Chapter 43

Chapter 43
pages 239 - 246

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. JOHN L. BOGARDUS.

     The figure Mr. Bogardus cut in the settling of Peoria will, I presume, justify me in devoting a chapter to him, in addition to what has heretofore been said about him.
     He was born in the City of New York, and married there, to a lady who deserved to see better times than she saw in Peoria; but in November, 1831,I found him an 'old settler' in Peoria, and I became well acquainted with him. He was a lawyer by profession, but did but little in that line after I became acquainted with him. He was not fit for that kind of business after I became acquainted with him. This may have been owing to intemperance, but I suspect his mind was never sufficiently clear and discriminating for a successful lawyer.
     I found him in possession, by tenants, of the ferry which was then situated at the outlet of the lake, where the upper bridge now stands. He occupied two houses at that place, one partly of logs and partly of frame, both parts being covered alike with split boards; the other was a common hewn-log house. The first was one story high, and stood immediately on the bank of the river, a little above said bridge, and the other stood a little further from the river, and a little nearer Bridge street. At that time, however, Mr. Bogardus did not personally occupy this property. He then had a small log-cabin on what is now called Mills's Addition, in which he lived. He had rented the premises above described, with the ferry, to Samuel Chichester, for a specific time; but Chichester had recently died, and a kinsman of his, Mr. Isaac Waters, was in possession, to carry out Chichester's contract.
     Bogardus had much trouble about this property, besides the trouble he had with Eads, as set forth in Chapter XXXIV, all of which resulted in Bogardus's favor; but he had other troubles about it. Among the rest, he leased the ferry to a Mr. Leach, who, finding that Bogardus had no title to the land, repudiated his claim as landlord, and refused to pay rent or surrender. The law of Forcible Entry and Detainer was not so well understood then as now. The case of Fortier & Blumb vs. Ballance (5 Gil. Ill. Rep., 41) had not then been decided, and it was the opinion of some of our northern lawyers, who relied upon an old Massachusetts case, that title was necessary to sustain this suit, as well as an ejectment. Bogardus, I believe, was of this opinion, for he, in a disconsolate mood, came to me for advice. I told him the law was clearly in his favor; that whether he had title or not, his tenant, who went in under him, could not raise the question; that he would not be permitted to dispute his landlord's title, until he had surrendered it up to him. He employed me, but apparently with but little hope of success. I sued, got judgment, and put out Leach, and restored Bogardus to the possession.
     Bogardus, however, either because of his great apprehension of losing the property, and being desirous of some one to aid him in protecting it, or because he was too much intoxicated to be fully aware of what he was doing, made an absolute deed of an undivided two-thirds of the ferry, and the tract of land on which it was situated, to Lewis Bigelow and Samuel C. McClure, as is hereinafter set forth.
     In the various suits about said property, the consideration paid by said Bigelow and McClure to said Bogardus for said conveyance became material and much testimony was from time to time taken on the subject, all of which I have read, and some times acted as an attorney in taking said evidence, and some times I was a witness myself. It was testified to positively, by at least one witness, that Bigelow and McClure practiced a base fraud on Bogardus, by reading to him a lease, and then, in its stead, presenting him for signature a deed for two-thirds of the property. With all the above opportunity of judging correctly, I give it as my opinion that no fraud was practiced on Bogardus, but such fraud as it is to deal with a man who is laboring under the delusions that whisky some times produces. When Bogardus signed the deed, he knew it was a deed, and he knew he was doing it without receiving a cent for it; but he labored under the delusion that they, by some sort of indescribable omnipotence, could protect him from all his enemies. After his frenzy had passed, and he was in his right mind, he repented, and attempted to repudiate what he had done; but they held him to it, and they quarreled. Bigelow began to think it time to have the deed on record, and he got it, and told McClure to take it immediately and have it recorded.
     After McClure had plenty of time to have had it recorded, Bigelow invited McClure and myself to take a walk with him, which we agreed to. We leisurely strolled back, and up a road which then wound up the hill, northerly, through Mr. Pulsifer's property. When nearly up the hill, Mr. B. asked Mr. McC. if he had the deed recorded. The latter said he had not, but would on our return. Mr. B. became excited, and expressed strong dislike at his dilatory habits. He asked him for the deed. McC. examined his hat and his pockets, and not finding it, protested he had it since we started on the walk. We all returned to seek it, but did not find it. Not far to the northeast of where we started up the bluff lived a man by the name of Trial (pronounced Triall). We went to his house to make inquiries about the deed. Mrs. Trial said one of her boys picked up a paper in the road, at the foot of the bluff, and brought it to her. She, not being able to read, could not tell what it was; but Bogardus's name being on it, she supposed it belonged to him, and sent it to him.   Bogardus's signature was a peculiar one, which people who could not read could identify. The boy who took the paper to Bogardus asked him if it was his. He replied that it was, and added that he had been anxious to get hold of it for some time. How remarkable that that paper should fall into the hands of young Trial, whose father was, at that time, unfriendly to Bogardus, and yet that his mother should send him directly to Bogardus with it!
