Madison
County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - April 12, 2012
The April 2012 meeting of the Madison
County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on
Thursday, April 12, at 7:00 pm.
President, Robert Ridenour, called the
meeting to order.
A large audience came to hear our
speaker, Gillum Ferguson tell
us about Illinois in the War of 1812.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a family member that is
interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison
County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will
be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00
Contact our Secretary, Barbara Hitch, at racerbarb@aol.com,
about a gift membership.
April
Meeting
On April 12, 2012, Gillum
Ferguson, retired state and federal prosecutor and author of Illinois in the
War of 1812, gave a brief discussion of what the War of 1812 was, why it is
important, and then focused on the State of Illinois and Madison County, which
was on the front line during the War of 1812.
On June 18, 1811, two men were working in a recently cleared field in what is
now in the city of Alton, Illinois. These men were farmers and they had pushed
beyond what was then the furthest line of settlement. They had build a cabin there and were plowing with a horse. They were
hard at work and saw five Menominee Indians approaching. They had come from the
north. The two farmers were alarmed and began to move for their rifles. The
lead Indian, a big powerful man, put down his rifle and came forward with his
hand extended, saying "Bonjour, bonjour." Relieved, one farmer, named
Price, put down his gun and moved to shake hands with the Indian, who held him
fast while the other Indians charged and killed Price with their tomahawks.
The other man, even though he had received several blows from the Indians, was
able to cut the plow horse loose and escape. They fired at him and wounded him
further. By one reckoning, these were the first shots fired in the War of 1812.
The wounded man escaped to warn the settlements. His name was not mentioned because
there are differing versions of his identity. Some say it was Price's young
son, other accounts give his name as Hudgins. The one most
trustworthy is a letter written by the Territorial Governor of Illinois,
Ninian Edwards, who says the man's name was Ellis.
The murder of Price and the killing of a young man named Elijah Cox on June 2,
1811, near the present village of Pocahontas, Illinois, were the events that
precipitated the slide toward the War of 1812 in Illinois.
Although the United States became independent in 1783, when the Treaty of Paris
ended the Revolutionary War, the independence existed largely on paper. It was
not fully recognized by the powers that be, especially Great Britain, the
former Colonial master. Over the next 15 years, British forces continued to
occupy, illegally, in violation of the terms of the treaty, forts in Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and for a time, Indiana. Eventually, they were withdrawn.
Over the next 15 years, Great Britain and Napoleonic France were locked in a death
struggle. The United States was drawn into it in several ways. The British
tried to keep up their credit with the Indian tribes by monopolizing the fur
trade to the extent they could and also by arming them, supplying them with
weapons that could be used for hunting or for WAR. Britain treated the United
States as if it were still a wayward colony and
American ships were boarded and searched. American sailors were kidnapped and
ships seized within sight of the American coast.
Finally, goaded beyond endurance, the United States declared war on Britain on
June 12, 1812, proving to the entire world that there were some insults that
this country would not swallow and some lines behind which it could not be
pushed!
This was the real importance of the War of 1812, not the fact that the country
fought with only mediocre success over the next two and a half years. But the
fact that it fought at all, served notice on the nations of the world that the
United States was assuming its place as a nation to which international respect
had to be paid.
In Illinois, the importance of the fact was even more pivotal. In 1809, the
Illinois Territory was divided off of Indiana. The territory encompassed
110,000 square miles, including not only the current state of Illinois, but
also the state of Wisconsin and little slices of the upper peninsula of
Michigan, and a portion of Minnesota. In this entire territory, excluding
Indians, the census taker of 1810 counted 12,282 people. That is a population
density lower than that of present day Alaska. The population was not evenly
distributed but was found along the Mississippi River from St. Louis south to
the Ohio River, along the Ohio to the Wabash River, and north along the western
bank of the Wabash.
Over the next two and a half years, Madison County bore the brunt of the
fighting. Many prominent people of the War of 1812, and prominent pioneers and
soldiers came from Madison County. Fort Russell, near present day Edwardsville,
was where the Territorial Governor, Ninian Edwards, had
his headquarters. Other prominent individuals included the Rector and Whiteside
families. The nine Rector brothers were all over six feet tall and weighed over
200 pounds. They moved shoulder to shoulder wherever they went. The Whiteside
family included William Whiteside, Revolutionary War veteran and Colonel of the
militia in Madison County. His son, William Bolin Whiteside, was the first
chosen Captain of the militia. William's nephew, Samuel Whiteside, started as
an Ensign in the Militia, became a Captain of the Illinois Territorial Rangers,
and eventually became a General in the later Blackhawk War.
This interesting presentation was well received and generated quite a few
questions and comments from the large audience.