October 11, 2000
    A post office was established in Rushville on January 18, 1827, when Hart Fellows was commissioned Postmaster by President John Quincy Adams. Fellows also served as probate judge, county clerk, circuit clerk and recorder, and held all these offices until 1835.
    The first post office in Schuyler County was a log cabin built by Postmaster Hart Fellows on the corner lot on the north side of the Rushville square, and served as both a post office and general store.
    Rural Free Delivery was established at the Rushville Post Office in 1901.
    Two city postal carrier delivery routes were established in Rushville in 1923, one of the east side of town and one for the west side. Carriers made two deliveries a day.
    A teacher was hired and an abandoned cabin was used for the first school in 1823.
    After the jailer moved in to the new jail in 1856, it was realized that there was no kitchen for the jailer's wife to use to feed the prisoners. A wooden structure was added on the north side of the building at a cost of $75.
    When the 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
    Frederick was originally named Fredericksville. It was founded in 1836 by two Frenchmen, George Frederick Jonte and Frederick Merchant.
    The Walter A. Black Post No. 2305 of Veterans of Foreign Wars was instituted in Rushville on Sunday, January 19, 1941, at the I. O. O. F. Hall, by District Commander S. M. Ellison of Moline. Fred Mohlenbruck was elected commander.
    The Schuyler Brown Home Bureau was organized on January 6, 1937, with 355 signed members reported and 150 members in attendance. Chairman of the board was Mrs. Ralph Young.
    Debra Avery, 12, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Avery won a $50 savings bond in 1966 in an essay contest to choose a name for the new city park. She chose the name Schuy-Rush Park because it used the first syllables of the name of both the county and county seat.
    An ad in a 1905 edition of The Rushville Times, noted that the Rushville Bottling Works soda pop was made only with pure fruit flavors, granulated sugar, and gas made from soda. Some of other unscrupulous manufacturers of the day used cheap extracts, patent sweeteners, and gas made from marble dust.
    Robert and Myrtle Lawler entered into the furniture store and funeral directing business with her parents, John W. and Mary (Arick) Lickey, in August 1901. The Lawler Funeral Home in the 100 block of South Liberty Street, later 143 South Franklin Street, stayed in the family until 1950.
    On October 20, 1949, the Schuyler Unit #4 of the American Legion Auxiliary began making tray favors for Dwight Hospital. At that time, they included a pack of cigarettes with each tray favor.
    Name badges worn on the first Smiles Day celebration on Sept. 17, 1919, said "HOWDY! These Are My Sentiments: SMILE. Smile, And While YOU Smile Another Smiles And soon there's Miles And Miles of Smiles. And Life's Worth While Because YOU Smile."

September 27, 2000
    In June 1944, Jerry Bowers bought Ed Chipman Clothing on the east side of the Rushville square and changed the name to Bower's Mens Wear. The business was sold to Wayne and Rosemary Trimble in 1972.
    The formation of a Forty and Eight Society in Schuyler County was first discussed by fellow Legionnaires of Schuyler [County].
    During the early days, Culbertson Hospital had its own vegetable garden, which supplied both the hospital and staff, with the excess canned for later use. All hospital laundry, including the nurses' starched uniforms, was washed and ironed by the housekeeping department.
    The Rushville Public Library was opened on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1913, in a 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 to finish the basement rooms, and nearly 1,000 books.
    Dedication ceremonies for the new Webster Grade School building were held Tuesday, February 22, 1943. Guest speaker was Vernon L. Nickell, state superintendent of Public Instruction.
    Webster School was built in 1942-43 by Rushville Union School District #92 with the 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 classrooms surrounding a gymnasium-auditorium.

September 20, 2000
    Dr. Benjamin Walton read medicine with a doctor in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He also was a licensed minister of the Gospel.
    He brought his family to Schuyler County about 1844. They landed at Sharp's Landing and went up on the prairie around Table Grove.
    Finding the area very wet and boggy, they came back to Browning Township and settled on a farm just north of Browning.
    The 18-room hospital was built about 1853 and took five years to complete.
