George Flower family papers,
1812-1974, bulk 1812-1862
Descriptive
Inventory for the Collection at Chicago History Museum, Research Center
rev.
by Linda Evans from earlier descriptions.
Please
address questions to:
Chicago
History Museum,
Research Center
1601
North Clark Street
Chicago,
IL 60614-6038
Website:
http://www.chicagohistory.org/research
©
Copyright 2006 Chicago Historical Society, 1601 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL
60614-6038
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: George Flower family papers,
1812-1974, bulk 1812-1862.
Main
entry: Flower,
George, 1788-1862.
Inclusive dates: 1812-1974, bulk 1812-1862.
Size:
1 item
(6 v., 730 p.); 1 item (355 p.); 37 items (178 p.)
1 folder
(unbound originals)
1
microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (Reader-use copy).
1
microfilm reel : neg. ; 35 mm. (Camera negative).
Restriction: Advance
appointment with special permission required to view original materials. Please
allow at least one week for response to requests for an appointment. Microfilm
is available for research use for most of these items.
Provenance
statement: The manuscript in this collection of Flower's History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois, is a
copy that he made for his family. It was given to Chicago Historical Society in
the early 1880s by Alfred Flower after the original draft, given to Chicago
Historical Society by George Flower in the 1860s, was destroyed in the Great
Chicago Fire of 1871. The diaries were a gift of Mrs. Beatrice Flower Pollock
in 1926. The Flower family genealogy was a gift of Janet Flower in 1963
(accessions: 1948.0054,
1963.0426, 1964.0472, 1933.0008).
Terms governing
use: Copyright
may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendents, as stipulated
by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.
Please cite this
collection as:
George Flower family papers (Chicago History
Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific
item.
This
descriptive inventory contains the following sections:
Historical/biographical note,
Summary description of the collection,
Description of the microfilm copy,
Description
of some material related to the collection,
List
of online catalog headings about the collection.
Detailed
description of archival series in the collection:
Description
of the diaries,
Description of
the manuscript histories,
Description of
the letters mounted in 2 volumes,
Description of
other materials in the collection.
Detailed
description of some related material at Chicago History Museum,
Detailed
provenance notes.
Historical/biographical note:
George
Flower was an Illinois pioneer born in Hertford, England. In 1814 he
accompanied Morris Birkbeck on a three-month tour through France. In 1816 he
visited the United States, traveling west to Tennessee, and spending part of
the following winter at Monticello with Thomas Jefferson. He joined Birkbeck at
Richmond (Va.) in the spring of 1817, and with him and his party went to
Edwards County, Illinois, where the two men decided to colonize a large tract
of prairie. After a break with Birkbeck, the cause of which was never
determined fully by historians, Flower laid out the village of Albion,
Illinois.
George's
father, Richard Flower (born in England in 1761) was the proprietor of a
flourishing brewery in Hertford, England, and like his elder brother, Benjamin,
was a reformer and pamphleteer. Dissatisfied with economic conditions, he sold
his holdings in 1818 for 23,000 pounds and emigrated to the United States with
his wife, three sons, and two daughters. The family spent the first winter in
Lexington, Kentucky, where one of the sons, William, died. In 1819 they moved
to Albion, Illinois, where their son George had emigrated earlier and built a
house for them.
Richard
Flower did considerable building in Albion, founded a library, and conducted
religious services. He was an active abolitionist.
The
Flower family and Morris Birkbeck, traveled frequently between Albion and New
Harmony, Indiana, which was twenty-five miles distant. When Richard Flower returned
to England with his son Edward, Richard was commissioned to sell the Harmony
lands. This he was successful in doing. He returned to Albion and died there on
September 2, 1829.
The
son, Edward Fordham Flower, stayed in England to go to school and later became
a successful brewer there.
According
to one source, family dates include:
According to Oxford DNB: Selina
Greaves, of Barford; m. Edward Flower 1827; d. 2 March 1884)
Summary description
of the collection:
Correspondence,
diaries and manuscripts of the Flower family of Illinois, mostly of George
Flower, who was the founder of Albion (Ill.). His diaries describe travels in
France and the U.S., meeting many future correspondents. The diaries are vol.
