Come join us, Saturday November 26th at 11am-2pm, at the Lock 16 Cafe & Visitor Center for a book signing event with two local authors!
Passage to Chicago: A Journey on the Illinois & Michigan Canal in the Year 1860 by illustrator and historianTom Willcockson.
Passage to Chicago takes the reader on a special journey by giving them an in-depth, illustrated look at life on a fictional canal boat, the Prairie Star, as it travels to Chicago just before the Civil War. You will experience the daily lives of those who lived and worked on the canal boats, as well as the towns through with they traveled. Hop on board with the canalers, mule boys, the lock tenders, and their families, miners, quarrymen, shopkeepers, and others, to witness their world of more than 150 years ago.
Author Tom Willcockson obtained a history degree from Carleton College. Willcockson has worked for Chicago’s Newberry Library where he has developed his illustration and cartographic skills. He currently operates Mapcraft Custom cartography.
A Fire of Straw in Bureau County: The Forgotten Utopian Dream of Lamoille’s Rosemont Domain by historian Robert J. Glaser.
The book, A Fire of Straw in Bureau County: The Forgotten Utopian Dream of Lamoille’s Rosemont Domain, is an examination of the events surrounding an effort by five men from the La Moille area, in 1843, to establish an utopian community based on the doctrines of French socialist philosopher Charles Fourier. While the La Moille project failed, the effort was actually part of a very significant national socio/economic movement occurring at a critical juncture in American History. The utopian proposal proved to be a road not taken as the nation chose instead the route of industrial-capitalism.
Author Bob Glaser has his master’s degree from Illinois State and taught social studies at walnut High School for over thirty years. the La Moille research developed from his research work on the historic Galena Trail and Coach Road.
