Full text of "Western Illinois regional studies"

See other formats

Nauvoo / Macomb> ^

^Warsaw ^> ^--^ LewisV

Mt Sterling

Petcrsbi

... 0 .

Vtrgmia

Jacksonville

ttsf

Bowling Grceh

VOLUME lOtp
NUMBER 2

Winchester

Carlinvillj
CarmlitonX:^ -^ALL

^VHardin Jerseyville 1987

/ 1

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Published semiannually by

the University Libraries

and the College of Arts and Sciences

at Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois 61455

BOARD OF EDITORS

JAY R. BALDERSON GORDANA REZAB

DONALD W. GRIFFIN ROBERT P. SUTTON

JOHN E. HALLWAS, Chairman

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

DAVID D. ANDERSON, Michigan State University
MICHAEL BECKES, United States Forest Service
RICHARD W. CROCKETT, Western Illinois University
JAMES E. DAVIS, Illinois College
RODNEY DAVIS, Knox College
ARLIN D. FENTEM, Western Illinois University
MYRON J. FOGDE, Augustana College
FRANK W. GOUDY, Western Illinois University
THOMAS E. HELM, Western Illinois University
ROBERT JOHANNSEN, University of Illinois
FREDERICK G.JONES, Western Illinois University
JERRY KLEIN, "Peoria Journal Star"
CHARLES W. MAYER, Western Illinois University
DENNIS Q. McINERNY, College of St. Thomas
RONALD E. NELSON, District Historian,

Illinois Department of Conservation
RONALD E. NELSON, Western Illinois University
FRED SOADY, Illinois Central College
STUART STRUEVER, Northwestern University
ROALD D. TWEET, Augustana College
WILLIAM L. URBAN, Monmouth College
ELLEN M. WHITNEY, Editor emeritus,

' 'Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society ' '
DOUGLAS WILSON, Knox College

Subscription rates are $4.00 a year for individuals and $6.00 for institutions. Single
issues are $2.00. Articles published in WIRS are listed in the MLA Bibliography,
America: History and Life, and other appropriate bibliographies.

Correspondence about subscriptions, contributions, and books for review should be
sent to the Chairman of the Board of Editors, Western Illinois Regional Studies, Western
Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois 61455. Bibliographic and other information for
the Notes and Documents section should be sent to Professor Gordana Rezab at the
same address.

WESTERN ILLINOIS
REGIONAL STUDIES

VOLUME X FALL 1987 NUMBER 2

CONTENTS

Special Issue: Art and Architecture in Western Illinois
David Raizman, editor

Editor's Introduction 7

The Historic Architecture of Rock Island Arsenal

Titus M. Karlowicz 9

An Early Italianate Mansion in Beardstown

Sarah Jane Sargent 25

The Photography of Belle Johnson from
Monroe City, Missouri
Dean Howd 35

The Contribution of Regional Arts: A Conversation
with George M. Irwin of Quincy

David Raizman 49

Notes and Documents 65

Reviews of Books 67

Ten-year I ndex, 1 978-1 987 73

Contributors 84

REVIEWS OF BOOKS

Faragher, SUGAR CREEK: LIFE
ON THE ILLINOIS PRAIRIE

By Robert P. Sutton 67

Krauser, et al, A HISTORY OF
ST. PAUL CHURCH, 1857-1986

By Rev. Richard E. Trutter, O.P. 68

Lewis, EPISODES OF A FARM BOY

By John E. Hallwas 70

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

The three articles in this issue of Western Illinois Regional Studies are
noteworthy contributions to the study of art and architecture in our region.
Only one of them (devoted to the Rock Island Arsenal) was written by a
professional art historian; the other two were prepared by a university
librarian with some archival background and a high school art teacher and
graduate student who became interested in the architectural heritage of
her hometown of Beardstown, Illinois. The articles are ample testimony to
the quality and vitality of the visual arts in the Western Illinois region
during the nineteenth century and to the dedicated professionals and
amateurs who study it and whose efforts will perhaps encourage others in
similar directions.

At one level, these articles are the written counterpart to those projects
of historic restoration and preservation which take place in many regional
communities. While modern communications and mass culture have
certainly changed and even eroded the patterns of rural and small-town
life, regional historical studies, restoration projects, and even local
festivals and their accompanying crafts help to preserve a link to the past,
when local artistic traditions of many different kinds flourished and were
an integral part of the regional scene. As we reflect on the tremendous
impact and inevitability of these changes, it is reassuring to see both
active as well as scholarly interest in preserving our past through the
study and preservation of monuments. I'd like to think that the articles by
Titus Karlowicz, Dean Howd, and Sarah Jane Sargent might serve as
models for other studies of regional monuments and practicing artists —
studies which combine sound visual analysis, investigation of primary and
secondary source material, a broad understanding of the history of
American art, and a sense of the human context in which the arts function.

In our own time, the arts depend upon sources other than the regional
economy for support. Through a variety of programs and grants, state and
even national agencies like the Illinois Arts Council and the National
Endowment for the Arts provide opportunities for artists and regional
support groups to improve the quality of their arts. An important role is
also played by colleges and universities, whose unique resources make
them cultural centers serving the needs of an entire region as well as a
student population. To cite but one example, the Art Department at
Western Illinois University sponsors a series of exhibitions, workshops,
and related lectures at its Gallery during each academic year. Those
events focus on such diverse subjects as the art of basketry, an exemplary
collection of decorative duck carving, international prints and the works of

8 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

mainstream Modernist sculptor Seymour Lipton. The variety of shows is
meant to embrace rather than exclude the university, town, and regional
communities. Through the other departments in the College of Fine Arts,
the performing arts also contribute substantially to the fabric of regional
life: both concerts and year-round theatre productions may now be heard
in the recently constructed Mainline Theatre, funded jointly by private
bequest and additional state monies. One should also mention in this
context the College of Fine Arts Development Office, whose staff assists
individuals and groups in sponsoring arts-related projects and programs.
Perhaps its most significant contribution in recent years was the creation
of the Two Rivers Arts Council, which serves a fourteen-county region.
TRAC is now virtually self-supporting, and administers a number of
programs including four volumes of oral history (Tales from Two Rivers),
the Shad Hill (Farmington) Arts and Cultural Center, and an "Expansion
Arts Grant" from the Illinois Arts Council.

In the interview included as the final article in this issue, the importance
of regional arts and the challenge of funding them are among the topics
discussed by art collector and advocate George Irwin of Quincy, Illinois,
who has devoted considerable energy over the last fifty years to
developing support for the arts. In the long run, it is the determination of
leaders like Irwin, as well as the talent of regional artists, that makes it
possible for the arts to enrich the culture of western Illinois.

David Raizman

THE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL'

Titus M. Karlowicz

Anyone who finds enjoyment in identifying or puzzling over historic
architectural styles will find an abundance of examples while travelling
about in western Illinois. Smaller towns and rural areas display this wealth
of the past as do the larger cities of Galesburg, Jacksonville, Moline,
Peoria, Rock Island and Quincy. Although demolition, alteration and
"modernization" have diminished the number of individual quality build-
ings and changed the general historic character of some areas, there does
remain a substantial amount of what is called "historic fabric."

A man-made environment which retains its historic character by the
appearance of its buildings and amenities provides a sense of what the
setting may have been like during the time when growth and development
were taking place. Some good examples are found in residential areas of
the cities mentioned already. At Warsaw and Bishop Hill virtually the
entire townscapes retain their historic ambience. Moreover, architecture
In the larger sense, which includes planning in a context of landscape and
urban development, is also evident in the several remaining courthouse
squares and in residential districts of Quincy.

An especially fine and unique example of large scale planning indicative
of sound architectural thinking of the nineteenth century is found at the
Rock Island Arsenal, where an industrial complex and a residential area
form an integrated historic district. At the arsenal the matter of style
narrows considerably since unified stylistic characteristics add to the
distinguishability and unity of each respective area. Happily, it remains in
a rather good state of preservation, so the visitor can readily perceive a
sense of historic time and place.

Habitation or use of this island in the Mississippi River where the river
runs east and west at the Quad Cities of Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline
and Rock Island, antedates the explorations of the French. The story to be
considered here, however, dates back only to about the time of the Civil
War when the construction of an arsenal was begun in 1863 under the
command of Major C. P. Kingsbury. Credit for the concept of the arsenal
complex to be discussed here, however, is generally given to his
successor, General Thomas J. Rodman, who took command in August of
1865. Its development continued after his death in 1871 into the 1890's. His
successors. Captain D. W. Flagler, Colonel J. G. Baylor, and Colonel J. M.
Whittemore, followed the established course of planned development.

10 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

While some of the ancillary buildings were not built, the architectural
progrann can be considered virtually complete.

It was the loss of the armory at Harper's Ferry to Confederate troops in
April 1861 which generated a movement to develop a system of arsenals.
Politicking at the national level went on for a year before any Con-
gressional action came forth. In July 1862, an Act was passed for the
establishment of certain national arsenals and provided funds for "three
arsenals of deposit and repair" located at Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis,
Indiana and Rock Island, Illinois. Later, in April 1864, an Act of Congress
designated the arsenal at Rock Island to be one of "construction, deposit
and repair." Adding the function of construction altered the basic premise
significantly to include armament manufacturing not provided in the
earlier legislation. Rather than something of a depot, the facility at Rock
Island was to be genuinely an arsenal.

The development which had begun in 1863 under Major Kingsbury at the
west end of the island with construction of what is now the Clock Tower
Building was altered radically with the new legislation. Moreover,
Rodman's replacement of Kingsbury, who had asked to be relieved of his
command at Rock Island, is far from incidental. The new legislation and
elevation in rank of the command indicate that a change was con-
templated for the Rock Island site. There is little doubt that throughout the
politicking and development of legislation there was also a desire for a
Grand Design which would give the arsenal its appropriate symbolic value
of strength.

Extensive research has not yielded any direct evidence of a clearly
spelled out plan or any pre-construction layout of the grounds. There is
enough inferential evidence, however, which allows us to conclude that
Rodman and his superior. Chief of Ordnance General A. B. Dyer, had
lengthy conferences dealing with the subject of the "Grand Arsenal."
Shortly after Rodman's death, the Chief of Ordnance visited the arsenal
site and conferred with Captain Flagler, presumably with the purpose of
laying out the ideas which had begun to come to fruition under Rodman's
command. We cannot infer, however, that either Rodman or Dyer were the
designers or in some sense the architects of the arsenal, but it was under
their leadership that the course was set for adherence to an integrated
program of design and construction through several changes in the chief
administrative personnel at the arsenal.

During the nineteenth century federal construction projects were
executed in the offices of a government architect in the employ of the
Treasury Department. Additional research may reveal who the pro-
fessional architect or architects may have been, but there is little doubt
that this person was well versed in current architectural thinking and
skilled in the application of its vocabulary. At the time that the project was
undertaken and when the elaboration of the architectural program took
place, Thomas Ustick Walter, creator of the dome over the national
capitol, was the government architect. It would be entirely appropriate to

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

12 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

attribute the above qualifications to him and to speculate that he may
have been the architect, or that the concept was his and the design
developed by subordinates under his supervision. ^

The building which initiated the development of the arsenal in 1863,
before Rodman's arrival, is now the landmark Clock Tower, built in the
Greek Revival style (see map). It appears that originally this was to have
been the nucleus of the facility which would have occupied the west end
of the island. After Rodman took command, it was determined that the
arsenal complex should be relocated toward the center of the island on
higher ground. Water power necessary for the expanded role of the arsenal
and other new needs seem to have been considerations in the decision to
abandon the original site. The already extant Clock Tower was not
disregarded as the change was made. Rather, it provided a focal point for
an entry into the greater complex. Its style was consistent with those
arsenal buildings which were to follow though they would be situated
three-quarters of a mile to the east. A boulevard-like greenway leads to the
arsenal proper. Its gradual upward slope enhances the suggestion of a
grand entry and in concept is reminiscent of a thoroughfare like the
Champs Elysees in Paris, which leads in a similar manner from the Louvre
to the Arch of Triumph. On entering the greenway (Rodman Avenue)
through a gateway, one senses readily its kinship to that major urban
planning project of the nineteenth century undertaken in Europe.

Recent construction has made intrusions upon the original formality of
the boulevard. Enough of the open greenway remains, however, to indicate
the ceremonial character of the approach to the new site. Upon arriving at
the arsenal compound proper, one notes that the adverse effect of the
intrusions is diminished. At the west side of the intersection of Rodman
Avenue and Gillespie Avenue are the former guard house on the south side
and a headquarters building opposite on the north side of the avenue (figs.
1 and 2).^ These serve as an introduction to the imposing Greek Revival
shop buildings which loom large in comparison; there are ten of them,
lined up five on either side of the continuation of Rodman Avenue, which
suggests something like military squads on dress parade with the
buildings symmetrically aligned and facing each other. The formal aus-
terity one might expect is relieved by having some of these interconnected
so it appears that there are a pair of large structures flanking a smaller
one on either side of the avenue. The open space of the boulevard, though
now invaded by automobile parking, remains. An artist's rendition of a
bird's-eye view dated from 1891 shows that the avenue through the arsenal
complex was lined with trees on broad lawns to provide relief from the
imposing formality of the buildings (fig. 3).*

Although it may appear that there are three large shop buildings on
either side of Rodman Avenue, there are indeed five. Four are virtually
identical in design, and all were originally large U-shaped forms in ground
plan with courts opening away from Rodman Avenue. The U was formed by
a unit equal in height to the rest of the building with the plane of its facade

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL 13

facing Rodman Avenue brought near the planes of the two terminal
pavilions which are the short facades of the long wings framing the court
(figs. 5 and 6). In order to relieve the repetitiousness of ten identical
facades, two variations were introduced. First, four of the U-shaped forms
were interconnected by units which were recessed deeper than those
forming the U, thereby creating the impression that the arrangement
consisted of three buildings on either side of Rodman Avenue rather than
five (fig. 7). Secondly, the buildings in the center of each row were varied in
their design from the others by the proportions of height to breadth. In
addition, the fenestration was used to indicate a single story space on the
interior and was given a modicum of greater depth to provide a greater
sense of relief than that found in the other shop buildings (fig. 8).

The so-called Greek Revival style is radically simplified in these build-
ings, but is keynoted by several features; namely, the slopes of the gables
are suggestive of Greek Classical pediments and the pilasters are
allusions to the Doric order. A notable departure from this style, which
prevailed in the United States between 1820 and 1860, is the use of the
rough-faced stone. The typical Greek Revival was characterized by a
smoothly dressed stone in masonry structure. Nevertheless, the effect is
quite powerful and a convincing expression of strength with reference to a
classical sense of unity.*

In contrast to the formal symmetry of the shop complex is a residential
area devoted to officers quarters. The two areas are separated by a large
open space bisected by a walkway featuring a fine stone bridge (fig. 9).
This and the disposition of the six houses combine into a picturesque
setting with the houses overlooking the Mississippi River from a terraced
level. Although the houses are situated at comfortable distances from one
another generally from west to east, the arrangement is irregular and
informal. The commanding officer's quarters and three subaltern officers'
quarters comprise a discrete set of four buildings in the Italianate style
which were built between 1870 and 1874. To the east are two later
subaltern officers' quarters featuring distinct variants of Queen Anne style
which were built in 1902 and 1905.*

The Commanding Officer's Quarters (which Rodman did not have the
pleasure of occupying, by the way) represents one of the finest and more
elegant Mid-western examples of many in the Italian Villa. Again, the
generous landscape treatment endowed the building with freedom from
encroachment by other construction and enhanced its symbolic prom-
inence as the residence of the installation's highest ranking officer. It is
very much like a piece of sculpture which requires circumambulation, for
each side is different from the other (figs. 10, 11 and 12). The exterior is
finely crafted with use of smooth-faced stone over the walls, and mod-
erately textured projecting quoins at the corners. Masonry surrounds for
the fenestration are sensitively proportioned as are the brackets under the
eaves. Adding to the elegance as well as to the overall romantic flavor are
the verandas, some having screens and fine ironwork at the entry (fig. 13).

14 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

The building's prominence, due to its size and elaborateness, gives it
visual command of the setting to serve as keynote to the role the resi-
dential area is assigned in contrast to the industrial one.

In contrast, the subalterns' quarters are considerably more modest.
These are located along a gently undulant roadway facing across a terrace
sloping toward the river. The first is found approximately 300 yards down
the roadway to the east of the Commanding Officer's Quarters (fig. 14).
The texture of the masonry is more or less uniformly somewhat coarse
except for the sills and heads of windows. Bracketing under the eaves
typical of the Italianate style is absent. The broad veranda across the
entire front of the house diminishes the cube-like proportions, and its
ornamental ironwork adds a touch of enrichment.

Approximately 100 yards to the east is the second of the subalterns'
quarters and its massing is comparable to that of the first. There is some
contrast between the fine texture of the masonry wall and the quoins at
the corners, and the window treatment is also comparable. The front of the
house is moderately irregular by the fact that projection of the central
pavilion is deeper on one side than on the other (fig. 15). On the veranda
this results in depth of two bays on one side and only one on the other.
The ironwork on the veranda is a variant of that on the previous subaltern's
house, but the distinguishing feature of this house is the presence of
Italianate brackets under the eaves.

