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REYNOLDS' HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

EMBRACING ALSO

THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE.

By JOHN REYNOLDS,
Late Governor of Illinois, Member of Congress, Statb Senator, and
Representative, Etc., Etc.

Wisdom is the great end of history. — Blair.

CHICAGO:
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY,
244-8 ILLINOIS STREET.
1879.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by
Fergus Printing Company,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PUBLISHERS' ARGUMENT.

No volume can scarcely be of greater interest and value than one
tracing the early growth, and reciting the early history, of a Common
wealth or a Ration. It need not necessarily be a ponderous tome
replete with those hard facts which seem to stand against one's vision
like a great wall into which is cut the bare, cold records of accomplish
ment. It may be crudely told. It may be httle and modest, and even
to the great world quite unknown. But it should glow with the charm
surrounding recitals of the every-day experience of those men whose
lives are passed in molding the growth, character, and even destiny, of
States or Countries, whose true history is thus brightened in detail and
heightened by the fascination of reminiscence.
For these reasons perhaps no work, written by any citizen of the
West, ever deserved so wide a reading and preservation, and was yet
so httle known, as "My Own Times", or "Reynolds' History of
Illinois", by the late Governor John Reynolds, which has been re
claimed from obscurity, and, with considerable correction and revision,
is reproduced in the subjoined pages.
Not only did "My Own Times" possess charming interest from the
blunt tmthflilness of its author, "Old Ranger", as he was known
throughout the West in the earlier political days; from the honest fideh-
ty with which the most trifling incident is related; in the picturesque
grouping of personal experiences with profound events; in the fine
blending of men, manners, and means that so strikingly predominate
in periods of sectional infancy and the swift changes wrought by aggres
sive civilization; but a more important value obtains in its absolute his
torical worth.
Governor Reynolds passed nearly half a century in most prominent
public life. As a "Ranger" in 1813; as Judge Advocate in 1814; as
an Illinois Supreme Court Judge; as a member of the Illinois General
Assembly; as Governor of Illinois; as a Representative in Congress for
seven years, and never absent from his seat during session; as Illinois
Canal Commissioner; and finally, as Speaker of the Illinois House; —
and all this from the early part of the present century until beyond its
noon; — ^his strong, aggressive, manly nature and life were most power
ful factors in this period of wonderful transition to Illinois and the West.
"My Own Times" thus became an epitome of those days, of their
remarkable measures, of their marvelous changes, and a record of many
of their great men.

PUBLISHERS' ARGUMENT.
But brilliant and strong a man as was Governor Reynolds, he knew
httle of book-making; less, of book-selling. The manuscript of the
work was taken to a Httle "job ofiice" at Bellville, 111., in 1854-5. It
is thought that but four hundred copies were issued. They were
printed from a common hand-press, and the typography was a miracle
of wretchedness. The result was, "My Own Times" remained un-,
known. One autumn-day in 1855, as Mr. D. B. Cooke, then Chicago's leading
bookseller and publisher, was standing in the entrance to his establish
ment, a dray laden with shoe-boxes was backed against the curbing.
Perched upon the load sat a tall, gaunt, odd-looking individual who
immediately alighted, strode into the store, and, with considerable pro
fanity, inquired for the proprietor. Making himself known he was in
formed in strong language that his visitor was no less than Governor
Reynolds, and, in still stronger language, that he had written a book.
The book would not sell. It must sell. He had boxed up every copy
and brought them along.
Mr. Cooke immediately gave his receipt for about three hundred and
fifty copies of "My Own Times", and the emphatic author was driven
away upon the trundling dray quite oblivious to the curious crowd his
coming had attracted.
On October 19, 1857, two years later, Chicago suffered from its then
greatest conflagration. A very large amount of property was destroyed,
and the lives of twenty-three firemen and prominent citizens were lost
in their efforts to stay the flames. The pubHcation -house referred to
was also burned and with it nearly every existing copy of Governor
Re3Tiolds' work, but a trifling number having been sold. Chicago's
great fire of 187 1 nearly completed the work of annihilating the original
edition. Copies of the same were not to be found save at such prices
as would cause the possibly remaining dozen, to realize a larger total
sum than the entire Bellville edition would have brought when issued.
The Chicago Historical Society, which is an indefatigable search
er after historical treasures and rare works, has not previously possessed
a copy; and for such reasons as have been given, "My Own Times",
to which has been added a very full and complete index, has been
reproduced, it is hoped, in a much more attractive and lasting form,
not only for the purpose of supplying the Chicago Historical Society
and its members, but to assist in perpetuating the history of the great
Commonwealth of Illinois, and the name of one whose public hfe has
added no little strength and lustre to her gi-eat power and splendor.

INTRODUCTION.

An introduction to a new work may be necessary to place it in a
proper position before the public, and to effect this object, the writer
presents the following:
ist. The motives inducing the author to write this volume.
The leading object of the writer is to record facts and the progress
of events, which may do service to the present and future generations.
The rise and progress of a great country is, and always will be interest
ing to an intelligent and enHghtened public. The valley of the Mis
sissippi is fast becoming an important and interesting country, and in
it the State of Illinois is assuming a very high character. The im
portant facts and pubUc measures that had a tendency to develop the
resources of this great State, and to advance its growth and prosperity,
will always be interesting and, the writer hopes, servicable to the
people. The author has incorporated in this work sketches of the history of
his life. The official stations of the writer have been so long, in so
intimately identified with the rise and progress of lUinois, that these
sketches seemed to form an humble portion of the history of the
country and therefore are presented in the history of his own times.
These sketches may also serve to show the public, by the example of
the author, that every individual in the State has it in his power, under
the most adverse circumstances, to obtain an education.
2nd. The qualifications for the work.
The main qualification of the writer in presenting this volume to the
pubHc is, his long residence in Ilhnois,' and the various public positions
held in the State. He has resided in the country since the year 1800,
and has been, during all that long period, an attentive observer of
public and private events, which he hopes has enabled him to record,
"with truth and accuracy, the most important facts of his own times.
Another qualification is his calm and quiet retreat from the turmoils

IV INTRODUCTION.
and conflicts of pohtics, so that the work, he hopes, records the true
history of the times, without prejudice or partiality.
A negative qualification also existed with the author, that he was not
employed in any other business or occupation, and the writing of this
work afforded him an interesting and agreeable employment.
3d. The spirit of the work.
On all appropriate occasions, arising out of the facts narrated in the
•work, the author has made short pertinant remarks enforcing respect
fully on the pubhc, morality and religion, without which no people
can be prosperous and happy. At the same time he has with equal
efibrt urged the propriety to dispell from their breasts the savage and
bitter feelings which unfortunately exist at times among the different
religious denominations. Also, he has urged on the pubHc the im
portance of education, without which no people can be great or happy,
or can a nation exist as a Republic for any length of time.
The writer of this volume has likewise attempted to draw the atten
tion of the people to the obedience of the laws of the country and to
execute them with fidelity on all occasions.
These are a few of the outlines of the spirit of the work; but the
work itself must on this subject, as well as on all others, speak for
itself. With this short introduction the writer submits this volume to the
public.
THE AUTHOR.
Illinois, July 4th, 1855.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
Introduction,  iii
CHAPTER I.
Early Education forms to a great extent the Character. — The
place of the Nativity of the Author,  i
CHAPTER II.
The Emigration of the Author's Father to Tennessee. — Indian
Wars. — The murder of George Mann, in 1794, by the Indians,. 3
CHAPTER III.
The Early Pursuits and Impressions of the Author.- — His Visit
to the Ancient Domicile of his Parents in Tennessee. — His in
tense feelings on Seeing the Scenes of his Infancy. — His first
School Teachers,    5
CHAPTER IV.
The Early Habits, Dress, and Amusements in Tennessee. — Barring
Out the School Teacher,  —  - 7
CHAPTER V.
Early History and Commerce of Tennessee,  10
CHAPTER VI.
The Emigration of the Author's Father from Tennessee to Kas-
kaskia, Ilhnois. — Fort Massacre,   13
CHAPTER VII.
First View of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia. — The Indians. — My
Father Disliked the Spanish Government. — Remained in Illinois, 1 7
CHAPTER VIII.
Illinois in 1800. — The White Population. — The Indian Tribes. —
Hard Fate of the Aborgines.— Want of Schools and Churches.
— Agriculture — Farming Implements. — Mills. — Counties. — Gov
ernment,   19

vi CONTENTS. PAGE.
CHAPTER IX.
Wilderness in the West in 1800.— The Soil and Surface of Illi
nois. — The Prairies. — Is Timber an Advantage to the Country? 24.
CHAPTER X.
Fort Chartres. — Its History. — Built of Wood in 17 18. — Rebuilt of
Rock in 1756. — The French Abandon it in 1765. — British Seat
of Government. — Walls Washed down in 1772. — A heap of
Ruins in 1855,    z^-
CHAPTER XL
Fort Jefferson. — Its History. — Sketch of Captain Piggot's Life. —
Sickness of the Garrison. — Indian Assaults. — Heroic Defence.
— Abandonment of the Fort. — Piggot's Fort^The Ferry oppo
site St. Louis, Missouri,    -.  SZ'
CHAPTER XIL
The French in 1800. — A Different Population. — Devout Chris
tians. — A Happy People. — Observance of the Sabbath. — Foild
of Dancing. — Dress. — Taste for the Fashions. — No Ambition
for Athletic Sports,  36.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Americans in 1800, and some years thereafter. — Emigrants
from the South and West. — Exalted Notions of Freedom and
Independence.— Self-Reliance. — Different Employments. — Rais
ing Cabins. — Family in the Llouse the same day it was Raised.
— Frolics. — Amusements. — Dancing. — Running for the Bottle
at a Wedding.— The Dress of the People. — Factory Goods
came to Illinois in 1816 and 1818,   40
CHAPTER XIV.
The Progress of the Country for five years firom 1800. — Sickness.
— "Seasoning" of Emigrants. — Settlements, Ridge Prairie. —
Goshen.— Name of Goshen. — Blair on the Site of Belleville. 
Settlements East and South-West of Belleville. — Colonies in
Horse Prairie, East of Kaskaskia. — The French Colonies. 
Pioneer-Squatters on the Public Lands. — Murders by the In
dians. — New Mill. — Shawneetown. — Saline Purchased of the In
dians. — Shawneetown Commenced. — Mr. Bell Leased the Sa
line.— Big Bay.— Daniel's and Wood-River Settlements Com
menced. — ^Wilderness Yields to Improvements. — Population, .. 44
CHAPTER XV.
The Morals of the Illinois Pioneers,  ,  >^

CONTENTS. ,vll
PAGE.
CHAPTER XVI.
Gaming and Sports of the Pioneers of Illinois. — Cards. — Loo. —
Shooting Matches. — A Keg of Whiskey. — Metheglin. — Horse
and Foot-Races. — The Author Engaged in Racing. — ^Working
FroUcs. — Females Attend,    51
CHAPTER XVII.
Hunting and Fowling in Illinois,   54
CHAPTER XVIII.
Agriculture and Commerce in the Pioneer Times of Illinois. —
Not much Agriculture and Commerce at the commencement
of the present Century. — Commenced to sow Fall Wheat at the
New Design. — Sickles. — No Cradles, no Horse-Reapers, no
charge for Reaping. — French raised Spring Wheat. — A Dollar a
Bushel for Wheat. — Cut Prairie Grass for Hay. — French Barns.
— Produce to New Orleans. — Lead.— Stock. — Indian Goods. —
All Commerce by Water. — No Land Carriage, no Roads. — Rail
roads add much to Commerce, -  56
CHAPTER XIX.
Early Education in Illinois. — The Author's first Acquaintance with
the Arithmetic. — At a Common-School in the Winter. — Studies
Astronomy. — Studies Surveying and Navigation. — Traits of
Character Developed,    ^- 58
CHAPTER XX.
The Increase of Population and the Extension of the Settlements
in Illinois from 1805 to 1809, the Time of the Formation of
Illinois Territory. — ^Great Mound. — The Monks of La Trappe.
— Shawneetown Increased,  61
CHAPTER XXI.
The Early Life of the Author. — His Education. — Camp-meeting.
The Jerks. — Militia Discipline. — The Fourth of July,  64
CHAPTER XXII.
Early Government of Ilhnois. — In 1800, down to 1809, Ilhnois
forined a part of Indiana Territory. ^Establishment of St. Clair
and Randolph Counties. — Judges of the Court. — Jurisdiction of
Courts and Justices of the Peace. — First Lawyers. — Election in
1802. — Assembly Convened at VinceUnes to Suggest Measures.
— Contrast in the Travel to Viticennes in 1802 on Horseback,
and in 1855 by Railroad;  66

viii CONTENTS. PAGE.
CHAPTER XXIII.
My Journey to the College in Tennessee. — A Letter from Ten
nessee decides me for the College. — Preparations. — Diffidence,. 67
CHAPTER XXIV.
My First Year at College.— The Preceptor.— The Books I Read,. 7°
CHAPTER XXV.
The Second Year at College.— The Scenes at College.— General
Houston, of Texas, at the Same Institution. — Commenced
Reading Law. — Studied Intensely. — Became Sick. — Quit Study.
— Returned to Illinois,  -  74
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Summer of 18 11. — Miscellaneous. — My Return to Illinois. —
My Health. — Indian Disturbance. — Indications of War. — Forts
Built. — Captam Levering at Peoria to Sound the Indians. — The
Comet. — The Earthquake. — Sports and Horse -Racing,  76
CHAPTER XXVII.
My Return to College and to the Law-School in Knoxville, Tenn.
— Hugh L. White and Jenkin Whiteside. — General Gaines and
Recruits in Knoxville. — Last Foot-Race of the Author,  80
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The War of 181 2 with Great Britain and her Indian Allies in Illi
nois. — Hostile Spirit of the Indians. — Rangers around the Fron
tiers. — Forts. — Troops Organized. — Camp Russell. — Extended
Frontier. — Dixon and his Warriors. — Gomo, a Chief, met Gov.
Edwards in Council. — Tecumseh at Vincennes. — Murders Com
mitted. — Hill's Fort Attacked. — Belleview Defended. — Fort La
Motte Erected above Vincennes. — Rangers Established. — Col.
Russell. — Massacre at Chicago. — Taylor's Battle at Fort Harri
son. — A Pottawatomie Warrior KiUed a White Man on a Boat,. 81
CHAPTER XXIX.
Edward's Campaign against the Indians to the Eastern Extremity
of Lake Peoria. — Organization of the Army. — March to the
Peoria Lake. — Met two Indians. — One Indian and a White
Man Killed. — Routed the Indians out of the Town. — Killed sev
eral in the Swamps. — The Army Returns the same Evening. —
Captain Craig Destroyed Peoria and Carries off the Inhabitants.
— General Hopkins Fails to Reach Illinois River. — Edwards
and Army Return to Camp Russell,   86

CONTENTS. IX
PAGE.
CHAPTER XXX.
The War in Illinois in 1812. — Ranging Comp>anies Organized. —
The Author Became a Ranger. — Soldier Amusements. — Mur
ders by the Indians. — Gen. Howard's Campaign. — Army Organ
ized. — Marched Up the Mississippi River. — A Soldier Killed at
Peoria. — Built Fort Clark. — Skirmishes on Lake Peoria. — Tricks
of Murdick,  91
CHAPTER XXXI.
The War with Great Britain Continued, and Concluded in 1814.
— ^The Author Appointed Judge Advocate. — The Militia Or
ganized for Service. — Many Murders Committed by the Indians.
— Capt. Short's Battle with the Indians. — Gov. Clarke's Expe
dition to Prairie du Chien. — ^The Garrison Captured there. — ¦
Campbell's Expedition to Rock Island. — The Battle at Rock
Island. — Another Expedition to Rock Island under Major Tay
lor. — A Battle, and the Troops Forced Back Down the River.
— Build Fort Edwards,     97
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Government of Illinois. — Judges Revised the Statute Laws.
— Duties of Governor Edwards. — Amusements at Courts. — -
Scott's Trick on McMahon at Cahokia. — lUinois Territory Es
tablished. — 'Counties Created. — Second Grade of Government
Adopted. — First Legislature. — The General Assembly Sat An
nually at Kaskaskia. — Delegates to Congress,  103
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Miscellaneous. — Expedition of Lewis and Clark to the Pacific
Ocean. — The Cold Friday in 1805. — A Tornado in 1805. —
The Author Studied the French Language. — Names of Places.
— How they Originated,  *   106
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Sketch of the Author's Life. — Acting for Himself — First Practice
of the Law. — Traffic in Land. — Merchandise. — Conveyance of
Money from Vincennes to St. Louis. — Small Law-Library,  109
CHAPTER XXXV.
Extension of the Settlements. — Improvements. — Agriculture. —
Commerce. — Commerce to New Mexico, -  in*
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Regulators in Illinois. — Regulating Company Organized in St. Clair
Co. — Mob-Law in 1831, on the Ohio River. — In Edgar County

X CONTENTS. PAGE.
Lynch-Law was Estabhshed.— In Ogle County a Horrid Tragedy
was Enacted in 1841.— A Case in Madison County.— Cases in
Pope and Massacre Counties in 1846.— Public Opinion should
Condemn Mob-Law,  -  ^^^
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Early Religion in Illinois.— The Roman Catholic Denomination.—
The Jesuit Missionaries Founded Kaskaskia and Cahokia. —
The Rev. Mr. Oliver, of Prairie du Rocher.— The Creed of
the Roman Catholic Church.— Christian Creeds are Substan
tially the Same. — Roman Catholic Statistics,  116
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Early Methodist Denomination in Illinois.— The Reverend Joseph
Lillard, First Methodist Preacher in Ilhnois in 1793. — The Early
Clergymen.— Hosea Riggs, Benjamin Young, Chas. R. Matheny,
Thomas Harrison, Jesse Walker, Peter Cartwright— The Meth
odist Statistics,  -  -  - — 7-- ^^^
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Early Baptist Denomination in Illinois. — Ministers of the Gos
pel in the Baptist Churches. — James Smith, John K. Simpson
and Son, Josiah Dodge, James Lemen, Sr. and Sons, Joseph
Chance and Son, John Clark, WiUiam Jones, Dr. John M. Peck,
Deacon Smith, George Wolf — Baptist Churches. — Baptist Sta
tistics. — William Kinney. — Linley in Sangamon County,  123
CHAPTER XL.
The Early Presbyterian Churches in Ilhnois. — The Rev. Samuel
Wylie. — His Church Refused to Vote. — Presbyterian Church in
Bond County. — One at Galena. — The Rev. Mr. Kent. — Cum
berland Presbyterians in WJiite County. — Presbyterian Statistics, 127
CHAPTER XLI.
Professional Men in Illinois Territory. — Lawyers and Physicians, . 128
CHAPTER XLIL
The Domestic Relations of the Author,   131
CHAPTER XLIII.
Slavery Existed in Illinois before 1787.— The Ordinance of that
^ year Prevented it.— Indentured Servants.— The State Constitu
tion Prohibits Slavery in the State, -  132
CHAPTER XLIV.
Organization of the State Government in 181 8, and Election of
the Officers,  j,.

CONTENTS. xi
PAGE.
CHAPTER XLV.
The First Session of the General Assembly Revised the Statute
Laws, and Adapted them to the State Government. — The Canal.
— Organization of the Judicial Circuits,   136
CHAPTER XLVI.
The Judiciary of the State. — Opening Court. — Members of the Bar, 137
CHAPTER XLVII.
Trials of Murder in the Courts wherein I Presided. — Short and
Fike. — William Bennett. — Ehphalet Green. — An Indian in Pike
County. — Bottsford, at Vandalia,  138
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Early Banks of lUinois. — Dearth of Money. — Relief. — A State
Bank. — Stay-laws. — Loan to Wind up the State Bank, -  142
CHAPTER XLIX.
The Pubhc Debt to the General Government for the Lands Pur
chased. — Relief. — Large Debt. — Land System changed. — Credit
for Public Land abolished. — Col. Johnson, of Kentucky, first to
give Relief. — His Character. — General Relief graflted, and the
relation of Debtor and Creditor destroyed,  144
CHAPTER L.
'Slavery Agitation in Illinois. — Election of Hon. D. P. Cook to
Congress,  146
CHAPTER LI.
Ajtificial Mounds in Ilhnois, and all over the West. — Big Mound
in the American Bottom, and Others. — ^The Grand Tower. —
Marrais d'Ogee,   -  147
CHAPTER LII.
The Further Extension of the Settlements. — Peoria County Cre
ated. — The Diamond Grove. — The Indian Name of Sangamon.
— More Counties Formed. — Tobacco and Castor -Beans in the
South of Illinois. — Train Oil at Peoria,   149
CHAPTER LIII.
¦Convention to Introduce Slavery into lUinois. — Revolutionary Pro
ceedings in the Legislature. — Excited Discussion. — Parties Ar
rayed.— Public Journals Issued Flaming Documents. — About
Eighteen Hundred Votes Majority Against the Call of a Conven
tion,  152

xii CONTENTS. PAGE,
CHAPTER LIV.
The Land -Law andTenuresofLandsinlUinois,  i55
CHAPTER LV
Fun and Frolic in Primitive Illinois, -.  i57
CHAPTER LVI.
The Early Elections in Illinois for Governor and other Offi
cers. — Re-organization of the Judiciary, -    158
CHAPTER LVII.
Presidential Election in 1824,    i6a
CHAPTER LVIII.
Parties Commenced in Ilhnois. — Election of Joseph Duncan to
Congress,  -  -  162
CHAPTER LIX.
The Arrival of General LaFayette in the United States in 1824.
— His Visit to Illinois in 1825,    164.
CHAPTER LX.
The Author Practises Law. — Is Elected for the First Time to
the General Assembly in 1826,   165,
CHAPTER LXL
The Election of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois in
1826, -.  166
CHAPTER LXII.
Galena. — The Lead Mines in Illinois. — James Johnson Leased
the Mines. — Morality of Galena. — Duel with Rocks. — Nick
names. — "Joe Davis" County. — Fever River,.  16S
CHAPTER LXIIL
The Author a Member of the General Assembly of the State in
1826 and 1827. — General Assembly. — Their Names. — The
Penitentiary,      jyj
CHAPTER LXIV.
Re-organization of the Judiciary. — Revision of the Statute-Laws.
— Defining the Instruction of the Court to the Jury. — The Selec
tion of Juries. — The Viva Voce Election in the Legislature. 
Resolution Recommending Andrew Jackson for President  174^
CHAPTER LXV.
The Winnebago War.— Cause of the War.— The Whites Alarmed.

CONTENTS. xin
PAGE.
— General Dodge and Samuel Whitesides Command Com
panies. — General Atkinson takes Red Bird, the Winnebago
Chief. — Colonel Neal Commands a Regiment,  177
CHAPTER LXVI.
The Author Practises Law. — Party Spirit. — ^Jos. Duncan Elected
to Congress, and the Author to the State Legislature. — The
Names of the Members of the General Assembly. — Joint Com
mittee to Revise the Statutes. — School Lands Sold. — Common
Schools. — Canal Commissioners,  179
CHAPTER LXVII.
The European Immigration in lUinois,  182
CHAPTER LXVIII.
The Canvass for Governor of the State between Governor Kinney
and the Author,  -   184
CHAPTER LXIX.
The Author's Administration of the Government of the State. —
Friendship to Opponents. — The First Message. — Education. —
Internal Improvements.— -The Canal. — The Harbor at Chicago.
— Improvement of the Rivers by Congress. — Penitentiary. —
Public Lands. — The Judiciary,   192
CHAPTER LXX.
Continuation of the State Administration by the Author. — Mixture
of Party. — Election of Treasurer. — Prosecuting Attorneys. —
Signs of the Black-Hawk War. — Counties Formed. — Northern
Boundary of the State. — The Canal,  200
CHAPTER LXXI.
The Black- Hawk War. — Sketch of the Life of the Indian War
rior, Black Hawk. — He Attacks Fort Madison in 181 1. — Joins
the British, in Canada, Against the Americans, in 1812, in the
late War with Britain. — He is in many Battles against the Ameri
cans, on the Mississippi, in the same War,   203
CHAPTER LXXII.
The Black-Hawk War Continued.— The Cause of the War.— The
Hostility of the British Band of Sac and Fox Indians to the
Whites. — Petitions and Affidavits Proving the Facts. — Com
peUed to CaU Out Troops to Defend the Citizens. — Regret the
Necessity,  206

xiv CONTENTS. PAGE.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
War.— CaU on the Mihtia-on the 26th of May.— They meet at
Beardstown on the joth of June. — Letters to General Gaines and
Governor Clark.— Their Answers.— The Speedy Appearance of
a Large Army Deters the Surrounding Indians,  209
CHAPTER LXXIV
The Organization of the Volunteers North of Beardstown.— Pro
cured Arms and Provisions. — Respectable ai^d Distinguished
Citizens Joined the Army,     - 212-
CHAPTER LXXV.
March to Rock Island.— Black Hawk and Tribe Abandon their
Village. — The Volunteers Occupy the Sac ViUage. — Treaty
with Black Hawk and Warriors, -  214
CHAPTER LXXVI.
Volunteers Camped on the Site of the Present To^n of Stephen
son. — Stampede with the Horses. — Treaty with Black Hawk
and Warriors,  -  — 216
CHAPTER LXXVII.
The Close of the First Campaign in the Black-Hawk War. — The
Army Disbanded. — -Corn and Provisions Given to the Indians.
— Scenery of Rock Island. — The Indian Villages. — Indian
Tradition. — A White Spirit,  220
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
The Black- Hawk War in 1832. — The British Band of Indians In
vade the State. — Another Call on the Volunteers. — A Requisi
tion by Gen. Atkinson, of the United States Army,  222
CHAPTER LXXIX.
A Call on the Volunteers,  223
CHAPTER LXXX.
The Army Marched to the Mississippi. — Swim Henderson River
on the Route. — Army out of Provisions. — Boat Arrives with
Supplies. — March to Rock Island,  226
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Volunteers Received into the United States Service. — March up
Rock River. — General Atkinson in Command. — Arrive at Dix
on. — Orders to Major Stillman,  228
CHAPTER LXXXII.
StiUman's March. — Battle and Retreat. — Eleven White Men and
Eight Indians Killed,  231

CONTENTS. XV
PAGE.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
A Call for Two Thousand Volunteers. — The Army March to the
Battle Ground and Bury the Dead.^ — -The Volunteers Return to
Dixon,  23s
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
The whole Army March in Pursuit of the Indians. — Return Home
by Ottawa,   236
CHAPTER LXXXV.
The Army Returned Home. — Discharged . at Ottawa. — A Regi
ment Volunteered to Guard the Frontier. — Capt. Snyder's Bat
tle with the Indians,  238
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Indian Depredations. — Attack of Apple-Creek Fort. — BriUiant Vic
tory of Gen. Dodge. — Cap1#Stephenson's Battle,  243
CHAPTER LXXXVI I.
Arrival of the Troops on the Frontiers. — Organization of the New
Army. — Major Dement's Battle,  -  244
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
Army March to Dixon. — Posey's Brigade Ordered to Fort Hamil
ton. — Alexander's toward the Mississippi. — Atkinson, Regulars
and Volunteers, March up Rock River. — Find no Indians. —
Army Disperse for Provisions,   250
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
Sketch of the Life and Character of James D. Henry. — The Horse
Stampede,  --  253
CHAPTER XC.
Gen. Henry, in Violation of Orders, Decides to March in Pur
suit of the Indians. — Puts Down a Disturbance Among the
Volunteers — Found the Trail of Black Hawk. — Left the Heavy
Baggage,    -  255
CHAPTER XCL
Gen. Henry and Major Dodge, with their Respective Troops, in
Hot Chase of Black Hawk and Band. — Thunder Storm. — The
Four Lakes. — Battle of the Wisconsin,  -- 258
CHAPTER XCII.
The Army Gross the Wisconsin River at Helena. — Order of
March. — Bad Roads. — In a Few Days they Reach the Missis-

xvi CONTENTS. PAGE.
sippi. — Battle of the Bad Axe.— Steamboat Black Warrior Fires
on the Indians. — The War Closed,  263
CHAPTER XCIII.
Troops Guarding the Frontiers Discharged. — Peace Restored. —
Treaties Concluded. — Session of Land Whereon the State of
Iowa and a part of Wisconsin is Formed,  266
CHAPTER XCIV.
Congressional Elections. — Distinguished Members of the Legisla
ture. — The Second Message of the Author. — Nullification. —
President Jackson's Proclamation. — Fugitive Slave-Law. — Non-
Execution. — Impeachment of Judge Smith, .-  268
Chapter xcv.
The Early Institutions of Learning in IlAois. — ^Rock-Spring Semi
nary. — McKendre College, at Lebanon. — Ilhnois College. —
Seminaries at HUlsborough, Springfield, and Paris. — Mr. Wy-
man's High School in St. Louis,   273
CHAPTER XCVI.
Early Literature in Illinois. — Morris Birkbeck, Esq. — Dr. Lewis
C. Beck. — Dr. John M. Peck. — Hon. James Hall. — Hon.
Sidney Breese. — Prof John Russell. — The Venomous Worm. —
Mr. M. Tarver. — The Western Journal and CivUian. -—Anti
quarian Historical Society at Vandalia,  276
CHAPTER XCVII.
Improvements of the Country. — The Author Offers for Congress.
— Is Elected. — Mr. Snyder and Mr. Humphries his Opponents.
— Gov. Kinney and Gen. Duncan Offers for Governor. — Dun
can is Elected. — The Hon. Mr. Slade, the Member in Congress,
Dies, and the Author is Elected in his Place,  282
CHAPTER XCVIII.
The Author a Member of Congress. — It is Difficult to Effect much
in that Body. — Character of David Crockett. — City of Balti
more. — City of Washington. — President Jackson and the Au
gustan Age of Congress,  285
CHAPTER XCIX.
Party-Spirit in Congress. — The Globe wiA Intelligencer Newspapers.
— Eminent Men in Congress. — Party-Spirit, when it is Sec
tional, is Dangerous and Wrong,  288

CONTENTS. xvii
PAGE.
CHAPTER C.
Sketch of the Life and Character of General Jackson. — Anecdote
of Him with the Child and Lamb. — Sketch of Henry Clay. —
The Principles of the Whig and Democratic Parties,  290
CHAPTER CI.
Measures in Congress in 1834-5. — The Bank of the United States.
— The French Spoliations. — The viva-voce Resolution of the
Author. — Northern Boundary of lUinois. — Hon. T. Burges, ... 295
CHAPTER CIL
Executive Influence. — Proscription for Opinion's Sake. — Exe
cutive Power of Removals from Office. — The Convention Sys
tem. — The Life of President Jackson Assailed,  303
CHAPTER cm.
The Eulogy of Mr. Adams on Gen. La Fayette. — Sketch of Ex-
President John Q. Adams,  307
CHAPTER CIV.
The Military Academy at West Point,  310
CHAPTER CV.
Further Proceedings in Congress. — The Admission of the Terri
tories of Michigan and Arkansas into the Union as States. — A
Torpedo in the Potomac River. — A Visit to Washington's
Tomb. — The Key of the Bastile of France.— A Tide- Water
Joke on the Author. — The Author in Congress Seven Years
and Eight Sessions. — The General Duties the Author Performed
in Congress,  312
CHAPTER CVI.
The Author Marries in the District of Columbia. — Out of Con
gress Two Years. — The Lovejoy Riot at Alton,  317
CHAPTER CVII.
The First Railroad Constructed West of the Mountains by the
Author and Others. — Other Railroads in lUinois,  321
CHAPTER CVIII.
The Internal Improvements of the State in 1836. — Railroads. —
The Canal,  -  -  323
CHAPTER CIX.
The Improvements and Growth of the Country. — In 1840, the
Whole State was under Organized Government, and the Wilder-

xviii CONTENTS. PAGE.
ness Disappeared. — Indians Removed. — Indian Traits of Char
acter — George E. Walker's Command of the Indians, ....i.i. 326
CHAPTER ex.
The Election. — Governor Carlin. — He appointed the Author a
Commissioner to make a Loan of Money for the Canal. — Ob
tains a Loan of a MiUion Dollars in Philadelphia. — Embarks for
Europe. — Lands at Liverpool, England,    330
CHAPTER CXI.
The First Sight of Europe to a Backwoodsman. — The Enghsh
and French. — Liverpool. — St. James' Cemetery. — The Tunnel.
— Railroad. — The Blue-Coat Boys. — The BlundeUs. — Buildings
in Europe not Gay. — Statue of Lord Nelson. — Hotels in Eng
land not Gaudy,  334
CHAPTER CXIL
London. — Its Leading Features. — Its Size. — Its Wealth. — Its
Antiquity. — In 1065, WUham the Conqueror gave it a Char
ter.— Old and New City. —St. Paul's Church. — Westminster
Abbey. — Six Thousand Children in St. Paul's Church. — Bridges.
— The Tunnel under the Thames. — Free Schools in London.
— The Carriages in England,  ..^  337
CHAPTER CXIIL
Visit to Oxford. — Colleges. — Libraries. — Ancient Buildings. —
Glass Broken by CromweU. — Return to London. — The Tower
of London. — The Parliament. — Lord Brougham. — Short
Speeches. — The Courts. — Mayor's Court. — Government of
London,  340
CHAPTER CXIV.
Visit to France. — Dover. — Lands at Boulogne. — Monument. —
French Diligence, a Carriage. — Journey to Paris,  3.J 4
CHAPTER CXV.
City of Paris.— Public Buildings are Splendid and Brilliant.—
Soldiers for the City Police! — Churches. — Palais Royal. —
Louvre. — The Paintings. — Monument for Bonaparte. — Obe-
hsk. — Pariiament.— Garden of Plants.— Ely sian Fields,  347
CHAPTER CXVI.
Exhibition of the Arts.— Horses, Carts, and Plows in t'rance.—
River Seme and the Bribes. — The Boulevard.— Mont de

CONTENTS. xix
PAGE.
Mouhn.— Palace of St. Cloud.— French and English Ideas of
Free Government. — Napoleon Much Respected. — Catacombs.
— ^Weak Wine. — Dancing on the Sabbath  351
CHAPTER CXVII.
Left Paris. — Brussels. — Antwerp. — Cathedral at Antwerp. — Voy
age to London. — Windsor Castle. — The Curses of Monarchy. —
Partial Loan of Money from the Banker, John Wright. — Travel
from London to Bath and Bristol. — Voyage in the "Great West-
em" home to the United States. — A Storm on the Ocean,  355
CHAPTER CXVIII.
The Mormons. — Sketch of Joseph Smith, the Founder. — Pre
tended Vision. — The Angel. — Plates of Metal. — Translation. —
Book of Mormon. — First Church Estabhshed. — Similarity of
Smith to Mahomet and Cromwell,  359
CHAPTER CXIX.
Mormons CaUed Themselves the "Latter-Day Saints." — Ardent
and Devout. — Mormon Emigration to the Far West and Kirt-
land. — Civil War in Missouri. — Horrid Murder of a Mormon
Boy. — The Mormons Expelled from Missouri,  363
CHAPTER CXX.
Mormons Assembled in Nauvoo in Great Numbers. — Cause of Dis
satisfaction. — Excited Parties. — Mormons Could Turn the Scale.
— Joseph Smith Introduced to the President. — His Person. —
No Relief from Congress. — Charters from the Illinois Legisla
ture,  366
CHAPTER CXXI.
The Mormon Corporation Abuse the Power Given Them. — Schism
in the Church. — Press Destroyed. — Joseph and Hiram Smith
Murdered in Jail. — Mormons Leave the State. — The Temple,.. 368
CHAPTER CXXII.
The Icarian Community. — Sketch of the Life M. Cabet, the
Founder,  371
CHAPTER CXXIII.
The System and Philosophy of the Icarian Community,  374

XX CONTENTS. PAGE.
CHAPTER CXXIV.
Freshets in the Mississippi River. — Calm in Politics.-^Isms. —
Mexican War. — The Author Elected Twice to the General As
sembly. — Elected Speaker of the House. — The <}eneral Occu
pation of the Author,  377
CHAPTER CXXV.
Improvements of the State,   381

MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER I.

Early Education forms to a great extent the Character. — The place of
the nativity of the Author.
Whoever attempts to write the history of his own times, of
scenes in which he himself was an actor, should relate the story
¦of his childhood. Such a relation is the key to his history. The
circumstances that surrounded him in early years, leave their
indelible impress upon his future character. In after life, other
forms of society, and other scenes, may give a new direction to
his actions, effecting a radical change in his manners, and appa
rently in his whole being. But, to the intelligent observer of
human character, the impressions stamped upon his mind and
heart in childhood, may be traced by their influence upon him,
to the latest period of his existence.
Who that is acquainted with the early history of Andrew
Jackson will fail to discover the germ of his future character in
the impressions given to his mind and heart, while he was yet a
child, in the rude pine cottage of his widowed mother, on the
borders of the Carolinas ? She told him, with deep feeling, of
the wrongs of her native Ireland, and taught him resistance to
oppression, even to the knife. But far better still, she tai%ht
him, almost from infancy, to bow his knee in prayer, and to rev
erence that Unseen Power, whose goodness and love are never
trusted in vain. No American need be told how Andrew Jack
son fought for his country, or with what childlike confidence
in old age he yielded up his spirit to Him who gave it.
The influence of outward circumstances in moulding the char
acter of an entire community, is seen in the early history of New
England, and that of the pioneer settlements of the West. The
Pilgrims and their immediate descendants occupied a region
swarming with hostile savages, and became as skilful hunters
and as daring Indian fighters as ever tracked the savage through
the forests of Kentucky and Tennessee. The same undiscrimi-
nating thirst for vengeance upon the whole Indian race burned
in the bosom of the Puritans, which at a later period was so con
spicuously exhibited by the backwoodsmen of the West. The
slaughter of the " praying Indians " at the Moravian mission of

2 MY OWN TIMES.
Gnadenhueten, on the Muskingum, finds its parallel in the butch
ery of the venerable Catholic priest, Sebastian Rasle, and his
Indian converts, at their village on the banks of the Kennebec,
in Maine. Even the murder of the women and children or
Logan, the story of which is told with eloquence by Jefferson,
has its counterpart in the melancholy fate of the captured wife
and children of the brave chieftain, Philip of Mount Hope. I
congratulate myself, that my humble lot, from the dawn of life
to the years of manhood, was cast upon the frontiers of the
West, .where toil and danger and privation was my inheritance.
I was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of"
February, 1788. My father, Robert Reynolds, and my mother,
whose maiden name was Margaret Moore, were natives of Ire
land, from which country they emigrated to the United States,^
landing at Philadelphia, in the year 1785.
Several of the near connections of our family, including my
paternal grandfather, and his household, emigrated at the same
time, most of whom settled in Tennessee.
My father was an intelligent, strong-minded man, who felt.
deeply and acted with decision. One of the most prominent;
traits of his character was hostility, bitter and undying, to the
British government. It was this feeling that impelled him, as it
has many thousand other natives of that ill-fated, oppressed
country, to turn his back upon Ireland, and seek a home for
himself and his children in
"The land of the free and the home of the brave."
The descendants of the Milesian race, the primitive inhabi
tants of Ireland, however hiimble may be their condition, scorn
to mingle their blood with that of their Saxon oppressors. I
ha^ often heard my father boast, with conscious pride and
kindling eye, that he and his ancestors belonged to that race,,
and th^t not a drop of English blood flowed in his veins. It is
not imf)ossible, however, that he may have been mistaken, and
that our family is, in fact, of English origin, for, I have met with
many of the same name in England. But I regard the whole-
subject of ancestry and descent, as utterly frivolous, and un
worthy of a moment's serious attention; believing with Pope, that
Honor and shame from no condition rise :
Act weU your part, there all the honor lies.
I have alluded to the invincible hatred of my father toward
the British government, principally because the same feelings
are shared by a vast majority of the Irish people, at this very
hour. It was that spirit which impelled the Irish volunteers to-
seek the front ranks in every forlorn hope of our revolution.

MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER II.

The Emigration of the Author's Father to Tennessee. — Indian Wars. —
The murder of George Mann, in 1794, by the Indians.
When I was about six months old, my parents removed to
Tennessee, and settled at the base of the Copper Ridge Moun
tain, about fourteen miles north-east of the present city of Knox
ville. My earliest recollections are connected with this spot, at
a period when I was probably not more than five or six years
old. The nightly alarm of hostile Indians, and the mountains, '
with their majestic summits often veiled in clouds, made an im
pression upon my mind which the lapse of years and the varied
scenes through which I have since passed, have failed to oblit
erate. I well remember seeing my parents, whenever a night
attack of the Indians was expected, bar the door of our cabin.
After one of these alarms, my father, with gun in hand, looked
cautiously out in every direction, to see that no Indian was lurk
ing near the house, before he would venture to open the door.
The wakeful vigilance and resolute spirit of my father left the
savages but slender hopes of success in that quarter, and our
house was never assaulted, though the tracks of the Indian moc
casin were often seen upon the premises.
My grandfather, who resided in the vicinity, had built a fort
to which our family and others repaired in times of more than
ordinary danger, and there, in frontier parlance, "forted" till the
danger was over.
In this manner the settlements of Tennessee were harassed
for more than a quarter of a century. For many years previous
to Wayne's treaty with the Indians in 1795, the Cherokees were
deadly hostile to the frontier settlers, and killed not a fe^ of the
pioneers of that State.
In 1794, my father rented his place on the frontier, to George
Mann, a recent emigrant, and retired with his family into the
interior. On the evening of the 25th of May, of the same year,
Mr. Mann went out after supper to attend to his horses in the
stable, and the Indians, who had probably watched all his mo
tions from their lurking place, shot him. He ran about three-
quarters of a mile to a cave for shelter, but his pursuers were
fast on his trail and gave him no time for concealing himself
He was found and killed, and his lifeless body mangled and
mutilated in the most shocking manner. But their thirst for
blood was not yet sated. They hastened back to the house,' in
the expectation that the unprotected wife and children of their
late victim would become an easy prey. They attempted to
gain an entrance into the cabin by forcing open the door, but this

4 MY OWN TIMES.
Mrs. Mann had securely barred. Fortunately, or, rather ought
I not to say Providentially, but a few days before she had re
quested her husband to instruct her how to set the double trig
gers of his rifle. This he did, carefully showing and explaining
to her the whole process.
One of the Indians, by great exertion and the assistance of
the others, had partly succeeded in forcing his body between the
door and the rude casing, usually termed in a cabin the "cheek"
and would soon have gained an entrance into the house, when the
fate of the whole family would instantly have been decided. At
this critical moment, Mrs. Mann set the triggers of her husband's
rifle and, taking deliberate aim, fired. The ball passed through
the body of the nearest Indian and wounded the one immedi
ately behind him.
This was a reception which they had by no means expected
from a woman, and they hastily retired from the cabin, carrying
off their dead and wounded companions. Then going to the
stable, they took out the horses, set it on fire, and beat a hasty
retreat, taking the horses along with them.
The flames of the burning building rose high, swaying to and
fro in the night air, rendering every surrounding object, the
forest, and the outlines of the Copper Ridge, distinctly visible.
It was a scene that might well have tried the fortitude of that
lone woman, with her infant children, ignorant as she was of the
fate of her husband. But when has the devoted wife and mother
ever failed to meet, with invincible fortitude, danger, and death
itself for those she loved }
Mrs. Mann was apprehensive that the house would take fire
from the flames and sparks of the stable, but Providentially it
did not She waited till the building was burned down to the
ground, and all danger from that source over, then taking her
little children, she fled in the darkness of the night through the
forest, a mile and a half, to the residence of my grandfather,
calling all the way, at the top of her voice, the name of her hus
band, still clinging to the hope that he escaped with life, and
that the sound would guide him to his wife and children. It
need not be told that Mrs. Mann and her fatherless children
found protection and sympathy at the house of my grandfather,
for the dwellers on the frontiers are proverbial for their kindness
to the afflicted, and to all who need their aid. Thus by a mys
terious interposition of Divine Providence, our family was spared
from the tragic fate which befell that of George Mann.

MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER III.

The early pursuits and impressions of the Author. — His visit to the
ancient domicile of his parents in Tennessee. — His intense feelings
on the scenes of his infancy. — His first School Teachers.
I REGARD it as a happy circumstance for which I ought ever to
feel thankful, that my parents were in moderate circumstances,
rendering it necessary for me to share in the labors of the farm
from early boyhood, up to the years of manhood. I remember
of plowing, when but a small lad, and yet retain a vivid recollec
tion of the knocks, and no very gentle ones, which the plow-
handles gave me among the stumps, stones, and roots of an
East-Tennessee clearing.
To say nothing of the influence which early habits of industry
may have exerted over my moral character, toiling in the open
air, becoming inured to the vicisitudes of the seasons, sunshine
and frost, rain and snow, gave me a vigorous constitution and
sound health, which made me to undergo in my Indian cam
paigns, hardships and privations that would have driven any
one, not early inured to labor, from the field.
In 1853, I paid a visit to the State of Tennessee, and made a
pilgrimage to the home of my infancy and childhood, the place
where once stood the humble frontier cabin of my father. I
now revisited that spot for the first time since we bade it adieu
in 1800, and removed to Illinois. I had left it a mere boy; a
careless, happy child. I returned to it in the wane of life. More
than half a century stood between those two points (;?£ time.
During all that long period of my humble, yet eventful history,
the home of my early years lived fresh and green in my
memory, just as I had seen it in childhood.
I had expected to find the whole appearance of the country
changed, and was not surprised that highly -cultivated farms,
with their elegant mansions, occupied a region which I had seen
covered with almost unbroken forest But the most striking
feature of the landscape remained unchanged. The mountains
were the same. Their lofty summits rose to the heavens with
the same sublime grandeur that excited my awe and admiration
when a child.
I knew the place where our cabin had stood, though every
vestige of its walls and roofs had disappeared for more than a
generation. Nothing now remained to mark the spot, except a
slight elevation of the ground where the chimney had been, and
a few flat stones that had once been our hearth.
I visited this hallowed spot alone. I stood upon the hearth
stone of my childhood. The memories of early days thronged
around my heart. It almost seemed as if I was once more a

6 MY OWN TIMES.
child, listening to the stories my mother told me in the long
winter evenings around that very hearth. How well did I re
member telling her all my childish griefs, and with what gentle
ness she chided my waywardness, banishing all my sorrows with
her affectionate soothing words. I almost fancied that I could
again feel her gentle hand, parting the luxuriant hair that shaded
my youthful brow, and her warm kiss upon my forehead and
lips. I care net who may sneer at the confession, I wept like a
child as I stood alone upon that hearth-stone, and thought of
you, my fond, my affectionate, my sainted mother.
I have already told the reader that I was trained to labor
from the time that I was capable of rendering the slightest as
sistance to my father on the farm. But my education was not
neglected, that my parents might receive the earnings of my
labor. They were always ready to make any sacrifice in their
power to educate their children. At that early period, schools
in Tennessee were few and far between, and these few not al
ways of a very valuable class. They were generally taught by
itinerant pedagogues, mostly Irishmen, often of intemperate
habits, and with very few qualifications for an employment so
responsible as that of an instructor of youth.
I was sent to school at a tender age. My first teacher was a
cross, ill-natured Irishman, as unsuitable a character as can well
be imagined to have the charge of a young and diffident child.
I was often severely chastised, though I had not intentionally
committed any fault. The scholars soon learned to detest him,
and learned little else. The unjust severity with which I was
treated made the very name of school odious to me.
I mention this circumstance, which may appear to many as a
trivial one, simply to caution my readers to beware of commit
ting the instruction of their young children into the hands of a
teacher of bad morals and disposition, or ill -governed temper.
Kindness of heart is quite as important a qualification in a
teacher as an acquaintance with the cube root
My next teacher was a just and kind-hearted man, who was
much esteemed by his pupils. Under his tuition, I became fond
of going to school, and improved rapidly. It was a favorite
maxim of my father that, the physical powers of the student
ought to be exercised, as well as the mental faculties. In con
formity with that theory, I was compelled to devote half of my
time to severe labor, and the other half to study. I believe that
system an eminently judicious one. If it was more generally
adopted, fewer young men would leave our colleges and our
institutions of learning with an impaired constitution that
renders their education of little value. I attended these schools
in I794-S-
I have already remarked that the character of a community
is generally moulded in conformity with the circumstances that

MY OWN TIMES. 7
surround it. The mode of life, the habits and customs that
existed in Tennessee in the "olden times," were such as natu-
xally and almost unavoidably arose out of the condition of
Lsettlers of a sparsely-inhabited frontier with little intercourse
Avith the world beyond their mountains, and menaced day and
night by a savage foe. Those habits and modes of life have
long since passed away, with the circumstances that gave them
-birth, and exist only in the traditions of other times.
The condition of our border- settlers, even on the remotest
confines of the distant West, is far different from that of the pio
neers of Tennessee. Hardly is there now a corner of our wide
domain, however remote, that has not felt the onward impulse
•of this "stirring age." The steamboat awakens the long slum
bering echoes of the forest, and enterprising merchants send the
necessaries of hfe, and most of its superfluities, to our remotest
settlements.
CHAPTER IV.
'The early Habits, Dress, and Amusements in Tennessee. — Barring out
the School Teacher.
I SHALL be pardoned, I trust, if I attempt to sketch, with a
¦few brief outlines, customs and manners that no longer exist,
and all remembrance of which, in a few years more, will have
passed away.
The backwoodsmen of Tennessee had almost no trade, except
the small barter among themselves. All the articles of mer
chandise ,that came to that region were transported in wagons
from Baltimore and Philadelphia, over bad roads, and across the
mountains. I remember well the interest which the arrival of
-one of these "store wagons" was sure to excite. The settlers
from far and near gathered around it, eagerlyienquiring if the
trader had brought out this and that article, and what was the
price. The clothing of both sexes was mostly spun, wove, and made
up by the family. The men and boys were dressed in hunting
shirts, and other garments of linsey, or as frequently was the
case, in those of deer-skin. These hunting shifts, especially
those for the young, were generally ornamented with a rustic
fringe. A neat, modest girl will always continue to look well, even in
the coarsest dress. Her own intuitive taste is a far better guide
than the "fashion plates" of a Ladies' Magazine. Many a
courtly dame have I seen in London and Paris, flaunting in
silks and laces and glittering with diamonds, who, to my hum
ble taste, appeared far less attractively dressed than not a few of
•our backwoods girls in the simple homespun attire.

8 MY OWN TIMES.
Amusements on the frontier were not wanting, either ia
variety or interest. "Barring out the Master" was almost uni
versally attempted by the scholars of the frontier schools, on
the eve of a holiday, and more particularly that of Christmas.
At the latter season, the school was attended by many young
men, and half-grown boys, who managed the whole affair. I he
first symptom of the "Barring Out" was the respectful petition
of the large scholars to the teacher, that he would give the
school a vacation of a week or two. This he alm9st invariably
refused, for if granted, he would be compelled to make up every
day of the vacation, at the close of this term, which would often
interfere with his other engagements. As soon as the refusal of
the school-master to grant their request was made known to the
school, the leaders in the "Barring Out," with great secrecy
planned their mode of operation, and with a feeling that they
were conducting an important affair, upon the success of which.
their own honor and that of the school depended.
No sooner had the school been dismissed for the day, on the
evening appointed for the commencement of the rebellion, and
the teacher fairly out of sight, than the campaign began.
Their victory depended upon preventing the teacher from
entering the school-house again, till he had yielded to their de
mands. A frontier school-house, in those days, was usually
a log building of a rather primitive order of architecture. It
had but one door and one window, the only openings through
which the enemy, by any possibility, could gain an entrance.
Their fortress, therefore, did not require quite as large a force to
man it as either Fort Diamond or the Rock of Gibraltar. Pro
visions in abundance were laid in, enough to last the youthful
garrison during a siege of several days, and brought into the
fortress. Among other supplies was a very liberal allowance of
corn whiskey, which in those times was used as a common bev
erage by all classes. A store of pine knots was provided, whose
light supplied the place of gas and spermaceti candles. The
window was rendered secure, the door barred, and henceforth,
during the siege, no one would be permitted to enter without
giving the watchword and countersign. The whole night long
was devoted to frolic and fun. A roaring fire blazed in the
capacious fireplace, at which the boys broiled meat, cooked
corn-dodgers and other articles of food, for a banquet. They-
literally occupied "the ground floor" of the building, for the
floor of these school-houses was generally the bare earth. They
had, therefore, no fear of making a grease spot upon the carpet.
The neighbors, who were in the secret, aiding and abetting
the boys, were admitted, and took part in the frolic. Cuffy,
with his fiddle, was an indispensible part of the entertainment.
Dancing and other amusements were kept up till broad day
light. The boys awaited with a share of bravado, but with real

MY OWN TIMES. 9
anxiety, the arrival of the teacher, at the usual hour, to open
the school. This was the all-important crisis. If he succeeded,
their hopes of a vacation were at an end, their valor would be
come a public theme of ridicule, and not a few of them stand a
(pretty fair chance of receiving a handsome thrashing. When
the hour of trial arrived in earnest, it often happened that those
very boys who had been the loudest in boasting of the feats of
valor they would perform, suddenly found that their courage,
like that of Bob Acres, had some how or other, all oozed out
at the ends of their fingers. In this respect they were not much
different from men. In our Indian wars, and on various other
occasions, I have discovered that the fierce, swaggering fire-
eater, who is ready to face an earthquake when no earthquake
is to be faced, is pretty sure to become as harmless as a quaker-
gun, whenever he finds himself in the presence of real danger.
True, manly courage is never boastful, nor does it put on a
fierce, overbearing air.
Sometimes the teacher himself is gratified at being barred out,
and a good excuse thus afforded him for a short vacation. In
that case, after a little mock resistance, he pretends to yield with
great reluctance to their invincible prowess, and grants them all
they ask. Instances sometimes, though rarely, occurred in
which the obstinate resistance of the teacher was cured by duck
ing him in cold water.
Numerous kinds of plays were common among the youth, in
some of which both sexes took a part One of these, called
"shuffling the brogue," was probably introduced by the emi
grants from Ireland, for the name is unmistakably Irish, though
it is precisely the same play that is known in England and our
own Eastern States, by the name of " hunting the sHpper." I
could mention many sports and pastimes peculiar to the fron
tier, which have long since passed away. The descendants of
the backwoodsmen have become too much improved in their
manners to tolerate any amusement that is not doubly refined
and politely insipid.
Dancing parties were frequent. No royal birthnight ball ever
exhibited finer specimens of manly and feminine beauty than
did these rustic assemblies. The girls grew up to womanhood
in the most profound ignorance of corsets, and the whole tribe
of instruments of torture with which modern fine ladies distort
and disfigure their forms in attempting to improve them. They
were accustomed, from their infancy, to healthful exercise, plain
food, and the pure mountain air. The consequence was, that
nature moulded and rounded their fully-developed forms into
models for the statuary.
I doubt not that many will smile at my having dwelt thus
long upon the amusements of the youth on the frontiers, re-

10 MY OWN TIMES.
garding the pastimes of childhood as a very trivial theme. So
thought not the philosophers and statesmen of Greece.

CHAPTER V.
£arly History and Commerce of Tennessee.
Although the first settlement of Tennessee was previous to
"MY OWN TIMES," I shall give a rapid sketch of that and some
succeeding portions of the history of that State. Without such
a sketch, some portions of my work would be little understood.
The territorial possessions of North Carolina, long previous to
the American Revolution, were extended, by virtue of a Royal
grant, from the eastern boundary of that colony to the Missis
sippi River. This territory, comprising the present State. of
Tennessee, was an unknown region, inhabited only by hostile
tribes, till about the year 1766, when the settlements of Virginia
and North Carolina began to extend to the western slope of
the great Alleghany chain, into the district of country known at
that period by the name of "the Watagah country," from an
inconsiderable river of that name. From this period, popula
tion began slowly, but steadily, to extend farther and farther
West, till it reached the great mountain range that divides East
from West Tennessee. Here, for a long period, the onward
wave of population was staid.
It was not till the year 1767, that North Carolina extended
the jurisdiction of her laws over that region. In that year the
whole extent of Tennessee, East and West, was organized into
a single county, to which the Legislature, in honor of the future
Commander-in-Chief of the American armies, fighting the bat
tles of the Revolution, gave the name of Washington. Sullivan
County was estabhshed in 1679, Greene in 1783, and Hawkins in
1776. All these counties were in East Tennessee, on the west
side of the mountains. Davidson County was established in
1780, and Tennessee County in 1788. These were all the coun
ties organized by North Carolina, within the present limits of
Tennessee, before the latter passed from under the jurisdiction
of the parent State.
The French colonists of North America, from the earliest
period of our colonial history, were successful rivals of our own
countrymen in their trade with the Indians. From some cause
or other, they were far more successful in gaining the confidence
and friendship of the Indian tribes scattered over the western
country. In 1700, the French trappers visited West Tennessee, traded
and established friendly relations with the tribes on that side of
the mountains, and finally extended their trade with the Indians
over East Tennessee.

MY OWN TIMES, 1 1
Charleville, an enterprising Frenchman, ascended the Missis
sippi and Ohio Rivers with a stock of goods suited to the In
dian trade, and established a trading-house at the mouth of the
Tennessee, where the flourishing town of Paducah now stands.
This was in the year 17 14. Another French trading-post was
established on the same river, about twelve miles from its
mouth ; and several others in the vicinity of the present city of ¦
Nashville. Near the latter place, the French, at one period,
were accustomed to manufacture salt, and hence that region, for
a long period, was known among the Americans by the name of
the "French Licks''
These French traders mostly had white families residing with
them, but no town or village of that nation was ever formed in
Tennessee. American hunters and explorers visited West Tennessee in
1769. In the following year, a party of them descended the
Cumberland River, with a large cargo of peltries and furs, which
they disposed of at Natchez, which was then a Spanish town,
forming a part of Florida. This was the first attempt to navi
gate the Cumberland.
In 1775, Capt. De Montbrun, subsequently commandant at
Kaskaskia, traded and made his residence near Nashville. In
1778 a few cabins were erected, and a crop of corn raised in
West Tennessee, near Bledsoe's Lick. A large colony emi
grated to that section from Long Island in the Holston. A
branch of this party went by land, under the command of Gen.
Robinson, crossing the mountains at the Cumberland Gap, and
wending their way through the Southern part of Kentucky.
These intrepid emigrants suffered many hardships in their long
and tedious journey, but under the judicious leadership of that
excellent man. Gen. Robinson, they at length reached their
place of destination in safety. This was in 1780. The other
division of that colony, under the command of Col. Donaldson,
descended the Holston and Tennessee. Their sufferings on this
voyage were truly appalling. Many deaths occurred on the route
from the hardships and privations they endured. At length the
survivors, worn down with toils and sufferings, joined the other
division of the colony at the Bluffs. This body of emigrants
was the nucleus of the settlement of Cumberland, as West Ten
nessee was then, and for a long period afterward, styled.
In 1782, the Legislature of North Carolina laid off a town at
the "Bluffs," and named it Nashville, in honor of Gen. Nash, a
gallant officer of the Revolutionary War. On the 6th of October
of the following year, was held the first court ever organized in
West Tennessee. It was held at the new town of Nashville,
which was made the county-seat of Davidson County, which at
that period embraced an area large enough for a small State.
While the tejritory comprised within the present boundaries

12 MY OWN TIMES.
of the State of Tennessee, yet belonged to North Carolina, a
determination became almost universal, among the settlers, to
"cut loose" from all connection with the parent State, and
establish a government of their own. In pursuance of this
feehng, delegates were elected from the three counties of
Washington, Greene, and Sullivan, who met in convention at
Jonesborough, on the 23rd of August 1784. to deliberate upon
the subject of a separate state organization.
They declared the territory an independent state, and gave
it the name of the "State of Franklin" in honor of our great
American philosopher and patriot. Another convention was
held shortly after, at the same place, which adopted a constitu
tion for the new State, and confirmed the doings of the former
delegates. Neither the parent State, nor the General Government, was
at ah disposed to sanction these proceedings. -North Carolina
relieved herself from this unpleasant controversy, by ceding
the whole territory to the United States. A territorial gov
ernment was estabhshed by Congress, and Wilham Blount
appointed by .the President, General Washington, as the first
Governor. Gen. White, the father of the distinguished Senator, Hugh L.
White, laid off the town of Knoxville in 1791. At that period
it was included in the county of Hawkins. Gov. Blount, and
the territorial judges, created the county of Knox, and made
Knoxville its county seat, and the seat of government for the
territory. In 1796, Tennessee was admitted into the Union,
and has ever since held a high rank in our confederacy. The
State of Franklin, with its constitution, was permitted silently
and quietly to sink into oblivion, and not a few of the present
inhabitants of Tennessee are ignorant of the fact that such an
organization, with all the fearful elements of discord which it
might, under other circumstances, have contained, ever existeu.
It is difficult at the present day, fully to realize the disad
vantages under which Tennessee labored, from the period of its
first settlement, down to the cession of Louisiana to the United
States in 1803. With a soil and climate admirably adapted to
the production of the most valuable agricultural staples of the
country, it was useless for the people to cultivate their rich soil
'beyond what was needful for their own consumption. There
was no market for any surplus. No possible price at which any
kind of produce might be sold, would pay the expense of trans
porting to Baltimore, the nearest eastern market, by a land
carriage of many hundred miles, over mountains, and on roads
that were often hardly passable with empty wagons.
The Mississippi, the natural channel of commerce for the
entire West, was closed against them. The banks of that river,
on both sides, for several hundred miles of the Icjwer part of its

MY OWN TIMES. 13
course, including the port of New Orleans, was in the possession
of Spain, whose avowed policy it was to cut off the Western
people from the navigation of that river.
Almost the only two articles produced in East Tennessee,
that would justify the expense of land-carriage to the eastern
cities, were saltpetre and gingseng. The first-named article was
found in abundance in many of the mountain caves. It is
hardly needful to inform the reader that gingseng is a root that
grows wild in certain locations, but all attempts to cultivate the
plant have failed. The early Jesuit missionaries to China found
a root in use at the court of the Emperor, and by the more
wealthy among the Mandarins, to the medical properties of
which they ascribed almost miraculous power. It was supposed
to grow nowhere else in the world, but in a single mountainous
district of no great extent, in China, and readily commanded a
most extravagant price. The missionaries sent a description of
the plant to Europe. In 1720, the Abbe Lafiteau, a Jesuit
missionary among the Indians, discovered it in the forests of
Canada. Half a century later, it was found to grow in abund
ance in the United States. For many years, gingseng obtained
a ready sale to our eastern merchants, who exported it to China.
The high price at which it was sold made it a valuable article of
traffic to the early emigrants of East Tennessee, cut off, as they
were, from the usual means of trade and commerce.

CHAPTER VI.
The Emigration of the Writer's Father from Tennessee to Kaskaskia,
lUinois. — -Fort Massacre.
The Spanish Government to afford protection to their fron
tiers from the Indians and the British in Canada, encouraged
the Americans to emigrate and settle in their domains, west of
the Mississippi. Lands were bountifully bestowed on all immi
grants, and such other encouragement was held out to them,
that many prosperous and important American settlements were
formed in the Spanish country. The lead mines also encouraged
immigration to New Spain, by which name the country west ot
the Mississippi was frequently called.
The large and respectable family and connections of the
Murphys, who located on the waters of the St. Francis River,
south-west of Ste. Genevieve, in the present State of Missouri,
emigrated from Tennessee, not far from the residence of rny
father, and gave popularity to the emigration to New Spain.
My father caught the mania — sold out and started for the
Spanish country west of the Mississippi.
.We left Tennessee in February, 1800, with eight horses and
two wagons, for New Spain. Our company consisted of my

14 MY OWN TIMES.
parents, six children, I the oldest, three hired men, and a colored
woman. We had also another animal with us, a dog, that fol
lowed us through good and evil report to the end of our jour
ney. Fortunately we had no other stock. Our clothing, beds,
and some farming utensils, with our provisions, made the light
freight for our two wagons, which was fortunate, as heavy
burdens would have been a great injury to us. We crossed
Clinch River at Kingston, and entered the Indian Territory. At
that day, the Cumberland mountains were a dreary wilderness,
not a settlement on them between Kingston and near the Cum
berland River, at the mouth of the Caney Fork, where Carthage
now stands. We had strong teams and light loads, so that we
crossed the mountains without difficulty. My father had been
over these mountains often, guarding the travellers across them,
in the time of the Indian wars, and was thereby well acquainted
with the various localities in them. This made our travel over
them the more pleasant and expeditious. We passed Dixon's
Spring, Bledsoe's Lick, Gallatin, and crossed Red River not far
from the mouth. We then entered the State of Kentucky and
passed the site of the present Hopkinsville. At that day, the
jail was the only building in the place. In this vicinity we wit
nessed the first semblance of the prairies, and in many places
they were tolerably well developed. We passed the residence
of Judge Prince, where Princeton now stands, and the next con
spicuous stand was Ritchie's Horse Mill.
At Lusk's ferry, we reached the noble and beautiful Ohio
River in the evening. The river was full up to the top of the
banks, and exhibited a magnificence and beauty that was the
admiration of our whole travelling caravan. We had often read
and heard of the beauty and splendor of this famous river, but it
surpassed the liveliest and brightest conceptions we had formed
of it. But the pleasures we enjoyed at the sight of this beauti
ful stream soon vanished, when we cast our eyes across it to
the dreary waste of wilderness that extended almost indefinitely
from its north-western shores. We were encompassed with a
wilderness, filled with savages and wild beasts, and extending on
the north to the pole itself, and on the west to China, except a
few straggling settlements on the Mississippi and the Wabash
Rivers. And to make our miseries complete, our three em
ployed men, who had been engaged to work for my father for a
year, abandoned us, took with them three horses, and left us
desolate in ^this wilderness. The scene was appalling and dis
tressing. My parents and six children, myself only twelve
years old, without assistance camped in a wilderness.
My father was an energetic man, and possessed extraordinary
firmness. He had crossed the Rubicon, and determined to travel
on to the west of the Mississippi. He employed a man to assist
us through the wilderness, and after making the necessary ar-

MY OWN TIMES. 15
rangements at Lusk's ferry, we crossed the Ohio on a beautiful
Sunday morning. We landed at the site in Illinois where Gol-
conda now stands, in Pope County. I well recollect, that the
west side of the Ohio was then called "the Indian Country." I '
recollect asking Mr. Lusk how far it was to the next town.? and
he laughed and said, "one hundred and ten miles to Kaskaskia, 1
which is the first settlement on the route."
In this journey to Kaskaskia, we were doomed to encounter
much difficulty and hardship. The first trouble we had to sur
mount was a hurricane, that prostrated the trees across the road
in such manner, that we could not move on at all until a passage
for the wagons was cut through the fallen timber. At this scene
of the tornado it snowed on us, and we knew not at first what
distance the hurricane extended. We would not return, and it
looked impossible at first to pass through so much prostrate
timber. The labor of my father surmounted the difficulty. He
carefully examined the route, where the last number of trees
impeded, and commenced he and his hired man to cut a road
over and round this fallen timber. I drove a wagon at a time on
the new cut road, and then went back for the other; so that the
axes might work all the time. At last we got through the fallen
trees, better than we first anticipated.
No other impedimenti interrupted us, until we reached Big
Muddy River. This stream we found swimming, and we lay at
it until we could ford it; as no one lived at it, and there was
neither ferry or bridge over it We lay there two weeks, which
appeared as long as two years in Paris or London.
On a clear evening, the river commenced to rise without any
rain falling, where we camped. It had rained toward the sources
of the stream, and we discovered it was useless to wait any
longer for it to fall. It was a gloomy and painful prospect be
fore us. Our horses were without food, as there was no grass,
and we had no corn. We had as yet plenty of provisions; but
our teams were becoming poor and feeble, to such extent that
we might not be able to travel.
My father decided to construct a raft, on which to cross the
river. The Indians had deadened many of the elm trees near
the stream, and they were dry and light. They were cut down
and hauled to the bank of the river, and in two days' work a
large raft was constructed. The light planks of the wagons
made a floor to the raft, and we got our bed cords fastened
across the stream, so that the raft could be towed across with
ease. We had two axes, and the hired man let one fall into the river
and lost it This accident alarmed us greatly. If we lost the
other, our travelling and rafting was at an end until we procured
an axe. We saved the other, and travelled on West. We rafted
four creeks, and travelled round the head of another. ^ The last

l6 MY OWN TIMES.
we rafted was Beaucoup Creek, some thirty miles east of Kas
kaskia. We were four weeks travelling the journey from the
Ohio River to Kaskaskia, and experienced much hardship and
difficulty in the route.
In rafting the streams, we took the wagons to pieces and
crossed them in parcels. The horses swam over; but were at
times troubled to get up the perpendicular banks of the streams.
In the present county of Williamson, west of the Crab Or
chard, was the first prairie we saw. We halted the cavalcade,
and gazed with wonder and delight at it. It was so smooth, it
had been recently burnt, and so level, and so extensive that our
eyes were dimmed in gazing on it. We wondered what was the
reason the timber did not grow on it. No one of us dreamed
that it was the fire in the grass that caused the prairies. I have
been thus much in detail with our journey to Illinois, as most of
the immigrants of that day experienced some such difficulty in
travelling to the West.
At the time we reached Illinois, two companies of the United
States army were stationed at Fort Massacre, and perhaps a few
families resided near the fort and were dependent on it. This
was the only white settlement between the Ohio and the Missis
sippi. Fort Massacre was established by the French about the year
1711, and was also a missionary station. It was only a small
fortress until the war of 1755 commenced between the English
and French. In 1756, the fort was enlarged and made a re
spectable fortress, considering the wilderness it was in. It was
at this place where the Christian missionaries instructed the
Southern Indians in the Gospel precepts; and it was here also
that the French soldiers made a resolute stand against the
enemy. I visited Fort Massacre in 1855, and examined its site and
remaining vestiges. The outside walls were 135 feet square,
and at each angle strong bastions were erected. The walls were
palisades with earth between the wood. A large well was sunk
in the fortress, and the whole appeared to have been strong and
substantial in its day. Three or four acres of gravelled walks
were made on the north of the forts, on which the soldiers
paraded. These walks are made in exact angles, and are beautifully
gravelled with the pebbles from the river. The site is one of
the most beautiful on La Belle Revierre, and commands a view
of the Ohio that is charming and lovely. French genius for the
selection of sites for forts is eminently sustained in their choice
of Fort Massacre.

MY OWN TIMES. 17

CHAPTER VII.
Eirst View of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia. — The Indians. — My Father
Dishked the Spanish Government — Remained in Illinois.
When we approached the high bluffs east of Kaskaskia we
halted our travelling caravan, and surveyed with wonder and
¦delight the prospect before us. It was in the spring, and the
scenery was beautiful.
The eye ranged up and down the American Bottom for many
miles, and the whole landscape lay, as it were, at our feet The
j-iver bluffs rose two hundred feet or more above the bottom,
and the prairie lay extended before our view, covered with cat
tle and horses grazing on it The Mississippi itself could be
seen in places through the forest of cotton-wood trees skirting
its shores, and the ancient village of Kaskaskia presented its
singular form and antique construction to our sight. The
ancient Cathedral stood a venerable edifice in the heart of the
village, with its lofty steeple, and large bell — the first church
bell I ever saw. Around the village were numerous camps and
lodges of the Kaskaskia Indians, still retaining much of their
original savage independence.
The large common field with a fence stretched out from the
Kaskaskia River to the Mississippi extended on one side of the
village, and the pommons covered with cattle on the other.
Near the bluff on the east, the Ka.skaskia River wended its way
south, and entered the Mississippi six miles below the village
of Kaskaskia.
This was our first sight of a kind of quasi-cW\\iz2t.tion we saw
in Illinois, and it was so strange and uncouth to us, that if we
had been landed on another planet we would not have been
more surprised.
The Kaskaskia Indians were numerous, and had still retained
some of their savage customs. Many of the young warriors
decorated themselves in their gaudy and fantastic attire with
paints. Feathers of birds were tied in their hair; and some
times the horns of animals were also attached to their heads.
They galloped in this fantastic dress around our encampment
This was a kind of salutation more to demonstrate their per
sons and their exploits than anything else.
After recruiting a short time, and obtaining some provisions
for ourselves and food for our horses, from the grist-mill of
General Edgar, which was "hard by," my father had his humble
caravan prepared to cross the Mississippi and "all aboard,"
when some gentlemen from Kaskaskia came to our encamp
ment and held a conversation with my father. These gentle
men were Messrs. Robert Morrison, John Rice Jones, Pierre
2

l8 MY OWN TIMES.
Menard, and John Edgar, who debated the subject with my^
father, whether it was not better for him to remain at Kaskaskia.
sometime, and look around for a permanent residence. The
argument of these gentlemen prevailed, and my parents agreed
to take a house in Kaskaskia, and examine the country "around
about" After taking sometime in the exploration of the eastern side
of the Mississippi, my father reaffirmed his decision to make
the Spanish country his residence, and went to Ste. Genevieve
to obtain a permit of the Spanish Commandant to settle on the
west side of the river.
In the permit to settle in the Domains of Spain, it was re
quired that my father should raise his children in the Roman
Catholic Church. This pledge was a requisition of the Govern
ment in all cases, and my father refused to agree to it. My
whole family were Protestants, and would not consent to edu
cate their children in a faith they did not approve. This was
the main reason that decided our destiny to settle and reside in
Illinois. The visit of the Kaskaskia citizens had no doubt some
effect with my father; but the requisition of the Spanish "Gov
ernment was the- governing principle with my Protestant an
cestors. It is surprising to witness, through the progress of human
events, the small circumstances that frequently occur without
much notice, and often without reflection, which often govern
the fate and destiny of a person or nation forever. The perse
cution of the Puritans in old England caused the settlements of
New England, and out of it mighty results flowed. The small
circumstance of my father disliking the Spanish requisition
decided the fate of himself and family as to residence.
We remained in Kaskaskia for some months, and planted
corn in the French common field; but at last located in the
smaU settlement a few miles east of Kaskaskia. Our residence
was within about two and a half miles of Kaskaskia, and
we made mathematically the seventh family in the colony.
We made our habitation east of Kaskaskia River in the forest
amongst the high grass, and the wolves and wild animals were
howling and prowhng about us every night We enjoyed not
the least semblance of a school, or a house of worship, or
scarcely any other blessing arising out of a civihzed community.
In this state of the country, it required great moral courage
to remain in it. My father conquered all difficulties and re
mained here during his life.
The wise Creator formed the human family to become fa
miliar and reconciled to the surrounding circumstances. In a
few years, we all were pleased and happy in our present wilder
ness location; but at first, it was extremely painful and disa
greeable. Although a great amount of destitution stared us in

MY OWN TIMES. 19
the face, yet in a few years, we forgot our artificial wants, and
were happy among the Indians and wolves.

CHAPTER VIII.
iUinois in 1800.— -The White Population. — The Indian Tribes. — Hard
Fate of the Aborgines.— Want of Schools and Churches. — Agricul
ture — Farming Implements. — Mills. — Counties. — Government.
The territory, that at this day embraces the populous State
of Ilhnois, presented at that early period a savage wilderness.
The entire white population, French and Americans, amounted
to about two thousand or perhaps a small fraction more. The
French Creoles numbered about twelve hundred, and the
Americans eight hundred or a thousand. The negroes, slaves
and free, of that day, amounted to two hundred I presume.
The white popiilafion extended in sparse settlements from
Kaskaskia, fifty odd miles, to Cahokia, and back east from the
river only a few miles. The colonies of Turkey Hill, the New
Design, Horse Prairie, and that where my fsftier resided, were
the eastern limits of the American population, and it would not
average back from the river more than eight or ten miles.
The eight hundred American inhabitants who resided in Illi
nois at this time, were located in the following settlements, and
in the numbers following, as near as I can estimate them. The
whole extent of the American Bottom numbered about three
hundred and fifty souls. The New Design contained about two
hundred and fifty. These two colonies embraced the principal
American population of the country. Six or eight American
families resided in Kaskaskia. The settlement where my father
located contained seven famihes, and the Horse Prairie colony
less. The settlement around Piggot's ancient fort amounted to
some thirty souls, and a less number were settled around the
old forts known as "Whiteside's Station," and Belle Fountain.
A small settlement had existed and had almost expired in 1800,
situated between the present Waterloo and the Mississippi bluff
in Monroe County. At one period this colony might have con
tained thirty-five inhabitants. At Turkey Hill, was a small col
ony of a few families, containing in all fifteen or twenty souls,
in 1800. These were all the American settlements in Illinois
at this period.
The entire French population was comprised within the vil
lage of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, and Prairie du
Pont, and some few French hamlets besides, which will be here
after mentioned. Kaskaskia contained five hundred inhabitants,
Prairie du Rocher two hundred, Prairie du Pont one hundred,
and Cahojcia four hundred, amounting in all to twelve hun-

20 MY OWN TIMES.
dred. At this period, the villages of Fort Chartres and St.
Phihp were extinct Some few French famihes resided on the
"Big Island" in the Mississippi, in the present county of Madi
son. A few at Peoria, and a handsome small village at Prairie
du Chien. Also a small hamlet at Cape au Grit, on the Missis
sippi, a short distance above the mouth of Illinois, amounting
in all perhaps to one hundred inhabitants, or a few more.
Only a very small number of slaves were Americans, who were
held to service by a kind of indenture, and the rest were French.
Most of these French slaves resided in Prairie du Rocher, and
were the descendants of the slaves brought to Illinois in the
year 1720, from the Island of San Domingo, by Philip Francis
Renault, to work the mines. This small amount of white popu
lation was isolated from the rest of the inhabitants by vast
regions of wilderness, except on the west of the Mississippi.
At this early period, considerable colonies existed on the west
side of the river, and extended much farther on the Mississippi
than the settlements in Illinois. The lead mines of the Spanish
country attracted emigration, and the colonies extended back
west from the rwer forty or more miles. These settlements
were much larger than on the east side of the Mississippi, al
though they were in a foreign Government, yet they gave
strength and efficiency to the weaker colonies on the east side
of the stream.
The Indian tribes inhabiting the wilderness of that day, which
is now comprised in the present limits of the State of Illinois,
were numerous, warlike, and courageous. The savages at that
day all possessed a wild and hostile spirit that existed through
out the North American Indians. The wars had not then sub
dued their spirits. The Sac and Fox tribes were united, and
formed at that day a large, brave, and powerful nation. Their
chief residence was near Rock Island, in the Mississippi, and
throughout the country around that locality.
The Winnebagoes resided on the upper part of Rock River,
and west of Green Bay, north-west of Lake Michigan, and on
and over the Wisconsin River. The Pottawatomies inhabited
the region between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River, and
down that river. The war-like and courageous small nation of
the Kickapoo Indians dwelt in the prairies north and east of
Springfield, and also in the region of country around Blooming-
ton. The Kaskaskia Indians were housed in by the other tribes
to the country around about their ancient village of Kaskaskia.
The Piankishaws were located in the south-eastern section of
the State, and inhabited the waters of the lower Wabash River,
on both sides of that stream.
The most dense Indian population of the West was on the
Illinois River, and its tributaries. Also, on the Mississippi, near
Rock Island, was a strong Indian population, but not equal to

MY OWN TIMES. 21
that on the Illinois River. It is impossible to be accurate in
the estimation of the number of Indians who resided in the
limits of the State at this early period. I presume it would
range between 30,000 and 40,000 souls, and at this day, not one
exists in the State.
The destruction of the Indians of North America is a sub
ject that has enlisted the sympathy and deepest feeling of every
philanthropist in the Union — whether they acquired the country
at first, right or wrong. When the whites discovered it they
were the peaceable occupants of it. Generation succeeded gen
eration of the natives, for ages, in the peaceable possession of
their inheritance, descended from their ancestors, which gave
them as much equity and justice to retain possession of it as
any civilized nation has at this day for the country they inhabit.
Not only had the aborigines of Illinois an undoubted right
to the country they occupied, but the climate, fertility of soil,
and other advantages, made them as happy in their mode of
life as the same country does the whites at this time, in propor
tion to the difference of civilization. The whites discovered the
Indians peaceable and happy in Illinois, and at this day all are
torn away from their own country, and many whole tribes have
been destroyed.
The Government is now affording them all the protection
which is in their power, to preserve them from annihilation and
make them happy. They are removed from the whites as far as
possible, and education has always been urged on them. That
wanton and wicked passion, existing in olden times in the hearts
of the whites, to destroy and annihilate the natives, as if they
were wild beasts of prey, has measurably subsided, and the
spirit of kindness and Christianity has taken its place. This
humane and Christian policy of the Government has caused
much happiness to prevail amongst this unfortunate race. But
it seems the destiny of the United States, in its march toJ^J^e
summit level of its greatness, will inevitably destroy the abo
rigines. To this great and unparalleled onward march of the
United States, the aborigines must yield.
If the Government had preserved the natives in their posses
sions in the Union, only small patches of the United States
would be at this time settled or civilized. Attempts have been
made for ages to improve the Northern Indians, and they obsti
nately refused to accept the boon. Most, or all of them from
the old States, at last followed their relatives to the West, and
bid defiance to civilization.
It seems it is a decree of Heaven that they cannot become
civilized men. The efforts of the most humane men have been
exhausted in vain on them, to improve them, and identify them
with the whites. Some honorable exceptions exist in the South
to this rule amongst some Indian tribes.

22 MY OWN TIMES.
The zeal and ardent desire to Christianize and improve the
natives caused hundreds of the most learned and pious mis
sionaries to leave Europe, and spend their lives with the abo
rigines of both North and South America. The first explorers
of the country did not visit it for personal advancement or
pecuniary gain, but for the more holy object of Christianizing
the natives. It cannot be denied: the policy practised by the
first Christian missionaries did good; but the country changed
hands, and these missionary efforts ceased with it. The In
dians are now in the hands of the Lord and the United States
Government to guide them to happiness, it is hoped. It seems
the progress of the country must make the aborigines yieM to
the onward march of civilization and Christianity.
In the county of Randolph there was not a single school or
school-house in 1800, except, perhaps, John Doyle, a soldier of
the Revolution under General Clark, might have taught a few
children in Kaskaskia at or after this period.
In the settlement of the New Design, an Irishman, not well
qualified, called Halfpenny, at this period, instructed some few
pupils. This school was the only one among the Americans at
this early day. In the American Bottom, perhaps a school
might have existed, but not long at a time. Under the
guidance of the clergy in the French villages at rare intervals,
schools were established, but their numbers and efficacy were
limited. ,
The agriculture at this period was limited and inefficient. The
citizens were generally poor, and raised not much surplus pro
duce. At this period, there was neither barley, rye, nor oats
cultivated in the country. Corn, wheat, and potatoes were then,
as they are now, staple articles. The Americans cultivated the
same species of corn they do now, but the French almost
entirely raised the hard flinty corn, out of which hominy was
mapufactured. They also sowed spring wheat, as their common
fields were occupied by the cattle all winter. The Americans
mostly raised fall wheat, and at times some spring wheat also.
In early times, the French cultivated only a scanty supply of
potatoes, or other vegetables, except articles pertaining to the
gardens. In horticulture, they excelled the Americans. The
lettuce, peas, beans, beets, carrots, and similar vegetables, were
cultivated considerably in the French gardens. In this neces
sary branch of culture the pioneer Americans did not rival their
French neighbors, but in a "truck patch" the Anglo-Saxons
surpassed the other race. Cabbages were to some extent culti
vated, but sweet potatoes then were not seen in the country. In
early times, flax and cotton were cultivated considerably. Large
stocks of cattle, horses, and hogs were raised in proportion to
the number of inhabitants. The French cart was a primitive
vehicle, made entirely of wood, and not an atom of iron in its

MY OWN TIMES. 23
¦construction. Running it without grease, it made a creaking
noise, which could be heard at a great distance. At this early
¦day, the agricultural implements were defective. The old bar-
share plow was used by the Americans, and sometimes the
shovel plow, in the growing corn. The common hoe was the
same then that is used at this day.
The French depended more on hunting and voyaging for a
living than on agriculture, and therefore paid less atteniion to
the cultivation of the earth. Their plows, and they had but one
class of that instrument, was of French descent I presume, as
I saw the same species of plows in Old France. The French
plo# was destitute of iron, except a small piece, and the same
fastened to the point of the wood of the instrument to cut the
earth. The metal was tied with rawhide to the wood of the
plow, and also a kind of mortice was made in the forepart of
the share, in which the front of the wood was inserted. The
bar, as it is called, was constructed of wood. The handles were
very short and crooked, so that the plowman walked almost on
his plow. The beam was straight, and laid oh the axle of a
low-wheeled carriage. The wheels of this vehicle were low and
made without iron, similar to the wheels of a wheelbarrow.
Holes in the beam of the plow permitted the instrument to be
.so regulated on the axle that it would make the proper depth
of furrow. The plow was dragged on generally by oxen. The
cattle were hitched to the plow by a straight yoke, which was
tied to the horns of the oxen by straps of untanned leather.
Some few grist-mills were established in the country in 1800,
and one saw-mill. General Edgar had erected a fine flouring-
mill on a small stream passing through the Mississippi Bluff, a
short distance north-east of Kaskaskia, which did considerable .
business for two-thirds of the year. This mill manufactured
flour for the New-Orleans market, and frequently boats were
freighted from this mill with the flour to the Southern market
Henry Levens had in operation at this date the only saw-mill
in the country. It was built on Horse Creek, a few miles from
the mouth of the creek, in Randolph County.
Judy owned a water-mill, situated a few miles south of
Columbia, in the present county of Monroe. West of this mill,
and near the Mississippi Bluff, Valentine owned a small water-
mill. In Prairie du Pont, Jean F. Perry owned a water-mill for
many years. This was the same site where the Jesuits had
erected a mill some forty or fifty years previous. Joseph Kin
ney had a small water-mill on a stream east of the New Design.
In all the French villages, ^nd in the New Design also, horse-
mills were erected, and some business done by them when the
¦water-mills were dry.
The North-western Territory was divided; and on the 7th
¦day of May, 1800, the Indiana Territory was established. Illi-

24 MY OWN TIMES.
nois formed the western part of the Territory. The two coun-*
ties of St. Clair and Randolph were formed and organized
previous to this period. The county seats were for Randolph
at Kaskaskia, and for St. Clair at Cahokia, and courts were held
in each of them. William Henry Harrison was the governor of
the Territory; and the seat of government was established at
Vincennes.

CHAPTER IX.
Wilderness in the West in 1800. — The Soil and Surface of lUinois. —
The Prairies. — Is Timber an advantage to the Country?
The vast region of country in 1800, extending from a few
miles west of Nashville, Tennessee, and west of a few colonies-
in the North-western Territory to the Pacific Ocean, was a wil
derness, except small settlements on the margins of the Missis
sippi, in Upper Louisiana, and Illinois. A small colony was
established around the ancient French village of Vincennes,.
which interrupted, in a small degree, the wilderness that ex
tended north to the frozen ocean. The wilderness on the South
and West was only arrested by the Spanish settlements in
Lower Louisiana, and by New Spain and California to the
West. Almost all the north-western part of the continent of
North America, from these settlements \vest and north-west was^
a wilderness, and in the undisturbed possession of the natives.
At that day, three-fourths of the State of Ohio and nine-
tenths of Indiana was a waste, only occupied by wandering;
tribes of Indians. Illinois then had only a speck of white popu
lation in its extended limits, and the rest remaining under the
peaceable dominion of the red men.
What a change has been produced in half a century by the
talents and energies of the American people. The country at
this day cannot be compared with itself fifty years back.
Neither prose, poetry, nor painting can present ancient Illinois
in its true picture to the present generation. Everything is so
radically changed and altered that the very soil itself, on which
a person has remained all the time, has altered and changed sc
much that it can hardly be recognized.
Illinois presents generally an even and beautiful surface of the
most fertile and prolific soil of any other Statfe in the Union.
At some remote period the whole West was inundated, and.
when the water subsided an alluvial soil is presented in Illinois.
that cannot be surpassed. The surface has a gradual slope from
north to .south, which is sufficient to drain off the water and at
the same time not to injure the agricultural efficiency of the
country. Neither mountains, rocks, nor morasses exist in the
ample dimensions of the State to injure it Some unprofitable

MY OWN TIMES. 2$,
land may now be near the large streams, but in a few years, im
provements will reach them, and the whole State will then pre
sent an uninterrupted surface of cultivation teeming with agri
cultural wealth.
The formation of the surface of the earth is a curiosity, and
to solve the difficulty is impossible. In many parts of Illinois,
and perhaps throughout the whole State, wood and bark of
trees are found many feet below the surface. In digging. wells
for water, these logs and brush-wood are frequently discovered
at considerable depths. Mr. Pearce, in sinking a well on high
ground in St Clair County, found the wood and bark of a sassa
fras tree fifty-seven feet below the surface. To find wood and
vegetable substances below the surface is quite common in Illi
nois. Also in sections of the State, a second soil is discovered
when sinking wells. This second soil is black and alluvial, and
in it are generally brush-wood and vegetable matter. The
second soil is mostly found at the depth of eighteen or twenty
feet. Near the salines, in Gallatin County and Big Muddy,
earthen-ware has been discovered in the earth many feet be
low the surface. The presumption is, that the aborigines used
this ware for the manufacture of salt. The question arises, how
did this great stratum of matter become extended . over this
previous surface of the earth.?
Another equally interesting curiosity is the "Lost Rocks"'
scattered throughout the prairies in the northern section of the
State. The rocks are of the primitive-granite class, and as no^
other rocks exist near them of that species, they are designated
"Lost Rocks." They are larger in the north than in the south
of the State. Millstones were, in pioneer times, manufactured
out of them. They are mostly a dark-brown color, and made
such singular appearance in the prairies that they often
frightened our horses when we were "ranging" in their vicinity,.
in time of the war of 1812.
The question forces itself on the mind, like the case of the
second soil, how did these rocks find their way here.' No one
believes they were formed where they are now.
The most approved supposition is that the Western Valley
was once a great lake, and these rocks were embedded in ice
bergs formed on the slopes of the Chippewaean Mountains to
the North- West and floated down in the water hke the icebergs
in the ocean. The larger rocks being in the North would favor
this theory. Such subjects, and many others, will remain for
ever locked up in the arcana of nature. One thing is certain,
that the earth shows years of age beyond human computation.
The Grand Prairie is situated east of the Kaskaskia River, and
between Carlyle and Salem, and is nearly one hundred miles in
circumference. Illinois was parceled out in 1800, between prairie and timbered

2,6 MY OWN TIMES.
lands. All south of a line extending from Kaskaskia by Perry
and Franklin Counties, to White County on the Wabash River,
is a timbered country, and north of it mostly the prairies inter
mix with timber. Toward the north of the State, the prairies
are large, and the timber only exists on the margins of the
streams, and other places where the fire could not reach it.
Many learned essays are written on the origin of the prairies,
but any attentive observer will come to the conclusion that it is
hre burning the strong high grass that caused the prairies.
I have witnessed the growth of the forest in these southern
counties of Illinois, and know there is more timber in them now
than there was forty or fifty years before. The obvious reason
is, the fire is kept out. This is likewise the reason the prairies
are generally the most fertile soil. The vegetation in them was
the strongest, and the fires there burnt with the most power.
The timber was destroyed more rapidly in the fertile soil than
in the barren lands. It will be seen that the timber in the north
of the State is found only on the margins of streams and other
places where the prairie-fires could not reach it
It is one of the great elements in the rapid growth of Illinois
that such large and fertile prairies exist in the State. Nature
has made the prairies the finest and most fertile fields in the
Union, and has prepared them ready for cultivation. If the
State had been all timber, it would at this day be thirty or forty
years behind its present high and prosperous position in the
Union. There is not finer timber in America, east of the Rocky Moun
tains, than grows in Southern Illinois. This is the main reason
that the northern part of Illinois is growing faster than the
southern; but so soon as the timber in the south finds a good
market, then Southern Illinois "will blossom as the rose."
Where the soil is so productive as it is in Ilhnois, it is probable
that it would be better for the State if there was not a tree in
it. There is more money made by the production of corn and
¦wheat than timber.

CHAPTER X.
Fort Chartres.— Its history.— Built of Wood in 1 718.— Rebuilt of Rock
in 1756. — The French abandon it in 1765.— English Seat of Govern
ment — ^WaUs washed down in 1772. — A heap of Ruins in 1855.
When I first saw Fort Chartres, more than fifty years since,
it presented the most singular and striking contrast between a
•savage wilderness, filled with wild beasts and reptiles, and the
remains of one of the largest and strongest fortifications on the
continent. Large trees were growing in the houses which once
contained the elegant and accompHshed French officers and

MY OWN TIMES. 27
soldiers. Cannon, snakes, and bats were sleeping together in
peace in and around this fort.
On the loth of September, 1712, Louis XIV, King of France,
made a grant of a monopoly of the trade of Louisiana to M.
Crozat a wealthy merchant of Paris, for fifteen years ; but the
commerce of the country not realizing the expectations of the
grantee, he relinquished his grant to the King in 17 17.
Under the agency of John Law, "the Company of the West"
was established the same year, with great powers and privileges
granted by the government of France. This company was
organized to govern the country — make grants of lahd and
enjoy a monopoly of the trade.
By authority of this company, sometimes known as "the com
pany of the Indies," M. Pierre Duque Boisbriant, the representa
tive of the crown, and Marc Antoine de la Soire De Ursins,
principal secretary of the company, arrived at Kaskaskia from
New Orleans, with a small troop of soldiers. They had orders
to select a site for a fort, and the same to be made the seat of
government of Illinois. It was necessary to organize a govern
ment in the country, and to erect a fortress to repel the attacks
of the Indians, if it should become necessary. It was also the
policy of the French Government to establish a line of forts
west of the English settlements on the Atlantic, from New
Orleans to Quebec. This was one of the garrisons.
This fort was first commenced of wood in the year 17 18, and
completed in less than two years. It was located in the Ameri
can Bottom, about three miles from the eastern bluff of the
Mississippi, and one mile at first from the river. The fortress
was called, by way of eminence. Fort des Chartres, having a
charter from the crown of France for its erection. It is situated
in the north-west corner of Randolph County. A large lake
extends between the fort and the bluff, and at this day a slough
containing water at times was near its western base; but this
lagoon did not exist at the time the fort was erected.
The first fort contained all the necessary buildings to accom
modate the seat of government of the country and the garrison.
The quarters of the officers, and barracks for the soldiers, were
finished in neat and becoming style of the country in pioneer
times. Surrounding the whole was erected a strong palisade,
fortified with earth between the walls of wood until it bid
defiance to any enemy that might approach it in this remote
situation. The head-quarters of M. Philip F. Renault were also estab
lished in this fort, and it was at this point where ah his mining
operations were concentrated. It was from this point he left
Illinois in the year 1 744, to return to France. About the time
of his arrival in his native land, he died, and the mining opera
tions in Illinois seemed to wither and die with him. He re-

28 MY OWN TIMES.
mained in Illinois about twenty-four years, and seemed to
possess a sound judgment and great energy. He imported from
France two hundred artizans, mechanics, and laboring men, that
was the first arid the most profitable population Ilhnois had ever
received from the mother-country at that early day. Many of
the French Creoles of this day in Illinois can trace their ances
try back to the brave and meritorious race who immigrated to
this country in the year 1720, under the guidance of Renault.
He also procured five hundred slaves at the Island of San
Domingo, and brought them to Illinois to work the mines.
These were the ancestors of the French slaves of Illinois, as
heretofore stated.
M. Boisbriant and De Ursans, representing the crown of
France, and also the company of the Indies, made grants of
land to facilitate the improvement of the country, and which
grants are the most ancient west of the Alleghanies. These
grants were issued at Fort Chartres, and dated, some of them,
in the year 1722, and for many succeeding years.
Under the mild and impartial government of the company,
the country commenced to grow and flourish, and the seat of
government. Fort Chartres, became the centre of business,
fashion, and gaiety of all the Illinois Country. The villages
around Fort Chartres, became respectable and prosperous com
munities; but they ceased to exist with the fort, and the village
of Fort Chartres was drowned with the fort in the flood of 1772.
The Company of the West was dissolved in the year 1731,
and Illinois again was governed by the crown of France.
Boisbriant ceased to be governor of Illinois, and his successor
was the brave and gallant young D'Artaquette. This officer
was commandant and governor of Illinois in the year 1736,
when Governor Bienville of Louisiana decided upon a campaign
against the Chickasaw Indians.
D'Artaquette, the governor of Illinois, exerted his influence
over the various tribes of Indians west of Lake Michigan, and
assembled one thousand warriors at Fort Chartres to descend
the Mississippi to meet the army of Bienville from the South.
The youthful and chivalrous Vincennes from the Wabash Coun
try united his forces with those of D'Artaquette, and with as
many French soldiers as could be obtained, all set sail down the
iJ Mississippi from Fort Chartres, under the blessings of the clergy
and roar of cannon and small arms. The army was defeated
by the Chickasaws, and D'Artaquette, Vincennes, and some
others, burnt to death at the stake.
The next military governor of Fort Chartres was La Buis-
soniere; and in the year 1739, he was called on by Bienville,
governor of Louisiana, for a further supply of troops and In
dians, to chastise the Chickasaws. La Buissoniere left Fort
Chartres with two hundred white soldiers and three hundred In-

MY OWN TIMES. 29
dian allies, under the command of himself and M. Celeron and
M. St. Laurent, his lieutenants, to join the Southern army.
La Buissoniere was the successor of the unfortunate chevalier
D'Artaquette, and continued commandant of Illinois for many
years. Under his administration the country increased in wealth
and population. The agricultural interest assumed a greater
eflSciency and permanency, and commenced to invigorate the
country after the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured
from the disturbance of the Chickasaw Indians.
La Buissoniere remained in command at Fort Chartres until
the fall of the year 1751, when he was succeeded by the Cheva
lier Macarty. Macarty left New Orleans in August i/Si, with
troops to reenforce the posts on the Mississippi and Ohio
Rivers, and took command of Fort Chartres.
Under the administration of Chevalier Macarty, Fort Chartres
was built entirely in the new, and was one of the most con
venient and strongest fortifications in North America. Its re
construction was of solid and durable limestone. The rocks
were quarried at the bluff, three miles east of the fort, rafted
and boated over a large lake, and then carted to the building.
They were limestone rocks, which stood, with sullen defiance,
the hand of time, but yielded to the destroying hand of man.
This fort was constructed in and before the year 1756, to de
fend against the attacks of the English; as a war was then
raging between France and England.
In the year 1766, Captain Pitman, an officer in the British
army, who was expressly charged to examine and report on the
British possessions on the Mississippi, and whose statements are
acknowledged to be correct, says: "The Fort," referring to Fort
Chartres, "is an irregular quadrangle; the sides of the exterior
polygon are 490 feet. The walls are two feet two inches thick,
and are pierced with loop-holes at regular distances, and for two
port-holes for cannon in the faces, and two in the flanks of each
bastion. The ditch has never been finished. The entrance to
the fort is through a very handsome rustic gate. Within the
walls is a banquette, raised three feet for the men to stand on,
where they fire through the loop-holes. The buildings within
the fort are a commandant's and commissioner's house. The
magazine of stores; corps de guard; two barracks; those occupy
ing the square within the gorges of the bastion are a powder-
house; a bake-house; a prison, in the lower floor, of which are
four dungeons, and in the upper story, two rooms ; and an out
house belonging to the commandant. The commandant's house
is thirty-two yards long, and ten broad, and contains a kitchen,
a dining-room, a bed-chamber, one small room, five closets for
servants, and a cellar. The commissioner's house, now occupied
by officers, is built on the same line as this, and its proportions
and the distribution of its apartments are the same. Opposite

30 MY OWN TIMES.
these are the store-house, and the guard-house. They are each
thirty yards long and eight broad. The former consists of two
large store-rooms, under which there is a large vaulted-cellar, a
large room, a bed-chamber, and a closet for the store -keeper;
the latter a soldier's and officer's guard-room, a bed-chamber, a
closet for the chaplain, and artillery store-room. The lines of
the barracks have never been finished ; they at present consist of
two rooms each for officers, and three for soldiers ; they are each
twenty feet square, and have betwixt them a small passage.
There are fine spacious lofts over eacli building, which reach
from end to end; these are made use of for two large regi
mental stores, working and entrenching tools, etc. It is gen
erally believed, this is the most convenient and best built fort
in North America."
The above is the description of the fort after its being rebuilt
with solid rock. This stone fortification, described by Captain
Pitman, presents no incongruity, or misshapen appearance, that
could for a moment make the impression that it was an addition
to any other building. All the circumstances make it evident
that the last-named fort was erected new entirely, and only
retained the name and site of the previous wooden building.
St. Ange de Belle Rive succeeded the Chevaher Macarty in
the command of Fort Chartres, and retained possession of the
fort and country until the arrival of Captain Sterling, of the
British army. St. Ange was the last commandant of Fort
Chartres under the French Government Although the treaty
was signed in the year 1763, yet the country was not transferred
to the British authority until the 17th of July, 1765, and then
the commandant, St. Ange, and his troops left Fort Chartres
and took possession of the present site of St. Louis, in Upper
Louisiana. The celebrated La Clede, the founder of St. Louis, Missouri,
reached Fort Chartres in the fall of the year 1763, from New
Orleans, with his large boat, and stored his goods in the fort
until early spring. He left the fortress and arrived at the site
of the present St. Louis in February, 1764.
The British authorities, under Captain Stirhng, assumed the
government of Fort Chartres and the country. Captain Stirling
died in six months after he took possession of the fort, and the
commandant at St. Louis, St. Ange, came back to Fort Chartres
and assumed the command of the country until the successor of
Captain Stirling arrived at the fort. This act of St. Ange was
performed for the kindness he entertained for the people of lUi
nois, that the country should not remain without an organized
government Major Frazier, sometimes known as Farmer, assumed the
command of the fort after the death of Captain Stirling, and
remained in command until Colonel Reed arrived and took pes-

MY OWN TIMES. 3I
session. History presents Colonel Reed as a tyrant, and an
unworthy commandant of the country. The next British officer
who was in the command of the country was Colonel Wilkins.
He reached Kaskaskia, Sth September, 1768, and assumed com
mand of the country.
By authority of General Gage, Colonel Wilkins, on the 6th
December, 1768, established a court of common-law, to be
composed of seven judges; who held their sessions monthly at
Fort Chartres. Colonel Wilkins made grants of land to the
citizens, and exercised many other acts of sovereignty over the
country. Charlevoix, the missionary traveller, stated, in the year 172 1,
that the river was within a musket shot of the fort, and it seems
the rivpr was encroaching on the bank near Fort Chartres from
the time that fortress, in 1718, commenced its existence, and
until the waters destroyed it in the year 1772.
In the year 1724, judging by the complaints of the citizens
of Kaskaskia to the government of France, a great flood of
the Mississippi swept over the American Bottom, and no doubt
washed the banks of the river near the fort It is stated that
in 1756, the fort was half a mile from the river; but the bank of
the river next it was continually wearing off, and falling in the
river. A sand-bar was formed in the river opposite the fortifi
cation, by which the water was violently dashed against the
bank next the fort. This sand-bar grew large, and now is
known as the Fort Chartres Island. The water between the
fort and Island was at first fordable, but afterwards it became
forty feet deep. In 1766, the river was within eighty yards of
the fortress.
The English Government of the country abandoned Fort
Chartres at the downfall of the fort, and established its author
ity at Fort Gage, on the bluff east of Kaskaskia.
I examined this fort about thirty years after it was aban
doned; and it is strange! the large trees could grow in that
short time which I saw in the houses, and within the walls of
the fortification in many places. Vines and brush-wood grew
round many parts of the walls and much of the surface of the
fort. The south and east walls, when I first saw them, were
remaining in their original shape, and they seemed to be about
fifteen feet high, and were constructed to insure strength and
durability. The gate-way was opened and the jams and
cornices were of nicely cut rock. The powder-magazine, as it
was called, was constructed in the most substantial manner.
In 1820, D. Beck, the author of a Gazetteer of Illinois and
Missouri, examined and measured the exterior walls. They are
1447 feet around, and were, he states, fifteen feet high in certain
places. The area of the fort is about four acres. Comparing
together the measurement of Captain Pitman and D. Beck, it

32 MY OWN TIMES.
will be seen that about fifty-six feet wide of the entire west
front of the fortification, with one side-wall, had been swept
into the river.
This magnificent fortress, built at so much expense, in the
wilderness of America, and at the same time so strong and so
durable, has been declining for the last eighty odd years, and at
this day, presents only a large pile of ruins.
I visited this fort on the loth October, 1854, and found it a
pile of mouldering ruins. Its fallen and deplorable condition
forcibly reminded me of Volney's beautiful invocation to the
tombs. "Hail ye solitary ruins, ye sacred tombs and silent
walls. 'Tis to you, my soul enrapt in meditation pours forth
its prayer. * * * Xo me ye unfold the sublimest charms
of contemplation and sentiment, and offer to my senses the
luxury of a thousand delicious and enchanting thoughts."
And resembling the ruins of Palmira, mentioned by the
French traveller, in which dwelt some poor Arabian peasant; so
Fort Chartres in its decay contains an humble log-cabin " built
within its crumbling walls."
In places, the walls of this fort are torn away almost even
"with the surface, and will all, I presume, be taken away in a few
years. Even the site of this fort, like Troy and Babylon, per
haps, cannot be discovered in a few years. Thus perish the
works of man. There is nothing durable but God and Nature.

CHAPTER XI.
Fort Jefferson. — Its History. — Sketch of Captain Piggot's Hfe. — Sick
ness of the Garrison. — Indian Assaults. — Heroic Defence. — Aban
donment of the Fort — Piggot's Fort — The Ferry opposite St Louis,
Missouri. Although Fort Jefferson was established before MY OWN
TIMES, yet so many incidents arising out of the establishment
of this fort, extending into MY OWN TIMES, and so many of the
pioneers of Illinois being connected with it, that I deem it
proper, in the scope of my work, to give some sketches of the
history of the fort.
In 1 78 1, the government of Virginia, the great statesman,
Thomas Jefferson, being governor, knew that the Spanish
Crown pretended to have some claim on the country east of the
Mississippi, below the mouth of the Ohio; and to counteract
this claim, ordered General George Rogers Clark to erect a fort
on the east side of the Mississippi, on the first eligible point
below the mouth of the Ohio.
General Clark, with his accustomed foresight and extraordi
nary energy, levied a considerable number of citizen -soldiers,,

MY OWN TIMES. 33
and proceeded from Kaskaskia to the high land, known at this
¦day as MdlJ^field's Creek, five miles below the mouth of the
Ohio. Here, on the east side of the Mississippi, he erected a
fort, and c^-Ued it Jefferson, in honor of the then governor of
Virginia. It was neglected to obtain the consent of the In
dians, for the erection of the fort, as the governor of Virginia
had requested. This neglect proved to be a great calamity.
Clark encouraged immigration to the fort, and promised the
settlers lands. Captain Piggot and many others followed his
.standard. The fort being established, General Clark was called away to
the frontiers of Kentucky, and left the fort for its protection in
the hands of Captain James Piggot, and the soldiers and citi-
:zens under him.
Captain Piggot was a native of Connecticut, and was engaged
in the privateering service in the Revolutionary War. He was
in danger of assassination by the enemy in his native State, and
emigrated to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was
appointed captain of a company in the Revolution by the
Legislature of his adopted State, and served under Generals
St. Clair and Washington. He was in the battles of Brandy-
wine, Saratoga, and marched to Canada. By severe marches,
and hard service, his health was impaired so that he was forced
to resign his captaincy, and, withAis family, he left his residence
in Westmoreland County, and came West with General Clark.
Several families settled in the vicinity of Fort Jefferson, and
some in it; but all attempted to cultivate the soil to some
extent for a living.
The Chickasaw and Chocktaw Indians became angry for the
encroachments of the whites, and in August, 178 1, commenced
an attack on the settlements around the fort. The whole num
ber of warriors must have been ten or twelve hundred, headed
by the celebrated Scotchman, Calbert, whose posterity figured
as half-breeds. These tribes commenced hostilities on the set
tlements around Fort Jefferson. The Indians came first in
small parties, which saved many of the inhabitants. If they
had reached the settlement in a body, the whole white popula
tion outside of the fort would have been destroyed.
As soon as the preparation for the attack of the Indians on
the fort was certainly known, a trusty messenger was dispatched
to the falls of the Ohio, as it was called at that day, and for
years afterwards, for more provisions and ammunition. If sup
port did not arrive in time, the small settlements and garrison
would be destroyed, and it was extremely uncertain if succor
would reach the fort in time.
The ^ttlement and fort were in the greatest distress; almost
starving, no ammunition, and such great distance from the set
tlements at Kaskaskia and the Falls.

34 MY OWN TIMES.
The first parties of Indians killed many of the inhabitants
before they could be moved to the fort, and ther' was great
danger and distress in marching them into the fort. Also, the
sickness prevailed to such extent, that more than- half were
down sick at the time The famine was so distressing that it
was said they had to eat the pumpkins as soon as the blossoms
fell off the vines. This Indian marauding and murdering pri
vate persons and families lasted almost two weeks before the
main army of Indian warriors reached the fort The soldiers
aided and received in the fort all the white population that
could be moved. The whole family of Mr. Music, exoept him
self, was killed, and inhumanly butchered by the enemy. Many
other persons were also killed. In the skirmishes, a white man
was taken prisoner, who was compelled, to save his life, to-
report the true state of the garrison. This information added
fury to the already heated passions of the savages.
After the arrival of the warriors, with Calbert at their head,
they besieged the fort for six days and nights. During this
time, no one can describe the misery and distress the garrison
was doomed to suffer. The water had almost given out The
river was falling fast, and the water in the wails sunk with the
river. Scarcely any provisions remained, and the sickness raged
so in the fort that many could not be stirred from the beds..
The wife of Captain Piggot afid some others, died in the fort,,
and were buried inside of the walls while the Indians beseiged
the outside. If no relief came, the garrison would inevitably
fall into the hands of the Indians and be murdered.
It was argued by the Indians with the white prisoner, that if
he told the truth they would spare his life. He told them truly,
that more than half in the fort were sick — that each man had
not more than three rounds of ammunition, and that scarcely
any provisions were in the garrison. On receiving this informa
tion, the whole Indian army retired about two miles to hold a
council. They sent back Calbert and three Chiefs with a flag
of truce to the fort.
When the whites discovered the white flag, they sent out
Captain Piggot, Mr. Owens, and one other man, to meet the
Indian delegation. This was done for fear the enemy would
know the desperate condition of the fort. The parley was con
ducted under the range of the guns of the garrison. Calbert
informed them that they were sent to demand a surrender -of
the fort at discretion ; that they knew the defenseless condition
of the fort, and to surrender it might save much bloodshed.
He further said: that they had sent a great force of warriors up-
the river to intercept the succor for which the whites had sent a
messenger. This the prisoner had told them. Calbert promised
he would do his best to save the lives of the prisoners, all if
th'ey would surrender, except a few whom the Indians had de-

MY OWN TIMES. 35
termined to kill. He said, the Indians are pressing for the
spoils, and would not wait long. He gave the garrison one
hour for a decision.
On receiving this information, the garrison had an awful and
gloomy scene presented to them. One person exclaimed,
"Great God direct tis what to do in this awful crisis!"
After mature deliberation, Piggot and the other delegates
were instructed to say, that nothing would be said as to the
information received from the prisoner. If we deny his state
ments you may kill him — ^we cannot confide in your promises to
protect us; but we will promise, if the Indians will leave the
country, the garrison will abandon the fort and country as soon
as possible. Calbert agreed to submit this proposition in coun
cil to the warriors. But on retiring, Mr. Music, whose family
was murdered, and another man shot at Calbert, and a ball
wounded him. This outrage was greatly condemned by the
garrison, and the two transgressors were taken into custody.
The wound of Calbert was dressed, and he guarded safely to
the Indians.
The warriors remained long in council, and by a kind Provi
dential act, the long-wished for succor did arrive in safety from
the "Falls." The Indians had struck the river too high up, and
thereby the boat with the supplies escaped. The provisions and
men were hurried into the fort, and preparations were made to
resist a night-attack by the warriors. Every preparation that
could be made for the defence of the fort was accomplished.
The sick and small children were placed out of the way of the
combatants, and all the women and children of any size were
instructed in the art of defence. The warriors, shortly after
dark, thought they could steal on the fort and capture it; but
when they were frustrated, they, with hideous yells and loud
savage demonstrations, assaulted the garrison and attempted to
storm it. The cannon had been placed in proper position to
rake the walls, and when the warriors mounted the ramparts,
the cannon swept them off in heaps. The enemy kept up a
stream of fire from their rifles on the garrison, which did not
much execution. In this manner the battle raged for hours;
but at last the enemy were forced to recoil, and withdraw from
the deadly cannon of the fort. Calbert and other Chiefs again
urged the warriors to the charge, but the same result to retire
was forced on them again. Men and women at that day were
soldiers by instinct It seemed they could not be otherwise.
The greatest danger was for fear the fort would be set on fire.
A large dauntless Indian, painted for the occasion, by some
means got on top of one of the block-houses, and was applying
fire to the roof A white soldier, of equal courage, went out of
the block-house and shot the Indian as he was blowing the fije
to the building. The Indian fell dead on the outside of the
fort, and was packed off by his comrades.