1: 1814 July 7-Sept. 9, 212 p.; vol. 2: 1816 June 11-Dec. 14, 211 p.; vol. 3:
1817 Oct. 15-July 3, 150 p. Also present in the collection are his manuscripts
of The History of the English Settlement
in Edwards County, Illinois (later published in part) and the History of the Harmony Society
(unpublished, unfinished). Also present in the Flower family collection are
letters sent to relatives in England by George, his sisters and father (2 v.,
1824-1846), several letters to the Chicago Historical Society by George's son
Alfred, a genealogy by Janet Flower (1963), and a speech by Sir Fordham Flower
(1964).
George's
father, Richard Flower, brokered the land sale of the Rappite community at New
Harmony, Indiana, to Robert Owen. An essay by Karl Arndt (written circa 1974)
is filed with the earlier, unpublished History
of the Harmony Society in this collection.
The
manuscript History of the English
Settlement includes more text than was published in the edited version of
1882, including items on the 1823 movement to amend the Illinois state
constitution, the introduction of slavery into Illinois, and an account of the
first emigration of free African Americans to Haiti.
Many
of the letters mounted in the 2 volumes of family correspondence are by the
women of the family and discuss family matters. Letters also show the
continuing interest of the Flowers in anti-slavery matters and political
freedom. Many letters are cross-written. Also included in the volumes of letters
are a George Flower silhouette cut from life by Auguste Edouart, 2 photographs
of Edward F. Flower, and newspaper clippings on the death of Edward F. Flower.
Most
items written in English, but some materials written in French. Translations
made by volunteers over the years are available at Chicago History Museum,
Research Center.
Description of the microfilm copy:
Microfilm
of the collection (without the manuscript History
of the English Settlement) is available from Chicago History Museum,
Research Center. The microfilm of the diaries lack v. 1, p. 58-59; 80-81;
84-85. Paper copies of these pages are available in the Alpha1 Flower folder.
Description
of some material related to the collection:
There
are two published editions of the History
of the English Settlement, cataloged individually in the Research Center,
Chicago History Museum. The 1882 edition and the 1909 edition were published by
the Fergus Printing Company of Chicago. They do not include some material in
the manuscript of the History.
Related
materials at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (Springfield, Ill.)
include a George Flower journal (1816) and other items of the Flower family.
List of online
catalog headings about the collection.
The
following headings for this collection were placed in the online catalog:
Flower,
George, 1788-1862--Archives.
Birkbeck,
Morris, 1764-1825. In: 1817 Aug. 15; 1824 Jul. 2
(Flower family vol.)
Flower,
Alfred. In: 1881 Jun 9; 1882: Nov 1, Dec 24; 1883 Apr. 11.
Flower,
B. O. (Benjamin Orange), 1858-1918. In:
1881 June 7.
Flower,
Edward Fordham, 1805-1883. In: obituaries and photographs
pasted in back of v.2 letters.
Flower,
Elizabeth, d.1846.
Flower,
Fordham, Sir, 1904- In:
1964 Aug. 13.
Flower,
George, 1788-1862. History of the English Settlement in Edwards County,
Illinois.
Flower,
George, 1788-1862. History of the Harmony Society.
Flower,
Henry Corwin. In:
1885 Jan. 8.
Flower,
Janet Marie, 1924- In:
Flower family genealogy (1963)
Flower,
Richard, 1761?-1829. In: 1825 Dec 9; 1828: May 18,
Sept 25, Oct 23; 1829 Feb 18 (Flower family volumes)
Pickering,
Martha Flower, 1800-1838.
Ronalds,
Mary Katherine Flower.
Jefferson,
Thomas, 1743-1826. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
209.
Rapp,
George, 1757-1847. In: 1817 Aug 28.
Shelby,
Isaac, 1750-1826. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
145.
Washburne,
E. B. (Elihu Benjamin), 1816-1887.
Washington,
George, 1732-1799. In: George Flower
diary, v. 2, p. 209.
Harmony
Society. In: 1817 Aug. 28.
Flowers
family.
African
Americans--Colonization--Haiti.
African
Americans--Religion. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
17.
Agriculture--France--19th
century. In: George Flower diary, v. 1, pp. 35-36.
Antislavery
movements--Illinois.
British
Americans--Illinois--19th century.
Cattle
breeders--Kentucky--19th century. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
123.
Education--France--19th
century. In: 1814: Oct. 8, Nov. 30; 1815 Jan. 19.
