William Conner
Encyclopedia
William Conner was an American
trader
, interpreter
, scout
, community leader
, entrepreneur
, and politician
. Although his first trade was a fur trader, his later business interests included farming, milling, distillation of spirits
, mercantile endeavors, and land speculation.
Conner is notable to Indiana
history for plat
ting the town of Connersville, Indiana
and founding Hamilton County
and its county seat Noblesville
. Conner served as an interpreter for the American forces in the War of 1812
, and later served as an interpreter and witness at several treaty negotiations with Native American
groups which would result in Indiana having its modern-day boundaries. Conner served three non-consecutive terms as a state representative in the Indiana House of Representatives
between 1829 and 1837.
Conner was a charter member of the Indiana Historical Society
and a member of the Masonic Order.
Conner Prairie
is a living history museum
in Fishers, Indiana
that bears his name and is located on his original property. It includes Conner's original brick home.
, in 1777. Conner's family traveled with Moravian missionaries and their Delaware converts. The Conners joined the Delaware and the missionaries on their British-forced removal to Michigan
. William's father, Richard, would go on to settle in Michigan in an area later to become Macomb County, Michigan
.
Although Conner acquired almost 4,000 acres (16 km²) of land from his father, he would leave home by 1795 and begin trading with the Native Americans around Saginaw Bay
.
Conner and his older brother John arrived in Indiana during the winter of 1800-1801 as agents for a Canadian fur trader named Angus Mackintosh. Conner and his brother would become officially licensed traders by 1801. They would later settle among the Delaware
along the White River
. Conner married the Delaware woman Mekinges in 1802, whose name meant Dancing Feather. She was the daughter of Delaware Chief Kikthawenund, also known as Chief William Anderson, the namesake of Anderson, Indiana
. They would have six children.
Beginning in 1808, Conner served in several capacities under William Henry Harrison
and others. He helped maintain Delaware loyalty during the War of 1812
and identified the body of Tecumseh
following the Battle of the Thames
. Conner would later serve as an interpreter and liaison at the Treaty of St. Mary's
in 1818, in which the Delaware ceded lands in central Indiana for those west of the Mississippi River
.
In 1818 he petitioned to secure legal right to his land from the Delaware, who had signed a treaty to move west of the Mississippi River
by 1820. Upon securing his petition in 1820, Conner divided assets with his business partner William Marshall and provided his own family with horses and goods. Mekinges decided to move west with the Delaware, and she took their six children with her. Conner chose to stay and gave Mekinges sixty horses as her part of the trading business. There is some controversy as to why Conner did not have his family stay or why he did not go along with them. Only three months after his family's departure, he married 18-year-old Elizabeth Chapman, possibly the only young, eligible white woman in the area, with whom he would have ten children over the next 25 years.
In 1823 Conner began the construction of his brick home overlooking the White River. It was the first seat of government and mail stop in Hamilton County. He and his brother John began acquiring land which they would turn around and sell at a high profit to new settlers. He and Josiah Polk platted Noblesville in 1823, and later Alexandria
and Strawtown
. At one point Conner owned approximately 4000 acres (16 km²) in Hamilton County.
In the late 1830s, Conner began investing in stores, mills, and a distillery. He made occasional forays into politics, supporting the Whig Party
. He served three non-consecutive terms in the Indiana General Assembly
in 1829-1830, 1831–1832, and 1836-1837.
In 1837, at 60 years old, Conner moved his family to Noblesville. He continued to oversee his business interests until his death in 1855. His widow Elizabeth would move to Indianapolis in 1864 and resided at 472 North East Street until her death in 1892.
, about four miles (6 km) south of Noblesville, Indiana
, in Hamilton County
. The house is believed to be one of the first brick buildings built in central Indiana. Seven of William and Elizabeth Conner's ten children were born in the home. One of his sons was Alexander H. Conner
who was a lawyer and politician. Conner's house was used as the meeting place for the County Commissioners, Circuit Court, and served as a post office in the early days of Hamilton County. Although Conner lived in the house until only 1837, his sons and their families are believed to have continued to reside in the house until 1874. In the 1860s, Conner's Delaware children unsuccessfully attempted to gain title to the land.
