Category Archives: Business

Widow’s letter, 1841

Posted on February 2, 2019 by editor

Letters recently acquired by the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library show how one Springfield widow struggled to make a living in the 1840s. The story of Dorothea Grant also illustrates how some employers treated their African-American servants at the … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Business, Early residents, Women | Leave a comment

The Sazarac

Posted on January 4, 2019 by editor

The Sazarac, a bar, restaurant and center for political intrigue, was a fixture in the 200 block of South Sixth Street in Springfield for more than a century. The Sazarac was on the west side of Sixth Street for most … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants | 3 Comments

Temperance movement, 1874

Posted on December 28, 2018 by editor

Springfield’s women’s temperance movement lost much of its momentum in 1874, after a (male) Methodist minister went out of his way to blame the local liquor trade on immigrant Germans and Irish. Doubly unfortunate for the crusading women, Rev. William … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Churches, Crime and vice, Ethnic groups, Hotels & taverns, Women | Leave a comment

Slovenians in Sangamon County

Posted on December 17, 2018 by editor

In 1909, Slovenian immigrants Josef Grobelnik and Bartol Ramschak operated a popular tavern on South 15th Street. At the time, southeast Springfield was filled with young Eastern European families—most of them new arrivals to the U.S. While Grobelnik and Ramschak … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Churches, Crime and vice, Ethnic groups, Hotels & taverns, Social life | 4 Comments

H.B. Hill insurance scandal & suicide, 1934

Posted on November 5, 2018 by editor

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 →

Posted in Business, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Hotel Abraham Lincoln opens (1925)

Posted on October 29, 2018 by editor

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 →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Business, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Social life | 2 Comments

Sangamo/Schlumberger Watthour Meter Serial Log

Posted on September 3, 2018 by editor

Hat tip: The following information, designed to help people determine the manufacturing dates of their Sangamo Electric watthour meters, was provided by SangamonLink reader David Dahle. Our thanks to him. Sangamo/Schlumberger watthour meter serial log Year                      Serial Numbers      … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Resources, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Fashions in men’s hats, 1904 (John Lutz store)

Posted on August 27, 2018 by editor

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 | Leave a comment

Cotton fields of Sangamon County

Posted on June 27, 2018 by editor

Sangamon County was “as good a cotton country as Georgia,” one early resident told John Carroll Power for Power’s 1876 History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. That changed, however, after the winter of the Deep Snow in … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Business, Early residents | 4 Comments

A.C. Littlejohn fraud and suicide

Posted on June 13, 2018 by editor

Angus Littlejohn, once a pillar of Springfield’s business community, spent three years in the 1930s trying to recoup his reputation and keep himself out of prison. He failed. On the morning of July 2, 1938, five minutes before he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Prominent figures | Leave a comment