History of Cass County, Illinois. Edited by W. H. Perrin. Illustrated

Preface

. A FTER several months of laborious research and persistent toil, the history of Cass *•* *' County is completed, and it is our hope and belief that no subject of general importance or interest has been overlooked or omitted, and even minor facts, when of sufficient note to be worthy of record, have been faithfully chronicled. In short, where protracted investigation promised results commensurate with the undertaking, matters not only of undoubted record but legendary lore, have been brought into requisition. We are well aware of the fact that it is next to impossible to furnish a perfect history from the meager resources at the command of the historian under ordinary circumstances, but claim to have prepared a work fully up to the standard of our engagements. Through the courtesy and assistance generously afforded by the residents of Cass, we have been enabled to trace out and put into systematic shape the greater portions of the events that have transpired in the county, up to the present time, and wo feel assured that all thoughtful persons interested in the matter will recognize and appre ciate the importance of the work and its permanent value.

A dry statement of facts has been avoided, so far as it was possible to do so, and anecdote and incident has been interwoven with plain recital and statistics, thereby forming a narrative at once instructive and entertaining. To those who have assisted our corps of writers in gathering material, or who have fur nished, direct, matter incorporated in the work, our thanks are due, and to Hon. J. Henry Shaw and Judge Jno. A. Arenz, of Beardstown, we acknowledge special indebtedness. September, 1882. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS. Early Teachers— Present Educational Facilities- Churches and Preachers— Old Shiloh Church— Miscellaneous, etc '2

CHAPTER VIII.

— City of Virginia— Its Birth, Location and Growth— Sale of Lots, and Additions to the Town— Dr. Hall, Founder ol Virginia— First House and Store— Public Square and Court House— Business in the West End— The Present Business Center —Hotels, Mills, etc.— Doctors and Lawyers— Banking Business— Incorporation of the City— Municipal Offices — Summary, etc 79

CHAPTER IX.

— Virginia— Its Growth and Development as a City— The Era of Railroads— Project of Building the Illinois River Railroad— The Ohio and Mississippi, etc. — Newspapers of Virginia — First Paper Established in the Town— The Present City Press— Court Houses and the County Seat Question — The Jail — Miscellaneous, etc 91

CHAPTER X.

— Virginia — Religious History — First Churches and Preachers — The Different Denominations and Their Temples of Worship — Sunday Schools, etc.— Educational— The Early Schools of Virginia— Pioneer Teachers— The Public Schools— C. P. College— War History— Secret and Benevolent Institutions, etc 97

CHAPTER XI.

— Beardstown— City and Precinct— Laying Out of the Town— Its Location— Organization— First Officers— The County Seat Question— Churches- Schools— The Press— Railroads— The Professions- Early Settlers— Business Interests— War Record, etc 108

CHAPTER XII.

— Chandlerville Precinct— Topographical Features — Pioneer Times — Early Families- Educational — Societies— Mills — Village of Chandlerville 122

CHAPTER XIII.

— Ashland Precinct— Physical Features —Early Settlers — Pioneer Times — Schools and Churches— The Village of Ashland 133

CHAPTER XIV

— Arenzville Precinct-Its Early History —The Three Mile Territory — Early Residence of the Settlers — Emigrants from Germany— School-houses and Churches in the School Districts— The Village of Arenzville— First Lots Surveyed— Business of the Town — Churches and School-houses in the Villages — Some of the Prominent Men of the Time — Francis Arenz, John L Cire, Dr. George Engelbach, and Others — Miscellaneous, etc 143

CHAPTER XV.

— Princeton Precinct— General Description—Boundaries. Topography and Surface Feat-

Chapter I

— Cass County— Early Notes on Illinois— The French Travelers and Explorers — The Indians- Wars of the Iroquois and Kickapoos— Legend of Monsoela — Different Owners of Illinois— Beardstown Mound— Purchase of the Country from the Indians — Miscellaneous, etc - 11 CHAPrEK II.— Settlements of the Country Not Included in Cass County — Some of the Pioneers and Where They Settled— The Sangamo Country— Its Fertility — Prairie, Schooners — First Land Entry — Beard's Ferry — Beard & Marsh's Entry of Land — First Settlers of Beardstown— Deed of Defeasance— Going to Egypt for Corn— Arrival of Other Settlers— The Entry of Land, etc 18

CHAPTER I.

