Powder Monkey, by Betty Baxter Anderson. Maps by Raphael Palacios. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society Publishers, Ltd., 1962. 196p.

Shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, teen-aged Joe Roberts of Galena is sent to live with relatives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Unhappy with life in Vicksburg, and unable to cope with the mounting tensions brought on by opposing ideologies, Joe runs away to join the Union Navy in Cairo. In Cairo, he becomes a powder monkey--a runner who transports charges of powder from the magazine deep in the ship's hold, to the guns on deck--on the iron clad, Carondelet. Sailing out of Cairo, Joe sees the fall of Fort Henry, the battle for Fort Donelson, the taking of Island 10, the navy battle at Memphis, and the siege of Vicksburg. A visit to the prison camp at Cairo, and an extended stay at the military hospital there because of a bad case of malaria give some indication of the Union installations in the city. Powder Monkey is a thoroughly researched and adequate retelling of the fight for the Mississippi River during the Civil War; however, credibility is lost with the surprise ending which reports all of Joe's family well, and reveals the identity of his father who had been lost to him for fifteen years.

John St. John; A Story of Missouri and Illinois, by Nephi Anderson. Author of "Added Upon," "The Castle Builder," "Piney Ridge Cottage," "Story of Chester Lawrence," "A Daughter of the North," "A Young Folks History of the Church," etc. [Independence, Missouri: Zion Printing and Publishing Company,] 1917. 227p.

John St. John is introduced to the Mormon Church by two missionaries who call at his home and leave a copy of The Book of Mormon for him to study. His interest aroused, he joins the Mormon community in Far West, Missouri in 1838 as they are yielding under the pressures of harassment and mob violence and preparing to move elsewhere. John moves with them to Illinois, helps to establish Nauvoo, converts his mother to the faith, and suffers persecution from the infidels along with his fellow believers. John St. John is a realistic and personal account of the trials of the early Mormon settlers as they search for a New Zion in the North American wilderness. Although biased in favor of Mormonism, it is founded on Mormon history and theology, while generously flavored with love interest, action, and humor, with a surprise ending that makes the entire novel worthwhile.

Lincoln's Mary and the Babies, by Bernie Babcock. Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1929. 316p.

Probing into Abraham Lincoln's domestic life and writing of his relationship to his wife and children during their years in Springfield and Washington, Mrs. Babcock offers an interesting interpretation of Mary Lincoln's character and focuses attention on the Lincoln children so often ignored by historians. Yet, Lincoln, portrayed as always patient, attentive, and gentle, is somewhat too saintly, and the novel may be too sentimental for modern tastes.

Book Review Digest, 1929, p. 40.

A Man for the Ages, A Story of the Builders of Democracy, by Irving Bacheller. Author of Eben Holden, The Light in the Clearing, etc. Illustrated by John Wolcott Adams. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1919.] 416p.

In the spring of 1831 Samson Traylor sells his farm in Vermont and strikes out with his wife and children for the Sangamon River country of Illinois. Their arrival in New Salem three months later marks the beginning of a new life for the Traylors, who quickly become a part of the small community of pioneers. A Man for the Ages is, in actuality, the story of the Traylor family and their lives in Illinois. However, because of the closeness of the Traylors to the rest of New Salem's inhabitants, the book encompasses the story of the town and its most famous citizen, Abraham Lincoln. In a quiet, romanticized style, the author creates an atmosphere charged with hope, good will, and optimism in a frontier setting, making light of the hardships of seeking out a living in the wilderness. Lincoln's character is well drawn, as are those of other major figures in the novel; the historical accounts covering the years 1831 to 1842 are basically accurate; and action and humor make A Man for the Ages an appealing novel.

Book Review Digest, 1919, p. 20.

A Union Forever, An historical story of the turbulent years 1854-1865, in the Lincoln country and the Kansas-Missouri border of the Old Central West, based on contemporary records, documents, and letters of Lewis Hanback, hitherto unpublished, by Muriel Culp Barbe. Glendale, California: The Barbe Associates; P. O. Box 230, 1949. 470p.

