{{short description|Swedish-born American architect}} '''Charles L. Ulricson''' (1816, Stockholm, Sweden – 1887, Peoria, Illinois) was a Swedish-born American architect, who practiced in Peoria, Illinois.<ref>[http://recollections.wheaton.edu/wp-content/files/ulricson.jpg Photograph of Charles Ulricson], from Wheaton College.</ref> He is best known for designing Old Main (1856–57) – the principal building at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois – now a National Historic Landmark.
==Biography== The son of Carl Ulricson, architect to the Swedish crown, he graduated from the Royal Institute of Architects in Stockholm.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination |url={{NHLS url|id=66000323}} |format=pdf|date=1961 |author=Blanche Higgins Schroer and Charles E. Shedd Jr. |publisher=National Park Service}}. {{NHLS url|id=66000323|title=Accompanying 4 images, exteriors, from 1975, including photo of oldest known photo of Old Main, in 1864.|photos=y}} {{small|(951 KB)}}</ref> Following his father's death, he emigrated to the United States in 1835, initially settling in New York City.<ref>Factor, p.</ref> He was employed by the architect Alexander Jackson Davis for about four years, where he worked on University Hall (1833–37, demolished 1890) for New York University. Searching for a place to set up his own practice, he traveled through the American South before settling in Peoria, Illinois, about 1844.<ref>"Ulricson, Charles," ''The History of Peoria County, Illinois'', (Chicago: Johnson & Company, 1880), pp. 697-98.[https://archive.org/stream/historyofpeoriac00john#page/696/mode/2up]</ref>
Ulricson established a successful practice in Peoria, designing and often acting as contractor for commercial buildings and residences.<ref>"New Buildings," ''A Descriptive Account of the City of Peoria'' (''The Peoria Transcript'' (newspaper), 1859), p. 23.[https://archive.org/stream/descriptiveaccou00peor#page/22/mode/2up]</ref> He designed and built St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1850, demolished 1880s), of which he was a member and later vestryman;<ref>"St. Paul's Episcopal Church," ''The History of Peoria County, Illinois'', (1880), p. 463.[https://books.google.com/books?id=j4w6AQAAIAAJ&dq=ulricson+architect&pg=PA463]</ref> and a private school, Peoria Academy (1854).<ref>H. W. Wells, ''The Schools and Teachers of Early Peoria'', (Peoria, IL: Jacquin & Company, 1900), pp. xxii-xxiv.[https://archive.org/stream/schoolsteacherso00well#page/xxii/mode/2up]</ref> He designed and built a number of Italianate and Second Empire mansions on Peoria's West Bluff, overlooking the city and the Illinois River.
===Old Main=== [[File:Old Main Knox College.jpg|thumb|Old Main (1856-57), Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.]] His most prominent early commission was for buildings at Knox College. The Female Seminary (1856–57), the first education building and dormitory for women, made the college co-educational. Old Main, the centerpiece of the campus, contained men's classrooms and the college chapel. His Victorian Gothic design for Old Main was inspired by Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII's residence outside London.<ref name=nrhpinv2 />
Notably, a year after its opening, Old Main was the site of the October 7, 1858 debate between incumbent Senator Stephen A. Douglas and challenger Congressman Abraham Lincoln. A crowd estimated at 15,000 people stood on the lawn for the 3-hour event, while the contenders spoke from a platform erected before the building. The primary subject of the Lincoln–Douglas debates was the expansion of slavery in the United States – Douglas argued in support and Lincoln opposed. Lincoln lost the 1858 Senatorial election, but two years later won the 1860 Presidential election. Old Main is the only surviving building from the debates.<ref name=nrhpinv2 />
In 2010, Knox College professor R. Lance Factor published a book about Ulricson and Old Main, arguing that the building is filled with iconography and associations with Freemasonry.<ref>[https://www.knox.edu/news/news-archive/professor-probes-masonic-secrets-of-old-main-at-knox-college "Professor probes Masonic secrets of Old Main at Knox College,"] from Knox College.</ref> Knox College was a Presbyterian institution, and its president during the period when Old Main was built, Reverend Jonathan Blanchard, was vehemently anti-Masonic. Dr. Factor argues that Ulricson kept his Masonic membership a secret.
