Wwf^ 1^& y t^fe P*icZz*h fsn ■■ LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN IN MEMORY OF STEWART S. HOWE JOURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION 977.389 Su2r 1947 I © H • b • Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/romanticstoryofcOOsues THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS First Permanent Settlement of White Men In The Illinois Ter- ritory of The Northwest Country of North America * By ADOLPH B. SUESS, Author First Edition, May First, A. D., 1943 Second Edition, August Twentieth, A. D., 1947 Cloth Bound - $2.50 Paper Bound - $1.50 Copyrighted by ADOLPH B. SUESS A. D. 1943 and 1947 All Rights Reserved Published and Printed in U.S.A. by Illustrations are from Photos BUECHLER PUBLISHING CO. by Carlos Piaget, Artist Photo- 332 West Main Street grapher. Piaget Studios, 3800 Belleville, Illinois West Pine St., St. Louis, Mo. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTORY (First Edition) 5 PROLOGUE 6-7 ITS DAWN 944 ITS ZENITH 15-23 ITS PERIOD OF CULTURE 25-28 ITS SPIRIT OF RELIGION 30-32 ITS OLD CEMETERY 33-39 EARLY EDUCATION 41-45 FRENCH EDUCATION 46 EPILOGUE 47 FOREWARD (Enlarged Edition) 48 FIRST HISTORICAL REFERENCES 49-52 GENTLEMEN OF CHARACTER 53-54 THE PINCENEAU BOYS 55 A GRAND WEDDING 56-58 PRINCESS POTOSI 59-60 PONTIAC — Great Chief 61-64 ITS GOLDEN ERA 65-69 A NOBLE PIONEER 70-76 A CHARMING HOSTESS 77-82 AN EDUCATIONAL CENTRE 83-85 A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN 86-90 PEACHES ARE RIPE 91-93 A DISTINGUISHED DOCTOR 94-98 VITAL JARROT — Financier 99-101 A METEOR OF THE SKIES 102-105 TWINKLING LIGHTS 106-1 10 THE DEVASTATING FLOOD 111-113 THE SPIRIT OF AVIATION 114-115 COLONEL VITAL JARROT 116-119 INSCRIPTIONS 120 .■.,.. .*■■'.. ■■■. . .., 8 Treaty at Cahokia George Rogers Clar\ and Reverend Peter Gibault (Blac\ Robed) treating with Indians in August and September, J 778. — From a painting over the grand stair case on west interior wall of the State House at Springfield, Illinois. CAHOKIA : INTRODUCTORY First Edition SEVERAL decades ago the author of this slight review of Cahokia, Illinois, originally (Caho) began to gather data pertinent to the writing of a comprehensive and ro- mantic history of that ancient village, . . a village the ground of which was trodden by nomadic tribes, long centuries before the first white man set foot in the Missis- sippi River Valley . . . long centuries before the intrepid explorers and missionaries of France brought to this spot the first crude signs of a civilisation which should blossom and bring forth fruit in abundance, as Time progressed in its cycle of years. Research led to the unfolding of so much of interest and value that a large book might be written and illustrated. Since this is impossible, at the present time, we have re- solved to publish a brief and concise review of the principal events connected with the founding of Cahokia, the first white settlement in the Mississippi Valley, reserving for the future a more extended story. This then shall be a glimpse of Cahokia, . . . storied vil- lage of the past . . . slumbering village of the present. And thus we unfold our story. Thus we wrote in A. D. 1943 — today, August 20th A. D., 1947 this second enlarged edition came to life. Yet an immense store of interesting episodes lie dormant in our mind, to be unfolded in a third and beautiful edition. We offer no apologies for not completing this romantic story of Cahokia up to this very minute. Time still unfolds its magic pages, time will reveal its hidden gems. CAHOKIA: PROLOGUE First Edition ALL life and achievement is evolutionary; present wisdom comes from past experiences, and present commercial or industrial or agricultural prosperity has come from past exertion and suffering. The deeds and motives of men that have gone before us have been instrumental in shaping the destinies of later communities and cities and states and nations. The development of a new country by civilised men was at once a task and a privilege. It required great courage, sacrifice and privation. Compare the present conditions of St. Clair County, Illinois, of the fertile Amer- can Bottoms ... in which fertile delta of the Mississippi River, lies the Village of Cahokia, outpost of civilisation in this territory . . . with what it was two hundred and seventy years ago, in 1673 ... in 1680, when first historical mention is made of the village of the "Cahokians" of the tribe of "Mini." From a trackless wilderness and virgin prairie this sec- tion of the American Bottoms has become a center of civil- isation . . . with millions and millions of wealth, numerous systems of intersecting railroads and great concrete high- ways, grand educational institutions and splendid churches . . . palaces of amusement, marvelous industrial plants and immense agricultural productiveness. Into this then wilderness that once had been peopled by a primitive Mongoloid race, capable only of building in sand and perishable materials, devoid of the talent of the Mayans and Astecs, came the voyageurs of France . . .the van-guard of the missionaries, who aided so materially in exploration, while bent spiritually on the conversion of the savage tribes, that in 1673-1680 roamed this trackless land. Far to the North came Cartier, who discovered the St. Lawrence; came De Monte and Champlain; and Quebec and Montreal and Three Rivers were founded . Forts and Mission Stations were erected and by 1670 Canada had made decided progress and was in charge of an Intendant who administered affairs on behalf of the French govern- CAHOKIA: PROLOGUE 7 ment at Quebec, which was the seat of government for New France. Champlain was far-seeing and patriotic. He saw that the influence which the Jesuit and Recollet priests would have upon the Indians would greatly assist New France in the conquest of the wilds of the New World. In 1615 Champlain returned to France and succeeded in enlisting in his cause a number of priests of the Recollet Order. The French authority in the New World after- wards called to their assistance the more vigorous Jesuits, and now the real onward movement toward the interior, toward the Illinois country began. Mission stations and trading posts were established along the lakes as far west as Green Bay, Wisconsin. Missionaries and traders came and went and the geography of the interior became better known every day. After more than a quarter of a century of the most unex- ampled activity in the cause of his country, his king, and his religion Champlain laid down his burdens and bade adieu to the scenes of his life work. He died in 1635. From the time of his death to 1649 there was a period of marked inactivity in everything except possibly the work of individual priests, of individual traders. But progress was not to be definitely halted. Came then the lure of the spiritual conquest of all the territory adjacent and South of the Great Lakes. The Jesuit Fathers, Mesnard and Allouez; built the first pioneer missionary station at the extreme Northwestern Lake region. Fathers Dablon and Marquette worked in the same field. Father Claude Jean Allouez, S. J., in 1670 conceived the idea of a Peace Conference between the rep- resentatives of the western Indian tribes and the Canadian government. In that same year, Perrot, an adventurous soul, made his appearance at Sault Sainte Marie or St. Mary's of the Falls; came also Talon, the French Intendant of Canada and as representative of the French government of Louis XIV, and appointed his personal representative for the purpose of convening a universal Indian Congress at that spot. And from that Congress sprang the true founding of Cahokia, Illinois, in the U. S. A. 3 «4 -=sSS -^ o-fe sg | ^ cr ft S^So^o^-^ 3 o 01 <-» SI - 3 *0- <=• ft CO to <* ft ~^^^2T«- * Co & *tt r> «•' _. •"> Sr- 1-3 Co )*■* O tor, 5 s ■s o 5 ft i£l a - S § » ~* ft OQ 2 Oq 2 /<3~a c+ <"+ S- to/ 2 C/5 cV 3 ,Q« "* ? o o o o Co 1 Co o 5 O r* c+ E+ TT 3- t J P» T3- Oq'^U- « i 3 o o e o • ~iTtoo 2 Co 3 o > r» ^ ^ o S? » St' OQ a, rt. ft a, 2 * <* g^s a q *_ 3-° ^/-s toOtr n o> S toCjft,^^ ft "^^ ^o^ft ft 3-^2. 3 o o Oq ^r-^ 1-5" 3 S- ^ h-H r+ oq ^ >^ • .Oq ^]^ "> 00 ft ^OQ H x ^* o f* e v-3 ft ^o *» S 3 8-1 5 1 3 _ ■Oa- 5 H2. Ss Q CX O -< 3 ft 2 ft " * «. toco;°? ft o o ft ^ 5- ^(vq c^^ it «? Eft s-S 00 C! 3- ^ S Oq o 2 if 85 Co eo - CAHOKIA: THE DAWN First Historical Mention THE Peace Treaty held at Sault Sainte Marie strength' ened the resolve of Pere Jacques Marquette, S. J. to explore the regions of the Mississippi, and on the tenth day of June, 1673, he entered on the great adventure, ac- companied by Sieur Louis Jolliet, chief, and five Frenchmen among them, doubtless, Nicolas Perrot, an adventurous explorer, who later on opened a lead mine in the "Fever River" now called Galena River territory near Galena, Illi- nois in 1682, and who conducted smelting operations prior- thereto in 1680. Much has been written about the exploits of Pere Mar- quette, far less about those of Sieur Jolliet, who christened the great river which they discovered "Buade," this being the family name of the Count de Frontenac, and later on he re-christened it the "Colbert," after the great French minister of state. On the other hand Father Marquette in his devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, named it in commemoration of the Immaculate Conception; but never- theless the name by which the Indians designated this great stream, "The Mississippi" is still the name by which it is now known and will, doubtless, be known in the cen- turies yet to come. No record tells us that Pere Marquette rented at the site of Cahokia, but conjecture so testifies. Cahokia takes its name from one of the tribes constituting the Indian vil- lage of Kaskaskia, near the present Utica, and where he and his companions were received and treated with great kindness. Sieur Louis Jolliet, the chief of this expedition was not only an experienced explorer, but a capable and successful leader of men. Talon, the Intendant of Quebec showed great sagacity in his selection. Jolliet was born in Quebec on or about 1645, and was educated in the Jesuit schools of 10 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS said community. He remained in these schools until he was educated in the higher branches, including surveying and map-making. He was by birth a natural musician, and often played the organ in the ancient Cathedral of Quebec. (That city already boasted a fine Cathedral church in 1657.) Before he was selected to undertake the discovery of the Mississippi, he had twice visited Sault Sainte Marie, and had earned not only the confidence of his civilian superiors, but that of the Jesuits and the Indians with whom he came in contadt. It was on this exploratory trip that Pere Jacques Mar- quatte, S. J., on the fourth day, Maundy Thursday, April 11, 1675, established the Church in Illinois. A beautiful prairie near the Indian settlement (near the present city of Utica) was chosen for the great event. It was adorned in the fashion of the primitive country, being spread with mats and bearskins, and Father Marqette having hung on cords some pieces of Chinese taffeta, attached to these four large pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which were thus visible from all sides. The auditory was composed of five hundred chiefs and old men seated in a circle around Pere Marquette, while the youth stood without to the number of fifteen hundred, not counting the women and children, who were numer- ous, the Indian settlement being composed of five or six hundred fires. What an auspicious day for the establishment of the Church in our state, in Illinois and with what righteous pride may we contemplate this earliest event in the exist- ence of the Church on our soil; in the bringing to the In- dians the tokens of civilisation and religion. It may now be of interest to mention some of the early missionaries who came to Cahokia, after Pere Marquette had opened the missionary work in this territory, in the present Illi- nois. They are in chronological order as follows: CAHOKIA: THE DAWN 11 Rev. Father Claude Jean Allouez, S. J. Of the work and activity of this great missionary among the Tamaroas Illinois Missions much has been chronicled. Pere Marquette had promised his newly founded congre- gation that another "Black Robe 11 would be sent them, and they eagerly awaited him, so that when in March or April, 1677, Father Allouez. reached the mouth of the Chi- cago River, he found a large band of Indians there who came to meet him, some from far distances, and who escorted him to the mission established by Pere Marquette. Ar- riving there he immediately took up the work of the mis' sion. From this mission station Father Allouez. traveled far and near. He spent upward of eleven years in this work and attained marked success. He is credited with having instructed, during his apostolic career, one hundred thousand natives, of whom he personally at least baptized ten thous- and. He abundantly earned his second name Xavier, for like St. Xavier, he spent his life in mission work. Rev. Father Sebastian Rale, S. J. On the death of Father Allouez, Father Sebastian Rale, S. J., was selected as his successor, and he arrived at the Illinois Mission in the Spring of 1692. Father Rale was but two years in the Illinois Mission when he was called to the East where he gained much renown. It was of Father Rale that Whittier wrote so feelingly in his "Mogg Magone." Father Rale was a remarkable linguist and translated several Indian dialects. During the time he was in Illi- nois, the mission services were conducted with great reg- ularity and the Indians attended very faithfully, as also the French coureurs-de-Bois, and the trappers. The seed planted by the saintly Pere Marquette and tended by the martyred Father Rale and the eloquent Father Allouez, 12 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS flourished and in 1690 the Illinois Church was of such im- portance that the Bishop of Quebec, Right Reverend John Baptiste de La Croix Chevalier de Vallier, in selecting a successor, appointed Reverend Father James Gravier, S. J., and made him his Vicar-General for the Illinois country. Reverend Father James Gravier, S. J. Father Gravier began his missionary labors in the Illi- nois Missions, of which Cahokia was an integral part, on March 20, 1693. Father Gravier was one of the ablest and most successful of all the Illinois missionaries. He thorough- ly mastered the Indian language and reduced it to gram- matical form. He compiled the great manuscript, "Dic- tionary of the Peoria Language," which is now at Harvard University, a literary monument to the extinct Illini. Among his converts was the daughter of an Indian Chief of the Peoria tribes. Her saintly life aided Father Gravier in a spiritual triumph of unprecedented proportions. This convert was the mother of Princess Potosi, daughter of Chief Peosta, who became the wife of Sieur Julien Dubuque, the founder of Dubuque, Iowa, in the Fall of 1783. In "St. Sulpice's little chapel," she knelt, counting her beads and ever repeating the simple "Aves" translated into the Indian tongue by the learned Father Sebastian Meurin, S. J., who so gently guided the French immigrants and the Indian habitants on the paths of rectitude and virtue. Reverend Father St. Cosme, C. F. M. On the fifth day of December, 1699, the intrepid explorer Tonti in company with Father Francois Busion de St. Cosme, C. F. M., reached the Mississippi from the Illinois River, and the next day which would be the sixth of De- cember, 1699, he and his voyageurs reached the settlement of the Tamaroas Indians, the village of Cahokia. A New Stone Church This church, though modest in size, is a splendid example of architectural beauty. It was built under the pastorate of Rev. F. Meifuss (deceased). 14 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS God might grant the cross which had heretofore been but little known in these regions might triumph there." Fa- ther Joliett de Montigny, C. F. M., superior of the missions of the Semarist priests spent some time there in 1696. An interesting surmise has been made that the bald spot on Signal Hill, just east of East St. Louis, and of Cahokia, may have been the historic spot at which this cross was erected, for from said height signal fires could be seen across the entire Bottoms. Reverend Father Francois Pinet, S. J. So fascinating has become the delving into old tomes and other sources of historical information, anent the early life of the Illinois Mission, of which Cahokia formed so splendid a part, that we can scarce refrain from writing on and on. But we must hasten to the close of this chapter. Father Francois Pinet, S. J., may be looked upon as the real founder of the Holy Family Parish or Mission, now known as "Holy Family Parish" of Cahokia, Illinois. Of him a fellow missionary, Rev. Father Gabriel Marest, S. J., in a letter written to Father Lamberville in July 1702, says: "Father Pinet, a very holy and sealous missionary, has left the Mission of the Tamaroa in accordance with your directions to me . . . and now has charge of the Kaskaskias." Father Pinet died at Chicago, July 16, 1704, and he was succeeded in the Tamaroa Mission by Reverend Father Francis Buisson de St. Cosmo, and Reverend Father John Bergier, priests of the Seminary of Foreign Missions, and the Tamaroa Mission, Cahokia, was thereafter until 1763 conducted under the care of that order of priests. Reverend Father Gabriel Marest, S. J. In 1694 Reverend Father Marest, S. J., accompanied the expedition of the renowned DTberville from Montreal to Hudson Bay, directed against the English, and after DTbervihVs success began a mission there. In 1695 the CAHOKIA: ITS ZENITH 15 forts were retaken by the English and Father Marest was taken a prisoner to Plymouth, England. But he returned, and in 1699 was again in the Illinois Missions, first at Peoria and afterwards until 1712 at Kaskaskia, from which he frequently visited Cahokia. And thus we have viewed the Dawn of Cahokia, as a Catholic community, as an outpost of civilisation, as a source of development the influence of which should cast its rays of light into the hitherto dark places of our loved land. Cahokia in 16944712 a French-Canadian village then had seen the Dawn of a New Day. Sieur Pierre Laclede and Auguste Choteau During the early part of 1764, when the wild flowers were abloom in all the land, and water- lilies were unfold- ing their petals to the sun, when in some of the primitive gardens of Cahokia the Tiger lilies and violets and roses were spending their perfume, when the dark forest glade was an amphitheatre of blossoming verdure, there came to Cahokia Sieur Pierre Laclede and with Pierre and Auguste Choteau spent some time in this then thriving and bulling village. So impressed with its possibilities was Auguste Choteau that he opened a trading store in its confines. But long time before this the Common Fields of Cahokia had been placed under cultivation. Wheat and corn were raised in large quantities, and mills for the grinding of these cereals were established. Horse mills also were com' mon. Horses and cattle were introduced very early. We read that the cattle came from Canada, whilst the horses were of the Arabian strain and were imported from the Southwest, from the Spanish settlements. It is not to be understood that the cultivation of the soil was of a very high order. Utensils were crude. The plows were wooden and were usually drawn by oxen. The oxen were fastened together by the horns, by means of a flat piece of wood, and not yoked as was customary with the English settlers. 16 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS in other parts of the country. The wagons were small two-wheeled carts made by the farmers themselves, or by the village smith. The crops, which grew without much care, due to the richness of the virgin soil, were cultivated by hired or slave labor and chiefly by hand. The French people were given much to the cultivation of small fruits and flowers. Cherry, apple, peach and plum trees grew in every yard. Large beds of flowers were cultivated, and wild flowers were gathered in abundance. As late as 1825, when La Fayette visited Cahokia the French inhabitants searched the woods for wild flowers, and the banquet hall was literally filled with them. . . . The houses were mainly built after one pattern. The "ground plan" was marked off by trenches in which upright posts were set side by side in pallisade style. The tops were sawed off at uniform height. On top of these posts the roof was placed constructed of simple frame wood work thatched with wild grasses, or in earliest times with the skins of wild animals, and in later years covered with rough hewn, split shingles, about two foot long each. The spaces were filled with mud and grass, and later with mortar made from lime burnt in the bluffs near by. More Pretentious Dwellings Erected With the coming of wealthier inhabitants the lure of substantial homes and more luxurious surroundings was felt. One of the most pretentious of these dwellings was built by Sieur Francois Saucier, which consisted of four rooms, built of upright posts spaced about two feet apart, and the spaces between filled with walls of lime stone, quarried near what is now Falling Springs. This old home was purchsed by the United States government for a Court-house. During the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois, this building was transferred to Jackson Park, said city, and it remained there until 1939 when it was brought back and re-erected on its old site. Its builder Old Court House This is the old historic Court House, built in early days, scene of many interesting court sessions, when Cahokia was in its golden days. It shines in its first pristine beauty today, December Twenty-fifth, A. D. 1945. 