Reminiscences: Introduction

Reminiscences of Early Peoria
by Odillon B. Slane

Introduction

By Marilee Barger

     Those of the present generation who are happily endowed with imagination are always interested in the picturesque past which was their forebearers'. In Illinois, where we are only three generations removed from pioneer days, the lives of our grandparents furnish a vivid contrast to the customs and estates of the present.

     Those of our elder contemporaries who can contribute to our knowledge of Illinois pioneers are a dwindling few, whose reminiscences should be transcribed before they are lost to history.

     Odillon B. Slane of Peoria is one of the fortunate few who has had actual touch with the things of the past. His father was just a boy when he came to Illinois and the drama of those pioneer days was indelibly impressed upon his mind. In later years he transmitted these impressions to the son who has collected a number of the reminiscences in this little volume.

     Most of the sketches have been published in the Sunday Journal-Transcript, but at the instigation of friends, Mr. Slane decided to preserve them more permanently by printing them in book form. They will add to the data of Illinois History and to the color of our colloquial life, every scrap of which will be treasured in the future.

Table of Contents For Youth

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