    The bricks were 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, two stories high, with a cupola on top to be used as a drying room.
    On the first floor, the main reception room was 16' x 24', and connected by a double archway to another large room.
    On either side there were two smaller rooms and at each corner was a triangular shaped bedroom. Every room on the first floor had an outside door and the interior was so arranged that one could make a circle of the house by going from room to room.
    A double stairway led to the second floor, with the same arrangement of rooms. Sturdy fireplaces were used for heat.
    The hospital was built in conjunction with the State Hospital at Jacksonville to care for mental patients in this surrounding area.
    The hospital operated for several years, but one day one of the patients strayed away. She was found dead several hundred yards from the house.
    This was the end of his daughters' nursing careers and the end of Dr. Walton's dream of using it as a hospital.
    Dr. Walton continued his practice of medicine, delivering his last baby, Laura Beam McLaren, on February 19, 1872.
    The hospital was used as a home by the family until about 1921, when it was torn down.
    For 93 years, three generations of the Dyson family were involved in The Rushville Times: 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.
    Lulu M. Greenlief (1870-1937) operated a millinery store on the east side of the square in Rushville for 35 years.
    The community theatre group, Pandora's Playhouse, presented its first full-scale production "Send Me No Flowers" on Nov. 21, 1975.
    An organizational meeting 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 Ed worked with their father William G. Boehm, became Boehm & Sons Food Market in 1953. The business continued operation until October 29, 1967.
    The Italian marble statue "Let There Be Light" is located near the tennis courts at Scripps 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 granite base. It was placed at the entrance of Scripps Park in 1936 by Albert Morris Bagby in memory of his parents, John Courts Bagby and Mary Agnes Scripps Bagby.
    The Cudahy Packing Co. operated in Rushville from 1935 to March 14, 1953, expanding the business from a poultry and egg processing plant to include the manufacture of ice cream, butter and cheese.
    After more than fifty years of operation, the Rushville Bottling Works was closed on August 19, 1954.
    From 1908-1925, ground was leased north of town for the fairgrounds, at its present site. After the 1925 fair, all buildings were sold and moved, or torn down. Schuyler County had no fair for more than 15 years.
    The last train into Rushville was Engine 6209 on the evening of Nov. 3, 1980. The depot was sold and torn down in 1970 and the tracks removed in 1982.
    The Daniel's Feed and Produce Co. opened in 1938 in the building just north of the Rushville post office. Harry Daniel ran a regular route throughout the county, buying and selling poultry, eggs, and cream, as well as livestock feed of all kinds. In 1946, Daniel built a new building on North Liberty Street, moving the store there. He retired at 80 years old in June 1968.
    The Jones home at 465 West Adams was built by Elijah Jones as a rooming house for railroad workers who were working on the railroad as it came to Rushville after the Civil War. This house was torn down at about the same time the railroad tracks were taken up in Rushville.
    The first grant from the Illinois Arts Council to Pandora's Playhouse was received in 1980 and enabled the organization to hire a technical director to direct the summer musical presentation of "The Music Man."
    Montooth Barn and Yards operated in Rushville from 1918 until 1969. A large market for George Montooth's high-priced saddle horses were the police departments of Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh.
    The first public sale of platted lots was held in the new county seat of Schuyler County on July 4, 1826.

September 13, 2000
    The Rushville Newcomers Club was chartered May, 1978, with 16 members.
    In 1900, the population of Schuyler County was 16,129 and the student enrollment in 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 walking distance of the students' homes. Two rooms or more were made available in localities where enrollment was sufficient. These two rooms were divided into lower and upper grades.
    In 1934, Bartlow Packing Co. moved to a newly constructed slaughtering plant on South Liberty Street. In 1936, the retail branch at 114 North Congress was closed and all operations moved to the plant.
    The Phoenix Opera House, occupying the second floor space over three commercial buildings on the south side of the square, was planned with the idea that income from the commercial space on the first floor would support cultural and community activities on the second floor.
    On March 30, 1938 at 3:40 p.m., a tornado hit the south side of Rushville, and inflicted heavy damage to the buildings of Bartlow Packing Co. That summer, a new brick 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 Phoenix Opera House Community Center, Inc. was organized in 1980 for the specific purpose of acquiring and renovating for community use the Phoenix Opera House on the south side of the Rushville square.

September 6, 2000
    Calvin Hobart opened the first band mill after he arrived in 1823. Each person would, in turn, drive the oxen which furnished power for the mill, and ground their grain into flour.
    Two brothers, Leslie and Ernest Gain, opened Gain Brothers Greenhouses and Nursery in November 1928 at 520 West Clinton Street. In 1948 Leslie sold his share to 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. All the buildings were removed in 1982.
    A modern feature of the Rushville Bottling Works in the early 1900s was the use of the shotting machine. Square steel shot was put into each bottle with some water, then bottles were placed into the shotting machine which churned them up and down at a high speed to cut all the dirt from the inside of the bottles. This machine was the only one that existed in this part of the state at the time.
    In May 1972, the Schuyler American Legion Post #4 purchased land along Route 67 for $3,500. In 1975, the Post borrowed $70,000, and began construction of a new building on the site.
    The International Order 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 upper rooms were rented to other lodges, Modern Woodman, Royal Neighbors, G. A. R. Encampment, and after World War II, the American Legion and auxiliary.
    The lower floor was always rented to stores and other businesses. High school graduation exercises, home talent plays, and church suppers were held there, as well as Mohlman Furniture and later Fred I. Cline. During floods, usually several families shared the building.
    On August 12, 1964, after 100 years of being an active lodge, the members decided to disband and consolidate with the Rushville Lodge. The building was sold and torn down for the lumber.
    The Brick and Tile plant in Frederick gave employment to many men in and around Frederick, and at times, employed as many as 25.
    The plant produced brick, hollow building tile, paving brick and field drainage tile.
    The plant ceased 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 111 S. Liberty Street, as a permanent meeting place. In 1946, a basement was added to serve as a club room, with the upstairs used for a meeting hall.
    Abraham Lincoln spoke to a large crowd on the north side of the square on October 20, 1858, when he was a candidate for a seat in the U. S. Senate.
    Early on that day, wagons, horsemen and footmen began pouring into town. Between 10-11 a.m., delegations from surrounding towns began to congregate. At 11:30 a.m. the large procession from Beardstown was joined by others from the north and west.
    Chief Marshal Levi Lusk directed the parade, which was over one mile long and was led by brass bands from Rushville and Beardstown.
    While in Rushville, Lincoln stayed at the home of Mr. Ray on West Washington Street.
    At 2 p.m. Lincoln entered the crowd of approximately 2,500, and took the stand in the square.
    Not everyone was happy about the appearance of Lincoln in Schuyler County, at that time a Democratic stronghold.
    Someone had placed a black flag on the top of the courthouse steeple. It was left flying as a monument to the ruffianism and manners of those who had placed it there.
    A number of boys climbed to the courthouse steeple and nearly drowned out the speaker's voice, until several men went up and brought them down.
    The biggest disruption was from several women who were making offensive remarks from the upper windows around the square.
    Lincoln interrupted his speech and requested them to be still, at least until he was done, when he would cheerfully yield the stand to them.
    Lincoln was defeated by his opponent Stephen A. Douglas, 1,559 to 956, among Schuyler County voters. In fact, Lincoln never carried Schuyler County in any political contest.
    To commemorate the event, on Flag Day, Thursday, June 14, 1928, a granite marker was placed at the spot on the square where Lincoln spoke.
    In 1900, Frederick was a flourishing town with a population of 628. It contained many stores, hotels, sawmills, a brickyard, church, school and post office.

August 30, 2000
    The first train on the Peoria & Hannibal Road came into Rushville July 4, 1869. When the Chicago Burlington & Quincy took over the railroad, it put an end to further extension and the railroad remained a stub road into Rushville.
    Bartlow Packing Co. was started by Howard P. Bartlow as a retain market on the west side of the square in 1919. In the early 1920s, he moved his market to 114 North Congress, serving both the wholesale and retail meat trade.
