Listing Through Life

We were first at the house in 1982. Since then, the house has been totally renovated and several houses in the neighborhood have been reconstructed to look as they did in the mid-1800’s. An old woman met us on the porch and, after pointing out Grant’s church across the river, ushered us inside. She started the tour, but when another old woman (named Rita) came by, she passed the tour on to her. Rita started talking at full speed, and I found her very hard to understand. This wasn’t helped by the fact that she stared at the floor as she spoke. She only did this for a little while though, perhaps until she discovered that we actually had a clue about Grant. After that, she actually looked at us — but wasn’t a lot easier to understand.

The house was built in 1860. It was given to Grant on August 18, 1865 by a group of Illinois Republicans. He was shortly on his way to Washington and only visited the house occasionally. In 1904, after the death of Grant’s wife, Julia, their children gave the house to Galena. Galena turned it over to the state of Illinois in 1931. The woodwork is original, but the windows, walls and carpets have been replaced. Much of the furniture and other items belonged to the Grants.

On the left: Grant’s parlor. 90% of the furnishings are original. On the right: The library with Grant’s favorite chair.

On the left: The dining room with Julia Grant’s White House dishes. On the right: Grant’s daughter Nellie’s bedroom.

Ulysses’ and Julia’s bedroom. Not far from the house, in Grant Park on the shore of the river, there is a statue of Grant.

My wife and I spent three days at a bed and breakfast in the country outside Galena, just to get away. One morning, we drove to the town of Elizabeth to see the Apple River Fort. This is the location of an 1832 battle during the Black Hawk War.

About 200 Indians attacked 45 local settlers who took cover in a hastily-built stockade. Because the women helped by reloading the rifles, Black Hawk and his warriors thought there were more settlers than there were and gave up after 45 minutes. One settler was killed and two were wounded.

The visitor center is on the main highway. After listening to a presentation by a friendly woman behind the counter, we toured the small museum and watched a video in which really bad actors re-enacted the battle. We walked out the back door to find ourselves entering a car wash. A road alongside the building led up a hill, past several houses and apartment buildings to a six-acre field where the reconstructed fort is located. The original fort was next to the reconstruction (so archeologists can do research).

The stockade consists of logs stuck in the ground around a log cabin and a blockhouse, forming a square 50′ x 70′. A small storage shed was also built inside. A local family was dressed in period costume and doing period stuff. We walked into the fort and were immediately accosted by a young man dressed as a settler. He asked us if we knew about the Black Hawk War. I said yes. He asked if we’d toured the visitor center. I said yes. So he then proceeded to tell us all the stuff we already knew. It annoyed us at first, but he was very sincere and knowledgeable, so we warmed up to him.

I was impressed by the level of detail — the cabin and storeroom were filled with period furnishings, and the blockhouse was set up as though a militia company was bunking there (although they were away on the day of the siege). There were even live chickens wandering about. But it wasn’t large. We saw, and heard, everything in about 15 minutes.