Search entries
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Lizzie on Park Sherman Company
- The Tree-Sitting Fad of 1930 on Tree-sitting fad, 1930
- editor on Aetna Foundry and Machine Shops
- William McCombs on Aetna Foundry and Machine Shops
- Patti Wauters on Franciscan Life Center (Franciscan motherhouse)
Archives
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
Categories
- Abolitionism
- African Americans
- Agriculture
- Air travel
- Airport
- Amusements
- Animals
- Architecture
- Arts and letters
- Auto dealers
- Breweries
- Buildings
- Business
- Celebrations
- Children
- Churches
- Coal mines and mining
- Communications
- Communities
- Crime and vice
- Department stores
- Depression
- Disasters
- Early residents
- Education
- Ethnic groups
- Family life
- Farming
- Fever River
- Fires
- First Citizens
- Germans
- Higher education
- Historic Sites
- Histories
- Hotels & taverns
- Illinois capital
- Illustrations
- Industry
- Irish
- Italians
- John T. Stuart
- Journalism
- Labor unions
- Law enforcement
- Lincoln Home
- Lincoln Tomb
- Lincoln, Abraham
- Lindsay, Vachel
- Lithuanians
- Local government
- Maps
- Markers
- Media
- Medicine
- Military
- Mills
- Museums
- National Register
- Native Americans
- Parks
- Photos and photosets
- Politics
- Prehistory
- Presidential candidates
- Presidents
- Prominent figures
- Public health
- Race riot of 1908
- Railroads
- Resources
- Restaurants
- Sangamon County
- Sangamon River
- Schools and school districts
- Science
- Slovenians
- Social life
- Social services
- Soil
- Spectacles
- Sports and recreation
- Springfield
- Springfield Survey
- State government
- Transportation
- Uncategorized
- Weather
- Women
Blogroll
Category Archives: Prominent figures
Ruth Ellis, lesbian activist
Ruth Ellis was an openly lesbian woman at a time when that was almost unheard of, the first 40 years of her life in her hometown of Springfield and for 60 more years in Detroit. She became celebrated in 1999, … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Ethnic groups, Prominent figures, Women
Leave a comment
Charles Wood/Carlo Modini, operatic tenor
A torrential rainstorm beat down on Springfield the evening of Sept. 16, 1886. But the weather didn’t stop local opera aficionados from packing the Chatterton Opera House at Sixth and Jefferson streets to hear tenor virtuoso Carlo Modini. “Nearly every … Continue reading
Dr. Sheppard A. Ware, physician
Dr. Sheppard Anderson Ware (1872-1948) was a physician in Springfield for 40 years. He was also was a member of the Sangamon County Medical Society and additionally worked for the Illinois State Department of Health. Born in Brownsville, Tenn., Ware … Continue reading
First woman dentist
Jennie F. Spurrier (1847-1912) was a dentist in Springfield beginning in 1877, making her the city’s first woman dentist and one of the earliest female dentists in the U.S. From what we know of her, she also seems to have … Continue reading
Posted in Medicine, Prominent figures, Women
Leave a comment
Bee hunting, 1820s
Some of the earliest residents of Sangamon County were drawn here by people’s sweet tooth. Robert Pulliam, generally considered the first person of European descent to move permanently to the county, first visited the Sangamo County in search of maple … Continue reading
Posted in Early residents, Prominent figures
1 Comment
Catharine Frazee Lindsay, community visionary
Catharine Frazee Lindsay is remembered mainly as the mother of Springfield’s famous poet, Vachel Lindsay. But many of her son’s ideals and, perhaps, some of his literary talent were inherited from his indefatigable mother. Despite a variety of personal trials, … Continue reading
Joseph Dickson, mountain man
In his 20s, Joseph Harrison Dickson (1775-1844) was one of the first “mountain men” whose fur-hunting journeys led the way for exploration of the American West. He met Daniel Boone, introduced John Colter (first European to explore the Yellowstone National … Continue reading
Posted in Churches, Early residents, Prominent figures
Leave a comment
The Cottage Garden
Springfield banker Nicholas Ridgely (1800-88) turned his love of plants and gardens into a business in 1849 when he started the Cottage Garden and Nursery in the area roughly bounded by 13th, 15th, Washington and Reynolds streets. Ridgely, who owned … Continue reading
Doc Helm, photographer
Eddie Winfred “Doc” Helm, whose striking photographs documented African-American life in Springfield for 50 years, started his career as the man responsible for raising and lowering the flag over the Illinois Statehouse. Helm (1911-94), who grew up in Mount Vernon, … Continue reading
‘Humane officer’ report, April 1904
Charles Stone (1847?-1911) was appointed Springfield’s first humane officer in November 1903. The position was part of the Springfield Police Department, and the humane officer had all the powers of any other police officer, but with the special duty of … Continue reading