the order of 
 an election at the term of the Fulton County Commis¬ 
 sioners’ Court, Sept. 2, 1823, to choose one Major and 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 15 
 
 company officers, polls at Chicago to be opened at the house 
 of John Kinzie. The returns of this election cannot be 
 found, if they were ever made. As the county was organ¬ 
 ized in 1823, this, of course, was the first election under 
 the organization of the county. The same Court ordered, 
 April 27, 1824, that the Sheriff, Abner Eads, be released 
 from paying the money tax collected at Chicago by Rous- 
 ser. In those days the Sheriffs were ex-officio collectors of 
 taxes. The name indicates that our Tax-Collector was 
 then a Frenchman, or a mixed-breed French and Indian. 
 It seems that they had defaulters in those days, as well as 
 now. It would be a gratifying historical fact if we could 
 know how much this man Rousser collected, as showing 
 the financial resources of our population at that time, when 
 all the real estate belonged to the General Government. 
 The numerous followers of this man Rousser have shown 
 their ingratitude to the founder of their sect by their failure 
 to .erect any monument to his memory, or to name after 
 him a street, a school-house, or a fire-engine house. 
 These Rousserites are getting to be a numerous body of 
 men, and their motto is, “Keep what you collect.” One 
 election and one steal are all that the records of Fulton 
 County show for Chicago ! 
 
 The Clerk of Peoria County writes me, that his earliest 
 records commence March 8, 1825. From these records 
 I learn that John Kinzie was commissioned Justice of the 
 Peace July 28, 1825. He was the first Justice of the 
 Peace resident at Chicago. Alexander Wolcott, his son-in- 
 law, and John B. Beaubien, were commissioned Sept. 10, 
 of the same year. 
 
 I have also the assessment-roll of John L. Bogardus, 
 assessor of Peoria County, for the year 1825, dated July 
 25, which is as follows: 
 
 Tax-Payers’ Names. Valuation. Tax. 
 
 1 Beaubien, John B . ....$1000 $10.00 
 
 2 Clybourne, Jonas, . 625 6.25 
 
 3 Clark, John K . 250 2.50 
 
 4 Crafts, John, . 5000 50.00 
 
 5 Clermont, Jeremy, . . . . i . 100 1.00 
 
 6 Coutra, Louis, . . 50 .50 
 
 7 Kinzie, John, . 500 5.00 
 
 8 Laframboise, Claude, . 100 x.oo 
 
 9 Laframboise, Joseph, . 50 .50 
 
 10 McKee, David, . 100 1.00 
 
 11 Piche, Peter, . 100 1.00 
 
 12 Robinson, Alexander, . 200 2.00 
 
 13 Wolcott, Alexander, . 572 5.72 
 
 14 Wilemet [Ouilmette], Antoine, . 400 4.00 
 
i6 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 The entire valuation, land then being not taxable, of all 
 the property in Chicago was $9,047, and the rate was one 
 per cent. But the property of the American Fur Company 
 was assessed to John Crafts, its agent, at $5,000. He was 
 a bachelor, and died the next year, and Mr. Kinzie was 
 appointed in his place. Deducting the American Fur Co.’s 
 assessment, we have only $4,047 as the personal property 
 of Chicago, in 1825, $40.47 as the tax, and thirteen as the 
 number of the tax-payers. 
 
 The clerk sent me a copy of two poll-books used at Chicago 
 —one at an election held Aug. 7, 1826, containing thirty- 
 five names; the other at an election held Aug. 2, 1830, 
 containing thirty-two names; thus showing a decrease of 
 three voters in four years. I will read you the names of 
 our voters in 1826, and you will see that only ten of the 
 fourteen tax-payers in 1825 then voted: 
 
 1 Augustin Banny. [Bannot?] 
 
 2 Henry Kelley. 
 
 3 Daniel Bourassea. 
 
 4 Cole Weeks. 
 
 5 Antoine Ouilmette. 1825 
 
 6 John Baptiste.Secor. 
 
 7 Joseph Catie. 
 
 8 Benjamin Russell. 
 
 9 Basile Displattes. 
 
 10 Francis Laframboise, Sr. 
 
 11 Francis Laframboise, Jr. 
 
 12 Joseph Laframboise. 1825 
 
 13 Alexander Larant. 
 
 14 Francis Laducier. 
 
 13 Peter Chavellie. 
 
 16 Claude Laframboise. 1825 
 
 17 Jeremiah Clairmore [Clermont ? 
 
 18 Peter Junio. 
 
 I will now read you the 
 showing that only three of t 
 then voted : 
 
 19 John Baptiste Lafortune. 
 
 20 John Baptiste Malast. 
 
 21 Joseph I’othier. 
 
 22 Alexander Robinson. 1825 
 
 23 John K. Clark. 1825 
 
 24 David McKee. 1825 
 
 25 Joseph Anderson. 
 
 26 Joseph Pepot. 
 
 27 John Baptiste Beaubien. 1825 
 
 28 John Kinzie. 1825 
 
 29 Archibald Clybourne. 
 
 30 Billy Caldwell. 
 
 31 Martin Vansicle. 
 
 32 Paul Jamboe. 
 
 33 Jonas Clybourne. 1825 
 
 34 Edward Ament. 
 
 2 535 Samuel Johnston. 
 
 names of our voters in 1830, 
 he fourteen tax-payers of 1825 
 
 1 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 2 John B. Beaubien. 1825, 1826 
 
 3 Leon Bourassea. 
 
 4 B. H. Laughton. 
 
 5 Jesse Walker, 
 
 6 Medard B. Beaubien. 
 
 7 John Baptiste Chavellea. 
 
 8 James Kinzie. 
 
 9 Russell E. Heacock. 
 
 10 James Brown. 
 
 11 Jos. Laframboise- 1825, 1826 
 
 12 John L. Davis. 
 
 13 William See. 
 
 14 John Van Horn. 
 
 15 John Mann. 
 
 16 David Van Eaton. 
 
 17 Stephen Mack. 
 
 18 Jonathan A. Bailey. 
 
 19 Alexander McDollo. [McDole?] 
 
 20 John S. C. Hogan. 
 
 21 David McKee. 1825, 1826 
 
 22 Billy Caldwell. 1826 
 
 23 Joseph Thibeaut 
 
 24 Peter Frique. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 1 7 
 
 25 mane jjeauoien. 
 
 26 Laui-ant Martin. 
 
 27 John Baptiste Secor 1826 
 2S Joseph Bauskey. 
 
 2; Mark Beaubien. 
 
 29 Michael Welch. 
 
 30 Francis Laducier, 1826 
 
 31 Lewis Ganday. 
 
 32 Peresh Leclerc. 
 
 It is a remarkable commentary upon the fickleness of our 
 population, that only six of the men who voted in 1826 
 voted in 1830; and these six were half-breeds or Govern¬ 
 ment employes. Father John Kinzie, however, died be¬ 
 tween the two elections, upon the 6th of January, 1828, 
 aged 65. But there were some not voting at the second 
 election, such as the late Archibald Clybourne, his father 
 Jonas, and half-brother John K. Clark, who ended their 
 days with us. The half-breeds and French who did not 
 vote may have been away on a hunting and trading expedi¬ 
 tion. The voters in 1826 seem to have understood their 
 true interest, being dependents upon the fort, as every one of 
 them voted the Administration ticket, John Quincy Adams 
 then being President. If there were ever three men in the 
 United States who electrified the whole country with their 
 fiery denunciations of the military power, they were Presi¬ 
 dent John Quincy Adams, his Vice-President John C. Cal¬ 
 houn, and his Secretary of State Henry Clay. Neither of 
 the three ever forget Gen. Jackson ! It would have seemed 
 malicious, and yet quite pertinent, on the part of the Chicago 
 member of Congress to have asked either of these gentlemen 
 whether it was not a singular fact that, while Mr. Adams 
 was President, the people of Chicago unanimously voted 
 with the fort ! Ninian Edwards for Governor, Samuel H. 
 Thompson for Lieutenant-Governor. Daniel P. Cook for 
 Congressman, the Administration candidates, each received 
 thirty-five votes, being all there were. The much-com- 
 plained-of military power of the present day has never 
 secured a greater unanimity in the colored vote of the 
 South. But four years later, in 1830, when Andrew Jack- 
 son was President, there was a material change in the 
 politics of the place. John Reynolds, the J ackson candi¬ 
 date for Governor, received -twenty-two out of the thirty-two 
 votes cast. Of the six who voted at both elections, and 
 who voted for the Adams candidate in 1826, five voted for 
 the Jackson candidate in 1830 • showing their consistency 
 by each time voting with the Administration, or more 
 properly with the fort. Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash, the 
 nephew of Tecumseh, voted the Jackson ticket; while 
 Joseph Laframboise, a noted Indian chief, stood out and 
 voted against it. Perhaps Gen. Jackson, in some of the 
 
 2 
 
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 18 
 
 early Indian wars, had caused the death of some of Lafram- 
 boise’s relatives or friends. Up to 1848, we had the viva 
 voce system of voting in the State of Illinois. Each man 
 went up to the polls, with or without a ticket in his hands, 
 and told whom he wanted to vote for, and the judges so 
 recorded it. But in those days the masses knew as little 
 whom they were voting for as they do now. For the 
 judges often read off the names of the candidates from the 
 tickets, and the voter would nod his head. There was no 
 chance, however, for stuffing the ballot-box under the viva 
 voce system. It may account for the falling off of the vote 
 between 1826 and 1830, that some persons would not vote 
 the Jackson ticket, and yet disliked to vote against the 
 fort. There were four of the Laframboise family voting in 
 1826, and only one in 1830. The names of voters in 1826. 
 indicate that full three-fourths of them were French and 
 half-breeds. The judges in 1826 were Father John Kinzie, 
 the late Gen. John B. Beaubien, and Billy Caldwell. The 
 clerks were the late Archibald Clybourne and his half-brother 
 John K. Clark. The election was held at the Agency 
 House, in Chicago Precinct, Peoria County. The Agency 
 House was on the North Side, and was the second house 
 built in Chicago, Mr. Kinzie’s being the first. The Indian 
 Agent was Dr. Alexander Wolcott, who died in 1830, son- 
 in-law of Mr. Kinzie. 
 
 The election of 1830, was held in the house of James 
 Kinzie, Chicago Precinct, Peoria County. This house was 
 on the West Side, near the forks of the river. The South 
 Side had no status at that time, there being nothing then 
 on that side except the fort and light-house building, and 
 the log-houses of the two Beaubien brothers,—one residing 
 at the lake shore, and one near the forks of the river, with 
 such a marsh between, that, much of the time, their most 
 convenient way of visiting each other was in boats in the 
 river. 
 
 The judges at the election of 1830, were Russell E. 
 Heacock, the first lawyer to settle in Chicago, Gen. John 
 B. Beaubien, one of the judges in 1826, and James Kin¬ 
 zie. The clerks were Medard B. Beaubien, well known 
 in this city, now principal f agent of the Pottawatomie tribe 
 of Indians at Silver Lake, Shawnee County, Kansas, and 
 Jesse Walker. The names of voters in 1830, indicate 
 a large influx of the Anglo-Saxon race; but among them 
 was one Irishman, probably the first Irishman who ever 
 trod the Chicago soil. The first thought that occurred to 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 19 
 
 me was, What could bring an Irishman out here all alone? 
 Who was to help him celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Who 
 was to attend his wake? His name was Michael Welch. 
 What have our many Irish Aldermen been thinking of, that 
 they have never given us, in honor of their first settler, a 
 Welch avenue, a Welch street, a Welch schoool-house, or a 
 Welch fire-engine? The next thought that occurred to me 
 was, What could he be doing out here all by himself? 
 Now, what would an Irishman naturally do when he found 
 himself here all alone, hundreds of miles distant from any 
 other Irishman? He was a bugler. He blew his horn. 
 He was a discharged soldier, and, having faithfully served 
 out his time, he stopped long enough to vote the straight 
 Jackson ticket, and then joined Captain Jesse Brown’s 
 * Rangers and marched on to clear the Indians out of the 
 way of his coming countrymen, who were already aroused 
 by his bugle’s blast, as his patron St. Patrick, centuries 
 before, had cleared the snakes out of his way in the land of 
 his nativity. 
 
 Capt. Jesse Brown was a brother of the late Judge 
 Thomas C. Brown, of our Supreme Court, and was author¬ 
 ized by President Jackson to raise a company of men, who 
 were called “ Brown’s Rangers,” and was ordered to report 
 to Gen. Stephen W. Kearney, on the Western frontier. 
 
 There is a prevailing impression that Irishmen never go 
 anywhere except in squads. But the history of the Ameri¬ 
 can Continent will prove that Irishmen have ventured as 
 far alone upon hazardous explorations as any other men. 
 But he dislikes to stay alone. Like the honey-bee, when 
 he finds a good thing, he wants some others to come and 
 help him enjoy it. My original Congressional district 
 extended north to the Wisconsin line, west to the Rock 
 River Valley, south so as to embrace Princeton, LaSalle, 
 Bloomington, Urbana, and Danville, I had to travel all 
 over this district with a horse and buggy, and visit the 
 spare settlements. I often found an Irishman cultivating 
 the soil alone. But when I made a second visit, I found 
 some more Irishmen there, or else the original one had 
 gone. Gov. Winthrop, of Boston, in his journal under date 
 of 1642, tells us of one Darby Field, an Irishman, who 
 could not rest contented after his landing in America until 
 he had climbed to the top of the White Mountains. He 
 was the first man to ascend Mount Washington, and when 
 .asked why he went, replied, “ Merely to take a look at the 
 country !” 
 
20 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 The official dispatches of one of the battles of the Mexi¬ 
 can War commended the conduct of Private Sullivan, of 
 one of our Chicago regiments. In the battle he had 
 advanced before his company, engaged in a single combat 
 
 • with a Mexican officer, and killed him. I called President 
 Polk's attention to the report, and asked for Sullivan’s pro¬ 
 motion. He referred the matter to the Adjutant-General. 
 Time passed along, and no appointment was sent to the 
 Senate. I called upon the Adjutant-General, and he read 
 me a letter from Sullivan’s superior officer, commending his 
 courage and general good conduct, but strongly protesting 
 against his appointment as Lieutenant in the regular army, 
 on account of his deficiency in West Point education. I 
 appealed to the President, and it did not take long to 
 satisfy him that good fighting in war-time would counter-* 
 balance all deficiencies in education, and Sullivan was 
 promoted. Some time after the close of the war, his father 
 called upon me, said he had not heard from his son for a 
 long time, and wanted me to find him. Many of you will 
 remember the father, Jeremiah Sullivan, at one time Justice 
 of the Peace,—a tall and well-proportioned gentleman, with 
 as prepossessing a general appearance as any gentleman 
 
 • who walked our streets. I wrote to Washington, and 
 received for answer that Sullivan resigned his Lieutenancy 
 at the close of the war. Inside the official letter was a 
 note marked “ private and unofficial.” “ Tell Sullivan’s 
 father to read the news from Mexico. I enclose some 
 scraps from a New Orleans newspaper, and the Col. Sul¬ 
 livan therein mentioned is reported to be the date Lieut. 
 Sullivan of the regular army.” Some time afterwards, an 
 officer of the army gave me the following account: After 
 the close of the war with Mexico, some of the officers were 
 tarrying late at dinner, when Lieut. Sullivan entered and 
 was saluted with “ Will you join us, Lieut. Sullivan ?” 
 “Col. Sullivan, if you please, gentleman,” was the reply. 
 Whereupon one of the officers said, “It will not surprise us 
 at all if you are Col. Sullivan. If your killing that Mexican 
 was of so much account as to put you on an equality with 
 us who have studied four years at West Point, and have 
 seen considerable active service, a little personal favoritism 
 might carry you still higher, and make you a Colonel. 
 Why, Lieut. Sullivan, if you should kill another Mexican, 
 those politicians at Washington would make you Com- 
 mander-in-Chief!” “Gentlemen,” said Sullivan, “it is 
 business that brings me here. Here is my commission as 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 21 
 
 Colonel in the Mexican revolutionary army, and now you 
 know my authority. And now, here’s my business in this 
 paper, which I will read." He then read a paper authoriz¬ 
 ing and requesting him to employ a competent engineer 
 upon his staff. The officers reminded him that they knew 
 nothing of the face of the Mexican country, had no maps, 
 knew not his route, and insisted that they could be of no 
 service to him. “ You do not understand me, gentlemen,” 
 replied Sullivan; “it is not for what I am going to do that 
 I want any of your assistance. I only want you to map it 
 out after I have done it. You are always talking about 
 your military school, and what you have studied, and the 
 like of you will be at school hereafter, and they will want 
 to study Sullivan’s Route to the Capital of Mexico; and if 
 ever I should be Emperor, whom would I want for Sec¬ 
 retary of War but my own Engineer?” Sullivan set out 
 upon his march with no one to map out his route. He 
 penetrated regions where no man had ever been before'. 
 He came out of forests where men least expected him. He 
 appeared to be everywhere, and the inhabitants could make 
 no calculation where he was not. They either all joined 
 him, or fled before him. He had everything his own way, 
 until, in his efforts to join the main army, he found himself 
 in the fortified country. Here he missed his engineer and 
 his military education. He was wounded, taken prisoner, 
 marched into the Plaza, a bullet pierced his heart, and that 
 was the last of Sullivan. But it just took a Chicago Irish 
 boy to teach the Emperor Maximilian how to die the death 
 of a soldier some twenty years afterwards ; and Sullivan had 
 as much right in Mexico as Maximilian. 
 
 There are 67 names upon the two voting-lists of 1825 
 and 1830. Six voted at both elections, leaving 61 different 
 names, which, with the four on the tax-list of 1825 who did 
 not vote at either election, constitute the 65 from whom 
 our first families are descended. 
 
 And as there may be some pride in after years in tracing 
 one’s connection with our first families, the real Knicker¬ 
 bockers of Chicago, 1 have taken some pains to obtain 
 interviews or hold correspondence with such of them as 
 might be living, and with the descendants of such as are 
 dead. Of a very large proportion of them I can obtain no 
 knowledge whatever. I shall publish all their names, and 
 at some future time shall publish what I have ascertained, 
 or may hereafter ascertain, of their history and of their de¬ 
 scendants. When it was known, in i860, that the Prince 
 
22 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 of Wales was to make Chicago a visit, one of our society 
 men suggested that it was my duty, as Mayor of the city,, 
 to select about a hundred from our first families and give 
 the Prince a ball. I asked him to give the names of the 
 hundred from the first families. This he said he was un- 
 • willing to do. I asked him then to give me the names of 
 even ten of our first families, meaning, of course, nine 
 besides his own. This he also declared himself unwilling 
 to do. But if, at any future time, any one of our society 
 men should wish to make a party from our first families, he 
 may derive some assistance from this lecture. 
 
 At this time I think there are but three of those voters 
 living. One is Medard B. Beaubien, son of the late Gen. 
 John B. Beaubien, of this city, now the leading man among 
 the Pottawatomie Indians, in Kansas. The second is 
 David McKee, now living near Aurora, Ill. He was bom 
 in Virginia in 1800, and went to Cincinnati when a young 
 man, as a blacksmith. Under the treaty of Chicago, made 
 with the Indians by Gen. Cass, in 1821, the Government 
 was to keep a blacksmith here, who was to work exclusively 
 for the Indians. Col. Benjamin B. Kerchival, then Indian 
 Agent, afterwards a prominent citizen of Detroit, went to 
 Cincinnati and employed McKee to come here in that 
 capacity. McKee reached Fort Wayne, and there waited 
 for a guide. At that time the only mail Chicago had was 
 a monthly one to Fort Wayne. He did not wait long 
 before the exploring expedition of Maj. Stephen H. Long 
 reached that place, and he accompanied it to Chicago. 
 Turning to the history of that expedition, by Prof. William 
 pf. Keating, of the University of Pennsylvania, I find that 
 orders were issued to Maj. Long, April 25, 1823, for him 
 to commence at Philadelphia, thence to proceed to Wheel¬ 
 ing, thence to Chicago or Fort Wayne, thence to Fort 
 Armstrong or Dubuque lead mines, thence up the Missis¬ 
 sippi to F^ort St. Anthony, etc. The expedition reached 
 Fort Wayne, May 26, 1823, and Prof. Keating speaks of 
 the fort then there as erected in 1814 on the site of the old 
 fort, the location of which had been designated by Gen. 
 Anthony Wayne after his victory over the confederated 
 Indians on the 20th of August, 1794, which gave rise to the 
 treaty of Greenville in the following year. The Professor 
 says also, that the expedition fortunately met at Fort 
 Wayne the express sent from Chicago for letters, and 
 obtained him as guide. They left Fort Wayne May 29th, 
 1823. Their cavalcade consisted of seven persons, in- 
 
' BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 23 
 
 eluding the soldier mail-carrier, and a colored servant ; and 
 they had two horses loaded with provisions. On the 5th 
 of June they reached Fort Dearborn, Chicago, having been 
 eight days in traveling the distance of 216 miles, an average 
 of 27 miles a day, their distance exceeding the usual allow¬ 
 ance by 16 miles, in consequence of their circuitous route • 
 to avoid the Elkhart River. The railroad train now leav¬ 
 ing here at 9 a.m. reaches Fort 'Wayne at 2 p.m. The 
 post at Chicago was abandoned a few months after the 
 party reached it, in consequence of the rapid extension of 
 the white population westward, and the establishment of a 
 chain of military posts along the Mississippi River, render¬ 
 ing the continuance of the force here unnecessary. An 
 Indian Agent, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, uncle of our present 
 County Surveyor, of the same name, remained here to keep 
 up amicable relations with the Indians, and to attend to 
 their wants, daily becoming greater in consequence of the 
 increasing scarcity of game. Fort Dearborn was not occu¬ 
 pied by soldiers again, except temporarily in transit, until 
 1832, when the Black Hawk troubles broke out. When 
 Mr. McKee came here there were but two houses ; one 
 belonging to John Kinzie, the other to his son-in-law, Dr. 
 Alexander 'Wolcott, the Indian Agent,—Mr. Kinzie’s hav¬ 
 ing been built first. Both houses were built of logs, and 
 lined with cedar bark. The third house was built by 
 Joseph Pothier, a Frenchman, and one of the voters here 
 in 1826, and who until recently was a resident of Mil¬ 
 waukee. He married an Indian half-breed, brought up by 
 Mr. Kinzie, and was striker for Mr. McKee in the black¬ 
 smith shop. Mr. McKee was married by Mr. Kinzie, at 
 Mr. Kinzie’s house, and he built the fourth house. All 
 four houses were on the north side ol the river. 
 
 The inhabitants were soldiers, Frenchmen in the employ 
 of the American Fur Company, and Indians. When the 
 fort was not garrisoned, and the fur-traders were in the 
 country making their purchases, the Indians constituted 
 almost the entire population. In i 827-’28, Mr. McKee 
 carried the mail once a month to Fort Wayne. As his 
 Indian pony had to carry the mail-bag and the blankets for 
 him to sleep upon, he could not carry corn for the pony 
 and provisions for himself. He drove the pony in front of 
 him, and cut down an elm or basswood tree for the pony 
 to browse upon during the night. He carried a gun with 
 which he killed the game for his own food. His route was 
 from here to Niles, Mich., thence to‘Elkhart, Ind., and 
 
24 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 thence to Fort Wayne. His average trip, from this place 
 to Fort Wayne was fourteen days; the quickest time he 
 ever made was ten days. Gen. John McNiel, one of the 
 heroes in the battle of Lundy’s Lane, commanded the fort 
 when Mr. McKee came to Chicago. Soon after his arrival, 
 
 * a sailing vessel, called the Heartless, undertook to enter 
 the mouth of the river, ran ashore, and was beached in the 
 sand. They tried to cut her out, but she went to pieces. 
 About a year thereafter the first vessel entered the harbor, 
 and anchored opposite the fort. It was the United States 
 revenue-cutter Fairplay. When we speak of the first vessel 
 coming to Chicago, there is always a confusion between 
 the vessels that anchored outside and the vessels that 
 actually came up into the river. It is claimed that this 
 United States revenue-cutter Fairplay was the first one to 
 actually enter the river. In 1826, there came here a sail¬ 
 ing vessel called the Young Tiger, to enter the river, but 
 she anchored out in the lake, slipped her cable, and went 
 ashore. 
 
 Mr. E. Buell, now residing in Clinton County, Iowa, 
 near Lyons, aged 75, claims that he was pilot and naviga¬ 
 tor on the schooner Aurora, Capt. Titus, that came to 
 Chicago in 1820 or 1821; but he leaves the question un¬ 
 settled as to whether or not he came up into the river. 
 The steamers which brought here the troops of Gen. Scott, 
 in 1832, had to anchor some distance outside. The per¬ 
 sons claiming to have been upon the first vessel that passed 
 over the Chicago bar and came up into the river, are even 
 more numerous than those claiming to be descendants of 
 the persons who had the first white child born in Chicago. 
 I will not discuss this matter now, as the mass of you care 
 less about those who had the first child than you do about 
 those who are to have the next one, and what is to become 
 of it. 
 
 The third man now living who voted in Chicago Pre¬ 
 cinct, Peoria County, in 1830, is our well-known fellow- 
 citizen, Mark Beaubien. He came here in 1826. to visit his 
 brother, John B. Beaubien, who was an employe of the 
 American Fur Company, and who lived in a log-house near 
 the lake-shore, near the mouth of the river, on the South 
 Side. Mark returned to Detroit, and brought his family 
 here, and built him a log-house, fronting the river, on 
 what is known as the “ Old Wigwam Lot,” on the corner of 
 Lake and Market streets ; it being at that time the only 
 dwelling-house on the South Side, except his brother's. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 25 
 
 He constructed it for hotel purposes, and, when the Indian 
 Chief Sauganash learned his design, he told him that 
 Americans named their hotels after big unen, and asked 
 him what he was going to call it. Mr. Beaubien took the 
 hint, and said “I'll call it Sauganash !” A few years after¬ 
 wards, he built a large addition to it, which was the first 
 frame-house built on the South Side. It was in this house 
 that I took my first meal, on my arrival here in 1836, it being 
 then kept by John Murphy. Mr. Beaubien was born in 1800, 
 and in Detroit, where his father was also born; but his grand¬ 
 father was an emigrant from France. He established the first 
 ferry, at the forks of the river. He was an original fiddler, 
 having inherited the art in the natural way; and he will 
 probably die one. In case of the absence of the music at 
 any of our parties in olden times, Mr. Beaubien was always 
 sent for, and when one fiddle-string broke, he was good for 
 the three; and, when another broke, he could still keep up 
 the music; and if there were only one string left, a party 
 would never go away disappointed if Mr. Beaubien was left 
 to play upon it. He has done much to keep up our first 
 families, having had twenty-three children. His grand¬ 
 children had numbered fifty-three when the great-grand¬ 
 children began to make their appearance, and he stopped 
 counting. I introduce him to you to-day as the only man 
 you will probably ever see Who witnessed the surrender of 
 an American army. God grant that such an event may 
 never happen again 1 During the War of 1812, Mr. Beau- 
 bien's father, healing that the town (Detroit) was about to 
 be bombarded by the British army, had ordered his children 
 to go down into the cellar, when news came that Gen. Hull 
 had surrendered. Mark Beaubien saw Gen. Hull and his 
 staff rowed over to the Canadian shore, and then the 
 soldiers were taken over under the charge of the red-coat 
 officials. 
 
 Cook County was set off from Peoria County under 
 an act passed in 1831. The first election was in Aug., 
 1832. The county was named for the Hon. Daniel P. 
 Cook, son-in-law of Gov. Ninian Edwards, who was one 
 of the first United States Senators from this State. Mr. 
 Cook was a member of Congress from 1820 to 1827, and 
 died in 1827, aged 32, one of the most talented men 
 who ever lived in this State. As our poll-lists of the 
 first election, in 1832, were burnt, I can no longer trace 
 our first families, and those who wish to marry into them 
 must look back to those who were taxed in 1825, or voted 
 
26 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 in 1826 or 1830, if they do not wish their honors disputed. 
 Cook County then included the present Counties of Lake, 
 McHenry, DuPage, and Will, all west being included in 
 Jo Daviess County. The only voting-place of Cook 
 County at that time was at Chicago. The highest number 
 of votes cast for all the candidates for any one office in 
 1832 was 114, against 32 in 1830, and 35 in 1826. 
 
 It seems to have been the practice then, as now, to take 
 our officers from Galena, and then, as now, they were very 
 good men. Galena and Chicago were then in the same 
 Representative and Senatorial Districts. Col. James M. 
 Strode was elected to the Senate, and Benjamin Mills to 
 the House, both being attorneys-at-law at Galena. Elijah 
 Wentworth, Jr., who died at Galesburg, Ill., on the iSth of 
 November last, received all the votes for Coroner at this 
 election. He wrote me, just before his death, that he 
 went with his father, Elijah Wentworth, Sr., from Maine to 
 Kentucky; they moved thence to Dodgeville, Wis., where 
 he was living at the time Jefferson Davis was constructing 
 Fort Winnebago, about 75 miles distant. Davis had been 
 ordered there soon after his graduation at West Point in 
 1828, and he often visited Dodgeville in attendance upon 
 social parties, and is well remembered by old settlers there, 
 to this day. In 1830, Mr. Wentworth and his father moved 
 to Chicago, and rented a new hotel of James Kinzie, then 
 the best in Chicago, on the West Side, near the forks of 
 the river. It was a log-house, with upright boards upon 
 the outside. He carried the mail from Chicago to Niles, 
 once a month. 
 
 At the annual election in August, 1834, the highest num¬ 
 ber of votes for all the candidates for any one office was 
 528, against 114 m 1832. Thus our population began to 
 increase. This vote was for the whole County of Cook. 
 In 1835, the highest number of votes in the entire county, 
 for all the candidates for any one office, was 1064. And 
 religious enterprise and liberality had so far advanced that, 
 at the Ladies' Fair at the old St. James, the mother of 
 Episcopacy in the Northwest, on the 18th of June in that 
 year, the receipts were $1,431. In the spring of 1837, at 
 our first municipal election, the city alone cast 709 votes.* 
 
 It seems not to be generally known that, up to the time 
 of the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Chicago 
 was not at all troubled with mosquitoes; a blessing which 
 amply compensated for many of our early deprivations. 
 
 * For list of names on the poll-book, see “Fergus’ Directory foi* 1839.” 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 2 7 
 
 The history of Chicago furnishes one with a complete 
 history of an irredeemable paper-money system. Emigra¬ 
 tion was fast tending westward in 1835. Government land 
 was $1.25 per acre. The emigrants had little or no 
 money, and would purchase land on credit at greatly ad¬ 
 vanced prices. Eastern speculators flocked here and took 
 advantage of this condition of things. The Government 
 money received for lands would be deposited in the banks, 
 credited to the Government, and then reloaned back to 
 speculators. Thus the Government had credits in banks 
 to more than the amount of their capital, and their assets 
 consisted almost entirely of the notes of Western specu¬ 
 lators. The Government was out of debt, and had no use 
 for its surplus, which was forming the basis of those large 
 speculative loans, and men became even more excited and 
 reckless than were the land-operators here in Chicago at 
 the time of the recent panic. Besides, money was taken 
 from every branch of business to invest in these Western 
 speculations. The President of the United States had no 
 power to stop the sales of lands or to limit bank discounts. 
 He saw the immediate necessity of arresting this condition 
 of things, and he had no other way to do it than to issue 
 an order that nothing but gold and silver should be re¬ 
 ceived for the public lands. According to an invariable 
 law, a redundancy of paper had driven the precious metals 
 out of the country, and the banks had not the specie 
 wherewith to redeem their bills, which were fast being pre¬ 
 sented to obtain land-office money. The banks all failed,, 
 and corporations and individuals issued certificates of in¬ 
 debtedness, which were interchanged as currency. States, 
 counties, and cities paid their debts in warrants upon an 
 empty treasury. The Canal Commissioners paid contract¬ 
 ors in scrip, and the contractors paid their laborers in a 
 lesser scrip, redeemable in the scrip of the Commissioners. 
 
 Nearly every man in Chicago doing business was issuing 
 his individual scrip, and the city abounded with little 
 tickets, such as “Good at our store for ten cents,” “Good 
 for a loaf of bread,” “Good for a shave,” “Good for a 
 drink,” etc., etc. When you went out to trade, the trader 
 would look over your tickets, and select such as he could 
 use to the best advantage. The times for a while seemed 
 very prosperous. We had a currency that was interchange¬ 
 able, and for a time we suffered no inconvenience from it, 
 except when we wanted some specie to pay for our post¬ 
 age. In those days it took 25 cents to send a letter East. 
 
28 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 But after a while it was found out that men were over-issu¬ 
 ing. 'Fhe barber had outstanding too many shaves; the 
 baker too many loaves of bread; the saloon-keeper too 
 many drinks, etc., etc. Want of confidence became gen¬ 
 eral. Each man became afraid to take the tickets of an¬ 
 other. Some declined to redeem their tickets in any way, 
 and some absconded.' And people found out, as is always 
 the case where there is a redundancy of paper money, that 
 they had been extravagant, had bought things they did not 
 need, and had run in debt for a larger amount than they 
 were able to pay. Of course, nearly everyone failed, and 
 charged his failure upon President Jackson’s specie circular. 
 In after times, I asked an old settler, who was a great 
 growler in those days, what effect time had had upon his 
 views of Gen. Jackson’s circular. His reply was that Gen. 
 Jackson had spoiled his being a great man. Said he, “I 
 came to Chicago with nothing, failed for $100,000, and 
 could have failed for a million, if he had let the bubble 
 burst in the natural way.” 
 
 A single instance will illustrate to what various purposes 
 those little tickets of indebtedness could be put. A boy 
 had a ticket “Good for a drink.” He dropped it into the 
 church contribution-box, and heard no more of it. He 
 told another boy, who did the same thing with the same 
 result. That boy told his sister, who told her mother, who 
 told her husband, who deemed it his duty to tell the Dea¬ 
 con. Meanwhile the boys were putting in the tickets 
 “Good for a drink,” and telling the other boys to do the 
 same. The Deacon, alive to all the responsibilities of his 
 position, for the first time in his life entered a saloon; 
 ■called the barkeeper one side, and asked him to change a 
 $1 scrip, well knowing he could not do so unless it were in 
 liquor-tickets. The saloon-keeper was afraid to offer such 
 tickets, and declined to make the change, until the Deacon 
 gave him a hint that, although he did not stimulate himself, 
 he thought he could use the tickets. Then, said the Dea¬ 
 con, “ I have a curiosity to know the extent of the circula¬ 
 tion of these tickets, and really wish you would put a private 
 mark upon them, and notify me when one returns.” Think 
 of a Deacon putting such currency into a contribution-box! 
 But he did it, and the boys put in some more. On Monday 
 afternoon, the Deacon was notified that one of his tickets 
 had been redeemed. Oh, what a chance for a scandal 
 case! Imagine that such a thing had happened.in our day! 
 Think of our enterprising newsgatherers calling upon a 
 
I 
 
 BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 29 
 
 Deacon, and asking him what was the average time of a 
 liquor-ticket's going from his church contribution-box to a 
 saloon! With solemn tread the Deacon made his way to 
 his pastor's residence, and asked him what disposition he 
 made of the various tickets taken from the contribution- 
 box. The reply was that his wife assorted them, strung 
 them upon different strings, entered them upon a book, 
 and gave the church credit as she used any of them. 
 “And do you say, my dear brother,” asked the Deacon, 
 “that you have no knowledge of the particular uses to 
 which these tickets have been put?” “I do say so,” said 
 the pastor. The Deacon breathed freer. He had cleared 
 his pastor, but I have no doubt he prayed, “May the Lord 
 have mercy on his poor wife!” The wife was called, and 
 her husband said, “The Deacon wishes us to give an ac¬ 
 count of the proceeds of the contribution-box.” “Not 
 exactly so, my dear sister,” said the Deacon; “but I wish 
 to know for what purposes the liquor-tickets have been 
 used.” She comprehended the matter at once, and 
 promptly replied, “Why, Deacon, did you want them? I 
 never thought you were a drinking man. Now, as you 
 didn’t have the tickets, will you share with us the. proceeds? 
 Let us all take a drink 1 ” She rushed to her pantry, 
 brought out a pitcher, with tumblers, and it was filled with 
 —milk! In making the change with her milkman his eyes 
 had fallen upon these tickets, and he said he could use 
 them. Thus throwing the liquor-tickets into the contribu¬ 
 tion-box was but a repetition of the old adage, “Evil be 
 thou my good.” They had discharged all the functions of 
 the modem greenback, even to furnishing a poorly-paid 
 clergyman’s children with milk. 
 
 Not long after our Chicago citizens were victimized by 
 another irredeemable currency device. Michigan legisla¬ 
 tors thought that, while there was not specie enough in the 
 country for a banking basis, there was land enough. So 
 they passed what is known as the “Real Estate Banking 
 1 aw.” They contended that real estate rvas better than 
 gold and silver, because a man could not run away with 
 • al estate. Chicago merchants, business men, and specu- 
 Ltors generally, instead of paying- their debts with their 
 money, bought Michigan wild lands, had them appraised, 
 and then mortgaged them for bills, which they brought 
 home to pay their debts with. Real estate, which is gener¬ 
 ally the first property to feel the effects of inflated currency, 
 soon rose in value, and its owners paid Michigan another 
 
30 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 visit, secured a higher appraisal of their lands, and ex¬ 
 changed the second mortgage for some more bills. For 
 about a year we had excellent times again in Chicago. But 
 then confidence began to weaken. Agents were sent into 
 the country to buy anything they could, provided Michigan 
 money would be taken. Merchants would post in their 
 windows a list of bills that they would receive for a given 
 day, and then revise the list for the next day. The bubble 
 soon burst, and every one was the poorer for the good times 
 he had enjoyed. Manual labor, which was the last thing 
 to rise, was the last resting-place of the worthless bills. 
 
 During all this excitement incident to our great variety 
 of irredeemable paper, our sufferings were the greatest for 
 postage money, which had always to be in specie, and 
 specie was then at from 50 to xoo per cent premium in our 
 depreciated currency. But postage was then reckoned by 
 the sheet instead of by weight. The result was that, 
 although friends wrote but seldom, their letters were a sort 
 of daily journal. When anything occurred to them, they 
 would write it out; and when they had filled a sheet, often¬ 
 times writing crossways also, they mailed it as soon as they 
 could raise the postage. In traveling at the East, I have 
 fallen in with several of these letters written in early times, 
 whose publication would add materially to the early history 
 of our city. But their contents were so mixed up with 
 private matters appertaining to different families that it is 
 impossible to obtain possession of them. As our laboring 
 men were paid in currency, it often took more than a day's 
 work to pay the postage on a letter to an Eastern friend. 
 
 I will relate an anecdote to illustrate this matter. Soon 
 after mv first election to Congress, a young man who had 
 rendered me material service, made me a call, and ob¬ 
 served that postage was very high; in which sentiment I 
 concurred, and promised to labor to reduce it. He then 
 remarked that I would have the franking privilege; to 
 which I assented, and promised to labor to abolish it. 
 But all this did not seem to interest the young man, and I 
 was perplexed to know the drift of his conversation. 
 Finally, with great embarrassment, he observed that he was 
 engaged to a young lady at the East, and wanted to know 
 if I could not frank his letters. I explained that there was 
 but one way to avoid the responsibilities of the law, and 
 that was for him to write his letters to me, and then I 
 could write a letter to her, calling her attention to his; and 
 she could have the same privilege. The correspondence 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 31 
 
 took this form until the Congressman from her district 
 asked me if, at the close of the session, I was going home 
 by the way of his district. I did not comprehend him 
 until he stated that he was well acquainted in the family of 
 the lady with whom I had been corresponding, and sug¬ 
 gested that, if I was going to be married before the next 
 session, it would be pleasant for us to board at the same 
 house! This put a new phase upon my way of dodging an 
 abuse of the franking privilege, and I wrote to my constit¬ 
 uent that he must bring his courtship to a close, and he 
 did so. Four letters from him and three from her covered 
 the transaction, and I stand indebted to this day to the 
 “conscience-fund” of the Post-Office Department for $1.75. 
 But this was a very insignificant sum to pay for the secur¬ 
 ing of a good Yankee girl to the West in those days. 
 Besides, there are seven in the family now, and one went 
 to the War; and that $1.75 was an insignificant bounty to 
 pay for a soldier. After all, the best way to procure sol¬ 
 diers is to breed them yourself. But every time any one 
 speaks to me about the corruptions and defalcations among 
 public men of the present day, I see “mene, rnene, tekel, 
 upharsin” written on the wall! I think of that $1.75, and 
 say nothing. 
 
 Not satisfied with the real estate banking experiment in 
 Michigan, of trying to make easy times without prompt 
 specie redemption, some of the speculators of Illinois 
 thought that they would try the Michigan system, with 
 State bonds substituted for lands. Tire result of this last 
 experiment is too familiar to the mass of our citizens to 
 need an extended comment. Money was borrowed, and 
 State bonds were purchased. The most inaccessible places 
 in our State were sought out for the location of banks, and 
 bills were extensively issued. Money was abundant, prices 
 of everything advanced, and a financial millenium was once 
 more among us. The consequences of this system were 
 quite as disastrous as those of the real estate system of 
 Michigan. Considering its age, Chicago has been the 
 greatest sufferer of any place in the world from an irre¬ 
 deemable paper-money system. Its losses in this respect 
 will nearly approximate those from the great fire. And 
 when you talk to one of the early settlers of Chicago about 
 the advantages accruing from an irredeemable money sys¬ 
 tem, you waste your labor. He has been there! 
 
 One of our early amusements was that of wolf-hunting. 
 Experienced Indian ponies were plenty in our city. The 
 
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 last hunt 1 remember had for its object the driving of as 
 large a number of wolves as possible up to the ice upon the 
 lake shore, and as near the mouth of the harbor as could 
 be done. There was to be no shooting until the wolves 
 had got upon the ice. No person was to fire unless his 
 aim was entirely over ice, and then to the eastward. Two 
 parties started early in the morning, one following the lake 
 shore south, and the other the river, to meet at a common 
 centre not far from Blue Island. Then they were to 
 spread themselves out, cover as much territory as possible, 
 and drive the wolves before them. About 4 o’clock in the 
 afternoon, a wolf made his appearance in the outskirts of 
 the city. The news was spread, and our people turned out 
 on foot, keeping along the margin of the river, so as to 
 drive the wolves upon the ice of the lake shore. One wolf 
 after another made his appearance, and soon we saw the 
 horsemen. The number of wolves was about the same as 
 that of Samson’s foxes. The men were so eager to get the 
 first fire at a wolf that the tramp of their horses broke the 
 ice; and, as the wind was rather brisk, it broke away from 
 the shore, with the wolves upon it, and drifted northeast¬ 
 erly, very much in the same direction as that taken by the 
 recent unfortunate balloon. But the wolves, unlike the 
 man in the balloon, took no reporter on board. Men, 
 women, and children lined the bank of the lake, expecting 
 to see the ice break in pieces and the wolves swim ashore. 
 But it did not do so. Our people watched the ice, and 
 could see the wolves running from side to side, until they 
 faded away from view. When I took my last look, they 
 appeared about the size of mice. 
 
 About two weeks afterwards, a letter appeared in a 
 Detroit paper containing an account of some farm settle¬ 
 ments, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, being 
 attacked by a large body of hungry wolves. They de¬ 
 stroyed fowls and cattle, and for several days spread terror 
 through the neighborhood. We always supposed that 
 those were our wolves, but our hunters never laid any 
 claim to them, as the news of their arrival was so long in 
 reaching here. And as an evidence of the tardy transit of 
 merchandise and mails, in those days, I will state that our 
 newspapers of September, 1835, announce the arrival of a 
 schooner, with goods, twenty days from New York City, 
 the shortest time ever made. A newspaper of Dec. 24, 
 1836, announces that President Jackson’s message to Con¬ 
 gress was only twelve days on its route from Washington. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 33 
 
 It was published here Saturday, but the editor says he 
 would have issued it on Thursday, but for the extreme cold 
 weather. 
 