18 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS was one of the leading men of Cahokia, during the troublous times when Reverend Paul de Saint Pierre, C. F. M., min- istered at the mission of Cahokia and resided there most of the time between the years 1785-1790. Mr. Saucier on April 22, 1787, in the name of the inhabitants of Cahokia wrote a very spirited letter, in defense of this pastor, to Reverend Peter Huet de la Valinire, who adled as Vicar General of this section of Illinois, under appointment of Right Reverend John Carroll, D. D., in whose diocese or apostolic prefecture the entire territory then comprising the United States was situated. We now come to the building of a real mansion, one in which the youthful General La Fayette was entertained in 1825. This mansion was built within a stone's throw of the first church of the Holy Family, by the gallant Sieur Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) in 1796. It was the most preten- tious dwelling in all of this territory, at that time, and probably the first house built of brick in the Mississippi Valley, and was considered one of the wonders of its day. Nearly all the materials of which it was constructed were imported from France, and along with these materials came the men who built the walls. Its glased window sash were also imported, and in its entire construction symmetry of design and substantial workmanship were evidenced. It is still in a fair state of preservation after almost a century and a half of existence. It is at this time (1947) being used for residence and school purposes by the Sisters of the Pre- cious Blood, who, in 1899, re-opened the parochial school, which had for many years languished. In referring to old houses in Cahokia, or close thereto, we must not forget the old "Abbey House," built by the parish in about 1836 when Mother Mary Fabronie with Sisters Louise and Stephen of the order of St. Joseph, came from France and opened a school at Cahokia called the in- stitute of St. Joseph. The sisters were welcomed as angels from heaven, and for 24 years their labors were appreciated as several of their old pupils some years ago were still glad to attest. The convent property then consisted of one old C AHOKIA : ITS ZENITH 1 9 building in the Canadian style, 20 by 40 feet, a new and larger building in the plantation style, 20 by 60 feet, and a small chapel. These buildings have entirely disappeared but the property is still known to the natives as the "Abbey House." Cahokia never was a very large town. Captain Pittman, reporting to the English government in 1766, says of Ca- hokia: "The village is long and straggling, being three- fourths of a mile from north to south, with 45 dwellings.' ' In 1832 Reverend Father Doutrelinge counted 31 families. In 1914, Reverend Robert Emmet Hynes stated that 42 houses were within the village limits. But late in the eighteenth century, in the period of which we write Caho- kia enjoyed great prosperity as a trading post, and Cahokia merchandise was carried up and down the river from New Orleans to the Falls of St. Anthony, although the town was never much larger than it is at this date, 1947. However its inhabitants were progressive and forward-looking during the days of its Zenith. We have made reference to the Jarreau (Jarrot) mansion Let us now learn a little of its master. The lure of Cahokia, and its fascination as a residential pioneer village, early in the year 1790 induced a young French aristocrat to settle there, and to build a mansion beneath the roof of which were to be born and raised a remarkable family, that later on should give to the American Bottoms 1 village renown and added lustre. This young man was none other than Sieur Nicholas Jarreau, (Jarrot) noted son of a highly respected family of Vesoul, France-Comte, who was born in 1764; at the age of twenty-six emigrated to the Illinois Territory. He landed at Baltimore, and after visiting New Orleans, journeyed up the Mississippi River, sojourning first at Ste. Genevieve, and three years later settling definitely in Cahokia. Immediately his high moral character, his splendid edu- cation and his business acumen were recognised, and, in 1796, we find his name mentioned as one of the Grand Jury of St. Clair County, then already established. In old Jarreau (Jarrot) Mansion This is the old historic mansion in which Gen. cle Lafayette and his retinue was entertained in 1825. It is probably the oldest brick building in all the Mississippi Valley. Was purchased by Oliver Parks, President or the Parks Air College in A. D. 1945 and restored to its original pristine glory. CAHOKIA: ITS ZENITH 21 records of 17934795 mention is made of land conveyances made to this intrepid pioneer, and subsequently and prior to his death he acquired title in the American Bottoms to upward of twenty-five thousand acres of land, title to which was confirmed by the United States in 1815. But not alone did Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) acquire land and vested interests, he also built a mansion within the limits of Cahokia, that today, in 1943, still stands a splendid vision to behold. Slaves, too, he purchased, and later on when the Illinois Supreme Court decision in the celebrated case, Jarrot vs. Jarrot, liberated all the slaves in this State. . French or otherwise, his descendants promptly acquiesced in this decision. So kind had been the reign of Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) and that of his descendants to their nu- merous slaves, that all were loath to leave, and some re- fused to be set free, but choose to serve until their death. Early after settling in Cahokia Sieur Nicholas Jarreau espoused Mademoiselle Marie Barbeau of Prairie du Rocher. She died a few years later and left a daughter, Elise, who in 1811 became the wife of a Dr. Tiffin. In 1797 Nicholas Jarreau married Mademoiselle Julia Beau- vais of Ste Genevieve, originally of Kaskaskia. Now, indeed, was Nicholas Jarreau considered among the aristocratic French of Illinois. The Beauvais were among the most influential families of Kaskaskia. In 1765 a member of this family owned eighty slaves and furnished to the royal magazine eighty-six thousand weight of flour, which was only a part of one year's harvest. To Julia Beauvais came the rich heritage of the wedding ring, silver ladle, spoons and cups which had been given to her mother Felicita Janis when she married Vital Beauvais in 1736. Trousseau gowns from France . . . even Cloth of Gold . . . what treasures these things must have been to this proud French bride; proud, yet withal wonderfully kind and humble, as old records reveal. Truly it is written of Julia Beauvais that she shed copious tears when Sieur Nicholas Jarreau led her away from the home of her parents 22 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS in quaint Ste Genevieve, to install her as mistress in his humble house in Cahokia. For their first house was a small frame building across the street from the first church of the Seminary of Foreign Missions, "St. Sulpice." But soon her ambitious and progressive husband began the building of a "Mansion" which still today stands a monument to his efforts. The site chosen was just east of the Church. Even as the church was the institution around which the lives of the early French pioneers revolved ... so this house standing within its shadows became the center of hospitality for all the region "round about. The kindness of heart and ur- banity of manners of Nicholas Jarreau, and the mild and amiable disposition of Madame Jarreau, attracted many vis- itors to this mansion where they were received and enter- tained in a polished and elegant manner. Many week-ends at the "Jarreau Mansion" were spent in games of chance. We can imagine the genial host sur- rounded by the Bonds, John Reynolds, Governor Ninian Ed- wards, perhaps Pierre Menard of Kaskaskia, the Choteau Brothers of St. Louis, or visiting friends and relatives seated at a table in the candle light, intent upon their game. The master of the house, Nicholas Jarreau was the accommodat- ing banker. He kept his silver in a large horsehair chest up- stairs. A small red trunk held the precious gold pieces. This same little red trunk with the original key may be seen to- day in the Memorial Hall in Washington, D. C. Nicholas Jarreau exercised great influence over the wan- dering Indian tribes. Many anecdotes are told of his ex- ploits, and of his genial disposition. It would lead too far in this small book to enter more extensively into his history. We may only emphasise the fact that Cahokia, in its hey- day, was the very center of culture and of industry in all this Illinois Territory, and that its ancient buildings are worthy of preservation, of enduring conservation. In 1834 Louis Pinconeau, a progressive French-Canadian built the first farm house in the Cahokia commonfields, at a CAHOKIA: ITS ZENITH 23 point near the junction of the Commonfields road and the Illinois Central Railway. Others followed his example and by 1858 farm houses were scattered far and wide over the commonfields. About this time Father Doutrelinge thought the church should be moved to a more central location and suggested a point on the Commonfields road where Mrs. Margaret PlufPs residence now stands, and where Reverend Father Savin had lived in a small three-room house from 1811 to 1826. The Cahokians however opposed this plan vigorously and it was dropped for the time being. But the necessity for a church outside the village existed and five years later, Immaculate Conception Church, of Center- ville Station was erected. But Cahokia was not to be eclipsed, its old history was not to be obliterated, although dark days were to follow, which days of despair were again to turn to golden sunshine, as we shall see in succeed- ing pages. Today, in A. D. 1947 hundreds of new homes have been erected, peopled by men and women of diversi- fied nationality — all American in thought and sentiment, and within the flight of an arrow, the splendid buildings and attractive buildings of the Parks Air College lend scholarly distinction to old and romantic Cahokia. Old Historic Church The old historic Church is hidden under this exterior. It is built of Walnut Logs, and should soon shine again as of old. A story about this old building is contained in this volume as of A. D. 1904, the historic year com- memorative of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in St. Louis, Missouri. CAHOKIA: PERIOD OF CULTURE A Governor. It seems strange that great and out- standing figures in history should most frequently spring from insignificant surroundings; be the sons or daughters of humble folk, be subject to hardship and privation in youth. Yet, thus history records, and thus we may read in its in- teresting pages. To Cahokia then came sometime in 1814, a man of out- standing legal abilities, a scholar and author, who was six- teen years later to be elected governor of the State of Illi- nois, and who was to prove himself one of the outstanding men that occupied said high position in its line of chief executives. This young man, self-taught, was John M. Reynolds, a pioneer emigrant from Tennessee, the son of an Irish rebel against British rule, and he tried his mettle in the old court- house that stood within the village confines for many years, until cupidity and stupidity allowed transferring of this historic shrine to where Jackson Park spreads its extent along the shores of the great lake . . . that Lake which was renowned in the days of Pere Marquette and Father Al- loues, and La Salle and Tonti. John M. Reynolds came to Cahokia fresh from the ser- vice in the private ranks in the war of 1812, and was a practicing lawyer, having served term with his uncle, Thomas Reynolds, who was a member of the Supreme Court of the State at an early date. Sixteen years after his first appearance as a lawyer in the old court-house at Cahokia, John M. Reynolds announced his candidacy for governor of this newly erected state. He was at that time a popular member of the Lower House of the State Legislature, and as a speaker and brilliant lawyer was accorded high rank. He announced his candidacy as a Jacksonian Democrat, but not as a radical, rather a conservative-progressive, — 25 — 26 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS which seems an anomaly, yet proved he was a discerning politician. This twig of Jacksonian Democracy, was Baptist minister, a successful business man and one who at that time was lieutenant-governor of Illinois. The candidate for lieutenant-governor on the Kinney ticket was Zadoc Casey, also a minister of the Gospel, and this was made much of by John M. Reynolds and his fol- lowers, they presenting this coincidence as a fact that "the Church was in politics. 11 Strange vagaries of the human nature . . . then it was the Prosestant church held up for derision because of its political activities, and by fellow Protestants . . . today it is the Catholic Church, that with equal inconsistency is accused of "being in politics. 11 And yet, that is exactly the place the Church, should occupy because politics is based on morality and religion, if worthy of the name. In his inaugural address Governor Reynolds advocated free popular education, general internal public improve- ments, the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the improvement of the Chicago harbor. (That was in 1830.) He advocated and recommended the completion of the first State penitentiary at Alton, at the direct cost of the state. Under his administration a law was passed re- refunding the old State Bank paper which had the effect of restoring the state credit to par again. Under Governor Reynolds . . . once leading citizen of Cahokia . . . the Black Hawk war broke out in 1831, and it lasted about eighteen months. The governor actively and energetically partici- pated in the prosecution of this war to a successful and lasting peace. A Scholar : The civil government of St. Clair County was, upon its organisation on April 14, 1790, entrusted to Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and its sessions were held principally in Cahokia in a building erected by Francois Saucier in about 1785, and which building was purchased by Antoine Girardin, John du Moulin and Philip Engel, trustees for the county, for the sum of One Thousand dollars. In this building, now again re-erected in Cahokia, CAHOKIA: ITS PERIOD OF CULTURE 27 court was held for twenty-four years up to the end of 1814. Shortly after the creation of this Court of Common Pleas, there came to Cahokia two young men, whose names were almost identical, differentiated only by one letter. They were John Hays and John Hay. The first mentioned was named Sheriff and the last mentioned was chosen Clerk of the Court. From this man sprang a line of influential and scholarly men, culminating in County Judge John B. Hay, who was born in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1834. To John Hay was intrusted the task of notifying the members of the Court of Common Pleas, at the December term, 1813, to assemble for the purpose of finding a more central site for the Court-house, and on Monday, Febru- ary 14, 1814, these men met in Cahokia, and held a prelim- inary meeting. On Thursday, March 10, 1814, they again met at the home of George Blair, in what is now the city of Belleville, Illinois, then a corn-field . . . and accepted as a gift a square of land, containing one acre on which the public buildings of St. Clair County were to be erected. This consummated, John Hay moved to Belleville, its second permanent citizen. He was the generalissimo of the pen for the entire county, after that date, 1814, as he had been for many years prior in Cahokia, while the seat of justice, of education and of religion was situated in said village. John Hay, scholar, was the son of Major J. Hay, the English Governor of Upper Canada, during the years that England ruled the country south of the Great Lakes. John Hay received a liberal education and was a scholar of the classics. As already mentioned he settled in Cahokia in 1793, and as a matter of necessity and of foresight, all the offices that required exceptional talent, writing ability, and expert penmanship were settled upon him. Such was John Hay . . . Cahokia's first and foremost scholar of English descent. Cahokia's honored citizen in 28 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS the days when it attained to civic and cultural heights. Soon again it will rise to great industrial heights. A Soldier : So many men of vision came from out of old Cahokia prior to 1814, that to mention them by name would require many pages of a large book. We have, therefore, in this brief review chosen but three: a Governor, a Scholar, a Soldier. Prominent as a soldier and as also a pioneer resident of Cahokia, was Captain Thomas Brady. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Cahokia prior to the war of Independence. He was a daring and brave man, as many of his exploits attest. He was among the first to offer his ser- vices in the war of the Revolution. Indeed, so impulsive was he that early in 1777, he raised a small company of men from the villages of Cahokia and Prairie du Pont, marched through the wilderness to the fort at St. Joseph, Michigan, then called the "Cow-Pens," and captured it with the loss of but one man. After the organisation of St. Clair County by Governor Saint Clair, in 1790, then known as part of the Northwest Territory, Captain Thomas Brady was appointed first Sheriff of the county. He died in Cahokia several years later lamented by many friends. History relates that he was instrumental in platting a new town on the site of what is now the southern part of East St. Louis, and which, in its earliest history, was known as Jacksonville. In 1617 he induced the first steamboat — the "General Pike" (after the Captain of which Pikes Peak is named) and which steamboat came up the river to linger several days and to make a number of trips between South St. Louis and the ferryboat landing that had been built by Captain James Piggott, but which had been sold by his heirs to McKnight and Brady. This advent of the "General Pike" and its several trips between shores, marked the dawn of a new era in navigating the Father of Waters, and the development of a great era of steamboat navigation, as also ferryboat operation at many points along the river as far south as New Orleans. Thus, from small beginnings spring great achievements. Soon, when the system of dams and locks now being built along the upper reaches of the Mississippi is completed, river navigation will again attain unprecedented heights, and the song of the boat- men and roustabouts will resound down the valley of this mighty stream. Tombstones of Jarreau (Jarrot) Family These ancient Memorials to the memory of the Jarreau (Jarrot) family are in the old church yard. CAHOKIA: ITS SPIRIT OF RELIGION Dedication of The Oldest Church Edifice in Illinois Black ruin had fallen on Cahokia, when in 1783, the first crude church, that served the inhabitants of this little hamlet was destroyed by fire. Despair settled upon the entire community, and though the spirit of reli- gion was not lost, or appreciably diminished, sixteen long years passed before an earnest attempt was made to build a new church edifice. The time was most propitious, men of the character of a Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot), a Louis Le Compte, a Francois Saucier, an Ettienne, Louison and Louis Pinconeau, the Voudrie brothers, and other influential pioneers were al' ready men of affluence and comparative wealth, and they lent their best efforts to the planning and building of the new church. And truly they builded well. To the Voudrie brothers was entrusted the actual work of building, and they and their men cut the timber in the wood lot of the Cahokia Commons. The Commons contained about four thousand acres, heavily wooded. The walls of the church were hewn walnut logs; the floor split cotton wood, and the roof cypress clapboards. The contractors were paid, partly in money, but mostly in hides and grain which they shipped to New Orleans and sold in that thriving market. In later years during the pastorate of Rev. Robert Hynes, in 1912-13 the original walls were covered with sheeting to preserve them. But now there had come, in February 1799, a saintly priest, Reverend Father Jean Olivier, who, animated by great seal and unexampled piety, and encouraged by his active and zealous brother, Reverend Father Donatien, and the leading inhabitants of the community, decided to build a worthy House of God. On the morning of September 8, 1799, on the Feast of the — 30 — CAHOKIA: ITS SPIRIT OF RELIGION 31 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the little village was all a-flutter with expectancy. Everywhere small groups were to be seen, all intent on visiting the church grounds, to inspect the new building, and to pass judgment thereon. Young men, among them Louis LeCompte, then about twenty years old, were dressed in their fines!:, and acted as ushers to the ever-increasing crowds. Young ladies, among them, doubtless, Melanie Jarreau (Jarrot) were in- tent on gathering flowers, and bedecking the lintel of the church and decorating the simple little altar in the sanc- tuary. A military band was stationed near, and the choir that was to sing on this glorous day was eagerly awaiting the hour of dedication, the celebration of the First Mass, in Cahokia's then new, now historic church. The older and the aged men, among them the leading citizens, were deputized to escort the celebrant, Reverend Donatien Olivier, pastor of the church of St. Joseph at Prairie du Rocher ; the Vicar-General, Reverend Father J. T. Rivet, pastor of Vincennes, Indiana, and other missionary priests of St. Louis, Kaskaskia and Ste Genevieve, from Father Jean Olivier's humble three-room house, that stood to the rear of the church, to the doors oj the new church. The women of the parish, directed by energetic Madame Nicholas Jarreau and Madame Louis Le Compte, formed in double ranks through which the procession was to wend its brief course, all carrying wisps of flowers or sprigs of the still verdant trees. Suddenly the tinkling of the church bell announced the coming of the Vicar-General and the clergy, in formal pro- cession, and all the faithful; white, colored and red, sank for a moment onto their knees, in reverential ceremonial, and when they arose the choir burst forth in the glorious songs incident to the occasion, and later, when Mass was begun, intoned the wondrous ritual, beginning with the Kyrie Eleison and ending with the Agnus Dei. And then musket shots sounded and the St. Clair militia presented arms; the little bell once again tinkled and then all the faithful streamed forth and sang the Marsellaise, the anthem 32 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS of La Belle France . . . and the strains of martial music echoed and re-echoed from the forest glade. All that day, and far into the night, the streets of Caho- kia resounded with gayety and laughter. The honored visiting guests were feted and dined in the homes of the wealthier citizens. Vivacious youth danced on the village green, and the thirteen starred flag of the United States, and the tri-color of France were raised on lofty Liberty- poles; linking intimately religion and patriotism. The old French days were still brightly visible, but the new American ways, blending the French and the Ameri- can races into one were already, though slowly, gaining the ascendency. Cahokia, on this festive day, was a seat of government ... a Court of Justice within its midst . . . and this very day, September 8, 1799, a cross had again been raised above sa- cred walls. Cahokia was this day become a new daughter of a universal church; it was this day a part of the great American Republic; rich and merry and generous and elo- quent with the great river, the Fathers of Water, at its very boundaries. The clatter of wooden carts and the sound of shod feet, the rattle of musketry and the swish of the oar had this very day come to its ears. Its men still moulded public opinion, and brawny white- clothed servants performed its menial tasks, under the di- rection of the home-loving women. The village was still crowded daily and in the marshes still glistened the long rays of motes stretching across the waters from the low- lying sun. Cahokia was then on this day, September 8, 1799, re- dedicated anew. It soon fell into a long, long sleep, yet it was destined to greater glories, as the future revealed, and as this brief story has pictured inadequately perhaps, yet romantically and withal accurately. Let us then, now that we have envisioned the new church in 1799, now in May ] 943 the historic church, read on. CAHOKIA: ITS OLD CEMETERY An Old Well, and An Amiable Lady Visits Them T ET us now, whilst hastening toward the conclusion of ■*-* our brief story, turn to the contemplation of several scenes of peace and contentment. The first shall be a visit to Madame Le Compters gardens, in the long-long ago. Sim- ilar gardens can still be found in Cahokia, in old French settlements this very day. It was early morning, when the first glints of the soon rising sun tinted all the earth with their faint colorings; a morning of a glorious day in June 1776, when the fires of a war of independence were being kindled in all the Eastern colonies, when in Boston troops were being drilled, and the sound of martial music filled the air, that Madame Le Compte emerged from the rear door of her modest home, built in true French fashion, in order to work in her flower and vegetable garden; for strange to say, these French gar- dens were usually platted to the rear. She was attired in homely fashion, home-spun garments, and a sun-bonnet on her comely head. In her hand she carried a small bucket, in which was set a whisp of alder which was to be used for sprinkling purposes. Two catalpa trees stood at the garden entrance and shadowed its center path. Along this path were rows of stock and spice pinks and larkspur, and beds of butter-cups and flowering por- tulaca, and verbenias and marigold and geraniums, grown from seed brought by the immigrants from Canada and far- away France. At the log-fence that enclosed the flower garden there grew Tiger-lilies and tall Holly-hocks, now in full bloom. Up the southern side of the garden, on a rude lattice there clambered a wild moss-rose, and it sent its tendrils and branches far away to reach the well-porch that closed the end of the path. — 33 — 34 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS To this well Madame Le Compte slowly wended her way, conversing softly with the flowers as she passed them by. And they rejoicing at her tendance seemed to answer in joyous mood, and the blue-bells that were hidden near the well, seemed to tinkle at her approach. "How glo- rious is this day, Feast day of the Corpus Christi, when all the world is strewn with blessings." "How beautiful, too, the morning sun that just now is ascending; hark, the call of the thrush is in the wooded copse, and the hoot-owl still is sounding its sombre tune. Hark, too, there comes upon my ear the song of the robin and the finch from yonder grove, and now I hear the crow of the canticleer of morn, calling the dawn of the rising charioteer of the sun." And all the flowers nodded their heads in confirmation of these soft-spoken words; or were they but dream-visions projected into the future. We know it not, but this we know, that just such gardens grew in old Caho\ia, and just such ladies of refinement walked down their curving paths. In memory we see the roses gleaming in the early rays of the sun, and their faint, exquisite fragrance is borne upon the whispering breeze. Into the morning's silence steals the peal of the Angelus bell, and carries into our hearts, as it did into that of Madame Le Compte, a message of benedic- tion, a sweet song of promise. A modern poet, Jane L. Hinckley, of Belleville, Illinois, has memorialised one of the flowers grown in early French gardens. It reads: Tombstone of Father Jacque This tombstone mar\s the grave of Rev. Father Jacque, whose body lies beside that of Rev. Father Condamine, near the old historic church. 