Illuminating Lake County, Illinois History

Lake County's 49ers and the California Gold Rush

2012-01-27T15:15:00.001-06:00

The California Gold Rush (1848 - 1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.

U.S. Postal stamp commemorating the sesquicentennial of the California Gold Rush, 1999 issue.

Word spread slowly at first, and the initial gold-seekers were mainly from the west—Mexico, California and Oregon.

In the fall of 1848, George Allen Hibbard left for the gold mines, "being the first adventurer in that direction from Lake County." (Elijah Haines) Hibbard went to St. Louis, Missouri where he joined Colonel Fremont's expedition, apparently as a means of reaching the California gold fields.

Colonel Fremont, also known as the Great Pathfinder, shown in an 1856 campaign image, glorifying his expeditions to the West.

Fremont was seeking a new route for the railroad to connect St. Louis and San Francisco along the 38th parallel through the Rockies. On December 12, on Boot Mountain in Colorado, it took the party 90 minutes to progress 300 yards. George Hibbard, along with nine others, perished in that snowstorm.

By the spring of 1849, word of the Gold Rush had spread worldwide. Among the "forty-niners" from Lake County: Isaiah Marsh, George Ferguson, D.H. Sherman, William and James Steele, Jacob Miller, Joseph Lamb.

The name "forty-niners" was derived from the year 1849.

Joseph Lamb of Warren Township was one of the 49ers from Lake County. Photo circa 1900. LCDM 2003.0.43

By 1850, the most easily accessible gold had been collected, but the influx of emigrants continued to increase. Some notable Lake Countians who ventured to California in that year included: Isaac L. Clarke (Waukegan), Mark Bangs (Wauconda), John Closes (Shields), George Gridley (Vernon), and Jeremiah Stowell (Benton/Waukegan).

Eleazar Stillman Ingalls (1820-1879) of Antioch left for the Gold Rush on March 27, 1850, and reached Placerville, California (formerly Hangtown) on August 21st. He was accompanied by Patrick Renehan, Thomas John Renehan and Charles Litwiler of Avon Township (among others).

Eleazar Stillman Ingalls, circa 1860. Ingalls lived in Antioch from 1838 - 1859. Photo from the collections of the Menominee County Historical Society.

In Ingalls' extraordinary account of his journey titled: "Journal of a Trip to California by the Overland Route Across the Plains," he describes coming across newly dug graves, dead cattle and horses, and "emigrants" begging for food, who by miscalculation or bad luck had run out of supplies.

He wrote in his journal on July 28: "The appearance of emigrants has sadly changed since we started. Then they were full of life and animation, and the road was enlivened with the song of "Oh, California, that's the land for me," but now they crawl along hungry, and spiritless, and if a song is raised at all, it is "Oh carry me back to Old Virginia..."

Ingalls remained in California 18 months where he was profitably engaged in merchandising. He returned to Antioch and practiced law there and in Waukegan. In 1859, he moved his family to Wisconsin, finally settling in Menominee.

At least fifteen men from Lake County joined Captain Parker H. French's ill-fated "Overland Express Train" in the spring of 1850. French promised to take the travelers from New York to San Diego, California in 60 days for the cost of $250 each. It was in fact a scheme to swindle money. French duped the gold-seekers out of tens of thousands of dollars, and the merchants who supplied them out of much more.

Parker H. French from a lithograph in Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1856.

By the time they reached San Antonio, Texas after much frustration and many delays, French's scheme had caught up with him and he was arrested. The 60 day time limit on the trip had expired, and they were still 1,500 miles from San Diego. The men of the expedition gathered what supplies and cash they could, broke into groups, and continued west or went home.

Another interesting character from Lake County who headed for the gold fields was Archimedes Wynkoop (1812-c. 1880) of Libertyville. Wynkoop was a farmer, county recorder of deeds from 1839-1841, and the publisher/editor of the county's first newspaper, The Little Fort Porcupine and Democratic Banner.

In 1851, Wynkoop left for California, forcing his wife Eliza (nee Slocum) and their children to move to Wauconda to live with her sister. It was understood that there had been a “tragic and mysteriousinterruption” in Eliza’s marriage.

A letter from Wynkoop to his brothers in Chemung, New York inNovember 1851 describes his share in three California gold mines. He noted that thegold was fine and had “to be taken up by quicksilver,” also known as mercury.The next record of Wynkoop is from the 1860 census where he is listed as48-years old and residing in the Stockton Insane Asylum in California and listed as insane and sufferingfrom a “religious affliction.” It is very probable his insanity was caused byhis use of mercury in mining for gold. He died some time after August 1880 atthe asylum.

Emigrant party on the road to California lithograph from the book, "The Emigrants Guide to the Golden Land." 1850. The guide was written for English "emigrants" to California, giving useful information on history, geography, and laws.

It is estimated that at least 100 men traveled from Lake County to the gold fields of California between 1848 - 1853. Some perished from the rigors of travel or disease, others remained in California and sent for their families, but most returned home to Lake County.

Charlie Chaplin, Max Linder and Essanay Studios

2012-01-20T12:19:00.000-06:00

George K. Spoor (1871-1953), founded Essanay Studios in Chicago in 1907 with Gilbert "Broncho Billy" Anderson. The name Essanay was derived from the initials of the men's surnames "S and A."

Essanay logo as seen on promotional lantern slides used at theaters, circa 1915. (LCDM 64.32).
Spoor landed in the movie business after managing Edward Amet's (1861-1945) Magniscope and film distribution business out of Waukegan in the 1890s. When Amet quit the business, Spoor went to Chicago to found a film studio.
Although Essanay Studios had a relatively short run in the business (1907 - circa 1918), they employed some of the most famous silent film actors to grace the silver screen: Francis X. Bushman, Wallace Beery, Gloria Swanson (a Chicago native), Charlie Chaplin, and the often overlooked Max Linder.
Charlie Chaplin signed with Essanay in 1915 (after his contract ended with the Keystone Film Company) for an unprecedented $1,250 per week and a $10,000 signing bonus. Chaplin made fourteen films with Essanay, although only the first one, "His New Job," was filmed at Essanay's Chicago studio located at 1343-45 West Argyle Street.

Movie still from "His New Job" starring Ben Turpin (left) and Charlie Chaplin. Released by Essanay February 1, 1915.

Promotional lantern slide for Chaplin's first Essanay film "His New Job." (LCDM 64.32.29)
The most celebrated of the Essanay comedies, "The Tramp" (released: April 11, 1915) is regarded as the first classic Chaplin film. Of course, the Tramp character also made Chaplin an icon.
Even after Chaplin left Essanay Studios, which had relocated to Hollywood, California, the studio continued to release "new" Chaplin comedies using old film clips and out-takes. This practice became common with entrepreneurs trying to sate the demand for Chaplin's films, despite the long wait before his next feature was released. Chaplin was such a perfectionist that it sometimes took a year or more for him to finish a film.
With Chaplin's departure, Essanay needed a new comedian. They turned to French comedic actor, Max Linder. Interestingly, Chaplin considered himself a "student" of Linder whom he called "the great master."

Max Linder, circa 1916. LCDM Essanay Collection.
In the pre-World War I silent film era, Max Linder (1883-1925) was number one at the box office. By 1910, he was an internationally popular comedian with his character “Max, the dapper dandy.” Wearing a suit and top hat, the dandy lived in luxury, but continually got into funny situations.
In 1914, Linder’s career was put on hold when World War I began in Europe. He enlisted with the French army, and suffered illness from gas poisoning. By 1916, he had recovered, and signed the contract with Essanay Studios in the United States.

Colorized glass lantern slide showing a scene from Max Linder's "Max in a Taxi." Essanay Studios 1916. LCDM 64.32.31.
Linder only made three films with Essanay when his health failed once again and he was forced to take a year off. When he returned to films, Charlie Chaplin had taken over as the biggest box office draw. However, Linder's “mirror gag” in which he mirrors the action of another character was resurrected by the Marx Brothers in their 1933 film, “Duck Soup.”

Max Linder's iconic character, "Max the dapper dandy," in his famous pose. Still from Essanay Studio's "Max in a Taxi" 1916. LCDM Essanay Collection.
Although only 105 of Max Linder’s 500 movies have survived, silent movie fans are re-discovering his charm, and critics are acknowledging his great contribution to the development of film comedy alongside Charlie Chaplin.

Great Heart - Horse High Jumper at Fort Sheridan

2011-12-29T10:01:00.000-06:00

One of the greatest high jumping horses of all times—Great Heart—made an appearance at Fort Sheridan in the 1920s.

Photo taken of Great Heart clearing an obstacle set at 8 feet 3 inches at Fort Sheridan, circa 1923. LCDM 92.24.1307

This champion horse has escaped the local history books, but fortunately this photograph survived to document the event.

The snapshot came with a collection of photographs donated to the museum in 1992 by the U.S. Center for Military History out of the former Fort Sheridan museum. The 5 3/4" x 3 3/4" photo has pieces of black photo corners adhered to it from when it was stored in someone's photo album.

Over the years, I have probably looked at this image dozens of times, but recently something made me stop and take a really good look at it. Then I wanted to know more. Well, once you get the bug you've got to do the research!

At the beginning of the 20th century, horse high jumps were an integral part of horse shows. In the Chicago area there were a number of horse shows held each year at Fort Sheridan, Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Soldier Field, Chicago Riding Club, South Shore Country Club and so on.

In 1910, the world's record high jump was reportedly set by a horse named Confidense who cleared 8 feet and 1/2 inch at an event in Ontario, Canada.

In 1922, Charles Weeghman's chestnut gelding, Strongheart, won the high jump at the International Horse show in Chicago, clearing the bars at 5 feet 6 inches. That same year, at the South Shore Country Club's horse show, Great Heart cleared the bar at 7 feet 6 inches to win the high jump championship, but failed in his attempt to best the world record.

Image of Great Heart at the South Shore Country Club horse show in Chicago, June 1922. Great Heart won the high jump, but would not set the world's record until the following year. Chicago Tribune photo (June 11, 1922)

Chicago coal baron and founder of Peabody Coal, Francis S. Peabody (1858 - 1922) had purchased Great Heart as a young colt, and after Peabody's death in 1922, his son Stuyvesant "Jack" Peabody continued to train the horse. Great Heart had an affinity for jumping, especially bars set at 6 feet and above.

Great Heart was entered into the South Shore Country Club's horse show in 1923 with the intent of breaking the world record. On June 8, 1923, Great Heart cleared the mark, becoming the world's greatest high jumper by jumping bars set at 8 feet and 3 inches.

Detail of Great Heart clearing bars set at 8 feet and 3 inches at Fort Sheridan, circa 1923. This must have been a repeat performance for his fans after his June 8th triumph in Chicago. Notice the photographer has written the height of the bars at the right of the photo. (LCDM 92.24.1307)

Great Heart was retired to the Peabody farm (presumably the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois) soon after winning the world's champion title. In 1924, the family honored the horse by choosing "Great Heart" as the trade name for the fine grade of coal being mined at Peabody's Mine 30 in Kenvir, Kentucky.

One source claims the world champion high jumping horse is Huaso, a horse ridden by Chilean Captain Alberto Larraguibel, who set the high-jump world record on February 5, 1949, by jumping 8 feet and 1 inch—two inches less than Great Heart's jump of 1923.

Perhaps someone with more information on these statistics can clarify this. Until then, Great Heart is my world's champion.

Swedish Christmas Tree - The Ljuskrona

2011-12-16T11:15:00.000-06:00

In 1976, Ruth Olsson Dixon (1910-2006), wife of Judge Laverne A. Dixon, donated to the museum a unique expression of her Swedish-American heritage—a ljuskrona.

The Olsson Family ljuskrona made in 1922 by a tinsmith in Moline, Illinois. LCDM 76.15.60

Ljuskrona (pronounced use-kroona) is a term used for candelabra, and in this case, one in the shape of a tree used during the Christmas season from December 13 to January 13.

The ljuskrona is linked to the Swedish holiday of Saint Lucia Day (December 13), who is the "bringer of light." This feast day replaced the winter solstice, which in ancient times was celebrated on December 13.

Saint Lucia Day marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Very early on that morning, the eldest daughter of the family wakes up her parents and brings them a warm cup of coffee with lots of milk and a special cake. The girl wears a wreath of candles on her head, bringing light to her family.

The holiday tree in this postcard is reminiscent of the Olsson's ljuskrona with its festive decorations and lighted candles. The Swedish Christmas postcard was sent to Alice Carlson of Waukegan from Klara in Lundsbrunn, Sweden, 1919. LCDM Collection.

Ruth's mother, Anna M. Olsson (b. 1879), immigrated from Smöland, Sweden in 1894. She married Gustaf A. Olsson in 1900, and soon thereafter settled in Rock Island, Illinois, where Ruth was born.

According to Ruth, about 1922 her mother decided to "omit the usual fresh Christmas tree with lighted candles. She asked a friend who was a tinsmith in Moline, Illinois to make a ljuskrona which could be kept and used every year."

The tinsmith needed 3" crimped "pie plates" for the candle drip pans. Ruth found them (above) at Luknow's (?) Pharmacy on 14th Avenue and 42nd Street in Rock Island. The metal plates were filled with a chocolate fudge mixture and came with a tiny inch-long spoon, and cost only a penny each. I'm sure twelve-year old Ruth was very excited by her tasty contribution to the family's ljuskrona.

Weeks later, the tinsmith delivered the ljuskrona to the family. "It was not very attractive until it was 'dressed' with fringed tissue paper," Ruth wrote in a letter to the museum in 1991. Detail of ljuskrona LCDM 76.15.60

When Anna came to live with Ruth in Lake County, she brought the ljuskrona and gifted it to her daughter. Ruth then updated the decorations with gold-beaded garland and gold ornaments.

The Olsson's ljuskrona is an unusual piece of folk art and remembrance of the family's Swedish heritage. As Ruth wrote: "Without electric lights the candle lighted ljuskrona is fascinating."

Waukegan Academy 1846-1869

2011-12-08T11:00:00.001-06:00

Lake County's first school of higher learning was the Waukegan Academy, a place where many of prominent citizens became students. (above) The Academy (left) and Baptist Church are shown on Genesee Street in Waukegan in this circa 1870 stereograph. (LCDM 2011.0.236)

Prior to the Academy's establishment in 1846, schooling in Lake County was limited to grade school level courses provided at local one-room schoolhouses.

In July 1846, the Academy's first classes were held in the basement of the county courthouse (shown above) in Little Fort (Waukegan). Henry L. Hatch (1814 - 1892) of Vermont was the teacher. Hatch and his wife Elizabeth arrived in Lake County in 1845, and purchased land in Warren Township along the Des Plaines River.

The Academy was first known as the Little Fort High School and then Little Fort Academy. In 1848, a school building was constructed on the northwest corner of Clayton and Genesee Streets with an oak frame and Portland cement foundation.

The Waukegan Academy building photographed circa 1900. LCDM Collection.

It has long been asserted that Hatch was responsible for the building's construction, but new research shows that Reverend David Root (1791-1873) of New Haven, Connecticut paid for the construction. Reverend Root was an abolitionist and strongly encouraged the teaching of abolitionist ideals. His connection to Hatch is unclear, but Root purchased Hatch's Warren Township land, and moved to the Chicago area about 1851.

Henry Hatch was the Academy's principal and English teacher, Isaac L. Clarke the associate principal and ancient languages and mathematics teacher, Miss Alathea Crocker the preceptress (instructor) and modern languages and music teacher, Miss Calisia E. Branchard the preceptress, Miss Frances A. Shekell music teacher, Miss Sylvia L. Clarke the superintendent of the juvenile department (for very young scholars), and Dr. David Cory the school's secretary.

Interestingly, on March 12, 1855, Reverend Root donated the land and the Academy to Beloit College (in Beloit, Wisconsin) under the condition that it continue to hire a professor of theology who had abolitionist principals.

(above) Isaac Clarke (1824-1863) was the Academy's associate principal and teacher from 1848-1850 when he went to the California gold mines, returning in 1857 to practice law. In 1862, Clarke enlisted with the 96th Illinois Regiment. He was shot and killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia on September 19-20, 1863.

Scholars, both male and female, attending the Academy could choose college prep classes or a curriculum which emphasized education for future teachers. Tuition was by course and ranged from $2.00 for German, French and Spanish, $3.75 for science and philosophy, and a whopping $5.25 for Greek and Latin.

Rooms were available for boarding in the school's basement for $2.00 per week. Most students found lodging elsewhere, since the building could not accommodate the 140 scholars it had in 1849, and 472 in 1854. About one-third of its students were from Waukegan and the rest from Lake County, Chicago and Milwaukee.

Among the Academy's scholars was Joseph C. Whitney (1833-1914) of Lake Zurich. (above)

On September 29, 1854, Whitney left home to attend the Academy. He wrote to his parents: "We arrived safe and sound, but the dust was so bad that we arrived black as Ethiopians. We went down to Lake Michigan and had a wash which altered our appearance very much. It cost me one dollar to get to Waukegan. We stayed at Dan's the first night... Now we are settled at Mr. Gentzel's boarding house for 14 shillings a week [$1.40]." Later he wrote that the school had: “a complete and excellent board of teachers throughout.” Image of Whitney and quote excerpted from the book "Kiss Clara for Me" by Robert J. Snetsinger.

In August 1862, Jannet Minto of Millburn pouted in a letter (above) to her brother David: "I should like to go [to the Academy] first rate but then I know better than to say any thing about it..." (Minto Collection LCDM 93.45.521.2)

Jannet Minto, circa 1855. Minto Collection LCDM 93.45.75

David was fighting in the Civil War and the family did not have the means to send her to the private school. In the same letter, Jannet went on to say: "I have been kind of bawkey ever since you went away because they would not let me go to [the Academy] I'll pay them for it some time." (Minto Collection LCDM 93.45.521.2)

Photograph of the Academy building before it was razed in 1915. (LCDM Collection)

In 1916, the Academy Theater was built on the site of the former Waukegan Academy, hence the theater's name. The theater was open until 1986, and about 1988 became the Fiesta Palace, a center for Waukegan's Mexican community. In 2004, the theater was destroyed by fire. Postcard of the Academy Theater and Baptist Church, circa 1945. L.L. Cook Company postcard. (LCDM 92.27.453)

Other higher learning schools followed in the Waukegan Academy's footsteps and included: Wauconda Academy (1856 – c. 1866), Lake Forest Academy (est. 1858), Ferry Hall (est. 1869), Waukegan High School (est. 1870), Lake Forest College (est. 1876), and the Northwestern Military Academy (1888 – 1915).

Special thanks to museum volunteer and researcher, Al Westerman.

Lake County's Native American Place Names

2011-11-22T15:29:00.033-06:00

It has been over 170 years since the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes called Lake County home. These Native peoples signed over their last remaining Illinois lands (including Lake County) to the U.S. government in the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. But there are still daily reminders of this heritage in local place names.

The Fox River on the west side of the county was originally called Pistakee, the Algonquin word for buffalo; a name preserved in Pistakee Lake. The river, more recently, was named for the Fox Indian tribe. The tribe perished at Maramech Hill in Kendall County when assaulted by a superior force of French and their allies in 1730. The name Fox Lake is the progeny of the Fox River.

Photo postcard view of Fox Lake with the Illinois Hotel and Willis Inn resort in the distance at center and right respectively, circa 1910. LCDM M-86.1.165.

The name for Nippersink Lake in Grant Township, north of Grand Avenue, is probably of Potawatomi origin and signifies "at the little water/lake." The post office at Fox Lake was called Nippersink until 1901.

Photo postcard of iron bridge over Indian Creek, Half Day (today's Lincolnshire), circa 1910. LCDM 92.27.82.

The village of Indian Creek was named for the creek of the same name, which runs through Lincolnshire. The creek is apparently named in remembrance of the Native American villages found in this vicinity before settlement by newcomers. There is an Indian Lake in Lake Barrington, presumably named to honor Native Americans as well.

Sequoit Creek in Antioch got its name from early settlers who came from Oneida County, New York where there is a Sauquoit Creek. The word Sauquoit is Iroquois, possibly meaning "smooth pebbles in the bed of a stream."

Grant Township has a Squaw Creek, which is a tributary of the Fox River (via Fox Lake). Squaw means "woman" or "wife" in the Algonquin language.

The village of Mettawa adopted its name in 1960 to avoid such common appellations as grove, lake and woods. Mettawa was an actual Potawatomi chief whose village was near the junction of the Des Plaines River and Indian Creek. Mettawa was unable to attend the signing of the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, but his friend, Aptakisic wore his moccasins to the proceedings to represent him.

Wauconda large letter postcard, Curt Teich Company, 1950. Teich Postcard Archives OCH1780.

Wauconda, also spelled Wakonda, is a term used by Native Americans to signify "when the power believed to animate all natural forms is spoken to or spoken of in supplications or rituals." Village residents claim Wauconda was a young Native American chief who is buried on the south shore of Bangs Lake. There is no evidence of such a person, and it was the town's first non-native settler, Justus Bangs, who selected the name from a character in a book he was reading.