The next of the three subalterns' houses is much different from the
previous two. While it does have the Italianate bracketing and similar
masonry materials, it distinguishes itself from the others by the com-
parative irregularity of its form. Though two-storied, as are the others, the
principal facade (front) is much more asymmetrical in composition. A unit
with veranda, which is not screened and is devoid of ironwork, constitutes
approximately half of the composition. The other half, to the right, is made
up of a deep niche running through the entire elevation and a terminal unit
at the end which comes back to the plane of the wall of the other half
(fig. 16).

The three general zones (the boulevard approach, the industrial com-
plex, the open space buffer and the residential area) comprise an excellent
example of nineteenth-century planning thought. Together they comprise
an integrated plan with contrasting disparate parts. Having adopted the
concept of the picturesque for the residential zone, and combining that
with an appropriate difference in architectural styles heightens the
contrast and goes beyond being merely a matter of formality versus
ir^formality. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, the juxtaposition of
the virtually unrelieved uniformity of the Greek Revival industrial complex,
with comparative freedom of the residential zone resulted in an especially
successful expression of work (labor or business) versus respite there-
from. There is, in addition to an articulate demonstration of the architec-
tural vocabulary of the time, a thorough understanding of planning which
takes into account the landscape and adapting its features to create an

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL 15

environment suitable to the purposes a design is supposed to serve. In
America, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. was the leader of the movement to
integrate consideration of the landscape into the planning of the man-
made environment. Rock Island Arsenal was conceived less than a decade
after Olmsted came into prominence with his collaborative design with
Calvert Vaux for Central Park in New York City.

Rock Island Arsenal retains qualities which make it a truly historic
place, architecturally speaking. There is probably enough material for a
separate article on its role in the history of armament. For the visitor, it
offers readily that sense of time and place which existed during the period
of its development, for it is remarkably intact.

NOTES

'This article is a digest of "The Architectural Inventory" found in Cultural
Resources Inventory and Evaluation of Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Illinois, by
Henry B. Moy and Titus M. Karlowicz, Normal, Illinois, 1981. The portion of that work
by the author of this article was based largely on archival materials in the U. S.
Army Armament Material Readiness Command (AARCOM) Historical Office and on
site study and photo documentation of the historic architectural features of the
arsenal. Copies of the above mentioned work are available at the AARCOM
Historical Office at the Arsenal, the Western Illinois University Library Archive, and
the Midwestern Archeological Research Center at Illinois State University. The
inventory and evaluation were done under the auspices of the latter, and funded by
a grant from the U.S. Army.

^Walter retired from government service due to ill health in 1865. That he was
expert in the application of the styles used at Rock Island Arsenal is evidenced in
his earlier design in the Greek Revival style of Founder's Hall at Girard College in
Philadelphia (1833-47). Additional evidence of his knowledge of styles is his co-
authorship of Two Hundred Designs for Cottages and Villas (1846) with J. Jay Smith.

'Designations and uses for the buildings have changed with time. Those used
here are derived from the original.

'The bird's-eye view shows to the left a row of storehouses behind the shop
buildings. Only one of these was built at the north east end of the complex (fig. 4).

^That this expression of strength and unity had its symbolic value should not be
underestimated. The esthetic application of the kind of unity found in the shop
buildings is certainly appropriate just for the sake of orderliness and a show of
organization. However, the insistent show of strength and unity also offers the
reminder that the Civil War was, after all, a conflict over whether of not the union of
the nation was to be perpetuated. The career military personnel of the Union forces
were not only dedicated to the principle that it would, but we must be reminded that
beyond the principle was the troublesome fact that those who had been colleagues
and classmates during their military training found themselves at war with one
another. At Rock Island especially, there was a troublesome reminder of this due to
the existence of a military prison where Confederate soldiers were incarcerated. In

16 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

addition, there were literary and poetic allusions, such as that drawn by Abraham
Lincoln from the Evangelist Mark as early as 1858 ("a house divided against itself
cannot stand"). His appeal in his First Inaugural Address (1861) is amongst others.
Walt Whitman also included the theme of the persistence of the Union and brethren
at war with one another in his poetry and in a tribute to Lincoln.

•These should not be considered part of the original concept. Though the stylistic
departure is stril^ing, they are separated from the others sufficiently by space and
landscape treatment to avoid a troublesome intrusion. They will not be considered
here.

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

Figure 1. Guard House. (Photo courtesy of author)

Figure 2. Headquarters Building. (Photo courtesy of author)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Figure 3. Rock Island Arsenal. Bird's eye view of Rodnnan Avenue and shop complex
(1891). File photo of lithograph AARCOM Historical Office, Rock Island Arsenal.

.^>""'

Figure 4. Storehouse. (Photo courtesy of author)

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

Rodman Avenue
Figure 5. Diagram of paired U-shaped shop buildings (not to scale). See also fig. 6.

Figure 6. One set of four paired U-shaped shop buildings as seen from across
Rodman Avenue. (Photo courtesy of author)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

ir"^!! "11 11"- "i< g^

II ■■ . "Ml

fl - If r . ! I'll

gh^i ill 1

■T-f— ZjLI <<

'■[ N51„^

Figure 7. More deeply recessed central units of paired U-slnaped shop buildings.
(Photo courtesy of author)

Figure 8. Center shop building flanked by paired U-shaped shop buildings. (Photo
courtesy of author)

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

Figure 9. Stone bridge. (Photo courtesy of author)

Figure 10. Commanding Officer's Quarters from southwest. (Photo courtesy of
author)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Figure 1 1 . Commanding Officer's Quarters from northi. (Photo courtesy of author)

Figure 12. Commanding Officer's Quarters from southeast. (Photo courtesy of
author)

ARCHITECTURE OF ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

Figure 13. Commanding Officer's Quarters. Detail of iron work on entry porcli.

Figure 14. First subaltern's quarters. (Photo courtesy of author)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

.1 ,

Figure 15. Second subaltern's quarters from northwest. (Photo courtesy of author)

Figure 16. Third subaltern's quarters. (Photo courtesy of author)

AN EARLY ITALIANATE
MANSION IN BEARDSTOWN

Sarah Jane Sargent

The stately home located at the corner of Seventh and State streets In
Beardstown, Illinois, is one of the city's earliest mansions and remains a
distinctive example of nineteenth-century Italianate design. Although
much of the documentation for the residence is lost, the date and
circumstances surrounding the building of the home may be recon-
structed on the basis of secondary sources. In addition, the home
preserves many of the stylistic features associated v\/ith Italianate villas in
America as they are described in the pattern books of architect Andrew
Jackson Dov\/ning.

An early reference to the Seventh Street home appears in the Da/7y
Illinois Star Centennial Edition of July 23, 1929. The article includes a
photograph of the home as it existed in 1895 (fig. 1)^ and refers to it as
"Beardstown's first mansion":

This two storey brick building which now stands at Seventh and State
Street was Beardstown's first mansion. When erected about 1840 by J. C.
Leonard, banker and grain dealer, it was not only Beardstown's most
extravagant residence structure, but it was one of the show places of this part
of the state. It cost $24,000, and the ground surrounding included the entire
block between Seventh and Eighth and between State and Washington.

This 1929 reference appears to be a source of confusion in regard to the
date of the Seventh Street home. The article mentions the year 1840, but
later states that the residence was built "nearly 80 years ago," which
would make the date 1849. The article also refers to J. C. Leonard as the
original owner. Leonard's ownership and the 1840 date are mentioned
together in later sources, but these all cite the 1929 Centennial Edition
article. However, records indicate that J. C. Leonard did not own the
properly until 1856.^ In 1857, Mr. Leonard was married in a double cere-
mony which took place in the mansion's parlor.^

Another factor to be considered in dating the building is Beardstown's
financial situation in 1840, especially in the banking business. During the
late 1830's lllinois's internal improvement plan put the state deeply into
debt. Currency depreciated, taxes were high, and business was stagnant.

26 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

There was widespread bankruptcy throughout the state, and money as an
exchange was severely curtailed/

The financial situation in 1840 and the fact that Leonard did not
purchase the properly until 1856 indicate that the mid-50's date is more
likely. Unless Leonard built the structure for someone else in the 1840's,
the most probable date for the home is 1856.

The later history of the Seventh Street home reflects changing
economic circumstances within the town. During the 1860's several
surrounding counties were enjoying the financial advantage of new
railroad facilities. Lacking this commercial advantage, Beardstown felt the
crunch and was in a state of financial chaos. The Leonard Bank was a
victim of this situation, claiming bankruptcy in 1866.* In 1871 J. C. Leonard
lost the mansion.^

The next major resident of the home was Henry S. Schroeder, builder of
Beardstown's Park Hotel and Opera House. ^ Schroeder owned the
mansion from 1889 until 1907, when John T. Garm purchased it. Mr. Garm,
a businessman and grain dealer, remodeled the interior of the home and
resided there until the late 1930's.^ While the nature of the interior re-
modeling is not known, he did build a garage for his Model T on the west
side of the house.

During the late 1930's the mansion became Mae White's Nursing Home.'
Apparently the three-storey home never functioned well in this capacity,
for when a flood threat in 1943 caused a general evacuation of the town's
residents, the occupants of the home were relocated. This decision may
have also been the result of legislation enforcing new state safety laws. In
1946, the home was sold to the Fred Curry family, who removed the
arcaded porches from the exterior but retained the home's basic structure
and design. In 1965, the home was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. George B.
(Bill) Bley, lifetime residents of Beardstown.

The Italianate style of the Seventh Street home was inspired by British
and American interpretations of the Italian villa. Italianate homes were
admired for their Romantic allusions to a more pastoral past and became
a favored architectural style in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.'"
Andrew Jackson Downing, a prominent nineteenth century landscape
architect and pattern book author, favored the Italian style for its "broad
roofs, ample verandas, and arcades" which he thought were highly
suitable for enduring the warm summer months. In his book Architecture
of Country Houses, Downing noted that the style was "remarkable for
expressing the elegant culture and variety of accomplishment of the
retired citizen or man of the world."'' Such elegance is evident both in the
Beardstown mansion's vertical proportions as well as in the prominent
role played by ornament. The rectangular, three-storey brick home is
broad-roofed with large supporting Italiante brackets (figs. 1 and 2). Its tall,
thin windows are round-headed and decorated with hoods or "eyebrows"
(fig. 3). Paying homage to the sense of balanced proportion seen in Italian
Renaissance palaces and villas, the storey heights diminish at the upper

AN EARLY MANSION IN BEARDSTOWN 27

levels. This Is also emphasized in the fenestration, as the arched windows
diminish in size at the upper stories.

The horizontal rhythm created by the numerous evenly-spaced windows
Is interrupted only on the mansion's front exterior wall where paired
windows and an ornate balcony articulate the division between floors.'^
This division was even more apparent when ironwork ralings crowned the
porch roofs. Although the porches were torn down earlier in this century,
the nineteenth century entrance remains intact. Green double doors with
matching "eyes" of glass lay beneath a semi-circular fanlight (fig. 4). The
elaborate white trim, gracefully arched windows and doors, and visually
rich red brick surface harmonize with the simple rectangular shapes of the
design and vertical proportions to create the stately, comfortable ele-
gance associated with the Italianate style.

The mansion's interior also exhibits Italianate features recalling the
criterion advocated in Downing's Country Houses:

The country house or villa never has less than three or four apartments of
good size on the principle floor. In every home of moderate size we expect to
find a separate apartment, devoted to meals, entitled the dining room;
another devoted to social intercourse, or the drawing room; and a third
devoted to intellectual culture, or the library; besides halls, passages,
stairways, pantries, and bedrooms; and bathing-rooms on the second floor. A
flight of back stairs, for the servants, is indispensable and adds greatly to the
comfort and privacy of even small villas. '^

Ceiling heights of fourteen feet and shuttered windows provide the
mansion with the "elegant proportion and utmost comfort" that Downing
ascribes to country homes of the first class.

The new Italian element of "circles subordinating and contrasting with
the horizontal" favored by Downing is found not only in exterior windows
and the doorway (figs. 2 and 3)'* but is also featured in the parlor fireplace
(fig. 5). According to Downing, the arched hearth, contrasting rectangular
panel, and large mirror form a unified composition and "produce a very
fine effect"'* (the fireplace was moved to an upstairs bedroom in the
1930's). A complimentary but more intricate ornamental vocabulary ap-
pears in the parlor's pressed tin ceiling (fig. 6).'^

The Seventh Street home also retains its nineteenth-century walnut
staircase and newel post. The widening profile of the post and its grooved
motif are characteristic of post designs in earlier dated homes (fig. 7).'^ It
is interesting to note that the top cap of the post pops off to reveal a
hollow interior. In the nineteenth century, important deeds and papers
were often hidden inside the post. The bannister also was constructed
with an internal wire system to facilitate repair. By inserting and rotating a
metal tool at both ends of the balustrade the bannister posts and railings
could be tightened.

The Seventh Street mansion is not only a reminder of nineteenth-century
Italianate architecture in a western Illinois community, it is also a

28 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

reflection of Beardstown's prosperous beginnings. Following an influx of
immigrants to the area, Beardstown developed into a flourishing center for
Illinois trade and industry in the 1830's, boasting competition with cities
like Cincinnati. ^B It was in the wake of this industrial and trading boom that
Beardstown's affluent Italianate home was constructed.

The structure has retained its grandeur through floods, the Civil War,
economic reversals, and years of family living. It functioned well as a
nineteenth century home, providing a comfortable living environment for
families and servants as well as a suitable space for social activities,
including the wedding which took place soon after its construction. It is
fortunate that the many changes in ownership and even in the function of
the building have not appreciably diminished its original character.
Happily, it retains its Italianate features and is symbolic of Beardstown's
early prosperity.

NOTES

^Beardstown Enterprise Souvenir Edition, 1895.

*As stated in the property abstract on the home belonging to the present owner
Mrs. George B. (Bill) Bley.

'Keith Strubbe, ed., Cass County Marriages 1837-1879, Cass County Historical
Society, 1980.

^W. H. Perrin, History of Cass County. (Chicago, 1882), pp. 47-48.

*C. E. Martin, ed.. History of Cass County. (Chicago, 1915), p. 711.

'Bley's property abstract, see above, note 2.

^Biographical Review of Cass, Scfiuyler, and Brown Counties, (Chicago, 1882).

•7/76 Daily lllinoian Star Centennial Edition, July 23, 1929, p. 16.

'Interview with Mrs. George B. (Bill) Bley, conducted in June, 1987.

^''C. Rifkind, A Field Guide to American Arctiitecture. (New York, 1984), p. 50.

"A. J. Downing, The Architecture of Country Houses, New York, 1968, p. 287 (first
published in 1850).

''This feature is often associated with Italianate homes. See C. Rifkind, A Field
Guide, p. 63.

^'A. J. Downing, The Architecture of Country Houses, p. 272.

'"A. J. Downing, p. 380.

''A.J. Downing, p. 373.

AN EARLY MANSION IN BEARDSTOWN

:4^ ■■)C*>:f*''mif^.^*v^-.-.^»»^i»tu

Figure 1. Mansion at Seventh and State streets In Beardstown, Illinois from the
southeast, as it appeared in 1895. (Photo courtesy of Mrs. George Bley)

Figure 2. Mansion, from the south. (Photo courtesy of Allan Schindlei

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

■5t

(1)

■o

AN EARLY MANSION IN BEARDSTOWN

--^ n -5

(D CO

u- <

E ^

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

lihl -'M

,h'-

Figure 7. Newel post and staircase. (Photo courtesy of Allan Schindle)

AN EARLY MANSION IN BEARDSTOWN 33

"A.J. Downing, p. 381.

"S. Maycock, An Architectural History of Carbondale Illinois (Carbondale, 1983),
p. 56.

'*C. E. Martin, ed.. History of Cass County (Chicago, 1915), p. 665.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF

BELLE JOHNSON FROM

MONROE CITY, MISSOURI

Dean Howd

At the 1906 national meeting of the Photographic Association of
America in Niagara Falls, twenty-five people were invited to exhibit their
photos in a salon which was "to represent the American standard of
professional excellence."^ Only one woman, Belle Johnson of Monroe
City, Missouri, was invited to contribute to that exhibition.

Belle Johnson, or "Miss Belle" as she was known, ran a successful
photography business in Monroe City, Missouri for more than fifty years,
and was one of only three or four women practicing professional
photography in the state at the turn of the century. ^ Although she gained
recognition during her lifetime, little of Belle Johnson's work survives,^
and her name does not appear in literature on the history of photography.
This article provides an introduction to and a documentation of her career
and illustrates some of her creative work.

While she earned her living as a professional photographer making
portraits for individuals, families, and organizations. Belle Johnson also
produced a unique body of creative studio portraits and studies
throughout her long career. It is primarily these images which brought
honor and recognition to this rural Missouri photographer. Belle Johnson
was born August 4, 1864 and raised in Mendota, Illinois. Her father was a
successful farmer. She attended St. Mary's College in Notre Damei
Indiana between the years 1882-1884, and received top honors for her
excellent work in astronomy, logic and English composition. After the
graduation exercises in June, 1884, she settled with her older sister Mary
yvhose husband, R. Manning Walker, was a jeweler and farmer in Monroe
City, Missouri.