36 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS MY BOUVARDIA The stars see\ out the window sill, Each night, where my bouvardia grow, There moonrays linger, pale and still, And pretty ringdoves, pure as snow, "S/ly little tender lambs come there, And once a happy, happy child, And once an angel bright and fair, Leaned sojtly over them and smiled. What do they see\, the pale moon rays, The snowy lambs, the ringdoves white, The stars that nightly come to gaze, The happy child, the angel bright? "Tis Beauty's image shining through, 'Tis Beauty; born oj Heaven s blue. See, now the well is reached, and the bucket is lowered to draw its cooling waters. And it descended fast, its long rope uncoiling from its whirling axle, soon to fall with a splash into the waters deep. No tiny, shallow well this; no driven well, but wide in circumference, its walls of rough' hewn stone, from the chinks of which hung great whisps of greening moss and filigree of ferns; far down into earth's cavity. Wide the diameter of this well, and if one stood, as now did Madame Le Compte, and peered into its dark' ling void, one saw, deep down, the sparkling water, and in its clear, now stilled surface, the reflection of one's own face. Deep, deep down into old mother earth this tunnel seemed to delve, deep as though to reach truly to earth's very center, yet, but a fraction infinitesimal. Now Madame Le Compte turned to the winding wheel, and slowly but surely the heavy-laden bucket ascended, and when it reached the brink of the well enclosure, its contents were ladelled into the lesser vessel, and a gourd brought refreshing drink to Madame's lips. This done she hastened to sprinkle her flowers ere the sun should parch them by her fiery, June^lit rays. CAHOKIA: ITS OLD CEMETERY 37 But, yet, she lingered, and a cord that hung beside the bucket rope, was pulled and soon a wicker-basket appeared and in it there reposed, covered with a great cabbage or rhubarb leaf, a pat of golden butter and a crock of sweet, pure cream — or was this crock perchance filled with sparkling wine? We cannot say, history does not reveal all secrets even to the studious mind. The Old-Old Cemetery And now let us visit the old-old cemetery that opened its gates wide, when the first man, or woman, or child was to be carried past into its hallowed sphere. It was cus- tomary for the early settlers to inter their dead close to their homes, when they were widely scattered, and the writer well remembers such private burial grounds, close to one of the old homes in little Fayetteville, in this Illinois country. But not so in old Cahokia. Here the settlers were all of the Catholic faith, and their dead dwelt close to the church, yea, surrounded it, as though they lingered near that they might surely hear the first call of trumpet when all should again be called to life eternal. This cem- etery was on this very Corpus Christi day, 1796 to be the scene of a procession, wending its way from the doors of the then ruins of a tiny chapel . . . three years later there should stand instead a great frame church, historic structure now in I943, then not yet built. For upward of one hundred and thirty-nine years there were buried in this old cemetery the white, the red and the black; all one in faith, all slumbering peacefully under the greening sod, under the flower-strewn grass. Two of the early missionary Fathers found their last resting-place in this quiet and secluded spot. One was Father John A. Jacque, a native of Lorraine, France; the other Father Mat- thew Condamine. (From 1700 to 1839 this burial ground was used.) The graves of the Jarreau's (Jarrot) who donated the ground upon which the old as well as the present church is 38 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS built, are within this cemetery. Many years later, on Thursday, October 7, 1909, a vast concourse of people gathered at this spot and viewed these graves; covered on that day with the flags of France and Spain, and the United States, now set with Forty-nine stars . . . with Thirteen stars when the pioneer citizens of Caho\ia were serving their country and their God. And Madame Le Compte, when the procession had wound its way in and out among the paths of the old cem- etery, recited softly the words of an old hymn; the Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, translated into French. We know not where Madame learned these words, but, doubtless, in some convent school of Canada or France. We, this day, May 1, 1943, musing on the past delve not so deep. We quote but this : CAHOKIA: ITS OLD CEMETERY 39 A LITTLE CEMETERY By chance upon your tombs I came, Tour crumbling headstones grim with age; I trembling read each sculptured name For some are writ on history^s page. Beneath the shade oj ancient trees Tour dead repose in narrow lot; Each flower that blooms, each passing breeze, Pays tribute to this hallowed spot. They who braved a jrontier lije, Who never once succumbed to fear, Whose every hour was filled with strije, We ihin\ lie consecrated here. Shall we not \neel beside the biers Oj these who tilled the primal soil, A sturdy race oj pioneers, Who forged ahead by faith and toil! "Twas they whose courage made us great, Who blazed the paths that now we tread; Those who are sleeping here in state Belong to us . . . our honored dead. — Selected. Old Parish House This old parish house is built of bric\, in its original part, and is a substantial building, if divested of its annex. CAHOKIA: EARLY EDUCATION "Xyf ARVELOUS is the influence of a good example and of -*■"■ a brilliant mind. And still more marvelous is the fad: that Cahokia, little hamlet in the American Bottoms should have had so eminent a succession of splendid mis- sionaries and priests and educators, as history reveals. In its earliest days Cahokia felt the influence of all the great Jesuit and Recollet missionaries, and in the decade 1788 to 1798, it came under the influence of the learned Reverend Gabriel Richard, who later took so prominent a part in the upbuilding of Detroit and the State of Michigan. He it was who brought the first printing press into the state, he published the first newspaper in said state, organ- ised several industries, and who was not only a spiritual but also a civic leader. He was elected to the Federal Con- gress, being the only Catholic priest ever elected to Con- gress. And there came to Cahokia also the learned and brilliant Reverend Donatien Olivier, who though not stationed there definitely, yet exercised great influence toward the develop- ment of culture and of education. His brother, Reverend John Olivier was stationed at Cahokia for a number of years. But Father Donatien Olivier for more than thirty years was the leading spirit and the principal proponent of the Christian religion in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. He became the Vicar-General of Right Rev. Bishop John Carroll, D. D., of Baltimore, in the Illinois Terricory and inducted Most Rev. Benedict Jospeh Flaget, D. D. ,into office when the diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, was established. Father Donatien was the Tribune of the people and the jealous promulgator of the ideals of true education, in the district where his influence was felt. In 1809, just a year after the first newspaper was establish — 41 — 42 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS ed in St. Louis, Missouri, there came to Cahokia a lawyer, native of Kentucky, named Samuel Davidson, and he became one of its first teachers although he had studied law and was a qualified lawyer. He did not relish the practice of law, however, and turned his mind to teaching. He opened school in one of the rooms of Major Jarrott's residence, and was paid a salary of four hundred dollars from out of Major Jarrott's private purse. Mr. Davidson entered the military service in the war of 1812, and never returned to Cahokia. Fin 1817 plats of ground were surveyed and set aside in Cahokia for school purposes, and certain lands, and the revenues thereof were allotted for school purposes. A quar- ter of a block was dedicated for a Catholic church and school; a like quarter of a block was set aside for an Eng- lish church and school, (English was synonomous with Protestant in those days.) A very high and eligible lot was in the very same manner dedicated for public school purposes, and so marked on the plat of the village, and made a matter of record. Coming of Sisters of St. Joseph On March 25, 1836, there arrived in this country six Sisters of St. Joseph, an Order of Teaching Sisters, establish- ed in France. They were domiciled with the Sisters of Charity, at their hospital on Third street, in St. Louis, until April 7, 1836. It was then decided that three of these Sisters go to Cahokia, Illinois, where a parochial school was awaiting teachers. The Sisters chosen for this task were Mother Febronia Fontbonne, Sister Febronie Chaplion and Sister St. Protais Debville. The parish of Cahokia was at that time under the pro- tection of the Holy Family, and the village was for a long time known as the Mission of the Holy Family. In 1836 the population of Cahokia numbered 1160, and was com- posed mostly of French-Canadians. The pastor at that time was Reverend P. J. Doutreluingue, S.C.M. He had for a long time been making preparations for the Sisters, CAHOKIA: ITS EARLY EDUCATION 43 and had secured for a school building and convent a large two-story frame house in the center of a four-acre lot. Each story was divided by a hall way into two large rooms, those on the first floor serving as class rooms and reception rooms; those on the second floor as community room and dormi- tory. A small one-room log cottage, a short distance from the main building, served as both dining room and kitchen. The Sisters were accompanied to Cahokia by Most Rev- erend Bishop Joseph Rosati, CM., and Reverend Father Fontbonne. Crossing the river on boats, they found the good people of the village waiting for them at the banks of the river, and they were escorted through the woods by a numerous cortege on foot, on horseback as well as in carts and wagons. They reached the convent at noon, April 7, 1836. Their first visit was to the church after which they were conducted to the rectory where dinner awaited them. The rectory was a small, two-room house, and between the rooms a passsge way served for a kitchen. After dinner, the Sisters repaired to their own home, where, with the assistance of Bishop Rosati, Father Font' bonne and Father Doutreluingue, they set up their cooking stove. No time was lost in opening school, for which Father Doutreluingue had made every preparation. The first en- rollment consisted of thirty day-pupils, to which number were soon added five boarders. In the following year, 1837, the building was enlarged by the addition of another class room. The people of Cahokia were very kind to the Sisters, and beside sending their children to school, aided materially by the donating of the products of their gardens. Among their benefactors were Mme. Nicholas Jarreau ((Jarrott), Mme. Nicholas Turjon, and Mme. Nicholas Boismenue. Mme. Turjon, a wealthy lady, aided in build- ing a chapel which was erected in 1838. The Sisters had brought from France many things needed for the chapel, and a bell was sent them by Mother John Fontbonne from Lyons, France. (This is taken from the archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Mother House, Carondelet.) 44 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS In the Fall of 1836, Sifters St. Protai, on account of ill- health was ordered by Bishop Rosati to return to Caron- delet, until she should be able again to resume her work, and in the meantime Sister Philomene Vilaine was sent to Cahokia. Father Doutreluingue did not remain in Cahokia long after the arrival of the Sisters. He was succeeded by Reverend Father Nat. Condamine. By this time, it seems the unhealthiness of the climate was being felt by priests and Sisters. In August, 1836, Father Condamine fell ill and his death accurred in the Fall of said year. In 1844, the Sisters were obliged to leave Cahokia on account of the high water. The rise of the Missisippi flooded the village and almost submerged the convent. Mother Celestine, superior at Carondelet, chartered a boat and went with the boatmen to the rescue of the Sisters, who were taken out of the sec- ond story window. They returned to Carondelet. Several years later, the Sisters returned to Cahokia, but were again obliged to leave on account of the unhealthy condition of the village. This last move was made sometime in 1860. The property used by the Sisters of St. Joseph, was known for many years as the Abbey House. In a chronicle of Cahokia, written by a learned priest we read: "The only school worthy of the name, with Sisters educated in the best schools of France, was the Institute of St. Joseph, but for this school the Village Trustees had no money . Of the vast fortune of the Cahokians, only a pittance remains to' day, 1914, scarcely enough to buy stamps and stationery for the school board." In still another old chronicle we read of the hardships these good Sisters that first came to Cahokia, endured. De- spite this their work soon began to show results and they soon won the love and respect of the simple and poor Ca- nadian-French, and these welcomed the lessons which led their hitherto poorly instructed children to a knowledge of God. This love was manifested when Mother Fabroiut was lost in the dense woods of La Pointe on a freezing night while trying to reach her convent. Men rushed from their homes when the little convent bell spread the alarm. They CAHOKIA: ITS EARLY EDUCATION 45 searched the dark woods crying: "Mother of Cahokia, don't be afraid, for your children are seeking you. We are coming ... we are coming to find you. . . . " They found her half-frozen, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, and joyfully led her back to the crude convent cloister. The first American novice to join the Order of French Sisters was Miss Anna Eliza Dillon of St. Louis. She was received as a novice in 1837. FRENCH EDUCATION A Bulletin Issued About The School In Cahokia.. Notice is given to fathers and mothers who wish their children instructed in the French language, that in this vil- lage a school will be opened to afford them that advantage. In it will be taught: 1st. Reading in French and Latin in print and writing. 2nd. Orthography. 3rd. Writing. 4th. Arithmetic, practical and reasoned. Also notions of history and geography to those children who desire it, when they have acquired a sufficient knowl- edge of the more useful and practical sciences. The children who have not yet made their first Commu- nion can study their Cathecism without prejudice to their other studies. Finally, fathers and mothers can rest assured that nothing will be neglected to respond to their expectations. The monthly tuition is fixed at $1.00. Diminution will be made when there are two or more children of the same family. The school will open when 10 scholars can be relied upon. Inquire at the home of M. Pretard, opposite the church to arrange matters — 46 — EPILOGUE TN sending forth this second edition of glimpses of his* ■* toric Cahokia, the author wishes first to acknowledge the kind aid provided by a student of the early history of this section of the Illinois country, and then to point to its two* fold purpose. The first aim was to set forth in romantic style the as- pirations and the trends which led to the founding of this first settlement of white men in the great Mississippi Val- ley, north of New Orleans. This booklet was to be a brain-child of the author, and not necessarily a deep study in historic lore, yet should it bring to the mind of the reader visions of olden days; visions of scenes once seen by ancient tribes, by couriers-du-Bois, by explorers and missionaries, and lastly by gallant Frenchmen, and amiable French women, who came to make blossom-like the rose these once wild lands. A second aim was to enthuse men and women, too, to aid in the preservation of the ancient landmarks, the olden buildings, the sacred places which are hallowed by time, and some of which are still in a state of existence which if now reconstructed shall stand as monuments to the integ- rity, the courage, the ability of the pioneers who braved the dangers of the wilderness, and wrought wonders of pro- gress with frequently inadequate tools. To the consum- mation of this latter aim this booklet is then dedicated. It shall be the fore-runner of a larger and more compre- hensive publication, as opportunity presents itself, and a further study and research may reveal. Let then men and women, too, resolve to aid energetic- ally in bringing to mind the story of historic Cahokia; the restoration to pristine beauty those remnants of past cul- tural endeavors, the re-dedication to high purposes of the old church and other old buildings of historic worth, still to be found within the confines of the still slumbering, soon to be revivified Cahokia. — 47 — FOREWORD SECOND ENLARGED EDITION In presenting this second and enlarged edition of The Romantic History of Cahokia, Illinois, the author wishes to call attention primarily to the fact that a long time of slumber intervened between the conclusion of Episode Twenty, incorporated in this volume, and Episode Twenty-One. Said episode treats of the grand develop- ment, the building of the wondrous Cahokia Power Plant that furnishes electric power and light current to the city of Saint Louis, Missouri, and a large number of cities and villages opposite said metropolis. The site of this power plant lies fairly within the limits of Cahokia Common- fields, and its building was but a forerunner of that develop- ment which has been so astonishing during the past several decades, and which has thus far culminated in the upbuild- ing of a splendid airport, and the establishment of one of the largest and best of aironauctical schools — the Parks Airport and College of Aironauctics. All of the giant plants that are today making the American Bottom, adja- cent to the village of Cahokia, teem with life and enterprise, will be described in a final third edition. A very splendid episode is deliniated also, based on a monograph written by Miss Josephine Boylan, a direct descendant of some of the old French families of Cahokia, and which episode treats of the fruit-raising indulged in by the inhabitants of this section, domiciled here during the past several decades, or perhaps above two-hundred years of time. Another episode which the author has found it well to incorporate in a final third edition is devoted to "Cahokia Mound 1 ' — situated within a few miles of the village, but connected with threads of history to the once slumbering village now being revivified with life and animation. The author also invites the attention of the reader to the Epilogue of the first edition. It is self-explanatory. — 48 — CAHOKIA: FIRST HISTORICAL REFERENCES The American Bottom, and the First Court Records ON THE BANKS of the Mississippi, in southwestern Illinois, lies the American Bottom — the land most hallowed by romance and history of all the lands of the old Northwest. Taking no account of the prehistoric, epoch, whose monuments survive in the numerous Indian mounds of the region, we find its history running back over two hundred and eighty years, almost a full three centuries, to the time when the first white settlers placed their villages by the side of the great river of the West, in an attempt to realise the ideal of a colonial empire as conceived by the Grand Monarch in his palace at Ver- sailles. Here for upwards of one hundred and thirty years, while the dominion over the Northwest was passing from France to England, and from England to the newly formed United States, these villages endured unchanged, amidst the creeks and ponds of the bottom which mirrored in their quiet waters the old world civilisation transported into the heart of the wilderness from feudalised France .... Thus wrote, with the exception of a few words, Alvord the historian, then (in A. D. 1912) residing at Urbana, Illinois. These villages, of which Cahokia was the first perma- nent white settlement in all the Mississippi valley north of New Orleans, the French settled and they endeavored to hold the Mississippi Valley, in a struggle which was to end in the final Amalgamation of all this vast territory of the Illinois country — -first with the state of Virginia, and then finally when Rogers Clark had conquered the English in the United States of North America. Here at the site of Cahokia, nature offered her gifts with bounteous hand; but, as in all such lands of tropical prodigality, the climate was warm and enervating, inducing in man a love of in- dolence and repose, rather than the more virile emotions. — 49 — 50 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA The ponds and streams, so beautiful with their fringe of foliage in Spring, became in Summer stagnant, and were the breeding places of myriads of mosquitoes which scat- tered the germs of disease among the hardy invaders of the^ wilderness; and yet, these sturdy French settlers came and subdued the wilds; came and converted these uncul- tivated lands into fertile fields — into verdant meadows — into flowering gardens, as we have described in preceding and following pages. In the years previous to A. D. 1778, the population which had a fixed domicile in the American Bottom, was scattered and few; but already as early as A. D. 1660, French Bois-de- coureurs, the trappers and hunters, had traversed these Indian trails, had made excursious deep into the lands of the American Bottom. In the summer of A. D. 1641, a group of dolonists and soldiers embarked from La Rochelle, France, with the purpose of establishing a colony at the foot of Mount Royal, Montreal. Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve was the brave commandant. In this enter- prising group there was a young lady of rare courage and heroic virtue. . . . These colonists remained at Quebec the first winter, and Jeanne Mance devoted herself to the care of the sick settlers. The following year, she turned her own home into a hospital, where she nursed the sick — the colo- nists and savages alike. Two years later, in A. D. 1643, she built a hospital, at a cost of 6000 Francs, with the money that had been given her as a personal gift by Madame de Buillion, a charitable widow of Paris. The Hotel Dieu, at the foot of Mount Royal, is a lineal descendant of Jeanne Mance's first hospital of A. D. 164243. Related to these brave settlers of the far North, of Montreal and Canada were the first inhabitants of Caho- kia, and their descendants of today, in A. D. 1947, still bear witness to the proud distinction of having perpetuated the heroic virtues — the charitable spirit of Jeanne Mance, the founder of the first hospital in all the territory of the North American Continent. It is true that the majority of these early French settlers THE FIRST COURT RECORDS 51 — the "habitants 11 as they were first called — were men and women of little learning, but they were non-the-lefes cultured, and of charming disposition. When Rogers Clark came into this territory, when he came to Cahokia, he found there, in A. D. 1778, men of commanding distinc- tion, many of whom could claim nobility of birth. The acting commandant of this territory was a son of the seig- niroial Lord of Savournon, the Sieur de Rocheblave. Timothy Boucher, who a few years later held a similar position, was the sieur de Moubrean, a grand son of Pierre Boucher, several times governor of Three Rivers, who was ennobled for his services in A. D. 1660. Among the gentry which was a rather elastic term, were also many well-to-do men who had risen to prominence in the Illinois territory, or else possessed some patrimony, before migrating to the West, which they had increased by trade. Among the names which come to mind, in this connection, there may be found at CAHOKIA the Sauciers, still today possessors of lands and houses in CAHOKIA; the Francois Trottiers, Antoine Girardin, J. B. H. LaCroix, the Alex Viens, the Moultries, and scores of other still distinguished families, some of which we have singled out for mention more specifically in these pages. Among the rising young men must be reckoned also Charles Gratiot, who had established himself at CA- HOKIA in A. D. 1777, and was associated in business with three Canadian merchants. He had an excellent education, spoke several languages, was something of a "dandy" in dress, and by his address had won for himself a place of in- fluence in the community. He, like others of this early day French traders, inhabitants of Cahokia, were gentlemen in character, manners and dress, and "men of abilities, influence and address. 11 Indeed, among the first cadets of the newly established military academy at West Point, President Thomas Jefferson, as a conciliatory gesture to the French inhabitants, appointed four young men from the leading families, among whom were Auguste Perrie Chouteau, Charles Gratiot, Louis Lorimer, Jr., and Pasco Vincent Bouls, all names intricately interwoven with the 52 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA history of CAHOKIA. These young men were graduated within approximately two years, attesting to their early education, and all entered military service, though but one remained more than three years. The exception was CharlesfGratiot,l'who by A.D. 1828 had risen to the rank of Colonel and Chief Engineer of the army. We have already referred on other pages to the es- tablishment of the first court in Cahokia, the title of which was "Court of the Committee of CAHOKIA." The ear- liest paperfwhich has been preserved, issuing from jf this court, is "dated October 29J1778. The jurisdiction of the court of Cahokia extended from r the village of Prairie du Pont to Peoria, on the Illinois River. The exact date of the inauguration of the Court of CAHOKIA is not known, but it was in session as early as the middle of June, A D,. 