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 Illinois

Brown
“History as They Lived It deserves to be placed within the rich context of Illinois
Country historiography going back more than a century. . . . It brings together
History as They Lived It
the fully ripened thoughts of a mature scholar at the very moment that students of
the Illinois Country need such a book.”—from the foreword by Carl J. Ekberg A Social History of
Prairie du Rocher, Illinois
S ettled in 1722, Prairie du Rocher was at the geographic center of a French colony in
the Mississippi Valley, which also included other villages in what is now Illinois and
Missouri: Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, St. Philippe, Ste. Genevieve, and St.
Louis. Located in an alluvial valley near towering limestone bluffs, which inspired the

A Social History of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois

village’s name—French for “prairie of the rock”— Prairie du Rocher is the only one of
the seven French colonial villages that still exists today as a small compact community.

History as They Lived It

The village of Prairie du Rocher endured governance by France, Great Britain,
Virginia, and the Illinois territory before Illinois became a state in 1818. Despite these
changes, the villagers persisted in maintaining the community and its values. Margaret
Kimball Brown looks at one of the oldest towns in the region through the lenses of
history and anthropology, utilizing extensive research in archives and public records
to give historians, anthropologists, and general readers a lively depiction of this small
community and its people.

margaret kimball brown has served as a

site manager of Cahokia Mounds Historic
Sites and as a staff archaeologist and a chief
archaeologist of the Illinois Department of
Conservation.

Shawnee Books

southern illinois university press

w w w.siupr ess.co m

Cover illustration: Barbeau’s Creek, Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, from Lewis Foulk Thomas and
J. C. Wild, Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated, 1848.
Southern
Illinois
Margaret Kimball Brown
University
Printed in the United States of America Press Foreword by Carl J. Ekberg

Brown cvr mech.indd 1 1/10/14 10:35 AM

HISTORY AS THEY LIVED IT

Shawnee Books
HISTORY AS THEY LIVED IT
A Social History of
Prairie du Rocher, Illinois

Margaret Kimball Brown

Southern Illinois University Press

Carbondale
Copyright © 2005 by Margaret Kimball Brown
Southern Illinois University Press edition 2014
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

17 16 15 14 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Margaret Kimball.
History as they lived it : a social history of Prairie du
Rocher, Illinois / Margaret Kimball Brown. — Southern
Illinois University Press edition.
pages cm. — (Shawnee Books)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-3340-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-3340-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-3341-7 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-3341-4 (ebook)
1. Prairie du Rocher (Ill.)—History. 2. Prairie du Rocher
(Ill.)—Social conditions. I. Title. II. Title: Social history
of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.
F549.P87B76 2014
977.3'92—dc23 2013044770

The paper used in this publication meets the mini-

mum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To the late Percy Clerc
 C ON T E N T S

Lists of Tables, Figures, and Maps—ix

Foreword—xi
Acknowledgments—xvii
Introduction—xix

vii
Chapter 5 Under Three Flags-151
British Rule
Virginian Control
American Territory
Life at the End of the Eighteenth Century
Chapter 6 Old and New-196
Old Northwest Territory
Land Titles
After Statehood
Slave and Free
Culture and Customs
Status of Women
News and Views
Chapter 7 Becoming American-233
Population
Common and Commonfields
Church and Education
Black Citizens
Village Life
Chapter 8 On Into a New Century-261
Economy and Government
The Common
Language and Traditions
Black Citizens
Fort de Chartres
Post World War II
To the End of the Century
Chapter 9 Present and Future-299

Appendix--315
Census Data
Glossary-320
References-322
Index-341

viii
 TABLES

L Those listed as unable to read in Federal Census-page 244

2. Children attending school-page 245
3. Black population-page 248
4. Occupations from Federal Census--page 253
5. Family size-page 319
6. Number of months between births-page 319

FIGURES

1. Age at death-page 14
2. 1839 Church Census-page 208
3. 1849 Church Census-page 234
4. Age at death 1800-1849-page 317
5. Age at first marriage 1750-1799-page 318
6. Age at first marriage 1850-1899-page 318
7. Age and sex distribution chart, Prairie du Rocher 1970-page
309

MAPS

Land claims--pages 66-67

Partie du Cours 1755-page 116
Le Pays des Illynois-page 158

zx
 FOREWORD

The history of history writing about the Illinois Country is

becoming almost as rich a subject as the Illinois Country itself. His-
tory As They Lived It deserves to be placed within the rich context of
Illinois Country historiography going back more than a century.
During the colonial era, and this volume is largely devoted to
that period, everyone understood that the Illinois Country encompassed
both sides of the Middle Mississippi River Valley; Missouri was an
appellation confined to the river and the Indian tribe of that name.
When Lewis and Clark headed westward up the Missouri River in the
spring of 1804, Lewis opined that they were departing "the Illenois"
for remote and unknown parts of the North American continent. The
Illinois Country was the end of civilization as one proceeded west
from the Atlantic seaboard.
Illinois Country history writing began as history from the top
down. Francis Parkman was-in his classic, La Salle and the Discov-
ery of the Great West-concerned with the exploits of great, white
men. The exploits of these men-explorers, traders, and priests-as
recounted in Parkman's incomparable prose were, make no mistake
about it, fascinating, important, and often heroic. Only occasionally
did Parkman condescend to write about the "lesser folks," as when he
opined that by mid-nineteenth century nothing remained of the former
French empire in the Mississippi Valley but "the accents of France on
the lips of some straggling boatman or vagabond half-breed." Boston
Brahmin that he was, and writing in the midst of an increasingly rae-

Xt
 Foreword

ist Zeitgeist, Parkman could hardly avoid expressing such opinions.

Ms. Brown's volume, on the other hand, is emphatically about the
ordinary folks, not a few of whom were "halfbreeds," who inhabited
the villages of the Illinois Country, most especially in her case Prairie
du Rocher, of which she is today a leading citizen.
Scholarly interest in the Illinois Country waxed and waned
during the twentieth century. Clarence W. Alvord initiated an interest
in colonial Illinois at the University of Illinois that flourished on into
the 1940s, slowly faded after 1950, and is now, inexplicably, alto-
gether extinguished. One of the several ironies in Alvord's career is
that he continues to be best known for his top-down (political and
military history) volume, The Illinois Country, 1763-1818, while he
was also the discoverer of the mass of source documents upon which
bottom-up history (social and economic) of the region is now based.
The thousands of documents that Alvord discovered stuffed
in burlap sacks in the old Randolph County Courthouse in Chester,
Illinois, now compose the Kaskaskia Manuscripts (local civil records
drafted by royal notaries), and no one has ever known them better
than the author of this volume, not even the eighteenth-century folks
who produced them. Ms. Brown (along with Lawrie C. Dean) was
responsible for the monumental task of sorting, collating, indexing,
and filming these manuscripts, which are now indispensable for Illi-
nois Country scholars. Ms. Brown and Ms. Dean also extracted
documents from the Kaskaskia Manuscripts pertaining to the Village
of Chartres and Prairie du Rocher, translated them, and published
them in the thick, essential volume, The Village of Chartres in Colo-
nial Colonial Illinois: 1720-1765. Readers of History As They Lived
It will notice the numerous references to this rich volume.
In mid-twentieth century, an extraordinary, and extraordinar-
ily diverse, group of scholars gave rise to an efflorescence in Illinois
Country scholarship. From the University of Illinois came Natalia M.
Belting, whose classic Kaskaskia Under the French Regime (1948,
reprinted 2003) is in many ways the model for History As They Lived
It. From California came Abraham P. Nasatir, student of the great
Herbert Bolton at Berkeley, and editor of the seminal volumes Before
Lewis and Clark, published in 1952 by the St. Louis Historical Docu-

