Lyon and Healy is a musical instrument manufacturer that still operates in Chicago. Formed in 1864, Lyon and Healy opened a factory at Randolph and Ogden in 1890 that is still operating.
Known for their harps, they have also, at times, made guitars, banjos, pianos, and other musical instruments. In 1913, the factory depicted on the postcard was opened (designed by Hyland and Green). Located on Fullerton just west of Pulaski (then Crawford), along the Milwaukee Road line, the factory included a station along the railroad named after the complex; the station is still called Healy today. The Lyon and Healy factory on Fullerton did not remain in operation for long; by the 1930s, it was home to the Mills Novelty Company, a noted coin-operated machine manufacturer. The usual model of industrial deconcentration would suggest that the company would have closed its original factory on the Near West Side and made the Fullerton location their main operation. In actuality, the Fullerton operation did not last twenty years, and the firm’s 100+ year old Near West Side factory at 168 North Ogden Avenue in Chicago still remains in operation. Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Josephine Cochrane believed that if you want something done right, you better do it yourself. But when it came time to do the dishes, she didn't want to, so she invented a machine to wash them for her. A man had made an attempt before her, but it didn't work and never got off the ground. Josephine Garis was born on March 8, 1839. Her early childhood is unknown. After her mother, Irene Fitch, died and her sister moved out, she lived with her father, John Garis, in Ohio and Indiana. John Garis was an engineer from Chicago who invented a hydraulic pump for draining marshes. He worked as a supervisor in mills and as a hydraulic engineer, perhaps instilling an instinctive knack for the mechanical in Cochrane. Her great-grandfather (not her grandfather, as some sources report) was John Fitch, who obtained a U.S. patent for a steamboat design in 1791 (note: this was not, as some sources report erroneously, the first patent for a steamboat design in the world, or America.) She attended a private high school, but Garis sent his daughter to live with her sister in Shelbyville, Illinois, when it burned down. After high school graduation, Cochrane's life took a traditional turn. At age 19, she married 27-year-old William Cochran. In 1857 after a disappointing four years of trying to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush, he returned home to Shelbyville. He made his mark and fortune in the dry goods business and other investment opportunities. Undoubtedly, the comfortable life he could offer his bride was one thing she was attracted to. Despite her young age and the societal norm at the time, Cochrane was guided by her independent nature and personal confidence. She assumed her husband's name but preferred spelling it with an "e" at the end, a point of contention with his family. The Cochranes had a busy social life, and in 1870 when they moved into what could be considered a mansion, they had the perfect house for entertaining. They threw dinner parties using heirloom china, allegedly dating from the 1600s. After one event, the servants washing up carelessly chipped some dishes. Cochrane discovered this the following day while she was putting the dishes away. She was furious and refused to let the servants handle the china anymore. She may have regretted her decision, but she didn't give in. The morning after every subsequent dinner party, she begrudgingly endured dishpan hands, wondering why someone hadn't invented a machine that could clean dirty dishes. This was, after all, the late 19th century, and if someone could invent a machine to sew clothes and cut grass, how hard could it be?
One morning, she had an epiphany while she was up to her elbows in soap suds. Why not invent the dishwashing machine herself? Consumed with the idea, she immediately went into the library to think it through, forgetting she was holding a cup in her hand. Within half an hour, Cochrane had the basic concept for the first mechanical dishwasher. Just like she had been doing by hand, it held the dishes securely (in a rack) while the pressure of spraying water cleaned them off. William Cochran was a rising star in the Democratic Party, but too much alcohol led to a violent temper and illness. While Cochrane was busy with the details of her invention, William went away for a rest. Unfortunately, he didn't get well and died two weeks later in 1883. While the Cochrans appeared to be successful socialites to their friends, all was not well at home. Her husband left Cochrane with a mound of debt and only $1,535.59. Now, developing the dishwasher was not only for convenience. It was for survival.