1779. when a new election was held, resulting in the elec- tion of Baptiste Saucier as Presiding Judge; and J. Baptiste LaCroix was appointed Sheriff, by Commandant John Todd; and Francois Saucier was elected Clerk of theCourt. In this same year, Francois Trottier was made command- ant of the village, and Michel Beaulieu and Pierre Godin were commissioned Captain of the militia.' Joseph Ces- sire had been Judge and Captain of Militia for several years prior to this date, but having died he was succeeded by Francois Trottier. Pierre Godin (also called Turan- jeau) wate commissioned, because of the prominence of the Godin family, at that early date, a prominence which they retained up to at least the year of A. D. 1936. Many interesting trials were held in these early ses- sions, among them one of a certain Mr. Beaulieu va., Ls. La Compte, relative to the whisperings about a negro slave of Haugon LaCroix. It is a very striking example of "whispering campaigns ,, having been inaugurated cen- turies ago. . . . The names of Jean Marie Dorion, guardian of the minors LeMarche, dwelling at CAHOKIA . . . those of Joseph Robidou, Pierre Antoine Tabeau, Jean Du- moulin, Antoine Girardin, Pierre Martin, Cadien Lausage, Pierre Roux, being prominent in these records, and still in GENTLEMEN OF CHARACTER 53 use at the present time by their descendants. In all these court proceedings, we find mention of only two or three women. They must have all been very law abiding . . . but Madame Beausoleil sues Antoine Hermand, bondman for Joseph Cessire, for the sum of two thousand and some hun- dred livres, which said Cessire owes her. And Marie Louise Lemire, widow of the deceased Grosle Biguier, re- nounced all dowry arrangements entered into before her marriage, in view of the fact that her husband had been slain by the savages, within a week after their marriage, and declaring "That the community of goods which by her marriage exists is more burdensome, she wants to declare before said court, that she renounces, as in fact she has renounced, the community of goods, and now she declares that she makes no claims to any property held jointly except two hundred livres, which her father-in-law, Francois Biguier, has" in his possession, and belonging to her husband, now deceased. All of which petition is granted by the court, stating only that the said Francois Biguier shall be constrained to pay to Marie Joseph Lemire, the said sum of two hundred livres. This document was signed by J. B. H. LaCroix, and the widow, not being able to write her name, made her mark in witness of this fact. ENTERPRISING PIONEERS The Advent of the Founder of A Frontier Hostelry — The Wedding of A Lovely Maiden To A Brave Frontier Man EARLY in the year A. D. 1798, there came to Cahokia three young men — Louison, Ettienne, and Louis Pin- coneau — courageous, enterprising and comparatively wealthy French men. They brought with them from Canada the love of home surroundings, of culture, and of education; and, though inured to the hardships of frontier, life, did not relinquish the refining influences of learning and the progressive influence of business well directed. It was but a few years after their coming that Louis Pincon- eau built a ferry which plied across the waters of the Mis- sissippi, and connected "Vide Paoche" Carondelet, with the thriving village of Cahokia. Soon, too, Ettienne Pin- coneau purchased a considerable tract of land, part of the Cahokia Commonfields, separated from the Captain Pig- got ferry tract by Cahokia Creek. Upon this land, almost on the bank of that creek, facing the road leading to the ferry at what is today, De- cember A. D. 1946, the corner of Main and Market Streets, in the city of East St. Louis, Pinconeau built a com- modious two story brick house, to be used as a tavern, in order to afford accommodation to the traveler then seeking that point for transit to the "future metropolis of the Mis- sissippi Valley." And with the planning of this building went the courting of one of Cahokia's fair daughters, and ere the ridge-pole of the home had been decorated with the flags of France and of the United States, the bells of St. Sulpice, of Holy Family Church, in quaint old Cahokia, called to the Wedding Mass and the Wedding Feast. It was in the month of brides — in June, A. D. 1801 — that the banns were published by the good Father — Rev- — 54 — THE PINCENEAU BOYS IS erend Jean Oliver; and the mounted couriers, with ribbon bedecked horses, galloped down the lanes of the village and to the nearby farm houses, to bid all attend this solemn religious ceremonial, and the feast that was to follow. Elisabeth, the vivacious and dimpling daughter of Sieur and Madam LaCroix, was the chosen bride. Her parents had come^to Cahokia in its early days. They had come from Saint Etienne, France, where the manufacture of rin- bon andfgloves was carried on. They had seen Cahokia grow from a hamlet of some thirty French families to a population rivaling that of any village in all the Illinois territory. They had built their homes in the selfsame French style in which their neighbors' homes had been erected; they had watched with pride the growing success of the infant settlement; they had seen the coming of new settlers from far away France and from Canada's vast do- main; they had been witness to the achievements of the early habitants; they had witnessed, likewise, the coming of George Rogers Clark and his "Long Knives ;" they had seen and felt the conflict of the War of Independence, and the raising of the thirteen starred flag on the village green; they had witnessed the inspiring scene when Governor St. Clair read the proclamation erecting St. Clair County, and which scene we shall picture in another episode; they had listened to the reading of the Declaration of Independ- ence on each recurring Fourth of July, down to the very day when their sun was nigh setting, and their locks turned gray. They had gone through the golden era of Cahokia, up to the advent of the British, when the flag of England supplanted their beloved French flag, and when the sun of Freedom had been almost extinguished. But now had come again a new dawn — a rising sun, and in the advent of young blood, in the coming of the Pinconeau boys, they saw the fulfillment of the dreams of their own youth. And thus, to these boys went out their friendship and esteem — the love of their youngest daughter Eliza- beth — bright, vivacious, charming Elizabeth, with dimlp- 56 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA ing cheek, and dark, dark eyes and hair. She was beau- tiful, as abundantly proven in a long line of her descend- ants of the Pinconeau families hereabouts. Romance en- compassed her as a setting of gold and diamonds encircled a most precious pearl. It is idle to attempt the description of her singular beauty. He who can see the details of beauty lacks the heart to feel them. Loveliness is a mystery which speaks not to our eyes, but through them. Today, they were to relinquish their beloved daugh- ter, to present her, in the little village Church, to her lover, bold, courageous, yet sagacious Ettienne Pinconeau; and Father Olivier was to officiate and tie the nuptial knot that was not to be released until death should part. Elisabeth La Croix, then, on this fair morning was be- ing gowned for the festal event. Her dress of white satin came from the looms of Lyons, but a long time ago. It was the selfsame gown that her mother had worn years ago, when she stood at the Altar in the parish Church of St. Etienne — there where rich silks are woven into priceless ribbon, and where the furs of the mountains are fashioned into gloves.; there where the Church of La Trinite of the Abbey Aux Dames today raises its twin spires to the high skies of Normandy. This gown and veil had been reshaped by nimble fin- gers, and now the bride's maids, equally vivacious, were admiring its satiny finish and its almost unfaded lustre. Madame LaCroix had truly treasured this gown, and the white satin slippers that went with it. And now the tinkle of the little bell — a gift to the villagers of Cahokia from the French King Louis XV in A. D. 1740 — sent its silvery peal across the meadows. It signalised also the approach of the groom, Ettienne Pin- coneau, his brothers, who were to act as groomsmen, and his friends. Soon, within the hour, he should be united to his loved bride, and his days should be devoted to her homage. And A GRAND WEDDING 57 truly she was a regal queen, though but a girl of old and quaint Cahokia. Now the young couple entered the Sanctuary, and the religious ceremonial, the Nuptial Mass, proceeded. At its close, when the rings of troth had been blessed and exchanged, the little bell again sounded, and all the people gathered, to wend their merry way to the groom's new home — to the hostelry built in A. D. 1811 within the limits of a new city, yet also within the commonfields of Cahokia, historic now, then in its glory just diminishing. And when the groom had carried his bride across the threshold, she said (and the writer visions her words): "Ettienne, we have met upon the banks of the mighty stream into which it empties its limpid waters; we have woven our garlands in the fringe of yonder forest, and gathered its berries and fruits in season. We have spent some happy days in our courtship; we have danced on the village green, and sung the songs of France in the even- ing dusk. Soon these things will be but memories of a golden past; soon the trials of life will dawn, and the laughter and the tears of little ones will fill our ears and hearts. Let us, then, before entering on the gayeties of this, our Nuptial Day, pledge our lives to our God and to our coun- try — our new born republic, that all our children may re- joice in its freedom, and in its bounties. 11 And thus was drunk a festive toast to Ettienne Pin- coneau's new house, to his fair bride, and to the land that sheltered them. And truly did the Pinconeau's revere their adopted, their native land. This day — June Twen- ty-fifth, A. D. 1936, when I am writing this episode, a grand-daughter of one of the pioneer Pinconeaus, now living in Saint Louis, is attending the Democratic National Convention at Philadelphia, and lending her voice to the selection of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John Gar- ner as nominees for the office of President and Vice-pres- dent respectively, of the United States. Another descendant of one of the early French fam- 58 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA ilies of Auguste Chouteau, pioneer trader of Cahokia, co- founder of Saint Louis, Miss Eugenia Chouteau, his great- grand-daughter, recently deceased, bequeathed in her last will and testament the following gifts to charity. Miss Chouteau, who died May Fourth, 1836, left $40,000 to Catholic charities, and the rest to relatives. Charitable bequests included $10,000 each to a Convent of the Good Shepherd, Saint Louis University, and Saint Stanislaus Seminary at Florissant; $5,000 to the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America; and $2,500 each to the Convent of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Joseph and Helpers of Holy Souls. We append this passage to our story of Ettienne Pin- coneau and his bride because it shows the great religious and patriotic heritage that has come down to the present French families of this territory from their forefathers. PRINCESS POTOSI— PONTIAC The Romance of an Indian Maiden — And The Tragedy of an Indian Chief — Princess Potosi Weds — Chief Pontiac is Slain THE lure of the wilderness, and the meager or the rich reward that lay in hunting, trapping and prospecting early in the settlement of the vast Illinois territory, attracted the Voyageurs and the Coureur-de-Bois, who acted as the advance guard in exploring and mapping the trackless wastes, which a short time after should be cul' tivated and developed. And these advance guards, natives of France and of New France, by their amiability and their companion- ability, gained the good will of the Indians; and, as we have already mentioned, many married the docile Indian maidens, and reared large families One of the most successful trappers and traders that came to reside in Cahokia when the village was returned to the pursuits of freedom, in A. D. 1783, was intrepid Sieur Julien' Dubuque, whose exploits led him up and down the Mississippi Valley, as far north as Dubuque, Iowa, which city he founded in A. D. 1788. Everywhere he opened trading posts, and at Galena, Illinois, he prospected for lead, and developed mines. So engaging was his demeanor, and so enduring his friendship formed, that his visit to an Indian village was universally made a festive event, and the smoking of the Calumet a token of enduring peace. Soon he was so highly regarded by one of the Indian chiefs, Pteosta, that he secured from his tribe a large grant of land bordering on the west shore of the Mississippi, south of the Little Maquoketa River, on which grant he made a. settlement, the first white settlement in Iowa. On the site of the present city of Dubuque, he erected a fort 60 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA and engaged in mining and trading with the Indians until his death in A. D. 181O. This region passed into the hands of the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase in A. D. 1803. It was in Cahokia, in the fall of A. D. 1783, when the Indian tribes gathered to prepare for the great annual hunting season, that Julian Dubuque first met the docile and winsome daughter of Chief Peosta — Princess Potosi. Her parents had long time past embraced the Catholic faith, and it was at Vesper Service that Julian Dubuque first saw this attractive daughter of the forests and the wilderness. In St. Sulpice' little Chapel she knelt, count- ing her beads, and ever repeating the simple Aves trans- lated into the Indian tongue by the learned Reverend Se- bastian Meurin, S. J., who so gently guided the French immigrants and the Indian habitants on the paths of rec- titude and virtue. A few hours later, when the camp fires had been lighted, Julian Dubiique saw his Princess sitting in its soft and mellow glow, sewing colored beads upon a pair of moccasins she was shaping for her wandering feet. Silent she sat, and watched the glowing embers, and her thought dwelt on the handsome voyageur, who in rich trappings and fur-lined coat stood at the entrance of the little Chapel when the Matins bell had rung. And now he came to visit in the tent of her father, Chief Peosta; there, in burn- ing words, to ask the hand of this simple maiden in solemn marriage, and to take her, ere the winds of chill winter should again disport themselves from beneath the tents 'round about, to the cabin wherein he dwelt whilst in the confines of Cahokia the historic. Swift the courtship, and warm the love and passion of this adventurous voyageur; docile and submissive the love and affection of his chosen bride, Princess Potosi, who was within the month to be his pledged wife, and in future days, the mother of his sturdy sons and daughters. Her love it was that aided Julian Dubuque in gaining WONDROUS INDIAN MAIDEN 61 vast grants of land from friendly tribes; and never did she regret the part she played so wonderously fine in his dreams and his ambitions. She passed with him through the golden era when the sun of Freedom was just begun to shed its rays upon her native land; when soon the hostile flag of England should again be furled, and in its stead the thirteen-starred flag of the United States should be hoisted to the top of the Liberty Pole, that was to be planted in every village and hamlet of the great Illinois territory, and the Louisiana Purchase. What though her domicile was to be further north, there where Fort Dubuque was to be erected, and mining and industry was to fill the days and nights of her chosen consort, Julian Dubuque, ever in recurring years she heard the Matins bell of St. Sulpice in memory's fond lingering, and saw again the bright eyes of her lover as she passed him by, standing silently at the Chapel door. And as she noted again the sun as it dipped to the western horizon, and the hazy sky took on the glowing hues of sunset her thoughts drifted to far away things, and bridged with silence the years that passed down the stream of time. PONTIAC : Great Chief : The treaty of peace be tween Great Britain and France, under which France ceded to the former practically all her possessions east of the Mis- sissippi River, was signed on February Tenth, A. D. 1763. Within three months thereafter, the Indian tribes belong- ing to the Algonquin race were in open revolt, under the leadership of Chief Pontiac, against British rule. While the antipathy against the British was wide spread, it required concentration and co-ordination. Both were given to it^by the remarkably able Indian Chief Pon- tiac, who took control of the revolt. During A. D. 1761 and A. D. 1762 he visited and sent his messengers to all the members of the Algonquin races and to the Senecas 62 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA of the Iroquoit tribe, and he finally succeeded in establish- ing a great Indian confederacy. Pontiac was, for years, the absolute master of the Ostawa tribe and the Pottawtaomies, and was actuated in this movement both by Indian patriotism and personal ambition. He had noted, for years, the fruitless resist- ance offered by the separate disunited tribes to the aggres- sions of the white man. He saw the white man gather his soldiers into compact armies, well armed and equipped, and saw these compact bodies overwhelm single tribes, and scatter them like leaves before the wind. And thus he foresaw the extinction of the Indian race, unless the various tribes could be welded into a strong confederacy, and to this task he set his purpose and his will. To unite all the tribes that they might present a united front against the British invaders, that the Indian might retain a large part, if not all, of his hunting grounds, and perpetuity as a nation, in the land of his ancestors, was Pontiac's great aim and desire. Alas! The signing of the Peace Compact between Great Britain and France frustrated these designs. No longer was Pontiac and his confederacy able to obtain guns and ammunition from the French habitants. In vain did Pontiac appeal to Commandant de Villiers at Kaskaskia for assistance. In vain did Pontiac rally his warriors. Bows and arrows offered no defense against muskets and cannon. And thus the fragments of his Indian Confederacy, comprising remnants of the Kaskaskias, Peorias, Tammo- roas and Cahokias, laid down their rude implements of war, and drifted into the region bordering on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, and Cahokia and the village of Saint Louis became the place of refuge for the once great and powerful Pontiac. He came a frequent and welcome guest, and the dance- loving French bade him regal welcome; but there came also to Cahokia the rag-tag of the Indian race — among them a PONTIAC— GREAT CHIEF 63 Peoria Indian "Kinneboo", noted for his sly-way and his savage ways' Came, also, a British trader who, being jilted in courtship by one of the vivacious French maidens, sought to fasten the stigma of a cruel murder on her lover, though he himself hired the assasin who was to waylay and murder the valorous Pontiac, Indian Chief. It was on the occasion of a great ball given at Cahokia, in the Fall of A. D. 1769. The early-time French settlers were very fond of gayety, and dancing parties were fre- quently arranged at which mirth and pleasure reigned in all its pristine vigor. Pontiac — he who had been a great chieftain — he who had won his laurels at Detroit against the Northern Indians — he who was heard of at the great defeat of Braddock — he who was in the French-Indian War at Quebec, and received a uniform from Montcalm, the celebrated French Commander — this great Indian Chief on this day had come to seek refuge among his French friends at Saint Louis. He had visited with the elder Chouteau, a protege of Laclede. While there, he heard of this great ball at Cahokia; and, dressed in his uni- orm, he came across the river, to mingle with his friends in the little village. All the French habitants were his friends, but hatred against the brave and courageous Pon- tiac lingered in the hearts of his British adversaries, of the British traders, whom so often he had met in skirmish and in battle. They had companies of soldiers stationed at all the principal trading stations; and, when it became known that Pontiac had arrived in the village of Cahokia, a British trader bribed "Kinneboo" — a half-breed Peoria Indian — to accomplish his assassination. During the evening of the ball, whilst the festival was at its height, when Youth and Beauty mingled in gay laugh- ter and crowning sport, a shock came to the assemblage as poignant as when the cannon's roar was heard on the bat- tlefield. A maiden, who had lingered on her way to the dance, passing by the fringe of the forest, had seen the cruel deed, and she it was who brought the alarm to the festive gathering. 