Category Archives: Prominent figures

Dennis Williams, crayon artist

Posted on June 24, 2021 by editor

  This entry, originally written in 2013, was greatly expanded and corrected in 2021, thanks to the research of Mary Frances of Springfield. See “Contributor” note at end. Updates:  See photo caption below, and also see SangamonLink’s entry New Dennis … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts and letters, Business, Prominent figures | 2 Comments

Savillah Hinrichsen, librarian and suffragist

Posted on June 12, 2021 by editor

When William “Buck” Hinrichsen took office as Illinois secretary of state in 1893, he appointed his sister, Savillah Hinrichsen, as assistant state librarian. The term “assistant,” however, was misleading – the secretary of state is also titularly the state librarian, … Continue reading →

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

S.A. Barker Co.

Posted on June 5, 2021 by editor

Samuel A. Barker began his apparel career as a “bundle boy,” gathering discarded garments from shop floors for sorting and cleaning. He ended it as the owner of S.A. Barker Co., one of Springfield’s best-known women’s clothing stores. Barker (1885-1968) … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Department stores, Prominent figures | 4 Comments

Leroy Key, Andersonville hero

Posted on May 25, 2021 by editor

Leroy Key made his mark in history as a prisoner of war. Key died in Springfield in 1880, possibly because of aftereffects of the time he spent in the horrific Confederate prisoner-of-war camp at Andersonville, Ga., during the Civil War. … Continue reading →

Posted in Military, Prominent figures | 4 Comments

Bradfordton

Posted on May 6, 2021 by editor

Bradfordton owes its existence to a short-lived railroad and its name to a veteran of the War of 1812. Never an incorporated community, Bradfordton – on Illinois 97 (Jefferson Street extended) west of Springfield – originally was known as “Bradfordton … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Communities, Early residents, Fires, Prominent figures, Transportation | Leave a comment

Southwest Airport

Posted on May 2, 2021 by editor

Craig Isbell, who once told Charles Lindbergh he’d never make it across the Atlantic, helped bring Springfield into the age of air. Isbell and a partner, Gelder Lockwood, founded the Springfield Aviation Co., which operated Southwest Airport, on Chatham Road … Continue reading →

Posted in Air travel, Airport, Business, Prominent figures, Transportation | 6 Comments

Klever’s Model controversy (‘the hog case’)

Posted on April 25, 2021 by editor

The world of Poland China swine revolved around Williamsville in the 1890s, thanks to stockman George G. Council and his prize boar, Klever’s Model. When Council (1864-1944) put Klever’s Model up for sale in 1897, a syndicate made up of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Animals, Farming, Prominent figures | 3 Comments

Harry Lane, ‘boss gambler’

Posted on April 20, 2021 by editor

Chester M. “Harry” Lane was Springfield’s gambling kingpin at the turn of the 20th century, apparently with the connivance of police, city officials, and the courts. He stepped down in the mid-1900s, after a fatal shooting, the election of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Business, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Journalism, Law enforcement, Media, Politics, Prominent figures | 1 Comment

St. Nicholas Hotel early days

Posted on April 17, 2021 by editor

J. Emil Smith, editor, publisher and columnist for the Illinois State Journal, wrote the following memory of the early St. Nicholas Hotel on Nov. 28, 1943, a few days before the McCreery family relinquished ownership. The McCreerys had operated the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Historic Sites, Hotels & taverns, National Register, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The Lochridge brothers, Pawnee merchants

Posted on April 14, 2021 by editor

The Lochridge brothers began as farmers, but became grocers, businessmen, investors and, for a time, bankers. In the process, they helped build the town of Pawnee. The first Lochridges, Revolutionary War veteran Capt. John Lochridge (1761-1851) and his son William … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Communities, Early residents, Prominent figures, Railroads | 1 Comment