peared M. Dorsiere acting in the name of M. Gabriel Cerré absent, bearer of the Testament of James Moore, and he had for and in the name of the said M. Cerré, required the registry thereof as follows:

"In the name of God Amen, I, James Moore of Bellefontaine of the County of Illinois, being in perfect health of body and soul and memory, render thanks to God for calling to memory the mortality of my body, and knowing that the lot of every man is to die once, I make, ordain and constitute this present my last will and testament; that is to say, firstly, and the first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of the Almighty God who gave it, and I recommend my body to the earth to be interred in Christian burial; and the funeral to the direction of my Testamentary executors, that at the general resurrection I may resume it again by the Supreme power of God; and as to my temporal goods, which it has pleased God to give me in this life, I give, devise and dispose of the said goods in the manner and form following:-Firstly, I give and bequeath to Catherine Moore, my well-beloved wife, the third of all my property both personal and real, after my debts shall be legitimately paid; it is my intent which I wish to be executed during her widowhood. As to the negroes, Bingo and Judik, it is my intent that they return to M. Tobias Barshaves, if he is willing to take them back, and to hold himself responsible therefor to the estate of John Allison; if not, the said negroes shall be sold at auction or sold at private sale if the testamentary executors deem it best, and their price assured to the use of the estate of the late John Allison.

"As to all the lands which I possess at the present time, it is my intent that they be equally divided between my sons except that my son William shall have two parts. The cleared lands shall be divided as well as those in woods. and in farm yard, at the discretion of the Executors hereafter mentioned. I give equally to my son William the

horse called Pasha and a book called or entitled 'Tragedies of Otway' and the first volume of the 'Spectator,' and to my son John 'The Companion of the Young Man,' and to my son James the works of Abraham Cowley, and to Enoch the seventh volume of the 'Spectator,' and to Milton 'The Paradise Lost' of Milton and the works of M. Savage entitled 'The Vagabond'; and to my daughter Mary the first volume of the works of Shakespeare, with an equal part of all my personal goods, and all the remaining books shall be equally divided among all. My son William shall have my violin. I ordain and likewise constitute Gabriel Cerré, Shadrach Bond and Thomas Biggs to be my Executors of this present last will and testament, to whom I recommend that they leave all my property in the hands of my wife during her widowhood until the boys are of age; and that at that time each of them as they come of age withdraw his share, but if there appears to the Testamentary Executors the least appearance of waste in the property, it is my intent that they take it in their hands and place it to the best advantage for the interest of the children. And by the present I disapprove, revoke and annul all other testaments previous to this, as well as the Executors named by me herebefore in my previous wills and testaments. I ratify and confirm this present and no other to be my last will and testament; in consequence of which I have set thereon my signature and my seal, this 31st day of May in the year of our Lord 1787.

"Signed

JAMES MOORE

"His Seal.

"Signed, Sealed and pronounced and declared by the said James Moore to be his last will and testament in his presence and in the presence of each of us, who in his pres

ence and in the presence of each of us have signed names hereunder:

"MICHAEL HUFF.

"JOHN SLAUGHTER. X-his mark. "FRANCIS CLARK.

"I certify that the present translation conforms to the original.

"F. DORSIERE.

"Registered according to the translation by me the un

dersigned Notary Public.

"LABUXIERE, N. P."

CHAPTER VI

AMES MOORE in fact was the first
American settler in Illinois.

I thus finish my tale of James Moore

of Illinois, and there will be no more

to say of him save some further consideration of the claim I make, to-wit: that he was the first American settler of the Illinois country or leader of the first party of settlers, which comes to the same thing. If I left it with what I have written, the case is made out, and it is clear on authority that indeed he was the first, but in fairness to the claim, there should be additionally noted to-wit:

"To confirm his views he (Clarke) sent in 1777 to Kaskaskia two trusted spies, one of whom was James Moore, a distinguished pioneer."-"Illinois Historical and Statistical," Moses (1889).

The same author says again:

"In 1781 an enterprising company of immigrants consisting of James Moore the leader, Garrison Bond, Kidd and Rutherford with their families settled on the American Bottom. All but possibly Garrison were Clarke soldiers. It was the glowing accounts of these and others that induced so large an immigration from Maryland and Virginia and of which their party was the advance guard."

Again the author speaks of New Design near Waterloo as settled in 1782, "south of where the Moore party had settled."