— Increase of Population— The Deep Snow of 1830— The Black Hawk War— Rendezvous of Soldiers at Beardstown— Cause of Dr. Chandler's Settlement — Meeting Between Him and Abraham Lincoln — Business of Beardstown in 1834 — The Early Log Cabins — Yankees and Yankee Tricks — Corn Bread, etc 25

CHAPTER IV.

— Organization of Cass County— The Convention at Rushville — Legislative Act Creating the County — Other Acts— First Election for Officers — The Number of Voters— An Incident of a Wolf— The Cold Day of 1837— Location of the County Seat — Scarcity of Money — The County Machinery Put in Motion— The Courts— Trouble from Horse Thieves- Eugene Honorius— The Census, etc _ 36

CHAPTER V.

— Fertile Lands of Cass— Its Geological Formations—Coal Measures— Different Deposits — Coal — Building Stone — Legislative Representatives from Cass County — Principal County Officers Since Formation—Illinois River Items, etc 52 CHAPTER VT— Agriculture of Cass County— Farming in the Primitive Times — Improved Farm Implements • — Agricultural Fairs and Associations — Lists of Officers— Cass County Park Association— Its Organization, etc.— Fine Stock of the County— Short Horn Herds, etc.— The Railroads, etc 66

CHAPTER VII.

— Virginia Precinct— Description, Boundaries and Topography — Western Pioneer Life — Settlement of the Precinct by White People — Character of the Pioneers — Their Trials, Troubles and Hardships — Early Improvements and Industries— Roads, Bridges, etc.— Schools — The First School-houses — VI CONTENTS Page. ures— The Early Settlement— Pioneer Hardships- First Mill, and other Improvements— Walnut Grove School-house — Present Schools— Churches — Old Princeton, and its Business Enterprise— Little Indian Village 155

CHAPTER XVI.

— Richmond Precinct— Physical Features — Indians— Pioneer Times— Early Settlers — Schools, Churches and Stores 160

CHAPTER XVII.

— Philadelphia Precinct— Descriptive- Topography and Physical Features — Organization as a Precinct— The Settlement of the Whites— Their Life on the Frontier— Pioneer Improvements- Churches, Schools, etc. — Philadelphia and Lancaster—A Lost City, etc 166

CHAPTER XVIII.

— Monroe Precinct — Description — ' Physical Features — Settlement and Pioneer Times— 3rowth and Improvement— Churches, Schools, etc 170

CHAPTER XIX

— Oregon Precinct— Description and Settlement — Pioneer Life — Indians— Churches and Schools 178

CHAPTER XX.

— Hickory Precinct— Physical Features- First Settlement and Subsequent Growth — Progress of Industries and Improvements — Churches and Schools 183 PART n. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Virginia— City and Precinct .■ 193 Beardstown— City and Precinct 227 Page. Chandlerville Precinct 281 Ashland Precinct 303 Arenzville Preciuct 313 Indian Creek Precinct 324 Princeton Precinct 327 Richmond Precinct 330 Philadelphia Precinct 337 Monroe Precinct 340 Oregon Precinct 347 Hickory Precinct 355 PORTRAITS. Arenz, J. A 45 Boone, N. H 279 Brauer, Frederick 135 Campbell, William 207 Carr, David 189 Chandler, Charles 63 Cire, L. J 315 Crum, James 153 Decker, John 117 Engelbach, Herman 243 Leeper, W. D 351 Linn, William 333 Lohmann, Frank 261 Nollsch, Gottlieb 297 Petefish, s. H 81 Shaw, J. Henry 27 Skiles, Ignatius 99 Tureman, J. H 171 Wagner, David

PART I. HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.

CHAPTEE I. CASS COUNTY*— EARLY NOTES ON ILLINOIS— THE FRENCH TRAVELERS AND EXPLORERS— THE INDIANS— WARS OF THE IROQUOIS AND KICKAPOOS— LEGEND OF MON- SOELA— DIFFERENT OWNERS OF ILLINOIS— BEARDSTOWN MOUND —PURCHASE OF THE COUNTRY FROM THE INDIANS- MISCELLANEOUS, etc ILLINOIS dates its white settlements amongthe first in North America. Four years prior to the settlement of Plymouth, Le Baron had explored Upper Canada, and twenty years later the hardy and ambitious French traders and voyageurs and zealous mission aries had erected tradingposts and missions along the rivers and upon the lake shores, now within the jurisdiction of Illinois and Wisconsin. Levantine seas have been gradually en croached upon by the water, there has been a corresponding rise in the earth's surface here. Two hundred years ago the white settlers of Illinois navigated the Mississippi and Illi nois rivers to the great northern lakes.

