What Became of the French Settlers at Peoria?

When the French village in Peoria, known as  La Ville de Maillet, or New Village was destroyed  by American soldiers, the resulting dispute would drag on for decades until the Civil War.  One case even went all the way to the U.S Supreme Court.

After they were deported downriver in 1812, a  number of displaced French settlers petitioned Congress for the return of their land at Peoria.

Detailed  surveys of the French claims were made to assist in their settlement, but the legal process moved very slowly, which in turn slowed the development of downtown Peoria.

As a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln worked on some of these cases in the 1850s.

Eventually the displaced settlers were paid thousands of dollars in reparations for the loss of their homes.  The last case was settled in 1867.

--Brock-Perry