SchuylerFacts
fromTheRushville Times
October 11, 2000
A postoffice was established in Rushville on January 18, 1827, when Hart Fellowswas commissioned Postmaster by President John Quincy Adams. Fellows alsoserved as probate judge, county clerk, circuit clerk and recorder, andheld all these offices until 1835.
The firstpost office in Schuyler County was a log cabin built by Postmaster HartFellows on the corner lot on the north side of the Rushville square, andserved as both a post office and general store.
RuralFree Delivery was established at the Rushville Post Office in 1901.
Two citypostal carrier delivery routes were established in Rushville in 1923, oneof the east side of town and one for the west side. Carriers made two deliveriesa day.
A teacherwas hired and an abandoned cabin was used for the first school in 1823.
Afterthe jailer moved in to the new jail in 1856, it was realized that therewas no kitchen for the jailer’s wife to use to feed the prisoners. A woodenstructure was added on the north side of the building at a cost of $75.
Whenthe first settler’s came in 1823, the nearest market was in St. Louis,the nearest blacksmith at Carrollton, the nearest post office at Jacksonville,and the nearest neighbor was at Down’s Landing (Beardstown).October 4, 2000
Frederickwas originally named Fredericksville. It was founded in 1836 by two Frenchmen,George Frederick Jonte and Frederick Merchant.
The WalterA. Black Post No. 2305 of Veterans of Foreign Wars was instituted in Rushvilleon Sunday, January 19, 1941, at the I. O. O. F. Hall, by District CommanderS. M. Ellison of Moline. Fred Mohlenbruck was elected commander.
The SchuylerBrown Home Bureau was organized on January 6, 1937, with 355 signed membersreported and 150 members in attendance. Chairman of the board was Mrs.Ralph Young.
DebraAvery, 12, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Avery won a $50 savings bondin 1966 in an essay contest to choose a name for the new city park. Shechose the name Schuy-Rush Park because it used the first syllables of thename of both the county and county seat.
An adin a 1905 edition of The Rushville Times, noted that the RushvilleBottling Works soda pop was made only with pure fruit flavors, granulatedsugar, and gas made from soda. Some of other unscrupulous manufacturersof the day used cheap extracts, patent sweeteners, and gas made from marbledust.
Robertand Myrtle Lawler entered into the furniture store and funeral directingbusiness with her parents, John W. and Mary (Arick) Lickey, in August 1901.The Lawler Funeral Home in the 100 block of South Liberty Street, later143 South Franklin Street, stayed in the family until 1950.
On October20, 1949, the Schuyler Unit #4 of the American Legion Auxiliary began makingtray favors for Dwight Hospital. At that time, they included a pack ofcigarettes with each tray favor.
Namebadges worn on the first Smiles Day celebration on Sept. 17, 1919, said”HOWDY! These Are My Sentiments: SMILE. Smile, And WhileYOUSmile Another Smiles And soon there’s Miles And Miles of Smiles. And Life’sWorth While Because YOU Smile.”September 27, 2000
In June1944, Jerry Bowers bought Ed Chipman Clothing on the east side of the Rushvillesquare and changed the name to Bower’s Mens Wear. The business was soldto Wayne and Rosemary Trimble in 1972.
The formationof a Forty and Eight Society in Schuyler County was first discussed byfellow Legionnaires of Schuyler [County].
Duringthe early days, Culbertson Hospital had its own vegetable garden, whichsupplied both the hospital and staff, with the excess canned for lateruse. All hospital laundry, including the nurses’ starched uniforms, waswashed and ironed by the housekeeping department.
The RushvillePublic Library was opened on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1913, ina Carnegie building on the lot donated by the Rushville Federation of Women.The Federation also gave a gift of $1,000 to the library board, $400 tofinish the basement rooms, and nearly 1,000 books.
Dedicationceremonies for the new Webster Grade School building were held Tuesday,February 22, 1943. Guest speaker was Vernon L. Nickell, state superintendentof Public Instruction.
WebsterSchool was built in 1942-43 by Rushville Union School District #92 withthe aid of a W. P. A. project, at a cost to the school district of $37,450,of which $34,000 was secured by a bond issue. The building has eight classroomssurrounding a gymnasium-auditorium.September 20, 2000
Dr. BenjaminWalton read medicine with a doctor in Washington County, Pennsylvania.He also was a licensed minister of the Gospel.
He broughthis family to Schuyler County about 1844. They landed at Sharp’s Landingand went up on the prairie around Table Grove.
Findingthe area very wet and boggy, they came back to Browning Township and settledon a farm just north of Browning.
The 18-roomhospital was built about 1853 and took five years to complete.
The brickswere fired by his brother, John, and the interior was finished with walnut.The walls were 16 inches thick and shaped in the form of an octagon, twostories high, with a cupola on top to be used as a drying room.
