Civil War

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

A Community in Conflict

Digital Exhibit

2 items

1850

In the 1840s and 50s, more African Americans settled in McLean County. But they soon learned that their opportunities were limited.

Digital Exhibit

1862

By the time the Civil War began, views on slavery in McLean County had become predominantly anti-slavery. But there were still those who supported slavery.

Digital Exhibit

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County

1 item

From Candidate to President and Beyond

Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 largely over the issue of slavery’s expansion....

Digital Exhibit

Articles

A small selection of Pages from our Past articles written by Bill Kemp

7 items

A yellowed image shows a large three-story school made of brick. it has multiple chimneys, and a fence around the perimeter of the grounds. Blurred human figures can be seen on the sidewalk, they are moving and come across as translucent in this image. A few branches of a tree can be see on the right, they are completely bare. A small amount of snow appears to be on the ground.

Bloomington schools integrated decade after Civil War

Although racially segregated schools are associated with the “Jim Crow” Deep South and the Civi...

Article

Emancipation Day once Black community’s July 4th

In the years before the Civil War and for several decades afterward, Bloomington’s African-Amer...

Article

Harvey Hogg early martyr to Union cause

The Civil War was a brutal, decidedly unromantic slog. By its cruel end, as Ulysses S. Grant an...

Article

Hollywood Legends Brought Local Author’s Novel to Silver Screen

Bloomington writer Harold Sinclair always looked a little out of place, whether it was standing...

Article

color illustration of a very tall and narrow memorial, towering over trees and flowers in the park.

Long-gone Franklin Park monument dedicated 150 years ago

On June 17, 1869—150 years ago this week—area residents packed Bloomington’s Franklin Park to d...

Article

14 light-skinned men stand and sit for a photograph. They all appear to be old, some elderly.

Taps for last Bloomington Civil War veteran in 1940

Today the median age of Korean War veterans is 88 years old, and as the ranks of these old sold...

Article

Turbulent times at 19th century Bloomington hotel

The Ashley House, Bloomington’s largest hotel from the Civil War until its fiery end in 1900, h...

Article

Biographies

39 items

Adams, Dr. William Henry Harrison

Dr. William Henry Harrison Adams was born on March 30, 1840 in Effingham County, Illinois. He w...

Biography

Bach, Maria Sophia

Maria Sophia (Koehler or Kahler) Bach was the wife of pressman and political dissident, William...

Biography

Benjamin, Reuben Moore

Reuben Moore Benjamin was born on June 29, 1833 in Chatham Center, Columbia County, New York (2...

Biography

Blue, Richard

Richard Blue (1842-1921) was born in Ohio and came to Bloomington at age 9 with Judge Rayburn a...

Biography

Burnham, John Howard

John Howard Burnham was born on October 31, 1834 in Essex, Massachusetts. His parents, John Bur...

Biography

Carman, George

“‘To write, or not to write: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to sit and scratch your pate in va...

Biography

Claxton, Belle Blue

Belle Blue Claxton was born in Bloomington, IL on April 30, 1872. She was a daughter of Richar...

Biography

DeMotte, Harvey C.

Harvey Clelland DeMotte was a devoted and beloved teacher who worked to bring out the best in e...

Biography

Dyson, Nancy “Nannie” McCullough Orme

Nancy “Nannie” McCullough Orme was born on October 23, 1834 in McLean County. In 1853 she marr...

Biography

Ela, Frances Harriet Rowell

Frances Harriet Rowell was born on November 15, 1835 in Waterford, Vermont. She was one of fou...

Biography

Ela, George Porter

Frances Harriet Rowell was born on November 15, 1835 in Waterford, Vermont. She was one of fou...

Biography

Esque, Eliza (Davis)

Eliza Davis Esque was born around 1845 in St. Charles County, Missouri. Little is known about ...

Biography

Foster, Daniel T.

Captain Daniel T. Foster was born on July 22, 1841 in Waitsfield, Washington County, Vermont. H...

Biography

Frank, Henry “Teddy”

Henry “Teddy” Frank was born in Pennsylvania sometime in 1840 or 1841 and remained there until ...

Biography

Funk, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Funk was born on October 17, 1837 to Isaac and Cassandra Funk. Benjamin was t...

Biography

Goodheart, James

James Goodheart is recognized in our local history as the son of two “honored pioneers” as well...

Biography

Guthrie, Adam

Adam Guthrie was born on March 10, 1825 in Circleville, Pickaway Co., Ohio. He was one of twelv...

Biography

Higgins, Hamer

Considering his chosen line of work, one might not be too surprised to learn that Hamer J. Higg...

Biography

Hill, Dr. William

Dr. William Hill (1829-1906) was a talented surgeon and one of Bloomington’s most respected phy...

Biography

Hogg, Harvey

The Bloomington lawyer and Civil War cavalry commander, Harvey Hogg (originally from Tennessee)...

Biography

Horine, William H.

William (Bill) Horine was born to Adam and Sallie (Mason) Horine on March 3, 1840 in Jessamine ...