Her creation had wire compartments for plates, cups and saucers. They were put inside a wheel that lay flat inside a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel, pumping hot soapy water from the bottom of the boiler over the dishes. Cochrane showed her design to a few men for their input, which was a frustrating experience. "I couldn't get men to do the things I wanted in my way until they had tried and failed in their own," she said. "And that was costly for me. They knew I knew nothing, academically, about mechanics, and they insisted on having their own way with my invention until they convinced themselves my way was the better, no matter how I had arrived at it." Finally, she got help with the construction from mechanic George Butters. She applied for a U.S. patent, which she received on December 28, 1886, obtaining U.S. Patent # 355139, the Garis-Cochran Dishwashing Machine. An earlier, unsuccessful dishwashing machine had been patented, in 1850, by Joel Houghton. It was made of wood, hand-cranked, and just ineffectually splashed water on the dishes. Consequently, the introduction to her patent application reads that her machine is an improvement.
A drawing of Joel Houghton's 1850 patented dishwashing machine.
Cochrane's first customers were not the housewives she thought she was helping. They didn't want to spend the money on something they didn't need, so she turned to hotels. After selling a dishwashing machine to the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, she had one recommendation. Then she did one of the hardest things she'd ever done: she made a cold call to the Sherman House hotel in Chicago, waiting in the ladies' parlor to speak with the manager. "You asked me what was the hardest part of getting into business," she once told a reporter. "…I think, crossing the great lobby of the Sherman House alone. You cannot imagine what it was like in those days … for a woman to cross a hotel lobby alone. I had never been anywhere without my husband or father—the lobby seemed a mile wide. I thought I should faint at every step, but I didn't—and I got an $800 order as my reward." Josephine displayed and demonstrated the machine herself at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where it was exhibited in the Machinery Hall. The dishwasher was a hit and won the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Medallion, the same award for all contest winners in the top 20% of their category in scoring.
She also sold nine of them on the spot to people running kitchens at the Exposition for $150 each ($5,100 today). Her next model was motorized; it pumped the water and moved the rack back and forth. She registered this one for an American patent in 1900. A subsequent model had the racks revolve and drain via a hose into the sink.
That success led to her opening her own factory in an abandoned schoolhouse. Her customers extended to hospitals and colleges for whom the sanitizing effects of the hot water rinse were significant. Homemakers finally started using it too. In 1912, at 73 years old, Cochran was still personally selling her machines. She managed her company until she died of a stroke in Chicago on August 3, 1913. She was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Shelbyville, Illinois. In 1916, her company was bought out by Hobart, which became KitchenAid and is now Whirlpool Corporation. Cochrane is considered the founder. Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (aka: Chicago World's Fair) official contest winners medallion in fine condition. (see complete history below.) Officially awarded in Bronze ONLY and measures: Diameter: 3" (76mm) - Thickness: 0.2" (5.5mm) - Weight: 7.2 ounces (205 grams). The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago was a commemoration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of Christopher Columbus' landing in the New World in 1892. THE FRONT (obverse) designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens reads:
Christopher Columbus Oct. XII, MDCCCXCII (1892) Artist Signature: Augustus Saint-Gaudens Fecit In the background are portions of a ship, an unfurled banner, and three male figures. In the upper right, in the distance, is a symbolic device of ships passing the Pillars of Hercules and the text inscription.
NOTE: The small hooded figure to the right of Columbus is believed to be the only known self-portrait of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
THE BACK (reverse) designed by Charles F. Baber (Mint Engraver) Reads:
World's Columbian Exposition in Commemoration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Landing of Columbus. MDCCCXCII (1892) - MDCCCXCIII (1893) Artist Signature: C. E. Barber Fecit
The medallions were struck by the Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Connecticut. MINTAGE: 400-600 known (References: Eglit 90; Baxter 87; Marqusee 348; Jaeger & Brown 64/53; Tolles p.135; and Weiss BW549.) 1893 WORLD’S FAIR CONTEST AWARDS HISTORY The 1893 World’s Fair organizers decided to judge the contest prizes a little differently. Instead of competing directly against each other, the exhibitors, in all categories, were judged against a list of criteria that represented a standard of excellence for that category. For example, the beer exhibitions. The judges were instructed to score each brew on purity, color, and flavor and assign a score between 0 and 100. All beers that scored an 80 or higher would be awarded a bronze Augustus Saint-Gaudens medallion and a parchment certificate. Things didn’t exactly work out that way once the exposition opened. The beer judges decided to come up with their own scoring system with ranked prizes awarded based on numerical scores in categories of their own creation. The brewers were left to assume that whoever ended the fair with the highest score “won”, never mind that there was, officially, no grand prize and that each medal was bronze and were identically the same as all the other prize medallions given out. “Awards are designed to indicate some independent and essential excellence in the article exhibited, and as an evidence of advancement in the state of the art represented by it. They will be granted, upon specific points of excellence or advancement, formulated in words by a Board of Judges or Examiners, who will be competent experts; and the evidence of such awards will be parchment certificates, accompanied by bronze medals. Such awards will constitute an enduring, historical record of development and progress, and at the same time afford exhibitors lasting mementoes of their success.” SOURCE: ”After Four Centuries the World's Fair. The Discovery of America to be commemorated by an International Exposition. Chicago, ILL., U.S.A. 1893” – Published by: Department of Publicity and Promotion. World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1891.