On thefirst floor, the main reception room was 16′ x 24′, and connected by adouble archway to another large room.
On eitherside there were two smaller rooms and at each corner was a triangular shapedbedroom. Every room on the first floor had an outside door and the interiorwas so arranged that one could make a circle of the house by going fromroom to room.
A doublestairway led to the second floor, with the same arrangement of rooms. Sturdyfireplaces were used for heat.
The hospitalwas built in conjunction with the State Hospital at Jacksonville to carefor mental patients in this surrounding area.
The hospitaloperated for several years, but one day one of the patients strayed away.She was found dead several hundred yards from the house.
Thiswas the end of his daughters’ nursing careers and the end of Dr. Walton’sdream of using it as a hospital.
Dr. Waltoncontinued his practice of medicine, delivering his last baby, Laura BeamMcLaren, on February 19, 1872.
The hospitalwas used as a home by the family until about 1921, when it was torn down.
For 93years, three generations of the Dyson family were involved in The RushvilleTimes: Edwin Dyson, publisher, 1868-1921; his son, Howard F. Dyson,editor and publisher/co-publisher, 1921-1942; and Howard’s son, Edwin A.(Ted) Dyson, editor and co-publisher, 1942-1961.
LuluM. Greenlief (1870-1937) operated a millinery store on the east side ofthe square in Rushville for 35 years.
The communitytheatre group, Pandora’s Playhouse, presented its first full-scale production”Send Me No Flowers” on Nov. 21, 1975.
An organizationalmeeting for what would become Pandora’s Playhouse was held on March 10,1975. The group elected David Haney as president on March 31, 1975.
Boehm& Sons Meat Market, where four sons, William Jr., Don, Roy, and Edworked with their father William G. Boehm, became Boehm & Sons FoodMarket in 1953. The business continued operation until October 29, 1967.
The Italianmarble statue “Let There Be Light” is located near the tennis courts atScripps Park. The statue was made by American sculptor George Gray Barnard,weighs five and one-half tons and sits on a three and one-half ton granitebase. It was placed at the entrance of Scripps Park in 1936 by Albert MorrisBagby in memory of his parents, John Courts Bagby and Mary Agnes ScrippsBagby.
The CudahyPacking Co. operated in Rushville from 1935 to March 14, 1953, expandingthe business from a poultry and egg processing plant to include the manufactureof ice cream, butter and cheese.
Aftermore than fifty years of operation, the Rushville Bottling Works was closedon August 19, 1954.
From1908-1925, ground was leased north of town for the fairgrounds, at itspresent site. After the 1925 fair, all buildings were sold and moved, ortorn down. Schuyler County had no fair for more than 15 years.
The lasttrain into Rushville was Engine 6209 on the evening of Nov. 3, 1980. Thedepot was sold and torn down in 1970 and the tracks removed in 1982.
The Daniel’sFeed and Produce Co. opened in 1938 in the building just north of the Rushvillepost office. Harry Daniel ran a regular route throughout the county, buyingand selling poultry, eggs, and cream, as well as livestock feed of allkinds. In 1946, Daniel built a new building on North Liberty Street, movingthe store there. He retired at 80 years old in June 1968.
The Joneshome at 465 West Adams was built by Elijah Jones as a rooming house forrailroad workers who were working on the railroad as it came to Rushvilleafter the Civil War. This house was torn down at about the same time therailroad tracks were taken up in Rushville.
The firstgrant from the Illinois Arts Council to Pandora’s Playhouse was receivedin 1980 and enabled the organization to hire a technical director to directthe summer musical presentation of “The Music Man.”
MontoothBarn and Yards operated in Rushville from 1918 until 1969. A large marketfor George Montooth’s high-priced saddle horses were the police departmentsof Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh.
The firstpublic sale of platted lots was held in the new county seat of SchuylerCounty on July 4, 1826.September 13, 2000
The RushvilleNewcomers Club was chartered May, 1978, with 16 members.
In 1900,the population of Schuyler County was 16,129 and the student enrollmentin grades 1-12 was 4,329. The county had 92 school districts at this time.The majority of these districts were one room frame buildings within walkingdistance of the students’ homes. Two rooms or more were made availablein localities where enrollment was sufficient. These two rooms were dividedinto lower and upper grades.
In 1934,Bartlow Packing Co. moved to a newly constructed slaughtering plant onSouth Liberty Street. In 1936, the retail branch at 114 North Congresswas closed and all operations moved to the plant.
The PhoenixOpera House, occupying the second floor space over three commercial buildingson the south side of the square, was planned with the idea that incomefrom the commercial space on the first floor would support cultural andcommunity activities on the second floor.
