Picture-Perfect History

During research for Ruth by Lake and Prairie, Kate pored over paintings, engravings and sketches from the 1830's to try picking up clues about the era. Photographs from that time simply don't exist. A patent for the daguerreotype process would be granted in France in 1839, but it would be some years before it was widely used. Abraham Lincoln had his first daguerreotype taken in 1846.

Since so much of Ruth's story takes place during a schooner voyage, Kate was particularly interested in descriptions and images of towns along the coasts of the Great Lakes where the Telegraph may have docked. That's why it caught her eye when a report came out recently about restored daguerreotypes of the Cincinnati waterfront.

Taken in 1848 by Charles Fontayne and William Porter, the multiple images create a panorama of almost two miles of shoreline with incredible details including signage on the shops.

Alas, all of the ships at anchor are side-wheel steamers with not a schooner in the bunch, even though sailing ships would continue to be used for many more years. Two history buffs in 1947 used the ship names visible in the image to pinpoint the date on which they were all anchored in Cincinnati at the same time: September 24, 1848. Then they analyzed the shadows of the image to determine at what time the daguerreotype was taken. Their guess was a little before 2:00 pm.

There is a clock face on the image, but at just one millimeter in diameter, the two gentlemen couldn't make out the time, even with a magnifying glass. After this recent restoration, however, and using a microscope scanner, the clock face became visible. The time is 1:55!

Experience this remarkable daguerreotype for yourself. You can view each of the images and zoom in on the one with the clock tower.

The History of the Daguerreotype

People were experimenting with photosensitivity as early as the 1400's, but it was French artist Louis Daguerre who worked out the kinks in the nineteenth century.

Daguerre and his partner Nicéphore Niépce took the experimentation farther from the silver nitrate and bitumen-based methods already known. Niépce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued to tinker.

An accident involving a mercury thermometer in 1835 led Daguerre to advances in his method and he produced the first image with his process of exposure, development and fixation in 1837.

Daguerre secured a patent for his process in Britain on August 14, 1839. He attempted to secure a patent in France as well, but on August 19, 1839, the French government offered the secrets of the daguerreotype "as a free gift to the world." France did, however, award Daguerre a pension for his discovery.

Public Domain Photo

Where History Is Happening

Shadows of the Blue and Gray
Saturday, October 9
9:30 am - 9:00 pm
Sunday, October 10
9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Events at City County Park in Princeton, Ill.
include the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band, Civil War Fashion Show, President and Mrs. Lincoln, a period dance and night cannon firing,

Battle Demonstrations occur on Saturday and Sunday, with Union and Confederate troops meeting on the field of battle as infantry, cavalry, and artillery.

Admission is $7 for ages 12 and older, $3 ages 4 to 11, and free for children under 4 accompanied by an adult. Wagon tours of camps are $1. Bleacher seating for battle is $2, or bring your own lawn chair.

Scarecrow Harvest Festival at Midway Village Museum
Saturday and Sunday , October 9-10
12:00 am - 5:00 pm
Lots of fun fall activities for the entire family, including demonstrations of rare antique threshing and bailing machinery, square dancing in our 1905 barn, old fashioned games by our 1902 one room school house and horse drawn wagon rides around the Village.
Food and fall treats will be available in Burritt's Town Hall Cafe.
Admission cost: $6 adults; $4 students and children (3 to 17). Members are always free.

Walking the Plank in Naperville

Many towns in Illinois have a "Plank Road," including Naperville. But have you ever wondered what a plank road was?

Dirt roads were the norm in Illinois. They were rutted and dusty when dry and muddy bogs when wet, making travel between towns difficult. Grain, mail and passengers needed to be transported via wagon, stagecoach and horse, so in the mid-1800's plank road corporations were formed.

These corporations financed the road-building and collected tolls from the travelers in order to return their investment and hopefully grow wealthy. Joseph Naper, the founder of Naperville, was one such investor, along with a few other local businessmen including George Martin who built the mansion now available for tours at Naper Settlement.

The Southwestern Plank Road ran from Chicago on to Naperville, generally following an old Indian Trail. Today, Ogden Avenue, named after Chicago's first mayor, roughly traces the same route.

Mark Beaubien, who ran a tavern in Chicago before it was Chicago and also served as a lighthouse keeper, moved out to DuPage County and ran a tollbooth and tavern along the old Plank Road. Toll charges were 25 cents for a two-horse team vehicle and 3 cents for each sheep herded down the road. Some say raised borders along the edges kept wagons on the road so they couldn't avoid the tollbooth.

Unfortunately, railroads were also being built during this same time. The Naperville company refused to let rails through town in an effort to preserve their Plank Road investment, but they just couldn't compete. The company lost money and the Plank Road, which had used up the area's white oak population, either rotted or was "repurposed" by farmers.

Beaubien's tavern was moved and is now open to view as one of the museums at Lisle Station Park. On the north side of Ogden at the Lisle/Naperville border is a monument marking what's left of the Beaubien family cemetery.

Boone County Pioneer Fest This Weekend

For the first time in several years, Kate will not be able to take part in the Boone County Autumn Pioneer Festival. But that doesn't mean you can't!

The festival is free, although donations are welcome to help preserve and recreate local history on the grounds. Soldiers, Native Americans, Farmers, Norwegian immigrants and many other people from Boone County's past will be on hand with gardens, camps, cabins, foods and handicrafts.

Kate has been particularly interested in this festival because the main character from her book Ruth by Lake and Prairie grew up to marry a man who had land in Boone County. Ruth married Harlyn Shattuck and moved out to Boone County to raise her family on Harlyn's acreage.

Ruth died while in her forties, perhaps from complications after her tenth lying-in, but Harlyn soon remarried to take care of his large family, and even increased it by a few. Some of their descendants still live in the area and you can travel down Shattuck Road to the Shattuck Grove Cemetery to see Ruth's grave.

For information on how to get to the Pioneer Festival, see their webpage at the Boone County Conservation District