Xtt
 History As Thf!Y Lived It

ments Foundation (reprint, University Press ofNebraska, 1990). These

two volumes, with Nasatir's remarkable introduction, document the
early history of the Missouri River Valley, revealing how well known
it was before the Virginians ascended it. From Washington Univer-
sity in St. Louis came John Francis McDermott, a direct descendent
of Pierre Laclede, founder of St. Louis. Although a member of the
English Department, McDermott's first love was the history of the
Mississippi Valley, and a bibliography of his works, including Old
Cahokia and (ed.) Frenchmen and French Ways in the Mississippi
River Valley, would consume pages. And from the National Park Ser-
vice came Charles Peterson, the brilliant and charismatic Swede from
Minnesota, who "discovered" the French Colonial buildings of Ste.
Genevieve, founded the Historical American Buildings Survey, and
wrote the petit classic, Colonial St. Louis: Building a Creole Capital
(new edition by Patrice Press in 2001).
A fallow period in Illinois Country scholarship had set in by
the early 1970s. Gregory M. Franzwa published his guide to the his-
toric houses in Ste. Genevieve (which has sold more copies than any
other book on the Illinois Country), and Anton J. Pregaldin was plug-
ging away at this monumental geneaological study,! but no academ-
ics were working in the field. Margaret Brown's work broke this
drought of scholarly work on the Illinois Country, and those of us
who have followed in her footsteps are indebted to her for it.
Like many scholars who have made major contributions to
the history of the Illinois Country, Ms. Brown came to the field late
and by a circuitous route. Born and bred a New Englander, she took
an honors degree in English Literature at the University of Minnesota
before going on to do a Ph.D in anthropology at Michigan State Uni-
versity. Drawn to the site of the former Kaskaskia Indian village on
the Upper Illinois River (across the river from Starved Rock), Ms.
Brown began her scholarly work on the French presence in the Illi-
nois Country by examining the cultural contact between Frenchmen
and Illinois Indians at that seminal location. Great scholars, begin-
ning with Francis Parkman in the mid-nineteenth century, have all
recognized the importance of that site and the historical significance
of that initial cultural interchange.

xzzz
 Foreword

The focus of Ms. Brown's scholarly interests gravitated south-

ward, following roughly the same course over which the Kaskaskia
Indians had migrated nearly three hundred years earlier. Employed
by the cultural resources division of the State of Illinois, Ms. Brown
quickly recognized the extraordinary importance of the Kaskaskia
Manuscripts, becoming the first person since Natalia M. Belting, nearly
a half-century earlier, to immerse herself in these documents. Ms.
Brown has always demonstrated a keen fiduciary sense (that Puritan
background!), a passionate feeling about the importance of preserv-
ing cultural resources for generations to come. It was this sense of
mission that impelled her and Lawrie C. Dean to devote themselves
to the Kaskaskia Manuscripts project.
Ms. Brown is unique among scholars of the Illinois Country
in the breadth of her capacities. Moving with ease across the tradi-
tionallines of anthropology, archaeology, and history, she also dem-
onstrated, as superintendant of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic
Site, unusual administrative and political abilities. This array of tal-
ents within one person in the scholarly world is exceedingly rare,
indeed, virtually unheard of. Ms. Brown deserves more credit than
any other person for the transformation of the Cahokia Mounds Mu-
seum from a motley collection of run-down buildings (anchored by
an abandonned Exxon station on Collinsville Road) into the resplen-
dent structure we now have, one of the finest Indian museums inNorth
America. Indeed, at this point in time, the Cahokia museum is incom-
parably better than the new National Museum of American Indians
on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
I've now known Ms. Brown for a quarter century. I exca-
vated with her (amateurishly on my part) at the original site of Fort de
Chartres, helped her found (modest help from me) the Center for
French Colonial Studies, which is now flourishing under the guid-
ance of Pierre Lebeau, and had many enlightening (i.e., enlightening
for me) conversations with her over drinks at the B. K. Schram resi-
dence (Jean-Baptiste Valle House) in Ste. Genevieve. She has been
the leader in this generation of Illinois Country scholars, whose num-
bers, with the recent untimely death of Anton J. Pregaldin, are unfor-
tunately dwindling. The appearance of History As They Lived It at

xzv
 History As They Lived It

this particular time is therefore most welcome, for it brings together

the fully ripened thoughts of a mature scholar at the very moment that
students of the Illinois Country need such a book.

-Carl J. Ekberg
Thrasher Knob Farm
Purgitsville, West Virginia

Carl J. Ekberg, who has written several pieces about the Illi-
nois Country, now spends most of his time at his farm. He has threat-
ened to write more about the Illinois Country, but his wife andfriends
(and enemies) know that these are likely to be empty threats.

1
Tony Pregaldin died unexpectedly in 2004 before his work could be pub-
lished. Most of his papers, which would be invaluable to scholars, remain
inaccessible in the Mercantile Library at the University ofMissouri, St. Louis
campus.

XV
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to Fieldstead & Co. for the grant that enabled me

to complete the research necessary for this book. Lawrie Dean pro-
vided so much information through her work of calendering and trans-
lation of the Kaskaskia manuscripts. My gratitude to Pierre Le Beau
without whose assistance in editing this never could have been com-
pleted.
Many people have given advice, information, and encour-
agement over the years: Judge Morris S. Arnold; C. Ray Brassieur;
Winston DeVille; Carl Ekberg; Fr. William Flaherty and Nancy Merz
of the Midwest Jesuit Archives, St. Louis University; Ruth Gilster;
Dennis Hermann; Glen Holt, Director Emeritus, St. Louis Public Li-
braries; John Hoover, Director, Mercantile Library, University ofMis-
souri- St. Louis; from the staff of the Illinois State Archives: John
Daly, Charles Cali, Wayne Temple, Cody Wright, Ray Hammes; Fr.
Michael Maher; Collette Manac 'h Royalle; Ruth Menard; Terry
Norris; Irving Peithmann; Anton Pregaldin; in the Rudolph County
Clerk's Office: Charles Bemasek, Nell Wright, and Joyce Hermes;
and all the villagers of Prairie du Rocher.

xvzz
 INTRODUCTION

Prairie du Rocher on New Year's Eve. A chilly winter night.