Waukegan large letter postcard, Curt Teich Company, 1946. Teich Postcard Archives 6BH1342.

The largest community with a Native American appellation is Waukegan. The city of 87,000 was once known as Little Fort for its 17-century trading post (speculated to have been built by French or Native Americans). In 1849, when the community grew to about 2,500 inhabitants, it became clear that "little" no longer fit. Native American language experts, John Kinzie and Solomon Juneau, were consulted and the Algonquin word for trading post "waukegan" was selected.

The name that sounds the least Native American and causes the most confusion about its origin is Half Day. Though people believe the town was given the name in relation to its distance from Chicago (which it was not), the name actually honors Aptakisic, a Native American chief whose tribe lived near there from about 1830 - 1834. As discussed in a previous post on Aptakisic - Half Day, Half Day is named for Aptakisic, whose name can be translated to "sun at meridian" or "half day."

The name Aptakisic remains in use as Aptakisic Creek and Aptakisic Road. However, the town of Aptakisic (once located south of Prairie View) no longer exists.

Native American place names that are no longer in use include: Indian Grove, which referred to a grove of trees near today's Forest Lake in Ela Township (circa 1839). The name was also formerly associated with the area around Sylvan Lake. Indian Point referred to an area on the southwest side of Fox Lake, and Round Lake Heights started as Indian Hills subdivision.

James McKay, Sheriff and Mayor of Waukegan

2011-11-17T15:04:00.000-06:00

One of the most influential citizens in the development of early Waukegan was Scottish immigrant , James McKay, who lived there from 1841 - 1869. McKay (1808-1887) constructed many of the town's first buildings and held office as Sheriff and Mayor of Waukegan.

James McKay, and his first wife Elizabeth, arrived in Little Fort (Waukegan) in May 1841, via Chicago where they had lived from 1835 - 1841.

It can be difficult to piece together an individual's life and influence, especially when few records exist from this period. Fortunately for this research, James McKay was active in construction and politics, leaving a trail to follow.

In October 1841, the McKays built their dwelling house in the area of today's Jackson and Glen Rock Streets. The following spring, they purchased 160 acres of the heavily timbered land around their home. McKay subdivided much of his land into residential and business lots known as "McKay's Addition to Little Fort," and in 1844 "McKay's Second Addition to Little Fort."

In 1845, Elizabeth McKay contracted consumption (tuberculosis) and died at the Sauganash Hotel in Chicago. She was only 30 years old.

It is unclear why she was staying at the Sauganash, but the hotel was described by Chicago pioneer, Juliette Kinzie (1806-1870) as "a pretentious white two-story building, with bright blue wood shutters, the admiration of all the little circle at Wolf Point." Wolf Point is the location at the confluence of the North, South and Main Branches of the Chicago River, and is historically important in the development of early Chicago.

In 1847, McKay married Margaret Allison.

One of McKay's early projects was to build Little Fort's first hotel, the Exchange Hotel. In 1843, he built the McKay Tavern on Washington Street, and leased it to another party to manage. In the 1850s, he built and owned the Vollar House Hotel, later known as the Transit House, at the northwest corner of Sheridan Road and Water Street.

The McKay Bridge was also built in the 1850s. The bridge was either named for him because he had it built or because he had so much land in the vicinity. The bridge was constructed over the Waukegan River ravine at Washington and Glen Rock Streets. At the time, Washington Street did not extend west of the bridge, and Glen Rock extended diagonally to Libertyville.

McKay's Bridge, Washington Street, looking east. Image circa 1870. LCDM 94.14.97

McKay's political career included serving as sheriff from 1842-1847, and mayor from 1863-1865. In 1845, he was elected as president of the Little Fort Reading Room and Library Associates. He was also a founding member of the Waukegan Horticultural Society (along with nurseryman Robert Douglas), which evolved into the Lake County Fair Association.

There are two letters in the museum's Horace Butler Collection related to McKay and politics. In 1844, McKay wrote a letter to Horace Butler (1814-1861) in Libertyville opposing the nomination of Daniel Dickinson to public office. Butler lived in Libertyville, was a lawyer, justice of the peace, and from 1844 to 1846 a member of the Illinois State Legislature.

James McKay's letter of April 1844 to Horace Butler of Libertyville. LCDM 92.25.3

The letter reads:

Littlefort 25th April 1844

Friend Butler,

There is a hellish Plan on foot here, among the Clique, and Patterson [Arthur Patterson] is the fool to accomplish the object, he has this day put up the notices to take the assessment for Dickinson [Daniel O. Dickinson] commencing in the month of May in the Irish Precincts and goes on slowly to the tenth of July among the friends in Bristol & Mill Creek.

It was remarked to me and I saw you that Sheepard is to run for the Legislature. If Patterson can be bought on your part it will stop this draft.

Be sure to write Wentworth not to change our P.O. and if no one else will give Dickinson hell I will in the fall.

Yours in haste,

J. M.

Bristol and Mill Creek were two of ten voting precincts located in Antioch and Millburn respectively. The "Wentworth" mentioned in the letter is assuredly "Long" John Wentworth (1815–1888), the editor of the Chicago Democrat, two-term mayor of Chicago, and a six-term member of the United States House of Representatives.

In June 1844, Butler received a letter concerning James McKay from John O'Mealy, written on behalf of his Irish friends in Little Fort:

They are very much dissatisfied with the nomination of James McKay and they are fully determined to give every opposition to his election that they possibly can give... Neither time nor money will be spared to defeat McKay in his election.

The letter has a decided anti-McKay tone, but the crux of the upset was that the Irish immigrants felt their opinion was being ignored, since Benjamin Marks was their candidate of choice. However, O'Mealy writes in the last paragraph (of the two-page letter):

For my own part I never had reason to be dissatisfied with him [McKay] as a public officer nor as a private individual and would vote for him in preference to any other person that could be brought forward were it not for Mr. Marks being brought forward by so many of my Countrymen.

In 1854, there was much political upheaval over Stephen A. Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act in which men of the new territory could vote on the slavery question for themselves. James McKay along with Dr. David Cory, Henry Blodgett and 500-600 of Waukegan's citizens consisting of Whigs, Democrats and Free Soilers, met on the public square and burned an effigy bearing the initials S.A.D., and calling Douglas a traitor.

"Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler," by John L. Magee. This 1854 cartoon depicts a giant Freesoiler being held down by James Buchanan and Lewis Cass standing on the Democratic platform. The Free Soil party opposed the expansion of slavery.

The Waukegan men's resolution printed in the Chicago Tribune read in part: "Resolved. That Stephen A. Douglas and his little band of hangers-on and selected bullies, will please understand that the people of Illinois have learned to estimate men by their intellectual and moral virtues, and that the day is past when those really small can be bloated into Giants solely by the aid of political machinery and bad Whisky."

These documents only begin to tell the story of James McKay in Lake County, but by all accounts, he was respected and admired. There was even a schooner built in Waukegan and named "The James McKay" in 1848. The schooner sailed Lake Michigan until November 4, 1856, when it foundered in a gale at Chicago's harbor.

In 1869, McKay sold his Waukegan land and retired to Chicago with Margaret. When he passed away in 1887, his estate was valued at $50,000.

Special thanks to Al Westerman for his research on McKay in the Lake County Recorder of Deeds office.

Gangsters Bring Prohibition Violence to Fox Lake

2011-10-14T12:09:00.000-05:00

Prohibition gang violence spilled over into Lake County on June 1, 1930.

Mobsters from the Capone and the Druggan-Lake gangs were gunned down at Manning's Hotel in what came to be known as the "Fox Lake Massacre." (Watercolor painting depicting the Fox Lake Massacre by Andy Austin. LCDM 77.23.4)

The Chain O' Lakes region became a notorious hangout for Prohibition gangsters. The likes of Al Capone (1899-1947) and his gang could freely gamble and drink the nights away. Capone was reported to have owned a summer house on Bluff Lake near Antioch, and to frequent the Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake. George "Bugs" Moran was also reported to have a home on Bluff Lake.

Colorized postcard view of Bluff Lake, Antioch, where Chicago gangsters owned private residences and frequented lakeside resorts during Prohibition. LCDM M-86.1.24.

The reason behind the "Fox Lake Massacre" is still debated, but many believe it was part of Chicago's beer wars, and a dispute over control of the Chain O' Lakes region beer distribution between Al Capone and Bugs Moran.

Mario Gomes, Al Capone expert and webmaster of the encyclopedic My Al Capone Museum website, noted that: "Moran and his men had to constantly out-think and stay one step ahead of the Capone boys in order to survive." By the time of the Fox Lake Massacre, Moran was being squeezed out of his territories and his days as a Chicagoland gangster were coming to an end.

The Manning Hotel on Pistakee Lake, showing the enclosed porch where the gangsters were seated. Chicago Tribue photo, June 2, 1930.

According to the Chicago Tribune, "Alderman Manning had changed beer dealers, putting in Druggan beer in preference to 'local beer' in which the Bugs Moran gang—hibernating in the resort country—had taken a partnerly interest." James Manning was a Fox Lake alderman and the proprietor of Manning's Hotel. Manning's was located on Pistakee Lake near W. Grand Avenue, west of Route 12. (The building still stands as a private residence).

Watercolor painting by Andy Austin of Chicago gangsters and their "molls" drinking at Manning's Hotel, the night of the shooting. One of the victims, Vivian Ponic McGinnis, is shown in pink at back. LCDM 77.23.1

At 1:40 a.m. on June 1, 1930, gangsters in the enclosed porch at Manning's were machine-gunned without warning.

Watercolor painting by Andy Austin of the Fox Lake Massacre, with gangsters shot and fleeing the scene. LCDM 77.23.5

Of the five victims, three were killed, left to right: Michael Quirl (Klondike O’Donner Gang), Sam Pellar (Capone Gang), and Joseph Bertsche (Druggan-Lake Gang). George Druggan (shown right) was severely wounded, and was the brother of Terry Druggan, the head of the Druggan-Lake Gang. Chicago Tribune photo, June 2, 1930.

Also wounded was Vivian Ponic McGinnis, wife of a Chicago attorney, and whose mother ran a resort next to Manning’s. Mrs. McGinnis was drinking with the gangsters when the shooting occurred. She and George Druggan were driven to Chicago, two and half hours away, for medical attention.Chicago Tribune photo, June 2, 1930.

Chief of Detectives Stege commented: "Ordinarily it would be bad medicine for them to invite a war with the Capone-O'Donnell and Druggan-Lake outfits, but the Moran and Aiello hoodlums have been up in Fox Lake long enough to start any kind of war."

In the aftermath of the shooting, a policeman points at a detail of the crime scene at Manning's Hotel. LCDM 2011.5

Louis Capella, the bartender at Manning's, said all was "merriment" that night. "They were having a good time all evening." Just before the shooting he started sweeping around the Druggan table to give them the hint to leave. When he heard the first shot, he dove behind the bar and escaped injury. "When it was quiet, I looked out and saw some of the injured people running."

State's Attorney A.V. Smith interviewing the Manning Hotel's bartender, Louis Capella. Chicago Tribune photo, June 2, 1930.

Many have strongly suspected that the Fox Lake Massacre was in retaliation for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929. Seven of Moran's associates were lined up against the rear inside wall of a garage at 2122 North Clark Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago's North Side, and executed.

According to Bugs Moran biographer, Rose Keefe: "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929 marked the end of Moran's reign over the North Side. For over a year, the shaken gangster debated the feasibility of continuing the fight, briefly partnering with minor league Capone rivals like renegade Sicilian Joe Aiello and pimp Jack Zuta. In late 1930 he finally conceded defeat. But he did not slink away in disgrace. The door had closed in Chicago, but he found windows of opportunity elsewhere."

This photo postcard of a road near Bluff Lake gives an accurate view of area roads at the time of the Fox Lake Massacre. LCDM M-86.1.19

Local authorities did not seem very interested in solving the shooting at Manning's. Within several days of the murder, State's Attorney, A.V. Smith, announced that he believed the killers were professionals from New York and were long gone.

Bugs Moran was arrested at Elizabeth Cassidy's resort on Bluff Lake in October 1930. The arrest was not related to the shooting at Manning's Hotel.

For continued reading on this era and Bugs Moran, I highly recommend, "The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story," by Rose Keefe.

Fort Sheridan Horse Shows (1925 - 1939)

2011-09-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

Between 1925 and 1939, the U.S. Army post at Fort Sheridan hosted horse shows and polo matches. The events were part public relations and part training.

The circa 1930 postcard (above) illustrates one of the more extreme stunts at the Fort Sheridan horse shows. LCDM 92.24.255.1.

Fort Sheridan was established in 1887, and became known as a Cavalry Post with the arrival of the first cavalry regiment in 1892.

Following World War I, Fort Sheridan took on a country club atmosphere. Though troops continued to train, cavalry officers in particular showcased their skill in public horse shows and polo matches.

Horse show grounds overlooking Lake Michigan at Fort Sheridan, circa 1930. Ekmark photograph. LCDM 92.24.983.

A dramatic entrance on the Fort's Parade Grounds for the 14th Cavalry, circa 1925. Ekmark photograph. LCDM 92.24.1887.

Page from booklet for the 1936 Fort Sheridan Horse Show and Military Exhibition. It is interesting to note that civilians also participated in certain events. LCDM 92.24.181.

View of a great jump in cavalry officers' event with judges observing every detail, circa 1930. LCDM 92.24.1337

Cavalry rough rider, circa 1930. Onlookers are so close they could almost reach out and touch the horses! LCDM 92.24.251.1

The polo teams consisted of cavalry officers and wealthy North Shore residents. Circa 1929. LCDM 92.24.577.

Like military honors, trophies awarded at horse shows were highly valued and lauded. Pictured here is a display of trophies ready for the victors at the Fort Sheridan Horse Show, circa 1930. LCDM 92.24.758

Fort Sheridan Horse Show trophy presented by Fort Sheridan Officers Club. Hunt Class winners for 1927 - 1937. LCDM 92.24.137

The variety of stunts performed at the horse shows amazed and delighted the crowds that gathered. Circa 1930. Photo by 6th Signal Corps. LCDM 92.24.1175.

The museum's Fort Sheridan Collection consists of over 2,000 photographs, dozens of which are of the horse shows and cavalry rough riders. The Fort Sheridan Collection photographs were digitized thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and are available online through the Illinois Digital Archives.

John Robertson and the Tragedy of Rainbow Road

2011-09-23T15:57:00.002-05:00

"Nothing in the whole history of Lake County has ever produced a tithe of the excitement which has been developed here over the killing of 'Squire John Robertson' by Peter Davison... The death of one of its most prominent citizens in this manner has called forth such an expression of public sentiment as is very seldom manifested in the rural districts." Chicago Daily Tribune, September 11, 1877.

John Robertson, circa 1870.

The cause of the terrible incident was a road dispute. The road to Honey Lake, today known as Rainbow Road in Lake Zurich, had been in place some 40 years, but farmer, Peter Davison (1826-1892), decided it was too close to his orchard and petitioned the road commissioners to have it moved.

A section of the 1873 plat map (above) shows the road in dispute. It is located on the map, beneath Lake Zurich and diagonally under P. Davisons' name (misspelled on map).

For a couple of years preceding the incident, Davison had repeatedly blocked the old road with barriers, using logs or fences, and harassed travelers. The Town Supervisor decided the matter was not worth quarreling about and asked that a new road be built, but it would take several months to collect the taxes to build it. In the meantime, the road commissioners needed to remove the barriers for "some road should be kept open."

The road commissioners, including John Robertson, Mr. Kuegge (Knigge?) and Mr. Bees, and some hired men met at the road block on September 8, 1877. Davison had built a rail fence with a board fence on top of it, and secured the gate with a chain and padlock. A hired man took down a portion of the fence before Davison threatened them. Davison and his son, Charles, were carrying clubs, and Davison's wife, Martha, had a fence rail. As the threats continued, Robertson advised the other commissioners to get a warrant for the Davison men's arrest, the commissioners were tired of dealing with this issue and wanted the road open.

One of the hired men was told to continue taking the fence down and the younger Davison hit him with a club. The hired man took the club away and the boy cried out, "I am assaulted" and drew a revolver on him. Robertson then addressed Peter Davison, trying to calm the situation down, but Davison, who was holding a revolver leveled it at Robertson and fired.

The John Robertson farm on the east shore of Lake Zurich, circa 1860. Robertson was a prosperous farmer and road commissioner.

Robertson was struck through the chin by the bullet. The Davisons fled to their home. The men got Robertson on a wagon and took him to his home along Lake Zurich, where four hours later, he died from suffocating on his own blood. Edward Clark, Robertson's son-in-law, went to the Davison home to arrest him, and found Peter Davison sitting in his kitchen smoking a cigar.

The John and Charlotte Robertson home where John died from his bullet wound. Photographed by Korinna Grom, 2011.

In his defense, Davison claimed the killing was accidental, stating that while sitting or leaning on the fence at the time, he was thrown forward, and that the revolver went off in consequence.

Davison and his son (an accessory to murder) were held in jail in Cook County. Davison's hearing was reportedly held in Barrington in a room above the cheese factory. There were so many people interested in the proceedings that the floor began to sag and had to be re-enforced. The Chicago Tribune reported that Davison had two hearings, one before a Justice of the Peace, presumably referring to the hearing in Barrington, and the other on a writ of Habeas corpus before Judge Murphy at Woodstock.

Having been indicted, on December 4, 1877, Davison was called into the Circuit Court in Waukegan. Interestingly, the court session was held at Phoenix Hall, because the county was without a courthouse. In 1875, the courthouse was destroyed by fire, and the new courthouse was not completed until November 1878.

On March 30 1878, after a two-week trial, Davison was found guilty. The jury's foreman read the verdict: We, the jury find the defendant guilty in manner and form as indicted, and fix his punishment at imprisonment in the Penitentiary for fourteen years."

At this, Martha Davison cried out: "My God, is there no justice in this world? Oh, no justice, gentlemen, in this world!"

Davison served a shortened sentence and was released due to poor health. His release may have occurred as early as 1880, since he is listed on the 1880 census as living in Ela Township, Lake County.

Real photo postcard of Robertson Road, named for John Robertson, circa 1910. LCDM 92.27.138

Hough, International Harvester, Dresser & Komatsu

2011-09-16T15:34:00.001-05:00

In 1939, the Frank G. Hough Company in Libertyville built the world’s first production payloader tractor shovel. Hough-International Harvester employees and Pay Loader, circa 1965. 2006.15

The company became the largest employer in central Lake County with 3,000 employees, and eventually the world’s largest manufacturer of rubber-tired tractor shovels.

Inventor Frank G. Hough (1890-1965), pictured above, coined the term "payloader."

Hough was working as a mining engineer in Wisconsin in 1920, when he conceived of the idea of "moving bulk materials in large quantities with hydraulically operated, mobile equipment."

By 1933, his company was incorporated and operating out of Chicago. In 1939, he opened his plant in Libertyville, which covered 14,400 square feet, and where the first Model HS Payloaders were manufactured. View of Hough Company, Libertyville, 1939. (LCDM 2010.34) This machine arrived at a time when there were no machines with shovels attached to the front or rear, and it provided speed, maneuverability and fast cycle times.

Hough machinery on display at ConExpo, 1969. (LCDM 2006.15)

Hough was an industry and community leader in Libertyville. Under Hough's leadership and legacy, the company defined the modern wheel loader, and accomplished such achievements as four wheel drive, torque conversion and the hydrostatic transmission.

Hough Company entrance. (LCDM 2010-34.32)

In 1952, Hough sold his company to International Harvester. By then his plant occupied over 312,000 square feet and employed more than 1,000 people.

Photo of employees celebrating their anniversaries in November 1957 (as pictured in the company's newsletter). Left to right: G.A. Gilbertson (management); William F. Pentzien, 15 years; Floyd F. Patrick, 10 years; Betty L. Cazel, 5 years; Fred A. Arnold, 10 years; Edgar White, 10 years; Richard H. Moore, 10 years; Minor B. Williams, 10 years; Jack Forney, and George J. Stedronsky, 10 years. (LCDM 2010.34.43)

Hough equipment being tested at the company's Proving Grounds in Antioch, Illinois, circa 1970. (LCDM 2006.15)

Drafting department, Hough-International Harvester, Libertyville, circa 1965. (LCDM 2010.34.19)

Offices at Hough-International Harvester, Libertyville, circa 1965. (LCDM 2010.34.5)

View of the manufacturing operations at Hough-International Harvester, circa 1965. (LCDM 2010.34.35)

Hough dissolved in 1966 and became a division of Harvester. Dresser Industries bought the plant from Harvester in 1981. Komatsu Ltd. formed a joint venture with Dresser in 1988. Komatsu is a Japanese company that manufactures construction and mining equipment, and was founded in 1917.

