Springfield Tour

[Eva Elisabeth]

Gene - thanks much for your vivid Springfield report, most enjoyable to read (doubtlessly only a fraction of the joy of participating). Great photo and tidbit as for MM - and thanks, Roger, for addicting the quote.

(I hope your wife won't end up with green teeth when you return the brush...)

[davg2000]

(10-03-2016 03:52 PM)Gene C Wrote:  Dave, I couldn't get the link to work, beats me why, because this one is the same as yours - but here is the same thing.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860...w=fulltext

Computers! When I wrote the post and dropped the link in, it did not appear as a hyper link (in blue). I wonder if it would have worked had you cut and pasted it into the URL box. Or maybe you tried that?

[Rob Wick]

Sorry I missed the tour this year, but sounds like it was a roaring good time. Gene, what did you buy me at Prairie Archives? I'll keep looking in the mailbox.

Speaking of Marilyn Monroe and Carl sandburg, here is a link to Inklings and Idlings, which is the official newsletter of the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site Association in Galesburg (and was taken from the name of a column that Sandburg wrote for his hometown paper, The Galesburg Evening Mail). They have a front-page article on Sandburg and Monroe.

http://www.sandburg.org/inklspring2010.pdf

Best
Rob

[Gene C]

When no one was looking at the museum, I managed to sneak a piece of black fuzz off the floor that I'm pretty sure must have come from Marilyn's dress.
I'll try to remember to bring it next time we get together. Don't tell anyone.

---

Anita,

Joe or Dave may know more about the cemetery associations or Ann's headstone than I do.

If you come this way again, I found this a helpful book,
Living in the Shadow of Greatness, by Raymond Montgomery
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Shadow-Gre...+greatness

I purchased mine used.
There is a map of the area in the book, but it's loose. If you buy a copy, and the map is missing, send me a message and I can make a copy of mine and send it to you.

[RJNorton]

(10-03-2016 05:50 PM)Anita Wrote:  Do we know who paid for the granite headstone in 1921? Would copy have been submitted to the engraver or at the least who would have final approval? I agree it could just have been an engraving error.

Anita, I had forgotten (gettin' old) that I had asked about this a few years ago, but then remembered. I looked back and saw Blaine Houmes had posted an interesting theory:

"Ann Rutledge's grave stone with the poem was placed in the cemetery in 1921. Robert Todd Lincoln was still alive in 1921, and both he and his mother were enraged at the Ann Rutledge story ever since Herndon started talking about it in the 1800's. Robert Todd Lincoln didn't die until 1926.

Coincidence? Or careful editing?"

[davg2000]

(10-04-2016 04:51 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(10-03-2016 05:50 PM)Anita Wrote:  Do we know who paid for the granite headstone in 1921? Would copy have been submitted to the engraver or at the least who would have final approval? I agree it could just have been an engraving error.

Anita, I had forgotten (gettin' old) that I had asked about this a few years ago, but then remembered. I looked back and saw Blaine Houmes had posted an interesting theory:

"Ann Rutledge's grave stone with the poem was placed in the cemetery in 1921. Robert Todd Lincoln was still alive in 1921, and both he and his mother were enraged at the Ann Rutledge story ever since Herndon started talking about it in the 1800's. Robert Todd Lincoln didn't die until 1926.

Coincidence? Or careful editing?"

I would think that Masters would have had to approve an edited change. Perhaps he did, tacitly. I'm still leaning toward stone cutter's error or ignorance and Masters's indifference. In the genealogy work I've done, I've learned to be wary of what is on a gravestone.

