Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County, Established 1896 hsqac.org

Illustration from a postcard of Maine Street in Quincy, Illinois – from the Historical Society collection

WINTER 2018-2019

contentsLife Members

WWI Soldier’s Marker Dedicated

Woodland Cemetery Tours a Success

HSQAC Receives Railroad Society Grant

John Wood Mansion Candlelight Tours

December Alter Crawl Tours

The Coachman’s Clock

Houses in Adams County

Upper Crust Parties on Park Place

Lincoln-Douglas Event

John Wood’s Last House

“Grant and Twain” Coming this Spring

Our Members

Mrs. Charles Barnum

Mrs. Sondra Bartley

Dr. Stan Bartley

Mr. Robert Black

Mrs. Betty Breitwieser

Mr. & Mrs. Ned Broemmel

Mrs. Charles Cleek*

Mrs. Karen Conners

Mr. & Mrs. Joe Conover

Mr. George Irwin

Mr.* & Mrs. Harold W. Knapheide III

Mrs. Carl Landrum

Mrs. Ann Mays

Mr. & Mrs. Alan Mays

Mr. David Nuessen

Mr. & Mrs. Hal Oakley

Mr. Burks Oakley II

Mr. & Mrs. Edward Pollock

Mr. & Mrs. Charles Radel

Ms. Marian Sorenson

Mr. Jeff Spear

Mrs. John Stillwell

Mr. Dennis Williams

Mr. & Mrs. John M. Winters

Gardner Denver

Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce

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* Recently deceased

Est. 1896

Historical Society of Quincy & Adams CountyFALL 2018 Quincy, Illinois HSQAC Magazine

STONES DEDICATED FOR WWI SOLDIER, MOTHERBy Matt Hopf, Staff Writer of the Quincy Herald-Whig

QUINCY — Edward Harrison Perkins and his mother Fannie Perkins were buried next to

each other, but for more than 80 years nothing marked the Army private killed in action nor

his “Gold Star mother.”

Killed three months after the hostilities of World War I came to an end, Perkins and his

mother now have their graves marked.

Perkins was a member of the all-black 804th Pioneer Infantry when he died in a post-war

ordnance explosion.

The memorial stones were revealed Saturday during a dedication ceremony in

Greenmount Cemetery hosted by the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, the

American Legion Post 37, the American Legion Auxiliary and Harrison Monuments.

Beth Young, an American Legion bugler who organized the service, said there is no record

that the graves were marked.

Offering remarks at the service, the Rev. Orville Jones, pastor of First Baptist Church,

noted how many soldiers, who paid the ultimate sacrifice, remain nameless, and even

forgotten.

“It’s interesting that we just don’t know those things, but yet these people gave their

hearts and gave themselves,” Jones said.

Born in Palmyra, Mo., in 1889, Perkins moved to Quincy with his family around 1914.

He was drafted into the Army, and trained at Camp Dodge before being sent to Europe in the

fall of 1918 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces.

When the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, Perkins’ unit was ordered to stay in France to help

with cleanup and general field operations. On Feb. 12, 1919, Perkins’ squad was clearing a

German ammunition dump near Mars-La-Tours, France, when an abandoned shell exploded,

killing several of the soldiers, including Perkins.

Though initially buried in France, Perkins’ mother was notified in June 1921 that the U.S.

government recovered his body and was returning it to Quincy for burial.

A July 3, 1921, story in The Quincy Daily Journal reported that Perkins was buried on July

2 in the cemetery with full military honors. Attending the ceremony were members of the

Harrison Perkins Post of the American Legion — a black Quincy unit named in honor of

Perkins.

Fannie Perkins died July 5, 1937, in Gary, Ind., and her remains were returned to Quincy

to be interred next to her son’s plot.

Some possible relatives of Perkins were in attendance at the dedication. Pat and Deborah

Perkins of Quincy learned about Perkins through an article about the dedication ceremony.

New Looking for Lincoln Book

Features Mansion, Eels House

A new book in the Looking for

Lincoln Book Series from SIU

Press– Historic Houses of

Lincoln’s Illinois – is now

available at the Gift Shop in the

History Museum. The book

features historic homes in

communities from throughout the

Abraham Lincoln National

Heritage Area and includes

chapters on the Governor John

Wood Mansion and on the Dr.

Richard Eels House. Both

buildings are also featured on the

cover. Plans are underway to

schedule a presentation and book

signing by author Erica Holst.

Remember, all HSQAC members

receive a 10% discount in the

History Shop!

Quincy, Illinois

STONES DEDICATED FOR WWI SOLDIER, MOTHER continued

They brought a photo of their father Jesse, along with an uncle, Jesse, who served in

World War II.

Local historian Lynn Snyder was researching Quincy’s participation in World War I

for an exhibit at the Historical Society’s History Museum at Fourth and Maine, when

she learned of Perkins. Snyder wrote an article about Perkins in February for The

Herald-Whig’s “Once Upon a Time” feature.

Snyder said the Historical Society’s archivist, Jean Kay, will research the family’s

genealogy.