Komatsu and Dresser Industries established Komatsu Dresser to make mining tractors and related equipment. This 50-50 ownership lasted from September 1988 to August 1994, when Komatsu bought out Dresser's share.

H-65C Pay Loader, Libertyville, circa 1970. (LCDM 2006.15)

In 1995, Komatsu America Corporation purchased the plant. The Libertyville plant closed in 1996 when Dresser and Komatsu reassessed their manufacturing capacity in the United States. Komatsu's mining products were consolidated under the name Komatsu Mining Systems in 1997.

Aerial photograph of Libertyville plant, circa 1975. (LCDM 2010.34)

Like Hough and International Harvester before them, Komatsu still uses the Antioch Proving Grounds for testing earth-moving machines.

Komatsu's headquarters are now in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Komatsu America is the second-largest, fully-integrated manufacturer and supplier of construction equipment in North America.

In recent years, the museum has received several generous donations of Hough and International Harvester items from the company and former employees, including photographic images, newsletters, Payloader models, and even a drafting table and drafter's tools. A sample of the photographs and slides have been shared in this post.

The earliest Hough donation was made to the museum in 1961 by the company itself. The 1939 Hough Model HS Payloader (LCDM 61.51.) is shown in front of the company plant.

Daniel Brewster, Harness Maker (1821-1908)

2011-09-09T12:56:00.000-05:00

When Daniel Brewster passed away in 1908, the local newspaper noted him as "One of Waukegan's foremost citizens." Father Brewster, as close friends and admirers called him, was one of Waukegan's earliest businessmen.

Daniel Brewster was born in Laurens, New York in 1821 to Ezra Birchard Brewster and Joanna Stearns Reed. He came to Chicago in 1843, but returned east for a short time before coming to Waukegan (then known as Little Fort) in June 1844.

He opened a saddler and harness maker's shop on the second floor of the Isaac R. Lyon building at the northwest corner of Washington Street and Sheridan Road (formerly known as State Street).

This carte-de-visite photograph of Daniel Brewster may have been made to promote his business, since it pictures him in his work attire, including apron. Circa 1870. LCDM 94.34.33.

After establishing himself in business, Brewster returned east to marry Hannah A. Montgomery in Darien, Genesee County, New York, in October 1847. The couple made their home in Waukegan and had five children.

When this ad was printed in the Waukegan city directory in 1874, Brewster's shop was located at 61 Washington Street.

In 1862, several prominent Waukegan men, including Daniel Brewster, gifted a sword to their friend, and Brewster's colleague in the harness and saddlery business, Benjamin G. Blowney, who had enlisted with the 96th Illinois Regiment. The sword was presented by George Kirk, esquire of Waukegan, while Blowney was in training at Camp Fuller, Rockford, Illinois. Following is the letter that accompanied the presentation as noted in the 96th Illinois's Regimental history:

Waukegan, Sept 8th, 1862.
Lieutenant Blowney:
Please accept this instrument of war, to fight the enemies of our country, and may it never--God willing--be sheathed until the enemy is subdued and the Union remains inseparable, and our country becomes, in truth as wall as in name, "The land of the free and the home of
the brave."

Yours truly,

George Kirk
W. H. Ellis
S. M. Dowst
Jos. Mallon
D. Brewster

It was fairly common to gift friends in the military with horses and swords to better prepare them for war and to show support. Benjamin Blowney returned from the war brevetted Major for meritorious conduct, and continued in the harness and saddlery business in Waukegan.

Brewster was not only a prominent businessman, but also a Mason. He received his degree in Union Lodge No. 78, A.F. and A.M. in 1862. In 1869, 1870 and 1876 he served as Worshipful Master, and became a life member of the Waukegan Lodge.

Photograph of Freemasons, circa 1890. Daniel Brewster is seated second from right (behind). Pictured as numbered: 1 - Jay ??, 2 - Denny Hamilton, 3 - John R. Bullock, 4 - Daniel Brewster, 5 - Joseph Palmer, 6 - Fred Taggart, 7 - Thomas A. Neunham (?), 8 - David Raeside, 9 - C.S. Laugham, 10 - Robert Mutaw, 11 - John K. Bower, 12 - Josiah A. Rice. (LCDM 2011.0.229)

Detail from Freemason photograph showing Daniel Brewster, circa 1890. LCDM 2011.0.229.

Brewster's death was caused by "general breaking down caused by old age," although he had been at his store almost every day until shortly before his death.

At the time of his death, Daniel Brewster was considered one of Waukegan's most familiar and best beloved men.

Labor Day - The Working Man's Holiday

2011-09-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

In recent years, Labor Day has become a “farewell to summer” holiday, but its true purpose is rooted in honoring the American worker.

Bricklayers, probably in Waukegan, circa 1910. LCDM 63.18.4.

Labor Day was first celebrated in New York in 1882. The first Labor Day parade was held on the first Monday in September 1883, by New York workers. Few, if any workers got the day off, and were threatened with being fired if they attended the parade. Despite the warning, more than 10,000 workers joined the march. Bricklayers in white aprons even paraded with a band playing “Killarney.”

The idea of a “working man’s holiday” spread across the nation. With the growth of labor organizations the holiday became more popular, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers around the country. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday (1887). By 1894, 23 states had adopted the holiday, and Congress passed a law recognizing Labor Day as an official national holiday.

Postcard of Iron Workers' Union, family camp grounds, Round Lake, circa 1912. Photo by C.R. Childs. LCDM M-86.1.710.

The celebrations took the form of a parade exhibiting to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” followed by a festival with recreation, food and entertainment for workers and their families.

Teamsters Union on parade, Waukegan, circa 1906. LCDM 63.18.2.

Strong support for the American labor movement was especially noticeable in industry dominated cities such as Chicago. In Illinois, the first workers’ compensation law took effect in May 1912. Before that time, workers assumed all risks on the job, and if they were injured or killed, the employer was not legally responsible.

Page from the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Injury & Treatment Record Ledger, showing that engineer, Irwin Stetler, got coal cinders embedded in his left eye, June 1, 1914, and that treatment was begun. LCDM

At the United States Sugar Refinery in Waukegan, which operated from 1890 to 1913, workers faced unusually high incidence of death and injury. Over the years, the refinery claimed the lives of 47 people. The single worst industrial accident in Lake County’s history occurred at the refinery on November 25, 1912.

An explosion in the starch house resulted in 14 people being killed and 24 injured. With the new compensation law in place, this was the first time in Illinois history that workers and their families could be compensated. Postcard of the U.S. Sugar Refiner, circa 1906. LCDM 92.27.307

Fansteel workers using magnifying glasses to examine and sort small objects (possibly phonograph needles), Waukegan, 1942. LCDM 2007.28

Though there are few if any workers' parades these days, Labor Day is still a tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength and prosperity of our nation.

Signature Quilts: Voting with their Needles

2011-08-25T15:12:00.001-05:00

The Lake County Discovery Museum holds three signature quilts in its permanent collections, dating from 1891 - 1915.

Signature quilts became popular in the 1840s, in part due to early Victorian sentimentality and to mark special occasions such as marriages and births. A decade later, with westward migration, women followed their husbands into the American frontier and the quilts became a way to remember family and friends left behind.

Partial view of the "Quilt Treasures: Pieces of History" exhibition at the Lake County Discovery Museum, July 2 - September 25, 2011.

Quilts were sometimes used to publicly express women’s opinions. Nationally, prior to 1920, women were not allowed to vote, but these quilts were an acceptable form of self-expression. Women "voted with their needles" as a way to make their voices heard in political and social causes.

Signature quilts gave women recognition and a presence in society by the fact that their names appeared in ink and embroidery on quilts that were prominently displayed and often auctioned in fundraisers. At the time, men's names were most visible in society, and women were known as Mrs. So-and-So. Today, these quilts are valued as "documents" of the past for the individual and family names they have preserved. In some instances, a signature quilt may be the only record of a woman's name.

Section of signature quilt made by the Ladies’ Aid Society, Christian Church of Gurnee, Illinois, circa 1891-1892. LCDM 83.11.1

This quilt was made by the Ladies’ Aid Society of the Christian Church of Gurnee for a bazaar to raise funds to donate to causes such as missionary efforts. The ladies involved signed the names of their families, 147 names in all. The quilt blocks were machine-stitched and the layers quilted by hand. The signatures were signed in ink.

Detail from the Ladies' Aid Society signature quilt with the names of Lawson and Cook family members. (above)

The Ladies' Aid Society quilt was sold at a church bazaar to the Eddy family of Gurnee. Family names on quilt: Windel, Dillenbeck, Nottingham, Spaulding, Chamberlain, Waters, Allen, Crosby, Coykendall, Griffin, Stedman, Hollihan, Thompson, Gonyo, Mallory, Metcalf, Fuller, Bidwell, Drake, Sneesby, Sella, Rossbach, Sluman, Price, Finley, Price, Burns, Bacon, Allen, Munro, Chase, Washburn, Persons, Putnam, Hartley, Strang, Bracher, Cary, Gibbons, GaVigan, Peterson, Marsh, Smith, Brown, McGarva, Campbell, Phillips, Lisiecki, Mauston, Hay, Johnson, Champion, Bacon, Worth, Paddock, Mutaw, Lawson, Flood, Neal, Haggart, Maynard, Alexander, Stout, Harr, Wilson, Joslyn, Williams, Schauber, Knox.

A popular aesthetic for signature quilts became red needlework on a white background. It was immensely popular in the latter half of the 19th century.

A particularly successful use of "Redwork" is seen in this Red Cross Signature Quilt (above) from circa 1915. Photo by Mark Widhalm. (LCDM 70.75.7)

Lake County residents paid 10¢ to have their name embroidered on this quilt as a fundraiser for the American Red Cross. Americans aided the Allies in the war effort long before the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917. Detail from the Red Cross Signature Quilt. Photo by Mark Widhalm.

There were several influences for the emergence of the red and white aesthetic, including the Japanese pavilion at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, and the popular use of “Turkey Red” dye from the madder plant which was colorfast.

Since the popularity of "Redwork" coincided with a renewed interest in signature quilts, and its golden age (1876-1910), it is not unusual to find red and white signature quilts. Carroll College Commemorative Signature Quilt (above), circa 1899-1905. (LCDM 98.14)

Little is known about this 8-point star signature quilt, found in a dresser in Waukegan. It may have been sold to benefit Carroll College (now Carroll University) in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The signers used the quilt to record marriages and one death. Signatures include Carroll College Professors Rankin, Ray, and Echleman. Detail of Carroll College quilt. (LCDM 98.14).

The quilts discussed in this blog are on display through September 25, 2011 in the museum's "Quilt Treasures: Pieces of History" exhibition. You can also purchase a beautiful set of notecards featuring some of the quilts. Only $14.95 for 20 cards, proceeds benefit the Friends of the Lake County Discovery Museum.

To order contact the museum's store manager, Alicia Fullerton: 847-968-3400 or afullerton@LCFPD.org.

Volo Women Vigilantes of 1913

2011-08-12T14:42:00.047-05:00

To be "ridden on a rail" was a common form of mob punishment in Colonial America, but curiously, it turned up in the village of Volo in 1913. For those of you not familiar with this term, riding the rail or being run out of town on a rail, was a humiliating punishment in which the victim was made to straddle a wooden fence rail held on the shoulders of men, and then paraded around town and taken to the town limits and dumped.

Generally, it was a man who was ridden on a rail, but in the case of Volo, it was a woman, and women who ran her out of town!

Scene of the "ridden on a rail" incident. Volo's Main Street, circa 1900. (LCDM Collection) Volo is located in western Lake County in the area of Routes 12 & 120. It was known as Forksville until 1868 when the name changed for unknown reasons.

On the evening of July 15, 1913, fifteen women and one man of Volo attacked Mrs. Minnie Schultz Richardson (1874-1963) and made her ride a rail for allegedly having relations with William Dunnill, (1865-1954) her brother-in-law.

Minnie F. Schultz married John Richardson in 1904. Richardson was a general store keeper in Volo, and was crippled. Richardson's sister Rose, married English immigrant and mason, William Dunnill, in 1885 in Wauconda.

Minnie stated in the Lake County Independent: "They say I went buggy riding with him and left my helpless husband at home. It is a cruel lie. I made two trips to McHenry, Ill., in a wagon to get furniture. He is my brother-in-law and he went with me to help me."

Minnie Richardson (above) as pictured in the "Lake County Independent" on July 25, 1913.

The town's women met about the rumors and decided to take action against the perceived immorality.

It was one of the "captains" of the group, Emma Stadtfield/Stadfield (right), the wife of the town's blacksmith, who went to the Richardson home at dusk to pay a call while the other women hid around a corner. When Minnie came to the door, Emma, who was described in the newspaper as "weighs 180 pounds and is athletic," grabbed her and dragged her to her waiting compatriots.

Emma Stadtfield as photographed on July 24, 1913 for the Lake County Independent.

Emma brought Minnie to the group of about 15 women and one man who immediately started tearing at her dress, and placed her on a twelve-foot fence rail. They carried her a quarter mile (with boys following the procession) to a partially dried pond and jerked the rail back and forth until she fell into the mud. They then kicked Minnie and threw mud at her, all the while taunting her and told her to leave town in 24-hours or they would "apply a coat of tar." In Colonial times, being ridden on a rail was often accompanied by tarring and feathering.

Cartoon of the rail riding from the Lake County Independent, July 25, 1913.

Minnie said in the paper: "So jealous were my neighbors and so peculiar had been their attitude that I had long expected they would do something to injure me—not physically, but in a way that would destroy my peace of mind."

When Minnie had not left town by the following evening, the women reportedly came to her house with a pail of hot tar, but were unable to get inside. Early the next morning, John Richardson "bundled his wife into a rig and drove eighteen miles to Waukegan, where he obtained $1,500 by mortgaging his store." She then caught a train to Chicago to stay with her sister.

Eight of the women who acted in the incident were photographed on July 24, 1913 for the Lake County Independent with the identical rail used. From left to right: Mrs. Albert Miller, Mrs. George Bohr, Mrs. A.J. (Lavinia) Raymond, Mrs. John (Alma) Walton, Mrs. Peter (Emma) Stadtfield, Mrs. Chris Sable, Mrs. John (Anna) Stadtfeldt, Mrs. Jack Frost.

Rose Richardson Dunnill, the wife of Will Dunnill, was also one of the women vigilantes. She left town for several days after the incident to "recuperate from the shock of the rail-riding." It was also reported that her husband mortgaged their home to have money to flee to London, England. (William had immigrated from England in 1884).

Page from Volo's business directory, 1913-1914, showing the Richardsons and Stadtfields. (LCDM Collection)

Emma Stadtfield was defiant after the incident. "I'll be right at home when the Sheriff comes," she stated to the New York Times. The story had become national news! "We are not afraid of arrest, and we'll ride Mrs. Richardson on a rail again if she ever shows herself here."

When asked by a reporter if she would return to Volo, Minnie stated: "No, never. I could not do it—they were so mean—it was a terrible place. I am going away and start over. I will ask my husband to come to me."

"Someone will have to suffer for bringing this disgrace on us," said Minnie's husband, John Richardson. The newspaper noted that Richardson was interviewed from his wheel chair from which he was unable to move. "My wife is a good woman. She is the victim of malicious gossip... And to think I was helpless to save her from the indignities heaped upon her."

John Richardson filed warrants against five of the women, the key instigators—Emma Stadtfield, Anna Stadtfield, Mrs. Chris Sable, Alma Walton, and Mrs. Jack Raymond. In October 1913, the "rail party" of five women and one man, Edward Krepel, who had "dressed in the garb of a woman," were indicted by a Lake County grand jury. All but Krepel, who "vanished," went to trial. By December, the women were found guilty of rioting.

Lake County courthouse where the Volo women were tried for "rioting" in the "riding the rail" trial. Acmegraph Co. postcard, circa 1910. LCDM 61.8.24.

State's Attorney R.J. Dady said in the trial: "They made themselves judge and jury and executioners of this little woman; they took the law into their hands without asking state or our courts to chastise her for any lawbreaking she may have committed... If you permit them, even if they are women, to go free, you encourage acts such as occur in the south and raise resentment in the north."

The guilty were fined $100 each by Judge Charles Donnelly of the Circuit Court of Waukegan. The Judge also censured the women, saying that their sex alone saved them from receiving the maximum penalty of a $300 fine and six months in jail. The newspapers also noted that four of the women convicted were grandmothers.

What became of the people involved in this criminal incident?

Emma Stadtfield and her blacksmith husband, Peter, remained married and in Volo.

John and Minnie Richardson divorced. In 1920, John is listed as divorced and renting a home in Avon Township, Lake County, and died the following year. Minnie went to live in Chicago. It's possible the $1,500 that John gave her was part of the marriage dissolution.

William and Rose Dunnill also divorced. On November 1, 1916, William Dunnill and Minnie Schultz Richardson married in St. Joseph, Berrien, Michigan seeming to confirm the rumors that sparked the Volo women's fury three years previously. They were married a second time on March 12, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. They were married for 38 years.

An entry from the Michigan marriage book for William Dunnill and Minnie Schultz, 1916.

William Dunnill and Minnie Schultz's Chicago marriage certificate, 1920.

John Richardson summed up the actions of the vigilantes: "It was an act of middle age barbarism and hardly worthy of women of Illinois who have just obtained the right to vote." On June 26, 1913, the State of Illinois had approved women’s suffrage.

Special thanks to Heidi Steeves who brought this sensational story to my attention, and provided newsclippings and marriage certificate.

Browe School, Newport Township

2011-08-05T15:30:00.002-05:00

The Browe School was named for English-born, William Browe, Jr. (1814 - ?), who gave the land for the school. The school was in operation from circa 1850 - 1960, and located east of the Tollway in Newport Township between Dilley's and Mill Creek Roads.

The Annual Browe Reunion was known county wide. The first one was held in 1877, and held each year on the second Thursday in August in which every teacher and pupil of the school was requested to attend.

Former Browe School students at the Annual Browe Reunion, circa 1910 (above). Back row standing, left to right: Joseph Harbarker, C.W. Heydecker, Fidelia Dietmeyer, C.T. Heydecker, Andrew Harbarker; Second row: Mary Ann Tucker, MacNamara, Mary Ann Dietmeyer Boller, Andrew Tucker, Clark Gillet; Third row: Marceline Arno Powell, Kate Harbarker, Mary Harbarker Lux, Mary Eve Dietmeyer Stouder, Cecila Dietmeyer Shea, Fedelia Dietmeyer (Fed the Barber), Thomas Strang; Fourth row: John Arno, Jane Arno Nemry, Mary Strock Hansis, Sophia Strock Wells, Sarah Strock Wells, Patrick Tucker, James Tucker; Front row: John Strock, Joseph Dietmeyer, Philip Dietmeyer. LCDM 2003.0.36

The first school in this district was a log building, constructed prior to 1850. Its exact location and name is unknown, but it was the predecessor to the Browe School.

From 1850 to 1858, parents paid 2 cents for each day their child attended school, and supplied one-fourth of a cord of wood for each of their children. Teachers who taught in the "cabin school" included Mrs. Richardson and Hamilton E. Ames (1828 - ?), the latter arrived in Lake County from Pennsylvania with his parents and siblings prior to 1850.

Photo of "large flat rock" from the site of the first school, a log structure. After the first school burned one night, the cause was never determined, the rock was used as a stepping stone for the next school. Students in 1918 noted, "We step on it just as those old people of the 'early times' did." (LCDM 2003.0.36)

The second school in the district, (above) and the first to be named Browe School, as photographed circa 1918. LCDM 2003.0.36. This wood frame structure was constructed by Mr. Gaude on a portion of the William Browe Jr. farm in 1859.

In 1817, William Browe, Jr.'s family fled from England to the U.S.. Browe's father was a minister in the Methodist Unitarian Movement and upon the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in June 1817, Browe fled to America in order to escape arrest. William Jr. came to Lake County in 1858, and leased the use of his land for school purposes on January 26, 1859. It was common for farmers to donate or lease a parcel for schools, often stating that if the land ceased to be used for school purposes it reverted back to the family.

The first teacher in this new building was Roderick D. Ames (1832 - 1914), who married Barbara Sessler in 1859.

Browe School Board minutes from October 1865. William Browe, the farmer who originally leased the land for the school, signed the minutes along with the Board's president, Dexter Smith. (LCDM 74.20.15) In October 1863, William's younger brother, Alfred Browe (1821-1896), arrived in Lake County and bought William's farm where the school was located.

As early as 1864-65, while Miss Laura A. Heath (1844-1925, later Mrs. Alfred L. Browe) taught at the school, there were five blackboards, and a map and globe of the world. However, the boys preferred to use the globe for their football games rather than for studying geography.

