Cora Agnes Benneson, born in Quincy, Illinois: Early Lawyer, Reformer, Scholar. 1851-1919.

Cora Agnes Benneson, a celebrated woman in her native Quincy and beyond, was born in 1851 to pioneers Robert and Electa Ann (Park) Benneson.

She was educated and taught in the community until her early 20s. Benneson went on to navigate a "life without precedents." In 1888 after receiving several degrees and traveling the world she moved permanently to the Boston area, where she was one of the first female lawyers. Anticipating a visit by Benneson a 1909 Quincy Journal headline states, "The Gem City is Proud of Her Distinguished Daughter." Throughout her life, Benneson received accolades as a scholar, lawyer, reformer, and lecturer.

Benneson grew up with three older sisters, Alice, Annie, and Caroline, in a mansion at 241 Jersey Street, Quincy, Illinois, on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. The impressively landscaped residence allowed a view of fourteen miles of the river and a bird's eye view of the passing steamers.

The homestead of the Bennesons was a large mansion located on the bluffs of the Mississippi River at 214 Jersey Street in Quincy, Illinois. The home, situated above a series of terraces, commanded a magnificent view of fourteen miles of the river.

The Benneson girls were schooled by their mother who had been a teacher in New England. Cora was an enthusiastic reader and at 12 read and wrote Latin. Benneson attended the Quincy Academy during the Civil War and graduated with a high school diploma when she was 15. She enrolled in the Quincy Female Seminary, established in the fall of 1867, and graduated on June 26, 1869, when she was 18.

From left to right, Alice Bull, Mary Marsh, Nellie Marsh, and Cora Benneson made up the 1869 graduating class from the Quincy Seminary, commonly known as Miss Chapin’s Private School. The Quincy Seminary was in existence from 1867-1876.

Benneson stayed on as an instructor of English from 1869 to 1872. She was an early member of Friends in Council, a women's study group, and a member of the Unitarian Church where she founded the original Unity Club, a forum on leading topics of the day.

Benneson's parents were involved with community leaders in politics and education. Robert Benneson served as an alderman for several years, mayor from 1859-60, and a member of the School Board for 16 years (1870-1886). Benneson was initially in the lumber business and later built what was known as the Benneson Block on the south side of Maine Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. The Bennesons' helped to establish the Unitarian church in Illinois. Entertaining notable men who lectured in the Midwest, Benneson dinner guests included Ralph Waldo Emerson, lecturer and essayist, who it is said made the "greatest impact upon Benneson's developing mind."

In 1875 Benneson enrolled at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor shortly after women were accepted. She completed the four-year course of study in three and was the first woman editor of the university newspaper, The Chronicle. She then applied to law school at Harvard but was denied because Harvard did not have "suitable provision for receiving women." She attended law school at the University of Michigan and was one of two women in her law class of 175. With her law degree obtained in 1880, she stayed on to receive a master's degree in jurisprudence and German. Benneson was admitted to the Michigan bar in March 1880 and Illinois bar in June 1880.

To broaden her knowledge of legal procedures around the world Bennesen toured foreign cultures to see their legal systems. She also made of point of looking into the treatment of women and opportunities available for them in foreign countries. In this quest, she embarked on a two-year and four-month journey leaving Quincy on June 13, 1883. On Oct. 2, 1883, the Philadelphia Chronicle-Herald noted that "Miss Cora Benneson, the Quincy, Illinois female lawyer, is making a tour around the world."

Traveling with a Miss White of Boston, the two sailed first to Hong Kong. With some risk, they toured Canton, China with Cora reporting that war with France seemed "imminent." From there the journey took them to Japan and on to India, Burma, Abyssinia, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Norway, Russia, Italy, France, and England. In the fall of 1885, they returned to the states sailing from Queenstown, Ireland.

As she circumnavigated the globe, Benneson documented her exotic and notable experiences. Her father, Robert, made a practice of taking her letters to the children of the grammar division of Jefferson School. A Quincy Daily Journal story of March 14, 1884, indicates the students anxiously followed her travel experiences.

