Notable Naperville Women - Clarissa Hobson

Clarissa Stewart Hobson was Naperville’s first female European settler. Joseph Naper’s wife, Almeda, long held that title, but as city borders extended to include the Hobson land, Clarissa now claims it. 

A Georgia girl, Clarissa and husband Bailey spent their early married life in Indiana not far from Louisville, Kentucky. She was already a 26 year old mother of five children when they decided that greener — and less rocky — pastures were to be had in Illinois. 

Leaving Clarissa behind with the farm work and the children, Bailey checked out some land in Illinois before returning to pack everything up for the move. They left on September 1, 1830 and were three weeks on the road, camping with their household goods, their kids and their cattle. 

After another three weeks bunking with a friendly family, Bailey had a cabin roughed out in Kendall County. The Hobsons were settled in their new home toward the end of November, but by December, Bailey was already thinking about moving closer to civilization. 

Leaving Clarissa in charge once again, he scoped out the DuPage River and chose a spot for their next cabin. 

1830 was the legendary Winter of Deep Snow which made traveling and cabin-building treacherous. Also, the brand-new farm had no harvest in storage. More than once over the winter, Bailey slogged out to buy provisions and was snowed in by fierce blizzards. Not knowing for weeks if he was alive or dead, Clarissa managed the hungry children, melted snow for drinking water, tore apart a shed for firewood and shoved aside a cow which died of cold on the doorstep.

They settled on the DuPage River in March of 1831, eventually building a saw mill and then a grist mill. They also opened their home as a tavern for the farmers waiting for their grain to be ground. You can still see their mill stones at Pioneer Park on south Washington Street.

Clarissa went on to birth seven more children and continued to run the mill after Bailey died in 1850. Despite her early hardships, Clarissa herself lived to be 84.

Notable Naperville Women -- Peg Price

Her place in history books and trivia quizzes is forever ensured:  Margaret “Peg” Price was Naperville’s first female mayor. So far, she is also Naperville’s only female mayor, but she probably counts on that record being broken.

Peg Price served two terms as mayor, from 1983 until 1991, which represents only a portion of her time in public office. Over a thirty year career, Price was also a City Council member for two terms, served as city plan commissioner and held positions on boards such as the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. 

Rather than a born-and-bred Napervillian, Price arrived in 1967 with husband Charles and two sons as part of the great mid-sixties influx when subdivisions were popping up all around town. 

By 1969 Price was deep into local politics and part of the referendum campaign that brought about our current Council-Manager form of government. Originally with four councilors, in 1984 then-Mayor Price oversaw the number of councilors grow from four to six. 

Other changes during Price’s watch included the planning and building of today’s Municipal Center. City Hall used to be in the stone building on Jefferson Street that now houses La Sorella di Francesca. Although she was instrumental in keeping the Municipal Center downtown, by the time it opened in 1992, Price's term as mayor had ended. 

Another innovation under her leadership is the annual State of the City address. Price gave the first “state” speech in 1991 in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce to associate the objectives of government with those of the business community. Price continues to attend the annual address and you may have seen her with Mayor Chirico and Mayor Emeritus Pradel last spring. 

Another place to see her is on the Community Concert Center door in Central Park. The First National Bank purchased space to depict four mayors in the art on the door:  Chester Rybicki, Price, Sam Macrane and George Pradel. The painting is called The Great Concerto and features a number of  notable Napervillians. You can see it just before the door raises and the Naperville Municipal Band begins a summer concert.

Notable Naperville Women -- Jane Sindt

Newer and younger residents of Naperville may not be familiar with Jane Sindt as a person, but if you’ve ever strolled the Riverwalk, attended an event at the Grand Pavilion or gone swimming at the beach, you are probably familiar with her name. The drive there was designated “Honorary Sindt Memorial Court” in 2002.

Older residents with a longer history in Naperville knew Jane as a person, or more precisely, knew her as a tornado of convictions and activity. 

Caroline Martin Mitchell left her family home to the city in 1936 to become Naperville’s historical museum. But it was Jane who first moved buildings onto the property and started the Heritage Society in 1969 to do so. Century Memorial Chapel was the first building to be carefully secured, raised and rolled through the streets to what we now call Naper Settlement.

The venture was not completely popular at the time, but when Jane took on a project, she completed it well and with flair. 

Jane’s interest was not because she was a fourth generation Napervillian. In fact, she attended 23 elementary schools and five high schools while growing up as her father worked in locations across the country, taking the family along. 

Jane arrived in Naperville as an adult in 1957 with her husband Gus and two children, Susan and Tobey. 

