The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1879-12-04
THE DAILY BULLETIN.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES oFILLINoIs


Extracts from paper read by Dr. Ben
Boon before the jackson County Old Folks
Association:
In 1920 Philip Frances Rcnault came 70
Illinois. He brought with him POO mechan-
les, mincrs and laDorcrs to prosecute mining
for gold, silver, etc. At St. Domingo he
purchased 500 slaves and brought them 10
Illinois for the purpose Of working the
mines. lie located at a place which he
named 81. Phillip, this was on the Misss
sippi river five or six miles above where
Fort Charters Was built. He made cXpior-
atoms on Drewrys Creek, in jackson county,
81. Narys, in Randolph county and III
Monroe county, along Silver Creek, in St.
Clair county and many other places and
that, too, Tor about ten years together.
Renauit finally turned his whole attention
to the smelling Of lead, being disappointed
in the finding OF gold and silver. He also
worked the mines in Missouri, lead was
conveyed on pack-horses to the river and
thence TO New Orleans in perogues. In
1856 the lead mines OF Iowa and Illinois
were discovered and worked from 1882 to
1872. The Gaiena mines made 335, 100
pounds If lead In 1888 the amount was
100000 pounds.
About the year 1890, or earlier, Kaskas-
kia, Cahokia and Peoria (Crevicemo) were
settled. kaskaskia was called The Vii
lage Of the Immaculate Conception of the
Virgin Mary jesuit catholics.
In l1ls Fort Charters was begun by VI.
De Boisbreant. Fort Charters was rebuilt
in 1856 at the breaking out of war between
France and England. Fort Massac, on the
Ohio river, was built about the same time,
another fort was built on the same site; the
first having been destroyed and all the
troops massacred. This new fort was
named Massacre by the French; it was a
Missouri station as carly as I'LL. In the
year 1863 Great Britain, by treaty, became
the owner of Illinois country. Mons Taget
in the year 1854 built a watermill near
Kaskaskia. In the village of Kaskaskia at
this date were siXty-fye families, besides
merchants, and other casual people, and
slaves. All of Illinois constituted one
county, called Illinois, in IFS. Nir-
gina, in the year 1874, coded all her north
west territory TO the continental congress.
Illinois remained without an organized gov
eminent until 1890. General Clark cap.
tured Kaskaskia, Fort Gage, Cahokla and
Fort Nncennes. At this date the French
villages OF KaskaskiN, Cahokia, Prairie du
Rocher, Fort Charters, Village a Cote,
Prairie du Pont and few families scat
tered along the Wabash and Illinois rivers,
the remainder Of Illinois was the abode of
the untamed savage. Tradition tells US of
many hard fought battles between the orig
inql owners Of the country and these intrud-
ers. Battle Ground Creek is we'll known
on the road from Kaskaskia TO Shawnee
town. Twenty miles from the former place
is where the kaskaskia and thar allies were
dreadtully slaughtered by the united forces
of the klckapoos and Pottawatimus
Of the Indians the Kickapoos were
the most formidable and most dangerous
neighbors to the whites and for number
of years kept the American sett,emen s
III continued alarm. At first they appeared
friendly but from 1856 to 1896, a period
tinued alarm from them and other Indians
In the year 1881 Americans first settled
in Illinois above and at Kaskaskia. Vim.
Boon, in 1895, when Is years old, arrived
at Kaskaskia. The first Baptist minister
James Smith, arrived in 111S and the first
Methodist minister, Joseph Lillard, arrived
in 1892. In 1897 fatal sickness appeared
in New Design, and out of Il colony of
1876 persons, from Virginia, SO or one-halt
died, They were swept off by putrid
fever uncommonly malignant Sometimes
it did It's work in a few hours.
The following are the counties first set
tied in Illinois; 1900, ST. Clair county or
gained including all of Illinois 1895, Ran
dolph county organized embracing all of
south illinois; 1909 Illinois Territory organ
lied with Ninian Edwards, Governor and
Nathaniel Pope, Secretary; 1912, Madison,
Galatin and johnson counties organized !;
1916, White county organized; 1916, Jack
son, Crawford, Monroe and Pope organized
making eleven counties in Illinois Terrific
ry to this date. The question may be asked
when and where did the first settlers locate
in the present county of Jacksonf From
1900 to 1910 it was settled in the following
places; Reed and Jones settled under the
bluffs in the Mississippi bottom, about lS( 0
or 1901. They were the first and were farm
ers. Henry Neble and Jesse Gfigger and
others settled on Big Muddy river in 1904,
there were also farmers at the Bluff and on
the Mississippi river, Parker Grosvcpor Un
Brooks, and son-n-law, Truman Ducy, VIM.
Roberts and some others. AT the Big Hill,
Oven and Walker Hill and near the mouth
of Muddy several families settled as early as
1905 or 1906, At Sand Ridge and Big Mud
dy and at the Bluffs, also on the Ridge east
Of Muddy was few settlers making in all
about q families IN the different and separ-
ate settlements and about 100 souls.
AT these early times two of the great
al, IF th,, g., 4 80 4