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ALTON – Born here in Alton were the world’s tallest man Robert Wadlow in 1918, actress Beth Hughes in 1919, baseball player Don Lenhardt in 1922, and musician Miles Davis in 1926.
u The last Lincoln/Douglas debate was held here on October 15, 1858.
u The McPike Mansion here at 2018 Alby is reported to be the most haunted home in Alton. It was built in 1869 by architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger for horticulturist Henry McPike. Abandoned since the 1950s, there are many stories that the mansion is haunted by a former owner Paul Laichinger who lived in the house from 1908 until his death in the 1930s.
u Indian couple, Black Otter and Laughing Water, leaped off a cliff together here into the river below in the early 1880s. At the end of Prospect St.
u The Mineral Springs Hotel opened here in 1914 and featured the largest swimming pool in Illinois. Legend has it that the building is haunted by three ghosts, a painter, a man who drowned in the pool, and the "Jasmine Lady", who appears through the smell of her perfume. Now an antique mall, the old hotel is located at 301 East Broadway.
u Robert Wadlow is buried here in the Upper Alton City Cemetery at 1205 E. 5th St. He was 8' 11," weighed 439 pounds, and had size 36 shoes. His 1,000 pound casket required twelve pallbearers, assisted by eight other men. It was placed in a 12' long reinforced concrete tomb. All city businesses closed for the funeral and over 40,000 people attended.
u Buried here in the Alton Cemetery are:
– Edward Levis, co-founder of the Illinois (Owens-Corning) Glass Company in 1873.
– Elijah Parish Lovejoy, editor. He was murdered here by a pro-slavery mob while protecting his printing presses in 1837. Lovejoy's ghost has been seen near his monument.
– Henry McPike. A close friend of Abraham Lincoln, he sat on the podium during the Lincoln-Douglas debate in Alton in 1858.
– William Eliot Smith. Co-founder of the Illinois Glass Company (Owens-Corning).
– Actor Minor Watson.
u The Alton Confederate Prison was located here. During the smallpox epidemic from 1862-1864, over 2,000 died. They are all buried here in a mass grave. The prison was closed in 1865. Stones from the prison's buildings can be found in walls and other structures all over the Alton area. A marker near the intersection of Broadway and William designates the remnants of a portion of a cell block of the old prison.
AMBOY – Baseball player Shag Shaughnessy was born here in 1883.
u The first Carson Pirie Store opened here in 1854.
ARGO – Baseball player Ted Kluszweski was born here in 1924.
ASHMORE – An unusual headstone here in the St. Omer Cemetery is known locally as the "witch's grave." Four members of the Barnes family, Granvil. Sarah, Marcus, and Caroline are buried here. Caroline's date of death on the tombstone is February 31, 1882. The marker itself is in the shape of a crystal ball sitting atop stacked logs, which are carved from stone. It is reported that pictures taken of the tombstone never turn out, and sometimes there is a strange glow coming from the marker.
AUBURN – Baseball player Emil "Dutch" Leonard was born here in 1909
AURORA – Chicago gangster Dione O'Bannion was born here in Aurora, Illinois in 1892.s
u Organist Ken Griffin is buried here in the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.
BARRINGTON– In a shootout here on November 27, 1934, outlaw, "Baby Face" Nelson killed two FBI agents, and was wounded himself. He escaped but was later found dead. The shootout site was at the northwest edge of town at the north entrance to the Barrington city park.
u One of Al Capone's former hideouts was supposedly located here in a two silos in the Inverness Village. The silos are now used as the village's offices.
BATCHTOWN – Baseball player Bill McGee was born here in 1909.
BEARDSTOWN – Born here were actor Eddie Lyons in 1886 and musician/bandleader Red Norvo in 1908.
u Abraham Lincoln defended Duff Armstrong here against murder.
BELLEVILLE – Born here in Belleville, Illinois were baseball player Ham Patterson in 1877, baseball player Otto Miller in 1901, actor Buddy Ebson in 1908, baseball player Bud Zipfel in 1938, and baseball player Larry Stahl in 1941.
u Tennis player Jimmy Conners grew up here.
u A tornado here on March 5, 1938 killed 8 people and leveled 50 houses.