French pirogues and Indian canoes found no difficulty in passing through the portages of the North to Hudson's Bay. The routes from the Mississippi river — up the Wisconsin and down the Fox to Lake Michigan ; and up the Illinois Or " River of the Miamis," as it was then called, to Chicago river; or up the Kan kakee and down the St. Joseph — were well known and navigated. Indeed, but a few centuries since, these rivers were the southern outlets for the waters of the great lakes, and the Illinois penitentiary, near Joliet, now stands upon a ledge of rocks over which a great river once flowed in rapids similar to those of the Upper Mississippi. At that period the surface of Illinois was much lower, geologically considered, than it is at the present time. Since its creation, the thin crust of the earth has been under going slow mutations, breathing, as it were, bv centuries, elevating and depressing in the lapse of ages under the influence of its mighty lungs of fire, sinking slowly and im perceptibly beneath their former level con tinents and islands, and as gradually raising others above the waste of waters.

While the countries bordering upon the In the southern part of the State, at that point now known as Tower Rock, this great river was dammed up by a wall of rock, over * The Chapters on the County at large are written for this work by Hon J. Hen y Shaw, of teardstown. which it fell one hundred feet, forming a cataract of such volume and height as to rival even Niagara. But the continual wearing power of the water, aided materially by earth quakes, which have left their sign in the vicin ity, finally opened the present channel of the Mississippi, and gave an outlet to the ocean of waters that lay stagnating in the swamps, now prairies, above, and causing the present agricultural productiveness of the ancient beds of these great waters. beautiful place. It was built upon a series of mounds, covered with grass, and partially shaded by tall trees, which stood like sentinels upon the hills, or ornamental trees upon a lawn, so scattered as not to obstruct the view of the whole town from the river.

The island had evidently been selected, not only on ac count of its natural beauty, but for its easy defense and safety from enemies. By two bends in the river, forming two ob tuse angles, the allied villages of the Peorias and the Muscootens stood at the two elbows, in plain sight of each other, the broad river forming1 a straight sheet of water between, while north of the Mound Village, and in front of the Peorias, spread the wide and glassy surface of Muscooten Bay, separated from the river by a narrow peninsula. Back of the swamp which protected the rear of the town, was a wide belt of rich prairie bottom land, and beyond, six miles, loomed up the Sangamon Bluffs, looking like miniature Andes in the distance, between which and the island, in the day time, all approaching foes could be discerned.

Two hundred years ago Northern and Central Illinois was inhabited by two powerful nations of Indians, the Illinois and the Miatnis. The latter occupied the northern part of the present State and part of Wiscon sin, and their chief town was upon the present site of Chicago. The Illinois tribe occupied the country bordering upon the Illinois river, called by the French the " River Seignelay, " and all the country between that and the " River Col bert," or Mississippi. The' principal tribe of the Illinois were the Muscootens, and their town was upon the present site of Beardstown, on the east bank of the river, at the foot of Muscooten Bay, and was called by the French the "Mound Village." The Peorias, another of the Illi nois tribes, generally occupied that portion of the country between the rivers, having their town on the w.est bank of the Illinois river, four miles above the Muscooten village, upon the bluffs back of the present town of Fred erick.

The present site of Beardstown was at that time an island, surrounded on the north, east and south by almost impassable swamps, containing dangerous quicksands and quaking bogs, and which could be crossed only in canoes, or by Indians jumping from hillock to hillock of the turf grass with which these swamps were interspersed, and on the west by the Seignelay or Illinois River. The Indian town of the Muscootens was a This island town was a favorite resting place with the weary voyageurs and devout missionaries; a large cross was erected here, and friendly relations established between the " children of the forest " and the white men. This favoritism on the part of the French towards the Illinois Indians, excited the jeal ousy of the Miamis, and they determined upon revenge. In vain did the missionaries try to. prevent animosities.

