author
Richard Flower
d. 1829
An English reformer, banker, and brewer who later became a pioneer settler in Illinois, he left behind vivid letters about early American life and immigration. His writing offers a firsthand view of the hopes and hardships of building a new community in the early nineteenth century.
1 Audiobook
Hulme's Journal, 1818-19; Flower's Letters from Lexington and the Illinois, 1819; Flower's Letters from the Illinois, 1820-21; and Woods's Two Years' Residence, 1820-21
by Thomas Hulme, Richard Flower, John Woods
About the author
Born in England around 1760, Richard Flower was known as a banker, brewer, and political reformer before emigrating to the United States. He became one of the leading figures behind the settlement of Albion, Illinois, and helped encourage English immigration to the American Midwest after the War of 1812.
Flower is remembered by readers mainly for his letters and observations about travel, settlement, and daily life in the young United States. Works connected with him include accounts of Lexington and Illinois that were later published from his correspondence, giving modern readers a direct sense of frontier conditions and the ambitions of emigrants seeking a fresh start.
He died in 1829 at Albion, Illinois. Although his reputation today is tied more to settlement history than to a large literary career, his surviving writings remain valuable for their clear, firsthand picture of early nineteenth-century America.