Cook County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 4 of 61)

'The I'ottawatomies did not join with him at first. Many of their leading chiefs, through the influence of John Kin/ie and the officers at Fort Dearborn, were friendly with the Americans anil wished to remain so. Among these were Black Partridge, W'innemeg, Topencbe, anil others. In May, 1810, the I'ottawatomies. Chippewas, ami Ottawas held a council at St. Joseph., to consult as to joining the confederacy, but through the influence of Wimtemcg, the I'ottawatomies did not join. The younger warriors among them, however, did not sympathize w ith the older heads, and felt the appeals to their patriotism made by "Teeumseh and the Prophet, All the Indians, too. were largely under British influence, and went every year to Maiden. Canada, to receive British presents. W bile Teeumseh was in the South in 1X1 1, seeking to arouse the Choctaws, Cherokee*, Creeks, and other southern tribes to join with him, the Prophet precipitated hostilities by attacking General Harrison's troops at Tippecanoe. The Indians were defeated, and had it not l>ecn for British influence, the confederacy would have been dissolved. Meanlime, more or less alarm was felt among the settlers around Fort Dearborn, and reports of murders of the whites by hostile Indians became frequent.

A settler, named Charles Fee, had come to Fort Dearborn shortly after it had been built, with his family. He took up a large farm on the South Branch of the Chicago River, about four miles fropi its mouth, at a point about where Bridgeport now stands. The farmhouse was on the west side of the river. The farm was known as "Fee's place" and was afterwards called " Hardscrabble." Lee did not reside at the farm, but had a dwelling for himself and family on the lake shore, very near the fort. The farm was occupied by a man named Liberty White, who with three employes ( two men and a boy 1 managed the place. On the afternoon of the 6th of "April, t8tj, a party of eleven Winnebagoes came to the farm house and entering, seated themselves without ceremony, t >ne of the employes, a Canadian Frenchman, named Debou, became suspicious of them and remarked to the others, " I do not like the appearance of these Indians, thev arc none of our folks. They are not I'ottawatomies." One of the others, a discharged soldier, said to the boy, who was a son of Mr. Fee, " We had Iwttcr get away if we can. Say nothing, but do as you see me do." It was nearly the tattle on the other side of the river, and that they would then return for supper, Gaining the other side of the river in safety, they made some show of collecting the cattle, hut continued to get into the woods close at land, anil then started for the fort. On their way the* notified the family of Hums, whose home was on the north side, a short distance above the fort, and then made their way to the fort. They had scarcely got out of sight of the farm-house ere the Indians shot and scalped the two men who had remained behind. The family of Hums was now considered to be in great danger and a party of soldiers under Knsign Ronan. was sent to bring them to the fort. This was successfully done, and that

Fort Dkarhorn

I.. T. Helm and Knsign George Ronau. Twelve militiamen were also under his orders. ( )f the regulars a laryv numl>cr were on the sick list. Altogether there were not probably forty able-bodied lighting \Vjth ^ were about a dozen women and twenty children He received h.s orders on the oth. hut he trusted to the friendly reputation of the l'ottawatomies. through whose country he must pass, and waited for six days, until four or live hundred warriors were assembled at the fort, before he moved. He was then at their mercy I he lottawatomie chief who had brought General Hull s order was Winnemeg. a friendly Indian who well knew the feelings of the Indians. Heat first advised that the tort be held, until reinforcements should arrive. I o this Captain Heald would not agree. VVin- night all the settlers around the fori were housed within its walls. The Indians committed no further attacks that time, but made off, satisfied with this exploit, with the two scalps obtained. The agency-house was now turned into a sort of a fortification for the settlers, ami every care was taken to protect the settlement and to provide against surprise. Various attempts were made ')}' the Indians during the next two months, but so alert were the whites that no damage was done, except the loss of a few cattle and sheep. So the summer passed. On the i8tb of June, 1812. the Ignited States declared war against England, and on the 16th of July, Fori Mackinac surrendered to the "r.tish On the 9th of August following, an Indian runner from General Hull, at Detroit, brought news of trie war and the fall of Mackinac, to Captain Heald, with "rders to evacuate Fort Dearborn and proceed with his command to Detroit, bv land, leaving it to the discretion ol the commandant to disuse of the public property as »c thought proper. W ithin the next three days neighraring Indians came in from all quarters to receive the IC'xls which they understood were to be given them. It fiii SCCm as 'f no olnt-r course was open to Captain ncald but to obey the orders of ( icneral Hull. His force *as not as strong as that at Fort Mackinac. It coned of fifty-four privates, and two officers, Lieutenant nemeg*s next advice was instantaneous departure, so that before the Indians could assemble or agree upon definite action, and while they would be taking possession of the goods, the force might make its escape. Mr. Kinzie, who had long known the Indians, approved of the same course. The younger officers were in favor of holding the fort - but Captain Heald resolved to pursue his own way. This was to assemble the Indians, divide the property among them, and get from them a friendly escort to Fort W ayne. On the 1 2 til a conference was held with the Indians by Captain Heald, and they agreed to his proposals. They would take the property, and furnish him a guard of' safety. Whether they really would have done so it is impossible to know, but Black Hawk, who was not present at the massacre! but knew the Indian version of it, subsequently said that the attack took place because the whites did not keep their agreement. There were two species of property that the Indians chiefly wanted, whisky and ammunition. There were large quantities of both at the fort, and the Indians were aware of that fact. On the 13th, Captain William Wells, Indian Agent at Fort Wayne, arrived at Fort Dearborn with thirty friendly Mia'mis, for the purpose of bringing Captain Heald on his way. Captain Wells had lived among the Indians, and - cognizant of their character. He was the uncle of Mrs. Heald. Bom in Kentucky, he belonged to a family of Indian lighters. W hen he was a lad of twelve, he was stolen by the Miamis and ado|>ie<l by Kiltie Turtle, their great chief. He served with the Indians at the outbreak of the war in 1790, and was present at the battle where St. flair was defeated, But he then began to realize that he was lighting against his own kindred, and resolved to take leave of the Indian- II asked Little Turtle to accompany bin) to a point on the Mauniee, about two miles east of Fort Wayne, long known as the Big F.hn, where he thus spoke : -- Father, we have long been friends. I now leave you to go to my own people. We will be friends until the sun reaches the midday height. From that time we will Ik- enemies; and if you want to kill me then, you may. And if I want to kill you, I may." He then set out for General' Wayne's army, and was made captain of a company of scouts. He fought under General Wayne until the . treaty of Greenville, after which he removed to Fort Wayne, where he was joined by his wife, who was a daughter of Little Turtle. He settled upon a farm and was made Indian Agent and Justice of the Peace. He rendered effective service to General Harrison, the Governor.

When Captain Wells heard of the intended evacuation of Fort Dearborn he volunteered to go there and act as escort to the soldiers. He arrived at the fort on the 13th of August, too late, however, to have any influence on the question of evacuation. Captain Heald had up to this point resisted the advice of W inncmcg, the friendly Indians. John Kinzie and his junior officers, as to adopting any other course. But now after all his firmness came a period of irresolution. The supply of muskets, ammunition and liquor was large. It was madness to hand over to the Indians these supplies with which first to excite and infuriate them, and then to leave them with still more abundant means of wreaking that fury on the garrison. This fact was strongly urged by both Captain W ells and |ohn Kinzie. Captain Heald yielded, and on the night' of the 13th destroyed all the ammunition and muskets he could not carry with him. The liquor was thrown into the lake. No sooner was this done than the older chiefs professed that they could no longer restrain their voting men. Black Cartridge, one of the most noted I'ottawatomie chiefs, and always friendly to the whites since the treaty of Greenville, had received a medal from General Wayne at the time of that treaty. On the evening of the 14th he came to the fort and entered Captain Heald's quarters. « Father," he said, " I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship liut our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites. I can not restrain them, and 1 will not wear a token of peace while 1 am compelled to act as an enemy."

The Indians held a council and resolved on the destruction of the garrison. And vet, with the most heroic fortitude and constancy, the' officers made their final arrangements for the evacuation, sustaining and encouraging the men by their words and by their example. At nine o'cloc k on the morning of the 15th of August, all being in readiness, the gates of the fort were thrown open for the last time, and the march commenced. In accordance with Indian custom ami in premonition of his fate. Captain Wells had blackened his face With hfteen of his Miami braves, whom he supposed to he trusty, he led the advance. "The other hfteen brought up the rear. The women and children determined to accompany the troops, hoping that his presence would be the means of re-straining the Indians. Entrusting his family to the care of some friendly Indians, to Ih- taken around the head of the lake in a boat to a |>oint near St. Joseph, he marched out with the troops. He was warned by several friendly chiefs not to accompany the soldiers, but be was determined to do all in his power to bring some restraining influence to bear, if possible, on the savages. 'The strains of music, as the soldiers passed beyond the gates, wen- certainly not enlivening. Bv some strange and wiertl choice of the band-master, who was among the killed, the - Dead March" was played as the soldiers filed out from the protection of the fortifications, on to the o|>en plain Scarcely had the troops departed, when the fort became a scene of plundering.

Along the lake shore ran a beaten Indian trail, which was the path pursued. Westward from this, at about one hundred yards distance, commencing perhaps a quarter of a mile from the fort, a sand-bank, or range of Kind-hills, separated the lake from the prairie. When the troops started, an esc ort of live bundled l'ottawatoinies accompanied them, but when the sand-hills were reached the Indians struck out towards the prairie, instead of keeping along the beach. Concealing their movements behind the sand hills, they hurried forward and placed an ambuscade in readiness for the troops.

The little band hail marched about .1 mile ami a half when Captain Well-, who had led the advance, came riding swiftly back saying that the Indians were about to open an attack from behind the sand- Ixink. The company charged up the bank, firing one round, which the. Indians returned. The savages, getting in upon the rear, were soon in imssession of the horses, provisions and baggage, slaughtering many of the women and children in the attempt. Against fearful odds, and hand to hand, the officers and men, and even the women, fought for their lives.

