C.R. Childs Real Photo Postcards of Lake County

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of National Postcard Week (in the U.S.), I wanted to feature the incredible work of real-photo postcard publisher, the C.R. Childs Company of Chicago (1906 - ca. 1950). 

In this region, one of the best known photographic postcard producers was the C.R. Childs Company. Charles R. Childs (1875 – 1960) was born in Elmwood, Illinois and worked for the Joliet Daily News before moving to Chicago to start his own commercial photography business about 1900.

One of the many stunning postcard views C.R. Childs took in Lake County.
This view is of children in a haystack at Selter's Resort, Antioch.
Photo taken July 20, 1913. LCDM M-86.1.69

By 1906, Childs was specializing in real-photo postcard views of Chicago's neighborhoods and suburbs, including Lake County, Illinois. He was on trend, recognizing the collecting phenomenon of postcards. His postcards were an instant hit with his ability to capture the essence of the subject being photographed. 

The Lake County Discovery Museum has over 600 Childs' postcards and photo proofs of Lake County. The Chain O' Lakes region was a particular favorite of the Childs Company, probably because of the area's natural beauty, but also because it made good business sense to create postcards for the tourist trade.

A "slice of life" moment captured by C.R. Childs: Wisconsin Central Railroad depot,
Antioch, circa 1912. LCDM M-86.1.1

Childs had a knack for capturing a moment in time such as the train arriving in Antioch or a farm thrashing scene in Lake Zurich. He was one of a few postcard photographers to become nationally known.

It is estimated that Childs, along with the photographers he employed, produced 40,000 to 60,000 different photo postcard views of the Midwest.

Another example of Childs' extraordinary eye for beauty:
"Along the Shore at the Toby Inn, Lake Marie, Antioch," circa 1913,
by C.R. Childs. LCDM M-86.1.120 

Today, Childs' postcards are highly collectible, and also give valuable insight to historians who consider his views documentation of life in the early 1900s. 

In addition to the Lake County Discovery Museum, repositories with large C.R. Childs postcard collections include the Chicago History Museum and the Indiana Historical Society. 

Mineola Hotel - Endangered Site Designation

This week, Landmarks Illinois announced that it has placed the Mineola Hotel of Fox Lake on its annual 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list. 

Mineola Hotel, 91 Cora Avenue, Fox Lake
Photo by Ed Gerns provided by Landmarks Illinois

“This dramatically-sited building is intimately tied to the history of the Chain O’ Lakes region,” said Bonnie McDonald, President of Landmarks Illinois. “We hope that someone will come forward and bring it back to its former glory so that it may contribute to economic development efforts in Fox Lake.”

Making it onto the 10 Most Endangered Places list is quite the coup in the long struggle to get the Mineola, built in 1884, restored and protected. Though this does not guarantee its preservation, having the recognition and backing of Landmarks Illinois greatly increases the odds.

Since the inception of Landmarks Illinois’ Ten Most list in 1995, more than a third of the listed properties have been saved, less than a quarter have been demolished, and the rest are in varying stages between being continually threatened and rehabilitation. 

For more on the history of the Mineola, check out my previous post. 

The Landmarks Illinois website has more details on the history of the preservation efforts to save the Mineola, and information on who to contact to get involved. 

Congratulations to the hardworking, enthusiastic folks of Save the Mineola! 

Joseph T. Bowen Country Club, Waukegan

One of Chicago's great civic leaders, Louise DeKoven Bowen (1859-1953), left the legacy of Bowen Park in Waukegan.

Louise DeKoven Bowen (1859 - 1953). Online source. 

Bowen's career as a social reformer began in 1893 when Jane Addams asked her to join the Hull House Woman's Club. The two women shared many values, including women’s suffrage and children's health. Bowen became one of Addams’ key benefactors.

The 19th century saw a myriad of social reform movements, including those centered on temperance, and the needs of poor working families. Among these Progressive movements was Hull House, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gages Starr on Chicago’s near west side.

Hull House became a center of social reform and cultural activity for immigrant women and children. Hull House also led the way for the first juvenile court in the United States, woman's suffrage, national child labor laws, and workers' compensation.

By 1896, Louise DeKoven Bowen had become a trustee and the treasurer for Hull House. In 1911, when her husband Joseph T. Bowen died, she volunteered to endow a park in his memory to expand Hull Houses's reach. Louise purchased 72-acres north of Waukegan for $29,000.

Louise DeKoven Bowen with "campers" at the Bowen Country Club.
Photo courtesy of the Waukegan Park District. 

