Jacksonville lawyer Larry Kuster earns state historical society honor

A Jacksonville lawyer’s work on a Kewanee inventor has brought state recognition to Morgan County, with Larry Kuster receiving a certificate of excellence from the Illinois State Historical Society for his book and research on Fred Francis.

The honor goes to Kuster’s biography, Fred Francis: A Prairie State Genius, a project that has already drawn attention in both Henry County and Jacksonville. Kuster presented the book at a standing-room-only event at the Kewanee Historical Society Museum in June 2025, and the Jacksonville Public Library hosted an author event for him on September 17, 2025.

The award matters because it points to more than a single book. The Illinois State Historical Society was founded in 1899 and says its mission is to foster awareness, understanding, research, preservation and recognition of Illinois history. A certificate of excellence from that organization signals that Kuster’s work stood out for the quality of its scholarship and for the way it helped restore a lesser-known Illinois figure to the record.

Francis, who was born in 1856 near Kewanee, was the first student from Kewanee to attend Illinois Industrial University, now the University of Illinois. He graduated in 1878 with a degree in mechanical engineering, later worked for Elgin National Watch Co. and invented a hairspring device used in watchmaking. His story also reaches beyond the factory floor. In the 1890s, Francis built Woodland Palace and included innovations such as water purification and air conditioning. He died in 1926 and left the estate to the City of Kewanee so it could be maintained as a park and museum.

For Jacksonville, Kuster’s recognition is a reminder that serious historical work is happening close to home. The honor reflects a local lawyer’s ability to connect community memory with statewide history, and it shows how biography can preserve the lives of figures whose influence might otherwise be reduced to a marker or a passing reference.

That kind of scholarship gives readers a way to see Illinois history not as something locked in archives, but as part of the living civic fabric of places like Jacksonville, Kewanee and the University of Illinois campus. In a state that values preservation, Kuster’s recognition places Morgan County in the company of the people keeping that history visible.