A SERMON.
Chicago was not, at the period of my first visit, the cheerful, happy
place it had once been. The death of Dr. Wolcott, of Lieutenant Furman,
and of a promising young son of Mr. Beaubien, all within a few weeks of
each other, had thrown a gloom over the different branches of the social
circle.
The weather, too, was inclement and stormy beyond anything that had been
known before. Only twice, during a period of two months, did the sun
shine out through the entire day. So late as the second week in April,
when my husband had left to return to Fort Winnebago, the storms were so
severe that he and his men were obliged to lie by two or three days in
an Indian lodge.
Robert Kinzie, Medard Beaubien, and Billy Caldwell had gone at the same
time to the Calumet to hunt, and, as they did not make their appearance
for many days, we were persuaded they had perished with cold. They
returned at length, however, to our infinite joy, having only escaped
freezing by the forethought of Robert and Caldwell in carrying each two
blankets instead of one.
Our only recreation was an occasional ride on horseback, when the
weather would permit, through the woods on the north side of the river,
or across the prairie, along the lake shore on the south.
When we went in the former direction, a little bridle-path took us along
what is now Rush Street. The thick boughs of the trees arched over our
heads, and we were often compelled, as we rode, to break away the
projecting branches of the shrubs which impeded our path. The little
prairie west of Wright's Woods was the usual termination of our ride in
this direction.
When we chose the path across the prairie towards the south, we
generally passed a new-comer, Dr. Harmon, superintending the
construction of a _sod fence_, at a spot he had chosen, near the shore
of the lake. In this inclosure he occupied himself, as the season
advanced, in planting fruit-stones of all descriptions, to make ready a
garden and orchard for future enjoyment.
We usually stopped to have a little chat. The two favorite themes of the
Doctor were horticulture, and the certain future importance of Chicago.
That it was destined to be a great city, was his unalterable conviction;
and in deed, by this time, all forest and prairie as it was, we half
began to believe it ourselves.
On the pleasant afternoons which we occasionally enjoyed as the season
advanced, we found no small amusement in practising pistol-firing. The
place appropriated to this sport was outside the pickets, the mark being
placed on a panel in one of the bastions. The gentlemen must not be
offended if I record that, in process of time, the ladies acquired a
degree of skill that enabled them, as a general thing, to come off
triumphant. One of the ladies, Mrs. Hunter, was a great shot, having
brought down her grouse on the wing, to the no small delight of one of
the officers, Captain Martin Scott, of raccoon celebrity.
Now and then there was a little excitement within the fort, aroused by
the discovery that _a settler_ had been engaged in selling milk-punch,
instead of milk, to the soldiers, thereby interfering in no small degree
with the regularity and perfect discipline of the service. The first
step was to "drum out" the offender with all the honors of war--that is,
with a party-colored dress, and the Rogue's March played behind him. The
next, to place all the victims of this piece of deception in the
guard-house, where the commanding officer's lady supplied them
bountifully with coffee and hot cakes, by way of opening their eyes to
the enormity of their offence. It is not to be wondered at that the
officers sometimes complained of its being more of a strife with the
soldiers who should get into the guard-house, than who should keep out
of it. The poor fellows knew when they were well off.
Once, upon a Sunday, we were rowed up to Wolf Point to attend a
religious service, conducted by Father See, as he was called.
We saw a tall, slender man, dressed in a green frock-coat, from the
sleeves of which dangled a pair of hands giving abundant evidence,
together with the rest of his dress, that he placed small faith in the
axiom--"cleanliness is a part of holiness."
He stepped briskly upon a little platform behind a table, and commenced
his discourse. His subject was, "The fear of God."
"There was a kind of fear," he told us, "that was very nearly
a_lee_-a-nated to love: so nearly, that it was not worth while splitting
hairs for the difference." He then went on to describe this kind of
fear. He grew more and more involved as he proceeded with his
description until at length, quite bewildered, he paused, and exclaimed,
"Come, let's stop a little while, and clear away the brush." He
unravelled, as well as he was able, the tangled thread of his ideas,
and went on with his subject. But soon, again losing his way, he came to
a second halt. "Now," said he, wiping the perspiration from his forehead
with a red cotton handkerchief many degrees from clean, "now, suppose we
drive back a little piece." Thus he recapitulated what he wished to
impress upon us, of the necessity of cherishing a fear that maketh wise
unto salvation, "which fear," said he, "may we all enjoy, that together
we may soar away, on the rolling clouds of aether, to a boundless and
happy eternity, which is the wish of your humble servant." And,
flourishing abroad his hands, with the best of dancing-school bows, he
took his seat.
It will be readily imagined that we felt our own religious exercises at
home to be more edifying than such as this, and that we confined
ourselves to them for the future.
The return of our brother, Robert Kinzie, from Palestine (not the Holy
Land, but the seat of the Land Office), with the certificate of the
title of the family to that portion of Chicago since known as "Kinzie's
Addition," was looked upon as establishing a home for us at some future
day, if the glorious dreams of good Dr. Harmon, and a few others, should
come to be realized. One little incident will show how moderate were the
anticipations of most persons at that period.
The certificate, which was issued in Robert's name (he representing the
family in making the application), described only a fractional
quarter-section of one hundred and two acres, instead of one hundred and
sixty acres, the river and Lake Michigan cutting off fifty-eight acres
on the southern and eastern lines of the quarter. The applicants had
liberty to select their complement of fifty-eight acres out of any
unappropriated land that suited them.
"Now, my son," said his mother to Robert, "lay your claim on the
corn-field at Wolf Point. It is fine land, and will always be valuable
for cultivation; besides, as it faces down the main river, the situation
will always be a convenient one."
The answer was a hearty laugh. "Hear mother!" said Robert. "We have just
got a hundred and two acres--more than we shall ever want, or know what
to do with, and now she would have me go and claim fifty-eight acres
more!"
"Take my advice, my boy," repeated his mother, "or you may live one day
to regret it."
"Well, I cannot see how I can ever regret not getting more than we can
possibly make use of." And so the matter ended. The fifty-eight acres
were never claimed, and there was, I think, a very general impression
that asking for our just rights in the case would have a very grasping,
covetous look. How much wiser five-and-twenty years have made us!
* * * * *
During my sojourn of two months at Chicago, our mother often entertained
me with stories of her early life and adventures. The following is her
history of her captivity among the Senecas, which I have put in the form
of a tale, although without the slightest variation from the facts as I
received them from her lips, and those of her sister, Mrs. William
Forsyth, of Sandwich (C.W.), the little Maggie of the story.