A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital



A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital

The Legacy of Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham

Peggy Christensen

Summer Fellowship 2007

Abstract: Students will study aspects of the lives of Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham, two prominent residents of Champaign, Illinois in the late 1800s.They will analyze primary and secondary sources to better understand how information about an individual is gathered and will note how this information contributes to and reflects the history of the period.

Essential Questions / Enduring Understandings:

• How does an individual’s history reflect the history of a particular period?

• How does studying the life of an individual help us better understand moments in history?

• How do primary and secondary sources differ?

• What are some of the limitations that must be recognized when using primary and secondary sources?

• How can the use of multiple sources contribute to a more accurate understanding of a particular situation?

Assessments: Students’ worksheets and contributions to class discussions will be assessed throughout the unit. Once all lessons have been completed, students will submit their unit folder with all handouts and worksheets as well as their final reflection.

Setting the Purpose: The purpose of this unit is for students to learn the difference between primary and secondary sources and the need to use multiple documents to develop an understanding of history.

Duration: The entire unit will take eight to ten days. Lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 could be studied separately, but lesson 3 will only make sense when combined with lesson 2 and lesson 7 is dependent on lessons 1-6.

Lesson 1: Students need to understand the difference between primary and secondary sources as well as limitations of each.

Procedures:

• To facilitate this understanding, read the following excerpt from Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. reproduced from the original manuscript by B.F. Harris, III. Produced and bound in November, 1964 for members of the family and friends. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. This account is on pages 4 and 5 and was originally written by B.F. Harris in 1899 when he was 88 years old. The original spellings, punctuation, and terms have been retained. Read this to students without additional background information or explanations:

“I was at six years of age when I commenced going to school. The school house was two miles and a half. I remember the morning I first started to school my mother gave me the little primer and folded up a nice square piece of paper. I asked her what the paper was for. She said it was a thumper and showed me how to use it. So I put out to school, arrive safely, walked in with my primer and thumpaper in hand. The teacher gave me a seat. I looked around and with other things I saw about a half dozen nice hickory switches sittin in one corner near the teacher’s chair. I wondered what they ware for in a short time the teacher drew out one of the hickorys and commenced whipping a boy. I soon found out what the hickory was for. I was scared and kept watch of the Teacher and the switches. Before night the switches was purty well used up. In those days whipping was all the go. The Teachers name was Pilcher. The first few days of my school life I put in my time in watching the Teacher and the switches he would bring in every morning to whip the scholars. In the course of a few weeks I got used to it, and continued going to school some three or four years, to different teachers, at the same school house, until I was about ten years old and then attended school in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer until I was sixteen years of age.”

• Next have students write what they can about the time B.F. Harris spent in school. They should skip every other line to allow room for corrections.

• Once students have finished writing, distribute worksheet 1.

• Discuss, collect, and assess worksheet 1.

Attachment:

• Worksheet 1: The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. is a local primary source which is available at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Ties to a National Primary Source: There is no tie to a national source in the lesson.

Lesson 2: Students often rely on a Google search to gather information about an individual or event, and they seldom consider where researchers originally found the information. In this lesson, students will examine a page from the Harris family Bible as well as three pages from Benjamin F. Harris’s autobiography, Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr., to learn more about him. They will also note some of the limitations of individual primary sources.

Procedure:

• Distribute the page titled “Deaths” from the Harris family Bible.

• Fill out the Written Document Analysis Worksheet on an overhead so that the class can discuss each section as you write.

• Hand out Worksheet 2 and the pages from Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr.

• Let students work in small groups to fill out worksheet 2. Each student will be expected to turn in the completed written assignment. They will need the sheet from the Bible as well as the three pages on “The History of Myself and Family.”

• Discuss, collect, and evaluate the worksheet.

Attachments:

• Worksheet 2: The Immediate Family of B.F. Harris

• Written Document Analysis Worksheet developed by the staff of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration document analysis worksheet.pdf

•

(Alexis, please attach “Harrisbible 3- Deaths” which Don scanned. This document is from the Harris Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Please attach pages 64-66, “The History of Myself and Family,” from Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. reproduced from the original manuscript by B.F. Harris, III. Produced and bound in November, 1964 for members of the family and friends. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. Don scanned these and identified them as autobio 1a, autobio 1b, and autobio 1c.)