The Miatnis in vaded the country of the Illinois, and took some prisoners. At this time the Chevalier La Salle, who had built a fort called Creve Cœur, or the Broken Heart, where the present city of Peoria now stands, in order to prevent further hostilities, made a journey alone down the riv er to the Muscooten Village, but his efforts were without avail, and the war continued. The Muscootens believed that La Salle was acting as a spy for the Iroquois, whose chief town was then where Buffalo, N. Y., now is, and who were the most powerful Indian nation upon the continent. This impression seemed to be confirmed when it became known to them that the Iroquois and Miamis had formed an alliance for the purpose of exterminating them. The battle at intervals temporarily sub sided, but only when the combatants became exhausted, and was resumed when rest brought returning strength.

Those who from fatigue were unable to rise, were scalped and tomahawked, entering from the dreamland of life to the dreamland of death. At length, exhausted and overwhelmed by superior numbers, the Muscootens began to fall back towards the river, when with yells of victory their allied enemies rushed upon them, and with tomahawks and scalping knives ended the battle. A few of the un fortunate Muscootens swam the river, and concealed themselves until night in the high swamp grass beyond, and a small number of men, women and children fled in canoes to the village of the Peorias, and some were taken prisoners. .Many battles were sought between these hostile nations, but, by the superior numbers of their enemies, the Illinois were worsted and besieged in their towns. The Peorias forti fied themselves with earthworks upon the bluffs at their village, and passed men down the river in canoes, as necessity required, to the Mound Village, or received help from there, the river being protected from the arrows of the enemy by marshy ground on one side and the bay on the other, which for bade their near approach.

The battle being over, then came the mourning for the slain. Funeral rites, in which the missionaries took part, were per formed, and in the great mound on the bank of the river, which had been raised centuries before by a long forgotten race, they buried the slain warriors with their bows, arrows and tomahawks, together with the silver and Hint crosses of the missionaries. The Muscootens were beseiged in their island town. Occasionally they were assailed by parties of their enemies, who, more coura geous than their fellows, crossed the swamps in the night, on the grassy hillocks, with the help of poles. On these occasions fierce bat tles were fought, and none of the daring as sailants survived to recross those trembling hillocks. At each defeat the Miamies Iroquois became more enraged. In the night time, when out of danger from arrows, the allied Indians cut grass and small trees, and gathered floating wood, and built a causeway across a part of the swamp.

When it was completed, with the aid of canoes disguised by branches of trees, in the night time, they rushed upon the island, and for several days the battle raged fierce. y. There was no quarter given or asked. Death was dealt by unsparing hands on both sides. They had been rendered doubly savage by hunger and delay. Their revenge had long been at usury, and they were now satisfying principal After these ceremonies were concluded, the Iroquois returned to their own country. The Miamis, with their prisoners, encamped upon the present site of Chandlerville, where game was plenty, and attended to their sick and dying, great numbers of whom did not survive their wounds. Those that died were buried in the bluffs near by, and long after the settlement of Chand lerville their ghastly skeletons lay in white rows, exposed to the sun, laid bare by the action of the wind upon their sandy covering.

Many years ago, at the request of a young friend, the writer put into verse and rhyme one of the incidents related above, which is as and interest. so' lows : THE LEGEND OF MONSŒLA. Sat lightly on the yellow knobs of the bluffs of Sangamon, A yell as of a thousand fiends fell on the startled ears, Far, far into the long ago, and upon the very place And sleepers woke to sleep again pierced by the foemeus' spears. Where Beardstown stands, there lived and loved and died a noble race. Where pretty lawns and spacious streets and lofty buildings stand, Monsœla then, Muscouten's Chief, raised high the battle cry, Monsœla's Indian village stood upon the hills of sand. And bade his warriors follow him and win the fight or die ; It was an island then, and round the hills on which it stood Now on the left, now on the right, his ponderous warclub fell, The river ripples wandered in a long continuous flood; And many an Indian skull crushed he, and stifled many a yell.

While over all the tall oaks waved in foliage bright and green, Now backward borne, now pressing on, Muscouten's wavering braves And the trees and tents were mirror'd on the broad and glassy stream. Proved that the blood that nerved their arm3 was never meant for slaves ; Far above the stars were shining, bathed in clouds of silv'ry light, 'Till overpowered, and rank by rank fell weltering in their blood, And the gentle breeze of summer-day had slumbered into niglit ; The brave Monsœla fought alone amidst the crimson flood. The murmur of the wavelets flowing, and hum of insect wings, Then the oh' chiefs daughter, White Wing, ran through the rift of spears ; Fell lightly on the sleepers' ears, nor waked their slumberings. 'Though gentle as a fawn, that day she showed no childish fears ; Three weary moons two Indian tribes had been in deadly strife, Pierced to the heart, into his arms she threw herself, a shield, And Miamis and Muscoutens had yielded many a life ; Till the allies of the Muscoutens had left them all alone, He grasped her lifeless form and slowly bore her from the field.

