Rene and Antonne Lartoniere (Lorton)

Voyageurs from Michilimackinac Island in Michigan
Established a trading post with the Kickapoo on the north side of the Sangamon River where Friends Creek flows into it (near Oreana) in 1813. The business thrived.
On July 30, 1819, most of the Kickapoo still holding land in the area yielded to the United States government, and moved across the Mississippi River.
Not long after this, the Lartonieres closed their trading post and returned to Michigan.
The building was used for a time around 1828 by John Draper and his family when they first moved to Whitmore Township from Hickory Point Township.