October Gazette. Ogle County Historical Society. Living history presenters at Autumn on Parade. More photos inside

Transcription

1 Gazette October 2013 Ogle County Historical Society Living history presenters at Autumn on Parade More photos inside

2 P a g e 2 RECENT ACQUISITIONS Since our last newsletter we have received artifacts and documents from about fifteen different sources; hopefully, there will be room to touch on most of them. Lori Smith of Byron donated photos taken by her grandfather, Rufus Schwab of Iowa, when he attended Mount Morris College in the early 1920 s. These include not only photos of the campus but of other places in the county, like the Blackhawk statue and the Stillman s Run monument, as well as a few from other places in northern Illinois. Also included was a large framed photo of the student body and faculty taken in front of Science Hall on November 21, The Oregon Public Library donated documents, photos, and magazines which they had deaccessioned. These include an atlas of Indian villages of Illinois , a serialization of John Phelps autobiography done by the Mt. Morris Index in 1908, and a 1948 issue of The Carnation magazine with the lead article about employees of the Oregon plant. Richard Gill of Tulsa, OK, who had visited in April with a collection of letters and photos from the family of William Guyer, a Civil War soldier from Brookville who died in Andersonville Prison, returned for our July meeting to donate the entire collection, minus the letters, to us. The letters were purchased by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, but we have typed transcripts of 63 of them and photocopies of the rest. We received 38 assorted copies of Wings, the Oregon High School newspaper, from the mid to late 1930 s courtesy of Minette Scott of Oregon, and Roberta McKiski, daughter of Armour Van Briesen, brought in a box of items which included a 1968 reprint of Thomas Ford s history of Illinois, originally published in Rock River Christian Camp gave us an old wooden wagon wheel hub that one of their campers found in Elkhorn Creek near the old IC Trail. Although it turned out not to be as old as we were hoping, it s still from a wagon that was used on one of the oldest trails in Ogle County.

3 P a g e 3 Pam Strzesak, daughter of Horace Sharick, made yet another donation of items from the R. L. Sharick family, including a copy of an April 1932 telegram from Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, who was running for President, giving permission for Horace and Chester Sharick to ride from Savanna to Oregon on the train with him. At our annual potluck dinner in August, Wayne and Rudy Suter donated their Show and Tell items, a fan with the names of a number of local businesses printed on the back and a pre-printed grocery list from Seibert s Grocery. Cindy Enzler provided us with school workbooks used by her uncle, Gary Johnson, at Cottage Hill School in the late 1930 s. Gary was a lifelong county resident who worked for the state Department of Natural Resources. Thanks also to the following people who donated artifacts or documents recently: Clarence Hartzell, Rosanna Ward, Dotti Bowers, Max and Sylvia Newcomer, Richard and June Haselton, and Jim and Sharon Schultz. Remember, as much as we like receiving artifacts and documents, we like getting new volunteers even more. Thank You Recently the Historical Society received donations from two area organizations. NIADA, the Northern Illinois Antique Dealers Association, once again graciously donated a portion of the proceeds from their annual antique show and sale. Project Oregon, a civic improvement organization founded in the early 1980 s, officially disbanded after being inactive for a number of years. The remaining members decided to distribute the funds left in their treasury among several local non-profits, including us. Thanks again, NIADA and Project Oregon..

4 P a g e 4 Lorado Taft (Ron Colson) shows photos of some of his sculptures while John Deere (Jon Barnhart)gets a hand from a young helper.

5 ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER P a g e 5 The annual potluck dinner was held on Sunday August 25 in the annex building. Attendance was a little lower than usual, but a great time was had by all. As usual, the Show and Tell time was about as popular as the food. Mike McNett brought an old adze head to which he had added a handle and demonstrated how it was used to square logs into timbers for building. Marie Ley showed some old coins that had belonged to her grandfather. There were two 2-cent coins and two 1-cent coins that were minted in the mid-1800s. Mary Ley showed two volumes of The Soldier in our Civil War, published in 1893 for the children of Civil War veterans in conjunction with the World s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. They contained many fine engravings which were done during the war for Frank Leslie s Illustrated Newspaper. Judy McNett brought china plates which pictured various buildings at Mt. Morris College, where both of Mike s parents attended. Bill then brought out a 1923 photo of the Mt. Morris College student body (see Recent Acquisitions) and Mike was able to identify several people including his parents. David Head had some pictures of horses and riders, probably from the county fair some time ago. He would like have them identified. Bill Bailey showed a beautiful oil lamp that belonged to his great-grandparents. When they were married in 1887 they couldn t afford a honeymoon right away, but took one later. When they returned home, this lamp was lighted in the front window to welcome them home. It was a gift from friends and neighbors. It was the only lamp that Bill s grandfather refused to electrify in the 1930 s. The lamp is also unusual because it has a double mantle. Wayne and Rudy Suter brought a hand-held fan which had a list of local businesses on it. Before air conditioning, the fans were given to churches and funeral homes for people to use. It was also a good way to advertise the businesses. They also brought a preprinted list from Seibert s Grocery Store. It made it easy for the housewife to mark what she needed when she made her trip to the store. If you didn t make it to the potluck, you missed a good time. Plan on it for next year

