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The Scottish American History Club Newsletter
October 1996
Heather Preston
 At
the age of five, Heather Preston was the “Haggis Child”
at the Anniversary Dinner of the St. Andrew Society. The
year was 1937 and Heather was a dancing student of Mr.
Dewar who she remembers as having a wooden leg. The
Chicago Herald and Examiner described the event: “Amid
the shrilling of bagpipes and the beating of drums the
traditional Scottish dish of haggis was served to 1,500
members of the Illinois St. Andrews Society last night
in the Stevens Hotel...tartans and plaids of all the
Scottish clans were displayed at the banquet tables.
Many of the guests wore Highland colors. Sprigs of
heather, received during the week from Loch Lomond, were
in every buttonhole.”
In 1951, when Heather Preston was chosen as the Heather
Queen, she was a student at the Art Institute of
Chicago. She remembers that the publicity photos were
taken at the Art Institute and that she was interviewed
on a daytime television show. Her crown was made
entirely of heather. She wore a dress of white tulle
that was decorated with white feathers. The dress was
made by her mother, who referred to herself as “The
Queen Mother.” (Her mother now enjoys good health,
living in a retirement complex in Dayton, Ohio.) Prior
to the Dinner, Heather had been entertained in the
Conrad Hilton penthouse. “All very posh,” she remembers.
At the Dinner she was crowned by Mr. Joseph M. Jardine.
Her father, James Robertson Preston, was born in
Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a graduate of the Harriet
Watts College at the University of Edinburgh. As a naval
architect, he was brought to the United States to “spur
on the ship building industry” as the world prepared for
World War I. Heather describes her father as a “poet,
thinker, musician, good man, Mason, composer, proud,
careful, storyteller (aren’t all Scots).” For many years
he was the organist at the Methodist Church in Glencoe,
Illinois. He was a Life Member of the Society and also
served as the Society’s Bard. We often use his writings
in the program book of the Anniversary Dinner.
After graduating from the Art Institute with “honors and
special distinction” Heather studied and traveled in
Europe. Returning to Chicago, she taught drawing and
painting and was represented by a leading Chicago
gallery. She was exhibited widely and was named one of
the outstanding artists of Chicago before moving to San
Francisco and becoming an award-winning illustrator.
The list of her awards are too numerous to mention but a
list of her clients include: Quaker Oats, Frito-Lay,
U.S. Dept. Of Forestry (1986 Smokey Bear poster),
Pacific Bell, Bon Appetit, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill,
Wadsworth, Addison Wesley and Scott Foresman. Her
published works include: Rod McKuen’s Book of Days,
Remember the Secret, Light Style, A Leaf from French
Eddy, Laughing Down Lonely Canyons, Kinship With All
Life.
Heather Preston now lives north of San Francisco in an
attractive, hillside home, with studio. Mary and I had
the privilege of spending an afternoon with Heather
several years ago and found her to be a warm and
talented lady. She has fond memories of Chicago and her
Scottish connections. During the month of October at the
Scottish Home, we will display pictures, paintings, and
newspaper articles about Heather Preston.
John Johnston
Someone You Should Know
John Johnston was born in Scotland and emigrated to
America in 1821. Making his way to the Geneva, New York
area he became a farmer. The next year his wife arrived
with two small children, a nanny, and two cousins.
He borrowed $1,200 for the purchase of his first farm
which consisted of 320 poorly drained acres. In the barn
he discovered a windfall of manure, which he spread on
the land, 25 loads to the acre. The first year he
planted barley and the crop failed. The next year he
planted wheat with better results.
His grandfather in Scotland had told him many times
“Verily, all the airth needs draining.” In Scotland, the
farmers used tiled-lined trenches to drain the
water-logged ground. Sheep provided the dung.
No one in America had heard of drain tiles, so Johnston
sent a desperate message to friends in Scotland. In
answer to his urgent request, two drain tiles arrived in
New York on December 16, 1835. Mr. Johnston showed them
to his friend Benjamin F. Whartenby who lived in
Waterloo and manufactured milk jugs , crocks and
flowerpots. At Johnston’s request, Whartenby began
producing hundreds of drain tiles. Like every great
innovator, John Johnston soon became an object of
ridicule.