36 MY OWN TIMES.
After a long and arduous battle, the Indians withdrew from
the fort. They were satisfied ; the Indians had arrived at the
garrison and they could not storm it. They packed off all the
dead and wounded. Many were killed and wounded of the
Indians, as much blood was discovered in the morning around
the fort. Several of the whites were also wounded, but none
mortally. This was one of the most difeperate assaults made
by the Indians in the West, on a garrison so weak and dis
tressed and defenseless.
The whites were rejoiced at their success, and made prepara
tions to abandon the premises with all convenient speed. The
citizen -soldiers at Fort Jefferson all abandoned the fort; and
some wended their way to Kaskaskia, and others to the Falls.
Captain Piggot, with many of his brave companions, arrived at
Kaskaskia and remained there some years.
This flood of brave and energetic immigrants, so early as the
year 1781, was the first considerable acquisition of American
population Illinois received. Many of the most worthy and re
spectable families of Illinois can trace back their lineage to this
illustrious and noble ancestry, and can say, with pride and
honor, that my forefathers fought in the Revolution to conquer
the valley of the Mississippi.
About the year 1783, Captain Piggot estabhshed a fort not
far from the bluff in the American Bottom, west of the present
town of Columbia, in Monroe County, which was called Piggot's
Fort, or the fort of the grand Risseau. This was the largest
fortification erected by the Americans in Illinois, and at that
day, was well defended with cannon and small. arms. In 1790
sometime, Captain Piggot and forty-five other inhabitants at
this fort, called the Big Run in English, signed a petition to
Governor St. Clair, praying for grants of land to the settlers.
It is stated in that petition, that there were seventeen families
in the fort I presume it was on this petition that the act of
Congress was passed, granting to every settler on the public
land in Illinois, four hundred acres, and a militia donation of a
hundred acres to each man enrolled in the militia service of
that year.
Governor St. Clair knew the character of Captain Piggot in
the army of the Revolution, and appointed him the presiding
judge of the court of St Clair County.
Captain Piggot in the year 1795, estabhshed the first ferry
across the Mississippi, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, known now
as Wiggin's Ferry ; and Governor Tradeau, of Louisiana, gave
him license for a ferry, and to land on the west bank of the
river in St. Louis, with the privilege to collect the ferriage. He
died at the ferry, opposite St. Louis, in the year 1799, after hav
ing spent an active and eventful life in the Revolution, and in
the conquest and the early settlement of the West.

MY OWN Times. 37

CHAPTER XII.
The French in 1800. — A Different Population. — Devout Christians. —
A Happy People. — Observance of the Sabbath. — Fond of Dancing.
— Dress. — Taste for the Fashions. — No Ambition for Athletic Sports.
The immigrants of the French villages being from different
sections of the continent, made some difference in the popula
tion. Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher were mostly colonized
from Mobile and New Orleans, and Cahokia from Canada.
The language possessed a shade of difference, as well as their
habits. In the first-named village, the inhabitants partook of
the sunny South, more than those who settled in Cahokia from
Canada. A shade more of relaxation, gaiety, hilarity, and
dancing, prevailed in Kaska.skia and Prairie du Rocher than in
Cahokia. It may be, the immigrants from France to the north
and south of the continent of North America, may have been
from different provinces of the mother-country, which made the
difference above mentioned in the early French pioneers of
Illinois. The masses of the French were an innocent and happy
people. They were devotedly attached to the Roman Catholic
Church, and had lived for many generations in strict obedience
to the Christian principles taught by that Church. They were
removed from the corruption of large cities, and enjoyed an
isolated position in the interior of North America. In a
century before 1800, they were enabled to solve the problem:
that neither wealth, nor splendid possessions, nor an extraor
dinary degree of ambition, nor energy, ever made a people
happy. These people resided more than a thouspind miles from
any other colony, and were strangers to wealth or poverty; but
the Christian virtues governed their hearts, and they were
happy. One virtue among others was held in high estimation,
and religiously observed. Chastity with the Creoles was a sine
qua non, and a spurious offspring was almost unknown among
them. It is the immutable decree to man from the Throne
itself, that in proportion to the introduction of sin and guilt
into the heart, in the same proportion happiness abandons the
person. The early French were forced to practise that excellent in
junction in the Lord's prayer, "lead us not into temptation."
This was a negative lever, if such can exist, in their humble and
innocent happiness.
Another principle these French pioneers established, that in
nocent gaiety, recreation, and amusement are compatible with
religion and happiness. These people also observed the Sab-

38 MY OWN TIMES.
bath-day in a different manner than many other religious sects
do. The proper observance of the Sabbath is, like many other
religious duties, difficult to attain. To keep the Sabbath-day
holy is just and right; but the performance of the duty is the
difficulty. For a thousand years past, these Catholic French, and their
ancestors in Europe, made the Sabbath% day of religion, rest,
recreation, and innocent amusement. The Creoles of Illinois
observed the custom in this respect, and were happy. Every in
dividual, and every religious denomination, must observe the
Sabbath, like other religious duties, in that manner that is dic
tated by the conscience. On this subject, in practice there can
not be any exact form laid down by which human actions can
be governed. But one thing is certain: that the institution of
the Sabbath, and its proper observance, is one of the greatest
elements of human happiness, and an individual or nation that
does not observe the command to keep holy the Sabbath-day,
according to their own conscience, is on the road to misery and
ruin. The French generally, and the early Creoles particularly,
were passionately fond of dancing. The gay and merry dispo
sition of the French, adopted this mode of social amusement.
To enjoy the dancing-saloon was almost a passion among the
early French, and for the enjoyment of which they made many
efforts. No people ever conducted the ballroom with more
propriety than they did. Decorum and punctilious manners
were enforced by public opinion. No liquor, cigars, or loud
blustering remarks were tolerated in their dancing assemblies.
All classes, ages, and degrees assembled together, and made
one large family in these baUrooms. The aged would at times
dance; but they performed a higher duty. The discreet and
aged females kept an eye sharp and searching over the giddy
youth. Frequently the priest attended the early part of the
evening in the balls, and saw that the innocent and proper
observance of just principles be the order of the party.
My observation leads me to this conclusion on dancing: that
when this amusement is kept in the proper channel of inno
cence and purity, clear of extravagance of all descriptions, that
it is a harmless and innocent amusement and might be enjoyed
compatibly with religion, or any other duties of life.
The same taste of the French to enjoy the dance, made them
pay much attention to their dress. No people, with the same
humble means, made a better display in their dress than the
Creoles did. The first shade of a new fashion from New Or
leans — which was the Paris of fashions to Illinois — was caught
up here by the females, and displayed at their mast-heads.
The French resided in villages, and a continual sluice of the
voluble 'Creole language would reach every female in the town
on the subject of the new fashions.

MY OWN TIMES. 39
It may be remarked, in connection with this subject, that
Avhen the English possessed the country in 1765, most of the
wealthy inhabitants left Illinois, and settled on the west side of
of the Mississippi. On this account the fashions frequently
reached Illinois from Miser and Pain Court, the names by
which Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis were called in early times.
The working and voyaging dress of the French masses was
simple and primitive. The French were hke the hlies of the
valley, they neither spun nor wove any of their clothing, but
purchased it from the merchants. The white blanket -coat,
Icnown as the ca.pot, was the universal and eternal coat for the
winter with the masses. A cape was made to it, that could be
raised over the head in cold weather.
In the house, and in good weather, it hung behind, a cape to
the blanket- coat. The reason I know these coats so well is:
that I have worn many in my youth, and a working-man never
wore a better garment. Dressed deer-skin and blue cloth were
worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. The blue hand
kerchief, and the deer-skin modcasins, covered the head and
feet generally of the French Creoles. In 1800, scarcely a man
thought himself clothed, unless he had a belt tied around his
blanket-coat; and it was hung on one side the dressed skin of a
polecat filled with tobacco, pipe, flint, and steel. On the other
side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher-knife. A Creole
in this dress felt -a httle hke Tam o' Shanter filled with usque
baugh, "he could face the devil." Checked cahco-shirts were
then common ; but in winter, flannel was frequently worn ' by
the voyagers and others. In the summer, the laboring -men
and the voyagers often took their shirts off in hard work and
hot weather, and turned out the naked back to the air and sun.
I have conversed with them on this custom. They said, their
shirts would be dry from the perspiration, at night, to put on
them. The habits of labor and energy with the French were moder
ate. Their energy or ambition never urged them to more than
an humble and competent support. To hoard up wealth was
not found written in their hearts, and very few practised it
They were a temperate, moral people. They very seldom in
dulged in drinking Hquor. They were at times rather intem
perate in smoking and dancing; but seldom indulged in either
to excess at the same time or place. ^
All classes observed a strict morality against hunting or fish
ing on the Sabbath; but they played cards for amusement
often on the Sabbath. This they considered one of the inno
cent pastimes that was not prohibited to a Christian.
They had no taste for either horse-racing or foot-racing,
wrestling, jumping, or the like; and did not often indulge in
these sports. Shooting fowls on the wing, and breaking wild
horses afforded the French considerable amusement.

40 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XIII.
The Americans in 1800, and some years thereafter. — Emigrants from
the South and West. — Exalted Notions of Freedom and Indepen
dence. — Self-Reliance. — Different Employments. — Raising Cabins. —
Family in the House the same day it was Raised. — Frolics.— Amuse
ments.— Dancing. — Running for the Bottle at a Weddinai.^The
Dress of the People. — Factory Goods came to Illinois in 1816 and
1818.
The Americans were almost entirely emigrants from the
Western States: Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and some
from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the manners and cus
toms of those States were represented in Illinois by the pio
neers. A New-England emigrant was not common at that
day. Although the pioneers knew little and cared less about
literature, yet, they entertainbd just and sound principles of
liberty. No people delighted in the free and full enjoyment of
a free government more than they did. This passion for free
dom made strong impressions on them, and governed their
actions and conduct to some extent, in almost everything.
This idea of liberty gave them a personal independence, and
confidence in themselves that marked their actions through life
This notion of excessive independence frequently brought
them into conflicts and personal combats with each other.
Bloody noses and black-eyes were the results. It also gave
them a trait of character, that made them believe they were
adequate and competent to any emergency, and frequently
commenced enterprises above their power to accomplish.
The nature and condition of the country forced on the pio
neers intelligence and enterprise. It enabled them to with
stand the hardships and privations of the settlement of a new
country and the shocks of war itself
The necessities of the occasion often forced the backwoods'-
people into singular and different employments and conditions-
of life. Sometimes they were conipelled to act as mechanics,
to make their ploughs, harness, and other farming implements.
Also, to tan their leather. At times they were forced to hunt
game to sustain^.their families. In war, when they were called
on to defend the frontiers, they frequently unhitched their
horses from the plow, mounted them, and appeared with their
guns, ready and willing to march to any part of the globe to
chastise the Indians.
When they needed meal, and the mills were dry, they
pounded the corn in mortars into meal, or eat potatoes, if they
were grown, without bread.

MY OWN TIMES. 41
The pioneers were exceedingly kind and friendly when a log-
cabin was to be raised. Asked or not they gathered together,
and enjoyed a backwoods'-frolic in putting it up.
At early pioneer -times, with all classes and ranks, dancing
was the leading amusement For many miles around, male
and female assembled and danced the whole, night The forms
of the old dance were different than at present. Jigs and four-
handed reels were the most common.
A part of the rural sport in pioneer times enjoyed at a wed
ding, was running for the bottle. The bride and the bride
groom had parties volunteer to run for the stake. A bottle
was filled with whiskey, and embellished with ribbons. This
was held by the judges, and all that pleased entered the horses
to run for the bottle. A mile, or more, was the distance.
when it was won, it was presented, with much backwoods' taste
and politeness, to the party by whom the victory was achieved.
In many settlements, it required every man in it to be pre
sent at a "house-raising," or otherwise the labor was too heavy.
The hands on the ground handed up the logs, and the cabin
was generally covered before night.
The clapboards to cover the house were split out of large
trees, and placed on round poles, called "ribs," and weight-
poles were laid on the boards to secure them to their places.
Not a nail, or any iron of any sort, hinge, or any thing of iron,
was seen about the house.
Often the imigrant and family lived in a camp until his-
house was up and covered. His neighbors frequently cut the
door out in the house the same day, so that th^ family might
move into it, out of the camp, the same day the cabin was-
raised. Old and young indulged in much sport and amusement at
these "house-raisings." It was, in fact sport to raise these
cabins. I was always delighted to know of a "raising," and
generally present. I never possessed the least mechanical
talent, and, therefore, never raised a corner; but as an axeman,,
I split clapboards or tlffe like.
The amusements occurred generally when the axemen were
notching .down the corners. The young ones were jumping,
wrestling, or running foot-races. Leap-frog was often indulged
in by old and young. Sometimes, shooting at marks was prac
tised. Many carried their guns to these "raisings."
It was often amusing to hear a Kentuckian relate his ad-^
ventures on flat-boats, "the old Broad Horn," to New Orieans.
At times a bottle, called "Black Betty," filled with Mononga-
hela whiskey, would make its appearance at these "house-
raisings," and then was told the "hair-breadth escapes" and
adventures of the pioneers.
Sometimes a Kentucky-boatman appeared at these frohcs.

42 MY OWN TIMES.
Perhaps he had been one of those celebrated characters known
on the western rivers, as "half- horse, half-aligator, and tipped
with the snapping- turtle." One story from him will be pre
sented. He said he landed his boat on a dark night at Louis-
viUe, and back of the town, the negroes had a corn-shucking.
Many darkies were present and the corn -heap was divided.
Captains of the blacks were selected, and the hands divided.
Rails were put across the corn-pile for a division, and each
party had his half of the pile to husk. A race was commenced
in this manner, that became frequently very exciting with the
blacks, and often with the whites also, under this system.
The boatmen wanted a frolic, and filled their hunting-shirts,
when belted around them, with round stones, picked up at the
edge of the Ohio River.^ In the dark, the boatmen slipped up
near the darkies, who were singing and shucking the corn, and
would throw a rock at the black crowd, when the darkies could
not see the rock, or whence it came. Often the blood came
trinkling from the faces of the Africans, and they would pre
sume it was an ear of corn thrown by the opposite contending
party. At the same time, another boatman would throw an
other rock at the other party. The blacks would swear at each
other, and make tremendous threats. Before they closed their
threats, another rock from a boatman would strike another
darky; so that in a short time the whole negro assembly were
in a general battle- royal, and the boatmen hid enjoying the
sport. The overseers, and other whites present, were often
troubled much to quiet these negro-battles.
I saw in the moonlight, at one of these pioneer-gatherings,
a wild and dangerous frolic played off, that might have killed
two men.
At the top of the hill, where the house of my father stood,
there were some large gums filled with wet ashes, after the
ley had been run off. The gums were heavy — some had been
rolled down the hill, and a talented wild backwoodsman, James
Hughes, got two men, who were a little excited with the Mo-
nongahela, to roll down the hill one of these gums. As they
got the gum in pretty fast motion down the hill, Hughes came
behind them, and pushed them both over the rolling gum. It
was very large, and rolled over one of the men, and the other
scuffled out at one end, it rolling over only his feet and legs.
The man the gum rolled over was considerably hurt. His
head and body were much bruised. It made a great laugh and
much sport for the boosy party.
The pioneer, James Hughes, who played this trick in rolling
the gums, was an excellent man of sound judgment and strict
integrity. Another trick was practised on some persons at another
backwoods'-frolic, which caused some bruised feet.

MY OWN TIMES.

43

It was a fashion at these meetings, and under the influence
of hquor, to kick one another's hats. These hats were gener
ally wool and frequently worn for years; so that they were not
much injured by the operation. Hughes saw some pots in the
shade of the house, and put hats over them. Then he got a
few of those loving the sport of kicking, to move their play in
the neighborhood of the covered pots. They kicked the hats
on the pots, to the great injury of their toes. This trick made
great merriment.
The common dress of the American pioneer was very similar.
Home-made wool -hats were the common wear. Fur -hats
were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The cover
ing of the feet in the winter was mostly moccasins made of
deer-skin, and shoe-packs of tanned leather. Some wore shoes,
but not common in very early times. In the summer, the
greater portion of the young people, male and female, and
many of the old, went barefooted. The substantial and uni
versal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting-shirt This is
an excellent garment and I never have felt so happy and
healthy since I laid it off. It is made with wide sleeves, open
before, with ample size, so as to envelope the body with its
folds, almost twice around. Sometimes it has a large cape,
which answers well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt
is mostly used, to keep the garment close and neat around the
person, and nevertheless, there is nothing tight in it to hamper
the body. It is often fringed, and at times the fringe is com
posed of red, and other gay colors. The belt frequently is
sewed to the hunting-shirt At times, a belt of leather with a
buckle sewed to one end is used. Many pioneers wore the
white blanket-coats in the winter. They are, as well as the
hunting-shirt, an excellent garment. They are made loose, and
a cap or a cape to turn over the head in extreme cold weather.
I have worn them almost every winter, when I was young.
The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were
made often with alum, copperas, and madder, boiled with the
bark of trees, in such manner and proportions as the old ladies
prescribed. The shirts worn by the Americans were generally
home-made of flax and cotton-material. Some voyagers and
hunters among the Americans wore calico and checked shirts,
but not common. The flax and cotton were raised at home,
and manufactured into shirts. Looms and flaxrbreaks were
at that day quite common, and cotton-gins made of wooden
rollers. In the colonies of the American Bottom, and the New De
sign, a considerable number of sheep were raised, which fur
nished the wool used at that day.
The pantaloons of the masses were generally made of deer
skins and linsey. Course blue cloth was at times made into

44 MY OWN TIMES.
pantaloons. At that day, the factory-goods did not exist.
The factory-goods, from New England and Kentucky, reached
Illinois about 1818, and then looms, cotton, etc., disappeared —
spinning also ceased then. Almost every pioneer had a rifle
and carried it almost wherever he went.
* I have often seen many rifles stacked away outside of the
house of worship, while the congregation were within attend
ing the service. Almost everybody was then a hunter, and
they might see a deer on Sunday as well as on other days.
Linsey, neat and fine, manufactured at home, composed gen
erally the outside garments of the females as well as the males,
in the olden times. The ladies had the linsey colored and
wove to suit their fancy, which made a neat and comfortable
clothing for winter.
The youngsters, females as well as males, did not always
wear covering on their feet, except at meeting or dances.
A bonnet, composed of calico, or some gayly-checked goods,
was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jew
elry on the pioneer-ladies was uncommon. A gold ring was an
ornament not often seen.

CHAPTER XIV.
The Progress of the Country for five years from 1800. — Sickness. —
"Seasoning" of Emigrants. — Settlements, Ridge Prairie. — Goshen. —
Name of Goshen. — Blair on the Site of Belleville. — Settlements East
and South-West of Belleville. — Colonies in Horse Prairie, East of
Kaskaskia. — The French Colonies.— Pioneer-Squatters on the Public
Lands.^Murders of the Indians. — New Mill. — Shawneetown. — Sa
line Purchased by the Indians. — Shawneetown Commenced. — Mr.
Bell Leased the Saline. — Big Bay. — Daniel's and Wood-River Settle
ments Commenced. — Wilderness Yields to Improvements. — Popu
lation. During this period, Illinois was isolated from the States,
and was a remote, weak, and desolate colony. The population
and improvements increased slowly. The frontiers were gradur
ally enlarged. Additions were made to the various colonies,
and the country commencect to be known more thoroughly
throughout the Western States. The idea prevailed at that
day, that Illinois was "a graveyard," which retarded its settle
ment. Only those settled in it whose judgment overcame the
prejudice that was raised against the health of the country.
And, in fact, the country was at that day much more severely
visited by the bilious diseases than at present. The vegetation
was stronger and more abundant then than at present, and the

MY OWN TIMES. 45
inhabitants were more exposed then than they are at this time.
The seasoning, as it was called, then was almost certain to visit
every "imigrant the first or the second year after his arrival in
the country.
In 1802, the settlements of the Ridge Prairie, north of Belle
ville, and the Goshen settlement, were formed. The last-
named colony embraced about the present limits of Madison
County. The large, moral, and worthy family of the Gilhams
and connections, formed a great portion of the Goshen settle
ment. The Whiteside family and connections, also large and
respectable, located in the same colony. The leading pioneers
and patriarchs of this settlement were Samuel Judy; five aged
and respectable brothers, Thomas, John, William, James, and
Isaac Gilham; William B., Samuel, Joel, and others of the
Whiteside family ; these, together with others too numerous to
mention, laid the foundation of the present county of Madison
in and about the time above mentioned.
The name of Goshen was given to this locality of Illinois
by the Rev. David Badgley — he and others visited it in 1801,
and gave it the name of Goshen.
About the same year, the Lemens, Ogles, Badgleys, Kinney,
Whitesides, Phillips, Riggs, Varner, Redman, Stout PuUiam,
and others, formed the colony situated north and east^oTThe
present city of Belleville.
George Blair, this year, settled on the site of the present city
of Belleville, and his cornfield then occupied the public square
of this city. Eyeman, Stookey, Miller, Teter, and others,
formed the colony a few miles south-west of Belleville. All
these settlements were included in the county of St. Clair.
In Randolph County, the settlements increased in the Horse
Prairie, on the Kaskaskia River, and near Levens' Mill, on
Horse Creek. The founders of these colonies were Levens,
Teter, PuUiam, Grovenor, Going, and others. Beaird, Fulton,
Huggins, McCullough, Bilderback, Roberts, Lively, and a few
others, were added to the colony east of Kaskaskia, where my
father resided.
In this period, the French population might have increased
some few, and the improvement made by them may have been
some httle enlarged — the natural increase was nearly all the
accession. The imigrants from Canada numbered about as
many as left the country and died in the mountains and on the
rivers. The population of Illinois within two years may have in
creased some few hundreds, but scarcely a thousand souls in
all. It must be recollected that a great portion of these new
settlements above mentioned were formed by inhabitants al
ready residing in the country, and not entirely by immigrants.

46 MY OWN TIMES.
The improvements of farms kept about equal pace with the
increase and extension of the settlements. Almost every in
habitant was a farmer, and made some improvements, mostly
on the public domain. At this early day, the public lands were
not surveyed or in market so that the most of the pioneers
were squatters on the government lands.
A few only had purchased "floating rights," and others pa
tented lands, and were settled on them. The ancient inhabi
tants of Illinois had grants made to them of their lands occu
pied at the time, and some of these lands were purchased by
the immigrants who lived on them; but the other improve
ments, besides the farms, were not advanced at all.
A few mills might have been erected, but no school-houses
or church edifices were built new in the country. Some few
schools at this day existed in the old colonies, but none in the
new settlements.
In connection with the settlement of Goshen, a blood-thirsty
murder was committed in 1802. Turkey Foot, a savage chief
of the Pottawatomies, and a few of his warriors, murdered Alex
ander Dennis and John Vanmeter, at the foot of the bluff, four
miles south-west of the present town of Edwardsville. This
was a wanton and barbarous murder of two ^ood citizens, in
time of peace and without provocation.
The colony was feeble and unprepared to pursue the Indians,
and they escaped with impunity. Gov. Harrison made a requi
sition on the nation to give up the murderers: but none were
surrendered, and the matter dropped. An unprovoked mur
der, committed by the Indians, occurred in 1805, in the present
county of Gallatin. Mr. Duff was killed near the Island Ripple
in the Saline Creek, and he was buried near the old salt-spring.
It was supposed the Indians were hired to commit the murder.
Here rested the murder of Duff.
Tate and Singleton, this year, 1802, erected a good water-
mill on the Fountain Creek, a few miles north-west of the pre
sent town of Waterloo. This mill did a good business for sev
eral years : but is abandoned at this time. About this period,
General Edgar made salt at his saline at the bluff in the pre
sent county of Monroe, nearly opposite Waterloo.
In this year, Michiel Sprinkle, a gunsmith, was the first' white
man who resided in Shawneetown, situated on the Ohio River,
Gallatin County. The Indians requested Governor Harrison
to permit him to reside with them to repair their guns.
The next settler was La Boissiere, a Frenchman. He traded
with the Indians, fished, and kept an "humble ferry" on the
Ohio, to cross the citizens to and from the Ohio salt works,
which were back about twelve miles. This was the nucleus
around which Shawneetown commenced, in 1802.
Shawneetown was occupied by a village of the Shawnee In-

MY OWN TIMES. 47
dians, for many ages, and it was the place where Major Crog-
han, the English officer, camped in his explorations of the
country, in 1765. He had a battle there with the Indians.
When this site was first occupied, in modern times, it was
covered with a dense canebrake, and the squatters in it were
located on the public lands.
The old salt- spring, and its environs, situated about twelve
miles north-west of Shawneetown, attracted the attention of the
imigrants about this time, and around it commenced a colony.
This settlement increased and extended in every direction, until
a sparse colony was formed around the salt-works and Shawnee
town, before the year 1805.
In 1803, Governor Harrison purchased of the Indians the
salt-works, and some land around them. The same year, Cap
tain Bell, of Lexington, Kentucky, leased the saline, which
caused the imigration to this section of Illinois.
On Big-Bay Creek, not far from the Ohio River, on or before
1805, several families had permanently settled. These colonies
were weak, and surrounded with . Indians, yet they sustained
themselves, and have now the honor to be numbered in the
front ranks of the pioneers of Southepn Illinois.
On the old Fort Massacre road to Kaskaskia, where it cross
ed Big Muddy River, a settlement was made in 1804; and a
few miles east, on the same road, were the settlements of
Phelps and Daniels, which were commenced some short time,
and sustained themselves. Also, on Grand Pierre Creek, above
the present Golconda, in Pope County, settlements comhienced
in 1805, and continued, although much embarrassed at the time.
On Big Muddy, in the present county of Jackson, two families,
Griggs and Noble, were the first to plant civihzation in that
locality. In 1804, Wood River settlement north of Goshen, was estab
lished by the Pruitts and Stocktons, Jones, Rattans, and others,
and the Six-Mile Prairie, in the present county of Madison, was
increased by the families of Cummins, Gilham, Carpenter,
Waddle, and others, considerably. The Ridge Prairie, in
Madison and St. Clair Counties, received many permanent set
tlers before 1805. Barney Bone, Charles Wakefield, A. Bank-
son, and perhaps some others, made the first settlement east of
Silver Creek, in St. Clair County, in the spring of 1804. This
location was made on the high land, east of the creek and south
of the present road from Belleville to Hanover. Another set
tlement was formed a few miles north of the present town of
Lebanon, by Bradsby, Galbreath, and others, about this same
time. The next year, considerable settlements were made to
ward the mouth of Silver Creek and on the Kaskaskia River-—
Jordan, Thomas, and others, located this year, 1805, near Sil
ver Creek, south-east of Shiloah.

48 MY OWN TIMES.
The Frencji villages in St. Clair County, known as "the
French and Quentine villages," were commenced in 1805, and
prospered for some years considerably.
The Turkey Hill colony, which had been established by the
-venerable patriarch, William Scott in the year 1787, also in
creased its frontiers to some extent about this time. The settle
ment south-west of the present city of Belleville also enlarged
its dimensions.
In the year 1805, about fifteen families from South Carolina
settled on the east side of the Kaskaskia River, about ten miles
above Kaskaskia, and made a respectable colony, where their
¦decendants enjoy peace, comfort, and happiness to this day.
The whole country, during these five years, commenced, in a
small degree, to change its character. The extreme backwoods
habits of hunting, sporting, gaming, and idleness, were gradu
ally laid aside, and more industry, more cultivation of the earth,
and more ambition to accumulate wealth, commenced ; the rifle
and bee-bait were exchanged for the plow and the jack-plane ;
cabins were sometimes adorned with stone chimneys, and the
¦dogs for hunting were dismissed; band mills, propelled by horse
power, took the place of the old hand mill and mortars, worked
by man power; school -houses, to a small extent, were erected,
and the gospel preached in some sections of the country at and
about the close of this period; the bibles and spelling-books
took the place of the rifles and the steel -traps, and a savage
wilderness commenced to yield to Christianity and civilization.
Much tvas still to be done in Illinois, after this period, but
much was also done during these five years.
It is almost impossible to be exactly correct as to the in
crease of population in this period. It is estimated that in 1803
there were three thousand inhabitants in the Territory, and per
haps one thousand more might be added with safety for the in
crease in two years, so that at the end of the year 1805, four
thousand souls, French and Americans, may be considered
about correct in Illinois.

CHAPTER XV.
The Morals of the Ilhnois Pioneers.
The poverty of the country in eariy times, and the sparse-
ness of the population, must furnish the reason that the pio
neers of the country at an early day were more moral than the
people are at present. It requires the means, as well as the in
tention, to commit sin. One other reason is, perhaps, that in
early times the people being fewer in number and knew one
another better than they do now. Then public opinion was

MY OWN TIMES. 49
more certain to fix on a crime and criminal than it is now, when
the people are so numerous and seem to be more irresponsible.
It is my sincere conviction that morality was more practised
and more respected in early times in Illinois than it is at this
day. I have lived through all the various scenes and changes
in the country for more than half a century, and have almost
the whole of this period been amongst the people. Under
these circumstances I cannot be mistaken; and I state that the
people fifty years since, in Illinois, were more moral than they
are at this. time.
A white man and an Indian were hung for murder in Kas
kaskia, one in 1802, and the other in 1804, and none other was
hung in Illinois until 1821, in Belleville. In twenty-two years,
to have but two capital punishments, one an Indian, is speaking
volumes for the morality of the people. Thefts were of rare
occurrence; and forgery, perjury, and similar crimes were seldom
perpetrated. The courts were in session four times in each year in Caho
kia and Kaskaskia, and grand juries attending them; but if I
recollect rightly, the juries were frequently adjourned without
finding one single indictment
These are the higher crimes I mention as being of rare occur
rence — the lower violations of the law were not so rare: as
saults and batteries, riots, and similar misdemeanors, arising out
of a wild, reckless independence, sometimes occurred. These
breaches of the law did not involve any corruption of the heart,
but were such that at times they may occur in any community.
It is true that the use of intoxicating liquors was indulged in
at that day, some more then than at present. Drinking in
primitive times was fashionable and polite, and liquor was con
sidered an element in the conviviality of all circles — Public
opinion sustained the use of the bottle at that day, but now it
severely condemns it — this is some palliation for the pioneers.
The French were never an intemperate people in the use of
liquor. Most of the drinking and intemperance indulged in by the
Americans was in the villages of Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and
many good citizens were injured by the excessive use of ardent
spirits. I had reached my fifteenth or sixteenth year, and had seen in
the villages and other places much intemperance and immo
rality arising out of drunkenness. I deliberately reflected on
the subject and, without consulting any one, or any one know
ing it I took a solemn resolution never to drink any distilled
spirits whatever. My father had fallen into the habits of in
temperance to a considerable extent which was the main rea
son that induced me to make this decision. He had injured
himself and family by his use of ardent spirits; and I was fear-
4

50 MY OWN TIMES.
ful if I drank at all I might fall into the same habits. My
humble character was developed some at the time, and I pos
sessed, I feared, the same traits which my father had, which
might lead me into the same errors. I was satisfied then, as I
am now, that there is no certainty in any other manner than to
abstain entirely from intoxicating drinks, if a person wishes to-
be a sober man. I saw in what manner liquor operated on my
father — that when he entered into gay and exciting society that
it seemed almost impossible for him to refrain from drinking.
This decision has been no doubt of essential service to me, and
perhaps saved me from ruin. At that time, I had scarcely ever
tasted spirits, and knew not at all how it would operate on me;
but I saw that liquor had ruined many men, and I concluded it
was the safest course to drink none at all.
In early times, in many settlements of Illinois, Sunday was
observed by the Americans only as a day of rest from work.
They generally were employed in hunting, fishing, getting up
their stock, hunting bees, breaking young horses, shooting at
marks, horse and foot-racing, and the like. When the Ameri
cans were to make an important journey they generally started
on Sunday and never on Friday — they often said "the better
the day the better the deed."
In many of these American settlements there were no clergy
men or houses of public worship, and consequently no religious.
meetings. Many, like they are at present, would go to church
if they had the opportunity. Other colonies observed the Sab
bath in a different manner. The older the settlement was,
generally, the more the religious worship was observed in it
The aged people everywhere generally remained in their houses
on the Sabbath, and read the Bible and other books. Not
many worked at their ordinary business on Sunday. It was a
custom and habit to cease from labor on that day, except from
necessity. When any farmer, in olden times, cut his harvest on
Sunday, from necessity, public opinion condemned it more se
verely at that day than at the present. With the Americans
there was no dancing and very little drinking on the Sabbath.
The French colonies observed the day in a different manner
than the Americans. Worship ended and church over, they
were more relaxed in their deportment and enjoyed the rest of
the day in amusements, merriment, and recreation. Dancing,
training the militia, house- raising, and similar performances,
were in pioneer times indulged in by the French on the Sab
bath. Public sales of land and other property in early times
was held by the French at the church doors on Sundays, after
the service was closed. I have seen the young folks in France
dancing on a Sunday evening under the shade of the trees, on
the grass, with as much gentility and decorum as if the dance
had been on any other day of the week. The old people were

MY OWN TIMES. SI
frequently seated around and enjoying the amusement with
decided approbation. These customs are congenial to French
vivacity and cheerfulness.
The French population frequently assemble on the Sunday
evenings and discuss their public business.
The French are guarded against the breaches of the higher
penal laws.
There never was a Creole Frenchman hung in Illinois since
the earliest settlement of the country. Some colored persons
were hung in Cahokia for the pretended crime of witchcraft.
No Creole was ever sentenced to the penitentiary of this State.
Misdemeanors, such as keeping a drinking-house open on Sun
day, and similar offences, they are at times guilty of, and pun
ished by the laws.
In common broils and personal combats the French rarely
engaged. They detested a quarrelsome, fighting man; but
they had a class of bataillers, as the French called them, who
prided themselves in single combat.
The Americans indulged in personal combats in those
days more frequently than at present: very seldom they had
"pitched battles," as they were called, but would fight on the
spur of the occasion, and frequently make it up before they
parted. They scarcely ever fought unless they had been drink
ing, and commenced in the heat of passion. In these American
fights, no rules were observed, but, at times, eyes and ears were
much injured and sometimes destroyed. There is no exhibi
tion of human nature in much more degraded and brutal con
dition than to be engaged in a "pitch-battle" or a "prize-fight"
— any fighting is detestable and degrading, but a fight for a
wager puts the contestants and the spectators below the level
of the beast ; and a government or public opinion that will not
punish it with the severest penalties of the laws deserves the
condemnation of every honest man.

CHAPTER XVI.
Gaming and Sports of the Pioneers of Illinois. — Cards. — Loo. — Shoot
ing Matches. — A Keg of Whiskey. — Metheglin. — Horse and Foot
Races. — The Author Engaged in Racing. — Working Frolics. — Fe
males Attend.
All species of gaming were indulged in by the original in
habitants of Illinois. I do not pretend to say that every person
was devoted to gaming; but it was considered at that day both
fashionable and honorable to game for money; but as gentle
men, for amusement and high and chivalrous sports. In this
manner a great many gambled. Card -playing was sustained

52 MY OWN TIMES.
by the highest classes as well as the lowest in the country. A
person who could not, or would not, play cards was scarcely fit
for genteel society. The French delighted much in this amuse
ment, which gave the card parties much standing and popular
ity with the Americans. The French, at that time, had the as
cendency in the country, and their manners and habits gave
tone and character to many such transactions. The French
masses, in early times, played cards incessantly in the shade of
the galleries of their houses, in the hot summer months. They
frequently played without betting; but at times wagered heavi
ly., Card-playing was mostly the only gaming the French in
dulged in. The ladies of that day, amused themselves often in
these games, and as they do at this day. At times, the Amer-
cans as well as the French, bet heavily at cards, although they
were not considered gamblers. The voyagers and Courier du
Bois indulged in this sport more than any other class of citi
zens. The most common game of cards at that day was called Loo;
and in this game, and in many others, I was frequently engaged
like other folks of that time. I have lost or won considerable
amounts in an evening. I never considered card-playing as the
most innocent amusement; but I yielded to the customs and
habits of the country. When I was appointed one of the
Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, in 1818, I abandoned
card-playing, and every other species of gambling for money.
Shooting matches, with the Americans, were great sport.
Almost every Saturday in the summer, a beef, or some other
article, would be shot for in "the rural districts," and the beef
killed and parcelled out the same night. A keg of whiskey was
generally packed to the shooting-match, on horseback. Some
times, a violin appeared, and "stag dances," as they were termed,
occupied the crowd for hours.
In 1804, I witnessed a match of shooting in the orchard of
Gen. Edgar, a short distance west of Kaskaskia. It was a
match between John Smith and Thomas Stubblefield, and the
bet was one hundred dollars. Smith won the wager.
A small, tricky game for whiskey was often played in these
keg groceries, which was called "Finger in danger." Every
one that pleased put his finger down in a ring, and then some
"knowing one" counted the fingers until the count reached
some number agreed on, and the finger at that number, when it
was touched was withdrawn, and so on until the last finger in
the ring was left, and then it had to pay for the treat.
Aged matrons frequently attended these shooting matches,
with a neat clean keg of metheglin to sell. This drink is made
of honey and water, with the proper fermentation. It is pleas
ant to drink, and has no power in it to intoxicate. The old lady
often had her knitting or sewing with her, and would frequently

MY OWN TIMES. 53
relate horrid stories of the tories in the Revolution in North
Carolina, as well as to sell her drink.
In the early days of Illinois, horse -racing was a kind of
mania with almost all people, and almost all indulged in it
cither by being spectators, or engaged in them. The level and
beautiful prairies seemed to persuade this class of amusement.
The quarter races were the most common, and at which the
most chicanery and jugglery were practiced. In quarter races,
more depends on fast judges than fast horses. All classes of
horse -racing requires sound practical judgment and much
knowledge of both horses and men, to succeed in the business.
Much time, money, and morals were lost in these early sports
of the turf
In my youth, I possessed, like many others, a species of
mania for horse-racing, and was tolerably successful in the voca
tion. I delighted extremely in a fine race-horse, and have ex
pended much time in training them. Just preceding an im
portant race, I have slept on a blanket in the stable-loft to take
care of my horse. Sharpers may poison a horse, or take him
out in the night and try his speed with their race-horse.
The most celebrated and famous horse-race in early times in
Illinois, was run in the upper end of the Horse Prairie, in the
spring of 1803, between two celebrated horses. These horses
were of the same sire, and ran three miles and repeat, for a
wager of five hundred dollars. The bye-bets and all must have
amounted to one thousand dollars, or more. At that day, a
thousand dollars were worth nearly ten thousand at this time.
Almost every American in Illinois attended this race.
Foot-racing, jumping, and wrestling were practised by the
Americans in early times; and many bets were made on foot
races, as well as on the horse-races. As I reached man's estate
I was delighted with these rural sports, and became a swift
foot-racer myself When I arrived at the years of eighteen or
twenty, I grew large and active. My ambition, which was an
ardent passion with me, urged me to excel in these athletic
sports. I practised foot-racing incessantly, and discovered I
was hard to beat. The first race I ever run for a wager, was in
Kaskaskia, in the summer of 1808, with the Hon. John Scott,
of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. After the above race, a bet of a
hundred dollars was made on a foot-race of one hundred yards
to be run by me and a person of the name of Paine. The race
was to be run at the place of Mr. Kinney, of lUinois, Gov.
Kinney, a few miles east of Belleville. Paine got sick and did
not attend the race. I mention these small matters for the
object of showing the sports and games of the pioneers of Illi
nois; and also, for the purpose of relating "the story of my
life," as humble as it may be.
Working frolics in pioneer times were also common. The

54 MY OWN TIMES.
whole neighborhood assembled and split rails, cleared land,
plowed up whole fields, and the like. In the evenings of these
meetings, the sports of throwing the mall, pitching quoits,'
jumping, and the like, generally closed the happy day. The
females assembled also, and were engaged in quilting, carding
wool, and talking. The female gossips were conducted at these
gatherings in the same spirit as they are all over the world. At
these places, their expressions were common: "Do not repeat
this." "It may not be true on the lady." "This is a secret
between you and me."

CHAPTER XVII.
Hunting and Fowling in lUinois.
In all the frontiers of the West, hunting and fowling were an
element by which to obtain a livelihood with the masses. In
early times, in Illinois, almost every citizen made hunting his
main business in the fall, by which he added considerable to the
support of himself and family. Peltries and furs were the staple
articles of the country, and were as current and as good as bank
paper is at this time.
By a kind of public opinion, dear-skins which had the hair
shaved off, made a currency at three pounds to the dollar.
Books kept, and notes made in this manner, were the common
practice of the people, which answered for the standard of busi
ness ; as the present age has made the coin of the United States
the measure of value.
The meat of the chase was generally preserved, and sup
ported the families. There is no flesh better than a fat bear,
and almost equal is the venison in the fall.
In 1800, and many years thereafter, game, deer, bear, and elk
were plenty in Illinois, and particularly the deer. The northern
Indians did not hunt much around the white settlements, and
the Kaskaskia Indians were afraid to go far out to hunt. By
these means, the wild animals for ages were unmolested in
Southern Illinois, and they grew in great numbers. The rac
coons and musk-rats were also numerous. It is said the Indi
ans called Kaskaskia River, Raccoon River, for the number of
these animals raised on it.
In the swamps of the rivers were great numbers of musk-rats.
Their fur, as well as the raccoons, was in great demand with the
merchants. These animals, the raccoon and the musk-rat, are
measurably hunted out until there are only a few of them in
the State at this day. Beavers and otters were also found in
Illinois in the above period, but were not plenty in "My Times,"
and none at this day. Elks were not common in Illinois since
my residence in the country. I was one of a hunting-party

MY OWN TIMES. 55
that wounded an elk, and we tracked it by the blood for miles,
but did not get it. It was said that buffalos ranged toward the
head of Big Muddy River since we settled in Illinois; but I
never saw any of them.
Wild fowls in pioneer times were very numerous. In the fall
.and spring, great numbers flew over us north and south. The
Mississippi, and the low lands near it were on their route north
and south ; and at times the air was almost darkened with them.
The swans often flew high in the air, and in large gangs. The
notes of their music, sung on their passage, were noble and
majestic. But almost all these fowls, like the animals of the
chase, cease to exist in Illinois, and we see very few of them at
this day in their migrations. The fowls generally fly in order,
and assume the form something like the letter V, point fore
most. One alone is generally in front, and the two lines are
extended back from the foremost patriarch of the flock.
The game, the fowls, Indians, and pioneers all seem to sink
below the horizon about the same time, and leave the scenes of
their existence, pleasures, and sports for another generation.
Some deer-hunters make their approach to a gang of deer
in the open prairie with such adroitness and cunning, that they
kill one of the flock. Sometimes the hunter crawls in the open
prairie on the ground in the grass, and when the deer look
around, he is motionless until they put their heads down to feed
again ; then he creeps on again. At times the hunter provides
a green bush which he holds in front of him as he advances to
the game.
In my early days, I possessed a fever for hunting as well as
the other pioneers, and hunted considerable; but never was a
good hunter. I had two younger brothers, James and Robert,
who were excellent hunters, but I think their exposure and
hardships in the chase hastened them to their graves. They
are both dead. •'
On many occasions, the hunters shoot from the backs of their
horses, and what is strange, that the ponies will stand as
motionless, and not breathe, as a marble statue, when the hunter
is shooting from their backs. The sagacity of the horse is
wonderful — and to hold his breath on these occasions shows
much of it.
The food for wild animals, in the early settlement of the
country, was grown in Illinois in the greatest abundance. The
vegetation in summer was luxuriant and exceedingly nutritious.
In the winter, the animals were surrounded with "canebrakes" in
all the southern section of Illinois, and the sandy margins of
the rivers furnished rushes for food. The lowlands of the
streams in those olden days supplied the animals, wild and
domestic, with good pasturage all winter.

56 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Agriculture and Commerce in the Pioneer Times of lUinois. — Not
much Agriculture and Commerce at the commencement of the
present Century. — Commenced to sow Fall Wheat at the New De
sign. — Sickles. — No Cradles, no Horse-Reapers, no charge for Reap
ing. — French raised Spring Wheat. — A Dollar a Bushel for Wheat —
Cut Prairie Grass for Hay. — ^French Barns. — Produce to New Or
leans. — Lead. — Stock. — Indian Goods. — All Commerce by Water. —
No Land Carriage, no Roads. — Railroads add much to Commerce.
At the commencement of the present century, agriculture
and commerce in Illinois did not flourish to any great extent.
The fine soil of Illinois was mostly in the possession of the
aborigines, and the white population amounted to only a few
thousand souls. About one-half of these few inhabitants made
their living by the chase, couriers du bois, and voyaging. Under
these circumstances, agriculture and commerce were limited at
this period. The great elements of prosperity increased as the
population expanded. The farmers commenced to sow fall
wheat, and sell it to the merchants. The inhabitants of the
New Design gave the first impulse to the growth of fall wheat,
and considerable quantities were sold from this settlement.
At that day, the sickles, or reap-hooks, were the only imple
ment used to cut the wheat. There were no cradles in the
country to cut the small grain, and the late improvements made
their appearance, to harvest the grain, fifty years afterward.
Reaping with a sickle was a severe labor. Wheat at that day
sold for a dollar per bushel.
Mowing the prairie grass was, as well as reaping wheat, a hot,
hard labor; but a short distance, from the farms, in the prairie,
or in the timber in places, good grass was selected and mowed.
In this branch of agriculture I always made a hand to mow the
prairie grass as well as to reap wheat.
The Americans, at that day, generally stacked their hay and
wheat out, but the French had barns in which they housed their
wheat and hay. The French barns were made of large cedar
posts, put in the ground some two feet, and set apart four
or five feet — the space between the posts was filled up with
puncheons put in grooves in the posts, and the whole covered
with a thatched roof
It- was a great trouble in olden times to thresh and clean the
wheat. The Americans used horses at times to tread it out.
About the hardest work I ever performed was winnowing the
wheat with a sheet.
Considerable quantities of corn were shipped from Illinois in

MY OWN TIMES. 57
flat-boats to New Orleans before the purchase of Louisiana. ¦ It
was an uncertain market, and a more uncertain navigation of
the river. Some considerable stock, cattle, and hogs were
raised for the market. Some were shipped to New Orleans,
and considerable live stock to the lead mines in Louisiana.
The commerce on the river and the Indian trade consumed
of the small surplus products of the farms.
Irish potatoes were raised in abundance in pioneer times in
Illinois, and the crops scarcely ever failed. Only small quanti
ties of cheese or butter were manufactured — scarcely enough
for home consumption.
The French scarcely ever troubled themselves with milking-
cows; but turned the calves out with the other cattle, and made
httle or no butter. They scarcely ever used a churn, a loom, or
a wheel. At this early day, both the French and Americans
possessed large apple orchards in proportion to the number of
people in the country. The French also cultivated considerable
orchards of pears, but the peach-tree was almost entirely
neglected. In after days, peaches, apricots, and other fruit,
were raised in abundance. This is an excehent climate for the
above fruit.
The greater portion of the merchants made the Indian trade
their main object. The furs and peltries were articles in great
demand, and were generally shipped to Mackinaw, Philadelphia,
and New Orleans. Lead, from the mines west of the Missis
sippi, formed an element of some value in the pioneer com
merce. The French horses, known as "French Ponies," were sold in
great numbers to the Indians. Guns, powder, lead, and all In
dian goods, blankets, blue strouding, and calico-shirts, made up,
formed large items in the commerce of the day — as the Indians
were much more numerous than the whites.
The wA)le commercial business of the country was carried on
by means of the navigable streams intersecting the valleys of
the West in almost every direction.
The village of St. Louis, Missouri, at the commencement of
the present century, had only small Indian trails leading to it
All the commerce and transportation business was performed
by water.
Of recent date, the railroad system has unfolded a new era to
the country, and has advanced the nation at least half a century
in its former progress. Time and distance are almost anni
hilated, and the extremes of the country brought almost in
contact

S8 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XIX.
Early Education in Ilhnois. — The Author's first Acquaintance with the
Arithmetic. — At a Common School in the Winter. — Studies Astrono
my. — Studies Surveying and Navigation. — Traits of Character de
veloped. Before any common school was established in the settle
ment, where my father resided, I mounted a horse nearly every
evening during a winter, and rode about a mile and a-half to
the residence of James Hughes, to study under his guidance the
¦arithmetic. Mr. Hughes, although he was raised in the back
woods, and was filled with fun and frolic, was a man of strong
mind and a benevolent heart He took great pleasure in teach
ing me the arithmetic, and during this winter I studied the most
important principles contained in the treatise. We had not the
jleast idea when a school would be established in the neighbor
hood; and I was advancing in years, so that it was a matter of
necessity to study with Mr. Hughes. This was the first step I
took towards an education since we immigrated to Illinois. I
attended to my ordinary business on the farm during the day,
and in the evenings, after the stock was fed, I studied the
arithmetic with Mr. Hughes. In a few years after, schools were
established in most of the new colonies.
In the New Design, Robert Lemen, an aged and respectable
pioneer of Illinois, taught a school. Others were opened in
Goshen settlement, and other colonies.
About the year 1805, a small school was formed in the settle
ment where my father resided. I was a scholar at this humble
institution during part of the winters, and the wet^days we
could not work on the farm, for one or two years,Tvhile we-
remained in the settlement At times, the school was not kept
up for the want of teachers. The scarcity of school-books was
also a great inconvenience to the scholar.
As soon as I commenced the study of the arithmetic with
Mr. Hughes, I commenced also an ambition and a small
enthusiasm for education generally. This disposition induced
me to study and read almost every book I could obtain. It
must be recollected at that day in Illinois, not a man in the
country, professional, or otherwise, had any collection of books
that could acquire the name of library. There were some
books scattered through the country, but they were not plenty.
Although my father was a reading man, and possessed a strong
mind, yet as far as I recollect, he brought to the country with
him no books, except the Bible. Many of the immigrants acted ¦
in the same manner as to books.

MY OWN TIMES. 59
One exception I recollect was: that John Fulton, who settled
in the vicinity of my father, brought with him RoUin's Ancient
History. My father borrowed it, and I read it day and night at
the times I spared from labor. This was the first history I had
ever seen, and it gave me a new field of mental existence. I
made arrangements with my father to go all one winter to
school. I had raised a colt he gave me, and I gave it to a man
to work in my place on the farm while I attended school. At
this school I studied reading, writing, and the arithmetic. I
revised my studies of the arithmetic I had commenced with
Mr. Hughes. It was my energy and ambition more, I presume,
than my capacity; but I learned rapidly — so my teachers always
reported. At that day, neither the grammar, geography, nor books of
science ever appeared in the schools. And no branch of the
mathematics was taught except the arithmetic. The custom of
that day was also, to study the lessons aloud. Each one in the
school read out at the top of his voice, if it suited the con
venience of the scholar. This unwise habit is changed at this
day. My father purchased a few books, and among them was a
treatise on geography. This was a good work in four volumes,
and presented a tolerably good geography of the inhabited
globe. In this work was also contained a sketch of astronomy,
and particularly the solar system. This study astonished and
surprised me. It was incomprehensible to me, how it was
possible that the knowledge of the heavenly bodies could be
obtained. I reflected on this science with all my humble abili
ties, and became well instructed in it; so far as that short sketch
afforded me the means. My father understood the general
principles of astronomy tolerably well, and instructed me con
siderably in addition to the treatise mentioned above.
In the School near my father's, the teacher was unable to
instruct any of his students in the higher branches of the mathe
matics, or the sciences, and I made arrangements, with the
consent of my father, that I should attend during the winter of
1806 and 1807, a good school, taught by a competent teacher.
This school was situated a few miles north-east of the present
city of Belleville, on the land of the present Mr. Schreader. I
have often examined, with deep feeling, the tumuli of egj-th
where this school-house once stood. I revere and respect the
site with the same feeling as the Jews in ancient times did the
city of Jerusalem.
At this seminary I studied land-surveying and navigation. I
attended also to reading, spelling, and writing. I became well
conversant in the general principles of the mathematics, and
particularly in the science of land-surveying. My father pro
cured me a surveyor's compass, and I learned both the theory

60 MY OWN TIMES.
and practice of surveying. My compass and mathematical
books I retain to this day. I studied various branches of
mathematics, and the sciences, until I calculated an almanac,
but it was never printed. At that day, I never saw a printing
office. At this school where I learned surveying, I studied also
book-keeping, of which I thought very little. My writing in
this study improved my penmanship, -but I think not much my
knowledge. In my youth, when I was quite young, I surveyed a con
siderable amount of private lands, and gave tolerable satisfac
tion, so far as I understood at the time. During these years of
my humble life, the traits of my character commenced to de
velop themselves. It is almost impossible for any one to
deliberate his own character; but he may, I presume, give some
of the general outlines, without being guilty of either egotism
or folly.
My first and strongest impulses and traits of character were,
in my opinion, ambition and energy. Since my earliest recollec
tion it gave me great pain, and in fact real misery, to be de
feated in any enterprise I undertook. This was the case in
my tender years, as well as in mature age. Ambition was a
passion born with me, to the extent of my humble abilities.
Energy was also my company during life. I believe a
stationary and idle life would have made me unhappy and
would have shortened my days. Another trait was also born
with me: that was an extra and morbid degree of diffidence.
This defect of organization has given me great pain and trouble
through life. I happened to possess a corresponding degree of
savage obstinacy, pertinacity, and self-will to persevere onward,
or otherwise this bashfulness and diffidence would have been my
ruin. I imply not that this bashfulness had any affinity to
modesty, of which I pretend to possess no uncommon share.
Thus far my readers will permit me, I hope, to speak ^Of myself
I know it is dangerous, and a person, when he speaks of him
self is liable to say too much on the favorable side.
Nature and education are united in forming human character.
Neither can accomplish much without the other. Education
without a proper subject to act on would be futile; and strong
natural parts without education would be almost as useless. All
' the impressions which the mind receives from the surrounding
circurnstances, I embrace in the general term of education.
And in this view of the subject, education makes lasting im
pressions on the mind and forms the character, as heretofore
stated in this work.
My situation, being raised in the backwoods, has itnpressed
me with a pioneer character that has remained with me more or
less during life, and for which I am truly thankful. Circum
stances compelled me to rely on my own resources, which gave

MY OWN TIMES. 6l
me self-reliance, and a goodly degree of self-sufficiency, thinking
I was compelled to succeed in almost any emergency. Energy
and activity were also forced on me by the same circumstances
that they seemed to be born with me; and therefore attended
me without effort.
With these traits of character, together with an unbounded
ambition — much diffidence and awkwardness — nature and my
age raised me an obscure boy, a small distance above the
horizon, and forced me to act in this wide world

CHAPTER XX.
The Increase of Population and the Extension of the Settlements in
Ilhnois from 1805 to 1809, the Time of the Formation of lUinois
Territory. — The Monks of La Trappe. — Shawneetown Increased.
The whole country on the margin of the Mississippi, Ohio,
and Wabash Rivers, from the site where Alton now stands to
Vincennes, commenced to improve. Within the present limits
of Gallatin, Johnson, and Union Counties, small colonies were
formed. The Simpson, Stokes, and many other settlements,
were established in this section of the country, while the coun
try was under the jurisdiction of Indiana Territory. Some mills
were erected on the Little Wabash River, near its mouth; and
about this time the town of New Haven commenced near these
mills. A talented and energetic merchant then of Shawnee
town, laid out New Haven, and erected a fine flour-miU in the
vicinity. The settlements around the Ohio Sahne, in Gallatin County,
increased considerably, and the business at the salt works was
carried on with much prosperity and success. These settle
ments, around the margins of these large rivers, extended only
a few miles in the interior; and within was a wilderness.
The families of Jourdons, and connections, made a location in
1808, east of Big Muddy River, not far from the place where the
old Fort Massacre trace crossed the stream.
Colonies were formed some years before 1809, on Mary's
River and Plumb Creek, in Randolph County, and extended up
the east side of the Kaskaskia River, in narrow strips, to the
upper extremity of the Horse Prairie, and east of Silver Creek,
in St Clair County. On Sugar and Shoal Creeks, some settle
ments were formed during this period. The highest locations
on Shoal Creek were about the present Greenville; and the
settlements on Silver Creek extended up to the vicinity of the
present Highland Town, in Madison County.
During this period, colonies were extended from the vicinity
of the present towns of Troy and Edwardsville to the forks of

62 MY OWN TIMES.
Wood River, which was the upper settlement in the country at
this early period. Andey Dunegan resided then, solitary and
alone, on the site which Alton now occupies. These were the
frontier settlements during the war of 1812, and around which
the United States Rangers guarded the inhabitants.
Some of the Bird family, who had previously resided in
Missouri, west of Cape Girardeau, sold out their interest in the
premises and settled on the site of the present city of Cairo, in
1805. The settlements extended up the Wabash River, with
wide gaps between them, as high as Vincennes — but most of the
inhabitants left these upper settlements during the war of 18 12.
The French colonies were also extended before 1809; and the
villages called "the French Village," situated in the American
Bottom, on the present road from Belleville to St. Louis, and the
Quentine Village, near the Great Mound, on Cahokia Creek,
were formed. The French settlements at Peoria and Prairie du
Chien were stationary.
The colonies of the Creoles, on the Big Island, in the Missis
sippi, above St. Louis, increased but never prospered much.
In the year 1809, the Monks of La Trappe made a settle
ment in the American Bottom, near the Great Mound, and
remained there for several years. This colony was located near
the county line, between St. Clair and Madison Counties, and
they made there considerable improvements. They introduced
into the country a good breed of stock; and were, many of
them, excellent mechanics. The monks introduced the first
Jack into the country; but there was such inveterate prejudice,
at that day, against mules, that no one bred from the Jack.
At the place they located it was near large lakes, and they
suffered bad health. Two priests and several lay members died
here, and they abandoned the country in the year 18 12.
This order of religionists. La Trappe, were very rigid and
severe in their rules and discipline. It is an ancient order, com
mencing in France in the year 1140, and revived in 1664, by
Abbey Ranee. This devotee was a crazy fanatic, and enjoined
on the monastery perpetual silence. A stone floor was their
beds, bread and water their food — and every day they dug part
of their graves. I saw many of the order, at their monastery
in the American Bottom, who refused to speak, but made signs,
pointing to the place to obtain information. Many whom I saw
were stout, robust men, badly clothed, but fat and hearty.
These monks came to the United States in 1804, and first
settled in Pennsylvania, at Conewango Creek — then in Ken
tucky—then in the Flourisanf Village, in St. Louis County,
Missouri ; and then came to Illinois. They always seemed to
me to be discontented and unhappy. The leader of the frater
nity, the Rev. Pere Urban, was considered a man of talents and
true piety. I have often seen him reading in a book on horse-

MY OWN TIMES. 63
back. This monastery was an order of the Cistercian Monks ;.
and with all their rigor and severity, they had attached to them
many followers.
It is a singular trait in the human character, that the most
strange and most superstitious institutions of religion wUl secure
to them proselytes who will suffer even martyrdom for a cause
which they cannot understand.
In all religions, it is a principle to chasten "the carnal man," '
as it is called by some, so that the grossest passions, and the
most degraded impulses of the animal man, will not be permit
ted to run riot and ruin the higher and more intellectual senti
ments and impulses of cultivated humanity; but these monks
seemed determined to destroy the animality altogether in man,
to prevent him from committing sin. As well might a physi-
clan kill his patient to cure him. It is extremely difficult to
educate the human family in such' manner as to pursue the
exact line of right, in the sight of Heaven, between the two
extremes of the low, baser passions of man, and the celestial
and etherial elevation of the human intellect.
During this period, Shawneetown, on the Ohio River, com
menced to grow, and gave evidence then of becoming a large
commercial town. Shawneetown made its first appearance in
the years 1805 and 1806, and increased considerably for some
time. Great fleets of keel boats concentrated at this point,
engaged in the salt, and other traffic, and diffused life and
energy to the new colonies.
About the year 1804, La Bauissier, a Frenchman, located on
the Ohio River; he fished, traded with the Indians, and kept a
ferry. E. Ensminger settled there about the same time, and
was deputy-sheriff of Randolph County in 1809. Davenport,
Wilson, Ellis, Hubbard, and others, located here a few years
after. Congress in 18 10, and also in 18 14, caused to be surveyed
out two sections of land in lots, and sold many of them. After
the sale a general jollification was enjoyed, and most of the old
log- cabins in the town were burnt so that new houses, larger,
and built of better materials, would occupy the places of the
squatter houses. The river, for several years, did not inundate
the town, and everything seemed to prosper and advance the
growth of the place — it soon contained a population of fifteen
hundred inhabitants or more. The Indians were removed from
the country near Shawneetown in 18 11, and the immigrants
flocked to the country in great numbers.
At the first settlement of Shawneetown, a number of extra
ordinary and-highly gifted immigrants settled in it, and gave it
a high standing and character throughout the country. Many
of these pioneers reached, in after days, a high standing and
fame in the public mind. Among many others, Isaac White,

64 MY OWN TIMES.
John Marshall, Moses M. Railings, Leonard White, Willis
Hargrove, Henry Eddy, John McLean, Thomas C. Brown, A.
F. Hubbard, Mose^ M. Street, John Lane, Seth Guard, and
many more.
In 1805, we computed the population of Illinois to be about
five thousand souls; and in 18 10, the census taken then returns
12,284 inhabitants in the territory of lUinois.

CHAPTER XXL
Sketches of the Author. — Camp-meeting. — The Jerks. — Discipline of
the Militia. — The Fourth of July.
In the spring of the year 1807, my father purchased a plan
tation in the Goshen settlement, situated at the foot of the
Mississippi Bluff, three or four miles south-west of Edwards-
T^ille ; and there part of the family made a crop of corn before
the rest moved up. I had with me my books and compass, and
studied the mathematics with care and attention at intervals,
when I was not at work on the farm. I was called on to do
jobs of surveying, which I performed tolerably well, as all
parties concluded.
When my father arrived in Goshen, it was the most beautiful
country that I ever saw. It had been settled only a few years,
and the freshness and beauty of nature reigned over it to give
it the sweetest charms. I have spent hours on the bluff, ranging
my view up and down the American Bottom, as far as the eye
could extend. The ledge of rocks at the present city of Alton,
and the rocks near Cahokia, limited our view north and south;
and all the intermediate country extended before us. The
prairie and timber were distinctly marked, and the Mississippi
seen in places. As I grew up, I became more and more
energetic, and I could not remain inactive with the least satis
faction. I was constantly in motion, except when asleep or at
my studies. I attended at the house-raisings and other gather
ings of the people. No horse-race, or Fourth of July frohc
¦escaped me. Yet with all this glow of spirits and activity, I
never tasted a drop of liquor. The decision not to drink I
made irrevocable.
The first camp-meeting that was ever held in Illinois was
commenced on the premises of Mr. Good, about three miles
south of the present Edwardsville. This meeting convened in
the spring of 1807, and I attended it At the meeting, many
persons were curiously exercised by the "jerks," as it was called.
It seemed an involuntary exercise, and made the victims some
times dance and leap until they were entirely exhausted, and
would fall down helpless on the ground. When they were in

MY OWN TIMES. 65
these furious motions, the parties would generally shout and cry
aloud on the Lord. It was supposed to be contagious by
¦sympathy. These jerks remained with the people for many
years, but have long since disappeared. The clergy encouraged
it for many years, but at last they turned a deaf ear to it and it
ceased among the people. It seemed to me the parties became
much excited, and got into a frenzied state of mind, so that
they knew not what they did.
For the first time, I mustered in the spring of 1807, in
Cahokia. It was a general muster for the county of St. Clair;
and men, women, and many children, attended it. In those
days, females appeared at these gatherings in great numbers:
they rode on horseback, and often carried their children for
many miles to these places of public resort. At this muster, a
troop of cavalry was training; and they and the infantry were
firing, for amusement, blank cartrages at each other. A com
pany of French, in Cahokia, by accident, or otherwise, fired
leaden shot into the cavalry company, and wounded many of
the men and horses. At that day, a bad state of feeling existed
between the French and Americans, and the regiment was
divided, so that the two races mustered apart from each other
at the next training.
The country, at that day, was surrounded with Indians who
were not friendly to the approach of the Americans, and it was
necessary that the people should keep up a strict military
organization for defense. By this training and military disci
pline, the whole male population of Illinois made experienced
soldiers, to defend themselves in the war of 181 2, without any
difficulty whatever.
The celebration of the Fourth of July was frequently, in
these early times, made by horse-races and other sports, to
demonstrate the joy of the people. I attended two celebrations
of the Fourth at horse-races — one in 1807, at a race in the
American Bottom, a mile east of the Sugar Loaf; and the
other, the next year, on the prairie, in the American Bottom,
north-west, and near the residence of the late Samuel Judy.
At that day, and previously, I never saw in Illinois any
regular celebration of the Fourth of July by dinners, speeches,
and the like. I had often read the Declaration of Independence
of 1776, and admired it as being the greatest achievement of
human intellect, and on the greatest occasion; but I had never
heard it read at a Fourth of July celebration until in Knoxville,
Tennessee, on the Fourth of July, 18 12. The celebration in
Knoxville was one of the most enthusiastic meetings I ever
witnessed: the war against England had just been declared, and
the patriotic citizens of Tennessee were red hot and flaming to
fight the enemy. Judge Scott, of Knoxville, a splendid orator,
read the declaration, and made a speech that roused to action
5

66 MY OWN TIMES.
every spark of Tennessee patriotism. He painted, in glowing,
colors, the scalps of men, women, and children, for which the
British Government paid gold, at Detroit and other places, in
the Revolution. England, at that dinner, had no friends at all.

CHAPTER XXII.
Early Government of Illinois. — In 1800, down to 1809, Illinois formec
a part of Indiana Territory. Establishment of St Clair and Ran
dolph Counties. — ^Judges of the Court. — Jurisdiction of Courts and
Justices of the Peace. — First Lawyers. — Election in 1802. — ^Assem
bly Convened at Vincennes to Suggest Measures. — Contrast in the
Travel to Vincennes in 1802 on Horseback, and in 1855 by Rail
road. Illinois, from 1800 to 1809, made a part of the Indiana
Territory, and was, during that period, under the laws and juris
diction of that territory.
When we arrived in Illinois in 1800, there were only twc^
counties, St. Clair and Randolph, including the Illinois section
of Indiana. Governor St. Clair and Judges organized the
county of St. Clair in the year 1790, when he was Governor.
and Illinois formed a part of the great North- Western Terri
tory. The eastern line of the county commenced on the lUi
nois River, at the mouth of the Mackinaw Creek, some distance
below Peoria, and run a direct course to the Ohio River, near
the old Fort Massacre, and thence down the Ohio to the mouth,
and up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to the beginning.
This county embraced at that day all the settlements in Illinois,
and ten times more territory than they occupied. In the year
1795, Randolph County was formed, which was taken off the
southern section of St. Clair, and the line dividing the counties
ran nearly east and west through the wilderness country,
between Prairie du Rocher and the New Design colony. The
county seats of these two counties were at Kaskaskia and
Cahokia. A court of common pleas and quarter session were
organized and held in each county seat four times in each year.
The Judges of these courts were sound headed and respectable
men, who had no pretention to law-learning; but were about
similar to the best of our Justices of the Peace at this day.
Robert Morrison, Esq., was the Clerk of the Court in Randolph
County and John Hay, Esq., in St. Clair. At times, Shadrach
Bond, James Lemen, William Whiteside, James Piggot, Jean F.
Perry, Nicholas Jarrot George Atchison, and many other
similar good men, composed the Judges of the court of St.
Clair County; and John Edgar, William Morrison, N. Hull,
Robert Reynolds (my father), John Beaird, and others, were at

MY OWN TIMES. 6^
times Judges of the courts in Randolph County. These Judges
were appointed by the Governor of the territory, and held their
offices during his pleasure. The courts had similar jurisdiction
with our present Circuit Courts. They also regulated the public
business of the county. These Judges acted, also, as Justices
of the Peace as well as Judges of the court of common pleas.
Also, Justices of the Peace were appointed, whose jurisdiction
in civil suits was limited to twenty dollars. It required three
Judges to constitute a quorum, but more might sit on the
bench. These two counties and the administration of the law
remained in this condition untU the year 1812, when other coun
ties were established.
In 1803, I heard speeches made in court by lawyers Haggin
and Darnielle, in Kaskaskia, which was the first "pleading," as it
was then called, I ever heard. These two lawyers and John
Rice Jones, were the only attorneys in Illinois when we arrived
in the country. Soon after, when Louisiana was ceded to the
United States, more lawyers appeared in the country.
After we settled in the country, the first elecdon for members
of a convention was held in December, 1802, in Kaskaskia, and
Robert Morrison, Pierre Menard, and my father were elected
for Randolph County, and Jean F. Perry, Shadrach Bond, and
John Moredock, for St Clair County. This assembly convened
in the winter at Vincennes, and was not for legislation entirely,
but to advise with Governor Harrison on the government of the
territory, and the second grade of territorial government.
The country between Kaskaskia and Vincennes was then a
wilderness, and I recollect well hearing my father relate the
difficulties the members had in swimming the streams in the
wilderness, and their want of food for themselves and horses.
At this day, seven hours of pleasant travel in the cars on the
railroad, from St Louis, will land the traveller in Vincennes.
What a contrast.
CHAPTER XXIII.
My Journey to the CoUege in Tennessee. — A Letter from Tennessee
decides me for the College. — Preparations. — Diffidence.
Although I had reached my twentieth year, yet I had not
reflected or decided in what manner I would make a living.
One thing was most certain : that I relied on myself for a sup
port I knew my father had not the means to assist me to any
great extent, but it never cost me a moment's reflection, as I
was satisfied in my own abUity to make a living. I had never
engaged in anything great or important in my humble course
of Ufe, and to pursue it on in an even tenor did not require
much talent or capacity.

68 MY OWN TIMES.
In the forepart of the winter of 1809, my uncle, John
Reynolds, of Knox County, Tennessee, wrote my father a
letter, suggesting the propriety of sending me to Tennessee to
college. This letter found me as above stated, in an unsettled
condition, ready for a college, a horse-race, or a tour to the
Rocky Mountains, as the latter was sometimes .spoken of
It is strange what a small circumstance does often decide the
destiny of a person for life. This suggestion of my uncle
caused me to abandon my agricultural pursuits, and embrace
another entire different profession. I had not the least inten
tion, and it was not hinted at the time to me, that I was to
study law if I ever became qualified. I considered it right at
all events, to receive education, no matter what business I
might afterward pursue.
If it had not been for my uncle, I would have remained at
home, and have pursued, I presume, agriculture for a liveli
hood. I would not have remained idle, but forced my way to
the uttermost of my capacity in some enterprise.
My mother disliked me to leave home, and for her and her
wishes I entertained the most profound respect. But to satisfy
me she consented, and then all was bustle at home getting me
ready for college.
As the occasion occurred to test my diffidence, it increased;
so that my travel to Tennessee, and my appearance at college
haunted me in my slumbers. But when I commenced an enter
prise, let it be education, the practice of law, or any pursuit of
any description, my disposition was and is such that I would
suffer martyrdom before I would abandon it while there was a
gleam of hope left. With these traits of character, I had many
trials and conflicts of feelings to encounter in the progress of
my collegiate education in Tennessee, and, also, throughout my
whole life.
It must be recollected, that in Illinois I was raised in the
extreme backwoods, without ever being in any society except
the wildest. At that day, to my recollection, I never saw a
carpet, a papered wall, or a Windsor chair. Where I associated,
none of these articles existed. I think, before I was twenty
years old, I never lived in a shingled-roof house, or one that
had glass windows in it. My father was about the most wealthy
farmer in the neighborhood ; but fine houses were not then in
the country, anywhere out of the villages, and not many in
them. The society, near Knoxville, then the seat of the State
Government, was polished and fashionable. Under these cir
cumstances, what anguish of feelings I was bound to suffer. I
had crossed the Rubicon, and death or success was my motto.
It may be considered pride or vanity in me; but I had much
self-reliance. I mostly thought I was equal to the emergency.

MY OWN TIMES. 69
and althaugh this confidence did not destroy my diffidence, yet
it was the main lever that urged me on. I was a singular
spectacle, when I started in 1809 to college; I looked more like
a trapper going to the Rocky Mountains, than a student to
college. I was well educated in the arts and mysteries of horse
and foot-racing, shooting-matches, and all other wild sports of
the backwoods, but had not studied the polish of the ballroom,
and was sorely beset with diffidence, awkwardness, and poverty.
My mother and female friends commenced to fix me up for
college. They spun and wove from the raw material of wool,
cotton, and flax, my clothing. At that day, broadcloth was not
much seen in the country; at least it was not with me. These
clothes were made up without tailors, and did not fit; so that I
was placed in fashionable and polished society in Tennessee in
a most ludicrous position. This appearance, together with my
inherent bashfulness, gave me much pain and mortfication. I
wore a cream -colored hat, made out of the fur of the prairie
wolf, which also made rather a grotesque appearance. My par
ents did for me the best in their power, and did it with the
most kind and affectionate feelings, for which in all the ups and
downs in my life, I turn back to them with the most profound
feelings of respect and gratitude. It seemed to me they would
almost give up their lives at any time for my welfare.
When I left home my feelings were aroused into great inten
sity ; and when I turned my head back leaving home, and saw
my mother shedding tears, I bitterly condemned the college ;
but honor and obstinacy propelled me onward, if I had died on
my horse. John Green, an excellent young man, afterwards a
rather conspicuous character in Greene County, 111., travelled
with me to the lower part of Kentucky, and when we sepa
rated I was miserable. Together we did tolerably weU; but as
Burns the poet sings in his Highland Mary, "our parting was
fu' tender."
Many days I travelled the whole day without eating or feed
ing my horse I was so diffident an.d pioneer-like to appear in
a fashionable hotel, that I suffered for the want of food. It is
strange in the same proportion as diffidence appeared on me,
the opposite traits of character were propelling me onward ; so
that I would have appeared in Tennessee, as I had commenced
the enterprise, if I had been forced to crawl there on my hands
and feet.
Between Kaskaskia and the Ohio River was mostly a wilder
ness. We crossed the Ohio at Ford's Ferry, and passed Hop
kinsville, Gallatin, in Tennessee, and at last I approached the
Cumberiand Mountains. It was nine years since I had crossed
them, and I had forgotten them considerably. Being so long
in Illinois, in which there are no mountains, the sight of them
was magnificent and sublime. I took great pleasure in viewing

JO MY OWN TIMES.
these great and grand worses of creation, and frequently loitered
behind my company gazing on the scenery.
At last I reached the residence of my uncle, in Knox County,
Tennessee, and found him and his amiable wife enjoying rural
"life, in that happy medium between the extremes of wealth and
poverty, that is the most conducive to happiness. They re
ceived me with open arms, as if I had been their only son.
It is to this family that I have reason to look, next to my
parents, or even more, for my advancement in life. These rela
tives possessed and exerted a kindness for me, that time makes
it more indelible on my heart. They moved in a respectable
circle of society, and knew exactly what to say and do for me.
They placed me in that condition in which it was proper for me
to act in my situation.
My wardrobe was re-organized; and my hat, which was
made in Illinois out of the fur of a prairie-wolf, was exchanged
for a fashionable beaver.
It is almost impossible for one to cast off the wilderness-man
ners and habits of twenty years' growth, and assume in a short
time the polish and fashion of refined society.
Another scene now presented itself, which I disliked ex
tremely. But it was one like death, that could not be avoided.
It was to introduce me to the preceptor of the college and the
students. This scene was not at a horse-race or a shooting-
match, and I felt rather disagreeable in the operation. Many
young men told me afterwards, when we became familiar, that
they had no idea at first that I ever could become a scholar.

CHAPTER XXIV.
My First Year at CoUege. — The Preceptor. — The Books I Read.
The preceptor of this college was an accomplished scholar,
the Rev. Divine, Isaac Anderson, whose learning and piety
were known and appreciated far and near. Nature bestowed
on him a great strength and compass of mind, and it might be
said of him, like Cardinal Wolsey, "from his cradle, he was a
scholar," "a ripe, and good one." He is yet alive, and is the
patriarch of learning in East Tennessee. He is not only at the
head of an institution of learning in East Tennessee, but he
also stands deservedly at the head of the Christian ministry in
his section of the country.
This gentleman instructed a class of young men, in his col
lege, and preached to his congregation every Sabbath.
He kindly received me into his seminary, and was to me a
warm friend and benefactor.
This institution of learning was situated in a retired valley,
where neither temptation nor vice made their appearance.

MY OWN TIMES. 71
It was six miles north-east of Knoxville, and near the par
son's house. A large spring flowed out from the rocks near it,
and the whole scenery around was charming, innocent, and
rural. The building of the institution was comfortable and
" unpretending." Wealth in it or about it made no display to
deaden or distract the vigor of the intellect The Latin gram
mar was the first book put into my hands, and it'^as my de
cided companion for several weeks and months, so that we
scarcely ever were apart, only on occasions of sleep and meals.
I had no acquaintances at the college or country. I was diffi
dent — had no means to make a display, and had no inclination.
I knew I was rising into years and I must act. I commenced
to know and appreciate a character and standing. All these
things conspiring, made me exert every latent and dormant
intellect and energy that I possessed. I made hasty strides
in the Latin language, that was noticed by the college; but
I knew not myself my exact progress, as well as others did.
The first small Latin book I read after the grammar was, I
think, Corderi. I soon came to Selectee Profanis. The others
I had been studying was a kind of Englished Latin. This book
was a trouble. My mind had not been disciplined entirely to
study in Illinois, and I had to force it into the harness of ab
solute application. I had commenced the enterprise, and my
readers know my motto was success or an ignominious grave.
It was something like taking a colt off the prairie-grass and
entering him in a race-course without keeping or training. It
required much exertion to succeed. Caesar's Commentaries on
his Gallic wa'rs was studied by me, and much admired. Ovid's
Metamorphosis was also read attentively. I did not much like
this author, although he has considerable genius in changing
girls into trees, and the like. I then studied the works of Vir
gil, and greatly adrriired them. His pastorals are innocent and
as the ladies would say, "sweet." His Georgics are good. Many
of the best principles of agriculture are there laid down. He is
not so wrong in stating that bees will generate in the pounded
carcass, of a young heifer. But it was the .^nead that I so
much admired. In this work were philosophy, religion, and
many great principles combined. The descent of .(Eneas into
the dreary abode of the spirits, called Averna, shows the notions
of the ancients in the future state. I remarked, particularly in
in the works of Virgil, that he was so diffident that he would
not enter Rome in daylight for fear of the gaze of the people.
He came into the city in the night I discovered that others
had been incommoded with this disease as well as myself
I consider the work of Virgil shows, besides great genius in
the author, science and philosophy in the work. The next
author placed in my hands was Horace. I read his Satires,
much of his poetry, and his art of poetry. This writer was to

72 MY OWN TIMES.
me not so interesting as Virgil. Horace had perhaps more
strength of mind, and an intellect more pointed than Virgil,.
but there was a beauty and a flowing elegance^with the author
of the JEnead, that I did not preceive in the other. The last
Latin author I read at school was Cicero. His orations were
considered at the college the ne plus ultra of human excellence,
and not so badly judged, in my opinion. I studied with care
and attention the Orations of Cicero, and admired them with
the warm enthusiasm of a school-boy. It requires a good Latin
scholar to understand the speeches of this celebrated orator,
and I neyer read them with so much pleasure as I did the-
.(Enead of Virgil. When I was at the college, hearing the first
words of any line of the first books of the ./Enead, I could repeat
the rest of the line. The above are the principal Latin authors
I studied at the college, but I looked over Sallust and many
other Latin writers. But in my opinion, Cicero was, taking him-
in all things, the greatest literary man Rome ever produced;
and it is doubtful, if modern times ever could boast of a supe
rior man. Some writers say, Julius Caesar was the most accom
plished scholar and man the world ever saw; but in my opinion,
he fell behind Cicero in not only eloquence but science and
literature. The writings of Cicero will stand transcendent \vl
the minds of all intelligent men, while eloquence and learning
are respected on the globe. For native, pure, and pathetic elo
quence, I believe the great American orator, Henry Clay, was
superior to Cicero; but he appeared far behind the noble Ro
man in science and literature. It must be recollected, that the
cotemporaries of Henry Clay, besides the American feeling, en
joyed the pleasure of witnessing the grand and majestic bursts
of eloquence from the lips of the American, while the efforts of
the Roman are preserved only on paper. Eloquence cannot be
confined and transmitted in writing in those glowing, beaming,,
and overwhelming torrents that flow from the lips of the orator
himself At this coUege it was the custom to read compositions on
one Saturday, and the next, to deliver orations. This rule is a.
good one, but the performance of it was to me a great trial,
particularly the speaking on Saturdays. All the two weeks.
previous, and in fact all the weeks, this awful day was looked
upon by me with deep and intense feeling. Writing the compo
sition was a closet performance, be it good or bad, that any one
could do, according to his will and capacity; but the reading
of it to the teacher was to me very painful. His gentle and
kind criticism on the pieces was more to sooth my perturbed
spirit than otherwise. The orations were committed to memory,
and spoken to a full house of the students, and others, with the
venerable and learned preceptor presiding, with that noble dig
nity which seems to be the birthright of the Rev. Isaac Ander
son.

MY OWN TIMES.

7J

• I retain the impressions of that scene vividly on my mind to
this day, of my first attempts to deliver orations, which I had
committed to memory. The teacher presided, and the house
full of students, and others, more to witness my debut than any
other cause. I knew it and the more I thought of the scene,
the more I disliked it. I could not reason the diffidence off.
Or I could not forget it or shift it off, but I must bear it.
This is no caricature, or exaggerated story, of my first ap
pearance in this scene. When I commenced, I trembled from
head to foot niy voice faltered and was strange to my own ears.
I jumbled over sentences and paragraphs in the speech. In
voluntarily and unconsciously I leaned on a table near me, until
my person made an angle of forty-five degrees with the floor.
To see the crowd gazing on me, and myself making such a cari
cature of a speech, was extremely disagreeable.
At this college was organized a debating society, that aided
the students much in their elocution as well as mental re
searches. I was persuaded to join, and committed to memory
my addresses. The teacher generally presided, and took occa
sion often to commend my efforts, more to encourage me than
any merit my speeches possessed. Also, at this college, at the
close of each session of five months, an "exhibition," as it was
caUed, was held. A large audience attended; and the scholars
not only exhibited their studies before the congregation, but
also performed plays, something similar to a theatre. The
teachers from all the surrounding institutions were invited, and
- examined the scholars in their studies. I well remember at
one of these exhibitions, the celebrated pulpit orator, Gideon
Blackburn, was present. This gentleman was the most elo
quent divine I ever heard, and his address to the students was
a matchless piece of eloquence. It was the first true and lofty
eloquence I ever heard, and I never knew before the power of
this celestial gift to man. A native and accomplished orator
exhibits human nature in its highest eminence.
I finished my Latin studies with great celerity, but I often
revised them afterwards at the college, and taught classes in
that language; so that when I left the college, I was a good
Latin scholar.
The circumstances under which I labored forced me to study,
as I have already stated. I was diffident particularly in the
society of ladies, and was also destitute of all the fashionable
and polished graces of a ballroom. I never knew a tune, or at
tempted to dance in my life. I po.ssessed in an eminent degree
the awkward appearance of a wild youth caught up from the
prairies of Illinois. I knew well my situation, and would not if
I had the means, and I had not, force myself into fashionable
and accomplished dissipation, under any circumstances, aU
though urged to it by all my youthful comrades.

74 MY OWN TIMES.
In my situation, intense application to my books was my sole
employment and pleasure, and my success naturally arose out
of my exertions.

CHAPTER XXV.
The Second Year at CoUege. — The Scenes at CoUege. — General Hous
ton, of Texas, at the Same Institution. — Commenced Reading Law.
— Studied Intensely. — Became Sick. — Quit Study. — Returned to
Ilhnois. In the vacation of this coUege I studied as attentively as I
did at other times. In one vacation, I studied the English
grammar and Euclid's Elements of Geometry. I found the
English grammar to present no great trouble to understand it;
but to be particular in the observance of the rules was more
difficult, and often the rules were disregarded. The study of
Euclid's Elements of Geometry was to me a great treat, and
unfolded to me a science of absolute certainty that none other
attains. It astonished me how the principles of geometry could
first be demonstrated, when it was with considerable difficulty
that a person can follow the landmarks laid down by the
ancient sages and philosophers. The fifth problem in Euclid,
known as the pons assinorum, "bridge of asses," was somewhat
difficult to understand. When I demonstrated the problem,
the teacher said that was the "bridge of asses," and as I crossed
it, I could go on. I got over it before I knew it. The problem
is grand and sublime where the square of the hypothenuse is
proven to be equal to both the squares of the legs of a right-
angled triangle. My former studies, the mathematics, made
the elements of geometry more easily comprehended.
When the session of the college opened in the spring of 1810,
I commenced the study of the sciences and literature, I studied
geography and history carefully. I also read with care, rhetoric
and logic. Blair's Lectures gave me such information on the
various branches of that subject. This author showed himself
in these lectures to be a great and learned man, whose science
and work on rhetoric entitle him to much fame.
I studied the treatise of logic written by Dr. Watts, which
was mathematical and demonstrative, after the manner of Eu
clid's Elements of Geometry. The moral philosophy, by Dr.
Paley, was also studied by me, and recited to the teacher. The
next study I commenced was astronomy, which unfolded the
great and grand works of creation, which I only glimpsed at in
Illinois. Dr. Young says the truth, that "an undevout astrono
mer must be mad." Although the study of astronomy was
pleasing and fascinating, yet much of the science was abstruse

MY OWN TIMES.

75

and difficult to comprehend. It required the undivided atten
tion of the mind to understand it. I studied also at this col
lege, the science of chemistry, in connection with natural phi
losophy. Chemistry is a very interesting study, which gave me
much entertainment.
During the closing sessions at the college I enjoyed much
social happiness. I became attached to the preceptor and stu
dents, and we mingled together like a band of brothers. My
studies were not only easy and light but pleasant and agreea
ble. I wore off some of the diffidence and rusticity of my youth,
and was easy and happy,|in a society that was so kind to me. I
had gained a little reputation at the college and a short dis
tance around it.
I enjoyed in Illinois the character of a wild, sportive youth,
but this was the first speck of literary reputation ever reached
me, although small, yet my vanity and foibles of human nature
were pleased at it. It is happiness to any one to know his
actions are approved by his conscience and an intelligent public.
After the exhibition and the examination of the students on
the sciences we studied, I left the institution with a heart brim
ful of intense feelings. It pained me to leave my fellow-stu
dents, perhaps forever, and the venerable preceptor; but duty
demanded it and the effort was accomplished. At this last ses
sion, a youth, afterwards Governor Sam Houston, of Texas, was
a student, and was an agreeable young man, whom all respected.
My excellent and learned preceptor is yet alive in Maryville,
Tennessee, and is, as he always has been, for almost half a cen
tury, not only a standard of the clerical profession, but the
great patriarch of literature in East Tennessee.
In October, 1810, I commenced the study of the law, in
Knoxville, with a most excellent and agreeable man and lawyer
John McCampbell, Esq. In his office I commenced Black-
stone's Commentaries. I was highly pleased with the style of
the author, and the system on which Judge Blackstone pre
sented the common-law of England to his students. There is
no law-book extant that can boast of a better style, or a more
compendious system of the laws of England, than is found in
the Commentaries of Blackstone.
I had few acquaintances in Knoxville, and was retired and
private — had no recreation, amusement, or social society. I was
forced to study night and day in self-defence, and before spring
I injured my health so much that I was forced to abandon my
studies. I read six or eight months incessantly, and in the time
had passed a successful examination on Blackstone and other
law-books. I studied history also in the time. My preceptor,
Mr. McCampbell, urged on me the neccessity of understanding
the history of England, so as to comprehend the common-law,
and the various statutes passed in aid of it. I also read many

•j6 MY OWN TIMES.
miscellaneous works. Mr. McCampbeU possessed a large library
of literary and miscellaneous books as well as law.
I studied in this intense and unwise manner until spring, and
I contracted a cough, and my lungs were affected. I had pain
in my breast and often spit blood. I became pale, emaciated,
and lost my appetite. I had cold, unnatural sweats at night,
and slept but little. I was weak and inactive. I had at college
and at musters through the country frequently tried my speed
with foot-racers, but now I was scarcely able to mount a horse,
let alone to run a foot-race. How I grieved at the loss of my
backwoods' activity! My situation alarmed my uncle and
friends more than it did me. I had such implicit confidence in
my native vigor and strength of constitution, that I thought
nothing could injure me. But by the advice of friends I con
sulted a learned and talented physician. Dr. Strong, and he was
some surprised at my situation. He at once pronounced me
incurable, if I continued to pursue the same course of conduct
that reduced me to that situation. He took much interest in
my case, as I persume he discovered I was worse than I sup
posed I was. He said I must reverse the order of things that
produced this result. I must study none — take all the exercise
that I could bear — eat light food, and pass my time in jovial
and pleasant society. This was the ground work of the cure,
and his advice, I presume, saved my life. Under these circum
stances, I shut up my books, and bid a farewell to the law and
my studies for almost a year.
My fine race-horse became sick from inaction, and unlike me,
he died. I possessed then nothing on earth save some few
clothes, and the commencement of the consumption. I had no
horse, no money, or wealth of any description. But the hearts
of my uncle and aunt overflowed with kindness to me. I was
furnished with a fine horse and money, and started home to
Illinois, by Lexington, Kentucky, and Vincennes, Indiana, in
the spring of the year 1811.

CHAPTER XXVI.
The Summer of 1811. — MisceUaneous. — My Return to Illinois. — My
^ Health. — Indian Disturbance. — Indications of War. — Forts BuUt —
Captain Levering at Peoria to Sound the Indians. — The Comet. —
The Earthquake. — Sports and Horse -Racing.
I wended my way over the Cumberland Mountains, at the
famous gap known as the "Cumberland Gap," and although I
was sick, lonesome, and feeble, yet I enjoyed the mountain
scenery with great pleasure. Some' of the elevations of per
pendicular rocks, on the sources of the Cumberland River, near

MY OWN TIMES.

17

the road must be over a thousand feet high. I often gazed
with wonder and delight at these sublime and majestic works of
nature in these mountains. This is the same road on which
General George Rogers Clark and Gabriel Jones blistered their
feet travelling in the year 1776, from Kentucky to the capital of
Virginia. This is also the road on which Boone first travelled to
Kentucky. I was surprised to see the Kentucky River where it
seemed to have chiseled itself a channel a hundred feet deep in
places in the limestone rocks, to run in.
Lexington was a handsome town at that day; and near it
was the first attempt tck erect a steam -mill I ever saw. The
mUl was not finished, but much work was done on it. One
night, in Lexington, for the first time, I heard the watchman
cry out in a shrill, unearthly tone, the time of night and the
weather. I got up and went to the window to know what was
the matter! The next day, I was told all about it — Louisville
was then, in the spring of 18 11, a small place.
I crossed the Ohio River alone, and started through the wil
derness to Vincennes. At that period, the Indians had alarmed
the people on the road so much that scarcely any settlers
remained on the way. I found at White River a flat-boat, but
no one to cross me over. I had been accustomed some to a
boatman's life. I put my horse in the flat-boat and rowed my
self over, although the stream run with an exceedingly strong
current. No one resided between Vincennes and the Kaskaskia
River. McCauley had improved at the Little Wabash, but had
left it for fear of the Indians. I got in company with two other
travellers at Vincennes, and we made the journey together to
Shoal Creek, in the present Clinton County. At this point,
they went on to St. Louis, and I made my way to Goshen
settlement, where my father resided.
On the route from Vincennes to Illinois I could not keep
with my companions, but they would wait for me. I was on a
fine horse, but I became so weak that I could scarcely sit on
him. We travelled exceedingly fast. The first day after leav
ing Vincennes we camped at the Little Wabash, and the next
night at the Kaskaskia River. I got home to my father's in
the American Bottom, in a little more than two and a-half days'
travel from Vincennes. My mother was much distressed at my
appearance, and shed tears profusely. She mourned my un
timely death, as if I were dead. This was the most trying
scene of this character I ever experienced. I was distressed
with the grief of my mother. I consoled her, cheered her up,
and made a bad case as good as possible, with my sickly ap
pearance. I took no medicine, except, perhaps, I drank some
water mixed with ley. I regulated my diet to suit me, and
exercised much on horseback.
A person in the backwoods without a horse, is almost like a

78 MY OWN TIMES.
soldier in battle without a gun, or a German on a farm without
a wagon. I traded and managed until I got a horse.
During this summer, much excitement prevailed among the
people on account of the approaching war with Great Britain
and with the Indians. Although the country had its improve
ments, yet it was weak and defenceless. Numerous hordes of
warlike and hostile savages surrounded the settlements, and
indications were certain that they breathed a spirit of vengeance
against the whites.
It is strange that the pioneers on the frontiers could discover
sooner the movements of the British Government, through the
Indians, than our government could by their Minister in
Europe. My father resided not far from the frontiers, and his house
was often filled at night with the citizens for fear of the Indians.
Two murders were committed this year, which added much to
the fears and alarms of the people. A young man, Mr. Cox,
was killed on the 2d of June, near the forks of Shoal Creek, in
the present county of Bond, and his sister, a young woman,
taken prisoner. The young lady was rescued, but the horses
the Indians stole from the house were not recovered. On the
20th June, of the same year, i8i i, Mr. Price was kUled near the
spring in the lower part of the present city of Alton. And to
close the year with Indian troubles, the celebrated battle of
Tippecanoe was fought on the 7th of November of that year.
Under these circumstances, the country was agitated through
out the whole year, and with good cause, as the next year the
war was declared, and the whole Indian world turned loose on
the weak and defenceless settlements on the western frontiers.
Ninian Edwards had been appointed, in the year 1809, Gov
ernor of the territory of Illinois, and he was active and efficient
in preparing the country for defence. With his advice, family
forts were erected all around the frontiers. In this year, Gov
ernor Edwards ordered Captain Levering, from Kaskaskia, to
organize a small military company at Cahokia, and to proceed
with it in a boat to Peoria. At that day, Peoria was considered
almost as inaccessible as California is at this time. The whole
country north of a sparse settlement on Wood River and Shoal
Creek, in the present counties of Madison and Bond, was a
wilderness filled with hostile Indians, and Peoria was at that
day only visited by Indian traders. The object of the expedi
tion was to sound the Indians around Peoria, as that village was
the capital of all the Indian country in Illinois at that day.
Joseph Trotier, a French Creole of Cahokia, a person ot
sagacity, was sent out from Peoria some forty miles to the
Kickapoo Indians, that resided on Sugar Creek, north-east of
Elkhart Grove, in the present county of Sangamon. Trotier
had a "talk" prepared, and took down by his interpreter the

MY OWN TIMES.

79

speeches of the Indians in answer to it I disremember what
information they sent back to Governor Edwards; but I have
no doubt it was evasive and untrue.
There are no people who have more low, cunning diplomacy
than the Indians, and this nation, the Kickapoos, had the most
intelligence of any of the surrounding tribes. Captain Levering
returned in peace, but by the exposure on the river he died soon
after he reached Kaskaskia.
To add to the terrors of one class of people, a comet, large
and brilliant, appeared in the fall of this year, in the south-west
section of the heavens. This comet was believed by many to
be a true harbinger of war, and stories were afloat among the
people, that the roar of a battle, the reports of the cannon and
small arms were heard in the skies. The reality of war the
next year was bad enough without these silly stories.
On the night of the i6th of November, 1811, an earthquake
occurred that produced great consternation among the people.
The centre of the violence was near New Madrid, Missouri, but
the whole vaMey of the Mississippi was violently agitated. Our
family all were sleeping in a log- cabin, and my father leaped
out of bed crying aloud "the Indians are on the house." The
battle of Tippecanoe had been recently fought and it was sup
posed the Indians would attack the settlements. We laughed
at the mistake of my father, but soon found out it was worse
than Indians. Not one in the family knew at that time it was
an earthquake. The next morning, another shock made us
acquainted with it, so we decided it was an earthquake. The
cattle came running home bellowing with fear, and all animals
were terribly alarmed on the occasion. Our house cracked and
quivered so, we were fearful it would fall to the ground. In the
American Bottom, many chimneys were thrown down, and the
church bell in Cahokia sounded by the agitation of the build
ing. It is said a .shock of an earthquake was felt in Kaskaskia
in 1804, but I did not perceive it The shocks continued for
years in Illinois, and some have been experienced this year,
1855. In August of this year, I attended a camp-meeting at Shiloh,
St. Clair County, and by sitting up all night, I brought on the
fever and ague. I thought this disease gave me relief from the
attack on my lungs.
In November of this year, I made a wager to run a-quarter
race in Cahokia for five hundred dollars, and the amount was to
be staked in horses valued at cash prices. At that day, this
amount was equal to several thousand at the present time, as
the country is now so much wealthier. The race-horses were
kept for weeks, and the whole country attended to see the sport,
I had but one horse to stake, but Thomas Carlin, the late Gov
ernor of Illinois, and his relative, William Savage, owned the

So MY OWN TIMES.
horse I made the race on, and staked the balance of the horses.
The property was valued low; as each party supposed they
would win the race. We fairly won the bet. I sold the horse
I won to a hotel-keeper in Knoxville, and boarded it out with
him while I studied law.

CHAPTER XXVII.
My Return to CoUege and to the Law-School in Knoxville, Tenn. —
Hugh L. White and Jenkin Whiteside. — General Gaines and Recruits
in KnoxviUe. — Last Foot-Race of the Author.
I Travelled into Tennessee in January, 1812, and entered
again the college to revise my former studies. I remained here
some time, and examined and rehearsed to my preceptor the
general course of my previous studies. I discovered that my
memory was good, and that all came up almost as fresh as ever
to view. ^
After this revision of my previous studies at the college, I
became again a law-student in the office of Mr. McCampbell, at
KnoxvUle, in the year 18 12.
It was considered by all that I had escaped from sickness, and
perhaps death, fortunately, and that I must not study in that
unwise manner again. I saw, myself, the necessity of more
exercise and relaxation of my labors, and acted accordingly.
Nevertheless, I read considerably, and attended the courts to
witness the practice of the law in them. The seat of the State
Government was then in Knoxville, and the Superior Court sat
there. I often witnessed the efforts of Hugh L. White, and
other profound lawyers of the State Jenkin Whiteside was at
that day considered at the head of the bar of the State, and his
oddities and peculiarities caused much gossip. He had an old
white horse, it was said, he rode; and without riding this horse
to court his mind was not at ease, and he could not gain a suit.
Much such nonsense was told of him.
It was on the i8th of June, in this year, that war was de
clared against Great Britain; and all Tennessee was excited to
the utmost This State is justly enritled to the honor it has
uniformly maintained of patriotism and the volunteering spirit
to defend the rights of the nation "in the deadly breach."
Colonel Gaines recruited a regiment this year in Tennessee,
and the martial music, and the training of the new soldiers,
occupied the streets, and attracted the attention of the citizens
.of Knoxville aU this summer. The ensuing winter, this regi
ment remained at old Fort Massacre, on the Ohio, and in the
•spring made its appearance on the Canada frontier, where it
General Gaines, and other officers, gained immortal honor in
the many battles which they fought with the enemy.

MY OWN TIMES. 8l
I had pretty well recovered my health and vigor, and my
ardent predilection for the sport and amusement of racing
seized me again. I attended some races in Tennessee, and ran
one myself Mr. Miller and friends boasted that he could beat
any one for a hundred dollars running a foot-race for a hundred
yards. I told a gentleman, Colonel Howell, that I thought I
could beat MUler running, and that if he would bet eighty
dollars I would go in twenty.
The race was made, and I won the bet. " I paid off with my
twenty dollars some debts I owed in town, and that was, I be
lieve, the last foot-race I ran for a wager. My preceptor and
my staid friends did not approve of it, but they excused it in
me, as it was, they presumed, about the last of my wild back
woods education oozing out.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The War of 1812 with Great Britain and her Indian Allies in Illinois.
— Hostile Spirit of the Indians. — Rangers around the Frontiers. —
Forts. — Troops Organized. — Camp Russell. — Extended Frontier. —
Dixon, his Warriors. — Gomo, a Chief, met Gov. Edwards in CouncU.
— Tecumseh at Vincennes. — -Murders Committed. — Hill's Fort At
tacked. — Belleview Defended. — Fort La Motte Erected above Vin
cennes. — Rangers Estabhshed. — Col. Russell. — Massacre at Chicago.
— Taylor's Battle at Fort Harrison. — A Pottawatomie Warrior Killed
a White Man on a Boat.
For many years before the declaration of war against Eng
land, the Indians all around the Western frontiers showed a
hostile spirit and each year, for several years, that hostile feel
ing increased. In 1811 — as it was stated in a previous chapter
— the Indian tribes surrounding the territory of lUinois became
quite hostile and murdered some few citizens.
Under these circumstances, the citizens organized companies
themselves, without the order of government, for their own
defence. In 1811, the frontiers were guarded by mounted men
from the Mississippi, at the point where the city of Alton now
stands, to Shoal Creek, and the Kaskaskia River. Forts were
erected in this year as far out as the present site of Carlyle, and
continued south on the frontiers down the Kaskaskia and the
Mississippi. Some garrisons for defence were established on the
frontiers of the settlements on the Wabash River up as high as
Vincennes, and for some miles above. One of the interior and
most exposed forts was erected by the Jordan family, on Muddy
River, near the place where the old Fort Massacre trace crossed
the stream. All the interior of the territory and all north was
a wilderness, crowded with the Indian enemy. The settlements
6

82 MY OWN TIMES.
were weak and sparse towards the mouth of the Ohio, so that
the intercourse between the northern and southern Indians was-
not disturbed. The spirit of war and defiance was breathed
from one end of the territory to the other, and a settled
determination was made to remain in the country, or die.
Some few may have abandoned the country for fear of the war,
but ten immigrated to it for one that left it Good rifles rose to^
the price of fifty and seventy-five dollars.
In the forepart of the year 1812, several mounted companies
were organized, and ranged over the country as far as Vincen
nes, and in the commencement of the year. Gov. Edwards
established Fort Russell, a few miles north-west of the present
town of Edwardsville. He made this frontier post his head
quarters, and fortified it in such manner as to secure the mili
tary stores and munitions of war. This fort was not only the
appui of military operations, but was also the resort of the talent
and fashion of the country. The Governor opened his court
here, and presided with the character that genius and talent
always bestow on the person possessing them. The cannon of
Louis XIV, of France, were taken from old Fort Chartres, and
with them and other military decorations, Fort Russell blazed
out with considerable pioneer splendor.
But a peep behind the curtain .showed a weak and extended
frontier from the site on the Mississippi where Alton now stands,
down the river to the mouth of the Ohio, and up that stream
and the Wabash to a point many miles above Vincennes, with a
breadth of only a few miles at places. This exposed outside
was three or four hundred miles long, and the interior and north
inhabited by ten times as many hostile and enraged savages as
there were whites in the country. The British garrisons on the
north furnishing them with powder and lead and malicious
counsels, and the United States leaving the country to its own
defences, presented a scene of distress that was oppressing.
In the spring of 1812, Captain Ramsey had a small company
of regular troops stationed at Camp Russell, and they remained
there only for a few months. These were the only regulars that
saw Camp Russell during the war.
In the commencement of the war, the Indian traders reported
the fact that Colonel Dixon, at Prairie du Chien, had engaged
all the warriors of the north, and around the prairie, to descend
the Mississippi and exterminate the settlements on both sides
of the river. This was the plan of the campaign, but the
English needed the Indians more in Canada, and they were
brought to that section, and thereby our country was saved
from a great effusion of blood. Many citizens who knew of the
design of Dixon's warriors actually fortified their houses in the
interior of the country, not far from Kaskaskia, and some
removed their families to Kentucky. Dixon was a man of

MY OWN TIMES. 83
talents, and had, as an Indian trader, great influence with the
Indians. He had the power to march the Indians to any point
he pleased.
_ In April, 18 12, Gomo, the Pottawatomie chief, with many of
his band, and some Chippewas, met Governor Edwards in
councU at Cahokia. The wild men exercised the most di
plomacy, and made the Governor believe the Indians were for
peace, and that the whites need dread nothing from them.
They promised enough to obtain presents, and went off laugh
ing at the credulity of the whites.
In August, the previous year, the celebrated Tecumseh at
tempted to practise a worse game on Governor Harrison, at
Vincennes, but the Governor had been for a series of years
their agent, and knew well the Indian character. It is probable
Tecumseh intended to murder Harrison in council, but the quick
discernment of the Governor prevented it. This great Indian
judged the whites by himself He supposed if Governor Harri
son was removed, none other was capable to take his place.
When Tecumseh fell in battle, no other warrior was equal to
the task to supply the place of this great man. Tecumseh was
not blood-thirsty or brutal in his passions. His hatred to the
whites governed all his actions, and this hostilty arose entirely
from his patriotism to preserve his nation and country from
destruction. I have been always sorry that the war in which
the Indians engaged against us made it necessary to destroy
Tecumseh, as he was the greatest man in either of the armies
in which he was slain.
Many murders were committed by the Indians on the whites
during the first year of the war. In the summer of 1812,
Andrew Moore and son were killed by the Indians <pn Big
Muddy, some distance above the crossing of the stream by the
old Fort Massacre Road. The same year, Mr. Barbara was shot
dead and James Jordon wounded, by the Indians, at Jordon's
Fort. This year, in the fall, Hill's Fort, on Shoal Creek, in the
present county of Bond, was attacked by a numerous band of
warriors, and one man wounded. The Indians punched a hole
through the back wall of a chimney in one of the block-houses
of the fort — shot through the hole, and wounded a man at the
fire. Lindley, a soldier, had been out feeding his horses, and
when he went out he left the gate of the fort open. The Indi
ans rushed to it but it was shut on them, leaving Lindley also
out with the Indians. It is said, Lindley remained on and under
an ox in the drove while the gang of cattle ran away, and saved
his life. This escape of Lindley reminds us of the story in
Homer's Odyssey, of the large ram carrying the hero in his
wool out of the cave of the giant Polyphemus. The Indians
were repulsed, and some of them killed from the top of the

84 MY OWN TIMES.
pickets of Hill's Fort, as the blood indicated; but the dead
bodies were carried off, as is the custom with Indians.
This year, about two hundred Winnebago Indians attacked a
factory-store of the United States, situated on the Mississippi,
and on the west side of the river, at the site where Bellevue now
stands. It was defended by Lieutenants Thomas Hamilton
and B. Vasques, with a small regular force, who beat off the
enemy and kept the fort. This was considered a gallant de
fence, that gave the officers and troops much standing.
During this year, the military were organized all around the
frontiers, from the uppermost settlements on the Mississippi
down to the mouth of the Ohio, and up to the frontiers above
Vincennes, on the Wabash River. Fort La Motte was estab
lished on the creek of the same name, above Vincennes, which
was maintained during the whole war. Forts were also erected
near the mouth of the Little Wabash, and on the frontiers in
almost all prominent exposed settlements, to give protection to
the inhabitants. Hill's and Jones' Forts were built on Shoal
Creek, and so on throughout the country on the exposed
frontiers. At the present town of Carlyle, a fort was erected in
1811. Captains Willis Hargrave and William McHenry com
manded cavalry companies, ready at a moment's warning to
pursue the enemy when any depredations were committed.
Captain Craig, of Shawneetown, also was the commander
of a company, who performed much service in the war. He
commanded an expedition from Shawneetown to Peoria, by
water, in the fall of 18 12. Captain William Boon likewise
organized a mounted company on Big Muddy River, in the
present county of Jackson, prepared also for the defence of the
frontier! An act of Congress, passed this year, organized ten
companies of mounted rangers to defend the territories of the
West. These companies were parcelled out through the fron
tier, and were commanded by Col. Wm. Russell, an excellent
officer and an Indian fighter, of Kentucky. This regiment was
the 17th, and was generally composed of active frontier-citizens,
whose duty it was to defend their homes and firesides. Each
member received a dollar per day, and he furnished his horse,
provisions, equipments, and everything for the service. The
company-officers were generally appointed also from the fron
tier-inhabitants, and were for the most part very efficient and
energetic men. This regiment was enlisted for a year at a time,
and remained in service during the war.
Four companies of United States rangers were allotted to
the defence of IlUnois, and were commanded by Captains
William B. Whiteside, James B. Moore, Jacob Short, and
Samuel Whiteside. These companies, with their able and
energetic officers, performed valuable and important service in

MY OWN TIMES. 85
keeping safe the frontier from maurauding parties of the enemy.
One of the most shocking and revolting massacres of men,
women, and children, that occurred during the war, in the West
was perpetrated by the Indians at Chicago. On the isth
August 1812, Captain Heald marched out of the fort at Chi
cago with fifty-four regulars, twelve militia, and about eighteen
friendly Indians, commanded by Col. Wells, of Fort Wayne;
also, there were many women and children in the retreat
About one and a-half miles from the fort on the beach of the
lake, the hostile Indians, to the number of four or five hundred,
mostly Pottawatomies, commenced a destructive fire on the
whites, and killed twenty-six regulars, all the militia, two
women, and twelve children. Ensign Ronan and a Doctor
Voorhees were among the slain; the rest of the whites, in
cluding the family of Mr. Kinzie, were made prisoners. The
fort was destroyed by the Indians, and the property parcelled
out among the warriors. This was a most horrid scene of
butchery, and was perpetrated at such a remote section of the
country that relief could not be extended to the sufferers,
except by the slow operation of the Indians bartering the
prisoners off at their pleasure, like they did their furs and
peltries. The Indians made a desperate attempt to destroy Fort Har
rison, near Terre Haute, on the Wabash River, on the 4th oi
September, 18 12, but were repulsed by Lieut. Taylor, afterward
President of the United States, and a few sick soldiers under
his command. The garrison was afflicted with much sickness;
Taylor not having more than six or eight healthy men to
mount guard — with numbers of women and children in the fort
whose cries were not so pleasant in the protracted conflict At
several times the fort was on fire, and one of the block-houses
was entirely burnt to the ground ; but the garrison made breast
works in its place, and by fighting seven or eight hours inces
santly, repelled the attack. This defence was considered, at
that day, one of the most courageous and best fought battles of
that class that occurred in the West during the whole war. It
was of the same class of battles as that of Buena Vista, only one
was like an earthquake and the other only a severe thunder
storm, but both were conducted by that military genius and
talent that nature, at long intervals, bestows on her favorites.
Taylor, although heaped with honor and praise, bore his fame
with the becoming modesty of a great man.
In the forepart of the war, a Pottawatomie brave, a large
man, Wabansia, afterward conspicuous as a chief, in the war
against Black Hawk, was alone on the Wabash River, when a
detachment of regulars were cordelling a boat up that river,
ladened with provisions ; one man only was on the boat, and the
other hands ahead with the cord ell. Wabansia jumped on the

86 MY OWN TIMES.
boat from the shore, killed the man on the boat, and made his
escape without being injured. This Indian marched with us in
the Black Hawk war, and appeared to be a fierce, savage warriof.
In the fall of this year, the expedition known as Edward's caiii-
paign was organized, which is the subject of the next chaptet.