In 1934, Indianapolis pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly purchased the Conner house and farm and immediately began to stabilize and restore the house. Lilly hired Robert Frost Daggett, a prominent local architect who had designed Lilly's home just a few years earlier, to oversee the structural work as well as build other homes and outbuildings on the property during the time Lilly operated the property as a farm. He later donated the house and property, which is now known as the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980 and can now be visited at Conner Prairie
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, interpreter
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
, scout
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, community leader
Community leader
A Community Leader is a designation, often by secondary sources , for a person who is perceived to represent a community. A simple way to understand community leadership is to see it as leadership in, for and by the community...
, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. Although his first trade was a fur trader, his later business interests included farming, milling, distillation of spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
, mercantile endeavors, and land speculation.
Conner is notable to Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
history for plat
Plat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ting the town of Connersville, Indiana
Connersville, Indiana
At the 2000 census, there were 15,411 people, 6,382 households and 4,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,894.5 per square mile . There were 6,974 housing units at an average density of 857.3 per square mile...
and founding Hamilton County
Hamilton County, Indiana
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Census 2010 recorded a population of 274,569. The county seat is Noblesville....
and its county seat Noblesville
Noblesville, Indiana
Noblesville is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, located just north of Indianapolis. The population was 51,969 at the 2010 census making it the 14th largest city/town in the state, up from 19th in 2007...
. Conner served as an interpreter for the American forces in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, and later served as an interpreter and witness at several treaty negotiations with Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
groups which would result in Indiana having its modern-day boundaries. Conner served three non-consecutive terms as a state representative in the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
between 1829 and 1837.
Conner was a charter member of the Indiana Historical Society
Indiana Historical Society
The Indiana Historical Society is one of the United States' oldest and largest historical societies and describes itself as "Indiana's Storyteller". Housed within the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, it is located at 450 West Ohio St...
and a member of the Masonic Order.
Conner Prairie
Conner Prairie
Conner Prairie is an Interactive History Park, or living history museum, in Fishers, Indiana, USA, that preserves the William Conner home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and recreates part of life in Indiana in the 19th century on the White River.-History and...
is a living history museum
Living museum
A living museum is a type of museum, in which historical events showing the life in ancient times are performed, especially in ethnographic or historical views, or processes for producing a commercial product in terms of technical and technological developments are shown, especially the craft...
in Fishers, Indiana
Fishers, Indiana
Fishers is a town located in Fall Creek and Delaware townships, Hamilton County, Indiana, with a population of 76,794, according to the 2010 census. A suburb of Indianapolis, Fishers has grown rapidly in recent decades: about 350 people lived there in 1963, 2,000 in 1980, and only 7,200 as recently...
that bears his name and is located on his original property. It includes Conner's original brick home.
Early life
William Conner was born in what is now Tuscarawas County, OhioTuscarawas County, Ohio
Tuscarawas County is a county located in the eastern part of the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 92,582. Its county seat is New Philadelphia...
, in 1777. Conner's family traveled with Moravian missionaries and their Delaware converts. The Conners joined the Delaware and the missionaries on their British-forced removal to Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. William's father, Richard, would go on to settle in Michigan in an area later to become Macomb County, Michigan
Macomb County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 788,149 people, 309,203 households, and 210,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,640 people per square mile . There were 320,276 housing units at an average density of 667 per square mile...
.
Although Conner acquired almost 4,000 acres (16 km²) of land from his father, he would leave home by 1795 and begin trading with the Native Americans around Saginaw Bay
Saginaw Bay
Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area...
.
Settlement in Indiana and Hamilton County
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
along the White River
White River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
. Conner married the Delaware woman Mekinges in 1802, whose name meant Dancing Feather. She was the daughter of Delaware Chief Kikthawenund, also known as Chief William Anderson, the namesake of Anderson, Indiana
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison county. Anderson is the headquarters of the Church of God and home of Anderson University, which is...
. They would have six children.
Beginning in 1808, Conner served in several capacities under William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
and others. He helped maintain Delaware loyalty during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and identified the body of Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
following the Battle of the Thames
Battle of the Thames
The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812. It took place on October 5, 1813, near present-day Chatham, Ontario in Upper Canada...
