Category Archives: Women

Elizabeth Brown Ide

Posted on August 14, 2014 by editor

Elizabeth Brown Ide (1873-1978), who was born into money and married more, could have been merely a socialite. Instead, she became Springfield’s most prominent children’s advocate during the early 20th century. Ide’s parents were Christopher Brown and Caroline Owsley Brown, … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Medicine, Prominent figures, Public health, Social services, Springfield Survey, Women | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Virginia Eifert

Posted on August 8, 2014 by editor

Virginia Eifert (1911-66) was a self-taught naturalist, artist and newspaper columnist and the founding editor of The Living Museum, published by the Illinois State Museum, which she oversaw from 1939 until her death in 1966. She also was the author … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Prominent figures, Women | Leave a comment

General strike, 1917

Posted on August 7, 2014 by editor

Union members shut down mines, railroads, bakeries, restaurants, laundries and construction sites across Sangamon County in September 1917 following the violent breakup by police and the Illinois state militia of a pro-labor march. The march — for which city officials … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor unions, Law enforcement, Local government, Politics, Prominent figures, Transportation, Women | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Wedding customs before the Civil War

Posted on July 28, 2014 by editor

Pre-Civil War weddings in Sangamon County had their peculiarities, often including macaroon pyramids and very early starting times, as Caroline Owsley Brown remembered in 1914. Here are Brown’s descriptions of some of those weddings. Eliza Barret/P.C. Johnson Miss Eliza Barret’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Early residents, Family life, Histories, Prominent figures, Women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Women’s literary clubs

Posted on July 14, 2014 by editor

The literary club movement began early in the 19th century as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. The first recorded occurrence was a lecture series started in Milbury, Mass., in 1826. By 1834, 3,000 groups had been organized to listen … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Prominent figures, Social services, Springfield Survey, Women | 4 Comments

Lora Hieronymus Robie (educator and book lover)

Posted on July 12, 2014 by editor

Lora Hieronymus Robie, one-half of the couple who had Frank Lloyd Wright design Chicago’s famed Robie House, spent far more time as a Springfield resident than she did in the house named after her and her husband. Lora Robie (1878-1947) … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Business, Education, Prominent figures, Women | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Bettie Stuart Brown

Posted on July 3, 2014 by editor

Elizabeth “Bettie” Stuart Brown (1838-69) was the oldest child of John T. Stuart and Mary Nash Stuart. John Stuart was Lincoln’s first law partner and Mary Lincoln’s first cousin. Bettie was born in July of 1838, nine months after her … Continue reading →

Posted in Early residents, John T. Stuart, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures, Women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Caroline Lamb Black

Posted on July 3, 2014 by editor

Caroline “Lina” Lamb Black (1831-1908) was the third child of James Lamb, a prosperous Springfield merchant and pork packer. She was born in Kaskaskia on Feb. 8, 1831, and moved with her parents to Springfield two years later. Mary Lincoln’s sister … Continue reading →

Posted in Early residents, John T. Stuart, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures, Women | Tagged | Leave a comment

Wheeland Haven, Riverton

Posted on June 25, 2014 by editor

In the early 1900s, in the midst of coal mines and cornfields east of Riverton, was a 17-acre oasis of beauty — Wheeland Haven, the home of Olive Black Wheeland and her husband Cyrus. Cyrus Wheeland was a farmer, grain … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Architecture, Buildings, Historic Sites, National Register, Parks, Prominent figures, Women | 17 Comments

Rayburn memorial, Oak Ridge Cemetery

Posted on April 28, 2014 by editor

One of the most prominent monuments in Oak Ridge Cemetery serves as a reminder of a thoroughly unconventional religious sect that got its start in Williamsville. The monument consists of an eight-foot-tall marble sculpture of a woman atop a 40-foot … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Prominent figures, Women | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments