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Reviews

A Review of
Richard Rowett: Thoroughbreds,
Beagles, and the Civil War

by Susan D. Jones, University of Colorado at Boulder

Growing up in Carlinville, Illinois, author Tom Emery heard interesting snippets about the life of a local Civil War hero, politician, and stock breeder named Richard Rowett. While a college student, Emery began in earnest to reconstruct the life of Rowett. With the resulting publication of Richard Rowett, Emery joins other researchers interested in adding to the historical record by contributing biographies of neglected historical figures. Rowett's life, as told by Emery, may be a particularly useful example of historical biography because it illustrates larger social, political, and cultural concerns of the Midwestern United States in the late nineteenth century.

Richard Rowett: Thoroughbreads, Beagles, and the Civil War

Like many other Illinoisans, Rowett had immigrated to the United States as a young adult (he was born in England). No doubt due to the limitations of available sources, Emery tells us little about Rowett's English years save that the family was of modest means and young Rowett learned his father's trade (carriage trimming). This humble beginning contrasts with Rowett's later prominence; his interest in breeding fancy stock (fine Thoroughbreds and Beagles) on his well-appointed farm, for example, hint at his desire to occupy and advertise a position of social prestige unavailable to the son of a carriage-trimmer back in England. Although we hear little of Rowett's own family (or nineteenth-century family life generally), the author does not shy away from reporting unhappy personal events. Indeed, despite his obvious admiration for his subject, the author treats Rowett's life evenhandedly throughout the book.

To many readers, Rowett's activities in the years preceding the Civil War will be of particular interest. Union officer Rowett, relieved that he "had a heart to face the cannon's mouth," made his name as a hero of the bloody battle of Allatoona (1864). Rowett also fought the battle of public opinion in his hometown of Carlinville. As with other northern border areas, Southern Illinois harbored a volatile mixture of pro-Union and pro-Southern sympathizers. The strength of Civil War era Copperhead sentiment in the Land of Lincoln has received little historical attention, but the author wisely highlights the tension that Rowett and other Union supporters felt in Carlinville.

This tension dominated local politics to a significant degree. A one-term member of the Illinois Legislature, Rowett also held a variety of local and regional political posts despite the "tattered" political situation. His own career reflected the prevalent uneasy mood: Rowett initially opposed but later supported Ulysses Grant's presidency (a point that could be addressed further by the author); and Rowett played a role in the 1874 "Farmer's Convention," foreshadowing the rise of Populism twenty years later. While pursuing his political career, Rowett also participated enthusiastically in the horse-breeding and racing culture of the South and middle West. By breeding a Kentucky Derby winner and pioneering the importation of beagle dogs to the United States, Rowett helped to create American cultural icons while reaching the pinnacle of the rural gentleman's social success.

From an impressive array of sources, Tom Emery has constructed a coherent and easily read narrative. Although the author dose not specify the book's intended audience, Richard Rowett should prove useful for advanced high school and university students and interested adult readers. Richard Rowett not only brings a forgotten character to life, but it also introduces important themes in nineteenth-century Illinois history. Both are important contributions to the historical record.

22¦ ILLINOIS HERITAGE


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