On March30, 1938 at 3:40 p.m., a tornado hit the south side of Rushville, and inflictedheavy damage to the buildings of Bartlow Packing Co. That summer, a newbrick front, including a new office, shipping area and basement storage,replaced the damaged wooden front.
In 1943,Bartlow Packing Co. was sold to Mickleberry Food Products Corp. of Chicago.Processing continued until the plant was closed in the late 1960s. In 1981,all buildings were razed and the ground cleared.
The PhoenixOpera House Community Center, Inc. was organized in 1980 for the specificpurpose of acquiring and renovating for community use the Phoenix OperaHouse on the south side of the Rushville square.September 6, 2000
CalvinHobart opened the first band mill after he arrived in 1823. Each personwould, in turn, drive the oxen which furnished power for the mill, andground their grain into flour.
Two brothers,Leslie and Ernest Gain, opened Gain Brothers Greenhouses and Nursery inNovember 1928 at 520 West Clinton Street. In 1948 Leslie sold his shareto Ernest, who changed the name of the business to Ernie Gain Florist.He sold it to Jimmie Stephens in 1976; Stephens closed it in 1981. Allthe buildings were removed in 1982.
A modernfeature of the Rushville Bottling Works in the early 1900s was the useof the shotting machine. Square steel shot was put into each bottle withsome water, then bottles were placed into the shotting machine which churnedthem up and down at a high speed to cut all the dirt from the inside ofthe bottles. This machine was the only one that existed in this part ofthe state at the time.
In May1972, the Schuyler American Legion Post #4 purchased land along Route 67for $3,500. In 1975, the Post borrowed $70,000, and began constructionof a new building on the site.
The InternationalOrder of Odd Fellows Lodge was formed in Browning, April 9, 1864.
The I.O. O. F. building was built in 1883. The upper floor consisted of a lodgeroom, a large hall and an anteroom that housed the regalia robes of thelodge.
The upperrooms were rented to other lodges, Modern Woodman, Royal Neighbors, G.A. R. Encampment, and after World War II, the American Legion and auxiliary.
The lowerfloor was always rented to stores and other businesses. High school graduationexercises, home talent plays, and church suppers were held there, as wellas Mohlman Furniture and later Fred I. Cline. During floods, usually severalfamilies shared the building.
On August12, 1964, after 100 years of being an active lodge, the members decidedto disband and consolidate with the Rushville Lodge. The building was soldand torn down for the lumber.
The Brickand Tile plant in Frederick gave employment to many men in and around Frederick,and at times, employed as many as 25.
The plantproduced brick, hollow building tile, paving brick and field drainage tile.
The plantceased operation in the early 1950’s, after more than 60 years in business.
In 1944,Schuyler American Legion Post #4 and Auxiliary purchased property at 111S. Liberty Street, as a permanent meeting place. In 1946, a basement wasadded to serve as a club room, with the upstairs used for a meeting hall.
AbrahamLincoln spoke to a large crowd on the north side of the square on October20, 1858, when he was a candidate for a seat in the U. S. Senate.
Earlyon that day, wagons, horsemen and footmen began pouring into town. Between10-11 a.m., delegations from surrounding towns began to congregate. At11:30 a.m. the large procession from Beardstown was joined by others fromthe north and west.
ChiefMarshal Levi Lusk directed the parade, which was over one mile long andwas led by brass bands from Rushville and Beardstown.
Whilein Rushville, Lincoln stayed at the home of Mr. Ray on West WashingtonStreet.
At 2p.m. Lincoln entered the crowd of approximately 2,500, and took the standin the square.
Not everyonewas happy about the appearance of Lincoln in Schuyler County, at that timea Democratic stronghold.
Someonehad placed a black flag on the top of the courthouse steeple. It was leftflying as a monument to the ruffianism and manners of those who had placedit there.
A numberof boys climbed to the courthouse steeple and nearly drowned out the speaker’svoice, until several men went up and brought them down.
The biggestdisruption was from several women who were making offensive remarks fromthe upper windows around the square.
Lincolninterrupted his speech and requested them to be still, at least until hewas done, when he would cheerfully yield the stand to them.
Lincolnwas defeated by his opponent Stephen A. Douglas, 1,559 to 956, among SchuylerCounty voters. In fact, Lincoln never carried Schuyler County in any politicalcontest.
To commemoratethe event, on Flag Day, Thursday, June 14, 1928, a granite marker was placedat the spot on the square where Lincoln spoke.
In 1900,Frederick was a flourishing town with a population of 628. It containedmany stores, hotels, sawmills, a brickyard, church, school and post office.August 30, 2000
The firsttrain on the Peoria & Hannibal Road came into Rushville July 4, 1869.When the Chicago Burlington & Quincy took over the railroad, it putan end to further extension and the railroad remained a stub road intoRushville.
