Thomas Posey Street

Notes:

Joseph Montfort Street was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia, on the 18th day of December, 1782. His father, Anthony Street, was a Virginia planter, of English ancestry. His mother, Mary (Stokes) Street, was a sister of Gov. Montfort Stokes, of North Carolina. Anthony Street was a soldier in the Continental army from the commencement to the close of the Revolutionary war, and retired a colonel in command of a regiment. He was then made sheriff of Lunenburg County, holding the office for many years.

Joseph was appointed deputy sheriff before he was of age. His early educational advantages must have been meager, for we soon find him employed in a commercial house in Richmond, Virginia.

Little is known of his migration to Kentucky. He read law in the office of Humphrey Marshall and with the great Henry Clay, and for a brief period practiced law in the courts of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Young Street and John Wood began in Frankfort the publication of a politically independent weekly newspaper named The Western World. The World one day startled its readers by boldly charging Aaron Burr, Judge Innis, one Sebastian and others with conspiracy against the Government. Kentucky was alive with sympathizers with Burr, some of them erroneously believing that the proposed expedition to the Southwest was secretly sanctioned by the Government. Judge Innis sued the publishers for libel. The editors pleaded justification, proving that Innis had transmitted sealed documents to New Orleans, documents prepared and sent by Burr. Innis, taken by surprise, fainted and was carried from the courtroom. Street was challenged by several of Burr's allies, but he paid no attention to their challenges further than to publish them as items of news, editorially remarking that they were on file and the writers would severally be attended to!

We next learn of Street's marriage to Eliza Maria, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Thomas Posey of Revolutionary fame, and of his retirement from the State of Kentucky. In Shawneetown, Illinois, Street served for sixteen years as clerk of the court. During much of that time he served also as postmaster and recorder of deeds.

In the year 1827, President John Quincy Adams appointed Joseph M. Street agent for the Winnebago Indians at Prairie due Chien, on the Wisconsin side of the upper Mississippi.

The appointment was due to the influence of Street's friend, Henry Clay. In a letter announcing that he had been appointed to the Indian agency, Clay expressed his conviction that the appointment would redound to the welfare of the Indians and the honor of the Government.

The newly appointed agent entered upon his duties in November, 1827. Early the next year he moved his family to Prairie du Chien.

The next move of the superintendent, in 1835, was the transfer of General Street from the Winnebago agency to that of the Sacs and Foxes, with a change of residence from Prairie du Chien to Rock Island. This change was a great loss to the Winnebagoes, but a corresponding gain to the Sacs and Foxes.

From 1835 to 1837 General Street and his family resided in Rock Island. Then, at no little personal sacrifice, he removed to Prairie du Chien that he might place the Government school which he had founded upon a permanent basis.

Accompanied by Chief Poweshiek and a body-guard of Sac and Fox braves, General Street penetrated the wilderness of the lower Des Moines, to locate an agency at a point most accessible from the principal villages of the tribe. The site was duly selected -- early in 1838 -- and the general contracted for the erection of the necessary buildings, including a council house, a dwelling for his family, a business office, stables and a blacksmith shop.

The site selected, Street contracted with a builder from Missouri and imported a force of mechanics, laborers and negro slaves. The council house was first erected and after that the blacksmith shop. In April, 1939, General Street moved his family and household effects to the new agency, and, with many plans for the future, settled down to the final work of his career.

While deeply engaged in work for his wards, he was warned by failing health that his end was near. He was taken ill in November, 1839, and lingered on until the 5th of May, 1840. Drs. Enos Lowe of Burlington and Volney Spaulding of Fort Madison attended him during his last illness, their ride extending over seventy-five miles each way. Doctor Posey, of Shawneetown, his wife's brother, came to their relief as soon as possible. While his death was attributed to apoplexy, his son was of the opinion that he was afflicted with paralysis attended with aphasia. While he found difficulty in expressing himself, "his mind was clear and his faith bright. A short time before his death he called his family together and spoke of his probable death with his customary fearlessness, and charged them to meet him in Heaven."