Education--Great
Britain--19th century. In: 1814 Oct. 8; 1815 Jan. 19.
English--Illinois--19th
century.
Frontier
and pioneer life--Illinois.
Frontier
and pioneer life--Missouri. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
148.
Frontier
and pioneer life--Tennessee. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
185.
Collective
settlements--Indiana--New Harmony--19th century.
Irish
Americans--Pennsylvania--19th century. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
69.
Justice,
Administration of--Pennsylvania--Sudbury--19th century. In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 44
Labor
and laboring classes--France--19th century. In:
George Flower diary, v. 1, p. 24-25.
Lithography--France--19th
century. In: 1815: Jan. 19, Apr. 6.
Pennsylvania
Germans--19th century. In: George Flower dairy, v. 2, p.
80.
Prisons--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th
century. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 35.
Sheep--Breeding--France--19th
century. In: George Flower diary, v. 1.
Slavery--Illinois.
Slavery--Kentucky.
In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 127.
Slavery--Virginia.
In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 201.
Society
of Friends--Ohio--19th century. In: 1817 Apr 10.
Women--Employment--France--19th
century. In: George Flower diary, v. 1, p. 24-25.
Working
class--France--19th century. In: Geo. Flower diary, v.1,
pp.24-25.
Albion
(Ill.)--Description and travel--19th century
Cincinnati
(Ohio)--Description and travel--19th century. In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 117.
Edwards
County (Ill.)--Description and travel--19th century.
France--History--Invasion
of 1814. In: George Flower diary, v. 1, p. 42, 49 & 95.
France--Politics
and government, 1814-1830. In: 1814 Aug 24.
France--Description
and travel--19th century. In: George Flower diary, v. 1.
Great
Britain--Politics and government--1800-1837. In: 1817 Aug. 15.
Haiti--History--1804-1844.
In:
1823 June; 1824: June 21, Aug. 18, Sept. 25, [Oct?] 23.
Kentucky--Description
and travel--19th century. In: George Flower diary, v. 2, p.
152.
New
Harmony (Ind.) --19th century. In: 1817 Aug. 28; 1825 Jan. 2
(Flower family vol.); 1860 Oct. 2.
Ohio--History--1787-1865.
In: 1817 Apr. 10.
Pittsburgh
(Pa.)--Description and travel--19th century. In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 77.
Reading
(Pa.)--Description and travel--19th century. In:
George Flower diary, v. 2, p. 40.
United
States--Race relations--19th century. In: 1824 Jul 29 (Flower family
vol.)
Form/genre
headings:
Correspondence.
Cross-written
letters.
Diaries.
French
language items.
Genealogies.
Histories.
Manuscripts
for publication.
Silhouettes.
Added
entries:
Flower,
Alfred. In: 1881 June 9; 1882: Nov. 1, Dec. 24; 1883 Apr. 11.
Flower,
B. O. (Benjamin Orange), 1858-1918. In: 1881 June 7.
Flower,
Elizabeth, d.1846.
Flower,
Fordham, Sir, 1904- In:
1964 Aug. 13.
Flower,
George, 1788-1862.
Flower,
George, 1788-1862. History of the English Settlement in Edwards County,
Illinois.
Flower,
George, 1788-1862. History of the Harmony Society.
Flower,
Henry Corwin. In: 1885 Jan. 8.
Flower,
Janet Marie, 1924- In:
Flower family genealogy (1963)
Flower,
Richard, 1761-1829. In: 1825 Dec. 9; 1828: May 18,
Sept. 25, Oct. 23; 1829 Feb. 18 (Flower family volumes)
Forten,
James, 1766-1842. In: 1824 Sept. 25.
Arndt,
Karl John Richard. In: 1970 Aug. 2; article ca. 1974.
Cobbett,
William, 1763-1835. In: 1812 May 12; 1817 Sept. 9.
Gaultier,
abbé (Aloisius Edouard Camille), 1746?-1818.
In: 1814
Sept. 30.
Granville,
Mr. In: 1824: June
21, [Oct?] 23; subject, July 29 (Flower family vol.)
Houdville,
J. In: 1815 Sept. 4.
Jay,
Peter A. (Peter Augustus), 1776-1843. In: 1826 July 1.
Jones,
Joel, 1795-1860. In: 1823 June.
