The best preserved city of its era in the United States, Galena Illinois. The new sidewalks and main street surface are a welcome improvement to an already wonderful place to spend your holiday. Home of Ulysses S. Grant and nine Civil War Generals, Grant lived here both before and after the War, and anxiously awaited notification of his election to the Presidency a quarter mile from the scene above. Herman Melville penned “Moby Dick” not two blocks from the home where Grant nervously paced the floor.
Today, tourists from around the world walk the streets of Galena, wondering at the amazing variety of quaint shops and historic buildings, and the feeling of History surrounding them.

Until the arrival of French trappers in the 1600’s, Galena was known as Manitoumi, the Sacred Ground, to the Native Americans living in the large encampment in the downtown area, which was a vast walnut forest. The “Indian” may well have been in residence here for forty thousand years, predating the supposed walk across the Bering Straight. Mammoth, cave bear, and saber-tooth cat, in their time, prowled among the trees, and before them, the many hungry dinosaurs. Fossils from the shallow oceans that once covered Illinois can be found easily in the majestic limestone bluffs of Galena and the nearby Mississippi River. Absolutely the most beautifully scenic area of the Midwest, it is no wonder the Native American chose this place for their home. The mineral riches found here by the early explorers had been mined for thousands of years by the natives, and caused the greatest rush for mineral exploitation in America’s history, bringing settlers and their families from all parts of the globe.

The following is from Frank Kennedy’s family history;

One particular family that walked through the mud of Galena’s Main Street in the spring of 1828 was that of Patrick Sullivan, who was born in County Waterford Ireland in 1793, and his wife Julia Gosse, born in Switzerland in 1795. Arriving in America as quite young children, at nearly the same time, they were married near St Louis in 1820 and there spent the first few years of their married life.

In the spring of 1828 after a three week trek by ox team they arrived in Galena, stopping for supplies, and went further north to the diggings, a wild boomtown just north of Galena known as Dublin, later renamed Shullsburg. While the rich lead mines were no doubt the lure that brought so many adventurous spirits here in the early days, Mr. Sullivan had no inclination for mining but engaged in teaming and hauling freight to and from Galena, for Blue Mounds, New Diggings, Shullsburg, and Benton area prospectors and settlers.

Three of their children were born in Dublin, or Shullsburg; John, in January 1829, Patrick on May 7 of 1831, and William, who was born in the Fort on the 15th day of August, 1832, during the Blackhawk War, the only child known to have been born during the crisis.

The family moved in the spring of 1831 to the Drybone, where in addition to teaming they cultivated a small field of ground, and it was while living here that the Blackhawk War broke out, spreading terror and consternation among the border settlements. Mr. Sullivan and family and practically the entire population of Dublin were forced to seek safety in the Fort at Galena, and compelled by circumstance to get there as best they could, some having ox teams and others going on foot, but all arriving safely without accident or incident, after traveling all night.

This Book details the lives and homesteads of the early pioneers of the Galena and New Diggings-Shullsburg area, and was mainly compiled from family records collected from 1912 to1937 by an anonymous family member known only as The Author, and handed down to all family members, and includes the branch of the Kennedy clan’s journey and timeline from County Cork Ireland to Canada and North Dakota, and then to Shullsburg, where Patrick Sullivan, born in 1831 at Shullsburg, had a granddaughter named Clara, who fell in love with Tom. Tom’s oldest son Joseph moved to Galena, around 1950. Frank Kennedy was born in 1949 and spent his entire life in the Galena area. See Frank’s Art and Signs everywhere.

Shullsburg has always been the Little Sister of Galena, and their histories are so interwoven it is imperative that people rediscover her. This fine quiet little city has had major restoration work done to the historic buildings and if you like the Architecture of Galena you will fall deeply in love at first sight, guaranteed!
New Diggings was once home to more than ten thousand people, with three banks and an Opera House on the impressive main drag. Now, you can see the ghost of their presence in the old mine dumps, foundations, and surface diggin’s, but with the advent of The Gold Rush in 1849 it turned into a Ghost Town, and most of the city just plain disappeared. What is left is well worth the visit, though, as the ancient wooden church built by Father Samuel Mazzucheli still stands, and the Saloons are Far Out!
Eagle Ridge Resort offers a fine outing of golf, and the Diamond Jo river boat, anchored at Dubuque, has all the gaming needs you may require. Dubuque Greyhound Park, within a short drive of all the fine Bed and Breakfast lodging Galena has to offer, will ignite your racing enthusiasm, and who knows; your dog may win! Abraham Lincoln spoke to all who would listen from the balcony of the historic Desoto House Hotel, and though his speech made him hungry, he couldn’t dine at one of Galena’s fantastic restaurants, but you can! Follow the Great River Road if you come from South or North, or scenic Highway 20 if you hail from Freeport, Rockford, Chicago, and points East.