October 5, 2013 - History Club Meeting
Our speaker will be Bruce Allardice, Professor of History at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He has six books to his credit and numerous article on the Civil War. Professor Allardice is Past President of the Civil War Roundtable in Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable. He will speak about the Scots of Chicago who fought in the war with a special emphasis on General John McArthur. His experience as an author and historian has led to numerous speaking engagements across the country.
November 2, 2013 - History Club Meeting
The program is not fully complete, please watch for future announcements.
December, 2013 - No Meeting
January 11, 2014 - History Club Meeting (Please note the change in dates)
Tina Beaird lives in Oswego, Illinois and is the Genealogy and Local History Librarian at the Plainfield Public Library. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree with a specialization in Archives/Preservation from Dominican University. Tina is also Genealogist for the Illinois State Genealogical Society, an Oswego Heritage Association governing board member and an Oswego Historic Preservation Commissioner. At our January 11 meeting, she will speak on the “Scottish Diaspora - Migration Chains to Illinois.”
February 1, 2014 - 2:00 p.m. (Please note the time change)
Our speaker will be James M. Cornelius, PhD who is the Curator of the Lincoln Collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. Dr. Cornelius is a native of Minneapolis and graduated from Lawrence University and the University of Illinois. He has worked as an editor in New York City at Doubleday, Random House, and Collier’s Encyclopedia. He has written several books and dozens of articles and book reviews about architecture, baseball, and American British history.
Honor Flight:
On a personal note, I have been invited to take the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. on October 2. We check in at Midway airport at 4.15 a.m. As most of you already know this is a volunteer effort to show veterans of WWII their Memorial in the Nation’s Capital. (John LeNoble recently made the trip.) We will be returning home that same day on Southwest Airlines’ Flight 405 to Midway with a projected arrival time of 8:45 p.m. If you wish to join in the return celebrations, it will be held in Baggage Area 4. Everyone is welcome.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
630-629-4516
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
A River Runs Through It
After enjoying a long and successful career as an English professor at the University of Chicago, Norman Maclean published his first book of short stories at the age of seventy-three. It proved to be a smashing debut. A River Run Through It and Other Stories sold than 160,000 copies, largely through word of mouth, even before the 1992 film version by Robert Redford had been considered. Born in Clarinda, Iowa, in 1902, Maclean grew up in Missoula, Montana. He was the William Rainey Harper Professor of English at the University of Chicago until his retirement in 1973.
Maclean’s father was a Presbyterian minister and a considerable influence on Norman’s life. He recalls his father’s origin;
“My father was all Scotch and came from Nova Scotia from a large family that was on poor land. His great belief was in all men being equal under God...My father loved America so much that, although he had a rather heavy Scottish burr when he came to this country, by the time I was born, it was all gone. He regarded it as his American duty to get rid of it. He despised Scotch Presbyterian ministers who went heavy on their Scotch burr. He put a terrific commitment on me to be an American. I, the eldest son, was expected to complete the job.”
“He told me I had to learn the American language. He spoke beautifully, but he didn’t have the American idioms. He kept me home until I was ten and a half to teach me. He taught me how to write American.”
Maclean, a member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, later recalled his father’s practice of preaching two “fairly good sermons” on Sundays and baptizing, marrying, and burying “the local Americans of Scotch dissent on week days.”
(The above is taken from The Scots of Chicago written by Wayne Rethford and June Skinner Sawyers. Page 125)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Norman Maclean died on August 2, 1990. He died at home in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago after a long illness. He had taught at the University of Chicago for 45 years. On September 24, 1931, he had married Jessie Burns described as a “red-headed Scots-Irish woman from Wolf Creek, Montana.”
The obituary for Mrs. Jessie B. Maclean was published in the Chicago Tribune on December 10, 1968. She was 63 years old, lived at 1216 Madison Park and died in Billings Hospital. Mrs. Maclean had been the secretary of the University’s department of biochemistry and executive secretary of the school’s Medical Alumni Association. In 1967, she received the Association’s Golden key for distinguished service.
Norman was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1924. He earned a doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1940 and was named the William Rainey Harper Professor of English Literature in 1962. He was awarded honorary degrees by Montana State University and the University of Montana.
He was survived by a son John; a daughter, Jean Maclean Snyder, and 4 grandchildren. I could not find where Norman Maclean and his wife were buried. Perhaps someone can help.
If you saw the movie, you know that his younger brother, Paul Davidson, was murdered. This occurred in Chicago on May 2, 1938, in the alley between Eberhart and Rhodes Avenue, just south of 62nd street. The murder was never solved. The police said, “he had battled fiercely with his assailants before being subdued.” Paul graduated from Dartmouth in 1928 and was a champion handball player. He was buried in the Missoula Cemetery, Missoula County, Montana, Block 58, Lot 4, grave 6.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
630-629-4516
Upcoming Event:
October 5, 2013 - History Club Meeting
Our speaker will be Bruce Allardice, Professor of History at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He has six books to his credit and numerous article on the Civil War. Professor Allardice is Past President of the Civil War Roundtable in Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable. He will speak about the Scots of Chicago who fought in the war with a special emphasis on General John McArthur. Reservations (708-447-5092) are helpful but not necessary.
Maclean’s father was a Presbyterian minister and a considerable influence on Norman’s life. He recalls his father’s origin;
“My father was all Scotch and came from Nova Scotia from a large family that was on poor land. His great belief was in all men being equal under God...My father loved America so much that, although he had a rather heavy Scottish burr when he came to this country, by the time I was born, it was all gone. He regarded it as his American duty to get rid of it. He despised Scotch Presbyterian ministers who went heavy on their Scotch burr. He put a terrific commitment on me to be an American. I, the eldest son, was expected to complete the job.”
“He told me I had to learn the American language. He spoke beautifully, but he didn’t have the American idioms. He kept me home until I was ten and a half to teach me. He taught me how to write American.”
Maclean, a member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, later recalled his father’s practice of preaching two “fairly good sermons” on Sundays and baptizing, marrying, and burying “the local Americans of Scotch dissent on week days.”