CHAPTER XXIX.
Edward's Campaign. — March to Lake Peoria. — Captain Craig Destroys
Peoria. — Hopkins Fails to Join Edwards on the lUinois River. ^^
Speedy Return of Edwards.
In September of this year, all the disposable forces that
could be raised in Illinois, amounting to about three hundred
and fifty strong, mustered at Camp Russell, and were organized
into a small army to destroy the strongholds of the Indians on
Peoria Lake. Colonel Russell marched in the campaign, and
seemed to take considerably the immediate command under
Governor Edwards. The army was organized into two small
regiments, commanded by Colonels Benjamin Stephenson and
EUas Rector. John Moredock ranked as Major; and Colonel
Desha, of the United States Army, acted as a field-officer — but
of what grade I do not know. The officers commanding com
panies were the four Captains of the United States rangers,
mentioned in the previous chapter, and I think Captain Janney,
with Lieutenant Roukson, commanded a small company. Cap
tain Hargrave, from the Ohio Saline, included at present in the
county of Gallatin, commanded a large company. Captain
McHenry was the commander of some soldiers from the county
of White, at this time, but if he marched in this expedition I
do not recollect.
Captain Samuel Judy organized a company of twenty-one
men, who acted as spies, or front guard, to the army in its
march. Just before this expedition left Camp Russell, I
reached home from Knoxville, and took the horse of my
youngest brother, Thomas, who was then a mere lad, and I was
made a private in Judy's company. My brother remained on
the frontier to guard it, and I and two other brothers served in
the campaign.
Judge Pope, Nelson Rector, and a Lieutenant McLaughlin,
of the army, acted as the aids to Governor Edwards. Colonel
Russell was a plain old man, dressed in Kentucky jeans, or
linsey, seemed to need no aids, and had none, but was a good
and efficient officer himself
The army was ordered to pack on their horses provisions for
twenty or twenty-five days for themselves, and the horses were
to sustain themselves on the grass. Captain Craig had in his

MY OWN TIMES. 8/
boat, mentioned heretofore, provisions for the army if they
needed them. No baggage-wagons or anything of that charac
ter existed in this campaign. A very few may have had pack-
horses, but the rank and file had none. I know I had none.
This campaign was intended to march into the most dense
and warlike Indian population in the West. But it was contem
plated to meet the expedition of General Hopkins, of Ken
tucky, and both together could make a stand against the enemy
in their strongholds. The privates (and myself one,) did not
know or care much where we were marched, whether into
danger or a frolic.
We left Camp Russell, marched up the north-west side of
Cahokia Creek, nearly to its source, thence across the prairie
to Macoupin Creek, not far above the present Carlinville, and at
the Lake Fork we stopped to noon. At this point some wild
boys dug open an Indian grave, and found in it with the In
dian, a gun, broaches, and other articles buried with him. It is
the Indian belief that the departed soul needs a gun, while in
the other world, with which to hunt for a living. We crossed
the Sangamon River east of the present Springfield, and passed
not far on the east of the Elkhart Grove. At that day, this
grove presented a beautiful and charming prospect. It was
elevated, and commanded a view over the natural prairies for
many miles around. We next reached an old Indian village on
Sugar Creek, where we saw on the bark of the wigwams much
painting, generally the Indians scalping the whites. We set it
in flames, and travelled in the night toward Peoria. We were
afraid that the Indians would know of our approach and
leave the villages. We travelled on toward midnight and
camped. We had guides along who conducted the army to the
village of Potawatomie Indians, known as the Black Partridge
village, situated at the Illinois River bluff, nearly opposite the
upper end of Peoria Lake. We camped within four or five
miles of the village, and all was silent as a grave-yard — as we
expected a night attack, as was the case with Harrison at
Tippecanoe. When troops are silent, sulky, and savage, they
will fight. Our horses were tied near the camp, saddled, and
prepared for action if needed. We lay with our clothes on, and
guns in our arms.
A soldier by the name of Bradshaw, fixing his gun, it fired.
Every man in the army was sure of a battle, but in a few
minutes. Gov. Edwards cried out "it was an accident" One
thing I recollect, I had a white blanket-coat on me, and I con
sidered it too white at night. I hulled this coat off in double-
quick time. It was said, every one with a white coat on in the
battle of Tippecanoe was killed.
Four men, CarUn, Roberts, Davis, and Stephen Whiteside,
volunteered to reconnoitre the Indian town, and did so. but

88 MY OWN TIMES.
were in great danger doing it They reported to Governor
Edwards the position of the enemy.
The next morning, in a fog, our company, the spies, met two-
Indians, as we supposed, and our captain fired on them. Many
of us before he shot begged for mercy for the Indians, as they
wanted to surrender. But Judy said, anybody wUl surrender
when they cannot help it, and that he did not leave home to-
take prisoners. I saw the dust rise off the Indian's leather shirt
when Judy's bullet entered his body. Both Indians were
mounted on good horses. The wounded Indian commenced
singing his death song, and the blood streaming out of his.
mouth and nose. He was reeling, and a man from the main
army, Mr. Wright, came up within a few yards of the wounded
Indian, but the Indian just previously had presented his gun at.
some of us near him, but we darted off our horses as quick as
thought and presented the horses between him and us, so he
could not shoot us; but Wright was either surprised or something
else, and remained on his horse. The Indian, as quick as a
steel-trap, shot Wright, and in a few minutes after the Indian
expired. As soon as we heard the report of the Indian's gun,
Wright cried out with the pain of his wound, which was in his
groin. The other Indian, supposed to be a warrior, was a
squaw, but before the fact was known, many guns were fired at
her. It is singular, that so many guns fired at the squaw
missed her, but when the whites surrounded her, and knew her
sex, all was over. She cried terribly, and was taken prisoner,
and at last delivered over to her nation. Many of the French
in the army understood her language, and made her as happy
as possible. In this small matter I never fired my gun, as I saw
no occasion for it.
The army moved to the bluff near the village of the Black
Partridge, and near it was a muddy creek, beyond which we
saw some Indians jumping from tree to tree, which rendered it
almost certain that we would be attacked crossing this creek.
Our Captain looked back, and I saw he had bullets in his mouth
ready to put in his gun to load it We sat light on our horses
when we expected to receive the Indian fire every minute, but
it all passed off, much to our satisfaction, without being fired on.
When the troops came near the village, no order or restraint
could be observed. All pounced on the town pell mell, with
shouts "loud and long," but just when we came in sight the
Indians — men, women, and children — retreated from the village
in the greatest hurry and speed. Near the town were swamps,
almost impassable, and a great portion of the horsemen were
mired before they knew it My horse fell down in the mud, and
I went rolling over his head into the swamp. Near me I saw
Governor Edwards and horse flounder in a deep mud-hole, both
down and covered with black mud. The village was built here

MY OWN TIMES. 89
on account of the mud and impassable morasses for defence.
The Indians saved themselves by the swamps. Horsemen
could not act and the cat-tail and brush were so thick in these
morasses that the Indians hid in them, and it was dangerous to
approach them. Several parties on foot trailed after the body
of the Indians two or three miles across this swampy bottom to
the river, and killed some of the enemy on the route and at
the river. A few of the army were wounded, but none killed.
Three men, Howard, St. Jean, and Kitchen, in the fury of the
chase, crossed the Illinois River in the Indian canoes, in face ol
many Indians, but were not killed. The Indians had left their
horses, camp-kettles, corn, and everything on which to support
themselves, in the village, which were all taken away or
destroyed. The horses were all captured; and among which
some American horses the Indians had stolen. What corn and
other articles that could not be removed were burnt. A com
plete destruction of the village was effected. Some Indian
chUdren were found in the ruins and saved. A large Indian
was wounded, and thereby was unable to run off with the rest:
he was starving, and ate bread voraciously when it was given
him. He was protected while the army remained in the village,
but it was said that some straggler behind killed him after the
army left.
During our stay at the village, an Indian warrior deliberately
walked down the bluff, some couple of hundred yards from our
troops, and fired his gun at us. He laughed loud, and slowly
walked off. Some men were sent in pursuit, but could not find
him. This was an Indian bravado.
When we reached this village, we heard nothing of Hopkins'
army, and I presume it was not prudent to remain there any
time. In this vicinity, in a day or two, one thousand Indians
could be assembled. Under these considerations, the army
started back the same day they destroyed the village. I
recoUect all the booty I took was a deer-skin, sewed fast all
around, and it full of corn. It rained in the evening, and my
corn-sack got wet which caused it to become as slippery as a
fish; but I hung to it and got it to camp that night Every one
dreaded an attack from the Indians, as they aU knew that they
were numerous in that vicinity. We travelled on till dark in
torrents of rain, and camped on the high bluff of the river,
where we could obtain neither water to drink nor wood to burn.
We were all exhausted, and many lay down in the rain and mud
without food, fire, or water to drink. I never experienced such
a bad night. I saw, in the morning, men sleeping half covered
with mud where the horses and men had tramped the earth.
No Indians appeared, and we were glad of it The next
morning we started by time; got out intd the open woods;
made fires; dried ourselves; fired off our guns; loaded again;

90 MY OWN TIMES.
ate our breakfast, and commenced in earnest oiir march fof
home. While the army was in the neighborhood of the old village of
Peoria, Captain Craig had his boat lying in the lake adjacent to
Peoria. The boat was fortified so that the fire of the enemy
could not penetrate it. Craig was attacked on several occasions
by the Indians, but received no damage. He anchored his boat
out in the lake, and was secure from danger. The Captain,
supposing the few inhabitants of Peoria favored the Indians,
burnt the village. This was consideted by every one a useless
act Thomas Forsyth, Esq., was ih the village at the time,
acting as Indian - agent, appointed by the Government, but
' Craig, and none others, knew it, except at Washington City.
It was supposed by the President that Mr. Forsyth would be
more serviceable to both sides, if his old friends, the Indians,
did not know his situation. He acted the honorable part to
ameliorate the horrors of war on both sides, and risked his hie
often among the Indians to obtain from the enemy some of the
prisoners who had been captured at the massacre of Chicago.
In the rage of Captain Craig, he placed the inhabitants of
Peoria, all he could capture, on board of his boat, and landed
them on the bank of the river, below Alton. These poor
French were in a starving condition, as they were turned away
from their homes, and left their stock and provisions. They
were landed in the woods — men, women, and children — without
shelter or food.
Our army reached Camp Russell in safety, after some weeks'
march, where we were received with the honors of a salutation,
booming from the Fort Chartres cannon, and the roar of small
arms. The troops for the most part were permitted to return
to their homes, and Judy's company, wherein I was a private,
was discharged entirely.
Thus closed this short, energetic campaign, which no doubt
did much service in preventing the Indians from maurauding
around the frontiers. Not a man was kiUed, and all were
pleased with the services he performed for the country, but not
so with the expedition under General Hopkins.
Gen. Hopkins marched at the head of four thousand Ken
tucky volunteers, and passed into the limits of Illinois, through
the present county of Edgar. They pursued their way through
the almost unbounded prairies toward the timber on the Illi
nois River, but the General became sick, the prairies were on
fire, and the volunteers were unruly and disorderly. Under
these circumstances, the fine army under General Hopkins
reached no farther north-west than, perhaps, the head timber of
the Vermillion, on the lUinois River, and returned home in dis
order, without effecting the object of the campaign.
Military operations closed on the frontiers until spring, and

MY OWN TIMES.

91

the troops all laid quiet at their homes, except a few on the
outposts to guard the military stores.

CHAPTER XXX.
The War in lUinois in 181 3.— Ranging Companies Organized.— The
Author Became a Rahger. — Soldier Amusements. — Murders by the
Indians. — Gen. Howard's Campaign. — Army Organized. — Marched
Up the Mississippi River. — A Soldier Killed at Peoria. — Built Fort
Clark. — Skirmishes on Lake Peoria. — Tricks of Murdick.
The war drove in many of the French inhabitants in the fall
of 1812, from the outposts, and they assembled in Cahokia in
great numbers. Although they were engaged in a war, yet
these merry people passed a pleasant winter in this old village,
dancing and enjoying all sorts of merriment.
In the fall of 18 12, I was examined at Kaskaskia before
Judges Thomas and Sprigg, two of the United States judges
for the territory, and admitted to practise law. I attended a
county court this fall which was held in an old house of Thomas
Kirkpatrick, near the high bank of Cahokia Creek, embraced in
the present Edwardsville, but I had no business in court, and
being so diffident, and so much out of gear for the practice of
law, that I was truly glad I had nothing to do.
On the 3d March, 1813, Captain William B. Whiteside
organized his United States Ranging Company, and in it I,
with my three brothers, enlisted as privates. It was my ser
vices in this company, during the war, that has given to me the
sobriqtcet of "the Old Ranger," by which I am almost as well
known in the State as by my proper name. It was my friends,
in electioneering campaigns, who commenced the cognomen to
advance our party, by presenting to the people the fact of my
ranging services on the frontiers in the late war with Britain.
In the early part of the spring of this year, preparations for
defence were made as efficient and extensive as the means
of the country would permit. Block-houses and forts were
strengthened all around the frontiers, from the Mississippi east
and south, and the small garrisons and settlements known as
Hill's and Jones' Forts, on Shoal Creek, removed into the more
dense settlements near the Mississippi. The ranging, and other
military companies, were placed at the various points on the
frontiers, and ranged around the settlements. The company I
was in, I recollect was stationed on the Mississippi, directly
opposite the mouth of the Missouri River, which we guarded as
well as ranged on the frontier. At these encampments, the
rangers enjoyed much backwoods' amusement. The soldiers
were permitted to return home at certain periods to procure

92 MY OWN TIMES.
provisions, change clothes, and the like. Frequently they
would have in their saddle-bags, on their return to camp, a
bottle of whiskey. On one occasion, one of the rangers re
turned to the fort on the river with his saddle-bags, when one of
his comrades slyly went out to where his horse was hitched and
thrust his hand in his private saddle-bags, thinking there was
a bottle of whiskey in them. But the ranger had caught a
ground-hog and put it alive in his sack. This was done to trap
someone for a joke. The man, WiUiam Green, who felt for the
bottle, got bit. Although the bite was severe, yet he said
nothing about it, but told one of his comrades that he got a
good dram from the bottle in the saddle-bags. His friend
rushed his hand into the saddle-bags for the bottle, and the
ground-hog also bit him. The pain was so severe that he
screamed out, and gave the alarm of the ground-hog in the
saddle-bags. This, and similar tricks, afforded the soldiers
much amusement.
We had boats provided on the river, and were prepared to
give the enemy a naval battle if they descended.
During this year, a considerable number of murders were
committed by the Indians. The frontiers were so extended
that although the troops were diligent and efficient, still much
blood was shed by the maurauding parties of the enemy. On
the 4th of February in this year, "two families residing on the
Ohio River, near Cash River, in the present county of Alex
ander, were mostly destroyed, and many of the remainder were
wounded. I saw a man, long after the war, whose wounds on
his face must have been severe, judging from the scars. The
Indians committing the murders crossed the Ohio, and their
trail could not be followed as the snow had covered it.
After Whiteside's company of rangers was organized, Indian
depredations were committed at Hill's Ferry, on the Kaskaskia
River, where Carlyle now stands, and Whiteside's company
was ordered out to bury the dead and scour the country. I
marched with the company, which was the first ranging service
I performed. Mr. Hill crossed two men over the Kaskaskia River, and the
Indians killed one Mr. Young, and the other, Mr. McLain, a
preacher, had a severe struggle for his life, and escaped. He
' threw a small bag of dollars at a large Indian who approached
him with a tomahawk, which checked the warrior, and he
swam the river. It was only less than a miracle that he
escaped. Captain Samuel Whiteside reached the scene of murder be
fore we did, and our company made a tour up the east side of
Shoal Creek from Hill's Fort by the site of the present Green
ville, Bond County, and camped one night at Jones' cabins,
north of Greenville. This was the first night I stood guard, and

MY OWN TIMES. 93
I considered it a lonesome, tedious affair. We marched high up
Shoal and Silver Creeks, and crossed Cahokia Creek, near the
town of Edwardsville. This was ranging, and it was severe
labor. But after a person is at home a few days he is anxious
for another tour.
Boltenhouse, a pioneer, was killed this year a few miles from
the site where Albion is now buiU, in Edwards County. The
murder has given his name to the prairie where he was killed.
It was stated in the Missouri Gazette that sixteen men,
women, and children were killed in Missouri and Illinois by the
Indians this year, between the 8th of February and the 20th oi
March. This year, Hutson, his wife, and four children, were killed by
the Indians on the Wabash River, thirty miles above Vincennes.
Afterwards, Fort La Motte was built in the vicinity, which
shielded twenty families or more from Indian depredations
during the war. This was the outside post on the eastern
section of the territory in the war.
In March, of this year, a horrid murder was committed by
the Indians in the present limits ot Washington County. About
four miles south-east of Covington, on Crooked Creek, the
Lively family, to the number of seven, were killed by the
enemy. A young man of the family and a stranger were out
hunting their horses and saw the house attacked. Lively him
self, the head of the family, was shot dead — but he was neither
scalped or his body mangled. Two grown women were killed,
and their persons shockingly mutilated and cut to pieces. A
boy, seven years old, was taken out from the house and mur
dered. His entrails were taken out, his head cut off, and could
not be found. This was a shocking case of savage Indian de
predation. The two who were hunting the horses escaped, and
on their retreat to the settlements they slept the first night at
the grove of timber, six or eight miles south-east of Fayette-
ville, on the Kaskaskia River, which gave it the name of the
"Lively Grove."
Captain Boon and company pursued the Indians, but the
enemy had four days the start and they were not overtaken.
This murder was supposed to have been committed by the
Kickapoo Indians. The next year, a party of Indians suffered
severely at the hands of the whites, which was a kind of set-off
to the Lively murder.
Gov. Howard resigned his office of Governor, and was ap
pointed' to the command of the military district in which were
embraced Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and some other of the
adjacent States. It was decided to march a campaign oi
mounted men into the Indian country. The troops that could
be spared were concentrated from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana,
and perhaps some from Kentucky and Ohio.

94 MY OWN TIMES.
The ranging companies of Illinois were ordered to meet at
Camp Russell about the first of August, and were inspected by
Major Clempson into actual service. The company of Captain
William B. Whiteside, of which I was a private, and had been
appointed orderly sergeant, was ordered to the Grand Piasa,
nearly opposite Portage des Sioux, in Missouri. There we
remained for several weeks as a nucleus for the other companies
east of the Mississippi to assemble. The head -quarters oi
General Howard was at Portage des Sioux.
This fall was sickly, and many of the troops not only were
sick at home but became diseased in camp. This was one
reason that the expedition was so tardy in its movements. The
troops from Missouri were to meet us at some point toward the
present Quincy. At last the whole force were ordered to march
by companies up the Mississippi, and we all crossed the lUinois
River a few miles above its mouth. We had a large pirogue,
and in it we crossed our baggage and ourselves, without loss oi
time or lives.
We marched up the margin of the Illinois River and crossed
over the bluff to the Salt Prairie, in the Mississippi Bottom.
The troops marched slow, as we were waiting for those be
hind. We halted at the Salt Prairie, when some two or three
rangers followed back their horses on the high lands. They had
a skirmish with a few Indians, but not much was done, except
the waste of some powder and lead. I saw one of the gun-
stocks shivered a little from an Indian bullet.
In this section of the country the bee trees were numerous. I
never saw any part of the earth so much blessed with honey.
Boat-loads might have been procured in this part of Illinois.
The Missouri regiment of mounted men to the number of
nearly five hundred, met in St. Louis and crossed the Missouri
River not far from Belle Fontaine. They were commanded by
Colonel McNair, afterward governor of the State of Missouri,
and marched about one hundred mUes up the Mississippi.
There they made a platform on two canoes, and on it they
crossed their baggage, provisions, and a part of themselves.
The horses were swam over the river, carrying a man on the
back of each one. Only one horse was lost.
The men swimming the horses took their clothes off and
made a naked and restless appearance in the nettles and mos
quitoes before their garments reached them.
It was on a Sunday, in the fall, that the two regiments met,
and were organized into a brigade. Colonels Stephenson and
McNair commanded the two regiments, and many officers under
them were commanding in their various spheres.
My captain, William B. Whiteside, was appointed major, and
so was Nathan Boon, and their two companies united under the
command of Lemma. I still held my office of sergeant, as no

MY OWN TIMES. 95
other person desired to perform the difficult duties of it— nor
didL Many of my comrades, at the organization of the army, were
appointed to small offices, but diffidence and a savage indepen
dence never permitted me to approach an officer's tent or
solicit anyone for an office. I declined becoming acquainted
with any of the higher officers.
Gen. Howard was in command, and the army marched up the
Mississippi to a point called "The Two Rivers." On the march
we passed a camp of the Sac Indians, who must have been seven
or eight hundred strong. They had not left it more than a day
or two. If they had given us battle it would have required the
superior energy and vigor of the whites to have subdued them,
as their numbers were equal to ours. The night after we passed
this large Indian camp, I was ordered to detail two rangers to
act as a picket-guard, and I selected Thomas Carlin, afterward
governor of Illinois, and another ranger whose name I have
forgotten. This service was considered nearly certain death,
but the men named entered upon this perilous undertaking
cheerfully. The Indians did not attack us in the night, and
guard and all were saved. The army marched on the high land
out in the bounty-land tract, north of the Illinois River, and
struck it not far from the mouth of Spoon River.
The night we reached the river, boats from Peoria came to us
with provisions, and took the sick on board. We marched
leisurely up the river to Peoria, and reached it from the north
west in the evening. The lake and the country rising gradually
from the water for a considerable distance, presented a most
charming and beautiful landscape. Here we camped for the
night. This night at Peoria was one of alarms and excitement most
of the time. The troops were paraded often during the excite
ment, and many guns were fired at phantoms. A fine young
man from Kentucky was shot dead by the sentinel. I saw him
next morning, and his youthful and manly appearance excited
much sympathy for his untimely end.
In the bustle, I attempted to load my gun, and got it choked
with the bullet. Every moment we were ordered to arms, and
I was compelled to unbreach my gun in the excitement, and
knock the bullet out. I skinned my hand in the speedy oper
ation, as I expected the Indians on us every minute. I felt bad
with a choked gun. All the alarms were false, and in the
morning we marched up the lake to Gomo's town. This village
occupied the site where Chillicothe is now erected. We saw no
Indians, but we were troubled with more alarms. During this
night, we experienced the worst uproars and excitements of any
other, and no Indians near. Next day, we marched back to
Peoria, and crossed the river at the outlet of Peoria Lake. The

96 MY OWN TIMES.
horses swam over, and boats ferried the baggage and men. A
camp was formed on the south-east side of the lake, where the
army remained three or four weeks. Boats were dispatched up
the lake and river as far as the Starved Rock, as I understood;
also, scouts were send out toward Rock River, and no Indians
in any direction could be discovered. It is said the army was
nine hundred strong — five hundred from Missouri and four hun
dred from Illinois, but I do not believe it amounted to that
number. Nevertheless, its imposing appearance to the Indians
made them fly from it and the country wherever it marched. I
never believed, on reflection, that we would see one of the
enemy during the campaign. An Indian will not attack a
white man on fair and equal grounds, and I knew the Indians
could not assemble and maintain, for any time, such numbers
as we had.
At Peoria, I was sent over with another ranger to the regular
officer to obtain truck-wagons, on which to haul logs to build a
fort in Peoria. We cut logs and hauled them to the lake; the
regular soldiers crossed them over the lake, and built the fort
with them. It was called Fort Clark, in honor of Gen. George
Rogers Clark, the great conqueror of the West.
The Indians and the regulars had some skirmishes at Peoria
and on the lake before we arrived, but after that, no enemy
appeared. In November, the army marched home to the settlements
near Camp Russell. The Indiana and Kentucky rangers took
across the prairies toward Vincennes, and those from Missouri
crossed the Mississippi near the mouth of the Missouri, or at
St. Louis. Thus terminated this campaign, and although no
great battles were fought yet the enemy were driven back and
terrified so much that the frontiers were greatly benefited by it.
While the troops were camped at Peoria, many of the rangers
exercised their talents to procure liquor to drink.
John Murdick, a ranger of singular sagacity, and one who was
also intemperate in the use of liquor, conceived a plan to pro
cure a bottle of whiskey from the sutler without money. Mur
dick obtained two black bottles, and filled one with water. He
put them both under his hunting-shirt which was belted around
him, and gave the empty bottle to the sutler and wanted it
filled with whiskey. When it was filled, he had no money to
pay for it. The only thing that could be done, after much
parleying, was to pour back the whiskey into the bung-hole of
the barrel — but Murdick poured the water out of his extra
bottle into the barrel, and walked off with the whiskey, mutter
ing aloud that "it was hard to be poor." He was celebrated
for these tricks. At another time, in a drinking carousal, he
deceived the landlord, and obtained whiskey all day for the
whole assembly. He started this joke with twelve and a-half

MY OWN TIMES. 97
cents, and with it paid for the first half- pint of whiskey. The
custom, at that day, was to obtain the liquor to drink by
measure, and not by drams, as is the practice at present. Mur
dick observed the landlord put the twelve and a-half cents in a
teacup, which stood on a high shelf in a cupboard; when the
grocery-keepeer turned his back, Murdick would take the same
piece of money, and with it he would buy another half- pint.
He continued this scene until the company were all boozy,
and the landlord had only the first piece of coin Murdick com
menced with. Similar tricks of this man would fill a volume.
At last excessive drink and a vicious hfe brought him to a
bad end.

CHAPTER XXXI.
The War with Great Britain Continued, and Concluded in 1814. — ^The
Author Appointed Judge Advocate. — The Mihtia Organized for
Service. — Many Murders Committed by the Indians. — Capt. Short's
Battle with the Indians. — Gov. Clarke's Expedition to Prairie du
Chien. — The Garrison Captured there. — Campbell's Expedition to
Rock Island. — The Battle at Rock Island. — Another Expedition
under Major Taylor to Rock Island. — A Battle, and the Troops
Forced Back Down the River. — BuUds Fort Edwards.
Captain Whiteside being appointed a major in the army,
he did not continue his company, and I did not enter myself in
any other company. I was appointed without solicitation, by
Gov. Edwards, judge advocate, and in that office I attended
the recruiting and volunteering service. Although there were
many ranging companions in service, nevertheless, the militia
made a considerable force in the defence of the frontiers. This
was the first commission I received, and the duties were trouble
some and important to the defence of the frontiers, at this crisis
in Illinois. I attended all the musters, and organized court-
martials to try delinquents, and to keep the militia in proper
organization. If her militia-officers were not rigid and vigilant
many men would dodge the service, and perform no military
¦duty in defending the frontiers. I discovered that drafting, or
conscription, is the most equitable system on which to fill an
army. Then all perform equal service. Under this system, in
Illinois, we had what was known as "a forced volunteer," which
was a militia-man drafted, and then, when he could not avoid the
service, he volunteered. This was called "a forced volunteer."
During the summer of 18 14, mariy murders were committed
by the Indians! Mrs. Reagan and six children were killed in
the forks of Wood River, Madison County. The husband was
the first one to discover the murder, by stepping into the blood
7

98 MY OWN TIMES.
of his slaughtered wife and children at night. The Indians were
pursued by Samuel Whiteside and company, and one Indian
killed in a tree-top, on the ground, by Pruitt, near Sangamon
River, and the rest of the Indians escaped.
Henry Cox and son were killed in August of that year, on
Shoal Creek. The murder of Cox was much regretted, as he
was a good soldier and a noble pioneer.
The wife of Jesse Bailes, and daughter of Mr. Bradsby, of
Silver Creek, were killed by the Indians, on Sugar Creek, a few
miles above the crossing of that creek by the railroad. Bailes
and his wife were both out Sunday evening, hunting their hogs
in the creek bottom, and the dogs barked at, and bayed the
Indians in a thicket, but the :vhites supposed the dogs had
found the hogs and were bark! .^ at them. Bailes and wife
approached the thicket, and both were fired at; the lady, only,
received the Indian bullet. She returned across the prairie to
Silver Creek, to her father's, and died.
In August 1 8 14, Captain Short's company of United States
rangers were camped at the Lively cabins, on Crooked Creek, a
few miles east of old Covington, in the present county of Wash
ington. Six men of the company discovered an Indian trail
and pursued it. The Indians, seven in number, had stolen four
teen horses from the frontiers of Randolph County, and with
the horses had made a large trail. The rangers pursued the
Indians with much speed, and just toward sunset came up with
the enemy. In the prairie the parties had a skirmish and some
rencontres rather dangerous, and showed bravery on both sides.
The Indians acted like warriors. The sergeant in command
was wounded, and Moses Short, a brother of the Captain, re
ceived a ball, which lodged in a twist of tobacco, which he had
in his pocket — the horse of Mr. Short was wounded. The In
dians maintained their ground, but it was supposed that two of
their number were killed. An express, William Stout, was dis- -
patched with all possible speed to the camp for a recruit of
men. When Captain Short received the report, he, and all the
forces he could muster, about thirty, were in their saddles, the
same evening, in pursuit of the Indians. The rangers forced on
and pursued the trail all that evening and night, until seven or
eight o'clock next morning, before they reached the enemy. It
was on a fork of the little Wabash, seventy or eighty miles
from Lively's cabins, where Short reached the Indians. An In
dian behind, as a guard, saw a turkey, and as they were starving
shot it which gave the alarm to the whites. It is supposed that
the Indians might have escaped, but they presumed that they
could whip off the rangers again, as they had before. The In
dian that shot the turkey ran up to the others, and all prepared
for battle, but the whites surrounded and kUled every one of
them. It is said that when they saw they were to be aU killed

MY OWN TIMES. 99
they sung the death song and disregarded the issue. They all
died nobly, shouting defiance at the whites. WUliam O'Neal
was killed when he was taking aim at an Indian. Some of the
whites were slightly wounded. This was among the last tragic
scenes of the war, and closed it in this section of the State.
Many of the horses of the rangers died from extreme swift pur
suit of the Indians. The stolen horses were recaptured.
About the first of May, 1813, Governor Clark, of St. Louis,
organized a flotilla of large barges, manned by fifty regular sol
diers, under command of Captain Perkins, and one hundred
and forty volunteers, under command of Captains Kennerly,
Sullivan, and other officers. Governor Clark commanded the
expedition which left St. Louis and reached Prairie du Chien in
safety. The Governor, on the 13th of June, returned to St
Louis, leaving the troops to erect forts and maintain their posi
tion. About twenty days before the arrival of the troops at
the Prairie, the famous Dixon had left that point for Canada
with a great number of Indian warriors, and the Americans were
permitted in peace to commence building the forts. The fort
at Prairie du Chien was called Fort Shelby, in honor of the
Governor of Kentucky. In a short time, a large force of Indians
and British appeared and captured the fort and a part of the
American troops.
After the return of the troops under Captain Sullivan and
others. General Howard ordered another expedition by water
to Prairie du Chien. The expedition was commanded by Lieu
tenant Campbell of the regular army. About the; first of July,
three barges, well fortified, with forty-two regulars and sixty-
six rangers, set sail from St. Louis for Prairie du Chien. Lieut,
CampbeU commanded the boat with the regulars, and Captain
Stephen Rector and Lieutenant Riggs the other two barges
manned by the rangers.
The expedition reached Rock Island in peace; but the Sac
and Fox Indians, in great numbers, swarmed around the boats,
but still professed peace. The barge commanded by Rector,
was navigated mostly by the French of Cahokia, and were both
good sailors and soldiers; and the same may be said of the
company under Lieut. Riggs, except as to the knowledge of
navigation. The boats lay still all night at or near the Sac and Fox
villages at Rock Island, and the Indians were all night making
hoUow professions of friendship. Many of the French, after the
battle, informed me that they knew the Indians would attack
the boats, and accordingly they informed Lieutenant Campbell,
but he disbelieved them. The French said that the Indians
wanted them to leave the Americans and go home. They
would squeeze the hands of the French, and pull their hands
down the river, indicating to leave. The Indians disliked to
fight their old friends, the French.

lOO MY OWN TIMES.
The fleet all set sail in the morning, and above Rock Island
the wind blew so hard that Campbell's boat was forced on a lee
shore, and lodged on a small island near the main-land, known
from this circumstance as "Campbell's Island." The Indians,
commanded by Black Hawk, when the wind drifted the boat on
shore, commenced an attack on it. The boats of Rector and
Riggs were ahead, and could see the smoke of the firearms, but
could not hear the report of the guns. They returned to assist
Campbell, but the wind was so high that their barges were
almost unmanageable. They anchored near Campbell, but
could not reach him, the storm raged so severely.
When Campbell's boat was driven ashore by the wind, he
placed out sentinels, and the men commenced cooking their
breakfast, but the enemy, in hundreds, rushed on them, killing
many on the spot, and the rest took refuge in the boat Hun
dreds and hundreds of the warriors were in and around the
boat, and at last set it on fire. Campbell's boat was burning,
and the bottom covered with the dead, the wounded, and blood.
They had almost ceased firing, when Rector and his brave men
most nobly came to the rescue. Campbell himself lay wounded
on his back in the bottom of his boat, and many of his men
dead and dying around him. Riggs' boat was well fortified, but
his men were inexperienced sailors. Rector and company could
not remain inactive spectators of the destruction of Campbell
and men, but in a tempest of wind raised their anchor in the
face of almost a thousand Indians, and periled their lives in the
rescue of Campbell. No act of noble daring and bravery
surpassed the rescue of Campbell, during the war in the West.
The rangers under Rector were mostly Frenchmen, and were
well acquainted with the management of a boat in such a crisis.
Rector and his men were governed by the high and ennobling
principles of chivalry and patriotism. Rector's boat was light
ened by the casting overboard quantities of provisions, and
then many of the crew actually got out of the boat into the
water, leaving the vessel between them and the fire of the
enemy, and pushed their boat against the fire of the warriors to
Campbell's boat, which was in possession of the Indians. This
was a most hazardous exploit for forty men forcing their barge
to a burning boat in possession of the enemy, nearly a thousand
strong, and taking from it the wounded and living soldiers,
together with their commander.
A salt-water sailor by the name of Hoadley, did gallant ser
vice in this daring enterprise, by his superior knowledge of the
management of a vessel. Rector took all the live men from
Campbell's boat into his, and his men, in the water, hauled
their own boat out into the stream. The Indians feasted on
the abandoned boat of Campbell. Rector had his boat crowded
with the wounded and dying, but rowed night and day until

MY OWN TIMES. lOI
they reached St. Louis. It was supposed the boat of Riggs
was captured by the enemy, but the vessel was strongly forti
fied, so that it lay, as it were, in the hands of the Indians for
several hours, the enemy having possession of the outside, and
the whites of the inside, but the wind in the evening subsided,
and Riggs got his boat off without losing many men. It was a
general jubilee and rejoicing when Riggs arrived at St. Louis.
The hearts of the people swelled with patriotic joy to know that
the lives of so many brave soldiers were saved by the courage
and energies of Rector, Riggs, and their troops. I saw the
soldiers on their return to St. Louis, and the sight was dis
tressing. Those who were not wounded were worn down to
skeletons by labor and fatigue.
After the above disaster. Major Taylor, afterward President
of the United States, was appointed to the command of another
expedition on the Mississippi, and on the 12th August, 18 14,
he sailed from St. Louis with eight barges and four hundred
and fifty men, forty of whom were regulars and the rest rangers
and volunteers. The object of this expedition was to establish
a fort in the heart of the Indian country, and maintain it The
other two expeditions had failed, and the present was fitted out
with much care and foresight I had two brothers in it, but did
not go myself Captains Vale, Samuel Whiteside, Nelson Rec
tor, Hempstead, and other officers commanded boats. Nothing
uncommon occurred until they reached Rock Island, where they
met British soldiers, cannons, and swarms of Indians. The
British had captured our garrison at Prairie du Chien, and had
the whole country in possession north of the settlements near
the present city of Alton. •
Our white enemy was at Rock Island with many regulars, six
pieces of cannon, and hordes of Indian warriors. Major Taylor,
with his usual sound judgment, anchored his fleet out in the
Mississippi, about one-half mile above the mouth of Rock
River, and not far from three willow islands. It was supposed
that the British had ordered the Indians to occupy these
islands in great numbers in the night, as they swarmed with the
red warriors at daylight. The British had, in the night,
planted cannon in battery at the edge of the water, so as to
destroy our boats in the morning. It was the British calcula
tion that the cannon would destroy our boats, and the men
would have to swim to the islands, where the Indians would kill
them. It is almost impossible to circumvent the Americans.
Taylor ordered all his forces, except twenty men on each boat,
to proceed to the islands and destroy the Indian warriors on
them. This order was executed with great vigor and efficiency,
and the Indians were either killed or drove down to the lower
island. In the meantime, the British cannon opened a tre
mendous fire on our boats, that caused the soldiers to rush back

102 MY OWN TIMES.
to the boats to save them from the cannon-balls which were
piercing them in every direction. British officers were seen
mounted on horseback giving command to the cannonades,
and many regulars and hundreds of Indians obeying. The
boats were unable to resist the cannon, and almost every shot
told on them. In the battle, some Indian canoes were seen on
the lower island, and Captain Rector was ordered with some
men to scour the island. He did so, and drove the Indians back
into the willows, but the enemy reinforced, and in turn drove
Rector back to the sand beach again. In this sortie from his
boat. Rector was elegantly dressed in military costume, with a
towering feather in his cap, and a sword drawn, leading his men
to the charge. In this exposed situation, with hundreds of guns
fired at him, he moved on undaunted as if he were in his mess-
room with his comrades. The Rector family never knew what
fear was.
The boats under Taylor were ordered to retreat down the
river, but just as Rector's boat got under way, it grounded and
stuck fast. The Indians surrounded it, and it was with the
utmost hard fighting they were kept out. All the boats had
left except Captain Samuel Whiteside, who saw the imminent
danger of Rector, with true courage and kindness of heart,
returned to save his brother soldiers. If Whiteside had not
returned. Rector and all his men were doomed to destruction.
Rector's boat being saved, all descended the river until they
were out of the reach of the cannon, when Major Taylor called
a council of his officers.
It was ascertained that there were more than a thousand
Indians at and *near Rock Island, and a detachment of British
regulars, with six field-pieces; and the effective American sol
diers were only three hundred and thirty-four in number. This
showed the force of the enemy to be more than three to one
over the Americans. Under all circumstances, it was considered
imprudent and improper to attack such superior forces, and the
whole fleet descended the river to the site where Warsaw now
stands. At this point Fort Edwards was built, and Fort John
son, a few miles above, was burnt.
After the erection of Fort Edwards, the troops remained
three or four weeks, but the major part of them descended the
river to St. Louis, and were discharged the i8th of October,
1 8 14. Thus ended this expedition, which pretty much closed
the war in the West Scarcely any further Indian depredations
were committed, and the troops were generally disbanded. On
the 24th December, 18 14, peace was concluded at Ghent, in
Europe, but the act was not known for some months there
after. I saw in the harbor of St. Louis the boats that were in
Taylor's battle, at Rock Island, and they were riddled with the
cannon balls. I think the balls were made of lead — at any rate
they pierced the boats considerably.

MY OWN TIMES. 103
In these engagements many of the enemy were killed, but
the exact number could never be ascertained. The number of
American soldiers, and particularly those on Campbell's boat,
who were kiUed, could not be truly ascertained.

CHAPTER XXXII.
The Government of lUinois. — Judges Revised the Statute Laws. —
Duties of Governor Edwards. — Amusements of Courts. — Scott's
Trick on McMahon at Cahokia. — Illinois Territory Established. —
Counties Created. — Second Grade of Government Adopted. — First
Legislature. — The General Assembly Sat Annually at Kaskaskia. —
Delegates to Congress.
By the ordinance of 1787, there was provided for two classes
or grades of territorial government The first grade gave the
governor and judges the entire power of government. The
second vested the power in the hands of the people. In the
last- mentioned grade, the members of the legislature were
elected by the people, but the governor possessed an absolute
veto-power. The council, or upper branch of the general assem- '
bly was, in some cases, selected by the President from double
the proper number elected by the people. In olden times, a
property qualification was necessary to enable anyone to vote.
He must possess fifty acres of land or a lot in a town.
At a court in Cahokia, in olden times, a great crowd of people
remained there all night and the hotel, kept by E. Pensoneau,
was filled to overflowing. One-half of this collection could not
procure beds, and many did not want any. Robert McMahon,
Esq., a judge of the court, and rather a dignified character, was
anxious to obtain a bed, and not to sit up all night with the
wild, frolicking party. Jehu Scott, an old settler and neighbor
of McMahon, told him he could get him a bed, but he must go
to it soon to keep others out of it. McMahon readily agreed to
it, and would retire immediately. The wife of the landlord, E.
Pensoneau, was sick in bed in a private room, and in the room
there was not much light Scott got McMahon slyly into the
room of the sick woman, and told him to take his clothes oft
without noise, so the others would not know it. Scott so timed
it, that about the time McMahon would get his clothes off, he
would tell Pensoneau there was a man in bed with his wife.
When McMahon entered the room, and was taking his clothes
¦off, Mrs, Pensoneau thought he was her husband, and said noth
ing, but as soon as he entered the bed and came in contact with
her, she discovered the mistake, and so also did McMahon. At
this crisis, Scott had so fixed it that Pensoneau entered his
wife's bedroom with a light He was an irritable Frenchman,

104 MY OWN TIMES.
and understood very little English. He in reality believed
McMahon was in bed with his wife, and made a terrible noise
and bluster about it. He found McMahon with his clothes off,
and commenced without ceremony to chastise him. He and
the wife both laid on McMahon without stint, and banged him
about the room in a furious style. By this time, Scott had all
the wild, merry crowd at the room-door to witness the fun. All
three, McMahon, Pensoneau, and his wife, were in a horrid
fracas within the room, all shouting, scrambling, and fighting in
terrible confusion. McMahon was trying to explain, but Pen
soneau did not understand, in the scuffle, his English explana
tions, and blustered on. At last, McMahon was forced out of
the room naked, and abandoned his clothes and dignity. He
ran to the crowd for protection, and to save himself from the
fury of the landlord and wife. Never was such a farce enacted
since Don Juan was whipped out of the bedroom of Donna
Julia, in Spain. This was backwoods' merriment, and afforded-
the audience great amusement. The spectators laughed and.
shouted at the sport. In due time, the affair was explained to-
the satisfaction of all concerned, except Justice McMahon, who-
would prefer Scott to perpetrate his tricks on others and let him
'alone. Justice Scott was a most excellent man, kind and benevolent
to all, and withal was gifted by nature with good abilities, but
possessed, in an eminent degree, an extraordinary talent and
disposition for amusement and backwoods' frolics. He came to-
Illinois in early times, and raised an excellent, moral, and re
spectable family. These frolics and amusements were the cus
tom of the times at that day, and almost all classes joined in
them — as well my humble self as others. This class of amuse
ment is not now as common as in former days. The most
common entertainment at this day, 1855, is acquiring wealth,
and adding acres of land to the premises.
On the 9th of February, 1809, the Territory of Illinois was
established by act of Congress, and Ninian Edwards, of Ken
tucky, appointed governor. Nathaniel Pope was appointed
secretary of state, and Jesse B. Thomas, WiUiam Sprigg, and
Alexander Stuart, United States judges for the Territory. The
new government was organized, and the laws of the Indiana
Territory were adopted by the Governor and Judges.
The Governor, on the 14th February, 1812, issued a procla
mation for an election for or against a second grade of territorial
government. The election was to be holden in the counties, on
the first Monday of April, 1812, and the two succeeding days,
and a large majority of the votes were cast for the second grade
of government.
On the i6th of September, of the same year, the Governor
and Judges estabhshed the counties of Madison, Johnson, Pope,

MY OWN TIMES. 105
and Gallatin, and on the same day, an election for members was
ordered to be holden in each county, on the 8th of October and
the two succeeding days.
The first general assembly held in Illinois, convened the 25th
November, of this year, at Kaskaskia, which was the seat of
government. Although the Indian war raged in Illinois during
this year, nevertheless, the political government of the country
was attended to. Governor Edwards made an active and
efficient chief magistrate.
The first legislative assembly of Illinois contained only five
senators and seven members of the house of representatives,
and one door-keeper attended to both houses. It is said, they
all boarded At the same public -house, and lodged in the same
room. They did not sit long, but passed many wholesome laws.
At a subsequent legislature, a report was made by the com
mittee on finance, that the revenue imposed from taxes between
the 1st of November, 181 1, and the 8th of the same month,
1814, was $4875,47. Of this sum, $2516.89 had been paid into
the treasury, and $2378.47 remained in the hands of the delin
quent sheriffs to be paid over. These facts present Illinois, in
1812, in a nutshell; and little did the people of that day expect
to hear the State of Illinois, as it is in 1855, called, with reason,
"the Empire State of the West," or see her population almost
a million and a-half, and her railroads intersecting over every
section of the country.
In the session of the legislature of 18 12, Edwards County
was established, and called Edwards in respect to the Governor.
In the session of 1815 and 1816, the counties of White, Jack
son, and Monroe were established.
In 18 16 and 18 17, the banking system commenced. The
Illinois Bank, at Shawneetown, and the Edwardsville Bank
were chartered, and both went into operation. They were made
deposit-banks for the United States money. About 1820, they
both failed, and did not answer the object of their creation.
In 1817 and 1818, the Bank of Cairo was chartered, and con
nected with the project of building a large city at Cairo. Many
respectable gentlemen were connected with this scheme, and a
large city was to be the result. Every intelligent person at that
day decided that a great city must at some day exist at this
point — but at that time, almost forty years back, the whole
West and particularly the State of Illinois, was poor and weak,
but the time, in all human probability, has now arrived when a
great Western city will be built at Cairo.
The territorial legislature of Illinois sat every year at Kas
kaskia, and held short sessions. I never attended them, except
once or twice, when I had business at Kaskaskia, when they
were in session.
The delegates in Congress from the territory of Illinois were

I06 MY OWN TIMES.
all worthy and respectable characters. Shadrach Bond was
elected the first delegate in Congress in 1812. This gentleman
was also the first governor of the State, and possessed a char
acter of high standing, and of great moral worth. Wisdom and
integrity shed a beacon-light around his path through life, show
ing him to be one of "the noblest works of God." These
adorning traits of character, wisdom, and integrity, together
with other noble qualities, gave Gov. Bond a high standing
with his contemporaries. Benjamin Stephenson was elected a
delegate in 18 14, and made a respectable and worthy member.
Nathaniel Pope was elected a delegate to Congress in 18 16, and
rendered probably as much valuable service, in that body, to
advance the best interest of Illinois, as any member ever did
from that day to the present. He procured the northern
boundary of the State to be extended north from the southern
bend of Lake Michigan to the latitude of 42 deg. 30 min. north.
He obtained, also, the act of Congress to enable the people of
the territory to form a State Government when we had only
forty thousand inhabitants.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Miscellaneous. — Expedition of Lewis and Clark to the Pacific Ocean.
— The Cold Friday in 1805.— A Tornado in 1805.— The Author
Studied the French Language. — Names of Places. — How they Origi
nated. In 1803, when the United States acquired Louisiana, Presi
dent Jefferson decided, with the approbation of Congress, to
explore the country between the Mississippi River and the
Pacific Ocean, and he appointed Captain Merriweather Lewis
and Lieutenant William Clark to take command of the explor
ing party. This small body of explorers, thirty-four in number,
encamped during the winter of 1803 and 1804 in the American
Bottom, within the limits of the present Madison County, not
far from the mouth of Wood River, and there prepared for the
arduous duty to visit the Pacific Ocean.
On the 14th May, 1804, the party set saU on the Missouri
River, and passed the first winter at the Mandon Village of In
dians. From this place many of the men were sent back, and
only thirty-odd marched under Lewis and Clark to the Pacific
Ocean. With much difficulty the Rocky Mountains were
passed, and on the 17th November, 1805, the party reached the
main ocean. On the 27th March, 1806, they commenced the
march home, and reached St. Louis in the fall. I recollect
there was much rejoicing in the country for their safe return.
In the winter of 1805, occurred what was known all over the

MY OWN TIMES. I07
West as "the cold Friday." I resided then with my father near
Kaskaskia, and even in that latitude it was a most extraordinary
day. I had not, at that time, ever seen a thermometer, and
perhaps there was not one in the country. The degrees of cold
I could not state, but this day was uniformly recognized as "the
cold Friday" throughout the country.
On the 5th June, 1805, a terrific hurricane swept over a part
of Illinois. It was one of those tempests or whirlwinds, which
at intervals occur and desolate the country where it passes.
This tornado proceeded with much violence in its course from
the south-west to the north-east, and crossed the Mississippi
about a mile below the mouth of the Merrimack River. It was
about three-fourths of a mile wide, and to that extent it de
stroyed every living creature, and prostrated every tree in its
course. It swept the water out of the Mississippi and lakes in
the American Bottom, and scattered the fish in every direction
on the dry land. William Blair had a boat moored near it, and
saw the water of the river raised up in the air and dashed about
with the greatest violence. This tempest passed over the coun
try about one o'clock, and the day before it was clear and
pleasant. Persons who saw it informed me that it at first ap
peared a terrible large black column moving high in the air, and
whirling round with great violence; as it approached, its size
and the terrific roaring attending it increased. It appeared as
if innumerable small birds were fiying with it in the air; but as
it approached nearer, the supposed birds were limbs and
branches of trees, propelled with the storm. As the tornado
approached, it became darker, and in the passage of the tem
pest, perfect and profound darkness prevailed, without any
show of light whatever. Dr. Carnes and family resided in the
direct line of the storm, and when he saw it approaching him
and family, with the certainty of destruction if he remained in
his house, he caught up his children and escaped its worst
violence. His wife was in the vortex more than the Doctor, and
fared worse. She was wounded in the head, but saved herseli
by holding on to a bush and prostrating herself on the earth.
The stock of the Doctor was all destroyed. A bull was raised
high in the air and dashed to pieces. A rail was run through a
horse in his yard. The violence of the tornado was so great
that it tore up the sills of the house in which the Doctor
resided, and left not a stone on the ground where the stone
chimney to the house had stood before the passage of the
storm. The papers, books, and clothes of the Doctor were
strewed for several miles around, by the force of the tornado.
The violence of this storm mostly subsided after it passed over
the Mississippi Bluff. It struck the bluff about the place where
the line dividing the counties of St. Clair and Monroe crosses
the bluff. No storm ever occurred in Illinois, in the memory of

I08 MY OWN TIMES.
man, to equal the above. These great convulsions of nature
occur but seldom, but when they do, they teach man a lesson
of his weakness and dependence on the Creator.
In the winter of 1812, and at other spare intervals from the
ranging service, I studied, and learned well the French lan
guage. I was then fresh from the college, and was a good
Latin scholar. I found the French language not at all difficult
to learn in the books; but to speak it, and understand it when
it was spoken, was much more difficult and required much
time and practice to accomplish, but by continual practice for
years, I become well acquainted with it, and used it mostly in
my intercourse with my family for sixteen or eighteen years.
The French is a most agreeable and fascinating language in
domestic circles, and seems to be peculiar in the advancement
of the pleasures and happiness of social and convivial assemblies.
The names of certain localities frequently arise by singular
circumstances. In very early times in Illinois, about the year
1780, Shadrack Bond, and some other Americans, as they were
then called by the French, located on the alluvial low lands of
the Mississippi, between Kaskaskia and Cahokia, and the
French and others gave this large tract of country the name of
the "American Bottom," which it has retained to this day.
The name, and particularly the tract of coun':ry embraced by
the name, is known all over the Union as a region of country
containing the largest extent of fertile soil in one body of any
other in America. It extends from Alton almost to Chester,
nearly one hundred miles long, and averages five or six miles
wide. It is of alluvial formation, made by the Mississippi, and
presents a soil of inexhaustible fertility. Another settlement,
the "New Design," situated a few miles south of the present
town of Waterloo, Monroe County, received its name from the
patriarch and noble pioneer. Rev. James Leman, Sr. About
the year 1786, Mr. Leman was residing in the American Bot
tom, and observed that he had a new design, to make a settle
ment south of Belle Fountaine, which is near the present Water
loo. The public, from this circumstance, caUed it the "New
Design Settlement" This was, at one day, the largest Ameri
can colony in Illinois — commenced by Mr. Leman under the
above circumstances.
Turkey Hill Settlement was commenced by another worthy
and respectable patriarch, William Scott Sr., in the year 1798,
and a considerable colony was formed around it. The name
"Turkey Hill," in French, Cote d'Indie, was given to this beau
tiful and commanding elevation by the French so early that
"the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," in Illinois.
Turkey Hill was, for ages past, a favorite camping-ground for
the Indians; and the traders frequently at this point exchanged
goods for the peltries and furs of the red man. It is situated in

MY OWN TIMES. IO9
St. Clair County, about three miles south-east of Belleville, and
can be seen from some sections of the country at a distance of
thirty or forty miles.
"Whiteside's Station" was another conspicuous point and
around it were formed some settlements. William Whiteside, a
brave and efficient defender of his country from Indian depre
dations, and a soldier who fought at the battle of King's Moun
tain, settled this place in the year 1792, and made it what it was
"a station," or fort, to defend the inhabitants from the attacks
of hostile Indians. Whiteside had a son killed almost in the
yard of this station by the Indians. The station is situated on
the ancient road from Kaskaskia to Cahokia, between the pres
ent, towns of Waterloo and Columbia, in Monroe County.
The Belle Fontaine was another famous position, named by
the French, and at it was once a town laid out It was settled
by James Moore, Sen'r, in the year 1781. Mr. Moore's was
about the first, perhaps was quite the first American family, that
settled on the high land of Illinois, between Prairie du Rocher
and Cahokia. Mr. Moore was a brave, energetic pioneer, whose
respectable and worthy posterity in Illinois is very large.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
Sketch of the Author's Life. — Acting for Himself. — First Practice ol
the Law. — Traffic in Land. — Merchandise. — Conveyance of Money
from Vincennes to St. Louis. — Small Law-Library.
In the winter and spring of 1814, I established a very humble
and obscure law-office in the French village of Cahokia. This
town was then the seat of justice of St. Clair County, which was
the largest and most wealthy county in the territory. But the
main inducement which caused me to settle in Cahokia, was
a relative of mine, Joseph A. Beaird, Esq., who resided there,
and was a benevolent and excellent man. He was wealthy,
respectable, and possessed considerable standing in society. I
made his house my home, and rented a room in the village for
my office. I knew it was a pleasure for him to entertain me,
or otherwise I would not have lived with him.
When I commenced "on my own resources," I had not one
cent of money or scarcely any books or clothes. I had a horse,
but not a decent saddle or bridle. I had not then received any
pay for my ranging services, and was literally enjoying life and
happiness without a dollar in my pocket. It is true I had
credit in a small manner. I was like the man's oxen: he said
"they were strong in light work." My credit was strong in
smaU sums. All my law-books could have been easily packed

no MY OWN TIMES.
in a common carpet-bag; they were all put on the mantel-piece
over the fireplace in my rented room, and did not fill it.
I had a press of business all the time from 1814, while I re
mained in the practice of the law and in the traffic of land — as
much as I could perform. I was exceedingly industrious and
active. I was young, ardent, and I think energetic. Labor,
mental or physicial, was a pleasure to me. I saw I must "do
or die," and laid on in true good earnest My first attempt to
address the court in Belleville, before his honor Judge Thomas,
was disagreeable and painful, and I acquitted myself very much
to my dissatisfaction and discredit generally. I had no doubt
the public, who did not know me intimately, concluded, on
witnessing this exhibition, that I never could succeed as a
lawyer — I feared it myself A person where he has been raised,
and that in an humble and obscure condition, labors under great
disadvantages when he attempts to embrace a learned profession.
The Saviour himself complained of his situation in this respect.
Mahomet did the same. A prophet stands better abroad than
he does in his native land. I laughed with the others at my
failure, but was determined to do better. I considered my
honor and character at stake, and that was more important to
me than bread. In Madison County, I experienced nearly the
same fate, and the public doubted my success. By repeated
efforts and many failures, together with my old antidote, a
savage self-will to succeed, enabled me to experience less pain
and more success in my practice. But the main profitable bus
iness I did in these four years was the commerce in land. The
whole country was improving fast; immigration was flowing
rapidly in, and,_bank^pageiMvas circulating in ^^eat abundance.
Under these circumstances, land increased greatly in value in
a short time, and was salable. With my knowledge of the
country, and use of the compass, I soon ascertained the best
selections of land, and with my partner, Mr. Beaird, who was
wealthy, I did some considerable business in the land commerce.
One thing we observed with scrupulous exactness — never to
deal in land the title of which was bad or doubtful. I never in'
my life had to respond to the failure of the title of any land
which I warranted.
In the commencement of these four years, I surveyed private
lands considerable, and made some money at the business. In
this manner I acted in my commencement of life, and did well.
I used great industry and economy, and found these companions
through Ufe to be my friends, "the kindest and the best." In
these four years I speculated, sold land, and bought two stores
of dry goods, amounting to ten thousand dollars. The land and
goods were rated at high prices. But when I was appointed
judge, I ceased my land speculations, and entered another field
of more trouble and less profit

MY OWN TIMES. HI
In 1815, I was in Vincennes on business, and undertook to
convey twenty-six thousand dollars in bank notes, from pay
master Hempstead to Major Douglass, in St. Louis, who was
also a United States' pay-master. There was no settlement, at
that day, between Vincennes and the Kaskaskia River. I
waited some days in Vincennes for the bank to arrange the
money for me. I had two trusty Frencluncn with me to guard
us. The first night we lay out the horses were alarmed, and we
feared that we should be robbed. It was known in Vincennes
that we had the money. Upon my arrival in St. Louis, I
handed the money to Major Douglass, who wanted me to re
main in the office while he counted it I told him it was all
there I got of Major Hempstead, and that if it was too little I
could not make it up, and if too much he might have it. He
laughed, and I left the room — glad of it.
I scarcely ever attended an election, at that day, or knew or
cared anything about politics or the government of the country.
As heretofore stated, I had an inherent distaste and contempt
for the business of electioneering, and had not the most distant
idea of any office whatever for myself

CHAPTER XXXV.
Extension of the Settlements.^ — Improvements. — Agriculture. — Com
merce. — Commerce to New Mexico.
Although during the war, the settlements did not much
extend their borders, yet the population and wealth of the
country increased. War is not so alarming after the people be
come accustomed to it; so that the country improved even when
the enemy was lurking around the frontiers. But when peace
was established, the country grew up almost like Jonah's gourd,
in one night.
Mr. Coop and family, in the spring of 1815, broke through
the old Indian frontier of Madison County, and settled in the
limits of the present county of Macoupin. Thomas Carlin, after
ward governor of the State, Thomas RoUin, and many others,
located in that beautiful and picturesque country, around the
present CarroUton.
In 1 8 19 and 1820, the Sangamon country became famous for
its beauty of surface and fertility of soil, and hundreds settled
in it. At the same time, many also settled around the Dia
mond Grove, and other localities in the present county of Mor
gan. The colonies extended on the Kaskaskia River above the
site of the present Carlyle.
In the interior, the settlements composing the counties of
Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and the adjacent counties.

112 MY OWN TIMES.
were commenced. Governor Casey, then a yoiing man, with
his family, settled in 1816, near the present town of Mt Vernon,
and lived in a camp the first winter. Colonies were also formed
on the Wabash River, and extended up above Vincennes.
The country increased in population with unparalleled ra
pidity, so that at the formation of the State Government, in
1 8 18, there were more than forty thousand inhabitants in the
Territory, while in 1810, there were only 12,284, making an in
crease of upwards of 27,718 in eight years.
It will be recollected that it was stated in a former chapter,
that there were only six counties in the Territory in 1812, when
the first General Assembly convened at Kaskaskia, but in 18 18,
there were fifteen counties in all.
At the formation of the State -Government in 1818, four-fifths
of the State was a wilderness, and the settlements confined to
the southern section of the State, and mostly on the margins of
the great rivers.
Agriculture assumed a better standing and efficiency than
heretofore. The horse-race tracks were converted into corn
fields, and the rifle exchanged for the plough. Hunting was
abandoned, and churches, school-houses, and civilization took
their places. The farmers commenced to raise stock for ex
portation. Hogs and cattle grew in the river-bottoms without
much care or expense, and yielded a rich reward to the hus
bandman. Horses were also raised for exportation, and money
flowed into the country through these various channels to repay
manifold the farmer. The country was new, and the range
was excellent, so that stock was raised as above stated, without
much expense or trouble. The Ohio drovers expended con
siderable money in the country for cattle. Commerce also
commenced, and existed in direct proportion to the increase of
the products of the country.
Steamboats in 1817, visited St. Louis, and the overland com
merce to Santa F^ was increased. The ancient channels of
commerce were more crowded with produce, and the country
was abundantly prosperous and happy for many years after the
war of 1 8 12, with Great Britian.
In connection with the Santa F6 trade, it is due to history to
state that Colonel William Morrison, of Kaskaskia, was the first
who laid the foundation of the commerce across the plains from
the Mississippi Valley to New Mexico. He was an early pio
neer, and immigrated from Philadelphia to Kaskaskia in the
year 1790. He soon occupied, in the valley of the Mississippi,
.the grand and lofty position in commerce for which nature had
designed him. He possessed a strong mind and great energy,
and exerted his great abilities in the commerce throughout the
Western Valley. In 1804, he embarked in the trade across the
plains to Santa Fe, and also supplied merchandise to a great

MY OWN TIMES. II3
portion of the inhabitants and retail dealers both in Illinois and
upper Louisiana. Not only was he distinguished for commercial
enterprise, but he also took the lead in many of the great and
useful improvements of his day. He built two magnificent
bridges over the Kaskaskia River — one at Covington, Washing
ton County, and the other at Kaskaskia. He was possessed of
a princely fortune, and with it at his command, together with
his intelligent and enlightened views of public policy, he was a
great and useful benefactor to his country.
Many other merchants of olden times possessed also efficient
talents and great enterprise. Colonel Peter Menard and Gen
eral John Edgar, of Kaskaskia, were, in the early settlement of
the country, efficient and conspicious operators in the commerce
of the Mississippi Valley.

CHAPTER XXXVI
^Regulators in Illinois. — Regulating Company Organized in St. Clair Co.
—Mob-Law in 1831, on the Ohio River. — In Edgar County Lynch-
Law was Established. — In Ogle County a Horrid Tragedy was
Enacted in 1841. — A Case in Madison County. — Cases in Pope and
Massac Counties in 1846. — Public Opinion should Condemn Mob-
Law. Some time after the close of the late war with Great Britian,
the country was flooded with bank-notes, good, bad, and indif
ferent. Many counterfeit notes were in circulation. This evil
caused many good citizens of St. Clair County to organize a
Regulating Company, as they styled themselves, and Dr. Estes,
of Belleville, was elected Captain. This company was estab
lished in 1815, and remained in existence only a few months.
In direct violation of law and the rights of the citizens, they
undertook to execute punishment on those who were supposed
by the company to be guilty of making or passing counterfeit
money, or any other crime.
The organization of this compny, and the punishment they
inflicted on certain citizens, whom they were satisfied were
guilty, created great excitement in the country, and in the end
public opinion condemned it.
On Silver Creek, and other places, punishment was inflicted
indiscriminately, and some were ordered to leave the country.
This was the first attempt to introduce Lynch -law in the
country, but the same misfortune, no doubt based on good and
pure motives by many engaged in it, has been visited on the
people of Illinois at other periods of their history.
In 183 1, on the Ohio River, in Illinois, a mob-spirit prevailed,
and a fort which was erected by the suspected persons was taken
8

114 MY OWN TIMES.
by storm, and three of the inmates killed. One of the regulators
was also killed, and the suspected gang broken up. The leaders
of the gang in the fort were known as the Sturdevants. Not
long after, another court, governed by the law of force, known
as the Lynch-law, was opened in Edgar County, in this State,
and some suspected persons were whipped and driven out of
the country.
The most horrid and outrageous tragedy occured in Ogle
Country, in the year 1841, where several men were murdered.
under the proceedings of the mob law.
It is stated that a band of bad men existed in this country,
near or in the White Rock Grove, and they were ordered to
leave the country. Some of the gang were in the jail, and
their friends burnt the court house in order that the inmates of
the jail might escape. Great excitement prevailed; and Camp
bell, the Captain of the regulators, was killed. "This still en
raged the citizens, and a cry was raised against the murderers,
who could not be found; but an old man, named DriscoU, and
his two sons, were taken as accessories to the murder. After a.
trial of a whole day, before three hundred of an excited populace
as judges and jurors, the old man, DriscoU, and one of his sons,
were sentenced to be shot within one hour. A minister of the
gospel administered the consolation of religion to the men
about to be murdered. What a wicked perversion of the New
Testament! The unfortunate men were placed in a praying
position, and were fired upon by the whole three hundred regu
lators. This was done that none could be witnesses against the
others. It is said also that about one hundred of these regula
tors were tried for murder and all acquitted.
At a late day, in Madison County, Illinois, a suspected man
resided near ColUnsville, and a company of regulators was
formed for his punishment. He was found fishing in a lake in
the American Bottom, and shot. He wounded some of the
regulators, but not mortally. Many of the regulators were tried
for murder; their trial was moved to another county, and they
were finally acquitted.
In the counties of Massac and Pope, in the year 1846, for
several months the citizens were kept in constant alarm and
excitement by two organized parties, known as "Regulators,"'
and "Moderators." The only difference in this outrage on the
laws, from the others above noticed, was that the parties were
nearly equal; each side claimed to be honest citizens, and de
nounced their opponents as rogues. The Lovejoy mob, at
Alton, the mob of the Mormon war, and the non-execution of
the Fugitive-Slave Law, at Chicago, will be noticed hereafter.
I have presented the above cases of mob -violence to the
public for their consideration. Although, on many occasions,
good and honest men were engaged in the regulating companies.

MY OWN TIMES. II5
yet they committed great crimes by the violation of the laws
and constitution of the country. In every point' of view it is
wrong to violate the law, and nothing is more dangerous to the
free institutions of our country than many acts performed under
the fascinating delusion "of running the rogues out the country."
It is similar to a physician killing his patient to cure him. An
unpopular sect of religionists, like the Mormons, may be run of
by an infuriated mob. All that we hold dear and sacred, even
religion itself, our sheet-anchor of happiness here and hereafter,
may be destroyed by an unthinking, senseless mob. It is the
laws and constitution that make us a free people, and give this
Republic such a standing as it now has all over the civilized
world. Permit the whole country to adopt the mob-law doc
trine, and our happiness, and the Union itself, would not exist
one single year.
Some unthinking men say that Lynch-law may do good in
some extreme cases, and on such occasions justify this mob-
spirit As well might these men say: a government is good,
except in extreme cases, when it is better to have no govern
ment, but permit the lawless passions of men to govern the
country. Those engaged in this mob-law, take the ground that man is
not capable of self-government; that the laws of the country
are insufficient, and the administration of them impotent and
cannot accomplish the object of government. This is the acted
argument of monarchy; it is the silent, forcible language of
tyranny and oppression ; and although good, honest men may,
at times, engage in these regulating mobs, yet their actions are
tyranny and oppression, not only on their fellow-men, but
against the sacred laws and Constitution of the country.
The regulators assume the right to be wiser and better than
the community, and can govern the country better than the
constituted government itself Many good-meaning men do
not reflect that they are, in this unholy crusade, the worst ene
mies to the country, by trampling under foot the laws they
theniselves have enacted. The crazy fanatic may consider him
self doing God a service when he is burning his brother-man at
the stake, which has been frequently witnessed in ancient times.
The same spirit that burnt human beings at the stake, to rid the
world of heretics, is actuating the regulators to rid the country
of bad men. The trial by jury, the habeas corpus act, and all
the blessings of freedom and civil liberty, by this mob-law are
trampled under foot, and an infuriated rabble of irresponsible
men are not satisfied until blood is shed and the laws broken.
There is no case where Lynch-law or mob-violence can be
justified, and every good citizen should have the moral courage
to speak out aloud to the public in condemnation of this course.
An enlightened and correct public opinion can destroy this mis-

Il6 MY OWN TIMES.
rule and disgrace to our free institutions ; nothing else, under a
free government, can; and I appeal to it, with confidence, to
correct this great evil.

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Early Religion in lUinois. — The Roman CathoUc Denomination. — The
Jesuit Missionaries Founded Kaskaskia and Cahokia. — The Rev.
Mr. Ohver, of Prairie du Rocher. — The Creed of the Roman
Catholic Church. — Christian Creeds are Substantially the Same. —
Roman Catholic Statistics.
The Roman Catholic missionaries were the first white men
that planted the standard of the Cross in the Mississippi Valley,
and around their missionary stations, where they instructed the
Indians, assembled the first white population. These mission
aries were talented and efficient bearers of the Cross, and
traversed all sections of the West from Canada to New Orleans,
to Christianize the savages. They were the first who erected
Christian churches in Illinois, and preached the gospel to the
people. The Rev. James Marquette was the first Christian missionary
who explored the country, in the year 1673, and extended his
travels to the Arkansas. The Rev. Father AUoues, about the
year 1682, established the first white Christian congregation in
the West. This missionary station and church were erected in
the Kaskaskia Indian Village, and is the same site which the
village of Kaskaskia now occupies, in Randolph County.
About the same time. Father Pinet founded a church at the
Indian Village of Cahokia, which occupied the same place
where Cahokia now stands.
Thus it will be seen that the first settlements in the great
Valley of the West were planted in peace and Christianity, and
the fruit has flourished in such an eminent degree that the coun
try is rapidly progressing to its high destiny. *
Almost the entire French population were Roman Catholics,
and remain so to this day. The clergy were generally intelli
gent and pious men, who were also eminent scholars. They
had travelled much, and had devoted their time and talents
exclusively to the advancement of Christianity.
Among the most ancient American inhabitants were many
Roman Catholics, who were, as well as their French neighbors,
peaceable, orderly, and good citizens.
One of the ancient pioneer clergymen was the celebrated Mr.
Oliver, of Prairie du Rocher, Randolph County. This Rev,
Divine was a native of Italy, and was a high dignitary in the
Roman Catholic Church for more than half a century. He

MY OWN TIMES. I17
acquired a great reputation for his sanctity and holiness, and
some beheved him possessed of the power to perform small
miracles, to which he made no pretensions.
In 1 8 16, a Catholic Church was established on Prairie du
Long Creek, Monroe County, and some years thereafter an
other, a few miles south, toward Prairie du Rocher.
In 1824, a small congregation of Roman Catholics immi
grated from Kentucky, and settled in Sangamon County, Illi
nois, and many of that sect remain there to this day.
These colonies of Americans, together with the French, em
braced all the Catholic congregations in Illinois in early days.
At this time, many churches and congregations of Roman
Catholics, composed of parts of almost all nations, are scattered
throughout the length and breadth of the State. The Catholic
denomination holds the fourth rank in numbers in the State —
the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians being the more
numerous. According to the census of 1850, the Catholic denomination
in the State of Illinois possesses fifty-eight churches; can
accommodate 29,000 members; and owns $229,400 worth of
property. I have little doubt that the Catholic society are
much larger than reported by the census.
When that narrow prejudice and ill-nature, which to such
extent existed in the dark ages among sects, wears off by the
light of reason and the progress of the age, the Roman Catho
lics, and all other denominations of religionists will be friends,
and worship the great Supreme Being at the same altars. The
creeds and confessions of faith of all Christian denominations
are not so dissimilar as to render the devotees hostile and
unfriendly to each other. The moral precepts contained in the
Scriptures, by which the conduct and actions of men are
governed, are the same to all, and so recognized by all the
various Christian sects. The foUowing is the creed of the
Roman Catholic Church, and which, it will be discovered, is
substantially the same in all the Christian churches:
"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of
Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one
Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Light of
Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; con-substan
tial with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us
men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was
incarnated by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, AND WAS
MADE MAN: He was crucified, also, under Pontius Pilate; suf
fered, and was buried; and the third day He arose again,
according to the Scriptures, and he ascended into Heaven, and
sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he is to come
again in glory to judge the Uving and the dead — of whose King
dom there shall be no end: and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord,

Il8 MY OWN TIMES.
the Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father; and the
Son who spoke by the Prophets: and one Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of
sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and life-ever
lasting. — Amen."
It will be seen by a reference to the creeds of other Christian
denominations, that the above differs not, substantially, from
any other Christian creed or confession of faith. I cannot dis
cover why it is that one faith and Christian creed is not as good
as another, and all good when based on the Scriptures. When
a Christian exercises his best judgment on the Scriptures, and
arrives at a faith, or creed, it must be right and good as to him.
No power on earth, except the person himself, has control of
his conscience. This inestimable right is secured to all in the
United States by the Constitution and laws of the land, and is
the greatest element of our prosperity and happiness. As,
therefore, no one has the right to decide on matters of faith and
conscience, the creed of each Christian must be right to himself,
when it is founded on the best lights in his power. Being all
right, and the moral precepts being the same in the Scriptures,
the actions and conduct of the various sects of Christians must
be substantially the same, and all good. Under this view of the
subject, it matters not what particular creed or faith any Chris
tian may possess — all might belong to the same church. The
creed of the Romish Church is considered by that sect "infal
lible" and perfect. They say that Providence established this
church, and that St. Peter is the successor of the Saviour him
self The Protestants assume the ground that each member of
the church has the right of private judgment, and can adopt the
faith and creed dictated to him by his own conscience. It is
quite immaterial how the person arrives at his faith, or creed, so
that it is reached with honesty and sincerity.
Not only ought all Christians to be friends to one another —
"love thy neighbor as thyself" — but they might all belong with
propriety to the same church and worship at the same altar.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Early Methodist Denomination in lUinois.^ — The Rev. Joseph LiUard,
First Methodist Preacher in lUinois in 1793. — The Early Clergymen.
— Hosea Riggs, Benjamin Young, Chas. R. Matheny, Thomas Har
rison, Jesse Walker, Peter Cartwright. — The Methodist Statistics.
The Rev. Joseph Lillard was the first Methodist preacher,
and formed the first Methodist Church in Illinois, in the year
1793. He had been a circuit-rider in Kentucky in 1790, and
established the first church in the New Design Settlement, in

MY OWN TIMES. II9
lUinois. In this church he appointed Captain Joseph Ogle the
first class-leader in the country. Mr. Lillard was a pious,
•exemplary man, whose labors sowed the first seeds of Method
ism in Illinois. This small commencement continued, and now
the Methodist Society is the largest Christian denomination in
the State.
The next permanent Methodist preacher who immigrated to
the country was Hosea Riggs. He arrived in Illinois in the
year 1796, and remained in the country, preaching and doing
good, until the year 1841, when he died at his residence, a few
miles east of Belleville, aged eighty-one years.
In 1804, Benjamin Young was the first circuit - rider who
travelled in Illinois. He was appointed by the "Western An
nual Conference," which extended from Pittsburg to Natchez,
throughout the valley of the Mississippi. Mr. Young made his
appointments at times to preach a£ my father's house, in Ran
dolph County, in the year 1 804, and was the first preacher I ever
heard, as I recollect He traversed the whole American settle
ment, and did much good. Mr. Riggs, after that time, also
preached at my father's residence, in Randolph County, in 1805.
These religious meetings were the first ever held in Randolph
County. The Rev. Thomas Harrison immigrated to Illinois in 1804,
and has continued to preach the gospel, more or less, in Illinois
for half a century or more.
Dr. Joseph Oglesby rode the circuit in Illinois in 1805, and
Charles R. Matheny the next year. The latter gentleman
remained in the country, filled several important offices, and
died in Springfield, Illinois, leaving a highly respectable family.
The intrepid and energetic pioneer-preacher, the Rev. Jesse
Walker, appeared in the country in the year 1806, and devoted
his great energies to the permanent prosperity of the Methodist
Church in Illinois. He was the undaunted, and a kind of Mar
tin Luther patriarch of the Church of the West, and bore
triumphantly the standard of the Cross throughout the wilder
ness-country, as well to the red men as the white. He was a
native of the country near Petersburgh, Virginia — emigrated to
North Carolina, and there embraced religion. He moved to
West Tennessee in 1802, and was ordained to preach by the
"Western Conference," and preached four years on the western
frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee. At his request, he was
located as a preacher in Illinois, in the year 1806; and the next
year, mostly by his efforts, eighty members were added to the
church, which swelled it in all to two hundred and twenty
members. The next year, the celebrated Bishop McKendre visited the
country as bishop, and organized various churches. During
this year, 1807, two camp-meetings were held in Illinois, one at

120 MY OWN TIMES.
Shiloh, in St Clair County, and the other a few miles south of
the present Edwardsville. These were the two first camp-meet
ings held in Illinois, and were the first I ever attended. At
these meetings. Rev. Mr. Walker assisted Bishop McKendre in
preaching. Several other preachers also attended these camps
and preached. These protra'~ted meetings were a new thing in
the country at that early day, and attracted much attention.
The greater portion of the American population of the territory
attended them. The old and young, the gay and serious, all
appeared on the camp-ground, and were pleased in their respec
tive spheres. These were the largest assemblies of the people I
ever saw at that day, and the novelty of the scene was very
interesting to me.
The Rev. Jesse Walker located himself and family in the
vicinity of Shiloh, and preached and attended the affairs of the
church for many years. He was appointed elder, in 1812, of
Missouri and Illinois. At one time, in this neighborhood, in St.
Clair County, between thirty and forty preachers resided. Mr.
Walker was exceedingly energetic, and seemed to be a mis
sionary from on High to advance the gospel into the extended
frontiers. In 1820, he appeared in St. Louis, Missouri, and
became determined to plant the standard of Methodistism in
that place. The Legislature was then in session there, and
many of the members advised Father Walker that it was impos
sible to establish a Methodist Church in St Louis. Indomi
table courage was one of the main elements in the character of
Mr. Walker, and he decided, like Martin Luther, that if the
tops of the houses were covered with devUs, he would urge on
the gospel. He once abandoned the project, but returned
eighteen miles, saying: "By the grace of God I will go back to
St. Louis." He procured at first a Baptist Church, but remained
in it for a short time; he then rented, at his own expense, a
large, unfinished building, and preached in it with much success.
He also taught a school gratis. He possessed much warmth
and excitability, and soon produced the same feelings in his
congregation. His forte in preaching, and I have heard him
often, was to arouse the passions, and thereby great excitement
was produced. It was under his preaching that many of the
congregation became convulsed, shouted, and had what was
then called the jerks, already alluded to. In St. Louis, the
negroes were the first excited, then the lower classes of the
whites. He continued in his exertions until many of all classes
became interested in religion, when he established a large
church, where, he said, "devilism" as he called it, prevailed
before. He hired men, and with them, and his own hands, he
cut the timber on the Illinois side of the Mississippi for a church
in St. Louis — and it was erected there. This humble pioneer-
church was known for many years as "Father- Walker's Church.'*

MY OWN TIMES. 121
Religion may hail Jesse Walker as the first preacher who estab
lished a Methodist Church in the city of St Louis.
The next effort of Mr. Walker was with the Indians. He
had assigned to him in 1824, a circuit in the north, embracing-
the whites and the savages together. He established a mission
among the Pottawatomie Indians, some few miles north of the
present town of Ottawa, Illinois, and labored with the red men
to propagate the gospel and civilization among them. He
finally withdrew to Chicago, and was the first pioneer-preacher
that established a church in that place. He erected a small log-
house near the forks of the Chicago River, and preached in it
for many years. After a long period of hard service, and filled
with age and honor, he breathed his last in Chicago, and was
buried there. His death was considered a public bereavement,
and as such, and also for his real worth, he was followed to his
grave by public opinion with sincere sorrow and mournful feel
ings. A few years after his death, his friends disinterred his
remains, and with much funeral pomp and pageantry buried
him again at a small village, at which was his family burying-
ground, west of Chicago. His mortal remains sleep in peace
with his Methodist friends, and his soul has winged its way to-
the realms above. Mr. Walker was a short, well-set man,
walked erect, and was possessed of great firmness, energy, and
perseverance; his complexion was sallow, and his countenance
gave unerring evidence that he was a sound and profound
thinker; his eyes were blue, small, and piercing. He was not a
profound scholar, but he studied human nature and the Script
ures until he was enabled to propagate the gospel with more
success in a new country than nine-tenths of the college-edu
cated gentry of the present day. Preaching, at this day, is con
ducted more by art and science than it was in former days. Mr.
Walker wore the plain, unpretending garb of a pioneer Method
ist-preacher. His hat was generally very large, to protect him
from the sun and rain, and his coat was fashioned after the
ancient and honorable Methodist mode, known then as the
"straight coats." The intelligent public consider Jesse Walker
one of the most efficient and useful pioneer-preachers that ever
labored in the West.
Another great and substantial luminary appeared, as a pio
neer-preacher in the Methodist Church of Illinois, in the person
of the Rev. Peter Cartwright, of Sangamon County. Nature
had bestowed on this distinguished individual many of her most
choice gifts, and made him a conspicuous and great man. He
was born in Amherst County, Virginia, September, 1785; and
emigrated with his father, at the close of the Revolution, to
Kentucky. His father, also named Peter Cartwright, had
served all through the Revolutionary War, and ended his days
in the western part of Kentucky. In 1804, Mr. Cartwright was

122 MY OWN TIMES.
received as a preacher by the "Western Annual Conference."
He was continued a travelling circuit-rider for twenty years
through the States of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ala
bama, and, in 1824, he settled in Sangamon County, Illinois.
At the time he located in Illinois, north of his residence was a
wilderness country, and for many years he rode the circuit
through a savage wilderness, from settlement to settlement.
Mr. Cartwright continued in his itinerant Iffbors for eight years
in succession, and travelled and preached as much perhaps as
any other man ever did in that time. He has been appointed
to various offices and dignities of honor in the Methodist
Church, the duties of which he has performed with credit to
himself and advantage to the church. He has also represented
the large and respectable county of Sangamon in the General
Assembly for many sessions, one of which I acted with him in
the Legislature, and I knew him to have been an efficient and
excellent member. The Methodist Church in Illinois, and
religion generally, are much indebted to the talents and energy
of the Rev. Peter Cartwright for its success. He labored in the
vineyard with such talents, activity, and perseverance, that suc
cess always crowned his efforts.
The Methodist societies in his itinerancy were just com
menced, and were humble and weak, but the energy and pow
erful efforts of Mr. Cartwright gave them life and vigor; and at
this day the Methodist societies, established greatly by his
labors, are enjoying a prosperity not surpassed by any in the
State. Mr. Cartwright was raised in moderate pecuniary cir
cumstances, in a poor, backwoods' colony of Kentucky, and
had not the benefits of a liberal education, but barely could
read and write his native language when he was a young man.
He possessed a sound, comprehensive mind, that guided him
safely through all trials and troubles to an eminence and stand
ing in society that few equal. Nature also bestowed on him an
iron will and an energy that always sustained him. His ser
mons were solid and sound, forcing conviction on the judgment,
and making as clear as noonday the distinction between virtue
and vice, and the lines separating good from bad. He has been
an exceedingl}'' successful preacher, having converted legions of
people from the ways of sin to truth. His person is somewhat
similar to his mind — strong, hardy, and robust. He is yet, in
his old age, blessed with vigor and energy, and is a living monu
ment of a great and eminent patriarch of religion in the West.
In 1815, there were four Methodist circuits in Illinois — called
Okau, Massac, Wabash, and Illinois. Illinois and Indiana, west
of the meridian line at Madison, composed a "District," and the
Rev. Jesse Walker acted in it as presiding elder. Many other
eminent divines have labored also with great success in spread
ing the gospel in Illinois, until now the Methodist denomination

MY OWN TIMES. I23
is the most numerous in the State. The Methodist organiza
tion is wise and efficient. Each neighborhood, no matter how
remote and obscure it may be, has a circuit-rider among them
suitable to their wants.
The census of 1850 reports 389 churches — accommodation
for 176,474 persons in these churches; and the church property
worth $327,290, belonging to the Methodist denomination in
lUinois. *
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Early Baptist Denomination in Illinois. — Ministers of the Gospel
in the Baptist Churches. — James Smith, John K. Simpson and Son,
Josiah Dodge, James Lemen, Sr. and Sons, Joseph Chance and Son,
John Clark, William Jones, Dr. John M. Peck, Deacon Smith,
George Wolf — Baptist Churches. — Baptist Statistics. — William Kin
ney. — Linley in Sangamon County.
In the first settlement of Illinois, by the Americans as well
as by the French, Christianity was planted almost co-equal with
jthe colonies themselves. In the year 1787, the Rev. James
iSmith, of Lincoln County, Kentucky, visited Illinois, and
ipreached to the inhabitants of the New Design, and many were
[converted by his efforts. The Rev. John K. Simpson was an
eminent divine, and his son, the Rev. Gideon Simpson, is also a
preacher and worthy member of society. In 1787, the Rev. Mr.
iSmith returned again, and many more were deeply affected by
his sermons. He was taken prisoner by the Indians, but was
[rescued. Elder Smith returned to Illinois from Kentucky, the
third time, and preached the gospel to the people with good
effect. In 1784, the Rev. Josiah Dodge, the uncle of Senator Dodge,
of Wisconsin, came to Illinois, from his residence in Kentucky,
and preached to the people. The Rev. James Lemen and
others were baptized, and professed religion. In 1796, Rev.
¦ David Badgley visited the country from Hardy County, Vir
ginia, and preached incessantly to the people for a short period.
Fifteen were converted, and Elder Badgley, together with the
Rev. Joseph Chance, organized the first Baptist Church in Illi
nois. Elder Badgley removed to the country, after visiting
Virginia, and was a conspicuous light in the church. The lay-
elder, Joseph Chance, arrived in the country in 1794, and
remained in it during life, preaching the gospel until the year
1840, when he died.
"Father John Clark," as he was sometimes called, an eminent
divine at that day, immigrated to Illinois in the year 1797, and
was a conspicuous and efficient character in the pulpit and in the
schools. He taught many of the rising generation of that day

124 MY OWN TIMfiS.
the general principles of education, and also performed invalua
ble services in preaching the gospel in Illinois, as well as in
Upper Louisiana. Dr. John M. Peck, of Illinois, has written
an excellent biography of "Father Clark," which has added
much to the reputation of the author as well as to advance the
cause of religion. The Rev. James Lemen, Sr., immigrated
from Western Virginia, and settled in Illinois in the year .1786,
and after some short time became a plteacher of the gospel.
He was a distinguished and conspicuous character in Illinois, as
a clergyman and a citizen, for a long series of years.
In 1805, the Rev. Messrs. Chance and Ratcliff made a stand
for their meetings at my father's residence in Randolph County,
where I heard them preach on many occasions, but at that day,
and for many years thereafter, there was not an organized
church in the county, except the Roman Catholic.
The Rev. Mr. Lindley, a Baptist preacher, took his stand, in
early times, under the shade of the trees on Lick Creek, Sanga
mon County, and was preaching to a large congregation. In
sight of his pulpit, he had constructed a wolf-pen, to capture
the wolves, if any of those animals came within its toils. A
wolf-pen is a cunning contrivance, made in early times, by
which wolves were entrapped and caught. It must be recol
lected that wolves, at the first settlement of the country, were a
great scourge on the stock of the farmers, and this was one
mode to destroy them. A pen is a pit-hole dug in the ground,
and a trap-door arranged over it so that when a wolf stands on
the door, his weight springs certain triggers, and the animal falls
into the hole dug in the earth. When the wolf is in the pit, the
trap or pen is down, and may be seen for some distance. Mr.
Lindley called on his congregation, with that singular cant and
kind of long- accented, drawling, sing-song voice, which many
of the preachers assumed in pioneer-times, "to mind the text,
brethren — the wolf-pen is down — I must kill the wolf — ^when I
come back, put me on the text and I will preach out the
sermon." At another meeting, it was said that a preacher shot
a wolf from his pulpit.
The Rev. William Jones arrived in St. Clair County, Illinois,
Wood River Settlement, in 1806, and preached the gospel for
many years. He was a worthy and excellent man, and held
many civil offices.
Several Baptist churches were organized in early times in Illi
nois. The most ancient was that of the New Design, and
almost coeval with it, was one established in the American
Bottom, west of Waterloo. About the same time in 1807,
several Baptist churches were formed. Orc east of Silver
Creek, not far above the mouth; one on the Quentine Creek;
one on Wood River, in the present county of Madison; and one
in the Badgley Settlement, a few miles north-east of Belleville.

MY OWN TIMES. 125
AU these churches were organized in St. Clair County, and
flourished for many years.
It is a remarkable fact, that most of the large- family of the
celebrated pioneer and patriarch, the Rev. James Lemen, are
members of the Baptist |Church, and Joseph, James, Moses,
Josiah, and perhaps some more, are respectable preachers of the
gospel. Also, David Robinson Chance, the son of the Rev.
Joseph Chance, is a preacher of the gospel, and a worthy and
excellent character.
Dr. John M. Peck, a descendant of the New-England Pil
grims, and a native of Connecticut, immigrated to the West in
the year 18 17, and has been, from that time to the present, a
shining light in the Baptist Church, as well as a conspicuous
and distinguished character in the literary community. Dr.
Peck located in St. Clair County in the year 1821, and has ex
tended his clerical and literary labors, with great efficiency, all
over the West from that time to the present Nature bestowed
on her favorite son. Dr. Peck, a strong and comprehensive mind,
and great energy and perseverance. His mind possesses that
strength, activity, and compass which enables him to triumph
over almost every difficulty. His person is formed on the New-
England model, large, athletic, and robust, made for utility as
well as for a manly and majestic bearing. With these rare and
distinguished traits of character. Dr. Peck was placed in a new
State, where the character of the country was at the time
forming itself for weal or woe, and had the opportunity, which
he admirably improved, to do much good in the proper forma
tion of the character of the people. As he progressed in his
good offices, he labored assiduously in the temples of science
and literature, until he is at this day one of the most-learned
men in the State, and perhaps the first. With all these rare
qualities combined in a single individual, he became an efficient
and useful character in his sphere, and has exerted his utmost
abilities to promote the best interest of the country. His ser
mons were always replete with sound, logical argument, irre
futable and powerful on his congregation. His exertions to
prevent the introduction of slavery into the State in 1824, were
efficient and with others, successful.
The Sunday schools found, in the hands of Dr. Peck, their
most efficient and powerful friend in Illinois. In the distribu
tion of the bible, both in Missouri and Illinois, Dr. Peck has
labored incessantly, and has performed valuable service in this
department as well as in many others. Temperance has had,
from his pen and discourse, an able and efficient advocate.
And literature and science have been much advanced in Illinois
by his talented and efficient labors. He established a seminary
of learning at Rock Spring, St. Clair County, which shown out
conspicuous and efficient for many years. At last it was

126 MY OWN TIMES.
removed to Alton, and assumed the name of the Shurtliff Col
lege. As an author and hterary man. Dr. Peck's character will
be handed down to posterity with much fame and reputation.
His writings, which are numerous, show great research, depth of
judgment, and utility, and have done much good to the public.
And to close this hasty sketch of the character of Dr. Peck, it
may be said in truth, that he has as much, and perhaps more,
than any other man in the State, made that lasting and solid
impression of morality, religion, and order on the people of the
State that lUinois so eminently enjoys at this day. He is now
in health enjoying the fruit of a long and well-spent life, and is
writing a large work, known as the "Moral Progress of the
Valley of the Mississippi."
The Rev. William Kinney became a church-member, and
preached for many years. He was a man of great mind and
much energy, who figured in Illinois in various conspicuous and
distinguished situations.
The Rev. Deacon Smith immigrated from Maine to Illinois in
l8i8, and settled in St Clair County. He preached for many
years. In early times, a church was organized in Union County,
composed mostly of Dunkards and Universalians, and at the
head of which was a great and powerful natural man, the Rev.
George Wolff. Mr. Wolff was gifted by nature with a strong
mind, and although he had not received a liberal education in
his youth, yet he became a wise and efficient clergyman in his
ma^turer years. I have heard him preach, and his strong, com
mon-sense sermons, founded on the Scriptures, sustaining his
peculiar doctrine, were powerful, and seemed to me to be irre
futable. He is now an aged and living monument of worth,
enjoying the prosperity of our common country, for which he
labored much.
An association of the Baptist churches was formed in 1807,
containing five churches. The New Design, Mississippi Bottom,
Richland, Wood River, and Silver Creek. There were three
ordained preachers and sixty-two members in these churches.
In 1809, six preachers were ordained, and in all four hundred
communicants in Missouri and Illinois. The Baptist churches
grew in proportion to other religious congregations, and the
population of the country, until at this day they are established
in almost every section of the country, and are the second
religious denomination in the State. The census of 1850 states
that the Baptist churches number 265 — accommodate 91,620
persons, and property they own is $204,095.

MY OWN TIMES. 12/

CHAPTER XL.
The Early Presbyterian Churches in lUinois. — The Rev. Samuel Wylie.
— His Church Refused to Vote. — Presbyterian Church in Bond
County. — One at Galena. — The Rev. Mr. Kent. — Cumberland Pres
byterians in White County. — Presbyterian Statistics.
In the summer of 1817, thirty-eight years ago, a delicate,
slender lad, a descendant of the ancient Celtic race, just from
the theological seminary, wended his way on horsback from
Vincennes across the State of Illinois to St. Louis, and there
remained a stranger in a strange land for sometime. This
youth had been educated in Philadelphia, and had travelled to
the West to propagate the gospel in a new country. After
making inquiry, he found a few families in Randolph County,
Illinois, whose religious persuasions were of the Presbyterian
order, and accorded substantially with his own. Here in this
neighborhood, on the east side of the Kaskaskia River, he
gathered together a flock, and preached to them. This small
society had been settled in Illinois for twelve years or more,
and had only two clergymen to visit them before the arrival of
the young stranger. This energetic and fearless youth remained
in the same settlement ever since, and has at this day, by his
merit, acquired a distinguished character and reputation as a
divine and scholar, and is known all over the State as the
Reverend Samuel Wylie, of Randolph County. Mr. Wylie is
the first Presbyterian clergyman who settled permanently in
Illinois. This gentleman was at the head of a seminary of
learning in Randolph County, as well as attending to his cleri
cal duties, and has moved on with the country to character and
respectability. In a few years after Mr. Wylie had planted his
standard of religion in the new settlements of Randolph County,
members of his church, known as "Covenanters," flocked to him
from various parts of the Union, until he soon had a large con
gregation. The society has increased and prospered, until at
this day they are quite numerous. At the formation of the
State Constitution in 1818, they urged on the convention to
recognize the holy scriptures in the constitution as "the word
of God;" and because it was not affirmed, the members of the
church declined to serve on a ¦jury, or to vote, for many years
— yet they would defend the country by bearing arms, paying
taxes, and the like. Some years since, Mr. Wylie and a section
of the society decided to vote and serve on the juries, which
caused a schism in the church that continues to this day. This
denomination is generally very decided against negro slavery,
which frequently regulates their votes at the ballot-box.
The next Presbyterian Church established was in Greenville,

128 MY OWN TIMES.
Bond County, in the year 1821, or thereabouts. This society
has existed ever since, and is at this day a happy and pros
perous community.
In 1829, the Rev. Mr. Kent established a small society of
Presbyterians at Galena, Illinois, who also have prospered and
"done well.
In 18 16, or thereabouts, in the county of White, was estab
lished a large congregation of Cumberland Presbyterians, which
exists and flourishes there to this day.
As the country progressed, these religious societies also
advanced, until at this time the Presbyterian denomination is
numerous in many sections of this State, and can number, as
reported by the census of 1850, 198 churches; accommodation
in churches for 81,529 persons, and property worth $395,130.
At this day, in Illinois, almost all the religions of the earth
exist, and are as liberal toward each other as is generally prac
tised in any section of the Union. The census of 1850 report
in all II 67 churches in the State, having an accommodation for
636,478 persons, and property valued at $1,476,385.

CHAPTER XLI.
Professional Men in Illinois Territory. — Lawyers and Physicians.
During the territorial government, many distinguished and
intelligent professional characters settled in Illinois.
The Hon. John Rice Jones located in Kaskaskia as early as
1789, and remained in the West during his life. He was a
distinguished lawyer and judge, and sustained his professional,
official, and private character and standing, as a gentleman and
scholar, during his long and eventful life in the Valley of the
Mississippi. Isaac Darneille, Esq., was the next lawyer; he located in
Cahokia in the year 1796, and attended to land speculation and
gallantry. He practised as much gallantry as law. He was
also a man of excellent talents, but he made such leeway in the
voyage of life that he run afoul of some of the precepts of the
commandments. James Haggin, Esq., settled in Kaskaskia about the year
1804, and resided in the vicinity. He returned to Kentucky
and became a conspicuous judge in the State.
About this time, two very talented and efficient young law
yers, Nathaniel Pope and John Scott although residing in Mis
souri, made their appearance generally in the courts of Illinois.
These two young gentlemen were the choice fruits of nature,
possessing great strength of intellect and much energy. They
rose fast in the profession, and stood deservedly at the head ot

MY OWN TIMES. 129
the bar in their day in Missouri and Illinois. Mr. Pope was
appointed a judge of the United States Court, and died a few
years since, while the other, the Hon. John Scott, remains in
the full enjoyment of his intellectual vigor and health to this
day, and is one of the most ancient and respectable patriarchs
of the law that lives at this time in either of the States of
Missouri or Illinois.
About the same time, and some years after, Edward Hemp
stead, Rufus Easton, Robert Wash, and David Barton, Esquires,
residents of St. Louis, Missouri, practised in the courts of
Illinois. In 1804, Benjamin H. Doyle and John Rector, Esquires,
located in Kaskaskia, and practised law.
In 1808, William Mears, Esq., arrived in Cahokia, and prac
tised the profession in Illinois during his life.
The Hon. Elias K. Kane commenced the practice of the law
in Kaskaskia in the year 18 14, and greatly distinguished him
self as a lawyer and statesman. Not long after, the Hon.
Daniel P. Cook also commenced the practice of law in Kaskas
kia, and also became a distinguished and conspicuous character
on the public stage. Charles Dunn, Esq., also became a dis
tinguished character and judge in Wisconsin. Many eminent
and talented lawyers, from St. Louis, practised in Illinois —
Messrs. Thomas H. Benton, David and Joshua Barton, Mr.
McGurk, Mr. Lucas, and others.
About this time, Hon. John McLean located in Shawneetown.
This gentleman became a distinguished lawyer and statesman,
and died while he was in the Senate of the United States.
James Hall and Henry Eddy commenced their professional
career in Shawneetown. Both of these gentlemen soon became,
by their talents and merit, distinguished and conspicuous char
acters. Mr. Eddy was the editor, also, of an excellent paper,
while Mr. Hall was afterwards elected judge of the Circuit
Court, and State treasurer. He turned his attention more to
science and literature than to the law, and is at this time a
prominent literary character of the city of Cincinnati. Also
appeared as lawyers: A. P. Field, R. K. McLaughlin, P. H.
Winchester, Thomas Reynolds, Thomas C. Browne, A. F. Hub
bard, James W. Whitney, Charles S. Hempstead, Ralph P.
Day, my humble self, and perhaps some others, were practising
attorneys in the Territory of Illinois. ^
The Hon. John J. Crittenden was appointed attorney-general
of the territory, but did not remain long in the country.
It will be seen by a reference to the history of the members
of the bar in territorial times, that many of the bar in after-life
obtained high and respectable standing and characters as states
men, judges, and civilians — in fact, I believe that the bar of
Illinois, at that day, possessed more talented lawyers, to the
9

I30 MY OWN TIMES.
number, than ever practised in the courts of the State after
ward. Although the country in early times was much more sickly
than at present, yet not so many physicians resided in the coun
try as lawyers.
In 1797, when so many of the emigrants died at the New
Design, an obscure doctor, Wallace, practised his profession.
In early times, a Dr. Lyle resided and practised in Cahokia.
Dr. George Fisher was the most eminent physician in the
country in his early days. He settled in Kaskaskia in the year
1798, and possessed good talents. His practice was bold and
fearless, and he succeeded well. The first medicine I ever took
was from this physician, in the year 1801.
In East Tennessee, where we previously resided, we knew not
much about either sickness or medicine. Dr. Fisher gave me a
dose of tartar emetic for my father in 1800, and on my way
home I thought the doctor had omitted to put the medicine in
the paper, as I could not feel it. I opened the paper and saw a
small amount of white powder in it. I thought that extremely
small quantity could not answer the purpose, but I was soon
convinced to the contrary on seeing my father so sick under its
operation. At that day, it was the uniform and universal prac
tice to give the patient of the bilious disease first a vomit of
tartar emetic, next day, calomel and jallop, and the third day,
the Peruvian bark. This course generally cured common cases
of the bilious fever.
In 1803, Dr. Tuttle came to Kaskaskia, as surgeon with the
troops ; he v/as a good physician, and practised a long time in
the country.
Dr. William L. Reynolds, from Kentucky, located in Kaskas
kia in 1809, and became a conspicuous and eminent member of
his profession. He was a man of a high order of talent, and
was a well-educated and accomplished scholar. He was, in his
day, the Flercules of his profession.
In 1802, Dr. Caldwell came to Illinois, and practised medicine
for many years.
Dr. James Rose, from Kentucky, settled in Illinois in the
year 1805, and remained in the country, a physician, during
his life.
In 1 8 16 and 18 17, Doctors Todd and Bowers located in
Edwardsville, aiffl were, both of them, eminent and distin
guished physicians. Dr. Todd possessed the advantages of a
finished classic education, and had studied his profession in
Philadelphia, with much honor and character to himself These
advantages, added to a strong mind, made him a distinguished
and successful practitioner. He is yet alive in Springfield,
enjoying a high standing in his profession, as well as a con
spicuous character in society.

MY OWN TIMES. 131
Dr. William G. Goforth located in IlUnois in the year 1815,
and practised his profession, during his lifetime, in the State.
He was an exceedingly eccentric character, and at times intem
perate — yet his practice was generally successful. He was bold
and fearless in his practice.
Dr. Chips practised medicine in Pope County, in territorial
times, and was a good physician.
Dr. Longworthy located at Alton in early times.
Dr. Tiffin located in Illinois in 18 15, and attained a very con-
ispicuous position. He always enjoyed a remarkably large
practice, and was an excellent physician.
The ministers of the gospel have been mentioned in another
part of this work.

CHAPTER XLIL
The Domestic Relations of the Author.
During all my previous life until within a short time before I
married, I had not the least intention of that state of existence,
and I expressed myself often to my friends to the same effect —
but on the subject of matrimony, a passion influences the par
ties which generally succeeds. By mere accident I became
acquainted with a widow lady, a French Creole, a native of
Cahokia, and from sincere affection on both sides, we married in
the spring of 18 17. Pure feelings of attachment, without any
dross of wealth or "worldly gear," with either party, caused us
to unite, and under these circumstances we lived together happy
and contented. My wife had been from her infancy raised, and
continued to be, a strict Roman Catholic, and we were married
by a priest of a that denomination. I consider all the various
religious denominations substantially the same in principle, and
almost the same in practice — so that my wife exercised her
religion just as she did before the marriage. I sustained the
church expense as if we had both been members of it.
We resided many years in a French community, and spoke
that language in our domestic intercourse for sixteen or eigh
teen years. I became so much accustomed to the French lan
guage, around the fireside, that I preferred it to the English.
That language is better adapted to family colloquial interchange
of ideas and feelings than the English, but the latter is stronger
rougher, and better suited to rough business subjects than the
other. In the fall of 1834, my wife died, in Belleville, which was the
severest shock I ever experienced. No tongue or pen can
portray the grief of a husband losing the partner of his heart —
no one can "feel another's woe." I thought I never would sur
mount it, but nature has ordered TIME to soothe the wound

132 MY OWN TIMES.
and heal it over. If it were not for this friend, mankind would
be always miserable. We had no offspring.
It is said that "marriages are made in Heaven;" but I think
it is an earthly transaction, yet an important one. If persons
make too much calculation in matrimony, like buying a farm,
and have no love or affection in it, such marriages generally
turn out bad. On the other hand, if they are blind love-matches,
"runaway matches," without any foresight they are not apt to
produce happiness. Ardent love and affection, together with
judgment and prudence, should be mixed in the transaction, to
secure a lasting and happy union.

CHAPTER XLIII.
Slavery Existed in Illinois before 1787. — The Ordinance of that year
Prevented it. — Indentured Servants. — The State Constitution Pro
hibits Slavery in the State.
It is well known that the first introduction of slavery into
Illinois was by Philip Francis Renault, in the year 1720. On
his passage from Europe to America he procured from San
Domingo five hundred slaves to work the mines in Illinois, and
these negroes are the ancestors of the French slaves in this
State. The descendants of those slaves, who reside in Illinois,
are now free, and are located mostly in and around Prairie du
Rocher, in Randolph County.
When Virginia conquered the country, and the same was an
nexed to that State, the right of property to their slaves was
guaranteed to the inhabitants, as well as their other property.
In the act of cession of the country from Virginia to the Gen
eral Government, the right of property, slaves among the rest,
was secured to the inhabitants of Illinois. ^
The act of Congress known as the "Ordinance," which was
passed in the year 1787, and by which the North- Western Terri
tory was organized as a government, prohibited, positively, the
introduction of slavery into the Territory, and Illinois, at that
time, formed a part of the Territory.
This Ordinance was construed to operate prospectively, and
not to operate on the French slaves in the Territory at the time.
This act of Congress was the great sheet-anchor that secured
the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois from slavery. I never
had any doubt but slavery would now exist in Illinois if it had
not been prevented by this famous Ordinance.
Soon after the organization of the Indiana Territory, of which
Illinois formed a part, laws were enacted by the Territorial
legislature permitting slaves to be introduced as "Indentured
Servants;" and under this law many were admitted into the
Territory.

MY OWN TIMES. J33
The owner might go with his slaves before the clerk of the
court of common pleas, and make an agreement with his ne
groes to serve the master a certain number of years, and then
become free. The children were to serve their masters — the
males until they were thirty-five years old, and the females to
thirty-two years. This agreement was to be done within thirty
days after the slave entered the Territory, and if the slaves
would not consent to the agreement, they might be removed
out of the Territory within sixty days. This agreement was
made a record binding on the parties.
Although this proceeding was intended by the legislature to
introduce a species of slavery, yet I knew many slaves and their
families who were manumitted by the operation, and are now
free. This act of the legislature operated as a kind of gradual
emancipation of slavery in the Territory.
Both constitutions of the State expressely prohibited the in-
tro'duction of slavery, the first had no intention to manumit the
French slaves, but the supreme court of the State, in 1845, de
cided that slavery, French or any other, could not exist in the
State. This decision liberated all the French slaves in the
country. Public opinion, being strong in this State against slavery,
reached the bench, as well as it does every other department of
the government and what was right twenty years before was
wrong in 1845, in relation to slavery.
In 1 8 10, one hundred and sixty-eight slaves are said to have
been in the Territory. In 1820, they increased to nine hundred
and seventeen; and in 1830, they decreased to seven hundred
and forty-six.

CHAPTER XLIV.
Organization of the State Government in 1818, and Election of the
Officers. The act of Congress authorizing the formation of a State
government in the Territory of Illinois required forty thousand
inhabitants to reside in the Territory before a constitution could
be established, but the census returned a few more.
The members, of the convention were elected in the summer
of 1818, and the same year, the convention met at Kaskaskia.
No question was agitated in the election of the members, except
slavery, in some sections of the Territory.
At that day, and before, in the Territory there existed not the
slightest spark of party politics as to measures. The parties of
Federal and Republican, as they had and did exist in the Union
to some extent, did not at this day, nor before, appear in Illinois

134 . MY OWN TIMES.
among the people. All were Republicans, sustaining the re
publican administration of the General Government and the war.
Nevertheless, two parties did exist at the time, and before, in
the Territory, and were founded on the qualifications of men for
office, and on the "ins and outs" of power and place. As many
bitter feelings and rancorous personal contests were indulged
in under these parties, as were ever after, when parties were
organized on Whig and Democratic principles.
Messrs. Edwards, Pope, Cook, Gen. White, Judge Brown, and
others, formed one party, and Messrs. Bond, Thomas, Michael
Jones, Kane, McLean, and others, were leaders of the other
party. A great portion of the country, more or less, was divided
between these two parties, and no other existed among the
people. I was not attached at the time to either party and did
not pretend to aid or assist either as a party.
At these times, I had not the most distant idea of office, and
I sincerely detested party-jugglery. I did not attend at all the
convention at Kaskaskia, and had no "itching palm" for office.
Judge Thomas and Governor Edwards were both looking out
for the Senate of the United States, and were opposed to each
other. Governor Edwards had the aged and sedate leaders of the
people friendly to him, but Judge Thomas had the young,
ardent, and energetic men, supporting him, who were mixino-
every day with the people. Judge Thomas succeeded. I dis
covered that a union of energetic young men can beat the old
party -leaders. I acted in the election for mere amusement
and did not know or care, whether I had popularity or not
except on this particular occasion I invoked it Judge Thomas
was also elected president of the convention. This body was
composed of members of good sense and becoming qualifica
tions. Elias K. Kane, Esq., was a member, and was an accom
plished scholar and eminent lawyer — he also possessed good
talents and was the leader in i;he convention.
The first constitution was a wise and excellent compact of
government, with one or two exceptions. The judges of the
supreme court were formed into a council of revision, which
was found, on experience, to be unwise, and the qualification of
electors was defective.
The constitution was signed and estabhshed on the 26th of
August, 18 18, and an election for members of the General
Assembly was ordered to take place on the third Thursday,
and the two succeeding days, of September, 1818.
The members were elected — forty-two in all — fourteen sena
tors and twenty-eight representatives, who assembled at Kas
kaskia on the first Monday of October, in the same year. Shad
rach IJond was elected governor, and Pierre Menard, lieuten
ant-governor, at the same time Both these officers possessed

MY OWN TIMES. 135
sound judgment and excellent characters. They performed the
duties of their offices, respectively, to the satisfaction of the
people. At the first session of the General Assembly, Ninian Edwards
and Jesse B. Thomas were elected United States senators.
John McLean had been elected representative to Congress at
the previous election in August.
The constitution established the judiciary of the State, and
had created a supreme court and circuit court.s, to be composed
of the same judges, four in number. This organization was to
continue until the next legislature that would sit after the year
1824. . The justices of the supreme court of the State were elected
by the General Assembly; and Joseph Philips was elected a
chief- justice, and Thomas C. Browne, William P. Foster, and
myself as associate -justices.
At the time of the session of the first legislature I resided in
Cahokia, and had not the least intention to visit the seat of
Government at all. I cared very little who was elected to any
office — one thing was certain, I courted nothing myself My
friends urged me to visit, with them, the General Assembly in
session at Kaskaskia, and I did so. When we reached the
legislature, there was great excitement and turmoil in relation
to the election of officers by the General Assembly. I had not
been in Kaskaskia only a few days when it was urged on me to
know if I would accept of a judgeship, if I was elected. This
broke in on me like a clap of thunder. I was in truth per
suaded to become a candidate for the office. I had a great
many personal friends both in and but of the legislature who
urged me much to consent to offer. The materialiox the bench
was not as good as it might be. Human nature is easier per
suaded to mount upward than to remain on the common level.
I was elected a justice of the supreme court, which entirely
changed my life, as will be seen hereafter.
All the officers were elected, and the Legislature adjourned to
meet on the proclamation of the Governor, when the State was
admitted into the Union. Thus was the State government of
Illinois established, and launched into existence, in the hands ot
common-sense men, and sound and honest patriots.

136 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XLV.
The First Session of the General Assembly Revised the Statute Laws,
and Adapted them to the State Government — The Canal. — Organi
zation of the Judicial Circuits.
The State of Illinois was admitted into the Union in Decem
ber, 18 1 8, and the Governor convened the General Assembly at
Kaskaskia soon thereafter.
Being not many speech-makers in the legislature, and being a
small body, much business was done during this first session.
The whole statutory code of laws was revised, reenacted, and
printed in a volume. The members worked day and night, and
procured the assistance of able and learned men to aid them in
remodeling the old statutes. Mr. Kane, who had been ap
pointed Secretary of State, was present, and rendered valuable
services on this important subject. The judges of the supreme
court by the constitution were required to attend the sessions of
the legislature, being, in fact a component part of that body,
were also present, and assisted all in their power in this work.
I had an intimate acquaintance with the statute laws, and
found them scattered through many years, and in many de
tached and separate books, so that it was with much difficulty
and research that any one knew what were the laws in force;
they were also often contradictory and conflicting. I had be
come friendly and intimate with the members of the General
Assembly, and urged on them the propriety and necessity of a
revision of all the statutes of the 'Territory, and to repeal all
laws not found in the revised code. Many good men con
sidered the revision too great a task, during -the session of the
legislature — but labor then, to me, was the best amusement
The General Assembly agreed to it, and accomplished the work
with honor and credit to themselves, and benefit and ad
vantage to the public. *
Governor Bond drew the attention of the legislature to the
subject of the canal connecting the waters of the Ilhnois River
with the lakes, and I drafted a bill providing for an examina- ¦
tion of the country over which the canal was to be constructed,
and to report to the next General Assembly.
I had not the least knowledge of the rocks in the route, as
I had heard the French boatmen often say that they had fre
quently crossed over the route in their boats in high water.
Under this view, I supposed a canal would not cost much. But
the legislature considered that the country was too new, in
1 8 19, and the expense would be too great — they accordingly did
not pass the bill, but they considered, as every intelligent man

MY OWN TIMES. I37
has since, that this canal is one of the greatest improvements in
the United States.
The legislature organized the judiciary of the State, and
placed the judges on the circuit.
The counties of Clark, Jefferson, Wayne, and Alexander were
created this session, and added to the respective judicial circuits.
I presided in the counties of St. Clair, Madison, Washington,
Monroe, and Bond — being one more than my number. Judge-
Philips in the counties of Randolph, Jackson, Union, and Alex
ander. Judge Brown in the counties of Gallatin, Pope, Johnson,
Jefferson, and Franklin. Judge Foster in White, Edwards,
Crawford, Clark, and Wayne. The last-named gentleman re
signed before he held court, and William Wilson was appointed
to fill the vacancy.
About the last act the legislature passed at Kaskaskia, in
1819, was the law removing the seat of government to Vandalia.
Congress had granted to the State four sections of land for the
seat of government and on part is located Vandalia, the present
county seat of Fayette County. The seat of government re
mained here until it was removed to Springfield, in 1840.
By this organization, under the new constitution, the State of
Illinois commenced that extraordinary career of prosperity that
has marked her course ever since.

CHAPTER XLVL
The Judiciary of the State. — Opening Court. — Members of the Bar.
An enlightened and able judiciary is an important depart
ment of the government. Much of the happiness, peace, and
quiet of the people depends on the proper administration of the
laws. The speedy, efficient, and certain punishment of crime is
an essential in a government to preserve the peace and happi
ness of the people.
It is the great element, the prompt and able administration
of the law in Great Britain, that has sustained that kingdom
for so many ages in her proud judicial character. I believe there
is no government on the globe where the laws are better exe
cuted than in Great Britain.
A judge should be aged, learned, experienced in the science
of the law. He should also have a high standing and character,
in order that his decisions may be respected. Judge Blackstone
says the truth — that the decision of a judge should be popular,
next after doing justice.
The judges of the supreme court of Illinois, in 18 18, were aU
young men, and had not that long practise at the bar that was
necessary to give standing and character to their decisions; but

138 MY OWN TIMES.
the law was administered at that day with less form and cere
mony, yet with as much equity and justice as at the present
time. « The judges had laborious duties to perform to hold both the
circuit and the supreme courts througout the whole State.
The first court I held was in the spring of 1819, in Covington,
Washington County, and it was to me a strange and novel
business. I commenced my official duties among my old
comrades with whom I had been raised — ranged in the war with
them, and lived with them in great intimacy and equality, so
that it was difficult in my situation, to assume a different re
lationship than I had previously occupied with them. And,
moreover, I utterly detested a kind of mock dignity, that some
times is asumed. Both the sheriff and clerk of the court of
Washington County were rangers in the same company with
myself, and it seemed we were still in the United States service,
ranging on equal terms in pursuit of the Indians. And it ap
pears that the sheriff. Bowling Green, entertained the same
opinion ; as he opened the court in a very familiar manner.
When he was sitting astride on a bench in the court-house, and
proclaimed without rising, that "the court is now opened, John
is on the bench." This my familiar name in the war.
Not long after, in Union County, the deputy-sheriff opened
the court (myself presiding,) by saying: Oh, yes! three times,
and then in a solemn manner proclaimed: "the Honorable
Judge is now opened. He mistook the judge for the court
This mistake created much merriment, when the occasion should
have been serious. I knew that a solemn, serious dienity and
decorum were necessary and proper in the proceedings of courts,
but in my case, and the officers generally, it was almost impos
sible to assume that character.
When the State Government was organized, a great many
members of the bar immigrated to Illinois, who possessed great
and distinguished talents, and many of whom, in after-life, stood
not only at the head of the profession, but many also became
conspicuous and celebrated public characters.