Lafayette,
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. In:
1814 Nov. 3; 1815 Aug. 28; 1816 Apr. 16.
Lasteyrie,
C. de (Charles), 1759-1849. In: 1814: Aug. 24, Oct. 8; 1815:
Jan. 19, Apr. 24.
Macdonald,
D. In: 1825 May 12.
O'Connor,
C., b.1790. In: 1815 Apr. 6.
Owen,
William, 1802-1842. In: 1825 Apr. 13.
Peters,
Richard, 1743-1828. In: 1817 Aug. 15.
Pickering,
Martha Flower, 1800-1838.
Pickering,
William T., 1798-1873.
Priestley,
Joseph R. In: 1820 Feb. 20.
Ronalds,
Mary Katherine Flower.
Rotch,
Thomas, 1792-1840. In: 1817 Apr. 10
Tessier,
M. (Alexandre-Henri), 1741-1837. In: 1815 Aug. 23.
Warder,
Jeremiah, 1780-1849. In: 1817: Aug. 28, Sept. 9; 1824
Oct. 18
Washburne,
E. B. (Elihu Benjamin), 1816-1887
France--Paris.
Great
Britain--London.
Haiti--Port-au-Prince.
United
States--Illinois--Edwards County--Albion.
United
States--Indiana--Posey County--New Harmony.
United
States--Ohio--Stark County--Kendal.
United
States--Pennsylvania--Northumberland County--Northumberland.
United
States--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia County--Philadelphia.
Detailed
description of archival series in the collection:
Detailed
description of the diaries:
Vol.
1, July7-Sept. 9, 1814, 212 p., Travels in France.
Vol.
2, June 11-Dec 14, 1816, 322 p., Travels in the United States
Vol.
3, Oct. 15, 1816-July 3, 1817, ca 150 p., Travels in the United States.
These
diaries describe Flower's travels in France and in the United States and give a
colorful picture of the countryside traversed and of the manner of life of the
people there.
Vol.
1 of the diaries or journals is a day by day description of George Flower's
travels in France with Morris Birkbeck and his son. The chief interest of the
travelers is in agriculture and sheep-raising, and there are many observations
on methods of cultivation and crops grown, on flocks of sheep seen, their
condition, and the quality of their wool. The travelers go from Brighton to
Dieppe, to Paris, through the Loire Valley to Avignon, Nimes, the French
Pyrenees, to Tarascon, Toulouse, and Clermont, where the diary ends. Flower
comments on the working conditions of women factory workers in northern France;
on the democratic tenor of the country; on the costumes of the people, and
especially on the excellent food everywhere. His dislike of the military and of
the Catholic clergy are both apparent. The depredations of the Russians are
mentioned. The diary is interesting to compare with Birkbeck's published Notes on a journey through France, which
is more informative on French agricultural and economic conditions, more studious
and less spontaneous. All names of people visited are left blank.
Vols.
2 and 3 describe Flower's early travels in the United States. Excerpts from
them were published in the Mississippi
Valley Historical Review (Vol. 14, p. 137 ff., in a paper written by Dr. O.
L. Schmidt, "The Mississippi Valley in 1816, from an Englishman's Diary."
It is only in a broad sense that the scene of these diaries can be described as
the Mississippi Valley; Nashville (Tenn.) being Flower's closest approach to
the Mississippi River.
Vols.
2 and 3 of the diaries begin with Flower's departure from Liverpool England,
June 11, 1816, and continue with his ocean passage, and his arrival in New York
August 3rd. From New York he went by river steamboat to West Point, to Hyde
Park, and back to New York; from thence to Bristol, N. J. by stage; then to
Philadelphia by river, overland through Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, through
Ohio to Cincinnati, and from thence to Kentucky and Tennessee, across Tennessee
and back to Virginia, where vol. 2 ends, Dec. 14, 1816.
Vol.