(The above is taken from The Scots of Chicago written by Wayne Rethford and June Skinner Sawyers. Page 125)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Norman Maclean died on August 2, 1990. He died at home in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago after a long illness. He had taught at the University of Chicago for 45 years. On September 24, 1931, he had married Jessie Burns described as a “red-headed Scots-Irish woman from Wolf Creek, Montana.”
The obituary for Mrs. Jessie B. Maclean was published in the Chicago Tribune on December 10, 1968. She was 63 years old, lived at 1216 Madison Park and died in Billings Hospital. Mrs. Maclean had been the secretary of the University’s department of biochemistry and executive secretary of the school’s Medical Alumni Association. In 1967, she received the Association’s Golden key for distinguished service.
Norman was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1924. He earned a doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1940 and was named the William Rainey Harper Professor of English Literature in 1962. He was awarded honorary degrees by Montana State University and the University of Montana.
He was survived by a son John; a daughter, Jean Maclean Snyder, and 4 grandchildren. I could not find where Norman Maclean and his wife were buried. Perhaps someone can help.
If you saw the movie, you know that his younger brother, Paul Davidson, was murdered. This occurred in Chicago on May 2, 1938, in the alley between Eberhart and Rhodes Avenue, just south of 62nd street. The murder was never solved. The police said, “he had battled fiercely with his assailants before being subdued.” Paul graduated from Dartmouth in 1928 and was a champion handball player. He was buried in the Missoula Cemetery, Missoula County, Montana, Block 58, Lot 4, grave 6.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
630-629-4516
Upcoming Event:
October 5, 2013 - History Club Meeting
Our speaker will be Bruce Allardice, Professor of History at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He has six books to his credit and numerous article on the Civil War. Professor Allardice is Past President of the Civil War Roundtable in Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable. He will speak about the Scots of Chicago who fought in the war with a special emphasis on General John McArthur. Reservations (708-447-5092) are helpful but not necessary.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Who is Like Us?
This information is taken from the newspaper Scotland on Sunday dated 1 April 2001. I contacted the paper for permission and they answered with one email but when I asked for more information they never answered. I thus assume they do not object to my using a summary of their material.
“Go anywhere and you will probably find a Scot, or a son of a Scot, or a daughter. The way Scottish people work, think, eat, socialize and play has helped shape the world. Nowhere is that more evident than in North America. From business leaders and scientists, to film stars and artist, we profile the Scots that matter – starting with the son of a Lewis lass who changed the Manhattan skyline, Donald Trump.”
DONALD TRUMP: His Mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, was brought up near Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. She came to visit America for the first time at the age of 18. When she was older she was mugged in a shopping mall and its so traumatized her that she reverted to speaking Gaelic, her mother tongue. (There is much more about Donald Trump in the article.)
JOAN BAEZ: born in 1941 to a Mexican father and a Scottish mother. Her mother’s name was Joan Bridge. She sang at Woodstock before 500,000 people. Was a committed anti-Vietnam protester.
JACQUELINE BISSET: Her father was Scottish and her mother was a French lawyer. They lived for a time in Aberdeen. Her father died while she was young and chose to be buried in Scotland. In 2001 she was a member of the Fraser clan.
MICKEY ROONEY: Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a traveling entertainer from Glasgow and his mother was a chorus girl. “My father was born in Scotland and mother is American, so I’m sort of a short Winston Churchill. I am proud to be a Scot.”
ALAN BAIN: President Emeritus of the American Scottish foundation in New York City. His parents were Scottish, but he grew up in Hertfordshire, and spent much of his time visiting family in Scotland. He says “there’s a huge cultural difference between the US and Scotland. I’m trying to bridge between the two countries.” This article says he wears the McKay tartan and that he “adores” haggis. “I always go to the George Hotel in Edinburgh to eat it.” Many of us know Alan Bain and there is much more to his life. I consider Alan Bain to be a personal friend and look forward to seeing him at the Scottish North American Leadership Conference, October 25–27 in Chicago. Further information and registration can be obtained at www.Chicagoscots.org.
BOBBY THOMSON: Born in Glasgow on October 3, 1951, he hit baseball’s most famous home run – “the shot that was heard round the world.” The New York Giants had won the National League pennant! The Illinois Saint Andrew Society honored Bobby Thompson at their Annual Dinner, December 1, 1951. He was given an engraved watch.
NEIL ALDEN ARMSTRONG: “Armstrong’s link to the old world probably dates back quite a few generations. All Armstrongs come from the borders. From there, many settled in northern Ireland before setting off for the New World.” Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon’s surface in 1969 and planted a US flag. In 1972, Armstrong was paraded through his clan’s ancestral hometown of Langholm, Scotland and was given the “Freedom of the Town.”
DUNCAN A. BRUCE: He Attended Wharton business school and then began a career on Wall Street. He is a past board member of The St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York and is also the author of The Mark of the Scots and The Scottish 100. Three of his grandparents were born in Scotland. “I do wear the kilt and try to love haggis, but I think this stuff has been overdone.” Duncan Bruce is a friend of mine and lives in New York City. Many of us have read his books.
ELIZABETH TAYLOR: Taylor began her acting career in 1942 as a child and it was the success of National Velvet with Mickey Rooney in 1944 that made her a star. She was born in London. Her father was an art dealer of Scots descent and her mother, Rosemond, was of Americans Scots descent. “She is well known for her enthusiasm for attending the many organized festivals of American Scots and she travels back to visit Scotland numerous times…” Elizabeth Taylor died March 23, 2011.
MARILYN JORDAN TAYLOR: She is an architect, urban designer and business leader in New York City. At the time this article was written she worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Her grandfather was Scottish. “My Scottish grandfather, Clyde McFarlin ran his extended family like a clan, and we felt privileged to be a part of it!” She has visited Scotland, and “says her favorite memory is seeing the Edinburgh Tattoo at the castle. “In 1996 she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor given to ethnic individuals who have made a contribution to American culture.”
(All of the above information came from the Scotland on Sunday edition of April 1, 2001. You can find them on the Internet.)
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
630-629-4516
Upcoming Events:
October 5, 2013 - The History Club Meeting
Our speaker will be Bruce Allardice, Professor of History at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He has six books to his credit and numerous article on the Civil War. Professor Allardice is Past President of the Civil War Roundtable in Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable. He will speak about the Scots of Chicago who fought in the war with a special emphasis on General John McArthur.
“Go anywhere and you will probably find a Scot, or a son of a Scot, or a daughter. The way Scottish people work, think, eat, socialize and play has helped shape the world. Nowhere is that more evident than in North America. From business leaders and scientists, to film stars and artist, we profile the Scots that matter – starting with the son of a Lewis lass who changed the Manhattan skyline, Donald Trump.”
DONALD TRUMP: His Mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, was brought up near Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. She came to visit America for the first time at the age of 18. When she was older she was mugged in a shopping mall and its so traumatized her that she reverted to speaking Gaelic, her mother tongue. (There is much more about Donald Trump in the article.)
JOAN BAEZ: born in 1941 to a Mexican father and a Scottish mother. Her mother’s name was Joan Bridge. She sang at Woodstock before 500,000 people. Was a committed anti-Vietnam protester.
JACQUELINE BISSET: Her father was Scottish and her mother was a French lawyer. They lived for a time in Aberdeen. Her father died while she was young and chose to be buried in Scotland. In 2001 she was a member of the Fraser clan.
MICKEY ROONEY: Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a traveling entertainer from Glasgow and his mother was a chorus girl. “My father was born in Scotland and mother is American, so I’m sort of a short Winston Churchill. I am proud to be a Scot.”
ALAN BAIN: President Emeritus of the American Scottish foundation in New York City. His parents were Scottish, but he grew up in Hertfordshire, and spent much of his time visiting family in Scotland. He says “there’s a huge cultural difference between the US and Scotland. I’m trying to bridge between the two countries.” This article says he wears the McKay tartan and that he “adores” haggis. “I always go to the George Hotel in Edinburgh to eat it.” Many of us know Alan Bain and there is much more to his life. I consider Alan Bain to be a personal friend and look forward to seeing him at the Scottish North American Leadership Conference, October 25–27 in Chicago. Further information and registration can be obtained at www.Chicagoscots.org.
BOBBY THOMSON: Born in Glasgow on October 3, 1951, he hit baseball’s most famous home run – “the shot that was heard round the world.” The New York Giants had won the National League pennant! The Illinois Saint Andrew Society honored Bobby Thompson at their Annual Dinner, December 1, 1951. He was given an engraved watch.
NEIL ALDEN ARMSTRONG: “Armstrong’s link to the old world probably dates back quite a few generations. All Armstrongs come from the borders. From there, many settled in northern Ireland before setting off for the New World.” Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon’s surface in 1969 and planted a US flag. In 1972, Armstrong was paraded through his clan’s ancestral hometown of Langholm, Scotland and was given the “Freedom of the Town.”
DUNCAN A. BRUCE: He Attended Wharton business school and then began a career on Wall Street. He is a past board member of The St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York and is also the author of The Mark of the Scots and The Scottish 100. Three of his grandparents were born in Scotland. “I do wear the kilt and try to love haggis, but I think this stuff has been overdone.” Duncan Bruce is a friend of mine and lives in New York City. Many of us have read his books.
ELIZABETH TAYLOR: Taylor began her acting career in 1942 as a child and it was the success of National Velvet with Mickey Rooney in 1944 that made her a star. She was born in London. Her father was an art dealer of Scots descent and her mother, Rosemond, was of Americans Scots descent. “She is well known for her enthusiasm for attending the many organized festivals of American Scots and she travels back to visit Scotland numerous times…” Elizabeth Taylor died March 23, 2011.
MARILYN JORDAN TAYLOR: She is an architect, urban designer and business leader in New York City. At the time this article was written she worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Her grandfather was Scottish. “My Scottish grandfather, Clyde McFarlin ran his extended family like a clan, and we felt privileged to be a part of it!” She has visited Scotland, and “says her favorite memory is seeing the Edinburgh Tattoo at the castle. “In 1996 she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor given to ethnic individuals who have made a contribution to American culture.”
(All of the above information came from the Scotland on Sunday edition of April 1, 2001. You can find them on the Internet.)
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
630-629-4516
Upcoming Events:
October 5, 2013 - The History Club Meeting
Our speaker will be Bruce Allardice, Professor of History at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He has six books to his credit and numerous article on the Civil War. Professor Allardice is Past President of the Civil War Roundtable in Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable. He will speak about the Scots of Chicago who fought in the war with a special emphasis on General John McArthur.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Patron Saint of Poets Dies in Peru
Harriet Monroe was born in Chicago in 1860. She was the daughter of a prominent lawyer of Scottish heritage named Harry Stanton Monroe who was a close friend and ally of Sen. Stephen A. Douglas. Her mother’s maiden name was Martha Mitchell. They came to Chicago in the early 1850s. Mr. Monroe died in 1903.
In her autobiography Miss Monroe recalls her earlier years. “I was born one Sunday morning two days before Christmas in 1860, in the little rapidly growing city of Chicago, even then conscious of its destiny.” She then goes on to describe her long–held romantic admiration of her Scottish ancestors:
“Part of me was raging the Scottish hills with a daredevil Highland clan which would later rebel against usurping Hanoverian kings, and, in desperate fealty to the Stuarts, would send three Monro brothers to new colonies across the sea.”
“But half of me was being fashioned by my mother’s tribe, and family tradition tells little about them. Mitchell is a lowland Scotch name, so some adventurous Mitchell must have braved the Atlantic, and I hope there were vagabonds and artists in his progeny.”
After graduating from the Visitation Academy in Georgetown in 1879, she returned to Chicago. Here she began writing for Chicago newspapers about “music, art and the drama.” She was invited to write a poem for the Columbian Exposition dedication. It was called the “Colombian Ode” and was delivered before 100,000 persons on October 21, 1892, a year before the actual opening. Prof. George W. Chadic of Boston was invited to set the lyric passages to music. It was sung by a chorus of 5,000 voices and accompanied by a great orchestra and military bands. (You can find the entire poem on the Internet.)
In 1911 she was the art editor of the Chicago Tribune and she interested a group of patrons in publishing a magazine of verse. The magazine “Poetry” began in September 1912. The magazine is still being published and has a circulation of 30,000, or more. In 2003, the magazine’s foundation received a gift of $200 million from the estate of Ruth Lilly.
