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Albion is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,988 at the 2010 census. The city was named "Albion" after an ancient and poetic reference to the island of Great Britain. [edit] History
Albion was laid out in 1818 as a utopian community, and given the name Albion, a literary name for England. In 1821, the county seat of Edwards County was moved from Palmyra to Albion.[1] However, residents of Mount Carmel felt their town should be the county seat. Four companies of militia marched from Mount Carmel towards Albion to seize the county documents stored in the courthouse. The situation was eventually resolved in 1824 by separating Wabash County from Edwards County at Bonpas Creek.[2] The resulting counties remain two of the smallest in Illinois. The township has a curious link with England and brewing. George Flower and Morris Birkbeck, a Quaker agriculturalist and radical, organised the purchase of 26,400 acres of land in the southern " Illinois Territory," to found Albion and encouraged settlers from England to come and join them. Among them was George's father Richard Flower, an experienced Brewer, (who at some point taught his son about making popular beer styles of the period, including London Porter). He came across the Atlantic with all his remaining children. The settlement had a radical ethos for the time and was vehemently anti-slavery. Escaped slaves from Kentucky settled in Albion, encouraged by the Flowers and other community leaders. However, these formerly enslaved people were always in danger of kidnappers aiming to sell them back into slavery for a fast buck. Around 1823-4 one such gang of eight to ten kidnapped a group of free African-American residents of Albion and headed south. They were pursued by an outraged armed party led by Richard’s youngest son Edward . He was only 18 years old but Edward Fordham Flower's posse successfully captured the gang "at the rifle's mouth," freed their fellow citizen victims and took the kidnappers to face judgment under the law. Friends or ‘business’ associates of the original kidnappers' associates planned to kill the young Flower or his father in revenge. Sadly, according to some newspaper reports, a cousin also called Richard was mistaken for Edward’s father and killed in a pre-planned argument and fight. Another time, a bullet was fired through a window at Richard's house and smashed a mirror above his head. The family decided that the only safe plan was for Edward to leave the country. Back in England after 1825, Edward decided to take up the family trade and, after a struggling start, Flower’s Brewery in Stratford upon Avon became one of the most famous in England. Surviving as a separate company to the 1950s and as a brand to this day. Edward loved Illinois. He resented his forced departure and missed his life in America with his family. He frequently mused about returning. During the Civil War, Flower spoke at meetings around Britain and Ireland in support of the Union, and against slavery. One retired, in 1866, with the war over he made a six month visit to the US with his wife Celina. [edit] Research Tips
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