CHAPTER XLVII.
Trials of Murder in the Courts wherein I Presided. — Short and Fike. —
WiUiam Bennett — Eliphalet Green. — An Indian in Pike County. —
Bottsford at Vandalia.
In the Spring of 18 19, a trial for murder was brought up in
the St. Clair Circuit Court, and the parties were acquitted. This
homicide arose out of a sham duel fought between William Ben
nett and Alonzo C. Stuart. The parties indicted for murder in

MY OWN TIMES. 139
this case, were Jacob Short and Nathan Fike. They had been
the seconds in this pretended duel, and although the people
condemned the transaction, yet the verdict of acquittal of murder
was generally approved. "This trial produced great excitement
in the county, and was conducted by able and influential counsel.
Daniel P. Cook, Esq., was the prosecuting attorney, and Col.
Thomas H. Benton defended. At the same court the sheriff
proceeded to the jail to bring into court William Bennett one
of the duelists, for trial, but he broke jail and escaped. He
remained out of the State for some time, but in 1821, was
arrested and brought to trial in Belleville, at a special term of
the Circuit Court.
In February, 18 19, many citizens of St. Clair County assem
bled in the town of Belleville, and enjoyed a wild drunken frolic.
It was proposed to have a sham duel between Alonzo C. Stuart
and William Bennett. It was given out to all except Bennett
that the duel was not real, only a sham, to have sport out of
Bennett. Nathan Fike and Jacob Short were the seconds, and
the duel was fought with rifles on the tot now owned by Jacob
Leifert, situated north of Main street, in Belleville. It was
understood that the guns should be charged with powder alone,
but Bennett's rifle had a ball in it, and he shot Stuart in the
breast, which caused his death immediately. The parties were
posted forty yards apart, and Stuart did not fire his gun at all.
It was proved that Bennett secretly put a ball in his gun. He
was taken in Missouri by finesse, that was not approved of^
brought to Belleville, tried, condemned, and executed. Mr.
Stuart was a worthy citizen, and his unfortunate death was
much regretted.
Another case of murder occurred in Madison County in 1823,
that was also exceedingly unpleasant for me to preside as Judge
on the trial. Eliphalet Green had a quarrel with a man near
the residence of Able Moore, on Wood River, Madison County,
and shot his antagonist. Green fled to the American Bottom,
reflected and returned. His conscience waged a terrible war in
his breast. He sat on a log, then kneeled by it and prayed
devoutly. He returned deliberately back to the settlement and
gave himself up to William Ogle. He slept all night alone in
the house of Ogle, without any confinement Next day, he and
Ogle went to Edwardsville, the county seat, and Green surren
dered himself to the law, and was confined in jail.
In the progress of my official duties I was compelled to pro
nounce sentence of death on these two unfortunate men. That
was, to me, the most painful duty I ever performed. I am
opposed to capital punishment, in any case, when the convicts
can be kept in solitary confinement without pardoning their
lives, but as the law was in 1821, when William Bennett was
executed in Belleville, and Eliphalet Green in EdwardsviUe, soon

I40 MY OWN TIMES.
afterward, there was no alternative but to execute the law as it
existed. Although the law requires it, the verdict of the jury,
after an impartial trial, authorizes it, and the prevention of
crime imperiously demands it; yet it was extremely painful and
a-w^l to me to be the instrument in the hands of the law to
pronounce sentence of death on my fellow-man, extinguishing
him forever as a being from the face of the earth, and depriving
him of life, which I think belongs to God and not to man.
In the case of Green, light, silly stories are told, sometimes in
malice, but more frequently in friendship and merriment, of my
want of sympathy, gravity, and solemnity in pronouncing the
sentence of death on this unfortunate man, which are entirely
tmtrue. Sometimes these silly fabrications are in violation of
truth, recorded in history, when the author knew they were only
amusing jokes, and not intended as the sober truths of history.
I may not have acted in that frigid, unfeeling, and mechanical
manner that would please heartless and superficial men who
generally write and detail these teapot slanders, but no human
being, of my humble capacity, could have acted with more
painful feelings and sympathy than I did on this occasion. A
cold formal address might have been prepared and written
according to the rules of art, made for the bystanders in court,
having in it not a spark of human feeling, which might have
pleased these fault-finders better than one emanating purely
from the heart. Many critics, some authors, and fault-finders,
whose scholastic achievements are generally whipped into them
at school, without a spark of "nature's fire" to illuminate their
dreary tracks through life, look back at everything ancient in
Illinois with ill-nature and contempt. These critics would find
fault, I suppose, with the impolite and uncourtly manner of the
unfortunate men when they are writhing on the gallows in the
agonies of death, that they did not die according to Reforms in
the books. I considered them both guilty, and the judgment of
the court was so understood that they were both executed.
Many individuals, who were acquainted with the transaction,
seem to have doubts that the gun of Stuart was also charged
with a ball. Some are disposed to believe that the parties, both
Bennett and Stuart, had by some means their guns loaded with
powder and ball to do execution on one another, or on both.
Mr. Park, one of the company, fired off the gun in the air, which
Mr. Stuart had, so that the ball in it would not be discovered.
This unfortunate affair, wherein a worthy and respectable
citizen was murdered, took place in the limits of the present city
of Belleville, which was considered the result of a wild, drunken
frolic, and it never did assume the character of a regular and hon
orable duel. It had, in my opinion, no agency in putting down
the barbarous and anti-christian practice of dueling in this State,
but it was the enlightened and christian tone of public opinion

MY OWN TIMES. 141
that always banished this blood-thirsty practice of dueling from
our borders.
This improved and healthy action of public opinion, and the
heavy penalties prescribed by the new constitution of the State
will, I hope, secure the people forever against this murderous
practice. This carousal, which was so much regretted and con
demned by the public, was founded entirely on the^ immoderate
use of spirits, and stands out a beacon -light to caution the
unsuspecting against intemperance.
Green embraced religion and was baptized by Dr. Peck. He
made a long confession and died happy, before spectators to the
number of two thousand or more. Dr. Peck remained on the
platform with ¦him just previous to his execution, and requested
him to clasp his hands before him so long as consciousness
remained with him. He did so, and his hands were clasped
about forty-five seconds, and then they separated by death.
How awful and solemn death is in any shape or form ! The
body of Green was taken out of the grave by Dr. PhiUio, of
Lebanon, St Clair County, but the officers and citizens of
Edwardsville rescued it. The body was afterward buried in the
garden of Hail Mason, in EdwardsviUe, where it remains to this
day. A case of homicide was brought before the court held by me
in Pike County, in 1824, for an Indian killing a Frenchman. A
poor Indian lived with a Frenchman near the mouth of the
Illinois River, and they were both out hunting deer with torch
light. They were in canoes in the Illinois River, where the deer
resorted to eat the moss in the river. The Indian seeing the
torch-light of the Frenchman, mistaking it for the glare of the
deer's eyes in the night, and without intending to shoot his friend,
killed the Frenchman, his comrade. The whole French colony
knew the facts and acquitted the Indian, but the Americans
disliked the Indians. 'They took the Indian into custody and
had him indicted. The attorney-general, Samuel D. Lock-
wood, prosecuted him and Daniel P. Cook defended him. It
took several days to try the Indian, and the jury could not agree
for- a long time, many of them being for finding a verdict for
murder, but at last they would not acquit him, and brought into
court a verdict for manslaughter. I never witnessed so much
prejudice as existed there against the Indians. This unfortu
nate Indian considered himself dead, and appeared so on the
trial. I knew he was not guilty at all, and put the punishment
nominal, a few hours in confinement, and twenty-five cents fine.
I was fearful the populace would commit a riot on the unfortu
nate Indian. As soon as he was liberated he marched up the
steep bluff without a track near the place where the court was
held, and that was the last I saw of him. If the crowd had
been permitted, the Indian would have been sacrificed to the
demon of prejudice.

142 MY OWN TIMES.
Another case, that of Mr. Bottsford, was tried before me in
1824 or 1825, for the killing of Mr. Kelly. This case occurred in
Vandalia, and it was tried there. Sidney Breese, Esq., was the
prosecuting attorney and Edward Bates, Esq., of St. Louis,
Missouri, defended Bottsford. The trial produced much excite
ment, and the gentlemen at the bar, both prosecuting and
defending, acquitted themselves with much credit for the dis
tinguished and extraordinary display of talents brought to bear
in the case. These two gentlemen in after-life held, and do at
this day hold, very conspicuous and elevated positions in society.
Bottsford was acquitted, but the case seemed to be not entirely
clear of guilt.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Early Banks of Illinois. — Dearth of Money. ^ — Rehef — A State Bank. —
Stay-laws. — Loan to Wind up the State Bank.
There is no political maxim truer than that banks in the
hands of companies to issue paper as a currency at their pleasure
is a great injury to a people. The legal currency of the Union
is silver and gold, and was so made by Providence and the con
stitution of the United States. It is certain, by experience,
that whenever paper issues can be made at the pleasure of an
irresponsible company, the currency is liable to be inflated
or depressed to suit the advantages of those interested, without
regard to the public welfare. Banks may facilitate commerce,
but taking the whole community together, they always have
done, and always will do more injury than benefit to the people.
A bank was chartered by the first General Assembly in 18 19,
but it never went into existence. The country was flooded with
bank paper all over the Union after the close of the war, but
worthless paper of the Western States went down, and left the
country almost without any currency towards the years 1 8 19,
1820, and 1 82 1. The pressure reached Illinois in its aggravated
forms, and property was down to nothing. Cows and calves sold
for four or five dollars, and wheat at thirty-five and forty cents
per bushel; corn was, in many places, down to ten cents. The
people, and the members of the General Assembly who were
elected in 1820, were enthusiastic for some relief, but what kind
of amelioration of "hard times" was not considered or known.
The people had contracted large debts when the money was
plenty, and now, when it was so scarce, it was almost impossible
to pay these demands. These considerations urged the people
and the General Assembly to seek some relief from this impend
ing evil.
In the early part of the winter of 1821, the legislature con
ceived the idea of creating a State Bank, formed wholly for the

MY OWN TIMES. I43
time present, ON THE CREDIT OF THE State. This bank was
to have a capital of a half a million of doUars, and to issue
in the beginning only three hundred thousand dollars. The
State, by its directors, was to manage the mother bank and the
branches, and the whole to remain under the control of the
General Assembly. Money was to be loaned to no individual
on personal security in sums above one hundred dollars, and to
be secured in real estate at two-thirds the value. The notes
were to draw an interest of six per cent, per annum, and the
bank to exist for ten years.
The worst feature yet to be told, was that if a creditor did
not take this paper for his debt at par the debt could be replevied
for three years. The paper was made receivable for all taxes,
State debts, and many others, which the State had the power to
control. As it has already been stated, the council of revision
had to pass on all bills and approve or reject them. The bill
was presented to the council, and three of the five members
vetoed it, and returned it to the House of Representatives with
their objections. Governor Bond, Judge Philips, and myself,
disapproved of the measure, and Judge Wilson and Brown con
sented to it. The General Assembly became excited and passed
the law by a constitutional majority, over the objections of the
councU. This charter became the law of the land, and the bank
went into operation. The veto-message of the council raised the
objections to both its constitutional errors and its policy. The
paper of this bank was floating through the atmosphere of
Illinois for ten years, as a poisoning and pestilential vapor that
withered and blighted the country for that length of time. The
paper never was at par and sunk, at times, down to twenty-five
cents per dollar.
At almost every session of the General Assembly, during the
existence of the bank, either the bank or the bank debtors
prayed relief, which was a prolific source of legislation.
The members of the legislatue paid themselves, at times, nine
dollars per day, and the other officers of the State were also
paid in proportion to the depreciation of the paper.
The "stay-laws" and "stop-laws," as they were called, operated
a great injury to the people, not only for the non-payment of
all debts, but they encouraged a kind of disregard for honesty
and morality, which in all communities is essential to preserve.
I always opposed all laws that interposed any impediment
between debtor and creditor. This is a relation — debtor and
creditor — existing between free men, made by themselves, that
the laws should hold sacred and inviolable. The law in all well-
regulated communities should extend its efficient arm to the
collection of debts. I am opposed to imprisonment for debt
but it is dishonest legislation to permit one individual to retain
the substance of another by law.

144 MY OWN TIMES.
The old State Bank lingered out its miserable existence, never
observing its promises, or meeting the expectations of its friends,
and was wound up in 183 1. I had been an observer of its inca
pacity for the ten years of its existence, and had suffered by its
muddy water so much, that I was determined to do all in my
power to wind it up and rid the country of its pollutions. In
my first message to the General Assembly, dated December 3d,
i8j5o, I presented the subject as follows:
"The subject of the State Bank, as connected with our reve
nue, will, necessarily, occupy much of your time. The true
policy, in my opinion, is to close the business of the bank as
soon as a proper regard to the interests of the State will permit.
This, too, ought to be done with as little oppression to the bank
debtors as possible.
" Within a short time all the paper of the bank will become
payable. And although the bank policy has been most ruinous
to the State and many of its citizens, and only benefited a few
speculators, yet the State is in honor and duty bound for its
payment at the appointed time. The credit and character of
the State are involved in the prompt payment of this claim;
and I do most sincerely recommend you to sustain that character,
which no doubt you will take pleasure in doing, by providing
adequate means. The warrants of the State ought not to be
allowed to fall below /«r."
In pursuance of the above recommendation a law was passed,
and a loan of one hundred thousand dollars was made to enable
the State to meet the claims against the State Bank. The loan
was effected and the bank wound up. A good currency was
introduced and much benefit by the operation, yet in many
sections of the State the loan was unpopular, and it was said
the State was sold to Wiggins who made the loan to the State.
Many of my friends were prostrated a while for doing their duty
in this case, but at last the measure became popular.

CHAPTER XLIX
The Public Debt to the General Government for the Lands Purchased.
— Relief — Large Debt. — Land System changed. — Credit for Public
Land abohshed. — Col. Johnson, of Kentucky, first to give Relief —
His Character. — General Relief granted, and the relation of Debtor
and Creditor destroyed.
Pecuniary embarrassments set in so strong in the West that
purchasers of the public lands at two dollars per acre, and three-
fourths due the Government, were unable to pay the balance of
the purchase money, and all the lands were liable to be forfeited
to the United States. This was the most serious grievance of

MY OWN TIMES. I45
all the disasters the people of the new States yet suffered. Their
plantations and improvements were liable to be swept from
under them, but the Congress of the United States came to the
rescue. Col. Richard M. Johnson, in the Senate of the United
States, was the first who proposed relief to the purchasers of the
public lands.
Col. Johnson, of Kentucky, was a great and patriotic states
man, ever willing and ever ready to relieve the distresses of his
fellow-men. He possessed a sound and solid judgment, and
a mind of common practical sense, with very little brilliancy or
imagination. His integrity throughout a long and eventful life
was always above suspicion. He made speeches in Congress to
convince the judgments of his audience, and never attempted
eloquence or the flourishes of rhetoric. His report against the
stoppage of the Sunday mails is a distinguished and enlightened
public document. This report alone would give any person
fame and celebrity, but his distinguished character, as a public
man, did not stand alone on this report. He voted for the war
of 18 1 2, with Great Britain, while he was a member of the House
of Representatives, and when the session adjourned he volun
teered and commanded, as Colonel, a regiment of mounted men
who invaded Canada. At the head of his regiment he charged
at the battle of the Thames, on the Indians, who were numerous,
furious, and fanatical, under the command of the celebrated
warrior Tecumseh. He fought with Tecumseh, and his warriors,
one of the most sanguinary battles ever fought with the abo
rigines. In this battle Tecumseh was killed, some say by the
hand of Johnson, and he himself (Johnson) was wounded and
cut almost to pieces in this terrible conflict. He was carried off
by the celebrated William T. Barry, and others, on a blanket,
while the blood was streaming in torrents from his wounds which
were, at the time, considered mortal. It was a long time before
he recovered his health, and, in fact, he never was restored to
his previous personal vigor. His wounds, at last, hurried him
to the grave. Thus fell "the poor man's friend, the kindest and
the best."
The two great leading traits of Johnson's character were
benevolence and patriotism. These were the dominant passions
that governed him, more or less, in all his actions. I was intimate
with him in Congress, which enables me to speak so positively in
relation to this great and good man. On his recommendation,
a wise and judicious act of Congress was passed in 1820, which
authorized the purchasers of public lands to select what they
wished to retain and relinquish the balance to the Government.
The amount of money paid was applied at one dollar and twenty-
five cents per acre on the lands retained, and the Government
received the lands back which were unpaid for. This law put
the Government and the people on equal and friendly terms.
10

146 MY OWN TIMES.
Another excellent feature in this law was, that it changed the
credit system to prompt payment, and reduced the price from
two dollars per acre to one dollar and twenty-five cents. At
this time the public debt, owing to the United States, was about
twenty-three millions of dollars, which could not be paid at that
time. This act of Congress healed up all hard feelings and
troubles between the people and the Government, and what is
still better, it destroyed the relation of debtor and creditor,
which ought not to exist with the Government.
The funds the people paid into the land-offices were dis
bursed by the Government around the seaboards. If the West
was not blest with the most productive soil, the country would
have been ruined by its policy. In return for this treatment,
the first settlers laid violent hands on " Congress timber," which.
indemnified them to some extent.

CHAPTER L.
Slavery Agitation in lUinois. — Election of Hon. D. P. Cook to Congress.
The Missouri question, so called at that day, 1823, more of a
political character than the public lands, agitated little Illinois
to the very centre. The State had then not many more than
fifty thousand inhabitants, but the subject of slavery was dis
cussed in the court-yards, sometimes in the pulpits, and at all
gatherings of the people, as well as in the presses, and on the
stump, throughout the State. In the elections of this year,
this question was the prominent element. At that day, there
was no question of Democracy or Whiggery. John McLean,
the member then in Congress, voted on the Missouri side of the
question, which beat him at the election. Daniel P. Cook took
the other side, and was elected.
The discussion of this subject was bitter and acrimonious.
This subject has always engendered bitter feelings among the
people, and has a tendency to array one section of the Union
against the other. The people in Illinois, in 1820, were ready
almost to commit violence on one another, and in fact the whole
Union was so agitated that, like an earthquake, no one knew
when it would subside, and all friends of the integrity of the
Union were alarmed and shuddered at the fearful consequences
of the agitation, and the sectional feelings produced on the
occasion. The public agitation of the subject of slavery, and
particularly in the halls of Congress, should be avoided as much
as possible.

MY OWN TIMES. 147

CHAPTER LI.
Artificial Mounds in lUinois, and all over the West.— Big Mound in
the American Bottom, and Others. — The Grand Tower. — Marrais
d'Ogee. The number of mounds in the West, and the miUions of
people inhabiting the Valley of the Mississippi, in some remote
periods, is truly astonishing. These mounds were made by
hand, and show an almost incalculable number of inhabitants in
the country when they were made.
Brackenbridge says — the number of villages of these for
gotten people must have been five thousand, and the chief city
existed not far from the mouth of the Missouri. It is unsettled
if these Tumuli were constructed for places of worship, fortifi
cations, or burial purposes, or for all of these objects.
I have never read any reasonable account of the time, or by
whom, or for what purpose, there mounds were made. It is
stated, that in the West alone, there are several thousand of
them. They vary from ten feet high to the Mammoth Mound
in the American Bottom, six mUes east of St. Louis, which
measures almost two hundred feet high, and is eight hundred
yards in circumference.
One writer states that the large fortification at Marietta, Ohio,
was made by the Romans when they had Western Europe
under their dominion. This is random shooting, in my opinion.
On the Ohio River, twelve miles below Wheeling, are many
mounds, one of which is very large.
A town is laid out here, where the Atlantic and Ohio Rail
road strikes the river, and is called the "Mound City," for the
many mounds on its site. The large mound here, is ninety
feet high and fifty-six rods in circumference.
It is stated that the Great Mound near Washington, in the
State of Mississippi, is one hundred and forty-six feet high and
fifty-six rods in circumference.
At Circleville, Ohio, are extraordinary works of the ancients;
some of which are military, and show much advancement in the
art of fortification. One fort is exactly square, and the other
circular. The square fortress is forty-five rods on each side,
and the circular is three hundred rods around it. These forts
were walled with earth, and one of them had a ditch around it.
«At Paint Creek, Ohio, are also stupendous ancient fortifica
tions. The land enclosed is six hundred and twenty rods in
circumference, and embraces one hundred and twenty-six acres
of land ; within this fortification are seventeen mounds, and
three hundred and twelve feet of the fort are encompased by
a wall twelve feet high, and a ditch twenty feet deep.

148 MY OWN TIMES.
In Tennessee, and almost all the Western States, many of.
these mounds and fortifications have been discovered— but in
the region around the Big Mound, above stated, are an im
mense number, perhaps more than in any other section of the
West. I have often been on the Big,~or Monk Mound, as it was once
caUed, and discovered a kind of bench, or second story, to it
Mr. Hill, the proprietor of the mound, after the monks left it,
sunk a well on the side of the mound, and found the layers of
earth composing the mound, and vegetable matter. In one
section of the mound a great number of human bones were
discovered; but the general supposition is that this mound was
the residence of the great monarch of the country; other specu
lations make it a place of retreat for the inhabitants in times of
the inundations of the Mississippi Bottom.
A few miles east of Lebanon, in St. Clair County, is an in
teresting mound. This is erected on the high land, and is ele
vated from fifty to eighty feet above the surface. Although I
have often examined it, I could never discover for what use it
was intended.
Near Caledonia, on the Ohio River, in Pulaski County, I
have examined an ancient fortress. It is situated on a slope to
the Ohio River and contains several acres within its walls.
Gateways were open, one to the river, and the other back from
the Ohio. I think this fortress had no ditch around it.
Some distance from the Great Mound, in the American Bot
tom, were three, and may be more, watch-towers, or mounds of
earth, erected on the highest ground in the vicinity. One of
these mounds is built on the high, rocky bluff, five miles from
Cahokia, in Monroe County. The French call it "Pain de
Sucre" — Sugar Loaf Another is on the high bluff, in Madison
County, three or four miles north-east of the Great Mound, and
the third is also on the bluff above St. Charles, in Missouri. It
is the general opinion that these elevations were watch-towers,
and on them at night beacon-lights were raised at the approach
of danger.
In Madison County, there is a smaller mound, near the one
above mentioned, and which induced the French to call them
" Les Ma7nmalles" — the teats.
On the site of St Louis, so many mounds existed that the
city has acquired the cognomen of "The Mound City."
Above this city, and in almost every direction west of the
river, as well as east, these mounds are discovered in many
places. I presume eternal darkness will rest on this subject,
and hide from the search of inquiry all knowledge of the people
who made these earthen pyramids.
A most curious mound of rock, made not by man, but by
nature, stands proudly majestic in the Mississippi River, and is

MY OWN TIMES. I49
caUed, in honor to it the "Grand Tower." It is situated on the
western side of the Mississippi, not far from the mouth of Big
Muddy River, in Illinois.
If the father of waters is permitted to take frolics, the Missis
sippi committed one when it left its old channel some miles
above the Grand Tower, making a new bed through the solid
rocks and hard earth. I have often examined this section of
the Mississippi, and can say that it is surprising what could have
caused the river to leave its ancient channel, and the bottom,
five or six miles wide, and rush its volume of water through
rocks and the solid bluff. By the river leaving its ancient bed,
a high bluff, six miles long and almost a mile wide, is left as ati
island, the river running on the west side and the ancient channel
and bottom on the east. I have been on this bluff, and it is as
high, and similar to the high land on either side of the river.
The rocks are perpendicular in many places on the eastern side
of this island bluff, showing unmistakable traces of the action
of the waters of the river in remote ages. In high water, much
of the river floods leave the present river and pass out through
its ancient channel. For six or eight miles this new channel of
the river has no low land, or bottom, on either side, which is
found nowhere else on the river, except, perhaps, at the rapids
of the upper Mississippi. In this lusus natures of the Missis
sippi, it has washed away the rocks and earth from the rock
known as the Grand Tower, and left it eighty or one hundred
feet high, rising out of the river, on the top is an area of about
half an acre. I have been on it, and seen hundreds of names
carved on the rocks and scrubby trees on- the top.
Above the upper rapids of the Mississippi, in very high floods
part of the water of the river passes through a channel, and
enters Rock River. This channel was called by the French
Marrais d' Ogee, and they often navigated it with their light
crafts, and entered the Mississippi again through Rock River —
thus avoiding the rapids.

CHAPTER LIL
The Further Extension of the Setdements. — Peoria.— Counties Created.
— The Diamond Grove. — The Indian Name of Sangamon. — More
Counties Formed. — Tobacco and Castor Beans in the South of lUi
nois. — Train Oil at Peoria.
As soon as the State government was established an increase
of immigration commenced and continued to flow in. A more
wealthy and permanent population settled in the State, pur
chased lands, and made better settlements. Schools were es
tablished in neighborhoods and houses of worship were erected

ISO MY OWN TIMES.
in many colonies. The farmers raised a surplus of products,
and considerable was exported. Commerce commenced to
assume that regular system which is necessary to its perma
nency and success. Mills were erected, and all the necessaries
to a well-organized and happy community were commenced in
the new State of Illinois. But the dearth of the currency, and
the people vastly in debt, retarded the growth and prosperity of
the country considerably, yet not entirely.
In April, 1829, Abner Eads, J. Hersey, and some others, left
St. Clair County, and located in Peoria. This was the first
settlement of this city by the Americans, and in a few years an
Indian agency was established in it.
Peoria is the most ancient settlement west of the Alleghany
mountains. On the lake, east of the present city of Peoria, La Salle, with
his party, made a small fort in 1680, and from his hardships,
called it and the lake Crave Cceur, in English, Broken Heart.
Indian traders, and others engaged mostly in that commerce,
resided at the "Old Fort," as it was called, from the time La
Salle erected the fort, in 1680, down to the year 1781, when
John Baptist Maillet made a new location and village, about
one mile and a half west of the old village, at the outlet of the
lake. This was called La Ville de Maillet; that is Maillet City.
I think at the Old Fort, as it was caUed, there was not much
cultivation of the earth achieved; but the inhabitants depended
mostly on the Indian trade and the chase for a support. At
the new settlement, gardens and small fields of grain were
cultivated by the inhabitants.
In 178 1, the Indians, under the British influence, drove off
the inhabitants from Peoria, but at the peace of 1783, they re
turned again. In 1812, Captain Craig wantonly destroyed the
village, but the city of Peoria at present occupies the site of the
viUage of Maillet, and bids fair to become one of the largest
cities in Illinois.
The whole frontier, from the Mississippi down and around the
settlements, to the Wabash River and above Vincennes, were
extended every year; the interior, also, grew more dense and
more wealthy.
The north-west section of the State commenced now in
earnest to grow; and in 1821, the counties of Montgomery, San
gamon, Green, and Pike were formed. The "military bounty
land tract" commenced to settle, soon after the peace, by the
soldiers who had served in the war with Great Britain. Some
French families, with John Shaw at their head, located near the
mouth of the Illinois River, and the Ross family settled near
Atlas, the old county-seat of Pike County.
In the eastern part of the State, the counties of HamUton and
Lawrence were established in 1821. In two years after the

MY OWN TIMES. 151
formation of the State government, nine counties were organized
and put into operation.
The most beautiful region of country north of Green County,
.and west of Sangamon, having in the centre the Diamond
"Grove, commenced to settle in 1819, and in 1823, was formed
into a county. A member of the legislature proposed the name
of Morgan for the new county, and it was adopted by accla
mation, in honor of General Morgan of the Revolutionary army.
I was present, and my heart responded to the name with
enthusiasm. Edgar County was established on the eastern border of the
State in the year 1823, and is now one of the finest counties in
the State. It was called Edgar in honor of General John
Edgar, who had left the British service and joined the Ameri
cans in the Revolution. He had settled in Kaskaskia in the
ye*r 1780, and had then recently died.
Marion County was established in 1823; and the country in
the interior commenced to populate with rapidity.
Only three counties were organized in these two years, from
1822 to 1824, which is proof of the difficulties and embarrass
ments of the people of that period.
About this time Sangamon County became famous and known
all over the West as the most beautiful country in the valley of
the Mississippi. It acquired a great reputation, as it deserved,
for its exceedingly fertile soil and fine timber, which last advan
tage attracted a numerous, respectable, and wealthy population
from Kentucky, who settled in it. The first settlements com
menced in 1819. The Indians, long before a white man saw the
Sangamon country, were apprised of its fertility and rich pro
ducts. In the Pottawatomie language, Sangamon means "the
country where there is a plenty to eat." According to our par
lance, it would be termed "the land of milk and honey." But,
in fact most of the Prairie State is as equally attractive and
good as the Sangamon.
The "Military Bounty Tract," lying north of the .Illinois
River, increased its population during these years more, perhaps,
than any other section of the State. Land could be procured
there cheaper than the Congress-price in the other parts of the
State. The counties of Adams, Calhoun, Fulton, Hancock, Henry,
Knox, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Schuyler, and Warren,
were established in the tract of country north of the Illinois
River, in the years 1824 and 1825. Henry, Mercer, and Peoria
were established by law; but they were not organized until a
certain amount of inhabitants settled in them.
So many counties being established nearly at the same time,
shows the rapid settlement of the country. The counties of
Putnam, Wabash, Clay, and Clinton were organized in the same
two years, 1824 and 1825.

152 MY OWN TIMES.
The southern interior counties commenced to cultivate to
bacco and the castor-bean, about this period, and have made
these products articles of considerable exportation.
Not far from this period, John L. Bogardus commenced an
enterprise at Peoria Lake — to make train oil out of the vast
quantities of fish that he caught in the lake. He made some
oil, but the extremely fetid smell of the putrid fish, " the
ancient fishy smell," of which Falstaff complained, made it un
popular, and he abandoned it.
The population of Sangamon was celebrated for raising fine-
blooded stock, horses and cattle, which enriched the country
considerably. Sangamon County is the great patriarch of
agriculture in the State.
The increase of population in Illinois, from 1810 to 1820, is
very extraordinary. The number of inhabitants, in 18 10, was
12,382, and in 1820, it was 55, 211, an increase in ten year* of
42,829.
CHAPTER LIIL
Convention to Introduce Slavery into Illinois. — Revolutionary Proceed
ings in the Legislature. — Excited Discussion. — Parties Arrayed. —
Public Journals Issued Flaming Documents.- — About Eighteen Hun
dred Votes Majority Against the Call for a Convention.
It is almost incredible what injury the failure of the currency
produces on the people, and what expedients will be resorted to-
for relief There seems to be no reason why the absence of a
few dollars from the wealth of a people should effect the com
munity to such an alarming extent.
The old State Bank and the stop-laws were resorted to as
measures of relief The debts were crushing the energies of the
people, and almost any expedient was tried to relieve the com
munity of these calamities.
It was this ground, to relieve the people from the embarrass
ments of debt, and to put the country in a prosperous and
growing condition, that was the foundation of the convention
project. If the deranged state of the currency had not existed,
and the country had been in a happy and prosperous condition,
a convention to introduce slavery would never have been''
dreamed of
At that day, north-western free States were poor and sparsely
inhabited, and the southern States of Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Missouri, having slavery in them, were our nearest neighbors,.
and flourished tolerably well. Wealthy and intelligent farmers.
moving to Missouri, seeing our excellent soil, regretted they
could not stop with their slaves in Illinois, which fired our
people for slavery.

MY OWN TIMES. 153.
Slavery at that day, (thirty years past,) was not tested as it is
at this time, and was not so condemned by any one as it is at
this day. Moreover, many citizens voted for the convention for
the gradual emancipation of slavery, by having it provided in
the amended constitution, that, after a certain period, slavery
should not be introduced into the State, and those in the State
should be gradually emancipated. It was true wisdom, as it
turned out, to have nothing in any shape or form to do with
slavery. I voted for the convention, as a measure to advance
the best interest of the country, and that the introduction
should be only for a limited period. After that those in the
State should be gradually emancipated, but we were all mis
taken for supporting the convention.
The constitution of the State at that time required a reso
lution of two-thirds of both houses of the legislature to vote for
the subject being submitted to the people, who would vote for
or against calling a convention. The members of the General
Assembly of 1822, were not elected in reference to the subject
of slavery, but it happened that in the Senate there was two-
thirds for the resolution, but in the other branch one member
was wanting to carry the convention question.
A contested election from Pike County had been adjudged in
the early part of the session in reference to the Senatorial
election, and was decided manifestly wrong. After the member,
Nicholas Hansen, voted in the Senatorial election, and would
not vote for the convention, it was decided to turn the member
from Pike County out, and put in his opponent, John Shaw, so
as to carry th6 convention resolution. This proceeding in the
General Assembly looked revolutionary, and was condemned by
all honest, reflecting men. This outrage was the death-blow to^
the convention. The night after the passage of the resolution,
there was at the seat of government a wild and indecorous pro
cession by torch-light and liquor, that was also unpopular.
The convention question gave rise to two years of the most
furious and boisterous excitement and contest that ever was
visited on Illinois. Men, women, and children entered the arena
of party-warfare and strife, and the families and neighborhood
were so divided and furious and bitter against one another, that
it seemed a regular civil war might be the result Many personal
combats were indulged in on the question, and the whole country
seemed, at times, to be ready and willing to resort to physical
force to decide the contest. All the means known to man to
convey ideas to one another were resorted to, and practised with
energy. The press teamed with publications on the subject.
The stump-orators were invoked, and the pulpit thundered
anathemas against the introduction of slavery. The religious
community coupled freedom and Christianity together, which
was one of the most powerful levers used in the contest. At

154 MY OWN TIMES.
one meeting of the friends of freedom in St. Clair County, more
than thirty preachers of the gospel attended and opposed the
introduction of slavery into the State.
I believe the most influential and energetic public men were
on the side of the convention, but the opposition was better
organized and trained in the cause. The facts and arguments
were the strongest on the merits of the subject in opposition to
slavery, which had its effect in such long discussions before the
election. "The question," as it was familiarly called at the time, united
the various denominations of religion which had never before
acted together.
The leaders of the convention -party were Governor Bond,
Kane, McLean, Judge Phillips, A. P. Field, Joseph A. Beaird,
Robison, Smith, Kinney West, R M. Young, and others. The
opposition was headed by Governor Coles, the Rev. John M.
Peck, Judge Lockwood, Daniel P. Cook, Judge Pope, Governor
Edwards, Morris Birkbeck, David Blackwell, Hooper Warren,
Henry Eddy, George Forquer, George Churchill, and various
others. The opposition to the convention labored with more enthu
siasm and devotedness for the cause than the other side, and
organized better and sooner. As soon as the convention-resolu
tion was carried in the legislature, the Rev. Mr. Peck had a
meeting called in St. Clair County, and a constitution adopted
to operate against the introduction of slavery in Illinois. Head
quarters were established in St. Clair County, and fourteen other
societies were organized in so many counties, all acting in unison
with the main society in St Clair County. A perfect organization
was kept up during the canvass throughout the State, which was
effected more by the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Peck than any
other person.
Hopper Warren, in his paper, the "Edwardsville Spectator,"
and the paper at Shawneetown, edited by Henry Eddy, together
with the "Intelligencer," waged a fiery and efficient warfare
during the whole canvass.
By the arrangement of Dr. Peck and Gov. Coles, David
Blackwell was appointed Secretary of State, and he procured an
interest in, and the conductorship of, the "VandaUa Intelligen
cer," the most widely-circulated newspaper in the State. This
was a great lever for the "anties," as the opposition party was
called at the time.
It is said Gov. Coles expended all his salary, as governor for
four years ($4000) on the canvass, and the members of the legis
lature of 1822, contributed one thousand dollars for the cause.
The convention party had two papers, ably conducted, one
located at Kaskaskia and the other at EdwardsviUe. The paper
at Kaskaskia was managed by Messrs. Kane, Thomas Reynolds,

MY OWN TIMES. 155
Governor Bond, and others, and that at Edwardsville was under
the direction of Judge Smith, Emanuel J. West, McRoberts,
and others.
The convention -party did not contribute money, energy, or
talents to such extent as the "anties" did ; emissaries continually
traversed the State in all directions with flaming and bitter hand
bills, and each party used every character of weapon to act on
the passions as well as the judgment of the people. Dr. Peck
had the extra vocation to distribute bibles, which gave him an
excellent opportunity to see and manage the movements of the
opposition. He performed his part with the tact and talent of
an experienced general.
Governor Kinney travelled much, and acted with great energy
in the cause. The "anties" were victorious in St. Clair County;
and Kinney, Moore, and myself were beaten on the question for
the General Assembly. At the polls of the elections through
the State, the utmost exertions prevailed, but no riots. The
aged and crippled were carried to the polls, and men voted on
this occasion that had not seen the ballot-box before in twenty
years. The opposition succeeded by about eighteen hundred
votes majority, and thus ended the most important and the
most excited election that was ever witnessed in the State.

CHAPTER LIV.
The Land-Law and Tenures of Lands in Illinois.
Illinois has been under four different governments — the
French, British, Virginia, and the United States, and each has
made grants of land to the inhabitants. The French Govern
ment was the first, and as early as 1722, at Fort Chartres, grants
of land were made by the crown of France, together with the
royal company of the Indies. The first organization of Illinois
was a grant by the king of France to Crosat who had power to
make grants of land.
The land-system of the French Government was some similar
to that of the United States. The tracts were always adjacent,
leaving no lands intervening between the grants. The French
did not lay off the public lands on the cardinal points, or in
square tracts, as the Americans do, but commenced the location
of the lands to suit the situation of the country. The tracts of
land under the French system were generally narrow, and extend
ing from a river or some other notable point back considerably.
The grants were made by the measure of the French arpent;
being so many arpents in length and so many in width. The
French acre or arpent is eleven and sixty-seven hundredths
and a fraction English rods, being the square of an arpent.

156 MY OWN TIMES.
When the British Government occupied the country under
the cession of 1763, they also made grants of land to the inhabi
tants. These British grants were surveyed as the grantees
pleased, without much system or reference to the cardinal points.
After the country came into the hands of the Americans, the
Government of Virginia made grants of land before the cession
of the country in 1782 to the United States.
In 1788, the United States recognised all the vahd grants of
land made by the former governments, and made other grants
themselves to the inhabitants. Also, in 1791, acts of Congress
were passed making grants and donations of land to the inhabi
tants. In the year 1790, the Governor of the North-western
Territory was authorized to adjust the land titles of the settlers,
and the same power was continued with the governors of the
Territory, down to the year 1804, when certain commissioners
of the land-office were appointed to settle the land-titles. These ,
commissioners remained in office for almost ten years, and they
and the governor of the Territory adjusted the land-titles to all
the lands in the country before the first land-sales at Kaskaskia,
in the year 18 14. The unadjusted titles to the lands before the
sales in 18 14, greatly retarded the settlement of the country, to
my own knowledge. No one will improve or do much on lands
when the title is not secure.
The Government allowed a militia donation of one hundred
acres, to be located on whatever land the owner pleased. Many
availed themselves of these land-warrants to cover their planta
tions, or some especial tract of land. These land-rights sold
for about seventy-five cents per acre. Many of the citizens
resided on Government lands until 18 14, and many of them for
many years afterward.
A kind of common-law was established by common consent,
and common necessity, which is fifty years old in the West, that
the improvements on Congress land shall not be purchased by
any person except he who made the improvement. This is a
kind of domestic pre-emption law. An act of Congress gave
a pre-emption to all on the public lands on or before the year
1813. The adjustment of the land-titles and the sale of the
public lands did much to settle the country.
The land-system of the United States is founded on true
* philosophy. All lines are run on the cardinal points except
fractions; so that all the lands are embraced at once in the
survey, and none left out. These lines answer well, also, for
the civil government of the country, making county lines and
others. Houses may be erected on the cardinal points, so that
the family may know that the din ner. should be on the table the
same time the sun is on the meridian.
This land -system being so correct and simple, disputes in
relation to land -titles are kept down, which is one of the

MY OWN TIMES. 157
greatest blessings to the country. A people will not prosper
when the land-titles are not valid and good. The land-tenures
in Illinois, emanating from the General Government, are gen
erally good, and very little litigation is had on them.

CHAPTER LV.
Fun and Frolic in Primitive Illinois.
Mankind, by a wise law of Providence, enjoys, in various
situations, times, and countries, about the same amount of hap
piness. If this was not the case. Providence would be unjust
to his creatures, which is not the fact. The Supreme Being, in
the fullness of His adorable perfections, has meted out to all
human beings nearly the same happiness, if the person himself
will do his duty; but if an individual will violate the laws of
his existence, he will inevitably receive misery and pain as a
punishment in proportion to the violation. All classes of
people enjoy about the same amount of happiness. Burns,
the Doet of nature, sings:
"Dearly bought this hidden treasure.
Finer feelings can bestow;
Chords, that vibrate the sweetest pleasure.
Thrill the deepest notes of woe."
In pioneer-times, pranks and tricks played off on one another
was a prominent element in the amusements and mirth of that
early day. It entered then into the hearts of the people to
enjoy these pranks with more pleasure than the money-making
people do of the present day.
An individual, (William Lemen,) now a resident of Monroe
County, only a few miles distant from the place where he was
born, of an excellent and respectable family, and he himself a
man of rare and good talents of this order, has performed, with
ingenuity and adroitness, more tricks and pranks than would
fill a volume. In his neighborhood, at the house of Andrew
Kinney, was a night-meeting, and the congregation were zealous
and devout This religious meeting was held in a small log-
cabin, with only one window. When the congregation were all
down on their knees devoutly in prayer, and their heads bowed
down, this singular and talented individual, Lemen, threw a
small calf through the window into the house. The calf was
kept in a pen behind the house, and when it was thrown in
through the window^' it knocked the only candle down, which
was burning on the table under the window. The calf bawled
out in the darkness in the midst of the congregation. The
females screamed out, and were terrified nearly to death, as
they supposed the "Old Boy" had jumped in through the win-

158 MY OWN TIMES.
dow to seize them for their sins. After much confusion and
shouting, the candle was again lit, and behold, there stood
the calf
In pioneer-times, in Illinois, the people were not so ambitious
to acquire wealth as they are at this day, and enjoyed them
selves more in such amusements as above narrated; but the
happiness of the people is enjoyed more at this time in the
accumulation of wealth and honorable distinctions in society.

CHAPTER LVI.
The Early Elections in lUinois for Governor and other Officers. —
Re-organization of the Judiciary.
In August of 1822, was the general election in Illinois for
the State and Federal officers. Four individuals appeared
before the people as candidates for governor of the State, and
two for Congress. Joseph Philips, Thomas C. Browne, James
B. Moore, and Edward Coles, offered their services for governor,
and Daniel P. Cook and John McLean, for Congress. In this
election very Uttle excitement existed, and no measures were
discussed, except the slavery question, in certain districts of
the State.
Joseph Philips was a Tennesseean by birth, and possessed a
fine classic education. He had been educated for the law, and
had been an officer in the army during the war of 18 12, with
Britain. He had been secretary of the Territory, and was,
when he offered for governor, the chief-justice of the Supreme
Court of the State. He resigned that office on the 4th of July
of that year. He possessed good talents and a good character.
Thomas C. Browne was a judge also of the Supreme Court,
and a man of good natural mind.
General Moore was a farmer of sound practical sense, and
had immigrated with his father to Illinois in the year 1781. He
did not possess the advantages of education, but by a long life
in public business, had obtained much practical information.
He had been, during the war with Great Britain, a captain of a
United States ranging- company, that performed excellent ser
vice on the frontiers in the above-named war.
Edward Coles was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in
the year 1786, and had received a classic education at William
and Mary College. In his youth, he conceived the idea that
slavery was an evil, and as a conscientious man, that decision he
has never abandoned during his life. He became, after he left
college, the private secretary of President Madison, and during
the six years that he remained in the President's family,
acquired much political and other information. He was bearer

MY OWN TIMES. 159
of dispatches to John Q. Adams, at Russia, and made the tour
of Europe and returned home a polished and intelligent gentle
man. He visited the West in 18 18, and resided some time in
the town of Waterloo, in Monroe County, Illinois. He returned
to Virginia, and made arrangements to liberate his negroes in
IlUnois. When the father of Mr. Coles died, about twenty
slaves descended to his son, Edward Coles, and these slaves he
made free mostly in Illinois. He purchased farms for some of
the families near Edwardsville, and made them as happy as
possible. About the year 1 821, he was appointed Register of
the Land Office in Edwardsville, which gave him an opportunity
to become acquainted with the people in his land district
Under these circumstances, he was elected governor in 1822,
and was in office during the boisterous times of the convention.
Daniel P. Cook beat McLean for Congress, with an increased
vote over his previous election, and A. F. Hubbard was elected
lieutenant-governor of the State.
In all these elections, the candidates came before the people
without any conventions. At that day, the cauczts-system was
very unpopular, and' not resorted to for years afterward. The
elections were then, as they are at present biennial, and the
next was in August, 1824. In this election, the slavery ques
tion entered largely into the canvass, and governed the vote in
many counties of the State.
The election for governor did not come off this year, but the
excited and bitter election for and against the convention
infused its fury and venom into all other elections.
Daniel P. Cook was opposed to the convention, and his oppo
nent. Governor Bond, voted for it Cook was again victorious
by a good majority.
The excitement and vigor of the elections with the people
were transferred to the legislature, and in that body an unnatu
ral and enthusiastic excitement prevailed. This general assem
bly were engaged in important business this session. Elections
for two United States Senators were held. John McLean and
Governor Edwards were the candidates for the "short leg," as it
was called. Governor Edwards had been appointed Minister to
Mexico, and had resigned his office as Senator, for one year
unexpired in the term of six, for which he was elected in 18 19.
He had a difficulty with William H. Crawford and friends,
which caused him to resign his mission to Mexico, and also
injured him in the State. McLean was elected to the term of
one year unexpired, and set off direct to the city of Wash
ington to enter upon the duties of his office. He was at that
time, I think, the most popular man in the State with that legis
lature, and still remained a candidate for the next term of six
years, commencing after the expiration of his one year. His
competitor, Elias K. Kane, who was a member of the legisla-

l6o MY OWN TIMES.
ture from Randolph County, was present with the general
assembly, and McLean absent, which was a great drawback on
the latter. At this election, Mr. Kane was elected to the
United States Senate for six years from the 3d March, 1825.
At this legislature the judiciary of the State was organized,
and circuit courts estabhshed. It was discovered that the
labors of the four judges were too onerous and even oppressive,
and therefore circuit courts were organized, and the judges of
the Supreme Court were required to hold two terms of the
court annually. The judges of the Supreme Court were
required by the legislature to revise and report a new code of
statute laws to the next general assembly.
Judge Wilson was elected chief- justice, and Thomas C.
Browne, Theopholis W. Smith, and Samuel D. Lockwood,
associate-judges. John Y. Sawyer, Samuel McRoberts, Richard
M. Young, James Hall, and James O. Wattles, were elected
circuit - court judges. James Turney was elected attorney-
general. Judge Thomas Reynolds and myself were not
retained on the bench, as we had been rather conspicuous in
favor of the convention, and that question made all yield to it
who had any size to incur its displeasure. The convention
question soon cooled off, and the people became calm and
friendly with one another again.
In none of these elections were any political measures, either
Whig or Democratic, discussed or acted on.

CHAPTER LVII.
Presidential Election in 1824.
The administration of President Monroe was calm, quiet,
and popular, and the old parties that had agitated the country
so long, and with such violence, known as the "Republican"
and "Federal" had subsided, and a perfect political calm
reigned throughout the country.
At the commencement of the presidential canvass of 1824,
no party measure was discussed, and all the candidates had
been acting with the Republican party, and were considered to
pertain to that party. At first the candidates were John Q.
Adams, Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and
WUliam C. Crawford. During the summer, Calhoun was with
drawn in Pennsylvania and some other States from the Presi
dential contest, and placed on the track for Vice-President
Crawford was the regular nominee-candidate of the Repub
lican party, so called, but his nomination was made by only
eighty-seven members of Congress, whicli gave him no stand
ing. The people considered that the members of Congress

MY OWN TIMES. l6l
were not elected for that purpose, and such a nomination was
an injury rather than advantage to the candidate.
General Jackson had been nominated first by the general
assembly of Tennessee, next by Pennsylvania, and some other
States. In Illinois, Crawford received the votes mostly of the Bond
or convention party. Adams was supported by the anti-slavery
men, and mostly those who opposed the convention. Clay was
considered then a champion of the war. Republican party, and
received many votes of this character of citizens. Jackson was
also of the Republican party, but his great popularity arose
from his splendid military career. Many citizens in southern
Illinois, and in fact all over the State, knew him in the war, ate
hickory-nuts with him, and would fight and die for him.
At the commencement of the canvass, no one dreamed that
Jackson was so popular with the masses as he turned out to be.
On this consideration, some of the friends of Adams, and the
opponents of the convention, supported Jackson to take the
votes from Crawford, so that Adams would carry the State. It
was supposed that the contest in the State would be between
Adams and Crawford, but the masses were disposed to support
Jackson in spite of the politicians, and did so. The friends of
Jackson were not organized as the parties supporting the other
candidates were. The State, at that day, was entitled to three
electors only, and Jackson received two of them, and very near
the third. I voted for Jackson the first, last, and every time he
was before the people as a candidate.
The popularity of Jackson was extraordinary from the first
time he came before the people, and during his whole Presi
dential career. " It was his democratic principles, unquestioned
integrity, his frankness, talents,' and decision of character,
together with his extraordinary military career, that^gave him
such high standing with the masses. Colonel Benton said the
truth: "Bankers, brokers, jobbers, contractors, politicians, and
speculators were certainly against him, as he was against them."
Adams was never popular in the State, and it was the wise
and discreet management of his talented friends that got him
any electoral vote in the State at all.
Clay had no particularly organized party before or during the
canvass, but he stood extremely well with the masses. He was
the second choice of the State, and was my second choice also.
The Bond party that supported Crawford was the best
organized in the State, and the leading members were efficient,
talented men, but Crawford was a stranger to the people, and
they preferred a Western man — Jackson or Clay.
At that day in the United States, there were 261 electoral
votes in all, and it required 131 to make an election. Jackson
had in the whole Union 99 votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and
II

l62 MY OWN TIMES.
Clay 37. No one having a majority of all the votes, the elec
tion of President by the Constitution devolved on the House of
Representatives, which will be narrated in another chapter.
John C. Calhoun had no organized opposition for the Vice-
Presidency, and received one hundred and eighty-two votes,.
which elected him.

CHAPTER LVIII.
Parties Commenced in Illinois. — Election of Joseph Duncan to Con
gress. Daniel P. Cook, the Member in Congress representing the
State, pledged himself, in the canvass of 1824, when he ran in
opposition to Governor Bond, that if the necessity occurred he
would give the vote of the State for the presidential candidate
who received from the people the most votes throughout the
State. On this pledge he was elected. When the election of the
President came before the House of Representatives — ^Jackson,
Adams, and Crawford being the candidates — he cast the vote of
the State for Adams, which, with the other votes, elected him to-
the presidency.
This election of Adams over Jackson was the commencement
of that fierce and violent party contest that existed in Illinois,
more or less, since 1824 to the present time. The friends of
Jackson and Crawford generally united on Jackson, and those
supporting Adams and Clay, in Illinois, mostly did battle after
wards under the banner of Adams.
The contest, directly after the election, seemed to rise among
the people as if by a kind of instinct, and party rage and vio
lence swept over the State like a tornado. The people thought
Jackson lyas cheated out of the election, and that their choice
was disregarded. There was no substantial objection to either
Adams or his administration, but the warm, enthusiastic parti-
zans urged violent means in the support of Jackson. The other
party was more sedate, quiet, and less violent, but equally
decisive. The Adams party first assumed the name of "National
Repubhcans," and afterward "Whigs." The Jackson party, hav
ing their republican name taken from them, called themselves
Democrats, or the Jackson party. Thus these parties became
organized, and the people took sides without the convention
system. This system was still very unpopular in the West
with all parties. Under- the organization of these parties, discus
sion of measures commenced, and the newspapers, what few,
there were, teemed with it. The stumps were crowded with
orators, and the pulpit was not always clear of political dis
cussions.

MY OWN TIMES. 163
It may not be out of place here to state, that although I was
enthusiastic for Jackson, yet I never attempted to make party
political speeches in the cause until long after his election to
the presidency. I was diffident, not in the habit of public
speaking, and at the time disliked stump speeches, although
they commenced in Illinois in this canvass. Now I am satisfied
I was mistaken, as public discussion is one of the many essen
tial means of enlightening the public mind. Orderly and intelli
gent discussion is ever essential to the liberties of a people, and
should be encouraged.
The southern part of Illinois was settled mostly by immi
grants from Tennessee, Kentucky, and the South, where stump
speeches were practised, and they adopted the same system.
No matter what the office might be, down to constable, the
candidates must declare their sentiments, as it was called. The
northern part of the State did not adopt the system so soon as
the south, but at this day public discussion is practised all over
the State.
Under this state of party feeling in Illinois, Cook became a
candidate again for congress, and was, before his vote foi
Adams, the most popular man in the State. Cook's popularity
was founded as much on his urbanity of manners, his gentle
manly deportment, and benevolence of heart, as on his capacity
for office, or on the policy of his measures. The people disliked
to give him up, and many of his old friends, although they were
red-hot for Jackson, still supported him. In truth. Cook's old
opponents for congress got so much beaten down that they
feared to oppose him again, even after his vote for Adams ; but
a young man, of an agreeable and amiable disposition, Joseph
Duncan, a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky, who had been
both in the war with Britain, and in the State Senate of Illi
nois, entered his name as a candidate for congress against Cook.
Most of the people had not the least idea that Duncan would
hold a respectable poll in opposition to Cook. No one then
knew the rage and violence that party spirit did assume in that
canvass, which existed in Illinois in the year 1826. Duncan
was modest, of moderate talents, and made short, common-
sense speeches. He had no political sins to answer for, and
made hinjself popular wherever he appeared. He was an
ensign in the battle at the Lower Sandusky, under Croghran,
and acquitted himself well ; he had also performed his duties in
the Senate of the State to the satisfaction of the public. Cook,
during' all the canvass, tried to explain away his vote, and to
sustain Adams, but it all would not do ; Duncan was elected by
the Jackson party by a large majority.

l64 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER LIX.
The Arrival of General La Fayette in the United States in 1824. — His
Visit to lUinois in 1825.
The whole Union, from one extreme border to the other,
experienced a general joy and gratification on the arrival of
Gen. La Fayette in the United States. In this great national
outburst of gratitude and general rejoicing, no party or bitter
feelings interposed," and the whole nation hailed the hero of the
Revolution with those honorable and patriotic feelings that
were due to the immortal character of La Fayette. He arrived
at St. Louis, Missouri, the last day of April, 1825, and a great
concourse of people attended and greeted him.
I resided at that time near St. Louis, and heard early in the
morning thirteen cannon fired in honor of the hero, and "the
times that tried men's souls." These thirteen cannon awakened
all my patriotism for him and the Revolution, and placed me,
in my feelings, in the midst of it. Our Representative in Con
gress, the Hon. Daniel P. Cook, introduced me to him, and I
had the honor to behold, with admiration and respect, this great
and good man. He was lame from a wound he received in
achieving our liberties, which added much interest to his charac
ter. Governor Coles, the governor of the State, escorted him
to Vandalia, the seat of government of the State, and also to
Shawneetown. At this latter place. Judge Hall, then a citizen
of Illinois, delivered him an address on behalf of the citizens of
that town, which, for its neatness and elegance, was a model of
composition, and also admirably expressed the sentiments of
the people of Illinois to that distinguished individual.
When I saw General La Fayette in St. Louis, he was sixty-
eight years of age, and he showed on his countenance the signs
of much care and anxiety. His person was slender, and at
least six feet high. Age had bent his form a little, but he was
still gay and cheerful. It seemed that his lameness added to
his noble bearing, as it told to the heart the story of the Revo
lution. Judging from my visit to him, I would say that he
possessed, in an eminent degree, all the amiable and benevolent
traits of character that elevate and adorn the human family. It
appeared to me that deUcate and refined sensibility reigned
strong in his character, and that chivalry and honor had a
strong resting-place in his heart. These traits were, in my
opinion, dominant in his character, and out of them arose his
patriotism and love of liberty that showed so conspicuously
throughout his long and eventful life.

MY OWN TIMES. 165

CHAPTER LX.
The Author Practices Law. — Is Elected for the Fust Time to the
General Assembly in 1826.
In the spring of 1825, I entered closely and attentively into
the practice of the law. I studied the science with care and
attention. I attended rigidly and with great care to my busi
ness in court. Punctuality in court — always present and ready
— insures business and success. I entered into a tolerably large
practice immediately, but it was not very profitable, and I must
be permitted to say, that I never knew a lawyer in the State
who ever became very wealthy by his practice alone. It is
speculation, and the rise of property in the West, that has made
so many lawyers and others wealthy. I was lean, active, and
energetic, and could ride on horseback days and nights together
without much sleep or rest. But I had been so long on the
bench, where public speaking was not practised, that when I ap
peared at the bar, as a lawyer, my old diffidence also appeared
with me, and it was an effort at first to address the court or
jury. For some time in the courts I was quite a silent member,
and knew well my silence in many cases injured the interest of
my clients, but by repeated efforts I succeeded to some extent
During my practice of law, I was familiar with the people, got
acquainted with almost everybody, and become somewhat pop
ular. I had no settled object in view as to my future course of
life, more than to make a living, and to continue on in my
humble, peaceable, and agreeable manner.
For many years before 1830, when I offered for governor of
the State, I had no political ambition or aspirations for office
whatever. I was happy, enjoying fine health and the vigor of
life, possessing neither wealth nor poverty, having a full share
of the practice of the law, and enjoying a pleasant and familiar
intercourse with society. I owed no debts, and stood in no
one's way; had friends everywhere more than I deserved, and
in no office; speculated not much, and lived very happy at
home. In our domestic concerns, we were plain and unpre
tending — nothing like extravagance in anything— -never kept
any liquor in the house, although the custom of the country
then was to the contrary. I drank none, and I treated my
friends when they called on me with all possible civility, except
strong drink. We used an economy perhaps bordering on
parsimony, but it is better to err on the side of prudence and
economy than on the side of extravagance and recklessness.
The above is a "peep behind the curtain" of the domestic
life of the author for a short period.

l66 MY OWN TIMES.
In the spring of 1826, Governor Edwards and the convention
party assembled at Belleville, and selected a full ticket for all
the county officers, sheriff and all, of St Clair County. Of
course, I and my friends were not included. The convention
party rallied, and every one of our party were elected except
one county commissioner. I was elected to the house of
representatives of the State Legislature. I did not then con
sider this post a great office, and I entered into it as much to
gratify my friends and the people as myself This was the first
attempt I made to manage an election. I was well acquainted
with the people of the county, and knew what kind of an organ
ization would succeed. We succeeded over the efforts of
Governor Edwards and the old anti-convention party. The
Governor was hostile to me, and published many severe and
bitter handbiUs against me during this election and the succeed
ing one of 1828.
I soon discovered that a seat in the house of representatives
of the general assembly is one of the most efficient offices, "for
weal or for woe," to the people, of any in the government The
House is elected directly by the people, and is, in fact, the
people in miniature. All the laws which direct and govern our
most important and sacred rights and privileges, emanate from
the State legislatures. The general assemblies of the States
have the power to do infinite service to the people, or they may
curse them with foul and corrupt legislation.
I entered this legislature without any ulterior views, and with
an eye single to advance the best interests of the State, and
particularly the welfare of old St. Clair County. My only
ambition was to acquit myself properly, and to advance the
best interests of the country.

CHAPTER LXI.
The Election of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois in 1826.
In this canvass, three candidates appeared in the field —
Ninian Edwards, Thomas Sloo, and A. F. Hubbard. The last-
named candidate had been elected lieutenant-governor, and he
supposed it was a matter of course to elect him governor. The
contest was between the two first-named candidates. Mr. Sloo
had been a member of the general assembly for many years,
and was a gentleman of agreeable manners and irreproachable
character. He had, by his urbanity of manners and gentle
manly deportment obtained many friends throughout the State.
He had been employed in business as a merchant, and in it he
had not been in the habit of public speaking, which operated
against him, particularly when Governor Edwards was his oppo
nent, as Edwards was an accomplished orator.

MY OWN TIMES. 167
The Jackson party, which was not then properly organized,
^supported Sloo. If the party had been trained then as it was
.some years afterwards, Sloo, no doubt, would have been elected.
Governor Edwards was a gentleman of acknowledged talents
and eloquence, who had been for many years in the lead of
many political campaigns, so that it seemed rather an unfair
contest with Mr. Sloo. Edwards possessed a fine, imposing
appearance, and did not dislike a showy and splendid display.
To counteract these decided advantages, he labored under the
charge of the attack he made on Crawford, and also his hearty
support of Jackson was questioned. His opponents were bitter
and efficient, but after an animated canvass of several months,
he was elected by a small majority. He had been in Illinois
since the year 1809, and in office most of that time. In this
long term of office, he must of necessity have made a great
many enemies. Mr. Sloo then had no enemies. Governor
Kinney, who was elected lieutenant-governor at the same elec
tion, was warmly opposed to Governor Edwards, and said, when
Edwards was elected, that "the Governor was like an old, weak
horse, and that it strained him so much to jump into the corn
field that he could not eat any corn after he got into the field"
— meaning that although Edwards was elected, he had not
much influence in the office when he was in it.
The candidates for lieutenant-governor were Samuel H.
Thompson, and WUliam Kinney — both preachers of the gospel
— Kinney was a Baptist and Thompson a Methodist. Both of
these gentlemen were talented and efficient in their respective
spheres. Kinney was an early settler in the country, having
immigrated with his father to Illinois in the year 1797. He had
not the means of education, but nature betowed on him much
ability. When he was married, he was almost destitute of the
rudiments of education, and to remedy the defect, to some
extent, his wife after their marriage instructed him to read and
write. He was energetic and ambitious, and had been in politi
cal life for many years previous to the election in 1826. He
possessed an inexhaustible store of pithy and pointed anec
dotes, which he used with effect on many occasions. He was a
member of the regular Baptist Church, and with or without
their consent, he indulged in all the modes of electioneering of
that period. He was wealthy, and had the means to extend to
his friends and the people all the liquid appliances of the day.
He was considered, what he really was, one of the most efficient
canvassers with the people that was in the State. With all this
personal influence, he was a simon-pure of the Jackson party.
His opponent, the Rev. Mr. Thompson, was also a very
talented and gifted man, possessing much better scholastic
education than the other Rev. gentleman, but had not the
knowledge of m.ankind like his opponent Mr. Thompson was

l68 MY OWN TIMES.
one of the leading clergymen of the Methodist Church, and had
not been before engulfed in politics. He was very modest and
unassuming, and seemed to dislike his position as a candidate
for lieutenant-governor. He possessed an irreproachable char
acter, and would not tarnish it by any electioneering act Mr.
Kinney succeeded by a small majority — although he was on the
ticket of Mr. Sloo which failed.

CHAPTER LXIL
Galena. — The Lead Mines in Ilhnois. — James Johnson Leased the
Mines. — Morahty of Galena. — Duel with Rocks. — Nicknames. — Joe
Davis County. — Fever River.
In 1823, Colonel James Johnson, of Kentucky, the brother of
Colonel Richard M. Johnson, leased the lead mines of the
general government, and entered the mines with a company and
all the necessary implements to work the mines. He ascended
the small stream known now as Fever River, as far up as his
boats could navigate it, and then made his camp. In this
vicinity stands the present wealthy, intelligent, and commercial
city of Galena. It is situated seven miles up Fever River, from
the Mississippi, and at the extreme point of navigation of that
small stream. The miners, merchants, and others, squatted on
the government lands in Galena, and a large town was erected
on the public domains.
I first visited Galena in 1829, and found a most singular and
mysterious medley of people located in that place. People
from all quarters of the earth had flocked there on account of
the celebrity of the lead mines. The Irish prevailed there more
than any other European people. Numbers of French were
there also, and many immigrants had left Lord Selkirk's colony
on Red River in the North and located in Galena. I presume
every State in the Union was represented in the mixture of
population of this town. I think the State of Illinois furnished
more of the population of the mining district than any other.
Galena and the mining district were more moral than might
have been expected among such heterogeneous masses. I
know at that day there was a great amount of intelligence in
Galena, and society existed in that town, at this early day, as
enlightened and as polished as will be generally found in any
settlement old or new, of the same size. But still, many
indulged in habits not recognized in any part of the decalogue.
I could hear and see, within a small compass of Galena, on the
Sabbath-day, preaching, dancing, cards, billiards, and other
games, together with an occasional horse-race on the flat
ground, at that day between the town and river.

MY OWN TIMES. 169
Mr. Kent was in the pulpit and the dancers on the floor of a
Mr. Durant a Frenchman, from the settlement of Lord Selkirk,
at the same time, on the Sabbath. Many games were going on
in open day, and that on the Sabbath, at the same time, but
with all this mixture of human actions, other crimes or misde
meanors were not common. The dancing and gaming were
generally confined to a class of people who had been educated
to believe it was not a sin to act in this manner, which lessened
the transgression in the eyes of philosophy.
A most singular duel was fought in the mining district at
this early day. Thomas Higgins, of Fayette County — the same
person who had such a terrible battle with the Indians in 18 14,
and another champion, fell out, and agreed to fight a duel with
rocks. The same size and number of rocks were selected by
their seconds, and the parties placed at their posts, ten yards
apart. The combatants were to throw the rocks at each other
at the time mentioned by the seconds. The rocks were placed
in a pUe, so that the parties could use them as they pleased.
Higgins was so strong, courageous, and expert in throwing rocks
that his opponent was forced to flee to save his life. This was
a kind medium duel between the murderous pistol and the brutal
pugilation, but still highly condemnable by refined civilization
and Christianity.
Many fine houses were erected in Galena, and lots laid off
before the squatters had any title at all to the premises, except
public opinion. The wise law of necessity was honorably re
spected, and great amounts of property were held in security
under it. The pre-emption right by Congress, and more so by
the people interested, was observed with rigor and fidelity.
Some years after, an act of Congress was passed, laying off
Galena and selling the lots to the actual settlers at a reduced
price. The great fortunes made by many, and the success of Colonel
Johnson at the "Buck Lead," as it was called, near the present
city of Galena, gave the mines such character and standing, that
thousands and thousands of people of all grades and classes
thronged to the mines. For several years, down to 1834, the
whole earth, north, east and south of Galena was covered with
people, prospecting, digging, and looking for lead ore, in all the
various manners and modes the mineral could be discovered,
and raised out of the earth.' It seemed the people were literally
crazy, and rushed to the mines with the same blind energy and
speed, that a people would in a panic flee, from death. The
learned professions laid down science, and took up the pick to
delve in the bowels of the earth for the ore. Merchants, clerks,
farmers and all classes repaired to the mines, thinking each one
would be the fortunate mortal, who would return in a few
naonths with a princely fortune. The excitement kept them

I70 MY OWN TIMES.
healthy, although they lay out winter and summer, in tents
exposed to the inclemency of the weather.
It was in the mining district of Illinois, amongst the floods of
immigrants, that the names of the people of the various States
originated. The sucker fish ascend and descend the rivers at stated
periods, which, from the best information I can obtain, gave the
name of "suckers" to the people of Illinois; as those people as
cended the river to Galena in shoals in the spring and descended
in the fall. For many years, this name was given to and recog
nized by the citizens of Illinois, as much as the real name. The
people became proud of it. General Henry, at a crisis in the
battle with Black Hawk, near the Wisconsin, addressed his
army as "brave suckers," which excited his troops to the ne plus
idtra oi their energies.
The citizens of Missouri were called "pukes." It is difficult to
ascertain the origin of this name. It was said it was given to
the people of Missouri, because a man from that State got
drunk and puked. The Ohio people were called "Buckeyes"
— the Wisconsin, "Wolverines" — the Indiana people, "Hoosiers"
— the Kentuckians, "Corn- Crackers," and so on, with many
other States. These names are now going out of fashion.
In the Legislature of 1826 and 1827, a county was organized,
embracing the mining district, which was called Joe Davis
County. I proposed the name of Davis in the General Assem
bly, and John McLean, with much Kentucky enthusiasm, added
the name "Joe" to Davis, and it succeeded. It could not be
severed in that Legislature, as we tried it often.
This county was called "Joe Davis," in honor of Joseph
Hamilton Davis, of Kentucky, who was a great and distinguished
man. He was singular and eccentric, but withal, a profound
scholar, and an accomplished orator. Except the standard of
eloquence, Henry Clay, Davis was reputed to be the next
eloquent man in all the West At that early day, Kentucky
produced a host of great men, and eloquence among them was
advanced to great perfection. Davis stood in the front ranks of
this sublime gift of nature to man, shedding the br^Uiant light
of heaven on certain subjects, on which his inspiration was
directed. He was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe, in 18 11,
charging the enemy at the head of his troops. He lived and
died sustaining the character of a brave and noble Kentuckian.
Fever River is a smaU stream extending seven miles from
Galena to the Mississippi, and was called by the French La
Riviere de Fevre which is Bean River, or creek, in English.
The Americans retained the name Fever River, which gives out
the idea of sickness, and which neither the orignal meaning of
the name nor the truth can sustain, as Galena and the adjacent
country are as healthy as any region west of the mountains.

MY OWN TIMES. 171
The pursuit of mineral is generally an injury to the public.
AU the lead ever raised in the mines around Galena would not
pay for the work expended in the pursuit. The great collection
of people at the mines have a tendency to injure the public
morals more than in rural districts, where the people are more
sparcely settled.
The city of Galena, and the mining country around it,
generally, are wealthy, as both agricultural and mineral wealth
concentrate at this point.
CHAPTER LXIII.
The Author a Member of the General Assembly of the State in 1826
and 1827. — General Assembly. — Their Names. — The Peniten|B,ry.
I was in the leading strings of no man's party, or clique of
men, to govern my actions in the General Assembly. It was
true I supported General Jackson in 1824, and was honestly and
steadfast in the great Democrat family; but I was not pro-
scriptive or collered down to act with the party when I was
satisfied it did not advance the best interest of the State. I
was depending on the masses for my election, and considered
myself bound to support their interest, and not the advance
ment of a clique, or a few men of any denomination. With
certain leaders of cliques, and with "big, little men," as Governor
Ford calls them, I was not popular, and I am not to this day.
With this unrestrained and liberal policy in view, I entered the
legislature with the sole intention to advance the best interests
of the State.
It is due to this General Assembly to state, that it was com
posed generally of members of sound practical sense, and many
possessed the first order of talents. It will be seen, by refer
ence to the subsequent history of the State, that many of the
members of this legislature became, in after days, distinguished
and conspicious public characters, both in the State and Federal
Governments. The members of the Senate were Messrs. Bliss, Bird, Beaird,
Casey, Carlin, Lemen, Alexander, Archer, Hay, Hunsaker,
Widen, Ewing, lies, Duncan, Job, Conway, and Kirkpatrick.
In the House of Representatives were Messrs. Alexander, of
Crawford County, Alexander, of Vermillion County, McLean,
Thomas Reynolds, Pugh, Blackwell, Clubb, Mills, Leeper,
Churchill, Allen, Hall, James, Lacy, McHenry, McLaughlin,
Prince, John Reynolds, Ridgeway, Slade, Wren, Will, Berry,
Cavarly, Fletcher, Ives, Leib, Mobly, Prickett Ross, Sim,
Brooks, Dorris, Field, and Utter.
Governor Edwards, as has been heretofore remarked, was the
chief magistrate, and William Kinney presided over the Senate,

1/2 MY OWN TIMES.
as lieutenant-governor. George Forquer, Esq., was secretary
of State; Abner Field, treasurer; and Elijah C. Berry, auditor.
The General Assembly and the public officers in the Ex
ecutive Departments of the State Government are above pre
sented, and were for the most part talented and efficient men.
The State Government was then in the hands of able men and
sound patriots.
John McLean was elected Speaker of the House, but he was
taken sick during the session, and Thomas Reynolds was elected
to fill his place.
I had reflected on the subject of punishment of criminals, and
had reached the conclusion that the criminal law should be
changed, and that the ancient barbarous system of whipping,
cropping, and branding for crimes, should be abolished and the
penitfctiary substituted. This ancient practice had been in
operation for ages, and it was difficult to change it There is a
kind of reverence and respect for old customs that is trouble
some to overcome. But the age required the old barbarous
systems of the pillory, the whipping-post, and the gallows to be
cast away, and a more christian and enlightened mode of punish
ment adopted.
Our constitution was the first in the Union that ¦ abolished
imprisonment for debt, and it contains this humane provision :
"the object of punishment is reformation, and not for extermi
nation" — which shows the spirit ©f the age. On the same prin
ciple, the penitentiary system was established in Illinois — to
reform the convicts, and not to exterminate them.
The General Government had reserved a great quantity of
the public lands for the use of the Ohio and Vermillion Salines,
in this State, and these lands became useless for the manufact
ure of salt. They prevented the settlement of the country, and
it was decided by this General Assembly that thirty thousand
acres of the Ohio Saline and ten thousand of the Vermillion
Saline should be sold, if the General Government ceded the
lands to the State and authorized a sale. The State Treasury
was empty, and this was the only means to erect a penitentiary,
or to improve the State. No one at that day dreamed of a
loan. A memorial, at my instance, was sent tp Congress, and
in due time the cession of the lands was made and then sold.
- It was a kind of an agreement in the State, that the western
section should have half of the proceeds of the sale of these
lands, and the east the other half We, in the west, agreed
among ourselves that a penitentiary should be erected with our
half of the money arising as above stated ; and the east agreed
to improve the country in their vicinity with the other half
A majority of the General Assembly agreed to this equitable
division, and it was also enacted by the legislature, that the
penitentiary should be located at Alton; Governor Bond, Gers-

MY OWN TIMES. I73
ham Jane, and William P. McKee, were the commissioners to
select a site; and on the east the Cash River Bottoms — Purgatory
Swamp — as it was called, nearly opposite to Vincennes, on the
Great Wabash River, and other localities, should be improved.
In the legislature much opposition was made by Governor
Edwards and his friends to the arrangement, but McLean,
Thomas Reynolds, myself, and various other persons, carried
the measure through, which established the penitentiary system,
and which was, with me, my main measure in the General As
sembly. I proposed the site at Alton.
I was, when I was Governor of the State, on my earnest
solicitation, appointed by law one of the directors, and the
power was conferred on me as Governor, by law, to appoint
four other directors to build the penitentiary and to establish
the system throughout — our labors succeeded admirably well,
and the plan and management of the whole concern is in a
manner adapted to the improved and enlightened age of the
country. I have never performed a public service that has
afforded me more satisfaction than my efforts to aid in estab
lishing the penitentiary, and to adapt the laws to the system.
It is too brutal and barbarous to whip, crop, and brand a man
in the pillory, if it can be avoided. But one single other
amendment do our laws require, and that is to abolish capital
punishment, and confine the convicts for murder, during life, in
a dungeon. Intelligence and the age of progress will in a few
years carry out the system, and then we will prevent an igno
rant and debased rabble from rushing in thousands to see a
human being hung.
Governor Edwards brought before the people, in the canvass
for Governor, the malpractices of the bank directors of the State
Bank, particularly the board at Edwardsville, of which Governor
Kinney was president, and Senators lies, Beaird, and many other
honest and intelligent gentlemen, directors. Theophilus W.
Smith had been cashier for several years, but was then judge of
the supreme court At the first session of the General As
sembly, after he (Edwards) was elected governor, he made a
general sweeping charge against the whole board and cashier,
for mismanagement and malpractices. The friends of the Gov
ernor, and the public generally, considered these charges to be
at least very imprudent and badly timed. It was true that al
though Governor Edwards possessed great talents, and a florid,
profuse, and flowing eloquence, that he was not gifted with pru
dence or tact. His object was correct to ferret out corruption,
and perhaps some of the board were guilty, or the cashier, but
then a sweeping charge against the honest as well as the dis
honest could not succeed. He was, during all his administration
unpopular with the general assemblies, and in the minority
with them all the time.

174 MY OWN TIMES.
These charges against the bank-directors created much excite
ment in the General Assembly, and in the country also. A
committee-was appointed on the subject, and weeks of investi
gation ensued. The whole case was referred to the House of
Representatives, and all the board were finaUy acquitted —
cashier and all.
This proceeding on the part of Governor Edwards may have
done good to deter unprincipled men from committing malprac
tices in office in future. I opposed the charges on the ground
that I knew some of the board to be as honest, good men as
ever existed — and to see them crushed in the general sweep
ing judgment that was required, I considered was not just or
right, and, moreover, be the charges true or false, no proof or
evidence was made to sustain them.
CHAPTER LXIV.
Re-organization of the Judiciary. — Revision of the Statute-Laws. — De
fining the Instruction of the Court to the Jury. — The Selection ot
Juries. — The Viva Voce Election in the Legislature. — Resolution
Recommending Andrew Jackson for President.
The subject of the Judiciary was an exciting topic in the
legislature of 1826-27. Nine judges, gentlemen of character
and standing, all present during the session of the General As
sembly, and all working with great industry against the repeal
of the circuit-court system, made it a difficult matter with the
legislature to carry out the will of the people of the State. The
judiciary established in 1825, was extremely unpopular, and
many of the members of this present General Assembly were
elected on this question. The four supreme-court judges had
not much services to perform, and in many sections of the State
the circuit courts were not popular. The opposition of the
judges delayed the action of the legislature for some time, but
at last the law was passed and the new system organized. The
circuit judges were all repealed out of office, and the four su
preme judges were required to hold all the circuit courts. The
circuit-court judges protested against the passage of the law,
but public opinion settled down in favor of the change. Al- ,
though I was acting under no pledge, yet I exerted myself, un
caring of party friends, for the repeal of the circuit-court judges
out of office, and was influenced in my action by the poverty of
the State. Four judges, almost without any duties to perform,
and receiving a salary, induced me to act in the premises.
The General Assembly raised the salary of the judges of the
supreme court from eight hundred to one thousand dollars /^r
annum.
Another measure this General Assembly carried out which

MY OWN TIMES. 175
redounded much to the character of this body was a partial
revision of the statute-laws of the State. It will be remembered
that the previous legislature required the judges of the supreme
court to make and report to the present General Assembly a
complete code of the statute -laws of the State, in accordance
with which Judges Lockwood and Smith reported many wise
and wholesome bills to the present legislature. The members
of the General Assembly also exerted their best talents and
energies to revise the statute-laws, and a volume containing up
wards of three hundred and eighty pages of the revised laws of
the State was the result;^of the joint labors of the judges and
the General Assembly. This code of laws presents, so far as it
extends, the best system that ever existed in the State. This
volume was printed in 1827 by Robert Blackwell, the public
printer, at Vandalia, and contains a code of laws that has never
been surpassed in the State.
I recollect the labor that was expended on the revision of
these laws. Messrs. David Blackwell, Pugh, Thomas Reynolds,
George Churchill, myself, and many others of the House of
Representatives, worked day and night on these laws. If
nothing more, this effort of the General Assembly leaves a
lasting monument of the talents and energy of that body.
It is due also to truth to record that Judges Lockwood and
Smith contributed greatly to the result of this excellent revised
code. Many private individuals, who were sound lawyers and
statesmen, also added much to the work, but it was at last the
General Assembly that possessed the sound and discreet judg
ment to enact this code of laws.
Judge Lockwood, with great care and labor, and with a sound
judgment, and acute discrimination, drafted and reported the
criminal jurisprudence of the State. This code is a standard
work, and will for ages remain a monument of the sound judg
ment and talents of the author. Legislation has scarcely ever
touched it since it came from the hands of the author, and it is
considered by all intelligent men who have examined it, a
standard and philosophic system of criminal jurisprudence.
The General Assembly that enacted it, as far as I recollect,
adopted the law as reported by Judge Lockwood, without any
alteration or amendment whatever. The next General Assem
bly completed the revision of the laws.
At this Legislature was enacted the law to restrain the judges
of the circuit courts from charging the petit juries on facts, and
commenting on the evidence submitted to them. The practice
had been commenced for courts to make speeches to the juries,
as they considered the law and justice required them to do
without being asked for instructions.
I think the court has no power to interfere with the province
of the jury, and is not bound to charge them as to the law of

176' MY OWN TIMES.
the case on trial, except when one or both of the parties require
it. The practice act of 1827, declares that the circuit courts in
charging the juries shall only instruct as to the law of the case.
I brought this subject before the legislature as it was passed.
In the General Assembly of 1847, Mr. Linder, of Coles
County, brought this same subject before that body, and I
advocated with him the passage of a law strong in its terms
against the judges of the circuit courts addressing the juries.
This last act says that the instructions must be "in writing,"
and that the court has no power to' write, make, or modify
them. The parties themselves, and not the courts, write and
prepare the instructions, and all the court has power to do in
the premises, is to give them or refuse them, by writing the
same on the margin of the written instructions. The court
shall not "qualify, modify, or in any manner explain the same
to the jury." This act was passed the 25th of February, 1847,
and is in my opinion a good law.
In the administration of the laws, the juries, grand and petit,
are very important. In 18 19, I drafted the bill which was passed
on the subject of the juries. This act has been revised and
improved, but the substance of it remains the law to this day.
I witnessed, in my practice in the courts before this act was
passed, that the sheriffs possessed the power to summon what
jurors they pleased. This gave these officers unbounded power
in the administration of the laws, and on many occasions good
jurors could not be summoned on the spur of the occasion.
The act of 18 19 required the county court to select from the
tax-book twenty-four petit jurors to attend the court, and also
a grand jury of twenty-three good and lawful men. This
method enables the county courts to select the proper jurors.
In the general assembly of 1827, I introduced a resolution,
which passed, requiring the elections in the legislature to be
viva voce, and to record each vote given. I presented a similar
one in the House of Representatives of the Congress of 1835,
which passed that body. It certainly is proper to record the
votes on elections in legislative bodies, as the members are not
voting for themselves but for their constituents, who may want
to see how their representatives vote.
In the early part of this legislature. Colonel A. P. Field intro
duced a resolution into the House of Representatives recom
mending Andrew Jackson to the people for the next presidency,
and it passed — 19 votes for it and 11 against it — some of the
members were absent. I voted for this resolution, although it
is doubtful whether such subjects come within the legitimate
province of the general assembly. This general assembly
established the principle of the election of judicial officers by
the act authorizing the election of the justices of the peace and

MY OWN TIMES. 177
constables. It was supposed at the time to be doubtful if the
judicial officers ought to be elected by the people.
This legislature created the counties of TazeweU, Perry,
Shelby, and Joe Davis, and after a session of seventy- eight
days, and the passage of one hundred and forty-three acts, they
¦adjourned.

CHAPTER LXV.
The Winnebago War. — Cause of the War. — The Whites Ahrmed. —
General Dodge and Samuel Whiteside Command Companies. —
General Atkinson takes Red Bird, the Winnebago Chief. — Colonel
Neal Commands a Regiment.
About the last of July, 1827, the Winnebago war occurred
in the country around and north of Galena, in this State. The
cause of this small speck of war was a great outrage committed
by the whites on the Indians, which was of such brutality that
it is painful to record.
Two keel-boats of the contractor to furnish provisions for the
troops at the falls of St. Anthony, stopped at a large camp of
the Winnebago Indians, on the river not far above Prairie du
Chien. The boatmen made the Indians drunk — and no doubt
were so themselves — when they captured some six or seven
squaws, who were also drunk. These squaws were forced on
the boats for corrupt and brutal purposes. But not satisfied
with this outrage on female virtue, the boatmen took the squaws
with them in the boats to Fort Snelling, and returned with
them. When the Indians became sober, and knew the injury
done them in this delicate point, they mustered all their forces,
amounting to several hundred, and attacked the boats in which
the squaws were confined. The boats were forced to approach
near the shore in a narrow pass of the river, and thus the
infuriated savages assailed one boat, and permitted the other to
pass down in the night The boatmen were not entirely pre
pared for the attack, although to some extent they were
guarded against it. They had procured some arms and were on
the alert to some degree. The Indians laid down in their
canoes, and tried to paddle them to the boat, but the whites
seeing this, fired their muskets on them in the canoes. It was a
desperate and furious fight, for a few minutes, between a good
many Indians exposed in open canoes, and only a few boatmen,
protected to some extent by their boat. One boatman, a sailor
by profession on the lakes and ocean, who had been in many
battles with the British during the war of 18 12, saved the boat
and those of the crew who were not killed. This man was large
and strong, and possessed the courage of an African lion. He
12

178 MY OWN TIMES.
seized a part of the setting-pole of the boat, which was about
four feet long, and had on the end a piece of iron which made
the pole weighty, and a powerful weapon in the hands of
"Saucy Jack," as this champion was called. It is stated that
when the Indians attempted to board the boat. Jack would
knock them back into the river as fast as they approached.
The boat got fast on the ground, and the whites seemed
doomed, but with great exertion, courage, and hard fighting, the
Indians were repelled.
The savages killed several white men and wounded many
more, leaving barely enough to navigate the boat. It is said
that Jack had four Indian scalps which he took from the same
number of Indians he killed himself In the battle, the squaws
escaped to their husbands, and no doubt the whites did not try
to prevent it
Thus commenced and thus ended the bloodshed of the Winne
bago war. No white man or Indian was killed before or after
this naval engagement.
The Winnebagos were incensed at the intrusion of the
whites on their lands in the search of minerals, and the Govern
ment of the United States was insulted by an attack the
Winnebagos made on some Chippewa Indians, who were in the
protection of the United States at the time by a treaty. It
is said that eight Chippewas were killed by the Winnebagos.
The American population, miners, amounting to thousands
around Galena, under these circumstances were greatly alarmed,
and the whole mining country was filled with a kind of panic.
The inhabitants were scattered all over the country without
arms or any other means of defence, so that a general alarm
seized on the people. A goodly number of forts were hastily
erected and the militia organized.
Some difficulty occurred between General Samuel Whiteside
and General Dodge as to the command of the troops, but the
matter was settled by both being elected captains of companies.
Captain Whiteside, with his company of cavalry, ranged over
the country north of Galena and Wisconsin River, in the coun
try of the Winnebagos, and struck the Mississippi above Prairie
du Chien.
The Federal Government ordered General Atkinson, with
seven hundred regular soldiers and General Dodge's company,
to demand of the Winnebago nation the murderers of the Chip
pewas. Atkinson proceeded into the heart of the nation, made
a treaty, and received Red Bird and other braves from the
Winnebagos. As soon as it could be organized. Governor Edwards ordered
out a regiment of mounted troops, to march to Galena and
enter into the Winnebago war. The Governor appointed
General Thomas M. Neal colonel of the regiment. The troops

MY OWN TIMES. 179
were raised out of the counties of Morgan and Sangamon, and
marched under Colonel Neal to Galena. When this fine regi
ment arrived at Galena, the war had closed and they were not
needed. The force of the Americans, together with the bravery of the
United , States army, going into the midst of the Winnebago
nation, subdued the spirit of the Indians, which prevented any
further difficulty between the two races.
Many ludicrous and laughable stories are told in relation to
this war. It was stated that a chase was indulged in between
two parties of whites. One party supposed the other to be
Indians and run, while the supposed Indians ran after their
comrades to undeceive them. It is said that this race extended
for miles over the prairies and timber in the mining country.
In a few months this war closed, and the mining operations
were resumed.

CHAPTER LXVI.
The Author Practises Law. — Party Spirit. — ^Joseph Djmcan Elected to
Congress, and the Author to the State Legislature. — The Names of
the Members of the General Assembly. — Joint Committee to Revise
the Statutes. — School Land Sold. — Common Schools. — Canal Com
missioners. The country continued to improve and the settlements to
extend. The currency was sound and good, and the people
exported more produce than heretofore.
I continued the practice of the law, and attended the courts
in Monroe, St. Clair, Madison, Green, Pike, Morgan, and Sanga
mon Counties, when the courts did not clash, and oftener in the
Supreme Court.
The country moved on in an even tenor toward its high des
tiny, and nothing occurred worthy of remark, except that the
political parties raged with great bitterness and fury.
About this time, in 1828, the parties known as the Whigs and
Democrats were formed in Illinois, and operated with great
venom and rage against one another. The presidential election
was to take place in November between Andrew Jackson and
John Q. Adams, and the whole State was agitated throughout
by the canvass.
For Congress, Joseph Duncan, the present member in Con
gress, and George Forquer were the candidates. Duncan was
elected at the August election of that year by a large majority.
In truth, a large majority of the State were Democratic, and all
candidates for almost any office succeeded on that question.
In the county of St. Clair, Risdon Moore was elected to the

l80 MY OWN TIMES.
Senate, and William G. Brown and myself to the House of
Representatives — all warm supporters of Jackson.
I entered this general assembly as I had the last, without any
pledges or restraints whatever. I only was, and am yet, an
humble member of the Democratic party. John McLean, of
Gallatin County, was again elected speaker of the House with
out any opposition, and Governor Kinney, as lieutenant-gov
ernor, presided over the Senate.
The senators in the General Assembly were Messrs. Archer,
Gard, Alexander, Job, Conway, Casey, Hunsaker, lies, Kitchell,
Beach, Moore, Jr., McHenry, Will, Crawford, Carlin, Ross,
McLaughUn, and McRoberts.
The members of the House of Representatives were Messrs.
Turney, Cartwright, Pugh, Elkins, May, Green, Allen, Rattan,
Churchill, Jones, Reynolds, Brown, Lemen, Mather, Menard,
Black, Prentice, Carrogan, Kimmel, Field, Whitaker, Whiteside,
Dement, Hall, McLean, Prince, Jennings, Eubanks, Stewart,
Slocum, Bell, Murray, Gilham, Alexander, ShiUody, and Ives.
At the commencement of the session, I introduced a joint
resolution to raise a joint committee of both Houses to act
together to finish the revision of the laws, which was not com
pleted by the previous legislature. It passed, and Messrs.
McRoberts, Alexander, and Kitchell, were appointed on the
part of the Senate, and Messrs. May, Churchill, Bell, Turney,
and myself, on the part of the House. This committee held
their sessions together, and labored incessantly in the perform
ance of their important work — the completion of the revision of
all the statute-laws of the State. The committee employed gen
tlemen "learned in the law" to assist in the revision, and
reported to the general assembly a revision of the laws which,
together with the volume of the previous legislature, made a
good code of statutory law for the State. The act relative to
wills and testaments was drafted by Judge R. M. Young, which
presents a system on this subject that has remained to the pres
ent day, without any material alteration or amendment. This is
the best evidence of its correctness, and the wisdom and talents
of its author. This volume contains almost two hundred and
fifty pages, and has, with the volume of the previous legislature,
made the foundation of the present excellent statutory laws of
the State of Illinois. I was chairman of the committee, and
exerted all my humble abUities in the performance of the work.
I believe Illinois is blest with as equitable and just a system of
statute- laws as is found in perhaps any other of the States,
except Louisiana.
At this session of the legislature, 1829, the school and sem
inary lands were ordered to be sold, and the proceeds loaned at
a high interest. It is doubtful if this policy was good, as the
lands in the State have increased so much in value since that

MY OWN TIMES. l8l
time, and moreover, the land was a better security for the fund
than any other. I recollect well my policy at that day. I
urged that we, the pioneers, who settled the country first, had
strong claims on the school-fund to educate the rising genera
tion of the present time, in 1826 and 1828; and that the
children were advancing in years, and that if they did not then
receive the benefits of the fund, in a few years they would rise
into maturity without an education. This policy prevailed, and
the lands were sold for the immediate support of schools. In
all my public and private actions, I have labored all in my
power to advance education, particularly among the masses.
The common -school system is the most difficult and at the
same time the most important subject, that was ever attempted
in Illinois. All agree on the general principles, but in the
detail, all frequently disagree to such an extent that a general
system has never been established to this day, wherein all
agree. The immigrants have such a difference of opinion on the
subject, that laws could not be enacted to please the mass-;s.
It is being attempted at this time to lecture, and inform the
people on this subject, so that a proper system of education
may be established.
Man is the most incomprehensible being in existence, except
his Maker. Parents will labor, and suffer almost martyrdom
for their children — provide support, lands, and houses for them,
and neglect their education, which is the most important of all
considerations. The masses expend more, ten times over, for
drink and the use of tobacco, than would give their children
good educations.
' The counties of Macoupin and Macon were established at
this session of the general assembly.
At this session, in 1829, the act of the general assembly
passed, authorizing more effectually the construction of the
canal connecting the lakes with the Illinois River. I supported
this law, and under it Governor Edwards appointed three canal
commissioners. Charles Dunn, Gersham Jane, and Edmond
Roberts, were the commissioners appointed. Mr. Dunn was a
good lawyer, and was afterwards appointed a United States
judge in Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Roberts was a respectable
merchant of Springfield, and Gersham Jane was an eminent
physician, and a gentleman of sound, practical sense, also of
Springfield. This board organized, and did all in their power
to advance the work, but the funds were not supplied, and the
advancement of the canal was limited.
It would require volumes to record the transactions of these
legislatures, and of my humble labors in them, but it was my
course of conduct in these two sessions of the general assembly
that induced my friends, without any solicitation, to offer me as
a candidate for governor. I was urged not particularly by the

l82 MY OWN TIMES.
politicians to offer, but by reasonable and reflecting men, more
to advance the interest of the State than my own. My friends
knew the party who would oppose me, and they considered that
the government of the State would be safer and better adminis
tered by our party than the opposite.

CHAPTER LXVIL
The European Immigration in lUinois.
The first colony of Europeans who formed a settlement in
Illinois were Irish, and located on the Ohio River in 1804 or
1805. Samuel O'Milvany was considered the founder. I pre
sume this colony contained eight or ten families, and had been
settled in the United States before they located in Illinois.
The English colony, that settled in the Wabash country, was
the next.
Morris Birkbeck, who was a man of letters and scholastic
attainments, visited Illinois soon after the war of 1812, and
wrote sketches of the country. His writings did the country
service, by making the advantages of Illinois known abroad.
In 1815, and the following years, a large colony — Birkbeck,
Flowers, Pickering, and two or three hundred families — consist
ing of almost all the avocations of life, from England, located
within the limits of the present county of Edwards. A great
many in this colony were intelligent and wealthy men. It is
probable that no European colony every came to IlUnois at any
one time with as great numbers and as much wealth as this one
did. Birkbeck was the founder, and lived to see the fruits of
his enterprise prosper and flourish. He was an author of con
siderable merit and wrote many useful works. He was at
one time secretary of State under Governor Coles. He was
drowned about the year 1828, in a small stream called Fox
River, near the Wabash River. His untimely death was much
regretted by his friends and the public.
. About the same period, a very small colony of Germans — at
first only two families, Germain and Markee — settled in a gorge
of the Mississippi Bluff, in St. Clair County, not far from the
French village, which location was called the "Dutch Hollow."
This settlement was the nucleus of the great German population
of St. Clair County. I presume at this day there are eighteen
or twenty thousand German inhabitants in St Clair County.
Madison, Monroe, and Randolph Counties also contain many
Germans. In 1817, Thomas Winstanley, Bamber, Threlfall, Coop,
Newsham, and others, amounting to fifteen or twenty famihes,
from Lancashire County, England, settled on the Prairie du

MY OWN TIMES. 183
.Long Creek, in Monroe County, and many more families have
been added to the colony since its commencement This
colony erected a church, and sustains a Roman Catholic priest
The settlement is flourishing and doing well.
Hobson, and many other English immigrants, settled within
the limits of Green County in 1820, and are also doing well.
In 1819, Ferdinand Earnst, a man of literary attainments
and much merit, settled at the new seat of government,
Vandalia, and located with him a colony of Germans, from
Hanover, consisting of twenty -five or thirty families. Mr.
Earnst was a gentleman of wealth, and established a store and
hotel in his new residence. These Germans were industrious
and prudent citizens, occupying their time and attention with
their own business.
A colony from Switzerland established themselves on a beau
tiful, location in the south-eastern part of St. Clair County, in
1822. Bernard Steiener was the founder, and was an individual
of some energy and competency. Part of this colony occupied
an eminence, which, for its beauty and commanding prospect,
cannot easily be surpassed. It was called "Dutch Hill," which
name it has retained to this day. I presume the colony at first
contained between thirty and forty souls, but at this day, other
Germans are added to it, until it is now a large and dense
.settlement of the Teutonic race.
For the last fifteen or twenty years, the Norwegians have
been colonizing the north-eastern section of the State, and are
now numerous in the region between Lake Michigan and the
Mississippi River.
In the county of Monroe, two or three hundred Irish families
occupy the south-eastern section of that county. They did not
immigrate in a mass, but located by families, or groups, in this
region. They are generally industrious people, and have
erected a fine Catholic Church — ¦which denomination of religion
they profess. This settlement commenced about the year 1844,
and is prosperous and flourishing.
In Mercer County, a small colony of Swedes is established,
and seems to bid fair to succeed well. They located there.
within six or eight years past, and have within themselves the
elements — mechanics, laborers, clergymen, and others — to sus
tain the colony on their own resources.
Within a few years, a large and respectable colony of French,
from the frontiers between France and Germany, near the
Rhine, have located within the county of Jasper, and are pro
gressing and flourishing with the rise of the State. They have
turned their attention considerably to stock-farming — which has
added much wealth to their coffers.
Within six or eight years, colonies of Portuguese have been
established in IlUnois, one in Springfield, and another in Jack-

l84 MY OWN TIMES.
sonville. I presume the whole would amount to five or six
hundred souls. They were exiled from the island of Madeira,
and are now enjoying their Protestant religion, for which they
were banished from their native land. They are innocent,
harmless, and industrious people. They enjoy pulpit services
in their own language, and worship in the manner which is the
most pleasing to the Supreme Being, as they may conceive.
Several French colonies from Canada have located in the
county of Kankakee, in this State, and are doing well. They
have settled here within eight or ten years and are increasing.
They are Roman Catholics and sustain several churches.
Jn all the large cities and towns of Illinois, Europeans, mostly
German and Irish, have located to a considerable number with
in the last fifteen or twenty years, and in some localities the
numbers far exceed that of the native Americans. The census
of 1850, taken by the General Government, reports the foreign
population of Illinois to be 110,593 souls; and from foreign
countries in these numbers, are persons from England, 18,628;.
from Ireland, 27,786; Scotland, 4661; Wales, 572; Germany,
38,160; France, 3396; Spain, "jo; Switzerland, 1635; and
smaller numbers from other nations. The native population
of the United States, located in the State of Illinois, amounts
to 740,877. The above shows the relative population, natives
and foreigners, in Illinois, in 1850, to be about one foreigner
to every seven native Americans.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
The Canvass for Governor of the State between Governor Kinney and
the Author.
I decided in the Legislature of 1828-9, that I would present
myself for something higher than an office in the general as
sembly, or quit public employment altogether. And in the
summer of 1828, I could have been elected to the senate as
well as the lower house, but one session more was all I in
tended to remain in the legislature.
During the session of the General Assembly of 1828-9, the
conservative and reflecting members of the assembly, and
others from the different sections of the State, spoke to me,
and of me, to become a candidate for governor of the State in
1830. My course in the legislature for two sessions, and hfe
and habits generaUy, induced the leading characters all over the
State, to solicit me to offer as a candidate for Governor. A
great portion of these friends of mine took this conservative
course, as they knew Governor Kinney would be the candidate
of the furious ultra-Jackson party, that would govern the State
with a rod of iron, as to party rage and proscription. Pro-

MY OWN TIMES. 185:
scription for opinion's sake had just commenced, and was only
popular with the extreme leltra-politidans. Judge McRoberts
had commenced it by turning Joseph Conway out of the office
of clerk of the circuit court of Madison County, and it was very
unpopular with a majority of the calm reflecting part of com
munity. Governor Kinney had been to the city of Washington at the
inauguration of General Jackson, 4th of March, 1829, and had
considerable agency at the federal city, in the proscription
visited on the Whigs of Illinois. It was said he remarked, that
the Whigs should be whipped out of office "like dogs out of a
meat house."
At this time the State was in a rage and fury of party spirit,
and Governor Kinney, a popular, talented man, having also, and
his friends, the patronage of the General Government under their
control, it looked like an impossibility to succeed over him. He
and friends deemed it a matter of presumption and folly for me
to oppose him. I knew well all this. I also knew that I had
always been a consistent warm supporter of Jackson, and I had
also the friendship of the masses to secure them for me. I en
joyed the decided friendship of a large majority of the judges of
the courts, and the lawyers, who wielded an immense power all
over the State. I had served in the war, and in this election
they gave me the sobriquet of the " Old Ranger." My opponent
was not out in defence of the country, and although a small
matter, yet it had an effect in the election. I had the reflecting
and conservative influence of the State to support me; but the
other party enjoyed the energetic, 2^/^ra-furious Jackson-party,
with the power and influence of the most popular administration
of the General Government as heretofore stated. I was equally
the friend of Jackson and his administration, but had little or
no credit or standing by it, with the z^/^ra- Jackson party. The
Whigs generally voted for me as a second-choice, as they said,
in preference to Kinney.
Under these circumstances, the canvass commenced early in
the winter of 1829. I was announced in the principal papers
at the seat of government to that effect. Still, before I was
announced, my friends who were also not unfriendly to Gov
ernor Kinney, and his ultra-party, advised with them not to
give the "Old Ranger" the "cold shoulder," and opposition, as
they did, because he and party could combine strength enough
in the State to defeat the idtra and proBcriptive party, at the
head of which the Lieut.-Governor was acting. , They did not
believe it but treated me as "an outsider," too mild, and not
enough tdtra. I would not be used in the unreasonable and
ultra-work that many of the Jackson-party wanted to pursue at
that day. They wished me to labor for them, and they reap
the harvest. I set up for my party and self, which gave to

l86 MY OWN TIMES. •
many members of the Jackson-party great offence. I considered
my course right then, and do yet; that was to place so far as I
was able, the Democratic party, or the Jackson-party of that day,
on sound, reasonable principles, different from the other section
of the party. Our opponents entertained the ultra, rabid, and
proscribing spirit, while we were more calm and conservative;
yet as firm and honest in the party as our opponents of the
same party were. On these principles I was elected governor,
and the progress of public affairs proved them to be right.
Early in the spring of 1829, each party commenced operations.
Governor Kinney repaired to the city of Washington, as above
stated, to provide for his friends, and I to mingle with the
people throughout the State. I attended the courts in every
section of the country, and the judges and lawyers were gener
ally friendly with me, which gave me great strength in every
county. At that day the State was poor, and but few public Journals
•existed in it. The Illinois Intelligencer, edited by Judge Hall,
and published at the seat of government, had a wide circulation
and wielded considerable influence. This paper supported Gov
ernor Kinney warmly. On the other side, we had four papers.
One at Shawneetown, ably edited by Col. Eddy, and one other
at Kaskaskia, conducted with good ability, by Judge Breese.
Another at Edwardsville, under the charge of the talented and
efficient Judge Smith, and a fourth at Springfield, conducted by
Messrs. Forquer, Ford, and others. These papers were edited
by fine scholars, accompHshed writers, and gentlemen of dis
tinguished abilities. Judge Hall, the friend of Governor Kin
ney, conducted his paper through the campaign with marked
ability. The conductors of all these journals were finished and
polished scholars. Colonel Eddy, of Shawneetown, possessed a
sound judgment, and cultivated a particular knowledge of the
party-politics of the day. This enabled his paper to do good
service in the gubernatorial campaign. Judge Breese, of Kas
kaskia, was a profound and accomplished scholar. Nature had
gifted him with great powers of intellect, which, combined with
his fine scholastic education, made him the most, or, at least, one
of the most scientific and powerful writers in the State.
Judge Smith, of Edwardsville, was also a fine scholar, and an
excellent writer. The same may be said of Messrs. Forquer
and Ford, of Springfield. Ford then, even in his youth, wielded
an able and efficient pen.
The Miners' Journal was established in Galena in 1827, by
James Jones, and it gave me its support.
Judge Hall, whose paper, the Intelligencer, had almost as
much circulation as all the other journals, was acknowledged to
be one of the most scientific and polished writers in the State,
or in the West; and he poured out continual streams of red-hot
lava from his press that I felt on many occasions.

MY OWN TIMES. 187
I traversed every section of the State, and knew well the
character of the people. All my editorial friends, and others,
had the utmost confidence in my knowledge of the people, and
when I suggested any policy to be observed in their papers or
handbills, either refuted or published, these suggestions were
exactly carried out as I requested. This caused all acting in per
fect unison, which gave our cause great efficiency, acting under
one single conductor. These writers had embarked their inter-
rests with me, and we were either to rise or sink together, which
caused us all to exert our utmost abilities to obtain the victory.
The party excitement waxed exceedingly warm and bitter, and
these papers flooded the country with the most exciting, fiery,
and scathing handbills, as well as their ordinary issues. I would
often meet my name appended to a handbill that I never saw
before. My friends saw the necessity of such publications, and
not knowing where to find me, signed my name to them.
The first stump-speech I ever made on any occasion, was in
Union County, in the fall of 1829, and in it I recollect, among
other measures, I urged on the people the propriety of con
structing the Illinois and Michigan Canal. I was persuaded to
mount the stump, as the people expected it. I did not like it.
I made rather a clumsy performance as I considered it to be.
Both myself and Governor Kinney addressed the people in
public speeches, hundreds and hundreds of times, in this pro
tracted canvass. The people were so much excited, that meet
ings of the masses could be assembled at any time, and our
mode was to give notice for weeks previous to a meeting. I
have often addressed the people in churches, in court-houses,
and in the open air, myself occupying literally the stump of a
large tree. At times, also, in a grocery.
Addresses known as "stump-speeches," received their name,
and much of their celebrity in Kentucky, where that mode of
electioneering was carried to great perfection by the great
orators of that State.
But to return to the "stump." A large tree is cut down in
the forest, so that the .shade may be enjoyed, and the stump is
cut smooth on the top for the speaker to stand on. Sometimes,
I have seen steps cut in them for the convenience of mounting
them. Sometimes seats are prepared, but more frequently the
audience enjoys the luxury of the green grass to sit and lie on.
Often at these stump-speeches the ladies attended as well as
the voters. It is much more difficult to make a stump-address
than those who never attempted it believe. The orator must
know what is right to propose as measures, and he must also
make his speech interesting, or otherwise his efforts will be
useless. This public discussion is the best for the people, but
it is great labor for the speaker. In this canvass I was literally
exhausted by speaking and other labors. My last speech I

l88 MY OWN TIMES.
made, was on the day of the election at Jacksonville, where a
vast concourse of people attended. At no time did I say ought
against my opponent, but on the contrary spoke well of him,
as I had reason to do. I said that he was a natural great man,
and that the abusive handbiUs teaming against him were wrong,
and that I never circulated one, which was the truth. I ob
served that my friends were as free to act as I was in the can
vass, although I did not sanction these malignant circulars, yet
I could not restrain them. This conciliatory course gained me
votes. National politics and General Jackson entered largely
into the discussions. My opponent and myself did very seldom
meet at the same gathering of the people. I was in this can
vass the best-abused man in the State. In this campaign, that
lasted nearly eighteen months, I used extraordinary exertion,
as our party commenced vastly in the minority. Governor Kin
ney was also very active, and his friends still more energetic
than mine, if possible. He possessed fine natural talents, and a
fund of anecdotes that could not be surpassed. He used wit
humor, and ridicule to great advantage in his conversation and
public addresses. His position as a clergyman was a great
drawback on him, and almost all the Christian sects, except his
own — the anti-missionary regular Baptists, opposed him. The
support of the religious people was not so much for me, but
against him. He made unguarded expressions as well as I did,
that injured us both, as expressions were caught up and dis
torted on both sides. He was represented to have said tliat the
Methodists were like the blacksmith's dogs, being used to the
sparks of fire in the smith-shop, they could stand the brimstone-
fire below. He opposed the canal, and said it would be the
means of flooding the country with Yankees. These, and such
like expressions, made him many enemies.
It was reported on me, that I said I was as much for Jackson
as any reasonable man should be. This expression lost me
many votes, as the ultra-] ackson party were so exceedingly hot
and bitter, that they supposed me too indifferent
Many jokes were told on me. One was, that I saw a "scare
crow," the effigy of a man, in a cornfield, just at dusk, and that
I said: "How are you.' how are you, my friend.? won't you take
some of my handbills, to distribute." Many other tales were
- told on me, and some true ones.
The party rancor in the campaign raged so high that neigh
borhoods fell out with one another, and the angry and bitter
feelings entered into the common transactions of life. The
ladies were also enlisted in the contest, and many of them
electioneered with great force and effect
It was the universal custom of the times to treat with liquor.
We both did it but he was condemned for it more than my
self, by the religious community, he being a preacher of the
gospel.

MY OWN TIMES. 189
A great amount of money was bet on the election. I always
was opposed to betting on elections, and for many years past
have opposed gambling in any manner, but when my friends
consulted me, as to what majorities they could give, I told them
so many hundreds and thousand votes, and not one bet was
lost, as I recollect. I mention this to show the exact knowl
edge I had of the progress of the canvass. I gained this infor
mation by knowing well the people of the State. I was, and
am yet one of the people, and every pulsation of our hearts
beats in unison.
Many tricks were played on each by the other. One was,
that Captain Mathew Duncan had his saddle-bags full of hand
bills for Governor Kinney, and put up at the hotel at Jackson
ville. Our party had their messengers there also with docu
ments for our cause. In the night, our friends took the Kinney
handbills out of the saddle-bags of Duncan, and filled them
with mine. Duncan distributed the wrong documents for
several days, before he found out the trick. The country was
crowded night and day, with bearers of handbills, and many
were out to electioneer without any printed documents.
The canvass wore me down to a mere skeleton, and I used
up several horses during it. My friends waxed warmer than I
did. They urged me to be among the people day and night,
as they considered I could effect more with the people than any
other of our party. I always enjoyed the utmost confidence of
the masses, and could always advance our cause by appearing
among them, no matter how bitter and strong the opposition
may have been. At that day, the people themselves were con
sulted more than they are at the present. At this time, in 1855,
party-conventions and party -discipline decide the elections,
without giving the masses that- power and strength in elec
tions which a free government and the constitution require.
It is frequently stated by those who have no knowledge of
the people, that a candidate will make speeches in a place to
suit the people, and in another place different. This is untrue,
for if a candidate did so, he could not succeed at all. The peo
ple are underrated in this respect. The opposition are always
taking notes, and if different they would put down a man in a
few weeks, as he should be. These silly statements are all un
founded. When there is a great excitement every word and
expression of the candidates, and even those of their intimate
friends, are observed, and commented on. This makes it a
matter of the highest moment for a candidate to be, as he should
always be, extremely well guarded in his expressions. Gover
nor Kinney lost votes for want of attention to prudence. His
unguarded expressions, as well as mine, were frequently ex
ceptionable. The Whigs of that day were not properly organized no more

190 MY OWN TIMES.
than the other party, and* they were so weak that they pro
posed no candidate for the office, but made a choice between
Kinney and myself I think the majority of them supported
me, saying that I was not their choice, but between two evils
they would choose the least Governor Kinney received the
support of many influential Whigs, but I presume not so many
as opposed him. I was said to be the "second choice" among
the Whigs.
The extraordinary excitement prevaiUng induced the par
tisans on both sides to spend great sums of money in the can
vass, but I think that our party expended more than the other.
The majority for me was considerable, for the small popu
lation of the State at that time, twenty-five years ago.
It is the perfection of the American people to calm down
and become quiet and peaceable with one another directly after
an election. In a few months after this contest was decided,
the good sense of the people caused them to "forget and for
give" all previous bad feelings and bitterness, and amalgamate
as one people for the general welfare of the whole.
It may be considered vanity and frailty in me — but when I
was elected Governor of the State, on fair, honorable principles,
by the masses, without the intrigue or management of party-
discipline or corrupt conventions, I deemed it the decided ap
probation of my countrymen on my conduct, and consequently
a great honor. I had been raised in the country, before the
eyes of my constituents, and that too in an humble and obscure
situation. These circumstances made the generous confidence
of the people more highly appreciated by me, and I still hold
in my heart the liveliest feelings of graditude and friendship for
the people of Illinois, but were I to live over again another life,
I think I would have the moral courage to refrain from aspiring
to any office within the gift of the people. I am fully satisfied,
by both experience and mature reflection, that a person is happier
as a private citizen than as any officer of the government what
ever. By no means do I believe a person should be sordid and
selfish in all his actions, but it is his duty to advance the public
interest all in his power; yet cannot a person be more useful to
the public, if he possesses talents, in other situations than in
office.? A person who possesses the talents and qualifications to
instruct and improve mankind, and uses them to that end, is the
best friend to the human race. The principles of free govern
ment established and promulgated by Jefferson, John Adams,
Franklin, and others, did more service to mankind than their
actions in public office could have achieved. The morals and
ethics established and given to the world by Socrates, Plato,
Confucius, Seneca, and Cicero, do the human family infinitely
more service than any action of their authors in office could
possibly have done. Moreover, a public officer may toil and

MY OWN TIMES.

