Time Was

What is your favorite subject? Back to school

Published by admin on Mon, 11/13/2023 - 11:42am

If there is one institution that has to keep up with the times it is the schools. I remember taking shorthand and typing that, I was told, would further any career I chose. I am grateful for the typing but I never did get the hang of all those squiggles. Today we look at some of the history of what we learned in school.

Between a rock and a hard place, 1877

Published by admin on Tue, 11/07/2023 - 10:26am

It all came down to water power - power to run machinery, and power to float a boat. And water power was Wilmington’s middle name. Other towns, like Braidwood, were dependent on the railroad to move the coal. The steel mills up in Joliet were dependent on coal to run machinery and the railroad to move and purchase their product. When the railroads went on strike in 1877, Joliet, Braidwood and other towns became a very hard place to be.

This month in Braidwood, 149 years ago

Published by admin on Mon, 11/06/2023 - 11:26am

Almost a century and a half ago, Braidwood was a thriving place. Today we look at the first three weeks of November 1874 to see what Braidwoodites were up to.
A correspondent for the Joliet Signal from Braidwood wrote this description printed on November 3. “Our coal trade is good, the last remnant of last summers' unpleasantness is swept away, and busy industry is the rule. Mechanics find plenty to do, building is brisk, and the general impetus is toward improvement.”

Lightning and wind, no place to hide

Published by admin on Tue, 10/31/2023 - 11:45am

Recently our country has been hit by powerful storms. There are some who say that these events will happen more often in the future and with more destruction.
I cannot say if that is true. But in studying storms in Braidwood history, I believe that more people were killed in the 19th century than today - but not by wind, but by lightning.
The first death that I can find due to lightning is the following entry from July 22, 1871 in the People's Advocate; “At Braidwood, we are pained to say, a son of James Braidwood was killed outright by a stroke of lightning.

November 1923, let's put on a show

Published by admin on Tue, 10/31/2023 - 11:21am

I am old enough to have watched the old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movies where they played teenagers, usually in some kind of trouble.
Their solution? Put on a show. And somehow, magically a barn turned into a theater and it was all a great success. Something like that actually happened in Wilmington.
The first week of November 1923 the notices went out by means of a front-page ad in the Advocate. One hundred “All Home Folks” were in the cast.

Insanity, a crime or a condition?

Published by admin on Tue, 10/24/2023 - 10:27am

Mental illness is, of course, nothing new. In today's society there are a whole range of treatments ranging from popping a pill to therapy. But time was when those afflicted were separated and isolated from society, allowed to live out their lives in a lonely, strange world. Today we look at the world two Braidwood men had to endure.

Thanksgiving Day at the Pen, the electric pen

Published by admin on Tue, 10/24/2023 - 10:10am

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in many different ways, large family dinners, visits to local restaurants, community suppers, football parties, etc. But time was when the most coveted Thanksgiving party invitation was an invitation to visit the Penitentiary. The year is 1877 and we've just been invited to dine at the palace on Collins Street.

Doing time, life in the big house

Published by admin on Tue, 10/17/2023 - 9:38am

Today we are going to look at a place that many Braidwood citizens got to visit, some for quite a long time. The State Penitentiary at Joliet, on what is now Collins Street, was not the peaceful place it is today. Set the way back machine for the 1870's and hop aboard.

In the way of progress, Oakwood stood its ground

Published by admin on Mon, 10/16/2023 - 1:07pm

Last week we looked at the earliest history of Oakwood Cemetery. We found that early on no one was caring for the grounds. In early 1883 the Ladies Cemetery Association took over the task, they started with energy and will. Let's look at what happened next.
By 1885 the musical entertainments held by the ladies to earn money for the cemetery had expanded. Instead of small program set in a house, the ladies had moved to the Presbyterian Church.

Before the miners, Reed's earliest pioneers

Published by admin on Tue, 10/10/2023 - 10:53am

Reed Township was once the largest township in Will County, but 15 years after its creation, it was split with the eastern portion becoming Custer Township. Since Reed was last to be settled some think that there were no early pioneers. And I thought they were probably right. But further investigation shows that there were a few hardy souls who braved the bogs and quicksand to live here, for a few years at least.