The Joseph T. Bowen Country Club fulfilled Jane Addams’ longtime dream of giving city children a taste of summer in the country. The summer camp provided a country setting where disadvantaged mothers and children from the Taylor and Halstead area of Chicago could come.

Every two weeks during the summer “campers” arrived at the Bowen Country Club. There, they were given relief from noise, pollution, and fear of the city streets, and taught to respect each other and the environment.

One camp counselor recalled that “in a setting of great beauty, people of many races, religions and ethnic backgrounds lived, worked, played, ate, sang and danced together in an atmosphere of harmony and joy.”

Celebrating the Fourth of July at the Bowen Country Club, circa 1920.
Collections of the University of Illinois at Chicago

Over 40,000 women and children benefited from summer stays at the Bowen Country Club, which operated from 1912 to 1962.

After Jane Addams died in 1935, Louise DeKoven Bowen became president of the Hull House Association. Bowen continued her work for women's suffrage until her death at the age of 94.

In 1963, the Waukegan Park District purchased the Bowen Country Club, and in 1978 the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bowen Park's beautiful country setting also includes the Jack Benny Center of the Arts and the Waukegan History Museum.

King Peter II Returns to Yugoslavia

King Peter II of Yugoslavia. 

The remains of the only king to be buried in the United States were repatriated from Libertyville to Serbia this January. Peter II Karadordevic (1923 – 1970) was the third and last King of Yugoslavia.

In 1934, at 11-years old, Crown Prince Peter succeeded the Yugoslav throne on the assassination of his father, King Alexander. His father had been ruler of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1921 to 1929 when he became the first king of a united Yugoslavia.

Because of his youth, Peter II's great uncle, Prince Paul became Prince Regent. A schism formed when Prince Paul supported the fascist dictators of Europe while King Peter opposed them. King Peter supported a British backed coup d’etat in March 1941, which deposed Prince Paul.

The young king’s strong opposition to Nazi Germany, led to the Germans attacking Yugoslavia for three days and nights in Operation Punishment. Following the Axis invasion, the 17-year old Peter II and  members of the government fled the country. Peter II had to decide to join the anti-monarchist and revolutionary leader Josip Broz Tito against the Nazis, or maintain his government in exile. He chose the latter.

General Montgomery, Peter II, and Sir Winston Churchill in 1941.
 

Peter II settled in England in June 1941, where he joined other governments in exile from Nazi-occupied Europe. He completed his education at Cambridge University and joined the Royal Air Force, and was recognized by the government-in-exile as the Commander-in-Chief of Yugoslav forces.

The wedding of King Peter II of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece in London, England  on March 20, 1944.  On far left is King George VI of England. 

On April 8, 1941 President Roosevelt sent a message to Peter II: 

The people of the United States have been profoundly shocked by the unprovoked and ruthless aggression upon the people of Yugoslavia. The Government and people of the United States are witnessing with admiration the courageous self-defense of the Yugoslav people, which constitutes one more shining example of their traditional bravery.

As I have assured Your Majesty's Government, the United States will speedily furnish all material assistance possible in accordance with its existing statutes.

I send Your Majesty my most earnest hopes for a successful resistance to this criminal assault upon the independence and integrity of your country.

In 1945, the provisional government of Yugoslavia was led by Tito, and included representatives from the royalist government-in-exile. A post-war election was held to determine whether the country would continue as a monarchy or become a republic. In November 1945, Tito's pro-republican People's Front, led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, won the elections by a landslide, the monarchists having boycotted the vote.

Tito was confirmed as the Prime Minister, and on November 29, 1945, Peter II was formally deposed.

King Peter II refused to abdicate, and went into exile in Britain and the United States. In 1948, he arrived in Chicago, and stayed at the Drake Hotel. While in the Chicago area, he visited the monastery of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville.

For the most part, Peter II lived in California, but in 1959, he visited Waukegan, where he was greeted by the mayor and treated to a dinner of Lake Michigan trout, sturgeon and smoked chubs, which he called "most exquisite." 

Well-known fisherman and Mathon's restaurant owner, Mathon Kryitsis met Peter II in 1959.
The restaurant was located near the shore of Lake Michigan on E. Clayton.
Postcard  circa 1945 (Dunn Museum 92.27.305)

He also met Mathon Kyritsis, a well-known fisherman and restauranteur who for many years forecast the weather by gauging the depth at which perch were caught. 

In 1970, Peter II died at age 47 in Denver, Colorado, after a long struggle with chronic liver disease and an unsuccessful liver transplant.

The funeral of King Peter II of Yugoslavia on November 14, 1970
at St. Sava's Serbian Orthodox Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois.
News-Sun Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum. 

It was the monarch’s wish to be buried at St. Sava’s Serbian Orthodox Monastery Church in Libertyville, in order to be close to the thousands of Serbians living in the Chicago area. King Peter II's funeral in Libertyville drew more than 10,000 people.

In 1976, the king’s son came from Yugoslavia to visit the gravesite at St. Sava’s under police guard. In 2007, Crown Prince Alexander, declared his intent to rebury his father in Serbia.

January 22, 2013, ceremony in Royal Chapel dedicated to
St. Andrew the First Called (patron saint of the Serbian Royal family),
after the remains of Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, were flown back to Belgrade.
The coffin is draped with the national flag. Photo Royalty Magazine Volume 22 No. 11

In January 2013, the long anticipated repatriation took place with a private ceremony at St. Sava in Libertyville. On January 22nd, the return of Peter II to his homeland marked another step in the country's reconciliation with its royal past. (above) 

A State Funeral will take place for HM Peter II, his wife HM Queen Alexandra, and his mother HM Queen Maria on May 26 at St. George's Church Oplenac, in the city of Topola, where the Royal Family Mausoleum is located. 

- D. Dretske, Curator

Sources: 
Royalty Magazine, Volume 22 No. 11, www.royalty-magazine.com
"Waukegan Has Ex-King Peter as Its Guest," Chicago Tribune, February 28, 1959. 
"The Sad Life of Peter II, and the Curious Disinterring of the King of Yugoslavia from Libertyville," Chicago Magazine, January 2013. 
News-Sun Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum, Libertyville, IL. 
Reference Files, Bess Bower Dunn Museum. 

Beatrice Pearce, M.D.

Beatrice Pearce (1866 - 1948) was one of the first women doctors in Lake County, and one of the first doctors in the frontier town of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Beatrice Pearce, circa 1899. Dunn Museum, 92.24.294.

In 1847, Beatrice's father, Dr. William S. Pearce, immigrated from England. He settled in Chicago and opened a drug store on N. Clark Street. He married Mary Grace Copp in 1853. 

By 1855, Dr. Pearce moved to Waukegan, "Because the ground [in Chicago] was swampy." He re-established his drug store at Genesee and Washington Streets.

The first Pearce house (above) was located at 509 Julian Street, Waukegan.
Dunn Museum 94.14.30.2
It is believed that William S. Pearce had this house built, circa 1855.
Beatrice was born here in January 1866.
In 1881, her father purchased the former Dr. Kellogg house
at 320 Julian Street, where the Pearce's lived until 1922. 

After graduating from Waukegan High School, Beatrice attended the Woman's Hospital Medical College in Chicago from 1883 to 1887. Since her father and brother were doctors, it is likely that Beatrice had a good deal of support as she pursued a medical career. Typically, women faced discrimination and other barriers to becoming a doctor. By the end of the 19th century, about 5% (over 7,000) of all doctors in the United States were women. 

After graduating with her medical degree, Beatrice set up her own practice, specializing in diseases of women and children. Her practice was located above the Pearce Drug Store on Genesee Street. She lived with her parents on Julian Street. The Pearce Drug Store was founded by her father in 1855, and later operated by her brother, Dr. William W. Pearce.

Pearce family listings in Waukegan city directory for 1897-1898.
Beatrice is shown as a physician and her father W.S. as retired. 

In addition to her medical practice, Beatrice was a suffragette. In March 1897, she attended a Woman Suffrage convention in Waukegan, but the event had low participation due to a blizzard. Still, the women organized a local suffrage association, consisting of 30 members, and Beatrice became its treasurer. 

In 1908, Beatrice met Dr. George E. Dickinson, while attending a medical convention in Chicago. They married later that year. Dickinson (1870 - 1956) had immigrated from England and was practicing medicine in Ketchikan, Alaska. He took his new bride to Ketchikan where they practiced together for nearly 40 years.

Postcard of Ketchikan, Alaska, 1918. Curt Teich Co. postcard A74192. 

When Beatrice arrived in Ketchikan, she found a frontier town with a population of approximately 1,600. It was pioneer country compared to the bustle of Waukegan with a population of 16,000, in addition to the nearby metropolis of Chicago. Ketchikan got its start in 1883 with the establishment of salmon fishing and canning, and later mining and timber companies. Today, it's known as the Salmon Capital of the World, and salmon and tourism are the foundation of the local economy.

Beatrice and George had no children. They devoted their lives to the well-being of the residents of Ketchikan.