Miss Mary N. Browe (1860 - 1952) (above) was a student and then a teacher at the Browe School. Mary came to Lake County with her parents Alfred & Harriet Whittaker Browe, from Newark, New Jersey in 1863. Her father bought the farm where the school was located. Mary taught over a period of 18 years, and was "said to be the best and best liked teacher Browe School ever had." Tintype photograph of Mary N. Browe, circa 1880. LCDM 2003.0.36.

In 1893, a flagpole and flag raising was held at the school. The money for the flag and flagpole was raised by the school's Young People's Literary and Debating Society. Photo of flag raising ceremony at Browe School, 1893. LCDM 2003.0.36.

Beginning about 1918, schools throughout the county were remodeled or rebuilt with brick. This was part of the modernization of rural schools to provide good lighting and heating systems required by law. A brick school was built for the Browe School around 1920. This school was in use until circa 1960. Two years later it was sold for a private residence.

Information for this post came from census records, and photographs and information from the Browe School History completed by Browe School students, Maudess Ames and Irene Leable. The history was done as part of a statewide celebration of Illinois' centennial in 1918.

The Browe School History is part of the School History Collection in the museum's Lake County History Archives. To date, the museum has digitized 18 of 52 one-room school histories in order to make them accessible online at the Illinois Digital Archives. The school histories and other collections are digitized as grant funding and private donations become available.

James Pridham & The People's Drug Store

2011-07-29T16:13:00.003-05:00

While cataloguing a portion of the glass negatives in the museum's collection, I came across a view of the People's Drug Store in Waukegan with James Pridham standing in the doorway. The image (below) intrigued me enough to do research on the store and Pridham. It turned out to be a very worthwhile endeavor, leading to a couple of discoveries, including the identity of the second man in the photograph.

James Pridham (1844-1917) was born in Quebec, Canada, and immigrated to Waukegan in October 1871. Two years later, he married Jeannette LaGrange McClasky at Christ Episcopal Church in Waukegan on N. Utica Street.

Pridham worked as a manufacturing chemist. In the Waukegan Business Directory for 1874, he is listed as working at the People's Drug Store on Genesee Street along with James McClasky, Jeannette's brother.

Glass negative (above) of the People's Drug Store, circa 1875. Note Pridham's name over the door, and the mortar and pestle in front of the store at left. LCDM 2011.0.191.

Detail from glass negative, circa 1875, showing James Pridham leaning against the door to the People's Drug Store. (LCDM 2011.0.191)

Based on the business directory listing and further research on Ancestry.com, which turned up a photograph of McClasky and his obituary, the man standing behind Pridham is more than likely James McClasky (1844-1916).

According to McClaskey's obituary, he arrived in Waukegan in 1874 and worked as a druggist for two years (1874-1876). This time frame subsequently dates the glass negative to about 1875. The obituary also states that he established a drug store on Genesee Street. This claim is contrary to historical facts, including that it was James Pridham's name over the entrance to the drug store, and that the People's Drug Store was in business well before 1871 when Pridham arrived from Canada.

Carte-de-visite photograph of the People's Drug Store, circa 1865. Note the druggists' names over the entrance "Rippey & McArthur." LCDM Collection.

People's Drug Store next to I.R. Lyon's General Store on Genesee Street, Waukegan. This view is from a stereograph taken the winter of 1871. LCDM 94.14.61

Pridham product bottle (4.25" long), circa 1875. LCDM 92.22.7

James Pridham developed a product called "Japanese" for removing "grease, dirt, etc. from clothing, glass or wood; the only preparation of the kind in the world, that will positively do all that is claimed for it." He is also listed in Haines' history of Lake County as the "Proprietor of Pridham's celebrated 'Japanese.'"

By 1876, James McClasky moved east with his wife, Sarah Louise Smith. In 1893, he returned to Waukegan and opened a hardware store.

By spring 1878, the Pridham family left Waukegan for Maywood, Illinois. This short stay in Waukegan (1871-1878) can make researching an individual immensely difficult, especially when, like Pridham, he was not present for the 1870 or 1880 census. However, the fantastic glass negative of Pridham and the People's Drug Store, the Pridham product bottle, and 1874 Waukegan Business Directory all document his time in Waukegan. Additionally, historian Elijah Haines included information on Pridham and his "Japanese" product in his Lake County history of 1877.

But the Pridham story does not end here. James and Jeannett's son, Edwin S. (1881-1963), made a place for the name Pridham in American history as the co-founder of Magnavox.

Edwin was born in Maywood, Illinois, and by 1910, after receiving his degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University, was living in Sacramento, California. James and Jeannette Pridham were living in Los Angeles.

Around 1910, Edwin Pridham met Peter Jensen, who was building a radio station in Sacramento. Pridham helped Jensen (a Danish immigrant) learn English and American history, and in 1911, they moved to Napa to start their own research laboratory. Photo of Edwin Pridham (left) and Peter Jensen in their Napa lab.

In 1915, they debuted their invention of a public address system and loudspeaker named the "Magnavox," and formed the Magnavox Company with the Sonora Photograph Corp.

What started out as an attempt to further identify a glass negative of James Pridham and the People's Drug Store turned into a real discovery. I was able to follow the Pridham line to Edwin S. Pridham, co-founder of Magnavox, and to identify the second man in the glass negative as James McClasky, a Waukegan druggist and hardware store owner.

Special thanks for additional research assistance from Beverly Millard of the Waukegan Historical Society's research library, and Al Westerman, volunteer for the Lake County Discovery Museum.

Great Lakes Naval Base Turns 100!

2011-07-22T10:51:00.001-05:00

This year marks the centennial of the establishment of the Naval Training Center Great Lakes.

The success of the American Navy during the Spanish-American War of 1898 prompted talk of establishing an additional naval recruit training station. Thirteen years later, in 1911, the Naval Training Center Great Lakes (formerly known as the Great Lakes Naval Training Center) in North Chicago opened. Large letter postcard by the Curt Teich Co., 1950. Teich Postcard Archives OCH185.

A key player in the creation of the new naval training facility was Congressman George Foss (1863-1936) of northeastern Illinois. Foss spearheaded the idea of a naval training station on the Great Lakes to Commander Hawley, U.S.N. in 1902. Hawley spoke highly of the number and quality of recruits from the Midwest.

That same year a Naval Appropriations Bill was passed, appointing a board to select a suitable Great Lakes location for the training station. At least 36 sites were considered, and by 1904 the fight in Congress had become quite brutal, despite the number of locations being narrowed down to four—Lake Bluff (North Chicago), Racine, WI, Milwaukee, WI and Muskegon, MI. Eventually a provision was drafted to give the President of the United States authority over the appointed board, bypassing Congressional arguments.

In the end, it was again Foss who played a pivotal role in locating the station. Foss realized that the purchase price of $1,000 per acre for the North Chicago site was the chief objection. He enlisted the aid of the Commercial Club of Chicago (the same group that in 1887 had presented Fort Sheridan to the U.S. Army) and got the Club to subscribe more than $100,000 for the purchase. The Commercial Club offered the government over 160 acres, free of charge. The board then recommended the North Chicago site, President Roosevelt approved it, and construction of the station began in 1905.

Renowned Chicago architect, Jarvis Hunt (1863-1941), was commissioned to design the original 39 buildings, built between 1905-1911 at a cost of $3.5 million. One of the landmarks is Building 1, also known as the Clock Tower or Administration building. Completed in 1911, the building is made of red brick, and has a tower that stands 300 feet over the third floor of the building. Postcard view of Administration Building, circa 1918. LCDM M-86.1.316

The first recruit, Joseph Gregg, arrived at Great Lakes on July 1, 1911. Gregg was from Indiana and had served in the Navy from 1911-1914. He is buried at Great Lakes. Postcard "Learning to Lower a Boat" at Great Lakes, circa 1918. LCDM 95.20.1

Postcard view "Sham Battle with Tank in Action" at Great Lakes, circa 1915. LCDM Fort Sheridan Collection 92.24.274

In January 1917, there were 618 sailors in training at Great Lakes, but with the United States' involvement in World War I, by August the number grew to 50,000. A tent city and temporary buildings were raised to accommodate this swell in numbers, and the facility expanded from 167 acres to over 1,200. During the war, Great Lakes became the largest training station in the U.S., graduating 100,000 men. Some of the trainees included Jack Benny, Spencer Tracy, Pat O’Brien and George Halas.

Another famous American was stationed at Great Lakes during WW I, American bandleader, John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). In 1917, at the height of his career and in support of the war effort, the bandsman assumed the musical directorship of the Great Lakes Band. “The Naval Reserve March,” also known as “The Great Lakes March,” was written in 1918 during his tenure as the director of the Great Lakes band.

Photograph of Great Lakes Band on parade, Genesee Street, Waukegan, circa 1930. LCDM Fort Sheridan Collection 92.24. 1708.

Other significant people stationed at Great Lakes include: Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), assigned to Great Lakes since the WAVES were founded in 1942; the first African-American naval officers in U.S. history who were commissioned at Great Lakes in 1944, who called themselves the Golden Thirteen; and the Navy's first African-American Deep Sea Diver and Master Diver, Carl M. Brashear (1931-2006). Photograph of the Golden Thirteen taken for "Life" Magazine by Vories Fisher, 1944.

Today, Great Lakes is the only training station for the U.S. Navy. All recruits go through this base and an average of 800 graduate each week.

Image from negative of Great Lakes sailors, circa 1951. LCDM Collection.

Benwell Crazy Quilt

2011-07-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

The story of the Benwell Crazy Quilt (in the Lake County Discovery Museum's collection) is one of a pioneering family, and begins in 1848 with the California Gold Rush.

John Benwell (1815-1889) immigrated from England to the United States to find his fortune. In New York, Benwell worked building docks until Gold Rush fever struck. In 1848, he bought passage on a ship sailing around Cape Horn to California. When he arrived in California claims were hard to find, and so he and a new friend, Washington Converse, started a supply service hauling food and other items to miners.

Benwell (right, circa 1870) eventually found a claim near Lake Tahoe, and when he thought he had "enough," he and Converse headed back to New York on horseback. They carried the gold in bags strapped to their waists and on their legs inside their boots.

In New York, around 1854, John Benwell married his landlady's widowed daughter, Elizabeth Preston (1827-1917). The Prestons had immigrated from England in 1835.

In 1855, Benwell took his new wife and children to Lake County, Illinois, where he laid claim to 40 acres in Fremont Township. There he built a log cabin and took up farming. The property was located on either side of today's Route 60, east of Fairfield Road. Benwell's good friend, Washington Converse, came to Lake County with them and bought an adjoining property.

Over the years, Elizabeth Benwell made quilts for each of their children—Gerard, Alice, Rose, George, Alfred, Susannah, Minnie, and Jessie. Each quilt held the family's history, and illustrated Elizabeth's artistic talents. (Elizabeth Benwell left, circa 1875)

In 1891, Elizabeth made a quilt for their second youngest child, Minnie (1866-1927).

Minnie's crazy quilt made by her mother, Elizabeth E. Preston Benwell in 1891. Photo by Mark Widhalm. LCDM 98.36.1.

What makes a quilt crazy? A crazy quilt is a patchwork quilt without a design; and a patchwork quilt is made by sewing patches of different materials together to form a pattern. Crazy quilts also got their name from being “full of cracks and flaws,” much like crazed pottery glazes. Crazy quilts expressed the Victorian taste for collecting, as well as the influence of Japanese art which was introduced to Americans in 1876. The fans, flowers, spider web patterns, and lack of a repeating pattern in these quilts reflect traditional Japanese art.

Detail from Minnie's crazy quilt, showing an incredible appliqué, embroidery and beadwork basket of flowers. On the right side, there are tiny round pieces in the bouquet from the buckskin bags used by John Benwell to carry the gold home from California. Elizabeth sewed pieces of the Gold Rush bags into each of the quilts she made for their eight children, and by the time she made this quilt, there was very little of the buckskin bags left. Photo by Mark Widhalm, cropped. LCDM 98.36.1

The quilt also features hand painted scenes of a boy with his fishing pole, an owl, rooster, and a cat. There is also a hand painted image of the family's Lake County homestead.

Another section of the quilt showing a star pattern, shoe, fan and the date March 16, 1891, which is believed to be when the quilt was completed. This section reveals much of the quilt's charm and variety with embroidery, beading, painting, and beautiful stitch work around each piece of fabric. Photo by Mark Widhalm. LCDM 98.36.1

Minnie Benwell never married, and so her quilt was given to her brother George, and then to his son Lloyd. The Benwell Dimon family donated the quilt to the Lake County Discovery Museum in 1998, along with the story of the family and this quilt.

This extraordinary quilt is featured at the Lake County Discovery Museum through September 25, 2011, in the "Quilt Treasures: Pieces of History" exhibition. Fourteen of the museum's most beautiful quilts are on exhibit.

The Lake County Discovery Museum is one of the anchor sites for the multi-county Northern Illinois Quilt Fest.

George Smith, Jr., 96th Illinois Regiment

2011-07-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

George E. Smith, Jr. (1842-1915), was born in Antioch in 1842 to parents, George and Mercy. The Smiths were natives of Salem, Massachusetts, and came to Lake County in 1839.

The Smith family home and farm was located north of the town of Millburn on Route 45 (then known as the West Milwaukee Road). George and Mercy Smith are standing at right in this photo taken circa 1885. LCDM 93.45.79.

When the 96th Illinois Regiment was formed, George Jr. enlisted in Company D, on August 6, 1862. Smith was an infantryman until 1864 when he was selected for duty in the Ambulance Corps.

Like other regiments, the 96th Illinois Infantry had little in the way of a system for getting wounded and dead off the battlefields before the Ambulance Corps was created in March 1864. Six “stalwart men” were selected to serve in the 96th’s Ambulance Corps as stretcher bearers, including George Smith. All of these men were of “good size and were chosen as being possessed of considerable strength and good courage.”

At the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain in June 1864, Smith and fellow stretcher bearer, Harlow Ragan, carried sixteen men to the hospital one and half miles away, traveling a total of 50 miles in a period of 20 hours. According to the regiment’s history, “It was a terrible day’s work for them, and they were not unfrequently [sic] the target of Rebel sharpshooters.”

It was commonly known that Smith would "go anywhere for a wounded man, and very often, at great risk, he assisted in bearing disabled comrades from the most exposed points." Smith's portrait from the regimental history. (left)

Despite this hazardous work, Smith’s letters home—preserved in the museum’s Minto Collection—were unusually cheerful, but often contained a longing to return home. He relayed a bit of whimsy when he wrote to his sister Susie, imagining that he was home enjoying huckleberry pie and “old turenne apple sauce and Sitron [sic].” He opens another letter with: “I am going to peek in and see some day so look out. I want some more of those big apples from the old spider. Such apples as those cost .05 [cents] a piece here and sour at that.”

Although George fought in sixteen battles, and was in every action the regiment had, without sickness or injury, only a few of his letters mention specific fights or battles in the three years of his enlistment. In one, he tells of bedding down in camp at night to the “flash of gunn [sic] & shell along the line, like heat lightning along the horizon of a warm summers night with the exception of the heavy jarring report.”

The letter below was written by George to his sister Susie, 147 years ago today:

Camp Near Chatahoochee River Geo.
July 7,th 1864

Dear Sister,

I with pleasure seat myself this fine morning to pen a few lines in answer to yours of the 25 which I received yesturday morning which found me well. I am sorry to hear that you were ill. but are in hopes as the 4th is over that you are by this time better or if not my sincere hope is that this does will perfect a cure take 4 pages of this for the first dose & then think of me every 4 hours to keep up nanseation untill I call gain. Let me see about a week from tomorrough from Saturday where or no you will receive this, another will come in due time.

The first paragraph illustrates George's good nature and lightheartedness, and is typical of his letters home. [Note: George's spelling and grammar have not been corrected in the transcription].

The letter continues:

Well I suppose you would like to know how we come down here by this river. well i suppose you know the terms as well as I do. these dam collored anumals which we call Johneyes or Rebs you see desputed our right so we just to spite them sayed that we would come anyhow. & here we are anyhow on the morning of the 3rd we waked up to find the enemy lighting out so we of course lit out in pursuit. Passed through Marietta about now I have agood view of the country around Marietta the top of a large semanary our scirmishers had hot work all day the enemys rear guard desputing the ground step by step when towards night we stoped by river beyond Marietta where the rebs had agan formed their lines. and fortifyed & every reb that tryes to cut it loose is shot down.

We have a fine view of Atlanta & surrounding country from a high ridge at the foot of whch we are encamped our troops have all gone into camp will probably stay here a few days if not longer. the boys are almost beside themselves as we have the river between us & do not have to lay in the ditches in line of battle & every thing being so quiate except the pickets occationally poping at each other across the river it does really seem strange like getting up stretching & looking around to seem if things really bee after a long noisey dream. we used to read of long campaigns fighting & all this little dreaming of ever seeing the reality the cars came up last night & trains have been comming up all day so you see our grub lines is all right & as long as that up & all right (& we are supplyed with hard tack & crackers) to feed the rebs one we are all right.

You have probably seen the act to raise souldiers pay which is 3 dollars a month more on privates pay towards buying that Cow & Pigs & set of Crockery when we get home & this cruel war is over & a man can think himself enny thing but a mark to bee shot at. & there will be time to refreshing on that Jenny & huge has piece of buisness the boys are all well no more wounded lately

Your affectionate Brother Ned
Geo. E. smith Jr.

There are 33 letters written by George Smith preserved in the museum's Minto Collection. They are available for research at the archives, and also available online at the Illinois Digital Archives where the museum's digital collections are housed.

In 1865, George Smith returned home to Millburn to farm and breed stock. He married Susanna G. White in May 1870. In 1885, they moved to Otis, Colorado where they continued farming.

George Smith died on October 26, 1915, in Denver, Colorado.

This weekend, July 9 - 10, 2011, is the museum's annual Civil War Days at Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda. Join us for the region's largest re-enactment, and to view the museum's Civil War and quilt exhibitions.

Maras's Award Winning Dress

2011-07-01T10:15:00.002-05:00

Nothing says summer and Fourth of July better than the colors red, white and blue.

The museum has in its collection a pair of dresses made in Lake County that epitomize fashion in the late 1960s, and the patriotic spirit of this time of year.

The dresses were created by Antioch resident, and talented seamstress, Angela Maras. Patriotic postcard, 1909. (left)

Inspired by her six-year old neighbor, Jeannie Lindgren (Waschow), Maras created a red, white and blue ensemble for the girl. The outfit (shown above) won Best in Show at the National Grange Cotton Sewing Contest for 1969.

Detail of the patriotic outfit Maras made for Jeannie Lindgren, and the national award ribbon. (LCDM 2000.13.1-.2)

The prize-winning ensemble was made of 100% double-knit cotton. The reversible coat is solid navy blue with brass double breasted buttons on one side reversing to red, white, and blue striped on the other side, over an a-line dress.

The road to Best in Show took several months. Angela Maras first entered her garments at the district and county levels, then onto the state where she won first place against 534 other entries.

Jeannie Lindgren modeling the dress at the State Fair, Springfield, Illinois, 1969 (above). LCDM 2000.13.10

Lindgren recalled that Maras, who had three boys, treated her as a daughter, and created the unique dress especially for her. "[The dress] was very patriotic, I wore a hat and it had that super cool jacket... I remember one contest... seeing a lot of people in the audience... [but] I never remember being afraid. That was due to all of the preparation and knowing Angela was waiting in the wings for me."

The first place winners from each state sent their garments to New York for final judging, where Maras's was selected to compete in Florida at the National Grange. Over 50,000 women from 37 states participated in the national contest.

Angela Maras and Jeannie Lindgren at the National Grange Cotton Sewing Contest in Daytona Beach, Florida, 1969. (LCDM 2000.13.20) Maras is wearing a complementary dress to the prize-winning child's ensemble.

The shift dress Maras made for herself to complement Jeannie's patriotic dress. (LCDM 2007.8)

Maras was trained in sewing by the Marie Boecler French School of Design in Chicago. On winning the national award, Maras said that it was "a feeling of accomplishment to have the talent and have it recognized by professionals in the field of sewing."

In creating these dresses, Maras brought a national award home to Lake County, and expressed two very iconic styles of the 1960s—the ladies' shift dress and child's a-line dress. The dresses are significant additions to the museum's textile collection.

Cycling in America

2011-06-17T15:40:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of professional cycling and am gearing up (get it?) for the 98th Tour de France (July 2 - 24).

In the spirit of cycling season, I'd like to share some bicycle images from the museum's collections.

A young man with his high-wheel bicycle in Lake Forest, circa 1880. LCDM 75.24.1.g

The front wheel of these unusual bicycles became larger as makers realized that the larger the wheel, the faster you could travel.

The high-wheel bicycle enjoyed a great popularity among young men of means (they cost an average worker six month's pay). They were extremely popular in the 1880s, despite being dangerous to ride. Glass negative, Lake County location unknown, circa 1880. LCDM 93.32.146

The next innovation in cycling (shown above) allowed the rider to travel at a speed the same as the huge high-wheel bicycles. The bicycles still had the hard rubber tires, but did not have the long, shock-absorbing spokes of the high-wheel bikes, making the ride much more uncomfortable. Glass negative, Lake County location unknown, circa 1890. LCDM 93.32.111.