3 is much the same as Vol. 2, but not identical in wording. It appears that
from Oct. 15, 1816, to Dec. 14, 1816, the contents of Vol. 3 were copied into
Vol. 2, or possibly vice versa. From Dec. 14, 1816 to July 3, 1817, the third diary
is not duplicated. During that time, making Monticello his headquarters, Flower
traveled about the state of Virginia, chiefly in the vicinity of Lynchburg. He
mentioned the arrival of Morris Birkbeck and his party in Richmond (Va.) in May
and joined them. From then on, the diary is composed of fragmentary notes on
their way west, and ends July 3, 1817, with the party beyond Lawrenceburg,
Indiana, on their way to found the English settlement in Illinois. The diaries
are especially full of description about Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Flower
was fortunate in his acquaintances. In Hyde Park, he visited Dr. John Bard, and
described the life and people there. In Philadelphia, he knew Judge Richard
Peters and mentioned his residence, "Belmont," as well as the estates
of other Philadelphians. In Kentucky, he spent some days with Governor Isaac
Shelby and described the governor, his estate, and manner of life. In Virginia,
he is the guest of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and visited the Coles family
at Enniscorthy.
Example
[this excerpt is among those used by O. L. Schmidt in his article]:
Ohio,
near the Muskingum river: "Stop'd at a log house. A number of young men
and maidens had assembled for the purpose of learning to sing. The host
exhibited the finest specimen of backwoodsman I had met with. Coarse, large and
strong, vulgar, sturdy and impudent. Such men as these are the sinews of the
American Army. These vulgar Democrats are attached to liberty and understand
it. They hold in supreme contempt any thing like refinement or neatness. Strong
from moderate labour and good living, dexterous in the use of the rifle; for he
is no marksman who cannot hit the eye of a squirrel 19 times out of 20. The
privations of a campaign are trifles to such tough fellows."
Vol.
2 topics include:
Religious
service at a Negro chapel, New York (p. 17);
The
calibre of men in Philadelphia, self-made, etc. (p. 34);
Philadelphia
prison (p. 35);
Home
manufacture of carpets and method of dyeing (p. 40);
Impressions
of Reading (Pa.) (p. 40);
Administration
of justice in a Sunbury (Pa.) court (p. 44);
Description
of Irish settlers in (Pa.) mountains (p. 69);
Description
of Pittsburgh (Pa.) (p. 77);
Pennsylvania
Germans (p. 80);
Emigration
through Canton, Ohio (p. 96);
Election
day in Ohio town (p. 102);
Comparison
of Kentuckians with Ohioans (p. 105);
Description
of Cincinnati (p. 117);
Improved
breed of cattle in Kentucky (p. 123);
Slavery
in Kentucky (p. 127) see Vol. 3 for fuller account;
Gov.
Isaac Shelby and his home (p. 145);
Descriptions
of emigrants to Missouri (p. 148);
Mammoth
Cave, Kentucky (p. 152);
Shakertown
and description of people (p. 163) see also Vol. 3;
Horse
race near Nashville, Gen. Jackson's horse (p. 176);
American
tavern and manner of eating (p. 178) see also Vol. 3;
Emigrants
numbers, outfits, and methods (p. 185);
Thoughts
on slavery and slavery in Virginia (p. 201);
Thomas
Jefferson's anecdotes on Washington (p. 209).
Vol.
3 (in addition to duplications of things mentioned above) topics include:
Jefferson's
views on European customs and democracy, Dec. 13, 1816
Anecdotes
of Lord Cornwallis, Dec. 14. 1816
Monticello,
and life on a "country establishment" in Virginia, Dec. 30, 1816.
pen
and ink drawing of Natural Bridge, Virginia
pen
and ink drawing of a log cabin
a
manuscript poem, "Love and Opportunity."
Detailed
description of the histories:
The
collection contains a typescript (355 p.) and a manuscript in George Flower's
handwriting of The History of the English
Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois, from its commencement in 1817 and 1818,
by George Flower and Morris Birkbeck.
The
first copy of this manuscript owned by the Chicago Historical Society was a gift
of the author, George Flower, to the Chicago Historical Society (CHS) on Sept.
18, 1860. It was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The typescript
may be from the period when the text was edited for publication in 1882.
The
manuscript of George Flower's The History
of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois that is in the
collection now was a gift of Alfred Flower, ca. 1882. This copy was owned by
the family and was sent to CHS by Alfred Flower (see Alfred Flower letter of
June 9, 1881).
An
edited version of the History was
published by the Chicago Historical Society, printed by the Fergus Printing
Company, in 1882, with preface and footnotes by E. B. Washburne. The cost of publication
was paid by Levi Z. Leiter.
The
manuscript contains material not in the published version, including items on
the 1823 movement to amend the Illinois state constitution, the introduction of
slavery into Illinois, and an account of the first emigration of free African
Americans to Haiti.