    Gragg Grocery operated in Pleasant View from 1894-1976. Two generations of the Gragg family provided 82 years of continuous service to the residents of the area.
    Fire killed four young men and destroyed half the buildings on the north side of the square, as well as a number of buildings on Congress Street north of the Bank of Rushville building in January 1924.
    Killed were Raymond Briggs, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Briggs of Buenavista Township; 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 Buenavista Township; and John Chadwick Stover, 21.
    The buildings destroyed were Parrot & Kerr Hardware, The Wilson Grocery (Nelson Building), George T. Purcell, Prentiss building occupied by Orin VanCleave drug store and residence, and John L. Barton Clothiers, all on the north side of the square.
    The Bank of Rushville and Dr. H. O. Munson's office on Congress Street were also destroyed, as was the office of Attorney H. M. Billingsley and the Knights of Pythias Lodge and the Phythian Sisters, all of whom occupied the second floor of the bank building.
    The Schuyler County Farm and Home was first known as the Alms House, often referred to as the Poor House or Poor Farm, and was located in Buenavista Township.
    A property tax was levied in 1850 for the purchase of land on which to build a poor house and other necessary buildings. In 1853, the fund amounted to $3,802.56.
    The first home, built before the Civil War, was made of log and located about one quarter mile from where the county farm buildings now stand.
    The second home, built in 1870, was made of brick. Until the superintendent's home was built in 1900, he lived in the same building with the inmates.
    The other buildings 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.
    During the Great Depression, the home was filled to capacity, having sixty inmates, including twenty-two children, at one time. Several families had to move into the home. At one time there were three generations of two different families. Two babies were born at the home.
    A school was started for the fifteen school-age children in the home.
    Behind the superintendent's home is a graveyard with thirty-two graves, including eleven visible markers. The last grave marker is dated 1926.

August 23, 2000
    The first Smiles Day was held on September 17, 1919, as a homecoming for those who had served in World War I. A total of 246 veterans were registered in the night parade, 35  of whom had served in the Civil War. Following the parade, there was a costume dance at Crandall's barn. A Smiles Day event was held every year from 1919-1941. The annual event was canceled because of World War II, and was not resumed until the fall of 1947.
    Ralph King, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy King, was the first baby born at Culbertson Hospital. He arrived March 1, 1921.
    Samuel A. Clift was the founder of Little New York, located in the northwest corner of Woodstock Township on a farm homesteaded by Samuel Lashbrook. At the height of the town's prosperity in 1834, there was one store, one blacksmith shop and one cooper shop. A barrel of whiskey was always on tap at the store.
    In 1935, there were 63 coal mines operating in Schuyler County. By 1954, there were only four.
    In 1941, temporary wartime Federal Meat Inspection was initiated at Bartlow Packing Co., 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's clothing firm of Barton and Bogue on the north side of the square. Five years later the partnership was dissolved and the firm became John L. Barton Co. The store was open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the week, and until 9 p.m. on Saturdays to accommodate the many farmers who came to town.
    As early as 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 to the Illinois River at Beardstown. Considerable money was spent on it, but the panic of 1836 caused a temporary suspension. The burning of the building in Rushville which contained all the books and papers of the company buried the scheme forever.
    When Olin W. Clark came to Rushville on Jan. 9, 1949, as an agent for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, there was a round house for servicing switching, a turntable for turning engines around, an ice house, a sand house, and a huge well twenty-one feet across which furnished water for the steam engines.
    From its opening night in 1882 until it closed in 1910, the Phoenix Opera House on the south side of the square was the center of cultural and social life in Rushville.

August 16, 2000
    The village of Bader started with the coming of the railroad in 1870.
    It was a thriving business center during the time the railroad was prosperous, and became a residential village when the railroad was abandoned around 1953.
    All the business activity of the community at that time was centered a quarter mile west, where a saw mill and blacksmith shop stood where the Vermont to Browning road crossed on the way to the river.