. Conner would later serve as an interpreter and liaison at the Treaty of St. Mary's
Treaty of St. Mary's
The Treaty of St. Mary's was signed on October 6, 1818 at Saint Mary's, Ohio between representatives of the United States and the Miami tribe and others living in their territory. The accord contained seven articles. Based on the terms of the accord, the Miami ceded to the United States...
in 1818, in which the Delaware ceded lands in central Indiana for those west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
.
In 1818 he petitioned to secure legal right to his land from the Delaware, who had signed a treaty to move west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
by 1820. Upon securing his petition in 1820, Conner divided assets with his business partner William Marshall and provided his own family with horses and goods. Mekinges decided to move west with the Delaware, and she took their six children with her. Conner chose to stay and gave Mekinges sixty horses as her part of the trading business. There is some controversy as to why Conner did not have his family stay or why he did not go along with them. Only three months after his family's departure, he married 18-year-old Elizabeth Chapman, possibly the only young, eligible white woman in the area, with whom he would have ten children over the next 25 years.
In 1823 Conner began the construction of his brick home overlooking the White River. It was the first seat of government and mail stop in Hamilton County. He and his brother John began acquiring land which they would turn around and sell at a high profit to new settlers. He and Josiah Polk platted Noblesville in 1823, and later Alexandria
Alexandria, Indiana
Alexandria is a city in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is about northeast of Indianapolis. It is part of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and Strawtown
Strawtown, Indiana
Strawtown is an unincorporated town in White River Township, Hamilton County, Indiana.-History:Strawtown was once an Indian village, but was laid out by white settlers in 1819 to serve travelers. Situated on the Conner Trail which connected the cities of Cincinnati and Indianapolis, it served as...
. At one point Conner owned approximately 4000 acres (16 km²) in Hamilton County.
In the late 1830s, Conner began investing in stores, mills, and a distillery. He made occasional forays into politics, supporting the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
. He served three non-consecutive terms in the Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...
in 1829-1830, 1831–1832, and 1836-1837.
In 1837, at 60 years old, Conner moved his family to Noblesville. He continued to oversee his business interests until his death in 1855. His widow Elizabeth would move to Indianapolis in 1864 and resided at 472 North East Street until her death in 1892.
William Conner's house
In 1823, Conner built a two-story Federal style brick house on the terrace edge of the West Fork of the White RiverWhite River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
, about four miles (6 km) south of Noblesville, Indiana
Noblesville, Indiana
Noblesville is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, located just north of Indianapolis. The population was 51,969 at the 2010 census making it the 14th largest city/town in the state, up from 19th in 2007...
, in Hamilton County
Hamilton County, Indiana
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Census 2010 recorded a population of 274,569. The county seat is Noblesville....
. The house is believed to be one of the first brick buildings built in central Indiana. Seven of William and Elizabeth Conner's ten children were born in the home. One of his sons was Alexander H. Conner
Alexander H. Conner
Alexander Hamilton Conner was a United States politician and legislator.Born in Hamilton County, Indiana, Conner was the son of William Conner, a pioneer and politician. He was admitted to the bar in 1855. He served in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1856. In 1860, Conner took part in the...
who was a lawyer and politician. Conner's house was used as the meeting place for the County Commissioners, Circuit Court, and served as a post office in the early days of Hamilton County. Although Conner lived in the house until only 1837, his sons and their families are believed to have continued to reside in the house until 1874. In the 1860s, Conner's Delaware children unsuccessfully attempted to gain title to the land.
In 1934, Indianapolis pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly purchased the Conner house and farm and immediately began to stabilize and restore the house. Lilly hired Robert Frost Daggett, a prominent local architect who had designed Lilly's home just a few years earlier, to oversee the structural work as well as build other homes and outbuildings on the property during the time Lilly operated the property as a farm. He later donated the house and property, which is now known as the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980 and can now be visited at Conner Prairie
Conner Prairie
Conner Prairie is an Interactive History Park, or living history museum, in Fishers, Indiana, USA, that preserves the William Conner home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and recreates part of life in Indiana in the 19th century on the White River.-History and...
.
External links
- Walking The Knife-Edged Path:The Life Of William Conner
- History of Hamilton County, Indiana, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers
- Herman B. Wells Interview, 1979
- The William Conner Housesite
- Conner Prairie Living History Museum
- William Conner Farm Architectural Drawings Collection, Drawings and Documents Archive, Ball State University Libraries