A Toast to Illinois' Early Settlers!

When Kate was writing Ruth by Lake and Prairie, she read all the accounts by the settlers she could get her hands on. Ruth's brother, Robert Nelson Murray, lived to be an old man, outlasting most of his contemporaries. About 50 years after the founding of Naperville, The Inter-Ocean, a Chicago newspaper, sent a reporter to interview Mr. Murray.

They found him sitting outside the general store on an old box, whittling. He was not yet 70 years old, and while some folks did live into their 80's, they were the exception rather than the rule. Illness, accidents, childbirth and hard work took their toll.

The reporter apparently was amused by Murray's "countrified" ways and his tales of the old days. It makes for a delightful interview and a very important resource for the researcher.

One of Murray's stories is about voting for Andrew Jackson in the 1832 Presidential election. Murray says he was eighteen at the time, and while the majority of the settlers voted for Henry Clay, "there were twelve other fellows who liked whiskey and black strap just as I did."

That's the kind of off-hand comment that authors love because it highlights a little domestic detail that can add realistic depth to a story.

Kate did a little extra research on the drinking habits of early Americans. Rum was actually the favored spirit in the original colonies, and was made in America from imported sugar cane, but after the American Revolution disrupted trade with the Caribbean, whiskey became more common. There were plenty of Scottish and Irish immigrants around who were distilling whiskey from excess grain.

Early Americans drank alcohol all day long. In many cases, it was healthier. Polluted water caused illnesses like cholera and even safe water often needed to stand to let the mud settle out. Milk could kill you, as it did Abraham Lincoln's mother, if your cow was eating poisonous plants.

Wine-making was not successful in the colonies and beer spoiled too quickly to transport it to far-flung settlements, so hard liquor was most common. Old recipes exist to make whiskey toddies and flips and other drinks -- like Mr. Murray's whiskey and black strap.

Black strap is a type of molasses that is created from the third boiling of sugar cane. After each boiling, more sugar crystals are formed, and the syrup that's left behind gains more of a "burnt" taste and color. That's why black strap is black compared to the earlier "golden" molasses.

In Ruth by Lake and Prairie, whiskey and black strap is passed around by the men during their Fourth of July celebrations on the schooner. In the pursuit of research, Kate admits that she did try a whiskey and black strap herself.

Let's just say it must be an acquired taste!

In the Days before "Just Say No" Came to Our Schools

While researching whiskey and black strap and the drinking habits of settlers in the 1800's, Kate found a few interesting stories in The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 by Paul Selby.

In the chapter on Kendall County, the writer tells some stories about school customs in the first half of the nineteenth century. Until larger number of German immigrants arrived, Christmas was not really a big deal. The Charles Dickens version became common only after Queen Victoria took up the custom from her German-born husband and most early Americans celebrated Christmas like an ordinary Sunday.

By the 1840's, however, customs started changing, and one odd one was called "Barring Out." A few days before Christmas, the pupils at the local one-room school would bar the door against the teacher until he promised them a treat for Christmas Day. Apparently, some students went even farther by throwing the teacher in the river, tying him up, or burying him in a snow bank. A few teachers resigned their positions rather than face the mob of students, but at least one "was forced to treat his pupils to 'blackstrap' and all the boys became drunk."

Where History Is Happening

Preserving History at Lombard's Victorian Cottage
Wednesday, August 11
1 pm - 4 pm
Learn how canning and preserving food was done in Victorian times and how those skill are applicable to modern living. At the Lombard Historical Society's Victorian Cottage Museum.

Neville Collection Open House in Elgin
Sunday, August 29 1:00 pm
This is a second chance to visit Aubrey and Rachel Neville's fantastic dairy and carriage collection and to roam their extensive gardens! You will see antique horse carriages, industrial wagons, and many different types of dairy bottles. A feature of this event is the garden walk, which includes a 2 acre tall grass restored prairie, woodland gardens, a butterfly garden, ponds, and a creek. Call the Museum to make reservations at 847.742.4248. Directions will be emailed or sent to you. Admission: $5 donation to the Museum.

