All Elizabeths reign on their special day

Font Size:

By Bill Wundram | Tuesday, July 1, 2008 1:04 AM CDT | () comments

IT’S not likely anyone ever had seen so many Elizabeths in one single place at one time — 406 of them, which is more than half the population of Elizabeth, Ill., a dozen miles from Galena.

There were mothers and grandmothers and grandchildren, shaking hands and walking the flower-lined streets of Elizabeth, which — as anyone can plainly guess — was named after a woman named Elizabeth.

It was a sunny Saturday, so Elizabeths had come to Elizabeth from all over the United States to undo a record.

“The plan was to break a Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of people with the same first name gathered in one city on the same day,” says Susan Gordy, who thought up the idea.

The record is 1,000 men named Mohammed who were authenticated to be in Dubai at one time.

“We didn’t break a record, but we had a lot of fun,” says Susan, community coordinator for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency at the Apple River Fort State Historic Site in Elizabeth.

Nearby Galena is a touristy place, so billboards were put up, notices were sent to area newspapers and put on the Internet. One billboard said, “If your name is Elizabeth, come to Elizabeth on June 28.”

They did come, indeed. They arrived in cars, trailers and even on motorcycles.

“It was good just to mingle with people whose first name is Elizabeth,” said Elizabeth Connaghy, Chicago. Registering were Elizabeths from California, Montana, Wisconsin, Iowa and — mostly — Illinois.

“One Elizabeth was from Ireland, but she didn’t come to the U.S. just for our event. She was in America visiting someone else,” Susan says.

There would be no way to pull off a “pretend,” not that anyone would pretend to be named Elizabeth. Every Elizabeth had to produce a birth certificate and donate $10 to “The Elizabeth Committee” to help plan future reunions of everyone with the first name of Elizabeth.

There were craft booths and bake sales. Massbach Ridge Winery, at the edge of Elizabeth, made a special label Elizabeth Wine. It was a big seller. All these Elizabeths even named a Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Jane Zia, 9, of Chicago.

The big event of the day was to wander a path to the restored Apple River Fort at the knob of a hillock. It is not a very big place, but it is how the town name came to be named.

In the Black Hawk War, the warrior and his followers descended upon Apple River one day in 1832. All 45 nearby residents hurried to the log stockade for protection.

They were a frightened bunch until a brave farm woman named Elizabeth Armstrong took over the battle. She rallied the men and had the children load musket balls. Black Hawk and his followers skeddadled. Those in the fort hailed Elizabeth Armstrong, and as the settlement grew they named the community after the heroine.

“History is full of stories that are not substantiated,” Susan says. “From all that we have learned, there were two other Elizabeths beside Elizabeth Armstrong in the fort that day.”

Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.