 The first divorce suit in our city was brought in 1835. 
 
 Land speculation had become so brisk here in 1835, that 
 from Jan. 4th to Oct. 21st of that year, the papers announce 
 that Augustus Garrett (afterward mayor of the city) had 
 sold land at his auction-rooms to the amount of $1,800,000. 
 Our people had commenced litigation so much that at the 
 commencement of Cook county circuit court in May, 1836, 
 there were 230 cases on the civil docket, and the court sat 
 two weeks. Litigation so increased that in May, 1837, 
 there were 700 cases on the civil docket. The newspapers 
 pointed to the alarming fact that over a million dollars were 
 involved in these cases. 
 
 The West Side was the last to advance in population. 
 Although at one time, prior to the city’s incorporation, it 
 undoubtedly had, as it does now, the largest portion of our 
 inhabitants, there were only 97 voters on the whole West 
 Side at our first municipal election. These were mostly 
 from our first families, as there were living there about that 
 time three Indian chiefs, Sauganash, Laframboise, and 
 Robinson, (whose Indian name was Che-che-pin-gua), with 
 occasional visits from Shaboneh; and any number of 
 Indians, French, and mixed breeds related to them. The 
 West Side was the last side to have a piano, but the strains 
 of the fiddle were always to be heard, and the war-dance was 
 no uncommon thing. I remember attending the wedding 
 of one of Laframboise’s daughters. She was married to a 
 clerk in the post-office, and is now the wife of Medard B. 
 Beaubien, heretofore alluded to in this lecture. The clerk 
 was the one who delivered letters, and of course was well 
 known to all our citizens, and was remarkably popular. 
 He went to the printing office and had 50 cards of invita¬ 
 tion struck off. But when people rvent for their letters, they 
 politely hinted that they expected a card of invitation to 
 the wedding. So he was compelled to go to the printing 
 office and have 50 more struck off These did not last long, 
 and he had 100 more. Then he said that tickets were of 
 no use, and everybody might come ; and about everyone 
 did come. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Isaac W. 
 Hallam, pastor of the St. James’ Episcopal church of this 
 city. Plverything was high-toned, well worthy of an Indian 
 chiefs daughter. The house was of no particular use, as 
 3 
 
34 
 
 REMINISCENCES OK EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 it was full and surrounded with people. This wedding made 
 a strong impression on my mind, as it was the first time 1 
 ever saw the Indian war-dance. Some of the guests not 
 only had their tomahawks and scalping-knives, bows and 
 arrows, but a few of them had real scalps which they pre¬ 
 tended they had taken in the various Indian wars. Their 
 faces were decorated with all the favorite pictures of the 
 Indians. And some of our young white men and ladies 
 played the part of the Indian so well that it was difficult to 
 distinguish them from the real ones. It has been a wonder 
 to me that, 'while our professors of music have been invent¬ 
 ing so many different kind of dances, none of them have 
 reproduced the Indian war-dance, which to me is much 
 more sensible than nine-tenths of those which are now 
 practiced at so many of our fashionable parties. I presume 
 
 that the trouble is, that our ladies consider that the Indian 
 . ' , « , 
 
 war-paint extemporized for the occasion, would interfere 
 
 with the original paint put on before they left their homes, 
 and which they wished to remain through the evening. 
 One of our young men claimed that, at this wedding, amid 
 the crowd, unperceived, he had clipped a lock from the 
 bride's long, flowing, raven hair. Some of this hair he had 
 put into a breast pin, and very soon thereafter, these 
 Indian bridal breast-pins were about as thick as were the 
 manufactures from our old court-house bell after the fire. 
 One man who had worn one for some years was suddenly 
 taken sick, and expected to die. He called his wife to his 
 bedsieje, and told her he deemed it his duty to state to her 
 that he had been deceiving her for years, and he could not 
 die in peace until he had made a confession. “ I must tell 
 you before I die, that the hair in that pin I have been 
 wearing so deceitfully, is not the hair of that Indian chief's 
 daughter, but your own.” With pitiful eyes he looked to 
 his wife for forgiveness. “And is that all that troubles you ?" 
 said she; “what you have just revealed in your dying 
 hour, only confirms my opinion of you. I always supposed 
 you thought more of me than you did of a squaw !” And 
 now I suppose you think that that man died in peace. 
 But he did not. He is alive now. There is occasionally 
 an instance where a man has survived a confession to his 
 wife. But where, oh where, is there an instance of a woman 
 who has survived a confession to her husband ? 
 
 After the marriage of this Indian chief’s daughter, several 
 of our wealthy citizens (wealthy for those days) gave return 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 35 
 
 parties. I remember attending a very elegant one given at 
 the house of Medard B. Beaubien. I think the fashionable 
 society of Chicago subsisted for about two months upon 
 that wedding. Mr. Beaubien has given me several invita¬ 
 tions, as he has others of our old settlers, to visit him at his 
 residence among the Pottawatomies. He told me that I 
 would be a big Pottawatomie! He gave as a reason for 
 abandoning Chicago, where he was a merchant, that he 
 would rather be a big Indian than a little white man. He 
 has the reputation of being the handsomest man that was 
 ever in this city. I met him at Washington, a few years 
 ago, and he attracted great attention for his remarkable 
 personal beauty. 
 
 The most of the families of wealth, education, and high 
 social position, about the time of our incorporation, were 
 settled on the North Side. The “ Lake House” there was 
 the first brick hotel constructed in our city, and it was as 
 well furnished and conducted as any hotel west of New 
 York city. Upon the South Side were most of the business 
 houses, and hotels that were kept for the accommodation 
 of farmers who came to Chicago with their loads of grain. 
 Business men without families, clerks, and employe's of 
 business men, generally boarded at these hotels on the 
 South Side, often sleeping in the stores. We could not 
 have anything like a large party on the South Side without 
 female domestics. The fashionable people on the North 
 Side would invite our young men to their parties on that 
 side; but when we had a party on the South Side, instead 
 of coming themselves, the ladies would send their domes¬ 
 tics. And if I were to go into details of the origin of the 
 fashionable society of Chicago of the present day, I could 
 satisfy our young men that whether they wanted to make 
 money or raise healthy children, the best thing they could 
 now do would be to imitate the example of some of our 
 early settlers, and marry a lady who dares discharge an im¬ 
 pudent or incompetent maid, and can do the work herself 
 till she can get a better one. 
 
 There was considerable ill-feeling at one time between 
 the North and South Sides in consequence of this discrim¬ 
 ination. But politics then, as now, proved a great leveler 
 in society. There was an elegant party given at the Lake 
 House one evening, where one of the most fashionable men 
 on the North Side, who was a candidate for office, thought 
 he would throw an anchor to the windward by dancing 
 
36 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 with a South Side dressing-maid, while lie supposed his wife 
 was being entertained at the supper-table. But she enter¬ 
 ed the ball-room while the dance was going on. At once a 
 proud heart was fired. Quicker than thought she spoke to 
 a carriage-driver who stood at the door looking in : “ Can 
 you dance, Mike?' 1 “ It's only for the want of a partner,” 
 was the response. Seizing him by the hand, she said, 
 “ Come on 1 ” and turning to the crowd she said, “ This is a 
 game that two can play at !” and immediately the dance 
 went on, amid the applause of the whole room ; the man 
 with the South Side dressing-maid, and his wife with the 
 South Side driver. And thus free suffrage began its work 
 against artificial social position. 
 
 Not long after my first election to Congress, upon open¬ 
 ing my mail at Washington, I found a letter dated in the 
 western part of Iowa, then far in the wilderness, reading in 
 this way: 
 
 “ My Dear old Chicago Friend : I see you have been 
 getting up in the world, and it is so with myself, who am 
 the sheriff's deputy here, and I also keep hotel. I am the 
 same one who made all the fuss dancing with the lady at 
 the Lake House ball, and you were there; and the girl I 
 married is the same domestic her husband danced with. 
 The judge of the court boards at our house, and he often 
 dances with my wife at the big parties here, where we are 
 considered among the first folks, and I reckon my wife 
 Bridget would jAit on as many airs as the lady did at the 
 Lake House, if she should catch me dancing with do¬ 
 mestics. I found out that those people who made so much 
 fuss at the Lake House were not considered much where 
 they came from. But they emigrated to Chicago, and 
 then set up for big folks. So I thought I would marry 
 Bridget and start for a new country where I could be as big 
 as anybody. And now remember your old Chicago friend, 
 and tell the President that I am for his administration, and 
 would like to get the post-office here.” 
 
 I remember that, during that session of Congress 1 
 boarded at the same house with Horace Greeley, and he 
 was frequently in my room; and I think that it was from 
 this letter he borrowed his sentiment, “Go west, young 
 man !” 
 
 In our early times, it was customary to excommunicate 
 members of the church as publicly as they had been 
 admitted. Now we hear of admissions, but never of ex- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 37 
 
 communications. Professor David Swing has come as near 
 filling that bill as anyone we have heard of recently, but 
 future historians will differ as to whether he excommuni¬ 
 cated the church or the church him. I remember in early 
 times here of a clergyman’s dealing, at the close of his 
 service, with a member, one of our well-known citizens, 
 somewhat after this fashion: “You will remember, my 
 hearers, that some time ago Mr. Blank was proposed for 
 admission to this church, and after he had passed a favor¬ 
 able examination I called upon everyone present to know 
 if there was any objection, and no one rose and objected. 
 It becomes my painful duty now to pronounce the sentence 
 of excommunication upon him, and to remand him back to 
 the world again with all his sins upon his head.” Where¬ 
 upon a gentleman rose in his pew and said: “And now the 
 world objects to receiving him !” On which bursts of 
 laughter filled the house; and the precise status of that 
 man was never determined, as the civil courts in those days 
 had not begun to interfere in ecclesiastical matters. In 
 these times the church would undoubtedly have called 
 upon the courts to grant a mandamus upon the world to 
 receive him, or the world would have applied for an 
 injunction to prevent the church from excommunicating 
 him. 
 
 In most new settlements there can always be pointed out 
 some particular class who give tone to the early society; 
 such as the Pilgrims and Puritans of N%w England, the 
 Knickerbockers of New York, the Huguenots of South Car¬ 
 olina, the Creoles of New Orleans; and, in the later days, 
 men identified with manufacturing interests, mining inter¬ 
 ests, railroad interests, or with seminaries of learning. But 
 here in Chicago, in early times, we had not any one 
 prevailing class or interest; nor was there any sufficient 
 number of people from any particular locality to exercise a 
 controlling influence in moulding public sentiment. We 
 had people from almost every clime, and of almost every 
 opinion. We had Jews and Christians, Protestants, Catho¬ 
 lics, and infidels; among Protestants, there were Calvinists 
 and Armenians. Nearly every language was represented 
 here. Some people had seen much of the world, and some 
 very little. Some were quite learned, and some very igno¬ 
 rant. We had every variety of people, and out of these we 
 had to construct what is called society. The winters were 
 long; no railroads, no telegraphs, no canal, and all we had 
 
38 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 to rely upon for news were our weekly newspapers. We- 
 had no libraries, no lectures, no theatres or other places 
 of amusement. If a stranger attended a gathering of any 
 kind, the mass of attendants were equally strangers with 
 himself; and the gentlemen outnumbered the ladies by 
 about four or five to one. You ask what society lived 
 upon in those days? I answer, upon faith. But faith 
 without works is dead. From the close to the opening of 
 navigation, nearly six months in the year, we had nothing 
 to do. Our faith consisted principally in the future of 
 Chicago. Nearly every one had laid out a town, and men. 
 exchanged lots with each other, very much as boys swap 
 jack-knives. The greatest story-teller was about as big a man 
 as we had. If a new story was told, it was soon passed all 
 round town, and due credit given to the originator. If a 
 new book appeared in our midst, that was loaned around 
 until another new one came to take its place. Occasion¬ 
 ally, one of our young men would go East and get him 
 a wife, and then we discussed her for a while. Dress¬ 
 makers would invariably make her the first call, examine 
 her dresses, and then go from door to door, like a modern 
 census-taker or tax-collector, soliciting orders according to 
 the latest fashions. 
 
 There was great prejudice between the emigrants from 
 the South and those from the East. All our Eastern peo¬ 
 ple were considered by the emigrants from the South as 
 Yankees. The#first contest was about the convention sys¬ 
 tem ip politics. Southerners denounced it vehemently as 
 a Yankee innovation upon the old system of allowing every 
 man to run for office who wanted to do so, and taking 
 his chances. Their system was to solicit their friends to 
 solicit them to run for office, and then they reluctantly 
 consented, and placed themselves in the hands of their 
 friends. All Yankee customs, fashions, and innovations 
 upon their established usages were ridiculed as Yankee 
 notions, worthy only of the peddlers of wooden clocks 
 and pewter spoons. 
 
 Thomas Ford, born in Uniontown, Penn., in 1800, who 
 had lived in Illinois from 1804, and whose father had been 
 killed by the Indians, came here as Judge, and did more 
 than any other person to mollify the prejudices of the 
 South against the North. He early foresaw that all that 
 the early settlers of Illinois needed, was the growth of more 
 Yankee thrift among them; and he early told his friends 
 
39 
 
 BY HON. JOHN WENTWOR'l’k. 
 
 that while he stayed here he was going to conform to all 
 the Yankee notions, as fast as he could ascertain what they 
 were, and wanted his acquaintances to inform him what he 
 should do to prevent embarrassment by non-conformity. 
 1 met him on his rvay to Court one morning, and he said 
 he had just been detained by a lady complaining that he 
 did not attend her party on a previous evening. He told 
 her that he was very fond of parties, and always attended 
 them whenever he could, but that he held Court that even¬ 
 ing until it was too late to go. But this did not satisfy her. 
 She wanted to know, if he could not attend, why he did 
 not send a “regret.” He did not understand the matter, 
 and made an excuse that the Court was waiting, informing 
 her that he would converse with her some other time. 
 “But,” said he, “what’s that? What did she want me to 
 do when I couldn’t go?” I informed him that the lady 
 had some sisters visiting her from the East, and she had a 
 pride in having them write home that among her friends 
 were the very best people in Chicago, and among them the 
 Judge of the Court; which in his absence, a little note from 
 him would establish. “Capital, capital,” said he. “Why 
 you Yankees have a motive in all you do. You turn every¬ 
 thing to account. The longer I live among Yankees the 
 more I see why it is that they are getting rich and overrun¬ 
 ning the country. Nobody shall complain of me hereafter 
 in that respect. I’ll have some note-paper in my desk, 
 and if the lawyers detain me, I’ll send the Sheriff with one 
 of those little billet-doux. If there is any other thing 
 that you Yankees want me to do to testify my high appre¬ 
 ciation of you, please let me know.” The next day the 
 Judge called at my office with a beautiful little note, on 
 gilt-edged paper, addressed to his wife, and reading as fol¬ 
 lows: “Judge Ford’s compliments to Mrs. Ford and the 
 • children, and regrets that he cannot be home to have the 
 pleasure of their society on Monday next.” Below this 
 was the following postscript: “The above is one of the 
 Yankee notions, and when you want to go anywhere and 
 cannot, you must always send one of these, which they 
 call a ‘regret.’ Please tell this to the neighbors, and also 
 tell them that when I return 1 shall have a great many 
 stories to tell them about different Yankee notions.” 
 
 Not long after, I was at Oregon, Ogle County, where he 
 resided, and where he was then holding Court. When it 
 became time for the Sheriff to adjourn the Court, the 
 
40 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 Judge said, “Mr. Sheriff, don't forget that party at my 
 house to-night.” And the Sheriff exclaimed, “Hear ye! 
 Hear ye! The Judge of this Court requests me to say, 
 that he and his lady would be pleased to see you all at his 
 house to-night, both citizens and strangers! Now this hon¬ 
 orable Court stands adjourned until to-morrow morning at 
 9 o’clock.” It was wonderful to notice the mixture of 
 people who unceremoniously visited him that evening— 
 attorneys, jurors, suitors, and citizens generally, with their 
 wives. One person seemed as much at home as another. 
 There was a grand welcome for all. He was the very 
 prince of hospitality. His small house could not contain 
 the crowd, and many stood outside and mingled in the 
 entertainments. The Judge passed through the assembly 
 with a waiter on which was a decanter of Madeira wine, 
 and wine-glasses. His wife passed around with another 
 waiter loaded with cake. Said the Judge to some Yankee 
 gentlemen, “This is the way we original Illinoisans give a 
 party. We invite all; the latch-string is out; all come who 
 can, and those who cannot come say nothing. They never 
 write any ‘regrets.’ Indeed, a great many of our prominent 
 men at the South could not do it. I have known men in 
 our Legislature who could not write.” Then he passed 
 away into a group of people who were natives of the South, 
 and told them how he got himself into trouble with a Chi¬ 
 cago lady by not writing her a little billet-doux explaining 
 to her why he did not go to her party, when he wanted to 
 go more than she wanted to have him. He often uttered 
 the sentiment that he did not wish to live in a locality 
 where his house was not large enough to entertain his 
 neighbors without making selections. He said he must 
 either build him a larger house or move into a distant 
 settlement. When 1 came away 1 expressed the wish 
 that I might soon have the pleasure of seeing him and his. 
 neighbors in Chicago. Whereupon the Judge jocosely 
 observed, “We will either come and see you or send you a 
 billet-doux.” But a Southern Illinoisan, a native of North 
 Carolina, exclaimed, “Yes, when you Yankee peddlers are 
 putting up wooden clocks and pew : ter spoons for this 
 region, tell them to put up a little gold-edged note-paper for 
 us, and have them to be sure that the gold isn’t bronze!” 
 
 But the people of this State settled the house question 
 for Judge Ford. For, at the next Gubernatorial election, 
 he was made its Chief Magistrate, and as Governor he 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 41 
 
 rendered his name dear to every Illinoisan by his almost 
 superhuman, but eminently successful, efforts to complete 
 the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and to restore the lost 
 credit of our State. He died not long after the expiration 
 of his term of office, and left to his children only the pro¬ 
 ceeds of the copyright of his History of Illinois, — a book 
 which, when once commenced, no reader will lay aside 
 until he has finished it. In this work is the only authorita¬ 
 tive history of the settlement of the Mormons in this State, 
 and their final expulsion of it, with the assassination of 
 their leader, Joseph Smith. In his preface he says: “The 
 author has written about small events and little men. And 
 in all those matters in which the author has figured person¬ 
 ally, it will be some relief to the reader to find that he has 
 not attempted to blow himself up into a great man.” 
 
 One of our most reliable places of entertainment was the 
 Post-Office while the mail was being opened. The Post- 
 Office was on the west side of Franklin street, cornering on 
 South Water street. The mail coach was irregular in the 
 time of its arrival, but the horn of the driver announced its 
 approach. Then the people would largely assemble at the 
 Post-Office, and wait for the opening of the mails, which at 
 times, were very heavy. The Postmaster would throw out 
 a New York paper, and some gentleman with a good pair of 
 lungs and a jocose temperament would mount a dry-goods 
 box and commence reading. Occasionally I occupied that 
 position myself. During exciting times, our leading men would 
 invariably go to the Post-Office themselves, instead of send¬ 
 ing their employes. The news would be discussed by the 
 assemblage, and oftentimes heavy bets would be made, and 
 angry words passed. If it was election times, there would 
 be two papers thrown out, of opposite politics, two reading 
 stands established, two readers engaged, and the men of 
 each party would assemble around their own reader. This 
 condition of things would last until the mails were opened, 
 when the gathering would adjourn until the next blowing of 
 the driver’s horn. This gathering afforded the best oppor¬ 
 tunity for citizens to become acquainted one with another. 
 
 On one of these occasions, I was introduced to a Lieu¬ 
 tenant in the army who had just come to take charge of the 
 Government works in this city. He had great confidence 
 in our future, and expressed his intention to invest all his 
 means here. He was eventually ordered away to some 
 other station, but kept up his interest in Chicago. His 
 
42 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 taxes became high, too high in proportion to his pay as an 
 army officer and the support of his family. His wife had 
 once placed the price of a new dress in a letter which was 
 to leave by the return of a mail which brought her husband 
 an exorbitant tax-bill. He expressed his intention of 
 ordering, by the same mail, the sale of his Chicago pro¬ 
 perty, as his means could endure his taxes no longer. His 
 wife ordered her letter from the mail, took out the money, 
 and, saying that she preferred the Chicago property to a 
 new dress, insisted that he should use it to pay his Chicago 
 taxes. The next summer he visited our city, and rented his 
 property for enough to pay the taxes. That lady lost her 
 dress for that year, but she gained thereby one of the 
 largest and most celebrated (Kingsbury) estates in our city. 
 I mention this fact to warn our ladies that they should 
 never ask for a new dress until they find their husband’s 
 tax-receipt in his wallet; and, at the same time, I would 
 caution husbands not to try to carry so much real estate 
 as to make their poorly-clad wives and children objects of 
 charity when they make their appearance in the streets. 
 
 Our early settlers were distinguished for their liberal 
 patronage of all religious denominations, and we had one 
 clergyman who created as much sensation as any we have 
 had since his day. Like all really influential sensational 
 preachers, he was an original. He dealt freely in pathos 
 and in ridicule. If we cried once, we were sure to laugh 
 once, in every sermon. Unlike clergymen now called sen¬ 
 sational, he never quoted poetry, nor told anecdotes, nor 
 used slang phrases, for the purpose of creating a laugh. 
 There was nothing second-handed about him. I allude to 
 Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, a Baptist clergyman, who was the 
 only settled minister on the South Side when I came here 
 in 1836. His residence was near the corner of VanBuren 
 street and Fifth avenue, then in the outskirts of the city, 
 and was shaded by native oaks. He was a man who never 
 seemed so happy as when he was immersing converted 
 sinners in our frozen river or lake. It is said of his con¬ 
 verts that no one of them was ever known to be a back¬ 
 slider. If you could see the cakes of ice that were raked 
 out to make room for baptismal purposes, you would make 
 up your mind that no man would join a church under 
 such circumstances unless he joined to stay. Immersions 
 were no uncommon thing in those days. One cold day, 
 about the first part of February, 1839, there .were 17 im- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 43 
 
 mersed in the river at the foot of State street. A hole 
 about 20 feet square was cut through the ice, and a platform 
 was sunk, with one end resting upon the shore. Among 
 the 17 was our well-known architect, John M. VanOsdell, 
 alderman-elect, said to be now the only survivor. There 
 are many now living who were baptized by Mr. Hinton; 
 among them is the wife of Hon. Thomas Hoyne, mayor- 
 elect. But recently our Baptist friends have made up their 
 minds that our lake has enough to do to carry away all 
 the sewerage of the city, without washing off the sins of the 
 people. It is also claimed for Mr. Hinton that no couple 
 he married was ever divorced. He was just as careful in 
 marrying as he was in baptizing; he wanted nobody to fall 
 from grace. 
 
 It was the custom in those days to give clergymen dona¬ 
 tion parties. Now, we have surprise parties, where the 
 lady is expected to endanger her health by hard-working 
 all day in order to prepare her house for a surprise in the 
 evening. The only surprise about them is the magnificence 
 of the preparations. Then the party was advertised in the 
 newspapers, and a notice posted in the vestibule of the 
 church. 
 
 It was customary in those days for all denominations to 
 patronize liberally the clergymen of other denominations. 
 
 Mr. Hinton had a family of children nearly grown up, 
 and consequently all the young people, as well as the old, 
 would be there to have a grand frolic at his donation party. 
 There were no religious services, and the house was com¬ 
 pletely taken possession of by the multitude. People 
 would send just what they happened to have, and it would 
 look at times as if Parson Hinton was going into the storage 
 business. Cords of wood would be piled before the door ; 
 flour, salt, pork, beef, box-raisins, lemons, oranges, herring, 
 dry-goods, anything and everything. After the donation 
 party was over, there was always a large quantity left which 
 he did not need, but he knew exactly where to place it— 
 among the destitute of the city. Probably no occasions 
 are remembered with more pleasure by the old settlers of 
 this city than those gatherings at the hospitable mansion of 
 the jolly English preacher, with his attractive laugh, who 
 always enjoyed a good story, and could generally tell a. 
 better one. There are many married couples in this city 
 who will tell you that there was where they first met. 
 
 The first Sabbath I passed in this city, my good board- 
 
44 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 ing-house mistress (Mrs. John Murphy, present on this 
 platform to-day) took me with her to his church, as was the 
 custon of Christian ladies with strange young men in those 
 days. He told me that godliness was profitable unto all 
 things; and he was right. Christian men and women 
 have not kept up this good old custom of taking young 
 men, strangers in the city, to church with them, and using 
 their efforts to lead them to a high social position with 
 their religious instruction. Strange young men now in this 
 city are told that there is a moral infirmary opened here, 
 entirely for their benefit, where the seats are all free, and 
 men are supported expressly to save such as they are from 
 destruction. I never knew a young man to amount to Any¬ 
 thing if he had no respect for his social position; and that 
 position can never be attained where young men are turned 
 away for religious instruction, to places to visit which they 
 would not think of inviting a young lady to leave a respect¬ 
 able church to accompany them. All honor to those 
 clergymen and Christians of Chicago who have their weekly 
 church sociables, where young men are brought forward 
 into respectable social intercourse, as well as moral de¬ 
 velopment. The celebrated Indian chief, Black Hawk, 
 covered the whole ground when he said to Gen. Jackson, 
 “You are a man, and I am another!” 
 
 Not feeling able to sustain the expense of a whole pew, 
 I engaged one in partnership with an unpretending saddle 
 and harness maker (S. B. Cobb), who, by a life of industry, 
 economy, and morality, has accumulated one of the largest 
 fortunes in our city, and still walks our streets with as little 
 pretense as when he mended the harnesses of the farmers 
 who brought the grain to this market from our prairies. The 
 church building in those days was considered a first-class 
 one, and we had a first-class pew therein, and the annual 
 expense of my half of the pew was only $12.50 more than 
 it would have been in our Saviour’s time. People wonder 
 at the rapid increase in the price of real estate at the west; 
 but it bears no comparison with the increase in the price of 
 gospel privileges. A good clergyman is well worth all that 
 a liberal-hearted congregation may see fit to pay him. But 
 the people ought to cry out against the reckless waste of 
 money, steadily increasing, in the erection of extravagant 
 church edifices. And the pride in such matters seems to 
 eat up all other considerations. During the recent panic, 
 a Christian lady of this city, with a large family of children. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 45 
 
 whose husband was suddenly reduced from opulence to 
 penury, astonished me by observing, with tears in her eyes, 
 that her most grievous affliction was that she would be 
 compelled to give up her pew in the church, which was one 
 of the most expensive in the city, and take one in a cheaper 
 edifice. And yet our people sing in every church, “ God is 
 present everywhere !” 
 
 At the close of service one day, Parson Hinton said he 
 thought Chicago people ought to know more about the 
 devil than they did. Therefore he would take up his his¬ 
 tory, in four lectures; first, he would give the origin of the 
 devil ; second, state what the devil has done; third, state 
 what the devil is now doing; and fourth, prescribe how 
 to destroy the devil. These lectures were the sensation 
 for the next four weeks. The house could not contain the 
 mass that flocked to hear him, and it is a wonder to me 
 that those four lectures have not been preserved. Chicago 
 newspaper enterprise had not then reached here. The 
 third evening was one never to be forgotten in this city; as 
 it would not be if one of our most eminent clergymen, with 
 the effective manner of preaching that Mr. Hinton had, 
 should undertake to tell us what the devil is doing in this 
 city to-day. The drift of his discourse was to prove that 
 everybody had a devil ; that the devil was in every store, 
 and in every bank, and he did not even except the church. 
 He had the devil down outside and up the middle of every 
 dance; in the ladies’ curls, and the gentlemen’s whiskers. 
 In fact, before he finished, he proved conclusively that there 
 were just as many devils in every pew as there were per¬ 
 sons in it; and if it were in this our day, there would not 
 have been swine enough in the Stock-Yards to cast them 
 into. When the people came out of chnrch, they would 
 ask each other, “What is your devil?” And they would 
 stop one another in the streets during the week, and ask, 
 “What does Parson Hinton say your devil is?” The 
 fourth lecture contained his prescription for destroying the 
 devil. I remember his closing: “Pray on, brethren'and 
 fri nds ; pray ever. Fight as well as pray. Pray and fight 
 until the devil is dead ! 
 
 The world, the flesh, the devil, 
 
 Will prove a fatal snare, 
 
 Unless we do resist him, 
 
 By faith and humble prayer.” 
 
 In this grand contest with his Satanic Majesty, he, our 
 
46 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 leader, fought gloriously, but he fell early in the strife. We, 
 his hearers, have kept up a gallant fight to this day, but, 
 judging by our morning papers, the devil is still far from 
 being dead. Yet we dealt him some heavy blows at the 
 recent election! 
 
 An interesting institution was the ferry-boat between the 
 North and South Sides. It was a general intelligence office. 
 Business was done principally upon the South Side, while 
 most of the dwelling-houses were upon the North Side. 
 The ferryman knew about every person in town, and could 
 answer any question as to who had crossed. The streets 
 had not then been raised to their present grade, nor the 
 river deepened or widened, and the boat was easily acces¬ 
 sible to teams. It was pulled across by a rope, and was 
 not used enough to kill the green rushes which grew in 
 the river. If a lady came upon the South Side to pass 
 an evening, she would leave word with the ferryman where 
 her husband could find her. Bundles and letters were left 
 with him to be delivered to persons as they passed. He 
 was a sort of superannuated sailor, and if he had not sailed 
 into every port in the world, he -had a remarkable faculty 
 of making people think he had. His fund of stories was 
 inexhaustible, and he was constantly spinning his interesting 
 yarns to those who patronized his institution. Like most 
 sailors, he could not pull unless he sung, and to all his 
 songs he had one refrain with a single variation. His voice 
 was loud and sonorous. If he felt dispirited, his refrain 
 was, “And I sigh as I pull on my boat.” If he felt jolly 
 (and people took particular pains to make him so), his 
 refrain was, “And I sing as I pull on my boat.” All night 
 long this refrain was disturbing the ears of those who dwelt 
 near the banks of the river. Song after song was com¬ 
 posed for him, in the hope of changing his tune, but it 
 would not be long before he would attach to it his usual 
 refrain. One of our musical composers composed a qua¬ 
 drille, which our young folks used to dance in the evening 
 on the ferry, during certain portions of which they would 
 all join in old Jack’s refrain, and sing, “And we’ll dance 
 as we ride on the boat.” There was a little boy who took 
 great delight in Jack’s company, whose parents lived on 
 the margin of the river near the ferry, and as in the last 
 of his sickness he was burning with a violent fever, nothing 
 would quiet him but the sound of old Jack’s voice. Old 
 Jack had just sung, “And I sigh as I pull on my boat,” 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 47 
 
 when the boy whispered his last words to his mother, “And 
 I die while Jack pulls on his boat!” 'Jack heard of this, 
 and his lungs became stronger than ever. Racking both 
 his memory and his imagination for songs, for weeks all 
 night long he sung, with his plaintive refrain, “Charlie dies 
 while Jack pulls on his boat.” A distinguished poetess 
 traveling at the west about this time, was tarrying at the 
 Lake House, and heard of the incident. She wrote for a 
 New York magazine some beautiful lines appropriate to 
 the last words of the child and the circumstances. These 
 were reproduced in our Chicago papers, but I have in vain 
 sought to find them. Some of our old scrap-books un¬ 
 doubtedly contain them, and 1 would like to be the instru¬ 
 ment of their republication. 
 
 Old Jack went to church one Sunday, and the clergyman 
 preached from the text, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of 
 Me and My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed 
 when He shall come in His own glory.” After church was 
 over, the clergyman took Jack to task for making so much 
 noise, on his ferry-boat, and told him he was going to have 
 him removed. “You can’t do it,” said Jack. “Why not?” 
 said the clergyman. “You? sermon, sir, your sermon! You 
 said we must make a practical application of it.” “How 
 can you apply that to your position?” “In this way,” said 
 Jack; “the Mayor appoints a ferryman. I will just tell 
 him, he that is ashamed of me and of my boat, of him will 
 I be ashamed when I go to the polls on the day of elec¬ 
 tion!” Jack was not removed. But he went one fall to 
 the south with the robins; but, unlike the robins, he returned 
 no more. He probably saw the coming bridge. 
 
 It was customary during the winter to give a series of 
 dancing-parties at central points between here and the Fox 
 River, along the line of some of our main traveled roads, 
 notices of which were generally given in the newspapers. 
 We used to have much more snow than we have now, and 
 large sleigh-loads of people would be fitted out from the 
 city, to meet young people from different parts of the 
 country. People in the country settlements were generally 
 emigrants from the more cultivated portions of the east. 
 United States Senator Silas Wright once told me that he 
 could enumerate a hundred families, the very flower of the 
 agricultural interest of St. Lawrence County, who had emi¬ 
 grated to west of Chicago. These settlers were not always 
 poor; they were often men of large families who came here 
 
48 REMINISCENCES OF EARI.V CHICAGO. 
 
 to obtain a large quantity of contiguous land, so as to settle 
 their children around them. The custom at these parties 
 was to leave Chicago about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, 
 take supper on the way out. and engage breakfast for the 
 morning; and, after dancing all night, getting back to the 
 city about 9 or 10 o'clock. The hotels in the country were 
 frequently built of logs, but whether of logs or boards, were 
 generally built in one style. Cooking-rooms, bar-room, 
 sitting-rooms, were below, and above was one large hall, 
 which could be used for religious services on Sunday, or 
 public meetings on a weekday, and, by suspending blankets, 
 could be divided into sleeping-rooms. Above was the attic, 
 which could be used for storage when the hall was cleared, 
 and also for dressing-rooms at parties. Ladies and gen¬ 
 tlemen could more easily find their wearing apparel when 
 suspended from nails driven into the beams of the building 
 than the} - can now from the small dressing-rooms where 
 the clothing is in constant danger of being mixed together. 
 I remember one of those occasions when the country resi¬ 
 dents had begun the dance before those from the city had 
 reached there. Country ladies were passing up and down 
 the ladder to the dressing-room. But the city ladies would 
 not ascend the ladder until it had been fenced around with 
 blankets. There were always on these occasions mothers 
 present from the country, who attended the young people 
 to look after the care of their health, such as seeing that 
 they were properly covered on their going home from a 
 warm room, as physicians were very scarce in the country, 
 and it was a great distance for many of them to send for 
 medicines. These country matrons took it much to heart 
 that the young ladies from the city were so particular in 
 having the ladder fenced oft’, and were very free in the 
 expression of their views on the subject to the elderly 
 gentlemen present. During the evening a sleigh-load was 
 driven up containing a French danseuse from Chicago, of 
 considerable note in those days; and it was not long after 
 she entered the hall before the floor was cleared for her to 
 have an opportunity to show her agility as a fancy dancer. 
 When she began to swing around upon one foot, with the 
 other extended, one of these country matrons, with a great 
 deal of indignation, ran across the hall to her son, and said, 
 “ I don't think it is proper for our young folks to see any 
 such performance as this, and now you go right down and 
 tell the landlord that we want some more blankets,’' and the 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 49 
 
 boy started before the last part of the sentence was heard, 
 “and I’ll have her fenced off by herself, as the city ladies 
 did the ladder!” Her remarks were passed from one to 
 another, and the company was loudly applauding them, 
 when the applause was greatly increased by the entrance 
 of the landlord with some blankets under his arm. The 
 more the applause increased, the more animated became 
 the danseuse, who took it all for herself. The fancy dance 
 was finished, but the merriment had such an effect that one 
 of our city young men took down the blankets around the 
 ladder, and for the remainder of the evening the exposed 
 ladder and the nimble French danseuse ceased to attract 
 attention. 
 
 I have thus made you a few selections from my large 
 casket of reminiscences of the amusements of early Chicago. 
 But I give them as a mere appendix to my historical lec¬ 
 ture, and do not wish them considered as any part of it, 
 as I could have ended without them, and then have given 
 you a lecture of ordinary length. If anyone thinks them 
 inappropriate to this occasion, I wish to say that I respect¬ 
 fully concur in his views. If, however, they have served 
 to compensate any of you for the tedium of the more 
 historical portion of it, I will waive the question of their 
 appropriateness, and express my gratification at having 
 given them. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 After Mr. Wentworth’s Lecture had been published 
 in the newspapers, he received the following information: 
 
 FROM FULTON COUNT\. 
 
 The County Commissioners’ Court met, for the first time, 3 June, 
 1823. July 5, 1823, John Kinzie was recommended for Justice of the 
 Peace, at Chicago. Sept. 2, 1823, Ordered that an election be held 
 at John Kinzie’s house, for one major and company officers in 17th 
 Regiment of Illinois Militia; John Kinzie, Alexander Wolcott, and 
 John Plamlin to conduct said election, upon the last Saturday in Sep¬ 
 tember instant. 
 
 June 3, 1823, Ordered by the Court, that Amherst C. Rausam be 
 recommended to fill the office of Justice of the Peace, vice Samuel 
 Fulton, resigned. He qualified before the Clerk of the Circuit Court 
 of Fulton Co., July 2, 1823. 
 
 If . he resided at Chicago, he robs John Kinzie of the honor of being 
 our first Justice of the Peace. 
 
 July 5, 1823, Ordered that the Treasurer pay to A. C. Rausam 
 the sum of four dollars, for taking a list of the taxable property at 
 Chicago, in said County, and collecting the same, so soon as he (the 
 said Rausam) shall pay the same over to the County Treasurer, in 
 such money as he received. 
 
 Sept. 3, 1823, Ordered that Amherst C. Rouseur [Rausam?] hand 
 over to County Treasurer amount of tax received and collected at 
 Chicago, in same kind of money he received. 
 
 April 27, 1824, Sheriff Eads released from paying money-tax col¬ 
 lected at Chicago by Rousseur [Rausam?] 
 
 It is so hard to decypher these French names in American manu¬ 
 scripts that this name may not be the correct one. There was a 
 Eustache Roussain and also a Captain Ransom in the employ of the 
 American Fur Company, in this region, in 1821. 
 
 It may be that he was not a defaulter, but collected his taxes in 
 furs, local money, etc., and refused to give them up until he received 
 his four dollars in cash. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 51 
 
 The same name appears as grand juror, October, 1823. 
 
 Among the grand jurors, in October, 1823 and April, 1824, were 
 Elijah Wentworth, Sr. In Sept., 1824, Hiram, son of Elijah Went¬ 
 worth, Sr., was added. In March and Sept.. 1824, Elijah Wentworth, 
 Jr. (our first Coroner), and John Holcomb (who married his sister), 
 were upon the petit jury. The Wentworths were then living in what 
 is now Fulton Co. Whence they removed to Dodgeville, Wisconsin, 
 and did not come to Chicago until 1830. 
 
 CHICAGO MARRIAGES RECORDED IN FULTON CO. 
 
 By John Hamlin, J.P., July 20, 1823, Alexander Wolcott and 
 Ellen M. Kinzie. 
 
 By same, October 3rd, 1823, John Ferrel and Ann Griffin. 
 
 [The Clerk sends this as a Chicago marriage; but I can learn noth¬ 
 ing of the parties.] 
 
 It is claimed that the marriage of Dr. Wolcott, Indian agent here, 
 in 1823, was the first in Chicago. He died in 1830, voting on the 24th 
 July, of that year. His widow, daughter of John Kinzie, married 
 George C. Bates, of Detroit, Mich. He is now living in Salt Lake 
 City. Col. Thomas Owens was afterwards Indian agent, and may 
 have succeeded him. Charles Jewett, of Kentucky, was Dr. Wolcott’s 
 predecessor, and our first Indian agent. 
 
 John Hamlin died at Peoria, in April of this year. A writer in the 
 Peoria Transcript says, that in 1823, he accompanied William S. 
 Hamilton to Green Bay, where he had a contract to supply Fort 
 Howard with beef, and he arrived there July 2d, 1823. On his way 
 back, Mr. Hamlin performed the marriage ceremony. Whilst here, 
 he made an engagement with John Crafts to enter the service of the 
 American Fur Company, which frequently brought him to Chicago. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE TAX PAYERS OF 1825. 
 
 1. Gen. John B. Beaubien was living at Macinac when the Fort 
 there was surrendered to the British, in 1812. He married a sister 
 of the Indian Chief, Joseph Laframboise, was brought here in 1819, 
 by the American Fur Company to oppose Mr. Crafts, had several 
 children (some of whom now live here), was one of the principal men 
 in the employ of the American Fur Co., and his last wife with several 
 of his children was upon the platform at the delivery of this lecture. 
 I attended the marriage of his daughter, in early days, to N. I). 
 Woodville. 
 
 2. Jonas Clybourne came from Pearisburgh, Giles Co., Virginia, with 
 
52 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 sons Archibald and Henley. Archibald came in 1823 and went back 
 to Virginia for his father’s family. His widow, who was a Miss Gallo¬ 
 way, from the region now known as Marseilles, LaSalle Co., Illinois, 
 was on the platform at the delivery of this lecture, and has several chil¬ 
 dren. Henley Clybourne married Sarah Benedict, and has two sons 
 living at Fort Scott, Kansas. Archibald Clybourne was Justice of the 
 Peace in 1831. 
 
 3. John K. Clark, was half brother to Archibald Clybourne, and 
 married Permelia, daughter of Stephen J. Scott, who now lives, his 
 widow, at Deerfield, Lake Co., Ill., with her daughter. There was 
 no son to live to have children. 
 
 4. John Crafts was a trader sent here by Mr. Conant, of Detroit, and 
 had a trading house at Hardscrabble, near Bridgeport, and monopo¬ 
 lized the trade until the American Fur Company sent John B. Beaubien 
 here in 1819. In 1822, Mr. Crafts went into the employment of the 
 Fur Company as superintendant, Mr. Beaubien being under him. He 
 died here single in 1823, at Mr. Kinzie’s house, and he succeeded him. 
 Prior to this, Mr. Kinzie was a silver-smith and made trinkets for the 
 Indians. 
 
 5. Jeremie Claremont was employed by the American Fur Com¬ 
 pany in 1821, for the trade of the Iroquois River. 
 
 8 & 9. Claude and Joseph Laframboise were brothers. The widow 
 of the latter was living, at last dates, with her son-in-law, Medard B. 
 Beaubien, at Silver Lake, Shawnee Co., Kansas. 
 
 11. Peter Piche, is believed to have been the one who lived at 
 Piche’s Grove, near Oswego, Illinois, alluded to by Mrs. Kinzie in her 
 “Waubun.” 
 
 14. Antoine Oilmette is the person spoken of in Mrs. Kinzie’s book, 
 “Waubun/’ His daughter Elizabeth, married Jan. 23, 1827, our first 
 Irishman, Michael Welch. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE VOTERS OF 1826. 
 
 1. Augustine Banny, said to have been a travelling cattle dealer, 
 supplying Forts. 
 
 2. Henry Kelly, had no family here, worked for Samuel Miller. 
 
 4. Cole Weeks, American, was a discharged soldier, had no family, 
 
 worked for John Kinzie. He married the divorced wife of - 
 
 Caldwell, brother of the first wife of Willis Scott. Caldwell had a 
 fondness for Indian hunting and trading, and is supposed to have gone 
 off and diad with them. A man, answering his description, by the 
 name of Caldwell, was living, not long since, at Kershena, Shawanaw 
 Co., Wisconsin. Caldwell’s wife, who married Cole Weeks, was sister 
 to Benjamin Hall, of Wheaton, DuPage Co., Ill., and Caldwell was 
 cousin to Archibald Clybourne, and came from the same place in Vir¬ 
 ginia. - 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 53 
 
 14. Francis Laducier, had no family, died at Archibald Clybourne’s. 
 
 21. Joseph Pothier, married Victor Miranda, a half breed, was 
 brought up in John Kinzie’s family, was living recently at Milwaukee. 
 
