Vintage Book Review: A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Tillson [A Vibrant Retrospective]

A first-person account of log cabin living as a young wife and mother.

Most of us can name at least one or two historically significant memoirs, such as Elie Wiesel’s Night or the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Such first-person accounts of history add richness and personality to the dry study of dates, places, and politicians which usually dominate history lessons. While getting a bird’s eye view of historical events is important, well-crafted memoirs written by those who survived the trials of past events provide us with the “story” part of history. This year, I had the pleasure of encountering an unusual and underappreciated historical memoir of this kind, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Holmes Tillson.

Synopsis

Unique for several reasons, the recollections penned by Mrs. Tillson provide a rare window into the life of settlers in the fledgling State of Illinois. In 1822, she undertook the arduous, multi-month journey to her new home, at first overland from Boston to Cincinnati, then by boat down the Ohio River, and finally northward by wagon to establish a home on a plot of land situated northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Her new life in the “west” was one filled not only with the constant physical labor of isolated rural subsistence and child-rearing, but she also assisted with clerical work relating to her husband’s career as a land sales intermediary.

What makes Christiana Tillson’s memoir so extraordinary?

So, you may wonder, why is this book special? Perhaps most importantly, Tillson’s memoir is the candid and largely uncensored perspective not of a man, but of a woman, who lived on the frontier. On this point alone, the work constitutes a rare treasure, as most first-person accounts of pioneer life detail a male perspective and woefully neglect to describe the particulars of domestic life and the female domain of the time period. Further, unlike many published narratives of a personal nature, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois, while not expected to remain private, was likewise never intended by its author for publication. And, it is not a diary or personal journal. It was written by Mrs. Tillson in 1870 during the last days of her life for the benefit of the youngest of her four children, who could not personally remember her families log cabin days. The book, therefore, includes intimate details not seen in more heavily edited texts of a similar subject matter which were written, conversely, with public distribution in mind.

She does not assume that the reader has awareness and understanding of the activities of daily living on the frontier.

The retrospective nature of Tillson’s words also provides the modern reader with a distinct benefit. Because she recorded her experiences so many decades after living through them and after moving back to her home state of Massachusetts, she does not assume that the reader has awareness and understanding of the activities of daily living on the frontier. Likewise, she provides highly colorful depictions of neighbors and visitors she encountered, including specifics about their habits, personalities, and unabashed, sometimes sarcastic, commentary regarding what she thought of them. I particularly enjoyed her written transcriptions, dialogs, of the spoken accents she recalls. Her description of a culture clash between herself and one of her neighbors who had emigrated from a Southern state demonstrates Tillson’s vibrant and dramatic voice.

I told her I was proud to be called a Yankee, and that she need never fear to speak of it. She looked incredulous, and then said, “Billy and I have always found you jess so, but some folks say they have been here when Yankees come in, and you talk a heap of things that you don’t say to us.” ” Do they say I talk against anyone.? ” “O no, not that; but you use a heap of words to Yankees that you don’t when you talk to us. They say, too, you put a lot of nasty truck in your bread. It is what you keep in a bottle, purlass, I believe, is the name, and they say it is full of dead flies, and bugs, and cricket legs.” I brought forward my little bottle of dissolved pearl ash, looking so clear and pure, and showed it to her, but it seemed hard to give up her old prejudice.

Christiana Tillson, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois

Additionally, modern prefaces and footnotes added to published editions of the book in 1919 and in 1995 offer helpful guideposts to the reader to contextualize events described by Tillson. Though, my own independent research was necessary to determine the identity of “pearl ash” mentioned in the quote above. Pearl ash was a leavening agent and precursor to modern baking powder (sodium bicarbonate) which could be made by baking potash (potassium carbonate sourced from wood ashes) to remove some impurities. Many more such dramatic tidbits populate the book and make it entertaining to read.

At risk of this review becoming too long winded, I can’t resist sharing a few more examples of Tillson’s unique depictions which include domestic details and neighborly habits often left out by other non-fiction accounts. One of my favorite passages describes an occasion when Mrs. Tillson and her husband stayed overnight with another log-cabin dwelling family, shortly after their arrival to the region where they would settle. Their coarse host, who shouted at his wife, shocked Mrs. Tillson by demonstrating a capacity for fatherly tenderness.

He took the baby under one arm, and with two or three bounds was at the fire-place. He commenced raking open the coals, still holding baby under his arm, swearing he would make a back-log; “yes, I’ll brile ye.” I kept both eyes open and trembled for the fate of the baby, when, to my surprise, he seated himself, carefully warmed the dry linen that was hanging by the fire, and in the most handy manner performed all that a good nurse or mother could have done. And now that baby was dry and there was no good reason for crying, and swearing did not soothe, he pressed “the brat, imp of the devil,” to his breast, and commenced singing a good Methodist hymn in a soft, subdued voice, and had it been my first impression I should have supposed him a most devout Christian. A more sudden change from the profane to the devotional could not be imagined.