Geneva's 175th Birthday Party
Saturday, August 14
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Residents are invited to bring their picnic baskets for an old fashioned community party in celebration
of Geneva's 175th birthday. The celebration is designed to not only
commemorate a historic milestone, but to encourage residents of all ages to interact with each other and literally get to know their neighbors. Entertainment will include dance performers from the Geneva Park District and a performance by storyteller Terry Lynch.
The evening will culminate with music provided by the
Fox Valley Concert Band. The picnic will be held on the courthouse lawn at Third and James Streets. The party is in cooperation with the City of Geneva, Geneva
Chamber of Commerce, Geneva Park District, Geneva Public Library, and the Geneva History Center.

Naper's Settlers Arrived at the DuPage River 179 Years Ago This Week

We don't know the exact date when Joseph Naper, his family and his friends arrived at the banks of the DuPage River, but it was most likely around July 15, 1831, according to several sources who were recorded some years after the event. That would be this week!

When Kate was researching and writing her first book, Ruth by Lake and Prairie, she made an effort to go out to a local prairie and see what it looked like in the middle of July to pick up details of what the settlers must have experienced.

Northern Illinois is pretty darn hot and humid in July. But 1831 happened to have been a relatively cool year. Spring was a long time coming and the sailing season on the Great Lakes started later than usual because the ice didn't break up at the normal time. Contemporary letters also mention a cool, wet June. It may have been fairly warm when Naper's group headed out from the Chicago settlement to walk to their new home, but the prairie must have been quite green and lovely still.

Chicago wasn't much of a place yet. There were only native wigwams and log homes. Mark Beaubien had started work on his Sauganash Tavern, which would be the first frame house in the area, but he wouldn't be done until autumn. Wagon-makers, and thus, wagons, were few, most likely owned by the folks who already lived here. They probably rented them out, but research shows that settlers often brought wagons with them when they came west by ship like Naper did.

They would remove the wheels and tie them to the masts. The square wagon box would be lashed to the deck with other cargo. Once at their destination, they could reassemble the wagons.

John Murray, Ruth's father and Joe Naper's brother-in-law, drove the settler's cattle overland from Ohio and was there to greet them when their ship arrived. Once the wagons were reassembled and packed, they hooked up the oxen John had brought to pull the wagons.

Most folks are aware that Chicago was a huge swamp and wagons had a lot of difficulty in the mud. Since it had been a late, wet spring, these settlers must have had a very difficult time of it. Research shows that often they would hitch several pairs of oxen to one wagon, pull it to drier ground, unhitch the oxen, and go back for the next wagon.

It took the settlers three days to walk the twenty-six miles to the DuPage River. With many wagons and an especially soggy swamp, they may still have been in sight of Lake Michigan at the end of the first day!

Experience the Settler's Prairie for Yourself

Like Kate, you may want to stand in an actual northern Illinois prairie this week and imagine that you are one of Naper's settlers from Ruth by Lake and Prairie. Much of the original prairie has been plowed up or built over, but there are still a few places that are either original or restored.

One of the best places to find original prairie is in very old graveyards. Yes, the settlers long ago dug the holes for graves, but they didn't plow the land, so it continued to grow in the natural way. Conservationists will often collect seeds from old graveyards to help create prairie restorations with native plants.

The Belmont Prairie in DuPage county boasts some original prairie, but there are also some restored areas that are worth a trip. Both the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn and Fermi Lab in Batavia have been working on prairie restorations.

If you visit, use all your senses to put yourself in the shoes of the early Illinois settler. What can you smell and hear? How does it feel to walk through such tall grass? How about the bugs? Imagine yourself barefoot, for nearly everyone went barefoot in the summer to save on shoe leather, walking for three days in the July sun.

Now imagine how you would explain hitting the highway in an air-conditioned SUV to Joe and the rest of the group! Our forefathers were certainly a hardy lot!

Photo Credit: Wikimedia