An archive of considerable interest, containing substantial letters all written to John C. Newkirk (1810-1890), a lawyer and judge. Newkirk had gone west in 1836 and was sufficiently established in legal practice in the newly settled Joliet to participate in the first session at the brand new Circuit Court House, where he successfully defended three men accused of rioting. Arriving at about the same time was John M. Wilson, a young Massachusetts lawyer who invested in West Joliet, and became Newkirk's partner in law practice.

Joliet (or Juliet, as it was first called) located in Kendall and Will Counties Illinois, forty five miles southwest of Chicago, was at the time a booming target of optimistic land speculation, fueled by the long planned Illinois Michigan Canal and the arrival of railroad connections. The optimism proved short lived and was soon washed by the Panic of 1837, and in its wake, an Illinois state financial crisis which dried up all money and funds for the canal then under construction. Contractors abandoned their work, businesses closed, canal bonds threatened worthlessness, and there was a general air of chaos and uncertainty, rife with political and religious opportunism. Wilson and Newkirk had invested heavily and involved themselves in local politics, but with failed expectations and diminishing prospects, Newkirk decided to return East, settling first in New York City and then in Hudson, New York. He left his property, and debts, in the hands of his partner Wilson. The bulk of the correspondence centers upon Wilson and his business relationship with Newkirk within this unsettled period and in the subsequent years of recovery.

The first letter is written to Newkirk in Juliet from a lawyer, A. Crist, wherein he seeks the value of some land in Illinois he owns "its real value not its speculative value," and discusses Newkirk's prospects in New York should he return east, thus setting the stage for Newkirk's departure from Joliet.

 The next letter of March 10, 1841, in four closely written pages, is from Wilson and provides his ex-partner with a vivid description of the chaotic states of affairs in Illinois:

       "Friend Newkirk,

               Yours was duly received & as things in the Suckerland have come to a crisis with a vengeance. I propose giving you an account of matters & things in general, since your escape from this land of misrule & demagoguism. The worst forebodings of the most desponding & faithless have been realized. Our delegation have been enacting the demagogins & ultra loco until they have made themselves the laughing stocks of both parties. They have been defeated in all their efforts to obtain office. John Pearson obtained one vote in caucus for U S Senator, supposed to be cast by himself with his usual modesty. He did not obtain one vote for Judge of the new court or for Canal Commissioner. Peck has also been disappointed in all his efforts to obtain office & the poor fellows have sneaked home followed by the execrations of all parties. Our legislature has passed a law abolishing the Circuit Court & adding five Judges to the Supreme Court & assigning them circuit duties. Smith is judge for the Circuit & holds court here on the 4^th Monday of the month... This is legislating with a vengeance. But the worst is to be told - Nothing has been done for the Canal & all the jobs with a few exceptions are stopped. Consternation & despair is depicted upon the countenances of the contractors - Ruin is before them - But this is not all the State has virtually repudiated her faith & ruined her credit. No adequate provision has been made for the pay't of contracts upon our State securities. Who would not blush to acknowledge himself a citizen of such a State? Are you not rejoiced that this disgrace does not cling to yourself - that the name Sucker does not belong to you. It is but another name for infamy & meanness..."

Wilson encloses with this letter an extraordinary, crude, wood-engraved political cartoon (see image above) - "I enclose for your inspection a specimen of fine art illustrative of the feeling existing in relation to our Delegation" - it lampoons the defeated ticket - with an ass in robes and spectacles, a Canadian in mortarboard, and Irishman clutching a jug labeled "Drap of the Crathur," and a fop in latest fashions. The subjects are identified in pencil on the verso: "Judge P[earson], Peck - the King's counsel in his robes, Murphy and Leary."  The cartoon is captioned:"Democracy Triumphant." "Canal Safe." and "A Monument to the Men whom the People delight to honor." It is printed on a 5 x 7 ½ inch sheet of paper blind stamped "D & J Ames, Springfield," and is a very early Illinois graphic.

Wilson continues to report on the course of business matters, Newkirk's properties and debts local affairs, family news, the death of his young son, the various ups and downs of political and religious factions, in a series of seven letters dated 1841-1847. As the years pass the relationship between the two men deteriorates as Wilson's health and fortunes take a turn for the worse and his debt to Newkirk increases. His letters become increasingly defensive in tone, and in 1846 he leaves Joliet for Chicago with his debts and affairs still unsettled.

