Early settler and one of three founders of the city of Chicago. The other two were John Kinzie and Gurdon Hubbard. Archibald Cliborne, his brother Henley Cliborne and their father Jonas Cliborne came to what was then only Fort Dearborn since Chicago wasn't incorporated as a town until 1833 and a city in 1837. Archibald came to Chicago first. He left Pearisburg, Giles county, Virginia May 25th of 1823 by horseback and arrived in Chicago on August 5th of 1823. When Archibald arrived at Fort Dearborn there were 20 white inhabitants there and about 5,000 Indians. Archibald owned the first brick mansion on the Chicago river in 1836. The mansion had 20 rooms and the bricks for this mansion were made by Francis Cornwall Sherman, three term mayor for the city of Chicago. In 1837, Francis Sherman opened the City Hotel, which later became the Sherman House. Archibald held a contract with the federal government to sell beef to Fort Dearborn and owned the first slaughterhouse in Chicago. Archibald's Father Jonas and brother Henley resettled in Westville, Laporte county, Indiana and are buried there. Jonas is buried in the Miriam Benedict Cemetery and Henley is buried in the Westville Cemetery. Jonas fought in the War of 1812 with the 86th Regiment of the Virginia Militia. Archibald was also prominent in the early history of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the 1830's, Archibald built a large hotel in Milwaukee named the Washington House. In the 1870 Census, Archibald had real estate valued at $100,000 dollars, which in today's value would equal 1.7 million dollars. During the Black Hawk War of 1832, Archibald & another Chicago butcher feed all the Chicagoans that took refuge in Fort Dearborn.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, 1872.

DEATH OF CHICAGO'S OLDEST SETTLER.
Archibald Clybourne, who became a resident of Chicago in 1823, when it was Fort Dearborn, and who was the oldest of our surviving settlers, died at his residence on Elston Road, on the West side of the North Branch, recently. He has been a continuous resident of Chicago for fifty years. Mr. Clybourne has been physically disabled for the past four years, by Rheumatism. His death will be sincerely mourned by a large circle of old friends.

Picture SOURCE: Magazine of Western History, Vol. XIL, May 1890-October 1890