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. and the family Bible page from the Harris Vertical File are primary sources available at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Ties to National Primary Source: There is no national source in this lesson.

Lesson 3: Students will use primary sources to solve two mysteries. They will gain a better understanding of why historians must use multiple primary sources to better understand events and situations.

Procedure:

• Divide students so that everyone is working with a partner. They will be able to discuss the primary sources and written activity, but each student is expected to complete the worksheet.

• Distribute the worksheet and all primary sources except for the 1900 census.

• Once pairs have completed the worksheet, let them use a computer to view the 1900 census document. They will need to zoom in on pertinent lines. Their mission is to look for information about B.F. Harris’s fifth wife. They should add discovered information to worksheet 2.

• Once everyone has completed the activities, discuss, collect, and assess the worksheet.

Attachments:

• Worksheet 3: Mysteries Unfold

•

(Alexis, please attach the documents Don scanned labeled “Harris divorce 1” and “Harris divorce 2” as well as the documents called “check,” “chemist’s letter,” and “1900 census.”)

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Local primary sources include the Harris divorce document, B.F. Harris vs. M.A. Harris File with Chancery Cases in the Circuit Court, Case # 1774. March 8, 1887; as well as copies of the check and chemist’s letter which were provided by Melissa Dobbins Chambers and are now included in the Harris Vertical File at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Ties to National Primary Source: There is no national source in this lesson.

Lesson 4: Students will read a transcription of B.F. Harris’s obituary which appeared in the May 10, 1905 copy of the Champaign County Gazette, and then they will complete the document analysis worksheet. They will discuss how one individual’s history reflects the period when he/she lived.

Procedure:

• Distribute a copy of the obituary along with an analysis sheet.

• Students should complete the analysis sheet on their own.

• Have students highlight in their copies of the obituary, activities and events that are unique to Benjamin Harris’s lifetime. Discuss how his history as told in the obituary and in his autobiography reflects the period when he lived.

• Discuss the worksheet and the students’ conclusions to the previous activity.

Attachments:

•

(Alexis, please attach the B.F. Harris obituary which has been transcribed from the copy found in the Harris Vertical File at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. The obituary is on pages 16 & 17 of this unit.)

• Written Document Analysis Worksheet developed by the staff of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

document analysis worksheet.pdf

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: A copy of the Harris obituary which was examined in this lesson is in the Harris Vertical File at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Ties to National Primary Source: B.F. Harris’s personal friendship with Abraham Lincoln is mentioned in his obituary as is Harris’s national reputation as a cattleman.

Lesson Five: Students will continue to examine ways in which primary sources about B.F. Harris reflect the history of the period when he lived. In this lesson, they will consider the role Harris played on a national level shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president and prior to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. They will be reading a few pages from his autobiography where he discussed his trip to Washington to offer support to his old friend, Abraham Lincoln. To understand why Harris felt he was needed, students should be aware that prior to his visit, several states had seceded from the Union to join with South Carolina and form the Confederate States of America.

Procedure:

• Discuss the climate in the North and South following the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln. Divide students into groups and have them research the events that led to these three famous documents: Surrender of Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address. A group might also do a timeline showing major national events during the period between 1860 and 1864. Each group should share its information with the rest of the class.

• The class should then read pages 56, 57, and 58 from Benjamin Harris’s autobiography. These pages could be divided into four sections with discussion following each division. The top two-thirds of page 56 deals with the outbreak of war and Henry H. Harris’s departure to serve with the Union troops. In the next section from the bottom third of page 56 to the top fourth of page 57, Harris discussed his reason for going to Washington. The third section on the rest of page 57 and the very top of page 58 describes Lincoln’s reaction to Harris’s arrival. Stop here.

• Hand out the event map which students will complete once they have read the rest of page 58 which is an account of the death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth. Once their maps have been completed, discuss then collect them.