      September 18, 1841

     "... Money is very scarce here & can collect nothing on any old a/c without suit. I shall put them through without fail... I have succeeded in our old suits beyond your anticipation..."

      October 27, 1842

      "... Business is rather at a stand still - No courts as yet - ... Banks all broken & that root of all evil the name of which is preserved on the index of some monster of by gone days has departed - But unfortunately the fruit remains tho' the root is destroyed... Crops are abundant & so are Bankrupts & there are more on their "winding way" if these times continue. There are no stores on the East side of the river - Woodruff has failed Shoemakers have gone to Michigan - Mattison has given up business & turned Illinois Senator. Duncan runs a grocery the only one in town...

       Ford of the 9^th Cir. You are aware is elected Govr. & our accomplished dandy friend John Dean Caton is appointed in his stead. The appointment is as good as could be expected in these days of Loco foco radicalism... Chaos has literally come again Everything is in confusion & the cry still is change - change - ..."

      January, 1844

      "... Business has been dull here since you left ... under our laws almost impossible to collect anything. And our demands have turned out much worse than we anticipated...

      In relation to matters and things in general I have but little of interest to communicate - You are aware that Illinois is thoroughly subterranean ... & it is disgraced by that unprincipaled ignorant fellow John Wentworth...

      Business has been dull & the place has decreased in population since you left... The prospect is now encouraging in relation to the Canal - The Bondholders will probably take it under the late law & commence operations next spring. Should this happen business would revive & Joliet would become a lively village. The old inhabitants with whom you were acquainted are mostly in the land of the living & not materially changed in their circumstances..."

       August 6, 1846 Chicago

      "The above date indicates my present residence - I left Joliet for several good & solid reasons - among which are the constant sickness of my self or some of my family - the impossibility of making a living by my profession on the most economical scale. That I shall be more fortunate here in either particular remains to be seen. I have been here but a few days & have not yet opened shop..."

              Wilson is replaced as Newkirk's business and legal agent in the area by early Joliet settler George H. Woodruff (b. 1814, Clinton, New York), lawyer, druggist, and later, prominent Will County historian. A graduate of Hamilton College, Woodruff settled in Joliet, as clerk to M. H. Demmond, the original proprietor of West Joliet, and was elected the first County Recorder in 1836. His 14 letters, 1841-1856, carefully review the intricacies of Newkirk's tangled properties and debts, and include local and personal news. He describes local church affairs, decrying the disunion and disruption occasioned by Millerites and "Annihilationists," and rejoices that a "most remarkable movement now making in the cause of temperance has reached our drunken village." Over the course of these letters on Wilson's debts, and those of others, he notes continual improvements in the town's prospects, concluding in 1852 "Joliet is in the ascendant at last."

      January 29, 1842

      "... The most remarkable movement now making in the cause of temperance has reached our drunken village & I know it will rejoice your heart to learn some of the facts respecting it. At a County meeting we had more than the usual interest excited by reason of an address from a Mr. Mathews, one year ago a drunken stone cutter at Dupage. The friends of the cause felt as though a work might be done here & accordingly a meeting was held at the Methodist Chapel the 18 of this month at which said Mathews, John E. Ward Dick Hobbs related their experience in intemperance. It produced a thrilling effect ... 300 in all have signed the pledge..."

      May 8, 1844

      "... Well since we left they have had glorious times so they have boasted perfectly harmonious, &c - they have had perfect freedom And as if to prove the old saying that it is but one step from freedom to anarchy, they have gone on from perfectionism to millerism & from millerism to annihilationism! You will be surprised to learn it but it is nevertheless true Wilson & Fellows are the regular preachers & for the last few weeks Wilson has been preaching the doctrine of Annihilation...

      Business is horrible you made a most lucky escape..."

      August 2, 1845

      "... Matters jog along here pretty much after the old sort. The Union Ch. Is no more Wilson's occupation (as a preacher) has gone. We have hired the room of his for a church... We have a pastor named Taylor... tho' some of my good abolition brethren are not satisfied with him... The old contractors are about ready to commence canalling once more. The prospects of the canal have had a great influence on peoples expectations..."