Between the years 1885-1890, Belle resided with the Walkers. There is an
indication that she taught school during these years, but no records exist
in Monroe City to verify this fact. In 1890 a position for a photographer's

36 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

assistant became available in a local studio. Since Belle was acquainted
with the owner, she applied, with the idea of learning retouching as an
avocation. However, three weeks after taking the job she purchased the
studio, with the understanding that the previous owner remain a year in
order for her to learn the business."

Like many towns in Victorian America, Monroe City supported a
photography studio which satisfied the demands both for portraiture and
the documentation of town life.^ On May 1, 1890, a notice in the "Monroe
City News" stated: "Miss Belle Johnson has purchased Rippey's pho-
tograph gallery and will continue business at the old stead. Mr. Rippey has
been employed to run the business."® The newspaper notice indicates the
original owner was to remain as an employee, but this arrangement lasted
only six months. Belle Johnson was soon on her own.

In her early years Belle studied and read all she could since she took
over the Studio with so little training. She did not place an ad in the local
paper until 1894, perhaps an indication that she did not feel fully confident
about her new profession.

In 1903, when asked to give advice to amateur photographers, she
stated: "As the professional, so should the amateur, read and study all
that he can obtain upon the subject, learning thereby as well as
stimulating his interest in the work. To the professional such help is
second only to the conventions. Both should measure their own work, with
that of other workers; the latter in the conventions and the former in the
many competitions open to him."^

As late as 1906 and 1907 Belle was attending a photographic school in
St. Louis to improve herself. The newspaper explains, "Her attendance at
Conventions and Schools does not mean a neglect of duty at home, as
some may think, but helps to keep her up to date in her profession."^ In
1894 Belle Johnson became a charter member of the Photographic
Association of Missouri and submitted her first photographs at their
convention. Of the thirty-five entries. Belle placed third, "the two higher
ones being only one-third of a point above you. In the competition were
photographers of national reputation."^ From that point the newspaper
mentions many trips to regional Missouri and Illinois photography
conventions. On one occasion (in 1906) she attended a national
convention at Niagara Falls, New York.

Her work also appeared in invitational juried exhibitions known as
salons, which were fashionable at the turn of the century. Her obituary
claims she was the first woman to be asked to entera salon, a claim which
cannot be verified here. It is enough to say that it was an honor for her
work to be so highly regarded. Again in 1907, her work was in the national
salon being held in Dayton, Ohio. It is not known whether she was invited
into any other salons after that date.

On June 27, 1907, a special edition of the "Monroe City News" stated,
"She is an honorary member of the Photographic Association of America
and has won and received 13 medals at the association meetings in

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON 37

competition with the photographers of the United States, including one
from Paris, France."'"

Belle Johnson's business seems to have been successful from the
beginning. In 1890, Monroe City was a town of 2500 people, but she also
drew clientele from the surrounding area including Paris and Shelbina,
and as far east as Quincy and Hannibal.

She was first located in a building housing a dry goods store, on the
second floor of the south side of West Winter Street. On February 2, 1899
there was a fire which destroyed the building. One local newspaper said,
"Friends took charge of Miss Belle Johnson's Art Studio and made
negatives, pictures, etc. jingle. "'' The "jingle" was the sound of her glass
negatives hitting each other as they were being carried. Although there
seems to have been no financial loss, she placed an ad stating that she
would close her business in the Spring.

In November, 1899, a large ad appeared with this headline: "A
Photographic Chat." C. S. Robertshaw, a local cigar maker, had opened a
photographic studio above Turner's Drug Store, and hired Belle Johnson
as operator. The studio was re-named "Robertshaw's Studio" and offered
"superior grade photography." On March 14, 1901, new ads appeared
which went back to "Belle Johnson, Photographs," and C. S. Robertshaw
was never again mentioned. From that time on she would be the sole
owner of her business.

In 1902 she had built her new studio above Walker's and the Monroe City
Bank. Photographic studios during this period were often built on top
floors in order to provide better lighting. At the bottom of the stairs leading
up to her studio was a showcase in which she displayed photographs, and
often exhibited her initials "BJ" spelled out with the ribbons and medals
she had won. Upstairs an attractive waiting room was lined with
photographs. A pair of double doors led into the Studio itself.

A newspaper article appearing on March 6, 1902 states, "Miss Belle
Johnson has cause to be proud of her elegant new suite of rooms into
which she recently moved her studio. The equipment, finish and general
arrangement of her studio is such that places it second to none, probably,
in northeast Missouri. The floors are laid out of two-inch oak and oiled.
The walls and ceilings are covered with burlap, ingrain paper, etc.,
selected and arranged with splendid taste. This with numerous pictures,
sofas, rugs and piano lend a very pretty effect."'^

The studio was full of furniture and props, such as dolls for girls, and
various stools and boxes, so she could create any type of staging she
desired. There were also thick green velvet curtains hanging on the walls,
typical of a portrait studio backdrop in that period. Along the north wall
was a huge skylight, and people who remember going to the studio often
recall how luminous the room was.

Off the studio, she had her own apartment. In later years her sister Mrs.
Mattie Hanna came to live with her. A notable feature of her apartment
was a bay window, where she had built a window seat stretching the entire

38 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

length of the window. There she could sit, read a book, and view the
comings and goings in town.

As a professional photographer in the early twentieth century, Belle
Johnson possessed considerable technical knowledge of the pho-
tographic process. Equipment was large and cumbersome. There is no
record of what camera she used, but an article appearing in Cassell's
Cyclopaedia of Photography published in 1911, may provide an indication:
"The studio camera requires to be substantially made, rigidity and
strength being here of primary importance, while portability is of
secondary importance. It should have a swing back, a rising and falling
front, and, if possible, a long bellows extension for use in copying. "^^
People who visited the Studio recall how she would constantly be moving
and hauling the large and awkward equipment.

In the early years of her career Johnson specialized in "cabinet
pictures" produced by what was known as the "Aristo process," which the
newspaper claimed "never fades and can be cleaned when in any manner
soiled."'" The cabinet photograph had been in existence since the 1860s
when it had gained popularity by presenting portraits of public celebrities.
They came on a standard size (SVa" x 4Va") card and were popular up until
World War I. These cards could be easily carried and stored.

The "Aristo process" was a general term for non-albumen printing
papers first available in 1868, and developed and marketed until they came
to dominate in the 1890's. The process was popular since the printing was
done by sunlight, with a matt finish. Glass dry plate negatives were used
by professional photographers until 1912, when flat film became available.
Knowledge of this process may explain why Belle's Christmas ads would
yearly state, "Sun sets about half past four o'clock in December. I need
daylight to make negatives. Please bring children for negatives before two
o'clock."

Belle hired assistants to aid in retouching the photographs. Miss Julia
McClintic was one of those hired, and helped her for a number of years,
and according to Ruby Byland was very active in aiding her employer.
Crayons, India ink and pastels were also used in coloring the photographs,
some work being sent to the East coast. In an article published in 1903, it
was noted that Miss Johnson had not learned the art of retouching.'^ But,
according to people who knew her she did much of the coloring herself.

Like many photographers of her time. Belle Johnson signed her work.
Ruby Byland states, "Her early pictures carry "Miss Belle Johnson,
Monroe City, Mo." Later, she used "Belle Johnson," some typed, some in
script. Still later, she used block letters, "BELLE JOHNSON," and the last
ones had the two initials, imprinted 'BJ'."'^

Belle Johnson remained a single business woman all her life. She was
one of the few women members of the Monroe City Business Men's
Association.'^ In the July 19, 1919 issue of Abel's Photographic Weekly,
Belle wrote a letter to the editor responding to the charges of dis-
crimination against women in the photography profession. She says,

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON 39

"From my entrance into the profession I have been on a common footing
with the men."^* She cited as having served as an officer in the Missouri
Photographer's Association and the Missouri Valley Association as
examples of being a full fledged member of the profession.

Selling photography required being involved with various photographic
formats and promotions. Over the years she advertised cabinet
photographs, penny pictures, photo buttons, post cards — comic or tragic
— and souvenir post cards of Monroe City. Occasionally, she had a booth
at the Monroe City fair, and would offer prizes. For example, in July of 1903
she offered to give away one to two dozen photos to the oldest woman at
the fair, and the next day to the oldest man. Her reputation was well
established by 1904 when the World's Fair was in St. Louis. She spent time
taking photos for a publication of the World's Fair Ranch Club and a book
published by the Missouri State Commissioners.

Another remarkable feature of Belle Johnson's career was that she
never retired. She continued photography up to the time of her death in
1945 at the age of eighty-one. Her last effort was taking portraits of
Monroe City's young men going off to World War II. Those portraits were
published in the newspaper.

Belle Johnson is best known as a portrait photographer who used a
wide variety of subjects. While still-life and landscape were also within her
range of interest and ability, human and animal subjects, carefully staged
and controlled in terms of light, are most captivating. People who went to
her studio recall how she would constantly move and talk and get them to
exactly where she wanted them to be. There is nothing accidental in her
photographs. It is this precision which makes her photographs of animals,
and children with animals, especially interesting.

She once advised other photographers by saying, "Cultivate your own
methods of treatment. Your work will not be that of a copyist, which is
never of much value. Were my desire to be realized I would be less
trammeled, perhaps, by the thought, 'Will it please the customer.' The
securing of rural scenes, homely occupations, character studies and the
like is well within the easy reach of the photographer in the smaller towns.
Such pictures are, if well done, eagerly sought for by the advertisers in our
magazines."^'

One area that she clearly excelled in was her work with animals. That
must have required much patience, time and effort in order to capture a
desired effect. The portraits of cats (fig. 1), for example, appear as
carefully planned as if they were willing subjects. They are relaxed,
focused and at ease in front of the camera, not allowing the presence of
the photographer to bother them, and at the same time, allowing the
photographer to totally capture them.

Much of the same is true in her photographs of children with animals.
The interaction of the human and animal subjects is comfortable and
natural. It is as if they know each other and belong together. For example,

40 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

the photograph of the racoon and child (fig. 2) appears to show two friends
posing for the camera.

One her most intriguing photographs portrays three women with floor
length hair (fig. 3). The hair itself is the fascinating aspect of the portrait.
The women are a secondary consideration, as they are practically hidden
from view by their hair. Essentially, they are seen from behind with their
heads in profile. Once the eye has centered in on their faces, then the
question of who they are enters. Certainly, a basic inquiry about any
portrait centers on the person or people being photographed. However, in
this case it is the uniqueness of the subject matter, the hair, that
transcends the individuals themselves and makes for a most unusual and
compelling image.

The St. Louis and Canadian Photographer once offered a critique of
Belle Johnson's portraits of flowers: "Miss Johnson's flower pictures are
exquisite, both in manipulation and the taste with which they are
composed and handled. "2° Her photographs of flowers won prizes, (see
figs. 4 and 5), and they attracted the attention of the American Annual of
Photography in 1903. The editors approached Belle about writing an article
centering on her methods of photographing flowers, ^^ but such an article
never appeared.

Belle was always in search of new and interesting subjects. Once, she
discovered a hobo walking along the railroad tracks. Ruby Byland dis-
agreed that the man was a hobo, but remembered him as a local farmer.
Whatever his true occupation. Belle found him to be a sympathetic subject
(fig. 6). The man was hungry, so in exchange for allowing her to
photograph him she purchased him a meal. Although the photo never
gained recognition by others, she always considered it one of her best
works.

Within the community and among friends, Belle Johnson was a woman
of idiosyncracies and humor. Her personality was often expressed through
her light-hearted pictures of animals and children. There are children
playing, and animals sometimes performing human tasks, such as one
photograph of a cat jumping at a typewriter as if it just had hit the wrong
key. Her own portrait (fig. 7) possesses an intriguing sense of energy as
she gazes past her cat. That she chose this rather informal image of
herself to be published is an indication of her own self image.

Bob Nickerson, a family friend, says he was invited to her home for
dinner on many occasions, but can never recall having a complete meal.
Once the entire meal consisted of strawberry short cake. Conversely, one
newspaper story reported on an entire week of parties prepared by Miss
Belle, st3ting, ". . . the hostess is noted almost as much for the 'beauty
and good taste' of her cooked concoctions as she is for her fine
photography."

Belle Johnson died on July 19, 1945. Her obituary states that she
underwent a major operation at St. Mary's in Quincy in April, and after
several weeks of hospitalization she asked to return to the studio where

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON

Figure 1. "Cats," Postcard, 5y4 x3y4. (Photo courtesy of Robert Nickerson)

Figure 2. "Child (Mary Lucy Hornback) with
Racoon," AVi x 6V2. (Photo courtesy of
State Historical Society of Missouri)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Figure 3. "Three Women," 874 x 6. (Photo courtesy of Massillon Museum, Massillon,
Ohio)

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON

Figure 4. "Flowers," 6Va x 8V4. (Photo courtesy of Massillon Museum, Massillon,
Ohio)

Figure 5. "Peonies," 4x10. (Photo courtesy of Robert Nickerson)

WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

o ^^
Q. C

CD i:

!= 03
L DC

f E

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON 45

she died. Stores in town were closed during the time of her funeral out of
respect for one of Monroe City's leading citizens. In later years, a sub-
division of homes was built on land once owned by Miss Johnson, and
today "Belle" street is named in her honor.

A loss came when her studio was dismantled. Ruby Byland reports that
all of her negatives and files were destroyed. Belle possessed complete
files of negatives and photographs of the past owners. She often hired
extra help to keep her files of negatives and photos labeled and in order.
Ruby Byland states, "She had bought the business from the previous
owner and the files were a very complete history of the time and area.""
There are people in Monroe City who still own glass negatives and
photographs, but the majority of her work was destroyed.

The largest single collection of her work exists at the Massillon
Museum in Massillon, Ohio, which owns a collection of approximately 160
of her photos. The State Historical Society of Missouri, in Columbia, also
owns a few photographs. The rest of her work remains in the hands of
people in the Monroe City area.

Belle Johnson was not a pioneer in photography, nor was she an
innovator. However, the work which survives is evidence of a dedicated
and very talented professional, whose contributions deserve attention.
Living in rural Missouri, she sought and gained regional and national
recognition by producing photographs which were considered among the
best of her time.

NOTES

^Monroe City (Mo.) News, 16 August 1906, p. 1.

^St. Louis Globe Democrat, 22 August 1899, p. 14.

'See below, p. 12, on the dismantling of Belle Johnson's Studio.

^A brief biography of Belle Johnson appears in Western Camera Notes 6, no. 10
(October, 1903). In this article, it mentions that she was dissatisfied with teaching
school.

According to the History of Monroe and Shelby Counties, Missouri (St. Louis:
National Historical Company, 1884, p. 308.) records of a photography studio in
Monroe City exist as early as 1880 when William A. Bird moved his business from
Shelbina, Missouri. It is not known, however, what happened to Mr. Bird. Nc
information could be located on "Mr. Rippey" referred to in the next paragraph.
Ruby Byland, who worked for Johnson in later years, refers to the previous owner as
"Mr. Tydings." (Ruby Byland, Letter to Massillon Museum, 19 June 1969, File "Belle
Johnson." Massillon Museum, Massillon, Ohio.) It is unclear just what theseqljence
of owners may have been.

'Time-Life Books, ed.. The Studio. New York: 1971 , p. 49.

'Monroe City (Mo.) News 1 May 1890, p. 3.

46 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

^Western Camera Notes, 6, no. 10 (October, 1903).

^Monroe City (Mo.) News 3 October 1907, p. 5.

^Monroe City (Mo.) News 1 November 1894, p. 1.

^"Monroe City (Mo.) News 27 June 1907, p. 2. While a complete list of her prizes,
awards, and sales for photographs does not exist, the appendices following this
study provide partial information from available sources.

^^ Monroe City (Mo.) Democrat 2 February 1899, p. 1.

^^Monroe City (Mo.) News 6 March 1902, p. 1.

"Jones, Bernard E., ed. Cassell's Cyclopaedia of Pliotograpiiy (London: Cassell
and Company, 1911; Reprinted., New York: Arno Press, 1973) p. 526.

^*Monroe City (Mo.) News 24 May 1894, p. 5.

'^Western Camera Notes, 6, no. 10 (October 1903).

'®Ruby Byland, Letter to Massillon Museum, 9 September 1975, File "Belle
Johnson." Massillon Museum, Massillon, Ohio.

^'However there were other businesses in town owned and run by women. For
example, after 1916, the editor and publisher of the Monroe City News, was a
woman named Miss Anna E. Nolen.

'«Belle Johnson, Letter to Editor, Abel's Pfiotograpfiic Weekly 24 (19 July, 1919), p.
604.

^^Western Camera Notes, no. 10 (October, 1903).

^°St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, April, 1904.

^'Mo/7roeC/fy(Mo.)A/ews 11 June 1903, p. 1.

^^Monroe City (Mo.) News 27 October 1916, p. 1.

"Ruby Byland, Letter to Massillon Museum, 15 April 1969. File "Belle Johnson."
Massillon Museum, Massillon, Ohio.

PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARDS

DATE

1894 Ranked third, Missouri Photographer's Association (M.P.A.). Reported
Monroe City News, 1 November 1894, p. 1.

1895 Won medal from Missouri Photographer's Association reported in Monroe
City News, 1 July 1897, p. 3.

1897 Secured second medal in Class C for Cabinet work M.P.A., Pertie Springs,
Mo., reported Monroe City News, 19 August 1897, p. 1.

1899 Invited to attend Illinois Photographer's Association, Springfield, Illinois.
(Monroe City News, 12 October 1899, p. 1.) Medal is shown in photograph
from Massillon Museum.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BELLE JOHNSON 47

1901 Won prize in the Chicago Record-Herald's contest for best annatuer pho-
tographs of flowers for table decoration. Reported Monroe City News, 22
August 1901, p. 1.

1902 Gold Medal, M.P.A., Pertie Springs. Reported in Monroe City News. 18
September 1902, p. 1.

1903 Awarded First Prize in the Continuous Camera Contest of the Buffalo (N.Y.)
Express. These awards mentioned in Monroe City News 26 February, 1903, 16
July 1903, and 8 October 1903.

1903 M.P.A. gold medal in Class E — that of views. Reported in Monroe City News,
16 July 1903.

1905 M.P.A., Springfield, Mo., two medals, in the commercial and portrait classes.
Reported in Monroe City News, 22 June 1905.

1906 M.P.A., Excelsior Springs, "a diploma of honor in one class, a gold medal for
her baby pictures in another class, a twenty-five dollar cash prize and last,
but best, a great silver loving cup to keep for year." Monroe City News, 28
June 1906.

1906 Salon at Niagara Falls, New York. Reported in Monroe City News, 16 August
1906.

1907 From Excelsior Springs, Mo., M.P.A. Medal from Genie Club, first prize in
portrait class for a town of 20,000 or less, first prize in extra class (devoted to
developing papers) and a diploma in rating class." Reported in Monroe City
News, 27 June 1907. In the same issue, it reports she had won thirteen
medals in total, including one from Paris, France.

1907 Salon honors at National convention in Dayton, Ohio. Reported in Monroe
City News, 15 August 1907.

1916 Award for Best Picture Cover Page for a Farm Journal from Camera Craft
magazine. Reported Monroe City News, 10 March 1916.

1917 G. H. Croughton and Eastman Kodak use a photo at National Photography
Association of Canada. Reported in Monroe City News, 15 June 1917.

PICTURE SOURCES OF
BELLE JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHS

American Annual of Photography

1904, pp. 107, 171.

1906, p. 105.

1907, p. 170

1909, pp. 32, 53.

1910, p. 305.

1911, pp. 134, 211.

1912, pp. 153, 223.

1913, Insert p. 76, p. 120.

1914, p. 191.

48 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

1915, p. 227.

1916, p. 221.

1917, Inserts pp. 64, 137.

1918, Insert p. 24.

1919, p. 9.

1921, p. 87 and Insert p. 104.
1926, p. 51.

Buffalo (New York) Illustrated Express. (Title varies)

12/28/02, p. 3 (two photos)

1/4/03, pp. 3, 4.

1/25/03, p. 4.

2/15/03, p. 2.

3/24/03, p. 8.

5/3/03, p. 8

5/10/03, pp. 3, 8.

5/24/03, p. 8.

6/14/03, p. 8.

National Geographic, vol. 38, no. 4, October, 1920. Ralph A Graves, "Human
Emotion Recorded by Photography," plates v and xiii.

Sears, Stephen W., et al. Hometown U.S.A. (New York: American Heritage
Publishing, 1975), p. 88.

St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, April, 1904. Includes series of seven
photographs, plus short critique.

Western Camera Notes. Minneapolis: October, 1903. Includes three photographs.

Wilson's Photographic Magazine., Vol. LI, no. 5, May, 1914. "Women Who Have Won
Fame in Photography." pp. 199-209. Includes portrait of Belle Johnson, p.
204, and two photographs, p. 209.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF
REGIONAL ARTS: A
CONVERSATION WITH
GEORGE M. IRWIN OF QUINCY

David Raizman

The vitality of the arts at all levels depends upon the commitment and
the dedication of individuals who believe strongly in their significance. For
some of these individuals, it is not enough to collect vjorks of art or to
travel to see them. Rather they have a desire to share their own interest
and strive to enable others to have the opportunity to make art an
enriching part of their lives. One of these people is George M. Irwin of
Quincy, Illinois.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1943, Mr. Irwin
returned to his family home in Quincy. In 1961, he became the Chairman
of the Board of Directors of Irwin Paper Company and the Quincy
Compressor Company. Starting in 1947, he took an active role in or-
ganizing arts organizations in the area. Later he worked to establish the
Illinois Arts Council as he acquired his own substantial personal
collection of European and American art. In 1964, Mr. Irwin devoted
considerable energies to restoring a mid-nineteenth century Italianate
home in Quincy where he now resides. The home showcases many of the
finest works in his collection, now almost exclusively devoted to American
art and the works of many Illinois artists. He retired from business in 1971.

In this interview, conducted in his Quincy home on September 1, 1987,
Mr. Irwin discusses primarily his own involvement in the arts spanning
more than forty years. The interview focuses upon the role of art (both fine

*The author would like to thank Donna Wynn of the Art Department at Western
Illinois University, whose transcription of the taped interview great^y facilitated the
preparation of this article.

50 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

art and more popular forms as well) In the western Illinois region, and the
ways in which it contributes to the welfare of the smaller community. The
interview documents many of Mr. Irwin's own efforts to promote the arts at
the local and state levels, and offers some suggestions for improving the
level of general cultural awareness at the regional level.

Raizman: You've had a long history of involvement in the visual arts,
both as a collector and as an advocate at the state and national levels. I
wonder if you could recall what experience first attracted you to art, and
how that attraction developed from an interest into something resembling
more of a passion.

Irwin: Actually my first interest was in the performing arts area, though I
did enroll in a few classes at the Quincy Art Center as a grade school
student. I got interested in playing in the high school band and orchestra
as a clarinetist and did some student conducting; I also went to the
National Music Camp at Interlochen for several summers, back in the
1930's. When I got to college, I didn't take music or art courses, but I did
play in the University of Michigan concert band and marching band. The
visual arts activities didn't come until well into those college years. I
particularly remember an exhibit of watercolors by John Marin (American,
1870-1953) at the university museum. I came very close to calling home
and asking my father if he would loan me $1,000 so I could buy four of
them. Of course, in retrospect, I was a fool not to have done that. I finally
bought a Marin watercolor much later and for much much more money
than that, but that exhibit stimulated my interest. When I graduated from
college, I decided to return to live here in Quincy. The Quincy Art Center,
operated by the Quincy Art Club, had a very aggressive traveling exhibit
booking program, and that was back in the days when people like the
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) and the Museum of Modern Art in New
York were sending out traveling exhibits designed for small museums and
art centers. You didn't have the prohibitive insurance and other problems
that you do now. So it was really from those early traveling exhibits that I
decided to purchase my first painting, a gouache by the English artist
John Piper, from one of those traveling shows. After that I started doing a
little traveling. I became acquainted with a gallery in New York from whom
I had bought this work — the Curt Valentine Gallery — and it just sort of
took off from there.

Raizman: And what year was that?

Irwin: That was in 1950.

Raizman: It's interesting to learn that the interest you developed in
college didn't dissipate when you returned to Quincy because there was
an active traveling exhibition program in the region. That leads me to
inquire about your views concerning importance and strength of regional
art centers.

Irwin: There's no question about their importance, and of course the big
problem with a lot of them now is finding the money just to book these
exhibits, or to provide adequate spaces in which to hang them. That's one

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN

George Irwin

52 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

of the problems that the people here in Quincy are facing right now while
they're planning a half-million dollar addition to the little 1887 wooden
carriage house that they're in at the moment. They can't get some exhibits
that they might otherwise afford because of the nature of the structure,
being wooden, subject to fire and just not that safe for a lot of these
shows to travel. That's been brought about, I think mostly in the last ten
years, by the terrific increase in the value of art of all kinds. But nothing
beats the live object — color slide presentations or other types of
reproductions simply don't do it. You don't have the same kind of emo-
tional or general visual experience that you do when you look at the real
thing.

Raizman: So economic conditions mitigate against the growth and
stimulation of the visual arts.

Irwin: I think it's really the responsibility of larger centers (and they don't
have to be that much larger) that do have quality work in their private
collections, to make these available to smaller centers, either in organized
shows or in the loan of occasional or several works. We've done that over
the years with the Illinois State Museum, the Krannert Art Museum in
Champaign, and other regional museums. Actually these larger museums
— well I would include Macomb, too, because the Western Illinois
University Art Gallery is a fine facility with an interesting permanent
collection — can help some of the smaller groups. In many cases they
have trained professional staff, or it might be an artist who's got a part-
time job there. In the Quincy case there is not trained staff, just a part-time
secretary, that's about all they can afford at the moment. But I think that
dealing with the larger institutions that will make things available — those
larger institutions can help, and in fact train volunteers in how to mount
exhibits and the care and handling of art work, and just some professional
guidelines to go by. Larger regional museums have an educational
responsibility to let people know what they have — in effect to tell people
how to go about organizing and hanging exhibitions and offer other kinds
of advice. A lot of these small regional or local centers don't have that
much imagination, and are in need of new ideas. There's a need, for
instance, for exposure to more than just regional artists' work. I'm
certainly not putting down regional artists, but there are a lot of fine
professionals, mostly on a faculty somewhere in a college or university. A
community should not be satisfied with just showing its Sunday painters
or its part-time painters or sculptors. There's a lot more to what goes on in
this country than what happens within a 150-mile radius of a given place.
Most small centers tend to be a little lazy and not aggressive enough to
look further for new kinds of visual experience.

Raizman: In other words the larger regional centers can act as a liaison
between the small community and the greater international world of fine
art.

Irwin: Exactly. And if those intermediate-level museums with pro-
fessional staff, climate control and all those things are in the good posi-

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN 53

tion to be the borrowers from even the bigger institutions like the St. Louis
Art Museum or the Chicago Art Institute, the liaison can work in that way
too.

Raizman: That's true. Now the lack of this kind of network would result
in cultural isolation. Without these liaisons, places like Macomb or Quincy
would not offer enough for the artist or art-going public to remain
stimulated. And yet your own career indicates that you haven't felt this
isolation. Living in Quincy was your decision when you could have
presumably settled in another place which offered more contact with fine
art. Yet you've chosen to live here, which means that you must believe in
the ability of communities such as this to have a viable cultural life.

Irwin: Well I know it can work. Several years ago — it was 1969 to 1972, a
four year period — the Quincy Art Club received a grant to hire a
professional director and money to put together exhibits. There was a lot
of co-op exhibit work going on then with Western Illinois University and
the Quincy group, with the Springfield Art Association, with the Illinois
State Museum, and we brought a number of major artists to the region for
lecture demonstrations, slide shows, exhibits of their work, and it was all
organized so that the artist or the exhibit came to one institution and was
automatically booked at the other two. So when you do things on even that
kind of an expanded regional booking basis, you're just like performing
artists. It's much better if you can offer a violinist, say a week or two
weeks of engagements. He cuts down his travel time, he just has to go
from one town to another in a restricted area, so you're not spending a lot
of money on bringing him here from New York or California. The same is
true with the visual artist. You can offer a more interesting package while
you get a better response and better quality of work. Then at the same
time, the individual that is in a somewhat isolated community like Quincy
has to also take the initiative to go to the larger cities occasionally and
see what's going on, and buy a few art magazines to make himself aware
of what is happening so he will make better buying judgments when he
gets involved with the local efforts. And as I say, if people don't make
these extra efforts, they sort of fall into the easy path of doing what they
did last year, and that's not good enough. One must always try to find
something a little more challenging and a little more interesting. These
cooperative efforts, like planning something in harmony with other com-
munities, produce something greater than several little isolated things
done by themselves. You see there's really no limit, and I would almost say
that in terms of dollars, if you generate the ideas and do the planning. I
always take the position that if you do the idea work, do the professional
planning, and the good management planning, too, the money will be
there.

Raizman: So you basically are an optimist?

Irwin: Oh, sure. People generally don't work hard enough at these
things, or don't stop and think it through. I'm afraid this is true with some
larger arts organizations, too, in big cities, because I've had experiences

54 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

with those in Chicago and New York with a number of national and state
boards, and I've seen some comments made and decisions proposed on
some of those boards that are just as shallow and not well thought out as
anything that floats out of a small community board meeting. But the more
people you have on your board that have some background and knowledge
and some experience, the more balanced the end result will be. If
everybody is sitting there with no experience at all, you're going to get
some pretty bad decision making.

Raizman: How would you characterize what it is about the arts that
make them worthwhile? What do they contribute to the life of the
community that they might not otherwise have or that they might not get
somewhere else?

Irwin: Personally it's an emotional response to something, it's a
stimulus when you look, a satisfaction you get, even without training. And
the more you see the more you hone your perception and abilities. But it's
just this response of feeling good or even maybe feeling agitated or
feeling offended at something, and then stopping to think, "Now why does
that picture bother me?," for example, or "Why did that musical
composition bother me?" And if they'll go beyond the initial reaction,
whatever it might be — good, bad, or indifferent — then they're starting to
learn, and starting to get some kind of basis for making even more
sophisticated judgements. I think the whole basis of quality and
establishing quality standards — anybody can do it, but most people are
hesitant to do it because they say, "Oh gosh. I don't know anything about
that," or the other response, "I know what I like," which really means, "I
like what I know," so that the mind has to be open to new ideas. It doesn't
make any difference to me. I'm perfectly at home with a realist painting as
well as with a completely non-objective one as long as I feel the artist
knows how to draw. You don't always have to know, "What does that
painting mean?" Really, it means a lot of different things to a lot of
different people. I think the more you stick labels on pictures, probably the
worse it is because you restrict the viewers in slots, as you're locking them
into a narrower reaction.

I also think it increases one's tolerance and the ability to think or to
respond. It's creating a better person. You can do it through formal edu-
cation; you can do it through informal education, like one gets in a gallery
or from listening to a concert, or seeing a good play, or just reading good
literature.

Raizman: I'm interested in finding out a little bit more about the history
of your collection and also about your involvement as a citizen of the
Quincy community and what you've done to promote awareness of the
arts over the years.

Irwin: As I said, I started collecting in 1950, mainly as the result of
seeing a John Piper gouache (British, b. 1903) in a Museum of Modern Art
show, and then making the conscious decision that I would like to collect
more art. At that time there were almost no galleries in Chicago or St.

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN 55

Louis, SO I began making more trips to New York, and finally other
galleries started to grow in St. Louis and Chicago. At first, I started
collecting name European artists, and primarily works on paper and
sculpture that I seemed to respond to a little more strongly than I do
paintings. And so that's what I did for the first half dozen years or so. I
didn't buy any American work for a while. I wish now I had done that a little
more strongly. During the 1950's I started reading several art magazines
and found out that there was a great deal going on in this country in the
post WWII period. Although I became acquainted with 19th-century
American painting as well (I owned paintings by Kensett and Moran which
I've since sold), I eventually decided to stick with the 20th century, and I
gradually worked toward collecting all American works, which I've
probably done now for the last ten or fifteen years. I've sold off probably
most of the European pieces that I had. There are still a few around, as you
can see. Some of them will stay, some will go, but that was the general
framework.

In the late forties and fifties, the whole Community Arts Council de-
velopment started. It was first at the community level, and I was involved
In starting the one here in Quincy which turned out to be the first one in
the country, although we didn't know that at the time. We just knew that
there was a need for some coordinated work in the arts, and we wanted to
avoid scheduling conflicts among the groups who supported various art
activities in the community; that's how it began.

Also, in 1960 the New York State Arts Council was formed, primarily
through Nelson Rockefeller, who initially funded it until it received state
support. At that time I was involved with the National Board of the
American Symphony Orchestra League, because I had started and was
conducting the Quincy Symphony Orchestra here. The director of that
organization became interested in this community council movement
which was starting to pop up here and there as a result of a transplant
from the British national-government-dominated approach to arts councils
and the Canadian experience, which was mixed — both provincial and
national. So we had some sessions and became acquainted with other
people who were doing this community arts council work too. The Junior
Leagues of America also were a big stimulus at this time, but they were
only in communities of 50,000 people and over, so we didn't see anything
of them around here. And then a group of us formed our own organization
which is now known as The American Council of the Arts, and I served as
the first chairman of that for a number of years. That office is still active in
New York City and has greatly expanded. That gave me a chance to look at
other galleries, and I saw a lot more contemporary American work and
also some early 20th century American work as well, like the Bellows
lithographs that I have, and a number of other pieces — Hopper and other
American Realists. I guess at that point, it sort of crystalized my thinking
that trying to spread between Europe and the United States was just too
much, and that's where I started to work toward acquiring just Americans.

56 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Raizman: So your collecting was influenced by your advocacy for the
arts at the state and national level because that experience brought you
into contact with works that you wanted to purchase.