Beatrice passed away March 16, 1948 and is buried in Bayview Cemetery, Ketchikan. Memorial services were held in Waukegan on April 1, 1948, and conducted in the Masonic temple by the Waukegan chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, to which Beatrice had belonged since 1892.

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources: 
Lake County History Archives/Lake County Discovery Museum. 
Curt Teich Postcard Archives/Lake County Discovery Museum.

"Woman Suffrage Work at Waukegan," Chicago Tribune March 24, 1897.

Waukegan City Directory 1897-98, Vol. II, Whitney Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois. 

"Dr. B.P. Dickinson Memorial Rites Will Be Conducted April 1," Chicago Tribune March 25, 1948.

"Dr. Dickinson Dies in Alaska," Waukegan News-Sun, 1948.
"Waukegan: A History" by Ed Link, Waukegan Historical Society, 2009. 
Mommd.com - MomMD is a leading online magazine, community and association for women in medicine. 

Census records

Family records on Ancestry.com 

Dr. James Brister, Zion, Illinois

Dr. James Brister, D.D.S. (1858 - 1916) was the first African American dentist in Lake County. Dr. Brister arrived in Zion, Illinois about 1903.

James Brister, 1903. Collections of University of Pennsylvania Archives and Record Center. 

Brister was born in Philadelphia to Dr. Joseph Brister, D.D.S. and Olivia Parker Brister. He entered the University of Pennsylvania's dental school in 1879, receiving his diploma in 1881. He was the first African American to earn a degree from Penn. From 1880 until shortly after 1890, James practiced dentistry with his father.

By 1893, James Brister moved to Chicago and opened a dental office on Dearborn Street. In 1897, he married Anna Murrell. Brister's dental office was located on State Street from 1898 to 1901, and then on Michigan Avenue from 1902 to 1903.

While in Chicago, Brister came into contact with John Alexander Dowie's Zion Movement. Chicago's large population, and Dowie's Tabernacle location across the street from the main gate of the World's Columbian Exposition were significant in attracting new members to his church, including Brister.

Official portrait of John Alexander Dowie taken in 1903. Dunn Museum. 

Born in Scotland and raised in Australia, John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907) was a charismatic preacher and faith healer who established the Christian Catholic Church.

Dowie came to Illinois in 1893 to preach his message of “clean and faithful living” outside the entrance to the Columbian Exposition. By 1899, his followers numbered in the tens of thousands, and had donated enough money for Dowie to consider establishing a socialist utopia. Ultimately, Dowie purchased 6,000 acres of farmland in Benton Township, Lake County for his "City of God," which became Zion, a theocracy under his control.

Dowie was a controversial figure and his leadership was criticized for anti-democratic tendencies, but he was ahead of his time when it came to social issues. He believed in an eight-hour work day at a time when 12 to 14-hour days were common, and allowed women to vote in local elections. He also believed in diversity and strongly enforced a policy against racism, making his church and Zion attractive to African American families.

About 1903, James Brister moved his family to Zion, Illinois as part of Dowie's Christian Catholic Church. By 1905, 200 of Zion’s 10,000 residents were of African American, South African or Caribbean heritage. Possibly the most influential of these African American citizens was the town’s dentist, Dr. Brister.

Brister’s dental practice was in the “Temple Cottage” on Sheridan Road. His family lived on Ezekiel Avenue and later Enoch Street.

Photo showing James Brister - 2nd row left - as a member of the first city council of Zion, 1903. 

Collections of University of Pennsylvania Archives and Record Center.

In Zion, to become a leader in the church or hold public office Dowie had to personally choose you. Dowie selected Brister to be a deacon of the church, and his wife, Anna, a deaconess. Brister was also selected to be a member of the first Zion City Council in 1903. 

Dr. Brister, "The only TRUE ZION dentist." The Zion Herald, April 8, 1908 p2.

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org 

Susie Smith's Civil War Romance

During the Civil War, Susannah Smith (1839 - 1914) of Millburn wrote letters to her brother, George, who was with the 96th Illinois Regiment. One of George's comrades, Richard Thain, was rightfully envious of the long letters and asked George for permission to correspond with his sister.

Susannah "Susie" D. Smith, circa 1865. Minto Family Private Collection. 

In Richard's first letter to Susie, dated July 9, 1864, he wrote:

"Respected Friend,

I suppose you will think me rather bold in addressing you in this manner but I hope you will not be offended. My object in corresponding with you is to have something to occupy my time and to relieve the monotony of camp life. ... I hope you will do me the favor to answer this poorly written letter and if you wish to keep a correspondence I will be very happy to answer your letters. Believe me, Your Sincere Friend." (Dunn Museum 93.45.433)

Richard S. Thain, circa 1885 from the History of the 96th Illinois Regiment. 