Attachments:

• . Go to 100 milestone documents to view these documents and background information: Surrender of Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address.

• Graphic Organizer: Event Map:

•

(Alexis, please attach manuscript 1, 2, and 3 from the Harris autobiography,: Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. These are sources that Don scanned for me. They are pages 56, 57, and 58 where Harris wrote about his visit to Washington to encourage Lincoln.)

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Three pages from the Harris autobiography, Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr., are examined in this lesson. This book can be found at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

• Ties to National Primary Source: The following speeches are introduced in this lesson: Surrender of Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address.

Lesson Six: Students will use an analysis worksheet to better understand a photographic primary source.

Procedure:

• Distribute the photo analysis worksheet then show students the attached photo, but cover the names and dates. Tell students that this is a picture of Benjamin F. Harris with his son, grandson, and great-grandson. Students will then fill out the photo analysis worksheet.

• Encourage students to try to figure out when this photograph might have been taken. What do they know about B.F. Harris and what objects did they note that might help determine a date?

• Discuss, collect, and assess the photo analysis worksheet.

Attachment:

• Photo Analysis Worksheet developed by the staff of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration analysis worksheet.pdf

•

(Alexis, please attach the photo Don scanned and labeled car ride.)

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: The photograph is a primary source found in the Harris Vertical File at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Ties to National Primary Source: No national primary sources are used in this lesson.

Lesson 7: Students will reflect on their study of B.F. Harris through the use of primary documents.

Procedure:

• Distribute worksheet 4: Points to Ponder.

• Once students have completed their worksheets, have them meet in small groups to discuss their reflections. Group members should listen for common reactions and be prepared to share them with the total class.

• Discuss group insights then collect and assess the worksheet.

Attachments:

• Worksheet 4: Points to Ponder

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Students will be reflecting on their use of local primary sources connected to B.F. Harris.

Ties to National Primary Source: Students will be reflecting on their use of national primary sources connected to B.F. Harris.

Lesson 8: Like B.F. Harris, Julia Finley Burnham was a prominent figure in Champaign. She was born in 1839, married Albert Burnham in 1866, and died in 1894. Her husband was a wealthy lawyer, banker, and philanthropist. Their daughter, Mary Bruce Burnham, married Newton Harris, grandson of B.F. Harris. In this lesson, students will read Julia F. Burnham’s obituary which appeared in the Champaign County News on October 29, 1894 as well as an entry written about her by J.O. Cunningham in his History of Champaign County and an excerpts from the minutes of the Women’s Social and Political Science Club from 1888. As students read these documents, they will be pondering these questions: How does an individual’s history reflect the history of a particular period? How does studying the life of an individual help us better understand moments in history?

Procedure:

• Divide the class into four groups. Each group will be responsible for studying all or part of a primary document and reporting back to the class.

• Each group should focus on what the document tells about life in Champaign at the time it was written.

• Students should also look for connections to national figures or events.

• In addition, students should look at the life of Julia Burnham as portrayed in the document.

• Each group will have at least one extension question to answer that will require extra research. Group members will divide the tasks as evenly as possible. Once the groups have finished their research, they will take turns sharing their findings. Information may be presented in multiple ways. Posters, skits, and interviews are encouraged. Each group member should have an active role in presenting group findings. The teacher will assess both the overall group effort as well as individual participation.

• The following questions are designed to help students as they consider the documents:

Group 1 will analyze pages 1-3 of the minutes from the Woman’s Social and Political Science Club which deal with the establishment of the club. Why was it formed? What was Mrs. A.C. Burnham’s role in the club? Who was Elizabeth Cady Stanton? What does the term “women’s suffrage” mean? Why was it an issue at this time? When was it no longer a point of controversy?