THERE WERE NO GOLD, SILVER, OR ANY TYPE OF RIBBONS (BLUE OR OTHERWISE) OFFICIALLY GIVEN TO CONTESTANTS AT THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR.
Saint-Gaudens’ design for the reverse of this medal was not used, despite the sculptor’s eventual willingness to modify it. It was rejected by the United States Senate Quadro-Centennial Committee because the premature circulation of a photograph of the new design fostered criticism of the youth’s nudity. Saint-Gaudens attempted various modifications but ultimately refused to alter his design, and solicited public support for his cause.
The art world supported him against the committee action, but to no avail. Saint-Gaudens made a model that eliminated the figure altogether, retaining only the inscription. This last model was the one adopted by Mint engraver Charles F. Barber for the final design. Saint-Gaudens’ design of Columbus for the obverse, however, was retained. Louis Saint-Gaudens assisted his brother with this commission.
NOTE: As with all official WCE souvenirs, permission was given to companies to produce souvenir items for sale. This included official picture books, "so-called" half dollar souvenir coins, etc.
The W.B Conkley company was given permission to produce blue ribbons for the contestants that were awarded a bronze medallion and official certificate. The ribbons were to be made of silk with gold leaf lettering and gold fringe. Contestants were charged $2.50 for each ribbon.
THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
EXPO – Magic of the White City.
Narrated by Gene Wilder. [runtime: 2 hours]
Narrated by Gene Wilder, EXPO – Magic of the White City brings the Chicago World’s Fair to life. Experience the world of 1893 through a cinematic visit to Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition. Nearly 28 million people visited the Fair. Dubbed the “White City,” it inspired future innovators like Henry Ford and Frank Lloyd Wright, unveiled the Ferris Wheel and, in many ways, marked the beginning of the 20th century. Many of the era’s greatest achievements in science, technology, and culture were unveiled there. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for his design of New York City’s Central Park, and constructed under the supervision of Daniel Burnham. The Fair was an engineering marvel. On opening day, President Grover Cleveland depressed a golden telegraph key which sent the first courses of electricity throughout the Fair powering fountains, machines, electric railways and thousands of lights. It was the first use of electricity on such a massive scale. In addition, fairgoers enjoyed the Midway Plaisance where a one-mile boulevard of fun offered camel riding and guilty pleasures such as belly dancing, street fighting, and beer drinking. Against the backdrop of 1893’s troubles with workers’ rights, prejudice, discrimination and corruption, the World’s Columbian Exposition cast a brief ray of hope for the future of humanity. Filmed in spectacular High-Definition, EXPO – Magic of the White City immerses viewers in one of the world’s biggest extravaganzas and one of the most unforgettable events in American history. Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. MORE READING: OVER 100 BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE 1893 WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION IN MY DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY®.
In the late 1890s, the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora interurban Railway opened an electric line connecting those three communities. In 1903, Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora opened an amusement park, "Electric Park", to the public to primarily promote travel on the fledgling Railway. Electric Park quickly became a popular vacation spot.
Lavish gardens flanking the banks of the DuPage River, as well as athletic grounds, a bandstand, a dance pavilion, a 5,000-seat auditorium featuring a large pipe organ, restaurants, a waterslide, bowling alley and passenger paddle boats.
The resort attracted vacationers who relaxed in cabins featuring electric, gas, and water service. But the railroad succumbed to financial difficulties in 1923, a victim of the automobile, and Electric Park did not open for the 1924 season.
