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Blogroll
Category Archives: Prominent figures
The Elks Club Group (1952)
Adlai Stevenson II’s 1952 presidential campaign attracted the most talented, eloquent political team ever assembled in Springfield (well, except for Abraham Lincoln working by himself). Stevenson’s team of speechwriters and idea men (there apparently were no women) was known as … Continue reading
Daniel Pope Cook (Congressman, land owner)
The young lawyer for whom Cook County was named was a landowner in early Springfield and the man who prodded the Illinois territorial legislature to apply for statehood. Daniel Pope Cook was born in Kentucky in 1794 and moved to … Continue reading
Posted in Prominent figures, Springfield, State government
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H.B. Hill insurance scandal & suicide, 1934
With the insurance company he founded linked to Chicago crooks and his own job gone, Springfield financier H.B. Hill tried make his suicide look like a gangland murder. Hill shot himself in the head sometime on the afternoon of Dec. … Continue reading
Hotel Abraham Lincoln opens (1925)
The Hotel Abraham Lincoln opened in 1925 with 300 rooms, a five-piece house band, its own radio station, and lavish décor. And, it turned out, with lousy timing. “The Abe,” which was on the southwest corner of Fifth Street and … Continue reading
Labor Day, 1918
Springfield union members made plans for a giant parade on Labor Day 1918, one designed to highlight labor’s support for U.S. soldiers fighting in World War I as well as for the union movement. But it was rained out. The … Continue reading
Fashions in men’s hats, 1904 (John Lutz store)
Hats were a high-fashion item for men in 1904, and John Lutz, one of downtown’s longest-lasting hatters and haberdashers, offered a lot of choices. When he died, Lutz (1856-1921) had sold men’s clothing from the same address, 204 S. Sixth … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Illustrations, Prominent figures, Social life
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Maj. George W. Ford (Camp Butler superintendent)
Maj. George W. Ford was a rarity – an African-American who held a supervisory position in early 20th-century Sangamon County. Ford (1847-1939) also was an outspoken opponent of the Ku Klux Klan and racism, a friend of both W.E.B. DuBois … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Military, Prominent figures
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The Lincoln Home after the Lincolns (1861-1953)
For nearly a century after Abraham and Mary Lincoln left it, other people lived in and managed their former home at Eighth and Jackson streets. Among the eclectic group were a railroad executive, a couple of politicians, a physician, an … Continue reading
First African-American juror in Sangamon County
The first black person to serve on a jury in Sangamon County may have been Thomas Flynn, a barber, on March 18, 1873. Flynn wasn’t the first African-American called to jury service in the county, but an earlier attempt – … Continue reading
Peter Cartwright, preacher
Peter Cartwright called himself “God’s Plowman,” referring to his 60 years of building Methodist congregations throughout the Midwest. Cartwright (1785-1872) was already a successful preacher in Kentucky (his native state) and western Tennessee when he and his family moved to … Continue reading