HEREAS THE WHOLE PRIESTHOOD OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH COMMENCED A VIOLENT AND BITTER PERSECUTION
AGAINST US BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH,
AND THEIR WRATH AND MADNESS CAST
MANY OF OUR BRETHREN INTO
PRISON, WE RESOLVE TO IMMIGRATE
TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
>>
HI, I AM JIM WILHELM. THOSE WORDS WRITTEN IN SWEEDEN IN THE 1840'S SOME UP ERIC
JANSON'S FRUSTRATIONS.
HIS NEWLY FORMED RELIGIOUS
MOVEMENT WAS INCREASINGLY COME
IN CONFLICT WITH THE STATE
SPONSORED LUTHERAN CHURR.
AFTER AFRICAN AMERICAN HIS THIRD
ARREST, HE DECIDED IT WAS TIME
TO LEAVE.
HIS FOLLOWERS SOLD ALL THEIR
PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS AND
POOLED THEIR MONEY SO EVERYBODY
COULD AFFORD TO TRAVEL, IN 1846
LEFT THEIR HOMELAND FOREVER.
IT WAS NOT A PLEASANT JOURNEY.
THE CROSSING TOOK THREE MONTHS
IN SHIPS DESIGN TODAY CARRY
CARGO, NOT PEOPLE.
STORMS, SEA SICKNESS AND SCURVY
TOOK THEIR TOLL, SEVERAL
PERISHED ON THE TRIP, INCLUDING
SOME OF THE YOUNGER MEMBERS.
UPON ARRIVING IN CHICAGO, THEY
BOUGHT SUPPLIES, AND THEN WALKED
160 MILES TO THIS SPOT, RIGHT
WHERE I AM STANDING WAS THE
LOCATION OF THE TOWN'S FIRST
BUILDING.
THE TOWN WAS NAMED AFTER ITS
LEADERS BIRTHPLACE VISPOPSCULA,
OR AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, BISHOP
HILL.
THERE WAS ONCE A DEEP RAVINE.
ALONG THE SIDE, THE SWEDES BUILT
DUGOUT, CALF CAVERN, CALF CAVE.
IT WAS SEGREGATED BY SEX.
EACH CONTAINED 30 BUNKS.
THE COLONISTS ARRIVED IN FALL,
TOO LATE TO PLANT CROPS, AND
WINTER WAS ON ITS WAY.
THE CREEK IN THE RAVINE MADE THE
DUGOUTS COLD AND DAMP.
JANSON WOULD CALL FOR FAST
LASTING SEVERAL DAYS TO TEST
SPIRITUAL UNITY.
IN REALITY, WHAT HE WAS DOING
WAS TRYING TO PRESERVE THE FOOD
SUPPLIES.
DURING THE FIRST WINTER,
APPROXIMATELY 150 PEOPLE
PERISHED.
IN SPAIN MORE IMMIGRANTS FROM
SWEEDEN ARRIVED, PLANTING AND
BUILDING BEGAN.
IN THE SPRING) SINCE JANSON
ENVISIONED THE COLONY AS UTOPIAN
WHERE ALL WORKED FOR THE
BETTERMENT OF THE WHOLE, THERE
WAS A LARGER WORK FORCE
AVAILABLE.
NO SURPRISE THE FIRST PERMANENT
STRUCTURE BUILT IN 1848 WAS THE
CHURCH.
DUAL STAIRCASE IN THE FRONT LIKE
MOST OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFE WAS
SEG RATED.
MENUSED THE LEFT, WOMAN USED THE
RIGHT.
>> INSIDE SERVICES WERE HELD
TWICE DAILY, MORNING AND
EVENING.
ON SUNDAY'S, A THIRD SERVICE WAS
ADDED IN THE AFTERNOON.
EVEN THOUGH ERIC JANSON HAD
WRITTEN A HIMNAL, HE DIDN'T
BELIEVE WITH INSTRUMENTS.
ALL SONGS WERE PERFORMED OC
PELLLA.
DURING SERVICES, ANYONE HAD R
WHO WISHED TO SHARE TESTIMONY,
THEY WERE WISHED TO DO SO.
JANSON WAS A CAPTIVATING AND
LENGTHY OR A TORE.
ONE OF HIS SERMONS, DELIVERED
WHEN THEY WERE STILL IN SWEEDEN
WAS SAID TO HAVE LASTED FIVE
HOURS.
THE CHURCH STILL USED FOR
SERVICES ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.
