Time Was

Greenbacks, black legs, and red faces - politics 1878

Published by admin on Wed, 01/24/2018 - 9:00am

    The financial state of the country, state, county and townships were at an all-time low 130 years ago. And as many political pundits say today, “It's the economy, stupid!” And if there was one thing that was prevalent in 1878, it was politics, down and dirty politics at that.
    There had been a general countrywide depression in 1873, and in this area John Daniels' bank in Wilmington had gone bust in 1874. He was the largest owner of coal lands in Braidwood, and those lands were sold in bankruptcy court.  

How much trouble can one editor make?

Published by admin on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 9:00am

    In our look at the controversial Ordinance No. 112 that prohibited playing any games of chance in a public saloon for anything of value, even the cost of using the table, we have seen that Editor Ed Conley of the Wilmington Advocate came down on the side of the saloon keepers.  
    Personally, he didn't drink, smoke or gamble. But he was a veteran of the 39th Illinois Voluntary Infantry and had been with real men, with real habits.

Such is a miner's life, he is never safe

Published by admin on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 9:00am

    There are times when a good man, doing a good job for a good reason, sometimes fails.
    Case in point was David Morris, mine inspector of Will County in 1879. Mining accidents and prevention of same is today's topic.
    The first accident I have recorded in my files is from Nov. 6, 1867, in the Wilmington Independent.

From land poor, to money rich, one man's story

Published by admin on Wed, 01/10/2018 - 9:00am

    When white men first came to this area they searched for the best land to grow crops.
    The tall grass prairie was avoided because the theory was, that if the land was too poor to grow trees, it was too poor to grow other crops.
    This turned out to be false, as the tall grass prairie soil is still furnishing us with incredible yields of corn and soybeans.
    All the more to be avoided was the swamps, bogs and sand of the short grass prairie found in Reed Township.

How to stir up a hornet's nest - prohibit pool playing

Published by admin on Wed, 01/10/2018 - 9:00am

    In April of 1886 the city council passed ordinance No. 112 prohibiting playing of any sort of games in saloons for anything of value, even a cigar.
    The saloon men protested, blaming Alderman Donahoe, himself a saloonkeeper, for pulling a fast one on them.   Most saloon patrons did not really mind the ban on playing cards; after all they could play cards at each other's homes. But shooting pool was another matter. We will now learn what happened next.

Patriotic spirit or youthful enthusiasm, January 1918

Published by admin on Wed, 01/03/2018 - 9:00am

    War is not an old man's game. It requires physical fitness and mental sharpness. It is the young who best fit the criteria.
    But how do the old men convince the young to put their lives on the line? Is it by rousing their patriotic spirit, or giving an outlet to their youthful enthusiasm? The question arose 100 years ago.
    The story concerns a young Elwood man, or rather his death. We read on Jan. 11, 1918 in the Wilmington Advocate, “Word was received in Joliet Tuesday of the death of Christy E. Douglas somewhere in France of appendicitis.

A life of successes and sorrows, L. H. Goodrich

Published by admin on Wed, 01/03/2018 - 9:00am

    Although the town of Braidwood existed physically as early as 1865, it was not incorporated until 1873. The first election after incorporation was a contentious one, but the man who won deserved the honor.
    He was a family man, not prone to violence or drinking, and a successful business man. L.H. Goodrich was a good thing for Braidwood, but life did not treat him well. Today we tell his story.

Fads and traditions from New Year's history

Published by admin on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 12:03pm

    I have been researching New Year's traditions around the world for my end of the year column and have found some mighty strange ones.
    In Denmark for instance, they save up dishes and bowls they no longer want and break them against their neighbor's front door on New Year's Day.
    In Peru on New Year's Eve, all the citizens of the village engage in fist fighting with anyone who they have a grievance against. Then they can start the New Year with a clean slate.

New Year's at the front, 100 years ago

Published by admin on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 12:00pm

    As I write this, the first snow of the winter is on the ground, and it is cold. A century ago the Great World War was being fought in Europe. It was cold and snowy there too.
    The United States had just entered the conflict with troops, but long before that local boys were serving. Today we read a letter from a century ago written by a lonely boy who was serving in a field hospital with the British Expeditionary Forces “somewhere in France.”

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, winter tales

Published by admin on Wed, 12/20/2017 - 9:00am

    It's coming, you know it is. Snow and cold weather are part of life in our neck of the woods.
    Today we tell some winter tales to make us glad to be snuggled down reading the paper on a cold night.
    All these stories come from George Woodruff's book “The History of Will County” written in 1878. Our first story concerns a man named Holder Sisson from Lockport.