 24. David McKee, lives at Aurora, Kane Co., Ill., and married 23 
 January, 1827, Wealthy, daughter of Stephen J. Scott. He was born 
 on Hog Creek, Pewtown, Loudoun Co., Virginia, in 1800. 
 
 25. Joseph Anderson, had no family. 
 
 31. Martin VanSicle, was living recently near Aurora, Ill. He had 
 a daughter, Almira. Willis Scott remembers going to Peoria for a 
 marriage license for her. 
 
 34. Edward Ament, was living recently not far from Chicago; some 
 say in Kankakee Co., Ill. 
 
 The most of those having French names were employes of the 
 American Fur Company, or hunted and traded on their own respon¬ 
 sibility; and, when Chicago was abandoned as a Fur Trading Post, 
 they moved further into the frontier country, in pursuit of their 
 business. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE VOTERS OF 1830. 
 
 1. Stephen J. Scott was born in Connecticut, moved to Chicago 
 from Bennington, Wyoming Co., N.Y., lived many years at Naper¬ 
 ville, Ill., and died there, where his son Williard now lives. His son 
 Willis now lives in Chicago, and was upon the platform when this 
 lecture was delivered. Several of his daughters are mentioned in these 
 notes. 
 
 4. Barney H. Laughton, lived in his last days near what is now 
 Riverside, on the O’Plaine River, and his wife was sister to the wife of 
 onr first Sheriff, Stephen Forbes. 
 
 5. Jesse Walker, was a Methodist preacher, finally settled at Wal¬ 
 ker’s Grove, now Plainfield, in this State. 
 
 8. James Kinzie, was natural son of John Kinzie. His mother and 
 Archibald Clybourne’s mother were sisters. His first wife was Rev. 
 William See’s daughter. He died at Racine, Wis., where his second 
 wife is said to be now living. His own sister Elizabeth Kinzie married 
 Samuel Miller, the hotel keeper. 
 
 9. Russell E. Heacock, died at Summit, Cook Co., Ill., in 1849, 
 and he has sons in this vicinity. 
 
 12. John L. Davis, said to have been an Englishman, and a tailor. 
 
 17. Stephen Mack, son of Major Mack of Detroit, married an Ind¬ 
 ian, was clerk in the employ of the American Fur Company, and 
 finally settled in Pickatonica, Winnebago Co., in this State. 
 
 18. Jonathan A. Bailey, was father-in-law to the Post Master, John 
 S. C. Hogan. Mr. Hogan held the office until 1837, when Sidney 
 Abell was appointed. Mr. Hogan died in Memphis, Tenn., in 1866. 
 
54 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 Mr. Bailey was Postmaster before Hogan. 
 
 19. Alexander Me, is written plain enough; but whether the last 
 part is Dollo, Dole, Donell, Dowtard, etc., it is difficult to tell, as it is 
 written so differently in different places. 
 
 27 & 28. John Baptiste Secor and Joseph Bauskey, died of cholera 
 in 1832. Bauskey married a daughter of Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 32. Peresh LeClerc, was an Indian interpreter, brought up by John 
 Kinzie. 
 
 MORE RETURNS FROM PEORIA COUNTV. 
 
 The Clerk of Peoria Co. has sent me the following, which are not 
 alluded to in the lecture : 
 
 SPECIAL FLECTION 
 
 For Justice of the Peace and Constable, at the house of James Kinzie, 
 in the Chicago Precinct of Peoria County, State of Illinois, on 
 Saturday, 24th day of July, 1830. 
 
 Total, John S. C. Hogan, for Justice of the Peace, 33 votes, Archi¬ 
 bald Clybourne, 22 votes, Russell Rose, 1 vote. Total, 56. 
 
 For Constable, Horatio G. Smith, 32 votes, Russell Rose, 21 votes, 
 John S. C. Hogan, 1 vote. Total, 54. 
 
 1 James Kinzie. 
 
 2 Jean Baptiste Beaubien 1825, ’26 
 
 3 Alexander Wolcott. 1825 
 
 4 Augustin Bannot. [Banny?] 1826 
 
 5 Medard B. Beaubien. 
 
 6 Billy Caldwell. 1826 
 
 7 Joseph Laframboise. 1825, 1826 
 
 8 John Mann. 
 
 9 John Wellmaker. 
 
 10 Stephen J. fecott. 
 
 11 Thomas Ayers. 
 
 12 Russell Rose. 
 
 13 Lewis Ganday or Louis Gauday. 
 
 14 Michael Welch. 
 
 15 William P. Jewett. 
 
 16 John VanHorn. 
 
 17 Gabriel Acay. 
 
 18 Joseph Papan. 
 
 19 Williard Scott. 
 
 20 Peter Wycoflf. 
 
 2t Stephen Mack. 
 
 22 James Galloway, [father of Mrs. 
 
 Archibald Clybourne.] 
 
 23 David VanStow. [VanEaton?] 
 
 24 James Brown. 
 
 25 Samuel Littleton. 
 
 26 Jean Baptiste Laducier. 
 
 27 Joseph Thibeaut. 
 
 28 Lewis Blow. 
 
 29 Jean Baptist Secor. 1826 
 
 30 Mark Beaubien. 
 
 31 Peresh Laclerc. 
 
 32 Matthias Smith. 
 
 33 James Garow. 
 
 34 Alexander Robinson. 1825, 1826 
 
 35 Samuel Miller. [Landlord.] 
 
 36 Jonas Clybourne. 1825, 1826 
 
 37 John Joyal. 
 
 38 Peter Frique. 
 
 39 Jean Bapt. Tombien. [Toubien?] 
 
 40 John L. Davis. 
 
 41 Simon Debigie. 
 
 42 A. Foster. 
 
 43 George P, Wentworth. 
 
 44 Alex. McDowtard. [McDole?] 
 
 45 Jonathan A. Bailey. 
 
 46 David M’Kee. 1825, 1826 
 
 47 Joseph Pothier. 1826 
 
 48 Henry Kelly. 1826 
 
 49 Antoine Ouilmette. 1825, 1826 
 
 50 David Hunter. [General.] 
 
 51 James Engle. 
 
 52 John K. Clark. 1825, 1826 
 
 53 Russell E. Heacock. 
 
 54 Leon Bourassea. 
 
 55 Archibald Clybourne. 1826 
 
 56 Horatio G. Smith. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 55 
 
 John S. C. Hogan, the successful candidate for Justice of the Peace, 
 did not vote. Archibald Clybourne voted (for Justice) for Russell 
 Rose, who was the candidate for Constable, voted for John S. C. 
 Hogan, for the office of Constable. 
 
 But the two candidates for Constable came squarely up to the mark, 
 and voted for each other. 
 
 Mr. Hogan was Postmaster in Chicago prior to the election of 
 Martin VanBuren as President, who appointed Sidney Abell to suc¬ 
 ceed him. He built the first frame house on the South Side. It was 
 near the north-west corner of Lake and Franklin streets. 
 
 The judges of this election were Alexander Wolcott, John B. Beau- 
 bien, and James Kinzie. The clerks were Medard B. Beaubien and 
 Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash. 
 
 19 Williard Scott was a son of Stephen J. Scott; and now lives at 
 Naperville, Ill. 
 
 42 There was a Lieut. -— Foster here about that time. 
 
 50 General Hunter, U. S. Army, married Maria H. Kinzie, born 
 1807, the only child of John Kinzie, now living. 
 
 51 There was a Lieut. - Engle stationed here about that time. 
 
 SPECIAL ELECTION 
 
 . For Justice of the Peace, at the house of James Kinzie, Chicago Pre¬ 
 cinct, Peoria County, State of Illinois, on Thursday, the 25th day of 
 November, 1830. 
 
 14 Matthias Smith. 
 
 15 David McKee. 
 
 16 William Jewett. 
 
 17 Horace/ Miner. 
 
 18 Samuel Miller. 
 
 19 Stephen Forbes. 
 
 20 William See. 
 
 21 Peter Muller. 
 
 22 Jonas Clybourne. 
 
 23 John B. Bradain. 
 
 24 John Shedaker. 
 
 25 Peter Frique. 
 
 26 John K. Clark. 
 
 1 Archibald Clybourne. 
 
 2 James Kinzie. 
 
 3 John Wellmaker. 
 
 4 John Mann. 
 
 5 Russell E. Heacock. 
 
 6 Peter Wycoff. 
 
 7 Billy Caldwell. 
 
 8 Jesse Walker. 
 
 9 Enoch Thompson. 
 
 10 Medard B. Beaubien. 
 
 11 David VanEaton. 
 
 12 John B. Beaubien. 
 
 13 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 Total, Stephen Forbes, 18. William See, 8. 
 
 Mr. Forbes was the first Sheriff of Cook Co., and married a sister to 
 the wife of Barney H. Laughton. William See is mentioned in Mrs. 
 Kinzie’s “Waubun,” and was a Methodist preacher. 
 
 Mr. & Mrs. Forbes taught school here in 1831. 
 
 In this contest, each candidate voted for his opponent. 
 
 The judges at this election were James Kinzie, John B. Beaubien, 
 and Archibald Clybourne. The clerks were Russell E. Heacock and 
 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 6 Peter Wycoff, was a discharged soldier, and worked for Archibald 
 Clybourne. 
 
 9 There was a Lieut.-Thompson stationed here about that time. 
 
56 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 CHICAGO MARRIAGES, RECORDED IN PEORIA CO. 
 
 By John Kinzie. 24 April, 1826. Daniel Bourassea and Theotis 
 Aruwaiskie. 
 
 By Tohn Kinzie. 29 July, 1826. Samuel Miller and Elizabeth Kin¬ 
 zie. [Mr. Miller kept a hotel on the North Side, near the forks, and 
 near where Kinzie street crosses the River. He moved to Michigan 
 City, and died there. His wife was full sister to James Kinzie, and 
 natural daughter of John Kinzie. Her mother was sister to Archibald 
 Clybourne’s mother.] 
 
 By John Kinzie. 28 September, 1826. Alexander Robinson and 
 Catherine Chevalier. [Che-che-pin-gua died on his reservation on the 
 O'Plaine River, in this county, where his daughter now lives; his wife 
 and sons being dead.] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 5 May, 1828. Joseph Bauskey and Widow 
 Deborah (Scott) Watkins. [He died of cholera in 1832. His wife 
 was daughter of Stephen J. Scott.] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 15 April, 1830. Samuel Watkins and Mary 
 Ann Smith. 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 11 May, 1830. Michael Welch and Eliza¬ 
 beth Ouilmette. [He was our first Irishman, and his wife was daughter 
 of Antoine Ouilmette, of Ouilmette’s Reservation, in this Co. ] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 18 May, 1830. Alvin Noyes Gardner and 
 Julia Haley. [He moved to Blue Island.] 
 
 By Rev. William See. 3 August, 1830. John Mann and Arkash 
 Sambli. 
 
 By Rev. William See. 1 November, 1830. Willis Scott and widow 
 Lovisa B. Caldwell. [They have been heretofore alluded to.] 
 
 By Rev. William $ee. 7 November, 1830. B. H. Laughton and 
 Sophia Bates. [They have been heretofore alluded to.] 
 
 GOV. FORD’S HOUSE. 
 
 Hon. Jas. V. Gale, an old settler of Oregon, Ogle Co., Ill., writes 
 me: “that the house from which Thomas Ford was elected Governor, 
 was one storied, 16 or 18 by 38, had a parlor, dining-room, and two 
 bedrooms, with a small cooking room attached. It has been taken 
 down some years. He settled here as early as 1836, and made a claim 
 south of that of John Phelps. He sold it to John Fridley, who now 
 owns it; and the same log cabin, which Judge Ford erected and occu¬ 
 pied until he built his frame house, still stands. It is 18 feet square 
 and 11 logs high. He was a man of small stature, careless in his dress, 
 of good talents, put on no airs, popular with all, a good" neighbor, able 
 lawyer, congenial and sociable. ” 
 
T-^T'^r-^w-'r—v-v—T—r V T T'T T T V T -V T ▼ 'T.'T-'ir T T T T T 
 
 FIRST LFCTURF. 
 
 •By Hon. J OIL~N W'ENTWQRTH. 
 
EARLY CHICAGO 
 
 A LECTURE, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY, 
 
 AT McCORMICK HALL , 
 
 On Sunday Afternoon, May 7 TH, 1876 , 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth , 
 
 LATE EDITOR, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR OF THE “CHICAGO 
 DEMOCRAT,” THE FIRST CORPORATION NEWSPAPER; 
 
 MEMBER OF CONGRESS FOR THE CHICAGO 
 DISTRICT FOR TWELVE YEARS ; TWO TERMS MAYOR ; 
 
 AND A SETTLER OF 1S36. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 244 -S ILLINOIS' STREET. 
 
 1 S 7 6. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 One year ago, I gave a lecture at this place, as I then 
 stated to you, “with a view of exciting among our people 
 a spirit of historical research which would result in recov¬ 
 ering lost' newspapers and documents, and placing upon 
 record the experiences of our early settlers.” I had no 
 ambition to figure as a lecturer, or as a historian. I waited 
 until the regular lecture course was finished. The pro¬ 
 ceeds were given with pleasure to the Committee for the 
 employment of men more at home in the lecture field, as 
 the proceeds of this lecture will be,—such men as pass six 
 njonjts in preparing one, two, or three lectures, and pass 
 the next six months in delivering them. As this is their 
 sole means of living, it is right that they should be well 
 paid for them; and it is one of the noble objects of this 
 Association to furnish you, at an hour when you have no 
 worldly pursuits nor religious entertainments, for ten .cents, 
 what other people on a week-day pa)- from fifty cents to 
 a dollar for. 
 
 I can think of no other object that would have brought 
 me before you with a written lecture. I felt that the duty 
 peculiarly devolved upon me, and I performed' it with 
 pleasure. There are scarcely half a dozen persons, habit¬ 
 uated to public speaking, who were here before the city 
 was incorporated. I was sole conductor of a public press 
 for twenty-five years lacking a few months. It seemed 
 proper that I should lead off in this important matter. 
 
 The Chicago Democrat was commenced on the 26th of 
 November, 1833, by the late John Calhoun, whose widow 
 now resides in this city. Augustine D. Taylor, now living- 
 in this city, saw the press landed; and Walter Kimball, 
 now living in this city, was a visitor in the office, and saw 
 the first number printed. That paper fell into my hands 
 in November, 1836, and contained not only a history of 
 current events, but also a vast amount of information 
 touching the early history of the entire Northwest. It is a 
 
4 
 
 REMINISCENCES OK EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 sad reflection that the same fire which swept away my files, 
 also swept away those of everyone else, and all our public 
 records. But there are copies of the Chicago Democrat 
 scattered all over the Northwest, as well as of other papers 
 and documents that will be of service in restoring our lost 
 history. No person should destroy any papers or docu¬ 
 ments of a date prior to the fire. If there is no one who 
 wants them, let them be sent to me, and 1 will take care 
 of them until our Chicago Historical Society becomes 
 reorganized. Our old settlers are fast passing away. 
 Some of the few remaining have very retentive memories. 
 Let them not be discouraged because they do not remem¬ 
 ber dates. It is events that we want; and by comparing 
 them with other events, the dates of which we know, we 
 can in time obtain the exact dates of all of them. While 
 so many of our old settlers have passed away, there yet 
 may be remaining among their effects old papers whose 
 value their legal representatives do not appreciate. Many- 
 old packages have been given to me, with the remark that 
 they did not see of what use they could be to me. One 
 widow sent me some pieces of newspapers, which the 
 mice had kindly spared, with the remark that she was 
 ashamed to be sending such old trash to any one ; but from 
 them tacts enough were gathered to save another widow 
 from being swindled out of her homestead. When 1 lec¬ 
 tured before, it was a matter of dispute what was the name 
 of the first steamboat that ever came to Chicago, and who 
 was the person in command. She came to bring the 
 troops for the Black Hawk War in 183a, and brought the 
 cholera with them. All that was known for a certainty 
 was the place where they dug the pit into which they most 
 unceremoniously plunged the dead bodies. That was 
 remembered because it was the site of the old American 
 Temperance House, northwest corner of Inke street and 
 Wabash avenue; and many old settlers remembered that 
 from the fact that they always passed by the Temperance 
 House on the other side, and so could read the sign. The 
 river and lake water, which we had to drink in those days, 
 was considered unhealthy. I made a statement as to the 
 name of that boat, based upon what I considered the best 
 authority. But when I had finished, a gentleman came 
 upon the stage and gave me another name, claiming that 
 he helped fit out the very vessel at Cleveland, and I 
 changed my manuscript to correspond. But some of the 
 reporters published the statement as 1 delivered it, and 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 5 
 
 thus two statements were before the public as given by me. 
 Thus different persons, anxious to assist me in reestablish¬ 
 ing the landmarks of history, had an opportunity, by quot¬ 
 ing the one statement to provoke discussion by insisting 
 that the other statement was true, when they really did not 
 know any more about the matter than I did, and had per¬ 
 haps consulted only one authority, when I had previously 
 consulted many. But a lady, in looking over her old 
 papers, found, where she least expected it, a Chicago Dem¬ 
 ocrat dated March 14, 1861, containing a letter from Capt. 
 A. Walker, giving a history of the whole expedition, show¬ 
 ing that both statements were correct. The United States 
 Government chartered four steamers to bring troops and 
 supplies to Chicago, and their names were the Superior, 
 Henry Clay, William Penn, and Sheldon Thompson; but 
 the Superior and Henry Clay were sent back when the 
 cholera broke out on board. Capt. Walker says, that when 
 he arrived at Chicago, in July, 1832, there were but five 
 dwelling-houses here, three of which were made of logs. 
 There are other old newspapers yet to be found settling 
 questions equally as interesting. 
 
 All must admit, that there has been more said about the 
 history of Chicago, and more important publications made, 
 the past year than ever before. Booksellers inform me 
 that they have had within the past year, a greater demand 
 than in all time before for all works appertaining to the 
 history of the Northwest, and that they have had, all the 
 while, standing orders for such works as are out of print. 
 And it is to encourage a still further research that I address 
 you to-day. And, if the result of this year’s researches is 
 not satisfactory, I shall feel myself in duty bound to ad¬ 
 dress you again in a year from- this time. Many aged 
 settlers have thanked me for bringing them into a higher 
 appreciation. One octogenarian lady informs me that, 
 for the past fifteen years, when any young company came 
 to the house, she was expected to leave the room. After 
 my lecture, she said she saw a gentleman approaching the 
 house, and she left the room as usual. But soon her 
 granddaughter came out and said, “It is you he wants.” 
 And this was the first gentleman caller she had had for 
 fifteen years. When she entered the room> and he told 
 her he wanted to inquire about early Chicago, she felt as 
 if her youth had come again, and she told the others that 
 it was their time to leave the room. She said, “He has 
 been to see me six times, and has printed nearly all I said. 
 
6 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 and there is not another member of our large family who 
 has ever said a word that was thought of sufficient impor¬ 
 tance to be printed; and now I am thinking over what I 
 know about early Chicago, and letting the newspapers have 
 it." She observed with great force that the young folks were 
 constantly asking her how she used to get along amid early 
 privations, and she insisted that, if I ever lectured again, I 
 should assert that the early' settlers of Chicago were the 
 happiest people in the world, as 1 believe they were. But 
 a strict regard for the real historical purposes of this lec¬ 
 ture will permit me to allude only incidentally to our early 
 sources of entertainment. 
 
 We are apt to speak of Chicago as a new city'. But it is 
 not so, compared with the great mass of other cities in the 
 United States. Take out Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, 
 and New Orleans, and what is there older, in the date of 
 -its incorporation, in the West, extending to the Pacific ? 
 But when our city' was organized we had no Pacific posses¬ 
 sions, save Oregon Territory, which we then owned in com¬ 
 mon with Great Britain. The future historian of America 
 will not, however, take into consideration the date of our 
 incorporation. The ancient Romans were in the habit of 
 dating events from the foundation of their city'. But “ Urbs 
 condita” or “ Chicago condita” will never be a reckoning 
 point in our city’s history. Even in this assembly, there are 
 not as many who-know in what year our city was incor¬ 
 porated as in one of our public schools there are children 
 who can spell Melchisedec. notwithstanding modern politic¬ 
 ians have kicked from the public schools the Book that 
 contained the eighth commandment. 
 
 From 'Washington's inauguration, in 17S9, to Chicago's 
 first Mayor's inauguration, in 1837, we have but forty-eight 
 years, a period of time that the future historian of America, 
 when speaking of Chicago, will not notice. But a resident 
 of Chicago was not elected to Congress until 1843, and 
 yet he became associated not only with men prominent 
 under every Administration of the United States Govern¬ 
 ment, and many of them born before the inauguration of 
 Washington, but with some born even before the Declara¬ 
 tion of Independence, and two, at least, before the tea was 
 thrown overboard in Boston harbor. John Quincy .Adams 
 was born in 1767, and he was accustomed to tell us that 
 among his earliest recollections was that of hearing the re¬ 
 port of the guns at the battle of Bunker Hill. Benjamin 
 Tappan, Senator from Ohio, was born in 1773. Then-there 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 7 
 
 was Henry Clay, Secretary of State while John Quincy 
 Adams was President, United States Senator as early as 
 1806, Speaker of the House in 1811, bom in 1777, nine 
 months after the Declaration of Independence, and one 
 who could collect a larger crowd and disperse it quicker 
 and in better humor than any other man who ever lived in 
 America. I shall never forget my last interview with 
 Henry Clay, and its description is appropriate to the his¬ 
 tory of Chicago. Our harbor was suffering for appropria¬ 
 tions. President Polk had vetoed them all. A change of 
 dynasties had been effected. Millard Fillmore was the 
 acting President, and he was a warm friend of our harbor. 
 It was in the spring of 1851. The Harbor bill had passed 
 the House, and was sent to the Senate at a late day, and 
 the controlling spirits had managed to keep it back until a 
 still later day. The Southern Senators, under the lead of 
 Jefferson Davis, spoke against time, declaring the bill 
 unconstitutional. Clay did all that man could do for us, 
 but in vain. Our bill was talked to death. Clay came on 
 with us to New York City, to take a steamer for New 
 Orleans. As the vessel was about to sail, we went on 
 board to take our leave of him, and we all expressed a hope 
 that the next time he returned home he would go around 
 by the lakes. He replied, “ I never go where the Consti¬ 
 tution does not go. Hence I must travel by salt water. 
 Make your lakes Constitutional. Keep up the war until 
 your lake harbors get their deserved appropriations, and 
 then I will come out and see you.’'’ We finally got the 
 Constitution out here, but not until after Henry Clay had 
 paid the debt of nature. 
 
 Then there was John C. Calhoun, Vice-President while 
 John Quincy Adams was President in 1825 ; a member of 
 Congress in 1811 ; Secretary of War when the reconstruc¬ 
 tion of our fort was completed in 18x7 ; born in 1782, the 
 year before Great Britain acknowledged our independence. 
 He said his name came once very nearly being associated 
 with Chicago, as the new fort had been completed while he 
 was Secretary of War, and it was suggested that it be called 
 Fort Calhoun. •But he did not think it right to change the 
 old name which had been given in honor of Gen. Henry 
 Dearborn, who was Secretary of War when the first fort 
 was built, in 1804. Official documents tell us that, in 
 1803, Capt. John Whistler, then a Lieutenant at Detroit, 
 was ordered here to build the fort, that his troops came by 
 land, and that he, with his family and his supplies, came 
 
8 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 round by the lakes in the United States schooner Tracy, 
 with Dorr for Master. This probably was the first sail- 
 vessel that ever came to Chicago. I can think of no busi¬ 
 ness that could have brought one here before. This Capt. 
 John Whistler was father of Col. William Whistler, who 
 died in 1863, and was so favorably known by our early 
 settlers, and who was father-in-law of the late Robert A. 
 Kinzie, of this city. 
 
 Besides, there was Judge William Wilkins, of Pennsyl¬ 
 vania, born in 1779; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, 
 born in 1782; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, born in 
 1786; and Judge Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, 
 born in 1 789. 
 
 Then there were three men whose names are identified 
 with the history of the West. There was Lewis Cass, born 
 in 1782, appointed, in 1813, Governor of the Northwestern 
 Territory, then embracing Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
 Minnesota, and all west. And William Woodbridge, born 
 in 1780, appointed in 1814, Secretary of the same Territory. 
 These gentlemen where walking histories of the Northwest. 
 Then there was Thomas H. Benton, born in 1782, Senator 
 when Missouri was admitted in 1S21, who made his first 
 trips to Washington on horseback. Add his knowledge to 
 that of Messrs. Woodbridge and Cass, and we have a com¬ 
 plete history of-the entire West. Many now before me 
 will remember the patriotic lecture he delivered here in the 
 spring of 1S57, upon the approaching crisis to this country, 
 about a year before his death, probably the last lecture of 
 his life. Nor should I fail to mention Gen. Henry Dodge, 
 the Anthony Wayne of his period, born also in 1782, one 
 of the first Senators from Wisconsin. 
 
 A single member of Congress, and the first one elected 
 from Chicago, was associated in Congress with two mem¬ 
 bers who served in President Monroe’s Cabinet, one in 
 President J. Q. Adams’, three in President Jackson’s, one 
 in President Van Buren’s, five in President Harrison's, four 
 in President Tyler’s, four in President Polk’s, four in Presi¬ 
 dent Taylor’s, seven in President Fillmore’s, four in Presi¬ 
 dent Pierce’s, five in President Buchanan’s, and six in 
 President Lincoln’s; embracing a period of American 
 official history from 1S17; and some of these men were 
 born before the tea was thrown overboard in Boston 
 harbor. 
 
 For some years after Chicago elected her first member 
 of Congress, the widow of President Madison gave recep- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 9 
 
 tions at W ashington, and on the first of January her guests 
 were shown apartments where were suspended dresses 
 which she had worn upon all great occasions, including the 
 receptions of Presidents Washington, Adams, J efferson^ and 
 her husband. James Madison was not only a member of 
 the Continental Congress, but also a member of the first 
 Congress under the Constitution, and so continued during 
 the terms of Washington’s Presidency; and was Secretary 
 of State under Mr. Jefferson’s Administration. So this 
 lady had had ample opportunity to know the customs of 
 every preceding period of our Governmental history. Now, 
 if her heirs bring out these dresses for the Centennial (she 
 had no children), the public will-be astonished at their 
 remarkably small number, she not having had, in over a 
 quarter of a century, what the wife of the average office¬ 
 holder of these days will have in a single year. 
 
 Then there was the widow of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, 
 the confidant of Gen. Washington in the Revolution, and 
 his Secretary of the Treasury, who was killed in a duel by 
 Aaron Burr. She was born in 1757, and died at Washing¬ 
 ton in 1S54. She was soliciting Congress to aid her in 
 publishing her husband's works. She could tell all about 
 her father, Gen. Philip Schuyler, of the American Revolu¬ 
 tion ; the personal appearance of Gen. Washington and his 
 lady ; and of almost all other public persons of the Revolu¬ 
 tionary period. In fact, when you sent your first member 
 of Congress to Washington, all society was redolent with 
 scenes of the Revolutionary period; and here in our midst 
 were several Revolutionary soldiers; and one, Father 
 David Keniston, who claimed to have been one of the 
 party who threw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor. 
 
 You will excuse me for digressing from the direct pur¬ 
 pose of this lecture if I here state to you, that since I com¬ 
 menced writing it, I have received a letter from an old 
 colleague in Congress, who was born the same year Great 
 Britain acknowledged our independence, 1783, — as it will 
 probably be the last opportunity that .many of you will ever 
 have of hearing a letter read from a man now living who is 
 older than our Government; I allude to the Hon. Artemas 
 Hale, of Bridgewater, Mass. He is the oldest ex-member 
 of Congress now living, in his 93d year. Do you want to 
 hear what the veteran says ? 
 
 My health, considering my age, is quite good. But my time for 
 taking any active part in public matters is past. Still, however, I feel 
 a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of our beloved country, 
 
IO 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 and am pained to hear of the corruption and frauds of so many of 
 our public men. It appear- to me that it is of the highest importance 
 that our circulating medium should have a fixed and permanent value, 
 which it cannot have but by a specie basis. I should be very much 
 pleased to receive a letter from you, with your views of public matters. 
 
 I answered his letter in one word, “Amen !” 
 
 Thus you will see that our history laps so closely upon 
 the Revolutionary period that there is no precise point at 
 which we can say that Chicago began, unless it be in 1S32, 
 when the marching of the troops of Gen. Scott to Rock 
 Island, on the Mississippi, called attention to the fertility of 
 the soil and the beautiful locations west of us. We often 
 hear of different men who have done much for Chirac *1 y 
 their writings, their speeches, or them enterprise. But I 
 have never heard of a man who has done more for Chi¬ 
 cago than Chicago has done for him. God made Lake 
 Michigan and the country to the west of it: and, when 
 we come to estimate who have done the most for Chicago, 
 the glory belongs first to the enterprising farmers who raised 
 a surplus of produce and sent it here for shipment : and 
 second, to the hardy sailors who braved the storms of our 
 harborless lakes to carry it to market. All other classes 
 were the incidents, and not the necessities, of our embryo 
 city. Chicago is but the index of the prosperity of our 
 agricultural classes. And to this day we hear Chicago 
 mercantile failures attributed to the inability of farmers to 
 get their produce to market, when the roads are in a bad 
 condition. If we pass by the impetus given to the agri¬ 
 cultural development of the country west of Chicago by 
 the Black Hawk AVar of 1832, we must admit that we are 
 passing into the bi-centennial period. What did Chicago 
 know of the • Uration of Independence, the Revolution¬ 
 ary War, the Peace of 17S3, or the inauguration of Wash¬ 
 ington. until years afterwards? It is probable that Capt. 
 Whistler, when he came here to build the fort of 1804, 
 brought to Chicago the first information on these subjects, 
 and probably had to employ an interpreter to explain it. 
 It was probably his Chaplain that made the first prayer for 
 the President of the United States and all in authority; 
 and his vessel that first -floated the Stars and Stripes on 
 Lake Michigan. But there were prayers here aco years 
 ago. and a flag that did not denote our national indepen¬ 
 dence. but French territorial aggrandizement. 
 
 I have used my best efforts to find the earliest recog¬ 
 nition of Chicago by any official authority. Charlevoix 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 11 
 
 and other French writers make mention of the place, but 
 1 cannot find that the French Government in any way 
 recognized it. After the Canadas were ceded to Great 
 Britain, the whole Illinois country was placed under tire 
 local administration of Canada by a bill which passed the 
 British Parliament in 1766, known as the "Quebec Bill:" 
 but there is nothing to prove that the Canadian Govern¬ 
 ment took any official notice of this place. It may be 
 interesting to know what was religious liberty in those 
 days. At the period of the change of Government from 
 the French, under the treat} - of Paris, in 1763, Thomas 
 Gage was Commander-in-Chief of the British King's troops 
 in North America ; and in 1764. he issued a proclamation 
 authorizing the Roman Catholics of Illinois to exercise the 
 worship of their religion in the same manner as they did 
 in Canada, and to go wherever they pleased, even to New 
 Orleans. 
 
 In October, 1778, the House of Burgesses of Virginia 
 created the County of Illinois, appointed John Todd, of 
 Kentucky, Civil Commander, and authorized all the civil 
 officers to which the inhabitants had been accustomed, to 
 be chosen by a majority of the citizens of their respective 
 districts. From this we should infer that there were then 
 settlements somewhere in the State. But I can find nothing 
 of Chicago while we belonged to Virginia. The late Wm. 
 H. Brown, of this city, in a lecture before our Historical 
 Society, in 1865, said: “The French inhabitants of Kas- 
 kaskia, in 1818, the year in which I made my residence 
 there, claimed that that village was founded in 1707. There 
 were evidences at that time ( the remains of former edifices, 
 among them the Jesuit College) that their chronology was 
 substantially correct.” 
 
 In 17SS. Gen. Arthur St.Clair became Governor of the 
 entire Northwestern Territory, and was the first man to 
 nil that position. The seat of government for Chicago 
 people was then at Marietta, O. In 1790 he came to 
 Ivaskaskia (some writers say Cahokia) and organized what 
 is now the entire State of Illinois into a county, which 
 he named for himself. Besides this there were but two 
 counties in the whole Northwestern Territory—the County 
 of Knox, embracing Indiana, and the County of Hamilton, 
 embracing Ohio. But there is nothing to show that Chicago 
 at that time was known to the civil authorities. Besides 
 consulting all the early writers upon the subject, 1 have 
 corresponded with all the men in the country who I thought 
 
12 
 
 REMINISCENCES OE EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 would know anything concerning it. And I cannot find 
 anyone who has any authority for stating that there was any 
 official recognition of Chicago until Gen. Wayne’s Treaty, 
 made at Greenville in 1795, in which he acquired title from 
 the Indians to a tract of land, six miles square, at the mouth 
 of .the Chicago River, where a fort formerly stood. Green¬ 
 ville is in the southwestern part of Ohio, in Dark County, 
 upon the Indiana State line. There is nothing to show 
 that, at that time, Gen. Wayne came any farther west, not 
 even as far as Fort Wayne, although he appears to have 
 had the same knowledge of the importance of the position 
 of Fort Wayne as he did of that of Chicago. Why the 
 fort at this place, referred to, was built .here, and who built 
 it, I have not been able to ascertain. As the French and 
 Indians were always allies, there is no reason why the 
 French should have built such a fort. It may be that it 
 was built by one of the tribes of Indians to defend the 
 place trom some other tribe. But offsetting tradition 
 against Gen. Wayne's official recognition of a fort here, it 
 may be that there was a mere trading and store-house, sur¬ 
 rounded by pickets. The prevailing impression is that 
 such was the character of all those places called forts prior 
 to the abdication of the French authority. Col. Gurdon S. 
 Hubbard, our oldest living settler, who was here in 1S1S. 
 favors this idea, and has reminded me of an almost for¬ 
 gotten, but at one time extensively received, tradition, that 
 this old fort, or palisaded. trading-post, was on the West 
 Side, upon the North Branch, near where Indiana street 
 now crosses it; and it was erected, or at least was at one 
 time occupied, by a Frenchman named Garie, and hence 
 the tradition that our North Branch river was one called 
 “Garie's River.” 
 
 There was a powerful chief of the Illinois named Chi- 
 cagou, who went to France in the year 1725. The Hon. 
 Sidney Breese, who settled at Kaskaskia in 18 18, who was 
 in the United States Senate six years during my service in 
 Congress, and who still honors our Supreme Court, is the 
 best informed man in Illinois history now living. He 
 writes me: 
 
 I know of no authorized recognition of Chicago as a place on this 
 •globe, anterior to Wayne’s treaty. 1 have a copy of a map, which 1 
 made from one in the Congressional Library, which I found among 
 the papers of President Jefferson, made in 1685; in which is a place 
 on the lake shore, about where your city is, marked “Chicagou;” 
 and Father Louis Yivier, who was a priest at Kaskaskia in 1752, in a 
 letter to his Superior, says: “Chikagou was a celebrated Indian chief, 
 
BY HON. TOHX WENTWORTH. 
 
 I 
 
 who went to Paris, and the Duchess of Orleans, a: Versailles, gave 
 him a splendid snuff-box, which he was proud to exhibit, on his 
 return, to his brother redskins." 
 
 Some have contended that our city was named from him. 
 But Charlevoix, in his History of New France, gives us 
 that name as early as x6ji. in which year, he says, a 
 French voyageur, named Nicholas Perrot, went to Chicago, 
 at the lower end of Lake Michigan, where the Miami? then 
 were. This was before Father Tames Marquette came here. 
 
 The treaty of Greenville, at the time considered of no 
 other importance than as settling our difficulties with the 
 Indians, afterwards became a matter of very serious impor¬ 
 tance in the settlement of our difficulties with Great Britain, 
 while the treaty of Ghent was being negotiated, 1814. When 
 the Commissioners met, the Americans were surprised by 
 the British Commissioners demanding the recognition of 
 that treaty as the basis of negotiations as to the western 
 boundary of the United States. The British at first refused 
 to negotiate except upon the basis of that treaty, and in¬ 
 sisted upon the entire sovereignty and independence of the 
 Indian Confederacy. They claimed the Indians as their 
 allies, and considered themselves boimd to protect them in 
 their treaty. It will be remembered that the Indians had, 
 for a long time, received annuities from the French Govern¬ 
 ment, and that these annuities were continued by Great 
 Britain after the treat}' of cession in 1763 : and that, after 
 our independence was acknowledged by Great Britain, the 
 Indians annually sent delegations to Canada to receive 
 these annuities. During the pendency of these negotia¬ 
 tions, it was ascertained that there had been an alliance, 
 offensive and defensive, between the celebrated Chief 
 Tecumseh and the British authorities. After discussing 
 the matter, and finding the Americans peremptorily refus¬ 
 ing to acknowledge the sovereigntv of the Indians, the 
 British Commissioners proposed that the United States and 
 Great Britain should exercise a joint protectorate over the 
 Indians, and. consider all the territory not acknowledged 
 t belong to the United States by the treaty of Greenville 
 a- embraced within that protectorate. This would have 
 left the six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River 
 in a permanently Indian country. The West would have 
 been situated similarly to Oregon, which was so long held 
 under the joint occupation of Great Britain and the United 
 States: and the final result of the joint occupation would 
 have been the same as in Oregon, a division of the rerritorv: 
 
14 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO 
 
 a part of it, perhaps including Chicago, being attached, in 
 the end, to the Canadian provinces. The British Commis¬ 
 sioners were so pertinacious on this subject that it was 
 thought at one time that negotiations would have to be 
 given up. And when the British Commissioners finally 
 yielded, the British Government received the bitter curses 
 of the Indians. 
 
 Billy Caldwell, better known in Chicago as Sauganash, 
 who lived here several years after I came here, and was 
 well known to me personally, had been the intimate friend 
 of Tecumseh, and declared that if Tecumseh had been liv¬ 
 ing he would have aroused all the Indians in the Northwest 
 in a general warfare upon the Canadian settlements, in 
 retaliation for what he considered the treachery at Ghent. 
 Caldwell, to the day of his death, insisted that Tecumseh, 
 not long before he was killed, predicted that the British in 
 time would abandon them, and seriously meditated, during 
 the war of 1812. upon going over to the Americans with all 
 his forces. Caldwell was the son of an Irish Colonel in the 
 British army, stationed upon the Detroit frontier, whose 
 name he bore. His mother was Tecumseh s own sister. 
 He ultimately went to his tribe at the Pottawatomie Reser¬ 
 vation in Shawnee County, Kan., and died there. 
 
 When the Illinois territory was a part of Indiana, our 
 seat of government was at Vincennes. When it was set off 
 from Indiana, in 1809, the whole territory was organized 
 into two counties, St. Clair and Randolph. Judge Breese, 
 whose home was in Kaskaskia in 1818, informs me that his 
 home was never in the same county with Chicago, being in 
 the southern County of Randolph. 
 
 From St. Clair County, what is now Cook County, was 
 set off in the new County of Madison; thence in the new 
 County of Crawford; in 1819, m the new County of Clark; 
 and so little was then known of the northern country, that 
 the act creating Clark County extended it to the Canada 
 line. In 1821, we were set off in the new County of Pike; 
 in 1823, in the new County of Fulton; and in 1825, in the 
 new County of Peoria. I have not only caused the County 
 records of these counties to be examined, but have also 
 corresponded with their earliest settlers, and I can find 
 no official recognition of Chicago until we reach Fulton 
 County. The Clerk of that County writes me, that the 
 earliest mention of Chicago in the records is the order of 
 .an election at the term of the Fulton County Commis¬ 
 sioners’ Court, Sept. 2. 1S23, to choose one' Major and 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 15 
 
 company officers, polls at Chicago to be opened at the house 
 of John Kinzie. The returns of this election cannot be 
 found, if they were ever made. As the county was organ¬ 
 ized in 1823, this, of course, was the first election under 
 the organization of the county. The same Court ordered, 
 April 27, 1824, that the Sheriff, Abner Eads, be released 
 from paying the money tax collected at Chicago by Rous- 
 ser. In those days the Sheriffs were ex-officio collectors of 
 taxes. The name indicates that our Tax-Collector was 
 then a Frenchman, or a mixed-breed French and Indian. 
 It seems that they had defaulters in those days, as well as 
 now. It would be a gratifying historical fact if we could 
 know how much this man Rousser collected, as showing; 
 the financial resources of our population at that time, when 
 all the 'real estate belonged to the General Government, 
 lhe numerous followers of this man Rousser have shown 
 their ingratitude to the founder of their sect by their failure 
 to erect any monument to his memory, or to name after 
 him a street, a school-house, or a fire-engine house. 
 These Rousserites are getting to be a numerous body of 
 men, and their motto is, “Keep what you collect.” One 
 election and one steal are all that the records of Fulton 
 County show for Chicago ! 
 
 The Clerk of Peoria County writes me, that his earliest 
 records commence March 8, 1825. From these records 
 I learn that John Kinzie was commissioned Justice of the 
 Peace July 28, 1825. He was the first Justice of the 
 Peace resident at Chicago. Alexander Wolcott, his son-in- 
 law, and John P. Beaubien, were commissioned Sept. 10, 
 of the same year. 
 
 I have also the assessment-roll of John L. Bogardus, 
 assessor of Peoria County, for the year 1825, dated July 
 25, which is as follows: 
 
 . Fax-Payers' Names. Valuation. Tax. 
 
 1 Beaubien, John B. $1000 $10.00 ' 
 
 2 Clybourne, Jonas, . 625 6.25 
 
 3 Clark, John K. 250 2.50 
 
 4 Crafts, John, . : ,.. 5000 50.00 
 
 5 Clermont, Jeremy, . 100 ”1.00 
 
 6 Coutra, Louis,. 30 .50 
 
 7 Kinzie, John, . 500 5.00 
 
 8 Laframboise, Claude,. 100 1.00 
 
 9 Laframboise, Joseph,. 50 .50 
 
 10 McKee, David, . 100 1.00 
 
 11 Piche, Peter, . 100 1.00 
 
 12 Robinson, Alexander, . 200 2.00 
 
 13 Wolcott, Alexander, . 572 5.72 
 
 14 Wilemet [Ouilmette], Antoine, . 400 4.00 
 
REMINISCENCES F EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 16 
 
 The entire valuation. land then being not taxable, of all 
 the prop*eny in Chicago was $0,047. and rale was one 
 per cent. But the prop>erty of the American Fur Company 
 —as assessed to John Crafts, its a_ent. at $5,000. He was 
 a bachelor, and died the next year, and Mr. Kinzie was 
 appointed in his place. Deducting the-American Fur Co.'s 
 - - e ssmeat y $4,047 as the : s pr rt 
 
 f Chicago, in 1S25. $40.47 as the tax. and thirteen as the 
 number of the tax-payers. 
 
 The Teri: sent me a coj y of two poll-books used at Chicago 
 — • I Aug. 7, 1826, 
 
 fire names: the other at an election held Aug. 2. 1S30, 
 
 : ontaining th rry-two names: thus showing a decrease of 
 three voters n four years. I will read you the names of 
 nr voters in 1826. and you will see that onlv ten of the 
 fourteen tax-payers in 1S2 5 then voted: 
 
 1 Augustin Barmy. [BannotP] 
 
 2 Henry Kefley. 
 
 3 I ramie! Bcrarassea. 
 
 4 Cole W eeks. 
 
 5 Amoine Onlimerte. 1S25 
 
 6 John Baptist e Secor. 
 
 ‘ 
 
 S Benjamin RnsseH 
 9 Basile Itisplattes. 
 