In 1856, Lew Hanback, an orphan living with a kindly family near Jacksonville, Illinois, is trying to accumulate enough money to attend the Cherry Grove Academy. An opportunity arises to earn the money by accompanying Edwin Morrison to the Kansas territory--an opportunity which makes Lew an eyewitness to the Kansas border wars and the settlement of the North-South conflict over the slavery question in that state. Returning to Illinois, Lew attends the Cherry Grove Academy and settles down to teach in the local school, until secession of the southern states draws him into service in the Union Army. A Union Forever is based on letters written during the Civil War by Lewis Hanback to Hester Ann Cooper while serving with Company K of the 27th Illinois Volunteers; with supplementary information from sources including interviews, newspaper clippings, personal accounts, and historical documents. The novel indicates extensive and careful research by the author, but the writing is dull and cluttered with an overabundance of detail in expository rather than fictional style.

The Prairie Schooner; A Story of the Black Hawk War, by William E. Barton. Author of "When Boston Braved the King," "A Hero in Homespun," Etc. Illustrated by H. Burgess. Boston and Chicago: W. A. Wilde Company, [1900.] 382p.

Youthful enthusiasm, hard work, and an abundance of good luck see Ned Putnam through the difficulties of homesteading a claim on Illinois' Rock River during the turbulent 1830s. After the death of his father on their journey to Illinois Ned suffers from extreme loneliness until he meets and befriends Sam Leslie in Chicago. More experienced than Ned in the ways of the wilderness, Sam guides his newly-found friend through the pitfalls of life in frontier Chicago and the two share their fortunes, good and bad, for the next several years. The hazards of the journey to Illinois, difficulties with claim jumpers, the Black Hawk uprising, the joys of owning and working their own land, and the tribulations of courtship on the prairies are shared equally by the young men as they meet adversity head-on. A fascinating combination of history, fiction, and folklore, The Prairie Schooner is a romanticized but highly readable and informative interpretation of the Black Hawk War and the settling of northern Illinois. Similar in setting and scope to Butterworth's In the Boyhood of Lincoln, The Prairie Schooner is somewhat less factual but infinitely more entertaining.

Stranded; A story of the Garden City, by Edgar R. Beach. Author of Relatives, Shifting Sands, Etc. Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., Publishers, 1890. 348p.

The presumed death of Mark Barry, a wealthy Chicago landowner, sets into motion several plots and counterplots, the purpose of which is to gain control of his property. However, action is impeded by the disappearance of a canvas bag containing deeds, mortgages, and a will representing the bulk of the Barry fortune. Charles Barry, nephew of Mark, is willing to marry, murder, or take any other necessary actions, no matter how drastic, to gain possession of his uncle's wealth; Ralph Skinner, who falls heir to the bag and its contents by default, is willing to resort to forgery and fraud to keep them; Michael Snoozer, king of the Sands, the no-man's-land stretching for a couple of miles along Chicago's lake front, is willing to settle for a small payoff as his portion of the fortune; while Judge Dudley, Mark Barry's friend, is determined to take legal action to restore the property to Mrs. Worsham and her daughter Grace, who are Barry's legal heirs. Stranded is based on fact, representing incidents occurring in Chicago between 1856 and 1866. Although many of the incidents may appear exaggerated today, they represent, in a small way, the larger problem of graft and land fraud which plagued Chicago officials during the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s as they struggled with the city's overwhelming land boom and their own primitive and inadequate methods of record keeping.

Picayune, 2/2/1890, p. 14.

Black Hawk, by Arthur J. Beckhard. New York: Julian Messner, Inc., [1957.] 192p.

See No. 7.

The Prophets; or, Mormonism Unveiled. With Illustrations. Philadelphia: Published by Wm. White Smith, 195 Chestnut Street; London: Trubner & Co., 1855. 412p.