“There are at least two Perkins families in Quincy, but I suspect it’s like a lot of

Quincy families,” she said. “You don’t have to go far to find a connection.”

Perkins’ was the second unmarked grave of a soldier for whom a new marker was

placed on this year. Earlier this year, a memorial stone was placed on the grave of

William H. “Billy” Dallas, who was Quincy’s first black police officer and the first black

officer in Illinois to die in the line of duty. Dallas also served in the Union Army

during the Civil War.

Young said there is hope to place more markers on unmarked graves for soldiers

from World War I and earlier in Quincy. Anyone aware of soldiers with unmarked

graves from that time period can contact the Historical Society at 217-222-1835.

Article reprinted in the Governor’s Post with permission of the Quincy Herald-Whig.

Grave stones of WWI soldier Edward Perkins and his

mother located at Greenmount Cemetery in Quincy.

This is the second marker dedicated for unmarked

graves of soldiers this year by the HSQAC.

Woodland Cemetery came alive on Saturdays in October, as well as on

Halloween! The annual fundraiser allows the public a rare peek into the

captivating stories of folks buried on the historic grounds. Thank you to

Kae Blecha for leading the tours the first two weekends and on

Halloween. Our traditional tours with characters in period dress were on

October 20 and 27. Neysa McMein, 1920s artist and socialite portrayed

by Laura Sievert, Mrs. Elizabeth Bull Parker, landscape preservationist

portrayed by Lynn Snyder, Civil War General George Green, portrayed

by Rich Keppner, and Willard Keyes, Quincy co-founder portrayed by

Michael Gash on the 20th and Reg Ankrom on the 27th, transported

guests as far back as the 1820s. Thank you to our generous actors for

giving their time to portray these significant historical figures. The

tours could not be done without a crew of volunteers to bring it all

together. I’d like to thank volunteers Mary Ann Freeman, Donna Foley,

Jack Freiburg, Lisa Wigoda, Heather Bangert, Patty McElroy, Beth

Young, Bob Ackerman, William Arp, Will Meckes, and Arlis Dittmer.

A big thank you to Lynn Snyder for her research.

Thank You to the 2018 Woodland Cemetery Tour Volunteers!

From left to right: Rich Keppner (General George Green), Laura

Sievert (Neysa McMein), and Reg Ankrom (Willard Keyes)

Kae Blecha

mesmerizing the

Woodland Cemetery

crowd.

OFFICERS

Todd Shackelford, President

Jeff Terry, 1st Vice President

Chuck Radel, 2nd Vice President

Linda Mayfield, Secretary

Joseph Ott, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William Arp

Heather Bangert

Arlis Dittmer

Dave Dulaney

Jack Freiburg

Rich Keppner

Will Klingner

Eric Lee

Linda Mayfield

Will Meckes

Iris Nelson

Joe Newkirk

Joseph Ott

Chuck Radel

Todd Shackelford

Michael Smith

Jeff Terry

Dennis Williams

STAFF

Rob Mellon, Executive Director

Jean Kay, Librarian & Archivist

Susi DeClue, Office Manager

Bob Ackerman, Maint. & Grounds

425 S. 12th St.

Quincy, IL 62301

(217) 222-1835

info@hsqac.org

HSQAC PROGRAM & EXHIBIT CALENDARCURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE HISTORY MUSEUM – OPEN YEAR ‘ROUND

Over Here and Over There – WWI Tuesday-Saturday

The History Museum (4th & Maine) 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Window onto the Square Interactive Exhibit Tuesday-Saturday

The History Museum (4th & Maine) 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Edward Everett Art Gallery Tuesday-Saturday

The History Museum (4th & Maine) 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Stained Glass Gallery Tuesday-Saturday

The History Museum (4th & Maine) 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Quincy, Illinois

HSQAC Receives Donation, Sign from Railroad SocietyThe Burlington Route Historical Society

donated $250 and a vintage locomotive

number sign to HSQAC during their annual

meeting and banquet held in Quincy in

September. The group also toured the History

Museum, where they viewed and discussed

the CB&Q (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy)

station architectural pieces on display and the

Schott photographs in the World War I

exhibit. HSQAC Board member and railroad

buff Dave Dulaney accepted the items for the

Society. Dulaney also presented a paper at

the meeting.

The historic locomotive number sign is a

glass identifier (No. 3007) from the CB&Q

locomotive that was located on Quinsippi

Island for many years. The engine, which

was manufactured in 1930 and retired in

1961, had traveled over a million miles in its

heyday. “I am pleased to have this unique

piece of local railroad history in our

collection,” said Jean Kay, HSQAC

Collections Manager. “Trains have been an

important part of Quincy, and this adds to its

history.”

.

HSQAC Board of Directors member Dave

Dulaney accepts donation from the Burlington

Route Historical Society.

Quincy, Illinois

HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHRISTMAS CANDLELIGHT TOURS SCHEDULEDWe Once again the Governor John Wood Mansion

will be open for Christmas Candlelight Tours in

December. This year we will commemorate the 200th

birthday anniversary of Mary Todd Lincoln featuring

Mary Todd Lincoln and Lincoln-era dolls. Mrs.