BELLEVUE – Buried here in the Mount Carmel Cemetery are:
– Frank "Buster" Wortman, a Southern Illinois rackets boss. In the mid 1920s, he was a member of the old Shelton gang. He is in Section K, Block 171, Lot 3.
– Ted Wortman, brother of Frank. Ted managed the notorious tavern "The Paddock."
BELVIDERE – Baseball player Fred Schulte was born here in 1901.
BENTON – On October 25, 1927, outlaw Charlie Birger was found guilty here in the Franklin County courthouse for the murder of the mayor of West City. On April 19, 1928, 500 people gathered in the stockade here to watch Birger hanged. He climbed the steps of the scaffold with a bright smile on his face, laughing and joking with the officials. His last words were “It's a beautiful world." He was the last in Illinois to die by hanging. He was buried in the Chesed Shey Emeth Cemetery in St. Louis where he was born. (See Harrisburg for more about Birger).
BETHEL – Actor Purnell Pratt was born here in 1886.
BLOOMINGTON – Born here in Bloomington, Illinois were actress Margaret Illington in 1881, baseball player Bernie Nels in 1895, and baseball player Lyle Luttrell in 1930.
u Abraham Lincoln made his anti-slavery here on May 29, 1856.
u Buried here in the Evergreen Cemetery are:
– Adali Stevenson Jr.
– Dorothy Louise Gage, who died in 1898 at age 5 months .She was the niece of Maud (Gage) Baum and her husband L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz. Maud was devastated by the infant's death, and it is said that Baum later used Dorothy's name in The Wizard of Oz.
BRACEVILLE – In the 1880s, Braceville had over 3,000 residents, and had two banks, a hotel, several restaurants and many other businesses. When the miners of the Braceville Coal Company went on strike in 1910, the company closed, and less than a year later, the town was all but abandoned. Today, only about 800 people live in the town, and the area is noted for its excellent waterfowl, fishing, bird watching and fossil hunting .
u In 1933, during the Depression, the one-time flourishing town, then almost a ghost town, beckoned hard-pressed families to move here with the enticement that a family of two could live in Braceville for a dollar a day.
BRAIDWOOD– A mine flood killed 74 miners here on February 16, 1883. Only 24 bodies were recovered from the diamond mine.
u In June 1889, during a mine strike here, thousands of families had nothing to eat and lived in squalor and misery. Many of them were too proud to ask or accept aid.
BROOKLYN – America's first black town, Brooklyn was founded about 1829 by free and fugitive blacks and escaped slaves. In the 1940s, Brooklyn was the largest all-black city in the country. In the 1960s, Brooklyn's main industry was vice. When the State of Illinois released a list of the 10 worst school districts, Brooklyn was number one.
BULL VALLEY – An 1880s house here is known as "The House With No Corners." Most rooms were built with no corners. Legend has it that family that lived in it all died in the upstairs, the only part of the house with corners. The reason for the downstairs and outer perimeter not having corners was for to keep ghosts from having a place to hide. Late at night, in the dark of the upstairs windows, figures can be seen moving about, and sounds of steps can also be heard. On the second floor is the door that leads no where – no deck or stairway. Bull Valley is north of Crystal Lake.
BUNKER HILL – A tornado killed 33 people here in 1948.
BUSHNELL – Baseball player Earl Sheeley was born here in 1893.
BYRON – Baseball player Al Spaulding was born here in 1850.
u Former Congressman Joseph Medill McCormick is buried here in the Middle Creek Cemetery. He committed suicide in 1925.
CABLE – Baseball player William "Baby Doll" Jackson was born here in Cable, Illinois in 1890.
CAHOKIA – This is the oldest town in the state. Colonists and black slaves are buried here.
