John Kinzie

John Kinzie (December 23, 1763 – June 6, 1828) was a fur trader from Quebec who first operated in Detroit and what became the Northwest Territory of the United States. A partner of William Burnett from Canada, about 1802-1803 Kinzie moved with his wife and child to Chicago, where they were among the first permanent white non-indigenous settlers. Kinzie Street (400N) in Chicago is named for him. Their daughter Ellen Marion Kinzie, born in 1805, was not the first child of European descent born in the settlement because the first permanent non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, was of European descent, specifically French from his father’s side, while his mother was a descendant of Africa. His children, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, Jr. and Suzanne, were born before her in 1776 and 1778, respectively.

In 1812 Kinzie murdered Jean La Lime, who worked as an interpreter at Fort Dearborn in Chicago. This was known as “the first murder in Chicago”.During the War of 1812, when living in Detroit, Kinzie was accused of treason by the British and imprisoned on a ship for transport to Great Britain. After escaping, he returned to American territory, settling again in Chicago by 1816. He lived there the rest of his years.

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