Christmas lights reflect on a thin covering of snow outside houses in
the village. A bus pulls up to one decorated house and a crowd of
costumed people emerges from it-men in cloth knee britches, wool
coats, vests with many buttons, and wool toques. Women with deep-
cut bodices ruffled with lace, long colorful skirts and hooded woolen
capes. Some men have fiddles or guitars and most people are clutch-
ing song sheets. The group chatters as it gathers on the porch and
front walk of the house. The fiddlers strike up the tune, the leader
thumps his wooden cane in time with them, and the singers in unison
sing:

Bon soir, le maitre et la maitresse et toutle monde du logis.

Pour le dernier jour de l 'annee la Guiannee vous nous devez.
La Guiannee vous nous devez, dites-nous-le.
Si vous voulez nous rien donner dites-nous-le.

The door of the house opens and the group traipses in, filling
the living room and dining room to overflowing; watching from ev-
ery comer and doorway are the inhabitants and their guests. The fiddles
and guitar begin again. "Bon soir le maitre et la maitresse.. "with the
lead singer singing each line first and then the whole group respond-
ing with a repetition of the line. (Translation):

Good evening, master and mistress of the house, and all who dwell
 History As Thry Lived It

herein.
For the last day of the year the Guiannee is due us.
If you don't want to give us anything, tell us.

All we're asking is a back bone of pork.

A back bone of pork is no great prize, it's only ten feet long.
And we'll make of it a fricassee ninety feet long.
If you don't want to give us anything, tell us.
All we're asking for is your eldest daughter.
We'll show her good cheer and warm her feet.

When we were in the midst of the woods, in the shade

I listened to a cuckoo sing and a turtledove.
And the nightingale from bower green, the messenger oflovers.
Go, tell my lady love always to have a joyous heart,
Always to have a joyous heart, not sadness.

All the girls who have no lover, what do they do?

It is love that keeps them awake and won't let them sleep.

At the end the leader sings an apology including, "If we are

guilty of any folly, it was to try to cheer you,"and a nonsense verse
follows. The song ends with all singing again, "Bon soir la maitre et
la maitresse et tout le monde du logis, " and saying loudly, "Bonne
Annee! "-Happy New Year.
Food and drink are laid out on the table for the group. While
sampling these treats the group engages in lively conversation, per-
haps sings another song or two, and then goes on to the next stop.
La Guiannee is the traditional New Year's Eve celebration in
Prairie du Rocher, still going strong after 280 years of unbroken ob-
servance, one of only a handful of places to preserve this tradition.
How did this happen? Why is it still here? This book tries to answer
these questions.
Prairie du Rocher was settled in 1722, part of the old French
colony that developed in the Mississippi Valley in the late seven-
teenth and early eighteenth centuries. The Mississippi River was a

XX
 Introduction

channel for French exploration and colonization. The region between

Lake Michigan and the present state of Arkansas was called Le Pays
des Illinois, the country of the Illinois Indians, named for the tribe
who inhabited much of the area. In the eighteenth century in what is
now Illinois and Missouri, a French colony grew and prospered. Vil-
lages developed in Illinois-Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres,
Prairie du Rocher, St. Philippe, and in Missouri-Ste. Genevieve, St.
Louis, and a dispersed settlement, Old Mines. Prairie du Rocher lies
at the center of the old French colony in the broad, open, alluvial
valley near hundred-foot-high limestone bluffs-hence its name, prai-
rie of the rock.
Today, sprawling modern communities have destroyed eigh-
teenth century St. Louis, overlie Cahokia, and surround the architec-
tural gem of eighteenth century, Ste. Genevieve. The villages of
Kaskaskia and St. Philippe were wiped out by the powerful meander-
ing Mississippi River. Fort de Chartres, the governmental seat for the
extensive Illinois colony, has been partially restored, but its support-
ing village vanished into the river. Prairie du Rocher remains in the
farmlands along the Mississippi River, the only one of the seven French
colonial villages that still exists as a small compact community.
The French regime ended in 1765 with acquisition of the area
by the British, who held it for only a few years until the American
Revolution. The Illinois villages then were taken by Virginia and, in
1790, finally were governed by the new United States. After this the
American way of life impinged more and more on the old French
culture.
Prairie du Rocher's suitability for study lies in its continuity,
its stability of size as a small community, and the availability of records
for the entire period of its existence. The continuity of the commu-
nity from the eighteenth century to the present presents the opportu-
nity to consider the reasons for the persistence of a viable rural vil-
lage amid an increasingly urbanized society. Unlike several of the
other French communities-Ste. Genevieve, Cahokia, and particu-
larly St. Louis-that developed large modern areas of housing and
business, Prairie du Rocher has remained a village. The relative size
of the community throughout the years is given in the summary of

xxi
 History As Thi!J Lived It

census data in the Appendix.

Documentary resources are available from the end of the sev-
enteenth century to the present. Although the early archives are not
complete, an impressive quantity remains. Eighteenth-century legal
documents-portions of the French royal notaries' archives-are pre-
served in the county courthouse in Chester, Illinois. Later civil records
are available there also. In addition, parish registers exist from 1695
to the present with some gaps. The village office has town records.
Archives in France and Louisiana have preserved portions of the of-
ficial eighteenth-century government correspondence.
Unfortunately, what is lacking in these records are the diaries
and private letters that would give personal details. Most correspon-
dence extant is from government officials and mainly concerned ad-
ministrative matters. The majority of the habitants appear only through
their legal actions recorded by the notaries. These transactions show
what people did, what they sold, bought, or leased-their overt be-
havior-but give little information about what they thought or felt. 1
These limitations affect our ability to discern clearly the impacts on
the inhabitants as the society underwent the changes from the French
regime to British, to Virginian, and then to American. Nevertheless
there are materials from the period that give vivid images of the life.
Quotations from contemporary documents-the words of the people
living at the time--are used extensively in this study in an attempt to
move closer to an understanding of the populace. Through these quotes,
the thoughts and feelings of the inhabitants can span the temporal and
cultural distance.
More activities took place in the community than appear in
the records, however. Guesses can be made about some. Dances are a
simple example of this. Later visitors always commented on the fond-
ness of the French for parties and dances. Virtually no mention or
description of these exists in the eighteenth-century documents. Here
diaries or letters would illuminate the picture. Estate inventories and
other documents describe fine clothing; were these worn for dances?
What kinds of musical instruments were used? Fiddles do not occur
in the inventories. Why? Were these visualized as such personal items
that they did not need to be listed as part of the estate? These and

XXZl
 Introduction

many other questions remain unanswered.

