Vandalia's Statehouse

The Tenth Illinois General Assembly convened in my hometown on December 5, 1836. It was the first government session to meet at our Vandalia Statehouse. The session initiated a bold system of public works ("internal improvements"), selected Springfield to be the next state capital, moved along authorization of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and incorporated the then-small city of Chicago. 

The session was also a gathering of great political talent. Of its members, Abraham Lincoln became president, five became U.S. senators (Stephen A Douglas, James Semple, James Shields, O. H. Browning, and William Richardson), eight became congressmen (Robert Smith, John McClernand, Stephen A. Douglas, John J. Hardin, William Richardson, Abraham Lincoln, E. D. Baker, and John Hogan), and one became Illinois governor (Augustus French). The assembly also included past and future Illinois attorneys general, state treasurers, and state auditors. John McClernand became a Union general, John Logan was the father of Union general John A. Logan. Lincoln, Baker, and Hardin, notable Whigs at this session, died in service to their country.

Lincoln was 27 years old in 1836, and Douglas was 23. This session was the only time that they served together in the legislature. They had first met at Vandalia in 1834. 

The first picture of the title page of the Illinois Senate journal for this session (photobombed with the shadow of cat ears...). The second page is from the House journal, showing the 77-6 vote on a resolution upholding the constitutional right of states to hold slaves and the right of the District of Columbia to retain slavery in spite of congressional efforts to the contrary. Notice Lincoln's name among the six negative votes. Later in the session, Lincoln and Dan Stone published an explanation (which, unfortunately, is missing in this incomplete copy of the House journal).

St. Nicholas Day

 December 6 is the feast day of St. Nicholas, the Christian bishop who died on this day in 343. He is the patron saint of several occupations and is specially associated with the protection of children. Although Advent is a time of longing and reflection rather than fulfillment, Nicholas bids us to show God’s love in tangible ways and to stay happy. I found a site that has this: “Celebrating St. Nicholas on his day in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into homes, churches, and schools. His small treats and surprises help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and ways to express his care for those in need are sought. Saint Nicholas helps us remember Christmas is a feast of love, hope, kindness and generosity.” Compelling and "human" as the story is, there is no historical evidence that Nicholas slapped the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea--although the story is very often repeated as fact. The legend dates from a thousand years after the saint's time. Several years ago, Beth bought me this lovely icon in Belgrade.

Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

This crowd scene is the only known photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863. Photographers needed time to set up their cameras, and by the time they set up to photograph his actual speech, he was finished. One photographer commented, "Oh, I wish I had a cell phone, but they won't be invented until six score and seventeen years from now!" 🙂 

Anyway: Lincoln's speech got mixed reviews but has become a classic. He used biblical images of new birth and sanctification. He was also, to some people at the time, innovative for believing that the nation was founded with the Declaration of Independence, rather than with the Constitution. 

One more fun fact: the bearded man seated to Lincoln's right is Ward Hill Lamon, his bodyguard. Tragically, Lamon was on assignment to Richmond the night that Lincoln was killed. Later, Lamon wrote two books about Lincoln. I have one downstairs in my Lincoln collection that I started years ago with Henry's Beef 'n' Burger money. 🙂 

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

November 19, 1863

Jack D. Rittenhouse

 Born November 15, 1912, Jack D. Rittenhouse collected books and also printing presses while he was an advertising executive. He began his own publishing company, Stagecoach Press, which for a number of years produced books on the West, New Mexico, and reprints of important texts. His first own book, for which he is often remembered, was "A Guide Book to Highway 66" (1946). To research the book, he undertook the herculean task of driving the entire route, writing down mileages between towns, reporting the numbers of services in each town, and discovering helpful information for travelers. He wanted to reassure inexperienced travelers that a vacation in the West was very doable when you plan ahead. The book has been reprinted and gives an informative look at the highway in the immediate post-war time. Here's an original copy: 

Kristallnacht Anniversary

In 1938, Herschel Grynszpan was a 19-year-old Jew born and raised in Hanover, of a Polish family. Driven to desperation by the treatment of Polish Jews in Germany, Grynszpan shot and fatally wounded the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath on November 7. Grynszpan was arrested, and his fate is unknown. But the assassination set off a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms on November 9-10 throughout Germany, annexed Austria, and areas of the Sudetenland. The violence became known as Kristallnacht, "Night of Broken Glass," because of the many Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues attacked. Kristallnacht also was a turning point in Nazi policies against the Jews. 

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht?fbclid=IwY2xjawOAyfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQUU5QeElOYlJ3Rk5sYmNOc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnNoslKMiEf33d6KQIputCLGml3VUT9mUQlhiXUSZRqlzI_ylwZRlxcbWf1J_aem_cnypXVP0SjWo5DhnDcPxlQ

Fall of the Berlin Wall Anniversary

November 9th is the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, East German party leader Günter Schabowski was giving a televised press conference. He made a surprising announcement: that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel without the usual requirements, and that permanent emigration at all border crossings, including those of East and West Berlin, was now allowed. This announcement was startling, but Schabowski said, "As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay" ("Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis ... ist das sofort ... unverzüglich"). His information was actually incomplete, and he had not been properly briefed how to handle the announcement. So his role in the day was to be a player in a bureaucratic mixup. As that same evening moved along, thousands of people who had been listening to the press conference gathered at the Berlin Wall, outnumbering the soldiers, who did not use force against them. Removal of the Wall began and continued during the weeks ahead. People hammered and picked at the wall, opening sections. Pieces were kept and traded as souvenirs. What remained of the wall was officially removed in the summer of 1990. Berlin roads that had been blocked by the wall's construction in 1961 were reopened. Within the year, East and West Germany were reunited. 

Copied under fair use principles. 

Veterans Day

It's Veterans Day! My dad and his cousins Virgil Strobel, Charlie Strobel, and Delmar Strobel all went to WWII at about the same time, and Charlie was killed in Italy. Their uncle Ed was in World War I, and their grandfather John Strobel was in the Civil War. Another of my ancestors George Washburn, was also in the Civil War. My cousin Wayne Crawford did a tour in Vietnam, my cousin Max Storm served in West Germany, and my distant cousin Lewis Crawford was the first Fayette Co., IL death in World War I. I've also ancestors and distant great-uncles who fought in the Mexican War (Josiah Williams II), the Black Hawk War (John Carson), the War of 1812 (Winslow Pilcher, below; Josiah Williams I; and George Washington Williams), and the Revolution (John Kay, John Starrett Carson, Thomas Mahon). I trace some of these histories on my "Grace, Place" blog. Beth's dad, Bob Powell, was in the Navy in WWII and her grandfather Arthur McNabb was in WWI. My mom had a successful, if short career as a school teacher while Dad was overseas. Remembering all who served.