Lake Co. Thains prolific givers, writers

The Thain family name is well-known in the Antioch and Millburn areas, and recently became nationally known when John Thain, the last CEO of Merrill Lynch, and descendant of the original Thain/Millburn clan, gave more than $3 billion in bonuses to his employees.

The Thains arrived in Millburn about 1845 from Scotland. They were farmers, and ran a grist mill on Mill Creek until 1902. Perhaps the most documented Thain family members were the two brothers, Alexander and Richard, who fought in the Civil War (1861-1865).

Both men were prolific letter writers, and comrades of George Smith (1842-1915) who frequently received letters from his sister, Susannah "Susie" Smith (1839-1924). The letters are part of the permanent collections of the Lake County Discovery Museum.

Susie's letters were shared by George, and soon Alex and Richard Thain began corresponding with her. In a letter dated March 1865, Alex Thain (1840-1923) wrote to Susie from Huntsville, Ala., about his time with an elderly slave: "The Old Man sat munching some hard bread which had been given to him by some of the pickets but his poor toothless jaws were hardly equal to the task- As I turned away sick at heart from the contemplation of such a cheerless existence, my mind filled with the wish God save me from such a cheerless old age- After the poor slave has drudged out his years of usefulness and is no longer a source of profit to his master he is begrudged the miserable remains of his existence, and his death is hailed as a fortunate event."

Alex's letters were often long (up to eight pages with every inch filled) and eloquently written. After the war, Alex attended the Chicago Theological Seminary and became a Congregational minister.

In the last year of the war, Richard Thain (1845-1912), was the assistant brigade postmaster and had the dangerous task of riding out to meet the mail train while eluding Rebel scouts and sniper fire.

Richard's letters to Susie are addressed simply as "Dear Friend," but Susie's diary from the same period strongly suggests a wartime romance developed between them, and continued for a year following the war.

In 1866, Richard began traveling extensively on both coasts, and eventually settled in Oak Park while working in advertising in Chicago. Richard married, but after his wife died, he left his three daughters to be raised by his brother, James, until he remarried.

Susie, though temporarily heartbroken, married local farmer and a former comrade of Richard's, David Minto.

Diana Dretske is collections coordinator at the Lake County Discovery Museum, 27277 Forest Preserve Road, Wauconda, IL 60084; phone: (847) 968-3381; fax: (847) 526-1545, www.LakeCountyDiscoveryMuseum.org.