Hannon-Phalen Family Collection, 1874-2003 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

This collection consists of personal papers from the Hannon-Phalen family. The materials reflect rural life in and around Ivesdale, Illinois, during the late nineteenth through the twentieth centuries. The collection contains personal family items, including correspondence, photographs, certificates, and other materials.

A brief guide containing biographical information on members of both families can be found in the inventory. Note that the guide focuses on a few individual family members and is not comprehensive.

The collection is comprised of six series, including Family History and Genealogy, Personal Papers, Correspondence, Photographs, and Business Records. Although the collection includes materials dating from 1874 to 2003, the bulk of the materials dates from the 1880s to the 1950s.

The Family History and Genealogy series contains research and biographies on the Hannon and Phalen families. Materials in this series contain information such as birth and death dates, marriages, and details about the family farms. Also included are three journals written by Ellen Cecelia Phalen (1909-2002) in the late 1990s. She discusses her childhood memories, offering a glimpse into rural life in the United States during the early twentieth century.

The Personal Papers series includes family information such as Hannon house blueprints, Baptismal certificates, driver's licenses, and Navy and Army service forms. Also included in the series are newspaper clippings discussing family members, Ivesdale, and local residents.

The Correspondence series contains personal letters and cards written to family members. Included in the correspondence are letters written to Roy Hannon (1898-1979) detailing state-side military service during World Wars I and II. Also discussed in the letters are the 1918 Influenza breakouts in U.S. military camps.

The Photographs series includes pictures of Hannon and Phalen family members and their farms, Ivesdale and the surrounding area, Saint Joseph's Catholic Church (Ivesdale) and its clergy, and various trips. Photos from trips include Haiti; Chicago; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Springfield, Illinois. It also includes photos of Mountmellick, Ireland, and Penn Yan, New York, where members of the Phalen family lived, taken in the early 2000s.

The Business Records series contains mostly agricultural records, including books for both the Hannon and Phalen farms, as well as the Ivesdale Co-op Grain Company. The series also includes the Ivesdale Village Board of Trustees minutes, dating from 1874 to 1880. The minutes offer insight into the town's governance during the late nineteenth century.

The Library acquired this collection from Dr. Bruce Hannon in 1992-1993. Dr. Hannon made additional donations in 1997, 2000, 2007, 2012-2013, and 2016. Additional materials related to the family are located in the University Archives under the title "Bruce Hannon Papers" (RS 15/10/22). Dr. Hannon is Professor Emeritus of Geography & Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the son of Walter Hannon and Kathleen Phalen Hannon.