Mother Rudd House - Gurnee, IL
N 42° 22.340 W 087° 55.144
16T E 424329 N 4691525
During the Civil War the tavern became a stopover on the underground railway system. Slaves were hidden in the barn on their travel to Canada and freedom.
Waymark Code: WM3AYD
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/07/2008
Views: 78
Mother Rudd was born Wealthy Buell on June 4, 1793 in Lyme, Connecticut and married Jonathan Harvey on December 5, 1813. Wealthy and Jonathan Harvey had a total of 13 children, 9 of whom survived to adulthood. Their daughter, Nancy, was born in June of 1820 in Herkimer Country, New York. In 1837 the family moved to Summit County, Ohio. In 1843, Jonathan Harvey moved his family to Warren Township in Illinois and acquired 80 acres of land which had originally been claimed from the United States by Charles Parson, land agent for Illinois Land Company. In 1835-36 Mr. Parson had built a log building on the property which was large enough to accommodate several families to be used as a shelter for families while they were building their own homes in the area.
In 1844, due to the increase in travel between Chicago and Milwaukee (a five day overland trip, with Gurnee being a half-way stop), the original Harveys built a new building, now known as the Mother Rudd Tavern (about 250 feet south of and across the road from the original site) on Milwaukee Avenue (now Kilbourne Rd.) on the north side of Grand Avenue.
In January, 1845 Jonathan Harvey died, and in December of 1846 Wealthy Buell Harvey married Eratus Rudd. The building became known as the Mother Rudd Tavern.
During the Civil War the tavern became a stopover on the underground railway system. Slaves were hidden in the barn on their travel to Canada and freedom.
In 1870 Eratus Rudd died and Mrs. Wealthy Rudd discontinued the tavern. However, after Wealthy Rudd died in August of 1880, at the age of 87, her daughter, Nancy Mutaw, reopened the tavern and maintained it until nearly the end of her life (she died in 1894 at the age of 74), but while she was popular and affable, the place never enjoyed the wide range of social affairs which made it well-known as the Mother Rudd Tavern.
Address:
Gurnee, Illinois USA
60031
Web site: [Web Link]
Open to the public?: Public
Site Details: Not listed
Name of organization who placed the marker: Not listed
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