In a picket enclosure in the woods not far from Agency City, new Ottumwa, Iowa, are three vaults each covered with a marble slab. One of these contains the mortal remains of Chief Wapello; another, those of the Indian's "father and friend," General Street, and the third, the remains of the widow and those of her children who have passed away.

These graves may be seen on the south side of the railroad track about a half-mile east of Agency City. As a local historian has well said, "This spot is classic ground in Iowa's aboriginal history."

Now, three-quarters of a century removed from the period made glorious by this man's fidelity to a sacred trust, we of the twentieth century should be proud of the fact that away back in the thirties there lived in Iowa a man who in his long career as Indian agent was, and will remain for all time, an ideal public servant whom the spoils of office could not buy.

Source:
Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens Revised, Home and School Edition by Brigham Johnson. 2 Vols. Des Moines, IA: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.

Joseph Montfort Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Montfort Street Born October 18, 1782(1782-10-18)
Virginia, United States Died May 5, 1840(1840-05-05) (aged 57)
near Agency City, Iowa Nationality American Other names Joseph Montford Street

Joseph Monford Street Joseph Monfort Street Occupation Pioneer, soldier, and businessman Known for Iowa pioneer and one of the earliest to settle in Prairie du Chien; U.S. Indian Agent to the Sauk and Fox after the Black Hawk War. Religion Presbyterian Spouse Eliza Posey Parents Anthony and Molly Street Relatives Thomas Posey, father-in-law Alexander Posey, brother-in-law
General Joseph Montfort Street (October 18, 1782–May 5, 1840) was a 19th century American pioneer, trader and US Army officer. During the 1820s and 1830s, he was also a U.S. Indian Agent to the Winnebago and later to the Sauk and Fox tribes after the Black Hawk War. His eldest son was Joseph H.D. Street, the first appointed registrar of the Council Bluffs Land Office in western Iowa.[1]

[edit] Biography
Born to Anthony and Molly Street in Virginia, he studied law under Henry Clay and traveled to Frankfort, Kentucky where became the editor of The Western World in July 1806. The newspaper's "Spanish Conspiracy" series was partially responsible for exposing the Aaron Burr conspiracy. However, he and other members of the paper received lawsuits, threats and challenges to duels until eventually Burr's friends and supporters forced him to leave for Illinois.[2]

He eventually settled in Shawneetown during the early 19th century where his father-in-law, Governor Thomas Posey, died of typhus fever at his home on March 9, 1818.[3] Following the death of Nicholas Boilvin in 1827, Street became the U.S. Indian Agent to the Winnebago. He and his family were one of the earliest to settle in Prairie du Chien and the first Presbyterian families to live in the area.[4] While residing at Prairie du Chien, he was present at the signing of the peace treaty ending the Winnebago War.[5] During his administration, his attempts to help the Winnebago ultimately failed largely due to the interests of the American Fur Company.[5]

In 1829, Major Stephen W. Kearney of Fort Crawford arrested French-Canadian logger Jean Brunett who Street had reported was illegally leading a logging party on an island on the Mississippi River and lay within the Winnebago territory. He and Kearney kept Brunett in custody for a considerable length of time before releasing him, however the two were sued for illegal arrest and ordered to pay fines and court expenses in excess of $1,374 dollars. The presiding judge of the territorial court had ruled that only the President of the United States had the authority to expel a foreigner, even in the process of committing an illegal act, and that the officers arrest was unlawful unless receiving a presidential order. However both men were later reumbursed by the United States Congress.[6]

In 1831, he wrote to U.S. Secretary of War Lewis Cass that when the Sauk, Fox and other tribes had agreed to cede their lands in western Iowa the previous year, a local trader had reported that "The Sacs and Foxes wish to sell to the United States the whole of their country that borders on the Mississippi, but they won't sell unless the commissioners will pay to Messrs. Farnham and Davenport what the Indians owe them."[7]

He and his brother-in-law Alexander Posey both participated in the Black Hawk War and, in the weeks following the Battle of Bad Axe, members of the Sioux delivered 68 scalps and 22 prisoners to him.[8] The Winnebago Prophet and Black Hawk were delivered to him by two Winnebago warriors, One-Eyed Decorri and Cha-e-tar at the agancy headquarters on August 27, 1832. One-Eyed Decorri claimed credit for Black Hawk's capture who told Street,