In the beginning Poetry magazine did not pay very much - $20 for Lindsay’s "General William Booth Enters Heaven" or $6 for Joyce Kilmer’s "Trees." But even these small amounts were important. Edna St. Vincent Millay requested payment in advance saying “Spring is here - and I could be very happy, except that I am broke....P. S. I am awfully broke.” One of her early backers was Chatfield-Taylor.
In 1931, Harriet Monroe gave her collection of materials to the University of Chicago. It included manuscripts, a large volume of correspondence with poets in America and Europe, and almost 1,500 volumes of recent Poetry, her magazine of verse. Her estate was valued at $30,000.00 when she died in 1936.
Her last journey was to Buenos Aires as a guest of the Pen Club, an organization dedicated to poetry around the world. She returned along the western route and apparently wanted to climb Machu Picchu. The high altitude in the Andes caused her to have either a heart attack or a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried in a crypt in Arequipa, Peru which bears the inscription, “Harriet Monroe - Poet - Friend of Poets.” She was 76 years old.
There is an article in the Chicago Tribune, dated February 24, 1959 by Eleanor Page and she is reporting that Mrs. E. Stanton Fetcher is stitching a lace veil, seven feet long, for her daughter Miss Harriet Monroe Fetcher. She is to marry Nelson Beck Johnson in the fall of 1960. They were both seniors at the University of Wyoming. Her great-uncle is the late William T. Calhoun who was a United States ambassador to China. There may be relatives living in the Chicago area because I was unable to trace the brother, William S. Monroe. Nor could I find obituaries of the parents so I don’t know where they are buried. Perhaps someone will call me.
In Chicago, Harriett Monroe lived at 1911 East Pearson St. She was survived by a brother, William S Monroe and a sister, Mrs. Lucy Calhoun of Peiping, China, widow of William T Calhoun, one time United States minister to China. Her sister, Dora, married John W. Root, the architect. In 1881, Harriet Monroe wrote a memoir of his career.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
The next meeting of the History Club will be September 7 in Heritage Hall at the Scottish Home, 2800 Des Plaines ave., North Riverside, Illinois. The speaker will be Rick Rann who has been collecting items about the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair for over 25 years. He now has over 5,000 items. Rick is an amateur historian and a World’s Fair aficionado. His daughter recently graduated from St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. It should be an interesting day. Program begins at 10 a.m. - reservations are not necessary, but helpful. Call 708-447-5092 to reserve your place.
In her autobiography Miss Monroe recalls her earlier years. “I was born one Sunday morning two days before Christmas in 1860, in the little rapidly growing city of Chicago, even then conscious of its destiny.” She then goes on to describe her long–held romantic admiration of her Scottish ancestors:
“Part of me was raging the Scottish hills with a daredevil Highland clan which would later rebel against usurping Hanoverian kings, and, in desperate fealty to the Stuarts, would send three Monro brothers to new colonies across the sea.”
“But half of me was being fashioned by my mother’s tribe, and family tradition tells little about them. Mitchell is a lowland Scotch name, so some adventurous Mitchell must have braved the Atlantic, and I hope there were vagabonds and artists in his progeny.”
After graduating from the Visitation Academy in Georgetown in 1879, she returned to Chicago. Here she began writing for Chicago newspapers about “music, art and the drama.” She was invited to write a poem for the Columbian Exposition dedication. It was called the “Colombian Ode” and was delivered before 100,000 persons on October 21, 1892, a year before the actual opening. Prof. George W. Chadic of Boston was invited to set the lyric passages to music. It was sung by a chorus of 5,000 voices and accompanied by a great orchestra and military bands. (You can find the entire poem on the Internet.)
In 1911 she was the art editor of the Chicago Tribune and she interested a group of patrons in publishing a magazine of verse. The magazine “Poetry” began in September 1912. The magazine is still being published and has a circulation of 30,000, or more. In 2003, the magazine’s foundation received a gift of $200 million from the estate of Ruth Lilly.
In the beginning Poetry magazine did not pay very much - $20 for Lindsay’s "General William Booth Enters Heaven" or $6 for Joyce Kilmer’s "Trees." But even these small amounts were important. Edna St. Vincent Millay requested payment in advance saying “Spring is here - and I could be very happy, except that I am broke....P. S. I am awfully broke.” One of her early backers was Chatfield-Taylor.
In 1931, Harriet Monroe gave her collection of materials to the University of Chicago. It included manuscripts, a large volume of correspondence with poets in America and Europe, and almost 1,500 volumes of recent Poetry, her magazine of verse. Her estate was valued at $30,000.00 when she died in 1936.
Her last journey was to Buenos Aires as a guest of the Pen Club, an organization dedicated to poetry around the world. She returned along the western route and apparently wanted to climb Machu Picchu. The high altitude in the Andes caused her to have either a heart attack or a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried in a crypt in Arequipa, Peru which bears the inscription, “Harriet Monroe - Poet - Friend of Poets.” She was 76 years old.
There is an article in the Chicago Tribune, dated February 24, 1959 by Eleanor Page and she is reporting that Mrs. E. Stanton Fetcher is stitching a lace veil, seven feet long, for her daughter Miss Harriet Monroe Fetcher. She is to marry Nelson Beck Johnson in the fall of 1960. They were both seniors at the University of Wyoming. Her great-uncle is the late William T. Calhoun who was a United States ambassador to China. There may be relatives living in the Chicago area because I was unable to trace the brother, William S. Monroe. Nor could I find obituaries of the parents so I don’t know where they are buried. Perhaps someone will call me.
In Chicago, Harriett Monroe lived at 1911 East Pearson St. She was survived by a brother, William S Monroe and a sister, Mrs. Lucy Calhoun of Peiping, China, widow of William T Calhoun, one time United States minister to China. Her sister, Dora, married John W. Root, the architect. In 1881, Harriet Monroe wrote a memoir of his career.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
The next meeting of the History Club will be September 7 in Heritage Hall at the Scottish Home, 2800 Des Plaines ave., North Riverside, Illinois. The speaker will be Rick Rann who has been collecting items about the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair for over 25 years. He now has over 5,000 items. Rick is an amateur historian and a World’s Fair aficionado. His daughter recently graduated from St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. It should be an interesting day. Program begins at 10 a.m. - reservations are not necessary, but helpful. Call 708-447-5092 to reserve your place.
