- Title:
- The national decline of the Miami Indians; John B. Dillon
- Author:
- Dillon, John B. (John Brown), 1808?-1879
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DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879.
John Brown Dillon, facile writer and able historian, was born in Wellsburg, W. Va. (then Virginia), in 1807 or 1808. Little is known of his youth or, for that matter, of his later life. He was respected by his contemporaries, and something tragic in his bearing and manner apparently elicited their sympathy, but no one seemed to be in his confidence; no one seemed to be on terms better than acquaintanceship with him.
He lived alone, in bachelor quarters reported to be more notable for the books, papers and notes with which they were strewn than for order or comfort. Lonely in life, he left no relative or close friend to search out the details or to fill in the outline of his biography.
An orphan at nine, he learned the printing trade and worked for some time in Cincinnati. There the episode probably occurred which is supposed to have prompted the writing of a poem, "The Burial of the Beautiful," which first earned Dillon regard as a writer and which was thought to be the key to the mystery of his lonely life: it was written in his eighteenth year and printed in the CINCINNATI GAZETTE, on which he was working.
Before 1834Dillon went to Logansport, Ind. He read law–became, indeed, an authority on American colonial law and legislation–and was admitted to the bar but did not practice. Instead he and Stanislaus Lasselle (supposed to have furnished extra capital to match Dillon's technical knowledge) founded the newspaper CANAL TELEGRAPH, of which Dillon acted as editor.
It was during this period that he completed and published the most important historical work relating to the Old Northwest Territory up to his day and for at least a century following. Historical Notes on the Discovery and Settlement of the Territory … Northwest of the River Ohio was published in Indianapolis in 1843 and was immediately recognized for what it was–a sound, scholarly, readable compilation of the facts of settlement gathered from original sources which had been carefully checked in many cases with the men who took leading parts in the events described.
The authorship of this work probably had much to do with John B. Dillon's appointment to the post of Indiana State Librarian in 1845. Although the possibilities of profit in a newspaper published in a town as thriving as Logansport of that day were certainly greater than those offered by the library post, Dillon accepted; income necessary to maintain anything beyond the most Spartan existence was not likely to be of much interest to him.
During the rest of his life Dillon held various minor appointments–assuring an existence and time to write–and he carried out his duties with meticulous care for detail. He served as secretary of the State Board of Agriculture for a few years, was Assistant Secretary of State for two years and held a clerkship in the United States Department of the Interior in Washington from 1863 to 1875. He used these years in Washington to good advantage; two important books resulted from his easy access to documents and publications there.
In 1875 he left Washington and returned to Indianapolis, where he had lived as a state employe from 1845 to 1863, and remained there until his death in 1879.
- The History of Indiana, from Its Earliest Exploration by
Europeans, to the Close of the Territorial Government in 1816: with an
Introduction Containing Historical Notes of the Discovery and Settlement of
the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio.
Indianapolis, 1843.
Search "The History of Indiana, from Its Earliest Exploration by Europeans, to the Close of the Territorial Government in 1816: with an Introduction Containing Historical Notes of the Discovery and Settlement of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio" by DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879. in:
Close X - An Address Delivered Before the Editorial Convention,
Assembled at Indianapolis, on the Ninth of December, 1846.
Indianapolis, 1847.
Search "An Address Delivered Before the Editorial Convention, Assembled at Indianapolis, on the Ninth of December, 1846" by DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879. in:
Close X - Notes on Historical Evidence in Reference to Adverse Theories
of the Origin and Nature of the Government of the United States of
America. New York, 1871.
Search "Notes on Historical Evidence in Reference to Adverse Theories of the Origin and Nature of the Government of the United States of America" by DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879. in:
Close X - Oddities of Colonial Legislation in America as Applied to the
Public Lands, Primitive Education, Religion, Morals, Indians, Etc.
Indianapolis, 1879.
Search "Oddities of Colonial Legislation in America as Applied to the Public Lands, Primitive Education, Religion, Morals, Indians, Etc" by DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879. in:
Close X - National Decline of the Miami Indians.
Indianapolis, 1897.
Search "National Decline of the Miami Indians" by DILLON, JOHN BROWN: 1808?-1879. in:
Close X
- The History of Indiana, from Its Earliest Exploration by
Europeans, to the Close of the Territorial Government in 1816: with an
Introduction Containing Historical Notes of the Discovery and Settlement of
the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio.
Indianapolis, 1843.
- Publication Year:
- 1897
- Source:
- Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merill company, 1897. 119-143 p. 25 cm.
- Bookmark:
- https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/inauthors/VAC0879
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS
VOLUME
I NUMBER IV
THE NATIONAL DECLINE
OF THE
MIAMI INDIANS
BY
JOHN B. DILLON
(Delivered before the Society May 23, 1848)
INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
1897