“ Near the Dalle, on the Wisconsin, I took Black Hawk. No one did it but me - I say this in the ears of all present, and they know it - and I now appeal to the Great Spirit, our grand-father, and the earth, our grand-mother, for the truth of what I say.[9] ”
In a letter sent on September 3, Street reported "The day after Gen's Scott and Atkinson left this place, I sent out two parties of Winnebagos to bring Black Hawk, the Prophet and Neopope to me."[9] While Black Hawk was being transported to Galena, Illinois by steamship, he took special care that the prisoners were well-treated. When it was reported to him that iron handcuffs had been riveted on Black Hawk, he ordered officer Jefferson Davis to have them removed.[10]

During 1832 and 1833, he was extensively involved in post-war settlements with the Sac and Fox and was eventually named as a U.S government liaison and representitive of the Sauk and Fox in 1836. The following year, he accompanied a Sauk and Fox delegation to Washington, D.C. where they agreed to relinquish 1,250,000 of their lands In Iowa to the United States officially signing the "Second Purchace" treaty on October 21, 1837.[11] He later accompanied the Fox chieftain Poweshiek to select a location for the Sac and Fox agency on the Des Moines River. The agency was located on the Lower Des Moines, at the site of present-day Agency City, Iowa. Using money from the U.S. Indian Fund, he oversaw the construction of several buildings including a small farm for his family when they arrived from Prairie du Chien in April 1838. Recognizing the scarcity of game in the region, he encouraged the federal government to introduce farming to the agency as well as the establishment of Presbyterian missions to provide education to the local tribes.

Street had been in negotiations with the U.S. government on behalf of the Fox and Sauk for another purchase of Sac and Fox lands in Iowa, however he had been in failing health for some time and died at the agency on May 5, 1840.[12] His son-in-law, Major John Beach, took over his position as agent to the Sac and Fox and hosted a week long council which resulted in the signing of the treaty on October 11, 1842. One of the clauses requested by the chieftains was a special stipend to be paid to Street's widow.

He was greatly respected among both his contemporaries as well as Native Americans. The war chieftain Wapello, a close and personal friend, requested to be buried alongside him in what is now Chief Wapello's Memorial Park.

[edit] References
^ Keatley, John H. History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Chicago: O.L. Baskin & Co. Historical Publishers, 1883. (pg. 104-105)
^ Cole, Cyrenus. A History of the People of Iowa. Ceder Rapids, Iowa: The Torch Press, 1921. (pg. 174)
^ Bateman, Newton and Paul Selby, ed. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Chicago and New York: Munsell Publishing Company, 1900. (pg. 430)
^ Barber, John W. and Henry Howe. All the Western States and Territories, from the Alleghanies to the Pacific, and From the Lakes to the Gulf. Cincinnati: Henry Howe, 1867. (pg. 333)
^ a b Teakle, Thomas. The Spirit Lake Massacre. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1918. (pg. 25)
^ Shambaugh, Benjamin F., ed. The Iowa Journal of History and Politics. Vol. XV. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1917. (pg. 416)
^ Iowa Journal of History and Politics. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1915. (pg. 418)
^ Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832," Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University, p. 2C. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
^ a b Clark, Satterlee. "Early Times at Fort Winnebago and Black Hawk War Reminiscences". Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the years 1877, 1878, and 1879. Vol. VIII. Madison: David Atwood, 1879. (pg. 316-317)
^ Felicity, Allen. Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1999. (pg. 75) ISBN 0-8262-1219-0
^ Petersen, William J. Steamboating on the Upper Mississippi. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1995. (pg. 124) ISBN 0-486-28844-7
^ Union Historical Company. The History of Marion County, Iowa. Des Moines: Birdsell, Williams & Co., 1881. (pg. 39-40)

