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

David Rubenstein's Donations to American History

Continued from the previous post.

This man has been very nice to history.  Over the past two decades, his donations have included:

$50 million to the Reach Addition of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

$20 million to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation outside Charlottesville, Va.

$10 million to James Madison's Montpeleier Estate in Orange, Virginia

$10 million to George Washington's Mt. Vernon

$18.5 million to the Lincoln Memorial

$12.3 million to Robert E. Lee's Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery

$10.5 million to the Washington Monument

$5.4 million to the Renwick Gallery

$5.37 million to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

$5 million to the visitor center at the White House

$4.5 million to the National Zoo's panda reproduction program

$1 million  to Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.

Again, a Big Thank You to Mr. Rubenstein.  --Brock-Perry

Mary Todd Lincoln's Uncle, David Todd-- Part 2: Missouri and a Whig

In 1819, President James Monroe appointed him territorial circuit judge of northern Missouri.    When Boone County, Missouri, separated from Howard County, Todd was one of the citizens who purchased land on which Columbia was laid out in 1818-1819.

When Missouri became a state in 1821, Governor Alexander McNair appointed Todd  state circuit judge, a position he held until 1837.

In the summer of 1840, Mary Todd traveled to Columbia, Missouri, and visited with her uncle, David Todd.  While there, she became good friends with the judge's daughter, Ann.  This was also the year in which Mary became engaged to Abraham Lincoln.

He was an ardent Whig, serving as a delegate to the Whig National Convention that selected William Henry Harrison, Todd's commanding officer during the War of 1812,  for president in 1840.

In 1850, he was practicing law in Boone County and owned real estate valued at $3,500.

--Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd (Mary Todd Lincoln's Father) in the War of 1812-- Part 1

I have been writing about the Todd family of Kentucky in the Civil War in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  They were from Kentucky, a deeply divided border state and that certainly applied to the Todd family which, besides Mary Todd being the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, many of her half-siblings and even one brother were staunch Confederates.

Robert Smith Todd was Mary Todd Lincoln's father.

From Wikipedia.

ROBERT SMITH TODD

Born February 25, 1791  Died July 17, 1847

Lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the year before it became a state.

One of six sons of Levi Todd, who fought in the American Revolution under the command of George Rogers Clark.  After the war, his father and uncles helped found the city of Lexington, Kentucky.

Robert Todd attended Transylvania College in Lexington and graduated at age 18.

--Brock-Perry

Movie Watching on the 4th of July-- Part 2: "Lincoln" and "Red Dawn"

2.  "LINCOLN"  (2012)One of best-known presidents who led the nation through one of its roughest stretched.  Features his humanity as he strives to end the Civil War and slavery.  And, of course, Fort Fisher played a big role in the movie.  My Civil War fort.

3.  "RED DAWN"  (1984)  Midwest high school kids fight back a Soviet Union invasion of the United States.  If you can ignore some really sad acting and hokey lines.  Patrick Swayze and the Wolverines.  Lots of action and feeling good USA!!!

Continued in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog.

--Brock-Perry

Chalmette National Cemetery-- Part 2: From the War of 1812 to the Vietnam War

But, the cemetery's origins did not begin until 1864, when Abraham Lincoln established national cemeteries. The reason was to have places to bury those killed in the Civil War.

About half the graves at Chalmette National Cemetery are those of Civil War soldiers and there are 16,000 altogether dating from the War of 1812 to the Vietnam War.

The gravestones get smaller until some are just eight by eight  inches square for those who are unknown. About half of the Civil war soldiers are unknown, many of them having been hastily buried where they fell in fighting and then later removed to the national cemetery.

--Brock-Perry