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A Tale of Three Markers
So far I've attended the dedication of only three historical markers as the Society's new director. But already I appreciate the depth and scope of history this program represents. My first ceremony was in Carbondale at the cemetery where General John Logan first observed Memorial Day. The following Sunday I drove to Toluca for a fond salute to the town's coal-mining past. Three weeks later, I attended a church service in Lincoln to help honor the Niebuhr family of theologians. Who couldn't learn from experiences like those? And that's just my beginning. The Illinois State Historical Society has been erecting markers since 1934. Their purpose is to present official public witness to the historic value of the people, places and events that they commemorate. With more than 400 dedicated to date, they are the Society's farthest-reaching program. We have three fine publications, but they go primarily to members. We have several awards programs, but by their nature they focus on their recipients. Our website is available world- wide, but requires computers. Only our markers are available to everyone. All they require is your presence. Woodlawn Cemetery, Carbondale Woodlawn Cemetery stands on a grassy knoll on Main Street in Carbondale. More than 60 Civil War veterans are buried there. On April 29, 1866, General Logan spoke at a ceremony and dedication day there for the war dead. Logan was reportedly quite moved by the ceremony. In 1868, as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, he declared that each May 30 would be set aside as a national Memorial Day. He spoke at Woodlawn again that year and also the next.
Occupying less than three acres, the cemetery has been full for some time. Its last burial took place in 1954. Although it was on the National Register of Historic Places, the landmark fell into neglect. But in the late 1990s a broad coalition of city leaders, veterans groups and preservation advocates formed to restore it. Carbondale city councilman Brad Cole took a particular interest in the project and helped lead it to completion. Members of the Carbondale Preservation Commission also lent an active hand. Crumbling headstones were braced up. Entry columns and signs were repaired. A new walkway was put in. And on May 28, 135 years after that first Memorial Day, we rededicated the cemetery where it took place. We raised the flag, laid wreaths on graves and prayed for the dead. Company C of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry fired a salute. And when the main speaker asked for all veterans to rise, I got to stand up.
The Jumbos, Toluca
In 1892, Charles Devlin went prospecting for coal along the Santa Fe line in Illinois. His goal was to supply all the locomotives that passed on their way between Kansas City and Chicago. In 1893, he acquired mineral rights to 11,000 acres in Marshall County, about halfway between Chillicothe and Streator. With his partner, Henry Duggan, he sank two
ILLINOIS HERITAGE 27 shafts five hundred feet below the surface, he found what he'd been looking for. At its peak in 1905, the Devlin Coal Company employed 771 workers, many of them Italian immigrants. The houses where they lived and stores where they shopped formed the core of Toluca. When production reached 379,000 tons in 1905, planners predicted the new town's population would someday reach 15,000. But in 1924, railroads determined they could buy coal more cheaply from shallower, larger mine's in southern Illinois and the Devlin mine abruptly closed. For 75 years, its two slag heaps bore silent witness to the past. Although the heaps gradually eroded, Toluca citizens did not view them as eyesores. Instead they considered them landmarks and called them the Jumbos. In childhood, virtually every Tolucan climbed them.
Erosion continued and the Jumbos became increasingly unsafe. Early last year, though, the City Council of Toluca approved an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to and repair the heaps and make them safe to climb again. Several area civic and conservation groups pitched in to help build a park around the "new" Jumbos. Their leader was Eleanor Bussell, who founded the Marshall County Historical Society in 1947. The state historical marker which commemorates the mine was funded by the Illinois History Club of Lexington High School. Dedication ceremonies took place June 3. Passing trains interrupted the speeches at least three times, but that's a rhythm that Tolucans have long been used to. All Society markers require local co-sponsors to secure funding and handle local arrangements. As a group, the state's many historical societies have co-sponsored by far the most markers. Among single organizations, the Illinois Department of Transportation has been the most frequent co-sponsor. But the most remarkable record of sponsorship belongs to Lexington High's history club. The Toluca marker is their sixth. Each represents considerable research as well as many hours of fundraising activities. Two club members and their longtime advisor, Don Cavallini (now retired), took part in the June 3 observance. The Niebuhr Family, Lincoln Time Magazine once called the Niebuhr clan "the Trapp family of theology" because it produced so many distinguished professors of Christian studies. Their connection with Lincoln, Illinois, began in 1902 when the Reverend Gustav Niebuhr moved there with his wife Lydia to become pastor of St. John's Evangelical Church. Additionally, he was also administrator of Deaconess Hospital. All four of the Niebuhrs' children — Reinhold, Richard, Walter and Hulda — were confirmed in Lincoln. After his father's death in 1913, Reinhold became St. John's pastor temporarily. But he soon moved to Detroit, then to Union Theological Seminary in New York. He went on to exert wide influence in politics and religion through his doctrine of Christian Realism. Among the works credited to him is the Serenity Prayer. H. Richard Niebuhr was president of Elmhurst College and taught at Eden University in St. Louis and at Yale for 31 years. His son, Richard R. Niebuhr, taught at Harvard for 43 years. Hulda taught at Boston University, then McCormick Seminary in Chicago.
Although most of the Niebuhrs earned prominence outside of Lincoln, this small Logan County town is where they were reared and nurtured. In 1998, their contributions became a focus of the Friends Committee, an ad hoc group formed to post historical markers to prominent figures who once lived in Lincoln. The Friends' first marker, erected in 1999, honored poet Langston Hughes. The Niebuhr marker is their second. Lynn Spelman of Lincoln was this marker's primary researcher and fundraiser. Now that it is securely in place, the Friends Committee hopes to erect a third placard — this one to prominent editor William Maxwell. At the Niebuhr dedication, I had the opportunity to tell the assembly about my own first experience with the family. It came in a sophomore philosophy class at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, nearly 40 years ago. Reinhold's writings were part of that course, but they brought me neither serenity nor clarity of thought, "Who could possibly have dreamed then that I would be standing here today, helping to dedicate a marker to the man and his family?" I asked. "I certainly did not. And neither did my philosophy teacher." Post One! Marvin Ehlers of Deerfield is chair of the Society's Markers Committee. He urges anyone interested in co-sponsoring a marker to contact the Society at 210 S. 6thSt., Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62701. The total cost of a small marker is about $1,600. A large marker costs about $2,600. IILLINOIS HERITAGE 28 |
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