Mormontown marker dedicated

Dr. Mel Martin (left), Mr. Menlo Smith (center), Scott Hill (Pike County Historical Society, and invited guests gather at the Pike County Museum for the dedication of the Mormontown historical marker.

The Pike County Historical Society Museum was the setting for the dedication of an Illinois State Historical Society marker on November 5, 2005. The marker tells the story of Mormontown, a settlement that grew to more than 300 people after members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were driven out of Missouri. When the settlement was founded in 1839, it was under the leadership of Silas Smith, an uncle of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith.

In addition to numerous cabins and a school, a church was erected in Mormontown, which, after the community dissolved, was moved to Pittsfield and served as a parish hall for St. Mary's Catholic Church. The actual site of Mormontown was three miles east of Pittsfield on Route 106 and extended on both sides of the road. The marker dedication was held in the Pike County Museum due to lack of safe parking at the actual site. Immediately following the ceremony the marker was taken and installed at the site.

The dedication address was delivered by Mr. Mike Trapp, a long-time tour guide and historian from Nauvoo. Also addressing the assembly was Mr. Menlo Smith, a great-great grandson of Mormontown's leader, Silas Smith. Representing the Illinois State Historical Society was Marker Committee chairman Stu Fliege, who also served as emcee.

The Mormontown marker was sponsored by the Pike County Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society, with the cooperation of the Zion's Illinois Trail Committee. The text for the marker is as follows:

MORMONTOWN SITE

On February 22, 1839, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, refugees driven from Missouri under the "Extermination Order" of Governor Lilburn Boggs, settled on this site. The property was owned by Thomas Edwards, who later joined the church. Silas Smith, high priest in the church and uncle of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, was the leader of these Mormon refugees. The community grew to more than 300 members. Silas Smith died on September 13, 1839, at the age of 58 and was buried here near his home. Smith was succeeded by John Lawton and later by Harlow Redfield, who presided over the congregation until it disbanded in 1845.

In October 1842, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball preached at a church conference held here. The settlement, which later became known as Mormontown, extended on both sides of the road at this location. Cabins were built and wells dug. A schoolhouse and a church were erected on the south side of the road. The cemetery, which measured 60 by 80 feet, fell into disrepair in later years. Gravestones were bulldozed into a ditch and the graveyard plowed over. The church building was relocated to Pittsfield and used as a parish hall by St. Mary's Catholic Church. The pews and pulpit were moved to a church near Pleasant Hill.

Historical Markers week set

The 2nd annual Illinois State Historical Society markers celebration will be held the week of February 26 through March 4, 2006, throughout the state. Plans are to unveil at least two new historic markers, as well as to rededicate restored or replaced markers in several counties. A static exhibit about the society's more than 400 markers will be displayed in the rotunda of the state capitol, and the week will culminate in a celebration and reception on March 3 at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site. The date is significant in Illinois history, as it commemorates the March 3, 1837 signing of the law that moved the state capital to Springfield from Vandalia.

According to Stu Fliege, chair of the Society's Markers Committee, new historical markers will be dedicated in LeClair and Franklin Park, Illinois. For more information about the weeklong celebration, or the Society's markers program, call 217-525-2781.

4 Illinois Heritage

Centennial Business Awards banquet set

The 22nd annual Centennial Awards Banquet will be held on Friday, October 13, 2006, at the Palmer House Hilton hotel in Chicago. Illinois businesses and not-for-profit corporations that will celebrate their centennial years in 2006 are encouraged to apply for the Society's special recognition on-line at www.historyillinois.org.

The Centennial Awards Program, founded in 1984, has honored more than 1,100 businesses around the state including the Walgreen's Company, SBC, the Chicago White Sox, and more than 50 Carnegie libraries.

Centennial Award winners receive a plaque inscribed by the current Illinois governor and Society president, use of the Centennial Awards logo on their business letterhead, a year's free membership in the Society, and statewide recognition. For more information about the Awards Program, call 217-525-2781.

Prize money for student scholars

Do you know a young Lincoln scholar who could use $1,000 for college? Illinois high school students are invited to participate in an essay contest about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era.

