INGERSOLL SPEAKS OF DEATH

INGERSOLL SPEAKS OF DEATH

                                         NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

August 23, 1883:  Robert Ingersoll is in New York, after having lived here in Peoria, Illinois from 1857 to 1877.  He practiced law here and in my opinion was Peoria’s most famous citizen.  I believe that to this day. A Peoria newspaper printed a letter that he wrote to a friend who had just buried his mother. Here is an extract.

“After all there is something tenderly appropriate in the serene death of the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the young, the strong. But when the duties of life have been nobly done---when the sun touches the horizon---

when the purple twilight falls upon the present, the past and the future---when memory with dim eyes can scarcely spell the records of the vanished days---then, surrounded by kindred and by friends, death comes like strains of music. The day has been long, the road weary and we gladly stop at the inn.

Life is a shadowy, strange and winding road, on which we travel for a little way---a few short steps, just from the cradle with its lullaby of love to the low and quiet wayside inn, where all at last must sleep, and the only salutation is goodnight.

Nearly forty-eight years ago, under the snow in the little town of Cazenovia, my poor mother was buried. I was but two years old. I remember her as she looked in death. That sweet, cold face has kept my heart warm through all the years.”

 

Robert Ingersoll made his mark here in Peoria: throughout the United Sates and Europe as well.  He was said to be the greatest orator of our time, and that included men like Daniel Webster and Patrick Henry.  Over the years I have talked to a lot of people about Robert Green Ingersoll.  Most of them did not know him at all, while others told me he was known as an ‘Agnostic’  That’s it…one word for a man that lived and worked in our town for twenty years. He brought fame and greatness to himself and our little town of Peoria, Illinois. In 1911 a monument to him was dedicated in Glen Oak Park where it stands today. I tend to think that the people of Peoria and their attitude of life influenced him in a positive manner…and it reflected in his incredible oratory.  All of his works are available in our downtown library.

Editor’s Note:   Norm is a local historian and welcomes your comments and questions.            norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net