Background
William M'Intosh was born in Aberdeen, Scotland around 1760.
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William M'Intosh
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M'Intosh (1823) and for his massive real estate holdings on the Wabash River. In Scotland he served as a lieutenant in the Northern Fencibles from 1778 to 1781 and then emigrated to Canada. In 1785 he moved to Vincennes, Indiana and operated as a fur trader in the Illinois country along the Wabash River.
About 1815-20 he moved to a tract of land he owned on the Illinois side of the Wabash River, near the present site of Mount Carmel, Illinois. It is thought that he resided near where the Grand Rapids Dam was built in the 1890s. Thomas S. Hinde, one of the founders of Mount Carmel, later purchased this property.
M'Intosh operated in the Illinois country of the Northwest Territory in association with the fur trading company of John Askin in Detroit. His primary residence was located in Vincennes, Indiana. Certain sources claim that his methods were deceptive and he was able to acquire vast land holdings by profiting unfairly from other people.
He claimed to own 11,560 acres around the Wabash River. (1823) is a notable Supreme Court case that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans. It affirmed the relationship between the tribes and the United States government.
The latter later purchased a substantial portion of the property that was in question in the litigation. M'Intosh had obtained a land patent from the United States government, while Johnson's descendants had inherited the land from a purchase he had made directly from the Piankeshaw Indians. The court ruling rendered the Johnson purchase invalid, as he had no authority to buy land from the Piankeshaw after the United States had formed as a nation.
On July 14, 1832 the Vincennes Gazette reported: "Died--at the Grand Rapids of the Wabash, William McIntosh Esq. for a long time resident of Vincennes.
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Born
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Died
July, 1832 (aged 72)