    After the railroad came, Samuel Fowler, who owned the land, laid out a town along the siding at the top of Dutchman hill and named it Osceola. There was another Osceola in Illinois, so when the community wanted a post office, the name was changed to Bader.
    The general store was typical of the period, with hardware, groceries, clothing, shoes, even coffins. It also served as a market for butter, eggs and poultry.
    At one time there were six passenger trains daily, three each way, and it was possible to buy a ticket to anywhere in the U. S. A local freight went north in the morning and south in the afternoon.
    The Camden State Bank was robbed on September 29, 1930.
    As cashier Roy C. Daly was opening the bank for the day, three robbers appeared, forced him to open the vault, tied him up and taped his mouth shut.
    Before he could untie himself and go for help, the robbers had bravely walked down main street, three abrease, in their hunting coats, carrying sawed-off shot guns, and flour sacks which contained the money thrown over their shoulders, to the north end of town to their car.
    They appeared to those who saw them as local hunters, going out early in the morning for a day of hunting. They hid out in a vacant house about three and a half miles northeast of Camden until law officials gave up, and they escaped.

August 9, 2000
    The International Order 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 upper rooms were rented to other lodges, Modern Woodmen, Royal Neighbors, G.A.R. Encampment, and after World War II, the American Legion and auxiliary.
    The lower floor was always rented to stores and other businesses. High school graduation exercises, home talent plays, and church suppers were held there, as well as Mohlman Furniture and later Fred I. Cline. During floods, usually several families shared the building.
    On August 12, 1964, after 100 years of being an active lodge, the members decided to disband and consolidate with the Rushville Lodge. The building was sold and town down for the lumber.
    In the mid-1800s, Frederick was connected to Rushville with a plank toll toad. Each farmer or merchant who traveled the road was required to pay a small toll.
    In 1838, Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, along the Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a population of 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had two general stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill, a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasted a beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and hitch rack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side of the road.
    On April 11, 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.
    Train service, with several passenger and freight trains [which ran] all hours of the day and night, began to replace steamboats at this time.
    Two active fish markets shipped boxes and barrels of dressed fish on the trains. During duck season, wagon loads of duck could be seen at the depot. During the winter, bundles of fur pelts were shipped.
    The mussel shell and pearl income was instrumental to the Heirman addition to the west side of Browning.
    American Legion Schuyler Post #4 was officially chartered on June 30, 1919, with 30 charter members. M. Glenn Tipton was elected commander.
    In September 1921, a deed was filed with the county Board of Supervisors which wiped the Town of Newberry off the records as a platted town.
    The town of Newberry was surveyed by Francis E. Bryant, April 24, 1840, and twenty-four lots were platted on either side of Main Street.
    At one time the town boasted of a store, a blacksmith shop, and two saloons. A government 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 and Don Ward on the Walter Houston farm in a cow pasture. Later the airport was 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 was listed 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 into one of the largest on the Illinois River. Charles Farwell built a large mansion on the hill overlooking the town and river.
    Stringtown was located in the SE 1/4 of Section 11 in Woodstock Township. Several coopers, a harness maker, a wheelwright and a brickyard were located there. Joshua Griffith owned one cooper shop and the brickyard. Bethel School was built from brick made in the brickyard, as are several buildings on the Rushville square.
    The City of Rushville was founded in 1826 by a commission appointed by the Illinois Legislature to establish a county seat for Schuyler County. The name Rushton was 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. Rushville was surveyed and divided into five acre lots in 1831, which were not to be sold for less than $5.00. They were advertised outside the county, but it 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 September 1955, a new $4,500,000 bridge with a 3,624 foot span over the Illinois River, connecting Schuyler and Cass counties, was dedicated by Governor William G. Stratton.
    An estimated crowd of 20,000 was on hand for the parade and dedication. Entertainment for 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 Bainbridge Township, Jan. 2, 1943.
    The flames burned so rapidly that the entire hangar, two ships, two new parachutes valued at $200 each, and more than $2,000 worth of airplane parts which had just recently been purchased in Chicago by the manager, Dwight Rohn, were completely destroyed within a period of fifteen minutes.
