» 2025 Educational Events Sponsored wholly or in part by the BHHA Bishop Hill Heritage

Gunsmiths of Henry County, IL

On Saturday, May 17, 2025, the Bishop Hill Heritage Association is hosting Gunsmiths of Henry County, IL program by Curt Johnson, author of Gunmakers of Illinois 1683-1900. His presentation will be on the gunsmiths of Illinois, with an emphasis on Henry County gunmakers. Guns made by area gunsmiths will also be on display.

Mr. Johnson’s program will include the gunsmiths that worked on Illinois soil during the French Colonial period. He will then talk about the early Illinois territory gunmakers. His presentation will then conclude with the gunsmiths of Henry County, and the adjoining counties of Whiteside, Bureau, Stark, Knox, Mercer, and Rock Island.

Curt Johnson is a retired tool & die maker with a lifelong interest in antique firearms. His two-volume book set, Gunmakers of Illinois 1683-1900, has information on over 1,500 early Illinois gunsmiths. This free one-hour public program will now start at 1 p.m. on the second floor of the Blacksmith Shop, located at 203 North Bishop Hill Street in Bishop Hill, Illinois. It is sponsored by the Geneseo Foundation and the Galesburg Community Foundation. For more details, please call the BHHA at 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net.

August 9, 2025 Bishop Hill Chautauqua

This year is Henry County’s Bicentennial. So, in honor of this occasion, the Bishop Hill Chautauqua will look back at the people who impacted Henry County history. A modern-day Chautauqua is when storytellers, actors, and historians perform first-person portrayals of famous historical figures. This free festival will occur in the village park gazebo on Saturday August 9.

The day begins at 9 a.m. with “A Storyteller’s Tour of Bishop Hill”, a walking tour led by professional storyteller and historian Brian “Fox” Ellis. The tour will last about 90 minutes and circle the town. The tour will include stories of the founding of the town, as well as some of its more colorful recent history.

After the tour, the programs will start in the gazebo. At 10:30 a.m. in the park, Jimmy Lakota Edwards will talk about Native American history in our area. At 1 p.m., Brian “Fox” Ellis will perform as Benjamin Dunn Walsh, the first State Entomologist of Illinois who lived just outside the Bishop Hill Colony. Mr. Ellis will give an outsider’s viewpoint of the Bishop Hill Colony. At 2 p.m., Angie Snook, retired Geneseo Historical Museum director, will portray Harriet Cone Miller, a member of one of the founding families of Geneseo. Mrs. Snook will tell us the inner workings of the Underground Railroad in Henry County. At 3 p.m., singer-songwriter Barry Cloyd will portray Illinois poet laureate and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg. Carl Sandburg’s sister Mary was a teacher at the Bishop Hill Colony School. To conclude the day, at 4:00 p.m., the Bishop Hill Heritage Association is hosting a fika with the performers at the park gazebo. Fika is a Swedish tradition of coffee and conversation; in this instance the audience is invited to ask questions of the performer and about their historical characters.

All the Chautauqua programs will be held at the gazebo in Bishop Hill’s town square, on the corners of Main Street and Bishop Hill Road, in Bishop Hill, IL. Folks are encouraged to bring a lawn chair. This free public event is sponsored by the Bishop Hill Heritage Association, Community State Bank, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, Geneseo Foundation, Galesburg Community Foundation, and Fox Tales International. For more information, call 309-927-3899, visit www.bishophillheritage.org or email bhha@mymctc.net .