Elijah Phillips Elijah Phillips ( April 11 , 1809 – June 18 , 1832 ) was an early Illinois settler who was killed during the 1832 Black Hawk War , a conflict between white settlers and elements of the Sauk and Fox nations under Sauk leader Black Hawk . Phillips was born in New Hampshire and settled near Dover , Illinois around 1830 . During the war he , along with other settlers , fled their settlements in fear of Native American raids . In June 1832 Phillips returned to his cabin with six other men to retrieve some belongings . The group was attacked early one morning and Phillips was killed . Early life . Elijah Phillips was born in Fitzwilliam , New Hampshire on April 11 , 1809 , son , and one of ten total children of Elijah Phillips . Phillips left New Hampshire for Illinois at a young age in 1830 . He traveled by foot , and steamboat , passing over Lake Erie and the Erie Canal in his journey . He arrived in Illinois , where he met his friends , James G . Forristall and Sylvester Brigham , who had already established themselves and erected a log cabin . This site , in present - day Bureau County , Illinois near Dover , was where Phillips decided to settle . In Illinois . Elijah Phillips settled a site near Berlin and Dover Townships , in present day Bureau County , Illinois . The area was first settled by John L . Ament and his brother Justin , shortly after the pair settled , Justin sold his land to Phillips . Phillips erected his own cabin about one half mile ( . 8 km ) from John Ament ' s cabin . Death . When the Black Hawk War erupted between elements of the Sauk and Fox and the Illinois and Michigan Territorial Militia in 1832 settler families had fled , leaving their goods and livestock behind . Eventually , it was decided that it was safe to return to the settlement to tend to the deserted possessions . About two weeks after fleeing the site , a party of seven men , Elijah Phillips , J . Hodges , Sylvester Brigham , John L . Ament , Aaron Gunn , James G . Forristall and a 16 - year old named Ziba Dimmick left Hennepin , Illinois for the small settlement along Bureau Creek where Ament ' s cabin was located . Phillips was a member of the militia , enlisted as a private in Captain George B . Willis ' company out of Putnam County , Illinois – it is unclear whether any of the other men were militia members . The next morning , either June 17 or June 18 , the band of about 30 Native Americans returned to their hidden positions of the day before and awaited the settlers . When the settlers awoke , Brigham and Phillips went onto the porch of Ament ' s cabin where they conversed for a few minutes , failing to notice the moccasin tracks around the property . Phillips decided to go to his cabin , about a half mile ( . 8 km ) from Ament ' s property , to finish a letter to his parents . Brigham , intending to accompany Phillips , entered his cabin for a moment , and when he did he heard the crack of musket fire outside . Phillips dropped to the ground , struck by two musket balls , and the band of raiding Native Americans immediately descended upon him with their tomahawks . Phillips ' date of death is recorded as June 18 , 1832 in the 1888 book " The History of Fitzwilliam , New Hampshire , from 1752 - 1887 " .