Early Statehood - Society and Culture

Pre-Statehood Era: 1700-1818

• Pre-Statehood Era- Government
• Pre-Statehood Era- Society and Culture
• Pre-Statehood Era- Business and Economy
• Pre-Statehood Era- Race Relations

Early Statehood: 1818-1861

• Early Statehood- Government
• Early Statehood- Society and Culture
• Early Statehood- Business and Economy
• Early Statehood- Race Relations

Civil War Era: 1861-1865

• Civil War- Government
• Civil War- Society and Culture
• Civil War- Business and Economy
• Civil War- Race Relations

Late 19th Century: 1866-1900

• Late 19th Century- Government
• Late 19th Century- Society and Culture
• Late 19th Century- Business and Economics
• Late 19th Century- Race Relations

Early 20th Century: 1900-1914

• Early 20th Century- Government
• Early 20th Century- Society and Culture
• Early 20th Century- Business and Economy
• Early 20th Century- Race Relations

World War I: 1914-1918

• World War I- Government
• World War I- Society and Culture
• World War I- Business and Economy
• World War I- Race Relations

Roaring Twenties: 1918-1929

• Roaring Twenties- Government
• Roaring Twenties- Society and Culture
• Roaring Twenties- Business and Economy

Great Depression: 1930-1941

• Great Depression- Government
• Great Depression- Society and Culture
• Great Depression- Business and Economy
• Great Depression- Race Relations

World War II: 1941-1945

• World War II- Government
• World War II- Society and Culture
• World War II- Business and Economy
• World War II- Race Relations

Cold War Era: 1946-1991

• Cold War Era- Government
• Cold War Era- Race Relations

Millennium: 1991-Present

• Millennium- Government
• Millennium- Race Relations

Lesson Plans

• Lesson Plans
• Discussion Questions
• Historic Literature
• Civilian Conservation Corps

Resources

• About Us
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• Citing the Source

Children and Family

Apprentice Indenture, Fayette County, 1860 / Transcription

• In the mid-nineteenth century, charitable aid societies in New York City sent vagrant and abandoned children to homes in the rural Midwest. Farmers needed cheap labor and, it was reasoned, the children would benefit from the fresh rural environment. Special trains ran from New York to the Midwest for the purpose of placing the children at each stop. This apprentice indenture is for Alfred Lumsden, an 8-year-old charge of the New York Juvenile Asylum.

• Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 21. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Education

County School Land Lease, Vermilion County 1828 / Transcription

• Before 1818, the United States General Land Office surveyed most of Illinois so that public lands could be sold in an orderly fashion. The state was divided into square townships, each containing 36 square miles. The townships were subdivided into sections, which contained 640 acres. An act of Congress set aside Section 16 in each township to finance public education. In 1825, Illinois law required the establishment of county schools so that white citizens from ages 5 to 21 could receive a free education. Section 16 lands were leased and the proceeds went toward county schools.

• Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 6. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Putnam County School Land Sale Petition, 1835 / Transcription

• In 1834, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation permitting the sale of the Section 16 school lands. The proceeds would support public education for the township. Three-fourths of the township’s legal voters had to petition the School Commissioner for this section to be sold at a public auction. The section was then surveyed and valuations were made.

• Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 9. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Schuyler Common School Schedule, 1840 / Transcription

• State law dictated the format of early school attendance records. Attendance determined the amount of money that the teacher received from the school land fund. The teachers submitted these schedules to their local school trustees, who certified them and calculated the amount of money due the teacher. This amount was based on the attendance figures turned in by the teacher. Compulsory attendance did not begin in Illinois until 1883.

• Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 12. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Resolution on Teachers' Examinations, December 2nd, 1840 / Transcription

• Abraham Lincoln sponsored the Committee on Education to look into teaching qualification exams before a teacher could be hired. This led to local school teaching certificates required by state legislation, although they did not have any guidelines for the qualification exams.

• Citation: Illinois State Archives Staff. Abraham Lincoln in Illinois: A Selection of Documents From the Illinois State Archives. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2008. Document 21. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/16/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/abraham_lincoln/doc21.html

Petition for the Free Use of State Street Market Hall, December 17th, 1855 / Transcription

• Petition to the city council of Chicago for the Reverend William Anderson, a black minister, to speak about the "services of colored citizens during the Revolutionary War". Proceeds were to go towards the purchase of freedom from slavery for Rev Anderson's half-sister in the South.

• Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 33. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/16/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc33.html

Population

Census Report, August 9th, 1852 / Transcription

• Census report of Chicago in 1852. The population of the city at the time was 38,733, but it also breaks down by color, foreign or American-born, sex, and property owners.

• Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 23. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/16/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc23.html

Tax Statistics, September 26th, 1853 / Transcription

• Tax information for Chicago in 1853. Information includes: property valuation, city, school, interest, building, water, market, lamp, real estate, property, and total tax for the south, north, and west divisions of the city.

• Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 24. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/16/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc24.html

Religion and Morality

Excerpt of a letter to Reverend Asa Cummings from Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, February 9th, 1837

• Reverend Elijah Lovejoy established an abolitionist press in Alton, Illinois in 1836, much to the dismay of residents. In this letter excerpt, he answers the question "What is slavery?"

• Citation: Lovejoy, Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, 1838. Reprint, Freeport: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. 197-199.

"The Right Remedy" by Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, March 16th, 1837

• Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy agrees that the Gospel is the remedy for slavery, but asserts that it must be actively applied to be effective.

• Citation: Lovejoy, Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, 1838. Reprint, Freeport: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. 204-206.

Minutes of an Anti-Abolition Meeting in Alton, Illinois, July 11th, 1837

• The town of Alton resolved that Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy was an unwelcome presence, requested that he cease promoting abolition, and declared its disapproval of the Abolitionist movement.

• Citation: Lovejoy, Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, 1838. Reprint, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. 216-220

Excerpt of a letter to Brother Leavitt from Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, October 3rd, 1837

• Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy described the danger he and his associates faced in Alton, Illinois as a result of operating an Abolitionist press.

• Citation: Lovejoy, Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, 1838. Reprint, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. 256-259

Writ for the Apprehension of Rodney Messer & James P. Judkins, January 7th, 1858 / Transcription

• This document asks the sheriff of Shelby County to arrest Rodney Messer and James V. Judkins on charges of keeping their "tippling house," or saloon, open on a Sunday. The reverse of this document shows how the sheriff took notes on these men's captures and bail postings.

• Citation: I/B/Box 5 Shelby County Circuit Court People v. Messer and Judkins. IRAD in Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University.

Women and Gender

Last Will or Testament of Adam Vogel, St. Clair County, 1854 / Transcription

• Illinois law permitted all people who were 17 or older to dispose of their personal estate by will and testament. Adam Vogel’s will left his property to his wife, Anne Rosine Vogel, with certain stipulations attached.

• Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 17. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

List of Goods Belonging to Jeptha Hornbeck, January 6th, 1858 / Transcription

• Jeptha Hornbeck was sued for failure to pay her debts in 1857. The court ordered a list of her belongings so they might be used as restitution of her debt.

• Citation: I/B/Box 5 Shelby County Circuit Court Wm. F. Thornton v. Jeptha Hornbeck. IRAD in Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University.