WE RECENTLY TOURED ANOTHER HOME WHICH WAS ALSO
DESIGNATED BY THE SAME ARCHITECT
AS THE DEERE-WIMAN HOME,
GOVERNOR RICHARD OGILVIE HOME.
>>HE WAS VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN
GETTING LINCOLN NOMINATED THE
FIRST TIME.
FIRST TIME. AND ORCHESTRATED MUCH OF THE
CONVENTION THAT WAS HELD HERE IN
DECATUR.
DECATUR. HE IS GIVEN CREDIT FOR HAVING
COINED THE PHRASE, LINCOLN, THE
RAIL SPLITTER.
RAIL SPLITTER. AT THE TIME LINCOLN HAD A
REPUTATION OF RAILROADER.
HE WAS MUCH MORE A MAN OF THE
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. IT IS KIND OF INTERESTING HE IS
VIEWED TODAY, NOT AS A CORPORATE
LAWYER, BUT MAN OF THE PEOPLE.
HE WAS ALSO A CIVIL WAR GENERAL,
SERVED UNDER GRANT, AND WAS
WOUNDED SERIOUSLY WOUNDED AT THE
BATTLE IN MISSISSIPPI.
AS A RESULT OF THAT, HE HAD TO
LEAVE THE FRONT, BUT CAME BACK
AND RAN FOR GOVERNOR AT ABRAHAM
LINCOLN'S SUGGESTION.
LINCOLN'S SUGGESTION. SERVED AS GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS
FOR THREE TERMS.
WHEN HE MARRIED HIS FIRST WIFE,
ANNA WHITE, THEY LIVED IN A
SMALL HOUSE IMMEDIATELY WEST OF
THIS ONE.
THIS ONE. SHE WAS THE FIRST LADY OF
ILLINOIS INTO HIS FIRST TERM,
BUT SHE DIED IN THE GOVERNOR'S
MANSION IN SPRINGFIELD.
THE GOVERNOR HAD ALREADY TALKED
WITH AN ARCHITECT IN CHICAGO,
WILLIAM LE BARON JENNEY WHICH
WILL, AND JENNEY HAD DESIGNED A
HOUSE IN 1868, BUT AFTER ANNA'S
DEATH, GOVERNOR PUT THE DESIGNS
AWAY, AND AT THE END OF HIS
FIRST TERM, HE CAME BACK TO
DECATUR AND LIVED IN THAT HOUSE
WITH HIS TWO SURVIVING CHILDREN.
LATER MARRIED EM MA GILETTE KEY,
A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, CONSIDERABLY
YOUNGER THAN THE GOVERNOR, IN
1880, HIS AGE IS LISTED AS 55
AND HER'S IS 35.
SHE HAD BEEN MARRIED BEFORE, HAD
A SON, HYRUM.
WHEN THEY MOVED INTO THE GREEK
REVIVAL HOUSE, THERE WERE TWO
ADULTS AND THREE CHILDREN. THEY
BROUGHT THE DESIGNS BACK OUT.
EM MA MODIFIED THEM SERIOUSLY.
THEY BUILT THE HOUSE ONTO THE
OLD HOUSE.
OLD HOUSE. AND IT BECAME THEN A WING OF
THIS HOUSE.
THIS HOUSE. THE PLAN WAS THAT THE OLD HOUSE
WOULD HOUSE THE KITCHEN, AND THE
SERVANTS QUARTERS.
SERVANTS QUARTERS. THIS HOUSE WAS STRICTLY FOR THE
FAMILY.
FAMILY. THE HOUSE WAS NOT IN THIS
CONDITION.
CONDITION. AT THE TIME WE CAME IN, THE
PARLOR, THERE WAS AN APARTMENT,
A RESTROOM WE HAD TO TAKE OUT,
ALL THE MAN THE MANTLES, ALL OFM
WERE REMOVED, THEY WERE UPSTAIRS
AND TAKEN TO THE ATTIC.
WHEN THEY GOT TO THE ONE IN THE
PARLOR, IT WAS TOO BIG.
THEY SOLD IT, BUT WE DID HAVE A
PICTURE OF IT.
WHEN WE BEGAN TO DO THE
RESTORATION, WE HAD IT COPIED.
THEN WHEN WE CAME TO THE DINING
ROOM, THERE WAS A WALL THAT WE
FELT WAS NOT CORRECT.
WE TOOK THE WALL DOWN, AND THERE
WERE PIECES OF THE WALLPAPER,
THE WIDTH OF THE TWO BY FOUR
THAT WAS UP AGAINST THE WALL,
THAT WAS WHERE WE FOUND A LITTLE
WATCHES OF THE WALLPAPER AND THE
WAY IT WAS DONE BEFORE THE CHAIR
RAIL.
RAIL. MOST PEOPLE ABOUT WE TELL THEM
THIS WAS WALLPAPER, THEY TELL US
OH, NO, THAT'S WOOD, AND IT DOES
LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE WOOD.
THE LIBRARY IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT ROOM IN THE HOUSE
BECAUSE IT IS TOTALLY ORIGINAL.
THE GENTLEMAN WHO BOUGHT THE
HOUSE WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER.
HE TOOK PICTURES OF THE
INTERIOR.
INTERIOR. THEY DID USE THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS
TO RESTORE THE HOUSE SO THAT
THEY HAD AT LEAST COMPARABLE
FURNITURE PIECES IN THE RIGHT
PLACES, AND IN THE RIGHT STYLE.
WE HAVE AN INTERESTING MIXTURE
IN THE HOUSE.
SOME PIECES BELONG TO THE
FAMILY.
FAMILY. SOME PIECES BELONG TO OTHER OLD
DECATUR FAMILIES.
DECATUR FAMILIES. ONE PIECE IN PARTICULAR WE ARE
CERTAIN WAS IN THE HOUSE WHEN
THE OGILVIES LIVED HERE AND THAT
IS THE HALL TREE IN THE FRONT
HALL. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE,
AND IT IS A PART OF OLD DECATUR.
THERE IS SO MUCH HISTORY, SO
MUCH NATIONAL HISTORY THAT THIS
IS INVOLVED IN.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EVENTS AND HISTORY OF THE OGILVIE, LOG ON
TO WWW.OGELVIE.ORG OR CALL
(217)429-9422.