Bicycling was one of the few activities during the late 19th century for which women could wear trouser-style garments. Though it is difficult to tell in this photograph (above), these women may be wearing "divided skirts" that were designed for mobility as well as modesty. Photo, circa 1885. LCDM

Real photo postcard of John Hesse at St. John's Place, Farnsworth Farm north of Wauconda, 1909. LCDM 98.11.4.

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." - H.G. Wells.

"Deborah and Tom" students of the Swan School in Fremont Township, 1952. LCDM 93.6.19.

The kid's bike (shown above) was introduced after the First World War by several manufacturers, including Mead, Sears Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward, and Schwinn slightly later. These bikes revitalized the bike industry and featured fabulous automobile and motorcycle elements. By the mid-1950s, kid's bikes had taken on design elements of jet aircraft and rockets, but became much simpler in design by the 1960s.

"Safety Class at Fort Sheridan, October 10, 1965." Sergeant George Stacey of the 204th Military Police Company shows members of a Fort Sheridan Girl Scout Troop how to affix reflector-type safety tape to their bicycles. The distribution of the safety-tape is part of a bike safety class given to youth groups by members of the military police company. U.S. Army photo by SP-5 Parzych. LCDM 92.24.731

"Bicycle Marathon Preparation, September 25, 1970." Almer Schmidt checks brakes in preparation for the bicycle marathon to be held at Fort Sheridan, 16-17 October. U.S. Army photo by SP-5 Wells. LCDM 92.24.744.

Good luck to all the cyclists, professional and recreational. Stay safe!

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

2011-06-10T15:19:00.013-05:00

Immaculate Conception Church in Waukegan is one of the oldest parishes in northern Illinois. The church was founded by Irish immigrants to Lake County as St. Anne's parish in Shields Township in 1841, and then as St. Mary's in Little Fort in 1844.

In 1843, Michael Dulanty (1799-1886), originally of County Tipperary, Ireland, purchased two lots in Little Fort (now Waukegan) for the new church site. Dulanty was acting under the advice of Reverend J. Geurin who was ministering in Shields Township to Catholics in Lake County. Interestingly, Dulanty was the best-known early tavern and hotel owner in Lake County. His first establishment, a stage relay station and tavern, was located on Green Bay Road between Highland Park and Highwood and was known as the Centerville Inn. In 1844, Dulanty sold this inn and his family's 120-acre homestead and moved to Little Fort, no doubt to take advantage of the booming business in the new county seat and to be closer to his parish's new church.

Despite popular belief, Dulanty did not donate the two lots, but rather sold them to the Catholic bishop of Chicago for the establishment of a church on September 2, 1844. The land was located at the northwest corner of County and Water Streets. The land record of the transaction shows the name of the church as St. John's, however, all subsequent records list the church's name as St. Mary's.

The first clergyman sent from Chicago to minister to the new parish and to commence the construction of the church was Reverend B. McGorisk. The church was completed in 1847.

St. Mary's (Irish) Catholic Church was 62 feet in length by 36 feet wide, the walls 18 feet high and the steeple an additional 80 feet high. St. Mary's, the first Catholic Church in Waukegan, located at County and Water Streets, circa 1898. The rectory for the priest was built in 1849. LCDM photo.

Altar in the original St. Mary's Catholic Church constructed in 1847. LCDM photo, circa 1900.

The parish was renamed St. Bernard by 1854. In 1857 a school was established. The church and school were enlarged around 1859. In 1864, the parish was named Immaculate Conception.

Early pastors included Rev. Bernard McGarish, Rev. John Brady, Rev. Henry Coyle (started the first parish school), and Rev. Michael Donohue (enlarged the school). Rev. Edward A. Gavin was pastor for 55 years beginning in 1871. Rev. Francis Shea, pastor from 1926-1966, oversaw the construction of the parish's second church, which still stands at Grand Avenue and West Street. After Rev. Shea's retirement, Rev. Patrick Ronayne became pastor.

In 1927, plans were underway to build a new, larger church, closer to the center of Waukegan's growth. Reverend Shea undertook the monumental task of choosing a site, getting the land purchased, and helping the parish raise $250,000 for the new church.

Postcard of Immaculate Conception Church by the L.L. Cook Company, circa 1945. LCDM 92.27.240.1

Architect, Joe McCarthy, designed a Georgian Colonial structure, closely resembling the style of the first church. The design was significant in that it is considered very American, and not typical for a Roman Catholic Church. The church's spire stands 158 feet, and at the time, was the tallest structure in Waukegan. The bell from the first church was placed in the new church's spire.

Color postcard view of Immaculate Conception Church, rectory and school, circa 1974. Photo by Henry Brueckner for Color-View Inc. LCDM 97.23.12.

The first Mass in the new church was celebrated by Rev. Francis Shea, December 8, 1929, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The church was dedicated on May 11, 1930 by George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago. Cardinal Mundelein had taken a personal interest in Waukegan having one of the finest churches in the diocese.

The church has 16 Corinthian columns of marble in various hues, wrought bronze fixtures, and crystal chandeliers. A hand carved American walnut reredos framed the main altar.

Above the altar is a large mosaic reproduction of Bartolomé Murillo's (1617 – 1683) Baroque masterpiece, Immaculate Conception of the Venerable Ones (1678). The image at right is of Murillo's work and not the church's mosaic.

The school remained open at the original site until 1955, when a new school building was dedicated at Grand Avenue. View of the Grand Avenue school location (above), circa 1960.

Immaculate Conception, or I.C. as locals call it, was my parish and school growing up. I have very fond memories of my grade school years there, and going to Mass in what I considered the most beautiful church in the world.

In recent years, the church and school have been consolidated as the Most Blessed Trinity Catholic Churches of Immaculate Conception, Queen of Peace, and Holy Family, and the Academy of Our Lady School.

Mineola Hotel - The Lady of the Lakes

2011-06-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

In recent months, there has been talk of razing the legendary Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake. This would be a terrible loss for Lake County's heritage.

Mineola Hotel, 1913 (LCDM 96.12.2)

For those not familiar with the grand dame, the Mineola is located at 91 N. Cora Avenue, Fox Lake, and was built in 1884 by Members of the Chicago Board of Trade. At the time, the Chain o' Lakes had a booming resort industry, due largely to increased access to the area by train. In 1882, the Wisconsin Central (later Soo Line) Railroad opened.

The 100-room hotel boasted of hot and cold running water, a beautiful natural setting, boating, fishing and hunting opportunities, all for the affordable rate of $2 and up per day. It is believed the hotel's veranda was designed by Alphonse Howe & Charles Caskey, the architects of the famed Grand Hotel on Michigan's Mackinac Island. The hotel was built as a private clubhouse for Chicago’s elite, but by 1891 it had been sold to Edson C. Howard, who remodeled it into a public hotel.

View of Fox Lake shoreline and the Mineola Hotel, circa1910 (LCDM 2002.12.3)

As early as the 1910s, Fox Lake was known for its drinking and gambling establishments. The Chicago Tribune reported it was “…worse than in the levee districts of the city.” The situation in Fox Lake was in part due to Chicago’s efforts to “clean up” its own vice districts, which caused those districts to re-settle in the suburbs. The newspaper article added, “Probably the most vicious resort is the Mineola Hotel. All of the hotels are supplied with slot machines.”

During Prohibition (1920-1933), the lakes region became a notorious hangout for Chicago mobsters. The Mineola was reportedly a hideaway for Al Capone (1899-1947) and his gang, who could freely gamble and drink the nights away.

Reverse side of Mineola Hotel postcard, circa 1910. "I am up here for a week. Nice place and I'm having a good time. H. T. Webb." (LCDM 2002.12.3)

In 1943, the Mineola was purchased by the Jakstas Family, who have owned it ever since. The family has fended off the bulldozers many times through the decades. One scare came in 1953, when a hotel guest set a fire on the third floor, which luckily was contained.

A decline in tourism in the early 1960s made it difficult to keep the business going, and by 1969, the Jakstas's were prepared to demolish the hotel, going so far as to sell off the original furniture. Mrs. Emma Jakstas was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1969: "We regret tearing down the hotel, but it is a real tinder box... It would be too expensive to remodel this mammoth place."

Peter and Emma Jakstas's son, Peter, was convinced the family should keep the building. They closed off the hotel portion to the public, but kept open the first floor restaurant and bar, and second floor banquet facility.

The Mineola is 225 feet long and four stories high, and is considered the largest wooden structure in Illinois. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Register is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation, and is administered by the National Park Service.

Aerial view of Mineola Hotel and surrounding property, circa 1935 (LCDM 92.27.53)

Though it's been the dream of the Jakstas family to fully restore the building those efforts have been met with mixed success and much difficulty. After 68 years in the family's ownership, Pete Jakstas is considering retirement and the sale of the hotel, marina and surrounding 17-acres.

Memorial Day

2011-05-27T14:57:00.001-05:00

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves.

"Fort Sheridan Decoration Day, May 30, 1916." (above) View looking south toward barracks row. (LCDM 92.24.2622)

It’s difficult to pinpoint the origins of the day, but it seems likely that it had many separate beginnings, including women’s groups in the South who decorated graves before the end of the Civil War.

The first widely observed Decoration Day was on May 30, 1868, commemorating the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers by proclamation of General John Logan (1826-1886), national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Logan who was from southern Illinois and pro-Southern before the Civil War, decided to join the Northern cause to preserve the Union, and eventually became a general. After the war he served as an Illinois senator from 1871-77 and 1879-1886, and in 1893 was honored with a National Guard weapons training camp named for him—Camp Logan in Zion.

During the 1868 celebration, General James Garfield (1831-1881), later the 20th President of the United States, made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery after which 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The letter above is addressed to Frank Peats, formerly of the 17th Illinois Regiment (Civil War), April 9, 1880. It reads:

Dear Comrade, at our regular meeting last night it was the unanimous wish of the 'Boys' that you be invited to orate for us on Memorial Day and your humble servant was instructed to write you in regard to it - not a long talk you know but one of your usual patriotic efforts will please them. How is it Frank. Can you come? I wish you would. Yours Hastily, Y.R. Swieley.

When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, Peats wrote his fiancee saying that he had to engage in the "struggle between the sons of freedom and traitors to every principle of right and justice." (LCDM Frank Peats Collection 94.5.211)

By 1890, Decoration Day was recognized by all of the northern states. The South continued to honor their dead on different days until after World War I when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.

"German War Veterans' Memorial Day Service, May 29, 1972, Fort Sheridan." (LCDM 92.24.1821) In 1944, Fort Sheridan assumed control of prisoner of war camps in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin—a total of 15,000 prisoners of war. German POWs were housed in newly constructed barracks at the south end of the Fort. Nine German POWs are buried at the Post Cemetery. However, none of these men died at Fort Sheridan.

"Memorial Day Services held at the Post Cemetery and flagpole at Fort Sheridan, May 27, 1974." (LCDM 92.24.1785)

Robert Douglas Horticultural Heritage

2011-05-17T12:00:00.009-05:00

For years, I have wondered about "G.D. Clarke," the person attributed to creating 32 glass lantern slides in the museum's collection. They are beautiful slides of plants and flowers, hand-colored in spectacular tints. But who was G.D. Clarke and why did he take photos of rare plants and beautiful garden flowers? (right) Clarke's slide taken in Waukegan, circa 1910, titled, "Sherwin Wright-Edge of the Wild-Aurea-Flavescens." LCDM 93.32.381

When I looked at the slides last week, wanting to share them as springtime inspiration in this blog, I remembered that the pesky mystery of G.D. Clarke was still unsolved. So, I set to work with my research, and was surprised that the answer was easier to find than anticipated, and led to a very interesting discovery.

I started by researching the donor of the slides—Mrs. Elam Lewis Clarke. Since the slides were made circa 1910, I looked in early Waukegan city directories. The 1919-1920 directory listed Elam L. Clarke (lawyer) and his wife, Georgia D, living at 740 N. Sheridan Road, Waukegan. This answered my initial question—"G.D. Clarke" was Georgia D. Clarke (1871 - 1952). Elam Clarke, by the way, was the son of Lt. Colonel Isaac Clarke (1824-1863), hero of the 96th Illinois Regiment.

Next, I looked up Elam Clarke in the census, using Ancestry.com and Family Search. Within minutes I made another remarkable discovery—Georgia's maiden name was Douglas. I didn't want to get ahead of myself, but wondered if she could be related to the nationally known nurseryman, Robert Douglas of Waukegan. Considering that some of the subject matter of her slides were pine trees planted by Robert Douglas, it seemed likely. Sure enough, more census research confirmed that Georgia D. Clarke was in fact Robert Douglas's granddaughter.

Georgia Douglas Clarke photographed these White Pines on the Dead River, Zion, circa 1910 (above). They were planted by her grandfather, Robert Douglas, in the late 1800s, in what is today's Illinois Beach State Park. LCDM 93.32.361

Robert Douglas (1813 - 1897) started his nursery business in Waukegan in 1848, and within thirty years became the largest grower of pines and spruces in the United States. Douglas began the Lake County Fair as an arbor and floral exhibit at the courthouse around 1849. This project turned into the Lake County Agricultural Society, and then into the Lake County Fair Association, which held the first county fair in 1852.

Douglas bought sapling pines from Europe and planted them in the sandy soil north of Waukegan along Lake Michigan (today's Illinois State Beach Park). The land was cheap, and Douglas thought the soil would be good for growing. Some of the saplings were from the Black Forest of Germany, and their descendants can still be seen near the lakeshore at the state park.

In 1888, Douglas, and famous landscape architect, Jens Jensen, began preservation efforts to make the area of the Illinois State Beach Park a regional park. With industry encroaching from the south, sand mining devastating the dunes, and parts of the surrounding countryside succumbing to farm pasture and homes, it looked like the unique beauty and habitat of the area would be lost. Douglas's granddaughter, Georgia, documented the site's beauty in her lantern slides in the 1910s. Legislative efforts to save the area finally began in the 1920s. "Dunes of Lake County" by G.D. Clarke, circa 1910. LCDM 93.32.369

"Prickly Pear Cactus" by G.D. Clarke, circa 1910. Photo taken in what is today the Illinois Beach State Park. LCDM 93.32.355.

Douglas's extensive mail-order business brought him national recognition. In 1896, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina (home to George Vanderbilt) purchased a large quantity of Douglas's evergreen stock.

"Peony Field" at 703 N. Sheridan Road, Waukegan, by G.D. Clarke, circa 1910. LCDM 93.32.387

The beautiful peony garden above was located down the bluff on Sheridan Road at Grand Avenue. The view is looking south with a potting shed in the background at left and a gas storage tank at right. As early as 1861, this area was designated on plat maps as "Greenhouses," and Grand Avenue did not run east of Sheridan Road until well into the 20th Century.

In the city directory, Georgia Clarke is listed as living across the street from this garden at 740 N. Sheridan Road, but her obituary states that she lived at 703 N. Sheridan Road, the address of this beautiful garden. According to her obituary, Georgia was "known throughout northern Ilinois as a garden expert... Her specialties were iris and peonies and the peony beds at the former family residence at 703 N. Sheridan Rd. were known far and wide."

Another view of the garden at 703 N. Sheridan Road, Waukegan. This G.D. Clarke slide is titled, "Hibiscus Mallow." LCDM 93.32.368.

During World War I, Georgia sold flowers from her garden to benefit Victory Memorial Hospital and the Red Cross.

Special thanks to Beverly Millard at the Waukegan Historical Society for additional information on Georgia D. Clarke and Elam L. Clarke.

Mother's Day

2011-05-06T12:12:00.000-05:00

In 1914, the Federal Government designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

The idea for Mother's Day in the United States may be traced to “Mother’s Day for Peace,” which began to be promoted in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910). Howe wrote the lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She was also a proponent of peace and sponsored celebrations honoring motherhood, womanhood and peace beginning in 1873.

Mildred Holloway Minto standing "under the maples" on the family farm near Loon Lake with her daughters, Katherine (in her arms) and baby Ruth in buggy, circa 1908. LCDM 93.45.77.4

The first true Mother's Day observance was held on May 10, 1908 as a church service honoring Anna Reeves Jarvis, who had worked during the Civil War to better sanitary conditions for soldiers and to reconcile people who had fought on opposites sides of the war. Her daughter, also named Anna, thought that children often lacked an appropriate appreciation for their mothers while their mother was still alive, creating the hope that a holiday honoring mothers would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.

Harriet Rouse Ray and her daughter, Pearl, on the porch of their home at the Ray Farm, Diamond Lake, 1914. The family ran a summer resort, and Harriet was known as an excellent cook. Her Sunday chicken dinners were especially well attended. LCDM 91.17.34.

In Lake County, there is only one legendary woman known to have used “mother” in her name. Wealthy Buell Harvey Rudd, or Mother Rudd, was the proprietor of the O’Plain Tavern in Gurnee in the 1840s and 1850s.

The Mother Rudd House, as it came to be known, was something of a “town hall” and meeting place for the community, and Mother Rudd became synonymous for hospitality. Today, Mother Rudd’s house is home to the Warren Township Historical Society. Photo of Mother Rudd's, circa 1910.

During World War II, this mother and daughter served in the Women's Army Corps at Fort Sheridan. Private Cleo M. Yount (left) and her daughter, Private Avis M. Larson, circa 1943. LCDM 92.24.770.

Happy Mother's Day! And remember to call your mother!

Captain Asiel Z. Blodgett, 96th Illinois Infantry

2011-04-29T16:14:00.000-05:00

Asiel Z. Blodgett was born at Fort Dearborn (Chicago) in 1832. As a young man he became an employee of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and in 1858 was made the station agent at Waukegan. His older brother was the abolitionist and judge, Henry Blodgett, mentioned in several previous posts.

Asiel served as station agent until July 1862, when after having raised a company of soldiers he mustered in as Captain of Company D of the 96th Illinois Infantry. (Above - Civil War era photo of Captain A.Z. Blodgett from the "History of the 96th Regiment Illinois Volunteers" 1887).

At the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863, Blodgett received a severe gunshot wound in the right shoulder on Friday evening, while advancing the skirmish line. He did not leave command, remaining until Sunday, when he was disabled by a heavy tree limb which was torn off by artillery fire and fell on him, injuring his back. Postcard of McFarland's Gap, Battle of Chickamauga site, Teich Archives RC411.

According to his biographical sketch of 1891, Blodgett participated in all engagements of the Atlanta campaign and was with General Sherman until the capture of Atlanta. He was also present at the Battle of Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge.

On returning to Waukegan after the war, Blodgett resumed his place as station agent where he worked until his retirement in 1900. He was recognized as the oldest employee for the railroad at Waukegan, having been with the company for 42 years, except for his term of service in the Civil War. He was considered, "prompt, correct and reliable and by his uniform courtesy and fairness has won the respect and good will of all with whom he has had business relations." Above - Blodgett from a glass negative made circa 1878, LCDM 2011.0.86

In addition to this full-time position, in 1875, he began dealing in fine horses and cattle, being a proprietor of a stock farm situated several miles outside of the city where he bred Clydesdale horses and Galloway cattle. He served two terms as the Mayor of Waukegan (1883 and 1884).

Asiel died in 1916.

Goodson-Bales Family Photo Album

2011-04-21T21:23:00.023-05:00

I have worked in the museum's archives for 21 years and am still making discoveries. Of course, there is always something new to be learned, but there are also mysteries that need solving. The mysteries often lie in the fact that when some items were donated, insufficient information was collected from the donor.

One such mystery came to my attention several weeks ago in the shape of a small photo album donated in 1964 by Mrs. Arthur Bales of Zion. Though most of the photos are identified, there is no information in the donor file to ascertain if these individuals lived in Lake County. Much research would need to be done to assess the connection to the county. (The Bales photo album appears to have been heavily used by the family as evidenced by the wear on the cover and the effort to mend it with a hand-stitched seam along the spine. LCDM 64.23.8).

Archives volunteer, Al Westerman, took on the task of researching the stories of the individuals in the photo album. Since the donor had long since passed away, census records and genealogy sites would be a great source.

After hours of research, Westerman determined that the Bales family lived in Davis County, Iowa, and only one family member lived in Lake County, the owner of the album, Arthur Bales. Arthur moved to Zion, Illinois, circa 1900, probably to join John Alexander Dowie's Christian Catholic Church.

Being so far away from his family would have made the photo album a precious possession to Arthur. Arthur Bales, photographed as a child, circa 1878. LCDM 64.23.8

Of the twenty-seven photographs in the album, three are unidentified. One of the unidentified images is of a handsome young couple. It is very possible that they are Arthur's parents, Martin and Juliet Bales (nee Goodson).

