The Benwell Crazy Quilt

The story of the Benwell crazy quilt, in the collections of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County, is one of a pioneering family and 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.

George Smith, Jr., 96th Illinois Regiment

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

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

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

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.

View of St. Mary's, the first Catholic Church in Waukegan, located at County and Water Streets, completed in 1847. The rectory for the priest (left) was built in 1849. Postcard circa 1898. Dunn Museum, 93.19.5.

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. 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.

Altar in the original St. Mary's Catholic Church constructed in 1847. Photo circa 1900. 

Dunn Museum, Photo Collections.

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, who started the first parish school, and Rev. Michael Donohue, who enlarged the school. Rev. Edward A. Gavin was pastor for 55 years beginning in 1871. Rev. Francis J. Shea (1890-1969), 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.

Newspaper article announcing permission from Cardinal Mundelein to break ground on the new church. 

Independent Register, May 17, 1958. Newspapers.com. 

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

Dunn Museum 92.27.240.1

Architect Joseph W. McCarthy (1884-1965) designed a Georgian Colonial structure closely resembling the style of the first church. The design was significant as it was 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.

Postcard of Immaculate Conception Church, rectory and school, circa 1974. 

Photo by Henry Brueckner for Color-View Inc. Dunn Museum 97.23.12.

The first Mass in the new church was celebrated by Rev. Francis Shea on December 8, 1929, 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.

 

Bartolomé Murillo's masterpiece, Immaculate Conception of the Venerable Ones (1678) (above). A mosaic version of this painting is hung above the altar at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Waukegan.

The interior of the Church shows the marble columns, crystal chandeliers, and, at the center, the large mosaic based on Murillo's Immaculate Conception of the Venerable Ones. Photo by Manuel Gonzalez, Dec 2019 (Google.com maps)

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, Holy Family, and the Academy of Our Lady.

For church and school records contact:

Most Blessed Trinity Parish

450 Keller Avenue

Waukegan, IL  60085

www.mostblessedtrinityparish.org 

Mineola Hotel - The Lady of the Lakes

Posted June 3, 2011

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. Dunn Museum 96.12.2

For those unfamiliar with the grand dame, the Mineola is located at 91 N. Cora Avenue, Fox Lake, and was built in 1884 (or 1889) by the Mineola Club of Chicago (some have credited it to 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, but not confirmed that 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. Dunn Museum 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." Dunn Museum 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.

Postcard of Howard's Mineola Hotel, circa 1920. Dunn Museum M-86.1.345

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.

Photo of the Mineola from Chicago Tribune article, May 6, 2022.

Update: As of May 2022, the Jakstas property was under contract for purchase by developers. The historic Mineola Hotel will be razed and a new boutique hotel complex built "with aesthetic features from the original hotel" incorporated into the new building. Source: "Fox Lake Hopes to Bring Hotel to Mineola Lakefront Site" by Greg Harutunian, Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2022. 

- Diana Dretske ddretske@lcfpd.org 

Memorial Day

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. (Dunn Museum 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." (Frank Peats Collection, Dunn Museum 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." (Dunn Museum 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 flagpole at Fort Sheridan, May 27, 1974." 

(Dunn Museum92.24.1785)