But it wa- soon over. Drawing his little remnant of survivors off an elevation on the open prairie,' out ol range. Captain Heald himself wounded proceeded to examine the -it ..at 1 'Tlx- !n. km- ;.nl no! lo'.l. w . but after some consultation of the chiefs, made signs for Captain Heald to approach them. He advanced alone and. met Blackbird, who promised to spare their lives if they would surrender. Upon these terms Captain Heald complied with the demand.

were Captain and Mr-. Heald, Lieutenant Helm ami his wife. F.verv other wounded prisoner was put to death. Of the whole number that had left the fort but an hour before, there remained only twenty-live noncommissioned officers and privates and eleven women and children.

Captain Wells, after fighting desperately, was surrounded and stabbed in the back. His body was horribly mangled, his head cut off, and his heart taken out and eaten by the savages, who thought by so doing some of the courage of the heroic scout would' be conveyed to them

Mrs. Helm, the daughter of Mrs. Kinzie. had a narrow escape from death. Assaulted bv a young Indian, she avoided the blow of his tomahawk, and then seized him around the neck, trying to get possession of his scalping-knife. While struggling in this way for her life, she was dragged from his grasp by another and older Indian, who liore her struggling to the lake, wherein he plunged her, but with her head above the water. Seeing that it was not the Indian's object to drown her. die looked at him earnestly anil found it to be Black Cartridge, who was thus trying to save her. After the firing ceased, she was conducted to a place of safety. When the attack was made. Mrs. Heald was riding on a very beautiful and well-trained bay marc, which she had brought with her from Kentucky, and which had long been coveted by the Indians. During the firing Mrs. Heald received six wounds, and was shortly captured, lioth she and her husband were taken by the half-breed

Chandonais to St. Joseph and permitted to reside with Mr. Burnett until they recovered from their wounds. Captain Heald then delivered himself to the British at Mackinac and was paroled. But the survivors were not yet safe from the hostile Indians. Lieutenant Helm was carried by his captors to a village on the Kankakee, where He remained two months before lie was discovered by Black Partridge, who had saved (he life of Mrs. Helm. That chief at once informed Thomas Forsyth, halfbrother of Mr. Kiiuie who was stationed at Peoria, and efforts were made to secure the release of the prisoner. Blacil Partridge was provided with a ransom and dispatched to the Indian village. The amount that he t arried with him not being sufficient to satisfy the Indians, he freely offered them his pony, his rifle and a iarge gold ring which he wore in his nose. This was accepted. Lieutenant Helm was released, and soon afterwards joined his wife at Detroit, where she had gone with her parents.

The day following the massacre the fort and agency building were burned to the ground ami the first Fort I 'carborn ceased to be. The prisoners were scattered among the various tribes, ami a large number of warriors hastened away to attempt the destruction of Fort Wayne.

Among the officers of the fort who escaped the massacre, was Quarter-master Sergeant Griffith, who is mentioned by Mrs. Kin/ie in " VVaubun" as being absent collecting the baggage horses of the surgeon when the troops left the fort. but. hastening lo join the force, was made prisoner by the chief of the St. Joseph band, who was friendly to the whites. He escaped in the boat with the Kinzics two days later, This was William Griffith, afterward a captain of General Harrison's spies. He joined Harrison's army after his escape to Michigan, was placed in command of the spies, and received two wounds in the skirmish at the Moravian towns, a few days before the battle >-! the Thames, but parti ipated also in the latter engagement. He was the son of William Griffith, Sr.. a fanner of Welsh descent, whose home was near the present site of Gencseo, N. V. His sister, Mrs. Alexander Kwing, removed with her husband to Michigan in 1S02, and thence to Piqna, Ohio, in 1H07, from which place William Griffith probably came to Chicago. He died in 18.24. leaving two sons and a daughter, and was buried near old Fort Meigs, Ohio.

The sources of information in regard to the massacre are the official report of Heald, and the narrative of Mrs. Juiiette H. Kinzie, in " Waubun," based upon the statements ol |ohn Kinzie ami Mrs. Helm. A narrative by Mrs. Heald was lost in the Rebellion. The narrative of Mrs. Kin/ie has been the accepted and popular one, although there are some discrepancies »n it as to dates, its censure of Captain Heald is not severe, and it has much of the "after the event " flavor about it. That the fort could have been held for any length of time against the Indians is altogether doubtful. A thousand hostile warriors would have beleaguered il within a very few days, as they did Fort Wayne shortly after, and it would have been impossible for General Harrison to have relieved both places. Without such relief it must have fallen. Instantaneous evacuation in conformity with the advice of Winnemeg might have saved the garrison, but that partook too much of the nature of flight to suit the mind of such a man as Captain Heald. Since that was not thought honorable, the only course to pursue was to rigorously adhere to the agreement with the Indians, and turn over to them all the arms anil liquor. Captain Heald was dissuaded by those surrounding him from adopting that dangerous expedient.

But the probabilities are that no course whatever could have saved the ill-fated garrison. War was declared, the Indians were aroused and allied with the British. Certain ones had friendships with the Americans, and did what could be done to save individuals, but they had no friendship for the United States. Tecumseh'was using all the influence of his powerful name to consolidate the Indian tribes in the British interest. The fall of Michilimackinac and the peril of Detroit showed the Indians that Kngland was the stronger power. With all these forces at work, the fall of Fort Dearborn and the destruction of the garrison was apparently but a matter of time.

The war raged along the Canadian border for a time with varying success, until at last the British flag was driven from the lakes. Then came peace, and in 1 Si 6 it was ordered that Fort Dearborn should be rebuilt. In July of that year. Captain Hezekiah Bradley, with two companies of infantry, arrived at the Chicago River. He built a fort on the site of the former one, somewhat larger and on a different plan. The remains of the victims of the massacre were then gathered and buried.

The same year John Kinzie returned with his family and again occupied his deserted home. Other settlers came straggling along, the Indian Agency was resumed, and soon the lake shore and the river showed signs of activity and life. The familiar forms of the friendly chiefs were seen around the homes and firesides of their friends, and many were the hours that were passed in recounting the tragical scenes through which they had passed, since that fatal 15th of August four years before. AH had suffered, for war possesses no discriminating hand. The village of Black Partridge had been destroyed in a single day, and his people killed or scattered.' The subsequent' life of the settlers was quiet and unvaried. Cultivation of the soil furnished them with the necessaries of life, and the abundance of game added a variety that many an eastern table might have envied. A thrifty bartering of the surplus of products with the occasional vessel* that came for furs, supplied other wants, and thus davs on the frontier passed away.

The year 1816 was also the year of the treaty of St. Louis, whereby the Ottawas and Chippewas ceded to the C n it ed States the lands surrounding the head of Lake Michigan, ten miles north and ten miles south of the mouth of the Chicago Creek, and back to the Kankakee, Illinois and Fox rivers. The fort, as rebuilt, consisted of a square stockade inclosing barracks, quarters for the officers, magazine and provision-store, and was defended by bastions at the northwest and south-

: angles. The block-house was in the southwest corner. The officers' quarters were on the west side and the soldiers' barracks on the east side. It had two gates, one on the noi ill and the nth. r mil ,,iutll s d. . A garrison was stationed at the fort, under various commanders, until 1S23, when it was ordered to be evacuated. The frontier line had moved westward to the Mississippi, and a garrison at Chicago was not considered necessary. During these years the officers in command were as follows : 1.S16 to 1817. Captain Hc/ckiah Bradley ; 1X17 to 1820, Major Daniel Baker; 1820 to 1821, Captain Hesckiah Bradley; 1821, Major Alexander Cummings; 1821 to 1823. Lieutenant-Colonel lohiv McNeil; 182.5. Captain John Greene.

In October. 1828. a garrison was again stationed at Chicago, under the command of Major |olin Fowle ; First-Lieutenant David Hunter subsequently General ! I he troops remained until May, 1S31, when thev were withdrawn. Hut the time came when the affrighted nettiers sought refuge in the fort. In 1832 Black Hawk and his warriors commenced hostilities, which will be found described in later pages of this work. In )unc the fort was once more garrisoned. Major William U lustier being assigned to the command. This officer had helped his father in the building of the first Fort I learborn, and now after twenty-nine vears of absence returned to be the commander of the second fort

In May, 1833. Major W histler was succeeded in command by Major John Fovvle, who. however, remained but altout one month, when he was succeeded by Major DcLafayette Wilcox, who commanded until uecember 18, 18.33. and again from September 16. 1811: to August .. ,836 Major John Ueu.lu. Major lohn Oreeue ami Captain and JSrevet-Major loseph IMvmpton were in command at various times, until December »fc 1836, when the troops were permanently withdrawn, under the following order :

Aftkr The Massacrk

To t* ,H:Sldes the f"n am' buiWinx attached toit. Of these, four were occupied bv the families of Kmzie, Ouitmette, Hums and Lee The fifth s 1 1 Lee .arm, on the South Branch. It hToZ^n stated that all the houses in Chicago e' en M Kin jcies were dearoyed in ,8,2. Uy^^Z^r±Z that exact locality in 1812. Mrs. Lee escaped the massacre, and with her infant child was carried captive to the village of Black Partridge. She was subsequently ransomed by M. Dul'in. a French trader, became his wife, ami lived in the Kmzic house during the absence id' the family.