ABOUT JOHN MESSINGER John Messinger was born in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on January 4, 1771. He was raised on a farm but received a good education and was particularly fond of the study of mathematics. In 1783 he moved to Vermont and learned the carpenter’s trade and also became a millwright. In 1801 he joined a party of pioneers led by Matthew Lyon who left Vermont and settled in Eddyville, Kentucky. Messinger married Lyon’s daughter, Anne, (1774-1842). He was opposed to slavery so he and his family along with his brother-in-law, Dr. George Cadwell, moved on to Illinois in 1802, first settling in the American Bottom and then moving to New Design. In 1807, Messinger moved his family 2½ miles north of Belleville (from the French word meaning "Beautiful City"), Illinois, naming his property Clinton Hill. He was the first postmaster outside of Cahokia, in the county, having the post office at his residence. The first surveys of land under the government of the United States were made by William Rector in 1808. They were part of Cahokia Commons and military claims. The surveying of Congressional townships was not made until 1814 when much of the work was done by John Messinger, who was a sub-contractor under Rector. Messinger surveyed much of the public domain in both St. Clair and Randolph Counties. In 1815 he was made a deputy under the Surveyor-General of Ohio with authority to survey the military tract in the forks of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and surveyed much of that tract. Later he was appointed to assist in the survey of the northern limits of Illinois and he made a part of the astronomical and mathematical calculations by which the line dividing the states of Illinois and Wisconsin was located. He and Philip Creamer, a skilled mechanic, made surveyors’ compasses. Messinger was a member of the convention that met at Kaskaskia and framed the first constitution of Illinois. In 1814, Belleville became the county seat, and subsequent elections were held at this place. Poll list and return of the first election held in St Clair County, after the admission of Illinois as a state, Sept. 17, 1818. Election polls began and were held at Belleville, for and within the county of St. Clair, in the Illinois territory, on Thursday, the 17th of September, 1818, to elect the following members to organize and form the Government of the State of Illinois, by virtue of the Constitution passed in August, 1818, to elect one Governor, one Lieutenant-Governor, one Representative to Congress, one Senator to the General Assembly, three Representatives to the Assembly, one Sheriff, and one Coroner. The election was closed at three o'clock on Saturday, the third day of said election, whereupon it appears that Wm. Kinney is duly elected Senator of the Assembly, John Messinger and James D. Thomas elected Representatives, Wm. A. Baird elected as Sheriff, and Job Badgley as Coroner. Voting took place viva voce ("Viva Voce" is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice" but most often translated as "by mouth"). The two-year term was the last political office Messinger held. Messinger wrote and published a book entitled, “A Manual or Hand-Book of Practical Surveying” in 1821. In February of 1825, John Mason Peck, a Baptist minister, arranged for establishing a Baptist Seminary in Illinois, and St. Clair County was selected for the location of the school. A two-story frame building, with two wings, was completed in 1827, and the "Rock Spring Theological Seminary and High School" was opened. Rev. Joshua Bradly was the principal. Rev. John M. Peck Professor of Theology, and Rev. John Messinger Professor of Mathematics. It opened with one hundred students. This was the first literary institution in the state higher than a common or primary school. In 1831 it was transferred to Alton, Illinois and became the foundation for Shurlleff College. Messinger fought in the Black Hawk War in 1832 under General Atkinson's command. In 1835 he produced the first map of Illinois based on the official United States Survey. Messinger died on September 16, 1846. IS THE SURNAME MESSINGER OR MESSENGER? The Historian and Curator of the St. Clair County Historical Society (STCCHS), William P. Shannon, IV stated "You've likely noticed the difference in spelling in the surname between the cemetery plaque and the headstones. Is it Messinger or Messenger? The answer is the always-frustrating: "that depends." If we are interested in how John spelled his surname, there is little doubt. It was Messinger. Several documents written in his own hand confirm this. There was one branch of the family, however, who adopted the Messenger spelling. So, as I said, it depends. It was this misspelled name that got the first round of the name spelling debate started. I took it upon myself to comb through our collection to find instances of Messinger writing his own name. On a property tax bill from 1827, a copy of the poems of Oliver Goldsmith from 1819, and his surveyor's field book (likely from the 1820s), he signs [his name] with an "I"every time. Also, he is referred to as John Messinger (not Messenger) in the memoirs of John Mason Peck and Matthew Lyon (his father-in-law)."