Lincoln’s anniversary birthday is officially December

13, 2018. Several china head dolls of the period will

adorn the Greek Revival home of John Wood,

Illinois’ 12th governor. The mansion is filled with

Wood family heirlooms and other period furnishings

and will be decorated for the holidays from top to

bottom.

The annual Christmas Candlelight Tours will be held

on four evenings, on two consecutive weekends -

December 14 and 15 and December 21 and 22

between 6-7:30 p.m. The evening will feature music

of the holiday season and light refreshments.

Local musicians Zeke and Carol Howerter are

among those performing period music this year.

Carol will be featured playing the 1875 Magnussen &

Company parlor organ and the 1844 melodeon

housed in the mansion’s spacious dining room.

The governor’s home was recently named one of

Illinois’ 200 Great Places by the Illinois Council of

The American Institute of Architects (AIA Illinois)

in honor of the state’s Bicentennial. Notable historic

pieces in the home include a desk from the home of

John Quincy Adams and a sideboard that was in

Andrew Jackson’s White House.

For details on Christmas Candlelight Tours, contact

the HSQAC office at 217-222-1835.

2018

Quincy, Illinois

QUINCY PRESERVES ALTER CRAWL TOURS -- DECEMBER 2, 2018

The Stained Glass Gallery at the History Museum on the Square contains a spectacular collection of church and studio glass

collected by the Gardner Museum of Architecture (GMAD), the previous occupant of the building. The architecture of the

building, designed by Chicago architects Patton and Fisher and dedicated in 1888, and the 2nd story grand hall (the former library

reading room), with its elaborate wood paneled ceiling, lends itself well to the majesty of the glass collection it continues to house.

On December 2nd, during the Quincy Preserves Altar Crawl tours (1pm-5pm) the gallery will be open for touring. In addition, the

building, gift shop and all exhibits will be open for the members’ reception – for both the Preserves and Historical Society, and on

December 2, Ron Weaver, owner of Jacksonville Stained Glass, will be at the museum to discuss his firm’s restoration of three of

our most precious windows, from the three major glass studios of the 19th and 20th centuries, Tiffany, Lamb and Meyers.

Quick overview of the churches and studios represented in the collections:

• United Universalist Church of Macomb, Illinois, arched three window unit, ca. 15’X20’ feet, depicting “Christ at the Door.”

Designed and delineated by Henrich Hoffmann, and produced by the H.J. Hooker Co. of Chicago. Jewel tones, stained,

marbleized, and painted, pebbled and smooth glass. Robes of Christ are iridescent and molded to show the folds of his robe.

• 1st United Presbyterian Church, Quincy, Ill. Robert Bunce architect. Gothic Revival, European style cathedral glass w/arts

& crafts influences, etched, painted, stained. Paired tall, arched windows.

• St. Vincent’s Chapel, 10th & Spruce, Quincy, Ill. 1897. Tall, arched & paired windows dedicated to Joseph Freiburg,

geometric designs.

• Vermont St. Methodist Church, 1857-1934. William Boyington architect. Sanctuary & choir loft windows, colored sheet

glass, painted, stained geometric patterning, earliest colored church glass known from Quincy (note bowing of lower panels,

in great need of restoration)

Studios and Designers:

• Frank Lloyd Wright. Transom window unit, 717 Maine, manufactured by Luxfer Prism Glass Co. Chicago

• Tiffany & Co. Studios. Thomas & Mary white Memorial window dedication, 1st Union Congregation Church, 12th & Maine.

Architectural rendering of church/cathedral, stained & layered glass. Restored by Jacksonville Stained Glass, Ron Weaver

2015 for HSQAC. (Weaver will be available to discuss his work on Dec. 2nd ).

• Lamb Studios of New York. “St. James of Ulm” designed by Catherine Lamb Tait, daughter of founder & chief

designed/delineator. Also known as “the Craftsman” window. Medieval style deeply jewel toned glass of varying

thicknesses, central figure in multi-colored robes w/hand faceted “jewels” decorating clothing. Surrounded by 8 roundels

depicting the trades of church art. Restored by Ron Weaver, Jacksonville Stained Glass, and set in light box.

• Franz Mayer Glass Works, Munich, New York, and Chicago. “Annunciation” window, ca. 1930. Stained and painted

square window, hinged to fold, salesman’s sample. Restored by Ron Weaver, Jacksonville Stained Glass and set in light box.

The History Museum Faith Presbyterian Church Vermont St.

Methodist Church

Billy Kerksieck became employed in 1871, at age thirteen,

as Governor Wood’s coachman. His father, Henry, had

previously held the job until his death. For the four years he

served Wood, he would take the Governor to oversee

workmen cutting grass in Woodland Cemetery and others

trimming hedges on his farm. He also drove the Governor’s

cows to fields owned by Wood south of State Street.

