Given the panicky attitudes so many citizens seem to have these days, it’s probably not surprising to see so many local residents flying their U.S. flags. Residents of Illinois in general – and the Fox Valley in particular – are a loyal bunch who aren’t afraid to show their patriotism.

But while the U.S. flag is the one we hoist to honor the country today, it’s interesting to note that the Stars and Stripes and the Illinois state flag are not the only banners to have flown over the Fox Valley.

We have not always been part of Illinois. Nor for that matter has the area always even been part of the United States.

In the 1600s, France claimed what they called the Illinois Country. They were replaced by the British, winners of the French and Indian War, in 1765. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Fox Valley was considered part of Quebec Province by the British and was governed from Canada. Since the Illinois Country had always been considered part of Quebec by the French, after the British took over following the end of the French and Indian War, they decided to keep administrative matters the same. Strangely enough, during the Revolution, a small force of Spanish militia marched north from St. Louis (then controlled by the Spanish crown) and briefly claimed the Illinois Country for Spain.

But thanks to George Rogers Clark and his small band of hardy frontiersmen, however, Illinois was permanently rescued from the British and whatever other European powers that might have had claims to it, and established as a county of the state of Virginia in 1778. Later, the lands drained by the Fox River were formally recognized as United States territory as part of the peace settlement at the end of the Revolution.

Quickly realizing it could not govern a remote area so far away, however, Virginia surrendered Illinois to the U.S. government in 1784. Three years later, we became part of the Northwest Territory – a huge area north and west of the Ohio River comprising the current states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio – under terms of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

Arthur St. Clair, a mediocre Revolutionary War general with good political connections, was appointed governor in 1790, promptly naming the territory’s first county after himself. A few months later he created another county, Knox, and that’s when Kendall County’s story really begins, for our small county was a portion of the new giant political division.

Old Knox County included about half of the current state of Illinois plus all of Indiana, most of Ohio, most of Michigan, and a huge chunk of Wisconsin. The county was named for Secretary of War Henry Knox, another (and much better) former Revolutionary War general.

In 1800 the territory of Indiana was created and in 1801 the Fox Valley was included in a redesigned St. Clair County of the new territory. We remained part of Indiana Territory until Illinois Territory was established in 1809.

As population grew in the southern part of the state, new counties were formed to provide more efficient local government. In September 1812, the Fox Valley became part of Madison County, named for President James Madison. Although the nation was at war again with England, political reorganization and population growth did not stop. On Nov. 20, 1814, the territorial legislature established Edwards County, which included the Fox Valley. The new county was named for Illinois’ first territorial governor, Ninian Edwards.

The war ended in 1816, and Illinois Territory kept growing. Crawford County (named for U.S. Sen. William Crawford of Georgia) was established in December and included today’s Kendall County.

In 1818, Illinois became a state in its own right. A year later, on March 22, 1819, Clark County, including the Fox Valley, was established, named for Gen. George Rogers Clark. As settlement moved north, county boundaries kept changing. In 1821 we became part of Pike County (named for Zebulon Pike an explorer and general during the War of 1812); and in 1824, part of Fulton County (named for Robert Fulton of steamboat fame). In 1825, we were included in the bounds of the new Putnam County (named for eccentric Revolutionary War General Rufus Putnam) where we remained until 1831. Although part of Putnam, government was centered in Peoria.

On Jan. 15, 1831, the General Assembly formed LaSalle County, which ran from the center of present-day Livingston County all the way north to Wisconsin, including Kendall County. We remained part of LaSalle (named for the 17th century French explorer, Robert Cavalier de LaSalle) until 1836 when Kane County was formed.

The formation of Kane County (named for Elias Kent Kane, Illinois’ first secretary of state and a U.S. Senator) absorbed three of Kendall County’s current nine townships, Oswego, Bristol and Little Rock. The other nine townships – Kendall, NaAuSay, Fox, Big Grove, Lisbon and Seward – remained part of LaSalle County.

Population was growing too fast in Northern Illinois for things to remain the same for long, however. Residents in northern LaSalle and southern Kane counties wanted county government more conveniently located. On Feb. 19, 1841, the Illinois General Assembly established Kendall County, named for Amos Kendall, Postmaster General of the United States, political crony of Andrew Jackson, journalist, and partner with Samuel F.B. Morse in the development of the telegraph. Ironically, a county that voted solidly Republican for more than a century after the party was formed in 1854 was named for a prominent 19th century Democrat.

It’s been a long road since the 1600s when we were part of Quebec and, I suppose, we would have been speaking French had we been here then. After kicking Spain and Great Britain to the curb and recovering from a dangerous lurch towards becoming Hoosiers, we at last settled for being regular Illinois Suckers when things settled down.

And things have remained settled for so long it’s impossible for most to imagine the days when French, Indians and buffalo roamed and government decisions were made in Canada.

Interested in more local history?

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