SERVICES ARE NON-
DENOMINATIONNAL, AND
CONDUCTED IN SWEDISH AND ENGLISH
SINCE THE CHURCH WAS THE FIRST PERMANENT STRUCTURE IN THE NEW TOWN, IT HAD TO FULFILL A
VARIETY OF NEEDS FOR THE NEW
COLONY.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE TWO FOYERS COULD BE CLOSED OFF FROM THE SANCTUARY TO CREATE CLASSROOMS.
BELOW, ON THE FIRST FLOOR, AND
IN THE BASEMENT, WERE 20
APARTMENTS BUILT SO SOME
FAMILIES COULD MOVE OUT OF THE
DAMP DUGOUTS.
APARTMENT MIGHT BE A GENEROUS
WORD.
IT WAS REALLY JUST ONE ROOM WITH
A FIRE PLACE.
ALL THE FURNISHINGS WERE MADE
HERE IN THE COLONY.
THAT'S BECAUSE EACH FAMILY HAD
BEEN ALLOWED TO BRING JUST ONE
TRUNK WITH THEM TO THE NEW WORLD
THE NEXT STRUCTURE TO BE
COMPLETED WAS NICKNAMED BIG
BRICK, IT CONTAINED 96
APARTMENTS AT.
BEHIND BIG BRICK WAS A BEURRE RY
AND BAKERY BUILDING WHERE THE
MEALS WERE PREPARED.
THIS IS WHERE BIG BRICK ONCE
STOOD.
IT BURNED IN 1928.
THE MEALS SERVED IN THIS DINING
HALL WERE SIMPLE AFFAIRS.
FOR EXAMPLE, BREAKFAST MIGHT
CONSIST OF MUSH, SCRAP ~L AND
HARDTACK MANY WHILE THIS
BUILDING IS GONE, MOST OF THE
OTHER TOWN STRUCTURES REMAIN.
THIS WAS THE COLONY'S
ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS.
NEXT TO IT IS A BUILDING OF
SIMILAR STYLE WITH MORE
APARTMENTS.
HERE IS THE OLD CARPENTRY SHOP
NEXT TO THE BLACKSMITH BUILDING.
THIS ONE WAS BORN IN CONTROVERSY
ORIGINALLY IT WAS MEANT TO BE THE TOWN'S NEW HOTEL. BUT ONE FACTION WANTED
ADDITIONAL HOUSING WHILE ANOTHER
WANTED AN EDUCATIONAL FACILITY.
APPARENTLY IT WAS A HOT ISSUE
THAT DIVIDED THE COMMUNITY.
FINALLY THEY AGREED TO USE FOR
BOTH A DWELLING AND A SCHOOL.
TODAY THE STEEPLE BUILDING IS
HOME TO THE BISHOP HILL HERITAGE
MUSEUM WHICH RECOUNTS THE STORY
OF THE COLONISTS AND THEIR
JOURNEY.
HIGH ABOVE THE OLD CLOCK MADE BY
THREE MEMBERS OF THE TOWN STILL
KEEPS THE TIME.
BUT IN HOURS ONLY, FOR THERE IS
NO MINUTE HAND.
WHILE SOME MAY SAY MINUTES DIDN'T REALLY MATTER TO A COMMUNITY WHOSE LIFE REVOLVED
AROUND CHURCH AND WORK.
THE GEAR MECHANISMS ON ONE HAND
WERE A LOT LESS COMPLICATED THAN
FOR TWO.
IT IS HERE VISITORS LEARN ABOUT TWO OF THE COLONIES MAIN BUSINESS.
YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN EVIDENCE
OF ONE OF THEM BACK AT THE
APARTMENTS IN THE CHURCH.
IN THAT ROOM, WE SAW A SPINNING
WHEEL.
THE PROCESS OF TURNING FLAX INTO
LINEN WAS A LABOR INTENSIVE
PROCESS, AND THE COLONY HAD NO
SHORTAGE OF WORKERS.
SO, UNTIL MORE LOOMS WERE
BOUGHT, WEAVING WAS DONE DAY AND
NIGHT.
IN 1850 BISHOP HILL PRODUCED
OVER 28,000 YARDS OF FINE LINEN
AND OVER 3,000 YARDS OF
CARPETING.
BUT TWO YEARS LATER, THEIR
OUTPUT BEGAN TO DECLINE.
RAILROADS WERE BRINGING CHEAPER
CLOTH TO THE MIDWEST FROM THE
FACTORIES IN THE EAST.
ABOUT THAT TIME THE COLONY BEGAN
PRODUCING A NEW CASH CROP, BROOM
CORN.