On Kerksieck’s 90th birthday on April 11th, 1948, he gave

a long interview to the Herald-Whig about the time he spent

with the Wood family. One of his memories of Governor

Wood was that he liked buffalo meat which had to be

obtained from Kansas. He stated he never saw Wood take a

drink or smoke.

In 1986, Adelene Mitchell, granddaughter of William

Kerksieck, gave his clock to the Historical Society. It can be

found in the Mansion dining room.

FROM THE COLLECTION – John Wood’s Coachman, Billy Kerkseick’s Clock

HOUSES IN ADAMS COUNTY by Linda MayfieldThe earliest settlers in Adams County cut logs from the abundant timber and built cabins along the river, beside the creeks,

and on the prairies. The image of a collection of log cabins surrounded by woods and wild animals has been reinforced in books

and film, and indeed, most settlements in the region began that way. Records of the settlement of this county, however, indicate

that log cabins were often intended for as brief an occupation as possible. The settlers had all come from somewhere else, and for

many of them, that previous home was a community with the comforts of civilization.

Alone and only in his early 20s, John Wood had left his home in New York State and headed west. He built an 18’ x 20’ log

cabin on the Mississippi River bank near the present foot of Delaware Street in the fall of 1822. Soon he was joined by his friend

from Pike County, Jeremiah Rose, who, with his wife and daughter, shared the residence with him until 1826. In 1824, their

mutual friend, Willard Keyes, also joined them, but built his own 16’ x 16’ log cabin near what is now Vermont and Front

Streets. After Adams County was organized the following year, his one-room home served as the first court room.

A Frenchman named John Droulard settled nearby in 1824. Wood and Keyes did not yet have title to their land when they

built their cabins, but Droulard did, so he was the first land owner. His cabin also served as his cobbler shop, where new arrivals

could purchase handmade shoes.

Building a cabin in a wilderness was a daunting and labor-intensive task. In his “Reminiscences of Quincy,” Henry Asbury

noted, “Mr. Wood…used a hand-mill of his own construction—never patented. The first three cabins built at Quincy were

constructed without nails or tools except an ax and an auger; all the fastenings were made with wooden pins; the auger that

bored the holes was used in the hand mill by Wood for a mill-spindle.”

Other settlers quickly followed the first young men. Adams County was organized in early 1825, and on November 9, the

county commissioners authorized the town clerk, Henry Snow, to plat the town of Quincy. It contained 230 lots approximately

99’x 198’, and the first ones were sold at auction. The most expensive was $38, which Willard Keys paid for the lot on which his

cabin stood. Within a few years, cabins and frame and brick houses were built at an astonishing rate.

Although no record of a cause-and-effect relationship was found, in 1826, the same year the Rose family moved out of the

Wood cabin, Wood married Ann Streeter and she moved in. Ann soon convinced her husband to build a larger, two-story cabin

on his newly purchased land on what is now the northwest corner of 12th and State Streets, but no mere cabin was to be their

permanent home.

Wood hired skilled German workmen from Saint Louis, and from 1835 to 1838, built a majestic, Greek-Revival style

mansion just to the east of the two-story cabin. It showcased ornate décor, magnificent woodwork, and back stairs for servants.

In the 1860s John and Ann Wood built an even grander home a little farther north of The Mansion on 12th Street. Known as

the Octagonal House and completed in 1864 at a cost of $200,000, it was the costliest house in the state of Illinois at the time.

John gave The Mansion to their son, Daniel, cut it in half, and used 20 teams of horses to move the halves to the east side of

12th street and rotate the restored building to face west. Unwilling to lose his 12’ high Osage orange hedge, he had ramps built

and the horses pulled the house halves up and over it. (Now on the National Register, the home at 12th and State is known as

the John Wood Mansion. A two-story log cabin like the Woods’, built in 1835, is on the same property.)

Not all the early settlers left their cabins behind to move into bigger and better homes, as the Woods had done. The first

settlers in Beverly Township build their log cabins within sight of the present Mound Prairie Church and Cemetery. Isariah

Mayfield and his family arrived in the spring of 1834. Two friends from Brooklyn, New York, James Richardson, Sr., and James

Sykes, Jr., arrived a few months later. Isariah invited them to stay in his cabin while they hauled in logs and constructed their

own on their land south of Mayfield’s. That accomplished, they returned to their comfortable homes in New York and brought

their families,

Quincy, Illinois

and J. B. and Thomas Robertson and

George Wood, to their new homesteads.

One of the sons recorded in his journal

that when the women traveled by wagon

from Quincy and first caught sight of the

primitive cabins they were to live in, they

burst into tears.

Their men were not insensitive to the

women’s wishes, however. When more

construction was needed, Sykes went to

Quincy and hired Jacob Funk, a young

master wood craftsman, newly arrived

from Germany. Funk went to Beverly

and found both work and a wife: he built

much of the exquisite woodwork in the

Beverly homes and the Methodist and

Mound Prairie Churches, and married

Sykes’s daughter, Mary.