The history of the Mormon Church is traced from the earliest record of the senior Joseph Smith's existence in Windsor, Vermont, in 1814, to the settlement of the Mormons in Utah nearly forty years later. The nature of Joseph Smith is revealed, along with the events leading to the founding of the Mormon Church, the Smiths' moves west--through Ohio, to Missouri to Illinois, to Utah--Joseph Smith's violent death at Carthage, Illinois, the splitting of the church into factions, and final settlement of the group near the Great Salt Lake. Although fictionalized somewhat by the addition of dialogue and the author's free interpretation of fact, the book presents an historically accurate firsthand account of the Mormon movement, including the settlement of Nauvoo, Illinois, around 1840.

Belle Westbrook; The Beauty of Illinois, A Prisoner in a Mountain Cave Amongst Millions of Gold... by J. C. Betten. Eureka Springs, Ark[ansas:] The Author, [n. d.] 23p.

Belle Westbrook, fifteen-year-old daughter of an Illinois frontiersman, is captured by a cutthroat and held captive in a cave until such time as she can be persuaded, coerced, or forced to marry him. As Belle's father, lover, neighbors, and friends search for her and encounter problems of their own, Belle is aided in her escape by the woman she is intended to replace. Belle Westbrook is a ridiculous piece of fluff which has nothing to recommend it in the way of plot, character or background development. The setting is southern Illinois near the Mississippi River, although references to mountain caves and allusions to gold mines indicate that the author knows little about that of which he writes.

Black Hawk's Trail, by Margaret Bloom. Illustrated by Peggy Paver Beck. Chicago, San Francisco [and] New York: Laidlaw Brothers, 1931. 233p.

After his mother's death in 1832, Allison Drake sets out for the west, arriving in north central Illinois at the outset of the Black Hawk War. First seeking safety with the other settlers in the town of Ottawa, he later joins the militia, serving under Zachary Taylor as a clerk, then as a scout. The book is written from the point of view of the white man, recognizing the Indians' plight, but picturing Black Hawk as a misguided egotistical troublemaker. As an adventure story, Black Hawk's Trail is quite adequate, with plenty of action, excitement and humor.

Banditti of the Prairies, or The Murderer's Doom!! A Tale of the Mississippi Valley by Edward Bonney. Chicago: Edward Bonney, Publisher, 1850. 196p.

A fictionalized memoir, Banditti of the Prairies relates in gory detail the murders of several people in the Rock Island area, including Col. George Davenport the first white man to settle in northwestern Illinois. Taking place during and immediately following the Mormon insurrection which leads to the death of Joseph Smith, the book tells of Edward Bonney's fight to bring to justice a large band of thieves and murderers living in and around Nauvoo, the Mormon stronghold. The story is based on fact; the people are real; and Bonney's rendering of the tale leaves little to the imagination. A fascinating story indicative of life in pre-Civil War Illinois, Banditti of the Prairies is an excellent example of reporting by a contemporary.

The Prairie Bandits; A Tale of the Rock River Valley. An Authentic Narrative of Thrilling Adventures During the Early Settlement of Northern Illinois, by Edward Bonney. Rockford Ill[inois:] Printed and Published by the Register-Gazette Co., [189-.] 89p.

Earlier editions of this work were published under the title, The Banditti of the Prairies.

The First Trail; or, The Forest Foundling, by James L. Bowen. Author of the following Dime Novels: 97. The Doomed Hunter; 101. The Maid of Wyoming; 106. Simple Phil; 117. The Mohegan Maid; 123.The Missing Bride; 130. Brave Heart; 136. The Indian Hunters; 166. Red-Skin's Pledge. New York: Beadle and Company, Publishers; 98 William Street, [1870.] 100p. (Beadle's Dime Novels, No. 195)

While serving as an advance scout for a party of militia sent to rout the Sac and Fox Indians from their northern Illinois homes during the Black Hawk War, Dan Dennison discovers a small child who has been taken captive during a raid on a white settlement and is being reared by the Indians. Unable to find the child's parents, and smitten by her beauty, Dan takes her home to rear as his own daughter. Growing daily more fond of the child, whom he names Esther, Dan lives dreading the day, which comes fifteen years later, when Esther's parentage is questioned, and he stands to lose that which he values most in the world. The First Trail is one of many paperback novels written about the settlement of the west and published by Beadle and Company during the nineteenth century. Typical of the Beadle series, it gives a picturesque view of the early American settlers and their lives, although the story is excessively sentimental and contrived.