 10 Francis Laframbolse. sr. 
 
 11 Frauds LaframboTe. Jr. 
 
 12 Josech Lafnambri-e. 1823 
 33 Ah vender Laram. 
 
 14 Francis Lalnckr. 
 
 15 Peter ChareCie. 
 
 36 Claude Latramboise. 1823 
 * 
 
 ; S Peter Tania. 
 
 19 Joim Baptiste Laforrane. 
 
 20 John Baptiste MalasL 
 
 21 Joseph Pothier. 
 
 22 Alexander Robinson. 
 
 1S23 
 
 23 join K 
 
 1S25 
 
 24 I)avid McKee. 
 
 1S23 
 
 23 Joseph Ar.ierson. 
 
 
 26 Jasepl 
 
 
 t: It 1 icn 
 
 1S23 
 
 2> John Kinzie. 
 
 1S25 
 
 t me. 
 
 
 30 Billy Caldwell 
 
 
 33 Martin Yandcle. 
 
 
 72 Paul Jamboe. 
 
 
 . 
 
 34 Edward Ament. 
 T -535 Samuel Johnston. 
 
 I win now read you the names of our voters in JS30, 
 • - wing that onh' three of the fourteen, tax-payers of 1825 
 ihenproted: 
 
 1 Stephen T. Scott. 
 
 V 
 
 3 Leon Bonrassea. 
 
 4 E. H. Laughton. 
 
 3 Jesse VC alter, 
 
 6 Medard B. Bear den. 
 
 " F:: ::-:e C~~- . 
 
 9 KasscB E. Heacock. 
 
 10 James Brown. 
 
 1 1 J' Lafra:: boise : 23. i ; t' 
 
 13 William See. 
 
 34 John Van Horn. 
 
 Jj J ; >hn Mann. 
 
 16 L'avid Van Eaton. 
 
 17 Stephen Mack. 
 
 18 Jonathan A. B*i’ey. 
 
 19 Ale -rMcDolo. [McDole?] 
 
 20 John S. C. Hogcn. 
 
 [825, 1826 
 
 22 Billy Caldwell 1S26 
 
 23 Joseph ThibeauL 
 
 24 Peter Frinae. 
 
BY HON. TOHX WENTWORTH. 
 
 _ _>iar k r>eauuieii. 
 
 26 Laurant Martin. 
 
 27 Tohn Baptiste Secor 1S26 
 
 28 Joseph Bauskey. 
 
 t Mark Beaubien. 
 
 29 Michael Welch. 
 
 30 Francis Laducier, 1S26 
 
 31 Lewis Ganday. 
 
 32 Peresh Leclerc. 
 
 It is a remarkable commentary upon the fickleness of our 
 population, that only six of the men who voted in 1S26 
 voted in 1830; and these six were half-breeds or Govern¬ 
 ment employes. Father John Kinzie, however, died be¬ 
 tween the two elections, upon the 6th of January, 1S2S, 
 aged 65. But there were some not voting at the second 
 election, such as the late Archibald Clybourne, his father 
 Jonas, and half-brother John K. Clark, who ended their 
 days with us. The half-breeds and French who did not 
 vote may have been away on a hunting and trading expedi¬ 
 tion. The voters in 1S26 seem to have understood their 
 true interest, being dependents upon the fort, as every one of 
 them voted the Administration ticket, John Quincy Adams 
 then being President. If there were ever three men in the 
 United States who electrified the whole country with their 
 fiery denunciations of the military power, they were Presi¬ 
 dent John Quincy Adams, his Vice-President John C. Cal¬ 
 houn, and his Secretary of State Henry Clay. Neither of 
 the three ever forget Gen. Jackson ! It would have seemed 
 malicious, and yet quite pertinent, on the part of the Chicago 
 member of Congress to have asked either of these gentlemen 
 whether it was not a singular fact that, while Mr. Adams 
 was President, the people of Chicago unanimously voted 
 with the fort 1 Ninian Edwards for Governor, Samuel H. 
 Thompson for Lieutenant-Governor, Daniel P. Cook for 
 Congressman, the Administration candidates, each received 
 thirty-five votes, being all there were. The much-com- 
 plained-of military power of the present day has never 
 secured a greater unanimity in the colored vote of the 
 South. But four years later, in 1830, when Andrew Jack- 
 son was President, there was a material change in the 
 politics of the place. John Reynolds, the Jackson candi¬ 
 date for Governor, received twenty-two out of the thirty-two 
 votes cast. Of the six who voted at both elections, and 
 who voted for the Adams candidate in 1826, five voted for 
 the Jackson candidate in 1830; showing their consistency 
 by each time voting with the Administration, or more 
 properly with the fort. Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash, the 
 nephew of Tecumseh, voted the Jackson ticket; while 
 Joseph Laframboise, a noted Indian chief, stood out and 
 voted against it. Perhaps Gen. Jackson, in some of the 
 
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 iS 
 
 early Indian wars, had caused the death of some of Lafram- 
 boise's relatives or friends. Up to 184S, we had the viva 
 voce system of voting in the State of Illinois. Each man 
 went up to the polls, with or without a ticket in his hands, 
 and told whom he wanted to vote for. and the judges so 
 recorded it. Rut in those days the masses knew as little 
 whom they were voting for as they do now. For the 
 judges often read off the names of the candidates from the 
 tickets, and the voter would nod his head. There was no 
 chance, however, for stuffing the ballot-box under the viva 
 voce system. It may account for the falling off of the vote 
 between 1S26 and 1830, that some persons would not vote 
 the Jackson ticket, and yet disliked to vote against the 
 fort. There were four of the 1 aframboise family voting in 
 1S26, and only one in 1S30. The names of voters in 1826 
 indicate that full three-fourths of them were French and 
 half-breeds. The judges in 1826 were Father John Kinzie. 
 the late Gen. John R. Reaubien. and Billy Caldwell. The 
 clerks were the late Archibald Clyboume and his half-brother 
 John K. Clark. The election was held at the Agency 
 House, in Chicago Precinct, Peoria County. The Agency 
 House was on the North Side, and was the second house 
 built in Chicago. Mr. Kinzie's being the first. The Indian 
 Agent was Dr. Alexander Wolcott, who died in 1830. son- 
 in-law of Mr. Kinzie. 
 
 The election of 1S30. was held in the house of James 
 Kinzie, Chicago Precinct. Peoria County. This house was 
 on the West Side, near the forks of the river. The South 
 Side had no status at that time, there being nothing then 
 on that side except the fon and light-house building, and 
 the log-houses of the two Reaubien brothers.—one residing 
 at the lake shore, and one near the forks of the river, with 
 such a marsh between, that, much of the time, their most 
 convenient way of visiting each other was in boats in the 
 river. 
 
 The judges at the election of 1S30. were Russell E. 
 Heacock. the first lawyer to settle in Chicago. Gen. John 
 R. Reaubien. one of the judges in 1826, and James Kin¬ 
 zie. The clerks were Medard R. Reaubien. well known 
 in this city, now principal agent of the Pottawatomie tribe 
 of Indians at Silver Lake. Shawnee County, Kansas, and 
 Jesse Walker. The names of voters in 1S30, indicate 
 a large influx of the Anglo-Saxon race: but among them 
 was one Irishman, probably the first Irishman who ever 
 trod the Chicago soil. The first thought that occurred to 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 19 
 
 me was, What could bring an Irishman out here all alone? 
 Who was to help him celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Who 
 was to attend his wake? His name was Michael Welch. 
 What have our many Irish Aldermen been thinking of, that 
 they have never given us, in honor of their first settler, a 
 Welch avenue, a Welch street, a Welch schoool-house, or a 
 Welch fire-engine? The next thought that occurred to me 
 was, What could he be doing out here all by himself? 
 Now, what would an Irishman naturally do when he found 
 himself here all alone, hundreds of miles distant from any 
 other Irishman? He was a bugler. He blew his horn. 
 He was a discharged soldier, and, having faithfully served 
 out his time, he stopped long enough to vote the straight 
 Jackson ticket, and then joined Captain Jesse Brown's 
 Rangers and marched on to clear the Indians out of the 
 way of his coming countrymen, who were already aroused 
 by his bugle's blast, as his patron St. Patrick, centuries 
 before, had cleared the snakes out of his way in the land of 
 bis nativity. 
 
 Capt. Jesse Brown was a brother of the late Judge 
 Thomas C. Brown, of our Supreme Court, and was author¬ 
 ized by President Jackson to raise a company of men, who 
 were called “ Brown's Rangers, 7 ' and was ordered to report 
 to Gen. Stephen W. Kearney, on the Western frontier. 
 
 There is a prevailing impression that Jrishmen never go 
 anywhere except in squads. But the history of the Ameri¬ 
 can Continent will prove that Irishmen have ventured as 
 far alone upon hazardous explorations as any other men. 
 But he dislikes to stay alone. Like the honey-bee, when 
 he finds a good thing, he wants some others to come and 
 help him enjoy it. My original Congressional district 
 extended north to the Wisconsin line, west to the Rock 
 River Valley, south so as to embrace Princeton, LaSalle, 
 Bloomington, Urbana, and Danville. I had to travel ail 
 over this district with a horse and buggy, and visit the 
 spare settlements. I often found an Irishman cultivating 
 the soil alone. But when I made a second visit, I found 
 some more Irishmen there, or else the original one had 
 gone. Gov. Winthrop, of Boston, in his journal under date 
 of 1642, tells us of one Darby Field, an Irishman, who 
 could not rest contented after his landing in America until 
 he had climbed to the top of the White Mountains. He 
 was the first man to ascend Mount Washington, and when 
 asked why he went, replied, “ Merely to take a look at the 
 country 1” 
 
20 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 The official dispatches of one of the battles o.f the Mexi¬ 
 can War commended the conduct of Private Sullivan, of 
 one of our Chicago regiments. In the battle he had 
 advanced before his company, engaged in a single combat 
 with a Mexican officer, and killed him. I called President 
 Polk's attention to the report, and asked for Sullivan's pro¬ 
 motion. He referred the matter to the Adjutant-General. 
 Time passed along, and no appointment was sent to the 
 Senate. I called upon the Adjutant-General, and he read 
 me a letter from Sullivan's superior officer, commending his 
 courage and general good conduct, but strongly protesting 
 against his appointment as Lieutenant in the regular army, 
 on account of his deficiency in West Point education. I 
 appealed to the President, and it did not take long to 
 satisfy him that good fighting in war-time would counter¬ 
 balance all deficiencies in education, and Sullivan was 
 promoted. Some time after the close of the war, his father 
 called upon me, said he had not heard from his son for a 
 long time, and wanted me to find him. Many of you will 
 remember the father, Jeremiah Sullivan, at one time Justice 
 of the Peace,—a tall and well-proportioned gentleman, with 
 a- prepossessing a general appearance as any gentleman 
 who walked our streets. I wrote to Washington, and 
 received for answer that Sullivan resigned his Lieutenancy 
 at the close of the war. Inside the official letter was a 
 note marked “private and unofficial." ‘‘Tell Sullivan's 
 father to read the news from Mexico. I enclose some 
 scraps from a Xew Orleans newspaper, and the Col. Sul¬ 
 livan therein mentioned is reported to be the late Lieut. 
 Sullivan of the regular army." Some time afterwards, an 
 officer of the army gave me the following account : After 
 the close of the war with Mexico, some of the officers were 
 tarrying late at dinner, when Lieut. Sullivan entered and 
 was saluted with “ Will you join us, Lieut. Sullivan ?" 
 " Col. Sullivan, if you please, gentleman." was the reply. 
 Whereupon one of the officers said, “ It will not surprise us 
 at all if you are Col. Sullivan. If your killing that Mexican 
 was of so much account as to put you on an equality with 
 us who have studied four years at West Point, and have 
 seen considerable active sendee, a little personal favoritism 
 might cam 1 you still higher, and make you a Colonel. 
 Why, Lieut. Sullivan, if you should kill another Mexican, 
 those politicians at Washington would make you Com- 
 mander-in-ChiefT “Gentlemen," said Sullivan, “it is 
 business that brings me here. Here is my commission as 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 21 
 
 'Colonel in the Mexican revolutionary army, and now you 
 know my authority. And now, here’s my business in this 
 paper, which I will read.” He then read a paper authoriz¬ 
 ing and requesting him to employ a competent engineer 
 upon his staff. The officers reminded him that they knew 
 nothing of the face of the Mexican country, had no maps, 
 knew not his route, and insisted that they could be of no 
 service to him. “You do not understand me, gentlemen,” 
 replied Sullivan; “ it is not for what I am going to do that 
 I want any of your assistance. I only want you to map it 
 out after I have done it. You are always talking about 
 your military school, and what you have studied, and the 
 like of you will be at school hereafter, and they will want 
 to study Sullivan’s Route to the Capital of Mexico ; and if 
 ever I should be Emperor, whom would I want for Sec¬ 
 retary of AVar but my own Engineer?” Sullivan set out 
 upon his march with no one to map out his route. He 
 penetrated regions where no man had ever been before. 
 He came out of forests where men least expected him. He 
 appeared to be everywhere, and the inhabitants could make 
 no calculation where he was not. They either all joined 
 him, or fled before him. He had everything his own way, 
 until, in his efforts to join the main army, he found himself 
 in the fortified country. Here he missed his engineer and 
 his military education. He was wounded, taken prisoner, 
 marched into the Plaza, a bullet pierced his heart, and that 
 Avas the last of Sullivan. But it just took a Chicago Irish 
 boy to teach the Emperor Maximilian how to die the death 
 of a soldier some twenty years afterwards ; and Sullivan had 
 as much right in Mexico as Maximilian. 
 
 There are 67 names upon the two voting-lists of 1825 
 and 1830. Six voted at both elections, leaving 61 different 
 names, which, with the four on the tax-list of 1825 who did 
 not vote at either election, constitute the 65 from whom 
 our first families are descended. 
 
 And as there may be some pride in after years in tracing 
 one’s connection with our first families, the real Knicker¬ 
 bockers of Chicago, 1 have taken some pains to obtain 
 interviews or hold correspondence with such of them as 
 might be living, and with the descendants of such as are 
 dead. Of a very large proportion of them 1 can obtain no 
 knowledge whatever. 1 shall publish all their names, and 
 at some future time shall publish what I have ascertained, 
 or may hereafter ascertain, of their history and of their de¬ 
 scendants. When it was known, in i860, that the Prince 
 
22 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 of Wales was to make Chicago a visit, one of our society 
 men suggested that it was my duty, as Mayor of the city, 
 to select about a hundred from our first families and give 
 the Prince a ball. I asked him to give the names of the 
 hundred from the first families. This he said he was un¬ 
 willing to do. I asked him then to give me the names of 
 even ten of our first families, meaning, of course, nine 
 besides his own. This he also declared himself unwilling 
 to do. But if, at any future time, any one of our society 
 men should wish to make a party from our first families, he 
 may derive some assistance from this lecture. 
 
 At this time I think there are but three of those voters 
 living. One is Medard B. Beaubien, son of the late Gen. 
 John B. Beaubien, of this city, now the leading man among 
 the Pottawatomie Indians, in Kansas. The second is 
 David McKee, now living near Aurora, Ill. He was born 
 in Virginia in 1800, and went to Cincinnati when a young 
 man, as a blacksmith. Under the treaty of Chicago, made 
 with the Indians by Gen. Cass, in 1821, the Government 
 was to keep a blacksmith here, who was to work exclusively 
 for the Indians. Col. Benjamin B. Kerchival, then Indian 
 Agent, afterwards a prominent citizen of Detroit, went to 
 Cincinnati and employed McKee to come here in that 
 capacity. McKee reached Fort Wayne, and there waited 
 for a guide. At that time the only mail Chicago had was 
 a monthly one to Fort Wayne. He did not wait long 
 before the exploring expedition of Maj. Stephen H. Long 
 reached that place, and he accompanied it to Chicago. 
 Turning to the history of that expedition, by Prof. William 
 H. Keating, of the University of Pennsylvania, I find that 
 orders were issued to Maj. Long, April 25, 1823, for him 
 to commence at Philadelphia, thence to proceed to Wheel¬ 
 ing, thence to Chicago or Fort Wayne, thence to Fort 
 Armstrong or Dubuque lead mines, thence up the Missis¬ 
 sippi to Fort St. Anthony, etc. The expedition reached 
 Fort Wayne, May 26, 1823, and Prof. Keating speaks of 
 the fort then there as erected in 1814 on the site of the old 
 fort, the location of which had been designated by Gen. 
 Anthony Wayne after his victory over the confederated 
 Indians on the 20th of August, 1794, which gave rise to the 
 treaty of Greenville in the following year. The Professor 
 says also, that the expedition fortunately met at Fort 
 Wayne the express sent from Chicago for letters, and 
 obtained him as guide. They left Fort Wayne May 29th, 
 1823. Their cavalcade consisted of seven persons, in- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 23 
 
 eluding the soldier mail-carrier, and a colored servant; and 
 they had two horses loaded with provisions. On the 5th 
 of June they reached Fort Dearborn, Chicago, having been 
 eight days in traveling the distance of 216 miles, an average 
 of 27 miles a day, their distance exceeding the usual allow¬ 
 ance by 16 miles, in consequence of their circuitous route 
 to avoid the Elkhart River. The railroad train now leav¬ 
 ing here at 9 a.m. reaches Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. The 
 post at Chicago was abandoned a few months after the 
 party reached it, in consequence of the rapid extension of 
 the white population westward, and the establishment of a 
 chain of military posts along the Mississippi River, render¬ 
 ing the continuance of the force here unnecessary. An 
 Indian Agent, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, uncle of our present 
 County Surveyor, of the same name, remained here to keep 
 up amicable relations with the Indians, and to attend to 
 their wants, daily becoming greater in consequence of the 
 increasing scarcity of game. Fort Dearborn was not occu¬ 
 pied by soldiers again, except temporarily in transit, until 
 1832, when the Black Hawk troubles broke out. When 
 Mr. McKee came here there were but two houses ; one 
 belonging to John Kinzie, the other to his son-in-law, Dr. 
 Alexander Wolcott, the Indian Agent, — Mr. Kinzie’s hav¬ 
 ing been built first. Both houses were built of logs, and 
 lined with cedar bark. The third house was built by 
 Joseph Pothier, a Frenchman, and one of the voters here 
 in 1826, and who until recently was a resident of Mil¬ 
 waukee. He married an Indian half-breed, brought up by 
 Mr. Kinzie, and was striker for Mr. McKee in the black¬ 
 smith shop. Mr. McKee was married by Mr. Kinzie, at 
 Mr. Kinzie’s house, and he built the fourth house. All 
 four houses were on the north side of the river. 
 
 The inhabitants were soldiers, Frenchmen in the employ 
 of the American Fur Company, and Indians. When the 
 fort was not garrisoned, and the fur-traders were in the 
 country making their purchases, the Indians constituted 
 almost the entire population. In i 82 7-’2 8, Mr. McKee 
 carried the mail once a month to Fort Wayne. As his 
 Indian pony had to carry the mail-bag and the blankets for 
 him to sleep upon, he could not carry corn for the pony 
 and provisions for himself. He drove the pony in front of 
 him, and cut down an elm or basswood tree for the pony 
 to browse upon during the night. He carried a gun with 
 which he killed the game for his own food. His route was 
 from here to Niles, Mich., thence to Elkhart, Ind., and 
 
24 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 thence to Fort Wayne. Mis average trip from this place 
 to Fort Wayne was fourteen days; the quickest time he 
 ever made was ten days. Gen. John McNiel, one of the 
 heroes in the battle of Lundy's Lane, commanded the fort 
 when Mr. McKee came to Chicago. Soon after his arrival, 
 a sailing vessel, called the Heartless, undertook to enter 
 the mouth of the river, ran ashore, and was beached in the 
 sand. They tried to cut her out, but she went to pieces. 
 About a year thereafter the first vessel entered the harbor, 
 and anchored opposite the fort. It was the United States 
 revenue-cutter Fairplay. When we speak of the first vessel 
 coming to Chicago, there is always a confusion between 
 the vessels that anchored outside and the vessels that 
 actually came up into the river. It is claimed that this 
 United States revenue-cutter Fairplay was the first one to 
 actually enter the river. In 1826, there came here a sail¬ 
 ing vessel called the Young Tiger, to enter the river, but 
 she anchored out in the lake, slipped her cable, and went 
 ashore. 
 
 Mr. E. Buell, now residing in Clinton County, Iowa, 
 near Lyons, aged 75, claims that he was pilot and naviga¬ 
 tor on the schooner Aurora, Capt. Titus, that came to 
 Chicago in 1820 or 1821; but he leaves the question un¬ 
 settled as to whether or not he came up into the river. 
 The steamers which brought here the troops of Gen. Scott, 
 in 1832, had to anchor some distance outside. The per¬ 
 sons claiming to have been upon the first vessel, that passed 
 over the Chicago bar and came up into the river; are even 
 more numerous than those claiming to be descendants of 
 the persons who had the first white child born in Chicago. 
 I will not discuss this matter now, as the mass of you care 
 less about those who had the first child than you do about 
 those who are to have the next one, and what is to become 
 of it. 
 
 The third man now living who voted in Chicago Pre¬ 
 cinct, Peoria County, in 1830, is our well-known fellow- 
 citizen, Mark Beaubien. He came here in 1826, to visit his 
 brother, John B. Beaubien, who was an employ^ of the 
 American Fur Company, and who lived in a log-house near 
 the lake-shore, near the mouth of the river, on the South 
 Side. Mark returned to Detroit, and brought his family 
 here, and built him a log-house, fronting the river, on 
 what is known as the “ Old Wigwam Lot,” on the corner of 
 Lake and Market streets ; it being at that time the only 
 dwelling-house on the South Side, except his brother’s. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 25 
 
 He constructed it for hotel purposes, and, when the Indian 
 Chief Sa-uganash learned his design, he told him that 
 Americans named their hotels after big men, and asked 
 him what he was going to call it. Mr. Beaubien took the 
 hint, and said “ I'll call it Sauganash !” A few years after¬ 
 wards, he built a large addition to it, which was the first 
 frame-house built on the South Side. It was in this house 
 that I took my first meal, on my arrival here in 1836, it being 
 then kept by John Murphy. Mr. Beaubien was born in 1800, 
 and in Detroit, where his father was also born ; but his grand¬ 
 father was an emigrant from France. He established the first 
 ferry, at the forks of the river. He was an original fiddler, 
 having inherited the art in the natural way; and he will 
 probably die one. In case of the absence of the music at 
 any of our parties in olden times, Mr. Beaubien was always 
 sent for, and when one fiddle-string broke, he was good for 
 the three; and, when another broke, he could still keep up 
 the music; and if there were only one string left, a party 
 would never go away disappointed if Mr. Beaubien was left 
 to play upon it. He has done much to keep up our first 
 families, having had twenty-three children. His grand¬ 
 children had numbered fifty-three when the great-grand¬ 
 children began to make their appearance, and he stopped 
 counting. I introduce him to you to-day as the only man 
 you will probably ever see who witnessed the surrender of 
 an American army. God grant that such an event may 
 never happen again ! During the War of 1812, Mr. Beau- 
 bien's father, hearing that the town (Detroit) was about to 
 be bombarded by the British army, had ordered his children 
 to go down into the Cellar, when news came that Gen. Hull 
 had surrendered. Mark Beaubien saw Gen. Hull and his 
 staff rowed over to' the Canadian shore, and then the 
 soldiers Avere taken over under the charge of the red-coat 
 officials. 
 
 Cook County Avas set off from Peoria County under 
 an act passed in 1831. The first election was in Aug., 
 1832. The county AA r as named for the Hon. Daniel P. 
 Cook, son-in-law of Gov. Ninian Edwards, who Avas one 
 of the first tlnited States Senators from this State. Mr. 
 Cook Avas a member of Congress from 1820 to 1827, and 
 died in 1827, aged 32, one of the most talented men 
 Avho ever lived in this State. As our poll-lists of the 
 first election, in 1832, Avere burnt, I can no longer trace 
 our first families, and those who wish to marry into them 
 must look back to those Avho Avere taxed in 1825, or voted 
 
26 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 in 1826 or 1830, if they do not wish their honors disputed. 
 Cook County then included the present Counties of Lake, 
 McHenry, DuPage, and Will, all west being included in 
 Jo Daviess County. The only voting-place of Cook 
 County at that time was at Chicago. The highest number 
 of votes cast for all the candidates for any one office in 
 1832 was 114, against 32 in 1830, and 35 in 1826. 
 
 It seems to have been the practice then, as now, to take 
 our officers from Galena, and then, as now, they were very 
 good men. Galena and Chicago were then in the same 
 Representative and Senatorial Districts. Col. James M. 
 Strode was elected to the Senate, and Benjamin Mills to 
 the House, both being attorneys-at-law at Galena. Elijah 
 Wentworth, Jr., who died at Galesburg, Ill., on the 18th of 
 November last, received all the votes for Coroner at this 
 election. He wrote me, just before his death, that he 
 went with his father, Elijah Wentworth, Sr., from Maine to 
 Kentucky; they moved thence to Dodgeville, Wis., where 
 he was living at the time Jefferson Davis was constnicting 
 Fort Winnebago, about 75 miles distant. Davis had been 
 ordered there soon after his graduation at West Point in 
 1828, and he often visited Dodgeville in attendance upon 
 social parties, and is well remembered by old settlers there, 
 to this day. In 1830, Mr. Wentworth and his father moved 
 to Chicago, and rented a new hotel of James Kinzie, then 
 the best in Chicago, on the West Side, near the forks of 
 the river. It was a log-house, with upright boards upon 
 the outside. He carried the mail from Chicago to Niles, 
 once a month. 
 
 At the annual election in August, 1834, the highest num¬ 
 ber of votes for all the candidates for any one office was 
 528, against 114 m 1832. Thus our population began to 
 increase. This vote was for the whole County of Cook. 
 In 1835, the highest number of votes in the entire county, 
 for all the candidates for any one office, was 1064. And 
 religious enterprise and liberality had so far advanced that, 
 at the Ladies 7 Fair at the old St. James, the mother of 
 Episcopacy in the Northwest, on the 18th of June in that 
 year, the receipts were $1,431. In the spring of 1837, at 
 our first municipal election, the city alone cast 709 votes.* 
 
 It seems not to be generally known that, up to the time 
 of the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Chicago 
 was not at all troubled with mosquitoes; a blessing which 
 amply compensated for many of our early deprivations. 
 
 " For list of names on the poll-book, see “Fergus’ Directory for 1839.” 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 2 7 
 
 The history of Chicago furnishes one with a complete 
 history of an irredeemable paper-money system. Emigra¬ 
 tion was fast tending westward in 1835. Government land 
 was $1.25 per acre. The emigrants had little or no 
 money, and would purchase land on credit at greatly ad¬ 
 vanced prices. Eastern speculators flocked here and took 
 advantage of this condition of things. The Government 
 money received for lands would be deposited in the banks, 
 credited to the Government, and then reloaned back to 
 speculators. Thus the Government had credits in banks 
 to more than the amount of their capital, and their assets 
 consisted almost entirely of the notes of Western specu¬ 
 lators. The Government was out of debt, and had no use 
 for its surplus, which was forming the basis of those large 
 speculative loans, and men became even more excited and 
 reckless than were the land-operators here in Chicago at 
 the time of the recent panic. Besides, money was taken 
 from every branch of business to invest in these Western 
 speculations. The President of the United States had no 
 power to stop the sales of lands or to limit bank discounts. 
 He saw the immediate necessity of arresting this condition 
 of things, and he had no other way to do it than to issue 
 an order that nothing but gold and silver should be re¬ 
 ceived for the public lands. According to an invariable 
 law, a redundancy of paper had driven the precious metals, 
 out of the country, and the banks had not the specie 
 wherewith to redeem their bills, which were fast being pre¬ 
 sented to obtain land-office money. The banks all failed, 
 and corporations and individuals issued certificates of in¬ 
 debtedness, which were interchanged as currency. States, 
 counties, and cities paid their debts in warrants upon an 
 empty treasury. The Canal Commissioners paid contract¬ 
 ors in scrip, and the contractors paid their laborers in a 
 lesser scrip, redeemable in the scrip of the Commissioners. 
 
 Nearly every man in Chicago doing business was issuing 
 his individual scrip, and the city abounded with little 
 tickets, such as “Good at our store for ten cents,” “Good 
 for a loaf of bread,” “Good for a shave,” “Good for a 
 drink,” etc., etc. When you went out to trade, the trader 
 would look over your tickets, and select such as he could 
 use to the best advantage. The times for a while seemed 
 very prosperous. We had a currency that was interchange¬ 
 able, and for a time w r e suffered no inconvenience from it, 
 except when w 7 e wanted some specie to pay for our post¬ 
 age. In those days it took 25 cents to send a letter East, 
 
28 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 But after a while it was found out that men were over-issu¬ 
 ing. The barber had outstanding too many shaves; the 
 baker too many loaves of bread; the. saloon-keeper too 
 many drinks, etc., etc. Want of confidence became gen¬ 
 eral. Each man became afraid to take the tickets of an¬ 
 other. Some declined to redeem their tickets in any way, 
 and some absconded. And people found out, as is always 
 the case where there is a redundancy of paper money, that 
 they had been extravagant, had bought things they did not 
 need, and had run in debt for a larger amount than they 
 were able to pay. Of course, nearly everyone failed, and 
 charged his failure upon President Jackson’s specie circular. 
 In after times, I asked an old settler, who was a great 
 growler in those days, what effect time had. had upon his 
 views of Gen. Jackson’s circular. His reply was that Gen. 
 Jackson had spoiled his being a great man. Said he, “I 
 came to Chicago with nothing, failed for $100,000, and 
 could have failed for a million, if he had let the bubble 
 burst in the natural way.” 
 
 A single instance will illustrate to what various purposes 
 those little tickets of indebtedness could be put. A boy 
 had a ticket “Good for a drink.” He dropped it into the 
 church contribution-box, and heard no more of it. He 
 told another boy, who did the same thing with the same 
 result. That boy told his sister, who told her mother, who 
 told her husband, who deemed it his duty to tell the Dea¬ 
 con. Meanwhile the boys were putting in the tickets 
 “Good for a drink,” and telling the other boys to do the 
 same. The Deacon, alive to all the responsibilities of his 
 position, for the first time in his life entered a saloon; 
 called the barkeeper one side, and asked him to change a 
 $1 scrip, well knowing he could not do so unless it were in 
 liqrfbr-tickets. The saloon-keeper was afraid to offer such 
 tickets, and declined to make the change, until the Deacon 
 gave him a hint that, although he did not stimulate himself, 
 he thought he could use the tickets. Then, said the Dea¬ 
 con, “I have a curiosity to know the extent of the circula¬ 
 tion of these tickets, and really wish you would put a private 
 mark upon them, and notify me when one returns.” Think 
 of a Deacon putting such currency into a contribution-box! 
 But he did it, and the boys put in some more. On Monday 
 afternoon, the Deacon was notified that one of his tickets 
 had been redeemed. Oh, what a chance for a scandal 
 case! Imagine that such a thing had happened in our day! 
 Think of our enterprising newsgatherers calling upon a 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 2 9 
 
 Deacon, and asking him what was the average time of a 
 liquor-ticket's going from his church contribution-box to a 
 saloon! With solemn tread the Deacon made his way to 
 his pastor’s residence, and asked him what disposition he 
 made of the various tickets taken from the contribution- 
 box. The reply was that his wife assorted them, strung 
 them upon different strings, entered them upon a book, 
 and gave the church credit as she used any of them. 
 “And do you say, my dear brother,” asked the Deacon, 
 “that you have no knowledge of the particular uses to 
 which these tickets have been put?” “ I do say so,” said 
 the pastor. The Deacon breathed freer. He had cleared 
 his pastor, but I have no doubt he prayed, “May the Lord 
 have mercy on his poor wife!” The wife was called, and 
 her husband said, “The Deacon wishes us to give an ac¬ 
 count of the proceeds of the contribution-box.” “Not 
 exactly so, my dear sister,” said the Deacon; “but 1 wish 
 to know for what purposes the liquor-tickets have been 
 used.” She comprehended the matter at once, and 
 promptly replied, “Why, Deacon, did you want them? I 
 never thought you were a drinking man. Now, as you 
 didn't have the tickets, will you share with us the proceeds?' 
 Let us all take a drink!” She rushed to her pantry, 
 brought out a pitcher, with tumblers, and it was filled with 
 —milk! In making the change with her milkman his eyes 
 had fallen upon these tickets, and he said he could use 
 them. Thus throwing the liquor-tickets into the contribu¬ 
 tion-box was but a repetition of the old adage, “Evil be 
 thou my good.” They had discharged all the functions of 
 the modern greenback, even to furnishing a poorly-paid 
 clergyman’s children with milk. 
 
 Not long after our Chicago citizens were victimized by 
 another irredeemable currency device. Michigan legisla¬ 
 tors thought that, while there was not specie enough in the 
 country for a banking basis, there was land enough. So 
 they passed what is known as the “Real Estate Banking 
 1 aw.” They contended that real estate was better than 
 : old and silver, because a man could not run away with 
 r al estate. Chicago merchants, business men, and specu- 
 Ltors generally, instead of paying their debts with their 
 money, bought Michigan wild lands, had them appraised, 
 and then mortgaged them for bills, which they brought 
 home to pay their debts with. Real estate, which is gener¬ 
 ally the first property to feel the effects of inflated currency, 
 soon rose in value, and its owners paid Michigan another 
 
30 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 visit, secured a higher appraisal of their lands, and ex¬ 
 changed the second mortgage for some more bills. For 
 about a year we had excellent times again in Chicago. But 
 then confidence began to weaken. Agents were sent into 
 the country to buy anything they could, provided Michigan 
 money would be taken. Merchants would post in their 
 windows a list of bills that they would receive for a given 
 day, and then revise the list for the next day. The bubble 
 soon burst, and every one was the poorer for the good times 
 he had enjoyed. Manual labor, which was the last thing 
 to rise, was the last resting-place of the worthless bills. 
 
 During all this excitement incident to our great variety 
 of irredeemable paper, our sufferings were the greatest for 
 postage money, which had always to be in specie, and 
 specie was then at from 50 to 100 per cent premium in our 
 depreciated currency. But postage was then reckoned by 
 the sheet instead of by weight. The result was that, 
 although friends wrote but seldom, their letters were a sort 
 of daily journal. When anything occurred to them, they 
 would write it out: and when they had filled a sheet, often¬ 
 times writing crossways also, they mailed it as soon as they 
 could raise the postage. In traveling at the East, I have 
 fallen in with several of these letters written in early times, 
 whose publication would add materially to the early history 
 of our city. But their contents were so mixed up with 
 private matters appertaining to different families that it is 
 impossible to obtain possession of them. As our laboring 
 men were paid in currency, it often took more than a day's 
 work to pay the postage on a letter to an Eastern friend. 
 
 I will relate an anecdote to illustrate this matter. Soon 
 after my first election to Congress, a young man who had 
 rendered me material service, made me a call, and ob¬ 
 served that postage was very high; in which sentiment I 
 concurred, and promised to labor to reduce it. He then 
 remarked that I would have the franking privilege; to 
 which I assented, and promised to labor to abolish it. 
 But all this did not seem to interest the young man, and I 
 was perplexed to know the drift of his conversation. 
 Finally, with great embarrassment, he observed that he was 
 engaged to a young lady at the East, and wanted to know 
 if I could not frank his letters. I explained that there was 
 but one way to avoid the responsibilities of the law, and 
 that was for him to write his letters to me, and then I 
 could write a letter to her, calling her attention to his; and 
 she could have the same privilege. The correspondence 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 31 
 
 took this form until the Congressman from her district 
 asked me if, at the close of the session, I was going home 
 by the way of his district. I did not comprehend him 
 until he stated that he was well acquainted in the family of 
 the lady with whom I had been corresponding, and sug¬ 
 gested that, if I was going to be married before the next 
 session, it would be pleasant for us to board at the same 
 house! This put a new phase upon my way of dodging an 
 abuse of the franking privilege, and 1 wrote to my constit¬ 
 uent that he must bring his courtship to a close, and he 
 did so. Four letters from him and three from her covered 
 the transaction, and I stand indebted to this day to the 
 “conscience-fund'’ of the Post-Office Department for $1.75. 
 But this was a very insignificant sum to pay for the secur¬ 
 ing of a good Yankee girl to the West in those days. 
 Besides, there are seven in the family now, and one went 
 to the War ; and that $1.75 was an insignificant bounty to 
 pay for a soldier. After all, the best way to procure sol¬ 
 diers is to breed them yourself. But every time any one 
 speaks to me about the corruptions and defalcations among 
 public men of the present day, I see “mene, mene, tekel, 
 upharsin” written on the wall! Y think of that $1.75, and 
 say nothing. 
 
 Not satisfied with the real estate banking experiment in 
 Michigan, of trying to make easy times without prompt 
 specie redemption, some of the speculators of Illinois 
 thought that they would try the Michigan system, with 
 State bonds substituted for lands. The result of this last 
 experiment is too familiar to the mass of our citizens to 
 need an extended comment. Money was borrowed, and 
 State bonds were purchased. The most inaccessible places 
 in our State were sought out for the location of banks, and 
 bills were extensively issued. Money was abundant, prices 
 of everything advanced, and a financial millenium was once 
 more among us. The consequences of this system were 
 quite as disastrous as those of the real estate system of 
 Michigan. Considering its age, Chicago has been the 
 greatest sufferer of any place in the world from an irre¬ 
 deemable paper-money system. Its losses in this respect 
 will nearly approximate those from the great fire. And 
 when you talk to one of the early settlers of Chicago about 
 the advantages accruing from an irredeemable money sys¬ 
 tem, you waste your labor. He has been there! 
 
 One of our early amusements was that of wolf-hunting. 
 Experienced Indian ponies were plenty in our city. The 
 
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 last hunt I remember had for its object the driving of as 
 large a number of wolves as possible up to the ice upon the 
 lake shore, and as near the mouth of the harbor as could 
 be done. There was to be no shooting until the wolves 
 had got upon the ice. No person was to fire unless his 
 aim was entirely over ice, and then to the eastward. Two 
 parties started early in the morning, one following the lake 
 shore south, and the other the river, to meet at a common 
 centre not far from Blue Island. Then they were to 
 spread themselves out, cover as much territory as possible, 
 and drive the wolves before them. About 4 o’clock in the 
 afternoon, a wolf made his appearance in the outskirts of 
 the city. The news was spread, and our people turned out 
 on foot, keeping along the margin of the river, so as to 
 drive the wolves upon the ice of the lake shore. One wolf 
 after another made his appearance, and soon we saw the 
 horsemen. The number of wolves was about the same as 
 that of Samson’s foxes. The men were so eager to get the 
 first fire at a wolf that the tramp of their horses broke the 
 ice; and, as the wind was rather brisk, it broke away from 
 the shore, with the wolves upon it, and drifted northeast¬ 
 erly, very much in the same direction as that taken by the 
 recent unfortunate balloon. But the wolves, unlike the 
 man in the balloon, took no reporter on board. Men, 
 women, and children lined the bank of the lake, expecting 
 to see the ice break in pieces and the wolves swim ashore. 
 But it did not do so. Our people watched the ice, and 
 could see the wolves running from side to side, until they 
 faded away from view. When I took my last look, they 
 appeared about the size of mice. 
 
 About two weeks afterwards, a letter appeared in a 
 Detroit paper containing an account of some farm settle¬ 
 ments, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, being 
 attacked by a large body of hungry wolves. They de¬ 
 stroyed fowls and cattle, and for several days spread terror 
 through the neighborhood. We always supposed that 
 those were our wolves, but our hunters never laid any 
 claim to them, as the news of their arrival was so long in 
 reaching here. And as an evidence of the tardy transit of 
 merchandise and mails, in those days, I will state that our 
 newspapers of September, 1835, announce the arrival of a 
 schooner, with goods, twenty days from New York City, 
 the shortest time ever made. A newspaper of Dec. 24, 
 1836, announces that President Jackson’s message to Con¬ 
 gress was only twelve days on its route from Washington. 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 33 
 
 It was published here Saturday, but the editor says he 
 would have issued it on Thursday, but for the extreme cold 
 weather. 
 
 The first divorce suit in our city was brought in 1835. 
 
 Land speculation had become so brisk here in 1835, drat 
 from Jan. 4th to Oct. 21st of that year, the papers announce 
 that Augustus Garrett (afterward mayor of the city) had 
 sold land at his auction-rooms to the amount of $1,800,000. 
 Our people had commenced litigation so much that at the 
 commencement of Cook county circuit court in May, 1836, 
 there were 230 cases on the civil docket, and the court sat 
 two weeks. Litigation so increased that in May, 1837, 
 there were 700 cases on the civil docket. The newspapers 
 pointed to the alarming fact that over a million dollars were 
 involved in these cases. 
 
 The West Side was the last to advance in population. 
 Although at one time, prior to the city’s incorporation, it 
 undoubtedly had, as it does now, the largest portion of our 
 inhabitants, there were only 97 voters on the whole West 
 Side at our first municipal election. These were mostly 
 from our first families, as there were living there about that 
 time three Indian chiefs, Sauganash, Laframboise, and 
 Robinson, (whose Indian name was Che-che-pin-gua), with 
 occasional visits from Shaboneh; and any number of 
 Indians, French, and mixed breeds related to them. The 
 West Side was the last side to have a piano, but the strains 
 of the fiddle were always to be heard, and the war-dance was 
 no uncommon thing. I remember attending the wedding 
 of one of Laframboise’s daughters. She was married to a 
 clerk in the post-office, and is now the wife of Medard B. 
 Beaubien, heretofore alluded to in this lecture. The clerk 
 was the one who delivered letters, and of course was well 
 known to all our citizens, and was remarkably popular. 
 He went to the printing office and had 50 cards of invita¬ 
 tion struck off. But when people went for their letters, they 
 politely hinted that they expected a card of invitation to 
 the wedding. So he was compelled to go to the printing- 
 office and have 50 more struck off. These did not last long, 
 and he had 100 more. Then he said that tickets were of 
 no use, and everybody might come; and about everyone 
 did come. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Isaac W. 
 Hallam, pastor of the St. James’ Episcopal church of this 
 city. Everything was high-toned, well worthy of an Indian 
 chiefs daughter. The house was of no particular use, as 
 
34 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 it was full and surrounded with people. This wedding made 
 a strong impression on my mind, as it was the first time I 
 ever saw the Indian war-dance. Some of the guests not 
 only had their tomahawks and scalping-knives, bows and 
 arrows, but a few of them had real scalps which they pre¬ 
 tended they had taken in the various Indian wars. Their 
 faces were decorated with all the favorite pictures of the 
 Indians. And some of our young white men and ladies 
 played the part of the Indian so well that it was difficult to 
 distinguish them from the real ones. It has been a wonder 
 to me that, while our professors of music have been invent¬ 
 ing so many different kind of dances, none of them have 
 reproduced the Indian war-dance, which to me is much 
 more sensible than nine-tenths of those which are now 
 practiced at so many of our fashionable parties. I presume 
 that the trouble is, that our ladies consider that the Indian 
 war-paint extemporized for the occasion, would interfere 
 with the original paint put on before they left their homes, 
 and which they wished to remain through the evening. 
 One of our young men claimed that, at this wedding, amid 
 the crowd, unperceived, he had clipped a lock from the 
 bride's long, flowing, raven hair. Some of this hair he had 
 put into a breast pin, and very soon thereafter, these 
 Indian bridal breast-pins were about as thick as were tire 
 manufactures from our old court-house bell after the fire. 
 One man who had worn one for some years was sudden!)' 
 taken sick, and expected to die. He called his wife to his 
 bedside, and told her he deemed it his duty to state to her 
 that he had been deceiving her for years, and he could not 
 die in peace until he had made a confession. “ I must tell 
 you before I die, that the hair in that pin I have been 
 wearing so deceitfully, is not the hair of that Indian chief’s 
 daughter, but your own.” With pitiful eyes he looked to 
 his wife for forgiveness. “And is that all that troubles you ?" 
 said she; “what you have just revealed in your dying 
 hour, only confirms my opinion of you. I always supposed 
 you thought more of me than you did of a squaw !” And 
 now I suppose you think that that man died in peace. 
 But he did not. He is alive now. There is occasionally 
 an instance where a man has survived a confession to his 
 wife. But where, oh where, is there an instance of a woman 
 who has survived a confession to her husband ? 
 
