(Dean Karau will be speaking on his new book, Kewanee Illinois—Reflections on Its First Years 1854–1865, at the Henry County Genealogical Society’s monthly meeting on Monday, July 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Kewanee Public Library. Larry Lock wrote this foreword for Dean’s book.)
In commenting on this book and its author, it is hard to know where to begin. So, I might as well start at the beginning. It was a short ten years ago, in Aug. 2016, when a just-retired attorney contacted the Kewanee Historical Society. It was, as you might have guessed, Dean Karau. He told me he was devoting a lot of time to researching his ancestry, which included several ancestors who settled in Kewanee in the mid-1800’s. He said he wanted to see what he could learn about them and asked if we could help him find out what their new hometown was like in the 1800’s. And their hometown, he added, had become his home. Dean was born in Kewanee and lived here for eleven years before his family moved to Chicago.
We offered to help, and little did we (my wife and I) know that we were contributing to the “creation of a monster,” for Dean became so interested in learning about Kewanee that in ten short years he would produce more information and stories about Kewanee’s past than anyone I know of. And in the process, Dean would in a sense make Kewanee once again his hometown, even though he continues to live elsewhere.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Dean’s productivity is the 220 articles he has written on many aspects of Kewanee’s past that have appeared in the “old” Kewanee Star Courier (when it was really a local newspaper) and the relatively new Kewanee Voice. At least 220 is how many I count when I look at the website of the Kewanee Historical Society, where all of them can be found. (The website is kewanee-history.com, administered by the Historical Society’s president, Mike DeWalt.)
Kewanee Illinois—Reflections on Its First Years 1854–1865 has in a way been ten years in the making, since many of the 220 articles are included. Furthermore, the book is a logical extension of Dean’s first publication, The History of Wethersfield 2.0. Many of Wethersfield’s prominent pioneers would be instrumental in the founding and early growth of Kewanee.
Many of the “220” have found their way into two other books by Dean: A Brief History of the Early Years of Kewanee Parks and Kewanee Baseball Volume I.
Finally, the book in question would have gone to the printer two or three years earlier if Dean had not become engrossed in the life and works of Walter T. Bailey, Kewanee native (1905 graduate of Kewanee High School) who became Illinois’ first African American licensed architect and went on to design many prominent structures in Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and finally Chicago, where he died in 1941.
Dean’s Bailey biography, Walter Thomas Bailey—Staring into the Yawning Gulf of Eternity, is a masterpiece that has been widely acclaimed by numerous architects and scholars, including Kathryn H. Anthony, professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois. Her highly laudatory review of Dean’s book is in the March–April 2026 edition of Illinois Heritage, published by the Illinois State Historical Society. (The review can also be found on the Kewanee Historical Society’s website.)
In conclusion, to say that Dean’s work on Kewanee’s past has been prolific is a huge understatement, even without the publication of Kewanee Illinois—Reflections on Its First Years 1854–1865. However, this book clearly cements Dean’s position as first and foremost among those who have endeavored to discover and tell the stories of Kewanee’s past.
Speaking for friends of Kewanee history, we selfishly look forward to more. And yes, Dean became and is a very good friend, but that is not a factor in the admiration and praise I have for all that he has done to further our knowledge of Kewanee.
(Dean’s new book is available from the Henry County Genealogical Society, with all proceeds from its sale going to the HCGS.
Dean and Michael Fischer will also be speaking on Saturday, July 25 at 3 p.m. at the Church of Peace on the church’s history in celebration of its 150th anniversary. Dean and LeeAnn Bailleu have written a book on the church’s history, and it will be available through the church.
All of Dean’s books are also available on Amazon.
The Kewanee Historical Society is hosting a Snack & Chat on Friday evening, July 24 at 6 p.m. on “All Things Kewanee.” Dean, Michael Fischer, LeeAnn Bailleu and Marianne Culver will join attendees in casual conversation about Kewanee history.
After these events, Dean is retiring from his work on Kewanee history to resume exploration of his own family history).
