It seems like records are being set everyday whether it is a record for the daily high temperature or a record for the most corn harvested by a single machine (which was 63,770 bushels of corn in 12 hours set in September of 2018). The collecting of records in the United States can go back as far as 1790 when the government went out to see how large the country was by the number of people living in it.
Sir Hugh Beaver, who was the Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery during the 1950’s, was the first man to organize world records into a book. That book today is known as the Guinness Book of World Records. The state of Illinois has 67 holders of world records ranging from the first farris wheel to the most people husking corn at one time. While Geneseo does not hold any world records, they have taken part in several record setting events. The first armored car, made in the United States came through the Maple City in 1915. A second record to pass through Geneseo was the first transcontinental race, which had the two cars stopping in town during 1905.
A third record attempt happened several years before the ones mentioned above. In 1878, Lyman Potter walked across the United States in under 250 days while pushing a wheelbarrow. Yes, this record does not seem to be a major one. However, it did catch the attention of the nation when it took place. At the time of the attempt, Lyman Potter was struggling through hard times. His wife had passed away leaving him with two young daughters, and his furniture business was forced to close due to poor economic conditions.
At the age of 37, Potter was 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighed in at 137 pounds. He was not athletic, however he had served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a private out of his home state of New York.
Many people around his hometown of Albany, New York thought of Potter as being a little strange. In 1872, he vowed not to cut his hair or shave until a Democrat was elected President of the United States. This does not sound so strange today as witnessed during the Presidential election of 2016, when some people around the nation vowed to move out of the country if Donald Trump was elected President.
The idea of a cross-country trek emerged when Potter and some friends were discussing whether someone could walk 100 consecutive miles. Potter suggested that it would not be much of a feat. His friends suggested a walk from New York to San Francisco, California while pushing a wooden wheelbarrow. Potter said he could do just that for a prize of $1,000. The prize money was collected and placed in a bank to be given to Potter if he reached San Francisco in under 250 days or 215 days taking out all the Sundays.
Potter figured to cover the 4,085 miles he would need to average about 18 miles per day. Both sides agreed to the attempted, and on April 10, 1878 Potter left Albany, New York in a steady rain. Leaving Albany, Potter was pushing a specially built wooden wheelbarrow that weighed less than 45 pounds empty. Once loaded with his supplies, it weighed 75 pounds. Potter knew as he walked out of town, with his $3.55 in his pockets, he would need to be in San Francisco by December 15, 1878 to collect the prize money.
The local newspapers considered him weird for trying the stunt in the first place. The New York papers called him an idiot or a brainless fool and predicted that he would fail in his attempt to reach California. This name calling just pushed him to make sure he finished his trek on time.
By May 23rd , Potter had reached Chicago where once again the newspapers were calling him names. Names like “The Wheelbarrow Idiot” were printed for all readers to see. Potter would make his way out of the Windy City to continue his trek westward. On May 31 he reached the outskirts of Geneseo where he had travel along the railroad tracks. Potter had made it to the Maple City in one day’s time after leaving Mineral, Illinois. A crowd of less than 100 met Potter outside of Geneseo and escorted him in to town. By the time he reached the State Street railroad crossing the crowd had grown to over 100. The Geneseo Republic described Potter as a “medium sized man wearing a white felt hat, a brown color wamus (a wamus was a open front jacket made from an animal hide or just simple knitted) and pants to match.” While in Geneseo he spent the night at the Geneseo House and had a dinner supplied by the locals at the hotel. To help him raise money, Potter took letters from the people of Geneseo to be delivered to California for 25 cents per letter.
Potter left Geneseo the next day and would complete his trek to California by arriving in San Francisco on October 27th. The trip took him just 201 days in which Potter was met by a crowd of just over 15,000 people when he reached the west coast. After he completed his cross-country walk, Potter tried to continue his path to fame by taking another wheelbarrow pushing challenge. This one would not end as well for Potter as he was trying to travel from New York to New Orleans. He was struck by a train outside of Salisburg, North Carolina and lost his life.
Today you can still witness the ultra running/walking competitions as the Hennepin Hundred takes place each year. Runners and walkers begin in Rock Falls travel along the Hennepin Canal paths and end in Colona, Illinois. While you can witness this running feat, chances are good you will not be able to see anyone pushing a wooden wheelbarrow.
Comentarios