    One of the four planes housed in the hangar was pulled from the building, escaping damage, and another was also saved, although it had caught fire and was badly damaged. Two others were completely destroyed, and the entire loss was more than $10,000.
    The planes in the hangar were one-seat training planes, used in training pilots for the United States Navy. Ten students were two weeks from completing their training at the airport under a government program.
    Kenneth Dodds helped to build this airport and completed six weeks pilot training at the airport. J. Dale Ward was a security guard and Harold Morrell was a mechanic.
    The original Nelson dry goods store was opened in 1836 by two brothers-in-law, George Henry Nelson and Lewis Robertson, Jr.
    The business was located on the north side of the square.
    In 1846 Lewis's brother, George W. Robertson joined the business.
    In 1871 the store became Nelson Brothers when George H. Nelson's sons, Henry, James and Charles joined the firm.
    The business suffered through two fires, around 1882, and again in 1924. The building was rebuilt each time.
    Nelson Brothers was one of Rushville's first and thus one of the oldest established businesses, carrying the best grade of dry goods, boots and shoes, ladies' and gentlemen's goods, and carrying on for close to 100 years.
    The fall of 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 uprooted huge trees.
    In 1935, there were 63 coal mines operating in Schuyler County. By 1954, there were only four.
    The Round Prairie community was located in the extreme northwest corner of Birmingham Township.
    One of the historical points in the community was the home of Nathan Burton, who was one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity.
    Before the civil war, this house was used as an underground railroad station to aid the slaves fleeing northwest.
    The kitchen had a trap door in the floor leading to a cellar, supposedly used as a hiding place for the slaves. The door was concealed by having the kitchen range sitting on it.
    In May, 1968, Gertrude K. Allen, 85, of Augusta, widow of Dr. S. S. Allen, presented the deed for 500 acres of land valued at more than $250,000 to the director of the Illinois Department of Conservation William T. Lodge and supervisor of Illinois parks James W. McMillan.
    At the time, it was the largest single gift for a park ever received by the State of Illinois from an individual.
    The land is located three miles east of Augusta in Birmingham Township, on the north side of Route 101.
    William Creek runs through the property and "Big Rock" pool was a favorite swimming spot for several generations of children.
    The property, named Weinberg King State Park, was given to the state as a family memorial to Allen's parents, Frederick Weinberg King, and her three brothers.
    Her parents operated the King Department Store in Augusta for many years.
    Abraham Louderback 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 town of Butlersville in Hickory Township was platted by Noah Butler, May 14, 1846, for whom the town was named.
    Daniel Sheldon came to Butlersville in 1838. He taught the first school and was the first postmaster. When the post office was established, it was given the name Sheldons Grove, rechristening the village.
    In 1909, Henry Race, Henry German, Grant Steward and Henry Schmeidescamp opened the People's Bank of Camden, a branch of the Mercantile Bank of Quincy.
    Albert H. Kay was cashier and the board of directors were Henry Race, Mrs. Bell Ritchey, George Pickenpaugh, Homer Dorsett, Ernest Daly and Newt Whitehead.
    In 1920, Albert Kay made some bad investments with his mother's money and money from depositors. On December 23, 1920, he took his own life.
    The bank reorganized and became Camden State Bank. The bank survived the Great Depression, with no loss of money to customers.
    The bank was closed on April 12, 1952, and all money and accounts were moved to the Rushville State Bank on May 5, 1952.
    Mable community was named around 1900 after Levi and Mary Belle Marlow's six year old granddaughter, Mabel Calvert, when a post office was established there. Marlow owned the property the community was located on in the center of Section 22 of Camden Township.
    Mabel Calvert married Milton Cady and they operated the store in Mable for many years. The post office closed in 1914 when rural delivery began in that area.
    Mabel Calvert Cady may have been the only person in Schuyler County to have had a post office named after her.

July 26, 2000
    The Camden Hotel was built and kept by Joseph Ward, who laid out the village of Camden in 1831.