[Rob Wick]

Concerning the Ann Rutledge gravestone, Masters's biographer, Herbert K. Russell, writes:

"A large stone was subsequently purchased and placed on her Petersburg grave in 1921, and after the appropriate permission was granted, Masters's Spoon River epitaph concerning her was chiseled into the stone. It was perhaps the second-most enduring event of his career--the first being the writing of Spoon River--but Masters did not go to the ceremony because in 1921 he was busy with his long-term problems with Lillian Wilson. (Lillian Wilson was a woman that Masters was having an affair with. RGW)

"But perhaps he should have observed this moment of emergent Americana or more closely monitored how his work was handled. When the poem was chiseled into the granite, the title was omitted and two of the lines were altered. One might assume these changes were accidental, or a matter of making the poem fit the stone, but the explanation was much simpler than that (as anyone who has lived in a village would know): the chairman of the group in charge of the activity made the changes, the "better," Masters said, "to conform to that man's ideas of the use of words." (The same individual, local historian Henry B. Rankin, later altered another of Master's poems, "William H. Herndon," and reprinted it.)" Source: Herbert K. Russell, Edgar Lee Masters: A Biography (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001) pgs. 270-271.


In his notes, Russell cites an article written by Masters in the January, 1933 edition of H.L. Mencken's American Mercury titled "The Genesis of Spoon River" (pg. 52). In the remaining note, Russell writes "see also 'Ann Rutledge Monument,' Petersburg Observer, January 14, 1921,[p. 4], regarding monument; ELM to Mr. [Henry] Rankin, July 31, 1920 (grants permission for use of poem), Illinois College. Rankin's authority for changing the Rutledge poem was based on the four years he spent while a law student working the Springfield office of Lincoln and Herndon and his apparent belief that he had a better feel for Lincoln material than Masters did. Rankin was never shy about telling others what he knew of Lincoln--or about rewriting other people's poems. Three years after changing Master's poem on Rutledge, Rankin published Intimate Character Sketches of Abraham Lincoln (Lippincott, 1924) and appropriated Masters's poem "William H. Herndon" from Spoon River Anthology. Although Rankin mentioned Masters in this book, it is doubtful that Masters knew in advance how Rankin would use the poem; Rankin removed words and lines from "William H. Herndon" in addition to rearranging lines and adding new words, new punctuation, and a new format." (Russell, notes to pages 271-74, pgs. 417-8)

Russell's book is the standard biography of Masters. I knew Herb during my newspaper days (although he didn't remember me) and corresponded with him on some Masters-Sandburg questions. As for Henry B. Rankin, there is someone who merits his own biography. Rankin corresponded with most of the Lincoln biographers of his day and while Ida Tarbell accepted what Rankin said about himself (even writing the foreword to Rankin's book), William E. Barton dismissed Rankin as a fraud in his book Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman (1928). For a more recent critique of Rankin, see Appendix 2 of Michael Burlingame's edition of Jesse Weik's The Real Lincoln ("A Hard-Hearted Conscious Liar and Oily Hypocrite": Henry B. Rankin's Reliability as a Lincoln Informant" pgs. 391-397).

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Excellent post, Rob. Many thanks for looking into this and clarifying things.

Here's what Benjamin P. Thomas wrote about Rankin in Portrait for Posterity:

"Henry B. Rankin had been an office-boy in the Lincoln-Herndon office and was author of Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln and Intimate Character Sketches of Abraham Lincoln. Strongly romantic in point of view and hostile to Herndon, he was instrumental in spreading the idea that Herndon was a drunkard and drug addict. Dec. 6, 1916, he wrote to Lord Charnwood: "I would not consent to tell all the story for history, about his shadowy decadence and incapacity for serious historical work while preparing with and for others the manuscripts for the 'Lives of Lincoln' with which his name was associated. His brain all through those lamentable years had been inflamed by alcoholic stimulants and his imagination distorted and made unreliable by his habitual use of opium." In a letter to F. W. Ruckstuhl, editor of Art World, Rankin referred to Herndon's "later and sad years that were so clouded with alcohol and morphine." Actually, Herndon had given up drinking in his later years and there is no reason to believe he ever took drugs."

