But little can be said of the character of Ouilmette. His dealings with Tanner, which have already been recounted, argue well for his fairness and humanity. That he was possessed of more thrift than was the typical frontier French habitant of this period would seem to be attested by the facts already noted. Moses Morgan, who was employed in the construction of the second Fort Dearborn, had a poor opinion of Ouilmette and described his appearance as that of a "medium sized half starved Indian." He was a Roman Catholic and signed the petition for the establishment of the first Catholic church in Chicago.[346]
[346] Andreas, History of Chicago, I, 289. For additional data about the Ouilmette family see Grover, Some Indian Landmarks of the North Shore, 277 ff.
We are now ready to consider the reputed "father of Chicago," John Kinzie. According to Mrs. Kinzie, the family historian, he was born at Quebec in 1763. Shortly afterward his parents moved to Detroit, where the father died while John was still in infancy. His mother later married William Forsyth, who removed to New York City, where the boy's early childhood was passed. At the age of ten or eleven he ran away from home, and, making his way to Quebec, fell into the hands of a silversmith from whom he learned enough of the trade to enable him to make the ornaments which so delighted the simple red man. Meanwhile his mother's family returned to Detroit where, later, it was rejoined by the runaway son. In time he engaged in the Indian trade, carrying on operations in various places. The same authority states that his earlier establishments were at Sandusky and Maumee,[347] and this is confirmed by two independent sources. About the time of St. Clair's defeat Joseph Brant, the famous Iroquois chieftain, purchased a horse and other supplies from "Mr. Kinzie, Silver Smith at the Miami."[348] Henry Hay, who passed the winter of 1789-90 at the Miami settlement, makes frequent mention of Kinzie in the journal which he kept of his travels.[349] According to the journal Kinzie had both a house and a shop and "apprentices." Hay draws an interesting picture of the life of the little settlement. Neither social nor religious consolation was lacking, and Hay played his flute and Kinzie his fiddle indifferently for drinking bout and mass. At times the two classes of entertainment followed each other so closely that the musicians went reeling from one to the other. "Got infernally drunk last night with Mr. Abbot and Mr. Kinzie," wrote the journalist on one occasion. "Mr. A. gave me his daughter Betsy over the bottle. Damnation sick this morning in consequence of last night's debashe—eat no breakfast, Kinzie & myself went to mass and played as usual. Mrs. Ranjard gave us a Cup of Coffee before mass to settle our heads."
[347] Kinzie, Wau Bun, 149.
[348] Michigan Pioneer Collections, XX, 336.
[349] Journal from Detroit to the Miami River, MS in the Detroit Public Library. The journal is anonymous, but Mr. Clarence M. Burton, who has a typewritten copy of it, ascribes it to Henry Hay.
During these years Kinzie was, of course, in league with the enemies of the United States. Hay makes frequent mention of the bringing in of American prisoners by the Indians, and of the presence of Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and other chiefs hostile to the Americans, at the village. In the autumn of 1793 Kinzie was still at the Maumee Rapids, where he incurred the suspicion of the Indians by his communications with Wells, one of Wayne's chief scouts.[350] Probably his establishment was destroyed, along with those of the other British traders, by the American army following the battle of Fallen Timbers. The family historian states that he removed to the St. Joseph River about the year 1800,[351] but he must have located there at an earlier date, for William Burnett in 1798 speaks of him as "Mr. McKenzie of this place."[352] Apparently, however, while carrying on trade with the Indians at these places Kinzie retained some connection with Detroit. Hurlbut found evidence in the Wayne County records that he was doing business there in 1795 and again in 1797.[353] In 1798 he married Mrs. Eleanor McKillip,[354] the widow of a Detroit militia officer in the British Indian service who had been slain on the Maumee during Wayne's campaign against the northwestern tribes. Mrs. McKillip had a daughter, Margaret, whom we shall meet later as the wife of Lieutenant Helm of the Fort Dearborn garrison.
[350] Michigan Pioneer Collections, XX, 342, 347.
[351] Kinzie, Wau Bun, 349.
[352] Hurlbut, Chicago Antiquities, 67. Kinzie is a corruption of the Scotch name Mackenzie, which was the name of Kinzie's father.