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Energy of Man will Subdue the Wilderness
Part III
The day the Beveridge family reached Somonauk it had rained all day and the mud was deep and black. The roof leaked and their log house was wet and damp. I don’t wonder that Mrs. Beveridge cried. Here she was on the edge of civilization with no neighbors and no church. Everything that had been familiar to her in Salem, New York, was gone. Her son would later write: “The associations of my whole life, my playmates and my schoolmates, it seemed as if I never could become reconciled to the change.”
Their house was actually two log cabins put together and connected by a breezeway and built of rough logs chinked and daubed with clay. (Not unlike the log cabin my grandparents lived in along Panther creek, east of Springfield, Missouri. I remember a large fireplace at one end and a loft where the boys slept. My grandfather was Henry Boyd Jack.) In the Beveridge cabin, the west room was the granary. “In the next room was a fireplace with a mud and stick chimney and two small windows. This was the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of my parents,” their son, John L., remembered.
One of the first things they did was to reopen their house as an inn. The stagecoach ran every day each way between Chicago and Dixon, a distance of 110 miles. In the winter two days were required for the trip. Travelers had no choice except to stop overnight in the log house. They were served good meals and had clean beds, all for seventy-five cents and this included feeding the horses.
Their oldest daughter who had married William French settled on a tract of land adjoining the Beverages on the South and built a house half a mile down the creek. These first settlers sought tracts of land on the highest points they could find. The low land was thought to be of no value because water stood in many places year-round. It was the perfect breeding place for disease.
“Mr. And Mrs. George Beveridge and their children were the first of many pioneers coming to Somonauk from Washington County. Other families, more or less related to them, joined them within a year or two. There seems to have been a certain feeling of consternation and desolation among those left in the older community as they saw house after house occupied by strange residents.”
Unlike today, the church was the most important place in the lives of these Scottish pioneers. They would not wait long for religious services to begin in the Beveridge log cabin. In August 1842, the Rev. James Templeton visited and preached one Sunday. This is the first recorded religious service of the Presbyterians in DuPage County. “The following autumn, a Rev. Mr. Smith preached one Sabbath.” And from time to time other ministers came, among them the Rev. Rensselaer W. French who also preached at the Wheatland church. When there was no minister available the families would convene at the Beveridge cabin on the Lord’s day and conduct a Sabbath school and what was termed a “cottage prayer meeting.”
“Sunday morning families had to get up with the sun to get to church on time. The yoke of oxen was hitched to a lumber wagon, family loaded in and the driver ‘gee-hawed’ them to church at the rate of two miles an hour.” On March 18, 1846, 20 men and women met to form the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church. These 20 people probably represented the entire adult population of the community. Their names are given in the Somonauk Book.
“There was some dark days. At times tears flowed freely; but some of the time the sun was shining. Clouds came and passed beyond, not forgotten, but acccepted; therefore they had the true sunshine of life – resignation to the will of God. Meanwhile they continued with cheerful self-denial to build their two homes: a family home and the church home. “Courage and faith, coupled with perseverance, were the ball and hammer that pounded out success.”
Several yoke of oxen were needed to draw a 16 inch plow. Five yoke hitched to a plow was needed to turn a 22 inch furrow. One man drove the oxen and another man guided the plow. Once turned, the sod was left to decompose under the rays of the sun, so that next year it might bear a new type of growth - wheat.
Many of the early settlers soon died from privation, overwork and fever so it became necessary to select a burial place for the Somonauk community. They chose a tract of land covered with oak trees not far from the little creek and the Beveridge house. In 1847, the Cemetery was surveyed and platted and we know it today as the Oak Mound Cemetery. A few years ago we visited the church and the cemetery on one of our summer history tours.
In his will, George Beveridge left money to his grandchildren. If the grandchild was named “George” he received ten dollars. Those not named “George” were given five dollars. Henry J. Patten, born after the will was drawn and thus omitted from the list remembers that his mother gave him a pig as a consolation.
The closest town was Chicago and the trip was long and difficult given the roads (trails) and the streams that had to be crossed. A wagon pulled by two yoke of oxen might be able to haul 30 to 40 bushels of wheat. They traveled in groups so that help was always available. John L. Beveridge remembers seeing 60 teams camped at night along the creek. “They would travel 100 miles or more to market, be absent six days and the only money spent would be one nights lodging, supper and breakfast, stable and hay for teams – and all that for one dollar at the best hotel (in Chicago) the famous Tremont House. Wheat sold from thirty-five to fifty cents a bushel and dressed pork for one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per hundred weight. After buying groceries and other necessities they had very little change left.
The railroads arrived in the 1850s and life for these Scottish pioneers on the prairie would never be the same. In 1849 the railroad was completed from Chicago to Turner Junction (West Chicago) and then to Aurora and finally in 1853 it was completed as far as Mendota. Somonauk station, located some 5 miles south of the Scottish settlement was soon designated by the railroad.
The railroads greatly stimulated the settlement of land. After 1853, the prairies was alive with people seeking land and these late arrivals secured the most valuable farms in the region. “Many of these later settlers came from Washington County, New York, and were relatives and friends of the earlier pioneers.”
“The move to the West, however, was the best business stroke these men and women could have made with their small capital. This is emphatically true of all who stuck to the land. After a decade or two of poverty and its hardships they were repaid for their trials in the near market, a growing wealth, comfortable homes, self-made independence, and ease in declining years.”
Note: The information, thoughts and quotations for the above article were all taken from The Somonauk Book which was privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry F. Patten in 1928.
Next time, some final thoughts about the Scots of Somonauk.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
The day the Beveridge family reached Somonauk it had rained all day and the mud was deep and black. The roof leaked and their log house was wet and damp. I don’t wonder that Mrs. Beveridge cried. Here she was on the edge of civilization with no neighbors and no church. Everything that had been familiar to her in Salem, New York, was gone. Her son would later write: “The associations of my whole life, my playmates and my schoolmates, it seemed as if I never could become reconciled to the change.”
