Alexis hosted both Abraham Lincoln and Chief Black Hawk here. Alexis partnered with his brothers (Sumner and William) to form S.S. Here is the restored home of Alexis Phelps (Sumner’s older brother) in Oquakwa, IL. Click here for the full story.Įventually, Stephen Sumner Phelps reduced his traveling schedule, returning home to Oquawka (Yellow Bank) in Henderson County, Illinois, where he is still remembered today as her first merchant, banker and mayor! Phelps died, at the age of 75, in 1880, and is buried in Oquawka Cemetery, alongside Phebe Chase Phelps (1811-1838) and Salome Patterson Phelps (1814-1886). 9, 1858, while campaigning for the Illinois seat in the U.S. The Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, IL believes this “pocket-knife” event occurred when Honest Abe spoke in Oquawka, IL on Oct. “Well boys,” (Sumner quipped), “see what you missed by being so handsome.” Today, Lincoln’s knife is part of the privately-held George Morris collection of Lincoln memorabilia in Monmouth, Illinois. The next day Phelps was whittling, surrounded by some acquaintances who were enjoying the joke. So, allow me to close with one of the best stories surrounding their friendship as shared here from the Phelp’s family history… According to an article from the Monmouth Daily Review Atlas the knife story concludes with this antidote: You can read the full story here, but suffice to say that Editor James Edwards returned the favor by re-naming his newspaper, The Burlington Hawk-Eye, in tribute to his two good friends, Chief Black Hawk and Sumner “Hawkeye” Phelps.īefore we leave Sumner Phelps’ story, we must address one final aspect of his life…Īs you might have noticed, Sumner bears a striking resemblance to another prominent man from Illinois living in The Prairie State during this same time period. Edwards‘ fledgling newspaper, The Iowa Patriot. Which now brings us to the Flint Hills of Burlington, another stopping point along the Great River, where Sumner, through his long-standing relationships, became the key financier of James G. These were inevitably built on river landings where trade goods (nails, whiskey, bacon, salt, sugar, tea, calico, blankets, thimbles, beads, and “Bateman’s (opium) Drops” were unloaded from keel boats or canoes, and where furs or skins were packed. The stores consisted of one or more log cabins (with puncheon floors, and few if any windows) surrounded by fencing, storage sheds, and outbuildings. Other, larger posts were located at or near present-day Burlington, Muscatine, Clinton, Rochester, Eddyville, Moscow, Iowa City, Iowaville, Keokuk, and Ottumwa. Some ran small posts called “whiskey stores” or groceries. There were traders like (Phelps brothers and John) Gilbert on virtually every major river in southeast Iowa. Fur-trading brought the first Europeans to Iowa. With a near monopoly of the (Native American) trade in the Upper Mississippi River Valley, the American Fur Company epitomized the urban and industrial character of the changes that came to the Iowa River after the Black Hawk War of 1832. Louis, while William Phelps (Sumner’s younger brother) managed much of the Iowa/Illinois/Missouri conglomerate of AFC posts from his own trading post (Sac and Fox Outfit) in Iowaville on the Des Moines River. Located on the Des Moines River, Sumner’s brother, William Phelps, built the Sac and Fox Outfit in Iowaville (center of the map above), overseeing fur-trading operations throughout Iowa Territory for the American Fur Company.īy the mid-1830’s AFC was managed by Pierre Chouteau out of St. Click here to find out more.Īccording to family historians Oliver S. Wanna read more about the Phelps family and the entire history of fur-trading in Johnson County? Marybeth Slonneger’s amazing book Remembrance Park. Sumner and his older brothers – Alexas and Myron – along with a younger brother – William – all came to Illinois soon after The Prairie State joined the Union in 1818. A fur trader who came West to Illinois around 1820, and while canoeing the tributaries of the Great River – the Mississippi, working alongside Native Americans, he earned the honored nickname – Wah-wash-e-ne-qua – an Algonquin word that translates… Hawkeye.īorn in Palmyra, New York on August 1, 1805, Stephen Sumner Phelps was the fifth of seven children born to Stephen and Lois Phelps, whose ancestors came to America from England in 1630. But here, I’d like to focus on one unique man from New York. So, where did this Iowa Hawkeye name come from, anyway? In an earlier post, I began the explanation by taking you to Burlington, Iowa. And, for me and my Boller family, we’ve been Hawkeyes from Iowa since 1853. The Hawkeyes – a very familiar moniker for most college sports fans.
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