 After the marriage of this Indian chief’s daughter, several 
 of our wealthy citizens (wealthy for those days) gave return 
 
BY IiON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 35 
 
 parties. I remember attending a very elegant one given at 
 the house of Medard B. Beaubien. I think the fashionable 
 society of Chicago subsisted for about two months upon 
 that wedding. Mr. Beaubien has given me several invita¬ 
 tions, as he has others of our old settlers, to visit him at his 
 residence among the Pottawatomies. He told me that I 
 would be a big Pottawatomie! He gave as a reason for 
 abandoning Chicago, where he was a merchant, that lie 
 ■would rather be a big Indian than a little white man. He 
 has the reputation of being the handsomest man that was 
 ever in this city. I met him at Washington, a few years 
 ago, and he attracted great attention for his remarkable 
 personal beauty. 
 
 The most of the families of wealth, education, and high 
 •social position, about the time of our incorporation, were 
 settled on the North Side. The “ Lake House” there was 
 the first brick hotel constructed in our city, and it was as 
 well furnished and conducted as any hotel west of New 
 York city. Upon the South Side were most of the business 
 houses, and hotels that were kept for the accommodation 
 ■of farmers who came to Chicago with their loads of grain. 
 Business men without families, clerks, and employes of 
 business men, generally boarded at these hotels on the 
 South Side, often sleeping in the stores. We could not 
 have anything like a large party on the South Side without 
 female domestics. The fashionable people on the North 
 Side would invite our young men to their parties on that 
 side; but when we had a party on the South Side, instead 
 of coming themselves, the ladies would send their domes¬ 
 tics. And if I were to go into details of the origin of the 
 fashionable society of Chicago of the present day, I could 
 satisfy our young men that whether they wanted to make 
 money or raise healthy children, the best thing they could 
 now do would be to imitate the example of some of our 
 early settlers, and marry a lady who dares discharge an im¬ 
 pudent or incompetent maid, and can do the work herself 
 till she can get a better one. 
 
 There was considerable ill-feeling at one time between 
 the North and South Sides in consequence of this discrim¬ 
 ination. But politics then, as now, proved a great leveler 
 in society. There was an elegant party given at the Lake 
 House one evening, where one of the most fashionable men 
 on the North Side, who was a candidate for office, thought 
 he would throw an anchor to the windward by dancing 
 
36 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 with a South Side dressing-maid, while he supposed his wife 
 was being entertained at the supper-table. But she enter¬ 
 ed the ball-room while the dance was going on. At once a 
 proud heart was fired. Quicker than thought she spoke to- 
 a carriage-driver who stood at the door looking in : “ Can. 
 you dance, Mike?” “It’s only for the want of a partner,” 
 was the response. Seizing him by the hand, she said, 
 “ Come on !” and turning to the crowd she said, “ This is a 
 game that two can play at !” and immediately the dance 
 went on, amid the applause of the whole room ; the man 
 with the South Side dressing-maid, and his wife with the 
 South Side driver. And thus free suffrage began its work 
 against artificial social position. 
 
 Not long after my first election to Congress, upon open¬ 
 ing my mail at Washington, I found a letter dated in the- 
 western part of Iowa, then far in the wilderness, reading in 
 this way: 
 
 “My Dear old Chicago Friend : I see you have been 
 getting up in the world, and it is so with myself, who am 
 the sheriff’s deputy here, and I also keep hotel. I am the 
 same one who made all the fuss dancing with the lady at 
 the Lake House ball, and you were there; and the girl I 
 married is the same domestic her husband danced with. 
 The judge of the court boards at our house, and he often 
 dances with my wife at the big parties here, where we are 
 considered among the first folks, and I reckon my wife 
 Bridget would put on as many airs as the lady did at the 
 Lake House, if she should catch me dancing with do¬ 
 mestics. I found out that those people who made so much 
 fuss at the Lake House were not considered much where 
 they came from. But they emigrated to Chicago, and 
 then set up for big folks. So I thought I would marry 
 Bridget and start for a new country where I could be as big 
 as anybody. And now remember your old Chicago friend, 
 and tell the President that I am for his administration, and 
 would like to get the post-office here.” 
 
 I remember that, during that session of Congress I 
 boarded at the same house with Horace Greeley, and he 
 was frequently in my room; and I think that it was from 
 this letter he borrowed his sentiment, “Go west, young 
 man !” 
 
 In our early times, it was customary to excommunicate 
 members of the church as publicly as they had been 
 admitted. Now we hear of admissions, but never of ex- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 37 
 
 communications. Professor David Swing has come as near 
 filling that bill as anyone we have heard of recently, but 
 future historians will differ as to whether he excommuni¬ 
 cated the church or the church him. I remember in early 
 times here of a clergyman's dealing, at the close of his 
 service, with a member, one of our well-known citizens, 
 somewhat after this fashion: “You will remember, my 
 hearers, that some time ago Mr. Blank was proposed for 
 admission to this church, and after he had passed a favor¬ 
 able examination I called upon everyone present ‘to know 
 if there was any objection, and no one rose and objected. 
 It becomes my painful duty now to pronounce the sentence 
 of excommunication upon him, and to remand him back to 
 the world again with all his sins upon his head.” Where¬ 
 upon a gentleman rose in his pew and said: “And now the 
 world objects to receiving him \” On which bursts of 
 laughter filled the house; and the precise status of that 
 man -was never determined, as the civil courts in those days 
 had not begun to interfere in ecclesiastical matters. In 
 these times the church would undoubtedly have called 
 upon the courts to grant a mandamus upon the world to 
 receive him, or the world would have applied for an 
 injunction to prevent the church from excommunicating 
 him. 
 
 In most new settlements there can always be pointed out 
 some particular class who give tone to the early society; 
 such as the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England, the 
 Knickerbockers of New York, the Huguenots of'South Car¬ 
 olina, the Creoles of New Orleans; and, in the later days, 
 men identified with manufacturing interests, mining inter¬ 
 ests, railroad interests, or with seminaries of learning. But 
 here in Chicago, in early times, we had not any one 
 prevailing class or interest; nor was there any sufficient 
 number of people from any particular locality to exercise a 
 controlling influence in moulding public sentiment. We 
 had people from almost every clime, and of almost every 
 opinion. We had Jews and Christians, Protestants, Catho¬ 
 lics, and infidels; among Protestants, there were Calvinists 
 and Armenians. Nearly every language was represented 
 here. Some people had seen much of the world, and some 
 very little. Some were quite learned, and some very igno¬ 
 rant. We had every variety of people, and out of these we 
 had to construct what is called society. The winters were 
 long; no railroads, no telegraphs, no canal, and all we had 
 
38 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 to rely upon for news were our weekly newspapers. We 
 had no libraries, no lectures, no theatres or other places 
 of amusement. If a stranger attended a gathering of any 
 kind, the mass of attendants were equally strangers with 
 himself; and the gentlemen outnumbered the ladies by 
 about four or five to one. You ask what society lived 
 upon in those days? I answer, upon faith. But faith 
 without works is dead. From the close to the opening of 
 navigation, nearly six months in the year, we had nothing 
 to do. Our faith consisted principally in the future of 
 Chicago. Nearly every one had laid out a town, and men 
 exchanged lots with each other, very much as boys swap 
 jack-knives. The greatest story-teller was about as big a man. 
 as we had. If a new story was told, it was soon passed all 
 round town, and due credit given to the originator. If a 
 new book appeared in our midst, that was loaned around 
 until another new one came to take its place. Occasion¬ 
 ally, one of our young men would go East and get him 
 a wife, and then we discussed her for a while. Dress¬ 
 makers would invariably make her the first call, examine 
 her dresses, and then go from door to door, like a modern 
 census-taker or tax-collector, soliciting orders according to 
 the latest fashions. 
 
 There was great prejudice between the emigrants from 
 the South and those from the East. All our Eastern peo¬ 
 ple were considered by the emigrants from the South as 
 Yankees. The first contest was about the convention sys¬ 
 tem in politics. Southerners denounced it vehemently as 
 a Yankee innovation upon the old system of allowing every 
 man to run for office who wanted to do so, and taking 
 his chances. Their system was to solicit their friends to 
 solicit them to run for office, and then they reluctantly 
 consented, and placed themselves in the hands of their 
 friends. All Yankee customs, fashions, and innovations 
 upon their established usages were ridiculed as Yankee 
 notions, worthy only of the peddlers of wooden clocks 
 and pewter spoons. 
 
 Thomas Ford, born in Uniontown, Penn., in 1800, who 
 had lived in Illinois from 1804, and whose father had been 
 killed by the Indians, came here as Judge, and did more 
 than any other person to mollify the prejudices of the 
 South against the North. He early foresaw that all that 
 the early settlers of Illinois needed, was the growth of more 
 Yankee thrift among them; and he early told his friends 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 39 
 
 that while he stayed here he was going to conform to all 
 the Yankee notions, as fast as he could ascertain what they 
 were, and wanted his acquaintances to inform him what he 
 should do to prevent embarrassment by non-conformity. 
 I met him on his way to Court one morning, and he said 
 he had just been detained by a lady complaining that he 
 did not attend her party on a previous evening. He told 
 her that he was very fond of parties, and always attended 
 them whenever he could, but that he held Court that even¬ 
 ing until it was too late to go. But this did not satisfy her. 
 She wanted to know, if he could not attend, why he did 
 not send a “regret.” He did not understand the matter, 
 and made an excuse that the Court was waiting, informing 
 her that he would converse with her some other time. 
 “But,” said he, “what’s that? What did she want me to 
 do when I couldn’t go?” I informed him that the lady 
 had some sisters visiting her from the East, and she had a 
 pride in having them write home that among her friends 
 were the very best people in Chicago, and among them the 
 Judge of the Court; which in his absence, a little note from 
 him would establish. “Capital, capital,” said he. “Why 
 you Yankees have a motive in all you do. You turn every¬ 
 thing to account. The longer I live among Yankees the 
 more I see why it is that they are getting rich and overrun¬ 
 ning the country. Nobody shall complain of me hereafter 
 in that respect. I’ll have some note-paper in my desk, 
 and if the lawyers detain me, I’ll send the Sheriff with one 
 of those little billet-doux. If there is any other thing 
 that you Yankees want me to do to testify my high appre¬ 
 ciation of you, please let me know.” The next day the 
 Judge called at my office with a beautiful little note, on 
 gilt-edged paper, addressed to his wife, and reading as fol¬ 
 lows: “Judge Ford’s compliments to Mrs. Ford and the 
 children, and regrets that he cannot be home to have the 
 pleasure of their society on Monday next.” Below this 
 was the following postscript: “The above is one of the 
 Yankee notions, and when you want to go anywhere and 
 cannot, you must always send one of these, which they 
 call a ‘regret.’ Please tell this to the neighbors, and also 
 tell them that when I return I shall have a great many 
 stories to tell them about different Yankee notions.” 
 
 Not long after, I was at Oregon, Ogle County, where he 
 resided, and where he was then holding Court. When it 
 became time for the Sheriff to adjourn the Court, the 
 
40 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 Judge said, “Mr. Sheriff, don’t forget that party at my 
 house to-night.” And the Sheriff exclaimed, “Hear ye! 
 Hear ye! The Judge of this Court requests me to say, 
 that he and his lady would be pleased to see you all at his 
 house to-night, both citizens and strangers! Now this hon¬ 
 orable Court stands adjourned until to-morrow morning at 
 9 o’clock.” It was wonderful to notice the mixture of 
 people w r ho unceremoniously visited him that evening— 
 attorneys, jurors, suitors, and citizens generally, with their 
 wives. One person seemed as much at home as another. 
 There was a grand welcome for all. He was the very 
 prince of hospitality. His small house could not contain 
 the crowd, and many stood outside and mingled in the 
 entertainments. The Judge passed through the assembly 
 with a waiter on which was a decanter of Madeira wine, 
 and wine-glasses. His wife passed around with another 
 waiter loaded with cake. Said the Judge to some Yankee 
 gentlemen, “This is the way we original Illinoisans give a 
 party. We invite all; the latch-string is out; all come who 
 can, and those who cannot come say nothing. They never 
 write any ‘regrets.’ Indeed, a great many of our prominent 
 men at the South could not do it. I have known men in 
 our Legislature who could not write.” Then he passed 
 away into a group of people who were natives of the South, 
 and told them how he got himself into trouble with a Chi¬ 
 cago lady by not writing her a little billet-doux explaining 
 to her why he did not go to her party, when he wanted to 
 go more than she wanted to have him. He often uttered 
 the sentiment that he did not wish to live in a locality 
 where his house v ? as not large enough to entertain his 
 neighbors without making selections. He said he must 
 either build him a larger house or move into a distant 
 settlement. When 1 came away I expressed the wish 
 that I might soon have the pleasure of seeing him and his 
 neighbors in Chicago. Whereupon the Judge jocosely 
 observed, “We will either come and see you or send you a 
 billet-doux.” But a Southern Illinoisan, a native of North 
 Carolina, exclaimed, “Yes, when you Yankee peddlers are 
 putting up v'ooden clocks and pew'ter spoons for this 
 region, tell them to put up a little gold-edged note-paper for 
 us, and have them to be sure that the gold isn’t bronze !” 
 
 But the people of this State settled the house question 
 for Judge Ford. For, at the next Gubernatorial election, 
 he was made its Chief Magistrate, and as Governor he 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 41 
 
 rendered his name dear to every Illinoisan by his almost 
 superhuman, but eminently successful, efforts to complete 
 the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and to restore the lost 
 credit of our State. He died not long after the expiration 
 of his term of office, and left to his children only the pro¬ 
 ceeds of the copyright of his History of Illinois,—a book 
 which, when once commenced, no reader will lay aside 
 until he has finished it. In this work is the only authorita¬ 
 tive history of the settlement of the Mormons in this State, 
 and their final expulsion of it, with the assassination of 
 their leader, Joseph Smith. In his preface he says: “The 
 author has written about small events and little men. And 
 in all those matters in which the author has figured person¬ 
 ally, it will be some relief to the reader to find that he has 
 not attempted to blow himself up into a great man.” 
 
 One of our most reliable places of entertainment was the 
 Post-Office while the mail was being opened. The Post- 
 Office was on the west side of Franklin street, cornering on 
 South Water street. The mail coach was irregular in the 
 time of its arrival, but the horn of the driver announced its 
 approach. Then the people would largely assemble at the 
 Post-Office, and wait for the opening of the mails, which at 
 times, were very heavy. The Postmaster would throw out 
 a New York paper, and some gentleman with a good pair of 
 lungs and a jocose temperament would mount a dry-goods 
 box and commence reading. Occasionally I occupied that 
 position myself. During exciting times, our leading men would 
 invariably go to the Post-Office themselves, instead of send¬ 
 ing their employes. The news would be discussed by the 
 assemblage, and oftentimes heavy bets would be made, and 
 angry words passed. If it was election times, there would 
 be two papers thrown out, of opposite politics, two reading 
 stands established, two readers engaged, and the men of 
 each party would assemble around their own reader. This 
 condition of things would last until the mails were opened, 
 when the gathering would adjourn until the next blowing of 
 the driver’s horn. This gathering afforded the best oppor¬ 
 tunity for citizens to become acquainted one with another. 
 
 On one of these occasions, I was introduced to a Lieu¬ 
 tenant in the army who had just come to take charge of the 
 Government works in this city. He had great confidence 
 in our future, and expressed his intention to invest all his 
 means here. Pie rvas eventually ordered away to some 
 other station, but kept up his interest in Chicago. His 
 
42 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 taxes became high, too high in proportion to his pay as an 
 army officer and the support of his family. His wife had 
 once placed the price of a new dress in a letter which was 
 to leave by the return of a mail which brought her husband 
 an exorbitant tax-bill. He expressed his intention of 
 ordering, by the same mail, the sale of his Chicago pro¬ 
 perty, as his means could endure his taxes no longer. His 
 wife ordered her letter from the mail, took out the money, 
 and, saying that she preferred the Chicago property to a 
 new dress, insisted that he should use it to pay his Chicago 
 taxes. The next summer he visited our city, and rented his 
 property for enough to pay the taxes. That lady lost her 
 dress for that year, but she gained thereby one of the 
 largest and most celebrated (Kingsbury) estates in our city. 
 I mention this fact to warn our ladies that they should 
 never ask for a new dress until they find their husband’s 
 tax-receipt in his wallet; and, at the same time, I would 
 caution husbands not to try to carry so much real estate 
 as to make their poorly-clad wives and children objects of 
 charity when they make their appearance in the streets. 
 
 Our early settlers were distinguished for their liberal 
 patronage of all religious denominations, and we had one 
 clergyman who created as much sensation as any we have 
 had since his day. Like all really influential sensational 
 preachers, he was an original. He dealt freely in pathos 
 and in ridicule. If we cried once, we were sure to laugh 
 once, in every sermon. Unlike clergymen now called sen¬ 
 sational, he never quoted poetry, nor told anecdotes, nor 
 used slang phrases, for the purpose of creating a laugh. 
 There was nothing second-handed about him. I allude to 
 Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, a Baptist clergyman, who was the 
 only settled minister on the South Side when I came here 
 in 1836. His residence was near the corner of VanBuren 
 street and Fifth avenue, then in the outskirts of the city, 
 and was shaded by native oaks. He was a man who never 
 seemed so happy as when he was immersing converted 
 sinners in our frozen river or lake. It is said of his con¬ 
 verts that no one of them was ever known to be a back¬ 
 slider. If you could see the cakes of ice that were raked 
 out to make room for baptismal purposes, you would make 
 up your mind that no man would join a church under 
 such circumstances unless he joined to stay. Immersions 
 were no uncommon thing in those days. One cold day, 
 about the first part of February, 1839, there were 17 ini- 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 43 
 
 mersed in the river at the foot of State street. A hole 
 about 20 feet square was cut through the ice, and a platform 
 was sunk, with one end resting upon the shore. Among 
 the 17 was our well-known architect, John M. VanOsdell, 
 alderman-elect, said to be now the only survivor. There 
 are many now living who were baptized by Mr. Hinton; 
 among them is the wife of Hon. Thomas Hoyne, mayor- 
 elect. But recently our Baptist friends have made up their 
 minds that our lake has enough to do to carry away all 
 the sewerage of the city, without washing off the sins of the 
 people. It is also claimed for Mr. Hinton that no couple 
 he married was ever divorced. He was just as careful in 
 marrying as he was in baptizing; he wanted nobody to fall 
 from grace. 
 
 It was the custom in those days to give clergymen dona¬ 
 tion parties. Now, we have surprise parties, where the 
 lady is expected to endanger her health by hard-working 
 all day in order to prepare her house for a surprise in the 
 evening. The only surprise about them is the magnificence 
 of the preparations. Then the party was advertised in the 
 newspapers, and a notice posted in the vestibule of the 
 church. 
 
 It was customary in those days for all denominations to' 
 patronize liberally the clergymen of other denominations. 
 
 Mr. Hinton had a family of children nearly grown up, 
 and consequently all the young people, as well as the old, 
 would be there to have a grand frolic at his donation party. 
 There were no religious services, and the house was com¬ 
 pletely taken possession of by the multitude. People 
 would send just what they happened to have, and it would 
 look at times as if Parson Hinton was going into the storage- 
 business. Cords of wood would be piled before the door ; 
 flour, salt, pork, beef, box-raisins, lemons, oranges, herring, 
 dry-goods, anything and everything. After the donation 
 party was over, there was always a large quantity left which 
 he did not need, but he knew exactly where to place it— 
 among the destitute of the city. Probably no occasions 
 are remembered with more pleasure by the old settlers of 
 this city than those gatherings at the hospitable mansion of 
 the jolly English preacher, with his attractive laugh, who 
 always enjoyed a good story, and could generally tell a 
 better one. There are many married couples in this city 
 who will tell you that there was where they first met. 
 
 The first Sabbath I passed in this city, my good board- 
 
44 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EAREY CHICAGO. 
 
 ing-house mistress (Mrs. John Murphy, present on this 
 platform to-day) took me with her to his church, as was the 
 custon of Christian ladies with strange young men in those 
 days. He told me that godliness was profitable unto all 
 things; and he was right. Christian men and women 
 have not kept up this good old custom of taking young 
 men, strangers in the city, to church with them, and using 
 their efforts to lead them to a high social position with 
 their religious instruction. Strange young men now in this 
 city are told that there is a moral infirmary opened here, 
 entirely for their benefit, where the seats are all free, and 
 men are supported expressly to save such as they are from 
 destruction. I never knew a young man to amount to any¬ 
 thing if he had no respect for his social position; and that 
 position can never be attained where young men are turned 
 away for religious instruction, to places to visit which they 
 would not think of inviting a young lady to leave a respect¬ 
 able church to accompany them. All honor to those 
 clergymen and Christians of Chicago who have their weekly- 
 church sociables, where young men are brought forward 
 into respectable social intercourse, as well as moral de¬ 
 velopment. The celebrated Indian chief, Black Hawk, 
 covered the whole ground when he said to Gen. Jackson, 
 “ You are a man, and I am another!” 
 
 Not feeling able to sustain the expense of a whole pew, 
 I engaged one in partnership with an unpretending saddle 
 and harness maker (S. B. Cobb), who, by a life of industry, 
 economy', and morality, has accumulated one of the largest 
 fortunes in our city, and still walks our streets with as little 
 pretense as when he mended the harnesses of the farmers 
 who brought the grain to this market from our prairies. The 
 church building in those days was considered a first-class 
 one, and we had a first-class pew therein, and the annual 
 expense of my half of the pew was only $12.50 more than 
 it would have been in our Saviour’s time. People wonder 
 at the rapid increase in the price of real estate at the west; 
 but it bears no comparison with the increase in the price of 
 gospel privileges. A good clergyman is well worth all that 
 a liberal-hearted congregation may see fit to pay him. But 
 the people ought to cry out against the reckless waste of 
 money, steadily increasing, in the erection of extravaga'nt 
 church edifices. And the pride in such matters seems to 
 eat up all other considerations. During the recent panic, 
 a Christian lady of this city', with a large family of children, 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 45 
 
 whose husband was suddenly reduced from opulence to 
 penury, astonished me by observing, with tears in her eyes, 
 that her most grievous affliction was that she would be 
 compelled to give up her pew in the church, which was one 
 of the most expensive in the city, and take one in a cheaper 
 edifice. And yet our people sing in every church, “ God is 
 present everywhere !” 
 
 At the close of service one day, Parson Hinton said he 
 thought Chicago people ought to know more about the 
 devil than they did. Therefore he would take up his his¬ 
 tory, in four lectures ; first, he would give the origin of the 
 devil; second, state what the devil has done; third, state 
 what the devil is now doing; and fourth, prescribe how 
 to destroy the devil. These lectures were the sensation 
 for the next four weeks. The house could not contain the 
 mass that flocked to hear him, and it is a wonder to me 
 that those four lectures have not been preserved. Chicago 
 newspaper enterprise had not then reached here. The 
 third evening was one never to be forgotten in this city; as 
 it would not be if one of our most eminent clergymen, with 
 the effective manner of preaching that Mr. Hinton had, 
 should undertake to tell us what the devil is doing in this 
 city to-day. The dritt of his discourse was to prove that 
 everybody had a devil; that the devil was in every store, 
 and in every bank, and he did not even except the church. 
 He had the devil down outside and up the middle of every 
 dance; in the ladies’ curls, and the gentlemen’s whiskers. 
 In fact, before he finished, he proved conclusively that there 
 were just as many devils in every pew as there were per¬ 
 sons in it; and if it were in this our day, there would not 
 have been swine enough in the Stock-Yards to cast them 
 into. When the people came out of church, they rvould 
 ask each other, “What is your devil?” And they would 
 stop one another in the streets during the week, and ask, 
 “What does Parson Hinton say your devil is?” The 
 fourth lecture contained his prescription for destroying the 
 devil. I remember his closing: “ Pray on, brethren and 
 fri nds ; pray ever. Fight as well as pray. Pray and fight 
 un til the devil is dead ! 
 
 The world, the flesh, the devil, 
 
 Will prove a fatal snare, 
 
 Unless we do resist him, 
 
 By faith' and humble prayer. ” 
 
 In this grand contest with his Satanic Majesty, he, our 
 
4 6 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 leader, fought gloriously, but he fell early in the strife. We, 
 his hearers, have kept up a gallant fight to this day, but, 
 judging by our morning papers, the devil is still far from 
 being dead. Yet we dealt him some heavy blows at the 
 recent election ! 
 
 An interesting institution was the ferry-boat between the 
 North and South Sides. It was a general intelligence office. 
 Business was done principally upon the South Side, while 
 most of the dwelling-houses were upon the North Side. 
 The ferryman knew about every person in town, and could 
 answer any question as to who had crossed. The streets 
 had not then been raised to their present grade, nor the 
 river deepened or widened, and the boat was easily acces¬ 
 sible to teams. It was pulled across by a rope, and was 
 not used enough to kill the green rushes which grew in 
 the river. If a lady came upon the South Side to pass 
 an evening, she would leave word with the ferryman where 
 her husband could find her. Bundles and letters were left 
 with him to be delivered to persons as they passed. He 
 was a sort of superannuated sailor, and if he had not sailed 
 into every port in the world, he had a remarkable faculty 
 of making people think he had. His fund of stories was 
 inexhaustible, and he was constantly spinning his interesting 
 yarns to those who patronized his institution. Like most 
 sailors, he could not pull unless he sung, and to all his 
 songs he had one refrain with a single variation. His voice 
 was loud and sonorous. If he felt dispirited, his refrain 
 was, “And I sigh as I pull on my boat.” If he felt jolly 
 (and people took particular pains to make him so), his 
 refrain was, “And I sing as I pull on my boat.” All night 
 long this refrain was disturbing the ears of those who dwelt 
 near the banks of the river. Song after song was com¬ 
 posed for him, in the hope of changing his tune, but it 
 would not be long before he would attach to it his usual 
 refrain. One of our musical composers composed a qua¬ 
 drille, which our young folks used to dance in the evening 
 on the ferry, during certain portions of which they would 
 all join in old Jack’s refrain, and sing, “And we’ll dance 
 as we ride on the boat.” There was a little boy who took 
 great delight in Jack's company, whose parents lived on 
 the margin of the river near the ferry, and as in the last 
 of his sickness he was burning with a violent fever, nothing 
 would quiet him but the sound of old Jack’s voice. Old 
 Jack had just sung, “And I sigh as I pull on my boat,” 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 47 
 
 when the boy whispered his last words to his mother, “And 
 I die while Jack pulls on his boat!” Jack heard of this, 
 and his lungs became stronger than ever. Racking both 
 his memory and his imagination for songs, for weeks all 
 night long he sung, with his plaintive refrain, “Charlie dies 
 while Jack pulls on his boat.” A distinguished poetess 
 traveling at the west about this time, was tarrying at the 
 Lake House, and heard of the incident. She wrote for a 
 New York magazine some beautiful lines appropriate to 
 the last words of the child and the circumstances. These 
 were reproduced in our Chicago papers, but I have in vain 
 sought to find them. Some of our old scrap-books un¬ 
 doubtedly contain them, and I would like to be the instru¬ 
 ment of their republication. 
 
 Old Jack went to church one Sunday, and the clergyman 
 preached from the text, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of 
 Me and My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed 
 when He shall come in His own glory.” After church was 
 over, the clergyman took Jack to task for making so much 
 noise on his ferry-boat, and told him he was going to have 
 him removed. “You can’t do it,” said Jack. “Why not?” 
 ■said the clergyman. “Your sermon, sir, your sermon! You 
 said we must make a practical application of it.” “How 
 can you apply that to your position?” “In this way,” said 
 Jack; “the Mayor appoints a ferryman. I will just tell 
 him, he that is ashamed of me and of my boat, of him will 
 I be ashamed when I go to the polls on the day of elec¬ 
 tion!” Jack was not removed. But he went one fall to 
 the south with the robins; but, unlike the robins, he returned 
 no more. He probably saw the coming bridge. 
 
 It was customary during the winter to give a series of 
 dancing-parties at central points between here and the Fox 
 River, along the line of some of our main traveled roads, 
 notices of which were generally given in the newspapers. 
 We used to have much more snow than we have now, and 
 large sleigh-loads of people would be fitted out from the 
 city, to meet young people from different parts of the 
 country. People in the country settlements were generally 
 emigrants from the more cultivated portions of the east. 
 United States Senator Silas Wright once told me that he 
 could enumerate a hundred families, the very flower of the 
 agricultural interest of St. Lawrence County, who had emi¬ 
 grated to west of Chicago. These settlers were not always 
 poor; they were often men of large families who came here 
 
48 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 to obtain a large quantity of contiguous land, so as to settle 
 their children around them. The custom at these parties 
 was to leave Chicago about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, 
 take supper on the way out, and engage breakfast for the 
 morning; and, after dancing all night, getting back to the 
 city about 9 or 10 o’clock. The hotels in the country were 
 frequently built of logs, but whether of logs or boards, were 
 generally built in one style. Cooking-rooms, bar-room, 
 sitting-rooms, were below, and above was one large hall, 
 which could be used for religious services on Sunday, or 
 public meetings on a weekday, and, by suspending blankets, 
 could be divided into sleeping-rooms. Above was the attic, 
 which could be used for storage when the hall was cleared, 
 and also for dressing-rooms at parties. Ladies and gen¬ 
 tlemen could more easily find their wearing apparel when 
 suspended from nails driven into the beams of the building 
 than they can now from the small dressing-rooms where 
 the clothing is in constant danger of being mixed together. 
 I remember one of those occasions when the country resi¬ 
 dents had begun the dance before those from the city had 
 reached there. Country ladies were passing up and down 
 the ladder to the dressing-room. But the city ladies would 
 not ascend the ladder until it had been fenced around with 
 blankets. There were always on these occasions mothers 
 present from the country, who attended the young people 
 to look after the care of their health, such as seeing that 
 they were properly covered on their going home from a 
 warm room, as physicians were very scarce in the country, 
 and it was a great distance for many of them to send for 
 medicines. These country matrons took it much to heart 
 that the young ladies from the city were so particular in 
 having the ladder fenced off, and were very free in the 
 expression of their views on the subject to the elderly 
 gentlemen present. During the evening a sleigh-load was 
 driven up containing a French danseuse from Chicago, of 
 considerable note in those days; and it was*not long after 
 she entered the hall before the floor was cleared for her to 
 have an opportunity to show her agility as a fancy dancer. 
 When she began to swing around upon one foot, with the 
 other extended, one of these country matrons, with a great 
 deal of indignation, ran across the hall to her son, and said, 
 “I don’t think it is proper for our young folks to see any 
 such performance as this, and now you go right down and 
 tell the landlord that we want some more blankets,” and the 
 
BY HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 
 
 49 
 
 boy started before the last part of the sentence was heard, 
 “and I’ll have her fenced off by herself, as the city ladies 
 did the ladder!” Her remarks were passed from one to 
 another, and the company was loudly applauding them, 
 when the applause was greatly increased by the entrance 
 of the landlord with some blankets under his arm. The 
 more the applause increased, the more animated became 
 the danseuse, who took it all for herself. The fancy dance 
 was finished, but the merriment had such an effect that one 
 of our city young men took down the blankets around the 
 ladder, and for the remainder of the evening the exposed 
 ladder and the nimble French danseuse ceased to attract 
 attention. 
 
 I have thus made you a few selections from my large 
 casket of reminiscences of the amusements of early Chicago. 
 But I give them as a mere appendix to my historical lec¬ 
 ture, and do not wish them considered as any part of it, 
 as I could have ended without them, and then have given 
 you a lecture of ordinary length. If anyone thinks them 
 inappropriate to this occasion, I wish to say that I respect¬ 
 fully concur in his views. If, however, they have served 
 to compensate any of you for the tedium of the more 
 historical portion of it, I will waive the question of their 
 appropriateness, and express my gratification at having 
 given them. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 After Mr. Wentworth’s Lecture had been published 
 in the newspapers, lie received the following information: 
 
 FROM FULTON COUNT\. 
 
 The County Commissioners’ Court met, for the first time, 3 June, 
 1823. July 5, 1823, John Kinzie was recommended for Justice of the 
 Peace, at Chicago. Sept. 2, 1823, Ordered that an election be held 
 at John Kinzie’s house, for one major and company officers in 17th 
 Regiment of Illinois Militia; John Kinzie, Alexander Wolcott, and 
 John Hamlin to conduct said election, upon the last Saturday in Sep¬ 
 tember instant. 
 
 June 3, 1823, Ordered by the Court, that Amherst C. Rausam be 
 recommended to fill the office of Justice of the Peace, vice Samuel 
 Fulton, resigned. He qualified before the Clerk of the Circuit Court 
 of P'ulton Co., July 2, 1823. 
 
 If he resided at Chicago, he robs John Kinzie of the honor of being 
 our first Justice of the Peace. 
 
 July 5, 1823, Ordered that the Treasurer pay to A. C. Rausam 
 the sum of four dollars, for taking a list of the taxable property at 
 Chicago, in said County, and collecting the same, so soon as he (the 
 said Rausam) shall pay the same over to the County Treasurer, in 
 such money as he received. 
 
 Sept. 3, 1823, Ordered that Amherst C. Rouseur [Rausam?] hand 
 over to County Treasurer amount of tax received and collected at 
 Chicago, in same kind of money he received. 
 
 April 27, 1824, Sheriff Eads released from paying money-tax col¬ 
 lected at Chicago by Rousseur [Rausam?] 
 
 It is so hard to decypher these French names in American manu¬ 
 scripts that this name may not be the correct one. There was a 
 Eustache Roussain and also a Captain Ransom in the employ of the 
 American Fur Company, in this region, in 1821. 
 
 It may be that he was not a defaulter, but collected his taxes in 
 furs, local money, etc., and refused to give them up until he received 
 his four dollars in cash. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 51 
 
 The same name appears as grand juror, October, 1S23. 
 
 Among the grand jurors, in October, 1823 and April, 1824, were 
 Elijah Wentworth, Sr. In Sept., 1824, Hiram, son of Elijah Went¬ 
 worth, Sr., was added. In March and Sept., 1824, Elijah Wentworth, 
 Jr. (our first Coroner), and John Holcomb (who married his sister), 
 were upon the petit jury. The Wentworths were then living in what 
 is now Fulton Co. Whence they removed to Dodgeville, Wisconsin, 
 and did not come to Chicago until 1830. 
 
 CHICAGO MARRIAGES RECORDED IN FULTON CO. 
 
 By John Hamlin, J.P., July 20, 1823, Alexander Wolcott and 
 Ellen M. Kinzie. 
 
 By same, October 3rd, 1823, John Ferrel and Ann Griffin. 
 
 [The Clerk sends this as a Chicago marriage; but I can learn noth¬ 
 ing of the parties.] 
 
 It is claimed that the marriage of Dr. Wolcott, Indian agent here, 
 in 1823, was the first in Chicago. He died in 1830, voting on the 24th 
 July, of that year. His widow, daughter of John Kinzie, married 
 George C. Bates, of Detroit, Mich. He is now living in Salt Lake 
 City. Col. Thomas Owens was afterwards Indian agent, and may 
 have succeeded him. Charles Jewett, of Kentucky, was Dr. Wolcott’s 
 predecessor, and our first Indian agent. 
 
 John Hamlin died at Peoria, in April of this year. A writer in the 
 Peoria Transcript says, that in 1823, he accompanied William S. 
 Hamilton to Green Bay, where he had a contract to supply Fort 
 Howard with beef, and he arrived there July 2d, 1823. On his way 
 back, Mr. Hamlin performed the marriage ceremony. Whilst here, 
 he made an engagement with John Crafts to enter the service of the 
 American Fur Company, which frequently brought him to Chicago. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE TAX PAYERS OF 1825. 
 
 1. Gen. John B. Beaubien was living at Macinac when the Fort 
 there was surrendered to the British, in 1812. He married a sister 
 of the Indian Chief, Joseph Laframboise, was brought here in 1819, 
 by the American Fur Company to oppose Mr. Crafts, had several 
 children (some of whom now live here), was one of the principal men 
 in the employ of the American Fur Co., and his last wife with several 
 of his children was upon the platform at the delivery of this lecture. 
 I attended the marriage of his daughter, in early days, to N. D. 
 Woodville. 
 
 2. Jonas Clybourne came from Pearisburgh, Giles Co., Virginia, with 
 
5 2 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 sons Archibald and Henley. Archibald came in 1823 and went back 
 to Virginia for his father's family. His widow, who was a Miss Gallo¬ 
 way, from the region now known a- Marseilles,- LaSalle Co., Illinois, 
 was on the platform at the delivery of this lecture, and has several chil¬ 
 dren. Henley Clybourne married Sarah Benedict, and has two sons 
 living at Fort Scott, Kansas. Archibald Clybourne was Justice of the 
 Peace in 1831. 
 
 3. John K. Clark, was half brother to Archibald Clybourne, and 
 married Permelia, daughter of Stephen J. Scott, who now lives, his 
 widow, at Deerfield, Lake Co., Ill., with her daughter. There was 
 no son to live to have children. 
 
 4. John Crafts was a trader sent here by Mr. Conant, of Detroit, and 
 had a trading house at Hardscrabble, near Bridgeport, and monopo¬ 
 lized the trade until the American Pur Company sent John B. Beaubien 
 here in 1S19. In 1S22, Mr. Crafts went into the employment of the 
 Fur Company as superintendant, Mr. Beaubien being under him. He 
 died here single in 1823, at Mr. Kinzie's house, and he succeeded him. 
 Trior to this, Mr. Kinzie was a silver-smith and made trinkets for the 
 Indians. 
 
 5. Jeremie Claremont was employed by the American Fur Com¬ 
 pany in 1S21, for the trade of the Iroquois River. 
 
 8 & 9. Claude and Joseph Laframboise were brothers. The widow 
 of the latter was living, at last dates, with her son-in-law, Medard B. 
 Beaubien, at Silver Lake, Shawnee Co., Kansas. 
 
 11. Peter Piche, is believed to have been the one who lived at 
 Piche's Grove, near Oswego, Illinois, alluded to by Mrs. Kinzie in her 
 “Waubun.” 
 
 14. Antoine Oilmette is the person spoken of in Mrs. Kinzie's book, 
 “Waubun.'’ His daughter Elizabeth, married Jan. 23, 1S27, our first 
 Irishman, Michael Welch. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE VOTERS OF 1S26. 
 
 1. Augustine Banny, said to have been a travelling cattle dealer, 
 supplying Forts. 
 
 2. Henry Kelly, had no family here, worked for Samuel Miller. 
 
 4. Cole Weeks, American, was a discharged soldier, had no family, 
 
 worked for John Kinzie. He married the divorced wife of - 
 
 Caldwell, brother of the first wife of Willis Scott. Caldwell had a 
 fondness for Indian hunting and trading, and is supposed to have gone 
 off and died with them. A man, answering his description, by the 
 name of Caldwell, was living, not long since, at Kershena, Shawanaw 
 Co.. Wisconsin. Caldwell’s wife, who married Cole Weeks, was sister 
 to Benjamin Hall, of Wheaton, DuPage Co.. Ill., and Caldwell was 
 cousin to Archibald Clybourne, and came from the same place in Vir¬ 
 gin’. a. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 53 
 
 14. Francis Laducier, had no family, died at Archibald Clyboume’s. 
 
 21. Joseph Pothier, married Victor Miranda, a half breed, was 
 brought up in John Kinzie’s family, was living recently at Milwaukee. 
 
 24. David McKee, lives at Aurora, Kane Co., Ill., and married 23 
 January, 1827, Wealthy, daughter of Stephen J. Scott. He was bom 
 on Hog Creek, Pewtown, Loudoun Co., Virginia, in 1800. 
 
 25. Joseph Anderson, had no family. 
 
 31. Martin VanSicle, was living recently near Aurora, Ill. He had 
 a daughter, Almira. Willis Scott remembers going to Peoria for a 
 marriage license for her. 
 
 34. Edward Ament, was living recently not far from Chicago; some 
 say in Kankakee Co., Ill. 
 
 The most of those having French names were employes of the 
 American Fur Company, or hunted and traded on their own respon¬ 
 sibility; and, when Chicago was abandoned as a Fur Trading Post, 
 they moved further into the frontier country, in pursuit of their 
 business. 
 
 NOTES UPON THE VOTERS OF 1830. 
 
 1. Stephen J. Scott was bom in Connecticut, moved to Chicago 
 from Bennington, Wyoming Co., N.Y., lived many years at Naper¬ 
 ville, Ill., and died there, where his son Wiliiard now lives. His son 
 Willis now lives in Chicago, and was upon the platform when this 
 lecture was dejivered. Several of his daughters are mentioned in these 
 notes. 
 
 4. Barney H. Laughton, lived in his last days near what is now 
 Riverside, on the O’Plaine River, and his wife was sister to the wife of 
 onr first Sheriff, Stephen Forbes. 
 
 5. Jesse Walker, was a Methodist preacher, finally settled at Wal¬ 
 ker’s Grove, now Plainfield, in this State. 
 
 8. James Kinzie, was natural son of John Kinzie. His mother and 
 Archibald Clyboume’s mother were sisters. His first wife was Rev. 
 William See’s daughter. He died at Racine, Wis., where his second 
 wife is said to be now living. His own sister Elizabeth Kinzie married 
 Samuel Miller, the hotel keeper. 
 
 9. Russell E. Heacock, died at Summit, Cook Co., Ill., in 1849, 
 and he has sons in this vicinity. 
 
 12. John L. Davis, said to have been an Englishman, and a tailor. 
 
 17. Stephen Mack, son of Major Mack of Detroit, married an Ind¬ 
 ian, was clerk in the employ of the American Fur Company, and 
 finally settled in Pickatonica, Winnebago Co., in this State. 
 
 18. Jonathan A. Bailey, was father-in-law to the Post Master, John 
 S. C. Hogan. Mr. Hogan held the office until 1837, when Sidney 
 Abell was appointed. Mr. Hogan died in Memphis, Tenn., in 1866. 
 
54 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 Mr. Bailey was Postmaster before Hogan. 
 
 19. Alexander Me, is written plain enough; but whether the last 
 part is Dollo, Dole, Donell, Dowtard, etc., it is difficult to tell, as it is 
 written so differently in different places. 
 
 27 & 28. John Baptiste Secor and Joseph Bauskey, died of cholera 
 in 1832. Bauskey married a daughter of Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 32. Peresh LeClerc, was an Indian interpreter, brought up by John 
 Kinzie. 
 
 MORE RETURNS FROM PEORIA COUNTY. 
 
 The Clerk of Peoria Co. has sent me the following, which are not 
 alluded to in the lecture: 
 
 SPECIAL FLECTION 
 
 For Justice of the Peace and Constable, at the house of James Kinzie, 
 in the Chicago Precinct of Peoria County, State of Illinois, on 
 Saturday, 24th day of July, 1830. 
 
 Total, John S. C. Hogan, for Justice of the Peace, 33 votes, Archi¬ 
 bald Clybourne, 22 votes, Russell Rose, 1 vote. Total, 56. 
 
 For Constable, Horatio G. Smith, 32 votes, Russell Rose, 21 votes, 
 John S. C. Hogan, 1 vote. Total, 54. 
 
 X James Kinzie. 
 
 2 Jean Baptiste Beaubien 1S25. 26 
 
 3 Alexander Wolcott. 1825 
 
 4 Augustin Bannot. [Banny?] 1826 
 
 5 Medard B. Beaubien. 
 
 6 Billy Caldwell. 1826 
 
 7 Joseph Laframboise. 1825, 1826 
 
 8 John Mann. 
 
 9 John Wellmaker. 
 
 10 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 11 Thomas Ayers. 
 
