Monthly Archives: November 2017

First electric lights

Posted on November 25, 2017 by editor

Many Springfieldians got their first exposure to electric lights from two traveling circuses in 1880. Within a year, however, the city’s first power station was powering 10 “very brilliant” lights downtown, and a group of prominent businessmen had created the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Prominent figures, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Roland and Isaac Diller (Old Settlers Society)

Posted on November 19, 2017 by editor

Roland and Isaac Diller, father and son, were friends with Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln family as well as mainstays of the Old Settlers Society of Sangamon County for more than 60 years. See Old Settlers Society of Sangamon County.

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Old Settlers Society of Sangamon County

Posted on November 19, 2017 by editor

Thousands of Sangamon Countians once turned out for the annual reunions of the county’s Old Settlers Society. The events featured games, lavish picnics, speechifying and recognition of some of the county’s earliest residents. The organization began with an appeal in … Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrations, Early residents, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

‘Husband, dear husband’: poem by a legislative wife (pre-1881)

Posted on November 17, 2017 by editor

The nameless, uncredited poem below was printed in the 1881 History of Sangamon County, Illinois, printed by the Interstate Publishing Co. of Chicago. Here is all the History tells us about it: As is well known, the session of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Histories, Illinois capital, State government, Women | 1 Comment

Thomas W.S. Kidd (publisher)

Posted on November 12, 2017 by editor

“Capt.” Thomas S.W. Kidd published the Sangamo Monitor, later renamed the Morning Monitor, from 1873 until 1898. See Sangamo Monitor.

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Morning Monitor

Posted on November 12, 2017 by editor

The Morning Monitor was the name given the former Sangamo Monitor in 1880. The Sangamo Monitor, founded as a weekly newspaper in 1873, became a daily in 1877, leading to the nw name. See Sangamo Monitor.

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Sangamo Monitor

Posted on November 12, 2017 by editor

The Sangamo Monitor, published from 1873 until 1898, for a time sold more copies than either the Illinois State Journal or Illinois State Register. Most of the credit goes to Thomas Winfield Scott Kidd (1828-1904), the Monitor’s popular, freewheeling publisher. … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Media, Prominent figures | 2 Comments

The Harrison Revival, 1886

Posted on November 8, 2017 by editor

Thomas Harrison, “the boy preacher,” was well past boyhood when he arrived in Springfield for a revival series in January 1886. It’s not clear, in fact, that he was ever that boyish in the pulpit – Harrison, born in Boston … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Media, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Calvary Cemetery

Posted on November 4, 2017 by editor

Calvary Cemetery, Springfield’s Catholic cemetery, operated for almost 70 years as almost two cemeteries – one for Germans and the other for everybody else. Calvary was founded in 1857, when two of the city’s earliest local parishes bought 16 acres … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches | 18 Comments