There are several reasons to think this is a tintype of Martin & Juliet Bales (circa 1880): 1) The man holds a strong likeness to photos of Andrew and Albert Bales (Martin's brothers), 2) the woman holds a likeness to photos of Polina Goodson Miller, Juliet's sister, and 3) the opening in the album for Martin & Juliet's photo is empty, while this photo was placed in an opening without identification, possibly having been removed for viewing and put back in the wrong page. Sadly, we can never be 100% certain.

Album page for Martin & Juliet's photo. The page is empty though it is apparent that a photo of Arthur Bales' parents was once held within.

In addition to the striking tintype of the couple, the album holds other image treasures.

Here is a tintype of Martin Bale's older brother, Andrew, with his woodworking tools, circa 1880. Andrew moved his family from Davis County, Iowa to Harper, Kansas about 1880.

Carte-de-visite photo of Juliet's sister, Polina Goodson Miller (1837-1900).

This lovely tintype of a young man was simply identified in the album as "Juliet's half brother killed in the Civil War." Without a name it was especially difficult to research him. He is probably Samuel R. Payne, Juliet Goodson Bales' step brother. In 1856, he was a member of the Iowa State Militia. No record of his Civil War service has yet been located.

The open album shows the page at left missing a photo, and at right a photo of Reverend Jacob Peck Goodson (1822-1895), Juliet Bales' uncle. Goodson was a minister with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

As part of the care of materials in the museum's collections, it is important to properly identify and research them. With more information and understanding, items can be more fully utilized in exhibitions and by researchers.

Lake County's Entry into the Civil War

2011-04-15T13:23:00.001-05:00

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

The first military action of the war was the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina on April 12-13, 1861. The fort dominated the entrance to Charleston Harbor and was thought to be one of the strongest fortresses in the world.

Throughout March 1861 the Confederates sought to drive out the Union occupants peacefully. Once it became clear that the fort would not surrender, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, took action. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, and 34 hours later the fort surrendered.

The news of the fort's fall reached Lake County, Illinois on April 15, and the next day a war meeting was held at the courthouse in Waukegan. Hundreds gathered, and men signed up to fight amid pro-Union cheers, and the sounds of a fife and drum band.

On the day of the pro-Union rally, the steps of the courthouse (shown above at right) were crowded with men eager to enlist.

From 1861 to 1865, over 1,900 Lake County men (from a total population of approximately 18,000) joined the cause voluntarily, mustering into 75 different infantry and cavalry regiments throughout the State of Illinois. Many mustered into the Thirty-Seventh Illinois Infantry known as the “Fremont Rifles,” which organized at Chicago in September 1861.

Andrew Bensinger, (above) a Bavarian immigrant who settled in Avon Township, mustered into the 37th Illinois on August 19, 1861. He died of dysentery at Booneville, Missouri less than two months later. Disease killed twice as many men as bullet wounds during the war. The poor hygiene of camp life and lack of adequate sanitation facilities killed Bensinger. LCDM 2007.7

During the summer of 1861, Illinois' Governor Yates ordered all companies be disbanded and return home because there were more companies organized than could be accepted and supplied. The order caused men to find other regiments in which to enlist, although the 37th Illinois continued to train and was soon sent to Missouri.

When recruiting began in earnest again in Lake County, during the summer of 1862, enough men enlisted to organize four companies. With six additional companies from Jo Daviess County, the two counties united into a single regiment known as the Ninety-Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

Soldiers of the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry mustering at Waukegan, circa 1862.

Union forces tried for nearly four years to take Fort Sumter back. Finally, on April 14, 1865, the flag that the garrison commander, Major General Robert Anderson, had taken with him was raised over the fort once again.

That night, President Lincoln and his wife, Mary, went to see a play at Ford’s Theater.

Northwestern Military Academy, Highland Park

2011-04-01T14:21:00.001-05:00

In 1888, when the Northwestern Military Academy opened in Highland Park, locals thought a boys' military academy would cause problems in town. Just the previous year, the U.S. Army post Fort Sheridan had opened on the town's doorstep with fears of drunken brawls (which never were a problem).

The animosity for the academy was reflected in the children's taunts as they called the new cadets "Dead Cats."

The academy was founded by Harlan Page Davidson (1838-1913), a graduate of Norwich University, a military college in Vermont. Harlan purchased Highland Hall in Highland Park and renovated it for his academy in which he strove to provide a good education, military discipline and structure, and moral training. The cost to attend was $400 in 1888, and by 1908 had risen to $600 with enrollment averaging about 50 cadets per year.

The first Northwestern Military Academy building (above) was built as the Highland Park House hotel in 1873 at St. Johns Avenue and Ravine Drive. In 1876, it began to be used as an educational institution for young women during the summer and was known as Highland Hall. Harlan P. Davidson purchased the building in May 1888 for his military academy.

When the academy was destroyed by fire only a few months after opening, on November 1, 1888, the people of Highland Park set aside any misgivings and made meals for the cadets and opened up their homes to the displaced boys. Rebuilding of the academy progressed rapidly and not one day of classes was missed.

The academy's second building (above) was designed by William W. Boyington and completed in 1889. It was made of brick and able to accommodate 75 cadets. This real photo C.R. Childs postcard was produced in 1910. LCDM 97.3.2.

By the 1890s, the academy's reputation had made it possible for many cadets to be offered direct admission to colleges and universities.

Perhaps the academy's most notable accomplishments were the brainstorms of Davidson's son, Royal Page Davidson (1870-1943). About 1895, Royal developed a military bicycle corps, thinking that the bicycle would speed up the movement of troops. In June of 1897, he staged a cross-country, 1,000-mile expedition to Washington, D.C., operating as a military foray into enemy territory, and as a "test of bicycles as an accoutrement of war." The bicycle corps had a membership of 28 students, averaging 19 years of age. The trip took 15 days and was widely covered by newspapers along their route.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Royal offered the U.S. government the services of the corps, but was politely declined.

Around this time, Royal was at work on another military invention, his Automobile Battery, the forerunner to armored vehicles. His original design was a light frame, three-wheeled machine, operated by gasoline and armed with a Colt automatic gun and a shield to protect the driver. This was the first of a series of military vehicles constructed by Royal for the use by the Northwestern Military Academy.

Royal then had the military gun carriage vehicle built by the Peoria Rubber and Manufacturing Company using patents of Charles Duryea, a well known automobile manufacturer. Duryea put the vehicle into an automobile style patent which he filed for on May 16, 1898, and was approved as Patent No. 653,224 on July 10, 1900. The vehicle was built on a Duryea Automobile Company standard production automobile chassis that was converted for military purposes, and cost $1,500.

In 1900, the vehicle was modified into a sturdier four-wheeler (above) which became known as the Davidson Automobile Battery armored car. This photo was taken at the academy in Highland Park. Courtesy of the Northwestern Military Academy Archives.

Royal's bicycle corps and the automobile corps were created at a time when the cavalry was still popular with military commanders. Although he was the inventor of the first armored military vehicle in the United States, Royal Davidson received little credit from the Army for his efforts.

By 1908, the academy offered naval encampments in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and in 1911 officially became a military and naval academy. After another fire in the academy's main building in 1915, the school moved permanently to Lake Geneva.

In 1996, the academy merged with St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, and together are known as St. John's Northwestern Military Academy.

Aptakisic - Half Day

2011-03-25T16:11:00.007-05:00

The historic town of Half Day claims many firsts in the annals of Lake County history—the first post office (1836), the first school (1836) taught by Laura Sprague in her family's log cabin, and the county's first non-native settler, Daniel Wright.

Perhaps most intriguing about Half Day is its name, which provokes more interest and debate than any other place name in the county.

You may wonder why there's debate. Ask anyone and they'll tell you it got its name because, "It took half a day to get there from Chicago." That may have been true back in the day of horsedrawn transportation, but Half Day was named for Aptakisic, a Native American leader of great standing.

Aptakisic's name (also spelled Aptegizhek), was translated as "center of the sky," "sun at meridian" or "half day." He was known to the settlers as Half Day. Both Daniel Wright (1778-1873) and Henry Blodgett (1821-1905), who knew Aptakisic, documented that he was "known as Half Day." Wright went on to say that the village took its name from Aptakisic.

A depiction of Aptakisic (Half Day) waving goodbye to the settlers he had led to Fort Dearborn in 1832, by Lester Schrader, courtesy of Naperville Heritage Society.

Blodgett had met Aptakisic in 1832, during the Black Hawk War, when Aptakisic protected the settlers in Downer's Grove from an impending attack.

Wright became acquainted with Aptakisic and his tribe of Potawatomi in 1833 when he settled along the Des Plaines River.

Wright remembered: "When I stuck my stake in the banks of the Aux Plain [sic] River I was surrounded by the native tribes of Pottawatamies [sic]. They helped me raise my first rude cabin, being the first house built in the county." These native people also assisted Wright in planting crops, and tending to his family when they became ill.

According to James A. Clifton in his book, The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture 1665-1965, Aptakisic was present at the negotiations for the Treaty of Chicago, which took place in September 1833. "Apparently wearing Meteya's [Mettawa's] moccasins, Aptegizhek stood and informed Commissioners Porter and Owen that the Potawatomi had no wish to consider moving west of the Mississippi until they had been given the opportunity to inspect the country there... He insisted the Potawatomi had assembled merely to enjoy their Great Father's beneficence and liberality. Could the annuities due the Potawatomi be distributed quickly so that they might go back to their villages to tend their gardens?"

Ultimately, the treaty was signed by Aptakisic (twice!) and other leaders of the United Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians on September 26, 1833.

In 1918, the students of Half Day School wrote a history of their school and community. In it, they recounted that "Half Day was named so in honor of an Indian chief, Hefda, who some people say is buried in this locality." They went on to say that Half Day was a "half way station" between Chicago and the northern part of Lake County.

Excerpt from the Half Day School history, 1918.

When and how did the origin of the name change?

It is my assertion that the confusion was started by visitors to Half Day, possibly as early as the 1840s. In 1843, the Half Day Inn (shown above) was established on the Chicago and Milwaukee Road (today's Route 21) as a stagecoach stop. The rutted and muddy road would have most certainly made for slow travel, leading travelers to surmise the town's name came from its distance from Chicago.

The Wisconsin Central arrived in Prairie View in 1886, and later became the Soo Line.

In 1886, train service was available on the Wisconsin Central Railroad to Prairie View, several miles west of Half Day. That trip would have taken at least two hours, and then a buggy ride over to Half Day, again leaving visitors to believe the name was a matter of travel time. Even with the advent of the automobile, travel was slow until roads were paved in the 1930s and beyond.

Travelers not knowing the true origin of the name, adopted a new meaning. As the people who knew Aptakisic died, and generations passed, the connection to Aptakisic faded, and the new tradition took root with no one around to contradict it.

In a letter, written late in his life, Henry Blodgett once again recalled his friend, Aptakisic:

"In the fall of 1837, Aptakisic's band was removed to a reservation on the west side of the Missouri River near the mouth of the Platte and later were moved into what is now a portion of the state of Kansas, south of the Kansas River. I well remember the sad face of the old chief as he came to bid our family goodbye. ... We all shed tears of genuine sorrow ... his generous kindness to my parents has given me a higher idea of the red man's genuine worth." Henry Blodgett as a young man in 1850. (above right)

Aptakisic's legacy continued in the names Aptakisic Road, Aptakisic Creek, and the former community of Aptakisic located in today's Buffalo Grove. Aptakisic was a railroad stop on the Wisconsin Central line at Aptakisic Road (west of Route 21), and had its own post office from 1889-1904.

The town of Half Day never incorporated, and in recent years was absorbed into the Village of Lincolnshire.

McCaskey - Conklin Wedding at Fort Sheridan

2011-02-25T16:24:00.000-06:00

On August 27, 1903, Eleanor McCaskey married Captain Arthur Stewart Conklin at Fort Sheridan.

The wedding was big news on the society pages of the Chicago papers, evoking a bygone age of knights in shining armor and fair maidens.

Eleanor, known as the "daughter of the regiment" was the daughter of Colonel William S. McCaskey (1843-1914) commander of the 20th Infantry, and Nellie Garrison McCaskey. The bride's father and the groom served together in the Philippines in the 20th Infantry.

A bugle sounded the beginning of the procession, followed by the 20th Infantry Band playing the wedding march from "Lohengrin."

From left to right are the bridesmaids (unfocused in background); father of the groom and Mrs. McCaskey; bridegroom Arthur Conklin with his mother; William Reed and John McLeary; C.I. McCaskey and William Morris; Garrison McCaskey and H.D. McCaskey. (LCDM 2009.2.6.1)

Captain Arthur S. Conklin (1872-1960), dressed in the red trimmed suit of the artillery, with his mother, Mrs. Conklin, of Elmira, NY on his arm, and behind them the bridegroom's father and Mrs. McCaskey, walking from Colonel McCaskey's residence at Fort Sheridan to the lawn where the wedding would take place. (LCDM 2009.2.2)

View of the bridesmaids and bride with her father coming out of the Colonel's home and walking along a fabric path lined with evergreen boughs. (LCDM 2009.2.8)

Photo of the bride, Eleanor McCaskey (1881 - 1958) escorted by her father, Colonel McCaskey, as they leave the Colonel's house for the wedding ceremony to be held on the lawn under the oak trees. Also in view are the two flower girls, Frances and Helen Meacham. (LCDM 2009.2.4)

The ceremony was interrupted by the Second Cavalry's mascot dog. Depending on the source, the dog was either Bruno, the St. Bernard, or Bolivar the Mastiff. In either case, all agreed that the dog caused a bit of a stir as it wandered about the scene. According to the Chicago Record Herald newspaper, there was "intense resentment in the ranks of the blue-clad privates when a 'cavalry dog' tried to interrupt the wedding."

The happy bride and groom following the wedding ceremony. The Chicago Inter Ocean reported that, "The gloomy skies and the dark shadows of the surrounding trees were in strange contrast to the bright uniforms and white dresses of the bridal party and the ecclesiastical attire of Bishop Millspaugh," the officiant.

The newlyweds honeymooned at Yellowstone Park, before making their home at the Presidio in California where Captain Conklin was stationed. Arthur Conklin was eventually promoted to Brigadier General, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Col. Elmer Ellsworth (1837-1861)

2011-02-11T14:53:00.000-06:00

The first hero of the Civil War was Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of the Zouave Corps.

In the years before the war, Ellsworth was considered "the most talked about man in America." Even more so than his friend, Abraham Lincoln.

When Ellsworth was 17, he moved to Chicago from New York State, and became prominent in the state militia.

In 1857, he met Charles DeVilliers, a French physician and expert swordsman who had served in the Crimean with the French Chasseurs d'Afrique - Zouaves.

According to "American Civil War Zouaves" by By Robin Smith & Bill Younghusband, the original Zouaves were natives of the Zouaoua tribe mixed with French settlers, who had served with the French Army during France’s North African campaigns in the 1830s. Their Native North African dress – baggy trousers, short jacket, and fez – became the basis of the famous Zouave uniform. The French originally raised two battalions of native Zouaves; but by the time of the Crimean War, three Zouave regiments had been created entirely of Frenchmen.

Meeting DeVilliers, prompted Ellsworth to learn more about French light infantry drill. After a brief period of studying law in Springfield, where Ellsworth became friends with Lincoln, he returned to Chicago and formed the United States Zouaves.

By 1860, the Zouave Cadets were considered the finest militia in the Midwest, and role models for their high morals. In other words, they were Temperance men. Ellsworth promoted his Zouaves by challenging other state militias in drill competitions. The Zouaves handily beat their competitors (some conceded after watching them drill), and awed thousands of spectators, becoming known throughout the country for their "appearance of dashing ferocity."

Ellsworth's militia spawned a national Zouave craze. Overnight it seemed, Zouave units sprang into existence. Even paper dolls were sold of the uniquely and colorfully dressed young militia men. He visited towns throughout the region training young men, including students at Lake Forest College (then known as Lind University) where they learned marching and how to handle Springfield rifles.

Ellsworth campaigned on behalf of Lincoln's bid for president, and after Lincoln's win was put in charge of security for the party going to Washington, D.C..

In D.C., Ellsworth formed a new Zouave unit from Manhattan's volunteer firemen called the Fire Zouaves. Signs of the approaching war were everywhere, including that of a Confederate flag flying defiantly on the rooftop of the Marshall House in Alexandria, Virginia, all too visible from the White House.

On May 24, 1861, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, U.S. troops were sent into Alexandria. Ellsworth's Zouaves went in to cut the city's telegraph lines, and in the process went past the Marshall House. Deciding to end that Rebel taunt, the Zouaves, led by their "gallant and idolized commander," stormed the hotel to retrieve the flag. On their way back down the stairs, the Zouaves were encountered by the innkeeper who fired a shotgun at Ellsworth, killing him instantly. Zouaves' Corporal Brownell then shot and stabbed the innkeeper with his bayonet.

The loss of Ellsworth was a national tragedy. Flags were lowered to half-mast in D.C., and President Lincoln ordered that Ellsworth's body lie in state in the White House.

Letter to Major Frank Peats of the 17th Illinois Infantry from George B. Swarthout, Peoria, Illinois, May 30, 1861. Swarthout writes: "We 'The Zouaves' had an invitation to attend the funeral reviews of Col. E.E. Ellsworth deceased which I accepted for the Co." (Frank Peats Collection LCDM 94.5.139).

"Avenge Ellsworth!" became the North's battle cry.

A memorial was held at Bryan Hall, a public auditorium on Clark Street in Chicago. Many mourned Ellsworth by enlisting, writing poems and editorials, and carrying carte-de-visite photographs of the war's first martyr.

Ellsworth's Zouaves continued to make appearances, including one in Waukegan on July 4, 1862.

Zouave figurine, date unknown. (LCDM 92.24.39)

The NASA Connection

2011-01-28T15:31:00.000-06:00

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy on January 28, 1986, I thought I'd reflect on the museum's NASA related collections.

You may wonder why a local history museum in Illinois would have NASA materials in its permanent collection. Well, there are at least two good reasons—James Lovell, and the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.

The former NASA astronaut, James "Jim" Lovell, Jr., (born March 25, 1928), moved to Lake Forest, Illinois after retiring.

Lovell is most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered a critical failure en route to the Moon, but was brought back safely to Earth by the efforts of the crew and mission control. In 1994, he published a book about the mission, "Lost Moon," and the film version followed with Tom Hanks as Commander Lovell. Over a decade ago, Lovell with his family opened up Lovells of Lake Forest, a fine dining restaurant.

In 2010, the Lake County Discovery Museum received information that NASA was deaccessioning items through US General Services Administration program. The NASA Space Program artifacts can be acquired by non-profit museums, universities, and schools.

With James Lovell's connection to Lake County in mind, the museum pursued the acquisition of any items pertaining to the Apollo missions.

The process involved lots of paperwork, but through much diligence the museum received a ballpoint pen that had gone into space on an Apollo mission.

Staff fondly refer to the NASA pen as the "moon pen." Though it never was on the moon, the pen orbited the Earth on one of the Apollo space missions. LCDM 2010.29

This color postcard was donated to the museum in 1975, probably a souvenir purchased by the donor (from Mundelein) while visiting the Kennedy Space Center. LCDM 75.16.37

The card's caption reads: "The original 7 Astronauts selected by N.A.S.A. From left to right: Navy Lt. Comm. Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Air Force Capt. Leroy Cooper Jr., Marine Lt. Col. John Glenn. Jr., Air Force Capt. Virgil Grissom, Navy Lt. Comm. Walter Schirra, Jr., Navy Lt. Comm. Alan Shephard, Jr., Air Force Major Donald Slayton."

The museum's other connection to NASA are postcards held in the collections of the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. The archive of the Teich Company of Chicago was donated to the museum in 1982, and among the hundreds of thousands of postcards are 106 related to NASA.

"The Flight of the First Saturn C-1 Space Vehicle." Curt Teich postcard, 1961 (1DK-1981)

"U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr." Curt Teich postcard, 1962 (2DK-1506)

"NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, NASA's Saturn Undergoes Pre-Launch Check-out." Curt Teich postcard, 1964 (4DK-1641).

For more fun with postcards from the Teich Postcard Archives, check out the blog Life in a Postcard Mirror written by my colleague Debra Gust.

Lake County's Gridiron History

2011-01-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

I'm on the fence about this Sunday's big game between the Chicago Bears and Greenbay Packers. Actually, on the fence. I live on the Illinois Stateline, and Wisconsin is across the street.

To keep things nice and neutral, I thought I'd share some football images from the Lake County History Archives.

Lake Forest College football team, circa 1899. LCDM

"Illinois Foot Ball Eleven - 1899" LCDM

"6th Corps Area Championship Game, November 29, 1925" Fort Sheridan - 41, Jefferson Barracks - 0 LCDM 92.24.566

A great view of the sidelines at the Fort Sheridan game, 1925. LCDM 92.24.560

Deerfield High School football schedule for 1932. LCDM 2007.17.61

Women's Army Corps member, Technician 5th Grade, Mary Boyd, with part of the Fort Sheridan football team, 1944. LCDM 92.24.1884

Lake County Rifles, circa 1965. LCDM 2010.28.202

Bob Amann, a lifelong Lake County resident and newspaperman, co-founded the Lake County Rifles, a semi-professional Central States Football League that played from 1965 to 1972. Thanks to a generous donation by Amann's children, the museum now has an extensive collection of Lake County Rifles photographs, programs, newsclippings, trophies, and memorabilia.

You may have seen the Rifles play at Weiss Field in Waukegan or Carmel High School in Mundelein. Rifles' program, 1973. LCDM 2010.28.14

Bess Bower Dunn (1877 - 1959)

2011-01-14T16:23:00.005-06:00

Bess Bower Dunn has made appearances in previous posts, but I've never featured her until now. And she is so deserving of her own post!

Bess, also known as Bessie, was a woman of firsts. She was one of the first women in motion pictures, the county's first woman historian, the county's first assistant probate clerk, and one of the county's earliest genealogists.

About 1896, Bess (at right) and her friend, Isabelle Spoor, were asked by local inventor, Edward Amet, to help him with his new invention. When the women arrived at the inventor’s home on North Avenue in Waukegan, Amet handed each a pair of boxing gloves. Bess recalled, “We whipped those long skirts out of the way and had a fine old time.” For several historic minutes, the girlfriends punched each other while Amet filmed. The stars of Amet's film titled, "Morning Exercise," became the first women in motion pictures.

In 1899, Bess was hired as the county's assistant probate clerk, and in her spare time assisted people with their family research. If you happened into the probate office at the first half of the 20th century, Bess would happily assist you in your research by looking in county records, and offering to visit local cemeteries to verify the correct spelling of surnames and dates of birth and death.

Bess was one of the founders of the Lake County Historical Society (now defunct, but the Society's collections are held by the Lake County Discovery Museum and Lake Forest College). In 1909, the Society placed a 7-ton memorial rock near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue (Route 21) and Aptakisic Road just west of the Des Plaines River to commemorate the county's first permanent non-native settler, Daniel Wright. Bess standing next to the Wright Memorial Rock, 1909.

Bess promoted Lake County history by giving lectures and through the efforts of the Lake County Historical Society, and also preserved the history with her own documentation of the county's heritage. She was an avid photographer, and traveled throughout the county looking for historic sites to capture on film, and meeting early settlers.

Bess sitting near an unidentified lake with her box
camera on her lap, circa 1905.

Bess posing with Native trail marker tree in
Lake Bluff, circa 1910.

After several years of courtship, on November 21, 1918, Bess married Ronald R. Dunn, who became the advertising manager of the Globe Department Store in Waukegan. Ronald was the son of Byron A. Dunn (1842-1926), historian, author, Civil War veteran, and newspaper man. Sadly, just ten years into their marriage, Roland died following an appendicitis operation. Bess never remarried.

This photograph is believed to be a gathering of the Lake County Historical Society, circa 1930. The location is unknown, but may be Lake Forest. Pictured are: (back row) Josephine Aiken, Betty Rice, Jannette Aiken, Elizabeth Osgood, Barbara Lindsay; (front row seated) Bess Dunn, Mrs. Zoehler, Mrs. E. Herberger, Mrs. Jannette Aiken, Mrs. Leary, Mr. William Whigam, Mrs. M.J. Fleming, unidentified, Mrs. John Bohn, Mrs. Sarah Hall, Mrs. Tyler Gilbert.

You may have noticed that there is only one man present in the photo—William Whigam. He was the grandson of Daniel Wright, the county's first non-native settler. Mr. Whigham also attended the Wright memorial rock dedication in 1909, and passed away in 1933.

Just before her death in 1959, Bess was awarded the title of Lake County Historian by the Lake County Board of Commissioners. She is the only person in the county's history to have the title. She was also honored for her 60 years of service as an employee of the county from 1899 to 1959, which made her the longest county employee on record.

The day after her passing, the courthouse flags were at half mast in memory of Bess and the County Recorder of Deeds Gustaf H. Fredbeck, who had also passed away.

Bessie with Millburn friends, Florence Stewart, Mrs. White, Maud White, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. Armbruster, and Mrs. Strang, pictured on July 12, 1897.

Bess is one of my most admired Lake County citizens. Without having met her, all I have are photographs and articles to tell me about her, and from those items it's apparent her life was full of joy and purpose. I think she'd be pleased that her efforts in preservation are appreciated to this day.

Adlai E. Stevenson II

2011-01-06T15:16:00.000-06:00

Lake County resident, Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-1965) was one of the most important statesmen of the 20th century.

Stevenson was a popular and effective governor of Illinois from 1948 to 1952, before running twice unsuccessfully for president against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. He was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations from 1960 to 1965.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961, Stevenson famously confronted Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in an emergency meeting of the Security Council. He provoked Zorin to admit that offensive weapons had been placed in Cuba and declared that he would wait "until Hell freezes over" for Zorin's response.

Presidential campaign button for Stevenson and Sparkman, 1952. Senator John Sparkman was a conservative Democrat from Alabama. (LCDM 2009.5)

In 1937, Stevenson purchased property in Libertyville Township along today's St. Mary's Road south of Route 60. For this reason, he was known as "the man from Libertyville." Since 1960 the property has been part of the Village of Mettawa.

Stevenson loved this property and called it "the farm." He hired Frank Holland to be the farm manager and caretaker. Holland worked for the Stevensons from 1937 to 1963 and again from 1965 to 1970. Guests to "the farm" included Eleanor Roosevelt, a close friend of Stevenson's, and John F. Kennedy.

Adlai Stevenson with his farm manager, Frank Holland, on "the farm," 1948. Stevenson would share in the sheep shearing and other farm tasks. Photo courtesy of Jim Holland.

Stevenson had a remarkable political pedigree. His grandfather, Adlai E. Stevenson I, was Vice President under U.S. President Grover Cleveland from 1893-1897. His maternal great-grandfather, Jesse W. Fell, was a close friend and campaign manager for Abraham Lincoln.

There was a great sense of loss when Stevenson died suddenly of a heart attack in London, England in 1965. He was an eloquent speaker and was enormously informed in national and world affairs, working tirelessly to raise the level of the public's awareness about the world and America's place in it.

Cover of Life Magazine from 1965 in memory of Stevenson, showing him at home at "the farm." Copyright Getty Images.

In 1969, most of the property was sold to Edison Dick, a longtime friend of Stevenson. In 1974 the Dick family donated the estate to the Lake County Forest Preserves. The property has since been designated an Illinois Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Through a generous grant from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the Stevenson Historic Home has been restored, and is open for tours. The 40-acre site is open daily for self-guided tours of the grounds. Tours of the home and exhibit gallery are by appointment and can be arranged through the Lake County Discovery Museum at 847-968-3381.

Presidential campaign slogan for Stevenson.(right)

The Stevenson Historic Home is also the site of the Stevenson Center on Democracy. The Center is a newly organized non-profit corporation which seeks to enhance the global understanding and practice of democracy, and continue Adlai E. Stevenson II's legacy. Learn more about upcoming events sponsored by the Center at the Stevenson Historic Home: www.stevensoncenterondemocracy.org/index.html

A Bright and Prosperous New Year!

2010-12-30T11:15:00.003-06:00

Several years ago, I decided to get smarter about handling the rush of the holiday season, and started sending New Year's cards. By New Year's Day, the frenzy of shopping, wrapping, decorating and merrymaking is over and done with, and I can write a nice note to family and friends wishing them the best for the coming year.

What seemed like a novel idea to me, and the people who got my "post holiday" cards, is actually an old tradition. At the turn of the 20th century, sending New Year's greetings in the form of a postcard or greeting card was quite popular.

New Year's postcard, circa 1915 (above).

Many of the traditions and superstitions of ringing in the New Year are pictured on postcards.

This German postcard from 1905 was sent from Chicago, and portrays a pig and monk dancing on a keg of beer. The pig (especially in Austrian tradition) foretells a year filled with fortune and good luck, as do the clovers. The keg of beer and dancing represent the festivities surrounding the New Year. Postcard from the Dorothy Gleiser Collection, 1905 (73.9.99).

This American New Year's greeting is one of my favorite New Year's cards in the collection—mainly because of the cat, but also because it's such a dynamic greeting for the New Year. Of course, the bottle of bubbly represents celebration, but the loud pop of the cork has the added benefit of scaring away evil spirits. Postcard from the Dorothy Gleiser Collection, 1906 (73.9.99).

Noise making, stems from Old World tales that evil spirits hover near as the New Year approaches. The noise of blowing whistles and horns, ringing bells, and popping champagne corks, all ward off impending danger.

This design of the "year" festooned with four-leaf clovers was easily understood by the recipient as a wish for good luck throughout the coming year. Year date postcards were particularly popular between 1908-1912. Postcard from the Dorothy Gleiser Collection, 1907 (73.9.99).

There is a lot of symbolism in this 1908 Swiss New Year's postcard. It was sent from a relation in Frauenfeld, Switzerland to Lizzie Schlager.

The child with the broom and ladder is a chimney sweep and represents sweeping away the pains and tribulations of the past year and beginning with a clean slate. Also pictured is a red and white mushroom and horse shoe, both symbols of good fortune. And of course, the clock's hands are on twelve, striking midnight to ring in the New Year. Lizzie Schlager Collection, 1908 (61.8.300).

This stunning colorized photo postcard is from Lundsbrunn, Sweden. The children represent renewal, much like babies (versus an "Old Man" the symbol of the past year). The four-leaf clovers, horse shoe and bag of money are all representations of good fortune and plenty, while the number "1" is for January 1st and a new beginning. Postcard 1915 (LCHA).

This is the back of the Swedish postcard, showing that it is addressed to Miss Alice Carlsson of Waukegan.

Any combination of the symbols seen above were employed to make an appealing New Year's wish. Additionally, you might see a stork carrying a baby (rebirth), a couple kissing (good luck to celebrate the first few minutes of the New Year with the one you love), shooting stars (induces prosperity), and elves with red hats ("Tomtens" for good fortune and popular with the Pennsylvania Dutch).

The museum's archival collections hold approximately 160 postcards related to the New Year.

Images of Christmas Past

2010-12-17T13:28:00.002-06:00

In December 1865, Susannah Smith of Millburn wrote in her diary:

22nd - Will have no school till Tuesday because Monday will be “Merry Christmas.”

24^{th -}Went to Church.

25^{th -}Cousin William, and family came to spend Merry Christmas with us and we had a merry, merry time. They stayed all night.

As a young unmarried woman, Susannah taught at a one-room schoolhouse, Grubb School, located at Grass Lake and Beck Roads one half mile east of Deep Lake Road (now part of Lake Villa). Her diary gives many insights into rural life, including a glimpse into holiday festivities, and the fact that school was back in session the day after Christmas.

In this 1908 photograph, Mildred Holloway Minto of Millburn sits with her daughters, Ruth (on lap) and Katherine in front of the family's Christmas tree. Mildred married David Harold Minto in 1905, who was the son of Civil War veteran David J. Minto and Susannah Smith.

Susannah Smith Minto continued to keep a diary for many years. In 1910, she commented on activities surrounding the coming holiday:

December 10th - I rec’d a nice box of writing papers & cards as a Christmas gift from Mrs J.M. Strong of 60 So. Euclid ave Pasadena Cal.

December 22nd - Men got Christmas trees from our woods. [The Minto property was on Deep Lake Road north of Grass Lake Road, adjacent to Loon Lake.]

The diary page shown above is for December 23 and 24, 1910. Transcribed here is an excerpt:

Una [Susannah's daughter] has quite a hard cold, hope it may be better tomorrow as she has promised to go to M. [Millburn] to help to decorate Christmas trees for evening. H [Susannah's son, David Harold Minto] making ironing board for K. [his daughter Katherine] on Christmas; he is working down in cellar making it this evening. I made shortbread.

Susannah's granddaughters, Katherine Minto and Lura Minto Johaningsmeier donated the photo above among other photos, family letters and diaries to the museum in 1993. The donation, known as the Minto Collection, has become one of the museum's most invaluable resources to staff and researchers.

On Christmas day 1911, the Wilton Family gathered in Avon Township for this family portrait:

The photo was probably taken at the Wilton Farm on Drury Lane and Rollins Road.

Pictured are: William Wilton holding William Bratzke (center of photo), Emma Wilton & Isabel Bratzke, Martha Hucker, Maggie Tweed, Eliza Elsbury, Elbert Elsbury, Joe Wilmington, Charles Bratzke, Fred Hucker, Cora Moody, Net Hucker, Anna Bratzke, Charles Hucker, Harriet Fenlon, Leo Fenlon, Everett Hucker, Marjorie Moody, George Hucker, Evelyn Fenlon, Esther Fenlon, Bessie Moody, Keneth Moody, Harold Hucker, George Elsbury, Lloyd Elsbury, Howard Moody, John Petersen, Bernice Elsbury. Photoby Corel Ruth Hucker.

Jumping several decades, here are a couple of photographs from a Women's Army Corps holiday luncheon at Fort Sheridan, circa 1962. My mother would be pleased to see they're serving olives. That is certainly a tradition at all special meals at our house!

There's something about this young man that reminds me of my brother at that age. The cowboy look became immensely popular with the advent of television Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, so this unidentified youngster was certainly having a very good Christmas.

Happy holidays!

Kenar - Jakubowski, North Chicago

2010-12-10T11:35:00.002-06:00

In 2007, a collection of photographs and documents from the Kenar-Jakubowski Family of North Chicago was donated to the museum.

For the museum, the donation enhances its holdings for the North Chicago area, and the period of the 1920s - 1940s. It also increases our understanding of immigration to the county. Much of the county's history is related to settlement and growth, and this donation is the story of first generation Americans.

Jacob Kenar (photo 1944)

The patriarch of the family, Jacob Kenar (1878-1944), was a Polish immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen. He arrived in the United States in 1900 and settled in North Chicago with his wife, Anna. Jacob became a leader among Polish people in the community, was a member of the Polish National Alliance Society and Holy Rosary Church, and worked for 25 years at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company.

Julia Kenar (1904-1984), circa 1920
in her North Chicago letterman sweater

The bulk of the donation relates to Jacob and Anna's eldest child, Julia, and her husband Joseph Jakubowski.

The collection gives insight into life in North Chicago in the first half of the 20th century, and into the lives of immigrant families and their children. These were ordinary people living out ordinary lives, and in part that's what makes the materials all the more fascinating. It's a slice of life.

Julia was the only woman in the Kenar family to drive a car.
Pictured here on Victoria Street, North Chicago, circa 1925.

Julia's husband, Joseph Jakubowski
(1902-1976), studio photo circa 1920.

Joe worked as a butcher. He's pictured here in
the meat market's slaughter yard. The original
Holy Rosary Church can be seen in the
background at 14th and Victoria.
Photo circa 1922.

Julia and Joe had this house built between 1941-1946
on Skokie Highway near Stearns School Road in Gurnee.

One of many receipts related to the
construction of
Julia and Joe's home.

Another local business the Jakubowski's
patronized as they furnished their new home.

Julia Kenar Jakubowski was a plant superintendent at
Pfanstiehl (Fansteel) Chemical Corporation. She is
shown in this photo at the plant, standing in the back
of the room, 1942.

The images shared here are a sampling of what the Kenar-Jakubowski Collection has to offer historians and genealogists. The collection consists of one-linear foot of material.

Maynard Log Cabin

2010-12-03T16:33:00.002-06:00

Jesse H. Maynard

In 1844, Jesse H. Maynard (1809-1890) moved from New Hampshire to Waukegan with his wife, Augusta Marshall (1813-1884) and their children. The Maynards' ancestors were from England, settling in Massachusetts in 1630.

Jesse Maynard built a log cabin for his family and farmed the land along Grand Avenue, just east of Greenbay Road in Waukegan. Augusta Maynard taught the first school at Spaulding's Corner (intersection of Grand and Greenbay Roads), named for the David Spaulding family who settled there in 1836.

In 1856, Jesse started a brickyard on his property at 3015 Grand Avenue. He noted in his diary in1864 that Dr. Price of Waukegan ordered 1,000 soft bricks.

Maynard Brickyard, Waukegan

Locally made brick was in great demand. Using the surface clay on site, Maynard made bricks which were first sun-dried, then stacked and covered for curing, and later baked in kilns located under a roof. A windmill on site provided power to pump water for the manufacturing process.

In the 1880s, the family covered their log cabin with siding, added rooms and plastered the interior walls (below).

Maynard home, circa 1885. The center, two-story
structure was the original log cabin built by Jesse Maynard
in 1844. In this photograph, Jessee is seated near the front door.
Standing behind a bush (at left) is the housekeeper,
Tilda Sweet, and front center is Jesse and Augusta's daughter,
Augusta Phillips (1839-1889).

About 1962, the North Shore Gas Company purchased the house along with 12.5 acres from Jesse Maynard's great-grandson, Edward N. Maynard. North Shore Gas in turn donated the house to the Lake County Museum (then located in Wadsworth), in order to save the log cabin.

In 1964, the central two-story portion of the historic Maynard home was moved to the Lake County Highway Department yard in Libertyville. That location was chosen, since the Lake County Museum was hoping to build a new museum either in Libertyville near the Winchester House or in Wauconda at Lakewood Forest Preserve.

Russell Rouse (left) and Oscar F. Rogers, vice-president of North Shore Gas company, examined the hand-forged nails used by Jesse Maynard.

Maynard cabin on its trip to Libertyville, 1964.

Despite the best of intentions, the Maynard log cabin lingered outside exposed to the elements until the mid-1970s, while plans were developed for a new museum site. The cabin was carefully dismantled, each section numbered, and transported to Lakewood Forest Preserve about 1975. By then, the damage had been done, and much of the timbers had been eaten away by beetles.

Sadly, all that remains of this worthy preservation project are the photographs taken to document the work of the many volunteers, including the Carpenters & Joiners of America Local No. 1996, and George Palaske House Raising and Moving Company, as they uncovered and moved the cabin from its original site.

Lakewood Farm - Lakewood Forest Preserve

2010-11-24T15:12:00.000-06:00

In 1937, Malcolm Boyle (1897-1959), a wealthy Chicago contractor, purchased several farms near Wauconda totaling 1,250 acres to create Lakewood Farm.

The rolling topography of Lakewood Forest Preserve (formerly Lakewood Farm).
This view is of the Stockholm addition to Lakewood Forest Preserve, 1989.

Boyle was at the tail end of a movement of influential Chicagoans who retreated to the countryside to build estates and operate farms, mainly from the 1870s to 1920s. These farms were known as “gentleman farms” because the owner’s hired farm managers to run them.

Many gentlemen farmers were executives or owners of Chicago businesses, or the children of prominent Chicago families. Their farms transformed the landscape of Lake County from homesteads with traditional white clapboard farmhouses to estate houses with elaborate gardens designed by famous architects. Among these farms were Arthur Meeker’s Arcaday Farm, Grace Durand’s Crab Tree Farm, Robert Leatherbee’s Brae Burn Farm, and Malcolm Boyle's Lakewood Farm.

In 1939, Malcolm Boyle registered the name, Lakewood Farm, for his working farm with the Lake County Recorder of Deeds. It became a showplace with Guernsey cows, pigs, horses, extensive orchards, gardens and grain production.

Wauconda's Independent Register wrote in 1938: "[Boyle] has remodeled the buildings and is making extensive improvements on the property, including an artificial lake."

Boyle renovated a pre-Civil War house on site

into a country home. Since 1986, this building has been

used for the museum's archives and library.

One of the existing buildings Boyle improved was a pre-Civil War house. Boyle renovated it in 1938 into a lovely country home, and in 1986 when the Curt Teich Postcard Archives was donated to the museum, the house was adapted into an archives.

This barn was built in the 1920s and renovated by Boyle circa 1938.
This image is from a Lakewood Farms booklet printed, circa 1965,
printed by Howard Quinn, the property's next owner.

The ponds on the property were enhanced and landscaped by Synnetsvedt, and Boyle dredged a wetland to create Banana Lake and then stocked it with fish. He reportedly planned to dredge a small canal from Banana Lake to Bangs Lake in Wauconda (a distance of about one mile).

In 1953, Boyle’s Guernsey “Hagan Farms Merry Song” won a prize at the International Dairy show. The cow had notably produced 15,000 pounds of milk the previous year.

Silver tray trophy "Champion Northern Illinois Jr. Parish Show
Curtiss Improved Stud Service 1956."
For Lakewood Farm, Wauconda. LCDM 2009.21.2

In July 1961, Howard Quinn, owner of a savings and loan in Chicago, purchased the property. Quinn made many improvements to buildings, and in farming and breeding methods for his registered Guernsey and Angus cattle. He also constructed a Butler building to be used as a loafing shed for cows waiting to be milked.