64 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA Instantly the sounds of mirth and gayety were hushed, and then all rushed to the scene of the murder. There, at the fringe of the forest, clad in his uniform, lay the dead body of Pontiac — great Chief, great warrior. The victim of a foul plot and a cowardly assassin who, under the guise df friendship, plunged his dagger into the heart of a noble Indian. A young British officer, who was well known and re- spected by the villagers, gave orders for the removal and internment of the body. He said: "If a scoundrel has cast a stain upon the name of Britain, there are yet enough of us who love our nation's honor to blot away the stain." And on the morrow the little bell of St. Sulpice tolled its dismal dirge, and the body of Pontiac was buried within the village limits. The spot where tradition says he was buried, though unmarked, is still pointed out by old citi- zens. The place indicated is about sixty feet southeast of the lots owned by Dr. Illinski, upon which in A. D. 1881, was still situated the oldest house in the village. Pontiac's body was subsequently removed and buried in Saint Louis, by St. Ange de Belle Rieve, then commandant of said vil- lage. He was a warm friend of Pontiac. Above Pontiac's grave, later on, the Southern Hotel was erected, one of the finest in all America, in early days, and up to A. D. 1912, when it passed out of existance as a hostelry. In A. D. 1934, this hotel was wrecked, and the block it occupied will soon be close to the great Memoral Project which Saint Louis is creating, covering many blocks of ground, and in the vicinity of which the famous Old Cathedral of Saint Louis, this day and hour, August Twenty-fifth A. D. 1947, raises its golden spire. Pontiac sleeps beneath the sod, over which his roving feet trod ferquently when the Red Man ruled all the lands that today are comprised in the great states of the Middle West. His name is historic. ITS GOLDEN ERA— ITS BLIGHT Its Golden Era Extended From Seventeen Hundred and Sev* entywine to Eighteen Hundred and Four* teen — Period o] English Occupancy was Termed "The Blight." IN a romantic fantasy, depicting the assassination of the celebrated Indian Chief Pontiac, Hon. J. Nick Perrin, author and historian, has his principal character, Grand- sire Vieuxtemps (a fictitious name) lament the passing of the Golden Era, the Halcyon Days of Cahokia, in a brief phrase: "Oh! this blight is cruel, and we cannot bear its touch much longer — C'est bien taste." And he places the period of golden contentment prior to the event and rule of Great Britain over the Illinois Territory. He visions the period prior to their coming as one in which the French Commandants, who had been sent to rule over their fellow compatroits, as one of a mild and gentle sway, in strange contrast to the haughty bearing of the agents of a foreign tyrant, who had come to take possession and who ruled for about fifteen years, from A. D. 1763 and A. D. 1778. This was the period during which the learned Rev- erend Sebastian Louis Meurin, S. J., officiated as resident pastor of the Mission of St. Sulpice, (Holy Family parish), and when a court of seven judges with monthly sessions at Fort Chartres, had been established by Colonel Wilkins, to whose subordinate Captain Sterling, commanding a company of Highlanders, St. Ange de BelleRive, the French commandant delivered said fort. Truly, this period constituted the period of blight. Hundreds of French families emigrated to Saint Louis, to Saint Genevieve, to Natchez — even went as far as Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where these French-Cahokians 66 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA were made welcome. Prior to A. D. 1778, Cahokia con- tained above three thousand inhabitants. But, to the writer of the history of Cahokia, the real period of Cahokia's glory — its real Halcyon Era — lies after the Stars and Stripes had been raised above the new "Court House 1 ' and when the Flag of Liberty was hoisted, in union with the tri- color of France on the Liberty Pole erected in the village square. And this period was the time from A. D. 1783 to A. D. I8i4 — a period of thirty-five years, fraught with peace and with educational and cultural and religious progress. It was on December Twelfth, A. D. 1778, that Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia appointed John Todd as County Lieutenant. In May A. D. 1779, John Todd organised a citisen- sens' militia; and at Cahokia, Francois Trottier (from whom has sprung a long line of direct descendants down to this very day) was made Commandant of the village, and Michael Beaulieu and Pierre Godin (called Turanjean) were com- missioned Captains. Pierre Godin's name was a new name in such a prominent position, but the Godin family then, and down to this day, was a splendid one. Pierre Godin, in the long ago, built a commodious dwelling and tavern there where today Maple Park spreads its leafy canopy. This building, still standing, is built of almost solid walnut wood — floors, joists, rafters, walls all substantial and enduring. In it, for many years and up to 1929 or A. D. 1930, Sieur Lucien Godin held sway as store and tavern keeper. Lucien Godin, today a venerable patriarch, lives near Saint Henry's Church in East St. Louis, and his still vigorous frame proclaims the purity of the blood that courses in his veins. During the years, then, from A. D. 1779 to A. D. 1814, the writer would place Cahokia's golden era. Came then to its hospitable gates a Jean Francois Perry who set- tled in the village in A. D. 1792; a John de Moulin in A. D. 1790, who was the first Judge of the Court of Common CAHOKIA'S GOLDEN ERA 67 Pleas; came also a John Hays, soon appointed Sheriff of Saint Clair County; came the scholarly John Hay, who for many years served as Clerk of the Court, and to whose memory we have indited a longer pen picture in preceding pages; came also William Arundel in A. D. 1783, and Julien Dubuque, whom we also have more extensively written about; came Leon Darnell, the first resident lawyer in A. D. 1794. He was the second professed lawyer to emi- grate to Illinois, John Rice being the first. Came also Colonel William Morrison, who shed luster on the con- gressional district and the entire state. In these Halcyon Days, there came also Dr. J. Lyle, the first regular physician to settle in Cahokia. Came also Samuel Davidson, lawyer and teacher, whose work we have memorialized in a chapter devoted to Nicholas Jar- rott. Came also, in A. D. 1814, just when the sessions of court were to be transfered to a more central county loca- tion, to Belleville, Illinois, then being platted, the renowned John Reynolds — scholar, historian and later governor of Illinois. We have given extended notice to his activities in other pages. A little time prior to this, a sturdy pioneer settled in Cahokia, and he it was — Nicholas Boismenue — who built the first grist mill in this section. It was a primitive affair, operated by oxen by means of a treadmill, and it was located on the village lot later on owned by Dr. Illin- ski, just south of his dwelling. Some years after the con- struction of this mill, a man by the name of Peyrot (Payeur) was engaged in building a fence close by the mill. In sink- ing a post-hole, he struck a bucket that had been buried there. On examining it, what was his surprise to find it con- tained $800.00 in Spanish gold sovereigns. From this Nicholaus (Louis) Boismenue sprang the Boismenue families long identified with the cities of Ca- hokia, Prairie du Pont, and East St. Louis. Indeed, one of his descendants — Louis Boismenue (whose widow and children now live on Ninth Street, East St. Louis) for many years was a most prominent citizen, serving as Clerk of the 68 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA Board of Election Commissioners, and in other prominent positions, for many years. He was noted for his extra- ordinary charity, and his wife truly seconded his kind disposition in a most admirable manner. For years, their work as leaders in charitable enterprises stood forth as a shining light; and, to this splendid family, early Cahokia may lay just and proud claim. Another pioneer and patriot was Charles Gratiot, who established an Indian store in Cahokia as early as A. D. 1774. He carried on an extensive trade with the Indians, so that his business operations embraced several of the present western states, but his general depot for supplies was located at Cahokia, for many years. Although educated in England, at the commencement of the War for Independence he placed his all at the call of Freedom. He lived to see his country free, when he retired to private life. In A. D. i78i, he married a Miss Chouteau, daughter of Pierre Chouteau. Members of his family aided in founding Saint Louis, which occurred in A. D. 1764. Mr. Gratiot, in whose honor one of Saint Louis' streets is named, lived to a good old age, and died in Saint Louis in A. D. 1817. We have found mention of the name of a Joseph Desloge, namesake of one of St. Louis' most charitable men, whose benefactions to the Firmin Desloge Hospital have inscribed his name in golden letters on the scroll of time; but, this first Joseph Desloge was a jolly fellow who loved to play Qards, and so history records that dne Sunday afternoon he lost four hundred livres to his more skillful opponent, a certain Charles Du Charum. Another of these fun4oving Frenchmen was Joseph Cassire, whose family emigrated to Lachine, Canada, in A. D. 1670. The Joseph Cassire who settled in Cahokia married a winsome French maiden, Marie Alaric, on Feb- ruary Ninth, A. D. 1774. Later dn, after her death, he married Marie Louise Levy, widow of Michael Morut. Joseph Cassire served as one of the Justices of the Court at Cahokia, also. CAHOKIA'S GOLDEN ERA 69 So little is to be found in the early history of Cahokia, as recorded, pertaining to the women folk, that the writer concludes they were home-loving women. Of only one is extended mention made — that is Madame La Compte. She was indeed a remarkable woman, known for her char- ity, and revered by all — the French, the Indians, and the Negro slaves. It is said that she saved the early settlers from the depredations of warring Indians, several times. She came to Cahokia in A. D. 1770, and died there in A. D. 1843 at the great age of one hundred and nine years. We have pen-pictured her, previously, in her garden, her well, and in the old cemetery on Corpus Christi Day, long, long ago. We may mention in this Episode, likewise, the name of Mrs. Mary Papin Blair, member of an old Saint Louis French family, who died in Florissant, Missouri, and was buried from old St. Ferdinand Church. Mrs. Blair was eighty-three years old. She was a descendant of Joseph Papin, frequently mentioned in the very early history of Cahokia. He was a civil engineer and surveyor who was at Fort Chartres when Laclede and his pioneers arrived early in A. D. 1764, where he established a trading store, and from thence they proceeded to establish the settle- ment of Saint Louis, first known as "Louisburg" — later as Carondelet, nicknamed "Vide-Poche" (empty pocket, be- cause of the great poverty there obtaining) and now known as South Saint Louis. We mention these gentle ladies in the enlarged sec- ond edition of the History of Cahokia, because it is not a factual history, but one in which romance has been inter- woven with dry facts. In future editions we shall con- tinue these episodes, tracing the story of Cahokia from A. D. 1814 down to A. D. 1945 and beyond. A NOBLE PIONEER This Episode Spea\s of A Great and 7<[oble Pioneer Founder Of A Remarkable Family THE lure of Cahokia, and its fascination as a residential pioneer village, early in the year A. D. 1790. induced a young French aristocrat to settle in said village, there to build a mansion, beneath the roof of which were to be born and raised a remarkable family, that later on should give to the American Bottom village renown and added lustre. This young man was none other than Sieur Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) noted son of a highly respectable family of Vesoul, France Comte, who was born in A. D. 1764, who at the age of twenty-six emigrated to the Illinois ter- ritory. He landed at Baltimore, and after visiting New Orleans, journeyed up the Mississippi River, sojourning first at Saint Genevieve, and three years later settling def- initely at Cahokia. Immediately, his high moral character his splendid education, and his business acumen were recognised; and, in A. D. 1796, we find his name mentioned as one of the Grand Jury of Saint Clair County, then al- ready established. In old records of A. D. 1793 and A. D. 1795, mention is made of land conveyances made to this intrepid pioneer, and subsequently and prior to his death he acquired title in the American Bottom to upward of twenty-five thousand acres of land, title to which was confirmed by the United States, in A. D. 1815. But not alone did Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) acquire lands and vested interests, he also built a mansion within the confines of Cahokia that today, in A. D. 1947 still stands a splendid vision to behold, and which we have described in another episode. Slaves, too, he purchased; and later on, when the Illinois Supreme Court decision in the celebrated case, Jarrot vs. Jarrot, liberated all the -70, - CAHOKLVS GOLDEN ERA 71 slaves in this state — French or otherwise, his descendants promptly acquiesced in this decision. So kind had been the reign of Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) and his descendants, to their numerous slaves, that all were loath to leave, and some refused to be set free, but chose to serve until their death. This spirit of kindness was exemplified in the Jarreau family. The women of the household, as in many others, spun linsey for the negro's clothes, and all were taught the Catedhism. It is related that one day the Jarreau family heard the cook's baby crying. Ortance Jarreau went to investigate, and found that the cook had run away and abandoned the child. She at once took charge of the boy, christening him "Louis." So kind was this supervision that when the slave became old enoiigh to obtain his free- dom, he did not want to go. Later, on the wedding night of Marie Brackett, daugther of Ortance, in A. D. 1841, Louis took a vacation from his job on a Mississippi steam- boat, came back to Cahokia, and cooked the wedding breakfast. Early after settling in Cahokia, Sieur Nicholas Jar- reau (Jarrot) espoused Mademoiselle Marie Barbeau, of Prairie du Rocher. She died a few years later, and left a daughter, Elise, who in A. D. 1811 became the wife of Dr. Tiffin. In A. D. 1797, Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) married Mademoiselle Julia Beauvais, of St. Genevieve, origin- ally of Kakaskia. Now indeed was Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) consid- ered among the aristocratic French of Illinois. The Beau- vais were among the most influential families of Kaskaskia. In A. D. 1765 a member of this family owned eighty slaves, and furnished to the royal magazine eighty-six thousand weight of flour, which was only a part of one year's harvest. To Julia Beauvais came the rich heritage of the wed- ding ring, silver ladle, spoons and cups which had been given to her mother, Felicita Janis, when she married Virtal Beauvais in A. D. 1736. Trousseau gowns from France — 72 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA even cloths of gold. What treasures these things must have been to this proud French bride — proud, yet withal wonderfully kind and humble, as old records reveal. Truly it is written of Julia Beauvais that she shed copious tears when Monsiuer Nicholas Jar- reau (Jarrot) led her away from the home of her parents in quaint St. Genevieve, to install her as mis- tress in his humble house in Cahokia. Their first home was a small frame building, across the street from the Church of the Seminary of Foreign Missions, St. Sulpice. But soon her ambitious and progressive husband began the building of a "Mansion" which still today stands, a monument to his efforts. The site chosen was just east of the Church. Even as the Church was the institution around which the lives of the early French pioneers revolved, so this house, standing within its shadow, became the center of hos- pitality for all the region "round about. To embody the idea of the permanence of the fortune and the family that Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) hoped to establish in America, nothing would be so appropriate as brick. We have described this mansion elsewhere in this volume. Suffice it here to state, the brick was fabricated and burnt on the premises, and window frames and panes and furnishings were imported from France. No iron nails were used; wooden pins^were used instead. This mansion, with its great hall, became the center of the social life of early Cahokia. Here, before the huge fire place on the western wall, guests were received, This hall was also frequently used as a dining room, and a slave stood at^each^end with a huge fan, when summer suns sent their burning rays, and flies gathered in num- bers. This mansion, too, became the house of generations of Jarreaus (Jarrots) — Julia and Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) had seven children. Ortance (French for Hortense), the oldest child, was born in A. D. 1799. The other children A NOBLE PIONEER 73 were Melanie, Eugenie, Francois, Vital, Julia and Felicita. The kindness of heart and urbanity of manners of the father, and the mild and amiable disposition of the mother, attracted many visitors to this mansion, where they were received and entertained in a polished and elegant manner. Dancing was frequently indulged in. A visitor wrote: "The balls are usually opened at candlelight, and continue until ten or twelve o'clock the next day. One ball follows another so closely in succession that I have often wondered how the ladies are enabled to support themselves under this violent exercise which is here car- ried to extremes." The gala season began at Christmas and continued through the carnival season until Lent. One of the pretty customs of the Christmas Mass was the choosing of young maidens of the congregation to take up the collection. Felicita Jarreau (Jarrot) was doing this one year when the alarm of fire was given. The old Cahokia Church was threatened but was not then destroyed. It was the Mid- night Mass, Christmas, A. D. i835, and the fire destroyed the second parsonage. The sixth of January, each year, "le Jour de Rois 1 — was fc*r many years made a festive occasion in the old French families, and notably so in the Jarreau (Jarrot) family. On that day a large cake was baked and served to the gentlemen that came to join in the grand ball. This cake contained four beans. Those who received the beans were the kings of the carnival, and it was their duty to give the first grand ball of the season. They each chose a queen, and the royal couples opened the ball. The queens, in turn, chose kings who again chose queens, and the hosts and hostesses for the next ball were assured. So the merriment continued. The usual refreshments at such affairs were cake and coffee and bouillon. But all the guests at these parties did not merely dance. The gentlemen had other entertainments. A room in the "Jarrot" man- sion, as in other homes, was always set aside for cards. "Vingt-un" was the favorite game, although sometime "Lotto" was played. 74 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA Many week-ends at the "Jarrot" mansion were spent in games of chance. We can imagine the genial host sur- rounded by the Bonds, John Reynolds, Governor Ninian Edwards, perhaps Pierre Menard of Kaskaskia, the Chou- teau brothers of Saint Louis, or visiting friends or relatives seated at a table in the candlelight, intent upon their game. Before the days of banking facilities, each house owner kept a considerable part of his fortune in coin in his own home. Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) kept his silver in a large horsehair chest upstairs. A small red trunk held the more precious gold pieces. When luck was running against the host, or when one of his guests wished to be accommodated, he gave the key to a slave and sent him up to get "so many scoops of the little yellow fellows. 1 '' This same little red trunk, with the original key, may be seen today in the Memorial Hall in Washington, D. C. Shrove Tuesday was Pancake Tuesday. At the parties on said day French pancakes, piled high and cut like cake, were served. These pancakes were made with sweet milk. The writer's mother baked just such pan- cakes, and they certainly were delicious. This was usually the last event before Lent, as the next day — Ash Wednes- day — at Matins — Prime every one went to Church to have the celebrant place the sign of the cross with ashes upon their foreheads, in token of the end of man. Major Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) was not only a hos- pitable gentlemen, he also was an influential man. He ex- ercised great influence over the wandering Indian tribes, and it is related that on one occasion, when he and several companions were gone out to a large Indian camp, some of the warriors came toward them in a very menacing man- ner, but a Winnebago Chief stepped in front of Jarreau (Jarrot), brandishing his tomahawk, and stopped the on- coming Indians. Major Jarreau's (Jarrot) influence with the Indians was also made evident when the savages carried off the two small children of Samuel Garrison, and took them as pris- oners to their village on the Saline Fork of the Sangamon A NOLE PIONEER 75 where they were kept about a year until finally ransomed by himself. Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot), as has already been shown, became a large land owner. Records in St. Clair County, Illinois, dated February fifth A. D. 1793, give evidence of the first purchase of lands. We have already noted that in A. D. 1815, in a final report on land claims, Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) had his title confirmed to twenty-five thousand acres. Governor Reynolds declared that Major Jarrot owned the best section of land in the county. At one time, the greater part of the Wiggins Ferry landing, opposite St. Louis, was part of his estate. Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) believed in the concentra- tion of industry, likewise. Not content with furnishing the food crop and selling same, he wished to manufacture the finished product. He became very much interested in mills, and he erected a horse mill in Cahokia which was profitable to himself and beneficial to others. This mill was in operation during the War of A. D. 1812, and pro- vided flour for the troops. Another venture was a water mill, a few miles northeast of Illinois Town, now East St. Louis. This mill was not a great financial success, However. Major Jarreau (Jarrot) had to contend against the elements of the American Bottom— the sand banks of the creek, the swamps near the mill, and sickness. One William Robb built a mill above Jerreau (Jarrot), loaded a boat with flour and passengers, and sent it down Cahokia Creek through Jarreau's (Jarrot) dam. Major Jarreau (Jarrot) also took deep interest in po- litical and civic affairs. He held the office of Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the County Court of St. Clair, for many years. His services in these judicial departments were prompt and gained the admiration of litigants and the public at large. In July A. D. 1796, Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) was one of the members of the Grand Jury, at which session of the court "Denois Valentin" of Cahokia, was indicted for 76 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA keeping a billiard table for gambling purposes. Among the names prominently associated with the Court of Com- mon Pleas was that of Major Jarreau (Jarrot), also. When this court met as the Court of Quarter Sessions, its func- tions were much the same as those of the Circuit Court of today. Jarreau (Jarrot) was sworn in as the Judge, at the March Term of this court in A. D. 1801. On May third, A. D. 1809, a commission as Justice of the Peace was issued to Major Jarrot. His name also appears as the fourth voter at the election, January A. D. 1799, for a representative to the General Assembly of the Territory. His vote was cast for Shadrach Bond, Sr. The services of Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) were util- ised in the military as well as in the judicial department. In the early days of St. Clair County, he was made a Major in the militia, and was known by that title, to- gether with that of Colonel. On October twenty-ninth A. D., 1810, in the territorial records we find that the Gov- ernor appointed Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) and William Rec- tor, Aids de Camp to the Commandant in Chief. Again, in the year of A. D. 1812, Governor Ninian Edwards, as Commander in Chief, had as his aids Nicholas Jarrot, Wil- liam Rector, William Mears and Shadrach Bond, Jr. Captain Jarrot as he was known in the war of A. D. 1812, organised a company to proceed to Peoria, and also fortified a boat for the expedition of A. D. 1813. In an old book we find inscribed the following: "At last, worn out by his unusual and varied activities, he easily fell a victim to undue exposure while at his Illinois town mill, and on Friday, December eighth A. D., 1820, Nicholas Jarrot lay in state in the great hall of his mansion while the ancient church bell tolled his passing to the countryside. He was buried just east of the Church in the old burying ground. If you happen to make a pilgrimage to Cahokia, take notice, walk softly, and in obedience to the wording on his stone: "Priez pour le repos de son a me" for there lies a noble man. A CHARMING HOSTESS A Maiden of Caho\ia Lends Charm and Hospitaltiy to the Social Life of Saint Louis — Entertains Descendants of General de LaFayette, the Du\e de Grasse, the Du\e de Rochembeau — And Other Distinguished Foreign Visitors, WE stated in a previous episode that little mention is made of the women of Cahokia, due to their home- loving character, no doubt, but grace and charm were found in many of the daughters of old Cahokia. Among the most prominent ranks Mrs. Mary Felicita (Christy) Scanlan, grand-daughter of Sieur Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot), of whom we have made frequent mention. In the Jarrot mansion, this daughter of Melanie Jar- rot was born, and during the earlier years of her life she lived in a delightful atmosphere which long pervaded it. Not only were the influences which surrounded her in childhood conducive to culture and refinement, but the sympathetic nature which she inherited from her mother, a gentle-woman of the old school, noted for her Christian charity and acts of beneficence — was developed in Mary Felicita Christy to maturity by both precept and example. Her father, Samuel C. Christy, was prominent in his day as a man of education and great business acumen. Mary Felicita Christy was reared in the Catholic Faith. She was educated at the convent of the Visitation, of St. Louis, and soon after leaving school entered upon a brilliant social career, In 1858, she married Lieutenant John B. Church, of the United States Army, who had shortly before graduated from West Point, and soon after- ward she went with her husband to Fort Washita, a military post in the Indian Territory, at which he was sta- tioned until near the breaking out of the Civil War. — 77 — 78 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA At the close of the war, when the southern people found themselves in a veritable 'Valley of the Shadow" by reason of its devastating effects, she was one of the noble women of Saint Louis to whom their condition appealed most strongly, and who set on foot the movement which resulted in the holding of the great Southern Relief Fair, through which aid was extended to thousands of sufferers. In later years, she was a jealous member of the "Daughters of the Confederacy" — and aided in many ways to carry forward the good work of that organisation. Devoted to her Church, she was a tireless worker in its behalf, dealing always with practical affairs in a thoroughly practical way, evidencing alike her resourcefulness and strength of character. She was one of the organisers of a movement conducted by ladies which lifted a heavy debt from the Church of the Annunciation in St. Louis, Missouri, still located at the corner of Sixth Street and Choteau Avenue; and also assisted in erecting the school building connected with this Church. She was one of the originators of the movement which resulted in the building of the Augusta Free Hospital (now called the Martha Parsons Hospital) for the care of indigent sick children, and continued to be one of the most helpful friends of that institution until