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 According
to LCG&HS President Diane Osborn the
Society members gave this a great deal
of thought. They considered naming
Abraham Lincoln but opted not to for a
couple of reasons. They felt that while
Lincoln was an integral part of Logan
County history, he was not a Logan
County native. Furthermore, the society
felt that there would be many other
communities who would also recognize
Lincoln. This local organization wanted
the opportunity to recognize that there
were others who had a very positive
impact on our county.
After discussing it thoroughly, the
society decided that they would nominate
Violet Scully and Paul Beaver.
Though they were generations apart, the
two had a common connection, William
Scully and the Scully Estates.
William Scully was an Irish immigrant,
who, long story short came to America
and eventually Logan County. In this
county, he purchased large quantities of
land, much of which was considered by
most to be worthless because it was
marshy and appeared to be unusable for
growing crops. Scully however had a
vision and the ingenuity to come up with
a plan to drain the land and make it a
vital part of our agricultural history.
William Scully left behind his son
Thomas and daughter-in-law Violet when
he died, and those two are responsible
for the construction of what we now know
as the Scully Mansion, but they referred
to it as “the big white house.”
Violet loved the mansion
and particularly enjoyed her rose garden
and the grounds of the mansion in
general.
Violet also enjoyed serving in her
community and she coupled her service
with her passion for green growing
things. Through her work, the Logan
County community benefited greatly as
was reflected in words spoken by H.
Safford Peacock, a former Lincoln
College Trustee. Peacock offered up
these comments regarding Mrs. Scully
when he was given an honorary degree at
the college in 1974:
“Concern for
the land and its use is evidenced by
your interest in agriculture and in
conservation and landscaping projects.
Your involvement resulted in the
formation of the Logan County Parks and
Trails Foundation when you donated
several hundred acres of land along
Kickapoo Creek for a greenbelt park.
“Your green thumb is imprinted in
Lincoln on landscaping projects around
the County Courthouse, the post office,
and in Washington Park.
“You were active on the committee to
restore and remodel the historic
Executive Mansion in our state capital.
Though preferring to work unobtrusively,
your quiet, but constant, efforts
prompted the Salvation Army to give you
its highest civilian award.
“Private colleges and universities have
long drawn much of their strength from
the support of friends like the Scully
family.”
When making their nomination in 2017,
Osborn said that the quotes from Peacock
were submitted as a letter of
recommendation for the LCG&HS’s
nomination of Scully as one who had
shaped our history.
Paul Beaver was a young man, still in
college when he decided that a paper he
would write should discuss William
Scully and the development of the
farmland in Logan County. This was a
topic Beaver was familiar with because
his own great-grandfather had been a
tenant of the Scully Estates. William
Scully was deceased but Thomas and
Violet remained along with their two
sons Michael and Peter.
Beaver often told the story that there
were those who said he would never be
permitted to speak with representatives
of the Scully Estates. But, Beaver,
being persistent, chose to ignore those
warnings and sought an interview. He
admits that he was surprised when he was
granted that interview. But as he notes
in the preface of his book “William
Scully and the Scully Estates of Logan
County” (which was also the title of his
paper), he was granted that permission
by Thomas Scully shortly before his
death in 1962. Beaver wrote, “Mr.
Stewart told me that Mr. Scully gave the
permission for me to begin the study
when he learned that my
great-grandfather, John Schultz, had
been an early (1870’s) Scully tenant.”
Beaver wrote his paper
for his class, and would later evolve
that paper into the book he
self-published in 2009.
Beaver was an author, a
teacher and a fine example of one who
loved his community and loved sharing
the rich history of Logan County with
all who were interested. He served as an
inspiration to many and also as a great
source of knowledge.
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top of second column]
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That was testified in the
letter of recommendation that Lincoln
College Professor Ron Keller wrote for
the LCG&HS in 2017:
"It is my
pleasure to write this letter in support
of the nomination of Logan County,
Illinois resident Paul Beaver to be a
recipient of an Illinois State
Historical Society distinction honoring
those who have made a significant
historical contribution to the history
of Illinois.
