ILLINOIS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

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Chartres, at the main door of the church, offering the property in a high and audible voice, while the people were going out in great numbers from said church. And the parish register, which, briefly and drily, notes the marriages of the common people, spares neither space nor words in the record of the weddings in the families of the officers at the Fort. When Jean la Freile de Vidrinne, officer of a company, is married to Elizabeth de Mon-charveaux, daughter of Jean Francois Liveron de Moncharveaux, captain of a company, and when the Monsieur Andre Chevalier, royal solicitor and treasurer for the King at the country of the Illinois, weds Madeleine Loisel, names, and titles, and ancestry, are set forth at length, and Makarty, the commandant, Buchet, the principal writer, Du Barry, a lieutenant, all the dignitaries of fort and village, and all the relatives, subscribe the register as witnesses. The ladies sign with a careful deliberation, indicating that penmanship was not one of their recreations; the gentlemen with flourishes so elaborate, that they seem to have been hardly able to bring them to a close. These entries appear in a separate volume, the last in date of the parish books, entitled "Register of the Marriages made in the Parish of St. Anne, containing seventeen sheets, or sixty-eight pages, numbered and initialed by Mr. Buchet, principal writer and judge." (Signed) Buchet. And in the Baptismal register of the chapel of St. Joseph, at Prairie du Rocher, appears an entry which has a strangely familiar sound. For it recites that several persons, adults and children, were baptized together, in the "presence of their parents, brothers, uncles, mutual friends, their sisters, their cousins, and their aunts." This, palpably, is the germ of "Pinafore," which Illinois may therefore take the credit of originating, long before our# era!

New Chartres, and the other villages in the neighborhood, and the Fort, rested secure in the belief that, although Canada had surrendered, Louisiana, with the Illinois country, would still be preserved by the King, who might thence reconquer his lost possessions. Hence, like a thunder-clap, came the news that on the ioth of Feb., 1763, Louis XV. had ratified the treaty transferring them to the British Government. The aged Bienville, then living in Paris, with tears in his eyes, begged that the colony, to which he had given the best years of his life, might be spared to France, but in vain. With a stroke of his pen, the weak King ceded to Great Britain the Canadas, the Illinois, and all the valley of the Mississippi east of the river. While at' Fort Chartres they were in daily expectation of news of the coming of British troops to take possession, an expedition arrived from New Orleans to settle at the Illinois. It was headed by Pierre Laclede, the repre-

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sentative of a company of merchants engaged in the fur trade. Learning here of the treaty of cession, he at once decided to establish a new post in the territory, west of the Mississippi, supposed to be still French ground. Neyon de Villiers permitted him to store his goods and quarter his company at the Fort, and Laclede, after an exploring tour, selected a fine bluff, sixty miles to the northward, for the site of his colony. He foresaw something of its future importance, and, returning to Fort Chartres for the winter, discoursed with enthusiasm upon its prospects, and took possession in the spring. This was the beginning of the city of St. Louis. Many of the French from the Illinois followed him,, even transporting their houses to the other shore, so great was their desire to live under their own flag. And terrible was their disappointment, when the secret treaty with Spain was made known, by which their faithless King ceded all his dominions beyond the Mississippi to the nation which had so long disputed with France her foothold there. Their last estate seemed worse than their first, for much as they detested the defiant banner of Britain, with a deeper hatred they regarded the gloomy ensign of Spain. Many more of the unhappy colonists descended the Mississippi, with Neyon de Villiers, in the belief that lower Louisiana was to remain under French control, and that their condition would be bettered there, only to be bitterly disappointed. Those who remained felt their hopes revive, as time passed on and the red-coats came not.

The veteran St. Ange, who had returned from Vincennes to play the last sad act of the drama, with a little garrison of forty men, still held the Fort, although it was the only place in North America at which the white flag of the Bourbons was flying. All else had been ceded and surrendered, but the way to the west was not yet open, for Pontiac was a lion in the path. The British victory was not complete until that flag was lowered, and repeated efforts to accomplish this were made. Again and again wrere they thwarted by the Forest Chieftain. Major Loftus, ascending the Mississippi with a force to take possession of Fort Chartres, was greeted with a volley at the bluffs, still called Loftus Heights, and retreated to Pen-sacola. Captain Pitman, seeking to find his way from Mobile in the guise of a trader, gave up the attempt as too hazardous. Captain Morris, sent from Detroit to arrange for the surrender of the Fort, was met by Pontiac, who, squatting in front of him, opened the interview by observing that the British were liars, and asked if he had come to lie to them like the rest. Attentions much less courteous were received from individuals of

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the Kickapoo persuasion, and Morris turned back, while still several hundred miles from his destination. Lieutenant Frazer, pushing down the Ohio, reached Kaskaskia, where he fell into Pontiac's hands, who kept him all one night in dread of being boiled alive, and at daybreak shipped him to New Orleans by . canoe express, with the cheerful information that the kettle was boiling over a large fire to receive any other Englishmen who came that way. Frazer could only console himself, for his otherwise fruitless voyage down both the Ohio and the Mississippi, with the thought that he had been nearer to the objective point than any other officer, and had seen a great deal of the country. George Croghan, Sir William Johnson's interpreter, following Frazer on the same errand, was waylaid by the Shawn ees on the Ohio and sent to the Indian villages on the Wabash, whence he took Morris' route to Detroit. The French and Spanish officers in Louisana, laughed at the British failures to reach a fort they claimed to own, and suggested that an important party had been omitted in the treaty of cession, and that a new one should be made with King Pontiac. Meanwhile that sovereign was ordering into service some Illinois Indians, assembled near Fort Chartres, and when they showed a reluctance to engage in hostilities against their new rulers, said to them: "Hesitate not, or I destroy you as fire does the prairie grass. Listen, and recollect these are the words of Pontiac!" Their scruples vanished with amazing rapidity, and they did his bidding. Then with his retinue of dusky warriors, he led the way through the tall gateway of Fort Chartres, and greeting St. Ange, as he sat in the government house, said "Father, I have long wished to see thee, to recall the battles which we fought together against the misguided Indians and the English dogs. I love theJFrench, and I have come here with my warriors to avenge their wrongs." But St Ange plainly told him that all was over; Onontio, their great French father could do no more for his red children; he was beyond the sea and could not hear their voices; and they must make peace with the English. Pontiac, at last convinced, gave up the contest, and made no opposition to the approach from Fort Pitt, by the Ohio, of a detachment of the 426. Highlanders, the famous Black Watch, under Captain Sterling, to whom St. Ange formally surrendered the Fort on the 10th of October, 1765. The lilies of France gave place to the red cross, of St George, and the long struggle was ended. At "Fort Chartres the great empire of France in the New World ceased forever.

The minute of the surrender of Fort Chartres to M. Sterling,

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appointed by M. de Gage, Governor of New York, Commander of His Britannic Majesty's troops in North America, is preserved in the French archives at Paris. The Fort is carefully described in it, with its arched gateway, fifteen feet high; a cut-stone platform above the gate, with a stair of nineteen stone steps, having a stone balustrade, leading to it; its walls of stone eighteen feet in height; and its four bastions, each with forty-eight loop-holes, eight embrasures, and a sentry-box, the whole in cut stone. And within, the great store-house, ninety feet long by thirty wide, two stories high, and gable-roofed; the guard-house having two rooms above for the chapel and missionary quarters; the government-house 84 x 32, with iron gates and a stone porch, a coach-house and pigeon-house adjoining, and a large stone well inside; the intendanfs house of stone and iron, with a portico; the two rows of barracks, each 128 feet long; the magazine thirty-five feet wide, thirty-eight feet long, and thirteen feet high above the ground, with a doorway of cut stone, and two doors, one of wood and one of iron; the bake-house with two ovens, and a stone well in front; the prison with four cells of cut stone, and iron doors; and one large relief gate to the north; the, whole enclosing an area of more than four acres. The English had insisted that, under the treaty of cession, the guns in all the forts belonged to them. The French Governor, of Louisiana, disputed the claim, but consented to leave those at the Illinois, with a promise of their-restoration, if his view proved correct. Hence the cannon of Fort Chartres were transferred with it, for the time at least.

St Ange and his men took boat for St. Louis, where, feeling that their sovereign had utterly deserted them, they soon decided to exchange the service of his Most Christian Majesty of France, for that of his Most Catholic Majesty of Spain. They were speedily enrolled in the garrison of St. Louis, of which St Ange was appointed to the command, to the great satisfaction of his comrades and his old neighbors from the Illinois. One tragedy signalized the accession of the new government at Fort Chartres. Two young officers, one French and the other English, were rival suitors for the hand of a young lady in the neighborhood, and a quarrel arose which led to a duel. They fought with small-swords early on a Sunday morning, near the Fort, the Englishman was slain, and the Frenchman made haste to descend the river to New Orleans. The story of this, no doubt the first duel fought in Illinois, was related, nearly forty years after its occurrence, by an aged Frenchman, who was an eye-witness of the combat, to the chronicler who has preserved the account. With the depar- .

40 OLD FORT CHARTRES.

ture of the French soldiers, the last spark of life in the village of New Chartres went out. On the register, then in use in the church of St. Anne, was written, "The above-mentioned church (parochial of St Anne of New Chartres) having been abolished, the rest of the paper which was in this book has been taken for the service of the church at Kaskaskia." And the Mississippi, as if bent upon destroying every vestige of the once happy and prosperous village, encroached upon its site until a large portion of it was swept away. Shortly after its abandonment, the parish register of Prairie du Rocher, which place continued to be occupied by the French, records the removal of the bodies of the Reverend Fathers Gagnon and Collet, priests of St. Anne of New Chartres, from the ruined cemetery near that church on the point in the river, and their burial in the chapel of St. Joseph, at Prairie du Rocher.

