Editing Albion, Illinois (section)

==History==
The settlement now known as Albion was originally known to the world as "Mr. Morris Birkbeck's English Prairie", when Morris Birkbeck, an English Quaker, with co-founder George Flower (1788–1862) established the town as a [[utopian community]] in 1817. In 1818, following an irreconcilable fall-out between Birkbeck and Flower, the portion of English Prairie then settled on by Flower was given the name [[Albion]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Callary| first=Edward| title=Place Names of Illinois| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvHgwa-XImcC&pg=PA4| date=29 September 2008| publisher=University of Illinois Press| isbn=978-0-252-09070-7| page=4}}</ref>

In 1821, the county seat of Edwards County was moved from [[Palmyra, Edwards County, Illinois|Palmyra]] to Albion, eighteen miles to the west.<ref>[http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/irad/edwards.html Edwards County Fact Sheet<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, residents of the larger [[Mount Carmel, Illinois|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, Illinois|Wabash County]] from Edwards County at [[Bonpas Creek]] and making Mount Carmel the seat of Wabash County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ill/edwards/|title=Free records for Researching Family Ancestry in Edwards County Illinois|website=genealogytrails.com|accessdate=December 3, 2024}}</ref> The two counties are among the smallest in Illinois.

The township of Albion 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]]," and encouraged settlers from England to come and join them. Among them was George's father [[Richard Flower (settler)|Richard Flower]], an experienced brewer (who at some point taught his son about making popular beer styles of the period, including London Porter). Flower came across the Atlantic with all his remaining children.

The settlement espoused a firm [[Abolitionism in the United States#Abolitionism's sudden emergence|abolitionist]] ethos, and 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 being kidnapped by bounty hunters aiming to return them to slavery. Around 1823-24 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 Fordham Flower|Edward]]. He was only eighteen years old, but his posse successfully captured the gang "at the rifle's mouth," freed the captives, and took the kidnappers to face judgment under the law.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Friends or ‘business associates’ of the original kidnappers' allies plotted to kill the young Flower or his father in revenge. According to some newspaper reports, a cousin also named Richard was tragically mistaken for Edward's father and killed in a pre-planned argument and fight. On another occasion, a bullet was fired through a window of Richard's house and smashed a mirror above his head. The family decided that the only safe plan was for Edward Flower to leave the country. Back in England after 1825, he 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 and missed his former life in America with his family. He regretted his forced departure and frequently mused about returning. During the Civil War, Flower spoke at meetings around Britain and Ireland in support of the Union, and against slavery. As a retiree, he made a six-month visit to the US with his wife Celina in 1866, after the war was over.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

On June 2, 1990, as part of the larger [[June 1990 Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak]], An F4 passed through the town. As it moved through, famous footage was taken of the [[Tornado]] showing it growing several vortacies that extended out like arms.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}