William Le Baron Jenney

By Gretchen Frick Small
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26 Jan, 2021
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The discovery of this four-sentence newspaper blurb changed our understanding of Overlook (Deere-Wiman House), the home of Charles H. Deere.

For many years, the Victorian era home of John Deere’s son has stood on Moline’s picturesque bluff overlooking downtown Moline, the Mississippi River and the original site of the John Deere Plow Works. The home’s place in Moline and Deere family history was well established. I began my career at the Butterworth Center and Deere-Wiman House in 1986. At that time, no one could tell me who the architect of the Deere-Wiman House was. We knew that the house was built in 1872, and the family moved in late that year or just after the new year. As I began to delve into the history of the house, the many changes made to the exterior and the interior of the house became clear.

Looking at the west side of the house in 1870s and today (see above), we can see similarities, with some changes including the addition of the stucco. When we view a before and after taken of the house’s north face, we can see that major changes were made (see below).

Even with a wealth of historic photographs, we still did not know the original architect. When was this fact lost to history? Then in the late 1980s, I was digging through the resources at the Rock Island County Historical Society (RICHS) and the Moline Public Library. It was especially helpful that the Society’s research library was just across the street from Deere-Wiman. One valuable resource was the multi volume set, Genealogical abstracts from Rock Island County, Illinois newspapers compiled by Janet K. Pease. A great source of information before computers! And even more important, the volumes are indexed. I think every historical non-fiction book should have an index.

Pease went through the microfilm of Rock Island County newspapers and listed the newspaper, year and issue date of any article mentioning a name of a person. Can you imagine doing this before computers with just a typewriter? In each volume, the index could be searched for any Deere, Wiman or Butterworth names. After jotting down the newspaper, year and issue date, the next step was to the microfilm reader to pull up the issue and find the article. Imagine my excitement when I read the blurb shown above.

We were thrilled to finally find that lost fact of history. We now knew the architect of Charles and Mary Deere’s home. Even better, we knew that Charles had hired an architect who would become one of America’s important architects. Born in Massachusetts, Jenney trained in France at the Ecole Centrale Paris, studying engineering and architecture. In 1861, he returned to the United States and enlisted in the Union Army as an engineer during the Civil War, designing fortifications.

Following the war, he opened his own architectural/engineering firm in Chicago. Just before designing Charles Deere's home, Jenney was heavily involved in the design of Riverside, Illinois. His designs included the Water Tower and several residential buildings. He was known for his use of new technology in his designs.

Today he is best known as the “Father of the Modern Skyscraper,” with his design of the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. Built in 1884-5, the building was torn down in 1931. We also know that he designed landscaping for some of his jobs, including Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

Does Jenney have any other links to the Quad Cities? Further research by RICHS has found that Jenney hired to design Riverside Cemetery, in Moline. Designed in 1874, Riverside has distinctive terracing. Terracing can also be seen on the east side of the Deere property (See photograph below). Which leads us to believe that Jenney landscaped the Deere property. Jenney’s educational training as an engineer and his work during the Civil War designing battlements, led to his expertise in creating terracing on challenging hillsides.

How did William Le Baron Jenney become Charles Deere’s choice as architect of his new home? We wish we knew.

— Did a Chicago contact of Charles Deere’s suggest Jenney? As a prominent Midwest businessman, Charles Deere would have had many people he could ask for a suggestion.

— Did Mary Deere or her father know of Jenney and suggest him? Mary was from Chicago at the time of her marriage to Charles, in 1862. Her father, Gideon Dickinson, was still living in Chicago in the 1870s.

— Did Charles’ brother-in-law, Merton Yale Cady, suggest Jenney? Cady was an architect and had connections in Chicago. And why didn’t Charles Deere use Cady as an architect? Cady may have felt he didn’t have the expertise to handle the steep terrain of the seven-acre property Charles had chosen for his new home.

— Did Charles hear about Jenney’s work in Riverside, Illinois? Or Jenney’s interest in using the latest technology in his designs?

It could be any of these possibilities or more likely a combination. I like to think that the last suggestion played some part in Charles’ decision. Looking at Jenney's designs in Riverside, Illinois, do show some similarities to Overlook. In addition, Charles was a man who had a deep interest in new technology and innovations. Not only as a businessman, but Charles also had a genuine interest in learning about new technology.

Regardless, of how Jenney became the architect of Overlook, we are lucky to have this grand home in Moline. Even with its’ many changes, the home still stands as a Jenney designed home and landscape reminiscent of the grand Victorian period.

William Le Baron Jenney

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