A century later, on a farm in Beverly

Township, a little girl named Eunice,

descended from at least two of those

original families, discovered why the

walls of her bedroom were thicker than

any of the others in her large, Victorian

home: her room was the original log

cabin. When the time had come to

replace it with something better, her

ancestors had not found a different lot on

which to build, and left it behind, like

John and Ann Wood had done. Eunice’s

ancestors had simply built their big, new

house around their old cabin and

plastered over the logs as they plastered

the walls.

ADAMS CO. HOUSES cont. Dedication of Garden Bench

Approximately 30 volunteers for the

Historical Society of Quincy and Adams

County were honored at an

appreciation luncheon at the Society’s

Visitors Center on Wednesday,

November 7. Volunteers from several

areas attended the event, ranging from

those who work as greeters at the

History Museum’s front desk to those

who dress in period attire and teach

through the Education Programs.

“This is a once a year event where we

can take the opportunity to let our

volunteers know how very valuable they

are to our organization, “said Todd

Shackelford, HSQAC President. “Non-

profits like ours have to stretch every

dollar, and their support allows us to

make the most of our limited staff and

funding. The work of our volunteers is

exceptional in every area and their time

and talents are truly appreciated by the

Board and our entire membership,” he

concluded.

Anyone interested in volunteering for

HSQAC, please contact the office at

217-222-1835.

HSQAC Hosts Volunteer Luncheon

Quincy, Illinois

200 Tin Dusters Visit the Museum

The visitor count at the History Museum

and Gift Shop was just over 200 the

weekend of October 20, due in large part

to the “Tin Dusters” weekend and the

District’s “Go for the Gold” promotion.

For the promotional event, participants

were required to get a stamp on an entry

form at 20 downtown businesses, which

would qualify them for a jewelry

drawing. “Some just wanted to get their

forms stamped, of course, but many,

including groups and families, did stay to

look at the museum exhibits and shop in

the Gift Shop,” commented Lynn Snyder,

History Museum Coordinator. “In years

past we have not seen a big jump in

attendance during Tin Dusters’

weekend,” she continued, “but since their

base of operations was downtown at the

Quality Inn and Suites, the foot traffic

was just great.”

Another feature of the December 2nd

events is the dedication of a bench in

the HSQAC History Museum sculpture

gardens to the memory of Cathy

Ambler, past president of Quincy

Preserves and an active member of

HSQAC, who passed away unexpectedly

in July 2016.

Please join us in the garden for this

brief remembrance of a woman who was

passionately dedicated to historic

preservation and restoration. This

dedication will take place at 6pm and

the garden will be lighted for the

occasion.

Quincy, Illinois

Rotary’s Oktoberfest 2018 was the second year that the Historical Society of Quincy and

Adams County volunteers offered two historical tours for Rotary’s grand event--and by all

accounts, a great time was had by all. The HSQAC’s The Upper Crust: Parties and Posh on

Park Place Tour shared events connected with 13 Park Place homes. Tidbits about weddings,

Halloween parties and Park Place Club events flowed. Tour-goers were intrigued to learn…

What Park Place Resident did Federal Agents arrest at his home for defrauding the United

States of 1.8 million dollars…

Which two boulevard ladies had a 29th wedding anniversary party—with neither husband

present…

Whose wealthy twin boys enrolled in Macon, Missouri’s prestigious Blees Academy…

What high school girl took a summer European tour… and gained 16 pounds, as reported in

the newspaper….

The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County thanks the three families who

opened their homes for The Upper Crust event—Jim and Judy Percy, Steve and Julia Auch

and Angela Gutting. Another HSQAC event took place on wheels-- the Rotary Oktoberfest

Calftown Tour. Tourgoers journeyed south side streets featuring cozy vernacular

architecture of the working class as well as the opulent Dick Brothers homes on State Street.

Guides revealed the location of Governor Wood’s Octagonal Manion and shared stories of

the John Wood Mansion at 12th and State. The German District commercial district at 8th

and State streets was also highlighted. The trip was topped off with tales of the Woodland

Cemetery Mausoleum and the Rogers Mausoleum.

The Upper Crust: Parties and Posh on Park Place Tour Event Featured 13 Park Place Homes

We continue to prepare for our second Civil War Symposium, which is sponsored in conjunction with the Tri-States Civil War

Round Table. The dates for the event are 4/5 October 2019. Registration and a reception on the 4th will be held in The History

Museum at 332 Maine in Quincy. All five presentations will occur on the 4th and 5th at the Quincy Kroc Center in the Meadows

Room.

The keynote speaker is Timothy S. Good, author of “We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts.” Good is

returning for Symposium II after speaking at last year’s event about Ulysses S. Grant and African Americans. Also coming back for

a second lecture is Dr. Sam Wheeler, the Illinois State Historian, whose topic will be “Illinois and the Civil War.”

New this year will be popular Lincoln re-enactor George Buss and folk musician Chris Vallillo who combine forces for a

verbal/musical offering about Lincoln’s life. Dr. Cindy Lovell, former Executive Director of both the Mark Twain Boyhood Home

and Museum in Hannibal and the Mark Twain Home and Museum in Harford, Connecticut, will also speak at the second

symposium. Her topic will be “Grant, Twain and the Memoirs.” Some readers may remember Dr. Lovell as a professor at Quincy

University several years ago. She has since retired from teaching and devotes her time to Twain.

