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Complex and paradoxical, Nehemiah Matson (1816-1873) celebrated the occupation of the Middle West by European pioneers even as he labored to preserve the memory of the natives these pioneers replaced. He perpetuated the memory of the Indians who were driven out of the territory, but he nevertheless accumulated wealth selling their land to the pioneers. Rodney O. Davis notes in his new foreword to this book that Matson combined the attributes of a scholar with those of a salesman and promoter. Matson settled in Princeton, Illinois, in 1836. He left behind a library partially endowed by him, named for him, and finally completed in 1913. According to Davis, however, Matson's other legacy, "of e...
In the 1950s and ‘60s, John W. Allen told the people of southern Illinois about themselves—about their region, its history, and its folkways—in his series of newspaper articles, “It Happened in Southern Illinois.” Each installment of the series depicted a single item of interest—a town, a building, an enterprise, a person, an event, a custom. Originally published in 1963, Legends & Lore of Southern Illinois brings together a selection of these articles preserving a valuable body of significant local history and cultural lore. During territorial times and early statehood, southern Illinois was the most populous and most influential part of the state. But the advent of the steamboa...
"This popular general history of the middle third of Illinois is organized thematically and covers the Woodland period of prehistory until roughly 1960"--
In When Lincoln Came to Egypt, George W. Smith discusses Lincoln's various trips to southern Illinois, focusing mainly on Lincoln's most prominent visit, when he came to debate Stephen A. Douglas in Jonesboro in 1858.
From the arrival of Marquette and Jolliet in 1673 to the emergence of the prairie poets---Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, and Vachel Lindsay---in the twentieth century, James Gray traces the saga of the Illinois River and the people of central Illinois. In vivid prose he depicts such famous figures as the French explorer Sieur de La Salle, circuit rider Peter Cartwright, abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, and political leader Stephen A. Douglas. His chronicle of Illinois history also includes the Indian massacre at Starved Rock, life in the French villages of the Illinois Country, the struggles of the pioneers, steamboat days in Peoria, and the operation of modern towboats on the river. Of special interest is Gray's colorful account of the Illinois background of Abraham Lincoln. A work of literary art as well as historical interpretation, The Illinois is one of the early volumes in the famous Rivers of America series.
In the spring of 1832, when the Indian warrior Black Hawk and a thousand followers marched into Illinois to reoccupy lands earlier ceded to American settlers, the U.S. Army turned to rival tribes for military support. In order to grasp Indian motives, John Hall explores their alliances in earlier wars with colonial powers as well as in intertribal antagonisms and conflicts. Providing a rare view of Indian attitudes and strategies in war and peace, Hall deepens our understanding of Native Americans and the complex roles they played in the nation's history.
Growing Up with Southern Illinois is the self-portrait of a rugged pioneer, Daniel Brush, who prospered on the Illinois frontier, founded the town of Carbondale, and led a regiment of hellions in the Civil War.
In this collection of articles describing the people, places, and folkways of southern Illinois, John W. Allen provides entertaining and informative glimpses into the region’s past. Included here are sketches of the early pioneering days when wolves were literally chased from the door, stories about the many Indian artifacts discovered among the rolling hills and valleys of the area, and articles pertaining to the strategic role the region played during the Civil War. Allen also describes the activities of such infamous outlaws as Samuel Mason and the Harpe brothers as well as the famous Illinois-born heroes “Bat” Masterson, “Wild Bill” Hickok, and Wyatt Earp. In his warm and friendly style, Allen reminisces about the self-sufficient and satisfying rural life of a previous generation with its oxcarts, pie suppers, threshing machines, kerosene lamps, and blacksmith shops. Any reader interested in southern Illinois and its history will delight in this collection of stories from John W. Allen’s popular newspaper column, “It Happened in Southern Illinois.”