The Illinois had now become an British colony, "in the days when George the Third was King." The simple French inhabitants with difficulty accustomed themselves to the change, and longed for the paternal sway of the commanders of their own race. It is said that soon after the British occupation, the officer, in authority at Fort Chartres, died suddenly, and there being no one competent to succeed him, the wheels of government stopped. And that St. Ange, hearing, at St Louis, of the confusion in his old province, repaired to Fort Chartres, restored order, and remained there until another British officer could reach the spot The story is typical of the man, who deserves a wider fame than he has won. For he was a fine exemplar of the fidelity, the courage, and the true gentleness, which are worthy of the highest honor. He spent a long life in the arduous duties of a frontier officer, commanding escorts through the wilderness, stationed at the different posts in the North-West in tur^i, and for more than fifty years associated wTith the Illinois country, which became the home of his family. Born in Canada, and entering the French army as a boy, he grew gray in the" service, and when surrendered to the foeman, he had so long opposed, by the unworthy King, who made no provision for the men who had stood so steadfastly for him, he was more faithful to France than Louis XV; had been. For his removal to St Louis, and acceptance of a Spanish commission, were in the interest and for the protection of his misled countrymen, who had settled at that place solely that they might still be French subjects. There he remained, the patriarch of the infant settlement, beloved and honored by all, until his death, at the age of seventy-six, in the year of the commencement of our revolution. And all who

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knew him, friends and foes, countrymen and foreigners,"white men and red, alike bear testimony to the uprightness, the steady fortitude, the unshrinking courage, the kindliness and nobility of Louis St. Ange de Belle Rive, the last French Commandant of the Illinois.

In December of the year of the surrender, Major Farmer, with a strong detachment of the 34th British Foot, arrived at the Fort from Mobile, and took command. The following year he was relieved by Colonel Edward Cole, a native of Rhode Island, an officer in the Old French War, who comanded a regiment under General Wolfe at the siege of Quebec, and was at the capture of Havana by the Earl of Albemarle. In letters written from the Fort, in 1766 to 1768, to his old comrade and partner in business, Colonel Henry Van Schaick, he says, "This country is far from answering my expectations in any other point than the soil. I have enjoyed but a small share of health since I arrived. I have been much deceived in the description of this country, and am determined to quit it as soon as I can. No comfort Indians eternally about me." During his term of office, Captain Philip Pitman, a British engineer officer, the same who had unsuccessfully endeavored to reach the Illinois during Pontiac's rule, visited the Fort in pursuance of his orders to examine the British posts in the Mississippi Valley. In his report he says: "The walls of Fort Chartres are two feet two inches thick, and the entrance is through a very handsome gate." He describes the works and buildings very fully, and concludes as follows: "It is generally believed that this is the most convenient and best bu3t Fort in North America." In 1768, Col. Cole was followed by a Col. Reed, who became so notorious for his oppression of the people, that he was speedily relieved by John Wilkins, Lieut-Colonel of the 18th or Royal Irish, the former commander of Fort Niagara, who reached tie Illinois, with seven companies of his regiment, from Philadelphia, by way of Pittsburg, in Sept, 1768. From the correspondence of Ensign George Butricke, an officer in this expedition, we learn that, on their way down the Ohio, they killed so many buffalo that they commonly served out one a day to each company, and they were forty-three days on the way, from Pittsburg to Kaskaskia. Speaking of Fort Chartres as "built of stone, with bastions at each angle, and very good . barracks of stone," he describes the land around it as the finest in the known world, and gives his opinion to the effect that "it is a shocking unhealthy country." Col. Wilkins, under a proclamation from General Gage, established a court of law, with seven judges, to sit at Fort Chartres, and administer the law of England, the

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first court of common-law jurisdiction, west of the Alleghanies. The old French court of the royal jurisdiction of the Illinois, with its single judge, governed by the civil law, had ceased with the surrender. Its records for many years were preserved at Kaskaskia, where the late Judge Breese saw and made extracts from them. When the county-seat was removed, less care was taken of them, and within a few years past, these documents, so interesting and valuable to the antiquarian and the historian, have been used by veritable Illinois Vandals to light the fires in a country court-house, and but a solitary fragment now remains. In Wilkins' time, that famous warrior, Pontiac, was basely slain at Cahokia, by an Illinois Indian. St Ange, then commanding at St Louis, honoring the noble red man, whom he had known long and well, brought the body to his fort, and gave it solemn burial. The friends of Pontiac, avenging his death, pursued one fragment of the Illinois tribe to the walls of Fort Chartres, and slew many there, the British refusing them admission. At Prairie du Rocher, about this period, is recorded the marriage of a French soldier, of the garrison of St Louis, with the written permission of M. de St. Ange, his commander, to an Englishwoman from Salisbury, in Wiltshire, which the good priest writes, "Solbary, in the province of Wuilser." It is significant of the different races, and the varying sovereignties in that portion of our country, that a French soldier, from the Spanish city of St Louis, should be married to an Englishwoman by a French priest, in the British colony of Illinois.

The occupation of Fort Chartres, however, by the soldiers of any nation, was drawing to a close. For seven years only the British ruled there, though, doubtless, believing it to be their permanent headquarters for the whole North-West But the Mississippi had ever been a French river, and could not bide the presence of the rival nation on its banks. Its waters murmured the names of Marquette and Joliet, of LaSalle and Tonti, and their memories would not suffer it to rest contented with successors of another race. So it rose in its might and assailed the Fort, and on a stormy night in spring-time its resistless flood tore away a bastion, and a part of the river walL The British in all haste fled across the submerged meadows, taking refuge on the hills above Kaskaskia; and from the year 1772, Fort Chartres was never occupied again.

The capricious Mississippi, as if satisfied with this recognition of its power, now devoted itself to the reparation of the damage it had wrought The channel between the Fort and the island in front of it, once forty feet deep, began to fill up, and, ultimately,

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the main shore and the island were united, leaving the Fort a mile or more inland. A thick growth of trees speedily concealed it from the view of those passing upon the river, and the high road from Cahokia to Kaskaskia, which at first ran between the Fort and the river, was soon after located at the foot of the bluffs, three miles to the eastward. These changes, which left the Fort completely isolated and hidden, together with the accounts of the British evacuation, gave rise to the reports of its total distraction by the river. Parkman, alluding to it as it was in 1764, says, "The encroaching Mississippi was destined before many years to engulf curtain and bastion in its ravenous abyss." A work relating to the history of the North-West, published only last year, informs us that "the spot on which Fort Chartres stood became the channel of the river," and even some who have lived for years in its neighborhood will tell you that it is entirely swept away. But this is entirely erroneous; the ruins still remain; and had man treated it as kindly as the elements, the old Fort would be nearly perfect to-day.

After the British departed, an occasional band of Indians found shelter for a little time in the lonely buildings, but otherwise, the solitude which, claimed for its own the once busy fortress, remained unbroken for many a year to come. Congress, in 1788, reserved to our government a tract of land one mile square, on the Mississippi, extending as far above as below Fort Chartres, including the said Fort, the buildings, and improvements adjoining the same. It would have been well to provide for the preservation of this monument of the romantic era of our history, but, of. course, nothing" of the sort was done. The enactment simply prevented any settlement upon the reservation, and left the Fort to become more and more a part of the wilderness, and its structures a prey to the spoiler. Now and then an adventurous traveler found his way thither. Quaint old Gov. Reynolds, who saw it in 1802, says, "It is an object of antiquarian curiosity. The trees, undergrowth, and brush are mixed and interwoven with the old walls. It presented the most 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 accomplished French officers and soldiers." And then, with a hazy idea of rivalling the prophecy of the lion and the lamb, he adds, "Cannon, snakes, and bats were sleeping together in peace in and around this fort." Major Amos Stoddard, of the U.S. Engineers, who took possession of Upper Louisiana for our government

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under the treaty of cession, in 1804, visited Fort Chartres and thus describes it, "Its figure is quadrilateral with four bastions, the whole of lime-stone, well cemented. The walls are still entire. A spacious square of barracks and a capacious magazine are in good preservation. The enclosure is covered with trees from seven to twelve inches in diameter. In fine this work exhibits a splendid ruin. The inhabitants have taken away great quantities of material to adorn their own buildings." Brackenridge, U.S. Judge for the District of Louisiana, in a work published in 1817, has this passage, "Fort de Chartres is a noble ruin, and is visited by strangers as a great curiosity. I was one of a party of ladies and gentlemen who ascended in a barge from Ste. Genevieve, nine miles below. The outward wall, barracks, and magazine are still standing. There are a number of cannon lying half buried in the earth with their trunnions broken off. In visiting the various parts, we started a flock of wild turkeys, which had concealed themselves in this hiding-place. I remarked a kind of enclosure near, which, according to tradition, was fitted up by the officers as a kind of arbor where they could sit and converse in the heat of the day." In 1820, Beck, the publisher of a Gazeteer of Illinois and Missouri, made a careful survey of the remains of the Fort. He speaks of it then as a splendid ruin, "the walls in some places perfect, the buildings in ruins, except the magazine, and in the hall of one of the houses an oak growing* eighteen inches in diameter." Hall, the author of a book entitled Romance of the West, was at Fort Chartres, in 1829; "Although the spot was familiar to my companion," he says, "it was with some difficulty that we found the ruins, which are cohered with a vigorous growth of forest trees and a dense undergr^tfth of bushes and vines. Even the crumbling pile itself is'Jfcs overgrown, the tall trees rearing their stems from piles of siSne, and the vines creeping over the tottering walls. The foldings were all razed to the ground, but the lines - ol^i&e foundations could be easily traced. A large vaulted pooler-magazine remained in good preservation. The exterior wajr*vas thrown down in some places, but in others retained sons^mng like its original height and form. And it was curious to see in the gloom of a wild forest these remnants of the ardiitectore of a past age." The Fort Chartres Reservation was opened to entry in 1849, no provision being made concerning what i&mained of the Fort The land was taken up by settlers, the area q£ the works cleared of trees, and a cabin built within it, and the process of demolition hastened by the increasing number of those who resorted there for building material. Governor Reynolds

PLAN OF FORT CHARTRES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

Drawn from a survey made by N. Hansen, Esq., of Illinois, and L. C.