6 P a g e 6 HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUSINESS 2013 Proposed changes to constitution ARTICLE III, Section 2 currently reads: The price of annual dues shall be set by a vote of the Board, and shall not be changed more often than every two years. Proposed change: Annual dues and life memberships shall be set by a vote of the Board, and shall not be changed more often than every two years. ARTICLE III, Section 4 currently reads: Life memberships shall be $ Proposed change: Eliminate Section 4. Why: With the recent increase in annual dues, the first in at least 15 years, the current $ life membership is less than six years of annual dues, a bargain we cannot afford to offer. Changing the wording of Section 2 and eliminating Section 4 places the pricing of life memberships in the hands of the Board without having to amend the constitution any time the price needs to be changed, just as we did with the annual dues two years ago. These proposed changes were voted on at the September 23 board meeting. They now go to the membership for a final vote at the Annual Meeting on November 25. This article is the constitutionally mandated advance announcement of that upcoming vote. Dues increase At the July 22 meeting the board voted to eliminate the two-tiered pricing for individual and family memberships and go with a single, per household, price of $35 per year. Dues for 2014 are due in November; a similar reminder has been posted on our website.

7 P a g e 7 OGLE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR by Bill Bailey #13 12 th Illinois Cavalry The 12 th Illinois Cavalry was organized at Camp Butler, near Springfield, in February of Although none of the companies officially recruited in Ogle County, about 40 men from here served in the regiment during the war, most of them in Company A. The majority of these Company A troopers were from Monroe, Scott, and White Rock Townships in the northeastern part of the county. Several men from Buffalo Township were in Company C, while Companies K and L each had a couple of Ogle County boys. After spending the spring guarding Confederate prisoners at Camp Butler, the 12 th was sent to western Virginia in late June. When Stonewall Jackson captured Harper s Ferry during the Antietam campaign, the 12 th escaped by crossing the Potomac River at night and traveling on back roads. The regiment served with the Army of the Potomac for the next 14 months, taking part in Stoneman s raid in May of At the end of the raid, there were only enough healthy horses to mount four companies. While the rest of the regiment stayed in Fort Monroe, VA raiding the countryside for horses, these four companies returned to the army and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863 they were part of the 1 st Cavalry Division which held off thousands of Rebels until reinforcements arrived. George Riseborough of Monroe Twp. was among the fallen. The regiment returned home in late November 1863 to reorganize as a veteran unit. They were sent to St. Louis in February 1864, then to Louisiana and later to western Tennessee. After the war the men of the 12 th found themselves on occupation duty in Texas under Major-General George Armstrong Custer before finally being mustered out in late May of Some of the Ogle County men in Co. A did quite well during the war. Joseph Adlington of Monroe Twp. enlisted as a Private and mustered out as a 1 st Lt.; George W. Black also enlisted as a Pvt. from Monroe Twp. and was promoted to Sergeant-Major, the highest enlisted rank in a regiment. Others did not fare so well. John Sheaff of White Rock joined in late December 1863 during the reorganization but died in St. Louis two months later. Of the seven Ogle County men who served in Co. C, three are listed in the records as deserters, two did not reenlist, and of the two who did, one refused to be mustered back in, possibly resulting in some time in the stockade, and the other one, Daniel Vanstone of Byron, died in New Orleans on September 20, The varied experiences of the Ogle County men who served in the 12 th Illinois Cavalry are typical of those of all men who served, whether from Ogle County or anywhere else.

8 The Ogle County Historical Society PO Box 183 Oregon, Il Application for Membership $35 per household per year Name Street Address City State Zip Phone The Gazette is published quarterly, (and sometimes supplementary issues), by The Ogle County Historical Society, PO Box 183, Oregon, Il The Gazette is distributed free to Mail to: The Ogle County Historical Society-PO Box 183-Oregon, Il

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