KINZIE, John, founder of Chicago, born in Quebec, Canada, in 1763; died in Chicago, Illinois, 6 January, 1828. He was of Scotch parentage, and the son of John McKenzie, but dropped the prefix to the family name, and his descendants spell it as it is given above. His father died when the boy was quite young, and his mother married William Forsythe, a merchant, who settled in New York city. At the age of ten John ran away from home, and followed the trade of a jeweler in Quebec for three years, but afterward became an Indian trader in the west. In 1804 he established a trading-post on the site of the present city of Chicago, where he was the first white settler, and he subsequently founded others on Rock, Illinois, and Kankakee rivers. He was twice married. His daughter, Maria, became the wife of General David Hunter.--His daughter-in-law, Mrs. JOHN H. KINZIE, wrote "Waubun, or the Early Day in the Northwest," being the early history of Chicago (New York, 1856).