Time Was

Diverting disaster, the start of the ditch

Published by admin on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 9:00am

    The problem, of course, was water, too much of it and nowhere to put it. The Wilmington Coal Field lay under poor prairie soils that were pock marked with bogs and swamps.
    With only one small river, the Mazon, to drain it, Braidwood before the white man was a flat landscape full of mosquitoes, malaria and quick sand. Along came the coal companies to dig deep holes in this landscape with the inevitable result of flooding and loss of life. What to do?

Finding the right place, one family’s story

Published by admin on Wed, 04/11/2018 - 9:00am

    Just like a dog turning around and around to find just the right place to settle down, many early pioneers did not settle in the first place they happened to land. These people already had the spirit of wanderlust, and they had come along way to find their own idea of paradise. Sometimes moving around was the only way to find it. Set the way-back machine to 1832 just after the Black Hawk War.

A Wild Goose Chase, at Kankakee's Grand Marsh

Published by admin on Wed, 04/11/2018 - 9:00am

    The call of the Canada goose is a familiar sound in this area. So are flocks of them flying in a V-formation overhead. In 1875 though, hunters had to travel to find the goose and other water birds.
    Today's narrative is about a hunting trip to the Grand Marsh in Indiana, now totally drained away.
  Note that St. Viatuer's, which is mentioned early on, was where the present-day Olivet Nazarene is now. Taken from the Feb. 19, 1875 Advocate, a hunting we will go.

April 1918, the list never ends, gone to war

Published by admin on Wed, 04/04/2018 - 9:00am

    There is no doubt that by April 1918 the face of the community had changed. There was less food on the shelves at the grocer, there was less coal available for fuel, and there was fewer and fewer young men to be seen. Each month the names were called; each month took more of them away.
    The first change in the face of the community were physical ones. The old Whitten Bros. race horse barn, located on Joliet Street, a landmark since 1868 was moved to a farm east of the city to make way for two residences, built by O. L. Doty.

Easter Sunday, somewhere in France, 1918

Published by admin on Wed, 04/04/2018 - 9:00am

    One hundred years ago the “war to end all wars” was being fought in Europe. Our boys were just starting to get to the front, but a few had enlisted early.
    Today we look at a week in the life of one of those boys. His name was Ronald Jardine, from Wilmington and he served with the British Expeditionary Forces in the Medical Department “on Active Service, somewhere in France.”

Fresh fish at the Joliet Penitentiary, 1892

Published by admin on Wed, 03/28/2018 - 9:00am

    In his book, “Behind the Bars at Joliet,” S.W. Wetmore gives a unique perspective of the Joliet Penitentiary in 1892. Wetmore was first a telegraph operator, then a recording clerk at the penitentiary from 1875 through 1910.
    Today we look at the experiences of the newly arrived, the fresh fish.

The last escape of Mollie Brown

Published by admin on Wed, 03/28/2018 - 9:00am

    When I travel people frequently ask where I am from. Of course, most have never heard of Ritchie, Wilmington or Will County.
    But when I say that the county seat is Joliet, a light comes on and they say, “You mean like Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues Brothers?”
    Like it or not, our county is associated with the old Joliet Penitentiary. Our subject today is Mollie Brown, a female inmate at that very institution.

Frontier justice, the case of Mr. and Mrs. O'Donnell

Published by admin on Wed, 03/21/2018 - 9:00am

    An ambitious young man and a beautiful young woman had their whole lives ahead of them.
    On Jan. 11, 1871 Cornelius O'Donnell wed Miss Margaret Leo of Chicago at St. Rose's Church in Wilmington. They entered life together in the newly formed frontier town of Braidwood, a place they could make their fortune.
    Cornelius O'Donnell was a man among men. He was smart and strong and took “nothing from nobody.” He was the perfect man for the job of Chief of Police, and he took to it.

Wilmington Fish & Game Protective Association

Published by admin on Wed, 03/21/2018 - 9:00am

    As our nation became more and more industrialized during the first part of the 20th century there is no doubt that the natural environment suffered.
    In the spring of 1910 a group of men who valued the local natural fishery decided to do something about it. Today let’s take a look at the Wilmington Fish & Game Protective Association.

Dr. James Backus, left his mark in Braidwood

Published by admin on Wed, 03/14/2018 - 9:00am

    Frequently we have spoken about the brave miners who were injured in the mines. Many a miner had to fight for his life against the odds. But he was not alone; fighting on his side was a doctor. One of the most successful doctors in early Braidwood was Dr. John Backus.
    Backus was born in 1845 at Ontario, Canada to wealthy parents. His father is described like this, “He was educated as a lawyer, but was a retired gentleman.” John got his first medical degree at McGill University at Montreal and a second medical degree at College of Physicians and Surgeons at Ontario.