Group 2 will analyze pages 5 and 17 of the minutes from the Woman’s Social and Political Science Club of 1888 and The Champaign Social Science Club of 1892. Page 5 deals with the club’s decision to build a hospital while page 17 deals with the building of The Burnham Athenaeum, Champaign’s free public library. What was Mrs. Burnham’s role in these decisions? What do you think prompted her husband to donate so much money toward the projects? Mrs. H.H. Harris is also mentioned in the minutes dealing with the hospital. She was the wife of Henry Harris, Benjamin F. Harris’s son. How did the activities of Julia Burnham and Mary Harris differ from the way Benjamin F. Harris described the lives of two of his wives in his autobiography? In what ways did the role of women change as the city became more established?

Group 3 will study the obituary about Julia Burnham which appeared in the Champaign County News on October 29, 1894. What do you think the writer meant when he called her “a model of disinterested benevolence and Christian charity?” What were some of the concerns she tried to address? When he was discussing her health, the writer said there was “a paralytic tendency in her family.” What does this mean? What were the leading causes of death in the United States at this time? What does this source indicate about transportation in the 1890s?

Group 4 will look at two pages from the History of Champaign County by J.O. Cunningham that chronicle Julia Burnham’s contributions. Which of her activities were mentioned? What indication was given that education was very important to her? Julia Burnham was educated in the public schools. What were the Champaign public schools like in the late 1800s?

Attachments:

(Alexis, please attach the following pages which Don scanned: pages 1-3, 5, and 17 from History of the Champaign Social Science Club. Mrs. Terence T. Quirke, Historian. 1894. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. In addition, please attach the death notice from the Champaign County News, October 29, 1894 that I found in the Burnham Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. Don labeled it “burnhamobit.” Finally, please attach the two pages marked “historycham.co 2, and 3” which are from History of Champaign County by J.O. Cunningham. Reprint of the 1905 Edition. Edited by Frederick A. Schlipf. Copyright 1984 by the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.)

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Several primary sources were examined in this lesson. Pages from History of the Champaign Social Science Club. Mrs. Terence T. Quirke, Historian. 1894. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois were studied as were the obituary from the Champaign County News, October 29, 1894 that I found in the Burnham Vertical File at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library and two pages from History of Champaign County by J.O. Cunningham. Reprint of the 1905 Edition. Edited by Frederick A. Schlipf. Copyright 1984 by the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library.

Ties to National Primary Source: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the term “women’s suffrage” as well as national health concerns were all part of this lesson.

Conclusion: Students will turn in their unit folders with all graded worksheets, handouts, and class notes. Materials should be arranged chronologically by lessons. The final entry in the folder should be a letter to the teacher which addresses the following:

• Think about streets and buildings in Champaign that bear the names of prominent members of our community from previous centuries. If you were going to research the life of one of these people like Dr. H.C. Howard, Ross Mattis, James or William McKinley, Joseph Kuhn, J.O. Cunningham, or Carrie Busey where would you start?

• Explain the process you would follow to be sure that you were using a mix of primary and secondary sources.

• What are some of the difficulties you might encounter?

• How would you resolve them?

• Has this unit helped you become a more aware researcher?

• What activities helped you the most?

• Which activities would you eliminate? Why?

• What other suggestions or comments do you have about this unit?

• Students will submit their folders for final assessment by the teacher.

Annotated List of Materials and Resources:

Books and Files:

B.F. Harris vs. M.A. Harris File with Chancery Cases in the Circuit Court. Case # 1774. March 8, 1887. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library,

210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Burnham, Julia F. Estate File #2029, Petition of A.C. Burnham for Letters of Administration and Letters of Administration. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Burnham Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois

Champaign A Pictorial History by Raymond Bial. G. Bradley Publishing: St. Louis, Missouri. 1993.

Champaign County Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol. 3, No. 3 p. 44 “Burnham Bible” within the Champaign County Quarterly 1979-84. Vol. 1-5. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Essays on the Historical Geography of Champaign County from the Distant Past to 2005 by Dannel McCollum. Champaign County Historical Museum: Champaign, IL. 2005.

Estate File for Benjamin F. Harris. #3053. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Harris Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

History of Champaign County by J.O. Cunningham. Reprint of the 1905 Edition. Edited by Frederick A. Schlipf. Copyright 1984 by the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

History of the Champaign Social Science Club. Mrs. Terence T. Quirke, Historian. 1894. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Hot Type by Tom Kacich. Compiled by the News-Gazette. Sports Publishing L.L.C. 2002.

Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. reproduced from the original manuscript by B.F. Harris, III. Produced and bound in November, 1964 for members of the family and friends. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

Traveling Through Champaign-Urbana History written by Susan Murray and prepared and published under the auspices of the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District.

Interview: Melissa Dobbins Chambers, daughter of Barbara Burnham Harris, great-granddaughter of Julia Finley Davison Burnham, great-great granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin Harris graciously spent time with me discussing her family, sharing photographs and documents, and providing me with copies of two documents I could not find at the archives. I made contact with Mrs. Chambers with the help of the staff of the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

(Alexis, pages 11-18 include Worksheets 1-4 and a transcription of the Harris obituary.)

Name ______________________ Date ________

Worksheet 1

The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources

Compare your description with what B.F. Harris said about his formal education.

“I was at six years of age when I commenced going to school. The school house was two miles and a half. I remember the morning I first started to school my mother gave me the little primer and folded up a nice square piece of paper. I asked her what the paper was for. She said it was a thumper and showed me how to use it. So I put out to school, arrive safely, walked in with my primer and thumpaper in hand. The teacher gave me a seat. I looked around and with other things I saw about a half dozen nice hickory switches sittin in one corner near the teacher’s chair. I wondered what they ware for in a short time the teacher drew out one of the hickorys and commenced whipping a boy. I soon found out what the hickory was for. I was scared and kept watch of the Teacher and the switches. Before night the switches was purty well used up. In those days whipping was all the go. The Teachers name was Pilcher. The first few days of my school life I put in my time in watching the Teacher and the switches he would bring in every morning to whip the scholars. In the course of a few weeks I got used to it, and continued going to school some three or four years, to different teachers, at the same school house, until I was about ten years old and then attended school in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer until I was sixteen years of age.”

This excerpt was taken from Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr. reproduced from the original manuscript by B.F. Harris, III. Produced and bound in November, 1964 for members of the family and friends. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. This account is on pages 4 and 5 and was originally written by B.F. Harris in 1899 when he was 88 years old

1. Underline sections you omitted from Harris’s account. Circle words that you did not understand when you heard them. Next look at what you wrote. Put a box around points you remembered correctly. Put a double line under things that are wrong. How did you do?

2. Did you leave out things you did not understand, or did you guess at the meaning and include your guess in your paragraph? If possible, give an example.

3. Is your summary or Harris’s account a more accurate source for someone interested in learning either about school life in the early 1800s or about the life of B.F. Harris? Why?

4. B.F. Harris’s original manuscript was over 300 hand-written pages. His great-grandson, B.F. Harris III, transcribed the original document. What are some of the difficulties he might have encountered as he typed the manuscript?

5. B.F. Harris’s account is an example of a primary source. He wrote it, and he experienced it. The typed manuscript is also considered a primary source because it was duplicated as faithfully as possible without corrections or interpretations. You will also be viewing copies of original documents and artifacts such as pages from a family Bible, birth certificates, pictures, and wills. These have not been altered and are considered primary sources. Your description of what B.F. Harris said about his formal education is a secondary source. You were not there. You simply retold what you heard. With these points in mind, define:

Primary Source:

Secondary Source:

6. Do you feel one source is more reliable than the other? Why or why not?

7. Because someone lived through and wrote about an event, is it necessarily an accurate account? Why or why not?

8. What cautions would you give to someone using primary and secondary sources to gather information about a person or event?

Name _________________________________ Date _____________

Worksheet 2

The Immediate Family of B.F. Harris

Fill out as much information as you can using the page you have been given from the Harris Bible and the three sheets from the Harris autobiography. “B” is used for date born and “D” for date died. Because of missing information in the documents, some information has been supplied.