     What a dilemma! Two poor men had got hold of a paper which, if held on to, was a support for life for both of them; but that paper, through their carelessness, had got into the hands of the grantor, who denied the grant. They brought an action of replevin to recover the deed, and a bill in chancery to enforce their rights under it. This was the state of affairs when Mr. Underhill made his appearance in Peoria. Bogardus was too poor to carry on a lawsuit as he wished to see it done, and he sold out the whole property, worth a much larger sum, for $1,050, with the expectation that Underhill (who was from the great city of New York) would 'law them out of house and home'. Underhill, however, made the purchase with an understanding between himself and Bigelow and McClure that he and they would be equal partners; that is, that Bigelow and McClure, instead of owning two-thirds, according to their bargain with Bogardus, were to have one-half, and that Underhill, in stead of having all, according to his contract with Bogardus, was to have one-half.
     Bigelow soon got clear of McClure, and he and Underhill laid off said ground into what is now called Bigelow and Underhill's Addition to Peoria. And thus was laid the foundation of two ample fortunes, in that which cost one of the parties precisely nothing at all, and the other $1,050.
     There were an immense number of suits about that property afterward; but, as Bogardus's claim ceased with his deed to Underhill, I will drop the subject for the present.
     There had been a large controversy at New York between the Trinity Church and the heirs of Anneke Jans, in which Bogardus was interested. An older brother of his, called General Bogardus, had had the management of this suit. After it had been pending a long time, it was dismissed. Whether it was dismissed because the other heirs failed to contribute their portion of the expenses, or because the general became satisfied the suit could not be sustained, or because he was paid by the church for doing so, is more than I know; but John L. appeared to be indignant at the course of his brother, and went on to New York avowedly to prosecute that claim. After being there about that business for some time, he returned here in the fall of 1838, and died from the effects of the too free use of ardent spirits.
     It is difficult to judge what J. L. Bogardus had been from any thing I saw of him while I knew him, for he had been much damaged by the use of distilled liquors before I knew him, and was, as above stated, drunk the most of the time during the seven years of our acquaintance.
     Bogardus had a wife, who was living with her son-in-law, Mr. Sill, in Troy, New York, in the winter of 1866-1867. He had a son, William M. C. Bogardus, who married some where near the mouth of the Ohio. It was reported he was dead; but whether he left any child was unknown here until I was informed by his mother, when I saw her in Troy, that he left one son, called John L. Bogardus. who was a lawyer in Cincinnati. William was a very common man, having neither ambition nor talents. He (the elder J. L. B.) had another son, named Warren B. G. Bogardus, who died when sixteen or seventeen years old, apparently a sprightly lad. Also, a daughter, named Peoria Ann Bogardus, who died in childhood. After that child had died, they had another, to which they gave the same name. She is the wife of Mr. Sill, an apparently well-doing gentleman, above referred to.
     When Bogardus got drunk, he not only imagined rats in his boots, etc., but he some times imagined himself very rich, and that every body wished to rob him. There came along a soldier by the name of Seeds, who had deserted from the military post at Green Bay. Bogardus took him into his employment, and constituted him a sentinel to guard his premises, and gave positive orders that if any one came along who could not give the countersign to shoot him down. A drunken fellow, who had been drinking and gambling there, but who knew nothing about the soldier nor his countersign, came round the corner, and giving no satisfactory answer to a challenge from, the soldier, the latter shot him down. The soldier was indicted for murder, but was never punished. There being no jail, he was after a while permitted to escape.
     In olden times, fish were much more plenty than now, and Bogardus got a large seine, and caught many wagon-loads of fish, and built a large hopper with split boards, near where Judge Gale now lives, or a little nearer the city, and filled it with fish, hoping that when they should decay, the oil would run down into a pirogue placed beneath to catch it; but this was a mistake. The mass became filled with maggots, and raised a stench that no one could endure. Even the wolves could neither comprehend nor endure it. They would gather in groups on the hills in that vicinity, but not too near, and make the night hideous with their howlings.

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