This study is called a social history; it involves two academic
disciplines, history and anthropology. It is historical in relating past
events and developments; anthropological in being concerned with
the processes of change. History often has been focused on major
events and personages~wars and rulers. Social history differs from
conventional history by examining not just the elite, the wealthy, or
politically prominent, but the ordinary people in a society. Social his-
tory is the story of those people who are largely invisible in the writ-
ten stories of nations. 2
Eighteenth-century French Illinois is not well known to the
general public. United States history books concentrate on the East
Coast colonists and tend to mention the French only in the context of
the fur trade. The French customs, institutions, laws, architecture,
and agricultural practices were different from those of the British
colonies. These distinctions were reflected also in the values and atti-
tudes of the society as well. For this reason the first section of the
study focuses on providing images of the French life and society in
the eighteenth century. For Prairie du Rocher's history this is neces-
sary. That was the culture which formed its people and influenced
their actions.
The French colonial period in the Middle Mississippi Valley
has had nowhere near the quantity of publications that have been pro-
duced about the British area. Natalia Belting's early overview of the
village of Kaskaskia remains a classic, but she saw the Illinois colony
as a reflection of Canadian society. 3 Ekberg's excellent study of Ste.
Genevieve begins later, when that settlement was formed, and ex-
tends into the nineteenth century. Ekberg also has produced other
thorough scholarly studies of French society and culture. 4 Several
dissertations have considered aspects of the colonial experience but
they remain unpublished. 5 French Cahokia has yet to have an in-depth
analysis produced, although some good short articles exist. 6
Existing studies of the French area deal mainly with the colo-
nial period. Communities of different ethnic backgrounds that devel-
oped in the nineteenth century in Illinois are discussed in other works
but none cover the range of time from the colonial regime to the

xxiii
 History AJ Thry Lived It

present. 7 For Prairie du Rocher this time span is available. This book
does not intend to portray Prairie du Rocher as representative of all
French settlements, but produces the social history of one commu-
nity having a background of French colonial culture. But the depic-
tion is not only of a French colonial village; the study continues to the
present time, with even a glance at a possible future. This rural com-
munity continues to be viable in a period when many small villages
are either disappearing or being absorbed into expanding urban cen-
ters.
The extension of the period of examination into the nine-
teenth century allows some comparisons with other emigrant com-
munities. Studies of the Midwestern American communities that
sprang into being in the mid-nineteenth century show distinct differ-
ences in orientation and culture from Prairie du Rocher. These con-
trasts can help to give a better understanding of the formation of the
state and nation. The data here enriches the extant body of informa-
tion in southern Illinois about cultural change and community devel-
opment.
Every society needs to control the behavior of its people to
permit effectual activity and to avoid what is perceived to be disrup-
tive or dysfunctionaL By examining the concepts and methods of its
social contra I the inner workings of the community are revealed. The
major areas of focus in the study are given in the following questions:
How were the standards ofbehavior enforced andfrom where
did these standards come? Were the controls overt-governmental
enforcement-or internalized-peer pressure or other local action?
What kind of governmental/legal relationships operated within the
community, and with the various political states affecting them? The
inhabitants' reactions and responses to these and other elements of
the society were guided by certain values and norms-the rules un-
der which the society lived. Certain values doubtlessly were based on
the church's teachings, but others came from cultural perceptions of
the way "things should be done." What were the integrating factors
within the community and how did it hold together as a unit despite
all the political upheavals? How people handle events indicates the
underlying values of a society.

xxiv
 Introduction

Bringing the study up to the present produced some tantaliz-

ing questions. Has there been any continuity of these values over time
and have these contributed to the persistance ofthe village? Does the
French ethnic heritage still influence the community? If so, how?
Dealing with the present leads to the consideration of the
possible future of Prairie du Rocher. As a small rural community in
an age of urbanization, what does its future hold? What are the per-
ceptions of the local people concerning this? Do these opinions re-
flect old or new values? The attitudes and opinions expressed here
can be compared with those in other studies of small rural communi-
ties.
Many of the questions asked about Prairie du Rocher are the
same that can be asked and are asked about other villages, particu-
larly those settled by a single ethnic group. Prairie du Rocher is one
example of the many ways our nation has been formed. What took
place at Prai1ie du Rocher was different from what occurred in other
towns, since each place has a different history, but at the same time
similarities of change and adjustment allow for comparison with other
communities.

Notes
(Full citations for notes appear in the References)

1. The need for understanding values is discussed in MacFarlane 1977

and Steams 1980.
2. See A. Briggs 1983; Steams 1980; Rutman.
3. Belting 1948.
4. Ekberg 1985; 1998.
5. Austin 1982; W. Briggs 1985; Nelson 1993.
6. Gitlin 1989; Peterson 1993; 1999.
7. For example, Carr 1996; Faragher 1986.

XXV
HISTORY AS THEY LIVED IT
 1
The French Regime:
The Beginnings

T he formation of the small village of Prairie du Rocher resulted

from events that happened far from southwestern Illinois. Around
1500 French ships began to exploit the rich fishing banks along the
northeastern coast ofNorth America. Small temporary camps sprang
up where the fishermen dried the codfish to be shipped back home.
While at these camps the fishermen also traded manufactured items
to the local Indians for furs; beaver pelts obtained from the Indians
became an increasingly important trade item. The beaver underfur
with its many small barbs was excellent for felting and creating the
hats then fashionable for men. Trade increased both from the French
interest in furs and the Indians' attraction to beads, iron tools, and
other European goods.
These commercial activities gave rise to a desire for perma-
nent settlement and expeditions were sent out. The early explorations
were funded by the king, but by the seventeenth century the rights to
explore new lands had been given to individuals and companies, along
with the monopoly of trade. As nearby sources of fur became de-
pleted from excessive hunting, the traders moved farther and farther
inland along the rivers.
In 1608 a post was established at Quebec, a narrow point in

1
 History As Thry Lived It

the St. Lawrence River where upriver access could be controlled.