BartlowPacking Co. was started by Howard P. Bartlow as a retain market on thewest side of the square in 1919. In the early 1920s, he moved his marketto 114 North Congress, serving both the wholesale and retail meat trade.
GraggGrocery operated in Pleasant View from 1894-1976. Two generations of theGragg family provided 82 years of continuous service to the residents ofthe area.
Firekilled four young men and destroyed half the buildings on the north sideof the square, as well as a number of buildings on Congress Street northof the Bank of Rushville building in January 1924.
Killedwere Raymond Briggs, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Briggs of BuenavistaTownship; Hershel Elmo Byrns, 16, son of Circuit Clerk and Mrs. L. M. Byrns;Maurice McFeeters, 29, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. McFeeters of BuenavistaTownship; and John Chadwick Stover, 21.
The buildingsdestroyed were Parrot & Kerr Hardware, The Wilson Grocery (Nelson Building),George T. Purcell, Prentiss building occupied by Orin VanCleave drug storeand residence, and John L. Barton Clothiers, all on the north side of thesquare.
The Bankof Rushville and Dr. H. O. Munson’s office on Congress Street were alsodestroyed, as was the office of Attorney H. M. Billingsley and the Knightsof Pythias Lodge and the Phythian Sisters, all of whom occupied the secondfloor of the bank building.
The SchuylerCounty Farm and Home was first known as the Alms House, often referredto as the Poor House or Poor Farm, and was located in Buenavista Township.
A propertytax was levied in 1850 for the purchase of land on which to build a poorhouse and other necessary buildings. In 1853, the fund amounted to $3,802.56.
The firsthome, built before the Civil War, was made of log and located about onequarter mile from where the county farm buildings now stand.
The secondhome, built in 1870, was made of brick. Until the superintendent’s homewas built in 1900, he lived in the same building with the inmates.
The otherbuildings were a flour house, a milk house, a wash house, and a meat house.All these buildings, as well as the brick poor house, have been torn down.
Duringthe Great Depression, the home was filled to capacity, having sixty inmates,including twenty-two children, at one time. Several families had to moveinto the home. At one time there were three generations of two differentfamilies. Two babies were born at the home.
A schoolwas started for the fifteen school-age children in the home.
Behindthe superintendent’s home is a graveyard with thirty-two graves, includingeleven visible markers. The last grave marker is dated 1926.August 23, 2000
The firstSmiles Day was held on September 17, 1919, as a homecoming for those whohad served in World War I. A total of 246 veterans were registered in thenight parade, 35 of whom had served in the Civil War. Following theparade, there was a costume dance at Crandall’s barn. A Smiles Day eventwas held every year from 1919-1941. The annual event was canceled becauseof World War II, and was not resumed until the fall of 1947.
RalphKing, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy King, was the first baby born at CulbertsonHospital. He arrived March 1, 1921.
SamuelA. Clift was the founder of Little New York, located in the northwest cornerof Woodstock Township on a farm homesteaded by Samuel Lashbrook. At theheight of the town’s prosperity in 1834, there was one store, one blacksmithshop and one cooper shop. A barrel of whiskey was always on tap at thestore.
In 1935,there were 63 coal mines operating in Schuyler County. By 1954, there wereonly four.
In 1941,temporary wartime Federal Meat Inspection was initiated at Bartlow PackingCo., so that products could be diverted into the war effort.
In 1912,John L. Barton and his brother-in-law J. R. Bogue established the men’sclothing firm of Barton and Bogue on the north side of the square. Fiveyears later the partnership was dissolved and the firm became John L. BartonCo. The store was open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the week, and until9 p.m. on Saturdays to accommodate the many farmers who came to town.
As earlyas 1836, two years before a single mile of railroad was built in the state,a company was formed in Rushville to build a railroad from this city tothe Illinois River at Beardstown. Considerable money was spent on it, butthe panic of 1836 caused a temporary suspension. The burning of the buildingin Rushville which contained all the books and papers of the company buriedthe scheme forever.
WhenOlin W. Clark came to Rushville on Jan. 9, 1949, as an agent for the ChicagoBurlington & Quincy Railroad, there was a round house for servicingswitching, a turntable for turning engines around, an ice house, a sandhouse, and a huge well twenty-one feet across which furnished water forthe steam engines.
Fromits opening night in 1882 until it closed in 1910, the Phoenix Opera Houseon the south side of the square was the center of cultural and social lifein Rushville.August 16, 2000
The villageof Bader started with the coming of the railroad in 1870.
It wasa thriving business center during the time the railroad was prosperous,and became a residential village when the railroad was abandoned around1953.
All thebusiness activity of the community at that time was centered a quartermile west, where a saw mill and blacksmith shop stood where the Vermontto Browning road crossed on the way to the river.
Afterthe railroad came, Samuel Fowler, who owned the land, laid out a town alongthe siding at the top of Dutchman hill and named it Osceola. There wasanother Osceola in Illinois, so when the community wanted a post office,the name was changed to Bader.
