The Henry Cuthbert Tunison Story: Yard Sale Purchase Resurrects Worldwide Fame and Fortune Saga

CARROLLTON — A small world globe bought at a neighborhood yard sale last summer by retired Godfrey attorney Philip Alfeld is set to be the starting point for a March 15, 2026, program at the Greene County Historical & Genealogical Society, where Bill Tunison of Osceola, Wisconsin, will present the story of his great-great-grandfather, map publisher Henry Tunison.

The society’s meeting will be held at its historic Lee-Baker-Hodges House on the northwest corner of the Carrollton Public Square. A business session is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., followed by the program. The society said everyone is invited and there is no charge.

Henry Tunison, active about 1886 to 1909, was a late 19th-century American map publisher and businessman based in Illinois. He published the “Peerless Universal Atlas” in various editions from 1886 to 1909.

The society said Tunison differed from competitors such as the Rand McNally Company and George F. Cram by using “old world publishing techniques” and “distinctively vivid hand color” rather than printed color. As a result, the society said, Tunison’s maps remain desirable among collectors.

“Little is certain regarding Tunison’s early life,” the society said, though it noted he “may be one Henry Tunison whose family immigrated to Illinois from New Jersey in 1838.”

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