And the Miamis besieged them upon theirisland home. Where the golden grass was waving on the river's western shore, Slowly, at night, across the waters upon the southern side, Monsœla's birchen shallop touched the flowery bank once more ; The Miamis were paddling up their canoes against the tide ; There oft before the same proud chief had pushed his light canoe, While in advance of every boat was held a branching bough, With warriors in sinewy keels — three hundred bravt and true. Which from the gaze of watching eyes might shield the advancing prow. Near two hundred years have entered into the dreamy past Upon the island, faint and tired, the Muscoutens lay at rest, Since the chief of the Muscoutens on his village looked the last — All witless of the coming foe as the flowers which they pressed ; One longing, lingering look h e gave toward his island home, They had fought them day by day, their watchfires burning night by night, Then drew his mantle round him and wandered forth alone.

Until glimmered on their ashen beds the last faint rays of light. Just as the distant glittering beams that led the morn- Some years later, Mound Island was taken posses 7ion of by the Kickapoo Indians, upon ing sun which they built a village, known as " Kicka poo Town," although still remembered by the French Missionaries as the " Beautiful Mound Village." This became a favorite trading post and missionary station, and continued in the possession of the Kickapoos until its settlement by Thomas Beard, in 1820, after whom the present city of Beardstown was named. In 1700, Illinois was a part of the territory owned by the French government, and was called New France. In 1720, all the country west of the Missis sippi River belonged to Spain, with Santa Fe as its capital. In 17G3, Illinois was ceded by France to Great Britain, after a "seven year's war," Many French inhabitants, rather than live under British rule, joined La Clede and set tled in St. Louis, then French territory.

A few years later the great mound in Beardstown began to be encroached upon by the spade and pickaxe of the avaricious white man. Still later, Horace Billings built upon its river front a huge mill, for the purpose of grinding corn, bolting it fine like wheat flour, kiln-drying, sacking it, and ship ping it to Europe as bread stuff. This building was five stories high, a massive frame, and the mound was so excavated with winding roads that teams could be driven to three different stories, to load and unload. In 1778, the Illinois country was conquered from Great Britain by troops from the State of Virginia, under the command of General George Rogers Clark, which was an inde pendent military enterprise of that State; and on the 4th day of July of that year, General Clark and his troops took pessession of Kas kaskia, the capital of the British possessions west of the Alleghenies, and declared the Illinois country free and independent of Great Britain, thus making the -1th day of July the natal day of this State as well as of the Na tion.

In that year, Illinois was created a county of Virginia, and Timothy Dernanbrun was appointed by the governor, Patrick Henry, a justice of the peace, to rule over it; which was probably the most extensive territorial jurisdiction that a magistrate ever had. This enterprise proved a ruinous failure. The drying process destroyed the vitality of the meal, and prevented its sale. The building was destroyed by fire. The earth, of which the mound was composed, and which is supposed to have been taken by its builders from the bottom of the river, was stolen away by wagonloads to cover house lots and streets with, and its site was finally reduced to the level of the adjacent streets. In 179-1, the legislature of the Northwest Territory divided it into two counties, Ran dolph and St. Clair. The decaying bones of the red warrio"S, as they lay in their quiet and lovely resting place, with the implements of war around them; the silver and flint crosses of the mis sionaries, even the beautiful mound itself, which as an ornament and historic feature to the town and river, should have been held sacred, could not restrain the money-making white man from destroying it, and it is now recollected only by the old settlers, who used to sit upon its summit and watch the passing away of the last of two races — the Indian in his canoe, and the French voyageur in his pirogue.

