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Digging Ditches is Dangerous
Digging the canal wasn’t easy. New construction machines and techniques were influencing the dig, and organizing thousands of workers led to lots of issues. Isham was hit by a train in 1899: Isham...
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Digital Historical Research
I’m headed to the Newberry Library this weekend to read Isham Randolph’s memoir “Gleanings from a Harvest of Memories.” As I’m pulling my notes together, it’s amazing to me how little physical library...
View ArticleIsham Randolph’s Memoir, First Thoughts
In 1937, 17 years after Isham’s death, his sons published a collection of short autobiographical stories written by their father and organized in rough chronological order. The book is called...
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Mayor of Chicago (c. 1880) was a bit of a thug
Isham makes a bold claim in his memoir. On September 15th, 1880, his 3rd cousin, the Mayor of Chicago Carter Harrison Sr. led a mob attack on the rail line he was working on. I added it to Isham’s...
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Isham has a Wikipedia Entry
Isham Randolph, the owner of a full Wikipedia page After 8 months of on and off work, a trip to the Newberry Library, and dozens of articles logged and noted, Isham Randolph – the engineer that...
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Elgin National Watch Company
The Elgin Clock at Union Station (from nsub1's flickr stream) Chicago in the 19th century is well known as a meat packing city, as a railroad hub, and as a birthplace of the early labor movement. Less...
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McAvoy Brewing Company
I added two new Wikipedia entries tonight, both are pretty stubby in nature – McAvoy Brewing Company and John H. McAvoy. I ran into the McAvoy Brewing Company a few years ago at the Quincy Brown Line...
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Ebin. J. Ward v. Isham Randolph
I’ve started to collect any historic records from the Sanitary District of Chicago during the Sanitary & Ship Canal dig on a Google bookshelf. I’ve found 8 books, including several volumes of the...
View ArticleWhat Badges Would Isham Have Collected?
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/plural/status/177170929053483008"] My pal @plural (Jason Gessner)’s funny tweet inspired a second (shorter) post explaining badges in terms of Isham Randolph....
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Isham Randolph, Poet
I’ve written in the past about Isham’s 26 stanza poem, written for Admiral Dewey on his visit to the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal. You can see the entire poem on page three of this album. I’ve...
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