Dan Anderson tells sensational tales from Glen Ellyn's past

Looking at the pleasant, tree-lined streets of Glen Ellyn today with its pedestrian-friendly downtown, who would guess at the darker and quirkier moments in this suburb's 175-year history?

A murder victim buried beneath the Illinois Prairie Path in the vicinity of the Glen Ellyn Public Library. The unhappy personal life of Glen Ellyn's first forester, Frank Johnson, who divorced the same wife twice. The town's ballyhooed but failed campaign to rid itself of the common housefly.

What's more, how did a live cow get on the roof of the Congregational Church?

These are a few of the stories Dan Anderson tells in the book he co-authored and co-edited, "Stories from Glen Ellyn's Past, Volume One: 24 Tales of Murder, Mayhem, Infidelity, Pranks and Other Intriguing Tidbits of Glen Ellyn History."

"It's more a story of people and the situations they got into, rather than a dry recitation of history," Anderson said.

Take that murder victim, for instance. He was the former business partner of Old Man Gentner, a cobbler in town. Believing his partner had taken liberties with his wife, Gentner hit him over the head with a hammer and shoved his body into a well in about 1890.

The crime wasn't discovered until years later. By then the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad had installed tracks over Gentner's abandoned well. The rail right-of-way, of course, later became the Illinois Prairie Path.

When Anderson recounted that story at a book signing at The Book Store in Glen Ellyn, he enriched his take on it by having an outline of a body drawn on the sidewalk in front of store and cordoning it off with police tape.

Anderson, an active volunteer with the Glen Ellyn Historical Society, said he got the idea for doing articles on the town's history while working in the society's archives.

"I was coming across materials in our archives that I knew would make very interesting articles," he said. "Plus, we have a wonderful collection of old photos."

Anderson - retired from a publishing career in the construction industry - proposed a series of newspaper articles. Aided by Anne Balogh, a former editor from his publishing company, and a handful of other writers, Anderson has seen 85 articles published in the Glen Ellyn Sun over the past 21/2 years.

The Glen Ellyn Historical Society gathered some of the articles into book form and published "24 Tales of Murder, Mayhem, Infidelity, Pranks" in April. The 56-page book sells for $14.95 and is available from the historical society and a variety of retailers in Glen Ellyn.

Jan Langford, the executive director of the historical society, said so far more than 400 copies have sold, exceeding expectations.

"It's been wonderful exposure for the historical society," she said. "People have noticed it - and it has helped them realize the community does have a rich history."

A second volume focusing on lost Glen Ellyn architectural treasures and landmarks is already in the planning stages. A third volume may follow.

Anderson doesn't expect to run out of material anytime soon.

"In the process of working on these articles, I've learned a tremendous amount of Glen Ellyn history and the more I learn, the more interesting it gets," he said.

One of Anderson's personal favorite stories is of Madame Rieck, who opened a high-class brothel in Glen Ellyn after reform Mayor Carter Harrison of Chicago shut down her business there. Rieck drew customers from far and wide, possibly contributing to the rapid growth of Glen Ellyn in the early 1900s, Anderson said. What's more, at least one source reported that she earned the quiet gratitude of wives worn out from having children in an age when birth control didn't exist.

"I think we should put up a statute to Madame Rieck," he said.

A 40-year resident of Glen Ellyn, Anderson said his community involvement began in earnest 10 years ago after he retired. He serves on Glen Ellyn's Downtown Advisory Committee. Together with his wife, Midge, a Glen Ellyn native and artist, he's engaged in local philanthropies, including providing a matching donation to fund the teen room at the Glen Ellyn Library.

He averages 100 hours a month doing volunteer work for the Glen Ellyn Historical Society.

Anderson said his exposure to history began with his grandmother when he was growing up in Michigan. His grandmother, whose ancestors helped to settle southwest Michigan, would take her grandchildren to a cemetery where many of the family were buried to trace their genealogy. Anderson remembers being rather indifferent to her stories then.

"History, I think, is more interesting as you get older," he said. "I've sure taken to it like a duck to water."

For information on the book, call the Glen Ellyn Historical Society at (630) 858-8696.

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