John H. Whistler was the first child born in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in military forts throughout the Great Lakes, and became an Indian trader at Green Bay, Wisconsin, selling his wares as far west was Dubuque, Iowa. Whistler served as an interpreter in the Winnebago War of 1827, and was a reluctant witness in the Black Hawk War of 1832. His marriage to Esther Bailly in 1834 was the first recorded in Cook County, Illinois. Whistler settled in at Baillytown, Indiana; assuming control of the Bailly trading network and becoming one of the first commissioners of Porter County. After the death of his wife, Whistler followed the last of the forced migrations of Great Lakes Indians to Kansas. In business partnership with his brother-in-law Robert A. Kinzie and his sister-in-law Mary L. Nadeau, Whistler resumed his position as a licensed trader to the Sac and Fox nation. He married Lydia H.Blackford. In 1855, John Whistler retired from the Indian trade to raise horses on 360 acres of land along the Neosho River directly north and west of the townsite of Burlington, Coffey County, Kansas. During the civil war Whistler accepted the responsibility of recruiting and forming four regiments of volunteers, and was awarded the rank of General in the Kansas militia. John Whistler died in 1873, and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. His sister, Mary Ann Paul, is buried in the same plot.
John H. Whistler was the first child born in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in military forts throughout the Great Lakes, and became an Indian trader at Green Bay, Wisconsin, selling his wares as far west was Dubuque, Iowa. Whistler served as an interpreter in the Winnebago War of 1827, and was a reluctant witness in the Black Hawk War of 1832. His marriage to Esther Bailly in 1834 was the first recorded in Cook County, Illinois. Whistler settled in at Baillytown, Indiana; assuming control of the Bailly trading network and becoming one of the first commissioners of Porter County. After the death of his wife, Whistler followed the last of the forced migrations of Great Lakes Indians to Kansas. In business partnership with his brother-in-law Robert A. Kinzie and his sister-in-law Mary L. Nadeau, Whistler resumed his position as a licensed trader to the Sac and Fox nation. He married Lydia H.Blackford. In 1855, John Whistler retired from the Indian trade to raise horses on 360 acres of land along the Neosho River directly north and west of the townsite of Burlington, Coffey County, Kansas. During the civil war Whistler accepted the responsibility of recruiting and forming four regiments of volunteers, and was awarded the rank of General in the Kansas militia. John Whistler died in 1873, and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. His sister, Mary Ann Paul, is buried in the same plot.
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