Mary Woods Forbes

WOODS, FORBES

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 6/6/2008 at 00:07:10

Jackson Sentinel
August 3, 1893

Mrs. Mary Woods, who is now a member of the writer’s family, is not only one of the oldest settlers of Jackson county, but was one of the pioneers of Chicago. She came to Chicago with her first husband, John Forbes, in 1834. They settled on the Des Plaines river, 12 miles from Chicago and resided there five years. The old lady has many interesting reminiscences to relate, of her frontier life on the Des Plaines river. Once the representatives of the government and of the Pottawattamie Indians, held a council at her home, at which time she provided food for more than fifty people. At this council the Indians consented to their removal west of the Mississippi river. After the Indians had left, the officers became quite hilarious. The Forbes had a nice spring near the house, walled up with rock. The water supply, which had become almost exhausted by the great demand upon it, helped on the affair; here they took a large quantity of sugar, lemons and whiskey and dumped them into the spring and stirred it up with a rail. After drinking all of this punch they could hold, they mounted their horses and began a wild race for Chicago. While living on the Des Plaines river, Mr. Forbes had two horses stolen by the Indians for which he never received any pay. John Forbes collected and paid in the first taxes ever collected in Cook county and his brother Stephen taught the first school ever taught in Chicago, and was the first sheriff of Cook county.

In 1839 John Forbes came to Bellevue, Iowa, and remained there several years. In 1855 he went to Central America and got a large tract of land near Graytown. War was raging there between Walker’s filibusters and the natives. After Graytown was bombarded and burned, the cholera broke out and the Forbes were glad to get passage back to the United States.

J. W. ELLIS