Sisters of the clover club

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Autumn 2001 by Kay, Martha R, Cornelius, Janet D

Women from some of Danville's most influential and public families were prominent in founding the Clovers. Julia Tincher Kimbrough, her mother Caroline Tincher and, later, her sister-in-law Clara were relatives of John Tincher, founder of the First National Bank and prominent Democrat who served in the state legislature and the state constitutional convention before his death in 1871. Julia's lawyer husband was also a Democrat and a state legislator and then a Danville mayor and a judge. The majority of the members' political allegiances, though, were with the Republican Party. The most prominent of these was the Webster family. A. L. Webster, one of the leading citizens of the town, took no political office, but was an influential Republican behind the scenes. He achieved his initial prosperity by having founded a wholesale grocery company, but, like Tincher, his interests also extended into politics and real estate and civic activities. He founded the Webster Home for Women and, with Kimbrough, supervised the Danville Public Library and Spring Hill Cemetery. Eliza Webster and her daughters Kate and Nellie were early stalwarts of the Clover Club, and their descendants became and remain Clovers.26 Business and political alliances with the Tinchers and Websters connected some of the other Clovers. Most of the members lived within a few blocks, in the residential sections surrounding the business sections on North Vermilion and Main Streets, an enclave of intimacy and privilege, with household help for the children and plenty of time for discussion of the "servant problem." The houses of most members were apparently large enough to host up to 24 members comfortably.27

However, particularly in the early years, not all members were connected with prominent families. Members' husbands listed in city directories included lawyers and doctors but also grocers and dealers in dry goods, hardware, farm implements, and buggies. One was an undertaker and furniture dealer; another was a restaurateur also advertised as "the cash grocer." Alice Phillips' husband dealt in insurance and Kate Aull Heath's husband was a "band master." The Club has included at least one Jewish member throughout most of its history. Other Clovers, while Protestant, belonged to a variety of Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. The Clover membership also varied in age: six of the founders were young women in the 27-31 age range, eight were 42-54, and a few were older.28

Unlike the pattern of literary clubs elsewhere, few women professionals appear on early Clover Club rosters, with the exception of Josephine Durham, the librarian of the Danville Public Library who was an honorary member. The membership of the Clovers evolved in the opposite direction from the trend taken by many women's literary clubs. The Wednesday Club of Galveston studied by Elizabeth Turner began, as did the Clovers, with a membership of "wives of influential commercial types." It remained and remains exclusive and restricted to 25 members, but after a few decades, professional women - librarians, nurses, and especially teachers joined. Diversity, according to Turner, "ultimately altered its curriculum and the women's outlook."29 On the other hand, the Clovers relied until recent years on legacies and Country Club affiliations and took pride in their exclusiveness.