Time Was

It all fell apart before their eyes

Published by admin on Mon, 10/06/2025 - 11:39am

The Kankakee River and Wilmington have forever been intertwined. It's our companion, our friend, our foe, our pleasure, our love, our hate, and for some, a source of income and food. In the summer of 1882 it was all of these and more. But all good things must come to an end.

1883 - Problem after problem for Braidwood

Published by admin on Mon, 10/06/2025 - 9:59am

We are still looking at that awful year of 1883, when the hard times were the rule. We will pick up in July of that year to see what Braidwoodites had to deal with, and how they got through it.
Mining was still going on during that summer but it wasn't enough to employ all. We read in the Wilmington Advocate, “Coal shipments from Braidwood are light in these days; say 75 car loads. Including Braceville shipments the figures will run from 150 to 175 carloads per day.”

Reading the writing on the wall

Published by admin on Mon, 09/29/2025 - 11:06am

I guess all of us, at one time or another, have dreamed about discovering lost treasure. We have all heard of people who opened up an old wall in their home and discovered money and such. That happened in 2007 in Wilmington, although the treasure was not the kind you could spend.

Waiting out the slow times, 1883

Published by admin on Mon, 09/29/2025 - 10:58am

Coal mining was a strange business in the 19th century. During late summer, fall and winter everyone worked like fury to keep up with the demand. But come spring and summer, the demand dropped, workers had hours reduced, or were laid off altogether. It was then that stores either sold on credit, or didn’t sell at all. By summer’s end, most miners and their families owed so much to the stores that they had to work all winter to pay it off. Such was a miner’s life. Our look at 1883 begins in late spring, a few month’s after the Diamond Mine disaster.

Two years later, the ghost of 1877 strike still lingered

Published by admin on Mon, 09/22/2025 - 11:28am

We have arrived in the summer of 1879 in our tour of Braidwood history, and despite the fact that the miners had ended their strike with the companies a full two years before, working conditions were not any better, and paychecks were still quite small. And while none could say how to better conditions, it was clear that another strike was not the answer.

Entertainment, amusements, and flights of fancy

Published by admin on Mon, 09/22/2025 - 10:56am

The year was 1878. The hard times, poverty, strikes, and murders abounded all around. None of these things go into making a pleasant day. But that was not all there was to life. Wilmington, then and now, was known as a “party town, and had many kinds of entertainment to take your mind off your troubles.

Odds and Ends, emphasis on the odd

Published by admin on Tue, 09/16/2025 - 2:48pm

It is no secret. Almost all of my research is done in old newspapers. I keep everything I find that might be of interest some day. One of my files is labeled “Odds and Ends.” Just small bits of stories that are strange or odd in some way. Today we look at a few of these brief glimpses into our history.

The Red Menace invades Braidwood, to arms!

Published by admin on Tue, 09/16/2025 - 2:46pm

It was the communists alright, red flag and all. What's to be done? They have taken over Braidwood, the mayor, the clerk - all the offices. Would Wilmington be next? If you are thinking this happened during the communist scare of the 1950's, or perhaps during the early 20th century during the Russian Revolution you would be wrong. Set the way back machine to the 1870's and find out.

Come miners, strike up the band

Published by admin on Mon, 09/08/2025 - 12:15pm

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak”
If there was any group of people who needed soothing it was the coal miners of this area in the 1870's. Between mining strikes, strikebreakers, Pinkerton men, racial strife, poverty, and a general feeling of lawlessness, the tensions ran high. Some talented men turned to playing music, and the rest of the population found relief in listening or dancing to the music that they made.

Commerce, the life blood of any town

Published by admin on Mon, 09/08/2025 - 11:51am

Small towns and large ones, spend a lot of money trying to attract businesses into town. It means greater employment, more tax money, and even more citizens who then can also be taxed. This has always been the case. The sad truth is, all governments need money to run efficiently. In the early life of Wilmington there were few merchants, many selling locally produced goods. By the start of the Civil War, there were stores selling merchandise from New York or even further. Today we look at commerce and advertising.