Ogle County Historical Society. Visit us at SUNDAY AUGUST 26TH, 2012 "ALL MEMBERS PICNIC"

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1 Gazette August 2012 Ogle County Historical Society Visit us at SUNDAY AUGUST 26TH, 2012 "ALL MEMBERS PICNIC" OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 5:00 PM Bring a dish to pass & your own table service, beverages are provided. You are also invited to bring an old Ogle County or family antique to share. COME JOIN THE FUN!

2 Page 2 Railroad close to the Oregon Golf Course From the Diary of James V. Gale written in 1870 (Oregon s first mayor) James V. Gale was a director of the Chicago Carroll railroad. He and several other local people raised money and worked with the owner Hinckley for ten years before the first train arrived in Oregon Thursday April 13, The engine of this train was named James V. Gale. The first tracks ran to the east side of Oregon near the present site of the Oregon Golf Course. Shortly after that they relocated the tracks to the present location. The following are from his diary. It is not the first settlers who make the most money. They prepare the way for others who generally reap the benefit of the frontier men. The excitement of a new country is pleasant in many aspects. All are on an equal footing and there is more sociability than when a country is older and becomes more densely settled. John Phelps said in his diary that Arkansas was the hardest State he ever did business in. When a man emigrated there, one of the first questions that would be asked was what place he came from and what name he went by there, or what crime he had committed before he came there. Mr. P. He has a great idea of himself. Mr. J. He never does much for his friends but expects every body to do everything for him. Mr. R. He got a divorce from his first wife after raising twelve children and married again, which created a good deal of talk in the community against him.

3 P a g e 3 Mary Jane and Frank making calico dresses from the same piece. Money was raised to purchase a bell for the Oregon Lutheran Church and was used by the people of the town at all occasions they thought proper. (1852) Captain P. pretended to have been once a captain in the English Cavalry. Mr. Cheney made a fine funeral speech at the hotel over an old man who was on the floor drunk. The old man said he would never have another speech over him so eloquent as the one he heard over his body that evening. Still the old man thought it too much of a joke. In Judge Ford s courtroom in Oregon he asked Adam Fudge his name Adam replied A dam Fudge. The judge said The court fines you five dollars. Among the men of our county who liked fun and enjoyed themselves\ there is none more so than Willard P. Flagg, a good singer, a good companionable man, and gentleman of the old style. The township where he resides was named for him (Flagg). James Gale said in 1835 and 1836 the stage ran through Buffalo Grove from Peoria to Galena and stopped at Oliver Kellogg s House and Tavern. Buffalo Grove was located near the present town of Polo. James rode over to Kellogg s office at Buffalo Grove to pick up his mail. (1870) I took a ride to see John Bailey in Pine Rock, not at home. (no telephone) The Gale Diary gives a great insight into the history of this area. He attended West Point in and located in Oregon in 1835, He stayed in the double cabin owned by Oregon founder John Phelps while he constructed his cabin west of Oregon. He was born in 1806 and died He is buried in Riverside Cemetery located on North Third Street in Oregon. James V. Gale Chair And Tombstone

4 P a g e Years Past 1912 (Oregon Republican Newspaper)

5 Page 5 Junior Docent Blaise McGlinn Our Junior Docent program, which started last summer, received a boost this winter when the Junior High School began a community service awards program called Eagle Hours. This created some extra demand for programs like ours, and we now have three Junior Docents, one of whom has been with us since mid-april, and the other two since early June. All three are 8th graders, student council members, and interested in history. By the start of school in mid-august, they had given a combined total of over 100 hours of volunteer service to the Historical Society. They have been cleaning, sorting, filing, and doing many other tasks which might not otherwise be getting done. They also assist the adult docents with our Sunday visitors, and may be helping with proposed changes to displays in the living room this fall and winter. Thank you Blaise, Chloe, and Abby