During that time, she was a stage actress at local theaters as well as appearing in TV commercials and Chicago-filmed movies, but she also developed a fierce love for her adopted community. She is quoted as saying: “When I first moved to Naperville, so many important historic places were being torn down. People in the midwest seemed to think they didn't have anything worth saving.” Jane thought differently.

In addition to serving as the first leader of the Heritage Society from 1969-1976, Jane also started the Farmers Market at Fifth Avenue Station and worked closely with May Watts to create the Prairie Path. 

The Sindt family home was nestled among the trees at the very end of Honorary Sindt Memorial Court and she lived there until she died on Christmas Eve in 1995. By agreement, the land became a Naperville Parks property. Part of it is a maintenance facility, but some of land is a public trail. When you’re strolling that section, take a moment to remember Jane and her dedication to her adopted community.

Notable Naperville Women - Peg Yonker

Margaret Barnes Yonker, otherwise known as “Peg,” passed away in fall of 2016 at the age of 93. While not a Naperville native with family stretching back to the 1800s, Peg devoted more than half of her life to preserving this city’s history. 

Like many mid-century women, Peg went where her husband’s career took him and they wound up in Naperville in 1959, just as the town started booming.

Smart and energetic, Peg put her efforts toward local philanthropic enterprises both big and small. She was among those who established Summer Place Theatre in 1967 and was a co-founder of TAG, Naperville’s first foster home for teenage girls in 1970. 

Those were busy years for the city and foundations were laid for many of the programs and amenities we enjoy today. The Naperville Heritage Society was formed in 1969 by volunteers like Peg, among others, who wanted to save St. John's Episcopal Church from being leveled by development. They raised money and interest enough to move the church onto the Martin Mitchell property which launched the Naper Settlement we enjoy today.

Peg spent more than 30 years with the Heritage Society in many and various roles including volunteer, fund-raising chairperson, president and director. Probably her favorite way to serve however was as a costumed interpreter. 

Peg was frequently invited to schools, churches and other community groups to give her presentations on early Naperville history. She made her own costumes and wrote her own scripts for the three personalities she spoke as: Hannah Ditzler, Almeda Naper and Lone Feather, a composite character representing the original inhabitants of the area. 

In celebration of the city's sesquicentennial, a group of folks recreated the settlers’ journey from Naper’s ship in Lake Michigan to the arrival at the DuPage River. Peg was among those who took part in the the three-day event that started with horse-drawn wagons through Chicago’s downtown and ended with a parade through Naperville’s. 

No longer performing her character sketches, Peg committed her presentations to paper for the 175th anniversary celebration in 2006. Her book “Lone Feather and the Settlers” preserves Peg’s enthusiasm for her adopted town for future generations. 

Notable Naperville Women - Genevieve Towsley

If you’ve ever walked or driven by the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on the corner of Washington Street and Chicago Avenue, no doubt you’ve seen the bronze statue of Genevieve Towsley sitting near the door. 

Part of the Century Walk public art initiative, the statue shows Genevieve much as she was when she passed away in 1996 at the age of 88. Commemorating her nearly 50 years of writing for Naperville newspapers, she’s holding the familiar notepad and pencil.

Naperville became Genevieve’s “home town” in a round-about way. She was born in Oak Park, but spent many years on an Idaho farm when her family moved there when she was eight.  They returned to Illinois in 1924 so she could attend her chosen college, North Central, at that time still known as Northwestern. 

Genevieve stayed on at North Central College as a teacher until 1932 when she left to raise her family. By 1948 she was writing for The Clarion, a local newspaper. 

One of her former NCC students, Harold White, Jr., bought the Naperville Sun and convinced Genevieve to write for him starting in 1954. She wrote two columns for the Sun over the years:  The Grapevine and Sky-Lines. The Grapevine dealt with local news and issues in the Naperville community. Her column was influential in the desegregation of Centennial Beach and when the Naperville Heritage Society was formed in 1969, she was a charter member. Her writing helped generate interest moving Century Memorial Chapel to the grounds of the Martin Mitchell Mansion, becoming the first addition to Naper Settlement.

Sky-Lines had more of a historical tone. Genevieve re-told local legends, interviewed long-time residents and waded through old books as research. Because of her work, the Sky-Lines articles are a major resource of local history. A selection of columns was gathered up in 1975 under the title A View of Historic Naperville and has been through several printings.

Daughter Dr. Caryl Towsley Moy, a professor, a clinical therapist and many other distinguished things, wrote a book of her own to honor her mother, Genevieve.

When the statue was first installed, Genevieve was wearing her customary glasses, but unfortunately those have disappeared. Still, it’s a pretty faithful depiction of a lovely and smart writer who probably loves sitting outside a bookstore and is happy to share her bench with you.