Quebec surrendered for a short period to the British in 1629. The
ownership reversed, however, in 1632, and settlement began anew
under the monopoly of the Company of New France. From then on
Quebec gradually expanded.
In 1642 Ville-Marie on Montreal Island was established as a
missionary settlement. Its prime location at the junction of the Ot-
tawa and St. Lawrence Rivers meant that within a few years its reli-
gious orientation was overlaid with commercial interests, the fur trade.
With these outposts, small and frail against the wilderness, France
finally had a permanent colony. In 1674 New France, as it was called,
became a royal colony. 1
Although the government attempted to encourage settlement
by artisans and to promote agricultural activities in the colony, the fur
trade continued to dominate the economy. Voyageurs-the men who
paddled the canoes and went out to trade for furs with the Indians,
and explorers--who sought the elusive riches of silver and gold and
the western route to China, went deeper and deeper into the continent
in their quest.
A dominant interest in exploration was the rumor of a large
river west of the Great Lakes that, it was hoped, would flow west-
ward to the Pacific Ocean and provide access to the riches of China.
Not everyone thought that the river went to the Pacific; some be-
lieved it ran into the Gulf of Mexico. If it did, this would give the
French access to the Caribbean islands, with their resources and pos-
sibly to gold. French claims on the river also would prevent British
and Spanish expansion into the interior of the continent.
One man who felt that the river flowed to the Gulf was Sieur
Louis Jolliet, who in 1673 received trading rights and formed an ex-
pedition to seek out this route. Joining him was Fr. Jacques Marquette,
a Jesuit priest who desired to see the area's potential for missions.
Jolliet and Marquette descended the river as far as the present state of
Arkansas. Although this was the farthest extent of their trip, they were
convinced that the great river did indeed go to the sea. On their return
trip north they ascended the Illinois River where, opposite the prom-
ontory later known as Starved Rock, they found a village of the

2
 The French Regime

Kaskaskia, a sub-group of the Illinois Indians. Marquette noted these

Indians as a potential mission field.
Jolliet and Marquette's exploration was followed by that of
Robert Cavelier de la Salle. In 1682 he went down the Mississippi
River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and in April of that year
claimed the whole Mississippi River basin for the king of France.
This vast area with rather indefinite boundaries he called Louisiana,
in honor of King Louis XIV.
France's claim was not followed up by settlement for another
sixteen years however, until Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville built a fort
at Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1699. Iberville's settlement was opportune,
only a few months later the English attempted to move into the area
by sending a ship up the Mississippi.
Throughout these years of exploration, voyageurs from New
France continued to ply the waterways west and south of Quebec and
Montreal. Some of these were legitimate, with official conges (per-
mits) from the governor of New France. Many more were coureurs
de bois (literally, runners of the wood), traders without permits, who
if they were caught supposedly would be subject to various penalties.
But they were difficult to catch and the courts were reluctant to pun-
ish them. Many were kinsmen of the officials and their fur trading
provided needed income for the colony.
Both the voyageurs and the coureurs de bois traded along the
Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries. They took furs
back to Quebec and Montreal, and some, as the lower riverine area
developed, to Louisiana. Furs also were traded to the British, from
whom the voyageurs sometimes received a better price; often, too,
the British had more and better trade goods. This commerce with the
British, who were commercial and political rivals, was one obvious
reason why New France tried to control the permits.
The missionaries also played a role in the development of
permanent settlements. In 1675 Fr. Marquette returned to the Kaskaskia
village and established the mission of the Immaculate Conception,
the first mission in the Illinois country. In 1692 the Illinois from the
Kaskaskia village moved to Lake Pimeteoui, actually a series of three
shallow lakes created by the widening of the Illinois River at what is

3
 History As Thry Lived It

now Peoria. The mission of the Immaculate Conception, with Fr.

Jacques Gravier now the priest, followed the Indians to Pimiteoui.
Although the French government desired permanent villages
for control of the Mississippi Valley, these were slow to develop. The
catalyst for settlement was a virtuous Indian maiden, one of the few
real personalities to emerge from the documents of the period. As the
story goes, 2 a voyageur, Michel Accault, or Aka as it is usually spelled,
wanted to marry Marie, the daughter of the Kaskaskia chiefRouensa.
An early convert, Marie was a devout Catholic and a member of the
small congregation that Fr. Gravier had assembled at Pimiteoui. Her
father, Rouensa, favored the marriage; being the father-in-law to a
trader would give him better access to trade goods. Marie did not
want the marriage. Aka had a bad reputation; he was known to have
found other Indian women more willing. Fr. Gravier classified this as
debauchery.
Rouensa was determined and Marie equally so. After days of
standoff Marie finally came to a decision, supposedly unprompted by
the priest. She told Fr. Gravier that she had decided to marry Alco, not
because of any threats by her father, but because by the marriage she
hoped to convert Ako and her family. Marie must have had a strong
personality as she very shortly succeeded in both endeavors. Her hus-
band, Michel, admitted to the priest that he hardly knew himself any
more he was so changed. Marie's father, Rouensa, his wife, and their
extended family converted to Catholicism as well.
The conversion of the Kaskaskia chief and his family had a
major impact. The French now had a firm foothold in the Middle
Mississippi Valley through the support of the most important village
of the Illinois Indians. Not only did the majority of the Kaskaskia
become Catholics, but further marriages approved by the priest took
place between French traders and Indian women, creating a small but
permanent French presence in the Illinois.
Then Pierre le Mayne d'Iberville, governor of the colony of
Louisiana, created a plan to resettle the Indians from the Middle Mis-
sissippi River into three compact villages for easy access and super-
vision. Although this rather impractical plan did not develop further,
when Fr. Gravier returned in 1700 from a trip to Canada, he found the

4
 The French Regime

Kaskaskia ready to depart for one of Iberville's proposed settlements

downriver. He persuaded the Kaskaskia not to move so far and they
stopped at present-day St Louis, Missouri, on the bank of a river
soon named for the priests, the Riviere des Peres. With the Kaskaskia
came the French traders, their wives and children. The Akos' eldest
son, Pierre, only five years old, was sent to Quebec for his education.
This must have been quite a frightening trip for a small boy from an
Indian village, up miles of rivers and over portages to an urban com-
munity.
In 1703 the village was threatened with attacks by the Sioux
Indians from the west, and the Kaskaskia moved again down to a
peninsula between the Mississippi and what was known then as the
Metchigamia River. The Metchigamia, who had a village there, were
another group of the Illinois. This river is now known by the name it
acquired from the new arrivals·-the Kaskaskia River. 3
This new village of Kaskaskia contained Illinois Indians,
Canadians with Indian wives and their metis children. 4 The settle-
ment was in the fertile bottomlands and the settlers began clearing
fields to grow crops. Soon the local economy included agricultural
pursuits as well as trade.
Along with this fairly stable and settled group there was an
indefinite but substantial number of Canadian voyageurs, both legal
ones and coureurs de bois, who made Kaskaskia one of their trading
bases. The voyageurs caused dismptions when they returned after
long tedious trips in the wilderness to the village, where they could
find wine and women. Outside of the villages they also disturbed the
authorities by creating conflicts between tribes west of the Missis-
sippi, to obtain slaves.
But military resources for enforcement of mles were limited;
in 1708 a M. d'Eraque and a handful of men came to try to bring
order to the area. 5 But by 1711 Fr. Gabriel Marest, the priest in charge
at Kaskaskia, again was complaining to the authorities about the be-
havior of the Canadian voyageurs. A sergeant and twelve soldiers
were dispatched from Mobile to punish the troublesome coureurs de
bois, who promptly lived up to their name, mnners of the woods, and
disappeared into the forest.

