Q. During the recent remodeling of the Denny's restaurant in Belleville, the decor was changed to include copies of old Belleville photos. All are marked as being courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Museum. One features a ballroom with an amazing inlaid floor. I believe it is identified as the Morrison house with "the famous floor." Where was this house and how can I contact the Lincoln Museum to purchase copies of these photos?
-- Debbie Gain, of Belleville
A. Anyone who has lived in or near Belleville for any length of time surely has heard of Glen Addie. Today probably know only part of the story behind the name.
Just a few years ago, Glen Addie was associated with a subdivision rife with drugs, shootings and other nefarious goings-on just northeast of Belleville. The situation became so bad that the name was dropped and even streets were rechristened in hopes of improving the fortunes of the troubled area on Lebanon Avenue between Belleville and Shiloh.
Hard to imagine, then, that in the 1860s Glen Addie had arisen as a shining jewel. It was built by one of the area's most illustrious historical figures -- James Lowery Donaldson Morrison, who might have given Donald Trump a run for his money had he just been born a century later.
You name the pie, and Morrison had a finger in it. As a military man, he distinguished himself in the Mexican War as a lieutenant colonel in a regiment of Illinois Volunteers. As a fiery Whig -- and, later, Democratic -- politician, the Kaskaskia native would serve as a state representative and senator before taking over Lyman Trumbell's Congressional seat in Washington, D.C., for a short time in 1856.
As a city father, he served as an engine man in Belleville's first volunteer fire department, served on the city's school association, and introduced a bill to incorporate the Belleville Gas Light and Coke Co. (He would also name the town of Addieville and lay out Morrisonville.) His business interests ranged from banks to railroads; the first locomotive on the Belleville-Illinoistown (East St. Louis) Railroad was reportedly named the Col. Morrison.
His romantic affairs were just as colorful. In 1855, his first wife, a daughter of Illinois Gov. Thomas Carlin, died, leaving him a widower with four young children. So, you can bet tongues were wagging in 1861 when the well-to-do 45-year-old Morrison married 18-year-old Adele Sarpy, the daughter of an equally wealthy St. Louis fur trader.
Even their honeymoon was one for the books. En route to Europe, the newlyweds stopped overnight at the historic Willard Hotel in the nation's capital. Soon after their arrival, a bouquet of flowers from President Lincoln was delivered along with an invitation for a White House visit.
In her memoirs later, the young bride recalls declining the offer, thinking it would give Abe and her husband a chance to talk shop. Sure enough, even though Morrison was a Democrat and had actively supported Stephen Douglas, Lincoln asked him to help lead the North in the Civil War as a brigadier general, an offer Morrison quickly declined. Lincoln apparently took the answer in stride.
"Come quickly, my dear!" Morrison gasped as he returned to his hotel room. "The president is below in his carriage, awaiting you!"
As they sailed off for Europe, work began on what Morrison figured would be suitable digs for the couple when they returned. Situated on 640 acres that Morrison had purchased from the estate of former Lt. Gov. William Kinney for $40,000, it would be perhaps the most opulent mansion ever seen in the metro-east to that time.
This may give you some idea of its splendor: While in Europe, Mrs. Morrison sketched two castles she particularly liked and sent the drawings back to the architects, asking them to blend the features into the new home. Morrison would call it Glen "Addie," his pet name for his beloved wife, Adele.
The home itself had 26 rooms, 12 fireplaces, a brick furnace in the basement, dumbwaiters and speaking tubes in the walls that served as a primitive intercom system. Lit by gas, it also boasted wine and ice cellars and running water from a reservoir pumped into the attic from a large cistern.
The interior featured an art gallery to show off the Morrisons' many paintings and a mosaic centerpiece in the entryway floor fashioned from colorful stones collected during the honeymoon. The hallway also led to a spiral staircase with a niche for statuary halfway up.
Then, there was that magnificent ballroom floor. While in Germany, they hired two expert floor layers and bought five varieties of rare wood from the Black Forest. When they returned to the United States, the craftsmen came along to lay the immense floor sumptuously patterned with stars, ovals, diamonds, rays and checkerboards -- all fitted without nails.
"They have by far exceeded our brightest expectations," Adele wrote.
And, the house was just the start. The grounds would also contain a smokehouse, summer houses, servants quarters, stables, carriage house, granary, woodshed and chicken house. In all, it would cost $60,000 -- the equivalent of more than $1.5 million today, according to one estimate using the Consumer Price Index.
It quickly became the place that anyone who was anybody wanted to be seen at. "Opening night" alone turned into a chic soiree for 500 guests from St. Louis' most fashionable families. Over the years, the Morrisons would wine and dine Stephen Douglas, Gov. Samuel Tilden of New York, Gen. George McClellan and future Vice President Thomas Hendricks, among others.
In fact, during the Civil War, federal authorities heard rumors that Glen Addie concealed cannon with which Confederate troops planned to level the "little town of Belleville," according to Mrs. Morrison's later memoirs. The rumors, of course, were unfounded.
Then, there was a memorable visit by venerated Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in January 1868. After a dinner that went on to 11 p.m., the Morrisons and their guests retired to a parlor for a bit of dancing. Things quickly went downhill from there:
"It was amusing to see the General perform, according to the antiquated fashion, with high steps and bold jumps," Lt. Gov. Gustav Koerner would recall later in his memoirs. "Colonel Morrison and myself did some waltzing with the girls. The General tried his hand at that also, but made a thorough failure of it.
"The whole thing was ridiculous, for the gentlemen were all of mature age and the girls young and lovely. But the General was delighted, for he fell to kissing the girls, who, of course, could not refuse this pleasure to the renowned General."
But despite all that work and all that splendor, the Morrisons spent only part of their time at Glen Addie. During the winter, they usually lived in St. Louis hotels or in their "big city mansion" at 2760 Locust St. When Morrison's health began to fail, the family moved to the big city permanently in 1877, selling their Shiloh Valley mansion to the Isch family, which kept it only a short time. Just 30 years after it was built, the mansion became a granary.
Then, in 1901, the Catholic diocese of Belleville purchased the home and 42 acres for $8,500 and turned it into St. John's Orphanage. After removing tons upon tons of wheat from the once-ornate salons and ballrooms, the Rev. Anthony Vogt became the orphanage's chaplain, overseeing the first of what would be hundreds of youngsters running across that "fabulous floor."
The final chapter came on July 8, 1952, when the once splendid structure was razed after new quarters had been built for the orphans. Today, as you drive past the St. John's Day Care Center (the orphanage closed in 1988), you'll just have to imagine the fancy palace that hosted all those 19th century balls with society's elite dressed to the nines.
You can, however, hold onto at least a piece of that history. If you contact Roberta Fairburn at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, she would be happy to talk to you about acquiring a copy of that photo you saw. Just e-mail her at roberta.fairburn@illinois.gov, call her at (217) 558-8887 or write her in care of the library at 112 N. Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701.
Send your questions to Answer Man, P.O. Box 427, 120 S. Illinois St., Belleville, IL 62222-0427, or e-main rschlueter@bnd.com