Jkas Baptist,: Bf.alhif.n, who may l>e considered the second |>ermanent settler of Chicago, first visited the place in 1804, but did not purchase property till the year 1812, some time after the massacre. He then bought "of the rightful owner thereof* a house or cabin south of the ruins of the fort and near the lake shore, which had been standing there since i8o4.f he resided when in Chicago, and although fre- ipiently absent at his trading-house.-, in Milwaukee and Creen Hay. always considered the cabin in Chicago home, and the home of his family, until a better li was bought live or six years later.'

lean Haptiste Heaubicn was. at the time he settled at Chicago, the third of that name in America. His grandfather, Jean Haptiste Hcauhien. emigrated from France at an early day and settled on the St. I jwrence. The home of the second generation of American Beaubienswas Detroit, where lived Jean Baptiste. jr., Joseph, Jean, Marie, Ijtmbeit, Antoinc, Genevieve, Marion and Susan. The names of two of these brothers Jean Baptiste and Lambert appear in a list of the members of a company of Detroit citizens, who, under the lead of General Cass, made a raid in 1814 upon the hostile Indians iik the vicinity. The names of three of the Meldrums, prominent traders of Detroit and Mackinaw, also appear. Joseph Hcauhien was the father of Jean Baptiste Beaubien of Chicago, who was born in the year 1780,31 Detroit. When a young man he pushed out into the Michigan woods, ami became a clerk for Win. Bailly, a fur-trader, on Grand River. Through Hailly's instruction and help Mr. Beaubien acquired the rutli meats ol an education, which, .supplemented by native shrewdness ami vivacity, made him quite superior to the ordinary French traders of the dav. He married, for his first bride, Mah naw-bun-no quah, an Ottawa woman, who Iweame the mother of his two sons. Charles Henry and Madorc. He was settled as a trader in Milwaukee as early as 1800. and until 1818 had a tradinghouse there. As before staled, he came to Chicago ami bought the cabin and cultivated field south of the old fort in 1.X12. During that year he married, for his second wife, Josette l.aFraniboise. daughter of Francis I-aFramboise.J an influential French trailer then living on the smith side of (he river, not far from Beaubien's place In i K15. a short time before the rebuilding the fort an army contractor named Dean, built a house on the lake shore, at the mouth of the Chicago River near where is now the foot of Randolph Street. In' 181 7 Mr. Beaubien purchased this house, which was a low gloomy building of five rooms, for §7,000 - a large sum for those days. After this purchase he lived in the I Kan house for several years, his son Alexander being born there. He used the old cabin after this for a barn

In 1813 the fort was evacuated, and remained for several years without a garrison. The I'. S. l a torvhou*. just outside the south wall, was sold to the American Fur Company, and again sold bv the company to Mr. Beaubien for $500. He moved into this buildmg. and resided there until he left Chicago for his farm on the Desplaines, In or about the vear 1X40. During the winter of 1831-3.1. Mr. Beaubien was president of the village Debating Society, the meetings being held within the fort. It is said the presiding officer tilled hi, responsible position with -'much efficiencvand dignity " During the Black Haw k troubles, he led a party of valiant Chicagoans to the scene of anticipated warfare, as related in the history of that war in another chapter. Two years later when the militia of Cook County was organized, he was elected its first colonel, at the famous meeting at " I.aughtou s Tavern, " when " The Punch Bowl of Ogden Avenue" sparkled with good cheer and the hearts of the lively crowd with fun ami jollity.

The BEAUBIEN Claim. - Colonel Beaubien made two pre-emption claims for the land upon which he had resided since the rebuilding of the fort, which were rejected. Finally in May, 1X35. he entered at the land office in Chicago, of which F.dmund D. Taylor was Receiver, and James Whitlock Register, a pre-emption claim to the southwest fractional quarter of Section 10 Township 39, Range 14 cast, the quarter-section upon which he resided. After consulting the United States District Attorney for Illinois and Hon. Sidney Breese, afterward Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, the officials of the land-office allowed his claim, and Colonel Beaubien became the purchaser of a fraction over seventy-five acres of laud in what was known as the "Ion Dearborn Reservation, " for the sum of $94.61. Payment was made, entry recorded and certificates and receipts delivered to Mr. Beaubien. The following year 1830 , Murray McConnell, a lawyer of some ability residing at Jacksonville, III., to whom Mr. Beaubien had conveyed a portion of this land, brought an action of ejectment against Colonel De Lafayette N il- CM, then in charge of United States property at Fort Dearborn, which stood on a portion of the land in question. This suit was entitled "John Jackson ex. dem. Murray McConnell v. Del.avette Wilcox," and was brought before Judge Thomas Ford of the Cook County

7"*V" ,n« I**"- <"«» Milwaukee, and wait doubt leu. the -II of on* of nST ,'jroth"v the '«"<ily "-oved to the place called " HardKralAle/' and lived there many year*; Kr»mi» li" and 1S26 "

The property involved, a* before stated, was what was then known as the " Fort Dearborn Reservation " now fort Dearborn Addition, and was by ( loverninenl survey the southwest fractional quarter of Section 10 I owuship 59, North Range 14, Fast of the Third principal meridian, 111 Illinois, containing 75.69 acres Colonel ttilcox was defended by David [. Baker, United States District Attorney for Illinois. Waiving any right that may have arisen from the purchase and occupation of a certain claim of land at an earlier date by Colonel Beaubien. his attorney based his case on the' purchase made by him from John Dean, an army contractor or sutler, m 1817. of a house near the fort, and not far from his former residence, and for which, with its field ami garden, he claimed to have |wid $1,000. The land in question was not surveyed, and was therefore not open to pre-emption until 1821, In 1X22 the United States Factory at Chicago was finally closed by Government, and during 1X2,5, the building was sold by order of the Secretary ..1 the Treasury to Wm. Whiting, who resold it to the American Fur Company. Mr. Beaubien bought it of this conqrany for $500. and moved into it with his family, thus becoming by right of purchase ami occupation the owner of all there was in the quarter-section on which he lived, except the fort and its immediate enclosure, still in ptrssession of the Government. In 1X24 the Commissioner of the General Land Office, at the request of the Secretary of War, "set apart " the whole of Section 10 for military uses. In 1831 the heirs of John Kinrie claimed pre-emption of the fractional quarter of Section 10. north of the river, at the nearest landoffice, at Palestine, in Crawford County, which was allowed. Mr. Beaubien made a similar claim for the fractional. quarter-section south of the river, which was refused. In 1X54 he again entered claim at the land office at Danville, Vermillion County, which was again rejected, and finally in 1X35. as before related, he presented his claim at the Chicago land office, which was allowed, and he bought the Fort Dearborn Reservation, at the regular rate of $1.35 per acre, and obtained his certificate, which was dated May 28. and recorded lune 26. When the suit was brought into the Circuit Court at the tall term of 1836, Judge Ford decided that Beaubien S claim was valid, but could not he enforced until he procured a patent from Washington; technical terms, that "although Beaubien's claim is legal in every respect, yet he cannot assert his right against the United States in this form ; a writ of mandamus against the proper officer for the patent is the pro|>cr remedy." The judgment of the Circuit Court was approved by the Supreme Court of the State, and in 1X39 an effort was made in the House of Representatives at Washington, to establish Beaubien's title in accordance with the decision of tin- State courts. But the Solicitor of the Treasury, Henry D. Gilpin, informed the committee of the House in charge of the claim that the Government lawyers at Chicago - Butterficld, Collins and Morris - hail drawn up a bill charging the local land-office with collusion 111 giving the original certificate to Beaubien iu 1X55. This information killed the hopes of the claimant in the House. Meanwhile the law suit had been carried into the Supreme Court of the United States, ami Francis Peyton, attorney for Beaubien, on the last day of February. 1X59. applied to the Government for certain maps which he deemed important, if not essential, to the support of his client's claim. They were not furnished, and in March, 1X39, the judgment of the Slate Courts was reversed.* The Secretary of War ordered the land tn be divided into blocks and lots, constituting the Fort Dearborn Addition to the city of Chicago, and to be Mild to the highest bidder, except block one, and fourteen lots in block two, and blocks four and five reserved to the

Government* The Government was censured by the opposition journal in Chicago for its "indecent haste*' in advertising in April, almost before the decision of the Court had placed on record the sale of the disputed land on June 10, 1839. It was understood that Colonel Heaubien desired to secure six lots in block live ; and by general consent the citizens declined to bid against him, This kindness was, however, neutralized bv James H. Collins, one of the attorneys for the Government, who secured live of the six, Iieaubien obtaining only one lot 11. block five, for $225 : an advance of fourteen dollars on the highest price paid by Collins. This sale took place June 20. 1839. On the' morning of the 2ist an indignation meeting was held bv the citizens, at which Win. H. Brown was president, and John H. Kiu/ie and lames \\ adsworth were secretaries. Resolutions were passed denouncing Collins and expressing the regret that the Government should find it necessary to be so ungenerous to an old and respected citizen, who had been of great service to the early settlers of Chicago their relations with the Indians ; but all this could not change court decisions. June 13. 1840, the United States filed a bill in the Circuit Court for Illinois, to set aside the receipt ami certificate given to Heaubien in The Court decreed that he should deliver them up for cancellation, and thev were dulv surrendered bv Heaubien. accompanied with his receipt dated December 18, 1S40. for the original purchase nionev then refunded. In 1878. Wm. H. Standish. a lawyer of Chi- - ago, again brought the case before Congress, "explaining the Beaubien title to the l ake front lands, etc " He watt over the points above given, re-enforcing them by affidavits of old residents, including one of E. I). Taylor the Receiver in 18,5. jn whic-h he states that he and his colleague, James Whitlock, Register, took the advice of David Jewell Raker, at that time United States Ulornev for Illinois, who declared that "the law made .1 their duty to let said Colonel Heaubien pre-empt this laud, whether it hurt or benefited the l_ n. ted States Government, and that they received the same advice from he Hon. NiJncy Hreese, who "even at that dav enjoved he reputation of being eminent lawyer." The strong points of the claim Were that from August 15 ,81- to July. 1S16, the land in question could scarcely be said to be a post ot any sort in the actual possession of ' the I rated States, having neither (Government buildups o soldiers nor agents there; that i, had not been or i dly reserved for military purposes until ,824. iT.a as therefore subject to pre-emption bv Heaubien under the law ol ,813, and that it should have been ,x open for pre-emption ,0 him on the south side as Tw s

"Inch .1 was answered by Senator Bavard from the Committee of Congress on private land clam,;. Mav 3, M. that there was a reservation and appropruttfon adversely upon the bill No. 773 and recommend that it be indefinitely postponed.'" The apparent siniilaritv of the interest involved with that of thc Kinzie family could furnish no solid basis for a claim against the Government, as pre-emption has been decided by the courts to be a matter .if. bounty on its part ami could not be turned into a right against it. on the part of a citizen. Moreover, the Government had need, or use. for the southern fraction which it was actually occupving when suit was brought, while of the northern fraction it had never made any use. Had the Heaubien claimants awaited the abandonment of the land by the Government it is not improbable that they would have succeeded. Indeed, it was rumored that the patent had been actually signed in favor of Heaubien when the news of the suit aroused the indignation of President lackson, who in his impulsive wrath lore it into fragments. The Story is somewhat open to suspicion, being such as the known character of thc President would have given rise to, without any foundation in fact. KventuaUv Congress donated to Heaubien four or five lots in llic Fofl Dearborn Addition as a compensation for his original outlay; but the effort to prosecute the claim before Congress in 1878. was, as has been shown, resisted with so much firmness as to leave but little hope of its successful revival at any future time.