5
 History As They Lived It

One of the soldiers, Penicaut, remained for four months and

left an account of his observations on life at Kaskaskia. Kaskaskia
was still an Indian village with a few resident Canadian traders. How-
ever, agriculture was increasing in importance, the motivation a few
years later for the settlement at Prairie du Rocher. The Jesuits encour-
aged agriculture; the priests had constructed a windmill for grinding
wheat flour. The Indians themselves had two horsemills. The church,
serving both the French and the Indians, was large, Penicaut said,
with three chapels and a bell tower. An attraction to settlers according
to Fr. Marest was the availability of Christian Indian women; in 1712
he married three Frenchmen to Indian women. 6
The hot, humid climate of lower Louisiana was not suitable
for growing wheat for bread, the staple of the French diet. Lack of
food was a persistent problem in Louisiana. On the other hand, the
Illinois area was rich in natural resources and the land was highly
productive, even with the primitive farming methods in use. All types
ofvegctables, fruits, and root crops were available; the wide prairies
provided grazing for horses and the livestock, reported in the soldier
Penicaut's account. Ducks, geese, and other birds were available along
the Mississippi flyway, and fish were abundant in the streams. Indeed
Penicaut felt the settlers did not lack for any of the necessities or
comforts oflife. 7
The Middle Mississippi Valley was developing, but the lower
part of the Louisiana colony at the Gulf struggled along; growth was
not occurring as rapidly as the French court wished. The French gov-
ernment found the West Indies more important; the sugar trade pro-
duced greater wealth than they could obtain from Louisiana. France
continued to seek mineral wealth, gold preferably, although silver
was acceptable. Indeed, the ministers hoped that mines in the Illinois
country would produce silver as well as lead. 8
Despite France's desire for colonies, the continual wars in
Europe distracted the French crown and ate up the financial resources
that otherwise might have been used in the colonies. Although the
settlements on the Mississippi River were strategically important to
prevent further incursions of other nations into the heartland of the
continent, the forces to maintain control were hard to supply. Over

6
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 PLATE CXCV.

HYPOXIS OBLIQUA.

Oblique-leaved Hypoxis.

CLASS VI. ORDER I.

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Six Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Corolla sex-partita, persistens, supera. Capsula basi angustior. Spatha

bivalvis.
Blossom six-parted, remaining, above. Capsule narrower at the base.
Sheath two-valved.
See Hypoxis stellata. Pl. CI. Vol. II.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Hypoxis scapo subtrifloro, piloso, longitudine foliorum; pedunculis flore

triplo longioribus; foliis lineari-lanceolatis, oblique flexis, glabris; radice
fibrosa.
Hypoxis with mostly three flowers on the stem, which is hairy, the length
of the leaves; foot-stalks three times the length of the flower; leaves linearly
lance-shaped, obliquely bent downward, smooth; root fibrous.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A Petal of the Blossom, with its Chive, as attached to its base.

2. The Seed-bud, on its foot-stalk, with a part of the tube of the
blossom, to which the Chives are fixed.
3. The Seed-bud, Shaft and Summit, magnified.
This species of Hypoxis is from the Cape of Good Hope; and, we believe,
solely in the possession of G. Hibbert, Esq. Clapham; from whose collection
our drawing was made, in June, this year, 1801. It appears to be a hardy
green-house plant; but, is certainly more curious than handsome, and, from
its general character, we should judge the propagation would be from the
root.
Professor Jacquin has given the Hypoxis Obliqua in his Icones Plantarum
Rariorum, 2. t. 371; and in his Supplement to the Collectanea, 54; but, we
must suppose from a more vigorous specimen than ours; as, the appearance
of a woolly character, at the margin of the leaves, was not to be traced in our
plant, although every other part is exact. Wherefore, we have retained his
name, though we have rejected the latter part of his specific character, to
introduce one, which we consider, of more consequence, as opposed to those
with bulbous roots, this being fibrous.
 PLATE CXCVI.

IXIA MACULATA.

Spotted-flowered Ixia.

CLASS III. ORDER I.

TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Three Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Corolla 6-petala, patens, æqualis.

Stamina tria, erectiusculo-patula.
Blossom 6 petals, spreading, equal.
Chives three, upright, spreading.
See Ixia Reflexa, Pl. XIV. Vol. I.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Ixia foliis ensiformibus, glabris, scapo duplo brevioribus; floribus

alternis, sub-spicatis; petalis basi obscuris, ovatis, concavis; stigmatibus
bifidis.
Ixia with sword-shaped, smooth leaves, half the length of the flower-
stem; flowers alternate, rather spiked; petals dark at the base, egg-shaped
and concave; summits two-cleft.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The two valves of the Empalement.

2. A Flower cut and spread open, with the Chives in their natural
station.
3. The Pointal complete, with one of the Summits detached and
magnified.
This Ixia has been long cultivated in Britain, so says Millar, &c. but, till
within these few years, we have not seen it in our gardens; perhaps it has
been (like many others) lost to us, and recently introduced with the multitude
of other species, which now decorate our green-houses; either from the Cape
of Good Hope or Holland. It is one of the most desirable of the genus, from
the length of time it continues in flower; which is, at least a month, from the
first flowers beginning to expand. It increases by the bulb, and is to be
cultivated as other common Ixias. Flowers in May or June.
 PLATE CXCVII.

NYMPHÆA CŒRULEA.

Blue Water-Lily.

CLASS XIII. ORDER I.

POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Many Chives. One Pointal.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx. Perianthium inferum, tetraphyllum, magnum, supra coloratum,

persistens.
Corolla. Petala numerosa (quindecem sæpe,) germinis lateri insidentia,
serie plus quam simplici.
Stamina. Filamenta numerosa (septuaginta sæpe,) plana, curva, obtusa,
brevia. Antheræ oblongæ, filamentorum margini adnatæ.
Pistillum. Germen ovatum, magnum. Stylus nullus. Stigma orbiculatum,
planum, peltato-sessile, radiis notatum, margine crenatum, persistens.
Pericarpium. Bacca dura, ovata, carnosa, rudis, collo angustata apice
coronata, multilocularis (decem ad quindecem loculis,) pulpa plena.
Semina plurima, subrotunda.
Empalement. Cup beneath, four leaved, large, coloured above,
permanent.
Blossom. Petals numerous (often fifteen,) placed on the side of the seed-
bud, in more than one row.
Chives. Threads numerous (often seventy,) flat, curved, blunt, short. Tips
oblong, fixed to the margin of the threads.
Pointal. Seed-bud egg-shaped, large. Shaft, none. Summit round, flat,
central, sitting, marked in rays, scolloped at the edge, remaining.
Seed-vessel. Berry hard, egg-shaped, fleshy, rough, narrowed at the
neck, crowned at the top, many-celled (from ten to fifteen cells,) full of pulp.
Seeds many, roundish.
 SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Nymphæa foliis cordato-orbiculatis, senioribus crenatis, lobis acutis

imbricatis, acuminatis; petalis acutis, lanceolatis, cæruleis.
Nymphæa with between heart-shaped and round leaves, the old ones
scolloped, lobes sharp, tiled, and tapered; petals sharp, lance-shaped, and
blue.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A Chive.
2. The Seed-bud and Summit.
3. The Seed-bud, cut transversely, to shew the number of cells.
Amongst aquatic or water plants, the Nymphæas are undoubtedly the
most desirable in cultivation; although, we should agree to the exclusion of
N. Nelumbo, &c. now forming a distinct genus in the Sp. Plant. of
Willdenow; taken from Usteri’s Ed. of Jussieu’s Gen. Plant. classed from the
natural characters, under the title of Nelumbium’s. This plant may be kept in
the green-house, or hot-house, in a large tub filled with water and a small
portion of mud at the bottom. It propagates by the root, and the flowers,
which are extremely fragrant, are produced in August, in which month, this
year, our drawing was made, from a large plant in the Hibbertian collection;
but, from an omission in the figure, we were obliged to finish the plate from
a plant, in the collection of J. Vere, Esq. Kensington Gore, still in flower, the
beginning of October. The leaves of this species are most beautifully
scolloped, and near a foot in diameter; but the indentitions are scarcely to be
perceived in the younger; one of which, as we could not introduce the larger,
is shewn on the plate of the natural size.
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and was introduced to the Royal
Gardens, Kew, by Mr. F. Masson, about the year 1792.
 PLATE CXCVIII.

BAUERA RUBIOIDES.

Three-leaved Bauera.

CLASS XIII. ORDER II.

POLYANDRIA DIGYNIA. Many Chives. Two Pointals.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx. Perianthium octophyllum, foliolis persistentibus, acuminatis,

reflexis, dentatis.
Corolla. Petala octo, ovata, concava, patentia, æqualia, calyce majora.
Stamina. Filamenta numerosa, capillaria, corolla breviora, receptaculo
inserta. Antheræ latiusculæ, obtusæ, erectæ.
Pistilla. Germen subovatum, villosum. Styli duo, filiformes, longi, apice
curvati. Stigmata simplicia.
Pericarpium. Capsula subrotunda, pilosa, apice dehiscens, bilocularis,
bivalvis.
Semina plurima, subrotunda.
Empalement. Cup eight-leaved, remaining, leaflets tapered, reflexed, and
toothed.
Blossom. Eight petals, egg-shaped, concave, spreading, equal, larger than
the cup.
Chives. Threads numerous, hair-like, shorter than the blossom, fixed into
the receptacle. Tips broadish, obtuse and erect.
Pointals. Seed-bud nearly egg-shaped, hairy. Shafts two, thread-shaped,
long, curved at the ends. Summits simple.
Seed-vessel. Capsule roundish, hairy, splitting at the top, two cells, two
valves.
Seeds many, roundish.
 SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Bauera foliis ternatis, apice dentatis, sessilibus, oppositis.

Bauera with leaves composed of three leaflets, toothed at the point,
growing close to the stem, and opposite.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The Empalement, with the Chives and Pointal.

2. The Chives and Pointal magnified.
3. The Empalement, Seed-bud, Shafts, and Summits, magnified.
4. The Seed-bud cut transversely, with the seeds in the cells,
magnified.
This handsome shrub, a native of Port Jackson, New Holland, was first
raised at the seat of the Hon. the Marchioness of Rockingham, Hillingdon,
Middlesex, in the year 1793; and, from a plant, in the conservatory, still in
flower, this present month November, our drawing was made, at the Nursery,
Hammersmith. It is hardy, although delicate in structure, and flourishes in
the green-house. The stem of the plant from which our figure was taken,
although the oldest in the kingdom, and near six feet high, is scarce the
thickness of a quill at the base, therefore must be supported. The young
shoots and leaves are covered with a slight pile; the smaller branches stand
out at right angles, proceeding from the insertion of the leaves, and the
whole plant has, at first sight, much the appearance of a Rubus. It is
propagated by cuttings, made in the month of March, and put under a small
bell-glass on the heat of a hot-bed; the cuttings should be from the extreme
ends of the young shoots. Sir J. Banks, Bart. P. R. S. &c. from whose natural
genius and love for the science, and by whose fostering and liberal hand to
promote it, the study of Botany has become so general a taste; has named
this genus, in honour of two most eminent Botanical painters, of the name of
Bauer, natives of Germany, and brothers. The one, now under the immediate
patronage of Sir Joseph, as Botanical Painter to his Majesty at Kew; well
known for his superb and excellent coloured engravings of Heaths, &c. in
large folio. The younger considered no less able, engaged under the same
influence, with the other artists, &c. who are now upon the last expedition
for discovery to the South Sea; but not equally known to Botanists, as the
person who accompanied the late Dr. Sibthorpe, on his voyages through
Greece; and whose pencil has produced all those drawings, designed to
decorate and illustrate the famous Flora Græca, preparing for the public,
under the auspices of the intelligent Dr. Smith, P. L. S. &c. &c.
 PLATE CXCIX.

CAMELLIA JAPONICA. Var. flo. rubro pleno.

Double red Camellia.

CLASS XVI. ORDER VI. of Schreber’s 6th edit. of Gen.

Plant.
MONADELPHIA POLYANDRIA. Threads united. Many Chives.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx imbricatus, polyphyllus; foliolis interioribus majoribus.