==Personal== Ulricson married Maria Cowham in 1861. Four of their six children reached adulthood: Walter H. (b. 1867), Oscar E. (b. 1870), E. Frank (b. 1873), and Fanny M. (b. 1878). The family lived at 309 W. Armstrong Street, Peoria.<ref>''The History of Peoria County, Illinois'' (1880), p. 698.</ref>
==Works== [[File:Pettingill-Morron House.JPG|thumb|Pettengill-Morron House (1867), Peoria, Illinois.]] * Buildings at Jubilee College (1845–47), Jubilee Township, Illinois. * John Reynolds house (1847), 305 N. Jefferson Street, Peoria, Illinois.<ref>John Drury, ''Old Illinois Houses'' (Illinois State Historical Society, 1948), pp. 91-93.[https://archive.org/stream/oldillinoishouse51drur#page/92/mode/2up]</ref> * St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1850, demolished 1880s), Monroe & Main Streets, Peoria, Illinois. * Peoria Academy (1854), Peoria, Illinois. * Old Main (1856–57), Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. NRHP-listed. * Female Seminary (women's education building and dormitory) (1856–57), Knox College, Tompkins Street, Galesburg, Illinois.<ref>[http://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/perspectives-on-knox-history/womens-education Women's Education at Knox], from Knox College.</ref> Later renamed "Whiting Hall," it was greatly expanded in the 1880s and 1890s.<ref>[http://knox.illinoisgenweb.org/postcards/images/knox_whiting_hall1.jpg Whiting Hall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922031156/http://knox.illinoisgenweb.org/postcards/images/knox_whiting_hall1.jpg# |date=2015-09-22 }}, from Illinois Gen Web. The center section is Ulricson's original building.</ref> Now no longer part of the college, it is used as housing for the elderly. * Peoria Marine & Fire Insurance Company (1859), Main Street, Peoria, Illinois. * Mathew Griswold house (1859), West Bluff, 109 S. Madison Street, Peoria, Illinois.<ref>[http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm/ref/collection/bra_peoria/id/280 Mathew Griswold house], from Peoria Historical Society Image Collection.</ref> * John L. Griswold house (1859), West Bluff, Moss Street, Peoria, Illinois.<ref>[http://www.peoriacountyillinois.info/photos/1873_griswoldres.jpg John L. Griswold house], from Peoria County, Illinois photos.</ref> * Reuben B. Hamlin house (1859), West Bluff, Peoria, Illinois. * Augustana Lutheran Church (1865–67), 628 Sixth Street, Andover, Illinois.<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x87e21ff70f4f62b1:0x37c92427c752393d!2m5!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i100!3m1!7e1!4shttps://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/21597860!5sandover,+Illinois+augustanan+church+-+Google+Search&sa=X&ved=0CIABEKIqMApqFQoTCL288u2VrscCFcyTDQodC54BSA Augustana Lutheran Church], from Google Maps.</ref> Dr. Factor identifies Masonic iconography also in this building.<ref>[http://www.qconline.com/news/local/andover-windows-unlock-mysteries-histories/article_32b583e9-6419-5738-9bb8-64e53879f36b.html "Andover windows unlock mysteries, histories,"] ''Moline Dispatch-Argus'', September 5, 2009.</ref> * Pettengill-Morron House (1867), 1212 W. Moss Avenue, Peoria, Illinois.<ref>Clare Howard, [http://www.pjstar.com/x1173969379/Old-Main-s-secret "Freemasonry code cracked at Knox College,"] ''Peoria Journal-Star'', April 10, 2010.</ref> Part of West Bluff Historic District. NRHP-listed. Now operated as a historic house museum by the Peoria Historical Society. * Peoria County Almshouse (1869–70), County Farm, Route 116.<ref>''Inventory of the County Archives of Illinois, Volume 72 - Peoria County'', (Illinois Historical Records Survey, 1942), p. 134.</ref> Designed to house 100 inmates. * Bushnell High School (1876–77), Bushnell, Illinois, William Quaye, architect, Charles Ulrichson, contractor.<ref>S. J. Clarke, ''History of McDonough County, Illinois, Volume I'', (Heritage Books, 1878), pp. 660-62.[https://books.google.com/books?id=TNjVAAAAMAAJ&dq=charles+ulrichson+peoria&pg=PA662]</ref> * Edward S. Easton house (1880), 1125 Main Street, Peoria, Illinois.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/il0677/ Easton House], from Historic American Buildings Survey.</ref><ref>[http://thecommunityword.com/online/files/2008/05/0508-gt-1125main.jpg Edward Easton house], from The Community Word.</ref> Part of West Bluff Historic District. Now occupied by Converse Marketing.<ref>[http://www.conversemarketing.com/pdf/converse-manor-history.pdf "Converse Manor, built 1880:"] (pdf), from Converse Marketing.</ref> * Stark County Courthouse Annex (1884), Toulon, Illinois. * Hall of Records, Knoxville, Illinois.
==References== {{Reflist}} *R. Lance Factor, ''Chapel in the Sky: Knox College's Old Main and Its Masonic Architect'' (North Illinois University Press, 2010). {{ISBN|978-0-87580-415-6}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulricson, Charles}} Category:Swedish emigrants to the United States Category:Historicist architects Category:1816 births Category:1887 deaths Category:People from Peoria, Illinois Category:Architects from Stockholm Category:Architects from Illinois Category:19th-century American architects