Category Archives: Prominent figures

Illinois Watch Co.

Posted on April 15, 2013 by editor

For a half-century, Springfield’s Illinois Watch Company was a nationally respected maker of timepieces. At its peak, between 1900 and 1928, Illinois Watch employed 1,300 workers, turned out 800 watches a day and was one of Sangamon County’s largest employers. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Prominent figures | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Dr. Gershom Jayne (1828 pioneers)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by editor

Dr. Gershom Jayne (1791-1867), born in New York, moved to Sangamon County in 1819 and practiced medicine in the area for 47 years. When he arrived, he was the only physician that far north in Illinois. He was remembered in … Continue reading →

Posted in Early residents, Prominent figures | Tagged | Leave a comment

Portuguese immigrants

Posted on April 14, 2013 by editor

Note: This entry has been updated and expanded. Religious differences on the  island of Madeira were the unlikely backdrop for an equally unlikely influx of immigrants — people of Portuguese descent — to Sangamon County in 1850. Members of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Early residents, Portuguese, Prominent figures | Tagged | 44 Comments

Jameson Jenkins

Posted on April 13, 2013 by editor

(Alternative spellings: Jamieson Jenkins, Jimison Jarkins) Jameson Jenkins (1810?-1873) was an African American drayman – a carter or teamster – in Springfield from the late 1840s through the 1860s. He was a neighbor of the Lincoln family and was active … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Early residents, Ethnic groups, Historic Sites, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Martin Van Buren meets Abraham Lincoln

Posted on April 13, 2013 by editor

Former president Martin Van Buren visited Springfield between June 16 and 19, 1842, and while there he visited the home of his first cousin, George Brunk, in Cotton Hill Township near Rochester. The house still stands today. Van Buren, a Democrat … Continue reading →

Posted in Hotels & taverns, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Rochester

Posted on April 12, 2013 by editor

Prior to European settlement, Rochester Township was one of the most heavily wooded sections of Sangamon County, and as a result, became one of the earliest areas to be settled. The first permanent European resident was probably James McCoy, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Communities, Early residents, Historic Sites, Prominent figures | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sherman

Posted on April 12, 2013 by editor

James Sayles built a home on the current site of Sherman in 1819. However, the village wasn’t platted until 1858, after construction of the Springfield-to-Bloomington section of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and it wasn’t incorporated as a village until … Continue reading →

Posted in Communities, Early residents, Historic Sites, Prominent figures | Tagged | Leave a comment

Eva Carroll Monroe

Posted on April 11, 2013 by editor

Eva Carroll Monroe was the founder and director of the Lincoln Colored Home, 427 S. 12th St., from 1904 until it closed in 1932. See Lincoln Colored Home.  

Posted in African Americans, Buildings, Historic Sites, Prominent figures | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lincoln Colored Home

Posted on April 11, 2013 by editor

Eva Carroll Monroe (1868-1950) created and operated the Lincoln Colored Home, the first orphanage for African-American children in Sangamon County, from 1904 until 1933. As of early 2019, the building, though empty and boarded up, still stood at 427 S. … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Buildings, Children, Historic Sites, Prominent figures, Social services, Women | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Vachel Lindsay

Posted on April 10, 2013 by editor

Hear Vachel Lindsay declaim A Dirge for a Righteous Kitten, 1931 (Pennsound) Sangamon County has produced its share of poets, but taken together they do not rival Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) for celebrity, achievement, and tragedy. The novelist Mark Harris summarized … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Prominent figures, Springfield | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment