Lutefisk for Christmas

In 1870, during what is known as the Golden Age of Great Lakes Sailing, nearly 65% of sailors on the Great Lakes were Norwegian. Sailing was a skill that many men brought with them from Norway and since the vast majority of Norwegian immigrants settled in the upper Midwest of the United States, the Great Lakes were easily accessible.

During an eight year period around that time, more than 110,000 Norwegians came to America, a migration wave bested only by the Irish. A rapidly growing population faced with limited industrial growth led to large numbers of young people searching for greener pastures outside of Norway.

Most set out for America and many wound up in Minnesota, just like Garrison Keillor's jokes about Sven and Ole on his Prairie Home Companion radio show. The Norwegian immigrants celebrated Christmas as Twelfth night so they had ample opportunity for feasts, including sausages, flatbrød (flatbread), smultringer (doughnuts) and home-brewed ale.

Lutefisk, dried cod soaked in lye, was not necessarily a Christmas delicacy, but as the Norwegians became Americanized, they seized on lutefisk as a unique remainder from the old days and incorporated it into their Christmas traditions. In fact, Madison, Minnesota has a giant fiberglass cod statue named Lou T. Fisk to commemorate their standing as the Lutefisk Capital of the United States.

Carriage Ride in Norwood Park
Saturday, December 18 4 - 7:00 pm
The Norwood Park Historical Society will host a Holiday Carriage Ride in an open horse-drawn carriage. Begins at the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House and proceeds around the Norwood Park neighborhood.
Each ride is approximately 15 minutes long, and the carriage can hold groups of 8 to 10 people. Participants should dress for the weather. Tickets may be purchased in advance; ride time slots are not guaranteed, as they are first-come, first-serve.
$8 for adults and $4 for children. For information and to purchase tickets, call 773-631-4633.
Participants can also enjoy complimentary hot beverages and baked goods inside the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House which is open noon to
4 p.m. and is decorated for the holidays.

Holiday Showcase at Tanner House
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday until Decemeber 29,
1 to 4 pm
Come join us for our annual Holiday display. The Tanner house will be decorated by local designers; come check out what they can do! You even get to join the fun by voting on your favorite room design.
Normal admission will apply ($4.00 adults, $2 students & seniors, under 12 & AHS members free.)

Holiday Mansion Tours
Saturday and Sunday, December 18-19.
11:00 am - 3:00 pm
It's time to spice up the holidays with a tour of the splendidly decorated Victorian-era Martin Mitchell Mansion, the only home in Naperville on the National Register of Historic Places. Come learn about 19th century customs at our tours which run continuously from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and include an informative tour of the two-story 1883 Mansion and its Carriage House. Tickets are $8 general admission; $1 off for Naperville Heritage Society Sustaining Members; no advance registration required. Please come directly to the Mansion to purchase your tickets. Walk-ins are welcome for this holiday-focused tour with historic ambiance. The Weed Ladies Floral Designers Showroom in the Daniels House also will be open, and tour attendees will receive a special gift certificate to shop.

Mormon Beginnings in DuPage and Will Counties

On the twenty-sixth day of November in 1829 Pierce Hawley claimed a portion of Section 30 in Kendall County, Illinois. Since it included a large stand of trees, locals called it Hawley's Grove for a while until Pierce sold his property and it took on the new name of Holderman's Grove. Originally from Vermont, Pierce had a hard time staying put anywhere.

Early Illinois history is peppered with Hawley references. Juliette Kinzie from Chicago tells of staying the night in Hawley's home during a particularly grueling journey. Aaron Hawley, Pierce's brother, was one of the few casualties of the Black Hawk War. Several Hawleys are buried in Naperville, including Pierce's daughter and Joseph Naper's mother.

Stephen Scott was also an early Illinois settler, living on the DuPage River. His son Willard often traveled to Peoria and broke his journey at the Hawley's just as Juliette Kinzie did. While there, he took a shine to Pierce's daughter Caroline and asked to marry her. Father Pierce agreed, but Caroline thought a few hours' courtship was rushing things, so Willard continued on his way.