Beck, in 1820.

E<o

scale of feet

1 25 so •10a 300

A 4 n L

D ¦i b i- D

j. J C ' _l' -1 ten 1 til - I .1 EiH-is-r tr-..

AAA The exterior wall—1447 feet. B The gate or entrance to the fort. C A small gate.

D D The two houses formerly occupied by the commandant and commissary, each 96 feet in length and 30 in breadth. E The well. F The magazine.

G G G G Houses formerly occupied as barracks, 135 feet in length, 36 hi breadth.

H H Formerly occupied as a storehouse and guard-house, 90 feet by 24. I The remains of small magazine. K The remains of a-furnace.

JL L L A ravine, which in the spring is filled with water. Between this and the river, which is about half-a-mile, is a thick growth of cotton wood.

The area of the fort is about four square acres.

the

NEWBERRY LIBRARY

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came again in 1854, and found "Fort Chartres a pile of mouldering ruins, and the walls torn away almost even with the surface."

To one visiting the site but a year ago, the excursion afforded as strong a contrast between the past and the present as may readily be found. Leaving the railway at the nearest point to the ruins, the brisk new town of Red Bud, twenty miles distant, the greater part of the drive over the prairie and through the forest which intervene, is as monotonous as a ride anywhere in Illinois may properly be. But when you reach the bluff, far overlooking the lordly Mississippi, and its lowlands to the Missouri hills beyond, and wind down the road cut deeply into its face to the little village of Prairie du Rocher, lying at its foot, a change comes over the scene. The wide and shaded village streets with the French names above the little stores, the houses built as in Canada, with dormer-windows and piazzas facing to the south, the mill bearing the name the Jesuits gave the site, the foreign accent and appearance of the people, the very atmosphere, so full of rest and quiet, to which hurry is unknown, all combine to make one feel as if in. another time and another land than ours. It is as though a little piece of old France had been transplanted to the Mississippi, a century since, and forgotten; or as if a stratum of the early French settlements at the Illinois, a hundred years ago or more, had sunk down below the reach of time and change, with its ways and customs and people intact, and still pursued its former life unmindful of the busy nineteenth century on the uplands above its head. It was not surprising to be told that at the house of the village priest some ancient relics were to be seen, and that some ancient documents had once been there. In such a place such things should always be. But it was a surprise, when shown into a room adorned with portraits of Pius IX. and Leo XIIL, and expecting to see a venerable man with black robes, and, perhaps, the tonsure, to be suddenly-greeted by a joyous youth, in German student costume, with a mighty meerschaum in his hand, who introduced himself as the priest in charge of the parish of St. Joseph of Prairie du Rocher. Arrived but six months before from the old country, he had been stationed here because of his knowledge of French, which is spoken by nearly all of the 250 families in the parish, including a number of colored people, the descendants of the slaves of the. early settlers. He led the way to his sanctum, where he displayed, with pride, three chalices and a monstrance, or receptacle for the wafer, very old and of quaint workmanship, made of solid silver, and a tabernacle of inlaid wood, all supposed to have belonged to the church of St Anne of Fort Chartres. He had

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also a solid silver table-castor, marked 1680, the property of his parish, the history of which is unknown. At an inquiry for old manuscripts, he produced, from a lumber-room, a bundle of discolored papers, fast going to decay, which he had found in the house when he took possession, but of which he knew but little. Almost the first inspection revealed a marriage register of the church of St Anne, with the autographs of Makarty and De Villiers, and subsequent examination showed that these papers comprised a large part of the registers of that parish, as well as the early records of St. Joseph of Prairie du Rocher.

Such an experience was a fitting prelude to the sight of the old Fort itself, though this was, indeed, difficult to find. In the early day all roads in the Illinois country led to Fort Chartres. Highways thither are the most prominent feature of the old village plats and ancient maps of the region. Now, not even a path leads to it The simple French people along the way could not believe that any one could really wish to visit the old Fort, and with kindly earnestness insisted that the intended destination must be the river landing, which takes its name from the Fort, but is some miles away from it. By dint of repeated inquiries, a course was found which led to the goal after a five-mile drive from Prairie du Rocher. The ruins were approached by a farm-road across a beautiful level field, green with winter wheat, and the first sight of the low bank, which marks the position of the walls, and of the old magazine standing bravely up against the forest background, was a sufficient reward for the journey. Entering'the enclosure through' a rude farm-gate, which stands just in the place of its lofty predecessor of carved stone, the line of the walls and the corner bastions can be readily traced by the mounds of earth covered with scattered fragments of stone, beneath which, doubtless, the heavy foundations remain, except 'at the corner swept away by the river. On two sides the outline of the ditch can be seen, and the cellars of the commandant*s and intendanf s houses, and of the barracks, are plainly visible, half filled with debris, under which, perhaps, the old cannon of Louis XIV. are still lying. Time has settled the question of title to them, and they belong neither to France nor Britain now. One angle of the main wall remains, and is utilized as the substructure of a stable. Two rude houses, occupied by farm tenants, are within the enclosure, which has been cleared of trees, save a few tall ones near the magazine and alongside the ditch. In front, the ground is open and under cultivation, and, looking from the old gateway, you have before you the prospect which must often have pleased the. eyes of the officers of France and

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Britain, gazing from the cut-stone platform above the arch; the little knoll in front where Boisbrianfs land-grant to himself commenced, the level plateau dotted with clumps of forest trees, the gleam of the little lake in the lowland and beyond, the beautiful buttresses of rock, rounded and shaped as if by the hand of man, supporting the upland which bounds the view. Of the vanished village of St. Anne, scarcely a vestige remains, save a few garden-plants growing wild on the plain. Occasionally a well belonging to one of its houses is found, but there is no sign of the church, where "sales were made in a high and audible voice, while the people went in and out in great numbers." The site of St. Philip is covered by a farm, but to this day a part of its long line of fields is known as "the King's Highway," though there is no road there, and it is supposed that this was the route along which Renault brought the supplies from his grant to the river for transfer to his mines.

Yet, though so much has gone of the ancient surroundings and of the Fort itself, it was an exceeding pleasure to find the old magazine, still almost complete, and bearing itself as sturdily as if conscious that it alone is left of all the vast domain of France in America, and resolute to preserve its memory for the ages to come. It stands within the area of the south-eastern bastion, solidly built of stone, its walls four feet in thickness, sloping upward to perhaps twelve feet from the ground, and rounded at the top. It is partially covered with vines and moss, and one might travel far and wide in our land to find, an object so picturesque and so venerable. But for the loss of its iron doors, and the cut stone about the doorway, it is well-nigh as perfect as the day it was built. Within, a few steps lead to the solid stone floor, some feet below the surface, and the interior, nearly thirty-feet square, is entirely uninjured. .You may note the arched stone roof, the careful construction of the heavy walls, and the few small apertures for light and air, curiously protected against injury from without. Here one may invoke the shades of Makarty, and De Villiers, and St. Ange, and easily bring back the past. For, as it is to-day, it has seen them all, as they went to and fro before it, or examined its store of shot and shell; it has heard the word of command as the grenadiers drilled on the parade-ground hard by;^ it has watched the tawny chieftains and their followers trooping in single file through the adjacent gateway; and past its moss-grown walls the bridal processions of Madeleine Loisel and Elizabeth Montcharveaux, and the other fair ladies from the Fort, have gone to the little church of St. Anne. And gazing at it in such a mood, until all about was

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peopled with "the airy shapes of long ago/5 and -one beheld again the gallant company which laid the foundations of this fortress with such high hope and purpose, the hurrying scouts passing through its portals with tidings of Indian foray or Spanish march, the valiant leaders setting forth from its walls on distant expeditions against savage or civilized foe, the colonists flocking to its store-house or council-chamber, the dusky warriors thronging its enclosure with Chicago or Pontiac at their head, the gathering there of those who founded a great city, the happy village at its gates, and the scenes of its momentous surrender, which sealed the loss of an empire to France; it seemed not unreasonable to wish that the State of Illinois might, while yet there is time, take measures to permanently preserve, for the sake of the memories, the romance, and the history interwoven in its fabric, what still remains of Old Fort Chartres.