it had been established upon a firm foundation. For many years she was president of the Visitation Convent Sodality of Cabanne Place, St. Louis, Missouri, and also of the Sa- cred Heart Sodality. The building of the new and mag- nificent Cathedral of St. Louis was facilitated by her sub- stantial aid and encouragement, and every enterprise designed to better socal and moral conditions in St. Louis, Missouri and Cahokia, Illinois, had her earnest sympathy and hearty support. Her husband, Lieutenant Church, having been killed in battle, after seven years of widowhood she married, in A. D. 1896, James J. Scanlan, a native of Philadelphia, who for many years was prominent in the business circles of St. Louis, Missouri and the wefst. Five children were born of their union, and in later years Mrs. Scanlan went abroad with her family, and resided five years in the Old World, A CHARMING HOSTESS 79 educating her sons. Returning to St. Louis, at the end of that time, she resumed a leadership, which she long had enjoyed in social circles, and for which her graces and ac- complishments eminently fitted her., Her home was al- ways one of the principal centers of the most refined and highly cultivated society in St. Louis, Missouri, and on numerous occasions was the scene of great social functions. An event of both historic and social interest of the highest character was the reception and ball given by Mrs. Scanlan at her beautiful home, 3535 Lucas Avenue, St. Louis, December Twelfth A. D. 1881, to the descend- ants of the French Officers who fought with the Duke of Rochambeau, the Duke de Grasse, and General de LaFa- yette under the command of Washington in the War of Independence. These French military and naval officers were the guests of the nation, to assist in the celebration of the Centennary Anniversary of the Surrender of York- town, October Nineteenth A. D. 1881. The members of the delegation, who after the celebration visited St. Louis, Missouri, and Cahokia, Illinois, were General Boulanger, representing the French Army — Colonel Bossan, of the Dragoons — Captain Sigismond de Sahune, of the Hussars — Captain Gouvion, of the Artillery, whose grand-father directed the artillery of Yorktown — the two brothers Aboville, captains in the cavalry — the Count Charles d'Ollone, and the Viscount, his son — Colonel Bureaux de Pusy, Maxmilien de Sahane and his brother Sigismond, the last three mentioned grand-sons and grand-nephews of General de LaFayette — and the Marquis de Lastrade t grand-son of a naval officer under de Grasse. Captain Henri de la Chere, military attache of the French legation, at Washington, chaperoned the party during their tour of the United States. At the first visit the French delegates made St. Louis, Missouri, they were invited on the floor of the Merchants Exchange Where both General Boulanger and Colonel de Pusy made eloquent speeches. Among the things General Boulanger said, this fact may be mentioned: "We have 80 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA visited no city in the United States but once, but to show our affection for St. Louis, Missouri, after our visit to California, instead of going by the Southern Pacific to New Orleans, we shall return to St. Louis, Missouri, to ac- cept the charming invitation of a reception and ball ten- dered to us by Madame Scanlan." All the officers sta- tioned at Jefferson Barracks, who had also given their French comrades-in-arms a splendid reception and luncheon, were invited to Mrs. Scanlan's house. The brilliant uni- forms of the distinguished guests, the exquisite toilettes of the ladies, and the regal appearance of the hostess, made a picture that will never be forgotten by those who had been honored with an invitation. All the elite of French and American society were invited. It was a noted and striking fact that nearly all of the American ladies invited spoke French. The French delegates were enthusiastic in their declarations that nowhere in this county had such a splendid social affair been given to them as this recep- tion and ball, and nowhere had so many beautiful and cul' tured ladies gathered on one occasion. The late George M. Pullman tendered Mr. Emile Karst, French consular agent in St. Louis, Missouri, the use of a Palace Car for the delegation on their extended visit to New Orleans. On the arrival of the delegates in St. Louis, Missouri, the French citizens also gave them a reception and a banquet at the St. Louis Club. The Irish- Americans — Dr. Thomas O'Reilly and Hon. O'Neill Ryan at the head— thought it the right thing to manifest their friendship for France her representatives, by giving them a grand escort at their departure. Major Harrigan sent the Mounted Police to head the procession, the offi- cers of the barracks sent the famous Arsenal Band, the Wolfe-tone Rifles turned out, each delegate had as escort in his carriage a prominent Irish- American, and the streets from the grand Old Southern Hotel to the depot, were jammed with people. In the January following, the dele- gation returned to France. In their correspondence in later years with their St. Louis friends, they referred with pleasure to the delightful ball at Mrs. Scanlan's as the A CHARMING HOSTESS 81 most enjoyable entertainment given them in the United States. At her home, too, Mrs. Grover Cleveland was a guest, on the occasion of the President's visit to St. Louis Missouri, during the administration of its Mayor David E. Francis; and the reception given by Mrs. Scanlan in Mrs. Cleveland's honor was a distinguishing feature of the entertainment planned for the First Lady of the land at that time. Another social event which delighted the best of society, and at which Mrs. Scanlan's native village — Old Cahokia, Illinois — was also again represented, was that which featured the formal entrance into society of her only daughter, Miss Marie Therese Christy Scanlan — a charm- ing young lady, who had completed her education at the Convent of the Visitation of Georgetown, District of Co- lumbia, and who had returned to her home in A. D. 1897. This young lady, daughter of one of Cahokia's fair daugh' ters, enjoyed the distinction of being crowned Queen of the Veiled Prophet's Ball — a grand annual affair in St. Louis, Missouri — in 1898. Miss Scanlan is today, the wife of George S. Tiffany, of New York. One of her daughters is named "Mary Christy" in honor of her mother, Mrs. Mary Felicita (Christy) Scanlan. The other children of Mrs. Scanlan are Alonso Christy Church, one of the two sons born of her first marriage, and Philip Christy and Andre Christy Scanlan, born of her second marriage. Mrs. Scanlan died July Eighteenth A. D. 1904, and it is safe to say that no death was ever more sincerely mourned than hers. Benedicte Ortance, sister of Melanie Eugenie Jarrot, the oldest child of the second marriage of Sieur Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) born in 1799, in 1818 married Robert McCracken, who came to this country with his uncle, John Edgar McCracken. McCracken was so grateful for all that his uncle had done for him that he named his first son John Edgar, and his first daughter Rachael, for his aunt. Love of the "old countrie'Vas so deeply instilled into the heart of this Irishman as was the love of France 82 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA within the hearts of her sons. Instead of the conventional engagement ring, Robert presented Ortance with a small jewelled pin in shape of a harp. Madame Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot), in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, went to St. Louis, Missouri to live, and died there in A. D. 1875, at the age of ninety' five. Ortance Jarrot continued to live in the family house until her death in 1886, when she was buried by the side of her family in the old Church yard. AN EDUCATIONAL CENTRE Silence Envelopes this Slumbering Village For Almost A Century — Birth and Death Succeed Themselves in Swijt Rotation — Eighteen Hundred and Seventeen Mar\ its Somnolent Slumber — Eighteen Hundred and J^inity^nine its Rebirth. LOVE of pleasure was not only charactersitic of the French settlers and their descendants. They settled in villages which shows their sociable nature. There they raised their beloved families. Generation after gen- eration lived amicably together, due to their innate polite- ness; but education also ever beckoned, and though for almost thirty years (from 1860 to 1889) no parochial school was conducted within the confines of the village, education did not relinquish its hold altogether. Private instruction and the public school kept burning the flame of study and of culture. Splendid progress was indeed made by the children that attended the little school conducted under direction of teachers, graduates of colleges and normal schools, and among these we find prominently mentioned a number of men and women whose ability as teachers, and whose tact and culture as citizens wrote high their names on Cahokia's scroll of education. But in its rebirth as an educational center, the year Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-nine must be definitely mentioned, for it was in that year when Sisters of the Most Precious Blood re-opened the parish school. Venerable Sisters Salome and Barbara were the first teachers, and ever since then, up to the present day in Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-six, this Order has educated the Catholic children, as also gome of other faith who as- — 83 — 84 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA pired to higher education, using the old parsonage built by Reverend Jean Francois Regis Misel, in Eighteen Hun- dred and Thirty-eight, as his own private residence. This building was quite a pretentious house for those days. It was built of brick, with a Colonial porch and collonade in front, and is still standing west of the old Church in 1946. The second building occupied as a school by the Sis' ters of the Most Precious Blood was the old historic Church, and later and up to a recent date the Jarrot mansion, due to the kindnesses of the heirs of the Jarrot family, among whom are enumerated Mr. Charles Idoux, Mr. Alonzio Church and Mrs. George M. Tiffany. Venerable Sister Salome, today actively connected with the teaching staff of St. Theresa Academy, East St. Louis, Illinois, gives us an interesting account of their first visit to Cahokia. True, the houses there, at that time, were no longer white-washed. They were either painted, or entirely devoid of paint, but they were surrounded by flowers and rambling roses, and all enclosed by picket fences. True, no longer did the men of this time wear the costumes of the early settlers, nor the women the quaint costumes of the period of the Restoration, topped by vari- colored handkerchiefs which their mothers always wore about their heads, but their hearts were as joyous, and they longed to give their children all the advantages pos- sible. And thus the venerable Sisters were given regal welcome, as we shall read. It was on a bright, sunshiny day in October, when the harvest moon sheds its mellow light o'er all, that the ven- erable Sisters above mentioned, arrived at Cahokia to take up their arduous, yet pleasing, task. They were met at Centerville Station, where they had come via train, by Mrs. J. Loupinot, and in a comfortable surrey they were conveyed to their destination. The Reverend Pastor, Father J. F. Meifus, was busy in the kitchen, doing some necessary repair work. He welcomed them and very AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER 85 shortly after, Mrs. Camille Droit, noted for her gracious- ness, brought some victuals for supper, which was hur- riedly prepared, thus enabling the Sisters to have this meal at the usual hour. After supper the school rooms were inspected. Will" ing hands aided in putting the school desks into proper place, under direction of Reverend Meifus, and within a day or two school was opened. The weeds, not flowers, surrounding the school, were cut down by other volun- teer workers, and the school premises were put into im- peccable shape. And now, on Saturday, the parents came with their children to welcome the Sisters, and to introduce the pupils that were to be placed under their gentle guidance. Much astonishment was evidenced at the fact that the Sisters were dressed up. Their sombre, black habit was lighted up by a Red Sash, mirabile dictu. On Monday morning following, school opened with fifty pupils, but the enrollment continued until the number had been increased to sixty-five, ranging in ages from four to seventeen. Since this day of opening, in Eighteen Hun- dred and Eighty-nine, this school has been under constant guidance of Sisters of this Order. Already the golden cycle will have been complete — -soon a Sixtieth Jubilee of re- sumed Christian education can be celebrated in historic Holy Family parish, in historic Cahokia. Who shall count the wondrous work performed in all these many years? A splendid new school building marks the advance. A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN Scenes of Pastoral Quiet Envisioned During the Days of Slumbering Cahokia — A Beautiful Maiden Dwells Therein IF the author of this romantic history of Cahokia were gifted like unto a Victor Hugo, the celebrated French author, he would enter into a minute description of the road that leads from Cahokia to Falling Springs, through Prairie du Pont, in another direction, to East Carondolet, where the ferry still plies its course across the Mississippi. But, since he is not so gifted, let it suffice that these roads are enclosed on both sides by fertile fields, and that only three decades ago one went via horseback, lumbering wagon, or storm buggy, down their crooked paths. No concrete then — no tooting sirens — no swift-passing auto- mobiles. All restful, all quiet, so that even when the shades of night were being drawn by invisible hands, the call of the hoot-owl could be distinguished above the crow of the barnyard chanticleer, the lowing of cows, the neigh of horses, the bleating of sheep, the grunt of swine, or the bark of dogs far distant. In Autumn's Days, one could also hear, on all sides, the chirp of the chickadee, and the bu2£ of the wild bee . Far off in the fields, now barren and brown, one heard the call of the Thrush or the Whip-Poor- Will, and the Whist- ling sound of the Partridge, commonly called the Quail. One heard also the drum of the redheaded Woodpecker, and the saucy bark of the grey squirrel, and the thud of ripening nuts as they fell from lofty treetop to Mother Earth, far below. In summer-time one could hear the swish of the scythe and the clatter of the reaper; or, here and there, the whir- — 86 — AN EDUCATED GENIUS 87 ring sound of a threshing machine. And golden sun shine, or warm pouring rain, over all. But, in Springtime these lanes and roads and fields were most beautious to behold. Then the sounds of growth were to be heard, and the trees at the wayside, or in the grove were decked in new virginal attire — the rise of sap from root to summit — the rise of bud from bark to bloom — the rise of song from heart to hearing. All this was to be seen, and heard and felt, along these byways of the great American Bottoms. A dark lane branched off, leading to the Sidney Street Ferry, past Sweigert's Grove, and this was a veri- table tangle of wild grapevines, profusion of Tiger Lilies, wild Moss Roses, hatches of rabbits, nests of field-mice, also of caches where birds nested and foxes burrowed, or multi-colored snakes disported. Chattering squirrels scur- ried across the paths, and chickens laz;ily from their dust baths! Sombre trees wove their shadows over all, and their perfume on the ambient air. Hidden among the trees, a tavern reared its walls, and a small park bade welcome shade from summer's heat. Not like the "Abbey House' ' which stood close to the roadside, there where two thoroughfares met, near the portals of Holy Family Church, Sweigert's Grove — there lurked romance and deep tradegy, there lurked sinister design and fast strife — yet, all within Cahokia's bounds. "The Abbey House' 1 in the decades that we knew it, from Eighteen Ninety to Nineteen Hundred and Twen- ty, was a place of amusement, and in its hey-day was pre- sided over by a Frenchman, known throughout all of St. Clair County for his culture, refinement and perspicacity — Sieur Camille Droit. In the "Abbey House" taproom gathered the citi- zens of slumbering Cahokia. In its dance hall, the tripping feet of thousands of visitors from near and far, from 'round about, danced in unison with the descendants of the early 88 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CCAHOKIA French settlers, even with the comely German maidens that came to linger. [I g;> In the parlor, entertaining the elite was Madame C. Droit, an amiable and cultured chaperone. And, by her side a|beautious maiden — Mademoiselle Pauline Droit, famed beauty, who vied in sprightliness and charm with the other regal beauty from the Isle of Martinique — she, who in the days of the conqueror, Napoleon First, graced an Empress 1 throne. Madeloiselle Pauline Droit was educated in the par- ish school of Cahokia, in the Rock High of East St. Louis, Illinois, and received her higher training in music and art in Visitation Convent, St. Louis, Missouri, and her in- herited culture was there enriched. Beautiful, as the most charming of regal courts; dark, with dancing eyes — fiery, full of life and acumen, subdued as only learning and culture can subdue. We see her still — the beauty of slumbering figure displayed in every graceful line by a dress of finest Lyons silk, strewn over with jet beads, and falling in dig- nified outline to the tops of her dainty high-laced shoes. From her shapely bosom sprang a more shapely throat, all surmounted by a face — mobile, expressive, with smiling, ruby lips and dimpled cheek. Beauty enthroned on her classic brow. Ah! She was indeed beautiful, and her pen-picture may well adorn this volume, for beauty, too, must be en- shrined in history's pages, and it is not alone in the courts of an olden world, or in the salons of the immensely rich that culture, refinement and beauty are to be found. A daughter of the old historic "Abbey House": Once in the long ago the residence of Sulpician Fathers; in the closing days of the Nineteenth century, and the opening days of the Twentieth century, a hostelry; a gathering place for the merry dance. It may well be proud that before its final abdication it harbored so fine a family as that of Sieur and Madame Camille Droit; that it was the home, for a span of one so beautiful as was this descendant of pure French lineage — Mademoiselle Pauline A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN 89 Droit. On this day, when memory pictures her again, she was radiant with happiness. Love had entered the portals of her life. She was a winsome bride. Oh, mystery immor- tal! Love beautifies all things mundane — even reaches into Heaven's realm. Love transfigures all mankind, and makes the Angels to sing in unison. It spiritualises youth and beauty — makes both sublime! We have referred to the name of "Empress Josephine" — Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife. On one of our travel- trips in the long ago, we stood in the shadow of her statue, erected in the savane, or public square of Fort de France, in the West India Islands. It is carved from pure white marble, and has been pronounced the loveliest cre- ation of its kind in this beautiful isle. Lafcadio Hearn spent two years in Martinique, and paid glowing tribute to the marble memory of Empress Josephine. . . "It seemed to me absolutely lovely. Such is the human charm of the figure that you almost fancy you are gating at a liv- ing presence. When you look up into that sweet Creole face, you can believe that she lives — all the wonderful West Indian charm of the woman is there." — Thus wrote the great author-mystic. Today, nothing remains of the glory of the city of Saint Pierre — the finest flower of the Island. It was utterly destroyed by an eruption of grim Old Mont Pelee, which grumbling for years was heeded by none. Then, on May Eight A. D. 1902. came blasting de- struction. The mountain opened, and scalding steam, stifling gas and liquid fire burst forth! The boiling, bias- ing mass fell upon the doomed city, upon the vessels in the harbor — even upon ships far out at sea. When dawn broke that May morning, there were about thirty thousand people in Saint Pierre. At noon, there was but one living person in the desolated city — he was a negro prisoner con- fined in a subterranean dungeon. Cahokia, too, has been devastated, but never by fire, or volcanic action. Water, that great force of mighty rivers, has inundated it many a time, but ever it has re- 90 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA covered, and its pristine glory has been restored. We shall read of the greatest flood in the history of the Ameri- can Bottoms, in a separate episode. PEACHES ARE RIPE Peaches Are Ripe — And A Pomological Essay Is Writ- ten — Some of Cahofya^s Habitants Garner Rich Fruit — Spring and Autumn Vie With One Another In Producing Luscious Results. DURING the Slumbering Days of old Cahokia, agri- cultural progress was awake and alert. The long, narrow strips of land that formed the first homestead acres, where, in Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-six, when the author already visited frequently with the old French families, consolidated into farms of considerable size and much acreage. When one drove out toward Cahokia, or from its center took the roads leading hither and yon, he saw on all sides the delicate blossoms of fragrant orchards, or the ripening fruit on either side. And many of these orchards were the result of two centuries of care and steady effort for improvement; proving the adaptability of the Cahokians to engage, not only in agriculture, but also in fruit raising. Soil and climate united in making possible rich rewards. When the first white settlers came to Illinois, they found plums of many varieties growing wild — groves of crabapple trees filling the air, in the early Spring, with the fragrance of their deep shaded blossoms. The French in- troduced apples and pears. Some of their trees bore fifty bushels per season. The most famous orchard trees from French times were the pears of Prairie du Pont, which lived to be one hundred and fifty years old. The French did not cultivate peaches in quantity There was, however, one famous peach tree which grew on the small mound called "The Sugar Mound" on the top of the bluff. This tree had the reputation of never failing to give fruit. As the descendants of the original French settlers a — 91 — 92 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA Cahokia and Prairie du Pont moved eastward to Center- ville Station and French Village, they planted new or- chards. A famous one is that of the Lalumiere family on the Missouri Avenue Road. But close to the old Church, in Cahokia, were the great orchards of the Pluff and Idoux families; the first at the cross-roads where, today, the residence of the Pluff family stands not many yards removed from Lucien Godin's old tavern-residence, in what is now called Maple Park. It was to this farm that Reverend P. J. Doutrelingue, S. C. M., suggested Holy Family Church should be moved, because of its more central location. Luckily, this thought did not prevail. On the Pluff farm, we saw a grand or- chard, comprising apple, peach and cherry trees, all in full bloom, and later on we purchased cheaply and abund- antly of the luscious and ripened fruit. The Charles Idoux farm was (as late as Nineteen- sixteen, when last we called there) situated close to Fall- ing Springs, about three miles from the center of Cahokia but within its parish limits. Here blossomed, also, in rich profusion fruits of various kind, and we frequently bought abundantly ripe plums that were converted into jellies and jams by the skillful hands of the author's sister. Near this farm was a picnic grove, known far and near as "Falling Springs Park" — and here the dance loving descendants of the French immigrants also loved to gather and to dance. The beauty and attractiveness of Falling Springs Park was noted for many decades past. A gush- ing spring of clear water fell from one of the caverns of the River Bluff, fed incessantly by some hidden, under- ground stream. Not a giant Niagara, but an aethereal ribbon that lent beauty to nature's scene! Its waters no longer flow so abundantly — yet, they still fall — a shining rivulet ! Passing through Prairie du Pont from Cahokia's center, one found the vineyards of the Boismenue fam- ily, founded by Nicholas Boismenue, who came from Canada and in the long ago went on the historic St. PEACHES ARE RIPE 93 Joseph Expedition; later on married a daughter of Captain Michel Palmier -Beaulieu, and was the grand-sire of numer- ous progeny that figured, for decades, in the history of Cahokia and the American Bottoms. Right across the road, was the home, the flower- garden, and the vineyard of Sieur Frederick Rehg — not so old a family, yet one of Cahokia's most loyal citizens. The flowers of this garden frequently lent charm to the Altars