In a short time, his fields contained 72 miles of drain
tiling and were producing twice as many bushels of wheat
per acre as his neighbors. The tiles were round and
horseshoe shaped, about 15 inches long. They were laid
end to end and often buried two feet in the ground. As
the water rose from below it entered the tiles and was
carried to a nearby creek. Today plastic piping is used
to accomplish the same results.
Mike Weaver is 82 years old and lives in Geneva, New
York. He has passionately preserved the memory of John
Johnston and what his drain tiling has meant to American
agriculture. He has opened a museum called the
Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum which keeps alive the
memory of John Johnston, the father of tile drainage in
America. Included in the collection is one of the
original tiles sent from Scotland in 1835. The second
one was given to the
Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan several
years ago and they have apparently lost it.
“Mr. Johnston wasn’t the sort of man to mince words. The
secret of his success as a farmer, he always said, was
‘D, C and D,’ by which he meant dung, credit and
drainage.” He learned about two of those things in his
native Scotland. Credit he discovered in America.1
More information is available at the
Geneva Historical Society
Bourbon Whiskey
The Scots spell whiskey with just a “y” at the end. The
Americans spell the word with an “ey” at the end. A
curiosity of language. Bourbon is the only truly
American drink. It uses corn as the basic ingredient
whereas other liquors use rye, malt and wheat.
“History credits the Rev. Elijah Craig, a Baptist
minister, with being the first in 1789 to make bourbon.”
He was a Scotsman. Kentucky is the place for bourbon
because of the limestone which makes the water almost
iron-free. “The first bourbon recognized by brand
outside of Kentucky probably was produced by Dr. James
Crow...a Scotsman who settled near the Rev. Craig’s
place.” He was known by the locals as Jim Crow.
The Chicago Tribune reported that one of the
“world’s finest bourbons” is available in Chicago at
Berghoffs restaurant which holds Chicago liquor license
No. 1. In 1980, they had only 14 barrels left of their
private stock. At that time, only enough to last until
the turn of the century.2
Plan New Home for Aged Scots
“Plans are now under way to provide a permanent home for
the old Scotch people of Illinois. John Williamson,
engineer of the Peoples Gas Company and President of the
St. Andrew’s Society is at the head of the movement,
which includes purchase of a site near Chicago and a
home to cost not less than $50,000. The present home
with its fourteen inmates is located in a leased
building at 43 Bryant Avenue, which is wholly inadequate
for the purpose.
It is proposed first to have a series of entertainments,
the proceeds from which will make the nucleus of the
fund, after which bonds will be issued for the remainder
if not secured by contributions. The first of these
entertainments will be held at Library Hall, Austin,
Tuesday, April 20, and is expected to attract the Scotch
people of Oak Park, Austin and the far west side. Chief
Bailiff Thomse M. Hunter of the Municipal court will act
as Chairman.”
The above newspaper article was sent to us by Miss
Dorothy B. Stewart of Chicago who found it in her
Mother’s old Bible circa 1908-09.
Twinkies
 Twinkies
were invented by Scotsman James A. Dewar in 1930. Today,
every minute of every day, 951 Twinkies are eaten — the
largest Twinkie-eating city being Chicago, Illinois.
James Dewar, a two-Twinkie-a-day man, who died at age
88, once defended Twinkies by saying he fed them to his
four children who, in turn, fed them to his 15
grandchildren.
More information is available at
The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest.
McGregor, Iowa
Alexander MacGregor was born to Scottish parents on May
23, 1804. He moved to Chicago in 1832 and then to
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1835. In 1845, he
purchased land along the Mississippi river which
included a ferry. The ferry was called the Rob Roy
and was powered by four mules that walked on a circular
wheel in the middle of the boat. A year later, he
platted a six-block area which he named MacGregor’s
Landing. In 1850, he built the first brick school which
was 12 x 16 feet. The town was incorporated in 1857 and
at that time Alexander gave permission to drop the ‘a’
in the town’s spelling.