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

The early records of "the Illinois," as the region including our State was formerly called, unfortunately, have not been preserved. Those of its civii and judicial administration, during the sixty years of its organized government as a royal province, and the subsequent period of its existence as a county of Virginia, would be of exceeding value to him who shall properly write the history of Illinois. A large collection of such papers remained at Kaskaskia, once the capital, successively, of province, territory, and state, until the day came when the ancient village was obliged to yield even the honor of being a county-seat to the neighboring city of Chester. To the latter place, several boxes filled with these papers were then removed, and stood for years in the hall of its court-house, until, by neglect or wanton misuse, their contents were lost or destroyed. One, however, of these mementos of the past, and not the least in worth among them, was recently found in an office of this court-house, in a receptacle for fuel, just in time to save it from the fiery fate of many of its companions, and is now in the custody of the Chicago Historical Society. This is the original Record or Minute-Book of Colonel John Todd, the first civil governor of the Illinois country.

When George Rogers Clark had captured the British posts beyond the Ohio, under the authority of Virginia, that State was quick to act for the preservation of - the rights thus acquired. Kaskaskia was taken on the 4th of July, 1778; the first surrender of Vincennes, or St. Vincent, as it was sometimes called, occurred soon after; and in October, of the same year, the General Assembly of Virginia passed "An Act for establishing the County of Illinois, and for the more effectual protection and defence thereof." The young Commonwealth, only in the third year of its own independent existence, and then with the other revolted colonies, engaged in a death-struggle with the Mother Country, did not shrink from the duty of providing a suitable 4

NEWBERRY LIBRARY

CHICAGO

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

government for the immense territory thus added to its domain. The Act recites the successful expedition of the Virginia militiamen in the country adjacent to the Mississippi, and that good faith and safety require that the citizens thereof, who have acknowledged the. Commonwealth, shall be supported and protected, and that some temporary form of government, adapted to their circumstances, shall be established. It provides that all the citizens of Virginia, settled on the western side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, to be called Illinois County. The vast area, afterwards ceded to the United States under the name of the North-West Territory, and now divided into five States, then composed a single county of Virginia. Of this county -the governor of the State was authorized to appoint a county-lieutenant, or commandant, who could appoint and commission deputy-commandants, militia-officers, and commissaries. The religion and customs of the inhabitants were to be respected, and all civil officers were to be chosen by a majority of the inhabitants of the respective districts. The County-Lieutenant had power to pardon all offenders, except murder and treason. The Governor was authorized to levy five hundred men to garrison and protect the county, and keep up communications with Virginia, and with the Spanish settlements, and to take measures to supply goods to the inhabitants and friendly Indians. Such was the first Bill of Rights of Illinois.

The Governor of the State of Virginia, upon whom devolved the duty of selecting the commandant of the country of Illinois, was the first who ever held that office, the immortal patriot, Patrick Henry; and the man whom he chose for this difficult and responsible position was John Todd. He was not unknown on the frontier nor at the capital. Bora in Pennsylvania, and educated in Virginia, he had practised law in the latter colony for several years, when, in 1775, he removed to the Kentucky country. He was one of those who met at Boonesboro', in the spring of that year, under the great elm tree, near the fort, to establish the proprietary government of the so-called colony of Transylvania, comprising more than half of the modern State of of Kentucky, and he was very prominent in the counsels of its House of Delegates or Representatives, the first legislative body organized west of the Alleghanies. He preempted large tracts of land near the present city of Lexington, and is said to have been one of the band of pioneers, who, while encamped on its site, heard of the opening battle of the Revolution in the far East, and named their infant settlement in its honor. When the agents-of the Kentucky settlers had obtained a gift of powder from Virginia

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

for the defence of the frontier, in the following year, and had brought it down the Ohio to the Three Islands, Todd led a small party through the forests to transport it to one of the forts, but was beaten back, after a bloody contest with the Indians. Early in 1777, the first court in Kentucky opened its sessions at Harrisburg, and he was one of the justices. Shortly after, he was chosen one of the representatives of Kentucky in the legislature of Virginia, and went to the capital to fulfil this duty. The following year he accompanied George Rogers Clarke in his expedition to the Illinois, and was the first man to enter Fort Gage, at Kaskaskia, when it was taken from the British, and was present at the final capture of Vincennes.

Meanwhile the Act, above mentioned, had been passed, and the Governor had no difficulty in deciding whom to appoint County-Lieutenant of Illinois. At Williamsburg, then the capital of the Old Dominion, in the former mansion of the royal rulers of the whilom colony, Patrick Henry, on the 12th of December, 1778, indited his letter of appointment to John Todd, Esq., and entered it in the very book now before us. It occupies the first five pages, and probably is in Patrick Henry's handwriting. At all events his own signature is subscribed thereto. This letter is not such a one as territorial governors would be likely to receive in these later days. It deals with higher things than those which occupy the modern politician. The opening paragraph informs John Todd, Esq., that by virtue of the Act of the General Assembly, which establishes \ the County of Illinois, he is appointed County-Lieutenant, or Commandant, there, and refers him to the law for the general tenor of his conduct It continues as follows: "The grand objects which are disclosed to the view of your countrymen will prove beneficial, or otherwise,, according to the value and abilities of those who are called to direct the affairs of that remote country. The present crisis,, rendered favorable by the good disposition of the French and Indians, may be improved to great purposes, but if, unhappily, it should be lost, a return of the same attachments to us may never happen. Considering, therefore, that early prejudices are so hard to wear out, you will take care to cultivate and conciliate the affections of the French and Indians." * * * "Although great reliance is placed on your prudence in managing the people you are to reside among, yet considering you as unacquainted in some degree with their genius, usages, and manners, as well as the geography of the country, I recommend it to you to consult and advise with the most intelligent and upright persons who may fall in your way."

C(5l. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

His relations to the military, under Col. Clark, are next considered; the necessity of cooperation with and aid to them, in defence against, or attack upon, hostile British and Indians, summing up with the general direction, to consider himself "at the head of the civil department, and as such, having the command of the militia who are not to be under the command of the military, until ordered out by the civil authority, and to act in conjunction with them." He is advised "on all occasions to inculcate on the people the value of liberty, and the difference between the state of free citizens of this Commonwealth, and that of slavery, to which the Illinois was destined, and that they are to have a free and equal representation, and an improved jurisprudence." His care must be to remove "the grievances that obstruct the happiness, increase, and prosperity of that country, and his constant attention to see that the inhabitants have justice administered." He is to discountenance and punish every attempt to violate the property of the Indians, particularly in their land. To the Spanish commandant, near Kaskaskia, he is to tender friendship and services, and cultivate the strictest connection with him and his people, and a letter to him, from Governor Henry, Todd is to deliver in person. And he is warned that the matters given him in charge "are singular in their nature and weighty in their consequences to the people immediately concerned, and to the whole State. They require the fullest exertion of ability and unwearied diligence." Then with that high sense of justice and humanity which distinguished the man, Henry turns from State affairs to right the wrongs of the helpless wife and children of his country's enemy. The family of Mr. Rocheblave, the late British commandant at Kaskaskia, had been left among the hostile people there, while the husband and father was a prisoner in Virginia, and their possessions had been confiscated. Todd is informed "that they must not suffer^ for want of that property of which they had been bereft b)* our troops; it is to be restored to them, if possible; if this can not be done, the public must support them." And the letter concludes with a direction to send an express once in three months, bringing a general account of affairs, and with the mention -of a contemplated plan for the appointment of an agent to supply the Illinois with goods on public account.

Conciliation of the newly enfranchised inhabitants, selection of competent advisers, defence against foreign and native enemies, subordination of the military to the civil arm of the government, establishment of Republican institutions, administration of equal justice to all, an alliance with friendly neighbors, encouragement

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

of trade, and the exertion by the commandant of unwearied ability, diligence, and zeal, in behalf of his people; such are the principal heads of this able and, for its time, extraordinary State paper. It shows us that the man who had taken the grave responsibility of the secret instructions which led to the capture of the Illinois country, was competent to direct the next step in its career. He could wisely govern what had been bravely won. With all the cares of a new State engaged in a war for its independence resting upon his shoulders, proscribed as a traitor to the Mother Country, and writing almost within sound of the guns of the British fleet upon the James, he looked with calm vision into the future, and laid well the foundations of another Commonwealth beyond the Ohio.

This book, made precious by his pen, was entrusted to a faithful messenger, who carried it from tidewater across the mountains to Fort Pitt, thence down the Ohio, until he met with his destined recipient, and delivered to him his credentials. It is supposed that Todd received it at Vincennes, then known to Virginians as St. Vincent, not long after the surrender of that place, on February 24th, 1779, and' thereupon returned to the Kentucky country to make some necessary preparations for his new duties, and possibly to enlist some of the soldiers authorized to be raised by the Act under which he was appointed. At all events, he did not reach the Illinois country until the spring of 1779, as we learn from the journal of Colonel George Rogers Clark, who says, "The civil department in the Illinois had heretofore robbed me of too much of my time that ought to be spent in military reflection. I was now likely to be relieved by Col. John Todd, appointed by Government for that purpose. I was anxious for his arrival, and happy in his appointment, as the greatest intimacy

and friendship subsisted between us; and on the - day of

May, (1779), nad me pleasure of seeing him safely landed at Kaskaskias, to the joy of every person. I now saw myself happily rid of a piece of trouble that I had no delight in."