Irwin: Oh sure, it did have a lot to do with it. And then when we formed
the Illinois Arts Council (the first committee meeting took place in 1963,
followed by legislation in 1965), I served as chairman seven or eight years,
and we started an office in Chicago, so I was more and more in Chicago.
One of the first things we did was to organize traveling exhibits by Illinois
artists, because very few of them had gallery representation at that time.
There were only one or two galleries. One gallery I remember well, which is
no longer in existence in Chicago, was pushing Illinois based artists, and
the place to find them then as now is in colleges and universities. Most
every small college has got at least one pretty good artist in its art
department. Sometimes that's the whole department. And the expansion
of colleges and universities, and so-called artist-in-residence programs, all
of that has helped. So I got acquainted with a lot of Illinois artists that way
through the traveling exhibits and bought a lot of my Illinois artists
collection directly from the artists. And I've probably got fifty or sixty
different Illinois artists in the collection. A lot of people have moved by
now, but a lot of them are still here. That was sort of the way it formed —
not all that consciously, it was just a matter of experiencing over the years
which way I wanted to go.

Raizman: The budget of the Illinois Arts Council comes from the state,
and that means in effect that people's tax dollars are used for this kind of
cultural enrichment.

Irwin: Primarily, yes. They do receive federal monies in the amount of
about seven million dollars from the state now, and a modest part of it
from the National Endowment for the Arts, too.

We started out the first year with a two-year appropriation of $25,000,
and with that money we hired a director and a secretary. The Governor
gave us free space in his office in Chicago, so we had to go out and get
private grant money to underwrite the programs, which we did. They still
may do a little of that, but not too much anymore. Most of our program
monies came as a result of the private grants from corporations and
Illinois based foundations. That was another great avenue for me to get
acquainted, because at that time I started to do a lot more traveling
around the state, and I'd go to openings of exhibits that we were
sponsoring in different areas, or I would go to, say, an opening at
Lakeview in Peoria or the museum in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, or Urbana, or
wherever, just to get acquainted with what was happening.

Raizman: Then you were really involved at a very early stage in the
movement of public funding for the arts. That was a rather new idea.

Irwin: Oh yes. A lot of us lobbied quite a bit, and I testified in Congress
on the first National Endowment for the Arts legislation back in 1965.

Raizman: What were some of the arguments, the gist of the statements

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN 57

that were made to convince Congress and the state legislature to allocate
state or federal monies to promote and support the arts?

Irwin: Some of it was just pressure. I remember one state senator who
was primarily interested in his nearest state university. He was a Re-
publican and our director was a Democrat. I'm a Republican, so we worked
different sides of the aisle, and this guy we are talking about was quite
conservative. I had asked a couple of my friends to talk to him because he
was a key person on the Appropriations Committee, and he finally said,
"All right, I'll support your appropriation for $200,000, but don't ask for any
more than that or I'll vote against it." That gives you an idea of what was
going on. To answer your question, we used several arguments as I recall.
One was to note that the resources in the state were all stacked up in
Chicago, and there are a few in Springfield, Peoria, and in Rockford, but
really that's not fair to people in the rest of the state. "We've got to be able
to get some more of these resources spread around and give people in
your community. Senator, or your community, Mr. State Representative, a
chance to hear a good concert or see a good play, or see a good exhibit of
art particularly by our Illinois artists." We used that angle, too. The Illinois
artists are voters too. So we worked those arguments, and just the need
for people to see more art, reminding legislators that the arts do help the
quality of life in their communities, and that the legislators can get credit
for helping us bring this to several of your towns, and look, the money is
peanuts compared to paving a mile of highway, and we tried to make
contrasts like that.

For a while it wasn't how much money we were going to get but whether
or not the council should exist at all. This started under Governor Otto
Kerner who gave very good support to it, and made his best staff available
to us so we always knew what people to talk to and when the hearings
were going to be, and all that kind of information. It was a slow process for
a while. But now the fact that it is established I think is pretty well
accepted. The question is, just how much? But we've tried to do as much
diversity as possible. We've had a couple of small exhibits from the Art
Institute that traveled, and the first program that we sponsored was the
Chicago Symphony in Springfield, Illinois, sponsored by the Springfield
Chapter of the National Secretaries Association. So we tried to be as
diversified as possible. There wasn't much theatre; it was mostly at that
point music, some small ensembles, and we stuck with as quality a
product as we could put together.

Raizman: Are you pleased with the history of the Illinois Arts Council
and the projects that they have been able to fund over the last two
decades?

Irwin: Generally yes. Occasionally there have been some problems,
mainly because of inept leadership either at the volunteer or at the staff
levels, which happens in any organization from time to time. It has gotten
a little too political at points, but I think overall it's been very good. There's
certainly been a good growth period with no major catastrophies. There've

58 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

been a few minor ones once in a while, when some senator or rep-
resentative didn't like a grant that we gave to somebody because we might
have been a little too liberal, particularly in the literature area. But beyond
that, I don't recall that really major problems developed in any year. Of
course now the business of supporting the arts is a lot more recognized
than it was back in the sixties or even the early seventies. The national
growth picture has helped — you read a heck of a lot more in newspapers
and magazines about what communities are doing to support their arts
organizations, and that kind of thing is very helpful because if someone
can read in a magazine or a newspaper what another community, maybe
even the same size town or certainly less than metropolitan size, is doing
in the arts areas, it might give some local people a chance to say, "Gosh,
we could do that." This is true in architecture, too, and in historic
preservation. After all, architecture is an art form as well. To give people
examples of what they can do, sometimes to present an argument and
make a case for something, can be very difficult if you can't point to
successful examples elsewhere where someone has done something of a
similar nature. Anywhere in the country, it doesn't make any difference
where it is, just showing that community involvement and organization
has gotten something done which might be bigger than the town thought
that they could do. That's one of the things that has always intrigued me. I
think the community generally can always do a lot more than they think
they can in a lot of areas.

Raizman: I'm glad you mentioned architecture because it is a resource
that's just there in almost every western Illinois regional community.

Irwin: Oh sure. As a matter of fact, that's really the only art form that
you'll find present in practically any town or village of any size. There are
always a couple of good buildings in any community, and to get people to
respect those and think of ways that they might be recycled — it doesn't
have to be for the original use — a house can become an office, or it can
become a museum, or a store, or a store can become living quarters. But
again, recognizing what the esthetic aspects of the structure are requires
just a minimal knowledge of architecture. Nobody has to be an expert. Of
course Quincy has got this great wealth of architecture, I think more than
any other community in the state except the whole Chicago area, but
that's 5 million people up there. But I don't know of any other town,
including Galena, that has the scope, quality, and breadth of what we have
here in Quincy. And getting people to appreciate that, living in it, using it,
but respecting the structure and not slapping a porch on that's not
properly designed or certainly not putting aluminum siding on, and things
like that, or even using paint colors appropriate to the period. You have
lots of choices. It's just a matter of doing something that is appropriate to
that period.

Raizman: Yes. I think that in terms of architecture that it is a living
tradition as long as we continue to recognize and preserve it.

Irwin: Of course. Once the building is gone, you have photographs, but

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN 59

that's like listening to a record or looking at a painting on a printed page.
It's not the same thing.

Raizman: And the aesthetic sensibility that is behind good architecture
continues through the widespread efforts to remodel or restore.

Irwin: Yes. Renovated, restored, recycled, whatever word you want to
use. Quality in architecture can be a part of any regional arts program. And
something else, arts facilities should not be housed in a lousy building.
You've got to do something to improve the quality of space they are in,
restore the facade, or if it's an undistinguished building, maybe have a
new facade constructed, or do a sensitive job on the interior, even if walls
get moved. Because that makes a statement of what you are, in a way —
the space that you occupy. It's true with a home. If somebody is careless
and doesn't keep up the house, and lets a porch railing fall off, that says
they don't really care. But if they're concerned about it and keep it neat,
even if it just needs a coat of paint, if a thing is kept neat and clean, and
inappropriate changes are avoided, then that to me says a person does
care a little bit, even though they might not have enough money to do
everything they want to do with it.

Raizman: I've been living in Macomb for a few years now, and one of the
things that's affected me most about small-town living is the self-
sufficiency of the average citizen. It must be a carry over from pioneer
days.

Irwin: I think that's right, because for a while people were sort of
forgetting what to do. But again, stimulated by a huge Interest in historic
preservation and the availability of reproduction hardware, all this is
encouraging the "do it yourself-er," and that spills over into all kinds of
areas.

Raizman: I guess the Ideal would be that the level of skill coufd be
matched by the level of aesthetic sensibility, because the skill In Itself
isn't always sufficient.

Getting back to the part of the question that we haven't touched on,
what do you feel about the importance of your own background, and the
way in which your upbringing in Quincy shaped your interest in the arts
and your career in general?

Irwin: When I went to college I was a speech major and was thinking
about going into radio broadcasting, and then in my senior year I decided
not to do that. I made a conscious decision to come back here and work in
the family business and have some time to get into community activities,
because I felt an obligation to do these kinds of things and there were
certainly lots of opportunities; even though some of the organizations
didn't exist, we created them and developed activities that are still going
on. So I had this kind of overriding commitment to do something.

Raizman: Was that sort of a family tradition?

Irwin: My grandfather had always been very active in a lot of community
organizations. He got manual training started in the public schools years
ago, was intrigued with the Battle Creek health food stuff when it came

60 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

out, and those kinds of things. So probably that was inherited, and both
my father and mother encouraged me to go into these l<inds of activities,
so that was probably the reason I did that and had some spare time that I
could use and devote to these activities and see that the need was there.
The first stimulus was the fact that I had played clarinet all these years,
then I come back as an adult and asked myself, "What do I do with it?"
There was nothing around, so we created some organizations — first a
chamber music group, and then that gradually developed into the
symphony. It spilled over into the visual arts areas, too. You get to looking
around and think, "What else is there that one might do?" My interest in
architecture has come more recently, in the last twenty or twenty-five
years.

Raizman: Since you purchased this home?

Irwin: No. It started before that. I was working on another Italianate
house. It was built in 1872. This one dates from 1857. Now I'm trying to
clear out some space, because I'm getting to the point in life where I've
got to start getting rid of some things. I'm thinning down the collection,
too. It got up to about 500 pieces and that was too much because there are
a lot of unframed prints and portfolios, and a number of framed things just
sitting in closets. I do move things around, but still there is a lot of art that
doesn't get looked at very often, so I'm trying to cut back, and I think I'm
down to about 400 pieces now.

Raizman: There's another issue I'd like you to comment on. Here in your
living room, I'm looking at a Cezanne lithograph and if I turn my head
slightly I see a brush drawing by Matisse. These are all works of estab-
lished fine art. We've also been speaking this morning about architecture,
and that's more of a regional and grassroots tradition. But there's another
more popular level at which art functions, for instance, the trade in
antiques or even the flea markets and collectible shows. This in turn
touches upon the promotion of art at a local level through festivals and
tourism that we find in events like the Spoon River Drive. What thoughts
do you have about these movements?

Irwin: I'm all in favor of getting art out of the museums and displaying it
in other settings where people are accustomed to going. Now in a big city
It's different. Sometimes you've got to limit the crowd to view the exhibit.
But in smaller communities, you really are out beating the bushes to get
people to come and look at what you have. So it seems to me that it's a
good idea to place art in settings where people go customarily, in a bank
or savings and loan association. Even in some kinds of stores or lobbies of
buildings where there is some degree of control. Certainly the display of
local regional artists in situations like that is always good. And
communities can do a lot more of that. There's a lot of that going on
around here. Both hospitals, I think, show work in their lobbies, and a
couple of the clinics do, and a few places like that — the lobby of a
community college. The more of that, the better it is because people then
will see art in a context really I think for one of the reasons it was done.

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN m

and that is to be seen by people. It doesn't have to be In a private home or
In a museum where you pay a few dollars or even if you get in free. If
somebody sees art as they're going to get their groceries or as they're
going to do their banking or whatever they're going to do, you know there
are impressions that will last, and I think that that's certainly a good way
of improving the quality of life.

The problem now with the value of the art object zooming up so much is
that you do have to have some restrictions and some areas of control.
We're right in the middle of planning now an exhibit of quilts which will
open in the Gardner Museum of Architecture and Design as our big fall
exhibit in early October here in Quincy. In a number of cases lenders are
quite flexible, but for others we have to put some of the quilts behind glass
or hang them out of the reach of anybody so there can be no touching,
because just oil from the fingers of a lot of people will react on the quilt
surfaces. And lenders of more valuable work are naturally more appre-
hensive about where it's going to be put. But to the extent that it's pos-
sible, I think communities can do much much more than they do in getting
art out and putting it in public places. And even an occasional sculpture in
a public place, not necessarily a statue of the local "leading light." Of
course, the whole program of Art in Public Places of the National
Endowment is a good example of this thing operating on a higher level.
But in that case you're talking about very expensive pieces, primarily
sculpture, in community settings. But art that is bought by corporations
and displayed in their offices and their lobbies is certainly a valuable
trend. I was reading an article recently about the Chase Bank collection
which has its own curator, as do many of these corporate collections, and
their curator will spend up to two million dollars a year on the purchase of
art work. So there are a lot of sources whereby these things can be done
and the average person can see art. He doesn't have to buy it himself, and
the more that's made available, the more you develop an appreciation or at
least you stimulate an interest in the office worker, or even the factory
worker who sees it as he checks in. That then might encourage him to go
and look at what's in the more formal setting at the local art center.

Raizman: Certainly the museum and the art center don't have to be
restricted by always hanging and mounting sculptures, lithographs, prints,
or paintings on walls. There are aesthetic qualities to objects like
collectibles that make their way, for instance into Smithsonian, and these
are materials that can be exhibited too. There Is certainly no lack of
enthusiasm for the local flea market which usually contains a lot of
interesting things.

Irwin: To get back to fostering a familiarity with fine art for a moment,
several communities have done very well (though many have not), in
developing a liaison with the local public schools. Most public school art
programs are pretty dull. They tend to be artsie-craftsie kinds of programs
and the kids seldom see a real live quality painting or drawing. Docents or
volunteers from a local arts center working a cooperative program with the

62 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

public schools can take paintings out to classrooms and talk with kids
about "Here's the real thing," and respond to questions, etc. Years ago
Rockford started one of those programs, as I recall, and it may still be
going. I hope it is. These are important things that can be done with little
money. Start out with the best work you can find from your local artists,
which is one way of developing name recognition. A number of the kids in
the class might actually know that artist and know him by name, and if
they can see some of his work, that's even better; then you go on from
there, upgrading things. There's nothing that beats the life experience.

Raizman: I came here with an interest in finding out more about you, but
I didn't expect that we'd get so many helpful and practical suggestions on
how to expose our citizens to art. Also, so many of the things that you've
talked about and been so involved in are being mentioned in more abstract
form by the Board of Higher Education and other public institutions. These
organizations often refer to "outreach" and "regional cooperative efforts"
to improve education. Your career is an encouragement, because you've
demonstrated by concrete example that things can happen and that
things have been done.

Irwin: There's one more point that ought to be made, I think, and it's also
about arts programs in public schools. Too many administrators, it seems
to me, and probably too many teachers as well, think of their music, art, or
theatre programs as just for the kids that get involved in them. That really
isn't true at all. The arts programs are for the whole school body and
should be encouraged by the administration to provide an arts experience
for everyone, not just a few dozen or a few hundred of the ones that are
participating. And even one step beyond that, the fact that they participate
in an art program, a theatre program, or a music program (chorus,
orchestra, or band), whatever it is, doesn't mean that they are going to be
professional musicians. A lot of educators that I've found in the past few
years seem to hide behind this angle that, "Oh well we can't afford
to do that because we're not in the business of training professional
musicians." Well of course that's not a fair assessment of the issue. What
they should be interested in is training good humanists and training good
generalists. And the more people you get involved in these programs, even
in a very small way, the better it is. A student can be in theatre work and be
behind the lights or help with costumes or scenery-building, or whatever.
And when these people get out of school, they become good audience
members, because they've had this firsthand exposure to the arts as a
direct participant. I think that really one of the things that got me started
was the fact that I was actively involved in music, as the case was, in
school. So it's a valuable tool for creating people to be better community
citizens.

Raizman: And insofar as Basic Curriculum or a General Education
continues to be a requirement for a degree at almost every university or
college, the interest in "creating a generallst" remains an ideal of the
higher education system. And even though instruction in many arts

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE M. IRWIN 63

curricula tends to become quite specialized and technical, we shouldn't
only be concerned with training professional artists. There's going to be a
time when you want to do something totally different from what you're
doing during the day, when you want to be known as someone else, when
you want to immerse yourself in an activity that is relaxing and genuinely
recreative. And when you've acquired a couple of these skills, whether it's
playing an instrument, viewing art, or making it, it comes in quite handy.

Irwin: Yes, people should take time early in their lives, and not wait until
they retire. The more community programs that can be put out where
people practically stumble over them as they go about their daily
schedules, then the more these kinds of things can happen, and the more
it will improve a community. It's just a way of educating citizens to
be concerned with their town, to be contributing members of their
community.

Raizman: I imagine that's really what being a citizen means.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

The Western Illinois Regional Studies Association held its ninth annual
conference in Peoria on Septennber 19. It was sponsored by the Peoria
Historical Society, and the talks related to the theme of entrepreneurship.
The conference included a tour of Jubilee College Historic Site, which has
been recently restored by the State of Illinois.

