March 2, 2020 Thank you, Barbara Schock, for sharing your extraordinary gift of these vignettes of Galesburg & 19th century American history.
Knox County Histories & Atlases By Barbara Schock
Knox County is fortunate to have three county atlases and
three county histories which were published in the nineteenth century. The books
provide a fine description of the land, governmental units, industries, history
and inhabitants. During the second half of the nineteenth century a new kind
of book appeared. Publishers in Philadelphia combined maps of townships in a
particular county and sold them to local farmers and businessmen. Gradually the
publishers moved to Chicago and developed a large business in county atlases and
histories. The Andreas Lyter Company of Davenport, Iowa, was a prolific
publisher of atlases and histories as well. Congress established the Northwest Ordinance in 1787 which
required the surveying of land into townships and ranges. The United States
owned so much land in the west that a system had to be developed to make it
easier to record the ownership of property. The north central part of the
country became a hugely prosperous section beginning in the 1840s. By the 1880s
most of the frontier land had been taken up. Farmers and businessmen became
successful and were very proud of their accomplishments. Publishers sent representatives into a county to meet with
local leaders. The word was spread and others signed up to have their
biographies printed in the proposed book. The cost was about $10. For another
$20 an individual could have his portrait or a sketch of the farmstead created
for the book. Only a few men paid the extra $20 to have a portrait of the wife
also included. Gradually publishers increased the amount of information
included in the county atlases. A history of the development of the area as well
as geology, botany, zoology and other characteristics which were useful for
farming and establishing businesses and manufacturies. Some county histories may
contain as many as a thousand pages. Company representatives would be sent into a county to write
the biographies of subscribers and to draw the portraits and farmstead pictures.
After the rest of the county had been canvassed preparations were made for
printing. After the atlas or history was published the public was invited to buy
copies of the book for a lesser amount. Publishers could print the books for half the sale price and
make a significant profit. The county atlases are now treasured for the drawings
of the township maps. Many officers in the Civil War had training in mapmaking.
They were just the kind of experienced person needed for drawing maps of the
townships. It is noticeable on the township maps that there were many
groves of trees on the prairie. Farmsteads and houses were built near the woods
by the pioneers. A ready supply of wood was needed for building homes, for
cooking and heating as well as a place to shelter grazing livestock. Roads in
those days often followed the curves of the forest growth. County histories usually contain many more pages than
atlases. They describe memories of early settlers, the beginning of governmental
organization, the churches in each community as well as listing by name all of
the men who served in the Civil War. Genealogists value county histories and
atlases for the historical information which may be provided about their
ancestors. If you own a Knox County atlas or history, you have an historical
record of the area. Be sure to appreciate it and take good care of it. It is an
American treasure.
ATLASES – Knox County Illinois – 19th
century
1861 - Thompson, M. H. Map of Knox County, Illinois. [S.l., 1861] Map. 1870 - Atlas Map of Knox County. Davenport, IA: Andreas, Lyter & Co., 1870.
COUNTY HISTORIES – Knox County, Illinois – 19th century 1878 - Chapman, Chas & Co. History of Knox County, Illinois, Together with Sketches of the Cities, Villages and Townships… Chicago: Blakely, Brown & Marsh, 1878. [Alternative Link: Google Books] 1886 - Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois. Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago, Chapman Brothers, 1886. 1899 - Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and Knox County. Chicago: Munsell, 1899. (Editors - Illinois: Bateman, Newton and Paul Selby, Eds. / Knox County: Gale, W. Shelden & George Candee Gale.)
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