The
foreword to the manuscript reads (this is not incorporated in the published
volume) "with the origin and object of the movement to procure a vote of
the Legislature of 1823, in favor of a convention to amend the Constitution;
with many original communications for and against the introduction of Slavery
into the State, and the part taken by the English Settlement in that exciting
and important political contest; also an account of the first emigration of
Free coloured people of Illinois to Hayti, with many attendent circumstances of
local and general interest."
George
Flower's manuscript History of the
Harmony Society (unfinished, unpublished) is also in the collection. An
essay (circa 1974) by Karl Arndt is filed with it.
Detailed
description of the letters mounted in 2 volumes:
Letters,
1824-1846 (mounted in 2 vols., 43 items). The majority of the letters were
written by the women of the family from Albion (Ill.) and concern family
matters, political freedom, emancipation of slaves, and New Harmony community.
Authors of the letters were Richard, Elizabeth, and George Flower, Martha Pickering,
Mary K. Ronalds.
Some
of the letters are partially or completely cross-written.
George
Flower's brother, Edward Fordham Flower, was the recipient of many of the
letters. Obituaries and photographs of Edward are pasted in the back of vol. 2
of the letters.
Descriptions
of some letters (paraphrasing from the texts):
1824
July 2 - Albion, Martha to Edward; Negro's Hayti; elections
1824
July 29 - Albion, George to Edward; citizen Granville sent to assist in the "Emancipation"
of the colored people, mentions the convention question [the convention was a
plan to make slavery legal in Illinois].
1825
Jan. 22 - Albion, George to Edward, New Harmon
1825
Dec. 1 - Albion, Richard to Edward: religion in New Harmony.
1826
Jan. 22 - Shawnee town, George to Edward; a socialist "Establishment"
to be founded at Memphis; an emancipation pamphlet; Negro colonization plans
for either Hayti or South America; useful trades should be taught to Negroes.
1826
Feb. 15 - Albion, Mary Katherine to Edward; the "Establishment," a
Miss Wright, who, with George, is responsible for the socialist experiment; New
Harmony and its Constitution of perfect equality.
1829
Sept. - Albion, George to Edward; letter concerning Richard's death.
1831
Sept. 19 - Albion, Elizabeth to Edward; asks Edward if it's a good thing for
him to go into politics on the eve of a revolution.
1832
Feb 5 - Albion, George to Edward: "So they have abolished heritary peerage
in France!" comment on this; Stephen Girard's will.
1837
Apr. 7 - Albion, George to Edward; need of labour in Albion - carpenters, etc.;
emigration societies; and an 1836 "Release of Indenture" for the
Mount Carmel and Alton Railroad.
Detailed
description of other materials in the collection:
A. Letters
(29 items, 1817-1826), mostly to George Flower (formerly in CHS Autograph
Letterbooks vol. 16), including:
12
letters that were copied and published by the Chicago Historical Society with George
Flower's History of the English
Settlement in Edwards County. Includes 3 from Lafayette, others from noted
Frenchmen, a letter from William Macdonald, and one from Robert Owen to Mr. Rapp,
leader of the settlement at Harmony, Indiana.
2
letters from Thomas Jefferson (a facsimile to Robert C. Weightman) from
Monticello. One is a note of regret. The other, an original manuscript, is
dated, "Poplar Forest, Sep 12 /17", and tells of Jefferson's hopes
for the success of the English Settlement and the terms upon which land may be
obtained. Jefferson then discusses this country as a refuge for the oppressed
of all nations: "a single good Government becomes thus a blessing to the
whole earth."
Letter
from Richard Peters, Belmont, (Philadelphia, Pa.) Aug. 15, 1817, mentioning the
discomforts of Flower's journey, praising Birkbeck, and discussing British politics.
Letter
from F. C. Rotch, Kendall, Stark County, Ohio, Nov. 10, 1817, telling the many
advantages of his section of Ohio for farming, sheep raising, manufacture,
transportation, pottery making: "equal to the Liverpool queensware."
3
letters from Jeremiah Warder, Jr., of Philadelphia, Pa. (2 in 1817, 1 in 1884).