of Holy Family Church — the grapes were converted into sparkling wine and delicious jellies . . And one of Fred Regh's daughters — she of the burning black eyes and black tresses, cut the grapes and gathered them into our basket. We found mention, in an interesting record, also of the Trottier and the Lalumier and Jarvis families, all of whom owned large orchards, but none to eclipse that of Squire Touchette, though his was located several miles from Cahokia — there, where the spire of Centerville's Catholic Church, first offspring of Cahokia parish, now raises its slender steeple to the skies. This orchard comprised, and still comprises, above forty acres, containing many thousand apple, peach, plum and cherry trees, rich in their blossoming time — the haven of countless songsters of wood and field, and in autumnal days laden with succulent and tasty fruit. A pomological essay, this — the twenty-third episode of our romantic story, yet fitting well into the picture during the days when Cahokia dreamed — and dreaming, visioned greater splendors. It was on the Jarvis farm that we saw a young lady, attired in masculine attire, driving a wagon, loaded high with peaches, on the top of which she perched, noncha- lantly. She is, today, a Nun in one of the famous Con- vents of the East. A DISTINGUISHED DOCTOR One of Its Distinguished Men Is Here Enshrined in History's Enduring Pages — Doctor Alexis Illins\i — A Noble Polish Patriot. SOME seventy years before the revolutionary days, of A. D. 1848, which Madame Modjeska, the famous Polish actress, vividly portrayed in the following brief sentences: "On the opposite side of the street, a man lies on his back on the pavement; his shirt is open — in the middle of his breast gapes a red wound. A woman kneels by him, trying to stop his blood, which drips on the pavement and congeals. The face of the man is white — the eyes staring wide open. In the middle of the street a boy of ten or twelve lies, his face on the ground. Oh, the pity of it! Oh, the sight of murder and death for a child's eyes! The marring of the fresh bloom of a youth- ful soul with such a tinge of sadness and terror" — and within a square the lofty and inspiring towers of the Church of Panna Marya, Cracow, Poland. The boy, a compa- triot of d! noble exile, one born in the shadows of this Church, a youth of Poland's war-torn domain, who immigrating to America chose his habitat in old Cahokia, among the liberty-loving descendants of its early French settlers. Doctor Alexis Ulinski, his name. Virile, energetic — a student graduate of the celebrated University of Cracow; a scholar of the Royal and Imperial Gymnasium of St. Anna, at Cracow, where — in Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-three — the youthful Joseph Conrad, celebrated and eminent novelist, seafaring sailor and captain (who, at the age of thirty-one, married an English lady, and spent his literary years in Kent, England) was also a self- exiled son of Poland. A youthful scholar of the medical schools of Vienna; — 94 — A DISTINGUISHED DOCTOR 95 slight of build, iruscles of steel, nerves that did not loose their tautness, even though the sick and dying were his daily and constant intimates. Fun-loving, c'ard-playing, gambling too, Dr. Alexis Illinski enshrined in the mind and memory of thousands of the early settlers of Cahokia and the entire American Bottoms. His later years spent in East St. Louis, Illinois, where he had a handsome office on Broadway, close to E. W. Wider's handsome drug store. (This is a matter of record in 1875.) In his old age, a picturesque figure, with bristling mustachio, chin whiskers and snow-white hair. Fluent in conversation, bright of eye — nothing decrepit, even though he lived to near the century mark. Let us accompany Dr. Alexis Illinski on some of his errands of mercy, up and down the lanes and byroads, adown the beautiful winding road that then, as now, skirts the Bluffs from near Centerville Station to French village; across field paths that lead criss-cross to scattered farms in the Island Pocket, near which today, in 1947, the vast Aluminum Ore Plant rears its massive walls, and its towering chimneys. The road that skirts these River Bluffs, running from old Cahokia through Centerville Station to French Village and beyond, overtops the American Bottoms for a distance of about ten miles. To the west, lie the fertile fields, now clothed in Spring's first blossoming; in Summer's ripening colors; in Autumn's hasy tints, and in Winter's white enameled shroud. In these bottoms, also the vil- lages that surround East St. Louis, Illinois, all "foster children" of old Cahokia, and the numerous splendid homes, the great number of Churches and schools, the somber walls of immense industrial plants, all at this date, in 1947, over-topped by giant smokestacks — symbols of progress and industry. To the East, forming a vast semi-circle that runs down to the river's banks, both north and south, stretch the bluffs. High limestone cliffs, covered with giant forest trees, and a profusion of tangled vines and greening shrubs — in Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-five almost virginal soil. 96 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA Down this road, then a narrow path, Dr. Ulinski drove in his storm buggy, drawn by two sturdy Arabian ponies, many and many a day from i849 to i889, almost half a century of toil in the service of humanity and of charity — in the service of God and country. In Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-five, there nestled close to the Bluffs, near Centerville Station (second off- spring of old historic Cahokia) a sturdy log cabin) — the house of a French-Canadian; and, to its door came, through snow and storm, through high drift and deep si- lences, one early Christmas evening, Dr. Ulinski, to stand by the bedside of a comely matron, and there to give med- ical aid at the birth of an infant son. Warmth and cheer pervaded this rude cottage this Christmas evening, as soon as Dr. Ulinski had entered. "Thank God! The doctor has come! How did you ever make it in all this snow and drift?" "Why, by sheer will- power, aided by staunch horsepower. But, let's see the patient ! No need for alarm — soon we'll have the Madame dancing again !" And true! 'Tis said Madame Touchette, she of the long ago, attended the New Year's dance in gay Cahokia that very New Year's evening, and an infant Touchette accompanied herself and husband on this eventful day — the infant's christening day, as well, as old records might reveal, if they but spoke. It was an afternoon in Autumn, of Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-six, when the drums of Civil War had long been stilled, when peace hovered o'er all the land, that we see, in vision, Dr. Ulinski driving down another road, the road that lead from Cahokia to Sidney Street Ferry, ripening fields of corn, and late gathering of a second crop of clover — no alfalfa, then. That day, we enter with Dr. Ulinski a cabin, situated close to the banks of a creek that flowed into the Mississippi, about a mile north of Cahokia; today (in 1947) known as Harding's Ditch — then, undesignated. In its marsh perlieus stood the cabin of a former slave and there death came, this beauteous Autumn afternoon. The docile children of a slave were gathered 'round a bed — a rude contrivance — boxlike struc- A DISTINGUISHED DOCTOR 97 ture, filled with straw, covered by a coarse woolen blanket, on which lay recumbent the worn figure of a man. Sub- dued cries of anguish from the lips of his faithful wife — loud lamentation from the mouths of his bereaved chil- dren — words of sympathy from fellow slaves, now free, that lingered 'round about. And all intent on the verdict of the doctor, who had come this bright day to visit his patient, and to kneel at the bedside of this lowly person — a slave — to be buried within a few days in the new cemetery in which was buried as first inhabitant, in 1839, Julia Touchette, wife of Peter Voudrie — ancient settlers of old, old Cahokia. Death had entered, also, the door of a slave's rude hut, as long before it had entered that of the house of Peter Voudrie, and touched with its icy hands the brow of a lovely daughter of Sieur and Madame Touchette, sturdy progenitors of sturdy sons and daughters, at the cradles of whom Dr. Illinski stood, as he watched at their death bed; as he stood at the cradle and the death bed of their colored slaves, clothed in the coarse white garments that designated their servitude. Dr. Alexis Illinski — Progenitor, also, of a fine family that still, today, boasts of descendants who honor his il- lustrious name! He was married twice. His first wife was a widow; she was the mother of two daughters — Cora and Clementine, who were educated in the Immacu- late Conception Academy in Belleville, Illinois. Cora became the wife of Robert McCracken — father of Dr. McCracken, of East St. Louis, Illinois. After the death of Robert McCracken, his widow married Camile Droit, and from this union sprang a lovely daughter — married a Dr. T. C. Jennings, an East St. Louis physi- cian. Dr. Alexis Illinskfs second wife was a Miss Black, a school-teacher. From this union sprang three children Anielka, Leah, daughters — and Dr. Alexis Illinski, a son. He was father to another Alexis Illinski, who graduated with high honors as a mining engineer from the College of Mines, at Rolla, Missouri, some twenty eight years ago. 98 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA This, the faint picture of the life of a pioneer doctor, devoted to study, as his large and well selected library testified; devoted, also, to the culture of flowers and bees — his aviary being taken care of by slaves, up to the end of the Civil War, and then by trusted employees. Dr. Al- exis Illinski lived in St. Clair County in old Cahokia long before any of his race and nationality came to this western section of Illinois. He was a noble son of a noble race of a distinguished family. VITAL JARROT, FINANCIER One of Ws Distinguished Sons Is Here Enshrined in History's Enchanting Pages — Another Flashing Meteor Is Mentioned Briefly. THE name of Sieur Nicholas Jarreau (Jarrot) has been so intimately interwoven with the story of Cahokia, that his children suffered by comparison; but, one of his sons — Hon. Vital Jarrot — deserves being entered into the tracery of this romantic history, because of the tre- mendous energy displaced during his entire life. By stipulation in the Will of his father, Vital Jarrot was given as splendid an education as was possible at his time. He had as mentors the brightest minds of old Ca- hokia; its parish priests taught him the intermediate branch- es of learning, and he was sent to Georgetown, D. C. University, for his classical education. Returning from school, he entered upon a busy and useful business career, settling eventually in what is now East St. Louis, Illinois. Here he engaged in various en- terprises, among them, in association with ex-Governors John Reynolds and Samuel B. Chandler, of Belleviille, Illi- nois, Louis Boismenue of Cahokia, and George E. Walker of St. Louis, Missouri, in their individual capacity built the first railway in the state of Illinois. It extended from Pittsburg, abbut six miles distant, to the great Western mail route in the town of Illinois, about where (in i875) the Illinois and St. Louis Railroad and Coal Company had a station near Railroad Street, with the privilege of ex- tending on that street to the creek.^ A branch of this rail- road curved southwesterly fromfnear Tenth Street|to Cahokia, near where, in days gone by, the [Illinois Patent Coke Company V t works were located. This road was built expressly, if not exclusively, to transport bituminous coal from where it cropped out a\t the bluffs, to the St. Louis — 99 — 100 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA market — that is, as near to it as possible. This individual venture of operating the first railroad tapping the Mis- sissippi River proved an unfortunate one to the owners, however. Undaunted by setbacks, Vital Jarrot — in assoication with Samuei Sumrix — established a weekly newspaper, the "American Bottoms Gazette" which, unfortunately, was swept away by the devastating flood of Eighteen Hundred and Forty-four. In 1871 he aided in establishing "The People's Gazette" — a live and virile weekly, sponsored by a group of progressive citizens. He served on its Board of Directors, and was elected President thereof . Its name was changed, in 1873, to "The East St. Louis Press." Publication was suspended in 1875. In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-six, Vital Jarrot was chairman of a committee that advocated the diversion of Cahokia Creek directly into the Mississippi, an undertak- ing which was eventually launched, and brought to a successful completion in Nineteen Hundred and Thrity- six — almost seventy years later. Vital Jarrot also advocated the building of a levee, from a point far north to within hailing distance of the village of his birth — historic Cahokia; which levee was finally inaugurated in Nineteen Hundred and Eight, by the election of a Board of Trustees — sixty years after Vital Jarrot had first given his attention to the subject. He was, also, one of the incorporators — in Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-five — of the St. Louis 6? Illinois Bridge Co., planning a mighty structure across the Mississippi This bridge, considerably altered in structural details, was finally built, under the supervision of Captain James Eads and his engineers. It was completed in Eighteen Hun- dred and Seventy-nine or thereabouts. It was, at that date, considered one of the greatest engineering feats ever attempted, and it stands today — a monument to the vision of its promoters, among whom the name of Vital Jarrot ranks high. In the early days of Eighteen Hundred and Seven, he A DISTINGUISHED FINANCIER 101 aided in organising the "East St. Louis Bank" with a cap- ital of One Hundred Thousand Dollars and served on its Board of Directors, and was elected its first president. In Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-five, he sold to Page & Bacon bankers of St. Louis, Missouri, a large tract of land, on which the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company erected extensive machine shops — later occupied by the Missouri Car and Foundry Company. At date of the erection of these shops, and up to a comparatively recent date, there were employed in these shops many hundreds of laborers, mechanics, and artisans. Vital Jarrot was also an Adjutant-General on the staff of Governor Reynolds, during the Black Hawk War. He also served as an associate of Abraham Lincoln, in the Illi- nois General Assemblies, as representative of St. Clair County at the Eleventh, Twentieth, Twenty-first and Twenty-second Sessions. It would lead too far to enumerate all the enterprises in which this energetic citizen of Old Cahokia, of new East St. Louis, engaged in. Suffice it to add, he lived a useful life, crowded with splendid achievements. In an old record we read: "The frost of sixty years had bleached his hair, but not subdued or weakened the vitality of his spirit of enterprise, which in years past had made him the leader in every progressive movement. He again plunged into work of the most beneficial nature to all this territory, to his native city, to the great American Bot- toms. His name is linked with those of John B. Bowman, Thomas Winstanley, Joseph Boismenue and Wm. Case for many years. A METEOR OF THE SKIES Far Away Germany Sends A "Meteoric Man" To Caho\ia. His Life Was One of Great Achievement And now, let us view, in retrospect, the meteoric career of a "Meteor of the Skies" who came to Cahokia when its glory was just diminishing, and who worked as a blacksmith's helper, in the little village we are here en- shrining, but who rose in more auspicious surroundings to great heights. It was none other than Hon. John B. Bowman, a son of Germany, who came to this country when Hon. Carl Schurts, Gustave Koerner, General Franz; Siegel and Hecker brought the ideals of liberty to renewed birth in this section of the United States. Let us illuminate the follow ing pages with a brief history of this "meteoric man." When in the years of Eighteen Hundred and Forty- seven and Forty-eight the love of liberty and the spirit of revolution engulfed all the lands of central Europe, a young student at the University of Bonn, Germany, was enflamed with a desire to aid in the spread of these ideals. It was Carl Schurs — later on, a General in the Union Army; a scholar and statesman. In union with this student were other students of other schools and colleges and universities. Among these latter, equally inspired by high ideals, and a fervid devo- tion to the tenets of personal liberty, was a youth, born in Wuertenburg, who was to emigrate first to England, where he studied the English language (and undoubtedly Englisiced his name, which in German was Johannes B. Baumann. A little later, in about Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-two, he came to America, and led on by the spirit of adventure, journied to Cahokia, where he spent several years. It was on a dreary day in late Fall when this young man of whom we here write, entered the village smithy, — 102 — A METEOR OF THE SKIES 103 and asked for employment. He was of robust build, yet withal a scholar of exceeding thirst for knowledge. Edu- cated in classic lore, he yet was not above asking and re- ceiving employment in this rustic smithy. Here John B. Bowman worked for about a year, diligently studying the French and English languages, and also perfecting himself in the study of civil engineering and law. He then settled in Manchester, near St. Louis, Missouri. There his ex- traordinary learning and great organi2atory talents soon attracted the attention of Missouri's pioneer senator, Hon. Thomas H. Benton, who chose him as his private secre- tary, In this capacity, he accompanied Benton in one of his senatorial campaigns, and reported his speeches for the press of St. Louis, Missouri, and the state. Later, in i854, Senator Benton had him appointed postmaster of Man- chester, Missouri. Soon came the call to accept position as teacher in the public school of Cantine, and there his ambition and his vision pictured, not only the beauties of nature so abund- antly lavished in all these American Bottoms, but he saw, also, the rise of a great industrial center, offspring of old Cahokia, destined to expand until it should cover all the fertile acres of the Cahokia common-fields, and far extend' ing reach up to the bluffs at Alton, Illinois. And thus, John B. Bowman — "smith's helper" at Cahokia— cultivated the talents of his mind, and evolved successively a teacher — a civil engineer — a brilliant law- yer — a shrewd and successful business man — an astute politician, and first Mayor of a city destined to touch, eventually, the very heart of Cahokia, in its industrial growth southward, destined to embrace in its perlieus a school of aviation second to none in these United States, and enfolding in its embrace vast manufacturing plants and railroad and packing house industries. It was but natural that this "smith's helper" of old Cahokia should become representative of a large land com- pany, the Connecticut Land Comapny, with an office in the heart of the Cahokia Commonfields — now East St. Louis, Illinois. 104 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA His genius for government was soon recognised by the people, and he was elected a member of the old Board of Trustees, empowered to secure a charter for the city of East St. Louis, Illinois, and having it granted in by the Legislature of the state. It was altogether owing to his tremendous capacity for work and study, that John B. Bowman was" chosen as attorney of a half dosen railroads entering this city. It was but due to his political sagacity and business acumen that John B. Bowman, erstwhile "smithy's helper' 1 at Cahokia should lend brilliant aid from the year Eighteen Hundred and Sixty to his death, in Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-eight, to all steps of pro- gress encompassing his city and the extensive Cahokia Commonfields. Soon we see him elected Police Magistrate. Then he is chosen secretary of a "Vigilante's Committee" which enforced law and order in this part of the state. Next, he is elected Mayor of East St. Louis, Illinois, and leads a determined fight to abolish the collection of "tolls" on the road leading from Belleville, Illinois, to St. Louis — be named secretary of the first Fire Brigade, organised under the general laws of the state — "The East St. Louis Independent Hook and Ladder Company." Again he is active in bringing under the supervision of his city all the parts thereof, and consolidating the various districts into one coherent unit; then he establishes on a firm basis the first real newspaper in his home city — the "East St. Louis Gazette" — which was published for almost a half cen- tury. Now we see him moving his office to the first im- proved street — Missouri Avenue, which, with its im- proved carriage-way and spacious side walks, was the pride of all Southern Illinois. Then he aided in the establish- ment of the Workingmen's Banking Company. Now we find his name given to the building of the first dike — Bowman's Dike — financed by private enterprise at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. Then his name is found on the roster of the "East St. Louis Turnverein" organised as a private association, purchasing a fine tract of land, on which it erected a spacious building. SON OF A NOBLE MAN 105 Then we find him donating a substantial sum of money, as also some land to two religious institutions — those of St. Patrick's and St. Henry's Churches. Again he is instrumental in constructing a bridge across Cahokia Creek at the foot of Missouri Avenue, and collecting in- dividual subscription for said purpose. And then, bringing to East St. Louis and the Cahokia Common-fields, the vast National Stock Yards — today, if not the second then at least the third largest in all the United States. And now, the crowning effort of the life of this young man, once a "smithy Vhelper" in old Cahokia, and this effort the rais- ing of the grade of all streets in his city of East St. Louis, Illinois, to a level above high-water mark of Eighteen Hundred and Forty-four, which set the record. And then, on July Fourth, he took part in the ceremonies which marked the opening of the highway part of the great Eads Bridge, and on the Twelfth of November, of the same year, he witnessed the illumination of his city, and deliv- ered a masterly address on this occasion. One of the sen- tences of an address delivered on another occasion — a Centennial Celebration of the Independence of the United States — referred to the splendid work of his city council, in aiding so valiantly in passing the necessary ordinances for the raising of the streets. He said, in part: "In times to come, when East St. Louis, Illinois and all this vast Amer- ican Bottoms shall, as it will, be raised above the dangers of all floods, and teeming with business, and be the healthy and comfortable home of hundreds of thousands, instead of ten or fifteen thousand as now, the records of the city will point out the names of these councilmen as those who are to be honored as are the names of the drawers and signers of the Declaration of Independence, because they have made possible to rid this territory from ithe water-foe and his "companying evils." Pages could be devoted to the accomplishments of this man-meteor who flashed through the sky of old Ca- hokia, in the humble guise of a fc 'smithy Vhelper" yet im- bued with a spirit of enterprise that has immortalized his name in the annals of his city, and of the entire American Bottoms; yea, in the annals of his state and country. A BOY SEES TWINKLING LIGHTS A Boy Stands At The Crossroads and Visions A GJo- rious Dream — He Sees J^earby The Twinging Lights of A Rising City. NEAR where, today, the giant liners of the American Airway scome down to Mother Earth when at their journey's end; or, fast ascending in their ever-increas- ing speed, rise from the concrete runway of the Parks Air- port, in the long ago stood a well-built house — that of Sieur Louis Boismenue. Within its walls was born a boy, destined to wield great political influence in the city of his adoption, when once he should have attained to the stature of manhood. To this boy, the chores of the farm were lightsome and without burden. To him, the barn indicated all the glories of the temples of old, and under its rafters he dreamed his golden dreams. From its heights swung the trapeze-rings, on which he toughened the muscles of his arms and the sinews of his legs. From the top of the hay-mow he leaped, as from a springboard, to the heaps of straw gathered for bedding the horse and cow. In this barn, this boy learned the great mysteries of life; and, at the fireside of his home, he imbibed the rudi- ments of education, and the secrets of mathematics and of spencerian penmanship. In the dusk of the evening, when chores had been done, he sat listening to the tales unfolded by his father of forest