Gen married Eliza Maria Posey on 9 Oct 1809 in Western View, Henderson, Kentucky, USA. Eliza was born on 26 Aug 1792 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA; died on 2 Feb 1847 in Agency City, Wapello, Iowa, USA; was buried in Agency, Wapello, Iowa, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1783, , Amherst, Virginia, USA

Notes:

ANTHONY WADDY STREET: Anthony volunteered a private in the Revolution War and was a Colonel at the end of the war.
DAR Patriot Index:
"STREET: Anthony: b. 10-16-1741 VA d. 1-22-1809 VA M (1) Mary (Molly) Stokes (2) Mary GrayCapt. CS VA
"Appointed by the governor of Virginia as one of the Gentleman Justices of the County Court not long after David Stokes, father of Mary, was appointed. He appears to have dropped the Waddy from his name soon after settling in Lunenburg Co. In 1772 Anthony Street was appointed to be a Captain of a Foot Company of the County Militia and served in that capacity throughout the Revolution. He and Molly had eight children; six boys and two girls. Their eldestson, Waddy Street, commanded the Lunenburg Co. Regiment as a Lieutenant Colonel during the War of 1812, but I think this must have been a paper command, only!. The second child and son was named David Street.
Molly died November of 1802 when their youngest child was about 19 years old. The next spring Old Anthony set out to find a new wife. That fall he came riding back, and bringing his new bride, a much younger woman named Mary (Polly) Gray. Polly bore him four sons in the six years that they were married. Anthony wrote his will on 1 January 1809 and died on 22 January of that year.

In the mid 1780's he served on term in the Virginia Legislature and about 1792 he was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the Militia and made Commandant of the Lunenburg Co. Militia. After that he was called Colonel Street." Excerpt taken from a letter published in Street Family newsletter Winter 2000-2001.

Anthony married Mary Stokes in 1767 in , Lunenburg, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 20 Aug 1743 in , Lunenburg, Virginia, USA; died on 7 Nov 1802 in , Lunenburg, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: John Street

Notes:

Capt. John Street, probably descended from the intermarriage of the Street and Burch families. On his coat of arms is this history

"The Arms of the Antient family of Street are Thus blazoned (viz.) the field Gules; Three Catherine Wheels, Or., Being impaled with the Antient Arms of Burch, whose field is azure, three flowers deliz, ermine, mantled Gules, doubled Argent as herein depicted."

Capt. John Street, born about the beginning of the 18th century, at Bristol, England, was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Was bred to the sea. Came to Virginia in the habit of mate of a merchant vessel; was promoted to be Captain; married Hannah Waddy, daughter of Anthony Waddy, inspector of tabacco at a place known as Waddy's Warehouse, on the Pamunky River, New Kent Co., Virginia.

He was a merchant, and afterward purchased a plantation on the south side of Metadaquin Creek, in Hanover County, Virginia, where he resided the last part of his life, acting as County Surveyor and Inspector of Tabacco at the town of New Castle.

John married Hannah Waddy in 1734 in , Hanover, Virginia, USA. Hannah (daughter of Anthony Waddy and Ann Parke) was born in 1705 in St Pauls Parish, Hanover, Virginia, USA; died in 1747 in St Pauls Parish, Hanover, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Jane Waddy in 1700 in , , Virginia, USA. Jane (daughter of Samuel Waddy and Ann Parke) was born in 1684 in Saint Peter and Paul Parish, New Kent, Virginia, USA; died on 15 Jan 1788 in Saint Peter and Paul Parish, New Kent, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Anthony married Ann Parke in 1710 in , New Kent, Virginia, USA. Ann (daughter of John Parke and Mary Calder) was born on 8 Apr 1684 in Saint Peter and Paul Parish, New Kent, Virginia, USA; died in 1729 in St Pauls Parish, Hanover, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Anna Miles on 3 Nov 1664 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Anna was born on 7 Oct 1642 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; died on 19 Jul 1730 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Ann Parke in 1674 in , , Virginia, USA. Ann was born in 1645 in , Henrico, Virginia, USA; died in 1711 in , New Kent, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Mary Calder. Mary was born in 1666 in , , Virginia, USA; died on 17 Nov 1714 in , New Kent, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]