The hort Dearborn Addition was sold by the Government under Act of Congress of March 3, 1819. There was also some abortive agitation about obtaining the contested land for county purposes, in virtue of an act of Congress of May 26. 1824, granting anv unsold public lands at $, i2j a. re for such purposes, lint it was too late, and the Heaubien Claim went into the real estate market, as stated, under thc auspices of the General ( tavern meat

The homestead of Colonel Heaubien was where now is the southwest corner of South Water Street and Michigan Avenue. I bis was bid in at the land sale in I une. '-s.i9. by lames H. Collins, for $1,049. *nd, in the words of Madore. son of the old pioneer, the " very house his lather was inhabiting, in which his family had been born and reared, and around which were the graves of his departed children, was sold from him in his old age. No wonder the citizens of Chicago held an indignation meeting."

Colonel Heaubien owned alarm near the place, called " Hards, rabble," to which he removed about the year iS4c, and where his wife died in September, 1S4, In 1850 he was commissioned Brigadier-General of miblia. He returned from his farm to Chicago where he married, in 1X55. Miss Louise I'inncv. In i8s8 he removed to Na|>erville, where he died January 5, 1863.

United States Indian Agents And Factors At Chicago

V\hen old Eon Dearborn was built in 1803-4. an agency-house, for the use of the United States Indian Agents to be stationed at the post, was erected under the protection of its guns. It was situated a short distance above the fort on the same side of the river, and is described as an old-fashioned log building with a hall in the center, and one large room on each side. 1 orches extended the whole length of the building, front and rear. The Chicago Agencv included the I'ottawat- "nnes. Sacs, loxes and Kickapoos. All negotiations with them, all payments made to them bv the United States all settlements of disputed questions, were through the medium of the Indian Agent.

eago, arrived and entered ii|>(in the duties of his office in 1805. He was a native of Virginia, the youngest of nine children, and was born in 1772. His father shared in I!raddock*s defeat in 1754, and two of his brothers fought in the War of Independence. John Jouett and his four sons were all of remarkable si/e and Strength. Charles was six feel three inches in height and proportionally muscular He studied law in early manhood, and practised for a short time at Charlottesville, \ a. In 1802, he was appointed by President Jefferson Indian Agent at Detroit. January 22, 1 So ,5. Mr. Jouett married Miss Eliza Dodemead, of Detroit, who died in 1805, leaving a daughter, born in 1S04. April 2, 1S05, he was appointed Commissioner "to hold a treaty" with the Wyandotls, Ottawas and other Indians of northwestern Ohio, ami what is now southeastern Michigan. The treaty was signed at Fort Industry, on "the" Miami of the Lake," now the Mauniee, July '4, 1805. The same year he was appointed as Indian Agent at Chicago : and was officially notified, October 26. 1805, that the Sacs, Foxes and Pottawalomies would be thenceforth included in that agency. Earl v in 1809 he married Miss Susan Randolph Allen, of Clark Count v. Kv.. but born near Williamsburg. Va., in 1 7S6. By "her he had one son. born in Chicago in 1809, and there deceased in 1810; and three daughters, born in Kentucky. In 181 1* he removed to Mercer County, Ky., where he became a judge in 1812. He was again appointed Indian Agent for Chicago, by President Madison, in 1815, and moved there' with his family that year. He is charged with $1,000 salary as such agent in the national accounts of 1816. The Indian agencies 111 Illinois were turned over to the Territory of Illinois in 1817, with a proviso that all such accounts should not exceed §25,000 a year. It may be owing to this change that Mr. Jouett severed his connection with the Indian Department a second time. He, however, signed the Indian treaty of St. Mary's, Ohio. September 17, 1S18, as witness, with the title of Indian Agent. This seems to have been his last service in that line: and he soon afterwards returned to Kentucky. Al ilie org ani/alion of the Territory of Arkansas, in 1819, he was appointed its Judge; but the climate proved unhealthful. and after a stay of six months, during which he was engaged 111 establishing the institutions of the new government, he returned to Kentucky* He then settled in County, of which he remained a resident until his death, May 28, 1854. He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of three Presidents ; and was noted for his integrity and fidelity to the trust imposed in him

Soon after the building of Fort Dearborn, the United States established a Factory at the post, for the purpose of controlling the Indian "trade of the vicinity. The Factory system was instituted by the Government from motives of both philanthropy and expediency. It was designed to benefit the Indians bv giving them a fair equivalent for their furs in such useful articles as their needs required, and to withhold from them whisky, which was rapidly rendering them not only useless, but dangerous " wards " of Government. It was believed that by dealing fairly and honestly with them, they

" H' wa» , Iwrsud with dim lo Oitubcr I. 1(1 1 ; and hi* IIIMIV. Cpwould soon learn to consider the L'uitcd States Factors their friends anil benefactors, and gladly transfer their trade from those who first intoxicated aiid then cheated them, to those who came among them to better their condition. With this motive was also the desire of transferring the immense profits of the Indian trade from private traders or corporations to the United States Treasury. The system eventually proved a failure. The gentlemen sent to the frontier to deal with the Indians, although men of intelligence and integrity, were unacquainted with the nature of those they came to serve, and unequal to the task of competing with old. acute and experienced traders, whom the Indians had learned to trust, and whose influence over them was unbounded. Kefore the war of 1812. the factories were a partial success, but after peace was declared, and they were re-established in 1816, they proved a complete failure. The American Fur Company, after its re-organization in 1817, swept away both private traders and factories, and enjoyed for a time almost a monopoly of the Northwestern fur trade.

The name of the United States Factor at Chicago, from the time the system was established until 1810, has not been preserved, unless, as seems probable, Charles Jouett was both Indian Agent and Factor.

Matthew Irwin was Factor here from 1810 until the destruction of Fort Dearborn, August 15, 1812. and after the departure of Mr. Jouett, in 1811. probably acted also as Agent. He was the son of Matthew Irwin. Sr., a native of Ireland, who settled m Philadelphia when quite young, and becoming a wealthy merchant assisted the United Slates Government during the Revolution by loaning it money for carrying on its plans. In September. 1777, he was appointed Quartermaster-General of Pennsylvania, and served in General Armstrong's division, then in the Held. During 1778 and 1779 he was engaged in fitting out privateers and ships against the enemy, being appointed a naval agent for the State in the latter year, and commissioner for procuring salt for the public. In 1781 he was Port Warden for Philadelphia ; from 1785 served for several years as Recorder of Deeds and Master of Rolls of Philadelphia, and in 1787 was appointed Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He became bankrupt in the latter part of 1788, partly in Consequence of surety debts. The mother of Matthew Irwin, Jr., was a sister of 'Thomas Mifflin, General in the Revolution and afterward Governor of Pennsylvania. His oldest brother, 'Thomas, was United States District Judge of Western Pennsylvania, and another brother was a merchant of Philadelphia. Matthew Irwin, Jr., was born, reared and educated at Philadelphia.

In a written communication, given to Mr. Jcdtdiah Morse, in 1820, and published in " Morse's Report on Indian Affairs," Major Irwin gives the following statement of the amount of business done while he was Factor at Chicago :

In May, i8ti, Mr. Irwin gave notice, to the Secretary of the Treasury i>f the machinations of the Shawanoe Prophet to incite the 1'ottawatomies of lite Illinois River UM surrounding countfr to hostility against the Covcrnment. Mr. Jouett'a absence left Mr. Irwin to discharge the duties of Agent and Factor. He again writes on the 10th of Match, ill*: "The Chippewa and Ottawa nations, hearing that the Winncbagoes and I ottawatomus are hostilelv inclined toward the whiles sent speeches among tl,cm, desiring them to change their sent.ments and live in peace with the whites - " and again on April 16. 1812; « On the 6th, a naitvW ten or eleven Indian* surrounded a small farm house.... ( hicago R.ver.and kille.l two men. The Indian* are « the Winnebago tnbe." Mr. Irwin must have left iTl N"n" ?** "'rw'ari''nis K"Olls Filly t.th. or he would han lv have escaped the massacre of the next month. Ihe goods in the factory were distribute,! among the savages, and the subsequent war put an end for a time to the factory system Mr. Irwin £ appointed Assistant Commissary of Purchases it. the army May, and served until lui.e. 18, s. trhn, the army was disbanded. The following spring a m. lary post was established at Green Hay, ami he was"" , .here as United States Factor, remaining until the office the twelve mouths following the event, and declare themselves American citizens, the* could not Ik- constdered as such without going through the process of naturalization. The Secretary of War, John C Cal houn, immediately directed Governor Cass of Michigan territory to revoke all licenses hitherto gran'ed to persons thus circumstanced, ami he, in turn ordered the several Indian agents accordingly This order temporarily threw out of employment many trader* connected with the American Kur Company, which had retained ill its service Canadians formerly British subjects, who hail been licensed by the various Indian agents to trade, they claiming the right of citizenship under the provision of Jay's treaty. Following is the letter of Mr \ arniim :

J ny exclusion of f.-reinner^ front the Indian trade, *0L it is U l.eve.1 justify tile evtension of lnc oper.-.ti.,., .d this establish, mem his. t.^rihrr with the consideration of the large supoli of dankcls and cloths now hand, induces me M recominen" \ d.stnhunon ,d theg.KKfsof this tmtrykmmm the adjacent villap* tar trade. I.. t»A an extent a> will ensure the sale of nearly all hy he expiration,. Ihe trading such a measure. IM well conv.nccd. will h. highly Kralifying to the Indians. Ma (nil number l» thi> nu-.,..s will !«. eiwM«| to sumjy themselves wiih g.«K .... ...ore reasonable terms than could irthrrwW In- <l..ne ; no.