 12 Russell Rose. 
 
 13 Lewis Ganday or Louis Gauday. 
 
 14 Michael Welch. 
 
 15 William P. Jewett. 
 
 16 John VanHorn. 
 
 17 Gabriel Acay. 
 
 18 Joseph Papan. 
 
 19 Williard Scott. 
 
 20 Peter Wycoffi 
 
 21 Stephen Mack. 
 
 22 James Galloway, [father of Mrs. 
 
 Archibald Clybourne.] 
 
 23 David VanStow. [VanEaton?] 
 
 24 James Brown. 
 
 25 Samuel Littleton. 
 
 26 Jean Baptiste Laducier. 
 
 27 Joseph Thibeaut. 
 
 28 Lewis Blow. 
 
 29 Jean Baptist Secor. 1826 
 
 30 Mark Beaubien. 
 
 31 Peresh Laclerc. 
 
 32 Matthias Smith. . 
 
 33 James Garow. 
 
 34 Alexander Robinson. 1825, 1826 
 
 35 Samuel Miller. [Landlord.] 
 
 36 Jonas Clybourne. 1825, 1S26 
 
 37 John Joyal. 
 
 38 Peter Frique. 
 
 39 Jean Bapt. Tombien. [Toubien?] 
 
 40 John L. Davis. 
 
 41 Simon Debigie. 
 
 42 A. Foster. 
 
 43 George P, Wentworth. 
 
 44 Alex. McDowtard. [McDole?] 
 
 45 Jonathan A. Bailey. 
 
 46 David M’Kee. 1S25, 1S26 
 
 47 Joseph Pothier. 1826 
 
 48 Henry Kelly. 1826 
 
 49 Antoine Ouilmette. 1825, 1826 
 
 50 David Hunter. [General.] 
 
 51 James Engle. 
 
 52 John K. Clark. 1S25, 1826 
 
 53 Russell E. Heacock. 
 
 54 Leon Bourassea. 
 
 55 Archibald Clybourne. 1S26 
 
 56 Horatio G. Smith. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 55 
 
 John S. C. Hogan, the successful candidate for Justice of the Peace, 
 did not vote. Archibald Clybourne voted (for Justice) for Russell 
 Rose, who was the candidate for Constable, voted for John S. C. 
 Hogan, for the office of Constable. 
 
 But the two candidates for Constable came squarely up to the mark, 
 and voted for each other. 
 
 Mr. Llogan was Postmaster in Chicago prior to the election of 
 Martin VanBuren as President, who appointed Sidney Abell to suc¬ 
 ceed him. He built the first frame house on the South Side. It was 
 near the north-west corner of Lake and Franklin streets. 
 
 The judges of this election were Alexander Wolcott, John B. Beau- 
 bien, and James Kinzie. The clerks were Medard B. Beaubien and 
 Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash. 
 
 19 Williard Scott was a son of Stephen J. Scott; and now lives at 
 Naperville, Ill. 
 
 42 There was a Lieut. -Foster here about that time. 
 
 50 General Hunter, U. S. Army, married Maria H. Kinzie, born 
 1807, the only child of John Kinzie, now living. 
 
 51 There was a Lieut. -Engle stationed' here about that time. 
 
 SPECIAL ELECTION 
 
 For Justice of the Peace, at the house of James Kinzie, Chicago Pre¬ 
 cinct, Peoria County, State of Illinois, on Thursday, the 25th day of 
 November, 1830. 
 
 1 Archibald Clybourne. 
 
 2 James Kinzie. 
 
 3 John Wellmaker. 
 
 4 John Mann. 
 
 5 Russell E. Heacock. 
 
 6 Peter Wycoff. 
 
 7 Billy Caldwell. 
 
 8 Jesse Walker. 
 
 9 Enoch Thompson. 
 
 10 Medard B. Beaubien. 
 
 11 David VanEaton. 
 
 12 John B. Beaubien. 
 
 13 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 14 Matthias Smith. 
 
 15 David McKee. 
 
 16 William Jewett. 
 
 17 Florace Miner. 
 
 18 Samuel Miller. 
 
 19 Stephen Forbes. 
 
 20 William See. 
 
 21 Peter Muller. 
 
 22 Jonas Clybourne. 
 
 23 John B. Bradain. 
 
 24 John Shedaker. 
 
 25 Peter Frique. 
 
 26 John K. Clark. 
 
 Total, Stephen Forbes, 18. William See, 8. 
 
 Mr. Forbes was the first Sheriff of Cook Co., and married a sister to 
 the wife of Barney IT. Laughton. William See is mentioned in Mrs. 
 Kinzie’s “Waubun,” and was a Methodist preacher. 
 
 Mr. & Mrs. Forbes taught school here in 1831. 
 
 In this contest, each candidate voted for his opponent. 
 
 The judges at this election were James Kinzie, John B. Beaubien, 
 and Archibald Clybourne. The clerks were Russell E. Heacock and 
 Stephen J. Scott. 
 
 6 Peter Wycoff, was a discharged soldier, and worked for Archibald 
 Clybourne. 
 
 9 There was a Lieut. -Thompson stationed here about that time. 
 
56 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL. 
 
 CHICAGO MARRIAGES, RECORDED IN PEORIA CO. 
 
 By John Kinzie. 24 April, 1826. Daniel Bourassea and Theotis 
 Amwaiskie. 
 
 By John Kinzie. 29 July, 1S26. Samuel Miller and Elizabeth Kin- 
 zie. [Mr. Miller kept a hotel on the North Side, near the forks, and 
 near where Kinzie street crosses the River. He moved to Michigan 
 City, and died there. His wife was full sister to James Kinzie, and 
 natural daughter of John Kinzie. Her mother was sister to Archibald 
 Clybourne’s mother.] 
 
 By John Kinzie. 28 September, 1826. Alexander Robinson and 
 Catherine Chevalier. [Che-che-pin-gua died on his reservation on the 
 O’Plaine River, in this county, where his daughter now lives; his wife 
 and sons being dead.] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 5 May, 1828. Joseph Bauskey and Widow 
 Deborah (Scott) Watkins. [He died of cholera in 1832. His wife 
 was daughter of Stephen J. Scott.] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien.- 15 April, 1830. Samuel Watkins and Mary 
 Ann Smith. 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 11 May, 1830. Michael Welch and Eliza¬ 
 beth Ouilmette. [He was our first Irishman, and his wife was daughter 
 of Antoine Ouilmette, of Ouilmette’s Reservation, in this Co.] 
 
 By John B. Beaubien. 18 May, 1830. Alvin Noyes Gardner and 
 fulia Haley. [He moved to Blue Island.] 
 
 By Rev. William See. 3 August, 1830. John Mann and Arkash 
 Sambli. 
 
 By Rev. William See. 1 November, 1830. Willis Scott and widow 
 Lovisa B. Caldwell. [They have been heretofore alluded to.] 
 
 By Rev. William See. 7 November, 1830. B. H. Laughton and 
 Sophia Bates. [They have been heretofore alluded to.] 
 
 GOV. FORD’S HOUSE. 
 
 Hon. Jas. V. Gale, an old settler of Oregon, Ogle Co., Ill., writes 
 me: “that the house from which Thomas Ford was elected Governor, 
 was one storied, 16 or iS by 38, had a parlor, dining-room, and two 
 bedrooms, with a small cooking room attached. It has been taken 
 down some years. He settled here as early as 1836, and made a claim 
 south of that of John Phelps. He sold it to John P'ridley, who now 
 owns it; and the same log cabin, which Judge Ford erected and occu¬ 
 pied until he built his frame house, still stands. It is 18 feet square 
 and 11 logs high. He was a man of small stature, careless in his dress, 
 of good talents, put on no airs, popular with all, a good neighbor, able 
 lawyer, congenial and sociable.” 
 
INDEX 
 
 TO 
 
 “Early Chicago:”— Second Lecture, 
 
 (No. 7 of Fergus’ Historical Series.) 
 
 ' ' / 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. JOHN WENTWORTH, LL.D., 
 
 Delivered Sunday, May 7, 1876. 
 
 [This Index was prepared by Mr. Wentworth, August, 1SS1.] 
 
 A. 
 
 Abel, Sidney, 53, 55. 
 
 Acay, Gabriel, 54. 
 
 Adams, John, 9. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, 6, 7, 8, 17. 
 Ament, Edward, 16, 53. 
 
 Anderson, Joseph, 16, 53. 
 Aruwaiskie, Theotis, 56. 
 
 Aurora (schooner), 24. 
 
 Ayers, Thomas, 54. 
 
 B. 
 
 1 Bailey, Jonathan A., 16, 53, 54. 
 Banny, [Barry or Bannot;] Augustine, 
 16, 5 2 . 54 - 
 
 Bates, George C., 51. 
 
 Bates, Sophia, 56. 
 
 Bauskey, Joseph, 17, 54, 56. 
 Beaubien, John B., 15, 16, 18, 22, 24, 
 5 i, 52 , 54 . 55 . 56 . 
 
 Beaubien, Mark, 17, 24, 25, 54. 
 Beaubien, Medore B. [Medard B.], 
 16, 18, 22, 33, 35, 52, 54. 55- 
 Benedict, Sarah, 52. 
 
 Benton, Thomas H., 8. 
 
 Black Hawk (Indian chief), 4, 10, 44. 
 Blow, Lewis, 54. 
 
 Bogardus, John L., 15. 
 
 Bourassea, Daniel, 16, 56. 
 
 Bourassea, Leon, 16, 54. 
 
 Bradain [Beaubien], John B., 55. 
 Breese, Sidney, 12, 14. 
 
 Brown, James, 16, 54. 
 
 Brown, Jesse, 19. 
 
 Brown, Thomas C., 19. 
 
 Brown, William H., 11. 
 
 Buchanan, James, 8. 
 
 Buell, E., 24. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, 9. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caldwell, Archibald, 52, 53. 
 Caldwell, Billy, (Sauganash, Indian 
 chief), 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 33, 54, 55. 
 Calhoun, John, 3. 
 
 Calhoun, John C., 7, 17. 
 
 Caldwell, Lovisa B., 56. 
 
 Cass, Gen. Lewis, 8, 22. 
 
 Catie, Joseph, 16. 
 
 Chamblee (Shabonee, Indian chief), 
 
 ' 33 - 
 
 Charlevoix, Pierre Francois Xavir de, 
 10—13. 
 
 Chavellea, John Baptiste, 16. 
 Chavellie, Peter, 16. 
 
 Che-che-pin-qua (Alexander Robin¬ 
 son, Indian chief), 15, 16, 33, 54, 56. 
 Chevalier, Catherine, 56. 
 
 Chi-ka-gou (Indian chief), 12. 
 Clairmore [Clermont?], Jeremiah, 16. 
 Clark, John K., 15, 16, 17, 18, 52, 
 54 , 55 - 
 
 Clay, Henry, 7, 17. 
 
 Clermont [Clairmore?], Jeremiah, 15, 
 16, 52. 
 
 Clybourn, Archibald, 16, 17, 18, 52, 
 53 , 54 , 55 , 56. 
 
EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 53 
 
 Clybourn, Henly, 52. 
 
 Clybourn, Jonas, 15, 16, 17, 51, 54, 
 55- 
 
 Cobb, Silas B., 44. 
 
 Conant, , 52. 
 
 Cook, Daniel P., 17, 25. 
 
 Coutra, Louis, 15. 
 
 Crafts, John, 15, 16, 51, 52. 
 Crittenden, John J., 8. 
 
 D. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 7, 26. 
 
 Davis, John L., 16, 53, 54. 
 Dearborn, Gen. Henry, 7. 
 
 Debigie, Simon, 54. 
 
 Displattes, Basile, 16. 
 
 Dodge, Gen. Henry, 8. 
 
 Dorr, Cap/, of Schooner Tracy, S. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eads, Abner, 15, 50. 
 
 Edwards, Goz\ Ninian, 17, 25. 
 
 Engle, Lt. James, 54, 55. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fair Play (revenue cutter), 24. 
 Fergus, Robert, 26. 
 
 Ferrel, John, 51. 
 
 Field, Darby, 19. 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, 7, 8. 
 
 Forbes, Stephen, 53, 55. 
 
 Forbes, Mrs. Stephen, 55. 
 
 Ford, Gov. Thomas, 38, 39, 40, 56. 
 Poster, Lt. Amos, 54, 55. 
 
 Fridley, John, 56. 
 
 Frique, Peter, 16, 54, 55. 
 
 Fulton, Samuel, 50. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gage, Gen. Thomas, 11. 
 
 Gale, James V., 56. 
 
 Galloway, James, 54. 
 
 Galloway, Miss, married Archibald 
 Clybourn, 52. 
 
 Ganday, Lewis, 17, 54. 
 
 Gardner, Alvin Noyes, 56. 
 
 Garie, , 12. 
 
 Garow, James, 54. 
 
 Garrett, Augustus, 33. 
 
 Griffin, Ann, 51. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hale, Artimas, 9. 
 
 Haley, Julia, 56. 
 
 Hall, Benjamin, 52. 
 
 Hallam, Rev. Isaac \V., 33. 
 Hamilton, Mrs. Gen. Alexander, 9. 
 Hamilton, William S., 51. 
 
 Hamlin, John, 50, 51. 
 
 Harrison, Gen. William H., 8. 
 Heacock, Russell E., 16, 18, 53, 54, 
 55- 
 
 Heartless (schooner), 24. 
 
 Henry Clay (steamboat), 5. 
 
 Hinton, Rev. Isaac T., 42, 43, 45. 
 Hogan, John S. C., 16, 53, 54, 55. 
 Holcomb, John, 51. 
 
 Iloyne, Thomas, 43. 
 
 Hubbard, Gurdon S., 12. 
 
 Hull, Gen. William, 25. 
 
 Hunter, Gen. David, 54, 55. 
 
 J- 
 
 Jackson, Gen. Andrew, 8, 17, 28, 32, 
 44- 
 
 Jamboe, Paul, 16. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 9, 12. 
 
 Jewett, William P., 54. 
 
 Jewett, William, 55. 
 
 Johnston, Samuel, 16. 
 
 Jowett [or Jewett], Charles, 51. . 
 Joyal, John, 54. 
 
 Junio, Peter, 16. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kearney, Gen. Stephen W., 19. 
 Keating, William H., 22. 
 
 Kelley, Henry, 16, 52, 54. 
 
 Kennison, David, 9. 
 
 Kerehival, Benjamin B., 22. 
 
 Kimball, Walter, 3. 
 
 Kingsbury, Julius J. B., 42. 
 
 Kinzie, Elizabeth, 53, 56. 
 
 Kinzie, Ellen M., 51. 
 
 Kinzie, James, 16, 18, 26, 53, 54, 55, 
 
 56 . 
 
 Kinzie, John, 15, 16, 17, iS, 23, 50, 
 
 5L 52, 53. 54. 55. 56. 
 
 Kinzie, Mrs. Juliette A., 52, 55. 
 Kinzie, Maria H., 55. 
 
 L. 
 
 Laducier, Francis, 16, 17, 53. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Laducier, John Baptiste, 54. 
 Lafortune, John Baptiste, 16. 
 Lafromboise, Claude, 15, 16, 52. 
 Lafromboise, Francis, sr., 16. 
 Lafromboise, Francis, jr., 16. 
 Lafromboise, Joseph, 15, 16, 17, 33, 
 SL 52 , 54 - ' 
 
 Larant, Alexander, 16. 
 
 Laughton, Barney H., 16, 53, 55, 56, 
 LeClerc, Peresh (LeCIair, Peter), 17, 
 54 - 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 8. 
 
 Littleton, Samuel, 54. 
 
 Long, Stephen H., 22. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mack, Major , 53. 
 
 Mack, Stephen, 16, 53, 54. 
 
 Madison, James, 8, 9. 
 
 Madison, Mrs. James, 8, 9. 
 
 Malast, John Baptiste, 16. 
 
 Mann, John, 16, 54, 55, 56. 
 
 Martin, Laurant, 17. 
 
 Marquette, Rev. James, 13. 
 Maximillian, Emperor , 20. 
 
 McDoIe, Alexander, 16, 54. 
 
 McKee, David, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 
 
 53 . 54 . 55 - 
 McNeil, John, 24. 
 
 Miller, Samuel, 53, 54, 55, 56. 
 
 Mills, Benjamin, 26. 
 
 Miner, Horace, 55. 
 
 Miranda, Victoria, 53. 
 
 Monroe, James, 8. 
 
 Muller, Peter, 55. 
 
 Murphy, John, 25, 44. 
 
 O. 
 
 Orleans, Duchess of 13. 
 
 Ouilmette (Willmette), Antoine, 15, 
 16, .52, 54, 56. 
 
 Ouilmette, Elizabeth, 52, 56. 
 
 Owen, Thomas J. V., 51. 
 
 P. 
 
 Papan, Joseph, 54. 
 
 Pepot, Joseph, 16. 
 
 Perrot, Nicholas, 13. 
 
 Phelps, John, 56. 
 
 Piche, Peter, 15, 52. 
 
 Pierce, Franklin, 8. 
 
 Polk, James K., 7, 8, 20. 
 
 59 
 
 Pothier, Joseph, 16, 23, 33, 53, 54- 
 
 R. 
 
 Ransom, Capt., 50. 
 
 Rausom, Amherst C., 15, 50. 
 Reynolds, Gov. John, 17. 
 
 Robinson, Alexander, (Che-che-pin- 
 qua, Indian chief), 15, 16, 33, 54, 
 56. 
 
 Rose, Russell, 54, 55. 
 
 Roussain, Eustache, 50. 
 
 Rousser (Rausam), Amherst C., 15, 
 50 . 
 
 Russell, Benjamin, 16. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sambli, Arkash, 56. 
 
 Sauganash (Billy Caldwell, Indian 
 chief), 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 33, 54, 
 55 - 
 
 Scott, Deborah, 56. 
 
 Scott, Permelia, 52. 
 
 Scott, Stephen)., 16, 52, 53, 54, 55, 
 56. 
 
 Scott, Wealthy, 53. 
 
 Scott, Willard, 53, 54, 55. 
 
 Scott, Willis, 52, 53, 56. 
 
 Schuyler, Gen. Philip, 9. 
 
 Secor, John Baptist, 16, 17, 54. 
 
 See, Rev. William, 16, 53, 55, 36. 
 Shabonee ( Chamblee, Indian chief), 33. 
 Shedaker, John, 55. 
 
 Sheldon Thompson (steamboat), 5. 
 Smith, Horatio G., 54. 
 
 Smith, Joseph, 41. 
 
 Smith, Mary Ann, 56. 
 
 Smith, Matthias, 54, 55. 
 
 St.Clair, Gen. Arthur, 11. 
 
 Strode, James M., 26. 
 
 Sullivan, Jeremiah, 20. 
 
 Sullivan, Lt. - , 20, 21. 
 
 Superior (steamboat), 5. 
 
 Swing, Rrv. David, 37. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tappan, Benjamin, 6. 
 
 Taylor, Augustine D., 3. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, 8. 
 
 Tecumseh (Indian chief), 13, 14, 17. 
 Thibeaut, Joseph, 16, 54. 
 
 Thompson, Lt. J. L., 55. 
 
 Thompson, Enoch, 55. 
 
6o 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO. 
 
 Thompson, Samuel, n, 17. 
 
 Titus, Capt. -, 24. 
 
 Todd, John, 11. 
 
 Tombien (or Toubien), Jean Baptiste, 
 
 54- 
 
 Tracy (schooner), 8. 
 
 Tyler, John, 8. 
 
 V. 
 
 VanBuren, Martin, 8, 55. 
 
 VanEaton, David, 16, 54, 55. 
 VanHorn, John, 16, 54. 
 
 VanOsdell, John M., 43. 
 
 VanSicle, Martin, 16, 53. 
 
 VanSicle, Almira, 53. 
 
 VanStow, David, 54. 
 
 Vivier, Rev. Louis, 12. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wales, Prince of, 22. 
 
 Walker, Capt. A., 5. 
 
 Walker, Rev. Jesse, 16, 18, 53, 55. 
 Washington, Gen. George, 6, 9. 
 Watkins, Deborah (Scott), 56. 
 Watkins, Samuel, 56. 
 
 Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 8, 12, 22. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 8. 
 
 Weeks, Cole, 16, 52. 
 
 Welch, Michael, 17, 19, 52, 54, 56. 
 Wellmaker, John, 54, 55. 
 Wentworth, Elijah, sr., 26, 51. 
 Wentworth, Elijah, jr., 26, 51. 
 Wentworth, George P., 54. 
 Wentworth, Iliram, 51. 
 
 Wentworth, John, 50. 
 
 Whistler, John, 7, 8, 10. 
 
 Whistler, William, 8. 
 
 Wilkins, William, 8. 
 
 William Penn (steamboat), 5. 
 Wilmette [Ouilmette], Antoine, 15, 
 16, 52, 54, 56. 
 
 Wilmette [Ouilmette], Elizabeth, 56. 
 Winthrop, Gov. John, 19. 
 
 Wolcott, Alexander, 15, 18, 23, 50, 
 
 5L 54) 55* 
 
 Woodbridge, William, 8. 
 
 Woodbury, Levi, 8. 
 
 Woodville, N. D., 51. 
 
 Wright, Silas, 47. 
 
 Wycoff, Peter, 54, 55. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Young Tiger (schooner), 24. 
 

 I 
 
 
FERGUS' 
 
 POPULAR PUBLICATION'S. 
 
 1 ANNALS OF CHICAGO: A Lecture delivered 
 
 before the Chicago Lyceum, January 21, 1840, by Jos. N. Balestier. 
 Republished from the original edition of 1840, with an Introduction, 
 written by the author in 1876, and, also, a Review of the Lecture, 
 published in the Chicago Tribune in 1872. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 2 FERGUS’ DIRECTORY OF THE CITY OF 
 
 CHICAGO, 1839; with City and County Officers, Churches, Public 
 Buildings, Hotels, etc., also, list of Sheriffs of Cook County and 
 Mayors of the City since their organization; together with Poll-List 
 of the f irst City Election (Tuesday, May 2d, 1837); and, also, List ' 
 of Purchasers of Lots in Fort Dearborn Addition, the No. of the 
 Lots, and the Prices Paid (1839). Compiled by Robert Fergus. 
 Price, 50 cents. 
 
 3 THE LAST OF THE ILLINOIS, and a Sketch 
 
 of the Pottawatomies: Read before the Chicago Historical Society, 
 December 13th, 1870; also, 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES: Read before the Ottawa 
 
 Academy of Natural Sciences, December 30th, 1869, by Hon. John 
 Dean Caton, LL.D., late Chief-Justice of Illinois. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 4 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE EARLY 
 
 MOVEMENT IN ILLINOIS FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF 
 SLAVERY: Read at the Annual Meeting of the Chicago Historical 
 Society, December 5, 1864, by Hon. Wm. H. Brown, Ex : President 
 of the Society. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF 
 
 THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 To be issued in monthly parts. Part I. contains Sketches of Hon. 
 
 S. Lisle Smith, George Davis, Dr. Philip Maxwell, John J. Brown, 
 Richard L. Wilson, Colonel Lewis C. Kerchival, Uriah P. Harris, 
 Henry B. Clarke, and Sheriff Samuel J. Lowe. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF 
 
 THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 To be issued in monthly parts. Part II. will Contain Sketches of W. 
 
 H. Brown, Esq., B. W. Raymond, Esq., J. Y. Scammon, Esq., Chas. 
 Walker, Esq., Thomas Church, Esq. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 7 EARLY CHICAGO: A LECTURE DELIVERED 
 
 in the Sunday Course, at McCormick’s Hall, May 7th, 1876. By 
 Hon. John Wentworth. Price, 35 cents. 
 
 Sent on receipt of Price , by the Publishers. 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING CO., 
 
 244-8 Illinois Street, - Chicago. 
 

 >00000000000000000004 
 
 ffiimtlicr 2Unt' 
 
 [» o oo ooo o O O ll O O o o o o o o o o o o 
 
 'T T T T "T"T~'T ▼ 
 
 
 PRESENT AND FUTURE, 
 RISE AND PROGRESS, 
 “STRANGE EARLY DAYS, 
 
 By HENRY BROWN, Esq. 
 By JAS. A. MARSHALL, Esq 
 By HARRIETT MARTINEAU 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 
 * 
 
THE 
 
 Present and Future 
 
 Prospects of Chicago: 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 Delivered before The Chicago Lyceum, 
 January 20, 1S46. 
 
 BY HENRY BROWN, ESQ., 
 
 Author of “ History of Illinois.” 
 
 \ 
 
 At a meeting of the Chicago Lyceum, held at the Court House, in 
 the City of Chicago, on the evening of the 28th of January, ult. Mark 
 Skinner, Esq., Vice-President in the Chair, and George Manierre, 
 Secretary. 
 
 It was Resolved, That Henry Brown, Esq., President of said Ly¬ 
 ceum, be requested to furnish a copy of his Inaugural Address for pub¬ 
 lication, and that Dr. Wm. B. Egan, Mr. Wm. M. Larrabee, and Mr. 
 Thomas I loyne be appointed a Committee to superintend its publica¬ 
 tion. 
 
 MARK SKINNER, Vice-President. 
 
 George Manierre, Secretary. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 244 -S ILLINOIS STREET. 
 
 1 876 . 
 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 
 
 Gentlemen of the Lyceum: — In entering upon the 
 duties assigned me, as President of this Lyceum, I shall at 
 present do little more than thank you for the honor con¬ 
 ferred upon me by the appointment, and assure you in the 
 simplicity of my heart, as every militia officer does in New 
 England, from the General of Brigade, down to the Fourth 
 Corporal, on his elevation “to rank and fame,” that “I will 
 endeavor to serve you according to the best of my abili¬ 
 ties.” 
 
 In order, however, that I may do so, it is necessary that 
 I speak to you with freedom. This I shall do at all events, 
 both now and hereafter, whether you hear or whether you 
 forbear. 
 
 Our Saviour while on earth, in speaking to those he ad¬ 
 dressed, said they were a generation of vipers, that they 
 were wolves in sheep’s clothing, and so forth. The Apostle 
 Paul used language equally plain and often as severe. The 
 elder Cato, in speaking of the Roman people, said, “ They 
 were like sheep, for as those can scarcely be brought to stir 
 singly, but all in a body readily follow their leaders;” just 
 such are ye. “ The men whose council you would not take 
 as individuals, lead you with ease in a crowd.” It may, 
 perhaps, be so with us, and, to a certain extent, it unques¬ 
 tionably is. 
 
 It is not, however, my intention to speak thus of you or 
 of this people; because it would give offence, and I am 
 unwilling, especially on this occasion, to say anything which 
 can by possibility be tortured into disrespect, and so long 
 as it shall be my fortune, good or ill, to preside over this 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 3 
 
 Institution, I hope and trust that nothing will be said in 
 discussion here, or even attempted, which ought to offend 
 the most delicate ear. It is better for us, gentlemen, sit¬ 
 uated as we are, and living in a singular age, to imitate the 
 forbearance of a distinguished clergyman, who being invited 
 to preach before the Royal Court of France, in a by-gone 
 age, at the conclusion of a thrilling discourse, told them if 
 they did not do so and so, they would go to a place he 
 forbore to mention in that courtly audience. While the 
 oak, whose sturdy arms resist the tempest, is uptorn by its 
 roots—the pliant reed, that yields to the blast, escapes un¬ 
 hurt. The human tongue, as Plutarch expresses it, “accus¬ 
 tomed to speak with freedom in the cause of Justice,” is 
 an instrument of great power. It is the lever of Archimedes 
 that moves the moral world. With truth for its support it is 
 irresistible. The most stupid and exalted of our race obey 
 its impulse and feel its power. How important then that its- 
 use be cultivated, and its efforts be aright directed. Such, 
 gentlemen, is in part our object in coming hither, and so 
 long as we adhere to such intentions, so long we shall 
 deserve and without doubt meet with public approbation.. 
 
 In order, gentlemen, that our efforts may be useful, an. 
 addition to our number will be necessary. A learned divine, 
 on being told by one of his parishioners that he had thought 
 for sometime of joining the church, knowing the appli¬ 
 cant to be unworthy, informed him that the church was 
 full; and that they had pretty much concluded not to take 
 any more. It is not so, gentlemen, with us. The Lyceum 
 is not yet full, we shall therefore be happy to receive 
 additions, provided the applicants be worthy. AVe wish, 
 however, to have it understood that admission here are 
 not of course. The wisdom of ancient Persia has fre¬ 
 quently been extolled. In her renowned Capitol there 
 was, as we are informed, in olden times, an institution in 
 some respects like ours. The number of its members, how¬ 
 ever, was limited; and being very select, the learned, and 
 the wise, the patriot, the hero, and the sage, the most dis¬ 
 tinguished courtiers, and the most accomplished scholars 
 in the realm sought and obtained admission thither. As 
 a perpetual memento that its numbers were thus limited, 
 and in no event whatever to be increased, a vessel filled 
 with water to the brim, so that a single drop additional 
 would cause it to overflow, was placed beside the chair; 
 
4 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 around it were vases of the choicest flowers, whose fra¬ 
 grance filled the apartment, and whose beauty delighted 
 every eye; at the time of which I speak, there was, we are 
 told, in Persia’s Capitol, a youth of rare attainments. His 
 mind just then emerging into manhood, was the delight of 
 Persia’s Court; the Prince saw him and was charmed, the 
 courtier, the scholar, and the statesman were all delighted, 
 and with one accord desired that he, against their rules, 
 might be admitted among their number. He was accord¬ 
 ingly invited to attend their meetings, and a request at last 
 to be admitted was preferred. It was seconded by the 
 Prime Minister of the great King, but the President, point¬ 
 ing to the vessel, then before him, already full, the motion 
 was withdrawn. The youth, however, still persisting, and 
 in his zeal, forgetting where he was, with a step lighter than 
 any fairy, advanced towards the chair, and plucking from 
 the choicest flower the vase contained, a rose-leaf of sur¬ 
 passing beauty, he placed it with gentle hand upon the sur¬ 
 face of the sparkling element, where it floated a monument 
 of his triumph, without causing a drop to overflow. I need 
 not inform you, gentlemen, that he was at once admitted 
 by acclamation. I mention this not with a view to induce 
 the gay world to join us, and thus contribute a little to our 
 library, our funds, and to our moral and intellectual capital, 
 but to show that perseverance is all-powerful, and that by 
 proper efforts, the case of those as yet excluded from our 
 number, and the enjoyment of privileges which ought to be 
 highly valued, is not entirely hopeless. 
 
 Since the establishment of this Lyceum in 1834, I have 
 been invited frequently to speak before it. I was invited 
 so to do early in 1837, and chose for my theme “The pres¬ 
 ent and future prospects of Chicago.” My remarks, how¬ 
 ever, though well-intended, were by some unkindly taken. 
 The speculation then in vogue, by which so many had been 
 enriched, was not commended quite so highly as many sup¬ 
 posed it ought. Besides, some doubts were then expressed, 
 whether the system would endure, and whether speculation, 
 with neither industry nor economy to aid it, would exalt us 
 as a people. I then supposed, and still suppose, as Shakes¬ 
 peare says, that — 
 
 “ He’s a bad surgeon, who for pity spares 
 The part infected, till the gangrene spreads, 
 And all the body perishes.’’ 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 The Lyceum then was held in a dilapidated building on 
 Clark street, between Ogden’s Building and the Sherman 
 House alley, used as a church; a building which led a 
 stranger, as we are told, when passing through Chicago, to 
 remark, “That he had frequently heard of God’s house, but 
 never saw His barn before.” Our circumstances since, 
 have somewhat changed; some sixteen, seventeen, or eigh¬ 
 teen churches, vying in splendor with houses of public wor¬ 
 ship in the Atlantic cities, now stand triumphantly before 
 us as mementos of piety and the arts, nowhere in towns of 
 equal magnitude scarcely equalled, certainly in none ex¬ 
 celled. 
 
 We are permitted also to hold our meetings in a Court 
 House, erected on public credit, and to our shame be it 
 spoken, wherein the prospect of its redemption is distant 
 and uncertain. 
 
 On the 16th of June, 1831, twenty-four lots in the City 
 of Chicago, given by the United States, among other lands, 
 to the State of Illinois, for the use of the Illinois and Mich- 
 Canal, were granted by letters patent, bearing date on that 
 day, and executed by the Governor, to the County of Cook, 
 “to aid said County in the erection of public buildings, 
 and to the use and for the purposes before mentioned.” I 
 quote from the deed of trust, which is on record here. The 
 lots in question are among the most valuable in Chicago; 
 six of them are upon Lake street, and five upon Water 
 street. Of the twenty-four lots thus patented, sixteen have 
 been sold, worth at the present time $100,000, not for the 
 purpose of erecting public buildings, but to pay current 
 expenses. The remaining eight are yet unsold, and consti¬ 
 tute what is called the Public Square, the block on which 
 we now are assembled. Whether the State erred or not, in 
 making the grant, I will not pause to enquire. The County 
 of Cook being the grantor, and interested in the trust, it 
 behooves us not to scrutinize the act too closely. Inasmuch, 
 however, as it has been proposed to sell the public square, 
 not for the purpose of erecting public buildings and execut¬ 
 ing thus the trust, but for the purpose of paying the County 
 debt, prodigally contracted, a few remarks upon the subject 
 seem now appropriate. 
 
 It is needless here to say that such an act would be an 
 act of double treachery, because it is to all apparent, though 
 men often “ love the treason who despise the traitor.” A 
 
6 
 
 TIIK PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 deed like this would not, I apprehend, be sanctioned or 
 approved. Reserved for public use, and embellished as it 
 ought to be, with trees and shrubbery, it will be an orna¬ 
 ment to our City, and generations now unborn will yet arise 
 and bless us for having spared it. 
 
 But to resume the subject from which I have thus di¬ 
 gressed. In 1842, I was again requested to address this 
 Lyceum, I chose on that occasion for my theme again the 
 subject for which I had been abused, the (then) present and 
 future prospects of Chicago, and promised in my discourse 
 to resume the subject five years thereafter. That time has 
 not arrived, I am, however, requested to anticipate a little, 
 and redeem a promise which has a year to run. Expecting, 
 as I do, a discount on the debt for paying in advance. I 
 undertake the task with pleasure, and will endeavor to dis¬ 
 charge its duties without fear, favor, or affection, as each 
 Grand Juror swears. 
 
 In 1842, Chicago was exceedingly depressed. Never 
 perhaps more so. Our public credit was then exhausted, 
 and labor on our public works had nearly or wholly ceased. 
 The opinions I had expressed in 1837 were then repeated, 
 and however strange it may appear, without offence. In 
 1842, when everyone desponded, I took occasion to re¬ 
 mark as follows: 
 
 “Canal or no Canal, Chicago will advance. Her pro¬ 
 gress will be onward, and nothing, save some great calamity, 
 can arrest her course, or the consumate folly, depravity, or 
 imprudence of her people.” Again, “You have been told 
 that Chicago depends for her prosperity on the Canal. 
 While I admit the Canal’s importance, and look forward 
 with the utmost confidence to its completion, I deny all 
 such dependence. So long as yonder inland seas bear on 
 their surface the wealth of every clime—so long as yonder 
 fertile prairies bloom with verdure, and ‘the cattle upon 
 the thousand hills’ shall graze their herbage, and so long as 
 yonder interminable fields shall wave with their golden har¬ 
 vest, an effort to blot Chicago from existence, or to depress 
 her rising consequence, would be like an attempt to quench 
 the stars.” 
 
 Having on that occasion prophesied a little, permit me, 
 gentlemen, on this to prophesy a little more. There are 
 persons now living (though not present) in Chicago who 
 will see 5,000,000 of people in Illinois, and 200,000 in this 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 7 
 
 '■City,* a larger number than the Metropolis of England, in 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, contained. This to some may 
 problematically appear. It is, however, not only possible 
 but probable, and I will tell you why. The State of Illinois 
 contains 56,158 square miles of more fertile soil than any 
 where exists. It is larger than New York, Ohio, or Pennsyl¬ 
 vania. It contains more arable land than all New England, 
 and more than England and Wales together. It is larger 
 than Portugal and Denmark, and has more acres than Hol¬ 
 land, Belgium, and Switzerland united. Twelve such States 
 as Connecticut could be carved out of it and a fraction still 
 be left. Were it as densely settled as Massachusetts is, it 
 would contain that number now. Is it then, I ask, improb¬ 
 able that Illinois “in three score years and ten,” will be as 
 densely settled as Massachusetts is at present, and should 
 the State contain 5,000,000, is 200,000 for Chicago an over¬ 
 estimate? 
 
 In order, however, to insure her growth and her pros¬ 
 perity permanently secure, some effort will be necessary. 
 Man is born to toil. Industry is essential to health and 
 happiness, also to moral and intellectual improvement. 
 Labor is a blessing only in disguise. 
 
 Among the means essential to our prosperity, good roads 
 from here in all directions are pre-eminent. Not plank- 
 roads existing on paper only, or on the pages of the revised 
 ■Statutes of Illinois, like that from this City to Rockford, 
 
 * The writer was present when this Lecture was delivered at the “Old 
 ■Court House,” being one long, oblong apartment, capable of seating 
 about 200 persons. And when the extravagant perdiction was made 
 “ that persons -were now living (though not present) in Chicago who will 
 see 200.000 people in this City!” An uproarious laugh of incredulity 
 convulsed the entire audience. And yet, the Orator so far doubted his 
 own statement that he could not venture to say, that the persons then 
 diving, who would see this City contain 200,000 people, were in Chicago 
 or in his hearing. 
 
 But time, has not only verified his statement, that the persons were 
 then living who shozild see this; but further, and far beyond his exceed¬ 
 ingly, what seemed extravagant prediction, there were then listening to 
 his own lecture, in that room, at least twenty or thirty persons, who, liv¬ 
 ing in Chicago then, have lived to see it contain over 400,000, or double 
 the number of people estimated, and that too, before the lapse of 30 
 years. 
 
8 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 about which much has been said and little done. Nor 
 railroads, such as were made a few nights since, at a 
 meeting here, which it is feared will sleep the sleep of 
 death; but plank-roads, railroads, and good common roads, 
 upon the earth’s broad surface, which common people 
 delight to travel. 
 
 It is, therefore, gentlemen, to be regretted deeply, so I 
 think, that our Legislature at its last session should have 
 repealed the law, requiring labor during the last year to be 
 performed on public roads, as also the law, authorizing the 
 imposition of a small tax for their improvement. This fact 
 is not generally known. It is nevertheless so. 
 
 In 1841, a law was passed, authorizing the County Com¬ 
 missioners’ Court, to require from one to five day’s labor 
 from each able-bodied man, between 21 and 50, in Illinois, 
 to be laid out on the public highways. 
 
 In 1843, a law was passed imposing a small tax for their 
 improvement. 
 
 On the 28th of February, 1845, these laws were both 
 unfortunately repealed. Another was substituted in their 
 stead, but so imperfect in its provisions, that it became 
 entirely useless. It gave no authority to collect a tax or 
 penalty. 
 
 The general road act, passed March 3, 1845, made no 
 provision for that year. Of course, the State of Illinois,, 
 during the whole of 1845, was without a road act. 
 
 Fortunately, however, it was of but little inconvenience. 
 The laws of Illinois, like some of the fixed stars whose light, 
 it is said, has not yet reached us, and like others, although 
 extinguished some time since, continued yet to shine on, sa- 
 exceedingly tardy in their progress that their passage and 
 their repeal is not essential in every instance till months, and 
 sometimes years, we are told, thereafter. Besides, the peo¬ 
 ple of this State are “a law-abiding people.” The repeal,, 
 then, of a salutary statute, had it been known, would not 
 have prevented labor from being so essential to our pros¬ 
 perity. 
 
 When the Parthenon, or temple of Minerva, at Athens,, 
 was completed, the oxen, which for years had been accus¬ 
 tomed to draw stone from the quarry to the Acropolis, were 
 discharged from further service, and, as a mark of special 
 favor, thenceforth permitted to graze on the public com¬ 
 mons. Sometime thereafter a celebration took place in the 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 9 
 
 city, and a procession was formed from thence or the lower 
 town to the Acropolis. — In that procession, a large number 
 of oxen in their yokes were introduced, to fill the pageant. 
 The oxen before discharged perceiving others about to per¬ 
 form a task which had (as they supposed) for years de¬ 
 volved on them, took their position without drivers in the 
 line, and performed the route as regularly as before. It is 
 just so with the people of Illinois. Accustomed to “mend 
 their ways,” without a legal requisition for that purpose,, 
 they have hitherto, and it is hoped will continue thus to do, 
 “law or no law.” 
 
 A writer (an enthusiast of course), some years ago, in¬ 
 speaking of rivers and their use, observed, they were de¬ 
 signed to feed canals—and Talleyrand, Napoleon’s prime 
 minister, for many years, is represented, though perhaps 
 untruly, to have said that “ language was invented to con¬ 
 ceal our thoughts.” Northern Illinois, by our Creator, was 
 designed for no fictitious purpose. It is adapted in a pecu¬ 
 liar manner for either railroads, plank-roads, common roads, 
 or canals; and nothing but an effort in behalf of her people 
 is required to complete them altogether. Of the Canal it is 
 useless now to speak. A promise, a mere promise by our 
 Legislature, (accompanied by a grant which renders its 
 violation impossible) to withhold their sacrilegious hands 
 from its remaining funds, has not only its completion per¬ 
 fectly secured, but the payment in half a century or so of all 
 the debt hitherto incurred for its construction, and, in part, 
 the redemption of our country’s honor. Two years will 
 witness its completion, and the wealth of other realms in 
 triumph floating on its surface. 
 
 The question having frequently been asked, whether the 
 completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal will benefit 
 Chicago or no. Allow me, gentlemen, here to say, it will, 
 in a thousand different ways. Time will not permit me now 
 to illustrate this position. I hope, however, the question 
 will, sometime during the season, be debated here, and then- 
 each one will have an opportunity to be heard. 
 
 There is another subject, gentlemen, which, at the pre¬ 
 sent time, bears heavily upon us. I now allude to a rail¬ 
 road from Chicago to the Mississippi. It is not my inten¬ 
 tion here to speak of Whitney’s road, because his views 
 upon the subject are, I think, erroneous, and his plans 
 wholly impracticable. A railroad, hov'ever, from the Atlan- 
 
10 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 tic cities to the Mississippi, and westward thence,* is just as 
 sure of its completion in our day and generation as the 
 sparks are to fly upward. That road must, of course, pass 
 around the southern extremity of Lake Michigan; and, un¬ 
 less we are wise, it may perhaps go further south, and 
 escape Chicago altogether. If a railroad from here to 
 Galena, or to the Mississippi, was now completed, or in 
 progress, is it not more than probable that such road would 
 be a connecting link between the East and the “ Far West?” 
 The progress of empire, since the morning stars first sang 
 together, has been westward. The Euphrates’ banks re¬ 
 ceived from the Almighty Earth’s first tenants. Greece 
 . shortly to power and fame succeeded. Rome afterwards 
 supplanted Greece in her career, and Western Europe, on 
 her ruins, thereafter rose to empire — 
 
 “ Rome heard the Gothic trumpets’ blast. 
 
 The march of hosts as Alaric past.” 
 
 England, the land of scholars and the men of arms, is 
 rotten ere she is ripe— 
 
 “A Queen upon a throne of Gold, 
 
 A Parliament of drones; 
 
 A Nation’s voice that’s bought and sold, 
 
 While every cottage groans.” 
 
