Acknowledgements

Many people have helped make this book possible. From Sullivan, Illinois, the county seat of Moultrie County, or nearby I received information or suggestions from Marion Best (Publisher of the News Progress), Deborah M. Pre ston (Moultrie County Circuit Clerk), Ivan D. Wood and Leon Lane (Citizens Abstract Co.), Robert V. Elder, Steven Wood, Martha Schrodt, Paul Stone, George Fred Edmonds, Beulah L. Harpster, Harold Cross, Harold (Ben) Townley, E.D. Hortenstine and Kevin McReynolds. Marvin and Linda Vogel Voyles graciously showed me their farm, the site of the early Haydon tavern and other early Whitley Point structures, and made available for study fragments of an account book maintained during 1840. Janet Schuman Ron ey was particularly helpful in providing information and suggestions, and in making available copies of documents in her collection. The Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society lent access to their extensive collection of publications and f iles.

Jack Larkin, Director of Research Collections and Library at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts, and Gary Quigg and Jane Leslie of Conner Prairie in Indiana were helpful in identifying some of the fabrics and other materials sold in the Whi tley Point store.

Russell Lewis, Assistant Director of Research and Curatorial Affairs of the Chicago Historical Society, read and commented on a draft of my text; and Robert W. Karrow, Jr., Administrative Curator of Special Collections and C urator of Maps of The Newberry Library in Chicago, helped me identify and interpret early maps of Illinois. I am indebted to the Newberry for permitting me to use copies of these maps in the book, and also to the Illinois State Archives for making avai lable copies of Federal Land Survey Records. John Hoffman, Director of the Illinois Historical Survey of the University of Illinois Library in Champaign, was very gracious

(Page ix)

in providing me information about early records relating to Shelby and Moultrie counties and in lending general advice.

Professor Timothy H. Breen of Northwestern University, a leading scholar of American history, read the draft and made many constructive suggestions. My partner, Newton Minow--lawyer, teacher, public servant, and gifted writer--also found time to read the draft, ask perceptive questions, and offer advice.

Closer to home, I benefitted from the editorial judgment and proofreading assistance of four other descendants of early Whitley Point settlers: Philip H. Martin, lawyer and teacher at Northwestern Law School; John M. George, lawyer and history PhD. from Columbia University; John I. Martin, history teacher and n amesake of the early historian of Moultrie County; and Elizabeth Martin, linguist and law student. Sharon Martin tolerated a good deal during the period when I struggled to decipher the manuscript record book, and helped with some of the proofreading. Mary Fischl patiently corrected and recorrected my typing and editing, and mastered the word processing and publishing software.

Despite all this excellent help, there are plenty of mistakes and omissions, and, as it is customary to concede, t hey are all mine.

This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, I.J. Martin, who grew up in Whitley Point and lived most of his long life in Sullivan. He loved history and, as much as anyone, preserved fragments of the early history o f Moultrie County for later generations.

(Page x)

|| Return to Main Site Index ||