Ii may readily Ik.- seen that lite American Fur Com pany would not quietly submit to such a diminution of its prerogatives, and measures were immediately taken to prevent the present Unpleasant as|)e«l of affairs be coming a permanent fact. Kanuey Crooks and Samuel Abbott hastened to Washington to be present at theses, sion ..I iSio-jo. That their efforts to obtain such terms as they dewed for the company in which the}' were both interested were successful, is shown by the foilmvmg extracts from a letter written to [ohn I. Astor by Ramsey Crooks.* dated "New York.' Mav,' 1820." Mr. ( rooks says : forward, but the monster would h oe lK-en strangled. Now tLl WMtonKCU be effecled unlit fongrcss meets again. I presume the inm IW be for this summer .ont.nued under Ihe former rcgulat tons , . but had Mr. Secretary t alhoun carried hi, Brjfal in getting

The same month that the agent of the American Fur Company Wrote thus to his principal, the Factor at Chi- ^"-,«>raui discouraged, writes under date of '- May 23,

< ess of the system tO the licensing of British traders brought up in the business, thoroughly conversant with the nature an,] desires of the Indian, and determined their opposition to the factories. On the other hand the private traders and the fur companies affirmed that the system > was radically wrong, and that the Indians were equally cheated, and equally well supplied with whisky by the factories as by themselves. Major Irwin says ,n letters to the Su|R:rintende.u of Indian Trade during the years 1817-19 : io.lcfciiti.il their plan, to tluil end. It j» yen certain thaiX authority vested in then to issue licenses b ^*3cd5ed to Ic stroyal the benches that might be expected from he fa'tones

'- .V». - 1 have I he honor respectfully represent, that f..r thchrcc years las, pas, ,he two factor,,, on' the lakes, one at the other at f.rccn Hay. have been in a measure useless to the ft -W am,. n a pecuniary pun* of vie*. ,0 the tk.ven.mcnt also I h.s state of things ,s owing entirely to the unsuitable provision. uhKhex.st for the rccula.,,,,, of the trade. . . The contina i,m of the same inacm ,,y which ha. hitherto character,,,-,! the business a nese two factories promising mukt. h f , a|j

In opposition to the views of the (rovcrnment Factors at ( hicagu and Creen Hay, mav Ik given the views of two gentle.net, who visited then,.' the one in .8;o the other m .8,,. IV. Jedkliah Morse in his report on In- <lian affairs, says : 1

.roruetown ban the traders ask for their goods a. the post of ,1ccs, judgment than those of the traders : that only twenty-fire dolars worth of furs was sold by the Factor at t'hicago; that the

MM fact, he added, 'that the ( onc-rrimenl sells goods at cost and |^r.age, and pay their own agents ; ami that vet the Indians pre- " dealing with the traders, i, pretty conclusive evidence that the >rader> have no. been cvorbhant in the prices of their goods, Z

'"->- Please, I. 1 1 is evident/ he Mid, ' that by »onu means, the Indians had not conlidencc in the (iovernmcnt as Mr ami upnght in their trade." Nothing was said or intimated on UsM lnect. by the gentleman above alluded to, which in ihe re- T 'he characlcr or conduct of any the hlThn P""-j »B-"-'««We guns, were all reject he Indians, and during four years' trade he did not secure "ft? do|. lars worth of pcllncs: but the natives as well as French l , ants made quantities o, map.c sugar-,., s ,vas no, ^-0, a" N ,

The - services ..f Mr, Vamum as Factor at Chicaim elided the same year. After the order for the disco,, .nuance of (he factory was issued, A. » l.intlsev. of onnectu nt, was sent to Chicago to wind up its affairs White living ( h!caKo. Mr. Vamum hoarded in the DM John Dean house, with J, 15. Iteaul.ien. then its owner He is spoken of by Major Irwin as a ijentletnan of well-known integrity. After the g.H.ds belonff. n»g to the united States remaining in the factory had been disposed of. the building, which was just south of the tort, was bought by a Mr. Whiting, probably Captain Henry Whiting, an ex-annv officer, then sutler of the fort.f It was sold by Mr. Whiting to the American Company, and by that company to lean Baptist,- lleaubien, whose residence it remained until 1839.

During t()L- continuance of the factory, from the rebuilding of the fort in 1816. to its final abandonment 111 i,Sij-2?, there were two Indian Agents. Charles Jotiett was reappointed in 1815, came to Chicago in 1816. and remained two years or more. His residence and the Agency-house for that period, was a log build' ing of two large rooms, about twenty steps from the river bank, on the north side, according to the testimony of his daughter. Mrs. Susan M. Callis, who came to the place wilh her parents in 1816J and remained here several years. She also savs that this house, which was west ol John Kin/ie's. was built before the mnssa ere of 1S12.S and that between it ami the Kin/.ie house was another, occupied in 1816 by a Mr. Bridges. She mentions also an encounter which her father had with Main Poc, a furious Indian, the old war-chief of the I'ottawatomies.

Henry Whilini!, Srw V..rl<. » CHnraiwiiwd Secncid l.irillrnanl of tlo Jill Infantry. May 1. ,H,». Finl l.ienOnonl in Jim.-, 1815; vroundwl 1,1 Uir k., cfc «.( Nnean. July ij. i*m: Cajmin in Septrmhrr.' iBi«: Riained on o- -rranijrranil .,1 lh.- imv pcair rslahlishmcnt. May. iScj. .1. Firrt l.ielllrn-

"My mother's oldest ehild t harles ladime Jimetl, whouas born in Chicago. October 20. I bug. and died (here September S. i s 1 1 >. It has been said that he was the fust white child born in Chicago.* There was a I foverruiient Kavlor thrre named lamb IS. \ atinim. w lio had a child born thercf Possibly this child w is born before my brother. My mother's nurse was a half. bleed French and Indian woman, who was bound to her until she was eighteen tears of age. Her name was Madaiine Alst urn or I Htcuin. She married the day we left Chicago for the last lime, Joseph tt/ier, a soldier fr. >m the garrison. I remember James. Kilev.t w ho acted as father'* interoreler. My impression is ih.it I'r. Alexander Wolcott was fathers successor as Indian Agent. father resigned the agency at Chicago about l$lS-'io and returned to Kentucky. There was a l>r. McMahun stationed at Chicago. There » l>r. John Uilc there (nun New Hampshire, who left before we did. and who died at f ort Armstrong. July 2J. iSjo I reim niU-r ihe Indian chief, 1 White Dog," who pretended he could MM siR-ak Knglish. Hut he got drunk one dav, and we ihen found .ml that he could s.k-.iI: ii very well. I also remember a tall and powerful Indian chief, ' While Klk.' who was pointed out lo me as the man who killed the children of Mrs. Susan lorhin at the massacre id I remember a half-breed Indian who was in the emnlov of John Kin/ic. nameil I'erish I.eClerc, who used to boasi of his ft*, tawatomie descent. I also remember Major I >aniel llaker, who had command at Fort IVarbora. I fremientlv saw .in Indian called ' lihie Earth.' because he always painted his face with a sort of blue clay, which gave him a ghastly appearance. I le kci* princiivilly by himself, and it was hinted he was awhile man in dumfcte lie was out of health; .mil I once saw the Indians dance what was called the - medicine dance.' around him, in hopes ,,f effect, ing a i iirc. There were two lieutenants in the garrison, wh.rve names do not appear in any of your t hicago publications. They were married about Ihe simt lime. They visiicd us frequently tine was Lieutenant ltr...ks.| Ihcother'was Lieutenant lames llackley. Jr . »-ho m.vri.sl Kebekah Wells. of Fort Wayne. d..ugh. lerof t apta.n « , Wells, who was killed if. the t hicago mass,,, ire ol isu, and for whom your street was named.* When mv mother lirsl went lo t hicago it was in midwinler, and she went all he way or, horseback. I his journey she often described as her hndal tour, l ather had as guides a half breed Indian named kobinson. and a negro named Joseph Ifatitles. In Irayeling through IMtWh they found the snow very deep and drifted on the prairie's 1 he> frequently heard the cries of panthers at VN0 were dr- I erred from them by their camplires. Ihe Indians were always very kind, and mother never felt any fear. Hut she U-came tired he feu t,n,e. Mother often congratulated herself that she lift Chicago in time lo escape the massacre. . . The X-encv house where we hved was on the north «u> » ^ the garns,,,,. and John Ki.me. Sr.. lived nearby on the same' si, e sister. Frances, married for her second husband, Arthur IV, Magtll of Middletown, Conn., to which place the Wolcott family had removed. Henrv, the second child, irvas appointed Coltector of the Port' of Middletown by President Adams in 1828, He removed to Chicago m t S ,6, and died there April 5, 1846. Henry was the father of Alexander Wolcott, long the Chicago t'ity Surveyor. Alexander, and Mary Ann, a younger sister, were the third and fourth children. After Dr. W'olcott's arrival here he finished and resided in a building commenced during Judge Jouett's incumbency. This was the a^encv-bou.se on the north side of the river, near where now i> the foot of North State Street, and which was facetiously called "Cobweb Castle," durino. his resilience there as a bachelor, - probably from the noticeable accumulation of those terrors to good housekeepers during those years, < >n the 20th of July. 182.S. he was married at the residence of |ohn Rinzie, tiv |ohn Hamlin, I P. of Kulton County, to Ellen Marion, eldest daughter of John and Kleauor Kin/ie. ln i8jol>r Woliott accompanied the expedition under Coventor Cass from Detroit through the upper lakes to the sources of the Mksissippi. The |»arty left Detroit on the 1st of May, performed the journey, and returned to