Scouting Dave; or, The Winnebago Renegade. A Story of the Black Hawk War, by James L. Bowen. Author of "The Frontier Scouts," etc. New York: The American News Co., Publishers' Agent; No. 121 Nassau Street, [1865.] 44p.

Choosing the Black Hawk War for historic background, Bowen has written a slight tale with little factual basis and several inaccuracies concerning the habits of the Indians of the midwest. The action in the novel centers around an incident in which David Barring attempts to warn his friends, the Hintons, of an impending Indian uprising, but arrives too late to avert the nighttime attack on the Hinton cabin and the melee which follows. A touch of love and a profusion of anti-Indian sentiment assured Bowen of a publisher and a contemporary audience for his novel; but little else can be said for the story, which offers the reader nothing more than several glaring examples of the prejudices against the Indian which were prevalent during the middle nineteenth century.

Old Chicago; The Duel, by Mary Hastings Bradley. Decorations by Edward C. Caswell. New York [and] London: D. Appleton and Company, MCMXXXIII. 124p. (When Chicago was a Town, V. 2)

See No. 10.

The Godson of Lafayette; Being the Story of Young Joe Harvey, and how he found the way to Duty in the days of Webster and Jackson and the Conspiracy of that American adventurer, Eleazer Williams, sometimes called "The False Dauphin," by Elbridge S. Brooks. Author of "A Son of the Revolution," ''Historic Boys," "The Century Book for Young Americans," "The True Story of Lafayette," "Historic Americans," Etc. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. Boston and Chicago: W. A. Wilde Company, [1900.] 333p.

Based on events surrounding the life of Eleazer Williams who claimed to be the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, this novel revolves around Joseph Lafayette Harvey, Williams' friend and confidant. Persuaded by Williams to desert home and family to follow him in a mad scheme to unite the Indian nations into a mighty confederacy which could control the entire American west, Joe becomes embroiled in political double-dealing, conspiracy, and intrigue which culminate inevitably in war.The Godson of Lafayette pictures Black Hawk unfavorably, but gives adequate renditions of the Black Hawk War and the life of the False Dauphin as seen by the youthful Joe.

Diane; A Romance of the Icarian Settlement on the Mississippi River, by Katharine Holland Brown. Illustrated by S. J. Dudley. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1904. 440p.

A rare portrayal of Etienne Cabet's communist settlement at Nauvoo is provided by this flowery and melodramatic little romance. Diane, Cabet's ward, blithely makes friends and wins hearts among communists and townspeople alike, but her influence is not great enough to avert the disaster wrought by hate and prejudice. When the commune is in turmoil, and rebellion is close at hand, Cabet and a few loyal followers are finally forced to leave Nauvoo, and Diane goes with him, only to see him sicken and die in St. Louis. Eventually her heart is won by her old friend Captain Channing, who has been arrested for assisting runaway slaves, but has escaped from jail, and is on his way to a new home on the prairies. Many historical elements influence the plot of this novel of the 1850s, demonstrating the extent of public feeling regarding such concerns as the Fugitive Slave Act, the underground railroad, the violent clashes over the Kansas slavery vote, and the search for recruits by the radical leader John Brown.

Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 43.

Wind Before the Dawn, by Olive W. Burt. New York: The John Day Company, [1964.] 191p.

A fictionalized account of a true incident in the 1840s, Wind Before the Dawn concerns the life of Katherine Hustin, who, at the age of fourteen, is entrusted with the responsibility for three small children, and single-handedly cares for them while driving an ox-drawn wagon from Illinois to Utah during the Mormon migration. The first part of this book is set in Nauvoo.

CatholicLibraryWorld, 1/1965, p. 339.

Prairie Fire! A Tale of Early Illinois, by Will. H. Bushnell... Chicago Ill[inois:] Walter B. Sloan, Publisher, 40 Lake Street; Chicago: Robert Fergus, Printer, 55 Clark Street, 1854. 96p.