MESSINGER ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE Built by pioneering surveyor and teacher John Messinger to educate his children in the 1840s, the Messinger Schoolhouse is thought to be the oldest one-room schoolhouse in St. Clair County.
Historical Schoolhouse is moved by the
"Expert House Movers" of St. Louis.
The STCCHS preservation committee relocated the historic Messinger Schoolhouse from Belleville, Illinois to Swansea in order to restore and preserve this important piece of local history. On Saturday, December 8, 2012, Expert House Movers of St. Louis carefully placed the old one-room Schoolhouse onto a truck bed. The Schoolhouse, 18' x 24' was relocated to the Messinger Cemetary just a mile down the road from its original site. The Schoolhouse was donated by the Agne family to the St. Clair County Historical Society. The STCCHS owns and maintains the Messinger Cemetery and plans to eventually open the schoolhouse to the public as a museum. STCCHS Curator William P. Shannon, IV believes that this Schoolhouse from Illinois' pioneer days has a lot to teach people today. “The Messinger Schoolhouse served as a place of teaching and learning for more than a century. We hope to restore this piece of our history and invite the community in to visit and learn with us.”
Some brick buildings were supposed to be painted. [EXPLANATION]
THE PEARL HARBOR VETERANS MEMORIAL In the center of the cemetery stands the Pearl Harbor Veterans Memorial. Built by George Hoffman, a descendant of John Messinger, it honors the American servicemen and women killed during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
Dedicated on July 25, 1942, the Veterans Memorial is thought to be the first monument built to commemorate the Pearl Harbor attack anywhere in the United States.
via the Belleville News-Democrat (BND)
The color guard made up of veterans from VFW posts 8677, 1739 and 805 stand at attention during the National Anthem. The annual Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration sponsored by the St. Clair County Historical Society was held by the Pearl Harbor monument in the Messinger Cemetery. HISTORIC MARKER
John Messinger received a formal education in New England before settling on the Illinois frontier in 1802. After serving as St. Clair county surveyor, he was appointed Deputy United States Surveyor and platted much of the government land between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. In 1835 he produced the first map of Illinois based on the official United States Survey. When Illinois was part of the Indiana territory, Messinger served in the territorial legislature. In 1818 he assisted in writing the constitution for the new State of Illinois and was elected the First Speaker in the House of Representatives. Erected by the St. Clair County Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society, 1981. THE 95 PEOPLE THAT ARE INTERRED IN THE MESSINGER CEMETERY Some with headstone photographs.
Notice the surname spelling.
ALPHABETICAL LISTING Aultman, John born: unknown / died: Jul. 12, 1902 Aultman, Martha Jennings born: May 16, 1846 / died: Jul. 11, 1909 Aultman, Susie born: Jul. 16, 1870 / died: Jul. 15, 1872 Badgley, Edith L born: 1901 / died: 1901 Badgley, J Russell born: 1866 / died: 1945 Badgley, Levi P. born: Oct. 22, 1871 / died: Mar. 8, 1876 Badgley, Lillian born: 1873 / died: 1967 Badgley, Mary Lorette Wilderman born: Mar. 3, 1836 / died: Mar. 23, 1918 Badgley, Simon Peter born: Aug. 30, 1828 / died: Mar. 2, 1908 Bevirt, Hezekia B born: Sep. 22, 1842 / died: Mar. 12, 1917 Bevirt, Sarah A. born: Feb. 17, 1848 / died: Dec. 26, 1906 Bussong, Etta E Glenn born: Dec. 16, 1867 / died: Jan. 5, 1900 AND Bussong, Thomas A born: Aug. 20, 1867 / died: Aug. 17, 1944
Chenot, Lee born: Feb. 21, 1884 / died: Aug. 21, 1888 Daniel, Fuller born: 1845 / died: 1911 Daniel, S. born: born: 1842 / died: unknown Drake, Nellie C born: Oct. 28, 1865 / died: Jan. 23, 1936 Drake, William V born: Oct. 1, 1849 / died: Sep. 18, 1890 Frick, Louise M. born: Jan. 10, 1817 / died: Nov. 7, 1869 Fuller, Daniel born: 1845 / died: 1911 Glenn, Albert born: Jan. 10, 1872 / died: Sep. 26, 1872 Glenn, Hannah C Phillips born: Aug. 10, 1836 / died: Feb. 27, 1907
