
July 17, 2017

C. B. & Q Blacksmith Crew ca. 1908 |
John K. Fowler by Barbara Schock
Carl
Sandburg's father, August, was a helper at the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy Railroad's blacksmith shop. He walked to work from his home in
the southeast quadrant of Galesburg at 6:45 am. At noon he walked
home for dinner and returned to work at one o'clock. His work day ended
at 6:00 pm.
August
was helper to “Jack” Fowler. He was born in August, 1837, in Launcestor
(Lancaster), Cornwall, in the southeast of Britain. He came to Galesburg
in 1858 and was naturalized November 1, 1864. He married Margaret Symore
in 1860. She was a native of the same town. They had three children, one
dying in infancy.
Fowler
was a large man, about six feet tall. He had a round, cherubic face and
was good humored. The older Sandburg called him “my partner.” Carl noted
in his autobiography, Always the Young Strangers, that his father
pronounced the technical words used in blacksmithing work in proper,
English form. Otherwise, August never lost his Swedish accent.
The
earliest trains didn't have springs so the ride was very bumpy for
people and freight. Making springs sufficiently strong for a locomotive
or railroad car was a necessary job for the railroad. As equipment
became larger and heavier, springs were used to prevent damage.
Each
set of two axles and four wheels, called a truck, on a railroad car or
locomotive has large compression springs. Pressure from the load presses
the round coils closer together. The springs must be strong enough to
return to the original shape without breaking.
Coiled
springs were developed in the early fifteenth century. By the late 18th
century a spring winding machine had been designed. It was based on the
idea of the lathe. A reel of wire was attached to the lathe in place of
the cutting head and wound around a rod set in the lathe. The speed of
the lathe determines the spacing of the coils in the spring. The coil
was then heated to strengthen the metal. Today miniature coil springs
are manufactured in the millions to be fitted under the key pads of cell
phones.
Jack
and Margaret Fowler lived for many years at 697 South West Street. Mrs.
Fowler died June 24, 1912, and was buried in Hope Cemetery. He spent the
last several years of his life in a hospital in Watertown, Wisconsin. On
April 18, 1913, he died and the remains were returned to Galesburg for
burial next to his wife.
John
Kenneth Fowler had worked for the C.B. & Q. for 45 years.
 |
Date |
Title |
July 17, 2017 |
John K. Fowler |
July 3, 2017 |
The Indelible Pencil |
June 19, 2017 |
Fairy Tales |
June 12, 2017 |
Potato Bugs |
May 22, 2017 |
A Pioneer Family |
May 15, 2017 |
The Prairie |
May 8, 2017 |
Henry Hitchcock |
May 1, 2017 |
Callender and Rodine |
April 24, 2017 |
The Mesmerist |
April 10, 2017 |
Street Fair of
1898 (Part 3) - Florence Cooke, Queen of the Street Fair |
April 3, 2017 |
Street Fair of 1898 (Part 2) |
March 20, 2017 |
Street Fair of 1898 (Part 1) |
March 13, 2017 |
Gingerbread |
February 27, 2017 |
Superstitions |
February 6, 2017 |
Sergeant Edwin C. Reed |
January 30, 2017 |
Corporal Andrew P.
Tanning |
January 23, 2017 |
The Ferris Wheel |
January 16, 2017 |
The Gibson Girl |
January 9, 2017 |
The Cookstove |
January 2, 2017 |
Sergeant Charles J. Rose |
December 19, 2016 |
Hazelnuts |
December 12, 2016 |
Minstrel Shows |
December 7, 2016 |
Memories of Pearl Harbor |
December 5, 2016 |
The Coffee Mill |
November 28, 2016 |
Robert J. Samuelson |
November 21, 2016 |
The Chrysanthemum Rules |
November 14, 2016 |
Newspapers |
October 31, 2016 |
Frederick Dickinson |
October 24, 2016 |
The Reverend Carl A. Nyblad |
October 17, 2016 |
Talk Not Always Cheap |
October 10, 2016 |
"It Will Live in Bronze" |
September 19, 2016 |
J. Charles "Frenchy" Juneau |
September 12, 2016 |
Oscar F. "Husky" Larson
|
September 5, 2016 |
Obituaries |
August 29, 2016 |
Aaron Boyer, Broommaker |
August 22, 2016 |
The Panic of 1873 |
August 15, 2016 |
The Swan Prize |
August 8, 2016 |
Chautauqua |
July 18, 2016 |
Street Lighting |
July 11, 2016 |
Cedar Fork |
July 4, 2016 |
Shelden W. Allen |
June 20, 2016 |
Conrad Byloff |
June 13, 2016 |
Edward W. Rosenberg |
June 6, 2016 |
Lawrence Futhey |
May 30, 2016 |
Memory |
May 23, 2016 |
Decoration Day, 1881 |
May 16, 2016 |
William Cullen Bryant |
May 9, 2016 |
College Days |
May 2, 2016 |
A Military Career
Thwarted |
April 25, 2016 |
How to Sweep a Room |
April 18, 2016 |
The Marsh Horse and Mule
Market |
April 11, 2016 |
Horses Everywhere |
April 4, 2016 |
Victor A. Thoureen |
March 28, 2016 |
Nicknames |
March 21, 2016 |
Corporal Edward P.