The generalstore was typical of the period, with hardware, groceries, clothing, shoes,even coffins. It also served as a market for butter, eggs and poultry.
At onetime there were six passenger trains daily, three each way, and it waspossible to buy a ticket to anywhere in the U. S. A local freight wentnorth in the morning and south in the afternoon.
The CamdenState Bank was robbed on September 29, 1930.
As cashierRoy C. Daly was opening the bank for the day, three robbers appeared, forcedhim to open the vault, tied him up and taped his mouth shut.
Beforehe could untie himself and go for help, the robbers had bravely walkeddown main street, three abrease, in their hunting coats, carrying sawed-offshot guns, and flour sacks which contained the money thrown over theirshoulders, to the north end of town to their car.
Theyappeared to those who saw them as local hunters, going out early in themorning for a day of hunting. They hid out in a vacant house about threeand a half miles northeast of Camden until law officials gave up, and theyescaped.August 9, 2000
The InternationalOrder of Odd Fellows Lodge was formed in Browning, April 9, 1864.
The I.O.O.F.building was built in 1883. The upper floor consisted of a lodge room,a large hall and an anteroom that housed the regalia robes of the lodge.
The upperrooms were rented to other lodges, Modern Woodmen, Royal Neighbors, G.A.R.Encampment, and after World War II, the American Legion and auxiliary.
The lowerfloor was always rented to stores and other businesses. High school graduationexercises, home talent plays, and church suppers were held there, as wellas Mohlman Furniture and later Fred I. Cline. During floods, usually severalfamilies shared the building.
On August12, 1964, after 100 years of being an active lodge, the members decidedto disband and consolidate with the Rushville Lodge. The building was soldand town down for the lumber.
In themid-1800s, Frederick was connected to Rushville with a plank toll toad.Each farmer or merchant who traveled the road was required to pay a smalltoll.
In 1838,Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, alongthe Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a populationof 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had twogeneral stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill,a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasteda beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and hitchrack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side ofthe road.
On April11, 1848, Leodidinas Horney surveyed and laid out a town for A. Dillworth.The town was named Browning, in honor of O. H. Browning of Quincy.
In 1854,the first school was built and a Miss Dillworth was the teacher.
By 1900,Browning had five stores, a hotel, two lunch rooms, a barber shop, doctor,blacksmith, boat builder, livery stables, drayman, post office, school,and three churches.
Trainservice, with several passenger and freight trains [which ran] all hoursof the day and night, began to replace steamboats at this time.
Two activefish markets shipped boxes and barrels of dressed fish on the trains. Duringduck season, wagon loads of duck could be seen at the depot. During thewinter, bundles of fur pelts were shipped.
The musselshell and pearl income was instrumental to the Heirman addition to thewest side of Browning.
AmericanLegion Schuyler Post #4 was officially chartered on June 30, 1919, with30 charter members. M. Glenn Tipton was elected commander.
In September1921, a deed was filed with the county Board of Supervisors which wipedthe Town of Newberry off the records as a platted town.
The townof Newberry was surveyed by Francis E. Bryant, April 24, 1840, and twenty-fourlots were platted on either side of Main Street.
At onetime the town boasted of a store, a blacksmith shop, and two saloons. Agovernment post office was maintained there for many years by L. O. Huff,and was known as Center.
In 1929,Rushville’s first airfield and hangar was created by Chester Sargent andDon Ward on the Walter Houston farm in a cow pasture. Later the airportwas moved to the Judge Teel farm north of Rushville. The name “Rushville”was written in six foot letters on the hangar roof, and the airport waslisted on the National Air Map.
In 1844,Charles Farwell and Co. established a mercantile business in Frederick.He was joined by his brother, Maro Farwell and the business expanded intoone of the largest on the Illinois River. Charles Farwell built a largemansion on the hill overlooking the town and river.
Stringtownwas located in the SE 1/4 of Section 11 in Woodstock Township. Severalcoopers, a harness maker, a wheelwright and a brickyard were located there.Joshua Griffith owned one cooper shop and the brickyard. Bethel Schoolwas built from brick made in the brickyard, as are several buildings onthe Rushville square.
The Cityof Rushville was founded in 1826 by a commission appointed by the IllinoisLegislature to establish a county seat for Schuyler County. The name Rushtonwas chosen in honor of Dr. B. Rush, a prominent physician of that time,but the town’s name was changed to Rushville later that same year. Rushvillewas surveyed and divided into five acre lots in 1831, which were not tobe sold for less than $5.00. They were advertised outside the county, butit was several years before they brought much revenue to the city. In 1834,Rushville had six stores, a grist mill, four tanneries, a carding mill,four lawyers and two physicians, with a population of 750.
