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John Hart Crenshaw and Hickory Hill: Final Report. By James M. Cornelius (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2002. Pp. x, 99. Maps, photos., illus., notes, sources. Paper).
Did John Hart Crenshaw (1797-1871) of Gallatin County kidnap free blacks and indentured servants in order to sell them as slaves in the South? Did he hide the blacks in the attic of Hickory Hill, his two-story double log house near Equality, until slave traders could arrive to take the blacks down the Ohio River? Did he breed slaves in that same attic by using a "stud slave" named Bob Wilson? Most Gallatin County residents would answer these questions in the positive because they have grown up hearing the stories. However, many of the descendants of John Crenshaw and his wife, Sina Taylor, vehemently deny all truth to the stories, asserting that they are all part of a cruel conspiracy to besmirch not only their ancestors' reputations but their own reputations as well.
And now the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), which purchased Hickory Hill in February 2001, has entered into the fray. Ostensibly to find out once and for all what the truth was behind the persistent rumors about Crenshaw, the IHPA recently contracted with the Illinois Historical Survey (IHS), a unit of the University of Illinois Library in Urbana, for historical research. In September 2000, IHS hired James Cornelius, Acting Director, to research and write a report on John Crenshaw and Hickory Hill.
Throughout the report, Cornelius makes clear that the paucity of historical documents hampered his search for the truth. For example, none of Crenshaw's account records have survived. Crenshaw claimed that he had kept most of his figures in his head and that the few records he had kept were all lost in the fire at Cypress Mill in March 1842. Also, Gallatin County court records from the 1830s and from 1846-1860 are missing, as are the state-mandated census records for Gallatin County in 1825, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1855, and 1865 (although these records have survived in neighboring counties). Likewise, the county board minutes for the 1830s are missing. Consequently, Cornelius acknowledges, we lack much of the information that might throw light on Crenshaw's movements. (45, 92, 44, 75)
Even when historical documents do...