Once back in Quincy those stories were relayed in lecture series throughout 1886 and 1887.

Briefly, in 1886, she was the law editor of the Law Reporter of West Publishing. From the fall of 1887 to spring of 1888 Benneson was a fellow in history at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia and studied administration under future President Woodrow Wilson.

Fourteen years after leaving law school Benneson opened what became a successful law practice. The Boston Globe announced in December 1894 that Benneson was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts and established her law practice in her home at 4 Mason Street in Cambridge, now on the Harvard campus. The Quincy Morning Whig reported that a number of Quincy people were present to witness the proceedings.

When Benneson moved to the Boston area, she attended Radcliffe College earning a second master's degree in 1902.

Benneson, steeped in advocacy for equal rights and suffrage while a young woman in Quincy, worked with suffrage leaders throughout her life. Benneson was a good friend of suffragist Lucy Stone, a prominent organizer for the rights of women. Benneson spoke about the new roles of women in both the private and public spheres. On a visit to Quincy in 1895, she spoke to the Women's Council on June 14 as a proponent for full suffrage. The Boston Globe on Sunday, Feb. 17, 1895, reported that Benneson spoke at a symposium titled, "The Coming Woman."

The New York Times of June 27, 1900, reported that Cora Benneson, Massachusetts attorney and special commissioner, presented a paper, "The Power of Our Courts to Interpret the Constitution," at the 49th general session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to the Social Economic Group at Columbia University. Benneson studied questions concerning government and wrote on topics such as "Executive Discretion in the United States" and "Federal Guarantees for Maintaining Republican Government in the States." Recognized by the Association she was made a fellow in 1899. Apart from government research, Benneson frequently authored articles on law, education, politics, and social science.

At the age of 68, Benneson was prepared to undertake a new direction in life as a civics teacher under a program for the Americanization of immigrants. She had just received her Massachusetts certification when she died in her home in Cambridge on June 8, 1919. Her cremated remains arrived in Quincy on June 16 and her ashes are buried with the family in the Benneson lot at Woodland Cemetery.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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OBITUARY OF MISS CORA BENNESON 
From: Quincy Daily Herald Newspaper, June 12, 1919.

BRILLIANT WOMAN DIES...

MISS CORA BENNESON WAS NATIVE OF QUINCY.

Member of Bar of Three States and Had Won Many Honors-Founder of Unity Club in This City.

Miss Cora Benneson, one of the women who has made the name of Quincy known abroad, and at one time one of the city's best-known residents, died at her home in Cambridge, Mass., last Sunday and was buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery (NOTE: Benneson is buried at Woodland Cemetery. Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts has no record. Both per Find-a-Grave, records). 

Word of her death came to her sister, Mrs. George Janes of this city. Miss Benneson was one of the few women attorneys in the country, and for many years had been practicing her profession in Boston. About a year ago she gave up her active practice of the law and fitted herself as a teacher of civics under the auspices of the state board of education of Massachusetts, which has established a school in Boston for the Americanization of foreigners. Miss Benneson worked so hard to fit herself for this new work that she suffered a break down in health about six weeks ago, and her labors were the cause of her death. Her diploma, entitling her to the position which she sought, came just a day after she died.

WON MANY HONORS
Miss Benneson was born in Quincy, the daughter of Robert S. and Electa Ann Benneson. She was graduated from Miss Chapin's School, and later attended the University of Michigan, where she received her LL.B. degree (Bachelor of Laws) in 1880, and her A.M. degree (Master of Arts) in 1883. She was admitted to the Illinois and Michigan bars in 1880 and to the Massachusetts bar in 1894.

In 1883, Miss Benneson left Quincy for a tour of the world, which lasted for two years. On her return, she went to St. Paul [Minnesota], where she edited law reports for the West Publishing Company. She gave lectures on her trip around the world in 1885-86 and was appointed a special commissioner in Massachusetts in 1895, and subsequent years. She was awarded a fellowship in history at Bryn Mawr College in 1887. She was also an honorary member of the Illinois State Historical Society and sole trustee of the Edward Everett estate in Boston.