So came the new governor to his post, the bearer of Republican institutions to a land and a people but just freed from the rule of a foreign king. And with him he brought this very book containing in the memorable letter inscribed in its pages his own credentials, as well as the best evidence these new citizens could have that they were subjects no longer. This was no ordinary arrival at the goodly French village of Kaskaskia. In the eighty years of its existence, it had seen explorers and missionaries, priests and soldiers, famous travelers and men of high degree, come and go, but never before one sent to administer the laws

54 COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

of a peoples' government for the benefit of the governed. We may imagine its inhabitants gathered at the river side to watch the slow approach of a heavy boat, flying a flag still strange to them, as it toils against the current to the end of its long voyage down the Ohio and up the Mississippi. And when there lands from it one with the mien of authority, (having, perchance, this book under his arm), they are ready to render him the homage exacted by royal governors, and here and there a voice even cries, "Vive le Roi." And, as they are reminded that they are under a free government now, and learn that the new comer is their own County-Lieutenant, on their way back to the village, , we may hear Francois and Baptiste say to one another, "Who is it that rules over us now?" and, "What is this free government of which they speak?" "Is it a good thing, think you?" Small blame to them if their wits were puzzled. Less than fourteen years before they had been loyal liegemen to King Louis of France; then came a detachment of kilted Highlanders and presto! they were under the sway of King George of - Great Britain; a few years passed, and one July morning, a band with long beards and rifles looked down from the heights of Fort Gage and raised a new banner over them, and now there was yet another arrival, which, though seemingly peaceful, might mean more than appeared. Perhaps the very last solution of the mystery which occurred to them, was that thenceforth they were to take part in their own government.

Whether Todd regarded his department as -such "a piece of trouble," as Clark found it, we have no means of knowing, but certainly he addressed himself at once to his work. Under the clause of the statute which authorized him to appoint and commission deputy-commandants and militia-officers, he took action, probably as soon as he arrived, and recorded it in his book. At page 6 is the first entry in Todd's handwriting, which reads as follows:

"Made out the military commissions for the District of Kaskaskia, dated May 14th, 1779:

Richard Winston, Commandant, as Capt Nicholas Janis, First Co. Capt Baptiste Charleville, i Lieut. Charles Charleville, 2 Lieut. Michael Godis, Ensign. Joseph Duplassy, 2d Capt. Nicholas le Chanie, i Lieut Charles Danee, 2 Lieut Batiste Janis, Ensign."

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

"17th May, sent a Com. of Command of Prairie du Rocher, and Capt of the Militia to Jean B. Barbeau. The District of Kohokia: Francois Trotter, Comnd't

tourangeau, Capt i.

Beatjlieu, Capt. 2. Guradin, Lieut. P. Marthir,- Lieut. Sanfaron, Ensign.

Comns dated 14th May, 1779, 3d year of the Commonwealth."

This was the earliest organization of a militia force proper, in this region, and these officers were the first of the long line, adorned by many brilliant names, of those who have held Illinois commissions. There was significance, too, in the concluding of this entry with the words, "Third year of the Commonwealth." It meant that in this "remote country," as Patrick Henry called it, men felt the change from subjects to freemen then being wrought by the great Revolution, and that they were playing a part in it.

And this is emphasized in the succeeding minute.

Todd appears to have next put in force the statutory provision that all civil officers were to be chosen by a majority of the citizens in each district, and on pages 7 and 8 he records the "List of the Court of Kaskaskia, the Court of Kohokias, and the Court of St Vincennes," and adds, (ias elected by the people." As elected by the people, and not as appointed by a king—as •chosen by the citizens of each district, and not by the whim of some royal minister, thousands of miles away, across the sea. This was indeed a change. For more than half a century the the settlements at the Illinois had known a court and a judge. But the laws, and the administrators thereof, had been imported from a distant kingdom, and with the framing of the one or the selection of the other, they had had nothing whatever to do. And, without doubt, the election here recorded was their first exercise of the rights of citizens of a republic, and the first exercise of such rights within the territory of Illinois. In these lists appear a number of names of more or less note in the old time, and some of those already recited in the militia appointments. Richard Winston, Deputy-Commandant at Kaskaskia, filled also the office of Sheriff of that district, and Jean B. Barbeau found no inconsistency between his duties as Deputy-Commandant at Prairie du Rocher, and those of one of the judges of the court of his district Nicholas Janis and Charles Charleville were also liable to be called from the Kaskaskia bench to do military duty,

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

and at Cahokia, five of the seven judges held officers' commissions. This state of things may have been occasioned by the scarcity of men to take the new positions, so that "there were offices enough to go around" and to give some public-spirited citizens two apiece. If so, the modern office-seeker might well sigh for those good old times. An unusual, circumstance appears in connection with the court of Vincennes. Against the name of one Cardinal, elected by the people as a judge, Todd has written "refused to serve." This is believed to be the only instance in our annals of a refusal to take an office. And it is feared that this unique individual left no descendants. No other of the name appears in any subsequent record of the territory, so far as known. It is possible that we ought to share the glory of this rara avis with the citizens of Indiana, since Vincennes is within the limits of that State. But, as he was at the time of this unexampled refusal a citizen of Illinois, we should strenuously claim him as one whose like will ne'er be seen again. After the list of the court of Vincennes, Todd notes his militia appointments at that place, the Chief -Justice P. Legras being also appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and the first Associate-Justice, Major. Opposite two of the names is written, "rank not settled,'' as if already that jealousy, which is the bane of the profession of arms, had sprung up. And a number of blanks are left, apparently to await the determination of that controversy, which seem never to have been filled.

Having organized the military and judicial departments of his government, the new commandant appears next to have given his attention to the encouragement of business. On page 11 of this book, appears a License for Trade, permitting "Richard M'Car-thy, Gentleman, to traffick and merchandize, with all the liege subjects and Friends of the United States of America, of what nation soever they be, and to erect Factories and Stores at any convenient place or places he shall think proper within the Commonwealth/7 A careful proviso is made that "by virtue hereof no pretence shall be made to trespass upon the effects or property of individuals"; and the license is given under the hand and seal of John Todd, at Kaskaskia the-5th June, 1779, in the 3rd year of the Commonwealth.

The financial question was the next to claim the attention of the busy County-Lieutenant, and he grappled with it sturdily. It was now the fourth year of the Revolutionary war, and the peculiar disadvantages of the continental currency, which had been severely felt at the East, began to be appreciated at the West as well. But John Todd did not hesitate to confront this

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

evil, and, at any rate, devised a plan for its correction. Within a month of his arrival at Kaskaskia, on the nth of June, 1779, ne addressed a letter to the court of Kaskaskia, which appears on page 12 of his Record-Book. He informs it that "the only method America has to support the present just war is by her credit, which credit consists of her bills emitted from the different treasuries by which she engages to pay the bearer, at a certain time, gold and silver in exchange; that there is no friend to American Independence, who has any judgment, but soon expects to see it equal to gold and silver, but that merely from its uncommon quantity, and in proportion to it, arises the complaint of its want of credit. And one only remedy remains within his power, which is to receive, on behalf of government, such sums as the people shall be induced to lend upon a sure fund, and thereby decrease the quantity." He states that the mode of doing this is already planned, and requests the concurrence and assistance of the judges. His zeal for the cause led him slightly astray when he predicted that these bills would soon be equal to gold and silver, since, in the following year, continental money was worth just two cents on the dollar, and never became more valuable. But in other respects his scheme was not so erroneous. He did not indulge in the delusion that all troubles could be removed by an unlimited issue of paper money. On the contrary, he favored the retirement of a portion of that in circulation, and of a kind of redemption of the public promises to pay. On page 14 is set forth at length, "Plan for borrowing 33333^ dollars of Treasury notes, both belonging to this State and. the United States." The preamble recites that owing to no other reason than the prodigious quantity of treasury notes, now in circulation, the value of almost every commodity has risen to most enormous prices, the preserving the credit of the said bills by reducing the quantity, requires some immediate remedy. And it is therefore declared that 21,000 acres of land, belonging to the Commonwealth, shall be laid off on the bank of the Mississippi in the district of Cahokia, 1000 acres to be reserved for a town, and the remainder to constitute a fund; and that the lender of money shall take a certificate for the sum, entitling him to demand, within two years, a title to his proportion of the land in said fund, or the sum originally advanced in •gold and silver, with five per cent interest per annum. It is prudently provided that the State shall have the option of giving land or money, and to further protect a paternal government against any undue advantage being taken of it by its sons, notice is given that a deduction shall be made for all money

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

hereafter discovered to be counterfeited. Then follow the commencement of a French translation of the plan, a copy of the instructions to the Commissioner for borrowing money upon this fund,, which direct him to keep every man's money by itself, and the form of receipt to be issued. Henry H. Cratcher appears to have been appointed such Commissioner, and his bond, with George Slaughter and John Roberts as sureties to Mr. John Todd, Commander-in-Chief of the County of Illinois, in the penalty of $33,333/^ for the safe keeping of the money, is next recorded under date of June 14th, 1779.

On the same date, this energetic "Commander-in-Chief" addresses himself to the subject of the land imder his jurisdiction, and the title thereto. He issues a proclamation strictly enjoining all persons from making any new settlements on the flat lands within one league of the rivers Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Wabash, except in the manner and form of settlements as heretofore made by the French inhabitants; and every inhabitant is required to lay before the persons appointed in each district for that purpose a memorandum of his or her land with their vouchers for the same. Warning is given that the number of adven--turers who will soon run over this country, renders the above-method necessary, as well as to ascertain the vacant land as to guard against trespasses which will be committed on land not of Tecord. The object of this step evidently was not to discourage actual settlers, but to prevent the taking up of large tracts of land by speculators; and it shows both wisdom and foresight on the part of the head of the Government.