       November 12, 1845

       "... I saw Wilson & Henderson both some weeks since & told them I had rec^d a letter from you & that you complained bitterly of their neglect... with respect to the probability of collecting your demands I do not see why you could not..."

       February 9, 1849

       "... You would doubtless like to hear a word or two about Joliet & the folks - First self ... I am now married to my third wife ... I am still selling drugs &c my store is on the canal on Exchange St. next to Canal Lodge right in town where I hope to see you next summer.

      You must come & see Joliet & how it looks under the new aspect of a canal... Wilson is doing well at Chicago I believe..."

      February 23, 1853

      "...Joliet has been flourishing the past season. Our RR is open to Ottawa will be open to Peru next month. We go to Chicago now in 1 ½ hours Your lot on the East side lies between Exchange St. & Jefferson St. which is connected by the principal bridge & is the best St. now & the RR Depot..."

          Parallel with Woodruff's correspondence is a series of 14 letters dated between 1845-1852 by Jesse O. Norton, prominent Joliet lawyer, judge and Congressman. Born in Bennington, Vermont, Norton was an early settler in Joliet, where he practiced law for 20 years. He was an important member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1847, where he successfully argued against the exclusion of African Americans, and was twice elected to Congress. His 14 letters also report upon Wilson and Henderson, and he appears to be more actively authorized to settle claims. Of particular interest is his report on his election to the Constitutional Convention.

       April 10, 1846

       "... I disliked very much to write you again without being able to inform you that that debt was secured but you are probably somewhat aware of Mr. Wilson's peculiarities..."

      October 7, 1846

      "... The information I have thus far obtained in regard to the valuation of your lots, is not much that I am willing to give it as at all correct... I will say however it is very difficult to hit upon the fair value of property there being scarcely any sales. It is mere guess work. And those I have spoken to in relation to yours evidently consider it so..."

      April 22, 1847

      "... We have just had a most exciting election. The contest lay mainly between myself and one Chamberlain of Iroquois, for the convention to amend the Constitution of this State. There has been a tremendous effort made to defeat me, and yet in this county the difference will not be probably over about ten votes. Their majority last fall or summer was about four hundred. In this precinct I beat my opponent though at the last election we were beaten here by about one hundred. In West Joliet I was beaten twenty-three votes, where they had last fall about one hundred majority. Rumor gives to my opponent a majority in his own county sufficient perhaps to elect him. That is also a Democratic County. ..."

             Among the remaining letters in the collection are single letters by other men of local or state importance including Joel A. Matteson, with a letter from 1852, the year he was elected the state's Governor, about a lot he owned in partnership with Newkirk; pioneer Chicago lawyer and prominent Republican Joseph Neree Balestier, an 1841 letter; Hugh Henderson, a Circuit Judge and also a member of the Illinois Constitutional Convention; J. Beaumont, who owned a wagon shop in town; Edward Aiken; Lewis Sherman writing from New York about land owned in Plainfield, Illinois; and a letter from Charles Armstrong in Baraboo, Wisconsin Territory in 1847 describing the prospects of the newly settled area.

       November 22, 1841 Hugh Henderson to Newkirk

       "... Matters & things move along in "these diggings" as usual, the canal fixins are pretty much used up the commissioners have made an attempt to start things along the line below by offering the work to contractors & number of jobs have been taken; but Our Bonds & the Bonds are  no go either at home or abroad in fine the canal will not be finished by the present generation of suckers...

       Ah! Newkirk you are a lucky fellow & ought to be thankful for the escape you made from this place -..."

      December 10, 1847 Charles Armstrong Baraboo Wisconsin Territory

      "... I am to work at my traid [sic] have plenty of work in a very growing village the county seat of Sauk Co. There is every prospect of it becoming quite a place an excellent farming country great watter power and ... great demand for all kinds of agricultural products - But above all it is a very healthy section there has been less sickness here this season than I have ever known among the same number of inhabitants at the east ..."

            Throughout the accounts of legal and business affairs a picture of the economic, political, and social development of the area emerges. There is a regular attention paid to the fortunes of various political denominations, with accounts of revivals and individuals saved. The letters note how "sickly" seasons are, how many have died, the frequency with which disease is discussed demonstrates its considerable importance. The fortunes of the canal, which finally opened in 1848, are attended from the perspective of keenly interested, prominent participants.

      Altogether a revealing archive of letters written during a formative period in Illinois history.