Thain was the Second Brigade's postmaster and was nearly killed by a Confederate scout.

It's difficult to see a romance blossoming in Richard's matter-of-fact letters, but in Susie's diaries there is plenty of evidence of her affection for him and the attentions he gave her following the war. (Susie's letters to Richard had been saved by the family, but unfortunately were destroyed in a fire at a family member's cabin in California in 1992).

The "soldier boys" were discharged and sent home in June 1865. On June 15, while taking a break from teaching at the Grubb School near Millburn, Susie wrote of her anticipation in her diary:

"Heard Richard was in... how I do wish that I could see him. I stand at the window a moment and then take a turn in the yard hardly knowing what to do... I can write no more for the girls are crowning me with oak leaves and roses, so, as they say, that their teacher may look pretty, if she should have company this afternoon." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

She did have company that afternoon, and recounted the moment in her diary: "I have seen Richard, he came up to the schoolhouse... I thought that he was very kind to do so, but I could hardly speak to him, I was in such a tremble of excitement." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

The old Grubb School where Susie Smith taught and Richard Thain visited her on his first day back from the war. Photographed in 1966. Image courtesy of Historic Millburn Community Association.

This was probably not Richard and Susie's first meeting. They had both grown up in and around the small community of Millburn. However, their correspondence most certainly changed the dynamic of that relationship. Several days later, Susie wrote that she had spent "the happiest day of my life" in Richard's company, singing and talking.

Despite their age difference, Susie was Thain's senior by six years, they spent the next year and a half together. Richard was often in Susie's company at church meetings, and spent evenings at the Smith family home.

Smith family home, north of Millburn on Miller Road. Photo circa 1890. (Dunn Museum 93.45.79).

In early fall 1865, Richard moved to Chicago to start in business, but continued to make frequent visits to Millburn. On April 13, 1866, Susie wrote: "After tea, looked out and saw Richard coming up the path, quite a joyful surprise. R staid at our house all night."

Their relationship continued until December 1866, when things noticeably changed. Susie received fewer letters and still fewer visits from Richard. On Christmas Day, she wrote:

"Christmas... Had a good time and yet there is such a blank when R is gone that I cannot enjoy my self as well. How strange it seems that one person can add so much to anothers happiness and become as it were a part of anothers existence. It seems as though the greatest happiness I have next to the knowledge of the love of God is the thought of the love of my Richard thoughts of him are ever in my mind."

And then Susie's heartbreaking entry for January 1, 1867: "Happy New Year was exchanged on every side, and we passed a very pleasant day and evening... When we reached home my disappointed heart which I had managed to keep down all day gave way and I had a hard cry. I did hope to see Richard to day and I know he would have come if it had been possible but I was so grieved over it seemed impossible to keep from crying. And so I did cry. May God forgive me for being so weak. When will I ever learn to control myself. Ned dear brother came and put his arms around me and tried to comfort me." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

Susie's diary ends on January 17th, leaving us with many questions, but from her tears we know she was not ready to lose Richard.

There is a happy ending for Susie, but it does not involve Richard Thain. He spent a couple of years traveling cross-country and building his business before settling down with Hannah Abbott in 1869 in Oak Park, Illinois. After Hannah's death, he married Emma Jenness in 1881.

In 1868, one year after the end of her romance with Richard, Susie began co-editing the Millburn Literary Association's publication with her neighbor, David J. Minto. They had been attending the same prayer meetings and evenings of singing at Mr. Hughes's for two years, and were both teachers.

Susie's one surviving letter is to David, dated May 7, 1869 from Chicago. Susie wrote to "Dear Davie" that her friend Mrs. Emerson wanted to "commence" the letter for her, because she knows "how to write love letters."

David J. Minto, circa 1870. (Dunn Museum 93.45.52) David enlisted with the 96th Illinois, and was honorably discharged due to illness in April 1863. On his return to Millburn, he farmed his family's land, and taught in the local schools.

In the same letter, Susie wrote: "Don't you think Davie that the 20th would be a good day for... you know." That "you know" referred to a possible wedding day. Indeed, they were married on that very May 20th by Rev. Thomas Lightbody of the Millburn Congregational Church, and remained married for 44 years.

Photographed in 1898 at the Minto family homestead are Susie and David Minto (seated) with their only surviving children, David Harold and Una (with kittens). (Dunn Museum 93.45.91)

Susie and David's granddaughters, Katherine and Lura, donated the family's letters and diaries to the museum in 1993. The museum's Minto Collection is hosted online by the Illinois Digital Archives.