"Mr. Beaver is professor emeritus at
Lincoln College in Lincoln, IL. He
started his lifelong career in education
in the public schools but eventually
rose to the collegiate professorship.
During that time, he taught thousands of
students in the discipline of history,
and among those classes, he taught the
history of Abraham Lincoln and Illinois.
He became very versed in local and state
history and Abraham Lincoln’s role in
our state.
"While at Lincoln College Mr. Beaver
held for many years the position of
director and curator of the Abraham
Lincoln collection at Lincoln College.
This is a significant body of artifacts,
and he cared for those items, many of
which relate to Abraham Lincoln and
Illinois, and today those items live on
in the Lincoln Heritage Museum in no
small part because of the special
attention which Mr. Beaver took to
preserve them.
"Paul Beaver has become synonymous with
local history. Whenever I have a
question or anyone else has a question
on our history, Mr. Beaver is the go-to
guy. He has provided likely hundreds of
presentations and talks through the
years, most of them uncompensated.
"However, he does this because he enjoys
and appreciates history, and wants
others to appreciate it as well. He has
written several books on history, and I
have had the pleasure of working with
him on one of those. For nearly a
century, local judge Lawrence Stringer
was the foremost historian on Abraham
Lincoln’s role in Logan County. Mr.
Beaver painstakingly researched what
Stringer may have missed or incorrectly
concluded. He poured over letters and
sources and wrote in 2010 Abraham
Lincoln in Logan County, which has
supplanted Stringer’s masterpiece as
perhaps the best authority written on
the history of Logan County, Illinois
and its connection to our great Abraham
Lincoln.
"Mr. Beaver is not only a scholar, but a
true gentleman. He has offered to help
create landmarks, statues, kiosks, and
other points of interest in our city, so
those from all parts of the globe may
appreciate our history. There is not a
historic site for miles around which has
not in some way owed its existence to
Paul Beaver.
"For these reasons, I strongly recommend
Mr. Paul Beaver for this prestigious and
distinct honor for which he is truly
deserving."
Osborn recently explained that the
LCG&HS collected everything needed to
submit Beaver and Scully for the
historical distinction at the 200th
anniversary of our state. They were of
the understanding that both honorees
would be listed in the Congressional
record in Washington D.C. and would be
named at some point as an Illinois
Congressman during the
200-year-celebrations.
They didn’t hear anything else from the
Illinois Society of Washington D.C.
Osborn said she recently spent three
days searching the congressional records
and couldn’t find any reference to Mr.
Beaver or Mrs. Scully. She still
believes it is there, but she hasn’t
been able to find it.
When Mr. Beaver was hospitalized
recently, Osborn said that the local
historical society had determined that
they would honor him when he came home
again. However, that didn’t happen. Mr.
Beaver passed away on February 26, 2019
at Memorial Medical Center in
Springfield.
His passing has left a large gap in our
local community. He was a husband, a
brother, father and a grandfather. He
was a mentor, a former coach, a former
teacher, and beloved friend to many. He
loved his community and he loved sharing
his wealth of knowledge on many topics
with anyone who sought him out.
And he was a friend to the Scully’s who
also shaped the future of our county
when our state was still quite young,
and are yet today leaving a lasting
impact on our county.
And, he shared the
pleasure of attending the first Lincoln
College Grand Soiree with his good
friends Violet Scully and Scully Estate
Manager James Stewart.
Violet passed away in August of 1976,
and we have all confidence that the two
are now together, chatting and
remembering the history they shaped and
recorded right here in Logan County.
Thank you to the LCG&HS for recognizing
the value of these two great people and
for making every effort to memorialize
them both in the history of our state.
[Nila
Smith with excerpts from Diane Osborn,
Logan County Genealogical Society]
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