Brief History of Plainfield, Illinois
Long before Euro-American settlement, the land that is now Plainfield, Illinois, was home to the Potawatomi people. The name “Potawatomi” comes from the Ojibwe word Boodewaadamii, while the Potawatomi themselves identify as Bodéwadmi. Deeply rooted in their spiritual and communal values, they pass down the Seven Grandfather Teachings—wisdom, respect, love, honesty, humility, bravery, and truth. These guiding principles emphasize balance, kinship, and reverence for all of creation.
Potawatomi villages in the Plainfield area were located along the west side of the DuPage River. A larger community stood near present-day Renwick Road, and a smaller village was situated just south of 135th Street.
Early Trade and European Settlement
By the late 18th century, French-Canadian fur traders began to settle along the DuPage River. The first documented non-Indigenous resident was Vetel (Vetal) Vermette, who arrived around 1794. He was later joined by George Fouquier (pronounced FUR-kee), a fellow trader who lived with his Potawatomi wife in a cabin near the river. These traders, engaged by John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, played a central role in the early economic development of the region surrounding the Great Lakes.
Though folklore once attributed the naming of the DuPage River to a trader named “DuPahze,” historical evidence suggests it was named for Pierre Page’ and Joseph Prisque Page’, French brothers from Kaskaskia, Illinois. Pierre Page’ is believed to have established a trading post at the river’s mouth, roughly 15 miles south of present-day Plainfield.
The Founding of Walkers’ Grove
In 1826, Rev. Jesse Walker, a circuit-riding Methodist preacher, introduced himself to both Potawatomi residents and local fur traders. A few years later, in 1829, Rev. Walker—along with his son-in-law James Walker, blacksmith Joseph Walker, and millwright Thomas Covell—traveled north from Ottawa, Illinois, and established a pioneer settlement along the east bank of the DuPage River. This early community became known as Walkers’ Grove, located just south of the site of present-day downtown Plainfield.
In June 1830, Reuben Flagg and his family arrived at the settlement. Flagg helped dig the millrace for the sawmill under construction by James Walker and Thomas Covell. The Walker sawmill, completed in 1832, was the first in the area to produce sawn lumber—providing materials for the earliest frame buildings outside the Fort Dearborn stockade, just before that settlement was renamed Chicago in 1833.
Between 1830 and 1832, Walkers’ Grove experienced steady growth. Settlers and Potawatomi residents reportedly coexisted peacefully. However, the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in the spring of 1832 brought fear and uncertainty. Approximately 125 settlers sought protection in the hastily fortified cabin of Rev. Stephen Beggs at the northern edge of Walkers’ Grove. The war’s aftermath led to the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, which mandated the forced removal of the Illinois Potawatomi to what would become the Nebraska Territory in exchange for land, cash payments, annuities, and supplies.
The Emergence of Plainfield
Settlement in the region continued to expand. In 1833, Levi and Mariah Arnold built a small frame home north of Walkers’ Grove. Around that same time—or shortly thereafter—James M. Turner constructed a frame house northeast of the settlement. In 1834, Chester Ingersoll and his future son-in-law T. J. York laid out the Original Town of Planefield between the Arnold home and the Walkers’ Grove settlement.
Just one year later, in 1835, East Plainfield was established around the home and gristmill of James and Sarah Mathers, extending eastward to the Turner residence. Over time, these neighboring communities merged, forming the foundations of what would become the modern Village of Plainfield.