Rock Island's Second Petition
"Farnhamburg, May 19, 1831. "To his Excellency, the
Governor of the State of Illinois:
"We, the undersigned, citizens of Rock River and its vicinity, having
previously sent a petition to your honor, praying your protection against
these Sac Indians who were at that time doing every kind of mischief as
was set forth and represented to your honor; but feeling ourselves more
aggrieved and our situation more precarious. we have been compelled to
make our distress known to you by sending one of our neighbors who ,is
well acquainted with our situation. If we do not get relief speedily we
must leave our habitations to these savages and seek safety for our
families by taking them down into the lower counties and suffer our houses
and fences to be destroyed, as one of the principal war chiefs has
threatened if we do not abandon our settlement his warriors should burn
our houses over our heads. They were, at the time we sent our other
petition. destroying our crops of wheat, and are still pasturing their
horses in our fields, burning our fences, and have thrown the roof off one
house. They shot arrows at our cattle, killed our hogs, and every
mischief.
"We have tried every argument to the agent for relief, but he tells us
they are a lawless band, and he has nothing to do with them until further
orders, leaving us still in suspense, as the Indians say if we plant we
shall not reap, a proof of which we had last fall; they almost entirely
destroyed all our crops of corn, potatoes, etc. Believing we shall receive
protection from your excellency, we shall go on with our farms until the
return of the bearer; and ever remain your humble supplicants, etc."
This petition was signed by almost all the persons who signed the first
petition. On his way to Belleville in St. Clair County, where Governor
Reynolds lived, Mr Pike stopped over in Fulton County where he secured the
following affidavit:
"State of Illinois, Fulton County.
"Personally appeared before me, Stephen Dewey, an acting justice of the
peace in and for said County of Fulton, and State of Illinois, Hiram
Sanders and Ammyson Chapman, of the aforesaid county and state, and made
oath that some time in the month of April last they went to the old Indian
Sac town, about thirty miles up Rock River, for the purpose of farming and
establishing a ferry across said river, and the Indians ordered us to move
away and not to come there again, and we remained there a few hours.
"They then sent for their chief and he in-formed us that we might depart
peaceably and if we did not that he would make us go.
"He therefore ordered the Indians to throw our furniture out of the house;
they accordingly did so and threatened to kill us if we did not depart. We
therefore discovered that our lives were in danger, and consequently moved
back again to the above county. "We then supposed them to be principally
Winnebagoes.
"H. SANDERS,
"A. CHAPMAN.
"Sworn and subscribed this 11th day of May, 1831.
"STEPHEN DEWEY, J. P.
Early Settlements of Rock County
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908