The graver duties associated with that position were quickly to devolve upon John Todd, and on page 18 of his Record-Book is inscribed an entry, which reads very strangely at the present day. It is verbatim as follows :

" Illinois, to wit: To Richard Winston, Esq., Sheriff in chief of the District of Kaskaskia.

Negro Manuel, a Slave, in your custody, is condemned by the Court of Kaskaskia, after having made honorable Fine at the Door of the Church, to be chained to a post at the Water Side and there to be burnt alive and his ashes scattered, as appears to me by Record. This Sentence you are hereby required to put in execution on tuesday next at 9 o'clock in the morning, and this shall be your warrant. Given under my hand and seal afr Kaskaskia the 13th day of June in the third year of the Commonwealth."

This is a grim record, and reveals a dark chapter in the early history of Illinois. It is not surprising that some one has drawn

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

heavy lines across it as if to efface it forever. It is startling to reflect that barely one hundred years ago, within the territory -now composing our State, a court of law deliberately sentenced a human being to be. burned alive! It is possible that the attempted cancellation of the entry may mean that the warrant was revoked. And so let us hope for the sake of humanity. No other evidence, so far as known, of this peculiar case exists. But it is palpable that this inhuman penalty was actually fixed by the court, and as the statute deprived the commandant of the power to pardon in such cases, it is more probable that the sentence was actually executed. The sruel form of death, the color of the unfortunate victim, and the scattering of the ashes, all seem to indicate that this was one of the instances of the imagined crime of Voudouism or Negro Witchcraft, for which it is known that some persons suffered in the Illinois country about this time. Reynolds, in his • Pioneer History, says, "In Cahokia about the year 1790, this superstition got the upperhand of reason, and several poor African slaves were immolated at the shrine of ignorance for this imaginary offence. An African negro, called Moreau, was hung for this crime on a tree not far southeast of Cahokia. It is stated that he had said he poisoned his master, but his mistress was too strong for his necromancy." There is no doubt that this is a correct statement of the facts, although the date of their occurrence is erroneously given. For on the next page of this Record-Book appears Todd's order for the detail of a guard for this very negro Moreau to the place of execution, dated June 15th, 1779, which, of course goes to show the probability of the infliction of the penalty above mentioned in the case of the negro, Manuel. This order in regard to Moreau, is as follows: "To Capt. Nicholas Janis.

You are hereby required to call upon a party of your militia to guard Moreau, a slave condemned to execution, up to the town of Kohos. Put them under an officer. They shall be entitled pay rashtions and refreshment during the Time they shall be upon Duty to be certifyed hereafter by you.

I am sir your hble servant,

JNO. TODD. 15th June 1779.

I recommend 4 or 5 from your Compy and as many from Capt Placey and consult Mr. Lacroix about the time necessary.

J. T."

Nicholas Janis was, as we have seen, Captain of the first Com:

60 COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

pany of Militia at Kaskaskia, and the Captain Placey mentioned -is, undoubtedly, Joseph Duplessis, Captain of the second Company at the same place. Kohos. was the familiar abbreviation of Cahokia, and the Mr. Le Croix, who was to be consulted, must have been J. B. L. Croix, first sheriff of the Cahokia district, by whom, no doubt, the execution of Moreau was conducted. These two entries, therefore, confirm Reynold's account of this matter, the accuracy of which has sometimes been questioned, and \ give to old Cahokia the sad distinction of having been a Western Salem.

The different subjects thus far included in this interesting Record-Book, were all dealt with by Todd between May 14th and June 15th, 1779. .He certainly was not idle, nor did he lack for important business during the first month of his administration. His duties appear then to have called him away from Kaskaskia, probably to Vincennes, to make the appointments there already noticed. And as he was about to leave, he addressed a letter to his deputy-commandant, Richard Winston, which is sufficiently interesting to be quoted entire.

"Sir: During my absence the command will devolve upon you as commander of Kaskaskia.—if Colo. Clark should want anything more for his expedition, consult the members of the court upon the best mode of proceeding, if the people will not spare wilingly, if in their power, you must press it, valuing the property by Two men upon Oath.—let the military have no pretext for forcing property—When you order it and the people will not find it, then it will be Time for them to Interfere.—by all means Keep up a Good Understanding with Colo. Clark and the Officers.—if this is not the Case you will be unhappy. I am sir

Yr Hble Servt JOHN TODD

June 15, 1779."

The expedition of Colonel Clark, referred to in this letter, is supposed to have been that planned against the British at Detroit, which he and Governor Henry were very anxious to undertake. They were ultimately prevented by lack of means. Todd's determination to keep the military in subordination to the civil power is very plain, but at the same time his doubt of his success, and his appreciation of Clark's peculiarities, are curiously shown by the concluding paragraph of this letter. When he tells Richard Winston by all means to keep up a good understanding with Colo. Clark, and that, if this is not the case, he will be unhappy, he evidently is speaking of that of which he knows by personal experience.

Upon his return to Kaskaskia, July 27th, 1779, the resolutions

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK. 6l

of Congress concerning the issues of the continental money, dated May 20th, 1777, and April nth, 1778, engaged his attention. And he put forth a short proclamation in French and English, both copies being duly transcribed in his Record at pages 19 and 20, notifying persons having money of those issues that unless they shall as soon as possible pay the same into some continental' treasury, the money must sink on their hands, and that the vouchers must be certified by himself or some deputy-commandant of this county, and have reference to the bundle of money numbered and sealed. Whether this Congressional plan superceded that of Todd's own devising, we do not know, but at all events we hear nothing further of his land fund.

It would appear that during his brief absence, the newly-appointed court at Kaskaskia had not transacted business with the diligence and celerity required by John Todd. The judges were all elected from among the French settlers, and we may assume that their easy-going ways did not find favor with the busy man from beyond the Ohio. They seem to have adjourned court to what appeared to him to be too long a day, and his consequent action savors somewhat of a direct interference of the executive with the judiciary, but, doubtless, was effective. On page 21 we read the following document:

"To Gabriel Cerre &c. Esqrs. Judges of the Court for the, District of Kaskaskia:

You are hereby authorized and required to hold and constitute a court on Satterday, the 21st of July at the usual place of holding court within yr District, any adjournment to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided that no suitor or party be competed to answear any process upon said Day unless properly summoned by the Clark and Sheriff. Given under my hand and seal at Kaskaskia July 31st 1779. JOHN TODD."

He was tender of the rights of parties, but proposed that the judges should attend to their work. Doubtless, Gabriel and his associates grumbled not a little at this interference with their comfort, and insisted, the one to the other, that they had not accepted the judicial office upon any such understanding. Pleasure first and business afterwards, had always been the rule at Kaskaskia, and to compel a man to hold court when he preferred to smoke his pipe in the sun, or go fishing, was an unprecedented hardship. But all the same, we may be very sure that they did "hold and constitute a court on Satterday the 21st of July, any adjournment to the contrary notwithstanding."

Mindful of Governor Henry's advice to cultivate a connection with the Spanish commandant, near Kaskaskia, Commandant

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

Todd sends a letter, in French, on August 9th, 1779, to Monsieur Cartabonne, commanding at St. Genevieve, and a letter to same effect to Monsieur Leyba, at St. Louis. It will be remembered that all the region west of the Mississippi then belonged to Spain, at that time at war with Britian, and was garrisoned by her troops. In these letters he proposes an arrangement concerning the commerce of the Illinois country, for the mutual advantage of their respective governments, his Catholic Majesty on the one "hand, and the State of Virginia on the other, and for the disadvantage of their common enemy, the British. He informs the Spaniards that Colonel Clark has not yet departed from Post Vincennes, and further states that, if they, are attacked by any enemies, and he can be of service to them, he is ordered by the Governor of Virginia to give aid to them.

The slow-moving French settlers seem to have been in other ways a trial, and probably were dilatory in providing supplies for the troops, which were soon expected from Virginia. And on Aug. nth, Todd enters, on page 22 of his Book, a brief address, in which the inhabitants of Kaskaskia are, for the last time, invited to contract with the persons appointed for provision, especially "Flower," for the troops who will shortly arrive. He says, "I hope they will use properly the Indulgence of a mild Government. If I shall be obliged to give the military permission to press It will be a disadvantage, and what ought more to influence Freemen, it will be a dishonor to the people." It is evident that Baptiste, Francois, and the rest, while willing enough to be "Freemen," on their money still preferred a king. And the supplies which they would have readily furnished in exchange for coins stamped with the head of George III. or Louis XV., were not forthcoming when continental currency was offered in return, despite all of Todd's efforts in that behalf. It is said that the early French inhabitants were so puzzled by the machinery of free government, that they longed for the return • of the despotic authority of their military commandants. If so, there must have been a familiar sound about this brief address which might have made them think their good old times had come again. After this he copies an order upon the Governor of Virginia, in favor of J. B. La Croix, the Sheriff of Cahokia, in payment of supplies furnished, probably one of the few, if not the only one who paid any attention to the address.

The Commandant found it necessary to resort to more stringent measures. And on August 22d, he issued another proclamation laying an embargo upon the exportation of any provisions whatsoever, by land or water, for sixty days, unless he has

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

assurances before that time that a sufficient stock is laid up for the troops, or sufficient security is given to the contractors for its delivery when required. And the offender is to be subjected to imprisonment for one month and forfeit value of such exported provision. This he records in English and in French, apparently having special reference to those of the latter race. And seemingly becoming weary of the delay of the people as to- the surrender of the continental money, he gives notice, in both languages, that after August 23d, 1779, no raore certificates will be granted at Kaskaskia to persons producing the called-in emissions. It does not appear whether this delay was due to the fact that the prudent French settlers really had no continental money on hand, or to their wish to get some return for what little they did own, and they were unable to see any such outcome from a deposit in a continental treasury.