Their house was actually two log cabins put together and connected by a breezeway and built of rough logs chinked and daubed with clay. (Not unlike the log cabin my grandparents lived in along Panther creek, east of Springfield, Missouri. I remember a large fireplace at one end and a loft where the boys slept. My grandfather was Henry Boyd Jack.) In the Beveridge cabin, the west room was the granary. “In the next room was a fireplace with a mud and stick chimney and two small windows. This was the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of my parents,” their son, John L., remembered.
One of the first things they did was to reopen their house as an inn. The stagecoach ran every day each way between Chicago and Dixon, a distance of 110 miles. In the winter two days were required for the trip. Travelers had no choice except to stop overnight in the log house. They were served good meals and had clean beds, all for seventy-five cents and this included feeding the horses.
Their oldest daughter who had married William French settled on a tract of land adjoining the Beverages on the South and built a house half a mile down the creek. These first settlers sought tracts of land on the highest points they could find. The low land was thought to be of no value because water stood in many places year-round. It was the perfect breeding place for disease.
“Mr. And Mrs. George Beveridge and their children were the first of many pioneers coming to Somonauk from Washington County. Other families, more or less related to them, joined them within a year or two. There seems to have been a certain feeling of consternation and desolation among those left in the older community as they saw house after house occupied by strange residents.”
Unlike today, the church was the most important place in the lives of these Scottish pioneers. They would not wait long for religious services to begin in the Beveridge log cabin. In August 1842, the Rev. James Templeton visited and preached one Sunday. This is the first recorded religious service of the Presbyterians in DuPage County. “The following autumn, a Rev. Mr. Smith preached one Sabbath.” And from time to time other ministers came, among them the Rev. Rensselaer W. French who also preached at the Wheatland church. When there was no minister available the families would convene at the Beveridge cabin on the Lord’s day and conduct a Sabbath school and what was termed a “cottage prayer meeting.”
“Sunday morning families had to get up with the sun to get to church on time. The yoke of oxen was hitched to a lumber wagon, family loaded in and the driver ‘gee-hawed’ them to church at the rate of two miles an hour.” On March 18, 1846, 20 men and women met to form the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church. These 20 people probably represented the entire adult population of the community. Their names are given in the Somonauk Book.
“There was some dark days. At times tears flowed freely; but some of the time the sun was shining. Clouds came and passed beyond, not forgotten, but acccepted; therefore they had the true sunshine of life – resignation to the will of God. Meanwhile they continued with cheerful self-denial to build their two homes: a family home and the church home. “Courage and faith, coupled with perseverance, were the ball and hammer that pounded out success.”
Several yoke of oxen were needed to draw a 16 inch plow. Five yoke hitched to a plow was needed to turn a 22 inch furrow. One man drove the oxen and another man guided the plow. Once turned, the sod was left to decompose under the rays of the sun, so that next year it might bear a new type of growth - wheat.
Many of the early settlers soon died from privation, overwork and fever so it became necessary to select a burial place for the Somonauk community. They chose a tract of land covered with oak trees not far from the little creek and the Beveridge house. In 1847, the Cemetery was surveyed and platted and we know it today as the Oak Mound Cemetery. A few years ago we visited the church and the cemetery on one of our summer history tours.
In his will, George Beveridge left money to his grandchildren. If the grandchild was named “George” he received ten dollars. Those not named “George” were given five dollars. Henry J. Patten, born after the will was drawn and thus omitted from the list remembers that his mother gave him a pig as a consolation.
The closest town was Chicago and the trip was long and difficult given the roads (trails) and the streams that had to be crossed. A wagon pulled by two yoke of oxen might be able to haul 30 to 40 bushels of wheat. They traveled in groups so that help was always available. John L. Beveridge remembers seeing 60 teams camped at night along the creek. “They would travel 100 miles or more to market, be absent six days and the only money spent would be one nights lodging, supper and breakfast, stable and hay for teams – and all that for one dollar at the best hotel (in Chicago) the famous Tremont House. Wheat sold from thirty-five to fifty cents a bushel and dressed pork for one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per hundred weight. After buying groceries and other necessities they had very little change left.
The railroads arrived in the 1850s and life for these Scottish pioneers on the prairie would never be the same. In 1849 the railroad was completed from Chicago to Turner Junction (West Chicago) and then to Aurora and finally in 1853 it was completed as far as Mendota. Somonauk station, located some 5 miles south of the Scottish settlement was soon designated by the railroad.
The railroads greatly stimulated the settlement of land. After 1853, the prairies was alive with people seeking land and these late arrivals secured the most valuable farms in the region. “Many of these later settlers came from Washington County, New York, and were relatives and friends of the earlier pioneers.”
“The move to the West, however, was the best business stroke these men and women could have made with their small capital. This is emphatically true of all who stuck to the land. After a decade or two of poverty and its hardships they were repaid for their trials in the near market, a growing wealth, comfortable homes, self-made independence, and ease in declining years.”
Note: The information, thoughts and quotations for the above article were all taken from The Somonauk Book which was privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry F. Patten in 1928.
Next time, some final thoughts about the Scots of Somonauk.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
Monday, July 29, 2013
One Thousand Miles in a Covered Wagon
Part II
Not long after the Scots arrived in Washington County, New York, the “clouds of war” began to gather over the young nation. The young men, as they do in every generation, marched off to war; but here and there was to be found a Loyalist, mostly among the later arrivals. Their property was confiscated and many of them fled to Canada. The War of Independence actually lasted a long time, the first battle being fought at Concord in April 1775. Fighting continued through 1782 and finally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
When peace arrived and independence came, the community in Salem, New York, had found “a certain prosperity and comfort” on their little farms. Houses had been built, lands cleared, and roads constructed. Children had gone to college, like John Savage in our last Blog or Mary Dunlop who went to Princeton. The church was the center of life and schools were functioning, teaching grammar, philosophy, spelling, Latin and Virgil. Life was good. However, some worried about the future.
George Beveridge and his wife, Ann Hoy, had seven children. They were comfortably living in their clapboard house. They were active in the life of the community and were members of the South Argyle United Presbyterian Church. They raised their children to be “God-fearing citizens.” However, the settlement in Washington County was no longer the land of opportunity for their children. Andrew Jackson, in their opinion, had ruined the banks and financial panics swept the country. The land around them was mostly occupied and available lands were expensive. “In this crisis they turned their thoughts to the new world beyond the Alleghenies.”
