Stillman, Isaiah

Born: 1792-XX-XX Massachusetts

Died: 1861-04-15 Peoria County, Illinois

Flourished:

Isaiah Stillman was a merchant and militia officer. As a young man, he moved from his native state to New York. During the War of 1812, Stillman was a commissary and captain of an artillery company. In 1818, he married Hannah Harwood, with whom he had four children. Around 1824, Stillman and his family moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he purchased 240 acres of public land southwest of Williamsville. He joined the Illinois State Militia in 1827 with the rank of captain. In 1830, he moved to Fulton County, Illinois, settling at Cooperas Creek Landing. He opened a mercantile business in Canton. By 1832, Stillman had advanced to the rank of brigadier general in the militia, with responsibility for the defense of the Illinois River Valley. When the Black Hawk War commenced in April 1832, he received orders to muster a command to meet the threat. Unable to raise a full battalion, Stillman assumed command of the unit as a major. On May 14, 1832, Stillman and his force encountered a force of Sauk and Fox Indians under the command of Black Hawk. The ensuing skirmish, the first military engagement in the Black Hawk War, saw Stillman’s militia, which was intoxicated from consuming alcohol, flee the field in the face of an Indian attack. Known initially as the Battle of Old Man’s Creek or the Battle of Sycamore Creek, the skirmish later received the moniker the Battle of Stillman’s Run to describe the militia’s hasty retreat. After the war, Stillman received promotion to general of the militia. He returned to his mercantile business in Canton, remaining until 1836. He later moved to Peoria County.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Sangamon County, 68:9, 20, 26, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Edward F. Finch, “Stillman’s Run, Battle of,” The Encyclopedia of the North American Indian Wars 1607-1890: A Political, Social, and Military History, ed. by Spencer C. Tucker (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 766; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 688; History of Fulton County Illinois (Peoria, IL: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 291-92; "The Black Hawk War and Stillman's Run: Questions and Answers," accessed 16 April 2020, http://www.comportone.com/cpo/genealogy/articles/localhistory/BlackHawkWar.htm; Gravestone, Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum, Peoria, IL.