Peckenpaugh
|
March 14, 2016 |
Hold Still! |
March 7, 2016 |
Capt. T. L. McGirr |
February 29, 2016 |
Sparrow Season |
February 22, 2016 |
George W. Erickson |
February 15, 2016 |
George Helgeson Fitch |
February 8, 2016 |
Anna Charlotte Goldquist |
February 1, 2016 |
"Little Boy Blue" |
January 25, 2016 |
Always the Young
Strangers |
January 18, 2016 |
George R. Longbrake |
January 11, 2016 |
Fred Cook |
January 4, 2016 |
Domestic Help |
December 14, 2015 |
Justice of the Peace B.F. Holcomb |
November 30, 2015 |
Standardized Time |
November 23, 2015 |
Joseph H. Knutson |
November 16, 2015 |
Wells and Cisterns |
November 2, 2015 |
Willis E. Calkins |
October 26, 2015 |
Galesburg Pottery |
October 19, 2015 |
Private Lewis H. Kay |
October 12, 2015 |
The Klondike Gold Rush |
September 28, 2015 |
Charles L. Bloomgren |
September 21, 2015 |
The Gilded Age |
September 14, 2015 |
Oliver Optic |
August 31, 2015 |
The "Spanish" Cannon |
August 24, 2015 |
The Company C Men |
August 17, 2015 |
Jacob A. Riis |
August 10, 2015 |
Mason Jars |
August 3, 2015 |
October 7, 1896 |
July 27, 2015 |
The Soldier's Monument |
July 20, 2015 |
Ice |
July 13, 2015 |
Moses O. Williamson |
July 6, 2015 |
Sweet Little Alix |
June 29, 2015 |
Sharlie's Shickens |
June 22, 2015 |
Anna Held & John Drew |
June 15, 2015 |
Hartel & Secker Meat Market |
June 8, 2015 |
Girls |
June 1, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part II |
May 25, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part I |
May 18, 2015 |
Marbles |
May 11, 2015 |
Pawnee County, Kansas |
May 4, 2015 |
Detective Stories and the
Real Thing |
April 27, 2015 |
Professor Isaac A. Parker |
April 20, 2015 |
Celluloid Collars |
April 13, 2015 |
Asparagus |
April 6, 2015 |
Mayor John C. Stewart |
March 30, 2015 |
Basket Ball |
March 23, 2015 |
The Courthouse of Knox
County, IL |
March 16, 2015 |
“Trifles make
perfection...”
|
March 9, 2015 |
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
March 2, 2015 |
Martha Sandburg Goldstone |
February 23, 2015 |
Devotion |
February 16,
2015 |
Gumbiner's
Pawn Shop |
February 9, 2015 |
White Bread |
February 2, 2015 |
The
Monarch Club |
January 26, 2015 |
The Silver Dollar |
January 19, 2015 |
The Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway |
January 12, 2015 |
The
Four Corners |
December 22, 2014 |
Swedish
Christmas |
December 8, 2014 |
Christmas 1878 |
December 1, 2014 |
Bunker
Boots & Shoes |
November 24, 2014 |
Galesburg,
Illinois |
November 17, 2014 |
It was Buffalo Bill's Day |
November 10, 2014 |
The Election of 1896 (A follow-up story) |
November 3, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 (continued) |
October 27, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 |
October 24,
2014 |
The
Rissywarn |
October 20, 2014 |
The Parlor Stove |
October 13, 2014 |
Ashes to Ashes |
October 6, 2014 |
Jesse James |
Sept. 29, 2014 |
Lester T. Stone, Public Servant |
Sept. 22, 2014 |
It's Who You Know |
Sept 15, 2014 |
Mother of the Illinois Flag |
Sept 8, 2014 |
The Scissors
Grinder |
Sept 1, 2014 |
Baseball |
August 25, 2014 |
Howard K.
