The Conner Family of Prairie du Rocher Illinois

Conner's General Merchandise Store, Prairie du Rocher

There are few citizens of American blood, native born in Randolph County, who date their birth back as far as does Mr. W. S. Conner, a resident of the southern part of Township five — eight. He was born within a quarter of a mile of his present residence, in the year of 1815. He was the son of Henry Conner, who was born in Maryland and moved to Kentucky when ten years old, about the year 1795. The Conner family is of Irish extraction. The name was formerly spelled “O’Connor,” in which form it will be easily recognized as … Read more

History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota

History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota

The aim of this history was to present in a permanent form the key incidents in the history of Minneapolis, from its earliest settlement to its publication in 1895. The primary facts and events recounted were mostly obtained from living witnesses and participants. It was rare for a city with more than two hundred thousand inhabitants to have so many of its first settlers still alive. The city’s growth had been so extraordinary and unprecedented that many of its earliest settlers remained. Some information was also gleaned from the notes left by now-deceased writers who witnessed the events described. Great care was taken to verify the accuracy of all facts and incidents mentioned. While it might have been too much to hope that the work was entirely free from errors, it was confidently believed that any such errors were few and insignificant.

An Historical Sketch of the Tionontates or Dinondadies, now called Wyandots

les Tionontatacaga

The tribe which, from the time of Washington’s visit to the Ohio, in 1753, down to their removal to the West, played so important a part under the name of Wyandots, but who were previously known by a name which French write Tionontates; and Dutch, Dinondadies, have a history not uneventful, and worthy of being traced clearly to distinguish them from the Hurons or Wyandots proper, of whom they absorbed one remnant, leaving what were later only a few families near Quebec, to represent the more powerful nation.

Earliest Known Traders on Arkansas River

Country Home of Augustus Pierre Chauteau

With the help of contemporary records it is possible to identify some of the early traders at the Mouth of the Verdigris. Even before the Louisiana Purchase, hardy French adventurers ascended the Arkansas in their little boats, hunting, trapping, and trading with the Indians, and recorded their presence if not their identity in the nomenclature of the adjacent country and streams, now sadly corrupted by their English-speaking successors. French Influence in Arkansas One of the first of the French traders up the Arkansas whose name has been recorded was Joseph Bogy, an early resident of the old French town, Arkansas … Read more

The Discovery Of This Continent, it’s Results To The Natives

Columbus Landing on Hispaniola

In the year 1470, there lived in Lisbon, a town in Portugal, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, who there married Dona Felipa, the daughter of Bartolome Monis De Palestrello, an Italian (then deceased), who had arisen to great celebrity as a navigator. Dona Felipa was the idol of her doting father, and often accompanied him in his many voyages, in which she soon equally shared with him his love of adventure, and thus became to him a treasure indeed not only as a companion but as a helper; for she drew his maps and geographical charts, and also … Read more

The Seitz Family of Prairie du Rocher Illinois

Residence of George J. Seitz, Prairie du Rocher

George J. Seitz, the well-known liquor dealer, was born August 11, 1870, in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. After attending the public and parochial schools, learned the trade of butcher and at the age of 20 went to St. Louis, working at his trade for some time; then he returned to Ste. Genevieve, and in 1894 he went to Prairie du Rocher, working for Mr. Hauck, the butcher. From 1906 to 1910 he conducted a hotel and two years later, in 1912, he started a saloon and has conducted it ever since. Mr. Seitz is a Democrat, and is popular. He acquired … Read more