Time Was

Saloon keepers the backbone of society?

Published by admin on Tue, 09/20/2022 - 11:23am

The above statement hardly seems decent or responsible these days. But in the early mining towns it was the truth. Saloons were more than just a place to get drunk.
And the people who ran them were popular and respected members of the community. Our mission today is to go “bar hopping” in the 19th century coal towns.
I believe it is safe to say that one of the first businesses to spring to life when a coal town was created was the saloon, the primary reason being the beer and whiskey they served.

Heavy traffic in Wilmington, so what's new?

Published by admin on Tue, 09/20/2022 - 11:18am

Last weekend, I met a couple of my gentle readers at the Peotone Mill Fest, hello to them. They were there to see that really special mill. That mill is special because it was originally powered by wind power.

Racing into the 20th century

Published by admin on Tue, 09/13/2022 - 10:54am

While the turn of the century brought the automobile to Wilmington, the horse did not go away. In fact, horses became more popular than ever. But now instead of looking for a good old mare that would pull the family carriage without a problem, everybody and their brother was looking for racehorses. Let's go take a spin around the track.
In 1875 the first racetrack, known as the Wilmington Driving Park, was constructed on North Kankakee Street right where Deer Creek Estates is today.

Bits and Pieces, the strange and the odd

Published by admin on Tue, 09/13/2022 - 10:48am

In going through the old newspapers to research this column, I occasionally come across small bits and pieces of information that make me stop and think, or sometimes laugh out loud. These small slices of life give us another look into Braidwood in the 19th century.
All of these quotes come from the Wilmington Advocate, whose editor Ed Conley was sometimes known to be a bit prejudice against her sister city and bit sarcastic when reporting the news.

Aeronauts, or what goes up must come down

Published by admin on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 11:58am

What convinces a man to go where no man has gone before? I have no answer to that. But I do know that it is ingrained into some people like their fingerprints.
Some call it taking a chance, others call it just plain foolish, and some call it wonderful. Today our subject is early flight. Strap on a parachute if you have one and let us go up.
Hot air ballooning has a long history, the first documentation of one in this country was on June 24, 1784 in Baltimore, Maryland when 13-year-old Edward Warren became the first American to ascend in a balloon.

Monsters and myths, the spirit snake

Published by admin on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 11:54am

When I was a little girl in Homer Township, I was playing outside near the pump when a bull snake came toward me.
It seemed to me his was 20 feet long. In telling the story later, my father assured me it was only about 4 feet long. Fright has a way of changing your outlook on things. This week we lighten up a little to talk about cryptozoology.
That is the study of things that haven't actually been discovered yet, things like Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster, and a sixty-foot snake. Perhaps some of these stories may be true, or not. You be the judge.

Fire after fire, who was to blame?

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 10:54am

The year was 1879. It had been a dry spring on the prairie. The ill-fitting window frames in the early wood frame buildings of early Braidwood had dried out considerably. The grass, what there was of it was brown and lifeless. A perfect scenario for disaster.
In February we read, “A fire occurred recently in a stable in Braidwood belonging to Jno Wells, in which two good cows were burned to death.

September 1922, the Home under review

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 10:53am

Summer was winding down, though there was still plenty of warm weather left. Crops were looking good. Other than Prohibition, which most people knew how to get around, the country was peaceful and so was Wilmington.
The first week saw 500 people attending a Braidwood Council Knights of Columbus annual picnic on the island. M. J. Donna, grand Knight, knew how to throw a good time.

A Castle on the prairie, smell that money

Published by admin on Tue, 08/23/2022 - 11:53am

It's County Fair time again. Personally, I love it. It tells me that our rural way of life in this part of the County is still alive and thriving.
I reviewed my file on past County fairs and I found one name mentioned in almost every year starting in 1873 - Homer Castle. Let's get to know him.
Homer Castle was born in Ontario County, N. Y. on May 22, 1834. In 1854 he moved to Wesley Township, also Homer and Wilton Townships, finally in 1867 he moved to Rockville Township in Kankakee County. In 1856 he married Miss Adaline Gooding, and had 13 children.

A snapshot of 1905

Published by admin on Tue, 08/23/2022 - 11:47am

Today we are going to take a walk down memory lane in the year 1905 to see what was happening in Braidwood. We start in February of that year.
We start with an exhibition, from the Joliet Republican “February 8, 1905 - Andrew's troupe of famous glass blowers are at the Free Gardners hall this week.
They have on exhibition, a dress made from glass cloth, which is a work of art, and well worth your while to go and see. They have also a steam engine made completely from glass, which is quite a novelty.