Known by its manufacturer’s name, the Butler building was a pre-engineered metal building.
Beginning in 1968, the Lake County Forest Preserves used it for storing vehicles.
In 1977, the Chicago Bears practiced here before they had a permanent facility in Lake Forest.
The building was razed in 2010.

In 1965, Quinn was convicted of defrauding the government. According to the Chicago Tribune, the property was to be sold to "recoup losses from Quinn's handling of savings and loans funds insured by the federal corporation."

The Lakewood Farm property was one of the first sites designated by the Lake County Forest Preserves' for acquisition. In 1968, the land was acquired, and the farm buildings used to store equipment.

Prize bull barn as seen circa 1965.
This structure would be adapted as the museum's lobby and gift store.

The Lake County Discovery Museum opened its doors at Lakewood in 1976. Previously, the museum was located near Wadsworth on Route 41. Several of the original Lakewood Farm buildings were adapted for the museum’s exhibit galleries, collections storage and administrative offices. The museum will be moving in 2-3 years to Libertyville where it will have larger exhibit galleries, and be able to provide increased access to educational programs and to researchers utilizing collections.

Today, Lakewood Forest Preserve totals more than 2,600 acres, making it the largest preserve in Lake County. During the next couple of years the Lake County Forest Preserve’s planning department will develop a master plan for Lakewood, which will consider how the complex of buildings at Lakewood will be used. This master plan will be approved by the Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners.

Homer Dahringer (1890-1918)

2010-11-19T16:00:00.007-06:00

When World War I erupted in Europe after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, on June 28, 1914 by the Black Hand, the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention.

However, former president, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. In 1917, Roosevelt visited Fort Sheridan (shown in photo) to give a passionate speech about the importance of rallying troops for mobilization for the war.

By 1916, the United States had begun to enlarge its army in preparation for war. At Fort Sheridan, much of the training focused on mastering trench warfare. Soldiers constructed and used an extensive trenching system simulating, as closely as possible, the trenches in the European war. (Officers Training Camp trenches at Fort Sheridan, circa 1917).

On April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declared war on Germany. Lake Countians began to volunteer for service in the war, and the Lake County sheriff was under orders to arrest all “slackers” or any man who wouldn’t register.

Homer Dahringer of Waukegan (right), who had gone through the First Officers Training Camp at Fort Sheridan in 1916, was commissioned August 15, 1917. He studied aviation in Austin, Texas, and was ordered to France in March 1918.

He was attached to the First Aero Squadron as an observer. In June 1918, he was promoted to first lieutenant. His job was to fly behind enemy lines in a two-seat reconnaissance plane, make observations and collect information and photographs of value to American gunners.

Dahringer had been a star athlete at Waukegan’s Central High School, and captain of the basketball team at the University of Illinois. By all accounts, he was outgoing and well liked.

Homer Dahringer (2nd from right), circa 1913.

Homer Dahringer (left) with friends. Mr. Steinhaus (2nd from right)
was Dahringer's business partner. In 1908, just after graduating
from high school, they formed Dahringer & Steinhaus
Restaurant, Ice Cream and Confectionary
at Genesee and Clayton Streets, Waukegan.

On September 16, 1918 he to wrote his parents from France:

“I am going on a dangerous mission, but we are all keyed up for it and do not anticipate any trouble. Tomorrow’s work is rather a culmination of all my efforts. We are going over the top together with the infantry. I am scheduled to fly an Infantry Liaison plane. It is the worst kind of work and everything rests with God. If I do not come back, you may know that I gave my all and my best to my country.”

He and his pilot, Lieutenant William Cowart, never came back from that mission. Their plane was shot down by a German Fokker, and they were reported missing in action on September 17, 1918.

Dahringer's family clung to the hope that he was alive and would come home from the war. The local paper ran headlines "Vanished Behind Foe Lines in Plane; Homer Dahringer, U.S. Air Observer, Missing in Action." Even the American Red Cross investigated and reported that he was alive and had been taken behind enemy lines. Soon even that report was questioned, since the family never received a letter from their son or any other news.

The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, but it was not until January 3, 1919 that Dahringer's family received another telegram from the U.S. Army stating:

"Your son, Lieut. Homer Walston Dahringer reported by message dropped from German plane as dead in Germany. Date and cause of death unknown. Will notify of any future information."

Still, the family refused to accept the news. Within weeks, his body was brought to France for burial and it was the final proof that his family needed.

Real photo postcard of the University of Illinois' soccer team, 1910.
Homer Dahringer is seen smiling in the back row, third from left.
He sent the postcard to his sister Edna who was living in Los Angeles
at the time. He wrote: "This is the new game I am playing now.
We played against St. Louis and lost 5-0. Then we played Chicago
at Chicago and won 3-0. Today we played Chicago down here
and won 6-1. This was our last game this year. I am going home
for Thanksgiving soon.
Wish you were going to there too."
Signed, Homer "Darrie" [his nickname].

On October 28, 1919, the newly formed Waukegan American Legion Post was named in honor of Dahringer. Three years later, Dahringer’s body was brought back from France to be buried in Waukegan.

Amos Bennett, First African-American Settler

2010-10-22T13:49:00.005-05:00

Amos Bennett was the county's first African-American settler, arriving in Gurnee by the fall of 1835.

Despite this remarkable distinction, Bennett's story was sparsely documented in early histories and went unresearched by historians until the 1990s. The discovery that sparked the museum's groundbreaking primary research on Bennett occurred in 1993 while museum volunteer, Al Westerman, was researching land records at the Lake County Recorder of Deeds, and came across records of Bennett's land purchases. The find was curious, since local legend and one published history had claimed that Bennett was merely a "squatter" and not a land owner.

If the squatting story wasn't correct, what else might we find about this pioneering settler? The research eventually took us to Delhi, New York where I met historian Shirley Houck, who was also interested in the Bennett Family story.

Amos Bennett (1797-18??) was born in Fairfield, Connecticut to freed slaves Timothy and Lillie Bennett. Around 1799, the family moved to Delhi, New York, taking with them a paper verifying their freedom and safe passage. The Bennetts became the first free Blacks to settle in Delhi, and leased property in an area known as the Hardenburgh Patent on Federal Hill. They worked as sheep shearers, laborers and farmers.

Elijah Haines wrote in his Past & Present of Lake County, Illinois that Bennett arrived in 1834, and "was a colored man, and the first of the African race who came to what is now Lake County; he is said to have once remarked, with much self-satisfaction, speaking apparently with reference to the Indians, that he was the first white man that ever planted corn in Lake County. He was a very intelligent man and much respected."

Grave marker for Amos Bennett's brother,
Miles Bennett, Bennett Family Cemetery,
Delhi, NY

However, I believe that Amos Bennett and his first wife Clara and their children (Henry and Emily) left for Lake County, Illinois in the fall of 1835; leaving behind his parents and siblings, including a twin brother Almon. This timeline follows the last record of Amos Bennett in Delhi which is dated August 28, 1835, when he paid a portion of his father’s lease.

Historian, John Halsey, also felt that the 1835 date was likely, stating in his county history of 1912, that Amos arrived "before the close of 1835," settling "on the River above Vardin's Grove [Libertyville]."

Others have speculated that Bennett came west much later. That they may have been part of the westward migration of 100 families from Delhi that settled in the Gurnee area, including Philip Blanchard who was a friend and neighbor to Bennett and also an abolitionist.

Bennett built a log cabin northeast of the intersection of Washington Street and Milwaukee Avenue in Gurnee, and later had a house and property on Dilley’s Road north of Grand Avenue near today’s Gurnee Mills. His brother, Alfred, lived with him for a time in Gurnee, and purchased property in what is now Greenbelt Forest Preserve. Alfred later moved to Michigan.

Amos Bennett owned over 140 acres in Lake County. He sent his children to the local one-room school. Bennett was known as Dr. Bennett for his healing skill with herbs. He is reported to have saved the life of Hannah Blanchard (wife of Philip) after she was struck by lightning.

According to primary research by Debra Mieszala, in the spring of 1840, Bennett made an appearance at the first session of the circuit court in Libertyville. His complaint? He wanted a divorce from his wife Clara. Mieszala's published article on the proceedings "Clara, Clary, Clarice! Amos Bennett's First Wife Identified Through the Use of Court Records," appeared in the Lake County Illinois Genealogical Society newsletter, (Volume 21, No. 4, Apr-Jun 2001) excerpted as follows:

"Amos told the court that he had married his present wife, Clara, in the State of New York in July 1820. He stated that in July 1836, Clara had committed adultery with Thomas Wilkinson, a Mr. Wood, and other persons unknown to Amos.... he "remonstrated" against the "wicked practices of said Clary," and as a result she left him. Clara removed to Cook County, where Amos claimed she was living with other men... The case was found in Amos's favor in April 1841."

In 1843, Bennett ran for public office for Lake County Commissioner against William Shephard, Seth Washburn and Stephen Bennett. He received only one vote (probably his own) and lost the election, but this makes him the first African-American to run for public office in Lake County.

He and his children were welcome at community gatherings, including a Fourth of July celebration at Third Lake in 1844. It was the first Fourth of July celebration in Lake County and was held at the confluence of Second and Third Lakes. Nearly 100 people gathered from neighboring communities, including the Bennetts. When dinner was ready, all the families paraded in a circle and then came together at the chowder kettle where Reverend Dodge (Millburn Congregational Church)blessed the food. After the meal, Reverend Dodge gave a prayer for the freedom of the slaves in the South, and Nat Doust read a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1846, Bennett and 30 other families pooled their money and purchased a three-acre tract of land and created the Warren Township Cemetery. Also about this time, Bennett married Ann Frances (b. 1817) of Virginia. Amos and Ann had four children, Josephine, Lilly Ann and twin boys (names unknown).

Bennett bought and sold many acres of land, and borrowed money using his land, horses and a wagon as collatorel. The last record found documenting Bennett in Lake County is dated May 13, 1852. That is the day he sold his remaining 40 acres to Philip Blanchard for $200 and paid off his mortgage.

In spite of much effort, the story of Amos Bennett ends in 1852. We have been unable to discover what became of him and his family. Although at least one source claimed he moved to Wisconsin, the Bennetts do not appear in census records there or elsewhere in the United States. It would probably take a visit to county courthouses to verify where Bennett re-settled his family.

In 1997, the Lake County Forest Preserves placed a memorial plaque on a boulder commemorating Bennett along the Des Plaines River trail near Washington Street in Gurnee.

In 2008, descendants of Tim and Lill Bennett gathered in Delhi, New York for a family reunion. The Lake County Discovery Museum would very much like to hear from any of their descendants, or historians with more information about the family.

Historian, Shirley Houck, visiting the Bennett Cemetery, on
Federal Hill near Delhi, New York. Photo courtesy of Shirley Houck.

The Treaty of Chicago, September 26, 1833

2010-10-08T14:12:00.003-05:00

The private ownership of land was a European convention unfamiliar to Native Americans. Land came down to tribes from their ancestors, and in turn they passed over the stewardship to their children and their children's children for countless generations.

American Historian, Clarence Walworth Alvord (1868-1928), wrote: "To allow the whites to use the land was one thing; to cede to them the permanent possession of the land was quite different."

The permanent transfer of land became necessary with the pressures of westward migration that came with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 (which connected the Great Lakes with New York City via the Hudson River). The Erie Canal increased efforts to open northeastern Illinois to non-native settlement and brought hundreds of settlers into Michigan and Illinois.

Often, mistakenly, the Treaty of Prairie du Chien (there were four between 1825-1830) is cited as the reason Native Americans left northeastern Illinois. In fact, it was not until the Treaty of Chicago in 1833 that the tribes in what is now Lake County, Illinois ceded the land to the U.S. Government.

The Treaty of Chicago brought an estimated three thousand Native Americans, traders, government officials, army troops, land speculators, and adventurers to Chicago, then a small village. Aptakisic (Ah-be-te-ke-zhic) of the Half Day area Potawatomi was one of the chiefs present.

American author, Washington Irving (1783-1859), and Englishman, Charles J. Latrobe (1801-1875) (shown at right) happened to be in Chicago at the time of the treaty. (LaTrobe later became the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria in Australia).

LaTrobe wrote about the event extensively in his book, "The Rambler in North America," published in London in 1835, and excerpted here from John J. Halsey's "History of Lake County, Illinois" (1912). Latrobe noted that the tribal chiefs did not wish to sell their land, but the U.S. commissoner said, "That nevertheless, as they had come together for a council, they must take the matter into consideration."

Latrobe wrote of the scene on September 21, 1833: "The council fire was lighted under a spacious open shed on the green meadow, on the opposite side of the river from that on which the fort stood, [near the north end of the present Rush Street Bridge in Chicago]... Even though convinced of the necessity of their removal, my heart bled for them in their desolation and decline... and their speedy disappearance from the earth appears as certain as though it were already sealed and accomplished."

Indeed, by September 26, 1833, the treaty was signed between the U.S. Government and the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians. Five million acres were sold to the United States including the last tracts of Native occupied Great Lakes’ land. (Copy from Federal Archives)

The treaty stipulated that these tribes resettle west of the Mississippi River by the time the treaty was ratified by the U.S. Congress, which did not occur until 1835. However, fewer than half of the Potawatomi moved onto reservations in western Missouri and Kansas. Some went north into Canada, while others resettled in northern Michigan and Wisconsin.

Settlement of the newly ceded land was not to occur until the treaty was ratified, which took place in 1835. Notably, the county's first non-native settler, Daniel Wright, arrived in 1833. Anyone who came into the region prior to the treaty's ratification was on their own should they encounter any difficulty with Native Americans. Wright fondly recalled that the local tribe assisted him with building his first cabin and in planting crops.

Native Americans passed through Lake County for decades following the Treaty of Chicago. Many settlers were cautious of them, having heard stories of raids and kidnappings (true or not) from other parts of the country.

Revolutionary War Veterans

2010-10-01T14:59:00.002-05:00

In 1928, the Daughters of the American Revolution designated two Revolutionary War veterans buried in Lake County–Henry Collins and Reuben Hill.

"Battle of Lexington" April 19, 1775.
Postcard circa 1910, Curt Teich Postcard Archives G1274.

The American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) was the culmination of a political revolution in which the thirteen united former British colonies rejected the right of Great Britain’s Parliament to govern them and formed a Continental Army to fight for independence.

Henry Collins (1763 – 1847) was born in Southborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He enlisted from his Southborough on March 3, 1781, at the age of 16 years and 10 months, when a levy was placed on the town to supply a number of men for the army.

These men were mustered in at Sutton, Massachusetts. Henry served in a company commanded by Captain Sewall in the regiment commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Sprout (1752–1805). From Sutton the regiment was marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and from there to West Point.

Portrait of Ebenezer Sproat (aka Sprout), from "History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts," by Thomas Weston, 1906.

Henry Collins served his two year enlistment in the same regiment, and was discharged at West Point in December 1783 at the end of the war. Collins' discharge was signed by General Henry Knox.

After the war, Collins lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Canada. In 1832, he returned from Canada to Vermont where he applied for a war pension. He was placed on the pension rolls of Vermont at the rate of $80 per year.

In 1844, Collins moved to Lake County, Illinois with his son Joseph H. Collins. They settled on land in Newport Township along Edwards Road east of Hunt Club Road.

On April 10, 1847, Henry Collins died and became the first burial at Mount Rest Cemetery. The cemetery is located just south of the State Line on the Skokie Road. His son Joseph left Lake County in 1855 and re-settled in Iowa.

In 1964, the American Legion Post of Gurnee added a new marker to his grave which mistakenly stated that Collins was the “only American Revolutionary Service Man buried in Lake County.”

Reuben Hill (1765 - 1858) was born in Goshen, Connecticut. While living in New York State, he enlisted in the fall of 1780, at the age of fifteen, with Captain Shaw’s Company. He enlisted twice more with different companies and was discharged as a private on January 1, 1783. In 1834, he successfully applied for a military pension.

About 1840, Reuben's son, Seth Hill, purchased property in Wauconda Township, Lake County. It is probable that the entire family, including Reuben and his wife Patience, came west at that time. In the 1850 census, Reuben and Patience, both aged 85, are living with their son's family. The family farm was in Section 25, along Route 176, south of Bangs Lake.

The Hills are buried at the Wauconda Cemetery.

I came across one more mention of a Revolutionary War veteran. The Biddlecome School History (Newport Township), written in 1918 by students, lists Oded Eddy as a veteran having "served seven years" in the war. However, Oded never lived in Lake County.

Elijah Eddy, grandson of Revolutionary War veteran, Oded Eddy.

Oded Eddy (senior) was the grandfather of Newport Township settler, road commissioner, and Biddlecome School director, Elijah Eddy (1821-1902). I believe the children mentioned Oded on their list of veterans, simply because of the connection to their school's former director.

Oded served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army from 1776 to 1778 (and not for seven years as the children stated). He died in Oneida, NY in 1825.

Philip Brand, the Man Who Shaved Lincoln

2010-09-24T16:07:00.013-05:00

In March and April of 1860, Lincoln was in Chicago attending sessions of the United States District Court, as counsel for the defendants in the "Sand Bar" case, which involved rights over sand bars along the Lake Michigan coast. By then, Lincoln was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the presidency, and it was thought he would be nominated at the Republican convention in May.

Lincoln received frequent invitations to speak, and accepted one from the citizens of Waukegan as presented by his friends and fellow attorneys, Elisha Ferry and Henry Blodgett.

The day of the speech—April 2, 1860—Lincoln came up to Waukegan on the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, accompanied by Illinois Senator, Norman B. Judd.

That afternoon, Lincoln got a shave at Philip Brand’s barber shop on Genessee Street. In 1860, Brand's shop was new, since he had just immigrated from Germany the year before. How Lincoln came into Brand's shop is not known, but his patronage certainly increased the shop's business thereafter. (View of Brand's barber shop, 57 Genesee Street, circa 1870. Miltimore family photo)

Brand (c1839-1914) was a German immigrant from the Hesse region, and came to Waukegan in 1859. His sense for business, and a visit by Lincoln did a good deal to making his clientele grow. In the years to come, Brand's shop served Waukegan's elite businessmen. He eventually built a three-story building for his business interests, which included a bath house complete with bathtubs, shaving and hairdressing facilities. Philip Brand, circa 1860 (right), Miltimore family photo.

Brand was rightfully proud that Abraham Lincoln had come to him for a shave. Brand even stated that he was the last man to shave Lincoln. It would've been more accurate had Brand said he was one of the last to shave him, since Lincoln grew his famous beard two months after his visit to Waukegan.

That evening, hundreds of Waukeganites attended Lincoln's speech at Dickinson's Hall, including Philip Brand, William Besley (brewer), and George Lyon (store clerk). Lincoln spoke of the wrong of slavery, and that the country was half slavery and half freedom, and no goverment divided against itself in such manner could stand.

J.W. Hull, also in attendance, recalled that "While [Lincoln] was speaking, such was the sledge-hammer force of his logic, that we forgot the humble appearance and the squeaky voice, and were carried away by the man's simple eloquence, his power of reasoning...."

Twenty minutes into the speech, word came that there was a fire at the Case Warehouse at the North Pier. Elisha Ferry rose and said that he believed the alarm was a Democratic plot to break up the meeting. Lincoln in turn said, "Well, gentlemen, let us all go, as there really seems to be a fire, and help put it out." Local legend states that indeed, Lincoln helped to extinguish the blaze, ruining his suit in the process.

It has also been said that Lincoln promised to come back to finish his speech another time, but he never made it back to Waukegan.

Philip Brand continued as a barber until his retirement about 1900. (A white-haired Brand standing at the fore of his shop on Genesee Street, circa 1895. LCDM 2010.24)

Though it seemed Brand's barber shop was lost to time, in the spring of 1964, the shop was re-discovered during excavation work on Genesee Street. J.W. Peterson plumbers were digging a hole under the street and unexpectedly found barber mugs, bearing the names of former citizens.

Brand barber mug for G.P. Fleming, circa 1890. Note the cement inside the mug. LCDM 70.83.6

Brand barber mug for George R. Lyon, circa 1890. Lyon attended Lincoln's speech at Dickinson's Hall and was a Civil War veteran. He succeeded in his father's general store business in 1893, served on the county board 1886-1887, and state legislature 1896-1900. LCDM 70.83.7

Robert Vogel, the director of the Lake County Museum of History in Wadsworth was notified about the discovery. Vogel managed to dig out other mugs and barber bottles, which became part of his museum's collection.

Brand barber mug for Chase E. Webb, circa 1890. Webb was a Civil War veteran, Lake County Sheriff from 1886 - 1890, and Chief of Police in Waukegan from 1891-1897. LCDM 70.83.1

The barber shop, which had originally been on the first floor of the building, was moved at some point to the basement and filled in when Genesee Street was widened and paved. The surviving mugs are in remarkably good condition considering the circumstances, and are part of the Lake County Discovery Museum's permanent collection.