October 7th, 1779, he makes a note of an order given to Patrick M'Crosky on the Gov't for 140 .Dollars being No. 2 issued "by a certificate from Mr. Helm." This Mr. Helm was one of Clark's trusty lieutenants, and was, probably, then commanding the fort at Vincennes.

A short and simple method of forfeiting realty to the State, is illustrated in the proceedings set forth on pages 25 and 26. On the 4th of October, 1779, a notification was given at the door of the church of Kaskaskia, that the half-a-lot above the church, joining Picard on the east, and Langlois on the west, unless some person should appear and support their claim to the said lot within three days, would be condemned to the use of the Commonwealth. On the 13th day of October, 1779, accordingly,, John Todd, under his hand and seal, at Kaskaskia, proclaimed that after publicly calling any person or persons to shew any claim they might have to .said lot, and no one appearing to claim the same as against the Commonwealth of Virginia, he declares and adjudges the said lot to belong to the-said Com- " monwealth, and that all persons, whatsoever, be thenceforth debarred and precluded forever from any claim thereto.

The heading of the following entry in this book is, " Copy of a Grant to Colonel Montgomery," but the remainder of that page, and one or two more, have been deliberately torn out. The explanation of this mutilation may be found in a report made, in 1810, by the Commissioners appointed by Congress to examine the claims of persons claiming lands in the district of Kaskaskia, from which it appears that many of the ancient evidences of title had been deliberately destroyed in the interest of speculators claiming under forged deeds or perjured testimony.

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

Some one, interested in opposition to this grant, may have had access to this book years after the entry, when the land had become valuable, and attempted to defeat the title in this way. The Colonel Montgomery, named in it, was probably the Captain Montgomery -who came to the Illinois with Clark, and rendered good service on that expedition. He is described as a jovial Irishman, whom Clark fell in with at the Falls of the Ohio, on his way down the river, and who readily joined in the perilous adventure, from pure love of fighting. He commanded the garrison of Fort Gage, at Kaskaskia, after its surrender by the British.

This is the last entry in the book in Todd's handwriting.

We know that he continued to hold his position as Command-* ant and County-Lieutenant at the Illinois for some three years more, devoting most of his time to its affairs. And in that period he made the difficult and often dangerous journey between his distant post and the Kentucky settlements, or Virginia, two or more times in every year. In 1779, Virginia ordered two regiments to be raised for service in its western counties, arid it is supposed that Todd was appointed Colonel of one of them. In the spring of 1780, he was elected a delegate from the county of Kentucky to the Legislature of Virginia, and was married while attending its session of that year. In the fall, he returned to Kentucky, and, having established his bride in the fort at Lexington, resumed his journey to Illinois. It is .worthy of remark that the foundation of Transylvania University, the first institution of learning west of the mountains, is attributed to the State aid obtained from the Virginia Legislature by his exertions in its behalf. In November, 1780, the county of Kentucky was divided into the three counties of Fayette, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and in the summer of 1781, Governor Thomas Jefferson appointed Todd, Colonel of Fayette County, Daniel Boone, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Thomas Marshall, (father of Chief-Justice Marshall), Surveyor. In December, 1781, Todd secured a town lot at Lexington, and in May, 1782, he vwas made one of the trustees of Lexington by Act of Virginia. In the summer of that year he visited Richmond, on the business of the Illinois country, where it is said he had concluded to permanently reside, and stopped at Lexington on his return. While here, an Indian attack upon a frontier station summoned the militia to arms, and he, as Senior Colonel, took command of the little force of 180 men who went in pursuit of the retreating savages. It included Daniel Boone and many other pioneers of note, sixty of their number being commissioned officers. At the Blue Licks, on the

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

18th of August, 1782, the enemy was overtaken, and the headlong courage of those who would not observe the prudent counsels of Todd and Boone, precipitated an action which was very disastrous to the whites. One-third of those who went into battle were killed, a number wounded and several made prisoners. And among the heroes who laid down their lives that day was Colonel John Todd. He was shot through the body while gallantly fighting at the head of his men, and, says an eye-witness, "When last seen he was reeling in his saddle, while the blood gushed in profusion from his wounds."

A few other minutes were made in this book in Colonel Todd's life-time, which are not in his handwriting. On two pages, near the end, is kept his "Peltry Account," which is charged with his drafts on the Virginia Government, in favor of Monsieur Beaure-garde, to the amount of $30,000, dated at St. Louis, September 14th, 1779, the value thereof having, apparently, been received, one-third in paper currency and two-thirds in peltries. The account is credited with payments made for supplies for the garrison at Kaskaskia, purchased by Colonel John Montgomery, and for the garrison at Cahokia, purchased by Capt M'Carthy, probably that Richard M'Carthy, gentleman, to whom a "License for Trade" was granted, as we have seen. The principal item in. these supplies seems to have been a beverage called "Tafria," which was laid in by the hogshead. On page 28 is an oath of allegiance taken by one James Moore, at Kaskaskia, to the United States of America, on July 10th, 1872, while the States were still under the articles of confederation, showing the form then used. He renounces all fidelity to King George the Third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, and agrees to make known to some one Justice of the Peace for the United States, all treasonous, all traitorous conspiracies which may come to his knowledge to be formed against said United States, or any one of them.

During Todd's later absences from his government, a French gentleman named Demunbrunt, appears to have been his deputy and acting-commandant in his place. And it is curious to notice on the inside of one of the covers of this book a little penmanship, which may indicate that this individual was rather proud of his temporary dignity. It reads "Nota bene, Nous. Thimothe Demunbrunt Lt. Comdt Par interim &c &c;" and it seems as if Thimothe' could not resist the temptation to see how his name and title would look, and so wrote it out in a fine, bold hand for all men to see for a hundred years to come. On the last page are two memoranda, apparently in the same bold hand,

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

which, in pencil underneath, are said to be by Thimothe' Demun-brunt Lt. Comdt par interim, and, doubless, this is correct. They read: "February 1782, Arived a small tribe of the Wabash Indians Imploring the paternal succour of their Father the Bos-tonians, having their patent from Major Linctot, in consequence I did on Behalf of the Commonwealth give them Six Bushell Indian Corn, Fifty Pounds of Bread, four Pounds of Gun Powder, Ten Pounds of Ball and One Gallon of Taffia, from Carbonneaux." And, "March 22d, Came here Deputys from the Delawars, Shawanoes and Cherokee nations of Indians Begging that the Americans wold grant them Pease, as likewise the French and Spanish, and after hearing their Talk, Smoaking the pipe of peace and friendship with them, and from their conduct while here as well as many marks they gave us of their Sincerity I could not avoid giving them on Behalf of the Americans the Following articles, vizt

10 Bushells Indian Corn, 100 lb. Flour and 100 lb. Bisquit, 6 lb. Tobaco, one Gallon Tafia, 5 qts wampum and Canoe which cost me 20 Dollars."

The use of the word "Bostonians" by the Wabash Indians, to indicate the whites, is interesting, and may, perhaps, show that this tribe contained or was made up of fragments of tribes of New England Indians, who would naturally use this phrase. The evidence furnished by these memoranda of the weakness and destitution of once powerful Indian nations, is very striking, although their real condition may have been slightly exaggerated, in order to obtain larger supplies of Tafia. Probably they fared better at the hands of the simple Frenchman, from the good-will of his race to the red man, than if Colonel Todd had been at the helm.

But, it may be asked, what had become of Richard Winston, who was Deputy-Commandant in the early part of Todd's administration, and how came he to be superseded by this softhearted Thimothe?

We should have been utterly unable to answer these questions but for a paragraph written upon the inside of the front cover of this book, which is as follows:

"Kaskaskias in the Illinois 29th April 1782. This day 10 o'clock A.M. I was taken out of my house by J. Neal Dodge on an order given by Jno. Dodge in despite of the Civil authority disregarding the laws, and on the malitious alugation of Jno. Williams and Michel Pevante as may appear by their deposition. I was confined by tyrannick military force without making aay legal aplication to the Civil Magistrates—30th The Attorney for the

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK. 67

State, La Buinieux, presented a petition to the court against Richard Winston, State Prisoner in their custody the contents of which he (the Attorney for the State) ought to have communicated to me or my attorney, if any I had." It will be remembered that when Todd first went away from Kaskaskia, leaving Winston in command, he advised him, by letter, by all means to keep up a good understanding with Colonel Clark and the officers, telling him if this was not the case he would be unhappy. We can only conclude that the unlucky Winston had at this time neglected this injimction, as his trouble seems to have been with the military, and in consequence was very unhappy. At all events he had fallen into disgrace, of course had lost his office, and was imprisoned, doubtless, in the old French commandant's house, which served as the headquarters of the successive governments of the Illinois country, even down to the organization of our State when it became the first State House. Here shut up, perhaps in the governor's room, he found this Record-Book, and wrote his sorrowful tale within it. And so it preserves to us, a century after, poor Richard Winston's protest against "tyrannick military force."