NOT ONLY COULD THE STRAW BE
SOLD, BUT USING EQUIPMENT LIKE
THIS, IT COULD BE MADE INTO A
BROOM.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ALMOST SAY IT WAS
A SWEEP TO BRING IN SOME CHANGE!
TWO TYPES OF BROOMS WERE MADE
AND SOLD: ONE WAS A ROUGH MODEL
WHERE THE STRAW WAS ATTACHED TO
A POLE AND THEN CUT.
THE OTHER WAS A FLAT BROOM WHERE
THE STRAW WAS PRESSED THEN WOVEN
TOGETHER.
THE LARGEST SALE MADE BY THE
COLONY OCCURRED IN 1857 WHEN
THEY SHIPPED 14,000 BROOMS TO
ST. LOUIS FOR $2,130.
SO BETWEEN THE BROOMS, FARM
PRODUCTION, AND FURNITURE
MAKING, THIS WAS BECOMING A
POPULAR TOWN FOR BUYERS.
STILL STANDING IS THE OLD COLONY
STORE WHICH WAS NOT FOR SELLING
ITEMS TO THE RESIDENTS OF BISHOP
HILL, BUT TO DISPLAY THE TOWN'S
OUTPUT FOR TRAVELING MERCHANTS.
NEARBY IS A COLONY'S HOTEL IT TO
WHICH A THIRD FLOOR WAS LATER
ADDED CONTAINING A STAGE AND A
BALLROOM.
>>
BROOM MAKING CAME TO AN ABRUPT END IN 1861, THAT WAS WHEN A FIRE DESTROYED THE CROP AND THE
PRODUCTION SHEDS.
IT WAS ALSO A TIME WHEN THE MEN
WERE GOING OFF TO THE CIVIL WAR
AND THE COLONY BEGAN TO DISSOLVE
AT THE ENTRANCE OF BISHOP HILL
IS A NEWER BUILDING THAT HOUSES
THE PAINTINGS OF OLAV CRANS
WHOSE WORKS YOU ARE SEEING
THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAM.
HE CAME HERE IN 1850 AT THE AGE
OF TWELVE.
IN LATER YEARS, HE PAINTED HIS
AND OTHERS REMEMBRANCES OF LIFE
IN THE TOWN.
IT IS THE ONLY VISUAL RECORD WE
HAVE OF THOSE TIMES.
HE EVEN DID PORTRAITS OF SOME OF
THE COLONY'S MEMBERS, AND AMONG
THEM IS THIS ONE OF CARLOTTA
ROOT, A COUSIN OF ERIC JANSON,
THE COLONY'S FOUNDER. SHE
MARRIED OUTSIDER, JOHN ROOT, WHO
EVENTUALLY LEFT THE TOWN.
ROOT WANTED CARLOTTA TO FOLLOW.
JANSON DID NOT.
THE DISPUTE ESCALATED UNTIL MAY
OF 1850 WHEN JOHN ROOT SHOT ERIC
JANSON DEAD.
THE COLONY CONTINUED FOR A FEW
MORE YEARS, BUT BISHOP HILL HAD
LOST ITS DRIVING FORCE.
IN ADDITION TO LOSING THEIR LEADER, THE COLONY WAS GOING INTO DEBT BECAUSE OF SOME BAD
INVESTMENTS AND DEPRESSION.
FINALLY IT WAS DECIDED TO
DISSOLVE THE COLONY.
EACH FAMILY RECEIVED THE ROOM
THEY WERE LIVING IN, SEVERAL
ACRES FOR GROWING CROPS, AND A
WOOD PLOT FOR FIREWOOD.
TODAY VISITORS CAN GO THROUGH
SEVERAL OF THE COLONY'S
BUILDINGS AND EXPLORE THE
MUSEUMS, SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS.
IF THE LEGACY OF BISHOP HILL IS
MUCH MORE THAN A FEW BRICK
BUILDINGS.
DURING ITS TIME, 1200 SWEDISH
IMMIGRANTS MOVED TO THIS COLONY.
THEY WOULD HAVE THEN BEEN A NEW
MOVEMENT WHOSE LETTERS AND
DESCRIPTIONS HELPED CREATE.
IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE
GREAT MIGRATION DURING WHICH
TIME APPROXIMATELY ONE THIRD OF
SWEEDEN'S TOTAL POPULATION LEFT
ITS HOMELAND AND MOVED TO
AMERICA.
THAT IS THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE PIONEERS WHO SETTLED HERE, SURVIVED THAT FIRST WINTER WHILE
SEEKING A COMMUNITY ON THEIR OWN
TERMS.
MORE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
BISHOP HILL OR FOR LISTING OF
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
HELD THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, CALL
(309)927-3345.