Author: cweibel2@illinois.edu

Posted on

#SmallTownSaturday – New Salem, IL

New Salem State Park Postcard (PD)

This week for #SmallTownSaturday, we’re traveling back to the place Abraham Lincoln first called home as an adult in Illinois – the village of New Salem – near what’s now Petersburg, IL (pop. 2,299)!

New Salem’s origins can be traced to 1828 when James Rutledge, originally of South Carolina, and his relative John Camron, originally from Georgia, moved their families from Kentucky and settled on a bluff overlooking the Sangamon River’s west bank. There, Rutledge and Camron hoped to build a dam and a grist- and sawmill. They petitioned the state for permission to dam the river and began construction in early 1829.… Read More

Posted on

Stephen Harriman Long: Exploring the West

Stephen Harriman Long was an explorer, engineer, and inventor. Born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, in 1784, Long attended Dartmouth College and went on to become a professor of mathematics at the U.S. Military Academy. He served as an officer and civil engineer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers for the U.S. Army and participated in a number of expeditions between 1816 and 1824 before working with railroads, bridge construction, and river navigation improvements.

Long was selected to lead an exhibition to survey potential sites for Army forts west of the Mississippi River in 1817. Based on his recommendations from the journey, the U.S.… Read More

Posted on

Thomas Mather: Business and Politics in Early Illinois

Thomas Mather was an early Illinois settler, businessman, and politician who served as a member of both branches of the Illinois legislature.  His father, William Mather, fought in the Revolutionary War, and Thomas was also a direct descendant of New England minister Cotton Mather. Thomas Mather was born in Simsbury, Connecticut in 1795. He became a successful merchant in New York City, and in the spring of 1818, Mather migrated to Kaskaskia, Illinois.

As he settled into life in Illinois, Mather quickly become involved in both business and politics. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1820 and served four terms, including a term as Speaker of the House from 1824-1826.… Read More