When most people at NEIU think of the governor’s proposed Capital Development Program they think immediately of the proposed Education Building for NEIU and that the program ends there. However, there is a lot more to Capital Development then just the education building.
While searching prairieghosts.com, a site put up by Decatur, IL paranormal author Troy Taylor, I came across a haunted spot in Southern Illinois, called Hickory Hill, or the Old Slave House.
The paranormal legend, borders on paranormal and urban legend, but it does have an interesting history behind it. I will leave all paranormal matters to Jon Gronli, and Beyond the Veil of Madness for a future edition.
The Old Slave House location is one of the many Capital Development projects on the table with the NEIU Education Building.
The State of Illinois bought the house in 2003, and it has been closed to the public since 1996. According to Taylor, the house was built in 1842 by John Hart Crenshaw, a salt mine owner. Slavery was outlawed in Illinois except for the salt mines. The reasonin was that no free man would want to do the nasty work to mine salt. Crenshaw however found a different way to make money besides salt. He captured free blacks and escaped slaves and sold them back in the form of a reverse ‘underground railroad.’
Crenshaw developed his own slave stud farm, for lack of better words, he had a slave known only as ‘Uncle Bob’ who was his stud. ‘Uncle Bob’ has been said to have fathered as many as 300 children. He died at the age of 112 in 1948.
Crenshaw was charged with capturing freed slaves to sell back into slavery in 1842, but the case could not be proven. They tried again in 1846, the same year a slave attacked him with an ax, severing his leg and ending his slave trading days. Crenshaw died in 1871.
Many years later, the house was opened as a tourist attraction, and was closed in 1996 because then owner, Mr. Sisk, grew ill.
According to the National Parks Services list, the Old Slave House is part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom as a reverse Underground Railroad site.
According to Dave Blanchette, the media contact for the Illinois Capital Development Board, the Old Slave House has received a small grant for historical research and structure analysis. It is still waiting for capital development money before restoration and may be opened as a museum. The grant will be able to give them the knowledge of how much money the Old Slave House will require.
With he emphasis that NEIU and Governor Blagojevich put on the NEIU Education Building, it would seem as though capital development starts there. It is far from where it ends. Historical sites such as the Old Slave House depend on such a program. The Old Slave House is a dark day in United States history. That is why it is important that it is preserved for future generations. Without funding, the building that has sat vacant for almost 12 years could fall and be lost to future generations.