CAIRO – Black actor Rex Ingraham was born near here on a river boat in 1895. He played "De Lawd" in the 1936 film The Green Pastures, and Jim, the runaway slave in the 1939 film The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
u Also born here in Cairo were baseball player John “Egyptian” Healey in 1866, baseball player Bill Warren in 1887, and baseball player Eddie Morgan in 1904.
u Fort Defiance, commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant was originally near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, at the southern end of the present Cairo business district. The confluence has shifted about a mile further south. The site is now a city park between the two river bridges. In 1861, 12,000 Union troops occupied the area. The site was an important supply depot for General Grant's western army and a naval base as the Union and Confederacy battled for control of the lower Mississippi.
u Once a river town of more than 15,000 people, Cairo, Illinois today has a population of less than 4,000, two thirds of them are black. Blacks rioted here in 1967 after Robert Hunt was found hanged by a T-shirt in his jail cell. In 2001, a 10 block stretch of Commercial Avenue was one boarded-up store after another. Ulysses S. Grant camped here in Cairo to muster his troops for his march through the Confederate South. GO THERE
CANTON – Born here in Canton were Charles Duryea, co-inventor of the first automobile in 861, and actor Ian Wolfe in 1896.
CARBONDALE – Actress Agnes Ayres was born here in 1898.
CARLYLE – Gunfighter, Jack Slade was born here in 1824. A friend of Mark Twain, Slade was hanged by vigilantes in Virginia City, Nevada on March 10, 1864. His wife dressed his body down in raw alcohol and started back to Illinois to bury him here in Carlyle. But she got only as far as Salt Lake City before Jack's body began to decompose. She buried him in the Mormon Cemetery in Salt Lake City on July 20, 1864. Slade's most vicious killing occurred in Cold Springs, Colorado in 1859, when he tied another outlaw to a post, then used him for target practice. He fired shots into the man's arms and legs, then stuck the barrel of his pistol into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Slade cut off both ears of the dead man, keeping one, which he later had made into a watch fob.
u Also born here were baseball player Patsy McGaffigan in 1888, and baseball player Mel Simmons in 1900.
u The largest man-made lake is located here in Carlyle.
CARTHAGE – Born here in Carthage, Illinois were baseball player Rip Williams in 1882, and actress Virginia Cherrill in 1908. She was the first wife of Cary Grant.
u On June 27, 1844, an angry mob shot and killed Mormons, Joseph and Hyrum Smith here in the town jail as they awaited trial on charges of destroying an opposition printing press.
CAVE IN ROCK – Discovered in 1729, the cave became the home of pirates and outlaws who plundered boats on the river and who murdered and robbed travelers. About 1800, a robber named Samuel Mason began operating a tavern and gambling parlor in the cave. He used whiskey, cards and prostitutes to lure travelers in off the river and many of these customers found themselves beaten, robbed and sometimes dead. The pirates also preyed upon ferry boat passengers at Ford's Ferry, run by Jim Ford a few miles upriver. Ford was also a slave catcher in the area. One night, in 1834, while having dinner at the home of a Mrs. Vincent Simpson, the widow of one of Ford's men, he was shot and killed by the law. Ford died with 17 bullets in his body. At his funeral, a terrible thunderstorm came up. Just as Ford's coffin was being lowered into the ground, lightning flashed and a deafening clap of thunder filled the air, causing one of his slaves to lose his grip on the rope holding the coffin. The box dropped into the grave head first and wedged there at a strange angle. The heavy rain that began to fall made it impossible to move the casket, so it was covered over the way that it had fallen. This left Ford to spend eternity standing on his head. By the late 1830's, most of the pirates and outlaws were driven away from Cave-in-Rock and the bloody past of the place began to fade with time. As years passed, the cave became more of a recreation area and remains a natural attraction in Southern Illinois today. Over the years, travelers passing on the river often claimed to hear the moans of the dead echoing out from the mouth of the cave. These same cries are still sometimes reported today. Scenes from the movies Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, and How the West Was Won starring Jimmy Stewart were filmed here.
CEDARVILLE – Jane Addams, social worker and founder of the Hull House in Chicago, was born here in 1860 and is buried here in the Cedarville Cemetery.
CENTRALIA –- Baseball player Gene Paulette was born here in 1891.
u A mine explosion here on March 25, 1947 killed 111 miners.