 Our country, gentlemen, is destined shortly to become 
 
 * It is a singular verification of this Orator’s statements, that in this 
 very year 1846, the Whitney project, for a Great Pacific Rail¬ 
 road from the Mississippi, was proposed to Congress by a Memorial. 
 This was referred to the Committee on Public Lands, of which Judge 
 Breese, of the Supreme Court of this State, was then Chairman. That 
 HE made a Report thereon, which was published. This Report favors 
 the construction of the Road, though not on the Whitney project. 
 The Report is remarkable for the accuracy of detail— knowledge— it 
 manifests, in tracing out the lines upon which it has been built through 
 the great South Pass of the Mountains; and in suggesting the practical 
 means which were adopted long afterwards, in 1863 ; when the gigantic 
 nature of the undertaking seemed feasible to Congress: Though, at the 
 time, the Report was made, all its facts and details, as well as the 
 enterprise itself, were treated with derision and ridicule, by as great an 
 authority in the U. S. Senate of those days as the late “Thomas H. 
 Benton, of Missouri.” And yet, while Breese wears no garland, is 
 honored by no memorial —a statue , in marble, of Benton as author of 
 the Road to the Pacific—honors his memory in the St. Louis Mer¬ 
 chants’ Exchange. 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 11 
 
 the seat of wealth, the source of power, the home of learn¬ 
 ing, and we hope the abode of virtue. And Chicago is 
 destined also to much honor. Her position is commanding 
 and her progress sure. I saw, in an English paper, a short 
 time since, New York, Chicago, and New Orleans put down 
 as three of the most prominent points in our Republic.— 
 The Rev. Sidney Smith, now deceased, prebend of St. 
 Paul’s, the projector, with Lord Brougham and others, of 
 the Edinburgh Review , better known in this country for his 
 remarks in relation to some Pennsylvania bonds, of which 
 he had unfortunately became the owner, in a letter dated 
 at London, on the 28th of August, 1845, directed to a gen¬ 
 tleman in this city, says: “The spot from which I write 
 (London) was considered by the Romans as the end of the 
 world—the spot from which you write (Chicago), remote as 
 it seems, may become hereafter the centre of civilization.” 
 And why, I would ask, gentlemen, may it not be so? It is 
 but a short time since, and within the recollection of many 
 of us now present, when the population of those States was 
 mostly on the other side of the Alleganies. AVhere is it 
 now? A majority of the whole is west thereof, and that 
 majority rapidly increasing. In order, however, that we 
 may fulfil the destiny that awaits us here, much is to be 
 done. Industry and economy are not only the parents of 
 every virtue, but the cause of a nation’s, as well as of an 
 individual’s, prosperity. 
 
 The City of Chicago, since her incorporation, the County 
 of Cook, since known as such, and the State of Illinois, 
 since her admission into the Union, have erred exceedingly 
 in their financial operations. I hazard nothing, I believe, 
 in saying, that one-half of the moneys raised by taxation, 
 by each, and borrowed, for which we are now indebted, had 
 it been juduciously expended, would have effected more 
 than the whole has done under our present system. Of 
 this, gentleman, I speak with confidence—and in some 
 cases with knowledge too. In others, I speak from facts, 
 which cannot err. 
 
 The exposition of fraud and error—of wrong and outrage, 
 and the suggestion of improvements to correct those errors, 
 and remedy those wrongs and outrages, is at times an un¬ 
 gracious task, and not unfrequently with danger is attended. 
 
 When the great Earl of Chatham, “'mid England’s peers, 
 arose and said he would not sit quiet when his liberty was 
 
12 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 invaded, nor look in silence on public robbery,” it was' 
 thought by many a bold speech — and the event the asser¬ 
 tion justified. Relying upon his own resources, the petty 
 knaves, the acknowledged fools, and the conceded villains 
 throughout the realm, were from his counsels totally ex¬ 
 cluded. They, of course, combined against him, and, by 
 the aid of England’s aristocracy, more corrupt if possible 
 still, ousted the patriot and statesman from place and 
 power. 'Posterity, however, reversed afterward their judg¬ 
 ment, and did him full and ample justice. 
 
 “The eagle flies alone, the geese in flocks; 
 
 Sheep herd together, and wolves and jackals 
 In packs their prey pursue.” 
 
 Time would fail me were I on this occasion to investigate 
 the origin, and trace the progress of our enormous debt,* 
 
 * We have looked up the records for this “enormous debt,” of which 
 the eloquent orator is speaking, and find that the debt of Chicago was 
 
 In 1838, - - $ 9 , 996-54 I" 1842, - - $16,337.01 
 
 " J839, - - 7.182.25 1843, - * 12,655.40 
 
 11 1840, - - 6,559.63 11 1846, not over 15,000.00 
 
 „ 1841, - - 12,387.67 
 
 The State debt of that time, to which he refers in the text, was 
 about $20,000,000; two millions of this had been borrowed abroad to 
 complete the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The State failed to pay 
 her interest on the debt in 1838-9, and the work on the Canal ceased; 
 contractors failed; and the construction was for the time abandoned, it 
 u'as not again resumed until the year 1845. I’ 1 March of that year, an 
 
 Act was passed, providing' that if the holders of Canal bonds would 
 advance a sum sufficient to complete the Canal, the State would con¬ 
 vey to trustees, for their security and the repayment of all moneys 
 advanced by them, all the Canal lands remaining unsold, which Con¬ 
 gress had donated to aid the State, in the completion of the improve¬ 
 ment : the Canal itself, so far as it had been constructed—and, all tolls 
 to be received after its completion , until the whole amount of all moneys 
 borrowed, known as the Canal debt, with interest, should be paid to 
 the holders of Canal bonds. 
 
 Under this Act, the property v'as conveyed to Trustees — two on the 
 part of the bond-holders, and one State Trustee, by whom the Canal 
 lands were sold. The Canal was finished in 1847, and opened to busi¬ 
 ness in 1848; and the whole debt has been paid from the moneys 
 received from sales of land and tolls, and the Canal has become a 
 source of revenue to the State as well as its property. As regards the 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 13 
 
 which, like an incubus, hangs heavily upon us, or show how 
 and for what purpose a million and a half or more of our 
 bonds are now, like Milton’s angels, floating upon the vast 
 abyss, without a parent, a patron, or a friend, for which the 
 State has yet received no compensation, and for which 
 none, I believe, is expected. Our whole financial system 
 seems to me, gentlemen, like 
 
 “The application 
 
 Of homoeopathic medicines to 
 
 Arrest the earthquake and to quench volcanoes.” 
 
 The time, however, it is hoped, will come when some 
 one will be to Illinois her guardian angel—who, as a dis¬ 
 tinguished senator and statesman (Col. Young, of New York) 
 observes, “ will confound and paralyze the congregated 
 energies of corruption, and rescue from the lowest depths 
 of degradation the lost credit of the State; who will, from 
 under the huge mass of documentary rubbish, disinter the 
 enormous skull, the disjointed vertebrae, and scattered 
 bones of the mammoth debt that has been accumulated 
 by millions, ■and bonds therefor poured out (sometimes 
 without consideration) like water, till the drunkenness of 
 financial debauchery has eventuated in delirium tremens — 
 some one who will collate, describe, systematize, and ar¬ 
 range the repulsive fragments of this fiscal anatomy, so that 
 its frightful skeleton may be seen at one view, and held up 
 in all its enormities to the public gaze, as a memento of 
 the past and a warning to the future.” 
 
 I have heard it frequently stated, and in Chicago too, by 
 men of wealth and standing, from whom much better things 
 are, or ought to have been, expected, that we must not 
 scrutinize these things too closely, for peradventure friends 
 may suffer. Gracious and eternal God ! why are thy bolts 
 withheld when doctrines such as these, without excuse and 
 without apology, escape from polluted lips?—Such doc¬ 
 trines, however, (thanks to heaven!) meet with countenance 
 from none but knaves. They are not the principles of pure 
 democracy, and I hope not of whiggery. Let no such man 
 be trusted. He is an enemy to his country, and a traitor 
 to his trust—a nuisance to his party and an outlaw from his 
 God. No honor, surely, can await him here. Let him 
 
 City, in the years 1840 and 1841, Mr. Thomas Hoyne, who was then 
 the City Clerk, says: that he kept and revised all the Tax rolls of those 
 two years; and the whole amount, real estate tax or revenue, in 184.1, 
 -was $7000 !! about $Sooo or $9000 in 1S42. 
 
THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 H 
 
 then go to where he belongs, where his talents will be duly- 
 appreciated, and feed for hire the half-starved swine that , 
 prowl about hell’s dormitory, or the backdoor of mammon’s 
 cellar kitchen. 
 
 “Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
 Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course,” 
 
 Since the Almighty, by a deed of trust, gave Adam and his 
 posterity the globe we inherit, and the appurtenances there¬ 
 unto belonging — including every herb, and every tree — save 
 one, and every fowl, and every fish, and every beast, and 
 every living thing that moveth on the earth. For what 
 purpose? That he might replenish it, and subdue it — that 
 he might, as in the case of Eden, “dress it and keep it.” 
 How, gentlemen, I ask, have we discharged that trust? An 
 answer to this inquiry can hardly be expected in one dis¬ 
 course. Our business, therefore, is at present with that 
 portion of Adam’s posterity which has taken up its resi¬ 
 dence in Chicago and its vicinity. 
 
 The red man of the tvoods, who preceded us in posses¬ 
 sion here, violated, it seems, his trust, or rather neglected 
 it, and when the bugle notes of civilization sounded in his 
 ears, he fled far away. After a possession (as presumed) 
 of several centuries, he left nothing but the names of lakes 
 and rivers—of mountains and of plains, to mark the spot 
 o’er which he wandered. I think, therefore, of savage man 
 but little — and of the white man, who is a savage, less. It 
 is mind alone that “makes the man, the want of it the”— 
 animal. 
 
 That portion of Adam’s posterity residing here is now 
 composed of matter various and discordant. A writer, of 
 some eminence, once, as we are told, divided mankind into 
 two general divisions — those who are in the penitentiary 
 and those who are out. This division is too unequal for 
 any use. Were perfect justice done on earth, they might 
 perhaps be more equal. But, as it is, other divisions must 
 be adopted. I have, therefore, thought of another equally 
 absurd, and, as some pretend, equally unequal—those who 
 are are, and those who are not, their own worst enemies. 
 
 The last, to-wit: those who are not their own worst ene¬ 
 mies, I need not speak of. Of them, Christianity has care 
 -—a name how glorious—its founder in rags—a mountain, 
 as Whitfield said, for his pulpit, and the whole arch of hea¬ 
 ven for his sounding-board. Its apostles uneducated fisher- 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 15 
 
 men—with poverty for its throne—a staff for its sceptre—a 
 crown of thorns for its diadem, it went forth conquering and 
 to conquer. Thrones and dominions, principalities and 
 powers fell before it, and Paganism, at its approach, dis¬ 
 solved as “ flax at the touch of fire.” It reached at length 
 Chicago, and sixteen, or seventeen, or eighteen churches 
 mark its triumph. 
 
 “ Who is this that comes from Eden? 
 
 ’Tis the Saviour, now victorious, 
 
 Traveling westward in his might; 
 
 ’Tis the Saviour, O how glorious 
 To his people in their sight. 
 
 Satan conquered, and the grave, 
 
 Jesus now is strong to save.” 
 
 Those who are their own worst enemies are like the poly¬ 
 pus :—divide it and it becomes two polipi—divide it again, 
 and yet again, the same result succeeds. Hence the divi¬ 
 sion of mankind into moral, political, and religious parties. 
 Religious parties—that is, pure religious parties, it is true, 
 are anomalies. We mean by them such only as are religious 
 by profession merely—those, as Pollock says: 
 
 “Who put a sixpence in the urn 
 Of charity, and take a shilling out 
 To keep it sounding.” 
 
 To treat of each would far exceed the time and space 
 allotted me. I therefore must be brief. 
 
 Public opinion, we are told, is not like the maiden wooed, 
 but like the widow won. It is also like the nettle—touch 
 it lightly and the finger bleeds ; grasp it firmly with a giant’s 
 grasp, and it to the pressure yields, and in the hand “harm¬ 
 less as dreams of babes become.” The politician’s temple 
 stands, we are informed, upon base built on sand, in the 
 centre of a wide extended prairie, accessible only to eagles 
 and to reptiles. While the former attain its summit by the 
 boldness of their flight, the latter reach the same object by 
 tortuous paths, themselves with slime all covered over, and 
 they in their turn covering those who aid them to ascend. 
 
 “Unblest by virtue, government a league 
 Becomes—a circling junto of the great, 
 
 To rob by law.” 
 
 But, gentlemen, of this enough. I may hereafter resume 
 the subject. The field is ample, and the laborers few. Its 
 portals, however, are so guarded that no one has dared, as 
 yet, to enter it. It is time for some one to begin. A vic¬ 
 tory would be certain. 
 
i6 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 When Suwarrow commanded a Russian army of some 
 20,000, upon the Turkish border, he was told that an over¬ 
 whelming force was gathering to attack him. Without 
 waiting for its concentration, he issued an order, as follows: 
 
 “ I understand there are but 50,000 Turks opposed to 
 us, and 50,000 more within a day’s march. It were better 
 were they all here, so that they might all be beaten on the 
 same day, but as it is othenvise, we may as well begin with 
 these.” 
 
 An attack was made next morning, and the 50,000 Turks 
 cut to pieces; the other 50,000 arrived in the evening, and 
 were cut to pieces also. 
 
 Northern Illinois has never been so prosperous as now. 
 Industry never so abundant; and economy (except adver¬ 
 sity compelling) so prevalent before. This prosperity, how¬ 
 ever, is owing not to speculation, nor legislation, but to the 
 might, as Cowper says, “ that slumbers in the peasant’s 
 arms.” The efforts, the united efforts of a whole people 
 judiciously directed. 
 
 I may, and probably shall be, charged “with using up all 
 the big I's in this discourse, and leaving, therefore, none for 
 you.” The allusion some may, and some may not, under¬ 
 stand. Permit me then to explain: 
 
 Some years ago, Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, usually 
 called “the Old Ranger,” became a candidate for governor 
 in this State. Gov. Edwards, who had been elected some¬ 
 time before, became also a candidate, at the same time, for 
 re-election. Reynolds, it is said, was illiterate; Edwards, 
 “a gentleman and a scholar.” The former, in a letter, 
 speaking of himself, used, we are told, a small i instead of 
 of a large I. This being public, became a subject of no 
 little merriment to his opponent, and was, unfortunately, 
 alluded to in a stump speech, by Gov. Edwards. The old 
 Ranger, however, in his reply, observed that his opponent 
 had used up all the big I’s, and left none for him; he had 
 therefore used the small / from pure necessity. It needs 
 no prophet’s ken to tell who gained the palm. 
 
 It is not, however, true that all the big I’s are yet ab¬ 
 sorbed. Enough, I apprehend, remain for all. You will, 
 therefore, 1 hope and trust, come forward this evening, and 
 take the “ Sheridan Oath.” 
 
 This allusion may to some be as inexplicable as that 
 already made to the “Old Ranger.” Allow me, then, to 
 
PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 1 7 
 
 -explain this also. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who after¬ 
 wards became one of the most finished orators in Britain, 
 in some of his first attempts was unsuccessful. On “break¬ 
 ing down” the third or fourth time, and being rallied by his 
 boon companions, he tartly replied: “I know it is in me, 
 and, by God, it shall come out.” 
 
 Few know their capacity for public speaking, until the 
 attempt is made and frequently repeated. The opportunity 
 here presented is a good one. The whole world (for sub¬ 
 jects) is before us, our room convenient, our audience re¬ 
 spectable, and those who neglect it must, of course, be 
 exceedingly reprehensible. 
 
 A few words, gentlemen, on the philosophy of human 
 life, and I will close. 
 
 Charles Tames Fox, the celebrated English orator and 
 statesman, in speaking of this world, observes: 
 
 “Tis a very good world that we live in, 
 
 To lend, to spend, or to give in; 
 
 But to beg, to borrow, or get a man's own, 
 
 'Tis the very worst world that ever was known.” 
 
 I do not, gentlemen, subscribe to all this. The above 
 must, I think, have been written by Fox in his desponding 
 moments. My sentiments upon this subject are better ex¬ 
 pressed in the following lines, which have just been handed 
 me to read on this occasion; to the views therein expressed, 
 I subscribe and recommend them to you for deliberate con¬ 
 sideration. They are entitled “ The World as it Is.” 
 
 This world is not so bad a world 
 As some would like to make it; 
 Though whether good, or whether bad. 
 Depends on how we take it. 
 
 For if we scold and fret all day, 
 
 From dewey morn till even, 
 
 This world will ne’er afford to man 
 A foretaste here of heaven. 
 
 This word is quite a pleasant world, 
 In rain or pleasant weather. 
 
 If people would but learn to live 
 In harmony together: 
 
 Nor cease to burst the kindling bond 
 By love and peace cemented, 
 
 And learn that best of lessons yet, 
 To always be contented. 
 
 This world in truth’s as good a world 
 As e’er was known to any, 
 
 Who have not seen another yet, 
 
 And these are very many. 
 
 And if the men, and women too, 
 Have plenty of employment, 
 
 Those surely must be hard to please 
 Who cannot find enjoyment. 
 
 Then were the world a pleasant world, 
 And pleasant folks were in it, 
 
 The day would pass most pleasantly, 
 To those who thus began it. 
 
 To all the nameless grievances, 
 Brought on by borrowed troubles. 
 Would prove, as certainly they are, 
 
 A mass of empty bubbles ! 
 
 Dr. Paley, a celebrated divine, the author of “ Moral 
 Philosophy,” “Natural Theology,” and several other works 
 of the highest reputation, used to say, that “A man must 
 play the fool about one-half of his time in order to avoid 
 being a fool for the residue.” 
 
 The celebrated Robert Hall, whose sermons many of you 
 
 2 
 
iS 
 
 PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CHICAGO. 
 
 have doubtless read and, if so, admired, being once repri¬ 
 manded by a dignified though simple clergyman, for his 
 levity of manner out of the pulpit, replied, “There, brother,, 
 you and I differ ; you talk nonsense in the pulpit and I out 
 of it.” 
 
 “Gravity,” says a distinguished French author, “is a 
 mysterious invention or contrivance of the body to conceal 
 defects in the brain.” 
 
 It is hardly worth our while then to affect gravity or dig¬ 
 nity in cases where it is not required, and where an attempt 
 to do so would make us only ridiculous. On proper occa¬ 
 sions, I have no doubt both will be regarded by every 
 member of this Lyceum, not only here but elsewhere, and 
 “dignity of soul” always. 
 
 I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the patience you 
 have manifested on this occasion, and promise never more 
 to offend in like manner, so long. 
 
 I have now, as Cowper observes, 
 
 “ Roved for fruit, 
 
 Roved far and gathered much: Some harsh ’tis true, 
 
 Plucked from the thorns and briars of reproof. 
 
 But wholesome, well digested.” 
 
 And can I think with Scott, surely say, that 
 
 “To his promise just, 
 
 Vich-Alpine hath discharged his trust. 
 
 Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward. 
 
 Far past Clan-Alpine’s outmost guard.” 
 
 I propose now, gentlemen, to leave you at Coilantogle 
 ford. 
 
 “And thou must keep thee with thy sword.” 
 
 Let me say to you, on this occasion, as Campbell does 
 on another: 
 
 “Wave Munich, all your banners wave. 
 
 And charge with all your chivalry,” 
 
 And should you in the contest fall, remember with old 
 Homer; 
 
 “ Such honors Ilion to her hero paid, 
 
 And peaceful slept the mighty Hector’s shade.” 
 
 But, gentlemen, with proper efforts you will not fail. It 
 is impossible, wholly impossible. Allow me then to close 
 in one of Scott’s beautiful strains, which describes your 
 situation, condition, and duty, as well as mine: 
 
 “‘Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!’ 
 
 Were the last words of Marmion.” 
 
Rise and Progress of Chicago, 
 
 The moon shines dimly just after the sun has set. To 
 give reminiscences of the early history of Chicago in a 
 form that would be likely to interest you, particularly after 
 having listened to the lofty aspirations and eloquent dis- 
 coursings of a Wentworth, Bross, Balestier, and others who 
 have favored us upon this subject with gems from the 
 well-filled storehouse of their polished and cultivated in¬ 
 tellects, is a task that I might well shrink from, and be a 
 silent admirer of the rich developments of these faithful 
 biographers, rather than attempt any elaborate description 
 of its early progress myself; but, however much may have 
 been said, there is still room for the further unfolding of 
 its primitive doings and wonderful strides to popularity 
 and greatness. 
 
 It is not our purpose to trace the present popularity and 
 important advancement of Chicago, from the early explorers 
 of the great North-west, down through past ages, to the 
 probable discovery of a point on Lake Michigan, that was 
 destined to be, in the distant future, the Metropolis of the 
 Universe, that, to our mind, would be too chimerical, and 
 fraught with too much uncertainty to command respectful 
 consideration; but, as near as memory will permit, to “hold 
 the mirror up to nature,” and relate some of the more promi¬ 
 nent features of its progress within the memory of its “old¬ 
 est inhabitants” now resident among us, many of whom 
 deserve honorable mention; we might also name those who 
 have done much toward enhancing the growth, importance, 
 and prosperity of Chicago; but where all have done so well 
 it would be invidious to particularize, we will, therefore, 
 content ourself by at once giving our personal experience 
 of the early rise and growth of the City of the West. 
 
20 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 Let us, for a moment, remove the veil, and take a re¬ 
 trospect of the past forty-five years, we will then have 
 disclosed to view a barren waste, the abode of the timid 
 fawn, the deer, the wolf, and tawny Indian, whose bark 
 alone skimmed along these majestic lakes, claiming the 
 ownership of their pure and limpid waters. Now mark 
 the change! These lofty spires that rise to their graceful 
 and giddy heights; the busy mill and spacious warehouse; 
 the stately mansion and lowly cot, around whose slender 
 portals the woodbine entwines its caressing tendrils. We 
 might extend the view, and admire the dottings of civili¬ 
 zation and culture in the innumerable cottages and pre¬ 
 tentious farm-houses that nestle among the tall grass and 
 fringe the borders of our rivers and woodlands, but our 
 purpose just now is a review of the early history and 
 doings of Chicago. 
 
 When we first landed on these shores, our impression 
 was that it might be a place of some importance, were it 
 not so low, and I ventured to record my hastily-conceived 
 views upon the register of the hotel where we remained 
 for a few hours; my entry ran something like this: “April 
 20, 1832. James A. Marshall, Ogdensburgh, New York; 
 this might be a place of some importance, but the ground 
 is too low.” Two or three hours afterward, I chanced to 
 look over the quire of paper dubbed a register, and found 
 added to my remarks, “Solomon 2d.” I looked wise for 
 a moment, but felt that my talent had been over-estimated, 
 and have never since undertaken to be wiser than my 
 friend, whom, I afterward learned, honored me with that 
 illustrious appellation. I found the place too small for me 
 to hope to make anything by my profession (a physician), 
 the garrison being, supplied with one of the best in the 
 country in the person of Dr. Philip Maxwell, so we shipped 
 at once for Navarino, Green Bay, Wis., where we landed 
 in time to see three soldiers branded and drummed out 
 of camp, also to see the payment of 7000 Indians by Col. 
 Boyd. I remained at Navarino until August 5th, 1834, 
 when 1 sailed in the Schooner Nancy Dousman, Capt. 
 Saunders, for Chicago. After a very boisterous passage, 
 we arrived on the 15th of the same month, where I have 
 resided, with the exception of one year only, ever since. 
 
 To undertake the recital of all, or even many of the 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 21 
 
 prominent causes of Chicago’s rise and wonderful progress 
 within the past forty-five years, and do justice to the sub¬ 
 ject, would occupy more time than could be devoted to 
 one lecture, unless it were prolonged to an unreasonable 
 length, and thereby losing much of its intended usefulness; 
 we will, therefore, to relieve our subject from the dull 
 monotony incident to the recital of statistical forms, for 
 the time being, fancy ourselves in an artist’s studio, invit¬ 
 ing him, with canvas, paint, and brush, to create his ideal 
 of a great and marvelous city, of less than half a century’s 
 growth, drawing from the resources of his imaginative 
 genius all that could give it eclat and beauty, his subject 
 a low, uninviting marsh, a sluggish stream on one side, a 
 bold, majestic lake in front, an extended prairie behind; 
 with this unseemly background we will watch his progress 
 in filling out the picture. On the right, as you face the 
 north, is a group of one-story block houses, surrounded 
 by a high fence; the two-story buildings at the east of the 
 hollow square are the quarters of the commandant and 
 officers; that hip-roofed, square block-house, with a row of 
 small port-holes, is the look-out, where sentinels are placed 
 to watch the approach of hostile Indians, the lower part 
 used as a guard-house — that is Fort Dearborn; the river 
 meandering its way around the east side of the fort, run¬ 
 ning southward, mingling with the lake at Madison street, 
 east of which is a peninsula connecting the north and 
 south sides of the river (and was the only point, forty-three 
 years ago, of ingress and egress for vessels to and from 
 Lake Michigan, until March, 1833, when the spring freshet, 
 accompanied by a violent storm, forced a direct channel 
 to the lake, which was afterward dredged and piers run 
 out, by direction of the Government, and which now forms 
 the fine harbor for the white-winged messengers that enrich 
 our country by their precious burdens). VVe will accom¬ 
 pany our artist a little farther; at the left of the fort, and 
 running west, are a few modest structures, designed, appar¬ 
 ently, for the double purpose of stores and dwellings, ex¬ 
 tending west as far as Dearborn street (there the business 
 portion of the village, for a time, rested; south of Lake 
 and east of Dearborn streets, for three or four blocks, was 
 a corn and potato field. The principal forwarding business 
 was done on the north side of the Chicago River for several 
 
22 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 years, but the personal interest and enterprise of a few gen¬ 
 tlemen residing on the South Side, who had considerable 
 real estate unoccupied, changed the channel of business by 
 building warehouses on that side of the river, after which it 
 was transacted there; indeed, the North Side never recovered 
 its former business prestige, but contented itself by build¬ 
 ing palatial residences, and being considered the place par 
 excellence , and the home of the elite of Chicago). We next 
 observe a ferry crossing the river at Dearborn street, con¬ 
 nected by a rope attached to a windlass at each side of 
 the river, and a scow in the centre, propelled by hand 
 power, placed there for the convenience of the residents 
 of both sides of the river. This rude piece of mechanism 
 remained there until a Mr. Norton erected a draw-bridge, 
 spanning the river at the same place where the old scow 
 had done such good service for so long a time, but whose 
 occupation, like Othello’s, was now gone. It was igno- 
 miniously torn from its moorings to make room for the 
 unwieldy structure that supplanted it. From this time 
 onward the city grew rapidly, and from this time may be 
 dated the commencement of its now universal popularity. 
 We will now leave our artist to finish the picture as it 
 may best suit his own ideality. Some new beauty is now 
 developed — some wonderful advancement made in the 
 growth and importance of the painted city; the unfinished 
 streets show marks of improvement, lined with palatial 
 business structures, ponderous warehouses, elegant and 
 elaborate places of worship, halls of justice clothed in 
 Oriental magnificence, school-houses with substantial ex¬ 
 teriors are brought to view, avenues laid out and lined 
 with costly marble mansions, parks and boulevards gem 
 the environs with rare exotics and elaborately ornamental, 
 varied, and beautiful foliage, the streets are as smooth as 
 parlor floors; nothing is left undone that imaginative genius 
 could invent to make a city that would be the wonder 
 and admiration of the civilized world. The picture com¬ 
 pleted is heralded beyond the seas, sent broadcast among 
 the cities of the east, and presented to the wealthy, the 
 intellectual, and the enterprising of our own land; they 
 shrug their shoulders knowingly, acknowledging its great 
 beauty and the consummate ideality of the artist, but 
 think that he has devoted too much to the imaginative 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 23 
 
 to assume a reality among the cities of the world, turning 
 from what they supposed the visionary imaginings of a 
 fertile brain and elaborate brush to something more sub¬ 
 stantial and real. The artist invites their presence to 
 witness the last finishing touch, then with unbounded con¬ 
 fidence in himself, he traces the name Chicago. The 
 multitude exclaims, “It is no ideal, but a veritable reality, 
 and now stands the wonder of the universe.” 
 
 Thus we have presented, in a feeble way, but a bird’s- 
 eye view of the germ of our present great Metropolis; its 
 early outlook by no means calculated to encourage the 
 enterprising explorer, has been brought to view; and 
 watching with marked interest the unparalleled improve¬ 
 ment on every hand, we are awed into silence, and dare 
 not prophesy its future greatness. As the sturdy farmer 
 scans his field but lately cleared of a cumbrous undergrowth 
 of shrubs and thickets, the ground untilled, the seed un¬ 
 sown—glowing prospects of a rich harvest are least sug¬ 
 gesting, but, when with implements of agriculture and deter¬ 
 mined will, he delves and toils from morn till night, faith 
 ■spurs him on, and slowly, but surely, the planted seed, 
 the budding stalk, and waving grain, insure a harvest, and 
 recompense is nigh. So to the early settler, Chicago stood 
 desolate and alone, the undergrowth of uncivilized Indian 
 habitation lent an uninviting aspect to the eastern world, 
 and advancement, for the time being, seemed impossible; 
 but the rich soil of natural advantages was unearthed by 
 the foresight of our pioneers, the seed planted, then arose 
 in plenteous harvest, the wonderful products of a new-made 
 vineyard, until now, after a growth of forty years, the City 
 sketched upon the canvas, loses its primitive indentity. and 
 stands before the world a marvel. 
 
 This picture, however, portrays but the outward part of 
 Chicago's greatness, it is the internal workings that have 
 given it the wonderful celebrity that it now enjoys. Let us, 
 for a moment, glance at some of these causes which have led 
 to and done so much toward its advancement. First, its 
 location, being at the head of lake navigation and the only 
 prominent lake frontage that the State of Illinois has for 
 the receipt and transportation of her vast agricultural 
 and mineral resources, thereby enjoying some State pride. 
 Again, the immense lumber interests form a large share of 
 
24 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 consideration; from a beginning, within the time indicated 
 at the commencement of these remarks, of 100,000,000 
 feet, it has now increased to more than 1,500,000,000 feet 
 per annum. The cereal products, too, which here find a 
 market and outlet, have increased from 5000 bushels in 
 the year 1834 to more than 15,000,000 bushels per annum; 
 nor is this all, the pork product advancing from 500 to 
 over 1,500.000 hogs packed every year, aside from those 
 used for home consumption. In our monetary exchange, 
 how wonderful the advance, from $25,000 per week, which 
 at that time indicated marked progress, it now requires 
 more than $20,000,000 to do a week’s financial business. 
 The advancement in general business, too, is well calcu¬ 
 lated to amaze the mere casual observer, from an insignifi¬ 
 cant sum of a few thousand dollars required to transact 
 our annual business forty-three years ago, the enormous 
 sum of more than $200,000,000 is now necessary to sat¬ 
 isfy the demands of the thousands who look to Chicago 
 for their supplies. Out of the fifteen billions of dollars an¬ 
 nually required to feed and clothe the people of the United 
 States, one hundred and twenty-five millions of that sum is 
 necessary to feed and clothe the citizens of Chicago for the 
 same time. 
 
 We might go on, ad libitum, enumerating the capacious 
 and unparalleled increase in the innumerable branches of 
 industry that are adding so much to the importance, and 
 expanding the area of our city to its present ponderous 
 proportions; but enough has already been noticed to sat¬ 
 isfy, without doubt, the most sceptical of its admirers. 
 But perhaps the most wonderful rise in values has taken 
 place in real estate; property that, in 1834, sold for $200 
 per lot of 50 feet, has been sold within the past year 
 for $2000 per foot, being an advance of $99,800 from 
 the original purchase; this, however, cannot be considered 
 a fair criterion of the general advancement of real estate,, 
 nevertheless, the increase has been, upon an average, 
 since the time specified, about four hundred per cent, 
 of its original value; still, it fluctuated more or less until 
 the commencement of the Canal land sales in 1848, since 
 then, real estate has been reckoned according to prices 
 at which it sold at that time, and for a number of years 
 afterward, sales were negotiated upon Canal time, or 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 2 e 
 
 Canal terms, as it was called—that was, one-fourth cash, 
 balance in one, two, and three years, with interest at 
 six per cent, per annum, payable annually in advance. 
 The wealth of some of our millionaires may, therefore, 
 be dated from that time, as few could boast of more 
 than their thousands until the Canal sales, which placed 
 an estimated value upon real estate, furnishing a new 
 impetus to all branches of business. To the Canal sales, 
 then, of 1848 to 1853, when more than $3,000,000 worth 
 of property was sold (all of which I sold at public sale), 
 is due the credit of advancing the pecuniary interests of 
 our fellow-citizens' more than any other circumstance since 
 the foundation of the city government. Taking advantage 
 of the low prices at which Canal property sold, they pur¬ 
 chased, and having the sagacity, some of them, to hold 
 on to their purchases, they increased in value upon their 
 hands, and made them rich. The peculiar location, superior 
 agricultural and internal advantages, railroad facilities, water 
 communication, and enterprise of our citizens combined, 
 is what has given to Chicago its eminence at home and 
 abroad, and not , as some have supposed, the sagacity and 
 enterprise of a few of the more fortunate of our fellow-citi¬ 
 zens, who, for want of purchasers at the time that they de¬ 
 sired to sell, were obliged to hold on to their property, there¬ 
 by becoming wealthy, more by reason of their misfortune— 
 or rather, their good fortune—in being unable to sell. 
 Nevertheless, great credit is due them for their liberality 
 in using their wealth in the erection of elegant structures, 
 and in otherwise lending their aid in beautifying and adorn¬ 
 ing our city. 
 
 Many, nowever, who took a prominent part in the build¬ 
 ing up and advancing the growth and prosperity of our 
 City, have passed away, leaving names not recorded in the 
 activities of life, but graven indelibly upon the memories of 
 their fellow-citizens, and are justly extolled for their upright 
 lives and many virtues. Those of the pioneers who remain 
 to witness the further growth of their favorite and patron 
 city speak gently of the departed, but, with pride in their 
 name and tireless enterprise, point to the vast resources of 
 our wonderful City, and say, “these are their eulogies, it 
 needs no marble column to tell of their greatness, their 
 
2 6 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 deeds are written in the early annals of famed Chicago.” 
 Many of them did not live to witness its sudden destruc¬ 
 tion and succeeding rapid progress. But, in the dawning 
 years of our City’s eminence, was established—the energy, 
 strength, and ground work of the enterprise that bid it 
 rise. 
 
 The great and unprecedented increase of our population 
 may be, and, perhaps, is, attributable to the widespread in¬ 
 formation given of its superior advantages, particularly so 
 since the fire of 1871. 
 
 A catastrophy that will never be obliterated from the 
 memory of those who witnessed the awful spectacle, a scene 
 of grandeur and sublimity unparalleled in the history of the 
 world's conflagrations, — the accumulated wealth of many 
 years swept away in an hour; the millionnaire of yesterday, 
 to-day walks hand in hand with poverty; the prospects of 
 a competence in after years silenced forever. Thus we 
 contemplated when viewing the fire of Oct. 9, 1871. After 
 the great holocaust had given way to smouldering debris, 
 with others, we strolled among the ruins, meeting at almost 
 every step some well-known friend, whose life's earnings 
 had been sacrificed through the carelessness of irresponsi¬ 
 ble parties. One friend in particular, who had been one 
 of the most unfortunate of the wealthy men of our City. 
 I thus accosted, after offering my sympathy: “Mr. C***, 
 you must be one of the heaviest losers by the fire;” he 
 smiled pleasantly, and answerd, “I have lost heavily, it 
 is true, but I am not discouraged; in ten years, Chi¬ 
 cago will be a greater City than it ever was, and I shall do 
 my share to make it so ;” and he has kept his word. From 
 that time onward, the City was the centre of interest and 
 attraction. Many who came were deeply interested in what 
 they saw, and were conquered by the veritable facts visible 
 before them, and not only remained themselves, but advised 
 their friends to come to this eldorado of the west; the result, 
 as shown, is, that since the time stated, our population 
 has increased a thousand-fold, from 500 inhabitants forty- 
 three years ago, we have now more than 500/000, accord¬ 
 ing to estimates recently made, and still they come. Our 
 public school-houses— or rather, our school-house—then 
 contained less than 100 pupils; now, more than 40,000 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 27 
 
 children congregate and occupy seats provided for them 
 in our commodious and imposingly-built public school 
 edifices, fitting these thousands of immortal minds for use¬ 
 fulness and honor, preparing them to take part in the great 
 panorama of life. Aside from this formidable array of 
 young ideas that sip knowledge from the public fountain, 
 there are a number of private institutions, colleges, and 
 seminaries, occupied by some thousands of the children 
 whose parents prefer this manner of instruction. Thus, it 
 will be seen, that while we have been engaged, and seem¬ 
 ingly bound to the all-absorbing influence of gain, the 
 rising generation has not been forgotten, means have been 
 provided for the ample development of their mental facul¬ 
 ties, intellectual aspirations, and moral culture. All honor 
 is due to our sagacious law makers for these timely safe¬ 
 guards. May free schools, free speech, and a free press 
 continue to be the law of the land, although the latter has 
 often been abused by the injudicious management of un¬ 
 thinking and unprincipled men, nevertheless, it had better 
 be so than to interfere with its freedom. 
 
 A due and proper regard for moral and religious rights 
 is incumbent upon all good citizens; the free discussion 
 of their favorite dogmas is allowable throughout the length 
 and breadth of our land, and there let it remain—further 
 recognition is dangerous to the peace and well-being of 
 our country, as well as to our individual privileges. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that these many years of pros¬ 
 perity and wonderful advancement have been allowed to 
 pass without some intervening incidents, which, at the time, 
 were fraught with more or less amusement and enjoyment. 
 Although time has transformed the ambitious and ever- 
 restless youth into matured manhood, and some into de¬ 
 clining life, yet, in calling the roll of time backward, we 
 find recorded many laughable and ludicrous incidents. We 
 will omit several amusing anecdotes for want of time to 
 relate them; there are a few, however, which I think that 
 I shall always remember. Many of our older settlers will 
 recollect the old Presbyterian Church, located near the S.- 
 W. corner of Clark and Lake streets. We were in the habit 
 then, as now, of holding Wednesday evening prayer-meet¬ 
 ings; that most excellent man, Rev. Jeremiah Porter, had 
 left us, in his place was a dashing, eloquent young preacher, 
 
28 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 bran-new from college, but entirely unfitted to occupy the 
 position he was called to fill. After these meetings the 
 pastor would hasten from the speaker's desk and offer his 
 services, as a general thing, to one of the prettiest young 
 ladies present. Of course, he was rarely, if ever, refused. 
 Upon the particular evening in question, he approached a 
 young lady of exceeding beauty, proffering his services as 
 chaperon , which were accepted. At the same time, I had 
 the honor of escorting a near relative of the lady alluded 
 to. and for whose domicile we were all bound, the party 
 of the first part taking the lead; the night was extremely 
 dark, and, not having the advantage of street lamps and 
 gas-light, we had to feel our way along; it was just after 
 a very profuse rain, our streets — without sidewalks or 
 any such thing, — were very unpleasant thoroughfares. — 
 We had not proceeded far, when we heard a shriek from 
 the young lady, and an “Oh, dear me! Where are we 
 going?” from the reverend gentleman. Another shriek, 
 then one more, still louder, cn concert , proceeded from out 
 the more than Egyptian-darkness, when the lady at my side 
 exclaimed, in alarm, “Mr. Marshall, what is the matter?” 
 
 “Oh, nothing more,” I replied, “than that Mr. - has 
 
 led Miss - into that slough just opposite your house.” 
 
 The fact was, in crossing the street, as they supposed, the 
 night being so very dark, they walked straight into the 
 slough that extended quite across the street and nearly 
 half way down the block; into it they went, until they 
 were nearly up to their waists in mud and water. The 
 more they tried to extricate themselves, the deeper they 
 got into the mire; finally, at the suggestion of the lady 
 whom I was accompanying, I told them to stand perfectly 
 still until I could get a lantern, which I succeeded in doing 
 in a very short time, when I held the light up, so that we 
 could see them and they view themselves, you ought to 
 have seen the look that girl gave me (in the meantime 
 the lady at my side had her mouth filled with linen cam¬ 
 bric to keep from screaming right out), then, half laughing 
 and half crying, she paddled her own canoe until she 
 reached terra firma , then rushed for her home, which was 
 not more than fifty feet from them, nor had it been any 
 of the time, although they had been skirmishing in various 
 directions. Meanwhile, the clerical gentleman had drawn 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 29 
 
 himself out, covered with mud. Such a_ countenance !—it 
 was a perfect black and tan; he shook himself, bade us 
 good night, and left for his study. It may be of interest 
 to some to know that the slough was located on Clark 
 street, between Lake and South Water streets. 
 
 Many very amusing incidents occurred, which are worthy 
 of recital, but a few more must suffice. One, I remember, 
 was of a young lady crossing one of our principal streets, 
 the way seemed clear, so she tripped along very gracefully 
 until she had almost reached the opposite side, when the 
 crust, which had formed from the heat of the sun, gave 
 way, and down she began to go—down, down, down, until 
 she had gone about as far down as she could, and was 
 looking pitifully around for help from some source. A 
 gentleman near by, observing her predicament, hastened 
 to her rescue, and extricated the fair lady from her perilous 
 position. You may be sure she was not as tidy when 
 she again touched solid foundation as when she started to 
 cross the street. Thanking the gentleman for his timely 
 and polite assistance, she wended her way to the nearest 
 convenient place, and, taking a forlorn look at herself, 
 proceeded to adjust her toilet. The finale of this little 
 incident was somewhat romantic, it furnished the means 
 of culminating an acquaintance of friendship merely into 
 one of admiration and affection, the result being that, not 
 long after, the parties engaged in a matrimoninl alliance, 
 which was consummated in a remote part of the town, 
 away from the thickly settled portion of the city—on the 
 corner of Michigan avenue and Madison street. Their 
 wedding tour was a drive to Hard Scrabble and back, a 
 suburban retreat containing one log house, and situate 
 about 4^ miles from town—the site now forming the 
 outskirts of Bridgeport. The wedding cortege consisted of 
 two dilapidated carriages and one buggy, all the available 
 stylish turnouts that the city could boast of, except carts, 
 and which, by the way, were the only means of convey¬ 
 ance for the elite of the town. A buffalo robe was placed 
 in the bottom of the carts, they were backed up, received 
 their precious freight, taken to their destination, and then 
 dumped down like a load of coal. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these seeming inconveniences, there 
 was more real social enjoyment in our pioneer society than 
 
30 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS 
 
 can now be found in the elegant and costly receptions 
 given in palatial mansions of wealth and refinement; there 
 was that absence of over-restraint; the strict forms of eti¬ 
 quette were not so closely observed; there were no million- 
 naires—no foreign Counts to entertain; no Parisian airs to 
 assume as a pre-requisite to initiation into the best society; 
 invitations were not sent on highly-perfumed Paris billets 
 doux, but by oral representation, thus: “George, if you see 
 James, tell him to invite Benjamin and William, and I 
 will invite Byron and Charles, to a little sociable to-night 
 at Maria’s (now everybody knew Maria as well as Mrs. 
 Josiah Allen knew Betsy Bobbitt); you bring Andelucia, 
 and 1 will see that Agnes, Angeline, Elizabeth, and Rose 
 are there. We shall have a first-rate time. Old George 
 White will be there with his fiddle,” etc. Mind you, these 
 are no fictitious names, but veritable actors on the social 
 stage at the time, some of whom are now living, and, were 
 they present, would at once recognize the truth of what I 
 am repeating. The George White mentioned was black 
 as the raven wing of the night, and was caterer for all 
 first society people. One of the necessary requisites, how¬ 
 ever, for attending these social gatherings, was, if the party 
 was a new comer, did he belong to the first society? If 
 yea, that was all that was required of him as a passport 
 to our social circle, otherwise no intercourse was enjoyed 
 until initiated into the first. You will observe, then, that 
 certain requisites were necessary before even the nabobs 
 of the east could enjoy these primitive receptions, unless 
 properly vouched for. 
 
