John kinzie chicago

Margaret lived with Kinzie in Detroit and had three children with him. After several years, she left Kinzie and Detroit and returned to Virginia with their children. All three of the Kinzie children eventually moved as adults to Chicago. In , Kinzie lost his business in the Kekionga modern Fort Wayne, Indiana and had to move further from the western U.

The U. As the United States settlers continued to populate its western territory, Kinzie moved further west. Antoine Ouilmette was the first permanent white settler of Chicago building a cabin at the mouth of the Chicago River in July of By the time they moved to Chicago, about , they had a son, John H.

John H. When John H. Eleanor had three more children in Chicago. In Kinzie purchased the cabin and land from his partner William Burnett who in-turn bought it from Jean Baptiste La Lime , who worked as an interpreter at Fort Dearborn, which he purchased it from the original builder, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable the "du" of Point du Sable is a misnomer. It is an American corruption of "de" as pronounced in French, " Jean Baptiste Point de Sable " and first appears long after his death.

The cabin was located at the mouth of the Chicago River. His partner William Burnett had owned the house since After the U. In Kinzie and Whistler became embroiled in a dispute over Kinzie supplying alcohol to the Indians. In April, Whistler and other senior officers at the fort were removed; Whistler was replaced as commandant of the fort by Captain Nathan Heald. Kinzie was said to be an "aggressive" trader and was described as a "volatile and violent character" who clashed with some American soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn.

La Lime was Chicago's first murder victim. There was a witness account. The War of began between Great Britain and the United States, and tensions rose on the northern frontier. Kinzie fled to Milwaukee, then the Indian territory. While in Milwaukee, he met with pro-British Indians who were planning attacks on U.

Kinzie went back to Chicago. Historians speculate that La Lime may have been informing on corruption related to purchasing supplies within the fort and had been silenced. The case has been called "Chicago's first murder. On April 6, , a party of ten or twelve Winnebagoes, dressed and painted, arrived at the Lee house, and, according to the custom among savages[1], entered and seated themselves without ceremony.

What happened next was horrific. This incident was the precursor to the Fort Dearborn Massacre later that summer. Although worried that Chicago would be on heightened alert, the Indians attacked Fort Dearborn on August 15, , and killed most of the people in the fort. Billy Caldwell arrived on the scene just after the battle and saved the lives of the John Kinzie family. Historians have been unable to verify it.

Kinzie escaped with his family unharmed and returned to Detroit. Identifying as a British citizen, Kinzie had a strong anti-U. In , the British arrested Kinzie and Jean Baptiste Chardonnai, also then living in Detroit, charging them with treason.

They were accused of having corresponded with the enemy the U. General Harrison's army while supplying gunpowder to chief Tecumseh's Indian forces, who were fighting alongside the British. Chardonnai escaped, but Kinzie was imprisoned on a ship for transport to England. When the ship put into port in Nova Scotia to weather a storm, Kinzie escaped. Here business prospered. In Kinzie had a quarrel with Jean Lalime, a French trader, whom he killed, supposedly in self-defense.

In the massacre of Fort Dearborn troops in August of that year, Kinzie and his family were saved by friendly Indians. They retreated first to St. Joseph and then to Detroit, where Kinzie, suspected of American sympathies, was arrested by the British and imprisoned. He never recovered from the effects of the war either in his property or person. In he returned to Chicago and lived there until his death.

In he aided the commissioners who came to make an Indian treaty, and in was commissioned justice of the peace. Kinzie was known as one of the first European settlers of Chicago and for killing Jean La Lime in It was the first documented murder in the area of Chicago. He was also remembered for his trading business in the Northwest Territory of the United States and his help in establishing relations with Indians.

A subdivision and a street in Chicago bear his name. There were four children: John H. Kinzie, Jr. William W. Gordon of Savannah, Georgia. Kinzie, author of the famous historical work. Wau-bun , died in after taking morphine in mistake for quinine. John H. Kinzie himself, after a long and useful life, died as perhaps he would have wished. It was on June 21, , when he had obtained leave of absence from the army and was in a train on his way to the seaside to rest. A blind beggar asked for alms, and Mr.

Kinzie died of heart failure while in the act of taking a coin from his pocket to relieve the blind man. At N. First Child and First Bride. Ellen Marion Kinzie, born under the roof of the old John Kinzie house, in December, , was the first white child born in Chicago.

Her early childhood was spent with Indian playmates, but later the little maiden was taken away to escape the dangers resulting from the hostilities of those times. Alexander Wolcott, who was Indian Agent.