In September1955, a new $4,500,000 bridge with a 3,624 foot span over the IllinoisRiver, connecting Schuyler and Cass counties, was dedicated by GovernorWilliam G. Stratton.
An estimatedcrowd of 20,000 was on hand for the parade and dedication. Entertainmentfor the afternoon and evening was WLS Barn Dance and Eddy Howard’s orchestra.
Fire,believed to have started from an electric spark from an electric generator,destroyed the hangar and two airplanes at the Rohn Airport in BainbridgeTownship, Jan. 2, 1943.
The flamesburned so rapidly that the entire hangar, two ships, two new parachutesvalued at $200 each, and more than $2,000 worth of airplane parts whichhad just recently been purchased in Chicago by the manager, Dwight Rohn,were completely destroyed within a period of fifteen minutes.
One ofthe four planes housed in the hangar was pulled from the building, escapingdamage, and another was also saved, although it had caught fire and wasbadly damaged. Two others were completely destroyed, and the entire losswas more than $10,000.
The planesin the hangar were one-seat training planes, used in training pilots forthe United States Navy. Ten students were two weeks from completing theirtraining at the airport under a government program.
KennethDodds helped to build this airport and completed six weeks pilot trainingat the airport. J. Dale Ward was a security guard and Harold Morrell wasa mechanic.
The originalNelson dry goods store was opened in 1836 by two brothers-in-law, GeorgeHenry Nelson and Lewis Robertson, Jr.
The businesswas located on the north side of the square.
In 1846Lewis’s brother, George W. Robertson joined the business.
In 1871the store became Nelson Brothers when George H. Nelson’s sons, Henry, Jamesand Charles joined the firm.
The businesssuffered through two fires, around 1882, and again in 1924. The buildingwas rebuilt each time.
NelsonBrothers was one of Rushville’s first and thus one of the oldest establishedbusinesses, carrying the best grade of dry goods, boots and shoes, ladies’and gentlemen’s goods, and carrying on for close to 100 years.
The fallof 1969, four rooms were added to the southwest corner of Webster School.August 2, 2000
In 1927,a tornado hit Hickory Township, killing one child, the son of Jasper Greenlief.The tornado destroyed houses, barns, livestock, chickens, and uprootedhuge trees.
In 1935,there were 63 coal mines operating in Schuyler County. By 1954, there wereonly four.
The RoundPrairie community was located in the extreme northwest corner of BirminghamTownship.
One ofthe historical points in the community was the home of Nathan Burton, whowas one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity.
Beforethe civil war, this house was used as an underground railroad station toaid the slaves fleeing northwest.
The kitchenhad a trap door in the floor leading to a cellar, supposedly used as ahiding place for the slaves. The door was concealed by having the kitchenrange sitting on it.
In May,1968, Gertrude K. Allen, 85, of Augusta, widow of Dr. S. S. Allen, presentedthe deed for 500 acres of land valued at more than $250,000 to the directorof the Illinois Department of Conservation William T. Lodge and supervisorof Illinois parks James W. McMillan.
At thetime, it was the largest single gift for a park ever received by the Stateof Illinois from an individual.
The landis located three miles east of Augusta in Birmingham Township, on the northside of Route 101.
WilliamCreek runs through the property and “Big Rock” pool was a favorite swimmingspot for several generations of children.
The property,named Weinberg King State Park, was given to the state as a family memorialto Allen’s parents, Frederick Weinberg King, and her three brothers.
Her parentsoperated the King Department Store in Augusta for many years.
AbrahamLouderback laid out the village of Bluff City in Hickory Township in 1858.At one time, it had two stores, a blacksmith shop, a school, a post office,grist mill and a saw mill.
The townof Butlersville in Hickory Township was platted by Noah Butler, May 14,1846, for whom the town was named.
DanielSheldon came to Butlersville in 1838. He taught the first school and wasthe first postmaster. When the post office was established, it was giventhe name Sheldons Grove, rechristening the village.
In 1909,Henry Race, Henry German, Grant Steward and Henry Schmeidescamp openedthe People’s Bank of Camden, a branch of the Mercantile Bank of Quincy.
AlbertH. Kay was cashier and the board of directors were Henry Race, Mrs. BellRitchey, George Pickenpaugh, Homer Dorsett, Ernest Daly and Newt Whitehead.
In 1920,Albert Kay made some bad investments with his mother’s money and moneyfrom depositors. On December 23, 1920, he took his own life.
The bankreorganized and became Camden State Bank. The bank survived the Great Depression,with no loss of money to customers.
The bankwas closed on April 12, 1952, and all money and accounts were moved tothe Rushville State Bank on May 5, 1952.
Mablecommunity was named around 1900 after Levi and Mary Belle Marlow’s sixyear old granddaughter, Mabel Calvert, when a post office was establishedthere. Marlow owned the property the community was located on in the centerof Section 22 of Camden Township.