 An amusing incident of the olden time, although not 
 reflecting favorably upon the morals of some of the mem¬ 
 bers of our early associates, nevertheless, shows to what 
 abandon a few of our most prominent citizens would submit 
 themselves under a want of proper restraint. Two promi¬ 
 nent legal gentlemen had left their office, and, passing the 
 old Tremont House, then located on the north-west corner 
 of Lake and Dearborn streets, they heard an unusual noise 
 in the dining-room. With much difficulty they succeeded 
 in gaining admission, and found five or six gentlemen of 
 the highest respectability having, what they were pleased 
 to call, “a high old time.” One was rolling and kicking 
 up his heels on the dining table, divested of his coat and 
 
OF CHICAGO. 
 
 31 
 
 vest, and making the welkin ring with his unearthly noise; 
 another was at the lower end of the room praying; a third 
 was dancing a war dance, with two Indians, around the 
 dining table; a fourth, amusing himself by cutting up capers 
 in imitation of an old-fashioned jig, all on his own respon¬ 
 sibility; two others were lying fast asleep under the table. 
 Thus they were all employed when these gentlemen gained 
 an admittance. Finding escape by the doorway impossible, 
 they took the next best plan, and jumped out the window. 
 They were fined $5 each for their intrusion, by the parties- 
 having the “gay old time,” which they promptly paid. We 
 could give the names of all these parties, but they have 
 passed away, and out of respect to the departed, we will 
 refrain from so doing. We would say, however, that they 
 all became honored members of society, filling City, State, 
 and Federal offices of trust and responsibility with fidelity 
 to the government and honor to themselves. 
 
 In migrating to a new country, many interesting circum¬ 
 stances occur, which leave a lasting impression upon the 
 mind, notwithstanding intervening events that would be 
 calculated to occupy the popular attention. I recall just 
 now, among others, the Indian payments, which, I think, 
 occurred as late as 1835 ( a few tribes remained later, but 
 not many). Their manner of giving in the number of each 
 household, in order to receive their annuity, was in keeping 
 with their own originality. Selecting one of the more 
 prominent of their number (generally the chief) to receive 
 their payment, the “modus operand.i” was in this wise: for 
 the heads of the family, two large notches were cut at the 
 top of the stick, then smaller notches followed underneath, 
 indicating the number of children in each family. Curi¬ 
 osity led me to inquire of Col. Boyd, the Indian Agent, 
 if he was not occasionally imposed upon, or did they not 
 sometimes make mistakes. He informed me that he had' 
 never detected an instance of fraud or mistake in the count 
 during all the payments he had made. After receiving 
 their payment, which was always in silver half dollars, they 
 would at once repair to their wigwams and pass the money 
 over to their squaws for safe - keeping, who would tie it 
 up in one corner of their blankets, often to be removed 
 by some adroit thief, who would lie in wait until they went 
 to sleep, then cut it from the blanket; thus depriving the 
 
32 
 
 RISE AXI) PROGRESS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 poor, ignorant creatures of ail their worldly wealth, no one 
 interesting themselves in their behalf, or sympathizing with 
 them in their loss. 
 
 After their payment, many of them would remain several 
 days, and favor us with a display of some of their princi¬ 
 pal amusements, such as shooting pennies, with bow and 
 arrow, from a stick placed some distance from them in the 
 road. They also performed a variety of dances, some of 
 them exceedingly novel, particularly the sick dance. The 
 sick person is placed at the entrance of the wigwam; one 
 of their number takes his position just in front, with an 
 instrument resembling a gong or tambourine; the relatives 
 and friends of the invalid form a circle around the musi¬ 
 cian, all being gaily dressed and painted, each one holding 
 in his hand the skin of some animal, generally an otter or 
 mink; then, at the tap of the gong, and ihere is no mistaking 
 the tap, for it is given with the full strength of the Indian, 
 they all commence dancing around, singing, crying, and 
 making other hideous noises; at a given signal bow before 
 the patient and push out these perfumed skins toward 
 them, after the manner of shaking incense. This dance 
 continues at intervals until the sufferer either recovers or 
 dies, but they generally die, for the noise is so intolerably 
 great that it is next to impossible for them to recover. 
 Their war dances, too, are very unique, differing entirely 
 from the sick or peace dances, if possible, more noisy than 
 either; but enough. On some future occasion, I may have 
 the honor of presenting to you a more extended descrip¬ 
 tion of the social and religious doings in the earlier history 
 of our beautiful city, and enter more into details respecting 
 those who have gone to their rest, but who, while living, 
 contributed so much toward the intellectual, historical, and 
 social advancement of our present highly-refined Chicago 
 Society. 
 
CHICAGO IN 1836. 
 
 “STRANGE EARLY DAYS." 
 
 By HARRIET MARTINEAU,* 
 
 Author of “Society in America.” 
 
 We had already met with some delays; and there was no 
 -seeing the end of the present adventure. There was some 
 doubt whether we should not have done better to cross the 
 southern end of Lake Michigan, from Niles to Chicago, by 
 .a little steam-boat, the Delaware, which was to leave Niles 
 a few hours after our stage. It had been thought of at 
 Niles; but there was some uncertainty about the departure 
 of the boat; and we all anxiously desired to skirt the ex¬ 
 tremity of this great inland sea, and to see the new settle¬ 
 ments on its shores. Had we done right in incurring this 
 risk of detention? Right or wrong, here we were; and here 
 we must wait upon events. 
 
 Our sleep, amidst the luxury of cleanliness and hospital¬ 
 ity, was most refreshing. The next morning it was still 
 raining, but less vehemently. After breakfast, we ladies 
 employed ourselves in sweeping and dusting our room, and 
 making the beds; as we had given our kind hostess too 
 much trouble already. Then there was a Michigan City 
 newspaper to be read; and I sat down to write letters. 
 Before long, a wagon and four drove up to the door, the 
 driver of which cried out that if there was any getting to 
 Michigan Citv, he was our man. We equipped ourselves 
 in our warmest and thickest clothing, put on our india-rub¬ 
 ber shoes, packed ourselves and our luggage in the wagon, 
 put up our umbrellas, and wondered what was to be our 
 fate. When it had come to saying farewell, our hostess put 
 her hands on my shoulders, kissed me on each cheek, and 
 
 * Died June 27, 1876, aged 77 years, at Afnbleside, England. 
 
 n 
 
 o 
 
34 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 said she had hoped for the pleasure of our company for 
 another day. For my own part, I would willingly take her 
 at her word, if my destiny should ever carry me near the 
 great lakes again. 
 
 We jolted on for two miles and a-half through the woods, 
 admiring the scarlet lilies, and the pink and white moccasin 
 flower, which was brilliant. Then we arrived at the place 
 of the vanished bridge. Our first prospect was of being 
 paddled over, one by one, in the smallest of boats. But, 
 when the capabilities of the place were examined, it was 
 decided that we should wait in a house on the hill, while 
 the neighbors, the passengers of the mail-stage, and the 
 drivers, build a bridge. We waited patiently for nearly 
 three hours, watching the busy men going in and out, gath¬ 
 ering tidings of the freshet, and its effects, and being 
 pleased to see how affectionate the woman of the house 
 was to her husband, while she was cross to everybody else. 
 It must have been vexatious to her to have her floor made 
 wet and dirty, and all her household operations disturbed 
 by a dozen strangers whom she had never invited. She let 
 us have some dough-nuts, and gave us a gracious glance or 
 two at parting. 
 
 We learned that a gentleman who followed us from 
 Niles the preceding day, found the water nine feet deep, 
 and was near drowning his horses, in a place which we had 
 crossed without difficulty. This very morning, a bridge 
 which we had proved and passed, gave way with the stage, 
 and the horses had to be dug and rolled out of the mud, 
 when they were on the point of suffocation. Such a freshet 
 had never been known to the present inhabitants. 
 
 At half-past two, the bridge was announced complete, 
 and we re-entered our wagon, to lead the cavalcade across 
 it, slowly, anxiously, with a man at the head of each leader, 
 we entered the water, and saw it rise to the nave of the 
 wheels. Instead of jolting, as usual, we mounted and de¬ 
 scended each log individually. The mail-wagon followed, 
 with two or three horsemen. There was also a singularly 
 benevolent personage, who jumped from the other wagon,, 
 and waded through all the doubtful places, to prove them. 
 He leaped and splashed through the water, which was 
 sometimes up to his waist, as if it was the most agreeable 
 sport in the world. In one of these gullies, the forepart of 
 our wagon sank and stuck, so as to throw us forward, and 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 35 
 
 make it doubtful in what mode we should emerge from the 
 water. Then the rim of one of the wheels was found to 
 be loose; and the whole cavalcade stopped till it was 
 mended. I never could understand how wagons were 
 made in the back-country; they seemed to be elastic, from 
 the shocks and twisting they would bear without giving 
 way. To form an accurate idea of what they have to bear, 
 a traveller should sit on a seat without springs, placed 
 between the hind wheels, and thus proceed on a corduroy 
 road. The effect is less fatiguing and more amusing, of 
 riding in a wagon whose seats are on springs, while the 
 vehicle itself is not. In that case, the feet are dancing an 
 involuntary jig, all the way; while the rest of the body is in 
 a state of entire repose. 
 
 The drive was so exciting and pleasant, the rain having 
 ceased, that I was taken by surprise by our arrival at Mich¬ 
 igan City. The driver announced our approach by a series 
 of flourishes on one note of his common horn, which made 
 the most ludicrous music I ever listened to. 
 
 We were anxious to see the mighty fresh water sea. We 
 made inquiry in the piazza; and a sandy hill, close by, cov¬ 
 ered with the pea-vine, Avas pointed out to us. We ran up 
 it, and there beheld what we had come so far to see. 
 There it was, deep, green, and swelling on the horizon, and 
 whitening into a broad and heavy surf as it rolled in 
 towards the shore. Hence, too, we could make out the 
 geography of the city. The whole scene stands insulated 
 in my memory, as absolutely singular; and, at this distance 
 of time, scarcely credible. I was so well aware on the .spot 
 that it Avould be so, that I m'ade careful and copious notes 
 of Avhat I saAv: but memoranda have nothing to do Avith 
 such emotions as were caused by the sight of that enor¬ 
 mous body of tumultuous Avaters, rolling in apparently upon 
 the helpless forest, — everywhere else so majestic. 
 
 Immediately after supper avc Avent out for a Avalk, which, 
 in peculiarity, comes next to that in the Mammoth Cave; 
 if, indeed, it be second to it. The scene was like what I 
 had ahvays fancied the Noway coast, but for the wild 
 flowers, which greAv among the pines on the slope, almost 
 into the tide. I longed to spend an entire day on this 
 floAvery and shadowy margin of the inland sea. I plucked 
 handfuls of pea-vine and other trailing floAvers, which 
 seemed to run all over the ground. We found on the 
 
STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 36 
 
 sands an army, like Pharaoh’s drowned host, of disabled 
 butterflies, beetles, and flies of the richest colors and lustre, 
 driven over the lake by the storm. Charley* found a small 
 turtle alive. An elegant little schooner, “the Sea Serpent 
 of Chicago,” was stranded, and formed a beautiful object 
 as she lay dark between the sand and the surf. The sun 
 was going down. We watched the sunset, not remember¬ 
 ing that the refraction above the fresh waters would prob¬ 
 ably cause some remarkable appearance. We looked at 
 one another in amazement at what we saw. First, there 
 were three gay, inverted rainbows between the water and 
 the sun, then hidden behind a little streak of cloud. Then 
 the sun emerged from behind this only cloud, urn-shaped; 
 a glistering golden urn. Then it changed, rather suddenly, 
 to an enormous golden acorn. Then to a precise resem¬ 
 blance, except being prodigiously magnified, of Saturn with 
 his ring. This was the most beautiful apparition of all. 
 Then it was quickly narrowed and elongated till it was like 
 the shaft of a golden pillar; and thus it went down square. 
 Long after its disappearance, a lustrous, deep crimson 
 dome, seemingly solid, rested steadily on the heaving 
 waters. An inexperienced navigator might be pardoned 
 for making all sail towards it; it looked so real. 
 
 On our road to Chicago, the next day,—a road winding 
 in and out among the sand-hills, we were called to alight, 
 and run up a bank to see a wreck. It was the wreck of 
 the Delaware;—the steamer in which it had been a ques¬ 
 tion whether we should not proceed from N iles to Chicago. 
 She had a singular twist in her middle, where she was 
 nearly broken in two. Her passengers stood up to the 
 neck in water, for twenty-four hours before they were taken 
 off; a worse inconvenience than any that we had suffered 
 by coming the other way. The first thing the passengers 
 from the Delaware did, when they had dried and warmed 
 themselves on shore, was to sign a letter to the captain, 
 which appeared in all the neighboring newspapers, thank¬ 
 ing him for the great comfort they had enjoyed on board 
 his vessel. It is to be presumed that they meant previously 
 to their having to stand up to their necks in water. 
 
 In the wood which borders the prairie on which Chicago 
 stands, we saw an encampment of United States’ troops. 
 Since the rising of the Creeks in Georgia, some months 
 
 * Son of Rev. Dr. Follen. 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 37 
 
 before, there had been apprehensions of an Indian war 
 along the whole frontier. It was believed that a corre¬ 
 spondence had taken place among all the tribes, from the 
 Cumaches, who were engaged to fight for the Mexicans in 
 Texas, up to the northern tribes among whom we were 
 going. It was believed that the war-belt was circulating 
 among the Winnebagoes, the warlike tribe who inhabit the 
 western shores of Lake Michigan; and the government had 
 sent troops to Chicago, to keep them in awe. It was of 
 some consequence to us to ascertain the real state of the 
 case; and we were glad to find that alarm was subsiding so 
 fast, that the troops were soon allowed to go where they 
 were more wanted. As soon as they had recovered from 
 the storm, which seemed to have incommoded everybody, 
 they broke up their encampment, and departed. 
 
 Chicago looks raw and bare, standing on the high prairie 
 above the lake shore. The houses appear all insignificant, 
 and run up in various directions, without any principle at 
 all. A friend of mine who resides there had told me that 
 we should find the inns intolerable, at the period of the 
 great land sales, which bring a concourse of speculators to 
 the place. It was even so. The very sight of them was 
 intolerable; and there was not room for our party among 
 them all. I do not know what we should have done, 
 (unless to betake ourselves to the vessels in the harbor,) if 
 our coming had not been foreknown, and most kindly pro¬ 
 vided for. We were divided between three families, who 
 had the art of removing all our scruples about intrud¬ 
 ing on perfeqt strangers. None of us will lose the lively 
 and pleasant associations with the place, which were caused 
 by the hospitalities of its inhabitants. 
 
 I never saw a busier place than Chicago was at the time 
 of our arrival. The streets were crowded with land specu¬ 
 lators, hurrying from one sale to another. A negro, dressed 
 up in scarlet, bearing a scarlet flag, and riding a white 
 horse with housings of scarlet, announced the times of sale. 
 At every street corner where he stopped, the crowed flocked 
 round him; and it seemed as if some prevalent mania in¬ 
 fected the whole people. The rage for speculation might 
 fairly be so regarded. As the gentlemen of our party 
 walked the streets, store-keepers hailed them from their 
 doors, with offers of farms, and all manner of land-lots, ad¬ 
 vising them to speculate before the price, of land rose 
 
STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 33 
 
 higher. A young lawyer, of my acquaintance there,* had 
 realized five hundred dollars per day, the five preceding 
 days, by merely making out titles to land. Another friend 
 had realized, in two years, ten times as much money as he 
 had before fixed upon as a competence for life. Of course, 
 this rapid money-making is a merely temporary evil. A 
 bursting of the bubble must come soon. The absurdity of 
 the speculation is so striking, that the wonder is that the 
 fever should have attained such a height as I witnessed. 
 The immediate occasion of the bustle which prevailed, the 
 week we were at Chicago, was the sale of lots, to the value 
 of two millions of dollars, along the course of a projected 
 canal; and of another set, immediately behind these. Per¬ 
 sons not intending to game, and not infected with mania, 
 would endeavor to form some reasonable conjecture as to 
 the ultimate value of the lots, by calculating the cost of the 
 canal, the risks from accident, from the possible competi¬ 
 tion from other places, etc., and, finally, the possible pro¬ 
 fits, under the most favorable circumstance, within so many 
 years’ purchase. Such a calculation would serve as some 
 sort of guide as to the amount of purchase-money to be 
 risked. Whereas, wild land on the banks of a canal, not 
 yet even marked out, was selling at Chicago for more than 
 rich land, well improved, in the finest part of the valley of 
 the Mohawk, on the banks of a canal which is already the 
 medium of an almost inestimable amount of traffic. If 
 sharpers and gamblers were to be the sufferers by the im¬ 
 pending crash at Chicago, no one would feel much con¬ 
 cerned: but they, unfortunately, are the people who encour¬ 
 age the delusion, in order to profit by it. Many a high- 
 spirited, but unexperienced, young man; many a simple 
 settler, will be ruined for the advantage of knaves. 
 
 Others, besides lawyers and speculators by trade, make a 
 fortune in such extraordinary times. A poor man at Chi¬ 
 cago had a pre-emption right to some land, for which he 
 paid in the morning one hundred and fifty dollars. In the 
 afternoon, he sold it to a friend of mine for five thousand 
 dollars. A poor Frenchman,t married to a squaw, had a 
 suit pending, when I was there, which he was likely to 
 gain, for the right of purchasing some land by the lake for 
 one hundred dollars, which would immediately become 
 worth one million dollars. 
 
 * Joseph N. Balestier, Esq., now of Brattleboro, Vt t Gen. John B. Beaubien. 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 39 
 
 There was much gaiety going on at Chicago, as well as 
 business. On the evening of our arrival a fancy fair took 
 place. As I was too much fatigued to go, the ladies sent 
 me a bouquet of prairie flowers. There is some allowable 
 pride in the place about its society. It is a remarkable 
 thing to meet such an assemblage of educated, refined, and 
 wealthy persons as may be found there, living in small, 
 inconvenient houses on the edge of a wild prairie. There 
 is a mixture, of course. I heard of a family of half-breeds 
 setting up a carriage, and wear fine jewellery. When the 
 present intoxication of prosperity passes away, some of the 
 inhabitants will go back to the eastward; there will be 
 an accession of settlers from the mechanic classes; good 
 houses will have been built for the richer families, and the 
 ■singularity of the place will subside. It will be like all the 
 other new and thriving lake and river ports of America. 
 Meantime, I am glad to have seen it in its strange early 
 ■days. 
 
 We dined one day with a gentleman* who had been Ind¬ 
 ian agent among the Winnebagoes for some years. He and 
 his lady seem to have had the art of making themselves as 
 absolutely Indian in their sympathies and manners as the 
 welfare of the savages among whom they lived required. 
 They were the only persons I met with who, really knowing 
 the Indians, had any regard for them. The testimony was 
 universal to the good faith, and other virtues of savage life 
 of the unsophisticated Indians; but they were spoken of in 
 a tone of dislike, as well as pity, by all but this family; and 
 they certainly had studied their Indian neighbors very thor¬ 
 oughly. The ladies of Indian agents ought to be women of 
 nerve. Our hostess had slept for weeks with a loaded pis¬ 
 tol on each side her pillow, and a dagger under it, when ex¬ 
 pecting an attack from a hostile tribe.t The foe did not, 
 however, come nearer than within a few miles. Her hus¬ 
 band’s sister^ was in the massacre when the fort was aband¬ 
 oned, in 1812. Her father and her husband were in the 
 battle, and her mother and young brothers and sisters sat in 
 a boat on the lake near. Out of seventy whites, only seven¬ 
 teen escaped, among whom were her family. She was 
 wounded in the ankle, as she sat on her horse. A painted 
 
 * John H. Kinzie, Esq. t At Fort Winnebago, 1832. 
 
 X Mrs. Helm, now Mrs. Geo. C. Bates, Salt Lake City. 
 
40 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 Indian, in warlike costume, came leaping up to her, and seized 
 her horse, as she supposed, to murder her. She fought him 
 vigorously, and he bore it without doing her any injury. 
 He spoke, but she could not understand him. Another 
 frightful savage came up, and the two led her horse to the 
 lake, and into it, in spite of her resistance, till the water 
 reached their chins. She concluded that they meant to 
 drown her; but they contented themselves with holding her 
 on her horse till the massacre was over, when they led her 
 out in safety. They were friendly Indians, sent by her 
 husband to guard her. She could not but admire their 
 patience, when she found how she had been treating her 
 protectors. 
 
 We had the fearful pleasure of seeing various savage dances 
 performed by the Indian agent and his brother,* with the 
 accompaniments of complete costume, barbaric music, and 
 whooping. The most intelligible to us was the Discovery 
 Dance, a highly descriptive pantomime. We saw the Ind¬ 
 ian go out armed for war. We saw him reconnoitre, make 
 signs to his comrades, sleep, warm himself, load his rifle, 
 sharpen his scalping-knife, steal through the grass within 
 rifle-shot of his foes, fire, scalp one of them, and dance, 
 whooping, and triumphing. There was a dreadful truth 
 about the whole, and it made our blood run cold. It real¬ 
 ized hatred and horror as effectually as Taglioni does love 
 and grace. 
 
 We were unexpectedly detained over the Sunday at Chi¬ 
 cago; and Dr. F.t was requested to preach. Though only 
 two hours’ notice was given, a respectable congregation 
 was assembled in the large room of the Lake House; a 
 new hotel then building. Our seats were a few chairs and 
 benches, and planks laid on trestles. The preacher stood 
 behind a rough pine-table, on which a large Bible was 
 placed. I was never present at a more interesting service; 
 and I know that there were others who felt with me. 
 
 From Chicago, we made an excursion into the prairies. 
 Our young lawyer-friend threw behind him the five hundred 
 dollars per day, which he was making, and went with us. 
 I thought him wise; for there is that to be had in the wil¬ 
 derness which money cannot buy. We drove out of the 
 town at ten o’clock in the morning, too late by two hours; 
 but it was impossible to overcome the introductions to 
 
 * John H. and Robert A. Kinzie. t Rev. Dr. Follen. 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 41 
 
 strangers, and the bustle of our preparations, any sooner. 
 Our party consisted of seven, besides the driver. Our 
 vehicle was a wagon with four horses. 
 
 We had first to cross the prairie, nine miles wide, on the 
 lake edge of which Chicago stands. This prairie is not 
 usually wet so early in the year; but at this time the water 
 stood almost up to the nave of the wheels: and we crossed 
 it at a walking pace. I saw here, for the first time in the 
 United States,'the American primrose. It grew in profu¬ 
 sion over the whole prairie, as far as I could see; not so 
 large and fine as in English green-houses, but graceful and 
 pretty. I now found the truth of what I had read about 
 the difficulty of distinguishing distances on a prairie. The 
 feeling is quite bewildering. A man walking near looks 
 like a Goliath a mile off. I mistook a covered wagon with¬ 
 out horses, at a distance of fifty yards, for a white house 
 near the horizon: and so on. We were not sorry to reach 
 the belt of trees, which bounded the swamp we had passed. 
 At a house here, where we stopped to water the horses, 
 and eat dough-nuts, we saw a crowd of emigrants; which 
 showed that we had not yet reached the bounds of civiliza¬ 
 tion. A little further on we came to the river Aux Plaines, 
 spelled on a sign board “Oplain.” The ferry here is a 
 monopoly, and the public suffers accordingly. There is 
 only one small flat boat for the service of the concourse of 
 people now pouring into the prairies. Though we hap¬ 
 pened to arrive nearly first of the crowd of to-day, we were 
 detained on the bank above an hour; and then our horses 
 went over at two crossings, and the wagon and ourselves at 
 the third. It was a pretty scene, if we had not been in a 
 hurry; the country wagons and teams in the wood by the 
 side of the quiet clear river; and the oxen swimming over, 
 yoked, with only their patient faces visible above the sur¬ 
 face. After crossing, we proceeded briskly till we reached 
 a single house, where, or nowhere, we were to dine. The 
 kind hostess bestirred herself to provide us a good dinner 
 of tea, bread, ham, potatoes, and strawberries, of whieh a 
 whole pailful, ripe and sweet, had been gathered by the 
 children in the grass round the house, within one hour. 
 While dinner was preparing, we amused ourselves with 
 looking over an excellent small collection of books, belong¬ 
 ing to Miss Cynthia, the daughter of the hostess. 
 
 I never saw insulation, (not desolation,) to compare with 
 
42 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 the situation of a settler on a wide prairie. A single house 
 in the middle of Salisbury Plain would be desolate. A 
 single house on a prairie has clumps of trees near it, rich 
 fields about it; and flowers, strawberries, and running water 
 at hand. But when I saw a settler’s child tripping out of 
 home-bounds, I had a feeling that it would never get back 
 again. It looked like putting out into Lake Michigan in a 
 canoe. The soil round the dwellings is very rich. It 
 makes no dust, it is so entirely vegetable. It requires 
 merely to be once turned over to produce largely; and, at 
 present, it appears to be inexhaustible. As we proceeded, 
 the scenery became more and more like what all travellers 
 compare it to, — a boundless English park. The grass was 
 wilder, the occasional footpath not so trim, and the single 
 trees less majestic; but no park ever displayed anything 
 equal to the grouping of the trees within the windings of 
 the blue, brimming river Aux Plaines. 
 
 We had met with so many delays that we felt doubts 
 about reaching the place where we had intended to spend 
 the night. At sunset, we found ourselves still nine miles 
 from Joliet;* but we were told that the road was good, 
 except a small “slew” or two; and there was half a moon 
 shining behind a thin veil of clouds; so we pushed on. 
 We seemed latterly to be travelling on a terrace overlook¬ 
 ing a wide champaign, where a dark waving line might 
 indicate the winding of the river, between its clumpy banks. 
 Our driver descended, and went forward, two or three 
 times, to make sure of our road; and, at length, we rattled 
 down a steep descent, and found ourselves among houses. 
 This was not our resting-place, however. The Joliet hotel 
 lay on the other side of the river. We were directed to a 
 foot-bridge by which we were to pass; and a ford below 
 for the wagon. We strained our eyes in vain for the foot¬ 
 bridge; and our gentlemen peeped and pryed about for 
 some time. All was still but the rippling river, and every¬ 
 body asleep in the houses that were scattered about. We 
 ladies were presently summoned to put on our water-proof 
 shoes, and alight. A man showed himself who had risen 
 
 * I preserve the original name, which is that of the first French 
 missionary who visited these parts. The place is now commonly 
 called Juliet; and a settlement near has actually been named Romeo: 
 so that I fear there is little hope of a restoration of the honorable prim¬ 
 itive name. 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 43 
 
 from his bed to help us in our need. The foot-bridge con¬ 
 sisted, for some way, of two planks, with a hand-rail on 
 one side: but, when we were about a-third of the way over, 
 one-half of the planks, and the hand-rail had disappeared. 
 We actually had to cross the rushing, deep river on a line 
 of single planks, by dim moonlight, at past eleven at night. 
 The great anxiety was about Charley; but between his 
 father and the guide, he managed very well. This guide 
 would accept nothing but thanks. He “did not calculate 
 to take any pay.” Then we waited some time for the 
 wagon to come up from the ford. I suspected it had 
 passed the spot where we stood, and had proceeded to the 
 village, where we saw a twinkling light, now disappearing, 
 and now re-appearing. It was so, and the driver came 
 back to look for us, and tell us that the light we saw was a 
 signal from the hotel-keeper, whom we found, standing on 
 his door-step, and sheltering his candle with his hand. We 
 sat down and drank milk in the bar, while he went to con¬ 
 sult with his wife what was to be done with us, as every 
 bed in the house rvas occupied. We, meanwhile, agreed 
 that the time was now come for us to enjoy an adventure 
 which we had often anticipated: sleeping in a barn. We 
 had all declared ourselves anxious to sleep in a barn, if we 
 could meet with one that was air-tight, and well supplied 
 with hay. Such a barn was actually on these premises. 
 We were prevented, however, from all practising the freak 
 by the prompt hospitality of our hostess. Before we knew 
 what she was about, she had risen and dressed herself, put 
 clean sheets on her own bed, and made up two others on 
 the floor of the same room; so that the ladies and Charley 
 were luxuriously accommodated. Two sleepy personages 
 crawled down stairs to offer their beds to our gentlemen. 
 Mr. L.* and our Chicago friend, however, persisted in sleep¬ 
 ing in the barn. Next morning, we all gave a very gratify¬ 
 ing report of our lodgings. When we made our acknowl¬ 
 edgments to our hostess, she said she thought that people 
 who could go to bed quietly every night ought to be ready 
 to give up to tired travellers. Whenever she travels, I 
 hope she will be treated as she treated us. She let us have 
 breakfast as early as half-past five, the next morning, and 
 gave Charley a bun at parting, lest he should be too hungry 
 before we could dine. 
 
 * Ellis Gray Loring, Esq. 
 
44 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 The great object of our expedition, Mount Joliet, was 
 two miles distant from this place. We had to visit it, and 
 perform the journey back to Chicago, forty miles, before 
 night. The mount is only sixty feet high; yet it commands 
 a view which 1 shall not attempt to describe, either in its 
 vastness, or its soft beauty. The very spirit of tranquility 
 resides in this paradisy scene. The next painter who 
 would worthily illustrate Milton’s Morning Hymn, should 
 come and paint what he sees from Mount Joliet, on a dewy 
 summer’s morning, when a few light clouds are gently sail¬ 
 ing in the sky, and their shadows traversing the prairie. 
 I thought I had never seen green levels till now; and 
 only among mountains had I before known the beauty of 
 wandering showers. Mount Joliet has the appearance of 
 being an artificial mound, its sides are so uniformly steep, 
 and its form so regular. Its declivity was bristling with 
 flowers; among which were conspicuous the scarlet lily, the 
 white convolvulus, and a tall, red flower of the scabia form. 
 We disturbed a night-hawk, sitting on her eggs, on the 
 ground. She wheeled round and round over our heads, 
 and, I hope, returned to her eggs before they were cold. 
 
 Not far from the mount was a log-house, where the rest of 
 the party went in to dry their feet, after having stood long 
 in the wet grass. I remained outside, watching the light 
 showers, shifting in the partial sunlight from clump to level, 
 and from reach to reach of the brimming and winding river. 
 The nine miles of prairie, which we had traversed in dim 
 moonlight last night, were now exquisitely beautiful, as the 
 sun shone fitfully upon them. 
 
 We saw a prairie wolf, very like a yellow dog, trotting 
 across our path, this afternoon. Our hostess of the preced¬ 
 ing day, expecting us, had an excellent dinner ready for us. 
 We were detained a shorter time at the ferry, and reached 
 the belt of trees at the edge of Nine-mile Prairie, before 
 sunset. Here, in common prudence, we ought to have 
 stopped till the next day, even if no other accommodation 
 could be afforded us than a roof over our heads. We de¬ 
 served an ague for crossing the swamp after dark, in an 
 open wagon, at a foot pace. Nobody was aware of this in 
 time, and we set forward; the feet of our wearied horses 
 plashing in water at every step of the nine miles. There 
 was no road; and we had to trust to the instinct of driver 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 45 
 
 and horses to keep us in the right direction. I rather think 
 the driver attempted to amuse himself by exciting our fears. 
 He hinted more than once at the difficulty of finding the 
 way; at the improbability that we should reach Chicago 
 before midnight; and at the danger of our wandering about 
 the marsh all night, and finding ourselves at the opposite 
 edge of the prairie in the morning. Charley was bruised 
 and tired. All the rest were hungry and cold. It was 
 very drearv. The driver bade us look to our right hand. 
 A black bear was trotting alongside of us, at a little dis¬ 
 tance. After keeping up his trot for some time, he turned 
 off from our track. The sight of him made up for all,— 
 even if ague should follow, which I verily believe it would. 
 But we escaped all illness. It is remarkable that I never 
 saw ague but once. The single case that I met with was 
 in autumn, at the Falls of Niagara. 
 
 I had promised Dr. F. a long story about English poli¬ 
 tics, when a convenient opportunity should occur. I 
 thought the present an admirable one ; for nobody seemed 
 to have anything to say, and it was highly desirable that 
 something should be said. I made my story long enough 
 to beguile four miles; by which time, some were too tired, 
 and others too much disheartened, for more conversation. 
 Something white was soon after visible. Our driver gave 
 out that it was a house, half a mile from Chicago. But no: 
 it was an emigrant encampment, on a morsel of raised, dry 
 ground; and again we were uncertain whether we were in 
 the right road. Presently, however, the Chicago beacon 
 was visible, shining a welcome to us through the dim, misty 
 air. The horses seemed to see it, for they quickened their 
 pace; and before half-past ten, we were on the bridge. 
 
 The family, at my temporary home, were gone up to 
 their chambers; but the wood-fire was soon replenished, 
 tea made, and the conversation growing lively. My com¬ 
 panions were received as readily at their several resting- 
 places. When we next met, we found ourselves all dis¬ 
 posed to place warm hospitality very high on the list of 
 virtues. 
 
 While we were at Detroit, we were most strongly urged 
 to return thither by the Lakes, instead of by either of the 
 Michigan roads. From place to place, in my previous 
 travelling, I had been told of the charms of the Lakes, and 
 especially of the Island of Mackinaw. Every officer’s lady 
 
46 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 who has been in garrison there, is eloquent upon the de¬ 
 lights of Mackinaw. As our whole party, however, could 
 not spare time to make so wide a circuit, we had not in¬ 
 tended to indulge ourselves with a further variation in our 
 travels than to take the upper road back to Detroit; having 
 left it by the lower. On Sunday, June 27, news arrived at 
 Chicago that this Tipper road had been rendered impassable 
 by the rains. A sailing ship,* the only one on the Fakes, 
 and now on her first trip, was to leave Chicago for Detroit 
 and Buffalo, the next day. The case was clear: the party 
 must divide. Those who were obliged to hasten home 
 must return by the road we came; the rest must proceed 
 by water. On Charley’s account the change of plan was 
 desirable; as the heats were beginning to be so oppressive 
 as to render travelling in open wagons unsafe for a child. 
 It was painful to break up our party at the extreme point of 
 our journey; but it was clearly right. So Mr. and Mrs. L. 
 took their chance by land; and the rest of us went on 
 board the Milwaukee, at two o’clock on the afternoon of 
 the 28th. 
 
 Mrs. F. and I were the only ladies on board; and there 
 was no stewardess. The steward was obliging, and the 
 ladies’ cabin was clean and capacious; and we took posses¬ 
 sion of it with a feeling of comfort. Our pleasant impres¬ 
 sions, however, were not of long duration. The vessel was 
 crowed with persons who had come to the land sales at 
 Chicago, and were taking their passage back to Milwaukee; 
 a settlement on the western shore of the lake, about eighty 
 miles from Chicago. "Fill we should reach Milwaukee, we 
 could have the ladies’ cabin only during a part of the day. 
 I say a part of the day, because some of the gentry did not 
 leave our cabin till near nine in the morning; and others 
 chose to come down, and go to bed, as early as seven in 
 the evening, without troubling themselves to give us five 
 minutes’ notice, or to wait till we could put up our needles, 
 or wipe our pens. This ship was the only place in Amer¬ 
 ica where I saw a prevalence of bad manners. It was the 
 place of all others to select for the study of such; and no 
 reasonable person would look for anything better among 
 land-speculators, and settlers in regions so new as to be 
 almost without women. None of us had ever before seen, 
 in America, a disregard of women. The swearing was 
 
 * Ship Milwaukee. 
 
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU. 47 
 
 incessant; and the spitting such as to amaze my American 
 companions as much as myself. 
 
 Supper was announced presently after we had sailed; 
 and when we came to the table, it was full, and no one 
 offered to stir, to make room for us. The captain, who was 
 very careful of our comfort, arranged that we should be 
 better served henceforth; and no difficulty afterwards oc¬ 
 curred. At dinner, the next day, we had a specimen of 
 how such personage as we had on board are managed on 
 an emergency. The captain gave notice, from the head of 
 the table, that he did nof choose our party to be intruded 
 on in the cabin ; and that any one who did not behave 
 with civility at table should be turned out. He spoke with 
 decision and good-humor; and the effect was remarkable. 
 Everything on the table was handed to us; and no more of 
 the gentry came down into our cabin to smoke, or throw 
 themselves on the cushions to sleep, while we sat at work. 
 Our fare was what might be expected on Lake Michigan- 
 Salt beef and pork, and sea-biscuit; tea without milk, 
 bread, and potatoes. Charley throve upon potatoes and 
 bread; and we all had the best results of food,—health and 
 strength. 
 
 A little schooner which left Chicago at the same time 
 with ourselves, and reached Milwaukee first, was a pretty 
 object. On the 29th, we were only twenty-five miles from 
 the settlement; but the wind was so unfavorable that it 
 was doubtful whether we should reach it that day. Some 
 of the passengers amused themselves by gaming, down in 
 the hold; others by parodying a methodist sermon, and 
 singing a mock hymn. We did not get rid of them till 
 noon on the 30th, when we had the pleasure of seeing our 
 ship disgorge twenty-five into one boat, and two into an¬ 
 other. The atmosphere was so transparent as to make the 
 whole scene appear as if viewed through an opera-glass; 
 the still, green waters, the dark boats with their busy oars, 
 the moving passengers, and the struggles of one to recover 
 his hat, which had fallen overboard. We were yet five 
 miles from Milwaukee; but we could see the bright, wooded 
 coast, with a few white dots of houses. 
 
 While Dr. F. went on shore, to see what was to be seen, 
 we had the cabin cleaned out, and took, once more, com¬ 
 plete possession of it, for both day and night. As soon as 
 this was done, seven young women came down the com- 
 
48 
 
 STRANGE EARLY DAYS. 
 
 panion-way, seated themselves round the cabin, and began 
 to question us. They were the total female population of 
 Milwaukee; which settlement now contains four hundred 
 souls. We were glad to see these ladies; for it was natu¬ 
 ral enough that the seven women should wish to behold 
 two more, when such a chance offered. A gentleman of 
 the place, who came on board this afternoon, told me that 
 a printing-press had arrived a few hours before; and that a 
 newspaper would speedily appear.* He was kind enough 
 to forward the first number to me a few weeks afterwards; 
 and I was amused to see how pathetic an appeal to the 
 ladies of more thickly-settled districts it contained; implor¬ 
 ing them to cast a favorable eve on Milwaukee, and its 
 hundreds of bachelors. Milwaukee had been settled since 
 the preceding November. It had good stores; (to judge 
 by the nature and quantity of goods sent ashore from our 
 ship); it had a printing-press and newspaper, before the 
 settlers had had time to get wives. I heard these new set¬ 
 tlement sometimes called “patriarchal:” but what would 
 the patriarchs have said to such an order of affairs? 
 
 Dr. F. returned from the town with apple-pies, cheese, 
 and ale, wherewith to vary our ship diet. With him ar¬ 
 rived such a number of towns-people, that the steward 
 wanted to turn us out of our cabin once more: but we were 
 sturdy, appealed to the captain, and were confirmed in pos¬ 
 session. From this time, began the delights of our voyage. 
 The moon, with her long train of glory, was magnificent 
 to-night; the vast body of water on which she shone being 
 as calm as if the winds were dead. 
 
 The navigation of these lakes, is at present, a mystery. 
 They have not yet been properly surveyed. Our captain 
 had gone to and fro on Lake Huron, but had never before 
 been on Lake Michigan; and this was rather an anxious 
 voyage to him. We had got aground on the sand-bar 
 before Milwaukee harbor; and on the ist of July, all hands 
 were busy in unshipping the cargo, to lighten the vessel, 
 instead of carrying her up to the town. An elegant little 
 schooner was riding at anchor near us; and we were well 
 amused in admiring her, and in watching the bustle on 
 deck, till some New England youths, and our Milwaukee 
 acquaintance, brought us, from the shore, two newspapers, 
 some pebbles, flowers, and a pitcher of fine strawberries. 
 
 * Milwaukee Sentinel, 
 

 
 
 
popular publications. 
 
 i . 
 
 ANNALS OF CHICAGO: a Lect¬ 
 ure delivered before tlie Chicago Lyceum, Jan. 
 21, iS40. By Joseph N. Balestikr, ESq., 
 Republished from ihe original edition of 1S40, 
 with an Introduction, written by the author in 
 1S76; and, also, a Review of the Lecture, pub¬ 
 lished in the Chicago Tribune in 1872. Brice, 
 25 cents. 
 
 2 . 
 
 FERGUS’DIRECTORYOFTHE 
 
 CITY OF CHICAGO, 1839; with City and 
 County Officers, Churches, Public Buildings, 
 Hotels, etc.; also, list of Sheriffs of Cook 
 County and Mayors of the City since their or¬ 
 ganization ; together with Poll-List of the First 
 City Flection, (Tuesday, May 2d, 1837); and, 
 also, List of Purchasers of Lots in Fort Dear¬ 
 born Addition, the No. of the Lots and the 
 Prices Paid (1S39). Compiled by Robert 
 Fergus. Price; 50 cents. 
 
 3 . 
 
 THE LAST OF THE ILLINOIS, 
 
 AND A SKETCH OF THE POTTAWA- 
 TOM 11 . ': Read before the Chicago Historical 
 Society, December 13th, 1S70; also, 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES: Read before 
 
 the Ottawa Academy of Natural Sciences, De¬ 
 cember 30th, 1S69. By Hon. John Dean 
 Capon, I.L.D., late Chief-Justice of Illinois. 
 Price, 25 cents. 
 
 4 . 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 OF Till*'. FARIA MOVEMENT IN ILLI¬ 
 NOIS FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF 
 SLAVERY: Read at the Annual Meeting of 
 the Chicago Historical Society, December 5, 
 1864. By Hon. W.\i. II. Brown, Ex-Presi¬ 
 dent of the Society. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 5 . 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKET( 
 
 OF SOME OF THE EARLY SEJ 
 OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, 
 contains Sketches of Hon. S. Lisle Sm 
 Davis, Dr. Philip Maxwell, John J. 
 Richard L. Wilson, Col. Lewis C. K 
 Uriah P. Harris, Henry B. Clarke, an 
 Samuel J. Lowe. By Wxi. H. Bu 
 Price, 25 cents. 
 
 6 . 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETC 
 
 OF SOME OF THE EARLY SET 
 OF THE CITY OK CHICAGO, 
 contains Sketches of Wm. II. Brown,- 
 W. Raymond, Esq., J. Y. Scammo 
 Chas. Walker, Esq., Thomas Chun 
 Price, 25 cents. 
 
 7 . 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO: A Lect 
 
 livered in the Sunday Course, at McC 
 Hall, May 7th, 1876. By Hon. Joii> 
 worth. With portrait. Price, 35 ct 
 
 8 . 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO: A Lect 
 
 livered in the Sunday Course, at McC 
 Hall, April 11, 1S75. With additiona 
 never before published. By Hon. Jolt.' 
 worth. Price, 35 cents. 
 
 9 . 
 
 PRESENT AND FUT 
 
 PROSPECTS OF CHICAGO: An 
 delivered before the Chicago Lyceum, 
 1S46. By Henry Brown, Esq., A 
 “History of Illinois.” 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHI 
 An Address delivered before the Ci 
 Library Association, March 21, 187 
 James A. Marshall, Esq. 
 CHICAGO IN 1836: “STRANGE 
 DAYS.” By Harriet Maritne.au 
 of “Society in America.” Price, 251 
 
 Sent by Mail on receipt of price, by the Publishers, 
 
 Fergus Printing Co., 244-8 Illinois Street, Chic 
 
977.3 F352 Wo.59 622889 
 
 Biographical Sketches of _ 
 
 Some of the Early Settlers 
 of the City of Chicago. 
 
 977.3 f352 N 0 .59 622889