Empalement tiled, many-leaved; the inner leaflets the largest.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF VARIETY.
Camellia foliis senioribus basi attenuatis, junioribus rubentibus; petalis
interioribus divaricato-erectis; floribus plenis, rubris.
Camellia with the older leaves tapered at the base, the younger ones
reddish; the inner petals stand upright spreading different ways; flowers
double and red.
Again have we to call upon the indulgence of our Botanical friends for
their sufferance, in a third intrusion on the forms of our own prescription.
But, as we had given the two other varieties of this fine plant; and taking it
for granted, by judging from our own feelings, that a figure of this very
scarce variety would be agreeable to most; that they might be (by
comparison) able to decide upon the difference which does exist, but has
been denied by many, between this, and the Striped Var.; see our figure, Vol.
II. Pl. XCI. It has been thought by most, who have not seen this plant; that it
was but the Striped Var. which had lost its variegation. This is certainly not
the case; for, it stands as distinct from the Striped, as from the White variety;
which may be readily traced, either from the plants themselves, or our
figures; by comparing the specific, or rather differing character we have
assigned to each. The Double red Camellia was introduced about the year
1794 from China, by R. Preston, Esq. Woodford, Essex.
The largest plant now in Europe, of this variety, is in the select and most
valuable collection of the Hon. T. Greville, Esq. Paddington, imported, last
year, from China in the highest perfection. It is propagated by cuttings, or
layers; and delights in a light, sandy loam; with about one-third of the pot,
from the bottom, filled with peat earth. It flowers from November, till
February, in the Hothouse; or from January, till April, if kept in the Green-
house. Our figure was taken, in November, this year, at the Hammersmith
Nursery.
 PLATE CC.

MELALEUCA HYPERICIFOLIA.

St. John’s-wort-leaved Melaleuca.

CLASS XVIII. ORDER IV.

POLYADELPHIA POLYANDRIA. Threads in many Sets. Many Chives.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx quinquefidus, semisuperus. Petals quinque. Filamenta multa,

longissima, connata in quinque corpora. Pistillum unum. Capsula
trilocularis.
Cup five-cleft, half above. Petals five. Threads numerous, very long,
united into five bodies. Pointal one. Capsule three-celled.
See Melaleuca ericæfolia, Pl. CLXXV. Vol. III.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Melaleuca foliis oppositis, eliptico-oblongis, uninerviis; floribus

consertis; filamentis longissimis, linearibus, apice radiato-multifidis.
Melaleuca with opposite leaves, eliptic-oblong, one-nerved; flowers
clustered; threads very long, linear, rayed and many-cleft at the top.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A flower, natural size.

2. One of the five bundles of Chives, with its petal, to which it is
attached at the base, magnified.
3. The cup, seed-bud, shaft and summit, natural size, the summit
detached and magnified.
About the year 1792 this plant was first raised from seeds, by the late Mr.
William Malcolm, Nurseryman, at Stockwell, Surry; and was, from the very
great resemblance it bears to the St. John’s-worts, so denominated, until it
flowered. It has now become one of the commonest, of what are generally
termed, Botany Bay plants; yet unquestionably ranks with the handsomest
whether for its foliage, form of growth, or flowers, which are of a most
beautiful red-purple, scarcely to be imitated in painting. The singular manner
in which the flower-stem is thrown out, as it were, from the old wood, in a
horizontal direction, is common to many other species of the Genus. It grows
to the height of four or five feet, very erect in every part; is easily increased
by cuttings, and thrives best in peat earth. Although it is said to grow in
swampy grounds in New South Wales, see Linnæan Transactions, Vol. III. p.
279, nevertheless, with us, a dry, or damp situation in the green-house,
appears equally congenial to it. In the month of September 1799, our
drawing was taken at the Conservatory of R. James, Esq. Grosvenor Place.
 PLATE CCI.

AIZOON CANARIENSE.

Purslane-leaved Aizoon.

CLASS XII. ORDER IV.

ICOSANDRIA PENTAGYNIA. Twenty Chives. Five Pointals.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx. Perianthium monophyllum, quinquepartitum; laciniis lanceolatis,

persistentibus.
Corolla nulla.
Stamina. Filamenta plurima, capillaria, sinui calycis per phalanges in
serta. Antheræ simplices.
Pistilla. Germen pentagonum, superum. Stili quinque, simplices.
Stigmata simplicia.
Pericarpium. Capsula ventricosa, retusa, pentagona, quinquelocularis,
quinque valvis.
Semina plura, subrotunda.
Empalement. Cup one leaf, five-parted; segments lance-shaped,
remaining.
Blossom none.
Chives. Threads numerous, hair-like, inserted into the hollow part of the
cup in bunches. Tips simple.
Pointals. Seed-bud five-sided, above. Shafts five, simple. Summits
simple.
Seed-vessel. Capsule bellied, dented, five-sided, five-celled, five-valved.
Seeds many, roundish.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
 Aizoon foliis cuneiformi-ovatis; floribus solitariis, subsessilibus,
axillaribus.
Aizoon with leaves between wedge and egg-shaped; flowers solitary,
growing almost close to the stem from the insertion of the leaves.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The Empalement shewn from the inside.

2. The same shewn from the outside.
3. A Chive magnified.
4. The Pointals natural size.
5. The same, magnified.
This plant is herbaceous, and is found near the sea coast, in most parts of the
world, within the tropics. It has a character common to many Genera of the
natural order of succulents, such as Mesembryanthemum, Crassula, &c. that
of an indeterminate number of pointals; which, in this genus, extend from
three, to five, on different plants; this circumstance not having been
sufficiently attended to has unfortunately occasioned some confusion.
Brown in his Natural History of Jamaica has described it as growing on that
Island, and with five pointals, therefore placed it to its right genus. Plumier,
Sloane, &c. treated it as Portulaca, to which, as the genus now stands, it in
no way affines. Læfling in his Iter Hispanicum, published in 1758, having
found the plant in Spain with three pointals, immediately placed it to another
genus, Halimum; upon whose authority, corroborated by Jacquin, (who
acknowledges a variation in the number of pointals, on different plants,
found in the different Caribee Islands,) Linnæus took up the plant, said to
have but three pointals, under the title Sesuvium. As to the plant said to be
cultivated by Miller in the Hort. Kew: under the last named genus, we have
no difficulty in referring that, to the Aizoon canariense of the same work; as
the time of flowering not being noticed, the distinction of character could not
be observed, and the genus introduced, taken upon the gratis dictum of
Miller. Burmann, in his Ed: of Rumphius’s plants of Amboyna, has it as
Halimus; and Plukenet as Portulaca from East Indian specimens; with
numbers of other Botanists from different parts; as Ægypt, the Canary
Islands, &c. &c. under different names.
Seeds received from Spain of our plant were sown by Mr. Anderson in
1798, at the gardens of J. Vere, Esq. Kensington Gore; since which time, it
has annually died to the ground, about November, and re-appeared in Spring;
from this circumstance, the great delicacy of the plant, and having been
treated as an annual, it has been repeatedly lost to this country; though so
constantly introduced, in almost every parcel of seeds which arrives from
either the East or West Indies. It may be increased by cuttings made early in
the year, and put in a hot-bed to accelerate their growth, and should be
planted in rich loamy earth. It flowers from July till September. To preserve
it more than one year, it must be kept in the hot-house.