Fort Nonsense, Will County, Joliet, Illinois (1832)

While the Black Hawk war was raging in 1832, the few settlers who remained to keep their homestead claims, built a fort in the present city limits of Joliet, which they called "Fort Nonsense." The fort was labeled “Fort Nonsense” because it was constructed without provision for obtaining basic necessities such as food, fuel, and fresh water.

The fort was built on the homestead of Mr. Jesse Cook, which stood on a bluff overlooking the west side of the Desplaines River in today's Joliet, near the current site of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and School at 310 N. Broadway Street. The fort was near the “old settler’s cave,” used for protection against Indians in the early settlement of the area.

The fort was of the stockade order, approximately 100 square feet in size, with a blockhouse at the northeast corner and fenced in upright logs (vertically) set in the ground, and about eighteen feet high.

"The hill was the shape of a round knob; difficult to ascent in those days. The bluff at the right was broken and abrupt, and a silvery cascade during some seasons of the year, with a cedar lined dell, formed a picturesque background. The fort was of the stockade order, with a blockhouse at the northeast corner, projecting beyond the stockade, with portholes for downward as well as "straight-out" shooting. This was built by a part of the regiment which was sent to the relief of the settlers from Danville, through the efforts of Gurdon S. Hubbard, who was there at the time." (unknown author)

The fort was torn down soon after it was built, but ironically, the blockhouse of Fort Nonsense was used as one of Joliet’s first schoolhouses. The first school was taught in Mr. Reeds cabin in the winter of 1832. For the 1833 school year, Miss Persis Cleveland taught school in the Fort Nonsense blockhouse.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Fort Piggott, Piggott's Ferry and a brief history of James Piggott.

ABOUT JAMES PIGGOTT
James Piggott took the long view regarding the development of Illinois territory. Born in Connecticut, his fortunes took him further west throughout his life. He served in the Revolutionary War as a member of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. After his military service he joined George Rogers Clark recruiting families to live in the proposed town of Clarksville, close to present day Wickliffe, Kentucky. Chickasaw Indians forced the abandonment of this endeavor in 1782. 

Piggott and family settled in Columbia, Illinois, in 1783. During that time, the area was swampy and uninhabited. To get to St. Louis from the Illinois side, you'd have to start from Cahokia and go North, up the Mississippi, against the current, to get to St. Louis. Piggott had a brilliant idea. He laid a planked road from Columbia to a low point on Cahokia Creek. Then he built a 150-foot wood bridge over the creek so goods could get to his ferry landing. 

Piggott and seventeen families built cabins and a blockhouse just west of modern day Columbia. 

FORT PIGGOTT (1783-c.1791)
Fort Piggott, or as it was sometimes called; Fort Big Run. (It was Piggott’s wish to change the name of the town to “Big Run.”) James Piggott erected this fort in 1783 at the foot of the bluff, one and one half miles west of Columbia.

A drawing of Fort Boonesboroug, Kentucky - Fort Piggott was yet another look-a-like. 

The fort was located on what was known as Carr Creek, which the French called "Grand Risseau" (literal translation: large gully). The creek was named for Lenard Carr, an early settler.

James Piggott fought with George Washington in the Battle of the Brandywine. As Indian depredations increased, the Fort became a safe-haven for the settlers. When word went out to summon the settlers to the fort it was said that even the children realized the danger. In 1783 there were forty six inhabitants living at Fort Piggott. Indian killings accelerated during 1789 and 1790; no one was safe. Indeed, one-tenth of the population was killed by the Indians.

Assenath Piggott, James Piggott's daughter, was born on January 17, 1791 within Fort Piggott, St. Clair County, Illinois.

PIGGOTT'S FERRY
The growth of St. Louis encouraged the development of the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Demand to ferry to St. Louis increased. In 1795 Piggott opened a ferry service which quickly became a central point for travelers and goods. The ferry transported people, animals, carts, wagons, and goods directly to the St. Louis docks. The area around the dock, developed very quickly. Piggott faced competition from other entrepreneurs interested in capturing some of the ferry business.

Illinois Territorial Governor, Arthur St. Clair, made Piggott a Territorial Judge in 1790.

The location of Piggott's Ferry complex in 1795.

After James Piggott died in 1799, the ferry continued operation by his sons. The McKnight-Brady operation invested in Piggott's ferry. Eventually was sold to the Wiggins Ferry monopoly. They platted the land behind the Piggott ferry in 1818 and named it Illinoistown.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Looking Northeast at the intersection of 107th and Halsted at an 1840s sod house in Chicago.

This photograph, shot sometime in the 1920s by a Daily News photographer, was known as a sod house.[1] More common than you might think, this house was probably built while homesteading in 1840s Chicago. Many families lived like this in the new frontier of the 1800s.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] The sod house or "soddy" was a successor to the log cabin during frontier settlement of the United States. The prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone; however, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant. Prairie grass had a much thicker, tougher root structure than modern landscaping grass. Construction of a sod house involved cutting patches of sod in rectangles, often 2'×1'×6" and piling them into walls. Builders employed a variety of roofing methods. Sod houses accommodate normal doors and windows. The resulting structure was a well-insulated but damp dwelling that was very inexpensive. Sod houses required frequent maintenance and were vulnerable to rain damage. Stucco or wood panels often protected the outer walls. Canvas or plaster often lined the interior walls.