There undoubtedly was a lot of discussion and prayer about the future. It was Mrs. Beveridge who finally persuaded her husband to undertake the journey. So, this “middle-aged” father and his fourteen-year-old son, John L., began the preparations.
On an autumn day in 1838, they started the journey. A covered wagon pulled by two stout horses was loaded with their necessities, along with a stock of woolen cloth which would finance their expedition. Across the state of New York and the farming communities of Ohio and Indiana, they traveled toward their unknown destination. They rounded the end of Lake Michigan and came to a small settlement. Chicago wasn’t much in 1838. They had now traveled one thousand miles and had not found a home.
They continued west, leaving civilization as they knew it for the “broad stretches of the valley of the Mississippi.” They took the new road to the lead mines of Galena, passing through Dixon’s Ferry and finally came to a rolling prairie between the Fox and the Rock rivers. It was fertile ground. It was Indian country until 1832 and had not long been opened to settlement.
One October evening, George Beveridge and his son came to Somonauk Creek. On the north side stood a log cabin with the stage road running at its door. It was the first house built by a white man in De Kalb County and had often served as an inn for the stage coach. Before he slept that night, George Beveridge had traded his wagon, his horses, and the remaining stock of woolen goods for the log cabin and 400 acres of land occupied under squatters’ rights.
He stayed one entire year and in the autumn, of 1839 returned to his home in Salem, New York. But, it was not until 1842 that final preparations for the move were completed. The farm had to be sold and decisions made as to what household effects and stock could be taken. Finally in May 1842, the family started for their new home on the prairies of Illinois. This time they used the canal and the Great Lakes making the journey in seventeen days.
In the party were Mr. and Mrs. Beveridge, and four unmarried children: James Hoy who was twenty-five, Thomas George, twenty-two, John Lourie, eighteen, and daughter Agnes who was thirteen. Isabel, an older daughter and her husband William French were also going. Jennett, the oldest child, had married James Henry and was left behind as was the second son, Andrew. He was entering Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to study for the ministry.
“There is something valiant, courageous, in the picture of this middle-aged pair, planning to break with all the traditions of life as they knew it, to leave their comfortable house and a lifetime’s associations to set out for a new country, a veritable wilderness to their eyes, and begin anew as pioneers at a time of life when they might have thought only of rest and surcease from labor.”
When they finally arrived at the Somonauk creek and their log cabin, George Beveridge found his wife weeping on the back porch.
To be continued...
Please Note: Most of the above information and all the quotations were taken from The Somonauk Book, privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry J. Patten in 1928.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
Upcoming Events:
August 3, 2013 - Scottish Home Picnic - Museum open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
September 7, 2013 - History Club meeting - 1933 World’s Fair
Not long after the Scots arrived in Washington County, New York, the “clouds of war” began to gather over the young nation. The young men, as they do in every generation, marched off to war; but here and there was to be found a Loyalist, mostly among the later arrivals. Their property was confiscated and many of them fled to Canada. The War of Independence actually lasted a long time, the first battle being fought at Concord in April 1775. Fighting continued through 1782 and finally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
When peace arrived and independence came, the community in Salem, New York, had found “a certain prosperity and comfort” on their little farms. Houses had been built, lands cleared, and roads constructed. Children had gone to college, like John Savage in our last Blog or Mary Dunlop who went to Princeton. The church was the center of life and schools were functioning, teaching grammar, philosophy, spelling, Latin and Virgil. Life was good. However, some worried about the future.
George Beveridge and his wife, Ann Hoy, had seven children. They were comfortably living in their clapboard house. They were active in the life of the community and were members of the South Argyle United Presbyterian Church. They raised their children to be “God-fearing citizens.” However, the settlement in Washington County was no longer the land of opportunity for their children. Andrew Jackson, in their opinion, had ruined the banks and financial panics swept the country. The land around them was mostly occupied and available lands were expensive. “In this crisis they turned their thoughts to the new world beyond the Alleghenies.”
There undoubtedly was a lot of discussion and prayer about the future. It was Mrs. Beveridge who finally persuaded her husband to undertake the journey. So, this “middle-aged” father and his fourteen-year-old son, John L., began the preparations.
On an autumn day in 1838, they started the journey. A covered wagon pulled by two stout horses was loaded with their necessities, along with a stock of woolen cloth which would finance their expedition. Across the state of New York and the farming communities of Ohio and Indiana, they traveled toward their unknown destination. They rounded the end of Lake Michigan and came to a small settlement. Chicago wasn’t much in 1838. They had now traveled one thousand miles and had not found a home.
They continued west, leaving civilization as they knew it for the “broad stretches of the valley of the Mississippi.” They took the new road to the lead mines of Galena, passing through Dixon’s Ferry and finally came to a rolling prairie between the Fox and the Rock rivers. It was fertile ground. It was Indian country until 1832 and had not long been opened to settlement.
One October evening, George Beveridge and his son came to Somonauk Creek. On the north side stood a log cabin with the stage road running at its door. It was the first house built by a white man in De Kalb County and had often served as an inn for the stage coach. Before he slept that night, George Beveridge had traded his wagon, his horses, and the remaining stock of woolen goods for the log cabin and 400 acres of land occupied under squatters’ rights.
He stayed one entire year and in the autumn, of 1839 returned to his home in Salem, New York. But, it was not until 1842 that final preparations for the move were completed. The farm had to be sold and decisions made as to what household effects and stock could be taken. Finally in May 1842, the family started for their new home on the prairies of Illinois. This time they used the canal and the Great Lakes making the journey in seventeen days.
In the party were Mr. and Mrs. Beveridge, and four unmarried children: James Hoy who was twenty-five, Thomas George, twenty-two, John Lourie, eighteen, and daughter Agnes who was thirteen. Isabel, an older daughter and her husband William French were also going. Jennett, the oldest child, had married James Henry and was left behind as was the second son, Andrew. He was entering Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to study for the ministry.
“There is something valiant, courageous, in the picture of this middle-aged pair, planning to break with all the traditions of life as they knew it, to leave their comfortable house and a lifetime’s associations to set out for a new country, a veritable wilderness to their eyes, and begin anew as pioneers at a time of life when they might have thought only of rest and surcease from labor.”
