Joliet not the first

To the editor:
I enjoyed the recent article and photos of the Joliet Penitentiary in the May-June 2002, issue of Illinois Heritage. I have to take issue with one statement, however. You wrote that the Joliet Prison was Illinois' first. Actually, the first one was established in Alton in 1833. It had a lot of deficiencies, as was pointed out by Dorothea Dix, who visited it in 1847 and advised it be replaced by another, better one. This was not actually done until Joliet was built and opened in 1860. After that the Alton Prison was used to house Confederate prisoners in the Civil War.

It was later torn down but a small remnant remains near downtown Alton, where there are some pictures and captions about the institution when it was the State Penitentiary and Civil War prison. More information about this is in the book Asylum, Prison, and Poorhouse: The Writings and Reform Work of Dorothea Dix in Illinois, by David Lightner (1999, SIU Press). I reviewed this book in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society in the Winter 1999-2002 issue.

Frank B. Norbury, M.D.
Jacksonville

Cholera victims

To the editor:
The March-April issue of Illinois Heritage contains a letter, a brief article, and a photograph relating to the cholera epidemic in the first half of the nineteenth century. The article asks readers to report any cholera markers in the state other than the one picture in Coles County.

About three-quarters of a mile south of the town of Sheridan in northeast LaSalle County is a small graveyard containing about two-dozen headstones. The green and white sign on the highway identifies the plot as "Cholera Victims Cemetery—1848." The legible headstones show that the earliest cemetery burial was in 1819, the last in 1853. The last internment, however, might not be a cholera victim but, instead, the widow of one buried there earlier. I hope this is of some help.

Blair Vedder
Pioneer Farm
Sheridan

Arcadia history

To the editor:
Thank you for your recent article (March/April 2002) on Arcadia Publishing's local history titles. I am glad you mentioned that we avoid "any pretense of publishing 'true' history"; indeed, we don't claim that our books cover the complete histories of the areas/people they are about. But we do think the medium of photography provides an important visceral link to the history of a community. Our niche of publishing also allows many smaller organizations to bring their photo collections to the public at no financial risk to themselves. (In more rural areas especially, the only alternative is often expensive self-publishing.)

Arcadia's goal is to make local history accessible to everyone. By keeping our book prices low, searching for authors who can compile the most fascinating historic photographs of their subjects, and making sure our titles are available in all local bookstores and retail outlets, we feel we are fulfilling this goal. We have published more than 1,700 titles across the country and look forward to doing even more in the years to come.

Holly Zemsta
Publicity Coordinator, Arcadia Publishing
Chicago

Ogle County Regulators

To the editor:
Having been interested in Ogle County history for some time, I read with interest the article by Herbert Channick concerning the "Regulators and Prairie Bandits" in the May/June 2002 issue.

There are some things I would like to point out, however. William did not die immediately. In fact, he lingered over night. The circuit court records seem to suggest that he died mainly of one severe wound.

The fact that he lingered overnight suggests that the Regulator executioners were either poor marksmen or they intentionally fired over the head of the target. Some of the Regulators "wept like children" after the firing ceased.

Also, a case can be made that the Ogle County court-house was not burned by the bandits. I base that assumption on court records.

I have a few copies of my booklet "Ogle: Through a Glass Dimly," available in case anyone is interested in my opinion of the above events.

Leonard J. Jacobs
Oregon

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