The large blue and white house on the southeast corner of Aurora Avenue and Main Street is history. It was torn down (along with two other structures) to make way for a new multi-unit residential building. The story of this house is particularly of interest to me, for many reasons. As a research historian and History Detective, I have the opportunity to review the resources and look for the stories that we have either forgotten, or never knew.
The home was built by a Lisle Township farmer, Charles Rickert. The Rickert’s have been an integral part of Naperville history, particularly the late Paul Rickert whose mentorship and source material were so very helpful in my career. The Rickert’s built a large substantial home of local limestone and good, old-growth, walnut, oak and pine timber held fast with square nails. Round or wire nails were more common after the Civil War, so I knew that house had to have been built before 1865. Tax records indicate the home was built around 1857. In 1861, the Rickert’s sold the home to Mark Beaubein, also a retired farmer. The Beaubein name is prominent in both the history of Chicago and DuPage County as owners of hotels, plank road toll houses, and taverns.
For a short time (1866-1869), Jacob Grove owned the property. I could find no information about Mr. Grove. The Reverend John W. Cunningham family moved into the home in 1870. Three generations of Cunninghams lived in the home from 1870 to 1911. Rev. Cunningham was a minister for the First Congregational Church, Naperville from 1868 until his retirement after the death of his son in 1871. Nancy Cunningham, the Reverend’s daughter taught drawing at North-western College (now North Central) and was a preceptress, or tutor. Nancy Cunningham later taught Botany, History and English Literature. (The italics are unique connections with me personally and professionally. Used to teach History and I am currently a tutor)
Miss Cunningham was the first instructor to hold the title of Professor of History and English Literature at NCC. She served the college from 1870 to 1896. A student recalled, “[The college moving to Naperville] was the important formative period of a denominational, coeducational college… How much Mrs. Knickerbocker, or as we knew her, Miss Cunninhgam, had to do in shaping the standard and policy of the college we little realized.” In addition, Professor Cunningham’s sister Kate was a teacher in the Naperville schools. Prof. Cunningham married a Naperville farmer, Henry W. Knickerbocker and lived in the home with extended family.
Nancy’s sister, Lucy married a neighbor, the Reverend William Porter who was the son of Rev. Jonathon Porter, a Chicago and northern Illinois pioneer missionary and also a minister of the First Congregational Church. Porter Avenue two blocks south of Aurora Avenue was named for Rev. Jonathon by George Martin. The Porter family sold the home in 1911 to Urias Eichelberger, a retired farmer and real estate investor who eventually broke the parcel into smaller lots. In 1950, John Mathers bought the home and thereafter it appears to be rental property. I could find no information regarding Mr. Mathers except that he lived directly to the east of the home. Incidentally, the small parcel to the south of the home was purchased by Naperville constable Oscar Springborn in 1949. The Springborns lived in that home until 1974, but that is another story. Our buildings have a story to tell; let us listen.