Bessie Thompson, daughter of a pioneer settler on the prairies of central Illinois, is witness to the bloody massacre of her parents before she is carried away by a band of renegade Iroquois Indians. While Ned Erskine, who wants Bessie for a wife, is organizing a rescue party and braving the hostile prairie in pursuit of her and her captors, a kind and noble Iroquois brave named Prairie Fire saves Bessie's life, adopts her as his daughter, and takes her to his wigwam to live. Bessie's trials at the hands of the Iroquois and her rescue from the tribe make adventurous reading. Her life on the prairies and devotion to Prairie Fire following her rescue are convincingly told. However, the episodes in the Indian camp seem improvised, indicating that the author had less than a thorough knowledge of Indian life and customs. Prairie Fire is a romance typical of the literary style of the nineteenth century. By today's standards it would be considered amateurish and over-written, but as a novel of historical interest it is valuable for its firsthand representation of prairie life prior to the Civil War.

In the Boyhood of Lincoln; A Tale of the Tunker Schoolmaster and the Times of Black Hawk, by Hezekiah Butterworth. Author of The Log School-House on the Columbia... New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1892. 266p.

See No. 12.

Lower Illinois Valley Local Sketches of Long Ago of Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood. Compiled and Edited by Eileen Smith Cunningham. Kane, Illinois: Umphress Printing Company, 1975. 55p.

See No. 14.

Spanish Peggy; A Story of Young Illinois. by Mary Hartwell Catherwood. Chicago & New York: Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1899. 85p.

Consuelo Lorimer, called Peggy because of her peg leg, is the adopted daughter of Shickshack, a Sac Indian, who lives with his white wife in New Salem, Illinois. Because of a large inheritance which the old Indian holds in trust for her, Peggy is sought by her cousin, Dom Pedro Lorimer, an unscrupulous New Orleans gambler. Lorimer tries several methods of gaining custody of Peggy, including an attempted kidnapping, but is foiled each time by Shickshack. After the old Indian's death, Abe Lincoln becomes Peggy's special guardian, and in a rousing climax, frees Peggy forever from the scourge of her Spanish kinsman. Spanish Peggy is less factual than other New Salem tales, but is an interesting addition to the Lincoln legend.

Critic, 2/1900, p. 183. Independent, 1/25/1900, p. 261.

Choosing "Abe" Lincoln Captain, and Other Stories. Illustrated. New York, Akron, Ohio, [and] Chicago: The Werner Company, 1899. 36 unnumbered pages.

The first of three stories told in a homespun style, Choosing "Abe" Captain relates a minor incident taking place during the Black Hawk War. Araham Lincoln and an unidentified militiaman are in competition for the leadership of Illinois' volunteer troops. While Lincoln does little to influence the men in his favor, his opponent works long and hard at attaining the coveted position. How Lincoln wins the election, with a little help from his friends, is a pleasant and little known bit of Lincolniana.

CONTENTS: Choosing "Abe" Captain.--Sally's Seven League Stories.--The Lost Diamond Snuff Box.

Faye's Folly, by Elizabeth Corbett. New York [and] London: D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, 1941. 312p.

Fay's Folly is the name of Frederick Faye's thriving farm in northwestern Illinois which Sheba, his daughter, learns to love deeply and manage capably. Against a rich historical background depicting the troubled homefront, a romance develops between Sheba and her idol, Civil War Major Jim Warner. Unfortunately, Jim is the husband of Sheba's good friend Rose, a perplexingly indifferent sort of wife and mother. Examples of unstinted honor and shameless infidelity abound. Fate, of course, eventually clears the path for true love in this first of three novels about Sheba Faye.

Book Review Digest, 1941, p. 193.

"If It Takes All Summer"; The Life-Story of Ulysses Grant, by Elizabeth Corbett. Author of "Walt," "Cecily and the Wide World," Etc. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, MCMXXX. 319p.

The life of Ulysses S. Grant, from his birth in 1822 until his death in 1885, is told through a series of one hundred six brief dialogues. A short introduction precedes each of these conversations, providing a bit of transition between them. Grant is presented quite favorably, with emphasis on his integrity and decisiveness. Only a few of the conversations take place in Illinois--in Galena, Springfield, and Cairo. Grant's Twenty-First Illinois Regiment is followed briefly into the south. Corbett's usual flair for the romantic is not apparent in this novel, which is mainly valuable for its historic content.