The tenth regional studies conference will be held in Quincy next spring,
and those who have attended recent Western Illinois Regional Studies
Conferences will receive brochures in the mail. Others are invited to
inquire with the chairman of the conference planning committee: Louise
Crede, Coordinator of Community Services, John Wood Community
College, 150 S. 48th St., Quincy, III. 62301.

There are annual conferences devoted to the history and literature of
Illinois, and for those who may be interested in them and would like to
receive future brochures, these are the people to contact. For the Illinois
History Symposium: Dr. Roger D. Bridges, Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency, Old State Capitol, Springfield, III. 62701. For the Illinois Literary
Heritage Conference: Ms. Cecilia Velasco, Coordinator, READ ILLINOIS
Program, Office of the Secretary of State, State of Illinois Center at
Chicago, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, III. 60601. The history symposium
is held each year during the first week-end in December at Springfield; the
literary heritage conference is held in October at a different location every
year. The next one will be in Chicago.

The long-awaited fourth volume in the Tales from Two Rivers series has
recently appeared. It is a collection of about ninety memoirs focused
primarily on personal experiences in western Illinois early in the century. It
includes memoirs in the following subject categories: Small-town Stuff,
Encounters with Death, Good Times and Bad Times on the Farm, Old-time
Politics, Immigrants, Around Home, Old-time Arts and Culture, School
Days, Transportation and Communication, and Special Memories. Tales
from Two Rivers IV is available through the organization which sponsors
the series: Two Rivers Arts Council, College of Fine Arts, Western Illinois
University, Macomb, III. 61455. The book sells for $15.95. Copies of Tales
from Two Rivers I, II, and /// are also available at the same address.

The Illinois Newspaper Project is interested in locating files of the
state's newspapers, especially those which have not yet been micro-
filmed. Anyone who has old newspaper files, or who knows about such
files, is encouraged to contact Janice Petterchak, the Project Director,
who is Director of the Illinois State Historical Library. Her office is at the
Old State Capitol, Springfield, III. 62701, and her phone number is 217-782-

66 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

4836. The United States Newspaper Program, of which the lilinois
Newspaper Project is a part, is funded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities and coordinated by the Library of Congress.

John E. Hallwas
Western Illinois University

REVIEWS OF BOOKS

SUGAR CREEK: LIFE ON THE ILLINOIS PRAIRIE. By John Mack Faragher.
New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986. Pp. 280.

Local history is finally coming of age. And John Mack Faragher's
extensive study of an Illinois farm community, Sugar Creek, is an
important addition to the emerging literature of this genre of American
history. Faragher, who has published a prize-winning book on family life
on the Overland Trail, attempts to show, as all good local history must
show, that the part is a reflection of the whole. He maintains that what
happened and why it happened in one small part of central Illinois in the
forty years before the Civil War was typical of the entire pioneer ex-
perience in the upper Midwest. In his reconstruction of family history
Faragher shows convincingly that the social dynamics of Sugar Creek —
the interaction of the family with the landscape, sexual relations, the
community's economic growth from subsistence to commercial agri-
culture, the persistent stability of kin relationships, for example — all
combined to give a picture of a typical frontier locale that could be found
anywhere, and hence everywhere, in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and
northern Missouri between 1820 and 1870.

There are a number of positive things which stand out in the reading of
Sugar Creek. The author has a way with words, sometimes. At places he
tells the familiar very well indeed. He presents in easy prose the results of
his thorough and exhaustive research in census manuscripts, land
records, and other archival data. He shows new insights into why pioneers
placed themselves where they did on the land (at the "juncture of
environments") and brings out the importance of the trivial, such as
"moon farming," in their lives. He argues that marriage was more often
than not based on the need to create a labor force to run a small farm.
Simply understood, reproduction equaled farm production. He points out,
for the first time, how frontier intestacy laws worked against allowing
daughters ever to have a share of their father's lands. Even though the
court might award the girl an equal portion of the estate the women ended
up with nothing because the land was forfeited to their husbands when
they married; or if they were married at the death of the father, ownership
was transferred immediately to their husbands. He details a fascinating
story of farm community interdependency in a "borrowing system" of
sharing basic tools such as wagons, wheelbarrows, and teams. He
convincingly demonstrates that the Sugar Creek practice of "endogamous
marriage" or "sibling exchange" kept the land intact in large parcels
among the same families. "Members of these families," he observes,

68 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

"continued to hold over three-quarters of timber and margin, lands, and
better than a third of the newly acquired open prairie . . ." (p. 145). There
are other gems. Political alignments and voting patterns, for example, are
thoroughly analyzed and explained.

On the other hand, Faragher steps into some potholes. Despite his
readable style he sometimes runs to excess and trips over his own
rhetorical enthusiasm and overstates the case. "Sugar Creek was a settler
society," he wrote, "a minor example of the dynamic and fearful
expansion of European civilization." (p. 234). Hardly. Faragher also has a
problem with keeping his focus on Sugar Creek; he wanders. He will be
writing, for example, on patterns of early family immigration into central
Illinois from the upper South when suddenly he tells about the Celts,
Angles, Saxons, and Normans. "The history of Sugar Creek," he states in
transcendental historiography, "is part of the history of folk migrations
. . ." (p. 52). Or, when telling about how the settlers of Sugar Creek acquired
a warranty deed to their homesteads, he quickly, without warning,
digresses into Thomas Jefferson, the Land Act of 1796, and the U.S.
Congress. A third weakness is Faragher's penchant for extrapolation. He
draws conclusions about Sugar Creek from sources either not germane to
that place or time or, worse, totally unrelated to both. For instance, in
drawing a picture of religious revivalism, while admitting that nothing
survives from Sugar Creek during that period, he just substitutes as a
historical source material from the Missouri Harmony, a frontier
songbook, or quotes from Edgar Lee Masters' The Sangamon, a memoir of
Illinois farm life after the Civil War.

On balance, however, this work is an indispensable monograph. It ties in
the part to the whole (although sometimes this is overdone) and presents
new materials on family life on the fringe of civilization. He traces,
systematically, the hows and whys behind that community's transition to
a mature, commercial farm community of mid-nineteenth century America.
It is a must for the shelf of every academic library.

Robert P. Sutton
Western Illinois University

A HISTORY OF ST. PAUL CHURCH, 1857-1986. By Alice A. Krauser, Donald
A. O'Harra, Elizabeth Roark, and Mary Lou Torgerson. Macomb, Illinois: St.
Paul Church, 1986. Pp. 163. $10.00.

Any journal dealing with western Illinois which omitted mention of this
parish history would be strangely incomplete. The committee of four
persons spent almost eight years to complete the volume. In fact, St. Paul
Catholic Church celebrated its 125th year in 1979.

St. Paul Parish was organized by Father Edward O'Neill in 1854. Mass
was celebrated in the home of the Frank McSperritt family, and was

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 69

attended by the Patrick McGinnis, Peter Crawford, Patrick Laughlin,
Francis Campbell and Michael McGann families. Descendants of some of
these families are present parishioners. After three years of celebrating
mass in the homes of members and in the old Fourth Ward School on
Washington Street, three lots and a house were purchased from Birch and
Nancy Maury at the corner of Johnson and W. Jackson streets. The house,
built in 1832, was used for divine worship.

In 1867 a wood frame church was built at a cost of $4,000-$5,000 and
dedicated on August 11, with Father John Larmer as pastor. This was 10
years before the establishment of the Diocese of Peoria. By 1878, the
average Sunday attendance had grown to 80 and the annual income
reached approximately $1,000. The present church was dedicated in 1926
by Bishop Edward Dunne of Peoria. Father Richard Pricco has been pastor
since 1977.

This history is a tribute to the past, a reminder of our religious heritage.
Some 77 black and white photos are of special interest— photos of the
cemetery, the parish priests, Franciscan Sisters from Clinton, Iowa, First
Communion and Confirmation classes, buildings (rectories, parochial
school, St. Francis Hospital, the Newman Center at W.I.U.), financial
records, recipes, various organizational officers, plus the Sacred Heart
Church buildings at Tennessee. Records of early baptisms, marriages,
deaths and officers of parish organizations — incomplete as they are —
carry the reader back into the last century.

The diligent research of the authors will prove useful for those tracing
genealogies. For this is a social history of pioneers in McDonough County:
Irish, German, Italian and others who arrived later. The persistent faith of
these people in the midst of many hardships is a challenge to con-
temporary citizens. Often even getting to church over ice or knee-deep
mud became an all-day trek. References are made to St. Rose Church in
Rushville, St. Bernard Church in Bushnell, and Immaculate Conception
Church in Carthage. In 1907 Father Michael Ryan became pastor and
served the parish until his death in 1942. His 35 years are the longest term
of service. The idiosyncracies of this priest and the others make
interesting reading. The association of Father John George Alleman, O. P.
and the Mormons at Nauvoo is treated in passing. The names of 61
Franciscan Sisters who served — often heroically — are included in the
extensive index of names. There are, for example, 52 Sullivans listed! Up-
to-date lists of officers of various organizations are included: Knights of
Columbus, Home & School, Parish Council and Women's Guild. Serving
the Peoria Diocese since its inception in 1877 have been Bishops John
Lancaster Spalding, Edmund M. Dunne, Joseph H. Schlarman, William E.
Cousins, John B. Franz, and the present Edward W. O'Rourke. Separate
chapters deal with the Third Order of St. Francis, religious vocations, war
and peace, liturgical changes and music.

Unfortunately, there are some typographical errors to be noted, but
otherwise, the book is a credit to the authors. O'Harra is a newspaperman

70 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

and Torgerson is a writer. Krauser and Roarl< are long-time members of St.
Paul's, who helped assemble the information from county histories and
records, early newspapers, and letters and diaries of present and former
parishoners.

Rev. Richard E. Trutter, O.P.
St. Rose Catholic Church
Rushville, Illinois

EPISODES OF A FARM BOY. By Carl C. Lewis. Edited by Jerrilee Cain-
Tyson and Victor Hicken. Macomb: College of Fine Arts, Western Illinois
University, 1986. $10.

Episodes of a Farm Boy is a very readable volume of memoirs by a man
who was raised in rural Adams County, near Camp Point, and who
evidently forgot very little about his early years.

Lewis did not write about his life because he was an important man, but
rather, because so much of the world he knew as a boy has passed away.
In that way, he shares the motivation of many senior citizens, who have
lived through decades of very significant cultural change. Surely they
must sometimes look back over it all in amazement, as he does toward the
end of his book:

Good heavens! Is it at all possible that I lived in the time of Theodore
Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson, Red Grange, Charles Lindbergh,
Franklin Roosevelt, Jesse Owen, and a score of equally significant people?
Did I really go through the times of Arizona and New Mexico completing the
48 states. World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War,
the Viet Nam War, the assassinations of a dozen world figures, and a
revolution in morals and mortality? I did, and I am amazed at the whole trip.
(P ).

Of course, he does not deal with great world events, but with the
everyday matters of farm and family life decades ago. There are sections
on such common things as "Butchering Day," "Fences," and "The Grain
Harvest," and there are some more distinctive chapters. One of the more
interesting ones is devoted to "Building the Round Barn," which explains
how those rare and remarkable farm structures were made. Another one,
"How My College Degree Has Made Manure Hauling Such an Inspiration,"
is a humorous episode about a kind of learning that didn't come through
his agriculture course at the University of Illinois. There is a good deal in
the book about horses, which reminds us that Lewis is part of the last
generation in the modern world to be dependent upon the horse — and to
have a widespread affection for horses.

The book has little unity, except that the experiences reflect rural life.
But Lewis does manage to impress the reader with the importance of

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 7I

family relationships, which is a welcome emphasis at a time when the
American family is undergoing significant change. As he says toward the
end of the book, "Life is best lived in the bosom of family and all that it
implies: love of brothers and sisters; the affection of one generation for
another; the rites of passage as years go by; Christmas times with sons,
daughters, nieces and nephews, uncles, aunts, and cousins; births and
burials; and memories."

The book demands comparison with the Tales from Two Rivers volumes
which have appeared in recent years. In fact, the physical item itself even
resembles one of the volumes in that series. The Lewis book has more
photographs — many more — than the Tales books, but they are neither
as clear nor as fascinating as the public has seen in the memoir col-
lections. Moreover, Lewis writes in a matter-of-fact style, and while he is
always readable, his book lacks the emotional impact of the Tales
volumes that feature a variety of shorter memoirs.

That being said, Episodes of a Farm Boy will be welcome reading for
anyone with an interest in personal recollections of regional life decades
ago. Beyond that, the book could well serve as a model format for others
who would like to produce a book-length memoir.

John E. Hallwas
Western Illinois University

TEN-YEAR INDEX, 1978-1987

ARTICLES — BY AUTHOR

Allaman, John Lee. The Crime, Trial, and Execution of Williann W. Lee of East

Burlington, Illinois, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 49-66.
Greenbush Vigilantes, an Organizational Document, X, 1 (Spring,

1987), 32-41.

"Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer": The Memoir of Fields Jarvis,

IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 5-18.

_. Joseph Smith's Visits to Henderson County, VIM, 1 (Spring, 1985), 46-

55.

Western Illinois in Charlevoix's History and Journal, VII, 1 (Spring,

1984), 5-15.
Anderson, David D. Illinois Grassroots Politics of the 1890's in Brand Whitlock's

Fiction, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 163-175.
Andrews, Clarence A. Floyd Dell in the Western Illinois Region, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985),

17-33.

Illinois City: 150 Years on the Prairie, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 47-59.

Barr, Vernon F. The Illinois Waterway, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 77-86.

Baxter, David J. William Cullen Bryant: Illinois Landowner, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 1-14.

Berfield, Karen. Three Antislavery Leaders of Bureau County, III., 1 (Spring, 1980), 46-

65.
Bergen, John V. Maps and Their Makers in Early Illinois: The Burr Map and the Peck-

Messinger Map, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 5-31.
Bishop, M. Guy, Vincent Lacey and Richard Wixon. Death at Mormon Nauvoo, 1843-

1845, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 70-83.
Booher, Edwin R. The Garden Myth in "The Prairies," 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 15-26.
Bottorff, Rachael Ann. Log Cabin Hospitality on the Illinois Frontier, IX, 2 (Fall,

1986), 36-46.
Bracken, James K. Sarah Fenn Burton's Diary of a Journey to Illinois, IV, 2 (Fall,

1981), 115-135.
Bridges, Roger D. Dark Faces on the Antebellum West Central Illinois Landscape,

VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 67-80.
Burgess, Charles E. Edgar Lee Masters' Paternal Ancestry: A Pioneer Heritage and

Influence, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 32-60.
Burton, Shirley J. The Uncertain Death of Charles Wilson, VIM, 1 (Spring, 1985), 56-

69.
Camp, Dennis. Vachel Lindsay and the Chicago Herald, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 70-88.
Cannon, Donald Q. Reverend George Moore Comments on Nauvoo, the Mormons

and Joseph Smith, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 5-16.
Chicoineau, Jacques C. Etienne Cabet and the Icarians, II, 1 (Spring 1979), 5-19.
Crowder, Richard H. Carl Sandburg's Influence on Modern Poetry, I, 1 (Spring, 1978),

45-64.
Crowe, Mary B. The Sorority Movement at Monmouth College, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981),

37-49.
Cunningham, Eileen Smith, and Mabel Ambrose Schneider. A Slave's Auto-
biography Retold, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 109-126.
Davis, Rodney O. Coming to Terms with County Histories, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 144-155.
Fogde, Myron J. Primitivism and Paternalism: Early Denominational Approaches in

Western Illinois, 111,2 (Fall, 1980), 105-140.
Folks, Jeffrey J. Ellis Parker Butler: Popular Humorist at the Turn of the Century, V,

1 (Spring, 1982), 38-53.
Frazer, Timothy. Language Variation in the Military Tract, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 54-64.

74 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Goudy, Frank W. Foreign Ownership of Farmland in Western Illinois, V, 1 (Spring,

1982), 65-83.
Grant, H. Roger. Recollections of the Hennepin Canal, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 50-76.
. Utopias That Failed: the Antebellum Years, I1 1 (Spring, 1979), 38-51.

, Gerald A. Newton and John A. McFarland. The Hennepin Canal: New

Life for an Old Waterway, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 34-46.
Gundy, Lloyd, Wilma Gundy and Robert P. Sutton. An Icarian Embarkation: Le Havre

to Nauvoo, 1854, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 19-33.
Gundy, Wilma, Lloyd Gundy, and Robert P. Sutton. An Icarian Embarkation: Le

Havre to Nauvoo, 1854 IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 19-33.
Hallwas, John E. The Midwestern Poetry of Eliza Snow, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 136-145.
Quincy and Meredosia in 1842: Charles Carter Langdon's Travel

Letters, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 127-137.

The Regional Essays of Jerry Klein, i, 1 (Spring, 1978), 65-86.

.. Selected Letters of Virginia S. Eifert, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 56-82.