When they finally arrived at the Somonauk creek and their log cabin, George Beveridge found his wife weeping on the back porch.
To be continued...
Please Note: Most of the above information and all the quotations were taken from The Somonauk Book, privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry J. Patten in 1928.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Home office - 630-629-4516
Upcoming Events:
August 3, 2013 - Scottish Home Picnic - Museum open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
September 7, 2013 - History Club meeting - 1933 World’s Fair
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Scots Arrive in Washington County
In the early 1700's a group of Scots settled in eastern New York and were a mixture of Highland Scots and those from Northern Ireland. They were stalwart, rugged, independent, knew how to use guns and were not afraid to fight. The colonial governors encouraged people of this type to immigrate because they provided a barrier between the Colonies and the French and Indians. They occupied land east of the Hudson River in Washington County, New York, and had some 40 miles of farm land in the foothills of the Green Mountains.
Their forefathers were Presbyterian Highland Scots living in Western Scotland. They had supported the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 and had lost. Economic conditions were bad, crops failed and there were famines. In addition, there was general discontent with their own Church of Scotland. They looked beyond the sea to America in the hope of finding political, economic and religious freedom. Conditions were just as difficult for the “Scottish Nation” in Northern Ireland.
In 1738, a group of people belonging to the Scotch Presbyterian church and living in Argyleshire, were offered free land near Lake George. One thousand acres of land given to every adult person who paid for their passage and every child received 500 acres of land if they paid passage. In the years 1738, 1739 and 1740 some 472 persons were brought in groups by Captain Lauchlin Campbell to the New World. Originally there were some legal problems about the land but in 1764 a grant of 47,450 acres known as the Argyll Patent was secured.
On May 10, 1764, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, born in Galloway but now a pastor in Northern Ireland, brought his entire congregation of 300 people to New York. Their plans were to “carry on the linen and hempen manufacturer to which they were all brought up.” It is believed that this is the only instance where an entire congregation moved to the New World.
Not all of them made the trip up the Hudson River; a few were persuaded by real estate agents to go south where they settled at Cedar Springs and Long Cane near Abbeville, South Carolina. For those who did make the trip up the Hudson there were unexpected surprises.
The land near Lake George proved to be unsatisfactory. It became necessary for Dr. Clark to purchase other land which became known as the Turner Patent. It was composed of some 25,000 acres nearly all in Washington County. This land was divided into lots of 88 acres each and given to families. “The land was rent-free for five years, after which a yearly rental of one shilling per acre was to be paid.”
The country was a wilderness. There were no roads. One had to either walk or use a horse. Mary McNaughton, the mother of chief justice John Savage, walked 7 miles to attend a church service. (John Savage was a lawyer and politician. He was Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1823 to 1837. In 1828 he was appointed Treasurer of the United States but he declined.)
In 1736, there were one thousand Scottish families in Belfast waiting for ships to bring them to America. This new life in America was not easy. It was very difficult. But, they possessed a common bond - their membership in the Presbyterian Church. Many of these families were related to each other before coming to American and as time passed, the younger people intermarried, making the bond even stronger.
To be continued . . .
Wayne Rethford, Pres. Emeritus
Illinois Saint Andrew Society
office phone - 630- 629-4516
Some of the above information was taken from The Somonauk Book, privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry J. Patten in 1928. This information is also available from various sources on the Internet.
Upcoming Events:
August 3, 2013 - Scottish Home Picnic - Museum open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
September 7, 2013 - History Club meeting - 1933 World’s Fair
Their forefathers were Presbyterian Highland Scots living in Western Scotland. They had supported the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 and had lost. Economic conditions were bad, crops failed and there were famines. In addition, there was general discontent with their own Church of Scotland. They looked beyond the sea to America in the hope of finding political, economic and religious freedom. Conditions were just as difficult for the “Scottish Nation” in Northern Ireland.
In 1738, a group of people belonging to the Scotch Presbyterian church and living in Argyleshire, were offered free land near Lake George. One thousand acres of land given to every adult person who paid for their passage and every child received 500 acres of land if they paid passage. In the years 1738, 1739 and 1740 some 472 persons were brought in groups by Captain Lauchlin Campbell to the New World. Originally there were some legal problems about the land but in 1764 a grant of 47,450 acres known as the Argyll Patent was secured.
On May 10, 1764, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, born in Galloway but now a pastor in Northern Ireland, brought his entire congregation of 300 people to New York. Their plans were to “carry on the linen and hempen manufacturer to which they were all brought up.” It is believed that this is the only instance where an entire congregation moved to the New World.
Not all of them made the trip up the Hudson River; a few were persuaded by real estate agents to go south where they settled at Cedar Springs and Long Cane near Abbeville, South Carolina. For those who did make the trip up the Hudson there were unexpected surprises.
The land near Lake George proved to be unsatisfactory. It became necessary for Dr. Clark to purchase other land which became known as the Turner Patent. It was composed of some 25,000 acres nearly all in Washington County. This land was divided into lots of 88 acres each and given to families. “The land was rent-free for five years, after which a yearly rental of one shilling per acre was to be paid.”
The country was a wilderness. There were no roads. One had to either walk or use a horse. Mary McNaughton, the mother of chief justice John Savage, walked 7 miles to attend a church service. (John Savage was a lawyer and politician. He was Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1823 to 1837. In 1828 he was appointed Treasurer of the United States but he declined.)
In 1736, there were one thousand Scottish families in Belfast waiting for ships to bring them to America. This new life in America was not easy. It was very difficult. But, they possessed a common bond - their membership in the Presbyterian Church. Many of these families were related to each other before coming to American and as time passed, the younger people intermarried, making the bond even stronger.
To be continued . . .
Wayne Rethford, Pres. Emeritus
Illinois Saint Andrew Society
office phone - 630- 629-4516
Some of the above information was taken from The Somonauk Book, privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry J. Patten in 1928. This information is also available from various sources on the Internet.
Upcoming Events:
August 3, 2013 - Scottish Home Picnic - Museum open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
September 7, 2013 - History Club meeting - 1933 World’s Fair
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