Luke Michigan the latter part of August. At Green Hay the party divided, some proceeding to Mackinac, and a part - wwong whom were Coventor Cass. Dr. Wolcott. Major Robert lorsyth and Henry K. School - craft. - coming down the western shore of the lake to Chicago, where thej arrived August 2<>, and remained until the 3 ltd : when fkivernor c*ass acconinaiHed by bis secretary*, Major Fontyth, Lieutenant Mackay, John Rin/.ic and others, took the old Indian trail to Deiroit. and Schoolcraft and Captain Douglas the route bv the eastern shore of the lake to Mackinac. Mr. Schoolcraft speaks of Dr, Woi. ott as a gentleman " commanding ruKpecl by his manners, judgment ami intelligence." On the 29th of August, 1821, a treaty was concluded with the Indians at Chicago, which was signed in the presence of Alexander Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent. Jacob I". Y annum, Factor, and John Kin/ie, Sub-Agent In May, 1823, the garrison was withdrawn from Fort Dearborn and the post and property left in charge of Dr. Wolcott, who moved into one of the houses erected for officers' quarters, and there resided until the fort was again occupied by Cnitetl States troops in August. 1S2S. He was appointed Justice of the Peace for Peoria County December 26,* 1827. and is recorded as judge and voter al the special ejection for justice of the peace and constable, held at the house of lames Kin/ie in the Chicago Precinct. |ulv 14, 1830. When troops arrived to re-garrison Fort Dearborn in iSjX. Dr. Wolcott and familv returned to their old home in the agency-house, where he died late in the fall of iS,o. By his will, tlated October 18, 18,0, he left all his property to his wife Eleanor* M. Wolcott and his daughter Mary Ann. The latter died in infancy, and bis widow became Ins sole surviving heir.

Mrs. W olcott. with her mother and half-sister. Mrs. Helm, remained at the agency-house until the spring of 1831. |'hc order having been given for the evacuation of Fort Dearborn by the troops, the household goods of Mrs. Wolcott were sold bv auction, and she accompanied her sister. Mrs. Lieutenant David Hunter now Mrs. Ccneral Hunter to Fort Howard, Green Bay- Mrs. John Kin/ie and Mrs. Helm went lo Fort W innc bago at the same time, with John H. Kiiuie and wife who had been in Chicago on a visit. The following extracts from a letter written in Chicago about i8j,-22 by Dr. WolcoU to Covcmor Cass, in reply to certain queries Of the latter in regard to the language and condition of the l'ottawatomies. are given to show the sprightly and agreeable manner in which this early settler of C hicago expressed his ideas, and as revealing the pleasant humor of the man ;* wished Hem at the Ixittom of the Kcd Sea, along with so mam other wicked spirits, whose only object on earth was to disturb the repose of .imvl. I.ny .wople like myself. I the necessary knowledge lie acquired by the use of any kind of machinery. L Oll III 1 lie accomplished by the use of steam it would be a matter of no 'li'hi 1 tv It s unly to I, ,y an engine. . 1 u iheth nK is J. .nr. lit . to hnd a person well acpiainted with the Indian tongue w ho knows any thing about any other language on the face of I he earth or who can be made to comprehend ils most simple principles is a pretty un,>ossiblc sort of an affair. Nevertheless, I h.-u e endeavored to do .1 little something to quiet certain stirrings and twitching* somewhere about the region ot the pericardium, which have for a long" tune troubled me exceedingly; more specially whenever mv eyes happened to rest upon a lillle uglv-Iooking book, full of notes M mlcrrogatiim. That I have done so little, and that I have done that little so imperfectly, is only to he excused from the considerslion that I have worked without tools. I have been in the situation, and met with the success, you will perhaps my, of a man who should attempt to polish a diamond with a wood rasp, or fashion ,1 MMl with a sledge hammer. That I have delavcd it so long cannot be excused at all. unless yon will accept of the true plea, that 1 was deterred by the hopelessness of the task, and vou have lull Ic.nc to laugh when I tell you that the confusion and want of arrangemeiH in the papers arise from want of |ime. Kill it is literally true. Since I commenced me inquiries, some weeks ago. respcuing the construction of tkc language. I have kept myseff at it night and day : but I found such ama/ing ditlicultv at every step that my progress has lieen but slow, and it is now lew late to' make any attempt at arrangement, as Captain Whiting) is readv to start. Al bin whal relates l,, language, has been written for a longtime, am a meagre account it is. Cut (he truth is, that of all the tribes and nations that people this globe, the l'ottawatomies have the least that is peculiar in their manners and customs, or interesting m their hisiury. The only very prominent trait in their character is their nnivemJ and Insatiable Idee of ardent spirits, and that is common to all tribes who are so luckv as to lite in a state of frequent intercourse with Christian men.} I suppose bv this time >ou will have another Isnok of 1 queries ' under wav, with which MS will favor your friends in due time. Should vou be desirous thai I should make farther inquiries, please to signify it. and 1 promise a more prompt attention to your request ihan I have given heretofore And now I will not say another word on the subject ot Indian languages except that I am as glad to escape from it as we were lo escape from the unheard-of comforls Sandv l-ake. Hon t you feel a horror creeping over vou every time the idea rccurs to yoUr memory? I MY*f Hunk of it. but.' like the I'harisec.

Colonel Thomas J. V. Owen succeeded Dr. Wolcott. and served as Indian agent during the vears 1831-32-33. Kercheval and James Stuart served under him as sub-agents ; Billy Caldwell Sauganash , as interpreter : David McKce as blacksmith, and Joseph I'orthicr as striker. Colonel Owen was born in Kentucky, \pnl 5. 1801. He. was appointed Indian agent in the winter of 1830-31, but did not arrive in Chicago until the 5pring Of 1831 the Bub-agent. Mr. Kercheval, attending to the duties of the office until that tune. When the Town of Chicago was incorporated in 1 S33, Colonel Owen was chosen President of its first board of trustees. He died at Chicago. October 15, 1835

The Kl'R Trade And Traders

Before priest or explorer found his wav to the Chicago River, the fur-trader was dealing with the Indians on its banks, rather Marquette found them - evidently not strangers to the soil or its savage inhabitants - when in the winter of 1674-75 he lav sick in his cabin on the prairie of the portage. They were here before him. were awaiting his coming, and had prepared to receive htm hospitably when he should arrive at their winteringground below the great Indian village. When they round that his ill health would compel him to pass the winter in "their cabin " at the portage, they sent hint supplies from their own stores, and bv their influence with the Indians made his hard winter mure safe and comfortable.

Until the friendly Illinois were driven from their river. French traders passed freelv to and fro over the " I hlCagOU route" from Canada to Louisiana, and colonists came to build their cabins around the Hon St Coins. When the tribes of the Illinois were driven from their country, and Fort St. Louis had been abandoned and finally destroyed, this path became for a time too dangerous for even the daring voyageurs, and this route of the Canadians to the Trench "settlements and to the interior of the country was exchanged for one more side From the first settlement of New France, the most lucrative business of the colonists was the traffic in furs, and the Canadian voyageurs were, after Nicolet. the first' explorers of the Northwest The fur trade on the St. Lawrence was licensed by the French Government, the paper being drawn somewhat in the form of a colonial commission, conferring on the holder the authority of a military officer over the voyageurs in his employ.' The early French traders were sometimes by the terms of their licenses made Colonial agents, with power to make treaties with the Indians and arrange terms of commercial intercourse. Their Canadian fixw's were a wonderful class of men. maintaining bv their hardihood a traffic in furs with the savages of the Northwest' which gave to the region its only great value in the eves of the French Government. The patience, tenacity of purpose, courage and resolution displayed by these hardy, cheerful servants are almost without parallel in the history of exploration of savage countries. With their packs of merchandise, or " outfits," they left Quebec or .Montreal in their frail bark canoes, traversed lakes and rivers to their destined post, |K'nctrated to the winter haunts of the savages, toiling up the streams in their canoes, and at each portage taking both the canoe and its load on their backs from one stream to another, until a favorable spot for a -- wintering-ground " was reached. Then, with their savage companions, they passed the winter in the wilderness, to secure for their employers the animal load of peltries. Sometimes they learned to to the St. Lawrence, but following the Indians in their wanderings, engaged in an illicit trade on their own account, and became courier* Jt Ms. These fur-traders nf the woods became so numerous by the last of the seventeenth century that a nival declaration w;cs issue*1 against them - their vocation Interfering materially with the profits of the licensed French traders. When French domination ceded in the Northwest there was an evseulial change in the manner of carrying on the fur trade. U a later day the WTtfffMrt nf ihe American Fur Company, and private trailers were employed under written > mitracts. executed in Canada for a term nf from three lo five years - their wages from two hundred and fifty livres fifty dollars . It] seven hundred ami fifty livres |KT year. "Jo thin was added their * outfit," consisting usually of a Mackinaw hlauket. two cotton shirts, a capote and a few other articles, with the ntmwary goods for their Indian customers. In the fall they left Mackinac, or other headquarter* of their employer, to upend the months until spring at their " wintering-ground. " Their food, when with savage*, consisted principally of salt pork, corn ami tallow. The far* collected Ity'the voyageurs employed by the American Fur Company were taken to Mackinac in the Rpring, and there repacked for New York. The early population of ( 'Imago was. in a great measure, made up nf fur-trader*. Aside from the military, almost every inhabitant was connected with this traffic, in some form or "liter. The first trace of white occupation of the site of Chicago after it 1*. came the home of the I'ottawatomies. is hv a French trader named Ouaric. who located on the west side of the North branch of the Chicago Hirer, near the forks fmrdim.S. Hiibbard.whosc personal knowledge of Chicago dates bad) to 1818. says of this trader :*

*uh the Indians, during his long residence ou the ( hicagp River, hut whether white traders were nettled here dnrmg those years ,s unknown. V Burnet,, a rSS residents in th<- summer of 1803, three French hirtradcrs ; I.e.Mai, who bought the cabin of He Saible in 1796. and had probably been a resident since that time : Antoinc Ouilmette, who lived near him, and a trader by the name of I'eltell. of whom nothing more is known. A year latter Le Mai sold his cabin to John Kin/ie. ami Antolne Ouilmette entered the service uf the latter, ami long remained his employ*. Ouilmetle's house was just north, and within a very short distance of Mr. Kin/ie's. At the time of the Fort Dearborn massacre, it became the hiding place of Mrs. Helm, where she was preserved from the furious savages who sought her life by the courage and coolness of Mrs Itissoi), a sister of Mrs. Ouilmette. It was in Ouilmette s garden that William Orirtith,* the Quartermaster at the fori, hid himself behind the currant bushes, anil when discovered by the family was disguised as a Canadian voyageur and helped to escape with the Kinzies.