[davg2000]

(10-04-2016 07:55 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  Concerning the Ann Rutledge gravestone, Masters's biographer, Herbert K. Russell, writes:

"A large stone was subsequently purchased and placed on her Petersburg grave in 1921, and after the appropriate permission was granted, Masters's Spoon River epitaph concerning her was chiseled into the stone. It was perhaps the second-most enduring event of his career--the first being the writing of Spoon River--but Masters did not go to the ceremony because in 1921 he was busy with his long-term problems with Lillian Wilson. (Lillian Wilson was a woman that Masters was having an affair with. RGW)

"But perhaps he should have observed this moment of emergent Americana or more closely monitored how his work was handled. When the poem was chiseled into the granite, the title was omitted and two of the lines were altered. One might assume these changes were accidental, or a matter of making the poem fit the stone, but the explanation was much simpler than that (as anyone who has lived in a village would know): the chairman of the group in charge of the activity made the changes, the "better," Masters said, "to conform to that man's ideas of the use of words." (The same individual, local historian Henry B. Rankin, later altered another of Master's poems, "William H. Herndon," and reprinted it.)" Source: Herbert K. Russell, Edgar Lee Masters: A Biography (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001) pgs. 270-271.


In his notes, Russell cites an article written by Masters in the January, 1933 edition of H.L. Mencken's American Mercury titled "The Genesis of Spoon River" (pg. 52). In the remaining note, Russell writes "see also 'Ann Rutledge Monument,' Petersburg Observer, January 14, 1921,[p. 4], regarding monument; ELM to Mr. [Henry] Rankin, July 31, 1920 (grants permission for use of poem), Illinois College. Rankin's authority for changing the Rutledge poem was based on the four years he spent while a law student working the Springfield office of Lincoln and Herndon and his apparent belief that he had a better feel for Lincoln material than Masters did. Rankin was never shy about telling others what he knew of Lincoln--or about rewriting other people's poems. Three years after changing Master's poem on Rutledge, Rankin published Intimate Character Sketches of Abraham Lincoln (Lippincott, 1924) and appropriated Masters's poem "William H. Herndon" from Spoon River Anthology. Although Rankin mentioned Masters in this book, it is doubtful that Masters knew in advance how Rankin would use the poem; Rankin removed words and lines from "William H. Herndon" in addition to rearranging lines and adding new words, new punctuation, and a new format." (Russell, notes to pages 271-74, pgs. 417-8)

Russell's book is the standard biography of Masters. I knew Herb during my newspaper days (although he didn't remember me) and corresponded with him on some Masters-Sandburg questions. As for Henry B. Rankin, there is someone who merits his own biography. Rankin corresponded with most of the Lincoln biographers of his day and while Ida Tarbell accepted what Rankin said about himself (even writing the foreword to Rankin's book), William E. Barton dismissed Rankin as a fraud in his book Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman (1928). For a more recent critique of Rankin, see Appendix 2 of Michael Burlingame's edition of Jesse Weik's The Real Lincoln ("A Hard-Hearted Conscious Liar and Oily Hypocrite": Henry B. Rankin's Reliability as a Lincoln Informant" pgs. 391-397).

Best
Rob

Henry B. Rankin appears to have been, at least, an intellectual bully. I'm surprised that Masters took that kind of behavior from him. No mere careless stone cutter here.

[Rob Wick]

Henry B. Rankin was definitely one of the "characters" that seems to infiltrate Lincolniana studies throughout history. Of course, William E. Barton calling Rankin a fraud is ironic, given that Barton once told the Lincoln bibliographer Daniel Fish, who had declined Barton's gift of a book he unashamedly admitted to stealing from the Lane Theological Seminary, "Believe me, if you are going to have any scruples about stealing from a Theological Seminary, you will never make a Collector." Here is a letter written by Tarbell about Rankin that explains her interest in Rankin. Here is a picture that Rankin sent to Tarbell with his autograph. Rankin had no problems in spite of the illness Tarbell mentions in her letter in making sure his will was obeyed, even going so far as suing family members for payment of debts. Most people in Springfield doubted Rankin's veracity when it came to Lincoln, but by that point Rankin had angered so many people, his reputation was pretty much soiled.

Best
Rob

[Anita]

Rob, thanks for shedding light on this topic. Excellent research. I thought there was more to this than a stone cutter's error but didn't know where to look or who might gain from such an edit.