191

labor all his best days with the utmost fidelity and patriotism,
and the masses, who reap the reward of his labors, frequently
permit him, without any particular fault on his part to live and
die in his old age with disrespect Witness the punishment in
flicted on Socrates, our Saviour, and many others, for no crime
whatever ; and witness, also, the punishment, not death, but dis
respect and neglect visited on many faithful public servants
in the United States. Nevertheless, this contumely and disre
spect ought not to deter a good and qualified man from enter
ing the public service, if he is satisfied that the good of the
country requires it. It is not the honor or applause of the
people that should cause a person to act for the public, but a
higher and more noble principle should actuate him, and that
is, to advance the best interests of the nation without reference
to himself In such cases, when the faithful public servant can
look back and knows he has "acted well his part" his judgment
and ,^onscience will approve his conduct, and he is thereby a
happy man, independent of the applause or attention of the
people. He will experience, by acting it out, the happiness of
doing good for evil.
In this canvass was also elected a lieutenant-governor of
the State. Two candidates only were before the people for
this office, Zadok Casey and Rigdon B. Slocumb, and they are
both gentlemen of excellent standing and character, and both
are living, respectable monuments of pioneer-worth and merit.
Mr. Slocumb, although he possessed a solid judgment and sound
mind, had not practised public speaking, and did not indulge in
it; nor did he leave his residence, to any great extent, during
the canvass. Not so with Mr. Casey; he was active and made
many speeches to the people. He was a natural orator, and
his addresses always produced a favorable impression on the
masses. He had been in the general assembly for many
sessions, and had obtained in that body, and throughout the
State, a marked and distinguished character as a man of talents
and business habits. Although he had attended a log- cabin
school in Tennessee only three months, yet by his own efforts,
and comprehensive mind, he had become an intelligent and a
well-read man. He had at times occupied the pulpit, which
gave him the habit of pulpit -speaking, which was eloquent
and at times irresistable. He was modest, retiring, and unas
suming; with these qualities, and his activity in the canvass, he
was elected, although he was on the ticket with Governor Kin
ney. Mr. Slocumb and myself were placed by our friends on
the same ticket, and the others ran together generally. Being
both preachers of the gospel, it injured their tickets, but the
activity of Governor Casey, and his opponent remaining at
home, decided the contest in his favor.
Governor Casey, by his industry and business habits, together

192 MY OWN TIMES.
with the improvement of his mind, made a distinguished and
efficient member of Congress for many years. He served on
many important committees in Congress, and obtained a high
and honorable standing and character in that body. His atten
tion to business, and punctuality in attending the sessions, were
remarkable, and with these habits, and his sound mind and
judgment, he was a worthy and highly respectable member of
Congress. He possessed, in a decided manner, the tact and
talent of a presiding officer over deliberative bodies. He pre
sided over the Senate, as Lieutenant-Governor, and the House
of Representatives, as Speaker, with dignity and eclat. In
Congress, also, he has often presided over the committees of
the whole, with distinction, and the marked approbation of
the public.
CHAPTER LXIX.
The Author's Administration of the Government of the State. — Friend
ship to Opponents. — The First Message. — Education. — Internal
Improvements. — The Canal. — The Harbor at Chicago. — Improve
ment of the Rivers by Congress. — Penitentiary. — Public Lands. —
The Judiciary.
At the Gubernatorial election, August, 1830, as it hac been
already remarked, the State was convulsed and torn to pieces
by the bitter and furious excitement of the occasion but, when
the cause ceased, the party excitement also commenced to sub
side. The papers eased off, and I attended the courts, as a
lawyer, as I had before the election, when I had time. I was,
as a matter of course, kind, conciliatory, and grateful to the
people in my intercourse with them. I had much before me to
accomplish to realize what the people expected, and what I
really desired to do. My first object was to soften down the
pubhc mind to its sober senses. It has been my opinion of my
humble self, that whatever small forte I might possess, one was
to conciliate and soften down a turbulent and furious people.
In the case before me, in 1830, I was determined to act in such
a manner that neither my friends or myself would regret the
choice of myself for governor. In the first place, I was deter
mined to act rigidly right and to perform all my duties with
mildness and in such a manner that they would be above
exception or suspicion. It was my nature not to feel or appear
elevated, or excited at my success; but I discovered that my
appearance and deportment, at times, might look like affected
humility or mock modesty, which I sincerely despise, and then
I would straighten up a little. I treated my opponents, and
particularly Governor Kinney, with the utmost respect and
good feeling.

MY OWN TIMES. 193
In order that my readers may know the general tenor of my
administration, I give my first message entire:
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
Being called by the voice of the people of this State to the
highest office within their gift, it is with unfeigned distrust ol
my own abilities, and with the deepest sense of the great
responsibility of the station, that I enter upon the duties which
their kind partiality has assigned me. In entering upon them,
all I can promise is, a determination to do all in my power for
the public good, and faithfully and honestly to exert myself for
the general prosperity of the State. And it affords me great
pleasure to congratulate the immediate representatives of the
people, on their being assembled here at this time, and dele
gated for the same common object With our cordial co-opera
tion, much good may be done, without which, little benefit can
result from our labors.
Before I perform my constitutional duty, in recommending
such measures as may be deemed expedient, permit me to
observe, that the condition of the people is prosperous and
happy. Blessed with a fertile soil, and a healthy climate, in a
region where nature has, with an unsparing hand, poured out
her choicest blessings, our State is destined, at no distant day,
to become one of the first in the confederacy. While we pos
sess such exuberance of soil and mineral riches, we can also
justly claim a superiority over most of the States, in our com
mercial facilities, by means of our navigable lakes and rivers.
In the north-east through Lake Michigan, an outlet is offered
to the Northern markets. The Wabash River on the east, and
the Ohio on the south, both forming common boundaries
between us and the adjacent States, present the means of inter
communication with the North and South, whUe the Mississippi,
washing for nearly seven hundred miles our western border,
furnishes to the inhabitants, throughout the whole extent great
commercial advantages. Connected with these, our State is
penetrated in almost every direction, with other large and
navigable rivers.
Such is the advantageous situation of this State, that for
several years past a strong tide of immigration has flowed in
upon us, bringing with it a hardy and enterprising population.
No new State ever increased in its population faster than this
has done. When admitted into the Union, about twelve years
since, we had but little more than forty thousand inhabitants ;
now we can number more than one hundred and sixty thousand.
By this vast increase of population, the State has been greatly
improved in every particular. Its wilderness has been subdued,
and thriving villages and cultivated farms are now scattered over
almost its whole extent. The people are blessed with all the
13

194 MY OWN TIMES.
benefits of a well-regulated society, and while those of other
countries are suffering for some of the necessaries of life, we-
enjoy them in great abundance. How greatful ought we not to
be to a kind Providence for such blessings } And how earnestly
should we, by wholesome and salutary laws, endeavor still to-
improve our condition!
With this general and brief view of our situation, I will now
recommend to your consideration such measures as may require
the action of your legislative body. In the whole circle of
your legislation, there is no subject that has a greater claim.
upon your attention, or calls louder for your aid, than that of
education. Whether viewed in relation to our free institutions
of government or in relation to the individual happiness of the
people, no subject can more seriously engage your deliberations.
Upon the mere mention of the subject, you will recognize all
the advantages arising from it, and therefore will adopt such a
system as our means, and the condition of the country, will
justify. Congress has given us the means, by a wise course of legisla
tion in regard to them, to establish some system that will be-
highly beneficial. Besides the three-per-cent school-fund, now-
amounting to a considerable sum, we have the sixteenth section
in every township of the public land, within the State, and two
entire townships, for the purposes of education. Some of these
lands, at this time, are unproductive, and from which no imme
diate revenue can be realized. A proper appeal to the justice
of Congress would, no doubt, eventuate in obtaining other lands
in lieU of them. Therefore, I would suggest to your considera
tion the propriety of a memorial to Congress on the subject.
It is clearly my opinion, that some of the avails of this fund
ought to be used at the present time. The present inhabitants
of the State have a better right to its benefits than those who
may succeed us. They have suffered all the privations, dangers,
and hardships, attendant upon the settlement of a new country,
and are entitled, in common justice, to the favor of that country.
Although the future race of people, and their interest, ought
not to be overlooked in legislating on this subject, yet we ought
more to regard the youth now growing up in our country, and
to extend to them such aid and encouragement in the funda
mental principles of education, as our means will justify. It is
to them that the future fortunes of the State will be committed.
They wiU direct its movements, control its politics, and guide
its destinies. Therefore, it is all -important that they should
be instructed, and that their intellectual growth should keep
pace with their physical.
The internal improvement of the country demands, and will
receive, your particular attention. There cannot be an appro
priation of money, within the exercise of your legislative

MY OWN TIMES. 195
powers, that will be more richly paid to the citizens than that
for the improvement of the country. An enlarged and enlight
ened policy, in regard to it, will advance, in the greatest degree,
the honor, the prosperity, and the happiness of the country.
There is no State, where nature more earnestly invites, than she
does in this, the art of man to complete her work, or which
promises, when completed, more benefits to mankind. I am
satisfied that Congress possesses the constitutional power to
devise, and carry into operation, a system of national improve
ments with the funds of the General Government The appro
priation of money for these objects has become the settled
policy of the Government, and I am in favor of its continuance.
We have seen nothing but benefits result from it, and we cannot
anticipate ctvils. It has been sustained by public opinion, and
has gained on the affections of the people. It would be folly
for us, who have so much to gain by the system, to throw
obstacles in its way, but rather continue to give it, as we have
heretofore done, our undivided support. There is a manifest
difference between works of national and of local or State
concern. One class of improvements falls within the action of
the national, and the other within that, of the State Govern
ment. The contemplated canal between the Illinois River and Lake
Michigan, if we regard the mere location of it, being entirely
within this State, is local, but if we regard the benefits result
ing from it to the whole nation, and as a connecting link to the
great chain of inland -water communication between New-Or
leans and some of the Atlantic States, it is truly national.
The extent of inland navigation, which will be opened when
this canal is completed, will not be equalled in any country, and
its benefits will be very generally and extensively felt. The
political effect of all such works is also very apparent. They
will bring, andLbind more closely together, the various parts of
the extended confederacy. The report of the canal commis
sioners will be laid before you, by which you will learn all the
important facts connected with that great and to us and the
adjoining States, beneficial work. It is evident to my mind,
that we have not the means within ourselves for its immediate
completion. Nor is there any prospect for the speedy sale of
the lands, granted by Congress, sufficient to prosecute the work.
Some plan for raising a fund should be adopted, and if the
legislature should be opposed to loaning money on a moderate
interest I would recommend an application to Congress to
grant scrip, receivable at the land -offices in this State in
exchange for the lands heretofore granted and remaining
unsold. This subject being presented to Congress in its pro
per light, there is no doubt the application will be successful.
As the adjoining States of Indiana and Missouri have great

196 MY OWN TIMES.
interest in the speedy completion of this canal, I would recom
mend you to invite, respectfully, their attention to it, and ask
their co-operation in a memorial to Congress on the subject
As connected with this subject, the improvement of the har
bor at Chicago is of the first importance. The power to regu
late commerce is exclusively vested in Congress. And it is all
important to the success of that great interest that commodious
harbors should be provided. This subject should be urged on
the attention of Congress, and all reasonable means made use
of to effect so desirable an object.
The improvement of the navigation of the rivers adjoining,
and within this State, will be the subject of your serious con
sideration. Those improvements which are local to our State
will receive your fostering care, so far as our means will justify,
without embarrassment to the people. And those that fall
properly within the sphere of the operation of the General
Government, will be presented to Congress for its consideration.
The general good of the present and future population seems
to require the permanent establishment of three public roads in
this ¦ State, extending from its southern to its northern limits.
One to commence on the Ohio River, near its junction with the
Mississippi, and extending north, on the western side of the
State, by the principal towns on the most direct route to
Galena. Another to commence at Shawneetown, passing north
through the centre of the State, to accommodate the present
and future population, to the Lead Mines. And one other, to
commence on the Wabash River, near its confluence with the
Ohio, passing through the principal towns on the eastern side
of the State, by Danville to Chicago, and thence to the Lead
Mines. I would recommend that the roads be located by the
authority of the State, and the counties through which they
pass be required to keep them in repair, as other roads. And
for the purpose of raising a fund to construct|them, I would
advise a petition to Congress to grant to this State, as a dona
tion, each alternate unappropriated section of land over which
they pass. This would enhance the value of the adjoining land,
and be serviceable to all concerned.
I am aware that some of these roads may, probably, pass in
the northern part of the State, over a section of country to
which the Indian claim has not been extinguished. This
Indian claim ought not in my opinion, to prevent the State
from exercising her sovereignty over it. These Indians, from
their dependent and helpless condition, claim our commisera
tion and sympathy, but they cannot claim to exercise a
sovereign independence, as a nation, within our limits, contrary
to the rights of our State Government
There are many other roads in the State that equally deserve
your attention. The road from Vincennes, through this State,

MY OWN TIMES. 197
to St Louis, is much travelled, and will receive your legisla
tive care; so I might say of many others, which you will take
into consideration.
Throughout the State, there is discovered a general sentiment
in favor of a penitentiary system. The opinion is received as
correct, that solitary confinement to hard labor has gone farther
to reform convicts, and make them useful members of society,
than any other system yet devised by the experience and
wisdom of man. It wUl be for you to adopt such an one as
you may consider suitable to the country. The commissioners
appointed by the legislature have selected a very eligible site at
Alton, in Madison County, and have obtained a donation from
the proprietor of ten acres of land for the erection of the
necessary buildings. They have, likewise, contracted for the
building of twenty-four cells, which will be completed during
the course of next season. Their report will be laid before
you, from which you will learn all the necessary facts in rela
tion to it I would advise the completion of this work with
all convenient speed. Should there be a deficiency in means
already provided, I would recommend a loan of money on a
reasonable interest to enable the State to complete the work.
It would be a saving to the State, in relieving the counties of
an onerous burden.
The improvement of the Salines in this State is a subject of
no small concern to the people. Nature has been lavish in her
bounties in this particular, and has placed it in our power to
manufacture salt — an article of the first necessity to man —
more than sufficient for our consumption. The manufacture of
salt within ourselves should be encouraged by every reasonable
legislative aid. All articles which are necessary for our use,
and which we can raise, or manufacture within ourselves, should
be protected from foreign competition by adequate duties. A
system of protecting duties, on these articles, ought never to be
abandoned. For, laying out of view the advantages of a home
market, created thereby for our productions, it will render us in
fact, what we are by right, an independent nation.
In relation to our Salines, I would recommend you to adhere
to the policy heretofore adopted, which is, to consider them not
a branch of our revenue at this time, but to improve them by
an expenditure of the proceeds, now derivable from them, so as
to cause them to produce the greatest quantity of salt, and at
the lowest possible price to the consumer. By this policy,
money that would otherwise be sent out of the State for salt,
would be kept at home and circulated among us. And that
article can, also, by manufacturing it in the State, be obtained
in exchange for the productions of the soil.
The subject of the public land has, of late, been much dis
cussed among the people, and has excited the deepest interest.

igS MY OWN TIMES.
It is natural that it should be so, and that it should almost
absorb every other. Whether we consider it in reference to our
sovereignty and independence as a State Government, or in
reference to the speedy settlement of the country, the subject
is full of interest. Though I am satisfied that this State, in
right of its sovereignty and independence, is the rightful owner
of the soil within its limits, still I would not feel disposed to
disturb the harmony that should exist among the several States
in asserting that right. I am decidedly in favor, however, of
having the attention of the nation awakened on this subject,
for I am well satisfied that the more it is discussed the more
clear will our right appear. Not yielding this right and failing
to have it recognized, I would then be in favor of a surrender
to the State, on equitable terms, of these lands, and of address
ing a memorial to Congress on the subject. Failing in this, I
would then urge upon Congress the propriety and expediency
of reducing the price, and of making donations of land to actual
settlers. Thus are represented to your consideration the several modes
most likely to succeed in obtaining the desirable object — to
settle and improve the country — and to extend the sovereignty
of the State throughout its limits. I consider it our duty never
to rest satisfied until we have obtained these desirable objects
that seem to be so just and equitable.
It seems to me, the citizens who served in the late war, in the
defence of this frontier, whether enrolled in the service of the
United States, or doing duty as volunteer militia- men, have a
strong claim on the generosity of Congress for some remunera
tion in land for their suffering and service. The country was
then but thinly populated, and almost surrounded by the
enemy, and their whole time was devoted to its protection.
No time was allowed to attend to their private concerns, and
many of them now need the care of the Government.
Without a well-organized judiciary system, all 'the laws that
may be enacted will fail of their desired effect. Justice ought
to be administered freely and without delay to every man, and,
if possible, brought home to his own door. Under a proper
administration of the laws, peace, order, and harmony will pre-
\ail and every citizen be protected in his rights. This is the
case, so far as our system is complete.
The last legislature established one circuit, which may be
considered the foundation of the circuit-court system. In pro
portion as the population of the State increases, so ought this
system to be augmented; and from my personal knowledge
of the wants of the people and of the country, I am satisfied
that it is necessary to increase them at the present session.
The duties of the judges of the supreme .court are now very
laborious, and they will become more so as the population of

MY OWN TIMES. 199
the State increases, and new counties are erected. Yet, upon
this subject, as on all others whereon expenditure of money is
to be made, a strict regard to economy ought to be observed,
but in all cases where there is a necessity for an office, allow the
officer a liberal and competent salary. I do particularly advise
the propriety of establishing two instead of one term of the
supreme court annually. A delay of justice for one whole year
is almost equal to a denial of it.
The subject of our State Bank as connected with our revenue
wiU necessarily occupy much of your time. The true policy is,
in my opinion, to close the business of the bank so soon as a
proper regard to the interest of the State will permit. This,
too, ought to be done with as little oppression to the bank
debtors as possible. Within a short time, all the paper of the
bank will become payable. And although the bank policy was
most ruinous to the State, and many of its citizens, and only
benefited a few speculators, yet the State is in honor and
honesty bound for its payment at the appointed time. The
credit and character of the State are involved in the prompt
payment of this claim, and I do most sincerely recommend
you to sustain that character, which, no doubt, you will take a
pleasure in doing, by providing adequate means. The warrants
of the State ought not to be permitted to fall below par.
The propriety of reducing the ratio of taxation, which is now
so excessively high, is submitted to your consideration. The
policy of prolonging the payment of our State debt, and
thereby lowering the taxes, is a subject fit for your considera
tion. I cannot close this address, consistently with my feelings,
w^ithout expressing to you, and through you to the people, my
warm and sincere feelings of gratitude for their honorable confi
dence, which was lately bestowed upon me. This confidence
shall not be abused. The office of Governor of the State was
established for the good of the people, and not for the indi
vidual who may fill it Therefore, I shall consider myself fill
ing that office for the general welfare of the whole State. My
official care and patronage shall not be exclusively bestowed
upon a few men, and on a particular section of the State, and
.proscribe the balance. Proscription, "for opinion's sake," is,
in my opinion, the worst enemy to a republic. It is the birth
right of every freeman to express his political sentiments
frankly and freely at the polls of an election, or elsewhere,
without the hope of reward or the fear of punishment There
fore, all those who honestly and honorably supported my
respectable opponent, in the late election for governor, shall
experience from me no inconvenience on that account. I will
say, in the language of the patriot Jackson, that "the right of
opinion shaU suffer no invasion from me." And I confidently

200 MY OWN TIMES.
hope that the good people of Illinois will unite and harmonize
together in a spirit of peace and good-will to one another, to
promote the welfare of our common country, and to banish
forever that monster, party- spirit, which does not spare the
reputation of the living or the dead.
This State is a constituent part of the national repubUc, and
it is our duty, as well as it is our interest, to unite and support
that republic, and its present administration, in all its republi
can measures, according to the principles of the Constitution.
And for the general prosperity of the country, I supported
President Jackson for the distinguished station which he now
occupies, and having the fullest confidence in his talents and
integrity to administer the government on republican principles,
I hope that he will consent to serve another presidential term.
The union of the people of the several States forming the
National Government, is the palladium of our political safety,
and should be preserved at all hazards. Every attempt toward
its dismemberment will be resisted by every good man.
With the united exertions of the people for the good of the
public, and with the blessings of Heaven, which I sincerely
implore, we may confidently hope to be a great and happy
^"t^'ember Sth, 1830. J^HN REYNOLDS.

CHAPTER LXX.
Continuation of the State Administration by the Author. — Mixture oi
Party. — Election of Treasurer. — -Prosecuting Attorneys. — Signs of
the Black -Hawk War. — Counties formed. — Northern Boundary oi
the State. — The Canal.
The office of governor of a State, except it is held by extra
ordinary men, such as Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and a very
few others, is a high-sounding and pompous position, without
the power to do much good.
I immediately discovered I could effect nothing in the legis
lature, in the office of governor, as I did as a member of the
general assembly. I stated often to my friends, that in ordinary
administration of the State government a governor held the
position of a chairman of a town meeting. The chairman kept
order, put the questions, and declared the vote of the meeting,
but he could not act in the assembly. The same with the gov
ernor of a State — he must see there is order preserved, the laws
executed, recommend to the legislature, sign the laws and com
missions and keep a clear skirt on, but act none and vote none.
But in times of war, and similar cases, then he is called upon to
act and often incurs great responsibility.

MY OWN TIMES. 20r
The first session of the general assembly was excited and
furious, as the members were elected in the heat of party ex
citement, and not enough of time had intervened for party-
rancor to subside. It was a kind of triangular party that
actuated the members of this legislature. The parties of Whig
and Democrat existed to some considerable extent; but the
immediate party, which arose between Gov. Kinney and myself,
was the most bitter, and raged to the greatest extent The
moderate Jackson -men, and the tdtra- Jackson party, were,
many of them, exceedingly unfriendly to each other. Under
these circumstances, it required much circumspection and pru
dence for the Governor to conciliate the general assembly. A
majority on a joint ballot of the legislature was' friendly to
me, but I was in the majority in the Senate. This made it
unpleasant and injurious to the public interest, for the Execu
tive and the Senate to disagree when they were compelled to
act together on executive business. The Governor at that day
had considerable patronage.
In many cases, the Senate and myself, as governor, did not
agree. One instance was the secretary of State, A. P. Field,
Esq. The Senate wished me to remove or renominate him to
the Senate, so they might reject him. Resolutions passed the
Senate to this effect. I considered the secretary was a kind of
executive officer, and I would not be bullied out of my notions
of propriety. I would neither remove him nor renominate
him. He remained in office during my administration. I dis
regarded their resolutions. I had the people with me, and I
feared nothing. Another notable case was that of the prose
cuting attorneys. At that time, three, and I think four, prose
cuting attorneys — Henry Eddy, Sidney Breese, Thomas Ford,
and Alfred Cowles — were in office, and had performed their
duties well, to my own knowledge, under the administration of
Governor Edwards. I nominated them to the Senate, and they
were all rejected except Thomas Ford. I knew there could be
no fault found to these officers, except they had been opposed
to the election of Governor Kinney. I nominated them again,
and they were the second time rejected by the Senate. I
nominated none others, and after the close of the legislature I
appointed the gentlemen above mentioned to their former
offices. We all were in an excited state then, and there is some
doubt if I had the power to make the appointments, under the
Constitution. But our party, with the people, was sustained,
and the next legislature approved of aU my official actions.
During this session of the general assembly, the election of
the State treasurer presented a singular position of these double
parties. James Hall was the incumbent in the office, and was
again an applicant for the position. He was a Whig, opposed
to the administration of General Jackson. John Dement, a

202 MY OWN TIMES.
member of the legislature, was a candidate also for the office,
and was a Jackson man. Judge Hall had been strong and
zealous for the election of Governor Kinney, and wielded much
influence in his paper, the Illinois Intelligencer, at the seat of
government Colonel Dement had been an active and efficient
friend of mine in the canvass for governor. It was strange to
witness the canvass for this office. Ultra Whigs and Democrats
often met in council together, before the election. Judge Hall,
although a Whig, was mostly supported by Democrats, but
Colonel Dement was elected.
The zeal and party feelings engendered in the gubernatorial
election governed, to a great extent, this election, as both can
didates were competent and worthy men. Our party being
mostly composed of the original Jackson men, was firm,
efficient, but not prescriptive. We gave the administration of
Jackson a decided and efficient support. The other segment
of the Democratic party had been mostly for Crawford for
President, and were ultra and prescriptive. At that time, pro
scription, for "opinion's sake," was not popular, and the course
we pursued was approved by the people. Proscription became
more popular afterward in this State.
I had received memorials and messages from the section of
country around Rock Island, informing me that a part of the
Sac Indians, with Black Hawk at their head, were hostile to the
citizens, and would not leave the lands they had sold to the
¦General Government. These lands were occupied by citizens
who had bought them of the Government. I brought the sub
ject before the legislature in 1830. The House of Representa
tives reported strong resolutions condemning the acts of the
Indians, and calling on the United States to remove them.
This language is used in the preamble, "whereas, it has been
satisfactorily made known to this general assembly, that certain
bands of Indians, commanded by the well-known chief, Black
Hawk, have been in the habit of hunting upon ceded lands,
within the limits of this State, committing trespasses upon the
lands of individuals by making sugar, and destroying their
sugar trees, killing their hogs, stealing their horses, and other-
v/ise so demeaning themselves as to keep up a constant state of
alarm among the settlers of the northern part of our State, and
calculated to prevent others from settUng upon lands which
they have honestly paid for."
These resolutions passed, and are the first official action of
the State Government in the case of the Black- Hawk war, in
my administration; but Governor Edwards, in the previous
legislature, had presented the subject in petitions frond the
people settled around the Sac village of Indians. The narra
tion of the Black-Hawk war will commence in the next chapter.
The country was still improving rapidly, and the general

MY OWN TIMES.

203

assembly of 1830 and 1831 established the counties of Jasper,
Rock Island, Cook, McLean, La Salle, Putnam, and Coles.
The whole northern section of the State was filling up, but the
Black-Hawk war arrested it for two years, considerably.
An act of this general assembly authorized me, as Governor,
to appoint a commissioner to run and mark the State line on
latitude forty-two degrees and thirty minutes north. I ap
pointed Messrs. Braily and Messenger to run the line, but at
last John Messenger, of St Clair County, performed the service.
I knew he was a talented and scientific mathematician, who was
capable of doing the subject justice, and I believe the fine run
by him and the Hon. Lucius Lyon, of Michigan, has given
general satisfaction to both States, Illinois and Wisconsin.
An act was passed by this general assembly to fund the old
State-Bank paper if it could not be redeemed in cash. Stock
was issued bearing an interest of six per cent per annum. This
act, and others, put the currency of the State at par, which
advanced the country very much.
Under the United States census of 1830, the State was laid
off into three districts for representatives to Congress, and an
election for the members was ordered to be held on the first
Monday of August, 183 1. And, also, a general election in
August, 1832, should be held for three members of Congress,
and every two years thereafter. This last law provided that
the members of Congress should be elected one year or more
before the session of Congress for which they were elected.
An act was also passed by this general assembly authorizing
the Governor to appoint a board of xanal commissioners. I
appointed Jonathan H. Pugh, Bowlmg Green, and Charles
Dunn, commissioners.

CHAPTER LXXL
The Black-Hawk War. — Sketch of the Life of the Indian Warrior,
Black Hawk.— He Attacks Fort Madison in 1811. — Joins the
British, in Canada, Against the Americans, in 1812, in the late War
with Britain. — He is in many Battles against the Americans, on the
Mississippi, in the same War.
The Black- Hawk war having occurred in MY OWN TIMES,
it will be appropriate for me to record it. And I may say, in
an humble manner, as .^neas said in narrating the sacking of
Troy to Queen Dido, "a great part of which I was." From my
opportunities of knowing, I presume the following brief history
of that war will be found to be accurate and correct. As the
celebrated warrior, Black Hawk, figured so conspicuously in
this war, it is proper to give a sketch of his life.

204 MY OWN TIMES.
Macuta Makicatah is the Indian name for Black Hawk. This
warrior was born in the Sac VUlage in the year 1767, and was
an Indian of some considerable talents and shrewdness. I have
met him in council and have heard him speak, and I have a
slight personal knowledge of his character besides what his
actions would afford me. When I first saw him in council, at
Rock Island, in 183 1, he appeared "stricken in years" — being
then 64 years old — and he deported himself in that demure,
grave, and formal manner incident to almost all Indians. He
seemed to possess a mind of more than ordinary strength, but
slow and plodding in its operations. He appeared to me to
possess not such genius or talents that would enable him to
take the lead in a great emergency, and conduct a great enter
prise to a successful conclusion. He might have had the talents
to conduct a small marauding party with success, but he pos
sessed not such intellect as could combine together great dis
cordant elements into harmonious operation. His mind sunk
low in comparison with the great Indian characters, such as
Pontiac, Brant, Tecumseh, and such illustrious men. His own
townsman and rival, Keokuk, possessed, in my judgment, more
intellect than his rival. Black Hawk. Keokuk was gifted with
an extraordinary strength of mind. Black Hawk, in 183 1,
seemed to be laboring under a weighty melancholy and de
pression of spirits. The army of mounted volunteers, twelve
or fifteen hundred strong, panting for Indian blood, right or
wrong, had, a day or two before, driven him and his band off
from the east side of the river, which circumstance had, I
thought, given him sad Emd melancholy impressions at the time.
The person of Black Hawk was large and well developed. His
forehead was rather large, and presented such a formation as
indicates a class of Indian intellect above ordinary strength.
At the time I saw him he seemed more inclined to council than
to action. He gave in his biography a tradition, that his great
grandfather resided in Montreal, and that the nation emigrated
West to Rock Island. From this point they forced away the
Kaskaskia Indians, and occupied it themselves.
Black Hawk was a warrior — taking it from his own state
ments — from the age of fifteen, and fought the savages, who
were the hereditary enemies of his nation. The number of the
enemy he says he has killed staggers belief, but no doubt he
was, in his youth, an active and efficient warrior. His passion
and ambition were to distinguish himself as a great warrior. It
appears he was merciful to the weak, the women, and chUdren.
It is due to the Indian character to state, that the only main
road for an Indian to distinguish himself and become a great
man is in war. So soon as he kills or wounds an enemy, he
may paint on his blanket a bloody hand, which will entitle him
to a seat in the councils. This standard of character and honor

MY OWN TIMES. 205
makes it the duty, rather than a crime, of an Indian to appear
foremost in the ranks of the war-parties, so that he may be
a warrior, and not such a bad character as he is sometimes
esteemed by the whites.
In 1810 and 181 1, Black Hawk and comrades were "nursing
their wrath to ke*ep it warm," against the whites. A party of
Sacs, by invitation, went to see the prophet, at Tippecanoe;
they returned poisoned against the Americans. A party of
Winnebagos had taken some white scalps, which excited for
murder the Sac band, headed by Black Hawk. A part of his
band, and some Winnebagos, attacked Fort Madison in 181 1 —
after the Tippecanoe battle — but after a hard day's fighting
they were repulsed. Black Hawk headed the Sacs in this
attack. In 18 1 2, the British emissaries arrived at Rock Island with
goods, and bad counsel, which induced ,Black Hawk and five
hundred warriors to go with Colonel Dixon to Canada. When
they reached Green Bay, they found numbers of Kickapoos,
Winnebagos, Ottawas, and Pottawatomies camped there, all in
fine spirits, and under the command of Colonel Dixon. Black
Hawk and Big Crow were at the battles of River Rasin, the
Lower Sandusky, and other places, but soon found that there
was hard fighting on this frontier and small spoils. He and
twenty comrades left for the Sac Village at Rock Island.
Black Hawk had the fire of war and hatred of the whites
impressed strongly in his heart, and remained idle at his village
only a short time. He raised a war-party of about thirty war
riors, and proceeded to the Quivre-River Settlement, in Mis
souri. Here he had a hard battle with some United States .ran
gers. The rangers ran him and eighteen other warriors into a
sink-hole, and around this den in the earth was some fighting
and much manoeuvring. The Indians in the earth supposed
they would be destroyed, and some of them commenced to sing
their death-song. They burrowed deep in the earth, and only
one Indian was killed in the sink-hole. The whites made a
moving battery on wagon-wheels, and fired into the hole, but
kiUed but the one Indian. One of the rangers on this battery,
at the brink of the hole, permitted his head to extend too far
out and was killed by the Indians. This smoky and singular
battle continued until dark, when the Indians on the outside
called to those in the den, so that the rangers supposed they
would be outnumbered, and they left the Indians in the ground,
and also those on the ground. Black Hawk says that they put
the dead Indian on top of the white man and left in triumph.
For many years before the. Black -Hawk war commenced,
Keokuk and Black Hawk were hostile rivals. One party was
for peace and the Americans, while the other. Black Hawk's,
were unfriendly to the United States and on the best of terms

206 MY OWN TIMES.
with the British Government. This is the reason the tribe
under Black Hawk was called "the British Band." Black
Hawk would not receive any annuities from the United States,
but went to Canada every year for presents from his British
father. He had assembled around him a restless and turbulent
class of Indians, and those who disliked the United States.
They were about the same class of Indians that the prophet
had with him at Tippecanoe, in 1811, when General Harrison
fought the battle there.
Black Hawk and his band stood exceedingly hostile to the
United States and to Keokuk, the chief of the Sac and Fox
Indians, and friendly to the British, just before the commence
ment of the war, in 1831.

CHAPTER LXXn.
The Black-Hawk War Continued.— The Cause of the War.— the Hos
tility of the British Band of Sac and Fox Indians to the Whites. —
Petitions and Affida-vdts Proving the Facts. — CompeUed to Call Out
Troops to Defend the Citizens. — Regret the Necessity.
The cause of the Indian war was the determination of Black
Hawk and his band to remain in their ancient village, situated
on Rock River, a few miles from its mouth, after the Govern
ment of the United States had, by various treaties, purchased
the village, and the whole country, from the Sac and Fox tribes
of Indians. The Government had also the public lands sur
veyed, and in 1828, some of the lands, in and around this
ancient Indian village, were sold, and the purchasers residing on
it. The collision between the two races, for the same territory
and property, produced the first disturbance between the
Indians and the Government.
In 1824, General Harrison, in St. Louis, made a treaty with
the Sac and Fox nations, by which the lands, including the old
Sac VUlage, and a great tract of country, was purchased, and
ever since the purchase, the tribes received their annual salaries
for the land. .After the war of 1812, in the year .1815, the Sac
and Fox Nation confirmed the first treaty, which was made in
1804, at St Louis. At the treaty of 1815, Black Hawk and his
band were not present, but the next year, in 18 16, he, with his
tribe, agreed to the treaty, and he himself said, "I touched the
goose quill," in confirming the treaty.
The warriors of the Nation knew all about these treaties,
and when the Government surveyed and sold the lands, includ
ing the old Sac Village, Keokuk, the main chief of the Nation,
and most of the Indians, abandoned the east side of the Missis
sippi and located themselves on the west side.

MY OWN TIMES. 207
Black Hawk used such arguments as these to deceive and
entrap his Indian followers: that land cannot be sold; that
the treaties were void, as they were fraudulent; and that the
Nation was not consulted when the treaty was made in 1804;
when in fact these treaties were made as equitable, and by
as honorable commissioners as any treaties were ever made in
the United States. President Jefferson and the Senate of his
day confirmed the treaty of 1 804, made in St. Louis by an hon-
eSt and upright man, General Harrison.
I have been this much in detail, to show the utter fallacy of
the positions taken by Black Hawk and by many of his white
hypocritical sympathizers. It was the want of sound judg
ment, in Black Hawk, and his malignant hostility to the whites,
together with promises of support from the Indians residing on
the frontiers of the country, that caused him to attempt to
remain in his village, in defiance of the power of the General
Government. Every argument and entreaty was resorted to by
all of his ancient and trusty friends. Even the British authorities
of Canada, whom he consulted, advised him to leave his village,
if he had sold it. The Government of the United States waited
on him for a long time, thinking he would come to his senses
and abandon his village. In fact, the good feeling and kind
ness of the Government were misconstrued by him into a belief
that the United States either would not or could not move him
from the east to the west side of the river. Not a single good
and intelligent man in the State desired a collision with an insig
nificant and infatuated band of Indians, but at the same time,
the peaceable citizens, residing on their own lands, must be pfo-
tected from the assults of a contemptible and ignorant foe, as
well as from an enemy of a different character.
I was well apprised, long before, of the difficulties and colli
sions existing between the Indians at the Sac Village and the
inhabitants, but in the early spring of 183 1, petitions and mes
sages almost daily reached me, as Governor, at my residence in
Belleville. The first petition that I received was dated April 30, 1831,
stating, among many other things, that "last fall the Black-
Hawk band of Indians almost destroyed all of our crops, and
made several attempts at the owners' lives, when they attempted
to prevent their depredations, and actually wounded one man
by stabbing him in several places. This spring, they act in a
much more outrageous and menacing manner." The petition
further states that there are six or seven hundred Indians
among them, and they report more are coming. The Indians
stated that the Winnebagos and Pottawatomies are to join
them, if necessary. This petition was signed by thirty-five or
forty persons.
On the 1 8th May of the same year, another petition was sent

208 MY OWN TIMES.
to me, stating substantially the same outrages committed by
the Indians as above mentioned, and that if relief did not soon
arrive, that the inhabitants would be compelled to abandon their
crops and homes. The petitioners state in this second petition
that "the Indians pasture their horses in our wheatfields, shoot
our cows and cattle, and threaten to burn our houses over our
heads if we do not leave."
Several depositions, sworn to, were presented to me. B. F.
Pike states, on oath, that "the number of warriors is about three
hundred ; that the Indians have, in various instances, done much
damage to the said white inhabitants, by throwing down their
fences, destroying their fall grain, pulling off the roofs of houses,
and positively asserting if they did not go away the warriors
would kill them.
This information placed me in great responsibility. If I did
not act, and the inhabitants were murdered, after being in
formed of their situation, I would be condemned "from Dan to
Bersheba;" and if I levied war, by raising troops, when there
was no necessity for it, I would also be responsible. I had been
just elected governor, and my friends had pledged myself and
themselves, that I would act rightly and honorably in all my
official duties. This made me feel, if possible, more responsi
bility to friends than to myself I passed a few weeks of in
tense feeling in relation to my duty.
Having before me a vast amount of information, all tending
to establish the following facts: that about three hundred war
riors, headed by a hostile war-chief. Black Hawk, were in pos
session with the citizens of the old Sac Village, near Rock Isl
and; that the Indians were determined to retain possession of
the country by force; and that they had already done mischief
to the citizens. I knew, also, that the citizens had applied to
the Indian agents, and the military officers of the United States,
and had obtained no relief I was well aware that, in this kind
of a war, there was but one step between the sublime and the
ridiculous, and that I was incurring a great responsibility. On
mature reflection, I considered it my duty to call on the volun
teers to move the Indians to the west side of the Mississippi, ac
cording to the treaty made by the General Government with
them. Accordingly, on the 26th of May, 183 1, without any re
quisition from the United States, I made a call on the militia
for seven hundred mounted men.

MY OWN TIMES. 209

CHAPTER LXXIII.
War. — CaU on the Mihtia on the 26th of May. — They meet at Beards
town on the loth of June. — Letters to General Gaines and Governor
Clark. — Their Answers. — The Speedy Appearance of a Large Army
Deters the Surrounding Indians.
It is astonishing, the war- spirit the western people possess.
As soon as I decided to march against the Indians at Rock Isl
and, the whole country, throughout the north-west of the State,
resounded with the war clamor. Everything was in a bustle
and uproar. It was then eighteen or twenty years since the war
with Great Britain, and these same Indians, and the old citizens
inflamed the young men to appear in the tented field against
the old enemy.
I knew that it was absolutely necessary to appear at the scene
of action with all possible speed, and therefore I appointed a
rendezvous of the troops at Beardstown, on the Illinois River,
on the loth of June. This gave the troops only a few days to
volunteer, prepare for the service, and march from this county
— St. Clair — to Beardstown, a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles, or more. In this time my orders had to be distributed to
the various counties nearest the scene of action. The militia to
meet, organize, and march to Beardstown, in fourteen or fifteen
days. This required the greatest exertion, but I was well ac
quainted with the people, and knew, I thought, the manner in
which to approach them. If I made the call on the volunteers,
and none turned out, I was a disgraced Governor.
In order to effect the speedy assemblage of the troops, I
called on none south of St. Clair, or east of Sangamon Counties,
taking those nearest the place of rendezvous. I had printed ex
tracts from the petitions sent me, and the depositions, circulated
throughout the country — showing the situation of affairs at the
Sac Village. Moreover, I made private and public speeches to
the masses, showing the necessity for the call on the troops, and
urging the people and my friends to turn out for the defence of
the frontiers.
The warm feelings of the late election for governor had not
yet died away, and my electioneering friends converted their"
electioneering fever into the military, which was a powerful
lever in the crusade for Rock Island.
When a calJ is made on the militia the number that will vol
unteer cann^ be exactly ascertained before they meet at the
place of rendezvous. In this call on the militia, more than
double the number that was called for — seven hundred — volun
teered. It was the most busy time in the year with the farmers,
14

2IO MY OWN TIMES.
yet hundreds of them unhitched their horses from the plow, left
their cornfields, and appeared in the army.
Another great responsibility forced itself on me — which was
to procure military stores and provisions for that army, the
numbers of which could not be ascertained at the commence
ment. This expedition, thus far, was on my own responsibility,
and, perhaps, the General Government would not approve of it.
I engaged two influential and efficient characters, Colonels
Enoch C. Much and Samuel C. Christy, and appointed them
quartermasters, with whom I consulted, and devised the plans
on which to procure supplies. These gentlemen were large tra
ders and merchants, which gave them a standing to effect the
object desired.
In all armies, the supplies are among the most difficult mat
ters to be arranged. So it was in this military expedition, but
it was accomplished.
On the 27th of May, 183 1 — the same day I made the call on
the militia — I addressed a letter to General Clark, of St. Louis,
superintendent of Indian affairs, and stated, "that I had called
out seven hundred militia to protect the citizens near Rock Isl
and from Indian depredations; but I considered it due to the
General Government to state that in about fifteen days a suffi
cient force will appear before the hostile Indians to remove
them, dead or alive, to the west side of the Mississippi; but to
save this disagreeable business, perhaps a request from you to
them, for them to remove to the west side of the river, would
effect the object of procuring peace to the citizens of this State."
I deemed it probable that if General Clark, who had great
standing with the Indians, would inform Black Hawk and his
band of their situation, troops being raised to march against
them, that they would cross the river and leave the citizens in
peace, but on the 28th inst. General Clark wrote me, and stated
that "he had made every effort on his part to move from Illinois
all the tribes who had ceeded their lands." He further adds:
"I have given the contents of your letter to General Gaines,
who has power to protect the frontiers."
On the 28th of the same month, I addressed a letter to Gen
eral Gaines, and slated: "I had received undoubted information
thai Ihe sectioji of the State near Rock Island was actually in
vaded by a liusLile band of Indians, headed by Black Hawk,
and in order tu repel said invasion, and to protect the citizens
of the State, I have, under the provisions of the Constitution of
the United States, and the laws of this State, called on the
militia, to the number of seven hundred men, who will be
mounted and ready for service in a very short time. I consider
it my duty to lay before you the above information, that you
may adopt such measures as you may deem just and proper."
I stated further that I would move against said tribes of Indians

MY OWN TIMES. 211
and, "as Executive of the State, respectfully request your
co-operation in this business."
General Gaines was then at Jefferson Barracks, below St.
Louis, and on the 29th inst., answered my letter by saying: "I
do not deem it necessary, or proper, to require militia, or any
other description of force, other than the regular army, at this
place, and Prairie du Chien, to protect the frontiers."
Both General Gaines and General Clark disapproved of my
raising troops to move the hostile Indians over the river. They
had not the information of the necessity of my movement which
I possessed. I urged on the levying of the troops; but I
received, not far from Beardstown, a letter from General Gaines,
dated at Rock Island, on the 5th of June, that showed the
necessity of my »peedy movement to protect the frontiers. The '
letter stated that "I deem it the only safe measure now to be
taken, to request of your Excellency the battalion of mounted
men which you did me the honor to say would co-operate with
me." He states in the same letter that Black Hawk had invited
the other neighboring Indians to unite with him, if a war should
ensue, and if that should be the case, more troops would be
required. I was very much rejoiced on receiving this letter, as it put
my whole proceeding on a legal and constutional footing, and
the responsibility of the war removed from me to the United
States. I believe it was the expeditious and efficient movement of the
mounted volunteers that quieted the Indian disturbances near
Rork Island. Black Hawk and his band were not in fear of the
regular soldiers. The regular army could not move with celerity
so as to strike terror into the hearts of the Indians. Moreover,
the Indians dreaded the backwoods white men. They knew the
volunteers were their natural enemies and would destroy them
on all occasions.
This class of troops raised and marched to Rock Island with
extraordinary celerity, and in such an imposing force that it
struck terror into the hearts of the Indians.
I knew at the time I made the first call on the militia, and
time has since confirmed it, that many of the Indians for hun
dreds of miles around the frontiers were hostile to the United
States, and had promised Black Hawk succor, and would have
joined him had not the extraordinarily quick and strong move
ment of the Illinois volunteers prevented it It is probable that
the determined and hasty volunteering of the Illinois troops
saved the Government from a destructive Indian war all around
the north-west frontiers.
After the suppUes were prepared to meet the volunteers at
Beardstown, I visited almost all of the counties where volunteers
were required, and placed everything in train, as far as I was
able.

212 MY OWN TIMES.
As has been already stated, I called on my leading friends,
told them the situation of the country, and my situation also.
They, and the masses, responded to the call; and more than
double the number called for appeared at Beardstown on, or
near the loth of June, 1831.

CHAPTER LXXIV.
The Organization of the Volunteers North of Beardstown. — Procured
Arms and Provisions. — Respectable and Distinguished Citizens
Joined the Army.
As this campaign progressed, I became more enlisted in its
success, which made me give it my undivided attention. I had
then recently after the election many bitter enemies at home
preaching, in an under tone, poison against the whole war, and
against myself also. Many would be pleased to see the whole
campaign fail, as that of General Hopkins did in 18 12, if it
would reach me. All things considered, to promote the general
welfare, I felt as much interested in the success of the campaign
as if it were a private expedition carried on by myself alone.
I had appointed two efficient and energetic officers, Colonels
James D. Henry and Milton K. Alexander, my aids-de-camp,
who, at my request, attended at Beardstown, and were good
aids in fact to me in organizing the army. It must be recol
lected that the most independent and energetic citizens volun
teered, and that they were not at first many of them accustomed
to military subordination. It required some attention to the
notions and opinions of the volunteers as to their organization.
Moreover, many citizens, competent and efficient characters,
appeared at the rendezvous for office. Many of these individuals
had standing, and their wishes were not to be disregarded. On
the whole, the proper organization of a volunteer army is a mat
ter that requires much serious attention, and a knowledge of
human nature. A volunteer army, without the proper organi
zation, and properly officered, will turn out a mob, and a dis
grace to themselves and country.
I appointed the Hon. Joseph Duncan, who was then a mem
ber in congress, brigadier-general, to take immediate command
of the brigade, and Samuel Whiteside, a major, to ,take com
mand of a spy-battalion. These officers were important to the
success of the campaign, and I took the responsibility to
appoint them. The other officers, except the staff- officers, I
ordered the volunteers to elect.
At Beardstown, the troops commenced to arrive in great
numbers, and they generally appeared by companies. They
were drille.d and trained under the direction of my aid.s, with

MY OWN TIMES. 213
as much accuracy as if they were regulars, so far as raw troops
were capable.
Another difficulty arose among others, that although I had
ordered each volunteer to procure a gun, but hundreds appeared
at the rendezvous without arms. We could not wait to procure
arms from a distance. We expected every day to receive infor
mation that the Indians and the citizens had had a battle at
the Sac Village.
It was fortunate that some of the State arms received from
the United States, had been ordered to Beardstown; but not
half enough to supply all. It occurred that a respectable mer
chant Mr. Earnst, in Beardstown, had a quantity of muskets in
his store, and we procured them for the troops. These muskets
were light, neat pieces, made with brass barrels for the South-
American service, and answered us exceedingly well. It was a
mere accident to find them in a dry-goods store. The troops,
among the best men in the country, came flocking in until the
number was swelled to near threefold seven hundred, the force
first called for. It would not do to turn these good men, the
supernumerary, back home. They had made arrangements to
leave home, and to send them back, their whole arrangements
would be frustrated. They urged that they appeared at my
call, and they did not know how it would turn out — that they
were with me, and they would stay with me. I took the re
sponsibility and organized almost threefold the number Gen
eral Gaines called for.
The main consideration that urged me to this policy, was,
that when we had plenty of forces at hand, it was folly to
appear with a bare sufficiency in the field to conquer the enemy.
That it would save the lives of the whites to have a large force
in the service — that we did not exactly know how strong the
band of Black Hawk was, and that many other Indians might
join his standard.
My policy in this humble war, in having a large force in the
field, was established to be correct by the contrary course in
the Mexican war. At no time during the Mexican war was
there a proper force in the field. At least threefold the num
ber of troops to what was in service ought to have been in the
field at the battle of Buena Vista, and at all the celebrated
battles in Mexico. But the victories were the more brilliant on
account of the few American soldiers engaged in them. But
suppose the armies had been cut to pieces by having an insuffi
cient force in service, when millions were panting at home for
the honor of the tented field. In such an event the adminis
tration would have been disgraced. But as the campaigns turned
out the annals of military history since the slaughter of the inno
cent people recorded in the Old Testament, down to the present
time, cannot furnish as many splendid and briUiant victories as

214 MY OWN TIMES.
were achieved by the American army in the conquest of Mexico,
under Generals Taylor and Scott.
The whole brigade was organized into two regiments and two
battalions. The first regiment was commanded by Col. James
D. Henry, Jacob Fry, lieutenant-colonel; John T. Stuart major;
Thomas Collins, adjutant; Edward Jones, quartermaster; and
Thomas M. Neal, paymaster. The captains were Adam Smith,
William F. Elkin, A. Morris, Thomas Carlin, Samuel Smith,
John Lorton, and Samuel C. Pearce. The second regiment was
commanded by Colonel Daniel Leib; lieutenant-colonel not
recollected; N. Butler, major. The captain's were H. Mathews,
John Hanes, George Bristow, WUliam Gilham, Kindall, Alex
ander Wells, William Weatherford. The odd battalion was
commanded by Major N. Buckmaster; James Semple, adjutant
Richard Roman, surgeon, and Joseph Gillespie, paymaster.
Captains, William Moore, John Laramie, and Soloman Miller.
The spy-battalion was commanded by General Samuel White
side, as major; Samuel F. Kendall, adjutant; John S. Great-
house, quartermaster; P. H. Winchester, paymaster. Captains,
William B. Whiteside, William Miller, and Soloman P. Witt.
In this manner organized and all the necessary supplies fur
nished, the brigade left the encampment near RushviUe, on the
15th of June, for Rock Island. I marched with the brigade
with my staff. Colonel E. C. Berry, adjutant -general of the
State. Col, M. K. Alexander, my aid-de-canip, and others. In
this volunteer army were many of the most distinguished men
in the State.

CHAPTER LXXV.
March to Rock Island. — Black Hawk and Tribe Abandon their Vil
lage. — The Volunteers Occupy the Sac VUlage. — Treaty with Black
Hawk and Warriors. "
The brigade organized, and marching in the large prairies
toward Rock Island, made a grand display. The material was
an energetic and efficient troop, possessing all the qualities,
except dtecipline, that were necessary in any army. This small
army was composed of the flower of the country, and possessed
strong sense and unbounded energy. They also entertained
rather an excess of the Indian ill-will, so that it required much
gentle persuasion to restrain them from killing, indiscriminately,
all the Indians they met.
The settlements were not extended at that day much north,
if any, of Monmouth, in Warren County. In four days of a
pleasant and prosperous march, the army encamped on the
Mississippi, at about two o'clock, eight miles below the Sac

MY OWN TIMES. 215
Village. At this point. General Gaines met the brigade with a
steamboat filled with provisions. Here General Gaines received
the troops into the service of the United States and took the
command. I had a severe attack of the fever, and was confined to the
wagon or the boat. It was considered too late to make a
-display before the Indian village that evening.
Here again I will state, that small circumstances may decid^
great events. The following remarks are not mathematical, but
ten to one they would have occurred if the army had reached
the river in the early part of the day. Then Black Hawk and
his band would have been on the disputed territory, and
.although the Indians might not have fired the first gun, they
were well armed and prepared for defence. Americans, and
perhaps many, with or without orders, would have fired on the
Indians. A battle would have ensued in which most of the
Indians — men, women, and children — would have been de-
troyed, and some fifty or eighty of the whites. How fortunate
it was that the army reached the river late in the evening, as no
one, with a few exceptions, desired to destroy these deluded
savages. It is the nature of an Indian to fight the most severely
when he is being destroyed, and to defend his family, he will
do as much as any one on earth. The headstrong Americans,
being so many in the brigade that hated the Indians, wanted
fun, and did not know the power and efficiency of the Indians
to kill, when they are hemmed in — that a bloody tragedy would
have been enacted if the Indians had been in possession of the
village when the army reached it. Providentially this calamity
was averted by giving the Indians time to run off the next
night Some believe General Gaines caused the army to
encamp on the river on purpose to give time for the Indians to
escape in the night, and some suppose that he and General
Duncan knew in the morning, before the army left the camp,
that the Indians had escaped. I was with Gaines on the boat,
and I did not know the Indians had fled until the army reached
the viUage. I sincerely thought there would be blood shed. I
beUeve Gaines was honest, and he arranged the steamer to resist
the Indian balls, and urged me to go below, for he said I was in
great danger on the deck of the boat. I remained on the deck,
but soon the word was that the Indians had escaped in the
night. I was glad of it. If Gaines knew of the Indians being
gone, he acted unfair to me, and I do not believe he would. I
think Gaines possessed strict honor and fidelity. Hordes of
Indians were seen lurking about the army, and were, no doubt,
spies. The army was encamped on this beautiful site, and made
arrangements for a night-attack, as was the case at Tippecanoe
in 1811. The Indians under Black Hawk were about the same

2l6 MY OWN TIMES.
class of fanatical, crazy people as surrounded the prophet on
the Wabash. These modern fanatics had also their prophet,
that dreamed dreams, and excited the deluded savages to a
state approaching insanity. No one could tell what they would
do. Not an Indian approached the army offering peace, and
the general opinion was that a battle would be fought. The
utmost vigilance was observed during the night, and no attack
!was made. Next morning, the volunteers under General Dun
can moved up the river, some several miles, to a position oppo
site the old Sac Village. General Gaines had a number of
cannon and artillerymen posted on a height on the other side
of the village, and within the range of the guns. In another
quarter was a strong force of the regular army posted, to aid in
the conflict if necessary.
Attempts were made by General Duncan to ferry Rock
River, but it proved too slow. He was shown a ford above-
where the army crossed the river.
General Gaines had cannon and regulars on his boat, and
moved the boat up Rock River near Woodruff's Island, in the
river, where the troops found a ford to cross the river. The
cannon was fired on the island, and the shore where it was sup
posed the Indians would be concealed to oppose the volunteers
crossing the river. The cannon was fired, and the army crossed
the river. When the village, supposed to be so sacred to the
Indians, was approached, not an Indian was found in it The
warriors, women, and children had fled during the night to the
west side of the river.
During this whole day it rained in torrents, so that the troops
were as wet as if they had been in the river. This ended Black
Hawk's bravado, and his determination to die in his ancient vil
lage. It never can be ascertained how many warriors were
under his command. They ranged from four to six hundred
men, and I presume there were at times as high as five or six
hundred. It is a fact, that many of the straggling and disaf
fected Indians of the surrounding tribes had at times joined
him, and I presume were with him at the village when the army
reached the Mississippi; but as Butler wrote the Indians acted,.
"He that fights and runs away,
May live to fight another day."

CHAPTER LXXVI.
Volunteers Camped on the Site of the Present Town of Stephenson. —
Stampede with the Horses. — Treaty with Black Hawk and Warriors.
I WAS so sick I could not ride on horseback, but remained on.
the steamer with General Gaines while the volunteers were

MY OWN TIMES. 217-
crossing the river, and the General firing the cannon. I am
satisfied that he supposed, and so did I, that there would be a
battle fought at the village. The steamboat was so fortified
that the bullets could do the pipes and steam machinery no
great injury. Rock River was narrow where the boat was, so
that balls could reach the steamboat with ease.
I was truly glad we were not compelled to destroy these
deluded savages, although they had been extremely insolent to
General Gaines some .short time before. Black Hawk entered
into a council with General Gaines, at Rock Island, sometime
before the army reached the Sac Village, and he and warriors
were armed with spears and tomahawks, and invited the Gen
eral out with his troops for a pitch battle. Notwithstanding all
this bravado, it is to the honor of General Gaines that he disre
garded this unbecoming conduct and treated Black Hawk and
his band with impartial justice.
Next morning, after the wet night in the Indian wigwams
of the Sac Village, the volunteers encamped exactly on the site
where the town of Stephenson now stands. The location then
was smooth prairie.
In a bend of the Mississippi, the horses of the brigade were
confined and a guard placed around them, but a steamboat
came up the river at night and alarmed them. They took what
is called a stampede, and run altogether in a confused mass away
from the river for miles. The guards were compelled to leave
their posts or be trodden into the earth. It required some time
to gather up the lost horses.
Black Hawk and his band landed on the west side of the
Mississippi, about twelve miles below Rock Island, and there
camped. General Gaines sent an order to him and warriors
that if he and his head men did not come to Rock Island and
make a treaty of peace, that he would move on him with the
troops under his command. In a few days, some of the chiefs
and warriors came over to Rock Island, but Black Hawk did
not appear. The general then sent peremptory orders for
Black Hawk and warriors to come to Fort Armstrong and sue
for peace, or he would chastise them. He had the power, he
told them, and he would exercise it if a treaty of peace was
not concluded in a short time. The Indians are terrified at
mounted Americans.
In a few days. Black Hawk, and the chiefs and headmen to
the number of twenty-eight, appeared in Fort Armstrong, and
on the 30th June, 183 1, in full councU with General Gaines and
myself, signed the treaty hereafter set out. Antoine Le Clair,
a man of good sense and excellent character, was the interpre
ter, and explained the whole transaction so that all the warriors,
including Black Hawk himself, were well acquainted with the
contents of the treaty and the whole transaction.

2l8 MY OWN TIMES.
In Black Hawk's life, he states that "when we arrived at the
door, (meaning the door of the council -house,) we were singing
a war-song, and armed with lances, spears, war-clubs, and bows
and arrows, as if going to battle." He further states that "I
told him (General Gaines,) I never would leave my village, and
was determined not to leave it."
The following is the treaty made and concluded on that
occasion :
Articles of Agreement and Capitulation made and concluded
this thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-one,
between E. P. Gaines, Major-General of the United States
Army, on the part of the United States; John Reynolds,
Governor of Illinois, on the part of the State of Illinois; and
the Chiefs and Braves of the Band of Sac Indians — usually
called the British Band, of Rock River — with their old Allies
of the Pottawatomie, Winnebago, and Kickapoo Nations:
Witnesseth, that whereas, the said British band of Sac
Indians have, in violation of the several treaties entered into
between the United States and the Sac and Fox Nations, in the
years 1804, 1816, and 1825, continued to remain upon and to
cultivate the lands on Rock River, ceded to the United States
by the said treaties, after the said lands had been sold by the
United States to individual citizens of Illinois and other States:
And whereas, the said British band of Sac Indians, in order
to sustain their pretentions to continue on the said .'lock- River
lands, have assumed the attitude of actual hostility toward the
United States, and have had the audacity to drive citizens of
the State of Illinois from their houses, destroy their corn, and
invite many of their old friends of the Pottawatomies, Winne
bagos, and Kickapoos to unite with them, the said British band
of Sacs, in war, to prevent their removal from said lands:
And whereas, many of the most disorderly of these several
tribes of Indians did actually join the said British band of Sac
Indians prepared for war against the United States, and more
particularly against the State of Illinois, from which purpose
they confess that nothing could have restrained them but the
appearance of force far exceeding the combined strength of the
said British band of Sac Indians, with such of their aforesaid
allies as had actually joined them; but being now convinced
that such a war would tend speedily to annihilate them, they
have voluntarily abandoned their hostUe attitude and sued for
peace. Peace is therefore granted them upon the following condi
tions, to which the said British band of Sac Indians, with their
aforesaid allies, agree; and for the faithful execution of which,
the undersigned chiefs and braves of the said band, and their
allies, mutually bind themselves, thpir lives, and assigns, forever:

MY OWN TIMES. 219
I. The British band of Sac Indians are required peaceably
to submit to the authority of the friendly chiefs and braves of
the united Sac and Fox Nations, and at all times hereafter to
reside and hunt with them upon their own lands, west of the
Mississippi River, and to be obedient to their laws and treaties,
and no one or more of the said band shall ever be permitted to
recross said river to the place of their usual residence, nor to
any part of their old hunting-ground east of the Mississippi,
without the express permission of the President of the United
States, or the Governor of the State of Illinois.
2. The United States will guarantee to the united Sac and
Fox Nations, including the said British band of Sac Indians, the
integrity of all the lands claimed by them westward of the Mis
sissippi River, pursuant to the treaties of the years 1825 and
1830. 3. The United States require the united Sac and Fox
Nations, including the aforesaid British band, to abandon all
communication, and cease to hold any intercourse with any
British post, garrison, or town, and never again to admit among
them any agent or trader who has not derived his authority to
hold commerce or other intercourse with them from the Presi
dent of the United States or his authorized agent.
4. The United States demand an acknowledgment of their
right to establish military posts, and roads, within the limits of
the said country guaranteed by the second article of this agree
ment and capitulation, for the protection of the frontier inhabi
tants. 5. It is further agreed by the United States, that the prin
cipal friendly chiefs and headmen of the Sac and Fox Nations
bind themselves to enforce, as far as may be in their power, the
strict observance of each and every article of this agreement and
capitulation; and at any time they find themselves unable to
restrain their allies, the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, or Winne
bagos, to give immediate information thereof to the nearest
military post.
6. And it is finally agreed by the contracting parties that
henceforth permanent peace and friendship be established be
tween the United States and the aforesaid band of Indians.
EDMUND P. GAINES,
Major-Gen. by Brevet Com.
JOHN REYNOLDS,
Governor of the State of Illinois.
Black Hawk and twenty-seven chiefs and warriors signed the
above capitulation and treaty of peace.

220 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER LXXVII.
The Close of the First Campaign in the Black-Hawk War. — The Army
Disbanded. — Corn and Provisions Given to the Indians. — Scenery
of Rock Island. — The Indian Villages. — Indian Tradition. — A
White Spirit.
Although General Gaines was a brave and stern warrior,
who aided much in raising the army of the United States to the
glory and grandeur it so deservedly possesses, yet his heart
responded in the kindest manner to the distresses of human
nature. The unfortunate women and children, pertaining to the band
of Black Hawk, were camped on the bank of the river, where
they had nothing to eat or nothing to cover them from the
inclemency of the weather. They had been deluded and ruined
by the bad counsels and worse conduct of Black Hawk and
other leaders of the tribe, but the helpless part of the band
could not avoid it, they were in the hands of the chiefs and
were ruined. Their distressed condition made a strong impres
sion on General Gaines and myself I know well my feelings
for these deluded people were strong. I recollect well the argu
ment I used to General Gaines — although, perhaps, he had as
much benevolence at heart as I had — I observed, that I pre
sumed this was the last time the Government would have any
trouble with these Indians; the women and children were not so
much to blame, they were starving, and that a support for them
for one summer was nothing to the United States; that the
Government possessed their fine country, and I could not be
satisfied to leave them starving. We gave them more pro
visions than they would have raised on the fields they had left,
and had it delivered to them at certain periods. But they are a
race of people who will not observe the least economy or pru
dence, and I presume they did not take care of the provisions,
and they were in want toward fall and winter.
Our treaty was ridiculed by the volunteers. It was called a
corn treaty. It was said we gave them food when it ought to
have been lead.
*" The army was disbanded, and returned home in good order.
According to my recollection, not a man was killed by accident,
or died of disease, during the campaign. All returned home
with the best spirits, knowing we had done our duty.
The scenery around Rock Island is not surpassed by any in
the whole length of the Mississippi. It seems as though nature
had made an effort in forming this beautiful and picturesque
country. Rock Island itself presents a grand and imposing
appearance, rising out of the waters of the Mississippi a solid

MY OWN TIMES. 221
rock, with many feet elevation. It is several miles long and
three-fourths of a mile wide. The rocks are covered with a
fertile soil, at one time with a dense forest The river washes
around its base with a rapid current of pure and limpid water,
and Rock River, a few miles south, is seen in the distance,
forcing its way with great rapidity over the rocky rapide, into
the father of waters. The country around is interspersed with
beautiful groves of timber, which gives to the scene a sweetness
and beauty that is rarely equalled. The blue hills in the dis
tance, directing the course of the river, are seen on the north
and south to rise with gentle slopes from the water to con
siderable elevations, and the valley between, embracing the
river, is some miles in extent, presenting a variety of surface
and beauty of landscape never surpassed.
On the west bank of the Mississippi is located the town of
Davenport, and on the east side of the river is Stephenson, the
county seat of Rock Island County. Both of these towns bid
fair to become places of considerable business.
On the lower part of Rock Island stood, in former days. Fort
Armstrong. It was situated on a high bluff of the island,
almost projecting over the river. This elevated position of the
fort gave it, from the river, an interesting and imposing appear
ance. On the north bank of Rock River, a few miles south of the
island, was built the old Sac Village. This Indian town was
the largest in the West, and has existed about one hundred
and fifty years.
On the Mississippi, nearly opposite and south of Rock Island,
was the village of the Fox Indians, the allies, relatives, and
friends of the Sacs. Time has consecrated both these villages
in the estimation of the Indians, who respect them as the Jews
did Jerusalem. ^
There is a tradition of the Indians as ancient as the Sac Vil
lage itself It is this: A good spirit once made its peaceful
abode in a cavern of the rocks, near the water, directly under
the site of Fort Armstrong. It was at long intervals seen, and
was as white as snow. Its wings were much larger than those
of a swan, and its voice, in the Sac language, was the sweetest
music. It was sent there by the Great Spirit to preside over
the Sac and Fox Nations of Indians, and to direct them in the
ways of wisdom and honesty. The Indians did not often
approach its holy residence for fear they would disturb it. It
delighted in goodness, but when the Americans arrived in the
country, they were so bad that this good spirit flew off, never to
return again.
It was the hostility to the whites, and perverseness of Black
Hawk, that gave so much trouble and expense to the United
States, and starvation and destruction to his own people. Black

222 MY OWN TIMES.
Hawk was a treacherous and evil -disposed Indian; and the
Eastern people, who extoUed him so much, and some of his
biographers, have attempted to give him a character and stand
ing on his fraud and treachery to the United States. .We aU
sympathize with the condition of the aborigines of the country,
but when we discover treachery and corruption in any person,
he cannot be sustained, no matter in what calamity his nation
may be suffering.

CHAPTER LXXVIII.
The Black-Hawk War in 1832. — The British Band of Indians Invade
the State. — Another Call on the Volunteers. — ^A Requisition by Gen.
Atkinson, of the United States Army.
During the winter of 1831 and 1832, I heard rumors that
Black Hawk and his band were dissatisfied, restless, and pre
paring for mischief I presumed he would not be contented, as
he disliked to reside near Keokuk, but I had not the most
remote idea that he and band would dare to attempt to recross
the river again, and occupy the old village. I thought this an
absurdity and imprudence that no tribe of Indians would dare
attempt after the proceedings of the last year.
The prophet, a chief of a band of Winnebago Indians who
had a village on Rock River, some thirty miles above its mouth,
joined Black Hawk on the west side of the Mississippi. This
malicious and dangerous man, like the prophet on the Wabash
River, in the late war with Britain, had great influence with
the ignorant natives, and counselled Black Hawk and his band
to their destruction. He made them believe that all the Indians
on Rock River would join Black Hawk, if necessary, and that
they could bid defiance to the white^ By this unwise counsel,
and by the bad intentions of Black Hawk himself, he and band
decided in the winter of 1832 to recross the Mississippi, and
reside again in their old village, on Rock River. This decision
was their destruction.
All winter. Black Hawk labored incessantly on the surround
ing bands of Sacs and Foxes for recruits, and induced many to
join him.
The British band, with Black Hawk at their head, assembled
first at old Fort Madison, on the Mississippi, and marched up
the river by land and water to the Yellow Banks, where Oquaw-
ka stands at this day, on the 6th of April, 1832. They
amounted to about five hundred warriors — women, children, and
dogs in proportion — and had with them all their horses, bag
gage, and wealth.
This hostile array of five hundred warriors, well provided with

MY OWN TIMES.

223

arms, and with a settled determination to occupy the country
again, spread a general panic throughout the whole frontiers,
from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. Many settlers, in the
greatest terrer of the Indians, abandoned their homes and farms,
and moved into the interior of the State. The whole northern
frontiers were alarmed, and almost daily messengers reached
my residence in Belleville with the above information. I knew
weU the character of both the frontier- settlers and the Indians.
One unlucky movement, on either side, might involve the whole
frontier in a bloody war; and I reflected, also, on the great
responsibility of levying troops at my own instance. But the
danger of the frontiers was so pressing that I decided, on the
i6th of April, to call out a large number of volunteers. I did
this on my own responsibility, as I had not then received any
requisition from General Atkinson, who commanded the regular
forces at Rock Island. But the General, near the scene of dan
ger, and about the same time, decided on the same course that I
had adopted. He had received letters from reliable sources that
the Indians were hostile, and that a war was inevitable. The In
dian agent, Andrew S. Hughes, stated to him that "those Indians
are hostile to the whites, and have invaded the State." Colonel
Davenport, a merchant of Rock Island, also wrote General
Atkinson "that from every information I have received, I am of
the opinion that the intention of the British band of Sac
Indians is to commit depredations on the inhabitants of the
frontier." On the same day that he received these two letters,
the 13th of April, he made a requisition on me, as governor, for
the amount of forces I deemed necessary for the defence of the
frontiers. He states that "the regular force under my command
is too small to justify me in pursuing the hostile party." He
further adds : " I think the frontier is in great danger, and will
use all the means at my disposal to co-operate with you in its
protection and defence."
To add still more to the wrongs committed by the hostile
Indians, they had, not long after the treaty in 1831, made with
General Gaines and myself, murdered, twenty-five Menomonee
Indians, under the protection of the United States, at Fort
Crawford, preparing to make a treaty. The Government called
on Black Hawk and the offending Indians to give up the mur
derers, which was entirely neglected.

CHAPTER LXXIX.
A CaU on the Volunteers.
Considering the inhabitants on the frontier to be in great
danger, I knew it was useless to raise troops if they were not
with the greatest speed marched to the frontiers; and with this

224 MY OWN TIMES.
view, I made the time the 22d inst, to meet at Beardstown, on
the Illinois River. This gave the troops from Monroe and the
counties on the north of the State only six days to organize
and meet at the place designated. I was compelled to exert all
the energy and influence I possessed to induce the volunteers to
meet as quick as above stated. I despatched influential mes
sengers to the counties where troops were to be levied, and I
addressed a circular to the citizen-soldiers in the following
words :
TO THE MILITIA OF THE NORTH-WESTERN SECTION OF THE
. STATE.
Fellow Citizens:
Your country requires your services. The Indians have
assumed a hostile attitude, and have invaded the State in viola
tion of the treaty of last summer.
The British band of Sacs and other hostile Indians, headed
hy Black Hawk, are in possession of the Rock-River country to
the great terror of the frontier inhabitants. I consider the set
tlers on the frontier to be in imminent danger.
I am in possession of the above information from gentlemen
of respectable standing, and also from General Atkinson, whose
character stands high with all classes.
In possession of the above facts and information, I have not
hesitated as to the course I should pursue. No citizen ought to
remain inactive when his country is invaded, and the helpless
part of the community are in danger. I have called out a
strong detachment of militia to rendezvous at Beardstown on
the 22d inst.
Provisions for the men and food for the horses will be fur
nished in abundance.
I hope my countrymen will realize my expectations and offer
their services, as heretofore, with promptitude and cheerfulness,
in defence of their country.
I left Belleville and visited the counties on my route to
Beardstown. In Jacksonville, I called on my two friends, Wil
liam Thomas and Murray McConnell, and they both volunteered.
I appointed Mr. Thomas brigade-quartermaster, and afterwards
Mr. McConnell was appointed a staff-officer. At this place, I
received a line from three conspicuous gentlemen. Judge Young,
Col. Strode, and Benjamin Mills, Esq., urging the speedy pro
tection of the frontiers, as the inhabitants were in great danger.
This letter was dated the 20th inst, at Dixon, which was then
in the Indian country, and informed me that the Pottawatomie
and Winnebago Indians had joined Black Hawk, and they
presumed war was inevitable. As soon as I received this
information, I ordered a levy of two hundred mounted-men to
guard the frontiers between Rock River and the settlements on

MY OWN TIMES. 225
the IlUnois River, and Major Bailey to take command of them.
On the 1 6th inst, I had ordered the same number — two hun
dred — to be raised, and commanded by General Stillman as
major. This corps was to guard the frontiers nearer to the
Mississippi. This spring, in 1832, was wet and backward, so that it was
difficult to obtain horses or to sustain them; but never were
troops more willing, and more speedy in offering their services,
than those troops were.
Major Long, of Sangamon County, appeared at Beardstown
with about two hundred volunteers who could not procure
horses, but they were received and marched as infantry. Such
patriotic men, who volunteered to march on foot with mounted-
men, I would not return home, let the consequences be what
they might. I appointed again my two commissioners. Colonels
Enoch C. March and Samuel C. Christy, to procure supplies
for the army, amounting, perhaps, to two thousand men.
The volunteers were organized into four regiments, a spy-
battalion, and an odd battalion. Elections were ordered of all
the field-officers, except the brigadier-general, to command the
volunteers, and the major of the spy-battalion. Colonel DeWitt,
was elected to command the first regiment; Fry, the second;
Thomas, of St. Clair. County, the third; and Thompson, the
fourth. Thomas James, of Monroe County, was elected major
of the odd battalion. I appointed Samuel Whiteside the briga
dier-general, and James D. Henry major to command the spy-
battalion. The following named gentlemen I appointed as my
staff: James T.. B. Stapp and Joseph M. Chadwick my aids;
James Turney, paymaster-general; Vital Jarrot, adjutant-gen
eral; and Cyrus Edwards, ordnance -officer. These officers
ranked as colonels, and were paid as such.
On the 1 6th inst, I wrote two letters to Washington City;
one to the Secretary of War, advising the General Government
of my military proceedings, and the other to the Hon. Joseph
Duncan to provide pay for the volunteers.
This campaign was similar to that of the previous year.
Many of the most conspicuous and influential men in the State
volunteered, whose condition in public life gave them a prom
inency that could not be overlooked in the organization.
I received at Beardstown, almost daily, horrid accounts of the
determined hostility of the Indians, which caused me to issue
orders to every county in the State to levy and organize in the
whole at least five thousand volunteers, to be ready to march at
a moments warning. As the war progressed so slowly, this cal'
on the militia turned out exceedingly well for the second cam
paign. The danger was so pressing on the frontiers that I could not
wait for wagons to convey our supplies, but on the 27th oi
15

226 MY OWN TIMES.
April ordered the whole army to march, with only a few days*^
provision to last them to the Yellow Banks. Colonel March —
Colonel Christy having resigned — was dispatched to St. Louis
for supplies, to meet the army at the Yellow Banks. I shipped
Major Long's battalion of infantry on a steamboat to meet the
army at Yellow Springs.
When I had all things ready for a march, I received a letter
by express from General Atkinson, informing me that the hos
tile Indians had, on the 28th of April, passed up Rock River.
This information was one day too late. If I had received it in
time I would have made Peoria the place to meet the pro
visions, and from that point to pursue the Indians — but the die
was cast. I could not do otherwise than march to the Yel
low Banks. It is probable that if we had marched by Peoria,
direct to Rock River, the campaign would have been closed in
eight or ten days.
CHAPTER LXXX.
The Army Marched to the Mississippi. — Swim Henderson River on
the Route. — Army out of Provisions. — Boat Arrives -ndth Supplies. —
March to Rock Island.
Early on a cold morning, the 27th of April, the army com
menced its march from the place of its organization, a few miles
north of RushviUe, to the Yellow Banks. The earth was very
wet and muddy, there being no roads, which gave the troops
some trouble in marching and crossing the muddy streams
without bridges. Toward evening of the third day we reached
Henderson River, which was high, the water running to the top
of the banks. The stream here, toward the mouth, is forty or
fifty yards wide, and runs like a mill-tail. No bridge, boats, or
any mode to cross it, except by rafting and swimming the
horses, and an army of almost two thousand strong stopped
at it. A great portion of the volunteers had been raised in the
backwoods, and rafting and swimming streams were familiar to
them. The army was separated in two divisions, and each com
menced to make rafts and cross the river. Some narrow points
in the river were discovered, and trees from each side were cut
in the stream, so that their tops reached and made a foot-way
on which some crossed. The horses were forced over by swim
ming the stream. We had little or no provisions. I think a
wagon or two were lost in the river, but they were recovered
again when the water subsided.
At the division where I acted in crossing the stream, Major
McConnell and others were very active in forcing the horses
down a high bank, so that they were compelled to swim over

MY OWN TIMES. 227
the river. Only one horse was drowned, and not a single man,
in' crossing almost two thousand volunteers, baggage and all,
over Henderson River. The crossing was effected in less than
three hours, all exerting themselves with that energy and vigor
that is peculiar to the backwoodsmen. It is astonishing that
two thousand men, horses, baggage, and all, could be crossed
over a stream of this size, in less than three hours, without the
loss of anything, except a horse or two. I believe the same
army, in less than one day, could raft and cross the Mississippi.
When we reached the Yellow Banks, we found no provisions
nor boat from St. Louis, although it was ordered to be there. I
was in a critical situation. I had a large army a considerable
distance out in the wilderness, and no provisions if the boat did
not arrive from St. Louis. This was a time I passed with deep
feelings of anxiety and pain for fear the boat and supplies
would not reach the army. An accident to the vessel might
occur, and thereby the army would be compelled to disband for
the want of provisions. This was my situation for three days,
the longest I thought I ever experienced. The army had liter
ally nothing to eat, and I heard murmurs escape the troops,
complaining of me for the situation I had placed them in. But
at last, one morning, the 6th of May, the steamboat William
Wallace, hove in sight in the Mississippi with plenty of pro
visions. This sight, was, I presume, the most interesting I ever
beheld. Colonel March conducted the boat, and arrived barely
in time to save the disaster of disbanding the army.
The evening after we reached the Yellow Banks, in a torrent
of rain. Captain Warren, of Shelby County, with his company
and another company, had swam the streams and joined us. It
afforded the army much pleasure to witness the energy of these
troops, and the volunteers greeted them with loud cheering.
Before the arrival of the boat with the provisions, on the 5 th
of May, I engaged three trusty pioneers, Messrs. Huitt, Tun-
nell, and Ames, of Green County, to deliver a letter that day to
General Atkinson at Rock Island, about fifty mUes from the
Yellow Banks, informing him of our destitute condition. It
was considered dangerous to swim creeks and the enemy lurk
ing about. The letter was delivered that day, and a boat of
provisions reached us the next day from Rock Island, but pro
visions by the William Wallace had arrived the morning of the
same day.
At Beardstown, I had dispatched three men, who I thought
were trusty, to visit Rock Island, and obtain, if possible, correct
information of the enemy. The army, if the Indians were not
too far off, would subdue them on the march to Rock Island,
and close the war in a few days. But to my unspeakable morti
fication, my messengers loitered at Fort Armstrong with the
officers, and did not return to me until they came in the boat

228 MY OWN TIMES.
from Rock Island to the Yellow Banks. Only a few men can
be trusted in every instance.
Soon after the arrival of the provisions, with the energy inci
dent to the Illinois volunteers, we had ten days' provision issued
to each soldier, and the baggage-wagons and all things ready
for a march of the whole brigade direct to Dixon, on Rock
River, where we heard of the enemy the last time. My spies
had no information, and we relied on the knowledge of the
enemy we received at Beardstown. But the boat just at dark
that General Atkinson had sent down to us brought a letter to
me informing me that Black Hawk and his band had descended
the Rock River, and the letter also contained a request for the
troops to march direct to Fort Armstrong, at Rock Island. We
would have disregarded the latter part of the order, but if the
Indians had descended Rock River, it was folly to march to
Dixon when we were informed by General Atkinson we woijld
find no enemy. We dashed our provisions into the boat in dis
gust, and all marched to the mouth of Rock River.

CHAPTER LXXXL
Volunteers Received into the United States Service. — March up Rock
River. — General Atkinson in Command. — Arrive at Dixon. — Orders
to Major Stillman.
We marched to the mouth of Rock River, where General
Atkinson received the volunteers into the United States service
and assumed the command. It was soon ascertained that Black
Hawk and warriors had not descended the river, but were still
up on Rock River. The army, under the order of Gen. Atkin
son, after receiving provisions, commenced its march up the
river on the 9th of May, in pursuit of the enemy. Although I
was not in command, it was considered proper by Gen. Atkinson
and myself that I should remain with the army, and I did so.
I discovered that my presence and council to the volunteers had
a tendency to harmonize and conciliate them with the regular
army. I had, immediately under my command, many troops
guarding the frontiers, so that I considered it my duty to
advance the service for me to act with the army all summer,
and I did so. Although I never requested it, the President
recognized me as a major-general, and paid me accordingly.
Not any time during the summer, and long after the treaties
with the Indians were made, did I know the rank and situation
the General Government recognized me in. I performed all the
services I did, on my own judgment, to advance the best inter
ests of the country.
General Atkinson, with the regulars, four or five hundred

MY OWN TIMES. 229
strong, with cannon and provisions, sailed up Rock River. It
was very swampy near the river, and the brigade was much
troubled with bad travelling, there being no roads.
It made us sorry to see often at the camp-ground of Black
Hawk a small dog immolated to appease the Great Spirit and
to relieve them from their calamity. It is the custom of the
Indians, like the Asiatics of olden times, to sacrifice an animal
to the Great Spirit to relieve the nation from a great calamity.
The dog would be tied to a tree, his entrails cut out, and hang
ing, and a small fire had been made under him. The nose of
the dog was always pointed the course the Indians were travel
ling. All reflecting persons during the whole Black-Hawk war
were sorry that the deluded savages had forced us into the war.
We were compelled to chastise them to secure the rights of the
citizens, and to prevent them from killing the inhabitants. All
the surrounding Indians were hostile, and ready to join Black
Hawk, and had promised him. Under these circumstances we
were acting in self-defence, and to repel the aggression of the
deluded and wicked Indian, Black Hawk, and their leaders.
On the day before we commenced the march up Rock River,
I engaged two trusty and worthy spies, Colonel John Ewing
and Major John A. Wakefield, to discover the location of the
enemy if possible, and report to me on our progress up the
river. I employed also a guide, Mr. Kinney, who could under
stand imperfectly the Sac language, to accompany them.
On the lOth of May, the spies met the army near the
Prophet's town, on Rock R.iver, and had captured an Indian.
He informed us, truly, that Black Hawk and his band were
on Rock River, above Dixon. About twelve miles above the
Prophet's town we encamped, and decided to leave the onerous
and cumbersome baggage and make a forced march to overtake
the hostile Indians. I wrote a letter to General Atkinson of
the facts, and we marched off early in the morning hoping to
overtake Black Hawk in a short time.
We reached Dixon on the morning of the 12th, and there
received information from Colonels Stephenson, Strode, and
others, that scouts had been out for fifty miles up the river, and
around; that the hostile Indians had dispersed to collect food,
and that they were nowhere near in a body. This information,
coming from Mr. Dixon and other respectable sources, gained
credence, and we gave up the pursuit of the enemy until Gen
eral Atkinson arrived with the boats and provisions. We had
with us only provisions enough for a day or two and that was
nearly exhausted. This information was distressing and painful
to the army, but we believed the report and acted on it accord
ingly. Judging from this information, I believe* Black Hawk was
about to reside on the lands of the Pottawatomies, and to pre-

230 MY OWN TIMES.
vent it I addressed a "talk" to the chiefs of that nation at the
Pawpaw Grove. I selected five young and energetic men from
the army. Major Dement Colonels Stapp, and Joseph M. Chad
wick, and Messrs. Wyat Stapp, Benjamin Moore, and Louis
Wilmatte, to bear the dispatch to the Indians. The Pawpaw
Grove was about fifty miles from Dixon. These messengers in
the cloudy weather got bewildered and fell in on a party of hos
tile Indians belonging to Black- Hawk's band. The Indians
tried in a very adroit manner to decoy the whites to the large
band of warriors, but the Americans eluded the attempt. After
much diplomacy, on horseback, the whites escaped to the main
army, and the Indians to their grand army, both to obtain
recruits. These young men were exhausted, as well as their
horses, when they reached the army at Dixon. They had been
on horseback almost forty-eight hours, without rest food, or
sleep, and were in danger of being killed.
"VVhen the army arrived at Dixon and gave out the pursuit of
the enemy for the present, we found the two battalions of Major
Stillman and Bailey, whom I had ordered to protect the fron
tiers at Dixon, with plenty of provisions, and had performed
little or no service since they were organized.
The officers and privates of these battalions solicited me
warmly to permit them to reconnoitre the frontiers, and report
where the enemy were lodged, if they could discover it
It was rumored "that a small band of the Black-Hawk party
were camped at the head of "Old-Man's Creek," about twelve
miles above Dixon. I considered that these troops would be
better moving about than camped, and that it was my duty to
place them on the frontier. They might discover the enemy.
I signed the following order to Major Stillman:
Dixon's Ferry, May 12th, i8j2.
To Major Stillman:
You will cause the troops under your immediate command
and the battalion under Major Bailey, to proceed without delay,
with four days' provisions, to the head of "Old -Man's Creek,"
where it is supposed there are some hostile Indians, and coerce
them into submission.
JOHN REYNOLDS,
Com. in Chief of the Illinois Militia.

MY OWN TIMES. 231

CHAPTER LXXXIL
StiUman's March. — Battle and Retreat. — Eleven White Men and Eight
Indians KUled.
Major Stillman was, at the time he commanded the battalion,
a general of the militia north of the Illinois River, and was a
military man in good standing. I knew many prominent men
in this corps — Colonels Stephenson and Strode, and many other
distinguished characters. One misfortune was, the officers,
Stillman and Bailey, had some misunderstanding as to the com
mand of the battalion.
On the 13th of May, in the morning. Major Stillman marched
out from Dixon with military display. He had with him about
two hundred and seventy-five men, with the necessary equip
ments. While the Brigade of General Whiteside was waiting for
General Atkinson and the provisions, so as to march against the
enemy, about one o'clock of the night of the 15th of May, the
stragglers and soldiers of Major Stillman, who had escaped from
the battle, reached my tent at Dixon, and narrated such horrid
and tragical stories of the disaster with the Indians, that it was
truly alarming and shocking. The soldiers, after the retreat,
arrived at Dixon in utter confusion, without the least order or
discipline, and each one told his story according to his own
terrified imagination. According as the tales of woe and horror
were told, they impressed the army at Dixon with the confused
idea of much bloodshed and carnage. Those narrating the dis
aster generally beheved and stated they were about all that had
escaped. Often while one was telling of the destruction of his
comrade, the person himself would appear and contradict the
story of his death. Such confusive and contradictory statements
were at first told, that no one knew what to believe. I recollect
that my first impression was that most of the battalion were
destroyed, but the stragglers kept coming in until we saw that
the affair was not so bad as we had expected it to be at first.
In the morning, the troops who were in the battle were
paraded, and it appeared that fifty -two were absent, and we
presumed that number had been killed. This figure got into the
¦papers from the morning's report, and circulated throughout the
United States.
Major Stillman had marched his battalion twenty-five miles
up Rock River, in a wrong direction from my order, and was
about sunset the second day, (the 14th of May, 1832,) preparing
to camp within a few miles of the main lodgment of Black-
Hawk, and a portion of his band. During the preparations to

232 MY OWN TIMES.
camp the troops were in much confusion and disorder. The
Major had omitted to have either spies or sentinels out at this
important crisis. In this confused state of the troops, some
unsaddling their horses, others making fires, some fixing tent
poles, and all in a state of easy carelessness and security, three
Indians, unarmed, with a white flag, made their appearance near
the encampment. These Indians gave themselves up, and were
taken into custody, as hostages, by order of the officers. Not
many, or perhaps any of the Americans understood the Indian
language sufficiently to hold a conversation with them, but it
would seem, the circumstances of the case were sufficiently
expressive to make all understand the motive of the prisoners.
Soon after the three unarmed Indians were taken into custody,
six armed Indians appeared on horseback on a hill three-fourths
of a mile from the encampment. Without any orders, a few
soldiers and some officers commenced an irregular chase of the
Indians, on horseback, and pursued them for four or five miles.
During this race in the prairie, a great portion of the troops
mounted their horses and joined, without orders, in the dis
orderly chase of the Indians. The whites became engaged in
the pursuit, and having the best horses, overtook two Indians
and killed them. Major Hackleton, of Fulton County, was dis
mounted, and had a personal combat with an Indian, also dis
mounted. By assistance from the whites, the Major killed his
tawny antagonist. In this irregular running conflict three
Indians were killed, without any loss of the whites.
During this skirmish, which extended over four or five miles
of the smooth prairie, between the encampment and the mouth
of Sycamore Creek, the volunteers at the camp knowing blood
was shed, attempted to kill the three unarmed Indians, who h?<'
been taken into custody as hostages, under the protection of tn^
white flag. One Indian was kUled, but in the dark and confu
sion the other two escaped unhurt.
At the time StiUman's volunteers had this running skirmish-
in the prairie. Black Hawk had many of his friends of the Potta
watomie nation feasting with him on dog meat. He had a lodg
ment established on Rock River at the mouth of Sycamore-
Creek, at which place he was entertaining his friends at the
time. The retreating Indians had almost reached the camp of Black
Hawk, where he was feasting, and the whites at their heels,
hooping, yelling, and shouting, after the manner of a disorderly
battle with the Indians. This uproar alarmed Black Hawk and
the Indians at the feast and they, in a hasty, tumultuous man
ner, mounted their horses, snatched up their arms, and rushed
out in all the fury of a mad lioness in defence of their women
and children.
Black Hawk took a prudent and wise stand, concealed behind

MY OWN TIMES. 233,
some woods, (then nearly dark,) so that the straggling and
unmanageable forces of Major Stillman approached near him.
It was a crisis with the Indians — they fought in defence of all
they held the most sacred on earth, and they performed their
operations under the eye of an experienced warrior, Black Hawk
himself This aged warrior and his band (all he could muster at the
moment) marched out from his concealment, and fell in with
fury and havoc on the disorderly troops of Stillman, who were
scattered for miles over the prairie. Black Hawk turned the
tide of war, and chased the whites with great fury.
The camp of Black Hawk was five or six miles from the
encampment of Major Stillman, and the Indians forced the
whites back to the white camp with great speed, and killed in
the chase one white man.
By the time the volunteers reached StiUman's camp it was
quite dark and the troops at the camp, hearing the yelling,
terrible sounds of the horses' feet, and shooting, supposed all the
warriors of the whole Black Hawk band were on them like an
avalanche. This produced a general panic and indifference of
the exertions of the officers and the volunteers, although placed
in battle array at the camp, fled with their comrades whom
Black Hawk was chasing.
A small muddy creek flowed near the camp of Stillman, and
the crossing of it was difficult for both whites and Indians.
Horses mired in it, and some white men were killed in it. This
creek has been baptised with the name of StiUman's Run, which
it retains to this day. After the troops crossed the creek, the
officers made an effort to rally them, but to no purpose. A
general and furious retreat was commenced, each one seeking
his own safety according to his own discretion. It was in this
confused and precipitated flight, where most of the volunteers,
who were killed, closed their eyes forever. One case in particu
lar, among many others, excited much sympathy and deep feel
ing: Captain Adams was found dead with two Indians, also
dead, near him. This bloody personal combat was off from the
general route, a short distance up the creek. The evidence-was
seen the next day by many, of the ifiost shocking fight between
three men, and all three lay dead within a few feet of each other.
No one remained alive to tell the story of the battle. They
fought with every class of weapon in their possession, and the
guns shivered, and the mortal wounds inflicted, proved that all
were used in this deadly conflict. The earth was soft in the
spring, and the evidence next day remained on it of the utmost
exertions of human power in this battle, where two contended
against one. The wounds were deep and numerous on the three
dead bodies, made by rifle balls, spears, tomahawks, and butcher
knives. The Indians did not scalp Captain Adams, giving him
the honor of a great brave.

234 MY OWN TIMES.
The Indians chased the whites twelve or fifteen miles, and
the horses of the volunteers being the fleetest, saved the corps.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly the number of Indians under
Black Hawk that were eng'aged in the battle. Black Hawk in
his book says he had only forty in all, and judging from all I
can discover in the premises, I believe the number of warriors
were between fifty and sixty — some of the volunteers engaged
in the scene supposed them to be several hundred, and some
presumed them to be all of Black Hawk's warriors, which would
swell them up to four or five hundred.
It was true, as it was reported to me by confidential scouts,
that the \\'arriors at the time were not in a body, but were
scattered in search of roots to eat and that only a few were
together in a band. It is an incontestable fact, that Black
Hawk had made no arrangements for the battle, or otherwise
he would not have been found at his ease — feasting his friends
among his women and children — and it is astonishing that he
did make such an effort on the spur of the occasion as he did.
He had, I presume, the permission of the Pottawatomies, on
whose land he was, to establish a village there, as the squaws
had commenced to sow their seeds, and to plant their grain for
a crop, on Rock River, at the mouth of Sycamore Creek.
Black Hawk says in his book, which I believe to be true, that
he tried at StiUman's Run to call back his warriors, as he sup
posed the Vv'hites were making a sham retreat on purpose to
draw him into an ambuscade of the whole army, under General
Whiteside. He says he had not the least idea that the whites
were retreating in good earnest, but he could not draw off his
}-oung warriors. Their courage gave him great pleasure, as he
stated. Major Hackleton and some others on foot escaped, and
reached the army at Dixon in safety. It was ascertained the
ne.xt day after the battle, that only eleven white men were
killed, instead of the number first reported to have been slain,
'which greatly quieted the public mind. About eight Indians
were killed in all.
The cause of this disaster was the want of discipline, subor
dination, and the proper previous arrangements of the officers.
The material of this corps was as good and efficient as ever
appeared "in the deadly breach;" but they were citizens unin
formed in the science and art of war. If those volunteers,
officers, and privates, had been trained to war, and commanded
by an Anthony Wayne or an Andrew Jackson, they would
have been able to whip, in a pitched battle. Black Hawk and
his whole band. This battle and hasty retreat was much con
demned by the army and the public generally.
The Indians destroyed all the wagons and property, which
the volunteers abandoned in their camps. I saw, the next day

MY OWN TIMES. 235
after the battle, the fragments of cut and burned wagons, and
other articles, that showed the evidence of savage warfare.
Empty kegs were also left, that had contained, as the Indians
call it, "fire-water." This was a partial cause of the disasters, it
was supposed at the time.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.
A CaU for Two Thousand Volunteers. — The Army March to the Battie
Ground and Bury the Dead. — The Volunteers Return to Dixon.
On the same night that I obtained the information of the
disaster of Major Stillman, I ordered out two thousand new
volunteers, and made preparations to defend the frontiers more
efficiently. This battle decided the affair to be war; and I
knew the Indians would commit depredations on the inhabi
tants. I also discovered disaffection in the army under General
Whiteside, and that it was improbable that we could reach the
enemy with the present brigade. Disaffection existed as to
some of the commanding officers. I knew it would be easy to
disband the new levies of volunteers if they were not needed.
At all events, I wrote out the orders by candle-light for the new
troops, on my own responsibility, without the requisition of the
General Government, and had all ready by daylight for the
expresses to start with them to the respective counties.
I appointed John Ewing, Robert Blackwell, and John A.
Wakefield to distribute the orders to the various counties — and
they performed their duty efficiently.
I also, the same night, empowered Colonel Strode, who was
present and the Colonel of Joe Davis County, to organize the
militia of his county, and defend it with them. I gave him
great power and he acted well.
General Dodge was camped in the vicinity, on the north side
of Rock River, and I wrote him, also at night the facts of StiU
man's disaster, and that his frontiers of Wisconsin would be in
danger. He returned immediately to Wisconsin.
I appointed Major Horn to carry a dispatch to St. Louis, to
Colonel March, the quartermaster, to provide provisions for the
two thousand volunteers at Hennepin, on the Illinois. I wrote
a letter, also in the same night, to General Atkinson, coming up
the river in barges to Dixon, of the disaster of Major Stillman,
and that the army were in need of provisions. The last order
was to Major Adams, now of Alton, to procure at Quincy, corn
for the horses. All these orders were issued and recorded by
my staff-officers in a short time, just before day on the 15th of
May, and all the messengers were off by daylight The new

236 MY OWN TIMES.
levies were to meet, some at Beardstown, on the 3d of June, and
the others at Hennepin, on the lOth of the same month.
It will be seen by the above dates, that the time to rendezvous
was exceedingly short The expresses had to ride on horse
back from Dixon to the counties in the southern section of the
State, and the troops to assemble and march back several hun
dred miles in this limited time. The precaution I observed to
cause the volunteers to be organized aided much in this hasty
call of ^he volunteers.
Early in the morning of the iSth of May, some beeves were
slaughtered, all the provisions mustered, and the army marched
to the battle-ground. It was about twenty-five miles from
Dixon; and when we reached the scene, in the evening, it
looked melancholy and appalling to troops who had, for the
first time, witnessed such a sight. The bodies of the volunteers
who had been killed, were mostly cut and mangled in a horrid
manner. Many horses also lay dead on the scene of action.
All the bodies, and parts of bodies that could be found, were
buried, and the army remained on the ground all night.
When it was discovered that only eleven white men were
killed, it was a general rejoicing that the disaster was no worse.
The night that we were camped here we heard the reports of
large guns, which we supposed were signals to collect in the
warriors for defence, but we were then out of provisions, and
could not pursue them. Major Henry and his spy-battalion
were ordered out to reconnoitre, and he reported that the
Indians had left in great haste, and were not near, as he pre
sumed. The next day, the i6th, the army marched back again
to Dixon for provisions, at which place, upon our return, we
found that the boats with them had not yet arrived.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.
The whole Army March in Pursuit of the Indians. — Return Home by
Ottawa On the 17th of May, I ordered a regiment to be formed out of
the two battalions of Stillman and Bailey, and to elect a colonel.
General Johnson, of McLean County, was elected colonel of the
regiment On the same day. General Atkinson arrived with the
provisions. He ordered a fort of turf to be erected on the north
side of Rock River, opposite Dixon, in which to store the pro
visions and to protect them.
The volunteers remaining idle at Dixon some days, and that
without provisions, became dissatisfied, and murmured for home.
They said the truth, that they had volunteered in such a hurry
to protect the frontiers, and had not arranged to remain iri the

MY OWN TIMES. 237
service only for a short time, as they expected the Indians
would be chastised in a few days. They had no clothes with
them, and many of their families were not provided for at home.
These were all true statements I knew, and I knew, also, that
the term of their enlistment was undefined, and they had the
power to return after the performance of the service they had
done; but I appealed to their patriotism, and exerted whatever
influence I had, and prevailed on them to remain in service for
twelve or fifteen days longer, as the object of the campaign was
not accomplished. They consented to my request, and prepared
provisions for a march in search of the enemy.
After the regiment of Colonel Johnson was organized. Gen
eral Atkinson received it into the United States service, and a
part of it, with the Colonel, he ordered to Ottawa, to defend
that post, whilst the other part remained at Dixon to guard the
stores. On the 19th of May the whole army, volunteers and regulars,
under the command of General Atkinson, commenced the
march up Rock River in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band.
My staff and myself also marched with the army. I pursued
this course to conciliate good feelings in the army, and to assist
generally in the campaign.
General Atkinson and staff, with the cannon, marched with
the volunteers, and toward evening an express reached us
informing us of the murder of several families on Indian Creek,
fifteen miles north of Ottawa. This murder caused the General
to return to the frontiers to give protection to the inhabitants.
He ordered the army under General Whiteside and Colonel
Taylor to pursue the Indians, and caused the regulars who had
ascended the river to return to Dixon. Colonel Harney, and
many distinguished officers of the United States army, marched
with the volunteers. Major Long's battalion left the boat and
marched with the mounted men. It was like following a
shadow, to pursue Black Hawk and his band, and so uncertain
to overtake the enemy that our men became disheartened and
murmured considerably.
After several days' march, the army reached a large Pottawa
tomie village on Sycamore Creek, but no Indians were in it.
The trail of Black Hawk led to it and there we found, cached
in the earth, some of the articles the enemy had captured at
StiUman's battle. We also found scalps, taken at the Indian
Creek murder, near Ottawa. We concluded that Black Hawk
had marched to this Indian town thinking to obtain protection
by the Pottawatomie; but his friends of the other nations of
Indians were afraid to do it, although no doubt they had
promised it. Our large force in the field prevented it. From
this village the Indian trail seemed to diverge, and scatter, as if
on purpose to elude our pursuit.

238 MY OWN TIMES.
While the army lay at this village. Major William G. Brown
and my brother, Thomas Reynolds, were out all night in search
of lost horses, and in the dark came in direct contact with a
large Indian force. This band of Black Hawk was secretly
and silently stealing off in the dark to get away from the
whites and to join their comrades. These volunteers reported
a large body of the enemy, and it is strange that they were not
killed. This information made the army believe that a great
part of "the enemy were not far off. The trails of the Indians
pointed north, toward Rock River, and the course home, by
Ottawa, was south, so that at this point it made the army
decide whether they would pursue the Indians any further or
return home. General Atkinson gave me the power to dis
charge the army at any moment when in my judgment it was
proper. A great disposition was expressed by many of the
officers against pursuing the enemy any longer. All the regu
lar officers, and particularly Colonel Taylor, afterwards the
president of the United States, urged on the volunteers
strongly to continue the march in pursuit of the Indians for a
few days. I exerted all my influence to continue on, and the
officers agreed at least to have a meeting and the majority
should govern. I convened all of the officers, captains and
upwards, in my tent, early in the morning, and after long dis
cussions I put the question to vote. It was an equal vote,
one-half for pursuing the Indians, and the other half for return
ing home. By some means General Whiteside was not disposed
to follow the enemy any longer, and said if a majority of the
officers decided to pursue the Indians, he would not do it. He
was the commander when General Atkinson was not present.
No doubt if Atkinson had been there the army would have
continued on. We had some days' provisions, and in one or
two days, by forced marches, the enemy might be reached. I
proposed to make a fort at this Indian village for those unable
or unwilling to march to remain at untU we returned from the
pursuit of the enemy, but no entreaty would prevail, and we
had not the power to command, as it was vested in General
Whiteside.

CHAPTER LXXXV.
The Army Returned Home. — Discharged at Ottawa. — A Regiment
Volunteered to Guard the Frontier. — Capt Snyder's Battle with the
Indians. It was decided at the Pottawatomie Village that the army
would march to Ottawa and be discharged. Colonel Taylor,
Major Harney, of the regular army, and many volunteer offi
cers and myself, discussed tlie matter, whether it would not be

MY OWN TIMES. 239
proper to raise a volunteer corps to pursue the Indians; but we
concluded it would look riotous and reckless to divide the army,
and it might not advance the interest of the country, and
accordingly we were, with heavy hearts, compelled to surrender
the pursuit of the enemy for the time present.
We marched four days south to Ottawa, with deep feelings of
mortification, and with irritable and bad feelings also. On the
route, we found some of the scalps of the women and children
who had been killed on Indian Creek. They no doubt were
laid on our trail by the Indians, as a bravado, and to tantahze
us. I recollect well the hair of an infant, and that of an aged
lady that was perfectly gray. This sight at the Indian village
would have decided the army to seek vengeance on the perpe
trators of this murder.
I had the power to discharge the army at my discretion, and
on the 27th and 28th days of May, at Ottawa, the whole army
was discharged.
On the 28th, Gen. Atkinson crossed over from Dixon to
Ottawa with only his staff, which was considered dangerous.
He highly approved of my conduct in calling out the volun
teers, as I did at Dixon, and requested of me one thousand
more, making in all three thousand strong, besides a thousand
or more to guard the frontiers.
I dispatched efficient messengers to raise the new troops. I
called on the counties, nearest to the scene of action, who were
not in the last campaign. Thus ended this campaign without
effecting anything, although many of the most talented and
conspicuous characters in the State were in it, and the same
may be said of the regular officers. Col. Taylor, the hero of
Buena Vista, the late president of the United States, and Major
Harney, the champion of Cerra Gorda, and many other dis
tinguished officers, were also in this campaign. I felt the
deepest mortification to be compelled to abandon the cam
paign without any good result, and that, too, with as fine a
corps as ever appeared in the tended field; but such is the fate
of war. The enemy could not under that arrangement be over
taken. The same reverses a few years afterward were experi
enced in the Seminole war in Florida.
On the 28th of May, I received notice that a fine regiment,
under the command of Col. Moore, from Vermillion County,
appeared on the frontiers to give immediate relief to the
inhabitants, and as they had performed the services they con
templated, they were ordered home with the thanks of the
commander-in-chief of the militia for their promptness in the
defence of the frontiers.
Marching with the volunteers, I met General Atkinson at
Ottawa, where the army was discharged, and we knew well the
bitter feelings of the Indians against the whites. The Indians

240 MY OWN TIMES.
far and near were poisoned against the Americans by Black
Hawk, and the settlements were in imminent danger before
other troops could reach the frontiers.
Under these exciting circumstances, both the general and
myself appealed to the patriotism of the disbanded troops to
organize one regiment for twenty days to protect the frontiers.
The regiment volunteered, and were organized, Jacob Fry was
elected colonel, James D. Henry, lieutenant-colonel, and John
Thomas, major. There were six companies in the regiment.
A part of the company of Adam W. Snyder was ordered to
make a stand at Kellog's Grove, and scour the country. The
companies generally consisted of sixty or seventy men. Major
John Thomas, although he had command of a battalion, and
Capt. Snyder's company composed part of it, he preferred leav
ing his command at Ottawa and acting as high private.
On the night of the 15th of June, 1832, the sentinels were
posted around the station at Kellog's Grove, within about
eighty yards of the encampment. About midnight, of an
extremely cloudy, dark night, with vivid flashes of lightning, a
.sentinel, although he kept up a most vigilent watch, heard an
Indian breathe a long breath, which was the first indication of
the near approach of the Indian warriors. The sentinel was
placed at a tree in an old field, and the Indian was at the other
side of the same tree. The white man leaned his body around
the tree to see if he could discern the enemy, and at that
momxont a flash of lightning enabled him to see three Indians
well armed within two or three feet of him. The American
soldier, as quick as thought, attempted to run the nearest man
through with his bayonet, but he was so near the Indian that
he hit his shoulder with his gun, and the warrior grasped the
soldier. The Indian got so close to the white man that the gun
and bayonet were useless. The Indian seized his foe, but the
American, with superior strength and energy in the twinkling
of an eye, hurled the Indian from him, and run with his gun to
the tents hollowing at the top of his voice, "Indians! Indians!"
The Indians pursued him to within twenty yards of the camp,
and shot at him, but missed him. In the morning the tracks of
the Indians were seen at the tree, and the ground torn up where
the scuffle occurred between the white man and Indian. Also
the moccasin tracks of the Indians were seen pursuing the sen
tinel within a short distance of the tents.
The shouting of the sentinel showed him in danger and in a
"'tight fit," which wakened the troops before the Indian fired his
gun; but the report of the gun roused all the Americans to
arms in a few seconds. It was supposed that the Indians saw
the sentinel when it lightened, and crept up in their stealthy
manner to the opposite side of the tree from him, and was
about to strike the tomahawk into the white man, when he was

MY OWN TIMES. 241
•discovered as above stated. It was strange how the sentinel
escaped. The rest of the guards stood at their posts until the
gallant officers, Maj. RUey and Capt Snyder called them in.
All the troops remained under arms until daylight expecting
every minute a sanguinary conflict in the dark, hke that at Tip
pecanoe, but the enemy did not approach.
Early in the morning, Capt. Snyder mustered all his mounted
men to pursue the Indians who had been around the fort. The
¦object of the Indians was to steal horses, and they had taken
one blind horse. Maj. Thomas volunteered with the company
in pursuit of the Indians. He preferred danger and action
to a quiet life in a fort at Ottawa. The troops under the com
mand of Capt. Snyder amounted to twenty-five men, including
the officers. Capt. Snyder, ist lieut John Winstanly, and 2d
lieut. John T. Lusk. The Indian trail was pursued with great
activity in a south-west course for sixteen or eighteen miles.
The Indians seemed to strike for the Mississippi, and made
great effort to escape the vigilant Capt. Snyder and company.
In a deep ravine by a fountain, the Indians were cooking
their breakfast. They had on the fire their kettle and other
preparations for their meal. It was supposed by the trail and
other signs there were six or seven Indians in all. They saw
the whites first and fled, leaving all behind them, blind horse
and all, except their guns. They then turned their course back,
almost on the same route they had come from the spring where
they were cooking. This made Maj. Thomas, Capt. Snyder, and
others, believe the Indians were seeking their comrades, who
were in a large body in the neighborhood, which induced the
whites to pursue them with more caution and activity. The
Indians returned within two or three miles of Kellog's Grove,
where they were discovered, on a high hill, almost a mile in
advance. The volunteers had to cross a muddy creek which
detained them some time, but in a short distance the Indians
were discovered concealed in a ravine made by a stream of
water. The whites rushed on them with caution, from tree to
tree; but Macomson, seeing one of the Indians exposed, pre
pared to shoot him, but the Indian was too quick for him and
shot him first. Two balls entered his body near the side of the
lower abdomen, and the wound was mortal. In a few seconds,
all the four Indians in the ravine were killed, but they fired and
fought with desperate courage. One large warrior in the bloody
carnage came out of the gully and hollowed aloud as if shout
ing to his brother warriors at a distance. At his return, he was
shot with a half-dozen balls, and fell never to rise again. The
bodies of these four warriors lay in the gully, and their bones
to bleach on the scene of this bloody conflict If there had
been more Indians in the band, they had escaped before the
whites came upon them.
16

242 MY OWN TIMES.
Macomson lay mortally wounded, and his gun by him still.
loaded. A litter was made of poles and blankets on which to-
carry him to Kellog's Grove, which was two or three miles off.
It required four men at a time to carry him. This operation
discomfitted the^ troops very much. Many of the guns of the
soldiers were changed, and some were not again loaded at all.
Although every one knew there was imminent danger, yet the
volunteers risked their lives for the want of discipline. The
troops had marched in a run, most of the day, more than thirty
miles in pursuit of the Indians they had killed, and parties were
permitted to search for water. About three-quarters of a mile
from the place where the four Indians were killed Macomson,
demanded to be let down to rest. In fact, he was then dying,,
and complaining for water.
Gen. Whiteside, Johnson, and Taylor, went on one side t&
look for water, and Dr. Richard Roman, Benj. Scott, McDaniel,
Dr. F. Jarrot, and Dr. Cornelius retired on the other side in the
same pursuit for water. The last-named party, five in all, were
moving slowly down a ridge to a point having a bushy ravine
on each side of them. The warriors of Black Hawk, to the
amount of from ninety to a hundred, lay concealed in these
ravines on both sides of the whites, and fired more than fifty
guns at them as it was supposed. The number of Indians was
ascertained by their different places of concealment in the grass
and bushes in the ravines on each side of the five volunteers.
In the first fire, Benjamin Scott and  McDaniel, both of
St. Clair County, were instantly killed, and the Indians were so
near them that their clothes were powder-burnt. It was a
miracle that the whole five men were not killed. The sur
vivors, the three doctors, retreated with all possible speed on
their horses to the main body, who were guarding the dying
Macomson. The volunteers were taken by surprise. A retreat was inevi
table, and the best and only course that could save the detach
ment. After remaining in that position sofne short time, and
firing a' few guns at the Indians without effect, the volunteers
retired in good order to wait for re-inforcement from Major
Riley. Capt. Snyder had ordered a messenger to go two or three
miles to Kellog's Grove and solicit relief from Maj. Riley, but
he had not gone. Maj. Thomas volunteered his service which
was accepted. It was considered exceedingly dangerous for one
man to make this trip, as it was supposed the Indians would
waylay him on the route. Thomas reached the fort in safety,
and Maj. Riley and two companies of infantry were on the run
to relieve the captain, in a few minutes after Thomas' arrival.
Maj. Riley found Capt. Snyder and the volunteers waiting
the re-inforcement to enable them to attack the enemy, but

MY OWN TIMES. 243
RUey then had the command and he considered it unwise and
headstrong to attempt anything that night. The whole force
marched back to Kellog's Grove, but returned at an early hour
to the bloody scene of the day before.
The Indians had been concealed, expecting the whole white
force at night, but had retired about daylight. It rained that
night, and the enemy left after the rain.
The dead bodies of Scott, McDaniel, and Macomson, were
decently interred at Kellog's Grove, and the main army arriv
ing on the frontiers, the brave and efficient company under the
command of equally brave and efficient officers were discharged
on the 19th of June, at Dixon's Ferry, by Col. Taylor. The
whole regiment was also discharged.

CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Indian Depredations. — Attack of Apple-Creek Fort. — Brilliant Victory
of Gen. Dodge. — Capt. Stephenson's Battle.
The country was all in a panic on account of Indian murders
being committed in every direction; and in fact the savages ex
hibited a courage and propensity for bloodshed that was, on the
frontiers, appalling. Fifteen persons — men, women, and chil
dren — were killed of three families. Hall, Davis, and Pettigrew.
Two girls, the Miss Halls, were taken prisoners.
On the 22d May, Gen. Atkinson despatched Mr. St. Vrain,
and some other persons, as an express from Dixon to Rock
Island, and they were all killed by the Indians. A man was
killed on Bureau Creek, within a few miles of Princeton, and
several others in the region north of Ottawa.
About the time the new troops reached the rendezvous at
Fort Wilburn, Black Hawk, with about one hundred and fifty
warriors, made an attack on Apple Creek Fort, twelve miles
south of Galena, and attempted to storm it This fort was
made in wooden-stockade fashion, with strong block-houses at
the corners. It was defended by twenty-five men who fought
with the greatest courage, believing that it was better to die in
the fort than to be butchered by the Indians. The enemy took
possession of some cabins near the fort, and made great efforts
to burn and capture the fort The battle was kept up for fifteen
hours, with desperate fury on both sides, when the Indians
retreated. A messenger reached Galena .and gave the alarm.
Col. Strode, with a respectable force from Galena, arrived after
the enemy had left. The Indians had killed much of the stock
and took away cattle, horses, and flour, as much as they could
carry. It is supposed that many of the disaffected Pottawa
tomie and Winnebago Indians were in this attack on Apple-

244 MY OWN TIMES.
Creek Fort, under the command of Black Hawk. The loss of
the Indians in this battle could not be ascertained, but in the
fort only one man was killed and one wounded.
On the 24th June, two men were killed by the Indians, and
one made his escape to Fort_^ Hamilton, east of Galena, forty or
fifty miles. Soon after the skirmish Gen. Dodge came to the
fort with twenty men, and immediately pursued the trail of the
Indians. The heroic commander and his equally brave troops
reached the Indians at the Pecatonica Creek — the enemy took
refuge under the bank of the creek. The Americans rushed on
the Indians, eleven in number, and killed all of them. General
Dodge lost three of his men, and one wounded. This action,
although small, was achieved with great intrepidity and suc
cess, so much so that it gained the noble and undaunted heroes
engaged in it much honor and character.
Capt. Stephenson, of Galena, and part of his company about
the same time fell in with a party of Indians between Apple-
Creek Fork and Kellog's Grove. The whites ran the Indians
five miles in the prairie, and the red men at last took refuge in
a dense thicket surrounded by the prairie. The captain and his
small detachment, with great courage, charged on the Indians
three different times, and were always repulsed. The Indians
had the advantage, being concealed in the thick bushes and the
whites approaching them. Stephenson had three of his men
killed, and he himself was wounded in the breast, which was
supposed to be mortal. He was compelled to abandon the
Indians. It is not known how many Indians, if any, were
killed. This was considered a' rash and reckless charge, show
ing a desperate courage.
After arranging matters on the frontiers, I returned to the
settlements to see if the call for new levies was advancing, to
recruit the army again. I discovered that the masses were
enthusiastic, and preparing for the service in great numbers.
I remained at home only a few days, and then returned to the
frontiers again.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Arrival of the Troops on the Frontiers. — Organization of the New
Army. — Major Dement's Battle.
The troops, four companies, met at Beardstown, on the Illi
nois River, as ordered, about the third of June, and elected two
talented and efficient officers to command them. T. W. Smith,
one of the judges of the supreme court, was elected lieutenant-
colonel, and Sidney Breese, a prominent and distinguished
lawyer, major of the spy -battalion. This corps marched on

MY OWN TIMES. 245
the frontiers north of the Illinois River to Fort Wilburn, the
place that the army was organized.
As I returned to the frontiers I found many of the troops
already at Hennepin, but they were ordered to Fort Wilburn.
Col. March had ordered Lieut. Wilburn with some provisions up
the Illinois River, and he erected a small establishment which
was called Fort Wilburn. It was situated .on the southern bank
of the Illinois River, about a mile above Peru.
At this point, several thousand volunteers and citizens ap
peared, so that the country on both sides of the river was cov
ered with human beings and horses. It was extremely difficult,
and required both patience and judgment to organize this great
mass of people into an army without causing some dissatisfac
tion, and at the same time to make it efficient. The war had
attracted attention, and many of the most prominent and con
spicuous men in the State appeared on the frontier and wanted
office. I decided that the officers should be chosen by the troops
over whom they were to act; and, therefore, all above the Cap
tains were elected. At first the volunteers were all unknown to
one another; but in two campaigns some developments of char
acter were made, which enabled the troops to select proper
officers. Three brigades were organized by myself, on consul
tation with the captains of companies, and three generals were
elected by the troops to command them.
On the i6th of June, Alexander Posey was elected general of
the first brigade; on the 17th, Milton K. Alexander was elected
general of the second; and on the i8th, James D. Henry was
elected general of the third. Thus organized, these troops were
received into the service of the United States by General Atkin
son, who was present and commanded them. The first num
bered one thousand and one men; the second, nine hundred
and fifty-nine; and the third, one thousand two hundred and
thirty-two. I procured General Atkinson to make Judge
Brown, who was one of the judges of the supreme court, one of
his aids, so as to establish a friendly feeling between the regular
officers and those of the volunteers.
I appointed my staff. My two aids were Alexander F. Grant,
of Gallatin County, and Benjamin F. Hickman, of Franklin
County. These two gentlemen were talented and agreeable
officers, and performed their duties, which were at times labori
ous, with efficiency. I appointed T. W. Smith, judge of the
supreme court, adjutant-general; James Turney, paymaster-
general; and Enoch C. March, quartermaster-general. My staff
were distinguished and efficient gentlemen. They were all
recognized by the government, and paid.
On the 1 2th of June I ordered a battalion to be organized,
and to elect their officers, to guard the frontiers between the

246 MY OWN TIMES.
Mississippi and Peoria, on the north of Illinois River. Samuel
Bogart was elected major of the battalion. I ordered forts to
be erected on the frontiers from the Mississippi to Chicago.
Capts. Eads and Dorsey, with their companies, were taken into
service to defend the frontiers.
On the 19th of June, I organized the companies of Buck-
master, Payne, and Walker into a battalion, and appointed Col.
Nathaniel Buckmaster, major, to command it I ordered him
to guard the frontiers between Ottawa and Chicago. He per
formed his service to the satisfaction of the public. I also
authorized Major Bailey to take command of a battalion of
mounted men and guard Chicago and vicinity during the war.
He performed his duty to the entire satisfaction of the public.
Many of the frontier inhabitants who were driven into Chicago,
without support, found relief from the pubUc stores' by the
benevolence of Major Bailey.
On the i6th of June, Col. John Dement was elected major of
a spy-battalion, and attached to the brigade of Gen. Posey.
On the 17th, Gen. Atkinson ordered him to march to Dixon
with his battalion, and report himself to Col. Taylor. His
command consisted of three companies, whose captains were
Dobbins, Bowman, and Stephenson. These companies were
citizens of the counties of Franklin, Jefferson, and Marion. The
staff- officers of Major Dement were — Lieut- Gov. Anderson,
adjutant; Gov. Z. Casey, regimental -paymaster; and Col. S.
Plicks, quartermaster. Thus officered and organized, Major
Dement was ordered from Fort Wilburn, by the Bureau settle
ment, to Fort Dixon, and there report to Col. Taylor. With
these orders, Major Dement took up the line of march in the
Black- Hawk war.
This battalion was composed of most excellent material.
The officers were many of them among the most conspicuous
and worthy characters in the State, and the rank and file were
intelligent hardy, and patriotic citizens. Their only misfortune
was the want of discipline and organization, without which a
military corps cannot act with efficiency.
On the march of this battalion to the Bureau settlement night
overtook them in a large prairie, and there they camped in it.
A sentinel fired his gun, as he said, at an Indian who had a
piece of fire in his hand. The report of his gun gave the alarm
and all were aroused to arms. After some time preparing for
the enemy, who did not approach, a party took the sentinel to
the place where he said he saw the Indian with a torch of fire in
his hand, and the sentinel exclaimed "there the Indian is again,
with the same fire in his hand!" but lo and behold, it was the
moon just rising above the horizon that the sentinel supposed
was an Indian with a torch in his hand. At times the immag-
ination will work wonders. This mistake of the sentinel
afforded the volunteers much merriment.

MY OWN TIMES. 247
Major Dement then marched to Fort Dixon and reported
Tiimself to Col. Z. Taylor. This officer ordered the battalion to
Kellog's Grove. They reached there on Saturday night, and
enjoyed the next Sabbath in hunting. On the second night
.after they arrived at the Grove, Mr. Funk, of McLean County,
came to the fort from the lead mines about two o'clock at night
and informed Maj. Dement that a large trail of two hundred
and fifty or three hundred Indians was seen passing south-west,
near them, and that a large force of the enemy was probably in
his neighborhood. This information gave Maj. Dement much
concern and responsibility. He had but about one hundred
and fifty men, untrained, undrilled, and unaccustomed to war,
but as brave men as ever breathed the breath of life. Most of
his battalion, and all the superior officers, were Tennesseeans,
where the virtue of courage and bravery is as much cultivated
and respected as in any country on the globe. Maj. Dement
called a council of officers, in the night, and they decided that
the major, with fifty picked men, should march out in the
morning and reconnoitre the trail and country. The rest of
the battalion was to remain in the fort, in readiness for
action if necessary. This fort was an oblong log-house, con
taining three rooms, and made of large logs; the doors were
made of strong material ; and a good well of water was in the
yard. Some stables and other buildings were built near the
main cabin. Some six or eight of the fifty volunteers who
were going with the major started in advance of him, on good
horses, and had approached the prairie about one hundred and
fifty yards from the fort. Just as the major and Gov. Casey
were mounting their horses, an express came from the advance
party informing the major that some three or four Indians were
seen in the prairie. This information was like an electric spark:
it put the rank and file of the battalion into a. frenzy to shoot
and kill them; but the officers were well convinced that they
were placed there to decoy the whites into an ambuscade, which
turned out to be lamentably true. At this time, the whole bat
talion mounted their horses against orders and hurried to the
scene of action. Five men. Black and four others, who had no
horses, also started out to see the fight, or chase of the Indians,
but they never returned.
Major Dement and most of the officers galloped out with the
throng to prevent their men from chasing the Indians, who, of
course, fled as soon as the whites approached them. Many of
the volunteers in the confusion mistook the intention of the
major and the other officers, and supposed that they were
chasing the Indians to kill them. The battalion was in the
utmost confusion, not regarding the commands of the officers
in any manner whatever.
The retreating Indians ran near a ravine in the prairie, which

248 MY OWN TIMES.
was filled with brush and bushes to conceal Black Hawk, his
generals, and warriors, to the number of two hundred and fifty
or three hundred. No military talents could have planned this
stratagem better than those bookless savages did. The running,
whooping, and hallooing volunteers were literally scattered over
the battle-field, but mostly near this hollow in the prairie.
They acted like they were chasing a wolf on the snow. Major
Dement was exceedingly active in trying to arrest his men, as
he knew almost certainly they were running into danger •and
destruction. All of a sudden, Black Hawk and his warriors
emerged from their concealment, on the confused troops, and
raised the war-whoop from the mouths of two or three hundred
naked Indians. The enemy had prepared themselves for battle
by taking their clothes off. They were naked in battle.
As soon as this army of furious, naked Indians made the
attack on the confused volunteers, the whites commenced a
retreat to the fort with equal or greater speed than they
exerted in the pursuit of the Indians. Maj. Dement and the
other officers made the utmost exertions to fight the Indians
and to bring off the troops in good order, but their efforts were
unavailable. A sudden surprise seized the corps, and no order
or subordination could be observed among them. The Indians
considered that they had the advantage in numbers and strata
gem, and they rushed on with the fury of demons.
The instinct of preservation made the volunteers shape their
course for the fort, and as soon as Maj. Dement would rally a
few of his soldiers to make a stand against the enemy, the
Indians would attempt to cut them off from the fort. Seeing
this, the power of the officers over their men could not restrain
them from seeking protection in the log-cabin.
Governor Casey made a rally with a considerable number of
the volunteers at the woods, but the enemy attempting to out
flank them and cut them off from the fort made the soldiers
again flee for refuge to the log-house. Gov. Casey's horse was
wounded and almost threw him off. When the horsemen left
those on foot, the five men without the means of escape were
killed. The horse of Trammel Ewing was shot dead from
under him, and himself wounded ; but he escaped on foot.
The Indians and volunteers rushed with desperate violence
through the timber, tree-tops, brush, logs, and such obstacles as
presented themselves, until they reached a log-house of which
a fort was made.
The soldiers dismounted in great haste, and entered the fort
with the Indians at their heels. When the volunteers occupied
the house the enemy was shy in approaching the premises, but
let loose all their vengeance by killing the horses. Forty-seven
horses were shot dead in the yard of the fort, and some few
more on the field of battle. The horse of Governor Casey was

MY OWN TIMES. 249
wounded in the head before the governor dismounted from him
at the fort.
The enemy was so furious in this battle, and rushed so near
the fort, that seven of their number were killed. They shot
into the house through the crevices and wounded several men,
but killed none. Three different bullets touched the person of
the major, but none injured him. One ball passed through his
hat and cut the hair on the top of his head.
When the battle had subsided to some degree around the
fort. Major Dement dispatched five men on good horses to
Dixon, fifty miles or more, for relief, as it was supposed the
Indians would make an attack on the log-house at night The
same Ewing who was wounded in the thigh was one of the
express. This express started about eight o'clock in the
morning. When the Indians withdrew, sentinels were put out and the
fort prepared for a night- attack. The logs of the house were
large and solid, so that they could withstand the balls of the
enemy. The only concern was fire The major presumed the
Indians would attempt to burn the fort. The premises' pre
sented a horrid spectacle with almost fifty horses lying dead
in the yard and a number of Indians also lying dead a little
farther off. The horses, having been killed with poisoned
arrows, swelled horribly. One hundred and fifty or more wet
blankets were placed on the top of the house to save it from
fire. Barrels of water were also provided for the occasion.
But toward sundown relief came. Gen. Posey arrived with his
brigade. The express and brigade together travelled one hun
dred miles between eight o'clock and sundown. Some time was
taken to get the brigade started.
About a quarter of a mile from the fort the Indians yelled,
hallooed, and shouted war-songs over the dead bodies of the
white men they had killed, and mangled their bodies in true
Indian style.
Just as Posey's brigade reached the fort, three Indian spies
on horseback were seen to emerge from the thickets in different
places, who had been watching the fort to see if any relief
would arrive or not; and it is supposed if none had come, the
fort would have been attacked at night, but the arrival of Gen.
Posey prevented it. In the morning early, after the arrival of
Posey's brigade, a large grave was dug with tomakawks and
knives, and in it were buried the remains of the five men killed
on the field of battle. Their lone grave is in the prairie, not far
from the grove.
About two miles from the fort the Indians held a council,
and seemed to have been some time in this convention, per
haps waiting to see whether they would make a night-assault
on the fort.

250 MY OWN TIMES.
After burying the dead in this hasty manner. Gen. Posey
started in pursuit of the enemy, but soon found out that the
Indians had scattered so the trail could not be followed, and
the pursuit was abandoned. Thus ended this military opera
tion, in which the officers and privates acted with gallantry and
bravery; but the corps was under no discipline or subordina
tion. There was the error.

CHAPTER LXXXVIIL
Army March to Dixon. — Posey's Brigade Ordered to Fort HamUton. —
Alexander's toward the Mississippi. — Atkinson, Regulars and Volun
teers March up Rock River. — Find no Indians. — Army Disperse for
Provisions. The army on the frontier was strong, brave, and efficient.
The infantry of the regular army were five or six hundred in
numbers, and were commanded by many of the most distin
guished officers in the United States' army. Gen. Atkinson
was the commander-in-chief and under him were Taylor,
Harney, Riley, and many other distinguished and gallant offi
cers. Maj. Riley was the Bayard of the army — sans peur et
sans reproche.
Among the volunteers were many of the most distinguished
men in the State, and many that held the highest offices in the
state government. The volunteers amounted to two or three
thousand strong. Never in America existed better material to
make a brave and efficient army than composed the volunteer
corps in this campaign.
Gen. Atkinson ordered Gen. Alexander with his brigade to
march to the region of country between Dixon, Galena, and
the Mississippi, to guard the frontiers and prevent the strag
gling Indians from the west side of the Mississippi from joining
Black Hawk. He also ordered the brigade of Gen. Posey to
Fort Hamilton. He commanded in person the brigade under
Gen. Henry, and the regulars, and marched them from Fort
Wilburn to Dixon for military stores. I marched with General
Atkinson to Dixon, and was there when the messengers reached
him from Major Dement at Kellog's Grove.
While we were at Dixon, Mr. George E. Walker, the captain
commanding seventy or eighty Pottawatomie Indians, with their
chiefs Caldwell, Shabonee, and Wapello with them, came to
Gen. Atkinson and desired some protection of the army to
save them fr6m the fury of Black Hawk, as they had joined
the Americans, which would cause great anger in the breast of
the old Sac warrior. Col. Fry was sent with his regiment to
protect our Indian allies. We supposed it was better to receive

MY OWN TIMES. 251
the Indians into service, as perhaps if we did not they would
fight on the other side.
With a strong regular force and cannon, and the brigade
under the immediate command of Gen. Henry, Gen. Atkinson,
and myself and staff commenced the march from Dixon up
Rock River in pursuit of the enemy. This march was con
tinued throughout the region of country on Rock River for
sixty or eighty miles above Dixon for a long time without
reaching the hostile Indians.
On the 4th of July the main army lay on the banks of Lake
Koshkonong, which is an enlargement of Rock River, and ex
perienced a melancholy and sadness of feeling indescribable.
The provisions wasting away — almost gone — and the enemy
not chastised. Two or three thousand fine soldiers under arms
and nothing done, caused reflections in the breasts of the offi
cers, and many privates, that were extremely mortifying and
painful. But what could be done.' We were almost hunting a
shadow. Not finding Black Hawk, the army moved higher up the
river and were in the midst of the enemy, but the Indians were
not in a body so as to chastise them. The general fortified our
camp every night to guard against a night-attack. At one of
these camps a man was wounded by accident, but not mortally.
At another encampment, Capt. Dunn, of Gen. Posey's brigade,
was wounded by a sentinel, supposed to be mortal, but he
recovered. In this section of the country, the brigades of Gen
erals Posey and Alexander joined us about the 7th of July,
together with Gen. Dodge and his troops.
After various marches, and waiting the report of scouts, the
whole army lay at a stream called Whitewater, a branch of
Rock River, and after sun-up two Indians shot across the
stream at a regular soldier who was fishing. I was in my tent,
with my staff, near the scene, and we supposed the guns were
discharged by accident. The soldier was wounded, but not
mortally. The Indians dashed off in a moment and could not
be reached. We marched and countermarched, but found no
enemy. On the 8th, the one-eyed Winnebago-chief Decori told
Gen. Atkinson that Black Hawk was lower down the river, and
the army marched down by the counsel of this wicked savage
who stated an untruth to save Black Hawk. This movement
on the information of the one-eyed chief, delayed us one or two
days. If we had pushed on up the river, by forced marches for
a day or two, the Indians would have been reached and the war
ended. Gen. Atkinson would not move without the regulars,
with the cannon, and they marched so slow that the Indians
could not be overtaken.
On the loth of July, in the midst of a considerable wilder
ness, the provisions were exhausted, and the army forced to

252 MY OWN TIMES.
abandon the pursuit of the enemy for a short time. Seeing
the difficulties to reach the enemy, and knowing the extreme
uncertainty of ever reaching Black Hawk by these slow move
ments, caused most of the army to believe we would never
overtake the enemy. This condition of affairs forced on all
reflecting men much mortification, and regret that this cam
paign also would do nothing. Under these circumstances, a
great many worthy and respectable individuals, who were not
particularly operative in the service, returned to their homes.
My staff and myself left the army at the burnt village, on Rock
River, above Lake Koshkonong, and returned by Galena to the
frontiers and home.
When I reached Galena, the Indian panic was still raging
with the people there, and I was compelled to order out more
troops to protect the citizens — although the militia of the whole
country was in service. The attack of Apple-Creek Fort by the
Indians made the citizens of Galena fear a similar assault on
their town, and they had a large fort erected for defence.
At the upper end of the lower rapids of the Mississippi,
where Nauvoo now stands, Capt. White had a company organ
ized for defence.
I saw and heard reports from the frontiers between the Mis
sissippi at the Yellow Banks and Chicago, on the north of the
Illinois River, that the troops were doing their duty, and I
returned to my residence in Belleville.
I received dispatches from Washington City highly approving
my course in the war, and also authority from President Jack
son to hold treaties with the Indians. General Scott was also
appointed commissioner to conclude treaties, and we were
authorized to act together.
On the lOth of July, the day the army disbanded for pro
visions, Gen. Scott, with a large force of the regular army,
arrived from the Atlantic seaboard at Chicago and landed his
troops. The Asiatic cholera appeared in his army on the route,
and many died of the disease.
The Black-Hawk war assumed such an importance that the
Government at Washington ordered Gen. Scott and a large
regular army on the frontiers. The general, with that mili
tary efficiency and capacity for which he is so celebrated, con-
•^ veyed a regiment of troops from Old Point Comfort in Vir
ginia, to Chicago, in eleven days, which was considered an
extraordinary quick passage; but at this day, the same could
be performed in about thirty hours. Some of the troops who
had been with Gen. Scott were in the battle of the "Bad Axe,"
under Gen. Brady, but the general himself did not assume the
command during the campaign.
On my way to the frontiers, I heard of the chastisement of
the Indians, which closed the war.

MY OWN TIMES. 253

CHAPTER LXXXIX.

Sketch of the Life and Character of James D. Henry. — The Horse
Stampede. James Dougherty Henrv immigrated to Illinois and set
tled in Edwardsville in the year 1822. He was a native of
Pennsylvania, and was born and raised in an humble and ob
scure condition in life.
When he located in Edwardsville, he was poor, obscure, and
without a friend or acquaintance in the State. He was a me
chanic, and worked at his trade for a support. He had been
raised to manhood with a very limited education — barely able
to read and write. At Edwardsville, when he was, I presume,
twenty-one years of age, he, for the first time, entered on the
study of arithmetic, and studied at a night-school in Edwards
ville with a teacher, William Barrett, whose habits would not
conform to the rules of a temperance society. Henry was not
quick to comprehend the rules in mathematics, but labored
on incessantly until he understood well the principles of the
science in all its branches. He became, at last, a passable
scholar in this science.
The person of Gen. Henry was large, six feet high, propor-
tionably formed, and possessed a manly and dignified bearing.
He was exceedingly modest and retiring until his passions were
aroused, and then he showed an intensity of feeling and an iron
will which was irresistible so far as he had the power to act.
In company he was generally taciturn, and mostly appeared to
disregard the charms of society, but seemed to be moody and
melancholy, reflecting on the misfortunes of himself, which he
could not relieve. At long intervals he indulged in frolics, and
then, if his anger was excited, he was reckless and desperate.
He knew and cared as little of danger and death as a marble
statue. The fear of nothing, except his Maker, ever entered
his breast. It appeared that he cared not much for life, but
all for honor. His mother was a native of Scotland, and her
religious notions, and books of Calvinism, impressed her son
considerably with predestination. He reflected much on these
melancholy and gloomy subjects, which had an effect on his
character. He possessed a diffidence, or extreme sensibility,
that prevented him from ever appearing in the society of ladies.
At the close of the Black-Hawk war, the citizens of Springfield
(his residence) gave him a splendid party in honor of his ser
vices in that war, and at it he never once appeared in the apart
ments where the ladies presided. This singular trait of charac
ter was so riveted on him that v/hen he died, in New Orleans,

254 MY OWN TIMES.
on the 4th of March, 1834, among strangers, he never informed
any one that he was Gen. Henry, of the Black-Hawk war. It
was discovered after his death at the hotel where he died.
The paternity of Gen. Henry was not known to many besides
himself It was, no doubt, this subject that his sensitive soul
could neither forget or forgive that preyed heavily on his mind,
and at last brought him to a premature grave. His father
called to see him at Edwardsville, but his son refused to see
him on account of the situation in society in which the son was
compelled to exist by the act of the father.
He entered into the mercantile business in Edwardsville, and
moved to Springfield in 1826. He was elected sheriff of San
gamon County for several terms, and performed the duties of
his office with sound judgment and strict integrity. I became
well acquainted with him, and knew his merit. Under these
circumstances, I appointed him one of my aids when I was
elected governor.
At the Burnt Village, on the Whitewater branch of Rock
, River, on the loth of July, as heretofore stated. Gen. Atkinson
was forced to disperse the army for subsistence. The brigades
of Henry and Alexander, and the battalion of Maj. Dodge,
were ordered to Fort Winnebago for provisions. This fort was
situated at the" Portage, between the Fox River of Lake Michi
gan and the Wisconsin River, and was about one hundred miles
from the Burnt Village. Col. John Ewing with his regiment
were ordered to Dixon with Capt. Dunn. Gen. Posey and
brigade were sent to Fort Hamilton for supplies, and to guard
the northern frontiers. Gen. Atkinson with the regular army
went down Rock River to Koshkonong Lake, and erected there
a small fort.
The first night the army camped at Fort Winnebago they
experienced a calamity worse than an ordinary battle with the
Indians. About a thousand horses were grazing near the en
campment, and it is supposed that some thieving Indians were
trying to steal some of the horses, which caused a general, most
furious, and dangerous stampede among the quadrupeds. The
soldiers being tired, were fast asleep in their tents, which were
pitched near one another, mostly not more than three feet
apart. It is understood by the reader that in these stampedes
the horses are scared until they are crazy, and run at the top of
their speed over any opposing obstacle they are able to sur
mount. One thousand horses running at once, with race-horse
speed, make not only appalling noise worse than a tornado, but
there is absolute danger in being tramped to death in the
furious race. The horses behind forced those before onward,
so that if the foremost horses wished to stop, or to divert their
course, they cannot do it.
The first flight of the horses ran with the violence and fury

MY OWN TIMES. 255
of a tempest, pell-mell over the camp of the troops, knocking
down the tents into the faces of the sleeping men, and batter
ing into the ground the arms, tent-poles, men, and all articles
in the camp. The picket-guard, sentinels, and officers-of-the-
day, all entered the camp with the horses, and all supposed it
was an attack of the Indians. Many of the men were bruised
and crippled, and almost unable to stir. The bugles and drums
sounded to arms, and those who were able, were in the utmost
confusion in the dark to obtain their arms, which had been so
scattered, and many broken by the horses. This was a second
edition to the confusion at the Tower of Babel, only this at
Fort Winnebago caused more bruised bodies.
The stampede took a northern direction, and the Wisconsin
River stopped their race in that course but not their fury. The
horses then changed their direction back, and ran the second
time directly over the camp. The soldiers by this time were
awakened and attempted to stop the crazy animals, but only
a few were arrested from this dangerous stampede.
It is supposed that most of the horses must have run thirty
miles in this race, which did the service much injury at this
crisis. It required great trouble to find the horses, and many
were never found. The trail the army made to the fort was
followed back fifty miles in search of the lost horses. Many
of the horses were crippled, and all injured and fatigued by
the stampede.

CHAPTER XC.
Gen. Henry, in Violation of Orders, Decides to March in Pursuit of
the Indians. — Puts Down a Disturbance Among the Volunteers. —
Found the Trail of Black Hawk. — Left the Heavy Baggage.
Two days were occupied at Fort Winnebago in regaining
the lost horses, recruiting the army, and drawing provisions for
twelve days. During that time certain information was received
of the encampment of Black Hawk and his band.
This fort was in the midst of the Winnebago Indians, and
those Indians were in numbers about the fort, and knew well
the location of Black Hawk. A half-breed, a man of some
talents, Poquette, was one on whom the whites relied, and he
gave the information of the residence of the enemy.
Black Hawk and band were then encamped at Cranberry
Lake, on Rock River, forty or fifty miles above Fort Koshko
nong, where Gen. Atkinson was camped. No doubt Black
Hawk had spies out and when Gen. Henry moved toward
them they attempted to escape across the Mississippi.
On receiving this information. Gen. Henry convened all the

256 MY OWN TIMES.
officers, including the captains, and held a council of war. It
was the unanimous conclusion of the officers that it was their
duty to disregard the orders of Gen. Atkinson, and that he
would approve of their doing so if he knew the facts. It was
certain that Black Hawk and his band w^ould escape if the army
returned to Gen. Atkinson, almost a hundred miles from Fort
Winnebago. The only possible opportunity to close the war
with honor and service to the country was to march directly on
the enemy. It was agreed in council that the country required
the chastisement of the Indians; that an example must be made
to keep the surrounding tribes in peace with the whites, and
that if this opportunity was abandoned the whole campaign
would be defeated. The General Government had expended
eight or ten millions of dollars, and no beneficial result would
be experienced by the war.
At twelve o'clock on the 15 th July, was the time appointed
to march from Fort Winnebago in pursuit of the enemy, but
the soldiers in the brigade of Gen. Alexander strongly remon
strated against disobeying the orders of Gen. Atkinson and
marching with Gen. Henry. The officers of that brigade
did not coerce the men, and that brigade marched back to
Gen. Atkinson at Lake Koshkonong, on Rock River. Some
soldiers and some of the officers in the brigade of Gen. Henry
became disaffected by their intercourse with the brigade of Gen.
Alexander, and did not want to march with the general against
the Indians. The brigade of Henry was now reduced to about
five or six hundred strong, and one-third of them were without
horses. About this time, Capt. Craig, from Galena and the vicinity,
reached Fort Winnebago with a fine company of mounted-men,
and joined the battalion of Gen. Dodge, which made his force
number one hundred and twenty men. This addition put to
rest all murmuring in his corps as to their marching with Gen.
Henry in search of the enemy.
Many of the officers, also, of the brigade of Gen. Henry were
not inclined to march with their general, and all the officers of
the regiment of Col. Fry, except the gallant colonel himself,
signed a remonstrance to Gen. Henry against the violation of
orders and marching with him. This paper was presented to
the general by the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. This
was the crisis — the governing pivot of the whole campaign —
and Gen. Henry was equal to the emergency. This crisis
showed Gen. Henry to be an extraordinary man. One brigade
had mutinied, and decided to return to Atkinson; the privates
in his own brigade at the brink of open mutiny, and the officers
of one regiment, all but the colonel himself, had signed a docu
ment dissenting from his order. / Thus was left this gallant
officer almost alone to oppose the symptoms of open mutiny of

MY OWN TIMES. 257
two brigades. His situation, and determined firmness, forcibly
reminds us of the condition of Gen. Jackson in his military
campaigns against the Southern Indians. The determined
courage and firmness of the two generals are similar and strik
ing. Jackson posting himself on a bridge, and with a pistol in
hand defying the troops to pass the bridge while he was alive,
and Henry forcing the brigade to pursue the Indians.
In this crisis as well as in all others Henry was cool and
reflecting, possessing not the least bluster or parade. He
reflected thoroughly on what was right and when he took a
stand he was immovable. When he knew that he was right, he
possessed the firmness and iron-wUl to maintain his position
against all earthly power, so far as his strength was able. This
campaign showed Henry to be an extraordinary man, such as
in ages may not again appear on the public stage. He hesi
tated not a moment, but ordered all of the officers signing this
remonstrance to be put under arrest, and to be marched off to
Gen. Atkinson under the guard of 'Col. Collins and his regi
ment. This efficient and decided order from a man whom they
knew had the moral and physical courage to execute it, made
the officers reflect, doubt, and finally to repent. The colonel
presenting the shameful paper denied knowing the contents of
it. All the officers, by the prompt and decisive course of Gen.
Henry, came to a sense of their duty, and performed it nobly
during the balance of the campaign.
The character of Gen. Henry was such that the officers and
soldiers loved as well as obeyed him. He was exceedingly kind
and attentive to the comforts of his brigade, and nourished the
sick, and supplied the wants of all with everything that was in
his power.
On the 15th of July, the brigade was reviewed, and all inef
ficiency of men or material was discharged, and the troops
marched with honor and duty to guide them to victory.
Poquette, the half-breed, and a Winnebago chief, "the White
Pawnee," were selected for guides to the camp of Black Hawk
and band.
The army marched through a marshy and swampy country,
which very much impeded their progress. At every swamp,
horses were lost in the mud and left to die. Toward the close
of the three days' march, the trail of Black Hawk and his band
was discovered. This information changed the ordinary march
of the army into a chase, which will be related in the next
chapter. On the second day's march, the spies seized two unarmed
Indians, who said they were Winnebagos; but the white spies
considered them Sac Indians, and also spies of Black Hawk.
With this impression, the Indians were confined with the army.
17

258 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XCI.
Gen. Henry and Major Dodge, with their Respective Troops, in Hot
Chase of Black Hawk and Band. — Thunder Storm. — The Four
Lakes. — Battie of Wisconsin.
On the third day's march from Fort Winnebago, the army
met three Winnebago Indians, who gave information that Black
Hawk and his war party of Indians were camped high up Rock
River, at the Cranberry Lake. On receiving this information
a council of officers decided to move against the Indians next
morning, and, in the meantime. Dr. Merryman, of Springfield,
and Mr. Woodbridge, of Wisconsin, with an Indian guide, a
chief called Little Thunder, were dispatched as messengers to
Gen. Atkinson to apprise the general of the movements of the
volunteers. The express, after travelling about eight miles, struck the
large and fresh trail of Black Hawk and band leaving Rock
River and making toward the four lakes, and across the Wis
consin and Mississippi Rivers, for safety. As soon as Little
Thunder saw the trail a panic seized him, and he returned with
all possible speed to the volunteers. He gave the information
to the two Indians and the army before Merryman and Wood-
bridge reached the troops. The country was so swampy and
filled with thickets that the messengers were compelled also to
return to the brigade. But one of the express was fired on in
the dark by a sentinel and was near being hit by the bullet.
In the confusion of the army, the two Indians, the prisoners
and spies, made their escape, but were recaptured.
Major McConnell had been out about dark reconnoitering,
some distance from the main army, with another person, and
had found the Indian traU of Black Hawk. The individual
returned alone to the army and reported the fact. Just at
dark — McConnell was still reconnoitering — two Indians came
through some brushwood within ten yards of him, and one of
them gave an Indian whoop, evidently showing great alarm.
McConnell supposed the Indians were the enemy, and was
about shooting -when one of them cried out, in tolerable Eng
lish, "Good Indian, me! good Winnebago!" McConnell imme
diately discovered that they were the two prisoners who had
been marching with the army. He captured them, and tied
their hands behind their backs and marched them to the camp.
In this enterprise with the Indians, and throughout the whole
campaign. Major McConnell displayed efficiency and courage as
a soldier and an officer, which won for him the approbation of
the whole army.

MY OWN TIMES. 259
The Indian prisoners confessed their guilt that they were
spies from Black Hawk. They expected to be shot, but the
general did not proclaim their guilt and they were spared. The
general acted with humanity, as the army was then nearly on
the Indian trail, and the spies could do no injury to the whites,
and to destroy two deluded, unarmed human beings, after their
having been prisoners for some time, seemed to be a cruel act.
The general was compelled to exercise much care over the
Indians or some volunteer might have shot them if the fact
had been known.
On the 19th of July, early in the morning, five baggage-
wagons, camp -equipage, and all heavy, cumbersome articles
were piled up and left, so that the army might make speedy
and forced marches to overtake the enemy. For some miles
the travel was exceedingly bad, crossing swamps and the worst
thickets, but the large fresh trail of the Indians gave life and
animation to the Americans. Gen. Dodge acting as major, and
Col. Ewing acting also as major, composed the spy-corps or
vanguard of the army. It is supposed the army marched
nearly fifty miles this day, and the Indian trail they followed
became fresher, and was strewed with much property and trin
kets of the Indians that they had lost or threw away to hasten
their march.
Toward evening, there commenced a terrific thunder storm,
with torrents of rain, which poured down on the army in floods,
and drenched them for many hours. The storm continued
nearly all night until toward day, which prevented the soldiers
from making any fire or cooking any food for their support.
The army were without tents, and lay on the ground covered
with water, and themselves without covering, as many of the
soldiers had left their blankets in the general deposit of their
property made in the morning.
Early in the morning, the whole army, although it was cold
and chilly, started on the trail, and pursued it with increased
vigor. The scouts of Gen. Henry captured an Indian, and by
him the general was informed that the main body of the Ind
ians was not far ahead of the army.
On receiving this information, the order of battle was formed
by Gen. Henry, and the troops marched in that order, prepared
for an engagement at any moment
Gen. Dodge and Gen. Ewing, each commanding a battalion
of men, were placed in front to bring on the battle, and Col.
Fry, with his regiment on the right. Col. Jones on the left, and
Col. Collins in the centre. In this order the army marched,
expecting and hoping to overtake the enemy the same evening,
but they did not About sunset, the army reached the first
of the four lakes, and Gen. Henry inquired of his guides, Po
quette and the White Pawnee, if the army could, in the night.

26o MY OWN TIMES. ^
march through the bad swamps and brush near the lakes. The
answer was they could not. Next day, it was found to be true,
what the guides had reported as to the difficulty of marching
around the lakes. The retreating Indians searched for the
worst roads.
On one of the four lakes the army camped, and the men
cooked a supper, which was about the first regular meal they
ate in travelling one hundred miles from Rock River, where
they first struck the Indian trail.
By the time it was light the whole army were on the Indian
trail, and in hot pursuit. Marching about five miles, a spy of
the enemy was killed, and a certain Dr. PhiUio brutally scalped
the Indian, when another white man had killed him. Two more
spies who were watching the progress of the army were also
killed. This day's march, or rather race, was very exciting.
The enemy only a few miles ahead escaping for life, and the
army exerting all their energies to overtake them. The trail
was literally strewed with Indian property and trinkets, and
sometimes a horse of the enemy gave out and lay dead on the
trail. At the camps of the enemy they were compelled to ] i'l
a horse at times to eat, as they were literally starving.
On the forced march on the 2 ist forty horses or more gave
out and were left. About three o'clock the spies reported that
the enemy were reaching the bluffs of the Wisconsin River, and
might make a save retreat over the river. This report urged on
the army with greater speed, and the rear guard of the enemy,
or their spies, frequently commenced firing to gain time, so that
the main body of the Indians could cross the river. The army
formed twice for battle, and the Indians would give way; but
on the third attack of the Indian spies, the white scouts diove
the Indians to the main body of the enemy, who had reached
tolerably heavy timber, and were waiting to give the Americans
battle. In an instant, the volunteers dismounted, ordering every
tenth man to hold horses, and were formed in the same order of
battle as they had been the day previous, except that Col. Fry's
regiment made the reserve, and to prevent the enemy from
turning the flanks of the Americans. The Indians came rush
ing with great fury, shouts and yells, on the Americans, and
the whites also, with noise and whooping at the top of their
voices, charged also with vigor on the approaching enemy.
The brave and gallant leaders. Col. Dodge and Col. Ewing, of
their respective corps made a gallant onset, and with the equally
brave and courageous Colonels Jones and CoUins and their regi
ments, drove the enemy back. In the heat of the battle, Col.
Fry and regiment were ordered to charge, with Col. Dodge, the
enemy who had concentrated in heavy masses in front of Major
Dodge. The charge was made with gallantry and efficiency.
The enemy was driven into the lowlands of the Wisconsin

MY OWN TIMES. 261
River, where the mud, high grass, and the approach of night,
rendered it difficult and imprudent to pursue them any farther.
On the margin of the river was a dense forest where the Indians
might take shelter and destroy many of the Americans in a
charge into the timber. Under these circumstances, General
Henry wisely sounded a retreat about dark.
This was a disastrous battle for the Indians, as it was re
ported that about sixty-eight of them were killed, and many
wounded. Of the Americans, only one man, Mr. Short of
Randolph County, was killed, and eight wounded.
During part of the battle, an Indian general, supposed to be
Napope, posted himself (riding a white pony) on a high knoll
near the Indian warriors, and gave commands, in a loud and
thundering voice, that could be heard distinctly amid the roar
of the fire-arms and the din of battle. I have heard it often
remarked that he possessed the loudest voice of all mortal
men, but as soon as the enemy commenced to retreat, he also
left his post and was silent.
This battle was conducted with wisdom and judgment by
Gen. Henry, and was the first and decided victory obtained by
the Americans over the enemy. Never before could Black
Hawk and his band be reached by the army, but at the heights
of Wisconsin the enemy was severely chastised. It became
necessary to execute this severe punishment on the recreant
band of Black Hawk, not only for their benefit, but to establish
peace and harmony among the Indians inhabiting our extended
borders. The American troops acted the part of brave and disciplined
soldiers, each man doing his duty without a solitary exception.
And too much praise cannot be given the officers. Gen. Dodge
and Gen. Ewing, each acting as majors, led the van of the army,
and gallantly sustained the first fire of the enemy. Cols. Fry,
Jones, and Collins, with their respective regiments, performed
well their duty to the satisfaction of the general and country.
Col. Jones had his horse shot under him. He procured another
and acted the part of a gallant soldier, as the other officers did
also through all the various scenes of the battle. The staff-
officers. Majors Murray McConnell, John A. Wakefield, and
others, were always in the thickest of the battle doing their
duty. Major McConnell was on horseback, and was a con
spicuous object for the Indian rifles. He saw an Indian fire
his gun at him, and the ball passed through his clothes touch
ing his breast.
Although Gen. Henry was young and inexperienced in bat
tle, yet he acted the part of a consumate commander in this
engagement. He possessed such mastery over the troops that
his command moved the brigade in the battle as a unit
The conduct of Gen. Henry in the Black-Hawk war rendered

262 MY OWN TIMES.
him the most popular man in Illinois. He could have been
elected to any office in the gift of the people. His health and
vigor of constitution had been before robust and good, but the
hardships and fatigue of the war wasted away his system, and
he died at New Orleans of the consumption, as before stated.
He left not a human being related to him in the State, but his
character remains dear to the people of Illinois. His fame as
the hero of the Black- Hawk war will be long revered and
respected by the people of his adopted State.
At the commencement of the action, all the Winnebagos,
including Poquette and Little Thunder escaped, and left the
Americans in the wilderness without knowing where to go for
provisions. The army was without support, and camped in an
unknown country.
On the 23d, some Indians came to the camp and guided the
army to the Blue Mounds in Wisconsin. After two days'
march, the army reached their destination and found plenty of
provisions. At the Blue Mounds, Gens. Atkinson, Posey, and Alexander
were all assembled, with four hundred and fifty regular troops,
under the command of Gen. Brady, and a greatly diminished
force of the volunteers. Gen. Posey's brigade contained not
more than two hundred men; Alexander's and Henry's not
many more. All the three brigades amounted to about the
force of one did when they were organized at Ottawa, some
months previous.
The night after the battle of the 21st instant, the same war
rior who, on a white horse, commanded the Indians, Napope,
took a stand on a high hill near the American camp, and about
three o'clock in the morning he spoke in the Winnebago
tongue, in a loud shrill voice, which, in the calm of the night,
vibrated from hill to hill. Not one in the American army
understood the language — the Winnebagos having left — but the
volunteers supposed it was the same commander marshalling his
warriors to give battle again. Under this impression. General
Henry had his troops all paraded and ready for a night-attack.
He had before taken the precaution to put out strong guards,
and prepare for battle at night.
This Indian warrior ceased his harangue toward daylight and
disappeared. It was a matter of surprise with the army what
could be the meaning of this loud voice so long uttered at this
time of night, so, near the American camp. After the battle
of the Bad Axe, on the Mississippi, it was explained. It was
Napope suing for peace. He supposed there were Winnebagos
in the camp, and would inform the Americans what he said.
He said the band under Black' Hawk sued for peace; that they
were not able to fight the Americans; they were worn down
and starving, and would retire to the west side of the Missis-

MY OWN TIMES. 263
sippi, and remain hereafter in peace with the whites. If this
.speech had been understood, it might have closed the war
without further bloodshed.
Some disagreeable feelings arose between the officers of the
¦regular army and the volunteers, and it was supposed it was
produced by Gen. Henry violating his orders and gaining the
victory over the enemy without the co-operation of the regular
army. At the Blue Mound, Gen. Atkinson assumed the command
and issued three days' provision to the army. It was the order
of the general to pursue the Indians.

CHAPTER XCII.
The Army Cross the Wisconsin River at Helena. — Order of March. —
Bad Roads. — In a Few Days they Reach the Mississippi. — Battle of
the Bad Axe. — Steamboat Black Warrior Fires on the Indians. —
The War Closed.
On the 26th of July, all the forces, regulars and volunteers,
appeared at Helena, a deserted village on the Wisconsin River,
and there made rafts to cross the stream. The Wisconsin at this
point is almost as wide as the Mississippi, but the whole army
was rafted over it, wagons and all, in safety in not much more
than a day.
The line of march was taken up on the 28th, in pursuit of the
old enemy, and the Indian traU reached in marching about five
miles. The regular officers marching in this expedition were Gen.
Atkinson, commanding; Gen. Brady, Cols. Taylor, Morgan, and
Riley, and many others. The volunteer officers were Generals
Henry, Alexander, and Posey; Colonels Fry, Jones, Collins,
Archer, and many others; Majors Dodge and Ewing. The
staff-officers were numerous— Col. E. C. March, and Majors
McConnell, Wakefield, Merriman, and many others, of the vol
unteers. Majors Johnson and Anderson were regular officers,
and of the staff of Gen. Atkinson.
Gen. Atkinson, in the march, ordered Major Dodge and bat
talion in front; then came the regulars; then Gen. Posey; then
Gen. Alexander, and Gen. Henry in the rear, to take charge of
the baggage. The position given Gen. Henry was so mani
festly wrong that all the army noticed it and it was considered
not only an insult to Gen. Henry, but to his brigade and the
State of Illinois. It has always been my opinion, that if I had
been in this expedition my position would have enabled me to
preserve peace and friendly feelings in the army.
In this order the army marched over the worst roads imagi-

264 MY OWN TIMES..
nable — swamps, high mountains, brambles, and briars — for
many days. The baggage-wagons and almost all of the heavy
articles were left on the route, and many horses also gave out
and were abandoned. It was truly sorrowful, as I was often
informed, to see on the Indian trail the signs of distress and
misery of the fleeing enemy. Many wounded Indians died
and were left on the trail. Frequently was seen the places
where horses had been killed and eaten by the Indians to save
hfe, and much of the valuables and articles held in the highest
estimation by the Indians were lost or thrown away in their
flight. When the army reached the Mississippi Bluff, Black Hawk
and about twenty of his warriors gave a kind of feint battle to
the army to decoy the Americans from the main body of the
Indians. The order of march was continued as heretofore,
which placed Major Dodge in front, then the regulars, then
Alexander's and Posey's brigades, and Gen. Henry in the rear
with the baggage. Black Hawk and his small party fled up
the river bluff, while the main body of the Indians marched
directly west across the bottom to the Mississippi, near the
mouth of a stream known as the Bad Axe. While Major
Dodge and Gen. Atkinson were in pursuit of Black Hawk and
his party. Gen. Henry, although in the rear, discovered by the
report of Major Ewing, who was in front of Henry, that he was
on the main trail of the Indians, which descended into the bot
tom, and that Dodge and Atkinson were not on it. Henry
again, without orders, pursued the large trail and soon com
menced the battle on the main body of the enemy, when Gen.
Atkinson was in pursuit of Black Hawk and his twenty war
riors. It seemed fortune was determined to distinguish her
favorite, Gen. Henry, in despite of the disgrace intended for
him. As soon as Gen. Atkinson commenced the skirmish with the
Indians, he called for a regiment from Henry's brigade to cover
his rear, and Henry dispatched Col. Fry with his regiment
Instantly, when Major Ewing discovered the trail of the
Indians leading towards the Mississippi, he formed his bat
talion in order of battle and waited the order of his general.
Henry dismounted his brigade at the foot of the bluff and
formed the order of battle. Eight men were sent forward, as a
forlorn hope, to ascertain the hiding places of the Indian war
riors, and receive their fire. Five of the eight were killed or
wounded. The other three defended themselves until the main
army came to their rescue. Henry, with his energetic volun
teers, charged on the Indians with great courage and drove
them back. At that time he sent his aid, Major McConnell, to
inform Gen. Atkinson that he had discovered the main body of
the enemy, but Atkinson, hearing the report of fire-arms and

MY OWN TIMES 265
the roar of battle, advanced himself to the conflict, and met
McConnell near the scene of action. But the main battle was
mostly over before the arrival of Atkinson. Gen. Henry also
dispatched a messenger to Col. Fry for him and his regiment
which order the brave colonel obeyed, and was soon in the
thickest of the battle. Gen. Henry sounded the sweet music
of "charge! charge!" on his bugles, and the volunteers forced
the Indian warriors to the bank of the river by the time Atkin
son's troops reached the battle-ground. When Atkinson
reached the scene he saw the ground strewed with the slain
warriors. At the river the whole force was directed against the
enemy, and they were driven over a slough of the river to an
island. A charge was ordered to the island, and the soldiers
waded in the water to their armpits. Major Dodge, the regu
lars, and Ewing's and Posey's respective commands appeared
on the island, and acted the part of brave and efficient soldiers.
Many of the Indians attempted to swim the river, and were
shot in the water. Although the warriors fought with the
courage and valor of desperation, yet the conflict resembled
more a carnage than a regular battle.
It is supposed that one hundred and fifty Indians were killed
in this engagement, and many drowned in attempting to swim
the river. Fifty — mostly squaws and children — were taken
prisoners. Some squaws were killed by mistake in the battle.
They were mixed with the warriors and some of them dressed
like the males.
Col. Enoch C. March, the quartermaster, acted a noble and
fearless part in this battle, and so did Major McConnell — in
fact the whole army did their duty to the entire satisfaction of
the country.
In this engagement the Americans lost seventeen killed and
twelve wounded. Among the slain was Lieut. Bowman, acting
as captain of a company, the captain being absent. Lieut.
Bowman was a brave, meritorious officer, and was cut off in
the prime of life and usefulness. He left a wife and only child,
a son, the worthy representative of a highly respectable father.
It may not be out of place to state, in this connection, that
young Bowman is now grown; is an educated man and a prac
tising lawyer.
The day before this battle, Capt. Throgmorton, under Lieut
Kingsbury in the steamboat Black Warrior, had killed several
of the same band of Black Hawk, and had afterward descended
in his boat to Prairie du Chien, which is about forty miles below
the battle-ground.
The volunteers were marched to Dixon, and then discharged
with the gratitude and thanks of the country for their important
and arduous services. Thus closed the campaign, and the war
with Black Hawk and his band.

266 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XCin.
Troops Guarding the Frontiers Discharged. — Peace Restored. — Trea
ties Concluded. — Session of Land Whereon the State of Iowa and
a part of Wisconsin is Formed.
Some time in the forepart of August, I met Gen. Scott at
Galena. He had been as far up as Prairie du Chien, and had
returned. We here made arrangements to assemble the Indians
at Rock Island, and Conclude treaties with them. I disbanded
all the troops under my command that had been guarding the
frontiers. While I was at Galena, Black Hawk and many of his war
riors arrived there and were sent down to Jefferson Barracks.
Black Hawk, with some of his band, had escaped the Ameri
cans at the battle of the Bad Axe, and had gone high up on
the Wisconsin River. Indians were sent out to capture him and
he surrendered to them.
While arrangements were being made to hold the treaties at
Rock Island, the cholera appeared in its worst form in that sec
tion of the State, and among the Indians. This disease was a
stranger in the country at that day, and spread terror and panic
wherever it went. I was extremely anxious to wind up the war
with treaties that would remove the Indians out of the State,
and clear them off from our borders. On this consideration, I
remained in the midst of the cholera, to effect the above ob
ject, when scarcely one single citizen was present at the treaty.
We were compelled to disperse the Indians while the disease
raged at Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, and wait until the
cholera subsided before a treaty could be made. Gen. Scott
also camped his army around and on Rock Island, some dis
tance from the fort, so as to be more healthy. I presume the
regular army at Rock Island at the time amounted to twelve or
fifteen hundred men, and Gen. Scott exerted his great energies
and abilities to save his troops from this scourge.
I witnessed the efforts and intense feelings of this great and
good man to protect his soldiers from the ravages of the
cholera, and I admired his noble bearing and moral courage in
resisting, at the hazard of his own life, the effects of this dread
ful disease. The cholera was a calamity visited on the army
that the general combatted with the same courage and hauteur
of character that he has so often and so honorably displayed at
the head of the victorious army of the United States.
After waiting a month or more for the cholera to subside, we
concluded the treaty. This delay was extremely painful — so
much so that it appeared to me to be years.

my OWN TIMES.. 267
On the 15th of September, 1832, we made an equitable
treaty with the Winnebago Indians. It was evident that the
country was so fast filling up that the aborigines could not
retain their possessions in peace, and it was better for both
parties for the Indians to sell out and go west.
The Winnebagos sold out all their lands in Illinois, and also
all south of the Wisconsin River, and west of Green Bay. The
Government gave them a large region of country west of the
Mississippi, and also ten thousand dollars a year for seven
years. The treaty also provided them with a free school for
all their children for twenty years; also, blacksmith shops,
oxen, agricultural implements, six agriculturists to oversee this
department; also physicians and tobacco-rations were allowed
them on their journey west.
It was ascertained at this treaty that the Winnebago tongue
was a singular, gutteral language, and it required much time
and acquaintance with it to speak it. It was also different
from all the surrounding nations. It is an Indian tradition
that the Winnebagos are a nation distinct from the surrround-
ing Indians, and that they speak a language of a different for
mation from that of the other tribes, and that they emigrated
from a great distance west.
During the pendency of this treaty, the remnants of the band
of Black Hawk arrived at Rock Island, and exhibited distress
and affliction that was truly sorrowful and painful to behold.
They were literally starved to mere skeletons, and showed such
destitution and misery that they excited the sorrow and sympa
thy of all who saw them. The heart of Gen. Scott is blessed
with the most kind and tender sympathies for the distressed,
which I was extremely well pleased to find on the occasion.
We liberally bestowed on these deluded and miserable beings
everything that tended to relieve their wants and make them
happy. On the 2 1 St of September, 1832, a treaty was made with all
the Sac and Fox tribes, by which they ceded to the United
States the tract of country on which, a few years afterwards,
the State of Iowa was formed.
In consideration of this cession of land, the Government
gives them an annuity of twenty thousand dollars for thirty
years. Also, gives them annually forty kegs of tobacco and
forty barrels of salt. Also, more gunsmiths and blacksmith
shops. Iron, steel, and also cattle, pork, and flour, are added.
Six thousand bushels of corn for immediate support, mostly
intended for the Black-Hawk band, were included in this treaty.
Gen. Scott and myself proposed to Keokuk, the main chief,
to furnish them with schools and teachers, so they might edu
cate their children. The chief refused the proposition. He
said it would do well enough for the whites to be educated, but

268 MY OWN TIMES.
it would not answer for the Indians. His people were made for
Indians, and he had always seen that it made Indians worse to
educate them. He would not have the provision in the treaty.
The Black-Hawk war, together with the treaties, terminated
favorably to the public welfare, and was highly approved by the
General Government. Removing the Indians from the State
was doing both races much service, as they cannot reside to
gether in peace and friendship. The Senate of the State legis
lature passed resolutions approving my official conduct in so
promptly calling out the militia and organizing them. The
thanks of the Senate were also given to the officers and sol
diers, who volunteered their services in the campaigns of 1831
and 1832, in repelling the hostile Indians. Also, President
Jackson, in his annual message of December, 1832, says: "After
a harassing warfare, prolonged by the nature of the country and
by the difficulty of procuring subsistence, the Indians were en
tirely defeated, and the disaffected band dispersed or destroyed.
The result has been creditable for the troops engaged in the
service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was rendered
necessary by their unprovoked aggression, and it is to be hoped
that its impression will be permanent and salutary. Our fellow-
citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are, in the
tender of their service in the hour of danger."
The above approval of the war was honorable, eminating
from President Jackson. The warlike appearance of the volun
teers, together with their speedy march to the frontiers and
their efficiency in battle, has taught the Indians a lesson which
has had a good effect with all the surrounding tribes.

CHAPTER XCIV.
Congressional Elections. — Distinguished Members of the Legislature.
— The Second Message of the Author. — Nullification. — President
Jackson's Proclamation. — Fugitive Slave-Law. — Non -Execution. —
Impeachment of Judge Smith.
A special election for one member of Congress was held on
the first Monday of August 1831, and Joseph Duncan was
elected. Under the new census and apportionment Illinois was en
titled to three members of Congress, and in August 1832, Za
dok Casey, Charles Slade, and Joseph Duncan were elected to
Congress. The parties. Whig and Democratic, divided the
country, and governed the elections almost entirely from the
highest to the lowest
The Black-Hawk war, like the war of 1812, brought the
country into notice, and thereby the settlements were rapidly

MY OWN TIMES. 269
advanced. The unsettled country north of the Illinois River,
and on the Wabash, commenced to fill up and improve.
The members of the general assembly were, many of them
who were elected in 1832, intelligent and talented individuals,
that would do credit to any State. In the Senate were Adam
W. Snyder, Archibald Williams, Wm. L. D, Ewing, George
Forquer, WiUiam B. Archer, William H. Davidson, Thomas
Mathers, and others, and in the House were Cyrus Edwards,
James Semple, John Dougharty, A. M. Jenkins, John D. White
side, Stinson H. Anderson, Edmund D. Taylor, John T. Stuart,
Peter Cartwright Murray McConnell, Benjamin Mills, and others,
who were conspicuous and distinguished public men in the
State. A. M. Jenkins was elected Speaker of the House of
Representatives. On the 4th of December, I delivered my second message to
the General Assembly, and in it I presented to that body the
subjects which I considered the most important.
Nullification in South Carolina was then agitating the country
considerably, and I presented the subject to the legislature in
my message in these words. " AU this national happiness is
effected by the legitimate union of the States. This Union is
the pride and support of every American. No dangerous doc
trine of nullification, tending to dismember this happy confed
eracy ought to be countenanced or tolerated. All such doctrine
should be firmly and promptly resisted, and prostrated by pub
lic opinion. This happy Union ought, and, I hope in God, will
be sustained at all hazards." After I delivered my message, I
received the proclamation of the lOth of December, 1832, issued
by President Jackson, condemning nullification in South Carolina,
and on the 24th of the same month, I presented it to the Gen
eral Assembly, with a recommendation to pass some resolutions
on the subject, expressive of the assent of the people of the
State to the views of the President. Speaking of nullification,
I say in this message: "In the view in which it presented itself
to my mind, I can regard it in no other light than a treasonable
attempt to dismember our happy confederacy. In the same
view it must be regarded by all those who admit the supremacy
of the laws, revere the Constitution, or love the Union."
When the General Assembly of Illinois received this proc
lamation, itself one of the most able State papers ever issued,
and eminating from a very popular president and man, it was
hailed as a kind of Godsend, to quiet the unruly and intemper
ate passions of a deluded people.
The General Assembly of Illinois passed resolutions approv
ing the principles contained in the document and pledging the
State to sustain the President in his determination to execute
the laws of the United States at all hazards.
President Jackson says in his proclamation: "But the dictates

270 MY OWN TIMES,
of a high duty oblige me solemnly to announce that you cannot
succeed. The laws of the United States must be executed. I
have no discretionary power on the subject; my duty is emphat
ically pronounced in the Constitution." What undaunted,
towering, and sublime sentiments the President expressed on
this occasion. He proclaims again: "It was known that if
force was applied to oppose the execution of the laws, that it
must be repelled by force." Again is the following in the proc
lamation stated by the President "Fellow- citizens of the
United States: The threat of unhallowed disunion, the names
of those once respected, by whom it is uttered, the array of
military force to support it, denote the approach of a crisis in
our affairs on which the continuance of our unexampled pros
perity, our political existence, and perhaps that of all free
governments depend. The conjuncture demands a free, a full,
and explicit enunciation, not only of my intentions, but of my
principles of action."
These are only a few of the principles laid down by President
Jackson in that extraordinary State paper; but the whole proc
lamation breathes a spirit of pure and noble patriotism that
never was surpassed. This able State paper had a strong ten
dency to put down the spirit of nullification throughout the
Union. There is a provision in the Constitution of the United States
authorizing Congress to pass laws to reclaim slaves escaping
from one State to another.
In pursuance of this constitutional provision, an act of Con
gress, passed in the year 1793, which remained in force until it
was repealed in 1850, and another act was passed in its place,
with more ample provisions. It will be recollected that the
principles of this last act of Congress were discussed for a long
time, not only in Congress, but throughout the Union. This
act was hailed by all patriots as the next act to the Constitution
itself, to give peace and quiet to the Union. By eminence it
was called the "the Compromise Act." It was brought before
the supreme court of the nation, the highest judicial tribunal
established or known in the United States, and in a most solemn
manner it was pronounced to be constitutional and binding.
After this act of Congress was passed and approved by the
supreme court of the nation, everybody haUed it as the great
foundation of our peace and happiness in relation to slavery.
The honest execution of this law, like any other should be,
would give peace and happiness to the Southern States, where
slavery exists ; but within a few years, a section of the State of
Illinois, the city of Chicago is not disposed to execute this act
of Congress. The opposition in Illinois to this law is not
extensive, but confined to a single city, so far as I know. Yet,
in that disaffected district, the act is a dead letter, and cannot

MY OWN TIMES. 271
be executed by permitting the owners of slaves to reclaim them
and remove them to the State from whence they escaped.
It is true that not a very great portion of the city of Chicago
is opposed to the execution of this law, but those who are in
favor of it dislike to have hard feelings, and perhaps a riot and
bloodshed with their neighbors in executing the law.
It is presumed that time and reflection will cause this spirit
of mistaken philanthropy and unfounded sympathy to subside,
and the people again to resume their sober senses. The feel
ings that actuate many people on this subject are the finest
sentiments of the human heart, but these sentiments are mis
guided and permitted to destroy the judgment. The Indians
are starving for the want of food. They deserve the sympathies
of the people ten times more than the Negroes. The same
mistaken zeal and fanaticism in olden times caused many to be
burned at the stake to advance religion, as they supposed. It
was the same misguided zeal that in New England, in former
days, destroyed human beings for witchcraft ; and, at this day,
the fanatical zeal for spiritualism is about the same.
It is the adherence to the constitution and the laws that
makes us a free people. It is the excellency of freedom and
liberty to execute the laws; and the non-execution of the laws
is as bad as Turkish tyrany. Under no consideration, will a
good man rebel against the constitution of his country, or
oppose the execution of the laws. I repeat the words of Presi
dent Jackson, "The laws of the United States must be exe
cuted." The non-execution of the laws presents the principles of the
old and condemned Lynch-law. To resist a law is a riot and
mob that no man can justify. The non-execution of the act of
Congress of 1850, is a disgrace to the State, and the sooner this
stigma is wiped out the better.
In the Southern section of the Union in MY OWN TIMES there
has been great excitement, and some show of a military force
to oppose the execution of the laws of the United States.
These demonstrations are equally injudicious and treasonable
as the preventive of the execution of the laws in other sections
of the Union.
The good sense of tlje masses, and the great value of the
Union, will preserve the confederacy for ages, while the people
are intelligent and honest. The masses, whose breath is public
opinion, will prostrate these unwise and treasonable factions in
the North as well as in the South, and preserve the Union "in
immortal youth."
This session of the General Assembly of 1832 of the State
became conspicuous, as before it was impeached and tried one
of the judges of the supreme court of the State, the Hon. The
ophilus W. Smith. The House reported five different specifi-

272 MY OWN TIMES.
cations or charges against the judge for malpractice and corrup
tion in office, and the trial was had by virtue of the constitution
before the Senate. I was present at the seat of government
during this trial, which produced much excitement and bitter
feelings. The managers on the part of the House were Messrs.
Benjamin Mills, John T. Stuart, James Semple, Murray Mc
Connell, and John Dougharty. The defendent T. W. Smith,
had for his counsel the Hon. Sidney Breese, Hon. Richard M.
Young, and Thomas Ford, Esq,
The array of talent on each side, and the impeachment of a
judge of the supreme court, made this trial important, and
thereby it attracted great attention, not only at the seat of gov
ernment, but throughout the State.
The trial of this case occupied the General Assembly from
the 9th of January, 1833, until the 7th of February of the same
year; and during that time not much other business was trans
acted. After examining a great many witnessess, and much
documentary evidence, and hearing the argument of counsel,
the judge was acquitted.
The Senate was formed into a High Court of Impeachment,
and conducted its proceedings with great decorum and solemni
ty. The attorneys, many of them, spoke for several days. The
vote in the Senate was close, and almost equal for and against
him, but the constitution required a majority of two-thirds of
the members to convict on an impeachment, and, therefore, as
above stated, the judge was acquitted.
As soon as he was discharged by the Senate, the House
passed a resolution under the constitution, requiring two-thirds
of the members voting for it, to address a judge out of the
office of the supreme court of the State. This resolution was
reported to the Senate, but it did not pass that body, and the
judge still continued to hold his office.
In my message I state: "The ordinary receipts into the
Treasury for the last two years, ending on the 30th of Novem
ber, 1832, in round numbers is one hundred and two thousand
dollars; and the current expenses of the government, including
certain appropriations, for the same period, were in like round
numbers ninety thousand dollars." This shows the state of the
finances at that period. •
I strongly urged on the legislature the subject of education.
I also urged on the General Assembly to construct a canal or
railroad connecting the waters of Ilhnois River with Lake
Michigan. Likewise, the harbor at Chicago. The penitentiary
was warmly advocated in this message. These are some of the
subjects presented to the legislature in my last message.
The General Assembly closed its labors and adjourned.

MY OWN TIMES. 273

CHAPTER XCV.
The Early Institutions of Learning in Illinois. — Rock-Spring Seminary.
McKendre College, at Lebanon. — lUinois College. — Seminaries at
HiUsborough, Springfield, and Paris. — Mr. Wyman's High School in
St. Louis.
The country in 18 18 comitienced a gradual change from the
extreme backwoods character to a more refined and improved
community. The preachers of the gospel assumed a more ele
vated stand, and paid more attention to the propriety and dig
nity of pulpit eloquence. High schools, seminaries of learning,
and colleges, commenced to take a permanent stand in the
country. Dr. John Mason Peck, of St. Clair County, deserves the palm
of victory for establishing the first college, or seminary of learn
ing, in IlUnois.
This gentleman, being so long and so much indentified with
the rise and progress of Illinois, his life and actions form a part
of the history of the country, and should be recorded as such.
He was born in the year 1787, in the parish of South Farms,
Litchfield, in the State of Connecticut and was raised to labor
on a farm with his father. He received the greater part of his
education under the instructors of the common schools and
academy of his native town. Dr. Peck is principally a self-
taught man; his means were limited, yet his untired ambition
to become intelligent and useful induced him to exert his
strong and powerful mind in the fields of science and literature
— himself being his only instructor — and he has accomplished
much. The whole of the long and useful life of Dr. Peck has been
employed mainly on two great and important objeqts — preach
ing the gospel and advancing education. He joined the
Baptist church at an early age; and has preached the gospel
almost half a century. In order to qualify himself the better
for his favorite pursuits, he attended for one year the «tudy of
literature and science in the city of Philadelphia. He spent
some time in the medical university of that city. In 1818, he
taught school in St. Louis, Missouri, and the next year in St.
Charles, in the same State.
As is already stated. Dr. Peck settled in lUinois in 1821 ; and
for many years thereafter he preached the gospel and estab
lished many Sunday schools in Missouri, Illinois, and a part of
Indiana. He also distributed the bible in those States, as well
as preached the gospel in them. In 1826, he commenced to
carry out his favorite object — the establishment of a coUege
18

274 MY OWN TIMES.
where all the higher branches of education were taught. Onr
New Year's day, 1827, he invited all those friendly to the
establishment of such an institution to meet at his house and
organize a board of managers to accomplish the object. They
met at his residence, known as Rock Spring, in St Clair Coun
ty, and decided to establish an institution to be called "The
Theological Seminary, and High School." Dr. Peck had been
engaged for years previously in soliciting funds to erect this
seminary, and he with his own hands, and his hired men, in the
dead of winter, cut the timber for* the building, and hauled it
on the snow. He paid five hundred dollars to the institution,.
and also donated twenty-five acres of land, at Rock Spring, on
which to erect the buUdings, and commodious and comfortable
houses were erected accordingly. Nine trustees were elected to
govern the institution, and also a system of education was.
adopted. A principal, a professor of mathematics and natural
philosophy was created, and a professorship of Christian theo
logy was also established. The board of trustees was organized,
and the Rev. James Leman, appointed president; Dr. Peck,
secretary and treasurer; and John Messenger, Esq., auditor of
the accounts. At the first meeting of the trustees, they elected
the Rev. Joshua Bradley, principal; Dr. Peck, professor of Chris
tian theology; and John Messenger, professor of mathematics
and natural philosophy. Some short time after this seminary
was opened, there were one hundred students in it. The institu
tion continued to prosper for many years, down to 183 1, when it
was transferred to Alton, and formed the foundation of the
Shurtleff College of that city. Professor John Russell, of Bluff
Dale, Green County, had charge of the institution for one year.
During the existence of this college, two hundred and forty-
two students, male and female, were taught in it; and many
became, in after days, conspicuous individuals. This institution
did the country much service; and the founder, the Rev. Dr.
Peck, deserves, and he receives, the gratitude and friendship of
the public for his exertions in the premises.
In the year 1828, Rev. Peter Cartwright commenced raising
funds, by voluntary contributions, to erect a building for a semi
nary of learning ; and did actually commence a building for the-
seminary at White Hall, in Green County; but the citizens of
Lebanon, about the same time, also commenced with subscrip
tions to erect a college edifice at Lebanon, St. Clair County,
and proceeding to some extent, the Methodist conference urged
the propriety to unite the efforts of both these institutions into
one, and it to be located at Lebanon, to which Mr. Cartwright
consented, and the Lebanon seminary was established, by
stockholders, in the year 1828. It was then placed under the
patronage of the "Methodist Conference," and the Rev. E. R.
Ames, was employed as teacher. By a resolution of the stock-

MY OWN TIMES. 275
holders, the name of McKendre College was given to the insti
tution in 1830, and in 1833, the Rev. Peter Akers was elected
the president. In 1834, an act of General Assembly was passed
incorporating the college, and accepted by the board of trus
tees. The following is a list of the presidents of McKendre Col
lege: Rev. Peter Akers, elected in 1833; Rev. John Dew, in
1837; Rev. John W. Merril, in 1838; Rev. James C. Finley, in
1841; Rev. Peter Akers, in 1845; Rev. Erastus Wentworth, in
1846; Rev. A. W. Cummings, in 1850; and Rev. Peter Akers,
in 1852, who is the president at this time.
This college is well furnished with philosophical and other
apparatus necessary to advance all the various branches of edu
cation, and also with a library of six or seven thousand vol
umes. A museum is also attached to it, containing specimens
of geology, minerology, ornithology, and other things.
The primitive buildings of wood were good in their day, and
are retained at this time for the chapel attached to the college.
The new buildings are splendid and elegent, and in just pro
portion to the rise and progress of the country. They are com
posed of brick, and finished in the most approved style of archi
tecture. Their capacious apartments are capable to accommo
date two or three hundred students, and other large additions
are being made for halls and other accommodations of the col
lege. This college is amply endowed, so that its permanency and
usefulness are secured, and its present successful operation
under the talented and worthy board of trustees is cheering to
the friends of education. This college labored for many years
in poverty and adversity, but its friends never despaired, and
have at last accomplished the original design of the institution
to their satisfaction. At this day, it contains more than one
hundred and fifty students, and stands a proud monument of
the abilities and energies of the citizens of Lebanon. This
institution has educated more young men than any other in the
State; and many of the students of McKendre College are now
among the most accomplished scholars in the West and many
are distinguished and marked characters in both public and
private life.
The Rev. Mr. Ellis, a Presbyterian preacher and missionary,
from New England, about this time commenced a college to be
located in Bond County, and had obtained some considerable
amount of money subscribed for the institution. Trustees were
appointed, and after much mental labor and canvassing in the
premises, it was finally located at Jacksonville, as that town had
subscribed more funds to the institution than Springfield or any
other place. A small building for a college, at first was erect
ed in 1829; and about that time an association of theological

276 MY OWN TIMES.
Students was formed in Yale College in the East to establish a
college in the West A correspondence was commenced be
tween them and the trustees of the Jacksonville Seminary, and
a union formed. In August, 1832, the institution was organ
ized, and called "The Illinois College." The various depart
ments were formed with their proper professorships, and the
Rev. Edward Beecher was elected the first president. The
trustees prevailed on Prof John Russell, of Bluff Dale, to make
the inaugural address in Latin, which he did to the entire satis
faction of the literati present.
The fine edifice of this institution, which was of brick in
1832, was burnt in 1852; but another building, more splendid
and capacious than the first is now erected. This institution
has done much service to the country, and bids fair to continue
its usefulness.
John Tillson, Esq., mostly at his private expense, erected a
tasty and elegant building in Hillsborough, in Montgomery
County for a seminary of learning, and in it was taught many
young men. This institution at Hillsborough commenced in
early days, when the country needed such high-schools and
seminaries. The Germans purchased the buildings of the
seminary at Hillsborough, and established in them a theologi
cal school and seminary of learning. It has since been removed
to Springfield.
About the year 183 1, the Shurtleff College, as heretofore
stated, commenced at Alton, and is at this day in successful
operation. At Paris, in Edgar County, the Methodists erected a seminary
of more recent date.
Almost thirty years past, Mr. Wyman emigrated from HiUs
borough, in lUinois, to St Louis, Missouri, and established
there a high-school, where the higher branches of literature
were taught. This seminary was continued for many years,
and greatly advanced the public interest.

CHAPTER XCVL
Early Literature in lUinois. — Morris Birkbeck, Esq. — Dr. Lewis C.
Beck. — Dr. John M. Peck. — Hon. James Hall. — Hon. Sidney
Breese. — Prof. John Russell. — The Venomous Worm. — Mr. M.
Tarver. — The Westem Journal and Civihan. — Antiquarian Histori
cal Society at Vandalia.
The rise and progress of literature in a new country is so
gradual and imperceptible that it is almost impossible to define
and record its commencement and march with any certainty.
It is not of such a character as to be defined and written down
like many other subjects.

MY OWN TIMES. 277
If I were permitted to make an epoch in the rise and pro
gress of literature in the history of Illinois, I would place it in
the year 18 1 8 — the time the State Government was organized.
This event attracted a great many intelligent and hterary char
acters to the State, who made a decided impression on the
country at that period.
I think it may be recorded, that Morris Birkbeck was the first
literary man who settled in Illinois. He explored the south
eastern section of the State in 1815, or thereabouts, and wrote
sketches of the country. These pieces were published in the
pubUc journals, which had a tendency to make the country
known to the public. Mr. Birkbeck had, deservedly, considera
ble celebrity as an author and a man of letters.
The next pioneer of literature was Dr. Lewis C. Peck, of St.
Louis, wrote "A Gazetteer of Missouri and Illinois." This
work was published in 1823, and is a valuable book. His
statements of facts are generally correct, and the work is cred
itable to the author and serviceable to the public.
About 1 8 19, the Rev. Dr. John M. Peck, James Hall, Esq.,
of Shawneetown, Prof John Russell, of Bluff Dale, Green
County, and the Hon. Sidney Breese, now of Carlyle, appeared
in the State, and gave science and literature a decided stand in
the country.
Besides the above-named gentlemen, many professional men,
mostly lawyers, and some others, located in Illinois, and added
considerably to the mental improvement of the country.
Dr. John M. Peck wrote many volumes, and delivered many
lectures. He wrote "The New Guide for Emigrants," and "The
Gazetteer of Illinois." Both of these works are well written,
and show great research and accuracy in the author. They are
small but standard works on the subjects they treat. He also
revised, and almost wrote in the new, "The Annals of the
West," which the Rev. Mr. Perkins had published. In this
work he also displayed much talent and research. It is, at this
day, an excellent history of the Mississippi Valley. The last
work he wrote was "The Biography of Father Clark." This
volume has done much to raise the character of the author as
a good writer, as well as to advance the cause of religion. His
style is strong, bold, and energetic. His labors are also directed
in collecting and preserving material for Western history, which
he is now writing.
Judge Hall is a distinguished scholar and writer. He settlqd
in Illinois, and entered the field of literature and science, as
well as the practice of the law. He was the editor of the
Western Monthly Magazine, and the Western Souvenir. Both
these periodicals were creditable to the author and serviceable
to the country. He was elected president of the Antiquarian
and Historical Society, established at the seat of government of

278 MY OWN TIMES.
Illinois in 1827, and delivered addresses that were considered
chaste and eloquent. The Illinois Intelligencer was, for a long
time, ably edited by him at Vandalia, and in this paper, litera
ture found an able advocate from the pen of Judge Hall. He
is a smooth, chaste, and polished writer, always doing his sub
ject ample justice.
The Hon. Sidney Breese has done much to advance literature
in the State. He was for many years the editor of public jour
nals, and always distinguished himself as an able and efficient
literary writer. He was the editor of the first reports of the
supreme court of the State, known as " Breese's Reports,"
which shows the author to be a person of strong intellect, and
also an able literary writer. His speeches in the senate of the
congress of the United States, while he was a member of that
body, gave him standing as a literary character as well as an
able statesman.
Judge Breese also wrote and delivered some lectures on the
early settlement of Illinois by the French that were pronounced
good. His style is strong and energetic, and also contains
smoothness and perspicuity that are marked on all his compo
sitions. Prof John Russell, of Bluff Dale, Green County, Illinois,
holds a conspicuous and distinguished rank among the literati
of the West. He has devoted his life to study, and now stands
in the front rank of science and literature. Nature bestowed on
him a mind capacious and strong, and his labors have achieved
much celebrity. He has bestowed much of his time and talent
on the study of the languages, and is a scholar not only in the
dead languages but also in the modern tongues. He under
stands the French and German languages almost as well as he
does the EngUsh, but I think he excels in his chaste, beautiful,
and elegant composition. His style is smooth, classic, and
polished, and his composition flows on in such harmony and
elegance that it often reaches the elevated region of poetry.
He writes the pure English language in opposition to the
fungous growth to the English of foreign dialects, and has the
good taste to content himself with short syllables when they are
appropriate. Of the early history of Mr. Russell I know nothing, except
the few items I have obtained from my talented friend, the
Rev. Dr. Peck, and from others. I have found Mr. Russell, as
I believe every one else has done, n^t very communicative
about himself or his writings. This must be my excuse for
giving so meagre and unsatisfying an account of one of our
literary characters whom the late Gov. Ford, in his history of
Illinois, has pronounced a man of genius and a fine writer.
Mr. Russell is a native of Cavendish, Vermont; was educated
at Middlebury College, in that State, and graduated in the class

MY OWN TIMES. 279
¦of 18 1 7. Not long after leaving college he came to the West
the State of Indiana, where he married a daughter of Capt.
Spencer, (late of the United States Army,) a young lady of fine
talents, and early in the spring of 18 19 removed to the then
Territory of Missouri, and settled on the banks of the Missouri
River, in St. Louis County, where, and in St. Louis, they re
sided a few years, whence they removed to this State and set
tled in Green County, on a beautiful and romantic place at the
foot of the Bluffs of the Illinois River, since known by the
name of Bluff Dale. At this place Mr. Russell still resides.
His habits are remarkably retiring, and most of his lifetime is
devoted to literary pursuits. Perhaps no man in the State has
been a more indefatigable student than he. Of his character
as a hterary man, and of the character of his writings, I have
already spoken. Most of the productions of his pen, however,
have been published without his name. As an instance of his
reluctance to appear before the public; whUe Dr. Peck was
temporarily residing in one of the largest of our eastern cities,
Mr. Russell sent to him the manuscript of a small volume, for
publication, with an injunction not to make known the name of
•the author. The book was published, was afterward stereo
typed, and is yet in circulation; but I am told, on the authority
of the Rev. Dr. Peck, that the publishers do not, to this day,
know the name of the author.
An article of his, "The Piasa," written for an Eastern maga
zine, ran rapidly through the American press. About three
years afterward, it appeared in a French periodical, translated
word for word into that language, bearing the name, as its
author, of a Frenchman who had figured somewhat in this
country. He pretended that the story had been told to him
by an Indian chief Dr. Peck exposed the fraud through an
American paper of wide circulation, the result of which was
rather mortifying to the pretended author.
He has devoted the greater part of his life to the promotion
of the higher branches of education in various colleges, not only
in his adopted State, but also in many others in the West In
all these literary and scientific positions, he distinguished him
self as a scholar and professor of great merit. He has written
much for the periodicals and literary journals, and has edited
public journals himself One single production of his, known
as "The Venomous Worm," has gained for him great celebrity.
This piece is published in Europe in many different languages,
and is found in almost all of the American and British school-
books. I have here inserted it, and commend it particularly to
my youthful readers:
"The Venomous Worm— 'Outvenoms aU the worms of
Nile.' Who has not heard of the rattlesnake and the copper
head.' An unexpected sight of either of these reptiles will

28o MY OWN TIMES.
make even the lords of creation recoil. But there is a species
of worm, found in various parts of this State, which conveys a
poison of a nature so deadly, that, compared with it, even the
venom of the rattlesnake is harmless. To guard our readers
against this foe of the human kind, is the object of this lesson.
"This worm varies much in size. It is frequently an inch in
diameter; but, as it is rarely seen, except when coiled, its length
can hardly be conjectured. It is of a dull lead-color, and gen
erally lives near a spring or a small stream of water, and bites
the unfortunate people who are in the habit of going there to
drink. The brute creation it never molests. They avoid it
with the same instinct that teaches the animals of Peru to shun
the deadly Coya.
"Several of these reptiles have long infested our settlements,
to the misery and destruction of many of our fellow-citizens.
I have, therefore, had frequent opportunities of being the mel
ancholy spectator of the effects produced by the subtle poison
which this worm infuses.
"The symptoms of its bite are terrible. The eyes of the
patient becomes red and fiery; his tongue swells to an immod
erate size, and obstructs his utterance; and delirium of the most
horrid character quickly foUows. Sometimes in his madness he
attempts the destruction of his dearest friends.
"If the sufferer has a family, his weeping wife and helpless
infants are not unfrequently the objects of his frantic fury. In
a word, he exhibits, to the life, all the detestable passions that
rankle in the bosom of a savage — and such is the spell in which
his senses are locked, that no sooner has the unhappy patient
recovered from the paroxysm of insanity, occasioned by the
bite, than he seeks out the destroyer for the sole purpose of
being bitten again.
"I have seen a good, old father, his locks as white as snow,
his steps slow and trembling, beg in vain of his only son to quit
the lurking-place of the worm. My heart bled when he turned
away, for I knew the fond hope that his son would be the 'stafi
of his declining years' had supported him through many a
sorrow. "Youths of America, would you know the name of this rep
tile. It is called the worm of the still'.'
Prof Russell has done much to impress the public mind in
the West with the more elevated and classic principles of
science and literature.
Another distinguished individual, Mr. M. Tarver, of St. Louis,
Missouri, senior editor of the Western Journal and Civilian, has
for many years poured a constant and efficient stream ot Utera-
ture and intelligence into the great reservoir of mental improve
ment in the West, which has rendered him not only conspicuous
and distinguished as an author, but also the public has been
greatly benefited by his efforts.

MY OWN TIMES. 281
Mr. Tarver was born in the State of North Carolina, in the
year 1794, and was raised in agricultural pursuits.
In the year 1814, he immigrated with his father to Georgia;
in 18 18, he became a citizen of Alabama; and in 1842, he loca
ted in St Louis, Missouri. At full age, he became a merchant.
He studied law, and about the thirtieth year of his age com
menced the practice. He retired from the bar, and became a
cotton-planter in Alabama. At the age of fifty-three, he located
in St. Louis, Missouri, as above stated, where he commenced the
publication of the Western Journal, at present known as the
Western Journal and Civilian.
I have taken the liberty to present his various pursuits in life
to show his ability to conduct the Journal more efficiently, as
he has actual experience in three great pursuits of wealth and
honor, to wit: agriculture, commerce, and the practice of law.
A practical knowledge of these various avocations enables him
to make the Journal more serviceable to the public.
He has had the assistance of Mr. Risk, in former days, with
the Journal, and at present Mr. Cobb. He has published
eighty-four numbers of the work, and the demand for the
yournal is increasing rapidly.
The following is the system on which the Western fournal
and Civilian is conducted, taken from an able review of that
work: "The plan of the Journal, embracing the entire subject
of political economy, much labor has been directed to different
branches of that science.
"The elements of wealth, the division of labor, the natural
laws of commerce, the artificial agents of exchange, money,
credit, banks, industrial corporations, and public improvements,
have all claimed and received our consideration.
"The elements of these several subjects have been carefully
investigated ; and we have endeavored to form a system adapted
to the character, pursuits, and social institutions of the Ameri
can people — a system conforming to the climate, territorial ex
tent, and hydrography of our continent and its geographical
relations with other countries."
This is the system on which the Journal has been conducted
for many years past in which time it has gained tor itself much
fame and celebrity, as well as advanced the best interests of the
country. Mr. Tarver labors incessantly to make the Journal useful and
acceptible to the public. He has accomplished much, and is, on
the highway, not only to a distinguished celebrity and charac
ter, but what is far better, to advance the best interests of the
country. His style of composition is strong and efficient, calculated
more to convince the judgment than to excite the passions.
The citizens of St Louis are preparing his marble bust to

282 MY OWN TIMES.
present to the Mercantile Library of that city. This is done to
do honor to him and his able efforts in the Journal to advance
the character and interests of the West.
In December, 1827, the society known as "The Antiquarian
and Historical Society of Illinois," which existed for a few
years, was organized at Vandalia, the seat of government, and
received a considerable number of books. The first officers
were James Hall, president; Gov. Coles and Judge Wilson, vice-
presidents; James Whitlock, secretary; and Robert H. Peebles,
librarian. The corresponding committee were John M. Robin
son, John Reynolds, Sidney Breese, George Forquer, and Ben
jamin Mills.
I was one of the few persons who established this society,
but I was so much involved in other business that I had not
time to give it much or any of my attention. A constitution
was adopted, and adjourned to meet on the 22d of December,
1828. The society did meet, but did not effect any great or useful
object, as such institutions may do.
In an issue of the Illinois Intelligencer, dated 14th February,
1829. is the following: "We publish this week the proceedings
of the Antiquarian Historical Society of this State, and we
earnestly recommend this subject to the attention of our read
ers. The improvement of the country, and its advancement in
literature, are of more importance to the people than the eleva
tion of an ambitious aspirant, or the quarrels of demagogues."

CHAPTER XCVII.
Improvements of the Country. — The Author Offers for Congress. — Is
Elected. — Mr. Snyder and Mr. Humphries his Opponents. — Gov.
Kinney and Gen. Duncan Offers for Governor.— Duncan is Elected.
The Hon. 'Mr. Slade, the Member in Congress, Dies, and the Author
is Elected in his Place.
The State improved during the years immediately succeed
ing the Black-Hawk war with increased rapidity.
Many of the volunteers were enabled, by the payments they
received from the Government for the military services, to pur-
cliase homes for themselves of the public lands. This war had
the effect to circulate much money throughout the State. The
whole expenses of the war were eight or ten millions of dollars,
and the greater portion of it was paid out to the Illinois volun
teers. Being in the office of governor for some years, I was pre
vented from the practice of the law, and in the tim'e had been-
engaged in political life, until it commenced to be a kind of

MY OWN TIMES. 283
second nature to me. Moreover, I was then young, ardent, and
ambitious, so that I really thought it was right for me to offer
for congress, and I did so in the spring of 1834. I knew the
people were generally satisfied with my conduct as governor,
and well pleased with the course I pursued in the Black-Hawk
war, particularly the treaties that removed the Indians from the
State and its borders, were decidedly popular.
At that day, in 1834, the convention-system was not estab
lished, and as many persons offered their services as pleased.
The State then contained three congressional districts, and that
in which I offered extended up from the mouth of the Ohio, to
include Macoupin County, and east to embrace Washington,
Clinton, and Bond. There were fifteen counties in the district.
This district contained a large Democratic majority, and no
Whig offered for congress at that election. There were in the
field three candidates for congress. A. W. Snyder, Esq., Col.
Edward Humphries, and myself, all Democrats, and Jackson
men. All the candidates offered without a convention.
Mr. Snyder, the candidate for congress, was a conspicuous
and distinguished character, a popular member 01 the general
assembly, and possessed great strength and versatility of talent.
He had been, in his youth, deprived of a classic education, and
was a self-taught man. But the natural powers of his mind
were strong and energetic, and he studied the human character
in all its various phases. He possessed, in an eminent degree,
the talent to advance himself in the good graces of the people.
His address was agreeable, polite, and courteous. His speeches
were generally short, eloquent, and prepossessing. His voice
was excellent, and his addresses were generally received by his
audience with marked approbation, and frequently produced
powerful effects. He was then youthful, ardent and ambitious.
Labor with him in electioneering was a pleasure, and his socia
bility and incessant intercourse with the ma.sses seemed to be
his pleasure and happiness. Mr. Snyder was then, in 1834, a
practising lawyer, and was extremely popular at the bar.. He
always possessed the happy faculty of making the jurors be
lieve he had the right side of the cause. Scarcely any person
had superior talent of making a bad case in court look well.
With these rare qualities and abilities, he rose to eminence in
the State, and was nominated by a Democratic convention to
be a candidate for governor. He would have been, in all
human probability, elected governor in 1842, but before the
election he died, much regretted by the people.
Col. Humphries, my other opponent, was a gentleman of
good, sound talents, and had been for many years an officer in
the land-office at Kaskaskia. He had been a warm supporter
of Crawford, and was in the congressional election, an tdtra-
Jackson man. He was a more violent and proscriptive man

284 MY OWN TlMBiS.
than either Mr.' Snyder or myself He canvassed the district
considerably, but "made no stump-speechesy and was not known
in many of the counties, but he received a goodly number of
votes. Nevertheless, the contest for a seat in congress was
between Mr. Snyder and myself I was tolerably well in
formed in the science of electioneering with the masses. I was
raised with the people in the State, and was literally one of
them. We always acted together,' and our common instincts,
feelings, and interests were the same. Under these circum
stances, the people generally gave me their support. My
stump-speeches were generally well received by the people, and
if I were to venture an opinion of them, I would say they made
no pretention to eloquence or classic elegance, yet when they
were uttered in congress, in the courts of justice, or in the gath
erings of the people around the stump, they attracted the at
tention of the audience. They flow naturally and purely from
the heart, which supplies in them many defects.
It is strange, when a person is in an excited and zealous
congest for an election, the whole transaction then appears just
and proper, but years afterward, when the passion subsides,
and all things are changed, and the actors are sobered down to
common sense. These election contests appear to me to be
horrid and absurd ; that so much energy and exertion should be
used on these occasions. These hot and excited contests are
not injurious to ..the public. Much discussion is exerted by
them among the people, and the masses will become enough
interested to, discuss and inform themselves on political sub
jects. When there is no party, and a general apathy prevails
among the people, they will not inform themselves on political
subjects, and cannot vote with judgment and propriety.
Those canvassing for office, and the few elected, are poorly
paid for their services, if patriotism be not their object The
best years of a man's life, his talents, whatever they may be,
and all his energies are exerted for the benefit of the people,
and perhaps rewarded with neglect and oblivion. The pittance
of pecuniary compensation never requited any person for his
official services, if he was worthy to be in office at all. I sin
cerely state that I never regarded as important the salary of
office, but I entered the public service with a sincere desire to
advance the best interest of the country, which was my main
reward. I labored assiduously and incessantly to accomplish
it Truth also requires me to state that I was ambitious to act
in such a manner that the sober judgment of the people would
approve of my conduct. The main recompense for a public
officer is, to know he has acted just and right, and that his
countrymen approve it. If a person would subdue his ambition
for office, and remain a private citizen, I repeat, as I have
before stated in this work, that he would be a more happy man.

MY OWN TIMES. 285
There is no person happy who is in public office or canvassing
for office. The aspirations, and the state of mind actuating him
at the time, destroy much* of the happiness that might other
wise exist in the breast of a public officer, or an aspirant for
office. When a person has been in public life for years, it
becomes a second-nature to him, and few possess the moral
courage to abandon it This accounts for many remaining in
office as an occupation.
At the same election, in August, 1834, Gov. Kinney and the
Hon. Joseph Duncan were candidates for governor, also without
convention, and Mr. Duncan was elected. The governor elect
did not return home from the East during the election canvass,
but addressed circulars to the people. If he had been at home
it is doubtful if he would have been elected, as he had entirely
. abandoned the Democratic party and joined the Whigs, which
a great portion of his supporters would not believe until they
were forced to the unwelcome belief
In the summer of 1834, the Hon. Charles Slade, the member
in congress from this district, was seized with the cholera on his
return home, and died. This death left in the district a va
cancy, and I was elected to fill it, without any organized
opposition. At this time I was elected for three years in
congress, and I entered on a new public theatre entirely.

CHAPTER XCVIII.
The Author a Member of Congress. — It is Difficult to Effect much in
that Body. — Character of David Crockett. — City of Baltimore. — City
of Washington. — President Jackson and the Augustan Age of Con
gress. I WAS now a Member of Congress — about forty-six years
old — and had been scarcely ever out of Illinois. I had trav
elled none, and scarcely ever entered into any society, except
that of the masses. I was a backwoodsman, sleeping and
walking, acting and thinking, and in fact in everything. I had
then never seen a city larger than St. Louis, and in truth most
of the improvements, and many other things, of which I had
read, appeared different to me from what I had anticipated.
I entered into this congressional career with a determination
to perform all I was able for my constituents, and I presumed it
would be a good deal. I had been in the habit of effecting
many measures in Illinois, and I sincerely believed I would be
able to do the same in congress. I thought some measures
were so manifestly right and just — such as reducing the price of
the public lands, obtaining appropriations to improve rivers,
and the like — that they could be easily accomplished. But

286 MY OWN TIMES.
when I entered the halls of congress, I discovered instantly that
this body was much greater than I had supposed, and I could
effect less than I had contemplatfed. Many of the greatest
men in the nation — perhaps in the world — were there assem
bled, and had had their minds, for a long time, made up on
these great and important subjects, so that congress was im
movable on them. Not only in this respect was I mistaken,
but in many other things. I wrote back home from Washing
ton City truly my impressions; that I found many of the pubhc
men much less than I had expected, and the buildings much
larger — yet many of the distinguished characters were even
greater than I had supposed.
I left Belleville about the middle of November, 1834, and
passed over the country by land to Louisville. I fell in with
two members of congress, the Hon. David Crockett of Ten
nessee, and the Hon. Thomas Chilton, of Kentucky; we trav
elled together on the Ohio River to Wheeling.
This was the first time I had travelled on this beautiful
stream, and I was delighted with it. The ancient names on the
Ohio I had heard since I was a youth, and seeing the places
themselves forced on me the early settlement of the country.
I found the Hon. Mr. Crockett to be, in my opinion, not such
a character in reality as the public prints and public opinion
had represented him. He appeared to be a man of about
forty-five years old, and was of rather large and portly person.
He was fleshy, and demonstrated no intellectual superiority.
Good-nature and benevolence marked his features, and an inex
haustible store of humor and mirth was at his command. He
had not been blessed with a liberal or classic education, but he
had acquired much information of men and- the common con
cerns of life. His forte was his benevolence and kindness of
heart. He possessed at the end of his tongue many anecdotes
and humorous stories, mostly on hunting or electioneering.
He possessed a good sound judgment but no brilliancy or "the
etherial fire of genius." Circumstances made Crockett what he
was. This is the case, more or less, with all mankind. He and
his constituents were well matched. He was very bitter
against Jackson and his "Kitchen Cabinet," as Kendall and
Blair were then called. He said Kendall should be hung, but
corruption and malignity had made him so lean and light that
he could not be hung dead by a rope around his neck until hi;?
pockets were filled with macadamized rocks to weight him
down. He had a great fund of such anecdotes.
He was on his way to Philadelphia, before he went to con
gress, to see about "His Life" — a book he had written. At
Wheeling he left us. He was a bitter opponent in congress of
Jackson's administration.
The National Road, at Wheeling, was the first macadamized

MY OWN TIMES. ¦ 287
road I ever beheld; and the railroad at Fredericksburg, in
Maryland, extending to Baltimore, was the first I ever saw.
The city of Baltimore was to my eye grand and magnificent.
I could not, by reading, realize the beauties and grandeur of
the city so much as to see it. The large edifices, the monu
ments, and the shipping in the harbor, all struck my back
woods' mind with wonder and surprise. I recollect that my
first letters home stated that talents and money could accom
plish almost any improvement. I had not the least idea that
such improvements as I saw could be made at all. I saw the
water in the bay, which was my first sight of a branch of an
ocean'. The shipping in the harbor was another curiosity. I
was something like a country boy when he goes to town for the
first time with his father^ — ¦everything is new and strange to
him. And many things were so to me. But the greatest and
most interesting spectacle of all was the government and the
seat of government of this great republic. The site of the city
of Washington, and the city itself, are grand and imposing
objects, and attract universal attention for their beauty and
splendor — but it was the assemblage of great men at the seat of
government of the United States, and at the opening of Con
gress, where a grand and imposing spectacle was presented.
At the time I entered congress, in 1834, President Jackson was
in the zenith of his fame and high standing, and was at that
time the most distinguished man among them all.
When the Roman Empire reached the highest pinnacle of
literary fame and political power, in the reign of Augustus
Cffisar, the period was called the "Augustan age." There was
a period that existed eminently in the Jackson administration,
and a few years after, that might be called the Augustan age
of Congress. Such an extraordinary constellation of great and
distinguished individuals may never again appear in office at
the seat of government.
The cabinet of President Jackson at this time was John
Forsythe, secretary of state; Levi Woodbury, secretary of the
treasury; Lewis Cass, secretary of the war department; Mah-
lon Dickinson, secretary of the navy department; William T.
Barry, postmaster-general; and B. F. Butler, attorney-general.
The administration was strong and safe in the hands of the
President and his cabinet.

288 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER XCIX.
Party -Spirit in Congress. — The Globe and Intelligencer Newspapers.
— Eminent Men in Congress. — Party-Spirit, when it is Sectional, is
Dangerous and Wrong.
On the first Monday of December, 1834, I was sworn in a
member of congress, and took my seat. Hon. John Bell, of
Tennessee, was speaker, and Walter Franklin, clerk. I was
placed by the speaker on the Committee of Roads and Canals,
the same occupied by my predecessor, Hon. Charles Slade, of
Carlyle, Illinois.
When I entered Congress, party-spirit and party-excitement
raged there with the greatest force that bitter and acrimonious
discussion could extend it. All the sarcastic invectives, boiled,
as it were, into aqua fortis, that the English language could
furnish, was used in many speeches in congress, and every
bitter and scathing idea that words could convey, was often
hurled with great force at each other in the halls of congress.
Jackson's administation came in for its share, but these fiery
missiles became common and harmless. Like the man eating
arsenic — he got so used to it that it did not hurt him — so it was
in congress, it became so common that it disturbed nobody.
The two leading journals at Washington City, that issued
daily papers in 1834, were the Globe, conducted by Blair and
Rives, and the National Intelligencer, by Gales and Seaton.
The Globe issued fiery and scorching philippics, burning as
if they emanated from a red-hot furnace, whUe the Intelligen
cer was equally powerful, but more mild and dignified in its
bearing. Blair and Gales were both exceedingly talented and
distinguished editors, but of quite different characters. Each
editor, to a great extent, represented his party. The Globe
was the organ at Washington of the Democratic party, and
the Intelligencer of the Whig party. Blair was progressive,
enthusiastic, and extremely ardent; while Gales was more
conservative, staid, and circumspect. The policy of the one
was radical, and almost agrarian; while the other attempted
to guide the ship of state within the ancient and approved
.channel, and risk nothing in search of novelties. One paper
cast itself on the masses for support, while the other enter
tained a "holy horror" of the excesses and exuberances of wild
Democracy. Blair respected no institution, bank or other,
for their antiquity or respectability, if he supposed they were
corrupt and the public good required their destruction; while
the other, the venerable Gales, paid the utmost respect and
defended "vested rights," and sober usages of Washington and

MY OWN TIMES. 289
other fathers of the Republic. Both these papers were sus
tained with great liberality, and their circulation reached the
most remote corners of the Union, containing the standard
principles of their respective parties. It must not be omitted,
that Amos Kendall, who is one of the most able partizan
writers in America, wrote much for the Globe. Gales was
aged, talented, and profound in his profession, and seemed to
conduct the Intelligencer with equal ability with the Globe —
but his party was then on the wane, which placed his paper a
shade in the background.
I never saw the force and power of the press so much verified
as I did at the City of Washington. Either of the journals,
the Globe or Intelligencer, in advocating a public man, al
though his talents may be limited, could render him popular
with his party, despised by the other, and elevate him above
his compeers. In fact, the abuse of a public character by either
party would generally make the other take him up and sustain
him. This was the excess of party-spirit It was generally
understood that the above papers were the organs of their
respective parties, which was the main reason they wielded this
great power.
The Globe received the public printing for many years, which
made the conductors princely fortunes. In the management of
the Globe, the organ of the President, it became necessary for
him to consult often with Blair and Kendall, which was a
reason, among others, for the Whig party to ridicule and con
demn "Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet," which was composed of
Blair and Kendall. The Whigs alleged that it was the
'' Kitchen Cabinet" that advised the President to remove so
many Whigs from office and put Democrats in their places.
The movements of this cabinet were bitterly handled hy the
Whig press at that day. At this time removals of this charac
ter are quite common.
Some time before I reached Washington City, the President
had re- organized his cabinet, and the old members retired.
The Whigs called this an explosion, and ridiculed it. They
said that it reminded them of the sailor fresh from the ocean,
where hard times are common, but desirous to see fun went to
a show. In the cellar of the house, under the place where the
play was performing, some powder was stored, and by accident
a spark of fire reached it and it exploded. The people were
dashed about considerably, and the sailor was cast back into a
garden. He raised him.^elf up, brushing the dirt out of his
eyes, and asked: "What in hell are they going to show next.'"
If it were worse, he "would not attend the play any longer."
The sailor supposed the explosion was a regular part of the
performance. The Whigs asked, "What would Jackson show
nexti"' 10

290 MY OWN TIMES.
It was a cant phrase in Illinois, when a person was halting;
between two parties, that he was on "Pea Ridge." I wrote
home a private letter, yet it reached the press, that in Congress
no one was then on "Pea Ridge." There was no such place in
either house of Congress in those heated party-times.
It is supposed it was the agitation and discussion of the war
question with Britain in 18 12, that caused so many great and
eminent men to appear in congress during the administration of
Gen. Jackson, and for some administrations thereafter. I sin
cerely beUeve that no body of men ever existed — the Senate or
Rome, the British House of Peers, or any other — that equalled
the Senate of the Congress of the United States in the year
1840, and a few years before and after. The following Senators
were members of that body at times during this "Augustan
age" of Congress: Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Wright, Wood
bury, Cass, Buchanan, Benton, White, Davis, Grundy, John
Ewing, Crittenden, Preston, Allen, Porter, Choate, Poindexter,
Black, and others. In the house of representatives, were John
Q. Adams, Bell, Polk, Ben. Hardin, Fillmore, Pearce, Marshall,
Burges, Pickens, and Cumberling, who were great and eminent
men, and many others of almost equal merit. Three of the
members of the lower house, Messrs. Polk, Fillmore, and Pearce,
were afterwards elected to the Presidency.- Party-spirit was
raging and carried to the greatest extent.
In a free government, parties are necessary, if they are con
ducted on just and proper principles. They excite the masses
to reflect on and discuss the necessary politics of the country,
but when party-spirit is carried too far, or when parties assume
a sectional or local character, they are dangerous and should be
suppressed. Whenever one section of the country is arraigned
against the other, as it sometimes is on the question of slavery,
it does not produce good results and should be abandoned.
Whenever the people over this great republic permit themselves
to become jealous of one another, or allow their sectional feel
ings to govern them, so as to produce an angry and bad feeling
in the nation, it is wrong, and all good men should unite to
suppress it, and cause harmony and good-will to reign through
out the republic,
CHAPTER C.
Sketch of the Life ^nd Character of General Jackson. — Anecdote of
Him with the Child and Lamb. — Sketch of Henry Clay. — The Prin
ciples of the Whig and Democratic Parties.
President Jackson was born in the State of South Carolina,
and was, when a youth, in the Revolutionary war. He received
a limited education, and in the year 1784, studied law in Salis-

MY OWN TIMES. 291
bury, North Carolina. He was admitted to the bar in 1786, and
in 1788, he settled in West Tennessee, in the present city of
Nashville. In 1796, he was a member of the convention that
formed the constitution of the State of Tennessee. He was
elected the first member of congress to the house of representa
tives, and the year following he was elected to the senate of the
United States. He resigned the office of senator, as he said he
disliked the political juggling he had to encounter in the senate.
In his early life, he was elected major-general of the militia,
and remained in that office until the year 18 14, when he was
appointed major-general in the United States army.
Gen. Jackson was appointed a judge of the supreme court of
Tennessee, but he resigned that office also.
At the close of the war of 18 12, and after his briUiant victory
at New Orleans, he retired to the Hermitage, on the Cumber
land River, a few miles above Nashville, and there remained in
quiet and peace until the people called on him to fill the highest
office in the republic. His own State, Tennessee, in 1822,
nominated him for the Presidency, and the next was the State
of Pennsylvania. At the election in November, 1824, Gen.
Jackson did not succeed, but at the next election, in 1828, he
was triumphantly elected.
His enemies, and some of his friends, considered him to pos
sess a temper too irrascible, hasty, and violent for civil office.
It was feared by his warmest friends, who were not intimate
with his character, that he was too impulsive and reckless for
civil employment, but when his true character was better
known, it was discovered that he was mild, agreeable, and
benevolent in the extreme when he was clear of a violent and
hasty gust of passion which at times visited him. And although
he possessed firmness of character in an eminent degree, yet he
reflected profoundly and considered well with his sound judg
ment on all great measures before he made '.a decision, and
when his judgment was formed, he would not change it under
any circumstances until he was convinced that he was in error.
His firmness was one of the great leading traits of his charac
ter, yet he was not obstinate, but when he was convinced of an
error, he had the moral courage to change his opinion. The fol
lowing anecdote is told of him by Col. Benton, in his book, and
exhibits Gen. Jackson in his true character: Col. Benton called
on Gen. Jackson one wet rainy evening at the Hermitage. It
was cold and chilly, and Col. Benton found Gen. Jackson before
the fire with a child and lamb. The child wanted the lamb
brought in the house out of the rain and placed by the fire.
The General had indulged the child, and had both the child
and lamb with him before the fire. This scene of peace and
innocence, that pleased so much the heart of Jackson, proves
that he had no malignant passions rankling in his bosom, and

292 MY OWN TIMES.
it also puts to flight the charges of his enemies of his cruelty
and barbarity which had been so often attributed to him. He
possessed an extraordinary strength and compass of mind.
This was his sheet-anchor of safety in all his trials of an event
ful life. He also possessed a frankness, integrity, and honesty
of purpose that were always above suspicion by his most bitter
enemies. He possessed a firmness of character, a pertinacity
of purpose, that made him immovable when his judgment was
convinced. His mind was not organized to possess brute obsti
nacy, but firmness was a most powerful element in his character.
These eminent traits of character, together with a patriotism
and ardent devotion to his country that never were surpassed,
made him the most popular man in the nation of his day.
I was present in Washington City, on the 4th March, 1837,
when he was retiring from office, and Mr. Van Buren inaugu
rated into the office of president. The whole great assemblage
of people gave the greatest honor and respect to the hero of
New Orleans, as the masses called him, and little or no atten
tion was bestowed on the president elect, Mr. Van Buren.
The fine, wrongfully imposed on Gen. Jackson by the judge
at New Orleans, in 1815, was remitted by an act of Congress.
I voted for it, as I considered the General, by virtue of the Con
stitution, has the power to declare martial-law in his camp, or
over the territory, where the necessity of the case requires it, in
war. This power is given by the Constitution, and for the time
being, the civil-law must yield to this power to declare martial-
law. This act of Congress gave the President much satisfac
tion, as it was the approbation of the nation on his conduct.
The great leader of the Whig party was the distinguished
and efficient statesman, Henry Clay, of Kentucky. Many great
and powerful characters were arrayed in the Whig and Demo
cratic parties, but Jackson and Clay were the two great leaders
of their respective parties. Mr. Clay had been so long the
leader that that important position was yielded to him by a kind
of common consent. I think he deserved this eminent position.
His abilities and great knowledge of mankind, together with his
transcendent talents, entitled him to the leadership of the Whig
party. He was born in Virginia, but emigrated to Kentucky in
very early times. He received in his native State a common
classic education, but not of that finished and accomphshed
character with which some scholars are blessed, but nature gave
him the strength and powers of mind that supplied all defects
of education. He possessed not only great strength of intel
lect, but a versatility of talent which enabled him to excel in
almost any avocation he adopted. He stood for a long series
of years at the head of the bar, as well as a great leader in
Congress. The great powers of his mind gave him a high
standing in the temple of fame. Intellect of the brightest and

MY OWN TIMES. 293
most efficient orde^j|was bestowed on him, and he appeared a
great beacon-light to his countrymen. His greatest forte,
among various other eminent qualities, was the gift of eloquence
bestowed on him by nature. He was born with this faculty,
and if he had lived in ancient Greece, he might have been
fabled with the bees extracting honey from his lips while he
was in the cradle. His eloquence was beyond description. A
person must be present and hear and see him in some of his
extraordinary efforts to realize and appreciate his eloquence.
His speeches cannot be conveyed, no more than the description
of them, to paper. The brilliant and illuminated countenance
of the orator, his eye flashing inspiration, and his tone and ges
tures, cannot be conveyed to others who were not present at the
scene. The argument, the ideas, and the subject-matter of his
eloquence may be preserved on paper, but the celestial fire, the
inspiration, and the power and effect of eloquence, escape for
ever as the words fall from the lips of the orator. The written
speeches of an eloquent man never do justice to the orator.
This is the case with Mr. Clay; his paper-speeches are excel
lent, but they do not compare with the fervent, brilliant and
captivating speeches as they proceeded, warm and glowing,
from the heart of the orator himself
Mr. Clay possessed great firmness of character as well as
his other conspicuous qualities of mind. He possessed in civil
pursuits, as Gen. Jackson did in military, a great power to com
mand men. Nature seemed to have made him a leader of men.
On many memorable occasions, he displayed this capacity in
an eminent degree for the welfare of his country. The Missouri
Compromise, the adjustment of the tariff in 1833, and the fugi
tive-slave-law of Congress, known also as a compromise, all
received his powerful influence in Congress, or otherwise it is
probable that these important measures would not have passed
that body.
There was nothing palliating or vacillating in the character of
Henry Clay. He was frank, explicit, and firm in all his move
ments, and when he took a stand he was immovable. He was
an ardent patriot Every pulsation of his heart beat strong for
the welfare of his country, and he lived and died an exalted
statesman, of whom the whole nation "delights to honor." I
sincerely believe that Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay were
two of the greatest men the nation eVer produced since the
Revolution. Much has been written and spoken for and against party-
spirit — and the minority party generally complains of parties.
When the power of self-government is vested in the people,
they must discuss and examine into measures of the govern
ment, or otherwise self-government is a mere farce. Without
some party excitement, these discussions would be languid and

294 MY OWN TIMES.
dull. The use of speech, and the press, ate guaranteed to the
people by the Constitution for this object Moreover, parties
must exist to carry out any great measure, or otherwise it will
not succeed. Acting on great principles without concert is like
an army moving to battle without organization and without a
general. Parties also have great influence on one another, and
on the members, to make them responsible, and thereby to
cause them to act right
The two great parties, the Democratic and Whig, have ex
isted in the United States for almost thirty years, and have
been divided in politics ever since. The fundamental principles
of the parties seem to be founded principally on the different
constructions given to the Constitution of the United States.
One party, the Democrats, give the Constitution a limited and
rigid construction, while the other party, the Whigs, give that
instrument a more liberal and extended interpretation. The
Whigs contend that the Constitution gives the power to Con
gress to create banks, and a protective duty on importations,
independent of raising a revenue, and to improve the country
by making roads and harbors — improving the navigable rivers
also — while the Democrats believe that Congress does not pos
sess the power, under the Constitution, to carry out the above-
enumerated measures.
Under this view of the Constitution, the Whigs create banks,
impose duties on articles imported for protection, and improve
the country, harbors, and rivers. The Democrats, generally, as
a party, are opposed to these measures, both from policy and
the Constitution.
These are some of the measures and the pblicy that have
heretofore divided the parties in the United States; but at this
time the rigor of the old parties has considerably subsided, and
new issues and principles seem to occupy the country to some
extent. The Democrats still retain their original landmarks of
party — no banks, few corporations, a hard-money currency, no
tariff for protection, free-trade, short sessions of Congress, and
economy in the expenditures of the public money. The issues
and measures that once divided the Whig and Democratic par
ties have been generally decided by the people in favor of the
Democratic party, which has silenced the Whig party. The
parties, and the members of the parties, are as honest and
patriotic on one side as* they are on the other — both anxious to
advance the best interests of the country.