Hampshire, Annette P. The Triumph of Mobocracy in Hancock County 1844-1846 V,

1 (Spring, 1982), 17-37.
Haney, David. John Scripps: Circuit Rider and Newspaperman, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 7-

35.
Hawley, Owen. Lindsay's 1908 Walking Trip, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 156-172.
Hendrickson, Walter B. Louis William Rodenberg, an Illinois Poet, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981),

176-191.
, and John N. Langfitt. The Men's Literary Club of Jacksonville, III, 1

(Spring, 1980), 66-83.
Hicken, Victor. Mine Union Radicalism in Macoupin and Montgomery Counties III, 2

(Fall, 1980), 173-191.
Hinton, Norman D. The Poetry of John Knoepfle, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985), 34-52.
Hoebing, Philibert, and John Schleppenbach. The Way It Used to Be: Folklore of the

River Men, Vli, 2 (Fall, 1984), 18-29.
Howard, Robert P. "Old Dick" Richardson, the Other Senator from Quincy, VII, 1

(Spring, 1984), 16-27.
Howd, Dean. The Photography of Belle Johnson of Monroe City, Missouri, X, 2 (Fall,

1987), 35-48.
Karlowicz, Titus M. The Historic Architecture of Rock Island Arsenal, X, 2 (Fall,

1987), 9-24.
Krauth, Leiand. The Proper Pilot: A New Look at "Old Times on the Mississippi," II, 1

(Spring, 1979), 52-69.
Kurman, George. Spoon River Anthology in Estonia: Mats Traat's "Henriette

Vestrik," X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 52-55.
Lacey, Vincent, M. Guy Bishop and Richard Wixon. Death at Mormon Nauvoo, 1843-

1845, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 70-83.
Langfitt, John N., and Waller B. Hendrickson. The Men's Literary Clubs of

Jacksonville, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 66-63.
Launius, Roger D. American Home Missionary Society Ministers and Mormon

Nauvoo: Selected Letters, VIM, 1 (Spring, 1985), 16-45.
Joseph Smith III and the Mormon Succession Crises, 1844-1846, VI, 1

(Spring, 1983), 5-22.
LeIand, Bruce H. History and Dramatic Form: The Lake Argyle Project, VIM, 2 (Fall,

1985), 53-65.
McFarland, John A, Gerald A. Newton, and Donald W. Griffin. The Hennepin Canal:

New Life for an Old Waterway, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 34-46.
Mann, John. MVR at Fifteen, VIM, 2 (Fall. 1985), 66-73.
Mansberger, Floyd, and William D. Walters, Jr. Two Houses of the Lower Illinois

River Valley, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 25-36.

TEN-YEAR INDEX, 1978-1987 75

Miner, Pamela Olson, and Russell G. Swenson. The Character of New Small Farms

in Western Illinois, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 83-93.
Monteiro, George. An Addition to the John Hay Canon: A New Castilian Letter, II, 2

(Fall, 1979), 138-143.
. John Hay and the Western School of Literature, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984),

28-31.

. John Hay on Garfield's Deathbed Latin, Vl, 1 (Spring, 1983), 38-41 .

John Hay's Lyceum Lectures, IX, I (Spring, 1986), 48-58.

Muelder, Hermann R. The Naming of Spoon River, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 105-1 14.
Nackman, Mark E., and Darryl K. Paton. Recollections of an Illinois Woman, I, 1

(Spring, 1978), 27-44.
Nelson, Ronald E. Bishop Hill: Swedish Development of the Western Illinois

Frontier, I, 2 (Fall, 1978), 109-120.
Newton, Gerald A., John A. McFarland, and Donald W. Griffin. The Hennepin Canal:

New Life for an Old Waterway, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 34-46.
Noe, Marcia. Region as Metaphor in the Plays of Susan Glaspell, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981),

77-85.
"A Romantic and Miraculous City" Shapes Three Midwestern Writers,

l,2(Fall, 1978), 176-198.
Nollen, Sheila H. Thomas F. Railsback and His Congressional Papers, IX, 1 (Spring,

1986), 59-74.
Park, Siyoung. Perception of Land Quality and the Settlement of Northern Pike

County 1821-1836, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 5-21.
Paton, Darryl K., and Mark E. Nackman. Recollections of an Illinois Woman, I, 1

(Spring, 1978), 27-44.
Phillips, Christopher. Peoria's Reaction to the Outbreak of the Civil War, IX, 1

(Spring, 1986), 34-47.
Pichaske, David R. Selected Letters From the Bishop Chase Correspondence, V, 2

(Fall, 1982), 105-135.
Plummer, Mark A. Robert G. Ingersoll and the Sensual Gods: An Unpublished Letter,

lll,2(Falt, 1980). 168-172.
Raizman, David. The Contribution of Regional Arts: A Conversation with George

Irwin of Quincy, X, 2 (Fall, 1987), 49-63.
Rayman, Ronald. The Black Hawk Purchase: Stimulus to the Settlement of Iowa,

1832-1851, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 141-153.
Reed, Scott Owen. The Legal Philosophy of Robert G. Ingersoll, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983),

42-66.
. Military Arrests of Lawyers in Illinois During the Civil War, VI, 2 (Fa<l,

1983), 5-22.
Rezab, Gordana. Bibliography of McDonough County, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 94-104.
. Land Speculation in Fulton County 1817-1832, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 22-

35.

Memoir of William T. Brooking, McDonough County Pioneer, (Part 1).

IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 5-24.

_. Memoir of William T. Brooking, McDonough County Pioneer, (Part 2),

IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 136-151.
Roba, William. Marjorie Allen Seiffert, Mollne Poet, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985), 5-16.

. Quad Cities Writers: A Group Portrait, Vl, 1 (Spring, 1983). 67-81.

. Travel on the Western Illinois Frontier: The Memoir of William

Dickson, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 60-69.
Russell, Herb. Imitations of Spoon River: An Overview, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 173-182.
Sargent, Sarah Jane. An Early Italianate Home in Beardstown, X, 2 (Fall, 1987), 25-

33.

76 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Schleppenbach, John, and Philibert Hoebing. The Way It Used to Be: Folklore of the
River Men, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 18-29.

Schneider, Mabel Ambrose, and Eileen Smith Cunningham. A Slave's Auto-
biography Retold, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 109-126.

Setterdahl, Lilly. Emigrant Letters by Bishop Hill Colonists from Nora Parish, I, 2
(Fall, 1978), 121-175.

Smithson, Rulon N., and Robert P. Sutton. "Mon Cher Emile": The Cabet-Baxter
Letters, 1854-1855, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 20-37.

Sutton, Robert P. Utopian Fraternity; Ideal and Reality in Icarian Recreation, VI, 1
(Spring, 1983), 23-37.

, Lloyd Gundy, and Wilma Gundy. An Icarian Embarkation: Le Havre to

Nauvoo, 1854, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 19-33.

., and Rulon N. Smithson. "Mon Cher Emile": The Cabet-Baxter Letters,

1854-1855, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 20-37.
Swenson, Russell G. Wind Engines in Western Illinois, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 61-79.
, and Pamela Olson Miner. The Character of New Small Farms in

Western Illinois, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 83-93.
Swift, James V. The Night of the Prairie Belle, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 30-33.
Talbot, William L The Warsaw Boat Yard, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 5-17.
Tweet, Roald D. Taming the Rapids of the Upper Mississippi, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 47-

76.
Unsicker, Joan I. Archeological Explorations at Jubilee College Historic Site, III, 1

(Spring, 1980), 36-45.
Forgotten Images: Nineteenth-Century Gravestone Motifs in Peoria

County, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 172-183.
Urban, William. Wyatt Earp Was Born Here: Monmouth and the Earps, 1845-1859, III,

2(Fall, 1980), 154-167.
Vining, James W. Slater Burgesser and His Famous Spring, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 184-

194).
Walker, Juliet E. K. Legal Processes and Judicial Challenges: Black Land Own-
ership in Western Illinois, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 23-48.
. Occupational Distribution of Frontier Towns in Pike County: An 1850

CensusSurvey:V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 146-171.
Walters, William D., Jr. Early Western Illinois Town Advertisements: A Geographical

Inquiry, VIII, 1 (Spring, 1985), 5-15.
., and Floyd Mansberg. Two Houses of the Lower Illinois River Valley,

IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 25-36.
Ward, John C. The Background of Lindsay's "The Chinese Nightingale," VIM, 1

(Spring, 1985), 70-80.
Wise, Daniel L. Tornadoes of Western Illinois Prior to 1875, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 152-162.
Wixon, Richard, M. Guy Bishop, and Vicent Lacey. Death at Mormon Nauvoo, 1843-

1845, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 70-83.

ARTICLES — BY TITLE

Addition to the John Hay Canon, An: A New Castilian Letter, by George Monteiro, II,

2(Fall, 1979), 138-43.
American Home Missionary Society Ministers and Mormon Nauvoo: Selected

Letters, by Roger D. Launius, VIII, 1 (Spring, 1985), 16-45.
Archeological Explorations at Jubilee College Historic Site, by Joan 1. Unsicker, III,

1 (Spring, 1980), 36-45.
Background of Lindsay's "The Chinese Nightingale," The, by John C. Ward, VIII, 1

(Spring, 1985), 70-80.

TEN-YEAR INDEX. 1978-1987 W

Bibliography of McDonough County, by Gordana Rezab, X, 1 (Spring, 1987) 94-104.
Bishop Hill: Swedish Development of the Western Illinois Frontier, by Ronald E.

Nelson, I, 2 (Fall, 1978), 109-120.
Black Hawk Purchase: Stimulus to the Settlement of Iowa, 1832-1851, by Ronald

Rayman, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 141-153.
Carl Sandburg's Influence on Modern Poetry, by Richard H. Crowder, I, 1 (Spring,

1978), 45-64.
Character of New Small Farms in Western Illinois, The, by Russell G. Swenson and

Pamela Olson Miner, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 83-93.
Coming to Terms with County Histories, by Rodney O. Davis, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 144-

155.
Contribution of Regional Arts, The: A Conversation with George Irwin of Quincy, by

David Raizman, X, 2 (Fall, 1987), 49-63.
Crime, Trial, and Execution of William W. Lee of East Burlington, Illinois, The, by

John Lee Allaman, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 49-66.
Dark Faces on the Antebellum West Central Illinois Landscape, by Roger D.

Bridges, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 67-80.
Death at Mormon Nauvoo, 1843-1845, by M. Guy Bishop, Vincent Lacey, and Richard

Wixon, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 70-83.
Early Italianate Home in Beardstown, An, by Sarah Jane Sargent, X, 2 (Fall, 1987),

25-33.
Early Western Illinois Town Advertisements: A Geographical Inquiry, by William D.

Walters, Jr., VIM, 1 (Spring, 1985), 5-15.
Edgar Lee Masters' Paternal Ancestry: A Pioneer Heritage and Influence, by Charles

E. Burgess, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 32-60.
Ellis Parker Butler: Popular Humorist at the Turn of the Century, by Jeffrey J. Folks,

V,1 (Spring, 1982), 38-53.
Emigrant Letters by Bishop Hill Colonists, by Lilly Setterdahl, 1, 2 (Fall, 1978), 121-

175.
Etienne Cabet and the Icarians, by Jacques E. Chicoineau, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 5-19.
Floyd Dell in the Western Illinois Region, by Clarence A. Andrews, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985),

17-33.
Forgotten Images: Nineteenth-Century Gravestone Motifs in Peoria County, by Joan

I. Unsicker, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 172-183.
Foreign Ownership of Farmland in Western Illinois, by Frank Goudy, V, 1 (Spring,

1982), 65-83.
Garden Myth in "The Prairies," The, by Edwin R. Booher, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 15-26.
Greenbush Vigilantes: An Organizational Document, by John Lee Allaman, X, 1

(Spring, 1987), 32-41.
Hennepin Canal as Community, The, by Donald W. Griffin, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 42-51.
Hennepin Canal, The: New Life for an Old Waterway, by Gerald A. Newton, John A.

McFarland, and Donald W. Griffin, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 34-46.
Historic Architecture of Rock Island Arsenal, The, by Titus M. Karlowicz, X, 2 (Fall,

1987), 9-24.
History and Dramatic Form: The Lake Argyle Project, by Bruce H. Leiand, VIM, 2

(Fall, 1985), 53-65.
Icarian Embarkation, An: Le Havre to Nauvoo, 1854, by Lloyd Gundy, Wilma Gundy,

and Robert P. Sutton, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 19-33.
Illinois City: 150 Years on the Prairie, by Clarence A. Andrews, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 47-

59.
Illinois Grassroots Politics of the 1890's in Brand Whitlock's Fiction, by David D.

Anderson, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 163-175.
Illinois Waterway, The, by Vernon F. Barr, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 77-86.
Imitations of Spoon River: An Overview, by Herb Russell, 11,2 (Fall, 1979), 173-182.

78 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

"Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer": The IVIemoir of Fields Jarvis, by John Lee

Allaman, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 5-18.
John Hay and the Western School of Literature, by George Monteiro, VII, 1 (Spring,

1984), 28-31.
John Hay on Garfield's Deathbed Latin, by George Monteiro, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 38-

41.
John Hay's Lyceum Lectures, by George Monteiro, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 48-58.
John Scripps: Circuit Rider and Newspaperman, by David Haney, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 7-

35.
Joseph Smith III and the Mormon Succession Crisis, 1844-1846, by Roger Launius,

VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 5-22.
Joseph Smith's Visits to Henderson County, by John Lee Allaman, VIII, 1 (Spring,

1985), 46-55.
Land Speculation in Fulton County 1817-1832, by Gordana Rezab, III, 1 (Spring,

1980), 22-35.
Language Variation in the Military Tract, by Timothy Frazer, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 54-

64.
Legal Philosophy of Robert G. Ingersoll, The, by Scott Owen Reed, VI, 1 (Spring,

1983), 42-66.
Legal Processes and Judicial Challenges: Black Land Ownership in Western

Illinois, by Juliet E. Walker, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 23-48.
Lindsay's 1908 Walking Trip, by Owen Hawley, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 156-172.
Log Cabin Hospitality on the Illinois Frontier, by Rachael Ann Bottorff, IX, 2 (Fall,

1986), 36-46.
Louis William Rodenberg, an Illinois Poet, by Walter B. Hendrickson, IV, 2 (Fall,

1981), 176-191.
Maps and Their Makers in Early Illinois: The Burr Map and the Peck-Messinger Map,

by John V. Bergen, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 5-31 .
Marjorie Allen Seiffert, Moline Poet, by William Roba, VIII, 2 (Fall, 1985), 5-16.
Memoir of William T. Brooking, McDonough County Pioneer, The (Part 1), by

Gordana Rezab, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 5-24.
Memoir of William T. Brooking, McDonough County Pioneer, The (Part 2), by

GordanaRezab, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 136-151.
Men's Literary Clubs of Jacksonville, The, by Walter B. Hendrickson and John N.

Langfitt, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 66-83.
Midwestern Poetry of Eliza Snow, The, by John E. Hallwas, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 136-145.
Military Arrests of Lawyers in Illinois During the Civil War, by Scott Owen Reed, VI, 2

(Fall, 1983), 5-22.
Mine Union Radicalism in Macoupin and Montgomery Counties, by Victor Hicken,

III, 2(Fall, 1980), 173-191.
"Mon Cher Emile": the Cabet-Baxter Letters, 1854-1855, by Robert P. Sutton and

Rulon N. Smithson, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 20-37.
MVR at Fifteen, by John Mann, VIII, 2 (Fall, 1985), 66-73.
Naming of Spoon River, The, by Hermann R. Muelder, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 105-1 14.
Night of the Prairie Belle, The, by James V. Swift, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 30-33.
Notes and Documents (Schuyler County, Brown County), IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 75-81.
Notes and Documents (Warren County), VIII, 1 (Spring, 1985), 81-88.
Notes and Documents: Bibliography of Fulton County Historical Publications, IV, 1

(Spring, 1981), 86-93.
Notes and Documents: Historical Publications: Bibliographies of Mercer and

Henderson Counties, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 84-92.
Notes and Documents: Historical Publications: Bibliographies of Pike and Calhoun

Counties, Vi, 1 (Spring, 1983), 82-91.
Notes and Documents: Historical Publications: Bibliography of Adams County, VII,

1 (Spring, 1984), 80-90.

TEN-YEAR INDEX, 1978-1987 79

Occupational Distribution of Frontier Towns in Pike County: An 1850 Census

Survey, by Juliet E. K. Walker, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 146-171.
"Old Dick" Richardson, the Other Senator from Quincy, by Robert P. Howard, VII, 1

(Spring, 1984), 16-27.
Peoria's Reaction to the Outbreak of the Civil War, by Christopher Phillips, IX, 1

(Spring, 1986), 34-47.
Perception of Land Quality and the Settlement of Northern Pike County 1821-1836,

by Siyoung Park, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 5-21.
Photography of Belle Johnson of Monroe City, Missouri, The. by Dean Howd, X, 2

(Fall, 1987), 35-48.
Poetry of John Knoepfle, The, by Norman D. Hinton, VIII, 2 (Fall, 1985), 34-52.
Primitivism and Paternalism: Early Denominational Approaches in Western Illinois,

by Myron J. Fogde, 111,2 (Fall, 1980), 105-140.
Propery Pilot, The: A New Look at "Old Times on the Mississippi," by Leiand Krauth,

11,1 (Spring, 1979), 52-69.
Quad Cities Writers: A Group Portrait, by Wiliam Roba, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 67-81 .
Quincy and Meredosia in 1842: Charles Carter Langdon's Travel Letters, by John E.

