Monthly Archives: July 2025

Pillsbury, 1940: 100 steps between wheat & flour (illustration)

Posted on July 29, 2025 by editor

The Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Springfield plant with, among other things, this advertisement in the Feb. 29, 1940, edition of the Illinois State Register. As this entry is written in summer 2025, the plant, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Illustrations, Industry | Leave a comment

‘Bee-Keeping for Women’ (1909) by Louisa C. Kennedy

Posted on July 20, 2025 by editor

John A. (1808-92) and Elizabeth Kennedy (1812-92) moved with their six children from Pennsylvania in 1860 and took up farming in the Curran area. For some period of time, possibly beginning as soon as the Kennedys arrived in Sangamon County, … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Business, Early residents, Farming, Women | Leave a comment

Peter Vredenburgh Lumber Co. & its Alabama company town

Posted on July 16, 2025 by editor

The Vredenburgh family operated lumber businesses in Springfield for 145 years. One of the main reasons for the Vredenburghs’ success, though overlooked in Springfield, was the logging empire the Vredenburghs built in the forests of southern Alabama. That venture even … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Early residents, Industry, Mills, Prominent figures | 3 Comments

Rev. Billious Pond and the Farmington abolitionists

Posted on July 5, 2025 by editor

The Rev. Billious Pond (1781-1874) was the spiritual leader of a band of abolitionists who traveled from Vermont to western Sangamon County in 1833. Local historian Richard Hart compiled their history in his pamphlet Lincoln’s Springfield: the Underground Railroad, published … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Churches, Communities, Prominent figures | Leave a comment