The- remaining pages of this book are occupied with a brief record in the French language of the proceedings of the Court of Kaskaskia, from June 5th, 1787, to February 15th, 1788. During this period it seems to be pretty much in the "hands of one family, as three of the five justices are named Beauvais. Antoine ' Beauvais is the presiding justice, and Vital Beauvais, and St. Gemme Beauvais, are two of his four associates. For a long time they apparently do nothing but meet one month and adjourn to the next, as if determined in this way to regain the dignity of which the court was deprived by Col. Todd's peremptory order to their predecessors to hold a session, despite their order of adjournment On October 25th, 1787, they settle down to business, at what they call an extraordinary session, to try a case between our good friend Demunbrunt, and one Francis Carbon-eaux. It will be remembered that Thimothe' bought the Tafia he gave to the Indians from Carboneaux, and perhaps he had forgotten to pay for it The details, and the result of the cause, are not given. The court pursues the even tenor of its way with commendable regularity, meeting once a month, in the morning, and immediately adjourning to the next month, but holding an extraordinary session whenever it had a case to try, (and it had two, all told), until January 15th, 1788. At this date, it, for the first time, seemingly, has to deal with the subject "of jurymen, and solemnly determines that each juror from Prairie du Rocher

COL. JOHN TODD'S RECORD-BOOK.

shall have twenty-five francs, and thereupon adjourns: It meets in the afternoon and impanels a jury to try a cause in which John Edgar is plaintiff, and Thomas Green, defendant, and with a few similar minutes its record ceases, and this book comes to an end.

Its own story is curious enough to entitle it to preservation, if only for its age and the vicissitudes through which it has passed. Made in Virginia more than one hundred years ago, brought the long journey thence to Illinois, at that day exceeding in risk and time a modern trip around the world, in use here in the infancy of the Republic, then cast aside and forgotten for almost a century, and lately rescued by the merest chance from destruction, it has now, by the formal vote of the Board of Commissioners of Randolph County, Illinois, the lineal successors of our first County-Lieutenant, been placed,, we hope permanently, in the custody of the Chicago Historical Society. And when we consider that its opening pages were inscribed by the first Governor of the State of Virginia, who was one of the foremost men of the Revolution, that it is mainly filled with the handiwork of the first County-Lieutenant of the great - North-West Territory, that it contains the record of one of the first courts of-common law in Illinois, and above all, that it is a summary of the beginning of Republican institutions here, and, in fact, the record of the origin of our State, this common-looking book, with its coarse paper and few pages of faded handwriting, becomes an unique historical memorial, worthy to be treasured by the people of Illinois with reverent care for all time to come.

And with it too should be treasured the memory of that brave and able man, John Todd, a pioneer of progress, education, and liberty, and the real founder of this Commonwealth, who served his countrymen long and well, and died a noble death, fighting for their homes and firesides against a savage enemy, and giving his life, as he had given the best of his years and strength, for the cause of civilization and free government in the Western World.

The foregoing Paper was read before the Chicago Historical Society, Feb. 15, 1881.

GRADUATES

WOMAN'S MEDICAL COLLEGE,

SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION.

1871.

Augusta Kent, Linda Miller, Julia A. Cole

1873

Mary Ellen Bennett, Rosa H. Engert, Sarah Jane Finch, Pheba A. Sprague.

Ross H. Engert, Margaret Ellen Holland, Charlotte Moore Wedgewood.

1874

Lucinda Corr, Lettie A. Mason, Ellen Partridge, Sarah Hackett Stevenson, Milla C. Savanoe

Lettie A. Mason, C. T. F. Stringer, JAne E. Walton, Ellen Partridge.

1875

Sarah A. Brown, Lottie E. Calkins, Julia N. Marsh, Edith A. Root,

Elizabeth Darr Shelton, M. P. Travers Wagstaff, Delight J. Wolf.

1876

Adelia Barlow, M. A. Bowen, Eva Bickford, Margaret Caldwell, Harriet E. Garrison,

Louisa M. Gronard, A. M. Hale, Lois Fitch Mansfield, H. C. Russell, Amanda M. Ranslow.

1877

Blanche O. Burroughs, Louis M. Dawson, Ellen Von Roishausen, Jennie E. Tarbox

1878

L. Anna Ballard, Helen B. Bodelson, Lida Green, A. M. Hyacinth,

Clara R. Normington, Elenore Stallard, N. A. Stephens

1879

Kate C. Bushnell, Marie J. Mergler, C. A. McMahan, Julia A. Moss, Catherine R. Slater.

FACULTY

RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE.

Session . 1879-80.

J. ADAMS ALLEN, M.D., LL.D., President, 503 Michigan Avenue, Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine.

DeLASKIE MILLER, Ph.Di, M.D., 926 Wabash Avenue, Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Children.

MOSES GUNN, M.D., LL.D., 49 Calumet Avenue,

Professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery.

JOSEPH P. ROSS, A.M., M.D., 428 West Washington Street, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Diseases of the Chest.

W. H. BYFORD, A.M., M.D., 125 State Street, Professor of Gynecology.

EDWARD L. HOLMES, AM., M.D., 207 Clark, N.E. cor. Adams, Professor of Diseases of the- Eye and Ear.

HENRY M. LYMAN, A.M., M.D., 533 West Adams Street,

Professor of Physiology and of Diseases of the Nervous System.

JAMES H. ETHERIDGE, AM., M.D., Secretary, 603 Michigan Av., Professor of Materia Medica and of Medical Jurisprudence,

CHARLES T. PARKES, M.D., 125 State Street, Professor of Anatomy.

WALTER S. HAINES, M.D., Rush Medical College, Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology.

J. NEVINS HYDE, AM., M.D., 117 South Clark Street, Professor of Skin and Venereal Diseases.

JOHN E. OWENS, M.D., 643 Michigan Avenue, Professor of Ortltopcedic Surgery.

FRANCIS L. WADSWORTH, M.D., 229 Ontario Street, Adjunct Professor of Physiology.

ALBERT B. STRONG, A.M., M.D.,. 312 West Indiana Street, Demonstrator of Anatomy.

THE MARTYRDOM OF LOVEJOY.

An account of the Life, Trials, and Perils of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, killed by a Pro-

1&37. By Henry Tanner, of Buffalo, N.Y., an Eye-uncut; -Illustrated; Pp. 233; Svo. 188r. Price, $2.

Slavery Mob, at Alton, I1L, on the night of Nov. 7, Witness. Cloth boards; Gilt-top; Side and bottom

% An exceedingly interesting and fully authentic narrative of one of the most thrilling episodes in the history of the great anti-slavery ^movement which culminated in the War of the JJebellion and the emancipation of the slaves by President Lincoln. But for such books as this, it would be difficult for us, in this day, to -^alize what heroic courage, what patience in -jilering and self-sacrifice it required to stand p against the bitter opposition which the publication of anti-slavery sentiments elicited in " tie dark days of 1837, when Lovejoy published the Alton Observer. There is no doubt but that Lovejoy's name will go into history as the first imerican martyr for the right of free speech and a free press. He was a brave, great-souled, clear-headed man, and, like Samson of old, it may be said of him that he slew more Philistines at his death than iu all his life. The publishers of this and other valuable documents relating to the early history of our State, are doing a good work for the general public and for posterity. They rank among the oldest printing companies of the City, and it seems peculiarly appropriate that they should seek to rescue from fast-approaching oblivion all accessible facts relating to early pioneer life within the bounds of our glorious Commonwealth. The . "Martyrdom of Lovejoy " is not the only valuable work, which has already issued from their press, and which they keep constantly on hand for sale:—Chicago Journal, Feb. 5,1881.

The story is deeply interesting, and now seems almost incredible, so far have we risen beyond the stagnant condition in which Lovejoy's death Y found us. The book is handsomely printed and contains a few engravings and fac-similes,—one, a head of Lovejoy himself, who does not look : like a great man, but like a good one, as in fact i he was,—brave and earnest and well fitted to be ) a martyr.—Springfield Hepubli'n, Mass.,March J24th, 1881.

Not only to those who at the time were person-? ally interested in the career and heroic death of $«*he Rev! Elijah Parrish Lovejoy, nor to those j; who now warmly sympathize with the noble

rpurposes which prompted the martyr to the pursuit of ends apparently chimerical in the extent of their nobility; but to all students of the germs and first budding of a mighty reformation in the history of morals, and to all lovers <f mysterious natural development this book will be valuable. Here is vividly portrayed the first blood-letting for outspoken antagonism to the villainies of slave-traffic and slave-holding, and the wonderful persistence in aim, as well as the power of thought and pen that prepared Lovejoy for his glorious end. From the early articles on transubstantiation and nunneries to the last fiery denunciation of negro subjection, the hero shows the same outspoken boldness of conviction, combined with a continual increase in ability of expression. That any pledge was violated in the assumption of an anti-slavery

tone in the leaders of the St Louis Observer, Mr. Tanner has clearly proved groundless: and that the life of Elijah Parrish Lovejoy is worthy to be ranked among the highest aud purest, no candid reader can pretend to doubt. "So shines a good deed in a naughty world."—Buffalo Express, May 18,1881.

Probably no single event in the early history of the progress of the anti-slavery sentiment in the United States, produced a more profound impression at the time than the successive destruction, by mobs, of the four printing-presses which belonged to Mr. Lovejoy, and in the defence of the last of which, under the sanction of civil authority, he sacrificed his life. These early annals of the anti-slavery agitation can well be perused by many who lived at the time, while to the student of American history, who has been born since those years, they are invaluable.—Iowa State Register, May 14,1881.

The "Martyrdom of Lovejoy" is the title of a well-printed octavo volume, published by the Fergus Printing Company, of Chicago, which contains an account of the life, trials, and perils of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. * * * The author, Henry Tanner, of Buffalo, N. Y., who assisted Mr. Lovejoy in the defence of his property and his righ