Book Review Digest, 1930, p. 228.

Light of Other Days; A Novel of Mount Royal, by Elizabeth Corbett...New York [and] London: D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, 1938. 361p.

When Mary and Terence Reilley and their first-born Rufus come from Ireland in the 1840s, they bring an abundance of generosity and neighborliness to the little northern Illinois community of Mount Royal. Their home soon becomes known for its hospitality toward new Irish immigrants, and for the Reilley's willingness to help wherever help is needed. Rufus' younger brothers and sisters grow up and go their own ways, but Rufus, the kindly and good-natured bachelor, remains at home and continues in the tradition of his parents. And it is Rufus who becomes the object of the enduring but undeclared love of Dr. Kate Forsythe, the town's lonely and misunderstood woman doctor. A warm and believable story, Light of Other Days traces almost seven decades of the Reilley family and the Mount Royal community, tenderly portraying the tenor of the times with special insight into the adjustments required of an Irish family becoming Americanized and the frustrations resulting from society's restraints on women.

Book Review Digest, 1938, p. 207.

Alice Tracy; or, Faint, Yet Pursuing, a Sketch from Real Life...by Mrs. Sophronia Currier. Boston: E. P. Dutton and Company, 135 Washington Street; New York, 762 Broadway, 1868. 299p.

Alice Tracy is a ridiculously overwritten piece of fluff which has little to offer in the way of plot, characterization, or historical background. Abandoned on the Illinois prairie by her drunken father, Alice is forced to fend for herself and care for her ailing baby brother. In spite of the language barrier, Alice accepts the friendship of the German immigrants who live in the area, and is invited (at age fourteen) to become the teacher in their school. This affords her the opportunity to carry out her Christian mission. She nurses baby Willy back to health, starts a Sunday school, offers solace to the ill and sorrowing of the community, rehabilitates her drunken father, and generally imposes love and goodness on all she encounters, whether they want it or not. Alice Tracy falls into the category of religious tract more readily than into historical fiction since the only respite Alice can find from the cares of the world comes from pausing in her good works long enough to quote a little scripture before pressing on to more worthy deeds. The novel is so trite that no one could take it seriously.

Through the Wilderness; or, The Deserted Children, by Mrs. S. Currier. Author of "The Trapper's Niece, or A Sketch of Western Life." "By the Sea," etc. "Faint, yet pursuing.'' New York: Thomas Whittaker; 2 and 3 Bible House, 1887. 319p.

Through the Wilderness is a reprint of the title, Alice Tracy.

The Trapper's Niece, A Sketch of Western Life. Boston: Published by D. Lothrop & Co.; Dover, N[ew] H[ampshire:] G. T. Day & Co., 1871. 283p.

A villainous plot to cheat a young woman of her rightful inheritance is foiled by friends working in her behalf in the northern Illinois community of Milbrook. Florence Charlton, orphaned daughter of a wealthy northern Illinois landowner, is abandoned at the home of strangers by her uncle, who then attempts to have her declared dead so that he may inherit her vast land holdings. The novel, set in the 1830s, accurately reflects the nature of the early settlers of northern Illinois, and indicates, although in little depth, some of the problems encountered by the early settlers in obtaining clear and valid deeds to their land.

A Little Heroine of Illinois; A Young Girl's Patriotism and Daring, by Alice Turner Curtis. Illustrated by John Huybers. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., [1908.] 258p. (Little Heroine Series)

Mrs. Freeman and ten-year-old Edith Austin work valiantly to maintain their homestead near Alto Pass while Captain Freeman is serving in the Union Army. The war seems worlds away when Edith comes into the Freeman home, but the defection of an entire Illinois regiment to the Confederacy, a planned invasion of southern Illinois from the south, and the influence of a single deserter make the war a vivid reality for the two women.A Little Heroine of Illinois deals with a segment of Illinois' history about which little has been written. Unfortunately, it is too sentimental, didactic, and romantic to appeal to many modern readers.