A couple of weeks later on the return trip, Willard stopped by the Hawley House again and Caroline agreed this time to marry him. They spent their wedding night, as Willard loved to relate, with "the sky for our ceiling -- the stars for our light," under a tree in Plainfield.

Willard and Caroline are both buried in Naperville, the town which they helped grow from its earliest beginnings.

Pierce lived for a time in Naperville as well, becoming a valued member of the Methodist community that Rev. Jesse Walker was developing in his mission to the Potawatomi. But somehow, Pierce heard of Joseph Smith's preaching. As his son later wrote: "Mother at this time felt as though Father had almost committed the unpardonable sin in leaving the Methodist Church and joining the Mormon Church as they was both good Methodist members, but Mother soon got over hurt bad feelings and united with the same church and was one with her husband in faith and doctrine."

Along with other Mormons, the Hawleys (minus Caroline and husband Willard) moved to Missouri, then Iowa and Wisconsin. In the aftermath of religious persecution in Nauvoo and Joseph Smith's subsequent death, many Mormons moved out of Illinois under varying leaders. Brigham Young of course took a group to Utah, but the Hawleys went with Lyman Wight to Texas.

The Texas community flourished for a while. Pierce was chosen to be an elder and his daughter Mary Hawley became one of Wight's plural wives. Eventually Pierce soured on Wight's Mormon Church and along with his wife and married children, he moved to Indian territory in Kansas and then Arkansas, finally coming to rest on August 16, 1858 in Cherokee Nation, Arkansas, where he is buried.

More on the Mormon Story

Local history books from DuPage and Will Counties and even Chicago are great resources to learn more about Pierce and Aaron Hawley, but much of Pierce Hawley's story is also recounted in the book Polygamy on the Pedernales; Lyman Wight's Mormon Villages in Antebellum Texas, 1845 to 1858 by Melvin C. Johnson.

Written around the time that the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch was in the news, the parallels are obvious. Lyman Wight was a charismatic yet not-mainstream-Mormon leader, much like Warren Jeffs. Wight's religious compound was in Texas, just like Jeffs'. Both men also advocated plural wives and marrying very young girls.

Wight's group collapsed from within due to unrest and disillusionment. About two thirds of Jeffs' group have returned to their Texas compound, although Jeffs himself is serving time in a Utah prison for arranging the marriage of a fourteen-year-old girl. He still faces trial in Texas and the announcement that the Utah Supreme Court will not block extradition hit the newspapers, strangely enough, last week on November 26, which is where this research started!

Where History Is Happening

Christmas at Klein Creek Farm
Saturday, December 4 1:30 pm
Sunday, December 5 3:30 pm
Join "Christmas on the Farm" for an old-fashioned celebration. Visit with Santa and climb into a sleigh to take a picture. Learn the origins of several holiday traditions, and experience Victorian Christmas activities. Stop by a warming fire for caroling and spice cookies. And explore the visitor center to see a re-creation of the farmstead in gingerbread and candy.
Activities are ongoing throughout the event, and registration is not required.

Victorian Valentine's Dinner Party
Sunday, February 13
Looking for something really special to give this holiday? How about tickets to a culinary fantasy, a Victorian Valentine's Dinner Party in an 1880s building in historic Aurora? Join the Aurora Historical Society and Chef Amaury Rosado for a 5-course feast with wine flights in the grand Victorian style, with music and florals of the period, at Chef Amaury's restaurant.

Tickets are $150 per person and include food, wine, tax and gratuity. $50 of each ticket is tax deductible as a gift to the Aurora Historical Society (which thanks you very much!).

Julmarknad Christmas Market at Bishop Hill
Saturday, December 4
Sunday, December 5
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The holiday season will be opened the traditional
Swedish way during Julmarknad, or Christmas Market in Bishop Hill.
The free events' attractions include Swedish folk characters,
traditional Swedish holiday decorations and quality gifts for the
holidays to be purchased. A special holiday exhibit called "Going to Grandmas" will be on display in the Steeple Building including a holiday Lionel Train display on the first floor. Trains will be running Saturday 10 am to 3 pm and
Sunday; Noon to 3 pm.