CHAMPAIGN – Born here in Champaign were actress Ethel Clayton in 1884, and inventor Lewis Hastings Sarett (he invented the first synthetic cortisone).
CHARLESTON – Born here in Charleston were: actor Charles Clary in 1873 and Academy Award winning cameraman Gregg Toland in 1904.
u The Lincoln/Douglas fourth debate was held here on September 8, 1858.
u Abraham Lincoln's father, Thomas and his step-mother Sarah, are buried here in Shiloh Cemetery on the Lincoln Heritage Trail, three miles from the Lincoln log cabin. Also buried here is Dennis Hanks, cousin of Abe. He taught Abe how to read and write. Hanks was run down and killed by a team of horses while attending a county fair in Paris, Illinois.
CHATSWORTH – A train accident, 25 miles east of Chatsworth , killed 81 and injured 372 here on August 10, 1887 when a railroad trestle collapsed.
CHERRY – A fire in the St. Paul mine here killed 259 miners on November 13, 1909. Every November 13, services are held for the 259 men still entombed in the mine which is marked by a huge pyramid.
CHESTER – The creator of the Popeye comic strip, Elzie Segar was born here in 1894 and grew up here. Segar created his Popeye characters from real people who lived here in Chester. A six-foot statue of Popeye stands in Segar Memorial Park next to the Mississippi River.
CHESTERVILLE – The small Chesterville, Illinois cemetery here reportedly contains the grave of a witch. Legend has it that the grave is that of a young woman who the citizens of Chesterville believed was a witch because she challenge the Amish faith and spoke out against the treatment of women in the area. Accused of practicing witchcraft, she was banished from the church and town. A short time after she left town, her body was discovered in a field outside town and she was buried in the Chesterville Cemetery and a tree was planted on her grave so that her spirit would be trapped in the tree. Today, that tree still stands and many still believe that if the tree ever dies, or is cut down, the "witch's" spirit will escape and take her revenge on the town. Many have claimed that they have seen her ghost while visiting the Cemetery. Chesterville is located just west of Arcola, in the heart of Amish country.
CHICAGO – Click HERE for the neighborhoods of Chicago.
CHRISTOPHER – TV personality Gene Rayburn was born here in 1917.
CLAYTON – Baseball player John Anderson was born here in 1922.
COBDEN – Abraham Lincoln practiced law here in the courthouse that overlooks the town.
u Fugitive slave Dred Scott was imprisoned here in the 1840s.
COLLINSVILLE – The Charlie Birger gang robbed a post office messenger here of $21,000 in 1925.
u The World's largest catsup bottle sits on top of the water tower at the old Brooks Catsup Plant at 800 South Morrison Avenue. Nearly 70 feet tall, atop a 100-foot steel base, it could hold up to 640,000 bottles of regular catsup (or 100,000 gallons of water).
u Baseball player Terry Moore is buried here in the Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery. He was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals "Gas-House Gang"
COLP – A member of the Charlie Birger Gang named Milroy was shot and killed here in November 1926. Milroy killed the mayor of Clop during the gunfight.
CULLOM – Millionaire inventor Arnold Beckman was born here in 1900 and was buried here in 2004.
COLUMBIA – Baseball player Nelson Matthews was born here in 1941.
COOKESVILLE – Actor Sam Hayes was born here in 1905.
DANVILLE – Born here in Danville, Illinois were baseball player Al Myers in 1863, circus clown Harry Le Pearl in 1885, actor Morris Ankrum in 1896, singer Helen Morgan in 1900, musician Bobby Short in 1924, actor Jerry Van Dyke in 1931, and baseball player Jim Marshall in 1932.
u Actors Dick and Jerry Van Dyke grew up here on Grant Street.
u Actor Gene Hackman grew up in a house at 2101 Cannon Street. It was torn down in 1998.
u Abraham Lincoln practiced law here from 1841 to 1859.
u Abraham Lincoln stayed here often in the home of Dr. William Fithian at 116 N. Gilbert.
u Actor Morris Ankrum is buried here in the Spring Hill Cemetery.