Essays should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words with an annotated bibliography and suggestions for further reading. The focus of the essay should be on Abraham Lincoln or a significant event in the Civil War period in Illinois. The Illinois high school student whose research paper is selected will receive a $1,000 scholarship, plus a certificate from the Society.

The winning essay and author will be honored at the Illinois History Symposium Banquet in February 2007. His or her essay will be published in the January/February 2007 issue of Illinois Heritage magazine, the popular history magazine of the Illinois State Historical Society. For more information, call 217-525-2781, or visit the Society's web site at www.historyillinois.org.

Entries should be sent to the Illinois State Historical Society, Orndorff Scholarship, 210 1/2 South Sixth Street, Suite 200, Springfield, Illinois 62701. The deadline for the 2006 award is October 31.

The Verna Ross Orndorff Scholarship was established by the Society in 1989. A resident of River Forest, Ms. Omdorff was a lifelong student of Illinois history.

Wanted: Outstanding history teachers

Do you know an outstanding Illinois history teacher who deserves to be recognized?

The Olive Foster Award was established in 1988 in honor of Olive Foster, former Illinois State Historian, Director of the School Services Program, and originator of the Illinois History Program for students.

The award is designed to recognize and reward full-time teachers for outstanding contributions to the study and teaching of state and local history. Recipients of these awards actively promote Illinois history in schools as well as in their local communities, using the resources of one or more local historical societies, museums, Illinois State Historical Society, and other Illinois historical groups. Documentation of the teacher's work will be required.

Three $500 awards will be given annually—one each to teachers at the elementary, middle/junior high, and high-school levels. The awards will be presented at the annual Awards Ceremony at Starved Rock Lodge in Utica on Saturday, April 29, 2006.

Nominations may be made by any group or person, including the nominee and should include the following information:

■  The nominee's name and address

■  The subject(s) and grade(s) that the nominee teaches

■  The nominator's name and contact information

■  The school where the nominee is employed

■  The name and contact information of the nominee's principal

■  The nominee's educational background

■  The nominee's professional experience

■  A narrative description of the nominee's outstanding classroom accomplishments. This should include specific history units taught by the nominee and information about local museums or historical societies that were involved. Commentary on the results or impact of the programs and also how they were developed may be included. Other awards won by the nominee or nominee's students may also be listed.

■  Letters of support or recommendation (optional)

The Society's Education and Awards Committees will judge all nominations and select the winners. Deadline: March 1, 2006. For more information, call the Illinois State Historical Society at 217-525-2781, or visit the Society's Website at www.historyillinois.org.

Illinois Heritage 5

Lincoln birthday events planned

The 197th birthday of Abraham Lincoln will be celebrated on February 12, 2006, in Springfield with several special events:

• The George L. Painter Lincoln Lectures will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2006, at 9 a.m.at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site Visitor Center, 426 South Seventh Street, Springfield, Illinois. This year's lecturers will include Dr. Richard West Sellars, National Park Service Historian and author of Pilgrim Places: Civil War Battlefields, Historic Preservation, and America's First National Military Parks, 1863-1900 and Preserving Nature in the National Parks. The Painter Lectures will also feature Dr. Robert Bray, R. Forrest Colwell Professor of American at Illinois Wesleyan University and author of Peter Cartwright: Legendary Frontier Preacher and Rediscoveries: Literature and Place in Illinois. The Painter Lincoln Lectures are free and open to the public.

•  The annual Abraham Lincoln Symposium sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Association (ALA) and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, will be held at the Old State Capitol from 1-4:30 p.m. This year's symposium is titled "Lincoln and His Family," and features presentations by Catherine Clinton, author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, and Daniel Mark Epstein, author of Lincoln and Whitman: Parallel Lives in Civil War Washington (2004).

•  The annual Lincoln Symposium banquet speaker is Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author. For more information about the Abraham Lincoln Association and the Lincoln Symposium, go to www.alincolnassoc.com.

Share your Visions

Looking for some great dates in 2006? The Society's Illinois Visions calendar makes a perfect post-holiday gift for anyone with big or small plans in the coming year. To sweeten the seasons the Society store offers discounts of 50 percent off the $4 cover price for orders of 10 or more calendars. Call today and give a little bit of history to someone you love.

6 Illinois Heritage