DARLINGTON — Lafayette County Historian and Head Archivist, Dennis “Jack” Shannon will present his program ‘Fever River Mining District Bound on the Frink and Walker Stage Line’ on Sunday August 23, at 1:30 p.m. at the Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society, Main Street, Darlington. The event will be held in the lower level of the museum. The presentation will focus on the stage coach trail that ran from Gratiot’s Grove, Wisconsin to Galena, Illinois. Refreshments will be served.
“It is my intent to present a window in time during the development and use of the stagecoach trail founded by John Frink and Martin Walker, as it provided a major means of transportation for the movers and shakers of Galena and the surrounding areas,” shares Dennis “Jack” Shannon.
For those who are not familiar, a stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are drawn by six horses.
“The majority of the information during my presentation comes from a little-known ledger kept by Innkeeper and stagecoach line operator, Samuel F. Dodds,” says Shannon. “He was the operator for ‘J. Frink and Co’, dating from 1832 through 1851, which I have recently completed the first known transcription of.”
Shannon enjoys archiving township ledgers that date back to the early 1830s. In his work, he finds it to be his responsibility to transcript the ledgers as handwriting and documentation has changed over the years. With his experience, Shannon is able to locate transcripts and give accurate, historical accounts of events that happened with precise accuracy. He continues his work as he is digitally copying over ledgers and other historical documents into the archives of the Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Museum.
The presentation will focus on the ledger as kept by Samuel Finley Dodds, who was born in 1806 in the state of Kentucky. In addition to working for the stagecoach, Dodds was credited as the founder of Lena, Illinois. He and his wife Mary Jane (Garner) Dodds, along with their family, is interred in Lena.
“Beginning in Indiana, then relocating to Waddams Grove, and then to Lena, Illinois (known as Alida) around 1840; the ledger allows a unique window into those times and provides names, dates, associations, money transactions and other dealings of the movers and shakers of that period, traveling to and from the Fever River Mining Region,” shares Shannon. “It is my intention to bring this ledger to life, by using it to provide attendees with a first-hand view of what those times were like on the road to and from the hustling, bustling hub of Galena.”
In addition to his work as Head Archivist, Shannon is the Assistant Archivist for the Mining and Rollo Jamison Museums, which he has enjoyed since 2018. He remains busy, while studying and sharing what he finds of local history.
“Much of my work has been done independently,” shares Shannon. “I have spent years recovering, transcribing, digitalizing, studying and archiving township ledgers since 2016. Some of them date back to 1832. I have done a lot of work in local cemeteries such as locating, restoring, and re-mounting buried headstones as well as those laying on the ground. I have also researched the backgrounds and biographies of all the interned individuals. In doing so, I have updated or added to many profiles on findagrave.com.”
Learn more about the Frink and Walker Stage Line, and the impact it brought to the local area. Shannon is looking forward to answering questions after his presentation, which will be held in the lower level of the Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society museum. The family-friendly event is free to the public. Any donations provided will further support the ongoing efforts of the society.