DECATUR – Born here in Decatur were baseball manager Chuck Dressen in 1898, film director of photography William Clothier in 1903, baseball player Art Scharein in 1905, baseball player George Scharein in baseball player Walter "Boom Boom" Beck in 1904, baseball player Hobie Landrith in 1930, and baseball player Del Unser in 1944.
u Abe Lincoln worked as a rail splitter here and got married a few miles from town in 1830.
u The Chicago Bears were organized here in 1920 and were called the Staley Bears.
u Greenwood Cemetery here is one of the most haunted cemeteries in central Illinois. The ghost of the "Greenwood Bride" is often seen and heard weeping. The Civil War section is filled with Confederate prisoners who died from yellow fever and are buried in unmarked graves. Many say that these soldiers still walk the hills of the Cemetery.
DEKALB – Born here in DeKalb, Illinois were inventor Joseph Glidden in 1913 (He invented barbed wire here in 1873), baseball player Evar Swanson in 1902, actress Barbara Hale in 1922, and model Cindy Crawford in 1966.
DELAVAN – Actress Gertrude McCoy was born here in 1880.
DESOTO – A tornado killed 80 people here in 1925.
DES PLAINES– Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s here in 1955.
DIXON – Ronald Reagan grew up here in Dixon at 816 Hennepin Ave. His family moved here in 1920. The street was renamed Reagan Way and connects with Reagan's school, church and library.
u Reagan attended South Side School at 5th & Hennepin.
u The Reagans attended the First Christian Church at 123 S. Hennepin.
DOWELL – Pool player Minnesota Fats (Walter Wanderone Jr.) was born or raised here?
DWIGHT – Buried here in Oak Lawn Cemetery is Diana Oughton. A member of the militant Weather Underground, she was killed when a bomb she was making exploded in a townhouse in New York City (18 West 11th St.) on March 6, 1970.
EAST ALTON – Buried here in the Woodland Hill Cemetery. are the Sims sisters, Heather, 1-month-old (1989), and Loralei, 1-month-old (1986). They were killed by their mother Paula. The best-selling book Precious Victims was about their murders. Later a TV movie was made starring Richard Thomas.
EAST CHICAGO – Actress Betsy Palmer was born here in 1929.
u John Dillinger robbed a bank here of $26,000 on January 15, 1934.
EAST ST. LOUIS – Born here in East St. Louis, Illinois were baseball player Sam Jethro in 1922, tennis player Jimmy Conners in 1952, and track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1962.
u The Armour and Swift meat packing plants were once located here.
u Major Thomas Biddle and Congressman Spencer Pettis killed each other here in a dual on a river sandbar "Bloody Island" on August 25, 1832.
u A tornado killed 100 people here in 1896.
u 100 blacks were killed in a race riot here on May 8, 1917.
EFFINGHAM – A hospital fire killed 77 here on April 5, 1949.
EL PASO – Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was born here in 1895.
u The first black to vote in the U.S. did it here on April 4, 1870.
u Hybred corn was perfected here by Lester Pfister in 1935.
ELGIN – Born here in Elgin were: Earl “Madman” Muntz in 1914 (1917?) (he was a flamboyant seller of used cars and consumer electronics) and actor Bruce Boixeitner in 1950.
u The Elgin Watch Company was founded here in 1864 as the National Watch Company. The name was changed to Elgin National Watch Company in 1874. The 35-acre factory complex was destroyed in 1966.
u During the 1950s, electroshock and cold therapy were some of the methods used on patients here at the Elgin State Hospital for the mentally ill. Many died, and when the cemetery ran out of room, the bodies were incinerated in the basement. Some say that the old hospital is haunted.
ELKHART – Born here in Elkhart, Illinois were former Illinois Governor Richard Ogelsby in 1824 (he is buried here in the Elkhart Cemetery), baseball player Jake Stahl in 1879, and baseball player Tommy Thompson in 1910.
ELMWOOD – Sculptor Lorado Taft was born here in 1860.
EL PASO – David Strother, the first black man to vote in an election in the United States was buried here the Evergreen Cemetery in 1905.
ELWOOD – Baseball player Bill Tuttle was born here in 1920.
u An ordinance plant explosion killed 49 here on June 5, 1942.
