Fairbury, Illinois and the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition

By Dale Maley

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois.
Fairbury was home to one of great horse importers of Illinois, John Virgin. He was named by the Governor of Illinois to be on the planning commission of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition.
The Keeley Institute was founded in 1891 as an alcoholic treatment center in Dwight, Illinois, 30 miles north of Fairbury. Many Fairbury citizens worked at the Keeley institute during the years it was open from 1891 to 1965.
The inspiration for the plot of this short story came from Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City. Larson interwove two stories into one book. The first story was the planning, building, and operation of the 1893 Chicago Columbia Exposition. The second story was America's first serial murderer, H.H. Holmes.
John Virgin and the many Fairbury citizens who visited the Chicago Columbia Exposition had no idea America's first mass murderer was operating a boarding house for Exposition visitors and killing his patrons.
This short story interweaves the stories of John Virgin planning the Exposition, William Stackpole wanting to use his creativity for the Exposition, Fairbury citizens visiting the Exposition, and a young girl from the Keeley Institute being murdered by H.H. Holmes.
The author would like to thank Diane Pawlowski for helping to provide some of the factual information for this short story.
If you are interested in early Fairbury area history, this short story will help you understand Fairbury's role in the 1893 Columbia Exposition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dale Maley
• Release date: Apr 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311313898

Dale Maley

Dale C. Maley is the author of the 19999 book Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pros.He is also a contributing author to Chapter 18 Seeking Help from Professionals in the 2009 book The Bogleheads Guide to Retirement Planning.He is a very successful private investor who has been a student of Financial Planning and Investing for over 30 years. He was trained as an engineer at the University of Illinois and has been a practicing engineer for 32 years. His accomplishments as an engineer include the granting of 16 U.S. Patents and authorship of over 500 professional technical papers. He is also a member of the International Society of Automotive Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.He also has earned an MBA (Masters Degree in Business Administration) degree from Illinois State University. His background in mathematics, engineering, and business provides him with the excellent basis for understanding and teaching investments and financial planning.He is also a very successful investor who has been investing in common stocks and mutual funds since 1980. He has also personally invested in both 401(K) and IRA plans, so he is familiar with participation and management of these types of investments. He has been investing in indexed common stock mutual funds since 1990.Dale became a Registered Financial Advisor in the State of Illinois in 2006 and is currently launching his business as a fee-only financial planner. He is President of Maley Financial Planning LLC.

Book preview

Fairbury, Illinois and the 1893 chicago columbian exposition

by

Dale C. Maley

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Artephius Publishing on Smashwords

Fairbury, Illinois and the 1893 Chicago Columbia Exposition

Copyright © 2015 by Dale C. Maley

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system. No part may be transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise). Exceptions to this must be with the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Fairbury

Chapter 2

John Virgin

Chapter 3

William Stackpole

Chapter 4

Thomas A. Beech

Chapter 5

Dr. George Lewis

Chapter 6

Keeley Institute

Chapter 7

H.H. Holmes

Chapter 8

1893 Chicago Columbia Exposition

Chapter 9

John Virgin Named to the State Board of World's Fair Managers

Chapter 10

H.H. Holmes and His Murder Castle

Chapter 11

Stackpole's Dome

Chapter 12

Planning the Fair

Chapter 13

Emeline Disappears

Chapter 14

The Columbian Exposition of 1893

Chapter 15

Fairbury Visitors to The Columbian Exposition of 1893

Chapter 16

The Columbian Exposition of 1893 After-Math

Chapter 17

Conclusion

References

Recommended Reading

Web Sites

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Warning-Disclaimer

This book is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, insurance, or other professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

It is not the purpose of this manual to reprint all the information that is otherwise available to the author and/or publisher. The purpose is to complement, amplify, and supplement other texts. You are urged to read all the available material, learn as much as possible about investing and to tailor the information to your individual needs.

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes both typographical and in content. Therefore, this text should be used only as a general guide and not as the ultimate of investing information. Furthermore, this book contains information accurate only up to the printing date.

The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain. The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility with respect to any loss or damage caused by the information contained in this book.

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Foreword

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois.

Fairbury was home to one of great horse importers of Illinois, John Virgin. He was named by the Governor of Illinois to be on the planning commission of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition.

The Keeley Institute was founded in 1891 as an alcoholic treatment center in Dwight, Illinois, 30 miles north of Fairbury. Many Fairbury citizens worked at the Keeley institute during the years it was open from 1891 to 1965.

The inspiration for the plot of this short story came from Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City. Larson interwove two stories into one book. The first story was the planning, building, and operation of the 1893 Chicago Columbia Exposition. The second story was America's first serial murderer, H.H. Holmes.

John Virgin and the many Fairbury citizens who visited the Chicago Columbia Exposition had no idea America's first mass murderer was in Chicago. He was operating a boarding house for Exposition visitors