In 1800, Illinois was declared a separate territory. In 1812, Madison County was organized from St. Clair, and then contained all of the present State north of St. Clair and Randolph. In 1818, Illinois was admitted into the Union as the twenty-second State. In 1821, Green County was formed from Madison County. In 1823, Morgan County was formed from Green County, which included the territory now known as Cass County. During the first quarter of the present century, immigration to the Illinois country was retarded by frequent earthquakes; indeed, from 1811 to 1813 they were as severe as ever happened on this continent, and the few set tlers then here were in constant dread from these disturbances. New Madrid, a flourishing town near the mouth of the Ohio, was utterly destroyed and partially swallowed up.

But in 1825, the Erie Canal was completed, and steamboats had been introduced upon the Mississippi and its tributaries, and immigration received a new impulse and flowed in vigorous ly. This immigration excitement was called east of the Alleghenies, the " western fever; " and it carried many a good man off — west. her, 1812, Col. Russell defeated them at Kick apoo Town, on thelllinois River, the present site of Beardstown, and again, in November Col. Hopkins destroyed one of their towns on Wildcat Creek. They then sued for peace, and their chief, Little Otter, met Gen. Harri son. The treaties of Portage des Sioux (Sept. 2, 181.3) and Fort Harrison (June 4, 1816), followed. These treaties being indefinite in their results, the Kickapoos still retaining their lands, many of them religiously believ ing and maintaining that they were granted them by the Great Spirit as their possession forever, and that he would be angry if they sold them; the following order was issued by the general government, addressed to Gov.

Wm. Clark, Indian Superintendent at St. Louis, and to Gov. Ninian Edwards, Gov ernor of the Territory of Illinois: Another circumstance which prevented im migration into central Illinois during the same period was, that all that portion of it that lay south of the Kankakee, east of the Illinois, west of the Wabash and north of a line drawn from the mouth of the Illinois eastward to the Wabash, including the present Cass County, was owned and in possession of the Kickapoos, a powerful and warlike tribe of Indians, who conquered this territory about the middle of the last century from the Illi nois Indians. The Kickapoos, while friendly with the French, looked with extreme jeal ousy upon the Americans, and discouraged their settlement in this territory. This wide scope of country, included the best and most fruitful portions of Illinois, and pioneers were anxious for the general government to pur chase it of the Kickapoos, and open it to settlement.

Several efforts were made by the government to treat with them for their lands, but being of a haughty spirit, no satisfaction could be obtained from them, until Gen. Har rison defeated them at the battle of Tippe canoe, which so diminished their vanity that they sought to treat, but Gen. Harrison re fused. Shortly afterward they were again defeated by Col. Zachary Taylor, and in Octo- "Department of War, Nov. 1, 1817. " Gentlemen : — I have the honor to enclose you a commission, for the purpose of treating with the Illinois, the Kickapoos, the Potta watomies and other tribes of Indians within the Illinois territory. The object of this nego tiation is to obtain a cession from the tribes who may have a claim to it, of all that tract of land which lies between the most north eastern point of boundary of the lands ceded by the Kaskaskias in August, 1803, the San gamo and the Illinois rivers; and which tract of land completely divided the settled parts of the Illinois Territory from that part which lies between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and which has been lately surveyed for the purpose of satisfying the military land bounties, a circumstance which makes the acquisition of this tract of country peculiarly desirable.

" If either of the tribes who have a claim to the land is desirous of exchanging their claim for lands on the west of the Mississippi, you are authorized to make the exchange, and your extensive local knowledge of the conntry will enable you to designate that part of it where it would be most desirable to locate the lauds to be given as an equivalent. To other tribes who may not wish to remove, you will allow such an annuity, for a fixed period, as you may deem an adequate compensation for the relinquishment of their respective claims. To enable you to give the usual pres ents on such occasions, you are authorized to draw on this department for $0,000. the part of the government by August Choteau and Benjamin Stevenson, and by twenty-three chiefs of the Kickapoos, who reluctantly placed their awkward but significant sign manuals thereto.

Among other things, and together with many presents and much amuni tion, the United States agreed to pay them $2,000 a year for fifteen years, and assigned them a large tract on the Osage. From the date of the treaty they began to remove from the State, but very slowly and reluctantly, and in 1822 there were still four hundred Kickapoos remaining in Central Illinois, and up to 1821, quite a large number of them remained within the present limits of Cass County, anil at their town on the present site of Beardstown. A few of them, who had connected with the French by marriage, remained in Beardstown and on the islands near by, many years afterward. " The contractor will furnish, on the re quisition of either of you, the rations that may be necessay for the supply of the Indians while attending the treaty.