6 P a g e 6 RECENT ACQUISITIONS Nancy Parssinen, a granddaughter of William Cort of Rochelle, donated transcripts of letters home written by her grandfather and his brother Arthur when they were missionaries in Utah in They had been sent by the Presbyterian Church to convert the Mormons, a daunting task. Also included were a Cort family history and the Ogle and Lee County teaching certificates of Joseph Cort, William and Arthur s older brother. With the help of one of our Junior Docents, these items are now in a binder on our family research shelves. The family of C. Merle Haselton of Kings, president of the Historical Society in the early 1960 s, visited us and donated several items, including a photo album of pea vine harvesting done for Del Monte Corp. in this area from the 1930 s through the 1960 s. It s an interesting record of our county s agricultural history. We also received Mr. Haselton s letterman s sweater from Kings High School c Since Kings High School only existed for about fifteen years ( ), there aren t many of them around. This one is in excellent condition and we ll find a place to display it before next spring. Ron Bry, another former president of the Historical Society, brought in an early 20 th century Bavarian china milk or lemonade pitcher which had been owned by the Nash family. He said that his parents bought it at Ruby s estate sale in 1961 and that it was time for it to come home. In late July we received a phone call from Midway Village Museum in Rockford. They had been going through some documents received in the last years and found a box of legal documents and Haselton s Letterman s Sweater personal letters from the Enos Smith and Peter Talley families of Flagg Township. A quick trip to Rockford Kings High School and a couple of signatures got them for us. The dates range from 1848 to 1904, with most of them from the 1850 s and 1880 s. In addition to deeds, wills, property tax records, and personal letters, there are half a dozen recipes for homemade liniment (whether for human or livestock is not indicated maybe for both) and an extraordinary letter sent to Enos Smith s son William when he was living in Kansas in He had evidently made an ink impression of his hand and sent it to a Professor Fredrick, palmist, in New York City, along with the requisite fee, of course. He received in return a six-page typewritten report telling him everything he needed to know about his past, present, and future, including how wealthy he would become and why he would never marry. It s amusing and enlightening to read. These papers are in the process of being sorted and read through and will soon be on our family history shelves.

7 P a g e 7 OGLE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR by Bill Bailey #9 The Waites Cousins Malcolm E. and Malden C. Waite enlisted in Company D, 39 th Illinois Infantry on August 9, They were both born in New York and came to Ogle County as children. Malcolm s father, Clark G. Waite, settled in Rockvale Township in 1837; Clark s older brother, E. J., came in 1844 with his wife and three children, including Malden. After training at Benton Barracks, MO the regiment was sent to western Maryland. On January 3, 1862 Cpl. Malcolm Waite was one of several members of the 39 th captured at Bath, VA (now WV) during a battle with Confederate troops led by Stonewall Jackson. Even this early in the war a prisoner exchange system had been set up and Malcolm Waite and the others were returned in a few months. Living conditions in POW camps were so bad that most of the returned prisoners were discharged for disability, including Malcolm. He took no further part in the war. It is not known how this disability affected the rest of his life, but in the 1878 County History he is listed as a farm laborer, with no other information. Malden Waite, meanwhile, had stayed with the regiment during its brief service with the Army of the Potomac on the Virginia Peninsula. From late summer 1862 through all of 1863 the regiment served in Suffolk, VA and Hilton Head and Charleston, SC. Malden Waite reenlisted on January 1, 1864 and went home for his 30 day furlough in February. After returning to the East, the 39 th was assigned to the Army of the James under Gen. Benjamin Butler and spent the rest of the war in Virginia. On June 16, 1864 the regiment was sent out as skirmishers to follow up a Confederate retreat and encountered Gen. Pickett s division near Ware Bottom Church. Malden Waite was one of the 35 casualties of the regiment, suffering a serious wound in the arm. He died sixteen days later, on July 2, probably from infection. This was a double blow for the E. J. Waite family, as Malden s brother Mansir, serving with Company G of the 74 th Illinois Infantry, had been killed at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain, GA on June 27 th. The Waites are one of many Ogle County families who have given the ultimate sacrifice to maintain our country s freedom. As of July 26, three of our displays of Civil War veteran s memorabilia are on temporary display at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha, WI until May 1. This museum is only four years old and is already gaining a national reputation. It concentrates on the contributions of soldiers and civilians from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We are the first small museum to participate in their program of borrowing Civil War related items and giving other museums some publicity. For directions to the Kenosha Civil War Museum and hour of operation, go to thecivilwarmuseum.org or visit their link on our website.

8 The Ogle County Historical Society PO Box 183 Oregon, Il Application for Membership $200 one person for life $15 per person, one year $25 per family, one year $2 per student, one year Name Street Address City State Zip Please indicate your areas of interest: Building and Grounds Fund Raising Library Conservancy Special Project Youth Essay Involvement Hospitality Tours/Docent Program Other (Please specify) 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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