One discusses Flower's emigration to the United States, requests information regarding
his settlement the better to assist him, and tells of acquaintances westward-bound
to whom he has recommended the Birkbeck-Flower settlement. Another makes
inquiry regarding Rapp's communistic settlement at Harmony. The third concerns
Citizen Granville's proposed plan for the emigration of free people of color to
Hayti, and says that the citizens of Philadelphia cannot support it.
2
letters from Granville, 1824, who was promoting the emigration to Hayti;
1
letter from James Forten, 1824, giving details;
1
letter from Joel Jones, an émigré, from Port au Prince.
Also
letters from J. R. Priestly, P. A. Jay, and J. Houdville; a legal agreement of
two men as bondsmen.
Letter
from Nathaniel Pope, Dec. 14, 1817, to Morris Birkbeck on his purchase of land
in Illinois, and Birkbeck's reply requesting extension of time for payment.
B. Flower
family genealogy and history, by Janet M. Flower (written ca. 1963).
C. Address
delivered by Sir Fordham Flower on Founder's Day, Edwards County Centenary
Fair, Albion, Illinois, 1964 Aug. 14 (mimeograph copy of typescript, 5 p.).
D. Photocopies of
letters (1881 June 7 & 9) in the Washburn papers at the Library of Congress.
Detailed
description of some related material at Chicago History Museum:
Letters
by Lafayette (3 items) to George Flower: from La Grange,1814 Nov 3; from Paris,
1815 Aug 28; from La Grange, 1816 Apr 16, are filed in the Lafayette manuscript
collection at Chicago History Museum.
For
further information about Morris Birkbeck, see CHS Autograph Letterbook vol.
44: Letter, Edward Coles to William Barry, Sec. of CHS, June 25, 1858,
containing reminiscences of Morris Birkbeck and the Birkbeck family. Tells of
Coles' introduction to Birkbeck in London, 1817; of Birkbeck's capacity as a
practical and scientific agriculturist; of his literary taste; of his coming to
America; comments on the unfortunate influence of the Birkbeck-Flower feud on
the settlement of Albion; mentions Birkbeck's anti-slavery pamphlets, etc.
See
also CHS Autograph Letterbooks., vols., 29, p. 107, 347; vol. 30, p. 289, 311;
vol. 38, p. 375; vol. 58, p. 21.
All
these letters were written by E. B. Washburne, by A. D. Hager, or by Flower's
son Alfred (with the exception of the letter in vol. 58, by his grandson, H. C.
Flower). All deal with the publication of Flower's History of the English Settlement. Names of surviving members of
the family were given; pleasure was expressed in the publication; L. Z. Leiter
was thanked for paying the publication expenses; portraits of George Flower and
his wife were presented to CHS [portraits are in the artifact collections of
the Chicago History Museum]; data concerning relatives in England were given.
CHS
Autograph Letterbooks, vol. 41, p 155, contains the signature: "M.
Birkbeck, English Prairie," the gift of Edward F. Leonard, March 2, 1905.
Detailed provenance
notes:
The manuscript in this collection of Flower's History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois, is a
copy that he made for his family. It was given to Chicago Historical Society in
the early 1880s by Alfred Flower after the original draft, given to Chicago
Historical Society by George Flower in the 1860s, was destroyed in the Great
Chicago Fire of 1871. The
copy currently possessed by Chicago History Museum was the family's copy, and
was sent to CHS by Alfred Flower (see Alfred Flower letter of June 9, 1881).
George
Flower diaries (3 vols.), 1814-1817, were a gift of Mrs. Beatrice Flower
Pollock, great-granddaughter of George Flower, Nov. 18, 1926.
Flower
family correspondence, 1824-1846, mounted in 2 vols. (1948.0054) was acquired
from the Rosenbach Library on Oct 22, 1948, for $400 and exchange for Girara Cosmographia [Venice, 1570].
Flower
family genealogy & history (ca. 1963) was a gift of Janet Flower, Sept 1963
(1963.0426).
Address
delivered by Sir Fordham Flower on Founder's Day, Edwards County Centenary
Fair, Albion, Illinois, 1964 Aug. 14. (1964.0472).
Letter
from Robert Owen to George Flower, 1824 (or 1825?) was given to CHS with the
Eben Lane papers.
Photocopies
of letters (1881 June 7 & 9) in the Washburn papers at the Library of
Congress, were a gift of Edward Caldwell, Feb 10, 1933 (1933.0008)