Notes by A[lexander] McDaniel written circa 1886 about his first arrival in Wilmette

[p.1, line1] Fifty years ago today [current date August 14, 1886] it

2 being August 14, 1836 I left

3 Chicago in the morning and

4 walked out 14 [fourteen] miles to where

5 Westerfields Residence now is [underlined words crossed out]

6 the old [crossed out] ouilmette Residence

7 was then on the Lake Shore

8 directly East of where

9 Westerfields [Westerfield's] Residence now is.

10 at [At] that time there was only

11 four houses from Chicago to

12 where the ouilmette Family

13 lived. I arrived there about noon

14 and after taking a good

15 Substantial dinner with mine

16 hosts I hired a half breed Indian

17 with his poney [pony] to pilot me

18 through the woods to what

19 was afterwards called Hills

20 Ridge. We Struck the Ridge [.]

[p.2, line 1] we [?] followed an Indian trail

2 that runs a few Steps South

3 of A. T. Sherman's present residence house

[underlined word crossed out] in

4 Wilmette and Struck the

5 Ridge where Wm [William] Myers

6 Saloon now stands [.] from there we

7 followed the Ridge North to the Lake

8 Shore where Garlands [?] Church

9 now Stands. There we found

10 four men engaged in puting [putting]

11 up a log house that was

12 afterwards called Pattersons

13 tavern. I then dismissed my

14 Indian Guide and remained

15 with the Pattersons untill [until] the

16 next day camping on the ground in tents and under

17 trees.

[p.3, line 1] Rose [?] was an old man [dividing line drawn]

2 I am [?] come in 1837 [dividing line drawn]

3 John Dye instead of George [dividing line drawn]

4 Stebbins did not keep

5 tavern in the old Ouilmette

6 house in 1836-7 - not

7 untill [until] 1839-40 [dividing line drawn]

8 the dead Indian Sitting up

9 in the pen [?] was on the Lake

10 Shore East of Robert Williams [dividing line drawn]

11 Hoosier Clark came here about

12 the year 1837 - he was not

13 an every day drunkard, only

14 occasionaly [occasionally] got on a Spree [dividing line drawn]

15 according to the best of my

16 recollection there was not

17 one third of 27 old Settlers came

18 to a premature death by drinking

19 whiskey