---

(10-04-2016 09:36 AM)davg2000 Wrote:  

(10-04-2016 04:51 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(10-03-2016 05:50 PM)Anita Wrote:  Do we know who paid for the granite headstone in 1921? Would copy have been submitted to the engraver or at the least who would have final approval? I agree it could just have been an engraving error.

Anita, I had forgotten (gettin' old) that I had asked about this a few years ago, but then remembered. I looked back and saw Blaine Houmes had posted an interesting theory:

"Ann Rutledge's grave stone with the poem was placed in the cemetery in 1921. Robert Todd Lincoln was still alive in 1921, and both he and his mother were enraged at the Ann Rutledge story ever since Herndon started talking about it in the 1800's. Robert Todd Lincoln didn't die until 1926.

Coincidence? Or careful editing?"

I would think that Masters would have had to approve an edited change. Perhaps he did, tacitly. I'm still leaning toward stone cutter's error or ignorance and Masters's indifference. In the genealogy work I've done, I've learned to be wary of what is on a gravestone.

Dave, now that we know this was in fact deliberate editing which proves your point about being wary of what is on a gravestone, have you run across many such errors in your genealogy work? So much family history and history in general rely heavily on what's written there.

---

(10-03-2016 07:48 PM)Gene C Wrote:  When no one was looking at the museum, I managed to sneak a piece of black fuzz off the floor that I'm pretty sure must have come from Marilyn's dress.
I'll try to remember to bring it next time we get together. Don't tell anyone.

---

Anita,

Joe or Dave may know more about the cemetery associations or Ann's headstone than I do.

If you come this way again, I found this a helpful book,
Living in the Shadow of Greatness, by Raymond Montgomery
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Shadow-Gre...+greatness

I purchased mine used.
There is a map of the area in the book, but it's loose. If you buy a copy, and the map is missing, send me a message and I can make a copy of mine and send it to you.

Gene,
Thanks for the great link and offer should I need the map. As to that black fuzz from Marilyn's dress, if you framed it nicely with a photo and engraved plaque, you could list it on eBay.

[Thomas Kearney]

Hope everyone had fun!

[davg2000]

Anita, when I wrote that post about Ann's stone in Oakland Cemetery, I was thinking of my great great grandfather's tombstone, which says that he died April 14, 1864. He actually died the night Lincoln was shot, in 1865. I found that out in the early 1990's only by reading a letter that one of his sons had written to a niece. One would think that closer descendants would have caught the error. Perhaps they did but didn't care enough to correct it. (Or maybe the error could not be easily corrected.) Enough careless or good-faith errors exist to make one be careful. In addition to dates, surnames and given names can be misspelled or just wrong. But I wouldn't have expected anyone to intentionally alter a line of poetry because he had a better feel for Lincoln's life than Masters had. What gall!

[Anita]

(10-05-2016 11:15 PM)davg2000 Wrote:  Anita, when I wrote that post about Ann's stone in Oakland Cemetery, I was thinking of my great great grandfather's tombstone, which says that he died April 14, 1864. He actually died the night Lincoln was shot, in 1865. I found that out in the early 1990's only by reading a letter that one of his sons had written to a niece. One would think that closer descendants would have caught the error. Perhaps they did but didn't care enough to correct it. (Or maybe the error could not be easily corrected.) Enough careless or good-faith errors exist to make one be careful. In addition to dates, surnames and given names can be misspelled or just wrong. But I wouldn't have expected anyone to intentionally alter a line of poetry because he had a better feel for Lincoln's life than Masters had. What gall!

Gall is a great word and from Rob's posts Rankin sure had a lot of it. What's sad is that he got away with it and the tombstone stands today with the edited version. I'd like to put a marker with the correction next to it. By leaving out those words Rankin puts his spin on the Rutledge-Lincoln story history.

[Gene C]

For those of you who have been on the "official" Springfield Tour, or have visited on your own, you might be interested in this news article about a local eatery that we have visited in the past.

http://foxillinois.com/news/local/spring...07-05-2016

Since we are working on this years itinerary, can anyone give us an update?