glades of the American Bottoms — when the swirl of bow and arrow still lent company to the sharp bark of the hunter's long-barreled musket. And, when the story trailed off into reminiscence, the boy accompanied his father, in vision, through the cornfields, through the weeds — 106 — TWINKLING LIGHTS 107 of the tangled meadow, through the patches of tall timber, playing on horns made of pumpkin vines, or blowing shrilly on leaves held taut, edgewise, against the lips; down to the banks of the little river — then the L'Abbe Rivierier, now Harding's Ditch. And, in the distance, he visioned the shimmering band of the mighty Mississippi, now flowing placidly, again flashing on wind-swept ripples against the sandy eastern banks, or breaking in long undulating waves against the western limestone eminence, where today stands high the Convent of St. Joseph, the Church of St. Mary and Joseph — long years the Church of an eminent scientist and as- tronomer — Reverend Father Martin Erennan, A. M. S. D. In these brakes and woods, this boy heard also the cry of the hoot-owl, the freeing of the jay, the complaint of the mourning dove, or the chatter of the squirrel. He heard, also, the shrill cry of boys' voices beckoning to out- door sports — calling, calling, until all the fields and woods seemed vocal with their voices. He saw himself and his companions poised on the limb of some overhanging tree, or on boulder near, poised for the leap into the still waters of the creek, or the sand- colored waters of the great stream. He grew from infancy to childhood, and from child- hood to boyhood in these rural surroundings. He learned to dance gracefully, as became the son of a graceful mother, and a robust French father; grandson, also, and great- grandson of aristocrats of old Cahokia. He walked from out the doors of the old homestead, when manhood sat upon his shoulders, and took up the flaming sword of knowledge, and entered upon the duties of official position of life in a progressive city, close to the very doors of his childhood domicile. He saw nearby, when still a boy, the gleaming lights and the slim towers of a city which was to take him to its bosom, and place him in positions of importance and of responsibility. He saw, across the "Father of Waters," the gleaming lights of a metropolitan city, but their allure was 108 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHDKIA not to fascinate him. The "Queen City of Egypt" — off- spring of his native village, old Cahokia, beckoned, fas- cinated, and held him as with bands of steel, or silken ccrds which bind without fretting the skin. Glorious to him, was the vision of this city — "Queen City of Egypt 1 ' — its temples his temples of worship; its schools of learning,) where somedav his own children should attend, where he graduated from high^school;pts streets and marts of trade; his streets and trading marts; its offices his abodes of duty; its City Hall and Election Com- missioners office; his place of work and responsibility for many, many years. His part in civic life, when once the spirit of love had chained him with golden chains to an amiable maiden in life's long course; a splendid part, de- voted to civic progress, to industrial progress, to charity's all-embracing touch of human sympathy. This boy, grown to man's estate, was known to thousands in all the great American Bottoms — Louis Boismenue, Jr., son of Louis Boismenue, Sr., grandson of Hon. Vital Jearreau (Jarrot) and Madame Marguerita Boismenue his grand-mother. His great grandfather, Sieur Nicholas Jearreau (Jarrot) aristocrat of old Cahokia, and Madame Julia Beauvais Jerreau (Jarrot) his great grand- mother. His wife was Katherine Healy — a native of the Queen City, noted for her works of charity that embraced all its citizens for many decades. Slight of build, quick of action, alert of mind — Louis Boismenue, Jr., soon took his place among the rising men of his adopted city. At the age of sixteen, he entered into service as messenger-boy at the East St. Louis Bank. On June Twenty-ninth, 1878, he read an essay on "American Sports" — whilst a member of the first graduating class of Rock High School, of East St. Louis, Illinois. Up to 1894, he occupied many positions of trust, and on December Eighteenth, 1894, he was appointed Election Commis- sioner. Again and again, he was reappointed to this office, until on December Twenty-third, 1900, he was elected chairman of Election Commissioners Board. A BOY SEES TWINKLING LIGHTS 109 His sociability soon made him an outstanding figure in various societies, among them the Order of Elks, of which he was for many years Exalted Ruler; and of the order of the Knights of Columbus, in which he also held responsi- ble positions. Oil June Eighteenth, 1905, he organised the Alumni of the first graduating class of Rock High School, and on April Twentieth, 1906, he was elected Secretary- treasurer of its Board of Trustees. On May First, 1907, he was elected Treasurer of School District No. 189, with offices in the City Hall. On July Tenth, 1907, he was chosen chairman of the Committee, appointed by the Federal Government, to take the census. And, from that date until his untimely death, Louis Boismenue, Jr., took active part in every movement that meant advancement for his adopted city — offspring of old Cahokia. He died as he lived — a faithful son of the Cath- olic Church, and at his funeral, attended by his fellow citizens, officers of the numerous societies he was a member of, and city officials, a beautiful sermon was delivered by Reverend Patrick Byrne, who spoke of the dignity and destiny given each man by God, and he bestowed high praise on the home and civic virtues of the deceased. We have already mentioned the names of his illus- trious great grandfather and great grandmother, of his noble grandfather and grandmother. His father, too, de- serves high mention in this romantic story of Cahokia. Long a sturdy French farmer in the American Bottoms, he with his family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1866, first residing in the Henry Jackiesh building — still stand- ing on Missouri Avenue this day and hour. On October Seventh, i869, he built, or rather laid the foundations for a substantial home on Ninth street, in which the widow and the children of Louis Boismenue, Jr., live today. In 1873, Louis Boismenue, Sr., was a candidate for County Commissioner. In 1875 he was appointed teller of the East St. Louis Bank, in which Mr. Vital Jarrot was intimately interested. In i878, Louis Boismenue, Sr., was a candidate for Alderman of East St. Louis, Illinois. Thus may be seen the unbroken chain of active, alert and re- 110 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA sourceful progenitors of Louis Boismenue, Jr., to whom these pages have been dedicated. His widow, Mrs. Katherine Healy Boismenue, his son, Jarrot Boismenue, his daughters Marie, Kathryn and Marguerite Boismenue, have kept aglow the spirit of charity so abundantly exemplified by Louis Boismenue, Jr. — child of old Cahokia, citizen of the "Queen City of Egypt" as East St. Louis, Illinois, is so appropriately named. THE DEVASTATING FLOOD Desolation Enthroned Upon Its Site in Eighteen Hun- dred and Forty-four and Eighteen Hundred Fifty-one. DESOLATE and dreary, were the days of the "June Rise" of i844, when the oceans of Heaven's arch that o'er canopied the upper and central reaches of the Mississippi Valley were loosed and a deluge of waters descended for above a week, swelling every creek and stream that emptied its waters into The Father of Waters; and spreading from Alton at the north to Kaskaskia and below at the south, covered all with its dismal pall. At Cahokia the waters formed a mighty inland lake, temporary but not receding for several months, fully thirty miles in length, ten miles in width at its center, and from twenty to forty feet in depth. It enveloped all the fertile Bottoms, and submerged every building and structure raised by human hands, in its onward sweeping rush. Deep, wideforming waves propelling before them the structures torn from their foundations, vast amounts of mighty forest trees uprooted from their natural habitat, cattle and horses and mules caught in their mighty encir- cling arms, all these swept by the high cliffs of Alton, and deposited their detritus in the vast lake but then created. Naught but the top of the greatest mound in all the Amer- ican Bottoms, but what was covered in a watery grave. Before this advancing, destructive force all mankind fled to the Bluffs lying to the east, or crossed over to the city of St, Louis, situated high on the limestone eminence oppo- site. Desolation and general prostration and discourage- ment marked the village. Many left before the encroch- ing waters, and never returned, abandoning houses and lots, to be sold in the future for taxes. Not a single fam- ily in all Cahokia, except that of Sieur Nicholas Jarreau — Ill — 112 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA (Jarrot) and the faithful Sisters that taught school within its confines, lingered until the high water drove them to the second story of their respective residences. We have related how these good Sisters were rescued by melans of a boat that carried them back to St. Joseph's Convent, in Carondolet, South St. Louis, Missouri,. It is related that the Jarreau (Jarrot) family at first decided to linger on, and that they brought their negro servants from their cabins into the mansion. As the water rose they retired to the second story, keeping close at hand a large skiff, in which they ultimately made their way across the waters to St. Louis, Missouri. They left a smaller skiff tied to the strong bannister of the wide stair- way, and this rose serenely with the rising waters, and sank with the receding waters to the level of the lower floor, ere any of the family returned to take up again their abode in this historic home. From the top steps and land- ing of the stairway, the more venturesome of the young folk "went fishing" and one of the frolicsome grand-child dren- — Marie Brackett, dumped the cook into the water, much to the latter's afright. Some of the children also learned to swim in this sheltered pool of waters. History also states that the rich Church vestments which had been immersed in the rising waters, were locked in the ballroom of the second story, and in order that they might not be stolen, during the absence of the family, a catafalque with candles (not lighted however) was set up to frighten the superstitious that might venture in. Nothing was taken, however. With the receding of the waters came sickness and disease, and death. Malaria took possession of many, and lingered long. The gentle Sisters returned to their task, after order had been restored and debris had been cleared away. Much new land had been added to the Eastern shore of the mighty Mississippi, and old Cahokia seemed farther from its banks. Early in September, Madame Jarreau (Jarrot) and her children and servants returned to take up again their res- THE DEVASTATING FLOOD 1 1 3 idence in the "Jarrot Mansion" — cleaned and made to sparkle anew. Other habitants also returned, and soon the quiet and serene life of Cahokia in its somnolent days passed down the stream of time. And, on a certain morning, September Eighth, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the daughters and sons and fathers and mothers of Cahokia gathered in the village Church, there to celebrate this Feast, and to render thanks that the dangers of the great flood had been braved. That morning, when dawn broke, and its reddish glow made the shimmering waters of the river very beautiful, and all the vast expanse of the American Bottoms a glorious sight to behold, these descendants of French progenitors, these servants, realised that danger and death had been near. But the roseate glow of this September morning was like a balm to a troubled world, the sun was a har- binger of joys to come, a feast to their eyes looking with wonder into the veils of the future. Again in the evening the young folk again gathered on the village green, and again as they had done before, in- dulged in the dances of their day and time. It was not a scene like unto those of old France, or even of new France, for there was none of the glittering architecture of Ver- sailles or of Frontenac, but it was a scene of rural charm, of gayety that enlivened all, and made them forget the dark days of the "J une Rise." THE SPIRIT OF AVIATION Modern Methods of Transportation Featured At Par\s Air College, East St. Louis, Illinois, within the boundaries of Old Caho\ia. RECENT years have seen a marvelous development in the flying Passenger Air Craft and the slogan "Straight as the Crow Flies" has taken on a new mean- ing; because today man has outdistanced the birds of soaring aloft, and in flying great distances without mishap or slackening of speed — Chicago to New York, 4 hours 17 minutes, St. Louis to California hours faster than the fast- est transcontinental streamlined train, Diesel engined. To attain this marvelous development of air travel, much time and thought was necessarily given to study of the most perfect of planes, and to the training of air pilots that know how to carry on under the most difficult of air conditions, and traveling at a three or four-mile-a-minute clip. Early in the development of air travel, the great ad- vantages of locating a college of aviation close to the ge- ographical center of the United States was perceived by men interested in the scientific study of the problems that were to be encountered and overcome, if air travel was to take its place in the front ranks. And, in looking about for a suitable site, on which to erect the necessary buildings that should house a modern and up-to-date college of aviation, the Parks Air College chose a splendid site, on level ground, well drained easily parked in, close to East St. Louis, Illinois, the great industrial city of the American Bottoms, and adjacent to the metropolitan city of St. Louis, Missouri, early identified with the science of aviation, and from whence the "Spirit of St. Louis" was piloted across the Atlantic Ocean by an intrepid pilot, Col. Charles Lindbergh. — 114 — THE SPIRIT OF AVIATION 115 In speaking of the development of air travel, Mr. Oliver Parks, President of the Parks Air College, and vice- president of one of America's largest industries, pointed out the splendid services rendered to the aviation industry by this fine East St. Louis, Illinois institution, truly, also a part of Old Cahokia. Every year since the organisation of the Parks Air College, a large munber of specially trained air pilots have been graduated. This year, the enrollnemt has been the largest in the history of the school. An ever increasing market for its graduates is found in enlarged facilities of air travel. In fact, this school is scarcely able to supply the demands made upon it for men trained for aviation in all its branches. And that leads us to mention that hundreds of business men throughout the country are training for airplane flying, and are purchasing planes for business pur- poses, just as they are buying trucks for moving merchand- ise. This phase of training has also been developed at the Parks Air College, and special attention is given to training of business men for solo flying, at a nominal cost and with- out interrupting business operations unduly. Many busi- ness men are purchasing their own airplanes; others rent an airplane just as do many business men who operate a 'rented cab." Mr. Parks is an enthusiast who looks forward to con- stant improvement in the manufacture of airplanes, and hence realises the need of trained specialists in every field of this great industry. He says: "I honestly wish I had twice as many of these fine men to give to the industry, because the industry is really beginning to appreciate the high type of aviators and mechanics of aeronautics we are turning out." A trip to the Parks Air College, so close to the his- toric Church of Old Cahokia, is a pleasing diversion, and one well worth time and effort in attaining. COLONEL VITAL JARROT A Child of Old Caho\ia, Becomes Famous As A Business Man — An Explorer and Negotiator To The Indian Tribes, of The Black Hills. Compiled By Josephine Boylan "COLONEL VITAL JARROT was not proud," my grandmother used to say. (She meant "haughty, orgueilleux." And she would tell me bits of stories — about fes' tivities in the old mansion at Cahokia, about the grand wedding of the Colonel's only daughter. The pictures that stayed most in my child's mind were of Vital Jarrot playing for stakes of golden eagles, stopping at business houses with brisk authoritative orders, welcoming all the town and country into his hall. It was a picture — and a fair enough one — of a squire's life in the old-world fashion, lived in the American Bottoms. But as I have lived longer and read more I have learned of a great many more phases in the life of Colonel Vital Jarrot. I think that they will be just as new and just as interesting to others. He was born September 1C, 1805, the only son of Major Nicholas Jarrot and Julie St. GemmedeBeauvais, at the house which his father had then recently built in the village of Cahokia. He was educated at Georgetown Uni- versity. He became his own master at an early age, subject to his mother's life-time interest in the family estate. He won his military title by active and honorable service in the Black Hawk War. One of his business enterprises was a partnership with S. D. Sumrix in publishing the "American Bottoms Ga- zette." This was the first newspaper in Illinois Town — 116 — COLONEL VITAL JARROT 117 (East St. Louis.) It was founded in 1841 and destroyed by the flood of 1 844. It was more than 20 years before another attempt was made to establish a newspaper in the city. Throughout his adult life Colonel Jarrot went back- wards and forwards from his home in the American Bot- toms to the Far West. He lost two successive wives by death. His only daughter, Josephine Jarrot Boismenue, was safely and happily married at an early age. His life was his own, and he lived it on the widest scale he could. In the East St. Louis Gazette of October 25, 1866 we read, "Colonel Vital Jarrot returned last Saturday after an absence of nearly 18 months as Indian agent at Fort Laramie . . . We have heard it suggested that, as the Col- onel is about satisfied with his wanderings among the wilds of the West, he will put himself at the head of a movement which now exercises the minds of all persons interested in the American Bottoms — embanking and draining. His long residence, his experience as surveyor and his thorough knowledge of topographical conditions of the ground, fit him eminently for this task." Colonel Jarrot *s activities in civic affairs were re- peatedly interrupted by summons from the United States War Department to assist in Indian negotiations. On this occasion he left East St. Louis again barely six weeks after his arrival. He was one of three commissioners to make treaties with the Kansas tribes, and to arrange for the at- tendance of a delegation of Indians at the Paris exposition. Colonel Jarrot's appointment to this position was a personal tribute, since it was made on the recommenda tion of Colonel Lewis V. Bogy, president of the Wiggins Ferry Company and later United States Senator from Mis- souri. Colonel Jarrot differed considerably in politics, both with Bogy and with President Andrew Jackson. Al- though his mother had been the last slave-holder in Illi- nois, he belonged to the faction of the Republican party who were called "radicals," on account of their extreme views on reconstruction. The Gazette says, "His radicalism is unquestioned, but so is his character for integrity and his reputation for ability, energy, and knowledge of the pe- 118 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA culiarities of the red man ... It is unusual for successful politicians to look beyond narrow party limits ..." Colonel Jarrot brought his delegation of Indians across the Mississippi River on January 26-27, 1867. He arranged that they should be accommodated in his home town rather than in St. Louis. A banquet was arranged by Mayor Bowman at Soulaire's, then the principal res- taurant of the city. The entire party of forty continued on to Washing- ton. It had been originally planned that Colonel Jarrot was to accompany the Indians to France; but he felt it his first duty and his personal inclination to remain among his own people of the American Bottoms. His mission to the Kansas Indians was successfully completed by treaties securing the early removal of the tribes to the Indian Territory. He made his report and resigned from the service. During the following years he devoted his major attention to the American Bottoms Board of Improvements, of which he was elected president. This body carried on extensive leveeing and canaling, particularly in shorten- ing Prairie du Pont creek. One of its objectives as laid out in committee report of December 6, 1866, is however, only today being accomplished — "To turn Cahokia Creek into the Mississippi river near the line between St. Clair and Madison counties. " He was elected Mayor of East St. Louis in 1869 and served successfully until 1871. At one time he offered his resignation to the City Council, but, finding no one suitable to succeed him, he was asked to reconsider. He was elected president of the East St. Louis Bank (predecessor to the present First National). Robert A. Tyson, first historian of East St. Louis, wrote in 1875: "Long may the venerable form of Colonel Jarrot be seen among us ! The refinement and polish of men of his lofty stamp exert a salutary influence upon a too blunt and practical age." It seemed that he was destined to close his life peacefully in his native low-lands. A COLONEL VISITS JARROT 119 But the call of the trail sounded again. Colonel Jar' rot was asked to undertake a mission to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Gallant as in the Black Hawk campaign forty years before, he set out on his journey. Always he had gone up the Missouri River — and come back. This was to be a one way journey. On June 5, i877, the old Colonel died at Rapid City. He was buried among the towering many-colored mountains. There he rested two generations before he was brought back to his father's house. His return jour' ney was completed when his dust was laid again, a few years ago, in the Cahokia church-yard where he played as a boy. In his life time he could never tell whether his dearest love was the pointed mountains of the West or the sweet lowlands of the Mississippi Valley. In his death he was divided between them. Note: — The author of the ''Romantic Story of Caho\ia, Illinois," was for 18 years editor and manager of the East St. Louis Gazette, herein referred to from 1896 to 1910. T^otes — Since writing this story the Par\s Air College has been donated to the St. Louis University by Oliver Par\s and his associates. Finis GAHOKIA: INSCRIPTIONS SOME interesting and historic inscriptions were found by the author on several tomb-Stones in the Old Cemetery at Cahokia. Several of these were in French, and partly obliterated by the wear of time. Others were in English, showngi the march of the years. The first noticed was that of Monsieur Nicholas Jarrot. Above were two words Still to be read. They were: "Ice Repose,'" dans . . . and be- neath them a carved figure, splendidly sculptured by an artist, a bas relief of the "Christ Crucified." And below this the words: "Le Cor pis de, NICHOLAS JARROT." It a Vesoul, Franch'Comte; mai, 1764 — Mort a Decembre, Huitieme, 1820. A second tomb-Stone was erected in honor of his wife which is Still in fair condition. It also has an inscription in French, at top, which is almost entirely obliterated. In the center of this Stone is a carved figure of the "Immaculate Conception, 1 ' finely sculptured. Below it are the words: "JULIA BEAUVAIS JARROT, nee a Kas\as\ia, Kg 4 Mars, 1780, mort le 4 Septembre, 1870," thus attesting to a venerable old age. A third which bears part of the inscription in English and part in French, is that of their daughter Ortance. Part of the inscription reads: ORTANCE JARROT, bom May 29, 1799, died August 29, 1886," and below this, as ou the Stones of her parents are the words, in French, "Priez on supplies pour V ame d'elle," which translated are "Pray for her Soul." And the fourth shows the transition to the English. It is the tombstone of Vital Jarrot, noted resident of the American Bottoms, and of St. Louis, Missouri, for many years. The inscription reads: "VITAL JARROT (born Caho\ia, Illinois, Sept. 10,1805; died (Blac\ Hills), Rapid City, S. D., June 5th, 1877. The tomb-Stone which now graces the grave of Rever- end Jacque, is inscribed in English, also. It is a second Stone, undoubtedly, because the Stone of Father Condamine is very old, and no words thereon are to be read. But the inscription on the other reads: "In Memory oj Rev. Fa- ther JOHH A. JACQJJE, born in Loraine, France, died in Caho\ia, July 14th, 1878. R.I.P." UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA 977.389SU2R1947 C001 THE ROMANTIC STORY OF CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS, 3 0112 025399707