MY OWN TIMES. 29S

CHAPTER CI.
Measures in Congress in 1834-5. — The Bank of the United States. —
The French Spoliations. — The viva-voce Resolution of the Author.
Northern Boundary of Illinois. — Hon. T. Burges.
President Jackson, in his first annual message in January,
1829, brought before the Nation the subject of the United-
States' Bank, and. recommended some substitute for it as a de
posit for the public money. This message brought the subject
of the bank before the people, and the rancor and discussion
were kept up until the bank ceased to exist — in the year 1836.
When I entered congress, this was one of the main subjects of
discussion, and I gave my vote uniformly with the Democratic
party against the bank. A report from a bank committee was
made to this Congress, which gave rise to great warmth of feel
ings and many bitter discussions.
The President, although he was extremely popular, was com
pelled to use the State banks to aid in the downfall of the
United-States' Bank. The State banks selected for the deposit
of the public money were called the "pet banks," in derision.
This warfare was kept up in congress until the bank ceased to
exist by its charter, and a new charter was not granted.
Jackson, in his message of 1833, says: "It being established,
by unquestionable proof, that the Bank of the United States
has been converted into a permanent electioneering machine, it
appears to me that the path of duty which the executive de
partment pf the government should pursue is not difficult."
In the forepart of 1833, a great combination of talent and
influence was formed against Jackson and the Democratic
party, headed by Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. Under their
banner were arranged, in the senate, Bibb, Clayton, Chambers,
Ewing, Freelinghuysen, Leigh, Mangum, Poindexter, Porter,
and others; and in the house, the Whigs had Adams, Binney,
Archer, Bell, Burges, Choate, Warren, R. Davis, Everett John
Davis, FiUmore, Hardin, McDuffy, Letcher, Peyton, Wise, Vance,
Wild, and others, to support their party. To sustain the admin
istration, in the senate were Benton, Forsythe, Grundy, Hugh
L. White, Hill, Kane, Wilkins, Wright, .King, Rives, Talmadge,
and others. In the house were Beardsley, Camberling, Frank,
Thomas, Gillett, McKay, Polk, Vanderpool, Wayne, Clay, of
Alabama, Hubbard, and others. The discussion lasted three
months, and the session received the .name of the "panic -ses
sion." Another subject, the French spoliations, occupied much time
in the senate, and elicited much debate. The Whig party, gen-

29& MY OWN times.
erally, advocated the payment of these claims — as they desired
extravagant expenditures of the public money, which would
require the government to levy a high tariff, and give protec
tion to the domestic manufactures. The Democrats, mostly,
opposed these claims, and all other extravagant expenditures of
the public money. These claims were not allowed in congress,
I believe, while the Democratic party had the ascendancy in
that body. They were considered mostly to be fraudulent and
spurious. The first move I made in congress was on the 14th of Decem
ber, 1834, which was not long after I took my seat there. I
introduced the following resolution into the House: "Resolved,.
That hereafter in all elections made by the House of Repre
sentatives for officers, the votes shall be given viva voce, each
member in his place naming aloud the person for whom he
votes." This resolution was laid over for a few weeks; and when it
was taken up, it excited considerable discussion and warmth of
feeling. Many speeches were made on the subject, and the first
speech I made in congress was on this resolution. The discus
sion lasted several days, and the principle contained in my reso
lution was adopted by the House, and remains to this day, I
presume, the rule of the House in elections by that body.
I still had much of my old habit of diffidence when I entered
congress, and my first address in that body was offered with
feelings not pleasant to me. The hall of the house of repre
sentatives was so singularly constructed that a person must
speak very loud, or otherwise he could not be heard by the
members. A new member is always listened to, which made it the worse
for me. I knew that there were many members in the House
a long way before me, and also many behind me. I did not
know how to modulate my voice so as to be heard, and in my
own opinion made a speech unworthy of the occasion. My
speech was published in the congressional debates, by Gales &
Seaton, and also in the Cotigressional Globe.
"Mr. Reynolds observed that he had not the least intention
of producing an excitement when he had the honor to offer this
proposition for the consideration of the House, and he sincerely
hoped that none would be now created by it. He was not con
sidered at home a violent party-man, and he condemned exces
sive party excitement at home or abroad.
"The gentleman from New York, Mr. Fillmore, urged in this
discussion Mr. R.'s motives in presenting this resolution. He
stated them to be to operate on the election of a public printer.
In this allegation, Mr. R. observed that his friend from New
York, Mr. Fillmore, was entirely mistaken. He did not enter
tain any great feeling or interest about the election of a public

my own times. 297
printeV, and at the time he introduced his resolution he did not
even know that there was one to be elected at this session of
congress. He had nothing to do with the election of a public
printer, and did not care on whom or what printers the resolu
tion would operate. He said he moved it because it was the
rule of action of the Legislature of the State of Illinois, in
which he lived and had the honor to represent in part, and it
was adopted when he was a member of the Legislature of that
State, and that it was the republican rule in every representa
tive body. This was the reason he offered it, and hoped it
would be sustained by the House. Consequently, the burden of
the song by the gentleman from New York, the election of a
public printer, was out of the question. It could not, in fact,
be discussed on the proposition which is now before the House
- — 'sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof Let the abstract
rule be established, let the republican rule be adopted, and then
let it operate on speakers, preachers, printers, and all other offi
cers of the House on whom it ought to operate. Do right in
all cases, and let the consequences provide for themselves.
"Mr. R. remarked that as his motives and the election of a
public printer were disposed of, he would bring to the considera
tion of the House part of the 5th section of the ist article of
the Constitution of the United States, which he read, as follows:
"'Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as
may, in their judgments, require secrecy, and the yeas and
nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall,
at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the
journal.' "This is the rule of action in all cases, when it is applicable.
It is the supreme law of the land. The object of the Constitu
tion was to preserve a record of the proceedings of Congress,
and to give them publicity. This is expressly required on all
questions in the proceedings of Congress, and no member of
this house will contend that an election is no question. It is
the most important question frequently to members of Congress
that could be agitated. Mr. R. said he recollected well last
summer it was an important question to your humble servant.
He appeared often on the stump, before his constituents, and
each party candidate and constituent took it for granted that it
was a question. Is not the election of a public printer a ques
tion also.' There is too much discussion about it in this house
for it to be no question. Some may say that the rule of action
under the provisions of the Constitution has been for a long
time different, and ought not to be changed from this mode of
balloting. He considered the principle to be just; that when
ever we found an error to exist in our proceedings, if those pro
ceedings were as old as Jerusalem, we should change them. It

298 my own times.
may be that this provision of the Constitution was never dis
cussed in relation to this subject, and consequently never acted
on. If neither an examination nor discussion had been had on
this part of the Constitution, the prevailing practice of balloting
should not receive much consideration from its antiquity. 'An
ancient error cannot make a modern right.' The object and
meaning of Congress was to give publicity to the proceedings
in Congress, and as all elections were questions in which the
people were interested, the conclusion is irresistible under the
provisions of the Constitution, that the proceedings in all elec
tions should be viva voce and published to the world in the
journals. "It cannot be seriously contended, that under the Constitu
tion, the yeas and nays ought to be used literally in an election,
but even this could be done. The candidate proposed idr office
could be vqted for in this language. The voter could say yea
or nay to him, and one-fifth of the members may require it.
But independent of the express provision of the Constitution,
and independent of the spirit and meaning of that instrument,
Mr. R. observed that this provision was of such a character,
arising from our republican institutions, that it is almost as sUs-
ceptitible of demonstration as any mathematical problem.
"In this republic, the supreme power rests with the people,
under such rules and regulations as are prescribed in our con
stitution and laws. The people are sovereign, and of right must
be, while our government continues to exist as a republic. No
tyrant or irresponsible lord or representative can rule over us.
The people are responsible for their acts to no earthly power,
while they remain within the pale of the Constitution and the
law of the land. This principle needs no demonstration to an
American. It is self-evident to every republican, and I hope I
address such. Arising out of this principle, the systejji of repre
sentation must be adopted. It would bejfoUy to suppose that
all the people of this widely-extended republic could assemble
together to provide for their various wants, and to transact their
public business. If they were present they could do no busi
ness, the body would be so unwieldy. Hence, resulted the
representative form and principle of our government It is the
great improvement in governments Which gives the modern the
great superiority over the ancient republics. This is the prin
ciple above all others in our government, which should be
preserved pure and sacred. Any intervening circumstance,
although trivial in itself, that tends to injure the purity of elec
tions, or the purity of the representative principle, should be
condemned as dangerous to our liberties.
"Judging from the experience of a few years past Mr. R. said
he had arrived at the conclusion that the people of the United
States are determined, at all hazards, to preserve the purity of

MY OWN times. 299
elections. This is the greatest evidence of the vigor, strength,
and long life of our government.
"Next in the order of events is the responsibility of the repre
sentative to his constituents. This is as important, and in fact
as necessary to be cherished and preserved in its purity, as the
election -franchise. It is a yoke-fellow; one will not exist in
vigor when the other is in decay and rottenness. They will
both rise or fall together, as they both stand on the same politi
cal ground. A moments reflection will satisfy all of the neces
sity of the responsibility of the representative to his constitu
ents. The very name will show that he is not acting for him
self in his official capacity. He acts for others, and to them he
is is responsible for his official conduct. He should be the mir
ror to exhibit the sentiments of the people, and, in fact, the
miniature -picture of the people. Although I am a great dis
tance from my constituents, and perhaps not one of them will
witness any of my official conduct, yet I consider myself bound
by the nature of my office, and by my own feelings also, to
represent in this house the will and sentiment of the first con
gressional district of the State of Illinois. Should I disregard
the republican sentiments on the subject now before the House,
and vote to hide my vote from their examination, I would be
taught a lesson through the medium of the ballot-box at home,
which would be a warning to me on all future occasions. This,
I think, would be my lot, I judge not for others. This principle
being established — that the representative is bound to represent
the sentiments of his constituents truly and honestly, and that
he is responsible for the same — the question then arises, how is
this fact to be ascertained.'
"The proposition now before the House is nothing more or
less than to require the best evidence to ascertain the responsi
bility of the representative, of which the nature of the case is
susceptible. This is the common-sense, and I may add the
common-law rule of evidence in our courts of justice. And
should it not be extended also to the transactions in the most
high and august tribunal in the nation.? The record -evidence
of each individual's vote, on the journal, is the best calculated
to exhibit to the people the acts of their representatives. This
is the mode pointed out by the constitution, and it is found by
experience to be the best mode to preserve the history of any
transaction in courts of justice or in legislative bodies. It is
much the best for the representative himself There can be no
perversion of his vote if it is recorded as it falls from his mouth.
His constituents, and the world if they please, will know how
he acts. Mr. R. said he was satisfied there was no person in
this house who would want to hide his vote on any public
transaction. The people, as they are sovereign and not respon
sible to the representive or anybody, have the right to vote as

300 MY OWN TIMES.
they please, by ballot or otherwise. The ballot system is the
best for the people, and the viva-voce for their representatives.
It is idle to contend that the constitution requires the record of
proceedings and votes of members on measures to be recorded,
and not on men in elections. On measures, one-fifth of the
members can require the vote to be recorded, and on elections
of men to office the same rule and principle should be applied.
They are both within the spirit and meaning of the constitu
tion." The principles contained in my resolution were adopted by
the House, and remain the rule of action there to the present
time, so far as I recollect.
One of the most grand and subUme spectacles occurred
during this session of congress at the capitol that was ever
witnessed of that character in the United States. At the pre
ceding session of congress information of the death of Gen.
La Fayette reached the United States, and a resolution was
passed calling on John Q. Adams to deliver an oration on the
occasion; and on the 31st day of December, in persuance of
previous arrangements, an oration on the life and character of
Gen. La Fayette was delivered by Mr. Adams in the hall of the
house of representatives. Taking into consideration the sub
ject, the orator, and the audience, the scene was grand and
impressive. The subject — The Life and Character of Gen.
La Fayette — who so nobly entered the Revolution at a dark
period, and so bravely served through that most important
struggle for freedom, was great and interesting. John Q,
Adams, the ex-president of the United States, a distinguished
member of congress from the old Bay State, whose character as
a scholar and a literary man was co-extensive with civilization,
was the orator, and most nobly did he perform his duty. The
audience was Gen. Jackson, the president of the United States,
and an immense concourse of people.
During this session of congress, a great and important ques
tion was agitated in relation to the northern boundaries of Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois. This subject was before the committees
and Congress all that session. It will be recollected that ever
since the formation of the government the boundaries of the
states and territories have frequently excited much contention,
and sometimes almost or quite reached to bloodshed. The
State of Ohio at this time, and the Territory of Michigan were
in a contest about the northern boundary of Ohio, and not long
after Missouri and Iowa were engaged in a violent controversy.
In February, 1835, the bill was before the House to establish
the Territory of Wisconsin, and it was reported from the Com
mittee on Territories to be bounded on the South by the State
of Illinois. This left the boundary undefined, and I moved an
amendment: that the southern boundary of the Territory

MY OWN TIMES. 3OI
should be the line in latitude 42 deg. 30 min. north. This
amendment gave rise to much discussion, but was finally adopt
ed into the bill, and became the law. The Hon. John Q.
Adams took the lead against my amendment, but it was ably
defended by Mr. Binney, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ben. Hardin, of
Kentucky, and Messrs. Vinton, Hamer, and others, of Ohio.
My next speech in congress was on this subject, which is also
reported in the volume of debates of that day. The act of
congress defining the southern boundary of the Territory of
Wisconsin settled all controversy on this subject
\Yhen I entered congress the Bank of the United States had
many warm and influential friends, but the people were dis
posed to put it down. This made the bank decline in its moral
bearing in congress.
About this time, gold and silver commenced to flow into
the country and to take the place of bank -paper. The report
of Roger B. Tanney, the secretary of the treasury, for the year
1833, showed the currency and the country were enjoying great
prosperity. It may be stated that six millions of specie had
been introduced into the United States in one year, and com
merce had also increased in a greater proportion. It was con
sidered in twenty months eighteen millions of specie had been
introduced into the Union, which not only relieved the people
from their mental fears, which the bank had fastened on them,
but it did more, it relieved them from their niaterial feat s and
distresses. In giving standing and increase to the metallic currency, Col.
Benton was an active and able champion, and did much to
restore the constitutional currency to the country, which the
bank had driven away. Col. Benton, by his efforts to restore
the metallic currency, has by the Whigs acquired the name of
"Old Bullion," which is a proud honor to him.
In the year 1834, the Bank of the United States died a dis
consolate death in PhUadelphia, and the stockholders resolved
that the bank should make an assignment of its real and per
sonal estate. Thus ended this institution, whose example, I
presume, will not soon be imitated.
In this congress was a variety of character, collected from all
parts of an extended republic. Among many extraordinary
characters in congress was Hon. Tristram Burgess, of Rhode
Island, who was dreaded by most of the members in the House.
This gentleman in 1834, was aged; yet the fire and vigor of
youth frequently burst out from him like streams of burning
lava. His years appeared to be upward of sixty, and his age
and intense study marked his visage with unmistakable impres
sions. His person was tall and emaciated, and slightly inclined
by age. He was blessed with a venerable and dignified deport
ment; but his features wore the severe and caustic appearance

302 MY OWN TIMES.
of a store well filled with double distilled invective and sarcasm.
He was an eminent scholar and orator, whose fiery and scathing
speeches dashed thunderbolts against his adversaries. He was
a man of more genius than judgment, and possessed an acute
and refined sensibility. He was gifted with a fluent and efficient
elocution, and his invectives, in which he excelled, and used so
liberally, were of the most refined and chaste character, that
cut deep and laid dead at his feet his victim, without vulgarity
or mangled wounds. His speeches were always short, and the
last sentence generally sounded the death-knell of his opponent.
He used the most chaste and classic language, as if he desired
the death of his adversary to be caused by a golden ball. His
ideas, although they were conveyed in the most pure and chaste
language, seemed to be steeped in gall and bitterness, and they
flowed from the orator like flashes of lightning, and often with
the same effect.
Whenever this singular man would rise in the House to speak,
the whole noisy assembly would come to a profound silence and
witness the scene without a smile. No one liked to see a snow
bird devoured by an eagle. When delivering his philippics he
appeared the personification of the most bitter satire, which
flowed with a lightning speed from an inexhaustable store
house. This gentleman possessed a high standing of this character at
Washington City, and was the only person, it was said in olden
times, that could equal and surpjiss the celebrated John Ran
dolph, of Roanoke. I never saw any one that could equal Mr,
Burgess in scathing satire and invective. It seemed to me he
had turned his extraordinary talents and fine education into this
channel alone, and in it he excelled any one I ever saw.
I witnessed many of the efforts of Lord Brougham, in the
British House of Peers, which were eloquent, learned, and satiri
cal, but were not so refined or polished as those of the Ameri
can orator. Burgess seemed to mix honey with his language,
but Brougham kneeded his with brickbats and macadamized
rocks. In his habits Mr. Burgess seemed secluded, reserved, and taci
turn; nothing of the bold, obtrusive, or assuming was seen in
him. He was grave, dignified, and rather austere in his deport
ment. He did not seem to enjoy social or jovial society, but
his pleasures seemed to exist in his own breast, and that of a
melancholy and morose character. He appeared to labor under
disgust'^^nd dislike to mankind, and, whenever an opportunity
occurred, he raised his flood-gates and torrents flowed that swept
away all rivalship. What a misfortune that such splendid tal
ents and classical education should be turned into such a chan
nel. To reverse the scene, and this gentleman would have
occupied in congress one of the highest places in that body.

MY OWN TIMES. .303

CHAPTER CIL
Executive Influence. — Proscription for Opinion's Sake. — Executive
Power of Removals from Office. — The Convention System. — The
Life of President Jackson AssaUed.
The proper exercise of executive patronage, and the removal
of incumbents from office, present to the philosophic statesman,
a question of grave importance, and of extremely difficult solu
tion. The nature of our government, and, in fact, all others, is
such that great power is given to the executive and a check on
him is an election every four years, public opinion, and the sen
ate. The great question was presented to Thomas Jefferson, when
he was president of the United States, more than half a century
since, to decide if a person should be removed from office for an
honest difference of opinion. That great statesman and pro
found philosopher, gave the subject his utmost attention, and
most scrutinizing judgment. He settled the principle at last to
his own satisfaction that "each party, the Federalists and Re
pubhcans, should have a share of the ministerial offices, the con
trol of each branch of the service being in the hands of the
administration." On the 23d March, 1801, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Gov. GUes, of
Virginia, that good men, to whom there is no objection but a
difference of political opinion, practised on only so far as a pri
vate citizen will justify, are not proper subjects of removal, ex
cept in the case of attorneys and marshals. Removal from
office for cause, has been justified by all since the commence
ment of the government.
Mr. Jefferson wrote again to Mr. Lincoln, his attorney-general,
and says: "Every officer of government may vote at elections
according to his own conscience, but we should betray the cause
committed to our charge, were we to permit the influence of
official patronage to overthrow that cause."
Mr. Jefferson laid the rule down as above stated, and so did
Gen. Jackson in the same spirit, but neither of them practised
precisely in accordance with it. Jefferson did not remove
enough of officers, and, perhaps, Jackson too many.
Col. Benton, in his book, states that Mr. Jefferson informed
him in 1824, that he never did his party justice by not giving
them the proper share of officers.
The northern section of the Union, and particularly the State
of New York, has adopted more the system of proscription for
political opinion than the South. Gen. Jackson never entirely
adopted the system, that "the spoils belonged to the victors.'

304 MY OWN TIMES.
When this is the system of action, it seems that men's political
opinions, although honest, are not at all respected. Although
honest, a mistake of judgment makes a man culpable, and liable
to be removed from office. On the other hand, it is wrong for
a party to be weighted down with their enemies.
The principle has been gaining for years, that the party in
power has the right, and they generally exercise it, to remove
their political opponents from office. This system, to a great
extent, makes politics a mechanical operation, working for office
without principle.
Executive patronage has been a fruitful subject of discussion
for twenty years past, and has always been assailed by the party
opposed to the administration.
In 1826, during the administration of Mr. Adams, attempts
were made to circumscribe the executive patronage, and much
intelligent debate was administered without any enactment.
The revenue and the officers increased so rapidly that the power
and patronage of the chief magistrate became overwhelming in
a few years.
In 1835, a partizan debate was conducted in the senate for
several weeks, on the subject of executive patronage, and the
result was, that the President, by virtue of the constitution, had
the power of removals at his pleasure. The position urged with
soomuch talent and efficiency by Clay, Webster, Calhoun, and
other Whig members, was, that the President be required to
state his reasons on which the removals were made.
Mr. Clay proposed an amendment, that the Senate must agree
in the removals, as well as the appointments, before an officer
could be ousted from office. To this proposition, and to defend
the constitution, President Jackson entered a protest, and in it
discussed the constitutional question with great ability. In this
discussion were arrayed on both sides extraordinary ability and
talent, and the most bitter and severe partizan warfare was
displayed in it. The decision was by the public and congress,
that the President had the power of removing at pleasure, being
responsible for his actions to public opinion. Connected with
this subject is party-discipline and organization. In excited
party-times party-organization is considered almost as essential
as the party-principles themselves.
About the year 1835, at Vandalia, the seat of government of
the State of Illinois, the subject of party-organization and the
convention-system came up in a public discussion, and although
no direct discussion was made, yet the system commenced in
the north of the State about this time.
In 1837, Stephen A. Douglas was nominated in the northern
district of the State for congress, and the same year, James W.
Stephenson for governor. The system of conventions was
never very popular in the southern section of the State, but the

MY OWN TIMES. 305
emigrants from New York and New England to the northern
section of the State, brought the custom with them, and made
it popular in the section of the State where they settled.
To the system there are objections, and also advantages. It
affords party-jugglers and leaders great power, and takes that
power from the people. Where the organization is complete,
the nomination is an election, and the constitutional election is
a mere ceremony and idle pageantry. The system makes an
election with the party which, by party-discipline, stands also
for the main constitutional election. If the people would attend
their preparatory election.s, and be governed by the same rules
and regulations, as other elections, then the system would be
just and proper. This mode was adopted in a late election in
the State of Missouri. All the forms and regulations of an
ordinary election was observed with the party to select a party-
candidate. When a nomination is an election, the, principles of
free government require the same purity and the same regula
tions of the election' as are observed at the constitutional elec
tion. When the people are virtuous and intelligent, and observe
township and county elections, the convention -system is just
and proper to unite the party on the great and leading princi
ples; but when the people do not attend to the convention elec
tions and movements, the power gets into the hands of politi
cians, and then the most forward and unprincipled men govern
the whole election. The people in such cases, are, like chess
man on a board, moved by the leaders.
In favor of conventions it is said, that without them a party
cannot be concentrated ; cannot be united for action, and cannot
carry out the principles of the party. This is true, and this is
the reason they are submitted to at all. Another paliation is,
that frequently the candidates of the same party are about
equal in merit, and it matters not much to the party or public,
which of them is selected in the convention. The candidates
are all slaughtered except one.
In large districts of country for the election of the governor
of a State, or the president of the United States, if parties at all
exist, I cannot see any other system that will answer the pur
poses, although so many formidable objections exist against
conventions. At the funeral of the Hon. Mr. Davis, of South Carolina, an
event took place which excited a deep sensation throughout the
country. It was an attempt to murder Jackson. In the midst
of a large assemblage of people, in the rotunda of the capitol,
on the 30th of January, 1835, a small, lean-looking man at
tempted to shoot two pistols at the President, with intent to kill
him. I was only a few feet before the latter, in the funeral pro
cession, going out of the east door of the building, and it seemed
to me, from the loud reports, that both pistols had been dis-

306 MY OWN TIMES.
charged. Upon turning around, I saw a dense crowd near the
scene of action. The culprit had already been thrown or
knocked down. Jackson had his cane raised to strike, and was
forcing his w^y toward him. Mr. Inge, a very large man, and a
member of congress from Tennessee, was about to use violence
to the offender, when many of us cried out "Don't kUl him!"
The feeling of' resentment was so great that I feared violence
would be used toward the prisoner. In a moment, however, the
passion of the friends of Jackson subsided, and the young man
was in no immediate danger, although he attempted to murder
the President an old, infirm man. Gen. Jackson was walking
at the time between Secretary Woodbury and Mr. Dickinson,
secretary of the navy. The offender was given over to the
civil officers and confined for examination. The crowd was so
thick around the prisoner that I did not see him except on the
floor of the rotunda, but he was calm and seemed to disregard
the transaction. Neither of the pistols were fired, but the caps
exploded with such noise and in such quick succession that I
supposed both had been discharged. Either of the loads in the
barrels of the pistols would have caused death. This affiair gave
rise to much private discussion, and fears were entertained that
attempts on the life of the President might occur again. The
examination of the accused, however, explained the whole trans
action, and further alarms for the safety of the chief magistrate
were dispelled. The name of the unfortunate and misguided
man was Richard Lawrence, an Englishman, and a hoilse-
painter. Physicians and others examined him and found him
to be a more fit subject for the lunatic asylum than the gallows.
Such strange species of insanity occur at rare intervals in the
world, and this is another proof of the frailty and imperfection
of mankind.
Almost a simUar case occurred in England, in 1800. An in
sane man, named Hadfield, shot at the king in the theatre, and
was acquitted on the ground of mental derangement. In more
ancient times, Henry IV., king of France, was killed in the
street by a maniac.
To return to Lawrence: On his trial before Judge Cranch he
seemed to be careless of himself, and did not cross-examine the
witness and gave no explanation of his conduct. It was quickly
ascertained that the prisoner was insane, and the examination
dropped. Lawrence had attended the deljates in Congress, and
had heard so much said in the panic session, that he really sup
posed Jackson was the cause of the distress in the country. He
was poor himself, and out of employment He imagined the
country was in a ruined condition, and as he thought Jackson
was the cause of it, he would remove the evil by killing him.
He said his family had been deprived of the crown of England,
and that he would obtain it before he died. The circumstance

MY OWN TIMES. 30/
of both pistols refusing to shoot was so singular that it caused
many to believe that it was an interposition of Divine Provi
dence to save the life of a great man. The same kind of a story
had before been circulated — that an Indian chief shot several
times at Gen. Washington in battle, but the balls would not
kill him, and that Providence had saved him to perform the
great and noble deeds he afterward achieved. Enlightened
public opinion and the intelligence of the age have discarded
these ideas of providential interpositions, and agree that cer
tain immutable laws of nature, established by Divine wisdom,
govern the universe, and that they never have been, and never
will be, changed to screen any person or thing from their uni
form and universal operation.

CHAPTER CIIL
The Eulogy of Mr. Adams on Gen. La Fayette. — Sketch of Ex-Presi
dent John Q. Adams.
At the previous session of congress, the death of General
La Fayette reached the United States, and a resolution passed
congress respectfully requesting the Hon. John Q. Adams to
deliver in congress, at the next session, an eulogy on the life
and character of this great man.
On the 31st of December, 1834, in pursuance of previous
arrangements, Mr. Adams delivered an address of great merit
and ability on the life and character of the deceased hero of the
Revolution. I was present, and saw the hall and galleries of the
house of representatives crowded with a distinguished and intel
ligent audience. The members of the senate entered the hall
in a body, and the ministers of foreign powers, the President,
judges of the supreme court, and many other distinguished
individuals attended. The occasion; the transactions of the
Revolution; the hero of many battles. Gen. La Fayette; the
orator, the Ex-President of the United States and one of the
most learned men of the age, addressing in the capitol of a
great republic such an audience, was one of the greatest and
imposing spectacles that was ever witnessed in the United
States. This assembly, for the high standing of many of the indi
viduals composing it, and for the general intelligence and the
brilliant appearance, surpassed any I ever saw before or after,
although I have witnessed many both in Europe and America.
In this assembly were six individuals who had been or were
afterwards elected to the presidency: John Q. Adams, Andrew
Jackson, John Tyler, James K. Polk, Millard Fillmore, and
Franklin Pearce.

308 MY OWN TIMES.
During all my services in congress, which was eight sessions,
the Hon. John Quincy Adams was a member of the house, and
his character and services deserve a passing notice.
John Quincy Adams, a distinguished member from the State
of Massachusetts, although he possessed great and eminent
talents, was not modelled exactly on the same system as any
other member. His person was of the medium size, but thick,
compact, and robust. He stood and walked erect, although he
had passed his eightieth year, and seemed to possess his mental
faculties unimpaired. He was not possessed of any grace or
beauty of person, but displayed a kind of formal dignity, rather
of an austere and unsocial character. His person seemed to
bid defiance to time and hardship, and was formed for utUity
and severe mental labor. His head was bald and remarkably
large; and if phrenology were to speak, he possessed, what his
actions through life demonstrated, an extraordinary development
of mental power, together with no small degree of propelling
force. The great and leading traits of his character were a
sober, solid judgment, integrity, and patriotism. On these great
pillars, he reared a temple of fame that will descend to posterity
with glory and honor to him and the nation. He was what the
common phrase calls "a passionate man," but would generally
restrain this passion, except on fit occasions, as he conceived,
then it would flow in deep and strong currents that generally
overwhelmed his adversary. He possessed ambition of a
boundless character, and it was often a great effort of his judg
ment to subdue it. His firmness bordered on obstinacy, and
reason and argument were often applied to him without success,
when his passions were enlisted in the case.
With these great and distinguishing traits of character, John
Q. Adams was a worthy descendant of an illustrious ancestry,
and most nobly has he sustained the glory and honor of his
pilgrim forefathers. He always appeared to me to be a true
representative of the daring and intrepid pilgrims of the May-
Flower, who encountered every danger and hardship for liberty.
He stood eminently at the head of intelligence and knowledge;
distinguishing, as many do, knowledge from wisdom. His op
portunities were good, and he embraced them with ardor and
enthusiasm. His illustrious father, John Adams, was one of the
master-spirits of the age in which he lived, and was to his son
always an open seminary of learning.
John Q. Adams attended the best seminaries of learning in
both Europe and America, and was one of the most profound
scholars and most learned men of the age. He failed most
signally in his attempt to court the muses. His poetry is
below mediocrity, but his speeches were lucid, argumentative,
and grammatical, either when spoken or written. They smelt
of the midnight lamp more than of genius, but he labored

MY OWN TIMES. 309
them into strong and irresistible arguments by the force of his
safe and sound judgment. He was a Whig partizan, only as
he considered^ it right to advance the best interests of the coun
try. On all great and national subjects, he rose above party
with a true American heart and sustained his country with a
fervor and a passion of patriotism that no Revolutionary father
ever excelled.
Mr. Randolph, of Roanoke, said many truths of Mr. Adams
in an electioneering speech of 1828. Mr. Randolph says:
"The talent which enables a man to write a book, or to make
a speech, has no more relation to the leading of an army, or a
senate, than it has to the dressing of a dinner. The talent
which fits a man for either office is a talent for the management
of men; a mere dialectician never had and never will have it;
each requires the same degree of courage, though of different
kinds" Randolph further said: "Who believes that Washington
could write as good a book or report as Jefferson, or make as
able a speech as Hamilton.' Who is there that believes that
Cromwell would have made as good a judge as Lord Hale.'
No, sir! these learned and accomplished men find their proper
places under those who are fitted to command, and to command
them amongst the rest."
Randolph said it was the easiest matter for a great man to
write a book. The next difficult thing was to make a speech,
but the most difficult matter was to act right. Adams could
write a good book; Clay could make a splendid speech; but
Jackson could act right. The principle here laid down, and also
the application, is correct.
Adams' great age, extraordinary life, and high positions in
the public service, gave him a great standing in congress, and
particularly on the subject of international law and our foreign
relations. He was strongly impressed with the great principles
of religion, and was a member of the Unitarian Church at the
time of his death. In November, 1846, he experienced the
first shock of paralysis, and on the 21st of February, 1848, at
the moment he was about to address the speaker, another
stroke of the fatal disease visited him. He lingered to the 23d,
and expired in the speaker's room, in the capitol of the United
States. The last words he spoke were: "This is the end of
earth: I am content." Thus closed the career of one of the
most learned and the most distinguished characters that en
lightened the nation since the Revolution.

3IO MY OWN TIMES.
CHAPTER CIV.
The Military Academy at West Point
During all the time that I was in congress, the Military
Academy at West Point, in the State of New York, received
much discussion in both branches of congress. The institution
was unpopular with the people of Illinois, and on all proper
occasions in the State, I gave it my unqualified condemnation,
and in congress I carried out these views. President Jackson,
Col. Richard M. Johnson, and many other distinguished charac
ters were friendly to it; and the latter informed me often, that
he saw in the war of 1812, many brave and worthy men de
stroyed for the want of the proper military science in the army.
The extraordinary success of our army in Mexico, showing the
importance of military science, has caused me to think more
favorably of the Military Academy at West Point, and has
brought me to the conclusion that military science must exist in
the army. Without the proper and necessary science in an
army, it is a mob and rabble, that is neither efficient nor hon
orable. The act of Congress passed in Washington's administration,
in 1794, provides the proper remedy. The cadets, under this
act, were selected, at the discretion of the President, from the
privates in the army, and instructed in the higher branches of
artillery and engineering, and nothing more. At that day all
the drills and training were performed in the open field. This
system would encourage good young men to join the army, and
thereby the material would be improved. The instruction at
the West-Point Academy was confined to the science of artil
lery and engineering, and nothing more.
The act of Congress of 18 12, and the construction given to
it has remodelled and changed the institution entirely. At
present, the cadets are never in the ranks, and are at no time
privates. They are not like the privates under the act of 1794,
promoted by merit, but are placed in this academy by the
members of congress without any knowledge of their military
merit, or inclination for a military life.
In the army, when it numbered 6000 strong, in one year
1450 deserted. Something is radically wrong when such large
numbers desert. It is stated, that there is not a government in
Europe that pay so little regard to the rights of the people, in
this respect, as is practised in this institution. Officers in all
governments of Europe can rise from the ranks, and the mother
country, old England, has given to the .world an illustrious
example.

MY OWN TIMES. 311
In Great Britain, a return shows that from 1830 to 1847, the
numbers of citizens was 1266 who received military offices.
446 were appeinted from the ranks, and 473 from the Royal
College, which answers nearly to the Military Academy at West
Point. These appointments are exclusive of those purchasing
commissions, which swells the list against the military schools.
In France, twenty-three marshals rose from the ranks. Ney,
Massena, Oudinot, Murat, Soult, and Bernadot were among the
number. Most of the statistics in the above sketch I received
from Col. Benton, which are presented in his able chapter on
the MiUtary Academy at West Point. I made many speeches
in congress on this subject, to correct the evils existing in both
the system and the practice of that institution. Many of my
addresses were published, which will show my sentiments on
the subject.
Within "MY OWN TIMES," the State of Texas commenced its.
first American settlement. Its progress, its independence as a
government, and its annexation to the United States as an
independent state of the confederacy: all these extraordinary
movements — the settlement of the country under the Mexican
government; its independence and its annexation to the United
States, occurt"ed in a little more than thirty years.
In 1836, I voted in congress for the resolution declaring
Texas an independent government, and in 1845, it was admit
ted into the Uiiion as an independent State. In no country on
earth is or has been such extraordinary progress as is witnessed
in the United States.
Moses Austin, the founder of Texas, was a native of Con
necticut, and emigrated first to Virginia, and then to Upper
Louisiana in the year 1797. He settled in the mining district,
under the Spanish government, and worked the lead mines west
of St. Genevieve, Missouri. It was in this district where his
son, Stephen F. Austin, was born. ' The father, having obtained
from the Mexican government a large grant of land in the
present State of Texas, emigrated there in 1823. This colony
soon increased from the United Stales by those who were gen
erally courageous, intelligent, and energetic citizens.
Texas contains fine soil and climate, which induced emigra
tion to it from all parts of the Union, and also from Europe.
The country was a state in the Mexican republic, and when
the government of Mexico was changed in old Mexico from a
republic to a despotic government, Texas refused to submit to
the tyranny of usurpation, and took up arms to defend her
rights and liberty. After many engagements, and some carnage
of the Americans, the memorable battle of San Jacinto was
fought in May, 1836, wherein seven hundred and fifty Ameri
cans killed six hundred Mexicans, and took the same number
prisoners, with the President, Gen. Santa Anna himself The

312 MY OWN TIMES.
Americans had oniy six men killed and twenty wounded. This
victory was achieved under the command of Gen. Sam. Hous
ton, the young man who was at the seminary of the Rev. Isaac
Anderson, in East Tennessee, in the year 1810.
Sometime after the battle of San Jacinto, in 1836, a resolu
tion passed both houses of congress, recognizing the indepen
dence of Texas. I voted for the resolution, and have often
witnessed the flag of Texas, the "Lone Star," as evidence of
her independence.
Not ten years thereafter, I got up a mass-meeting — a public
gathering of the people — held in the court-house in Belleville,
in the fall of the year 1843, and passed resolutions urging on
Congress the annexation of Texas. I believe this was the first
meeting and public expression of opinion for the annexation of
Texas that was held in the United States.
The presidential election embraced the subject of the annex
ation of Texas considerably in the West, and James K. Polk
was mainly supported on this question in many sections of the
country. During his administration, and in "MY OWN TIMES,"^
Texas was admitted into the Union as a free and independent '
State.

CHAPTER CV.
Further Proceedings in Congress. — The Admission of the Territories
of Michigan and Arkansas into the Union as States. — A Torpedo in
the Potomac River. — A Visit to Washington's Tomb. — The Key of
the Bastile of France. — A Tide-Water Joke on the Author. — The
Author in Congress Seven Years and Eight Sessions. — The General
Duties the Author Performed in Congress.
Toward the close of the session of congress in the year
1836, both the constitutions of Michigan and Arkansas were
presented to congress, and solicited admission into the Union
as States.
The President presented the subject to the senate, and
Thomas H. Benton took charge of the State of Michigan, and
James Buchanan that of Arkansas. It seemed that many of
the Northern members, and some of the Southern also, desired
to pass both States into the Union at the same time. One was
a free-state and the other a slave-state. The subject of slavery,
and the common party-spirit of Whiggery and Democracy,
seemed to be mixed up together in this transaction. It was
considered a Jackson, or democratic measure, and many Whigs
and Democrats took sides on the subject, independent of the
question of slavery. I considered it right to admit both States
into the Union, and I acted with the administration party

MY OWN TIMES. 31$
throughout all the contest. The bills admitting both States
into the Union passed the senate by a vote of only six in oppo
sition. Both bills came to the house together, and were made the
special order of the day for the 8th of June; and congress was
to adjourn on the 4th of July thereafter. The Whigs, it seemed
to me, labored to defeat the admission of both States into the
Union on account of their bitter opposition to the administra
tion of Gen. Jackson, while other members opposed both for
the slavery contained in the constitution of Arkansas. Some
opposed both, because the people of the two Territories formed
their constitutions without a previous act of congress.
Both bills were referred to the committee of the whole, and
were discussed for the space of twenty-five hours, without the
committee rising, or taking much or any refreshments whatever.
On the 9th of June, the house went into committee of the
whole at 10 o'clock, and did not rise until eleven the next day.
During this session, many times during the night there was no
quorum, and a call of the house was ordered. I well recollect
the officers bringing in members, and of hearing their witty ex
cuses. On the morning of the tenth of June, the Hon. Mr. McKen-
non, of Pennsylvania, when we were all tired and exhausted,
urged Mr. Wise to cease his ftpposition, and permit the bills to
be reported to the house. This was agreed to, and the house
at last passed both biUs with large majorities. The States of
Michigan and Arkansas were both< admitted into the Union in
1836. In 1842, I saw in the Potomac River, near the city of Wash
ington, a schooner blown to atoms by a torpedo. An immense
number of citizens were present witnessing the exhibition. The
members of both houses of congress, the President, his cabinet,
foreign ministers, and a great many strangers from various parts
of the Union. The machine, the galvanic battery, was erected
five miles down the river, on the west side, near the city of
Alexandria. A quantity of powder was placed under the
schooner, in the water, and a wire was extended from the bat
tery to the powder under the vessel. The powder was ignited
by the battery, through the wire, and exploded. The operators
at the battery told the time that they would ignite the powder,
and they did so at the precise time they had designated.
I was not far off from the vessel, and I saw the fire, smoke,
water, and spray, all rise at the same time, and envelope the
schooner in the fire, water, and smoke. A considerable surface
of water with the vessel was blown up, with the force and speed
of lightning, high in the air, and fragments of the vessel fell
down on the water for some time. The schooner was blown to
atoms, and the water of the river violently agitated. I thought

314 MY OWN TIMES.
then, and still think, that no vessel of an enemy, in time of
war, will ever enter our harbors, as this torpedo would have
destroyed the largest ship that ever sailed the ocean. The
scientific engineers who performed this great feat were from
Connecticut, as I understood.
In May, 1840, a party, mostly members of congress and their
families, visited the residence of Gen. Washington, on the Poto
mac. I made one of the party, and spent most of the day in
examining the house and premises of this extraordinary man.
His residence is on the high bluff of the Potomac, seven or
eight miles below the city of Alexandria, in Virginia. The
mansion is a frame building, two stories high, and at each end
are small houses added to it, for offices, I presume. The yard
before the front door was large, and surrounded with houses for
servants. The venerable building itself displayed nothing like
splendor or magnificence; but comfort, and a neat, plain resi
dence, appeared to be consulted in the construction and man
agement of the house and premises.
The house of the general was erected on a high bluff of the
Potomac, two or three hundred feet above the water, and en
joyed a beautiful prospect of the country and the river. The
old vault that first contained the remains of Washington was
abandoned, and the body placed in another of finer architecture.
All spectators gaze with admiration and profound respect and
gratitude on the sepulchre of this great and good man. Many
of the visitors obtained pieces of the wood of the old coffin
containing the body, and preserve them as interesting relics.
¦ The key of the Bastile in France, when the people of that
country destroyed that prison, was given to Gen. Washington
for safe keeping. The key was placed in a glass case, and hung
up at the door of the general's mansion, so that all could see it.
The sight of it forced on my mind the horrid imprisonments in
the Bastile by the monarchs of France, and the honor given the
United States of being the fit repository of freedom and such
an interesting relic.
My friends enjoyed a good*oke on me in relation to the tide
water. I was walking with a friend of mine on Pennsylvania
Avenue, in the city of Washington, and remarked that a rain
must have fallen toward the head of a small stream that runs
through Washington, as the water had been up in the creek a
foot or two, and had fallen. My friend laughed heartily, and
informed me that it was the tide. I did not know that I had
reached tide-water.
I was in congress seven years, and exerted during that time
every energy I possessed, both of mind and body, to advance
the interests of the people. To perform the duties of a mem
ber of congress is exceedingly laborious, and requires much
hard work. I had in a book the names of all the principal.

MY OWN TIMES. 315
influential, and reading men in my district, no matter whether
they were my political friends or not, and I flooded them and
the district with public documents and speeches.
I always sustained the franking privilege of members, for the
benefit of the public. It is one of the most important duties of
a member of congress to distribute among the people proper
public documents and speeches.
The business in the departments at Washington City of
claims, and other matters for the people, demand also of a mem
ber much time and labor, and it received it from me. I was
considered, after Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, among
the most working members in the departments. I was in the
Black-Hawk war, and many claims arising out of that war were
sent to me to have adjusted in Washington. Another consider
able labor was so many acquaintances of members to be pre
sented to the President, particularly when Gen. Jackson was in
office. This duty occupied much time of a member.
The necessary and official correspondence a member has with
his constituents gives him much labor, and is very important to
both parties. I have often received fifteen or twenty letters at
a time, though not daily, which were answered in due time.
These, and many other labors, are independent of the duties
in the halls of legislation. A member must be well posted up
on the political news of the times, and in fact all other floating
information, or otherwise he will make an inefficient represen
tative. General political knowledge of the ancient parties, and
in fact a general knowledge of political science, and the forms
of ancient and modern governments, a member must possess, or
otherwise he will make a ridiculous exhibition in congress, par
ticularly if he attempts to address the house. In such a large
Body there is much talent, and if a person does not keep even
with the masses of members, in talents and information, he had
better have remained at home. To keep up with the times, a
member must read incessantly. Reading the papers I performed
frequently when a long, prosy speech was being delivered in
congress. ;, *
I was, during eight sessions of congress — one being a called
session, in 1840 — absent from congress scarcely one day, either
by sickness or otherwise; and the journals will also show that I
very rarely missed giving a vote during all that long period of
service. The congress generally met at twelve o'clock, and be
fore that hour the office business was performed in the depart
ments. Much business was also performed by members in com
mittees. - I was for some time the chairman of the committee
on the public lands, which required much attention to business,
and much labor, as all the Western States had a great interest
in this subject. I was also at times on the committee of roads
and canals, which required much labor. Most of the business

3l6 MY OWN TIMES.
of legislation in congress is performed by the committees, which
gives them much labor and responsibility. It is also the duty
of a member of congress to make many official visits on certain
public occasions, and to attend official dinners. He must be on
friendly and honorable terms with the public officers and Presi
dent, or otherwise he cannot transact his official business with
justice to his constituents.
Many subjects had my particular attention and energies, be
they great or small, in congress. One subject, the establishment
of marine hospitals on the Western waters, I labored on for
years, and made and published many speeches on the occasion.
My district being on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was greatly
interested in the subject. I sincerely believe my efforts had
some effect in the accomplishment of this measure. I showed
the amount of commerce on the Western waters and the num
ber of men employed in it. I asserted in congress, and the facts
warranted it, that more wealth and commerce was floated on the
Mississippi in 1840 than on any other river on the globe. The
public lands also received much of my services ih congress. I
made on this subject many speeches, which were published. At
"MY TIMES" in congress, the public lands were hoarded up more
than at present. We procured the passage of the pre-emption
law, which gives a person the pre-emption of one year on the
public lands.
Another subject I labored for considerably, and it failed in
congress, about "MY TIMES," and that was the "National Road."
The Democratic party did not foster it as it contravened their
fundamental principles. I advocated all the time the location
of the road to Alton, in Illinois, according to the instructions of
the general assembly of the State. The establishment of an
armory on the Western waters was also a favorite measure with
me in congress. I urged on congress, by many addresses, the
subject, and I believe my efforts did the measure some service.
An armory was established at Memphis, Tennessee.
During all "MY OWN times" in congress, I acted rigidly with
the Democratic party, and no compMnt was ever made at home
or abroad, by friend or foe, on account of my votes on party
politics, so far as I recollect. A member of congress has very
little standing in that body who vasciUates from one side of
^ party politics to the other in excited party times.
The preceding few chapters in this work contain only a skele
ton of "MY times" in congress. A full history would require a
larger volume than the present; but I presume enough is pre
sented in this sketch to show the general outlines of the pro
ceedings in congress, and my humble services in that body.
I used economy in my expenses in Washington City, or other
wise I would have been, Uke at least half the members of con
gress, in debt at the end of each session. The expenses at the

MY OWN TIMES. 317
seat of government of the United States for living are heavy.
The money expended on the printing of speeches and docu
ments is also heavy. Economy at Washington City is more
necessary, perhaps, than at any other city in the Union.

CHAPTER CVI.
The Author Marries in the District of Columbia. — Out of Congress
Two Years. — The Lovejoy Riot at Alton.
Having completed "my OWN times" in congress, I return to
the passing events in the State of Illinois, which are worthy of
history. In connection with my services in congress, it is proper to
state that a hiatus of two years occurred between the 3d of
March, 1837, and the 3d of March, 1839, that I was not a mem
ber. I remained after the adjournment of congress on the 4th
in the city of Washington until the nth of July, 1836, and did
not return to my district to canvass it before the election in
August in the same year, and my talented and popular oppo
nent Mr. Snyder, was elected.
I became acquainted with a lady in the District of Columbia,
and we, "on consideration of mutual love and affection," mar
ried. The same ties bind us in matrimonial happiness to the
present time. Posterity will have an unsettled account against
us for having added nothing, AS YET, to the great reservoir of
the human family.
The riot at Alton, wherein Lovejoy lost his life, and another
person was killed, is the most unaccountable transaction that has
occurred in Illinois for many years. This- tragedy was enacted
in one of the most enlightened and intelligent communities in
the State, where peaceable and law-loving population had the
ascendancy, and where the Christian principles and the various
Christian churches seemed to be triumphant, and yet blood was
wantonly shed, after weeks and months reflection on the subject
before the act was consummated. This transaction proves that
man is the most mysterious and unfathomable being of God's
creation, and, at times, he enters into vagaries that establishes
the fact that reason and reflection are for the moment cast aside
and the wild passions of his nature run riot for a season.
The following narrative of the Lovejoy riot is collected from
various sources, which I presume may be relied on as correct.
The Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was a native of New England,
and was a man of talent, extraordinary energy, and pertinacity.
He was a preacher of the gospel, and was a member of the
Presbyterian church.
In the year 1837, he came to Alton from St. Louis, Missouri,

3X8 MY OWN TIMES.
and consulted with his friends and the people generally if it
would be advisable for him to start an abolition paper in Alton.
It seems that his visit to Alton, and his consultation with the
people on the above subject, put the whole community in a state
of an intense excitement and feeling. This violence of feeling
was increased by the rumors, which were then believed, and not
contradicted to this hour, that he had previously attempted to
establish his press at Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, but at
none of these places received any encouragement, and at St.
Louis, was repulsed with violence or threats of violence. These
statements inflamed the people the more, as it was considered
disrespectful to Alton to permit his press to be established there,
when it could not be established in these other cities. A few
men only encouraged Lovejoy to establish his press in Alton,
but the masses of the people, among whom were the most intel
ligent and worthy citizens of the place, desired him in friendship
not to attempt to set up an abolition paper in Alton. A large
mass -meeting of the people was called; all were invited to
attend, and many of the friends of Lovejoy did attend.
The convention of the people passed resolutions remonstrat
ing and beseeching Lovejoy not to establish an abolition press
in Alton. These resolutions breathed the spirit of firmness, yet
mild and persuasive, stating that the consequences of his perse
vering in his enterprise would be serious and perhaps disastrous
to him. A committee was appointed by the meeting to expos
tulate with Lovejoy, and dissuade him from his undertaking.
On this committee were some of the friends of Lovejoy and
his cause. The committee urged on him to desist from his pur
pose more for fear of the consequences to himself than for fear
of the press and the cause. This large public meeting knew
that the consequences would be fatal to him if he persisted, and
cautioned him and his friends accordingly.
He agreed with the committee not to establish an abolition
paper in Alton, but a religious one. The committee reported
this agreement to the meeting, which was satisfactory, and many
of the meeting supported his religious journal.
Under this arrangement, he started a weekly paper, and for
some weeks continued it as a religious journal. But in a short
time, disregarding his arrangement he commenced to publish
abolition doctrines. This course of the paper was evidently
against the agreement, and dissatisfled the community. The
people still considered the committee organized to act, and re
quested them to call on Lovejoy, as they had before. They
had an interview with him, and found his views on the subject
considerably changed. He had, after the first agreement for
him to publish a religious paper, published the whole proceed
ings, and his agreement in his journal. He conversed with
the committee in a friendly manner, but was emphatic and

MY OWN TIMES. 319
decisive. He said he respected the committee as respectable
and worthy citizens, representing the people of Alton, but he
did not recognize them or their views in relation to the course
of action he would pursue with his paper. His answer was also
published in his journal and the proceedings of the committee.
His paper, The Alton Observer, after this interview with
the committee, assumed still more ultra views of abolition, and
continued so for one or two months. These bitter and scathing
publications became worse and more offensive every day to the
citizens of Alton, and the people commenced again to be agi
tated and excited. After much agitation in the public mind
and discussion, the citizens became furious, enraged, and almost
frantic. At night, the citizens of Alton, in large numbers, without dis
tinction, entered the office of Lovejoy, although he was not
present, or knew it, and broke the press and cast it into the
Piasa Creek. The type was scattered about in every direction.
This movement of the masses created great excitement and agi
tation in Altori. Lovejoy and his friends came to the office in
the morning and saw what was done. He and his friends, in a
cool, calm manner, decided to purchase another press and pub
lish another abolition paper in Alton. It was several weeks, or
perhaps months before the new press could be procured, but it
did arrive, and was lodged in Col. Bodkin's warehouse. As soon
as the citizens of the city knew the fact that the press was in
the store of Bodkin, the next night they assembled en masse and
destroyed the second press, type, and apparatus. They cast the
whole concern into the river. Next morning another excitement
raged still more bitter and alarming. It seemed now to assume
the spirit of freiizy, and blood must be shed.
Not more than fifty men were willing to sustain Lovejoy in
the crisis the affairs were then assuming, and to risk their lives
with him in the crusade.
Next morning, Lovejoy was heard to say "I will start another
paper, no matter what the consequence may be." After the
lapse of two or three weeks, the third press reached Alton for
Lovejoy, and it was lodged in Garay's store. The citizens
assembled and destroyed it also.
All this time the excitement was still continued and increased
to a perfect tornado. After sometime spent in procuring the
fourth press, it and apparatus reached Alton. The citizens had
organized and had a watch out at the wharf to give notice when
the fourth press would arrive. It came on the Missouri Fulton,
about 4 o'clock in the morning. The people had retired to bed,
and the watch could not rally enough to oppose the landing of
the interdicted article. It was landed and lodged in the fourth
story of Godfrey & Gilman's warehouse. A furious excitement
prevailed all the next day in Alton, and both parties were organ-

320 MY OWN TIMES.
ized, one to destroy the press and the other to defend it. The
Lovejoy party organized a company, and elected Mr. Harnard
captain. The company contained about fifty members, and
were well armed.
The citizens were consulting all day, and had decided on no
particular system, but the press was to be destroyed at all
events. The Lovejoy party at dark assembled, well armed, in
the house where the press was lodged to defend it.
The citizens in great force assembled soon after dark before
the door of the house where the press was, and demanded ad
mittance or they would break open the door. About this time,
some one of the Lovejoy party, in an upper story, raised a win
dow and shot down in the crowd. This shot killed a man. The
corpse was brought into Dr. Hart's office and exposed to public
view. The sight of the dead body still more inflamed the
masses, but they acted with calmness and reflection. They
restrained action for an hour, considering in what manner they
would destroy the building and the press. It was decided that
both the building and press should be destroyed; but still the
citizens authorized Henry West and some one or two others, to
go to Lovejoy and expostulate with him, and to inform him and
friends of the imminent danger they were in. Lovejoy answered
"they would defend the press with their lives if necessary. On
return of this answer, a serious and desperate resolution was
taken by the citizens to destroy the press and house at all
events. The warehouse was a large stone building, four stories
high, and on one side it was discovered it had no windows. At
this side long ladders were procured and hoisted to the top of
the house. Men went up the ladders with combustibles and set
the roof on fire. The fire company, under the command of Cap
tain Pitts, was called to extinguish the flames, but the force and
rage of the people prevented the company from approaching
the building. . The mayor of the city also, did all in his power
to restrain the fury of the population. About this time, when
the house was on fire, Lovejoy and some two or three others,
well armed, came out of the building, as it was supposed, to
shoot those setting the house on fire, and walked in the dark
round the house toward the ladder. Some one or more were
concealed in a pile of lumber near Lovejoy and shot him. As
soon as he was shot he exclaimed "I am a dead m.an." He was
carried up stairs in the building and he expired in a few min
utes. The rest of the Lovejoy party escaped by the consent of
the people in the dark out of the building, and thus ended this
unfortunate and outrageous transaction.
Lovejoy was killed on the 17th of November, 1837, and
almost all the previous summer Alton was occupied by this ex
citement. The mayor of the city exerted all his power in vain
to preserve peace, and the preachers in the pulpit and all order-

MY OWN TIMES. 321
ly citizens, labored all the time to suppress this tragedy, but it
was all in vain.
The fire company extinguished the flames on the house, and
all quieted down into darkness and oblivion. The Grand Jury
of Madison County found bills of indictment in some cases aris
ing out of this riot, but no one was punished. It was judged
advisable by all parties, the sooner the better to forget and for
give all concerned in this unjustifiable transaction. Thus ended
one of the most singular tragedies that has perhaps occurred
anywhere. The citizens of Alton at the beginning presumed an
abolition journal in their place, so near the State of Missouri, a
slave State, would do the city of Alton a serious injury, and
prevent the growth of the place. This was, as far as I under
stand, one reason the citizens urged against the establishment
of such a paper at Alton. When the people waxed warm, and
became excited, it was a matter of honor not to abandon the
ground they assumed. The Lovejoy party was equally as un-
yieldy, and hence the unfortunate bloodshed.

CHAPTER CVIL
The First Railroad Constructed West of the Mountains by the Author
and Others. — Other Railroads in Illinois.
Being left out of congress in 1836, I was overflowing with
energy and vigor, so that I could not remain quiet and idle. I
'had a large tract of land located on the Mississippi Bluff, six
miles from St. Louis, which contained in it inexhaustible
quantities of bituminous coal. This coal mine was the nearest
-St Louis, Missouri, of any other on this side of the Mississippi
River. I had also most of the land on which a railroad might
be constructed to convey the coal onto the market. Under
these circumstances, a few others with myself decided to
construct a railroad from the bluff to the Mississippi opposite
St. Louis. This road was about six miles long, and although
short, the engineer made an erroneous calculation of the cost —
making the estimate less than one-half the real cost.
We all embarked in this enterprise when we knew very little
about the construction of a railroad or the capacity of the
market for the use of coal. In fact, the company had nothing
but an excessive amount of energy and vigor, together with
some wealth and some standing, with which to construct the
road, and we accomplished it.
We were forced to bridge a lake over 2000 feet across, and
we drove down piles more than eighty feet into the mud and
water of the lake, on which to erect the bridge, We put three
piles on the top of one another, and fastened the ends together.

322 MY OWN TIMES.
We battered the piles down with a metal battering-ram of 1400-
pounds' weight.
The members of the company themselves hired the hands —
at times one hundred a-day — and overlooked the work. They
built shanties to board the hands in, and procured provisions
and lodging for them. They graded the track, cut and hauled
the timber, piled the lake, built the road, and had it running in
one season of the year, in 1837. This work was performed in
opposition to much clamor against it that it would not succeed,
and that we would break at it, and such predictions. We had
not the means or the time in one year to procure the iron for
the rails or a locomotive, so we were compelled to work the
road without iron and with horse-power. We did so, and de
livered much coal at the river. It is strange how it was possi
ble we could construct this road under these circumstances. It
was the first railroad built in the Mississippi Valley, and such
an improvement was new to every one as well as our company..
It was in the year 1826 that the first railroad was built in the
United States, connecting Albany with Schenectady, in the
State of New York; and the next was built in South Carolina.
Railroads were not well understood at that day in any part of
America. In the spring of 1838, I offered for congress, and we consid
ered it best to sell out, as I could not attend to the road with
the rest of the company. We sold and took no mortgage on
the property. We lost by the sale twelve or thirteen thousand
dollars. We sold for less by twenty thousand dollars than it
cost us. I lost in the enterprise fifteen or eighteen thousand"
dollars. This amount was then considered as much as thirty
thousand at this day.
The members of the company, and I one of them, lay out
on the premises of the road day and night while the work was
progressing; and I assert that it was the greatest work or .
enterprise ever performed in Illinois under the circumstanees.
But it well-nigh broke us all.
As heretofore stated, the railroad connecting Springfield with
the Illinois River was the next road made in the State. It
never succeeded to any great extent, and finally it was sold, as
recorded above. For many years, the railroad system remained
not entirely dead in Illinois, "but sleepeth." The next in order
of time, is the road known as the Galena and Chicago Union
Railroad. This improvement lingered for many years, but it
worked its way at last into existence. It is extended one hun
dred and twenty-one miles from Chicago to Freeport, and there
intersects the Illinois Central Railroad. The Ilhnois Central
Railroad extending from Cairo — one branch to Dubuque, in
Iowa, and the other to Chicago — is the most splendid and mag
nificent road in America. It is upward of seven hundred miles

MY OWN TIMES. 323
long, and not only connects the North and South together, but
extends through the middle of the most fertile and prolific soil
on the globe. This road received from the United States a
great quantity of land for its construction, and was made on
the most substantial and approved system. It would require a
volume to re(jprd the history of this road ; suffice it to say here,
that this road is grand and magnificent, and is in perfect keep
ing with the age and State where it is built
A fine road is constructed from Alton to Chicago, connecting
the Atlantic with the Western waters. This was the first road
in the Union connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Missis
sippi. Another road has been constructed from Chicago to the
Mississippi at Rock Island, also connecting the seaboard with
the Mississippi.
A road has been constructed this summer from lUinoistown,
opposite St. Louis, Missouri, to Vincennes, Indiana. This road
is one hundred and forty-six miles long, and connects the Ocean
and the Mississippi together by Terre Haute, Indiana, and Cin
cinnati, Ohio. A fine road is now constructed from the lUinois
River, by Jacksonville and Springfield, to Decatur, on the IlU
nois Central Road. A road is built from Peoria to the Rock
Island Railroad, fourteen miles west of Peru.
Another has recently been constructed from Joliet direct to
the East, intersecting the roads east from Chicago. A road is
built from Belleville to Alton, by the lUinoistown, and the cars
are on it.
A fine road is nearly completed from Terre Haute, Indiana,
to Alton that will connect the ocean with the Mississippi.
These are some of the roads built in the State, but others are
being completed so fast that we can scarcely record them. I
presume that there are two thousand miles of railroads running
at this time in the State of Illinois.

CHAPTER CVIII.
The Internal Improvements of the State in 1836. — Railroads. — The
Canal. It frequently occurs with nations, as well as with the indi
viduals, to be impressed with wild vagaries and impulses which
are not founded on reason or common- sense. The United
States frequently fall into these whims, and bids defiance for
years to sober reflection. At times, a hanking-mania takes hold
of the public, and many banks, more than are needed, are char
tered. The manufacture of silk, and the appendages, excited
the people, and the white mulberry, (Morus multicaulis,) was
the rage on which to feed the silk-worms. Another senseless

324 MY OWN TIMES.
vagary, without the least common -sense in it, was the mania
that Louis Kossuth raised among the people to join him to
conquer general and universal freedom, at least as far as Hun
gary was concerned. And in the year 1836, the fever of inter
nal improvements raged throughout most of the States in the
Union. Pennsylvania, my native state, was craz^ to improve
the whole country, whether the wants of the people required it
or not. Indiana was almost as wild; and Illinois, also, was
crazed considerably with the mania.
This move of internal improvements commenced to rise in
Illinois in 1832, and rolled on, increasing in its momentum until
1836, when a general system was established by law. Some
shallow writers blame the politicians for this unwise and ex
travagant system, but it is on the people themselves where the
blame rests. The masses were more strenuous and decided for
the improvements than the politicians' were, and forced their
leaders into it. A large meeting was held in Nashville, Wash
ington County, to bring the subject before the people and the
next legislature. The people would not entrust their repre
sentatives in the general assembly, but had delegates also there
in the lobbies to urge on the general improvement system.
A bill was passed in the legislature, of 1836 and 1837, and
vetoed by the council of revision, but the same was passed
through both branches of the general assembly over the gov
ernor and judges. This act contemplated great improvements,
and authorized the loan of eight millions of dollars. This is the
origin of the State debt, except the small previous debt for the
construction of the canal. The system provided for raUroads
from Cairo to Galena, from Alton to Shawneetown, from Alton
to Mount Carmel, from Alton to the State line near Terre
Haute, from Quincy, through Springfield, east to the Wabash,
from Bloomington to Pekin, and from Peoria to Warsaw,
amounting to about thirteen hundred miles of railroads. The
rivers — Kaskaskia, Illinois, Great and Little Wabash, and Rock
— were to be improved. Also, two hundred thousand dollars
were to be distributed throughout the counties where the im
provements did not extend. At the next session, with a new
general assembly, the debt for internal improvements was again
increased eight hundred thousand dollars. The fever still raged.
I was absent from the State in congress mostly for three
years, and when I returned home, in 1837, I found the people
perfectly insane on the subject of improvements. No reason or
argument would reach them. But the banks failed considera
bly, and the money for those improvements could not be pro
cured in another year, so that a called-session of the general
assembly in 1838 and 1839, was forced to repeal the whole sys
tem, and to provide for its being wound up.
Another misfortune in the system was the law requiring the

MY OWN TIMES. 325
work on the roads to be commenced at the same time on each
improvement. By this system, no improvement was completed
except the railroad from Springfield to the Illinois River. This
road was of no advantage to the State, and the legislature of
1846 ordered it to be sold at whatever price it would bring. If
I recollect rightly, I proposed the sale of all the improvements
of the State that would sell, and this policy was adopted. The
above road cost the State about a million dollars, and sold for
one hundred thousand in State indebtedness.
The whole amount of the State debt for the canal and the
internal improvements was $14,237,348. This was a heavy debt
for the population of the State, there being at the time only
488,929 inhabitants, according to the census of 1840, and they
too embarrassed by private debts and poor. This debt, for a
short time, retarded the settlement of the country, but at no
time was there the least notion among the masses to relieve
themselves by repudiation. The subject was mentioned in con
gress in 1 841, I think, and I remarked that the people of Illi
nois would, in a short time, pay the whole debt, and that repu
diation was, by the masses of the people, not dreamed of
It is due to history to state, that the Hon. Sidney Breese was
the firit person who brought the subject of the Illinois Central
Railroad before the people in a newspaper publication, which
was then a splendid conception, and which is now the most
splendid and magnificent railroad in the world. George For
quer, Esq., proposed in the senate of 1832 and 1833, a sur
vey for a railroad across the State through Springfield, and
Lieut-Governor Jenkins the survey of the Illinois Central Road
from Cairo to Peru. These were the aborigines of the railroads
in Illinois. The northern section of the State was not settled
at that day, and needed no improvements.
The Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the waters of
the lakes with the Mississippi, is one of the greatest improve
ments in the United States. It is ninety-seven miles long, sixty
feet wide, and six feet deep. The State of Illinois never ceased
making efforts to construct this canal from 1818 to its comple
tion in 1848. During all this~ long series of years, enactments
were made, at times surveys were executed, and at last money
was obtained in 1836, with which to commence the work.
In 1827, our members in congress, Messrs. Edwards, Thomas,
and Cook, obtained a grant of land to aid in the construction
of the canal. The Congress of the United States donated lor
the construction every alternate section of land for five miles
on each side of the whole length of the canal This was the
great sheet-anchor of the canal.
In the times of the internal improvements, in 1836, the money
was procured by a loan, and the work commenced in reality on
this improvement. The labors on the canal continued for sev-

326 MY OWN TIMES.
eral years, until the failure of the banks deranged the currency
and partially destroyed it The work on the canal, like all
other improvements, was suspended for two or three years.
Judge Young and myself being commissioners to negotiate a
loan for the canal, obtained some funds for it in the year 1839,
in Philadelphia and London, but the last source was soon
thereafter dried up, and the work was suspended.
The general assembly, in the session of 1844 and 1845, made
an excellent law authorizing the canal -bondholders to take
the canal and all its property and tolls for a certain number
of years, and in consideration, the bondholders were to advance
more money — about sixteen hundred thousand dollars — and
finish the canal. This arrangement was made, and the canal, in
the hands of the company, was completed in 1848. The great
object of the State was to open this avenue of commerce for the
benefit of the public, and not so much for the tolls arising on it.
The canal is in complete repair and operation, arranged with
boats, and all necessary equipments, to accommodate the great
business done on it It is also fast diminishing the debt which
was a heavy lien on it in the beginning, and in a short time the
whole debt of construction will be liquidated and the canal
return again into the hands of the State. This arrangement
will also make a payment of five or six millions of the State
debt. But the State debt is being paid without the least embar
rassment to the people, and in a few years, it will be entirely
liquidated. The improvements and business of the country increase so
fast that the canal does more business since the railroad passes
along its shores than it did before in the unimproved years of
the country. Fleets of canal-boats are seen as low down the
river as St Louis, and all the intermediate ports to Chicago.
It was the overflow of the bank-currency, about the year
1836, that made the country so wild for improvements and town
speculations. But the revulsion set in, and all these imaginary
schemes fell dead to the ground.

CHAPTER CIX.
The Improvements and Growth of the Country. — In 1840, the Whole
State was under Organized Government, and the Wilderness Dis
appeared. — Indians Removed. — Indian Traits of Character. — George
E. Walker's Command of the Indians.
As it has already been remarked, that Illinois, after the
Black-Hawk war, commenced to improve and populate with
great rapidity. So many intelligent volunteers, and the United-
States officers, seeing the extraordinary fertility of the soil and

MY OWN TIMES. 327
the beauty of the country, gave the State standing and charac
ter at home and abroad. This caused the whole northern sec
tion of the country to fill up with industrious inhabitants, and,
in 1840, counties were organized throughout the whole State,
and the wilderness and Indians disappeared. I witnessed, with
deep feeling and anxiety, all this for forty years. I saw the
country in 1800, when my father first settled in it, a wilderness,
¦occupied by the savages, and at this day I see the State of Illi
nois all occupied by an intelligent, industrious, and happy popu
lation, and all the various branches of industry making rapid
¦strides to achieve the high destiny of the State. I have been
an attentive and interested observer of all this extraordinary
progress of the country, from a few thousand inhabitants, loca
ted in sparse settlements in two counties, on the margin of the
Mississippi, to the present population of almost a million and a
half of inhabitants, and this all accomplished within a little over
a half-century. I feel happy that my lot was cast in this age of
progress, and that I had the opportunity, in my humble manner,
to assist in the advancement of the country. Illinois is only
reaching the borders of its greatness. Although the State con
tains more than two thousand miles of railroads completed in
its limits, and has a population of almost a million and a half
of souls, and ranks, at this day, the Empire State of the West,
yet in a half-century more, it will not be prophecy, but history,
that IlUnois will be the most populous State in the Union, and
Chicago the first or second city on the American continent
In 1833, the last Indian tribe, the Pottawatomies, sold all their
lands, in the north-eastern section of the State, to the General
Government, and bid "a long farewell" to the graves of their
fathers. This cession being made, and the public lands sur
veyed, the country was settled up in a few years as above
stated. There are traits of Indian character that are strong and
peculiar to them. Some years since, the Sac Indians killed
some of the Iowa tribe, and a demand of the Iowa Indians
was made on the Sacs for the murderers. By compromise, the
demand was reduced to one Sac — the man who killed the
lowas. When the demand was made, the Indian agreed on to
be given up to death was sick, and was unable to travel at the
time. The brother of the sick Indian cheerfully volunteered to
be executed in the place of his brother, and marched with a
Sac chief west to the lowas and gave himself up. This noble
act, and the young Indian appearing so brave and generous to
suffer death for his brother, softened the hearts of the lowas,
and they restored the young Sac with honor to his nation.
This kind act of the lowas made a lasting peace between the
two nations.
In the fall of the year, 1833, Mr. George E. Walker, of La-

328 MY OWN TIMES.
Salle County, was the sheriff of the county, and had, as an officer,
a singular transaction with two young Pottawatomie Indians. It
is due the subject to state that Mr. Walker is a backwoodsman
of strong mind, and much moral and physical courage, who is
also well acquainted with Indian character. He possessed great
influence over the Indians. These two Indians had been con
cerned in the massacre of the whites in the Black-Hawk war,
the previous year, on Indian Creek, in LaSalle County. They
had been indicted in LaSalle County for murder, and had ap
peared at the time the circuit-court was to be held at Ottawa,
in the county, but the term of the court was changed, and they
were not tried. They supposed the whites, as they said, did
not want them any more, and went with the rest of their tribe
over to the west side of the Mississippi. Walker and sureties
were responsible for the appearance of the Indians at the court
for trial. Just after the close of the Black-Hawk war, bad and
angry feelings existed between the whites and. the Indians.
Walker went alone for the Indians to the west side of the Mis
sissippi. He went single-handed into the heart of the Indian
country, two or three hundred miles from any white settlement,
and in the midst of the tribe who were so exasperated against
the whites. He called a council of the chiefs, and it was agreed
that the two young Indians should return with Walker, three or
four hundred miles, to court. The Indians all considered it cer
tain that the two young men would be hung. Being shot they
did not dislike so much as hanging. Walker and his Indians,
after they bade a formal and sincere farewell to their relatives
and friends, started for Ottawa. They travelled alone, and
camped and slept together every night. Walker spoke their
language well, and was intimately acquainted with Indian char
acter. At Rock; Island, were many Indians trading with the
whites, and Walker's prisoners requested him to go alone
through the Indians and so many whites at Fort Armstrong at
Rock Island, and they would follow him alone. They said they
could not endure the dishonor for the Indians and whites to see
them, like dogs, under the power of Walker. He agreed to their
request, and they marched alone through their Indian comrades
on the Island, and met Walker at the place agreed on. The
party travelled together, and the horse of Walker was used by
the Indians as much as by Walker, and he walked with the
other Indian while one was on his horse before. Often Walker
has told -me that an Indian would ride his horse a long way
ahead of the others, and make camp arrangements by the time
Walker and the other Indian would arrive. Walker never held
out the least promise to them that they would be acquitted, as
he did not know himself how the case would go in the hands of
the excited white population. One night, they asked Walker
to camp at an old Sac encampment where there was good water

MY OWN TIMES. 329
and grass. At this camp. Walker's horse ran off and one of the
Indians followed him ten or twelve miles and brought him back.
Walker and Indians lay out seven nights, and the Indians might
have killed him any night and never been captured for it. The
Government procured able counsel to defend the Indians.
Col. William S. Hamilton, of Wisconsin, was employed as
counsel to defend them. This gentleman had great influence
with both the whites and the Indians. The Indians were ac
quitted, and returned safe to their nation west of the Missis
sippi. Walker performed this extraordinary act with the war
riors on his personal standing and popularity with the Indians.
It was his personal influence over the tribe that gave him this
power." Another transaction shows what respect and honor they gave
Walker. On Peoria Lake, sixty or seventy miles below Ottawa,
a young chief, Senachewine, brought to Ottawa an Indian who
had murdered another Indian, and the chief desired Walker to
hang the murderer. Senachewine said Walker was a great man
with the Indians, and for him to hang the Indian would do
more good, to prevent crime, than for his warriors to' kill him.
They had brought the prisoner up sixty odd miles, under a
guard, for Walker to hang him. When the Indians reached
Ottawa, Walker was not at home, and the father of Walker was
kind and civil to the Indians, but did not know how on earth
his son would escape from this dilemma. On Walker's return
home, Senachewine made his business known to Walker. Wal
ker at once agreed to hang the prisoner, but said he was hun
gry, as he had not been, at breakfast or dinner. While Walker
was eating, he gave the young chief and those with him some
brandy. Walker ate slowly to reflect what to do. He had not
the least notion of hanging the Indian, but did not want to dis
please the chief, as Walker was a large Indian trader. Walker's
slow eating gave the brandy time to operate on the Indian. It
made the chief relax some in his desire to have the Indian
hung. The culprit had killed another Indian in a drunken
frolic when he knew nothing about the act, and Walker thought
the prisoner was not much guilty. After dinner, when the chief
had become mellowed down by the brandy, Walker got a rope
and prepared to hang the prisoner, and said: "Now I will hang
the Indian, but, in a few months, when all the Indians will be
at Chicago to receive their annuities, they could all see me hang
the prisoner there, and it would do much more good to hang
him in public, to prevent any more murders;" and added, "but I
am ready to hang him now, if you say so." The chief decided
to postpone the execution, and before the time, the affair was
made up among the Indians. This was a singular sagacity of
Walker to save himself and the Indian in this dilemma.
Another time, at Chicago, when the Indians received their

330 MY OWN TIMES.
annuities, an Indian had been drunk for days, and was covered,
face and all, with mud and dirt. The drunken Indian came to
Walker at the hotel, among many gentlemen, and wanted to
kiss his friend Walker. Walker, again, did not like to displease
the Indians, and told the drunken Indian that it was Sunday, a
holiday with the Americans, to come to-morrow and "I will let
you kiss me." The Indian got sober and forgot it, and Walker
retained the Indians' friendship.
On a steamboat, on the Illinois River, a young clergyman,
green from one of the Eastern colleges, wanted to know much
about the Indian character, and made himself *rather trouble
some to the passengers. Some wag put Mr. Walker up to the
trick, and told the young clergyman that Mr. Walker was part
Indian, and could give him all the information he desired of the
Indian customs and manners. He called on Walker, and took
down for publication all the information relative to the Indians
that Walker gave him. He knew well the customs, manners, and
religion of the Pottawatomie Indians, and gave the clergyman
correct information. But the joke was in the minister inquiring
of Walker about his Indian parentage. Walker was of dark
complexion, with exceedingly black eyes, and could speak the
Indian language well. He played the joke off on the student,
who was a scholar, but knew nothing of practical common-
sense. It is said that 'the whole Walker transaction was pub
lished in an Eastern magazine as genuine Indian information
from the half-breed Walker. Common -sense is a great friend
through this life.
CHAPTER ex.
The Election. — Governor Carlin. — He appointed the Author a Com
missioner to make a Loan of Money for the Canal. — Obtains a Loan
of a MiUion DoUars in Philadelphia. — Embarks for Europe. — Lands
at Liverpool, England.
I offered for congress, as before stated, in the spring of 1838,
and my opponent was the Rev. John Hogan, of Alton. Mr.
Hogan was a gentleman of good talents and a handsome
speaker. He was industrious and made many speeches — but
did not succeed.
At the same election. Cols. Cyrus Edwards and Thomas Car
lin were candidates for governor of the State, and both were
excellent men and very popular. Col. Carlin was elected. He
made a wise and prudent governor, and retired to private life
with the decided approbation of the people. Gov. Carlin pos
sessed a strong and vigorous mind, and although deprived of a
liberal education in early life, yet he acquired much sound prac
tical information of men and measures. He was an ardent and

,MY OWN TIMES. 331
zealous Democrat, and supported that party from principle.
He possessed unquestioned patriotism and integrity, and has
left a character that will descend to posterity with fame and
honor. He was eminent in these traits of character: a decidedly
strong mind, strict integrity, and great energy. The reason I
speak so positively of Gov. Carlin is that he and I were raised
together in the backwoods of Illinois, ranged together in the
war of 18 1 2, in the same military company, and acted together
in the same political party for many years.
The General Assembly of 1838 and 1839 authorized the gov
ernor to make a loan of four millions of dollars to prosecute the
work on the canal. I was on the circuit practising law when
Gov. Carlin wrote me that he had appointed me a commissioner
to make the loan for the canal. I had not the least intimation
whom he would appoint until I received his letter. I called on
him at VandaUa, and had much conversation with him on the
subject. I had no desire to visit Europe and urged the governor
to appoint some other person. He refused, and said I must go,
as he knew me and could trust me. There was considerable
complaint of other commissioners, and he wished to appoint, he
said, .such as had the confidence of the people. I urged upon
the governor the propriety of appointing another commissioner
with me, and recommended the Hon. Richard M. Young. This
gentleman was then in the senate of the United States and at
Washington City. After some time, the governor did appoint
him, and we met in London in the summer thereafter of the
same year.
The money-market was getting tighter every day, and I knew
that if anything could be done, the sooner the better to com
mence operations. All the money which had been procured for
the canal was expended, and if funds were not obtained instantly
the work on it would have to be suspended and stopped for some
time. This duty to provide money immediately for the canal placed
me under much responsibility and hurried me on to the eastern
cities, where I met Gen. Rawlings and Col. Oakley, the fund-
commissioners of the State. I obtained the able services of
Gen. Rawlings, and we made a contract with the United States
Bank of Pennsylvania to furnish a million of dollars for the
canal, and the bank to take the canal-bonds for payment. The
paper of the bank, in ten-dollar notes, was to be paid out on the
canal. It is due to truth to say that Gen. Rawlings had great
influence with the president of the bank, Mr. Biddle, and he did
more than I to obtain the loan. We both signed the contract
This loan kept the work on the canal going on for some time.
The duties I was about to perform required a different study
than I had been engaged in, but I was a tolerable good judge
of human character and knew as much about the resources of

332 MY OWN TIMES
Illinois to pay her debts as any one. I also was well posted as
to the canal and its resources, lands, and future tolls. With
these outfits, and our expenses, I prepared for the voyage across
the Atlantic to the Old World. The State bonds were being
executed in the city of New York, and would be forwarded to
me in London. I went in advance of Judge Young and the
bonds, to prepare for or make the sale of the bonds before the
hard times would entirely shut down on us. I discovered in my
inte.rcourse with the people of Europe, and particularly in my
duties to procure a loan of money, that a person in office, or
who has been in high office, has much more standing »/ith
them than in the United States. I was then a member of
congress, and had been governor of the State, and had filled
many other official stations, which gave me a standing that did
much service to advance the interest of the canal. The pecu
niary market was becoming worse and worse every day I was in
Europe, which made it almost impossible to obtain a loan,
although all agreed that the canal-bonds of Illinois were the
best in the market.
Myself and wife set sail from New York on the 19th of May,
1839, for Europe. We embarked on the steamer Liverpool, and
sailed for the city of the same name. In this vessel on this
voyage were passengers from almost all the nations of the earth.
The Hon. Daniel Webster and family were on board. So v/as
Gen. Rawlings and Col. Oakley, the two commissioners of the
State. We had eighty-six passengers on board, and some were
from Canada, Mexico, Gautemala, Cuba, and some from almost
every state in the Union. Many of the military officers of the
British army that formed the court-martial in Canada that tried
and condemned the patriots of that country, were among the
passengers. I kept a journal of my travels in Europe, so that my nar
rative of it will be more correct than if I trusted to memory
alone. We enjoyed on the voyage excellent weather, and had
on board every necessary and comfort of living, together with a
very agreeable and intelligent society. The only drawback was
the sea-sickness with thpse who were not accustomed to the
ocean. My wife embarked in the travel mostly for her health,
but her continued sea-sickness was worse on her than any ad
vantage she obtained from the voyage.
We saw whales forcing the water up out of their mouths
some distance, but the most surprising things were the small,
dark-colored birds, known as "Mother-Carey's Chickens," hover
ing in great numbers, at times, around the vessel. They visited
our steamer when land was not within a thousand miles of us.
It is strange what could support them in this desert of water.
How could they roost at night.' Man will never read all through
the book of nature.

MY OWN TIMES. 333
It is the custom of vessels to calculate the course and distance
run for the last twenty- four hours and post it up at 12 o'clock
on each day. This is a satisfaction to know what progress is
made each day on the ocean, and also to know the distance to
the port to which the vessel is sailing. It is surprising to what
accuracy the science and practice of navigation have arrived.
The chronometer has been so perfected that it will run for years
without varying but a few minutes or seconds, or perhaps none,
from the exact time. With this exact time, and other improve
ments in navigation, a mariner can designate the location of
his vessel more accurately on the water than he could measure
it on land.
The captain of the Liverpool steamer told us at a certain
point near the coast of Ireland he would get soundings at so
many fathoms of water. He let down his lead-line and brought
sand up as he had stated. This calculation was made after
sailing almost three thousand miles from one continent to the
other. This accuracy astonished all who were not familiar with
navigation. The great expanse of water, the great ocean, at
once showed us that it had a great agency in our Revolution in
preventing the mother-country from transporting their armies
and munitions of war. Although steam-vessels pass over this
ocean in a few days, there is a world of water which makes itself
better known by sight than by conception. I think it is fortu
nate for the United States that this great barrier of*water does
exist between America and Europe. I think it would be doubt
ful, if the United States lay contiguous to Europe, whether our
example and habits would improve them, or their example and
habits injure us. I think there is no patriot who would like to
see the barrier between the United States and Europe destroyed.
To live on friendly terms with the nations of Europe is our
duty to commerce, and to extend to them by our example and
precepts, a spirit of free government; but to receive many of
their habits and customs, and their principles of monarchy,
would be a ruinous exchange.
We saw Cape Clear, in Ireland — the first European land I
saw — and on the 2d of June landed at Liverpool, being out from
New York only fifteen days.

334 MY OWN TIMES.

CHAPTER CXL
The First Sight of Europe to a Backwoodsman. — The Enghsh and
French. — Liverpool. — St. James' Cemetery. — The Tunnel. — Rail
road. — The Blue-Coat Boys. — The BlundeUs. — Buildings in Europe
not Gay. — Statue of Lord Nelson. — Hotels in England not Gaudy.
It is truly astonishing that fifteen days' voyage can present
such a change as Europe does to the backwoods' American.
Every thing is so different in Europe from America, that it looks
like a dream until we become familiar with the country. The
first two great considerations that struck my mind were the
myriads of people, and the bare and open appearance of the
country, being almost entirely destitute of timber. But the
very character and standing of Europe is imposing throughout
the world, and the veneration and respect we have for this sec
tion of the earth, impress us with a feeling that is easier felt
than described. The great antiquity visible on the cities, and
on every thing, together with the solid and durable improve
ments, make us believe that the country had scarcely ever a
beginning, or would scarcely ever have an end.
The buildings, public and private, in Liverpool, and, in fact,
throughout all England, are constructed in that solid, durable
manner, which are intended more for service and comfort than
for show and dazzling appearance. Utility is indelibly im
pressed on everything in England more than outward show and
parade. This trait is marked on the nation so far as my obser
vation extended. They never indulge in outside appearances of
anything to the exclusion of comfort and profit The Enghsh
are a sober, solid, and reflecting people, tenacious in their habits
and customs, and slow to adopt anything new or strange. They
are firm to obstinacy, and will scarcely ever believe anything is
good or right that is not English.
By crossing the British Channel to France, we find a people
directly the reverse of the English. The great leading trait in
the French character is, to make the great, grand, and magnifi
cent — the ne plus ultra of perfection. Any thing that is grand,
splendid, and brilliant, is admired by the French. The great
emperor. Napoleon, the grand army, and the great French Em
pire, dazzle and enchant the French. They are a people of
more taste and sentiment than the English. The latter nation
depends more on reason and judgment, while the former makes
their summum bonum to consist in something that is great,
grand, and beautiful, that strikes their imaginations and fancy.
The French are, nevertheless, not destitute of the most profound
philosophers, statesmen, authors, and warriors that the world
ever saw. One nation live an easy, social, and gay life, while

MY OWN TIMES. 335
the other labors through the monotony of substantial living,
which advances the animal comforts more than the mental en
joyments. They are both great nations in their respective
spheres and policy.
The general appearance of Liverpool is prosperous and happy.
It enjoys a great commerce to every quarter of the globe, and
its docks, and other means to benefit commerce, are substantial
and convenient. The docks for shipping at Liverpool are the
largest and best on earth. They are made of cut stone, seem
ingly as durable as time. Its whole appearance indicates its
great antiquity, as no one knows its commencement, and provi
dence alone knows its end.
St. James' cemetery at Liverpool is a curiosity. It is exca
vated out of the solid rock in the city. The rock was all taken
from this quarry with which to build the city, and afterward the
excavation, several hundred feet below the surface, was con
verted into a graveyard. The precipice around the cemetery is
perpendicular, and is one or two hundred feet deep. The houses
of the city are built around it and to it. It is of considerable
extent, and but one slope into it. The rock is excavated to
receive the dead bodies. Nice tombs are here in abundance. I
saw the tomb of Hon. William T. Barry, of Kentucky, in this
cemetery. This sight thrilled through me, bearing the thoughts
of Kentucky to my heart. A substantial railroad is made from
this city to London, 205 miles, and passes through a tunnel in
Liverpool one mile and a quarter long, some of which passes
under the city. The cars from this city reach London in ten or
twelve hours. This is an excellent road, and was in good repair
when we travelled on it.
Early in the morning of the 4th of June, I heard music in the
streets of Liverpool, and found it was performed by the boys
of "The Blue-Coat Hospital," so called. This institution was
formed by Mr. Blundell, in the year 1716, and was patronized
by his son and grandson. These benevolent men gave great
estates to this institution. The portraits of these three found
ers, together with their short history, and that of the institution,
are hung up in the hall of the establishment. Other benevolent
persons have added to the institution. The boys were all
dressed in blue, and were either orphans or children of very indi
gent parents. They enter the college at eight, and remain until
they are fourteen years old. There are two hundred and fifty
boys and one hundred girls in this institution. The children,
male and female, were well clothed and kept, and were taught
the rudiments of learning, and also instructed to work. The
boys were at fourteen put out to trades, and the girls to private
families of good standing. This institution speaks well for the
Christian virtues of the people of Liverpool, and volumes for the
truly benevolent BlundeUs.

336 MY OWN TIMES.
On arriving in England, a person discovers the masses of the
English are stronger, more healthy, and coarser in their deport
ment than the Americans. The English do not enter into dis
cussion and conversation as much as the Americans. They are
more reserved and taciturn than the Americans. The nature of
the country and their political institutions, make this difference.
One people are more benefited by thinking and talking than
the other, and they indulge it more. The masses in Eng
land are more prudent, and observe more economy than the
Americans. The latter people are more intelligent, energetic,
and adventurous. The Americans often get into difficulties, but
their talents and energy soon get them out again. There is no
despondency in the Americans. It is with them somewhat like
the English say, that "every American has a steam-engine in
his breast, propelling him eternally onward." The masses of
the English having no voice in the government do riot discuss
politics as the Americans do. There is an unbounded ambition
in the Americans that does not exist with the English. This
restlsss, ungovernable ambition, that renders the Americans so
energetic and enthusiastic, does not afford them the calm, quiet
happiness that an Englishman enjoys in his more quiet and
grave course through life. But happiness is generally very
nearly equal among mankind, as I have heretofore stated in this
work. Liverpool being the first European city I saw, every
thing looked more strange and curious to me in it than when I
became more accustomed to Europe. Almost everything —
manufactories, buildings, and public edifices — are erected and
conducted on a larger scale in England than in the United States.
They have more laborers and more wealth than we have. I saw
a foundiy and steam-engine shop in Liverpool where I was in
formed that eight or nine hundred hands were employed. The
coal and iron were furnished them from London on the railroad.
A zoological garden in this city contains almost every animal
that is not common in the country. The Brahmdon cow resem
bles our wild buffalo. Attached to this garden is an apiary that
contains almost all the bird species on the earth. The pano
ramic paintings in this city were beautiful and of excellent taste.
The custom-house was the largest building I ever saw at that
time. It was five hundred and forty feet long, and several
stories high. It was not deep in proportion to its length. It
was built out of cut-stone, and appeared almost as lasting as
time itself A costly statue in honor of Lord Nelson is erected
in this city. It is made in bad taste, in my opinion. Four
human beings were in chains at his feet, showing the nations
the naval commander was a great conqueror. It might suit
barbarous times, but does not comport with this age. The
statue is made out of some dark material that neither time or
weather can much injure. Out of the same material is made a

MY OWN TIMES. 337
gigantic statue of George the Third and his stud-horse, both as
they should be, rough and coarse. The king is on his steed
without a saddle. This is placed on an elevated pedestal in a
public square.
The houses in the large cities of Europe are generally larger,
arid more solid and durable than in the United States. When
I returned to the city of New York, after a sojourn of three
or four months in Europe, it seemed to me that the houses
in America were much smaller than I had considered them to
be before I saw those over the water. The buildings in Eng
land have not that gay, lively appearance which the houses in
the United States display. The climate in England gives them
a dark, dusky, and rather a gloomy appearance, and they do
not use the gay and brilliant colors in painting their houses that
we do. There is nothing elegant or splendid in the public
houses in England like we see in either France or America, but
every thing is arranged for true and substantial comfort and
sensual enjoyment. In none of the finest and best-conducted
hotels in Europe are the arrangements as they are in the United
States. In Europe, the guests do not usually eat at the same
table, as they do in America. In the old country, the custom is
for each party, or each person if they please, to mess separately
by themselves. The time of the meals, the place, and what
dishes desired, are ordered and served up accordingly. The par
ties themselves form their own messes and not the landlord, and
enjoy whatever they please to order. Almost everything may
be had in those large cities that was ever thought of to gratify
the appetite. This custom is sustained in Europe, as they have
such very cheap prices for labor there. Labor is dearer here
than in the old country, which is perhaps th% reason we have
not the same management here, because it is better than the
promiscuous messing together, as is the practise in the United
States. The European practice in this respect is fast becom
ing the custom in the large American cities, and is now adopted
in many.
CHAPTER CXIL
London. — Its Leading Features. — Its Size. — Its Wealth. — Its An
tiquity. — In 1066, WUliam the Conqueror gave it a Charter.— Old
and New City. — St Paul's Church. — Westminster Abbey. — Six
Thousand Children in St Paul's Church. — Bridges. — The Tunnel
under the Thames. — Free Schools in London. — The Carriages in
England. After remaining at Liverpool for a few days to recruit and see
something of the city, we embarked in the cars for London, and
passed this extraordinary tunnel already mentioned. The rural
22

338 MY OWN TIMES.
districts of Old England were beautiful in a high state of cul
tivation. I saw them reclaiming some marshy land by filling;
it with earth. Land in that country is the main object, and
scarcely an inch is left unoccupied or uncultivated. The naked
ness of the country still was a striking feature with me. It was
similar to our prairie country in the north of this State, only
the fine houses and the people were more plenty than with us
in the prairies.
The cars stopped a short time at Birmingham, the great
workshop of England, and in the evening we passed Hereford,,
where the country is covered for miles with the delf factories.
I presume there are ten miles of factories, with the large chim
neys of the furnaces that extend several hundred feet into the
air. Toward dark, we were in the cars with the mail from
Liverpool to London, and a guard with a gun mounted the
mail -bags to guard them. This is English prudence and right.
We reached the great city toward sunset, and entered a large
yard enclosed so that the rabble, the porters, and hack-drivers
could not enter. This relieves the passenger while inside the
enclosure, but when you set foot on the outside there is a
scramble for your patronage, which is very disagreeable.
It would require a long acquantance with London, and great
talents to describe that famous city. The great leading feat
ures of this mammoth city were to me its enormous size, its
great wealth, and its unknown antiquity. To be in the same
city where Csesar two thousand years since commanded his
army, shows that you are in a place of great antiquity, at least
compared to the United States. The wealth of this city is
wonderful and almost beyond belief A great writer says
"London is the greatest, wealthiest, and most important me
tropolis in the world." This city contains almost two miUions
of souls and is still increasing.
In the year 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, conquered the
country and gave the charter to the city of London, which is
retained to this day. The city then occupied about two miles
square, and now it covers an area of eighteen miles. The old
city limits remain, as to its government, to this day, although
the old ancient wall is taken away. The new city built around
the old one has a different government and is much larger than
the old. The location of the old wall can be discovered in
places, but the traces of it have mostly disappeared.
The tunnel under the Thames is a great curiosity. It is
1300 feet long and 32 feet wide, arched over to keep the river
out. It is 22 feet high, with a wall in the middle, leaving about
15 feet on each side for carriages, passengers, etc. It is made
of brick, and is lighted so that a passage in it under the
Thames is convenient and pleasant. This work is the best
evidence to demonstrate what talent and money can accom-

MY OWN TIMES. 339
plish. I travelled on a railroad from London to Greenwich,
four or five miles, which road passes over houses at the end in
London. I came back by water on the Thames in a steamboat,
which runs each hour from one place to the other. At Green
wich is the National Hospital for the invalid sailors and soldiers
worn out in the public-service.
The old London -Bridge was commenced in the year ii 76.
Many of the bridges over the Thames were constructed for
both utility and substantial elegance, and except a person looks
he would suppose he was walking, while on them, on the Solid
earth. Poor dealers stand at the ends of these bridges annoy
ing passengers to buy from them. The police do not permit
them to put their articles for sale on the ground, so that they
seem distressed with the weight on their arms and backs.
I was informed that in Dorsetshire, England, mounds of
earth, tumuli, were known to exist with a tradition that a great
battle had been fought near them, between the Romans and
the natives, and that the slain in battle had been buried in
these tumuli. A few years since, a few of the mounds were
opened and glass jars, or large flat bottles, two or three feet
long, containing a liquor, were found in them. In this liquor
are supposed to have been deposited the hearts of the officers
slain in battle. The jars were brought from Rome, and were
not injured by time, although they must have been deposited
there about two thousand years. The coin and other antiqui
ties discovered in these tumuli showed it to be in the time of
Adrian, emperor of Rome, when these mounds were erected.
I discovered that the churches and fortifications in Europe in
ancient times were larger and better than the rest of the build
ings, in proportion. The church and the government had the
power in olden times and they abused it. The old churches
are venerable and magnificent. The Westminster Abbey struck
me with more surprise and wonder than St. Paul's, although the
latter displays more modern splendor. Westminster Abbey is
530 feet long and 375 feet wide, and the towers 225 feet high
— the middle 253 feet St Paul's is 500 feet long and 280
wide. It covers two acres of ground. I saw in St. Paul's
church one Sunday, it was said, six thousand children from the
various free-schools of London, and the Bishop preaching to
them. It was an imposing spectacle. Each school had its
uniform and livery to distinguish it from the others. I suppose
that as many spectators were attending service in the church as
the children amounted to. These children were being educated
at the public expense, and were orphans or the children of in
digent parents.
It was stated by authentic records, that sixty-six thousand
children received each Sunday, instruction at the Sabbath-
schools in London. They attend to business aU week and to

340 MY OWN TIMES.
school on the Sabbath. These children attend divine service on
Sunday, headed by their teachers, who amount to at least five
thousand, and who also attend the children at their houses to
see if they conduct themselves with proprity during the week.
These teachers receive no pay save an approving conscience.
They are actuated by the pure principles of Christianity taught
in the New Testament.
I must not omit to mention some facts in regard to the
carriages and wagons I saw in London. I do not recollect to
have seen a wooden axle in any wheeled carriage, cart, or wagon
in Europe. Iron is there considered to be the best for light run
ning, strength, and durability. Pleasure carriages, wagons, and
carts are all stronger and coarser than in the United States.
They do not make use of eliptical springs as we do in America.
Their saddles are also behind our age in the United States.
They have fine horses and take more care of them than we do.
They clean and rub them so that they never use a saddle-cloth.

CHAPTER CXIIL
Visit to Oxford. — CoUeges. — Libraries. — Ancient Buildings. — Glass
Broken by Cromwell. — Return to London. — The Tower of London.
— The Parliament.^Lord Brougham. — Short Speeches. — The Courts.
— Mayor's Court. — Government of London.
On the I Sth of July, 1839, I visited Oxford to see there a
cattle-fair. Mr. Webster was there and made a speech. This
ancient city of Oxford, so famous for its institutions of learning,
is fifty-three miles north-west of London, and is situated in the
midst of a beautiful and well-improved country. Oxford is at
least twelve hundred years old by authentic history, and per
haps twelve more of which we know nothing. It is built on
rather low river-bottom, but money and talents can accomplish
almost anything, and have made it a pleasant place. The
number of inhabitants of Oxford is considered about fourteen
thousand, and several thousand students in addition in the
winter. This city seemed to me to be on the decline, as I
presume private schools are taking the place of these public
institutions, which are the main support of this city. There are
nineteen or twenty colleges congregated in this city, and libra
ries the most extensive perhaps in the world. I saw the studies
of Samuel Johnson, John Wesley, and other eminent scholars,
and the rooms where Charles the First and Charles the Second
held their parliaments; a room is also marked out to travellers
as the one where Cardinal Wolsey held his spiritual courts. I
visited the two main libraries, the Ratcliff and Bodlean. The
first contains seven hundred thousand volumes and the other

MY OWN TIMES. 341
sixteen hundred thousand. It would seem to a backwoodsman
as if all the books on earth were collected in these libraries.
Many ancient and curious manuscripts are lodged in them. I
found here the volume containing the travels of Charlevoix in
New France, including Illinois, in the year 1721. As this city
is situated in the interior and has no foreign commerce it has
retained its original architecture. It presents great antiquity
and the old Gothic style of architecture. I saw marked on a
church the year 730, when it was built by the Saxons. Many
of the buildings, public and private, present the Gothic style of
1530, when Henry VIII. was the sovereign. In the churches I
saw broken glass and other injuries done these edifices by the
soldiers of Cromwell when they stabled their horses in these
houses of worship. To show such a wanton act of vandal
barbarism, they do not repair them. Cromwell may have com
mitted some wanton acts, but still he was the greatest man
England ever produced. His government is not now so obnox
ious as heretofore.
I spent a day in visiting the ancient and magnificent fortress,
the Tower of London. This mass of ancient buildings is situ
ated at the east extremity of the city, and on the northern bank
of the Thames, covering twelve acres of land. It is fortified with
a strong wall around it, and the whole surrounded with a ditch.
It was once a royal residence, but it has not been occupied by
the royal family since the days of Queen Elizabeth. It was
erected in the year 1076, by William the Conqueror, but great
additions have been made to it since. A great number of
cannon have been placed between the Tower and the river, to
be fired on official occasions. The white tower is a large,
irregular building, standing almost in the centre, where are
stowed away a great number of arms. The record office is
kept in a large building where are deposited the rolls of the
kingdom and the tenures of land. The jewel office contains
the most splendid regalia with which royality is invested at the
coronation and on other occasions. The imperial crown, mod
eled for royality, is the richest in the world, as it is reported.
All the apartments contain arms sufficient to arm two hundred
thousand soldiers, so it is stated in the English book's. A
veteran soldier was our guide through the Tower, and took
great pleasure in counting over the trophies, cannon and arms,
taken by the British in various battles with their enemies in
war. I was on the eve of asking him where the cannon were
that the British army took from the Americans at the battle of
New Orleans, the 8th of January, 1815. The entrance to this
fortress is through four successive gates, which are exceedingly
strong as I well remember. The gate, so called, was not hung
on hinges, but was an immense, heavy, and strong wall of wood,
which was raised up by levers to permit the people to pass in

342 MY OWN TIMES.
and out, and then in the evening shut down again so as to close
the entrance into the Tower.
In all my travels in England I saw scarcely a foot of unculti
vated ground, or that was not used for some purpose. They
cultivate with some vegetable the earth directly to the tracks of
the railroad, so that the cars touch the products that grow so
near the road. The Island can scarcely sustain the population
from the earth, so that every inch of ground is used for some
purpose. I visited often the sessions of the parliament which
was then held in the old church of St. Stephen's. They com
menced their sessions about sunset and adjourned some time
before day. The members of the house of commons are
generally young men, dandies, and do not appear to possess the
talents or grave qualifications that the British nation deserves.
They mostly rode on horseback to the parliament-house, and
had white servants to hold their horses until called for. The
streets and grounds near the parliament- house were literally
covered with horses during the night -sessions.
The house of lords was composed of aged men, and some
very talented and distinguished characters. Thirty or forty
spiritual lords, very large and fleshy, sat together in a corner of
the house of lords, robed in white, and were silent so far as I
witnessed the proceedings. The doors are closed, except by
written permission from a member. After the first permission
to each house the officers allowed me to visit either house as
I pleased. They observe less order in their parliament than we
do in the congress of the United States. There is often much
noise and disorder in their sessions, but they do more and talk
less than we do. Debates are not often indulged in longer
than one evening on any one subject. They disapprove of
declamatory speeches in or out of parliament. Their speeches
do not generally fall so pleasantly on the ear as the American
addresses, but they contain good-sense without parade. In the
papers their speeches read better than they are delivered.
Lord Brougham was a great luminary in the British house of
peers in 1839, but had not that influence which his extraordi
nary talents ought to have commanded. I enquired the reason,
and was informed that he was changeable, had no firmness, and
could not be trusted. He was a great and talented orator,
possessed a mind of great strength and compass, and he used
the classic and pure English language to express himself He
possessed a strong vein of caustic satire that run through almost
all hi% speeches. He seemed to be misanthropic to some de
gree, and on the administration of the government he poured
out torrents of scorching invectives, and at times old English
abuse. He was always respectful to the crown, as he called
the queen, but her ministers were pickled down in gall and
bitterness. Lord Brougham was large and rather robust and

MY OWN TIMES. 343
Tough in his person. His dress was plain, and it seemed that
he paid but little attention to it. His head was remarkably
large to even the size of his large person, and he appeared, as
he was, both mind and body, a powerful North Britain. Lord
WeUington had the most influence in the house of lords, and,
in fact I think he wielded more power in the British nation
than any other man or woman. He was old and feeble in 1839,
was lean and stooped considerably.* He was not an orator, but
spoke frequently, and as Benton said of Macon, "wisely to the
British peers." He seemed to be embarrassed when speaking,
and held his hat in his hand before him mostly when he spoke.
Members of both houses of the British legislature made
¦speeches to convince the audience present more than they do in
the congress of the United States. The Americans speak to
their constituents and the public more than the British do.
The police-officers and the poUce-regulations are good and
efficient in London. Excellent good -order and peace are
preserved in the streets both night and day. I think there
must be rigid good-order kept, because there are so many bad
characters in the city. If excessive discipline were not ob
served the bad would take the premises. In our large cities,
the evil-disposed are not so bad as they are in the large Euro
pean cities, and in the same proportion our police is not so
rigid as theirs.
I attended the courts of justice frequently in London. Busi
ness is conducted with more despatch than with us. Less talk
and more action in their courts as well as in their parliament
are observed than^in the United States. Lord Denman pre
sided at the Old Bailey, and appeared to be such as his char
acter is, an excellent, able judge. He was mild and dignified,
with a countenance of serenity and intelligence.
The Juries, twenty-four in number, are sworn at the com
mencement of the court to try all cases submitted to them
during the term. This saves time and does just as well as
swearing them for esfch case.
The government of the old city of London is vested in its
own corporation, and its powers are great. At the head of the
government is the lord mayor, whose authority is extensive.
He is elected annually by the freemen of London, and is gener
ally taken from the aldermen. The lord mayor is a high
officer in London, and at the demise of the king, he sets at the
head of the privy council.
The livery is a respectable body of men, composed of the
¦freemen, of the city, and is the elective body of London.
The city of London is divided into twenty-six wards, and the
mayor and aldermen constitute the court of common-council,
which has the power over the treasury, and of the government
of this great city.

344 MY OWN TIMES.,-
The Lord Mayor, in 1839, was an excellent officer. He had
every morning a rabble of sinners before his court, that could
not be equalled for vagabond appearance. The work-house was
generally the end of the trial.
Plowing in England is performed with great expense and
labor. Four, five, and six horses, at times, are hitched to the
same plow, and three or more men to hold the plow, drive,
etc. One or more is hanfing to the beam to keep it in the
ground. At times, they run the plow twice in the furrow, and
put the plow much deeper in the earth than we do. The
plowing in England is always crooked on purpose — perhaps it
prevents the land from washing. The French are still more
awkward than the English in plowing.
The summers are much cooler in Europe than with us. I
saw men reaping in England with woollen clothes on, and their
vests buttoned. In reaping, they are slow and particular. They
had, in 1839, no machinery to reap their grain. I saw flocks of
Irish over in England. Whole families were engaged.
As it was my commission to obtain a loan of money for the
canal, and as the market in England was not very favorable, I
considered it my duty to visit Paris to see if a loan could be
made there.

CHAPTER CXIV.
Visit to France. — Dover. — Lands at Boulogne. — Monument — French
Diligence, a Carriage. — ^Journey to Paris.
On the 14th of June, 1839, we left London for Paris, in a
fine four-horse coach, carrying the mail for Dover. We passed
the celebrated Gad's Hill, where Falstaff was engaged in his
robberj'. We left London in the forenoon and reached Dover
before night. We passed the celebrated oM city of Canterbury,
which is antiquity itself All the cities in England appear
more ancient than London, as that city grows over antiquity,
and the others stop^t it
Canterbury stands on solid ground, near the fenny country,.
that stretches out south-east, as far as the eye can extend.
The sub-soil of the country between London and Dover is
chalk, and as poor as poverty itself, except when it is improved
into rich soil. This old city of Dover is one of the old Cinque
Ports, and is situated on the British Channel in the gorge of the
bluffs or cliffs of chalk rising on each side of it, three or four
hundred feet high. It is a small, old city with a large popula
tion. The chalk bluffs are perpendicular, and frightful to be
near the place on them where King Lear was represented in

MY OWN TIMES. 345
the play. I stood on the peaks of those high bluffs, and could
see the coast of France like a dim cloud in the horizon.
The debtors in jail in this city, had a wire extended from the
prison to the road, and on the end of the ivire next the road, a
smaU bell was fastened. This bell was sounded to arrest the
passengers, who could see printed matter soliciting alms to re
lieve the debtors frarn imprisonment
I saw on the high bluff east of Dover, an ancient tower, said
to have been built by Julius Caesar. It was circular, and it
seemed time could not destroy it. The cement binding the
rocks together was as hard as the rocks themselves. It^was
unoccupied. Other towers also stood there of more modern
date — some said to have been built by the Saxons. The whole
mountain around Dover is excavated for garrisons for soldiers.
The government has dug out subteranean abodes for seven
thousand troops. In 1805, when Bonaparte threatened the in
vasion of England, Dover was fortified and msrae a strong gar
rison. I saw also, some very large old pieces of cannon on the bluff.
It was said one of these brass cannons could send a ball to
Calais in France.
Dover is an uninteresting place; we were pleased to leave it.
All those small places live much by extortion on travellers. I
agreed to pay our landlord all the contingencies and extras,
provided we should have to pay nothing more until we reached
the vessel to take us to France, but when the cab-driver got us
to the water, near the vessel, we were compeUed to pay him
again or have a difficulty. Next we had to pay a porter to
carry our baggage into the packet, and, lastly, we descended a
ladder from the wharf down to the ship, and paid for the use of
the ladder. Those extras are the trouble in travelling. I paid
all charges to get clear of the importunity of servants, like the
girl said, when she married the man to get rid of him.
The packet was a strong British vessel, propelled by steam,
and landed us at Boulogne, France, in three or four hours' sail.
In the middle of the British Channel, we could see both shores
of England and France with ease.
When we landed in France, all was in a bustle, making all
sorts of noises and uproar, after the manner of the French. It
shows the dislike of the people to one another, when a few
hours' saU will land a person in France from England, where
there is no similarity of the people or their customs. I had
been raised with the French in Illinois, and could speak their
language, so I was at home with them. A number of women,
with wooden-shoes on and short petticoats, attended the pas
sengers with hand- carts, to convey the baggage to the hotel.
The French Government are rigid against smuggling goods, and
are exact in examining the baggage, but the officers were polite

346 MY OWN TIMES.
and civil to me. They laughed, and excused me from smug
gling. At the custom-house my passport was received, and
sent by mail before me to Paris. Another was given me to
authorize us to travel to that city. Our carriage drove us to a
fine hotel, where to enter our names, destination, business, and
general avocation. These statements wer^also sent to Paris be
fore us. This is the caution the French Gwernment took under
the reign of Louis Phillippe, and that did not save him. We
remained in Boulogne for some day.s, and I found the French
ma.sses innocent honest, artless, and I may add, simple. They
are .kind and obliging. This city contains twenty thousjmd
inhabitants, and is said to be the port where Csesar embarked
to conquer England.
All the cities I saw on the continent of Europe are more
walled and fortified than in England. I presume the ocean
defended England, while the enemy could, in olden times,
march over the*and on the continent, and, therefore, the towns
there needed more walled defence than they did in England.
In Boulogne, there is an upper and lower town. The upper
was fortified, but the lower, and much the best, is built up out
side the old walls, and between the old town and the ocean. I
examined, in the neighborhood of Boulogne, a site of a large
encampment, made by Bonaparte and his army when he was
preparing for the conquest of England. In the vicinity, Bona
parte commenced a monument to honor his conquest of Eng
land, thinking, no doubt, this monument made in advance,
would induce public opinion to assist in accomplishing his ob
ject. His Austrian campaign drew him off from England. The
monument, although unfinished, is splendid.
A French diligence is within the list of curiosities. It can
carry fifteen or twenty persons, and perhaps more, and at times
has attached to it from four to eight horses. More passengers
ride outside than within, to take the air and see the country. A
long ladder is used to get on the top and to dismount. When
the horses are first brought out, they squeal, paw, and snort, as
they are not changed from their natural state. Sometimes they
are put three or four abreast in the diligence. The French are
a droll people.
The beggars attend these carriages as they are going slowly
up a hill. The poor, decrepit mortals are lodged sometimes in
holes at the foot of the hill, and ready to crawl, creep, or walk
by the carriage as it mounts the eminence. The shocking sights
of wretchedness, and the heart-rending prayers pour la charite,
will generally obtain them some donations. They learn sympa
thetic modes of begging, so that they generally succeed to some
amount. Begging is a trade, and acts on system.
France is generally a fine, healthy, and beautiful country.
The soil is, for the most part, good and productive. It is not

MY OWN TIMES. 347
injured by eitheir mountains or morasses to any great extent,
and produces to the inhabitants a bountiful support The mas
ses, so far as I could discover, were happy, and in return for the
blessings the country afforded them, they very justly gave it the
name of "La Belle France."
The road from Boulogne passes the ancient city of Abbeville,
built by the English when they possessed the country. Mon
treal, another city on the road, is built on a rock, and was, in
olden times, a place of strength. The road also passes Beau-
vais, which is a large and ancient city. It is the capital of the
department of the Oise. St. Denis is rather a suburb of Paris,
being only a few miles from the great metropolis.

CHAPTER CXV.
City of Paris. — Public Buildings are Splendid and BriUiant — Soldiers
for the City Police. — Churches. — Palais Royal.- — Lou-vre. — The
Paintings. — Monument for Bonaparte. — Obelisk. — Parliament. —
Garden of Plants. — Elysian Fields.
Paris, the most important city in the world except London,
would require volumes to describe it, and then the reader would
have but a faint idea of it in comparison to actual examination.
It is built on a flat on both sides of the river Seine, but mostly
on the north side: latitude 48° 50' north, and longitude 2° 20'
east of London. It is said to be sixteen or eighteen miles in
circumference, and contains almost everything which the imagi
nation of man can conceive. Its dates its commencement in
very remote antiquity. It is said that Paris was commenced
first on the Island in the Seine, five hundred years before the
conquest by the Romans, which was some years before the
Christian era. The main aim and object of the inhabitants of
this city seems to be to reach the perfection of the gay, grand,
and briUiant in everything. All the public buildings, churches,
bridges, and triumphal arches are built more for a striking, bril
liant and imposing appearance than for utility. French utility,
in a great measure, is a splendid appearance. This principle
runs through the whole nation, and governs them in both public
and private transactions. This is the reason that the French
enjoy so many holidays, and are never so well pleased as when
they are present at some grand national exhibition. Bonaparte
indulged them in this passion until he exhausted the country
and was compelled to abandon it. The pleasure in the heart of
the Frenchman, to enjoy a victory of the grand-army over any
other nation, but particularly the English, would induce the sol
diers to suffer all the privations of a campaign, and the risk of
death itself without a murmur.