    It was one of the larger dwellings in Camden, with twelve or more rooms. The bay window toward the rear of the building was in the dining room, where the hotel guests were served their meals.
    There was a large livery barn at the back, with a well and large watering trough.
    BE-KIK-A-NIN-EE Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in 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 during the 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 earliest settlers in Woodstock Township.
    The Schuyler Arts Council was formed in 1980. Jane Boyd was elected as the first president of the group.
    In 1838, Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, along the Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a population of 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had two general stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill, a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasted a beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and a hitch rack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side of the road.
    Two other towns in Frederick Township were the villages of Erie, founded in 1836, three miles south of Frederick, and Schuyler City, located near the mouth of Sugar Creek. Both towns flourished for a short time, but were completely destroyed in the great flood of 1844.
    A tornado roared through Rushville Wednesday, March 30, 1938, at 3:50 p.m. leaving an estimated damage of $275,000. There were no fatalities reported in Schuyler County.
    The storm came from the southwest, first touching down in Woodstock Township, then centered the damage on the south side of Rushville, along South Liberty, South Congress and East Clinton Streets, with scattered damage reported in other sections of the city.
    The tornado left Rushville and traveled due east and then north, and northwest, and dropped down into the Bader community. The storm then traveled to Astoria, then northeast to Havana.
    The village of Brooklyn had its own doctor for many years. Dr. Willis had his office in 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 Township Hall is now located.
    Dr. Camp made his rounds with a cart and horse, on horseback with saddlebags if the roads were bad, and sometimes he walked.
    He carried a portable phone about 8" x 10" with a battery, receiver and a mouth piece and a long wire loop he could throw over a telephone wire and call home to see if others were sick in that neighborhood, so he could stop to see them if necessary.
    Fielding Frame was a deck hand on an Illinois River steamboat which landed at Erie in Frederick Township in the winter of 1837-38, and was held in port when ice closed navigation.
    Frame got in a fight at a tavern with a German man who would not stop smoking when ordered to do so, and stabbed the man to death.
    Frame was arrested, charged with murder, and lodged in jail in Rushville. He was defended by Abraham Lincoln and T. Lyle Dickey.
    In 1838, the case was taken to Hancock County on a change of venue. Frame was found guilty on April 24, 1839, at Carthage. He was the last man to be executed for a murder committed in Schuyler County.
    Francis Marion Drake, was born December 30, 1830, in Rushville. He started his working career at the age of 16, working in his father's store.
    He enlisted in the Union Forces, retiring in 1865 as a Brigadier General. He practiced law, put five railroads into operation and was elected Governor of Iowa in 1895.
    In 1861 he gave a $20,000 endowment to begin Drake University. Over his lifetime, he gave approximately $200,000 to Drake, the only major private university in Iowa.
    The purchase of land for what would become Schuy-Rush Park was voted down three times by the Rushville City Council before a referendum was put to voters on August 30, 1966. Voters approved the purchase of land for the park by a vote of 764 to 614.
    Huntsville became 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 Rushville April 18, 1882, with thirty charter members, including Henry Craske, the first commander. Robert Rippetoe, last surviving member, died October 30, 1933.
    Rev. C. C. Carpenter delivered the dedicatory address from the courthouse steps May 30, 1912, for the soldiers and sailors memorial monument which was erected on the front lawn of the courthouse. The inscription reads, "In memory of all soldiers of all wars from 1812 to 1900 of Schuyler County, Illinois."
    The town of Erie was located in the N. W. 1/4 of Section 20, Frederick Township, and was platted October 6, 1836, by Allen Persinger.
    The town was laid out parallel with the river, with 32 blocks and streets sixty feet wide. Proprietors of the town were Hart Fellows, Robert H. Burton, Joseph Burton and George M. Wells.
    From 1836 to 1844, Erie was the main river port for Schuyler County. The town was washed away by the big flood in 1844 and never rebuilt.