FOUNDER OF UNITY CLUB
Miss Benneson was a contributor to journals on topics of law, education, and political and social science, and throughout the east was recognized as one of the leading members of the bar. In Quincy, she was prominent in the literary life of the city and was one of the early members of Friends in Council and the founder of the original Unity Club of the Unitarian Church. Robert S. Benneson, her father, was one of the first mayors of Quincy and the family was a prominent one. The old family home was at 214 Jersey Street, and afterward on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth, next door to the F. T. Hill home. The house was torn down to provide additional grounds for the present detention home.

Miss Benneson leaves two sisters, besides Mrs. Janes. They are Mrs. Anna McMahon, now at Atlantic City, N.J. and Mrs. Alice B. Farwell of Boston. Guido Janes, Mrs. Charles Seger and Mrs. Philip Schlagenhauf of this city are nephews and nieces of Miss Benneson. 

Tampico, Illinois' claim to fame, is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President and only President born in Illinois.

Ronald Wilson Reagan - 1911

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, on February 6, 1911, in an apartment above a bakery. The First National Bank purchased the bakery in 1919 and continued as a Bank until the 1930s. The apartment where he was born has been refinished to look as it did when he was born there. The bank has been restored to look like a working bank of the early 1900s. The store located to the South of the Bank was originally a grocery store and now houses the gift shop for the Reagan Museum. 

When Ronald was 4 months old, the family moved from the apartment to a house on Glassburn Street. The house is located across the street from Reagan Park (known initially as Railroad or Depot Park).

The Reagan family moved into their apartment at 834 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois, in January of 1915. The apartment building was near the University of Chicago. The University bought the building in 2004 and demolished it in 2013.

832-834 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois

They'd come to the city from the western Illinois village of Tampico. Jack Reagan, Ronald's father, got a job selling shoes in the Loop. His wife, Nelle, stayed home with the two boys, 6-year-old Neil and little Ron–called "Dutch"–who was going on 4. (Some sources imply the Reagans lived at two different places in Chicago, but most sources just give one Chicago residence for them.)

Ronald Reagan's Birth Place.

Ronald Reagan was born on the 2nd Floor of this Historic Building.

Ronald Reagan's Birth Room.

Reagan's Tampico, Illinois, Boyhood Home.

Ronald and Neil (Ronald's older brother; nicknamed "Moon" derived from the "Moon Mullins" comic strip character. Neil was a director of the hit radio series, "Dr. Christian," with Jean Hersholt for nearly 20 years. He also directed his brother Ronald in the television series "Death Valley Days.") played on a cannon in the park as young children. He referred to the park and the cannon in several of his stories. When he was 4 years old, the Pitney Store, where his father, Jack Reagan, worked, was sold, and the Reagans moved to Chicago, where Mr. Reagan worked for a short time at the Fair Department Store. The family then moved to Galesburg, where Mr. Reagan was employed as a store clerk.

Ronald Reagan's 4th Grade Class photo in 1920 (Ronald is in the second row at the far left with his hand on his chin).

While there, Ronald learned to read at 5 before starting school. He attended Silas Willard School in Galesburg and skipped grade 2. The family then moved to Monmouth for a short time. They were called back to Tampico for Mr. Reagan to work for Mr. Pitney, who had acquired his old store again. The family lived above the Pitney Store until moving to Dixon in December 1920.

HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
Tampico is a village located in Tampico Township, Whiteside County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 790, up from 772 at the 2000 census. The area containing the future Tampico Township was a slough. The first non-aboriginal settlers arrived in 1852. The township of Tampico was established in 1861. In 1863-64, the area was drained. The local railroad went into service in 1871. In June of 1874, a tornado struck and destroyed 27 buildings: 

FROM THE STERLING IL STANDARD NEWSPAPER; Thursday, June 11, 1874.
TAMPICO IN RUINS - During the heavy storm that prevailed here on Saturday evening, about 10 o'clock, a whirlwind passed over a portion of this county, going over Lyndon high in the air, touching Prophetstown slightly, and working ruin in the village of Tampico. As far as we know, most of the town is destroyed or blown from foundations. The two elevators were entirely demolished, and the passenger depot and many dwellings were demolished or lifted from their foundations. Mrs. J. G. Banes had her leg broken in two places. An infant of Mrs. Dow's was reported to have been blown away and not found until morning, when it was discovered in a pile of rubbish, unhurt and fast asleep. Miss Maria Banes had her face bruised and a severe concussion of the brain - severe, recovery doubtful. Mr. J. G. Banes and several other persons were somewhat injured, but none seriously. Mrs. Piersall's shoulder was dislocated, and Mrs. Gates's was the same.

The following buildings are destroyed: one elevator with a capacity of 25,000 bushels, one smaller elevator, and a hay press. Mr. Williams' residence, A. Bastian's house, two houses of Humphrey estate, A. Gurnan's house, J. G. Banes' hotel, M. E. Church, C. Down's house, Gates' Pump Factory, F. Smith's house, G. W. Piersall's house, Haskins' shoe shop, Collins and Maxfield's blacksmith shop. Among some of the injured are Merritt & McGee's store, Geo. Dee's house, E. W. High's house, McMillan's tenement house, Davis', Dee's and Burke's stores, and numerous others we cannot particularize. Total loss is estimated at $25,000 to 30,000. A great many of our citizens went over on Monday and Tuesday. Dr. Anthony reports having visited many of the injured and that all are doing well. With his usual enterprise, James Adams took his photographic apparatus over and obtained several fine views of the ruins, which he has on sale at his gallery.

FROM THE STERLING IL STANDARD NEWSPAPER; Thursday, July 16, 1874
RE-BUILDING - We are pleased to notice that our neighbors of Tampico are putting forth strenuous efforts to replace the buildings torn down and destroyed by the tornado about a month ago. The elevators are being replaced, and new buildings are growing everywhere. The Tampico businessmen possess vim and energy and will undoubtedly succeed. The committee estimated the town's loss by the tornado at $70,000.

The Village of Tampico was incorporated in 1875.

East Side of Main Street  (1905) showing the C. F. Sippel Building before 1910. The Sipple Building is at 107 Main Street on the east side of the street.

East Side Main Street P.H. Likes Grocery Store.

Main Street Looking North J.C. Simpson and Company's Lumber Yard.

West Side Main Street showing the Smith Bros. Hardware is on the left, and McCormick Farm Tools is on the right. These buildings were torn down to make room for the new bank building.

M.S. Whipple Repair Shop.

Hotel Pitney House was located on the northeast corner of Market and Main Streets.

Aldrich Millinery Shop. On the west side of Main Street is the Aldrich Millinery Shop (L.L. Higday owned the Millinery shop until she died in 1895. Miss Ristow bought the inventory).

Ed and Desmonia "Dessie" (Scott ) Winchell and their daughter Lillian are at home.

Cyclone of November 25, 1908 damage.

Main Street 1940s.- (east side) Tampico Theater; Royal Blue Store (now the Historical Society); John Wayne's Clothing Store (west side); Opera House/Billiards Parlor (west side); Cain Drug store (west); Millinery Shop (west), Tinks bar (west).

Main Street  Looking South in the later 1950s. Vera's Lunch Cafe (right) and Tampico Super Market (left).

East Side Main Street 1950s.

FROM THE TAMPICO TORNADO NEWSPAPER; Friday, December 5, 1908

CYCLONE STRIKES TAMPICO - on Wednesday, November 25, 1908, a Twister Goes Through the Eastern Part of the City and Demolishes Several Barns. 