Benjamin Franklin Harris

B _________ in _____________________________D __________ Cause ___________

Date Location Date

Married

1. ____________________________________ on _____________ D ______________

First Wife

Their child ____________________________ B _________D_________

2. _____________________________________on ______________D ______________

Second Wife

Their 1st child __________________________ B _________D ________

Their 2nd child __________________________B _______ D_________

Their 3rd child William J. Harris B 6/5/1849 D 5/7/1850

Their 4th child __________________________ B _________D________

Their 5th child __________________________ B _________D________

Their 6th child __________________________ B _________D________

Their 7th child __________________________ B ________ D_______

3.___________________________________ on _____________ D (unknown)

Third Wife

4. Sarah J. Millis / Mrs. Saysak Conwell on 11/7/1887 D ________________

Fourth Wife

5. __________________________________ on ______________ D________________

Fifth Wife

Worksheet 2 / Side 2

1. What information did you find confusing while trying to fill in the blanks?

2. In his autobiography, Harris made no mention of his third child with Mary Jane Heath. Why might William J. Harris have been omitted from his account?

3. Benjamin F. Harris also omitted mention of his third wife in his autobiography. Why might this have happened?

4. How complete is the listing of deaths copied from the Harris Bible? What additional information to you expect to see?

5. After doing this worksheet, what limitations have you noticed about using primary sources? How might you compensate for these shortcomings?

Name ____________________________________ Date ___________________

Worksheet 3

Mysteries Unfold

1. On Worksheet 2, B.F. Harris’s omission of his third wife in his autobiography was noted. Examine the check, chemist’s report, and Circuit Court document dated March, 1887 to determine what happened between B.F. Harris and his third wife. State your conclusion in the space below.

2. With this information in mind, what reasons might explain why Mary A. Harris was not mentioned in B.F.Harris’s autobiography?

3. Another person not mentioned in his autobiography was B.F. Harris’s fifth wife. They were married and living together at the time he wrote his manuscript. Where might you look to find information about her?

4. Once you have answered all questions on this sheet, ask your teacher to let you examine the 1900 census report. Add any information you find about wife number five to the appropriate blanks on Worksheet 2.

Transcript of the Benjamin F. Harris Obituary

From the May 10, 1905 Champaign County Gazette

Harris Vertical file, Champaign County Archives, Urbana Free Library

DIED FULL OF YEARS

Benjamin F. Harris Expires at

The Age of Nearly 94.

On Sunday Morning, May 7

After Illness of Scarcely More Than a Week.

DEMISE OF A PROMINENT MAN

Who Was an Active Influence in This

Community for Upwards of

Seventy Years.

Died at his home on the 500 block, West Church Street, Champaign, on Sunday, May 7, 1905 at 5:20 a.m., Benjamin Franklin Harris, in the 94th year of his age.

Mr. Harris had been but a short time sick. Throughout the past winter he had been in his usual health. In the latter days of April, he took to a cold which seemed to affect his lungs, and on Sunday, April 30, he took to his bed. Pneumonic symptoms began to develop, and by the middle of the week his condition was found to be alarming. The seriousness of his case increased, until both sides of the lungs became involved, and he passed away peacefully at the hour already stated.

Mr. Harris was born near Winchester, VA., Dec. 15, 1811. His father was William Hickman Harris, whose father Benjamin Harris and two brothers came to America about 1726 and settled on the east coast of Maryland. His mother was Elizabeth Payne, a cousin of Dolly Payne, who became Dolly Madison, wife of James Madison, fourth President of the United States.

Mr. Harris grew to manhood in Virginia, and his family removed to Clark County, Ohio, in 1833. There he engaged with one James Foley, to assist in driving cattle from Ohio to Lancaster, Pa. This experience led him to come to the prairies of Illinois, where he bought cattle to be driven east. In this occupation he got acquainted with Illinois lands, and made his first purchase, an 80 acre tract, about a mile east of the present city of Springfield. Later he sold that and in 1835 bought 160 acres now lying in the west edge of Champaign county. This was the beginning of his land buying. He continued in the cattle business, buying, grazing, and driving them eastward to market, till in 1841, he had accumulated considerable means and had become the owner of 500 acres of land in the western part of this country. On June 22, of that year, in the log house which still stands on the Harris farm, near the Sangamon river, he was married to Elizabeth Sage of Circleville, O.