MabelCalvert married Milton Cady and they operated the store in Mable for manyyears. The post office closed in 1914 when rural delivery began in thatarea.
MabelCalvert Cady may have been the only person in Schuyler County to have hada post office named after her.July 26, 2000
The CamdenHotel was built and kept by Joseph Ward, who laid out the village of Camdenin 1831.
It wasone of the larger dwellings in Camden, with twelve or more rooms. The baywindow toward the rear of the building was in the dining room, where thehotel guests were served their meals.
Therewas a large livery barn at the back, with a well and large watering trough.
BE-KIK-A-NIN-EEChapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was organizedin Rushville on December 10, 1970. The chapter was named after BE-KIK-A-NIN-EE,a sub-chief of the Kickapoo tribe who had been in the British army duringthe Revolutionary War and had been wounded in the Battle of the River Raisin.He had befriended the family of Rev. Chauncey Hobart, one of the earliestsettlers in Woodstock Township.
The SchuylerArts Council was formed in 1980. Jane Boyd was elected as the first presidentof the group.
In 1838,Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, alongthe Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a populationof 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had twogeneral stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill,a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasteda beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and a hitchrack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side ofthe road.
Two othertowns in Frederick Township were the villages of Erie, founded in 1836,three miles south of Frederick, and Schuyler City, located near the mouthof Sugar Creek. Both towns flourished for a short time, but were completelydestroyed in the great flood of 1844.
A tornadoroared through Rushville Wednesday, March 30, 1938, at 3:50 p.m. leavingan estimated damage of $275,000. There were no fatalities reported in SchuylerCounty.
The stormcame from the southwest, first touching down in Woodstock Township, thencentered the damage on the south side of Rushville, along South Liberty,South Congress and East Clinton Streets, with scattered damage reportedin other sections of the city.
The tornadoleft Rushville and traveled due east and then north, and northwest, anddropped down into the Bader community. The storm then traveled to Astoria,then northeast to Havana.
The villageof Brooklyn had its own doctor for many years. Dr. Willis had his officein the north part on the street leading to the bridge.
In 1880,Dr. J. E. Camp settled there and put up an office where the Brooklyn TownshipHall is now located.
Dr. Campmade his rounds with a cart and horse, on horseback with saddlebags ifthe roads were bad, and sometimes he walked.
He carrieda portable phone about 8″ x 10″ with a battery, receiver and a mouth pieceand a long wire loop he could throw over a telephone wire and call hometo see if others were sick in that neighborhood, so he could stop to seethem if necessary.
FieldingFrame was a deck hand on an Illinois River steamboat which landed at Eriein Frederick Township in the winter of 1837-38, and was held in port whenice closed navigation.
Framegot in a fight at a tavern with a German man who would not stop smokingwhen ordered to do so, and stabbed the man to death.
Framewas arrested, charged with murder, and lodged in jail in Rushville. Hewas defended by Abraham Lincoln and T. Lyle Dickey.
In 1838,the case was taken to Hancock County on a change of venue. Frame was foundguilty on April 24, 1839, at Carthage. He was the last man to be executedfor a murder committed in Schuyler County.
FrancisMarion Drake, was born December 30, 1830, in Rushville. He started hisworking career at the age of 16, working in his father’s store.
He enlistedin the Union Forces, retiring in 1865 as a Brigadier General. He practicedlaw, put five railroads into operation and was elected Governor of Iowain 1895.
In 1861he gave a $20,000 endowment to begin Drake University. Over his lifetime,he gave approximately $200,000 to Drake, the only major private universityin Iowa.
The purchaseof land for what would become Schuy-Rush Park was voted down three timesby the Rushville City Council before a referendum was put to voters onAugust 30, 1966. Voters approved the purchase of land for the park by avote of 764 to 614.
Huntsvillebecame a platted village February 21, 1836.
By 1900,the population was 976 and businesses included dress and millinery shops,wagon makers, coopers, a hotel, and a blacksmith shop.
In 1939,a fire destroyed most of the village.July 19, 2000
Col.L. Horney Post No. 131, Grand Army of the Republic was organized in RushvilleApril 18, 1882, with thirty charter members, including Henry Craske, thefirst commander. Robert Rippetoe, last surviving member, died October 30,1933.
Rev.C. C. Carpenter delivered the dedicatory address from the courthouse stepsMay 30, 1912, for the soldiers and sailors memorial monument which waserected on the front lawn of the courthouse. The inscription reads, “Inmemory of all soldiers of all wars from 1812 to 1900 of Schuyler County,Illinois.”
The townof Erie was located in the N. W. 1/4 of Section 20, Frederick Township,and was platted October 6, 1836, by Allen Persinger.
