Haish Monument at Fairview Cemetery

Below are a few recent photos of the Haish monument, taken on Sept. 21, 2017 by Jessi LaRue. The Haish monument, where barbed wire baron Jacob Haish and his wife Sophia are buried, resides in the back of Fairview Cemetery, in DeKalb.

The Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

Detail of the Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

The urn at the Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

The Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

The copyright on the Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

The Haish monument in Fairview Cemetery, DeKalb. | Photo by Jessi LaRue

Jacob Haish funds college library

The Haish Library, in Altgeld Hall, as pictured in the 1900 edition of the "Norther," the school yearbook. 

In 1895, Jacob Haish donated $10,000 for construction of a library at the Northern Illinois State Normal School, now known as Northern Illinois University. The library, seen in images below, was originally in Altgeld Hall, or the "castle" of NIU.

The college library was called the "Haish Library," not to be confused with the city library, the Haish Memorial Library, which was constructed after Haish's death.

According to documentation in the Ellwood House Visitor's Center, "this money was used to acquire almost 6,000 books during the library's first year of operation. By 1952, the library outgrew its space in Altgeld Hall and was moved to Swen Parson Hall. Once again, outgrowing the space, the 314,000 square-foot Founders Memorial Library was constructed."

A Daily Chronicle article, reprinted in a 1926 edition, stated: "Mr. Haish's gift was the nucleus of a library that is on a par with the libraries in the other four state colleges of the state ... Mr. Haish was a lover of books and wished others to realize the same joy. In giving the money for a library at the college he realized that he would afford students the opportunity of using books that they might not otherwise have been able to secure."

One piece of history was lost somewhere along the way, however. The white bust of Haish, seen in these images of the library, was somehow lost in transition from building to building, according to multiple local historians. The eventual outcome of the bust is unknown.

According to the same Daily Chronicle article, "the bust is a perfect likeness of the great man and is so located in the large room that it commands the attention of all who enter."

The Haish Library, on the campus of Northern Illinois State Normal School, now known as NIU. The white bust of Jacob Haish can be seen on the back wall. | Courtesy Regional History Center, Northern Illinois University

HAISH ENGINE GETS AN ORDER

The below article was published in the Sept. 18, 1916, edition of the Sycamore True Republican, as provided by the Joiner History Room:

HAISH ENGINE GETS AN ORDER
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Superintendent of Wisconsin State Fair Buys Machinery For Himself
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Local Mechanism is Chosen Above All of the Famous Kinds of the Country at State Fair

Superintendent Allan Hinds of the Haish industries is feeling highly pleased today over a little business news concerning the famous Haish engines. 

It seems that the Haish concern had a big exhibit at Milwaukee last week at the Wisconsin state fair in charge of Messrs. Rose and Gibler. At the same fair were the products of a score or more of other engine factories and the competition for orders was hot.

After looking thoroughly into the merits of the various machines, Mr. Chinock, superintendent of the fair, member of the Wisconsin legislature and a prominent farmer, ordered a lot of Haish machinery over the others exhibited there and asked the Haish people to establish an agency at his home town of Hudson.

This unsought for and voluntary expression of confidence in the DeKalb machine pleases the local officials very much. The firm has exhibits now at Elkhorn, Wis., Knoxville, and Aledo, Ill., under charge of Messrs. Briggs, Curns, and Needham and next week they will all unite in an exhibit at the Peoria fair.

Details of a Haish gas engine currently owned by Haish family descendant Jeff Marshall. | Photo by Jessi LaRue