A final newcomer will be Dr. Scott Giltner, Professor of History at Culver-Stockton College, whose topic is “Guerilla Warfare

in Northeast Missouri.” Dr. Giltner specializes in Missouri Civil War history and has presented locally on several occasions.

Registration information and publicity will be released in early 2019, so be on watch and sign up early. Seating will be limited, and

the event is free and open to the public; however, donations will be accepted.

Details Released for Civil War Symposium II – Quincy, Illinois

The Historical Society of Quincy and

Adams County was recently awarded an

energy assistance grant from Ameren

Illinois through the Non-Residential

Hardship Program. The funds are

administered by the Energy Assistance

Foundation and awarded to qualifying

501 C (3) organizations.

“HSQAC manages two of Quincy’s most

beloved historic buildings -- the History

Museum at 332 Maine Street and the

Governor John Wood Mansion at 425

South 12th Street -- and the maintenance

and renovation requirements of these

structures are constant” said Chuck

Radel, HSQAC Second Vice President.

“These expenses, coupled with the

regular costs for utilities payroll,

programs and exhibits, virtually deplete

the Society’s funds each year, making

any assistance with utilities greatly

appreciated.”

The grant will be used to pay a portion

of the electrical bill for the History

Museum at 332 Maine. This is the

second consecutive year HSQAC has

received the energy assistance grant.

The popular book “Historic Quincy

Architecture” by Richard Payne and Paul

Clifford Larson is being reprinted and

will once again be available in the

History Shop at the History Museum in

Quincy.

This book is a celebration of Quincy's

rich architectural history from the 1800’s

through the 1930’s. Several local

organizations are sharing the cost to

reprint the book, including the Quincy

Convention and Visitors Bureau, Quincy

Preserves and HSQAC.

If you would like to purchase the book,

contact the History Shop at 217-214-

1888 to be placed on a waiting list. You

will be notified when the book is in

stock again.

Historical Society Receives Grant Historic Quincy Architecture

Author Ken Glennon visited Quincy

recently and met with HSQAC

Research Librarian and Archivist Jean

Kay while researching his upcoming

book “Dime Store Dynasty of J. H.

Miller.”

The book covers the life and times of

the Quincy entrepreneur whose

company – J. H. Miller Manufacturing

Company- called Quincy home for

more than twenty years. Miller had

two factories in Quincy and one in

Puerto Rico and he employed more

than 400 people.

Nativity figurines were his most

popular product, although he later

produced toy soldiers and figures for

other holidays. The detail of the toy

soldiers was exquisite and precise and

the figures often featured accurate scale

weapons. Some of the soldiers also

displayed the visages of people famous

during that time period. Glennon

presented the HSQAC with figurines

for display in a future exhibit.

Glennon Presents Miller Items

Miller

Quincy, Illinois

Lincoln and Douglas Event Featured Historical Society Member Gary DeClueAn event featuring Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas portrayals and

a speech by the National Park Service’s Lincoln Home historian celebrated

Quincy’s observance of the 160th anniversary of what some local historians call

the city’s greatest day—the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sponsored by the city’s

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Advisory Board, the October 12 presentation was held

in the History Museum at 332 Maine Street—just southwest of the debate site.

On October 13, 1858, the Lincoln-Douglas debate in Quincy drew more than

12,000 people from three states to Quincy’s Washington Park. That sixth of the

seven debates was for Lincoln the “turning point” in his campaign to win

Douglas’s U.S. senate seat. It was in Quincy that historians say Lincoln “took off

the gloves” in his contest to unseat Douglas

National Park Service Ranger Tim Townsend, a Lincoln scholar and author,

gave the program’s keynote address, ’A blind man can see where the President’s

heart is:’ The Compassion of Abraham Lincoln.” Townsend worked from little-

known instances in Lincoln’s life that revealed his character, including

correspondences and discussions Lincoln did not intend for public view.

Townsend, chief of interpretation and historian at the Lincoln Home National

Historic Site in Springfield, has also served the Park Service at the U.S. Grant

Home in Galena and at state historic sites, the Vachel Lindsay Home and

Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices in Springfield.

Re-enactors George Buss and Gary DeClue portrayed Lincoln and Douglas in

a conversation about their views of the debates. Buss and DeClue are well known

to Quincy for their re-enactments. Buss is considered by many historians as the

most authentic and authoritative Lincoln re-enactor. A retired educator, Buss

tours nationally as President Lincoln and has been selected to present Lincoln’s

revered “Gettysburg Address” each November at the Civil War battlefield and

cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Equally recognized for his portrayals of

U.S. Senator Douglas, Gary DeClue of Quincy, who was the first ever John

Wood Community College Fine Arts Department chair and named Professor

Emeritus upon his retirement, has been honored for his re-creations of the 19th

century’s “Little Giant,” earning national attention for his portrayal of Douglas

in C-SPAN’s sesquicentennial commemoration of the sixth debate in Quincy.

Lincoln impersonator George Buss and Douglas

impersonator HSQAC member Gary DeClue

DeClue

Quincy, Illinois

It was John Wood’s audacity or spirit of competition or envy that inspired him to build his fifth home after he saw the

Springfield mansion the state was going to provide for newly inaugurated Governor William H. Bissell and his family. Bissell

and Wood in 1856 had been elected governor and lieutenant governor on the first statewide ticket of the two-year-old Illinois

Republican Party.

Bissell, his second wife Elizabeth, and daughters Josephine and Rhoda Bissell moved into the governor’s mansion in January

1857. Shortly afterward, Wood, who 22 years earlier built a 14-room Greek Revival mansion in the town he founded, decided to

build an even larger home.

Self-educated Chicago architect John Mills Van Osdel had designed the governor’s mansion, and Wood engaged him to build

his new Quincy home. Wood told Van Osdel he wanted several elements he saw in the Springfield Executive Mansion. Van

Osdel suggested an eight-sided mansion. That was fine with Wood, so long as it was “bigger than Bissell’s.”

“I am spending a lot of money on this home and intend it to be so fine no other man in the state of Illinois will attempt to equal

it,” Wood said.

Construction of Wood’s “Octagon House” took five years. Robert Norris, an English carpenter who settled in Quincy in

1850, supervised its construction. Work on the house began in 1857. By the time it was finished, Wood had invested more than

$200,000 in it—$5.7 million in today’s dollars. He had the home built on the same property on which he had built the family’s

two-story log cabin in 1826 and their Greek Revival mansion in 1835. He had the Greek Revival moved to its present location

near the northeast intersection of 12th and State Streets in 1858. The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County acquired it

in 1907.

William Kerksieck, orphaned at 13 and raised by the Woods, remembered that Wood rejected a proposal to cut down a row

of Osage Orange trees to facilitate the move. Wood ordered a ramp of heavy timbers built 12 feet over the hedgerow to save it. It

took 20 teams of horses to pull each of the home’s halves over the ramp to the limestone foundation on the other side.

There were some 1,500 octagonal homes in the country at the time Wood began his. Demand for the style would end during

the Civil War. Wood’s octagonal home was two stories and topped by a tall ornate cupola. It served as an observatory to which

Wood enjoyed taking guests for a bird’s eye view of his growing Quincy. Capped by a silver dome, the cupola showered the large

hall at the center of the second floor with sunlight that streamed through floor-length windows 18 inches wide.

The home’s exterior veneer was of Joliet marble panels, each approximately four inches thick. Contrary to accounts that lead

strips were used to join the panels, ordinary mortar was used. Lead was used to level panels in several places. Carthage limestone

formed the foundation. The roof was slate and slightly pitched. The large front portico with arches, paired columns, and sculpted

stone scroll work faced south toward State Street. Mary Hokamp, second maid in the octagon home, recalled in 1947 that Wood

had her sand-scrub the porticos every Saturday.

At the heart of the first floor’s interior was an octagonal rotunda 30 feet in diameter. The home’s prominent walnut elliptical

stairway wound its way from the home’s southeast entry to the second floor.

Four large rectangular rooms were attached to alternating faces of the mansion’s exterior and opened into four more large

rooms, each with a uniquely colored Italian marble fireplace, inside. Other first floor rooms included a formal parlor, a sitting

room, and library. Each had double doors, which opened to create a massive space in which the Woods entertained at dinner

parties and dances.

The second floor had five bedrooms, each with its own marble fireplace, surrounding a large round hall heated by two more

ONCE UPONG A TIME REVISTED: JOHN WOOD’S LAST QUINCY HOME By REG ANKROM

Quincy, Illinois

fireplaces. There also was a bathroom with a tin-lined tub. The

home had an attic water tank into which rainwater could be

diverted for bathroom use. Water was pumped from the

basement in winter.

There were two basements, the upper one often called the

first floor because it was partly above ground level. Here the

kitchen was located. In later years the home’s heating plant was

located in the lower basement.

Wood and his family lived in the Octagonal Mansion 15

years. In 1873, he was hit by financial reverses caused by a

nationwide financial panic and his own generosity. On March

16, 1873, Wood visited his attorney, Orville H. Browning, who

wrote in his diary that Wood “was very much embarrassed in

his financial affairs.” Wood had served as security for loans

totaling approximately $5 million in today’s currency to his

sons Daniel, John Jr. and Joshua, and son-in-law John Tillson

Jr. Wood told Browning he did not know what to do. Browning

suggested that he sell some of his considerable land holdings.

“All my property,” Wood told Browning,” was shingled all

over”—mortgaged. If his creditors called what was owed, the

governor said, he would be ruined.

As his family’s financial positions worsened, Wood divided

the Octagonal Mansion into two apartments. Tillson and his

wife Ann and family occupied one half and Wood and his wife

the other half.

