Time Was

‘All I know is what I read in the papers’

Published by admin on Wed, 10/24/2018 - 9:00am

    This week we have selected an article from our archive since Sandy Vasko has taken the week off.
    I did not originate the above saying, but it certainly should be my motto. Most of the material I use to write my column comes from early newspapers. Without them I would be out of a job in a short time and we all would be poorer for it.
    Although a newspaper was not the first thing the town fathers thought of when building a community, they were one of the first to realize the power of editorials and advertising on the people they depended on for a livelihood.

Modernizing city services on a budget

Published by admin on Wed, 10/17/2018 - 9:00am

    During the first decade of the 20th century Mayor Kahler and the Wilmington City Council were on a campaign to “modernize” the city and update city services.  Let's look how they went about it.

Farewell Jamie, a practical and good man

Published by admin on Wed, 10/17/2018 - 9:00am

    One of the things that I am asked frequently by those not living in this area is how Braidwood got its name.
    Most of us know that it was named for James Braidwood by John Daniels, first mayor of Wilmington and investor in coal lands.
    James Braidwood, always just a small player, gets lost among the names of the big coal companies. Let us right that wrong.

The birth and early history of Essex

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

    We can look at Braidwood as the center point. All around other coal towns sprang up like mushrooms, in sort of a circle. Today we set our sights south to the town of Essex. Set the wayback machine for Dec. 19, 1879.
    We first read of Essex's birth announcement in the Wilmington Advocate, “Essex is booming as a new railroad town. Messrs. Odell and Lonergan are about putting up corn cribs there, it is said. Town lots have been staked off and a railroad depot located, so report says.”

A new life for Empire Hall

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

    Time was when Empire Hall could have been called Wilmington's first community center. Situated on the east side of Water Street between Jackson and Van Buren, it was only part of a larger group of buildings known as the Empire Block. The Empire Block could have been called the heart of downtown Wilmington.
    It was called “block” because it was a group of three buildings that were connected on the second floor where it opened up into two large rooms known as Empire Hall.

Good fish, bad fish, just don't carp about it

Published by admin on Wed, 10/03/2018 - 9:00am

    In recent years the big-head carp has become a problem in Illinois waterways. Electric fish nets and poison have been used in the canal to prevent them from getting into Lake Michigan.
    It's clear that the word carp has become a four-letter word for trouble, and has inspired many other four-letter words. Let's look at what history has shown us.

The journey begins, California or bust

Published by admin on Wed, 10/03/2018 - 9:00am

    Today we are going back to 1850 and the intrepid men who ventured from Will County to El Dorado, commonly known as the gold fields of California, to search for riches and a better future.
    We know two men from Wilmington, William Goodwin and H. J. Northam, left together in March of 1850. Goodwin was a married man with children, while Northam was a 29-year-old well-to-do bachelor merchant. We don't know if these two were friends, or only had the same goal.  

Racial discrimination, good enough to dig, not to vote

Published by admin on Wed, 09/26/2018 - 9:00am

    I think that there are few other topics these days that are more contentious than that of immigration. And like most other problems of our day, it is not new.
    In 1836 it was the I&M Canal that was the cause of a wave of poor immigrants to flood our County. And like today, they were the victims of discrimination. Those damn dirty Irishmen!
    The I&M Canal was started in 1836 with the goal of linking Lake Michigan to the Illinois river. It ran through thick muddy prairie soil, and hard unyielding limestone.

Judging your fellow man, judges of Braidwood

Published by admin on Wed, 09/26/2018 - 9:00am

    All my gentle readers know that Braidwood was a wild and wooly place. Fueled by alcohol, altercations were the mainstay of the court system. Today we look at those who dealt out justice from behind the bench.
    During the earliest decades of Braidwood's history, a position of Police Magistrate had the authority to not only arrest people, but also to fine them immediately. For most small infractions of the law, the system worked well. I suspect if it was just a case of drunk and disorderly the “perps” slept it out in the calaboose and were sent on their way.

The war effort at home, September 1918

Published by admin on Wed, 09/19/2018 - 9:00am

    The last time we talked about World War I we looked at the letters home. Today we look at the home front at the same time. There was rationing, registration for the draft and actually being called to serve. Patriotic fervor was at an all time high. Set the way-back machine for September 1918.
    If you were a young male wanting to evade military service, there was no place to hide. The Wilmington Advocate printed the names of all the men who were eligible.