Hallwas, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 127-137.
Recollections of an Illinois Woman, by Mark E. Nackman and Darryl K. Paton, I, 1

(Spring, 1978), 27-44.
Recollections of the Hennepin Canal, by Donald W. Griffin, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 50-

76.
Region as Metaphor in the Plays of Susan Glaspell, by Marcia Noe, IV, 1 (Spring,

1981), 77-85.
Regional Essays of Jerry Klein, by John E. Hallwas, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 65-86.
Reverend George Moore Comments on Nauvoo, the Mormons, and Joseph Smith, by

Donald Q. Cannon, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 5-16.
Robert G. Ingersoll and the Sensual Gods: An Unpublished Letter, by Mark A.

Plummer, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 168-172.
"Romantic and Miraculous City" Shapes Three Midwestern Writers, A, by Marcia

Noe, I, 2 (Fall, 1978), 176-198.
Sarah Fenn Burton's Diary of a Journey to Illinois, by James K. Bracken, IV, 2 (Fall,

1981), 115-135.
Selected Letters from the Bishop Chase Correspondence, by David R. Pichaske, V, 2

(Fall, 1982), 105-135.
Selected Letters of Virginia S. Eifert, by John E. Hallwas, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 56-82.
Slater Burgesser and His Famous Spring, by James W. Vining, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 184-

194.
Slave's Autobiography Retold, A, by Eileen Smith Cunningham and Mabel Ambrose

Schneider, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 109-126.
Sorority Movement at Monmouth College, The, by Mary B. Crow, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981),

37-49.
Spoon River Anthology in Estonia: Mats Traat's "Henriette Vestrik," by George

Kurman, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 52-55.
Taming the Rapids of the Upper Mississippi, by Roald D. Tweet, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984),

47-76.
Thomas F. Railsback and His Congressioinal Papers, by Sheila H. Nollen, IX, 1

(Spring, 1986), 59-74.
Three Antislavery Leaders of Bureau County, by Karen Berfield, III, 1 (Spring, 1980),

46-65.
Tornadoes of Western Illinois Prior to 1875, by Daniel L. Wise. IV. 2 (Fall, 1981), 152-

162.
Travel on the Western Illinois Frontier: The Memoir of William Dickson, by William

Roba, IX. 2 (Fall, 1986), 60-69.

80 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Triumph of Mobocracy in Hancocl< County 1844-1846, The, by Annette P. Hampshire,

V,1 (Spring, 1982), 17-37.
Two Houses of the Lower Illinois River Valley, by William D. Walters, Jr., and Floyd

Mansberger, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 25-36.
Uncertain Death of Charles Wilson, The, by Shirley J. Burton, VIII, 1 (Spring, 1985),

56-69.
Utopian Fraternity: Ideal and Reality in Icarian Recreation, by Robert P. Sutton, VI, 1

(Spring, 1983), 23-37.
Utopias That Failed: the Antebellum Years, by H. Roger Grant, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 38-

51.
Vachel Lindsay and the Chicago Herald, by Dennis Camp, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 70-88.
Warsaw Boat Yard, The, by William L. Talbot, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 5-17.
Way It Used to Be, The: Folklore of the River Men, by Philibert Hoebing and John

Schleppenbach, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 18-29.
Western Illinois in Charlevoix's History and Journal, by John Lee Allaman, VII, 1

(Spring, 1984), 5-15.
William Cullen Bryant: Illinois Landowner, by David J. Baxter, I, 1 (Spring, 1978), 1-

14.
Wind Engines in Western Illinois, by Russell G. Swenson, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 61-79.
Wyatt Earp Was Born Here: Monmouth and the Earps, 1845-1859, by William Urban,

lll,2(Fall, 1980), 154-167.

BOOK REVIEWS — BY BOOK AUTHOR

Anderson, Frederick J. Quad Cities: Joined by a River, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 97-98.

Reviewed by Donald W. Griffin.
Anderson, William M. We Are Sherman's Men: The Civil War Letters of Henry

Orendorff, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 89-90. Reviewed by William L. Burton.
Arrington, Leonard J., and Davis Bitton. The Mormon Experience: A History of the

Latter-Day Saints, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 90-91. Reviewed by Richard D. Poll.
Baldwin, Carl R. Echoes of Their Voices: A Saga of the Pioneers Who Pushed

Westward to the Mississippi, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 193-194. Reviewed by Natalia M.

Belting.
Beard, Jo Anne. The Legacy of Historic Jacksonville: lis Homes and Buildings, X, 1

(Spring, 1987), 108-109. Reviewed by Rand Burnette.
Boritt, Gabor S. Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream, IV, 2 (Fall,

1981), 195-196. Reviewed by William L Burton.
Bray, Robert C, ed., et al. A Reader's Guide to Illinois Literature, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985),

83-84. Reviewed by Jay R. Balderson.
. Rediscoveries: Literature and Place in Illinois, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 198-200.

Reviewed by John E. Hallwas.
Bridges, Roger D., and Rodney O. Davis. Illinois: Its History and Legacy, VIM, 1

(Spring, 1985), 89-92. Reviewed by Roy A. Austensen.
Buikstra, Jane E. Hopewell in the Lower Illinois Valley, I, 1 (Spring, 1978), 95-97.

Reviewed by Michael R. Beckes.
Burton, Shirley J. Adelaide Johnson: To Make Immortal Their Adventurous Will, X, 1

(Spring, 1987), 109-112. Reviewed by David Raizman.
Cabet, Etienne. Travels in Icaria, translated by Robert P. Sutton, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 86-

89. Reviewed by Wayne Wheeler.
Cain, Jerrilee, John E. Hallwas, and Victor Hicken, eds. Tales From Two Rivers I, IV,

2 (Fall, 1981), 197-198. Reviewed by James K. Bracken.
Cann, Allene, et al. History of Raritan, Illinois and Community, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 199.

Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.

TEN-YEAR INDEX. 1978-1987 61

Chenetier, Marc. Letters of Vachel Lindsay, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 91-94. Reviewed by

Jay Balderson.
Cooley, Adelaide N. The Monument Maker: A Biography of Frederick Ernst Triebel, I,

2 (Fall, 1978), 205-207. Reviewed by Titus M. Karlowicz.
Davis, Cullom, ed. with Charles B. Strozier, Rebecca Monroe Veach, and Geoffrey C.

Ward. The Public and the Private Lincoln: Contemporary Perspectives. IV, 1

(Spring, 1981), 95-96. Reviewed by John Y. Simon.
Doyle, Don Harrison. The Social Order of a Frontier Community: Jacksonville,

Illinois, 1825-1870, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 94-95. Reviewed by Walter B. Hendrickson.
Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine. John L. Levifis: A Biography, III, 1 (Spring,

1980), 89-90. Reviewed by Victor Hicken.
Dunlap, Leslie W., with notes by Edwin C. Bearss. "Your Affectionate Husband, J. F.

Culver": Letters Written During the Civil War, IV, 1 (Spring, 1981), 97-98. Reviewed

by Victor Hicken.
Farragher, John Mack. Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie, X, 2 (Fall, 1987), 67-

68. Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.
Findley, Paul. A. Lincoln: The Crucible of Congress, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 196-198.

Reviewed by Robert W. Johannsen.
Fleming, Thomas. The Living Land of Lincoln, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981), 196-197. Reviewed by

Floyd S. Barringer.
Frank, Charles E. Pioneer's Progress: Illinois College, 1829-1979, II, 2 (Fall, 1979),

192-193. Reviewed by Victor Hicken.
Goldstein, Lynne Gail. Mississippian Mortuary Practices: A Case Study of Two

Cemeteries in the Lower Illinois Valley, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 97-99. Reviewed by

Michael R. Beckes.
Griffin, D. W. A Technical Guide for Determining Land Use Suitability, I, 2 (Fall,

1978), 208-209. Reviewed by Robert G. Palmer.
Hale, Robert L John Hay, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 94-95. Reviewed by Brenda Murphy.
Hallwas, John E. Illinois Literature: The Nineteenth Century, X, 1 (Spring, 1987), 106-

108. Reviewed by Roald D. Tweet.
. The Poems of H.: The Lost Poet of Lincoln's Springfield, VI, 1 (Spring,

1983), 94-96. Reviewed by Dennis Camp.

_. Western Illinois Heritage, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 92-95. Reviewed by Roger

D. Launius.
Hampshire, Annette P. Mormonism in Conflict: The Nauvoo Years, IX, 1 (Spring,

1986), 82-83. Reviewed by Richard Crabb.
Hanchett, William. The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies, VIM, 2 (Fall, 1985), 80-81.

Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.
Hancock County Historical Society. Historic Sites and Structures of Hancock

County, Illinois, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 200-201. Reviewed by Gordana Rezab.
Hansen, Klaus J. Mormonism and the American Experience, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 94-

97. Reviewed by Myron J. Fogde.
Irons, Victoria, and Patricia C. Brennan. Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the

State of Illinois, II, 1 (Spring, 1979), 95-97. Reviewed by John J. Newman.
Jenson, Richard J. Illinois: A Bicentennial History, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 189-190.

Reviewed by Donald F. Tingley.
Johnson, Daniel T. History of Mercer County, I, 1 (Spring, 1978), 97-98. Reviewed by

Rodney O. Davis.
Keiser, John H. Building for the Centuries: Illinois, 1865 to 1898, I, 2 (Fall, 1978), 207-

208. Reviewed by Victor Hicken.
Klein, Jerry. Peoria!, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 90-91. Reviewed by Merle H. Click.
Krauser, Alice A., Donald A. O'Harra, Elizabeth Roark, and Mark Lou Torgerson. A

History of St. Paul Church. 1857-1986. X, 2 (Fall. 1987), 68-70. Reviewed by Rev.

Richard E.Trutter.

82 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

Kushner, Howard I., and Anne Humnnel Sherill. John Milton Hay: The Union of

Poetry and Politics, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 91-94. Reviewed by George Monteiro.
Laine, Christian K. Landmark Springfield: Arctiitecture and Urbanism in tfie Capital

City of Illinois, IX, 2 (Fall, 1986), 91-93. Reviewed by Keith A. Sculle.
Launius, Roger D., and F. Mark McKiernan. Josepfi Smithi Jr's Red Brick Store, IX, 1

(Spring, 1986), 84-86. Reviewed by Richard D. Poll.
Lewis, Carl C. Episodes of a Farm Boy, ed. by Jerrilee Cain-Tyson and Victor Hicken,

X, 2 (Fall, 1987), 70-71. Reviewed by John E. Hallwas.
Litvin, Martin. Ttie Journey, V. 2 (Fall, 1982), 201-202. Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.
Long, Katherine and Melvin Erickson. Clinton, A Pictorial History, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984),

98. Reviewed by William Roba.
Maher, Michael, ed. An Illinois Legacy: Gubernatorial Addresses of Adiai E.

Stevenson 1949-1952, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986), 88-90. Reviewed by John E. Hallwas.
Marsh, Frank Lewis. Prairie Tree: Early Days on ttie Norttiern Illinois Prairie, III, 2

(Fall, 1980), 199-200. Reviewed by Daniel T. Johnson.
Masters, Hardin Wallace. Edgar Lee Masters: A Biograpfiical Sketchbook About a

Famous American Author, II, 1 (Spring, 1979) 97-98. Reviewed by Charles E.

Burgess.
Masters, Hilary. Last Stands: Notes From Memory, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 88-90. Reviewed

by Jay Balderson.
Mclnerny, Dennis Q., ed. A Tribute to Daniel Smythe, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 97-99.

Reviewed by David Pichaske.
Muelder, Hermann R. Missionaries and Muchrakers: The First Hundred Years of

Knox College, VIII, 1 (Spring, 1985), 94-95. Reviewed by Rand Burnette.
Noe, Marcia. Susan Glaspell: Voice From the Heartland, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 95-97.

Reviewed by Gerhard Bach.
Gates, Stephen B. Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths, VIM, 1 (Spring,

1985), 92-94. Reviewed by Larry T. Balsamo.
With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, I, 2 (Fall,

1978), 203-205. Reviewed by Roger D. Bridges.
Pichaske, David. The Jubilee Diary, VI, 1 (Spring, 1983), 92-94. Reviewed by Dennis

0. Mclnerny.
Pierce, Bess. Moline: A Pictorial History, V, 1 (Spring, 1982), 96-97. Reviewed by

William Roba.
Piummer, Mark A. Robert G. Ingersoll: Peoria's Pagan Politician, IX, 1 (Spring, 1986),

86-88. Reviewed by Michael D. Richardson.
Primeau, Ronald. Beyond Spoon River: The Legacy of Edgar Lee Masters, V, 1

(Spring, 1982), 94-96. Reviewed by James Hurt.
Rankin, Jeff, ed. Born of the Prairie: Monmouth, Illinois 1831-1981, IV, 2 (Fall, 1981),

198-199. Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.
Roba, William, The River and the Prairie: A History of the Quad Cities 1812-1960, X, 1

(Spring, 1987), 105-106. Reviewed by LaDonna Backmeyer.
Roske, Ralph J. His Own Counsel: The Life and Times of Lyman Trumbull, V, 1

(Spring, 1982), 93-94. Reviewed by Roger D. Bridges.
Russo, Edward J. Prairie of Promise: Springfield and Sangamon County, VII, 1

(Spring, 1984), 93-94. Reviewed by Keith A. Sculle.
Sandburg, Carl. Breathing Tokens, ed. by Margaret Sandburg, I, 1 (Spring, 1978), 99-

101. Reviewed by Charles W. Mayer.
. Ever the Winds of Chance, VII, 2 (Fall, 1984), 89-92. Reviewed by

Douglas L.Wilson.
Sandburg, Helga. A Great and Glorious Romance: The Story of Carl Sandburg and

Lillian Steichen, 1, 1 (Spring, 1978), 99-101. Reviewed by Charles W. Mayer.
South, Eudora Lindsay. From the Lindsay Scrapbook: Cousin Vachel, II, 1 (Spring,

1979), 100-101. Reviewed by Blair Whitney.

TEN-YEAR INDEX, 1978-1987 83

Stark, William F. Along the Black Hawk Trail. VIII, 2 (Fall, 1985), 78-80. Reviewed by

Roald D. Tweet.
Struever, Stuart, and Felicia Antonelli Holton. Koster: Americans in Search of the

Prehistoric Past, II, 2 (Fall, 1979), 190-191. Reviewed by Michael Beckes.
Sutton, William A. Carl Sandburg Remembered, III, 1 (Spring, 1980), 94-96, Reviewed

by John E. Hallwas.
Swank, George. Carl Sandburg: Galesburg and Beyond, VIII, 2 (Fall, 1985), 81-83.

Reviewed by Charles Mayer.
Taves, Ernest H. Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon, VIII, 2

(Fall, 1985), 76-78. Reviewed by Roger D. Launius.
Tingley, Donald F. The Structuring of a State: The History of Illinois, 1899-1928, IV, 1

(Spring, 1981), 94-95. Reviewed by Rodney O. Davis.
Travels in Time: fJiilan, Illinois, VI, 2 (Fall, 1983), 87-88. Reviewed by Donald W.

Griffin.
Urban, William, with Mary Crowe, Charles Speel and Samuel Thompson. A History

of Monmouth College: Through Its Fifth Quarter-Century, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 198-

199. Reviewed by Victor Hicken.
Vogel, Virgil J. Iowa Place Names of Indian Origin, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 91-93.

Reviewed by Timothy Frazer.
Yeager, Iver F., ed. Sesquicentennial Papers: Illinois College, V, 2 (Fall, 1982), 200-

201. Reviewed by Victor Hicken.
Walker, Juliet E. K. Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier, Vi, 2

(Fall, 1983), 86-87. Reviewed by A. Gilbert Belles.
Waller, Robert A. Rainey of Illinois: A Political Biography, 1903-1934, II, 1 (Spring,

1979), 99-100. Reviewed by Robert P. Sutton.
Welge, Richard C. Remnants of the Nineteenth Century Landscape: Knox County,

Illinois, III, 2 (Fall, 1980), 200-201. Reviewed by Gordana Rezab.
Wrenn, John H., and Margaret M. Wrenn. Edgar Lee Masters, VII, 1 (Spring, 1984), 95-

97. Reviewed by James Hurt.

84 WESTERN ILLINOIS REGIONAL STUDIES

CONTRIBUTORS

TITUS M. KARLOWICZ is Professor of Art and Assistant Dean of the
College of Fine Arts at Western Illinois University. He has published
articles on nineteenth-century American architecture for the Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians and collaborated with Henry B. Moy on
a detailed monograph of the Rock Island Arsenal.

DEAN HOWD is Instructor in the Western Illinois University Library. His
research into the career of Belle Johnson began when he noticed her work
illustrated in a collection of published photographs and was unable to
discover further information from available sources.

SARAH JANE SARGENT is a high school art teacher in Beardstown,
Illinois, and is currently working towards a Masters Degree in Art Edu-
cation at Western Illinois University. Her article in this issue is based on a
graduate research paper completed during the summer of 1987.

DAVID RAIZMAN is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Art
Department at Western Illinois University. He recently published an article
on Medieval Spanish illumination for Gesta and a book review in the
Spring issue of lV/f?S.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Western Illinois regional studies"

See other formats