Jean La Lime

Last updated

Jean La Lime or Lalime (died June 17, 1812) was a trader from Quebec, Canada who worked in what became the Northwest Territory of the United States. He worked as an agent for William Burnett, also of Canada, to sell to the Native Americans and take furs in exchange. He was among the first European permanent settlers in Chicago. He was killed there in 1812, in what was called the "first murder in Chicago", by John Kinzie, a trading partner of Burnett who was another early settler from Canada.

Background

During the time of the American Revolutionary War, France joined the cause of the Americans against the British. Because of this, in their Canadian territories, the British treated those of French heritage more harshly. Several families, the first two being the families of Jean La Lime and Antoinne Ouillemette, fled to the Eschikagou (Chicago) area to escape the harsh treatment. [1] After trading along the frontier and likely in Detroit, La Lime arrived in the Chicago area on August 17, 1792 as an agent for William Burnett of Canada. In 1800, he purchased the homestead of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable for Burnett for 6,000 livres. [2] The bill of sale was filed in Detroit, Michigan on September 18, 1800, although dated in Chicago on May 7 of that year. [3]

By 1804, Burnett's partner, John Kinzie, who also settled in Chicago, had bought the former du Sable house. He lived there with his wife and first child. They had three other children born in Chicago.

After the Americans established Fort Dearborn in 1804, La Lime worked there as an interpreter, aiding communication between the Americans and Indians. He broke his leg in 1809 and, as it was improperly set, was left lame.

On June 17, 1812 in Chicago, La Lime and Kinzie quarreled, and Kinzie killed him. Kinzie fled to Milwaukee, then in Indian territory. [4] He claimed La Lime had shot at him and he had stabbed the interpreter in self-defense. [2] Historians have speculated that La Lime was acting as an informant on the corrupt economic activities within the fort, and Kinzie killed him to silence him. It has been also proposed the Kinzie's attempted to cover up the families early real estate transactions, substituting Francis May as the original owner (who died after eating at the son's [James] home).

La Lime was originally buried within sight of Kinzie's house, as the European settlement was thinly strung along Lake Michigan. Kinzie maintained the gravesite. After he died in 1828, his son John H. Kinzie had La Lime's remains exhumed and reinterred in the churchyard of St. James Church. [5]

In 1891, a coffin was discovered at Wabash Avenue and Illinois Street near the Rush Street Bridge. [2] Based on the research of Joseph Kirkland, the bones inside were believed to be La Lime's. The remains are held by the Chicago History Museum. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Baptiste Point du Sable</span> Early founder of Chicago

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is regarded as the first permanent non-Indigenous settler of what would later become Chicago, Illinois, and is recognized as the "Founder of Chicago". A school, museum, harbor, park, bridge, and road have been named in his honor. The site where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago River around the 1780s is identified as a National Historic Landmark, now located in Pioneer Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fort Dearborn</span>

The Battle of Fort Dearborn was an engagement between United States troops and Potawatomi Native Americans that occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois. The battle, which occurred during the War of 1812, followed the evacuation of the fort as ordered by the commander of the United States Army of the Northwest, William Hull. The battle lasted about 15 minutes and resulted in a complete victory for the Native Americans. After the battle, Fort Dearborn was burned down. Some of the soldiers and settlers who had been taken captive were later ransomed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Dearborn</span> Historic fort built at site of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn during the War of 1812, and a second fort was constructed on the same site in 1816. By 1837, the fort had been de-commissioned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kinzie</span> American fur trader

John Kinzie was a fur trader from Quebec who first operated in Detroit and what became the Northwest Territory of the United States. A partner of William Burnett from Canada, about 1802-1803 Kinzie moved with his wife and child to Chicago, where they were among the first permanent white non-indigenous settlers. Kinzie Street (400N) in Chicago is named for him. Their daughter Ellen Marion Kinzie, born in 1805, was not the first child of European descent born in the settlement because the first permanent non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, was of European descent, specifically French from his father's side, while his mother was a descendant of Africa. His children, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, Jr. and Suzanne, were born before her in 1776 and 1778, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toussaint Charbonneau</span> French-Canadian explorer and trader

Toussaint Charbonneau was a French-Canadian explorer, trader and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also known as the husband of Sacagawea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Shore Drive</span> Lake-side expressway in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Lake Shore Drive is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to parkland and beaches, in Chicago. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue, Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S. Highway 41.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DuSable High School</span> Public high school in Chicago, Illinois, US

Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public four-year high school campus located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. DuSable is owned by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school was named after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable. Constructed between 1931 and 1934, DuSable opened in February 1935. Since 2005, the school campus serves as home to two smaller schools: the Bronzeville Scholastic Institute and the Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine. Both of the schools use the DuSable name in an athletics context. The DuSable Leadership Academy was housed at the location until it closed after the 2015–16 school year. The school building was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 1, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DuSable Bridge</span> Bridge in Chicago, Illinois

The DuSable Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the main stem of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The bridge was proposed in the early 20th century as part of a plan to link Chicago's south side and north side parks with a grand boulevard. Construction of the bridge started in 1918, it opened to traffic in 1920, and decorative work was completed in 1928. The bridge provides passage for vehicles and pedestrians on two levels. An example of a fixed trunnion bascule bridge, it may be raised to allow tall ships and boats to pass underneath. The bridge is included in the Michigan–Wacker Historic District and has been designated as a Chicago Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite</span> United States historic place

The Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite is the location where, around the 1780s, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable located his home and trading post. This home is generally considered to be the first permanent, non-native, residence in Chicago, Illinois. The site of Point du Sable's home is now partially occupied by and commemorated in Pioneer Court at 401 N. Michigan Avenue in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Court</span> Plaza in Chicago

Pioneer Court is a plaza located near the junction of the Chicago River and Upper Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It is believed to be the site of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable's original residence and trading post. In 1965, the plaza was built on the former site of his homestead as part of the construction of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America building. The Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite was designated as a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. John Kinzie, a prominent early settler, bought and expanded Point du Sable's post in 1800. The Plaza is bounded on the north by the Tribune Tower, on the east by 401 N. Michigan Avenue, on the south by the Chicago River, and on the west by Michigan Avenue, adjacent to the DuSable Bridge. In 2017, a newly designed Apple Inc. store was opened on the south side of the court, which created new levels linking down to the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan–Wacker Historic District</span> Historic district in Illinois, United States

The Michigan–Wacker Historic District is a National Register of Historic Places District that includes parts of the Chicago Loop and Near North Side community areas in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The district is known for the Chicago River, two bridges that cross it, and eleven high rise and skyscraper buildings erected in the 1920s. Among the contributing properties are the following Chicago Landmark structures:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equitable Building (Chicago)</span> Building in Chicago, Illinois USA

401 North Michigan is a 35-story skyscraper in the Streeterville area of Chicago, built in 1965 at 401 North Michigan Avenue, along the north bank of the Chicago River. It was designed by Bruce Graham and Natalie de Blois in the international style. Along with the Tribune Tower and Wrigley Building, it forms the southern gateway to Chicago's famous Magnificent Mile. The building was built atop the site of a cabin belonging to Chicago's first permanent resident, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable. In reference to du Sable, the large plaza adjacent to the building has been named Pioneer Court.

Antoine Ouilmette was a fur trader and early resident of what is now Chicago, Illinois. He was of French Canadian and possibly Native American ancestry. The village of Wilmette, Illinois is named in his honor.

Simon Favre was an interpreter of the Muskogean languages, particularly Choctaw and Chickasaw, for the French, British, Spanish and Americans in the part of West Florida that became part of the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The son of another prominent interpreter, Favre spent the late 18th century in the vicinity of Mobile and the Tombigbee River, which changed hands from French to British, and then Spanish control. He became well versed in the language and culture of the Choctaws, and was involved with several treaties between the Europeans and natives. As a young man he had a Choctaw mistress with whom he had six known children, then at the age of 41 he was legally married in Mobile to a woman of European descent. Within a few years of his marriage, he moved with his new family from the Tombigbee area to a plantation on the Pearl River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Baptiste Beaubien</span> American fur-trader (1787–1863)

Jean Baptiste Beaubien, a multi-lingual fur-trader born in Detroit, Michigan, became an early resident of what became Chicago, Illinois, as well as an early civic and militia leader in Cook County, Illinois during the Black Hawk War, before moving to Du Page County, Illinois in his final years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy</span> French politician (1750–1826)

Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy was a senior official and politician. During the First French Empire he was Director-General of Customs, then Minister of Industry and Commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of St. Louis (1804)</span> 1804 series of treaties between the United States and Native Americans

The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Robinson (chief)</span>

Alexander Robinson, was a British-Ottawa chief born on Mackinac Island who became a fur trader and ultimately settled near what later became Chicago. Multilingual in Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, English and French, Robinson also helped evacuate survivors of the Fort Dearborn Massacre in 1812. In 1816, Robinson was a translator for native peoples during the Treaty of St. Louis. He became a Potawatomi chief in 1829 and in that year and in 1833, he and fellow Metis Billy Caldwell negotiated treaties on behalf of the United Nations of Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi with the United States. Although Robinson helped lead Native Americans across the Mississippi River in 1835, unlike Caldwell, Robinson returned to the Chicago area by 1840 and lived as a respected citizen in western Cook County until his death decades later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Thompson (surveyor)</span> American surveyor (1789–1872)

James Thompson was an American surveyor who created the first plat of Chicago. Born in South Carolina, Thompson moved to Kaskaskia in southern Illinois as a young man and lived in the area for the rest of his life, working primarily as a surveyor. He was hired to plat settlements at the ends of the proposed Illinois and Michigan Canal in northern Illinois; he completed the plat of Chicago, the settlement at the eastern end, on August 4, 1830. After completing his survey of Chicago he returned to the Kaskaskia area and declined an offer of land in Chicago in favor of a cash payment. In addition to his surveying work, he served in various positions such as probate judge, county commissioner, and officer in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War.

Kitihawa Point Du Sable was a Potawatomi woman who, with her husband Jean Baptiste, established the first permanent settlement in what is now the city of Chicago. By the late 1700s, Kitihawa and her husband had set up their farm and trading post on the Chicago river.

References

  1. ↑ Jean DuSable:Father of Chicago by Lawrence Cortesi
  2. 1 2 3 "Chicago's First Murder". Chicago Daily Tribune . November 27, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved November 12, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Historic Paper Will Be Filed in City Today". Chicago Daily Tribune . August 26, 1954. p. 10. Retrieved November 12, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Pierce, Bessie Louise (1937). A History of Chicago, Vol. I: The Beginning of a City 1673-1848. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 21.
  5. ↑ Salzer, Adam (2016). Mysterious Chicago. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 16–18.
  6. ↑ "To Show its Riches". Chicago Daily Tribune . November 1, 1896. pp. 41, 42 . Retrieved November 12, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.