James McGowan Strode (1804–1857/1860) was a militia officer and politician from the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He served in the Illinois militia during the

Winnebago War The Winnebago War, also known as the Winnebago Uprising, was a brief conflict that took place in 1827 in the Upper Mississippi River region of the United States, primarily in what is now the state of Wisconsin. Not quite a war, the hostilities ...

and the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

. Strode, originally from Tennessee, lived much of his life in Galena, Illinois. In Galena, during the Black Hawk War he was given command of the 27th Regiment of the Illinois militia and oversaw the construction of a fort in that city. Strode was involved in combat during the war at the infamous Battle of Stillman's Run. In 1835 Strode was elected to represent much of the region of Illinois north of Peoria in the Illinois State Senate.

Early life

James M. Strode was from the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

but lived much of life in

. During the late 1820s Strode lived in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

but from 1831 he lived in the city of Galena, Illinois.A Springfield Lawyer Goes to War (Briefly)
," (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), ''The Feature'', Fall 2005, Vol. 1, No. 3, ''Illinois Foundation of Frontier Studies''. Retrieved 18 August 2007.Dankers, Ulrich and Meredith, Jane.
Strode, James M.
" ''Early Chicago Encyclopedia'' (''earlychicago.com''). Retrieved 18 August 2007.

Military service

James M. Strode began his military service on July 20, 1827 as the

was being waged on the frontier in the mining region of southern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Strode, living in Springfield, Illinois at the time, was one of hundreds of Sangamon County volunteers called up by

Illinois Governor The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

Ninian Edwards. Edwards sent the forces into the lead mining region around Galena, Illinois to protect settlers there from raids by the

Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocągra or Winnebago (referred to as ''Hotúŋe'' in the neighboring indigenous Iowa-Otoe language), are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iow ...

. Strode enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and his

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

commander was Captain Bowling Green (or Bowlin Green). Once in Galena, a company of volunteers was formed under the command of Henry Dodge and Strode served as company commander at the rank of captain; Strode's company was mustered into service on August 26, 1827 and discharged on September 16, 1827.Muster Role of Captain James Strode's Company
" muster rolls in Record Group 94 at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C., via ''Old Lead Regional Historical Society''. Retrieved 18 August 2007.Kett, ''The History of Jo Daviess County'', p. 277. Strode traveled to

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for the first time in 1831 and returned occasionally throughout his life. On one trip to the settlement at Chicago in 1832, with Benjamin Mills and Judge

Richard M. Young Richard Montgomery Young (February 20, 1798–November 28, 1861) was a U.S. Senator from Illinois. Young was born in Fayette County, Kentucky and was admitted to the bar in 1816. In 1817, he moved his law practices to Jonesboro, Illinois, and ...

, the group became aware of the early unrest in the

. Once in Chicago they warned the settlers there of the war and its danger to their settlement. Strode was at the disastrous defeat of Major Isaiah Stillman's militia force at Stillman's Run. An engagement he attended just for "the fun."Daniels, Robert C.
The Quality of Combatants in the Black Hawk War
" ''Military History Online'', 18 March 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2007. Back in Galena, Strode rose to the rank of colonel and was given command of the frontier fort in Galena and the 27th Regiment of the Illinois Militia.Meissen, James L.

," Genealogy Article Section, comportone.com. Retrieved 18 August 2007.Kett, ''The History of Jo Daviess County,'' Illinois, p. 285. The fort was constructed in Galena beginning on May 19, 1832. The same day as fort construction began Strode detailed a small unit to carry dispatches from to General Henry Atkinson at

Dixon's Ferry Dixon's Ferry was the former name for Dixon, Illinois, United States. It was located on the bank of the Rock River (Illinois), Rock River near present-day Illinois Route 26. John Dixon operated a rope ferry service to transport mail from Peoria, I ...

(present-day

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 in 2000. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the R ...

). The group was ambushed by Kickapoo warriors later that day and one of the messengers was killed.Kett, ''The History of Jo Daviess County,'' Illinois, p. 284. On May 21, 1832 Strode declared

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in Galena; his proclamation demanded that all able bodied men work on completing the fort from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until it was finished. His proclamation also prohibited the sale of " spirits" at grocers and taverns from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. The fort in Galena, known as the Stockade Refuge, was located at the center of town on Perry Street. It featured two

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s, one centered and the other in the corner of the stockade. The stockade's other three corners contained fortified houses. Strode's fortified home was about 200 feet to the east of the fort, along Bench Street. He also spent his command during the war passing down various orders to respond to incidents of violence across the frontier, such as the Plum River raid.

Trask, Kerry A. Kerry A. Trask (born October 17, 1941) is an American historian and author. Trask has worked as a history professor at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc for more than thirty years. Trask was also the Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin State ...

Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America
', (

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Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...

, New York: 2006, p. 197-198, (). Retrieved 13 August 2007.

Political career

In August 1832 Strode was elected as a Democratic

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

and moved to Chicago a year later.Ss
, Biographical Dictionary, ''Early Chicago Encyclopedia'' (''earlychicago.com''). Retrieved 18 August 2007. As a state senator Strode represented much of the area north of Peoria, and in 1835 he introduced legislation authorizing a government loan to commence work on the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...

. The

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

500,000 loan was negotiated by Illinois Governor Joseph Duncan, and in June 1836 construction on the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

began.

Ford, Thomas Thomas Ford (December 5, 1800 – November 3, 1850) was a lawyer, judge, author and the eighth Governor of Illinois. The first Illinois governor to be raised in the state, he served from 1842 to 1846 and became known for restoring the state's ...

. ''A History of Illinois: From Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847'',
Google Books
, Moore, Anderson & Co.: 1854, pp. 179-181. Retrieved 18 August 2007. In July 1836 he was commissioned as the register for the U.S. Land Office in Chicago, whose offices were located in the Saloon Building on Clark Street.

Later life

Strode worked as an attorney for much of his life and after 1837 he was a "practicing member" of the Chicago Bar Association. Strode worked as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

until 1848. On May 16, 1848, in McHenry County, he married Cynthia Ann Beardsley (1832–1897), with whom he had a son and a daughter (Luella). He moved to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

around the time of his marriage and served as McHenry County judge, 1854-1857. Strode died in Kentucky, where he had gone to settle a family estate. This was before 1861, when Cynthia remarried as a widow with Ephraim Pease.Ephraim Pease genealogy
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Notes

References

*Kett, H.F. and Co. ''The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois'',
Google Books
, H.F. Kett & Co., Chicago: 1878. Retrieved 18 August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Strode, James M. 1804 births 19th-century deaths American people of the Black Hawk War People from Galena, Illinois Politicians from Springfield, Illinois Illinois state senators 19th-century American legislators 19th-century Illinois politicians