Biography

Ijams, Lewis Ellington

Lewis E. Ijams was born on November 21, 1841 near Zanesville, Ohio. His parents were Lewis and...

Biography

King, Samuel Noble

Samuel Noble (1834-1913) and Mary (Reed) King (1842-1928) were a force in the advancement of ag...

Biography

Lewis, Edward J.

Edward J. Lewis was born to Enoch and Lydia Jackson Lewis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sept...

Biography

Lott, Harrison Clay

Harrison Clay Lott was born August 16, 1848 in Madison, Indiana. When Lott was fifteen years o...

Biography

Malone, Simon Booth

Simon Booth Malone was born into slavery on December 18, 1842 in Tippah County, Mississippi. S...

Biography

McCoslin, William

William McCoslin (1830-1878) was born in Vandalia, Illinois on July 27, 1830. While the names o...

Biography

McCullough, William

William McCullough was born on September 11, 1811 in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He was the son of...

Biography

McNulta, John

John McNulta was born on November 9, 1837 in New York City, New York. His father was Irish and...

Biography

Orme, William Ward

William Ward Orme was born February 17, 1832 in Washington, D.C. William’s parents died when h...

Biography

Pike, Alpheus

Alpheus Pike was born to Harrison Wallace Pike and Susan A. Mayberry Pike in Casco, Maine on Au...

Biography

Price, John Joseph

John Joseph Price was born on October 16, 1835 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Little information is known...

Biography

Rankin, Melinda

Melinda Rankin was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on March 21, 1811. She attended and taught ...

Biography

Rice, Martha Baker

Martha H. Baker (Rice) was born in Richmond, Kentucky on September 4, 1817. Her parent’s names...

Biography

Riebsame, Christian

Captain Christian Riebsame (1839-1913) was a German-born citizen who came to the United States ...

Biography

Roeder, John Conrad

John C. Roeder was born in Nordeck, Germany in about 1836. He was the son of Conrad and Elizab...

Biography

Sanders, Susan Pike

Susan Augusta Pike Sanders was born in Maine on March 25, 1842. She was the third of seven chil...

Biography

Stipp, Dr. George Winfield

Dr. George W. Stipp was born on January 27, 1799 near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. ...

Biography

Tipton, Judge Thomas F.

Thomas Foster Tipton was born to Hiram and Deborah Ogden Tipton in Franklin County, Ohio, on Au...

Biography

Blog

6 items

McHistory: Bloomington Copperhead Ostracized For Pro-Slavery Views

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Civil War Letter Home After Battle

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Dr. William Hill, A Man of Many Contradictions

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Museum Launches Contest to Color Upcoming Mural of Lincoln's Lost Speech in Downtown Bloomington, Illinois

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 74: Red, White and Blue in Sepia

In the years after the Civil War, Union Army veteran Gilbert Henderson Bates sought, in his own...

Blog Post

Saybrook’s last Civil War widow Emma Cook, May 1938

In May 1938, the Village of Saybrook prepared to celebrate its first Decoration Day (now known ...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

12 items

Almon Morrow

The collection consists mainly of correspondence from Almon Morrow, a private in the Union Army...

Finding Aid

Castle, Drew/E. M. Pike

This collection relates to Drew W. Castle (1895-1978) and Edward M. Pike (1838-1924). Pike serv...

Finding Aid

Civil War

When war was declared in April 1861, Richard Yates, Governor of the State of Illinois and Comma...

Finding Aid

Civil War Era Correspondence

This collection contains hundreds of letters written during the Civil War by many people includ...

Finding Aid

Corn Belt Bank

The Corn Belt Bank was organized December 2, 1891 by General John McNulta, J.T. Snell, and A. S...

Finding Aid

Dossett, David C.

Born in Campbell County, TN, David Dossett moved to Anderson County, TN, with his family when h...

Finding Aid

Ela, George and Frances

This collection contains photocopied letters (and digital documents of transcriptions) from Fra...

Finding Aid

McLean County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument

The McLean County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, dedicated in 1913, is located at Miller Park...

Finding Aid

Middleton, Richard & James Gill

This collection contains newspaper clippings, genealogical research, annual reports, WWII forms...

Finding Aid

Ninety-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

This collection contains documents, both official and personal, related to the Ninety-Fourth Il...

Finding Aid

Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War

The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) Collection consists of personal and for...

Finding Aid

Thirty-third Illinois Infantry Regiment of Volunteers Company C.

This collection contains clerical records including: muster in and out rolls; inventory of supp...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

1 item

Kathyrn Dean

State Farm employee, civic & social clubs, grandfather was Civil War veteran....

Oral History

Publications

3 items

Civil War Diaries of James W. Jessee 1861-1865

James joined the 8th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry in July of 1861. He began keep...

Publication

It Is Begun: The Pantagraph Reports the Civil War

Here is a week-by-week sampling of America's most turbulent years, written as it happened,...

Publication

McLean County Blacks in the Civil War

Examines the extent of involvement of Black people from McLean County, Illinois in the Civil Wa...

Publication

Videos

1 item

Miller Park: An Evening of Stories with Bill Kemp

Video