ENGLEWOOD – Actor Ralph Lewis was born here in 1872.
EQUALITY – The historic old Slave House here on Hickory Hill was built in 1838 (1842? by John Hart Crenshaw. Crenshaw, who owned salt mines nearby kidnapped freed slaves and put them to work in the mines. Crenshaw had a door built that opened directly into the house so that slaves could be taken up a secret passage directly to the attic. In was in the attic that the slaves were imprisoned during the night and according to some reports, subjected to brutal torture. He also had a underground tunnel built that led from the basement to the river, where slaves could be loaded at night. In the attic, a dozen small rooms that were used as cells that iron rings where shackles could be bolted to the floor. Crenshaw died in 1871 and is buried in the Hickory Hill Cemetery along with his wife. Visitors in the house over the years have re ported hearing strange noises coming from the attic, noises that sounded like cries and whimpers, and even rattling chains. Descendants of the Crenshaw family believe that Abraham Lincoln spent the night in the southeast bedroom of the house after a political debate in Equality, either in 1840 or 1848. Today, the house is open as a tourist attraction. The little rooms in the attic with the chains on the walls and floors are still there.
EVANSTON – Born here in Evanston were columnist Drew Pearson in 1897, drama critic Walter Kerr in 1914, actor Tom Neal in 1914, actor Charleton Heston in 1923, film maker D.A. Pennebaker in 1930, actor William Christopher in 1932, former baseball commissioner Peter Uberroth in 1937, and baseball player in 1939.
EUREKA – Ronald Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932.
FAIRFIELD – Gangster Carl Shelton was born here in 1888. He was buried here in the Maple Hill Cemetery in 1947. He and his brothers Earl and Bernard were three of the most powerful gangsters in the Midwest.
u Earl Shelton, brother of Carl died here in 1949.
FORT SHERIDAN – Playwright Sam Shepard was born here in 1943.
FOX RIVER GROVE – On November, 2, 1934, the body of outlaw, "Baby Face" Nelson was found in a ditch between Fox River Grove and Woodstock. Wounded in a shootout with the FBI earlier in Barrington, Illinois, he died in a car while escaping. His wife and a pal tossed his body here.
FRANKFORT – Baseball player Lou Boudreau is buried here in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
FREEPORT – Born here in Freeport were killer Charles Guiteau in 1841. (He killed President Garfield in 1882), and Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons in 1893.
u The Lincoln/Douglas second was held here on August 27, 1858.
GALENA – Don McNeill of "Don McNeil's Breakfast Club" was born here in 1908.
u The home of Ulysses S. Grant is located here at 510 Bouthillier St. He was born in here 1861. Founded in the 1820s, Galena retains the elaborate architecture of a 19th-century boomtown. Most of its buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.
u Abe Lincoln made a speech here from the De Soto Hotel in 1856.
GALESBURG – Born here in Galesburg, Illinois were baseball player Art “Old Hoss” Twineham in 1866, founder of Walgreen drugstores Charles Walgreen in 1873, and poet Carl Sandburg in 1878 (His cremated ashes were mixed with soil in the backyard of the house where he grew up at 331 E. Third St.)
u Mary Ann Bickerdyke (Ball) is buried here in the Linwood Cemetery. She was a nurse in the Civil War.
u Ronald Reagan attended first grade at the Silas Willard School here.
u Reagan and his parents lived at 1219 N. Kellogg.
u Nancy Reagans grandparents once lived at 493 E. Fremont.
GENEVA – Born here in Geneva were choreographer Gower Champion in 1919 (1921?), and track athlete Richard Wohlhuter in 1945..
GERMANTOWN – Baseball player Red Schoendienst was born here in 1923.
GILLESPIE – Singer Howard Keel was born here in 1918.
u A tornado killed 33 people here on March 19, 1948.
GILMAN – James Robert Mann was born here in 1856. He got the Mann Act passed.
GLENCOE – Actors Bruce Dern and Fred Savage grew up here.
GLEN CARBON – Gangster and bootlegger Charlie Birger grew up here.