Knowles, Capitalist |
August 18,
2014 |
Alcoholic Beverages |
August 11, 2014 |
Soda
Water |
August 4, 2014 |
Sweet Corn |
July 28, 2014 |
Marching Through Georgia |
July 21, 2014 |
The Knox
County Fair |
July 14, 2014 |
The Panic of 1893 |
July 7, 2014 |
The Rev. T. N.
Hasselquist |
June 30, 2014 |
The Knox
County Courthouse |
June 23, 2014 |
The Family
Photograph Album |
June 16, 2014 |
Parades |
June 9, 2014 |
Lingonberries |
June 2, 2014 |
Where We Live |
May 26, 2014 |
Old Main |
May 19, 2014 |
Rhythms
of the Railroad |
May 12, 2014 |
Spring
Tonic |
May 5, 2014 |
The Milkmen |
April 28, 2014 |
Gray's
"Elegy..." |
April 21, 2014 |
Off to War |
April 14, 2014 |
Swedish Easter |
April 7, 2014 |
A Father's Face |
March 31, 2014 |
Secret Societies |
March 24, 2014 |
George A. Murdock, Merchant |
March 10, 2014 |
Trade
Cards |
March 3, 2014 |
The Demorest
Medal |
February 24, 2014 |
Rip
Van Winkle |
February 17, 2014 |
Cabbage
Soup |
February 10, 2014 |
Lincoln's Birthday |
February 3,
2014 4 |
The
Colonel |
January 27, 2014 |
The
Lincoln Penny - A Little History |
January 20, 2014 |
Walking to Work |
January 13,
2014 |
A Small Abode |
January 6, 2014 |
Birth of a Poet |
December 30, 2013 |
Christmas 1880 |
December 23, 2013 |
Swedish Christmas |
December 16, 2013 |
The Reporter
Sees Santa |
December 9, 2013 |
The Coming
of Christmas |
December 2, 2013 |
The Fire Boys Talk |
November 25, 2013 |
Galesburg Will Feast on Turkeys and Cranberries -
Thanksgiving 1893 |
November 18, 2013 |
Mary
Sandburg Johnson |
November 11, 2013 |
Carl
Sandburg's Bicycle |
November 4, 2013 |
Lace Curtains |
October 28, 2013 |
The
Front Room |
October 21, 2013 |
A Warm Breakfast |
October 14, 2013 |
Marion D.
Shutter |
October 7, 2013 |
Cigars and Consumption |
September 30, 2013 |
Forrest F. Cooke & August Sandburg |
September 16, 2013 |
Forrest F.
Cooke, Mayor |
September 9, 2013 |
Dusty
Streets |
September 2, 2013 |
Typhoid
Fever |
August 26, 2013 |
Coffee and Water |
August 19, 2013 |
A
Horse! A Horse! |
August 12, 2013 |
Gaddial Scott |
August 5, 2013 |
The
Racetrack |
July 29, 2013 |
John Peter
Algeld - Part II |
July 22, 2013 |
John Peter
Altgeld - Part I |
July
15, 2013 |
Tramps, Tramps, Tramps |
July 8, 2013 |
Lady
Liberty |
July 1, 2013 |
Galesburg's
Fourth |
June 24, 2013 |
John
H. Finley |
June 17, 2013 |
The
World's Columbian Exhibition |
June
10, 2013 |
Fruit
Short-Cake |
June 3, 2013 |
Horatio Alger,
Author |
May 27, 2013 |
Memorial Day,
1887 |
May 20, 2013 |
Professor
Jon W. Grubb |
May 13, 2013 |
Beginnings of Lombard University |
May 6, 2013 |
Young
Sandburg’s View of Lombard College |
April
29, 2013 |
Thinking |
April
22, 2013 |
Robert
Colville, Master Mechanic |
April 15,
2013 |
The Galesburg Opera House |
April 8, 2013 |
Grocery
Stores and Sample Rooms |
April 1, 2013 |
A
Hearty Breakfast |
March
25, 2013 |
The Lost
Wallpaper Legend |
March 18, 2013 |
Martin G. Sandburg |
March 4, 2013 |
The
Edison Talking Machine |
February 25, 2013 |
Joe Elser, Civil War
Veteran |
February 18, 2013 |
Remember
the Maine... |
February 11, 2013 |
Lincoln's
Birthday |
February 4, 2013 |
Curiosity |
|