Illinois timeline
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Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Establishes First Non-Indigenous Settlement of Chicago
Point du Sable's chief occupation seems to have been that of a trader who wandered from place to place in the customary manner, and fortunately... Read more
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Founding of Fort Dearborn
In the summer of 1803, Captain John Whistler, U. S. A., then stationed at Detroit, was ordered, with his company, to Chicago, to occupy the post... Read more
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Fort Dearborn Massacre
The Fort Dearborn massacre occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn, Illinois Territory (in what is now Chicago, Illinois) during the War of... Read more
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Illinois is the 21st State Admitted to the Union
Illinois entered the Union on December 3, 1818. The 21st state takes its name from the Illinois Confederation—a group of Algonquian-speaking... Read more
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First Treaty of Chicago
The first treaty of Chicago was signed by Michigan Territorial Governor Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley for the United States and representatives of... Read more
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Lincoln Family Relocates to Illinois
Abraham Lincoln arrived with his family in the area in 1830 to settle a section of government land bisected by the river. The site, now Lincoln... Read more
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Lincoln Separates from Family
In 1831, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 22 when he and a couple of companions floated down the Sangamon River in a flatboat on their way to New... Read more
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Davis Sent to Deliver Black Hawk to Prison
The year after, Davis was dispatched to Galena, Illinois, at the head of a detachment assigned to remove miners from lands claimed by the Native... Read more
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Lincoln Becomes Postmaster of New Salem
Lincoln was appointed his postmaster's position by President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, on May 7, 1833. In Lincoln's 1860 autobiography, he... Read more
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Douglas Moves to Illinois at the Age of 20
I have become a Western man, have imbibed Western feelings principles and interests and have selected Illinois as the favorite place of my adoption. Read more
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Incorporation of the Town of Chicago, Population 350
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines,... Read more
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Second Treaty of Chicago
The second treaty of Chicago was signed by Michigan Territorial Governor George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Weatherford for the... Read more
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Lincoln Takes up Work as a Surveyor
‘In the fall of 1833 came Abraham Lincoln’s entry into the most highly technical and responsible work he had known. Writing of it later, he said,... Read more
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Douglas Serves as Morgan County State's Attorney
Lincoln's arch-rival Stephen A. Douglas became Morgan County prosecuting attorney in 1835, and William Jennings Bryan, an Illinois College... Read more
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Douglas Becomes a Member of the Illinois State Legislature
Born Stephen Arnold Douglass in Brandon, Vermont,[3] Douglas dropped the second "s" from his name some years later[4]. He came to Illinois in 1833,... Read more
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Lincoln is admitted to the Bar
Admitted to the bar in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois that same year and began to practice law with John T. Stuart. With a reputation as... Read more
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City of Chicago is Incorporated, Granted City Charter by the State of Illinois
In 1837 Chicago received its first city charter, which divided the city into six wards, allowed for a mayor elected to a one-year term, and legally... Read more
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James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok Born
Frontiersman, lawman, army scout, gambler, and legendary marksman James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was born on May 27, 1837, in Troy Grove,... Read more
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Joseph Smith Jr. Settles In Nauvoo, Illinois
In 1839 Joseph Smith and his followers, the Mormons, settled in this area after they were forced out of Missouri by religious persecution. The... Read more
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The Nauvoo Legion Is Formed
The Nauvoo Legion. Joseph was determined that the Saints should never again be at the mercy of their enemies as they had been in Missouri, which is... Read more
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Joseph Smith Jr. Marries Louisa Beaman
Joseph and Louisa were married on April 5, 1841, “in a grove Near Main Street in the City of Nauvoo, The Prophet Joseph dictating the ceremony and... Read more
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The Newspaper 'The Nauvoo Expositor' Publishes Its Only Issue
On June 7, 1844, William Law, a disaffected Mormon, published the first and only edition of the Nauvoo Expositor. It described in lurid prose all... Read more
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Lincoln Delivers Peoria Speech
Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise Abraham Lincoln Speech at Peoria, Illinois October 16, 1854 The repeal of the Missouri... Read more
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Abraham Lincoln Delivers the House Divided Speech
A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the... Read more
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Lincoln Loses First of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates on Slavery
August 21, 1858, was the day that Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas met in Ottawa, Illinois, in the first of the famous Lincoln-Douglas... Read more