GRAND DETOUR – Blacksmith John Deere invented the steel plow here in the early 1830s. He opened the first John Deere plant here in 1837. Deere stayed in Grand Detour until 1848 when he moved operations to Moline, Illinois. His first shop was lost to history until 1962, when its exact location was discovered. The site at 8393 South Main is now the John Deere Historic Site, and includes Deere's original home, a museum, and a replica blacksmith shop.
GRANITE CITY – Born here in Granite City were baseball player Charlie Jackson in 1894, and baseball player Del Maxvill in 1939.
GRANVILLE – Baseball player Red Ruffing was born here in 1904.
GREAT LAKES – Singer Chaka Khan was born here in 1953.
HARRISBURG – Charlie Birger, Southern Illinois' most notorious outlaw once lived here on Poplar Street in the 1920s. The Shady Rest, located on old Route 13 halfway between Harrisburg and Marion, was the favorite hideout of Birger and his gang. Shady Rest consisted of a main house, a stable, a whiskey warehouse, and a pit where cockfights and dog fights were held. The Shady Rest was the scene of the first aerial bombing in the United States. The Shelton gang from East St. Louis, decided to get rid of Birger on November 12, 1926 when Blackie Armes, a Shelton gang member, climbed into a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny," a two seater World War I bi-wing training plane with bombs made out of dynamite sticks. He dropped three bombs, one of which blew up the cock fighting pit, killing a bulldog and an American eagle. A few months later. at midnight on January 9, 1927, a massive explosion destroyed Shady Rest.
HARTFORD – Actor Clint Walker was born here in 1927.
HARVARD – John C. Galvin is buried here in the St. Joseph Cemetery. He founded Motorola Company here in 1928. He died in 1929.
HARVEL – Baseball player Ray Shalk was born here in 1892.
HARVEY – Baseball Player Lou Beaudreau was born here in 1917.
HAVANA – Abraham Lincoln once stayed at the home located at 117 West Washington.
u Stephen A Douglas once stayed at the house located at 111 West Washington.
HEBRON – Baseball player Howie Judson was born here in 1926.
HENPECK – In 1950, Henpeck, Illinois consisted of a church, tavern, and service station. It was on Highway 20, between Elgin and Marengo.
HERRIN – In a strike dispute between union and non-union coal miners, 24 (36?) non-union miners were killed here on June 22, 1922.
HOMEWOOD – Paul "Dizzy" Trout, baseball player is buried here in the Homewood Memorial Cemetery.
HOOPESTON – Baseball player Frankie Gustine was born here in 1920.
HOPE – Writer Carl Van Doren was born here in 1885.
HUNT – Singer Burl Ives was born here in 1909 and is buried here in the Mound Cemetery.
HUNTLEY – Former Chicago Cub pitcher Johnny Klippstein is buried here in the Saint Marys Cemetery.
IRVING – Pianist Buddy Cole was born here in 1916.
IRWIN – Baseball player Bob Will was born here in 1931,
JACKSONVILLE – Actor/producer Charles Ray was born here in 1891.
u Stephen A. Douglas started his law practice here in 1834.
u William Jennings Bryan started his law practice here in 1883.
JERSEYVILLE – Killer James Gordon Palmer was born here in 1938.
JOHNSON CITY – The bodies of a Southern Illinois gangster named Price and his wife were found in an old mine shaft near near here in the 1920s. Charlie Birger and four other members of his gang were arrested for the murders.
JOLIET – Born here in Joliet, Illinois were baseball player Bill Moran in 1869, actress Audrey Totter in 1918, singer/actress Nora Bayes in 1886, actress Mercedes McCambridge in 1918 and baseball player Ed Spiezio in 1941.
u A house at the corner of Morgan and Dewey streets is reportedly to be haunted. Built for wealthy Frank Shaver Allen, it is believed to be one of the ghosts in the house. Also reported are an elderly woman, believed to be someone who died from a terminal illness in the house; a former nanny and her charge, a young boy
JONESBORO – Lincoln and Douglas held their third debate here on September 15, 1858. The site is now a picnic ground.
