Tucked in a quiet section of Forest Home Cemetery is a small, red granite headstone that’s easy to overlook, but on closer inspection, you’ll notice it is engraved with the lyrics to the state song of Illinois:
When you heard your country
calling, Illinois, Illinois,
Where the shot and shell
were falling Illinois, Illinois,
When the Southern Host withdrew,
pitting gray against the blue
There were none more
brave than you, Illinois.
In the late 1880s, competition was intense between St. Louis, New York City, Washington D.C. and Chicago to host the Columbian Exposition. One promotional scheme concocted by those who wanted the event held in Chicago was to craft a catchy tune literally singing the praises of the state of Illinois.
Chamberlin, a Civil War veteran who was wounded in the war, wrote the lyrics to the song “Illinois” around 1890. The lyrics were set to the tune of another song, “Baby Mine” (not the Disney song), composed by Archibald Johnston in 1876. Chamberlin then gave the song to his friend, Col. O.B. Knight, to sing in both Illinois and Washington. It was hoped that if members of Congress heard the tune, they would be inclined to choose Chicago for the site of the Exposition.
Chicago did, in fact famously, host the Columbian Exposition (now also known as the Chicago World’s Fair). It’s impossible to know if the song had any impact on the final choice (it’s more likely it was awarded to Chicago because wealthy Chicagoans pitched in more money than New York financiers).
The song has undergone many changes. Chamberlin originally wrote just three stanzas, but a fourth, with references to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, was added based on his wife Lydia’s suggestion. In 1901, Walter Howe Jones wrote a new tune for the lyrics. In 1935, another version for marching bands was composed. Two more verses were added in 1966 for the Illinois Sesquicentennial and yet another marching band arrangement was composed.
“Illinois” became the state song in 1925 using a version of the original melody by Johnston. In 2018, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a resolution recommending that the song be played at state events. If you’ve been to a University of Illinois home game, chances are you have heard the tune at the beginning of the game.
Chamberlin lived only from 1841 to 1894 and died at 53, less than a year after the Exposition. President William McKinley once told Chamberlin that his song, “Illinois,” was “a song that will never die” and will never be forgotten, which is ironic, given that very few Illinoisans could sing the song if asked.
References used: Archival newspaper articles from the Dixon Evening Telegraph, My Journal Courier, and the 1966 copyrighted sheet music of “Illinois.”
Amy Binns-Calvey is a volunteer with the Historical Society of Forest Park and the author of More Dead Than Alive: Stories of Forest Park’s Quietest Neighbors.