348 MY OWN times.
The city of Paris contains upwards of a million of souls, en
joying life more than any other people on the globe. The great
philosophy of the French is to enjoy pleasure in all its various
phases and beauties. In order to accomplish this great French
desideratum, they steer as clear of vice and crime as will secure
them from misery in this continual career of pleasure through
life France is healthy, and exceedingly fertile, which affords the
inhabitants a plentiful support and excellent health. These
considerations add much to the career of French happiness.
About fifteen hundred soldiers are the city police, who ob
serve peace and order at the point of the bayonet, if necessary.
A part of the "army of the line," containing ninety thousand
soldiers, were encamped in and near Paris when I was there, in
1839. An attempt at revolution had recently been queUed, and
the government was fearful of another revolt, which was the
reason of this large army being in this vicinity. The streets
were filled with soldiers and martial music. Public opinion has
placed the army in France on different principles than it is
based in England or in the United States. In France, the com
mon soldier is more elevated and respected than in those other
countries. The best young men join the army in France, and
have an opportunity to rise by merit. No corporal punishment
is inflicted on the French soldiers. A moral and elevated senti
ment effects the. whole object without stripes in the French
army. The citizens, meeting the militaire in the streets of
Paris, bow to them uncovered, with respect The soldiers in
the French army occupy a higher standing with their nation
than ours do with us. This is the nature of their government,
and is also the reason that a military life in France is the great
highroad to honor and power, and sometimes to the throne
itself The churches in Paris are grand and splendid, and would
require volumes to describe them. The church of "Notre
Dame" is among the most magnificent and most ancient in the
city. It was commenced in 1163, and the site where it stands
was long before occupied by a heathenish house of worship. It
is 415 feet long, 150 wide, and 150 high. Two towers are con
structed, rising 204 feet over each door, and are each 40 feet
square. To the top of these towers are 289 steps, where per
sons may enjoy a panoramic view of the city of Paris. An
ancient bell is hung in one of these towers weighing 92,000 ft.,
and the clapper 976 ft. It requires sixteen men to sound the
bell. It is called Emanuel.
"La Madeline" is another elegant and superb church, situated
on the Boulevard Madeline. In 1806, Bonaparte changed it
into a temple, dedicated to the glory of the French arms, but
in 18 16, it was again converted into* a temple of worship. This

MY OWN TIMES. 349
edifice is 326 feet long and 130 wide. The paintings in this
church are splendid. Our Saviour is represented granting par
don to Mary Magdalene, on her knees, for her sins, and minis
tering angels are receiving the redeemed sinner to their bosoms.
"St. Roch" is another temple of worship, situated on La Rue
St Honore. Louis XIV. laid the corner-stone of this church in
the year 1653. It is celebrated for its purity and piety. I saw,
in the front of this church and the surrounding buildings, the
holes of the balls shot by Bonaparte's soldiers in the "affair ol
the sections," as it was called, when the rabble was dispersed by
powder and lead.
The palaces and royal residences are constructed in this city
with a splendor and elegance that I think stands unrivalled on
earth. All that French taste and science, together with unlim
ited sums of money, could accomplish, have been expended
upon these royal palaces.
The Palais Royal is a buUding which of itself is almost a
city. The ancestors of Louis Phillippe built it for a residence.
At this day, it is occupied by mercantile shops, and other uses,
down to gambling - houses. Thus has this royal residence
fallen, and it is to be hoped that all royalty in the world may
soon follow.
The old palace known as the "Louvre" was to me the most
interesting, as it contained the greatest number of fine paintings
perhaps in the world. The works of the most celebrated mas
ters in the world are here exhibited, free of charge. The paint
ings of Michael Angelo, Vandyck, F ubens, Correggio, Amyntas,
and others almost as celebrated, are here presented to the pub
lic. It is almost worth a voyage across the Atlantic to see these
paintings. Also, are there, the paintings of our countryman.
West: Christ healing the Sick, etc.
In some parts of the palace are statuary in abundance, which
stand unrivalled. Also, are exhibited the royal carpeting, woven
in the factory of the Goblin, representing the persons and arti
cles of royalty.
There is, in the city, a large plat of public ground known as
"La Place Vendome."* This piece of ground was once occupied
by a royal hotel, but at this day it is kept for the public. In
1806, Bonaparte erected a splendid and magnificent monument
on this ground, in honor of the campaign of 1805. It is formed
on the model of the Pillar of Trajan at Rome, but is larger.
The monument is circular, and one hundred and thirty-five feet
high. It presents a grand and towering monument of the
genius of Bonaparte, who conceived the design, and the archi
tects who built it. The pillar is covered with the metal of the
cannon captured from the Russian and Austrian armies in 1805,
and cast so as to cover the monument. On it is inscribed the
dates of victories, the names of the armies, and the generals

350 MY OWN TIMES.
commanding. On the top was the statue of Bonaparte, but the
allied armies, in 1 8 14, shamefully took it down. In 1833, the
French authorities replaced it, which I saw and much admired
in 1839.
The obelisk, brought from Luxor, in Egypt, is a great curi
osity. It is of a solid rock seventy-two feet high, tapering from
the bottom to the top. It is made square of a granite rock. It
has carved on it many hieroglyphics, and figures of birds and
animals. The wild-goose, cranes, and many other fowls are cut
on it. Opossums, raccoons, and other animals, are also cut on
it. It is erected on the public ground called Concordia, where
Louis XVI. was beheaded. This column is more ancient than
any history on earth.
The congress, or parliament of France, is composed of a
house of deputies, so called, and a house of peers. The
building in which the deputies assembled was better than the
parliament -house in England, but not so tasty or splendid as
the house of representatives at Washington City.
The French capitol had galleries, but they were not open to
all. It was decorated with more gaudy ornaments than the
United States capitol. In it, and around about, were many
figures and remarks concerning the revolution of 1830.
The seats in the French hall of representatives were made
rising one above another, like a theatre, and adjoining to the
presiding-officer, a tribune, elevated about three feet, with steps
up to the top, was erected, and covered nicely with carpeting.
On this tribune, the speaker who had the floor to make a speech,
stood and addressed the members face to face. When the pres
ident gave the floor to a member, that member left his seat and
mounted the tribune. He that spoke stood on the tribune until
the next member occupied it.
When the house got into confusion, the presiding-officer had
a small bell which he rattled to restore order. This seemed to
answer the purpose — to drown the noise — and thereby preserve
decorum. The orators in the French halls did not speak as
long as they do in our congress, but they seemed much excited
and enthusiastic in their legislation, as well as in most other
things. The Garden of Plants is a great curiosity. It contains eighty-
four acres of ground, and six thousand five hundred different
species of plants. The garden occupies high ground in part of
it, and on it are planted numbers of trees of foreign growth. I
saw a cedar, which Buffon, it is said, brought from Palestine
when it was small. The branches extended out from the tree
many feet.
Some part of the garden was crowded with animals — the
giraffe, elephants, lions, hyenas, etc. In another section, almost
a numberless amount of birds were caged.

MY OWN TIMES. 351
The Champ d'Elysee — the Elysian Fields — are situated to the
west of the city, and present on Sunday evenings, almost every
species of amusement and every sort of people that ever ex
isted. They contain fifteen hundred acres, and are planted with
elms, until a fine shade is made in the summer.
A good band of musicians, sixty or more, are employed by
the government to play the most favorite airs on Sunday eve
nings to the public, and in this field, almost every antic, trick,
or mountebank-prank is performed. Dancing, music, harlequin-
tricks, etc., are exhibited. No pen or tongue can describe this
place of innocent merriment. All classes of people appear here,
from the grave and dignified senator to the lowest menial in
Paris, The high and the low of the French mix more together,
and particularly in this common resort, than either the English
or Americans do under similar circumstances.

CHAPTER CXVI.
Exhibition of the Arts. — Horses, Carts, and Plows in France. — River
Seine and the Bridges. — The Boulevard. — Mont de Moulin. — Palace
of St. Cloud. — French and Enghsh Ideas of Free Government.-—
Napoleon Much Respected. — ^Catacombs. — Weak Wine. — Dancing
on the Sabbath.
In the summer of 1839, an exhibition of all the nicely man
ufactured articles in France was presented to the public. I
think this exhibition gave rise to the Crystal Palace in London,
and the World's Fair in New York.
It was truly astonishing to see the various ' articles manufac
tured with so much taste and talent as were there presented to
the public in Paris. The building, which was temporary, covered
acres of ground, and was erected in the Elysian Fields. Sol
diers were stationed in^this building to preserve peace and
order. An immense concourse of people attended every day,
to examine the various articles exhibited, and without charge.
The people in France are far behind the Americans in their
carriages, liorses, and . harness. They never change the male
horses, as heretofore stated, so that at times these natural ani
mals make much noise and squealing when they are being put
in harness. The horses are not so fine asJ;he English or Ameri
can stock. The French horses are low, heavy, and strong, and
many of them are roans, raised in Normandy. No iron chain-
traces are used. They have rawhide-leather twisted, and plated
nicely, into traces. The reason they use these traces, they say,
is that they are stronger than iron chains and much lighter. I
think the true reason is that it is the old custom, and they have
not the courage to change it. They use, mostly, carts; a wagon

3S2 MY OWN TIMES.
is scarcely ever seen in France. The carts are made strong,
and have hitched to them more or less number of horses, ac
cording to the necessity. They seldom use a line in France
more than in England. Sometimes two or three horses are
hitched abreast in a cart but mostly, the horses are attached to
the cart in tandem style, and no line, the horse behind man
aging him before. I saw in Paris heavy loads of rock hauled
in carts, but this branch of industry is far behind the United
States. The French in Illinois, fifty years since, observed simi
lar customs.
The farming and plowing are still farther behind us. The
plow is unimproved in the old country. It is exactly the same
class of pjo-ws the French used in Illinois fifty years since. A
small piece of flat iron was fixed on the forepart of the plow,
which went into the ground, and was the only metal about it.
They used wheels with an axle, on which the beam of the plow
was placed. The soil in France is loose and fertUe, so these
instruments and much other labor produced good crops.
The Seine, a small river, passes through the city of Paris, and
is about two hundred yards wide. This river is boxed up with
cut rocks, so that it would appear to run through a rock-chan
nel; and at places, slopes were cut in the sides to let horses,
carts, etc., down to the water. At places, this river was literally
lined with women, and their clothes, washing. It seems that
the people of Paris wash in the open air, at least in summer.
The bridges over this river are numerous and beautiful.
Some are made of rock, but mostly out of iron, either wrought
or cast. The iron is painted, which gives the bridges a gay and
beautiful appearance. Hoops of iron are made strong enough
to serve for arches on which to rest the bridges. Much art and
talent are displayed in constructing these bridges.
In ancient times, a strong wall was built around the city df
Paris for protection. This wall was wide and strong, but in pro
cess of time, the people settled outsid^of it so that the city was
buUt on both sides of the wall. As the wall, which was called
the Boulevard, was not needed for defence, it was taken away,
and the place where it extended around the city was converted
into a magnificent street or avenue. This street is now the most
elegant and fashionable of any in Paris.
According to my observation, all the ancient cities in Europe
were made without any general plan at the beginning. The
streets of the old cities, and old parts of cities, are mostly
crooked and narrow. At times, houses are seen situated in the
middle of the streets.
A place in Paris is called Mont de Moulin, that is, the Mill
Mound. This is a rise in the city. No mill is now on it, but
the name remains. I saw the streets from almost all directions
lead to the summit of this mound. The houses were first built

MY OWN TIMES. 353
on the roads to the miU on this mound, and the city extended
around them, continuing the roads for streets as first settled.
St. Cloud is a famous village, situated on the high bluff of the
Seine, five miles south-west of Paris. It is as old, almost, as
antiquity itself In 533, two kings of France murdered their
two nephews here, and the third nephew. Cloud, was so pious
that the people sainted him, and thus the place is caUed St
Cloud for him.
In 1799, Bonaparte, in this village, turned out of doors the
council of five hundred. I saw the house where the members
sat In 1 8 14, Blucher, the Prussian general, took possession of
the palace of St. Cloud. He kennelled his dogs in the cham
bers, and lay in the royal beds drunk, with his boots and
¦spurs on.
I was frequently present with members of parliament, and
others, in Paris, when the discussion was excited and rather
refractory. Not long previous, symptoms of revolution had
appeared in the city, and the people had not yet quieted down.
The question was often discussed, in the animated French man
ner, how far the turbulent assemblage of the citizens could be
tolerated before the military had a right to disperse them.
They would not adopt the opinion that, in time of peace, the
military must be subordinate to the civil authority. I saw there
that they had not the proper ideas of freedom. A man must
breathe for years the air arising from our Constitution, and the
free institutions of America, before he can enjoy the proper
notions of liberty. The moment a man of any observation sets
his foot in Europe, he will see all things tending to depress the
people and elevate the government. The masses there, and the
animals they work, are treated almost alike by the nobility and
the officers of government. In the United States, the current
is acting the other way — to elevate the people and to keep the
government in its proper sphere.
I conversed repeatedly with the masses in England, France,
and Belgium. They have very little knowledge of their govern
ments. They had nothing to do in it, and did not expect to
have. The French were ready for any change, without know
ing or caring for the result. They said they could not be
worsted. Yet, these same French masses enjoyed the vanity
of believing that France was the greatest country on the globe,
which made them, to some extent, happy. The masses in
France are always willing for a war. The upper-ten will not
work or keep shops, but are always prepared for war or a dan
cing-saloon. When I was there, they panted for an opportunity
to chastise Prussia, for their army, under Blucher, having placed
their feet on French soil in the distresses of France. The gov
ernment wisely restrained them from fighting for a shadow.
The character of the old emperor. Napoleon, was greatly

354 MY OWN TIMES.
respected when I was there. Everywhere, public and private,
and in public and private discourses, his actions were extolled to
the skies. "BJiis popularity of the uncle has placed his nephew
in supreme power. The nephew has great talents, but not
equal to Napoleon himself It is the misfortune of France that
Paris has such power over the country. This city regulates the
whole nation in politics as well as other things. Generally men
of talents, raised throughout the provinces, soon assemble and
live in Paris, which is the main reason this city has such un
bounded influence over the country.
The catacombs deserve a place in MY OWN TIMES. In very
ancient times, a quarry of rock, with deep and large excavations,
was made, south and adjoining the city of Paris. ' Some rock
and a covering of earth were left over this excavation, and in
process of time the city extended over the quarry. The en
trance into this excavation had been filled up for ages, but it
was discovered that houses and streets were sinking, and one
house sunk ninety feet into the abyss. An examination was
made, and pillars and props were set in to support the city,
which was built over the quarry. Stairs are constructed to this
subterranean abode, and human bones of millions of people are
deposited there. They are cleansed and put away as regular as
possible. In this receptacle of the dead, the human bones are
now safe and commodious. The descent is ninety feet to the
floor, and then a person may walk until he is tired in this char
nel-house. The custom of the Parisians is, in many things, singular to us.
Many families and single persons scarcely ever remain at home
an hour, except when they are at sleep. They eat at restau
rants and cafes, and loiter about in the shades to see sights all
day. They intermix so much together, that there is no excite
ment to have thousands together. In the summer evenings,
multitudes convene to hear the music played at the balcony
of the Palace of the TuiUeries, others loiter in the picture-gal
leries, and such places of public resort. I saw no intemperance
in France, if idleness be not intemperance.
The citizens of France, so far as I saw, indulged none at all
in strong drink; they use claret and weak wine, so far as I dis
covered. They drink very little water, and no more than they
do in London. One people drink much beer, while the other
drink weak wine, and in both places they were astonished that
I preferred water to either. In France, by some chemical pro
cess, bottles of water were frozen into ice in a short time to mix
with water to drink.
The English enjoy a better government than the French, yet
there is more equality among the French people than there is
among the English. There is much practical equality in France
among the people. In England, there is more distinction among

MY OWN TIMES. 355
the different classes, in the common intercourse between man
and man, than in France. Therf is always practised in France,
a kind of familiar respect and treatment to the servants and
working-classes that we do not see in England. There is a
wide gap between the upper and lower classes in Great Britain.
I travelled over the country south of Paris, and saw how the
masses of people spend a sabbath in that country. In the city
as well as in the country, there is much more animation, bustle,
and excitement on a Sunday than during the rest of the week.
The shops and the churches, as the masses please to indulge in,
are open on Sunday. Mostly the grand reviews of the army,
and elections, are conducted on that day. The young people,
and frequently the old, in the country meet after church, and
dance for hours on a Sunday evening. They generally dance
under the shade of trees on beautiful grass-plats, and have their
meetings without much expense or trouble.
The masses of the French are innocent, honest, gay, light-
hearted, and thoughtless, full of amusement and merriment,
whUe a part of the people are the most learned and scientific
philosophers. Many of the most wonderful inventions and dis
coveries have been achieved by the French. The hieroglyphics
of Egypt have been deciphered by a Frenchman.

CHAPTER CXVn.
Left Paris. — Bmssels. — Antwerp. — Cathedral at Antwerp. — Voyage to
London. — Windsor Castle. — The Curses of Monarchy. — Partial Loan
of Money from the Banker, John Wright. — Travel from London to
Bath and Bristol. — Voyage in the "Great Western" home to the
United States. — A Storm on the Ocean.
I LEFT Paris, and many friends there, with regret, as the time
I spent in this extraordinary city was quite interesting and
agreeable. We left for Brussels, which is two hundred and
thirteen miles from Paris. We passed over a beautiful and fer
tile tract of country, by the renowned cities Cambay, Valen
ciennes, Mons, and others. Cambay is celebrated as being the
residence of the Archbishop Fenelon, who wrote "Telemachus."
Brussels is the flourishing capital of Belgium, and contains
one hundred and ten thousand souls.
The inhabitants of Belgium are similar to the French in man
ners, customs, and personal appearance. They mostly speak
the French language, and are, for the most part Roman Catho-
Ucs. This city seemed to be improving and growing faster than
any other city I saw in Europe. It is a gay and lively place.
The railroad, twenty-five miles to Antwerp, adds much to the
commercial facilities of this city. I saw many splendid public

3S6 MY OWN TIMES.
edifices in Brussels, built on the Gothic order of architecture.
The paintings are excellent. *rhe zoological gardens are filled
with rare animals.
The country between Brussels and Antwerp *is level, with a
fine black soil, and produces a great abundance. It resembles
the American Bottom.
Antwerp is an ancient city, and was one of the Hanseatic
League. It is situated on a plain near the river Scheldt This
river is narrow but deep. It is navigable for large vessels to the
ocean. The cathedral in this city is very large, and appears to have
commenced almost even with time itself It is 500 feet long,
250 broad, and 360 high. Its steeple, or tower, is 470 feet high,
with 622 steps to the top. As I went up this tower, at various
places I saw men repairing it It made one giddy to look down
from the top. This church was finished in the year 15 18, and
has in its belfry 99 bells, as I was informed, the largest weigh
ing thousands of pounds. Charles the Fifth, emperor of Ger
many, made a present of this bell to the church.
We travelled from Brussels to Antwerp over an excellent
railroad. In the harbor of Antwerp, I saw the stars and stripes
of our beloved country — the United States — on a vessel; and
after being some time absent from the sight, this spectacle made
my heart bound with joy for "the land of the free and the home
of the brave."
On the 7th July, of this year, we set sail down the Scheldt in
a steamer for old England. We passed through a rich, level
country from Antwerp to the sea, where we saw two old towns,
Ostend and Flushing. The next day, at 9 o'clock, we reached
London. The country on the north of the Thames is beauti
ful, but on the south, it seemed to be a low, fenny country.
While in England, I visited Windsor Castle, which is twenty-
one miles west of London, and is reached by the western rail
road. This castle and royal residence were built by William
the Conqueror, in the eleventh century, and have been much
improved down to the present time. The buildings and ap
pendages cover twelve acres of land. This was the ancient
cemetery of royalty, and has been much improved, so that in
1 8 10, it was made the general burying-ground for the royal
family. The castle is erected on the top of the bluff of the
Thames, and overlooks the city of Windsor, made so famous
by the "Merry Wives of Windsor." At the top of the castle
is an extensive view of the country in all directions, which is
highly improved and splendid. The grand park here contains
two thousand acres, and is embellished in every possible man
ner. On the top of the bluff of the Thames, and adjoining the
castle, is the most elegant and ample terrace in Europe, it is
said. This is intended for the promenade-ground of the royal

MY OWN TIMES. 357
family, and is situated so high that much of the country up and
down the Thames can be seen from it.
On examining these princely establishments, with the enor
mous sums of money expended to make and sustain them, if
is strange that the people of Great Britain ever did, or do now,
submit to such imposition. MiUions and millions must toil and
sweat to sustain this royal paegentry. It is revolting to an
American, who has the principles of free government and all
the blessings arising from it, instilled into his heart, to witness
these outrages on mankind in Europe. These parks are reserved
from the use of the people for the pleasures of royalty, when
thousands are starving for bread. Many intelligent persons in
England know these impositjons, but are afraid to attempt a
revolution. They say that a worse system might be riveted on
them. The masses in Europe are not sufficiently intelligent in
the science of government to effect a revolution with safety.
Many know they have the power, but are afraid if they let it
loose that it might sweep all before it, right and wrong together.
I think the people are improving slowly, and they receive this
political information mostly from the United States.. The
intercourse between America and Europe is so speedy and so
much, that the science of self-government will, in the end, be
forced on the people of the old world. It is a singular contrast,
in a few days' sail, to witness the people in one country enjoy
ing all the blessings of a free government, a free exercise of
their religion, and all other rights and privileges, and the other
people not enjoying any freedom whatever. They are con
sidered no better by the government than the beasts of burden,
having no voice in the government, and are bound to support a
religion that many of them utterly condemn. The human
family deserve a better fate than they experience in the old
country. It is the duty of as many citizens of America as can
leave home with propriety, to travel and witness the oppression
and tyranny heaped on the human family in other countries.
It wUl endear the government of the Union more to its citizens,
and make them know the very important position the United
States hold over human destiny.
Judge Young, having arrived in London, and being one of the
commissioners to make the canal-loan, I considered that my
remaining in the city much longer was useless, and therefore
prepared for my return home.
We had partially made a loan of John Wright, a celebrated
banker of London, which Judge Young concluded after my
return to the United States. Mr. Wright was an excellent man,
honest and upright We received some of the loan from him,
as we agreed, but both he and our State failed to comply with
the contract.
All being ready, we left London on the 23d of August, and

358 MY OWN TIMES.
reached Bristol the same evening. We passed Bath, a large
city built on the Devon. In this section of England the land
was better than common. It was on a lime-stone substratum,
and was good.
Bristol, in olden times, was a great commercial city, but Liv
erpool has obtained the commerce, to the injury of Bristol. I
saw a great many rings of iron fastened in the rocks below
Bristol, to which vessels were tied, but they are measurably
occupied at present.
It was late one evening, when small steamers conveyed the
passengers and their baggage from Bristol to the steamship
"Great Western," which was lying off in the bay several miles
from the city. In the embarkatfcn, much confusion, tears, and
some sorrow, were seen, and by some felt, I presume. We set
sail, and bid the old world a long farewell.
There are some things to admire in Europe, and much more to
condemn. The governments are oppressive, and the people are
also so crowded, that it is impossible for the masses to enjoy
life as well as a free people.
We Experienced, on the voyage to the United States, a terri
ble storm, but the noble craft, the "Great Western," rode it out
triumphantly. No one can describe a storm at sea. The wind
on the ocean has so much force that it is almost irresistible. It
is the yielding of the vessel to the violence of the storm that
saves the ship. This tornado lasted for several days, and at
times the gale was so severe that the engine of the steamer was
stopped. Lamentations, shrieks, and sorrow filled the cabin of
the vessel, while a few reckless men continued at a card-table
which was loaded with gold.
The storm subsided, and the voyage became pleasant and
interesting. It is strange to see, on a fine evening, the phos-
porus sparkling on the waves as they break on the sides of the
vessel. No accident occurred, and we landed safely in New
York, after a speedy passage over the Atlantic. We stopped a
short time at quarantine-ground, a few miles from New York,
but the health-officer discovered no sickness on board, and we
landed with grateful hearts to God and with great joy on reach
ing again the United States.
Being in Europe all summer, the houses in the city of New
York, when I reached it, looked much more gay and brilliant
than those in the old country, but the buildings in our cities
appeared generally small to those in Europe.
In a few days after my arrival in the United States, I returned
to Illinois, and made a report of my mission to Gov. Carlin,
which he approved. The State paid my expenses all but two
hundred dollars of my own funds, which I used for my ex
penses, but I never received one cent of the two hundred
dollars, or anything for my services. Thus ends my tour in
Europe.

MY OWN TIMES. 359

CHAPTER CXVIII.
The Mormons. — Sketch of Joseph Smith, the Founder. — Pretended
Vision. — The Angel. — Plates of Metal. — Translation. — Book of Mor
mon. — First Church Estabhshed. — Similarity of Smith to Mahomet
and Cromwell.
In all the great events and revolutions in the various nations
of the earth, nothing surpasses the extraordinary history of the
Mormons. The facts in relation to this singular people are so
¦strange, so opposite to common-sense, and so great and impor
tant, that they would not obtain our belief if we did not see the
events transpire before our eyes. No argument, or mode of
reasoning, could induce any one to believe that in the nine
teenth century, in the United States, and in the blaze of science,
literature, and civilization, a sect of religionists could arise on
delusion and imposition. But such are the facts, and we are
forced to believe them. This sect amid persecutions and perils
of all sorts, has reached almost half a million of souls, scattered
over various countries, within twenty-five or thirty years. They
are fast increasing, and what will be their destine no one can
foretell. In the sixth century, when Mahomet commenced his extra
ordinary career, his own nation, the Arabs, and the surrounding
people, were ignorant and superstitious. The Christians, in
the days of Mahomet, were also plunged into utter darkness,
and had almost reached the degraded condition of worshipping
idols. One other element in the career of Mahomet was his
great and transcendent talents. Very few men ever existed
with a stronger or more comprehensive mind than the Arabian
prophet possessed. His ambition and talents, together with the
ignorant and degraded condition of the country, enabled him to
achieve this great victory of the Crescent over the Cross.
The same may be said, to some extent, in relation to Oliver
Cromwell, of England. He and his illustrious predecessor, Ma
homet possessed talents of extraordinary' capacity. It is also
acknowledged that the masses in England, at this day, were
more ignorant and credulous than they are in that kingdom, or
in the United States, at the present time. Under these circum
stances, it was much more reasonable for those great men, Ma
homet and Cromwell, to establish new sects of religion than
it was for Joseph Smith to form, in the United States, a new
sect The latter prophet possessed only ordinary talents, and
was forced to commit the fraud of discovering the Mormon
book before the eyes of his intelligent countrymen, when not
one in the nation, or Smith himself, believed the statement that
metal plates, on which the Mormon book was composed, were

36o MY OWN TIMES.
found in the rocks of New York. This story is too silly and
contemptible for serious reflection, and yet almost half a mil
lion of the human family claim belief in it, and a great many
of them will suffer martyrdom for their faith. No one can fore
tell the destiny of this sect, and it would be blasphemy, at this
day, to compare its founder to the Saviour, but, nevertheless, it
may become veritable history, in a thousand years, that the
standing and character of Joseph Smith, as a prophet, may
rank equal to any of the prophets who have preceded him.
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon sect of religion,
was born on the 23d day of December, 1805, in Sharon, Wind
sor County, in the State of Vermont. His parents were obscure
and poor, and their son Joseph received but a very limited edu
cation. When Smith was ten years old, his parents moved to
Palmyra, Wayne County, in the State of New York, where
young Smith was raised to manhood. It is stated that Smith
possessed a wild and romantic turn of mind, and that he and
his father were what is called "water- witches." This class of
men say that they can discover where water can be found by
digging. They use a forked branch of a tree, or bush, and hold
it in their hands, the fork upward. They walk over the place
where they desire to find water, and where they cross the stream
of water in the earth, they say the forked stick, by the attrac
tion of the water, will turn in their hands without their effort
down to the stream.
The historians of Smith say that one Sidney Rigdon, a cun
ning, talented man, concerted with Smith to found a new sect
of religion, and that Smith was to be a prophet. It is also
stated that Rigdon became possessed of a religious romance,
written by a Presbyterian clergyman then in the State of Ohio.
This book, now known as the Book of Mormon, gives a long,
detailed account of the ten lost tribes of Israel. How they
travelled through Asia, and at last settled in North America.
Christ came and preached his gospel to them in America, and
was sacrificed similar to his execution at Jerusalem. But to
give the romance an air of mystery and 'miracle, which seems
to be a necessary element in all religions to make the people
revere and respect it Smith and Rigdon gave out that they
had, by Divine inspiration, discovered metal plates near Pal
myra, in the State of New York, on which was recorded the
Book of Mormon. After discovering the plates, the translation
must be based, also, on miracle and mystery.
Smith became interested for the salvation of his soul, and
prayed fervently in a grove near his father's house in Palmyra,
and at last the darkness gave way and the light descended
from heaven until the whole country illuminated with a daz
zling brilliancy that was indescribable.
At another time, by his own statements, he was praying in

MY OWN TIMES. 361
a room, and a great light broke out on him, and an Angel of
God stood before him, saying that the Messiah was at hand,
and that God had chosen him, Smith, to be his instrument on
earth to carry out the will and works of heaven. The appear
ance of the Angel was on the 27th of September, 1827; and at
the same time the Angel delivered to Smith the Urim and
Thummim by which he could understand and translate the
hieroglyphics, or Egyptian characters written on the metal
plates. The Urim and Thummim were two transparent stones
found in the box with the plates, and were the talismen by
which the ancient prophets could understand the past present,
and future events. The Angel directed Smith to find the metal
plates in a stone box on a hill-side, a little under the surface ot
the gi»0und, near the village of Manchester, between Palmyra
and Canandaigua, New York.
When Smith came in the presence of the metal plates, he
said he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and the same Angel
said: "Look" — and he beheld the devil and many of his train.
Smith took the plates to the northern part of Pennsylvania,
and by the aid of his pretended inspiration and the Urim
and Thummim he translated them, which formed the Book of
Mormon. Smith procured men to certify that they saw the plates, and
that the translation was by inspiration and the power of God,
as the Angel declared the same to them.
The Book of Mormon did not militate against the Holy
Scriptures, but was intended to carry them out in the ancient
and more holy manner than they were understood and prac
tised on at the present time.
The Mormons preached the doctrine, and it was believed by
the devotees, that the power of ancient Christianity was again to
be revived, and that the gift of prophecy and of an unknown
language, together with the power to heal the sick by laying
hands on them, was given to them.
Under this system. Smith prophesied and made many reve
lations. Many of the disciples spoke a kind of gibberish, as an
unknown tongue, and others laid hands on the sick to heal
them, together with the prayer "of faith." It was a necessary
prerequisite to effect any of the above miracles, that the party
performing must, like all religionists, possess implicit faith.
By virtue of this system, and Smith's incessant labors, many
were converted to the Mormon faith; and on the 6th of April,
1830, Smith and followers organized the first Mormon church,
in the town of Manchester, State of New York. It is now only
a little more than twenty-five years since the first church was
organized, and there are supposed to be half a million of this
strange people at the present time. The success of the Mor
mons is the greatest wonder that has occurred in the nineteenth
century.

362 MY OWN TIMES.
I have heard them preach often. They recognize the script
ures, and take their texts from them. They act with a fervor,
zeal, and confidence in their religious exercises that has great
influence on the public. People frequently attend their worship
from curiosity, but soon become interested and frequently join
them. They were — or at any rate, appeared to be — honest and
sincere in their faith and worship. They suffered persecution
for their religion, and even death itself, which did not in the
least arrest their onward course. Their sincerity and zeal, and
having the scriptures for their foundation, are the cause of their
success to a great extent
Joseph Smith and his followers pursued the same course that
both Mahomet and Cromwell did. Mahomet had the good-
sense to recognize the Christian scriptures and the diviiSty of
the Saviour. He never pretended that the Son of Man was an
imposter: only that he, Mahomet was the greater prophet.
Also the Arabian prophet was exceedingly devout, zealous, and
ardent in his devotions. He found the Christian world at the
time ignorant and torn to pieces by various sects and schisms
which advanced his cause. The Koran, like the Book of Mor
mon, contains excellent moral principles, that teach a pure and
unsullied code of ethics. The scriptures of Islamism teach the
ways of pure morals on earth, and no doubt will be a guide to
a happy immortality.
The same religious career was taken by Cromwell. He
taught no new or strange faith or precepts different from the
Holy Scriptures. He recognized the holy writings, but, like
Mahomet, contended that the religion and mode of worship
under them were too dull and languid : that the sermons by the
the legitimate church were weak and "unsavory," as they were
called at that day. The extreme zeal and infatuation of the
Cromwell Order gained them proselytes and numbers. The
exceedingly strict and rigid exercises in their religion gave for
the devotees the name of "Puritans," of which they are proud
to this day. The fanatical ardor and zeal, on sound moral
principles, which were found in the Koran and in the Holy
Scriptures enabled both Mahbmmed and Cromwell to establish
religious societies that have astonished the world. Smith has
followed in the footsteps of "his illustrious predecessors," Ma
homet and Cromwell. The Mormon prophet recognized the
Holy Scriptures, and like Mahomet added to them. Like
the Mussulman, he was exceedingly ardent and zealous in his
devotions. Smith caught the rabble first, but numbers soon
gained the sect standing and character.
At the foundation of all these sects are the immutable and
immaculate principles embodied in the Christian Scriptures.
These precepts and principles are as ancient and as enduring as
the throne itself They emanated from heaven, and can not

MY OWN TIMES. 363
be obliterated by puny man, more than he can extinguish the
light. Silly man may darken his room, but the effulgence of
light will still shine on. So with the pure and holy precepts
contained in the Scriptures. They may be arrested or per
verted, but they still exist, and will be enduring to the end of
time. These principles teach at this day the morals and ethics
of the Chinese, and were the same that governed the morals
and religion of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, in their
day. They are like the principles of mathematics, perfect,
pure, and immutable. This code of morals, which is embodied
with so much purity and holiness in the New Testament gov
erns all sects of religion, although they may assume as many
names as the alphabet can express. Without this foundation,
the sects are like chaff before the wind, and must perish.

CHAPTER CXIX.
Mormons CaUed Themselves the "Latter-Day Saints." — Ardent and
Devout — Monnon Emigration to the Far West and Kirtland. — Civil
War in Missouri. — Horrid Murder of a Mormon Boy. — The Mor
mons Expelled from Missouri.
The organization of the Mormon church is very strong and
efficient, giving to the leaders complete power over the persons
and property of the members, and also over the conscience and
spiritual matters of their religion. No prince or potentate has
more power in an absolute monarchy than the leaders of the
Mormons have under their church-government. This is one
great element that enables the various leaders and churches,
scattered over Europe and America, to act as a unit. The
organization of the Jesuits was not more complete, powerful,
and absolute than that of the Mormons.
In 1836, by a general council of the leaders and members, the
attractive and popular name of Latter-Day Saints was given
to the Mormons, which they have retained to this day. They
call themselves the "Latter-Day Saints."
After the church was organized, preachers were sent through
out the whole Union to preach the gospel, and in it was al
ways tinctured some of the principles of their church. Their
preachers acted with great devotion, sincerity, and meekness,
which made them many converts. Tliey said it was their creed
to suffer persecution, and even death, for their faith in Mor-
monism. A^hen they waxed strong in their original site in Wayne
County, New York, and perhaps they and their neighbors not
so friendly, but about the year 1836, they established two places

364 MY OWN TIMES.
of resort; one at Kirtland, in the State of Ohio, and the other
at the city, of the "Far West," in Missouri. The decree went
forth from the prophet. Smith, founded on a revelation, that
all the scattered flocks of the Mormons should assemble at the
city of the Far West. It was established four miles from the
Missouri River, and about the same distance from Independence,
in Jackson County, Missouri. It was astonishing in so short a
time, thirteen hundred men, women, and children assembled
at this Zion, where they intended to make a great city and
temple. Soon after their arrivival in Missouri, they organized
the "Danite Band," which was first called the "Daughters of
Zion." About five hundred men, well armed, were first organ
ized in this band. Companies were established, containing
fifteen and twenty men, with officers over them. This corps of
five hundred men were efficient and courageous, acting under
fanatical impulses. The church was exceedingly severe against
any Mormon backsliders, and called them "Buzzards." These
Buzzards were held in bad odor and driven off.
Such a collection of people, organized with a community and
residing among the ordinary citizens, inhabiting a new coun
try, could not long remain in friendship with their neighbors.
Human nature with its frailties will not permit two classes of
people, of such different interests and feelings, to remain in
peace with each other for any length of time. False tales were
told on each other, and other causes of quarrels existed, until
the flame burst out into open violence and civil war. In all
such quarrels both parties are about equally guilty. In this
civil war many petty acts of violence were committed by both
parties, and some blood shed.
The main body of the Mormons remained in the city of the
"Far West." They had purchased a large tract of land and
had improved it to some considerable extent. The women and
children took refuge in this city, but neither sex or infancy
saved them from the common crime of Mormonism.
It is said that the prophet, with a company of the "Danites,"
marched into Davis County, Missouri, to quell a mob, but made
war on the people. In fact, both parties assumed the character
of mobs and rioters, and acted as such.
The most atrocious and dastardly massacre was committed
at Hawn's mill, where a defenceless party of Mormons were
attacked by an armed body of the State troops, and sixteen
Mormons, including many women and children, were inhumanly
murdered. Defenceless and unoffending children were included
in this butchery.
The following heart-rending narrative is published in a book
by a respectable and truthful author, Professor John Russell, of
Bluff Dale, of a scene that shows a state of society in Missouri
that is not often equalled. This is the narrative:

MY OWN TIMES. 365
"Mary, in the midst of the furious assault, continued to hide
little Eddy behind the forge of a blacksmith shop that stood next
door to their dwelling. Eddy, who had grown to be a boy ot
unusual intelligence and manliness of character for his age,
begged hard to be permitted to stand by the side of his mother
and share her fate, but this the anxious parent refused. Hardly
had the boy been securely placed in that covert 'when his
father's dwelling was fiercely assailed, and Merrick, pierced with
no less than four balls, fell across his own door-sill. Mary had
just raised the head of the dying man in her lap, and heard
his last sigh, when a cry of exultation rose from the adjoining
blacksmith shop. Eddy had been discovered and dragged forth
by a young man, whose real name we shall conceal under that
of Vorne. Mary, with all the energy of her soul, implored them
to spare her child, her only child, all that was left to her wid
owed heart, pointing to her husband who lay dead at her feet
in a pool of blood. But Eddy, even in this fearful hour, dis
dained all supplications for his life, proudly drew up his form to
its utmost height and said: T am an American. Poor mistaken,
deluded child! He had read the history of his country, and
vainly supposed the very name oi America would throw around
him a shield of adamant; but the proud claims of the boy,
and the wild pleadings of the mother were alike disregarded.
Vorne replied, with a coarse, fiendish laugh: Kill the young
wolves and there will be no old ones. Saying this he coolly and
deliberately brought his rifle within a foot of the child's head
and blew out nis brains, sprinkling the clothes of the mother
with the blood of her own child.
"Let no one ever suppose for an instant that the scene just
described is a fiction. For the honor of manhood we do most
devoutly wish it was. But we assure the reader that every
incident related, however revolting, is strictly true. The slaugh
ter of the father, the concealment and discovery of the boy, his
proud claim, "/ am an American',' the reply of Vorne, and the
blowing out of the child's brains before the eyes of the agonized
mother, all occurred just as it is here related. No human con
sideration would have tempted the writer to fabricate a fiction
so revolting; but it is true and should be told."
Governor Boggs had ordered out a force of three thousand
militia, and with the proper officers surrounded the city of the
Far West and captured it without either a battle or much
bloodshed. History informs us that Governor Boggs, of Missouri, assumed
the power to expel from the State the Mormons, and did do it
He had no such constitutional power, and an assumption of the
power was a species of a mob.
The prophet and many of the leaders were tried by court-
martial, and were sentenced to be shot. General Donovan was

366 MY OWN TIMES.
present, and expostulated with the officers and soldiers, and
had the moral and physical courage of a true American to resist
with success, the execution of this murderous sentence.

CHAPTER CXX.
Mormons Assembled in Nauvoo in Great Numbers. — Cause of Dissat
isfaction. — Excited Parties. — Mormons Could Turn the Scale. —
Joseph Smith Introduced to the President. — His Person. — No Re
lief firom Congress. — Charters from the lUinois Legislature.
In the year 1839 and 1840, the Mormcfns purchased a tract
of land of Dr. Garland, where Nauvoo now stands, in Hancock
County, State of Illinois, and assembled there in great numbers.
At the election of 1840, they voted in this one precinct three
thousand strong. The site where Nauvoo was built was oc
cupied by a small town known as Commerce.
In the above year there existed with the people of Illinois a
strong sympathy and friendly feeling for the Mormons. This
arose from the persecution which they endured in the State of
Missouri. Many of the most intelligent part of the community
considered the Mormons to have received bad treatment in
Missouri, and encouraged their settlement in Illinois; but some
dreaded their location in the State for fear of a collision, such
as was experienced afterward, and their expulsion from the
State. I was one among the few who doubted the propriety
of their settlement in Illinois, and often remarked that the two
classes of people, the two communities could not reside near
each other in peace and friendship. I often stated that the
Mormons should settle in the Sandwich Islands, or some place
out of the jurisdiction of the United States; and it is my sincere
conviction that a disturbance, and perhaps a civil war, will arise
with them at their present residence at the Salt Lake. It is
doubtful if they now will recognize the government of the
United States over them.
At Nauvoo and vicinity, the Mormons assembled in great
numbers from all parts of the Union, and from Europe also.
I presume at the highest figure they might be set down at
fifteen thousand souls in the city and immediate neighborhood,
and were a working, industrious people.
Party-politics raged in Illinois with a bitter rancor, so that
every machinery was put in operation to obtain the victory.
The Whigs and Democrats were pretty equally divided, and it
was supposed that the Mormons could turn the scale on either
side where they cast their votes. This condition of the coun
try gave them great importance, and was one cause of their
downfall.

MY OWN TIMES. 367
In December, 1839, the prophet, Joseph Smith, appeared at
Washington City and presented his claims to Congress for relief
for the losses he and the Mormons sustained in Missouri at the
city of Far West.
When the prophet reached the city of Washington, he desired
to be presented to President Van Buren.
I had received letters, as well as the other Democratic mem
bers of congress, that Smith was a very important character in
Illinois, and to give him the civilities and attention that was
due him. He stood at the time fair and honorable, as far as
we knew at the city of Washington, except his fanaticism ofi
religion. The sympathies of the people were in his favor.
It fell to my lot to introduce him to the President, and one
morning the prophet Smith and I called at the white house to
see the chief magistrate. When we were about to enter the
apartment of Mr. Van Buren, the prophet asked me to introduce
him as a "Latter-Day Saint." It was so unexpected and so
strange to me, the "Latter-Day Saints," that I could scarcely
beheve he would urge such nonsense on this occasion to the
President. But he repeated the request, when I asked him if I
understood him. I introduced him as a "Latter-Day Saint,"
which made the President smile.
Smith, the prophet, remained in Washington a great part of
the winter, and preached often in the city. I became well
acquainted with him. He was a person rather larger than ordi
nary statue, well proportioned, and would weigh, I presume,
about one hundred and eighty pounds. He was rather fleshy,
but was in his appearance amiable and benevolent. He did not
appear to possess any harshness or barbarity iri his composition,
nor did he appear to possess that great talent and boundless
mind that would enable him to accomplish the wonders he
performed. His claim for damages done to the Mormons in Missouri,
was submitted to the Senate, and ^oth the senators of Missouri,
Messrs. Benton and Lynn, attacked his petition with such force
and violence that it. could obtain scarcely a decent burial.
Smith returned to the State of Illinois a red-hot Whig.
At the August election, in 1 840, the Mormons supported the
Whig party, although before they had voted Democratic.
It was important to the Mormons to obtain charters from the
general assembly of Illinois in 1840 and 1841, and the struggle
commenced in the legislature, which party, the Whigs or Demo
crats, could and would dq the most for the Mormons to secure
their votes.
Dr. John C. Bennett, a man of some sagacity and cunning,
but without principle, appeared at the general assembly, and
Mis capital in business, on which he traded, was the whole Mor
mon vote in the future elections of the State. Scenes of bargain

268 MY OWN TIMES.
and intrigue commenced in the halls of legislation, that was
disreputable to both parties.
A charter was granted the city of Nauvoo, that gave them
power beyond the constitution and laws of the State, and which
was at last the main element in their downfall. Another char
ter was granted, organizing the "Nauvoo Legion." This act
also gave this military band too much power. Another charter
was granted to incorporate the "Nauvoo House," arid in it the
prophet and his heirs were to have a residence forever. The
charter for city government gave power to pass ordinances con
trary to the laws of the State, and even the constitution. This
provided for rule and ruin. The Mormons commenced their
government under these charters, and their city and temple
commenced also to expand their wings.

CHAPTER CXXI.
The Mormon Corporation Abuse the Power Given Them. — Schism in
the Church. — Press Destroyed. — Joseph and Hiram Smith Murdered
in JaU. — Mormon^ Leave the State. — The Temple.
The corporation of the city of Nauvoo passed ordinances
tinder their charter that made the city government independent,
in many respects, of the State government, establishing a sover
eignty within a sovereignty. This was the main ground of com
plaint, made by all honest men against both the Mormons for
abusing the power, and the State legislature for giving it to
them. In the summer of 1844, a violent schism and dispute arose
among the "Latter-Day Saints" themselves, and a paper was
established by Wilson, his brother, and some eight other Mor
mons. The reason of the disturbance was the iniquity of the
other prophet, and the church establishing the system of po
lygamy, or the spiritual-wife system. The schismatic members
established a press, to expose the evil-doings and corruption
of the prophet and other members. It is said the prophet
laid claim to Wilson's wife, who was a beautiful woman. One
paper was issued, and the press was destroyed, by order of the
common-council of Nauvoo, before the second paper was issued.
Wilson made complaint to the civil authorities of the county
of Hancock, and had a warrant issued for the arrest of all the
rioters. The citizens throughout the county of Hancock and
the surrounding counties were extremely hostUe to the Mor
mons, and wished to have them expelled from the country as
they had been from Missouri. Wilson was, on this account,
aided by the people. The constable who had charge of the
warrant reported a falsehood — that he could not arrest the

MY OWN TIMES. 369
mayor and common-council. This was a conspiracy to excite
the people against the Mormons, and to collect a vast number
to destroy the new sect.
On the 17th of June, 1844, a committee from Hancock
County waited on the Governor of the State — his excellency,
Thomas Ford — and requested a military force to execute the
laws, when, in fact no resistence was made to their execution.
The Governor deemed it his duty to appear at the scene of
action, and judge for himself When he reached the scene,
under a pledge of the Governor that the rioters would be pro
tected and tried according to law. Mayor Joseph Smith, his
brother Hiram, and the councU, surrendered themselves to the
officers, and were marched eighteen miles from Nauvoo, to
Carthage, the county-seat of Hancock County, for trial. Most
of the party were admitted to bail, but warrants were issued
for Joseph and Hiram Smith for treason, and those two were
confined in the jail of Hancock County. The Governor put a
guard around the prison, but by connivance, and without his
knowledge, a party of disguised men, in the absence of the
Governor, inhumanly murdered the two Smiths in jail. No
murder was ever committed under more dastardly and atro
cious circumstances than this. The people of Hancock County
were determined to wreak their vengeance on the prophet and
his brother, and perpetrated it in this barbarous and disgraceful
manner. The Smiths were decoyed to Carthage, and a warrant
issued for the pretented crime of treason, to confine them in
jaU, and then to take the advantage of prisoners in a jail and,
under the promised protection of the Governor, murder them,
presents a crime that is seldom equalled for its atrocity and
barbarity. The whole Mormon scene, from a short time after they
reached Nauvoo, was a continued warfare and succession of
riots that were disgraceful to human nature, and derogatory to
both civilization and free government. Both parties were about
equally guilty, but the Mormons were the weakest and were
forced to leave the State.
At various periods in the year 1845, and the beginning of
1846, a civil war was at the point of breaking out, and drench
ing the country in blood ; but the matter was agreed on by the
twelve apostles of the Mormon church, and the delegates of
eight of the adjoining counties, that the Mormons would leave
the State in the spring of 1846, and in consideration thereof,
aU arrests and legal process should be abandoned. The leaders
of the Mormon church found it true that they could not remain
in the State, and agreed to leave it. The Governor was privy
to the agreement, and encouraged it for the sake of peace and
harmony in the State.
During the winter, the greatest activity was exerted to pre-
24

370 MY OWN TIMES.
pare for the migration to the Salt Lake in the Rocky Moun-t
tains. Twelve thousand wagons, and other moveable articles in
proportion, were made during the winter previous to their de
parture in the spring of 1 846.
I visited Nauvoo in the spring of 1846, and witnessed much
distress. The women and chUdren were left behind the masses
of the Mormons, and many of them were visited with sickness.
The whole earth, for a large space, was covered with Mormon
wagons starting to the Salt Lake.
I was in the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, and examined it It
was a large and splendid edifice, built on the Egyptian style of
architecture, and its grandeur and magnificence truly astonished
me. It was erected on the top of the Mississippi Bluff, which
gave it a prospect that reached as far as the eye could extend
over the country, and up and down the river. The most singu
lar appendage of this splendid edifice was the font in which the
immersion of the saints was practised. It was circular, being
about fifteen feet in diameter, and about eight in depth. It
was composed, if my memory serves me right, of marble, and
the fabric rested, some six or eight feet from the floor, on the
backs of twelve oxen. The heads of the cattle were turned
out, and the font resting on their backs. The head, horns, and
the whole front of the oxen were beautifully carved in just and
elegant proportions of the bovine animal. The oxen were
carved, I presume, of wood, and were painted as white as snow.
Their horns were beautifully proportioned. Rooms were pre
pared adjoining the font in which to dress and undress prepara
tory to immersion, and arrangements were made to heat the
rooms and the water in the baptismal font.
The complaints of the citizens against the Mormons were
numerous, and perhaps many of them true. Among others
were tKe following: That the "Latter-Day Saints" committed
larcenies on the citizens, and harbored bad men; that the Mor
mons had such power in the county they could not be punished
for any crime; that they governed the county elections, and
that the Mormons considered the government in the city of
Nauvoo above the State authorities, and that crimes and po
lygamy were practised among themselves.
When the charge of polygamy was first made against them,
the public, at a distance from Nauvoo, could not believe that it
was possible that such crime was practised openly by the society,
but the subsequent history of the Mormons leaves no doubt on
the subject that the crime is practised openly among them.
Polygamy is a crime that poisons the fountain of moral and
correct society, and will inevitably destroy the community
where it exists if it be not rooted out. A crime so injurious to
the morals, peace, and happiness of the human family, if the
laws cannot restrain it, will, of its own malignancy, destroy

MY OWN TIMES. .371
itself Its own poison will, in the end, destroy itself The Gov
ernment of the United States is bound to root it out from the
Territory of Utah. Polygamy must be suppressed by law, and
not by Lynch-violence, which is worse than the crime itself.

CHAPTER CXXIL
The Icarian Community. — Sketch of the Life M. Cabet the Founder.
It is in MY TIMES to record the history of this singular com
munity, since its arrival in Illinois, and to give the institution,
from the facts, the position in the community that it merits.
It is now making an experiment — going through the state of
probation — to solve the great principle, in the progress of the
human family, to happiness, and all the philanthropists are
anxiously looking for the success of the enterprise.
The founder of the Icarian community, M. Cabet, is a dis
tinguished and conspicuous character throughout both Europe
and America. He was born in the city of Dijon, — Cote d' or —
in France, January, 1788, and was the son of a workman. He
worked, himself, with his father until he reached the age of
twelve years, and then he commenced his studies under the
celebrated teacher, Jacotot He studied medicine, and then
law. He practised law for many years in France, and was at
one time the attorney-general of that kingdom.
The destiny of M. Cabet was cast in a stormy revolutionary
time in France, and his genius, talents, and temperament would
not permit him to remain an idle, quiet spectator of the im
portant passing events. He became conspicuous, distinguished,
and efficient in every enterprise in which he embarked.
M. Cabet possesses an extraordinary strength and energy of
mind, and an ambition that is unbounded; victory or death
seems to be his motto. Judging from a careful examination of
his life, actions, and writings, he is not a wild, Utopian specu
lator that expects to make mankind and his government per
fect, but all his common-sense presents is the practical improve
ment of the human race, and thereby to render mankind more
happy. In 18x5, when he was twenty-seven years old, he was perse
cuted for his democratic principles, and suspended from the
practice of the law for a considerable length of time.
In the revolution of 1830, in Paris, he signed a declaration,
with many others, summoning the citizens to arms to resist the
Bourbon dynasty, which, if defeated, death was the inevitable
consequence. He might have taken office in the government
of Louis Phillippe, but he declined it
The Democrats of Cote d'or proposed him as a candidate for

372 MY OWN TIMES.
parUament in Paris, and his answer to them, dated May, 1 83 1,
was among the most talented democratic documents that had
ever been published in France. For it he was removed from
his office of attorney-general. He was elected deputy by a
large majority.
He published the history of the Revolution of 1830, for which
he suffered a severe prosecution by the government of Louis
Phillippe, but was honorably acquitted.
In the insurrection of the 5th and 6th of June, 1832, in Paris,
M. Cabet with others, were accused of treason, and warrants
were issued against them. The government was in such rage
that justice could not be administered, and he and others were
not taken, but concealed themselves. He wrote a letter, which
was published, that he did not desire a judicial murder inflicted
on him, but would give himself up to the law when peace and
order were restored. When order and reason had been estab
lished he gave himself up, but was not even prosecuted.
He was prosecuted for a democratic article which he wrote,
and was condemned to two years' imprisonment, and a suspense
of his political rights for five years. The imprisonment was
commuted for five years exile. In his exile in London, he
wrote several histories, which have given him much celebrity.
About this time, he conceived the idea of the amelioration of
the masses, and composed his book known as the "Voyage to
Icannia." This is an imaginary work, like "Plato's Republic,"
to show the operations of his Icarian communism. The con
ception, to improve the condition of the masses, and his inces
sant labors under his system, if no more, will richly entitle him
to the honor of being ranked with the most prominent philan
thropists of the age.
He not only wrote an immense number of books and pamph
lets, but he also edited journals to sustain his views as to his
new principles of communism and democracy. He labored
with great energy to improve the condition of the working-peo
ple of France, as well as their government and social condition.
His system became popular all over France, although it had
influential opponents who attacked it with great severity and
rancor. He struggled against the attacks of his enemies for
fifteen years, and was prosecuted in the cities of Toulouse,
Lyons, Vienne, Rouen, Paris, and St. Quentin, but in every case
he was triumphantly acquitted. The masses were his friends,
but all of the ancient order of things opposed his new system.
In May, 1847, he was convinced that the government of
France would never consent to the establishment of commun
ism in that country, and he determined to settle himself and
community in the United States of America.
When his intention was made known that he would remove
to America, one hundred thousand souls would have foUowed

MY OWN TIMES 373
him across the Atlantic if they had possessed the means. Sev
eral thousand were preparing to sail to America in 1848, and
the vanguard embarked at Havre on the 3d of February, of
that year. But the revolution of the 26th of February, of the
same year, deranged his operations. In these tumultuous times,
he was accused of being at the head of 3,000,000 communists,
and wanted himself to be proclaimed dictator. The troops and
national guard hearing this foolish rumor, marched through the
streets of Paris brandishing their sabres, and crying "Down
with the communists; death to Cabet!" While these cries
were uttering, and the infuriated soldiers crowding the streets,
an empty coffin was borne on, with the inscription on it
"Cabet." His enemies would have entered his house, but sup
posed he was not at home.
On the 15th of May, of the same year, soldiers did enter his
house in search of arms, but found none, and greatly terrified
his wife and family.
On some frivolous pretext, he was condemned to one month's
imprisonment; but about this time, he heard that his colony in
America were about to return to Europe if he did not meet
them. Although it was winter, he determined to sail for
America, and wrote the government that when he settled his
friends in America, he would return and receive his punishment.
He arrived at New Orleans in January, 1849, where he met five
hundred of his colony. Some of his people returned td Eu
rope, but about three hundred, consisting of men, women, and
children, decided with him to settle in Nauvoo, Illinois. They
reached Nauvoo on the 15 th of March, 1849, and have increased
considerably. In 185 1, when the new colony was sufficiently established, he
returned to France and appealed from the first decision of the
court and was triumphantly acquitted with "the honors of inno
cence." While in Paris he established another press, and was at last
exiled to England. He then bid a long farewell to his native
land, "La Belle France',' and has become a citizen of the United
States to end his days in America.
M. Cabet found, in his study of history, that the wars, calam
ities, and distresses among the people, principally arose from
the continual war between the aristocracy and the democracy,
and that the principles of equality must be restored in a com
munity before it can be happy. He published more than forty
works to sustain his communism, and among them one entitled
"True Christianity." In this last work, he demonstrated the
original purity of the gospel, and that communism was com
patible with Christianity in its original purity.

374 MY OWN TIMES.
CHAPTER CXXIIL
The System and PhUosophy of the Icarian Community.
This systerti presupposes the members of the society to be
honest good, and virtuous, and that the system will advance
the people in all the blessings and happiness of life. '
Icarian communism takes the ground that the present, and
particularly the ancient organization of society in Europe, is
vicious and corrupt, and that the misery and distresses of the
people arise out of this malorganization.
The constitution of the Icarian community lays down several
fundamental principles by which their society is to be managed,
improved, and made happy. One of the most essential rules is
the destruction of individual interest and selfishness, as opposed
to the most important considerations that are so highly es
teemed under the present organization of society. No indi
vidual can be the owner of any property or wealth whatever,
but that all estate, property, and substance belong to the
society in common. Each one works for all, and aU work for
each one. The system makes the entire community one single
family, conducted by such government as is agreed on by a free
discussion and vote. The whole wealth and power of the com
munity is an unit and can be wielded, they say, with great effect
for the benefit of all alike.
This system attempts to destroy all unequality, and bases
society on equality, fraternity, and the love of God and man.
The membership is not confined to any nation, kindred, or
tongue, or to any test of religion or religious creed. The
Icarians profess to be Christians, as understood and laid down
in olden times by the New Testament, but they dispense with
any priesthood forming a sacradotal body. Freedom of relig
ious opinions, as other free opinions, are tolerated and sustained.
The external and public worship will be simple, and disengaged
from all superstitions and useless ceremonies. Icarianism is also
founded on education, marriage, and family. Education being
considered the substratum of all blessings, it is given to all
equally and abundantly.
Marriage is considered by them the greatest happiness to the
human family, and particularly to the females and children, and
therefore the Icarian organization contemplates that all men and
women should marry, yet there is no force used to effect it.
The Republic of Icaria binds itself to raise and educate the
children. In this republic, the women have as many social
rights as the men in many respects. They are not permitted
to vote in the legislature of the community, but they have

MY OWN TIMES. 375
reserved places for them in that body, and their votes are
required as "advice." "They are also required to give their
opinions on all questions particularly concerning themselves.
Voluntary celibacy is interdicted," and all should marry, but
the choice must be free to each party. Husband and wife are
equal, and in case of dissent between them, the law will regu
late the course to be pursued. Strict fidelity is enjoined on
both parties. Marriages are contracted for life, yet divorces
may be had according to law.
The constitution of the Icarian government states that "all
men are free, consequently the liberty of each is necessarily
circumscribed by the liberty of others. No one is free to en
croach on the liberty of another. The obedience to the laws is
the exercise of liberty."
This community suppresses opulence and poverty, banking and
usury, salaries of office, and courts of justice. It regulates the
food and lodging of the members, and provides common tables
for aU. It provides, also, clothing for all, regulating also the
variety with uniformity and equality.
The above are some of the principles on which this com
munity is founded, and many of them are based on a profound
knowledge of human rights and freedom. The system is
founded on the principle that individual selfishness shall be
destroyed in the Icarian community. This principle of indi
vidual interest, so powerfully established in the human family,
shall be abandoned by their government. This is requiring of
human nature more than we can accomplish, and more, perhaps,
than is just and proper. It is individual interest that propels
man to act in the present organization of society.
The government of the Icarian community is democratic, the
sovereignty resting with the people, and is divided between
legislative andrexecutive departments, which are to be kept dis
tinct and separa*. Legislation is confined to a general assem
bly of all the people, and only the males voting; the executive
to a committee called the Committee of Gerant The judicial
power is exercised by the general assembly, or a jury estab
lished by law.
Under this organization, the Icarian community has been in
actual operation since March, 1849, in Illinois, and now num
bers about five hundred souls. They are industrious, virtuous,
and happy people, carrying out the theory of their system.
They have established an auxiliary society in the State of
Iowa, on a tract of land containing three thousand acres. In
this latter community, they will receive the new members after
they go through a state of probation at Nauvoo. The society
has increased one hundred during the last year, and the mem
bers entertain a lively hope that the experiment to improve the
condition of man will be successful.

376 MY OWN TIMES..
Persons may leave at their own discretion and receive part of
the sum they gave the society at their entrance, which is
required to be sixty dollars. They also have returned to them
their beds, clothing, and working utensils. One large room is
furnished to two males, or to two females, or to a married
couple. The rooms are well furnished without luxury. Work
shops have been erected for all the mechanic occupations —
tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, wagon - makers, and so on
through the whole list of mechanic -work. The females also
have their rooms well adapted to washing, sewing, and all the
work throughout their department
Each member is bound to work according to their strength,
so as not to be oppressive. The longest day's work is not to
exceed ten hours, and no work is to be done by candle-light.
The food which is provided, and cooked in a common kitchen
by the community, is plain, nourishing, and healthy. The
evenings are spent in recreations and amusements.
On Sunday, lectures are delivered on moral and religious sub
jects, and often on the evenings of Sundays, most of the com
munity march out to the shady groves, in good weather, with a
band of music, and the young dance, while the old and the chil
dren look on or gather flowers. On Sunday evenings, concerts
and theatres are frequently enjoyed. Most of the children are
instructed in music, so that at this time the young ones are gen
erally good musicians.
The community possess two printing-presses, one French and
the other German, that publish periodical papers. They also
own a library of almost four thousand volumes, and a cabinet
of mineralogical and chemical specimens; also, many musical
instruments, and some arms for the chase.
The general assembly convene every Saturday evening, and
transact public business.
The community have erected a large institution for education,
and an infant asylum and infirmary. Also, stables for their
horses and cattle. They have also a fine flouring-mill and a
saw-mill. Also, granaries of large dimensions, and a store.
The Icarians are generally a quiet sober, honest, and peace
able people, so that they and their neighbors live on the best of
terms with each other, and interchange civilities after the man
ner of brothers.
The constitution and laws of the State give this community
ample freedom to carry out their system, and it is hoped that
success may crown their efforts.

MY OWN TIMES 377

CHAPTER CXXIV.
Freshets in the Mississippi River. — Calm in Pohtics. — Isms. — Mexican.
War.— The Author Elected Twice to the General Assembly. — Elected.
Speaker of the House. — The General Occupation of the Author.
At long intervals, the Mississippi River inundates its low
lands, and sweeps with great violence over the bottom from
bluff to bluff. The last very high rise of water in the river was
in the year 1844, and another preceded it in the year 1785.
The last inundation covered the American Bottom for many
feet and did great injury to the property within the scope o^
the high waters. I saw, often, the marks of the water of the
flood of 1785 on the houses in the French villages, but do not
believe that it was as high as that of 1 844. The highest water'
of 1844, is marked on a rock- monument planted on Water
Street, between Market and Elm Streets, in St Louis, Missouri.
It appears that there has been four great inundations of the
Mississippi lowlands within the last one hundred and fifty years.
One in 1725; the next in 1772; the next in 1785; and the last
in 1844.
At this period, there is almost a dead calm in politics in this
State, and in fact it is the same throughout the Union. The
Whig party having been nearly used up, the Democrats have no
opposition, and they divide among themselves. Many other
elements are now mixed with the old parties, so that the great
leading principles that were once so warmly and ably discussed
are now measurably at rest. An organization in many of the
States, know^k as the "American Party," is established, and is
introduced into politics. Another party is established on the
Missouri Compromise. This subject brings up into discussion
the prohibition of slavery, by act of Congress, in the Territory
of Kansas, and produces great excitement throughout the
Union. It has, and will govern the elections in many of the
States, and I presume that both of these parties will be a great
element in the next presidential election.
The Mexican war occurred during the administration of Pres
ident Polk, and was conducted with great efficiency and honor
to the nation.
The State of Illinois acted her part nobly in that war, and
gained much character and standing by the great and extra
ordinary efforts of the soldiers of the State. Almost ten regi
ments volunteered their services, and five entered the tented
field. These were all the government would receive. At the
battle of Buena Vista, at Cerro Gordo, and at all other points

278 MY OWN TIMES.
where the Illinois troops appeared in this war, they acquitted
themselves with honor and glory to themselves and the State.
In 1840, Thomas Ford was elected governor of tlfe State of
Illinois, and whose administration was encumbered considerably
with the " Mormon troubles." Augustus C. French was elected
twice — once in 1846, and in 1848 — to the chief-magistracy of
the State. Governor French made a prudent, discreet execu
tive-officer. In 1848, the new constitution of the State was established by
the people, and under it Mr. French was elected governor, the
second time, in 1848.
In 1852, Joel B. Matteson was elected governor of the State,
and whose term of service closes in January, 1857.
Experience is the unerring guide to mankind in free govern
ment as well as all other transactions, and it was discovered
that the first constitution, formed in 18 18, did not suit the state
of society in 1847, and a new constitution and form of govern
ment were established.
The judiciary, under the old constitution, was a main feature
— that required a new and better organization. Under the old
constitution, the tenures of the office of the judges were during
good behavior. Under these circumstances, an objectionable
officer could never be removed, except by impeachment, which
was rarely practicable. Illinois was among the first States of
the Union to adopt the principle to elect the judges of the
courts by the people, and define the term of office to a certain
number of years.
Many years before the adoption of the new constitution, I,
and many others in Illinois, urged warmly on the public, in the
newspapers and otherwise, the propriety of the election of the
judges by the people. This system is adopted in the new con
stitution. A council of revision was established in the old constitution,
composed of the governor and judges of the supreme court.
This, on practice, was discovered to be wrong. The governor,
acting alone now, has the power to veto the bills sent him from
the general assembly before they become laws. He should pos
sess more power, requiring two-thirds of the legislature to pass
bills over his head.
The new constitution defines the pay of members and the
length of time of the session of the general assemblies, which
is discovered to be an excellent provision. The sessions of the
legislature are now short and efficient. The new constitution
also provides for the payment of the State debt, and the pre
vention of free colored people settling in the State. As one of
the people, I advocated warmly and voted for the new consti
tution. The State constitution of Illinois, of 1818, was the first in the

MY OWN TIMES. 379
Union that adopted the humane provision against the old bar
barous custom of imprisonment for debt. A spirit of mercy
and benevolence breathes through the constitution and laws of
lUinois that is creditable and honorable to the founders of our
State government. The constitution speaks this Christian lan
guage: "The object of punishment is reformation, and not ex
termination." I do not believe that any State in the Union is
blessed with a better constitution and laws than Illinois, and
where the State laws are better administered.
A better system of banking is also established under the new
constitution than existed under the first government All the
old banks broke, and were a curse to the country. The present
system of free-banking, with State stocks for a basis, may do
better. In 1846, I was elected a member, from St Clair County, to
the general assembly of the State, and on the 7th of December,
of that year, took my seat in the house of representatives. The
main object of myself and friends, in my election to the gen
eral assembly, was to obtain, with the united exertions of my
colleagues, a charter for a macadamized road from the city of
BellevUle to the Mississippi River, opposite to St. Louis, Mis
souri. The legislature of Illinois had been so exceedingly
democratic, that a charter could not be obtained, previously,
without two provisions contained in them that prevented stock
from being taken under them, and the improvements from being
made. One provision was, that the charter could be repealed
at any time; and the other was, that the private property
of each stockholder should be liable for all the debts of the
company. These exceedingly rigid provisions were not inserted
in this charter, and under it a macadamized road was con
structed from the city of Belleville to the river. This was the
first macadamized road made in the State. It is almost four
teen miles long. Before the construction of this road, at times
it was almost impossible to reach the river for the mud and mire
in the road.
A story is told, to show the mud in the American Bottom,
that a man was going to St. Louis, and in the American Bot
tom he saw a hat on the top of the ground. He got off his
horse to pick up the hat, but found a man's head in it. The
man under the hat said, "under him was a wagon and four
horses mired . in the mud ; that he was safe, but he supposed the
horses and wagon were in a bad fix!'
This was the best improvement made in the county, and gave
the city of Belleville its first advance toward prosperity.
I advocated all in my power an act of the general asssembly,
establishing in a circuit several counties, including the counties
of Johnson and Massac, where certain rioters had done much
injury, and juries could not be procured in the infected counties

380 MY OWN TIMES.
to punish the offenders. Under this law, the rioters were tried
in the adjoining counties, and peace and quiet were restored to
the citizens.
After the close of this legislature, I turned my time and
attention more to the calm and quiet of life. I had recourse to
my library of almost one thousand volumes of choice selections,
and indulged in the study of science and literature. I practised
law in some pecuUar cases for my amusement and recreation,
but devoted my attention mainly to my books. I discovered
an ample field in literature for all my energy and labor to exert
themselves, and at the same time, these pursuits produced not
only an occupation for me, but also much happiness. I soon
discovered that the bustle and turmoils of a political life did
not produce happiness. In this condition of life, of active idle
ness, I wrote the "Pioneer History of Illinois." I published
fifteen hundred copies, and, I believe, almost every reading
person in the State has given it a perusal.
The next work I published was a pamphlet, known as "John
Kelly." This work was intended to enforce morality and virtue
on the community, and toleration and liberality among the vari
ous religious sects. It did not succeed as well as I think its
merits entitled it, or as well as I contemplated it would when I
wrote it.
I travelled in the fall of 1853, for information, to the cities of
New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, by the falls of Niagara,
and returned by the Ohio River. I published sketches of the
country over which I travelled, and "A glance at the Crystal
Palace, in the city of New York." This work receives, to some
extent the approbation of the public. It contains considerable
statistical information.
I am closing my last work, called "MY OWN TIMES," embra
cing, also, the history of my life. I labored on it incessantly,
for one year, in writing it and preparing it for the press.
The improvement of the county of St. Clair, and particularly
the railroads to the city of BeUeville, induced the people to pro
pose me again for the legislature in 1852. I was elected, and
when I appeared at the seat of government I was taken up as
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I knew I was
not well qualified for the situation, but I was elected by accla
mation to that very responsible and laborious office.
The foUowing is a part of the address I delivered on being
elected Speaker of the House:
"I have nothing to labor for but the public good. My life
has been chiefly devoted to promote the public interests of
the State of Illinois. I have been raised in it, and the State
has honored me repeatedly by marks of its confidence; and
now, in my latter days, it will afford me great pleasure if I can
advance the welfare of the people of the State.

MY OWN TIMES. 381
"Gentlemen: You have my sincere thanks for the honor that
you have conferred on me, and I will endeavor to perform the
duties of the office to the best of my abilities."
The House was extremely friendly to me, and not a single
appeal was taken from my decisions. A great amount of im
portant business was transacted this session, and all carried
through in forty-two days. I procured, with the exertions of
my colleagues, an act to improve the American Bottom, and
another to promote the navigation of the Kaskaskia River,
which acts have already done much service to the country. In
the called-session of this same general assembly, in 1854, much
business was transacted.

CHAPTER CXXV.
Improvements of the State.
Within a few years, Illinois has increased its wealth and
population with astonishing rapidity. The immigrants are
mostly the choice spirits, the most talented and enterprising
citizens of the old States, who have settled in Illinois. The
drones are left at home in the old beehive. This is one reason,
among many others, that has caused the State to improve so
fast. One other ingportant consideration, which has advanced much
the unparalleled prosperity of this State, is the great number of
intelligent and efficient public journals established throughout
the State, and teeming always with statistics and other useful
information relative to the great resources of the State. I pre
sume there are more than five hundred newspapers printed in
lUinois, which have done the State immense service. There is
no class of men in the State who do so much good, and are so
poorly paid for it, as the conductors of public journals.
It is estimated that Illinois contains seven millions five hun
dred thousand acres of cultivated land at this time, and the
remainder, just as available and as good, is yet to be filled up
and improved. Scarcely an acre in the State is unavailable and
unproductive. The large prairies are the greatest advantages
that Illinois possess. The prairies of Illinois over timbered
land have advanced the State fifty years in its rapid progress
to its present agricultural prosperity. Many persons, without
reflection, desire more timber, and recommend the culture of
forest-trees. I repeat it, that it would be to the advantage of
the State if there was not a forest-tree in it Then, fences out
side of the fields would be useless to keep the stock out as
there would be no range or common of pasture for the stock.
What is the use of outside fences if no animals range outside?

382- MY OWN TIMES.
Some fences, for pastures within, may be necessary, but no out
side fences will be seen in Illinois, in a few years, when the whole
State will be under cultivation. All the timber in IlUnois is
not worth the fences, and the continuation of the fences, that
now enclose the cultivated lands in the State. Stone-coal will
furnish the fuel, and lumber, and small quantities of timber
that is necessary for building, will be imported.
The first improvement of the agricultural implements in Illi
nois, was the fan by which to clean wheat when it was threshed.
At Edwardsville and Alton, these fans were manufactured and
sold to some considerable extent in the year 1820, or there
abouts. They were considered, in their day, a great improve
ment in the cleaning of the wheat from the chaff. About the
year 1835, the improved diamond plow appeared in the country.
In 1834, I carried to Washington City a model of a plow
invented by B. Johnson, of Bond County, and obtained for him
a patent for his invention. This plow, invented by Mr. Johnson,
is substantially the same as the present diamond plow.
It has not been more than eight or ten years since the reap
ing and threshing-machines were introduced into common prac
tice in this State. At this day, many of the finest agricultural
implements in America are manufactured and used in Illinois.
McCormick's reaper received the prize at the great fair in Lon
don, and many of the agricultural utensils from Illinois obtained
premiums at Paris in the late exhibition. Almost every town
in the State manufacture, more or less, agricultural imple
ments. Messrs. Cox & Roberts, of Belleville, otftained a patent
for a very useful invention in the threshing and cleaning of
wheat, and they manufacture and sell great numbers of their
machines. One thousand threshing-machines are owned and
used in this one single county of St. Clair. Also, within a few
years, the drill, by which to sow small grain, is becoming quite
common in practice. Mr. Rentchler, of this city, has manufac
tured and sold a great number of these wheat-drills. Messrs.
Walker and company have manufactured and sold a great quan
tity of plows, and other farming implements, in the city of
Belleville. All these implements receive a ready sale, to sup
ply the increasing wants of the country. ,
The great number of railroads, constructed in every section
of the State, within four or five years, has advanced the agricul
tural interests of Illinois five hundred per cent. These roads
add more to the permanent wealth of the country than any
other improvement invented, except the great motive power,
steam itself
This late excitement, and establishment of agricultural socie
ties and fairs through the Union, particularly in the West, have
done much to advance the best interests of the country. Vol
umes might be written to yortray the beneficial influence of

MY OWN TIMES. 383
these societies, but the practical demonstration of the superior
articles of husbandry themselves produces the best effect on the
public. James N. Brown, Esq., a member of the general assembly
from Sangamon County, in the session of 1853, procured the
passage of a law appropriating two thousand dollars, for two
years, to establish State agricultural fairs. Mr. Brown deserves
great credit for his exertions to advance the agricultural ener
gies of the State.
At the first fair, in Springfield, the entries of articles for pre
miums amounted to 765. The next year, at the same place,
the entire number rose up to 1067; and at the last fair, at Chi
cago, the entries went up to 2000. The cattle and produce at
Chicago excelled those exhibited at any fair ever held in North
America. It is supposed that more than one hundred thousand
different persons visited the fair at Chicago. The receipts of
the fair at Chicago were $13,500. Those of New York were
$12,500; Indiana, $11,000; and Ohio, $9000. It is conceded
that the State fair at Chicago was the greatest ever held in
America. The population and products of the State increase in the
same ratio. In 1810, the population of Illinois was 12,282; in
1820, 55,211; in 1830, 157,495; in 1840,486,103; and in 1850,
851,470. All the returns of the census for 1855 are not yet
reported, but it is supposed, from eighty-odd counties received,
that the population of the State is now one million three hun
dred thousand, and at the same ratio, in i860, there will be two
millions in the State. It is estimated that eighty-one miUions
of bushels of corn, and twenty-five millions of bushels of wheat
were raised this year in Illinois. This estimate places Illinois
the foremost grain-growing State in the Union.
I close this work hoping and predicting that Illinois will, in a
few years, be the EMPIRE STATE OF THE Union.

INDEX

PAGE
Ali)ri|!nes, disappear before U.S. des
tiny  21
Act of Congress for grants of land, . . 36
to defend western territories, .... 84
i820,on public lands,  145
to remit Gen. Jackson's fine,  292
to instruct army, 1794, 1812, ... 310
for electing judicial officers  176
relative to wills and testaments, . 180
for Gov. to appoint canal com'rs, 203
for internal improvement passed
over the Gov.'s and judges' veto 324
Adams, John Q. , life, character, abili
ties, death,  308
Agriculture, slow,  56
and commerce increased,  112
Agricultural interests advanced, .... 29
Statistics,  381
Implements,  382
Aids -de -Camp of Author in Black-
Hawk war,  212
to Gov. Edwards,  86
Alarm among the mines of Galena, . . 177
Alton, temper of the people on Aboli
tion,  318
American character,  igo
Americans of Illinois,  40
emigrants from Western States, 40
independent character of  40
and English contrasted,  336
Amusements in camp,  91
on the frontier,  8
Ancient cities of Europe,  352
Anderson, Rev. Isaac, preceptor of
College, Tenn  7o, 72
Annexation ofTexas under Pres. Polk, 312
Antiquarian and Historical Society of
Illinois,  282
Antwerp,  J56
Arkansas admitted to Union, 1836,
supported by James Buchanan, 312
Armories,  316
Arms supplied to volunteers,  213
Army too strong for Indians to attack, 96
Asiatic cholera in Gen. Scott's army
Chicago,  .- 252
Atkinson, Gen,, sent by U. S. Gov.
to Winnebagos,  178
of regiment at Rock Island ap
plies to Author for cooperation
against band of Sac Indians, . . 223
receives volunteers into U. S. ser
vice  228

PAGE
approves Author's action,  239
Attorneys, only three,  67
Augustin age,  287
Austin, Moses, founder of Texas, .. . 311
Author admitted to practise law,  91
appointed judge advocate,  97
appointments of the directors of
penitentiary whilst Gov. of State, 173
attends various law courts,  179
and company build railroad them
selves, in one season, 1837, and
sold it at loss,  322
and Gen. Scott remain at Rock
Island to conclude treaties, . . . 266
and wife sail for Europe,  332
as Gov. calls out militia,  208
as Gov. issues second call,  224
as maj. -gen. in Black- Hawk war, 228
carries $26,000 from Vincennes
to St. Louis,  Ill
elected from St. Clair Co. to Gen.
Assembly,  379
elected Justice of Supreme Court, 135
Co-Justices,  135
elected to Gen. Assem, 1826, . . . 166
position in,  171
elected to Legislature, 1852  380
elected speaker of the House, . . . 380
address as speaker,  380
goes home to settlements but re
turns to army,  244
goes with Gen. Atkinson to Dixon, 250
goes to U. S. Pennsylvania Bank, 33 1
introduces Mormon Prophet to
Pres. VanBuren,  367
never absent from seat in Con
gress,  315
diffisrent measures bro't forward, 315
never vacillated on party votes, 316
offers for Congress,  283
is elected, 1834,  285
one of the people,  189
orderly sergeant at Grand Piasa, 94
practises law,  165
proposed for Governor,  181
receives approval from Washing
ton and authority from Pres.
Jackson to make treaties with
Indians; together with Gen.
Scott,  252
removes to Goshen, 1807,  64
resumes studies,  80
retires to private life,  380

386

INDEX.

PAGE
returns to Belleville  252
sent to London to negotiate loan
for canal,  331
seven years in Congress,  315
studies French  107
visits Washington's residence, ... 314
with staff and others leaves, the
army,  252
Author's abstinence,  50
administration as Governor, .... 192
supports Pres. Jackson's adminis
tration,  202
ancestry,  2
attack of fever,  215
character,  60
childhood,  3
domestic relations, marriage, etc., 131
economy at Washington City, ... 316
expenses to Europe,  358
first court,  138
first law office,  109
first message as Gov., Dec, 1830, 193
first military expedition,  81
move in House, that votes be
given viua voce, adopted  296
first stump speech,  187
impressions on entering Congress, 285
interregnum in Congress life, ... 317
journey to Washington,  286
last foot-race,  81
letters to Washington,  225
official conduct approved by Sen
ate, etc. ,  268
policy in Black-Hawk war,  213
preparations for college  67
return from college ill,  77
second marriage in D. C  317
second message to Gen. Assembly, 269
visit to early home in Tenn., ... 5
staff in Black-Hawk war,  214
new staff,  245
sobriquet "Old Ranger,"  91
writings,  380
Autumn campaign up Mississippi,
slow, sickly,  94
Bad Axe stream, where Gen. Henry
caught and defeated Indians, . . 264
Baggage wagons left,  259
Baltimore,  287
Bank of Pennsylvania furnished $I,-
000,000 to 111. canal  331
Bank of U. S. opposed by Pres. Jack
son as an electioneering machine, 295
Combinations in Senate and Con
gress for and against it,  295
closed 1834,  301
Bank paper and its consequences, 1819-
21,  142
Banking system commenced 1816-17, 105
Baptist census  126
Baptist churches,  124, 126
denomination  123

PAGB.
ministers,  123
Bar, members of, immigrated to 111., 138
Barns, French,  5&
" Barring out the master, "  S
Barry, Hon. W. T., of Ky., tomb in
England,  335
Bastile, key of, in France, given to
Gen. Washington,  314
Bayard of the army,  250
Beck, D., author of Gazetteer of 111., 31
Bee trees and honey,  1 94
Bell, Capt., of Lexington, Ky., leased
the salines,  47
Benton's speech on Andrew Jackson, i6i
Bienville, Governor of Louisiana,  28
Big Muddy River,  15
Bilious fever, treatment of,  130
Birmingham  338
Blackburn, Gideon, pulpit orator, ... 73
Black Betty,  41
Black Hawk invades Government
lands,  202
in 183 1  204
in i8io,  205
with Col. Dixon in Canada  205
battle at Quivre River, Mo., in
sink hole,  205
sided with the British,  206
war, cause of, 1828,  206
petitions to author as Gov. by
whites against,  207
and Gen. Gaines,  217
character of,  222
treaty with, by Gen. Gaines and
Author,  218
interpreter at, treaty with,  217
nicknamed the "Corn treaty," .. 220
breaks treaty and marches to
Oquawka,  222
account of fight with StiUman, . . 234
end of war with,  265
captured,  266
Black Partridge village, Peoria lake, 87
Blount, Wm., first Gov. of Tenn., ... 12
" Blue coat boys ", England,  335
Blue mounds, Wis., meeting of bri
gades,  262
Boltenhouse, a pioneer, killed  93
name of prairie,  93
Bonaparte's monument of conquest of
England !  346
Books,  ,  58
Booty,  89
Boulogne,  345
Boundary, northern, of Illinois  106
Boundaries of western States,  300
agitated in Congress,  300
territory of Wisconsin, .....*.... 300
discussion in Congress,  301
opposing parties, settled,  301
Breese, Hon. Sydney, first to bring
forward subject of 111. Cen.
R. R. in newspaper,  325

INDEX.

387

PAGE
Bridge over lake, 2000 feet across, . . 322
Bridges over Kaskaskia river,  113
Brigade organized under Colonels Ste
phenson and McNair,  94
under Gen. Atkinson and Author
march 80 miles up Rock River, 25
Brigades ordered in search of provi
sions,  254
ordered to different posts,  250
Bristbl,  358
British Channel, crossing  345
British Gov. of Fort Chartres  30
Brougham, Lord,  342
his satire,  302
Brussels  355
to Antwerp,  356
Buffon's Cedar  350
Burgess, Hon. Tristram, of Rhode
Island,  301
Burial of dead on battle ground,  236
Buzzards,  364
Cabet, M., founder of Icarian Com
munity,  371
acts in France, attorney-general
of France,  371
democratic speeches and writings, 372
denounced as a communist,  373
arrival in New Orleans  273
goes to Nauvoo,  273
Cabinet of Pres. Jackson, 1834, ..... 287
speaker and clerk of House,  288
"Cached" in the earth,  237
Cahokia,  109
courts, tricks,  103
Cairo, bank and city,  105
Calm in politics  377
Calbert, Scotchman, leader of Indians, 35
Camp meetings, two first in Illinois, 120
Campaign ended  239
Campbell's Island,  100
Canal from Illinois River to lakes, . . . 136
Canal commissioners,  181
Canal or railroad connecting Illinois
River and Lake Michigan, . . . 272
Chicago harbor, before Legislature, . . 272
Canal, 111. and Mich., i8i8 to 1848, 325
arrangement to complete,  326
Candidates for Congress, 1828,  179
for Lieutenant-Governor,  191
for Congress, 1834,  283
for Governor, 1834,  285
Duncan elected Governor on false
premises  285
Canterbury,  351
Canvassing for office,  284
Capital punishments and courts,  49
Captains organized their companies, 84
Whiteside and Boon made majors, 94
Card-playing  52
Carlin, Thos., afterward Gov. of 111., 95
Carriages and horses,  340
Catacombs of Paris,  354

PAGE
Cartwright, Rev. P., pioneer method-
ist,  121
Celeron, M  29
Census  184
of all churches, 1850,  128
of religious members,  117
of 1840,  325
"Champs d' Elysees,"  351
Charleville, a French trader,  11
Charlevoix, a missionary,  31
Chase, a  179
Chicago guarded by Major Bailey's
battalion,  246
will be first or second city on the
continent,  327
Chief-Justice, Attorney-General, .... 160
Childhood, influence of,  i
Cholera about Rock Island,  256
Christian Creeds,  117
Church first established, on Prairie du
Long Creek,  117
Circuit Courts established, judges, ... 160
Circulation of money  282
Clark, Gen. G. R., ordered to con
struct a fort,  32
Clay, Henry, and Cicero,  72
Whig leader,  292
measures he supported in Con
gress  293
Cold Friday, 1805  107
College of Tennessee,  , . 71
studies at,  76
Colleges  273
Organization of, .*  274
Lebanon seminary established, . . 274
incorporated by Act of General
Assembly, and called Mc
Kendre College,  27s
Presidents of,  275
Illinois College at Jacksonville . . 276
connected with Yale, Presidents,
etc.,  276
Burnt in 1852 and rebuilt  276
Hillsborough Seminary removed
to Springfield  276
Shurtliff College, Alton  276
Paris Methodist Seminary  276
Colonies on Mississippi  20
Coloring linsey,  43, 44
Commerce carried on in regular sys
tem,  150
cause of its being retarded  150
Comet,  79
Commandants of Fort Chartres  30
Commissioners  225
"Company of the West,"  27, 28
of the Indies,  27
Companies organized and officered, . . 246
Compromise at  270
Chicago refused to enact it,  270
Congi-essional districts and counties, 283
Constitution of State of Illinois,  134
new, 1848, . ,  378

388

INDEX.

PAGE
Convention first, 1802,  67
members, business, place,  67
project for slavery,  153
leaders of opposite parties,  154
system not established, 1834, . . . 283
system,  305
Cook, D. P., pledge when elected
M. C,  162
defeated for Congress,  164
Corn shucking  42
and cattle shipped to Louisiana, 57
Correspondence with Gen. Clark of
St. Louis,  210
with Gen. Gaines,  210
County Courts to select proper jurors, 176
Counties, Gallatin,  25
Division of, in Illinois  66
of, under judges  I37
Madison, Johnson, Pope, Galla
tin, 1812,  104
Edwards, 18 12, White, Jackson,
Monroe, 1815-16,  105
Clark, Jefferson, Wayne, Alexan
der, created,  137
Montgomery, Sangamon,  150
Green, Pike, 1821,  150
Hamilton, Lawrence, 1821  150
Morgan, 1823, Edgar, Marion, 151
Adams, Calhoun, Fulton, Han
cock, Henry, Knox, McDon
ough, Mercer, Peoria, Schuy
ler, 'Warren, 1824-5,  '51
Putnam, Wabash, Clay, Clinton, 151
Joe Davis,  1 70
TazeweU, Perry, Shelby, Joe
Davis,  177
Macoupin, Macon,  181
Jasper, Rock Island, Cook, Mc
Lean, LaSalle, Putnam, Coles,
1830-31,  203
organized 1840  327
established in a circuit,  379
Court of Common law established, . . 31
of Common pleas and quarter ses
sion  66
Creoles,  37
none ever sentenced to hanging
or penitentiary,  51
Criminal jiirisprudence of the State,
drafted and exported by Judge
Lockwood,  175
Crockett, Hon. David, of Tenn., .... 286
Cromwell  362
Crozat, M., monopoly of trade,  27
Cumberland, river first navigated, ... 11
or West Tennessee settled,  11
hills,  14
mountains  69
mountains and those who travelled
them,  76
Currency increased, 1833,  301
Danites  364

PAGE
D'Artaquette, Gov. of Illinois, 1736, 28
Davenport  221 ^
Debt and depression,  152
Deer skins, the measure of value  54
Democrats, Jackson's party called, . . 162
Democratic principles and policy, . . . 294
Desertion in army,  310
Dixon, Col., leader of Indians,  82
Dodge, Gen., to defend Wisconsin, 235
kills Indians at Pecatonica Creek, 244
Douglas, Stephen A., nomination to
Congress,' 1837,  304
Dover,  345
debtors in jaU at  345
fortified 1805,  345
Duel of rocks,  169
Early boundaries and settlements, ... 10
education,  58
Earthquake,  79
Editors of newspapers,  186
Education versus drink and tobacco, . 181
Edward's Campaign,  86
officers of,  86
Ninian, Governor, 1809,  78
Egyptian hieroglyphics deciphered by
a Frenchman,  35S
Election of members to first General
Assembly,  135
Gov. and Lieutenant-Governor, 166
State Treasurer under Author as
Governor,  201
most excited and most important, 155
Elections early for Gov. and other
officers,  158
for Congress,  268
and Gov. of State  330
Candidates for,  330
Viva-voce,  176
Electing members to Congress, law for, 203
Electoral U. S. votes, number of, ... 161
Electioneering in 1829 and 1855, .... 189
speeches, uniformity of,  189
Eloquence not realized in paper
speeches,  293
Encampment on Mississippi near Sac
Village,  215
opposite mouth of Missouri River, 91
England, feeling against  65
effect of war with,  7^
English character and French con
trasted  334
Executive influence,  303
Expedition by water to Prairiedu Chien
by Gov. Clark of St. Louis, . . 99
second, by river, commanded by
Lieut. Campbell, regulars, ... 99
Capt. Rector and Lieut. Riggs,
rangers  99
fight with Indians,  TOO
return to St. Louis  loi
third, on Mississippi, under Major
Taylor, etc. ,  loi

INDEX.

389

PAGE
fight at Rock Island with British
and Indians,  loi
return to Warsaw  loi
Exhibition of arts, Paris,  35 1
Exploring country west to Pacific
Ocean, 1804,  ,  106
Extortion on travellers,  345
Equality in France and in England, . . 344
Factory goods, first in Illinois, 181 8, 44
" Far 'West, " Mo. , Mormon settlement, 364
Father Walker's church, St. Louis, . . 120
Ottawa, 111., Chicago,  121
Feeling between regulars and volun
teers  263
Ferry at Shawneetown,  46
Wiggin's, first across Mississippi,
1795  36
Fever River, grigin of name,  1 70
Fights,  51
Finger in danger,  52
Foot-racing, jumping, wrestling, .... 53
Forced march of Gen. Henry,  260
short of provisions,  262
volunteers,  97
Ford, Thos., Gov. of 111., 1844, action
on Mormons  369
Fort Armstrong,  221
Apple Creek, attacked by Indians, 243
Carlyle,  84
Clark, at Peoria,  96
Chartres, old cannon,  82, 26
centre of business, fashion, gaiety, 28
newly built of limestone 1756, .. 29
river encroaching on  31
abandoned by English Gov. , . . . . 31
and village drowned, 1772,  31
thirty years after, area, etc  31
Edwards built,  102
Gage, seat of English Gov  31
Grand Risseau, or Piggot's Fort,
or Big Run  36
largest in Illinois, 1783,  36
Harrison besieged and defended
by Lieut. Taylor,  85
Hill attacked by Indians, 1812, 83
Jefferson,  32
attacked by Indians  34
defended, afterward abandoned, 35
Jones,  84
LaMotte  84, 93
Massacre,  17
Turf, opposite Dixon,  236
Wilburn on Illinois River,  245
"Forted,"  3
Forts and garrisons established on
frontiers  81
frontier from Mississippi to
Chicago  246
line of, from New Orleans to
Quebec,  27
Forsyth, Thos., Indian agent,  90
Four lakes, encampment on,  260

PAGE
Fourth of July,  65
Freemen of London,  343
French artizans, 1720,  28
colonists and trappers,  10
Creoles,  28
custom dues, passport system, . . 346
" Diligence, " beggars,  346
cities, soil, climate  347
army and police, churches, desid-
eration,  348
palaces and pictures, gobelin tap-
^^'7"---'  349
vehicles and horses,  351
farming, washing, ]3oulevard, . . . 352
in Cahokia,  91
licks,  II
ponies,  57
representatives,  27
settlers,  37
dress, habits, amusements,  39
spoliations supported by Whigs, 296
opposed by Democrats,  296
and Quentine villages,  48
Freshets in Mississippi River,  377
Frontier of III. and settlements,  82
exposed position of, 1812,  82
preparation of Indians to exter
minate,  82
regiments,  84
Frontiers in danger of Indians, 1832, 224
guarded by Major Bailey and
Gen. Stillman,  ,  225
Fruits  57
Fun and frolic in primitive Illinois, . . 157
Funds for Canal obtained from Phila
delphia and London by Author
and Judge Young  326
Furs, skins, and staple articles,  54
Gaines, Col., of Tenn.,  80
Gen. , manner toward Author, .. . 215
Galena,  168
Gaming  51
Garden of plants, Paris,  350
General Assembly, first at Kaskaskia, 105
of State Government,  133
1826-7,  171
improvement and civilization, ... 48
Ghent, peace of, 1814,  :o2
Ginseng, Indians find abundant inU. S. 13
Goshen, Author removes to, 1807, ... 64
Governor, canvass for, between
Author and Gov. Kinney, .... 184
first of Illinois territory,  104 «
Secretary of State  104
U. S. Judges for Territory,  104
first of Illinois, State,  103, 106
Governor's duties  200
of Illinois, their power,  378
Government of City of London,  343
"Grand Prairie," the  25
Grants of land, 1722,  28, 31
petition for, in Illinois  .^ i6

39°

JNDEX.

of monopoly of Louisiana trade, 27
Gunsmith, first white man in Shaw
neetown,  46
Hardships of following Indians,  259
Harrison, W. H., Gov. of Territory, 24
Harney, Major,  239
Helena, Wisconsin River, army crosses, 263
officers commanding army,  263
Henry, Gen. Jas. D., character, etc., 253
adored by people of Illinois, .... 262
in violation of orders marches
after Black Hawk  255
disaffection in army,  256
his firmness in emergency,  257
insult to, in order of march  263
Homicide by an Indian,  141
feeling of colonists about,  141
by Bottsford, of Kelly,  142
Hopkins, Gen., expedition unsuccess
ful  90
Horse-races, 4th July  65
Horse-racing, most famous race in
early times,  53
Hotels in Europe and America,  337
House of Representatives, 111., 1828,
members,  180
raisings,  41
Houston, Sam, Gov. of Texas,  75
Gen.,  312
Howard, Gov. , resigned and appointed
to military command,  93
Hunting and fowling  54
shirt  43
Hurricane  15
Icarian Community,  371
communism,  374
in Illinois and Iowa  374
general prosperity,  376
Illinois in 1800,  19, 22, 24
its inhabitants, its slaves,  20
schools, agriculture,  22
French cart,  22
farm implements,  23
county seats and courts  24
early Government,  66
boundaries, etc  66
in a nutshell, 1812  105
best statute laws of U. S. except
Louisiana  180
soil and surface,  24
substratum  25
called at first a graveyard,  44
population in two years,  45
1805,  48
will be most populous State in
Union,  327
Immigration from Europe, .'  182
various colonies,  182
Impeachment of Theo. W. Smith, .. 271
managers for House; counsel for
defendant,  272

acquittalNand cause,  272
Impressions of England,  334
Imprisonment for debt,  379
Improvement of country,  282
State of Illinois,  381
Indiana in 1800  24
territory established,  23
Indians at Peoria,  78
attack Hill's Fort, 1812  83
character and traits of nobleness,
1833  327
Chickasaw,  28
campaign against, unsuccessful, . . 28
and Chocktaw attack Fort Jeffer
son led by a Scotchman,  34
country,  15, 17, 20
custom of sacrifice,  229
Decori, one-eyed Winnebago
chief deceives Gen. Atkinson, . 25 1
fight with,  100
fire, or — the moon  246
fleeing before Americans in misery
and distress  264
Gen. Napope, loud voice,  261
suing for peace at night,  262
Gomo, Pottawatomie chief de
ceived Gov. Edwards  83
grave, wigwams, paintings,  87
guides to Black Hawk camp, . . . 258
half breeds,  35
Kaskaskia, housed in  20
Keokuk, opposed to Black Hawk, 206
refuses schools, reasons,  267
Kickapoo  20, 78
last tribe of in Illinois,  327
murders by, 1802, 1805,  46
first year of war, 1812,  83
Kaskaskia River, murders by the, 92
escape from,  93, 243
panic still raging at Galena, .... 252
Piankishaws,  20
Pottawatomies,  20
under Capt. G. E. Walker, seek
protection against Black Hawk,
taken into U. S. service  250
sold all their lands, 1833  327
Sac and Fox,  20
spies, prisoners,  259
standard of a vyarrior's character, 204
Tecumseh,  83
killed,  145
Tennessee,  3
trail followed by Capt. Snyder, 241
surprise volunteers, several of the
'Whites killed ; Major Thomas
goes for assistance  242
found, reconnoitering confusion, 258
Wabansia, a Pottawatomie brave, 85
Winnebagos,  20
attack a factory-store on Missis
sippi, defended by Lieuts. Ham
ilton and 'Vasques,  84
women and children provided for, 220

INDEX.

391

PAGE
Industry and growth of country, .... 327
Intemperance  49
Internal improvement system repealed, 324
Jack, first,  62
Jackson, Andrew, childhood of,  i
Gen., fighting southern Indians, . 257
life and character,  290
nominated for Pres. by Tenn., . . 291
anecdotes of;  291
"Kitchen Cabinet,"  286
why so called,  289
retiring from office,  292
Jefferson, Thos. , Gov. of Virginia, . . 32
Jerks,  64
Johnson, Col. , of Kentucky  145
Jordan family erected a fort,  81
Journlils at Washington City,  289
editors and parties,  288
Judges, names of, by whom appointed, 66
charging petit juries,  175
elected by the people,  378
Judiciary of State organized  137
Great Britain,  137
re-organized, 1826-7,  175
Julius Caesar's tower at Dover,  345
Juries of London  343
law to select  176
Kaskaskia, settlement, cathedral, .... 17
wolves of,  18
Kicking hats,  43
Kossuth, mania for universal freedom, 324
Knoxville, Tenn., laid out,  12
seat of Gov. and Superior Court, 80
patriotic lawyers, military,  80
"La Belle France,"  347
La Buissoniere, Gov. of 111. , 1 739, . . 28
La Clede, founder of St. Louis,  30
Lafayette greeted in U. S  164
Lafiteau Abbe,  13
Lake Koshkonong, army depressed, 251
Land granted by U. S. to railroad
companies  323
for canal  325
in England  338
all cultivated,  342
laws and tenures of land,  155
system of U. S  '.  157
Languages, English and French com
pared  131
LaSalle, 1680  150
Last tragic scenes of the war  99
" Latter-day Saints, "  363
Law, John, agent,  27
Laws to reclaim slaves,  270
Legal currency, versus paper issues, 142
Legislature, territorial at Kaskaskia, 105
Lexington, Ky. , watchman,  77
Lively Grove, why named,  93
Liverpool and its docks,  335
its cemetery, statues, etc.,  336

PAGE
Literary men of Illinois,  277
books,  277
Literature of Illinois in 1818,  277
Loan from John Wright, England, . . 357
Logan, women and children of, mur
dered  2
Log-cabins,  41
London, its antiquity, charter,  338
bridge  339
to Paris,  344
Looms and flax breaks,  43
Lost horses, search for at night,  238
" Lost Rocks, " the,  25
Louis XIV, King of France,  27
Louisville, 181 1,  77
Lovejoy, Rev. Elijah P., abolitionist, 317
starts his paper against the vrill
of the people, who destroy his
press four times; he is killed, . 320
Lynch-law,  113, 114
Macadamized road from Belleville to
river opposite St. Louis,  37a
Macarty, Chevalier, Gov. of 111., 1751, 29
Mahomet,  359, 362
Mania of nations as of individuals, . . . 323
Mann, George, murdered, 1794,  3
Mrs. , escapes,  3
March of army up Rock River,  237
sudden change of plan,  237
Marine hospitals  316
Marquette, Rev. J., first missionary, n6
Marrais d' Ogee,  149
Marshals of France,  311
Martial and defiant spirit of settlers, 82
Massacre at Chicago,  85
Masses, the, in European coun
tries  353, 357
Mayfield's Creek,  33
Measurements of land,  155
Messengers loitering,  227
to Pawpaw Grove attacked,  230
Metheglin,  52
Methodist denomination  n8
census,  123
circuits,  122
preachers, first in 1793,  119
Mexican war,  377
policy of,  213
Michigan admitted to Union  312
supported by Thos. H. Benton, 312
Military bounty land tract,  150
organized,  84
science necessary, how attainable, 3 1 0
versus civil authority in Paris, . . 353
Militia, feeling of,  209
organized  97
quartermaster for,  210
Mill, steam, in Lexington, Ky.  77
Mills,  23
on Little Wabash River,  61
water, near Waterloo, 1802, .... 46
Mines,  27

392

INDEX.

PAGE
lead,  i68
Miser, now Ste. Genevieve,  39
Missionaries,  22
Roman Catholic, first settled, ... n6
Mississippi and Grand Tower,  149
Bluff, Black Hawk gives battle, 264
closed by Spaniards  12
river, commerce and wealth  316
Spanish settlements,  20
"Missouri Question" or slavery,  146
public agitation on, 1820,  146
regiment, under Colonel McNair,
crossing Missouri River,  94
Mob-law  1 14
public opinion should condemn, 115
Money, expended at elections  190
market in Europe worse every
day  332
Monks of La Trappe,  62
Monopoly, grant of,  27
Mont de Moulin, Paris  352
Moore, Col. , and regiment,  239
Morals,  48
Mormons,  359, 3^4
expelled from Mo. by Gov. Boggs, 365
tried by Court Martial, saved by
Gen. jDonovan  365
turned Whigs,  367
charters to,  368
complaints against,  368
schism on account of Polygamy, 368
newspaper press destroyed,  368
brought to trial,  369
forced to leave the State,  369
migrate to Salt Lake, 1846, .... 370
charges against,  370
Morrison, Col. W., of Kaskaskia, ... 112
" Mother Carey's chickens, "  332
Mounds and the mound builders, .... 147
Mud in American Bottom,  379
Mules, prejudice against,  62
Murders by Pottawatomies, 1802-5, 46
two, 181 1  78
by Indians. 1812,  83
1814,  98
Murdick's tricks,  96
Murphys,  13
Mustering in Cahokia, accident,  65
Nashville, Term., named, first court, 11
National Hospital, Eng., for sailors
^ and soldiers,  339
road  316
Republicans, Adams party, first
called so, afterward Whigs, . . 162
Nauvoo,  366
temple,  370
New Haven  61
New Spain, what meant by,  13
how settled,  13
Newspapers and their editors,  186
magazines,  277, 281
in 1822  154

New York  358
Nicknames of States, origin of,  170
Night alarms,  95
Nominations to office, by Gov. or Sen
ate,  201
Nullification, Pres. Jackson's Procla
mation on,  269
Obelisk from Egypt in Paris,  300
Ocean, its advantages and uses,  333
Office gives a man standing in Europe, 332
Ohio in 1800  24
River at Lusk's ferry  14
" Old Bullion, " nickname of Col. Ben
ton, why,  301
Oliver, Rev., of Prairie du Rocher, . . 116
Oppositipn to U. S. laws,  271
Oration by J. Q. Adams at Capitol, . .' 300
by Gen. Lafayette,  307
six Presidents there,  .,. . . 307
Orations, exhibitions, college,  72
Order to seek and coerce the Indians, 230
Orders for provisions,  235
" Ordinance, " act of Congress  132
of 1787.  103
Ottawa, 111., defended by volunteers
under Col. Johnson  237
Overflow of bank currency, effect of, 326
Oxford, its University, libraries, .... 340
reminisences, etc.,  340
antiquities,  341
Pain Court, now St. Louis,  39
" Panic Session, " the,  295
Paris,  347
and Napoleon,  354
to Brussels  355
via Cambay, Valenciennes,  355
Parisian customs  354
Parliament of Great Britain,  342
Parties in the Legislature,  201
Party contest in 111., commenced by
election of Adams for Pres., . . 162
organization commenced in North
ern Illinois, 1835,  304
politics, influence on Mormons, 366
spirit, for and against,  293
in Congress,  288
necessary  290
strife on " The Question ",  153
Passage to Europe, 1839,  333
Passengers on Steamship " Liverpool", 332
"Pea Ridge"  290
Peck, Rev.,  125, 154, 274
Pecuniary embarra^ssments in the West, 144
Penitentiary, money, how raised to
build it,  172
Peoria, burnt by Captain Craig,  90
capital of Indian country in 111., 78
military expedition to Indians at, 78
history of,  150
Permit to settle in Spanish ground, . . 18
Philip of Mount Hope, fate of,  2

JNDEX.

393

Picket guard,  95
Piggot, Captain James  33
left in charge of Fort Jefferson, . . 33
presiding Judge of St. Clair Co. , 36
Pilgrims, the, early history of,  i
Pioneer life, occupations, amusements, 41
dress,  43
Pioneers, conveying letters  227
more discerning than Gov. Min
isters,  78
"Place Vend6me", La, monument, .. 349
Pledge to raise children Roman Catho
lics,  18
Plowing in England, 1839,  344
Police of London,  343
PoUcy of French Government,  27
Polygamy,  370
Pope, Nathaniel, delegate to Congress, 106
Population of Illinois, 1805,  48
increase of, 1805-9,  61
in 1810,  64, 65, 152, 383
Power of the press,  289
Practice Act, 1827,  176
Prairies,  16
"Praying Indians", slaughter of, 
Pre-emption law  156, 316
Preparations for war, 1813,  91
Presbyterian Society,  127
minister's objections to serve on
jury,  127
churches, census,  128
President Jackson's message relating
to Black-Hawk war,  268
new Cabinet,  2
ridiculed by Whigs,  2:
attempt to murder,  305
reasons of man who attempted it, 306
similar cases in Eng. and France, 306
President's increase of power and pat;
ronage,  3°4
Presidential election, 1824,  r6o
Princeton,  14
Principles for acting, speaking, and
writing, as laid down by Mr.
Randolph, of Roanoke,  309
of true religion,  363
Products of Ilhnois,  56, 383
south interior,  152
Professional men in Illinois Territory, 128
names of,  131
Proscription for opinion's sake, 185, 202, 304
Public debt to U. S.,  146
journals,  381
offices, why to hold or not,  190
Punishment of criminals,  1 72
Quartermasters of brigade, 1832  224
Quarter race,  79
Racoon River, named from animals, 54
Rafting rivers  15
Railroad first in U. S.,  322
from Bluff to Mississippi,  321

PAGE
first in Mississippi Valley,  322
second in Illinois  322
Illinois Central,  322
from Springfield to Illinois River
sold,  325
Liverpool to London,  335
Railroads of Illinois, where running, 323
Rangers inspected by Maj. Clempson, 94
organized by Captain W. White
side,  91
pursue Indians and kill them, ... 98
Ranging on Shoal and Silver Creeks, 93
Rasle, Sebastian, butchered,  2
Rawlings, General, obtained loan for
canal,  331
sailed for Liverpool with Author, 332
Reading necessary to keep up with the
times  315
Receipts and expenses of State Treasu
ry for two years,  272
Reconnoitering  88
Rector, Captain S., bravery, .... 100, 102
Red River,  14
Regiment discharged  243
Regulars too slow to follow Indians, 251
Regulators and moderators,  113
Religion, early, in Illinois,  116
Renault, Philip Francis,  20, 27, 28
Removals from office,  303
¦opinions on subject,  303
discussion at Capitol, decision, . . 304
Republicans and Federal parties, old
versus young men,  134
Repudiation not dreamed of,  325
Resolution to recomniend Andrew
Jackson for President,  176
Return from fight,  89
home of army in November, .... 96
Revolutionary proceedings in Legisla
ture,  153
Reynolds, Author's family,  2
mode of life, etc.  3
Ridge Prairie, now Madison County, 45
Rifles, prices of, 1812,  82
Rigdon, Sydney, founder of Mormons, 360
Riot at Alton  3i7
Riots with Mormons in Missouri,  364
Rising from the ranks,  310
in Great Britain and France, .... 311
Roads, none on frontier  229
Rock Island, volunteers at,  216
description of,  220
Rolling gums,  42
Ruins of Palmyra, Troy, and Babylon, 32
" Running for the bottle",  41
Sabbath-day, how to observe, import
ance of,  38
Sac and Fox Villages,  221
Salt,  46
Santa Anna, General,  311
Santa F^ trade  "2
San Jacinto, battle of, 1836,  311

394

INDEX

Schools  58
School-houses  46
Seine River, Paris,  352
bridge over, ; . . . ,  352
Senate, members of, 1832,  269
of 1840  290
Senators of Gen. Assembly, 111., 1828, 180
Sentinel surprised by Indians, escapes, 240
Seminary at Rock Spring, now at
Alton  125
Seminole war in Florida,  239
Session of twenty-five hours, on debate
of admission of Michigan and
Arkansas,  313
Settlers, expediences of,  40
1801-2, who and where settled, . . 45
1803, from Kentucky,  47
1804-5  47
fi'om South Carolina,  48
Settlements, new, and old increased, . 61
1805 — 9, Shawneetown, etc., ... 63
and their names,  108
extension of,  1 1 1
position of, 1818, 40,000,  112
further extention of,  149
new, Illinois River and Wabash, 269
Shavmeetown, commenced, 1805-6, . . 63
commenced, in 1802  46
saltworks purchased of Indians, . 47
Sheep, considerable number raised, . . 43
Shooting-matches, " in rural districts, " 52
" Shuffling the brogue, " game of, ... . 9
Slaves, 500 from San Domingo,  28
numbers of, gradual emancipation, 133
Slavery in Illinois, how introduced, . . 132
prevented by ordinance  132
or " indentured servants, "  133
prohibition of, discussed,  377
Small circumstances decide events, . . 215
influence of,  18
Smith, Joseph, founder of Mormons, . 360
Prophet, appearance of,  367
his vision and finding the plates, 361
at Washington,  367
claims damages to Mormons in
Missouri, in city of Far West, 367
claim rejected through opposition
of the Missouri Senators,  367
and his brother Hiram murdered, 369
Soldiers, experienced, by training, ... 65
Spies, sent up Rock River for Indians, 229
Spy-battalion, under Col. J. Dement, 246
ordered to fort at Kellog's Grove, 246
want of discipline; Black Hawk
and warriors surprise them, . . . 248
retreat in confusion; great loss;
express sent for help; 100 miles
in 12 hours,  249
Springfield, first State Fair held at, . . 383
State Government removed to, . . 137
Squatters, on the Government lands, . 46
at Galena lead mines in 1823, ... 168
Stag-dances, with early settlers,  52

Stampede of horses. Fort Winnebago, 254
State Bank, on credit of the State, . . 143
Bill for it vetoed, and passed by
constitutional majority,  143
closed up by loan of $100,000, . . 144
indicted and acquitted  173
paper funded by act of Legislature, 203
prolific source of legislation for
10 years  143
State debt $8,000,000, in 1836,  324
debt increased $800,000,  324
for canal and other improvements,
$14.237,348,  325
being paid without embarrassment, 326
fairs established in the West, . . . 382
appropation for fairs,  382
"State of Franklin,"  12
Government organization of, 1818, 133
line of latitude 42° 30' north, 136, 203
Statute laws, revised in first Session
of the General Assembly, .... 136
laws, revision completed  180
" Stay laws" and " Stop laws,"  143
Steamboats visited St. Louis in 1817, 112
Stephenson, county-seat Rock Island, 221
Sterling, Captain, possession of Fort
Chartres, in 1765,  30
died, six months later,  30
StiUman's march from Dixon  231
skirmish, battle, retreat, disorder, 233
cause of defeat  234
Store goods first introduced,  62
Storm at sea,  358
Strode, Col., to defend Joe Davis Co., 235
Stump speeches commenced in 111., . . 163
where named and why  187
St. Ange de Belle Rive, last French
commandant, retreated to and
took possession of St. Louis, . . 30
St. Cloud, Bonaparte and Blucher, . . 353
Ste. Geneviere, to obtain permit  18
St. Laurent, to join southern army, . . 29
St. Louis, founded by La Clede, 1764, 30
Missouri, 1800,  57
St. Paul's Church, London, description, 339
Summers in Europe cooler than U. S., 344
Sunday, by Americans and French, . . 50
schools, in London, 66,000 pupils, 339
in Paris, business, dancing etc., . 355
Sympathy with Mormons  366
"Talk" addressed to Indians  230
Traver, M., of St. Louis, editor,  280
bust presented to the Mercantile
Library  281
Taylor, Col. Z., hero of Buena Vista, 239
Tennessee, articles of commerce, .... 12
counties of,  10
difficulties of commerce,  12
first Governor of,  12
independence of,  12
products of,  13
schools, few and far between, ... 6

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