KANKAKEE – Born here in Kankakee were actor Fred McMurray in 1908, and actress Merna Kennedy in 1908.
KASKASKIA – Was once the capital of Illinois.
KEITHSBURG – Baseball player Parke Wilson was born here in 1867.
KENNEY – Born here in Kenney, Illinois were baseball player Del Howard in 1877, and baseball player Ivan Howard in 1882.
KEWANEE – Actor Neville Brand was born here in 1921.
u Kewanee claims to be the hog capital of the world.
KINCAID – Former Chicago Cub catcher Harry Chiti was born here in 1932.
KIRKWOOD – Richard Speck, murderer of seven nurses in Chicago in 1966, was born here in 1941.
KNOXVILLE – Baseball player Roy “Polly” Wolfe was born here in 1888.
LAHARPE – Olive Oatman was born here in LaHarpe (Layharp) in 1837. On the morning of 11 March 1851, the 9-member Oatman family, who were traveling by wagon from Illinois to California, were attacked by Apache Indians in Arizona. Everyone in the family were massacred except Olive, 13, Mary Ann, 7, and Lorenzo, 14. Leaving Lorenzo for dead, the Indians took Olive and Mary Ann back to their camp and made them slaves. Mary Ann died during a famine in 1852 and Olive buried her near what is now Needles, California. Four years later, Olive escaped by walking from Needles to Yuma, Arizona where she was reunited with Lorenzo. In 1865, she married John Brant Fairchild and they moved to Sherman, Texas where they adopted a daughter, naming her Mary Elizabeth after Olive’s mother and sister. Olive died of a heart attack on March 10, 1903 at age 65. She was buried in West Hill Cemetery in Sherman. Oatman, Arizona is named in Olive’s honor.
u Abraham Lincoln spoke in the Methodist church here in 1858. A church pew and a large slab of marble that were in the church when he spoke are on display at the museum, along with other Lincoln artifacts. Close relatives of Lincoln lived in LaHarpe and near-by in the village of Fountain Green. Many are buried in the LaHarpe cemetery and in a cemetery east of Fountain.
u Charles Duryea, who with his brother, Frank invented the first gasoline-powered automobile, graduated from LaHarpe's Gittings Seminary in 1882.
u LaHarpe has the only 4-story building in Hancock County.
LAKE BLUFF – Actress Martha Sleeper was born here in 1907.
LAKE FOREST – Former California Governor Pete Wilson was born here in 1933.
LAPORTE – The former mansion of Charlie O. Finley here was to be sold at auction in 2002. Finley was a former owner of the Oakland A's. Built in 1860, the house is on 57 acres.
LA SALLE – Al Capone often stayed here often in the LaSalle Inn. It is reported be haunted by Capone and other ghosts.
u Abraham Lincoln enlisted in the army here on June 16, 1832.
LAWRENCEVILLE – In 1845, Elizabeth Reed was convicted of poisoning her husband so that she might marry another. When she was hanged here in front of a large crowd, she became the first woman to be executed in Illinois.
LEDFORD – Charlie Birger, Southern Illinois' most notorious outlaw, moved here in 1912 where he operated a grocery store and saloon.
LENZBURG – Baseball player Mickey Hefner was born here in 1912.
LERNA – Buried here in the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery are Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham and Abe's stepmother Sarah.
LIBERTYVILLE – Teenager Marlon Brando moved here with his parents in 1936. He left town in 1943.
LINCOLN – Baseball player Dick Reichle was born here in 1888.
u Baseball player Emil Verban is buried here in the Saint Marys Cemetery.
LITCHFIELD – Born here in Litchfield, Illinois were movie cameraman John Mescall in 1899, and baseball player Jackie Mayo in 1925.
MACON – Baseball player Art Wilson was born here in 1885.
MADISON – Actor Charles Lane was born here in 1869.
MARENGO – Composer Egbert Van Alstyne was born here in 1882 on Washington Street. He wrote the songs In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, Pretty Baby, Memories, and The Little Church in the Valley.
MAROA – Gangster Dion O'Bannion lived here from 1896 to 1901. He was 9-years old when his family moved from here to Chicago.
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