Overlooking the south edge of town is Point Anne. Named
for MacGregor's wife, Point Anne is thought to be the
second oldest rock formation in Iowa and “doubtless the
oldest ‘Anne’ in the world.” One of the town’s biggest
claims to fame is the famous Ringling Brothers who got
their start in the circus business while the family
lived in McGregor during the 1870s. This past summer the
circus returned to McGregor for a special celebration.5
Mary Todd Lincoln
 Robert
Smith Todd had two daughters, one named Mary and a
younger sister named Elizabeth. He had been a captain in
the War of 1812, served in both houses of the Kentucky
legislature, and was president of the Bank of Kentucky
in Lexington.
“The Todds traced back to Scottish Covenanters who
fought the king.” In Mary Todd “ran their vital and
stubborn blood.” Elizabeth would become the wife of
Ninian Edwards, governor of Illinois. Mary would become
the wife of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States.3
The Clearances
Don Gillies, a Life Member of the Illinois St. Andrew
Society, has recently donated a book to our library that
deals with the Clearances in Scotland. Those of you
acquainted with Scottish history know about these
evictions. The people were driven from their homes to
basically make room for sheep. I was struck by this
descriptive observation given by Sir Archibald Geikie, a
distinguished geologist.
“On gaining the top of one of the hills on the south
side of the valley, I could see a long and motley
procession winding along the road that led north from
Suishnish. It halted at the point of the road opposite
Kilbride, and the lamentation became long and loud.
“As I drew nearer, I could see that the minister with
his wife and daughters had come out to meet the people
and bid them all farewell. It was a miscellaneous
gathering of at least three generations of crofters.
There were old men and women, too feeble to walk, who
were placed in carts; the younger members of the
community on foot were carrying their bundles of clothes
and household effects, while the children, with looks of
alarm, walked alongside. There was a pause in the notes
of woe as the last words were exchanged with the family
of Kilbride. Everyone was in tears; each wished to clasp
the hands that had so often befriended them, and it
seemed as if they could not tear themselves away. “
“When they set forth once more, a cry of grief went up
to heaven, the long plaintive wail, like a funeral
coronach, was resumed, and after the last of the
emigrants had disappeared behind the hill, the sound
seemed to re-echo through the whole wide valley of
Strath in one prolonged note of desolation. The people
were on their way to be shipped to Canada.”4
(For a description of the journey by sea read the July
issue of our Newsletter).
More information on McGregor, Iowa, is available on
Wikipedia.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
 The
son of a superintendent of police, Mackintosh was born
in Glasgow in 1868. His talent appeared early and he was
apprenticed to an architect and began taking classes at
the Glasgow School of Art. Five years later he joined
Honeyman & Keppie, the architectural firm with which he
was associated for the rest of his working life in
Scotland.
He designed many famous Glasgow architectural landmarks,
their furniture and artifacts, from schools to private
houses, as well as Glasgow School of Art, and the Willow
Tea Rooms. His finest example is the Hill House, Upper
Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh, which he completed in
1904.
His originality influenced Frank Lloyd Wright and the
Vienna Secession. His work has become extremely
valuable. A Mackintosh washstand recently sold for
$365,000, and a desk for $1.2 million. This was a new
record for a piece of twentieth-century furniture.
An exhibition of his work is soon to be seen in America.
More than 300 objects including plans, furniture,
sketchbooks, watercolors and scale models will be on
display. The exhibition will be held at the Art
Institute of Chicago, March 29 to June 22, 1997. The
Society has had preliminary discussions about a private
viewing for members and friends.
More information is available at the
Charles Rennie
Mackintosh website.
References
1. The Wall Street Journal, August 16, 1995.
Thanks to Dr. John Nettles! (Copies of the full article
are available.)
2. Chicago Tribune, January 14, 1980, Section 6,
page 3. Very interesting article. Copies are available
to interested readers.
3. Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years,
Volume I, pages 255 & 259
4. Eric Richards, A History of the Highland
Clearances. Agrarian Transformation and the Evictions
1746-1886.
5. Lucy Rodenberg, Echoes of Macgregor’s Past
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