After the departure of the boat containing his employer's family, Ouilmette was left the sole white inhabitant of Chicago. After the arrival of Alexander RoIk insotfl, who probably came to Chicago to live in 1X14. Ouilmette and he cultivated the field formerly used as the garden of the fort, raising there good crops of corn. The crop of 1K16 was sold to Captain Hradley after his arrival to rebuild the fort. At the treaty made at Prairie Du Chien in 1 Sap with the tribe of which his wife was a member. Ouilmette was granted, on her

There he made a farm and remained until the 1'ollawatoinics were removed to the W est. He accompanied them with his family, and both himself and wife died at Council Bluff*. Iowa. His daughter Klixabeth mar* rieil Michael Welch, of Chicago, and after his death. Lucius R. I»arlin«. of Silver Lake. Kansas. Another daughter, Joaette, mentioned in " VYaubun "" married John Derosche, and with the other children of the family -Michel], Lewis, Francis. Sophie and Joseph - settled on the banks of the Kansas River, with the tribe

Before the rebuilding of the fort, one other trader settled in Chicago, That was M. Du Pin, who married the widow of Mi. Ijgg (the former proprietor of the cabin and garden 011 the lake shore mar (he fort .and lived in the Kiiuie house during the absence of the family, Alter his removal to Chicago in 1S04 John Kinzie became a very successful trader. His trading house apparently absorbed all the rival establishments - except the United States Factory. A description of its grow and success is given in -- YYaubun as follows : tthen the fort was rebuilt in iKt6. (rorernment recstabhshed the United States Factory connected with it. Soon after this a trading-house was established by Uirtant and Xfack. wealthy merchants of Detroit, at the

This Kur Trade And Tradrrs

>own as '- Lee's Place" four miles up from the fort. This was on govern- ; included in the " six -miles-square tract," and these merchants having bought the old cabin where Mr. White and his man were murdered in the spring of 1812, sent John Crafts with a large supply of Indian goods, to take possession of the place and establish there a branch house. The location was directly in the path of the Indians of the interior as they brought their furs from the Illinois. Desplaines and Kankakee, and crossed the portage to the factorial Chicago. The establishment was a decided success, The Indians had no great love for L'nited States factories, and the house at the " portage " secured almost a monopoly of the furs of the region, until the American Kur Company decided to swallow both the Factory and the establishment owned by Mr. Crafts. This wits accomplished by the close of 1H21 - the factory had ceased to exist, and Mack and Conant had transferred their interests in the fur trade of the region about Chicago to its prosperous rival.

IN Chic ai;o. - When the military possession of the Northwest passed from France to dreat Britain in 1760, the Hudson's Hay Company, which had been chartered by Parliament as early as i6;o, acquired almost an exclusive monopoly of the fur tratle. Its success excited the envy of other capitalists, and in 178.}. the North, west Kur Company was organized at (Quebec, and established its posts at various points on the upper lakes and throughout the interior. The new company, contrary to the custom of the older one. employed" voyageurs for its extended trade, and soon diminished the profits of (he Hudson's Hay Company. Other organisations were formed - among them an association of British chants called the M ackinaw Company, which be successful rival to the older companies.

In 1809. John Jacob Astor organized the American Fur_ Company, which was diartcred by the New York l egislature - Mr. Astor being the Company. In connection with the Northwest Company be bought out the Mackinaw Company in 181 1. and formed the Southwest Company. The War of 1812 temporarily interrupted the existence of that organization, but it was revived. In 1815 Congress prohibited foreigners from dealing in furs in the L'nited Stales and Territories. I he Southwest Company, composed mainly <»1 Uritish merchants, sold out its interest to Mr. Astor soon alter, and the company was known as the American l-'ur Company " after the spring of 1817.*

" Having entire charge of the management of the company in ihc West were Ramsey Crooks ami Koliert Stuart. To William Matthew VUI entrusted the engaging of vovageurs and clerks in Canada, with his headquarters ill Montreal.' The voyageurs he look Iruni the itat.it.tut ( fanners ): (Wing, active, athletic men were sought for ; indeed, -nme but such were engaged, and the) passed under inspection of a surgeon. Mr. M. also purchased at Montreal such go<ids as were suited for the trade to had his boats, Iwsc boats were the Canadian principally used in those da>> in transferring goods to upper St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, manned by lour oarsmen ami a steersman, capacity about su tons. The vovageurs and clerks were tinder indentures lor a term of live years. Wages of vovageurs gino. clerks from 9130 to S500 per annum. t hese were all novices in the business. I he plan of the company was to arrange and secure the services of od traders and their vo'yagcurs, who at the (new > oiganiialion of he company were in the Indian country, depending on their to- "ucncc and knowledge of the trade with the Indians ; and as fast as possible secure the vast trade of the West and Northwest within the district of the l'nited States, interspersing the novices btought 'om Canada, so as to consolidate, extend and monopolize as far th avcr the country, the Indian trade. The lirst two years they had succeeded in banging into their employ seven-eighths of - OukI.k, S. Hs-SUml, the old Indian traders on the upper Mississippi, Wabash and Illinois rivers. Lakes Superior and Michigan, and their tributaries ,,s far north as the boundaries of the l'nited Suites extended. The other eighth thought that Iheir interest was lo remain independent toward such, the company selected their Inst traders, and located them in opposition, wilh instructions so 10 manage by underselling a* to bring them lo term- ll Mackinaw, th, trader s brigades rganucil. the company selecting the mini capable trader lo be

Inch consisted of from ti\c This chief or manager, when reaching a country allotted lo him made detachments, locating trading -bouses with districts clcarlv defined, for the operations of that particular post, and so on, until his ground w as fully occupied by traders under him. over whom he had absolute authority " The law excluding foreigners from trailing in the Indian country seemed designed to apply to companies and not individuals. The American Fur Company, controlled by an American, was considered an exclusively American company, and was allowed for the successful prosecution of its business, certain privileges which did not conform to the letter of the law. The various Indian agents at the western posts were directed through the ( rovernor of Michigan Territory, to grant licenses to such traders as the agents of Mr. Astor should designate. The British traders formerly connected with the Southwest Company were familiar with the fur trade, and were trusted by the Indians, over whom their influence was unbounded. The Canadian vovageurs were indispensable to the successful prosecution of the business, and it was not long before licenses were in the hands of British traders, who sent their engagft to every part of the Indian country, hold* 1110 that they were American citizens under the provisions of Jay's treaty, and that the form of naturalization was unnecessary.

sixteen years of age he migrated to Canada, and was for employed as junior clerk in Ihc mercantile house of Maitland, i.ardcn iN: Auldju. in Montreal. In iSoc, lie engaged in the service of a merchant named liillesple, and vrcnl 10 ihc then frontier village of St. Louis, where he remained two or three vears. afterward trading wilh the Indians on the Missouri Kivcr'on his own account. Kohcrt McClcllan was one of his associates and friends while in Missouri, and the two young traders fought manfully for their rights against the arrogance and tyranny of the Missouri Kur Company, which with Manual Lisa at its head, did not scrupie to instigate the Sioux to acts of violence against rival trader*.

chain of trading-posis on the Missouri and La I'latte rivers to the Rocky Mountains, and thence to the I'acilic. \lr Crooks rclinquished his business on the Missouri, and at the desire of Mr. Astor joined ihc parly of traders and trappers w hich, starting from St. Louis, was to traverse the country to the I'acilic, and at Ihe mouth of the Columbia Jtivcr establish the principal station of thr company. Afler much suffering and many wanderings, the party reached Astoria in May. 1K12. Mr. Crooks returned lo SI. Louis in 1S13, and the following year, through the capture of the station by the British, and the failure of our government lo give protection to Ihe American fur-traders. Mr. Astor relinquished all operation on the I'acilic coast. In IS17, at the re-formation 0} the American Kur Company, Mr. Crooks again joined Mr. Astor. and was the agent of thr tompany at Mackinaw for the ensuing five years Vlthi gh 1' - residence was in N'er* V'ork. US NMtf SUM I time at Mackinaw, and was well known, and personally esteemed by the many traders connected wilh the company, al Ihe stations at Chicago. I irccn Hay. Milwaukee and elsewhere in the Northwest. The partnership with Mr. Astor was dissolved in 1S30. when Mr. Crooks resumed hisformci pirsilton as a salaried employe of the company, lull in IH34, Mr. Astor, beginning to feel the infirmities of age, sold out the stock of the company, and transferred thecharter to Mr. Crooks and others, and this gentleman was thereupon elected president of the company. However, the business did not continue prosperous, ami in 1*42, ihe American l-'ur Company nude an assignment and passed out of existence. In 1S4;. Mr. Crooks opened .1 commission house, for the sale of furs and skins in .New V'ork. This business, which proved very successful, 1ic continued until his death, which occurred at his residence in New York citv on the 6th of June 1S59, in the seventy-third year of his age. Mr. Crooks was noted for his extreme modesty and

mill! IU lit, his sterling integrity, and purity of life, arid the U minis-, pililim and Immunity he exhibited tn all those with vktM he had to deal - Imlh while nun and red.