Browning tried to help Wood by proposing that the state

buy the property for an insane asylum. State commissioners

visited but recommended against the option. Later that year,

Wood’s creditors forced him to sell out. The German and

English College—later Chaddock College—bought it for

$40,000, less than 20 percent of Wood’s investment. Wood

moved back to the Greek Revival Mansion in 1876 and died

there on June 4, 1880.

In 1919, St. Peter Catholic Church bought the property and

renamed the mansion Kerr Hall. In 1950 the church offered it

to the Historical Society for $30,000. The society’s efforts to

raise the money failed, and in 1951 John Wood’s Octagonal

Mansion, his last Quincy home, was razed.

ONCE UPONG A TIME REVISTED: JOHN WOOD’S LAST QUINCY HOMEContinued

John Wood’s “Octagonal House”. There were 1500 octagonal homes in

America when John Wood had his constructed.

On the day that annually

commemorates the end of World War I

and, this year, the 100th anniversary of

the end of World War I, Armistice Day,

November 11, the Historical Society

hosted a program at 2 pm at the

History Museum, 332 Maine Street.

“First Roads, First Families, Unknown

Gangsters: The Times and Trials of

Rural Adams,” a talk on multiple

subjects about rural communities of

Adams County, was presented by

Rosemary Tenvorde of Mendon.

Tenvorde compiled a cemetery book,

Old Stone Church and New Providence

Cemetery, and related accounts of

soldiers of four early wars buried in the

cemetery. Some stories of early pioneers

and intriguing twentieth century

incidents were also recounted by the

author.

Quincy, Illinois

“First Roads, First Families, Unknown Gangsters: The Times and Trials of Rural Adams”

Several HSQAC members and history buffs

traveled to Springfield to attend a recent

presentation by noted American historian

Doris Kearns Goodwin. Among those

attending were (Front Row, L to R): Beth

Young, Iris Nelson, Goodwin, and Barb Lieber.

(Back Row, L to R): Chuck Scholz and David

Schachtsieck.

HSQAC Members Travel to Springfield to Meet Noted Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin

Limited Seats May Be Available to Public for Grant and Twain PlayA limited number of seats may be available to the public for the “Grant and Twain”

production sponsored by HSQAC and the Tri-States Civil War Round Table in April. Reserved

seating will be assigned to students from Quincy Senior High School, Quincy Notre Dame,

Quincy University and John Wood Community College, but any remaining seats will be offered

to the public after March 15.

Through a generous donation by a local history buff, Dr. George Crickard, the two-man,

two-act play is scheduled on 2 April 2019 in the Mary Ellen Orr Auditorium at John Wood

Community College at 10:00 a.m. “The purpose of the financial gift is to provide an

educational, historical program to area high school and college students,” said event coordinator

Beth Young, “but we are happy to give the public the opportunity to attend should any tickets

be available.”

“Grant and Twain” is written by Dr. Curt Fields and Warren Brown, who spent 18 months

writing the play. The production provides historical information but uses a theatrical format

and humor to appeal to all ages. Fields, an educational consultant and living historian, portrays

General Ulysses S. Grant. He is the National Park Service representative for Grant and has

played the character in films and re-enactments, including at the 150th anniversary of Lee’s

surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia in 2015. He was also featured as

Grant and a Grant authority in the Discovery Channel’s series “How Booze Built America.”

Fields has this to say about the duo’s appearance in Quincy. “President Grant and Mr.

Clemens are looking forward to speaking to the young people in Quincy about how President

Grant’s memoirs came to be written, the similarities between the two men, and how they came

together at the end of Grant’s life to produce the book the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.”

Brown, a living historian who has over 35 years of experience in business and industry, has

been portraying Twain since 1996 and has appeared as the humorist more than 1200 times.

Brown has received the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his portrayal of the man

and his Catch the Twain program has been endorsed by the National Endowment for the

Humanities and the Illinois Humanities Council.

“I am delighted that two of the most preeminent living historians, Dr. Curt Fields as Gen.

U.S. Grant, and Warren Brown as Mark Twain, are bringing their two act play to Quincy for

high school and college students of the area. The warm relationship between Grant and Twain

will come alive on stage,” said Education Program Director Rich Keppner. “We are deeply

grateful to Dr. Crickard for underwriting this event. While in Quincy, the two historians will

be staying at the home of Terrell and Vicki Dempsey whose residence has a special connection

to General Grant and the Civil War. Their home at 18th and Maine was the residence of

Colonel Edward Prince of the 7th Illinois Cavalry which was part of Grierson’s Raid through

Mississippi in the spring of 1863 as part of General Grant’s siege of Vicksburg.”

Student attendance will be coordinated by the individual schools. Others may call the

Historical Society Office at 217-222-1835 after March 15 for information on purchasing any

remaining tickets.

Quincy, Illinois

Dr. Curt Fields as General Grant

Warren Brown as Mark Twain

Mary Ellen Orr Auditorium at John

Wood Community College

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NON-PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDQUINCY, IL

PERMIT NO. 127

2018