Christiana Tillson

Through the snarky delivery of her strong opinions, Christiana Tillson delivers her judgment on what she deems to be ordinary aspects of travel and frontier living. Often, she is disgusted by circumstances, yet at other times, impressed. After witnessing the appalling meal preparations undertaken by an overnight host not far along the trail from the river town of Shawneetown, Illinois, Mrs. Tillson could not stand to consume the food presented to her. She relates, “When your father said ‘the breakfast seemed pretty good,’ I asked him if he thought it had time to digest? If so, I would tell him of a few things that went to make his meal.” (Unfortunately, we never find out what she found so revolting.) Alternately, she recalls more positive encounters, relating respect for the humble fastidiousness and thriftiness of a particular hostess, saying, “I have forgotten what we had for food, but remember the cleanliness of the rough furnishing, and that a saucer standing on the table, filled with lard, with a strip of white cloth laid in it and one end raised up at the side of the saucer, burning, served to light the table and the whole room.”

Take in Ms. Tillson’s words with a grain of salt.

For all its charm, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois possesses a few distinct shortcomings. The informality with which the text was written means that it is also choppy and somewhat unpolished. The vignettes and anecdotes included are generally chronological in their arrangement, but there is otherwise little organization in the narrative. The reader encounters several abrupt transitions in the text where the author leaves off and picks up again. Mrs. Tillson herself comments on her ill health in old age and the limits this imposes on writing for long stretches. Likewise, readers must also consider whether the intervening years have impacted the accuracy of her memories, as well as what influence long term changes in her perspectives and biases have wrought. The tales she tells of a new bride, then in her 20’s, are filtered through the eyes of a woman who had reached 72 years of age and seen the American Civil War take place. Finally, Mrs. Tillson’s experiences are representative of a middle-class woman of European heritage, and the opinions she expresses should be viewed with that in mind. Many of the neighbors she depicts were unlikely to be literate enough to record their own perspectives and feelings, and this leaves us with a rather imbalanced vantage point on frontier life. If these pitfalls are kept in mind, Tillson’s memoir remains a supremely worthwhile read.

What did Christiana Tillson think about her experiences?

While the motive for recording her memories clearly indicates she understands her experiences in wild Illinois are of interest, as technology and circumstances have changed, Tillson does not give the impression that she found her lot and toil to be exceptional. In fact, she remarks that her experiences were uninspiring, saying “I regret that I have not the power within me to give a more high-toned record, but as that gift is not, and the subject not a soul-inspiring one, I must be content to suit my story to the log cabin surroundings, which are not wont to elevate.” The tasks of running a remote homestead are seemingly endless, and not limited to making candles, preparing every meal, copying long-hand correspondence, softening hard water, hosting unexpected guests, and bearing and raising children. Lacking the sentimentality and child’s point of view of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s famous Little House on the Prairie books, Tillson’s frank tone helped me to more fully imagine the pioneer lifestyle some of my own ancestors lived. Conversely, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois gives a sobering reminder that my life in the 21st century could be considered more extraordinary than Tillson’s when viewed through a wide historical lens.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

The journey through this book led me to consider a question: What is mundane in my own life that future generations might find fascinating? I so often marvel at the now-obsolete tools and methods which my great-great grandparents would have used in their daily lives. Craftsmen and women remain among us who have learned and carry on various traditional, but now less practical, artforms like spinning wool into yarn or shaping wood into furniture. Many old skills remain in common use, such as writing with pencil and paper and preparing classic recipes, but who among us still uses “pearl ash” in cooking? It is interesting to consider what the inheritors of my own culture will retain and what will seem as foreign to them as traveling by wagon on a “corduroy” road seems to me. What do you think will seem strange to future generations?

 Final Thoughts

The candid peek into pioneer life of Christiana Holmes Tillson holds much broader appeal than its particular niche of time and place. While I think my family connection to the history of Southern Illinois and my interest in the present-day hobby of living history adds to my appreciation for the writings of Mrs. Tillson, her vibrant descriptions of daily life make the book entertaining to anyone who is interested in how our American predecessors persevered. I plan to revisit Tillson’s words in the future, and I hope that you will undertake the journey with her as well.

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Book Facts:

• Written by Christiana Tillson (1798 -1872)
• Non-Fiction first-person account written for the author’s family
• Major locations: Montgomery County, Illinois; Shawneetown, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri
• Significant editions published in 1919 and 1995.
• A quick read, at a length of 154 pages, excluding prefaces and index.
• Historic lifeways described (not an exhaustive list): candle making, softening water, remaking clothing, cooking, making butter, table setting, preparing folk remedies, attending church services, sending and receiving mail, hiring help, lodging overnight, travel by wagon and river boat, visiting the city of St. Louis, Missouri, attitudes about women’s roles, education, and religion

More information about the life of Christiana Holmes Tillson and her husband John Tillson is available from the Illinois Periodicals Online project.

Read the book for free.

The 1919 edition of A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois, edited by Milo Milton Quaife is in the public domain. Several digital versions of the book are available on Archive.org. One of them is linked below. These digital versions are a wonderful resource if you would like to do a search for a keyword, such as “candles” or “corduroy.”

Full Text of A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois, by Christiana Holmes Tillson

If you would like to read the newer introduction to the book which provides additional historical context, (written by Kay J. Carr and published in 1995) used copies of the modern edition can easily be found online.

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