14 Facts About John Kinzie

John Kinzie was a fur trader from Quebec who first operated in Detroit and what became the Northwest Territory of the United States.

In 1812 John Kinzie murdered Jean La Lime, who worked as an interpreter at Fort Dearborn in Chicago.

John Kinzie's father died before Kinzie was a year old, and his mother remarried.

Some jewelry created by John Kinzie has been found in archaeological digs in Ohio.

John Kinzie developed trading at the Kekionga, a center of the Miami people.

In 1785, John Kinzie helped rescue two American citizens, sisters, who had been kidnapped in 1775 from Virginia by the Shawnee and adopted into the tribe.

One of the girls, Margaret McJohn Kinzie, married him; her sister Elizabeth married his companion Clark.

In 1789, John Kinzie lost his business in the Kekionga and had to move further from the western US frontier.

In 1804 John Kinzie purchased the former house and lands of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, located near the mouth of the Chicago River.

In June 1812, John Kinzie killed Jean La Lime, who worked as an interpreter at Fort Dearborn.

Chardonnay escaped, but John Kinzie was imprisoned on a ship for transport to England.

John Kinzie returned to Chicago with his family in 1816 and lived there until his death in 1828.

John Kinzie suffered a stroke on June 6,1828, and died a few hours later.

Originally buried at the Fort Dearborn Cemetery, John Kinzie's remains were moved to City Cemetery in 1835.