A cyclone struck the eastern edge of Tampico last Wednesday evening at about 7 o'clock and left a mass of wrecked, demolished, scattered barns and outhouses in its wake. Several barns were destroyed entirely, but very fortunately, the storm was not strong enough to ruin any dwellings further than to rack them or tear shingles from them. No one was injured, and no livestock was killed. The total loss will reach about $1500 or $2000, most of which insurance covers.

The storm came without warning other than the terrible roar accompanying twisters. This was heard by several who started for their cellars but could not reach them before it was all over. O. D. Olsson, who happened to be outdoors, saw and heard the funnel-shaped cloud coming and said it made a noise like a hundred trains. He recognized what it was and ran for the house. Others also heard and saw the cloud, which they described as the same.

The storm's course was from the southeast, striking the eastern part of the village in an erratic course. Its first effects were felt at Robert Hellier's farm about a mile south of town, and the last whack it took was in the northeastern part of the village at the residence of Mrs. Annie Peterson, occupied by Fred Wensel.

1936 Farm Ownership Atlas.

Farm & Feed House Museum.

VIDEO

History of Tampico by Hugh Downs of 20/20 Broadcast in 1982.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Maud Slye, M.D., 1923 Nobel Laureate. (1869–1954)

Dr. Maud Slye (1869–1954)

When Maud Slye began her work on the pathology of cancer, very few scientists believed that cancer was a genetic disease. Most experts thought that human cancers were either caused by viruses-like The Rous Sarcoma Virus, which had recently been implicated as the cause behind tumors in chickens, or a side-effect of rapid industrialization. 

Maud Slye, an American pathologist, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A historian of women and science wrote that Slye "'invented' genetically uniform mice as a research tool." Her work focused on the heritability of cancer in mice. She was also an advocate for the comprehensive archiving of human medical records, believing that proper mate selection would help eradicate cancer. During her career, she received multiple awards and honors, including the gold medal of the American Medical Association in 1914 and the gold medal of the American Radiological Society in 1922.

Slye received her undergraduate training at the University of Chicago and Brown University. While at the University of Chicago, she supported herself as a secretary for University President William Rainey Harper. After a breakdown, she completed her studies at Brown in 1899.

After teaching, she began her postgraduate work in 1908 at the University of Chicago, performing neurological experiments on mice. She would remain at the University of Chicago for the rest of her career. After hearing of a cluster of cattle cancers at a nearby stockyard, she changed the focus of her research to cancer.

Slye raised—and kept pedigrees for—150,000 mice during her career. In 1913 she first presented a paper before the American Society for Cancer Research. In 1919 she was selected as director of the Cancer Laboratory at the University of Chicago. In 1922, she was promoted to assistant professor and became an associate professor in 1926. She retired, as a professor Emeritus of Pathology, in 1945. Her belief that cancer was a recessive trait that could be eliminated through breeding caused clashes with fellow scientists, including C. C. Little.

Not unlike Madame Curie, who worked under adverse conditions to bring untold benefits to the world through the discovery of radium, Dr. Maud Slye, University of Chicago research scientist, has been tracking down methods of controlling cancer, for the past 38 years. Working in barren quarters on a tiny fellowship, Dr. Slye has observed the disease in 150,000 mice, all of them dead now because the doctor did not have the funds to feed them, and planed to apply her findings to humans. But on July 1st Dr. Slye will turn 65, the retirement age for the University's professors, and will be forced to vacate her quarters. "I have proved that cancer can be controlled in mice. All I want now is the time and a place to continue my work, and I want to continue in this place. If I can just be left alone here to go with my work, that is all I ask of life," the doctor says. (1933)

Slye was devoted to her work. A 1937 Time account of her behavior at a science convention described her as "high-spirited" and quoted her as saying: "I breed out breast cancers. I don't think we should feel so hopeless about breeding out other types. Only romance stops us. It is the duty of scientists to ascertain and present facts. If the people prefer romance to taking advantage of these facts, there is nothing we can do about it."  Reluctant to leave her mice to the care of her assistants, she once went twenty-six years without a vacation. She never married and spent her retirement reviewing data from her research.

She is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery. 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.