Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1840-12-01

a quaker wagon arrived at the log tavern
of Mr. Coolidge, very near the centre Of
this county; from which alighted a gentle.
man eyed about sixty, with his wife per-
hapsa dozen years his junior a Trunk
or two completed the load. The stranger
inquired if he could be accommodated With
board for n few days, to which Mr. Cool
idge replied that his cabin was small at
the best, and that just now he was oyerrun
with new Corners but that he would DO The
best he could, The stranger asked il there
was no other place in the settlement where
he could get shelter; but receiving for an
swer that every house was full, he asked
if there was any " claim" he could pur-
chase, adding that he liked the appearance
Of the country AMI wished to settle. Mr..
&. answered that he had learned within
day or two that a man who had arrived
few days before, and had made a claim
about a mile north, was disposed TO
sell it, but that he knew OF no other.
The direction being pointed out TO him
the stranger found no difficulty in find
ing the spot and there saw family prepa-
ring TO cook their supper in front Of wa
gon which served for their domicl to sleep
in at night, while n few newly raised logs
with a clapboard roof furnished a shelter
from the sun 10 the day time in that sullry
season. The stranger began, 81 under
stand you wish to sell this claim" Why
yes: I've been thinking of it, and if my
broiheris agreed, | dom know butI would"
" How much land have YOU taken up?'-
4 quarter section. " Is this the only house
on it!" This is the only one that's covered
but my brother has got some logs rolled up
over on that pint yonder. " Do you know
the lines of the cIaim?' Yes, it runs bv
this bluff, takes in the bottom you see there,
and crosses the creek by that bIackwaInut |
"Tha's enough. What do YOU ask for
itF' Well I'll take three hundred dollars
"IIl give it. Step over to MIR. Coolidg's, |
and III hand you the money" The Set
tier followed the stranger accordingly, re-
cciycd the money, and the claim changed |
owners without further circumIocution or
beating about the bush.
Reader, the purchaser was the Rt Rev. |
Ptilander Chase, bishop ofthe diocese Of |
Illinois, and such was his entrance into |
our county The next day the logs were |
hauled from 'the pint and placed along the |
cabin first spoken ola team was dis
patched 10 Peoria for load Of boards-a |
floor was laid on the same day. on The day |
following Bishop &. was fixed in his new |
habhation.
Had VIC time we might here descant |
upon the yaric scenes which have mark
Cd the life Of this venerable prelate, so far
as we have Incidentally learnt them from
others and from himself, and show through
out them all the same humble reliance up
on Divine Providence, and consequently |
the same habitual cheerluIness Of mind and |
buoyancy Of spirits, whether treading upon
the carpets Of the nobility Of England, or
sleeping on his straw bed in his rude log
cabin-whelher preaching to assembled
thousands in ST. Pau's church in Lon
don, or conducting the same religious SER
vice before half dozen hearers on the
banks ofthe kckapoo, on the frontier Of
our country. Butwe must pass on.
Bishop Chase, after leaving Kenyon
college, Ohio, never for moment abandon
ed the design Of establishing another in
stiution Of similar character in the far
west This led him 10 our country, and !
having thus secured a home for his lami-
~, he began to look around him with the
view Of obtaining more lands which should
inure TO the benefit Of the contemplated |
sustitutIon. The township in which he
had located, as the reader who knows any |
thing about claims is already advised, with |
one or two adjoining was not yet in mar
kct, and it was an object TO secure as much |
Of these as his means would permit. From
the settlers around he purchased claims,
so that, when the land was brought into /
market two years afterwards, in the fall
Of '3S) he was able 10 purchase, if we re-
member correctly, about 1000 acres at GO
ycrnment price, | % per acre. His chief
object accomplished the interchangeable pio-
neer, as soon as the season permitted the
ensuing spring, commenced his building
operations, and laid the foundation of the
chapel Of Julibee college. This was near
~ completed the same year; when fail
ing to sell the real estate in Michigan,
from which source he had expected TO re-
alizc funds with which TO proceed, his
means were exhausted, and in November
he set out on journey to the south TO pre-
sent his enterprise 20 the lberalty of the
christian public. He returned during the
last month, and the chapel having been en-
tirely finished, an early day was appointed
for its consccra,iou.
Here again We ought TO break off our
narrative and note the change which four
years have wrought in that part of our
country. We ought to describe the resi-
dence Of the bishop-the two original log
houses now neatly plastered inside and
out, with the frame additions to each end
al oo,I,.Voncloeoj v,i,b ,olinCe. tho L,Il