Ramsey Crooks left New York ti> assume the duties of agent of" the American Fur Company at Mackinaw, in March, 1817. From that time he was intimately connected with many of the Chicago trailer- - furnishing goods both to the trailers connected with his company ami those who acted independently. In a collection of his letters, now in the possession of liunlon S. Hubbard, there is much to Ik- found relating to the early trade and traders of Chicago ami to the general operations of the company. The following extracts are from these letter*. Ou the i2(l of June, 1817, Mr. Crooks writes from " Michilimackinac " to John Kin/ie <>f Chicago ;

" Aw Sir v - Isincc my arrival -even day- ago. nn opportunity of riiimniiincating with you ha- pre-ented it-elf. By the arrival of Mr. I .amorandicre I am happy to learn your success in the late campaign, and sincerely hope it may continue. 1 look for a visit from you soon, hut should that I*- inconvenient yet for «<mie lime, am UMMHHdutioil von nui, in the interim, favor tn with -hall bt duly attended to.

" Unclosed i« a letter to Mr. Hanicl lloura-s a,» who appearto have been shamefully imposed upon by Mr. Iluisson anil associates; however being aver«e to forming an opinion injurious to any one without proof, I have requested \|r. llourassa to avail himself of the nrst eoiiveyante* to this plate, in order that 011 thearrital of I hc-e gentlemen} a full investigation mav lake place, which, with- ml In- presence mu-l be imperfect an. I" unsatisfactory. Itourassa may perhaps dreail the consequences a| putting himself in mv power but his general character hitherto doe- not permit my entertaining any suspicions of hi- Inmesty, and he mav et.me here without apprehen-ion. Mhould Mr. Huisson and his friends have acted as lusrly as report says. they may pos-iblv try to iiitimi.lale llourassa so as to prevent hi- coming here, but 'I trust von will assure him my only wish for his presence is to Mate licforc them the circum- -lanees attending ihis transaction in its different stages " roper to make will, the g.«xl- given you bv Mr. KochcbUe lor he N.uthwc-t Company, but as I am persuaded that rau have not been well treated m this affair, it i- for vour advantage to take the lirsl opportunity to come here (Mackinaw) where, when Mr Itui-. *TnZC%> 'he 'l,ft,C"">' Bil1 m the MM equitable lively instructed ,0 be guided by , he t^^fggt men, of las, year in regard ,0 the granting of licensing ,0 f. JiKn. er-. and having no directions from Acting Secretary linhair. t h" stow any spccilic indulgences on vour airenN ha- » H. 1,1 ?x HWhuff .Indian Agent at\.rcen uj. 1^ Z ^ particular!! to our w -he- - and should h, -> .. '° attend

" /Mir Sir. - Your favor of the 4th instant caine duly In hand, as also the seventy-three I'acks by Captain Harney, the fremiti m which I paid and had them safely stored where thev still remain in the shape you sent them, as Mr, Iteaiibicn could not possible gel a pre - , so bn-y have we been since his arrival here. However. I -hall do what you wished him to execute, though from the unheardof desertion of onr men on the way from Montreal, we arc left almost hel|>le - . and men cannot be g.«t here on anything like reason, able term- Would you believe that ordinary boatmen a-k a thousand livres. many gel eight or nine hundred, and those who can jus, talk enough Indian to tell their master's private business 10 the savages, will not listen to anything short of eleven or twelve hundred livres, with an equipment which could not be purchased here for less than fifty dollars. If therefore you have any idea of depending on this post for nu n, my advice would be to "abandon every thought of the kind, and secure those vou have about you. Mr. Iteaubien sold me his skins after a residence of several days had given him an opportunity of becoming intimately acquaints: with the highest value set on them by contending parties, and I Mi very sure they were well sold, lie has directed me to credit tou w ith $1.0,-7-5 on his account, which has been done. Yonr account again-t I'cnsonncan has been acknowledged and passed to vour credit. Thcliest Indian Corn will not command alxive two'dulbn )R-r bushel, at Ihis time, and indeed an immediate sale at that price could Ml Ik- effected, for cash. I cannot therefore, take upon myself to sacrifice your property, ami prefer keeping it till lietler times. Accept my thanks for your goodness in forwarding my request to llourassa, but should he not come soon, his appearance will only be an additional charge to nn purpose, as I'enson* neau will be off in a few days. Should llourassa not 1* already on the way lo this place when you receive this please say he need not come on my account."

" /Mir .SVr- - -Iteing very busy at thi« moment, I have only time lo say your son reached me in good health, which he has continued ever since to enjoy with but little interruption. Mr. Dick, son made but a short stay here, and although I mentioned your desire of his arranging with me. on your |»rt for John he was so entirely absorbed in the pressure of his own affairs as not tu have an hour to bestow on the settlement contemplated. 1 am anxious that a pel fee I understanding should l>e had a- to vour son. wilh as little delay as the ease will admit of, and beg you by the very first conveyance lo give me at length, vour ideas on this interesting subject. I am inclined to think, from ail I have seen of Um thai he will realiic all your hopes. I bought M. t ha ndonet's skins, bu, the amount does not meet vour expectations Vour several favors have been duly received, arid with some exceptions the sums to be collected for you are at your credit, the accounts detailing everything shall be forwarded by Mr. Oeschamps. who goes off in a few days. Messrs. ('handonet and James Kcnsie* arc equipped by us. I -end you a I'ork-catcrt for three year-. Hi- engagement is enclosed, and his account with u* i»:

" I>,:tr Sir. - - Ily Capt. Church in ihe ' Hercules- you will refour barrel* whiskey containing 144 gallons, an',] 6 turn-Is Hour, which I hope will reach you ui giirKl order. To Mr. Schind- Irr I will deliver the lorrcl Flour, as you directed. I cannot promise you any more EqiMT, for spirits of every kind are not only dear > but uncommonly scarce. Messrs. Mack \ Conant have received the draft I remitted them on your account - sav $1,174, 1)111 by the enclosed accounts from these geiiCemeti u appears you are still ii their debt. The lirst account they furnished showed a balance of *3lb.$- 1-2 against you, but by another they made out aftcruards, you are their debtor only SioS.Sy 1-2. We enclose those accounts, and your note to Sherhal Conant \ Co, cancelled which give you all the information we possess on the subject nf your affairs with these gentlemen.

The Fur Trade And Traders

object. We remitted to Messrs. Conarri and Mack $1,174, on your account of Mr. Chandonnais, but by the papers enclosed bv this convevancc to that gentleman, it apiicarx that he is still in arrenrswith that house. Your letter covering remittances lo them has been forwarded. Ily Cant. Church, in the 'Hercules' you will receive a keg of Madeira Wine, as per acc't subjoined, which I hope you will Rati good. We have nut a drop of I'ort. otherwise your rcoucsi relative to that article would have been attended to. Enclosed is Hill Lading of J. II. I;. 14 liarrcls.x |. II. C 12 barrels, the former for Mr. Ileauhicri and the latter for Mr. Chandonnais, which we were directed to consign 10 you. We will settle with the Captain for the freight of these. John is in food health and writes by the ' Hercules.'"

' /Mir Sir.- - Yimr several favors up to 19th ulto. have come to hand and their different enclosures attended to. All has been |iasscd to your credit as they were severally collected, but wnere any inaccuracy existed, we made the necessary alteration, which you will discern in your account now enclosed : by this the balance now i» 8220.00, which, of course, stands at your debit. The in. dentures of your son John. I had filled up with the intention of sending you an exact copy signed by MO, lull Mr. Robert 1 lick-on, arriving here in the meantime, I consulted him as you originally proposed, and at his instance put in $125 for each' of the 2 last vears ,,f John's apprenticeship. I hope this will meet your appro. Union. The instrument duly Executed is now enclosed, a copy of which please execute and return me by first conveyance to this place. Thus far your son has behaved in a becoming manner. Mr. Abbott did, 1 believe, everything in his turner last winter to improve his general know ledge, as also his scholastic know ledge ; and my friend Mr. Robert Stuarl. in whose charge he will pass the approaching season, will not fail to do him justice. He is attached to our retail store, but 1 now and then have him with me in the wholesale department, and so soon as he is eligible, he will lie so much in the counting-house as lo give him an opportunity of understanding our general business, but in concerns of some Intricacy and uihnilc detail to keep him there now would be .1 loss >,f precious time, both to him ami the Company. You may however resi assured that every attention will be paid to making your son a man of business, With surprise and astonishment I learn the very <|Uesiinnable course Mr. Jean life. Chandonnait has thought proper to pursue ; but reiving with the utmost confidence on vour influence over him, 1 still flatter myself that at least a part of Ihe amount he owes us would have been remitted before this lime, more particular!)' as several gentlemen informed me he had in his pnHcssion $1,000 arising from the sale of his peltries to Mr. * rafts. .\t your recommendation 1 gave him credit, for without 'hat I never would have trusted him I dollar, and your being on 'he spot where he resided. I certainly felt as safe as with the best man we deal with. Strange ami unaccountable it is. that we have m received any kind of remittance, notwithstanding Ihe extravagant conduct of this person ; but, as von introduced him to us, I am bound to hope, although yon have not mentioned even his name m any of your letters this summer, that you have done, and w ill ntinue to do all in your tjowcr lo insure the payment of our

" A" - rinding in the note of gcxsk returned us bv Edward I plum something we had not furnished for our trade at the south end ol Lake Michigan in iSirj, a discovery was made of his having lect'ed ' *'*XU *' n""'8"' ,crm!' n<" now *«MII) recol.