    The City of Rushville was founded in 1826 by a commission appointed by the Illinois Legislature to establish a county seat for Schuyler County. The name Rushton was chosen in honor of Dr. B. Rush, prominent physician of that time, but the town's name was changed to Rushville later that same year. Rushville was surveyed and divided into five acre lots in 1831, which were not to be sold for less than $5.00. They were advertised outside the county, but it 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 April 28, 1922, Schuyler County Sheriff Edward Lashbrook and two deputies, Frant Utter and Carl Neff, were killed at the Frederick depot by a mob of railroad maintenance employees.
    The mob boarded the southbound train, which the Chief of Police at Beardstown and a posse stopped on the railroad bridge, capturing 28 men. Another man was later apprehended in Browning.
    On June 16, 1922, all 29 were found guilty of manslaughter in a blanket verdict. On passing sentence, 17 were sent to the Joliet Penitentiary, 10 were granted new trials and two were freed.
    Rushville Normal and Business College was founded in 1885 by Professor Max Kennedy. The college was located on the east side of the square.
    The death of Prof. Kennedy in July 1908 and the competition of the State Normal School at Macomb with its distribution of free scholarships, each had an influence in the closing of the college in 1909.
    Fielding Frame was a deck hand on an Illinois River steamboat which landed at Erie in Frederick Township in the winter of 1837-38, and was held in port when ice closed navigation.
    Frame got in a fight at a tavern with a German man who would not stop smoking when ordered to do so, and stabbed the man to death.
    Frame was arrested, charged with murder, and lodged in jail in Rushville. He was defended by Abraham Lincoln and T. Lyle Dickey.
    In 1838, the case was taken to Hancock County on a change of venue. Frame was found guilty on April 24, 1839, at Carthage. He was the last man to be executed for a murder committed in Schuyler County.

July 12, 2000
    The Camden Hotel was built and kept by Joseph Ward, who laid out the village of Camden in 1831.
    It was one of the larger dwellings in Camden, with twelve or more rooms. The bay window toward the rear of the building was in the dining room, where the hotel guests were served their meals.
    There was a large livery barn, at the back, with a well and large watering trough.
    The town of Butlersville in Hickory Township was platted by Noah Butler, May 14, 1846, for whom the town was named.
    Daniel Sheldon came to Butlersville in 1838. He taught the first school and was the first postmaster. When the post office was established, it was given the 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 into one of the largest on the Illinois River. Charles Farwell built a large manwion on the hill overlooking the town and river.

July 5, 2000
    In 1838, Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler plotted the village of Doddsville, along the Schuyler and McDonough Counties border. By 1890, the town had a population of 150, which proved to be the maximum. At its peak, Doddsville had two general stores, a Woodmen Hall, two churches, two doctors, a flour mill, a livery barn and blacksmith shop, and a post office. The town boasted a beautiful park in the center of town, complete with bandstand and a hitch rack. A boardwalk extended the length of the town on the north side of the road.
    Two other towns in Frederick were the villages of Erie, founded in 1836, three miles south of Frederick, and Schuyler City, located near the mouth of Sugar Creek. Both towns flourished for a short time, but were completely destroyed in the great flood of 1844.
    Mable community was named around 1900 after Levi and Mary Belle Marlow's six year old granddaughter, Mabel Calvert, when a post office was established there. Marlow owned the property the community was located on in the center of Section 22 of Camden Township.
    Mabel Calvert married Milton Cady and they operated the store in Mabel for many years. The post office closed in 1914 when rural delivery began in that area.
    Mabel Calvert Cady may have been the only person in Schuyler County to have had a post office named after her.
    In September 1921, a deed was filed with the county Board of Supervisors which wiped the Town of Newberry off the records as a platted town.
    The town of Newberry was surveyed by Francis E. Bryant, April 24, 1840, and twenty-four lots were platted on either side of Main Street.
    At one time the town boasted of a store, a blacksmith shop, and two saloons. A government post office was maintained there for many years by L. O. Huff, and was known as Center.
    Frederick was originally named Fredericksville. It was founded in 1836 by two Frenchmen, George Frederick Jonte and Frederick Merchant.
    In the mid-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 small toll.

Copyright 2000-2006 The Rushville Times; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.

The Rushville Times, used by permission