Recent Acquisitions

Last month was a busy one in the Society's acquisitions efforts. In mid February, Executive Director Tom Teague traveled to Germantown Hills to accept the gift of a Civil War-era scrapbook from Melanie Meismer. The 4-1/2" x 8" scrapbook is full of photographs, notes, and recipes, and was the property of H. Crea, Meismer's maternal great-uncle and an attorney Decatur.

In addition to more than 160 photographs of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, Crea's scrapbook includes several home remedies for the treatment of everything from "Summer Complaint" to "Corns." The later recipe is large enough to sustain a small army: "6 lbs Resin; Beeswax 4 oz; Mutton tallow 1/2 lb. Melt together."

Crea's recipe for "Balm for Life," on the other hand, would (and probably did) fit into a small hip flask, and could easily have served as a sleeping tonic as well.

Fido Lincoln

"Recipe Balm of Life: One Pint 4th proof Brandy—put in 2 teaspoonfuls of pure Myrrh, pulverized. 2 do (doses?) of pure Camphor; 1 do of best Cayenne; 1 level teaspoonful of pulverized opium. Let it stand 24 hours. Shake often—fit for use."

Donald R. Beck of Rochester dropped in to see us in early February to share a box of early Springfield history, including the landlord records of John Linden Roll, whose father worked on the remodeling of the Lincoln Home in the 1850s. Beck's donations included photograph of Fido, the Lincolns' "yaller" dog, whom the Roll family adopted after Lincoln departed for Washington.

The Society also received a legal-file box of as-yet uncatalogued materials relating to legislation for the Equal Rights Amendment in Illinois. The files were the property of former State Legislator Goudy Loch Dyer (Rep, 41st District, Hinsdale), who served in the Illinois House in the 1970s. The Society intends to have the files inventoried and made available to scholars.

The Illinois State Historical Society welcomes inquiries regarding possible donations of documents, artifacts, photographs, deeds, and other items relating to the history of the Prairie State. For more information, call 217-525-2781.

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"Mrs. Beecher Brown died suddenly at her home in rural Irvington Township, Washington County, Illinois, in the early afternoon hours of May 1, 1936." Had an obituary been written for Mrs. Brown at the time, this is probably how it would have begun. Perhaps she was so widely known that no public notice was needed to record her passing.

We have little documentation to record the details regarding the life and death of this Illinois farm wife in the 20 century save for a post-mortem photograph and copy of her death certificate. Even the funeral home's record of her services have disappeared. We know that Lona Davis, later married to Beecher Brown, was born March 20, 1886, in Crab Orchard, Williamson County, Illinois. Her interment took place May 3, 1936, in Centralia's Hillcrest Cemetery. The absence of a funeral record prevents us from learning more about her life and family.

Still, this photo record of Lona's funeral has much to tell us. The photo depicts the later years of the home funeral service, which in Illinois had begun to disappear in the first quarter of the 20th century—to be replaced by "funeral parlors" or mortuaries. The residential "parlor" took on a morbid connotation because the term implied a stiffly formal and foreboding room seldom used except for funerals. The parlor acquired the name "living room" to suggest happier family gatherings. Gone from the scene are the yards of black crape that would have festooned this scene had it been captured two decades earlier. Gone, too, are the drawn draperies and shuttered rooms.

Instead, we see the Boggs Funeral Home's studied arrangement of the many floral tributes sent to the family. Lona's floral velvet-covered casket is barely visible among the baskets and sprays of roses, carnations, and lilies, arranged tastefully in the living room of her home. The scene is so unfunereal we can almost imagine birds singing in the trees outside the windows.

Who was Lona Brown—wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, neighbor, church-member? We may never know for certain, but we can be sure that despite her anonymity in the 21st century, her life touched many, and her passing did not go unnoticed.

Former ISHS executive director Jon Austin is director of the Museum of Funeral Customs, 1440 Monument Avenue in Springfield. Visit him at www.FuneralMuseum.org.

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