From that time onward, he devoted himself to farming and live stock, and to the last day of his life, there was not a year in which he was not in the cattle market, a seller and a buyer. For more than 72 years he was engaged in this line of trade and no man in the business, east or west, was more widely known. He was a buyer and feeder here before there was any such thing as a Chicago cattle market. Chicago in fact had less than (illegible) inhabitants when he began operations in live stock on these wild prairies. In later years he fed and marketed in Chicago the heaviest 100 head of cattle ever marketed in the country by any one feeder, and, so far as records show, in the world. Of this achievement he was always especially proud, and cattlemen everywhere to this day refer to it as an astonishing thing.

In his early life on these prairies social and religious privileges were very few. The first religious service ever held in the west part of this county was held in his log house on the Sangamon, the distinguished Peter Cartwright being the preacher. Later he built a church on his own lands, and his house was for many years the home and shelter of all the itinerant preachers coming through this section. He was a Methodist from his early manhood days, and always a reliable and liberal contributor to the support of the church.

In politics he was originally a Whig and later and till his death, a Republican. He was never a politician, but he was a radical supporter of the doctrines of his party, and personally knew nearly all the early Republican workers in the state. He was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln whom he frequently entertained at his home. At the polls in this city in 1904 just after he cast his ballot for Theodore Roosevelt, he stated to the gentlemen around the polling place that he had just then cast his nineteenth vote for a President of the United States. His first was cast for Henry Clay in 1832.

It is worth noting that he brought the first sawmill into the county, the first mowing machine, the first double-seated carriage and the first reed organ or melodeon. The old house on the Harris farm is finished in Walnut sawed out of his sawmill. The story of his early hardships and triumphs would fill columns. He frequently marketed wheat from his Champaign county farm in St. Louis and Chicago, with ox teams, the round trip requiring about twenty days, and the price being realized being about 30c a bushel.

In 1863 he removed to Champaign and occupied the house in which he spent the rest of his days.

In 1865 he organized the First National Bank of Champaign, and served continuously as its president till his death. His farming and live stock operations he conducted from his home in the city. Success marked all his enterprises from his youth up. While for the last 30 or 35 years of his life he found himself under little necessity to devote himself rigidly to business, he never abandoned interest therein, and his judgment and decision in business affairs were as unerring and almost as prompt as they ever had been.

Surviving him are his wife and two of the nine children who were born to him, Mr. H.H. Harris and Mrs. Rachel Phillippe. He had nine brothers and sisters and of these, but one, Mrs. Jane Smith of Florence, Col., is living. She is about 80 years old. It is notable that, of his family, representatives of five generations have lived in this city.

The funeral services occurred at the Harris home, Tuesday at 2 p.m. conducted by Dr. H.H. Oneal, former pastor of the local First Methodist church, assisted by Rev. Chris Galeener, pastor of the church. Interment was in the family lot in Mt. Hope cemetery.

Note: The final two paragraphs of this obituary list the honorary and active pallbearers.

Name _____________________________________________ Date _______________

Worksheet 4

Points to Ponder

We form our opinions about people and events by merging things we hear from others, what we observe, references in books or on television, what we learn at school, etc. Without this framework, we need to develop an understanding by examining different sources. In the preceding lessons, facts about the life of Benjamin F. Harris unfolded as primary documents were introduced. Please share your thoughts on this process.

1. Before we began this unit, did you know anything about B.F. Harris? If so, what?

2. Which local primary sources did you find most interesting? Why?

3. Did the review of the three speeches, Surrender of Fort Sumter, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, help you to better understand why Harris felt he needed to visit his good friend, Abraham Lincoln? If so, how did they help? If not, why not?

4. We have read references to Harris in several roles: cattleman, father and husband, friend, wealthy citizen of Champaign, founder of First National Bank, religious leader, etc. What other primary documents might help you better understand B.F. Harris’s life?

5. What secondary sources could you check for additional information?

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