The townwas laid out parallel with the river, with 32 blocks and streets sixtyfeet wide. Proprietors of the town were Hart Fellows, Robert H. Burton,Joseph Burton and George M. Wells.
From1836 to 1844, Erie was the main river port for Schuyler County. The townwas washed away by the big flood in 1844 and never rebuilt.
The Cityof Rushville was founded in 1826 by a commission appointed by the IllinoisLegislature to establish a county seat for Schuyler County. The name Rushtonwas chosen in honor of Dr. B. Rush, prominent physician of that time, butthe town’s name was changed to Rushville later that same year. Rushvillewas surveyed and divided into five acre lots in 1831, which were not tobe sold for less than $5.00. They were advertised outside the county, butit was several years before they brought much revenue to the city. In 1834,Rushville had six stores, a grist mill, four tanneries, a carding mill,four lawyers and two physicians, with a population of 750.
On April28, 1922, Schuyler County Sheriff Edward Lashbrook and two deputies, FrantUtter and Carl Neff, were killed at the Frederick depot by a mob of railroadmaintenance employees.
The mobboarded the southbound train, which the Chief of Police at Beardstown anda posse stopped on the railroad bridge, capturing 28 men. Another man waslater apprehended in Browning.
On June16, 1922, all 29 were found guilty of manslaughter in a blanket verdict.On passing sentence, 17 were sent to the Joliet Penitentiary, 10 were grantednew trials and two were freed.
RushvilleNormal and Business College was founded in 1885 by Professor Max Kennedy.The college was located on the east side of the square.
The deathof Prof. Kennedy in July 1908 and the competition of the State Normal Schoolat Macomb with its distribution of free scholarships, each had an influencein the closing of the college in 1909.
FieldingFrame was a deck hand on an Illinois River steamboat which landed at Eriein Frederick Township in the winter of 1837-38, and was held in port whenice closed navigation.
Framegot in a fight at a tavern with a German man who would not stop smokingwhen ordered to do so, and stabbed the man to death.
Framewas arrested, charged with murder, and lodged in jail in Rushville. Hewas defended by Abraham Lincoln and T. Lyle Dickey.
In 1838,the case was taken to Hancock County on a change of venue. Frame was foundguilty on April 24, 1839, at Carthage. He was the last man to be executedfor a murder committed in Schuyler County.July 12, 2000
The CamdenHotel was built and kept by Joseph Ward, who laid out the village of Camdenin 1831.
It wasone of the larger dwellings in Camden, with twelve or more rooms. The baywindow toward the rear of the building was in the dining room, where thehotel guests were served their meals.
Therewas a large livery barn, at the back, with a well and large watering trough.
The townof Butlersville in Hickory Township was platted by Noah Butler, May 14,1846, for whom the town was named.
DanielSheldon came to Butlersville in 1838. He taught the first school and wasthe first postmaster. When the post office was established, it was giventhe name Sheldons Grove, rechristening the village.
In 1844,Charles Farwell and Co. established a mercantile business in Frederick.He was joined by his brother, Maro Farwell and the business expanded intoone of the largest on the Illinois River. Charles Farwell built a largemanwion on the hill overlooking the town and river.July 5, 2000
In 1838,Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, alongthe Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a populationof 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had twogeneral stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill,a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasteda beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and a hitchrack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side ofthe road.
Two othertowns in Frederick were the villages of Erie, founded in 1836, three milessouth of Frederick, and Schuyler City, located near the mouth of SugarCreek. Both towns flourished for a short time, but were completely destroyedin the great flood of 1844.
Mablecommunity was named around 1900 after Levi and Mary Belle Marlow’s sixyear old granddaughter, Mabel Calvert, when a post office was establishedthere. Marlow owned the property the community was located on in the centerof Section 22 of Camden Township.
MabelCalvert married Milton Cady and they operated the store in Mabel for manyyears. The post office closed in 1914 when rural delivery began in thatarea.
MabelCalvert Cady may have been the only person in Schuyler County to have hada post office named after her.
In September1921, a deed was filed with the county Board of Supervisors which wipedthe Town of Newberry off the records as a platted town.
The townof Newberry was surveyed by Francis E. Bryant, April 24, 1840, and twenty-fourlots were platted on either side of Main Street.
At onetime the town boasted of a store, a blacksmith shop, and two saloons. Agovernment post office was maintained there for many years by L. O. Huff,and was known as Center.
Frederickwas originally named Fredericksville. It was founded in 1836 by two Frenchmen,George Frederick Jonte and Frederick Merchant.
In themid-1800’s, Frederick was connected to Rushville with a plank toll road.Each farmer or merchant who traveled the road was required to pay a smalltoll.Copyright 2000-2006 TheRushville Times; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercialuse of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibitedwithout prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with theinformation.
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